Kiriko sat on the front porch of her house, playing with the lavender cashmere scarf she had around her neck. She looked over to the sidewalk and waited patiently for the rest of the Cures to come. Rani sat next to her, taking note of how nervous Kiriko appeared to be. She was fidgeting with her scarf, her mittens and playing with her hair while she awaited for her friends. Kiriko didn't even need a scarf and mittens in this weather, though she was insistent on it.
"Kiriko, you've got nothing to be worried about." Rani reassured her," The people in the kingdom are very nice, your magic will have a chance to thrive in a new atmosphere plus everything is pastel coloured, just like your bedroom! You'll feel right at home."
Kiriko nodded rigidly and offered Rani an uneasy smile before going through her phone.
"I wonder what it will be like actually stepping foot into the kingdom. I've thought about this day for a while now and...it's a bit overwhelming to think we'll be going there today." Kiriko confessed, moments before the rest of the team arrived at her place.
She picked up Rani and waved to the girls with her free hand. Kiriko then led the girls into her house, her heart racing at the thought of finally visiting the kingdom.
The girls walked into Kiriko's house, surprised by the absence of her parents since it was Sunday morning. Luckily for Kiriko, her parents had to be out of town for a few days so it wasn't likely they'd find out about her little trip to another realm. Her mind then trailed back to the evening of the Kanemiya twins' birthday party.
The father of the twins had made the decision to make the company announcement in the courtyard once everyone reassembled at the mansion. From there, the Cures found out that the Mizuhime company was hosting a year-long charity event under the name "Wonder Wells". Once the girls found out, they felt a bit disappointed, but also relieved in knowing the well's magic wasn't here.
Kiriko glanced over to her friends before they entered her room. Kiriko had told them earlier to tell their parents that they would be going to a sleepover, since none of them knew how long they be gone. She had pondered earlier exactly how long would it take for them to get stronger and improve enough to return to the human world. Would it take, days, weeks? Perhaps a whole month? And what skills of their would be put under review? As Kiriko opened the door to her room, she took one last deep breath before she walked over to her bed.
"Ok, we're all here now." Kiriko declared as Rani and Nova jumped onto her bed," What do we need to do?"
"First, take out your PlayPacts." Nova instructed the team.
The girls did as told and each of them held out their PlayPacts. Nova and Rani then inspected the room silently as if they were looking for something. Nova then pointed at the wall at the foot of Kiriko's bed.
"This will work." Nova stated as she and Rani stood facing the wall," This space here will become our door to the kingdom."
Rani then cleared her throat and said," I'll recite the incantation, when I'm finished you'll all shout out 'Pretty Cure, Kingdom Unveil'."
"Where toys run free and wishes come true, where magic runs rampant and there's lots to do. This kingdom we travel to is a realms away, they're in need of our help, so it's time to play!" Rani chanted by heart.
"Pretty Cure, Kingdom unveil!" The girls shouted in unison.
A set of lights appeared from the girls PlayPacts and together, they engraved a door into the space. Once the lights disappeared from the girls' PlayPacts, a pink and purple door with a patchwork design was in front of it. Kiriko took a step forward to further inspect the door. The edge of the rounded door was embellished with little diamonds and the door seemed to be made of a familiar, but unusual, material. Kiriko then pressed her hands on the door's surface to see what it was made from.
"It kinda reminds me of those books with the...inflated covers? I'm not quite sure what they're called." Kiriko said sheepishly before she put her hand to the doorknob," Are we all ready?"
WIth no objections, Kiriko figured the girls were good to go. As soon as she opened the door, a violent wind came through and sucked Kiriko into a bright pink hyperspace.
"Kiriko!" Mari shouted, while Asuna and Sophie ran after her into the hyperspace. Mari then grabbed the fairies and followed after them.
All the girls had entered through the door and were falling through the hyperspace.
"Are you sure this is going to lead us into the kingdom?" Kiriko asked loudly, her eyes squeezed shut as she clutched her stomach," This is way too extreme!"
"This is awesome! It's like free-falling but it never ends!" Asuna exclaimed as she looked down below her, unaware that she just made Kiriko feel much worse.
"This kinda reminds me of this Drop zone ride I went on when I went to that amusement park a couple of years ago!" Sophie said cheerfully, with Nova holding her.
Finally, the girls had exited the hyperspace and transported to a green pasture. The girls on fell flat on their face with the exception of Sophie's fall getting broken by Asuna.
"Well, that was quite the trip." Mari said as she fought to get back on her feet, her legs wobbling an awful lot as she did.
