"Why are there so many hallways, chu?!"
"Uh, dude: When have cults not been trying to overcompensate?" Linda made a very valid point... not that it mattered to Warechu.
"ASIC."
"We weren't a cult."
Warechu dignified that with a sigh.
"I've seen plenty of cults, chu, and we were one of them."
"Name one cultish thing we did."
Warechu flat faced.
"We employed a pedo to ransom children."
"How was I supposed to know he'd try and take it too far?!" Linda spat, only for her buddy to rebuttal.
"What part of Trick ever said otherwise?"
"He was one of the CFW, like Magic: I believed - quite understandably too - that he might have had bigger plans like her."
"No... knowing him, he only ever had 'little' plans."
That got a grumble out of Linda, who rather than fueling the flames of her own loss further, opted to just cross her arms and slouch. Despite her toddler-esque appearance, Kurome herself couldn't really be bothered enough to get upset from the worthless argument between the pair: it was just the two of them doing their usual thing.
Rather, Kurome herself chose to keep her eyes peeled for anything... off.
This was one of the shrines hidden away, and according to Anonydeath the undead irritants were coming from this place. Most of the corridors looked the same as before, all dark and damp and all manner of other descriptions for cavernous walls held together only by wooden support beams. Strangely though, it felt almost ominous to stalk the halls knowing the place was abandoned.
They'd beaten the ever loving daylights out of the previous fools who'd challenged and captured them, and so Kurome doubted they'd choose to continue operations in this crumbling ruin anytime soon. This was also the first place where she'd unlocked the use of her delusions once more, and while she hadn't used that power much, she could still feel how it tingled just below the skin: wanting desperately to act up.
Stupidly though, Uzi was clinging to her a little, and the slightly spooked girl - through sheer similarity towards the woman she was dressed as - somewhat quelled the darkness within Kurome's own heart. Uzume would probably run these ruins dry for all their treasure, and yet Kurome herself felt no such pull.
"And this is where we were chained up."
A few minutes had passed, and in that time the group made it to an all familiar room; alter and all. A shrine dedicated to the letter X, and while that shape was often used as a symbol for removal of stopping, Kurome ironically had to admit that, had she not been captured, she'd probably not have awakened her powers again. In a way, the stupid monument was a reminder of just how dangerous she herself could be when pushed to the limit.
"It's a little... plain, isn't it?" Lonk didn't exactly seem all that in awe over the statue, and nobody could really blame him.
"Creativity clearly isn't this shrine's strong suit." Boss shook his head, sighing a little. "Somewhat disappointing honestly. Societies of the past often put massive amounts of work into their sculptures, but this feels almost wasteful of the flourished stone it uses."
Again, a reasonable expectation: something seemed wrong with the scene as a whole. Actually, now that their focus was on it, Uzu managed to let go of her pillar - Kurome's right arm - and take a couple steps closer.
"Huh..." She began, pausing with a conflicted face as her eyes settled on the lower right corner. "Hey, is it just me, or does that over there not quite look right?"
The point thereafter had drawn all eyes towards a strange looking crack along the lower right side nearing the floor, and Sonya made his way over. He ducked down, running his hand over the flaw, and noted something aloud.
"Strange... it feels somewhat warm." He stood, setting a hand on his hip as he looked over the rest of it. "And yet, nothing but chills haunt the air."
Uzi leaned over, whispering to Kurome.
"He's saying there's no place for warm air to come from." This was followed up by a quick thumbs up and a wink.
Thank you, I never would have guessed...
Perhaps she was being a little harsh on the girl: Uzi seemed slow enough, so Kurome debated internally whether she could really hold that idiocy against her. Then again, it was on brand for the bowl of idiots she'd found herself present with, and it was - as always - up to her to be the milk of sensibility.
"You said the two of you were captured here, yes?" Sonya was addressing her this time, and Kurome nodded and walked over.
"Yeah." Standing now before the wounded statue, the darker of the present Uzume pair drew in closer to observe the crack. She didn't know why the observation of it being warm amassed such an internal curiosity from her, but as she got closer, the urge grew stronger.
Without much prompt, she wordlessly reached down for the crack, only to pause. This... innate tugging from within had stilled, by only a bit, and yet it was enough to spring vigilance within her being.
