The sky was dark and cracked. Like an eggshell that had been impacted, the sun was replaced with a dark array of splintering cracks. Her heels slammed violently into the cold, red pavement under her feet, each lifting step pulling drops of red liquid from the ground. A sweet smell of baked cookies conflicted the sight, contributing a surreal and confused environment.
She knew it wasn't blood. She knew that this was all an illusion. The smell of cookies was a trigger, something that lingered in this person's mind and reminded them of this horrible nightmare. Even so, Cure Faith was breathless with just as much panic as she was from the run.
"We're almost there, Faith! I can see the Suya Seed blooming!" Chimed a high pitch voice, one that originated from a doll hanging from her shoulder. The creature's voice was distinctly female, but she resembled a male lion with a auburn mane and golden fur.
Up ahead, Cure Faith saw the source of this madness. A young women was being held up by vines, hanging limply by her arms. She appeared to be sleeping, but Cure Faith knew that she was all too aware of the scene around her. This was, after all, that woman's nightmare. Vividly brought to life, and able to manifest and grow so long as she was affected by the seed.
"You're too late today, Cure Faith!" A voice called from above her, reminding Cure Faith that there was one other person present. If 'person' was the term. A young man with brown hair, cut short and framing his face, floated in the air just beyond the dreamer's right shoulder.
Cure Faith stopped and glared, pink eyes narrowed in anger, "I'm never too late and I never will be! So long as that woman continues to hope, I'll be here to wake her from any nightmare you plant in her heart!"
"But that's just the thing." Smirked the young man. He lowered himself to the ground and stepped closer to the dreamer, red eyes flashing with confidence, "She has no hope left."
There was a loud cracking sound. Faith turned her head in the direction of the sun's replacement and saw that the crack in the sky had gotten bigger. Her heart pounded anxiously in her chest as a grubby hand pounded through the sky and pulled apart a gap. Staring down at her was what looked like an plastic baby doll. Faith had no time to wonder how that factored into this woman's nightmare. The oversized toy stomped over to her like a odd replacement for Godzilla, leveling the imagined cityscape with its pounding steps.
"Faith, move!" She didn't need to be told twice. The Nightmare swung a clumsy punch at the Cure, who timed her jumping so that she would land on the monster's arm. It sounded just as plastic as it had looked, clearly not flesh and blood but merely an oversized toy. Its eyes were lazy and struggled to move, which dulled its reflexes.
This played to Faith's advantage. When the doll recognized the Cure on its arm it tried to pick her off with the opposite. Cure Faith leapt into the air and landed on this arm, and continued this pattern as the Nightmare tried to pick her off over and over with the opposite arm each time. Eventually she felt that the Nightmare's plastic frustrations had reached a certain peak, so she jumped onto the baby's head. Its tiny arms were not long or flexible, so when it tried to smack the girl on its bald head it just smacked its own face. The force caused the doll to topple onto its back.
The pink Cure landed away from the baby and held up her hand, "Pretty Cure!" She started, collecting pink light in her palm. Cure Faith then grasped it and threw a ball of this pink magic like a bowling ball, "MIRACLE RUSH!"
"UNI UNIII."
A strangled cry from the doll announced her victory. The plastic doll vanished suddenly, with just the blink of an eye. The damage it had caused to the imagined city faded.
"Now it's your turn, Leo!" Cure Faith snapped, turning around again. What she saw defied her expectations. The dreamer had not woken up. Instead, she was cocooned in so many vines that her face was barely visible. When Cure Faith opened her mouth to protest this development she heard another cracking sound. This time under her feet, serving as her only warning before another plastic hand closed around her leg. Faith shrieked and batted her fairy companion off of her shoulder as another baby doll Nightmare emerged and threw the pink girl beyond the cocooned dreamer.
"Faith!" Screamed her lion-isc companion, now fluttering over to where Faith had impacted with an imaginary building, "Faith! Faith, get up!"
"Nnngh... I, I am... I'm okay, Yumeme..." Her voice betrayed her words. Already, Cure Faith's pink uniform was tainted with dirty and various flaws. She winced as she peeled herself off of the building, struggling to open her eyes. Just a crack, just enough to see the Nightmare barreling down towards her...
I can't move... She wanted to, but she couldn't. She had put so much power into her finishing move that she didn't have the strength for a second fight...
The doll impacted with the building. The villainous young man, Leo, smirked approvingly as he saw the structure collapse.
"I was impressed that a single Cure could defeat so many Nightmares on her own." He remarked, floating closer to the rubble, "But working all alone is tiring. I knew you would reach your limit eventually, as long as I kept you from resting. Looks like this is the end of Dreaming Pretty Cure, Cure Faith – hm?"
A faint light shone through the dust clouds. Cure Faith blinked, surprised to find she was unharmed by the Nightmare's terrifying assault. She lifted her head with some difficulty, her entire body aching from weeks and weeks of solo Precure work.
"Yumeme...?"
"Nnngh! Hnnnngh!" The little fairy verbalized her struggle. She had created a barrier between Cure Faith and the doll's fist. Even now, the Nightmare was pushing against the circular barrier that Yumeme had created. That barrier was also being pressed into the building that it had broken on impact. Faith could hear it grinding against concrete and little snapping sounds as it began to crack.
"Yumeme!" Faith pulled herself together, ignoring her pain as she sat up, "Yumeme, stop! You don't have enough power for this!"
"M, maybe not... But I have enough power to try!" Yumeme squeaked, "Faith... Faith, that lady's Dream Flower is about to wither and die! When it does, her nightmare will be impossible to stop alone!"
"Yumeme..." Faith whispered. She knew that. She hadn't been able to fight her way through this nightmare fast enough. Because of that, the Suya Seed had grown out of control by the time she arrived...
