Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

----

Episode 3: Earthbound Treasure: Groundbreaking

----

Beryl had braced herself for the impact of the... gun? But she had found herself in a barrier of green. The feeling of tranquility had torn through all her mangled emotions. She just felt... peaceful.

Beryl took in a deep breath. The sweet fragrance of spring flowers surrounded her (funny, since it was still winter!) while a small egg had manifested in front of her.

She took a short moment to admire the wonderfully crafted green and brown leaves and stones embedded on the egg before grabbing it. A sentence formed in her mind and found its way to her tongue.

"Primal Spirit Unleash! Precure Evolution!"

The earth beneath her started shaking heavily and Beryl gave an excited smile as leafs and petals came from the egg and twisted around her. Buds appeared on her body and in her hair as her red hair turned brown, and became longer, forming into low twintails. Beryl winked, giving her left eye a bright green color, as well an emerald gem settling as a pupil, while her right eye stayed brown. She hugged herself as her outfit bloomed from the buds: a brown shirt with poofy sleeves, a green skirt resembling a flower, and brown boots. Her hair was also adorned by many buds, filled with her feelings. Beryl giggled and placed a hand on the one unchanged thing: her special necklace. It was still on her neck, safe. Her egg manifested again. She grabbed it and brought it into her chest to make a heart emblem appear as well.

She landed on the ground, shaking it a little. With a fresh smile, she raised her fists near her head as the buds in her hair blossomed into flowers.

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

Suddenly the confusion came back, full force.

"What? What? Whaaaaaaattt!?" She cried out inspecting her new form with curiosity. "I look adorable!? Look at my cute skirt! It's like a flower~! Guess I really bloomed." She gave a small giggle at her pun.

"Wait, you mean... there are more Cures besides me?" She heard Morg- Cure Splash's irritated voice say somewhere behind her. "Great. Just great. Just what I wanted!"

A bit further away, Ray sat on the ground, clutching a tree while staring intensely at Cure Terra. They still felt very lightheaded, but they were slowly recovering. Bright, in his human form, led them away from the battle and to safety, but not before shooting the Cures an encouraging look.

"So... Smoky was right. Precure do come in numbers." Bronze murmured, retreating away from the fight. "Go, Chromies! Get her!" She summoned a couple of her robotic minions, which dashed at Terra with smiley faces on their screens.

Before realising it, Terra had raised her arms in front of her and formed a boulder around herself, acting as a barrier of sort. Blocking the incoming attacks quite effectively.

Outside the boulder, Splash literally jumped in to unleash a flurry of kicks and making the robots, Chromies, dissolving as soon as they had appeared.

Her next kick was aimed at the big boulder, where Cure Terra was still hiding in.

"Hey! Hello!?" She yelled. "Don't just... stay in there. You can at least do something, you know!?" Another kick. Still not budging. That was a strong little fort she had created. "Hey! What's the point of transforming if you're not gonna do anything!?"

"Eh... I'd love to help but... I don't know how to make this go away?" Terra defended with an uneasy smile. Even though Splash couldn't see it. She tried raising her hands again, but nothing happened. "Tips are appreciated!"

"You don't know...?" Splash facepalmed. "Are you kidding me!?"

The blue Cure decided to turn her attention to the gigantic monster still rampaging through the forest. She leaped into the air and landed some hard kicks near the monster's shoulder.

The Unbound retaliated by pulling at its tie and slashing it near her like it was a whip. At that precise moment, Terra had managed to break down her boulder fort, shooting a barrage of rocks in all directions while doing so. One rock even hit Splash, earning even more ire from the blue Cure.

"You're terrible at this! Just leave and let me handle this!" Cure Splash rubbed her side, where the rock had hit her.

"Don't you mean that I'm terrable?" Terra replied with a big grin, nudging Splash. "Heh? Heh?"

Splash was not amused. "No."

Using a stream of water to launch herself in the air, she raised her hands and unleashed another powerful wave. "Pretty Cure Hydro Flood!"

To Splash's confusion, the Unbound didn't disappear this time. It let out a pained roar as the wave pushed it away, taking the trees with it. Splash let out an alarmed gasp.

"It didn't die!? How? It worked the last time..."

Determined, Cure Terra took a run for the creature, her fists ready then suddenly slowed down once she had gotten a good look at the Unbound, or, more specifically, the victim it was holding hostage in its chest.

