There was no time for preparations, no time to get supplies for the journey, and, worst of all, no time to mourn, no time for Love to come to terms with what she was feeling.
By sunrise, all Cures had gathered at the ruined throne room. Though Love got out of bed early and thought she would be one of the first to get there, to her surprise, almost all the Precure were already there. Reika and Miyuki discussed something while Hibiki and Ellen asked Nao if they would be accompanied by any soldiers, to which March replied that this was the Precures' battle, and nobody else.
Buki sat next to the throne, and pointed at a large map in the table next to her. Kanade nodded, and asked something that Love couldn't quite hear.
"Buki," Love greeted her. "Kanade. How are you two doing?"
"I'm afraid I can't go fight with you," Buki said, showing her wounds. Her right leg was pretty badly hurt and scarred, and her other leg was black and blue all over. "It doesn't hurt very much, but I'm still limping, so I would just slow you down. I'm sorry."
"Don't blame yourself," Love said. "I truly hope you'll get better soon."
"Oh, I'm praying for that. I still have my fairies to take care of, after all. If they were able to outrun me, then I wouldn't be doing a very good job," the two of them laughed, but Buki soon grimaced and held her bruised leg.
"Inori!" Kanade said, and knelt to look at her leg, gently putting a hand on the wounds. "Did you move again? Please stay as still as you can… You shouldn't even have walked here."
"I can walk just fine, it just hurts from time to time. Don't worry about me, Kanade. We have plenty to worry about already," Buki said, and took Love's hand to the map. "I've located Chiffon. Look."
Love saw a map of the Precure Kingdom, or, more accurately, of its southern half. At the very top was Crag's Watch, House Midorikawa's keep, to the north of the Iron Mountains. Love saw a small mark on the map, headed towards the mountains. Was that Chiffon?
"There she is," Buki said. "All we need to know now is their destination. Out of the ones we thought of last night, the only ones in the direction they are headed to are Solaris and the Precure Palace. Love, do you think they'd attack Solaris as well?"
"Well," Love thought for a moment, "I doubt it. I have been in Solaris with Setsuna some time ago, and she knows that it is a death trap for invaders. No matter what tricks they might have, once they are in the tunnels, Akane can easily trap them or crush them. Setsuna would be foolish to even consider attacking Solaris."
"That's true," said Nao, who approached to look at the map. "The Precure Palace, then… I haven't been there ever since I became Cure March."
Love would criticize her for that, but she herself had only been there thrice. First when she was chosen to become a Cure and laid down on the Precure Altar to feel the light of the World's Heart. The next time was after the Bad End War. After all the cruelties she had to witness, Love feared her soul could be tainted, and she took a trip to the Heart Garden, to see if her own heart was wilting. When she went there, the Garden was emptier than usual: Beauty's Heart Flower was gone, as was Sunny's. Love never understood that, but assumed they had taken their Heart Flowers away for some reason.
The third time, of course, was during her journey to Silver Moon, where she met Setsuna. Her mission was to save the villages that were being ravaged by the Nakewameke and to find Lady Haruna. She succeeded in the former, but Lady Haruna was gone, and only Setsuna awaited her in Silver Moon. Oh, how foolish she was, and what a great failure her mission was, greater even than she ever thought. Sometimes Love wondered if she was to blame for the massacre at the Palace of Smiles just as much as Setsuna and Labyrinth. The thought terrified her.
"We must get going," Nao said. "If we fail and Labyrinth is able to harvest the power of Infinity, our Kingdom may be consumed by an evil worse than anything we can imagine."