Sophie nodded in response and then heard someone from beneath her shout," Will you get off of me already?!"
Sophie was startled and immediately rose to her feet. When she saw Asuna laying in the spot she had sat on, she covered her mouth with her hands.
"I'm sooooo sorry!" Sophie said as she offered Asuna a hand up.
Asuna said nothing in response and looked over to Kiriko to see how she was holding up. Kiriko no longer seemed as queasy and was now just taking in her surroundings.
One look and the girls could already tell they were far from home. Even if the Kingdom's magic had been tampered with, the land seemed to have been perfectly fine. The sky was a bright, unusual blue like nothing they had ever seen. There were flowers they couldn't identify flourish in the lush, vivid green pastures and a few feet away from the was a giant castle.
"So I guess this is where we meet the royal family." Kiriko stated as they all gazed at the castle," We should probably report our progress to them and see if they've acquired any leads or suggestions."
"Precisely what we had in mind." Rani declared as she and Nova walked over to the front gate to the castle. As they walked over to the front gate, they suddenly heard a voice shout "Stop!" and Kiriko immediatedly turned around to see who it was. The girls were met by a tall muscular man in a suit of armor missing only his helmet. He had fair skin, lavender hair that reached his jaw and blue eyes with a stern look in them.
"What business do you have at the castle?" He asked them.
Kiriko felt slightly intimidated but did her best to introduce herself and the team saying," W-we are the Pretty Cure and we have come to hold a meeting with the King and Queen."
The man then kneeled slightly and looked at Kiriko inquisitively, causing her face to flush bright red.
"Oh dear god, I went and said something wrong didn't I? I shouldn't have been so demanding asking to see both the king and queen, I should've only said one! But if I left the other out, that would've looked sketchy! Jeez, he's been quiet for too long, is he going to let us in or not?" Kiriko said in her head, trying to look calm as the man inspected her.
"You said you girls are the Pretty Cure?" He asked, with Kiriko nodding in response.
His stood up straight and then said as he held hand out saying," Please follow me."
The man led the way into the castle and Kiriko exhaled a deep breath of relief. Kiriko then started to look around the castle and took note of how elegant the interior of the castle looked. She expected nothing less from the royal family, but she was a bit surprised by how empty the castle seemed as she only saw a grand total of two maids cross their path.
Asuna took notice of Mari staring at the knight who was leading them to the king and queen.
"He's probably too old for you." Asuna whispered flatly to Mari, who shook her head in response.
"No, he looks very familiar,I feel like I know him but I can't put my finger on it." Mari said, brows furrowed as she looked at the knight's back.
Asuna nodded in understanding and then the knight stopped in front of a door and knocked on it.
"Come in." A feminine voice said from inside the room.
The knight opened the door and inside was a woman with blonde and pink hair wearing a crown and gold dress. She was watering some plants inside the room, decorated with only some other plants, a table with some chairs around it, a pair of thrones and a carpet leading up to them. Sunlight poured in from the bay windows and hit her crown, causing the gems to glint in the light. The woman smiled at the girls and the knight led them into the room.
He then got on one knee and bowed his head saying," The Pretty Cure have arrived to discuss their mission with you. I'll take my leave to let you speak in private."
"Thank you, Knight River." The Queen said as River stood and exited the room," Welcome girls! I am Queen Imogen, ruler of the Laruan Kingdom. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Kiriko was unsure of what to do, so she just did an awkward curtsy and said,"It's a pleasure to meet you too. Your kingdom is very beautiful, it's something most of us would've never even hope to set foot in. It's really amazing!"
"Oh, why thank you!" Imogen beamed as she led the girls to the table in the corner of the room." Now let's get down to business."
The girls nodded in agreements and took seats at the table. Kiriko collected her thoughts, trying to think of how she was going to debrief Imogen on all that had happened since the girls began their mission. There was so much to discuss, but the question was, how much information did Imogen want? Kiriko wasn't sure how much she wanted to hear but she figured the queen would interrupt in the case that she did find any need for the smaller details.
"So, have you girls found any leads on my daughter Arabella as of yet?" Imogen asked before Kiriko was able to give her status report.
Kiriko was caught off-guard, but she didn't she show it and responded quickly saying," As of now, no leads have been uncovered. We originally suspected that Lilith was holding her hostage but-"
"-It feels off, right? I mean, if she did have her, she would've told us and try and make us some kind of offer to exchange the kingdom for her." Imogen theorized as she fidgeting with her bracelets.
Kiriko nodded in response and then said," But, in regards to the Well of Wonder, we know that Lilith is currently in possession of that but, she can't get it to work."
