Precure Tales, chapter 1

It's like a fairytale! Cure Novel's debut!


"Good morning, mom." Fumiko Takemoto said as she walked into the kitchen, setting her schoolbag down on an empty chair. A second year high school student, Fumiko wasn't particularly attractive, her most noticeable quality being her bright magenta eyes that made for quite the contrast with her dirty blonde hair, carefully styled in a single braid reaching her shoulders.

"Good morning, sweetie." Hina Takemoto replied, giving her daughter a smile. They shared more than a passing resemblance, although Hina's hair was light brown, as well as shorter and messier – she spent more time working on her books than on her appearance after all. "By the way, where's Shiori?" She added, glancing around the kitchen before setting a plate of scrambled eggs down on the table.

"Oh, thank you. As for Shiori... Last I checked, she was dragging herself out of bed." As she said that, Fumiko glanced towards the staircase – and, as if on cue, her younger sister dashed downstairs soon after.

"I'm late, I'm late! Why didn't you wake me up earlier, Fumi-oneechan?!" Shiori complained, glowering at the other girl with deep blue eyes. Her wavy, strawberry blonde hair was still quite a mess – but she didn't seem to mind, taking a seat and promptly serving herself of some chocolate milk, nearly gulping it down whole in her haste.

"Well, I tried to... By the way, your bow's crooked."

Shiori let out a rather loud groan at that remark, but Fumiko still bent forward to carefully fix her younger sister's bow before standing up, slinging her schoolbag over her shoulder.

"Well then, thank you for the food, mom. I'll be going now."

"Have a good day, sweetie! As for you, Shiori, stop trying to fit a whole toast into your mouth and start trying to wake up on time."

Fumiko couldn't help but smirk upon hearing that, though she quickly made her way to the hall, swapped indoor slippers for penny loafers and stepped outside, making sure the door was properly locked before going on her way.


As she walked towards the high school building along with a few other students, Fumiko's eyes were caught by something laying on the sidewalk. Bending down to pick it up, she quickly realized that it was a fountain pen – quite a beautiful pen at that. It was light pink with a few details in gold, including a small angel wing drawn near the nib. What a shame it had been lost like that…

Deciding to look for its owner later, the blonde put the pen inside her pocket and stood back up, her thoughts already drifting off towards the meeting of class representatives in the afternoon and the other errands she'd have to get done during the day.


"Ah, Takemoto-san, do you perhaps have a minute?"

Fumiko had been just about to leave the room and head to the calligraphy club, but she still turned around and gave the representative of class 2-B, Isamu Akiyama, a smile. He was tall, dark skinned and known for being quite handsome. However, Fumiko had never been one of his fangirls and they didn't have much to talk about either way, with Isamu being one of the school's basketball aces, so she wondered what he could want.

"I thought I should let you know that, uh, people have been sightening some kind of wild animal around the school grounds. The staff hasn't managed to catch it yet, and I wasn't sure if you'd heard, so…"

"I hadn't heard, actually. A wild animal… That's certainly strange." Fumiko said, blinking a little before giving him another smile. "Thank you for the warning though, Akiyama-kun. Good luck on your basketball training."

"Ah, thank you, Takemoto-san!" He said, almost seeming to light up at her remark. "Have fun at the calligraphy club."

"Yes, of course. Now, if you'll excuse me…"


Fumiko walked to the club room at a rather fast pace, without paying much attention to her surroundings – at least until there was a loud rustling noise in the nearby bushes and she jumped back in surprise, very nearly letting out a yelp.

"O-Oh, right, Akiyama-kun did mention a wild animal… That must be it, then, nothing to worry about."

"Where is it, where is it…?! ~ji"

Wait, had that just been – a voice? Perhaps there was someone in the bushes…? However, that didn't seem very likely, and Fumiko's mind reeled in a blind panic as she did the only thing she could think of, namely taking the pen she'd found earlier out of her pocket and extending it forward.

"Are you perhaps looking for this?"

"Ah, you found it!" The owner of the voice said, poking her head out and looking at the girl with gratitude, her eyes filling up with tears. "Thank you so much, you saved me of such trouble…!"

The only way Fumiko could respond to these heartfelt words was by blinking rapidly and stuttering, feeling her legs tremble – for the one speaking to her was a small fox with purple fur.

A wild animal was one thing, but this was…

"It's a – a talking fox?"

"Oh, that's not quite the word, actually. I'm Page, a fairy from the Mythical Library!"

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Page. I'm Takemoto Fumiko – wait, no, that's not the point! You said you were a fairy?"

"Yes, I did. " Page confirmed, nodding her head in a manner that was oddly human-like, then glanced around. "I would explain things in more detail, but the truth is, I'm looking for something other than this pen as well..."

The small fox trailed off, then suddenly turned around and started to run through the bushes. Fumiko blinked, thinking of her club meeting for only a moment before dashing after that strange fairy, still clenching the pen tightly in one of her hands.


"Well, this was easy." Commoratio said, picking a ripped page from the ground and motioning to put it inside his pocket – when his leg was suddenly bit by something, something that growled quite angrily.

The young boy glanced down, a displeased expression on his usually emotionless and rather pale face. After a moment, he shrugged and kicked the small fox away, putting a good amount of strength into the gesture.

"Now, where was I..."

