Spellheart [Luna & Jakers]

[☆Luna☆]

Before Sara's mana even begins to flow into her newly created Spell circles, Astra's Lockdown bursts. The flow damage that it causes reduces both Astra's and Sara's flow to zero.

 

[Jakers]

As much as she tried, Sara looked like she wanted to cast her spell, but couldn't, taking up a somewhat pained expression at the loss of her flow. Eventually, the Caeru Gumshots both fired off when Lockdown worn off, the blue goo soaring through the air and splattering against the floor.

"...O-Oh, I can see how that can come in a lot of use. That person would have got away by now. A-And now, I've wasted precious resources for nothing." Sara mumbled. "We have a multitude of ways to shut down powerful spells, now. I was worried my lack of defence would put everyone in danger." Sara meekly said. Looking up, "There is one more key spell I have; I mentioned it briefly earlier, I think, but it would be better to see it in practice. I think we will have a good grasp of each other after that. The gum I just shot that's on the floor now... u-um, please pay attention to it."

Readying a spell circle, a brief delay came, before Sara's spell circle sparked. The blue goo that'd hit the floor previously bubbled for a moment, before burning away in a flash of volatile, blue flames.
"...Whoever is hit by that will be freed of the goo, but... it will hurt quite a bit. Especially if they've been hit by that multiple times; it'll hurt all the more then. I would rather keep them immobilised, and then proceed to use my weapon against them or call for the two of you's help, but it's an option if I need to focus on taking somebody out. It's how I've managed to win my previous one versus one duels."

Sara clasped her hands around her staff lightly.
"...I also have another spell, but... u-um... I don't want to hit any of you two with my staff to demonstrate how it works. It essentially empowers my staff strike so it will knock an enemy back, giving me the potential to get them onto a gel trail and ruin their positioning, and it will also briefly halt the control of their spell power. So if an enemy is holding a lot of spells back and waiting for the right moment to use them, I will be able to force them to use them with that spell. Capiche?"

 

[☆Luna☆]

Astra seems pleased with Sara's assessment of her spell, and therefore adds no further commentary to that end. However, she does seem ready to add something when Sara burns the gel that she laid down earlier. "That seems particularly useful if Shibo gets taken out of the fight. It isn't particularly useful in the case where the match has just begun, but realistically we'd fall back on this if we needed to go on the offensive after setting up, or if we needed to retaliate someone overwhelming Shibo's defense. I'd imagine she will likely be the one who is taken out first in the majority of the fights purely on the basis that she is the easiest to hit. As for your other attacks, they also have synergy with my weapon."

Astra pulls out a glowing white bow from her Aether pocket. As she pulls back, an arrow materializes in place. Astra turns and points her bow directly at Sara without warning. At this range, it should have been impossible to dodge, but surprisingly, Sara remains completely unharmed. The arrow is gone.

 

[Jakers]

Instinctively flinching when the bow was pointed at her, Sara let out a quiet squeak as Astra made the gesture to fire the arrow, understandably frightened at the fact of getting shot, even in illusionspace. When the arrow didn't come, however, Sara opened one eye, her face unclenching and her eyes going both curious and relieved.
"...U-Um..." Sara looked around a little. "...W-What just happened?"

 

[☆Luna☆]

Instinctively flinching when the bow was pointed at her, Sara let out a quiet squeak as Astra made the gesture to fire the arrow, understandably frightened at the fact of getting shot, even in illusionspace. When the arrow didn't come, however, Sara opened one eye, her face unclenching and her eyes going both curious and relieved.
"...U-Um..." Sara looked around a little. "...W-What just happened?"

Astra, "Before I answer, could you please take a step to the left?"

As soon as Sara completes the movement, the arrow reappears at the point where Astra fired it, retaining all the momentum that it had when she first fired the bow. "My bow is called the temporal empress bow. It has the unique ability of freezing the arrows I fire in place in the moment after I fire. In layman's terms, I'd call it, 'saving the attack for later'. If you are able to lead a target to a specific place, I can launch this attack at point blank even from a distance. This is especially useful against opponents that either do not know about my weapon or did not see me perform the attack because their vision of me was obscured. Together, even your techniques which are not traditionally lethal can be made so."

 

[Jakers]

"O-Oh-! It was there? But... a-ah...!" Sara wheezed as the arrow went flying near her.
"Relax, scaredy-cat, it didn't hit you." Shibo chuckled. "Let her explain. .......Because I have no idea what just happened." Shibo added under her breath.

