Eyyy, a lot happened last ep so let's take this to relax... or not... also sorry for the overuse of one pun ha
Again, I wanna put a warning on this chapter. There's some underage drinking but nothing really super mature or graphic, just teens being teens and acting dumb/silly under influence. But just wanted to warn you guys, just in case!
As always, support is always appreciated, even just looking here makes me happy there's some interest! Love you random person!
"I'm so glad you were able to come." Bright exclaimed happily as Hanan and Morgan came inside the living room. Hanan sat down on the couch behind Ray, who sat on the floor doing a puzzle again (snowflakes this time), while Morgan sank into a beanbag.
He had personally asked all four girls to come over to ask for a favor, yet only Hanan and Morgan had showed up. It had been a while since they had all been together, since it had almost been an entire month without an attack, but, right now, Beryl and Connie were fighting their greatest foe yet.
The common cold.
A lot of people were sick and it had gotten so bad that more than half of the classes were empty during school days.
Although, Hanan did suspect there was a bit more going on from Beryl's side than just a cold.
"You're looking awfully fancy today." Morgan said as she looked Bright over. He was wearing a white suit with a rainbow-colored tie. "What's the occasion?"
Bright was braiding his hair while inspecting his look in one of the countless mirrors, both big and small, in the house. "One of my co-workers is celebrating his birthday today, and I might have to stay the night since it's quite far..."
Hanan and Morgan's eyes locked for a moment as Bright continued running around the room to grab his keys, a small present, and his wallet.
"Originally, I didn't want to go because I didn't want Ray to be all alone the entire night but..." Bright finally came to standstill. "They specifically asked for you girls to stay over."
"... I did not." A small, weak voice came from Ray's direction.
With a small chuckle, Bright leaned closer to the two girls and whispered: "They did ask. It's because they watched a scary movie last time when I came home late and that ended up frightening them a lot."
Morgan snorted at that while Hanan gave Ray a sympathetic look. That had happened countless times with her younger brother, Fadil, too. They would often secretly watch television in the middle of the night and stumble upon either a horror movie or... questionable commercials.
"... It appears that I have no other choice but to accept your company. I cannot be left unattended during the night." Ray pouted. "What if there is a kidnapping attempt?"
Morgan snorted again, louder this time.
"I'm sorry it's so short notice..." Bright continued and offered an apologetic look. "But would either of you be able to stay for the night? I'll be leaving some money for you to get some food with."
"Yeah, sure."
Bright blinked in surprise.
"What? I'll take any excuse to not go home." Morgan shrugged.
Hanan, on the other hand, hesitated. Last sleepover hadn't ended so well, and with Morgan and Ray as her only company, it was bound to get tense. But then again, Hanan couldn't leave them by themselves... they were like water and oil.
Maybe, she could try to have Morgan and Ray open up slightly, and get a better sense of unity. They were friends after all, and the bracelets they were all wearing was proof of that.
"Don't worry, Bright. We'll stay over." She finally said. "It's Friday anyway, but I have to call my mom first to ask if it's okay, and go home to get some clothes." A chuckle. "And it's my turn to walk Chomp today... she's gonna murder me if I try to get out of it again."
"You... have a mother, Hanan?" Ray asked as they turned away from their puzzle to look at her. Their tone carried no hint of malice, mockery or hatred... just pure curiosity.
As Morgan and Hanan exchanged some confused looks, Bright kneeled down next to Ray. "Here, everyone has a mother, even if relationships can sometimes be... complicated, most of them are full of love."
"Like with my Mother. She always told me how much she loved me, and she always looked out for my well being." Ray's lips curled into a small smile as Hanan saw Bright cringe.
With a quick sigh, he leaned closer to Hanan and Morgan to just be out of Ray's earshot. "Thank you so much." He whispered to them. "Ray really needs someone right now. They haven't been sleeping well lately either."
He thanked the two once more before pulling them into a hug. Ray watched them from the corner of their eyes.
Episode 16: Pierce the Truth
"I'll be going now. You children be safe, okay?" Bright took one last look at himself in the mirror, and posed. "Ah, look at me. I'm ravishing."
It took a few tries before Hanan could tear his attention away from his own reflection. Bright quickly rushed to his car, settled in, and drove off after waving everyone goodbye.
"So... can I trust you to not be at each other's throat, while I go home to walk the dog and grab my stuff?"
Ray suddenly stood up. "I want to accompany you."
Again, Hanan was taken back by the lack of contempt in their tone and mannerisms. If anything, they seemed rather tranquil, instead of their usual literally (and painfully) vibrant and easily overreacting self.
