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Dissonance

Event VIII

Reality

Breakfast was over and everyone went their separate ways. There was not a sight to be had of Kanade. Hibiki was in a foul mood because of her argument with her friend and Itsuki had little success in getting her to cheer up.

"About what did you fight anyway?" The yellow Cure had a hunch. The cold and angry glare Kanade had shot right at her seconds before she left the room earlier were a pretty clear indicator that she wasn't pleased Itsuki slept with Hibiki.

"I don't even know! Kanade's always like this, she just suddenly rants about this and that and gives me the fault. She acts like it's all my fault!" Hibiki was not exactly the most mature or objective person during an argument. That hadn't changed at all in these past two years.

"So you don't know why she's angry?" Itsuki was leaned against the wall across the bed wall while Hibiki was laying face down on said bed.

"How would I know?!"

"Now look Hibiki, you can be a bit dense so maybe you should think about this a little more. I have a pretty good idea of why she's angry, but no proof. You're old enough to solve your own arguments though. I really like you, enough to protect you from any unjust anger directed at you anytime, but I think this one might not be completely unjust." Itsuki couldn't shake off the idea that Kanade had figured it out. She had always had a hunch that it would be bad if she knew and now she had a confirmation of sorts. There could only be one reason why Kanade was angry too: She liked Hibiki for more than just her friendship.

But that was a difficult matter. Those two had been together for quite a few years. They were on the same team. And if Kanade really liked Hibiki that way, it likely wasn't just since yesterday. That Hibiki wouldn't notice unless Kanade went and told her straight out seemed more than likely. The girl was a little unresponsive to subtle hints and the like.

"I'm not dense. Kanade is just being unfair like usual. It happens all the time." Hibiki buried her face into the pillow. She always, with no exception, felt absolutely miserable when she fought with Kanade. Like a big hole had been ripped into her chest and someone filled it with ice. Even being around Itsuki wasn't really that fun while she knew Kanade was angry with her.

The taller woman sat down on the bed and patted Hibiki's back. It didn't take a master detective to see that Hibiki was being miserable. But there was no easy way out of that situation. She didn't want to lose Hibiki so despite knowing that it was a little cruel, Itsuki kept her mouth shut about Kanade.

"I'm going back to sleep..." Hibiki felt terrible and didn't want to go to the arena like that. She'd only be a deadweight for everyone else.

Sunshine waited until Melody had fallen asleep, which didn't take more than five minutes. Leaving the pink Cure to herself, Itsuki went out and ran straight into a black Cure, who she now recognized as Cure Muse, and a silver Cure, Moonlight.

"Itsuki, great timing. Can you come with us and help us out?" Yuri was not one to usually ask for help but Sunshine had proven in the last year that she was extremely reliable. "We want to test a few things and we need someone who can put up a shield."

"I could use the distraction. Let's go." Itsuki was eager to bury her worries about Kanade under something else. She would have to confront the whole thing sooner than later and worrying about it right now wouldn't help at all.

"It's rare to see you all worked up. Did something happen?" Moonlight had known her friend for four years now, easily able to see when something was bothering her. Sunshine was a terrible actor when it came to hiding her feelings.

"It's complicated." Sunshine thought it would be kind of cruel to talk to Yuri about her problems when she was clearly troubled herself.

"There are a lot of complicated things going on with your team Yuri." Ako interjected, not uninterested in what was bothering Sunshine. "You might learn something new from other people's view on things."

Sunshine sighed as they walked and took a deep breath. "You probably didn't catch wind of it yet but I'm sleeping with Melody. She's cute, wild, funny, a little bit of a tomboy just like I used to be. I really like her." Itsuki looked at Muse from the corner of her eye. She was part of Melody's team, but it didn't seem to faze her at all that the girl was sleeping with Sunshine.

"I'm pretty sure that Rhythm also likes her and figured out I'm sleeping with her. I don't want to cause a huge fuss but I don't want to end this relationship just like that either. Muse, you're on her team, aren't you? What do you think?"

"Kanade has been in love with Hibiki for years. It was as obvious as daylight even when I just joined the team. Hibiki is much too dense to realize it and Kanade is too stubborn to just come out and say it. I'm actually surprised you managed to get Hibiki to realize what you wanted from her." Ako was indeed surprised at the turn of events but hid it well.

"There was no way she could have not understood what I told her. Anyway, I have no idea what I should do now. I'm not sure how Hibiki feels about Rhythm and to be honest, it scares me a little." Itsuki found herself talking openly about her feelings to someone that might as well have been a complete stranger.

"I know Hibiki likes Kanade but I think she doesn't even realize it herself. It would be a miracle if those two ever got together on their own. But you're right, this is a complicated situation." Muse had quite a bit of insight into those things.

"So it all depends on whether Melody likes Rhythm or Sunshine more." Yuri joined the conversation.

"That's not very reassuring." Itsuki didn't really want to lose Hibiki to someone that couldn't even say 'I like you' to the face of the one they liked.

"How serious are you about her?" Ako was touching on an even more serious subject now.

"I... don't know for sure. I really like her, but I never been with anyone before. It's difficult to tell if I really love her or if it's just liking her. Thinking of losing her to Rhythm does pain me quite a bit. So I guess I'm pretty serious about this." Sunshine had no problem getting her feelings across once she herself was sure what they were. But to get there wasn't really that easy.

"This might come over a little sour from someone that's on the same team as those two, but in that aspect, you're losing to Kanade." Muse didn't feel comfortable saying it but she knew it was true. Kanade was so heels over head in love with Hibiki that Ako couldn't see her giving up on her. Not unless Hibiki went and told her she only wants to continue being friends. That might devastate Kanade.

"Love isn't simple, is it..." Sunshine sighed.

"It's not. Sometimes it hurts. Not just you but others too. And rarely, it can even be cruel." Yuri thought about her own situation. Deep down, she knew she would have to eventually budge on giving up Momoka to guarantee her safety in the future, after this ordeal. But her heart and her mind were refusing to give in just yet. Not after all the time she spent with her. "This is far enough." Moonlight stopped and looked around. They were in a wide, open room. It was good enough for their needs.

"What exactly are you going to try?" Itsuki had powerful defensive capabilities but she wanted to make sure of what was coming for her before they started.

"I can give short, one-time power-ups to my own team and want to see if it works with others too. It's based on how harmonious I am emotionally with them. I've talked to Yuri quite a bit now, so she's the first one I try this with." Ako explained.