"It's okay! I'll purify it!" She stood, her legs wobbly and painful to stand on, "Pretty Cure! Miracle...!"
Another cracking sound interrupted her. Not the sound of the barrier, thank goodness, but of another doll monster breaking through the ground beyond them. Yet another sound, and another doll baby slammed through the false sky. Faith felt a quiver of fear, one that sapped her remaining courage. She couldn't take on so many of them all alone...
"There's no time to waste! Believe in me, Faith! Like I believe in you!"
A flash of light snapped the shield apart. The Nightmare pressing on it was thrown back by the force of Yumeme's magic. The little fairy flew with surprising speed to the dreaming woman and held her tiny arms high.
"I won't let this nightmare spread! Cure Faith! I'll be waiting for you, I promise!"
Faith's eyes followed her fairy companion. At first she couldn't speak, her thoughts caught between the terrifying monsters and her friend's bravery. Then, all too suddenly, she realized what Yumeme was doing.
"No, stop! Yumeme, I need you!" Faith shrieked, "I can't do this by myself! Yumeme!"
"You won't have to." Yumeme smiled, oversized tears escaping her big brave eyes, "You're not alone, Cure Faith. I promise, none of us will ever leave you behind."
"But you did! You have!" Faith took a shaky step forward. Somewhere behind her she could hear one of the monster dolls stomping closer. She didn't care. Faith focused her strength on walking to Yumeme, oblivious to how a baby's plastic fist was aimed right at her...
"You won't hurt Faith!" Yumeme snapped. She closed her eyes tight and a bright light was emitted from her tiny body. Faith screamed and tried to run faster, stretching out her arm to stop her fairy friend. But the light got too bright. Faith was blinded. When the light faded and her eyes regained focus, Cure Faith was standing alone in the park. It was evening and no one was there. Not a dreaming woman, not a single baby doll, or even a pair of ears to hear the pink Cure scream in anguish and or eyes to see her fall to her knees.
Now, she really was the only one left.
[ Courageous Hearts Precure
Episode One:
"Enter Cure Light! I'm not dreaming, am I? ]
Yumekawa was a large seaside city, named for the fantastic river that flowed through it on its way to the ocean. Folklore told of how following the river would lead you to a place where your dreams came true. The harbor now anchored the occasional cruise ship, while daily fishing and pleasure boats left every morning and returned safely in the evenings.
To Ayumu Inoue, Yumekawa was the city where she now lived. Further from the water was a television station, where Ayumu's mother now worked as a producer for the local news. Her father worked in a city that was four hours by train, commuting every Monday and returning on Friday. Ayumu, too, commuted by train every morning. But her train didn't take her to another city; it brought her to Reverie Academy, a prestigious school that she was transferring to that day.
At least, it was supposed to.
After wandering around outside of the train station for a few minutes, Ayumu realized that she was lost.
"Did I take the wrong train?" She brushed a white strip of hair out of her face, the only white hairs on her head. Ayumu's hair was naturally black and she had it braided down her back in twin braids that ended by her hips. She had bleached some hair on the left side, just a tiny strip that outlined her cheek. It was a friendship pact; even if transferring was scary and lonely, Ayumu reaped courage from the fact her friends back home had the same strip of bleached hair as she did.
"Mou... I think that I did." She whispered anxiously, "I should have let oniichan take me to school. He actually knows the way..."
But she had been stubborn. Her older brother Daisuke was always showing her up. He told their youngest sister, Yukari, that Ayumu was an unreliable big sister who couldn't do anything. She knew he was teasing, but it still made her angry. Angry enough that she had decided to get to school on her own so as to prove that she was more competent than he claimed.
"But it looks like he was right about me... This is so embarrassing." Without thinking, Ayumu started walking in a random direction. She hated to stand still and fret, but would rather keep moving until she found a solution to her problems. Unfortunately, this tactic was best used figuratively and not literally. Especially when your problem was being lost.
By the time that Ayumu realized this was a flawed tactic it was already too late. She stopped suddenly and examined her surroundings, startled to find herself in some sort of apartment district. Tall apartment buildings stretched into the sky, bunched so closely together that there was barely any light on the ground. She felt an involuntary shudder and hurried in the direction of the morning sun.
Then stopped again. A tiny form had flown across the sun filled gap between two of the buildings, cutting off her exit point. Ayumu stood still, stunned and blinking. It had looked like a small sheep flying by, but she did not know of any sheep so small or that could even fly.
Something else flew by immediately after. A boy, taller than her and probably older. She had only seen him briefly, but his hair was definitely short and brown and he was wearing dark clothing. This would not have been too weird, if not for the flying bit. Ayumu's curiosity grabbed control of her legs and she ran through the gap, turning to look in the direction that the two had gone in.
"Am I hallucinating...?" Because she definitely saw those two continuing to fly off. They were flying upwards now, towards the top of the building nearest Ayumu. She had been about to shrug her shoulders and leave them be, – wasn't like she could follow them anymore anyway – when she heard a high pitch scream.
"Nooo! Don't follow me, -rebe!" Cried the voice above her, "I told you that I am not giving you the Courage Chains, -rebe!"
"Heh! Big talk from such a tiny fairy!" Snarled a lower pitched voice coming from the same direction, "If you won't give them to me willingly than I'll take them by force!"
Ayumu bit her lip with concern, "Is that weird little thing... being bullied?"
It was such a bizarre scenario. She still could not wrap her mind around tiny flying sheep, or flying boys, or even where she was or how she'd get to school on time. For a moment she debated leaving and hoping this was all a dream, until her golden brown eyes caught sight of a fire escape ladder hanging down from the apartment. Normally those were held up and out of reach, but this one was right in front of her.