"I command Morgan to do the same."
"Yeeaa- no." Morgan shook her head.
Now Ray seemed taken back. "How can you be so selfish!? I am trying my hardest to be a good... um... a good..." They couldn't seem to find the right word, so they gave up. "And you are only thinking of yourself!" They held up their arm, rolling up their sleeve to reveal both of their bracelets.
"Really? Really?" Morgan narrowed her eyes. "You are calling me out on being selfish?"
After coming back from a call with her mom, Hanan faked a loud cough to get attention to herself.
"My mom says she would love to have both of you over for dinner after we walk the dog."
Morgan also stood up, hands still hidden in her pockets. "Your mom's okay with us coming over? I mean, don't you have like nine siblings already she has to cook for?"
"Nine!? No, no! I just have three." Hanan replied with a hearty laugh. "But Wasim, my oldest brother, won't be here. He lives across the street but I think he was going out with friends tonight too."
Ray walked up to the front door, opening it and looking over their shoulder at the two girls. "Let us go. Hanan, lead the way."
The trip was surprisingly quiet and uneventful. Ray was still in awe over how busses (or vehicles in general) worked, but they were a little too crowded for their liking. People were so close... too close. They could almost feel their breathing on their neck.
It made them shudder.
Disgusting.
When opening the front door with her key, Hanan was instantly greeted, in a language neither Morgan nor Ray could understand, by her youngest brother, Fadil, who gasped at seeing who had come along with his older sister.
"Oh my god, is that... Cure Splash? I can't believe Cure Splash is here!" He walked up to Morgan with an excited shimmer in his brown eyes. He leaned forward slightly as he was half-a-head taller than her. "You're so awesome, and badass!"
Hanan noticed Morgan's cheeks gain a red color at the compliments. Flustered, she rubbed the back of her head while uttered an uncharacteristically meek "thanks."
"Hey, I thought I was your fave?" Hanan crossed her arms with a pout.
"Have you seen Splash fight?" Fadil instantly turned to her. "She does some cool moves and kicks like this! Ha!" Fadil's attempt to imitate a high kick that Morgan was fond of doing didn't end well due his lack of flexibility.
Farah, the siblings' mom, instantly pecked some kisses on Hanan's cheeks once the trio stepped into the living room.
"You'll be okay this time?" She whispered to Hanan in her native, Turkish tongue, just in case the other two would hear them speak. Hanan's two brothers were locked in a conversation with Morgan about being a Pretty Cure.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Are you sure?" Farah raised an eyebrow.
Hanan nodded. While last sleepover ended on a bad note, she was sure this time would be better. And besides, the last one only ended badly. Before Hail had interrupted their sleep, everything had been going smoothly for the most part.
"That's them, right?" Farah took a quick glance at Ray, who had kneeled down in the corner of the room, in front of Chomp, the family's dog. Hanan nodded again as she followed her mom's gaze.
Reluctantly, Ray placed a somewhat shaky hand to the dog's head. It felt... surprisingly smooth.
"He... Hello..." They spoke softly, not wanting to startle the dog.
They couldn't stop staring at his long, floppy ears. Almost automatically, they lifted the ears up, and let them fall down again. They giggled to themself, but Chomp was still deep asleep.
"Hey, come on, big guy." Hanan tapped the dog on his side a few times before putting him on a leash. He opened his eyes with a yawn but still didn't move.
Chomp was a particularly lazy, and old, basset hound. He preferably spend most of his days just napping and getting pets.
So his likes didn't include taking walks.
"We've been outside for half an hour and we haven't even gotten out of the street yet." Morgan said, her voice not sounding as complaining as her words would imply. "Wanna trade dogs, Hanan?"
"You have a dog!?" Hanan's interest was piqued.
"Dogs." Morgan clicked her tongue. "My mom does. She's a dog breeder."
"Oh, right! I remember you mentioning that a while back."
Frowning slightly, Morgan was impressed Hanan was able to remember that. That was quite some time ago.
"What breed?" Hanan asked as the two watched Ray struggle with the leash and tried to get Chomp to move from the random spot he had decided to sit.
"Rats."
Hanan let out a laugh. "Oh, Chihuahuas?"
"If only they were just Chihuahuas. They're... ugh... Chinese Crested Dogs." Morgan rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "But don't let that name fool you... they're just rats. No... rats are better than these things."
"I've never heard of them, but I'd love to see them one day." Hanan grinned.
Morgan looked disgusted. "They're nasties. Along with that stupid bird my mom has. It's always screaming when I'm trying to take a nap. Ugh."
