It's a highly picturesque scene - the northern lights dancing from above in the navy blue sky, dyeing the snow on the ground beautiful shades of green and pink. Everything seems to sparkle, and one wouldn't want to miss the chance to view this rare miracle of nature.
What a disappointment, then, that Apple was asleep through it.
The child had taken shelter in a cavern, memories of the past few days floating through his head. The images themselves were blurred and distorted, but the sounds were so vivid you would swear they were real. The deafening footsteps of the monster weren't even overpowered by the screams around him, and he struggled to dodge the debris being thrown about. And out of nowhere came a young girl's piercing screams as she was rapidly pulled away from him...
An icicle began to drip on his head, and gradually he awoke. Margarine...he had to find his sister...and to do that he had to find Pretty Cure. His grandparents had always told him the souls of these heroes could be found at the top of the world, and he'd decided he was going to find them. He groggily got up; he had a long journey ahead of him.
Then he saw the aurora above him, and gasped. Could it be that he'd already made it?! If he squinted, he could barely make out the temple on the horizon. He was so close! Just a few more yards and he would be there. He felt an anxious feeling in his stomach; this had been his dream for as long as he could remember. He found himself running toward it, and tripped over himself when he realized. Just take your time...it's not going anywhere...
Finally, he approached the entrance to the sacred building. It was virtually untouched, and the snow even seemed to dodge it so as not to damage it. Apple was trembling as he approached the staircase; take one step, then another. He tried to focus on just that, but it was almost as if he could feel the souls as he approached them. The door opened with a creeeeaaaaak...
The interior was nothing special. The building was entirely made of faded wood, and was almost completely empty. Only in the center was a pillar holding up a frosted glass dome. He exhaled, his breath showing in the cold. The translucent glass blocked the spirits from view, but oddly he could feel them. It was just like feeling the presence of a person.
At first his feet wouldn't move. This was a sacred item, he shouldn't be allowed to even look at it! But then, he didn't really have a choice. And he began walking toward the dome with stiff, awkward legs. Before he knew it, his hands were pressed against the glass, and he closed his eyes, concentrating. He tried to remember the Pretty Cure poem that had been engraved in his mind since childhood, but all that came out was stammering. He took a deep breath, and tried again.
"Puru...so it was...and so it...is..." Suddenly the fear building up began to rapidly melt away, and soon he realized his lips were moving on their own. "Pretty Cure has made the hidden visible, and driven away those with malicious intent. When evil rises from its prison in the shadows, they shall come again to drive it away once and for all..."
The dome began to glow a faint white, and he gasped. No amount of magic could hide it anymore; he was scared. Everything was becoming more and more based on instinct. It was almost like he wasn't himself anymore! But then...
Margie-chan...
No. He had to be brave. He didn't care what happened to him, as long as he could save his sister! He tried to speak once again. "Pretty Cure..." Although he tried to hold it back, tears began to stream down his face. "Please...help me-puru...please!"
Without warning he heard a large crack, and upon looking up, found with panic that the roof was about to cave in. He quickly tucked himself under the glass dome, just as the debris started falling around him. Opening his eyes, he observed his surroundings, and noticed that the entire ceiling had opened up to reveal the northern lights.
Just as he did, the dome above him began to glow intensely. Startled, he quickly backed into a wall, his eyes fixated on the pillar in fear and awe. The aurora had condensed itself into a beam and aimed at the glass, and gradually the glow became stronger. Soon the glass outright shattered, and the shards rapidly fused together to create three floating gems - a red sphere, a violet heart, and a yellow rhombus.
The trembling Apple watched them glow brighter and brighter. Were these really the souls of Pretty Cure? But what were they doing exactly? And why did he feel so lightheaded...?
He looked down at the floor and nearly fainted. He...his feet were glowing, too! Even stranger, he couldn't feel anything in his feet anymore. He reached toward his right foot; his hand went right through. He started to panic. What was happening to him?!
Almost immediately it began to spread, and the room of rainbow colors became less clear. At this point the gems had lost any distinguishable shape. Was he becoming a light like them? The world was spinning around him...he couldn't think... But he had to find his sister! He couldn't let this hold him back!