"I wonder if that's a sign...?" She wondered, approaching the ladder cautiously.
"Waaah! Don't take them, -rebe!" The voice sobbed loudly, "The Dreaming Princess is counting on me, -rebe!"
"You can't stop me!" Threatened the lower voice, "It's her fault for having faith in such an incompetent little pipsqueak."
"I am not a pipsqueak or even incompetent, -rebe!"
Ayumu felt something inside of her heart snap. It was empathy and sympathy, bundled into one package. She understood what it was like to be called incompetent. She didn't want that poor whatever to feel like she did. So she closed her eyes tight and took a deep breath. It was dark and uncertain, but she imagined herself having a little light inside of her that would guide her along. This strange form of meditation often helped Ayumu get herself through scary situations; she focused on the imaginary light and what she could do to make it brighter...
That imaginary light must have known a thing about climbing ladders. Ayumu had no idea how to handle heights or to quickly scale them, but the feelings inside of her guided her up the fire escape. She climbed the ladders from platform to platform, never looking down. The height of this apartment building would probably make her cry or steal her resolve. Plus she couldn't really linger and be seen doing something absolutely illegal.
"Give those to me!"
"I will not! Waah!"
She heard a struggle above her head. There was a soft impact sound that drew her gaze upward, just in time to see the tiny something falling in her direction. Ayumu gripped the ladder with one hand and stretched out the other to catch the falling something.
"Rebeh!" Gasped the caught creature, "Thank you, human!"
"N, no problem..." Ayumu found herself looking into a pair of dark purple eyes. She was holding a bundle of white wool, tucked inside of which was a little black... fairy, for lack of a better term. Two triangular ears poked out of what Ayumu now realized was a sheep-themed hoodie dress. There was a pale purple bow on its little head and a puff of curly white curls that looked like a Whoville resident's ponytail. Ayumu also realized that this 'fairy' probably identified as being a girl.
"Where'd she go? She stopped screaming." The second voice, of the flying boy, caught Ayumu's attention. Her dark dress and hair much have helped her to blend in with the ladder, since the voice's owner flew right passed her. He seemed to be looking for the fairy, having expected for her to have fallen to the ground after being smacked.
"You should carry me all of the way up, -rebe. We can jump to the apartment next door and go down that ladder without being seen." The fairy whispered.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not the frickin' Spiderman." Ayumu whispered back, "We're going back down this ladder this instant, okay?"
"But he'll see us." Us. Ayumu felt her stomach flip-flop. She had not been thinking this all of the way through. Without meaning to, she had become associated with this little fairy and gotten wrapped up in her drama. I'm seriously going to be so late to school. And "fairy rescuing detours" probably aren't excuses for being tardy...
The flying boy landed on the ground and walked back into the shadowed area of the apartment buildings. Ayumu saw her chance and began climbing down the ladder quickly, with her new fairy companion on her shoulder.
"Why is he after you?" She asked, deciding to use smalltalk to distract her nerves.
The fairy caught on and obliged her, "He wants the Courage Chains that the Dreaming Princess entrusted me with, -rebe. He's trying to stop me from finding the Pretty Cure."
"Wow, I'm having a really elaborate hallucination." Ayumu mumbled under her breath, "Where are the Courage Chains?"
"I'm not telling you, -rebe. You might be an enemy spy, -rebe!"
That was insulting, but Ayumu didn't see any reason to get angry about it. Instead she just shook her head calmly, "I'm not an enemy spy, I'm a Jr. High student... My name is Inoue Ayumu."
"Hmmm." The fairy considered this slowly before replying, "I am Rebebe, a fairy from Dreaming Land."
"Well, you've got me beat when it comes to being interesting." Ayumu reached the end of the last ladder and hopped to the ground. Rebebe held onto her shoulder so that they were not separated, and remained there even as Ayumu went to retrieve her school bag from where she had left it, "Are you... gonna get off of my shoulder now?"
Rebebe blinked innocently, then smiled, "Nope!"
"Aand... Why not?"
"Because we're friends, -rebe." The fairy replied, "You're my first human friend, Ayumu. I'm so happy to have met you."
It was hard to be annoyed at that. Ayumu couldn't help but smile and nodded in agreement, "And you're my first friend in Yumekawa, Rebebe."
"Wow, you must be a really lonely person." Rebebe observed with accidental rudeness.
"N, no... I just moved here over the weekend." Ayumu laughed, "Today is my first day of school, so I haven't really had a chance to make any new friends yet..."
Her voiced trailed off.
"Ayumu?" Rebebe questioned with concern, "Yet...?"
"School!" Ayumu yelped, "Oh gosh, I'm so super late! Aaahhhh Rebebe, where do you live? I'll take you back home on my way!"
"In Dreaming Land." Rebebe answered.
"Aaand that iiis– where?"
"In Dreaming Land."
"Yeah, so where do I go from here to get there?" Ayumu elaborated, figuring that Rebebe did not understand, "I'm new here, remember?"
The fairy shook her little head, "It's another world that exists in the hearts and minds of all living things." She explained, "But I don't need to go home. I need to find the Pretty Cure!"
That had hardly been helpful, but Ayumu was not the type to easily lose her temper. "Where should I drop you off then?"
"I don't know." Rebebe admitted, her voice now saddened, "I don't have any idea where to find the Pretty Cure... But everyone back home is counting on me, -rebe..."
Ayumu frowned, feeling badly for her new friend. Rebebe seemed pretty worked up about finding these people. She imagined it must be really important if she got so stressed about it.
