All over Last Light, flowers had begun to bloom, giving birth to countless colors, slowly making the world a little less desolate with each passing day. Nozomi pulled back the curtains and opened the windows of her bedroom, and looked at the roses that had blossomed in front of her house. That was the best way to start a new day.
Quickly she made her bed, storing her straw pillows beneath it, inside a large, wooden box. She had nowhere else to put her belongings as, for now, wardrobes, cabinets and shelves were too great a luxury.
Her house was little more than a glorified log cabin that would be small for a single person, but Nozomi shared it with Megumi. Their bedroom had nothing but their beds and two crates where they stored whatever they deemed important enough to keep safe. For Nozomi, it was only a few changes of clothes that she had gotten from the Phoenix Tower.
Some other rooms had been erected, but they were still empty. Megumi oft spoke of expanding and furnishing them, if they ever found the time, but more important things always ended up spoiling her plans. It didn't really bother Nozomi: a large communal building had been set up in the center of Last Light, with a kitchen manned by Yuko, makeshift plumbing, and even an ample parlor where the Precure often gathered to talk among themselves.
"Good morning, Megumi," she was still abed, and mumbled something in response that, though muffled, did not sound all that polite. It was still very early in the morning, so Nozomi could not blame her for being grumpy.
When Nozomi had finished dressing herself, Megumi was still fighting somnolence as she struggled to leave the bed. Nozomi, however, had no such difficulties. Today would be a fine day, she was sure of it as soon as she smelled the roses by her window. Though Last Light was still not nearly as comfortable as the Phoenix Tower, Nozomi was proud of the work they had done in the past two months: alongside Katyusha and Princess, she used her magic to nurse the soil back to health, and their first harvests had exceeded their expectations. Beauty and Nile were often away, scouting, and very successfully so, as they had already found nearly a hundred people wandering the region, trying to survive, and brought them to Last Light. Their village was full of life now, and with the flowers finally in bloom, it was full of color too.
Nozomi had not been the first to wake, as that was always Yuko, who rose before all others to go to the kitchen and cook her delicious meals, always a highlight of the mornings. In the first days, when the village was still desolate, Nozomi was always able to ask for seconds if she wanted (and she always did), but now that more people had come to Last Light, they had to manage their resources more wisely.
That did not make Yuko's cooking any less delicious, though, and Nozomi was always the first at the kitchen. Today was not any different.
"Hi, Yuko," Nozomi greeted her as she always did, waving while she sat down next to Honey.
"Good morning," she said, not taking her eyes out of the large oven where a dozen loaves of bread were being baked. Ekaterina had brought it from the Phoenix Tower a few days before, along with many sorts of equipment that quickened Yuko's cooking manyfold. "You seem cheerful today."
"Aren't I always?" She grinned.
"Of course, of course," Yuko laughed. "Still, you look more energetic than you usually are in the mornings."
"Come on, I'm not that grumpy when I wake up," Nozomi said, to which Yuko replied with a very long "hm-hm."
"Not as much as Megumi, at least," she took out a platter full of bread from the oven, and put it on the table. All the loaves were huge, and they looked delicious. Nozomi got butter and a knife on her own, and started eating.
"When's your assistant gonna start working?" Nozomi said between bites. "That Cure Song girl, or something," she hadn't spoken to the girl yet. She had arrived just two days before, in the middle of the night. She had not even noticed Last Light, Nozomi heard: she was going straight to the Phoenix Tower, and it had been Cure Wave who had noticed her in the road.
"Ah, Kanade. I wouldn't really call her my assistant. She was a really renowned pâtissière in Majorland. If I may be quite honest, I was afraid of offending her when I asked her if she could help me out here. I mean, you have to admit that she's too kind of too good for a place like this. But she accepted it gladly! She even asked me for instructions, because she's far more used to baking luxury cakes than cooking normal food! Would you believe that?"
"I would, actually," said Nozomi. Yuko was always humble, but the truth was that her cooking was beyond excellent. "She's kind of late, though…"
"She isn't, actually," Yuko said as she opened her cabinets to look for ingredients. "You just came here really early today. Almost as early as I did, although Mai, Reika and Ayumi were already up when I got out of my house… What's up with that?"
"Oh, we have something really cool planned, and I'm really excited for it," she said, and when Yuko turned to her and rose an eyebrow, she explained. "I'm going to work as a teacher today."
"What do you mean?"
"That girl, Ayumi… She wants to become a Precure, Reika told me. And we're in grave need of new Cures, so Reika plans to train her, but she wants my help too…" Nozomi's face still got all warm when she remembered Reika approaching her, saying she wanted to do it together. Together, that was exactly what she said. It was as if a hundred fears were silenced all at once.
"What exactly are you going to teach?"
"Just Precure lessons."
"That's… Not very specific."
Nozomi shrugged. Reika hadn't been very specific either. All that had been decided is that they would take their new pupil to the Thornwood, and explore it. They didn't expect to find anything there, but they agreed that it was very important for a Precure to be able to brave dangerous locations. It was a skill that, sadly, was becoming increasingly uncommon as once-unknown lands were perfectly mapped and explored, and places that used to be full of monsters were pacified, and their dark magic, tamed. As the world became safer, the Precure grew complacent, so when darkness fell upon the world another time, they could hardly react.
