"I mean... it's not that bad."

Uni just grumbled, and Uzume questioned if perhaps she'd not sounded sincere enough. Then again, who could blame her when dealing with the artworks of Rom and Ram. Of course, this mattered little when Big Nepsy chose to lean in and whisper to her.

"I think you laid it on a tiny bit stale."

Really, how could you tell?

It was a rhetorical question, because damn, while the twins apparently took heart in the rubble of clay they called a statue, Uni sure as hell didn't. Why they'd insisted on constructing such a beast in the public park of Planeptune's main city… that was another mystery she felt might never be solved.

Uzume had much earlier been wandering the streets, taking in the sights as she contemplated what to do with herself. She hadn't been alone in this endeavor, as the much older looking Neptune had decided to join her on this particular walk. The city streets were relatively calm for ones dealing with a sudden influx of the undead, but strangely enough, the lifeless fiends had yet to properly attack the city outwardly.

Now, that didn't mean they'd been entirely absent however; they were still causing a ruckus somewhere.

Originally, Uzume herself questioned what made the few places targeted so special, because from the outset it appeared to be a series of random destruction and theft. There was almost no common ground between any of the raids being dished out... Well, that was a bit of a lie: there was one similarity between most of them.

There were eggplants.

But realistically, Uzume ended up chalking that towards pure coincidence; skeletons can't eat, so why the hell would vegetables matter to them? Oddly, Big Nep had a few things to say in regards to her first mentioning that similarity, and she'd spoke offhandedly about how Nepsy - the original - recently had them banned from the nation; clearly, she hadn't done all that good a job if there was still so much floating around in the system.

Aside from Nepsy making common household vegetables illegal, Big Nep hadn't been able to delve deeper into things. Despite the weird coincidence of the veggies being present in some form around the attacks, neither of the women were able to connect the eggplants to the skeleton attacks in any reasonable way; let alone mash it in with the legality of them, or why Nepsy thought banning them would be a good idea.

It was during this line of thought they'd come across the CPU candidates: Rom, Ram, and Uni. Next thing they knew, the pair were seated on a park bench while the twins showed off a clay statue of Blanc they'd been working on: a 1/6th scale of their older sister, seated innocently on the grass. And here Uzume was now, thinking of whether to tell the twins the truth, or spare their feelings and say the work of 'art' looks great.

"So...?" Ram hopped over with a smirk. "Pretty sick right!"

"Is it cool?" Rom followed up quickly, leaving the other three to just stare more at the colorless piece.

To pay credit where it was due, it at least looked like Blanc in theory; the general shape was there... if you were looking at it from far away. Where it all fell apart was everywhere else. First of all, the clay they used was a deep purple color, and seeing as Blanc was usually dressed in bright shades, it already came off a bit weird. That wouldn't be too bad on its own, but the face appeared to have been pushed through a shredder with how haphazardly each of the 'details' were chiseled in.

Taking into account how none of the limbs or pieces were uniform in any shape or way, you had a recipe for disaster.

"Well?" Ram curled a brow, apparently getting tired of waiting. "Tell us what you think already."

"Please." Just when Ram alleviates some of the guilt she was feeling about the honest path, Rom just had to come in and remind Uzume that the mess they were looking at was a labor of love. Seeing as hurting a child's self esteem was totally uncool by her books, Uzume accepted her fate.

"It's kickass." Hopefully that would tide over well.

"Really?" Ram crossing her arms with a crooked face didn't help in regards to anything Uzume was hoping for. "You sure you mean that? Because you sound like a dead fish."

"It's okay... you can tell us if it looks bad."

No I can't. Especially not with Rom wearing that droopy face. Gritting her teeth, Uzume prepared to push all her tension back. Damnit.

"I mean it." She started again, trying her best to smile. "It looks good."

"Yeah..." Ram's eyes narrowed. "Still not convinced."

"Are you okay?" Rom sounded genuinely worried there. "You look tired."

"Is it that obvious?" Stifling a chuckle, Uzume chose to just spill the beans. "Sorry, I haven't been feeling too good lately."

"Are you sick?" Rom stepped over, reaching up to feel her forehead. Uzume let a small smile slip in place as the girl pulled away, and she shook her head.