"Can't get it work?" Imogen repeated in confusion.
"We think it's missing something, like it's power, or it's magic, because Lilith's team hasn't been taking much action." Mari explained, with Imogen nodding in agreement.
"However, we still feel as if they have been getting stronger faster than we have so, to catch up to them, we came here to get stronger." Asuna debriefed in a somewhat impatient tone. Kiriko gave her a unapproving look and then Imogen cleared her throat before she gave her response.
"Well, I'm very glad to hear you girls are taking the initiative to go and train here in the kingdom. There truly isn't a better place for you girls to get stronger than here, where your magic will feel stronger and you'll have a place to get a true feel for your own powers." Imogen said as she stood up from her seat," I'll make arrangements for you girls to train with some of the strongest members in our kingdom. In the meantime, you girls can make use of the opportunity to explore the kingdom."
Imogen and the girls then exited the room and entered the main room of the castle. The main room looked similar to a regular living room with much more lavish furniture and a diamond chandelier hanging in the center. In the room sat three tall teenaged girls who looked identical to each other with cherry pink hair and dark pink eyes wearing yellow, orange and blue dresses. Two of the girls were looking through a book together while the other was adjusting her makeup.
"Girls! These are the Pretty Cure, please make them feel at home." Imogen said before she left the group.
The three girls then excitedly rushed over to the Pretty Cure, all wearing very large smiles on their faces as they approached them.
"It's soooo nice to meet you guys after all this time! You guys are so cute!" The girl dressed in orange gushed as she shook Kiriko's hand excitedly," So my name's Justice, that's Felicity and this is Charity!"
"How's it going?" Charity and Felicity greeted, both of them sounding almost identical to Justice.
"Are you guys triplets?" Kiriko asked, her face turning pale as she tried to remember which name belonged to which girl.
"Yup!" The girls said in unison with Justice adding," We're princesses of the Laruan Kingdom and next in line for the throne but to be honest...none of us really want to do that, so it'd mean the world to us if you found our big sister Bella!"
"Do you think they'd all be queen at the same time?" Sophie whispered into Asuna's ear, with Asuna shrugging in response.
"We're going to take you girls out to town!" Felicity declared as she led the girls outside," There are plenty of things to do in the entertainment district! We can go shopping or go see a play, meet with our friends, and maybe try out that new-"
"Felicity, aren't you forgetting something?" Charity asked as she folded her arms.
"Huh? Oh, how could I forget?" Felicity said clumsily as she called out from the doorway," Guys! We're going out, wanna join us?"
The girls turned around to see who she was talking to. Emerging out from the main hall of the castle was a trio of what appeared to be plush toys. There was a bright yellow and pink macaw, a baby blue seahorse, and pale orange puppy among them. They looked at the triplets expectantly and each plush accompanied a triplet.
Kiriko smiled at the orange pup resting on Justice's shoulder and asked," Is this the plush toy you gave the other half of your Patchwork Heart to?"
Justice nodded in response and then said," He's isn't just a toy! His name is Isaac."
The triplets then led the girls out into the entertainment district. The district was lively and crowded with people today. Nearly everyone in sight had a plush companion by their side. It felt so strange but so welcoming being in the presence of people who cherished their plush toys the way Kiriko did. Hundreds of people they passed by could be seeing with different sorts of plush companions, all sharing the same look of compassion, as if they were talking to a childhood friend, in their eyes as they spoke with their plush companions. Kiriko was very interested in learning more about how the tradition worked, so Justice explained it all to her.
"Basically, at some point in your childhood, you pick the plush toy that you feel you bonded with the most." Justice explained as they continued to walk," For some people it's a tough decision, but for others, it takes no time at all to choose."
Kiriko nodded in understanding and then asked," Was it tough for you to choose Isaac?"
"Not at all!" Justice answered with a grin as she looked over to Isaac," Isaac is particularly special to me. My dad and his brother were the previous owners of him, they found him left behind in a playground. He looked like he had been forgotten about, so they took him home and cleaned him up. A couple of years later, my parents gave him to me as a present."
"And the rest is history!" Isaac concluded with a nod.
As the girls walked through the district, Asuna noticed that they were getting a lot of stares from passerbys, making her feel somewhat tense. She wondered if it was only her that they were staring at, but moments later, she saw a couple looking at Sophie and Mari.
"Do we stick out or something?" Asuna asked Charity as they strolled through the district," Or, did everyone get informed that we arrived?"
