Author's Note: Last chapter was very good, but as the story progresses, I plan to improve each chapter one by one. And I apologize for the long wait. See, my dad bought me Hyperdimension Neptunia Rebirth;1 November of 2016 but at the time I neglected it… until recently. And now that the 2nd and 3rd games have been released on GOG, I've been looking forward to… ah, let's cut the small talk and get on with the show!

Several weeks had passed since the abduction had taken place, when Xiphos took it upon himself to locate the thief and teach him/her the true meaning of fear and despair, not caring who that person was. After having captured Xiphos, well… it would be easier to explain to you, the viewers, what transpired.

The one person the villagers all looked up to… was now lying on the ground, dead after suffering a devastating attack from Xiphos himself who is a rather renowned magician and specializes only in magic that interested him. Not long after the death of Tavurth, the entire village went into a wild panic, flapping their jaws and waving their arms around as they ran around while one single girl was standing a distance from Tavurth.

Seeing his death before her eyes shocked her, tears streaming down her face and rushed towards Tavurth in a bid effort to somehow save his life. But upon checking his pulse, the petite girl was quick to discover the man before her was confirmed to be deceased, a hole in the same place his heart was.

"No… it can't be. You told me you wouldn't… die… so why? Why did you leave me?! Why!?" The girl yelled at the skies as loud as she could, earning the annoyance of Xiphos who appeared before her and grabbed the small girl by her throat. She could tell the look in his eyes… were that of a heartless old man who reveled in death and destruction, chaos and fear.

Upon discovering an opening, the girl kicked Xiphos as hard as she possibly could and dashed forth away from him but felt a presence grab her from behind and slam her hard to the ground, a staff stabbed to the ground next to her right eye. "You little brat… you've got some nerve kicking me in the face like that. Did you expect me to suffer any injury from that, huh?! Typical mortals… so stupidly confident in their abilities. No matter… I have what I came here for. Come along, girl."

Xiphos ordered his new prisoner, waving his staff and creating a pair of cuffs on the girl's wrists and legs to restrict her movement but to his surprise, the girl refused to give in. She kept on yelling and fighting back by heading Xiphos when he picked her up, so he whacked her with the backend of his staff, rendering her unconscious. How tragic this has become.

Somewhere in an unknown location.

Hidden away from the frigid wasteland of Planet Rave on a planet tucked away from the far reaches of the North Galaxy was a lonely planet, orbiting a singular red giant star but no moon orbited the planet. On the planet itself, simply entitled Planet 1102, was a rocky surface with a single tall structure that donned the landscape and appeared to be that of a temple, with four pillars surrounding the temple on the corners.

Deep within said temple there were guards everywhere, each holding some sort of staff-like object that was much taller than the guards who were dressed in red and blue with a mask to cloak their identity. Further down the series of brick wall hallways there exists a singular cell room with a number on the metal door as well as several cracks on said door and dents.

00125003

Inside said room was one figure, chained to the wall with long wavy green colored hair and wearing the exact same clothes as before. On her forehead was a single red bruise, the girl wincing in pain, unable to move her arms or legs. They were completely immobilized by the chains surrounding them. It was filthy inside, several cracks on the walls, some cob webs and water dripped slowly from the cracks in the ceilings, possibly due to being neglected for so long.

"Hello? Cleaning service." The silence in the room was interrupted by a loud banging, the metal opening with a creaking sound and in came a man with a mop. It seemed as though he were cleaning the room even after it was neglected for so long. It wasn't just the room he was cleaning… he had a loin cloth as well as other supplies stashed on a cart he brought in, possibly for cleaning the wound on the girl's forehead.

First, what the man did was mop the floor from left to right, making his way towards the walls and wiped away the countless cobwebs with the broom he brought with him. Next, he sprayed the walls with a liquid that seemed to be repairing much of the damage done to it and finally, he made his way to the girl and started cleaning the wound on her forehead, but she winced in pain.

"Your luck you got away with just a bruise. Next time he could tear your arm off and not turn a shade. Stay still or the wound will reopen!" The man dressed in blue said to the girl who constantly tilted her head when he tried cleaning the wound inflicted upon her by Xiphos. After he finished washing the wound with his loin cloth, the black haired man placed a bandage on the girl's forehead and began to take his leave.

"Why?" The girl finally spoke up, earning the attention of the man who took one step out the doorway.

"What?"

"Not what, why. Why do you insist on following him? You know he's only using you for his own personal gain. Quite frankly, I'm surprised someone like you is following hi-" Her words were cut off by the man's sudden glare at her, frightening her.

