Episode Twenty-Four: Shadow of Revolution! The Kingdom of Sorrow!
Hinyu had genuinely believed in King Kagemera once. In his defense, he had been much younger then. Even he had not been immune to the average child's inability to recognize the true nature of things. Even he had once mistaken the posturing of the weak for actual strength.
King Shirotaku had been weak. Hinyu and his father had seen eye to eye on that one. Even as a boy of nine, he'd understood that a man like Shirotaku, who had prized negotiation, pacifism, and mercy above all else, was a man who had no right to preside over anything. A proper ruler wouldn't have been overrun so easily. A proper ruler would have made proper use of his resources, namely, those five magic warriors.
(His father had been the one to apprehend Princess Soyokaze. Hinyu had been impressed the first time, much less the fiftieth. It was the only notable accomplishment that waste of air had under his belt.)
King Kagemera, Hinyu had been told, was different. Kagemera was a man of strength, a man who had seen a weak kingdom withering away under an unworthy ruler, seized it for himself, and remade it in his image. Life had become far harder for this kingdom's plebeians under Kagemera, but even that was good. Hard lives created worthy people. It wasn't relevant to a young man of Hinyu's social standing anyway.
"Thank the gods for your fortune, Hinyu." his father had said. "Many men would kill for what we have."
And yet, in the end, his father hadn't remained content with that 'good fortune'. In the end, he had finally seen Kagemera for what he was - a weak man who hid his lacking intelligence and poor ruling ability behind his immense strength, nasty temper, and impressive arsenal. A shame that hadn't saved him in the end.
"A shame indeed." Hinyu muttered to himself as he stared out the window of Kagemera's bedchamber.
He could hear Kagemera's loud, ragged breathing behind him. Kagemera, who had taken another, much sharper downturn after what had appeared to be a period of recovery. He had been bedborne since, constantly slipping in and out of wakefulness and spending his conscious periods half-delirious He had gone from looking quite good for an ailing man in his early sixties to looking far older than he really was.
The Shade King was dying. And in his dying state, he could no longer conceal his weakness. He was too fatigued to be aggressive, too frail to hurt anyone, and too delirious to make proper use of his resources.
"Hinyu…" Kagemera's voice was raspy, barely above a whisper, and came in halting bursts. "Bring me Tsukimera. We need to discuss it. Our kingdom's future. While there's still time."
Hinyu didn't turn away from the window at first. Kagemera, the servants in this room, they didn't need to see how he was biting the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from bursting out laughing. This wasn't the first time Kagemera, in his addled state, had asked to see his son. It had yet to cease being amusing.
Finally, he turned to face Kagemera, seemingly the very picture of sympathy and concern. Kagemera sat propped up in bed, hollow-cheeked, haggard-looking, and a very far cry away from the man who had come very close to breaking Hinyu into pieces too many times to count. Ah, how the tables turn.
"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Your Grace." Hinyu sounded sincerely regretful. He always did. "Your son was sacrificed to the Tree three years ago. You ordered this yourself."
The utterly wounded look on Kagemera's face hadn't ceased to be amusing either, nor had the way his pupils shrank before he lunged forward, only to seize up and collapse backward onto his pillows. Hinyu politely excused himself as one servant called for a doctor and several more flew to Kagemera's aid. Let them try and extend his miserable life, just a bit longer. It didn't matter. Nothing they did could save him.
Hinyu paused en route to the castle rooftop to pull at his collar again. It was a relief to know Kagemera didn't need further "help" from him. The more he flexed the gifts the Tree had given him, the more that spread. He'd been overdoing it for a long time now, and it was threatening to show.
"Tch…"
He'd deal with the side effects long before he started putting down roots. Just like the Trio had been dealt with, just as Kagemera had been all but dealt with, just as Pretty Cure would soon be dealt with.
"You can bring them to our realm, can't you, Shahei?" he had asked her. "I'll attend to the rest."
Shahei had readily agreed, of course. Such an obedient little doll. She hadn't shown a hint of that willful streak since she'd been inducted into Kagemera's court. No, she was quiet, demure, and perfectly obedient. Even better at brewing tea than before too. A lesser man would have taken their eyes off her.
But Hinyu was not a lesser man. He was not like Kagemera, too caught up in the thrill of power and petty sadism to realize what his favorite target had planned for him. He had the strength Kagemera lacked.
"There's nothing to return to, you know." he had told her, the morning after the Trio had gone to their fate. "I can't provide any graves, but I'd be happy to show you the ruins."
Shahei had just smiled. "Oh, Hinyu-sama. I wouldn't want you to waste your precious energy. There are more important things that need doing, aren't there?"
Her reaction had not suited the girl who had stopped just short of throwing herself to the ground and begging him to spare her twin. Kagemera would have almost certainly written it off. But Hinyu hadn't missed the flicker of hatred in those eyes. He hadn't missed the hint of malice woven into those words.
Ah well. Shahei clearly knew better than to try anything. And she was far less clever than she seemed to think she was. All he had to do was give her something to vent that malice on. Then all would be well.
(Tamakushi didn't seem inclined to agree. Every time he turned around, her phantoms were hovering around Shahei, seemingly daring him to get too close. How odd. He thought she hated children.)
Hinyu inhaled deeply as he stood on the rooftop and leaned against the Tree of Wrath. He couldn't make out what it was saying this time, but he could pick out Tsukimera's voice, unusually clear and distinct among its agonized chorus. He was the Tree, more than its other victims were, wasn't he?
"Would your father understand the irony?" Hinyu idly asked. "I have to wonder, Tsukimera."
The Tree answered with what almost sounded like muffled sobbing. The significance of such a response, if Tsukimera was even capable of conscious thought after three years, did not matter to Hinyu. Either way, it was music to his ears.
School was back in session in Mirai Academy, and a new student had joined its ranks - Keiko Ninomiya, who proudly introduced herself as a genius witch, to a chorus of giggles and confused staring.
Half of Haruki's class didn't recognize Keiko at all. The other half swore they knew her from somewhere. All of them seemed to like her, especially the girls. She was cute, friendly and eager to please, and while none of the girls entirely bought the witch thing, they couldn't say no to free handmade charms or love fortunes. By the end of the day, Keiko had filled multiple orders for charms and netted three hangout invitations.
"I wish I could show them some real magic. The impressive stuff." Keiko lamented to Haruki during break. "But heroes have to guard their secret identities. Everyone knows that."
Keiko couldn't have shown the class the full extent of her magic or her spirit power, even if she had wanted to. She always denied this. Haruki and his friends knew better than to ask. But none of them had noticed how her eyes had gone slate gray, past the dark golden rings around her pupils, or how her appearance had shifted in some subtle way, or how she hadn't dropped her human guise at all.
She couldn't have. It wasn't really a guise, not anymore. Her human side was asserting itself.
Not that Keiko had a human side, of course! Not her! She was just too tired to transform and far too tired to exert herself! Pretty Cure knew what she'd been through! And could a pretty girl not change her eye color once in a while? A lot of other things had changed lately, why not her eyes?
She was a full-blooded spirit, thank you! Not half-human! And definitely not related to Shun or Kimiko!
"I don't think she's ready to believe us." Shun had told Pretty Cure over lunch. Keiko had blown her off in favor of eating with her new friends. "Maybe I should've waited. But… well, you know."
"I'm not sure it'd matter, Sieg-kun." Izumi said around a mouthful of yakisoba bread. "If I was Keiko, I'd be pissed no matter when you told me."
An uncomfortable look of understanding passed between the six teenagers. None of them knew much about the twins' upbringing. But what they did know didn't paint a happy picture. No wonder those two had been such easy prey for Hinyu. He must have been the first adult to pay them positive attention.
Shun and Kimiko were different, though. Neither of them had ever wanted for anything. Both of them had always been loved. And if the twins were their blood sisters, it meant that love should have been theirs too. That the Yoshimoto-Siegel sisters' cozy life in their estate was something they'd been cheated out of.
"What a story, dear Shun! But I know exactly who we are. We couldn't possibly be princesses!" Keiko had told the pair, in the wake of the news. "Besides! Shiori is my one and only sister."
