[Corruption, Brainwashing, Tokusatsu Themes]

Light slowly shone in through the window that covered the entire wall, as the curtains were carefully tugged aside to allow the sun's shine to pour all the way inside. Casting the rays of light upon the blue-haired girl who had all of her blankets wrapped around her, her body twitching as she felt that annoying sensation wash over her. She hated it. She hated getting up in the morning.

"Lady Aoi. In the interest of your health, I must insist that you get up now. You want to be the prettiest in the entire city, I recall. Part of attaining that beauty means letting in the light of the sun, so your skin can be tempered by the heat."

The girl known as Aoi responded poorly to this as she reached out of her soft burrito-like arrangement to toss a pillow at the one calling for her to get out of bed. "Go away... I don't wanna get up..."

The pillow harmlessly bounced off the target's face, as a soft sigh left her lips. "Very well, Lady Aoi. If I must." The voice replied, resigning herself to the hard tasks in life as the sound of a short blade unsheathing echoed through the otherwise empty bedroom.

*SNAP*

In a split second, the ropes that kept the blankets tied together, that Aoi had gotten another one of her many maids to tie together the night before, snapped in two from a single slice. And the treasured blade that her personal maid used quietly returned to its sheath, having served its owner yet again.

"Aaaahhhh! Mami! Don't do that! I don't want the light!" The girl cried out as she tried to wrap the blankets around herself again, grumbling and huffing as she reached for anything to use as a weapon. But she wasn't nearly strong enough to do lasting damage to her personal maid. Much less discourage her due to the conviction inside her heart.

Aoi's personal maid, Mami, was a rather short girl. Despite her maternal demeanor, she barely reached up to the young lady's bosom, and yet everything she did carried so much more grace than her master. Her long silver hair was tied into a braided ponytail that reached over her shoulder, nearly drooping to the floor due to the length. The way she moved about without being impeded by it only served to add to that sense of finesse she carried...

"Lady Eguchi Aoi." Mami said, gently curtsying by the bed and bowing her head. "You simply must get out of bed. Not only are you dramatically behind on your pursuit of beauty, but you have a playdate with the commoner that you grew close to. You wouldn't want to keep her, would you?

Aoi's eyes widened as she snapped awake upon hearing that. And just as quickly, she jumped towards one of the closets that dotted the wall, reaching towards one of her many frilly dresses. "Mami! Help me!" She cried out, almost like a child despite being on the cusp of the proper age of independence.

Mami heard her lady's cry, and did what any maid would do. With naught but a flash from her eyes, she vanished from sight and reappeared behind the taller Lady, having taken the dress from her and prepared all of the other pieces of her usual outfit, so that she may look as stunning as a beautiful Lady should.

First her socks, then her gloves, then her garters, then her fully concealing underwear, and then the dress itself. Topped off with a set of matching rings for each hand, a gift from her parents, as well as a brooch upon her chest. All of which had been slipped onto her Lady's form in what felt like barely a minute, courtesy of the experience that Mami had her disposal.

"Quick as always, Mami. This is why I keep you around, even if you keep trying to force me out of bed!" Aoi scoffed as she brushed a hand through her hair, before quietly looking at herself in the mirror.

Eguchi Aoi was a wealthy young lady. A lonely, yet beautiful youth who had grown up alongside the many maids that now served her. Thanks to her parents basically just letting the maids take care of her on an exaggerated salary, the girl got anything that she asked for. Which would obviously result in her growing up to be a rotten-hearted and dependent girl, though the maids and especially Mami had done their best to stiffle that.

Her dress sense certainly backed up that spoiled air. Her blue dress was deep like the ocean, with the sun's rays reflecting off the surface represented by the many diamonds woven into the material. Her gloves and her socks were the purest white silk as well, only the best for a lady like her. Finally, her hair was short, blue and wavy like the waves crashing towards the shore. Only those that could appreciate her for more than her personality would be able to see the appeal of her attire... Even if it was a bit silly...

"It's my pleasure to live up to your expectations, Lady Aoi. Now then, shall we proceed to meet up with your dear friend, or would you like to keep her waiting a little while longer?" Mami, despite her loyalty to the young Lady, did not hesitate to call her out for her less than desirable elements. Especially her inability to keep to a schedule.

Aoi's face turned bright red as she realized that she was still wasting time. "F-Fine. Just take me there, we'll skip the car!" She shouted, stomping into the ground, only to let out a yelp as she stomped a bit too hard and wasn't expecting there to not be a heel to stop her. "Heels, Mami!"

