Hope born of solitus

*

"N... No...! You're weak, Tia! How could you order me around! I'm stronger, so let me protect you!" (Sariel)

"Saa-chan... You don't have to be so afraid. If someone else is gone because of this, it's not your fault nor your responsibility.

You have no obligation to safeguard any life other than your own." (Lastia)

Stop being afraid of losing us. It was way easier to think up such a statement, yet it was so hard to say it out loud... No good, you can't get desparate now! Restrain yourself, all of your regrets, your pain... It will all disappear once the day ends anyway. That's why... You should... I should take all the pain myself. It's better if someone incomplete like me is forgotten anyway.

I am less than a friend, I am a fraction of an acquaintance. I will never really get to know someone as I only have a single day to spend with them, they will never get to know 'me', because 'I' will never have enough time to develop as a person.

"NO OBLIGATION?!! What the hell are you talking about?! I truly cannot comprehend you right now!

Is it not so simple that I want everyone to live!?" (Sariel)

Why are we fighting? We only want each other to be safe. However, that's also why...!

My magic surges in my body, if what I went through just a few minutes prior could be considered a warmup, albeit its degree of lethality. Then... This will be the real fight. My blood pumps faster, {Feed} has taken effect on the entire field once more. Unless they do something to get rid of {Feed}, I'll be sucking the atmosphere dry of magic, preventing even the opponent's passive accumulation of magical energy. I cut of their source of magic while enhancing mine by taking everything.

I'm now fully healed. She wasn't injured before, so I wouldn't even have an advantage despite using {Feed}. It's only back to square 1. Without {Swap} working properly, she'll beat me fair and square. However, there's an insignificant but crucial difference. There's a reason my ability is called {Feed} and not {absorb} or anything else. While many words convey the idea of usurping or simply taking from someone else, {Feed} also includes digestion and assimilation.

As long as I no longer have any more injuries... The excess magic that I absorb on top of that causes me to get physically stronger. According to a previous Lastia, I had gained immense strength after fighting the bat Trace. Yet, it was not sufficient to deal with Sariel. Right now... Even if I absorb more magic from the atmosphere it still wouldn't be enough, I had already used up most of the magic in the air to heal up. I also used most of the time spent talking on recovering my body...

My power right now is only imperceptibly stronger than before. Even so, I'll fight for my desires. I was pinned down by my fear, but this time, I will initiate.

"Let's duel. One more time." (Lastia)

I leaped forward, but before I noticed she had already come into breathing distance. She wasn't as perturbed as I believed, in fact she was so calm right now it made everything before look like an act. This is unfavourable, but I have no choice. I ignored her and swung my arm without hesitation. Her right arm was practically inside my chest already as my knuckles slammed into her face.

Without any competition, my body flew back rapidly and was about to slam into the ground floor. {Feed}, this was the technique a Lastia devised when fighting against the bat Trace. Consume the gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, and heat, rapidly cause the velocity to decline... My feet dug into the ground at the edge of the roof, much to Sariel's horror.

I quickly spat out a bucket's worth of blood before I risk choking on it. She punctured my lung, broke a large number of my ribcage and minor bones as well as heavily damaged my flesh with those bone shards. What's worse was that I stopped myself abruptly so I wouldn't fly off the roof. It felt like a wrecking ball crushing my body into the wall as fast as it could.

I'm a mess, I'm practically about to faint from the pain here. But I stand up. Sariel leaps once more. I wonder what I was thinking? I seriously had no chance from the start. I suppose I was hopelessly naive, I wanted to put all my strength and then even more into everything I did, so that I wouldn't regret anything in the last waking moments of my life. I have so little time to do anything, I'm practically rushing through the entirety of my own life. Because it's only one day, compared to everyone else, of course I'm rushing it 36500 times faster.

I need to achieve what I can, while I can. Or I would have no meaning. This Lastia will become less than a footnote in 'my' own diary. She won't even exist. I would hate that. It's over. My mind would give in at any moment now, simply standing was a miracle. I had... No chance from the start. I can't even move my body anymore.

"...?! What am I doing?! Are you okay?!" (Sariel)

Her stiff and stern expression melted instantly into one of anxiety. She rushed over and put her arms around me, hugging me tightly. Oddly enough I could still feel her warmth even if I was on the verge of passing out. It was comforting.

"You... You won't die, will you?" (Sariel)

I mustered my remaining strength to shake my head. At the very least, even if I can't make her prioritise herself... I could at least reduce her worries by being cooperative. I wonder, if I wake up... Will I wake up? My body is too beat up this time, I might take until tomorrow just to recover by then... My diary would not get updated, the me of tomorrow wouldn't know we had a fight.

Regardless of whether I won or loss, I think the only thing that scares me is if I forgot about this fight... It's an experience that's painful, but also precious. I can't even open my lips, it looks like I'll be going soon. I turn my eyes from the ground, and stare into Sariel's. She had been graciously holding me up, I'll trouble her further to take me somewhere safe. This might be goodbye. I tried to convey that with my eyes.