ALL STARS: THE GREAT BATTLE OF THE LIGHT
Yes!! Finally I can show you guys my beloved All Stars fanfic. The fanfic is in spanish here:
http: //www.fanfiction.net/s/6770710/1/Pretty_Cure_All_Stars_La_Gran_Batalla_de_La_Luz
7 Chapters for the moment and working in some more. If you understand spanish, take a look ;D it's fun, I swear.
But a nice friend from FF.net is traslating the whole thing for me. Btw english is NOT our mother laguaje, so if you guys can point the script errors, we'll be glad for it. I'm planning publish the fic in english in ff.net too, but we think it's better check the errors first. We gonna try to update the parts fast, but I can't press my friend with the traslation ^^; the chapters are a little large.
So, enjoy the fic and comment, mainly for the typo errors.
SUMMARY
It all started with a Festival. The Pretty Cures know precious little about each other team but they all must come together as a new battle looms near. They can't decide to fight or flight, for their enemy already decided for them. A far more dangerous enemy that any ruler of Darkness. Yuri warning (you know girlxgirl).
Part 1:
L'Ecole des Cinq Lumieres's Festival
Tomorrow was the big day. After careful planning, organizational headaches, sleepless nights making sure the inventory was ready and even preventing more than a few fights among the School Councils, everything was finally ready for the first “Great Interscholastic Festival of L'Ecole des Cinq Lumieres”.
It would be one big event inviting seven high-schools, eight counting the hosts. Among the main events stood out the Art Clubs exposition, Science Project Contest, Football, Basketball and Softball Tournaments, four plays presented by the attending schools -a joined effort of groups of two schools per play-, open Concert by the Music Clubs, and closing with a bang, a live presentation by Urara Kusagano, idol from the middle school section of L'Ecole des Cinq Lumieres.
It would be two activity packed days.
It went without saying there would be a food court. They already knew Otaka-san wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand.
Nothing was out of place, everything had been planned before hand. Everything would go according to the plan.
“Good job,” Natsu said, bringing drinks for six tired students and one exhausted teacher.
“Will you come to the festival?” Koji asked him after taking a sip of juice.
“Of course I will, silly, I would go even if you didn't ask me to,” the guy replied with a happy demeanor.
“I'm an invited actress for the play Komachi-san wrote,” Urara said in excitement. “I thought I wouldn't be able to help since I'm still in middle school but I was glad to find they still invited me to be part of the cast.”
“We're in middle school too and still managed to help,” Nozomi said in a tired but happy air. “We couldn't let Karen-san and Komachi-san on their own.”
“Not to mention the soccer team asked me to give them a hand,” Rin murmured, even more tired than the rest of her friends thanks to the intense training for the tournament.
“While we will have to take care of our events, you Nozomi-san and Kurumi will be able to fully enjoy the festival, so have fun,” Karen smiled, “After the games and the rehearsals, Urara and Rin will be able to join you two.”
“What about Shiro?” Natsu inquired, noticing the young messenger's absence.
“He's helping Otaka-san with tomorrow's planning,” Urara replied. “They are going to need plenty of food, so she has him helping in the kitchen. Tomorrow he is getting a break so he can enjoy the festival too.”
As former president of the School Council of the middle school section of L'Ecole des Cinq Lumieres, Karen was almost expected to help once again in the high-school’s council. And she did. She didn't need anybody to ask her to. She could aspire for presidency until her third year, meanwhile she would help as an assistant, and she really knew her job. Not having to make the big decisions was a welcomed break for Karen, and Komach was still at her side; the green haired girl had decided to follow her old friend to the Council. Komachi, as it was to be expected, once again became a volunteer in the library; she simply loved books.
Nozomi, Rin and Kurumi were now in their third year and Koji still remained their teacher, while Urara had moved on to her second year; Urara also managed to keep up with her artistic career and keep up with her studies. She was the pride of the girls without a doubt. While Nozomi finally managed passable grades, much to Koji's relief, Rin was still going all out at sports, although she was very interested on learning about flowers and numbers so she could take care of the family business one day. Kurumi was doing just fine in the school, taking care of things in the Cure Rose Garden and helping Coco and Nuts. Her bickering with Nozomi for chocolate or any silly thing hadn't stopped at all, though.
They spent the rest of the afternoon resting until it was time to go back home.
The next day everybody arrived early to finish with the small details, get everything ready and lay out the food on its respective stands. Around nine o'clock several buses started to arrive, each bringing the visiting school's students, their equipment and several others things they would need for their activities and presentations. Rooming was no problem, they had arranged several classrooms to allow sleeping room, and there were plenty camping areas outdoors for anybody who felt like sleeping under the stars.
Ever helpful, the middle school girls showed up to help with the final details before enjoying the day's events, like the Art expo. There would be a special award for the piece with the most positive reviews; these reviews were counted on opinion cards at the exit of the exposition, letting the visitors give their opinions about the exposition and the piece of their liking. To make things fair, every artist worked under a pseudonym and no information was given about the schools they came from.
A certain oil painting by one “Silver Wing” was very positively received.
After the opening ceremony the first round of all the games started simultaneously. That day there would be two consecutive games with a two hours break for the winning teams, and the next day would be the finals of the tournaments.
