From Univer Kingdom, the Headmistress looked out past her window gravely as she watched the distant buildings in Univer City crumble to the ground. Her eyes were wide and she could feel her heart sink within her as the buildings continue to collapse before her eyes. But, it wasn't only the buildings falling apart that was driving the Headmistress mad as she looked outside. The sky had been dyed black and the clouds were thick and grey, smoldering and looking ready to initiate a thunderstorm. Her worst nightmares had finally become a reality; watching the demise of her beloved Kingdom was more than enough for her to burst into tears right now. But, she told herself that she needed to remain calm, after all, if this was happening that must've meant the Pretty Cure were fighting to save the book at this very moment. But she had to try and do something, anything, to prevent fatal damage to the Kingdom.
Just then, she heard someone scream at the top of their lungs while she looked out the window. Alarmed and alert now, she saw a young girl who she didn't recognize stand with her back against a tree, a whirlwind coming near to her.
In that instant, she dashed towards the doors of the palace but just before she was able to leave, the Old King boomed,
"Atarah, there's no way you're going out there!"
"I have to!" The headmistress yelled back to him.
The old king then shouted back, "Atarah, you get back here right this instant or I'll-!" before the Headmistress ran out the door and slammed the door shut.
"-Going to ground you..." The old king trailed off, looking quite upset as he looked at the empty space by the door where the Headmistress was a few moments ago.
"You can't ground a grown woman sir." One of the nobles commented sheepishly.
The Headmistress ran across the field, the whirlwind getting closer to the young girl who gripped her ankle tightly as if it were in pain. When the Headmistress appeared before the whirlwind however, it vanished immediately, as if it was never there and the young girl looked towards the Headmistress in admiration.
"You vanquished the whirlwind!" She rejoiced.
The Headmistress was at a loss of words as she tried to comprehend what just happened. She should've been torn to pieces right now, considering how close she was but, instead she was intact and standing before a now thankful young girl.
"Um, you need to get inside." The Headmistress insisted as she helped the girl up to her feet quickly in fear of being unable to retreat back to the palace with the Kingdom like this.
"Do you think you could get these bandages around my ankle? I wouldn't want to make this any worse." The young girl stated as she handed the Headmistress a long tensor bandage that had originally been wrapped around her arm. The Headmistress nodded and took the bandages from the girl, going on her knees to wrap the bandage around her ankle. But, before she could even tie the bandage around her ankle, the bandage snapped around her and transformed into a dark fuchsia band around the Headmistress' hands.
"Hook, line and sinker." The young girl sneered as she stood up with absolutely no difficulty, glowering down to the Headmistress who was now desperately trying to break the band that encircled around her wrists. The Headmistress was relentless as she fought with the band, not wanting to make eye contact with the young girl again, feeling absolutely foolish as she heard the old king shout for her as he ran out of the castle towards the two of them. The young girl placed her hand under the Headmistress' chin and forced her to look her dead in the eyes.
"Think the book's going to save you now?" The girl questioned with a smirk.
"I won't let you get away with this." The Headmistress hissed as continued to try and break the band off.
"We have absolutely everything we need. You may as well say we've already gotten away with this." The girl responded," Now..."
The girl and the Headmistress vanished just as the Old King caught up to them. He panted as he looked to the grass, shaking his head in denial.
"I'm the only one left now..."
"This isn't really the school is it?" Science asked as the four of them walked through the dark castle. Up until then, the group had been deathly quiet ever since walking into the castle. Everyone was thinking the same as Science; this place, it felt nothing like the school and it was near impossible for the girls to grasp the fact that right now, their school had been turned into this place and all their friends and family had been separated from their Inner Scholars. But, despite the fact that this place was seething this ominous, unwelcoming, energy, it was still the school the place where they had learned things about both themselves and other things with people that they called their classmates and they needed to be saved, along with everyone else, by any means necessary.
"I hope everyone evacuated out in time..." History stated nervously as they walked deeper into the school.
"Funny, I don't remember the main hall being this long." Arithmetic chuckled in a mildly uneasy voice as she watched alongside the rest of her group in hopes of lightening the mood. With no avail, she proceeded to walk quietly along.
Literature looked around the castle, inspecting it for any other halls to walk into as they were currently only walking down this single rather long hall. It seemed never ending and it was rather dim in here. As they all kept on walking through this long, seemingly endless hall, Literature was growing impatient and anxious as the hall was beginning to appear to leading them nowhere. Was this what they had been working so hard for towards over the last couple of months? Just to walk around in some dark hallway?
"Gosh, I hope we find a way out of here." Literature declared as she kept on walking. Soon, she found the hall to grow even more quieter without hearing a single comment from any of the girls in a while. Literature turned around to see if the rest of her team was still behind her, but none of them were there. Not even the path they came from was there. It had become a dead end and when Literature spun around again, she found herself inside a classroom in the school she had only been in once.
The classroom was full of first-year students, kids she couldn't recognize, who were currently taking down notes from a white board. The teacher standing at the front of the white board, smearing her notes slightly as she wrote, looked an awful lot like Renge. Literature soon realized that she was invisible to the class and continued to watch the lesson go on.
"Now, class, I'm now going to draw names for your group projects." The teacher declared, her voice not sounding too different from Renge's too; perhaps just a little more matured.
"What's happening...what's going on?" Literature questioned, knowing that no one in the class would likely answer her as she took a cautious step back.
"We're inside the ideal future that you've constructed for yourself from your new dream." A voice said to her. They sounded a little bit like Jika except much more robotic in tone.
"So then, that really is me." Literature affirmed to herself as she watched the teacher draw names from a tin can," This is what my future is going to look like?"
"I can't say, but is it certainly a possibility. There are many possibilities and outcomes for your future. This is just one that you've created for yourself. One that was built in consideration of your comfort zone." The voice explained.
Literature continued to watch the class and her 'future' self teach, soon taking notice of how there was this abject look in her eye. Literature looked at her, registering that look in her eye as regret as she continued to teach.
"My comfort zone huh?" Literature repeated, feeling a little disappointed now as she crossed her arms, holding back on a sigh.