"Birds tend to be pretty loud, and obnoxious." Hanan agreed with a chuckle. For some reason her mind wandered off to Bright for a second. "I'm more of a dog-person. All dogs are amazing."
Morgan actually returned a grin of her own. "I'd rather have fish." She said, briefly losing her usual grumpy-looking expression. "Or maybe some actual dog, like a Rottweiler!"
Even if it only lasted for a brief moment, it was actually really pleasant talking with Morgan about something as small and silly as this. She seemed a bit more loose, less angry, and it almost made Hanan feel like they were really friends. According to Beryl, they all were, but there was a certain distance between Morgan (and Ray) and the group.
Meanwhile, Ray was still trying desperately to get Chomp to move. No matter what they did, or say, he wouldn't even stand up.
"I command you to-! No! Do not roll over...!"
In the end, it took a good two hours before the trio was back again. By the time they came back into Hanan's home, her dad had already returned from work and Makeen was helping his mom set the table.
"It's really nice having more heads sitting at the table." He said. "The more the merrier, right?"
Neither Morgan nor Ray were used to such a busy dinner with this many people. Morgan always took her food with her to her room, or just bought something herself, and Ray only ever dined with their mother, and since living here, just with Bright.
Dinner at the Karim household was always cozy and a tad loud. The family, and the two visitors, were seated at the table and a couple of scented candles were lit as the family happily talked about all sorts of things. They chatted about how their day went, the news, the food, anything really. Although their tendency to slip back into their Turkish tongue left Morgan and Ray more confused than anything.
Ray's glow dimmed quite a bit as they looked really out of place. They awkwardly turned to the food on their plate, which were some sort of vegetables with a variety of stuffings, including rice, onions or minced meat. It actually was really good, unlike anything they had eaten before.
Morgan, on the other hand, didn't seem to be as much of a fan.
"Sorry..." She suddenly raised a hand, face pale. "I feel a little sick..." She rushed out of the room and to the bathroom after Fadil had told her where it was.
"Oh... oh no, don't tell me she has any allergies?" Farah spoke up with a concerned look. "I should have asked before impulsively making something." She wanted to slap herself on the head for not thinking about that possibility. "Hanan, can you check on her? Ask if she needs anything?"
Hanan nodded quickly and went after Morgan. She heard some, unpleasant sounds as she came closer to the door. She knocked softly.
"Morgan? Are you okay?"
No reply.
"My mom wanted to know if you have allergies..."
The door opened and Morgan stepped out. She looked rather pale, like she had seen a ghost, but did her usual, apathetic shrug.
"... I would have brought some hot sauce if I knew... there was meat in it..."
"Are you a vegetarian!? We have ones with vegetables too." Hanan said, worried. She instantly felt relieved when Morgan shook her head.
"... It's just... uh... it's..." Morgan started, holding a hand over her mouth. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "I can't really stomach meat without a lot of hot sauce." She paused for a moment, as if embarrassed. "The sauce numbs the... sensation."
Hanan didn't reply. She just stared at Morgan with an odd look while her brain was at full work trying to understand what the shorter girl had just said.
"Don't think too hard about it. You won't understand. Nobody does." Morgan looked away. "Not even me."
Still, Hanan was staring, unsure of what to say.
"I know that look. I know it's weird. I know I'm not normal. I never was..." Morgan hissed in the brunette's face before lowering her eyes again. "But I couldn't care less about what other people think of me."
Morgan passed Hanan and started washing her hands. She curled the water pouring out of the faucet around her finger, then made a sudden turn and splashed a little into Hanan's face. "Something you should probably do too."
Truth to be told, the cold water actually felt nice. Hanan frowned slightly while Morgan went back to the main room.
"Can we just tell your mom I'm a vegetarian? It's easier to explain." She asked before the two got back and took their seats again. Hanan's brothers were seemingly in a deep conversation with Ray, who wasn't arguing for once.
"Our big bro's a huge fan of your dad!" Fadil told them with a mouthful of food. Ray furrowed their brows but didn't comment on his eating habits.
"Bright is not my dad. I do not have a father. I have a mother but... she was -ow!" Ray yelped as Morgan gave them a little kick underneath the table, followed with a glare.
Just before Ray could start an argument, Hanan chimed in. "Ray kinda helped us awaken our powers to become Pretty Cure." She uttered the first thing that came to mind, in an attempt to lead the conversation in a different direction.
"Heh, they made you literally explode at the diner." Morgan mumbled, as she helped herself to a few vegetables, carefully though. Some bites of the food made her wince slightly.