"Uncle Dale!? Uncle Dale!?" In less than ten seconds, Terra had summoned a stone pillar from the ground and used it to leap to the Unbound, grabbing onto the 'bars' of the cage on the Unbound's chest. She tried to grab the man floating inside but her arm wasn't long enough to reach him. "Uncle Dale, don't worry! I'm gonna get you out of there!"

Splash was in a state of being impressed and irritated beyond belief. What was she doing?

The Unbound swatted the green Cure away with its hand. Luckily, she managed to land on her feet, the impact of her landing shaking the ground a little.

"That's someone you know?" Splash asked her, hitting the Unbound with some tendrils of water. "So does that mean you're motivated and going to be useful now?"

Terra wore a determined look as she clenched her fist, and stomped her foot down, causing a quake near the Unbound's feet, making it trip and fall to the ground.

Once again, she made some rock pillars sprout from the ground which she used as support to make a jump. She raised her right arm and rocks forged around it, forming a hammer as big as herself.

"Pretty Cure Earth Smash!" She slammed it down on the Unbound's head with a tremendous impact, shaking the area heavily. The Unbound dissolved, restoring the entire area and leaving only the unconscious victim behind.

At this, Bronze finally decided to step into the battlefield again. Her expression fierce and serious.

"Don't think you've won." She transformed her arms into metallic blades and ran towards Cure Terra. The Cure stomped down one foot before Bronze could reach her, two short pillars sprouted from the ground, blocking the woman's path.

Terra took a step forward. "Bronze was your name, right?"

"Wait, you remember her name but not mine?" Splash groaned, standing next to Terra and cracking her knuckles. "Anyway, she is most likely the one who made that monster. It was a different guy yesterday, I owe him an ass-kicking." A shrug. "But I need to let out my frustration somehow."

Splash found she couldn't get herself to unleash another Hydro Wave, to her dismay. So she settled with some good ol' kicks. She managed to land at least one kick straight into Bronze's face, but got hit hard in her side in return.

To add insult to the injury, Bronze quickly changed one of her arms into a cannon and shot another dark beam in Splash's direction. It just missed her by a hair.

"So, you think you can just imprison people. Listen up, you tinhead. That's not nice and I won't stand for you hurting Uncle Dale like that." Cure Terra crossed her arms with a stern look, like a mother scolding her child.

She was met with a strong pain in her chest as she was thrown against a tree after Bronze shot another dark beam, hitting the mark this time.

"Well, I am done being nice, being... weak." The woman spat in return and charged at the fallen Cure Terra.

Splash managed to create a water tendril and was ready to slam it down to stop Bronze but her attack was blocked as Bronze created a steel wall in front of her.

"Unda, Terre!" Ray called weakly. They raised a weak hand at Bronze. "Vanquish that being of darkness!"

"What do you think we're doing right now!?" Splash spat back at them.

Bronze clicked her tongue with a metallic sound. "Damn. And here I thought kids these days were more polite."

"It's Terra, actually! With an 'A'." The green Cure corrected simply.

Splash rolled her eyes. "They won't listen. Just, go with it. Maybe kick them in the guts later."

"You do not deserve to be alive! You vile, tainted monster!" Ray cried to Bronze, using a tree to support themself while shooting the woman a fierce glare.

"Hah, you're not even wrong." Bronze admitted. "But... here I am." She spread her arms with a sneer, and summoned some more Chromies to aid her.

The two Cures took his chance to attack Bronze, both charging at her from a different side, Splash with her feet and Terra with her fists. With a roar Bronze created two iron walls on each side, causing both Cures to painfully crash into them.

"Ow ow ow ow!!" Terra whined and waved her hands around.

Splash landed using a handstand and then swung around, using a stream of water to glide right back to Bronze. She swung her arms around rhythmically, swiping away the Chromies in her way with her water tendrils.

Terra, now blowing at her hands, found herself staring at Cure Splash fighting her way through the Chromies. Her movements were fluid and flowy, and almost mesmerising. It was almost like she was dancing around on waves.

Could Terra even begin to be as strong and badass as her?

What was she thinking? Of course she could!

With a grin, Terra slammed her fists together and sprouted more stone pillars from the ground to shoot the Chromies in the air. Some missed though. Terra made a mental note to start practicing that later.

"Pretty Cure Hydro Flood!" While hovering in the air, Splash unleashed a huge wave of water in Bronze’s direction. She was too busy staring up to Splash in horror to create another metal wall and was forcefully swept away.

"Now, that's how you do it." Splash said as she had landed near Terra. She crossed her arms while wearing a proud grin.

Terra clapped, eyes wide. "Wow! You were right when you said you wanted to blow off some steam... or should I say stream?"