"Tell you what." She started, forcing a peppy smile into her voice, "I have to go to school now, but how about I help you look this afternoon? I can make sure that bully doesn't bug you too."
"Really?" Rebebe's eyes lit up with hope, "Ayumu, you'd do that for me?"
Ayumu nodded, "Yup. We're friends, right?"
The fairy's eyes began to water, but she was smiling,"Okay! I've never been to 'school' before. Can I come with you?"
"Mm!" Ayumu nodded again and began walking in a random direction, "But we have to get there first. Tell me if you see any signs for the train station, okay? And try to be quiet. I don't think fairies are normal in Yumekawa."
"Okay!" Rebebe agreed, "Thanks, Ayumu!"
[ EYECATCH 1: Ayumu is at her computer doing homework, when Rebebe flies over to give her a tea cup. She almost drops it, but Ayumu is quick to catch the cup and save her laptop. They both sigh in relief, then laugh. ]
[ EYECATCH 2: Cure Light and Cure Faith stand back-to-back, with Cure Light smiling a bubbly smile and posing dramatically while Cure Faith is frowning with her arms crossed over her chest. Cure Faith begins walking to the right, out of the frame, and we see that Cure Light could only maintain this pose when leaning on her fellow Cure. Cure Light flails and falls dramatically to the ground, leaving an empty frame with the logo in the corner. ]
Transferring schools was supposed to be nerve-racking. Ayumu knew that. But being an hour late to your first day was an entirely new level of nerve-racking. Ayumu was escorted out of the teacher's lounge, grateful that her lecture was not too severe.
"Come by the teacher's lounge at the end of the day, Inoue-san. I'll outline a map of the city so you don't get lost again." Her homeroom teacher, Miki Akiko-sensei, was a tall woman with dark brown hair and blue eyes. She had been called to the lounge when Ayumu arrived late and was calmly escorting her to her classroom. "Why didn't you come with your brother this morning? He's been in Yumekawa long enough to know the city layout, right?"
"Yeah... Sorry..." Ayumu sighed in defeat, knowing Miki-sensei was right. Before now, the Inoue family had lived in Hoshizora Valley– the city her father still worked in. Ayumu's older brother, Daisuke, had attended Reverie Academy and lived in one of their boarding dorms. Her mother had been very excited to get a job offer in Yumekawa and be able to move the family: She was working a stable job, got to send all of her kids to a high ranking school, and now her son had no excuse not to live with them. For Ayumu's mother, all of this was a dream come true.
"Are you nervous?" Miki asked. They had stopped in front of a classroom, standing in a long modern school hallway.
Ayumu looked up at her new teacher and tried to manage a confident smile, "A, a little... I'm so late... I'll make a horrible impression..."
Her nerves stirred in her stomach again. Just like her brother said, Ayumu was clumsy and unreliable. Too incompetent to even get to school. Her classmates would just see a silly girl that needed to be looked after, not the capable young adult Ayumu wanted to be.
But her teacher just chuckled softly at her concerns, "If we all made permanent judgments on first impressions then the world would be much different, Ayumu. Part of growing up is knowing that you can always change, both yourself and the opinions others have of you."
The words helped ease Ayumu's tensions. Is was a part of growing up... That was right. As a young adult, Ayumu could adapt to those sorts of things. This was a sign of her growing up, not a sign of being a child forever!
"Ayumu. I'm hungry, -rebe." The hairs on the back of Ayumu's neck stood up when she heard the whispering voice. She moved her bag from one hand to both, hugging it in front of her and hanging her head.
"Sssh! Not yet!" She whispered to Rebebe, who was hiding in an empty compartment.
"Yes yeet." Rebebe whispered back.
"Inoue-san?"
"Ahh! Y, yes yes, sorry! Giving myself a pep talk!" Ayumu straightened up and laughed weakly, "Okay, I'm ready! Ayumu Inoue's bravery is at max one-hundred!"
Her teacher giggled, "Okay. I'll go in and settle them down. Wait until I call you."
"Mm!" She chimed, watching her new homeroom teacher walk into the classroom. Then she sighed and opened the compartment Rebebe was in.
"Ayumu, I'm sorry. Was I bad?" Rebebe could tell from Ayumu's expression. The pitiful look on her fairy friend's apologetic face dissolved Ayumu's temper in an instant, and she sighed once again.
"No, it's fine. I'm sorry for stuffing you in there." She whispered, "But I can't have toys at school. You'll be taken away."
"I don't want that, -rebe."
"Me neither." Ayumu agreed, "Just a bit longer, okay?"
"Okay. I'll be patient for you, Ayumu!" Rebebe ducked back into the bag, just as Ayumu heard Miki calling.
"Inoue-san, you can come in now."
"Yes!" Ayumu called back and rushed to the door. Then stopped, suddenly stiff with fright. She had been so busy talking to Rebebe that she had forgotten to worry about her introductory speech! Should she smile and be bright and perky? Or apologetic about being late? Should she mentioned Daisuke being a student here already? No no, she didn't want to be labeled as his little sister forever!
"Inoue-san?" Miss Miki prompted her delicately, snapping Ayumu out of her stupor.
"Yes, coming!" She squeaked, her voice much higher than she had expected for it to be. Already she heard some of her new classmates giggling at her for squeaking like a mouse, but she powered through her fear and marched to the front of the classroom.
Imagine a light, imagine a light!
She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breathe. Her mind focused on the light rather than being scared, until she was so focused that she had forgotten that she had ever been scared.
Then Ayumu opened her eyes and mouth, "My name is Inoue Ayumu. I moved here because of my mother's work– ah, um– She's a producer for your local news station, um." Her smile faltered. Everyone was watching her attentively. Ayumu gulped and continued, "I'm sorry for being late, um! I kinda... took the wrong train, uh... I hope that we can all get along and be friends! Nice to meet you!"