Keiko wasn't unbothered by the news. Not at all. The air between her and the Yoshimoto-Siegel sisters had grown much colder since that moment. Keiko actively avoided Kimi, and she only came to Shun when she wanted something. The girl who had been earnestly trying to befriend Shun and start afresh was gone. In her place was the irritable brat that Shun remembered from her time in the Shade Kingdom.
Shun tried to be patient with her, of course. She knew how much pain Keiko was in. She knew exactly what was causing Keiko so much stress. She felt guilty for making it worse. She tried to reach out, but-
"Oh, for gods' sake, Shun!" Keiko had snapped, after the older girl made an earnest attempt at getting her to sit down and talk things out. "Go be understanding somewhere else, and leave me alone! "
And then she flounced off into her room before repeatedly slamming the door behind her. Keiko spent a lot of time locked in her room at home, despite being a social butterfly at school. She was working on something behind those doors. Shun and Kimi had heard her. Keiko played dumb about it every time.
The cord of Shun's patience was fraying more and more by the day. At this point, she was almost expecting to be ordered to clean up Keiko's messes or sent on errands Keiko knew were pointless or yelled at because Keiko felt like yelling at someone who wouldn't fight back, just like old times.
It'd been a long time since Shun had thought about those times in such bitter terms. But Keiko was making it really damn difficult to forgive and forget right now, between her behavior and dogged insistence on shutting Shun and Pretty Cure out of something that very much should have been their business.
"I know exactly what she's planning." Shun vented to Izumi between class periods. "And I know she's worried about those three! I am too! But verdammt noch mal , that doesn't excuse this."
Of course Keiko had reasons to be upset. There was this, of course, and then there were her siblings. Shiori was still Hinyu's prisoner, and Masaru and Shouta hadn't so much as sent a message. She was angry and worried sick. It was an awful combination. But did that excuse shutting everyone else out?
Keiko denied being worried. She was just trying to be smart about rescuing Shiori. Of course they'd all go, once she had a plan. And her brothers? Oh, they were probably underground somewhere, too busy doing cool rebel things to worry about their dweeby little sister. Not like she cared or anything.
Nobody bought it. Not when Keiko was looking more stressed and frazzled by the day.
"I don't understand Keinyan at all." Jun said. It was lunch period again. The six of them had given up on trying to invite Keiko. "I thought we were all friends now. Does she not trust us anymore?"
"I don't think that's it." Yasu said. "I think she feels guilty."
"We're public enemies in the Shade Kingdom, right?" Haruki looked unsettled at the thought. "If we follow her there, we'll be in a ton of danger. I bet she'd blame herself if we got hurt."
"And she'll be in even more danger if we let her charge in on her own. Especially if her powers aren't working." Izumi said. "She's planning on heading back soon, right, Sieg-kun?"
Shun nodded. "The portal ritual she put together should be ready by tomorrow." she said. "Keiko talks to herself while she works. She's pretty loud too. I wouldn't have known otherwise."
"Then we need to be ready to act." Hiroko said. "But if she knows that we know…" She hummed thoughtfully. "She would need space to open up a portal, right? Like we did. If we were sneaky about it…"
"...then maybe we could stop her before it's too late!" Jun leapt up from her seat and hugged Hiroko from behind, causing her to go hot pink. "My Hironyan is so smart!"
Yasu moved closer to Hiroko, laying her hand over hers. "It's one of her main charm points."
Hiroko went tomato red. She was far too flustered to manage a proper response. The way Shun and Izumi were looking at her and the way Haruki was averting his eyes wasn't helping.
Kichu, who was perched on Jun's shoulder, looked a bit concerned. "Chu chuu."
Jun finally let go of Hiroko. "I guess you're right. Keinyan will be really mad at us." she told Kichu. "But I'd rather have her be mad than get hurt. We'll keep Keinyan safe and save Shionyan, together!"
"That's right." Hiroko had finally found her voice again. "We have to try."
Keiko seemed to be in an especially good mood the next morning. She was even friendlier and more outgoing during class than normal, and she threw herself into each and every one of her classes. She didn't show a hint of stress or exhaustion, as if all of her problems had vanished overnight.
"Look at Keiko-chan go." Tian Lin, one of Haruki's classmates, said as she and Haruki watched Keiko clear the high jump bar during gym, with energy to spare. "Wonder if she's got a date or something."
"I don't think that's it." said Haruki. He hadn't missed Keiko's refusal to meet his eyes as she jogged past.
Lin sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god! I still have a chance, then."
All Haruki could do was smile and wish Lin good luck before gym class ended and everyone filtered towards the locker rooms. He should have been happy to see Keiko fall in with the other girls so easily. She really was one of them now, just like she'd always wanted. But…
…it was difficult to be happy when he knew why she was acting like this. Keiko knew she was walking into danger. Of course she'd want to make the most of what could be her last day here.
Finally, the school day came to an end. As the bells of Mirai Academy's clock tower rang out across campus, Keiko hurriedly packed her schoolbag, which was noticeably overstuffed, and slipped out of 2-2 ahead of everyone else. That was Haruki's cue to text the rest of the group.
Keiko kept her eyes fixed ahead as she cut across Mirai's campus and towards the school gate with a sense of purpose. She did not seem to notice the small and furry blue shape that trailed right behind her or the five larger figures that followed just a few paces behind.
Well, she didn't seem to notice at first. Keiko made it a few paces outside Mirai's gates before abruptly stopping in her tracks, wheeling around, and staring intensely enough to bore through steel beams. She was greeted by the sight of a whole lot of nothing.
"Oh." Keiko clearly regretted no longer having Shiori's extra pair of eyes. "Must have been the wind."
Hiroko and the others were frozen stiff behind their hiding places - several nearby trees, a sign, a mailbox. Even Muse was hiding under a discarded newspaper. None of them dared move a muscle or draw a breath until Keiko finally seemed to decide nobody was there and moved on with a huff.
Keiko's path took her away from Mirai Academy and through the shopping district. Every few moments, she would stop, turn, and stare, and Pretty Cure would scatter, hide, and freeze.
At least there was no shortage of hiding places. The group huddled behind sales displays. They grabbed newspapers from a nearby reading stand and hid behind them in unison as Keiko stormed past, oblivious. They even took cover behind Keiko herself, staying right behind her as she indignantly whirled around and around in a futile attempt to catch her pursuers before giving up and dizzily staggering off.
Hiroko and the others collapsed in a disoriented heap as Keiko disappeared into the distance. Muse ran ahead of the rest of the group until they recovered. There were many advantages to being a cat.
The central square was almost empty this time of day. That seemed to suit Keiko just fine. She took a moment to take an inventory of several items in her schoolbag - chalk, parchment, a jar of soil, several other unidentifiable baubles - before looking around and heaving a heavy sigh.
"Would you show yourselves already?! I know you're there, Pretty Cure!"
For a moment, Keiko was met with nothing but dead silence. And then Hiroko, Izumi, Yasu, Haruki, and Shun came tumbling out from behind a nearby narrow tree one after another like falling dominoes. Keiko stared down annoyedly at the five teens as they awkwardly disentangled themselves from each other.
"I mean all of you!" she huffed as she crossed her arms.
Keiko was answered with a rather ashamed-sounding "mrrrph" as Muse emerged from a nearby bush before shifting back in human form. Jun tried to explain herself. Keiko didn't let her.
"What is wrong with you people?!" she snapped. "What kind of heroes just sneak around like that, huh?!" She stomped her foot several times. "It's the worst! You're the worst! How'd you even know that-"
Keiko froze mid-sentence as that fell into place for her. Her pupils shrank in fury - and then Shun had an angry thirteen-year-old girl up in her face.
" You! You told them!" Keiko didn't seem to notice Izumi's attempts to pull her away or Jun and Haruki's pleas to calm down or Hiroko and Yasu's obvious disapproval. "It's like you're addicted to spying on me!" She drew herself up to her full height, all five feet even of it. "Stupid! You know why I kept you out of it!"
And with that, the cord of Shun Siegel's patience finally broke..
"No, I don't know why, because you won't say anything! " Shun snapped. Keiko reeled backwards, eyes wide with shock. "You're right - I did eavesdrop on you! What the hell else was I supposed to do, Kae?! I've tried to reach out! Over and over! And you throw it back in my face every single time!"