"Huh? Oh, we wouldn't do something like that without your consent." Charity reassured as she waved a hand of dismissal," It's probably because of your appearances."
"Our what?" Asuna repeated as she narrowed her eyes at Charity.
Charity gave her a befuddled look and then asked her," You mean you haven't noticed yet? Everyone in the kingdom has bright coloured hair. You guys look...well, drab. Plus your clothes are kinda weird too."
Asuna took a quick look around the district and found that Charity was correct. There wasn't a single person in the vicinity who had a natural hair colour like the Cures. None of the girls had really noticed as of yet, they were all too busy admiring their surroundings to pay much attention to the kingdom's inhabitants.
"But don't worry, hair colours like yours aren't unheard of here, there just really, really uncommon. You'd have to be severely unlucky to have hair that isn't a bright colour. Do most humans on earth have hair like you girls?" Charity asked, with Asuna nodding in response," Then how come her hair is different?"
Charity pointed to Kiriko, who was still talking to Justice about the plush companions. Asuna eyed her teammate suspiciously, the thought had never really came to her until now. Her parents had the same hair colour but darker, so maybe it was just a genetic thing? She didn't seem like the type to dye her hair anyways.
"I think she gets it from her parents." Asuna stated, before the girls crossed paths with a girl who had neon orange and green hair and a quartet of fairies with patchwork designs on them by her side.
"Nice to meet you, Toychest Pretty Cure!" The girl greeted as a large grin appeared on her face. Her voice was upbeat and she dressed in bright hues of yellow and orange. Her clothes looked somewhat similar to athletic wear from earth, with their own quirks to them. The Cures exchanged confused expressions among each other and looked at the girl curiously.
"The name's Mindy. I'm here to help you with phase one of your training!" Mindy explained to the girls as she laced her hands behind her head," These guys here will be helping too. The polar bear is Noli, Lila is the fox, Ellie is the zebra and the chinchilla is Pauly."
"It's nice to meet you guys!" Kiriko beamed as she extended her hand out to Lila.
"The pleasure is all mine!" Lila responded as she shook Kiriko's hand.
"So, are we going to some kinda gym where we can practice using our magic?" Sophie questioned.
"We will get to that but first...we're going to do something bit different." Mindy stated as she started to walk, motioning the girls to follow after her.
The girls parted ways with the triplets now that their training had commenced. Mindy didn't lead them very far off from where they had originally met and had the group in a small bistro populated with maybe three or four other people.
"We will now begin Phase 1 of our training!" Mindy declared as she led the girls to a booth.
Mindy took out a set of papers and pens from her bag and handed them out to the girls as she said," The first thing you girls will be doing is...writing evaluations of your teammates!"
"Come again?" Asuna questioned, not even realizing how disgusted she sounded.
"You heard me. Each member will be writing about the strengths and weaknesses of each Cure on a separate sheet of paper. No one will get to see these pages except me, so in a way, it's completely anonymous. After you girls have finished writing your evaluations, I'll meet with each of you for a one on one." Mindy explained," But I'm sure you girls have nothing to worry about. After all, you've all been working so hard as a team that you should be comfortable in voicing your opinions! Remember, the goal of this isn't for you to break each other down, but rather build yourselves up. Ok? After this, you girls will be leaving the mainland to go train with the Celestians. They are some of the strongest members of the Kingdom, who are detached from the rest of society and take refuge in Celestine Sanctuary."
Sophie and Mari nodded in agreement, but it appeared that Kiriko and Asuna were already getting in over their heads, thinking about what types of critiques and comments would appear during these evaluations.
"I'm gonna get complaints about my fighting style, I'm sure of it!" Asuna thought to herself in a panic.
"I doubt there these guys will be holding back, I can't be sensitive about these things!" Kiriko thought to herself before she noticed her fellow Cures were already writing their evaluations down, leading her to follow suite.
As Asuna completed her first critique, she started to devise plans on how she could find out who wrote each evaluation. The idea of not knowing who said what was bothering her a lot and it looked like a good way to instill a feeling of distrust among the group. Asuna wondered if that was Mindy's intent as she wrote her critiques. Another thought appeared into Asuna's mind as she wrote down her critiques. She lifted her head for a split second to check and see if anyone had completed their critiques. Everyone was still working away so she took the opportunity to take her phone out to perform some safety precautions.
As Kiriko was writing down her critiques, she realized she was taking a lot more time than she anticipated. Usually, offering people advice and constructive criticism was her strong suite. But this time, things weren't as easy. Kiriko looked at her teammates for a moment. She didn't want to hurt their feelings and she didn't want to get crushed by what her friends had to say about her. The idea of these critiques being anonymous were also making her uneasy, so she tried to think of a way to identify which critique belonged to her fellow Cures.
