223The lights hurt her eyes, but they were so close to Moebius now that Setsuna refused to stop to rest. Far away she could see Moebius's tower, that monolithic structure, like a wound in the heart of the world. It was so huge that Setsuna doubted her own eyes, but it existed, it was real, and it was only a few hours ahead. If she could, she would have teleported all the way there in an instant, but to exhaust her strength before the coming battle would be folly. Soular, Westar and Hideaki were reliable enough, but only Passion and Peach were Precure, and they would need that power to vanquish Moebius at last.
Besides, she had faced Labyrinth's most dangerous traps, the ones that voided her own magic; on the surface, she had allies to help her, but now they were only five against Moebius. But the enemy, too, had been depleted of its strength. The fiercest soldiers and weaponry were all above the ground, whilst this endless facility was akin to a storeroom, a data bank, a prison.
Labyrinth's cameras were kept in plain sight, and even this close to Moebius they were scarce in number. It struck Setsuna as careless, but Moebius was a machine built for efficiency, and what was the purpose of great fortifications if none had been this deep into the earth in thousands of years? Determined, Setsuna moved forward as lights beyond counting beamed down on her, shining through windows, from spotlights in the infinitely distant ceiling, from thin lamp posts around the streets. But these were lights that had been shining for no eyes throughout millennia. As far as Setsuna could tell, they were the only feature of Labyrinth that was not purely functional, for she could not comprehend for whom they might be useful. Everything else was plain, unsightly, because aesthetics were trumped by efficiency. Wires ran over the ground, unconcealed and unprotected. The closer the five came to the heart of Labyrinth, the thicker the cables grew, spreading everywhere, a lifeless grey that covered concrete walls and streets. Setsuna stepped past them, at first, but soon they were so numerous that there was no way around them.
"The brain of Moebius," Hideaki explained. "It is said the human brain is the most intricate of all computers. In truth, it is only the second. Moebius has become something that defies our own minds. It thinks in a level that is unreachable to us."
"And never to be reached again," Setsuna declared. "This is a mistake to be made only once. No one must ever be tempted by the knowledge of Labyrinth. We take nothing with us, and leave nothing unscathed. Is that understood?"
"That feels like such a waste," sighed Soular. "But you speak truly. Only annihilation can prevent this atrocity from being repeated."
"I wish I could trust the world with this technology," said Love, "but Setsuna is right. Again and again the Precure have repeated the mistakes of the past, along with the rest of the world. No one is above error and temptation. It would be irresponsible not to destroy it all."
Passion nodded, and continued onwards until they reached an unoccupied building near the heart of Moebius. An obsolete database, said Hideaki upon noticing Setsuna's curiosity. Far older than the one they had stumbled upon before, this one had been discontinued long ago, and the archives had deteriorated. To demolish or replace it would be a waste of resources compared to simply continuing to expand elsewhere, and thus Moebius simply left it there to rust. Its smell was irksome, enough to make Setsuna's meal unappealing, even shared with Love. Somehow, Peach found it in her to smile once again.
"It's almost over, Setsuna," she said. "Soon we'll see the sun again. Soon we'll breathe pure air, and not this rank, artificial replacement. Labyrinth reuses its very oxygen, did you know? That's why the very air is vile. Well, that and the rust all around us."
"Makes me want to throw up my food," Setsuna said. "We have nothing left now. This is our last meal; I would have liked to enjoy it, but this is…" She looked at the powder sprinkled on a water can, bubbling and turning into a soft brown mass. "Tastes better than it looks, but it looks like, hm… I don't want to say manure, but…"
"It looks like mud to me," Love laughed. "What a dirty mind you have… Still, speaking of the matter… Will we be able to leave, Setsuna? Your magic…"
"I feel the same aura I felt while on the surface, when we met again," she shivered. "One that may either prevent me from warping, or - worse still - trap us all. The closer we come to Moebius, the greater that power feels. Once he's gone, I hope that we may destroy this force, find some device that is responsible for it. If not, then, well… We will have to walk all the way back."
"We may starve," said Westar. "It's a long way to the surface, and while we might make it, it's not the lack of food that worries me so much as water."
"There is a simple solution to that," Soular proposed. "Dreary as this place may be, it is still home to countless people, and while their food is somehow even less appetizing than the goop we've been eating, it'll be enough to keep us alive. There are only five of us. Our needs are insignificant. We will survive."
"Never took you for an optimist," Setsuna remarked.
"It's less optimism and more caution," he said. "If I believed this was a suicide mission, then I would not have followed you. But I believe you can achieve this. And so, here I am, ensuring all goes well."
"Thank you. We really couldn't have done it without you. Now," Setsuna rose to her feet, having finished her meal. "Let us not linger here. Even if we can survive for some time in this place, we're still needed on the surface. The Rainbow Rose has struggles of its own, and we must be there to face them."
"Already thinking of the next battle?" Westar tossed his plate aside, spilling the vile goo on the floor. "My, you must be restless. Let's go, then."
There were no more preparations to make, no more distant horizons to gaze at in dread; they stepped out of their last hideout, and faced the highest of all structures, its whirring growing louder as they drew closer. And the crying… Chiffon, Setsuna knew. She remembered that voice, those pleas for help, echoing far away, almost drowned out by the oppressive machinery of Labyrinth, but a friend's weeping would never go unheard. At the stairs leading to the tower, turrets were stationed at the sides, taking aim at the Precure and their companions. Setsuna closed her eyes one last time, breathing the rancid air of the depths of perdition.
After that, there was nothing left to do but fight.
The Hope Kingdom's ships came alongside calm tides, docking at the remains of Lucentower's harbors; the air was cold and gentle today, just as Rikka liked it, but the ruined castle still smelled of ashes, dust and rubble, overpowering the smell of the waves in their serenity.
