"And we're certain of this?" Vert wasn't so keen on expending efforts into a simple rumor alone, but Blanc seemed to have already expected this.

"We are." The words were a little fuzzy coming from the monitor's speakers, but that was more born from a lack of use; perhaps getting them fixed up would be a good idea, then again that would take time, and 4GO was having its expansion released later this week. Though a little crusty, the monitor would be well enough for now. "Though different, the architecture was an almost exact match."

"But the shrine was supposedly built after the creation of the 'scar', as a way to seal it... that is, if I'm recalling the report from Noire correctly."

Blank wore a doubtful look, not so much questioning Noire, but rather the conflicting information at hand.

"These new ruins we found... there's no doubt they were made by the same people."

"Yes... that is concerning." Vert couldn't help but tap at her chin, holding it up as she focused, delving deep into her mind and shoveling those ideas into words. "While containing the scar and relics made sense for the previous shrine, why build another?" She looked up, her eyes set on Blanc as a look encompassed her own face. "And it holds similar carvings?"

"Yes." Blanc was no less concerned than herself. "Same as what the others told. Although, there was another one this time." The brunette's eyes narrowed, lips twisting downwards at the corners. "A figure of some sort of... thing. It looked human, or, at least we think it does; nothing like Neptune though. Neither the twins or I can accurately describe what it looks like, only that it's a woman." The scowl fell off a little this time. "The best way to describe it, would be like Neptune's goddess form, but more ragged, like she was falling into literal pieces."

"I see." Vert did not like the sounds of that, especially with her own report on her lips. "So it is the same as ours, burning landscape and all."

"You've found one too?"

"Yes, albeit much less direct." Vert recalled the images taken of the small cavern hobble. "Most of the carvings on our end were lost to the wear and tear of time, but that one image remained. We did pick out something else though, as just before that particular picture, the scuffed image before had some part of it still intact; a heart. I'm certain you know of which I speak."

"From the initial shrine, yes. Question is, what does any of it mean." Blanc shifted in her seat, and Vert watched keenly curious as her eyes lost sight, twisting her thoughts about like a player searching for the final piece of their puzzle. "It's clearly outlining a story, but what one, and why?"

"Maybe we all need to do a little more digging?" Vert suggested, although not entirely out of goodwill; ten minutes and the raid would begin, and she wouldn't be missing that.

"Fair enough. Send me those pictures you've got; I want to do a bit of comparison between them and my own."

"Very well." With a few clicks and the such, Vert had the collection of photos sent out, and she offered a mild smile. "Done, now if you'll pardon me, I have some work to take care of myself."

"Alright. I'll let you and the others know if I find anything." With that the call came to an end, and Vert sighed in relief.

Cutting it far too close. Even still, she had about five or so minutes to spare, and so shifted her mouse to another folder, clicking it open to absorb some of her more... lucrative habits. Confoundingly, it was not artworks of masculine 'wrestling' she'd delved into, but rather the very images she'd meant to send Blanc.

What is... oh... oh dear me. She left the folder, and clicked into another; the very one she'd just sent her friend and fellow goddess. Yes, there they were, rugged and messy as she so loved. Fast she was with sending out the proper folder through a different email, more keen to rectify the mistake at hand.

Hopefully Blanc wouldn't judge that little blunder too harshly. It would surely make the next few meetings... awkward, in a sense, but it was nevertheless an honest slip up. At least now Blanc would receive her proper resources, along with an apology.

.

.

The hell?! Blanc wasn't exactly sure what she was looking at, at least at first.

Before her sat a drawing of two men doing... things. Tastefully, the main visible aspect between the two was the intense, emotional kiss of passion, with bits of foliage and fire covering the more revealing aspects of the scene. Clearly, this was a fumble on Vert's part, and while it spoke to her more perverse activities behind the scenes, Blanc wouldn't exactly blame the woman; everyone had their curiosities and needs, and it just so happened that Vert kept hers on hand a little more openly than most.

Rugged rogues huh? Always thought you were a pretty-boy lover. Assuming such might have been a tad unfair, but even so, it was no less strange to learn of such intimacies from her fellow leader. However there was something oddly familiar about the man on the right. The faint hair across his chest, that wildly mane, and the clean-shaven shadow of facial hair; she'd seen this man before.

Where have- wait... Her eyes widened immensely as realization slapped her, and then it slapped her again, and again, and so on. Slowly, bit by bit, her face twisted, and she was, as they say, seeing red. That was a bit disingenuous though, as it implied she could see period. No, Blanc was blinded red with flames of rage and other such metaphors of anger. In the twin's room, drawn on their wall was a bastardized variant of this same man, pointed ears and all. Most telling of all however was the X scar across his bare chest, just above the heart, and low and behold, the drawing by her younger sister's bore that same mark.

Every so often she'd allowed Vert to watch over the twins, usually at times where she was swamped with work, and it seemed as though that choice had come to backfire. Vert had, whether she meant too or not, corrupted her innocent younger sisters with scenes of lust, and Blanc wasn't about to let that slide next they met. Cow-tits would rue the day she infected Rom and Ram... Blanc was just a little bit mad.