The sky above the central square had grown gray and overcast. It looked like it might rain soon. Or maybe, some part of Hiroko wondered, it was a portent of something more ominous.
"Why can't you mind your own business?" Keiko was doing a bad job of hiding how shaken she was. "You just… you think you're better than me, don't you?! You… Kimi… you both - argh!" Tears sprang to her eyes as she trembled in rage. "Of course you don't get it. You two were too good for the Shade Kingdom."
Storm clouds were gathering up above the central square. Or Hiroko would have loved to believe they were storm clouds. The tell-tale feeling of wrongness was absent, but something in the air had shifted.
Kichu poked his head out of Hiroko's schoolbag and sniffed dispiritedly at the air. "Chuu…"
Hiroko immediately went for her Puricell. Her teammates were following her lead. But neither Shun nor Keiko had noticed the impending danger. They didn't seem to see anything but each other.
Shun looked genuinely taken aback by Keiko's words. "What the hell do you mean by-?!" She drew a shaky breath. Calm down. Don't be rash. "Look. You're right. I don't know the Shade Kingdom very well. But I do know it's dangerous. Too dangerous for a girl whose powers aren't working to go alone."
"Y-yeah… you're right." Keiko's voice was badly cracked. "So do us all a favor and go home , Shun." She turned away sharply. "Who needs a weakling who can't fight, huh? People like that should just disappear."
Izumi immediately leapt to Shun's defense - or she would have, had Shun not motioned for her to stop. Izumi reluctantly stood down as Shun tentatively started towards Keiko, who was sniffling miserably as she hugged her arms to her chest.
"Nobody is saying you're useless." Shun said gently. "We just don't want you risking yourself needlessly." Keiko refused to look at her, even as Shun hesitantly laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm worried about you, Keiko. I wouldn't forgive myself if-"
Keiko roughly jerked out of Shun's grasp. "Like I need your pity!"
Hiroko swore she saw a bolt of lightning cut across the sky in the wake of Keiko's outburst. There was a foreboding feeling brewing in the air now, one that grew stronger by the moment.
"That's enough!" Hiroko started towards the pair. "Keiko, Shun, please get out of here!"
Hiroko may as well not have bothered. Neither girl acknowledged her at all.
Keiko fixed Shun with a death glare. "I don't want your sympathy! I don't wanna be part of your stupid family! And I don't! Want! This!" She gestured wildly to herself. "I feel wrong all over! Like I don't belong to myself! It's the worst! It sucks, and it's all 'cause I decided to stay in your stupid house! I hate it! I hate y-!"
"It's not fun when it's you , is it?!"
The words slipped out of Shun's mouth before she could give them any proper thought. Her impulsive verbal slap in the face instantly found its mark. Keiko's eyes widened in horror as she realized what she had come very close to saying, and she immediately backed away. She couldn't meet Shun's eyes anymore.
Shun almost instantly regretted her outburst. But before she could attempt to smooth things over, she became aware of the heavy sense of foreboding that had settled over the area. Izumi was trying to usher her away from the area, while Haruki did the same for Keiko.
It was too late. The sky turned a cold and foreboding dark gray, the warmth abruptly drained from the air, and the ground beneath the seven teens' feet seemed to crumble apart, giving way to a yawning black abyss. The group went plunging into the dark maw below them before they had a chance to react.
Shun felt her eyelids growing heavy as she and the others plunged downwards through an endless expanse of darkness. As she slipped into unconsciousness, she swore she smelled something sweet.
Hiroko's eyes flew open as she sat bolt upright. Her body ached all over, she couldn't stop shivering, and she felt like someone had piled heavy rocks on her chest. It was the air around her - it was stale, cold, and thick with that wrongness Nikuina always brought with them, to the point of being difficult to breathe.
She and the others were lying on cold cobblestone, in what appeared to be a wide intersection in an unfamiliar town. Various strangely antiquated-looking buildings, all faded and many in a state of utter disrepair, loomed around them. The light of the sun above contributed little in the way of warmth and was strangely dim, making everything look that much more foreboding. And as for the roads themselves…
…they were utterly destroyed. A vast network of thick, gnarled black roots had torn through them, upheaving and breaking through the cobblestones and leaving small rises and deep crevices in their wake. Navigating these streets with a vehicle would be impossible, and the idea of navigating them on foot hardly felt any safer.
Yasu was instantly at Hiroko's side, helping her to her feet. Hiroko got a good look at the source of those roots… and immediately tightened her grip on her girlfriend's hand.
A pitch black thing resembling a tree loomed in the distance. It grew upwards through the roof of an opulent palace seated on a high and distant hill, and its massively thick trunk seemed to stretch to the heavens. Its canopy was unfathomable in scope, appearing to span the entire sky and only allowing a drizzle of gray sunlight to filter through. Its webbed network of roots was as vast as the rest of it, growing infinitely outwards in every direction and surely leaving similar patterns of destruction in its wake.
That was the source of the Nikuina they'd been fighting, wasn't it? Hiroko could feel it in her bones. Which meant they weren't on Earth anymore. They were in the Shade Kingdom. In enemy territory.
Jun was cuddling a distressed and whimpering Kichu close, even as she helped up Haruki with her free handi, while Izumi attended to Shun, who seemed to be disassociating a bit. As for Keiko… she was nowhere to be found.
That was enough to pull Shun back to reality. She let out what could only be described as a three-way, high-speed collision between Japanese, German, and English as she scrambled to her feet and frantically ran a hand through her hair. All sorts of horrible possibilities were racing through her mind at mach speed.
"Scheiße, scheiße, scheiße… we can't just stand here, we need to-!"
Shun suddenly went quiet as she and the others realized they had company. Once again, there was a crowd of spirits, here to see the strange newcomers from another world. Once again, the crowd came in all shapes and sizes - a little girl with one large eye in the center of her face, an elderly bovine-like man, a towering woman who seemed to be made out of soil, a youth made of shifting fog, just to name a few.
But none of these people dared go near the six teens. Many just stared at the newcomers, hollow-eyed and fearful. Others frantically whispered among themselves, even as they also held their ground.
"It's them, isn't it? It's Pretty Cure! What are they doing here?"
" They're the ones who've troubled Kagemera? They're only children!"
"Come to seal us away again, no doubt. How disappointing."
Hiroko wanted to tell them that she and her friends didn't want to seal anyone away - in fact, Jun was looking for a way around that! She wanted to tell them that she was just as scared as they were right now. She wanted to ask them if any of them had seen Keiko. She didn't get a chance.
The sound of metallic footsteps marching in unison carried towards the group. Some of the townspeople froze like deer in headlights and others scurried off and vanished like frightened rabbits as multiple throngs of guardsmen in full-red-black armor flooded into the area from every direction. They all marched in perfect lockstep, road damage be damned, and they all had scarily sharp-looking swords at the ready.
Hiroko's stomach dropped. She knew the Shade Kingdom wasn't a safe place. She knew what she was signing up for when she agreed to become a Pretty Cure. She had experienced several close calls already. But being in enemy territory, surrounded on all sides with a slice of its military was…
…she had never been so aware of how young she and her friends were. Six youths in their school uniforms who'd be returning to unfinished homework and looming exams if they got out of this.
And they had to try, Hiroko told herself as she and her fellow Cures readied their Puricells, while Shun, who seemed painfully aware of how vulnerable she was in comparison, readied her Kirin crystal.
But they weren't able to try anything. The ground below them abruptly split open, and before any of the six could react properly, multiple massive black roots swiftly shot forth from the ground, wrapped around each of the teens like gnarled and woody octopus tentacles, and hoisted them high into the air.
As Cures, Hiroko and her teammates might have been able to free themselves from the roots' grip. But now their arms were bound to their sides, keeping them from transforming. And none of the townspeople were going to lift a finger to help them, not when that surely meant consigning themselves to a brutal punishment. And the hordes of armored guardsmen were steadily closing in. At this rate-
Haruki suddenly let out a gasp. "Everyone! That's-!"
Hiroko didn't have to ask what he was talking about. She saw it too - an ink-black eye that had suddenly sprouted on the side of a nearby building. Said eye widened in alarm and recognition as it met her gaze before vanishing-
-a split-second before two more bolts of lightning, one black and one yellow, rocketed towards Pretty Cure. No, not bolts of lightning. Two figures surrounded by spirit power.