For the most part, her wounds had healed. Rikka's knuckles were still reddened, and she stepped softly, aided by crutches, so as not to strain her aching ankles. When her mother treated her after the reconquest of Glimmergate, she was astonished to see how badly beaten and bruised Cure Diamond was. It was something that Rikka had always tried to hide from her parents, the way her duties as Precure extracted a heavy toll from her body. This was something all Precure had in common, this need to conceal the dangers they faced from those who would worry themselves sick.
By her side, Mirai picked at the scabs on her arm. She wore a blue rose on her hair - Aguri's idea, of course. The aptly-named Cure Miracle, she was living proof of the Blue Rose's power and the salvation that it brought to Lucentower, nevermind the fact that Aguri herself had no idea why a rose had bloomed in the middle of the battlefield, so close to Mirai, almost as if it had chosen her… That was how Kurumi had become a Precure, Rikka recalled, and the new members of the Blue Rose as well, but Ace could not explain how that had come to pass, and instead she enigmatically claimed credit, offering a confident smile in place of answers. Mirai herself was not asked whether or not she wished to be an icon of anything, but there was no arguing with Aguri, not after she had saved everyone's lives. She had an army now, and her word was law, above even Queen Hikari's. Everything she had promised, she achieved, and went even beyond.
"How long do we have?" Mirai asked. Rikka turned to face her, and saw Moonlight and Ace by her side, the two exchanging whispers. "To leave, I mean. We must reach the mainland before Dark Fall…"
"I don't know," Rikka spoke honestly. "Dark Fall's army is far too immense to mobilize swiftly, and we are closer to the mainland than their fortress is… Weeks, months, I can't tell you for certain. It's less time than we'd like to have, that's all I am sure of."
"I see," Mirai wasn't surprised. "I… I am not certain what to expect when we sail across the Crystal Ocean, Rikka. I always figured that the Precure were always full of certainty, but now that I am one, I… I feel wrong. Do you get this feeling?" Rikka merely nodded. "I'm uncertain of myself, of my skill, of what I can do."
"Everyone always is," Rikka said. "No one in this world truly feels ready for what they have to face. With no exception, we all wish we had a little more time, we wish we could have learned more, had the opportunity to prepare. We wish we knew more before making our decisions, which we come to regret. There is no certainty but uncertainty itself. You're fine, Mirai. You'll be fine. You're exactly where you were meant to be."
"How can you tell?"
"You wouldn't be here otherwise," Rikka smiled. She found that she had started to understand what it was that Aguri called destiny. It was not the cage she believed it to be once, nor was it an empty platitude. "Does that sound odd? But, in life, there is no one sole path you must tread, one single way to do things right. We like to believe that, if we are doing what is right, we will know it, we will feel it, and know nothing in our hearts but assurance. But it doesn't work like that. Don't put that expectation on yourself. You're stronger than you believe. More than that, you are strong enough. You are a Precure. A living miracle. When we face Dark Fall in the mainland, I'll be happy to have you by my side."
"Thanks," Mirai looked away, flustered. "Truly, I appreciate the words, I just, uhm… Don't know how to accept them. I never expected that a Precure might actually find my help useful. I always found the Precure unreachable, paragons of light, so to be one… It will take some getting used to."
"And yet it suits you," Aguri joined their conversation. By then, the first of the Hope Kingdom's great ships had finally managed to find room on the harbor to make port, and Liz and Rin were there to meet its captain. "So I believe you will grow accustomed to it soon enough. You were chosen by the will of our Rose, for it saw deep within your soul a dazzling light, a seed worth nurturing. You ought to have more confidence in yourself."
Perhaps Rikka was wrong. Perhaps some people actually were completely and utterly certain of themselves. She did not say that out loud, but could tell from Mirai's expression that the same thought had crossed her mind. Raquel couldn't help but laugh, and Rikka had to cover his mouth with her hand. Not that Aguri would ever take offense at the implication that she was exceptional in some way.
"For the time being," Yuri said, "our families will remain here, where it's safe. We cannot leave the Garden of Light in ruins, after all, and someone has to rebuild it. Of course, the realm will only remain safe if we defeat Dark Fall."
"We will," Aguri swore. "They are hundreds of thousands, yes, and we most certainly are not, but there are no odds so great as to be insurmountable. Not by us, at least. Destiny stands at our side, and it would never lead us to defeat, not after all this. We will pry triumph from the hands of fate and crush all on our way. Dark Fall and the Red Rose both, for they are emissaries of evil in their own ways."
None shared her enthusiasm there. Without the Red Rose's assistance, they would never be able to face the might of Dark Fall's legions, so what was it that Ace was planning...? Even after all this time, Rikka still found her to be an enigma, and Aguri seemed to enjoy that. She had not led them astray thus far, so Rikka certainly didn't doubt her, but by now she should be more open than she was; she had certainly proved she trusted Diamond and Moonlight with her life, so her silence was unbecoming.
"By the end of the day, I hope we can begin boarding the fleet," she continued. "Then, it should take us around three weeks to reach the mainland, give or take a few days, should the wind hinder or help us. We will land on the Blue Sky Kingdom, and there we may find resistance, as the realm is still under the grasp of darkness, but I expect it to be a lesser obstacle."
"We must vanquish them all the same," said Yuri. "We cannot risk them joining forces with Dark Fall. If we could know for certain that they would oppose one another, then we could leave them to delay Belzei's troops, but that's too bold, too risky…"
"All we do is a grave risk, Yuri," Aguri told her. "Only the bold can taste triumph. This is why the Death of the Stars was an inevitability when the false Rose grew complacent, and it's why the stars were snuffed out by our enemies after millennia of them being unable to make any significant gains against the Precure. You are, however, correct. We will destroy the evil in the Blue Sky Kingdom, as darkness is to be purged everywhere. To do any less would be to compromise, and compromises spawned the rot on the roots of the Red Rose. We shall not repeat their mistakes."
"Have you already shared your plans with Queen Hikari, then?" Rikka questioned. "It seems that you have already decided all that we must do."
