View source for Ocean Prism Mirror, Coffin Mirror (Laura La Mer)

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2024/07/21
|Location=Dorms
|Synopsis=Laura reads a book Rashmi has lent her, but after some reading, she gets fed up with it, going on a walk to feel better. What she finds out does not, in fact, make her feel better.
|Cast of Characters=256
}}
The occasional rustling of the pages the only noise that fills Laura's home alongside Kururun's gentle snores, as the pinkette lies on her bed, her attention set on the book she was holding. Her motivation mere curiosity, she hadn't expected humans to be inventing stories about her kind too. Especially not with the sporadic contact they had. How would they even remember them that much?

She was liking the story so far, and the mermaid's wonder and desire for exploration... It really appealed to her, even if Laura found it sad how she was feeling something missing, and she didn't like how it kept growing the more she explored. What was going on with her? Her eyes were peeled to the book as she kept going on and on, wanting to know what happened next as that void kept going unfulfilled, up until it was revealed the memories of the friends she had made were unfairly taken from her, and she was now going to reclaim them. 'How could have they done it to her!? And now she is going to weird places thanks to their shortsightness.' That made her feel... so angry, she could punch a Layabout, just as she is.

''She now came to a space of marshy ground in the wood, where large, fat water-snakes were rolling in the mire, and showing their ugly, drab-colored bodies. In the midst of this spot stood a house, built with the bones of shipwrecked human beings. There sat the sea witch, allowing a toad to eat from her mouth, just as people sometimes feed a canary with a piece of sugar. She called the ugly water-snakes her little chickens, and allowed them to crawl all over her bosom.''

"What the heck!? That's disgusting!", Laura recoils away from the pages as she feels those disgusting sensation in her mind. Why did this guy have to write such disgusting things? This H.C.A. can't be a renowned author, can he? She had to admit, the rest was gripping and he lacked no skill in describing the mermaid's cuteness and smarts, her fascination with the new and wondrous, but that... No, just no. Well, 

''“I know what you want,” said the sea witch; “it is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to sorrow, my pretty princess. You want to disregard the mercy that follows your kind, and to recover what you have forgotten, of human beings and earth, so that you may know why those flowers call to you so, and that you bring that knowledge with you forevermore.” And then the witch laughed so loud and disgustingly, that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground, and lay there wriggling about. “You are but just in time,” said the witch; “for after sunrise tomorrow I should not be able to help you till the end of another year. I will prepare a draught for you, and you have until tomorrow before sunrise to make up your mind, and drink it. Then the meaning of your visions will come back to you, and you will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing through you. But you shall gain the knowledge you seek, never to be parted from you again. You will still have the same happy gracefulness of your past days, and no one will take that from you; but every once in a while you will feel those memories dragging you into the abyss, and that the joy has gone. If you will bear all this, I will help you.” “Yes, I will," said the little princess in a trembling voice, as she thought of what was being kept from her.''

"Ok, enough is enough, I need to take a break from this", Laura says, dropping the book aside and preparing to head to the campus. Why can't the mermaid princess find a tiny bit of respite? These deals are not fair, it would be better if she could make her own dreams real, like that Chara Egg matter and Seiko-san.

'Well, no worries there! She is sure she just needs a little push to get that motivation of hers to good use, and I know how to make her believe in her charm! Just need to drag her and Amy-san to Pretty Holic!' Laura thinks, looking forward to showing her just what she is missing.

'Hmm, isn't that Cure Wing there?' the mermaid thinks, as she spots the student walking towards the woods.

That is how Laura first got to see the Shed.

''A hour later, in her room''

"Queen, could you please come!?" Laura asks urgently into the Ocean Prism Mirror. The glass flickers and changes when the image of Grand Ocean's Mermaid Queen appears on the screen. "Yes, what is it, Laura?", she smiles seraphically. "My Queen, I have been working on finding Pretty Cures against the Witch, but I have actually been finding all kinds of magical warriors instead."

"Yes, I have been aware, Laura. You are doing well, but the Witch of Delays, she is always going to find herself most distracted by Pretty Cures. As long as you have found at least one, you are welcome to mingle with the others. Is this all you wanted to talk about?"

Laura shakes her head, taking a deep breath as she addresses the most unsettling part of the discovery. "One more thing, Queen. Apparently, Pretty Cures are under attack here, and they are being imprisoned in these coffin mirrors. There was one hanging in a shed out here, she is with me currently."

The Queen regards Laura with a pensive look. "That is an unfortunate aspects of the situation, and one that does make our situation all the more precarious. I don't have any good advice to offer at the moment, but be careful out there."

"I will, Queen. Also, it has been nice seeing you", Laura smiles, giving a small wave in the last few seconds of their communication.

"Of course, Laura, feel free to come back and visit sometime. Take care of yourself and of that poor girl." And with that the communication stops.

Lowering the mirror onto the bed, Laura lies on her back, staring at the ceiling. Things really got more complicated. Wasn't the Witch of Delays enough!?