"Nah, it's not that." Taking a moment to steady herself, Uzume pushed out a breath. "I'm just... a little worn out. I've been like it for a week now, so don't worry."

"Really?" Ram laid her hands on her hips. "A week's a long time. Are you sure you don't have the flu or something?"

"I don't know." Uzume couldn't help but sigh. "I just feel..."

"Empty inside?"

"Yeah, that." Uzume was relieved they understood... until she realized that voice didn't belong to any of her friends. Looking up, she was mildly confused to see Neptune ahead, sporting her HDD transformation too. "Oh, hey Nepsy. Is something wrong?" She then paused, taking note of another oddity. "When did you change color?"

Neptune's face twisted a bit.

"I haven't."

"No, Uzume's right." Uni quirked a brow. "You're usually more purple than this. What gives?"

"Yeah, I thought purple was your favorite color." Ram slipped on a smirk afterwards. "Oh, wait, I know what's going on." Crossing her arms, the little girl puffed her chest. "You've finally grown bored of purple. Was it too 'eggplant' for you?"

Neptune looked to grimace.

"While I loathe those vile things, no, that is not the reason. In fact, I don't believe we've been acquainted."

Uzume felt a strange 'something' swell up in her guts as Neptune tossed on a downer look.

"I have to say, I'm a little disheartened that you didn't tell them about me."

"What?" Uni sent a glance to Uzume. "Hold on, did something else happen with Neptune? What's she talking about?"

"I don't know." Uzume really didn't. Looking ahead, she saw Neptune twitch again as she said that. Uzume herself certainly didn't remember anything new happening to Nepsy, so what was her friend going on about? "You didn't mention trying on new looks a few days ago."

"A few days ago..." Again there was this 'twitch' to her, but it was more mellowed out this time. "You... you really don't recognise me?"

"Are you getting any of this?" Big Nep whispered, and Uzume opted instead to just put out her response plainly.

"I'm not exactly getting what you're putting down." Uzume wanted to say she was feeling irritated... but she wasn't. That odd feel in her gut, it was twisting with every exchange. It was like fear, but without the innate worry to accompany it. Outwardly, Uzume took a step forward; hopefully this was just another one of Nep's pranks... but then again, she didn't exactly transform just for a joke. "C'mon Nepsy, I know you like pulling my leg, but it doesn't exactly work when I don't even know what the kicker is."

"I see."

Nepsy actually looked a little sad. It sucked, but what was she supposed to do? Nep was acting weird. Although, seeing her friend looking so down left a sour taste in her mouth, and so Uzume decided she'd do her best to make up for her probably lack of attention later; there was a chance Neptune had mentioned something like this - unfortunately, Uzume had a bad habit of tuning things out unintentionally from time to time.

Starting her walk over, Uzume had the bright idea to comfort her friend for the failure she'd just contributed... whatever it was she'd been planning for them. This was, unfortunately, interrupted by the staggering pain in her chest. Flying back a good ways, Uzume actually crashed through the bench she'd been sitting on before.

"Uzume!" Three cries rang out, but that wasn't exactly being registered by the named individual.

Augh! Damnit!

That hurt, like, a lot. Twisting on her side a little, she could hear some sort of ruckus as she tried to push herself up, and based on the tone, she assigned that voice to Ram.

"Hey! What the heck gives!?"

Who was then followed up by Uni.

"The hell was that for!?"

The soft voice from right beside her had Uzume turning her head, catching sight of Rom kneeling down on her left side, clearly worried.

"Miss Uzume, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She spat through gritted teeth. Okay, so that was a total lie, but she wasn't exactly planning to worry the candidates. While she tried to stand again, she could hear clashing behind her, followed by Big Nep's blatant anger.

"Not cool, mini-me!" More clashing and clanging of blades ate up whatever other noise tried to slip into the air. "Pranks are only fun when our friends are laughing!"

Uzume managed to get on her knees, only to grasp at her stomach, and based on the pulsing pain around the area she assumed this was where Nepsy struck. It was like having the wind knocked from her... along with shattering several ribs on top of it. Neptune had never been strong enough to do that before; even during their more serious sparring matches Nep's hits had always been bearable. This though... It was like a sting was constantly rippling across the skin.

While processing this new form of pain, Uzume had turned around.