"Why I follow him doesn't concern you. I strongly suggest you refrain from asking such idiotic questions, lest you want to be the next person to die by his hands." With those parting words, the man left the cold, dead cell room much to the girl's sadness. No one had ever spoken to her like that before, not even Tavurth would have stooped so low as to use cheap tactics such as that.

"Well, at least he was kind enough to clean this room and my wound." The girl said to herself, looking around and noticing the cracks in the wall were gone, the cobwebs were absent and the ground itself was looking as though it were just added. Also, the wound on her forehead was treated to which she finds to be most unusual. In the time she's spent here, not once did anyone come over to tend to her wound or even clean her cell room, up until a few minutes ago.

How long has it been since that man entered this room, only to not only clean it but also tend to my wound? This doesn't make any sense… why would Xiphos send one man, after all this time, to my room just to make it nice and clean? There is much that I do not know here, such as Xiphos' objectives or why he has so many guards here. Do they serve him willingly or is there a different method he's using here? No no… the real question isn't exactly pertaining to what he's doing, it's why he's keeping me chained up here, with only one injury. Wait a second… what he said back on my home planet. Did he somehow figure out who the thief was with a simple trial and error method? Or is it something more complex…?

Meanwhile, down the hallway away from the prison-like area, the same man from earlier is walking alone with his cleaning supplies, sweat dripping down his face after what he did. "Well, damn, this isn't good. I was supposed to clean her room at exactly 0600, but I missed the deadline by a mere five minutes. This isn't going to look good on my personal record. I must give my report to Xiphos, but leave out the part about missing the deadline. Maybe… just maybe, it'll work. I still don't get it though… why had Xiphos been keeping that girl here for what, six or seven years? Poor thing… she must be suffering right now. Can't say I blame her, seeing as though the one man she cared about the most died before her very own eyes…" The man continued to talk aloud, much to the displeasure of the numerous guards scattered all over the temple white at the same time pacing back and forth, very nervous of Xiphos finding out of what he just did.

"What was it? Cleaning that girl's room like that?" A familiar voice echoed from afar, a lonely man approaching the one who cleaned little Sabria's room. Xiphos had arrived and from what the guards could tell, he was not happy of the things he heard just now. "Now, why would you try to clean Sabria's room when she's my prisoner? It seems you lack the correct knowledge to make sure that girl is having a living hell here and what do I see? A useless servant disobeying my direct orders!" Xiphos retorted, stomping the ground which destroyed much of the environment around him.

"Forgive me… the orders you gave me weren't very clear." The man attempted an apology but was thrown across the hall with a simple wave of his hand.

"Actions carry more weight than words… best you remember that. I guess it wouldn't be fitting to kill you, seeing as though countless guards were killed in the past few months… I'll let you off with a warning. Next time I won't be so merciful. Now then, back to that girl… how is she faring under these harsh conditions?" Xiphos asked the janitor who cleaned Sabria's room, swallowed heavily, took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Well, my Emperor, she isn't doing too bad. She refuses to eat any of the food we provide her, she even headbutted me a few times and that was a month ago. But was it really necessary to chain her up like that? It restricts her freedom of movement, she can only move her head. Sir, I still don't understand why you keep her around, seeing as though you've been frantically searching for the one who-" Before he could finish, Xiphos walks right past him, injuring him slightly.

"My my, are you talking down on me? You know it isn't nice to treat someone as such. This girl is… different than the other people I've captured. Unlike the others who begged for freedom, for food and water, for the right to speak freely, this girl doesn't beg for those things. In fact, ever since I picked her up six, no seven years ago she has been both stubborn and quiet, she refuses to speak to me no matter what I do. Even though I tried using magic to sway her will, she resisted it after only four uses. How frustrating these turn of events are… well it really makes no difference. No matter who it is I come across, there is not one being in the universe that can defy me." Xiphos proudly said, making his way down the series of hallways to where Sabria was while the man from before fell to his knees, sighing in relief that his life was spared.

Meanwhile in little Sabria's room, she was staring at the floor, hearing footsteps nearing her room and knew exactly who was about to enter her room. The door was soon forced open by a rather large man and slammed the door shut after him, placing the staff on the ground which floated in place and took a few steps towards the girl. "Ah, my sweet little Sabria… so small and fragile. How long has it been since we last spoke? Weeks? Months? Or perhaps it's been years? One tends to lose track of time… your probably wondering why I came to visit you today or your already aware of my being here, yes? I'm going to ask you the same question as I did before… what artifact did you steal from me?" Xiphos calmly asked Sabria who still refused to speak.

