Chapter Text
Nagisa was distracted this morning, well more than she was typically distracted. Her hand, her palm, her soulmark was bothering her. It was itching horribly. Well, it wasn’t exactly an itch, but it was a similar sort of nagging sensation on her skin. It was like her soulmark was begging for her attention. She massaged her palm though the glove she wore to conceal it as she met up with Shiho and Rina on the way to school. Rina seemed to recognize something was up right away.
“Something happening with your soulmark? She asked.
“It’s just sort of well- it’s uncomfortable,” Nagisa responded. “Like it’s itchy or something?”
“Well, Well? Have you checked it?” Shiho asked her hopping on her toes, “I’ve heard that when someone has a mark like yours, it can mean that you met your soulmate and it wants you to check!”
“No, it’s the same way it always looks, and anyways I haven’t met anyone new,” Nagisa said.
Rina hummed and threw her bag behind her head as she thought
“Maybe it’s a sign that you’ll meet them today,” she half-teased.
“Oh, quit it! Don’t make her nervous like that!” Shiho said, and after a short pause followed up with, “are you sure it hasn’t changed? Really, really sure?”
Nagisa sighed and pulled the glove off of her left hand.
Soulmarks were a private thing for most people, but she’d known her friends long enough to not be too shy about it. Shiho’s was under a bracelet and Nagisa’s was under a glove on her left hand. Nagisa lifted up her glove to show off the large black mark that covered almost her entire palm, and a bit of the back where her soulmate’s fingers would touch. It had been apparent for a long time that it was the shape someone else’s hand would make over her own.
“Aw it’s the same,” Rina said with a little disappointment, but quickly recovered, “say, your soulmate must be a pretty romantic guy, huh?”
“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! I wish my mark was something as romantic as hand holding,” Shiho said, practically swooning.
“Well, what’s your mark Rina?” Nagisa asked, desperate to get her mark out of the spotlight.
“Oh, I don’t have one, I must have a different way of telling,” she shrugged.
“Oh yeah, I think it would be cool to have an identifier like that! I only have my little counter, and it’s hard to tell what it even means!” Shiho sighed.
“Wait you only have a mark?” Nagisa questioned, raising an eyebrow as she tugged her glove back on.
At this, both her friends leaned over each other to look at her.
“Um—I just mean that—” the redhead stuttered, “The mark is the only thing that stays the same! It’s different basically every day! So, like, I only really have two at a time! Sometimes I hum a song that I don’t know, or sometimes I’ll get a burn without having touched anything hot, or I’ll hear a voice in my head that doesn’t sound much like mine, or sometimes…” ‘I’ll feel lonely for no reason’ she thought about saying.
“You have that many?” Rina asked, apparently impressed.
“That’s rare, isn’t it?” Shiho gasped.
“Is it?” Nagisa asked.
“Most people only have one or two identifiers so…” Rina trailed off.
“I’ve heard that when someone has a lot it can mean that they have an extra special bond with their soulmate!” Shiho yelled, giddy with excitement, “oh you’re so lucky Nagisa!”
“I don’t believe this… can we talk about something else?” Nagisa asked, a little embarrassed. Soulmate stuff made her feel funny.
“Sure, sure, so, did you hear about the meteor shower?” Shiho responded, walking backward to face her two friends
Many things in this world were mysterious, but Honoka found that she could look for answers, reasons the things in this world were the way that they were. Largely, she was successful in this. psychological and neurological answers to the way people thought and behaved, chemical and physical answers to the floor beneath her feet and the air she breathed, astronomical answers to the stars she looked up at, and yet something still eluded her. In fact, it eluded many scientists in this world.
Most laws of science made exceptions for soulmate bonds, as many of them did things that would otherwise be impossible. Honoka had spent many hours looking into soulmate theory, or rather the numerous soulmate theories; She had an encyclopedia of them back home. She would hold her right hand out and look at the bright white stain that covered it when she flipped through the pages. The most consistent parts were that everyone in the world had some kind of bond, though it may not be romantic. Honoka had narrowed her bond down fairly far. It was referred to as a myriad bond- a bond that shows multiple soulmate identifiers, both physical and non-physical. She had yet to determine if that meant that she had multiple soulmates or if she had a particularly strong bond with one person, those were the most common reasons, it seemed. In any case, she would be thrilled for them just to like her.