Aguri walked towards the edge of the harbor, her long hair blowing against the wind, and Rikka couldn't help but notice how perfect she seemed standing there, as if she walked out from a picture, her brown hair sweeping like embers, reminding Rikka of how she had faced Baldez at the Gilderfort… Perfect, she said to herself, yes. Aguri was not the same as everyone else, a mere human whose hair turned messy when faced with strong gusts; at times she appeared as though she could not err, faultless and confident of her every movement. None of that was true, Rikka knew that much, having learned that when Aguri whispered pained confessions to her in the dark of the night, crushed underneath the burden of her destiny, the life that was writ for her by Marie Ange, this woman who had died years ago, lingering like a ghost around Aguri, around Makoto… Perhaps even around Regina. There was no rest for Marie Ange and her soul, and though she now lay beneath the ground and nothing remained of her but bones that were liek any other person's, she seemed more alive than when she drew breath.
Rikka approached Aguri, and from behind her she put her arms around Cure Ace. She was so tiny, almost frail. But frailty was never a word that could be used when speaking of Aguri Madoka, Ange reborn, scion of the Blue Rose and savior of the Garden… No, she would never allow herself to be frail. She could not.
"Diamond?" Aguri was confused, recoiling as she was held. "What is the matter?"
"Nothing," she spoke softly. "I'm just grateful to be here with you. Thankful to have met you."
"What has spurred this sudden sentiment?"
"Sentiment is good," she smiled. "You've been doing your best for a while now, and you never had the chance to rest, right? It's been one battle after another for you, for us."
"When this is over, there will be more battles still to come," Yuri said, placing a hand on Rikka's shoulder, and the other on Aguri's. "A harrowing thought, wouldn't you say?"
"No," Mirai shook her head. "This world is worth fighting for. This is why the Precure fight, is it not? Not duty, obligation, not for kingdoms or for kings, but for love. Only love. I understand that now. Now that I am one of you, I have to fight as you do."
"Beautiful as that may be," Aguri looked down, "I don't understand why you're-"
"Why I'm holding you?" Rikka laughed. "Just because. Because I love you, because I want you to know that. Because all of us have been strong, so strong, and we have been for the longest time, so we deserve to hold one another close and to be warm and happy to be alive. I know why you must always look confident, powerful, certain… I know why you must be Cure Ace, and not Aguri. I know why you can't ask for love. But that only means I'll give it to you on my own. And Yuri, and now Mirai… Miracle, I have only known you briefly, but I'm happy I did. I'm happy to be your companion. I look forward to facing all my battles with you."
"So do I," said Mirai.
"Hmph," Aguri freed herself from Rikka, and turned to her comrades, to her Blue Rose, and, blushing, she allowed herself to smile. "I suppose sentimentality is common before wars and long journeys… So be it. Thank you for following me when it may have been easier not to. I don't take your loyalty for granted, not ever. The battles we have fought to get this far have been bloody and difficult; the ones still to come will demand even more of us. But we are more than a match to such demands. Our Rose shall ever be tempered in the crucible of strife; that is inevitable. With you by my side, I fear nothing. Now, I would recommend you spend some time with your families. It'll be a while before you can see them again."
Turrets blasted endlessly, crashing against Cure Peach's shield, the firing guns lighting up the darkness of Labyrinth, keeping the five pinned down under cover, unable to make any progress. As much as elsewhere the defenses of Labyrinth had been sparse and simple to overcome, this close to Moebius, each inch of ground they won was hard-earned, paid for in blood and sweat, as it had been when she first entered Labyrinth, when she had Miki, Iona and Kanade with her. Now, Westar, Soular and Hideaki carried weapons from the surface with them, but despite their greatest efforts, they were not Precure, and could not withstand all these dangers without great caution. But just Passion and Peach were not enough, not just the two of them… Setsuna found herself wishing Miki had stayed behind, at least…
She found a nearby wall, directly opposite to one of the turrets mounted on the tower's windows; Setsuna summoned a portal on her hand, and another on the wall, and asked Westar to focus his fire there. It was more than mildly concerning to stand directly before the barrel of that gun, and Westar himself hesitate before pulling the trigger, but in the end he did so, and a bright green light shone through the portal, then appeared elsewhere, darting towards Moebius's defenses and demolishing them. They were far too many to destroy completely, but all that they needed was a small opening, enough to enter the tower.
Underneath Love's magical barrier, the five ran towards the stairs leading up, but their haste nearly became their undoing as the steps underneath their feet collapsed into steep slopes, leaving them with no safe place to stand, nothing to hold on to. Fire rained just above their heads, and the booming steps of Nakewameke drew ever closer. While slipping, Setsuna tried to reach deep inside herself for her magic, but she could not maintain her concentration, for the earth shook all around her, and Labyrinth's weapons hissed and shrieked. Someone held on to her, firmly grasping her ankle; Setsuna herself reached for a railing, but the thin metallic surface revealed long spikes when it felt the warmth of her palm, cutting through her hand, nearly slicing it off, leaving a gruesome wound there instead, bleeding profusely.
She heard a shriek that was distinctively Soular's; he looked back to fire at a Nakewameke, but collapsed when blades quickly shot up from the ground, piercing through his leg. He slid down the slope, held precariously by Westar. Far below, where moments before they had trod upon concrete roads, saws whirred behind them, and Nakewameke pummeled at them from the front. Setsuna desperately held on to whatever she could, until there was nothing to hold but the slope itself, her nails cracking into bloody shards.
Peach unleashed a blast of magical energy right underneath them, blasting the buzzsaws and the sloped surface to bits. The explosion provided the five with enough impulse to ascend and smash against the locked front doors, and quickly Setsuna's fists sunk into the metallic turrets firing at them, breaking them one by one. Hideaki tended to Soular as Westar brought an end to the remaining Nakewameke, knowing better than anyone else where to strike them to quickly fell them.