"Essentially, you'll put up a shield and I will try to smash it with a punch or kick." Yuri stated and took position on one end of the room, Itsuki walking to the other end.

"Ready when you are." The look in Sunshine's eyes changed. She stopped thinking about relationships and the likes. Her thoughts were focused entirely on battle. "Sunflower Omega!" A five layer shield appeared in front of her, the strongest defensive ability she had developed over the years. Five layers were her absolute limit for now.

"Muse." Yuri took position and aimed at the center point of the shield, where it was the strongest. "Crescent..." Silver energy was collecting in her hand, slowly forming a small sphere.

Muse lifted her arms and spawned two rows of piano keys in front of her. "Grandioso Tone!" Her hands descended on the key pieces and a deep, loud organ sound emerged from them. At the same time, Yuri jumped at Itsuki. "...Cleaver!" Slashing the shield with her bare hand, a majestic crescent moon composed of silver light appeared in the air above her for a second.

"Failure." Yuri stood in front of Sunshine and looked at the shield. Only the first layer had a deep cut, the other four were untouched.

"I guess we're not quite there yet." Ako was disappointed but not entirely surprised. She had needed months to get it working with the other three on her team.

"I'll take a walk. I'd say I need some fresh air, but I guess it doesn't work like that here. I still need to clear my head. See you two later at the match." Sunshine waved as she left the two behind. She needed some time to think.

=== Dissonance ===

"Focus. Keep an eye on your allies. Fight as hard as you can." White was giving final instructions. The group of eight had assembled in front of the door. Only seconds remained before it would open. They all knew that instinctively, like an inner countdown was running in their heads.

With a creaking noise, the doors swung open and they looked into the already familiar red light. The sensation of their anger, their aggression and drive to fight, being heightened to the level of where it started to affect their judgment.

"Go." White and Black were the first to go through, followed by Mint and Luminous and Lemonade, Aqua, Marine and Blossom the last of the pack.

The temperature was so vastly different that chills ran over their body. It was cold. At best, around five degree Celsius. Strong winds were blowing, making hair and costume flutter. A gaze above, and they looked at vast darkness, a gaze below, and they looked at vast darkness. The chasm with it's towers.

The group was spread out, one Cure per tower, all of them on the western side. And they had a good look at the Cure's on the eastern side. Black and Marine were the vanguards for the light team, Bloom and Bright the equivalent for the dark team. A grand total of eight towers in the middle were free.

Seconds passed and the winds died down for a second, raising the tension in the air. Their vision clear, no unnecessary thoughts in their minds, a mighty gust of wind pushed against their bodies, trying to throw them into the chasm so it might devour them. The fight was on.

Luminous and Lemonade joined up with Mint immediately, three quick jumps each. A golden light enclosing the light team, the green barrier went beyond the limits of the platform, a giant sphere of protection, Lemonade and Luminous inside, one a guard, one support.

Black and Bloom were the first to make contact. Heading straight for each other, the clashed in the middle of the central tower, the highest of all, easily more than twenty meters above the others. "Blacklight..." Nagisa stared at her friend like any other enemy. "Gaia..." An exchange of brutal punches. "...Devastation!" "...Tremor!" The collision shook the air and the tower. Their powers unequal, Black was forcing Bloom back.

Nobody dared to set food on that tower, frightened of getting caught up in their fight. Nobody but Bright. "Full Moon Destruction!" Black was forced to let go of Bloom and evade the powerful attack. The red haired Cure hit the ground with her attack and left a sizable crater in it. It was now two versus one. Ignoring the danger, Marine joined up with Black. She was the only one on the team that could possibly keep up with her in a physical fight thanks to her copying ability.

Egret and Windy tried to join the fray but were intercepted by White, who was confident enough to take both of them on. She had more experience at fighting alone than the two of them and she had superior crowd managing skills.

Passing right by them, Melody, Rhythm and Sunshine headed straight for the strategy point of the light team, the sphere of protection by Mint. Aqua and Blossom tried to intercept and stop them dead in their tracks, but they faced an enemy of unknown potential. Muse.

Marine was far superior to Bright and Bloom in terms of speed and versatility but her power was lacking quite heavily. Black made up for that with ease. Under the influence of her friend Hikari, she was on par with Bright, who was making a name for herself as the strongest physical fighter of them all.

"Buy me some time." Bloom had to seal Marine's movement somehow. She had fought her before, and she was bad news, especially together with Black. Bright nodded and rushed at her enemies. Marine jumped at her with a drop kick but Bright had more experience than her. Grabbing the cyan haired Cure by her ankle, Bright slammed her into the ground, aiming a punch right into her face. But she still underestimated Marine. Her legs wound around Bright's arm, Marine grinned. "Blacklight..." Bright had no time to react. "...Devastation!" Marine grinned and nothing happened as Bright covered her face. The blue Cure let go of Bright and pushed both her hands right against the stomach of the confused Cure. "Marine Break!" A huge shot of blue energy broke right through her body, causing massive internal damage. The red haired Cure fell to her knees and spit out a large amount of blood.

"Blacklight..." Black didn't miss the chance and tried to finish Bright off before she recovered. But she was not quick enough. Bloom had abandoned her initial plan upon seeing Bright lose in terms of wit to Marine. Black took a blow straight to the stomach, followed by a series of punches she was barely able to defend against with her arms crossed.

Bloom had excellent intuition and grabbed the sneaky Marine from behind her back by her hair and whirled her straight at Black, giving Bright enough time to get back on her feet.

Surprisingly, Egret and Windy had trouble getting close to White. They circled around the purely white Cure who stood in the center of the lower tower, following both of the other Cures with her eyes. "Whitelight..." Both Egret and Windy rushed at the Cure to stop her from using her special attack. They fell straight into Honoka's trap. Turning around, grabbing Egret first because of her superior speed, White raised her knee as fast as she could, landing a hard blow right into the purple haired Cure's stomach, stopping her from defending herself. Tightening her grab, she whirled the Cure around, straight into Windy's path, who had no time to evade on time. "Whitelight Illumination!" White hit both Egret and Windy with full force, the explosion sending fragments of stone flying everywhere.

Or so she thought. Windy and Egret were covered by an azure blue shield, both of them panting hard. "Tempest of the Azure Sky!" With a single blink of an eye, the oldest of the three lost sight of Egret, leaving only Windy behind. Another blink and her back was hit, making her topple. A third blink and her face was hit hard, forcing her back. Windy was carefully standing back, looking at the rest of the battle.