In a corner of her heart, Love knew that evil was already eating away at the Kingdom. Perhaps Reika was not to blame, and she was just a symptom of that evil. Even so, there was no denying that ever since she stole the throne from Miki, the Precure Kingdom had become involved in shady business. Not just the Bad End War that ended up becoming a slaughter, but also the terrible famine in the east. For centuries, the east was a rich region with great farmlands, but ever since Beauty became queen, the crops began to die, and there was talk of rivers going dry. That was not Beauty's fault, of course, but she had done nothing to save the millions that were starving. Even the people of Houses Akimoto and Minazuki suffered with the lack of food. Love thought of Cure Aqua and Cure Mint, who once ruled together as married queens. How ashamed would they be to know that their own Houses, once great and proud, were now dying.
Yet Love knew that right now there was a matter far more urgent. If Labyrinth won, it would mean the complete destruction of the Precure Kingdom. And what would happen after that? Would Labyrinth be satisfied, or would they then conquer the Sweets Kingdom, the Desert Apostles? Would they cross the ocean to subjugate Majorland, Märchenland, the Trump Kingdom? If what Setsuna had told Love was true, Labyrinth's ambitions would never end. Moebius would search for more continents to conquer, until the entire world was just as cruel and lifeless as Labyrinth.
Love would never allow that. She was the first to set out to the Precure Palace, taking with her the sword that Setsuna had left behind. Love examined it, and it was an ordinary blade, nondescript, as was all of Labyrinth.
The road to Solaris was usually a busy one, and one of the most important roads in the entire kingdom. It would start at the Palace of Smiles and pass by Lapis, the second largest city of the Precure Kingdom, and soon it would take the traveller to the Iron Mountains and, finally, Solaris. It ran south until Stormwall, close to the border of the Sweets Kingdom, and just to the south of Silver Moon. The roads were of broad stone until they reached the Iron Mountains, at which point they were hardly more than lines of dirt in the narrow passes of the mountain. By each side of the roads were small villages and even smaller farms. Though there were some bustling cities in the Precure Kingdom, much of its population still lived in the countryside, far from the great towns.
They met many travellers on their way, all of them busy in their hurry to reach their destination, as were the Precures themselves. A great caravan passed them by, and as the merchants realized there were Cures before them, they immediately offered their goods at a low price, and Love gladly accepted their offer. She bought fruits of all sorts, and she shared them with Miki, who always followed right behind her.
"You haven't eaten well in a while, have you?" Love asked her friend.
"Not at all," Miki said, eating an apple with such elegance that one would never think that she was starving in prison just one day before. "These are delicious. I wonder where they're from."
"Most likely from the Garden of Hope," Love said. "They've had a plentiful harvest, as always, and their crops always taste wonderful. Honestly, I think House Hanasaki might be able to feed the entirety of the east by itself. It is truly selfish of them not to help poorer regions. Then again, selfishness seems to be a trait of the Hanasakis. After defeating Dune, Cure Flower thought her work was done and she never returned north, even though the fighting was not yet over. And Tsubomi… Well, you know how cowardly and weak she is. During the attack on the Palace, she tried to fight, but I could tell she was scared, and she did not help much. And she didn't even come with us, despite being unhurt!"
"I think you're judging her too harshly, Love," said Miki after taking another bite of her apple. "She might not be the best fighter among us, but martial prowess is not the only value a Precure may have. Buki told me that Tsubomi brought ease to Moonlight's heart during her most trying times. To inspire and to bring happiness, do you not think those are very important skills for a Precure to have?"
"Maybe," Love said. She didn't know what to think. Perhaps Miki was right, or perhaps Tsubomi was indeed useless.
They were silent for the rest of their journey to Solaris. Love looked around. She had already been here with Setsuna, not too long ago. Oh, she remembered Setsuna's face whenever she saw something new and beautiful. Love told her the name of flowers, of birds, of cities and villages they passed by, and she would always smile and ask more and more questions. Love knew there was no way she could have faked that. Her feelings were true, as were her words, and her tears. It hurt to remember Setsuna's grin and think that she might never smile again.
