55 - Vain 4

*

"{Gratitude}... The crystallisation of my feelings. In short it is the power to control someone else's body, but for a short while I have to confer control of my own body too...

Listen, boosting your regeneration is one of many aspects of body control. The potency can be further increased when not only I recognise my own feelings, but the recipient does too. So please listen to my story, of Pelenia the powerless. " (Pelenia)

'Pelenia... It's that girl from Residential zone 27B...the place where I fought the Destitute Knight. What's she... Doing all the way here...?' (Lastia)

Lastia couldn't see her, she couldn't move a single finger. Her eyes laid in place, staring at the sky in dry discomfort. Honestly, dying was a foregone conclusion to Lastia. She couldn't care less about Pelenia's past or why she wanted to save her. As {Feed} completely consumed the air around the school, Pelenia couldn't regenerate her pool of magical energy and could only rely on what she had on hand. It was bound to be quite a quantity as she was at least B rank, but it wasn't an endless supply.

Even so, to hear that the warmth enveloping her was actually the feelings of someone... It was pleasant. The world deserved magical girls like Pelenia, who could save much more than she ever could. Perhaps she wasn't the only Lastia to think in this manner, it was easy to conclude herself as a massively flawed existence. She lacked any memories of the day before after all. Like a newborn, completely lacking of any experiences. No matter how much she learned, she wouldn't be able to retain knowledge.

This inability to hold knowledge beyond a day was a massive burden to her self esteem, but it was mostly just an excuse. What ate at her heart was not her flaws but her feelings towards these flaws. She couldn't accept it, she couldn't forgive this curse which took away the opportunity to live an ordinary life before she was even aware of it. She lamented it, and it was part of her. She lamented herself, she wanted to scrap away and dispose of her own existence.

All the while, what little remained of her ego and confidence existed in megre vestiges of her behaviour. Her yearning to help others, to be useful, it stems from wanting to be more despite having less. To defy her destiny, to be the best possible person she could be by making as many people happy as possible. To be good, to be a magical girl who could defend the weak.

The perfect world she saw where everyone was living happily... She wasn't in it.

"You don't have to care now, it's my job to convince you. Of course you need to be willing to listen, so I hope you're receptive..." (Pelenia)

Lastia felt that her voice was a little familiar when she first heard her, she didn't think that Pelenia would follow her all the way here. She will try it out, she'll at least listen to Pelenia's words even if she remains indifferent to her own death.

"Right now I'm a third year. I've been a magical girl since I was a first year, and back then... I was from this zone. I moved away at the end of my first year... That's right before all of this happened...

I knew it would come, yet I ran away on my own. I didn't warn anyone, I just ran. Because all I had was {Gratitude} I couldn't do anything. " (Pelenia)

Her emotions trickled out bit by bit, slipping into her words as she spoke, as if she couldn't contain them. It sounded like she wanted to regret it, but there truly had been nothing that she could do.

***

" Black smoke...?" (Pelenia)

Returning to the time she still resided here, was it fair to saddle a first year with this duty?

It was starkly dark in the middle of the night, there were few stars and a cold air brushed past her cheek. Figuring that it was dark, it might have just been a trick of the mind. She dismissed it and went about her way, ignoring the early signs. The Trace operated at night, it exuded no heat or magic energy. As far as everyone knew, it was a myth.

Morning came and all was as usual. With a few groans and some cracks forming over the pavement, a girl with verdant green hair and purple plated armour swung her spear through the rampaging Trace. Her magic allowed her to attack 'at the same time', meaning she could launch simultaneous attacks in a single instance. Bright yellow circles form in the air, glowing brilliantly they resembled perfect circles, as if someone drew them with a ruler. Seen from far away, they might have resembled bubbles. The space in the centre of these 2 dimensional constructs were slightly distorted, like a thick mirror.

From these circles, an identical shining stake of white peaks out. Her magic ability also included being able to summon this spear, forming and solidifying solely out of her magical energy. The relation between these multiple instances were like 'reflections', though they were all still just as deadly. 3 stakes equally pure in hue skewered the 2 legged wizard that was twice the height of an adult, instantly crushing its body. In its death throes, its tail swung against her with a devastating slam.

Her legs stiffened and her body flinched in preparation, eating the brunt of the attack. As the monster began to dissolve into fragments of fading light, Pelenia came closer.

"Senpai, that was dangerous!" (Pelenia)

"It's only because you were here that I could act more reckless. It was better to deal with the Trace as fast as possible.

If it escapes, the 'event' would end. " (Lavaliy)

When that occurs, all of the deaths and destruction would become permanent. Even if Lavaliy was likely being concern over the property damage, seeing as no bystanders are close enough to get hurt, it still shouldn't be her concern. This was the senior that Pelenia respected the most, there were others of course, but they weren't close by.