“Hurry, Rin-chan's game is about to start!” Nozomi hurried the others. “I want to be in the front rows!”
“It's your fault! You wanted to eat something first and now we're late!” Kurumi complained at the incessant pulling while Urara was having a great time, watching around the fields at the other teams getting ready to play.
Once they made it to the field their friend was going to play they found the whole place packed. Even so, Rin managed to spot them among the crowds and waved at them with both arms and a wide smile. The trio decided to remain where they were, which allowed them to keep an eye on the game going on in the field across them. It wasn't such a bad place, but it would make cheering her friend from their place a bit more difficult.
“Rin-san is going to win, girls, you shouldn't worry about that,” said a familiar voice behind them.
“Masuko-san!”
“Instead, you should check our girls's next rivals,” she continued, looking at the other game through her camera's lenses. “I heard there are plenty of good teams and...” she trailed off as she caught sight of something . “It's her!”
Mika's sudden reaction caught the attention of Nozomi, Urara and Kurumi.
“Who are you talking about, Masuko-san?” asked Nozomi in curiosity, looking around but not knowing what to look for.
“There, my dear Nozomi!” she wrapped an arm around Nozomi's neck and signaled with her camera at a girl with short, light brown -almost blond- hair, boyish air, and a slim and slightly tall built. She was dressed in a uniform of light colors and was finishing the warming up with the rest of the team. “My contacts didn't lie, Verone high-school brought their secret weapon!”
“That girl?” Kurumi didn't seem impressed despite the other girl's good look.
“She's handsome,” Urara commented, “She looks very fit too.”
“Ah my dears, you have no idea what you're saying!” the photographer was still excited. “I'm talking about the Ace of the sports in Verone high-school. Officially she plays in the Lacrosse team but she gives a hand in the other clubs whenever they ask her for it and is always a central element of their victories. I present you, fourth grade student of Verone high-school, Nagisa Musumi!”
Nozomi and friends weren't exactly thrilled.
The whistles marked the beginning of the games and Rin was quick to do her thing, helping her team to quickly dominate the game. In a matter of ten minutes, their team was already ahead by two goals and ten minutes later Rin switched out. It was agreed to keep their key players fresh for the next game, which only lasted fifty minutes anyway.
Verone and Cinq Lumieres easily made it to the next round.
Once the game was over Nozomi and the other girls went to congratulate Rin for the good game and take her to eat a snack before the next game. The redhead needed to recharge her energies and nothing better for that than something to eat. Afterwards they visited the art exposition where Natsu and Koji were checking the pieces with singular interest.
“Rin won the first round!” Nozomi happily announced to the guys, one arm holding her best friend around her neck.
“Oh, come on, it was just the first game. Wait until we make it to the finals,” Rin complained with a blush and a grin.
“Congratulations! We'll be there for the next game, Karen and Komachi will be joining us too. We'll cheer for you,” Koji said happily, but his attention was still fixed on the painting in front of him, the same painting Natsu couldn't stop looking at.
The girls noticed and looked too at the painting. It was a large oil painting, vibrant and full of life, the scene of an immense tree floating over a green landscape. It was a breathtaking piece, that almost managed to overshadow the rest of the exposition. The piece was titled “Our Home”, painted by “Silver Wing”.
“It's such a familiar place,” Kurumi murmured, her eyes drawn in by the painting. “It looks just like...”
“The Land of Fountains,” Natsu finished.
By the way they were talking the girls guessed it was another land or magical realm they knew of.
“We have some friends there, but I didn't think somebody could really capture the essence of that realm in a painting,” Koji murmured. “The person who painted this surely is....”
“I wouldn't be surprised if she is,” Natsu replied in a whisper. “They have their own warriors too.”
Nozomi, Rin and Urara were pretty lost in the cryptic conversation but Kurumi didn't elaborate, still captive by the painting, genuine emotions filling her eyes. With no information provided by the exposition it was impossible to know who had drawn the painting that had bewitched their friends. Karen and Komachi would probably know, but they were busy at the moment, keeping up with Council's matters.
The flash of a familiar camera caught their attention; Mika Masuka was once again on top of everything. She wanted to make sure she had everything ready for the Festival's special edition of the School's newspaper.
“I see you're having fun,” she hummed, taking a photo of the painting. “I don't want to spoil things for you, but it seems “Our Home” will take the exposition's special award by a wide margin. Oh yeah, the Science Projects contest just started, you should go now. I heard the Queen of Knowledge will be there too, and she will probably steamroll through the opposition. It'll be fun to watch her,” she said easily. “Kokoda-sensei, they are waiting you to judge, remember? You should be there already.”
“Ah, that's right!” Koji yelped and ran in direction of the school's theater where the Science clubs were holding their events.
With nothing more to do, and not feeling like watching the science projects, the girls went to the camping area where Rin could rest for her next game. Some others sport clubs were already there resting and enjoying a small lunch too. Not far from where the girls crashed they could see a Softball team in orange uniforms prepping up for their next game; by the few stray comments they could hear, the home team had been beaten. Not very good news, but the other girls' happiness was contagious with.