Margie-chan...I'll find you...I'll get back to normal and I'll find you...!
Finally the light went over his ears, and he was compressed into a sphere shape. All of a sudden the three gems shot up into the starry sky...and without warning, he did as well. He screamed at the intense speed he was traveling at. The four lights took off into the center of the aurora, and disappeared.
---
It was around the middle of the night when Jordan Rinne's eyes suddenly snapped open.
It wasn't that she wasn't sleepy. After a long flight over the Pacific Ocean all afternoon, how could you not be? It seemed like something had went zap in her brain and forced her to wake up.
She glanced at her digital clock, its bright red letters the only thing illuminating the room. Exactly midnight. She should've been sleeping right now, but out of boredom, she opened the window curtains and looked out at her new neighborhood.
The city lights of Tokyo looked like stars behind the entirely dark streets below. It certainly wasn't Melbourne, but there were at least some similarities. She had always been a city girl. Thank god they hadn't moved to some Japanese Ruralville.
She nodded to herself. That was a good start. And the language? She would catch on to that eventually. That's what school is for, right? And finding friends wouldn't be hard in the country with the highest population density in the world...
Yes. Yes, she could definitely get used to this. She was starting to like Japan already.
Finally she plopped back into bed, wanting tomorrow to come as soon as possible. As long as she stayed positive, she thought, things would be positive, right? It had worked before. She hoped it wasn't just an Australian thing. Finally, after one more look at the starry sky, she pulled the curtains shut.
"Good night...my new home."
She looked away just as four multi-colored shooting stars zipped through the sky.
---
The room was pitch black. Apart from a red light in the dead center of the floor, there was nothing but darkness. As inconvenient as this made things, he knew his master would refuse to change it. The darkness, after all, was what he loved most. It made him calm, relaxed. Or at least as calm and relaxed as someone as irritable as him could be.
But as dark as it was, his master was not satisfied. He wanted more blackness, more pain. This, Blake supposed, was why he was taken as his servant. And why he had been given these abilities...
"Servant."
He cringed at the sound of the artificial voice, but quickly pushed back any signs of nervousness. His master could sense fear as if it was pure sunlight in this black room. "Yes, master. I am listening for your orders."
"Have we not gone over this already?" Sigh...that irritated tone of voice again. "You must gather the negative energy of others. Upon being brought back it will be broken down and converted. And this is exactly the sort of power I desire! Do you understand that?"
"Yes, master. I understand."
He thought he could hear a sigh for a moment, until his master finally continued speaking.
"Now go, quickly. Or the punishment will be severe."
He left without hesitation. If this was his fate, he supposed he would have to accept it. If his purpose was to gather this energy...
I will not fail you, master.
---
"So, this is Kinkiku Junior High..."
The school building in front of Jordan certainly looked normal. It was the amount of Japanese people surrounding her that she wasn't used to. But then, she was in Japan, so what else was she supposed to expect? She didn't really mind that she was the only foreigner here.
She did wish the uniform was better, though. The lopsided buttons certainly made her open jacket look odd. And green and brown weren't exactly her favorite colors...
But who was she to complain? Everyone was wearing the same thing anyway. As long as she got decent grades, she would be great! She rushed into the front doors and through the halls, eager to start the day.
"Miss, we don't allow..."
Jordan skitted to a halt, and turned around to the teacher addressing her. He looked surprised to see her face.
"Oh...I'm sorry, you're the transfer student, aren't you?" He did a slight bow. "Sorry, I thought someone had dyed their hair brown. You can be on your way."
She sighed. That would probably be happening all day. But hey, if she was lucky, it would be the only nuisance, right?
---
It was certainly not the only nuisance.
Almost immediately upon entering the classroom, fellow students bombarded her with pointless questions about if she spoke English and how big her house was and whether brown was her natural hair color. She could barely understand anything being taught, especially not Japanese class. And her lunch had just been a darned peanut butter sandwich! No chips or anything! She had to admit, the whole positive-thinking thing could be really difficult sometimes...