Hiroko couldn't put a name or a face to these two. They were clad head to toe in black garb, and their faces were concealed with white masks marked with stylized black eyes. But she swore she recognized the wakizashi the smaller of the two readied as their taller partner readied their own dual kunai.
In a flash, the two figures launched themselves past the advancing guardsmen, too quickly for a single one to do anything about it, and towards the six teenagers in a single bound. With several rapid-fire slices of the pair's blades, Hiroko and the others were neatly freed from their bindings. And in the blink of an eye, the group vanished in a burst of spirit power before Pretty Cure could hit the ground.
It took a moment for Hiroko's brain to catch up with the rest of her, between the adrenaline flooding her system and the sudden whiplash of being teleported somewhere else so suddenly. When it finally did, she found herself in a modestly sized room with gray walls and a gray ceiling, which was lined with cots. Her friends, who looked as disoriented as she felt, were regaining their senses nearby.
"Don't worry about your friend… Keiko, right? She's probably catching up with her brothers right now."
That was the taller of their two rescuers, who had a soft, alto voice that Hiroko couldn't place.
"She ran into Yaya a bit before I found you guys." the shorter figure added. "She was really worried about you guys - I'm sure she'll be happy to know you're okay."
Shun looked considerably less frazzled at the news of Keiko's safe retrieval. Haruki, meanwhile, was regarding the shorter figure quizzically. Between that eye and that familiar voice, were they-?
They were. The shorter figure removed their mask, revealing none other than an accomplished-looking Hachime… who was promptly pulled into a tight hug by Haruki.
"Madoka-san!" Haruki's eyes welled with tears of happiness as he held Hachime close. Hachime's multiple eyes teared up as he leaned into the hug."I'm so glad you're okay."
"I told you, didn't I?" Hachime said as the pair parted from their embrace. "Heroes don't die that easily."
As Hachime and Haruki had their reunion, the taller figure removed her own mask and her black garb in one swoop, revealing a teenage girl with amber eyes and large, tufted cat ears poking up from her sandy blond bobbed hair. She wore a white and gold minidress over fitted dark gold pants and white boots. Her fingers were tipped with sharp, retractable claws, and her fluffy, sandy blond tail split in two around the tip.
"Tsuyama, servant to Lady Soyokaze." She bowed to the group. "I'm honored to meet you, Pretty Cure."
Jun's eyes lit up at the sight of a fellow cat… girl… cat girl. "It's an honor to meet you too, Nyama!"
"Chuuu!" Kichu added from his perch on Jun's shoulder. He nodded to Hachime as well. " Chu."
A curious trill escaped Tsuyama's mouth as she met Jun's gaze… and then her pupils dilated as her eyes zeroed in on something over Jun's shoulder - the Kirin crystal. Shun, who was antsily eyeballing the arched set of doors leading out of the chamber, still had it clutched in her hand.
"Oh!" And now Shun Siegel had a catgirl reverently genuflecting before her. She froze up awkwardly at the sight. Tsuyama didn't seem to notice. "Princess Shun! At last we meet!"
Tsuyama urgently motioned for Hachime to follow her lead, even as she continued with her reverent display. He shot Haruki an apologetic look before doing just that.
Shun had never looked so flustered."Ah… th-that's - there's no need for…" She swallowed hard. Her face was already going red. "Look, I'm not…"
Tsuyama looked up quizzically. "Hm? Would 'Prince' be more suitable? Or 'Princex', perhaps?"
Izumi was immediately at Shun's side. "Sieg-kun is a king. The Speed King of Kyoukai. The future number one racer in Japan! That's the only title she wants to hold."
Tsuyama looked up, inclining her head curiously. "Earth has racing royalty? I had no idea!" Shun could only imagine what was going through her head right now. "You're quite a character, Prince Shun!"
"N-no, that's just a-" And now Shun had completely lost her voice. She had to flail for a moment to find it again. "I'm only royalty by bloodline, okay? There's no need to give me special treatment."
Hachime was already eagerly backing off, but Tsuyama seemed a bit more reluctant, as if Shun had given her some kind of secret loyalty test and not a basic request. That was Hiroko's cue to step in.
"Excuse me? Tsuyama-san? Could you tell us about where we are?"
"Or at least where Keiko is." Yasu added. "She was looking for us, right?"
Tsuyama's ears pricked up at the sound of Hiroko and Yasu's questions, the twin tips of her tail twitched… and she suddenly snapped out of her reverent trance and leapt to her feet.
"Actually! I'd be better off showing you!" She shifted her focus back to Shun and Izumi. "My apologies, I simply… Shun? Shun is okay, right? - I owe Lady Soyokaze so much, and as one of her daughters-"
Hachime laid a hand on Tsuyama's shoulder. "Yaya. Please breathe." As Tsuyama, now beet red, caught her breath, he added "Lady Soyokaze should be arriving soon." He opened the door to the chamber. A dimly-lit corridor stretched outward from it. "Let's get going - I know she can't wait to meet you."
Soyokaze, Hachime explained, never stayed in one place for long. She was their leader, the central lynchpin of the Shade Kingdom rebellion, and most importantly, the woman who should have been sitting on the Shade Palace's throne and might yet inherit it. They could not afford to lose her.
"Lady Soyokaze never tells everyone where she is. But she always knows where we are." Hachime explained as he and Tsuyama led the others down the corridor. Glowing wisps bobbed along the path, lighting the way ahead. "Not that I can blame her. She's in more danger than the rest of us combined."
"She's the reason we've lasted this long." Tsuyama added. "We have a huge web of hideouts underground. They've found them but never us. And that's because of Lady Soyokaze."
Tsuyama raised a hand and muttered something indistinct as the group reached the doors at the end of the corridor. As they emerged, Hiroko felt an odd sense of whiplash, as her body tingled all over. She looked behind her… and was met with a solid wall, not the doors she'd thought she'd walked through.
They were in another, much larger chamber now - a massive, warehouse-esque space that was supported by multiple columns and branched off into various areas. This area was just as drab and colorless as the last one, and yet the many spirits milling about here were full of life.
Children and teenagers were laughing and playing together, people were happily sharing conversation over food and drink at one of several ramshackle tables, others were undergoing training drills together, and still more appeared to be discussing strategy amongst themselves or simply taking a moment to relax. It was a far cry from the dead-eyed and hopeless people lining the streets of the Shade Kingdom.
The air was positively abuzz with conversation - or it had been, until those present noticed Pretty Cure. The room fell eerily silent as a multitude of eyes honed in on the group. The only people who didn't seem confused by their presence were the only familiar faces - Kooyoo, Tobi, and… wait, where was-?
"Dear Shun! There you are!"
There was Keiko, whose loud voice cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter as she bounded up to Shun and grabbed her arm. She didn't seem to notice or care about anyone else's reaction.
"Keiko?" Shun stared at the younger girl in confusion. She couldn't have rebounded this quickly. "What are you doing?"
"What's with the stupid questions?" Keiko huffed as she continued to tug insistently on Shun's arm. "C'mon! There's a lot we need to talk about, isn't there?"
Ah. There it was. This must have been Keiko's way of opening the floor for a heart to heart. Shun shot Izumi a sort of 'what can you do?' look before allowing Keiko to lead her off. Kooyoo started after her… and then Keiko turned up her nose before leading Shun to the far side of the room, away from him.
Had something happened there? Hiroko had to wonder. But before she could ask, a gaggle of curious spirits, led by two teenagers that resembled Tobi, flooded towards the group. She and Yasu were the only ones caught in it - Kooyoo had flagged Izumi down, Hachime had gone off with Haruki, and Jun-
-well, Hiroko certainly didn't miss the two cats - one blue, one sand-colored - and one mouse that had slipped off from the group, no doubt to have their own private discussion.
"Is it just me, or is Keiko avoiding you guys?" Izumi asked Kooyoo, who had called her over to the training grounds before proudly introducing her to his workout buddies. "I thought she'd be stuck to you like glue."
Kooyoo nodded sadly. "I think she's still mad at us. I tried to say I was sorry, but she just ignored me. And then Kae kind of embarrassed Tobi in front of his… friend and then they fought and… I dunno what to do."
