Planeptune, Gamindustri

Place: Planeptune City

Date: September 23, 2012

Time: 1:41 P.M.

Plutia stared at the pile of rock and glass. Beneath the rumble, she could see the bodies of her parents. Blood surrounded her feet, soaking into her shoes. Her magenta eyes showed hollowness with heavy bags underneath.

Something grabbed onto her shoulder and forced her to turn around. Plutia came face to face with Lilac Heart. The goddess had a crazed look in her eyes as she grinned.

"Fight the war in my place! Raise Planeptune once more! You can do it, I know you can!" Lilac Heart shook the motionless girl. "You are Planeptune's last hope! You will be its greatest ruler!"

Plutia snapped her eyes open to find a group of blue dogoos around her. She blinked away the sleepiness and noticed something wrong. The weight around her neck was a lot lighter than she remembered. She peeked into the top part of her dress to see it missing.

"Lilac Heart!"

Plutia stood up in a panic and searched around with flustered eyes. She then finally saw a dogoo that had the crystal in its mouth. Plutia clenched her hands and marched up to the dogoo. She lifted her foot and smashed the small creature, killing it. The other dogoos jerked and ran away.

Plutia picked up the fallen necklace and sighed with relief. The chain doesn't seem to be broken so the dogoo must have slipped it off her while she was asleep. Plutia wrapped the chain around her neck and fiddled with the clasp. She eventually succeeded in hooking the crystal back around her neck.

Plutia finally relaxed now that the crystal was back in her grasp. "Hmmm… Where am I?" She examined her surroundings and found that she was at the edge of Planeptune City. She closed her eyes, trying to remember the last thing she was doing. "Oh right! I was doing quests! And then I was gonna head back to turn them into the guild. I must have fallen asleep on the way." She laughed at her own forgetfulness. "Silly, me!"

To submit her work and return to Planeptower, Plutia rushed to the guild. Along the way, Plutia waved to a few people walking past. Some happily smiled at her while others awkwardly waved and hurried away. Plutia understood she wasn't loved by everyone, but was at least respected. Of course, some people outright rejected her existence and she could do nothing to make them happy even if she tried.

After turning in the completed quests to the guild, Plutia happily went to Planeptower to take her much-needed afternoon nap. She woke up early today to do those monster-clearing quests per Histy orders and could use the shut-eye.

Seeing the Basilicom, she saw a group of her staff members right at the front entrance. Plutia was about to call out to them when she noticed a small blonde girl in a pink dress. She instantly shut her mouth and hid behind a corner. The goddess peaked out to observe the situation.

"Not her agaaaaaaaaain," Plutia whined.

Plutia didn't think she would see the girl dressed in pink again. The last time she was here, she complained about Plutia forcing little girls to become CPUs. If anything, Plutia was the victim since she was forced to become a CPU at the time. Plutia couldn't even clear the misunderstanding since the other girl insulted her on multiple occasions. Plutia got so sad and depressed that she had hidden away. Histy had to ban the girl from entering the Basilicom.

"What do I dooooo?" Plutia whimpered as she slid down the wall. "Do I wait until she's gone?"

Plutia glanced at the crystal hanging around her neck and clutched it in her hands. She didn't want to face the girl in pink, so she could only hide there. She feared that she might lose control of herself and Plutia already has a track record of transforming recklessly because she couldn't handle her emotions. She could already hear the faint whisper in the back of her head, urging her to become Iris Heart.

Plutia closed her eyes and tightened her hold on the crystal. "No. I won't transform." It would be bad if she did anyway. And Histoire would surely scold her if she did.

"Plutia? What are you doing on the floor?"

Plutia looked up and was met with questioning red eyes. She instantly brightened up at seeing the black-haired girl. "Noire? Wow! It's been a while! How have you been?! What are you doing here?!"

"It has been a while. And I've been good. Also, you invited me over to talk about trade and border negotiations," Noire reminded her. "Did you forget?"

"Oh, yeeeeeeah! Hehehe."

Noire lightly bonked Plutia on the head. "That's something you shouldn't be forgetting. So? Why are you out here?"

Plutia deflated like a balloon. "I'm hiding."

She gave the shorter girl a puzzled look. "From what?"

"From her." Plutia pointed around the corner.

Noire followed her finger to see the girl in pink, yelling at the Basilicom staff members. "Oh, her, Abnes. I didn't think I'd see her again."

"You knoooooow her, Noire?"

"Yeah, she came by my Basilicom one day as well. She complained about Lastation forcing little girls to work. She thought my people were forcing a little girl to be their CPU, but when she saw me, she completely shut her mouth."

Plutia giggled, "Noire isn't a little girl. You're a very pretty lady!"

Noire blushed at the comment. "E-Exactly! But yeah, she was causing a lot of trouble so I banned her from ever setting foot in Lastation City."

"Oooooh, that's smart. Histy banned her from entering the Planeptower. She's been bullying me ever since I reopened Planeptune's borders to people outside the nation."

Noire narrowed her eyes. "She's been bullying you?"

"Uh-huh. She said I was forcing little girls to become CPUs. Then she went and said that I was breaking the laaaaaaaw. But I've been doing noooooone of that," explained the iris goddess.

"Oh, so she said the same thing to you."

"Then she said I shouldn't be a CPU because I'm a little girl. She said my people are weirdos and that made me saaaaaad. My people are nice! They would never force me to do anything." Plutia pouted as she hugged her knees.

Noire could tell that the shorter girl was bothered by it. She huffed, "Wait here."

"Noire?"