There were, thankfully, inns along the road so that the Cures would not have to make camp in the middle of nowhere, out in the cold. Even so, they had little time to rest. Were Setsuna and her companions sleeping as well, or did they keep running without rest? There was no way to know, so Love could only sleep for precious few hours, and she would then promptly wake up and resume her chase. Solaris was only three days away, and soon Love could see the Five Suns when she looked up, even in the morning. By the afternoon they'd be there.
Solaris greeted them with its warmth and its five fake suns that shone brighter than the real one. Somehow it seemed even more desolate than before; the ground surrounding it was now black and dead, and naught but small shrubs grew there.
"Lady Akane is in her office," said a servant as he guided the Precures inside the castle. The spacious corridors seemed much smaller when they were crowded like this.
Akane's office was much tidier than the last time Love had been there. The desk and chairs were on their right place, and the books were now properly sitting in their shelves. It was a presentable place, at least: not particularly pleasant to the eyes, but no longer a dusty and unsightly chamber.
"What brings you all here?" Akane asked, worried. No doubt she understood that such a large group of Precures was always an ill omen of tragedy or war.
Nao explained the best she could, with each Cure adding some information as well. The three cures from Majorland, in particular, had much to say.
"I'm afraid I helped Eas without being aware," Ellen said. "So I am to blame as well. But I don't believe Eas is beyond reasoning. I feel that if we try to reach out we can convince her to stop this madness."
"And how can you be so sure of that?" Akane asked. "Just because she's unhappy with her duty doesn't mean she'll abandon her country. We should give up on Eas. What a pity. I rather liked her."
Love would not give up on her, never. She knew Ellen was right. When she confronted Setsuna outside the Palace, Love did not see a traitor, but a hurt girl who made a wrong choice.
"Regardless, will you rest here today? Solaris always has plenty of accommodations for guests, but if I may be honest, I think it would be foolish. You should only get supplies and get moving again. None of my troops have seen Eas, so she and her companions must have taken an alternate route through abandoned tunnels. There are too many of them for us to be able to keep watch on them all, but they are long and full of turns that slow down travellers. If you set out now, I believe you might reach Eas before she even reaches the Palace, perhaps."
All the Cures nodded, and as they began to leave, Akane asked them to wait.
"One more thing. Ellen," Akane approached her. "I am very curious about you. I believed that only in Majorland could a girl become a Precure without the light of the Precure Altar, but I was wrong. I would very much like to find out. At Beauty's request, Solaris began doing research on some aspects of the World's Heart that we still don't understand, so I would be very thankful if you, Hibiki and Kanade could return here after this situation cools down, and stay for a while."
"Thank you for the offer, but no," said Ellen and Kanade. Love was happy to hear that. Meddling with the World's Heart was definitely not a very smart thing to do, and she doubted that Akane would possibly discover anything.
"Alright. It's your decision," she said, disappointed. "There's just one thing I'd like to know. All Cures are bonded to a fairy. Mine is Candy, princess of Märchenland, Moonlight's is the esteemed Cologne, and," she looked at Hibiki and Kanade, "yours is Hummy, right? When you become bonded to a fairy, you have a deep connection, and the fairy understands your feelings better than almost anyone else. Who is your fairy, Ellen? Is it Hummy as well? Or perhaps…"
"I don't know. I don't feel any sort of connection."
"I see. I just wonder… You are a fairy as well, although one of the few born with the gift of changing their own form. Could it be that you are bonded to yourself? That you becoming a Precure is linked to you understanding yourself? Oh, I'm very curious now! It's amazing, isn't it, how the Precure have been around for ages, and yet we know so little about ourselves, and even parts of our own history? Why, I think-"
"Akane," Nao interrupted her, her voice stern, as was her expression."
"Oh, I'm sorry. You should go. Best of luck to you all. I am confident that the bonds among yourselves will provide you with all the strength you need to prevail."
"There's something we must discuss, Sunny," Nao said, then turned back to the others. "You don't need to wait for me. I'll catch up with you soon."