Hold on... why the hell do I care if it feels warm?
Right as the question came, a 'pull' overcame her, and she discovered her inability to rip her arm away. It was slimy in its texture, the way her arm felt as though it were being drained of fluids. But it wasn't fluids being siphoned away, oh no, rather she recognised what was being so cheekily ripped from her body, as a certain dark energy was removed from her person via her own outstretched fingertips, as if it were a straw being sucked through.
Unable to move or breathe, Kurome could only watch with a hidden, desperate panic as every little bit of her built-up delusional energy was stolen.
"Yo... what are you seeing?" At least Linda had the awareness to question why she hadn't moved an inch for the past ten seconds, but it mattered little. The ability to breath and move again proved it was far too late to intervene.
Leaping back and sputtering a little on the floor again had earned the attention of everybody observing, all except the woman herself, who's eyes were locked firmly on the swell of darkness accumulating at the base of the X. Warechu saw where her eyes were pointed, and so focused his own pair on the shape outlined in shadows.
"What the hell, chu?!"
It was a response that had everyone turning on a heel, and all of them backed up a step, away from the overwhelming sense of raw uncontrollable power emanating from the figure who'd just started to take on a series of colors and shades. A deep savage blue, no different than Kurome's own shade, made up most of the visibly familiar outfit, as well as the twin tailed braids nearly floating in the non-existent winds around her.
Ironically, it was the boss who first broke the mold.
"Lady Purple Heart, is that you?"
The woman offered a motherly smile with her appearance, but paid no mind to the question presented by the miniature man. Instead, her eyes fell upon Kurome herself, who only now managed to pull herself up on her feet once more. Although wary, Kurome remained in place as the thing before them, who she could easily feel wasn't Neptune, addressed her.
"It's nice to see you again. It's been too long. I've missed you, so so much…" It sounded both stable and desperate at the same time, but even so, Kurome replied with the only thing on her mind: a question.
"Who are you?"
And like that, its face fell, and the darkness began to roll in. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.
.
.
"The what?!"
Neptune was... shocked, to say the least, and she made sure everyone else knew that.
"The pudding covered what?!"
"Unfortunately, this isn't such a simple case to deal with." Histoire was at least keeping it professional. Shifting her hand across the space before them, as if she were flipping a page, the scene shifted again.
Uzume and the newly discovered 'Dreamsy' were sitting around a campfire on what looked like the top of a building. Planeptower - its Heart dimension double anyway - sat imposingly behind them, and both looked to be munching down on what appeared to be some sort of soup. The stars above, although falsified like everything else in this world, twinkled with a light they really shouldn't have had.
With this reality being the prison for a goddess with the power to dominate all, most could guess that it bent and twisted based solely on Uzume's mood, as did Gamindustri back when she ruled the nation Neptune now claimed as her own. Ironically, it was only Uzume herself who stayed mostly ignorant of her true power, willing herself to forget time and time again to hopefully quell its uncontrollable effects.
"Huh..." Nepgear, while knowing it was obvious, couldn't help but state her feelings towards the scene. "For a villain, she looks almost... peaceful."
"Dreamsy wasn't always how we view her now." Histoire began, her expression twisting with pity. "And even now, I don't quite believe she's intentionally trying to do us harm."
This drew a suspicious eye from Noire.
"What do you mean?"
"Watch." Was Histoire's only word, and everyone zeroed in on the scene as Uzume stared up at the stars, opening her mouth after swallowing the last of her soup and set her bowl aside.
"Huh..." She plopped back, lying on the ground with arms spread lazily, with her eyes merely staring upwards as the lights above twinkled. "The stars are active tonight."
"Yeah." Dreamsy's voice was so similar to Purple Heart's, and while she didn't sound outright evil or whatever, it was somewhat disturbing in its off putting familiarity. It wasn't Purple Heart who was speaking, and yet the tone and delivery was a perfect copy of the real thing. Even so, Dreamsy as it were chose to observe the stars as well, and even reclined a little as she relaxed. "More sparkly than usual."
"I know." Uzume rested her arm behind her head, crossed them, and kicked up one leg over the other. Her mask took on a curious coat of paint. "Why is that?"
