Hope For Healing

by Melonada

Since King Byogen has been defeated, life has returned to normal for Nodoka, Chiyu and Hinata. When their magical friends come to visit, they all take Asumi to the Eternal Tree to cement their friendship. But instead, they come to meet an old enemy; someone who Nodoka thought she would never see again. (Image from zerochan!)

1. Prevention

Author's note: English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes.

Also, disclaimer! This story contains severe illness, trauma and coma. (It's wholesome in the end though, I promise.)

---

Part 1: Prevention

It was the middle of spring and the town of Sukoyaka was enjoying these peaceful days. Despite its reputation for its healthy environment, it had been the center of a mysterious pandemic. Thankfully, it was also where the cure (or cures) for this disease had come from.

It was Sunday afternoon when tree young girls gathered on the heart-shaped observation deck on the edge of the weather was mellow and warm in moments when the breeze wasn't blowing. Nodoka, Chiyu and Hinata were expecting a visit from their friends from the Healing Garden that day. It had been two weeks since they had last seen each other, and almost a month since the final battle with King Byogen.

The girls were clustered on the platform, looking up to the sky with eagerness. They perked up when they saw a colorful heart-shaped portal opening in the air overhead. A tall woman with fair hair emerged from it, and her lilac dress fluttered as she ascended before them. She was holding a beige puppy to her chest and the Healing Room Bag in her other hand. Three small creatures followed her through the portal.

'Asumi! Everyone!' the girls' cries of joy rang out.

'Girls!' The little rabbit, penguin and cat fell right into their partners' arms. They nuzzled to them lovingly as the girls hugged them back.

'It's wonderful to see you all,' Asumi said cordially, and Latte gave a small bark.

'Latte!' Nodoka approached them and pet the puppy princess. 'Have you two been well?'

'Yes, we have been just fine,' Asumi replied in her honeyed voice. 'Latte has not been sick once.'

'Have you been wearing the same outfit?' Hinata pointed at her long gown jokingly. The woman had refused to take any luggage with her when she had moved away from Sukoyaka.

'I suppose,' Asumi chuckled. 'There is not really a need to change clothes in the Healing Garden since there are no illnesses.'

This reminded Chiyu of two weeks ago when they had visited Asumi in the magical realm. 'I'm- sorry for the issue we caused last time,' she bowed her head humbly.

'Don't worry about it, you fixed everything~pe,' Pegitan quickly assured her, and the other healing animals agreed.

'What about the part of the Garden that was destroyed by the panthogerms?' Nodoka asked solicitously when she remembered the pitiful sight.

'New grass and saplings are growing there now. We are working hard to heal what we can, but the old gives life to the new. I'm sure it will recover soon enough,' Asumi gave the girls a supportive smile.

Rabirin was concerned too. 'Has everything been fine here~rabi?'

'Yup! No byogen attacks.' Hinata chirped, drawing a horizontal line with her downcast palm. Asumi sighed in relief.

'I'm so glad.'

She leaned on the railing of the watchtower to take in the scenery. The Earth was saved but only from King Byogen's reign. It hadn't been cleansed of other illnesses, and harmony between humans and nature was far from being achieved. It was the people who held responsibility of protecting the planet.

'But,' Chiyu spoke up for the girls as well, 'we do miss you.' Their eyebrows bent downwards as they eyed their friends.

'Hey, we can still meet up, right~nya?' Nyatoran tried to lighten the mood. Asumi was always keeping track of time on Earth, after all.

'Yeah but it's different,' Hinata's shoulders drooped and worry suddenly crossed her face. 'Aren't you scared we'll drift apart?'

The healing animals glanced at each other just as Asumi's smile faded. Did humans drift apart so easily?

Chiyu put a hand to her chin in thought.

'What about taking Asumi to the Eternal tree?' she suggested. 'She hasn't been there with us, right?'

The girls eyes lit up with realization and then with excitement.

'That's a great idea~pe!' Pegitan chirped.