"Yes, the future you think is most reachable without going through things like rejection and failure. The future where you don't get what you really wanted but rather, what you've settled for. However, we aren't just going to view the future you've dreamt of from a logistic standpoint. We're going to go beyond your realistic surface." The voice claimed as the environment around them began to change again. Literature watched apprehensively as the classroom turned into a press room, where an older Renge was standing in the center of a crowd of reporters.
"Miss Kotori, can you disclose to us who's going to be cast as main character Nanako Honda in the movie for your novel Restless and Loveless?" One reporter questioned as he held a microphone up to 'future' Renge.
"I'm not allowed to reveal any information regarding the cast until next month." She debriefed," And I don't even plan on being the one to reveal the cast. If you want those details, you'll need to confer with Ms Sakurami."
"You want fame and fortune. And you want it badly." The voice stated to her candidly as Literature continued to look at her 'future self' get swarmed by even more reporters. This older version of Renge seemed to be very happy with her life, soaking up all this attention as if she were an untouched sponge. She seemed a lot different from present Renge, speaking loudly over the crowd of reporters in a rather condescending, near cocky voice as she dropped a few hints regarding the cast for her novel's movie. She was talkative and enthusiastic, the crowd of reporters simply loved her. As Literature continued to watch her 'future self' she seemed a little unimpressed if anything, her gaze shifting to the parking lot where her future self and the reporters were in front of.
"What's this? Not interested?" The voice inquired suspiciously as Literature looked into the distance with an impatient look on her face as she unconsciously started tapping her feet against the pavement.
"Not really, no. Just point me towards Temptasia and the rest of my team. I'm on a mission you know!" Literature demanded as she stomped her foot, looking up towards the sky having nowhere else to direct her command to.
"Fair enough. For every reality we do want, there's always a reality we don't want to balance things out. Correct?" The voice asked her.
"I guess." Literature exasperated as she ran her hands through her bangs.
"Well, let's take you to the reality that you do want to be in." The voice declared, the atmosphere around them transforming again.
"No thanks, I'd rather you just take me to Temptasia already-!" Before Literature could even finish her sentence, she found herself falling in what had now became a dark void. Literature started screaming and demanded that the voice put an end to this but, a few moments later, she found herself sitting underneath her favourite tree in the school's yard.
She double-blinked having no idea what had just happened and looked around, finding herself at the school as if it had never been touched by Temptation. It was warm and sunny here, but Literature wasn't getting too hot with the tree providing her some shade. Not a cloud in the sky and the sound of students chatting away filled her ears. Along with the sound of some guys running around tossing a football at each other.
It was really peaceful here and it brought Literature at ease as she watched students from her grade and from second-year just take advantage of this nice day. It must've been lunch time with everyone outside right now. Another thing that hinted it being lunch-time was the lunch-boxes in front of everyone sitting outside in groups that were shaped into circles.
"Renge!" She could hear what sounded like Kanari call for her," Renge~!"
When Kanari did find her behind the tree, she greeted her, lunch box in hand, with a giant grin as she sat down beside her. Untransfomed, Renge wasn't sure of what to say as Kanari sat down, proceeding to open her lunch box.
"Do you know if Chiyo's still having lunch with us today? I tried texting her but I never got a reply back." Kanari asked before she sunk her teeth into her sandwich. Renge opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Kanari continued to eat her sandwich before she took notice of the overwhelmed expression on Renge's face.
"You feeling ok?" Kanari asked as she narrowed her eyes at Literature," Here have a granola bar. Wait, where's your lunch?"
"Um, I must've just...left it in the classroom. I'll just go get it right now." Renge declared shakily as she stood up, knees wobbling a little as she started walking towards the school. Renge started breathing heavily as she walked closer and closer towards the school, wondering what would happen if she tried going into it. Would the school just melt before her as she would start falling into that void again? Or perhaps, she wouldn't be able to enter the school and would find herself entering the school yard again. Or worse, she get stuck trying to walk through that stupid endless hall again for what would feel like an eternity. So much was possible and now, it was time to find out just what would happen when she tried opening that door.
She tugged on the door's handles and to her surprise, the door was locked. She tugged on it even harder and just then, a boy from second year pushed it open for her as he walked out.
"Sucks that these doors are getting closed during lunch hour now, huh?" He chuckled to her. Renge nodded a single nod and walked into the school with great caution. Many students that she walked past were from her grade and quite and few of them smiled to her as they exchanged brief greetings. Renge smiled back to them and felt her heart beginning to throb as she made her way to her classroom. She looked through the door's glass window, seeing no one except a few others kids from class. She stared at her bag sitting beside her desk for a few very long moments before she opened it, seeing her lunch-box sitting inside of it. She pulled out the lunch-box with haste and zipped out from the classroom.
When she stepped out of the classroom, she saw Shinko talking with one of her classmates before she turned her attention to Renge.
"Hey Renge! I'm not going to be at club today, I've got a doctor's appointment. Do you think you could tell the teacher for me?" Shinko requested.
"Um, yeah sure." Renge responded as Shinko and her friend started to walk in the opposite direction.
"You're the best!" Shinko beamed with a wave.
Renge waved back to her, eyes wide as she looked around the school. It felt normal, but Renge knew deep down this was definitely too good to be true since this place couldn't have been real. She shook her head and decided that she was going to find a way out. But then, someone put their hands over her eyes.
"Guess who." The voice said with a slight smirk.
Renge reddened as her she placed her hands on the pair of hands over her eyes. They were broad, yet slim with a somewhat delicate feel to them. Slowly, she removed the pair of hands away from her eyes and turned around, finding Nao standing in front of her.
Nao was smiling at her and held her hands as she reddened even more, resembling a tomato as she looked at Nao in shock.
"How are you...?" Renge trailed off as she slowly took her hands out of Nao's grasp.
"Are we still having lunch with your friends?" Nao asked as the two of them began walking towards the school exit. Renge nodded a single nod and Nao laced his fingers into Renge's as they neared towards the exit. Renge could feel the mildly jealous stares from others burn into her as they continued to walk, secretly enjoying their discontent as they reached the exit. But, Renge still had her suspicions, so she kept a very close eye on Nao as they walked out.
When they were back outside, the sun was just as bright and Renge stretched her arms as she basked in it's warmth. Nao giggled and the two walked over to the tree where she had left Kanari. At the tree, Kanari was now sitting with Chiyo, Yugure, Kokoro, Shizuka and Ayano in a little circle.
