â Do not think for a second we are going to believe another word from you either~miru! â Milk quipped at the pinned fairy.Â
People were talking. Cure Dream could hear them but she was not listening. Instead, she heard her own heartbeat. How could anybody not hear it thumping so loud? Suddenly it was so hard to concentrate on anything anymore.Â
Porvata returned and he was finally sharing his side of the story. This was not a land of fairies. This was a land of Boreals. Cure Felicity was not their queen. She was a killer.Â
Cure Felicity killed a Pretty Cure. What was the name? Cure Polar. Cure Polar. That was her, right there, in that coffin. She was dead. She was murdered. By Cure Felicity, the fallen hero Dream and her friends sought to save. A Pretty Cure murdered another Pretty Cure in cold blood. Was that right? That couldnât be right. The Pretty Cure were legendary warriors who fought for nothing less than love and justice. The Pretty Cure had each otherâs backs. Always. You donât hurt one of your own. You do not betray them and you certainly do not kill one of your own.Â
â Felicity⊠â Dream murmured. She could no longer bring herself to refer to her as âCure.â She was unfit for such a title. The taste in her mouth was too sour. This whole time, Cure Dream was doing the wrong thing. This whole adventure with Rin and Miyuki and Exym and everyone was all wrong. Her sins filled her lungs and it was impossible to breathe.Â
â We did a lot of damage, â Dream confessed, her voice rasp. Her throat burned and her chest ached. She was no better than Felicity at this point. And whatâs worse, Dream dragged every last one of her friends through the mud with her. They followed her and they have to live with her mistakes. She trusted Exym too much.Â
Exym. He was still trapped under her hand. He was coughing from the strength of her fingers around his throat. Dream has never been so torturous before. This was his fault. Dream remembered. It wasnât her; he tricked all of them. She had to remember that. She had to shape up now more than ever. After all, she was their leader! They voted for her. They followed her. Exym needed to pay the price and Dream had to make sure of it.Â
â The Pretty Cure do not kill, â Dream announced firmly. She adjusted her hands so that she could securely grip Exymâs body before rising to her feet. She turned to Porvata and at first avoided his gaze but then finally met his eyes. â I am so sorry for what we have done to you and your people. It was truly unforgivable. We came to this place thinking we were going to do something good but we did just the opposite and we didnât even know it. We all will leave you and your kingdom immediately. Weâve done enough damage and it would be best if we left your kingdom alone now. We will take Exym with us. Even though Exym has done many terrible things, we wonât let him die. Killing is wrong and I still believe everyone deserves a chance to live. Heâll be out of your hair and we will make sure he will never hurt anybody ever again. â
Cure Dream couldnât recall a time where they ever took a prisoner. But there was a first time for everything, wasnât there? She had the perfect place in mind to keep Exym in.Â
Cure Happy stepped up to join Dream as she exposed their side of the story; a mea-culpa born from pure deception. She added very little to her comradesâ sayins, knowing her friend a more eloquant and experienced representative than she was. But yet, this felt necessary. Nozomi and the others would never have been meddled to this, had she not found Exym in the Library in the first place. She placed her hand over her fellow pink warriorâs shoulder, and helped her supporting Porvataâs gaze.
Though a single detail seemed to make her waver for a split second. She thought the reason they ended up at Natts House was because she tried to snatch Exym away from the Book Gate... But what if Exym did intend to go there of his own volition? Were both Smile Precure and Precure Fiveâs involvements in this case actually something that could not have been avoided?
Porvataâs cackling brought Miyuki back to her senses. a low and tired laugher from which transpired no amusement, but a sarcastic expression of what would be little less than his own stinging despair.
âYouâre sorry...?â He passed one of his enormous hands over his eyes, his snout flaring up and his continued giggles exposing his fangs. âSorry isnât gonna bring her back... Sorry isnât gonna undo what made my people into the mindless drones you longed to slay for your sick amusement...!â
âMindles?!â Sunny couldnât help interjecting. âThey were definitely aware of what they were doing when they attacked us! Especially Hegemone and her bunch!â
Porvata seemed to jump at the mention of Hegemone. Beauty, however, found within her fiery partnerâs reminiscence another deduction.
âAll the Boreals we encountered in the desert were indeed definitely aware of their acions... But can we say as much about the others?â
This rose more interrogations among the others. Beauty proceeded.
âThe Boreals who attacked us when we arrived jumped on us on-sight. Those at the Oasis, we stroke them by surprise. Hegemone seemed ready to negotiate with us... As for the Boreals we saw when we flew over the Capital...â
â... They seemed to go around aimlessly. Like beasts.â Mint concluded, Reika nodding along.
âIndeed...â Porvata said, the shaking of his voice diminishing as he attempted to collect his thoughts. âShortly before Cure Polar died, this curse started to spread, making rabid monsters out of our friends... For a time, Cure Polar could reverse this disease, but then... Madness took its roots within the vast majority of us, and we were forced to flee to the desert. Where nothing could track us down...â
âAnd itâs where you hid the Aurora Polarite!~â Exym mused. âThe exact gem Cure Polar used to transform. Shame all it took was a few more humans to bring it back where it belongs!â
Porvataâs knuckles could have turned white were they not covered in thick armor-like scales. His rage, however, seemed to douse as Exym spoke, and seemed to turn more to something akin to panic.
âTh-The Aurora Polarite is here...? He-Hegemone...!â
âIs it...â March pointed toward Cure Rouge, more precisely, the pouch of her Cure Mo. âIs it that thing Exym kept calling Felicityâs treasure?â
âTreasure was stretching it.â Exym said, apparently caring very little if Dream started actually strangling him. âItâs more like a trophy! A reward for beating the bad guys! Isnât it how Pretty Cures always get their fancy new toys?â
âYouâre horrible...â Peace squeaked. But despite being the most prone to let her emotions take the better of her, Porvata bear her to it. He was the first to lash out.
He charged forward, swinging his claws toward Cure Dream and her captive. Happy stepped in front of her partner, and blocked the blow. The Boreal slowly lifted his hand, his breath short.
âIf... If you wonât kill that thing now, IâLL DO IT MYSELF!â
Following Happyâs cue, Sunny and Beauty attempted to push him away. While he withdrew his claw, he delivered a low kick that sent the other two flying. He narrowly avoided a March Shot sent from his side, and threw a geyser in Marchâs direction, which she narrowly evaded.
âThe... The Polarite must not approach her! If it is back then... Then you will destroy our last hope!â
He joined both of his hands together, the chains hanging from his palms coming together for what the heroines could only assume was a more powerful attack. He aimed it at Exym - and with him, both Happy and Dream - and conjured a wider, faster geyser. One that would get the job done in one go.