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Dissonance
Event XI
Scheme
No matter what Urara and Rin said to her, she wouldn't change her mind. Their thoughts were being poisoned by the situation. They gave up too fast on finding another way out. There had to be something that was disrupting their rational thinking.
Dream had spent so many nights awake and looked for a solution, all the while she was hiding her efforts. The way everyone was acting, they'd have tried to stop her or worse. Probing the area with her ability, testing the reactions of others during their sleep, meticulously keeping track of whose mood changed how when the effect of her ability stopped.
It wasn't her usual way of doing things. But what choice did she really have, now of all times? The others would stop her from going through with her plans. The first day, right after White had lectured her in front of everyone, she decided she would find a way to stop the madness. Her resolution was only strengthened further when she met Kurumi in exile, seeing what she had become.
Even Rin had been taken over by whatever was possessing everyone, clouding their judgment. But now, it had become very clear to her. They would never listen to her as long as they could walk away or ignore her. If she used her ability in a battle, there was no way for them to get out.
Hiding from the others, sleeping during the day and staying awake during the night. Isolating herself from everyone else, not talking to anyone. If they caught wind of her plan, she would never be chosen for a fight. Not that she wanted to fight against the others, but her plan required her to join them on the battlefield.
How could they all accept a situation like that? Fighting as proxies for light and shadow? What nonsense that was. If those powers were so powerful, why didn't they fix things themselves? What did she and the others do to deserve being locked up in a horrible place like this?
She only needed to lift the influence the place had on them. Then they would surely join her. From there, it was only a matter of time before they would all work together to get out of there and back home.
Nozomi endured the suffering of isolating herself from everyone else to save them. Life never went the way she wanted it to go. Not back then with Coco, and not now with her friends. And still, she wasn't going to give up. Accepting reality was one thing, but accepting a situation she could change another entirely.
She was betting everything on her ability. Working harder than everyone else on her powers, she was the only one to retain the red rose, the only one of the five that could still go to the Cure Rose Garden.
The way she saw it, this dimension was manipulating everyone. Her link to the Rose Garden must protect her from whatever influence existed to make the others accept the situation at hand. Fighting each other was crazy. There had to be some alternative solution to whatever problem existed. If there was one to begin with. It was still possible some kind of villain like Black Hole was behind it all and the whole purpose was to keep them locked up under the premise of restoring balance or whatever.
What hurt her the most was that not even Rin, who had known her for ages, was trusting her. Even she wanted her to accept it and fight. She had been in worse situations than that, but now it was up to her to save her friends. If talking didn't work, then there were always other ways.
Utopia. The ability to make someone think of their own ultimate happiness in their dreams. It took her months until she had it fully under control. And in the last few days, she had made a few adjustments to it. Though it was really tiring and put a lot of stress on her mind, she was able to literally place the mind of whoever was inside the abilities effective radius into a dimension of their own. They didn't just see their Utopia in their dreams, they really were there. In their mind.
A different version of Utopia, specifically developed to counter the effects of the horrid place they were in. It had taken her much too long. They were already close to being a full week in that place. Nozomi's sense of time had gone completely whack on her but considering the number of fights and exile runs...
It was crazy that she had to go as far as put her friends under the influence of her ability. Utopia might be a wonderful place to look at, but the realization that one can never really attain it afterwards was bound to bring about depression. Dream knew that. That's why she didn't like the idea of using it on her friends. But it was still a much better choice than to try and beat some sense into them.
From the way everyone behaved, it was roughly evening. The last night she had finally finished her preparations. The battle was the next day and then her chance would come. She returned to her room to get some rest, exhausted from living nocturnal for a few days. The moment she laid down, something started gnawing at her mind. Looking at the relaxed and amused faces of the others, she found it hard to believe they were being manipulated or controlled. But that too, could be a farce to throw her off.
She wasn't really the smartest out of everyone present, but she knew that something was off. The behavior of everyone was contradicting with itself. On one hand, it was extremely odd that they just accepted the situation as is. On the other hand, she couldn't imagine they would behave like that outside the fights if they were influenced or controlled by something. She just couldn't make sense of it.
Laying in her bed, she felt a lot better than the days before. Even though she didn't talk to anyone at the table, it felt good to at least have a meal with everyone. The hardest thing was not that she stood alone against everyone but that she had to isolate herself from them to prevent them from catching on to her plan.
Sometimes, she really wished the world would have stayed as easy as it was back when she was a child and had just become a Cure. Whenever she remembered those past days, she also remembered the day when Coco left her. Even though Nuts ruled Palmier, even though he had come back from his travels to her, he was still going to leave her again. There had been an very unfortunate death in the royal family of Crepe Kingdom. The king had fallen sick with an unknown illness and shortly after perished, despite the best efforts of the kingdoms surrounding Palmier. That left the throne vacant, the queen having died of old age years ago.
The kingdom was facing both political and civil unrest. Crepe was not fit to rule the country alone, and both she and her people knew that much. That's when she took the chance to settle an old score. Coco, still a prince of Palmier, was more than fit to rule as king. Pleading to him to become king of Crepe Kingdom, she was not entirely acting out of self interest. Of course she still loved Coco, but a capable ruler was even more important than that. That Coco was spending his time with a human girl didn't really stick well with her either way.
Knowing that civil unrest in one of the five kingdoms would essentially bring out turmoil and much suffering in all five, Coco reluctantly agreed to see how bad things were there for himself under the condition that Nozomi would be allowed to accompany him there.
What they saw there was beyond their imagination. The people were beyond melancholic, they were suffering and desperate for a new king. Knowing that Crepe alone could not rule and even if she tried, she'd make a terrible ruler alone. No other kingdom had a spare prince to fill the vacant spot, so Crepe said she came to him as a last resort.
Seeing the situation with his own eyes, Coco felt a strong obligation to help. But something stopped him. The this time absolute separation from Nozomi. They loved each other a lot and despite their different origins and races, they planned to stay together. If he became king, he really had to say goodbye to Nozomi. As king, he could not keep a mistress around, for it would defeat the whole purpose of becoming king, namely bringing stability to the kingdom that was now on the edge of a catastrophe. If he declined and no new ruler was found or Crepe tried to rule on her own, civil war might break out. In the worst case, the other kingdoms would become involved and it may even lead to war between those.
Coco also knew that Crepe was jealous of Nozomi and that her love for him was genuine. The people of Palmier would talk about them, think he was unfaithful to the queen, if he went to see her on Earth. It all boiled down to him leaving her for good, once and for all. And she seemed to know that as well.
"Do you think our happiness is more important than those of all of those people? If you can make them happy by becoming their king, you should. I love you, more than anything, but if you staying with me means that these people will continue to be like this..." Nozomi couldn't face Coco. She was making a very difficult decision. She wanted to be with him, she really did. But not at the expense of thousands of suffering people that were desperate for a king.
"I probably won't be able to see you for a very, very long time Nozomi. This isn't something I can do for just a few years and then quit and come back. If I decide to do this-"
"You want to do it. I know you do. You don't want these people to be sad either, you're not like that. I realize it's not because you don't love me but because you can't ignore these people. Tell me... what would happen here if you say no and go back with me? I need to know."
"It will most likely lead to civil war. Crepe alone cannot rule and the local nobles will start to fight over who becomes king. In the worst case and if other kingdoms decide to intervene and support different nobles, it might even escalate into a war between kingdoms. I'd love to say that we fairies have no wars and that we all live in a happy world, but it's not quite like that. There have been wars in the past."