"Echo of Glory!" Melody hit the barrier as hard as she could but didn't even make a scratch. Mint was powerful on her own but with Luminous using her 'Queen of Light' right next to her, nothing could touch her.

"Stop it Hibiki, you're only going to hurt yourself." Sunshine, Rhythm and Melody had taken position on a tower that was close to the light teams strategic base where Mint, Luminous and Lemonade were protecting them.

Muse was somehow keeping both Aqua and Blossom in check. They had to somehow break through before the light team started taking out people. "Guess all your brute force is pretty useless now." Rhythm made a snide remark, clearly still sour about earlier.

"Not like you're any use either." Melody fought back and glared at her partner.

"More than you at least. But that's nothing new, is it?" They were saying things they didn't really mean. Arguing in a state of heightened aggression was a really bad idea, yet that didn't stop them.

"I'll take down the tower. That will force them out. You two take care of things then." Sunshine ignored their argument, hoping they could get their shit together for just five minutes.

"No thanks. I don't need any help from someone like you." Rhythm turned away from Sunshine, not without a glare.

Lemonade was watching the spectacle with interest while Mint and Luminous had to concentrate. For the enemy to be in such a sorry state of teamwork was really lucky.

"Will you stop being childish for even five minutes?" Sunshine wasn't exactly in a situation where she had infinite patience for arguments.

"Do whatever you need to do. I'll clean up after Melody's mess as usual." Kanade's mouth moved faster than her thoughts.

Muse was on the defensive, fighting two versus one. Aqua was a tricky opponent and Blossom was much faster and stronger than she expected her to be. "Blossom Impact!" Muse put up a shield of piano keys to deflect her blow but was still forced back a little. And she had lost sight of Aqua again. Jumping out of reach for Blossom, the black Cure looked frantically around to find the blue Cure. "Aqua Pierce." Aqua's words were whispers in the winds. Muse was not quick enough with her barriers to avoid the attack. Several needle thin water beams shot through her hands and arms, leaving almost invisible holes. Muse grit her teeth in pain. So that what it was like to fight another Cure?

Muse didn't get a break. Blossom was right in front of her, grabbing her shoulders and pulling, ramming her knee right into the black Cure's stomach. Once, twice, thrice and following up with a sweeping kick. Blossom had trained hard to catch up to Moonlight. She wasn't quite there yet, but she could easily keep up with Marine and Sunshine.

"Blast Symphony!" Muse slammed her hands on the ground and she turned the entire platform surface into piano keys. With a disharmonious wail, the keys shot right at Blossom, hundreds of them, each exploding with but a small force.

Ako looked frantically for Aqua. "Aqua Pillar." Something hit her in the back so hard that she was throw through the air like a bag of sand, losing all sense of where up and down was.

"Enough!" Bright was growing tired of playing tag with Marine. "Moon in Dusk!" Bright collected all her energy into her right fist and smashed the ground below her. The impact was so great that the tower itself collapsed under the power, separating the four of them. Bloom and Black were in a grappling match, trying to overpower each other, falling down into the chasm with the debris of the tower. Bright retreated to a nearby tower and so did Marine. They was about twenty meters difference between them.

Marine jumped high into the air, far beyond where Bright could reach her. "Marine splash shot!" Creating an orb of cyan energy in front of her, she knew that distance was the key to beat or at least delay Bright almost indefinitely. The orb broke into a dozen fragments, raining down on Bright. "Splash shot, splash shot, splash shot, splash shot!" Marine didn't let up, fully abusing her advantage in speed and mobility.

Bloom had managed to get away from Black, running up the side of one of the towers, followed closely by her enemy. The battle was a mess and they were unevenly matched. They couldn't go on like that. Hopefully none of the other three were knocked out yet.

White took a brutal hit from two sides at once. Egret had used her ability and both she and Windy were far outside White's class of mobility now. Another blow to her face, a heavy kick sweeping her off her feet. She couldn't even see her enemy anymore.

Sunshine had finished collecting energy and aimed. "Take them out when they leave the barrier." The fight was clearly not going in their favor and she had to turn that around. "Thunder God Obliteration Blow!" A single punch directed at the thick pillar supporting the platform in front of her. Sunshine remained standing but the recoil literally pushed her a few centimeters into the stone.

"Now, Melody, Rhythm!" Sunshine couldn't move for another ten seconds because of the exhaustion that came with the attack. And only Rhythm shot straight past Sunshine, head first, crashing right into the collapsing tower. Turning around, Hibiki was on the ground, entangled in golden chains.

"Pay more attention." Lemonade jumped and heel-dropped Sunshine right into the ground. Not letting up, she heel-dropped her again, even further into the ground. The third time was interrupted by Sunshine grabbing her other ankle, pulling and throwing her off balance. Her face was roughed up and blood was flowing from her nose.

Mint and Luminous had all but vanished from Sunshine's line of sight. They had to be somewhere safe though. Lemonade's power wasn't dropping, which should have happened if they took out Luminous. She had exhausted herself by destroying that tower all for nothing.

Rhythm was trying to free Melody, but with little success. The chains were heavy and extremely tightly wrapped around Hibiki's body. "Hurry up!"

"This isn't easy, so shut up, I'm trying!" Rhythm had no nerve for Hibiki's bitching right then.

"If you can't get me out, go and help Sunshine!"

"That's all you care about, isn't it?" Rhythm was approaching her limit of how much shit she was going to put up with.

"What are you talking about?" Melody was not in the mood to have another useless argument.

"I don't even matter to you anymore, do I? You just trample all over my feelings like that and then act like nothing is wrong! Did you ever stop to think what I felt when I saw you act all cutesy with her?"

"I have no idea what you're even talking about!" Melody tried to break free from the chains but they didn't even creak.

"Watch out!" A pretty roughed up Blossom had shown up right behind Rhythm. A kick straight to Kanade's face sent the white Cure flying right against Sunshine, who was struggling against Lemonade's weapons. Her right arm was entangled into a golden chain and it refused to come off. Usually, being in close range to her opponent was an advantage for her, but Lemonade would simply completely tie her up given the chance. The two cures were on the ground, trying to regain their balance. They had to get out of there.

Blossom stood right over Melody. "Blossom Regal Impact!" Her whole arm was glowing with power, her face dead serious. She was going to knock the defenseless Melody right out. "Itsuki!" Hibiki cried out for help.