Count your days, you desperate pervert. Nobody... NOBODY taints my little girls, bitch... especially not some top-heavy sow!

.

.

"Hello?" She wasn't sure what she saw, but with how desolate the streets were, Uzume was a little more sensitive to change. She'd seen it, the shift in the air, she knew she did. She wasn't imagining it, she couldn't be, not with how empty this world was. "Is anybody there?"

Nobody answered, which the girl kind of expected really, but even so, the need to search for the source of the light was ever growing. Change was a rare commodity, and one that was not so easily overlooked. Uzume wandered through the streets, turning the corner where the shadow had fled... or rather, where she believed the shadow fled. And so it was that Uzume walked on, and once more caught sight of it. The shadow was tiny, and sitting against a wall, and so she rushed for it.

Her disappointment really shouldn't have come as a surprise when she grasped at it, finding it was merely a dead leaf, blowing aimlessly in the wind, and illuminated against the false sun above. Empty was her prison, created solely to keep her powers in check. At least the leaf was true of its form, albeit a replication of memory like everything else in her space.

"Oh, its just you, huh..." She looked up, trying to pretend she felt some change in the air, as if she could believe it while knowing the lie. "Has winter come so soon." A tired smile fell in place, just as real as everything else in eyesight. "No snow again? If only we were so lucky back home. But then, I suppose this is our home now, right little leaf? Heh, look at me now, speaking to something that isn't even real."

She tossed the little flicker of lies away, watching as it crumbled to dust, and then into nothingness. Afterwards she turned back, leaning against the wall of brick and looking outwards to the street. How long had it been, a year, two, ten even, how long had she been subject to this little slice of reality? But it was the price to be paid, for both the safety and prosperity of her citizens. In time they would forget her, and her access to shares would then fade, allowing her worthless, evil life to meet its just end.

She only need wait, and while that didn't sound so bad on its own, it was dreadfully lonesome.

Once upon a time Uzume tried her hand at forging a friend, just something to keep her occupied until the day her nation finally forgot her, but that ended in a fit of nothingness. She could not willingly conjure an ally, not when she knew them an impossibility to begin with. People may hold beliefs and ideas of things in the world, and while that was normal and safe for them, it was not so simple for Uzume.

Beliefs become reality in her presence, whether she wanted them to or not.

And so, what better holding is there than a prison where nothing can hide, and where ideas cannot foster? She was alone here, with no life whatsoever, and so her power would keep it that way. Heck, the only reason this city could exist was because she forgot if she made the world with any form of entertainment to keep her company in her dying years. Knowledge of this dimension was sparse upon her first wake many assumed years back, but slowly, she'd regained all her memories... and then, one by one, as if by design, they began to fade away; a cruel, yet expected, pattern in this wasteland.

Histoire helped her forge this pocket dimension long ago, in the hopes she'd never be able to hurt anyone ever again. The little, angelic fairy was so kind, so caring, and with that care she worried greatly. However, the oracle knew the choice was not hers, but Uzume's to make, and so she went along with it, sealing the aspect of carnage away forever.

A loving companion, unlike the rest of Gamindustri.

"You still love me, right road?" Asking the potentially fake path probably wouldn't yield results, but even so she tried anyway; with sanity wavering, one would be forgiving of these oddities had they been around. "Or are you scared of me too?" She chuckled lightly, and as breath escaped began muttering thoughts aloud; none could hear them here, so there was no risk of drawing unwanted attention. "You know, maybe if I'd made a few NPC's to play around with, I might not be so bored. Probably should have just made this place my own personal game; wouldn't be losing my mind if I did."

And then a thought slipped in, unwarranted, yet so deceivingly realistic; enough to prompt another spark of idea.

"Then again... who's to say I didn't?" She rubbed her hand against the pavement, taking in the rough, yet realistic feeling across her fingertips. "Why would I make a city free of people. They'd be fake, but... they'd still be here, wouldn't they?"

Again, asking the road was par for the course and a sign of insanity, but she didn't care right now, not when her desperate mind was racing. She couldn't recall everything from this prison's creation, at least at this point here and now, but reasoning dictated that if she made it resembling her home, then there had to be something living here, right? Even if they were mere programs or machines created to fill the role of people and things, they had to be somewhere, certainly.

She'd seen nobody, and the forests were barren, or were they? Uzume had spent all her time in this single city, believing nothing else awaited her in this empty world, but perhaps that wasn't quite true. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that something existed here besides herself; a something that, at the very least, mimicking life.

Uzume stood, brushing her violet bangs from her face, one that now bore the lively expression of unstoppable will. She would discover if life or illusions of such was out there, and she was going to start that trek right now.

"Don't wait up for me; I might be gone a while!" Again she was talking to the road, but that didn't matter, not when her heart bloomed with the need to run, and a hope as beating as her run was intense. Perhaps she really was crazy, but dying crazy was infinitely better than dying a husk, at least for her.

.

.

"Ugh." Kurome felt a mild bit of discomfort as her eyes forced themselves open, and she felt a shifting on her lap.

"Oh, are you okay?" Dergil asked, his feminine voice coming a little too harsh for the stirring woman.