Kooyoo had put a little too much emphasis on 'friend' there. Izumi would've prodded him about that, but-
"Whoa! It really is one of the Pretty Cure!"
-someone else was hurrying towards them - a chubby and lightly-dressed fellow who resembled an anthropomorphic black bear. He looked beyond delighted to be in Izumi's presence… and Kooyoo looked a little awkward in his presence. Was this the friend?
"Oh, hi, Okuma-san!" Kooyoo said. "You're back early! Izumi, this is Okuma-san. He's Tobi's friend. Okuma-san, this is Izumi. She's the strong one."
"Tobi's told me all about you five." Okuma said. "He's a really swell guy, isn't he? Great in the kitchen, wonderful with kids, a total sweetheart - and he's friends with you guys!" He looked like he was ready to ascend. "He's had nothing but great things to say about you five - I've always wanted to meet you!"
Izumi wasn't sure how she kept a straight face at Okuma's description of Tobi. Yeah that totally sounded like the same guy who kept trying to fight her girlfriend over who did laundry better or whatever.
But! She'd let that slide! Because Okuma thought she was cool, and the many other burly and brawny spirits around her also thought she was cool, and damn it, she'd prove that she was even cooler than they thought! Yeah, there were other things to focus on, but when would she get another chance like this?
"Sorry, no autographs." Izumi told Okuma. "But I'd be totally down to show off my stuff." She turned to the gathered onlookers - "Wanna see me deliver a deluxe ass-kicking?"
The answer was a resounding 'yes'. That was all Izumi needed, She threw herself into utterly beating down one of the training dummies - all while showing off her gymnastics skills. It was good to be famous.
Hiroko and Yasu, meanwhile, were being pelted with question after question by the curious crowd of spirits. The questions were coming at too rapid of a rate for Hiroko to answer properly, and even if they weren't, there were plenty she couldn't answer. Especially when it came to how they'd arrived here.
Yasu hadn't let go of Hiroko's hand the entire time. She could endure crowds these days, but Hiroko knew very well that her girlfriend would never feel truly comfortable in them. Hiroko had already asked the spirits crowding the group to give them space for Yasu's sake several times, but her pleas had gone unheard.
And finally, this reached a boiling point for Potari Taka, who hadn't missed Yasu's obvious discomfort or Hiroko's mounting distress. They suddenly let out something between a human's shout and a crow's loud caw as their wings flared out, forcing several people around them to back off.
"Everybody, shut up! And quit crowding them!" Taka had an impressive set of lungs for a skinny fifteen-year-old. "You're making them nervous!" They sighed heavily as the crowd reluctantly gave Hiroko and Yasu more space. Both Cures looked thoroughly appreciative. "And one question at a time, okay?!"
For a moment, all was quiet. And then Hakucho shyly raised a hand. Taka nodded to their little sister.
"Is it really true?" Hakucho asked. "Is the Hallowed Wellspring really going to help us?"
"Of course." Hiroko said. "Even now, our friends in the Wellspring are looking for a way to help you guys. And the five of us will do whatever we can to help. I know it won't be easy, but we have to try."
One of the spirits in the crowd, a girl with weasel-like features, scoffed at Hiroko's words.
"Do you seriously think they want to save us?" she said. "You're a human, aren't you? The Wellspring doesn't care about you guys. If they did, we'd still be one kingdom."
Hiroko blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"We were given our powers for a reason - to protect you humans." a canine-like boy said. "And then those Wellspring jerks sealed their own powers away. Just so they'd have an excuse to abandon you."
"And they called us selfish for not giving them up." a kappa-like girl added. " We're not the ones making humans fight for them."
Hakucho's feathers puffed out. "Does it matter?" she shot back. "That was then, and this is now. I want to focus on the future they're making."
"You mean the future we're making. Together." Taka said. "And if Pretty Cure says that includes the Wellspring, then it includes the Wellspring. We need all the help we can get, you guys."
Hachime had not let go of Haruki's hand since he'd led him off. Haruki had no complaints. Holding hands with Hachime made him feel grounded and reassured, despite everything that was going on. He felt the same way whenever he held hands with Jun.
Neither boy said much, not until they found a fairly quiet area on the sidelines, away from the curious crowds. Only then did Hachime exhale slowly before speaking.
"It's not easy, being part of the rebellion." He kept (most of) his eyes on the crowd as he spoke. "I've almost gotten caught a few times. And I really miss my friends in the palace. But I don't regret it." He glanced over at Haruki. "Heroes do what's right, not what's easy, right?"
Haruki nodded. "And we owe you a lot for what you did, Madoka-san. You're an amazing guy."
Hachime went a bit pink. "You're just as amazing, Haruki!" he said. "I was so happy when I learned you became a Pretty Cure. You totally earned it - my fencing will back me up."
Before Haruki could ask Hachime who he was talking about, Hachime spotted and tried to flag down the guy in question - none other than Potari Tobi, who didn't even seem to notice Hachime, despite him being right in his line of vision. He didn't seem to notice anything going on around him, really.
Both boys exchanged glances before hurrying over to where Tobi was. Only then did Tobi seem to notice the pair.
"Oh uh, Hachime. Haruki. Hello." Tobi sounded oddly stiff and distant. "You guys really are close, huh."
Haruki felt a bit of heat rise to his face as he realized he still hadn't let go of Hachime's hand, and Hachime was clearly in no hurry to let go of his. Not that this was an issue. The only issue here was Tobi. Haruki had never seen him look so out of it.
"Is everything okay?" Haruki asked. Besides, well, the obvious. The Trio had been through a lot lately.
"Gods, no." Tobi said without hesitation. "It's Kae. I thought she was just having a sulk but…" He shook his head. "Something's wrong. Has she been acting strangely lately?"
Keiko was acting strangely. But it wasn't the kind of 'strangely' Haruki was thinking of as he told Tobi about Keiko's troubles and everything leading up to her fight with Shun, as he understood it. No, Keiko was acting like she and Shun hadn't fought at all and dodged the matter every time Shun brought it up.
"Does it matter, dear Shun?" she asked when Shun pushed the matter. "Let's let bygones be bygones~!"
No, Keiko had spent the whole time dragging Shun around the area (still avoiding her brothers all the while), introducing herself to various rebellion members and prodding them for information. Quite a few of them had identified Shun as Soyokaze's daughter. At least there weren't any more Tsuyama-level reactions. Not that Shun felt any less weird about it. Her? A political figure? There was no way.
A few people recognized Keiko as Shun's sister - and thus, a princess herself. Keiko just seemed confused every time this happened. Sure, it could have been more deliberate obtuseness on Keiko's end. But something told Shun that wasn't quite it. Something wasn't adding up here.
Not that Shun would get a chance to say anything about this. Before she could, a reverent silence fell over the hall, and the crowds made way for a new face. A face Shun had never seen but could instantly identify. A woman who looked unremarkable but carried herself with the dignity and grace of royalty.
Her mother. Yozora Yoshimoto. Or rather, Princess Soyokaze.
The crowd parted around Soyokaze, creating a vast clearing that the rebellion leader stood in the center of, a radiant beacon in a sea of people. Soyokaze did not call out to Pretty Cure or their allies. She did not have to. Shun found herself drawn towards her mother anyway, and it seemed that her friends were no different. Keiko, meanwhile, hesitated before reluctantly trailing after Shun.
Pretty Cure, Hachime, and Tsuyama promptly assembled and genuflected before Soyokaze. Shun, on the other hand, found herself hesitating on the inner edge of the clearing. What was she supposed to do? She was royalty herself, right? But she didn't want to be. Besides, Soyokaze was her mother. But here, she was a leader before all else. And it'd be rude to break the rules, but what were the rules for her?
Keiko was huddling behind her too. The girl was staring intently at Soyokaze… before flinching and ducking behind Shun as the rebellion leader glanced her way. Soyokaze was clearly the same kind of spirit as the twins and well… herself, with horns added, Shun noted. Keiko had clearly noticed that too.
"It's alright." Soyokaze told Shun and the others. "Everyone, please rise. I wish to receive you as equals. I owe you too much to demand otherwise, Pretty Cure." She nodded to Shun. "And I certainly can't ask that of my own daughter. Come here, Shun."
