Choo choo! All aboard the plot train!

Hello, everyone! Thanks for still sticking wth me!

ALSO I do like to add a little WARNING to this particular chapter. It might be a bit more intense than normal, nothing incredibly gory or graphic, but a little heads up just in case!

And, again, thanks to Nexus_Schwarz and SugaryDiamond for beta-reading and being super nice and supportive overal! Be sure to check out their respective fanseries, Mythical Precure! and Weather Control Pretty Cure! I also highly suggest to check out Immortal Friendship Precure by curecustard! It's really good and deserves more love! Go read and leave some encouraging words for all of them if you can!

For the next two or so weeks, a pattern was set. Attacks had become as frequent as almost once every other day. One of the four villains would show up, turn an unsuspecting victim into an Unbound, and almost always left as soon as the Unbound was defeated (to Morgan's dismay).

Every time one of the villains had tried to face the three Cures directly, it had ended with three completely overpowering them.

Shade was not happy.

He sat in an empty throne room, on a black throne that had once belonged to his father. It was too big for Shade's smaller form, obviously. He had to spread out his arms to even lean on the armrests. For now, his hands were resting on his head.

He had been thinking. A lot.

This method just wasn't working. How was he supposed to get darkness when these "Pretty Cures" (a really stupid name, by the way) kept getting in the way? His minions were simply too weak to go up against these three superpowered girls.

But if they were anything like what Radiant Lumiere had been... then it didn't surprise Shade that they were so powerful.

It would be foolish to continue like this.

Maybe it was time to bring out a "secret weapon"?

Episode 6: Glimpse of Darkness

While Hanan's parents had been excited and very proud of Hanan being a magical superhero (they even had a big dinner with the whole family to celebrate), Morgan's parents, on the other hand, had been almost the opposite.

They had only briefly mentioned it during one of those rare times Morgan decided to eat in the dining room with her parents, instead of taking the food to her room.

"Please, be careful." Her mother had said, with an odd look, while her father kept quiet. "And do not put so much sauce on your food. It's getting all over your clothing."

Morgan leaned into her chair, glaring at her father. "Before you say anything... I want to stress to you that this is my choice. And don't think I'm gonna stop because I will 'give the family a bad name' or something stupid like that."

"Morgan, please! Your father didn't even say any-"

"He is thinking it! I can see it on his face." Morgan leered at her father, who had finally looked up from his plate. "Because that's all he cares about!"

Actually... that was a lie. She couldn't see what her father was thinking at all and she hated it. Morgan clicked her tongue, irritated at the fact. Was he proud or disappointed in her? Probably the latter, despite his words.

Her father locked eyes with her. "I actually think this whole 'Pretty Cure' thing will do the opposite of ruining the family name."

And after that, they hadn't mentioned it at all. It was like they had completely forgotten it and weren't aware that their daughter was a magical superhero splashing water into evil-doers faces on a near-daily basis.

The fact that school started again had only made things worse.

A suspicious amount of people were seemingly lured to both Hanan and Morgan, buzzing like bees to honey. Following them, wanting to sit next them during classes or breaks, and asking many questions about the whole Pretty Cure business.

While Hanan was relatively well-liked around the school, or at least they all knew who she was, Morgan was not used to the attention. As a result, people were more reluctant to approach her. It might also have been the fact that she snarled at every "fan" that approached her.

Morgan was the type to just sit in the back of the class without saying a word. Never participated in socialising, showing up for classes just as much as necessary, and scoring just high enough to pass them. The bare minimum, if you will.

Morgan groaned loudly as some random girl sat down next to her during lunch break. Couldn't she just eat in peace?

It took a bit of effort but after finally shooing her 'biggest fan' away, the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch break. Morgan groaned even louder this time, but then shrugged and didn't even move as the other students left the cafeteria to get back to their classes.

Before she had the chance to take another bite from her sandwich (with a lot of hot sauce, of course), Hanan had approached her.

"Hey, let's go." She said, crossing her arms and giving Morgan a somewhat scolding look.

"What?"

"We have Math class together, remember?"

"So?" Morgan rolled her eyes and took a big bite, sauce dripping on her plate and the table. An explosion of flavors soon numbed her tastebuds.