The music of battle had faded away, and this was because Nepsy had taken hold of her larger counterpart's swords. One blade per hand, being held tight enough that the mistress of dual-wielding appeared to be struggling. Big Nep might only have been human, but she had enough strength to duel with her divine counterpart and all other monsters in between. So to see her struggling not to lose her blades was a surprise, and add onto the fact that Nepsy proper didn't even look to be sweating… Needless to say, it all had Uzume a tiny bit worried.

Soon after though, she threw Big Nep aside, and the woman went skidding back to Ram's side: glaring.

"What the hell, Nepsy!?" Uzume took to her feet again, though painful it was. "So I forgot whatever you told me: why is that such a big deal!?"

"You can't even remember my name."

"What?" Uzume was a little taken aback, and this feeling was emboldened when Nepsy softly shook her head.

"I really believed our relationship together was special, but if I'm the only one capable of remembering it then I can't help but wonder if such a thing was even real to begin with."

"Nepsy... I don't get it."

"Dreamsy."

"Huh?"

"Does that name mean anything to you?" Nep had... actually lowered herself to the ground now; while clashing with the larger variant of herself she'd been partially hovering, but right now she'd landed. Neptune was always floating, usually without thinking about it, meaning the act of grounding herself was intentional. Uzume didn't know what it meant, but Nep kind of looked about ready to cry.

"I..." Uzume had nothing. Not a thought came to mind, and the only thing she could cough up was a measly apology. "Sorry."

"... So I really am just a distant memory." Her despair fell, and in its place sat a stale apathy.

"I mean that Nep, I'm sorry." Something about that look... It wasn't good. It was bad; not just an 'uh oh' bad, but... bad. Neptune never said a word, just looking their way. "Nepsy?"

"Don't talk to me, p-please." Stuttering a little near the end, a minor twist perked the side of her lip; not quite a smile, but the forced edgings of a grin, though it appeared to be filled with sorrow. "It was my fault for having hope in the first place; I must own this flaw, so that I may never make such an error again."

"Nep... look, I-"

"Please." Neptune held up her hand. "Stop speaking. You're already dead, so there's no use in pretending you're not."

"W-what?" Uzume was shocked; 1000 volts of raw betrayal tearing across her skin.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

Uni had never screamed so loud in her life, even during the moments she wanted to most. Sure, Neptune liked to take her jokes a little far from time to time, but this was beyond acceptable. Even Noire had never acted so cold, especially with Uzume. And that bitch, Neptune, had the audacity to look at her with disgust. Well, she could look all she wanted, because there was no way Uni was ever letting anyone get away with the bullshit she just said.

It's one thing to joke with friends, but it's a whole other thing to tell them to die.

"You know, I'm usually on your side most times, seeing as we're essentially the same person..." At least the larger Neptune shared her sentiment. "But this is a whole new level of cruelty."

Neptune never said a word; in fact, she'd slowly turned her eyes away after a second, back onto Uzume. But Big Nep was no slouch when it came to making noise, and rightfully called out again.

"Hey! I'm talking to you here!"

"Yeah!" Ram joined the fray too, apparently; just as upset as the rest of them. "What makes you think you can suddenly start being a jerk?!"

Neptune responded this time: sighing with droopy eyelids.

"I thought you were at least intelligent enough to know your place, but it seems your kind was never wise when it came to understanding its own irrelevance." Her eyes were piercing. "What makes you believe, so desperately, that you have the right to address me directly?"

OH THAT IS IT!

Uni was formally ready to dish out a prim and proper ass whooping... only, she found herself unable to move. Each limb was crushed together as she was squeezed, and Uni's afterward attempt to yell was stifled by a stiff sort of bar jamming itself into her mouth. Solid and black, the bar went across, however it was just large enough to keep her teeth held open, with the hole through the middle allowing her to at least breath.

"Miss Uni!" Rom's scream was enough to alert the other two, who before having a chance to move, were similarly accosted by some weird black skeletons of all things.

"H-HEY!" Big Nep had the best outward attempt at escaping their grasp, what with her constant squirming and half-leaps, but in the end a second creature just jumped in to keep her down. As was with Uni herself, the skeleton shoved its arm into the woman's mouth, preventing talk of all forms.