"Who knows? Maybe they're shining to let us know we aren't alone."
"You really think so?"
Dreamsy shrugged a little.
"Beats me."
"Not exactly the answer I was looking for." Uzume leaned up and cocked a brow. "No ideas at all?"
Dreamsy rolled her eyes, sitting up to meet her gaze.
"You've been here longer than me. If anyone knows what the twinkly stars mean, it's you."
Uzume's smile dropped a tad.
"I've... never seen them sparkle before." Her posture, while relaxed, seemed to twitch in a sluggish manner as her sight fell away. "I never really bothered to look: too busy with... getting used to things."
Dreamsy, sensing her friend wasn't in so great of a mood letting her mind wander, popped back into the conversation with a bit of playful flare.
"So it's a mystery both of us have to solve; that's okay then." Her somewhat chipper words tugged on Uzume once more, and the air of regression starting to form was stilled as she carried on. "Although, the stars are a little hard to reach." Her view shot towards the massive centerpiece standing over the city. "And I don't think the tower is high enough either."
This seemed to be enough for Uzume though, who tossed out a quick grin.
"Probably not, but if it can get us close enough, we might be able to see what's making them blink."
"We'll need some binoculars; the sky is pretty high up." Dreamsy's observation was followed up by Uzume's hard smirk.
"How about I do you one better? A telescope."
Dreamsy slapped her forehead, falling on her back with a grumble.
"Duh. I should have thought of that."
"It's cool." Uzume kicked herself up on her feet. "I sometimes forget the obvious answer too." Walking over, she offered a hand to her blue friend. "Wanna head over now? I think I saw a scope in one of the closets last time I was poking around."
"You went poking around without me?" Dreamsy took that hand, and both were standing.
"You were cooking; I had to do something that didn't involve bothering you."
"You're never a bother." That earned a slight twitch from Uzume, who spun away quickly.
"I-I know that. I just wanted to go looking for a few things: see if there were any extra supplies in the tower's kitchens and all that."
"And these things were in a closet containing a telescope?" Dreamsy had that cheeky sort of grin splattered across her face, and the sight of a usually proper and caring Purple Heart - even if she was a fake - sporting such a 'Neptune' look stirred up some conflicted emotions within the observing band of phantoms to the scene.
Uzume was fast with the save.
"Extra spoons, spatulas... things like that. You know: anything that might have been stored away and forgotten about." The excuse was paper thin, and yet, Dreamsy herself didn't seem to mind, even giggling a bit.
"Sure, I got you." Looking towards the tower, Dreamsy took on what was usually Neptune's signature pose, even pointing towards the grand structure, and earning secretly an awed look from Uzume. "Alright then, let's go find us a telescope. You hear that stars?" She shook her fist high above. "Your secrets are ours!"
With that, Dreamsy took hold of Uzume's hand, dragging her off and through a single door connecting the roof to the rest of the building, off in the corner.
"Well." Vert clapped a little, smiling carefully. "They look happy."
"They were." Hearing Histoire's tone drop ever so slightly again had the group... less than enthusiastic. Neptune, being Neputne, decided that if she was feeling something, or holding any curiosities whatsoever, she'd demand answers.
"Okay Histy, spill it: what's the part you're not telling us?"
The oracle looked apprehensive, her fingers twitching a little as she opted to try and open her mouth. But no words came out, and instead of trying again, she flicked her wrist. The scene shifted abruptly, and the pair were now in a forest of sorts. None really recognised which one it was, not even the Nep sisters, despite their familiarity with their nation. This, however, was a copy of the world, and probably one as Uzume herself remembered it, so it made sense they couldn't pick out every spot of the land.
"You sure?" Uzume was bathing in a small pond, surrounded by trees. There was a slight twitch in her eyes as she spoke. "I'll only be a couple of minutes."
"It's alright." Dreamsy said from the shore, stretching a little and tossing a look her way. "Besides, it's only us here."
"Yeah... only us."
Dreamsy caught on to the less positive litter said response filled the air with, and as she had before, tossed on a playful smirk.
"Although, I doubt we'll have this privacy forever. I'm betting that soon enough we'll see something out there."