Hanan scrunched her eyes. "... Uh... we should get going? The bell already rang?"

"Nah, I'm eating first."

"You should have done that during break!"

"I was trying to! But these so-called 'fans' of us were keeping me busy. I am quite popular, it seems." She chuckled, being caught in between liking and disliking the attention. "Probably more popular than you. I rarely see people comment on you on the Scrapbook. Maybe you should use your fire powers more?"

Morgan could have sworn to see Hanan's eye twitch at this. Oh, did she hit a nerve?

"Anyway, we have to set a good example. Everyone is depending on us!" Hanan said, placing a hand on her chest.

With a snort, Morgan got something from the pocket of her hoodie. "Remember this? We don't have to do anything." She held up a paper badge she had gotten earlier this week from the mayor.

"That one's temporary, you know. We'll be getting the real badge soon they said." Hanan replied with a frown. "And don't abuse that privilege. We are heroes."

"Exactly." Morgan gave her a wink. "We're kinda saving the world so we deserve some thanks for that."

With a long, drawn-out sigh, Hanan left Morgan alone and went to the next class on her own. It was no use arguing with her.

Beryl noticed that Ray had been following her again. That had been happening quite regularly lately. They didn't even really say anything to her. They just followed her around and occasionally hid behind a lamppost or sign.

She took a bite of one of the four muffins she had ordered. She was having lunch and was seated at a cafe terrace, having just enough money on her to buy some muffins. They smelled so good!

Speaking of things smelling good, Beryl was actually starting to like Ray's "candle wax"-like smell.

"Raaaaaay! You can have one if you like!" She suddenly called as she noticed Ray was now hiding behind a chalkboard with prices written on it.

In the last couple of days, they had sorta warmed up to Beryl, Morgan, and Hanan. At least they were trying to call them by their actual names now. That was a step in the right direction!

They still didn't accept the hugs, though, or any kind of physical contact, for that matter.

They did, however, accept Beryl's muffin like an gluttonous child.

"Yes, I adore these!" They said with a big grin as they sat down on a chair next to Beryl. They did shove the chair away to gain some distance, though. Beryl felt a pang of dejection at this.

As soon as Beryl finished her muffin, she reached out to grab the last one, but Ray slapped her hand away and took it themself.

"Heeehhhh!? I only said you could have one! I paid for that!" Beryl slammed her hands on the table with a pout as she watched the muffin disappear into Ray's mouth. She normally was quite generous when it came to food. She liked sharing it when she had someone to share it with... but Ray...

"I will compliment your new diet, Terre." Ray stopped and shook their head. "Beryl." They corrected, earning a smile from the redhead. "This is better than eating rocks."

Beryl laughed. "Other me must have been weird. Eating rocks! Who even does that?" She said, remembering the time she had tried to eat rocks.

They don't taste good.

"Hey, Aeris!"

His loud voice echoed throughout the hall. Shade felt a pang of satisfaction seeing the girl flinch and stop in her tracks.

He grinned while his shadow glided over to her, hovering behind her as it wrapped one large arm around her waist and the other grabbed at one of her wings, and dragged her to him.

"I'm gonna be real with you, Aeris." He started, bringing his face closer to hers and she shrunk back in complete and utter fear. "Things are going badly and I think you might have the power to stop it."

He paused for a moment, but decided to continue as Aeris hadn't found her voice to answer. Just to spite her, he raised his voice an octave, making her cower in place.

"These Pretty Cube girls. They are messing up everything! I want them dead!" Shade stomped his foot on the floor, some darkness swirling around it below. "So, I was thinking and if anyone knows stuff about killing, it's you!" He spat, his face warped into a demeaning grin. "After all, you are The Everlasting Tornado of Chaos, eh?"

Slowly Aeris found the courage to look up. She whispered something but Shade could only hear a barely audibly mess of words.

"What!? I can't hear you!" He practically screamed into her ear, making her wince in the shadow's grip.

Her eyes focused on the floor again. "... There is no way I could..." She swallowed a bit of fear in order to speak up again. "Kill... someone..."