"Asuna will probably be using slang in hers, and could even use some bad words. Sophie's been writing pretty quickly, so her responses will likely either be shorter, or have some grammatical errors." Kiriko analyzed in her head as she was finishing up her last critique," And I've never even heard Mari ever say anything negative, so chances are there'd be lots of sugar-coating in hers. Wait, what am I doing? I shouldn't be trying to determine who said what. It shouldn't even matter. This is an opportunity for me to get stronger and I should treat it as such!"
"Alright girls, are you ready?" Mindy asked as she noticed all the girls had stopped writing. The girls nodded in response and so, Mindy collected all their sheets and organized them by Pretty Cure. Mindy skimmed through the pages for a few moments and the girls sat in silence as they waited for came next.
"Ok, how about we begin with Mari?" Mindy suggested as her gaze met the girls'. Mari nodded in response and Mindy walked her towards a table on the opposite end of the bistro.
Mindy and Mari sat on opposite sides of the table, with the four fairies from before.
"Pay no mind to them, they're only here as spectators." Mindy informed her as she made the twelve pages float in the air. The pages swirled around and only four remained, with each Cure's name written at the very top.
"Now then..." Mindy began as she held Mari's page at the top of her stack, reading through the page," Everyone on your team is very glad to have you onboard, especially after the feats of bravery you preformed during the day you awakened as Cure Fantasy."
" "Mari is a hard-working girl who fights for what she believes in. She is full of kindness, positivity and compassion that our team would never want to be without. Sometimes I feel as if Mari is also distant from us at times, she should know that if anything is bothering her that we're her friends and we'd try to help her out!' " Mindy read out, with Mari nodding in response, feeling thankful that the girls hadn't said anything harsh, " 'However, Mari is way too confident in her magical abilities though, she should learn how to make use of other techniques. "
Mindy lifted her head and said," That was the summary of the critique, I'll read you out the full version now."
Once Mindy had completed reading out the evaluation to Mari, Mari stood up from her seat so Sophie could have her turn. As she walked back to the booth, Mari felt apprehensive as she thought about what was said in her appraisal. It was nice to hear that her friends thought she was brave, but the overly confident thing made her feel guilty in her actions. Magic wasn't supposed to be her strongest skill as a Pretty Cure, so if anything, she expected to have at least been commended for her work. Mari then took a seat a the booth and told Sophie her turn had arrived.
Sophie walked up to Mindy's table and Mindy greeted her warmly.
"Cure Bubbly, the energetic Pretty Cure." Mindy remarked before she read through Sophie's critique," Your team is very proud of everything you've accomplished so far. They admire your persistence, all your hard work and your self-motivation. 'Sophie is a bright girl in both personality and wit. She will always put her best foot forward and is easily the most cheerful member of our team. Sophie should consider relying on her teammates more often though when she is met with a crisis, as she tends to depend on only herself during a fight. Sophie should also try and better prioritize her Pretty Cure business above her other activities, since these are always more important."
After Mindy completed Sophie's critique, Asuna was called on next.
"Cure Teddy..." Mindy began as she scanned through her page," Everyone on your team knows you're an indispensable member through and through. You fight with so much passion and determination, it really shows how much this Pretty Cure mission means to you!"
Asuna held back on a smile, thinking to herself," Half the time I'm just fighting to blow off steam, but whatever."
" 'Asuna is a girl I know I can always depend on in battle no matter what. I admire her fighting style and sense of urgency during a battle, her friendship also means the world to me. However, I do believe that Asuna doesn't put her teammates in a very high regard, it's disrespectful and she should work on her people skills." Mindy read aloud.
Asuna rolled her eyes, and then tried to take the paper saying," What else does it say?"
Mindy then leaned back a bit and kept Asuna away from the page, saying," You don't get your copy to read until later, ok?"
Soon, Kiriko's turn came and the wait had been killing her. After all this time, a bunch of different scenarios appeared in Kiriko's head to the point where she was now dreading these evaluations. She had also noticed her friends seemed a bit tense after completing theirs. When Asuna returned to the booth, Kiriko walked rigidly to Mindy's table.
Kiriko sat at Mindy's table, giving Mindy a rather forced smile as she joined her hands together. Mindy then put the pages down on her lap as she looked over to Kiriko saying,
"You have nothing to worry about. Remember, we want to help you improve, alright?"
Kiriko nodded attentively and Mindy began her evaluation.