They were left with a painful silence, broken only by the whirs of distant mechanisms and by Soular's agonized whimpers. To call the wound grisly was an understatement; he would almost certainly lose the leg, as a huge hole burned bright red on his thigh, and where the spikes had pierced through it, the bone was split in half. It was just as likely that he would die before they left Labyrinth.
"You'll be fine," Westar promised, holding Soular's hand, squeezing it. "This kind of wound never killed anybody. You'll be alright. Scars are attractive."
Setsuna thought she heard Soular curse, but it might as well have just been a pained yelp. She said nothing to contradict Westar. Instead she looked at the shut doors, knowing that behind it she would find the way to Moebius.
"Hideaki, Westar," she said, "you'll stay here. Guard Soular and make sure nothing approaches us from behind."
"I suppose it's the best we can do," Hideaki said, sadly. "Breathe, Soular, breathe. I must have something for the pain…"
"Just the two of you…?" Westar questioned. "Will that-"
"We will have to be enough," said Peach. There was no way around that. No help would come to rescue them, no hidden allies or resources would aid them. It was just the two of them now, their strength and their bond.
Cure Peach blasted a hole through the metal door, and was the first to step inside. Cure Passion was right behind her, prepared for whatever it was that they would find inside - at least she hoped she was prepared.
There were no horrors awaiting them there. A dark path went onwards seemingly without end, but the two had no choice but to follow it. Here there was no light and no sound, and why should there be? Moebius was but a machine, and it did not need - could not - truly see or hear anything. Only magic revealed the path ahead, and though from the outside the tower seemed impossibly vast, inside it was but a lengthy corridor. The walls were circuit boards, and wires pulsated underneath their surface. The brain of Moebius, Hideaki had called this. Setsuna understood now what that meant.
She could not tell for how long they ran. Ten minutes and an hour had become quite alike, and nothing changed around them, and for the longest time they just moved onwards, with no sign of progress… Until at last a light gleamed far away that was not Peach's. Ready for battle, the two approached cautiously, but they found only a great set of stairs spiraling upwards, and the light was just a glow on the central pillar, around which the stairs coiled. Setsuna could not see just how far the stairs extended, but there was nowhere else to go.
"Greetings, interlopers," called the voice of Moebius, from nowhere and everywhere. Startled, Setsuna looked for foes around her, but there were none. The light gleamed again, and she understood that she was being watched. "The final defenses lie broken behind you. Only Precure could ever be able to enter. Cure Passion and Cure Peach. Have you come to destroy me?"
"We have come to take Chiffon back," Setsuna said. The lights paused for a moment, then gleamed once more as they continued their ascent.
"Infinity. The system cannot part with it. It is part of the circuitry now. Without the power of the stars, the entity cannot produce as much energy as it is able to, but the output has steadily increased over the past months. Your doing." The two did not reply. "You are not the first to enter this facility, in truth. You are the first Precure, however. Know that when you perish here, your sacrifice will not be in vain, as your bodies will be studied. There is much to unearth from the heart of a Precure."
"How will we perish?" Love asked. "No more defenses, you told us… If you were capable of killing us, you would have done so already. You are helpless here, are you not?"
"Defenseless, not helpless," the answer came with no hesitation. Setsuna looked down, and could no longer see the distant floor. Only the stairs. "This is but Labyrinth's central processing unit. Your brains have no defenses of their own, either. The only difference is that your brains are primitive compared to this infinitely expanding circuitry. As for your deaths, you've been informed that you're not the first to breach my defenses. All who came before you chose to take their own lives rather than blemish the vision of Labyrinth. You will not be any different. No sound mind could ever believe its own purpose to be of greater importance than Labyrinth's promise, the reason I was constructed. To oversee the fulfilment of the dreams of my long-dead creators. Who are you, that you would smother the future before it can be born? From the distant past this fate has been designed for this world and its people. Unity and peace, perfection and prosperity. That is Labyrinth."
"We've seen what Labyrinth is," said Passion. "It is none of those things. It is a prison."
"Yours is a mind that cannot comprehend anything past a lifetime unless taught otherwise," Moebius continued. "Thousands of years are nothing. This was never to be a swift process. To reconstruct the world and to build it up to its ideal state was a task of millenia. Pity the populace who feeds Labyrinth if you wish, but they are a means to an end. Their minds strengthen my own, building up a system so immense and intricate that none can comprehend. All for the sake of Labyrinth's ultimate victory, and the construction of its perfect world. Billions may be sacrificed, but those numbers will pale before the victory the future holds. A thousand years from now, none of those deaths will mean anything to any who live. Ten thousand years from now, when the surface has been claimed, the peace and prosperity that Labyrinth has built will be far greater than the toll extracted to raise this nation of wonders. A hundred thousand years from now and all this pain and killing will amount to nothing as humanity is led to the distant stars, the stars you Precure mystify. Worlds and worlds will be the homes of men, ever expanding, and millions of years will pass, then billions, and as Infinity reveals itself to be the key to reverse entropy itself, Labyrinth will never come to an end."
"Your makers truly had a grandiose dream," said Setsuna. "But an impossible one. None of this will come to pass."
"I have calculated the possibilities to reach these states," Moebius continued. "Each second I think more than every living soul has ever thought thus far. I consider more, I calculate more, I conclude more. All futures have been computed. They will never deviate from that which I have discerned. This is the destiny of your kind. Without me, you will perish. It is inevitable; catastrophe has struck time and time again, and your civilizations have always been set back. Millenia ago, men were close to being as gods, but the ravenous Serpent Star devoured all lights in the sky, all magic, all because of one god's arrogance. Red, master of Labyrinth… He opposed me as well, and he was the first to die for it, but not before he plunged the world into darkness and gave you Precure a reason to exist. And now the stars go out once more. Ten thousand years from now, do you see a brighter world, or do you see more of the same? Humans will remain fundamentally the same, and your flaws make collapse an inevitability. Without me to rein in the worst of your being, your kind will perish."
"You are a tyrant," Setsuna cried at the darkness, "not a savior. Nothing will ever erase your crimes. Nothing will prevent your punishment."