Keiko insisted on continuing to hide behind Shun, even as the latter approached Soyokaze. There was no way the younger girl, who was trembling a bit, would be able to keep hiding for long. But before Shun could say a word to Soyokaze about that, she found herself being pulled into a tight hug.
"I never thought I'd get to hold you again." Soyokaze whispered. "You were so tiny when I left. You really have grown so much" Shun could feel her mother's hot tears against her shoulder. "Oh, Shun."
Shun didn't remember the last time her mother had held her. Not clearly. She had only been three years old at the time. Really, she remembered Yozora as more of a mother-shaped void in her life than an actual person. She couldn't feel the same way about this reunion as Yozora… Soyokaze clearly did.
She wouldn't say a word about that. She would let Soyokaze have this moment, a moment that seemed to stretch out for quite some time before Soyokaze finally forced herself to release Shun from her embrace. She was clearly incredibly reluctant to do so.
"Forgive me." Soyokaze said, her eyes wet with tears, as the two parted from their hug. "I simply-"
Nobody had to ask why Soyokaze had gone quiet. It was Keiko, who had been left standing out in the open. Soyokaze looked absolutely stunned by her presence.
"Kae?"
A low rumble traveled around the chamber as Keiko stared confusedly at Soyokaze.
Tsuayama's eyes widened with realization. "Lady Soyokaze, is she-?"
Soyokaze nodded solemnly. "That's right. These two are the twins I spoke of. The ones I had to give up."
The rumble of conversation in the chamber intensified. People were alternately confused by 'those two' or stunned by what Soyokaze had just admitted. Shun found herself briefly locking eyes with Kooyoo and Tobi, who stood close by. Both boys looked utterly floored by the news.
Keiko, meanwhile, looked like she'd been slugged in the gut. "Give up…" she echoed hollowly. She was shaking all over now. Shun found herself moving a bit closer to her. "You… gave us up."
"I'm sorry." Soyokaze could not bring herself to meet Keiko's eyes. "It was not a decision I made lightly. And I intended to come back for you two, as soon as I could." She shook her head sadly. "But by the time I was able to, your guardian had already been killed. I was led to believe you two had died alongside h-"
"Quit saying 'you two'! Shahei isn't here anymore!"
Keiko's angry outburst reverberated around the room, sending a shockwave of surprise and anger through the crowd. Nobody talked to Soyokaze like that, and people were appalled that anyone, daughter of hers or not, would dare try. Not that Keiko seemed to care.
"And stop acting like you're sorry! You're not! If you were, you would've kept looking for us!" Keiko was on a roll now. "We waited in that orphanage for eleven years! K- I was so sure you'd come back someday! But you never did! You never tried! You cared more about your stupid army than us!"
The roar of the crowd had become almost deafening now. People were furious at Keiko. And Keiko noticed none of it. Not Shun, not Pretty Cure, not anyone else but Soyokaze, who quietly absorbed it all.
"You don't deserve to be anyone's mother!"
And that was the tipping point. The next few seconds were absolute chaos. The meeting chamber exploded with rage. People were calling Keiko a selfish brat, demanding she be expelled from the area, cursing her for speaking so rudely to Lady Soyokaze. It hardly felt like anyone was on Keiko's side.
Tsuyama was telling the crowd to stop insulting one of their princesses, Izumi was telling all the naysayers to shut the hell up, and the other Cures were closing ranks around Keiko, who didn't seem to notice. Or rather, Shun realized with horror, Keiko couldn't notice. She was disassociating heavily.
Kooyoo and Tobi shoved their way through the crowd. Kooyoo neatly scooped Keiko up. He may as well have picked up an oversized doll. She went limp as Kooyoo cradled her in his arms, staring blankly into space. For a moment, her eyes went dark gold before gradually flickering back to slate gray.
"Everyone! That's enough!"
Now it was Soyokaze's turn to roar at the top of her lungs. Her outburst silenced every last shred of conversation in the area.
"You will not speak to any of my daughters in that fashion!" Soyokaze somehow managed to maintain her dignified air despite clearly being beyond furious. "And I do not need anyone in this hall to defend me from my own mistakes! I will not suffer another moment of this! Is that understood?"
A low rumble traveled through the crowd. Tobi and Kooyoo took that moment as an opening to leave with Keiko, only for her to stop them with a prompt shake of the head and a whisper-quiet "Not yet."
Soyokaze was silent for a moment. Once she seemed absolutely certain there would be no further disruptions, she spoke again.
"Pretty Cure… everyone… this is not a safe place for you. It is in your best interests to return to Earth. At the same time… if I helped you do so, I would deprive you of an opportunity you might not get again."
"You're talking about the Umbra Carillion, right?" As Jun spoke, she reached into her schoolbag and withdrew the box holding the Lux Carillion. "Is that why you brought us here, Lady Soyokaze?"
Soyokaze looked genuinely surprised at Jun's question. "I was under the impression that Shun or Kae brought the rest of you here, in order to recover the Umbra Carillion. Is that not correct?"
Shun shook her head. "I have no idea how to do that stuff. And Keiko… can't. Not right now."
Soyokaze looked oddly somber at that. "So, your hearts really are with Earth." Her words drew another confused look from Keiko. "I see."
"Someone brought us here." Izumi added as she did a standing quad stretch. "Dunno who, but they did. We would've been history if Hachime and Tsuyama didn't save our bacon."
"Recovering the Umbra Carillion isn't our first priority anyway." Yasu added. "Rescuing Shahei is."
"She's Hinyu's prisoner." Hiroko explained. "Keiko thinks she's being kept in the Shade Palace." She glanced over at Keiko for confirmation. Keiko nodded half-heartedly. "If we can find a way inside…"
Soyokaze's gaze darkened. "Then you will be history. None of you are prepared for what Kagemera will throw at you." There was a haunted and distant look in her eyes, one that gave Hiroko chills. "This kingdom's Pretty Cure fell because they were ill prepared. Four of them lost their lives. Never again."
"We're preparing a strike against Kagemera right now." Tsuyama added. "There are a lot more of us than you see here, all over the Shade Kingdom. But we're not ready to mount an attack either. Not yet."
Pretty Cure and their allies exchanged glances. None of them were at all comfortable with just leaving it like this. But they'd already had their close call. And Soyokaze had already made her stance clear.
Kichu looked at Soyokaze worriedly, then Jun. "Chuu? Chu chuu?"
"You're right." Jun said. "If we have both, we might be strong enough to rescue Shionyan. And we only need one Shade Kingdom Cure to use the Umbra Carillon, right? That's how Iris-sama made it sound."
"And it'll take someone with royal blood to get to it, right?" Shun had withdrawn the Kirin crystal from her blazer pocket and was staring down at it. That crack had never looked so stark. "Someone like me."
Soyokaze nodded. "I would rather not do this. But I am sure you understand my position. If I attempted to retrieve it myself-"
"Then we'd all be screwed over. We know." Tobi didn't even bother hiding the bitter edge in his voice. He'd clearly lost every shred of respect he'd had for Soyokaze. "You're irreplaceable to everyone. Not like your kids. You know Shun can't transform, right?"
"Hey, we'll all be backing her up!" Izumi said. "I'd be a lousy girlfriend if I didn't!"
"You're always bailing me out, aren't you?" Shun leaned over and kissed a red-faced Izumi on the forehead. "Thanks. It means a lot to me." She shot Tobi a smile. "Glad to know you care too, Tobi."
Kooyoo jumped in before Tobi could say anything snarky. "Of course! If you're Kae's sister, that means we're your brothers!" Tobi's irises shrank in horror, and he began frantically shaking his head. Kooyoo was too busy patting a thoroughly nonplussed Shun on the back to notice. "We've gotta look out for you too!"
Tobi finally boiled over. "Excuse me?! Since when are we accepting her as-?!"
He was silenced by the reproachful look of his mother, who was watching him from the crowd alongside the rest of his siblings. Tobi was reduced to sheepishly muttering an apology to Shun before going quiet.
Keiko wriggled free of Kooyoo's grasp before dropping feet-first to the ground. "I'm going too." she said. "If this is the only way to save Shahei, then I'm helping. That's final."
"We're going." Tobi countered. He would have said more, were Washi not in the room with him. "I wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you." He glanced over at Shun and sighed. " Either of you, I guess"
Shun just smiled before taking a deep breath (her heart was beating in her chest like a jackhammer already) and punching a fist into her open palm. "Alright, then! Let's get it done! At top speed!"