Sara seemed confused about the description at first, but after some brief evaluation, she seemed to understand.
"Ah... now I think I understand; that is a very intriguing ability for a bow." Sara said, mystified somewhat. "I-I see what you are getting at: if you can ready multiple arrows at the end of one of my trails... um... they won't be very delighted to reach the end of it. If Shibo also gets ready to greet them at the other end with her sword in hand, it may be enough to get rid of them if they're unprepared." Sara rubbed her chin. "This branches up new possibilities entirely. I think the consensus for our fighting strategy should be to focus down people one at a time using all of these methods we've discussed. Though, clearly, that might vary depending on what we're up against." Rubbing her hand over the top of her staff, Sara looked up. "So now, we're au fait with eachothers abilities?"

"Unless you wanna see mine actually in action, Astra, but the other two aside from Redwing Guard are pretty basic. Diffusion Slash lets me quickly negate an oncoming spell, and acts as an empowered slash if it hits an enemy. Crimson Ultraslash is a very powerful, wide-range slash that'll do some serious damage to whoever it hits, but it's pretty costly. I doubt I'd risk using it in one of our fights unless I'm absolutely sure it'll take someone out, and it'd be worth charging up." Shibo mentioned.

 

[☆Luna☆]

Astra comments on Sara's assessment, "I'd agree. Our two main ways of securing a victory would be to either gain an advantage in numbers by an early pick off or to lure the enemy team into getting wiped by my awakening. Either way, one fact seems to be clear. We don't want to be out in the open unless we are prepared for an all-out offensive. At the beginning of every match, we should retreat initially. I imagine this will play out wildly differently based on who our opponents are, but it gives us the most options for how we combat the opponent."

"But also, before we call an end to this meeting, I have one more disruptive tool in my toolkit." Astra casts Voiding Pulse. "If you would, both of you try to cast as many spells as possible."

With a slow nod from Shibo, and a quiet 'okay' from Sara, the two girls began to ready a large amount of spell circles, with Shibo preparing multiple Diffusion Slashes (10), and with Sara starting to send out spell circles to create six different Turcosa Gel Trails (5) at once.

Once again, Astra casts her spell the moment before mana starts to flow into the spell circles. When Voiding Pulse bursts, a purple wave is generated that extends outward 7 feet in every direction. As the wave touches spell circles, it inflicts 5SP damage to each. Because every single spell circle had no SP stored within, they all shatter.

Astra explains, "Voiding pulse attacks spell circles by trying to attack the construct that holds it together. If the spells have mana stored in them already, some of that mana will disperse to protect the circle's integrity, but if it doesn't have enough mana then the circle will collapse completely. This is probably my most versatile spell, but I need to be careful since the wave does not distinguish between friend and foe."

 

[Jakers]

"Oh, um... I-I trust you will, but be very careful about using that then. I tend to ready a lot of spell circles at once, and all of them have quite low costs. I will be in a very poor situation if my spells are broken. I can fend people off with my stave in melee combat, but... when my ward breaks, and I have no spell circles ready to be cast, that is the sign that my end is nigh." Sara mumbled.

"So, uh. That's everything? There's... a hell of a lot of options we have, but I reckon a good idea versus any set of opponents would be to weaken one with Sara's goo stuff, she can get in and out of there, and I'll protect Astra from projectiles and rushers whilst she charges to finish them off." Shibo suggested.

"That... is very situational, though, Shibo." Sara interjected. "My gum is quite easy - in fact, extremely easy - to magically block, as it isn't actually a damaging spell. If the enemies block my gum, I may be able to get out again, but I've wasted precious resources. The idea of me hitting someone into a trail and you and Astra setting up, how to say it... a..." Sara looked for the word. "'Death trail', of sorts, might just work. They definitely won't be expecting it, and even if it fails, I wouldn't have wasted as much as using some of my gum. The gum is definietely still an option, but the trail idea is one that would definitely be fun to play around with." Sara's eyes widened for a moment. "U-Um... did I say 'fun'? I meant... u-useful..."

"Mmm... I'm sure you did, little miss." Shibo muttered under her breath, causing Sara to look bashful. "But yeah. I guess it all depends. Talking won't solve much more." Shibo shrugged, before turning to Astra. "Is there anything you'd physically like to work on now? As in, trying out different combinations of our spells. I don't mind being the test dummy if you want to see how reliably you can work with Sara, and I'll try and put up as much of a fight as I can to stimulate a real opponent."