"Oh, please, don't act so high and mighty now, Aeris. You've killed countless people before."

Aeris averted her glance. A look of horror was plastered on her pale face.

"Think about the others. Something bad might happen to them..." He whispered with a grin and then held out his fist in front of her, slowly opening it to reveal a small, black egg hovering in his palm. "Or you."

Elegy, Hail, and Smoky all cringed at the same time when the door was kicked open, and a familiar voice started screaming, interrupting their nice game of poker.

"Guys, we can finally put an end to these Petty Boobs! Hahaha!"

For all his irritation, Smoky found himself snickering at that. "Well, that red one certainly doesn't have any. And, it's Pretty Cures, for the billionth time. Man, you're so forgetful."

"Shut up, Smoky!" Shade hissed through his teeth then turned to the only woman in the room. "Elegy. I want you to take the secret weapon with you!"

Elegy's golden eyes went from Hail to Smoky before stopping at Shade with furrowed brows.

Shade sneered and snapped his fingers as his shadow dragged Aeris into the room. Elegy just pointed at the girl with a confused look.

Now it was Hail's turn to frown, locking eyes with Elegy for a moment before turning to Shade. "Why Aeris? She has no actual fighting experience. It'll be unwise, and amoral, to use a child to do the dirty work. Well, except Smoky but-"

"Hey!" Smoky called out as smoke escaped out of his eye. "I'm not a kid anymore!"

As soon as the shadow let go of her, Aeris staggered forward to Hail and Smoky. "... It's okay." She whispered, fumbling with her wings a bit before forcing a, supposedly, reassuring smile. "I don't want to see you guys hurt anymore..."

"Well, you are supposedly stronger than us." Hail rubbed his chin. He still seemed a bit sour on the entire idea. "Perhaps, you might be able to..."

Smoky pulled Aeris in a tight hug. "Just be careful, 'kay? Bronze is gonna go on a murder spree if something happens to you." He adjusted his shades. "And I'll gladly join her."

"Come on, guys. You know Bronze can't do that... because she is a weak bitch!" Shade laughed at what everyone presumed was supposed to be a joke. Somehow.

As the overly loud laughter boomed through the room. Hail rolled his eyes and Aeris covered her ears before Elegy grabbed her arm and pulled her along inside a portal.

The portal brought them to a rooftop. The bright skies almost blinded Aeris. It's been so long since she's been outside. The busy noises of cars, people talking, and the like made her a bit anxious.

Elegy let go of her arm and then patted her back so she wouldn't fall over from her disorientation. She used her powers to drown out the sound for Aeris.

"So... what do we do?" Aeris knelt down and folded her wings close to her as she looked down at the people passing by.

With a firm hand, Elegy motioned for her to stay put before leaping from the roof, landing behind an unsuspecting old man and turning his shadow into an Unbound, in less than fifteen seconds even.

After leaping back up the building silently. Elegy patted Aeris' back again when she saw the girl's horrified face.

"An Unbound... so that is what they look like." She spoke, gripping Elegy's arm.

The older woman replied with a dismissive wave, then pointed at a red-haired girl who had rushed to the scene, trailing behind her was a short-haired blond. The girl held something in her hand and, in a flash of rocks, she had turned into someone else.

Aeris gasped softly. "Is that a Pretty Cure...?" Then turned to Elegy. "Who is she?"

"The heart that grows with the steadfast earth, Cure Terra!"

The green Cure wasted no time and instantly charged at the Unbound, creating rock gauntlets and erected some pillars of rock to get her closer to the monster.

"Guess I'm alone today." She said to no one in particular, evading the Unbound's attempts to grab her. "But that's okay! I can handle myself!"

Terra took a breath. This hasn't been the first time she had fought alone. Morgan and Hanan were busy with important school stuff, after all (Terra swore she was doing her homework later today).

They both had so much potential. Such big ambitions and dreams. She wanted make sure they would be able to fulfill that potential to the fullest. Someone as listless as Terra could afford wasting time.

That and, as much as Terra didn't want to openly admit it, she was rather glad when Ember was absent from battles.

She started stomping up rock pillars and trying to trap the monster. The pillars were easily swatted away by the Unbound.

