Blinking and looking around in confusion, Cerise narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Knowing something was up with the portal, she stood on guard, constantly alert to her surroundings. In the darkness, she could see a small green and pink dash of light sprint around. Immediately figuring out who it was, she gave a little smile.
"Cure Menta. I know you're there." she called out
"Tch." With that, Menta appeared right in front of her with her usual smug grin.
The two stared at each other for a while before Cerise raised a brow "where are they?"
"They? Oh right. Those pathetic friends of yours. Don't worry, they're perfectly fine. They're living in their own paradise."
"I'm not worried about them." Cerise smiled cheekily "I was worried about your friends. You see, I trust and know that my friends will be able to defeat them, I'm just wondering if you and your friends are prepared for that."
"Don't be so cheeky! Just because you don't need a Nacharm to transform doesn't mean you can act so high and mighty. What are you even? Even I need a charm."
Remaining composed and calm, Cerise just gave Menta a friendly smile. Irritated that she wasn't being fazed at all, Menta threw a frustrated blast of green light towards her. Jumping out of the way, Cerise sent deflected the attack and sent it flying back.
"You know, I don't understand why villains talk so much... I see it all the time in movies and shows and it's absolutely pointless..." Cerise gave her a smirk "you just told me something."
"What?! I didn't tell you anything."
"Oh no not intentionally" she sighed "The Duke and Duchess don't plan this properly..."
Without warning, beautiful pink flower petals surrounded her as she gathered them into one small ball of energy. Concentrating, she sent it flying towards Menta who wasn't expecting the attack.
"Ho- what?!" Menta screamed as Cerise aimed for her Archarm on her neck.
Shattering it in her fist, Cerise paused before patting Menta's head who had now turned back into Yuka Santani.
"How...?" Yuka whispered quietly, nearly shaking
"Even you need a Nacharm so I assumed, without it, you won't have your powers" Cerise smiled before walking away.
Stopping, Cerise turned to look at her with a friendly expression "Did you know, pink and green are complementary colors... they normally work well..." she paused "together..."
Immediately, Cerise found herself with her friends who just stared at her in shock.
"Oh well of course you can still transform" Akina teased
"I'm glad you're okay!" Asahi shouted out as she attacked her with a big hug
"We have to get out of here" Shirana said
"Yeah" Cerise nodded
In a flash, the entire group finally arrived at Chanzon in one piece. With a sense of determination emerging from each one of them, they charged towards the castle in search of the Duke and Duchess. They could hear sounds of crashing and screams coming from all corners of the kingdom. From the corner of their eyes, they could see Tomerunda's floating around causing havoc. Reaching the castle grounds, they ran faster. Before they could open the doors, it swung open and they could see two silhouettes standing in the middle of the room.
"Ah ah!" Duke Plund called out "any closer and the Royal children will get hurt."
Looking down, they could see four bodies laying lifeless on the floor.
"What on earth did you do!?" Akina yelled
"Oh they're perfectly fine, for now." Duchess Heist smiled eerily "they're in their paradise"
With a strong conviction to save them, the four girls split off into different directions to find their Tomerunda's. Racing fast, Shirana was quick to identify Flake's monster roaming around. Jumping up, she stood in front of her with her usual calm demeanor.
"Come on Flake..." she held out her hand slowly.
Finally reaching her forehead, she entered her paradise. Looking around, Shirana gave a cute smile. How typical of her. It was still Chanzon but it was a beautiful cold white wonderland. Everything looked so peaceful and calm, as if nothing could destroy that peace. Her eyes scanning the area, she could see Flake busy making a snowman. Curious as to what her paradise could be, Shirana stepped closer.
"There, and this snowman will be Forte" Flake giggled to herself
"Flake! Time for dinner!" a voice called out
Following Flake, Shirana found herself in the warmth of the castle. The Royal children had gathered in the dining hall for dinner along with their parents who sat on either sides of the long table. All seated and ready to eat, Flake was the last one to arrive.
"You okay?" Forte asked
"Yep!" Flake giggled "I'm just going to go wash my hands!"
Shirana raised a brow, still wondering what her paradise was.
"Good girl!" Queen Azure exclaimed "you can do it all by yourself!"
"Of course I can!" Flake nodded with her cheeks puffed up "I can do it so you don't have to help me!"
"Help her?" Shirana thought
Flake was the youngest princess and still was a child. Unlike Spring, Sparkle and Forte, Flake was often left behind. This was her paradise. A paradise where she wasn't a burden on others, a place where she could stick up for herself without anybody having to baby her. It was all hard for Shirana to understand, after all, Shirana was the oldest in her family and actually a mother figure to the younger ones. But then again, like Flake, she just didn't want to be a burden for anybody.
Leaving the paradise, Shirana looked at the Tomerunda eye to eye. Giving her normal reassuring smile she sighed.
"Flake." she called out softly "come on dear, you are not a burden to anyone. Not to your parents, your siblings, your friends or to me."