Unprompted, Ray stood up and placed a hand on their chest. A proud grin was plastered on their face. "Yes, it is thanks to me that the world is being protected."
The rest of dinner went by surprisingly uneventful. Hanan went to gather all the stuff she needed when everyone was done. Morgan and Ray also got their first look at Hanan's relatively small room. She had a few posters on the walls and a big collections of DVDs, along with some action figures.
"I knew you were a nerd but... wow." Morgan snorted as she looked around the room. She refrained from touching anything, unlike Ray, whose fingertip came awfully close to an action figure of a masked man sitting on a motorcycle of sorts.
"Don't touch that!" Hanan slapped Ray's hand like a mom scolding a child. Her look turned dark as she glared at the blond.
Ray tried to shoot an intimidating look back. It failed. "How dare you assault me like tha-!?"
"Oh, shut up."
"So, Ray, what do you usually do when you're home alone? Is there anything in particular you like?" Hanan asked when the three had arrived back at Bright's house again.
"I mostly watch something on the magical box." They pointed at the big television in the living room. "... Or I do puzzles!" A smile crossed Ray's lips as they showed off a jigsaw puzzle scattered on the table, just a few more pieces before this one would be complete.
Ray seemed surprisingly cheery. "It is Chocowan! Is that not the most delightful thing you have ever seen?"
While it was quite out of place, Hanan couldn't help but smile at seeing this childish, gleeful side of Ray. That nice feeling only grew when Hanan and Morgan had taken seats and were watching some random comedy show while Ray was drawing and giggling those rare times they did understand a joke.
It was like they were babysitting.
"Okay, I'm getting a drink." Morgan suddenly stood up and walked to the kitchen. A couple of minutes later, she returned with a bottle. "Ahh, yeah! Nice, nice."
"Is that... beer?"
Morgan nodded and opened the bottle with a little clang. She took a huge slug as Hanan gasped. "Didn't take Bright for a beer guy, more like... champagne or cognac."
"... You sure know your alcohol."
"Duh, I'm German. Ich bin Deutsche." Morgan laughed, taking another sip as she sunk back into the bean bag. "That stereotype doesn't exist for nothing."
Hanan tilted her head slightly. "I figured from your accent." She then scrunched her nose while giving Morgan a disapproving look. "Also, don't do that... alcohol only has regret attached to it."
"How would you know?"
"The first, and last, time I did was terrible and you know it. You were there..."
Morgan frowned. "Wait, what? I don't remember that?"
"Oh... um... well, you were pretty out of it..." Hanan rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "You know at that party at that girl's house... um... Noa? I think? Eclair told me you kissed her during spin the bottle and all."
Morgan's face grew entirely red as she inhaled deeply. "We don't talk about that!"
At seeing that, Hanan smirked. "Oh?"
Morgan turned away. "H-Hey, Ray, want some?"
"What!?" Hanan shrieked. "Morgan! Ray's a child! You can't-!?"
Ray snapped their head to Hanan, glaring. "Excuse you!? I am older than you two combined! I have seen many people come and go... yet..." They stomped over to Morgan and grabbed her bottle. With an amused smirk, she watched them empty the entire thing in one slug.
"... B-Bitter!" They shuddered and Morgan exploded into laughter.
"That's normal. The more you try, the better it gets." She said with a grin as she got a new bottle for both herself and Ray.
Trying to put a stop to this, Hanan reached for the bottle in Ray's hands. "Don't listen to her, Ray. Beer is bad for yo-"
They hissed at Hanan and jumped back. "Shut up, Ignis! I do what I want!" Stomping down their foot, they took another slug. Their cheeks were getting a white-pink glow already.
Despite Hanan's best effort to make them stop their drinking spree, nothing much seemed to happen actually. No sudden drunk antics, loud singing or breaking windows, like Hanan had anticipated. Ray quietly continued with their puzzle and took a another sip, smaller this time, every time Morgan did. They winced each time, obviously disgusted with the taste of the beverage, yet, for some reason, kept drinking.
While absentmindedly flipping through the tv-channels, Morgan suddenly spoke up. Her voice was soft, almost whispery.
"Hey, Hanan... dinner with your family was nice... I'm... a little jealous." She said, clutching her bottle and placing a hand over her head. "It was also... so... busy... so noisy."
"Big family, many siblings... you know."
Morgan looked away. "I would be the worst sister, then..."
Hanan giggled to herself at the thought of Morgan with a handful of sisters who all acted, and looked, exactly like her... just... fighting amongst each other and kicking.