Then she bowed, with her big braids flopping over her shoulders. She stayed this way, wondering why everyone was so quiet. It took a second for her classmates to begin clapping and calling welcoming words to her.
"Nice to meet you too, Inoue-chan!"
"I can show you around the train station, okay?"
"Your mom is so cool! I want to be a TV producer too!"
Ayumu smiled shyly, feeling her cheeks burdened with colour. Her anxiousness faded completely under the gentle warmth of her new classmates. I think we can be friends. I think I can do this!
"Thank you for that, Inoue-san." Miss Miki smiled, "You may all ask her more questions during lunch break. Now, for where you will be sitting... Hmm..."
Miss Miki scanned the classroom with her eyes, now looking troubled. Ayumu could see an empty seat in the second row, making itself obvious and practically screaming for the new transfer to sit there. There were no other available seats, yet Miss Miki kept looking with a strange expression on her face.
"W, well then... I suppose you'll have to sit between Manami-san and Sato-san..." She spoke slowly and with uncertainty tainting a strained smile. Ayumu nodded and took a step towards the seat, but was stopped. The two kids directly in front of her had stretched their arms out to create a wall that blocked her path.
"No! Miki-sensei, please!" Begged a blonde girl, "That's Shiori-chan's seat!"
"What if she comes back?" Added the other girl.
The stress was clearly visible on Miss Miki's face, "Girls... Inoue-san needs a seat..."
"Then we can go borrow an empty desk from another classroom!" Said the blonde, "Let's put Inoue-san in the back!"
"She can be in any row she wants, as long as it's not Shiori-chan's seat!"
"Th, that seat isn't Akemi-san's anymore..." Miss Miki spoke slowly. Her voice was quivering oddly, as if she was about to cry. Ayumu saw now that most of the class had a similar look on their face; sad and stressed, with their heads hung in mourning.
"Just let her have it." Said one of the boys harshly, "Get over it. Akemi isn't coming back ever again."
"Don't say that!" One of the girls stood up, "She is too!"
"She is not!" Snapped the boy, also standing, "People who have been missing this long are dead, Tsukino! Dead!"
The girl, Tsukino, went pale. Then tears spilled out of her eyes and she shoved through the desk arrangement towards the sliding door, "You're horrible, Matsumoto-kun!"
Then there was silence. Ayumu felt incredibly awkward. Who was this Shiori Akemi? And what did they mean, that she had been "missing" for a long time? She looked over at Miss Miki and saw her homeroom teacher was still deeply troubled.
"Ino... Inoue-san. I'm sorry. Please use Shio– Akemi-san's desk for today." She finally said, wiping her eyes, "Everyone, please open your books to page 46 and read the short story there. I'm going to get Tsukino-san."
"Yes, Miki-sensei." The class did not sound as peppy as before. Ayumu wondered if she had thought too optimistically too soon. She sat in her new desk and immediately felt stares digging into her back. She realized without being told that her transfer was no longer exciting to the students of class 2-B. The transfer of Inoue Ayumu was a symbol from the school in regards to the missing girl, Akemi Shiori: They had given up on that girl ever resurfacing again. Ayumu's transfer meant Shiori was considered dead.
"That could have gone better." It was lunch break now. After asking all of the girls in class to eat with her and being turned down by each and every one, Ayumu had retreated to a lonely section of the courtyard. She had laid out a small blanket to sit on and given half of her food to Rebebe.
"I don't think it was Ayumu's fault, -rebe. You had an excellent introduction." Rebebe insisted, clearly upset on Ayumu's behalf, "It was out of your control, -rebe."
"Even so." Ayumu frowned lightly, "Now no one wants to talk to me. It's like they think I'm a bad omen or something."
"Ayumu is a good omen!" Rebebe said confidently, "Because when you showed up, my day got really great. Ayumu is my best friend, -rebe!"
"Rebebe..." Ayumu felt her eyes water, but a smile spread across her lips at the same time, "Thank you... You're my best friend too."
She closed her eyes and thought about how bright her day was. There was darkness, but darkness just gave a light more reason to shine. Lights like her new fairy friend, Rebebe. "Right... I'm okay. I think I'll go request a new desk before lunch break ends."
"Okay." Rebebe smiled, "I'll come with you."
"Thank you." Ayumu dabbed the tears from her eyes and sighed out her troubles, "We need to get your Pretty Cure people too, right? Any idea how we should start?"
Rebebe paused, then shook her head, "I don't know exactly. The names and faces of the Pretty Cure are a mystery, even to me, so that their identities are safe until they're ready to wake up."
"I see..." Ayumu breathed out, "What exactly is a Pretty Cure?"
"A legendary warrior." Rebebe explained, "There are supposed to be five of them. They protect everyone's Dream Flowers and help them bloom beautifully."
"Dream Flowers? And you're from the Dreaming Land..." Ayumu laughed weakly, "Well, I guess I can't help but believe it now. My best friend is a fairy, after all."
"Dream Flowers contain your dreams. When you grow as a person, you nurture the flower. When you finally reach your dream, the Dream Flower creates a kind of magic that keeps Dreaming Land healthy." Rebebe elaborate, "They're good things. But the Night Manor wants to destroy them for some reason."
"Night Manor?" Ayumu repeated, "Was that person following you a Night Manor?"
"Mmhmm." Rebebe nodded, "His name is Leo. He's being really mean. He doesn't want me to find the Pretty Cure and protect the flowers."
Isn't that because he's helping to destroy them? Ayumu didn't voice that thought, but continued her curiousity, "Okay, so finding the Pretty Cure is really important so that you can keep Dreaming Land healthy."