"I'm glad you're taking that initiative, though. Too many of us are just lost, doing whatever we're told, hoping that change will come by itself, when, really, we have to fight for change."
Nozomi nodded, and sighed. It really did seem like all the Precure of the Phoenix Tower were more concerned with arguing among themselves than actually doing something to try and make the situation better. Only a few of them even bothered to help Last Light, while the rest simply stayed locked inside their tower, keeping themselves safe.
As she waited for another batch to finish baking, Yuko sat down next to Nozomi, and began to eat, picking up bread with hands whitened from the dough they folded. Whenever she was eating with others, Nozomi had noticed, Yuko's face would almost shine with delight, and she would often take a short peek at whoever was eating with her, and smile as she noticed that they too were enjoying their meal.
Behind, the door began to slowly creak open, letting a little bit of sunshine in. Before Nozomi could look back, someone started speaking.
"Good morning," it was a voice that Nozomi wasn't familiar with. The new girl's. Cure… Music, was it? Something to that effect.
"Megumi, you are up earlier than usual," said Yuko.
"Wasn't by my own choice, I'll tell you that," she said, holding back a yawn as she tried to speak. "I was having such a nice dream too."
"Sorry about that," Nozomi said with a grin. Behind Megumi, Hime looked as if she was hiding from something, perhaps fearing that a stranger might be in the room, but when she saw it was Nozomi, she greeted everyone as well. Nozomi did not fail to notice that Yuko responded with a wider smile than the ones she shared with anybody else.
Kanade walked towards a small cabinet to grab a plain white apron, while the two other girls sat next to Nozomi, and started to eat. Whereas Hime ate with the grace one would expect of a princess (meals were one the few occasions where Hime actually acted in a princessly fashion), Megumi looked as if she held a grudge against the bread, tearing it to pieces with her hands, leaving the crust aside, and ripping it to shreds with her teeth. Kanade stared at her, but it didn't look like she noticed.
While Yuko and Kanade discussed which meal they should serve for lunch later today (Yuko argued in favor of stew, to which Kanade responded by reminding her that they already had stew two days before), Hime and Megumi finished their meal. Hime wiped her lips with a napkin, while Megumi let out a loud sigh of satisfaction.
"Calm down, Megumi," Hime said. "You're eating like this is the last meal of your life…"
"It could be, and I'd die very happy," she said. Yuko giggled, and Hime let out an obnoxious laughter. She always laughed at Megumi's jokes. Nozomi wondered if she really was so entertained by her, or if she did it so to avoid awkward silences.
"I have some good news for you all," Kanade said, just as Nozomi was done eating. She hoped 'good news' meant more food. "Katyusha has returned to the Phoenix Tower, and she'll be back in a few days, and with her she'll bring the ingredients I requested. We are mostly self-sufficient now, but we still need lots of flour from the Phoenix Tower, though this time I asked her to bring us something special as well," with a raised eyebrow, Nozomi waited her to finish, her head full of hopes. Kanade just smiled. "Chocolate. Lots of it. Enough to make a huge cake for all of us."
"That's wonderful," Nozomi said, and then she realized she had forgotten what chocolate tasted like. She remembered it being really good, though, and even better when shared with friends. Like when they made a large cake for Urara, to celebrate a new job she had gotten. It looked ugly, and was a bit too sweet, but that didn't matter when they ate it all together, when they laughed and smiled and their worries just seemed so small. It didn't matter at all…
Nozomi had not thought about them since she came to Last Light, she realized in that moment. She felt ashamed for that, but now that she remembered them, she worried again, that worry she so despised, that horrid feeling that robbed her of the energy she so valued. She wondered where they all could be, if she would ever see them again. And she remembered Komachi's screams as she ran away from the Palmier Kingdom with Coco. That hurt more than anything else.
"Nozomi?" Hime asked.
"Ah? I'm sorry, what is it?"
"I wanted to know if it's okay with you if it's alright if the cake is a bit plain," Kanade said. "After all you must have heard about me and the Lucky Spoon, I'm sure you must be expecting something great, and I guess I could try and make some whipped cream or something so that the cake at least looks pretty, and maybe look for some fruits somewhere, but-"
"It's fine," Nozomi said. She thought of Urara's face when her friends surprised her with that hideous thing they dared call a cake. It made Nozomi smile again, despite the pain. "A chocolate cake would be great. Yes, I think it would be perfect, actually, as long as we can all eat together…"
"No, no, Ayumi, that will not do," Reika had been sparring with the girl from daybreak to noon, and she had still not managed to hit her a single time. She was panting now, desperate for one of her blows to connect, but desperate strikes were the easiest to parries. Ayumi swung her training sword recklessly, with no finesse at all, and Reika simply caught it with her own blade, sending her student's blunted sword flying until it fell by Mai's feet.
She didn't even notice it, so focused she was on her drawing. Even though she was nearly struck by Ayumi's weapon, Mai didn't move her eyes away from Beauty.