There were, in fact cases, where bonded people did not like each other. It was a fascinating, if taboo, idea: two people could be bonded on a level that denied the laws of nature, destroyed boundaries of every known science, and yet—could still not get along. There were cases, rare ones, in which a bonded people did not form a relationship. They could even hate each other. As interesting as the subject was, it was one that she didn’t look into very often. It worried her sometimes.
Honoka’s train of thought was interrupted hearing a conversation between some girls, “ –Heard that shooting stars are ominous signs that something bad will happen.”
“Is that true?” Another girl responded.
“That’s not true,” Honoka responded before she could even think to stop herself.
“Yukishiro-san…” The tallest girl said.
As Honoka looked up, she noticed what group of girls she was talking to. It was the girls from the lacrosse team, and in the middle, was the only other girl in school that wore a glove. It wasn’t improbable that Misumi-san was her soulmate. Honoka sometimes got scratches on her legs after the lacrosse team’s games, an injury transfer type bond, but still, it could be unrelated.
She shook off her thought and continued, “Shooting stars are little pieces of debris from space that drift through the universe. They’re pulled down by the earth’s gravity, and at about sixty-two miles in the sky, they emit light from the atmospheric friction,” She explained, “When people in the past saw that strange sight, they began to wish upon them.” For a moment, she tensed and was reminded of her earlier train of thought. What would happen if her soulmark was a bad omen like the tall girl thought the stars were? She pushed the idea out of mind as she finished her explanation, after an unintentional pause, “Is-Isn’t it better than thinking that they bring something bad? Something good is sure to happen!” She resolved.
The group gasped, seemingly awed by what she’d told them. That was good, they saw her in a good light. Still, her conflicting thoughts urged her to make an exit.
“I’ll see you later,” Honoka said, and began to walk away, but as soon as she was out of sight, she pressed herself behind the lockers.
She heard Misumi-san complain about all the letters in her locker being from girls, her friends laughing about her popularity. A lot of her peers didn’t have a visible mark, and some only made themselves seen after happening upon the person, so a lot of people tried to get the attention of people they thought, or hoped, might be their soulmate. Honoka was never that bold.
The rest of Nagisa’s day had only gotten worse and weirder since the conversation with Shiho and Rina that morning. Somehow, wishing on a star had led to her walking down the street carrying a weird little cellphone alien, Mepple apparently, in her lacrosse stick that was making her find some sort of other animal. She’d already trespassed more than she should’ve in her life, and now she was at an amusement park that looked like it was closing for the day.
“Hurry – mepo!” The creature shouted
“This looks like the end,” Nagisa responded. She was not about trespass more than she had.
“But I’m sure it’s in this direction – mepo.”
Nagisa sighed and ran with the little creature into the amusement park entrance. A few seconds wouldn’t hurt things.
In a much different tone than she’d heard that whole night Mepple said, “something’s wrong – mepo… I can feel something different from Mipple – mepo.”
Nagisa slowed her run a little and quirked an eyebrow at the creature.
“What do you mean ‘something?’”
A third voice cut in, much deeper than Mepple, and much more unnerving.
“This is the end of the line, young lady.” In a gust of wind, a strange man appeared, with skin that looked like it had never seen the light and eyes that were pale and piercing. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Who are you?” Nagisa shouted.
“My name is Pisard,” He responded calmly, and reached a hand out to her. “I came for him.”
“Run away – Mepo!”
“Sounds like a good idea!”
Nagisa broke into a sprint, but the moment she started running Pisard was in front of her again. She cried out, and stumbled trying to get away.
“Don’t give me a hard time,” He scolded.
Nagisa ducked under his hand again.
“W-wait!” She shouted, pivoting to avoid him. He was so much bigger, and impossibly fast. She wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer, or maybe at all. She tripped on the uneven bricking of the ground, flinging Mepple from her lacrosse stick. He clattered to the ground and was in Pisard’s claws before she could even pick herself up.