Finally science class was over, and she was about to begin packing up when the teacher said something about cleaning. Cleaning? The travel guides hadn't said anything about cleaning. Did they not have janitors in Japan? Maybe she could sneak out...
Making sure the teacher wasn't looking, she snuck over to the door with a handkerchief. She rubbed on the glass, trrying to look as if she was cleaning it. She went into the hallway and began wiping the other side...then, when no one was looking, made a run for it! Her papers flew through the halls until she was finally out of the building.
"Yes!" She threw a fist in the air. It was so good to feel the fresh air again! Wait, the windows in the classroom had been open, hadn't they? Well, the sheer boringness must've poisoned it or something...
It was at that moment that she noticed another girl about her age reading a book by the gates. Come to think of it, she remembered seeing her in the classroom, too. She was fairly easy to distinguish, being the only student that didn't have straight hair.
Actually, she was pretty much the only classmate that hadn't been stalking her all day. Jordan smiled; there was one good thing about the day! She should thank her or something like that...
"Hey, you!"
The young girl looked up with a blank expression, as if she was bewildered that someone would actually be talking to her. Her hair fell over her face, and she daintily pushed it back. This girl was actually kind of pretty.
Back on topic. "Thanks for not being all weird with me today," Jordan said. "What's your name, anyway?"
She took a while to respond. "Ki...Kitakaze."
"Ah, nice to meet you!" Silence; she couldn't think of anything to say, so she decided to leave. "Well, see you!"
---
The walk home was rather uneventful. Jordan still didn't quite know her way around the city, and found herself losing her sense of direction around its center. She was getting really frustrated. Nothing was going well for her! No; she shouldn't be thinking like that. Positive thinking, positive thinking...
It wasn't long before she wandered into the city park, and without thinking sat on a nearby bench, trying to sort everything out. She really wasn't catching on to the language, especially the writing. She could barely read the sign in front of the school! Classes didn't be seeming to help, either. She began stroking the object next to her as she thought. Maybe she could get someone to teach her...
...Wait. What was she petting?
She looked to see a stuffed animal in a sleeping bear position. A teddy bear, perhaps? She couldn't think of anything else it might be, but this wasn't your typical teddy bear. For one thing, it had a cowlick, and its eyes were huge...
She felt bad for the kid who left it here, though, she thought to herself as she began to stroke its stomach. It was kind of cute!
Then she noticed something and gasped, jerking away her hand. Had its stomach just moved a bit?
Cautiously, she laid her hand on it again. At that point she almost screamed. It was breathing.
"Oh my god...it's alive!"
Suddenly the creature began to stir awake. She tried to stay as quiet as possible, hoping it would ball asleep again, but it didn't work. He groggily stretched his eyes open, which were a deep brown, and let out a high-pitched yawn. He mumbled something in his tiny voice that sounded vaguely like "Did I fall asleep again...?"
After a while his eyes shot open, and he gazed at his surroundings in confusion, becoming especially tense when he laid eyes on the girl staring at him. His little body started to tremble. "Where am I-puru...what...what are you-puru?!"
So this creature was from another world? Crap, how did you say 'human' in Japanese again? She rubbed her head trying to think of the answer.
"Um...homo...sapi...E-Earth?"
The little bear cocked his head, repeating the word to himself. Jordan cringed; it sounded like a dirty word when he said it. Dang Japanese accents. But what was she supposed to do? He just kept on staring at her with those big ol' eyes.
"Wow...you're so tall-puru..." He looked in disappointment at his own stubby legs. "I wish I was taller. 'Cause...Pretty Cure is supposed to be tall-puru."
She decided to start a conversation with him. Maybe she would become at least a little bit used to it that way. "What's a Pretty Cure?" It sounded overly girly and sugary, but she wouldn't say that out loud.
His eyes widened into saucers, if that was even possible considering how enormous they already were. "You don't know Pretty Cure?!" She shook her head, and the little creature sighed, deep in his own thoughts.
