stared up in silence at her older self who did the same. Her emotions and thoughts were a complete jumble and this had not helped. 'Just great, out of everyone I could have possibly run into upon arriving into a new dimension I just had to run into myself.' She thought as her mind finally focused itself. 'Not only that but Caster decided to turn me into a child with some sort of could not possible get any worse.'Just as she finished that thought the bushes rustled again
"Hey Nepgear, why did you run off like that?" A familiar voice called out and someone said a person came out into the clearing. She had pale skin but black hair and ruby red eyes. She wore a black dress with blue trim, and elbow length gloves. She also had two black and blue ribbons in her hair. In her arms was an assault rifle that she carried with easy and apparent expertise.
instantly recognized her and her eyes widened in shock as tears started to form. "U-Uni?" She whispered weakly as the Lastation Candidate approached.
Her older self turned around to face her friend. "Oh Uni sorry about that but I thought I heard someone screaming so I came to check it out and I found... well me." She said as she gestured to and turned back to face her blinking as she took note of her current expression.
Uni sighed "Why is it you Planeptune CPUs keep getting involved in interdimensional stuff?" She asked and stepped closer to get a better look at the little girl who stood there frozen. "Umm is she ok?"
Nepgear slowly walked closer to her younger self and waved her hand in front of her but did not seem to get a response. "I don't think so, we should take her back to the Basilicom, have Miss Histoire take a look at her."
Uni nodded and put her weapon back in her inventory before reaching out to the young child. Just as her hand touches her shoulder 's mind snaps back to attention and she "NOOOO!" She screamed as she dropped down and curled up into a ball, her body trembling as her fingers dig into her hair and scalp.
Nepgear and Uni jump back in shock and exchange glances. Before either could speak however a tiny voice reached their ears. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." they both turned to the young Nepgear rocking back and forth muttering the same two words over and over.
"What do you think is wrong with her?" Uni asked, unable to take her eyes off the distressed .
Nepgear just shook her head slowly. "I don't know, but I think we need to get her back to Miss Historie ASAP. Can you call her while I fly her over? She seemed to react badly to you for some reason."
Uni nodded and took out her Ngear and started to make the call as Nepgear transformed and slowly picked up the child before flying off at full speed. Soon Historie appeared on Uni's screen. "Uni, is there something I can do for you?" She asked politely.
"Historie, Nepgear and I think we found a child version of her from another dimension but she seemed to have some sort of breakdown when I got near her. Nepgear is on her way to the Basilicom with her now and asked me to call ahead."
Historie eyes widened and nodded. "Understood I will be waiting for them, will you be returning to Lastation or coming here?"
Uni paused for a moment to think. "I will head home and inform my Sister plus I doubt me being there will help at the moment." She replied.
"Understood, I will keep you informed of any changes that occur." With that Historie hung up.
Uni sighed as she put her N-gear away and activated her HDD. "I better get back home to tell Noire about this." She muttered before also taking off into the sky.
A minute or two after she left a small area shatter like glass and Caster reappear. "Hmm running into yourself first thing after entering a new dimension huh? You are either extremely lucky or cursed Lady Nepgear, only time will tell." He mused as he started to walk of making his way towards Planeptune. "I wonder if this will be good for her?"
Up in the sky over Planeptune.
Nepgear made her way toward the Basilicom and Planeptune tower, holding onto her alternate self tightly as she continued to tremble and mutter over and over again. 'What happened in her world to make her like this?" She thought with a worried glance as she came in for a landing outside the Basilicom.
She quickly entered and greeted the staff, vaguely hearing that Histoire was waiting for her in the back as she ran by shouting back words of thanks as she made her way to one of the back rooms. As she entered she found her already there waiting for her next to a bed with some chairs set up near it though far enough away so as to not crowd the occupant.
Histoire looked up as the door opened and moved out of Nepgear's way. "Quickly place her down on the bed." She stated in a calm yet urgent tone.