"I wish." Uzume sighed, squatting down and flicking the water of the little stream with her hands. Why she chose to go commando and wash in such a small stream was beyond everyone, but one thing they had to admit though was that Uzume never changed. The present day equivalent would probably do the same, but seeing how she was just as smooth with pulling off the nude back in the day brought a little chuckle to both the Nep sisters - even if Noire couldn't fight off the embarrassment she felt at the sight.
"Don't be like that." Dreamsy whipped around, raising up both a hand and a thumb directed right at herself. "You found me, didn't you?"
"Yeah..." Uzume managed a grumble, but Dreamsy hit her with a sugary reply.
"Then we're bound to find others!" She settled down a notch, letting her grin fall into a comfortable crescent. "We're not alone in this world... you're not alone." With a tiny head tilt, it seemed as though the older looking woman had won the courage of the smaller, as Uzume rose both body and eyes with a miniscule, yet very much alive, thorn of hope.
Soon though, she let herself back down again, shaking her head, but unable to hide the grin clawing its way from within.
"Right... I guess that makes sense." Uzume chuckled a little, sitting fully and letting the running water rush on by, just below her hips. Her eyes shot back to Dreamsy, who winked and turned again. Before the blue one could take off however, the violet girl wished aloud.
"Just watch your back, okay."
"You got it." Dreamsy's joyous tone was almost infectious, and yet, there was something inherently wrong with the feeling everyone was getting. "Nothing can beat me down. I'll be back before you know it."
Everything seemed to freeze when she brushed past the trees, and off to who knows where.
"Okay... why does this all feel...?" Blanc appeared to be having a hard time finding the words to describe the tension surrounding everyone. Fortunately for her, Noire came in with the call.
"Melancholic?"
"Yeah." Blanc crossed her arms, staring at the treeline. "Its just so... it's almost cliché, in a way. We know she's sealed somewhere in Gamindustri, but we don't know when or how." Blanc squinted, looking around. "And I swear, something about this forest looks familiar."
Noire apparently agreed.
"Yeah, I feel like I've seen this spot of land before… or, at least something similar."
"Something is indeed off, but it appears as though our answer doesn't even belong here." Vert jumped in, her eyes narrowing as she spoke. "It starts in Heart Dimension. And, if I recall correctly, travel between it and everywhere else is impossible without the console we'd all taken care of before."
"Meaning the question we should be asking isn't only how she was sealed..." Noire grit her teeth. "But also how she ended up in Hyper Dimension."
Nepgear sent a look to her fairy guardian.
"Histoire, are there other ways to get to Hyper Dimension from Heart Dimension that we haven't heard of?"
"No, unfortunately there was only one way."
"Then how did she get here?" Nepgear paused afterwards, as Histoire was visibly having a harder time holding eye contact.
"She..." Histy stopped, sucking in a breath as she collected herself. Rather than continue, she looked over to Croire.
"Pardon, but can you-?"
"Not a problem." The usually less moral of the fairies floated over, patting Histoire on the shoulder. "Besides, this type of tragic stuff is my forte anyway. I'll take it from here."
"Thank you." With that, Histy backed off, letting Croire take center stage.
"So, just a quick refresher: you lot remember when we spoke about the scarring event, yeah?"
"Of course." Nepgear answered, and her tone twisted with muted wonder. "You said it made a rip in all dimensions where it opened, connecting them."
"Good, at least one of you sops was paying attention." Croire then rolled her wrist, and her face fell off carelessly. "But there was one thing I forgot to include in that statement."
"Huh?"
"I said before how I felt a swell of delusional energy, yeah." Croire crossed her arms, furrowing her brows as a scowl settled into place. "Well, after looking through all this, I learned that not only had those moron developers ripped a scar throughout every dimension imaginable, but that same scar shot all throughout time as well."
"I... don't think I follow." Nepgear wasn't the only one, and Noire made that exceedingly clear, albeit in a restrained sense.
"What do you mean 'all throughout time'? No, more importantly, why didn't you tell us this during the initial breakdown?"