"Easy there lil' bro, she's just waking up." Vante sounded so casual, and Kurome started to wonder why, until a bump under her seat reminded her she was on the road. She then tried to brush away the remnants of sleep from her eyelids, and then asked the appropriate question.

"Where are we?"

"About twenty minutes from the city. You slept like a puppy there, dosing off around ten or so minutes after coming from the gate I believe."

The gate... right. She couldn't exactly recall much after they went through, and just accepted that he was probably right. The gate had been a strangely plain thing in and of itself, looking like a massive golden ring. At first one wouldn't be blamed for assuming it was just a decoration, and then they drew closer, and the landscape beyond began to shift and blur with a white tint. Passing through felt strange, and what was stranger still was the sight of it on the other side.

A black fog blurred the road for a few seconds after passing through, and then it cleared. Kurome recalled asking about it, and Vante informed her that it was the 'pollution' released from the gate. Apparently this fog would fade over time, but it would also leave some remnants in the air that lingered invisibly for a few months, which could harm the surrounding forest if was allowed to keep piling up. Keeping the gate use limited to only a few scarce trips every few months allowed the brute of the pollution to disperse, even if it was a little inconvenient.

Then again there was no use destroying the land for the sake of convenience alone.

"Sure... okay." A little groggy, but that would pass. Most concerningly was the dream however, as these buggers had a disturbing fascination with her past it seemed. Heck, it had been a while since she'd dreamed period, and she had a sneaking suspicion it was a sign of something. Pessimistic as it may be, Kurome was suspecting something 'not so swell' was afoot, and she didn't like it.

"Easy there, how about we take a moment at the next stop to relax and stretch our legs a bit?" Vante sounded a little bit lazy, but it wasn't a bad idea.

"Sounds good." Kurome said, making herself comfortable; well, as much as she could with a kid on her lap anyway.

The ride from here on was around fifteen minutes, which consisted of five minutes driving through the forest, and a subsequent ten through what she assumed was the city aforementioned. Tall highways swirled about... well, by 'swirled' she meant 'enacted sharp turns while raising in elevation'. Really, it was like looking at a computer chip, with all its connections making angular turns to go here and there. The roads almost seemed like they were floating even, at least from below. Kurome found herself impressed as they drove up one of said highways, and was able to see how the road was, indeed, floating without any supports. Crossing along, the cityscape below seemed like a field of grass, one which consisted of cement squares.

They slowed soon enough, and Kurome made her way out, and walked to the end of the path, past the station they stopped at. A metal railing - barred heavily even - was set up to prevent falls, and she leaned over to look down at the landscape below.

"Fine view, ain't it?" She turned away at the loud call, seeing Vante in the midst of filling the transport truck. Being so far away she elected to raise a thumbs up rather than shouting back, and then turned back to the view.

There was something so... freeing about the view, almost like casting off your worries and restraints to stand above the world as a whole. She recalled her time unified with Uzume, and remembered distinctly how strange it felt to walk the holographic roads of Planeptune, and to look through the transparent platforms to the more solid groundwork of the main city streets. These were different however, and being made of solid material probably had a hand in this. It felt more... human, in a way; much less ethereal than the advanced nation she'd previously run back in her time. Knowing Planeptune was still leagues ahead of even Leanbox should have made her happy, as it had Uzume and Neptune. However Kurome, now as a separate entity again, couldn't help but feel something was lost in that advancement.

The binds that reminded her of the people below were lost when even the pathways were so divine.

"You coming?" Kurome paused her introspection to look down at the girly boy by her side, and sighed to herself.

"Yeah, I'll be right over." She'd meant to take one last look out to the city, but before she could do that little Dergil shoved something in her face. Stopping a second to focus, she saw it was a red lolly, almost exactly the same type she let him take from before.

"Here, I got you one too."

"Uh huh..." Kurome looked at the thing for a second, and then took it, offering a little smile to him secretly. "Thank you."

He just nodded, and with a grin he wandered off back to the truck. Kurome let herself unwrap the little bit of candy, and then slipped it into her mouth. The sharp tang of strawberry was a curious delight; she'd fully expected the usually sweet variant, and this simple change made the syrup-based ball all the more appealing. She'd give the kid credit, he had taste, and it was certainly better than the blue one from before; most times it was the blue raspberry flavor which was sharp, but this was a new style embracing her tongue.

With a slightly more chipper mood, much of which was due to candy - Uzume's habits live on even now - she made for the truck... only to pause and redirect herself to the pit-stop.

"Kurome?" Vante called, and she responded with a raised hand. It was not the hand of one telling him to leave, nor a signal of major distress. No, the gesture was one of crossed fingers, which meant one thing near universal to all who watched their friends head into pit-stops.

Bathroom break.

Author's note

...

Okay, so I know this chapter is a little heavier on the subjects, with only some jokes to go around, but come on, I need to move the plot along at some point.

Hopefully this was interesting, but that's for you all to decide. On another note, I've noticed an influx of Kurome appreciation popping up randomly across the internet... and then dying off again just as unpredictably; weird. Probably some Nep-news I'm unaware of, but whatever, it's cool.

Anyway, that's all for now. See you next time.