"Took you long enough." Kanari snickered as the group made room for the two of them in their circle. Literature and Nao sat down in the circle and Renge looked at the group. They seemed to really be enjoying today as Chiyo, Kokoro and Yugure were talking about their clubs while Shizuka was braiding Ayano's hair. Literature exhaled a sigh in relaxation as the group lazed around.
Kanari sat up straight at the bleachers as she watched the group of girls before her do their stretching routine before they started practice. The one leading their stretching routine was Miki, though she seemed younger, as did the rest of the team.
As the team continued to stretch, Miki called out to Kanari," Kanari~! Are you just going to sit there or are you going to practice with us?" Kanari thought back to a few minutes ago, looking at her reflection through her phone inside her pocket. She looked like her middle-school self, before the goth look and of course before Pretty Cure. It appeared that this reflection in the mirror was how she was being perceived by everyone around her. She was at the school track, where the old cheerleading team used to practice and was currently watching the girls do their warm-up. Kanari's biggest priority was to leave and find the rest of the girls, but she couldn't stand to leave just yet as she watched the girls practice. It felt nostalgic and it made Kanari feel at home, so she chose to stay for a little longer than intended.
"So, what cheer are we going to start practicing Miki?" One of the girls asked her. Miki held one finger up to her indicating that she needed a moment and did a cartwheel to loosen herself up.
"Kanari, is everything alright?" Miki asked with concern as she walked up towards the bleachers.
Kanari's head shot up and she looked over to Miki saying," Yeah, I'm just fine. I'm gonna go get a drink of water, ok?"
Miki nodded in approval and Kanari hopped off from the bleachers and walked towards the school, being a little curious as to what would happen as she tried to enter it. As she walked towards school, she was halted by someone who grabbed her arm.
"Kanari, are you ok?" They asked. Kanari found herself standing face to face with a middle-school Renge who seemed to be quite worried about her. Kanari raised her eyebrows at the sight, since Renge hadn't transferred here until high-school. She was wearing the middle-school uniform for Seinori and just before she could ask another question, Kanari merely said,
"Never better! But, what are you doing here? And why are you wearing that outfit?"Kanari asked as she examined Renge's uniform.
"Because I have to...?" Renge responded with an awkward giggle following after," What's with the weird questions?"
"It's nothing I'm just...a little dazed right now, I guess." Kanari answered with a shrug. That voice from earlier when she was falling from the dark void echoed back into her mind as she stood in front of Renge.
"High-school's been stressful and chock full of displeasuring times. It was nothing like middle-school, which you like to think were your glory years. Everything was easier and way more fun, but...even you admit, it could've been better. Why don't we see what things were like in the reality where had been done the way you wanted it? And why don't we stay there forever?"
"Kanari~?" Renge called out as Kanari started zoning out while remembering what the voice had said to her. Renge then placed the back of her hand on Kanari's forehead.
"Well, you aren't burning up or anything like that..." Renge stated as she checked Kanari's temperature.
"I'm fine Renge." Kanari reassured with a forced chuckle before she heard somebody call for her. Kanari and Renge spun around, finding Yugure and Tsubaki running up towards them.
"Hey, do think you could give this to Miki?" Yugure asked as she held out a water bottle with Miki's name written on it to Kanari," She left it in the gym."
"Of course."Kanari said as she took the water bottle from Yugure. When she took the water bottle from Yugure's hands, she impulsively flinched and the water bottle dropped to the ground.
"Kanari! Are you sure you're ok?" Renge questioned as she picked up the water bottle.
Kanari looked down at her hands, feeling as if they had been impaled by flaming spear. For a second, her hand was numb after contact with the water bottle, but, she soon regained feeling in it. She wiggled her fingers around while trying to make sure her hand had survived whatever just happened after coming in contact with the water bottle.
"Are you hurt?" Tsubaki asked softly as she noticed Arithmetic tend to her hand," Perhaps I should kiss it better."
Kanari arched an eyebrow at her and said in a near bitter voice," Don't joke."
"Ok, I won't joke." Tsubaki declared, getting down on one knee and kissed Kanari's hand.
Kanari turned bright red, too astonished to even draw her hand back as she stood as still as a statue. A gigantic smile appeared on her face after the kiss and Kanari looked down at her hand, still too shocked to even speak.
"Earth to Kanari." Yugure said as she snapped her fingers in Kanari's face.
Kanari's head shot up again and looked at the three girls staring at her with slight concern.
"What are we going to do with you?" Renge questioned with a sigh as Kanari watched them with a blank look in her eyes.
"You wanted nothing more than to grow up. To be done with all this high-school nonsense. To get your life under way. You wanted to make your dreams come true. And you them to come true as soon as humanely possible. Well, here we are; your future. Where you're a star. And not just any star, a star that's going to make history."
Chiyo looked into the large vanity mirror in front of herself. When she looked into the mirror, she saw an older version of herself wearing an extravagant yellow dress along with quite a bit of make-up. Her hair was styled into a bun and sitting around her neck was a necklace with an angel pendant on it.
"Miss Sakurami, the limo is coming in about fifteen minutes alright?" Her personal assistant said to her as she poked her head into her room.
"That'll be just fine." Chiyo replied tonelessly as she fidgeted with the necklace.
"Is something the matter Miss Sakurami?" The assistant asked her curiously as she pulled on her coat. Chiyo looked into the mirror even deeper, feeling as if there was somebody else there watching her, but when she turned around, she only saw the assistant looked at her worriedly. The longer she looked at the mirror, the more she felt like she was forgetting something. What it was was beyond her as she applied a shimmery nude coloured lip gloss named Mirage.
Tonight was going to be a very big night for her as she was attending an award show. Her debut film, Restless and Loveless had been nominated for three awards and she knew very well that she was going to attract a lot of attention tonight, regardless of if she won any awards as this was her breakout film.
"I advise you to not stay at any of the after parties past midnight as you do have an interview tomorrow morning." Her assistant said to her as she looked through a pocket agenda that she had been carrying in her jacket," Miss Sakurami, are you listening?"
Chiyo snapped back to her senses, looking over to her assistant for a brief moment before turning her gaze back towards the mirror.
