*
When Arin pulled away slightly, her eyes shone with a glint as if to burn the image of Lastia into her mind. Her lips carved a smile after lightly gaping, as if her joy could no longer be contained. It had to be shared, if not in the future then at least now. The fear of losing each other was lurking and familiar, a spectre hanging at the back of their minds.
How long till th other disappears? How long until the dream ends? Lastia couldn't help but bury her face into Arin's, pecking lightly on the lips before resting her head on her cheek.
"Thank god... You're back, and I got a connection with Giselle. We can finally all be together, no more heavenly kings, no more Eterna or other random threats." (Lastia)
"Will Giselle be okay? She's still out there isn't she?" (Arin)
It seemed like they were both special cases, sharing Giselle's memories the moment they were resurrected. Eterna passed on her karma, her ties to the world and the living to Arin. Reality was too strange to describe from an observer's perspective like Lastia's, in actuality it's almost as if Arin inhabited Eterna's corpse and brought it to life. Eterna was weakened and about to vanish, but A grade magic circuits and depth wasn't anything difficult for her to salvage from her own body.
As a magical girl, Lastia was hypersensitive to her surroundings, perhaps more so than ever before. That's why at this moment, she was taking in all the signs of life. The light shining in her eyes, the warmth she gave off through holding hands, the sounds she made as she moved and spoke, and even her scent and taste a moment ago...
"Hey!" (Sariel)
As if waking up from a spell, Lastia shook for a moment and turned to see her surroundings. The sentinels were all there, those that vanished due to Eterna's new laws, the deaths that occurred today had all been successfully reversed after her defeat. Well, most of them weren't watching the pair intently. Some of them gazed in other directions bashfully, while others smiled knowingly.
It was a fact, Lastia forgot about her surroundings and was entirely engrossed in the girl before her. If possible, she naturally wouldn't want to die at all or be separated from Arin ever again. Though now she was dying of embarrassment! Her cheeks grew slightly hot and her heart was seized in her throat as she attempted to control her twitching expression.
"Sorry... I forgot..." (Lastia)
She stuck out her tongue, in a vain attempt to distract the others with something cute.
"... You can join in too, Sariel. Don't be shy!" (Arin)
"Haa~!" (Sariel)
She lunged at them. Her emotions were running at an all time high, as the person left behind in the world of the living, she was definitely the most anxious. The other 2 had recovered from their pre-death anxiety, they merely welcome her with warm smiles. Softly, they adjusted to hug Sariel in the middle, with Lastia gently patting her back.
"Arin! On 2, 2!" (Lastia)
Gathering on each side of Sariel, Lastia gave the side of her forehead a peck before chuckling. Arin whilst hesitant, made up her mind quick and followed up on the other side. Perhaps Sariel deserved at least this much, for persevering, for what they likely considered harder than fighting to the death, living on. Her emotions must have crushed her when she lost Lastia and Arin, it'd be stranger if it didn't.
Honestly, Lastia found it hard to imagine what that felt like, as the one who left the earliest she bore the most guilt. Miracles like these typically never exist. When you bend the rules to clandestinely bring back someone from the dead, there's a degree of concern whether the revived person is actually the same person that died or a convincing clone. Tricking the heavens which is a prerequisite, makes it even more of a concern.
However... Lastia was recognised by Yggdrasil, Arin was recognised by the Elven Great Forest. Acknowledgement by the divine concepts presiding over the heavens should be enough proof that they are the originals. It should be... Shouldn't it?
"It's alright. {Sorrows of a beloved maiden} Is the rejection of disappointment, of outcomes that were determined as failure.
The future is ours to thread. So stop worrying your little heads about it! " (Sariel)
"... Whoa! When did our Sariel get so reliable?" (Lastia)
" You calling us dumb?! " (Arin)
They slip into a cackle of laughter, for once in a very long time... They lived in the moment without worrying about the future or past.
Putting some space between them, Lastia looked around. Other than Taneda and Alice, it seemed everyone left. The world was back to normal, they might have gathered somewhere else to discuss plans, but for now it seems they were left alone.
"... Looks like there are exactly 26 A grades, so since we're in that 26 are we sentinels too?" (Lastia)
She directed her gaze to Taneda, the sentinel or the A ward residential zones. She was more or less their immediate superior as a magical girl, or more accurately the designated senior meant to mentor them. They've met all the sentinels at last, and they didn't seem to be a cohesive bunch, only gathering when the world ends and splitting up immediately after.
"Hey, yeah! Alice you're frome zone A1 right? But you're also a sentinel? Is that how they knew who you were? " (Sariel)
She observed them chatting up earlier, the 3 magical girls of zone A1 were all A grades and seemed familiar enough with the others. They spoke briefly while Lastia and Arin were immersed in their reunion.
" Y... Yeah. Isn't it fitting? For a sentinel, my loyalty is to humanity after all. Also it's fine to be a sentinel, it's not some imaginary power from the sky, though that might be the case for some people...
All in all, any A grade can qualify. We get government pay too, part of the defence budget does to raising us. Ah! But don't go thinking we're fossils like some of the others, we're the same age as you! We've also surpassed our generation, we had to. " (Alice)
Most magical girls stop at C grade, most magical girls find a successor and retire by the time highschool ends. It was an unspoken rule. In the era of abundance, they've had plenty of media about magical girls even as the general public doesn't believe in their existence, it doesn't diminish their charm. No one wants to go down those gruesome ends, 'graduations' are extremely common, and casualties are extremely low save for freak accidents during the line of duty.