 

[☆Luna☆]

Just as the group prepares to get ready for the practice match, Astra gets a notification from her aether pocket. Checking to see what happened, Astra comments, "Shibo, I think we should start heading for the arena. It looks like a big match is going to take place. Amiko, Marcy, and Mio are facing Sid, Kido, and Macky in a three on three best of 3 match. It looks like the match is going to draw quite a crowd, so the match has been scheduled to allow for anyone who wants to spectate the match in real time. If we want to get good seats, we should leave right away."

 

[Jakers]

Shibo looked up at Astra, somewhat confusedly. Wasn't she supposed to forget about those three until further notice - and work towards helping from a distance? Watching Am', Marcy and Mio certainly wouldn't soothe the pain, but... Astra must've had her reasons. Shibo gave a sharp nod in response.
"All right. Let's get going, then; I think we're done here anyway." Shibo mumbled. Sara, meanwhile, looked a little bit paler than usual for some reason.

"Um... did you say Mio?" Sara quietly spoke up.
"She did." Shibo quickly replied. "Is something the matter?"
"N-No... um. No. I..." Sara paused for a moment, cocking her head. "Do you know her, Shibo?"

Shibo kept quiet for a moment. Was there a problem here? The way Sara was asking things seemed innocent enough, but she couldn't help but feel a little bit threatened somewhat.

"I was put against her the arena, so yes, I do know her. Slightly." Shibo replied. "It's like you said: she's a sweet girl, and a lonely one, too. Now... do you want to tag along, or not? Watching this fight is... important to me, and you might not understand why, but it is, okay?"

Sara looked a bit paler for a moment, before swallowing and giving a slight nod, colour returning to her cheeks.
"N-No... um. I suppose I will come, i-if you two will allow it. I do not have anything better to do, and like I mentioned before, I enjoy watching three versus three fights. It is a learning experience as much as it is entertainment."

"Good. Let's get going then." Shibo said, her voice a little less laid back than usual and more defensive within the whole brief ordeal. With that, Sara closed the illusionspace, and the three set off to the arena.

 

[☆Luna☆]

On the way to the arena, Astra seems surprisingly talkative, "This match has a lot of hype behind it. Sid, Kido, and Macky are well known for their crude methods in the arena. Sid is the team's aggressive close range brawler. He likes to finish off his opponents by paralysing them so that they are forced to watch helplessly until he finally ends their life. Kido is their tank. He has mostly spells that allow him to move between allies quickly and defend them, but if he catches someone without a ward then they need to watch out or he will turn them into a child. Macky is probably the worst of the bunch. She is the team's siege-carry. Her ultimate spell, Siren's Call, can take control of a single target. She enjoys making teams lose their chemistry by making her target defeat their own team in the most brutal manner possible, often resorting to sexual assault."

"Contrastingly, Amiko, Mio, and Marcy don't yet have a reputation in the arena, but they do in the realm of politics. Marcy is the team's midrange harasser. She combines the flexibility of a utility player and the aggressiveness of a brawler. She is known outside of the arena for killing her own mother in cold blood. Mio is the team's... trickster? She doesn't have a clear role, but many opponents have expressed an inability to adapt to her unique fighting style. People are quite wary of her due to the massive amount of time it took for her to be admitted. Lastly, is Amiko, who has fought so little in the arena that nobody is certain what her role is. She has only ever cast one spell, the Astral Storm, which leads people to believe she is a siege-carry; however, her short-ranged weapon seems to suggest otherwise. She is an enigma inside and out of the arena. Although she is marked as a suspicious person, she has connections with people throughout the town, and many people contact her for business purposes on the down low. There are rumors that she is planning a government uprising." Astra concludes with silence, letting the facts speak for themselves rather than passing her own judgement.

After about five seconds of silence, "I'm going for my own reasons, but do not force yourself to come if you aren't prepared to see that sort of battle."

 

[Jakers]

After hearing the lineup, Shibo's eyes twitched a little with fury. It wasn't hard to see what was going on here. They were trying to dissuade Amiko from fighting anymore by putting them against such a brutal lineup. And even if that wasn't the case, allowing such horrible potential in the arena to be allowed was... questionable, to say the least.