"Alright, Cure Dolly..." Mindy began as she started to read through the page," The Toychest Pretty Cure team could never function without you, you know that right? Your quick-wit and ability to analyze situations with ease has proved itself to be useful on countless occasions. 'Kiriko is a kind and caring girl, we couldn't have asked for a more thoughtful leader. Kiriko never fails to impress with her sharp wit during battle and she'll always try to cheer us on. Kiriko should remember though that as a team, she should keep in mind her own teams strengths and weaknesses. She is unfortunately a reclusive leader who should really try and become more open with us. She'll do things on her own without our input, like she thinks she doesn't need it. She always treats us like outsiders without a second thought outside of Pretty Cure stuff."
The critique that Kiriko was given had bothered her slightly, but she didn't vocalize her thoughts. She knew she wasn't supposed to take this stuff to heart, she was supposed to be more inviting to constructive criticism. But nothing about that summary's last point felt constructive. It felt as if someone on her team didn't like her as leader as much as she thought. Kiriko really didn't want to get in over her head so she tried thinking of other things to occupy herself.
Kiriko, Mindy and the fairies all went back to the booth that the rest of the girls were sitting at. Kiriko glanced at her teammates and it appeared their moods didn't improve all that much since she last saw them.
"Well, are we going to go meet with those Celestial people now?" Asuna asked, her tone sounding rather impatient.
"We have more thing left to do before that." Mindy declared," Follow me."
The girls did as told and followed Mindy out of the bistro, all wearing the same uneasy expressions on their faces.
"So, how did you feel about your evaluation?" Pauly asked Sophie as the group walked on.
"I dunno. I was sure I was going to be ok with the critique but..." Sophie began hesitantly, looking both ways before continuing her sentence,"There were some uncalled for things said in mine."
"Really?" Pauly asked in concern, with Sophie nodding in response.
Sophie replied with, "Someone had the nerve to say I-!"
"-Sophie, you're falling behind." Kiriko called out tonelessly as the group waited on her and Pauly.
The girls all stood in a plain field, waiting for Mindy to give her next instructions. Mindy then smiled to the girls and picked out a key charm from the many charms she had slung on her necklace. With the amount of charms on that thing, it looked less like a necklace and more like a key holder. Mindy then clipped off the charm and twirled the key in midair as if she was opening up a door.
"Your next part of training will be..." Mindy began as the group was transported into a dark maze,"...Reach the center of this maze!"
The girls somehow transformed during their transportation into the maze and were now in their Cure forms. Once the looked around, they realized the maze was not in fact poorly lit but rather, it was lit with ultraviolet lights.
"Cool, this sorta looks like the jungle gym at Hopper's," Teddy remarked as she stretched her arms out.
"All members of your team have to make it to the center at the same time. If you leave a teammate behind or let a teammate go on ahead, you'll all be disqualified and won't move forward to your next training session." Mindy explained briskly," There are obstacles in the maze that can be removed, but some need more work than others. And with that, I wish you all the best of luck!"
Mindy and the fairies then disappeared, leaving the girls all by themselves.
Dolly then looked around trying to see which path made more sense to follow. The girls were in the middle of a hall with the only options available to them being left or right. As Dolly tried weighing out her options, she remembered her friends' critique on her performance and started to wonder if she should even be the one making the decision.
"There's someone on the team who probably doesn't want me choosing which way to go..." Dolly thought to herself," Ok, guys! Where should we go?"
The Cures looked somewhat surprised that Dolly wasn't providing with her decision. It was a pleasant surprise in a way but, the Cures didn't have much sense of direction here. The three of them examined both sides and tried to decide which route to take. Dolly was standing impatiently, waiting for one of the Cures to say something.
"Let's go that way!" Teddy declared as she point to the right side of the hall. Dolly made a face but went along with Teddy's choice.
The girls walked into the right hall and found there weren't any obstacles in sight. At least, there weren't any as of yet. Teddy was leading the way now and lead the girls through the right hall, only to have been met with a fork in the road.
One side led to a dead-end, the other had a floating square obstacle in it's path made from what appeared to be water. The obstacle rose up very high so the Cures couldn't even climb around it. Teddy poked it curiously and it jiggled slightly, as if it was a water-bed.
"What the heck is this supposed to be?" Teddy questioned as she poked the cube again.
"I think it's one of those removable obstacles Mindy was talking about!" Bubbly surmised as she took a closer look at the cube," But, how are we supposed to get rid of this thing?"