"Terre!" She heard Ray call in the distance. They said something after that but the words were muffled out by the Unbound's loud roars.

As it attempted to bring down its fist on her, Terra raised her hands, holding the Unbound's fist above her. She grit her teeth and send all the power in her body to her arms. She grabbed onto the fist and, with a loud cry, she managed to bring down the Unbound like a tower.

As it fell to the ground, Terra took his chance and leaped up.

"Pretty Cure Earth Smash!" The hammer broke the Unbound and everything returned to normal. She landed on the ground, shaking it a little.

Terra panted. That took a lot out of her. She looked up and gave Ray a thumbs up with a wide grin. "Not bad, eh? You shouldn't take me for granite!" She stuck out her tongue with a wink.

Ray just blinked.

Terra's victory was short-lived however. Just as she was about to transform back, Elegy had landed in front of her without making a sound.

"Oh, so you have decided to fight today?" Despite still trying to catch her breath, Terra forced a smirk and took a fighting stance. Rocks were already reforming around her fists.

Shaking a bit, Terra swallowed her hesitation and charged at the woman. This had been the first time Elegy had actually decided to directly face any of them. Bronze, Hail, and Smoky occasionally had tried to fight the Cures head-on, but never Elegy. She always left as silently as she had come.

Terra had no idea what to expect.

She grinned as she managed to give the woman at least one satisfying punch in the face, but then she herself got a fist crammed into their stomach.

What followed was complete silence.

It was like she had become deaf on the spot, or if someone had muted the sound entirely.

Her surroundings looked the same, her surroundings smelled the same, but there was just no sound. Nothing at all.

The silence was incredibly disorienting, to say the least.

Elegy used this to grab Terra roughly by the collar of her shirt and brought her close. Her eyes stared intensely at the Cure.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ray, waving their arms. It seemed like they were trying to get her attention as Elegy snapped her head to their direction. A glare was evident on her face.

At that moment Elegy got hit by a strong, blue kick in the face, making her let go of Terra as she was send flying against a nearby car.

Terra's body twitched a little as the sound returned to her ears. It was loud for a few seconds before she got used to it again.

She looked at Elegy for a moment. Had the silence been related to her powers?

The familiar scents of sea salt and ashes relaxed her, but she was a bit startled by a sudden warm hand on her shoulder. Terra looked up to find Splash and Ember on either of her sides.

"Sorry we're so late, Terra." Ember apologized with a soft tone. "We were at school and it's quite a distance from here."

As it had been well known that Morgan and Hanan were indeed Pretty Cures, and as a result, whenever an Unbound showed up during class they got permission to leave to deal with it. They had to come back immediately after the deed was done though. Hanan always did. Morgan didn't.

"Oi, don't go taking all the fun for yourself now." Splash punched Terra's side. "Leave something to fight for me!"

With a smile, Ember forced herself in between Terra and Splash. "We have to pose and do our call! People are watching!"

"Yeah, no." Splash charged forward, sending a water tendril in Elegy's direction, who raised her arms to shield herself but was flung away again.

Ember's mouth twitched. "Fine. I'll do it myself!" She made a turn and and raised her hands in the air before placing them on her chest. "Embracing the past to-!"

"You're still going on about that!?" Splash asked.

The red Cure paused for a moment. It had taken a while but she had managed to think of a cool introductory phrase, and name, a while back. If only Splash and Terra were more eager to say it.

But it was mandatory!

"Sorry, Ember, but we're a bit busy! We'll do it next time, promise!" Terra assured her, allowing herself to relax a bit now that her fellow Cures had arrived to help her. "Can I stand in the center?"

Meanwhile, Elegy quickly gathered herself. She raised her arms and started moving them in an oddly rhythmic manner. Her eyes fixated on a singular point and she quickly spread her arms before three Cures could reach her.

The three both a heard a sudden, shrill voice scream, "Weak!" inside their ears. Once, twice, thrice... it kept repeating. The same word, same voice, same tone. Like a recording on repeat. All three looked around to find the source of the new voice only they could hear.

Elegy smirked underneath her mask and took her chance to kick Splash in the face while she, and the other two, were distracted.

