*
"What do you wish to do? It's been a while... We finally reach the promised peace that we strived for." (Arin)
No more war, no more Traces. There was only brightness in this future. Today, the three were hanging out at Lastia's home residence. The usual dust covered silence lurks in the air of the living room, watching warmly over the trio as per usual. It was close to afternoon, the sky had brightened from a deep blue to azure, painting the earth in the sun's warmth. As the weather faintly warms up, Lastia speaks up.
She wordlessly turns her gaze to Arin as Arin flashed a look at her, it was almost as if Arin was questioning her, 'Are you going back into that hell? After working hard to end all that conflict?'. Her concern was bright as day, it didn't take a genius to observe the expressive doubts in Arin's furrowed brows. Lastia had a tendency to reach out and help others, even back when her curse didn't allow her to retain more than a day's worth of memories.
Her nature had never changed, not back then and definitely not now. To Arin, Lastia was the sun. Ceaselessly shining, burning itself out for others. It would last and illuminate the galaxy for a long time, but eventually everything will come to an end. Perhaps right now... Sariel would be the moon. She had gained two irreplaceable beings that couldn't be weighed on a scale.
"Hmm... I want to save Giselle, not that I know how to." (Lastia)
"And if I said I knew how to, what would you do...?" (Arin)
"... It'd be your choice to divulge that. It wouldn't be the first time you kept a secret- for my sake. I trust you. No matter what." (Lastia)
How could she say something so embarrassing? Naturally she couldn't do it with a straight face, but her smile was so wide it was little harder to see how flush she got. Her eyes curved bemused, as if to reassure Arin that she wouldn't get mad over something this serious. Arin's judgement... Was something she always respected. If Arin felt it was impossible, too dangerous to ever pursue, too unrealistic to attain at the steep cost of their lives, she'll trust that judgement for the rest of her life.
She wasn't that easygoing, this softness was only reserved for Arin. What Arin decides to do with what she has, Lastia will respect. It's just that... If Lastia decided to run away and do things on her own recklessly, she wouldn't care if Arin got mad. It all came down to personal freedom.
"... Don't forget, I'm also here. I'll protect the both of you, so... Don't die before me." (Sariel)
It's a little heavy when she says it, because they did leave her alone in the end. They briefly looked at her wistfully, before drawing her into a hug. Their body heat inevitably wraps around Sariel, making her feel a little hot.
" I won't die. " (Lastia)
" Promise? " (Sariel)
"... Of course. If I lose myself, trading one life for another, would there have been any point to saving Giselle?" (Lastia)
It's because she might sacrifice herself for someone else that the other two were worried. Sometimes the situation isn't that complicated, it isn't too difficult to understand. Some people will treasure others more than they treasure themselves, if Giselle's freedom was within reach and the easy answer was to sacrifice oneself, would Lastia choose that answer? Her words are difficult to swallow, to accept and let go... Even Lastia can observe the distrust in their uneasy gazes, their eyes found it hard to leave her body.
"... Haa~ I'll treasure myself. I promise you, this life will be different." (Lastia)
This Lastia will deviate from the rest, this one will learn not to throw herself into a battle she can't return from. This one will be determined to live just a little longer.
" That's why, you don't have to worry. Besides, I have no desire to die. If I found a way to bring Giselle's back, I'm coming back with one more person in tow, it won't be one person and one person out!" (Lastia)
"... Alright, I think we can let it go for now. "(Arin)
" I'm... Not convinced. But I'll listen. " (Sariel)
Lastia turned to Arin, making a grateful face. In response, Arin swiftly twisted her face away, hiding her own expression. She couldn't tell if Arin was embarrassed or dismissive of her gratitude, regardless she wasn't one to get discouraged. Sariel merely rolled her eyes while they weren't looking.
"Alright, let's get back on topic. I do have a solution. You don't have to do anything special in your daily life, just investigate those dreams of yours. Eventually you'll find something. " (Arin)
"H-how... When did you find out I had weird dreams?" (Lastia)
"... Where do you think those dreams came from?" (Arin)
Is she implying that she somehow made them? Lastia doubted it. That leaves her with another option, Arin is also experiencing the due to their shared origin. Effects from the previous era... Dreams from the Mystery Era, what did they bring? She never remembers the contents, it's much like back when she had that curse...
Like the curse... Did it operate like a dream? That's why the solution to the curse was to awake;'die'? In the end she still didn't know much about the curse... Or was that a lie? Arin casted the curse on her at her own orders, orders possibly from another time. The purpose of it was to conceptually strengthen {Envy}, the strengthening is permanent and the memories were sacrificed for it. What Giselle obtained was akin to a backup copy, it wasn't the original memories that she logged but an artificial copy of them, like a recording.
Memories... {Yggdrasil} is even able to copy, paste and transfer memories. Lastia doubted {Envy} could do it. Both had 'evolved' to deal with information better, but it seemed like there were small differences.
"... Alright, I'll make an effort. Though I doubt it's gonna be easy, I forget everything after easily..." (Lastia)
"Work hard and bring Giselle back, okay?" (Sariel)
"Aye ye!" (Lastia)
Arin smile warmly at the two fooling around. How long would these ordinary days last? By her nature, Lastia simply wasn't one to sit still. If she didn't permit it a little, Lastia would go off and do things behind her back, that would be far more concerning. At the same time if Lastia really stayed obedient accepting Arin's words as law, she wasn't sure if she could live without guilt about suppressing Lastia. What a troublesome woman I've become, she lamented.