New Game Plus

[Mami Tomoe]

You have arrived at your destination, chimes a woman's voice from the elevator's speakers. I've heard it a billion times, yeah, but it never seems to get old. Destination: Floor seventy-nine. Have a good evening, and thank you for visiting the Neptower.

Whuh? It's dark already. It shouldn't be evening, right?

I guess with it being as dark as it's been lately - Planeptune always gets real dark around winter, but it never gets cold - some time adjustment on the intercom-recording-thingies is called for. I'll get Nepgear to do it tomorrow morning, maybe, after she's done cleaning up the living room.

The silvery-white elevator doors slide open, revealing a purplish glow on their inner faces. I yawn a bit and, while walking through the entry hall, hear the elevator doors click shut behind me. Beyond the entry waits the living room, with the dining room to the left where Compa and Iffy are eating something or another. Iffy stares over Compa's shoulder at me like she's seen a ghost or something.

"Iffy, it isn't polite to stare," Compa whispers not-so-subtly across the table.

"I know," she responds, continuing to eye me up. "It's just... I don't think I've ever seen Nep so tired. How long were the eight of you fighting?"

I'm almost too tired to think up anything witty in response. "Uh, I think I lost track around three hours." Nope. Too tired to think of anything witty. I slip past the two, deciding a proper meal is not called for. The situation calls for something much greater.

I duck into the kitchen, dig through the fridge and pull out a six-pack of custard pudding. I whistle in approval. "This is the good stuff."

I dig through the cutlery drawer next to the fridge, take out a spoon and, with my now-full hands, cleverly shut the fridge with my right foot and proceed to do the same with the drawer. I get disapproving glances from Iffy as I pass her, but because I'm feeling generous, I drop two cups - one for Iffy and one for Compa - on the table, being careful not to drop anything on their food.

"Er, thanks," goes Iffy. "Are you... sure you're feeling all right? It's not like you to share."

I blink a few times, then look down at my six-pack turned four-pack of pudding. "I think you're right, Iffy," I respond, then gasp. "I'm even agreeing with you. I think I need to lay down..."

"I'll come give you a check-up soon," Compa says as I walk off to my bedroom. It was a good day, that's for sure - I'm not complaining about being tired, because in a lot of ways, I don't think I could be happier. I mean, I could've stuck around with Noire, Vert and Blanc, because they said something about an all-nighter, but I don't have the energy left to do that.

I really need this pudding. Oh, and some rest, too. I guess that's sort of maybe important.

I lay down in bed and peel off the lid on one of the pudding cups. I take a few spoonfuls of pure bliss and, despite how wonderful it is, I still want some rest. I polish off the four-pack and put it on my bedside table, then roll myself into a Nep-burrito with my blankets. I know I haven't changed into my pajamas, but really, I don't care. I had my parka dress on today, and it's cozy enough to wear to sleep.

Thanks for playing our game, I think as I drift off to sleep.

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"...ake up..."

"...eptune, wake up..."

Histy, I think groggily, but I don't even want to open my eyes yet. I don't feel like I've gotten much sleep at all, so waking up isn't something I'm looking forward to. "Five more minutes," I mutter and roll over...

Where'd my pillow go? I open my eyes and immediately regret it. Where did everything go? All that's here is Histy and a pretentious-looking marble fountain. It looks like something Vert would like, kind of like the one outside her mansion.

So, yeah. Definitely pretentious.

So the only other important thing in the area is Histy, and calling her a thing is rude, even by my standards. "Neptune?" she asks, looking at me with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Yeah?"

"What did you do?" she says. I blink in response. "Oh, c'mon. I know I can be a natural disaster sometimes, but I'm not this bad."

Histy pauses to think for a moment. "I suppose... yes, now that I think about it, I was jumping to conclusions," she decides. "I'll need you to transform - we have to figure out what's going on here quickly, and you can't do that in this form." As she finishes talking, she rests her chin in her hand and her elbow on her knee, watching intently and waiting for me to follow orders.

As I'm instructed, I try to go HDD, but something feels wrong. I shudder and hug myself, suddenly feeling really, really cold. "Uh, Histy," I respond through chattering teeth, "I don't think I can--"

Histy interjects in a panic, her voice raised in a way that seems more powerful than her itsy-bitsy body would allow. "Neptune! Planeptune's Shares-- how are they-- what did you do?!"

