Rekindle the Stars

by teawithmugi

The world has fallen, and the Precure were defeated. Caught by surprise by a massive attack from all their enemies at once, they had no choice but to run and scatter all over the world. Even so, the Precure will not let the world fall into darkness: though the light of the stars is gone, the Precures' hope still shines on. (AU involving all seasons up to Hugtto.)

36. The Heart of Winter

Their cheers and screams of celebration resounded across the streets of Morgenluft, and for a moment were loud enough that Reika could not hear the lamentations of the cursed or their groans of pain, but when Wolfrun and Akaoni's soldiers calmed down and silently inspected the ink-covered battlefield, Beauty could hear those horrid sounds again, a reminder that their triumph was still far from complete.

And out of her hands now, too, she remembered. It was now Felice's time to do as she promised, so Reika hoped that the star they gave her would be enough help. It had to be: things weren't going to get any better than that anytime soon. Not until Pierrot was vanquished. The cold flurry buffeted Reika's face as she turned her gaze westward, to the path to Fabelpfalz. There was no doubt in her heart that things now neared an end, but still she was uncertain if that end would be the one they wished. It is up to us, now, to decide what fate befalls Morgenluft, and to fight for it.

"Cure Beauty," Wolfrun approached her. "It is surely damn fortunate that we were able to get you enough time there. I could tell my soldiers were uncertain when I gave the order to hold the line in front of Sternquelle. Still it tastes bitter underneath the joy of victory. It was only their loyalty to me that led them to risk their lives to help Precure. The blood of good men and women was spilled for your sake. See that it wasn't in vain."

"I promise you it was not in vain," Reika said. "They fought and bled under the stars. I hope that, if nothing else, they could look up to the sky in their last moments and understood that they fought for their stars, not for the Precure and not for you."

"I hope so too," Akaoni said, drawing nearer. He had been badly wounded, slammed into the walls of Sternquelle, his red body covered in dark blue bruises, and he needed the support of his club to walk with his limp. "We all have more work to do," he said.

"You should rest," said Makoto. "You're in no condition to fight."

"I've beaten many foes who thought that before," he grinned. "Ogres are made of harder stuff than tiny humans or wolves. I'll survive."

"Tch," Wolfrun clearly saw Akaoni's joke as a challenge.

"Besides, as far as I know, we might lose tonight. We might all end up dead anyways, and if we do, resting would have been entirely pointless. I'll sleep for a whole week when we win, and I'll even let Majorina treat me with her weird alchemy. But until then I'll fight."

"Good luck, then," said Reika. She extended her hand to Akaoni, and hers nearly disappeared when he shook it. Wolfrun did not wish to take her hand at first, proud fool that he was, but when Akaoni began to laugh at him, he relented. Makoto kept her distance, and all she had to give to the wolf and the ogre was a respectful nod.

And now, Reika knew, all there was left for her to do was to return to Fabelpfalz, and pray that this time, fully prepared, she would not need to turn around and run. It was as Akaoni said: fleeing from the fight would accomplish nothing now that the only outcomes were victory or grisly death.

The city itself hadn't changed at all with the new star: the streets were still dreary and dark, the alleyways worse, and all building left abandoned were quickly dilapidated. Reika already knew that victory would not come cheap, but the aftermath would be its own battle as well.

"How did you withstand it for so long?" Reika turned to Makoto. "The sight of my city broken makes me want to cry. How did you live with it for months?"

"Didn't have a choice," Makoto said plainly. "I can't ever say I got used to it, that I ever accepted what became of the capital, but after a while I stopped crying. After a month, I think. My tears would do nothing, I understood, only keep me from my duty. From the princess I still sought. I wonder if I stopped crying because I lost all hopes, and with them I lost all fear, or if it was because I still believed success was inevitable. The morning light always drives back the darkness of even the longest nights, so why cry? I never gave much thought, to be frank, to how I felt. I was too focused on getting through each day and following the trail of information that would lead me to Marie Ange to possibly take a moment to think about my own heart."

"I see…" Reika didn't know what to say. Her uncomfortable silence did not go unnoticed by Makoto, who took her by the arms and made Reika stare into her eyes.

"It won't get to that here," she promised. "We will win and Morgenluft will be as it was. Fabelpfalz, your old school, everything we've seen and everything that is important to you… We will take them back. A clown can't - and won't - stop us."

"Thank you, Makoto," she said. "You're right. We'll win, and I will not falter. Whatever it takes to save my home and my friends, I'll do."

Yes, whatever it takes. She no longer felt the fear that just gripped her heart, and marched onwards through the husk of Morgenluft. Whenever she saw some poor soul taken by the dark skies and its curse, she told herself to feel not sorrow or terror but determination to go ever forward, only forward.

From time to time Reika dared to look to the heavens, now that a new star was shining, its light dim and frail but still enough to help Beauty's hopes hold in the face of darkness and horror. The moon never moved: it hung ominous in the same place since nightfall, far larger than it reasonably ought to be, and encircled by a halo of darkness.

The unshifting sky gave Reika no evidence of how much time might have passed, how many hours lost since Pierrot threatened to consume every living thing in Morgenluft. Reika's exhaustion hinted that it might as well have been over half a day already. The sun should have risen by now, but of course it did not, nor would it until the Bad End Emperor was dead. Beauty found herself missing its light, the way it shone on pleasant winter mornings, casting the world in frail golds and whites, the ground blanketed by thin snows. Those were the winters that Reika missed, now denied to her.

She found that her fear was replaced by anger, which was poison all the same. The most important thing, she knew, was keeping a cool head. Yet each person she saw thrown to the gutters, each rooftop dripping ink, each shard of broken glass and each bloodstain filled her with tempestuous fury, a wintry squall. She kept reflecting on Makoto's words, thinking of the hatred that she too felt for her captors. Morgenluft was not at all like Trump, of course, she wouldn't dare compare the situations, but she felt like she could finally understand Sword's cold determination: truly understand it.

But Reika could never truly be cold. Her heart was winter, and when had winter ever been calm, composed, unfeeling, driven by a single goal? The same wrath that beat in her heart carried snow and wind and ice across Märchenland. All her life she had been told that winter was an omen of evil, that she should not seek to further that power when she had so many other gifts as a Precure. Winter was wrath, she understood then.

When at last the spires of Fabelpfalz revealed themselves, they were changed yet again: from their twisted tops hung icicles like great fangs of frost, and the stained glass windows had begun to crack, a pale layer of ice covering them. The closer they came to Fabelpfalz, the colder it became, and while it didn't disturb Reika at all, Makoto's teeth began to chatter and she struggled to keep hold of her own blade. Reika looked to her own bleeding hands, and saw that the wounds had been filled with snow. They didn't hurt anymore, though as Reika moved her own fingers with difficulty, she felt her joints hardened, as if her insides turned to ice. Her arms had grown eerily pale, so much that her own veins were clear, too clear, roots of bright blue.

Majorina and her cronies kept watch over the front gate, and the witch seemed incredibly peeved at the arrival of the Precure. Nozomi and the others must have had a hard time getting past her. They did get past her, right? Suddenly Reika realized she couldn't know if they had even gotten to the palace in the first place. She had faith that they would, she would never doubt them, but fearing for their safety was not the same as doubting, so she approached Majorina with fear.

"Nozomi," she said. "Iona, Pop, have you let them into the palace?"

"They seemed to have a death wish," Majorina said, "and I had no reason to preserve their lives, so I let them walk inside as it pleased them. And I imagine you mean to follow them into the mouth of hell?"

"I must," said Reika. "Our hours are numbered, though we don't know their count. We have to stop Pierrot. Everything else we've done has served to buy us more time, but it has only given us some space to breathe. It is Pierrot that stands between us and the morning, so if we want this night to end, it's him we'll have to destroy."

"Such resolve," Majorina said. "I really believed in Pierrot for some time, you know. More fiercely than Wolfrun and Akaoni ever did. To them, Joker and Pierrot were only means to the end we cared so much for. We understood what they were, but not the full extent of their evil, and still…" She didn't sound very remorseful at all. "I felt it was fair to use that evil even when my companions and compatriots started to have their own doubts. Not all, of course, but enough for Joker's leadership to be questioned. I didn't care, then, that they'd do such cruelties. Let the humans and fairies suffer, I said, let them face the evil we've always been accused of. Pierrot was a monster, a vile monster, but he was just what we needed. With such destructive power on our side, we'd be safe at last, because who would dare attack us?"

"And now that he turns on your people you finally see the error of your ways," Makoto said, spiteful. "What courage it must have taken you to do the right thing."

Majorina moved towards Makoto in one swift motion, her hands clutching at her uniform, but Sword's blade was pointed at the witch's stomach, its tip nearly touching her.

"Go on," Makoto said.

"You're not even the first Precure to threaten me tonight," she said, defiant. "Makes one wonder if it is truly peace that you seek, when you are so eager to cover your ears when we speak if it's not to your liking."