"Yeah." Rebebe agreed.
"But how will we know them when we find them? We don't know anything about them yet."
"With the Courage Chains." Rebebe squeaked in delight. She stood up and wiggled her tiny fairy hips until four objects dropped out of her little skirt. There were colourful jewels– yellow, green, blue, and purple – cut into diamonds and entrusted with gold. Each out hung off a chain back of golden beads with a heart-shaped keyring at the end. Ayumu stared, not sure what to think about how Rebebe's skirt seemed to have hammerspace inside of it. She was about to ask about that weird quirk (why not infinite pockets?) when Rebebe spoke up again. "When a Pretty Cure does an act of courage then the Courage Chain will go 'beep beep beep' and help them transform."
"Hmm... Is that so?" Ayumu mumbled, "So we need to make random people on the street behave super bravely until those light up..."
Which would be difficult. Rebebe sat down on the chains, which disappeared into her skirt's strange hammerspace, and the two of them fell into a thoughtful silence.
"Inoue-san?" A voice snapped Ayumu out of her daze. She didn't have time to hide Rebebe, but her clever friend was quick to go still and act like a stuffed toy. The girl who had run off, Tsukino, was standing about a yard away. In her arms was a textbook that Ayumu didn't recognize, held tightly to her chest and contributing to a sad, under-confident demeanor.
"Oh um... Tsukino-chan. Hello." Ayumu was not sure why she was here. She did not seem as angry anymore, though her eyes were red and puffy. She must have been crying a lot, "Can I help you?"
"I, I... Well, I saw that you didn't have your textbooks yet. I thought I'd help you catch up before our next class." Tsukino explained, "And well... I'm sorry. For what I did today."
Ayumu blinked a few times to clear some mental confusion, then shook her head rapidly, "Oh, please, it's okay! I'm sorry for upsetting you so much, really!" She forced herself to stay still as she continued, "I'm going to ask for a new desk, okay? I don't mind."
"O, oh... No, that's... I mean..." Tsukino looked ready to cry again. Then she gave a little laugh and wiped her tears, "That's exactly what Shiori-chan would have said too..."
From there, everything felt like it was falling into place. Miyoko Tsukino was a member of the art club. She had joined the club with her classmate and best friend, Shiori, the year before. Miyoko explained to Ayumu how she wore her hair up in blonde buns now because Shiori had always been fascinated by her last name.
"It's the same as our favorite super heroine, you know?" Miyoko elaborated, "My hair isn't long enough to look just like her, but Shiori-chan always did my hair up as close to Tsukino-chan's as possible. Now I keep it this way for her sake..."
"M, me too." Ayumu piped up, "I mean, n-no Shiori-chan, but... My friends from home and I bleached a bit of our hair. See?"
"It looks cute." Miyoko smiled, "And relaxing. I feel better with my hair this way."
"It looks really good on you." Ayumu smiled. Miyoko was really nice. The topic of Shiori had made Ayumu feel like an outsider before, but now it was helping her make a friend.
"Shiori-chan would have pestered you about eating together right away." Miyoko admitted, "She'd be upset if she knew we were excluding you over her..."
"Tsukino-chan..." Ayumu felt pity for her.
"Her dream was to have a world where everyone got along and was happy." Miyoko giggled sadly at the thought, "She always did her best to take care of everyone. So for her to be the one making the class so sad... That's not what she would have wanted at all."
Ayumu smiled weakly at the sentiment, "Thank you for telling me so much about Shiori-chan. I know that this must be really hard for you..."
"It is." Miyoko admitted, "But I don't want Shiori-chan to make me cry. That'd make her cry too... I want to help make her dreams come true, even if she isn't here anymore."
There was a moment of silence. Ayumu did not find it awkward, but soothing. It was as if both of them had realized in that moment that Shiori, the girl who was not there, would have wanted a chance to speak. Ayumu didn't know Shiori, but she could imagine the other girl thanking Miyoko for being so strong and smothering her in hugs.
"There you are."
Footsteps crunched the grass. Harsh, loud steps that commanded attention. Ayumu looked up to the source and felt her heart stop. The familiar boy from that morning was standing over them, his deep red eyes set on the "plush toy" between Miyoko and Ayumu. Now that Leo was not flying around like a weirdo, Ayumu could see that he wore a dark turtleneck with detached sleeves, strapped to his arms with belts. To complete the look, which Ayumu thought of as "trying too hard to look evil," were baggy pants tucked into black boots, spiky brass knuckles, and a spiky collar.
It's a crime against fashion! Ayumu thought.
"I didn't expect for you to be at this academy." Leo admitted, continuing to talk to the plushie, "When did you pick up these girls?"
"Um..." Miyoko looked deeply distressed. She looked at Ayumu, wondering at first if her new classmate knew this boy. Obviously not, so Miyoko got to her feet and frowned lightly at the newcomer, "Excuse me. I see you're not wearing our uniform, so you probably don't go here. You need to go to the front office to get a visitor's badge before you begin looking around the campus."
"Huh?" He looked confused, but caught on quickly, "I think you're misunderstanding something, girl."
"Like what?" Miyoko asked, her tone now challenging his behavior.
"I'm not here to visit." The boy explained, "I'm here for that pipsqueak of a fairy."
"I am not a pipsqueak, -rebe!" Rebebe broke her act suddenly and flew at the boy's face. It was Ayumu's fast thinking that got her to her feet in time to grab Rebebe and hold her back, but that did not stop the fairy's fierce glares, "Go away, -rebe! Ayumu is making a new friend, -rebe!"
"Ayumu?" Red eyes were now set on Ayumu, "This human?"
