Eternal Power Pretty Cure

Chapter 25「Dead End」

"But... I don't understand..."

Sharply, plain view comes to light. And it did small wonders to those kept within the Pavilion of Cognizance that the eerie, yet saddening atmosphere reminded them of the Mirage Domain's fate. The opaqueness of the neighboring forest, the shadows cast over the treads of the marble staircase, the remnants of light of the gazebo the stairs led to...

It was here that Yuki had uncovered the truth - the truth of the circumstances behind her birth as a Precure.

"If I really inherited the power of the Precure from my mother's side, and also managed to receive my mother's sorcery..." Yuki, digesting the last of her restored memories, had her gaze fall completely over to hover over her feet. They hadn't moved since she made her step onto the platform. The cocoa in her eyes prevailed through the shadow of her face. She was too shocked to even twitch a limb. "Then..." Overcoming the shock, she applied physical strength to revolve around in her paralysis. She finally upheaved her gaze only by a small degree, laying her eyes on the princess. "How come I wasn't able to access this power from the start? You know... with my Precure powers?"

"The nature behind your original awakening somehow touched upon the sorcery you inherited from your mother, I suppose..." Zaira croaked, a hand latched onto her shoulder. She was in the middle of recovering from the brief pain she had experienced when applying her magic through her incapacitated condition. "And while that was an exceptional development for someone who had just been born as a Precure... I knew it wasn't exactly the best time for you to develop your skills on sorcery. You were overwhelmed by those revelations at the time, after all." She glanced high up, her rose pink eye reflecting the rainbow spectrum of the pavilion's stain glass ceiling. "I would even say that perhaps you are overwhelmed now, too."

Yuki was puzzled by the implication she was trying to suggest. "What are you saying... Zaira?"

"But even if you are... are you ready now?"

"What?" Yuki bucked back a half step.

"To wield sorcery with your bare hands... do you think you are up for it?"

"I..." The black-haired girl was speechless at this rate, her head slumping to the side in indecision.

"I think you deserve the right to learn the art of sorcery; after everything you've learned about yourself~ru..." Lyruru admitted in an earnest tone, floating down from the air like an umbrella before plopping simply onto Zaira's shoulder. "I mean... you did say that Necro taught you the dark arts of magic... correct~ru? Well, at least the basics of it~ru..."

Yuki gasped, her deep chestnut eyes widening upon the resurfacing of the vivid memory. It clearly wasn't a pleasant feast to her brain.

"You'd definitely had enough experience to truly be eligible to pick up sorcery~ru!" exclaimed Lyruru. "Your own mother having been a sorceress was already more of a reason for you to use the same abilities too... but..."

But? The wonder had not departed from Yuki's face.

"Now that you have the foundation of dark magic in you, you are free to avert away from the path of your mother and reject my proposed training, if that is what you ever so desire." Zaira painfully revealed, the slightest hitch inhabiting her voice. The shock contained within Yuki's eyes amplified, still sensing the slightest darkness travel through her soul. "And if that is the case, I cannot stop you from doing so. From choosing the path of magic's darkness..."

But the answer to that had already been embedded deep within Yuki's morality. Dark magic... the way it made her feel during that hellhole she experienced when in the hands of their enemies... it almost felt that she was no stranger to such arts. But even so...