"Go pick it up," said Reika. "We're not eating until you manage to strike me, at least once."
"A-Alright," she said, body drenched with sweat. She ran to get her sword and returned to her practice promptly. If nothing else, Reika thought, the girl had almost unmatched dedication. For her to do this for so long without a single word of complaint, despite being constantly berated, she must really want to become a Precure.
And, to make sure she would, Reika trained her to exhaustion each day, and then kept going. They had been at it for the past five weeks now, ever since Beauty and Nile found her and her family inside an old house by the Roseriver. And for the past two weeks, Ayumi accompanied Reika as she searched for people astray, and they practiced as much as they could, for as long as they had time to spare. Her pupil had made decent progress so far, and though she had not yet managed to touch Reika, she rarely got hit in return, which, in an actual fight, was far more important.
Ayumi hesitated in her blows, Reika noticed. They were often half-hearted swings with little strength put behind them, and it seemed as if they were aimed at her opponent's weapon, not her body.
"You are too reactive, Ayumi," Reika said as they took their positions again. Ayumi lifted her sword with both hands, so high that almost its entirety was above her body. "And fearful, too, it seems."
"I'm not afraid!" She spoke as loud as she could, which wasn't much. She came towards Reika with a surprisingly bold and quick step, one that almost caught her unawares, but when she swung her sword, her arms eased, and the blow was sluggish and effortlessly blocked.
"Ayumi, do you want to hit me?" Reika asked. "Sometimes I feel like you don't."
"I-I do," she said, defensive. "I do want to get better. I'm not doing it on purpose, you're just so good…"
"No, that's not what I meant. I don't mean to doubt your resolve, it's just… The way you hold your sword, the way you whirl it… You are afraid of hurting me, are you not?"
"I'm not. Please, let's just keep going. I'm not afraid."
Reika did as her student wanted. Ayumi struck again, and again she hit Reika's sword. She had no doubt about it now, she was definitely aiming for Reika's sword.
"You are a gentle soul, Ayumi," said Reika, approaching her, "despite your courage, and I love you for that, but I can tell you don't want to hit me. Or anyone else, for that matter. You hesitate."
"I… No, no I don't, I…"
"I'm not scolding you," she said in her calmest voice, "nor am I insinuating I won't allow you to become a Precure, but I want you to be truthful to me, Ayumi. You can trust me. You don't want to hurt me, right?"
"I… No, I don't… I'm sorry, I really am. But I'm afraid that if I hit you, I'll hurt you really bad, and you'll be angry at me. And, well, I don't really like hurting anyone."
"That's actually a good outlook to have, Ayumi. Much better than being too willing to do harm to others, I'd say. But you are a Precure, and as such, your greatest duty is to protect the defenseless, and to do that, yes, you will need to hurt your enemies. Some may be very, very deserving of it, and others are victims, just the same as the people they threaten, but they too need to be stopped. Like it or not, it is something you'll need to get used to."
"I know. How does it feel, though?"
"Hm?"
"To fight to the death like that?"
"Well, I've never had to kill anyone, and I hope I never do. Have you, Mai?" Reika had to ask twice before getting her attention. By then she had nearly finished her drawing.
"Me neither. Nozomi might have, though, but, well… This is not really the kind of thing you ask others, you know? It is something we have to do sometimes, to keep our world safe from those who would harm it, but it brings us no pleasure."
"I see… I guess I'll try to hit you this time, Reika… I'm sorry if it hurts."
"We all can handle some pain, can't we?" She smiled, and so did Ayumi, with her tiny, shy smile Reika could only notice when she looked for it. "Besides, trust me, getting hit with a stick is not a very scary prospect after what I've been through."
"R-Right. Here goes, then!"
She readied her sword, pointing its tip at Reika, who was prepared to block it. She knew it would be difficult for Ayumi to overcome her anxieties so easily, but it made her glad that she tried.
Ayumi lifted the sword, and swung it downwards in Reika's direction. She just rose her weapon and parried the blow, but as the dull blades met, Reika could feel the force behind Ayumi's attack, and she knew that this time she tried her hardest.
"Very nice, Ayumi. Now what if I do this…" She took a quick step back, and lunged against her student, who leapt to her side, dodging the blow. Ayumi's eyes brightened as she thought she had found an opening, and she swung again, a hopeful blow, but Reika just smashed Ayumi's sword with her own, sending it flying, again. She poked Ayumi's chest with the point of the training sword, and smiled. "And now you'd be dead. You were too eager."
"I thought I had to be quick-thinking…"
"You do, but never eager, never greedy. My arm was still unrestrained, as you only dodged my attack, but did not block it. You should have parried, then waited to see if a real opportunity presented itself."
"Ah, alright… I'm sorry," she said, lowering her head.
"Why are you apologizing?" Reika made Ayumi look at her. "You had no way of knowing it, if I may be honest. You have only just started out. With experience you'll be able get a better assessment of the situation while you fight, and you'll know when it's time to press the offense and when you ought to hold back. And it's better to get that experience by sparring with me, instead of someone who would have actually hurt you. Do you understand?"