"Sword," Reika put a hand on Makoto's shoulder, and though she recoiled from the cold, it calmed her down enough to let her Holy Sword return to light. "Forgive us. We were just on a hurry, and are worried about your friends."

"I'd still like you to hear what I have to say," Majorina said once she composed herself. "If you are capable of hearing, that is. I'm not entirely certain. You were always eager to tell our stories but never to hear them from ourselves. Still, I wanted you to know that you are wrong. It was not this horrible night that made me question my allegiances. It was living in Morgenluft the past months, when I saw yours alongside mine. When I saw ogres buying bread from fairies and men helping a lost wolf child find her parents. It was not out of love that they did that, I know. It was something far simpler, far baser. Call it common civility, if you will. There is pain between us, yes, but I saw what happens when we can have peace: life thrives. Snow fights, friends headed out for a drink, mere pleasant conversation… War never afforded us that, such simplicity, so I never thought anything but hatred was possible."

"And that changed your mind?"

"I don't love you," Majorina said. "I never will, and I'll never forget what Märchenland and your bloody Rose have done to us. But it is not a matter of forgetting. When I saw my people become part of Morgenluft, through all the compromises it took, and saw them even befriend the people who lived here, I knew I couldn't bear the thought of letting Joker have his way, because I understood that Pierrot's return would mean the death of all humans and fairies here. The truth was even worse, of course, but I didn't know it then. All I knew was that I realized that if I broke the peace, I'd break the life it brought as well. So I ordered my agents to kill Joker," she sighed. "My foolishness was thinking he would be so easy to get rid of."

"So that's what happened…"

"The public story is that we drove Joker away," Majorina said. "Driving away… That's just vague enough, isn't it? It had to be, given that there are still some who supported Joker and Pierrot. Can't have our people thinking that as soon as we got to power, the purges had begun, can we? But that is the truth: he was not cast out, a mere exile, he fled from Morgenluft because here he was at risk of getting his throat slashed. Or, well, I thought he fled. My mistake as well, but he had most everyone fooled, save for that child. Nico was sent away from Morgenluft under suspicious circumstances, so I thought to have my followers seek her. I abandoned the thought, she was only a child, what could she possibly know?" She laughed bitterly.

"Even if you knew," Reika said, "who was to tell that you'd be able to stop all that happened? You understand it yourself, don't you? Joker is not so easily foiled."

"You may be right, but it's still little comfort to think that it might have been inevitable."

"Inevitable or not," Makoto said, "it happened, and that's what matters. We must put an end to it now."

Majorina and her guards stepped aside and let the Precure get past them, into the withered garden. Very little other than thorns had survived the snowfalls and the black paint that rained down upon them. Reika remembered when she had come to the garden with Nao to pick flowers, but now she could not recall the occasion. Perhaps there wasn't one; it might have been only a whim. It made Reika smile, to remember a time where she could enjoy such small moments unburdened by the troubles of the world, but soon she stopped smiling as she realized she missed Nao terribly.

She could see her standing there, kneeling on the dirt, even as Reika said she'd get her legs all dirty. I don't care, Nao had said, and neither should you, she said and grabbed Reika's hand and invited her to kneel down as well. Were it anyone but Nao, Reika would have refused, then, but instead she stained her white skirt with the colors of earth and vines. Their fingers touched each other often as they looked for the most beautiful flowers, and Reika felt something that she was too young to understand at the time. It made her glad, though, so glad that she never forgot that memory. She never forgot that when she found the flower she found most beautiful, she put it on Nao's hair, and the two blushed as their eyes met. Reika didn't feel that way anymore, as she had felt then, but the memory was vivid and sweet enough that for a moment she forgot the cold and the darkness, and only Makoto's voice brought her back to Fabelpfalz.

"Looks like they made it," Makoto said, stepping into the palace, and Nozomi and Iona were the first to come to sight, Prince Pop right behind them, his sister in his arms. She looked so tiny, but the prince was not a particularly large boy. Candy's eyes were sunken, her face devoid of expression, but she lived. She lived!

Reika ran to Iona and Nozomi and wrapped the two in a tight hug, rubbing her forehead on Nozomi's. Her body felt so light with relief to see them all again, alive and well. Iona's expression was pure bewilderment at first, but soon Reika felt her arms tighten. When the three let go of each other, Beauty approached Candy, and despite her sorry state, she felt like that was one less thing to worry about.

"Kotoha will return her to normal," Reika said to Pop. "We've lit the Starlight Flame," the prince's eyes lit up as she said that, "and Wolfrun and Akaoni are fighting to protect the populace. Only one thing remains," she looked at the great door to the throne room, enveloped by the flames that Majorina had conjured as they escape.

Something was odd, though, Reika noticed. Iona, Nozomi, Pop, Candy, they were all there, but…

"Komachi," she felt her heart hurt. "Komachi was with you, and Nico as well. Did something-"

Both Dream and Fortune, as well as Prince Pop, turned their heads back to indicate someone behind them. Reika rushed past them all and saw Mint emerge from the darkness, with Nico on her arms. The girl was bleeding from her stomach, but she still moved, still lived. Reika was going to say something, but then she saw a sphere of green light follow Komachi, hovering above the ground, and she saw the two girls enclosed within the glass.

"Miyuki," she called out, putting her hands on the barrier, its warmth uneasy to her cold, numb fingers. "Yayoi… You're here too…" She smiled, at first, but her friends did not respond. Instead they lashed out, clawing at the green shield that bubbled them, pounding at it with their fists. It hurt to see them like that, more beasts than the girls that Reika loved so dearly, with all of her heart. "What happened?"

"We defeated them," Komachi said. "But it turns out that merely hitting them doesn't help them get better. I locked them in there for the time being, until we can help them."

"If we can help them," Nico said, her voice but a hoarse whisper.

"We can," Reika said, not accepting otherwise. "Kotoha will save them, take them to her, she will help, you'll see… When Joker and Pierrot are gone they'll be free of this curse, like the rest of Morgenluft, I know it. I know it."

She kept staring into their eyes, those wicked eyes so full of hatred, but also so full of pain. It was not only malice that led them to shriek, to struggle: they were hurting too. Reika stared at the door, at the fire, and she made a fist. Joker could not be forgiven for this. Reika didn't know if she had it in her to kill him, to stain her hands like that, but even if she could do no such thing, this time she would not hold Nozomi back, nor Makoto.

"Please," Reika said. "Seek Kotoha when this is done. She will save them. Her magic has to save them," Komachi nodded, and, alongside Pop, she walked out of Fabelpfalz and back into Morgenluft, into the night. She averted her eyes from Happy and Peace as they passed by: she could not bear the sight of her beloved friends reduced to that.

The Precure stood before the closed door and the flames that rose from the floor and reached upwards to the ceiling with their fingers of scarlet and orange. The winter in Reika's heart wrapped her body in a flurry of snow, and a wave of her hand blew cold winds that stifled the blazes until they were gone. By her side, her companions shivered when the snowflakes caressed them, but immersed in the cold, Reika felt only a fierce determination.

"Reika," Nozomi said. "Are you certain you're alright?"

"Not really," she chose honesty. "But if we could find the strength to fight when it's easy, when we have no fears, then we'd have died out a long time ago. I'm afraid, I'm worried, but I'll fight. I can't afford not to, and I know that I can't lose with you three by my side, not when I understand all that is at stake. Let's go," she said, and was the first to step forward.

The heavy doors opened slowly, revealing the white terror beyond it. Winter's pale hands rushed forth to claw at their faces with a fierce, merciless cold. The throne room had changed even further, a labyrinth of ice. The floor rose in frozen spires and spears, while the frigid wind howled between them. Droplets fell from somewhere high above, but they froze on their way down and cracked when they hit Reika's face. It hurt even to breathe, like rime filled her lungs as she panted. Even she could not feel comfortable there, she who could walk barefoot on the snow without flinching. This cold was what people meant when they spoke of the evil of the heart of winter.

But it was not winter that was evil, neither its frost. She recalled the story of the brothers of winter and what they unleashed upon Märchenland, as well as all the fools who, since then, thought they could use that power for their own gain. She thought of Cure Winter, the worst of them all, her threat cut short by her own partner, but far from the only one. It was their own cruelty that the monsters they were, not the cold. It was not their power that was evil, Reika reflected, only their hearts. Even something as dreadful as Joker and Pierrot's power could serve the ends of bringing about the future and peace the Bad End Kingdom desired.

They could no longer see the path behind them when they reached the center of the room, encircled by great crags of ice like jagged teeth, the Precure in their midst. The footsteps they left on the snows were gone. Above, the blizzard concealed the sky, and closed in on the Precure, spiraling down towards them.

"Step forward if you've reconsidered our offer," said a voice like the cracking of ice, "or face us and die if you have come with a defiant heart."

"Joker awaits you ahead," another voice pierced Reika's ears, cruel, soft, "if you have come to accept his gifts. If not, then you go no further."

