*
Arin, our past. It was a valuable lead to leave behind for the next 'Me'. When the horror movie ended, a brief silence took hold over the living room.
It was late in the evening, they would return to their homes for dinner with their family. Lastia discretely put her hand over Arin's as Sariel stood up from her seat to announce herself leaving.
"Alright, it's time for me to go. Bye bye!
Arin, are you coming? " (Sariel)
"Uhm... No. I'll be leaving in a while, so you go ahead first! I just have some stuff to do and I need Lastia's help!" (Arin)
"Okay. Don't stay until too late and bother Lastia. Bye! " (Sariel)
Listening to the closing creak of the door, and the soft impact as it shuts against the frame, Lastia looked up as she begin to speak with Arin. Her hand stops clutching tightly to Arin's, a hint of a shiver escaped through the minute reverberation of her wrist.
"I'm sure you know what I'll be asking. It took a very long time, and I'll be the first one to raise suspicions... Why? Why did you put this curse on me...?" (Lastia)
Straight to the point, a finale verification after hours of thinking through her thoughts and parsing clues from what she's learned. What better source of information than the person herself? Starting off with a heavy accusation, a big gamble. It exists on the premise that Arin gets tripped up by her words and exposes herself, if she calls out on Lastia's bluff, it all comes collapsing apart.
"... What are you talking about?" (Arin)
She gazes at Lastia with concern, with one raised brow and widened eye. If she was the person who casted the curse, it was natural that she wouldn't make it easy. In the first place, she held all of her memories while Lastia only had a day's worth of it. Experience, conviction, composure, she had an abundance of these more than Lastia, it would be unreasonable to trip her up so easily.
"I have reasonably suspicion to believe it. Let's say the curse has to be casted continuously, or for the sake of it... Daily.
Someone like you who has been around since last year, no, longer than that, would be the most conspicuous person around. " (Lastia)
" Haa~ come on Tia. What would I gain out of it? In your current life, you have the conscious choice of choosing whether to let us into your house and spend time with you...
It's not like I made you my slave or asked you to do anything for me, at most I had only hoped you enjoyed your short time around. " (Arin)
It must be frustrating, it must feel like arguing with an infant. Someone with only one day's worth of memories putting up an absurd claim, one that's also a little hurtful. How could she push it further? How could she pry out the truth?
"You're curious aren't you? About the first Lastia, you don't have to go out of your way to do this, you know? You could have just asked." (Arin)
"Sorry... As you know, I'm always on edge. Is hard to line up my thoughts with so little time." (Lastia)
"I see... It is terrible to live on a timer." (Arin)
"How was she like?" (Lastia)
Probably the hardest question she could have asked. 'How was someone like?', how did one begin to even describe that? All of the intricacies, idiosyncracies, her quirks, preciousness, gifts, treasures... The minute details that Lastia wants to know about, we're the hardest to convey. Even so, Arin wouldn't ever turn down this question, as long as it was from Lastia herself...
"She... To me, she was like the sun. The first Lastia... It's quite weird to refer to someone as 'the first', but that's how irreplaceable she was.
I'm not saying any of you could be replaced, or that you guys are any lesser... But..." (Arin)
" No... It's only natural that we are deemed to be worthless... Because we offer so much less. What you have shared with others, exceeding the span of a single day...
It's a special sense of history that I can't partake in. It pervades me by outlasting me. I don't blame you, I don't lament it. Because it is my fate. " (Lastia)
A awkward silence permeates between the two of them, Lastia was slightly shamed of her distrust in Arin, a significant pang of pain struck her heart for a moment. How should she go about it now? What was there to consider? Akin to praying in the dark, she consulted her own racing mind to no avail. She wanted to at least get some words out of her throat, but it only felt like she was choking herself even harder.
A bell like voice cuts through the noise, it wasn't too high pitched or too low, perhaps it was on the higher side. Her voice resounded with clarity like a Holy sword tearing apart the darkness.
"Sorry." (Arin)
Lastia looked towards her, realising that Arin's gaze had been layed upon her this whole time. She had waited patiently, as if to make sure Lastia's attention was on her, to emphasise her own sincerity.
"I always hoped for the best for you, I didn't mean to demean you like that. If possible, I wanted every Lastia to have a fulfilling 24 hours. Each one experiencing the best they could achieve without any regrets..." (Arin)
Lastia stood up with a crooked smile. That in itself was strange, was what she thought Arin's words. Perhaps this Lastia was a little too obstinate her rebellious aura flared up with her gestures alone, without the presence of magic.
"Then stop stepping on eggshells around me. I want you to face me with your natural self, maybe then I would believe in the authenticity of your words." (Lastia)
Not veracity, not sincerity, but authenticity. Even deceit was okay, as long as Arin put her everything into it. As long as even someone as insensitive as Lastia could feel it.
A warm light exploded from Lastia's feet, in a moment it grew into a pillar wrapping her body and shooting into the skies, in another it had completely vanished as it shattered into shards that dissolved into the air. A familiar dress was donned by Lastia, her magical girl combat dress.
"You should first prove it to me with all of your being!" (Lastia)
Today's Lastia might have been a little selfish.