All the other Cures set out, leaving Nao and Akane by themselves in the spacious office. Nao closed the doors behind them, and Love wondered what they could possibly be discussing. She did not distrust the two of them as much as she did with Happy and Beauty, but she knew what they could do, they and Peace. Perhaps they disagreed with the crimes committed during the Bad End War, but they did nothing to stop them, so to Love, they were just as guilty.
Love left Solaris with her bag heavier with food. No sweets, unfortunately. Surely Tarte would have some sweets if he was there, but Buki refused to allow any of the fairies to leave the Palace of Smiles. She had already endangered them greatly by not being able to protect them when Labyrinth attacked, and she would never forgive herself if she allowed them to get hurt once again. Love missed Tarte, that little weight always resting upon her shoulder, making snide comments and, sometimes, sharing wisdom.
The road to the Precure Palace was once well trafficked and well maintained, but it had now fallen to disrepair. Travelling by foot was still easy enough, but Love doubted that a carriage would have a gentle ride there.
"Love," Miki called her, "do you really think you can do it?"
"Do what?"
"You know what I mean. If it comes to it, do you think you'll be able to hurt Setsuna?"
Love said yes, but in truth she did not know. If she could, she would simply embrace Setsuna, tell her things were alright, that she was not beyond redemption. Perhaps Beauty wouldn't forgive her, but who cares about what Beauty thinks? If Love could have it her way, she would take Setsuna's hand and spend the rest of her life by her side in a beautiful place far from the madness that was the Precure Kingdom. Perhaps Miki would join them as well, and Buki would bring her fairies too. Love could not think of anything happier than that.
"Miki, do you believe that Beauty will pardon you once we return? If I were you, I'd just go back to the Azure Hall and never set foot in the Palace of Smiles again."
"I don't know what to believe. When we were children, we got along well, for the most part. She only turned into what she is now when she became a Precure, and even so, she is not always a bad person. There are days where she would invite me for tea with her and Nao, but the next day she might just ask me to do some inane task more suited for a servant."
"That's even more reason to remove her from your life! You're safe at the Azure Hall, she can't torment you there. And her rule might not last forever."
"What are you implying, Love?"
"The people of the east are starving. Cure Marigold has cut off all contact with the Palace of Smiles, and it looks like House Yotsuba might do that as well. Beauty might have some strong allies, but many are also unhappy with her. If worse comes to worse, I can see a rebellion growing."
"But that never happened in the Precure Kingdom, not in a thousand years…"
"I'm not saying it'll happen, nor am I saying that it's my desire, as we both know that revolutions are terrible and bloody, and we've bled enough already. What I'm saying is that Beauty might be queen, but she cannot do whatever she wants. If you abandon her, I don't think there's much she can do about it. Attack her own subjects? She's not an idiot. She knows half the Kingdom would want her dead, and the other half would watch her fall."
"Perhaps you're right," Miki said. "But I just don't believe Beauty is the monster you think she is. What happened at the Bad End War… What else could have been done? Would I have done differently?"
"Yes, you would. I know you would. You would have been a perfect queen, Miki."
"I know," she sighed.
At night they set camp by the dense woods not too far from the Precure Palace. Hibiki and Kanade sang a lullaby together, but it was the sounds of the forest that eased Love's heart and let her sleep. She had always loved the trees and animals she saw in Heartswood, her home. While the great House's castles were usually mighty stone keeps, Heartswood was just a small tower surrounded by trees, and a city built in the forest, carefully so as to not destroy nature. During the day, there was music, but at night, Love slept to the songs of the forest, and she always had sweet dreams.
But not this time. Her dreams were dark and painful. She dreamt of darkness, and a figure emerging from the blackness, smiling. Setsuna. Always her smile. Love had grown to adore it, and whenever she could make Setsuna smile, she felt great pride. But in her dream, Setsuna's eyes cried as her lips smiled. Had she hidden her pain so well, or had Love simply not noticed how she suffered? Forgive me, she said to the dream, but there was only silence.