"Wait just a moment there!" Still panting from the frantic chase after Page, the blonde stepped out of the bushes, for once without caring about the dirt or the leaves on her uniform. "I don't really understand the situation here, but I'm sure that what you just did is unacceptable! How dare you, treating a small and clearly defenseless animal like that!"

"Defenseless?" Commoratio nearly screamed, his red eyes glowering with anger. "She bit my leg first – and besides, that's not an animal, it's a fairy!" He blurted out, then seemed to snap back to his senses, running his hands through his snow white hair and clearing his throat. "Not like it matters to you, though. You're just some random girl, so run away while you can."

"Oh, you're mistaken about that." Fumiko said, her voice far more controlled now, although there was a dangerous undertone to it. "It does very much matter to me. Besides, I'd never run away while leaving her behind."

"Fumiko..." The small fox managed to say, still struggling to get up – though she very soon fell back down, gaping in surprise at the rainbow ink that had begun to leak from the pen.

"W-What?" Fumiko could only say, blinking rapidly as said ink began to wrap around her body instead of falling on the floor, quickly enveloping her in what became shining rainbow light.

"Fumiko!" Page called out, ignoring Commoratio's presence and hastily getting back on her feet. "Shout 'Precure! Legend Start'!"

"H-Huh? Well then... Precure! Legend Start!"

Next thing she knew, Fumiko – although she wasn't quite Fumiko anymore – was wearing a short, light pink dress with puffy dropped sleeves and several layers of frill on the hem of the skirt, a ribbon tied on its back. There were matching pink sandals on her feet, adorned with one small angel wing each. The angel wings were also on the pink ribbons that tied her hair – it was now a much lighter shade of blonde, divided into two braids that went down to her elbows. Her bright magenta eyes had paled considerably as well, though what was more surprising than any of these physical changes was the strength she could feel inside of her, and the fact that she almost instinctively knew what to do now.

As white feathers fell from the sky around them, the newly born legendary warrior held her head up high, facing the wide-eyed Commoratio.

"Soaring on the wings of fantasy, Cure Novel!" She introduced herself and immediately charged towards Commoratio, in an incredible burst of speed.

"You think I, one of Lady Nemesis's great generals, am going to fight against you personally?" He asked coldly, then simply disappeared right before her eyes, only to reappear floating in the air a few feet above. "You are no more than a minor irregularity in our plans, Cure Novel, and I shall eliminate you swiftly."

"Strike despair and confusion upon this world, Paradox!"

As these words left his mouth, the wrinkled book page that he had picked up earlier attached itself to a nearby tree – that in turn seemed to acquire life of its own, taking on the form of a giant tree monster with burning red spheres for eyes.

"Paradox!" It said, in a deep and empty voice.

"This is your opponent, Cure Novel. Now, let's see how quickly you will fall."

All Novel could do at first was stare at the so called Paradox, though her expression soon hardened with resolve and she charged forward once again, in another surprising burst of speed, balling up her fists.

"I – will – not – fall!" She proclaimed in between punches, jumping back when the monster attempted to strike her. Much to her surprise, however, she jumped far higher than intended – and the whole campus spread out before her eyes before she start to fall back down, the only thing preventing her from crashing being the fact that her ribbon got caught in one of – well, one of the tree Paradox's branches.

Page, who had been watching the battle in amazement up until this point, couldn't help but let out a low whimpering sound at that. Commoratio on the other hand was laughing quite loudly, though it was a rather dry laugh.

"Looks like you fell quite literally, Cure Novel! Finish her, Paradox!"

"Oh, shut up!" Novel protested loudly, her cheeks tinting a faint shade of pink, though she let out a yelp as the monster unexpectedly threw her back on the ground, seemingly preparing to smash her.

Before it could do so, however, the Precure rolled away from it and immediately stood up, determination shining in her eyes.

"Precure Windy Burst!" She called out, and the mere contact of her palms with the tree trunk produced such a strong gust of wind that the Paradox was sent flying.

Cure Novel didn't stop at that, however. As soon as the monster crashed down, she took in a deep breath and brought her hands together.

"Precure Fantasy Whirlwind!"

At these words, a powerful tornado materialized in her hands and enveloped the monster. It began to disappear gradually, leaving only a ragged book page on the ground.

"This wasn't how it was supposed to go!" Commoratio said, glowering at Novel before simply disappearing.

As soon as he did so, Cure Novel's legs gave up and she fell on her knees, a bright light enveloping her before she returned to being just a high school student.


"Are you sure you're alright, Fumiko...? You don't look very well." Page said worriedly, poking her head out of the blonde's half opened schoolbag where she had hidden.

"I'm fine, Page, please don't worry." Fumiko reassured the fairy after a moment had passed, giving her a rather weak smile. "I just... wasn't expecting this fight to take so much of my energy, not to mention the fact that I missed my club meeting... Well, this isn't that important right now. Would you mind answering some questions?"

"Oh," the fox said quietly, her ears dropping somewhat. "I think you should try and get some rest before that, Fumiko... It's complicated, and you're already tired."

After that, they made their way home in silence as the sun began to set down behind them, each absorbed in her own thoughts. Fumiko's hand clutched the magical pen tightly as she walked – while she didn't know much about this artifact yet, the future was far more mysterious, and she hoped that this pen would give her strength to face it.