Nepgear nodded and set her younger self down on the bed who remained curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth but her words of apologies had stopped.
Histoire slowly moved closer to the girl and hovered on the bed next to her. "Nepgear, are you there, it's me." She said in a simple calm tone to try and break the girl out of her current cycle.
stopped moving and her eyes widened as she turned to face Histoire. "M-Miss Histoire? I-is that you?" She asked, her voice shaking as she spoke.
Histoire was surprised at her tone but rolled with it. "Yes it's me you're s-" whatever she was about to say was cut off as the screamed and backed away from the tiny oracle.
"P-p-Please I'm sorry I failed Planeptune and the others, I did not even mean to come back I will do what I can to make it right, j-just don't kill me please!" She screamed as she stared at the tome with terror in her eyes.
Nepgear's and Histoire's eyes widened in shock at her statement. "W-w-what do you mean kill you?" Nepgear asked her voice filled with worry.
's eyes snapped to her older self and she blinked a few times. "W-w-wait your me...s-so that means this Histoire is yours and not mine?" She asked hopefully though her body was still trembling and there was visible fear in her eyes.
Histoire nodded. "Nepgear found you in the woods while she was doing a quest with Uni of Lastation upon seeing and getting close to her you had some sort of episode and so you were brought here to the Planeptune Basilicom." She explained in a calm tone
's took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down and refocus her mind. Once calm and focused she was able to recall her memories of the last few hours. She opened her eyes and turned to look at this dimension's Nepgear and Histoire.
"I thank you for your help and I am sorry for any trouble I have caused by my arrival into your dimension." She said with a polite bow though her voice was still a bit shaky.
Nepgear shook her head and smiled. "It's fine we have had a lot of experience with interdimensional travel and visitors so we are kinda used to it by now." She replied.
Histoire nod but frowned slightly. "It is as she says, however, due to safety reasons. I must ask you to elaborate on why your Histoire wanted to kill you." She said calmly but had an air of seriousness about her.
flinched and looked down at the bed for a bit before she glanced up at the two with tears rolling down her cheeks. "P-p-please don't make me tell you... I-i-I can't relive it again a-at least not yet..." she explained her body trembling.
Nepgear looked at her younger self breaking down again and her heart went out to the girl. "Its ok we won't make you tell us till you're ready." She replied in a slightly shaky voice.
nodded as she looked at her older self. "Thank you, I am sorry for the secrecy but it is very hard for me to talk about... " she muttered looking down at the bed with sadness in her eyes.
Histoire frowned at this but sighed. "Very well we will allow you to stay but you will be under surveillance and guard twenty-four seven until such time we deem it no longer necessary, is that understandable?" She asked.
nodded and smiled at the two. "Thank you for letting me stay...I-I am not sure what I would do if I had to go back.." she said as she finally started to relax around turned to Histoire. "Should we tell Neptune about her?" She asked in a whisper as to not alert .
Histoire mulled over this for three seconds before looking up at her. "I think we will have to, as well as the other CPUs just in case others come looking for her." She answered.
Nepgear nodded and turned to her younger self. "I need to go take care of a few things. Miss Histoire will stay here with you if you would like or you can come with me up the Tower?"
glanced nervously between Histoire and Nepgear, her eyes still filled with a small sense of fear as she looked at the tome. "Can I came with you?" She asked in a somewhat shy and scared tone as she glanced at Histoire tone but inside she was screaming. 'Why am I acting like this? If Caster is responsible I will find a way to turn him into a kid!'
Just then an idea came into her head as she slowly scooted off the bed. "Before we go, I should warn you I came here with another person." She said as she looked up toward Nepgear and Histoire. "He was the one who made the spell so we could leave my dimension" her face turns into one of anger at before she continues." He also responsible for turning me into a kid becuse he thought it would help disguise me."
"What, you're not a kid? Does that mean you're my age?" Nepgear asked as finished talking. just nodded in response.