Asumi's brows knitted slightly in confusion. 'The "Eternal Tree"?'

Nodoka's smile widened as she looked at the woman. 'Yes, I think you'll like it!'

She exchanged a nod with her friends and took the blonde's hand. 'Follow us!' She encouraged her and led her down the stairs of the white watchtower. They group then headed across the sunlit meadow while Hinata hummed a tune.

…

'So, why is this tree eternal exactly?' Asumi asked curiously while they were walking through a forest of broadleaved trees. Surely they knew that no tree could live from the beginning to the end of time, right?

The girls carried their healing partners on their shoulders and kept to the wide beaten path. The birds were singing, and the visitors tried not to make too much noise. Asumi treaded barefoot and felt the life force of the forest thriving.

'It's called that because people come there when they want something to last,' Chiyu explained.
'Like a friendship!' Nodoka added happily.

Asumi wasn't sure she understood, but they were already at the end of the path where trees created an entrance onto the foot of a hill.

'We're almost there!' Hinata announced, having taken the lead.

The hill wasn't too tall, but wide, coated with luscious green grass that invited one to lie down and watch the moving clouds above. Clusters of bushes grew here and there but trees seemed to be only at the bottom. The girls continued to make their way up until they reached the top. But instead of a monumental tree, there was a wide stump with a sapling growing from its center.

'Is that the Eternal Tree?' Asumi pointed at the tree feet tall sapling. The others bobbed their heads.

'It's so young.'

'That's because there was a different tree before it. It listened to people's wishes for decades but it was old and damaged. It succumbed to the last megabyogen attack. But this sapling has been growing from its remains,' Chiyu caught her up.

'Ooh...' Asumi said, but as they were getting closer to the stump, a bad feeling was growing in her gut.

'Awoo,' came a subtle whimper from Latte.

'What's wrong, Lady Late?' Rabirin asked from Nodoka's shoulder.

'I think it's the tree,' Asumi said with a serious face. 'Something is wrong with it.'

'What?' Hinata yelped.

'What do you mean?' Nodoka asked with worried eyes.

'Wait,' Asumi raised her hand and held up the Healing Room Bag. She reached into the tiny doorway at the front and took out a white stethoscope. The girls stopped and gave Asumi space to examine the sapling.

'Its leaves are rotting,' the woman frowned and squatted down by the large stump. She put the stethoscope on and held the chest-piece close to the tree to communicate with its element. She was dismayed by what she found. The little tree spirit was weak and calling for help, and then, she saw glowing green eyes and heard a chuckle.

Asumi gasped and fell on her bottom.

'What?!' the girls exclaimed and wanted to run to her but she warned them.

'Girls, it's a byogen!'

As soon as she said that, black smoke flew out of the sapling and started swirling next to the stub. Asumi quickly backed away, prodding the others to keep their distance.

The smoke turned into reddish-black goo which thickened until it took the shape of a figure. It had human features; It stood on two legs, had two arms and wore scruffy phthalo green pants. But it wasn't human at all. Its skin was dark purple, except for a pale blue splotch around its left eye. Red horns were sticking out of its ruffled green hair, and there were small bat wings on its back.

They all knew the creature was a terabyogen as soon as it started materializing. They stared at it in shock but before it had the chance to speak, Asumi confronted it sternly: 'Hey! Who are you?'

The byogen looked them up but after this reaction, it chuckled in a strange way and pinched the bridge of its nose.

'You don't know, do you?' it said in a male, somewhat distorted voice.

'Should we?' Chiyu stepped forward bravely.

The byogen's lips formed a twisted smile. 'Yeah.' He spread out his arms and said angrily: 'I'm the one you refused to heal!'

The girls' chins dropped, and they looked at each other in puzzlement. Their faces implied that none of them had seen this being before. How could he even know them? The last of the terabyogens they had faced was King Byogen... Did he somehow survive?!