Splash's smile disappeared almost instantly. "Can you not?"

Celebrating their victory had to wait, since, even after going through all that, Bronze had gotten up again. To say she looked bad was an understatement. Her right arm was lying on the ground next to her, leaving wires and steel inside her exposed elbow bare to see.

"This miserable world can die out for all I care!" She cried out, her metallic voice cracking slightly. The remaining Chromies rushed to her aid. All of them displayed crying emojis on their screens. One of them picked up her arm and handed it to her but she didn't take it back. Instead she shot another beam in the Cures' direction.

"Now, that attitude is why you'll never win." Splash cartwheeled out of the way while Terra hid behind more rock pillars.

"Yeah! Bad guys, like you, never win!! Because we, heroes, will stop you and protect everyone, and save the world!" Terra agreed and stomped her foot down in excitement, startling herself by the small quake.

Bright cheered from his hiding spot. "Oh! I like her spirit!"

Cure Terra slammed her fists together and charged at Bronze, ready to deal the, hopefully, final blow. Her face displayed firm serenity as rocks manifested around her fists. Forming two, big gauntlets made of rock.

Gasping, Bronze reacted with forging another shield in front of her and Cure Terra unleashed a barrage of punches, eventually managing to dent the shield.

Bronze finally decided it was time to throw the towel in. She had never been fond of leaving work unfinished. But she had failed at what she had set out to do, and she had accepted that fact.

There was no way she stood a chance against those two Cures in her current state. She raised her arm and created a portal to go through, the Chromies following suit, even the one still holding her other arm.

Cure Terra fell flat on her face and the gauntlets dissolved.

"Oh..."

Ray ran up to the two Cures while Bright helped Dale, coming to his senses again, back up.

"Why did you let her get away, Terre!?" Ray asked, seemingly completely recovered from whatever was weakening them before. They fumbled with their sleeves while staring at the fallen Cure Terra with an objecting look.

"Oh hiiiii! Don't think I've seen you before." Terra smiled, hopped back up and held out a hand. Ray didn't accept. "Also, it's Terra. But you were close!" She let out a good-natured laugh. "And I thought I was forgetful with names, haha."

Ray blinked, not really sure how to reply. They didn't need to since Terra awkwardly retreated her still outstretched hand and went to Bright and Dale instead, pulling the latter in a tight hug.

"Uncle Dale! I'm so glad you're okay!"

The older man seemed incredibly confused. "Who... who are you? I don't believe we've met before?" He rubbed his eyes as Terra let him go.

"Huh? Uncle Dale, it's me! Beryl!" She said, waving her arms around then pointed at the scar around her right eye. "Look! Who else has such a cool mark like this?"

Dale furrowed his brows. "It does look exactly the same..."

"Mona! How can I change back?" The green Cure turned to Splash, who returned her pleading look with a glare.

"For the last time, you rockhead, it's Morgan Shannon Fischer and-"

"Oh." Dale stepped forward. "You saved those people on the beach yesterday. My daughter was there too, so I'm glad I get to personally thank you." He smiled. "If you can, please give your father my regards. My daughter said he's having a rough time with maintaining the gallery."

Splash crossed her arms and sighed. "Oh, so she knows my dad. I'm sorry she has to put up with him."

"Um... she works at the gallery and she's really enjoying her time there, actually."

Good for his daughter because she couldn't stand being near her dad.

"Monica~?" She cringed at the sound of Terra's whines. "Can you tell me how to do the thing? Is this like... some sort of camouflage? Magical camouflage?"

"Uh, yeah. That's mostly a thing with magical girls. To protect their identity and such. Even I know that and I'm not into magical girls, really." Cure Splash said as she transformed back into Morgan with ease. "Good job, screaming your real name and revealing your identity almost right away. I'm sure your magical girl career is gonna go splendidly."

Now that Morgan thought about it, she herself had also failed at that part. But, if she hadn't transformed in such a populated space she would have never revealed who she was to anyone.

She hadn't really spoken, or seen, her parents yesterday. She wondered if they knew already.

---

Bronze sank to her knees as soon as she had returned to the base.

"Bronze!?" She felt herself being pulled in a feathery embrace. Aeris' distressed look was almost heartbreaking to look at. "What happened...? Was it that Pretty Cure?"

She forced a smile, hopefully calming the younger girl down. "Sorry, Aeris. I got a little overconfident. It was my own fault for being weak. Smoky was right, there's another Cure now. We need to stop them. They’re multiplying like rabbits at this rate."

