"Hey everyone! It's your true Goddess of Planeptune, Orange Heart! Big ol' Purple Heart in her fancy Basilicom is just a fake, so you should follow me and get her out!"
At the start of her crusade, Uzume's speeches were long and impassioned. As time went on, however, she simply became bored with it, and resorted to shorter speeches. They still had the same effect, though. Word of her identity had spread like wildfire, and Uzume had already amassed followers on the outer districts of Planeptune. The inner districts of Planeptune were much harder to break, as they'd seen their Goddess in person so many times that they were practically enthralled. It was Uzume's duty to break that trance.
"So, ya having fun yet?" Croire sure wasn't. Watching a Goddess topple a nation would be entertaining if it involved fire and explosions, not speeches and passion.
"Quit whining Croire, I'm doing what I have to." Uzume's patience was slowly burning up. Between the effort required to persuade citizens to follow her, and the effort required to do speeches whilst in Goddess form, Uzume was very close to snapping.
Using CPU form was tiring, as was living with that incredibly bubbly personality her Orange Heart persona had. Though she had technically slept for thousands of years, Uzume was still exhausted from all the walking and rebellious speeching she'd partaken in today. Maybe she could take a nap? Nah, napping on a rooftop wouldn't exactly be fun nor comfortable, though it may be marginally better than a stone throne for several years.
The view of Planeptune from this perch troubled Uzume. It didn't look anything like her Planeptune. Dense streets with only a few wide open spaces, very little plant life, almost no trees. It was almost insulting to look at. A once proud, beautiful nation reduced to industrial consumerism and "practical" designs. When she was back in power, this place would look like the great nation it once was.
"Are you gonna do anything cool yet?!" Croire was basically begging at this point, boredom was eating her alive.
"Soon, damn it, soon!" With that, another thread of Uzume's patience withered away.
Rising to her feet, Uzume took a deep breath and nonchalantly leaped from the building she was on. The wind battering her body sparked a renewed vigor in Uzume. Landing with a thunk, Uzume quickly dusted herself off and proceeded on her merry way. Uzume had a contact to go visit. Within hours of her resurrection last week, an extradimensional traveller sent her a message, asked to come talk face to face. Never revealed her face, only her name.
Kurome Ankokuboshi.
Something about that name sparked Uzume's curiosity, so she set off for the meeting point immediately. It was within Planeptune's border, quite deep in the city centre.
Nobody had seen Uzume's human form yet, allowing her to pass through the streets undetected. The Planeptune Peace Corps had been deployed, lead by a woman named Nisa. Their orders were to apprehend Orange Heart and question her. Uzume had no idea who was giving the orders, as word had spread in darker circles that Neptune had practically retired due to grief and that Histoire had done much the same, so who was ordering them?
The streets of Planeptune centre were mostly quiet. Soldiers wondered here and there, as did children playing in the streets alongside their parents, but other than that it was mostly silent. Up ahead, blocking the bridge to Uzume's destination, was a small squad of soldiers. 5, led by a blue haired woman in a ridiculous bodysuit and scarf.
Uzume sighed. She prayed that she WOULDN'T encounter anyone else today, but she had no choice this time. Uzume cleared her throat and hoped that the woman before her would be fairly intelligent and not dense.
The woman, her eyes previously focused on a small tablet, turned to face Uzume. A look of confusion crawled over her face. Turning to face the bridge, then Uzume, then the bridge again at a rapidly increasing pace, the woman was only a few head turns away from breaking the sound barrier. After what felt like an eternity, the woman finally stopped defying the laws of physics and returned her gaze to Uzume and solely Uzume.
"You uh... didn't you just come through here two hours ago? There's only one way in and out." There was uncertainty in her voice, and from the sounds of it, it was if she was talking to a ghost.
Once more, Uzume let out a heavy sigh. Of course, she gets the incompetent guard.
"No, this is my first time visiting, I've never been here before." Uzume was curt and to the point. "Can I go through now?"
The woman stared blankly at Uzume. "Uh... no you came here before, right? You were all like "My name is Kurome, and this is my home." all cold like, and just waltzed on past"
...Kurome? Oh brother.
"Look, my name's Uzume, and I really need to get by. Can you let me go through?" Another idiot, another thread.
The woman let out a gentle sigh. "Sorry, I guess I got mixed up, you looked like some gal that came by earlier. My name's Nisa, pleased to meet you Uzume!." Nisa extended her free hand towards Uzume, who begrudgingly shook it. "Heeeeey you're much friendlier than that other woman. Go on through, hopefully I'll see you later." Nisa winked at "Uzume" and stood to the side.
Did she just wink at me? Uzume thought to herself I mean she's cute, but she's definitely too dense for me... oh my goddess someone cute winked at me. Oh goddess, calm down Uzume.
Uzume waited for her beating heart to still, and then crossed the bridge. "The classic district" was this district's name. It shared the same motif as Uzume's Planeptune; wide open spaces, trees, lots of plants and flowers, even had some of Uzume's white and red colour motif here and there. It was like a very bitter yet pleasing trip down memory lane.
Who was this Kurome girl, and why did Nisa mistake her- Wait, Nisa. Nisa. Nisa. The girl was in charge of the PPC, and Uzume didn't even catch on? At this rate, she would never conquer Planeptune.
47 Periscope Lane. This was the place Kurome asked to meet. It was an old house, with some attempt at renovation having been attempted (and abandoned) on the left side of the house. Did anyone even live here? It looked dead inside. Approaching the door, Uzume gave three knocks. The door was rickety and poorly maintained, as each knock felt like it was close to destroying the door entirely.
Nothing, not even a stir within the house.
Uzume's patience was at it's limits, so she simply opened the door and entered.
This house was definitely abandoned. Cobwebs, creaky flooring, the sound of water dripping. Definitely fitting every horror stereotype in the book here.
Uzume held out her hand and shut her eyes. Upon reopening, the Valhaburn and it's holy light were in her hands. With caution in every step, Uzume slowly looked around the abandoned house. The furniture had mostly decayed, and it was clear people had tried to live here, as there was other furniture that hadn't decayed as much, along with empty bags and a sleeping bag. In the living ro-
Phwoosh.
Movement. Uzume readied the sword and turned around.
Nothing.
Phwoosh.
Again, nothing.
Phwoosh, Uzume turned around and came face to face with... herself? In shock, she dropped the sword, which collapsed to its holstered form upon contact with the ground.
There, before Uzume was... herself? Where there was white on Uzume, there was black on this girl. Where there was red, there was purple. This girl was wearing an undershirt too, but aside from that she was unmistakably Uzume. Unable to respond, Uzume simply fell backwards on the floor, eyes still locked with other Uzume.
The other Uzume smiled, and strolled over to the fallen Uzume. Sitting down behind her, the other Uzume pulled her onto her lap and held her around the waist in an embrace.
"My name is Kurome Ankokuboshi. In another dimension, a group of CPUs thought they destroyed me. Instead, I came here. I had long given up on my goals... however," Kurome raised a hand to Uzume's face, and rubbed another gently over her stomach. "seeing you on TV, giving your motivational speeches, it kind of reignited a spark in me." Kurome placed a kiss on Uzume's face, and began gently massaging both her face and her stomach.
"I want Gamindustri, you want Planeptune. I think we can help one another out in the long term." Kurome's tone was gentle and smooth, yet there was an ulterior motive hidden behind her words, which would reveal itself very soon.
Kurome removed Uzume from her lap, and lay her down on the floor. Before Uzume could respond, Kurome planted a kiss on her lips and straddled the former CPU of Planeptune.
"First, I think we need to help one another in the short term."