Goddess in the Echo

By MidniteBleuCrusader

Summary: (AU) A lost Planeptune, a Goddess denounced. Neptune seeks to find out the truth behind her lost landmass, as well as who was behind all this. With the help of Compa and IF, Neptune hopes to find all the answers, by any means necessary.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia or any of its characters.

Author's Notes: If you happen to have any sort of questions about what's going on and are confused, please don't be. It's an AU.

Chapter 6: Between Angels, Demons, Nightmares and Neptunes

Neptune was in utter shock when she heard the voice, and her name being called out in such a manner only served to prove who it was. "It's just me, Nep-Nep, don't stand there with your hanging like that." Without any hesitation whatsoever, Neptune ran over to her and gave her a huge hug.

"COMPAAAA! Oh my god, where have you been? Who're these scary looking people with you anyways? I was about to give them a piece of my mind!"

"Them? They're with the Unit so it's fine." Compa immediately turned her attention to the soldiers, giving them the signal to stand down. "Stand down, guys." She ordered. Compa's word was acknowledged and as such the soldiers stood down, returning to where they came from.

"Wow, since when did Compa have so much power, controlling an army like that? That's a red alert in my book."

"Don't be silly, Nep-Nep. There's nothing to be alarmed about. These guys are working for the Heretics Unit, as am I." Compa said which once again brought about alarm bells in her head.

"Sooooo… Heretics Unit, huh? Is that like some sort of club or something? Do I, like, get 30 months free of subscription fees or something?" Compa could only giggle at Neptune's musings.

"No, silly. The Heretics Unit is a group dedicated to combating demons and Nightmares… but we probably shouldn't talk about something like this in the open. Let me take you to the Heretics Unit's HQ. It'll be safer." Compa said. She signaled for her soldiers to follow her. They fell in line and marched off behind her. Neptune stood there for a while to ponder but ultimately, she followed the soldiers behind Compa.

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Neptune was led straight to an abandoned technological park with Compa leading the pack. She led the soldiers away from the entrance before leading Neptune into the building.

"Is this some sort of giant Basilicom that you've made or something? There's a lotta security in here." Neptune said, noticing all the security cameras and a guard at every corner.

"It's the first underground Basilicom, made by Iffy, me and… well, you'll see." Compa said, as she moved a part of the wall, revealing a hidden electronic door, complete with face sensors and voice recognition system. She stepped in front, getting her face scanned. The system recognized her face. Neptune then heard another voice.

"Password required." The system asked.

"There are no Goddesses." Compa replied, in which the system accepted, opening the door for her. "Come on, Nep-Nep." She urged.

'Nice password, Iffy…' Neptune thought, following Compa into the base. Neptune took a look around. Monitors, taking the feed from security cameras all over Lastation and also on the other landmasses, were being watched closely by fellow heretics. Computers were showing massive amounts of data, too much for Neptune to comprehend. As they went in, Neptune noticed that the place started to look all too familiar. "So… underground Basilicom, huh? It looks a lot like any other Basilicom."

"That's because it is, Nep-Nep, except the only 'Goddess' in here is Iffy, though she doesn't want to be called that." Once they reached a rather massive door, Compa turned to face Neptune. "I wonder what Iffy's going to say once she meets you again."

"Nothing and she'll probably try to kill me." Neptune said, which brought a giggle out of Compa.

"We'll see." She said as she opened the door for her. "Go on in. She's waiting." Neptune took her step before Compa said, "Oh, by the way… It's great to see you again, Nep-Nep."

"Heh, it's good to see you too." Neptune replied, stopping into the room letting Compa shut the door. Once in, Neptune saw the mask that she's been seeing for some time on those vignettes she's been watching on TV. In the middle of that room, however, stood the one person she could recognize. The blue nine-brand coat, the pouches, the green leafy bow and the long hair were all too recognizable to her. "Sup, Iffy?" was the only greeting she gave.

"Rash, absurd and stupid. Everything that describes your actions, Neptune." IF replied, turning to look at her. "Yet somehow I think your stupid ambitions are going to pay off."