Sunshine saw no real choice. Rhythm was just being a bother, so she grabbed her and threw her right at Lemonade, who was so surprised at the act that she dropped the chain. Sunshine barely made it in time to grab Melody and carry her away. Blossom smashed the ground below her to pieces.

Rhythm found herself double teamed by Lemonade and Blossom, who didn't pursue the enemy yellow Cure and instead focused on the white one. Rhythm was glaring at the back of Sunshine. She hated that woman.

Trying to escape with a powerful jump, Kanade didn't manage to get out of Urara's range quickly enough. A chain wrapping itself around her leg, she was flailed into the ground like a yo-yo, again and again. Spitting blood and heavily roughed up, Rhythm tried to get rid of the chain on her leg. She had completely forgotten about Blossom. Her thoughts were everywhere but at the battle at hand. "Blossom Regal Impact!"

Rhythm was hit straight in the back and toppled over, falling flat on the ground and not moving. She was knocked out. Lemonade nodded to Blossom, who was surprisingly merciless in battle. Mint and Luminous had retreated to a pillar much further below the others and remained there.

Black had reunited with White and was now facing off against Bloom, Egret and Windy. Three versus two was not as bad as two versus one. With a mighty leap, Black rushed at Bloom. Egret and Windy took position to take full advantage of her headless frontal assault. They had no time to evade when Black dropped flat on the ground to evade her partners attack. "Whitelight Illumination!"

Egret and Windy were hit with full force but Black didn't get off unscratched either. Bloom had jumped straight through the aftermath of the blast, ignoring her two friends, and landed a hit right into Black's stomach.

But even that had an aftermath. Marine had been on the run from Bright and successfully left the enemy Cure behind. "Blacklight..." She was right behind Bloom, who had just attacked Black. To add to the difficulty of the situation, Black grabbed Bloom's arm and hold her in place. "...Devastation!"

Marine hit Bloom right in the face, flipping her over in mid-air. Unmoving, the enemy rolled over a few times and went limp near the edge of the platform. Black had taken considerable damage from the attack as well, but she wasn't quite done yet.

Marine dropped like a bag of sand just seconds after the attack went through. Windy came crashing down as well, unconsciousness from using Stormflair on Marine. Black lost her small window of escape in the brief confusion. Egret landed right on top of her, using the acceleration of her fall to increase the power of her kick. Black gasped and lost all sight of Egret, who had just hit her with a powerful kick in the same spot Bloom had hit seconds before.

Aqua was facing off Muse. Alone, the black Cure was a much more potent enemy than the blue Cure wanted her to be. She was losing ground. "Aqua Mist!" Aqua vanished from Muse's sight but Ako was on to her trick. "Tremor Symphony!" Hitting her piano keys again, massive vibrations shook the air, distorting the air exactly where Aqua was.

The blue Cure was hit by a lightning fast kick, flying right over the edge of the platform and smashing into the side of another tower. She couldn't take much more than that. And Muse didn't give her any chance to recover. "Blast Symphony!" The same attack as before, Aqua was hit by countless exploding keys, taking continuous damage.

Muse stopped her attack, wanting to see if Aqua had been knocked unconscious yet. A grave error. The blue Cure was nowhere to be seen again. "Tremor Symphony!" Muse used the same attack as before but couldn't find her enemy in time. A strong wave of pain shot through her body. Looking down on her, a blue blade was poking right out of her stomach. Aqua's blade.

Gritting her teeth, Muse rammed her elbow into whatever was right behind her. A cracking sound signalized that she broke something. The blade was pulled out and a thin stream of blood was running from her wound.

Turning around, she found Aqua holding her face in agony. "Power Symphony!" Muse played a final piece for her enemy. As if hit by an enormous fist, Aqua was crushed into the ground, leaving an physical impression on it. Knocked out.

Bright had finally caught up with Marine but the cyan Cure was already down for the count. Egret and White were facing off. Bright saw Sunshine fleeing from an enemy and headed in her direction.

Honoka knew she could beat Mai. Leaping forward, Egret copied her attack, unleashing the first attack, a heel-drop from mid-air. White blocked the hit with her arms crossed and retaliated with a roundhouse kick that missed Egret by only a few centimeters, the purple haired Cure covering barely in time.

"Whitelight..." Honoka knew she wouldn't have time to use the attack. It was a trap. Mai knew that. But if she didn't attack her to stop the attack, she would hit her with her special move. One way or another, it was a losing situation.

Egret jumped straight off the platform, much to White's surprise. She was clever. If there was no actual ground nearby, she couldn't use Whitelight Illumination. But Honoka didn't give up that easily. Jumping straight after Mai, the two white Cures faced battle during free fall towards a bottomless pit.

White landed the first hit, straight to Egret's face, the counter coming straight to her stomach. The next hit to her chest, the next counter to her stomach again. A no-defense match of who could outlast the other. A series of blows, kicks, punches exchanged with no regard for their own safety.

Sunshine had trouble carrying Melody and getting away from both Lemonade and Blossom, who were in pursuit of her. Lemonade pointed towards the platform where both Marine and Black were down and Blossom gave a quick nod, separating from the two yellow Cures, one hunting the other.

Tsubomi knelt down next to Marine and readied herself for her special ability. It was difficult to do in the arena, but she had to pull it off nevertheless. A massive pink energy flow left her and went right into Marine, who opened her eyes and tried to warn Tsubomi. The pink Cure had noticed too late that someone had caught wind of her trying to pull something. "Full Moon Destruction!" Bright flattened Blossom like a fly, hitting her so hard that she literally bounced off the ground twice before laying down.

Marine, not even getting up, aimed straight at Bright's stomach, which was just in reach. "Full Moon Destruction!" Bright, getting hit by her own attack, toppled over and laid on the ground, twitching and holding her stomach in agony. "And this is for Blossom. Blacklight Devastation!" Marine hit the back of Bright, the energy blow shattering the ground below the Cure. Bright was out for the count.

Sunshine had stopped on a platform, putting Melody down and facing Lemonade. There was no way to get her out of there without giving Lemonade a massive beating. And there was only one way she was going to be able to do that. Charging at Lemonade head on, Itsuki discarded tactics and strategy. And it worked. Lemonade was so surprised by the unusual approach that she didn't get her chains up in time.