Her back hurt when she woke up, a complaint shared by the other Cures. Nao had already joined them again, so she must have arrived in the middle of the night.
In truth, it was still night. They had no time to wait for the sun, they were so close now, so close to Eas. Sometimes Love caught herself forgetting Setsuna's name, and instead thought of the name she had been given by Labyrinth. But that was not her true name. She was Setsuna, not Eas, or at least Love hoped so.
The road was gone by the time the Precure Palace appeared in the horizon. If they followed the main road, they would end up at Stormwall, or Silver Moon, but that was not their destination. It bothered Love to see how the Precure Palace was almost hidden now. There were no signs pointing to it, no pilgrims visiting it, no new Precures fated to greatness. Love looked at her fellow Cures. Melody, Rhythm, Beat, March and Berry. Definitely not as many as she hoped, but they were all worthy combatants, and Love felt she could trust them with her life, even March, and she prayed just judgment was not wrong.
As they approached the Precure Palace and it appeared larger and larger, closer and closer, Love's heart tightened. She looked around the grasslands in search of any sign of Labyrinth, but she saw no one. The Palace stood surrounded by large trees, but otherwise the region was mostly comprised of plains and the occasional small but dense woods.
"This is it, then," Melody said as they stood in front of the great marble door of the Precure Palace, still closed.
"Shall we transform?" Ellen asked, and all the others agreed. Love hoped that the warmth of transforming would bring her ease and end the pain in her heart, but it only hurt more. She did not want to open the large door and step inside. What if Setsuna was there, and what if Love was wrong all along? What if talking was of no help, and they had to come to blows?
What if even that was not enough, and Setsuna had to die? Love shivered and closed her eyes as she pushed open the doors, and stared at the long corridor full of statues of Precures of the past, the corridor that every Cure had to pass to reach the Altar.
Setsuna was there, blocking the way, and she was not alone. Her fellow agents of Labyrinth stood by her side, and they all held weapons. There was no way to talk this through, Love knew.
"Welcome, Precures!" Said the woman with vines all over her arms, on her back. Love was the first to approach, and she was the first to see the cruelty in the woman's eyes. "I'm Northa, greatest servant of Lord Moebius, the pride of Labyrinth. I could kill you all now, but I'd rather have you watch the triumph and rise of Labyrinth. So," a wicked smile formed in her lips, "watch."
Love heard a sound from behind them, and she looked back to see vines covering the way out, heavy and thick and covered in large thorns. But Love never planned to run away.
"Klein, please do the honors," she looked at the old man by her side. He was short and wrinkly, and his eyes seemed too large for his head. He held Chiffon in his hands. When Love took a step forward, a vine latched onto her arm, its thorns piercing her skin.
Chiffon was crying, and the man smiled. He touched her forehead, and the symbol in it began to glow, and soon Chiffon's large eyes became lifeless and empty, colored a dull grey. Klein turned his back and walked towards the Precure Altar in the distance.
"You are privileged to see this. Chiffon's power will be unleashed in the Precure Altar, and that power will be transferred to Labyrinth. And then… Oh, well," she laughed, "I wouldn't like to ruin the surprise. But don't worry, I shall keep you entertained. Westar, Soular, Eas. Break them."
The larger man was the first to rush towards them, swinging his war hammer, missing Love by inches, while Soular's crossbow sprayed bolts all over. Each Cure drew their weapons or readied their fists. Love held Setsuna's sword, and it was to its owner that she looked. She would talk sense into Setsuna, no matter what it took.
"We can't waste time with them!" Love yelled. "Let's go!"
She rushed past Soular and Westar, with Beat by her side, Berry and March staying behind to hold them. Setsuna was still standing there, and only when Northa yelled at her did she draw her sword and scream.
And then everything happened at the same time. Melody and Rhythm were caught by vines, but they kept holding on, and collapsed on Northa, hitting her with all their might. Love looked at Beat, and she was being held by her neck by the vines as well. Love freed her with a single swing, and they kept running side by side. There was a loud clang as Setsuna's sword hit Love's. The two of them stopped and looked at each other in the eye, pointing their blades at the other. Love urged Beat to rescue Chiffon, and tried to think of what to say to Setsuna.
