69 - Behind the mask, behind it all

***(Arin)

18th August, 11508 Garden Calendar, 8pm. Arin stood a few steps away from the mesh perimeter of the school rooftop, accompanying the brooding Sariel. When the tree first showed up, perhaps Arin was the first to run. Perhaps she was the only one to know why it was named the Garden Calendar.

How did this happen? Where did it all go so wrong? To sum it up, the distress of finding absolutely no hints has lead Lastia into a chaotic episode of despair. If she didn't solve the problem at its root cause, the curse, Lastia would refuse help and might make the situation even worse. They were on a timer to stop her before things got worse, but Sariel ran back here after getting injured. Right, she was firmly against whatever this was. Lastia spiralling into despair threw a big wrench into her plans, it was too unpredictable for her to allow it.

So why was she rooted to the ground when Sariel challenged her? Why did she do absolutely nothing when Sariel told her she would support Lastia...? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

"I... Don't know..." (Arin)

I don't have the right to stop her. I don't have the standing to judge her. Is what she's doing so wrong if it's what she wants? These doubts ceaseless barrage her heart. In the end, she was just a highschooler.

"...?" (Sariel)

She looked surprised, clearly expecting something from her. Expectations, expectations... It was obvious Sariel was scheming something, but whatever it was it wasn't related to her in any way. Arin maintained a clear distinction between work and personal life, the work she could never reveal to anyone, and her personal feelings of Sariel and Lastia. No matter what Sariel was scheming, it remained in the personal life section of Arin's priorities, she would completely ignore it since it was in no way significant to her.

A bright light encapsulates Sariel, before it shatters into glowing shards that dissolved like snow. Her magical girl combat dress fought against the dimming sun, black metallic plates that seemed to blend into the night, bright yellow dress hugging her budding figure and not excessively full chest. The plates hung off of her shoulders, back, hips and knee. Black metal bent unnaturally around her fingers, forming gaudy gauntlets with massive engravings. She was putting more effort here than she did with Lastia, she never summoned her gauntlets when she fought Lastia.

"... You... What have you been doing all this time? It can't be, right? You couldn't have been too scared to bring Lastia back?" (Sariel)

"Haa?! What the hell are you saying? You didn't bring her back either!" (Arin)

Arin's voice gradually grew louder, if anyone else was on the roof they would have heard her bell like voice and her growing agitation.

"Don't give me that! At least I tried to do it, I went in and I have an injury to show for it!" (Sariel)

Sariel wouldn't attack her, she was too afraid. Right now Arin wasn't transformed, she could be killed easily by a full powered punch. A casual attack would result in the same way a truck ramming into a person did.

"... You give me no choice." (Arin)

She wouldn't shout, only speaking with a slightly lower register. Her calm words sounded all the more colder, her body glowed against the approaching night, the light wrapped her body like a ball before exploding. It wasn't elegant like the transformations of the other 2, only revealing her desperation moreso than usual.

A black coat fell from her back, waving its tail coat under the deep purple blue sky. A white collar shirt and beige skirt hugged her body, revealing fair thighs like a mountain summit's snow cap peaked out from under the curtains of her pleats. A pair of black low heels smacked against the floor like the sound of wooden sticks. Her hair went from a deep dark blue to sapphire blue.

"You wouldn't fight me if I remained untransformed, right? Too bad, I'm also itching for a fight!" (Arin)

Sariel inched closer, raising her arm while pushing her blow. She teleported closer, both to reduce the distance between them and to surprise Arin.

" Shallow. Just like your resolve, just like our relationship. At least you try your best not to let it show.

{Barter}." (Arin)

She sticks her arm onto Sariel's punching wrist in an instant, pulling her with her body weight and lifting her by the back of her arm. She swings Sariel into the air and slams her body in the ground. Just as she was about to smash her head against the school rooftop, she completely vanished. Arin turns around and swings both her arms upwards, blocking a devastating kick from Sariel.

Sariel had teleported into the air, slamming her leg with her entire body weight into Arin's arms. Without blocking the hit, she would have knocked Arin's head into the floor. Arin's feet digged into the ground, spreading cracks all over the rooftop, a wave of concrete dust flies around her knees. She steps to the side with agile footing, only to meet Sariel whom appeared in front of her. This time her punch didn't get blocked, her knuckle crushed Arin's rib as it slammed her flesh into a pulp around her torso.

Both of her hands grabbed the enclosed fist, with profuse bleeding staining Sariel's black Gauntlet, Arin smiled at Sariel as her fingers grasp at her arm.

"{Barter}." (Arin)

Her magic was way less straightforward than Sariel's, as long as her target is not sentient and has no subconscious resistance, Sariel's ability will swap her with anything. Arin's? The limit wasn't available information to her, it was wisely kept solely by Arin's avoidance of violence. Her eyes contracted the moment Arin spoke, Sariel jumped back as fast as she could, but her arm was stuck between Arin's fingers as she grinned through her bloodied teeth.

"I'll explain it to you so you will subconsciously accept it instead of resisting it." (Arin)

{Swap} might work if the target was willing, this was not something Sariel had ever considered. Who could possible volunteer to be a test subject for magic? It was something she wrote off because it was never verifiable unless someone bore the risk.

"It's trade for tr-" (Arin)

Before she could finish her sentence, she ate a Gauntlet. It plugged her mouth and sent her unconscious for a moment, Arin's fingers applied pressure and before she knew it... Her left arm was gone. Mechanically ripped off, her arm was 'traded' off for the rib injury on Arin.