Splash hit the ground from the sudden force and Elegy's grin grew even more. Payback felt so satisfying.

This had been the first time she had actively been using her powers on these Cures. With a wave of her hand and a blink of an eye she stopped the "recording" and braced herself for whatever would come next.

She was not particularly strong, nor durable. Elegy's strength laid in her sound manipulation powers and agility.

The Cures' powers and strength completely overpowered hers. She knew she stood no chance to actually defeat all of them. Her quick reflexes definitely helped in evading all the kicks and punches that were thrust her way. Every once in a while using her power to distract them with "recordings".

But she got careless and a foot met her face, followed by another in her stomach. Water splashed on her face as the force of the kicks sent her flying into the a wall.

"Is that all you've got, grandma!?" Splash sneered with a prideful grin as she glided over to where Elegy had fallen. "Not even gonna summon your lackeys? I would've liked some target practice." She crossed her arms. "Boring."

Letting out a puff of air, Elegy raised a hand and used her powers on the Cures to distract them, using small "recordings" from her friends' voices. Only Elegy could see the soundwaves circling over the Cures' heads but only they could hear these voice excerpts.

It did work, though. It did confuse them to suddenly hear shouts of familiar voices from villains they faced, without the owner of the voice being present.

But it wasn't enough to completely stop them.

Elegy kept from summoning her minions. The Echoes were too loud. They would only hinder Aeris.

As that thought crossed her mind, Elegy's eyes fluttered to the girl, still on the rooftop.

A battle cry forced her attention back to the fight. Elegy evaded Ember's punches by simply jumping. She then grabbed Splash by the wrist and, using both of her hands, threw the blue Cure at Ember.

A rock hit her in the back and Elegy stopped to see Terra raising her arms as two pillars erected from either side of Elegy. Then, Terra lowered her hands and the pillars almost crushed the woman, bringing her down to the ground, effectively trapping her under the debris.

"Dispose of her, now!" Ray ordered and started running up to the fallen woman and the three Cures that had surrounded her. "Vanquish that tainted woman!"

Before the Cures could do anything they were all thrown into the air and sent flying into a building by a strong wind.

The cause of this wind was a young girl, roughly their age. Her spikey, platinum blonde hair swayed in the wind as she spread her dark wings, flew up, and landed in front of Elegy.

"A new one...!? Is the Darkness hiring babies now?" Splash was the first to rise back up again, her body still aching a bit from the impact but she didn't dare show it. "Don't think that I'm gonna go easy on you, blondie!"

The girl spread her huge wings wide, as if trying to look bigger and more intimidating than she was. Her face said otherwise. She seemed like she could burst into tears any second.

"I... I'm Aeris! The Everlasting Tornado of Chaos!" She cried as her voice created another weak windblast, instantly whimpering as the words had escaped her mouth. "Please... please, stop hurting my friends... or...!"

"Aeris!?" Terra panted as Ember helped her back up. "... As in... the last Titan?" She let out a loud gasp. "She's evil!?"

Aeris flinched, casting her eyes downward.

"... Yes. I am." She whispered. "My wings are soiled in sin. I don't deserve-"

"You are even worse than the others! Giving yourself to the darkness like that!" Ray said with a dark look. "There is no hope left for you, Aeris."

The three Cures stood a bit away, unsure of what to do or say.

"Corrupted! Evil! Filthy!" Ray's voice grew louder with each step they came closer to the winged girl, who covered her ears with a whimper. "Tainted!"

Aeris let out a horrified cry. She placed her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. She spread her wings again, flapping them as a huge blast of wind surrounded her and Ray was spontaneously flung high in the air. Another flap of her wings sent the Cures flying into different directions by the strong wind.

Seeing the city from so high made Ray remember.

It made them remember the time they had fought the Titans. They had been hovering in the skies, overseeing a world that once flourished crumbling to dust. Present and past merged, the sunny day sky turned into the twilight of back then. But only for a second.

Then reality hit them.

And they hit the ground.

The last thing they heard was a crack, soon followed by a sharp pain in their neck and back, and finally nothingness.

Ember felt her heart stop when she saw Ray's body hit the ground.

There was no way anyone could have survived that.

