It was hard to see anything through the thick, and chilly, morning mist. Only a handful of people were on the beach, most of them either jogging or walking their dogs. On the stairway that lead to the beach sat two people.
Bright played with a lock of his curly hair. "Ray, are you sure that girl will come here again?"
"Unda will come back." Ray told him with a nervous expression. "The sea is her calling, after all."
They rubbed their right hand. "Bright, I cannot let Unda destroy this world too. The world that you love..."
"Ray... that girl, was she really Unda? That can't be possible, right? Unda is... dead. And that girl was no different from all other humans I've seen..." Bright raised an arm. "And, besides, remember what happened yesterday? She saved us, and all those people. She became a-"
"But I felt it!" Ray snapped back. "I felt that it was Unda... it was the exact same. That girl was Unda! I am sure of it."
Bright let out a sigh and crossed his arms. If, in any way, that human girl really was related to Unda... what would that mean? Were they dealing with some sort of parallel counterpart of the Four Titans from their world... was this planet just a parallel universe of sorts? Was that it? Or... was there rebirth at play, perhaps?
"Does that mean... that the other three are here too?" Bright asked. "Did you feel their presence?"
Ray shook their head. "But they might be in this world too, somewhere." They kept quiet for a moment. "We should look everywhere. Leave no stone unturned! They have to be stopped!"
"Um... Earth is really big, Ray." Bright said. "That is going to take a while."
"Oh..."
A long silence fell between the two as they just gradually looked at the sunrise. Small rays of morning sunlight peeked above the ocean, even piercing through the thick mist. Bright took another glance at Ray, rubbing the palm of their right hand again (a habit they seemed to have picked up recently). They were staring at their feet with a defeated expression.
He forced a smile. "This is not what I wanted your impression of this world to be like."
"Maybe I really should have stayed inside." Ray almost whispered. "That is what mother would have wanted..."
Bright couldn't help but cringe internally whenever Ray mentioned their mother. Even though she wasn't around anymore, her influence still lingered strongly in Ray.
"Hey, you two."
The sudden voice startled both of them. They turned around, and standing on the top of the stairs was the girl from before. Her hands hidden in the pockets her of her hoodie, the hoodie which was pulled over her head. She looked down at them with a fierce glare.
"Answers. I want them."
Episode 2: A Deep Pile of Mysteries
"Well?"
The girl tapped her foot impatiently. Each tap sending a rush of worry through Bright's body.
"Who was that guy? What was that monster? Who is 'Unda'?"
"I..."
"What's this thing?" The girl showed the small egg.
"You're misunderstanding." Bright held up his hands defensively as the girl stomped closer to them. "We don't know what happened either!"
The girl squinted her eyes. "Don't play. You." She pointed at Ray, who flinched. "Know something."
Ray crossed their arms with a deep drown. "Fine. I will tell you what I know. Maybe that will help you remember your sins."
Bright felt completely lost in this conversation. He glanced at the short girl, who apparently had some relation to Unda. He wished he could understand Ray better. They were always so... vague.
This girl... she seemed nothing like Unda. She didn't even really look like Unda, either.
But that was probably for the best.
Unda was a selfish, melancholic crybaby. One with powers of godlike proportions.
One of the reasons Bright loved Earth so much was to be able to live carefree, without worrying about four gods' temper tantrums.
It was nice, to say the least.
"Introductions are in place, I assume?" Bright suddenly squawked out, silencing Ray and the girl from whatever they were bickering about. "This is Ray and I am Bright Bennet. Yes, that Bright Bennet." He struck an extravagant pose and smiled brightly.
The girl rolled her eyes, clearly not impressed. "Oh, you're so special, alright."
Bright made another turn, deciding to ignore her comment.
"Stop that." The girl said. "My name is Morgan Shannon Fischer." She turned to Ray with a glare. "Morgan. Shannon. Fischer. Want me to spell it out for you?"
"N-No..." Ray shuffled back, hiding behind Bright.
"You have multiple names too!?" He said, gasping, then struck another pose. "In fact I have more! My actual name is Brightly Vivid Colorful Arch Von Everglow." And another pose. "Now, we just want to get on the same page with you, if that's alright. We're quite confused ourselves."