Smoky leaned back in his spot at the couch. One of the Chromies handed him Bronze's arm, which he accepted carefully. Out of experience, they seemed to know that Smoky was Bronze's foremost repairman, if she happened to get one of her arms damaged.

"You're not weak." He said softly and lowered his look. His eyes still hidden behind his shades. "In fact, you're one of the bravest people I know."

"Arg! Stop making me emotional, you kids!!" Bronze, still leaning on Aeris for support, rubbed her face with her hand. Feeling the cold metal touch her skin. "Yeah... the new one... that Terra girl... she was..." She frowned deeply. "Something."

Smoky looked over at Bronze's arm he was holding. "Ooh... It's not that bad. I can fix this easily. Hey, you go rest first and I'll reattach your arm later, 'kay?"

Bronze nodded weakly as she walked out of the room, and to her chamber, using Aeris as support. The remaining Chromies rushed after them, leaving only Smoky and the silent Elegy in the room.

The boy clutched the arm still in his hands. Feelings of dread found its way into him and both his pitch black hands and left eye started releasing a bit of smoke.

This was starting to look bad.

Whoever these Pretty Cure were... they were strong. Too strong.

Seeing Hail and Bronze all beaten up like that... admittedly made him scared. More scared than he would like to admit. He hated seeing them like that. Hurt and beaten. He couldn't stand it.

He was brought back from his thoughts as he noticed Elegy summoning a portal, a bottle of Dark Ink in hand. "Elegy? You're going?"

Elegy merely nodded.

Smoky grabbed her arm with his free hand. "Don't! Look at what happened to Hail and Bronze! They're clearly too strong for us at this rate. What we need is..." If he had a third hand to adjust his shades with, he would. "Some level grinding!"

It was already hard to read Elegy's face, but her face mask made it almost impossible. He was pretty sure his awkward attempt at a joke had failed.

She just held up her hand, closed her eyes, and went through the portal.

----

"So, you live in a cabin? In the woods?"

"Preeeetttty much!"

"Why?"

Beryl didn't answer Morgan's question right away. She scratched the tip of her nose and thought about it for a good minute.

"I like being close to nature. It smells nice. Makes me feel... peaceful."

Morgan rolled her eyes at that. "Looks like we got a treehugger on our hands. Great."

To say that Beryl's "house" was messy was the understatement of the decade.

Her cabin, which seemed more like a shed, was probably a bit bigger than Morgan's room, but you wouldn't really notice the size of it because there was stuff everywhere. There was a single bed (also unmade and messy) and a huge amount of small cabinets making up most of the room, scattered around were small objects like gemstones, jewelry, books, clocks, writing supplies, the list went on.

"So... you're a Pretty Cure now, Beryl." Dale rubbed the sweat off his forehead. "How are we gonna bring that detail to your dad?"

"Oh, we don't." Beryl said simply.

Dale looked like he wanted to object but one look at Beryl made him drop the subject entirely.

"I suppose classes are cancelled for today?" He said and looked over at Morgan, Bright, and Ray still inspecting every nook and cranny of the cabin.

Beryl shrugged awkwardly. "Uh... I guess?" She brought back her smile. "I'll make double the work when you come next time! I'll finish ten pages of math! Promise!"

The older man waved off her suggestion. "It's quite all right. You probably have a lot to talk about." He looked over at the other three again. "I'll take my leave. Take care, Beryl."

"Yes, sir!" Beryl did a mock salute with a grin as Dale went out through the door of the cabin.

Ray stroked their chin as they inspected a huge collection of gemstones in varying colors, shapes and sizes. "You sure have a large amount of food, Terre."

"Those are gemstones, actually." Beryl laughed. "You can't eat gemstones, silly!" She lowered her voice to a small whisper. "Trust me, I've tried."

Bright blinked in surprise, Morgan's face scrunched up, and Ray rubbed their arm awkwardly

"No amount of sauce would make that edible." Morgan said bluntly.

"Oh, I've never tried it with sauce." The way Beryl said that made Morgan think that she was actually considering trying that.

Not her problem if she was gonna lose a tooth or two.

----

Beryl took the entire story slightly better than Morgan did. That is, if she actually was understanding it and not just nodding at Bright's ramblings to be polite and pretending she understood what he was saying. It was hard to tell. Ray chimed in with a weird comment every once in a while, which was often followed with a glare to either Morgan or Beryl.

"I used to be a big, big, biiiiiiiiigggggg woman?" Was the first question Beryl asked after Bright was done.

Ray nodded right away but Bright rubbed his cheek nervously.