Looking over Uni could see the same fate befall Ram, who was almost cradled in the thing's lap, but otherwise rendered incapable of calling out. She didn't even need to look back to see the same thing had happened to Rom, but as she looked anyway Uni noticed that the creatures hadn't covered Uzume's mouth. Uzume herself looked just as stunned as she was heartbroken moments ago, and as if on cue, Neptune began speaking again.

"Why do you animals cultivate so much self-importance? Seeing yourselves as beyond the mere beasts you are." Now, everyone could deal with the mean streak, the tasteless jokes, and even the spooky skeletons holding them down… which tickled a familiarity just out of reach for some reason - as if it should have been easily noticeable what said creatures entailed, and they were just too lost in shock to not notice the huge hint that would tell them what was happening. What they could not handle, however, was what was going on around them.

As panic picked up in the background and smoke began to cloud the sky, everyone started to finally look at the situation as they should have from the beginning. Neptune loved her citizens and nation more than anything barring blood and above, so hearing the sounds of chaos, and seeing the skeletons out causing destruction nearby looking the same as the ones binding them down acted as a perfect wake-up call. Neptune would never endanger her people like this all for some stupid joke, which obviously meant...

The woman they were speaking with wasn't Neptune.

"But the creatures of the wild... I can forgive them. They merely act on instinct, whereas you monsters choose to act out. You invent means of cruelty and malice, designed solely for eradicating and torturing yourselves simply because you can, and over superficial nonsense such as illusions of power." A dark, menacing glow seeped from the woman's pores. "I've been watching you all for so, so long, and if there's one thing I know about your sorry excuse of a species, it's that you'll only cause more pain if left unchecked."

Uni wanted so badly to say something, anything to snap the bitch out of her tirade. But no, their current captor just kept ranting.

"I once imagined the creations of people, do you know that, Uzume?" Her head shot towards their friend, and the face alone looked to be stuttering between excitement and strangulation, as if her neck were being rung out and she was loving it. "The tall buildings, the parks and roads; hell, even the other minor creations like their fashion and toys. I thought that maybe, maybe they'd be capable, at least a little, of doing some good! I believed they cared about each other, that kindness was ingrained within their very beings, and that they only acted out from time to time because it was the world that was violent and forced them to be that way."

The tiny shards of happiness holding the mask together broke off, leaving naught but a sprinkle of their former selves as their opponent collected herself.

"But that was before they took me away. I still believed in everything though, even as the years went by, and the people waged wars over their own idiotic desires. I thought that, maybe, they just needed a guiding hand, like you had been for me. I watched all of this for years… drawing in all the despair and hatred of every conflict, be they mortal or divine. And still, despite all this, I held onto my own beliefs; refusing to accept the facts, even as the world drowned itself in a never ending sea of delusion." Uzume's breath hitched, but the woman ignored it. "I still held hope that, when you found me, you'd save me. You'd call my name and pull me back into the light, showing me the warmth I'd given you back when we first met. Clearly, I was wrong."

"I'm sorry."

Uzume really was, even as she saw the last remnants of care slowly fight for a place on their keyholder's face. Unlike the rest of her friends, Uzume was not held outwardly by boney limbs from full on creatures. No, instead the unbreakable grips keeping her in place grew from underneath the ground itself, stretching out to keep her from moving. Her goddess strength alone should have been enough to upend them, but the delusional energy within the air was blotting out her body's access to share energy. This had never happened before, and perhaps that was what worried Uzume the most.

She couldn't even transform.

"I know." The woman wearing Neptune's skin seemed to gain a small light within her eyes: honest and pure. "You couldn't help separating, and did so out of a desire to save your people. Your kindness and love had always been strong, and even when you lost your mind, your very soul split its essence apart in a last ditch effort to protect those it loved. I believe forgetting me wasn't your fault: you'd never forget someone by choice. But that doesn't change the fact that you did forget, and what that means for you."

"Dreamsy, right?" Uzume called, as caring and regretful as she could make it sound, because even without her memory of this person, her heart still felt something towards her.

The woman stared, only to then smile as tears flowed down her cheeks. Softly, she sucked in another breath, before reaching a single hand out.