"I'm fine."Chiyo responded as she stared into her reflection, seeming rather distraught as she narrowed her eyes to her reflection, feeling as if something was missing. Everything seemed in place, from the position of the little ornament in her hair to the size of her heels; that size being eight and a half wide. Everything, even the smallest little details and such were fine but...still, something was off.
The assistant smiled a little, pushing her glasses up as she walked over to Chiyo. She took notice of Chiyo's internal distress, registering it as nervousness as she offered Chiyo a reassuring smile of sympathy before she placed her hand on the director's shoulder.
"Your mother would've been very proud." The assistant beamed kindly before the two of them heard the honk of a car," That must be the chauffeur. Let me get you your coat."
Chiyo blinked slowly for a few moments, as she tried to comprehend just what her assistant meant when she said her mother would've been proud. Chiyo looked at a small picture of her mother that was sitting at the corner of her vanity, her memories feeling even vague than before.
"What happened to my mom?" Chiyo asked in her head as she squinted at the picture before her assistant called for her. As Chiyo and her assistant walked out of the building, Chiyo continued to think about what the assistant had just said to her. Chiyo's eyes darted towards her assistant as she tried to think. Asking her what had happened to her mother would've seemed strange, but, for her not to remember in the first place was even stranger. When she got in the car, she sat in the back and stared out the window, her thoughts trailing back to tonight's events, rather than what had happened to her mother. Tonight was going to be big for her and if she won at least one award, it would've been even bigger. She had come so far, and while she may have not been able to remember her path to get here all that well, she knew all her efforts had paid off. She was going to finally have her name known. She'll be recognized on the streets, she'll have people begging her for their autograph soon and she'll be the one to inspire the next big director in many, many years to come. She took a deep sigh as a smile emerged onto her face as she closed her eyes contently. Everything was going to be perfect from here on out, after all of those hardships that she failed remember. Chiyo believed she couldn't remember them because now they weren't of importance to her anymore. But still, even despite her success, the fact that she couldn't remember what had happened to her mother was still majorly irritating her. The more she thought about this, the more she realized a lot of things had become blurry to her, including everything that had happened to her today prior to getting ready for the awards show. Chiyo gazed down at her necklace again, rotating it between her fingers as if hoping that would somehow jog her memory.
"Something's not right..."
"You are...unique in a sense. You have pretty much everything a teenaged girl could possibly want; from being in a popular crowd, to having your parent's approval to try and make your dreams come true but...something haunts you. Sometimes you think about memories you can't remember and how lovely those times with Minato were. You wish you could go back and relive those times desperately, because all of a sudden...Minato has become distant. Well here you go, here's your childhood, spending the night star-gazing with Minato."
Science, now living inside her memories from when she was a little girl, was sitting on top of Minato's bed, swinging her feet as Minato zoomed in on a few stars.
"Anything tonight, Minato?" Yugure asked as she leaned in close towards Minato as he took his eyes away from the telescope, a rather disappointed look appearing on his face.
"I'm only seeing this one star." Minato responded, a small sigh escaping his lips. Yugure looked over to the telescope, viewing the lone star in the sky tonight. Minato seemed dissatisfied as he looked at it through his window while Yugure drew her head back, feeling as disappointed as Minato was, but was willing to try and make this a positive situation.
"Well, let's name the star." Yugure suggested after taking her eyes away from the telescope.
"Name it?" Minato repeated, holding back on a scoff," Ok...how about, Castar?"
"Already been used." Yugure responded neutrally with a blank look in her eyes.
Minato flinched, surprised that Yugure knew that," Of course! I was just messing with you! Um, what about...Atria?"
"Already used." Yugure answered, just as neutrally as before.
"Altair?"
"Already used."
"Diamond?"
"That's lame."
"Vega?"
"That's already been used Minato!" Yugure exasperated as she threw her pillow at him. Minato groaned as the pillow fell to the ground as he tried to think of another name to suggest.
"Well, if there's already a star called Vega, then how about M. Bison?" Minato suggested.
"Huh?" Yugure said as she tilted her head.
"In Street Fighter, the characters Vega, Balrog and all had their names switched around in the English release of their game. So Vega was given the name M. Bison." Minato explained to the still confused Yugure.
"Why'd they do that?" Yugure questioned, sounding much more interested than Minato expected.
"They thought Vega sounded too weak for the name of a final boss." Minato answered, feeling amused in the fact that Yugure was so interested.
"But I just thought of a really good name..." Yugure stated with a slight pout as her gaze shifted to Minato's bed sheets.
"What kinda name were you thinking?" Minato inquired as he returned to viewing the star through his telescope.
"I was thinking the name Stella!" Yugure responded in a cheerful voice.
"Because it means star in Italian, right? That's way better than M. Bison." Minato responded, sounding quite impressed with Yugure.
"Actually I was just naming it after my doll..." Yugure replied sheepishly as she sctratched the back of her head," What if we combined the two names?"
Minato didn't appear to be on board with her and so Yugure said," How does, Stella M. Bison sound to you?"
"Weird." Minato answered flatly," But, it kinda has a nice ring to it. I like it."
Yugure smiled after hearing Minato's response, her gaze going back to the stars. When she looked at the star, she suddenly felt a wave of deja vu coming to her. The star was an oddly vibrant colour, also...topaz. The star looked very familiar all of a sudden, but, she wasn't sure where she had seen it before. Actually, when she took her gaze away from the star, everything here felt very vaguely familiar here too. Not as if she had been in this room before, which she had but rather, like she had already lived out this very moment. Maybe she had dreamt of this moment already, or...maybe she was dreaming now.
Yugure shook her head in disbelief, about to dismiss this ridiculous thought, but then, she looked at the necklace hanging around her neck. The pendulum pendant made everything seem like it wasn't real here and Yugure couldn't understand why. The necklace felt very out of place here, and having it slung around her neck made her extremely suspicious of her surroundings.
"What in the world is going on?"