She and the other Cures had magic on their side to protect them from what would normally be deadly blows.

But Ray didn't.

Ember hesitated for a moment, not sure if she wanted to see Ray's lifeless body in even more detail. From her spot she could see their neck bent at a disturbingly unnatural angle. Their eyes were wide and glassy and devoid of any signs of life.

"Hey... is this... is this for real?" Splash was the first who had come close to Ray's body. The blue Cure carefully shuffled their shoulder. No reaction.

While Splash and Ember were both in a state of shock, Terra, on the other hand, was close to a panic attack.

"Ray, Ray, Raaayyyy!" She called, shaking the blond's body while tears started streaming down her face. Her breathing became short and heavy. "No... nononono... Ray you... please don't...! Ray!"

While Terra was sobbing over their body, Ray's head started to twitch a little and slowly cracked. Something was happening to them.

Without warning, Ray suddenly rose back up.

Flickering.

That's was what they had called it.

Flickering like a candle. Unsteady, but determined to keep burning.

People compared it to "death", but there was one huge difference between the two.

Death was permanent.

Flickering wasn't.

Now Ray's entire body started twitching before they drew in a large breath.

"I am back!"

Splash resisted the urge to kick them in the face. "Are... are you freaking kidding me right now!? What was that!?"

"Oh, I flickered." Ray replied simply.

"You broke your neck! And it... healed itself...?" Ember spoke as a hand hovered by her mouth. Her mind was still trying to process what happened.

Splash rubbed her forehead. "And you call us the monsters? What the hell are you!?" Irritation, confusion, and even a bit of fear was evident on her face.

Ray furrowed their brows. "I am the light of hope that-"

"Not that."

"Raaaayyy..." Terra began, still sobbing and attempting to throw herself at Ray, without success. "Oh god... oh god... I thought we'd lost you...!"

Elegy had finally managed to push the debris off of her.

Her eyes glanced to Aeris, still flapping in the air. She looked absolutely terrified.

Of course she was. This was way too familiar for both of them to be comfortable with.

That kid was not normal like Elegy had previously assumed.

This was bad. Really, really, really bad.

She needed to get out of here.

She should not underestimate what that kid was capable of.

Her body was starting to ache. The overuse of her powers was probably catching up to her. With her last strength she summoned a portal behind her and used a recording of Bronze's voice to catch Aeris' attention.

She didn't account for a rock hitting her in the stomach, pretty much sending her through the portal as it closed behind her, leaving Aeris behind.

After falling back into the base and landing on the cold, hard floor, Elegy grit her teeth as she tried to process what just had happened, just before her exhaustion had completely caught up with her and dragged her away into sleep.

"El... Elegy...?" Aeris stammered. She looked at a complete loss and just fluttered in place, her eyes darting all over the area, as if looking for a way to escape. "... No!" She finally cried out and took flight into the direction of the nearby forest, leaving gusts of wind in her wake.

The three Cures gave chase right away. Splash used her water to speed up her movements and make longer jumps, shooting a weak blast of water in Aeris' direction whenever she had the chance, hitting her occasionally but it wasn't enough to bring the flying girl down.

Terra tapped into her climbing skills to follow after Splash, while Ember hesitated for a split second before following suit.

Neither of them noticed Ray running after them, though at a much slower pace.

"You are not getting away that easily, Aeris."

Splash got more irritated with each stream she aimed at Aeris, sometimes hitting her and making her slow down a bit. The last drop had been when she had finally been close enough to reach Aeris, but the girl had slapped her away using one of her wings.

That was the moment Splash realised the points of her wings had turned sharp and a small, yet deep, cut in her upper arm. The impact with the ground made the blue Cure cough out some air from her lungs as she groaned in pain.

"Splash!" Terra rushed to her side and kneeled down to help her up. "Ah! You're bleeding!"

"No shit!" Splash spat back, carefully touching her wound.

Ember was still in hot pursuit of Aeris. The winged girl zigzagged through the trees, desperately trying to get the red Cure off her tail. At this point it felt like they were going in circles.