“Where are the stones?” He demanded.
Maybe she wouldn’t stand a chance, but she had to do something. She readied herself to–
“Misumi-san!” a familiar voice called.
“Yukishiro-san?” she cried out in surprise.
Another creature that looked like Mepple shouted for him.
“Mipple!” He cried back.
“What’s going on, Yukishiro-san?” Nagisa said.
“She brought me here,” Yukishiro responded, indicating the creature held in her hand.
“You too?”
The pink creature shouted again, “give Mepple back – mipo!”
Pisard smirked and broke into laugher.
“Well, well… if it isn’t the other half?” he said, “saves me the trouble of looking for you.” He reached his claws out again. “Hand her over.”
Yukishiro recoiled and held Mipple away from him.
“No, Honoka! You mustn’t turn me over to him – mipo!”
Pisard continued to inch closer, and Yukishiro wouldn’t be able to defend herself, but his attention was entirely taken up. This was her opening! Nagisa swung her stick like she was going in for a shot, and put all her force into it. She was able to knock Mepple from his hands. The fairy went flying and Nagisa barely had the time to catch him, but she made it, and tossed him into her hand.
“Thank you – mepo,” he sighed in relief. Yukishiro rushed to them a moment later, a look of determination on her face that Nagisa wouldn’t have expected.
Pisard growled and threw out his arms “No more games!”
That was when things went from very bad, to impossibly worse. The benches and trashcans rose into the air, hovering above Pisard’s head.
“That’s impossible!” Nagisa shouted.
She ran as the objects crash down on her from the sky. She barely avoided some of them.
“I can’t do this anymore!” She found herself crying as a trashcan came down inches behind her.
Yukishiro cried out as well somewhere near her.
“Transform, both of you – mepo!”
“Transform?” Yukishiro whimpered.
“That’s not funny!” Nagisa scolded.
“Take out the pretty cure cards – mepo!”
“Cards...?” Nagisa questioned. That’s right! When he fell, he scattered cards everywhere. Nagisa shuffled around in her pockets until she found them, and dodged an incoming trashcan while she searched.
“There are a number of cards here,” Yukishiro said.
“Honoka, find the queen card – mipo!” The little pink fairy cried.
The two girls shuffled through their cards before coming to a yellow card with the image of royalty on it.
“Found it!” Nagisa shouted.
“What do I do with it?” Yukishiro questioned, holding the card uncertainly in her hands.
“Swipe the card here – mepo!” Mepple shouted.
“Like this?” Nagisa said, inserting the card into the slot on the Mepple’s shell.
The moment she swiped it; it was like her actions were no longer her own. In a moment, she was suddenly by Yukishiro’s side. Her arm reached up to the sky and she shouted words that she did not know. Without hesitation, she reached out, in a more confident way than she’d ever expect herself to, and wrapped Yukishiro’s hand in her own.
The feeling was electric, explosive, literally explosive. The second they touched hands the energy surrounding them grew and crackled. It swept them up in a storm of light, and before she could think, whatever happened was over.
Nagisa snapped back to reality, finding herself pointing at the Pisard.
“What am I saying?”
Before she could get an answer, she was jumping out of the way of the weird guy… and onto the roof of a building?
“Wow I flew all the way up here!” Cure White exclaimed.
“How did this happen?” Cure Black responded. (since when did she call herself that?)
“That’s the precure’s power–mepo!”
“He’s coming from above–mipo!”
As soon as she saw Pisard jumping for an attack, it was like her movements were instant. She flipped forward onto her hands and kicked. Something like muscle memory seemed to be carrying her, but it wasn’t perfect. Pisard landed a kick to Cure Black’s stomach, but white had her back, kicking at the opponent. She looked even more bewildered than Cure Black felt. Pisard retaliated by swinging Cure White, throwing her off the building.
Cure Black cried out in alarm, but Cure White landed perfectly.
“I’m okay!” the girl cried from the ground.