“We're going to win our next game, I'm on top shape! I'll give it my all!” shouted an overly excited voice. “I won't let you down for letting me in the opening team, I promise!”
“Calm down, Hyuuga, we still have another hour before the next game,” said one of the upperclassmen. “Finish your lunch and rest a little.”
“Captain, can I go look for Mai?” asked Saki in a polite tone. “I haven't gotten to talk with her since we got off the bus, and... well, I'm sure she's with the Art club and...”
“And you're still surprised everybody in the school says you and Mishou seem to be in love, Saki?” asked the captain in a mischievous tone, making the rest of the team laugh and Saki to blush. “Okay, you can go, just come back in time for the warmups. I can't deny your request when you always come back full of energy after talking with her. Go, and don't be late.”
“Yes, thanks!”
In her hurry Saki rushed without looking where she was going and ended up tripping and falling over Nozomi and Kurumi. Rin managed to jump back and pull Urara with her.
“It hurts...” the three downed girls moaned.
The softball team could only sigh in resignation. Saki could be so clumsy at the worst times.
“I'm so sorry!” exclaimed Saki as soon as she stood up. “I wasn't looking where I was going, I'm very sorry! Are you hurt?”
“We'll survive, don't worry,” Nozomi replied with a happy smile.
“Just be careful next time, or you won't make it to your game,” Kurumi complained and noticed the other girl dropped something. Saki noticed too and was about to pick it up when Kurumi beat her to it. “Here.”
“Thanks!” she took the item back and bowed in thanks and good bye before running off again.
“What a nice girl,” Nozomi said.” I hope she does well in the tournament.”
Kurumi remained quiet and pensive. That accessory, she noticed right away it had a very familiar feel to it, she was almost sure it was a spirit of the Land of Fountains. The accessory reacted to Kurumi's touch too. That girl had to be one of the two Pretty Cure that protected that zone, the “Brilliant Golden Flower” Cure Bloom and “The Shining Silver Wing” Cure Egret. She quickly put things together and realized that Hyuuga girl was Cure Bloom, while that friend she was talking about, Mai Mishou, was Cure Egret, the artist behind “Our Home”. Only a Pretty Cure could having known so intimately so many details of the Land of Fountains to be able to capture it all on canvas.
Kurumi knew about these warriors, very versatile with incredible skills that could only be unleashed to their full potential if they were together and in harmony. She would talk about it with Coco, Nuts and the girls once they had a chance to get together on the afternoon. She didn't want to repeat herself needlessly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Koji was on the front row with the rest of the judges evaluating the works and presentations. If he had to be sincere he wasn't all that impressed by the projects so far, and if he had to be completely honest, he was more than a bit bored and was sure he wasn't the only one who wanted the event to be over and done soon. It was the turn for the fifth presentation by the Science Club of Verone high-school.
The experiment looked good so far, he had to admit it. The introduction was made by the president of the club before conceding the floor to the mind behind the project, a girl with long and dark, almost black, hair and white skin. When the girl started her presentation she captured everybody's attention in a quick minute. She explained everything in a clear, simple and powerful way that made everything a very enjoyable experience.
The young teacher lamented the fact the girls weren't there to watch the presentation. Even they would have understood perfectly the theory behind the seemingly simple project named “The trash and us.” By the end of the event everybody knew who was going to win. Verone took the first and only prize of the contest, and it wasn't for nothing; it was a very good presentation and well worked project on solid foundations.
After announcing the winner, give nthe prize and mark the closure of the event the theater started to empty. Koji picked up his things, ready to go to Rin's game as he had promised he would when he noticed the girl with the dark hair coming his way. He remained quiet when noticed the girl walked past him to reunite with somebody else.
“Good job, Honoka!” called out another girl, picking her up in a brief hug, and then taking her hands. “at least Akane-san's menu didn't show up this time!” she said with a giggle that made her friend blush in embarrassment.
“Muh, Nagisa!”
“Kidding, just kidding!”
Koji watched them out of the corner of his eye. They had a very curious aura that drew his attention, a spark, a very curious and familiar energy. Such a strong presence... He felt somebody standing to his side, Natsu, and he could see he felt too something on the girls. They exchanged a brief glance and nodded. In that moment somebody ran past them with a camera on hand.
“Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, the Stars of Verone!” Mika Masuko exclaimed with obvious excitement. “Can I take some pictures of you and maybe a little interview for the school's newspaper?” she asked with a wide smile. “I promise to make it brief, I know Misumi-senpai has a game in a moment.”
The pair exchanged a glance and nodded at the reporter.
“Thank you very much!” Mika snapped a quick photo. “First of all, congratulations for winning the contest, Yukishiro-senpai.”
“Thank you,” the girl replied with a small and happy smile.
“And congratulations for winning your first game, Misumi-senpai. I hope everything goes well for the next one. A final between our schools would be a great honor.”
“Same here,” Nagisa replied with a handsome and happy smile.
Mika asked a few simple things like their impressions about the overall school event, what activities were they looking for, what would they do once their participation was over and if they wanted to give a message to the readers.
“My part is over, now it's my turn to cheer on Nagisa in the next game and tomorrow if she makes it to the finals. No opponent should be taken lightly,” Honoka said with the same serene voice she made her presentation.