But the choice of words triggered a memory in Nodoka. It was as if they were meant specifically for her, not to mention the byogen was staring her down when he uttered them. No, this wasn't King Byogen. He may have looked different, and his voice sounded more robotic, but...

'Daruizen, is that you?'

A spark flickered in the byogen's eyes. He tilted his head and crossed his arms with a satisfied smirk.

'I knew you'd recognize me, Grace.'

A cold shiver ran down Nodoka's spine and pinned her feet to the ground. She got the feeling that her past had caught up to her. Her breath stopped, and her thoughts were racing. No, this can't be him. How could he be back? What does he want from us? What does he want from me?

The group of girls and animals gasped and froze for a moment. They couldn't believe it. Eying the byogen with this perception, they identified Daruizen's hair color, and the light splotch on his face resembled his skin. But other than that, he looked more a nanobyogen that had just taken human shape.

'What? That's impossible!' Chiyu shouted in dismay.

'I thought he was inside of King Byogen!' Hinata looked at the others for confirmation. They all thought so too.

That strange smile, certainly not one of happiness, crossed Daruizen's face again. 'I was! But... my body and soul are mine, remember?' Nodoka felt his glance pierce right through her. 'Basically, my will to survive was stronger than his, so I was reborn from the King's remains.'

'Remains~pe?' Pegitan whimpered

'But we purified him~nya!'

At this point, their shock was annoying the byogen. He didn't have all the answers either and he didn't have to explain anything to them.

'Yeah, I know that much. Enough chit-chat!' He cut their dialogue short and reached a hand into his short hair. Before he could dispatch the nanobyogen, Rabirin promptly turned to the other healing animals.

'Call on the Healing Sticks~rabi!'

Knowing the girls were vulnerable, Peginan and Nyatoran reached out their paws and closed their eyes. A sparkle of warm light appeared before each of the animals and was replaced by a white rod. Nodoka, Chiyu and Hinata, who watched the magic in surprise, instinctively grabbed the wands. Just then, they felt a tremor as a pillar of black energy emerged from where the sapling had stood. That energy transformed into a megabyogen in the shape of a giant tree with yellow eyes and an angry frown. Its branches were thorny and huge black leaves grew from their tips.

Latte sneezed as the gem on her forehead turned yellow.

'You still have the Elemental Bottles, right~nya?' Nyatoran asked the trio. The girls assured him and each took out a small unicolor bottle out of her pocket.

'Start!' the healing animals chorused, and the girls and Asumi followed them with: 'Pretty Cure Operation!'

When they touched their partners' paws, the magic of nature began to transform them into their alter egos. They slipped into white doctor coats which were then replaced by beautiful dresses distinct to each girl. Their hair grew longer and changed color, and they were adorned with cute accessories and make-up.

'Healin' Good Pretty Cure!' Cure Grace, Cure Fontaine, Cure Sparkle and Cure Earth said in unison.

Daruizen, who stood next to the ghastly tree, scoffed and pointed at the cures. 'There megabyogen!'

The monster took them as its priority and opened its mouth wide, shooting out a powerful red beam. Earth took Latte and the cures jumped out of the way before the spot was infected by a red splotch. When they looked at the tree again, Daruizen was gone. Grace, Fontaine and Sparkle ran towards the megabyogen while Earth went to hide Latte below the hill. The trio split up and circled the megabyogen while it twisted its trunk around and tried to smash them with its branches.

'Just when everything was going well,' Sparkle complained and caught up with Fontaine while the tree was focused on Grace.

'He shows up!' the blue cure concluded, and they both jumped at the massive trunk. They kicked it full force, but the megabyogen withstood the blow. When they landed, it just started slashing its branches everywhere.

Cure Earth was already running up the hill, her feet barely touching the ground.

'Get back!' she warned her friends and summoned the Earth Wind Harp to her aid. She stopped and strummed its strings, creating a ring of wind. When she hurled it at the megabyogen, it widened and triggered a powerful whirlwind. It engulfed the whole tree and pulled its branches upward. However, the sapling was young and flexible, and it dug its roots deep into the ground to stop itself from uprooting. This caught Earth off guard and the whirlwind disappeared.