"They're legendary warriors...from a long time ago-puru," he began. "And I gotta find 'em 'cause...'cause..." For a second he froze, then he swallowed, as if trying to hold back tears. "The monsters took my sister-puru. They took her, and she was crying..."
Gosh, that sounded terrible! No wonder the little guy was so nervous all the time. She stroked the boy's head as he sniffled. The emotional moment was interrupted by the sound of a tiny stomach grumbling.
"Aaah...I haven't eaten in a while-puru..." he blushed. He stuck his head in the bag next to him looking for something to eat, and ended up falling to the bottom, struggling to bury himself out of spare food and winter clothing from the trip. Jordan quickly pulled him out, and found that he had grabbed a pink cellphone-like device.
"Well, what's that you've got there?" She smiled awkwardly as the bear stared at the phone in confusion. "Puru...this wasn't in there before..."
"Can I try it?" Before he could answer, she snatched it from him and began playing with it. He panicked, and without thinking, starting shouting.
"No, that's for Pretty Cure-puru!"
She looked at him with an annoyed face. "How do you know that?!"
Just when he was about to answer, he realized that he didn't have one. He didn't know how he knew that. "I...I dunno where that came from-puru..."
"Oh?" No matter how many times she ruby-esque power button on the back, the phone wouldn't turn on for her. "What model is this, anyway?"
"S-SparkTouch." The creature suddenly covered his mouth. What had just happened? The name had come so naturally to him. As if he had always known it.
"Well, it doesn't work." She handed the phone back to him, and the moment it landed in his hands it stirred to life, and he became startled and dropped it. A screensaver with a red circle in the center flickered onto the screen.
They were both silent for a moment, then the creature finally declared, "...I gotta go find Pretty Cure!" He picked up the phone and began to walk away, before Jordan stopped him.
"Do you even know where to start?!"
He stopped in his tracks, this odd feeling of instinct catching him off guard again. "I don't know this place-puru..." he mumbled in confusion.
Jordan giggled. Poor little guy didn't have a clue what he was doing. She didn't either, but two heads were better than one, right? She didn't have much else to do anyway...
"You know, if it's that important to you..." she began, kneeling down off the bench. "I don't know this city too well, either, but I could help you."
His eyes brightened instantly, as he looked at her with surprise. "Really? Really?!"
"Sure, you don't have to do it alone or anything!"
"...I don't?!" The poor kid actually thought that? She could sort of see why, but surely the Pretty Cure Gods or whoever would at least find someone to assist him.
"Um...I think there's an observatory building nearby," she continued. "It'll be easy to search from way high up like that..."
At first there was an awkward silence, then the creature stammered out a 'thank you,' falling face-flat on the ground when attempting to bow. Jordan chuckled and carefully placed him on his feet, at which point he felt compelled to ask.
"Um...what's your name-puru?"
"Oh, mine?" She pondered on which order to give them. "Um...Rinne Jordan. Jordan Rinne. Jordan is fine. And yours?"
"A-Apple."
"Apple?!" What a cute name! It made her hungry. Boy, did she want some apple pie right about now... "Well, Apple, we should get going!"
She decided to pick him up and set him on her shoulders, and he yelped in surprise. "It's so high from up here-purup! You really are tall-puru!"
"Why do you do that, anyway?" she asked as she walked toward the center of the town.
"What do you mean-puru?"
"Purupurupuru...why do you do that?"
"Ah...I, um..." He blushed. "I can stop-puru...ah! I did it again-puru! AH! Pu...pu...pu...PURU! Aaah..."
Jordan giggled. "Okay, okay, you're gonna hurt yourself doing that!" It seemed like it was a bad habit of his. Maybe she could train him out of it later. Once closer to the city, she took a quick glance at her surroundings, and with that they were off.
---
"Are...are you sure we're safe up here-puru?"
"Sure we are! This is thick glass!" Or at least, Jordan was pretty sure it was. Thick walls called for thick glass, right? "Now open your eyes before you do fall."
Reluctantly Apple let his eyelids up...and was amazed. The view was stunning! Tall buildings went on for miles and miles, punctuated by a picturesque lilac-colored mountain standing majestically in the distance. He realized how long it had been since he'd seen a sky this clear.