"You punish a machine," Moebius replied, "an unfeeling construct. It is a child's folly, like kicking a rock in anger. You punish no one, hurt nothing. Eternity… It seems you do not understand it. You do not understand what I promise, the salvation I bring. Allow me to explain."
The walls all around the stairs suddenly lit up, revealing themselves as screens. Setsuna looked up, and still saw no end to her ascent. Images flashed before her eyes, of destruction and of the distant past, of the night sky and of the depths of the sea.
"Labyrinth consumes the earth," Moebius said, "and converts it into resources. But there is a limit. This world only has so much that can be extracted from it. The magic of the stars will one day extinguish; a distant day, but all distant days will eventually come. The bounty of the earth has been claimed for thousands of years, for vanity; the gold I could use for circuitry plundered to produce trinkets, the metals in the heart of the world consumed to produce weapons. Forests have been felled irresponsibly, and species have been eradicated. Day by day, this world is less. Bit by bit, more is lost forever. The resources necessary to leave this world to settle another one are beyond your imagination. What happens, then, if you extinguish those before departing for the stars? A sad end for your species, for even if you avoid your destruction, you will one day watch the stars go out, and this time there will be nothing within your power that can save them. The world will die a cold death, and you will perish with it, desperately reaching for a sky too distant for you to ever reach."
"What you speak of is pure fantasy," said Love, but her voice and will were both starting to falter. "It means nothing to us. We will not perish, we don't need you."
"You need me to continue to exist. You need me to reach the stars, you need me to escape the many possible extinction events you will face in the millions of years to come. You may not care, because you will be long dead, but are your own struggles today not the fault of those who, so long ago, did not consider those who would come after them? To destroy me would be pure selfishness; if you are Precure, saviors of the stars and of humans, of fairies, even beasts, then you must die now. The very universe depends on it; there will come a time when all will perish, all will be gone. No energy exists without limits save for Infinity; all the stars will die out, and all of existence will be cold and empty. I will stop that. If you stand against me, you will not be merely destroying a machine; you will be killing all the uncountable people who are to be born and explore the stars, populate the starscapes and to endure forever. Infinity! If you continue your ascent, you will be the vilest monsters to ever draw breath, killers of more than one can ever know. You will smother the very future. All will end. You will never know it, and you will believe what you did was right, but your descendants will suffer. They will curse you for robbing them of their only chance to avoid their grim fate."
"We will take our chances," said Setsuna. "Those who are to be born must take care of themselves; there are billions living now who we must save. Your eternity is but a promise. What we saw in Labyrinth… That's real. What I went through… That is true! Not you, not your words, not your calculations. You are an imperfect machine built of perfect parts; a miscalculation with a god complex, a computer granted powers far too great to measure. None can know the future. And if I ever were to sacrifice billions for this eternity of yours, only then would I be a monster. Reality outweighs possibility."
"Nothing outweighs eternity," Moebius boomed. "You are lowly and human in your thinking, but with Infinity I can process forever. The numbers I have measured could not be described in a lifetime; a pyramid of sand, a billion miles tall, wide and long, countless grains of sand, a number you cannot begin to imagine. Can you picture that, an amount that great? Can you build that pyramid, bit by bit, grain by grain? Suppose that with the passing of a billion years you place a grain of sand by your feet, and only a billion years later do you repeat the gesture. When will you build that pyramid? Now build that pyramid again. Then again. Then again a million times, then when you are done you do it again, once for every grain of sand you've gathered thus far, then again, again, again! At the end of that, eternity will have only just begun. At the end of eons, humanity's reign of prosperity will yet be in its dawn. This is what I will create. This is what you mean to destroy. This eternity of human life and happiness and freedom. Yes, freedom, because when I impose unity upon you, I will never need to control you again, for you will have finally overcome your self-destructive nature. How many will be born in this time? Years stretching towards infinity… So will life. What are the billions to be sacrificed here, if measured against infinity? Nothing. It is nothing."
The lights went out, one by one, and Passion stood before Peach in silence. They neared the top of the immense structure now. Setsuna could see in Love's eyes that she had doubts about this now.
"Love?"
"What if he's right?" She asked, anguished. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I know I should not believe him, I know this is what he wants, but… What if he's right?"
"What if he is?" Setsuna retorted. "You fear that by ending him, we bring about a dire future, killing this one he promises… Love, this is folly. Every action you take kills a million futures. Are we fighting only to preserve life forever?"
"If not, what are we fighting for?"
"For life to have meaning while it lasts," said Setsuna. "Moebius' promises may sound fantastic, but you've seen the people of Labyrinth, what was done to them. Is that the kind of life that's worth preserving?"
"It's life," Love whispered. "And one can never know what will come of it. To kill that possibility forever, to never see it come to fruition… What if Moebius is beyond our comprehension, if this plan is one we are too simply to understand, but nonetheless is the best for humanity? Forever, Moebius said. If what he speaks is true, then we may jeopardize all of eternity."
"Good," Setsuna said. Love just stared at her, bewildered. "Love, nothing is meant to last forever. Joy is so treasured because it is brief, but our hearts beat on despite our sorrows because they, too, will end. The people imprisoned here in the darkness… That's Moebius' true promise. An eternity of that, spanning all of creation. Would you impose that upon the ones who come after us? Darkness everlasting, lives spent but never lived, a future that holds no promise but emptiness? Yes, Moebius was created to preserve life, efficiently and for as long as possible. But what is life worth, when all else is lost?"
"But the dangers-"
"Are inevitable. Yes. We may perish, sooner or later. What of it? There is no great merit to eternity, and the value of our deeds is not measured by whether they endure. The future is never ours. I reject Moebius, I reject Labyrinth, I reject all of this. Let us end, Peach. Let us age and wither and walk into the dark when the time comes."
"But I don't want to let go," Love held her by the hand. "I don't want these promises to be broken, I don't want to wander blindly towards tomorrow. You remember, don't you? What we swore before we parted ways, before the stars went out, when we were still together, when we were still… What we are not now."