"Yes."

"Maybe? We're not sure how you are related to the Titans of our world..." Bright said. "If we're going by the logic that, somehow, the Titans are able to become Pretty Cures... there should be two more. Ignis and Aeris."

"Oh, new friends!! We should go find them~!" Beryl cheered, hopping with excitement. "I wonder what they're like..."

Ray was about to reply but Morgan stomped her foot down.

"Two more?" She asked with a scowl. "I'd rather not. The first time I managed to defeat that monster just fine, without any help whatsoever." She sounded disgusted at the implication of working with others.

"But I finished it! I helped!"

"But you were hiding in your little... fort, like a baby, before!" Morgan objected.

Rubbing the back of her head, Beryl let out an uneasy laugh.

"I'm still trying to get the hang of it~!" The redhead said, showing off her teeth.

Morgan rested her chin on the palm of her hand. "I don't need your help. You'll only get in the way."

"I can prove it! Let me prove we'll make a great team!" Beryl shot back, surprisingly calm. She held up her egg, the Earthbound Charm. "I'm not going to let people get hurt. I was chosen for this and I will protect everyone. You are not taking that from me."

"Oh, you're one of those." The other girl rolled her eyes. "The goodie-goodie who has no personal motivation aside from 'protecting' others. That's a simple way to think, and not to mention dumb." Another scoff. "I've finally found something valuable in my life. When I fought that monster for the first time, I felt alive. And I knew, that this is something I want to keep fighting for. You are not ruining that for me!"

Beryl opened her mouth but closed it as soon as she saw Morgan's face. She seemed to take this serious, despite her words telling her otherwise. Fighting because you liked it? Now that was dumb, and not to mention very selfish.

"So." Beryl turned to Bright, still with a serene expression lingering on her face. "Tell me what we need to do. Tell me what we’re up against and what we can do to stop them."

Morgan let out a sigh and sat down on a pillow lying on the ground. "If you're waiting for answers... you ain't getting any."

"That's okay, but first!! I will have to ask for your names again." Beryl said and grabbed some sticky notes and a pencil. "I will write them down so I won't forget."

"Very clever." Bright commented, then stepped forward and reintroduced himself, by full name, once again. Pose included.

Beryl frantically wrote all of their names down (Ray didn't got to say their full title, again, because Bright interrupted them) and plastered the three sticky notes near her bed. There were a suspicious amount of sticky notes in the house, and the handwriting was surprisingly readable.

"Thanks. I want to be able to remember my friends' names!"

"I am not your friend." Both Ray and Morgan said at the same time. They looked at each other with annoyed looks.

Bright held up his hands with a smile. "Now, now. Let's not be like that. Friendship is a wonderful thing!" He turned to Ray with a gentle look. "Ray, I'll be happy if you opened yourself up a little. See, Beryl would love to be your friend. Can't you give her a chance?"

Ray stayed silent for a long time. Their eyes staring into nothing. As if they were processing what he had just said.

"No. I am not ready."

Bright’s smile softened. "That's okay. Take all the time you need. Remember, baby steps!"

"... The Titans are the last I would want to be friends with." Ray glared at Morgan and Beryl, rubbing their hand again. "Not with Unda, and not with Terre."

Beryl's smile faltered. "But... we've just met!"

Before Ray could object, Bright tapped his hand on the table. Hoping to prevent a fight from breaking out. "Look, nobody of us knows exactly what is going on. We don't know what your relation to the Titans is and why you are able to become Pretty Cure. We have yet to figure out what the connection is between these two." He explained. He needed to get everyone on the same page if they actually wanted to be able to work together.

Even with full attention on him, Bright wasn't really sure how to go on. "... We also don't know who these people that summoned those monsters are, nor where they come from or what their goal is. We've only see two of them, so far, but there may be hundreds out there..."

That thought of gave Bright a heavy feeling in his chest. It would be very possible there was a whole army of people trying to destroy this world. But, that's what Pretty Cure are there for, right? To stop them?

"There is something familiar about them... but there is also too much darkness to feel what. It is too clouded by darkness to recognise anything." Ray spoke, not looking up.

"What? You think they might be... from Primo?" Bright didn't know how to feel about that possibility. How else could they feel familiar to Ray?

Ray hugged themself. "I think. They have to be from Obscuro, considering their... darkness. And their strange eyes." Ray's hands trembled as they rubbed their palm again.

"Hold up, I'm not following. Obscuro? What’s that? Explain." Morgan demanded and Beryl nodded, curiously leaning closer to Ray.