A shudder crept down her spine. Ayumu did not like the way that he was looking at her. She glanced at Miyoko and saw her friend's legs were also shaking. The two of them were eating out of sight, since Ayumu hadn't wanted to burden her classmates. That meant that no one could see they were being harassed.
Ayumu slowly stepped in front of Miyoko and glared at the boy, "Inoue Ayumu, actually. I saw you bullying Rebebe this morning... I won't let you start that again."
"Bullying?" He laughed, "It was hardly bullying. I was trying to kill her."
"Oh." Yeah, that was more than bullying. It almost sucked Ayumu's courage away. It was one thing to get between a bully and his victim, but a murderer and his victim? This had escalated quickly.
"Inoue-san..." Miyoko whispered, "At the count of three, okay?"
"Huh? Tsukino-chan?"
"One... Two..."
In a quick motion, Miyoko reached into her uniform pocket and pulled out a little bottle of perfume. With a yell of "THREE!" she ran at Leo and jumped into his line of vision, solely so that she could spray her perfume directly into his eyes. It startled him enough that he yelled out in panic and covered his eyes, instinct driving him to try to rub the perfume out.
"Let's so, Inoue-san! Fairy-san!" Miyoko called, reaching for Ayumu's hand and dragging her forward. Ayumu stumbled after her, surprised by Miyoko's bravery. This had been an almost perfect opening for them, until –
"You're not going anywhere! Suya Seed! Choke out their dreams and show them that nightmares are reality!"
It was a very weird thing for the guy to yell. It was also very weird to see a small, glowing object shoot towards them like a bullet. Though "glowing" may have been the wrong word. Glowing things gave off light. This thing seemed to suck in all of the light around it and create an outline of darkness. Ayumu was being dragged behind Miyoko and was looking over her shoulder at the object. She could already imagine it borrowing into her back like a gunshot wound –
"Inoue-san!" Miyoko looked over her shoulder too. Suddenly she was tugging down on Ayumu's hand and throwing the other girl to the ground. Ayumu fell onto her back, cradling Rebebe protectively in her arms, and watched as the light-less object went through Miyoko's chest.
"Tsukino-chan!" She shrieked. Ayumu let go of Rebebe so that she could sit up faster and crawled closer to her friend, who was sinking to her knees. There was no blood, no sign of the object going into Miyoko... But her friend was deathly pale and sweating cold. Miyoko began to tremble and curled up against Ayumu, looking into her friend's eyes with a terrified expression.
"Shiori-chan... Shiori-chan, I'm being really brave." She whispered, "So please come home... I want you to see how strong I can be..."
"Tsukino-chan...?" Ayumu felt Miyoko's cold hand on her cheek. It occurred to her that Miyoko was somehow mistaking her for Shiori, so the fact that Miyoko was moving to try to kiss her... "She meant a lot to you... Oh, Tsukino-chan..."
Ayumu avoided the kiss, for Miyoko and Shiori's sake, and pulled her friend into a hug. She hoped the warmth would get rid of Miyoko's cold shivering, but it did not seem to be helping. Miyoko slumped in her arms, asleep and whimpering.
"This is bad, -rebe!" Rebebe squeaked, "He used a Suya Seed on Miyoko's heart, Ayumu!"
"I have no idea what the heck that means!" Ayumu wailed, "But Tsukino-chan is so cold! I need to warm her up!"
"You can't, -rebe! She's stuck in a nightmare!" Rebebe whimpered back, "I'm so sorry, Ayumu, this is all because of me!"
"If you're feeling guilty then turn yourself in." The Suya Seed boy was back. He smirked, seemingly amused by how Miyoko had been affected.
There was a ringing sound, painfully high pitch so that it seemed to drive nails into Ayumu's ears. The point where the seed had entered Miyoko's chest 'glowed,' sapping all of the light around them. It quickly became more than just light: It was sapping away the very scenery. The green grass died, the bushes became dry and bare, and the sky was grey with rainless clouds. There was another ringing sound and then some sort of explosion that knocked Ayumu back. She somersaulted backwards until she hit one of the dry bushes, getting a face full of sharp, dead leaves.
"Tsukino-chan!" She sat up just as fast, in time to watch as a plant grew out of Miyoko. Its vines sunk into the ground and began to pull her into the air, wrapping around her slowly as they began to form a cocoon. Ayumu jumped to her feet and ran at the forming plant cocoon, tearing at it with her hands. "Tsukino-chan! Tsukino-chan, wake up!"
"She can't hear you." Leo explained, "No one outside of this Nightmare Garden can hear you now. You'll die here, just like so many others."
Ayumu looked over her shoulder, "D, die?"
"Mmhmm. Unless you convince that fairy to hand over her Courage Chains."
Now Ayumu looked for Rebebe. Her fairy friend was floating in front of her with her tiny head hung with guilt. Rebebe didn't need to voice her thoughts: Ayumu knew she felt guilty. All of this had started to get at Rebebe and it was working.
"O, okay... Okay. I'll give them to you, -rebe!" Rebebe sobbed, looking up at Leo with a fierce glare. There was a flash of light before all four Courage Chains appeared in front of her, "So stop hurting Ayumu and her friend, -rebebe!"
The effort to stop the vines wasn't working and Ayumu couldn't bear the thought of Rebebe throwing her dream away. Ayumu ran over to her fairy friend and tugged her back into her arms, holding her and the chains protectively. "Rebebe is a strong girl who wants to help those that she loves... And it's the same for Tsukino-chan! They're both so tough and they're already hurting a lot while trying to complete their goals. They don't need you making it harder just because you're a stupid face!"
"Ayumu..." Rebebe whimpered.