The Cures stared at the cube for a while, with none of them making any suggestions on how to get rid of it. Dolly had an idea, but she didn't want to voice her suggestion and instead waited for someone else to say it for her.
"Dolly, you've been awfully quiet." Teddy pointed out a few moments later," Have anything in mind?"
"Well..." Dolly began awkwardly..." If it's made from water, I think it'd be best to freeze it so we could break it apart."
"Ok." Teddy said, though she didn't sound too impressed," So why did it take you so long to say that? And why didn't you say anything when I picked the right side?"
"You did make a disapproving face." Fantasy pointed out bashfully," But anyways, how do you suppose we freeze it?"
Dolly then answered with," You and Bubbly had made a freezing attack with your powers combined some time ago, so maybe that could work here. And I didn't want to say anything because...I didn't want to leave you guys out and just take the lead as always, since someone on the team thinks I do that too much."
"If you want our input, that's fine, but if you have a valid reason behind your decision, like you always do, then of course we're going to follow your lead." Teddy reminded her as she crossed her arms," That's why you're the leader, remember?"
Dolly was getting a bit frustrated and responded with,"I only took a step back because I'm trying to improve for you guys, I mean we are a team, aren't we?"
Dolly then decided it was best that she dropped the subject for now and return her attention to the problem at hand. She then looked over expectantly to Bubbly and Fantasy, asking the two of them,
"So, you'll do it, right?"
The two Cures nodded in response and they joined hands. The two of them were concentrating their magic into their palms, but this time, Bubbly noticed that something seemed off but she didn't comment on it. The two of them then held out their hands together, but all that came out was a shot of water.
"Fantasy, what's going on?" Dolly asked, not realizing how impatient she sounded.
Fantasy looked down at her hands for a few moments, having an idea as to why her part of the attack didn't go through, but she wasn't willing to explain why. She looked over to her fellow Cures, who all had the same worried expression on her face. She had a feeling she was going to make a scene, so she stayed silent for a bit longer.
The four fairies had watched their fight from the top of the maze walls. The four of them seemed to be divided in how they were responding to the events happening below them. Ellie and Pauly were watching the group intently, giving the Cures their undivided attention. The girls were getting awfully dramatic and it was getting really good to watch, if only they had popcorn on hand.
Noli and Lila though seemed a bit disappointed in the girls as they watched the four of them bicker.
"Man, these girls could never compare to Cure Cheer! All they do is argue with each other." Lila remarked as she pressed her paw against her cheek," Their trust in each other is embarrassingly low; Think Cheer would've approved of these girls being her successors?"
"Only time will tell." Noli responded with a sigh.
"I don't think my powers are working because..." Fantasy began hesitantly,"...Because someone here thinks I'm too confident in my powers!"
"Again with the someone here." Teddy stated as she held back on a groan," We won't get anywhere here if we keep thinking someone on the team is out to get us."
"I know this might not sound very helpful but...who did the comment sound like it came from?" Dolly asked briskly. She looked over to Teddy, expecting her to be rolling her eyes at the question but instead she had her focus on Fantasy.
Fantasy then answered with,"To be honest, it sounded like you, Cure Bubbly."
Bubbly looked somewhat confused, eyes wide as she said," I didn't write anything like that, honest!"
The three Cures gave her uncertain looks, only making her feel worse. Bubbly sighed, knowing that her claims alone wouldn't have been enough, but she wasn't sure of what else she could say. They were still giving her those unsure expressions and all she was able to do was blurt out,
"You guys just have to trust me!"
"I trust you, Cure Bubbly." Dolly claimed in strangely calm tone," But, somehow I feel as if you weren't the only one who's been framed."
"I can prove to you guys I didn't write anything bad, at least, not for Dolly." Teddy said as she took out her phone and showed Dolly a picture on it. Dolly took a closer look at it, and found that it was Teddy's evaluation of her. Dolly read through it quickly and was surprised to find that it was the exact opposite of what she had expected.
"Kiriko is a kind and caring girl and we couldn't have asked for a more thoughtful leader..." Dolly read aloud, her face turning red.
"Don't read it out loud." Teddy grumbled as her gaze went to the floor," But anyways, this just proves our evaluations have been tampered with! Everyone had something mean said in their evaluations but I'm sure none of us even wrote anything of the sort!"
"It seems these evaluations weren't only for us to improve...they wanted to test how well we trusted each other." Dolly concluded as she looked at the obstacle in front of them," And chances are, most of these obstacles will need teamwork, so we couldn't even continue otherwise."