"What is his name and what does he look like?" Histoire asked politely and kept her distance so as to not trigger another episode.
"His name is Caster, or at least that is what he called himself. He is a magic user who specializes in illusion magic... as well as transform magic apparently. As for what he looks like... Think the ringmaster at a circus crossed with a vampire and you basically got him." she explained, pausing every so often to think. "He has said he is horrible in direct combat but he does know how to augment monsters and he used to work for ASIC but left pretty quickly after the CPUs were captured so there is that."
Historie's and Nepgear's eyes widened at the mention of ASIC. "If he was a member of ASIC why did you trust him?" Histoire asked in a calm but worried tone.
"Because he was the only one to help me when everyone else was gone..." replied after a moment of contemplation.
The two looked at each other and nodded before Histoire spoke up. "I will tell the others to be on the look out for this Caster person and to try and bring him in peacefully for questioning."
gave her a small nod when her stomach suddenly growled loudly causing her to blush in embarrassment.
Nepgear giggled and held out her hand to her counterpart. "Come with me, Let's get head up the Tower and get you something to eat."
nodded and took her hand, following her out of the room. Soon after they left Histoire let out a long sigh. "I hope we are doing the right thing by trusting her." She said as she pulled up a screen and started a conference call with the other CPUs the screen beeped for several moments until four images appeared on screen: one of a woman with jet black hair tied up in two twin tails and dressed in a Gothic maid outfit. Behind her stood a slightly younger girl similarly dressed but with her hair let down rather than tied up. This was Niore, the leader and CPU of Lastation, along with Uni who had arrived home.
The next was of a woman with long blonde hair and wearing a elegant green and gold dress that revealed her rather enormous chest. This was Vert the Leader and CPU of Leanbox.
The third one shows a rather stoic woman with short, light brown hair which was kept under a hat. She had a dress on along with a jacket for warmth due to her country's cold climate. Behind her were two small children, one with short brown hair the other with long brown hair down wearing cute dresses, one blue and one pink. This was Blanc the CPU and leader of Lowee along and her sisters and CPU candidates Rom and Ram.
Last but not least showed a girl in a white parka with purple trimming laying on a bean bag. She had short messy purple hair and dark purple eyes this was Neptune the CPU of their very own Planeptune
"Histoire, what is it? Did something happen?" Vert being the first one to speak up.
Histoire nodded at her. "Yes a rather odd yet familiar event has occurred in Planeptune except Nepgear was the one to discover it this time and please pay attention Neptune." She replied before relaying the events of the day as she knew them. Once she was done the call went silent for almost a minute, even Neptune had sat up but was still gaming, before Noire spoke up.
"This other Nepgear... she reacted badly to you and Uni... but not to herself?" She asked for confirmation.
Histoire nodded. "Yes that appears to be the case, though we do not know why other than the Histoire she is familiar with tried to kill her for some unknown reason." She replied.
"Can you think of a reason why you would try to kill a CPU?" Blanc asked in a calmly yet concerned tone.
Histoire shook her head. "Not at the moment, I can try to but it could take me anywhere from three hours to three days to deduce that answer."
"Maybe Neptune's laziness rubbed off on her and it finally pushed her over the edge." Noire commented somewhat jokingly.
"What?! That's just crazy. I mean look at all the stuff I have done and Histy hasn't tried to knock me off yet." Neptune said and, in a rare show of seriousness, finally putting her controller down, stood up and made her way to her actual office.
Histoire nodded her head. "Neptune is correct. As annoying and irritating as her behavior as a CPU is, even if Nepgear followed her example, which is unlikely due to her personality, I find it doubtful I would try and kill her for that to get a new CPU in place" She added before taking a moment to think. "Something bigger happened, something I would have a hard time justifying."
The other CPUs nodded in understanding as they all took a few moments to think."Well I would ask Darksy if she knows but she and Big Me left two days ago so who knows when they will be back." Neptune sated, breaking the silence.