They appeared at once amidst the storms, one brother between the Cures and the path ahead, and the other blocking the way back, where they had trodden, though retreat was never an option from the moment they set foot here.

"Freezen," Reika called the name, and the man in front gave her a nod. "Frozen," she heard a mocking laugh from behind her. "Move."

Nozomi and Makoto had their backs turned to Reika and Iona, each pair facing off against one enemy. Beauty did not like those odds at all, but they were the best she was likely to get. She gripped her blade tight, and kept a careful eye on her surroundings, and awaited for her foes to make the first move, but they were content to stand still. It was the Precure who were in a rush, not the brothers or Joker.

"Your friends can walk away if you come with us to Joker," said Frozen, and when he spoke Reika felt a biting wind on her nape, "they matter not to him. This is the kindest choice you can make, if you truly care about their safety."

"We're not leaving her here," said Iona. "Not for anything in the world. Our safety is nothing compared to the fate of Morgenluft."

"Iona…" The two smiled at each other, but their resolve did nothing to wipe the self-satisfied smirk from Freezen's face. He only laughed.

"You cannot win," he said. "You have no power that allows you to face Pierrot and all of his might. You refused every offer of power that was given to you, Cure Beauty, and now you find yourself weak."

"I am not weak," she said, "because what you have is not strength. How can you be strong when you've no heart, anymore?"

"You could have saved your friend," Frozen spoke from behind them. "It is truly cold of you to leave poor Akane there, lost, a slave to your enemies, corrupted. You could-"

"Silence!" Reika screamed, felt her throat burn as she yelled. She nearly lunged right there and then, but understood that would play right into her enemies' hands. Though seething, she held her ground.

"Then do not regret your choices as you die here," Frozen said, "as you lay there on the ground and the tears freeze as you weep and die, may you regret your blindness, your fear of true power. There was so much potential in you. Joker promised us so much, yet when I took one look at you, you exceeded every expectation I had. You would have learned so much under our tutelage, with our power, and Joker's. Used it as you wished, for what you find good."

"Die, now," said Freezen, and his ice-covered fingers turned to claws and blades. "Accept your end, daughter of winter. It is only fitting that the frost you love so much should become your grave. Let the snows eat you. Let them bury you. Let them hide the white of your bones until the day the world comes to its end."

The two brothers closed in on the Precure at the same time; Reika heard Makoto scream, but did not look back, as her sword met Freezen's arm, and shattered. She stepped away, so as to put space between her and Freezen's massive arm that crashed down on her, and found the floor uncertain, slippery.

Reika called forth another sword, and struck her foe alongside Iona. Though her blade was caught by Freezen's claws and crushed into tiny bits, Iona's fist struck a fierce blow, cracking the surface of his icy torso and sending him back. His smirk disappeared in an instant.

Chunks of ice sprung from the floor at his command, flying towards the Precure. Reika could slice them in twain before they reached her, but to Nozomi and Makoto, already preoccupied in fighting Frozen, they were a far greater danger, smacking them in the back as they fought, nearly bringing them to the floor. Reika looked at Iona, then at Freezen, and the two nodded. They made a mad dash towards him, together, but when they neared him the ground shook beneath their feet and just ahead of them the floor began to rise, blocking off their path. Iona, faster than Reika, hit her face on the wall of frost, leaving her face bloodied and bruised.

The two had no time to try to walk around it; all around them rose pillars that surrounded them, rising high until there was no way out. Iona readied herself to jump, while Reika thought it safer to latch on to the ice with the edge of her blades and make the climb upwards, but their hopes were extinguished alongside all light when the top of their prison was frozen as well, thick ice that covered them in darkness.

Iona cursed loudly, as Reika pummeled the ice in vain. What good were her powers if they could not get her out of this? She pounded a fist against the wall, and when she felt it move she first thought she was stronger than she thought, but then she realized the truth: the walls were closing in on them. Slowly they came closer, the world rumbling around Beauty and Fortune.

Iona joined Reika in hitting the ice, desperate, but in the darkness the two kept smacking each other's hand, their bodies smashing against each other as they threw all their weight against their cage. Fortune cried out in anger and fright that shocked Reika. It was not right for proud Iona to scream utter dread like that, to find herself helpless. Winter, Reika prayed, knowing no other prayers, listen to me. She had never feared winter until this night. That, too, was wrong. She tried to calm down, to focus on her magic, but felt the walls touch her face, and realized she no longer had the space to move. Iona stopped screaming, then, and began to cry.

"Reika," she said in the dark, "Reika, please, Reika… We can't… Not now, not now of all times and places…"

Cure Fortune stopped struggling, but Beauty did not: she couldn't move her arms enough to even punch at the walls, so instead she clawed at the ice, felt her nails crack and tasted their blood now that her face was compressed towards her own hands. Iona's legs were now pushing against Reika's, and her head leaned against Reika's chest. It hurt. It hurt so much now. Reika felt her whole body cramming into a space that was too tiny for it, and first it was her hands and feet that hurt, then her limbs, then her torso as there was no more room for her to even breathe, because when she tried she felt the ice pushing into her belly and her chest. She heard Iona whisper a name, but then she began to scream, a shriek that lasted an instant before she could no longer speak again. Reika heard something crack and felt Iona go limp.

And then she felt at once the cold that she prayed for and the fire of her rage and hatred.

The walls began to crumble at her touch, collapsing into a flurry of shards of ice. Reika looked onwards, and the shards followed her stare, and the winds converged towards her. By her side, Iona had fallen to the floor, her eyes closed and her legs broken. The snows fell on her, but at Reika's command they left her alone. Reika didn't even pause to see if she was well. Right now, she felt no worry, only loathing, and it raged in her heart like storm.

The blizzard guided her onwards to Freezen, and as he tossed icicles towards her, they avoided her entirely, harmless, and fell to the floor. Freezen tried to shield himself within an icy barrier, but it simply gave way to Reika; she jumped towards him and brought him down to the ground, keeping him pinned down with her feet on his chest. He looked afraid.

He should be.

"Look at the gifts you already have," he said, pleading. "You truly are a daughter of winter, you already have it in your heart, but we can make you stronger. Joker, too, he-"

"Brother!" The other man cried out from behind. Reika looked back, and saw him letting go of Nozomi, throwing her to the ground with brutality. He ran towards Reika, fast, ferocious, the frozen floor cracking with each step he took. Soon he was right in front of Reika, looking down upon her, his body so strained with rage that it splintered at points. "You could have accepted our offer. If you had, your friends would not be hurt," he grabbed her by the color, lifted her high above the ground. Beauty did not resist.

"I don't need you," she said. "You have nothing to give me. But you've hurt my friend. I can't forgive that. I'm done with letting the ones I love be hurt and being unable to do anything about it."

She put both hands on Frozen's chest, and there she felt the slow beat of the heart of winter. She felt its cold, and it called to her. She did not reject it, and called it as well, in response. All the cold and ice on Frozen's body seeped onto her, and of his brother as well, all the white that had covered the palace, she felt it all come to her. The snows began to melt away around her, shrinking from the edges of the room towards Beauty. The blizzard veiled her and the air grew warm, but all that Reika felt was a cold deeper than anything she had known before. Frozen let go of her as his fingers became slippery, wet, and then they were gone, melting away with the rest of him and his brother. Reika stood still on the floor, unable to move. She couldn't even blink as she felt the cold dig into her heart.

She only managed to get up when Makoto's fingers wrapped around her arm and she felt warmth again. Such warm fingers, and bloodied. She looked at Reika with concern, but the nature of that worry was unclear to Beauty.

"How did you do that?" Makoto asked.

"I don't know," said Reika. "If I hadn't, Iona would be dead. She's alive, is she not?" Makoto nodded. "She needs to be taken to safety. Nozomi as well," Reika said when she saw that Nozomi was also having a hard time lifting herself up.

"You'll be alone here," Makoto said. "Alone against Joker and Pierrot. They aren't made of ice."

"I know that," Reika said, and approached Cure Dream. "Nozomi," Reika took her hand, tried to lift her up, "can you walk?"

"I can limp, for what that's worth" Nozomi said, legs shaking as she tried to stand still.

"Iona can't even do that," Reika tried not to look at Fortune, "so please, Makoto, carry her to safety," their eyes met, and Makoto offered only silence.

"I don't want you alone there," Makoto said. "He'll try to hurt will. You know he will. Let me fight in your place. Please. You take Nozomi and Iona to Morgenluft, I'll fight."

"No one can fight for me," Reika said. "And you don't know Joker. He knows me as well, I won't deny it, but I have learned how he fights. Trust me, please," she took both of Makoto's hands. "I've learned much from sparring with you. I'm better than I ever was before, thanks to you, and you helped me find the resolve and courage I had lost. But now I need you elsewhere. Now I need you to put your faith in me."