“I'll give everything I have on the game, that's my way to show respect to our opponents. I'll do anything I can do to have a good time playing and winning,” was Nagisa's answer, never letting her smile drop nor letting Honoka's hand go.
“And your message for our readers?”
“Hope and Despair always go hand in hand, there will always be good and bad moments...” Nagisa began with a more respectful tone, as if quoting somebody else.
“... But you must always keep up the faith, because tomorrow will be a good day,” finished Honoka with the same solemn tone.
Mika took a few moments replying the phrase in her mind and then smiled.
“Thank you very much for the interview, I promise you'll get a copy of the paper on Verone in the next few days,” she turned off the recorder in her hands and bowed respectfully to the other girls. “Thank you very much, excuse me.”
The reporter quickly ran off and Nagisa and Honoka walked after her, leaving the theater at a brisk pace; the game was about to start and Nagisa had to get back to the team. Due to the rush the girls left in, Koji and Natsu had no time to approach them and get a better feel of the energy radiating out of the girls. Oh well, they would have more than enough time to take a look later on, they were going to the games anyway.
On the fields the second round was about to begin. This time Nozomi and company managed to find a good place to cheer on Rin. The whistles marked the beginning of the games and soon shouts, applauses and the constant going and coming of the ball filled the air. Not far, the din of the Softball games and the constant sound of balls being hit could be heard from the neighbor fields. The basketball games were more discrete, held in the gymnasium.
Twenty minutes into the game the local team was ahead by three goals and the other team just didn't seem able to pull through. On the next field, Nagisa Musumi was backing up her claims to Mika, playing with everything she had to show her respect to the rival team. The three goals she scored were proof of that.
Girls from Verone watching that game were commenting that the display of athletic prowess was nothing more than Nagisa Musumi showing off to impress Honoka Yukishiro, who was watching the game this time.
During halftime break Nozomi apologized to Rin for not being able to watch the rest of her game.
“There's somebody I want to watch playing, she looked like a very interesting person and I want to met her again,” she said with a smile and that soft and excited expression that Rin couldn't deny anything to.
“Okay, the game that counts is tomorrow's, that one I want you here the whole fifty minutes, understood Nozomi?” Rin replied with a huge smile.
“Understood, Rin-chan!” she turned to her friends. “I'll go watch Hyuuga-san's game.”
“The one that tripped on you?” asked Shiro, who was finally enjoying his break from the cafeteria work. Nozomi nodded in affirmative.
“I'm coming too,” Kurumi said immediately, giving a furtive glance at Koji and Natsu and she nodded. They understood the hidden message in her eyes. “Shall we, Koji-sama, Natsu-sama?”
“Let's go, seems fun. We have to see how good is the team that managed to beat ours,” Koji laughed and dragged his friend away.
“I can walk on my own, okay?” Natsu complained with his usual serious expression. “Shiro, wouldn't you want to come with us too?”
Natsu's serious look, even more so than usual, put Shiro in alert. The boy nodded and went with them.
On the softball fields, all the girls were making quite a commotion for the big game. Saki Hyuga took out another bater thanks to her strong arm and powerful throws, taking out another runner from bases.
“Hyuga-san, go for it!” Nozomi shouted with everything she had, catching Saki's attention.
Saki looked over the crowd and recognized the girl, she waved with her gloved hand in greeting and then immediately went back to the game.
While Nozomi was enjoying the game, Kurumi explained what happened when Saki Hyuuga crashed on them and Kurumi could touch her accessory. She felt it contained one of the Spirits from the Land of Fountains, so that girl and her artist friend, who was near to the team's benches cheering on Saki, probably were Pretty Cures, guardians of that realm.
“Nozomi-san, I see you have a good eye!” exclaimed Masuko who showed up out of seemingly thin air.
“Whoa...! Masuko-san!”
“Good news, it seems our basketball team made it to tomorrow's finals,” she snapped a photo of the game, “The soccer's finals are still up in the air, but this game has the third grade Ace from Yuunagi's middle-school.”
“Is she from middle-school?”
“That's right! They borrowed her for the high-school section of the same school, or rather, she asked to help the team, I'll have to double check. It seems the high-school teams were a bit short on people for their clubs so they borrowed a few girls from the middle-school section.”
The game finished with Yuunagi's victory and their advance to the finals. On the soccer side, the finals would be between L'Ecole des Cinq Lumieres and Verone. In basketball, the home team made it to the finals but their opposition looked like a tough nut to crack.
The best was coming for the next day, Urara would perform in one of the two plays and there would be the closing concert.
The last of sunlight disappeared over the horizon but there were still several activities going on, like dinner on the food stands and a bonfire on the courtyard. Nozomi and her friends finally found out thanks to Koji that Saki Hyuga and her artist friend Mai Mishou were Pretty Cures, so it would be a good idea to take a moment to met them before the end of the festival.
“Let's met them, it'll be fun!” Nozomi exclaimed with clear emotion, getting nods of agreement from everybody else. “It's decided!”
~~~~~~~~~~~
If for some reason the post looks huge, it's my fault xD I'm still unfamiliar with this lj things. Just in case, I'll cry for the mod help xD, but just if the whole thing uses all the page D: .