Plutia watched the other CPU walk over to the Basilicom's entrance. Her eyes widened when she saw Noire yelling at Abnes. Their voices were so loud that they were drawing attention. Noire then commanded the staff and Anbes was dragged away. Plutia's jaw dropped as Noire walked back to her.

"There. Now, you don't have to hide."

Plutia beamed. "Woooooow, Noire! You're so amazing!"

"Hmph!" Noire smirked as she crossed her arms. "Of course, I'm amazing. You just need to be more aggressive since people like her don't listen. She won't be back for a while so you don't have to worry anymore, Plutia."

"You're sooooooo nice, Noire!"

"C-Come on, let's go inside," urged the blushing Black CPU.

The two girls entered Planeptower and were greeted by the staff. They rode the elevator up and headed to Plutia's office. The iris goddess burst through the door, shocking the blonde fairy inside. Plutia made a mad dash and jumped onto the couch.

"My safe place!"

Histoire floated over and scolded, "Plutia, it is rude to burst into the room like that. It is not goddess-like!"

"Let her be. She had a rough time trying to get through the Basilicom's doors," Noire informed. "Histoire, it is nice to meet you in person."

The tome floated over and greeted, "It's also nice to meet you in person, Lady Black Heart. Thank you for coming over. I hope the trip was pleasant?"

"You can just call me Noire. And coming back to Planeptune brought many memories. It looks a bit different, but it was like Planeptune never fell."

Histoire smiled. "Planeptune is doing very well. Plutia made an effort to restore Planeptune to its former glory."

Noire smirked. "I'm quite impressed. The girl that would always sleep during class doing so much work."

Histoire sadly sighed. "Yes, but only when told. Otherwise, she would sleep the day away without knowing."

The black goddess laughed. "Now that sounds more like Plutia. And speaking of the devil…" Noire turned to the couch. "Plutia! Don't fall asleep!"

"I'm nooooot!" Plutia sat up and pouted. "Don't assume I'll just fall asleep, though… I dooooo kinda wanna sleep."

Noire sighed, "Of course, you do… Hmmm?" Her red eyes glanced up to see the oversized portrait on the wall. "Woah! Is that Lilac Heart? I didn't know you had a large portrait of her here."

"Yes. It's so we can remember her," Histoire answered.

"You guys must love her a lot, then. She was an amazing goddess. Someone I admired. I'm sure you must be happy to inherit her nation, Plutia!"

The iris goddess frowned and Histoire tensed up.

Noire noticed the change in their attitude and asked, "What's wrong?"

Histoire was the first to speak up, hoping to steer the topic away. "Ah, Noire you came to talk about negotiations, right? We were thinking of selling our cross-console playable games in your nation!"

"Eh? You already put that into action?"

Histoire blinked. "Plutia gave us the green light to go and make Planeptune games playable for Lastation consoles… I assumed you permitted us…"

The two turned to look at Plutia who turned her eyes away. Histoire sighed as Noire stomped over and bonked her head. Plutia whined as she rubbed where Noire hit.

"You idiot! Didn't I say to postpone that stuff?!" Noire shouted.

"B-B-But… I just thought I could get the research started. It's not like I announced it to the public. I waaaaaaas gonna wait for your permission still," Plutia explained.

"Even so! To do that behind my back is breaching my trust!"

Plutia apologized, "I'm soooooorry…"

Noire sighed, "I did plan to accept that proposal so everything turned out fine, but what would you have done if I never agreed?"

Plutia blinked and then smiled happily as she stated, "I'll keep asking until you agree!"

Noire held her head feeling a light headache coming along. "You are a fearsome goddess, Plutia."

The girl only giggled, "Hehehe."

Histoire groaned, "That is something you should not be laughing about."

"I'll get started on those cross-console playable games on my end then. It would be nice to make a profit from Planeptune. I would also like to construct a safe path from and to Planeptune as we are on good terms."

"Oh, oh, oh! We can extend our trains toward Lastation! Those who wish to travel back and forth might benefit from it," Plutia proposed.

Histoire nodded, liking the idea. "It would stop you from flying too, Plutia."

The Iris CPU pursed her lips. "Is that all you think about, Histy? Finding ways where I won't need to transform?"

"It is for the good of Gamindustri," she stated.

"You're so meeeeeean," Plutia whined.

"I've only ever seen Iris Heart on the screen, but is it that bad when she transforms?" Noire questioned.

"Have you heard the rumors surrounding Planpetune's CPU?" Histoire asked.

"That she's a crazy sadistic CPU that likes to torment people?"

Histoire blankly laughed. "Hahaha, yeah, that's all true."

Plutia fiddled with her fingers as she defended herself. "I'm not thaaaaat bad. I've gotten better at controlling myself."

Noire felt a single sweat drop. "I'm a bit scared to see…"

Histoire clapped her hands, putting an end to this discussion. "Anyway. I will pass on the finished paperwork and retrieve the ones that would be needed for our negotiations. I'll be right back!" The fairy flew toward the desk, collected the papers, and flew out the door.

"Noire, Noire!"

The twintailed goddess felt her sleeve being tugged. "Hmm? What's up?"

Plutia grinned and pointed to the other side of the room where she could see a television with two types of consoles hooked up. "Wanna try playing a Planeptune game on your console? They're mostly prototypes, but they should work."

Noire smirked as her eyes glimmered. "What game?"

Author's Note

Just a light chapter this time as I've been quite busy. You would think that, with a packed schedule already, you wouldn't add another project under your belt, but guess what? I'm a big dum dum and love stressing myself out! Haha! ( ᐛ )

Anyway, thank you for reading and for your patience! I appreciate you all!