The silence grew between the trio and everyone was so quiet that Hanan dozed off for who knows how long.
A loud whine shook Hanan awake just in time to see Morgan rise to her feet. She started stumbling around the room, until she found a mirror and leaned against it. "Hey there, babe. Oh... waaaaaiiitttt..." She laughed to herself before twirling around and appearing behind Hanan. Morgan wrapped her arms around the brunette's shoulders and came closer. Uncomfortably close, even.
"You're so hoooooooottttt..." She whispered in Hanan's ear, who turned around with a look of pure confusion and weariness.
"... What?"
Cold things did feel nice against Hanan's skin but Morgan's hand, and now face, only made her uncomfortable.
"What are you doing?" She asked, pushing Morgan off of her. The shorter girl fell on the couch and took off her hoodie, revealing a black top and showing off some abs, as well as muscles that normally would be hidden.
"Morgan! Don't undress here!"
Morgan rolled off of the couch, face completely red as she looked up at Hanan. "Whaatttt...? But I'm so cooolllddd~ I need your warm hands around me, Hannnnnaaaa." She hugged herself and exhaled a long breath she had apparently being holding.
Reluctantly, Hanan held out a hand, which Morgan took (after two tries of grabbing it), and brought her back up. Morgan tripped again and leaned against her, face buried in Hanan's chest.
"I can hear your heart... beating... beat... beat..." The drunk girl giggled to herself. "You know... you set my heart on fire heheheee..."
Hanan sighed and pushed Morgan down on the couch. She hadn't expected Morgan to act like this. She also hadn't expected this to happen at all. Hanan had only dozed for what... a few minutes? She looked at the clock with feather-shaped hands to confirm.
"Wait, it's four at night!?" Everything seemed to stand still for a moment. Hanan didn't get more time to think as suddenly, unprovoked, Ray burst into laughter. Loud, explosive laughter. As if they had seen, or heard, the funniest joke ever.
"... Ray?"
Also unprovoked, the laughs turned into sobs. "I have not been this happy since forever..." The corners of their mouth curled up in a wide grin as their eyes started shining with tears. "Is that bad? Am I bad?"
"No, princessss! You're the best!" Morgan leaned halfway over the couch and held out her hands to Ray, inviting them for a hug. "You light up my liiiifeee!"
Hanan's eye twitched as Morgan continued throwing weird compliments while Ray whined through their tears, and occasionally laughter.
In her rage, she kicked Morgan's butt to send her over the couch. She fell on the floor and started crawling towards Ray.
With more effort than expected, Hanan eventually managed to get Morgan and Ray on the couch. She let out another sigh.
Both of them were so gonna feel it tomorrow- uh, later today.
She quickly went to the kitchen to get them glasses of water. Hanan didn't really know what to do in a situation like this... she normally didn't have to deal with drunk people, and only had been drunk once herself. At a party Eclair had pretty much dragged her to. Peer-pressure made her join in the game, yet Eclair had been the one who hadn't pressured her into doing it.
It had been a big mistake she had no intention of repeating. She had felt awful the next morning.
When she came back she found Morgan and Ray sitting on the floor. Ray was holding a small bag of... makeup supplies? Those probably belonged to Bright.
"Haha! I am tainting this ... home house! It belongs... to... Radiant ... Lumiere... the light of... lightness... Radiant... me... ahhhhahahah!" The ability to form a coherent sentence had left Ray as they started drawing a line on the floor with some black-colored lipstick. They brought it to their face now.
"Haha, now I am tainting myself! Take that, moth... mother! I will shon... shoaoon... show you...! I do what... what I... want!" A slurred, yet loud laughter filled the room and Hanan bit her lip. She was sure Bright wouldn't be happy if his, presumably expensive, makeup supplies got ruined like this.
Before she could say anything, Ray looked up at them, showing almost the entire left side of their face to be covered in black lipstick. They continued laughing.
At that image, the exact same feelings of dread and terror found their way into both Hanan and Morgan's hearts. It pulled back a distant, yet fearful memory.
Distorted wings had sprouted from her back as she hovered above the four Titans, whose expressions ranged from surprise, to fear, to outright fury.
"This power... with it, I will convey your hope. I promise." She spoke to herself. Her voice had a distinct echo that sent a chill down the four Titans' spines. She turned to the them, eyes locking with theirs. "As for you, I will have no mercy for you...!"
The right side of her body had black marks swirling on her skin. Marks bloomed out of her right, black eye, covering part of her face in black. Dark tattoos were wrapped around her right arm and leg. The left side, however, seemed to shine and was covered in glowing marks.