Morgan scoffed. "Well, looks like I'm wasting my time. Since you guys don't know anything either." Her eyes lingered on the sea behind them for a moment. "Can you at least tell me who Unda is? Or was?"
Bright saw Ray flinch and felt a little tug on his shirt. They must be feeling uncomfortable about this subject, so Bright decided to speak up in their stead.
"I'll start at the beginning. We're both from an entirely different world."
Morgan let out a demeaning laugh. "Oh, are you now? I'm gonna go if you're gonna be like this."
As Bright had expected. She didn't believe them. Just like all people from Earth. He didn't really blame them... after all, the people from Primo were very surprised (to put it mildly) when they came face to face with otherworlders, or just the mere concept of a world outside of their own.
The Titans hadn't taken it lightly. And, each time, a lot of people had died.
"I have proof!" He suddenly cried out, as he got a very bright idea. He looked around to see if anyone was nearby. Then, he concentrated and a warm light surrounded him as he transformed into his true form, a peacock. "Behold, my glorious true form!"
He appeared in a poof of colorful feathers and showed off his dazzling, rainbow-colored plumage with pride. Morgan, however, didn't look that impressed. Or maybe she was just that bedazzled by his beauty.
"You're a peacock? With rainbow feathers?" She said, expression blank. "God, that's really dumb."
Bright gasped. "What!?"
He couldn't believe it. Calling his beautiful feathers "dumb"! The nerve!
He took a deep breath to calm himself down. No point in starting a fight. It wasn't worth it. She was confused and scared as well. Or at least that's what he assumed.
"Sooooo... you're... like... a magical peacock from some random world?" Morgan squinted her eyes and took a step backwards. "I'm really confused?" She looked at Ray. "Your name was Ray, right? Heh, please, tell me you're a magical manta ray."
"A what?"
Bright covered his mouth to prevent him from laughing at that mental image.
Ray turned to him with a frown. "What did she say!? Was that an insult!?" Their eyes flashed over to Morgan. "Unda, if you are mocking me I will personally-"
"It's alright, Ray! She wasn't insulting you! ... I think..." Bright spoke up before a fight could break out. "It's an animal. A pretty one."
Ray didn't look convinced and fumbled with their hands as they glared at Morgan with a pout.
"I cannot change into an animal. I'm made of the purest light. I am the purest light."
Morgan snorted. "Sure. I would make a lightbulb joke but that'd be too easy."
"Heh?"
With another chuckle, Morgan sat down on the stairs.
"Now, tell me what you know. I won't interrupt anymore. I'm willing to listen, so don't waste my time by squawking out crap, got it?"
"Of course."
Bright hopped closer to Morgan, so he wouldn't have to raise his voice that high. She shuffled back a little as he approached her.
"We come from a world called Primo. Which was ruled by four gods, the Titans. Huge women possessing god-like elemental powers... And Unda was one of them." Bright started, stumbling over his words. He just realised how bizarre everything sounded now that he was saying it out loud. "Something happened... and, in the end, all of Primo got destroyed."
While she didn't say anything, it was very evident that Morgan had a hard time getting behind this story.
Ray took a breath and continued where Bright left off.
"The Titans wanted to destroy Primo, their own world... And I fought to stop them. I lit a fuse of hope and used my powers to take on the four of them. I took them down." They clenched their fist. "One by one." They bit their lip and rubbed their hand, again. "I still failed... but I... I do not know what happened after that..."
Bright nodded solemnly. "Due what I could only assume to be a miracle, I survived and found Ray, and ended up here, on Earth. That was about fifteen years ago."
Wearing an unreadable expression, Morgan leaned back. She was definitely having a hard time following what they were saying.
"Ray was in a slumber until, like, a month ago." Bright continued, trying to speak at a slow pace. "I've been trying to build up a normal life here. And... " He struck another pose. "Judging by the amount of times my wonderful face has been on magazine covers, I assume it's safe to say I succeeded to a certain point."
Morgan finally decided to speak up. "Okay, so... uh... where did that guy come from?"
He had to admit, he was a little... no, very disappointed that Morgan ignored him, but he decided to answer her question anyway. That was the polite thing to do. "I... don't know. I've never seen him before."