There was no time to say anything, as Setsuna lunged at her, shouting with ferocity and sadness. There were no words coming out of her mouth, only agonizing grunts. Peach parried her blow, and then another, and another, and another, but Setsuna's onslaught would not stop. She would try to strike Peach's head, then her arm, then her chest, her stomach, her neck again, but all she had to do was block. It was like Setsuna wasn't even trying.
"Setsuna," Peach said, "I'm sorry."
She rammed Setsuna against the wall, breaking it to pieces, opening a path to the Palace's old quarters. The vines on Setsuna's arm lashed against Peach, but they seemed to be hurting Setsuna much more. Her strikes were blinded by her pain, little more than swings against the air with no hope of actually hurting Peach.
"Please, Setsuna, you're hurting yourself," Peach said, and the only response she got was a kick against her legs. "Come with me, Setsuna. The cruelty of Labyrinth is not your home."
She said nothing, and lifted her sword with both hands, then tried to hit Peach, who dodged swiftly. The blade got stuck to the wall, and Peach struck Setsuna again, sending her flying to the other side of the room, breaking the frail walls once again.
Setsuna quickly got up in a fighting stance, ready to strike. Love put down her blade and ran towards Setsuna. They both cried as they crashed against each other, their fists meeting and cracking, their bodies shoving each other away, and they kept crying with each desperate and violent blow. Despite her wounds and the green abomination that was consuming her arm, Setsuna was a fierce foe, and she struck quickly and deadly. Peach could block most of her offensive, but when Setsuna managed to sneak a punch in, it was sure to be followed by many more.
A path of destruction was opened as they fought in these close quarters, demolishing walls and breaking statues and furniture apart. Peach silently apologized as she grabbed a statue of Cure Egret and bashed Setsuna with it, shattering it into thousands of pieces.
"I won't give up, Setsuna. I never will."
"I told you to give up," Setsuna said, spitting blood, "I told you to forget me. Kill me now and let it be over. I'm dead anyway."
"What?" Love asked, but Setsuna was done talking, and she threw a punch. That proved foolish, as Peach simply held her hand and tossed her against a nearby door. Love recognized that door, that room. It was the Heart Garden, its flowers shining in all colors. She stepped inside, and saw Setsuna lying in the middle, trying to get up.
"Curse you, fool," Setsuna said. "This is all your fault."
"Then let me fix it!"
"You can't fix anything… There's nothing here to fix."
Setsuna cried as she got up, the pain too much to bear. Peach was wounded as well, and she felt like collapsing at any moment. How could they still have the power to fight?
"I spent my whole life sure of the path I had to follow and of what I had to be. And then I find you, Love, and you show me so many paths, so much beauty, and you tell me I can be what I want, that I can be happy," Setsuna's face was red with rage and sadness, and it seemed to take all of her energy for her not break. "But I can't. I can't be happy, I can't be anything but a servant of Labyrinth. Happiness is something I can't grasp, something that wasn't made for me. I have no fate but to die for Labyrinth. And for so long I knew that, I even loved that… Until you," her voice was bitter. "You made me happy, Love. You made me truly believe that I could make my own choices, and fight for my happiness, that I could find friends, even someone to love. You showed me happiness, but from the beginning I was doomed to be miserable. If I had never known joy, perhaps I wouldn't mind, but I have, and now I miss it, and I suffer. You are so cruel, Love."
Wailing, she threw herself on Peach, hitting her with her fists, her elbows, her feet, her knees, and Peach let herself be hurt. They cried together as Setsuna let it all out, and Peach could see that each blow hurt Setsuna as well. Her wounded arm bled more and more and it seemed the thorns had completely enveloped it.