Ignis summoned her flaming whip and exhaled some smoke in her fearsome rage. Behind her, Terre and Aeris were equally dumbfounded, and Unda was crying.
"How could this be possible!?" Ignis' scar burned, more intense than ever. "Stick-bug...?"
It was that same figure Hanan had seen a flash of last time. The one that looked like Ray, but... also didn't.
Hanan suddenly felt an intense, irrational, and burning sensation on the left side of her face as fear lit up in her.
Morgan, on the other hand, was absolutely terrified. She let out a scream and her attempts to crawl away from a confused Ray only brought her back to the floor again.
She started panicking as gigantic tears, that seemed almost comically big (to Hanan, it was anything but comical), streamed down her face. It kept going and going like an open faucet. There was so much that it started making a small puddle on the floor in front of her.
It was them them them no no no no no nonononono
"NO!"
With a cry Morgan raised her hand and the water from the puddle rose up, formed into an unidentifiable shape and shot it right into Ray's face. The impact was so strong that the unsuspecting blond was thrown against a wall.
"Why did you hit me!? I do not understand!"
"You're gonna kill me! I won't let you!" Morgan's mood had taken a drastic turn yet again. Despite her face seeming paler, her cheeks were still red. "Stick-bug, firefly, cockroach... whichever it is!"
Ray, still dripping wet and makeup leaking off their face, stood completely still. It seemed like they were having trouble keeping their eyes open, and, without warning, darted out of the room and into their own to retreat.
After a good minute of near silence, save for Morgan's slowly decreasing sobs, Hanan placed a shaking hand on the girl's shoulder. "Hey..."
"You saw that too, right? Right!?" Morgan hugged her knees. "I'm so cold suddenly... where is my hoodie?"
Hanan handed Morgan her trusty, blue hoodie and kneeled down next to her. "That... uh... vision?" She asked and Morgan nodded slowly. "Yeah. Was that... Ray? It kinda looked like them, but those dark marks... and those wings... they seemed taller too..."
"Who else could it be?"
Morgan wrapped her hoodie around her as Hanan helped her back to the couch again, laying her on her side. A hand was hovering near her mouth. "I feel sick..."
"Just try to sleep, okay?" Hanan asked and hurried to get a pillow and blanket to put over Morgan, along with a towel.
While still mumbling something to herself for a long time, Morgan eventually dozed off while Hanan sat on the couch, wrapped in a blanket too.
None of them heard anything of Ray for the rest of the night, and Hanan decided to accept sleep's invitation too.
When Hanan woke up, Morgan was gone. Well, by the sounds of it she was busy in the bathroom emptying her stomach.
"Ugh, what... what happened?" After a few minutes Morgan stepped out. She looked absolutely awful. Her skin almost had a weird, pale-ish tone to it and bags were under her eyes. "... Oh, I remember drinking. So..."
Hanan gave her a devious smirk. "Hehe, so you don't remember begging and saying you needed my arms around you then?" Her smirk grew and Morgan's look morphed into one of pure disgust. "Or how Ray 'lights up your life'?"
It was admittedly very amusing to see Morgan squirm as the color returned to her cheeks. "You... nasty!"
She pulled her hoodie over her head in an attempt to hide her flushed cheeks. Hanan almost got kicked in the guts when she jokingly tried to poke said cheeks.
The two decided to check up on Ray and, as they approached their bedroom, a somewhat muffled crying could be heard.
"Ray?" Hanan knocked and tried to speak in the most gentle voice she could muster. "Can we come in?"
Surprisingly, the door was unlocked. Hanan opened it slowly and went in the room, with Morgan following closely behind.
Ray's bedroom was... very different than what they had expected. It was very pink and very pastel. A lot of pillows, stuffed animals, and a bookcase partly filled with what seemed to be children's picture books. There was also a jar with candies standing on the nightstand. The blond themself was curled up on the bed, back turned to the two girls. They had apparently changed into their pajamas.
"What is happening... to me? I feel... awful..." They murmured weakly, clutching onto their Chocowan plushy. They clasped a hand over their mouth and made a small whine. "Help me..."
Hanan offered a hand to Ray, which they didn't take. They slowly stood up and Hanan led them to the bathroom to empty their stomach, and get the remaining make-up off their face. Morgan stayed behind, taking a seat on the bed and looking around the almost sickeningly cute bedroom.
"I told you alcohol is bad." She could hear Hanan's voice come closer, along with Ray's sobbing. "Be sure to drink a lot of water and just rest. I will clean up the mess, okay?"