The Cures nodded in response and Bubbly then said," Well, that was quite the mean trick. Fantasy! Let's blow this obstacle apart and show them our trust is way stronger than they thought!"
Fantasy nodded and the two tried again, concentrating their powers into their joined hands once more. This time, when the two directed their hands in front of the obstacle, a beam of ice shot out through their palms and froze the obstacle. The four of them were shocked to find that the obstacle froze, just like Dolly said.
Dolly felt excited rushing through her as she announced," Now all we have to do is-!"
Teddy then gave the frozen obstacle a powerful kick and smashed the obstacle into smithereens. The bits of ice fell to their feet and the girls just stared at them blankly for a few moments.
"-That." Dolly said as Teddy gave her a thumbs-up," Ok, let's keep moving!"
The team walked through the maze, feeling a lot more at ease now knowing that no one on the team was secretly looking down on them. There were lots of forks in the road and dead-ends but it wasn't as stressful now with the team functioning as they always did. Soon enough, the team had cleared through most of the obstacles and were nearing the center of the maze.
The girls were then met with an obstacle made entirely from steel. It hadn't been floating like the other ones, it was just a steel wall in between the girls and the rest of the maze.
"How are we supposed to get through this one?" Fantasy asked quietly as the girls surveyed the steel wall.
"I've got an idea!" Teddy exclaimed," I can just burn a hole through it!"
"Ok, then I'll cool it down so we'll be able to pass through it quicker." Dolly suggested, with Teddy nodding in response.
"Pretty Cure, flame of hope!" Teddy shouted. She hadn't burnt a hole big enough into the wall, so she had to focus and use her attack as if it was a laser. It was taking much more time than she expected, as it was tiring her out quick, but she wasn't keen on giving up just yet.
Fantasy watched her struggle with burning the hole and knew that Teddy wasn't able to do this for much longer without recharging, so she put both her hands on top of Teddy's. Teddy looked behind and was about to ask her what she was doing, but Fantasy cut her off.
"I'm going to do my best to help, ok?" Fantasy stated, with Teddy nodding in return.
The two Cures were able to make the burning process quicker by using their powers together. After a few moments, the girls were finally able to burn a hole big enough for them to pass through the steel wall.
"Pretty Cure, Wishful Cyclone!" Dolly shouted, causing a pair of pink and violet whirlwinds to shoot out from her palms. Teddy and Bubbly braced themselves for impact, remembering what happened the last time Dolly used that attack. But this time, it wasn't as strong. The two of them looked over to Dolly and saw that her attack had felt more like a giant fan set on its highest mode.
"What are you two doing?" Dolly asked them as she narrowed her eyes at the girls. The steel had cooled down shortly after and the girls were ready to pass through. They advanced pass the obstacle and finally were able to reach the center of the maze. The center had a half circle of candles behind Mindy and the fairies had returned to her side.
"Congratulations girls, I'm impressed." Mindy remarked," It's not an easy thing to pass through a maze with your entire team when your teammates are suspicious of you. You girls were right, this was not just a test of teamwork but also of trust and you all passed. Unfortunately, my time with you all has come to an end, the Celestians will be handling the rest of your training. These guys will take you to them."
"Mindy, your key?" Noli asked as he held out his paw. Mindy fished for the key Noli requested from her set and gave it to him. He then turned the key in midair and motioned the Pretty Cure to walk through the door. The Cures walked through, one by one but once they reached the other side, they couldn't find their teammates.
"Guys? Guys?!" Bubbly shouted out as she looked around her surroundings. She was in a misty field, abundant with white and pink lilies. Not a single soul could be found and the more time she was without her teammates, the more anxious she became.
"Where did everyone go?" She asked in a quiet voice.
Dolly and Fantasy were both by themselves in a field filled with flowers identical to the ones around Bubbly, but they too were all by themselves. But just then, they each discovered one of the fairies standing before them.
"Where the hell am I?" Teddy asked as she looked around the field curiously before she saw a giant gold gate with Noli in front of it," Noli? Where did everyone go? Did something go wrong when we were heading to the Celestians?"
Noli turned her back on her to face the gate, as if he was planning to open it. It seemed like a near impossible task with his size, but Teddy didn't comment on it.
"Nope, everything is just as it's supposed to be." Noli said, transforming in mid-sentence into a boy who seemed older than Teddy with fair skin and very pale powder blue hair. He opened the gate and lead her into an empty training field.
"Welcome to the Celestine Sanctuary." He said to her, extending his arms to punctuate his welcome," My real name is Niles, I am one of the Celestians, and you will be fighting me."
"What?!" Teddy shouted in pure shock.