By Hikaru thinks about her fight with Nova and her friends. Ascot wants to rush out and save Umi but Caldina and Lafarga stop him. Ascot says he wants to save the Knights since they saved him and, more specifically, because he loves Umi. He’d regret it if something happened to her and he did nothing, just like he regrets killing Presea. He runs off but Caldina knocks him out. Umi sleeps in a cell onboard the Bravada as Clef thinks about her. Presea enters and tells him she’s going to revive Hikaru’s sword. Clef warns her of the risks but ‘Presea’ says she wants to fulfil her older sister’s duties. She says if the dead Presea really had been revived she would have done the same thing. ‘Presea’ says she can’t make escudo weapons but she can repair them. She thanks Clef for inviting her into the castle as Presea and Clef admits even Emeraude couldn’t revive the dead. ‘Presea’ says her sister’s death was something she chose and it wasn’t Ascot’s fault but he wouldn’t be able to smile again if he knew she was still dead. The same would go for the Knights who’d keep blaming themselves. Clef says he really did think she was Presea since they’re exactly the same. Presea’s sister says the only difference is the birthmark on her chest. Clef asks what the sister’s real name is, but she says it’s Presea. As she leaves she mutters that Presea was in love with Clef, but he doesn’t hear her. Mokona is waiting for her and she correctly guesses that it knew the truth all along. Presea’s twin admits that she and her sister ended up falling in love with the same man.
Ferio tries to contact Fuu through the orbs but he gets no answer. He vows to save her. Primera searches for Lantis but finds Mira instead. Mira is looking for Hikaru to give her a flower crown and Primera wonders if Hikaru and Lantis are together. An image of Nova runs by and the two mistake it for Hikaru. Presea fetches Hikaru and asks if her heart is ready. Hikaru says she chose this despite the danger because she wants to fight on with her friends. Presea begins the ceremony and tells Hikaru she will fight against herself. Hikaru sees visions from their first adventure and she wonders what would have happened if the three of them weren’t together. Nova appears and says if the three of them weren’t together they wouldn’t have had to go through such hardships. Hikaru says that was her choice and not the others’ fault but Nova says if she hadn’t gone to Cephiro she wouldn’t have to deal with the pain. Nova asks about when they killed Zagato and Hikaru says she didn’t know it would be so heart wrenching. Nova says it doesn’t change the fact that she killed him and Emeraude as well. She adds that it’s the Pillar’s fault that Hikaru went through such pain and she doesn’t have to protect a country like that. Nova invites her to leave everything behind and come play with her. Presea tells Hikaru not to go as a shadow wraps around her.
The plotline with Nova is so much more interesting than the plotline about the invaders. First we learn that Presea isn’t really Presea, but her replacement twin. While there are some interesting aspects about it, it’s still an unnecessary subplot that could have been avoided had Presea not been pointlessly killed off. The real meat of the episode is the temptation of Hikaru by Nova. Hikaru is forced to look back on what she’s done and she starts thinking that maybe it would have been better had she not met the others. The scene was quite engrossing and I liked the use of rewound footage. Hopefully Hikaru can overcome this trial.
Comments