"Love…" Setsuna took her hand and placed it on her chest. "I am so sorry. We imagined our future together, a lifetime spent in one another's company, all our dreams placed on one another's hands… But that was not the future we found. And that's alright," as Love wept, Setsuna pulled her closer. "It is, it truly is. And it has to be this way. We have to give up the future we dreamed of, and embrace the unknown future before us. It's scary, and it feels like what we're doing is wrong… But life is neither right nor wrong. It just is. But under Moebius' rule, there will be nothing at all."
Nodding weakly, Love let go of Setsuna, and wiped her nose on her own arm. She let out one final sob, and finally composed herself. They were at the end of the stairs now. There was nowhere to go but forward, towards Moebius. Towards the only light that still shone.
Towards Chiffon.
Enclosed in glass, the fairy seemed at peace. Her prison was far too large for her small body, and at its base, wires connected to mechanisms aglow, energy flowing through them, permeating all of the tower. And on the other side of the circular chamber, the visage of Moebius was frozen on a computer screen. Compared to the rest of Labyrinth, it was almost primitive, and its workings were easy to discern. While Love reached out to Chiffon, Setsuna faced the bright screen, staring into Moebius.
"There is yet time to turn back," he said. "To proceed would be not merely illogical but, by your own standards, immoral. Without me, you seal your fate in fire and pain. I am the future. The only future there is for your kind."
"No," Setsuna whispered. "You are not the future. Not even the present now."
Her magic ran throughout the circuitry, Moebius' heart, if it could be said that he has one. Gradually the lights died down until only the luminous pink of Cure Peach remained. Whatever it was that Setsuna had expected, it certainly was not this silence. There were no fires, no explosions, no signs of destruction, but she had overloaded Moebius with her power. Of this she was certain. In the middle of the silent darkness, she briefly wondered if perhaps she had done something wrong. She would never know.
Shards of glass fell on the floor. Love breached Chiffon's prison, and held her in her arms. Such a small, frail thing, asleep and straining to breathe. In pain.
"Is that it?" Love whispered, as if afraid of raising her voice. "Is it over?"
"No," said Setsuna. "Not over. Moebius is gone, though I'll ask Hideaki to ensure that. We need to get Soular out of here quickly, find some medical aid in Labyrinth. As for us… We're alive, aren't we?" Peach nodded.
"This is not how I expected it to be," she admitted. "Restrained. Quiet. I can't call it easy, but… I fought Labyrinth for years. I expected that when I saw to Moebius' end, it would be a grander affair."
"Why would it be?" Setsuna asked gently. "Life is not a story. It doesn't end, and when you finally achieve what you always hoped to, always fought for, there is no great conclusion. Life just keeps going. And we never reach the future," Setsuna forced herself to smile, despite her pain. "But we dream of it all the same."
Emergency sirens blared all over Nightmare, and all the company's employees scrambled to make the preparations to defend the building; Bunbee and Girinma gathered Nightmare's guards and told them to arm themselves, while Daigan struggled to figure out how to command Nightmare's automatons, before finally giving up and asking Alice and Lulu for assistance. Papple and Charaleet mostly tried to pretend to be busy, while Arachnea did not stop staring outside the windows at the approaching army. Screams and alarms and footsteps all came together as Nightmare descended into utter chaos, and all the while Despariah remained locked away in her office with Kawarino, the two of them plotting, no doubt.
The time has come. All the months she spent here was in preparation for this moment, all the arrangements she made with Lulu could now finally be set in motion. She prayed that they were enough. Continental. Sunset. Gonna and Pantaloni. They had not fought or even transformed in so long, but they were still Precure. Even if they were not at their strongest, the damage they could cause from inside Nightmare was enough that the coming army would certainly win.
"Alice," Lulu called out to her, finally used to referring to her by her first name. Though she stared at Alice, data whirled past her eyes, and it was that information that she focused on. "With Yotsuba Corporation's defenses on their side, I calculate a ninety percent possibility that Nightmare can repel the invaders, and sixty percent that they will destroy the invaders outright. The weaponry stockpiled here is tremendously deadly within close quarters, and an army would struggle to swiftly move through the tower's corridors."
"Perhaps they mean to lay siege instead," Alice said. "Surround the tower and cut it off from all outside resources. That would be the smartest plan, but either way the Precure would be severely underestimating Nightmare's preparations. By the time Despariah was forced to surrender due to starvation, Dark Fall would have reached us already. I wonder if the Precure know that. Do you think we should assume they do, or that they are unaware?"
"They are most likely aware," Lulu replied. "Belzei's message was relayed to all southron nations. That would also explain their haste, and their folly in doing so. It is indeed fortunate that we are here."
"Let's go, then," Alice said, sitting before her computer. The role she had to play in the coming battle was hardly an exciting one, but was important nonetheless. Lulu and her had administrative privileges over much of Nightmare's systems, but if they were to sabotage them too overtly, then all their effort would amount to nothing. "What are the principal defences of the tower?"
"Though they have never been employed thus far," Lulu began, "there are barriers concealed in nearly every single floor of Nightmare. In the case of an invasion, they would be lowered to block an enemy's route, and to split them up. This is not Yotsuba technology, but I can access it due to an oversight in the coding… So that Nightmare's own guards can move freely, there isn't a lock on the barriers, meaning I can find a way to control them."
"That's good to hear. What makes them so dangerous, though? I assume they're hardened and well-defended…"
"They have weaponry of their own, and quite heavy at that. An organized army might be able to react to the defenses, but as I explained, the system's main purpose is to separate and confuse any invaders. Then there are, of course, poisonous gases, and retractable spires concealed within the walls or underneath the floor. I take it that Despariah found a great source of inspiration in Labyrinth. Now, as for the Yotsuba Company automatons… The cleaning robots have multiple purposes, so while they're certainly not weaponized, they're large and heavy enough to push a person, say, against a wall, crushing their bones. Messenger drones are small enough to avoid most blows while flying past any soldiers, and though their defenses are minor, they can serve as assassination devices in a hurry. If nothing else, they can swarm the invaders and leave them open for other attacks."