Sunshine overwhelmed Lemonade, pushing her on the ground, punching her face with full power. It didn't take three seconds and she felt two cold chains rattling around her neck, trying to suffocate her. Sunshine hit Urara as hard as she could, the chains tightening at an alarming rate. She couldn't breathe anymore and the pain was almost exceeding her threshold. Just how much damage could Lemonade take before she was down?

Itsuki, instinctively, grabbed the chains at her throat, quickly turning pale and fighting to breathe. Overcoming her primal instincts, Sunshine continued to hit Urara, whose face was bloody and beaten. Itsuki was losing sight of the face of her opponent and kept hitting her. A race against time. Who could endure more pain?

Marine saw Sunshine fighting someone on the ground. She was almost there when she was hit by a kick combined with a back-flip. Muse, pretty beaten, was attacking Marine. The cyan Cure was pretty roughed up herself.

"Blast Symphony!" Muse was not going to pull any punches. If she took one or two more hard hits, she was not going to be able to stand up. Unable to stop the bleeding from Aqua's attack, pain was shooting through her body.

Marine was too fast to get hit by the projectile attack, jumping from platform to platform, approaching Muse. "I don't have time for you." Erika was in a foul mood. "Full Moon Destruction!" Erika opened her eyes wide when her hand hit a wall like steel. Muse had put up a barrier right between her stomach and Erika's fist. The barrier broke apart from Marine's hit but Muse remained untouched.

Erika side-stepped Muse's heel-drop and used a sweeping kick to pull her off her feet. "Blacklight..." The short Cure stopped her attack when Muse created another barrier in the middle of the air, using it as stepping stone to get away.

Enough was enough. Going at her maximum speed, Marine caught up to Muse in a matter of seconds, putting both her hands right on her stomach. "Block this. Marine Royal Tempest Impact" Seven continuous blasts of energy rocketed Muse's body, causing severe internal damage and completely shredding part of her costume. The black Cure dropped to the ground and shrunk in size, her costume turning from black to yellow.

Melody was finally free, but at a price. Sunshine had lost consciousness despite winning over Lemonade. Taking a quick look, she found that most of the fighting was over, unconscious Cures littering the ground.

But one was still up and kicking. Melody barely blocked Marine's punch in time, retaliating with a kick and a series of punches. In close combat, she had the advantage. "Echo of Glory!" Hibiki shattered part of the ground, missing Marine by an arms length.

"Whitelight..." Marine was running out of magical energy, having overused the special attacks she copied. Having Luminous blessing or not, she was having a hard time using any more energy blasts. "...Illumination!"

Melody was hit by the energy blast and thrown high into the sky. "Brutal Melody!" The pink Cure summoned a number of notes right around Marine, who took the blast straight to the face. In the confusion, Melody descended down on her enemy and hit her with a violent heel-drop. Marine was down.

Was she the last one standing? Melody looked around but couldn't see anyone. Counting the knocked out Cures she could see, there were four of them missing. Three of the other team, one of her own. Five seconds later, it was obvious where two of the missing Cures were. A green barrier was suddenly trapping her and a green and yellow Cure appeared behind her. Aqua wasn't the only one that could hide things. Luminous had trained quite a bit to at least hold her own in a one versus one.

Melody hit the barrier with full force, shattering it. The punch was returned to her at equal power. Hikari used the rare chance to show at least one person that she wasn't helpless alone. "Six Lights of the North!"

Six spheres of light energy appeared in front of Luminous, flying straight at Melody and impacting with the force of a grenade each. "Eight Lights of the South" Another set of spheres, this time appearing around Melody and impacting at her slightest movement. The pink Cure had no chance to fight back.

"Punishment of the Dark King!" An attack that a certain someone had taught her. Twelve pillars of light shot out of the ground and encircled Melody. "Judgment!" The pillars converged and Melody screamed out in pain, the energy piercing her body.

The pink Cure dropped to the ground like a bag of sand. Mint and Luminous looked around but couldn't see anyone else. "Why isn't it ending?" Mint was confused and looked to where Aqua was to go and nurse her.

"I don't see White and Egret."

The two white Cures were still brawling but at the end of their line. They had fallen so deep that no light from above could penetrate the darkness down where they were. Fighting in complete darkness was difficult. White had enough. It was risky, but she had endured it once already.

"Whitelight..." Her left hand was laid on Egret's stomach, who tried to get away but couldn't. White was grabbing her throat with her right hand. "...Illumination!"

The white flash of energy burst through Mai's body, instantly knocking her out. The energy, having nowhere to go, erupted through Egret and hit Honoka as well, who didn't have the stamina to endure an attack like that. The two of them continued to fall, both of them unconscious.

=== Dissonance ===

Yuri had waited in the living room for the combatants to return. The first to show up were Bloom and Egret, the two of them looking incredibly exhausted and a little roughed up. Yuri could tell just from the unsatisfied look on their faces that the battle hadn't gone well.

"There's no change in team favor. It's kind of depressing to have lost again." Saki sat down one chair left of Mai, who sat across Yuri.

"They were really organized and had Luminous on their side." Mai rubbed her stomach. She was still feeling the pain from White hitting her with a kamikaze attack.

"Are you two feeling okay?" Yuri seemed a little concerned. "How hard was it to fight in the new field?"

"It's chaos. Pure chaos. The platforms are small, there's almost no way you're going to get back up once you fall off the lowest platform. We were shooting at each other with special attacks half the time, despite the risks." Mai explained, resting her head on her arms.

"It's either a ranged blast off or close combat chaos. Either way, we were at a real disadvantage this time. Marine was a real pain in the ass this time. What kind of unfair ability is that, copying other people's attacks like that?" Saki was quite unhappy with how things turned out.

"Don't whine. We tried our hardest and lost. Teams will change. The moment when positions are reversed will come eventually." Mai patted Saki's head and sighed. "I lost against Honoka again. As far as battle goes, I'm always a step behind."

"Judging by the look on your faces, we lost again." Michiru walked into the room and sat down next to Saki. "Kaoru's in her room, getting some rest. Using Stormflair always puts a huge amount of stress on her mind. This round really sucked. I hate that field." Michiru was all but in the mood to act.

Rhythm joined the group of four and sat down at the far north end of the table, not even saying anything. Her face looked like sour grapes and worse. "I guess some of us stomach this a little less well than others." Mai lowered her voice, not wanting to further piss off the blond Cure.

"So the area changes after a few fights. That means we'll be stuck with this field for now." Yuri was simply thinking out loud. "Maybe we should just get a few one versus one battles quickly over with... and hope that works."