"Well?"
"It's so pretty-puru..." 'Pretty' didn't sound like the right word. It was more than pretty, much more than just pleasing to the eyes. "It's really big-puru...this Earth place..."
"Ain't it?" she agreed, trying not to laugh at his unusual pronounciation. "Does anyone down there look like a Pretty Cure to ya?"
He squinted to see all the people walking down the streets...they all looked like little ants, and none of them particularly stood out in any way. "Ah...I dunno-puru..."
"Well, what does Pretty Cure look like?"
"I...I dunno-puru! It depends on who's telling the story-puru!" What did Pretty Cure really look like all those years ago? Did anyone really know? "Um...I guess they should be tall...and strong, and...and graceful..."
Jordan nodded. "Tall" would certainly be easy to look for; "strong" and "graceful" would be a bit more complicated, so she decided she'd have to find all the tall people first and narrow it down from there. Looking around, though, Japanese people weren't very tall...
"Hey, Puru-chan...is there a specific height, or does the legend just say 'tall?' ...Puru-chan?"
She gasped; he had disappeared from her shoulders! He could get caught that way! And she certainly wasn't ready to let him go. She ran around the observatory floor, trying to find the speck of brown and yellow in a sea of tourists. "Puru-chan! Puru-chaaan!"
Finally, after what seemed like hours, she found him - held in the grasp of a young man, no older than perhaps very early 20s. Despite his young age, his hair was a very grayish brown, and his face was almost entirely expressionless; Jordan could see how she didn't see him so many times, he blended in so much.
"Now, I know you have this energy in your possession," he spoke in a deadpan tone, holding the child by the neck as he tried to protect his worn-out little bag. "If you hand them over willingly, any conflict will be avoided."
"I...I can't-puru..." Apple muttered, his fearful eyes flashing to their blank instinctual mode every so often. "They're not yours...they belong to Pretty Cure-puru..."
The man sighed, his patience being tested. "You're a fool to hurt yourself like this." He tightened his grip ever so slightly. "Why do you depend on legends and fairy tales when your life is at stake? Whatever items you have, hand them over."
"I...aaah..."
"Hey, what are ya doin'?!"
There was an odd silence as Jordan continued. "For pete's sake, he's just a kid! Leave him alone and get your energy or whatever somewhere else!"
The man turned his head toward her, his expression never faltering once. "You know better than to get involved in what is not of your concern. I encourage you to leave immediately." He flexed his other hand, and his knuckles made a rather disturbing cracking sound as it curled into a loose fist.
She shuddered; it figured that someone like this would have such horror movie-esque hands. She quickly snatched Apple back, trying to comfort the trembling child whilst simultaneously driving this strange person away. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but if you even try to get him involved..."
He only chuckled. "Well, I guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way." He flexed his hand again, and she became oddly fascinated by the bony, lanky fingers...wait a second. Was that...fur? Why was he...oh my god...
Her eyes were fixated on the man as he mutated into some sort of bat creature. Half of her wanted to run away so badly, yet her feet didn't want to cooperate. What sort of person was this?!
"Jordan-san! It's...it's one of them-puru!"
Her trance was finally broken by Apple's cries. "One of..."
"The Hidden! Th-The monsters!" he exclaimed. "They came here too-puru!"
Monsters? The ones that took his sister? If this man was the monster, she had expected something at least a bit taller...
Just as she was thinking that, the strange person threw a midnight-colored handkerchief against a drinking fountain bolted to the wall. Without warning a cloud of smoke formed, and it began to rapidly form itself into a metal monster. It grew so tall that its head burst through the skyscraper's roof, and the crowd around her immediately started to panic.
Oh...that's what he meant...
Jordan froze in place. Why wasn't she panicking? Why wasn't she running away like the others?! That's what she should've been doing, right? But...she couldn't just abandon everyone like this, especially Apple. And if they had taken his sister, they could take others, too! She couldn't let that happen. She had to something. And she found this feeling becoming more and more intense the more she thought about it. Her hands curled into trembling fists; do something, you idiot, do something!