"Hooray, someone actually thinks my ideas are gonna work." She falsely celebrated. "Though, what's with the whole 'Unit' deal, Iffy? I'm confused just as much as the next person. Why slander the Goddesses?"

"Wow, Neptune. That's the first logical thing you've asked me all year." IF said with a slight smile on her face. "Yes, on paper, we're a Unit that slanders the Goddesses as a front, bringing the faith for the Goddesses down. At this point, it's not like it's faith that you guys need… of course, I'm sure you already know about that. The demons aren't afraid of Goddesses and your Nightmares get stronger as you get stronger."

"I know it all too well, Iffy."

"In reality, we're studying the demons, learning their nature, their roots… and of course, learning how to defeat them." IF said as she moved closer to her. "I need your help, Neptune. Together we can beat these demons. For your sake and for humankind."

"That's all fine and dandy, Iffy, but…" Neptune glared at her. "You DID say the demons would follow me wherever I go, right?" IF nodded.

"There's nothing to worry about. The demons seem to dislike holy establishments. This false Basilicom is one of them, completely sealed off from demons. This base itself especially. No demons can go in, or any demons we capture can go out." She assured, but Neptune could only cross her arms for this next statement.

"Then you said us Goddesses couldn't do anything about this situation. What drove you to saying that, Iffy?"

"Well…" IF looked away for a second, turning the direction her head went and then clasping her hands together. "It's all propaganda, Neptune. Propaganda moves people. Tell one thing here, tell another wise saying there and then you tell a little white lie somewhere else. You tell something many times over, people tend to believe it. Why else would people believe us?"

"You're just doing the ASIC thing now." IF quickly moved toward Neptune, slightly insulted.

"Do not compare us to ASIC, Neptune. Our cause is just and true. ASIC's was cruel and selfish. You don't know how many demons there are out there right now."

"I'm more than aware of that Iffy. It's all fine and dandy now but that's not gonna get me ANY closer to reviving Planeptune." She responded firmly. IF wanted to give her rebuttal, but could only let out a sigh of frustration. She wasn't about to give up hope, though.

"At least… give me a chance to show you." She asked of her. Neptune looked her straight in the eye, but she finally agreed to let her.

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IF and Compa took Neptune to another location, away from the safety of the Heretic Unit's Underground Basilicom. The place wasn't too far, yet not too near, to it. IF led the anti-goddess into an abandoned Lastation hotel, complete with the rusted gate, dead bushes and flowers and uneven walkway. IF opened the gate to let them in. "I need you to see this. That's why I brought you here. Compa knows of this as well and she's been vital to all of our efforts."

"Gee, sure picked a rather ominous place for us to rekindle our relationship, Iffy." Neptune's snarky comments showed up.

"Only the best for you, Neptune. The person inside this building is currently suffering. She may need your help if she's to survive." She said, leading her into a room filled with machines and a control panel. "I'm going to set up for today's test… Compa, I need you to get the subject again."

"Iffy, she barely survived yesterday's test. Are you sure it's right to run her through another one so soon?" Compa questioned with a concerned look on her face.

"It's only logical, Compa. Yesterday was a close call, but we came even closer to taming her Nightmare. We can defeat it today." IF said, but the term 'Nightmare' caught Neptune's ear.

"Wait, this subject of yours has a Nightmare she won't accept?"

"Not exactly, Nep. As of now, this has become a rather delicate situation. Usually, what you explained would be a common occurrence. People not accepting Nightmares, everyone's heard of that, but Nightmares not accepting their Hosts? That itself is a phenomenon. Everyone usually thinks Nightmares are just apparitions, ghosts of people's pasts that they wished not to relive. When the past comes back to haunt them in the form of their Nightmares, human nature teaches them to refuse it because they refuse to relive the past." IF explained to Neptune, and the purple-haired anti-Goddess had a semi-full grasp of it.

"Well, yeah, people not accepting their pasts is common, but how does a Nightmare not accept a Host?"