Slowly, Makoto nodded. She gave Reika one last embrace, and delayed it for as long as she could before she let go of her and stepped towards the unconscious Iona, and carried her. As she promised, Nozomi began to limp away, but she too gave Reika a frail hug.

"Please come back," Nozomi whispered in her ear.

Reika nodded, and watched her friends walk away into the distance. She turned her back on them; she had her own way now, and she had to walk it alone. Though the snows were gone from Fabelpfalz, Pierrot's curse was not, so the throne room was still a long shrouded in darkness and mist. But not as cold anymore. The hatred that burned in Reika's heart was gone now, and she didn't know what to make of it.

It didn't matter now. She stood before the darkest part of the fog, and breathed deep, then walked inside. She knew what awaited her there. Reika prayed that she was strong and brave enough to face it.

---

It was only when Honoka started to shake her and tell her to come back that Nagisa realized she had been staring at the cursed heavens since the star came to life, suddenly lighting up a distant corner of the night sky. She didn't feel any joy. All she thought was that her family would never get to see that star, and neither would Hikari. Wherever they might be now, she doubted they could see the sky.

"Nagisa," only Honoka's voice pierced the shroud of sorrow. Nagisa realized then that she had been weeping. Worse: she made Honoka cry, too, and though her tears were discreet, Nagisa would never fail to notice them, much less her face dark with worry. "Don't leave like that," she scolded her, more hurt than angry. "You know what the curse does. You have to be more careful than that."

"Sorry," Nagisa said, and meant it. "They did it, though. Reika and Makoto did it, they lit the Starlight Flame."

"I didn't doubt them for a moment," said Honoka. Nagisa just stared. "What? Don't give me that look."

"Before she came back to her senses, you were the one saying we should leave Reika behind," Nagisa reminded her. "She's stronger than you think. They all are."

"Are you implying something, my love?"

"I'm not clever enough to imply things, dear Honoka. What I mean is perhaps we were wrong. Perhaps these girls don't really need to be under our watchful eyes, as Cure Mirage had proposed and we so easily agreed."

"How cold. For a moment you almost sounded like you were saying we should part ways with their lovely company."

"Don't play stupid. There are just… Things that worry me," she said, then turned back to see Kotoha still immersed in her duty, still busy with her healing. Her face was sweaty and her braids came undone at points. When White confirmed that she was too deep in her magics to listen, she came closer to her lover. "I really don't trust Mirage, much less after hearing she's been interfering in Märchenland's business as well, trying to conceal information."

"You don't know if it was Mirage," said Nagisa. Honoka's eyes burned her with their disdain.

"Oh, please, who else is so notorious for confiscating books all over the world in name of the Red Rose?" Nagisa had no counterpoint. "She is hiding something. Her eagerness to put herself forward as our new Rosehearted was more than a bit suspicious considering the last elections."

Though sometimes Nagisa thought that her lover's grudge and suspicions of Cure Mirage stemmed only from her competitive nature and academic frustrations, she couldn't deny that it was odd how quickly Mirage acted to seize power when the Precure reclaimed the Phoenix Tower. During the last election, the one where Cure Continental was chosen to lead the Red Rose, almost all the Precure seemed ready to elect her, given her great services to the Rose in the past decade, but she refused a candidature entirely, backing Cure Continental instead and taking her job at Verone instead. That always struck both Black and White as more than a little odd.

Nagisa sighed. It frustrated her to have so much time to think and recall the past, because it meant she was standing still, only waiting for someone else. It made her feel useless, though she understood someone needed to guard Kotoha while she was single-mindedly working her spells, strengthened by the light of the new star. Cure Felice didn't seem to be in any danger, though, so Nagisa only felt like a waste of space. She grabbed a stone by her feet, small and smooth, and tossed it on the lake. It didn't skip: it simply disappeared, sinking immediately under the pitch black pool.

"You know, Mirage was eager to send us to Märchenland, too," Nagisa remarked. "Do you think she was trying to get rid of us, for the time being?"

"I suspect we'll find out when we return, and see what has become of the Phoenix Tower while we were gone. When this is done, when this damned night ends-"

"If it ends," Nagisa reminded. "We haven't won yet."

"If this damned night ends," Honoka continued without pause, "I'll try to get to the bottom of what Miyuki told us. The Red Rose wanted those books about the Axia Crisis gone. Why? I will ask Mirage about it, about the library of the Phoenix Tower."

"She'll just say no."

"We'll get everyone's support," Honoka was determined. "Nozomi, Iona, Reika, Komachi, Kotoha, Makoto, Yayoi and Miyuki… As well as the two of us, of course, we ought to have a voice. She can ignore us both, but she can't ignore so many. Especially not once we've returned from Morgenluft having done the Red Rose a great favor. I feel like preventing the Bad End Emperor from coming back and starting a reign of terror ought to give us all some bargaining power."

"Aren't you just asking those girls to help you indulge in your curiosity?"

"It's not mere curiosity," Honoka was serious. "It is a very dire thing for our Rosehearted to be hiding so much from us. I don't even believe Mirage is doing anything evil, I think she just wants to present herself as being in the right, as she always did in Verone. But it does make it hard to trust her. She has to see that. We'll make her see that."

"And then you say I'm stubborn."

"I never say that," Honoka's hand cupped Nagisa's cheek. Nagisa returned her doubting stare. "Do I? Ah, well, I love your stubbornness, ergo you ought to see it as high praise. Everything I say about you I mean as praise, really, even the things you think reflect poorly on yourself."

"I'd find you way more romantic if you didn't use with me the same words you use on your theses."

"Oh," she blushed. Nagisa loved that. "Are you… Displeased? I suppose I can make an accommodation for you," she said, and smiled shortly before her lips were on Nagisa's, and all the cold surrounding them disappeared in a lengthy kiss. When they were done, Honoka looked quite serious. "Was this an improvement?"

"Yes," Nagisa didn't have anything quippy to say. She just remembered the darkened skies, and thought of the other Precure, who were now fighting. We should be fighting too. "I'd be really disappointed if we lose and this turns out to be our last kiss. A terrible place for that."

"Don't be morbid. I don't like it when you do that. Look at me, not at the cursed skies. I'm certain my face is a more appealing sight."

Nagisa could not possibly disagree there. She had seen enough horror and sorrow in the past months to last a lifetime, and this night had made her reconsider everything she thought she knew about the dark magics. She doubted the terrors would come to an end anytime soon, though. The Trump Kingdom and Märchenland were only two of the realms lost alongside the stars. She had learned from Nozomi and Reika what became of the fairy kingdoms under the yoke of Nightmare, and had seen in person the ruin that had befallen the once-proud Blue Sky Kingdom when she and the refugees of Verone landed on its haunted shores. They could win here, they could triumph and taste victory for once, but even if Märchenland was saved, there were still other battles ahead. Nagisa wondered what hers would be, now that she knew these younger Precure did not need guidance anymore.

A howling wind crept through the trees, bringing snow with it. Nagisa would grumble whenever they hit her face, drawing obnoxious laughter from Mepple (before she shoved his head on the snow so he'd learn to behave properly), but Kotoha never moved even as the snow clumped atop her bare leg. Nagisa had heard of fairies that could focus so strongly on their magic that they didn't react even while they were being killed; she always wondered who exactly was the sick person who first documented that. She understood how that was possible now that she looked at Kotoha, her eyes closed, lips moving but making no sound, silent incantations that fascinated Nagisa. The burden on Cure Felice seemed great, however, as the veins on her neck bulged and moved erratically. If Kotoha had not warned them in advance not to worry, this would be the point where Nagisa would start to feel concerned.

The snows that gathered at the branches of the skeletal trees would fall on the ground from time to time in heavy mounds, and whenever it did, Nagisa felt the sting of fear again. She could see little past her immediate surroundings, and the nearby lake was under a thick black fog, unnerving in its extension. Though here and there the swaying branches would creak, a sound that in the darkness was always difficult to locate, the night was eerily silent. Eerily? When she thought about it, Nagisa was not too sure whether it was the silence she should be fearing, or if it was the unknown noises she should dread. She chose to err on the side of caution by letting both disquiet her. She felt strangely warm as she looked around, anxious, ready for anything that could come attack them, and saw the black rain drip from the sky upon the lake, all around.

The white was gone, though. It had stopped snowing. At once she made mention of it to Honoka, who proposed only one explanation: those brothers of winter, their hearts offered to ice and snow, were gone. Nagisa felt her heart beat faster with relief and joy until she remembered that there was still Joker to deal with, his fiendish master and their enslaved Precure. Black didn't need White to tell her that, as the ink continued to fall and the blight remained upon the skies, their battle was not yet won.

"More good news, at least," said Honoka. "You were right, you truly were. They don't need our guidance as much as we thought they did. They're not children anymore. They might have been before the Death of the Stars, but I think they're turning into fine women, and fine Precure, of course."