With a shout of "MEITOUMEEEEIII!," the monster shattered the window in front of her, and that was the last straw. Without thinking, she grabbed the nearest trash can and charged toward it, never looking back. Even though the hits across his back damaged the garbage can more than the Meitoumei, Apple vigorously cheered on from the sidelines, mostly just to keep himself from fainting in terror.
Then he jumped at the sight of a red light in the corner of his eye. From his bag? He looked down; the SparkTouch from earlier kept flickering on and off, with the light lasting longer and becoming more intense each time. Eventually it started trying to move, banging against the leather fabric toward the window. He grabbed it just as it began to puncture the fabric. Why was it acting so strange?! He couldn't lose it now! He hadn't even gotten a chance to find Pretty Cure...
...Pretty...Cure...?
At that moment a vivid image began to take shape in Apple's mind. He could see the radiant silhouette of what appeared to be one of the fabled warriors, flying out from a bed of glowing flames with an almost angelic beauty. It was a magnificent image on its own, but something about it really bothered him. Maybe it was just his imagination, but the heroine bore a striking resemblance to his new friend...
"J-Jordan-san...?" Hesitantly he turned his head to the fight behind him. The similarity was uncanny! He could hardly believe it. But in her brown eyes he could vividly see the flames from his dream. His hands shook as he held the SparkTouch; he knew she should have it, but he certainly didn't want to approach the monster. But it was quickly becoming harder and harder to resist, overwhelming intuition taking over. He had to give it to her. He had to give it to her.
Finally he found himself running toward the girl, shouting "Jordan-san! Jordan-san!" and keeping his eyes shut tight so he wouldn't run away at the last second. Jordan blinked; what was Apple worried about now?
"This...this is for you-puru!" The light from the cellphone shone directly in her eyes, and she immediately shielded them. Why was it so shiny all of a sudden? "Why are you giving it to me? Isn't that for Pretty Cure?" She felt a stream of water on her head, and groaned; it was so hard to keep a conversation when there was a monster behind you.
"But it's yours, isn't it?" He gave her a stare that looked as if he had just met her. "'Cause...'cause Jordan-san is..."
Suddenly the sound of "Meitoumeeeiii!" filled their ears, and before they could even realize it, the Meitoumei's massive arm had knocked them from the edge of the window, and they were falling to their doom.
---
~Eyecatch~
(can't think of an eyecatch sorry)
---
Oh my god. She was going to die, wasn't she?! No, no, don't think like that! Positive thinking, positive thinking...oh, who was she kidding? What could possibly be positive about falling to one's death? Even in freefall she could hear Apple's cries from above. Well, this would be a tragic end for him, wouldn't it? For the both of them, actually. So much for his sister, too...
But...she couldn't let that happen! She just couldn't! She had barely gotten a chance to help him! Please let a miracle save them right now, please please please...
Then, at that very moment, the SparkTouch came flying toward her. She caught it on reflex as it fell toward her face, its reflection in her eyes again. Suddenly she felt a huge wave of warmth go through her, and her fear dissolved away like snowflakes. As the phone glowed brighter and brighter, her mind started to go blank, and she instinctively reached for the button on the back. Her mouth was quivering, as if something was desperate to come out...
"P-Pretty Cure Spark Aura!"
Before she had the chance to ask herself what was going on, she was enveloped by the radiant reddish light coming from the SparkTouch. It began to swirl around her, and Apple watched in awe as the silhouette inside rapidly changed. He inhaled a gasp; to think, Pretty Cure had been right in front of him all this time!
He was so entranced by the magic in front of him that he nearly forgot he was falling. Unfortunately he made the mistake of looking down, and his amazement was replaced by terror. He screamed as his eyes met the pavement below, but to his surprise his view was soon blocked by...a hand?
He looked up, and gasped. Ohmigosh...there was no way...it couldn't be...but it was!!! The legendary warrior struck a pose, her pink skirt and the bow on her chest flitting with her dynamic motions, and her determined gaze unfaltering.