The megabyogen stood still while the cracks on its branches were rapidly healing. Grace and Rabirin took this chance to perform Cure Scan. Two pink stars moved across the tree before they merged into one just below the tree top.

'I found it!' Grace shouted when she saw the poor tree element.

Fontaine got an idea and called the yellow cure. 'Sparkle, distract it!'

Sparkle saluted and ran right in front of the megabyogen. 'Yoohoo!' She waved her hands above her head conspicuously.

The tree growled and bent down, swinging its branch down at her. But Sparkle jumped out of the way before it hit the ground, and while it was stuck, Fontaine called on the ice element bottle.

One blast of energy from her Healing Stick engulfed the branch in a block of ice, pinning it to the ground. The megabyogen had a one-track mind so it struggled to free itself. But they couldn't keep it trapped forever.

'Hurry! Let's do Healing Oasis!' Grace called as she ran to her teammates.

Earth knew that Final Healing Good Shower was excessively strong to use on this megabyogen, so she stood by and let the girls do their job. The tree heroines assembled and inserted their Miracle Element Bottles into their Healing Sticks. 'Triple Hearts Charge!' they said in unison and tapped on the bottles to make them light up. A wave of magic surrounded them and healthy grass spread around them.

'Pretty Cure. Healing...' the girls harmonized, pointing their weapons at the monster. 'Oasis!' They put their wands together and released a powerful beam of pinks, yellows and blues. They waited for the magical hands to pull the element out of the megabyogen's body. But once the blast hit the monster, it started groaning loudly.

'Everyone! Stop!' Earth shouted abruptly and disrupted their concentration. The girls looked at her in confusion, and the lights stopped coming from their wands.

'You will hurt the tree element too!'

The girls' eyes widened, they put their weapons down, and the magic surrounding them dissipated. They stood silently and looked at each other in panic.

That's when Daruizen, or the beast that identified as him, appeared on one of the tree's roots.

'Well, well. The nanobyogen mutated, just like me.' He seemed impressed by the outcome. 'What are you gonna do now, Pretty Cures?'

Just then, the megabyogen tugged its trapped branch out of the ice block, shattering it to shards. When it was free, the ground trembled again as the monstrous tree grew taller. It sprouted more branches from its trunk, and even worse, pulled its roots from the ground so it could use them as legs.

'Gigabyogen!' the monster roared.

'What- How did it grow so fast?!' Sparkle yelped in dismay.

Earth's expression was stiff with concern. 'It must be because the sapling was already weakened.'

The cures stood in the middle of the partially infected area, their minds reeling. Why didn't the Healing Oasis work? What did Daruizen mean by "mutated"?

Fontaine couldn't let Daruizen get away with using the tree element for his selfish goals. She instantly charged forth and made a long jump towards the gigabyogen.

'Rain Element'! She said and fired a blue blast of magic at Daruizen. The byogen reacted fast and shot a dark energy sphere her way. The blasts clashed and exploded, and Daruizen disappeared again.

Coward! Fontaine thought when she landed on the ground, then Earth pushed her out of the way before the tree's mouth laser could hit her.

'Don't rush in alone!' she reproved her as they stood up.

The blue cure sighed; it was worth a shot.

Meanwhile, Sparkle and Grace drew the tree's attention so the laser followed them. They might have been a little out of practice but if Daruizen thought they would give up, he was wrong. They will put a stop to the infection and heal the tree element. The trio may have exhausted their magic, but they still had enough strength to fight.

Sparkle and Grace split up and circled the monster while dodging its swinging roots. Fontaine and Earth jumped from one of the tree's roots up to its face level and kicked the trunk simultaneously. When the tree dug its roots into the ground again, the cures regrouped. Earth then paired up with Grace. With the help of the air element bottle, she propelled the two all the way up into the tree top. They wanted to attack from there but the tree started moving its branches to shake them off.