"Woah, woah, woah! Rude!" I shoot back. "Buuuuuuut... what's that about the Shares?" I add hastily, unable to tell whether I did something good or bad. Or, uh, may or may not have done, I should say.

"Not only can I not detect Shares from Lastation, Leanbox or Lowee," she explains, "but Planeptune's Shares are at a measly 2% in this world. Somebody other than the Goddesses is incredibly powerful here - you have competition far beyond your own power. My question is, how in the world did this happen? Why are we the only two here? Wait--" she stops herself, then flips the tome she's sitting on up in front of her. She starts flicking through pages far more quickly than I've ever bothered to watch her try. I twiddle my thumbs for a second and look around at the (lack of) scenery.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," goes Histy, "but after some quick notes on your memories - thank you for going vacant enough for me to check - I've found notes on a 'white shadow named Omni' who 'taught [Neptune] about Omnilium, and its incredible power in the Omniverse'," she rants. "If this is true, and not just some incredibly elaborate dream, we're in this 'Omniverse' at the moment, and you should be able to amass Shares again here by--"

Histy lets out a gentle sigh, as though she's afraid of what she's about to say. "Neptune, I must task you with creating a new Planeptune."

"Oh. Yeah. Right. I can do that," I respond, then I play back what she just said mentally. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?"

Histy steels herself, like she just needed a few seconds before she could handle how I'd react. "Neptune, there is little to no faith in you as a Goddess here," she says matter-of-factly. "If even a few of your believers were to convert at this moment, you might no longer have powers as a Goddess. You lack enough stable Share energy to even transform, which is dangerous enough. The easiest way to gather believers and convert new ones is to give them a new home. Do you understand?"

A rainbow orb glimmering in just inside my line of sight catches my attention. "Ooh, look at that! Is that some of that Omnom-nuh-bum stuff?" I ask. Not one to wait for an answer, I dash over to it for closer examination.

It's floating about a meter off the ground, changing colours sometimes, but most of the time it stays a light purplish colour. "Are you some kind of main character detector? Histy, is it showing my hair colour right?" I ask, turning around, backing up and pressing my head against it.

"Neptune," she returns dismissively, then examines the object. She then clears her throat and returns to her book. "This is Omnilium," she says in her reading voice - slightly less lively and a little louder than her normal voice. So think just about anybody's reading voice, except maybe less dull. "According to this 'Omni', it ties the Omniverse together and can make what you desire most."

I look at it for a second. "Sooooo, is there a microphone I give an order into, or..."

"This is going to be difficult for you," Histy responds, "but I'm going to have to ask you to think. Focus," she adds.

Feeling mildly insulted, I put my right hand below the ball of Umthedrum and think of that. A smile spreads across my face and I feel it forming in my hands, changing how it balances, how much it weighs... then a cylindrical cup lands in my hand. A cylindrical cup filled to the brim with custard pudding.

"Did you see that?!" I shout, pointing to Histy with a big grin on my face. "That was rad!"

Histy looks all but amused. "Well, I suppose I should have expected as much from you," she concludes. "I can see objects in each direction - care to explore? If anything, it would at least give you time for your pudding to settle."

I look away from the up-ended, nearly finished pudding cup in my hands to Histy. "Uh, yeah. Right," I say. "Oh! Exploring! I wanna go that way!" I say, discarding my pudding cup (but, of course, keeping the lid) and running off. Histy protests and shouts from behind, but she'll catch up soon enough. I think. Maybe. Probably.

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"Nep... Neptune, stop," Histy begs. "Let me... your shoulder, I'm going to sit on your shoulder," she says, then plops down on my shoulder. I feel her tiny head press up against my earlobe. I can't help but smile a little.

"Whew! I thought I was tired, that run was weak sauce next to an actual fight!" I chime in, rising up on my toes for a second to stretch my legs. "In more interesting news, palm trees!"

"Something's swirling between them," Histy notes. "I'd... be careful, Neptune," she gasps, still struggling to catch her breath. "I sense... another dimen-- dimension on the other side."

I whistle in approval. It's not quite as impressive as finding pudding in the fridge, but it's up there somewhere. "Get some shut-eye, Histy. I'll have a new Planeptune before ya know it!"

Then I leap through the portal.