Renge and the group continued to talk amongst themselves during the lunch hour, talking about things like how annoying some of their teachers were and such. It was relaxing to just sit here in a small crowd of her friends on such a nice day. If only the day could last forever. As Renge opened her granola bar, she looked at the group with content but noticing something seemed off. It felt like a hour had past, but when Renge checked her phone, it was only the beginning of lunch. She wondered if her phone was just glitching out or something, but then, when she looked up to the sky, she noticed the sun hadn't even moved an inch ever since they sat down. In fact, she couldn't even remember what she had been doing here before she sat down to have lunch with the group. Overwhelmed, Renge decided to stand up to try and figure this out, only to get slightly light-headed after standing up too fast. Nao rose up to her side and asked her,
"Is everything alright?"
Renge looked into his eyes and almost felt disgust when she saw the vacant look in them. His tone may've been had a ring of concern to it, but his expression didn't seem to match. Actually, everyone's smiles felt hollow all of a sudden after Renge took a good look at them, as if this was made-up. Had they looked this insincere and empty this entire time? Renge then wondered if being so over-joyed with being here caused her to let a few things go unnoticed. Perhaps she was just overthinking things, so...to test it out, Renge said,
"Gosh, I can't believe graduation is coming so soon..."
"Graduation?" Kokoro repeated," It's not that soon."
Renge's eyes widened as she placed her hand over her mouth in shock, unsure of what exactly to say for a few moments before she shouted,
"Yes it is! It's literally in two weeks!"
"But, it's only the beginning of second term Renge." Ayano stated, with Renge staring at her madly after she said that.
"How long has it been the beginning of second term?" Renge asked in suspicion with her eyes narrowed at Ayano.
"Goodness Renge, what kind of question is that?" Shizuka asked with an awkward chuckle, silently notioning everyone to join her to lighten the mood.
"Do you wanna go get a drink of water?" Nao suggested as he took a gentle hold of her hand again.
"Yeah, but not with you." Renge declared as she broke free from his hand's grip. Renge stormed into the school and sat on top of the school's heaters next to the door, something she was prohibited to do but she no longer cared as she tried to think about what just happened.
"It is almost the end of the second term, isn't it?" Renge questioned. She felt like she was forgetting something, but she just couldn't figure out what it was. It felt like the beginning of second term was ages ago but, she couldn't remember what she had been doing all that time. It had to have been something really important if it was bugging her this much.
She then burrowed her hands into her pockets in frustration and found something that she didn't recall having placed in there. She pulled out her Fountain Pen of knowledge and just then, all of those memories came flooding back to her.
"That's right...none of this is actually real. I still have a mission to complete." Renge said in a near somber voice as she held the pen up high before shouting,
"Pretty Cure, study session!"
Kanari sat on the bleachers as the girls took their break. She kicked the sand beneath her and took a few moments to just stare down at the sand. She was dangerously quiet, so Miki felt the need to approach her, noticing something had been off with her the entire time.
"Kanari, is there something wrong?" Miki asked as she down beside Kanari.
"I feel like I've forgotten something...but I have no clue as to what is it..." Kanari explained as she continued to kick the sand, her eyes adverting Miki's stare.
"Forgotten something...like, left something at home?" Miki questioned as Kanari stood up to stretch.
"No, like...something bigger than that, but I'm just not sure of what it is." Kanari responded as she stretched her arms. Miki stood up next to her and then said,
"Well, whatever it is, you'll probably remember it sooner or later."
Kanari kept standing there as she scanned her memory for whatever it was she had been forgetting. She checked the time on her phone briefly and then looked over towards the group, taking note of the fact that what seemed to have been an hour had gone past and yet... it was like no time at all had past. It was unsettling to say the least and though she suspected that her phone might've just been malfunctioning, she noticed that her bottled water, which had been laying out in the sun for the last hour, was still ice cold, just how she left it when she went to practice with the girls. She looked up towards the sky as she tried remembering what else had happened today aside from her practice. She couldn't remember anything before practice unfortunately and this just caused her to get even more suspicious.
"This isn't right..." Kanari said as she held the water bottle in her hands, only to put it back on the bench where had originally been sitting as she looked over towards Miki," Um, how much longer until practice is over?"
"I think about...an hour or so?" Miki estimated as she started stretching.
"Kanari~!" She heard what sounded like Renge call for her," I got you a nice, cold bottle of water for practice!"
"Thanks Renge, but I don't need one." Kanari claimed as she waved a hand of dismissal," I've already got one right-"
As Kanari turned out to lift the bottled water off of the bench, she found that it had disappeared,"-Here?"
The rest of the girls took notice of Kanari's distress rather quickly as she squirmed around looking for the water bottle that had previously been on the bench. After a few moments of searching, being unable to find the water bottle, Kanari took a deep breath. It was puzzling and it made zero sense to her how the water bottle had just disappeared and it seemed like the girls didn't seemed as shocked as she was with the disappearance of the water bottle. They looked at her with a mixture of concern and doubt in their eyes as Kanari placed her hands on her hips, unsure of where the water bottle went to.
"Kanari, do you want to sit down for the first few minutes of practice?" Miki offered as she placed a hand on Kanari's shoulder.
"No, I just think I need to walk it off." Kanari answered in a huff as she rushed off of the field. She laced her fingers behind her head as she tried to determine what was going on. She felt like she was inside a paradox, and sealed off from reality. But what reality she was sealed off from was something that she felt unable to remember. It was like she had spent too long here that she had no memory of what was happening to her before she was sent away to this dimension.
"This place is insane..." Kanari said as she crouched down underneath a tree, moments before something fell from the tree and landed on her head.
"Ow! What the-?!" Kanari shouted before she saw what had fallen into her lap. Laying there was her Fountain Pen of knowledge. The longer she looked at it, the quicker everything came back to her. After her memories were restored, she stood up, a bittersweet smile appearing on her face as she said,
"That's right, this place is nothing more than a fantasy world."
"Well, I guess it's better I know now." Kanari stated as she tossed her pen up, catching it as she shouted," Pretty Cure, study session!"
"Stop the car." Chiyo demanded after feeling the discontent of not remembering how her mother passed bubble up to it's peak.
Her assistant merely sighed, disregarding her demand as she said," Miss Sakurami, we don't have much time until-"
"-I'm not going to repeat myself." Chiyo interrupted sternly as she looked the assistant dead in the eyes. The assistant looked at her hesitantly, feeling Chiyo's glare burning holes into her. She said nothing for a few long moments and then finally, she turned to the chauffeur, pulling down the partition as she said,
"Please stop here, Miss Sakurami needs some air."