While Sparkle and Fontaine were dodging the tree's roots on the ground, the yellow cure shouted: 'Fire Element!'

She put an orange bottle into her Healing Stick and fired a yellow blast at the tree trunk. The monster groaned as flames arose from the wound. It left Fontaine alone and started smacking its side with the roots to put the fire out. As Earth landed on another branch, the sudden quake caused her foot to slip and suddenly, she was falling down.

'Earth!' Grace called when she heard her friend's cry. She was standing on one of the higher branches, but while she was looking down, Daruizen seized his chance. He came flying towards her like a hawk and swept her off of the treetop, sending her flying through the air before she fell into the forest surrounding the hill.

…

'Ughh...' Grace grimaced when she found herself sprawled out in some bushes. She lifted her upper body and rubbed her head.

'Grace! Are you okay~rabi?' She heard Rabirin's muffled voice nearby.

'I think so,' Grace replied and picked herself up from the branches. Her magic had protected her so she didn't break anything. She ignored the leaves in her hair and started looking for Rabirin. She was relieved when she found her Healing Stick stuck in another bush. She pushed the branches apart to take it out, but when she did, she heard the rustling of footsteps behind her. Grace swiveled around and let out a gasp. A purple winged terabyogen emerged from behind a beech tree.

'Hey, Cure Grace,' he said in a fake happy tone. Now that it was just the two of them, the raw resentment in his eyes was more radiant than ever.

'Daruizen!' Rabirin growled as Grace held up the Healing Stick to her chest.

The creature studied the pink heroine while she stood on alert. 'You thought you got rid of me, didn't you?'

Grace's throat dried up. 'What happened to you?' she uttered.

The confidence from when she had last defeated Daruizen was gone now. His beastly appearance wasn't the only thing that changed about him; his overall presence was entirely different. She was contemplating if she could take him on by herself or if she should run for help.

Daruizen chuckled like her question was some kind of sick joke.

'You know what happened. I lost my identity, Grace!' he finally snapped and hit himself in the chest. 'When you all defeated King Byogen, I had to grow this body all over again. In that sapling!'

His angry outburst made Grace pause in realization. Daruizen didn't like what he has become either. It wasn't even really him; more like scraps of him that were glued together by hatred. He had to face a horrible fate and had only been reborn because they had purified King Byogen... Shaken by this reality, she took a step back.

Since her partner was struck dumb, Rabirin shot back at Daruizen: 'You made it sick~rabi!'

'You zip it!' he snapped at her.

This comment pulled Grace out of her thoughts and angered her enough to give him a stern look.

'So what, you're trying to take King Byogen's place now?'

Daruizen put his hands behind his back and shrugged nonchalantly. 'Meh, I'd have to get stronger first. I don't care about that megabyogen.'

Grace and Rabirin furrowed their brow in confusion. For what purpose would he have created it then? But before they could ponder on it, Daruizen declared:

'I'm just here for you!'

He showed his right hand and released a sphere of purple energy at Grace. She barely got out of the way, so it blew up the bushes behind her, scattering leaves around. She only got a chance to stand up when Daruizen charged at her. He pushed her back with a barrage of punches, grunting as he let out his frustration. The girl could only block the blows with her hands, but soon, she surprised the byogen with a backflip. Doing so, she kicked his chin and lifted him off the ground. Daruizen grunted but by the time he landed, Grace was already ahead of him.

'Element of harvest!'

She inserted a light pink bottle into her Healing Stick which grew a glowing pink blade. Grace aimed her sword at her rival and threw herself at him. However, she couldn't hit him as he dodged her slashes left and right. He wasn't tired from a previous fight like she was. When she thought she got him, he blocked the sword with an energy sphere. It exploded and pushed the opponents apart.