"I do. Thanks, Reika, truly. I'm learning so much with you."
"I'm glad to hear it," she said, and she meant it. Sometimes Reika feared she might be too harsh, and that some of her lessons might be a bit too theoretical. "I think we should take a break for now. Nozomi should arrive in a few minutes with our lunch. You must be hungry."
"I am," she smiled shyly, putting a hand on her belly. "Quite a lot, actually."
"And you, Mai?"
She didn't answer, so Reika presumed she was almost finished with whatever she was drawing. Her eyes never left her sketchbook, and her hand's movements seemed very precise. Reika approached her, and gently called her attention by tugging at her sleeve.
"Oh, hi. You asked if I'm hungry? I guess I am, a little. Also, look at this."
She set aside her pencil and showed the sketchbook to Reika. Ayumi approached to take a look as well. The drawing was excellent: it depicted both Reika and Ayumi as they sparred, their bodies made of thin, delicate long lines that made their limbs look quite slender. On the paper, the two had locked their blades together, their faces fierce and dedicated, and the most striking thing was how good Mai's style was at capturing their movement: the sketch seemed alive, in its own way.
"This is amazing, Mai!" Ayumi pointed at herself. "This really looks exactly like me."
"I'm glad you liked it," Mai said with a smile. "I've been talking with Yayoi lately, and she gave me some pointers on how to best depict quick movements. She's quite good at it."
That was unsurprising, Reika thought, considering Yayoi's preference for drawing action scenes. Her art was far more stylized than Mai's, who generally preferred more realistic proportions and subdued colors, but Reika could see the merits to both of their crafts. Though, admittedly, she had a bit of a hard time understanding the appeal of all those superheroes and fighters that Yayoi loved, so Mai's art was more pleasant to her eyes. She would never tell her friend that, of course.
"Hey!" Someone was waving from far away, yelling, and Reika knew that it could only be Nozomi. She had arrived earlier than she hoped, actually. That was surprising.
Next to her was a man Reika had never seen before; tall and brown-haired, he seemed to be in his early twenties, if not a bit more. He did not live in Last Light, Reika was sure of that, else she would know him.
"Hello, Nozomi," Reika greeted her as she approached. "And hello to you too," she said to the man. "Have we met?"
Somehow that made Nozomi giggle. She was quick to laugh, Reika had learned, but even so she could not understand what was so funny about what she had just said.
"I'm Coco," the man said. Nozomi was still snickering, but Reika didn't know what was so entertaining about that.
"I see," Reika said. It was strange to see him like that, in truth, but she thought it better not to mention it. "You're coming with us?"
"Yes," he said. "Nozomi told me that you are tutoring Ayumi, and she asked me if I have anything to teach her. As a matter of fact, I do, as I know quite a bit of history. I spent some years studying at Verone, and even worked as an intern there for a few months, before I graduated."
"I didn't know that," said Nozomi. "That's really cool…"
"You wouldn't happen to be Mister Cocoda, would you?" Mai asked him.
"M-Mister… I'm not that old… But yes, that's me."
"Did you ever work with Cure Mirage? She was a teacher there, too, for a little while."
"I did not," he said, putting a hand behind his head, laughing. It was clear why he seemed embarrassed: Mirage was younger than him, and yet she had been a professor at Verone Academy, while he was only an assistant. Not exactly fitting of a prince of the Palmier Kingdom.
"You must have so much to teach, then," Ayumi said. "I'd like to learn as much as you're willing to share with me, please!"
Always eager to learn, this one, Reika thought. She would go far as a Precure, for certain. Coco answered a few questions over his past, from Mai, Nozomi and Ayumi.
"Oh, right," Nozomi handed a few small boxes to the girls around her. A pleasant smell came from within them, the distinctive scent of Yuko's cooking. She even took the time to put the food into pretty lunchboxes, so neatly organized.
Reika was always slow to eat Yuko's cooking, wanting to appreciate it as much as she could, but this time she ate hurriedly, so that they could go on with their plans. She did not want to delay Ayumi's education, after all.
She guided Ayumi and the others to an old forest in the outskirts of Last Light. It was generous to call it a forest, though: it was almost completely dead, and the people of the region called it the Thornwood, an accursed forest haunted by the souls of people who had been hanged there, thousands of years ago. Reika did not know if she could believe in that, but it was undeniable that the Thornwood was an uninviting place. There were no trees to be seen there, only, as its name would indicate, thorns beyond counting, walls of it, like a maze of spines.
"What will we do here?" Ayumi asked, her voice trembling with fear.
"We will just explore," said Reika. "See if we are able to find anything of note there, though I don't really hope so."
"Whoa, that's a nice plan," said Nozomi. Reika had only come up with this idea earlier today, so she could not tell Nozomi, but she was glad that she agreed. "Ayumi, it's really important for a Precure to have a good sense of… Ah, how do you call it? To know how to find your way around, to never get lost?"
"Direction?"
"That's it! Thanks, Reika. Anyways, that's an important skill to have. Especially now that the world is a mess."
Ayumi nodded. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and put on her bravest face. It wasn't that convincing, but Reika was still glad that she tried.