"Exactly what it says, ladies." Croire whined, rolling her eyes with a heavy sigh. "Sheesh, with everything you dumbasses face on the daily, I didn't think you'd find time discrepancy so unbelievably; you travel between dimensions like it's a casual stroll and this is what tips you? Oh, and for the record, while I can easily get a quick look and feel of major events, but a scar like this is not usually something you deal with on a daily basis. Hell, I couldn't even see it clearly until I started looking into it personally; what I gave you before was, at best, a basic breakdown of what I remembered on the spot. Looking into the scar and what it actually did took a whole other level of focus. Shit's complex, you dig?"
"Perhaps you should give us a brief breakdown then, so such confusions don't repeat themselves?" Vert proposed, and Croire just huffed.
"Fine. Cutting to the important shit: the exact moment the scar tore through reality in its starting era and place, it swept through all of time of not only this dimension, but all the others as well, destroying anything not fundamental to the world, all in that one place. Past, present, and future: all time from its beginning to its end felt the effect."
"Destroying?" Nepgear tilted her head, and Croire nodded.
"Yep. Anything living, even plants, were totally annihilated. Everywhere except the instance in time where the scar originated, which is why those idiot developer scientists weren't blasted to vapors. And, as an added effect, everything got connected to the state of the space and time of origin. What this means, for those of you confused, is that throughout all of time in all dimensions where the scar connects, that lab those fools were working in would seem to suddenly appear in that space everywhere, in every dimension at the interconnecting spot. Seeing as they repurposed it into a shrine later on, which is now a ruin, it's safe to say that every other dimension and era has that same ruin now too, which Uzume herself proved when she took the stupid relic."
"I'm lost." Neptune piped up, and the dark fairy sighed.
"You know what? Think of it like its own mini dimension. Every world and era has that shrine, and everyone can go in, both meeting people from other worlds and times, and changing it. Once they leave though, they'll be back in their own world and time, exactly where they belong... Well, not all of them. The rules were different during the moment of the scar's creation." Croire tossed on a cheeky smirk. "Thing is, the initial annihilation of life only applied to the 'non-essentials' of the world. Believe it or not, goddesses themselves, and anything born from them are considered 'essential'. So, if a goddess-born being were to, say, be present within the place of the scar as it ripples out for the first time, what do you think would happen?"
"I... don't know." Nepgear didn't like the giddy look of near evil excitement on Croire's face, and yet she stayed quiet as the fairy spoke.
"If it can't be destroyed, it is instead returned to its 'base' state. For Dreamsy, well..." That smirk was downright malicious now. "See... delusional energy is the opposite of share energy, however it is also a by-product of its 'nicer' sister. When a goddess is born she releases a large amount of energy, but it isn't share energy that's released, it's delusional energy."
Something in Noire's mine almost visibly clicked, and her voice sped up as she interrupted the chronicler of disaster.
"Hold on, didn't you say you were originally alerted to the scarring by a massive amount of delusional energy suddenly appearing out of nowhere?"
"Bingo!" Croire laughed aloud, settling down with a dark smile. "I was tipped off because a huge swell of delusional energy suddenly popped in place... but not where it was initially supposed to be. Starting to catch on to what that means?"
"Maybe... but that means Dreamsy-"
"How about~" Croire shot her hand up, and the scene showed a curious depiction of the woman Noire was speaking of, Dreamsy, standing in the forest and sitting on a rock; apparently relaxing for a bit. "We take a look at the show itself? After all, pure energies caught up in the scar are drawn to the point it was initially created, both in dimension, and time."
Before any could respond, the world itself flooded with a blinding white light.
Author's note
...
Ah shit, here we go again.
So... this was some tomfoolery, and I'm certain many of you are confused. Croire, as expected, gave a very technical breakdown of what the hell happened, and honestly, it's kind of hard to follow, I know.
Next chapter should make it a bit easier, but for the sake of alleviating some of the headaches I'm sure many are having: think of the scar as a hallway between both space, and time. Is this a super complex creation? Probably, but it's fairly simple in practice for this story, as you'll see in the next chapter.
What about the ruins, murals, and even skeleton army? Again, next chapter.
Also, sorry this one was late, I'm starting to feel burnout myself for once, but something as small as that won't stop me - it just means chapters might be late by a day or two.
Anyway, I'll see you later.