They were both singed but Grace decided to ignore Rabirin's cry and tried again. She made a long jump towards Daruizen, but once she got close enough, he clasped the sword between his hands. He groaned and spun around with Grace still in the air, and then threw her horizontally. She flew deeper into the forest until she crashed into a tree and collapsed on her chest. It took her a moment to lift her head up and raise her wand in time.

'Paw shield!' Rabirin shouted, and a transparent pink barrier appeared before the girl. It protected her from an incoming ball of energy which exploded in front of her face. Grace's heart beat faster as she realized the danger of being alone right now. But it was too late to run, she had to push forward. She shakily pulled herself together and summoned the leaf element bottle.

She pointed her wand at Daruizen who was running towards her and fired a blast of pink energy his way. The byogen almost dodged it but the blast hit one of his outstretched wings and burned the tip of it. Daruizen whined, dropped to his knees and hissed repeatedly like he was in pain. Grace almost felt sorry for him but she had to take this chance. Maybe she could even revert him to his nanobyogen form, like they had done with Shindoine.

She drew a heart in the air with her Healing Stick and exclaimed: 'Element Charge!' She touched Rabirin's paw three times and twirled around, amassing the flower magic.

'Pretty Cure, Healing Flower!'

A powerful pink beam shot out of the tip of her wand. It swirled like a drill and headed straight for the byogen who was engulfed by the light. The beam slashed through the air and stopped coming from Grace's wand, vanishing into the ether. As the magic dissipated from the area, a flock of birds was heard flying away.

The girl panted, still pointing her wand at the spot where her rival had been kneeling. She was sure the blast had hit him but she didn't hear any "healing goodbye"

'Where did he go?' she breathed out but Rabirin just whimpered in confusion. Grace put her wand down and began to tread lightly forward, hoping to find Daruizen's nanobyogen. The magic should have only purified him...

In the quiet, she heard a voice echo from another part the forest: 'Graaace!'

'Sparkle?' She stopped and pricked her ears.

Suddenly, a purple sphere zipped over her head and struck the birch tree on her left. Before she grasped what was happening, a broken tree trunk came falling down on her. She only bent her head back before the log pushed her down and fell on her stomach. Grace yelped and became paralyzed by shock.

'Grace!' Rabirin cried from her wand which she had dropped.

Before Grace could collect herself, her hair and outfit glowed brightly and dispersed into pink sparkles, leaving her in her normal clothes. At the same time, Rabirin was forced out of the Healing Stick which then disappeared. The girl gasped as the weight of the log became heavier too. She shored up her arms on the ground and tried to lift it with Rabirin's help.

Her head jerked to the right when she heard steps. She gasped as she her eyes met the purple-skinned figure, seemingly unaffected by the attack, standing beside the log.

'H-How did you escape?' she blurted out in shock.

'Told you I mutated,' Daruizen grumbled, drawing nearer.

The gravity of her situation dawned on the short-haired girl. Even though she had saved the world from an evil king, it didn't make her any braver now. Maybe because she knew Daruizen and he knew her. Because he had hurt her so much and could do it again.

Rabirin was trying desperately to free her partner as she wiggled, despite knowing she couldn't escape anyway. After everything, this couldn't be how it ends!

Everyone registered the thumps of someone running through the forest. Nodoka knew that if Sparkle was looking for her, she was her only hope.

'HELP!' she cried out to whoever was there.

When Daruizen got too close, Rabirin hopped up on the birch log and charged at him. The byogen winced as her teeth sank into his exposed chest. He grabbed the rabbit by the ears and hurled the creature away like a ball.

'Rabirin!' Nodoka turned her head after her friend who disappeared in the distance.

By then, Daruizen crouched down to the girl, raised his hand and put his fingers together. Before Nodoka could push him away, his hand dug into her chest as if there were a portal. She felt pressure on her lungs and could hardly scream. Daruizen's hand somehow sank deeper, all the way down to his wrist. Nodoka was loosing touch with her surroundings, and her vision was getting blurry. The last thing she saw was the byogen melting into black smoke.