Peace and Enjoy~ I love you, guys!
http: //www.fanfiction.net/s/6770710/1/Pretty_Cure_All_Stars_La_Gran_Batalla_de_La_Luz
7 Chapters for the moment and working in some more. If you understand spanish, take a look ;D it's fun, I swear.
But a nice friend from FF.net is traslating the whole thing for me. Btw english is NOT our mother laguaje, so if you guys can point the script errors, we'll be glad for it. I'm planning publish the fic in english in ff.net too, but we think it's better check the errors first. We gonna try to update the parts fast, but I can't press my friend with the traslation ^^; the chapters are a little large.
So, enjoy the fic and comment, mainly for the typo errors.
SUMMARY
It all started with a Festival. The Pretty Cures know precious little about each other team but they all must come together as a new battle looms near. They can't decide to fight or flight, for their enemy already decided for them. A far more dangerous enemy that any ruler of Darkness. Yuri warning (you know girlxgirl).
Part 1:
L'Ecole des Cinq Lumieres's Festival
Tomorrow was the big day. After careful planning, organizational headaches, sleepless nights making sure the inventory was ready and even preventing more than a few fights among the School Councils, everything was finally ready for the first “Great Interscholastic Festival of L'Ecole des Cinq Lumieres”.
It would be one big event inviting seven high-schools, eight counting the hosts. Among the main events stood out the Art Clubs exposition, Science Project Contest, Football, Basketball and Softball Tournaments, four plays presented by the attending schools -a joined effort of groups of two schools per play-, open Concert by the Music Clubs, and closing with a bang, a live presentation by Urara Kusagano, idol from the middle school section of L'Ecole des Cinq Lumieres.
It would be two activity packed days.
It went without saying there would be a food court. They already knew Otaka-san wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand.
Nothing was out of place, everything had been planned before hand. Everything would go according to the plan.
“Good job,” Natsu said, bringing drinks for six tired students and one exhausted teacher.
“Will you come to the festival?” Koji asked him after taking a sip of juice.
“Of course I will, silly, I would go even if you didn't ask me to,” the guy replied with a happy demeanor.
“I'm an invited actress for the play Komachi-san wrote,” Urara said in excitement. “I thought I wouldn't be able to help since I'm still in middle school but I was glad to find they still invited me to be part of the cast.”
“We're in middle school too and still managed to help,” Nozomi said in a tired but happy air. “We couldn't let Karen-san and Komachi-san on their own.”
“Not to mention the soccer team asked me to give them a hand,” Rin murmured, even more tired than the rest of her friends thanks to the intense training for the tournament.
“While we will have to take care of our events, you Nozomi-san and Kurumi will be able to fully enjoy the festival, so have fun,” Karen smiled, “After the games and the rehearsals, Urara and Rin will be able to join you two.”
“What about Shiro?” Natsu inquired, noticing the young messenger's absence.
“He's helping Otaka-san with tomorrow's planning,” Urara replied. “They are going to need plenty of food, so she has him helping in the kitchen. Tomorrow he is getting a break so he can enjoy the festival too.”
As former president of the School Council of the middle school section of L'Ecole des Cinq Lumieres, Karen was almost expected to help once again in the high-school’s council. And she did. She didn't need anybody to ask her to. She could aspire for presidency until her third year, meanwhile she would help as an assistant, and she really knew her job. Not having to make the big decisions was a welcomed break for Karen, and Komach was still at her side; the green haired girl had decided to follow her old friend to the Council. Komachi, as it was to be expected, once again became a volunteer in the library; she simply loved books.
Nozomi, Rin and Kurumi were now in their third year and Koji still remained their teacher, while Urara had moved on to her second year; Urara also managed to keep up with her artistic career and keep up with her studies. She was the pride of the girls without a doubt. While Nozomi finally managed passable grades, much to Koji's relief, Rin was still going all out at sports, although she was very interested on learning about flowers and numbers so she could take care of the family business one day. Kurumi was doing just fine in the school, taking care of things in the Cure Rose Garden and helping Coco and Nuts. Her bickering with Nozomi for chocolate or any silly thing hadn't stopped at all, though.
They spent the rest of the afternoon resting until it was time to go back home.
The next day everybody arrived early to finish with the small details, get everything ready and lay out the food on its respective stands. Around nine o'clock several buses started to arrive, each bringing the visiting school's students, their equipment and several others things they would need for their activities and presentations. Rooming was no problem, they had arranged several classrooms to allow sleeping room, and there were plenty camping areas outdoors for anybody who felt like sleeping under the stars.
Ever helpful, the middle school girls showed up to help with the final details before enjoying the day's events, like the Art expo. There would be a special award for the piece with the most positive reviews; these reviews were counted on opinion cards at the exit of the exposition, letting the visitors give their opinions about the exposition and the piece of their liking. To make things fair, every artist worked under a pseudonym and no information was given about the schools they came from.
A certain oil painting by one “Silver Wing” was very positively received.
After the opening ceremony the first round of all the games started simultaneously. That day there would be two consecutive games with a two hours break for the winning teams, and the next day would be the finals of the tournaments.