Yes, anything went in the arena, but this? This squad of three were the 'mental-breakers', the ones who made examples of people, the ones who gave people experiences they'd be forced to forget. Mio definitely wasn't going to pull through or want to fight anymore if things went badly for them.

Am', Marcy, and Mio... the three had to win, fast. They had to...

After considering the enemy lineup, Sara looked a bit sick, balling up a fist in front of her mouth and emitting a quiet gag.
"I-I've changed my mind." She stammered. "I... I'm sorry, but you'll have to watch that without me. I've only heard things about what those three can do. It makes me ill." Sara whimpered. "P-Please contact me when you're ready for us to meet up again, Astra. ...B-Bye." With that, Sara scurried off, leaving just Astra and Shibo, who looked balled-up furious.

"...Cunts!" She hissed under her breath, her teeth gritting and snarly as she pronounced the 's', near inaudibly. It was the most horrible word she could find, and it was intentional. She'd never heard of these three, but if they were as bad as Astra described... and... Marcy killing her mother? There had to be a reason for that; her mother must've been a real piece of work, and if not, maybe that was tied to why Amiko and Marcy broke up. Regardless, what could happen at the fight was all that was on Shibo's mind right now.

"I'm staying with you. I need to watch this for my own reasons too." Shibo added, after a pause to calm herself down. "But this... this lineup. It has to be intentional, doesn't it? You know what's going with Amiko and her plans, don't you? It's what I'm fighting to back up, to stop this fucking shit! And of course Mio has to be exposed to this too. Of fucking course, way to go, way to..." Shibo trailed off in anger, looking like she was about to kick something. It wasn't just a hissy-fit of anger, it was easy to tell that Shibo was properly ticked off, and containing herself as much as she could. "All I can do is hope they win. In fact, I just hope none of them are exposed to anything vile by the three. I hope they win cleanly, or they lose cleanly, either outcome is fine. But the fact they let things like that slide in the arena is despicable. This is definitely something I can convince the Aozoa line to stop."

Shaking her head,
"...Let's go. We'll meet with Sara tomorrow." Shibo muttered. "She's very sensitive, and she'd likely be in tears and be in permanent fear of ever being against that three if she watched what happened today. She's probably always been afraid of it since we invited her to join, but now that she's actually heard about it, she's terrified."

 

[☆Luna☆]

Astra gives Shibo a few moments to calm down. One could only imagine how mad Shibo was right now. Astra tries to respect this, but also must say more, "Shibo, remember how we discussed the big picture earlier? I let you know ahead of time what you'd find at the arena in part because I didn't want you to be caught off guard. Had you reacted this violently in public, your reputation would be placed under question, and your leaving would have been for nothing."

Astra places a hand on Shibo's shoulder, "I understand that you are angry, and you have every right to be angry. So, I want to hear all your frustrations, but when you are done, I'm going to show you your path forward."

 

[Jakers]

"Under question?!" Shibo growled, turning around. "So nobody else would be a little bit pissed off to find out that forcing someone to rape someone else in an arena fight, to break their will is an allowed tactic, then? People would single me out because of that? This is all news to me. I must be living in a different fucking city!" Shibo tried not to raise her voice too much, as anyone could be listening, but it was a hard constraint.

"All of my frustrations? Look, Astra..." Shibo shook her head, shaking off Astra's hand. "Even if you want to hear them all, me letting them all out won't calm me down. There's just so many. It'll just make me even more angry than I already am, because every day, I seem to be learning something different that I don't agree with. It makes me wonder, more and more every day that passes, do I really belong here? Have I been raised wrong? Is there something wrong with me that makes me think in a different way to everyone else?" Shibo exasperatedly took a deep breath of air, harshly running a foot through the dirt. In a flash, her eyes turned from total anger, to total sadness, her salmon-red pupils trailing across the ground.

"I just don't want anything horrible to happen to them. I still don't fully understand what Amiko's doing, but... if she's broken by today, then..." Shibo's eyes watered, but no tears fell. "And Mio totally lost it just because she felt bad about hurting me. She's extremely sensitive, not used to the sometimes-brutal ways of the arena. And if something disgusting happens to her, or Amiko - who she seems to care a lot about - she might just feel so awful that she'll commit a suicidal stunt. And that's not an exaggeration... I-I can see it happening..." Shibo's voice cracked, threatening to turn into a sob, but she put herself together as she put a hand in front of her eyes.