"I... I want my mother..."
Ray was now crying like a lost child, desperately trying to wipe their continuously flowing tears away. "But... but she must hate me..."
The two girls exchanged some tense looks before Hanan leaned forward.
"... Why would she? She's your mother. How could a mother hate her own child?"
"Because I betrayed her, Hanan!" Ray snapped at her, still sniffling as tears freely flowed down her face. "I did something really bad...! I... let myself... I let myself be tainted."
Remembering the vision from before, Hanan bit her lip. "Tainted? You mean... like..." She found herself stopping, but forced herself to continue speaking. "Like what happened to... Connie? Or the drinking?"
Ray shook their head. "No... no. Not that..." They hugged themself as their voice lowered drastically in volume. "The most awful part is... it made me feel something I had never felt before." They let out a shaky breath and stared at their feet. "It was unfamiliar, scary, yet... right?"
They sat down on their bed, a bit away from Morgan, and rolled over. "Please, leave."
As if Ray had requested it, a sudden, familiar roar could be heard in the distance. It dragged the two girls' attention away from the blond.
"Damnit, after hearing nothing for weeks... they decide to finally attack again now? Of all times!?" Morgan groaned, still feeling the massive headache. It was like her head was going to split into two any second now.
The two got their respective Primary Charms and transformed in flashes of flames and water. "Primal Spirit Unleash! Precure Evolution!"
"The heart that burns with the warm flames, Cure Ember!"
"The heart that dances with the rising waves, Cure Splash!"
When going out of the house, the Unbound could instantly be seen after a row of houses. This one was slightly bigger than most, with two heads, and Ember could see that this one had two people captive, like what had happened with Connie's dads before. It had a tank filled with seemingly steaming water on its back and two hose-like pipes circling around its body and ending on its arms. In fact, the hoses were it arms.
"Ugh... this light is... ugh!" Behind Ember, Splash shielded her eyes from the morning sun. Despite the rush of energy transforming had brought her, she still felt terrible.
Ember stopped. "Will you be okay?" She asked with a concerned look. "You can sit this one out of you want..."
The blue Cure actually hesitated for a moment, but the Unbound seemed to notice them and aimed one of its hoses at them to shoot a blast of hot water. Ember managed to dodge but Splash got hit right in the chest and was send flying across the street.
"Not your finest performance, Cure Splash." A voice said with a demeaning chuckle.
If the familiar tone wasn't enough to tell them who the voice belonged to, and who had been responsible for creating the Unbound, then the cold, the patches of snow, and the Flurries prancing around were.
"Good morning, I suppose." Hail greeted with a somewhat stoic tone, standing on a roof behind the Unbound. "Where is Cure Terra? I'd like to have some words with her."
Ember narrowed her eyes. "She won't be here today." She charged at the him, setting her fist on fire for a punch. "So, don't get your hopes up!"
"Cure Terra will not get away with what she did." Hail blocked the punch with his hands. The impact made him wince slightly and a fizzling sound was heard. "I will make sure she'll receive proper retribution."
A flare of protectiveness lit up in Ember. She gritted her teeth and unleashed more punches. "If you hurt her in any way, you'll have to answer to- ahh!" A stream of steaming water shot her in her side and threw her off the building. She landed in a patch of snow on the ground. The cold was nice, but just her warm body being there made it slowly melt around her.
Meanwhile, Splash was already shooting her arm streams of water at the Unbound, followed by kicks. While she moved fast and managed to hit most of the time, it was still obvious she wasn't feeling all that well. Her movements were somewhat clumsy and evading the monster's shots proved to be quite difficult, getting hit more than once.
"Icey that you are not in top form today." Hail laughed as he watched Splash struggle, clearly amused. His grin grew when the Cure shot him an outright disgusted look. "Looks like you also need to blow off some steam, Cure Splash."
"Shut... up!" Turning away from the Unbound for a split moment was already enough to get hit with another blast of water. She crashed on the ground and instantly got bombarded by snowballs by the Flurries.
"Oh, you are looking quite upset. I have snow idea why you're so angry. Could it be that... being in hot water make you flurious?"
Panting heavily, Splash got back up. "OH MY GOD, SHUT THE HELL UP!" She yelled at the top of her lungs until her voice started to crack. At the same time she was yelling the Unbound blasted another shot of water her way, and she caught it in her mouth.
"S-Splash!?" Ember called, clearing more Flurries out of the way.