So, a fall wouldn’t hurt then? Cure Black smiled with a sudden confidence, like she suddenly saw a winning shot, and tackled Pisard, throwing the both of them off the building. A cloud of dust obscured her vision after hitting the ground, but she let her instincts take control, and she landed on the teacup ride, balancing on the side.
Pisard landed beside them, sneering, “Damn! You annoying little brats!”
He jumped up and landed with a clack on top of the metal framework of the pirate ship ride.
“Unleash your anger, Zakenna!” He announced, flinging his arms to the sky. “And with your sinister heart, show them how terrifying the power of darkness can be!”
Clouds swarmed the sky rapidly, swirling together before dispersing and hitting the ground. It seemed to glow, and very suddenly, a hulking dark creature rose from the ground and roared, “ZAKENNA!” The creature lurched and fell to the ground, no fell into the ground? No! It fell into the rollercoaster. The coaster started rolling on its own. It rocketed up the tracks, and at the peak of the tracks flew off them. It spun and then transformed, the metal becoming something strangely alive. It roared again, suddenly with teeth, “ZAKENNA!”
“Are you serious?” Cure Black yelled.
“Are we dreaming?” Cure White cried back.
There wasn’t much time to think on that as beams of light shot from the Zakenna’s eyes. The two girls jumped out of the way, and somehow perfectly landed. In the Zakenna’s wake, the ground exploded. Oh… oh no.
“Is this… real?” Nagisa asked.
The Zakenna’s eyes glowed again and it shot energy towards them. This time, Cure Black felt paralyzed and could only think to shield herself. She screamed and she was sure that Pisard was laughing.
“That was perfect Zakenna!” Pisard applauded.
The two cures got to standing again as the Zakenna dived and rolled through the air like Nagisa imagined a dragon might.
“He’s coming at us – mepo!” Mepple cried from a pouch that had appeared at Black’s waist.
“Run away – mipo!” the other creature yelled.
Cure Black found herself dodging and rolling into a hand spring before landing with a hand to the ground. The Zakkena didn’t give her a moment’s piece as it hurled its wheels at them. She ducked beneath it as it hurtled towards her face, but Cure White didn’t seem to be as fast. A wheel careened towards her, and Black darted in to deflect it. She hit it away with a punch and turned to the girl next to her.
“Are you okay? She asked.
Cure White nodded and thanked her, but in the moment she had taken to talk, the Zakenna moved above them, it’s giant sharp teeth were just feet from their heads.
“Join hands – mepo!” Mepple shouted.
“At a time like this?” Black asked.
“Just do it– mipo!” The fairy at Cure White’s waist urged.
She locked eyes with the other girl, and they clasped hands. Again, Nagisa found herself not entirely herself. She rose her hand to the sky and shouted as energy rushed into her body, coursing around her as electricity until it overflowed and shot from she and Cure White’s hands.
The second that the electricity made contact, the Zakenna was forced out of the roller-coaster. It cried as though in pain and then burst into thousands of tiny stars that seemed to be apologizing. Apologizing?
“What is this?” Cure black asked more on instinct than anything else.
They scattered and dispersed into nothingness.
“it’s over?” Cure White questioned.
“Looks like it…” Cure black responded.
“What happened to that strange man?” She asked, looking around to find the park repaired, and the man nowhere in sight.
“I don’t know…”
Yukishiro and Nagisa held Mipple and Mepple’s bags out in their hands. Nagisa carefully opened the bag, which resulted in the little alien flying out and cooing to the other one, transforming into a hamster-like animal.
“I have no idea what’s going on anymore,” Nagisa complained as the two little animals dropped to the ground.”
The two cuddled and cooed, and her mark seemed to ache, a bit like a bruise. Nagisa pulled up the bottom of her glove, just enough to check her mark, and found something different. She wrestled her glove entirely off in a flash. Things had already gotten really weird, and now her mark was swirled with white, like a yin-yang symbol. It put her at a loss for words, stuttering and marveling at it.
“Misumi-san” Yukishiro said breathlessly.
Nagisa tore her eyes away from her own mark to find the other girl holding her ungloved hand up, with a matching black and white swirl.
“you’re my…” Yukishiro trailed.
“soulmate,” Nagisa finished.