"Also, why do you assume I'm this Unda lady? You said she was a huge god, or something?" Morgan said, frowning. "As you can see, I'm not that godlike, or tall."
Ray jumped up and walked up to Morgan. "But! You feel the exact same as her. And the water... everything about the water. It cannot be a coincidence."
Morgan looked like she was ready to punch Ray. Bright tapped Ray's leg lightly with his feathered arm.
"Also... " Morgan continued. "Where does Pretty Cure fit in all this?"
Wide-eyed, Ray cocked their head. "What is a "Pretty Cure"?"
"I... don't know that either, to be honest." Bright admitted. "But! I've heard about a couple of people using magical powers to defeat monsters, kinda like that shadow creature, although they looked different from the pictures I saw."
"Magical girl stuff, yeah. I've heard about it." Morgan shrugged. "Don't really know why I managed to become one... I'm not exactly the most pure of heart."
"Oh, goodness! Don't bring yourself down like that!" Bright exclaimed with a loud gasp. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You defeated that monster, and you defended this world from meeting its end. And you did that all by yourself! That's admirable."
Morgan gave him a wry smile. "Uh, thanks... but seeing a stupidly bright-colored peacock saying this to me... it's hard to take serious."
Bright gasped at this. Even after all these years, people from Earth still baffled him. They were so strange!
He looked around and then turned back into his human form, wearing a disappointed look. "Looks like you can't appreciate true beauty."
At that, Morgan just rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I'm not really following your story but.. it seems like you've been through some rough times." For a moment, Morgan's features softened. "Sure, I may be like this Unda lady. But, as far as I'm concerned, I'm no god."
Ray smirked triumphantly. "Because I dethroned you! And the other three too!" They cried out. "Now you are stuck in mortal bodies... on an entirely unrelated planet... um... and..."
"Okay, if I'm Unda, where are the other three, then? Why don't you go bother them?" Morgan took a couple of steps towards Ray, she seemed genuinely curious despite the harsh tone.
"I would, if I knew where they were!" Ray defended. "Hm... Unda liked the sea... Terre liked forests... Aeris liked the skies... Ignis liked..." A pause. "Destruction in general..."
Morgan shrugged at Ray's mumblings. "Hey, you could always check every fireplace and hope for the best."
Even though Bright felt a great discomfort at not being able to give Morgan the answers she both wanted and needed (and vice versa), he didn't try to stop her when she suddenly turned around and walked away with a soft, "Bye."
He held a hand in front of Ray when they wanted to go after her. Even if she was Unda stuck in a human body... there wasn't really anything she could do, even if she wanted. Morgan seemed generally harmless, especially compared to Unda. She even fought that creature. Unda would have never done that.
That didn't go as well as expected.
No answers. No nothing.
Those two seemed to be just in the dark as she was.
Maybe a bit less than her, considering they both came from another world. Oh, and that one model her mom liked was a magical peacock apparently? She wondered how her mom would react to that.
If their story about their destroyed world even was real... no, the hurt in their eyes, the agony in their voices. It felt genuine. Besides, who would even make something like that up anyway?
So yeah, the existence of other worlds? Not that surprising.
She had heard of Pretty Cure before. Morgan knew they were a thing, just not around here.
But that had changed yesterday.
She got the egg from her pocket and looked at it. A smile found its way on her face, again. It almost seemed like the wavy line patterns seemed to move, like gentle waves.
Her mind just couldn't stop drifting back to the fight, and every time, she found herself smiling (and Morgan was sure she looked like a fool for doing so).
The wave of energy, the free movements, she loved it! It wasn't like she was being swept away by a flood, it was like she was leading the flood.
Due being lost in a great memory, Morgan only realised a person was jumping towards her when it was too late. A girl slammed head-on into her, sending her falling on her butt. It hurt. The girl was leaning over her and, due to some miracle, the bag of food she was holding above her head didn't spill a single thing.
"Oh! Lucky~!" She beamed with a bright smile and Morgan cringed internally, face red. The girl's face was uncomfortably close to hers.
"If... you don't get out of my face, my foot will make sure you won't have that tooth anymore." She narrowed her eyes at the girl, who was still smiling and showing off her chipped tooth.