Growing ever so annoyed by Sabria's silence, Xiphos summoned his staff and fired a ki blast in the form of a purple beam that attacked the left side of her face, grazing her by just a little. "You see this? This is what power is, something someone like you can't possibly comprehend. How fascinating this… it was only six years ago that my power level was in the early millions, not nearly close enough to that of a Supreme Kai. However, after absorbing the ki of three civilizations, it increased even more than before. In your case, Sabria, I haven't taken any of your ki. Do you wish to know why?" Xiphos inquired of Sabria who was still ignoring his words, turning her attention to the ground beneath her feet.

"So be it… since you still refuse to answer me, perhaps one of your comrades will be more than happy to give me the answers I seek." Upon hearing those words, Sabria's expression changed to that of a very worried look, which earned quite a sinister smile from Xiphos. Taking his leave, Xiphos disappeared from the cell room, much to Sabria's displeasure.

"Comrades…? What is he referring to? I know not of such a thing, not even back on my homeworld. Unless he's referring to… oh dear bacon no. Is he going back to my world to decimate it before he stole someone from the surface? Please, anything but that. I can't stand the sight of seeing my friends in trouble…" Sabria mumbled to herself, with Xiphos listening in to most of what was going on and went towards his own personal room.

Inside the room was massive, several bookshelves donned much of the landscape as well as a throne at the very center of said room. Xiphos placed his staff on the usual pedestal and sat on his throne, pondering on what he should do next. "That girl… what was her name again? Sabin? No, that can't be it… Sukin? That's not it either… maybe my memory isn't what it used to be from back then. And her ki… it seems normal to the naked eye, but I know better. There's something rather unique about her. Is it the hair color, her eyes… no, that can't be it. Was I too rough with her?" Xiphos asked himself, sipping a cup of wine one of his servants prepared for him.

"My lordship, whenever you have a prisoner you have to treat them as refuse, not even worth acknowledging." A voice echoed through the large room as a lonely man approached the Emperor, wearing a ceremonial garb colored black and red and had a strange symbol on the back of his right hand.

"Toumin… what brings you here? I thought I told you to oversee the destruction of a certain planet in this universe." Xiphos surprisingly asks the man with short, dark green colored hair who appeared beside him in an instant.

"My liege, you really mustn't be so soft with that girl, especially since she's labeled as a thief by both you and her own people. What you should do is punish more, or should I say torture. It doesn't matter how strong one's will is, it can and will be broken. You just need to apply a certain amount of pressure to her." Toumin explained to Xiphos who smiled at his suggestion and thought about whether or not he should go through with this idea.

Meanwhile, in Sabria's cell, the girl gazed at the ceiling above her, tears running down her face in disbelief. "Please, someone… anyone, save me from this living hell. I don't think I can survive for much longer. I can't stand the sight of seeing my homeland get devastated at the hands of that accursed monster…" Sabria sadly spoke to herself, trying to whistle for anyone but found she was unable to.

Somewhere in Universe 7.

"Whis, what are we going to do? This girl you kept on talking about is nowhere to be found. Honestly…" Chronoa impatiently waited for Whis' answer as he looked into his staff for the girl he heard so much about. Ever since her capture, a rumor went about that the girl had stolen something from Xiphos in Universe 5 which intrigued Whis, Elder Kai and Chronoa to the point of attempting to recruit her no matter what.

"Patience. I'm scouring all 12 universes for her but for some strange reason, she's nowhere to be found. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough…" Whis calmly said, much to Chronoa's annoyance.

"Is she really who you think she is? If so, then we might have a chance after all." Elder Kai inquired of Whis who didn't turn his gaze from his staff. For a few minutes, there was a great deal of silence surrounding the planet the three were on, with Chronoa and Elder Kai becoming more impatient than before.

"Found her! She's in a galaxy tucked deep within Universe 5, on a small unnamed planet. That's strange… there seems to be a battalion of guards there as well as servants." Whis noted on what he was viewing through his staff.

"Then let's go already!" Elder Kai hastily wanted to leave but was stopped by Whis.

"Not yet… we're going to need some help before approaching it. And I know just the place…" Whis said, tapping his staff and teleported him, Elder Kai and Chronoa to a far away place from Lord Beerus' world after seeking refuge from Xiphos even though he chose to remain in Universe 5.