"Are you ready?" Reika asked. Though sweating and quivering, Ayumi nodded. "If you feel you are not prepared, you may turn back."
"Turn back, and give up on being a Precure, after all my hard work?" She walked towards the thorns, averting them as she made her way through, into the forest. Reika and Nozomi smiled at one another, and accompanied her. Coco and Mai were next, and Reika could not help but notice that Nozomi had not yet accustomed herself to seeing Coco in this human form, so she avoided looking at him. Reika found it odd as well, to see a tiny fairy turn into a grown man, but she had known many fairies who could disguise themselves as humans, so she paid it no mind.
The Thornwood was scary and dangerous to the careless, but, contrary to the rumors, it was not cursed, and much less haunted. It was simply a dead forest like many others, so ancient and decrepit that there were no records of it ever being green and healthy. Almost only thorns grew in this forest, pillars of spikes growing tall as hideous mockeries of actual trees.
The few true trees that Reika found there were all hollow, their carcasses filled with thorns that pierced through the bark as they struggled for freedom. Here, even the briars looked dead or dying.
Every now and then the silence was broken by a small yelp of pain from someone who was prickled, as there were points where, no matter how careful they were, there was no avoiding the thorns. Ayumi was attentive to her surroundings, almost as much as Reika was, but her arms were full of scratches and small bleeding spots. She suffered it wordlessly, eyes burning with fierce dedication.
"What are you thinking, Ayumi?" Reika asked her.
"This place is really scary. It's not that bad, because she sun is still shining, but I wouldn't be able to be here on my own."
"Good," said Reika. "That's exactly the outlook you should have. Never be alone."
"Even the scariest places are a cinch when you have someone to watch your back," said Nozomi. "There is nothing as comforting as being with someone you trust."
"Indeed," said Mai, who knew it better than them all. Though she was still often saddened when she mentioned her partner, Cure Bloom, she now could mention her without her voice tightening, without her eyes watering, without her legs trembling. "Do you think you would rather have a single partner that you understand more than anyone else, and who in turn understands you perfectly as well, or would you prefer to be part of a larger team, like Reika and Nozomi?"
"I… I don't know yet. I haven't thought of it," Reika knew she was lying: Ayumi was nothing if not thoughtful, almost to a fault, at times. Nile had talked about forming her own team, and perhaps she had approached Ayumi already. Reika hoped so, as she knew that Ayumi was likely too shy to approach possible companions on her own.
"Well, you'll have to think of it if you want to become a Precure," said Nozomi.
"You'll need a fairy, too," Coco reminded her. "That'd be the easiest part, probably. The Doughnut Kingdom is probably full of fairies that would love to to work by a Cure's side."
"I… I'll think of something," said Ayumi. "For now, though, I think I should focus on the path."
"Right, right," Coco laughed. When he spoke, he could get so distracted that he didn't even notice the briars that scratched his face. Nozomi tried to clean the blood with her hands, but all she managed to do was leave red smears on his cheeks.
Reika felt her foot be caught by briars that made a circle around her ankle. She freed herself easily, but she could not help but find it odd: she was paying attention to the path, she was not being careless at all. If she didn't know better, she would say that the thorns had moved to grasp at her, but she, of course, knew better. At least she thought she did, but as she saw traces of movement in the corners of her eyes, she was not so sure.
"Nozomi," she called her attention, "we should get ready to transform if we need to."
"Agreed."
As they delved deeper into the Thornwood, the twisted trees rose higher and higher, their thorns reaching for the sun with cruel intent. They could not see much farther without light now, and Mai was visibly wary, her eyes wide open and filled with fear. Ayumi was easily finding ways deep into the forest, so that was a lesson she was learning well, but Reika was starting to wonder if, maybe, she was not being too hasty…
And then her doubts were all silenced when they found their way to a large, wide clearing, the floor all covered in huge thorns, some so big that they reached Reika's ankles. And on the other side of the clearing she saw five dead trees, their barks covered entirely in prickles the size of daggers. On their branches were nooses, made not of rope but, like everything around them, briars. Around them, something was stirring.
"Enough," said Reika. "We turn back now."
"But we've gone so far!" Ayumi almost took a step into the clearing, but Nozomi held her by the arm.
"No," she said. "Reika is right. Let's head back. It's dangerous in here. There is… There is definitely something here. This feels like all the tainted forests we've seen while we travelled, doesn't it, Reika?"
"Yes. This is worrisome. We need to leave."
"Can't you fight it, though? You've managed to light a Starlight Flame, after all! Come on, Beauty, Dream…"
"When we lit the Starlight Flame, we did not have anyone we were responsible for, though," Reika said. "It was just me and Nozomi, so we were free to fight with no concerns, without restraint. But with you, with Mai and with Coco with us… No, we cannot risk any of you. We are going back."
"I-"
"This is the last we'll talk of it," she would not listen, so Reika had no choice but be strict. It brought her no pleasure, but it had to be done. "I will not let you risk not only your own life, but Coco's and Mai's as well."
"Come on, Ayumi," Mai took her by the hand, but Ayumi looked almost defiant.