Mami did as she was asked, fashioning a set of azure heels onto her Lady's feet before sweeping her off those very same feet and carrying her like a bride, taking off by dashing through the doors leading out into the main body of the manor that served as the young lady's home.

All eyes were on them as the common maid wished their lady a safe trip, waving as she blushed harder and harder. Something about the way that they showed their loyalty when she was being carried like this was enough to make her feel a bit... insecure. Like she didn't deserve it. But of course she deserved it. They loved her because she had proven that she deserved their love. She shouldn't be feeling this way..!

R-regardless. It wouldn't be long before she made it to the cafe where she typically ate with her friend. She'd stop her from feeling this way, at the very least...

---

The scene that she arrived at was less than ideal. And she only got a brief glimpse of it before Mami quickly jumped back to prevent the two of them from falling victim to what they had wandered into...

Aoi's eyes were laser focused on the icy wonderland in front of her, her body trembling as she clutched the maid's arm as tightly as she could. What had happened here? Who had done such a thing? Was it another one of those awful monsters that wanted nothing but to see her and the rest of this city be turned into their playthings?! Where was her friend?! Where was Yuki? WHERE WAS SHE!?

Mami noticed the panick in her lady's body. Because she was shaking so violently that every step that the maid took was shaky at best. If she wasn't careful, she'd be falling onto her rear as that ice started to creep closer to the two of them, but it was her duty to remain absolutely and unwaveringly calm, even in the face of something like this.

"YUKI! YUKI!" Unfortunately, even a maid that was as near perfect as Mami couldn't stop Aoi when she got like this, the young lady wrestling her way out of her aide's grip as she fell to the ground. And yet despite the look of total and unabashed fear in her eyes, she ran towards the field of ice, hoping to find the girl that had been with her for so long.

"Lady Aoi!" By the time that Mami's voice reached her, Aoi had already gone too far. A powerful blizzard kicked up, blocking the maid from getting closer. All that she could do was hope that her lady would be alright. Even if the chances were slim...

Aoi struggled to keep her footing as she ran further and further. It was a miracle that she hadn't tripped yet. But her heart was telling her to keep going. To find her friend. If Yuki was in here, then... Then she could calm down and hope that Mami would help her. But if something had happened to her, it was on her for being late. And she wouldn't be able to handle that...

"...A... Aoi..."

A whisper started to pour through the air, the cold noise sounding eerily familiar. So much so that the poor girl finally lost her footing, her leg kicking all the way into the air as she tripped and smashed into the ground back first.

The young lady's head was pounding as she looked around to try and find the source of the sound, only for the gentlest of heels to slowly echo around her. And then she saw her. Then she saw her friend.

And it dawned on her that she was the one behind this frozen wonderland. Because why else would her friend, who had been little more than a commoner who was doing her best to climb out using her skills, who had been lifted ever so slightly thanks to her friendship with the richest girl in the city, be wearing a dress made entirely of ice with snowflakes embedded in the fabric to make it look almost a bit sparkly? Not only that, but her expression seemed to be frozen in a soft smile, which only served to make the crown on her head look that much more imposing. It was like she was an eternal queen, when paired with the frozen environment around her...

"Y-Yuki..? W-Why do you.. Why?" There were a lot of emotions running through Aoi's mind right now. The least of which concerned her own safety. All she wanted to know was why one of her few friends outside of her circle of maids... Why she would do this? What had driven her to turn into this monster that would freeze everything?"

The Queen in front of her just kept on smiling. "For you, Aoi." Yuki said, as she slowly held out her hand. "Your life... It's not one worth living. You'd be much better off never truly growing up. You don't need to learn the harsh lessons of life. You don't need to go through what I have. All you need is to stay frozen in your perfect form..." Her words came from the right place. But it wasn't hard to tell that they had been twisted, just like her form and her heart had been.

In fact, just by reaching out, her body was starting to release the Eternal Cold that sustained her. And little by little, the young lady's body was freezing. Her skin was turning bright blue as she felt the heat leaving her. She was shaking. Her teeth were clacking. Maybe it was right to listen to Yuki. Maybe it was right to let her into her heart and stay frozen.

Just as that feeling started to freeze its way through her heart, Aoi trembled once more. And despite her legs being frozen to the point where they were struggling to move even an inch, she tried to back away using her hands to crawl. "Y-You... Y-You can't be Yuki. Yuki would never... Yuki would never do this!"

The Queen listened, and just shook her head. "I am Yuki. The Eternal Cold Queen. You will be with me, until the moment everything ends. Only then will we be forced to part..." She did not see reason. Or rather, this was reason according to her. To keep her friend frozen was the truest choice that somebody like her could make.