"When a Nightmare is too powerful even for its Host, the Host faces much backlash. The Host loses control of his or her body and is soon engulfed by the Nightmare's actions. That's what the subject's feeling right now." IF quickly turned to look at Compa. "Compa, go get the subject. I'll stand by here and set up for the final experiment."

"How do you know it's going to be final experiment, Iffy?" That question was immediately answered by IF looking at Neptune.

"We have Nep with us. I'm sure the subject would be more than motivated to tame her Nightmare." The statement nearly caught Neptune off-guard. IF actually giving Neptune due recognition was rare, even for her.

"Follow me, Nep-Nep." Compa said, prompting Neptune to follow the nurse in training.

Compa led Neptune to the 2nd floor of the 5 story hotel. The stairs creaked as they went up, which meant that they had to be extra careful as they went up. The structural integrity of the building was more than gone. That meant any sudden movements and the building would collapse at any time. Thanks to IF's quick thinking, she and Compa repaired only the most important parts of the building before moving in with the equipment. IF was still not afraid to get her hands dirty. She didn't really care about the rest of the building.

"So, who's this subject of yours, huh?" Neptune broke the silence.

"You'll see." Compa's replied, reaching a door at the end of the hallway. She knocked on the door and spoke, "Can I come in?"

"Y-yes, Compa." The voice inside stuttered, as if too weak to even speak. Compa opened the door, Neptune following her. Her curiosity peaked when she heard the voice as it seemed eerily familiar to her. It was only confirmed when she and Compa entered.

"It's time, Ge-Ge." The words that left Compa's mouth just confirmed it. As Neptune saw the subject, she was in a state of shock. Sitting down on the floor, bruised and battered, was Planeptune's CPU candidate, Nepgear. Neptune's emotions quickly took over as she ran in and hugged her sister.

"N-Neptune? Y-you're alive…!" Nepgear stuttered, her voice was so soft only Neptune could hear it.

"Ssh… yes, I'm alive… and I'm glad you are, Nep Jr." Neptune uttered. She was fighting to keep her tears back from escaping her eyes. "I thought I lost you on Planeptune, goddamnit. I'm just glad you're still okay…" Neptune slowly let go of her sister. Within an instant, however, her joy turned into anger as she turned right around, grabbing Compa by the collar and pinning her to the wall. "You… WHY didn't you tell me this earlier, Compa!"

"Ah! L-listen, Nep-Nep! If we told you right off the bat, you wouldn't have helped us!" The response only further angered Neptune, forcing her up the wall with more pressure.

"And you thought keeping it a secret from me was a good idea, Compa? What, has joining the Unit completely messed up your brain? What the hell is wrong with you, Compa! I thought you were my friend!"

Right as she was about to further threaten Compa, Nepgear pulled her own sister away, pleading with her to stop.

"Sis, wait, please! Compa's been doing her best to help me! T-this isn't her fault at all, sis! Please, just let her show you!" Nepgear pleaded, forcing Neptune to calm down. Hearing the pleading tones of her sister help quell some of that anger. Though she was trying to restrain herself from punching Compa right in the face, Neptune let it slide this time, but with a warning.

"You screw this up, Compa, I'll cut your throat out."

"We won't, Nep-Nep. We'll make sure of it." Compa said, turning around to head outside. "I'll… let you two have a moment." Once she stepped outside, she shut the door, leaving the two Planeptune people alone in the room. Neptune was still seething slightly over the fact that her own two best friends decided to hide something like this to her. She remembered what IF said to her. Nepgear, Neptune's sister, the subject of this 'experiment', had a Nightmare that wouldn't accept her. If this went on it would potentially overtake her body. Neptune could only look at her sister and just give her a sigh of frustration.

"Neptune… it'll be all right. IF and Compa have been doing this to me for a couple of weeks now. We're close to destroying what we need to destroy… so could you trust Compa and IF? Please?" Nepgear said in a persuasive tone. Neptune couldn't object any longer. Her reluctant sigh says otherwise, but she couldn't delay this any longer.

"Nep Jr., if you die today, I'll kill you myself."

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To Be Continued

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