*
When it comes to complete destruction, she wouldn't hesitate. She casts her magic in an indivisable moment, no one will interrupted her casts, no one could post a resistance. She defeated every sentinel, the 3 behind Lastia are powerless after pouring all their magic into her. Lastia was the last obstacle between her and the end of humanity.
One step, two steps, her heels click despite contacting nothing. No one noticed, nobody was allowed to... But she travelled back in time. She has never travelled beyond the abundance era, firmly remaining in time periods where she is the sole deity. She faces her first threat, not even a deity but a mere undead... This must end in her victory, so she has taken it upon herself to respond with her full force.
Reaching the conception of Lastia, eager to prevent her from being. With a singer sword wave, she destroys Lastia's causal origin. As long as Lastia isn't born here... She would never have met and got along with Arin and Sariel. Right?
"Sup." (Arin)
She briefly flinches, not expecting such a presence in the maternity ward. It was the time of Lastia's birth, and they all stood calmly before Lastia's mother. She would go into labour in a few hours. For now, she was sound asleep. Eterna turns to face Arin, her composure instantly recovered, if Arin didn't saw it earlier she wouldn't have thought Eterna got spooked. The causal origin has been destroyed, she has won. Victory has arrived, what's there to be afraid of? Even so, Arin's calmness brings a degree of discomfort to her.
"Why are you here? Why can't I sense you?" (Eterna)
"... I see, you really have been driven into a corner if you must kill Lastia before she was born." (Arin)
"... Answer the question, or face eradication." (Eterna)
"... Eradication? I've been through that already. Fine, you couldn't sense me because I'm not real.
It's a magic that activates when someone tries to prevent her birth. You could say I'm part of your mind now, no one else can see me, not even fate." (Arin)
She's not the real Arin, but merely a portion of her that was left behind in the crevices of time. Unlike Lastia, Eterna can't conclude with certainty that Arin has some fantastical elements. She wasn't a being made of fairy tales, yet she's evading the eyes of the heavens. She claims even fate can't see her, and only Eterna can because she targeted Lastia's conception...
" A relic of a bygone era, what did you think you could achieve by appearing now? " (Eterna)
"Look closely, did your attack really land?" (Arin)
She turns her gaze to the woman on the bed, staring intently at her belly as if trying to glare a hole through it. Her senses told her... Nothing has changed. She was sure she targeted someone's destiny, so that it would never meet with who she was supposed to meet in this life. But it isn't as if what she did hadn't affected reality, it's more like... The hole she made in Lastia's destiny had mended itself. Her manifestation, Lastia's birth couldn't be changed by any shallow manipulation of fate.
She wasn't suppose to be born. The fetus should have died to some seemingly natural complication. Yet, there was a sort of corrective force removing her 'mistakes'.
"... Twin souls.. You you're-!?" (Eterna)
"Ah-ah. Nope. You'd need your full power if you want to change this fate. It's unfortunate that our talk come to an end, I'm curious about the future." (Arin)
She gazes tenderly at the swelling belly atop the hospital bed, a new life cradled within that had changed people's fates and would continue to do so. Not for any grand ideal about changing the world, world peace has been achieved, there's nothing left to strive for but her personal attachments and the love in her life. As if licking all over Lastia with affection, Arin's stare deepened into one of blissful joy and amusement.
" You won't succeed. All I needed to do was distract you for a moment. I'll leave the rest to her. Goodbye." (Arin)
Eterna didn't bother attacking the phantom. A figment of her mind's machinations? She could tell that Arin couldn't harm her in any way, that ghost like being wasn't equipped to. It didn't need to. Looks like its goal was just to distract her, it made logical sense.
Soft steps arrived behind her, she could feel a characteristic smile lingering there and leering at her. No need for words, her presence was unique. When there was a heavenly king, she was there. She was always there, even if she died she remained in the eye of the storm as Yggdrasil. A girl slaughtered and mistreated by fate, never meant to live a normal life. Is that... The reason behind Arin's existence? A soul determined to fall into the most chaotic dregs of history, someone needed to reign her life back in.
"How did you come here, Lastia?" (Eterna)
She had already forgotten about Arin. The phantom sealed a piece of her memory, a sliver of it so miniscule it usually wouldn't have mattered.
"I walked... I wasn't bound by the present, but I wasn't able to navigate the abyss either. I felt a familiar signal here, and headed straight for it." (Lastia)
'...signal?' (Eterna)
The lag in her arrival, was because she was lost. Now that she's here, it's like a one way trip without a signal back. Like a lone ship lost at sea. It was a one way trip.
For that alone, she'll earn a bit of Eterna's respect.
"... Lastia, preventing your birth. It was the easy way out, the most painless way for you to suffer defeat." (Eterna)
" It's okay, don't worry about me. Bring out the most painful method you can muster. I'll fight you head on." (Lastia)
" How absurd... Someone who could keep integrating the data that makes up my existence, at the same time someone who wouldn't die easily in battle...
A cobbled up existence ready to be blown into the storm at anytime as dust. Even if you make your {Envy} known, you don't seem all that intent on reaping your spoils. " (Eterna)
'You seem more intent on dying'. Eterna kept this thought silent. Her smile full of meaning, her eyes remained razor sharp and full of vigour. Her blond hair was immaculately pure and her elf ears shaped her face into a nice youthful facade. Though her facial muscles are too used to the expressions of a grandma.
She no longer used words as weapons, only probing out of curiosity. A deity's casual verbal jousting could manifest curses into reality. None of that was present now. It was just a pure question.
"You don't get it? Why my curse exists... Why everything fell into place...
I possess nothing but my body so I can keep envying the world. Arin can take all the blame she wants, but... Such a stupid decision must have been something I made." (Lastia)
I made Arin cast the curse. {Bartering} memories for power, the memories are burnt up, fueling the curse. The power is something I gain on my own for losing those memories. For someone who cared so deeply for me, it's as if I'm torturing her, not just in this reincarnation alone but everytime we reincarnate.
Should I set her free? What higher purpose did this serve? Can I set her free? I'm using her love against her, but she's in the position of power. She can stop at any time, but the kind of person that she is wouldn't allow that. It's only right, I fulfill my end of the deal.