The girl then gasped loudly as she offered Morgan a hand to help her up. She didn't take it.
"I knew something lucky would happen today!" With another bright smile, she waved Morgan goodbye and threw an apple in her direction. "Here, as thanks for making something lucky happen! I hope you get lucky today, too! See you later! ... Maybe!"
Morgan couldn't catch the apple in time and it landed next to her feet.
"Well, I ain't eating that."
She almost made a jump when Ray was suddenly right next to her. Their eyes were glued on the red-headed girl that almost trampled Morgan seconds before. Humming her merry little song, she hopped out of sight.
Ray took a few more steps. Their eyes wide.
"Terre..."
"Cure Splash, hmm?" Smoky grinned as he looked at his tablet. He scrolled casually through the discussion forum, reading the comments about yesterday's fight. To his surprise, there were no pictures included, or at least none with good visuals. They were all so blurry that you couldn't make out what was supposed to be what.
"The comments mention Hail too!" He exclaimed loudly, turning to the two females sitting on a couch further away. "They literally called what Hail did, "not cool". Heh. Aren't they just clever~!?"
Bronze stared back at Smoky but didn't reply. Her mind went off to Hail, who was still resting in his room. Yesterday had really done a number on him. Hopefully he would bounce back to his old self soon.
"I'm so excited to see what her team is like!" Smoky said with a grin.
Brought back to reality, Bronze gasped. "Team!? What do you mean by that!?"
"Seriously? Don't you know anything about Precure? Or magical girls, even?" The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Precures always come in teams! Sometimes in duos-"
"Ah..."
"But some teams can be as big as seven, eight, or even nine Cures!" Smoky adjusted his shades. "Isn't that just craaaaazzyyy?"
Bronze's face dropped.
She stood up, wearing a determined expression. "Then we should stop her before she can gather a team. I suggest we defeat this Cure Splash right now!"
She turned to leave, but, before she could, a tiny voice spoke up. "Bronze...?"
"What is it, Aeris?" The woman's features softened as she waited for a response. The owner of the tiny voice was a teenage girl with feather-like, platinum blonde hair and dark wings, which were folded against her body.
Aeris fumbled with one of her wings nervously. "Please, be careful..."
"Don't worry." Bronze reassured her as she raised her metallic arms, changing them into an array of weapons, like swords, or even guns, to make her point. "I can handle this!"
Morgan had decided to follow Ray... following that girl.
Oh, the irony. The stalked becoming the stalker. Or the stalked accompanying the stalker while stalking another victim.
Maybe, just maybe, she would find out some answers today. Seeing the intense interest Ray had in that girl, it was almost the exact same when they had followed her around.
That probably meant she was another one of those... uh... gods?
"Are you sure that... was Terre?" Bright crossed his arms with a worried, yet sharp, look.
Ray nodded frantically. "It was Terre. I felt it!"
What followed next for... who knows how long, was a long drawn out game of tag. The girl was very fast, or at least very agile, as she was pretty much climbing and jumping all over the place. Taking shortcuts, climbing on roofs. It was like she was doing parkour, or she was just a very energetic squirrel.
With every turn they made, they just barely missed a little flash of her red hair.
She either didn't seem to hear Ray's calls (and insults), or just ignored them.
Before they knew it. The three had found themselves in a forest. But they had lost sight of the girl completely, and they were pretty much lost themselves. They had gotten so into their chase that they hadn't paid that much attention to their surroundings.
While Morgan and Bright were still running, Ray was essentially stumbling behind them, in dire need of breath.
"S-stop... I... cannot..."
Ray stopped and leaned against a nearby tree, trying to catch their breath. Bright rushed to them, worried, and carefully patted their shoulder, only for Ray to slap his hand away with their elbow.
"Do not touch! Please."
Bright retreated his hand with a sincere apology.
Morgan cocked her head. Ray seemed really adamant about not being touched. She wondered if they had some sort of OCD or phobia.
Or maybe touching others had a different meaning on their magical planet. Who knows. Morgan didn't and didn't ca-... no, truth to be told, Morgan was kinda curious, but decided this wasn't the correct time or place to pry.