"Fight back," Setsuna screamed as she punched Love in the face, "hurt me, kill me, just end it, please!"
She leapt and kicked Peach, knocking her on the ground, collapsing next to a Heart Flower. She got up and wiped the blood, sweet and tears from her face.
"Why?" Setsuna asked. "Why were you so good to me when you had no reason to? You could have just taken me as a prisoner for questioning, but instead you made me your friend."
"Because," Love stood straight, doing her best to ignore the pain, "I think you deserve it. Everyone deserves happiness."
"Even one as rotten as me?"
"You are not rotten, Setsuna. You are a good person. You are just stuck in a bad situation."
"How can you know I'm a good person? How can you still fight for me, after everything I've done?"
"Because of something I learned after being with you," Peach smiled. "There is always good to be found in us, Setsuna, even if it happens to be locked away. We can find a key," Peach approached Setsuna, "or, if the lock refuses to open so easily, we can just bash it!"
With whatever strength she had left, Peach shoved Setsuna away, against a wall, and this time, despite trying to get up, she couldn't.
"When I'm done saving Chiffon, I'll be back for you, Setsuna, I promise. Then you will be free, and you will be happy once again."
"Y-You…" Setsuna struggled to speak. "You really don't understand anything, do you?"
Peach put her sword in the floor, and smiled at Setsuna again. I might not understand yet, but you'll have plenty of time to explain. Peach left Setsuna there, surrounded by Heart Flowers, and made her way back to the corridor leading to the chamber where the Precure Altar was.
Peach ignored Northa, Soular and Westar, and found Chiffon surrounded by dozens of Nakewameke. Beat tried to get past them, but they were too many and too strong. In the middle of them all were the Altar, Chiffon and Klein. He merely laughed as he watched Beat and Peach struggled while trying not to be overwhelmed by their enemies. The light in Chiffon's forehead was bright when they got there, but it was growing dimmer by the second. Love heard a terrible rumbling sound, and knew she was running out of time.
"Beat!" Love yelled. "Come with me. I know what to do. Just don't let them touch us."
Beat nodded, and followed Peach as she shoved the Nakewameke aside and dashed towards Chiffon. Whenever the monsters would strike against them, Beat would quickly make a slashing motion with her finger, followed by a dissonant noise and a barrier much alike blue glass appearing and keeping the Nakewameke away. The first barriers were thick and held on after many strikes, but even so they would break, and each following one was frailer than the one before. When the Altar was finally close, Beat was panting and screaming as she created dozens of shields at once, each one holding on for less than a single second.
But Peach reached Chiffon, and before Klein could stop her, she removed the fairy from the Precure Altar. Chiffon's eyes were alive again, and she broke her silence by crying.
"Insolent girl," Klein said, and he grabbed Peach by the neck. He was surprisingly strong for such a frail-looking man, and his grip was very tight and painful. If Peach tried to talk, the words wouldn't come out as the life was being choked away from her. "You did nothing but set us back for a few minutes. Northa would like to keep you alive for you to witness the destruction of all you hold dear, but I think I'd rather kill you before you bother us even more, you nuisance."
His fingers felt like they were now digging deep in her skin. Peach looked aside, and saw Beat held by two enormous Nakewameke. Each had a firm grip on one of her limbs, and though she struggled, kicked and screamed, they were slowly pulling each arm and leg in a different direction. Peach could not bear to look at this cruelty. She heard a sickening crunch and feared the worst.
But the sound did not come from Beat. Instead, the Nakewameke holding her fell apart in a second, first their heads, then their arms, and even their torsos split in two. Klein looked down, his face in shock. A blade sprouted from his belly, bloodied, and he fell to the floor, letting go of Peach's neck. She saw the sword's wielder, and it seemed like all her worries were put to rest. It was Setsuna. She removed her sword from Klein's body, and tossed it aside. All around the chamber, the Nakewameke broke down harmlessly, collapsing on the floor and turning to pieces.