The blond took a few steps back, bumping into a desk. They looked very uncomfortable and hid behind Bright.

After clearing his throat, Bright spoke up. "Our world, Primo, was split up in three sections. We have the so-called 'main-land', where the Titans resided. There was Lumo, a floating kingdom and the place we're from, and Obscuro. I've... never been there actually so I don’t know what it looks like. It's like a canyon and it's dark, from what I've heard."

While Beryl seemed almost entranced by Bright’s story, Morgan just rolled her eyes. "It's like History class, only weirder."

A little flame of hope lit up in Bright. "If they really are survivors like us... then, we might be able to come to an understanding."

"Cool story, but they're still attacking people." Morgan cut in, frowning.

"We don't know their circumstances. They have to be doing this for a reason! They are risking their lives." Bright objected, his mind racing through endless possibilities, but not being able to find an answer. "Unless, it could be that someone is pulling the strings..."

Ray looked up, eyes wide. "Nox..." They breathed. "It is Nox. It has to be him. There is no one else who could..."

"Obviously with a name like that." Morgan rested her hand behind her back. "But, anyway, explanation please?" She was getting rather tired of demanding answers.

Bright played with a lock of his curly hair. "He's the ruler of Obscuro and the King of Darkness."

"The King of Darkness?" Morgan snorted. "Not even trying to be subtle, are we? Looks like we figured out our bad guy."

"That's all I know of him, to be honest." Bright added. "I've never met him. I don't even know what he looks like."

"I know. I have seen him before."

"What!? When!? How?" Bright almost grabbed Ray's shoulder but his hand was slapped away before he could.

"When the Titans started... their rampage." Ray whispered, as if they didn't want anyone to hear. "We all were there. Mother was there and he was there with Shade. A lot of people were there, actually."

"What!?"

Morgan and Beryl exchanged some glances as the mood had become very tense. Bright's voice intensified. "Ray, Ray, listen to me. You have to tell me what you know. This is important. What happened? Why was everyone there? Why did the Titans even...?"

Ray flinched at Bright’s reaction, and their voice went softer with each word. "I am... I am telling you what I know." They whimpered meekly as clutched their palm again. "My memories are vague. I do not remember. I remember fighting against the Titans, but not much else."

Seeing Ray's trembling form in front of him made Bright feel even worse. He decided to drop the subject for now, pushing it wouldn't benefit any of them at this point.

"I'm happy to help you guys defeat bad guys, no matter who or what they are!" Trying to ease the mood, Beryl jumped up and showed her egg proudly. "All bad guys are going down! I'll beat them to the ground!"

Morgan couldn't believe she nodded at this. "Yeah, I don't care who you are, if you're being an evil jerk, you will get an ass-kicking, free of charge."

"See? We think alike! We're pretty much friends already!" Beryl laughed and wrapped her arms around Morgan, to the latter’s dismay. "Or ... maybe... maybe we always were!?" She let that linger in the air for a moment before shrugging and letting go of Morgan. "It's just a little hunch I have."

"Yeah, no. We're not friends."

Beryl stroked her chin for a moment, thinking. "Then, I'm delighted to make your aquaintance." She said with a overly polite tone and a smirk.

"Stop." Morgan glared. "You're not funny, you know?"

Far away, they heard a loud noise. A familiar roar made Morgan and Beryl reach for their Primary Charms almost instantly.

"Don't get in my way, got it?" Morgan said as she and Beryl turned their eggs and called out their incantation.

"Primal Spirit Unleash! Precure Evolution!" Morgan and Beryl were surrounded in round barriers made of water and rocks respectively. In a second they jumped out, completely changed.

"The heart that dances with the rising waves, Cure Splash!"

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

"We'll handle this!" Terra assured Bright and Ray as she and Splash leaped out of the cabin, following the sound of screams, destruction, and… instruments?

----

They found their culprit near the edge of the forest. Noticeable was that this Unbound had hair (or was it a wig maybe?). It was playfully dancing as various small creatures circled around it, playing obnoxiously loud instruments.

They were the same size as the Flurries and Chromies they've seen before. These resembled shadow-like humanoids in marching costumes, playing their instruments with glee. Some of them chanting "Echo! Echo!" in a rhythmic manner.

Splash kicked her feet in the air, unleashing a torrent of water at the Unbound's face, causing it to take a few steps backwards and crushing a couple of the minions, the Echoes, in the process. They poofed in a whir of yellow smoke.