"Reika had already showed us what she can do in our battle against Dune's forces," Nagisa reminded her. "We are in good hands indeed. Perhaps when we return to the Phoenix Tower we ought to make some use of our experience with something a little less… Hands-on."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Maybe I'll teach again. Train new Precure to help us get through the long nights ahead of us. We're a bit short-staffed at the moment, wouldn't you say?"

"We wouldn't have that problem if Mirage's cronies would get out of the Phoenix Tower for once. We'd need them to figure out that there are actually places to be other than glued to Mirage's behind, and-" She paused, and coughed. "Oh, dear, I don't know what came over me. I do agree with your plan, is what I mean."

"Right, right," she looked at Kotoha one more time, and saw her sit perfectly still, the ink falling on her face instead of snow, now. As a caution, Nagisa wiped it off, and to Felice it was as if nothing had happened. By the way, do you wonder if, maybe we-" Something was near. Nagisa shut up the second she realized, then tried to listen to the world around her. Suddenly every little noise seemed to be too loud, too inconvenient, so Nagisa could not tell what it was that filled her with fear. "Do you hear it?"

"I'm hearing a lot right now," Honoka said, "but I'm not sure what exactly you're talking about."

Cure Black came closer to the lake, to its darkened waters, passing by Kotoha on her way, drawing no reaction. The lake rippled as black paint fell on it, and the fog seemed to be drawing nearer to Nagisa, or perhaps it was Black who approached it. She heard something in the water.

"I think it's the rain," Honoka said. "Now that he snows ceased, this cursed rain seems to grow stronger."

"It's not rain", Black said between teeth. She looked deep into the water, stared at length upon its tainted surface, but the blight was too thick for her to see past it. It was like staring not at a lake but at a pool of oil. Was the lake like this when they arrived? Nagisa looked around, all over the park, and realized they were completely circled by the mist. "Kotoha," she called her, in vain, as Cure Felice dedicated her entire attention to her healing. Something was coming, Nagisa understood, but they wouldn't be able to count on Felice. Honoka grasped that as well, and her hand brushed up against Nagisa's as she stood by her side.

Nagisa had no doubt about it: something stirred in the lake, and its rippling was more than mere rainfall. Whatever it was, it was moving slowly, circling 'round the lake, patient. Honoka extended her hand, and let loose a line of light that cleared the fog, revealing the full extent of the pond, how it extended far into the gloom. Worst of all was that even there, in the distant, dark depths, there were traces of life as well - if whatever was there could truly be called living, that is.

The creatures that swarmed Morgenluft did not seem to be alive to Nagisa, only animated heaps of ink, but at the same time, they were not erratic nor random: there was reason to their movements, to where they struck and who they sought. They avoided the Precure, after all, for the most part. That was hardly relief: if the fight had come to them, Black and White would have gladly taken it, but instead the horror was spread out along the city, and the Precure roamed in desperate hopes of finding someone to help.

Something splashed along the water. Honoka recoiled at the sound, but Nagisa held her ground. White's hand was shaking, a feeling that pained Cure Black. She wished she could offer comfort but she too trembled with fear. It had been a while since they last fought on their own, without any help. Even Mana, in Trump, weak as she was, had been of greater assistance than expected. Their years in Verone had made them rather rusty, even if their knowledge and guidance was still prized enough to have them chosen to coordinate the offensive against Dune. Nothing like this, however. Nagisa had thought she'd no longer have to deal with this madness when she followed Honoka to Verone, but as she stared at the murky waters and the encroaching fog, all the fears from years ago crawled back into her heart. She held on tighter to Honoka and waited silently, sweating.

"N-Nagisa," Honoka said, then shivered. "There, in the fog…" She pointed, and Nagisa took only a brief glance at it, knowing it was at the water that she had to focus her attention on. But there were things in the fog, Honoka had the right of it. And they were coming.

Honoka let go of Nagisa's hand and stepped towards the fog, but Cure Black had little time to scan the environment as the lake burst sprays of ink high into the skies and towards the shore. Out of the tainted waters leapt a great horrendous beast, its body a black cluster of ink save for the jaws it showed proudly when it opened its mouth: in stark contrast to the rest of the monster, its teeth were a dirty white, like sharp stones. In the air, throwing itself out of the water, the monster seemed almost a shark, its body huge and connected directly to its head and dreadful fangs, but it had limbs, Black noticed, short thick limbs.

The first tried to take a bite out of her while still falling down on her, and Nagisa's fists smacked it back into waters whence it came, but then came others, some larger and more powerful, others smaller and agile, leaping out of the lake so quickly that Nagisa lost trace of them, melded into the shadows of the night. Behind, Honoka struggled with smaller aberrations, long-winged bats that came from the fog but that melted into a human form to strike Cure White.

The ones that came out of the pool of paint shifted as well on dry land, their bodies shrinking and limbs expanding, their frames slender and their motions graceful. They got up and ran towards Nagisa, fangs bared, and she realized then that these abominations were like a twisted and cruel parody of the kelpies of the Bad End Kingdom. Pierrot mocked his own followers. Nagisa felt only hatred for him in that moment.

On solid ground they were not too fast, but they had the numbers to overwhelm Nagisa. She fought them off, smashing her fists whenever they came at her, bringing down her feet on the dead grass with such force that the rumbling earth shook their inky bodies until they crumbled up into drops of paint, their teeth fallen to the ground.

Still they did not relent. Nagisa could defend herself well enough, but as she landed blow after blow, the disheartening silence save for her and Honoka's grunts and the splashing water made her turn to Kotoha, who stood in the same place as before, still serene. She shook Cure Felice's arm and called her name, but she remained unmoving, her and all the people she tried to save. From the water came another monster, bigger than the other, mouth lined with rows of sharpened teeth. It did not crash down towards Nagisa, but upon Kotoha. Nagisa stood between the two, and felt ink drip on her forehead as she held the creature high in the air, holding open its massive maw until her arms began to hurt.

Her feet smashed the rocks to pebbles and burst the beast's body into gooey chunks of blackness. Even detached they continued to move, crawling upon the grass in search of the other pieces. Only magic could destroy these, not any ordinary attacks, but Kotoha was too fixated on her magic and Honoka was distant, surrounded. The fear came again, stronger than ever before. She remembered a battle long ago where she left Honoka alone, only to find her swarmed by the Zakenna. Honoka almost didn't make it, and the sight of her disappearing, far from Nagisa's reach, was one she never forgot. One she remembered now.

"Honoka!" She screamed, if only to hear her voice in response. When White called her name, her voice pained, Nagisa's fear gave way to fierce determination. She stretched her hand towards White.

Honoka was just a little bit too far, and as she tried to reach Nagisa the dark claws of their enemies grasped at her, latching on to her skin and to her sleeves, dragging her away from Nagisa. Black, too, was swarmed and enveloped by the evils that came from the water, but still she forced herself to reach White, no matter how much it hurt or how her body was devoured by the living dusk. When she could see nothing and felt herself falling, the tips of her fingers touched Honoka's. It took her remaining strength to make one last push towards her lover, to take hold of her hand and to never let go. She felt strong again, because how could she be weak when Cures Black and White were together?

It all returned to mind at once, all the memories of their years of fighting, and most of all she remembered why she could fight for so long, despite the horrors and fearful sights they had known. She remembered that, each time, even when she thought her hopes were lost and that their luck had run out and the end had come to claim them, when their hands were locked together and they shared all of their warmth and all of their feelings, the fear and the pain stopped mattering entirely. Nagisa squeezed Honoka's hands, and the two screamed out in unison:

"Marble Screw!"

All the blackness that swallowed Black and White was torn to shreds like old rags ripped apart, and when the night sky was above them again, even the frail light of its scarce stars seemed blinding compared to the murkiness of being beneath a tide of ink. Their magic lit up the night in sparks of white that burned away all the paint they touched until they ceased to be. Now freed, Nagisa and Honoka guided their power first to the fog, clearing it and revealing their surroundings again, and then to the lake, where the tainted waters bubbled and steamed as the ink shrunk away from the shores, towards a single point in the center of the pond, until it disappeared entirely.

Neither of the two had to say anything afterwards: when they fought like this it was as if the distinction between them no longer mattered, their thoughts so attuned that they were one and the same. When at last they let go of each other, they fell on their knees upon the withered grass. It was always exhausting to perform this magic, and the separation felt, on the first moments, like some part of Nagisa's body was flayed and ripped off. It hurt, and yet, somehow, it felt good. Being able to be so close to Honoka, their souls almost joined, was one of the sweetest feelings she could think of.

"I didn't think we'd be able to do that again," said Honoka. She laughed, then tried to get up, but fell down again. It didn't seem to frustrate her at all. On her fours, she crawled closer to Nagisa, and rested her head on her. She breathed with difficulty, but grinned all the same. "It's been so long. For a second I feared we'd just die."

"Well, if I must go, I suppose there's no kinder way than to do so with you," she said, and Honoka slapped her, playfully, a weak hit on her cheek.