"War... and you can prevent that by becoming their king?"
"There will be people who won't like that, most likely some of the ambitious nobles, but in the end, they will adapt or lose their ranking and fall in disgrace with the royal house. As prince of Palmier, I'm well known in all of the five kingdoms, so there shouldn't be too many objections. There won't be a war."
"I think you should do it then. It... really hurts to say this Coco. I don't want to say goodbye. But I couldn't live with myself if I let these people suffer because I love you."
"Are you really sure about this Nozomi? Are you really okay with this?"
"You know the answer to that Coco. Just as I know that you really want to help these people."
Soon after, Nozomi returned to Earth alone, her heart broken but knowing she did the right thing. No matter how much she may love Coco or how much he may love her, he was now married to Crepe and king of her kingdom. They would likely never meet again, even if only for the sake of the kingdom.
"Why are you so stubborn about this Nozomi?" Without letting the pink Cure notice, Rin had slipped into her friends room, being concerned about her. "Everyone is doing their best to adapt to the situation. I know you and that's why I realize this must be really, really hard for you. But you're not a child anymore Nozomi. I'm worried and though she didn't say anything, I know Urara is too."
"I could ask you the same. How can you just accept this Rin? Doesn't it seem odd that after all these years we're put here and told we have to fight each other because of some nonsense?" Nozomi was not eager to have that conversation with Rin. She won't be able to see her point.
"I understand why you would think that way. But if this was some ploy, we'd know by now, especially with people like Moonlight, Aqua, White.. there are some really smart and careful people here with us. Don't you think they'd realize if they walked into a trap?" Rin was falling on deaf ears, she could tell from the face Nozomi was making. Looking at Rin from the corner of her half closed eyes, her mouth closed shut. "Fine. You'll see for yourself. I'm your oldest and best friend, Nozomi. I know that you're not going to change your mind. That's something you never grew out of. I'm going back to the others." Rin shrugged in disappointment and left, hesitating for a second when she closed the door.
"No luck?" Urara was waiting outside the living room, leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, curious if Rin had achieved anything.
"More stubborn than an old donkey. She's been like this even as child, but at least it didn't cause any huge problems back then. She'll learn the heard way tomorrow." Rin shook her head as she walked towards Lemonade. "I just hope she gets a grip after that."
"She's been like this ever since she lost Coco."
"Don't talk like that Urara. You know just as well as I that ever since then, she's been even more crazy about her friends and being around them than before. Who can blame her though?"
"A wise man once said, Time heals all wounds. I think that's incorrect. Time heals many wounds, and those it doesn't heal, it will bury deep below. Nozomi still thinks of him and loves him, it's no wonder she suffers from being apart. But she has no one to blame for that except herself." Lemonade sighed.
"It's not fair to blame Nozomi for that. Coco didn't have much of a choice there. Imagine if he came back with her and left the kingdom as is. Just think what Nozomi would feel like right now, after they went through civil war and maybe even worse."
"Rin, It was a lose and lose situation for her. Let him go and never see him again and live with that. Or try to convince him to go back with her and burden her conscience with the fact that she basically single-handedly caused a civil war. But that's something she has to deal with herself. She'll accept this situation one way or another. Either she copes, or she is made to cope."
Lemonade shrugged and walked towards her own room, sleepy now that she was full. "Go get some sleep Rin. Or do you want to spent the night with me?" It wasn't a joke offer.
"Not today, not in the mood. I can tell you did it with someone else though. Who was it?" Rouge only received a mysterious grin as her friend walked off and waved her good night.
=== Dissonance ===
"How do you feel?" Setsuna sat on the bed, looking down on her partner, caressing Love's right cheek.
"Like a truck ran me over. How about you?" Love remembered quite clearly what happened but she didn't fault Setsuna for it.
"Back to how I was before my little detour into exile, thanks to you. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't stop me there." Setsuna lowered her head, staring at the blanket that still covered Love.
"I was a little surprised to see Eas again. I didn't know you could still take that form." Love had thought the girl from Labyrinth dead, letting only Setsuna remain.
"I couldn't transform back for a long time. Eventually I developed an ability that lets me access things from my memories. Like Eas." Setsuna stood up and a red light enveloped her, transforming her into Passion. Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes and putting her hands together in front of her chest, she uttered a single word. "Memento."
There was no visible change at all but Love could just about tell that her breathing changed and the way she moved was slightly different. "Switch over." Forming fists and putting them together in that same motion she had used so many times in her past, Passion became Eas. "I can only switch from Passion since Memento is canceled when I become Setsuna. I... didn't think I'd ever voluntarily take this form again. I thought I was finished with that part of my life."
Love waved the silver haired girl to sit down on the bed, getting up and kissing her just as she sat down. "You say some silly things sometimes Setsuna. I'm just used to calling you that, but I always knew that your real looks, your real name, are those of Eas. I never forgot about that. But it doesn't matter what you look like. All three sides of you are beautiful, and I love them all. So don't worry about this. I personally wouldn't mind seeing and talking to Eas a bit every now and then."
"There's... something else I need to tell you Love. And it's a lot worse than me being able to take my original body." Eas didn't bother standing up, knowing that Love would just come after her anyway.
"As long as you tell me, it's not that bad. The only thing that would really make me angry is if you kept secrets from me or told me to stay away from you." Love was happy just being with Eas.
"It's a little bit of a longer story. You probably realized by now that I started on the other side and took quite a while to get here. That's because I met someone really interesting on the other side. A girl called Kurokawa Ellen, Cure Beat. I didn't really think we'd have anything in common, but we started to talk. We got along really well and before I really knew what I was doing, I was telling her how I used to work for the enemy, Moebius, and would be dead now if not for you."
"That's rare. We met other Cures in the past, but you never really even hinted at something like that. You always told me you didn't want others to know. I understand why, so how come you told her?" Love was only curious, not confused. It was entirely up to Setsuna who she told what.
"She is the same as me. Although she is not from Labyrinth, she used to work for the enemy and was saved because of the feelings of the Cures she was fighting at the time. We went through the same thing. Not knowing what we should do, where we belonged. That connection was like a link between us. We got along really well, understood each other. Despite everything we went through together, she might understand me just as well as Miki or Inori." Eas lowered her head again, staring on Love's hands. She didn't feel comfortable hiding it from Love, but telling was quite painful too.
She knew her well enough to realize that nothing big would come of telling her. She'd forgive her, maybe get a little angry.
"So, the night before I left for the exile run, we were far out in the hallways. She was playing some music for me. It was just a spur of the moment thing but... I kissed her. I did it because I like her, not to cheat on you. I know it was wrong so I stopped it and ran away. The next day I left. You know the rest."
"You were always so devoted to me, I never expected someone could get you interested. It kind of makes me happy. I'm not really worried about a single kiss Setsuna. What I'm worried about is that you felt forced to run away because you thought you were cheating on me."
"But that's exactly what I was doing! Kissing another girl... I felt awful the whole time. I love you more than anything else in the world, so I was angry with myself too."
"If you really like her and didn't just kiss her to make me jealous, I don't see it like that. I know you love me, but I want you to be happy too. If kissing this girl made you feel good, I don't mind you doing it. As long as you still kiss me too, of course." Love grinned at Eas with closed eyes.