"I have to take Mio's place, that's what I have to do..." Shibo's hand in front of her eyes turned into a clenched fist at her side again. "And if that isn't it, what's this 'path-forward', huh? What can I possibly do that's going to fix everything or make this situation better?"

 

[☆Luna☆]

Astra looks back towards Shibo with her eyes as wide and unfocused as ever, like she was looking right past Shibo, "Shibo, you are different, but not in the way you think you are. You wanted to know why people allow groups like Macky's to behave so shamefully. People don't support Macky. She and her group are one of the most shunned groups in all Spellheart. They are refused service all over town, hold no voice, and have earned the universal ire of the citizens for their conduct. However, they are allowed to exist because they are useful. In the event of a real battle, they are soldiers who can act without regard for human life. They don't harm anyone outside of illusionspace, and that which happens inside illusionspace isn't real. Groups are not obligated to accept a challenge, physical bodies aren't affected by their actions, and even our mental space is protected through the memory feature. As far as the public is concerned, Macky's group is nothing more than harmless losers."

"If you can't understand that, then try to think about what you just said about Mio. You thought she was sensitive because she couldn't even kill you from within illusionspace without losing it. From your perspective, killing another person from within illusionspace is a mundane event. From Mio's, it was like killing you in cold blood. She must have thought, 'how could Shibo justify doing something so terrible, even if it wasn't real. I could never do that.' But when you found her scared and alone, did you understand how she felt?"

Astra's voice grows harsh, "You aren't as different as you think you are. You blame everyone around you for allowing something so horrible to take place right before their eyes, yet it is not as though these events are new. These sorts of things have existed for hundreds of years before your birth. You've grown up with them without question. You were the same, but meeting Amiko changed you. You've opened your eyes to a new perspective and you see monsters all around you. You ask, where did all these monsters come from? Haven't you realized, they were always there, but you failed to see them as monsters. You've only just now opened your eyes to this world, but this has been Amiko's world since she was a young girl. How can you so arrogantly proclaim that the problem is beyond solution when that girl is still fighting? How can you say they are beyond saving when you were just like them? Didn't you say you wanted to help her?"

 

[Jakers]

Shibo's expression wasn't really something you could describe with a word. It was on the borderline of being angered further, yet it seemed captivated by Astra's words at the same time. It was like Shibo really didn't know how to feel about what was being said to her, clueless in her reaction, before she shook her head.

"Of course I want to help her! You've already seen my first action to truly help... but putting those three against her, will she just forget about it and move on?" Shibo's eyes grew dull. "I can't read Amiko. She was teaching me how to be more observant, but that's over now. I don't know if this fight is designed to break her, and I don't know if things are going to escalate worse from here. Yes, I've only just opened my eyes, but... that's the point. I've only just opened my eyes. I've only just woken up. So now I think I need to be taught like a baby again, from the start, about how things really are so I can properly fight to fix everything. My most useful asset to help her now is my family name, but if doing the slightest thing will rouse suspicious and shame the Aozoa name, how am I supposed to convert my whole family to successfully supporting Amiko's cause? I said I wanted to help, I left what we had, even if it wasn't much, to help, but I don't know if I can follow through."

Shibo paused, before her eyes were in the usual position they were when she was mad or angry at herself.
"I'm just sick of being doubtful like this. I know my time to learn and grow accustomed to these monsters will come, eventually, but I'm worried I'm going to be more of a hindrance than an asset. I might get my family in trouble for no pay-off whatsoever; trying to bend their ways to fulfil my goal to help Amiko feels like a crime. And I don't want to be a useless person watching from the sidelines, either, what's the point of that? If I can't understand most things at first glance, how am I supposed to dive into something so complex straight from the deep end without drowning?"

A long silence followed.
"Just stop pitying me, Astra. If you think I'm never going to be of any help, just say it."

 

[☆Luna☆]

Astra relaxes, no longer appearing as stern as she was before, "I'm not here to give you answers Shibo. As far as I'm concerned, I'm neutral in this battle. I know you've thought of me as being Amiko's ally, but I can't say that is entirely correct. As Spellheart's seer, I know how what everyone is trying to accomplish and for what reasons. But, the very fact that I've chosen to interact with you is because I respect, not pity, you. I want you to find your way, and to accomplish what you can from your own works. It isn't my place to interfere. If you believe that you will be a hindrance to your cause, you can leave without hurting my feelings. But, you should spend some time thinking about this. What do you want to do? What did you think you could accomplish from the outside that you couldn't from within."