"The blazing heart of a bright red jewel, Cure Garnet!"
This is...Pretty Cure...? Yes. Yes, this was Cure Garnet. There was no way this heroine could be the Jordan Rinne he met in the park. She looked...stronger, prettier, maybe even older. The magenta minidress and legwarmers didn't exactly help, either. Yet although her eyes had become a deep red, they still had that fiery stare he had seen on Jordan earlier. It was very, very strange; they were the same, yet at the same time two entirely different people.
The Meitoumei slashed an arm at her, which she gracefully dodged, placing Apple safely on the pavement beforehand of course. Soon she was actually flying, and delivered a kick smack-dab in the monster's back head. It tried to grab her, but she spun around and around until it was dizzy, and then punched it in the stomach.
It shouted its name once again. Oh boy, now it was angry. Finally it managed to swat her, and despite being slammed against another building, she landed perfectly on her feet, ready for the next attack. Even as the bat boy from earlier glided down from above and approached her, she still kept her offensive stance.
"Why must you interfere with what is not your concern, girl?" Although he maintained his deadpan tone of voice, it was still evident he was irritated. The heroine's reply was immediate, and the firmness of her statement would've made anyone else shudder. "It was my concern then...it's the same now! Wherever the hope of others may be in danger, I'll be there!"
He folded his winged arms and smirked. "'The hope of others?' Who in their right mind would care for something as worthless as that?" He sighed. "Who do you think you are, getting in others' business like this?"
The words "protector of dream and legend, Pretty Cure" very nearly came out of her mouth. But then a part of her - a part of her that had been pushed back some time ago - overheard this, and something about it just didn't seem right to her. No...that wasn't right, was it? She was...was...Jordan Rinne, wasn't she? But she was Pretty Cure right now. But...no no no! Why on earth would she...be...
For the first time her fiery stare faltered as Jordan regained control, and glanced down at herself at confusion. How'd she get into these clothes...? Memories of the past few minutes rapidly dawned on her; she grapsed her head. Oh...my...
Just then she felt a titanium arm come at her, and she was sent flying for yards until she crashed into the back wall of a storage building nearby. She struggled to get up, her mind spinning so badly she barely noticed the bruising on her back. This couldn't really be happening, could it? She just couldn't understand how she could be this warrior...what was it called, 'Pretty Cure'...?
"Pu-puru..."
Her thinking was interrupted by the sound of the little bear in minor pain. She yelped and quickly dusted him off, realizing she had been smashed against him. "Puru-chan! You okay?"
Apple moaned, still not quite sure what was real and what he was imagining. "Ga...Garnet-sama..."
"Garnet-sama?!" Why was he calling her that now? Then again, she thought she remembered saying something about garnets...or something like that. Burning hearts or something along those lines, right? Oh, she could barely remember it! "Puru-chan...what happened to me back there?"
He gave her a confused look. "Garnet-sama...Jordan-san is Pretty Cure, right-puru?"
"What do you mean 'right'?"
"You didn't know-puru?!"
"How was I supposed to know?!" She sighed. "Oh man, what do I do..."
There was a brief silence as Apple tried to sort everything out. "You were fighting so good before, though-puru...so..."
"I don't think that was really me," she mumbled, dragging her fingers across the floor. "That was Cure Garnet, not Jordan Rinne."
"Oh...I think I get it-puru," he exclaimed, plopping onto the floor. "I'm confused, too-puru.
Knowing all this stuff an' everything...sometimes it feels like someone else is thinking for me-puru." Jordan nodded; he pretty much had it down perfectly.
"But...but...I think the spirits are trying to help-puru!" He yelped at the stare she gave him; obviously she wasn't expecting that. "Um...I think we need to know these things to get where we want to go-puru. But since we don't...I guess that's why-puru..."
Once again it was silent. Jordan looked at herself again. An odd warm feeling was flowing through her; from what she could remember, it had first appeared the moment she caught the SparkTouch, and quickly intensified from there. Was this some sort of magic? Whatever it was, it felt amazing, gradually helping her relax. Suddenly she realized; she was being given a chance to fight, to protect the people around her.
