The Light Inside

**The Light Inside,** also called **Pilot,** is the first episode and pilot episode of Nijime, Part 1, and Arc 1, and is also **Arc 1 Episode 1.** It features the debut of three of the main characters in Part 1, Reimu Endou, Enna Alouette, and Millie Primrose (Millie Parfait). It does not feature the fourth protagonist of Arc 1, Nina Kosaka, who appears in the next episode. It features the Animogenesis, the consequences of which are explored in the rest of the arc.

## Synopsis

In the middle ages, three friends cause trouble at a knight's gala and are thrown into a dungeon. There, they uncover a mysterious black artifact that holds the key to their destiny and that unleashes an ominous threat against their kingdom. Thankfully, a mysterious entity grants them supernatural abilities which they can use to help defend the kingdom and make a name for themselves.

## Plot

In the year 1020 AD, three friends Reimu, Enna, and Millie are traversing through Magus Kingdom. Their quest? To find handsome knights to marry, of course! They had been sent by their parents to Castle Magus in order to meet at the Knights Gala, an annual social event where the knights of the kingdom gather to take wives.

However, their journey is interrupted when their carriage runs over a mysterious black cat, who introduces himself as Lucie. Lucie announces that he had been sent by the angels to grant the three great powers. In order to accept, one of them just has to make a pact with him. The friends laugh the cat off, but he gives them a card which he says they can use to summon him again in case they change their minds.

Upon arriving at the gala, the knights take little notice of the friends and gravitate more towards those who were already of the nobility, leaving the friends to comment on the lack of upward mobility. Reimu attempts to stand up for her friends, but Sir Charlatan, the son of a local duke, pushes her aside. Pushing back, Reimu gets her and her friends all in trouble as the entire gala looks on in horror at what she has just done.

Reimu and her friends find themselves thrown into the dungeon where Reimu is quickly given the cold shoulder. Millie and Enna hardly notice Reimu's absence when she mysteriously phases through the ground behind them. Reimu enters into a strange cavern beneath the castle and uncovers a mysterious, giant, pulsating mass of darkness. When they start looking for Reimu, Millie and Enna fall through the same anomaly and watch as Reimu is swallowed by the mass in front of their eyes.

All of a sudden, the darkness unleashes a massive beam of light that blinds Millie and Enna and that daze the gala, who think it is merely a part of the celebration. Millie and Enna jump into the darkness, grabbing ahold of a dazed Reimu and pulling her free of its grip. The three, all apologizing to each other and making up, seek a way to leave the castle and do so, but are confronted by an army of sentient, humanoid animals of all different species.

They turn to find the castle under siege by these animals, who seek an audience with the horrified King. Reimu simply says "uh-oh" but reveals little more before activating the card given to them by Lucie. Millie agrees to Lucie's pact, and the three are granted supernatural powers as the cat promised. Reimu gains holy light powers, Enna gains magical singing abilities, and Millie gains witch powers and the ability to create spells and make potions.

The friends resolve to use their powers to make a name for themselves by defending the kingdom from the new humanoid animal threat as well as to find out more about the mysterious orb. As the episode concludes, Reimu reflects to herself that she has a duty to use her powers to "clean up the mess I made".

## Characters

### Main Characters

Reimu Endou

Enna Alouette

Millie Primrose

### Other Cast (in order of appearance)

Coach

Lucie

Castle Guard

King Magus IV

Prince Charmingham

Sir Robener

Sir Charlatan

Pandaman