The blue Cure launched herself in the air with a stream and landed a few kicks. Her teal hair spinning behind her as she kept dishing out more kicks, and occasionally some water tendrils with her arms.

On ground level, the Echoes kept Terra busy, shooting music notes in her direction from their instruments. She either rolled out of the way, created a rock wall or punched the music notes right back at them.

So, there was the Unbound, the small minions, now... where was the villain responsible for summoning both of those?

She stepped into the battlefield at that precise moment. A woman with blue gray hair, hornlike curls on each side of her head. Half of her face was obscured by both her long locks and the face mask she wore.

"Elegy! Elegy! Elegy!" The marchers started to chant in their childlike voices as soon as they saw her. She inspected the two Cures for a long time in complete silence, her yellow irises glaring down at them.

"Hey! Hey!" Terra called out. "Why are you doing this? You don't have to do this! If you tell us what's wrong... then we might be able to help you!"

The woman, Elegy, didn't respond and just stared at Terra. Her face was completely unreadable.

Elegy raised her arm and summoned more Echoes, still wearing a blank expression while the Echoes played their instruments obnoxiously loud.

"Forget it!" Splash shouted as she spinned around on her hands and used her legs to kick the surrounding Echoes in various directions. "Let's just focus on the monster!"

Instead, Terra stomped the ground, creating a tremor near Elegy, who made a backwards leap with ease and landed on some stairs away from the fight.

"Just focus on the monster!" Splash repeated with a roar. "Ugh, If you want something done right..."

The Unbound and Echoes charged for the two Cures. They split up in different directions, attempting the evade the Unbound's attempts to smash them into the ground with its huge braid while the two were dealing out more watery kicks and earthly punches.

After turning their attention to the Unbound, Splash realised it seemed way more sturdy, or heavy, then the previous ones. Attacks didn't really do all that much than made it stumble a step or two.

Then an idea sprouted in her mind. She smirked.

"Terra! Make another rock fort!"

"Huh?"

"Just do it!"

Cure Terra blinked in confusion but tried to recreate the fort anyway. She forced her eyes shut and move her hands closer to her, trying to remember how she did it last time.

Luckily, it worked right away and she was inside another protective fort made of rock once again.

"Now what?"

Splash landed on the rock ball and started running in place, moving the ball forward at considerable speed.

Inside the ball, Terra was screaming as she was being flung from side to side.

"S-S-Splash! Stop! I'm getting diiiiiiiizzzyyyy!"

"Shut up! Just rock and roll with it!"

If the circumstances were different, and she wasn't being spun around right now, Terra would definitely have applauded Splash for the good use of words.

Gaining closer to the Unbound, Splash used a stream to launch the ball straight into the Unbound's face so hard it lost balance and fall on its back, shaking the area.

Splash had leaped back before the ball had made impact. Terra undid the fort and landed next to Splash on a nearby roof, stumbling on her feet from the dizziness.

"That was fun." Splash admitted with a chuckle. "You can be useful."

Terra whined weakly. "You could have told me you were gonna do that! I feel my lunch coming back up."

"Ew, don't throw up on me. I'll have to finish it first." Splash got ready for a jump but Terra grabbed her arm.

"No! Let me do it! Let me show you I can be strong!" Terra objected. "I'll show you I'm worthy of fighting with you! That I'm worthy of being your friend!" She placed a hand over her heart. "I know I have much stuff to learn. My fighting is sloppy and rocky." A chuckle. "But if there's someone who I know will have my back and who I can count on in a pinch, I feel like you're the best pick! And that's what motivates me to become better! So I can help out my friends when they need me!"

Splash looked torn between being confused, flustered, and annoyed.

"You know what... go ahead, Terra. Finish the job." Terra could have sworn there was a small smile on Splash's face as she gave Terra a little boost in the air with her water.

"I will not disappoint you, Morgan Shannon Fischer."

Terra smile grew from ear to ear and she hovered in the air, above the Unbound.

"Pretty Cure!" She started, forming another hammer around her arm before slamming it down on the Unbound. "Earth Smash!"

The Unbound broke apart and the victim, a young man, was freed.

"Yay! Look at that teamwork! We were incredible!" Terra cheered, throwing her hands in the air and pulling Splash in a tight embrace. "This is gonna be great!"

Splash lowered her head, hoping to hide her face turning red, as she pushed Terra off of her. "W-We still have that lady to deal with."

The two Cures turned around, just in time to see Elegy retreat through a portal, the Echoes following her.

Splash glided towards her. "Hey, get back here! I need to kick someone in the face!" She shouted, but the portal disappeared before she could get there. Splash slowed down her dash and stumbled a bit upon doing so.