"Where... are we?" Ray suddenly asked, between breaths.
A smile spread across Morgan's face.
"The spooky forest!" She said with a dark tone. "They say spirits lure people inside, taking a desirable form in some way, to pray on the victim's emotional state." She continued, taking a few more steps towards Ray, who clutched themself to the tree. "Then... when you're at your weakest moment... they rip out your soul and feast upon it like animals! You'll be nothing be an empty shell, tainted by despair and forced to wander these woods for eternity!"
Bright placed a hand on his chest with an uneasy look. "Oh goodness, that's a scary one. I've never heard of that myth before."
Ray's reaction, on the other hand, was less mild. Their pupils shrunk, then they let out a bloodcurdling scream and dashed off in a random direction as fast as their legs could carry them, using the air in their lungs they had mysteriously regained after just a few seconds of resting.
That wasn't really the reaction Morgan had expected, but it was pretty funny nonetheless. What a drama queen.
"Ray!? Ray!?" Bright called after Ray. "Come back! What if the Spirits of the Forest...!?"
"Dude, that was a joke." Morgan said, removing her hands from her pockets just to throw them in the air. "Not real."
Bright gave her an odd look before following in the direction Ray had gone. After a few seconds, and a shrug, Morgan followed too.
After an hour of non-stop walking around (and Bright calling for Ray, who was still out there somewhere), Morgan decided to rest for a moment.
This wasn't going to work.
Morgan had never really entered the forest before, she had no idea where she was. She had no idea if there was anything noteworthy in here, even.
For all she know, that girl and Ray might be somewhere in town, happily chatting over some good food.
Thinking about food made Morgan remember she hadn't eaten anything yet. And, it was already... what... afternoon or so? It's not that you could really see the sky due being buried in trees.
She sat down on a nearby tree branch, stretching out. "Yeah, good luck with your search."
Bright looked up, surprised. "Oh... you're not...?" He started. The disappointment in his voice was very clear.
"I'm tired and hungry. To be fair, you look like you could use some rest too."
The man rubbed his arms and then, with a poof of feathers, he had turned back into his peacock form.
"I've been through worse. My training was way more intense..." He began. "But, taking rests is very important."
Morgan scoffed. "Training?"
"I'm a knight, or... I was a knight. My kingdom isn't exactly around anymore... I'm not entirely sure if I can still carry that title." A hint of sorrow was evident in both his look and voice.
As those words left a heavy atmosphere, Morgan turned away in silence. What could she even say to that?
"I promised Ray that I would protect them. As the last knight of Primo."
"Was Ray a knight too or something?"
"Oh, goodness, no." Bright fumbled with his wings. "Ray is... they're an embodiment of light and hope. Created to secure the light of Primo."
Morgan frowned. What did that even mean?
Now that Bright had mentioned it... Ray did seem to radiate some sort of light, that's why they seemed to stand out so much? It was like they were a walking light bulb. A weak one which needed changing.
"They... had very sheltered life. Their mother was very strict." Bright turned his back to Morgan. He lowered his voice, barely above a whisper. "I... I just want Ray to be what they want. Not what she wanted them to be."
Morgan's heart grew heavy. That was hitting a bit too close to home.
"Yeah... tell me about it."
"Wow! Woooow!"
Morgan and Bright turned around at the sound of a new voice, booming above them. The voice belonged to the same red-headed girl they were following before. She was sitting on a tree branch, her legs swinging from side to side as she was munching down on an apple. Her playful eyes focused on Morgan and she smiled widely.
"Oh, hey! It's you! I had a feeling we would meet again." She said, taking another bite. "But not this soon."
Maybe they shouldn't have eaten those berries. They made Ray feel sick. Their stomach was spinning violently and their head was throbbing along with it.
But what else were they to do? After wandering around in a forest, being scared for your life, being tired and hungry, and on the the brink of dimming out... then... seeing your salvation in the form of a couple of brown-ish berries. How could anyone say "no"?
Ray liked berries back home. And these looked edible enough.
Big mistake.
As far as they remembered they've only gotten sick four times. Three of those four times because of food, and the last because of... stress, probably? At least that's what Lucille had told them.