The chauffeur complied and as he stopped the car, Chiyo ripped opened the car door and ran at a break neck speed back to the building they came from. Running so fast, she probably would've twisted her heel at this point, but no, she somehow managed to do no such thing. And even if she did, it was likely she wouldn't have noticed considering how intent she was on getting back to the building. When she dashed into the building, pulling open the heavy door hastily, she garnered a few stares and a single gasp standing in the door way. As she made her way to the elevator of the building, she could hearing a few people murmuring her name, but she paid them no heed. She took a deep breath as she pressed the button to close the elevator and when she got to her floor, she went into her suite and found her Fountain Pen of Knowledge sitting beside a small dish.
"How long had this been here?" Chiyo asked as she sat down beside it, inspecting the pen as she held it up to the light," And why does it feel so familiar?"
When Chiyo watched the gem on the end of it glint in the light, everything suddenly came rushing back to her. From all her fights against Temptation, to meeting the rest of Pretty Cures, and watching her mother get abducted. Chiyo held the pen close to her chest, feeling like a total idiot upon realizing what had happened.
"I need to find a way out of here and I need to find it now..." Chiyo declared as she held the pen up high," Pretty Cure, study session!"
Yugure wrapped her arms around her knees as she tried to figure out why she was having the strangest sense of deja vu here. It shouldn't have been normal for her to feel as if she had already lived through this exact event and yet, it made Yugure feel as if she was living in the past strangely enough.
"How is it possible for me to feel like this? Like I've already been through this?" Yugure thought to herself,"This isn't a dream, is it?"
The thought of this all being a dream brought a temporary comfort to Yugure; the reason for it being only temporary was because of the fact that she still had this nagging feel that she was indeed awake, though, the more she thought about that star and the necklace slung onto her, the more surreal everything felt. When she pressed her hands against the cold pendant of the necklace, she felt like she didn't belong here. Like something else was beckoning for her, but she had no clue what it was.
She then decided to step out of Minato's room, just to get some fresh air. When she walked over to the door to Minato's room, she found herself unable to open it as she turned the knob for a few prolonged moments with no give.
"Minato, your door's broken." Yugure called out as she continued to try and open the door.
Minato got up from his seat where he had been looking through his telescope and walked over to Yugure. He watched her attempted to open the door for a few more moments and after she had admitted defeat, Minato pushed her aside so that he could fiddle with it. For him, all it took was one turn and the door swung open. Though, what was residing at the other side of the door wasn't something that Yugure had been expecting.
It was just a dark room, well, Yugure assumed it was a room as she was too scared of the thought of it being some kind of void. Yugure looked at it shock while Minato just looked at her curiously, arching an eyebrow at her.
"What is it?" Minato asked her, Yugure doing nothing but jerking her head towards him in surprise, unsure of whether or not they were seeing the same thing.
"Are you ok, Princess?" Minato asked as he knelt down to Yugure and tried placing his hand on her forehead.
Yugure impulsively slapped back his hand before she stammered out,"I'm fine, just go back to the telescope."
Minato didn't seemed the slightest bit convinced, but complied as he walked back towards the telescope. Yugure leaned against the wall as she tried regaining composure, sinking down a little as she did so. This place couldn't have been real for that to have happened, but then...did that just mean she was living through her memories? She wondered if she was in some kind of coma and tried to figure out what she had been doing before she had been viewing the stars with Minato. Nothing was adding up and just before she was about to give up and resume her star-gazing session with Minato, she saw something sitting on Minato's desk.
Sitting there was her Fountain Pen of knowledge and cautiously, she walked over towards it and quietly picked it up. She was tempted to ask Minato where he had gotten it, but, something told her that it didn't belong to him. It felt as out of place as the necklace and the second she picked it up, all of her memories came rushing back to her.
Yugure felt overwhelmed as she held the pen close to her blinking a couple of times as she thought about what next to do.
"I've got to get out of here. There are still people who need to be saved..." Yugure said to herself as she hung her head while caressing the pendant of her necklace," But the question is, how do I get out?"
Literature ran as fast as she could out of the school, trying to figure out how she was going to free herself from this false reality. As she ran out, she stopped briefly to inspect the school yard, realizing that everyone was gone. The only things that remained here were the trees and the everything else that was inaminate in the yard. Literature took a deep breath, and shut her eyes in an attempt to focus and try to think of where the exit out of here would be.
"Appear, Ardent Scepter!" Literature called out, her red scepter materializing before her. When the scepter appeared, Literature heard a low growling from behind her. Nervously, Literature turned around to find that the school had been morphed into a gigantic Delinquous. It roared and glowered down to Literature before it started to chase her. Literature held back a scream as she rang as fast as her feet could take her, only to crash into a low branch on the tree that her group had been sitting under.
"You know what, tree?" Literature grumbled as she rubbed her forehead, hoping a bruise wouldn't appear. Just then, the roaring of the Delinquous stopped and the Delinquous had changed it's form again, this time changing into a pitch black silhouette of Cure Literature with deep red eyes.
"Hmph, and you call yourself a leader. Allowing yourself to get caught up in a world of delusions knowing that you have a world you think you could save." The silhouette sneered as Literature backed up against the tree.
"We meet again." Literature said with an exhausted sigh as she glanced at the silhouette.
"Renge, what on earth do you think you're doing?" The silhouette asked her gently, taking a step closer towards her.
"I'm trying to save everyone's Inner Scholars, what does it look like?" Literature snapped as she proctectively held her scepter in front of herself.
"Really, because it seemed like you were upset when you realized this world was just an illusion." The silhouette reasoned," Admit it, Renge. There's nobody but you and I here, you're too scared to face Temptasia. In fact, you wished you didn't have to fight her so that you could just delay your graduation with the worlds in ruins right now."
"That's ridiculous and that's not true!" Literature hollered as she sent a whirlwind from her wand to the silhouette. The silhouette dodged or rather, evaded the attack as it went right through her and she disappeared in a flash only to appear beside Literature.
"Alright, maybe that was a bit of hyperbole but...don't deny it Renge. You would've rather been here than face the reality you've been dealt with." The silhouette declared.
"That's not true..." Literature said quietly, her voice very shaky.