“Hurry, Rin-chan's game is about to start!” Nozomi hurried the others. “I want to be in the front rows!”
“It's your fault! You wanted to eat something first and now we're late!” Kurumi complained at the incessant pulling while Urara was having a great time, watching around the fields at the other teams getting ready to play.
Once they made it to the field their friend was going to play they found the whole place packed. Even so, Rin managed to spot them among the crowds and waved at them with both arms and a wide smile. The trio decided to remain where they were, which allowed them to keep an eye on the game going on in the field across them. It wasn't such a bad place, but it would make cheering her friend from their place a bit more difficult.
“Rin-san is going to win, girls, you shouldn't worry about that,” said a familiar voice behind them.
“Masuko-san!”
“Instead, you should check our girls's next rivals,” she continued, looking at the other game through her camera's lenses. “I heard there are plenty of good teams and...” she trailed off as she caught sight of something . “It's her!”
Mika's sudden reaction caught the attention of Nozomi, Urara and Kurumi.
“Who are you talking about, Masuko-san?” asked Nozomi in curiosity, looking around but not knowing what to look for.
“There, my dear Nozomi!” she wrapped an arm around Nozomi's neck and signaled with her camera at a girl with short, light brown -almost blond- hair, boyish air, and a slim and slightly tall built. She was dressed in a uniform of light colors and was finishing the warming up with the rest of the team. “My contacts didn't lie, Verone high-school brought their secret weapon!”
“That girl?” Kurumi didn't seem impressed despite the other girl's good look.
“She's handsome,” Urara commented, “She looks very fit too.”
“Ah my dears, you have no idea what you're saying!” the photographer was still excited. “I'm talking about the Ace of the sports in Verone high-school. Officially she plays in the Lacrosse team but she gives a hand in the other clubs whenever they ask her for it and is always a central element of their victories. I present you, fourth grade student of Verone high-school, Nagisa Musumi!”
Nozomi and friends weren't exactly thrilled.
The whistles marked the beginning of the games and Rin was quick to do her thing, helping her team to quickly dominate the game. In a matter of ten minutes, their team was already ahead by two goals and ten minutes later Rin switched out. It was agreed to keep their key players fresh for the next game, which only lasted fifty minutes anyway.
Verone and Cinq Lumieres easily made it to the next round.
Once the game was over Nozomi and the other girls went to congratulate Rin for the good game and take her to eat a snack before the next game. The redhead needed to recharge her energies and nothing better for that than something to eat. Afterwards they visited the art exposition where Natsu and Koji were checking the pieces with singular interest.
“Rin won the first round!” Nozomi happily announced to the guys, one arm holding her best friend around her neck.
“Oh, come on, it was just the first game. Wait until we make it to the finals,” Rin complained with a blush and a grin.
“Congratulations! We'll be there for the next game, Karen and Komachi will be joining us too. We'll cheer for you,” Koji said happily, but his attention was still fixed on the painting in front of him, the same painting Natsu couldn't stop looking at.
The girls noticed and looked too at the painting. It was a large oil painting, vibrant and full of life, the scene of an immense tree floating over a green landscape. It was a breathtaking piece, that almost managed to overshadow the rest of the exposition. The piece was titled “Our Home”, painted by “Silver Wing”.
“It's such a familiar place,” Kurumi murmured, her eyes drawn in by the painting. “It looks just like...”
“The Land of Fountains,” Natsu finished.
By the way they were talking the girls guessed it was another land or magical realm they knew of.
“We have some friends there, but I didn't think somebody could really capture the essence of that realm in a painting,” Koji murmured. “The person who painted this surely is....”
“I wouldn't be surprised if she is,” Natsu replied in a whisper. “They have their own warriors too.”
Nozomi, Rin and Urara were pretty lost in the cryptic conversation but Kurumi didn't elaborate, still captive by the painting, genuine emotions filling her eyes. With no information provided by the exposition it was impossible to know who had drawn the painting that had bewitched their friends. Karen and Komachi would probably know, but they were busy at the moment, keeping up with Council's matters.
The flash of a familiar camera caught their attention; Mika Masuka was once again on top of everything. She wanted to make sure she had everything ready for the Festival's special edition of the School's newspaper.
“I see you're having fun,” she hummed, taking a photo of the painting. “I don't want to spoil things for you, but it seems “Our Home” will take the exposition's special award by a wide margin. Oh yeah, the Science Projects contest just started, you should go now. I heard the Queen of Knowledge will be there too, and she will probably steamroll through the opposition. It'll be fun to watch her,” she said easily. “Kokoda-sensei, they are waiting you to judge, remember? You should be there already.”
“Ah, that's right!” Koji yelped and ran in direction of the school's theater where the Science clubs were holding their events.
With nothing more to do, and not feeling like watching the science projects, the girls went to the camping area where Rin could rest for her next game. Some others sport clubs were already there resting and enjoying a small lunch too. Not far from where the girls crashed they could see a Softball team in orange uniforms prepping up for their next game; by the few stray comments they could hear, the home team had been beaten. Not very good news, but the other girls' happiness was contagious with.
“We're going to win our next game, I'm on top shape! I'll give it my all!” shouted an overly excited voice. “I won't let you down for letting me in the opening team, I promise!”