Niore let out a sigh. "Well for now it would probably be best to limit how many of us are around her at once in case more of us trigger these episodes." She proposed.
"Agreed, meanwhile we keep an eye out for this Caster just in case he will cause any problems and to undo the transformation on this visiting Nepgear." Vert added and received nods of agreement.
Just then Neptune looked up from her screen to her door. "I think Nep Jr and ChibiGear are here, I will have to call you girls back later." She said as she moved to hang up.
"Wait Neptune it might not be the best idea" Historie started to say but unfortunately Neptune had already left the call leaving to sigh in frustration. "I better go check on them. If you find anything please message me." She said politely before she too left the call and quickly made her way up the tower.
followed the older version of herself as they made their way through the lower levels of the Basilica in relative silence. She could not help but flinch a little whenever a staff member glanced in her direction flashes of "that" night appearing before her eyes.
Before she realized it they had made it to the main elevator and began their ascent to the top she could not help but shiver in fear as they got closer and closer to their destination, however she soon felt a hand gently land on her shoulder and she turned to she the other her kneeling down next to her. "Are you ok? You were shaking quite badly." She asked as she looked at with concern in her eyes.
took a moment and shook her head. "N-no... I'm not ok... the last time I..I was here.. I was almost killed..." she answered, glancing at the ground.
Nepgear's eyes widened but did her best not to outwardly react, instead she slowly reached out and hugged her smaller self. "Don't worry, no one is going to hurt you here, I promise you that." She said in a tone that reminded of a mother consoling a child.
As degrading as it was due to her actual age it did feel nice in a way, not just her word but her hug the physical contact she had not had such positive experience in a long time, after all as nice as Histoire was she was not the best at positive reinforcement or affectation, that was usually Compa. After a few moments of consideration reached out and hugged her counterpart back. "Thank you..." She muttered enjoying the warmth she had not felt in what was probably months if not years.
Before long the doors to the elevator opened up to a familiar room, the place she used to live. 'But it's not, but it looks like it.' She thought as she and Nepgear stepped out of the elevator and made their way to the bedroom.
"I assume you're tired after all that's happened so Let's get your room set up and get you some food." Nepgear said as she glanced back at her younger self who was all but hiding in her she could speak one of the doors opened and both Nepgears turned though one had a look of shock on her face. Standing in the doorway was this dimension version of her older sister Neptune.
"Hey Nep Jr I heard from Histy we had a special guest coming up" She said with grin on her face as she turned to see the small Nepgear. "Woah! She was not kidding you are younger, looks like my Nickname was perfectly accurate."
stared in shock at the appearance of Neptune, her eyes watering as she held back disbelief that her sister was right in front of her. "N...n...Neptune?" She asked in a shaky voice.
Neptune blinked in slight confusion but did not stop her flow. "Yep that's me, the protagonist of protagonists and CPU of Planeptune, it's a pleasure to meet cha Chibigear." She said with a smile.
Before she knew what happened next she had been tackled to the floor by Chibigear who was now balling her eyes out. "A...a...After what happened...I... I thought...that I would never see you again... Neptune..." she sobbed as she hugged her tightly not caring that this was a different Neptune than her's.
Neptune and Nepgear exchanged glances before the elder sister hugged her sister from a different dimension. "Don't worry Chibigear I'm here, and I'm not gonna leave your side."
Meanwhile outside the window watching this scene floating on a small old looking tome was a tiny girl with long white hair and golden eyes. she dressed in a simple black robe with blue highlights and a witch's hat "How interesting its been a while since I found something to record in my pages I was beginning to think I had seen it all." she said with a smile before she and the book vanished.
The story advances and /Chibigear Trauma surfaces.
Also to answer a guest reviewer I do plane to do a separate one shot or a one off chapter of option three at some point and maybe turn it into a challenge but it will not be a full out story at least not yet I might later on but I am not sure at the moment.