Eas had known her for a few years now and spent so much time with her, she had been sure to know everything about Love. And thinking about it, she should have expected a reaction like that. Love was always overly concerned with the happiness of others and put herself behind that. It had lessened a bit over the years when they traveled, but it was still there.
"I'd really like to meet this Ellen, get to know her. Do you still like her, even with me knowing about it? I want you to be honest. You know I despise it when you lie to me." Love's expression changed, her stern eyes drilling right to Eas soul.
"I do. And I still feel awful about my lack of control over my emo-" Eas felt Love lay both her hands on her cheeks.
"Control over your emotions? You don't really want to say that, do you?" Love never took kindly to such things as trying to control ones emotions. It reminded her a lot of Moebius. Only computers had control over what they felt. "If you like her, embrace it. You're not going to love me any less because of that. Feelings don't come in limited quantities. It might be a little weird, but I'm sure we can work something out once I meet her. Is she still on the other team?"
Love would never forget the sudden expression of horror and terror in Eas face. Startled, she let go of her cheeks. Eas red eyes were widened in fear, all color vanishing from her face, leaving only pale skin behind.
"She's in exile. She voluntarily became the exile to get me out of there." Eas had suppressed that knowledge until now. That Ellen would go that far for her... that was more than just a small crush on someone who went through similar events.
It was rare that Love was speechless. To sacrifice herself, after seeing what happened to Setsuna, must have been quite a difficult decision. Love wanted to go and save her, her, the girl who saved Setsuna. But there was nothing she could do. The next fight was only the next day and before that was over with, there was no chance for any exile runs to take place.
"The way this is going, she'll be stuck there for tonight and tomorrow night. I've seen what happens to people who were stuck there for two days. Milky Rose was... I was happy that Lemonade was there to restrain her. That was not how a sane person acted." Eas felt worse with every word she said. That Love would take her unfaithfulness this particular way was unexpected. And now she realized that Ellen, despite knowing she'd be stuck in Exile for two days, voluntarily stayed there to make her escape her own nightmare.
The two of them were interrupted at the worst possible moment. Someone knocked twice on the door, quickly. "Love, Setsuna, are you still up?" It was Miki's voice. She had been concerned about the two earlier, and came back to check on them.
"Come in," Love replied and looked at Eas right next to her. She didn't care to transform back, Miki would understand.
Just as she walked in, Miki looked at Eas, not very surprised to see her after what she had witnessed earlier. It didn't bother her at all. Setsuna was kind of modest, but Eas clothes were pretty fancy. She liked them.
"Inori managed to knock herself out flat with the food. I guess it was a little too much greasy stuff. But she did wolf down quite a bit. Long story short, she won't be able to fight tomorrow. I know you had a really rough time, both of you, but unless we force Inori out of bed, it'll be us three fighting. Setsuna, did you have any fights on the other side?"
Miki sighed heavily and leaned against the wall next to the door. "I fought twice before, once against Moonlight by myself and once against a group. I'm not too thrilled that Lemonade is on their side now. She'll be a real pain. Even worse if Moonlight is going to be fighting. If she's there, leave her to me. I might not be able to use my ability on her, but I have a fairly good idea of what her weakness is."
"You're pretty into this Miki. It almost sounds like you enjoy it. And no, I didn't participate in any fights yet," Eas said and thought that her original form might come in handy.
"It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Nobody gets permanently hurt. We're all old enough to realize that is isn't just personal quarrels and so we don't hold grudges. It's nice to get along with others, but a little competition among Cures is actually fairly interesting when you think about it. I really did enjoy being able to fight one versus one with Moonlight."
"You have the glow Miki." Love grinned wide, her eyes locked on her long time friend. Eas knew right away what Love meant. There was only one thing she referred to like that.
"You're interested in Moonlight, Miki? Her name is Yuri by the way." Eas smiled briefly. "Switch over." Turning back into Passion, she leaned back against Love. They had Miki cornered now.
"You're going to drill me with questions until I tell you everything, aren't you? Fine, fine. Yes, I'm interested in Moonlight. Are you satisfied?"
"Want me to tell you what she is like outside a battle?" Passion offered and looked at Love. It was quite hard to get Miki to tell people about her love life.
"I'll find out myself, thanks. Coming back to the topic of the fight tomorrow, do you think you can handle it?" Berry really didn't like it when people were prying into her private life, even if it was Love or Setsuna.
"I can't really tell. Walking around is no problem, but a fight might be pushing it. I guess I'll see after I get a good nights rest." Passion looked at Love as she talked, who gave an agreeing nod.
"Two of the others are finishing up in the kitchen. If you want something to eat, you can probably just get something from them." Miki changed the topic again, in hope to get away before they started asking more questions, like why she was still up at this hour. "I'll go and get some rest as well then. See you tomorrow." Leaving the room in a hurry, she heard the two of them talk loudly about Moonlight and her. What kind of devil had she unleashed?
=== Dissonance ===
Nozomi woke up with a headache, having trouble flipping her sleeping schedule completely over. Her legs were stinging and her hair was a catastrophe. To see the barren room every time she woke up didn't help to improve her mood at all.
The fight was in roughly ten hours. Everyone seemed to know exactly when it was time to get to the door when they had business there. As one of the people chosen to fight in the next battle, she too knew when she had to be there.
Leaving her room, Dream ran straight into Melody and Rhythm, who were talking to each other, Rhythm looked still sleepy and Melody a little too upbeat for her taste, considering her headache. "Morning." There was no more purpose to hiding and isolating herself. Once the battle was over, she could go back to being friends with everyone.
With a surprised look, the pink and the white Cure looked at Dream before Rhythm got out a polite "Good morning" followed by a less polite "Morning" from Melody. "I'm surprised to see you out of your room. Everyone was starting to think you're becoming a hermit." Hibiki was quick to befriend people and she knew that. Trying to do the same with Dream, the senior Cure happily joined the conversation.
"I had some business to take care of and didn't want to bother everyone. I'm actually happier with many people around." Dream lied a little bit but neither of the two noticed that. "You two seem to be in a rather good mood. Anything good happen?"
"I'm always like this. I think I've finally gotten used to being in this place. It's not all awful once you start thinking of the fights as intense sparring. Sure, it hurts when you get beaten, but it's not really any different from falling during a soccer match or losing a game. Nobody gets seriously hurt."
"She didn't ask you for an analysis of this place Hibiki. Sorry... Dream, was it? Hibiki sometimes talks a little too much." Kanade mostly agreed with the way Hibiki saw things though she could well do without the fighting. If only they had other contests.
"That's an interesting view." Nozomi didn't launch into argument mode and explain how she thought the fights were a horrible thing and everyone was being manipulated into accepting them, she kept those thoughts to herself. The way Hibiki talked about it, it didn't really look like she accepted them at the start but...
"Oh, rare guest." Lemonade already sat at the table, which had yet to be prepared for breakfast. She was leaned back on her chair, her legs crossed over under the table and her arms behind the back of the chair. Nobody else was in the living room, but there was some noise coming from the kitchen. "Bloom was saying something about making fresh bread rolls. She's been in there for at least half an hour. That's when I woke up. What's gotten into you Nozomi, finally gotten tired of living the hermit life?"
"Spare me your cynical talk Urara. I'm surprised to see you up this early, couldn't sleep?" Dream sat down next to her friend, watching Hibiki and Kanade scurry to the other side of the table, giving each other that specific look only couples that just hooked up had. Nozomi was sitting upright on the chair, moved it parallel to the table and leaned on it, putting her elbow on the stone surface and supporting her head with her hand. She was still feeling the headache.