A few minutes of silence passed and Egret actually feel asleep in her chair, her head resting on the table, on her arms. Saki was leaned on the table as well, looking at her sleeping partner with a kind smile.

Itsuki, followed closely by Hibiki, were the last two to join the group of beaten Cures. Sitting down near Yuri, to the southern half of the table, Hibiki didn't even deign to look at Kanade once. She was still mad that she brought their fight into the battle.

"We were beaten pretty badly this time around I guess. Melody was taken out by Mint and Luminous, who were still in top condition when everyone else was out. I somehow managed to take out Lemonade before the lights went out, but it seems that didn't help much." Everyone felt partly responsible for the loss, but nobody bothered to utter even a word of regret. It was a team fight. If any of them would say as much as sorry, everyone else would feel obliged to do the same.

"Maybe we wouldn't have lost if a certain someone hadn't gotten herself tied up like a five year old." Rhythm was starring at the empty seat in front of her, not bothering to look at Melody. But her words were clearly audible for everyone in the room.

"Look who's talking! If you had actually tried to get me out or away from there instead of blabbering on, things would've gone differently!" Hibiki was fighting back, staring at Kanade.

"Blabbering? I was blabbering? Is that what my feelings mean to you? Blabbering?" Kanade met Hibiki's stare and responded with her own.

"That's not what I said! Stop turning around what I say! You're always like this!"

"And you're always like this too! Can't you ever get a clue what other people are thinking? Do you need everything spelled out for you in big, golden letters?"

"Well, excuse me I can't read thoughts!"

"I'd think you've known me long enough to get a hint."

"Again with this! I don't get what you're talking about!"

"Really? You still have no idea what I'm talking about? If your head doesn't work, maybe you should at least use your heart a little!"

Hibiki went quiet all of a sudden, a few very specific gears in her head starting to turn.

"Do you really need to me to spell it out for you? When it's so obvious? When I gave you so many hints, all the time? I... I..." Kanade's lips formed words but no sound came out. Her face was as red as a strawberry. "Forget it. This is stupid." Looking away, Kanade walked past the table and left to the other side, leaving behind a confused Hibiki and a very annoyed table.

"I'm going to sleep Itsuki." Hibiki was so angry she could have eaten a whole cake and it wouldn't have changed her mood. That she specifically addressed only Sunshine tipped Mai off as to what was going on between those two.

After the pink Cure left, Sunshine sighed deeply. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"It's not your fault. Is it?" Mai usually followed her policy to not meddle in other people's arguments, but after they fought with each other like that right under her nose, she couldn't help it.

"I guess somewhere you could say it's my fault when it comes down to it." That she was innocent and hadn't intended to cause the two friends to fight like that didn't matter. It was her taking Hibiki from Kanade that incited the argument.

Mai kept quiet, not saying anything else. Itsuki clearly felt guilty, she didn't want to make her feel even worse than she already did.

"I'm going back too. I'm exhausted. Night everyone." Sunshine got up and walked away, waving as she left. Walking straight past her room, she stopped in front of Kanade's. The girl was a lot like she used to be. Unable to go after what she really wanted. For her, it had just been the way she acted, but for Kanade, it was the girl she loved. Liking another girl and telling her was hard enough. To add to that, they have known each other for quite some time.

Not knocking, just opening the door and walking into the room, Itsuki found Kanade sitting on her bed, her head sunk into the pillow on her knees. The second she walked through the door, Kanade shot an angry glare her way. "What do you want?"

"For you to actually do what you want to do." Sunshine closed the door and looked at who Melody most likely considered her best friend. "Hibiki might have realized you have feelings for her after your fight just now, but she's never going to know for sure unless you tell her."

Itsuki glared back at Kanade. "I once did the same thing you're doing now. I lost so much time until I realized that it was wrong to go about things like that. I don't care how long you've known her or what you think of me. Hate me, whatever. If you ever want to have a chance with Hibiki for real, you need to stop only dropping hints and tell her face to face you love her."

"That's easy for you to say. What did you have to lose? You barely knew her." Kanade wasn't going to let an almost complete stranger talk to her like that.

"That's not what this is about and you know that. You're smart and you've known her for so many years, I can tell that much just from what Hibiki tells me. And yet, you don't realize that yes, she does need you to spell it out for her. Hibiki is like that. She's not stupid, but a little dense. Even if she now starts to think you like her, she would never act on it without knowing for sure. If anyone is at fault that she is with me and not you now, then it's you." Itsuki walked up to Kanade's bed, towering over her.

"I didn't steal her from you. She was never yours. You're hiding behind hints and subtle acts, unable to say what you really feel. I like Hibiki, and I am honest with her. I tell her what I feel. If you can't even do that much, how do you expect to ever be with her?"

Itsuki turned around and glanced over her shoulder. "As far as I'm concerned, I think you can't even face your own feelings. If you could, you'd tell her, regardless of what the outcome might be. Consider this advice because I was in a similar situation once." With those last words, Itsuki ended her lecture, opened the door and walked out, leaving behind an angry Kanade.

She knew that every word that woman had said was true. But changing herself, facing her feelings like that was easier said than done. She was simply too scared of Hibiki rejecting her... and now, too, choosing Sunshine, not her.

When Itsuki returned to her room, she found Hibiki on her bed, looking very gloomy and confused. Sitting down next to the poor girl, the older Cure put her hand on Hibiki's. "Are you feeling okay?" She really cared for Hibiki now, despite knowing her for only a short amount of time.

"I dunno... Kanade. If... I mean... what she meant when she said I should use my heart..." Hibiki could feel deep down in her heart what Kanade was hinting at now. But was that really it? Could she been mistaken? What if Kanade meant something else? "Itsuki... do you think Kanade... likes... me?"

"If by like you mean love..." Sunshine sighed. She wouldn't help Kanade anymore than she already had. "That's up to you and her to figure out."

"Yeah... you're right. I just... don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't wanna risk losing her again. I don't want to go through what I went through in middle school ever again. Not talking to her, not seeing her."

"This is something you need to figure out by yourself Hibiki. The only advice I can give you is that you will always regret not chasing after something you want." Itsuki took off her boots, hair ties and gloves, laying down on the bed. She was too exhausted and even a little frustrated with the situation at hand to do anything tonight. "Want to go to sleep?"

"I'm scared Kanade might hate me now..." Hibiki felt a little like crying but the feeling passed when Sunshine hugged her tightly from behind.