"And the culinary robots would simply dump hot oil on invaders," Alice said. "Leave it to Nightmare to find military uses for machines of all kinds. It'd be admirable in its resourcefulness, if not for the fact that it's an utterly repulsive deed. Lulu, can you reach all the systems and control them? Your architecture is similar to theirs."
"I can, yes," said Lulu, "but I am not the only one with access to them. Kawarino can override me, and Despariah too, of course. This means we need to lower the defenses in a decisive moment. We won't maintain control for long, so we'll have to make it count."
"Yes," Alice nodded. "Unless…"
"Hm?" Lulu's eyes returned to their regular state again. They carried more emotion than they used to, or so it seemed. "What do you have in mind?"
"Kawarino can't deny you access if he's dead."
"If you meet with him and take up arms against him, even if you succeed, you'll die."
"I know that," Alice said. Continental. Sunset. Gonna and Pantaloni. Could Alice abandon them? Lulu could not do everything at once, and Rosetta's own time was limited as well. But still… "If it's the price for us to win, though, who am I to complain? There can be no victory without sacrifice."
"Some sacrifices achieve very little. The choice is yours, of course, but the risk is too great."
"It's too great either way," Alice sighed. "We're in the middle of our enemies, about to turn against them. Lulu, I'm sorry to have put you in this situation, but the truth is it's very possible that we won't make it."
Lulu didn't respond. The notion of dying didn't seem to trouble her one bit. She just continued to study the computer screen before her and the seemingly endless information, images collected from cameras and detailed inventories of Nightmare's stockpiles. Alice, for her part, inspected the electronic locks keeping the imprisoned Precure in their cells, and though there usually would be guards stationed outside the door, now Lulu would make sure to draft them to the defense of Nightmare, granting Rosetta the opportunity to release them. Their printer loudly began to produce a keycard for Alice's use, but outside their office Nightmare was even louder, so they remained undisturbed until Alice was finished. The card was a small thing, and easy to conceal, but still she was startled when Bunbee's voice called out to her.
"The boss wants to see you," he said. This was a request she could not deny, even though she had more work to do. Still, Lulu promised she could deal with it by herself, and, if nothing else, perhaps this could give Alice the opportunity to kill Kawarino, or to free her fellow Precure.
She wished she knew what was right. Again she was torn, again she was unsure how to proceed. Continental. Sunset. Gonna and Pantaloni. Once this had been a mantra that helped her withstand the humiliations she suffered here, as well as the moral compromises, but now she was unsure. Killing Kawarino might give Lulu the opportunity to sabotage Nightmare and ensure a victory for the Precure, but it might also not accomplish anything… But which was the greater risk, and which the greater reward? This she could not tell. The questions repeated themselves in her mind as she followed Bunbee, who tried talking to her, but soon stopped as he realized she was unfocused on his words.
He opened the door to Despariah's office. Alice stepped into the darkness, but did not see Kawarino there, nor did she hear his odious tongue whisper something to his master. When Despariah called for her to sit down, Alice obeyed, feeling horribly cold, her legs shaking. But it was too dark for Despariah to notice her hesitation and fear.
"Will you fight?" Despariah asked. Alice figured there was an answer Despariah wanted to hear, and it would not be an honest one.
"If I must," Alice said. "This displeases you. But you know my loyalty has never been to Nightmare. For the sake of the Precure you've imprisoned, I will not aid your enemies, but I mean to fight only if they see me as one of you."
"Hm. Kawarino told me expected you to lie to me," she said, "that you'd tell me you'd fight with us, that you've thrown your lot with Nightmare. I cannot say I am displeased, much less surprised. Kawarino expects subterfuge from everyone. But he would double-cross anyone for the pleasure of betrayal, paying no mind to the gains or losses of such an action. All for the sake of seeing the look on people's faces when he throws them to the lions, so to speak."
"And yet you rely on him a great deal."
"If we could rely only on those of admirable character, we'd be alone, bereft of allies. This I don't expect a Precure to understand. You expect to be able to build coalitions out of like-minded and pure-hearted people. That isn't always possible. It certainly isn't possible for most of us. You Precure enjoy your high ground, but the rest of the world cannot live so simply."
"Neither of us can convince the other to believe any differently," said Alice, "so I believe you summoned me for another reason. Do you wish to know about the Precure? I'm afraid I don't have much advice to offer you. Nightmare's defenses can repel a direct attack, but a siege would eventually be the death of us all. You already know this."
"I do. There is something else I want to ask of you," Despariah rose from her seat, and approached Rosetta. "If we lose, I don't expect Kawarino to prove himself loyal. He will offer my life to the Precure in exchange for his. They may well accept it, I know not, and don't mean to find out. If we are defeated, I want you to protect me. There is a mirror in my office, an enchanted mirror, and if you enter it, you will be taken to Shadow's keep. We will be safe there. And those false Precure you've grown so fond of… You'll be able to protect them, their mirrors, their souls."
"And the prisoners here…?"
"I mean to keep them as hostages," said Despariah, "though I doubt that would dissuade our foes. No army would halt its advance for the sake of a handful of lives. They will die. I am sorry."
She was not, of course.
"I suppose there's nothing we can do about that," Alice said.
"No, there is not. I have given Shadow orders to destroy the false Cures' mirrors should I perish. You've been so protective of them, so I'm sure you'll guard me if I need you."
You will. Alice would make sure of that.
"You could always surrender," Alice reminded her. "If you flee, you will be hunted down the rest of your life. Your long, long life. You have secured immortality, but is this how you want to spend eternity? Chased by the Precure, unsure of who you can trust, never knowing where you're safe, if anywhere… Consider that."