"Hey! We just want to talk! Please, stop!" Ember called. Aeris was way too fast for her to keep up with. Ember was sure that if there weren't any trees around she definitely would have lost her, as it was the only thing limiting her from flying at full speed. "Please, don't be scared of us!"

Splash suddenly passed Ember, using her water to catch up. "She should be scared, because she's soooo getting her butt handed to her by me!" Splash said, clenching her fist.

That was when Aeris flew headfirst into a tree, losing her balance and crashing. She tried to fly back up before colliding with the ground but rocks started surrounding her, forming a ball and effectively trapping her inside.

"Hey! Hey, I got her!" Terra breathed, lowering her hands, and looked at the big ball of rock with a prideful look. "I'm getting so much better at this!"

"Well, that is one way to do that..." Splash seemed a bit taken aback.

Terra moved her arms and made a small opening in the ball.

"Looks like you're in a lot of trubble!" She said, poking her head through the hole. She felt satisfied for a split second when she heard Splash's, "I hate you, Terra." but then instantly regretted her words as soon as she saw the girl inside.

Aeris was curled up into a ball, her wings folded around herself in an attempt to protect herself from any possible danger. Terra could barely even see her behind her big wings.

She could hear a soft, whispery voice. "Please... don't... don't hurt me..."

Terra silently closed up the opening again and leaned back as a look of uneasiness was evident on her face. Behind her, Splash cracked her knuckles.

"Now, let me in. I need revenge for what she did to my arm."

Ember held out a hand in front of her, face formed into a tight glare.

"Wait." Was all she said. Her eyes were fixated on the ball in which Aeris was trapped in. Before she could say anything an obnoxiously bright glow invaded her line of vision, pulling her attention away.

Ray was standing in front of the group. They were doubled over and trying to recollect their breath from all the running they had done for the past couple of minutes.

"Ray? Why are you even here?" Splash asked. "You're gonna die again, at this rate."

The blond held up a hand in response. They pointed at the rock. "Dispose of her. I want to see for myself and make sure tha-"

"Wait, wait, wait, waaaiiiittt!" Terra protested, grabbing Ray's arm, which they quickly slapped away. "Dispose?" She asked, nervous. "She's supposed to be our last friend... right!?"

Ray shook their head. "It is too late! She has given in and become like the rest of them. Tainted beyond the darkest black. No possibility of redemption or salvation!"

"But she's-"

"This is what is going to happen to you if you give into the darkness!" Ray snapped at seeing the three's hesitation. "Please know that if any of you is ever tempted to go wandering into the darkness... there will be no mercy for you."

Splash glided towards Ray, fist at the ready. "Oh? And if I did? What are you gonna do about it? We all know you can't do anything." She scoffed. "You can't even die properly."

"Splash!" Ember hissed, noticing the air becoming more and more tense with each passing second. In an attempt to stay focused she turned to the blond next to her. "Ray, clarify this for me... we are the Titans, yet we were all born as regular humans, on Earth... that should be the case for her too?" She mumbled. "Right?"

All Ray answered with was a, "I do not know." They rubbed the back of their neck. While the pain was completely gone, Ray still felt a bit of a tingling sensation. "But I am sure she is Aeris. I can feel it."

"Why are you doing this!? We used to be friends, remember?" The green Cure called as she made an opening in the rock again. "In our previous other self lives!"

Aeris lowered her wings a little, looking at Terra with a fearful gaze. Now Terra actually got a good look at her. She also had black sclera and black marks seemed to come out of her eyes, drawing lines along her cheeks. Honestly, it made Terra feel uneasy just looking at that.

"Please... let me... let me go... I'm sorry for-" She pleaded before Ray slammed the side of the rockball, trying not to show how much that little punch had hurt their hand.

"Stop attempting to drain sympathy from us, and tell us everything you know! Tell us what is going on and what Nox is planning!" Another slam, another wince. "Staying quiet will not help you."

"I... I don't know... ! I don't... don't even... I don't know who that is..."

Ember stared at Aeris for a long time, and she got visibly more nervous with each passing second. She covered herself with her wings again, bracing herself for any possible blow or attack.

But all that came was a single word from Ember's mouth, the effect, however, was just as intense as any blow would have been.

"... Connie?"