"I barely know her but nobody could hate you for being who you are Hibiki. At least nobody that has been your friend for years."

"Maybe you're right..." Hibiki closed her eyes, falling asleep as she reached for the blanket. The confusion, the fight, the bickering, all of it was too much for her.

=== Dissonance ===

"Eas." Setsuna opened her eyes, opened her mouth, knelt down. Where was she? What was she doing? The air felt familiar. The ground felt familiar. The voice that spoke a name she had long discarded. She wanted to never hear again. She had buried in the deepest part of her memories.

"You have done well." A voice so dreadful, her mind was shaking. Her hands were sweating. Her eyes were painfully trying to look in every direction at once, looking for the origin of it. But her body refused her will. Her body refused her wish. She knelt. And smiled.

"I exist to serve you, Lord Moebius." Setsuna couldn't believe what she was saying. Moebius? But he was dead. He was history. They had beaten him, destroyed him, freed Labyrinth!

"You infiltrated their home. Their lives. You got so close to them, they trusted you like their own. You have served me most excellently." Setsuna stood up and looked at a face that sent chills of terror down her spine. Moebius.

What was happening? It had to be an illusion. It couldn't be real. She had escaped from Labyrinth, had become a Cure, had found happiness. She had spent years with Love, the person she liked more than anyone else in the world. She had found friends among other Cures even. She experienced sadness, happiness, fear, courage.

"I can see you are still confused. Fear not. Soon, the memories of your dream will fade and you will be as you were. Your mission was a success, but you were critically wounded in the process. You slept for a long time to recover." The voice spoke to her and she couldn't believe what she was hearing. A dream? No. That couldn't be true! No dream was that detailed, that long!

Her head started to hurt, her body moved on it's own. Walking away from the voice, she approached a dark corner of the room. A horrible stench was reaching her nose. The stench of decay and death. Each step echoed through the room. She was swelling with pride. A mission nobody thought possible. A mission to once and for all get rid of those pesky Cures.

Her hand reached out to the shadowy corner, her black gloves masking the feeling of touching hair. Pulling on something, Setsuna cried out in terror inside her mind. Eas smiled. She smiled upon her prey. Upon her trophy of victory. Upon the person whose silly trust and care would betray herself and bring about her doom.

"No! No! No!" Setsuna was crying inside her mind, frantically trying to regain control over her body, trying to look away, trying to shut down her mind. But she had to look. She was forced to. Against her will, her eyes feast on what she did. On the cruelty. The absurd violence. The damage, the decay.

She wanted to run. To blind herself. To close her mind, to forget. It had to be a lie, a trick, an illusion! It couldn't possibly be real! It just couldn't! After all... she and Love... she was... everything to her. For her to... no... no, no, no, no, no. Setsuna couldn't think straight, refusing to accept what she was seeing, smelling, feeling, tasting.

Dragging her spoils of war over the ground after her, Eas noticed that something stuck to the heels of her pumps. A red that was slightly different and liquid in nature. She was amazed that there was still some around. If she had truly slept that long, it should have dried up long ago.

Eas walked back to where she had knelt earlier, dragging her trophy all the way over there. With a single powerful swing, she threw what she had pulled so far in front of her lord and master. A corpse. A corpse of a blond girl, maybe fourteen years old. Love's corpse.

Her whole body was showing deep cuts, her eyes were open in wide terror. Eas started to remember. That day, she had asked the human called Momozono Love out to a secret meeting spot. Her human disguise, Higashi Setsuna, a ruse to gain the trust of the Cures, had outlived it's purpose.

That wasn't her. She didn't do it. She couldn't kill Love. She could never hurt the one person that meant the world to her. Love saved her. Love gave her life meaning after Moebius abandoned her. She was supposed to believe... she... she... killed Love?

No... but... she remembered. She remembered everything. How she called out Love. Revealing herself before the girl, Eas remembered quite vividly her terror, her disappointment. She could see, smell, taste how Love's heart broke, her trust betrayed, her feelings toyed with. The battle had been hard, but without anyone to back up her, she stole away victory.

The memories were so vivid. So real. Were they real? Did she... did she... really do it? She felt like throwing up, nauseous, sick, disgusted with herself. What if... what if she did it? What if this was reality? Had Milky Rose killed her and that caused her to wake up? Was her time with Love really just a dream?

Her thoughts raced. Don't let that be. Don't believe it. Refuse it. You love her. You can't kill her.

And yet, there she was. Her corpse. Right before her eyes. The stench of decay and death. The feeling of satisfaction that she wasn't feeling. It was Eas that felt it. Was that really her? Was she still Eas? It had to be a lie. She knew it was a lie. She hoped it was a lie. She prayed it was a lie.

Pretending to have a change of heart, pretending to betray her one and only master, she swore to join their side, to run from Labyrinth. Cure Peach let her guard down. And she stabbed her in the chest, betraying her twice over. Her own injuries had been great, but she managed to grab the dying Cure and pull her back to Labyrinth. Her memories ended there.

"Lord Moebius, are there any recordings of her final moments? I want to see it." Eas knelt down again. One of them was dead. Two more to go. She would not let Soular or Wester gain any of the glory. Lord Moebius would look at her and just at her alone. He would praise her.

Don't let me see it. Please don't show it to me. Close your eyes. Please. I don't want to see Love suffer. I don't want to see me doing this. This isn't me. I didn't do it... I didn't do it... I didn't do it... I didn't... I didn't... did... I...

Setsuna grew ever more desperate, her trust in herself fading. It was all so real. Was it real? Love's face, distorted in pain and anguish. She couldn't stand it. She couldn't bear to look at her. And yet she had no choice.

A large screen appeared in front of Eas. Setsuna could no longer speak or think. Her mind was frozen, fading. Were all her memories fake? Was she still Eas? Was Cure Passion an illusion she had only dreamed of? Tears ran down her face. Tears of fear and horror. She couldn't speak anymore. Her mind was blank as the recording came to a close-up of Love.

"Set...suna..." The dying Cure had lost her power, laying in a puddle of blood on cold stone. One of her hands was reaching out to the screen, weakly calling the name of a human that had never existed to begin with. "You're... not like... this..." Those were her last words. The light in her eyes grew weaker with every second, her arm dropping to the ground, the blood pool growing in size ever larger.