"I told you not to be morbid," she said, as if she hadn't been the one to bring up the topic! "I shouldn't have doubted us, even for a moment, even if only in thought. I guess I forgot what we're capable of."

"It's fine," said Nagisa. Right now that seemed like the least important thing in the whole world. Honoka, of course, was the only important thing. By their side, Mepple and Mipple held hands with tenderness as well, or, she presumed, as tenderly as a fairy can do something. These two were not exactly the portrait of grace. "I was afraid, too. But I think I understand now that I didn't fight despite my fear, but because of it. So as not to lose all that was dear to me."

"Is it really fear, then, or bravery?" Honoka asked. "I'll admit it's an arbitrary distinction, sometimes. I suppose the reason we don't admit to be afraid is that shame. The shame of being a coward," she scoffed. "I really don't regret that we stopped fighting for the Red Rose. It always unnerved me to see that our Rose's honor demanded fearlessness in the face of danger, as if nearly dying for the sake of the Precure was something to be praised. Yes, I certainly found it sweet and proper to bleed all over the white blankets of my bed next to all those other girls in the Rose's hospitals… I was more than happy to turn my back on all that."

"Are you certain you still feel the same way?" Nagisa caressed Honoka's head, fingers twirling her dark strands of hair. "You've seen Nozomi fight, her and the others. They bleed as we did, then, but they know what it means when they do so. They know that the price they pay for fighting is lesser than the toll would be if they did not."

"You may be right," said Honoka. She didn't always acknowledge that other people had a point, so it always meant a lot when she did so. She sighed. "I suppose that the unfairness of it all gets to me. Of course I know why we fight, but it doesn't make it any less painful to see those girls have to risk their lives, fighting for the sake of a world they're too young to know in its entirety. Can I tell you the truth?" Nagisa nodded. "I often lay on bed, awake in the blackest hours of the night, and I wonder if we are to blame, we who've been Precure for so long, entrusted by our Rose to keep our world safe. And we didn't. We closed our eyes to the signs, but now they seem so obvious when I think of them…"

"Don't think of them," Nagisa said. "You help no one by punishing yourself.

"I know, but I hate lying, most of all to myself. I always thought to myself that our Rose had endured everything. Rebellions and wars and crises and schisms. So I believed that it would continue to endure, and it would do so by its very nature. We knew our enemies were amassing their strength, but never presumed they would know to work together. Why would they? They won't ever win. They can't," she looked up at Nagisa. Her eyes were curiously calm. "I was really arrogant to not care. I figured all the Precure who were worried were just silly young girls, seeing horrors everywhere in their youthful blindness. The Red Rose always won. Along the way it seems that we forgot that we only won because we made an effort to. So I wonder… Was I right to come to Verone? I feel right. But maybe we should have continued to fight. Maybe I was wrong to fear for my life. Maybe-"

"Honoka," Nagisa gently covered Honoka's eyes with the palm of her hand. "Stop looking at the sky."

She bit her lip. For the longest time she was silent, but when she spoke her voice was only a whisper.

"Curious. I understand now why you and Reika succumbed to the curse. It is a sorrow that feeds you, makes you depend on it. It made me feel so enlightened to decry the state of the world and our Rose and all our follies," she sighed. "I'm thankful to have you with me to stop me from thinking too much. It… Is not always for the best."

"Are you implying I don't think enough?" She said, giggling. "If I don't, well, it's your fault for thinking and talking so much," when Honoka pouted, Nagisa lowered herself to give her a long kiss. That made her smile again.

The two stood there, together, close and warm and silent, and it was that the sight that greeted Kotoha when she opened her eyes again, at last, she and all the denizens of the Bad End Kingdom who, awakening, looked at their surroundings in fear and confusion. No trace remained of Pierrot's beasts that had come for them, and as Cure Felice lifted herself up, unaware of the danger she was into, Nagisa felt that it would be best not to mention a thing.

---

"Impressive," Reika heard Joker's voice before she even saw him. "So that little display of destruction is what a Precure is capable of when she fights with hatred?"

"I fought with love," Reika spoke to the fog that filled the room. "That you would see it as hatred is only proof of your weakness. What you saw was my love for Iona."

"I saw your eyes," he said. "I saw your satisfaction. I am a connoisseur of spite and cruelty, so when you stood before those two poor fools and delivered them to their well-deserved end, I saw in you a kindred spirit, if uncultivated. I am proud of having marked you my rival so long ago when we first fought, because thus far you've been nothing but interesting surprises, one after the other. You are not a bore like the rest of the Precure. I quite like you."

Reika scoffed, then looked around her, but saw nothing but fog, tenebrous and smothering. She didn't ease off her caution for a single second. Joker was a talker, a vile beast who loved the sound of his own voice, but what he loved even more was the fun he found in striking first against someone who was talking. But Reika knew him too well to fall for that.

"You know what small minds have in common?" Reika asked. "They project. They think that their flaws are common traits of humanity and not a personal failure. They think everyone has the same nasty thoughts they do, only hidden, so they act like they're not evil, only honest. Like they've uncovered some great truth, and understand others like no one else can. You're wrong, though. About everything. What you think you saw in my eyes is a complete fabrication, and you're only a fool for thinking that everyone is as rotten as you are."

"But I don't think that," the voice seemed to come from all points of the fog. "I know well enough that I am exceptionally rotten, thank you very much. I also know that I am right. I know that you enjoyed what you did. Oh, you're not a repentless bastard like me, so you won't laugh about it… But you won't cry either. And you can call it what you will. Say it's love. The name doesn't matter. It still felt good."

"You are remarkably calm about the demise of your own partners," Reika refused to continue the conversation on Joker's terms. "So unfazed."

"I was going to kill them anyway, when this was done," he shrugged. "So really, you spared me the effort. You might be on my side and not even know it yet!"

Reika threw an icicle against the fog. It disappeared there, and Joker only giggled.

"Please, we're both civilized here. I expected better manners from Reika Aoki, the portrait of fine demeanor. All the same, the Brothers of Winter only served a single purpose: cutting off Morgenluft, and yes, all of Märchenland from the rest of the world. I needed some more time, and they bought plenty, though not as much as I'd like. They knew how little they mattered, of course. Living legends, the two of them, but legends for a reason. The truly great powers endure, they don't become stories."

"I don't believe that was their single purpose."

"Oh, well, perhaps I was entertained by the notion of pitting you against them. You can't fault me for that, can you? It certainly was a thrilling sight, one that surprised me, to be frank. I expected you to lose. They are winter, you are a squall. But I know when to admit I was wrong, and I was oh so wrong, Cure Beauty. Your heart's a chunk of ice, and it seems that even legends have to bow to the power of the Precure. You are Cure Winter come again, if only you had the courage to admit it, to admit your heart's desire."

"What is my heart's desire, then?" She knew she shouldn't ask, but did so anyway. Fool! Joker licked his lips, those hideous, worm-like things.

"To protect what is important to you, to put aside all that isn't, and to destroy those who harmed your friends. Not yourself, of course, you don't care about the pain. You are not selfish, never. But you'd like to see everyone who hurt your friends buried under a mountain of snow. And you despise the injustice you've seen. You hate that those people haven't been punished, they've been allowed to break the world with impunity. You've seen what the Bad End Kingdom wants to do. We don't want to break anything. Not permanently, that is, we break for a purpose."

"I very much doubt you share the desires of the Bad End Kingdom."

"Why not? I do have aspirations, and I understand that it's difficult to make changes upon an ancient tower that reaches the skies, but if you tear it apart you can start anew. That is the purpose of breaking things. Now you understand me a little bit better. Help me understand you, Cure Beauty. I don't want to fight you. I very much think you could beat me, in fact. But of course, if you do, then you can't have the power I'd offer you."

"I don't need it," she said. "I saw what became of Miyuki and Yayoi," she thought of them inside that bubble, raging like beasts. She could never be like that. "I heard of all the people Miyuki trapped inside the Book of Tales."

"And what a tale she had for them! It was kind of her to leave them there, really. It's safer in there than out here in the big bad evil world. Well, was safer is more likely. Your green-haired friend saw to it."

"What happened to the people inside?" That was Reika's first worry. When she saw that the question brought Joker glee, she figured something was wrong.

"They will return to their bodies, which are imprisoned… Somewhere. I know where. I could tell you, but I only share my juicy secrets with my good friends. Perhaps we could enjoy each other's company over some hot tea and I'll tell you where your family is, hm?"

Reika froze, and nearly let go of her sword. The fog seemed to come closer, but she made no effort to defend herself from it.

"What?" She hoped she misunderstood, but when had Joker ever concealed a horrible truth? "What do you mean?"

"I mean your sweet friend Miyuki was kind enough to understand that our wars were not yet over and that her family - and the families of her beloved friends - would be at utmost peril. So she hid them away within the Book of Tales, your mother and father and your valorous brother and wise grandpa. Don't worry, they're safe… I think."