The monster growling softly, Shirana continued to talk to her.
"The color white symbolises purity and that's what you are. You are everything to us, you aren't a burden. You're so positive, optimistic, adorable, the cutest lover of chocolate, will do anything to help your siblings and I don't know anybody who can do a better job at being the Princess of Winter." Taking a deep breath, Shirana smiled "so let's go."
As if a trigger came back on in her, Shirana felt her Nacharm return to her. Grinning from ear to ear, she turned around and found Flake in fairy form zooming towards her.
"Shirana! ~fure" Flake yelped as it dived into her
"Oh Flake!" squeezing her tight, she never wanted to let her go.
Meanwhile, Asahi had managed to enter Sparkle's paradise. She could see Sparkle dancing around the ballroom making her siblings burst into fits of laughter. Her eyes tinkled in the sunlight every time she smiled making Asahi grin. They were much more similar than she thought they were. They both wanted to make everyone around them smile.
With a pretend forced angry expression, Asahi found herself glaring at the monster back in reality.
"Young lady!" she yelled at the top of her voice
Puzzled, the monster looked at her. Amused, Asahi held in her laughter as she pretended to be angry.
"How dare you have that kind of paradise! I cannot believe you have the audacity to wish something was real even though it's real in real life!" Inhaling, Asahi grinned "Sparkle. You already make people smile, you already make everyone around laugh. I know that more than anybody else because the two of us are just a chaotic duo."
Looking up into the sun, Asahi took in the heat "The Princess of Summer can really bring sunshine into people's lives."
A bright glow appeared in her hand and her Nacharm appeared.
"ASAHI! ~paku" Sparkle yelled
"Ow!" Asahi groaned "too much impact" she laughed
While the two laughed at their reunion, another duo were having an awkward time in a certain paradise. Roaming around freely with no thoughts, Akina sat silently in Forte's paradise. Listening quietly a soft piano sound began to play in the large room, she peeked through the door and spotted Forte suddenly begin to play. His eyes were closed as he smiled, pressing each note with passion. Spring entered the room causing him to quickly cease what he was doing.
"You finally began to play"
"Finally?"
"I was in the other room waiting for you to play but for some reason you didn't do anything until just there. What was your thought process that you only began playing now"
"You're sneaky aren't you" he said with a gentle smile on his face "I suddenly had the urge to play the piano for somebody"
"Who? Not me anyways, you didn't know I was listening"
"I wonder... when I play the piano here, will it reach her there?"
"Huh?"
"I wanted to play this piano for that one special person but suddenly I felt this person was listening to me, right here, right now."
"But... there's nobody in here..."
"I know... Silly right?"
"Well, I'm sure she's listening to you"
Akina quietly stared at Forte's Tomerunda. It was standing there not doing anything.
"Forte?" The Tomerunda glared back at her as she disturbed the silence he placed around himself. She walked slowly towards him and smiled "Thank you"
It tilted it's head as she patted his head carefully "for playing the piano... for me". His angered expression calmed again as she hugged his head, releasing her arm Kazuki looked at her with confusion.
"Akina?"
"Y-yeah?"
"What happened?"
"Nothing nothing nothing" Akina scratched her head awkwardly "let's go! This silly battle isn't exactly over"
As the others were reunited with their fairy partners, Cerise entered Spring's. Spring was sitting at her desk planning out her schedule. On the desk were books about manners and etiquette, dancing, dressing and history books. Giggling to herself, Cerise was reminded of her own desk back home.
"I gotta do this..." Spring muttered to herself "I am a Princess, I can do it... I can do it..."
Repeatedly muttering the same words over and over again, Cerise continued to watch over her. Getting out of her seat, Spring walked out side into the courtyard where she began to greet various guests.
"Welcome." she said as she bowed her head
Returning back to reality, Cerise held out her hand towards the Tomerunda's heart.
"Spring. The Princess that you're looking for is within you. You don't have to change anything because what you work hard on becomes your reality. This is your chance, your season is coming."
Suddenly, the monster disappeared and she could hear the sounds of footsteps behind her. Turning, she could see Spring in human form smiling at her.
"Thank you." she giggled "I realised that paradises are nice but when you work hard to achieve something, it's more of a reward than something that's just handed to you."
"Exactly." a voice suddenly said
The others all gathered round to see Royal Sky along with King Sage smiling at them.
"Royal Sky?!" they all exclaimed
"Father?!" Spring squealed
"How'd you get out?" Cerise asked
"Actually, I could always get out" she grinned "but there's no fun in that"
"So you pretended like you were in prison..." Akina raised a brow
"Mhm. King Sage also happened to be in the same cell as I."
"Well lucky lucky..." Asahi laughed
"Now..." Shirana turned around to look at the Duke and Duchess who smirked smugly.
Without saying another word, the Duke and Duchess walked off, ignoring them. About to chase after them, Royal Sky held Cerise back.
"It's better to wait."
"Why?"
"Because that fight, will be a tough one."