Setsuna stopped thinking, stopping crying, stopped living. She couldn't endure the thought of having killed the one person that showed kindness for her. That showed her compassion and love. The one person she loved more than anything else in the world. Her mind just stopped, blanking out. The final defense mechanism.

"What a foolish girl. Lord Moebius, I swear I shall bring you the remaining Cures soon." Eas knelt down again and smiled. The girls refusal to believe she was betrayed by one she trusted to the very end pleased her. Her ruse had been perfect. And now it was time to complete her mission. It was time to kill Berry and Pine.

Setsuna was just in there. Inside a body that was no longer her own. Inside a body that might have killed her love. That might have killed Love. A body, a person, that was who she had been in the past. Who she might have been... or still was.

=== Dissonance ===

Kurumi sat alone in the living room, everyone else having gone to bed. She had finally come to terms with reality. She had escaped the exile after going through literal hell for two nights. After fighting and injuring others. Only to learn that her worst nightmares had turned into reality.

She couldn't even cry anymore. Her eyes were red and dry, they hurt like her throat. Her voice had given in after hours of crying loudly in her room. Karen had come to her and told her. That she couldn't be with her anymore. That her behavior was impossible to accept any longer.

"You promised so many times to change. You never did. You don't do anything for me or anyone else. You don't care about our friends. I... can't be with you anymore Kurumi. I'm sorry. I tried my best, I... tried so hard to keep loving you. But I just can't." Karen stood with her back to Kurumi, who was laying on her bed, unable to lift as much as a finger.

"I can't even look at you without feeling bad. But no matter how bad I feel, I can't come back to you. I can't be with you. Not now. Not in the future. In the beginning, I could accept the way you acted. We were teenagers. We did a lot of stupid things and I had fun. But you didn't grow up with me Kurumi. You are still the irresponsible teenager from five years ago."

"Karen, I can change. This time for real. Just don't-" Kurumi was interrupted. Karen almost never raised her voice, but this time she shouted loud enough to silence Kurumi instantly.

"Don't keep lying! I've had enough of it! I don't hate you, but I don't love you either. Not anymore. And even if you change... I will never be able to really trust you again. People can't trust you Kurumi. They just can't. You always put yourself first, you always only do what you think is best. You ignore others opinions. I wanted to tell you this in person but honestly... I can barely stand being in the same room as you right now. Even now... all you're thinking of is keeping me on your leash. Confining me to your clutch, so you can stay as you are without ever putting any effort into what you do."

Karen lowered her head. "It's over Kurumi. See you." With those last words, the blue haired woman left the room, left behind a Kurumi on the edge of despair.

But there was just one person that didn't abandon her. Who still listened to her. Who was by her side when she felt like dying.

"Here." Kurumi looked to her right side. A short, blond woman was holding out a cup of tea, something she got from her own personal favor. And she shared it with Kurumi without any ill intent or hidden motives. Kurumi nodded, thankful that Hikari existed.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you... It might not mean much but... even as you are, I still like you. I think, deep down, you aren't really a bad person. You just let your desires get the better of you. I'm your friend and... that's why I think I need to tell you this." Hikari wasn't great at showing people their faults, but at least she could speak her mind.

"Aqua is right. You shouldn't have lived like that. You need to change. I know this sounds hard and unfair right now, but sometime in the future, you'll look back and realize that we're telling you the truth because we care about you." Hikari covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned.

"No matter what, I'll always consider you my friend Kurumi. I'm really sorry but I'm tired... I can barely keep my eyes open. Do you mind if I go ahead?" Asking politely, Hikari smiled when Kurumi showed a little smile and waved her hand.

The blond woman left and looked twice back, making sure her friend was at least somewhat okay. As soon as she was gone, Kurumi looked at the tea. A gift from a friend that was worried about her. That cared about her.

=== Dissonance ===

"Are you feeling better Karen?" Komachi was sharing her bed with Karen, who was suffering quite a bit from telling Kurumi about the end of their relationship.

"A little..." Komachi had spent the last hour hugging and patting Karen, who had once again cried her soul out after confronting Kurumi. But now, she was finally done with it. She wouldn't shed another tear over things past.

"You didn't have to tell her tonight..." Komachi wasn't sure it was such a good idea to tell Milky Rose, considering her behavior earlier that day.

"I had to. I couldn't drag it around anymore. It was eating me up from the inside." Karen turned over and faced Komachi, who had a very worried look on her face. "I'm done with Kurumi. I told her everything I wanted to say, everything I held back all these years. I belong with you now."

Karen laid her arms around Komachi and hugged her tightly. She could feel her love for Komachi grow inside her chest. She had been with her so long, so many years. It felt like a long journey had come to it's end.

She still couldn't sleep with her or do anything that went further than kissing. And Komachi didn't push her. She was as understanding as always. A kind soul, the total opposite to the selfish Kurumi.

"Karen... let's go to sleep. I'm happy you feel better but you should get some rest. You had a rough day. Komachi was tired herself, but not as much as Karen, she could feel that. The violinist was looking really exhausted, almost forcing herself to stay awake.

"You're right..." Karen had barely spoken those words as she slipped away to the kingdom of dreams, safely in Komachi's arms.

=== Dissonance ===

Ellen was sitting on a stair far out in the labyrinth of hallways and rooms. She couldn't sleep. Was Setsuna okay? Had she made it through the run safely? The more she thought about her, she more she missed her.

Her voice, her laughter, her smell. Love indeed was painful. Ellen now understood a little of what Kanade must feel sometimes. She didn't regret falling in love with Passion. She knew that she couldn't have her, couldn't have Setsuna.

She already loved someone else. Someone that had saved her life. Someone that had given her purpose again. Ellen understood all too well why Setsuna was so drawn to her. And still, she couldn't help her own feelings grow with every hour she was away from the purple haired woman that stole her heart in a storm.

She was playing a sad tune, her voice echoing through the halls. A track called Blade and Burden, something short, barely a minute long, she sometimes played over and over when she felt melancholic. And right now was such a time.

There was no hope for the love she harbored for Higashi Setsuna. She would never be able to kiss her again, to hold her. And after what happened, it would be a miracle if they could even talk to each other anymore. Knowing all this, she still couldn't stop herself from imagining herself next to the woman that understood her so well.

"Setsuna... I miss you." A single tear ran down the musicians face. Life was cruel. To find love in the most unexpected place, only to find it to be an impossible love. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all.

The sound of her playing the sad song continued to fill the night.

=== End of Event VIII ===