And speaking of Lucille...
Was... she... standing next to that tree over there? Hadn't she dimmed? Along with everyone else on Primo?
No, it really was her. Ray recognised that soothing singing voice and especially those rainbow-colored locks everywhere.
"Luuuuucciiiiiiiiilleee!" Tears sprung from their eyes, blurring their vision even more as they stumbled towards the woman.
At the sound of her name, Lucille stopped singing and turned around.
"Ray?"
Ray's knees finally decided to give in and they sank on the ground before reaching Lucille. The woman gasped and she kneeled down in front of Ray.
"Lucille... I am sorry... I am sorry..."
Lucille shushed them and held a finger over her lips as she smiled sweetly. "Our secret, right? Don't tell anyone. Especially not your mother." She stood up again and turned around. "I'll go meet up with her right now, she's waiting for me. You should go back to your room, too."
Ray looked up, tears still in their eyes. Didn't Lucille remember what happened?
"M-Mother... Mother is gone."
A sweet, soothing laugh filled the area.
"So am I."
Ray felt like they had been punched in the chest. Their body lost even more glow than it already had.
"Kid? Kid you okay?" Dale Parker tried to calm down the weeping child at their feet.
The old man wasn't quite sure what to do. The child was desperately uttering apologies, or at least that's what their incoherent babbling sounded like. But then again, his ears weren't what they used to be, and neither were his eyes (even with his glasses).
He needed to stop this. Bring them back from whatever attack or episode they were having.
An elbow found its way into his chest as soon as he had reached out a hand to them.
"Noo! No!"
"Kid?" He prompts, even more carefully this time.
Now, their dull eyes were staring at least in his direction. If they actually acknowledged him, that was a different story.
"L-Lucille?" They croaked out, their eyes staring right through Dale. "You are not her... are you?"
"No, I'm sorry. You were having a little... uh, fit." He was severely disappointed in his inability to find the right words. If anyone would know how to be careful with words around people, it was him. Or it should be him.
"Your eyes... your eyes..." They mumbled while squinting their own eyes. "Four... eyes?"
Now, that was just rude. Dale took off his glasses with a laugh.
"That joke is old. Get with the times." He laughed. "It's sad when an old man is the one who has to tell you that."
They raised their gaze. "Where am I? When am I? Who are you?"
"The name's Dale, I'm here to visit some friends of mine. But, why are you here? There's nothing really noteworthy in here. Especially not for kids like you. You should be out and about with your friends."
They looked just as confused as before. "Friends?"
That was the word they focused on?
Dale felt his heart sank a little. This child probably didn't have many, or any, friends.
It was just like her.
Oh, maybe he should introduce this child to her. Maybe they'll hit it off and become good friends. That would be great.
Before he could say anything, another voice spoke up.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to make do."
Dale swung his head around to see a woman behind him, bearing a serious look. She fumbled around with the bottle in her metallic arms, having trouble opening it. A couple of child-sized robots, bearing small screens for heads, waddled around her, uttering beeping sounds frantically while their screens displayed worried emojis.
"Hold on! I almost got it." She added, getting more frustrated by the second. She almost dropped the bottle, which one of the robots caught just before it could hit the ground and shatter.
He heard the child let out another cry as the woman approached him with the bottle, letting a small drop drip out, then she dug her hand into his shadow.
"Come out, Unbound!"
Everything was replaced by darkness.
"You're... Terre?" Bright asked the girl sitting in the tree and took a step towards her.
"Terre?" She cocked her head, confused. "Nope. Not me. I'm Beryl! What's your name, magical rainbow peacock guy?"
She seemed to take the "magical rainbow peacock" part really well.
Bright struck another pose and showed his colorful feathers proudly. "I am Brightly Vivid Colorful Arch Von Everglow! Or Bright Bennet as I am called here. Oh, and this is Morgan Fischer."
"Morgan Shannon Fischer, thank you."
"Wow! That's a very long name!" Beryl commented with a smile, ignoring Morgan's comment and turning to Bright instead. "Sooooo, are you from... a magical world or something?"
It seemed like Bright wasn't sure how to reply at first. "I am from a different world, true. But..." He smiled sincerely. "This world is more magical than anything I've experienced at my home."