Aoi just glared at the girl that claimed to be her friend. "You're not her! And you won't have me! I'd rather die than be with someone like you!" She shouted from the depths of her heart, her conviction burning bright in the face of danger...

"Well said, Eguchi Aoi!"

As if fate itself had listened in on the young lady's attempt to assert herself in the face of danger, a blast of fire came crashing down on the ground, not only melting the ice to free the girl from her binds, but at the same time forcing the Eternal Cold Queen away. All while a red-haired lass landed on the melted piece of ground, standing tall as she protected the fallen lady.

Aoi had never seen her before. But at the same time, looking at her filled her with a sense of safety. She... She was a hero, of sorts. That was the only rational explanation in her mind. But heroes and monsters like the one that claimed to be Yuki weren't rational. They were anything but...

"Who are you..? Why do you get in the way of Aoi's happy life..?" The Eternal Cold Queen spoke, only for a single tear to roll down her cheek. All the way down to her hand, where it froze and extended into a regal rapier. "Answer..! Why do you want to stop her from being frozen in a happy moment in time..!?"

The redheaded hero smirked as the heat of her body started to expand, melting more of the ice around her, and bringing that heat onto the girl behind her. "The Flames of Justice, Natura Rouge, have heard her cries of Conviction! And I'm here to make sure that you don't tame those waves before they can blossom into a bright Light that can protect this city!"

Natura... Rouge... Aoi swore that she had heard one of those things before. And Conviction... Did she truly have something like that, or was the hero just trying to make her feel better? She honestly couldn't tell at this point, as her heart was too busy pounding thanks to the adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"Can you stand, Aoi?" Rouge asked, looking over her shoulder while having her body face her opponent. She wouldn't want to lower her guard, especially not when she still had somebody vulnerable behind her.

Aoi carefully nodded, groaning a bit as the warmth continued to wash over her. While it had allowed her to thaw, it didn't remove the pain that had poured through her from being frrozen in the first place. "Why did you come, Natura Rouge..?"

"To give you a chance to be something more, Aoi. Take my hand."

The hero's voice echoed through her ears, and Aoi hesitated as she looked at the hand extending towards her. She knew that it didn't mean any ill will. But to see her be so brazen, to say that she still had room to grow and become... something more... It didn't sit right with her.

And yet if she just stood here and watched, was she really any better off? She'd watch that mockery continue to impersonate Yuki, and all she could from that point was just stay a victim of circumstance. The only real option was to stand and fight. And if that meant that she'd take this hand and become something more... then...

"Fine!" Aoi shouted as she slammed her palm down on Rouge's hand, grasping it tightly. "I don't know what it is you're offering exactly, but I'll take it! If it makes you stop looking at me like that!"

Just as her hand made contact, it felt like something was washed away inside her. And light started to cover her vision, turning everything bright white as the world itself washed away. Leaving just the two of them standing in an endlessly bright void...

Rouge's form slowly morphed, as a white-haired woman with purple garments took her place. A woman whose very presence radiated power. The same kind of power that fueled the hero. The same kind of power that was slowly but surely washing away at Aoi, cleansing her and preparing her to stand against the enemy that claimed to...

The enemy. That's right. The conviction in her soul told her everything that she needed to know. She had an enemy. And for the sake of this city, for the sake of the people she cared about, she would stand and fight. She would no longer run, she would no longer hide. With the Light of Lady Lumiere washing around inside her, filling her soul and cleansing it to its purest form... She would be able to fight until she drew her very last breath!

As the light slowly gathered in her eyes and gently shone within them, the white around her went away. And the Eternal Cold Queen was standing there, having watched her friend slowly swallowed by a light that seemed so toxic to somebody like her. She had even backed away, shielding her eyes ever so slightly to try and avoid being blinded by that infernal light...

"Aoi... Aoi..." The Eternal Cold Queen muttered as she slowly moved her hand away, her expression finally cracking. Her smile flipped into a frown as her anger started to manifest. "You're... You're not... Aoi..!" She didn't take kindly to this new light that had welled up within her old friend's heart. It was... Filthy..!

"And you're not Yuki." Aoi replied in turn, her eyes now taking on a sharper tint as she stepped forward. "Move, Rouge. Allow me to deal with this scum." Conviction poured out of every pore, as she held her wrist close to her chest. The same wrist that was now equipped with a blue-tinted version of the dial that wrapped around Rouge's arm.