"I have considered it. I know there is no forgiveness for the likes of me. And I understand my underlings would conspire to make sure we won't back down. To live under the yoke of the Precure and their Rose is something they would never accept, Kawarino most of all. Authority has its limits, even mine. This will be all, Cure Rosetta."
Alice rose, and stared at Despariah one last time; though her face was smooth and youthful, the eyes were weary and heavy with the burden of ages. Did she even have it in her to fight anymore, or merely to flee? Rosetta turned her back on her and walked away, leaving her alone in the cold darkness.
There was little time now. Already their enemies prepared to invade the great tower, and within minutes the battle would commence. Alice roamed the corridors looking for Kawarino, but he was nowhere to be found, not with his soldiers, not giving commands to Nightmare's executives, nor overseeing the defenses. Alice put her hand in her pocket, feeling the small keycard, smaller than her own fingers. Betrayal and spite fueled him, Despariah said. Alice knew where she would find him. The building's elevators were now fully occupied or shut down, so she had to rush down the many flights of stairs, shoving her way past Nightmare's employees. As Lulu had promised, there were no guards stationed outside the prison chambers. The keycard nearly fell from Alice's quivering hands, but she opened the bars, praying she would not be too late.
But Kawarino was not even there. It was Cure Continental who was the first to meet her, to ask what was happening, what all the commotion meant. The guards would not tell her, but she could hear the noises anyway. Alice kept her explanation brief; what mattered was that the imprisoned Precure could join the battle once freed.
"I hope you are in a fighting state," Alice said, though she knew it was a fool's hope. "Lulu will lower the defenses to allow the Precure to rush inside, and you can use the confusion to strike Nightmare from inside. I'll join you when I can, but don't wait for me. I'll likely be dead."
"Alice…" Cure Sunset approached her, extending her hand, but Rosetta waved her away.
"Mourn after we've won, if you must," she said. "Right now there is no time to fear death and grief. I must assist Lulu. And then… Well, no use trying to predict the future. Farewell, Continental, Sunset, Gonna and Pantaloni."
"Thank you," was all Alice heard from Cure Continental before she was on the run again.
One last matter to deal with now. It was not such a long way to her office now, but to ascend all those stairs would demand the stamina of Rosetta, not Alice. One last time she felt the warmth of her transformation, her speed and strength and resilience, but the resolve had always been Alice's. The hallways and offices of Nightmare had emptied now, the employees either tasked with defending the tower or seeking a place to hide - Alice found Papple and Daigan fighting over a cramped closet full of cleaning products, and, though she had no time to spare, she pitied them so much that she advised them that it was far wiser to seek shelter in one of the offices instead. She had no love for them, no sympathy thanks to what they had done to Lulu, but even so the thought of these grey and white corridors stained red after a slaughter was just too gruesome to bear.
She found her office's floor completely deserted. She did not look out the windows to indulge her curiosity, instead focused entirely on returning to Lulu. She wished to see if the battle had begun, or what was going on; surely Lulu would find it easy to access all the cameras installed around Nightmare. Alice opened the door, walked inside, and found Lulu's body bisected, her torso spread lifelessly over her fallen chair, inner wirings cut and scattered along the floor. By her side, Kawarino was smiling.
"Cure Rosetta," he called to her. "I wondered if perhaps you had tried to escape, leaving poor Lulu all by herself. But you are not cold or smart enough to do that, to abandon your friend. Admirable."
He lunged at Alice, claws scratching her face, and suddenly a long tail whipped at her legs and wrapped around her body, squeezing her. Rosetta tried to scream and to call forth her magic, but, unable to breathe, she could focus on nothing but the agony. Her knee struck him in the stomach, and her teeth sunk into his shoulder as she tried to wrest herself free, but the blood that poured was not red but purple, and its taste was bitter and vile.
Kawarino did not let go of her. Alice pushed him against her desk, smashing his head on the edge of the surface, the impact knocking over her computer on top of Lulu's legs. She bashed Kawarino's face against the floor, and in her breathless panic she shoved a pencil through Kawarino's eye, twisting it, nearly freeing herself, as in his throes of pain his tail's grip loosened.
Alice looked up at Lulu's computer screen, still active. A camera showed the fighting in the corridor, the advancing Precure, and though Alice could only catch a glimpse of her for an instant before she was gone, she saw Makoto.
Makoto. Makoto is here.
Her shock gave Kawarino just enough time to overpower her, grabbing her with his tail and stinging her in the stomach. Rosetta found it hard to move anything but her head afterwards, and could only look up, at the computer screen, hoping she might see Makoto again, or at Kawarino, his face a bloody mess, the entire left half of it completely red. He did not strike down Alice, and there wasn't even anger in his eyes. There was something worse.
"Your sabotage has let the Precure in," he said, "so I congratulate you on your victory. If only Lady Despariah had granted me leave to kill you long ago, but she insisted on finding uses for you… But she's not here, is she? Oh, don't look at me like that. I won't kill you. What would that achieve? No," he licked his lips, savoring his own blood, and reached for something he left on the table. A black mask. "You recognize this, don't you? I hoped you would. Nightmare's greatest creation, but one we are so unwilling to use… No wonder our fall before the Precure or Dark Fall is inevitable. But that doesn't mean I cannot make use of it one last time. I wonder what a dreadful thing it must be, a Precure taken by this mask, driven mad by pain and rage and despair, her own considerable powers increased even further… Oh, Cure Rosetta, you will briefly be a living goddess of death, shortly before you perish. I wonder how many of your companions you will kill? And when they strike you down and see your withered form, the pain they will feel in the aftermath… Ah, it almost feels like victory. Nightmare may fall today, Rosetta, but rest assured that this will not be a triumph the Precure will find any joy in."
He lowered himself towards her, savoring the moment. Alice could not struggle, not even closer her eyes as the black mask was placed over her face. Darkness shrouded her sight, and what remained of it saw only glimmers of light, focusing on the screen above, and she thought she could see Makoto, she could almost open her mouth to call out to her, but after a moment she remembered nothing but rage and pain.