She giggled and got back on her feet. "I think I kinda like this!" She sensed Apple's smile from behind her, and made sure to smile back before rushing out and striking the Meitoumei from behind.
The monster punched the pavement in frustration, causing the equivalent of a small earthquake; was it just her, or did it seem bigger now? Well, no matter; she began to charge toward it, and managed to dent its stomach a bit. As it blindly ran toward her, she delivered a 360-kick to its chest, weakening it significantly.
As she pulled off another graceful landing, she felt a sudden surge of magic, forming in her chest and moving out to her arms. Something inside told her it was time to finish this thing off, and as she released the power, she felt little glass stars form in her hands.
"Feel the power of a blazing heart! Pretty Cure Scarlet Star!!" Jordan tossed the stars toward its head, burning up like asteroids as they soared through the air. Immediately upon contact the metal monster began to rapidly disintegrate, and by the time it helplessly shouted its name, all that was left was the handkerchief from before.
The stars flew back into her hand like boomerangs, but before she had a chance to realize it they disappeared into thin air, and she was back to her normal self. She glanced at the pile of metal dust in front of her. "Wow, I did it. I really did it!" She sure was tired, though...
"Garnet-sama! That was incredible-puru!!" Apple's little legs came running down the plaza, until he tripped over himself and fell flat on his face. Jordan giggled, helping the boy up. "Please don't call me that."
"But..."
"Just don't." Attempting to change the subject, she took a glance at the sky; already the sun was beginning to set. "Crap, I need to get home!" Apple didn't quite respond, but his face said it all - he didn't want Jordan to leave, especially not now. Of course, she couldn't just leave him here in the middle of the road.
She held her hands out to him, which was met with a confused gaze from the young bear. She tried her best to smile. "Well, are you ready to go?"
He gasped. "Really?! You mean it-puru?!"
"Yep." He stepped onto her hands, and was swept onto her shoulders once again. Although he tried to bow again, she insisted that he shouldn't if he didn't want to fall off and break his neck.
"Anyway, where do you live-puru?"
"Oh, it's, uh..." She pointed absent-mindedly in a random direction. "No, wait...um...crap, I don't know!" She had been so caught up in the battle beforehand that she had entirely forgotten how she had ended up here. "Eh...I think I'm lost..."
"Ah..." He began kicking his feet as if thinking of what to do. His big brown eyes went blank for not even a second, and suddenly it was as if a lightbulb had appeared above his head. "I think you should try the SparkTouch-puru."
The SparkTouch? Why that of all things? Nevertheless, she shrugged and began to look for the cellphone. Gosh, where was it, anyway...? Eventually she noticed a newly-formed pouch on the front of her bookbag, and reached inside. Indeed, there was the SparkTouch snug inside; and to her surprise, it turned on automatically the moment she touched it.
She observed the screen. It looked very similar to any ordinary touch-screen cellphone, with several different categories and tools to choose from. And right there, in the upper right corner, was a GPS feature! She touched that area, and a map of the city popped up.
"The blue dot is your house-puru," Apple explained. "I think..."
She glanced at the street names; yeah, that looked about right! So this thing could read her mind? Sweet! She skipped off in the direction of the arrow, going over the day's events. She had met a creature from another world and helped him find a group of fairy tale warriors. And then when she turned out to be one of them...well, goodness gracious...
As Jordan admired the orange sunset, she felt more excited than she ever had before. She felt a smile spread across her face. This Japan place sure was full of surprises!
---
ED: _cloud nine_
---
"Huwaaaa! I don't believe it! I'm actually a superhero of some sort!! And I have a cute teddy bear living with me~"
"I'm not a bear-puru! Wait...what's a bear-puru?"
"Well, you're gonna have to be one if you want this to stay secr-aaaaaaah!"
"What is it-puru?! Is it a monster?!"
"Neh...I think we may already be caught..."
Next time on Pretty Cure Precious Heart!
"Chaos at the Bookstore! We've Found the Bright Purple Gem!!"
みんなさんめいっぱいキラキラしてね！