"Aw." She muttered, disappointed.

"Next time!" Terra reassured her and walked up to her, patting her shoulder.

They heard a little squeal of joy behind them.

"Oh my god." It was the young man that they had saved. He looked at them with starry eyes. "This is, like, absolutely fantastic! To be saved by two magical warriors! Magical warriors with fabulous hair and clothes I might add." He gave them both a nod of approval.

Terra's mouth curled into a smile and she grabbed the man's hand and shook it. "Thank you, we're still newbies but we'll make sure to protect everyone! That's part of being a hero, after all. Leave it to Cure Terra and Cure Splash!"

"Say..." The man spoke up and held up his phone, decorated with tons of stickers. "You wouldn't mind if I snapped a pic of us together, would you?"

The two Cures exchanged looks. Splash shook her head with a sour expression while Terra beamed with excitement.

"Yes."

"Of course not!"

----

"And he asked us to take a picture with us! It was great!" Beryl explained after she and Morgan had gone back to her cabin, sharing their story with Bright and Ray. "Aside from Morgan not smiling for the camera." She shot a overdramatic glare to Morgan, who groaned in return.

"Trust me, you don't want to see me smiling. It’s not a nice sight."

"But! But you were smiling during the fight." Beryl objected. "And it was a beautiful smile at that. I’d love to see it more."

Morgan pulled her hoodie over her head.

A big grin appeared on Beryl's face. "Aw, is someone getting flustered?" She joked as she leaned closer to Morgan, who used her leg to push the redhead away from her.

"Shut up!"

Ray stood in the corner of the room, watching as Bright started discussing something with the two girls. They saw mouths move but they couldn't decipher the words that were being said, but then again, they weren't really paying attention.

They just stared at the three, their mind travelling back in time. Watching others enjoying themselves and socialising from their spot on the sidelines. They had done that many times before. Just watching. They had wanted to step in and join the conversation but hadn't learned how.

And besides, Mother hadn't been very keen on them interacting with other people.

Absentmindedly tapping their fingertips together, Ray furrowed their brows.

"Since fighting darkness with darkness seems to be the best course of action, for now.../" They started, not looking up from staring at their fingers. "We need to find Ignis and Aeris as fast as we can."

"I can't wait to meet them!!" Beryl beamed with absolute delight. She counted on her fingers. "We'll be like an Elemental Quartet! And we can actually play quartet! I have a few versions lying around!"

Morgan, on the other hand, was not that excited.

----

A hulking mass of a beast was pressed against the stone wall. Losing its balance, it sank to the floor.

"How... how could you do this!?" The beast desperately clutched its wounds as a smaller figure approached it.

A dark laugh boomed and a knight in fiery red armor stepped forward. "Ohoho! You dared to challenge me! That was your mistake. The Endless Inferno of Destruction is indestructible!!"

"No!" The beast roared as the knight charged at it.

"Yes!! I will destroy you all effortlessly!!"

A large sword of fire dealt the final blow.

[GAME OVER]

--

"Arrgg!" A teenage boy clutched his controller so hard it seemed like it could break any moment. "I was so close to winning!"

"Well, you lost, and so you know what that means." A slightly older girl said, wearing the same proud grin as her game avatar, the knight, which was making a little victory dance on the tv screen.

The boy groaned. "Ugh, but walking Chomp takes forever!"

"Have fun!" The girl chuckled as the boy went to grab a leash and attached it to the basset hound lying a bit further away. "Meanwhile, I'll just play by myself and grind some more until you’re back!"

"Get lost, Hanan! I'll beat you next time!"

Hanan waved with a devious grin. "See you in two hours, Fadil!"

The boy, Fadil, groaned and dragged the dog outside. He grumbled to himself all the way until he was out of earshot.

"Hey, Makeen." Hanan turned to another boy, sitting on the couch. He didn't reply right away, being completely mesmerized by whatever book he was reading. "Makeen?"

"Oh, what is it?"

"You wanna play?" Hanan asked, holding up the other controller.

"Maybe next time. I'm getting to a really exciting part in my book!"

"Okay, just don't cry over the pages this time!"

"That's Fadil's thing." Makeen replied. "I had to buy an entire new copy of at least four books because the pages were smeared with his tears!"

Hanan could only chuckle at that. She snapped her attention back to the screen, with a dark flare in her brown eyes she tightened the grip on her controller and leaned forward, bearing a devious smile.

"I'll wage war on all monsters on my own then."