"I'm used to long nights and the like. They're cute, those two, aren't they? Remind me of Kurumi and Karen back in the day. Except Kurumi was a lot more pushy than that." Urara was quite fond of the days she spent with everyone, despite what she went through. She didn't want to go back to her old personality, she was quite content with being a little cynical and harsh at times. "I wonder if Kurumi will try to go back to Palmier, now that she and Karen are through. Have you ever been back Nozomi? I know what happened but I wasn't really there to say anything at the time." Lemonade crossed her arms in front and crossed her legs the other way around.
"No, I've never gone back. I can't see him and I know that. I've been thinking about visiting Natts at least, to see how he and Coco are doing, but I've been really busy with my jobs and studying. It's a lot harder to get a teaching qualification than I thought." Nozomi watched Hibiki pull an exaggerated expression and smiled. "And Karen and Kurumi are really through? I've been holed up in my room for most of the time, so..."
"Karen put the nail in it, yeah. I think she should tell you about this herself though. I know what it's like when people tell other people half-truths about your private life. It's not funny, not even a bit." Turning her head slightly and following Nozomi's gaze, Urara watched Kanade fidget at something Hibiki must have said. "I always found it surprising you went after a guy. Most of us had their moments there, but in the end, I don't know of any other Cure who got in a lasting relationship with a guy. But you were always a little special, Leader." Urara put emphasis on the last word and watched Nozomi cringe. It had been a long time since they worked together as team on anything.
"How's work treating you?" Nozomi wanted to revive old friendships that had dried up over the course of years of growing up and finding their own place in life.
"We do well enough. I guess it's still entertainment media business but it's completely different from being an idol or an actress. In the end, what I do now suits me a lot. I'd only make a good villain at this point." Lemonade let out a short laugh, then shook her head. "Despite all, I think I profited from going through all that shit. Sure, it changed me and that broke me apart from you guys, but I can't imagine what I would be like if that hadn't happened."
"Looking back in time, when we were fifteen, I'd have never thought we'd still be Cures with almost twenty. That time when we went to Palmier after everything was restored, I really thought it would be great to just stay there, work there, live our lives." Nozomi had been the biggest advocate of bringing fruition to that idea.
"We all thought that Nozomi. But reality isn't as kind as to allow people to just live in their personal fairyland. We all had things to do in the real world, school to attend, friends to meet and eventually bills to pay and jobs to work. Palmier is a different world, we didn't really belong there permanently. I know you realized that as well when Rin asked you what in the world would you teach the children in Palmier." Urara shrugged and looked at the ceiling. Those were some of her fondest memories.
"You'd slap me with irony if I said something like 'Let me dream for a bit', isn't that so?" Nozomi was making quite the corny pun, in turn making Lemonade cringe and give her an annoyed look. "Back then, I was really surprised that Kurumi told us that she would stay with Karen. I expected her to go back to Palmier. It came as a real surprise that they were dating when word finally got out."
"Only a surprise to you, Nozomi. Komachi was all too painfully aware, Rin knew about it from me and I knew about it from Komachi. We left you purposefully out of the loop because we knew you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from trying to fix things between Karen and Komachi."
"You people are horrible. I do realize when I need to stay out of things." Nozomi shook her head and sighed. A hand was placed on her left shoulder and as she turned her head, Rouge was greeting her. "Morning Rin."
"Yo. Slept well?" Urara watched Rin walk past her, grabbing a chair and putting it right between her two friends, turning the chair around and sitting on it like a delinquent, the arms resting on top of the backrest, her head resting on her arms, looking first at Urara, then at Nozomi. "Picking up from before, no, you definitely don't know when you shouldn't meddle. You'd definitely have tried to patch things up somehow."
"You two are seriously mean. Who was it that tried to patch things up between us six when Urara changed so much, huh?" Nozomi was smiling again, teasing Rouge a little was quite a lot of fun.
"Rin, have you ever been back to Palmier after we all came back to graduate and decide what we would do with our lives? I was asking Nozomi about it earlier." Lemonade looked to Rin, who just shook her head.
"You know I was super busy at the time. I wasn't good enough at making accessories to pursue a career but I noticed that way too late. The next best thing I liked and had some talent for was soccer so I went for that. It was really hard to get into a regional club just like that. I want to play for the national eleven one day and win the world championship. What about you Urara? Any grandiose dreams of your own? And to answer your question, no, haven't been back. I don't know what I would even do there alone."
"We moved on with our lives I guess. Well, except our little lovebird here." Urara pointed at Nozomi, who shot her a glare. She didn't like being made fun of. "Oh, scary. Dreams huh. I guess playing in a really big arena in front of a million people would be really great. Speaking of the future, how is your teaching license thing coming along Nozomi?" Lemonade nodded in Dream's general direction.
"It's a lot harder than I thought. The time I don't spent working one of my three part-time jobs, I study or attend class. The things you need to know to be a teacher, even for elementary school, it's quite a lot. But I'm getting there."
"I'd never have guessed that you would eventually become a teacher Nozomi. You used to be quite a horrible klutz. I guess you still are somewhat though. I saw you break a plate the other day at work." Rin grinned and took a peek towards Hibiki and Kanade, who were arguing over something, both of their faces red like tomatoes.
"And I'd never have guessed you'd become the vocalist in a punk rock band. Really, of all the things you could have done. But I guess that's how life goes. I still wish I had the talent or patience to get good enough in accessories designing to make a living off it. Lets talk about something else. I'm always getting moody when I think about this stuff. You still haven't told me who you seduced Urara. Who was it?" Rouge's remark got the attention of everyone in the room. Hibiki and Kanade put their little meaningless argument on break and Nozomi was quite interested as well.
"It's a secret. There's eleven candidates, make a lucky guess." Urara shot down the tension in the air and stretched on her chair. "I'll see what Bloom is up to. It'll be a disaster if I help out so I'll just look." Walking past Melody and Rhythm, the two of them eying the yellow Cure with obvious interest in her little story.
Ignoring them and walking into the kitchen, Lemonade's presence in the living room was quickly replaced by a new face, Saki's partner, Egret. Still yawning and covering her mouth with her hand, she looked a little sleep deprived. "Bloom kept you up all night?" Rin wasn't exactly a master of tactfulness. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
"Judging by how much energy you have already, you definitely didn't have any problems sleeping." Mai was always a little cranky when she didn't get enough sleep, just like now. "Saki got up early to bake bread. And it's quite difficult to get out of those small beds if there's two people in them."
"Are you this open about your relationship in the normal world too?" Dream was a little curious. She knew that Karen kept her relationship with Kurumi largely a secret though word did get out eventually about it.
"For the bigger part, yes. We don't hide it, but we're not going around and cuddle in public or tell everyone we've just met. It's still a bit of a not well looked upon thing in Japan after all. But since we don't work with children, nobody pays a lot of attention." Egret sat down on the empty chair that Lemonade had left behind, carefully putting the large ponytail behind the actual chair. "I wonder if I should cut my hair... Saki always throws a fit when I even mention this, but it's rather ridiculous in Cure form..."
"I think it looks pretty nice actually. I'd look horrible with long hair. Just imagine if I had hair as long as you or Dream here and they went all up like they do when I stay as Rouge. I'd look really ridiculous." Rouge laughed it off and shrugged, waving her hand at Egret. "I think Bloom is right in making you keep it like this."