Reika didn't answer him. She felt, again, the same thing she felt when she saw Iona wounded at her feet. She felt the cold around her, and saw the mist give way to wintry winds. When the two cleared, she saw a great orb of darkness with spikes all over. Pierrot's shell. In front of it stood Joker, and he seemed to small in comparison, but no less vicious.

"There it is again," Joker said. "You are truly powerful when you let yourself feel these baser feelings, and truly beautiful. You've set yourself firmly in your path of reason and calm, but you are denying yourself. Denying your love and denying your hatred. I want you to admit it. I can help you."

"I don't want you to help. There is only one thing I want from you."

"Fine," he said, almost sad, almost disappointed, but, as always, Reika had a hard time telling how he truly felt, if he felt anything at all.

The floor was layered with frost beneath Reika's foot, and she walked upon the ice with ease. She felt around her the kiss of cold gales, but they were under her command. Joker, straight ahead, stood still, waiting, shifting his rapier from one hand to another, unblinking as Reika approached. She could not tell what he could be thinking as his dark eyes concealed whatever he felt. Reika took a deep breath.

She lunged at him, feeling the cold of her swords in each hand. She struck him with her left hand, but Joker made no attempt at parrying, and when her blade cut through him his body melted into ink. Before she even turned back, Reika blocked an attack from behind with her free hand, and her sword clashed against Joker's. As she turned, she slashed in a downward motion and dropped to the floor, her leg sweeping to kick Joker and bring him down as well, but he leaped away and stabbed at Reika from above. She caught the sword with her own hands, coating her fingers in a thick layer of ice. Beauty held on with all her strength, preventing her foe from moving until he let go of his weapon and stepped away, moving so swiftly that it was as if he slid upon the ice with grace.

Reika rose, eyes focused upon Joker. She heard nothing but her own breathing and, less frequently, a hideous pulsating sound. Pierrot. She could see his darkness on a corner of her eye, but it was Joker she had to worry about. He reached into his own sleeve and from there he pulled a sword and tossed it against Beauty. She avoided it with ease, leaning to her side, but it did not collapse to the floor, instead hanging upon the air, turning until its tip pointed towards Reika. It cut through the air with a will of its own, and when Beauty stepped aside to dodge its thrust again, Joker rushed to take hold of it and swing at her; immediately she summoned an ice blade to defend herself.

Joker smiled while their swords were locked together. He took some steps back before lunging again, slashing wildly. Reika found herself remembering Makoto's advice. Everyone has a song. Joker's was dissonant, though, a mad cacophony of screaming steel, and Reika could make no sense of it. She could not predict her opponent's strikes, only react to them. As she parried his swings, Beauty saw them become even faster and wilder, and she understood she'd not withstand the onslaught for long, and walked back to put some space between the two of them.

"Beauty Blizzard," she whispered to the snows, and they heard her call, whirling furiously and enveloping Joker. Reika's hands gestured a slow whirl, and the storm circled Joker, crystals of ice hitting him, piercing his body, splattering ink on the frozen floor. When the blizzard ceased, Joker was kneeling upon the snow.

"I know you listened to those poor dead fools," he said, laughing, coughing up ink, "when they told you that there is so much power for you to command. They did not lie to you. You are exceptional. You studied your magic more diligently than most other Precure, and look how far it got you. But there is more to learn than you know. Secrets once hidden that you can easily uncover. Lift the veil from those old powers. The frosts of the Heart of Winter bow before you, its first masters vanquished by your hand, cowering at your feet. Winter would serve you."

"If you think power will tempt me, you know much less of me than you boldly presume to."

"Not power," he said, "power is only a tool to use as you will. The things you can do with it, that's what I'd like you to consider. You can save your friends, never have to leave them again or abandon them to all manner of evils. You need only reach for this power and it'll be yours. You're smart. Smarter than I am, at least. It won't even be a curse to you."

"To never leave my friends…" She said, gripping her blade tighter still, until it hurt. "You're right. I do want to keep the ones I love safe. You fail to understand, however, just how much love I have. If, to save Akane on your terms, I must leave Komachi behind, or Honoka, Nagisa… I you ask me to turn my back on Makoto, who'd die for me, or to abandon Iona and Nozomi, for whom my heart beats so strongly… Then no. Then I'd rather die."

"You will, then," he said, and ran towards Reika, drawing another long, thin blade.

The ice cracked beneath her, and swords sprung from the floor, seeking Reika. She sculpted walls of ice to block them, though their edges were sharp enough to cut through them, before getting stuck by the cross-guard. Joker charged between the gaps on the walls, giving little space for Reika to move and parry. His blade poked her on the chest, but only cut slightly past the skin before she kicked Joker in the stomach and pummeled him against the wall. Her blood dripped on the frozen floor.

She stabbed at him with all her force, icy sword pointing at his heart, but a dozen blades sprung from his sleeves to parry the blow and drive Reika back. Joker took one of them as it floated, and charged again. Reika repelled him, and went on the offensive, but each time one struck, the other defended perfectly. Neither gave the other any ground, their swords crashing again and again, striking with such force that they'd shatter and break.

When it became clear that neither could break the stalemate, the two stepped backwards, putting space between one another. Reika didn't want to give Joker any space or breathing room, but she had to change her approach as well. She threw her swords on the floor, and motioned to the blizzards until the snows gathered at her fingertips. She made a bow with the ice, and a long shard was her arrow. She readied herself, keeping Joker on her sight.

"Beauty Blizzard Arrow!"

She let loose her rage and nearly fell from the recoil as her arrow burst through the air with a deafening scream. She followed in its path, running across the room, calling forth new blades, figuring that if Joker defended himself from her arrow, he'd be helpless before her swords. Reika watched the arrow fly towards him as he stood right in front of Pierrot's egg, and she almost thought her bolt would hit him.

Instead he simply caught the arrow with his hand, though half of it exploded into chunks of ink, leaving him with only stumps of his fingers. He threw Reika's own arrow against her, almost a javelin now, and pulled long pieces of cloth from his sleeve, tossing them on Reika's direction. The arrow she destroyed with her swords easily enough, but the cloth wrapped itself around her body, constraining her, trying to bring her down. She was close to Joker when the ties tightened at her ankles and she fell down: clumsily she swung at Joker as she collapsed, but he made a mockery of her attempts by turning his body to ink.

But she had learned enough of deceit after fighting him for so long.

"Beauty Blizzard!" She screamed as she fell, her body crashing against the ice. Her tempest followed her voice and covered Joker as his body was regaining its shape, his torso flesh and bone but his lower body still ink-like.

The ice clutched his legs, and kept him pinned there, unable to move and unable to make flesh out of his ink. He struggled to free himself, but had no way out. He reached out to Reika, who kept enough distance from him. At first he looked impressive, but soon his eyes grew sad.

"Is this it?" He asked. "This is how our struggle ends? In an empty room, made huge by dark magic, where no one can see us? I always expected something better, Cure Beauty. A clock tower confrontation. There's one nearby, we should go there. Do it right."

She touched his throat with the tip of her sword.

"I'm done with jokes."

"I'm not," he said. "It's in the name. In my nature. Unlike a certain inflexibly righteous Precure, I stay true to my nature."

"When your nature is so abhorrent, that is not an admirable thing."

"You judge me too much. You judge everyone too much, even yourself, I'd wager. But, pray tell… When you sent your friends away, did you do it to be alone with me?" Reika didn't answer. "Cure Sword is a better fighter than you are. You know it, I know it. I could beat her in an unfair fight, but one on one? She'd cut me in half before I could do anything. You know it too. So why did you come?"

"Because I'm the one who has to defeat you."

"Please," he spoke with disgust, "I know you're not nearly as dramatic as me. Because you're the one supposed to beat me? Spare me of that. You came because you wanted to hear what I have to say and what I have to offer, and you wanted to be alone. I get it, really I do. It would've been shameful for Cure Beauty to accept the dark gifts of the Bad End Kingdom, but if you were not seen doing it…"

"You presume too much," she pressed the sword against Joker's throat. He looked utterly unthreatened.

"If you were going to kill me, you'd have done it. If you were going to destroy Pierrot, you wouldn't be talking to me. But here you are, talking to me. You know well enough what it means. You know you are tempted.

Reika didn't say anything. He is right, she thought. He understood what she was thinking, she had no doubt about it. She felt ashamed for even having the thought, but as she stared at him, heard his words, his promises, she thought of Akane, and she thought of Nao.

"No," she said, but even she was unconvinced by her own words. "I won't. I'll never accept your offer, never…"

"Alright," Joker said. "Admirable. Stupid, but admirable, and I guess that's all you care about, what with your foolish honor. I think your virtue deserves a reward. Thrice you've denied me. Once in the Book of Tales when I voiced my offer through Cure Happy, and twice in this very room. So I'll give you three answers. That's a fine reward, don't you think? Ask me three questions, and I'll answer."