“Calm down, Hyuuga, we still have another hour before the next game,” said one of the upperclassmen. “Finish your lunch and rest a little.”
“Captain, can I go look for Mai?” asked Saki in a polite tone. “I haven't gotten to talk with her since we got off the bus, and... well, I'm sure she's with the Art club and...”
“And you're still surprised everybody in the school says you and Mishou seem to be in love, Saki?” asked the captain in a mischievous tone, making the rest of the team laugh and Saki to blush. “Okay, you can go, just come back in time for the warmups. I can't deny your request when you always come back full of energy after talking with her. Go, and don't be late.”
“Yes, thanks!”
In her hurry Saki rushed without looking where she was going and ended up tripping and falling over Nozomi and Kurumi. Rin managed to jump back and pull Urara with her.
“It hurts...” the three downed girls moaned.
The softball team could only sigh in resignation. Saki could be so clumsy at the worst times.
“I'm so sorry!” exclaimed Saki as soon as she stood up. “I wasn't looking where I was going, I'm very sorry! Are you hurt?”
“We'll survive, don't worry,” Nozomi replied with a happy smile.
“Just be careful next time, or you won't make it to your game,” Kurumi complained and noticed the other girl dropped something. Saki noticed too and was about to pick it up when Kurumi beat her to it. “Here.”
“Thanks!” she took the item back and bowed in thanks and good bye before running off again.
“What a nice girl,” Nozomi said.” I hope she does well in the tournament.”
Kurumi remained quiet and pensive. That accessory, she noticed right away it had a very familiar feel to it, she was almost sure it was a spirit of the Land of Fountains. The accessory reacted to Kurumi's touch too. That girl had to be one of the two Pretty Cure that protected that zone, the “Brilliant Golden Flower” Cure Bloom and “The Shining Silver Wing” Cure Egret. She quickly put things together and realized that Hyuuga girl was Cure Bloom, while that friend she was talking about, Mai Mishou, was Cure Egret, the artist behind “Our Home”. Only a Pretty Cure could having known so intimately so many details of the Land of Fountains to be able to capture it all on canvas.
Kurumi knew about these warriors, very versatile with incredible skills that could only be unleashed to their full potential if they were together and in harmony. She would talk about it with Coco, Nuts and the girls once they had a chance to get together on the afternoon. She didn't want to repeat herself needlessly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Koji was on the front row with the rest of the judges evaluating the works and presentations. If he had to be sincere he wasn't all that impressed by the projects so far, and if he had to be completely honest, he was more than a bit bored and was sure he wasn't the only one who wanted the event to be over and done soon. It was the turn for the fifth presentation by the Science Club of Verone high-school.
The experiment looked good so far, he had to admit it. The introduction was made by the president of the club before conceding the floor to the mind behind the project, a girl with long and dark, almost black, hair and white skin. When the girl started her presentation she captured everybody's attention in a quick minute. She explained everything in a clear, simple and powerful way that made everything a very enjoyable experience.
The young teacher lamented the fact the girls weren't there to watch the presentation. Even they would have understood perfectly the theory behind the seemingly simple project named “The trash and us.” By the end of the event everybody knew who was going to win. Verone took the first and only prize of the contest, and it wasn't for nothing; it was a very good presentation and well worked project on solid foundations.
After announcing the winner, give nthe prize and mark the closure of the event the theater started to empty. Koji picked up his things, ready to go to Rin's game as he had promised he would when he noticed the girl with the dark hair coming his way. He remained quiet when noticed the girl walked past him to reunite with somebody else.
“Good job, Honoka!” called out another girl, picking her up in a brief hug, and then taking her hands. “at least Akane-san's menu didn't show up this time!” she said with a giggle that made her friend blush in embarrassment.
“Muh, Nagisa!”
“Kidding, just kidding!”
Koji watched them out of the corner of his eye. They had a very curious aura that drew his attention, a spark, a very curious and familiar energy. Such a strong presence... He felt somebody standing to his side, Natsu, and he could see he felt too something on the girls. They exchanged a brief glance and nodded. In that moment somebody ran past them with a camera on hand.
“Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, the Stars of Verone!” Mika Masuko exclaimed with obvious excitement. “Can I take some pictures of you and maybe a little interview for the school's newspaper?” she asked with a wide smile. “I promise to make it brief, I know Misumi-senpai has a game in a moment.”
The pair exchanged a glance and nodded at the reporter.
“Thank you very much!” Mika snapped a quick photo. “First of all, congratulations for winning the contest, Yukishiro-senpai.”
“Thank you,” the girl replied with a small and happy smile.
“And congratulations for winning your first game, Misumi-senpai. I hope everything goes well for the next one. A final between our schools would be a great honor.”
“Same here,” Nagisa replied with a handsome and happy smile.
Mika asked a few simple things like their impressions about the overall school event, what activities were they looking for, what would they do once their participation was over and if they wanted to give a message to the readers.
“My part is over, now it's my turn to cheer on Nagisa in the next game and tomorrow if she makes it to the finals. No opponent should be taken lightly,” Honoka said with the same serene voice she made her presentation.