"I have a hard time picturing you with shorter hair to be honest. It fits Rin, but I would look utterly ridiculous too with short hair. One of our team let her hair grow out over the years and it worked for her, but... I guess she's the exception." Dream rejoined the conversation.
"To be fair, she had a fairly ridiculous haircut as Mint. It wasn't as bad as Urara and her... I don't even know what to call it, when she became Lemonade, but still. It looked rather silly. I don't really know exactly, but didn't Urara's hairdo change when her personality changed too?" Rin gave Nozomi a questioning look.
"Might be. We didn't exactly meet up or see each other as Cures a lot. There was really no need to. It's the complete opposite to now, where we stay as Cures basically indefinitely."
"That's only because nobody has a change of clothes, and we haven't gotten machinery for washing clothes yet. I transform back when I go to bed though. Don't you too?" Mai was sure the implications of staying in civil form were pretty obvious and she didn't have to spell it out for these two. They were old enough to understand.
"I do sleep naked but it's more of a recent habit though. It's really darn hot in summer and since I train a lot, I sweat easily. You know, it's necessary to cool down and stuff. Speaking of summer, isn't waiting tables pretty terrible this time of the year?" Rin looked at her oldest friend again.
"It sometimes can get pretty icky. I don't sleep naked though. I just really don't want to. I do go back to civil for showering and then become a Cure again. Thankfully, the outfits always restore themselves, so they don't smell or get worn out. I sometimes wish they were easier to take off though."
"I doubt they were really designed for situations like these. Something I noticed is that the older you get, the more the costume adapts to your individual style. I'm speed and agility based, so my outfit is really light and breathes well. Saki is a brute, only in a fight, don't get me wrong, so her costume is more durable and reflects her style. She's also a bit of a tomboy."
"What do you do for a living?" Rin was starting to really get along with Mai. "I play pro soccer and Nozomi is aiming to become a teacher and part-timing as waitress until then." The red Cure pointed at her friend when she explained about her.
"I'm a painter. I paint commissions and also for galleries. I always had a knack for drawing so I made it my career. I do love my job though. It pays well enough so I can support Saki. She was training for triathlons but is doubting her decision since we see each other so little because of it. I suggested baseball to her, but I wonder if that will make her happy." Putting her left hand on her cheek and resting her chin on her palm, Egret looked a bit lost in thought.
"Telling everyone about me?" Egret always fell down the chair when two completely white and somewhat dusty hands reached out to her from behind. "If you have enough energy to tell stories, come and help me in the kitchen. This is a lot more work than I thought."
"When she's in the kitchen, she really takes control. Usually, it's the other way around but I just can't tell her off when she's like this." Mai smiled and looked up, right at Saki's face. Lifting herself off the chair with her arms, Mai kissed Saki right in front of Rin and Nozomi, embarrassed not even in the slightest.
The two of them walking off, Nozomi watched Rhythm talk to Bloom, nod a few times and join the two. Just as they entered the kitchen, Lemonade escaped through the backdoor, put a finger to her lips so that nobody made a single sound, and went up and away to be never seen again. At least not until breakfast was done.
Melody, now on her own, took the spot that Egret left and filled it. She hadn't really talked to Rouge or Dream before so she was just a bit nervous. She was thankful that Nozomi started the conversation. "You're one of the younger Cures, right? How old are you?"
"Not quite that young. I'm sixteen, about halfway to seventeen. Kanade, Rhythm, just turned seventeen. What do you mean with younger Cures, though?" Hibiki knew that most of the others were over eighteen, but she couldn't see any specific hierarchy among them.
"It's pretty easy. If you go by sheer time of who has been a Cure for how long, you and Rhythm are probably on the bottom end. It's been about five years for my team. It's really just curiosity." Nozomi explained and Hibiki seemed to think for a couple seconds.
"Two years and a little for us maybe. We were both fourteen then. I'm not sure about Ako, Muse, since she was already a Cure when we met her. Ellen, Beat, came a little bit after us. Five years sounds like a really long time."
"I heard that Black and White are close to hitting the seven years mark. They're the most experienced ones among all of us I think." Rin threw in that piece of info quickly and didn't think much of it. "Speaking of them, they're really, really strong. We all have our own special abilities, but what I saw of theirs was really powerful."
"Your ability is pretty horrible Rin. Why did you develop something like that to begin with?" Nozomi wasn't really sure how an ability like that would help her in a fight against monsters.
"Remember Mucardia? Opponents like him are at an extreme disadvantage against my ability. Originally, it set everything around me on fire and was called 'Hellfire'. I then eliminated the burning part, kept the heat, and just called it 'Hell'. You know, the opposite to Heaven. It's designed to sap my opponents concentration, stamina and the like. If they get close enough, they'll be burned really badly too, so it's a really handy ability. Though it's not very good in a team fight with limited space." Rin launched in a full scale explanation of her ability.
"You have a really scary sounding ability. Mine is a lot more subtle than that. I can use a lot of music based attacks but everyone from my team has some kind of song based special attack. Ako told us not to give away what exactly each song does, so I'm sorry I can't tell you." Hibiki purposefully kept it hidden that Ellen had managed to tap into something much greater than just her original ability.
"I don't mind. A little mystery makes a woman interesting. Speaking of mystery, where are the others? Counting Bloom, Egret, Lemonade and Rhythm, that's only seven of us. Where are the other five?" Nozomi looked over her shoulder, almost expecting to see the other five just standing there. But there was nobody.
=== Dissonance ===
"You two look awful. Didn't you get any sleep? Are you still hurt?" Tsubomi was a bit worried about both Peach and Passion, the two of them looked almost like zombies.
"Give them a break. They haven't seen each other for like a week. They probably spent all night doing it." Marine commented, a brazen grin on her face as she looked at the blushing Tsubomi, who squeezed Erika's cheek. "Alright, alright, I won't say anything!" Tsubomi had not been in the best of moods after finding that weird smell on Erika. She had her suspicions but no proof.
It bothered her the most that such a thing bothered her at all. She wasn't dating Erika or even in love with her, so it was supposed to be none of her business what her friend did. Yet she was in quite a nasty mood ever since then.
Hikari and Kurumi, the two of them faithfully resuming their self obligated kitchen duty, were bringing small baskets filled with bread rolls and sliced bread to the table, along with some really simple toppings. A bit of cheese, butter, some basic marmalade. Kurumi actually felt fairly good doing some work for others and she started to see just how much of an ass she had been when living with Karen.
People, given the chance, would let others spoil them, become arrogant and ignorant of others needs and in the end, become extremely lazy. She had fallen into that trap. Preparing breakfast for a dozen people with just Hikari to help her was a new experience for her, but a nice one at that.
Despite their harsh breakup, Karen didn't act weird towards her. She didn't say so out loud, but she must really want to be still friends with her even if they were not lovers anymore. Mint didn't show any sign of schadenfreude either and she was a lot nicer to Kurumi than she had been before. They also had enough tact to not be too close in front of her.
Peach and Passion on the other hand were basically inseparable. They looked awfully sleep deprived but still stuck together, looking at each other like newlyweds.
"So you were involved into developing Eltavinan eight-thousand? I'm really impressed." Inori was leaned back on her chair and looked at Honoka, who sat to her right. Nagisa was both practically and figuratively still asleep in her chair, and there was not a doubt as to why. Honoka seemed to be quite fit on the other hand.