"Not honestly," she said. He didn't deny it at all.

"I could tell you I'll answer honestly, but you'd be right to doubt me. I can promise you only one thing, though: some truths are so horrible that I'd share them with you without a second thought, because they'd hurt you far more than any lie ever would."

Reika paused to consider her options. She should not ask anything. She knew it was wrong of her to even wonder if she should, and yet she found herself curious. She couldn't deny it anymore. She wanted the power to save Akane. But first there were other things she wished to know. Her first question she asked on impulse, before she could really think about it:

"Can Miyuki and Yayoi be returned to normal?"

"Yes."

Joker said no more than that, and only grinned. Reika felt the urge to punch him in the face, crush that smug smile of his, but most of all she wanted to punch herself. Idiot! If you're going to indulge him don't be stupid about it!

"You used the Dream Collet to snuff out the stars," she said. "I know one of you took it from Princess Himelda of the Blue Sky Kingdom, when you all worked together to strike against us. I want to know who did it. I want to know who was responsible for taking the Dream Collet and organizing the attack on the Precure, on the world."

"Please word that as a question."

Reika just about snapped at him right then and there, his chest so unprotected, so close to her blade. As far as she knew that might have been the wisest choice. And yet she wanted to know, and didn't even care about what might be truth or lie. She thought she was smart enough to tell, and deep in her heart she also had the growing feeling that she was smart enough to turn Joker's gifts against him, if she so desired, to not end like Happy and Peace. I should not think this, she told herself, but by then she could think of little else.

"Who took the Dream Collet and led the enemies of the Red Rose against the Precure?"

"That's two questions, really, but the answer is the same so I'll allow it, in my kindness. The Dream Collet was taken to Lady Despariah of Nightmare, and she, more than anyone else, made the preparations for our decisive strike. I didn't have a place at the table, though, when discussing strategy. Nightmare, Eternal, Dark Fall and the Selfish Kingdom saw us as mere upstarts. Footsoldiers, really."

"So your word only goes so far."

"I'm afraid so," he said. He must have felt pretty satisfied that the question was essentially wasted, but to Reika it seemed like valuable information. She wondered what Despariah had to gain by taking the initiative like this, when no one else had before. "And your last question?"

Reika pondered for what she felt was a painfully long time, but the blizzard had barely shifted around her. There were so many things she could ask. How to save Miyuki and Peace. Where her family was kept, hers and her friends'. She could ask something that would help the Precure turn back the tide, information could very well be power…

But Reika knew that there was only way she could have what she truly wanted. She could deny it no longer. She would deny it no longer. Forgive me, she thought, but to whom did she say those words? To herself, perhaps. She closed her eyes and breathed in the cold air until it hurt her lungs. Then she stared into the void of Joker's eyes.

"How do I gain the power you promise?" She asked. Joker didn't even bother concealing his joy. He grinned like a child that finally got what he wanted.

"I'm glad, truly, that you'll stop denying your nature and your desires. The path of self-flagellation and denial might be full of honor but it lacks joy and triumph. Miyuki and Yayoi understood it. They understood that if it kept their loved ones safe, it could not be evil. They understood it was no cowardice, that the price was not too great. That good or evil depended only on them, and that lesser evils can be the path to greater goods. You understand that too, don't you?"

Reika nodded. He was wrong, of course. The one thing she understood was that she was stronger than he was, and smarter. She would not allow him to control her. This is the only reason I'm doing this. Because I'll keep it under control. He was right, after all. It depended only on her.

"Your hand," Joker said. "Give it to me."

Reika did as was bid of her. Joker produced a dagger and cut open his own palm, then gently he held Reika's hand.

"You must cut your own palm. We will mix our blood together, and thus I'll share power with you. Only some, but I'm willing to teach you magic eventually. You'll find, however, that even a drop of the cursed ink that is Pierrot's gift to his servants will make you powerful."

"And under his control," Reika said. Joker looked offended.

"To put it plainly, the magics we have mastered are corruption, not mind control. That is not a power we have. Perhaps our curses can induce sorrow, but to take hold of a person's mind?" He shook his head. "If we could do that, you can take my word for it that I wouldn't need to ask your permission, nor would it need a pact like this. If it's any comfort, the power doesn't really connect you in any way to myself or to Pierrot. You won't need us, so once we're finished, you can go your own way."

This could be the truth, just as it could be a lie, but Reika recalled that in her studies she learned that only the god Blue had this sort of power, and as such it was taboo for the Precure to learn anything of the sort. Pierrot was powerful, but he was certainly not a god.

"How did you take hold of Happy and Peace, then?"

"Mostly with promises, not with magic," Joker said. "I swore that if they helped me bring back Pierrot, I'd help them save their dear Akane. I didn't lie. I did need their help to return my master to life, so I was willing to help them afterward. With Pierrot's power, it would have been easy. So Miyuki cooperated, and Yayoi too, though far less than her Wordsmith friend did, of course. But you might be asking what made them so cruel and violent?" Reika nodded. "The blood I'll share with you will make you forget all but your great goal of saving your friends. Whenever Miyuki had any doubts, all she had to do was taste of her own black blood and all her fears would fade. She would remember why she paid Pierrot's price, and why she had to keep going. Her inhibitions were gone, but not her will. She was still herself, only single-minded. She was weak. That's the truth. Too weak to carry on and save her beloved Sunny, so she had to do it. You can be better than that, though. If you are, then you'll have no need for such tricks. But if you're weak, then yes. It will consume you."

"I am not weak," she said. "I am only doing this to save Akane and Nao, to restore Yayoi and Miyuki to what they were. I'll pay your price but I won't succumb."

She took Joker's dagger and slashed across her own palm. She took his hand, let the red mix with the black. She felt something enter through her wound, something cold. She saw her veins darken and felt her heart drum a furious beat. But when Joker let go of her hand and she saw that the wound was not crimson but pure black, she didn't feel at all different.

"You are far more graceful about it than Miyuki and Yayoi were, I'll tell you that. They struggled, but you accepted it coldly. Now I need only for you to release me and await for my master's return. You'll help us ensure our control of Märchenland, and when all is done, we'll be more than happy to take our revenge on the Selfish Kingdom and its little princess."

"And save Akane."

"Of course. We are on the same side now, but our reasons are a bit different. Still, you've done it. You finally admitted that you are willing to go to any lengths to save your friend. I'm glad you stopped lying to yourself."

"I'm glad too."

She shoved her sword into his chest. His dark eyes widened, and his mouth was left agape.

"You were right," Reika said, whispering into his ear. "It feels good to use my power to destroy those who've hurt the ones I love. You've hurt Miyuki and Yayoi, and you've broken my home."

"So," he said, spitting his cursed blood, "I knew you had it in you to do this. You never disappoint."

Reika twisted the blade and pulled it out. The ink covered it entirely, so she threw it away. Joker didn't move after that, but to be certain, Reika encased him in ice. It seemed easier to do so than usual, the frost obeying her mere thought with little struggle. Reika turned to Pierrot, then. There was only one thing left to do now.

She put her pale hands upon the great darkness that was Pierrot's shell. It seemed to repel all light, unnaturally so, and it didn't even cast a shadow. When she touched it, Reika felt something inside. She felt the hatred enclosed there, all the evil that threatened Morgenluft. But most of all she felt the cold around her.

Frost sprung from her fingertips and spread across the spiky surface of Pierrot's egg. It was a thin layer at first, barely enough to see, but Reika let loose all of her power and the hatred she felt for this monster who destroyed her city, and soon the entire thing was buried beneath thick ice, a great prison jagged with icicles. Reika commanded the spears to reach inwards, then, towards Pierrot. She could hear him scream words that she did not understand, but she didn't pay it any mind. The ice consumed everything, until it began to shatter and crack.

With Pierrot gone, so did his curse come to an end. Reika could see the walls again, and the ceiling, coming closer as the throne room returned to its original state. The sky would be restored, too, and soon. She looked at her own hand, and still it bled the ink that Joker had shared with her. He hadn't lied, then: she really didn't need Joker or Pierrot to retain these powers. Still, something felt wrong.

The ice continued to grow around her, and what once was Pierrot, now a great chunk of ice, still stood there, too big for the room. Reika could not control it, could not stop the blizzard. The frost rose like spires, piercing through the windows, the walls, the ceiling, and when Pierrot's remains at last shattered into a storm of ice crystals, it already burst through the roofs of Fabelpfalz, raining down debris upon the frozen floor.

When the sky appeared above her, Reika saw that the sun was rising again, at last. Tired, she sat down, not caring that she rested on frost and snow, and she was Reika Aoki again, not Cure Beauty. All around her the palace was smashed, and white winds blew across the empty halls. She sat there alone, and watched the devastation. She thought she had grown numb, unfeeling, until the blizzard caressed her cheeks. Her black blood drip-dropped, the only sound to break the silence. Reika allowed winter to veil her as she told herself that everything was fine. It was over now.