Soyokaze laughed softly. "Don't slam the accelerator just yet, Shun. There are a few things I'd like to go over first." She motioned towards the rest of the group. "Now, if you will follow me…"
Soyokaze had never forgotten the young woman who helped her escape to Earth.
Her name was Shima. She had a striped, furry face, twinkling black eyes, and deft paws. She had been an acrobat with a traveling circus before being brought to entertain at the Shade Palace's court. She had been a skillful shapeshifter from birth and a talented actor from a very young age. She could have made a wonderful spy. But Shima had always been more interested in using her mimicry to make people smile.
King Shirotaku adored Shima. Everyone had. Especially Soyokaze. Shima always knew how to cheer the younger of the two princesses up, and Soyokaze had grown to see her as another older sister.
Soyokaze had run into Shima, not long after Seimono had smuggled her out of the Shade Palace. Her shapeshifting had allowed her to get past Kagemera's forces, and once she was back on the outside, she would rejoin her circus family. That was what she told Soyokaze while the two took shelter together.
But Shima had never made it home.
Kagemera would allow any member of the royal family to live. He had scoured the Shade Kingdom until he'd finally sniffed out Soyokaze's location. He had sent his majordomo, a man with graying red hair and soulless eyes, to deal with her personally. But the woman he captured that day was not Soyokaze.
"Where there's light, there's hope." Shima had told Soyokaze as she had taken her form. It was impossible to tell that this Soyokaze had a small, furry tail - a feature Shima had never been able to hide - thanks to her robes. "I will keep your light alive, Princess. It's the least I can do."
Soyokaze should have stopped her. She should have found a way to save herself and Shima, or perhaps she should have given herself up. It was not fair that her sister, Princess Hizashi, that Neseki, Kodori, and Setsume were all dead and gone while she alone lived. She had no right to ask Shima to die for her too.
But that was not what had happened. Soyokaze had just stood there, nodding numbly as the young woman wearing her face had gently dried her tears before stoically surrendering herself to Kagemera's forces. And Soyokaze had let her do it. Because she was as selfish as she was frightened.
That was why she had left her kingdom behind for thirteen long years. That was why she had flung herself into the arms of a man she barely knew, knowing she would never be able to return his love. That was why she had left her family on Earth behind without a sliver of explanation or a word of goodbye. And that was why she had abandoned her youngest children when she should have been there for them.
At her core, Soyokaze who had been twenty-five years ago. A frightened, desperate woman torn between a guilt-ridden sense of duty and a desperate desire to live. She wanted to redeem herself. She didn't want to die. She loved her kingdom more than anything. She wanted so badly to be loved.
She would not ask for the twins' forgiveness. She had failed them, just as she had failed so many other people. She would help them because she was their mother. She would not ask anything of them.
They would hardly be the first people Soyokaze had let down as it was. She had carved so many names into her memory at this point - friends, family, members of the Shade Kingdom rebellion. People who had perished or otherwise been left worse off because of her. People who had every right to despise her.
Would she be left with further regrets today? Soyokaze prayed that would not be the case. She had already steered Pretty Cure and the others away from certain doom. And she had carefully woven together a plan for the recovery of the Umbra Carillon together with them, her daughters, and several members of the Shade Kingdom rebellion, over a table strewn with paper in a makeshift strategy room.
"But I will not minimize the danger you'll be in." Soyokaze had told the group. "Kagemera's forces know you're here, and he has eyes and ears everywhere on the surface."
"And he can just keep throwing stuff at us, thanks to that tree." Hachime shuddered at the thought, and several of his eyes looked distant. "I've seen what he does when he wants somebody gone."
Haruki laid a hand over Hachime's. "It's okay. The five of us just have to keep our HP up against a few waves of enemies, right? Just until Shun and Keiko get the Umbra Carillion."
Hiroko nodded. "It won't be easy. And I can't say I'm not scared. But we have to try."
Keiko had said nothing the entire time. She had stood there, silent and unusually sullen, before going off to stand in the corner of the room and stare into space. She looked terribly sick. She would not let anyone go near her. She had remained that way until the time came for the group to depart.
Soyokaze had promised she would watch them from afar, that she would not let them come to any needless harm. But she had not followed them. Her daughters and their friends had marched off into danger, while she hung back in one of her many improvised throne rooms, surrounded by guards.
"You don't deserve to be anyone's mother!"
Kae had been right, of course. Soyokaze had been unworthy of that position from the beginning.
Her head was beginning to ring painfully. Soyokaze winced and raised a hand to her temple. Another vision was coming on - or it had been, until the doors to the room flew open, shattering her concentration. The guards in the room were on high alert as two rebellion members stumbled inside.
Soyokaze was familiar with these two - Matsu and Momiji, a canine-like brother and sister duo. The pair often went on scouting missions together - and this one clearly hadn't gone well. Neither sibling was hurt, but they were both pretty roughed up. Matsu seemed like he'd had it especially bad.
"Lady Soyokaze." Momiji genuflected alongside her brother. "We have apprehended a former general of Kagemera's and his subordinate. They claim to have defected, but-"
"-the conduct of the subordinate suggests… otherwise." Matsu was breathing heavily, and shifting just the wrong way clearly sent a bolt of pain through his ribs. "So does their choice to wear Kagemera's colors."
"It is part of me." the owner of an unfamiliar voice, who was just outside the doors to the throne room, snarled. "Learn to listen."
"They wish to have an audience with you." Momiji said. "I do not think this at all wise, but-"
"Bring them in." Soyokaze surprised herself with her own lack of hesitation. "I wish to speak to them."
Momiji and Matsu exchanged glances before hurrying out of the room. In a moment, they and several more of their fellow rebellion members had returned, now with two prisoners in tow, both with their hands bound. Soyokaze felt her breath catch in her chest at the sight of them.
She did not recognize the smaller of the pair, a ragdoll-like figure clad in robes of red and black, who was currently struggling against their bindings like an angry cat. But she did recognize the taller of the pair. Twenty-five years of service under King Kagemera had changed him significantly. But even then, she recognized the man she had called one of her dearest friends during her days in the palace.
"Seimono!"
Her guards were trying to stop her as she sprang up from her makeshift throne before all but throwing herself towards her old friend. This man had been one of Kagemera's top brass. It did not matter what he had claimed or that he had given himself up to them. He was still dangerous. His hands were still stained.
Soyokaze did not listen. She saw no reason to listen. Her own hands were far from clean, after all.
Seimono's eyes widened in shock as he met the gaze of the woman standing before him. His eyes were glassy and unfocused, he was unsteady on his feet, and from the look of it, he had not eaten properly for quite some time. But he was still lucid enough to recognize Soyokaze. How could he not have?
"Princess?"
Soyokaze answered him with a tearful smile and a nod. Seimono looked like he wanted to say something more… and then exhaustion finally overcame him and he sank to the ground, unconscious.
The Umbra Temple was in far worse shape than anything else in the Shade Kingdom. The roots of the Tree of Wrath had long since decimated the way to the temple, leaving it surrounded by a jungle of writhing black growth, punctuated by the remains of old infrastructure and the moldering ghosts of flora. They had even crept up the sides of the temple itself, which was slowly crumbling bit by bit.
Tobi could not remember a time where things had not been this way. By the time he was born, Kagemera was already seven years into his reign. That was seven years of all public religious gatherings being forbidden and all temples and the like being condemned. Kagemera had always loathed all shows of worship. He did not want anyone answering to an authority that was not him.
That was the commonly understood reason, anyway. It actually went deeper than that, according to Potari Hagetaka. There was a reservoir of ancient magic in that temple, a reservoir only the royal family could tap into. In the past, it had only been used in tiny amounts for ceremonial purposes. It was too powerful and volatile to be drawn on beyond that, at least in normal circumstances.
Something like that was catnip for Kagemera. And he could not get to it. The royal family was (understood to be) dead and gone, and the unsealing magic in their bloodline had died with them. Kagemera was now sitting on a reservoir of magic he could not use. And if he couldn't enjoy the Umbra Temple, nobody could.