Peach just hugged Setsuna tightly, holding her close. She touched their foreheads together and let herself cry.
"I'm so glad, Setsuna… So happy you made the right choice."
"I'm sorry for everything."
"Don't be. There is nothing to feel sorry for," Peach said. She looked back and saw Soular and Westar defeated, surrendering, and she saw Hibiki and Kanade putting Northa to the torch. She burned violently and quickly, much like dead, dry grass. Before the flames consumed her, she spit out a strange small brown object covered in roots and vines, but before anyone could pick it up, it scurried away, pulling itself forward with its roots. In just a minute it was gone.
"I guess," Beat said, trying to recompose herself, "we've won?"
"Yes," Peach said, and she held Setsuna's hands. She felt a stinging pain, and saw that the thorns were even larger now. "S-Setsuna? Shouldn't that be gone, now that we've defeated Labyrinth?"
"Defeated Labyrinth?" Setsuna laughed. "You've saved Chiffon, that's all. Labyrinth remains, and so does my slavery, and my fate… Death."
"What do you mean?" Peach meant to ask, but Setsuna simply collapsed on her and began to cry.
"My death has been predetermined. This is why I said I could never be happy. I'm running out of time, Love. I just wanted to do one thing right before I died," she tried to smile, but just kept crying in pain. Her arm wasn't covered in green anymore, it was now blood red. "I hope I've succeeded in fixing at least one of my mistakes."
"S-Setsuna," Love could not accept it. "No! Tell me it isn't true! It can't be true! I don't believe you, Setsuna!"
"I'm not lying to you, Love. For what it's worth, the only real lie I told were my intentions. Everything was true."
Peach held tighter to Setsuna's hands, letting the vines cover and cut her as well, as if they could share the pain, as if that could save Setsuna."
"We can make you better! I'm sure there's a way, there's always a way! Please, Setsuna, just hold on… Please… How long do I have?" Love begged.
"When will I die, you mean?" Setsuna closed her eyes. "Ha. Today. Now. Sorry. I think-"
She never finished her sentence. She laid motionless where she stood, and fell to the floor. One by one the Cures approached her lifeless body, not knowing what to say. Not that it mattered to Love what they could say. She looked at Setsuna's face, so sad, and it was yet another blow. All that she wanted was for Setsuna to smile again, and she failed. She was doomed to fail from the beginning.
"Love…" Hibiki said.
"Quiet," Love pleaded. "Please. Please, just let me stay here for a while."
The Cures took some steps back, leaving Love alone with Setsuna. She didn't even get the chance to die peacefully. That was not fair, Love wanted to scream. How could something like this happen in the Precure Palace? That was not right. Chiffon poked Setsuna's cheek, confused. She didn't understand what happened, and she probably never would.
Love slowly lifted Setsuna's corpse, her tears falling on Setsuna's bloodied face. If there truly is good in the world, if there is kindness and justice, then this will not be allowed. Love took slow steps towards the Precure Altar. A miracle, that's all I'm asking for, the only thing I ever asked. Love gently placed Setsuna atop the Altar, and tried to remember the words that were said when a new Precure was born. She couldn't remember them, but the words were never important. Only the heart.
"Come on," she pleaded. "Not like this! You can't die like this, Setsuna, I refuse to allow it!"
Nothing happened. Love knelt and held Setsuna's cold hand, and she kept on praying, begging, hoping.
Chiffon said something, and the mark on its forehead began to glow. A warm light descended from above, and Love immediately remembered the feeling that had taken over her when she became Cure Peach. Setsuna's body was covered in red, but not her own blood this time. All of her wounds closed, and the vines on her arm withered and turned to dust. Slowly her hair grew longer and its white turned into a light pink. Her clothes became red and black as well, as if her body was rejecting all traces of Eas there had ever been there.
With the entire chamber bathed in a crimson light, she rose to her feet and opened her eyes, now free of any sadness. Eas was dead, leaving only Setsuna behind.