"It was developed at the lab I work, yes. I didn't do very much on the actual process but I helped develop the formula. It was a commission we got over a year ago. So you work in an animal clinic as vet? I like animals, I'm just not very good at taking care of them all on my own. I had a dog at my grandmothers place, but I let it stay with her. We started with a pretty small apartment and they didn't allow pets."
"We have a lot of animals even at home. I really love them. Being a vet was always something I wanted. I didn't expect a Cure to be a scientist. Isn't that kind of weird for you? I mean science and magic." Inori was not too big on the whole science thing and preferred to explain things in a way that her customers could understand her. The whole technical lingo for medicine didn't mean anything to a normal person.
"The fairies always call us legendary warriors, but with so many of us, it's not very legendary. It's the same way with magic. The universe basically runs on science, but some of it is so complicated, advanced or otherwise alien to our logic, that we can only understand it as magic. At least that's the common explanation I give people when they ask me how I would explain magic with science. In truth, I really don't worry about this at all. Magic exists, I'm living, walking, talking proof of that. That's all I need to know." Honoka closed her eyes and smiled at Inori as she explained it. She didn't really care at all about whether it was science or magic. She loved to explain specific phenomena with science but being a Cure was completely out of that range. She simply was and that was that.
"I knew the whole time that you were really smart Honoka, but I didn't think you'd be a scientist." Aqua, who sat across White at the table, was joining the conversation, Mint gone to the bathroom for the time being. "That explains a lot."
"You're flattering me. I think you're smarter than you give yourself credit for Karen," Honoka replied and watched Inori lean forward to ask the blue Cure something.
"What do you do for work Karen? And I'm just curious, but for how long have you been a Cure? And did being a Cure affect your choice of career in any way?" Inori could be pretty curious if she wanted to be.
"I'm a violinist. I play mostly in japan but I got a few offers to play in Taiwan and China. How long have I been a Cure? I'd say it's been about five years. Komachi and me are a year older than the others from our team, so things were always a little different for us. I don't think being Cure Aqua really affected my career in any way. I thought about studying medicine at some point, but it wasn't really what I wanted. At the high school I attended, there was a classical club and they were looking for someone who could play the violin. Komachi was really busy at the time, trying to win an award whose name escapes me right now, and Kurumi was really busy too with working as tour guide in the Cure Rose Garden to help Nozomi out, so I joined the club. I used to play the violin since I was a child but so picked playing back up very easily, and eventually became so good at it, that I decided to try and go pro."
"Telling them how you decided to become a violinist?" Komachi had returned from the bathroom. Inori was the only one that was still impressed by how Mint looked. Her costume was similar to Aqua's and then entirely different again. In places bulky, a long skirt and knee-high boots, it looked really protective. From what she knew, Mint was a extremely defensive type too, so it fit very well with her character. And despite the bulkiness, the jacket couldn't conceal her large chest. Inori was a little jealous of Mint's great figure.
Aqua was similar but her costume was much lighter and yet radiated an aura of elegance. An even longer skirt than Mint, higher boots and the long gloves gave her a high-class look. Her massive ponytail was something one had to get used to, but it only added to her looks. They made a very nice match, those two.
"I was really surprised back then. I always knew Karen could play but when I first heard her, she was really, really good. Karen's a genius." Komachi smiled happily, as if she was bragging about her own achievements. In a way, being with Karen was her biggest achievement. At least for Komachi.
"Sounds very promising. Will you play for us sometime? I really like classical music and you should be able to get your instrument from the favor system." Honoka was a fan of classical music. Nagisa not so much, but she never objected when Honoka asked her to accompany her to a concert. Amazingly, she never even yawned, fell asleep or complained. She could even comment on things at the end. She was either very devoted to not disappointing Honoka or just showing some interest in her partners hobby.
"I don't mind. As it looks, we'll be stuck here for a while. Otherwise, there would be no reason for a system like this to be in place and there to be conveniently rooms that fit our needs. I'm not sure how expensive this is going to be, so I'll think about it. I like playing, but I can think of a few other matters which are a little more pressing. Like clothes." Saying these last two words, Karen looked at Komachi, who let out a quiet sigh.
"I've only been in one fight and I didn't get a lot of coins. Maybe it's because of my fighting style." Mint was a little depressed, slowly getting sick of constantly walking around in Cure form. The costume was designed for battle and protecting, not for wearing it all day, every day.
"I got a hundred and seventeen for my last fight. Nagisa got a hundred and two. You can't have gotten much less than that." Honoka wasn't bragging, at least not from her point of view, but analyzing the situation. It was a really bad habit of hers.
"I got ninety-one. Karen got eighty. That's quite a difference." Mint wasn't too happy about it, but there was nothing she could do. She was a team player and a defensive orientated fighter to begin with, so she wasn't a powerhouse like White or Black.
"Seeing that Karen got less than you, it's definitely not your fighting style. I didn't get quite as much either when I fought in the first battle. I think the reward may depend a lot on how well you perform and the area the fight happens in. The less favorable and more complicated the arena, the higher the reward. I think. It's just a theory, but it would fit. We'll find out more if we ask the three that will fight later today after they get their reward. If the arena is still a massive hub of platforms, that should solidify my theory." White noticed a little late she was going full steam down the scientist path and stopped with a smile.
"Komachi." Inori's curiosity was seemingly not satisfied yet. "What do you do for work? I've been trying to picture you playing an instrument like Karen but that seems kinda off." Pine found it relatively easy to talk to those two, simply because Karen reminded her of Miki and Komachi reminded her a little of Setsuna.
"I'm a novelist. I always liked to write but was too shy to show people my work. Natts, one of the fairies from Palmier, was one of the first people to read a novel I wrote. It was a really tacky thing too, I'd be way too embarrassed to show it anyone now. We were pretty close and I trusted him to give me honest feedback." Komachi was putting a finger to her chin, trying to think of something she had forgotten.
"For a while, I thought you two would start going out any time then. I was really surprised when nothing came of it. In retrospect, I'm pretty happy about that, though." Karen took Mint's hand under the table and played with her fingers. She was still coping with the breakup with Kurumi, and as far as social interaction was concerned, she was fine. Being intimate with Komachi was still too much for her though.
"There never really was a spark or anything between us. I respected him and liked him but only as friend. It's completely different from Nozomi and Coco too, since Natts was to be king of Palmier and he couldn't possibly have a human mistress. I think that's also part of the reason why he didn't like it when someone tried to get too close to him. I was fine since he felt there was no romantic interest from me," Komachi explained and looked at the amused face Honoka was making, slightly confused.
"You two are such a nice couple. You both have known each other for a long time, right?" Honoka made a not quite so wild guess and got an confirming nod from the two. "It's surprising you two didn't hook up before."
Karen didn't really want to talk about that. She had been really lonely and even though her friends filled most of that, there was still a hole in her heart. Kurumi eventually came along and filled that spot, but as it turned out, that wasn't going to last forever. Komachi had been really shy, so even if she had been in love with Karen all that time, she wouldn't have said anything.
She had read all four novels that Komachi published, the Sacred Lily Garden series. A tale about a girl living in modern japan, shunned for her undying love of an upper-class girl that was betrothed to someone else already. Four books spanning her journey overcoming social stigma, differences in life style and even the fiancee. Despite how clever she was, Karen never realized that the story was a love letter to her in the form of a book.
"Unwelcome topic I guess. Sorry for asking. We all have things we don't want to talk about." Honoka remembered quite vividly the one occasions she didn't want to relive ever again. Fighting Nagisa was the worst thing she ever had to do.
