*
I began chanting. There was no such requirement to activate magic, but that is if you only want to activate it. It's like gaining levels in a video game, for that one attack chanting will increase its potency. Whether the words are the same didn't matter. Some people might call it divine enchantment, if a magical girl did it in ancient times it would turn into a myth on its own. It's not a coincidence that gods are ascended from magical girls, people from ancient times couldn't describe them well so they were transcribed into legends and mythology instead.
An arm shot out of the ominous hole that showed up, it was dense in magic and at the minimum it was a creature of C grade or above. There was a slimy texture to it and an inhuman sheen that refracted, likely scales belonging to an aquatic creature. With my quick chanting I picked up as a skill, I pointed my index finger at hole and shot a concentrated beam of {Envy}. Processed and refined, it was a deadly spurt of magic numerous times more deadly than dense and concentrated raw magic. It burned a hole through the monster's green palm and released radiating waves of heat and radiation. The hole closed up the next instant, and my transformation wore off.
"Haa~ I'm beat..." (Lastia)
"Already?!" (Juri)
"Ah~ me too..." (Arin)
"..." (Sariel)
"What's gotten into you guys! We were just about to decide whose house we should meet at!" (Juri)
"... Then let's go to mine. You two know your way, so can you guys help her find her way there?" (Lastia)
" Don't be lazy, you should guide her yourself since you suggested it. "(Sariel)
" Uwahhh~ fine..." (Lastia)
From Juri's perspective, our behaviours might seem strange. From discussion to an abrupt laziness, tumbling heads slovenly onto the tables. I think we managed to throw her off, but seriously... The existence of magical girls is public knowledge now, though it remains far removed from the daily lives of everyone. We shouldn't have to try so hard just to conceal things from Juri, but habits are hard to kick. It also reminded me... What about those soldiers we killed? They were under Eterna's orders and it was a race against time, but Sariel treated their lives as nothing but specks of dust.
I raise my hand, much to her confusion and placed my palm atop her head. Rubbing it from side to side.
"Uhh... What's wrong?" (Sariel)
"Sariel has been a good girl. When schools done, let's have dinner together! Or maybe we can work on that project immediately and eat after! " (Lastia)
"Offuh~?!" (Juri)
"Hey! No fair!" (Arin)
Juri made a strange noise but it quickly got noisy again so no one noticed... She might have opened a strange door. The time for school to end draws near, the sky hasn't darkened but having experienced the same schooling hours over numerous days in their lifetime, the students know it'll get dark quite soon. Some people start to pack their things in preparation and classrooms get strangely quiet during these times, students get on their best behaviour so the teacher would dismiss them earlier...
For as much of a cultural importance is placed in studying, the children still yearn to reach home faster after a day of learning.
Juri walks ahead with Sariel leading the way. Not far behind, I lay back with Arin as we headed towards my home. My thoughts flashed across the strange happening in class, while short-lived it was still alarming. There were almost no more Trace invasions, after the Invader was defeated Trace occurrences went from around twice per week to once per month. After Eterna was defeated and our magical girl network was established, we even learned that some areas stopped facing Traces entirely.
"Arin..." (Lastia)
I squeezed out of my throat, unsure what tone I should take, what words I should use. What is right and what is wrong? What am I allowed to tell her? As the one who felled Eterna, I have largely assumed some of her roles. Even if it weren't the managerial side of it where she interferes with humanity's governance, it would be the arcane and divine side of it. Even then, I don't have access to the information that she did. A pale imitation, an inferior mimicry.
"Lastia." (Arin)
She calls out my name. It is only 3:30pm in the afternoon, the blazing sun casts the entire residential zone in blinding illumination. It was still winter but the afternoon heat beats out the climate, rather the heat welling up in my chest had nowhere to go. Her voice was steady and her forward looking expression was covered by her hair from my eyes.
She always knew how I felt. I'm starting to feel like it's crazy, just how did she know me better than I did? When I'm lost, she'll tell me I'm lost in her own way. Without words. She kept walking forward, but a faint smile lingered at the edge of her lips. That's right, she always had faith in me. I can't hide things from her forever, perhaps she's already seen through even that.
"I won't hide anything anymore. You know you're the most important thing to me." (Lastia)
"Ohoh? What do you mean?" (Arin)
"Hey! Stop flirting over there!" (Juri)
Before I noticed, her black pigtails had turned around, and she was barking something incomprehensible. My mind filters it out like noise, but she does look cute when all worked up like that. Now that I think about it, she was friends with Pheena and Feilin. Respectively, Pheena was into toku films and horror for Feilin. Juri... She definitely reads racy books about romance.
" Fufu~ my, you're super important to me too, Juri!" (Lastia)
I pull her small stature into my embrace, causing her to leak out a little yelp. She was like a soothing small animal, her body was squishy against my tummy too. A faint fragrance wafted from her head.
" Hey! It's hot!! And it's getting harder to walk, screw off!" (Juri)
"Alright alright~ then I'll go to Sariel." (Lastia)
As I press in with gradual steps, Sariel backed away with a blush. She couldn't slip out like Juri did, but it made me a little sad that she resisted the idea of a hug.
"It might smell..." (Sariel)
"Wha!?" (Lastia)
Like a hit to the gut, I keeled over, palms to the floor. Okay, I didn't dare to touch the dirty floor with my bare hands, but I crouched down and let my hair cover my face while pressing it against my knees.
"... Let's ignore her, I have a key too." (Arin)
Bit by bit, I heard their footsteps soften as they distanced themselves further away. Man, is it hot. I'm starting to sweat, better stand up and get going. Can't wait for the air conditioner at home...
" Haa~ Sariel is a maiden too." (Arin)