"Fine… I just… A Precure cannot be a coward, so I want to be brave… I wanted to go. It's what a Precure must do…"
"A Precure must be brave, that is true, but that is not the most important thing. Above all else, a Precure must keep those around her safe. And that is exactly what we will do. We are not testing you, we are not tricking you. We just don't want you to be hurt. So please, Ayumi, trust us."
She nodded, at last, to Reika's relief. She had never seen Ayumi be so willful, so it took her by surprise, but at the same time, she understood her feelings. Many times it had been Reika's first instinct to meet an enemy in battle to bring it down as quickly as she could, but she was wise enough to not listen to it. Just as she had been wise not to run back into Märchenland's capital to look for her friends.
They turned back, and though Ayumi lingered behind for a moment, she soon followed them. She might be disappointed, but Reika knew it was the right choice, and so did Nozomi: Reika could tell it from the way she looked at her. It was in these moments, when Reika and Nozomi could tell what was in each other's mind with no need for words, that Reika felt like they understood each other better than they thought. And they shared a pain, too, the pain of learning what it feels to fail to protect the ones they loved. Never again.
It took a fair bit of talking to persuade Ayumi that leaving was the right decision, and Nozomi could almost understand her disappointment. She would get disappointed as well when her friends convinced her not to do something foolish, as, sometimes, the dumbest ideas seem the smartest. Ayumi always listened to them, though, and Nozomi hoped that she would take this lesson to heart.
"We'll spar a bit more," Reika said. "To make up for leaving the Thornwood so soon."
"Alright," Nozomi nodded. She wished Reika would spend more time with her and her friends in Last Light, to have some fun, but she supposed that some people had fun when they worked. Reika did seem like that kind of person.
Mai had promised to meet with Nile and Peace at the makeshift town hall, to finish drawing a map of the region and its changed landscape, so she too parted ways from Nozomi. No doubt she would mention the danger of the Thornwood and mark it on the finished map.
Nozomi should do something about it as well. Maybe she should mention it to Cure Princess. She did not really know who to talk about it, though: Last Light did not have an official leader, and though Hime had a bit of respect due to her status as princess of the Blue Sky Kingdom, there was also the teeny-tiny matter that was the fact that everything was her fault. Few put their feelings to words, but they way they looked at Hime said it all. Nozomi felt sorry for her; what Hime did was in good faith, and good intentions should never be met with such hatred.
It was not for her to decide though, so she tried not to think about that too much. She walked back to Last Light, her body still hurting from all the times she had been prickled. Coco scratched at his wounds, too, at his hurt cheeks.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he said. "Don't worry about me."
"Alright. Can I ask you something, though?"
"Depends on the question," he smiled.
"I did not know you could turn into a human. How?"
"I was just born able to do it," he shrugged, as if he was talking about being able to whistle or snap his fingers. "Many fairies are, though, nowadays, not so many, and most of them live in the Trump Kingdom."
"I see… Does it feel weird? When you turn into a man, I mean."
"Not really," he said. "I've been able to do it since I was just two years old, more than two decades ago."
"T-Two decades?" Nozomi put the numbers together. "You're older than I thought," she said, though after what he had said about studying in Verone years ago, she should have realized it.
"Oh, don't tell me you're gonna start calling me 'Mister' too…"
"Only if you annoy me," Nozomi said with a huge grin.
When at last they reached the village, they were greeted by Cure Lovely, transformed, looking rather weary. For a moment Nozomi worried something might be wrong, but Megumi was smiling.
"You're back early," she said. "I'm looking for someone to train with, but everyone is so busy… Hime has to help Yuko check our supplies, Kanade said she's not in the mood to fight, even for practice, and Wave is scouting. This sucks…"
"I could train with you, if you'd like. Later, though, first I need to talk to Hime."
"Oh, alright," Megumi tried to hide her disappointment, but failed. "Oh, by the way, a girl was here a little while ago. She asked me if I was Cure Dream, and she looked kind of angry. I wonder why she thought you might be me."
"Yeah, I don't understand it either."
"Because you both have pink hair when transformed," said Coco.
"Oh! Right! That makes sense."
"Ah, yes. My hair. Anyways, I told her that I'm not Cure Dream, and told her to look for you in your house. But, well, I guess I might have just wasted her time."
"What was she like?"
"She had purple hair."
"Anything else?" That wasn't very helpful. Megumi just shrugged, and Nozomi gave up. "Well, I guess if she's still around here, she'll find me soon."
Nozomi waved Megumi goodbye, though Coco stayed behind to talk with her for a little while. Nozomi wondered what he wanted with Megumi, but it was none of her business. She went her own way, towards the communal building.
She passed by unfinished houses, some of which still had holes on their walls. Thankfully, the nights weren't very cold, but Nozomi still felt very sorry for the people who had to live there. It was hard to make beautiful homes in a hurry. Luckily, Nozomi herself was privileged to live in a house that, though simple, was well-built, always warm, and safe, too, with its heavy doors.
As she passed by her own house, Nozomi saw that the doors were open. Did Megumi leave them open again? The most annoying thing about it was that Nozomi could not even complain, because she also forgot to close the doors from time to time. She approached them to close them, but it looked like there was something in there. No, not something, someone.