Rouge listened, and with a simple snap, she was engulfed by flames before she leapt out of the way, using the extra propulsion to get as far as she could. She wanted to watch and see what the new Natura could do, without getting in the way. It'd be rude to go against her wishes after all.

"Naturalize."

Aoi slammed her wrist into her chest to activate her dial, causing a whirlpool of water to rise up around her, the rushing waves of her Conviction made manifest thanks to Lady Lumiere's light. And as they came crashing down upon her, she stood tall with no fear remaining in her eyes.

Her dress had been swept away, replaced with a blue set of armor that looked nearly identical to the set that Rouge was decked out in. The main difference being the lack of jutting shoulder spikes, which had been replaced with a billowing waist cape that reflected the crashing waters within her heart. Beyond the change in attire, her hair had been redone as well, with the shade of blue deepening as it was now all bunched up into one long ponytail that swept around in the air, almost like the waves being blown about by the winds grazing against them.

"The Waves of Conviction crash forward! Natura Bleu!" The new Natura cried out as she reached down towards her waist, only to clench her fists tight and draw two blades from what seemed to be nowhere. Blades with a blue-tinted edge almost like the waves that she claimed to represent. What could something like that do against an enemy that used ice to great effect..?

"Aoi..." The Eternal Cold Queen saw the girl that had transformed into her enemy. And she only saw that enemy. Even if she knew in her heart that the girl was the same that she had gotten so close to. But she also knew that she had been perverted. Just like that Darkness had told her. It was why she had done all of this. Because she didn't want her to turn out like this.

A single step was all it took for the ground to freeze over once more, as the Eternal Cold Queen dashed forward with her rapier pointed directly at the girl's heart. She would strike this foul light from her chest. She would strike it and freeze the girl in a perfect state. One where she would never have to be harmed or grow filthy thanks to some all-demanding light!

Bleu did not dodge out of the way of the strike. Instead, she met it head on with the same kind of Conviction that had driven her to take this transformation to heart. By swinging her blades through the air, the waves that gave birth to them came into effect, segmenting them into smaller pieces that quickly started to spin around and fly towards the thin ice that approached her heart.

The second it touched her chest, the ice shattered. Not because she didn't have the force necessary to pierce straight through and eternally freeze the girl in the state she so desired... But because the blades had managed to wrap their wires and pull the ice apart, forcing it to collapse onto the ground and break even further. Leaving the Eternal Cold Queen with little in form of offense on hand.

"Aoi..! AOI!" The Eternal Cold Queen shouted as her frozen heart erupted into violent emotion, the Queen letting out a shrill scream as her expression turned from a frown to a face displaying nothing but despair. And with the tones of her heart's discord echoing around her, the world itself started to freeze. Not just the environment, but time just as well.

Bleu jumped back as her body remained mostly unaffected thanks to the opposition of the frozen flow and the waves billowing through her heart. They were too strong to freeze. "For the sake of this city, for the sake of those that I wish to protect... I must wash you away, and drown you with my Conviction, monster!"

Even as it felt like her body was getting more and more sluggish thanks to time itself starting to freeze, she would not waver. By sticking the hilt of her swords together, the blades turned into barely solid waves, the waters bubbling as her power flowed through her body and into the weapons. "Waves, listen to my call! BLEU TSUNAMI!"

With a swing from these waves, a mighty wave not unlike the kind that would swallow a city whole was forced out from her blades, the waters rushing towards the Eternal Cold Queen. These were the waves of change. The waves that kept time flowing. They would be strong enough to stand up against anything. Especially a girl who refused to let time tick on by-

"AOOOOOIIII!"

Bleu's eyes widened as not only did the wave freeze, but so did her blades. Even her arms were left pinned together. It seemed as her Conviction wavered for just a moment, that would be only explaination why somebody like her would be able to freeze her waves. So, did this mean that she was doomed to see herself and time be frozen... And her Conviction be met with the harshness of reality..?

Slowly but surely, the waters inside her body came to a frightening calm. And little by little, they too began to free-

"ROUGE CROSS!"

The world began to move. The seconds began to tick once more. And the flow of time was unthawed, thanks to the cross-shaped beam coming from one radiating heroine, who jumped down to lend a hand when her ally needed it most.

"You... I told you to leave her to me!" Bleu cried out as her arms snapped free thanks to the warmth of her ally, the wet droplets splashing down on the ground below. "Am I not to show my Conviction?! Am I not to show Lady Lumiere that I can stand as a light on my own two feet, so that this city can rest at ease knowing it will be safe forevermore?!"