"Wow, if your going to lie, can you at least try and make yourself sound convincing?" The silhouette remarked with a scoff," I'm only looking out for you, because guess what? I know you from the inside out. I know that you hate the idea of graduating and growing up. I know you don't want to face the future anymore, because you and I both know..."
"Don't say it." Literature said between gritted teeth with a shake of her head.
"You're too damn scared to go out into the real world because you're going to fail! You're going to fall through the cracks of society and lose everything because you live on impulse!" The silhouette cackled.
Literature slumped her shoulders as the silhouette cackled, her gaze falling to her feet. Actually hearing those words out loud rather having them bounce through her mind was worse than she could've ever imagined.
"So what?" Literature said quietly as the silhouette continued to laugh, getting the attention of the silhouette," So what if I'm scared of the real world? So what if I scared I'll be thrown into a world of instability where I have everything I could've ever wanted right now here in high-school? Who wouldn't be afraid of leaving everything they've grown to love only to restart the cycle again without knowing if everything will go as planned? Yeah, alright fine. I am very afraid. I'm afraid I'm going to lose touch with my friends, afraid I won't be able to adapt to a new lifestyle and I'm afraid of failing and disappointing everyone, including myself. I'm ok with being afraid, but I can't let it dictate how I live my life. And while I would indeed enjoying spending my days with my friends here loftily, I know things are going to have to change. I'm going to have to change too. And while right now that feels impossible for me, I know hard work is going to pull me through. So I won't give up here, I'm going to everything in power to put an end to Temptasia!" Literature declared as she darted towards the silhouette and sparred with it.
"Quit acting all high and mighty! Don't act like you can't fail even if you put in the effort! That's not always how the world works! You could try as hard as you can to achieve something and you could still fail! Don't you see how pointless this is?" The silhouette barked as she fought with Literature.
"Hard work isn't pointless." Literature declared as she punched the silhouette and sent her flying upwards," And even I fail, I can still try again. I'll just have to learn from my mistakes."
The silhouette crashed onto the ground, unable to move an inch as Literature walked up towards her.
"I can't assure either of us that I'm going to defeat Temptasia but I'll tell you this." Literature began as she crouched down beside the silhouette," I will do everything in my power to try an put an end to her and I won't give up if I get knocked down, be it once or a thousand times."
When Arithmetic rushed back onto the field, she was astonished to find that everyone had disappeared and a Delinquous awaiting her arrival. Arithmetic conjured out her scepter and dashed towards the Delinquous. She leapt up high and kicked it in the face and was more shocked when she saw the Delinquous shape shift into a silhouette of herself, rubbing her face tenderly.
"Oh I'm fine, don't worry about me." The silhouette said sarcastically as she rubbed her face.
"What are you?" Arithmetic asked anxiously as she took a step back.
"What? You don't know?" The silhouette asked as she stood up, walking towards Arithmetic slowly," I'm what I'd like to call, the physical embodiment of your common sense. Your conscience pretty much. And boy, am I going to talk some common sense into you."
The silhouette dashed up towards Arithmetic and started to fight with her.
As the two of them fought, the silhouette said," Kanari, this is a big mistake! You shouldn't try and let yourself get hurt for people who you don't matter to!"
"What would make you say something like that?" Arithmetic groaned as she kicked the silhouette in it's midsection.
"Because it's the truth? Kanari, listen to me, if you against Temptation, that's all going to be your fault! You don't even know what Temptasia might do to you just for trying to defeat her! This isn't very wise and if I were you, I would just stay here until this all blows over. At least then you won't have to risk anything." The silhouette suggested to Arithmetic.
"Until this all blows over?" Arithmetic scoffed," That won't happen if we don't fight back. And just staying here is already risk enough. If I were to abandon my team here, I couldn't forgive myself not I have a mission to complete. I stay, I risk letting everyone lose their Inner Scholars while Univer City disappears under Temptasia's reign. I can't and I won't stay here any longer."
The silhouette changed it's form once more, into a wispy cloud that encircled around Arithmetic as she said," But, the thought is tempting. Wouldn't you agree? Just being here, in an ideal little world where you can just cheer lead with Miki and have all your friends by your side? Isn't that what you want?"
Arithmetic took a deep breath thoughtfully before saying," It may be what I would like to have. But I won't let myself have it if it means I have to jeopardize the existence of Univer Kingdom and give up after coming so far."
"Why not? We both know this shouldn't be any of your business, we know that isn't fair that you have to risk your life for people who will have never even known about you saving them in the first place!" The silhouette shouted.
"I shouldn't have to care about whether or not my good deed goes unnoticed and I don't. I'm not doing this for attention. I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do." Arithmetic declared as she punched the silhouette in the face, whirling her towards the other side of the field.
Arithmetic walked over to the silhouette, having thrown into the bleachers. When she got close to the silhouette, she simply said,
"I'll admit, I never thought this whole Pretty Cure thing would become such a big part of my life, but..." Arithmetic began,"...I wouldn't have given up this experience for anything in the world."
History noticed the figure from the mirror again and when she spun around, she found herself face to face with a silhouette of herself. History impulsively kicked the silhouette in it's midsection and flung it towards the door of her room as she conjured up her scepter.
"What are you supposed to be?" History questioned as she glowered towards the figure, scepter held out in front of herself.
The silhouette seemed mournful as she hung her head, releasing a sigh as she said," I'm just here to tell you what you should be doing. And what you should be doing is letting yourself stay here and watch your dreams come true."
"Why the hell would I let myself stay here? Knowing that terrible things will happen if I just accept defeat and delude myself into this fake reality?" History questioned.
"Because you know better than to let yourself get caught up in a fight that you had business being apart in the first place." The silhouette answered," You were forced into this, you didn't have to become a Pretty Cure and you don't have to take part in this. You shouldn't have had to compromise what could've been a successful year for the sake of some far off land's existence that has nothing to do with. And because of this, bad things have happened, things that could been avoided if you just simply declined those girls' offer. Aren't you feeling the slightest hint of regret right now? Well, I'm not asking because I don't know, I'm asking to see if you're aware of what you're feeling."