When she walked inside, the purple-haired girl was waiting for her in the dark. Her eyes revealed nothing of her intentions, but she was standing perfectly still in the middle of her (as of now, still empty) living room. She wore an elegant outfit, white and violet with a large blue rose on her chest, and looked almost like a Precure. Her hands were clenched into fists.
"H-Hello?"
"Are you Cure Dream?"
Nozomi nodded. The girl's cold fingers wrapped around her neck before she could do anything. It all happened too fast for Nozomi to understand: first she could no longer feel the wooden floor beneath her feet, and then she was flying, crashing against the walls as a great pain took her body.
When she tried to rise, her body sore beyond belief, she was being held by her shirt, lifted into the air again and thrown into the floor. On instinct, she transformed, and though that saved from being broken in half, the pain was overwhelming, and whenever she tried to regain her balance so she could stand still, the girl's fists denied her the opportunity.
"Where is he?" She yelled but did not await a response from Nozomi. She had no idea what was going on, and her assailant did not seem very willing to clarify. She just kept screaming, "where is he?"
"Who?" Nozomi asked fraily when she finally managed to block one of the girl's blows, catching her fist with the palm of her hand. It hurt as if her hand was being torn apart, but it gave her time to talk. "What are you even talking about?"
"Don't play dumb," Nozomi's questions only drove her into a harsher rage, her eyes now full of hatred. "You have him. My prince."
"Your…" Just as Nozomi was starting to understand, she felt a sharp pain on her stomach as her opponent's knee reached her belly, taking the breath out of Nozomi.
Her vision blurred, and all she could see was the world rising above her, the floor rushing to meet her, and a foot crashing down on her face. Dream rolled to the side, dodging it. She held on to the girl's bare legs, to stop her from moving, if only for a moment. She just had to manage to get up, she told herself, and then she'd be able to fight back.
"You kidnapped him," the girl snarled, trying to free herself from Nozomi's grasp, her face obscured by her dark purple hair. "The crown prince of the Palmier Kingdom… Where is he?"
"Wait!" Said a different voice, too distant for Nozomi to recognize. When she looked up, she saw Coco running inside the house, with Beauty at his side, holding a long shard of ice. He put a hand on the girl's shoulder, but she just shoved him away.
"I know he's here," she said, still trying to break free, yet Nozomi refused to let go, even when she got a boot to the face for her efforts. "I have to keep him safe. I have to…"
Reika stepped close to her, but before she could strike, a white smoke enveloped Coco's body, just as it had done when he took his human form. When the smoke began to subside, it revealed Coco in its midst, as a fairy again.
When she saw her prince, the girl immediately let go of Nozomi, and kneeled. Nozomi struggled to get up, but Reika ran to her side to help. She asked if she was alright, a question answered with a single nod. Nozomi was too dizzy to tell what was going on, but she tried to pay attention to the fairy prince and this odd, violent girl as well as she could.
"I looked for you everywhere, my prince," she said. "I could not recognize you in that… That unsightly form. I'm glad I found you, finally, and- Oh, dear. Oh, goodness gracious. Oh, damn it all. I struck you. I struck a prince of the Palmier Kingdom. Oh, I'll lose my hand for this… Not to say the shame… My prince, please forgive me!"
"I…" Coco stared at her in confusion. If her head wasn't pounding and her body wasn't bleeding from at least ten different spots, Dream might have even laughed at the absurdity of this situation, at this girl showing total obedience towards a fairy she towered over. "Who are you?"
"Oh," she seemed saddened, "you don't recognize me? I go by Kurumi Mimino now, but you used to know me as Milk."
"Milk? Is this really you?"
"I would never lie to you, my prince. It's a bit of a long, complicated story, but, to put it simply, I'm a Precure now. And also stuck in this disgusting body," she pointed at herself, displeased. "Did these girls kidnap you? When I was at the Doughnut Kingdom, I heard that these two ran off with you."
"We did not kidnap him," said Reika. Nozomi supported herself on her, their arms entwined. She nodded along, still in too much pain to talk.
"I'm talking to Coco!" She snapped, but a second later she was smiling at the prince again.
"Milk, they are my friends. They did not kidnap me, I am their companion. You got everything wrong."
"E-Everything? So you're not here against your will?"
"No."
"These girls have not hurt you?"
"No."
"They aren't plotting to steal your throne?"
"You worry too much, Milk," he said, "but now you've gone too far. Nozomi and Reika are good friends of mine, and you have no right to hurt them."
"P-Prince Coco?" Kurumi's face was red with embarrassment. Disappointing her prince was clearly not something she could easily accept. She took a few deliberate steps towards Dream and Beauty. When she saw Nozomi's sorry state, she looked as if she did not know what to say. "I… I'm sorry I beat the crap out of you. And, er…" She looked around, cringing at the marks she had left around the house. "I'm sorry I may have ruined your walls… And your floor… And your entire house… Yeah… Really sorry about that…"
"It's… It's alright," was it, though? Nozomi only said that because it felt like the best thing to say.