"Breakfast is ready. Get some before Karen here vanquishes it all." Marine had sat down next to Inori, Tsubomi right next to Erika and at the end of the table. Karen shot her an angry glare before she grabbed a bread roll from the basket Hikari put left of her.
=== Dissonance ===
In the end, Pine had already completely recovered by morning, so there was no need for both Peach and Passion to fight. Love had already fought once and Setsuna wanted to see for herself just what it was like, which resulted in the final team of Pine, Berry and Passion.
"We have about ten seconds to see who our opponents are before the barrier goes down and we have to fight. If Moonlight is among them, leave her to me. If any of the extremely fast types are there, they're yours Pine. Passion, I know this might not be the best time to tell you this, but if it becomes necessary, don't hesitate to fight as Eas. You should be able to go head to head with other strong types, such as Bloom." Miki finished her explanations and the other two nodded.
Passion turned around to see Love one last time before she went to fight. Obviously worried about her, Peach kissed her partner passionately as a good luck charm. "Don't come back all beaten up Setsuna." She cared so much for the girl that she wanted to go in her stead, but Setsuna was old and strong enough to fight her own battles.
"You don't need to treat me like a little girl Love. I'm pretty sure I could beat you in a fair fight." Passion grinned and caressed the right cheek of her partner.
The door opened, the red light greeting them with the same intensity as always. Miki stepped through first, followed by Pine and then Passion. What greeted them was a view of a seemingly endless, bottomless hole out of which two dozen pillars peaked, each carrying a platform at it's top. The battlefield had not changed from what the others told them. That wasn't good.
And what was even less good was who their opponents were. Miki's guess had been right on the spot, Moonlight was there, standing in front of the others as the one leading them. "I'll take her." She only knew one of the other two from meeting her when she was on the light team. Rouge. The third one she didn't know anything about but that had to be Dream, the leader of the group Mint and Aqua belonged to.
"I'll take Rouge, the red one." Pine announced and created a set of golden brass knuckles, going into a battle stance.
Passion could feel just how intense the amplification of the desire to battle was. It was even beyond the level she had felt when she was still serving Moebius. The reminder was unnecessary but the aggression was drowning memory anyway.
The barrier on the center tower vanished. Passion, Pine, Rouge and Dream almost cowered when the two tall Cures virtually shot through the air, causing the air to whirl through the hair of their allies, confronting each other at high speed. A blue whirl, Moonlight was the first to back off from a wide kick, dropping down to the platform. Rouge was the first to act, using her high speed to reach the middle platform in a heartbeat.
But Pine was even faster than that. Rouge only saw a golden flash before Pine's brass knuckles hit her face, sending her flying all the way back to where Dream was, who just stood there, frozen like an inanimate object.
Passion wanted to ignore Dream and back up Miki but she couldn't find an opening at all to join the fight. The two of them were moving rapidly from tower to tower, dodging each others blows, taking the odd hit here and there, their skill about even.
"Queen of Spades, Impact!" Berry shouted, the large blue spade suit forming above her fist just as she hit the ground, making Moonlight back up. But Miki knew very well just how agile Moonlight was. The platform as a whole crumbled under the dispersed force of the skill and both Cures lost their footing, now in free fall towards oblivion.
Moonlight turned towards Berry, closed her eyes for not even half a second and unleashed a large silver blast right at the enemy. Miki didn't even pretend to block, took the blast unguarded and was whirled wild through the air. Moonlight cleverly used the recoil of the attack to shoot herself against one of the nearby pillars, using it as stepping stone to get back up. But Miki had planned that far ahead.
Instead of smashing against the pillar with full force, she charged her fist with energy and grabbed the stone wall, using the massive stone pillar like a small steel bar that would swing her back to where she came from. It completely ruined her fingernails but that was a necessary evil.
Moonlight barely saw the blow coming and failed to raise her defenses in time. Taking a full power blow to the stomach and then a kick to the chest, Yuri coughed up blood, ignoring her own defense and hitting Berry at point blank range with another energy blast. "Silver Light Burst!" The explosion enveloped both of them, throwing them high into the air.
At the same time, Rouge and Pine had reduced themselves in the eyes of everyone else to a golden and fiery line that raced through the air and from tower to tower. Passion saw no way to enter either of those specialized battles and help her allies out. At least she could take out the Cure that just stood still on the spot they had entered.
Passion approached Dream, not feeling too well about striking down someone that wasn't even registering that she was being attacked. Her punch was just about to connect when the pink Cure in front of her vanished and appeared right behind her with a powerful roundhouse kick about to hit Passion, who evaded the blow by ducking, using a low sweeping kick to take Dream off her feet.
Not even hitting the ground, Nozomi used her hands to push herself off the ground and flipped once over in mid-air, landing right on her feet. She was finally wide awake. Escaping from Passion, Dream approached the center tower. The battlefield was a disadvantage to her so she had to maximize her chances. If she didn't get all five of them at once, she would fail. And it was extremely difficult to resist the urge to go back and fight with Passion. She was by nature a peaceful person and hated fighting her friends, but the red light had tremendous power.
Arriving on the center platform, Passion hot on her heels, Dream turned around and crossed her arms in front of her face, blocking a spinning kick from the pink haired Cure. Pine and Rouge luckily arrived on the center platform at the same time, the two of them bleeding from multiple spots. Pine had heavy burns on both arms and her back, while Rouge was bleeding heavily from her forehead and her right arm.
It was now or never. "Utopia!" Dream lifted her arms, shouted and felt a massive shock in the atmosphere and an horrible screeching noise as she activated the ability. Like one of Mint's barriers, a sphere extended from herself, quickly extending to the others and enveloping them. In a matter of two seconds, the sphere reached more than a hundred meters radius.
Seconds passed before both Pine and Rouge were on their knees, their faces distorted in pain. Passion was clenching her head, in pain as well. "What... what are you doing? What is this?" Passion shouted to Dream and went on her knees. The pink Cure took a step back. That was completely different from what she had planned.
"Are you... crazy? You're suspending the fighting! You're disrupting the system" Pine was looking up and yelling at Dream, her face as pale as a ghost. Rin couldn't even talk, she was just covering her face with both hands in pain.
"What... are you doing?!" Berry jumped on the platform from another, unable to keep her balance, falling and sliding over the ground. She had taken quite a beating and dealt quite a bit of damage to Moonlight in exchange. Losing track of her the instant the sphere hit them, she was suddenly feeling the pain of every injury tenfold.
"What is happening? Utopia is supposed to make people see where they want to be the most. It's not supposed to do this!" Dream took another step back, her legs starting to give in. Instead of convincing everyone that they were being manipulated into fighting, she was causing them pain far worse than any of the fights did. "I was trying to get you out of whatever is possessing you to fight your friends! This Utopia is supposed to counter whatever is stopping you from thinking normally!"
"You dammed fool! We're not being manipulated! We accepted that we messed things up and that we're being held responsible! Stop acting like a goddamn five year old and accept that you. Are. Part. Of this." Berry started coughing up blood just as she finished shouting. Dream was dangerous. Very dangerous. If she didn't release the sphere, they were all going to die.
"You're lying! The Rin I know would never agree to fighting her friends! I don't believe the others would either!" Dream still couldn't accept what she was being told. The sphere was still there, growing more and more. That too had not been in her plan. It was leeching much more power from her that it should. If anyone attacked her now, she wouldn't stand a chance. She couldn't even run away.