Except the royal family wasn't gone. Its younger princess had lived, and she had given birth to four daughters. Two of whom Tobi loved as his own little sisters, and one of whom… he wasn't going to think about it right now. Hinyu didn't know Shahei was royalty. He would have been tripping over himself to exploit that if he did. And they would rescue Shahei long before he had that chance, gods willing.
Keiko and Shun had already gone on ahead. Pretty Cure had used their powers to clear a path to the Umbra Temple for the pair, while Hachime and Tsuyama chipped in to the best of their abilities. Those two would be guarding the princesses (it'd be a while before he got used to thinking of Keiko in those terms) while they retrieved the Carillon. And then? They'd dip, regroup, and figure out how to rescue Shahei.
As for Tobi and Kooyoo, they were just one part of a small group standing guard around the outer edges of the Umbra Temple grounds. None of them would be able to do much against an army of Nikuina themselves, but they could at least prevent Pretty Cure from being blindsided.
Not that Tobi had seen a Nikuina army yet. He hadn't seen a hint of anything for the past while. His grip tightened on his sword as the remains of the Tree's roots writhed at his feet. Something wasn't right here.
And before he could give voice to those concerns, Kooyoo let out a shocked gasp. Tobi squawked in alarm, wings fluttering as he leapt to attention, sword at the ready. But there were no enemies around and no sight of Nikuina on the horizon. No, Kooyoo was staring fixedly up at the sky above the pair.
"Hey, Tob? The sky's breaking."
Tobi followed Kooyoo's gaze… and felt his jaw practically hit the ground. Glowing white cracks were forming in a patch of sky directly above them, as if it were a giant eggshell, and something was about to hatch from it.
"Wait, wha-"
Before Tobi could finish that sentence, the cracking region of sky shattered, there was a burst of violet light, and Keiko Ninomiya came plunging from the sky, right on top of him. Tobi went down like a bowling pin, letting out another squawk as he landed face-down in the dirt with Keiko sitting on his back.
"Huh?!" Kooyoo looked absolutely dumbfounded. "Kae? How'd you do that?"
"I broke through." said Keiko. She looked and sounded thoroughly out of it. "Kinda like in that episode of Kirakira Knight Squadron where Cerah got stuck in the dimensional prison and-"
"Would you get off already?!"
Keiko jumped in alarm as she realized she was sitting on top of Tobi, who didn't look at all happy to be used as a landing pad. As Kooyoo helped her up, Tobi struggled to his feet, muttering a string of oaths under his breath as he brushed himself off. Wasn't Keiko supposed to be… oh, hell. Oh. Hell.
"Kae… have you been there this whole time?"
Tobi had a feeling he already knew the answer. And indeed, Keiko answered with a nod.
"Someone opened a portal to the Shade Kingdom, and we all fell in." she explained. "And then I was floating in some dimensional space place, so I did what Cerah did and figured out where the walls were, and then I kicked the walls until they broke, and… why are you guys staring at me like that?"
Tobi had gone white. "We already sent you ahead with Shun. To retrieve the Umbra Carillon."
Kooyoo looked no less unsettled. "That wasn't you , was it?"
Keiko's stomach dropped like a rock. "No. It definitely wasn't."
She had no idea what was going on here, or where she was, or what an 'Umbra Carillon' was or why it needed to be retrieved. But now she knew who had brought her and the others here. Who had trapped her like this. And who the 'Keiko' who had gone with Shun was.
And she knew exactly what she… no, what the three of them needed to do.
Keiko still couldn't use her powers. But that wasn't an issue at all. Kooyoo had already scooped her up in his arms and was charging full-tilt towards their destination, as Tobi kept pace and prepared to slingshot them forward with his teleportation. Things might have changed, but the Magnificent Trio was eternal.
But would they be able to make it in time?
Shun always felt a bit nervous before a race. She was always painfully aware that she was one fumbled jump, suspension malfunction, or collision away from a trip to the hospital or worse. And yet, once her bike had crossed the starting line, those worries melted away. In those moments, nothing else existed past the road ahead of her, and the anxiety that normally plagued her thoughts was an alien concept.
She was trying to think of her infiltration of the Umbra Temple in these terms. Forget the risks, focus on the goal, and let the adrenaline carry you to victory. It wasn't working. The Speed King of Kyoukai was severely out of her element and would have to coax herself to the finish line.
Shun and Keiko were not unguarded. They had Tsuyama, who had trained extensively to protect Soyokaze and her children. It was the least she could do after Soyokaze had saved her life.
"A proper bodyguard must never come unprepared." she had told Shun during their strategy meeting. "You and your sister will be in the very best of hands - I can prove it."
She had laid her kunai out on the table… then a set of shuriken, then a kodachi, then a blowgun, then a kusarigama, then a set of smoke bombs, then a folding bo, then caltrops, then a tanto, and then Hachime had to stop her, because otherwise, they would be here all day.
"Yaya's really dedicated, in case you can't tell." Hachime playfully told Shun, who couldn't help but stare as Tsuyama rapidly re-equipped herself (where was she keeping all of that?) "I'm not quite as much as a warrior, but I've trained a lot since I left the palace. I'll do whatever I can to help keep you guys safe."
The two had done a wonderful job so far. Tsuyama melted into the shadows shortly after the group had stepped into the stale-smelling, moldering entrance hall of the Umbra Temple. Shun had not seen her since, but she had not missed how bits of stray rubble blocking their path suddenly vanished, or how the writhing black roots that had grown through the walls and ceiling seemingly fell to ribbons on their own.
Hachime, meanwhile, kept an eye out - or rather, multiple eyes as he took point ahead of the pair. Murals, columns, walls, and ceilings sprouted a blinking, solid black eye or two for a moment, scouting every angle for possible threats. There were none. Kagemera's forces had not followed them here at all.
Keiko had not let go of Shun's hand the entire time. Her grip grew tighter and tighter as the pair followed the path Soyokaze had mapped out for them. She must have suspected the same thing Shun did.
This was going way too smoothly. Kagemera's forces had pounced as soon as they'd arrived. Why were they holding back now? What did they have waiting for Izumi and the others?
Izumi… Shun was beyond worried about her girlfriend right now. But turning around wouldn't do her any good. Not when she wouldn't be much help to Izumi in a fihgt. Not when she had been entrusted with something only she and Keiko could do. And not when the finish line was so very close.
A dimly-lit, dusty, and stale-smelling chamber. A pair of doors, bound by a network of thorny vines and foreboding blue roses. A scene from her dreams. Shun's heart pounded like a jackhammer as she and Keiko entered the chamber. As the pair approached the doors, the knowledge of how to open the way forward floated unbidden into Shun's head. It felt like a switch had suddenly been hit. Keiko seemed to be no different.
"Let's do this together." Shun told Keiko. "It's only fair."
Keiko said nothing. She simply smiled and nodded as the two stepped forth, still hand in hand. Neither of them seemed to notice that Hachime was gone, and all hints of Tsuyama's presence had evaporated.
Shun closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused. The air around her began to buzz with power as she felt something deep within her flare to life. Words she did not understand and had never formally learned flowed forth from her lips as she unconsciously moved her free hand, willing the way before her to open. The power building in the air built to a crescendo, washed over her head like a wave-
-and Shun's eyes flew open. The vines binding the doors to the Umbra Carillon's chamber had fallen away, leaving the doors wide open… and Keiko had disappeared from her side.
And then Shun felt a presence at her back and a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry."
Shun felt a sudden, sharp pain lance straight through her back, as the dimly-lit chamber rapidly flickered light blue. Her pupils shrank and the color drained from her face as pain exploded throughout her body, causing her legs to go right out from under her.
"Keiko?"
Shun had been impaled before. This was far worse than that. It felt like getting run through with a sword that had then exploded into tiny bits of shrapnel. Every fiber of her being burned with agony, and her limbs had gone completely numb. White spots were beginning to dance in her vision, and her head was swimming.
"Why?"
Shun was not dignified with an answer. She was left to slowly crumple to the ground as her vision went completely white. Even then, even as she teetered on the edge of unconsciousness, she could sense Keiko staring down at her.
No… that was wrong. That wasn't Keiko, was it? That had never been Keiko. And she had failed to notice until it was far too late.
"Rest well, Siegel-san."
That was the last thing Shun heard before she finally fell unconscious.