"I don't understand what Rebebe is trying to do exactly, but I know she dreams of being the fairy that can complete this sort of task... And Tsukino-chan is trying her hardest to fulfill her best friend's dream of a happy, friendly world." Ayumu continued, "As long as they're trying their best, I'm going to support them! And if anyone tries to stop them, I'll stop that too!"
Something flashed and began to beep a strange melody. Through squinting eyes, Ayumu could see that one of the Courage Chains was glowing bright gold. The light was so bright that Leo was momentarily blinded.
"Ayumu!" Rebebe yelled, "Grab it, -rebe!"
"R, right!" Ayumu reached out and snatched the glowing Courage Chain. The beaded chain snaked around her wrist and the keychain portion open and then snapped closed, creating a bracelet. It was warm and soothing like the sun...
"Pretty Cure..." She whispered the realization. Had she really been so courageous just now that the Courage Chain reacted to her? It seemed like such a funny coincidence for her to run into Rebebe, who was searching for these mysterious warriors, and then for her to turn out to be one of those warriors.
"It's not a coincidence." Ayumu whispered, "It's fate! Rebebe! How do I use this?"
"You need to transform first! Saying 'Pretty Cure, Dream Start!'" Rebebe called back, "Hurry!"
Leo was regaining his sight. Rebebe flew at him and tackled his face, covering his eyes with her body and being a general tiny nuisance.
"Thanks, Rebebe! I'll be quick!" Ayumu beamed and clapped her hands together, "Pretty Cure! Dreeeam START!"
The melody coming from the Courage Chain became louder, sounding more like a full fledged orchestra than its previous beeping had. The light was so bright that the scenery around Ayumu was bleached away and dyed yellow. She moved her right hand, which had the bracelet on it, over her chest and pressed the diamond shaped gem against her body. It flashed and then made a popping sound, detaching from the bracelet entirely.
Lights shot out from the diamond like ribbons, tying around Ayumu's body. Light consumed Ayumu's school uniform and turned it gold. Then there was another pop. Her uniform was gone, leaving a separate top and yellow circle skirt. She jumped up, pulling her legs up so that they touched the skirt and stole some of its infectious glow. When she landed again the light around her legs 'popped' and revealed boot covers over yellow boots. Through a similar process, Ayumu tapped her hands on her hips and stole some of the golden light, then clapped her hands together so that the light popped and created gloves. Next she tapped the sides of her head to spread some of the magic to her hair. With another pop she had pigtails with diamond-shaped buns. Finally, Ayumu tapped the diamond that was hovering in front of her chest. Her caplet appeared and the music switched.
"Nurturing the growth of dreams!" She called, spinning in place and then putting her fingertips together so that her arms made a diamond-shape, "Cure Light!"
The music wrapped up and the lights faded.
"Cure Light!" Rebebe squealed and back-flipped away from Leo, "I found you!"
"Rebebe!" Cure Light squealed back, "Hold onto those other chains and watch Tsukino-chan! I'll handle this!"
"Yeah!" Rebebe cheered, "You can do it, Cure Light!"
Leo growled and rubbed his face, which was now covered in fairy scratches. "Curses... You found one, but I can still stop you from finding the other three!"
"No way, Leo!" Cure Light snapped, pointing at him accusingly, "I won't let you get in the way of Rebebe's dream!"
"You can't stop me, Cure Greenhorn!" Leo hissed, "Nightmare! Show us that girl's worst!"
By now, Miyoko was covered with vines up to her waist. She whimpered loudly, distressed by whatever was going on in her head. Cure Light quickly realized what was distressing Miyoko. The ground shuddered as something ran over.
It was a desk, running with its legs like some sort of animal. There was a vase full of flowers seemingly glued to the top and giving off a storng, flowery scent. Eyes were on the edge and it moved its opening like a mouth when yelling, "Suyaa!"
"What the heck!" Cure Light squeaked, "What is that?"
"A nightmare, -rebe!" Rebebe called, "The Suya Seed is manifesting Miyoko's nightmares!"
"But her nightmare is a desk?" Cure Light asked, then she gasped. Of course... That empty desk represented Shiori's disappearance to Miyoko, and with a vase of flowers on top it would mean that Shiori was... Of course that would be her worst nightmare.
"How dare you!" Cure Light snapped at Leo, "Hang on, Tsukino-chan! I'm coming!"
"Suyaaaah!" Screamed the Nightmare.
Leo cackled at Cure Light's confidence, "Give it your best shot, Cure! But this will be your grave! Just like everyone else!"
Cure Light gritted her teeth and opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off –
"Not so fast, Leo!" Another voice called out. Cure Light turned her head to look in the voice's direction. There was a girl with long pink hair and a pink outfit. She stood with confidence, pink eyes narrowed at Leo.
"Tch... Cure Faith... So you're still alive." Leo hissed.
"Cure Faith?!" Rebebe gasped, "You're still here!"
"Of course I am." The pink cure, Cure Faith, snapped at Rebebe, "I'll deal with you later, Rebebe... But for now!" She turned to look at the Nightmare, "I'll deal with you!"
"Um... Hello? I'm here...?" Cure Light whispered, raising her hand nervously. Wasn't she supposed to be the hero here...?
EPISODE TWO PREVIEW
Cure Light: Wait, don't end the episode here! I don't want Tsukino-chan to have a nightmare all week!
Rebebe: It's okay, Cure Light! Cure Faith can handle this.
Cure Faith: Mm. And I don't need your help to save Miyoko-chan, or to find Shiori!
Cure Light: Wait what – You all know each other?! Next time, on Courageous Hearts Precure! "Precures working solo! This isn't how it should be!" Let's do our best this week too!