Rouge shook her head and reached out, a smile on her lips. "Your Conviction's good, just like my Justice. But Lumiere wants us to work together. That's why she sent me to help you. It wasn't just to help you find the right path. It was to stand beside you as an ally." She explained, before that smile turned into a grin. "Maybe as a friend too, if you'd like that."

Bleu listened to what the other Natura had to say, before slowly closing her eyes and breaking her blades apart once again. "Your flames, Rouge. Use them to bring me an opening. Only then will my Conviction wash time clean from her influence." She gave her a simple command, or rather a suggestion as to what to do, all while her eyes flashed with the Light of Lumiere. She understood what she was getting at.

That same Light shone in Rouge's eyes as she swung her hands forward, forming her own Rouge Sabers with that grin remaining bright on her face. "I'll give you the time you need. Just make sure to make it count, Bleu!" With that, she dashed towards the enemy, giving her ally all the time she could muster.

The Eternal Cold Queen was still wailing, freezing the world around her the best she could. This was the only thing that she could do. This was the only thing that felt right. Because if she didn't freeze it, then Aoi would continue to be this fake thing in front of her. She had done all of this, listening to the Darkness appeal to her inner worry about the girl... All so she could keep her in a state where she would be happy. A life where she wouldn't have to confront her childish aspects. A life where she wouldn't have to dwell on the kind of life she had been denied thanks to her family never giving her the time of day. And a life where her only friend was a girl who could barely get by thanks to how hard she worked. The girl would've never been able to be happy.

So seeing this heroic perversion of the girl she loved was more than enough to drive the monsterized version of Yuki to a deep sorrowful state. She wanted nothing more than to freeze the world in its entirety at this point. Leave it completely unable to move on. Because she wasn't able to move past that her friend had been turned into something awful. This was the only path forward. To scream in abject despair as she could do nothing else. Because she was a coward who just took the easy way out. Because she was a coward that wouldn't move past the fact that her friend had chosen a path of self destruction..!

But those screams of freezing despair would come to a swift and sudden end, as flames of Justice were carved through her. The Eternal Cold Queen's screams were struggling to leave her throat as she looked over her shoulder, and saw a redheaded hero standing there, her blades crossed after leaving a cross-shaped flame burning on the Queen's chest.

Justice... Justice was a feeling she didn't take kindly to. Justice was why she was losing this fight to keep her friend safe. Justice was... JUSTICE WAS..!

"Waves of Conviction, bring us victory! WHIRLBLEU!"

The Eternal Cold Queen's attention was drawn away for just long enough that she was left completely vulnerable. And in that moment, the segmented wavy blades wielded by her friend came flowing towards her. They hadn't just been tossed at her. The blades and their wires were spinning as rapidly as a whirlpool dragging in its victim. So fast in fact that the Queen was sliding towards the blades themselves, and the ice underneath was doing her no favors.

"Aoi... AOOOOOOOOI!"

The last pitiful words of a Queen gone mad with the pursuit of a perfect moment, before the blades made contact. They spun through her until she was pulled all the way towards the hilts themselves, only for Bleu to retract the segments until the blades were perfectly straight once more, then slashing outward to deliver the final blow.

A monster fell. And by the time that the girl that had been consumed by her own pursuit slowly opened her eyes, everything had changed, just like she feared. But her heart was now freed from the grief of needing to worry about the girl she had once loved. Because that girl had left her life completely, to protect the city as a whole...

"Are you sure you're alright with this, Bleu?" Rouge asked, the two having disappeared from the scene by empowering themselves with their respective elements and taking to the rooftops. All while the sun slowly shone down upon them, the midday light bringing a poetic end to their first fight together.

Bleu closed her eyes. "For the sake of the city. For the sake of Equilibre. For the sake of Lady Lumiere's eternal fight against the Darkness. I must set aside my personal attachments and grow to be stronger. And I hope to see you standing alongside me for this journey, Rouge. My friend."

Rouge nodded, patting her new ally on the back as they looked to the sky above. They still had more to recruit before they were ready to truly protect the city. But with Bleu by her side, she felt confident.

Justice, Conviction, and three others would serve as the City of Equilibre's eternal defenders...

---

"Well well. Lumiere's messing around with new Naturas, is she? I thought she had gotten tired of them after the last one started questioning her too much."

The Darkness bubbled around in the depths of the city, giggling to herself as her golden eyes shone from nothing, peering through it all to find her next target.

"So let's put a damper on her plans... And plant the seed of darkness inside the next bright light. I'm sure she'd loooove that..."

An eerie laugh echoed through the city, sending shivers down the spine of all that lived there...

Especially one young green-haired girl, who had shut herself away from the world...