“I'll give everything I have on the game, that's my way to show respect to our opponents. I'll do anything I can do to have a good time playing and winning,” was Nagisa's answer, never letting her smile drop nor letting Honoka's hand go.
“And your message for our readers?”
“Hope and Despair always go hand in hand, there will always be good and bad moments...” Nagisa began with a more respectful tone, as if quoting somebody else.
“... But you must always keep up the faith, because tomorrow will be a good day,” finished Honoka with the same solemn tone.
Mika took a few moments replying the phrase in her mind and then smiled.
“Thank you very much for the interview, I promise you'll get a copy of the paper on Verone in the next few days,” she turned off the recorder in her hands and bowed respectfully to the other girls. “Thank you very much, excuse me.”
The reporter quickly ran off and Nagisa and Honoka walked after her, leaving the theater at a brisk pace; the game was about to start and Nagisa had to get back to the team. Due to the rush the girls left in, Koji and Natsu had no time to approach them and get a better feel of the energy radiating out of the girls. Oh well, they would have more than enough time to take a look later on, they were going to the games anyway.
On the fields the second round was about to begin. This time Nozomi and company managed to find a good place to cheer on Rin. The whistles marked the beginning of the games and soon shouts, applauses and the constant going and coming of the ball filled the air. Not far, the din of the Softball games and the constant sound of balls being hit could be heard from the neighbor fields. The basketball games were more discrete, held in the gymnasium.
Twenty minutes into the game the local team was ahead by three goals and the other team just didn't seem able to pull through. On the next field, Nagisa Musumi was backing up her claims to Mika, playing with everything she had to show her respect to the rival team. The three goals she scored were proof of that.
Girls from Verone watching that game were commenting that the display of athletic prowess was nothing more than Nagisa Musumi showing off to impress Honoka Yukishiro, who was watching the game this time.
During halftime break Nozomi apologized to Rin for not being able to watch the rest of her game.
“There's somebody I want to watch playing, she looked like a very interesting person and I want to met her again,” she said with a smile and that soft and excited expression that Rin couldn't deny anything to.
“Okay, the game that counts is tomorrow's, that one I want you here the whole fifty minutes, understood Nozomi?” Rin replied with a huge smile.
“Understood, Rin-chan!” she turned to her friends. “I'll go watch Hyuuga-san's game.”
“The one that tripped on you?” asked Shiro, who was finally enjoying his break from the cafeteria work. Nozomi nodded in affirmative.
“I'm coming too,” Kurumi said immediately, giving a furtive glance at Koji and Natsu and she nodded. They understood the hidden message in her eyes. “Shall we, Koji-sama, Natsu-sama?”
“Let's go, seems fun. We have to see how good is the team that managed to beat ours,” Koji laughed and dragged his friend away.
“I can walk on my own, okay?” Natsu complained with his usual serious expression. “Shiro, wouldn't you want to come with us too?”
Natsu's serious look, even more so than usual, put Shiro in alert. The boy nodded and went with them.
On the softball fields, all the girls were making quite a commotion for the big game. Saki Hyuga took out another bater thanks to her strong arm and powerful throws, taking out another runner from bases.
“Hyuga-san, go for it!” Nozomi shouted with everything she had, catching Saki's attention.
Saki looked over the crowd and recognized the girl, she waved with her gloved hand in greeting and then immediately went back to the game.
While Nozomi was enjoying the game, Kurumi explained what happened when Saki Hyuuga crashed on them and Kurumi could touch her accessory. She felt it contained one of the Spirits from the Land of Fountains, so that girl and her artist friend, who was near to the team's benches cheering on Saki, probably were Pretty Cures, guardians of that realm.
“Nozomi-san, I see you have a good eye!” exclaimed Masuko who showed up out of seemingly thin air.
“Whoa...! Masuko-san!”
“Good news, it seems our basketball team made it to tomorrow's finals,” she snapped a photo of the game, “The soccer's finals are still up in the air, but this game has the third grade Ace from Yuunagi's middle-school.”
“Is she from middle-school?”
“That's right! They borrowed her for the high-school section of the same school, or rather, she asked to help the team, I'll have to double check. It seems the high-school teams were a bit short on people for their clubs so they borrowed a few girls from the middle-school section.”
The game finished with Yuunagi's victory and their advance to the finals. On the soccer side, the finals would be between L'Ecole des Cinq Lumieres and Verone. In basketball, the home team made it to the finals but their opposition looked like a tough nut to crack.
The best was coming for the next day, Urara would perform in one of the two plays and there would be the closing concert.
The last of sunlight disappeared over the horizon but there were still several activities going on, like dinner on the food stands and a bonfire on the courtyard. Nozomi and her friends finally found out thanks to Koji that Saki Hyuga and her artist friend Mai Mishou were Pretty Cures, so it would be a good idea to take a moment to met them before the end of the festival.
“Let's met them, it'll be fun!” Nozomi exclaimed with clear emotion, getting nods of agreement from everybody else. “It's decided!”
~~~~~~~~~~~
If for some reason the post looks huge, it's my fault xD I'm still unfamiliar with this lj things. Just in case, I'll cry for the mod help xD, but just if the whole thing uses all the page D: .
Peace and Enjoy~ I love you, guys!