*
She wouldn't ever give up on herself, not because of some profound reason or philosophy, but merely because she was cherished. To not betray those expectations and the love she received, she'll march on into the abyss of the past.
"Just like last time. Arin, explain. Why am I here and what do I need to do?" (Lastia)
To save Giselle, the answer laid in her own past. Was this still a dream? Or was this experience another abstract magic entirely? She didn't know, she didn't care. She puffed her chest, stood straight, and faced down the corpse with determination. An eyebrow quivered, skin stirring under all the discomfort, the smiling corpse of the queen opens her eyes once more. This would be the last vestige of her lifetime, no it would be more accurate to say this was already well beyond logic and reasonability.
She was moving despite being dead, her soul might be nearly gone and all that's left is an infinitesimally small drop that couldn't be detected in any capacity. One could say it was a magic that induced a hallucination in Lastia, moving a corpse to pass up one last message. Even then, this 'message' could react to Lasti accordingly, there was no convenient explanation.
Her long eyelashes fluttered elegantly as her well placed facial features come to a wake, her eyes stared blankly into the air before she spoke up. She could still do this much even when she's dead, her existence was truly supernatural. It's as if the concept of death didn't affect her, but her body's shut down stopped her from relocating and the best she could do is appear as an illusion like a psychic image.
"... I'm, glad. You're safe." (Arin)
"..." (Lastia)
She fell silent, this was the most where she felt lost since coming to this time period. It felt like her throat was being constricted and she couldn't get her voice out, her mind skims across her thoughts revising her lines multiple times over and changing what she intended to say. At the end, nothing could come out. She had so much she wanted to say, to ask, to enjoy, to cry with, to live with, to express, to receive and to give.
"... Don't worry. You are all Lastia to me. See? Your name stayed the same, even if the script is different.
Go ahead... Ask. I don't have much time, but I'll try to help. " (Arin)
"... Who am I? " (Lastia)
What did I mean to this world? What value did I bring, what function did I serve? Was there deeper meaning to your actions and my existence? She wanted to ask so much, too much. She was afraid if she overstepped her bounds, the person listening would die and be unable to answer. She was so afraid of losing the fragile existence before her, even if she was already beyond her deathbed and on the way out. Her lips trembled, her arms hugged herself tight and she couldn't help bust face the foot of the throne rather than Arin's face.
"... You poor girl. Did the other me say something different? No, she shouldn't have. This means she strictly said nothing.
Well, it's not her fault so please don't blame her. The answer is that you are whoever you want to be. There was a famous teacher who said as much, you will be what you make of this world and the others around you. I'm sure she has given you what you needed to reach here, so you shouldn't be afraid of grasping at what you want. " (Arin)
It's sweet. Sickeningly so, amidst all the lies exists this pure hope nesting within Arin. Insulating Lastia from the truth will abolish any responsibilities she had to the past, to her past life. Allowing her the freedom of everything else, to choose what she wants to do even on a whim. That's good to hear and all, but...
"Enough fooling around. Someone established a connection between The Primordial one and reality, we sealed her for now but we need to save the seal.
I need power to rise against all of existence, even if it was just to save one girl." (Lastia)
Everything Lastia has, was given by Arin. She likely was raised from scratch in the abundance era, by the company,
"I need to save Giselle, the girl who renounced her name out of love, losing her only connection as family and expecting nothing in return." (Lastia)
When Giselle disappeared to fight Kaori, their connection between master and creation was lost forever. It was only because Eterna made a connection to The elven great forest that Lastia reached Giselle utilising Eterna as a node. The divine concepts are all inherently the same existence, The world tree Yggdrasil, The Elven Great Forest, The magic continent, the quantum Sea, they are all different constellations of the same stars. They were different conceptual arrangements of all universes in the multiverse. And she won because she had a stronger connection to Giselle than Eterna did to her own divine concept.
Then there's Kaori, who encompassed all of that and more. She represents all there is and all that will come. She was the most absurd existence imaginable and it was a mystery how she turned out like that.
"So you seek strength in your own footsteps, in the responsibilities and meaning meticulously separated from you...
You're the one dreaming, yet I'm the one questioning if I'm the dreamer, hearing something so absurd in reality..." (Arin)
" Heehee, you're the one who said I can be whatever I wanted. You fought for such a reason didn't you?
Then I have arrived at this answer, for this very reason I became a magical girl. I want to be saviour, at least for those I love.
Even if it's just for one more girl, she gave humanity her love. Even if it's a different humanity from yours, I must repay her spirit. " (Lastia)
Gently, she smiled magnanimously. Despite being the figment of a dead person, she could feel her heart beating faster.
"... Your past lay in the Keliuvinia you absorbed, to be precise you are in your mind and the sealed data has taken on the format of {Wrath}.
You needed to quash her firewalls(life) before accessing it, nothing you did was meaningless. Continue threading on this path with that spirit of yours, no person's inherent values are wrong. To face Kaori, you need a firm awareness of your own existence or you will be lost in the data. Good luck, I'm sure she's proud. " (Arin)
Lastia smiles sheepishly as she waved goodbye.