"Yes, that is my name… although, you only know it because I told you." Her voice was cracking. "S-still... Thank you. P-please, Uzume: close your eyes."

"Why?" Her instincts were going haywire at the moment, and if there was one thing Uzume had always trusted, it was her gut.

"Because try as you might, you cannot bring back the woman you once were." Dreamsy's breathing evened out again, with the tone dropping into a more somber one. "Uzume Tennouboshi died during the split. Please, close your eyes."

"B-but I'm right here!" Yeah, that feeling she couldn't identify: it was dread. But not just dread; no, that would be too simple. It was tossed up with slices of yearning too. "I might not remember, but that doesn't matter. Please, we can be friends again. We liked each other the first time right? So even without my memories, I'm sure we can still be pals!"

The smile on her own face dropped as Dreamsy's rose.

"Even when dead, you still try to make others happy. It's okay though, I've accepted the truth: the Uzume I knew has long since been buried. It must have been hard, pretending to be someone you're not for so long, even going so far as to try and become one again. It's okay though, I'm here, and I'll make sure you get the rest you deserve."

A creep of terror sprang up in Uzume's heart as she saw the pitch black spike forming before Dreamsy's hand; a spear of solid shadow.

"You don't have to worry anymore about trying to be her."

"W-wait! Hold up a second!" Uzume struggled harder now, using every ounce of her power to fight against the skeletal chains binding her wrists and ankles. "Y-you don't have to do this!"

"But I do." Dreamsy's expression sank in with motherly pity. "I can't go on watching you suffer like this. I know you want to help people and make the world right, but such a weight should not be on your shoulders. You died protecting them once, and I won't let them torture you a second time."

Her coddling raised every single hair along the back of Uzume's neck, who could only watch, horrified, as the spear crackled with violet lightning; even the fires now sprouting up in the background of the city surrounding the park, and the screams of innocent civilians running for their lives, couldn't keep Uzume's eyes from locking frightfully to the weapon.

"It's okay, it won't hurt a bit; it'll be like sleeping again, and you'll just feel a little bit tired." Dreamsy's eyes watered as the light flickered within the glassy orbs, and one final crackle of lighting ripped itself across the surrounding air. "Goodbye, Uzume..."

Right then the spear rocketed forth, shredding the distance between them in less than a second, but not before Dreamsy's final words hit her ears, as was the death sentence soon to hit her too.

"I love you."

Her breathing ceased, and for what seemed like forever, Uzume was surrounded by nothing but darkness. Dreamsy hadn't lied: there was no pain... and yet, she could still feel the cold, ridged, and boney fingers of her captors around her wrists and ankles. It was this singular fact that revealed to Uzume she was not dead. But, if that were the case, then what was the darkness before her being caused by?

Strangely enough, that shadow moved, twisting a little and allowing light to cover one side. It was here Uzume saw the spear jabbed through the left upper area of the chest, just below the heart, and while the blob was mostly a mix of obscured darkness still, the eyes themselves were unmistakable.

"G-good... I made it..." She wheezed, struggling to breath while blood slowly dripped down her chest and onto the grass below. "I-I found you... f-finally..." The figure fell to her knees wearing a relieved smile as the light of life left her eyes. "I'm home..."

No... It can't be... The unmistakable black counterpart to her own style, and that striking blue tie which matched her equally colored braids. Uzume knew she had taken her back, and yet, against all odds, there was no forgetting those pale violet irises. As the world around her dulled out into white noise, and the body before her slumped into its final resting position, Uzume clicked with the situation, understanding fully who this individual was, and what had truly happened.

In front of her sat Kurome Ankokuboshi: her other half.

And she was dead.

Author's note

...

Yep... Kurome's dead.

We've finally entered the endgame of the story, and it starts off by killing the protagonist. We've only got a few chapters left, so be prepared for a ride - if you still want to keep reading anyway. I understand a few of you might want to drop it here now that the main is gone, but you've already come this far, so why not finish it up?

Besides, you need to figure out how Kurome came to find Uzume, and why she decided leaping into the spear was a better move than trying to push Uzume out of the way… or at least throwing one of the others at it. Well… there's also Neptune on the way; wonder how she'll react to the chaos befalling her city - as if she isn't already inside it.

That's all for now.

Until next time.