History Protection PreCure

Chapter Eight: A Family Reunited! Welcome Home, Li Hua!

To Rina's surprise, the rest of the weekend followed without so much as a hiccup of Mochi wrecking a beloved vase of sunflowers and Angel getting horribly angry as a result. It only took a little bit of sweeping and a gentle stroke of Asami's hand for things to be perfectly alright. Come Sunday, the Hirasaki "Family" attended mass. For what was likely to be the first time since Megumi's own invited her to a little Easter celebration. There was free food, and after weeks of living paycheck to paycheck, Asami didn't seem to mind, and even pushed Rina to come along. For whatever reason, Angel decided to settle on their priest cassock to offer the two young ladies a quick entry into the church. By Monday, Rina had gotten fairly used to Angel existing in her house. In her mother's bedroom? She'll need more time on it.

"What a celibate priest," Rina would joke.

Asami was out of the picture, but Mochi and Angel would just laugh it off as if they weren't violating some valued rule.

Nevertheless, Rina stayed weary of red roses for the whole weekend.

???

"How is your hand?" Li Hua asked, but took her husband's hand, attempting to remove the bandages from the dried up open wound. She took in a deep breath, bringing her back to reality as she carefully ran her fingers across the laceration on Pierre's wrist. A tear strolled down her cheeks as she covered his wrist again. "Why doesn't it heal?" She questioned, frowning as she stepped forward, nuzzling into her husband's chest.

"I will be fine..." Pierre leaned in, pressing a kiss onto Li Hua's temple, snapping his fingers and soon holding out a heart-shaped flower arrangement, out towards his wife's smaller being. His other hand strung a lotus flower behind her ear and he traced her jaw bone, lifting her chin. "Don't worry about me." He kissed her, and moved away. "Let me see that smile now."

Li Hua admired the arrangement in her hands, and smiled widely. "Your notions of love put Shakespeare to shame..." She looked at her darling husband, jumping back in to snuggle against him. She rubbed the tip of her nose into his coat, hugging the delicate flowers while visibly holding herself back from crushing the pink flowers. "Oh! The Master wanted to see you..." She informed, taking Pierre's collar, yanking him out of his love-filled fantasy land.

Pierre gave a sad sigh. "And here I thought we could spend more time with just the two of us..."

"They said it'll be quick. I'd suggest going now so we can get back to our alone time~!" Li Hua smiled, gently pushing her partner away from.

Pierre rolled his eyes, tilting his head to the side as he got himself to leave the love of his life, but not without a smile. He walked down the cold, harsh hallways, inevitably looking past Inferno's room that was slowly growing over with molten rock. He made his way to the other end of a chamber, stopping upon a pair of double doors. He pressed his hands onto the steel surface, and pushed forward. The sound of harsh steel scraping against the stone floor made way for a humanoid figure at the end of the room to place its attention on him. "You called for me, Mast–" He requested, taking one step, and then another into the room before hearing the sickening sound of tearing flesh, and breaking bones. Puddles of blood gathered at his boots, soaking into the material, and giving no mercy to the dismembered mandible on the ground. Pierre dropped to the floor, choking on the vats of crimson that his throat caught. He kept one hand on the floor, trying to keep himself upright, while the other pressed against the tears of shattered bone, and tattered seams of smooth skin. Gagging on his own draining essence, Pierre lifted his gaze to the creature on the throne.

A pair of green eyes stared calmly at the man who collapsed on the floor. They stood from their chair, towering over Pierre's body with only a few measly steps across the ornate room. They leaned in, plucking the broken lower jaw from the floor. "You're one act," They smiled, crushing the bone under their grasp. "Those flowery compliments, flashy speeches... One of those almost cost us our secret," They sighed, turning their head away from Pierre. "That's all I wanted to do. You're free to go." They turned on their heels, their flowing robes and hair following shortly after they made their return across the throne room. "Make haste in your next mission, Pierre! I trust you'll be much more efficient now that you don't have that running mouth of yours..."