Chapter 7
First Encounter, First Setback
The newly transformed magical girls confront Lavalash. Though they fight bravely, their powers are uncoordinated, and they are overwhelmed by the Dark Princess.
The air crackled, not with the gentle hum of summer insects, but with an unnerving, metallic tang. Flora, or rather, Cure Flower, stood rooted to the spot, her petal-pink dress feeling suddenly flimsy against the encroaching darkness. Beside her, Mira, now Cure Ice, radiated a frosty calm that was, Flora suspected, a very thin veneer over sheer panic. Gloria, Cure Starcloud, was practically vibrating with a mixture of excitement and terror, her star-spangled costume shimmering erratically. And Saga, Cure Solaria, stood a little apart, her golden aura pulsing with a quiet, almost sorrowful intensity.
Lavalash. The name itself felt like a cold, sharp stone in Flora’s stomach. She’d only seen the Dark Princess from afar, a swirling silhouette of inky black against the bruised twilight sky, but even then, the sheer weight of her malevolence had been palpable. Now, standing before her in the heart of the town’s usually bustling marketplace, the reality was far more… theatrical.
Lavalash was perched atop a toppled fruit cart, her gown the color of a bruised plum, edged with what looked suspiciously like tattered velvet. A jagged, obsidian crown sat precariously on her impossibly dark hair, and her eyes, two chips of malevolent emerald, scanned the four transformed girls with an amused, almost bored, expression. A faint, discordant melody seemed to emanate from her, a warped version of a cheerful carnival tune, but laced with a chilling dissonance.
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