Beryl returned a gentle smile as she leaned forward a bit.
"That's good. I'm glad you're doing well."
Morgan took a good look at Beryl. Her red hair looked like it hadn't seen a brush in days, and flowers and leaves seemed to be stuck between her locks. The rest of her appearance wasn't any better, her clothes being dirty and loose. She also wore a notable amount of seemingly handmade jewelry and charms, the one standing out the most being her necklace with a green, flower-shaped crystal.
"Hey, you're not, at least a little, weirded out by him?" Morgan asked her.
Beryl's reply was a simple shrug as she took another bite. "Not really? Truth is, I've always known there was something magical in our world. It's pretty cool I get to meet someone from a different world. Sooooo... " Beryl's gaze focused on Bright. "What was your world like? Were there other magical animals?"
There was a loud roar before Bright could answer, causing the trees to shake a bit, which then resulted in Beryl's bag falling on the ground. She clutched herself to the tree to avoid falling out of it.
"Is it one of those monsters again?" Morgan asked. Then flashed a smirk and cracked her knuckles. "I'm so ready! I owe that guy an ass-kicking!" With that she dashed off in the direction of the noise and held up her egg. The Seaborn Charm. Don't ask her how she thought of that name, it was buried inside of her head and it just felt right, okay?
"Primal Spirit Unleash! Precure Evolution!" A bubble engulfed her and in a second, she was back to being Cure Splash again.
"The heart that dances with the rising waves, Cure Splash!"
"That's amazing, Molly!"
"Molly!?" She cringed and whipped around to find Beryl standing right behind her. She was practically jumping with excitement, for some reason. Now that she was so close, Splash noticed that Beryl had a minor scar near her right eye (or was it a burn? She couldn't really tell).
"That is your name, right?"
"No! It's Morgan Sha- I mean it's Cure Splash now!" She corrected the other girl, who blinked a few times, probably trying to process the entire thing.
Another roar startled the three and the Unbound was now clearly visible, as it was shoving trees aside as if they were nothing.
Beryl's expression turned into one of horror. "No! It's destroying the forest!"
"I'll take care of it!" Splash assured her with a grin and used her water powers to slide over the the Unbound. It looked very similar to the one she had fought yesterday, but this one was wearing a silly-looking tie and had some sort of metal plates on its arms.
"You have arrived at last, Cure Splash." A new voice boomed, distracting Splash long enough for a dozen of robots-like bodies to jump her, beeping frantically. The Cure kicked half of them away with ease and then used her arms to create tendrils of water to take care of the rest.
Meanwhile, the Unbound continued its rampage and the owner of the voice approached her. Metallic clanks resonated with every step.
Splash looked up to a seemingly middle-aged woman. Her outfit seemed metallic, yet had a brownish color to it, like it was rusted. Another strange detail were the strange marks that surrounded her brown-tinted eyes, it was like flowers bloomed out of them.
"Cure Splash, it is time for you to go." She spoke, aiming one of her metallic arms to the Cure's face. "Goodbye."
"Uh, hello? Aiming your... literal finger guns into someone's face is not exactly-"
The woman's arm trembled, if only slightly. "Silence! For everyone's sake, I will not let you go on your way and disturb the plan. I, Bronze, will not let you, you hear me?"
The Cure couldn't help but snort. Did this Bronze lady really think she would back down that easily? Splash was itching for some action, and keeping the world safe was a very nice bonus.
Suddenly, Beryl had folded her arm around Bronze's metallic one. She stared into the woman's eyes as she shoved her arm away from Splash. Calmly, but firmly.
"Don't."
Bronze stared back at Beryl for a long time. Both in silence complete silence. Clenching her teeth, Bronze aimed her trembling arm at Beryl and shot a dark beam in her direction.
It never hit.
Beryl was embraced by a green light, creating a protective barrier around her, just as had happened to Morgan before.
She was wearing a tranquil smile as, just like with Morgan, a small egg manifested in front of her. This one being green in color. Beryl grabbed it almost right away. She seemed awfully calm, despite everything.
"Primal Spirit Unleash! Precure Evolution!"
The earth beneath her started shaking heavily.