Splash could almost taste it. The anger and fury. She saw quick flashes of two people standing in a garden, one was spraying the garden with a hose... they had a fight about something? Where these two people the ones trapped in the Unbound? Confused and admittedly not caring, Splash shook her head.
With a mouth filled with water, the blue Cure glared up at the Unbound. It looked like steam was coming out of her. Using a stream of water, Splash launched herself high above the Unbound. She spewed out a massive burst of water at the monster, making it cry out and lose its balance.
"Quite distasteful." Hail commented, coughing into his hand.
Splash, completely out of breath, raised her middle finger to him. She didn't need this right now. She felt like she was ready to puke and fall over.
"Heyyy! Splash, you blew off some steam!" Then Terra hopped into view. Ember noticed the bags under her eyes right away, but she otherwise seemed like her usual cheery self. "Good job! Can I take it from here?"
"Sure... it seems weakened enough." Ember said reluctantly.
Terra grinned and raised a pillar from the ground to use as platform. She jumped off and raised her arm to the skies. "Pretty Cure Earth Smash!" A hammer made of rock formed around her arm and she slammed it down, breaking the Unbound apart and leaving a man and woman behind.
"Phew!" Terra dusted off her hands as Ember joined her side. Splash was leaning against her, hand raised to her temple. "I guess Connie is still not feeling well...?" Terra looked around to search for her missing, purple-clad comrade.
"Weren't you also feeling well?" Ember asked, sounding harsher than she wanted. "You look tired. Are you okay?"
Terra nodded with a grin. She turned to Splash and pulled both her and Ember in a hug. "I'm fine. Thanks."
"Are you sure...? You look really bad... like you're about to fall over... " Ember's features softened as Terra released her and Splash from the hug. "Maybe you should go see a doctor?"
Terra seemed on edge right as Ember said that last word. "I don't wanna go to the bad-smelling place!"
"What?"
"What...?"
"Ice to see you, Cure Terra. I figured you would show up. Well... let me break the ice for you and get to business." Hail narrowed his eyes and held up his hand. Four arrows made of ice manifested, which he aimed at Terra.
"An eye for an eye!"
... It wasn't Terra who got hit. For a reason she herself didn't even know, Splash shoved her aside just in time for the arrows to hit her chest, piercing the heart-emblem. The arrows burst apart as soon as Splash let out a scream and her transformation became undone. Her veins filled with cold ice and the tears in the corners of her eyes froze over. She fell to the ground, and the Seaborn Charm dropped right next to her, seemingly undamaged, but with a glassy glow over it.
She cried and cried, but she knew it wouldn't help. It was too late.
"Firefly... "
Something sharp pierced her chest and pain started to bleed out all over her body.
Everything shattered.
"Morgan!" Terra got to her friend's side right away, carefully shaking her almost lifeless body. She felt her heart stop when feeling how cold the girl's skin was. Even more cold than usual. "No...no... "
Ember clenched her fist. "You...!" She shot a fierce glare at Hail, who had his back turned to her as he quickly snatched up the Seaborn Charm with a shaking hand.
"Not entirely according to plan, but... oh well. Nothing better than watching a dear friend in pain, is it?" He said in his usual cold yet clear voice as he opened a portal behind him and took a little bow. "Thank you for your attention and have an ice day."
Trembling in rage, Ember ran after him and set her fist on fire. "GET BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD!" She couldn't reach Hail in time and let out a frustrated roar as he disappeared through the portal.
"Ember...!" Terra called between her sobs. "He took it...! He took Morgan's egg!" She cried out, starting to lose her cool as dread piled up. "You know what happened to Connie when her egg got in the wrong hands, right!?"
Ember turned to her, eyes wide.
Still sobbing, Terra held Morgan's unconscious, cold, yet luckily still breathing, body close. "Is this my fault?" She asked. Her voice was barely a whisper. "It is, isn't it?"
"No..."
"The target was me! They're angry because I broke Smoky's arm!" Terra yelled back. "I broke his arm... with my bare hands...! That's not normal!" She lowered her gaze. "I'm not normal..."
Ember returned to Terra's side and placed a warm hand on Morgan's chest, where the arrow had hit her. It was alarmingly cold.
"None of us are." Ember muttered and looked away.
Just then, Morgan stirred slightly.
"Let's go back, before people come." Ember suggested as she stared gravely at Terra holding Morgan's unconscious body.
Terra raised a hand to her mouth. "Ember..."
"We'll... figure something out. I swear."
Terra's shoulder shook as she held Morgan closer to her. Ember narrowed her eyes before looking away. She felt something burning inside her.
"They're not getting away with this." Ember spoke, back still turned to Terra.