"Fine, be that way! When we all die, you can tell the others that it's your damn stubbornness what caused it! And then you'll see just how manipulated they are, you obstinate child!" Berry spit a last few hateful words before she fell over, having difficulty breathing and tasting ever more blood in her mouth.
Dream shook her head, unable to comprehend the situation. "No... no... no... this can't be right. I don't believe you. I don't believe any of you. This is all a trick." Nozomi was staggering and looked at her own hands, then at Rin, then at her hands, then at Pine, hands, Berry, hands, Passion. It looked just like their blood was sticking to her hands.
"Farewell to Utopia!" Dream shouted and ended her ability. Or rather she tired to. It wasn't budging one bit. It was still draining massive amounts of energy from Nozomi, growing every bigger and stronger. Pine and Rouge were both unconscious, Berry still twitching and Passion frozen still. Her ability only had a ten minute duration to begin with, but barely two had passed and three of the five Cures present were on the ground.
Passion had found herself unable to move even a single step. Her vision was distorted extremely badly. One second, she saw Dream in front of her, the other, she was back on her travels with Love, cuddling with her. Shaking her head violently to get some clarity in her thoughts, she focused on the split second she could see Dream and rushed in the general direction. She had only one shot at that. "Club Punishment!" Passion hit the ground and felt something large breaking out of the ground all around her.
The sphere vanished almost instantly and something hit the ground next to her. When she looked up, Dream was on the floor, knocked out cold. Passion looked after Berry and she seemed to be recovering. Pine and Rouge were still unconscious and not moving a muscle.
"What the hell was that?" Passion looked at Berry, who was no longer feeling the pain like before. She had guessed as much, but as long as they were fighting, their sense of pain was heavily dulled.
"She revoked the entire fighting process inside her sphere. No heightened sense of aggression, no dulled sense of pain." Miki got up and looked around. Moonlight still had to be somewhere.
Miki and Setsuna could both feel it at the same time. The air was changing. It was getting a lot colder. And there was something else. Something that made both of their senses of danger ring louder than a siren.
When they could hear it, it was already too late. An alien song that rung in their ears, hurt them from the inside, sapped all their strength from their bodies. Passion, not having taken a single hit before, could barely kneel, never mind stand or fight. "What now?!" Miki looked up, looked around, but she couldn't see anything.
But they could hear. "Rrha ki ra harr exec, En yehar~, Rrha ki ra harr exec hymmnos PAJA, En yehar nha near yor!" A gruesome melody that spelled death. That spelled their death. That was not just any song their were hearing. There was potent magic behind it. Passion tried clogging her ears with her fingers but it was completely fruitless. There was no way around not hearing it.
"Was ki ra selena anw hymmnos PAJA - En ma ki ga chs syec van nel an hymme endia – En ma ki ra ks syec parge tes ar hymme mea – Was ki ra exec hymmnos PAJA – Was ki ra exec syec parge tie, gott yor!" The song continued, Passion and Berry no longer able to even kneel or look around. The song was sapping their strenght, was slowly killing them. And they still had no idea what was going on.
Dream was out could and so was Rouge. And Moonlight shouldn't have the ability to unleash something as gruesome as that. Even if she did, Miki didn't think her the type to resort to such tactics to win.
Any further theories vanished into the nirvana of unconsciousness. Berry could no longer keep her eyes open and Passion was about to hit the critical limit too. "Memento." She didn't like it but she had to rely on her superior physical abilities as Eas. "Switch... over." Passion turned into Eas and she regained enough power to stand.
"I'll dance dance, I'll dance in this feast unto death. Dance in this evils' night. "I'm a dancing Song Princess - You're my sacrifice – enjoy the show – give yourself to me – Now! Dancing to the countdown of your death, it's your fate!"
Eas quickly moved to the edge of the platform and looked down. Based on what she had been told, the battle should end once one team was completely knocked out. If Moonlight was already unconscious, then Dream had broken that system. If Moonlight was still conscious, she had to knock her out. Knocking herself out was an option too, but if Dream had indeed broken the mechanism to get them all out, that would only mean the death of all six of them.
But her worries came to an sudden end when she saw Moonlight on a lower platform, on the ground but still moving, desperately trying to get up but lacking the strength. Eas could feel her own strenght vanishing rapidly as well. That song was going to kill everyone really soon. She only had a few seconds at best. Taking aim and jumping with all her might, she landed pretty close to Moonlight.
"Is this... your doing?" Yuri's face was distorted with pain and she was about to give in to the songs power. Eas briefly shook her head, put her fists together like a hammer and hit Moonlight in the neck, knocking her out clean and quickly.
"If exhausted, you'll be dragged into the darkness with this sealing song of mine. Beg your god, to take your body and soul. Pray, for my song shall purge you now. Purge the heavens, purge the earth, purge the world, purge myself. The gods in heaven, the gods on earth, the gods of all things, hear my prayer. Purge away all those impure, make the world clean."
Eas could hear another line of the song before the area around her started to distort, hopefully a sign that they were being transported out and not her losing consciousness.
Seconds later, she found herself in her own room, still Eas, still feeling extremely weak. Love was already there, familiar with the process of waking up after the battle. That Passion was Eas and still conscious must mean that they won and she hadn't been knocked out.
"Something went wrong Love..." Eas almost fell down, Love quickly supporting her. "Another Cure, I think she's called Dream, used an ability that disrupted the fight and put everyone else through some horrible pain. I managed to somehow knock her out and cancel out that ability but then some kind of magic song started echoing through the area. Was that the same in your fight?"
Love was a little confused at the explanation but she could put a finger on magic song. "There are a few Cures on the other team who use music based attacks and abilities. But..."
"Love. The song would have killed us all. Not just knocked us out. Killed us. I could feel it. I could feel death creeping up on me. I know what death feels like Love. I've died once. But this was a lot worse than just your lifespan ending."
"I can't imagine a Cure would have an ability like that." Love was shocked to hear about something like that happened.
"Moonlight, Rouge and Dream were our opponents. Rouge and Dream were knocked out by the time the song started and Moonlight was in so much pain, she looked at me and asked me if I was the one doing it." Laying down on the bed, pulled the towel over herself and canceled her Cure form and with that, too, her original form of Eas, returning to Setsuna. She was too exhausted to waste even the slightest bit of energy. "You should go and tell everyone to check on Miki and Inori or check on them yourself. I'm really worried about those two. I'll... just catch a bit of sleep..." Setsuna was already falling asleep as she was saying the last sentence.
Love didn't hesitate to run out the room and right into Miki's. She was still unconscious, which was not normal. After a fight, injuries should be reduced to an absolute minimum and the participants should wake up. At least that was how it had worked until now. Kneeling next to the bed, Love checked Miki's pulse. It was relatively normal, but she looked really pale.
Sighing in relief, Love stood up, left the room and closed the door behind her. She'd report to Honoka and Karen after she checked on Pine. The fight had barely taken a few minutes, much less than anyone expected.
Going into Inori's room, Love did the same as she did with Miki, checking her pulse. It was there, just like with Miki, but she was also just as pale. They really looked like they didn't have much life energy in them. Was that what Setsuna had meant?
Just what in the world had happened in that fight? No other fight had returned people in such a state. Carefully closing the door, Love went to the living room, an unusually worried expression on her face. "Honoka, Karen, can I talk to you for a moment?"
=== End of Event XI ===