"I guess you make a good point." History declared slowly," None of these things, like my own mother getting abducted to me nearly losing my job, would've happened if I just said no. But, I know the situation would've been much worse had I declined their offer. I never wanted to be involved to the point where I was living two separate in fear of having my friends and family get hurt, but I've been doing all this to make sure that they wouldn't get hurt and stay out of the hands of Temptation. Not to mention the regret I would've likely been plagued with had I have refused their offer, knowing that they needed me. I knew I couldn't have turned my back on them and I won't turn my back on them now!"
History then began to spar with the silhouette again, receiving a kick in the stomach by the silhouette. Quickly she recovered as she threw a punch into the silhouette's chest.
"Besides, I don't think I've wasted my year like this." History declared," If anything, I think this experience has done a few wonders for me."
"But, this place...all that you could've possibly wanted resides here. This place, rest assured, you can be happy and successful. Nothing will go wrong here, you'd be free of your regrets if you just stayed." The silhouette declared as she cornered History into the wall.
"What are you talking about? I don't have everything here." History responded as she hung her head," In this place, I don't remember how I even made my films. I just get nominated for awards having no idea what it took for me to get nominated for them. I don't get to feel the pride from having my hard work pay off because it never happened. This isn't the kind of future I want. I want to feel as if I deserve those awards and recognition. I want to earn it, not have it just given to me."
"That's foolish of you! You can have all the glory and fame you could've ever wanted here and yet you'd throw it all away over one little thing?" The silhouette shouted as it threw History into the door of the room.
History rose up to her feet, wobbling a little as she did while bracing against the door. She looked at the silhouette in pity as she got up to her feet, moments away from darting towards the silhouette again.
"No, it's not foolish at all." History declared as she started to fight with the Delinquous again," What is foolish is for you to believe that you can achieve glory without hard work. The two of them go hand in hand and I can't stop here. If one thing's for certain, I'm not going to stand for this any longer and we're going to defeat Temptation. And when Temptation gets defeated, I'm going to do make my dreams come true the right way, through hard work and ambition."
"Wh-where did Minato go?" Science asked as she scanned around the room after transforming. He was nowhere in sight and all the Yugure saw was her reflection in the mirror of Minato's closet door. Suddenly, her reflection jumped out from the mirror and morphed into a silhouette. The silhouette then looked at Science, a smile appearing on her face as she slowly strolled over in front of her. Science stood her ground defensively and summoned her scepter as she kept her eyes on the silhouette.
Science sputtered, "Wha-what in the world are you-?"
"Me? I'm you, but...I'm that part of you who's a little more vocal about opinions." The silhouette said with a simple shrug.
"What do you mean?" Science asked as she took a small step back.
"I mean..." The silhouette began as she took a deep breath,"...I just want things to stay the same, and I want things to just work them out for themselves! Why did Minato have to leave, and why I have just spent the rest of my school nights star-gazing with Minato without a care in the world? Things were so much simpler back then, I wished I didn't have to grow up and I wish I didn't have to take part in this fight!"
Science looked at the silhouette wide-eyed, unsure of what she could say. The smile on the silhouette's face appeared again, knowing that Science couldn't say anything to deny these thoughts, as this was the truth.
"This world has been constructed from your inner desires. It was made to keep you happy, as anyone could see..." The silhouette began as she darted up towards Science,"...You've been suffering for much too long."
"I...I haven't been suffering...at least, I don't think I have." Science stated as looked down to the ground nervously.
"Don't deny it. It only makes things harder." The silhouette said softly," But, I know how you feel on the inside, despite the fact that you've been internalizing things like your longing for those times with Minato and the stars. Those weekends spent with the kids in the neighborhood. High-school wasn't much compared to those days. It never could compare. But here, you could just relive those days, like Minato never left. He wouldn't ever leave you and you would never have to grow up. Wouldn't that all be wonderful?"
Science looked towards the door of Minato's room that led to nowhere. Being in this realm, not having to age or worry about the future. It was a sickeningly pleasant thought for Science. But at the same time, it was something she couldn't allow herself to have.
"I could never do that, stay here while everyone else suffers. As a Pretty Cure, I can't just think of myself and what I want." Science stated," I don't want to fight, but...I also don't want to abandon everyone and be the reason my team loses. So, I can't just stay here and live in the past."
As Science and the silhouette began to fight again, the silhouette asked," Why not? To hell with everyone else! As long as your happy, does anything else really matter?"
"Yes! Because I'm not going to be happy knowing I deserted everyone else in search of false happiness while everyone is suffering on my account. I'm going to save everyone with my team and I'm not going to let you stop me!" Science yelled.
"But, what if this is the closest you'll ever get to happiness again?" The silhouette questioned," Are you willing to take that risk?"
Science scoffed, elbowing the silhouette in the chest," You make it sound like I haven't been happy ever since I was a kid. You realize that's not true right? While high-school may have not been as great as my childhood, that doesn't mean I wish it never happened. So many good things have happened during these last few years like, me finally discovering my passion for astronomy, making friends with the rest of the Pretty Cure..."
Science reached into her shirt for the necklace, biting back a smile as she looked down at it,"...Meeting him."
"So, no. I don't want to live in my memories forever. Sure, sometimes, I wish I was still a little kid and was by Minato's side but, I realize that things can't be like that forever. But I'm fine with that. Plus, I think I might get bored of doing nothing but watching the stars with Minato all the time!" Science chuckled," I'm sorry but, I have some unfinished business, so I'm going to have to leave."
"So what, you're just going to risk everything, in hopes that you may succeed in your task to save the day?" The silhouette asked restlessly as she started to disappear.
"I guess so." Science replied with a shrug before the silhouette fully vanished," Now, where might the way out of here be? There must be some sort of gateway between this fake world and the real one."
The door that led to that strange void didn't seem much like a gateway out of here and Science didn't want to take any chances. Science then shifted her gaze over to the telescope and her eyes widened curiously.
"No, it couldn't be..."
"It's the tree, isn't it?" Literature asked aloud to no one in particular as she narrowed her eyes at the tree.
"Funny, it would make sense for it to be this thing, I guess..." Arithmetic remarked as she stood in front of the water bottle.
"You'd think the idea of risking seven years of bad luck would freak me out and yet..." History trailed off as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
Simultaneously, the girls all broke the objects before them as they shouted in unison,
"Here goes nothing!"