"I don't really know how to apologize for this, but I really am regretful. I'm just… I'm just worried about Coco. And Nuts. I am their caretaker. Only an apprentice, granted, but I feel like I'm the only one who's left, now."
"Nuts…" Nozomi had not thought about him all that much. She hoped he was safe, but it was out of her hands, so she tried not to worry any more than she had to. "Have you found him?"
"Er… No, not really. I looked for him, and I thought I had some clues on his whereabouts, but, turns out I was completely wrong, and was fooled by Nightmare's agents. So I spent a month walking in circles, following a trail that led nowhere, guided by clues that were complete fabrications."
"Nuts is likely in the same situation I was," Coco said. "With the stars gone, it's possible he's in a deep slumber, like most of the fairies of our kingdoms."
"I see…" She seemed thoughtful. Nozomi let go of Reika, now that she could stand on her own, and approached Kurumi.
"I know this was all very unpleasant," when she said, she suddenly became aware again of how much her body hurt, and grimaced in pain, "and we had a terrible first impression, but I think we have the same goals."
"I guess so."
"Well, then I think there's no reason we can't work together."
"I've never seen anyone as quick to forgive as you," she kneeled again, to get closer to Coco. "Are you sure you trust these girls?"
"With my life," he said. "They were the ones to light the Starlight Flame of the Doughnut Kingdom, too."
"If you say so, I'll trust your judgment," she gave Nozomi one last, lingering look. "You're way tougher than you look. Getting surprised like that, it's not something most would have endured as well as you did," Nozomi understood perfectly that this was just a polite way of saying she was good at taking hits to her face. "You aren't exactly the kind of caretakers I'd choose, but I can't really be picky right now."
"You'll stay with us, then?" Reika asked, her tone suspicious.
"Of course not! Not while Nuts is missing. I still need to find him. And I will find him. But since you have Coco with you, and since he assures me you will keep him safe, I know I won't have to worry too much about his well-being. Hopefully."
"Y-Yeah," Nozomi was still afraid a wrong answer would get her a punch to the face, but the girl seemed to have calmed down.
"You should at least spend the night here," said Coco. "Have you eaten lately? Your arm is really skinny. Are you taking care of yourself?"
"M-My prince, I'm the one who's supposed to take care of you, not the other way around! I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"I can't help but worry, though," he said. "You'll have to tell me what happened to you, though. You're a Precure now?"
"Cure Rose," she said, with a hint of pride. "The champion of the blue rose," she pointed at her own chest.
"Well, first of all, you should probably not talk about that out loud," said Reika. "Blue roses aren't really considered good omens around here… Or anywhere, for that matter."
"Really? That's so stupid. Blue roses are the most beautiful of them all. Fitting of me."
Nozomi didn't have the slightest idea how to react to all this, so she just leaned her head against Reika's shoulder, and tried to ignore the pain. Kurumi had been so furious a while ago, but now she was almost playful… Or at least Nozomi hoped that she was only being playful with this talk of blue roses.
"Kurumi," Coco said after taking a look at Nozomi's face, "I think we should speak in private. You might be making Nozomi uncomfortable."
"Why?" She asked. "Oh, right. Sorry again. Really."
She did not sound all that apologetic, but Nozomi didn't care about it right now. She just wanted to lay down for a moment. Coco escorted her away: she was his problem now, although, Nozomi feared, she would soon be a problem for everyone in Last Light.
Reika took Nozomi to her bed, and, right now, her straw mattress seemed more comfortable than a king's bed. Reika looked at her with tender eyes, and she carefully touched Nozomi's arms and legs in search of broken bones.
"How did you know I was in danger?" Nozomi asked.
"How could I not know?" Reika said with a tiny smile. "Nozomi, half of your house was demolished. I could hear it from afar, and I came running to see what was wrong. There were a dozen Cures around your house, ready to come inside and rescue you, but I didn't want to wait."
"Oh," Nozomi closed her eyes. "You know, I was getting used to life here. Things seemed almost… Normal, you know? I guess I should have known that it could not last. I just wished it wasn't so painful. Ow…"
"Well, you have no broken bones, so that's lucky," she said. Odd, Nozomi didn't feel very lucky right now. "You should rest, though."
"I know," Nozomi said. "Karen always said that when you are sick or in pain, you must rest. I don't remember all the things that Karen told me," some of them were too complicated for Nozomi to understand, "but I remember that."
"She's right," said Reika.
"What Kurumi said, though…"
"Pay no mind to whatever she said. She sounded mad, honestly. As far as we know, she's not even a real Precure."
"She talked about being the champion of the blue rose… Did she mean a flower, or… The actual Blue Rose?"
"The Blue Rose is long gone," Reika assured her. "All that's left of it are the jewels we found in the Eyrie. I'll question Kurumi tonight, you can be sure of it. We'll learn the truth. But, for now, worry only about sleeping until your body stops aching. Sleep, and don't trouble your mind with all this talk of roses."
Yes, I am perfectly aware that Milky Rose is not a real Precure in canon. But we're not in canon anymore.
Thank you for reading and for your comments! Those are always appreciated!