Astra smiles, "And since the fight hasn't started yet, you could also say that this is your last chance to change your mind. If you are concerned about your family name, then you never had any business helping Amiko from the outside." Astra begins walking towards the public entrance to the arena where Spellheart's citizens can go to watch the fights that occur in the arena.

 

[Jakers]

Shibo's head dipped somewhat.
"So you're neutral in this whole thing, are you." She mumbled, her tone deflated somewhat at first. "If you're actually here to help me find my own way, I don't know what that is. I've got a hundred paths to go down and I don't know which one takes me to where I want to go. If I just randomly pick one I'm guaranteed to just go somewhere useless." Shibo shook her head slowly. "...But I'm here now, aren't I. If I was randomly chosen to switch my life to this whole thing, if I was the one who protected Amiko that day without even knowing it, it would be stupid of me to back out now. There's so much I can do, I know there is. But I need to be so precise to do it right, and I don't even know where to start. I need time, but if things like this are going to happen to Amiko whilst I get this time, I just want to rush."

Shibo looked at Astra smiling at her. For a moment, she didn't know why, but it annoyed her. That sweet smile of Astra's was definietely supposed to offer comfort, friendliness - no doubt about it - but for some reason all Shibo felt was slightly humiliated and patronised. Was it because Astra had the potential to know so much? Was it because Shibo was understanding day-by-day how little she really knew?

"Look... I... I know I'm not the saviour to everything. I know if I back out now, it's not going to be the end of the world for Am' and... what she has planned. But... I know I can help if I play my cards right. And yes, of course I want to help. I want to help her see her end goal as quickly as she can, and as best as she can. I'm going to figure out how to do it. I am." Shibo began telling herself at this point, before she looked up. She was so lost in talking mostly to herself, that she hadn't realised that Astra was walking away to the arena entrance. Shibo considered everything, looking back, thinking of the worst, before swallowing and following Astra.

"And as much as I want to take Mio's place, I know all that'll do is harm rather than good. I need to do what Am' would want me to do... to play my cards right, rather than just following my heart. You have foresight, don't you? You know it can't end well..." Saying all of this made Shibo looked crushed, to say the least. It was clear that she'd do anything to take the place of one of those girls, but for the sake of drawing less attention to herself and making a more tactical descision, she had to force herself back.

"So for now... this is something I need to watch as well." Shibo simply murmured, her voice as deflated as could be. Her overwhelming guilt her heart felt aside, Shibo, as well as keeping a low profile, wanted to make sure everything was in the slightest bit of check. She wanted to decipher everything she could by watching the fight, by trying to see the officials behind it, because Amiko, Marcy, and Mio were a trio as high on a 'watchlist' as you could get. Maybe if she watched this battle, she could uncover something else that was really going on.

 

[☆Luna☆]

Shibo's head dipped somewhat.
"So you're neutral in this whole thing, are you." She mumbled, her tone deflated somewhat at first. "If you're actually here to help me find my own way, I don't know what that is. I've got a hundred paths to go down and I don't know which one takes me to where I want to go. If I just randomly pick one I'm guaranteed to just go somewhere useless." Shibo shook her head slowly. "...But I'm here now, aren't I. If I was randomly chosen to switch my life to this whole thing, if I was the one who protected Amiko that day without even knowing it, it would be stupid of me to back out now. There's so much I can do, I know there is. But I need to be so precise to do it right, and I don't even know where to start. I need time, but if things like this are going to happen to Amiko whilst I get this time, I just want to rush."

Shibo looked at Astra smiling at her. For a moment, she didn't know why, but it annoyed her. That sweet smile of Astra's was definietely supposed to offer comfort, friendliness - no doubt about it - but for some reason all Shibo felt was slightly humiliated and patronised. Was it because Astra had the potential to know so much? Was it because Shibo was understanding day-by-day how little she really knew?

"Look... I... I know I'm not the saviour to everything. I know if I back out now, it's not going to be the end of the world for Am' and... what she has planned. But... I know I can help if I play my cards right. And yes, of course I want to help. I want to help her see her end goal as quickly as she can, and as best as she can. I'm going to figure out how to do it. I am." Shibo began telling herself at this point, before she looked up. She was so lost in talking mostly to herself, that she hadn't realised that Astra was walking away to the arena entrance. Shibo considered everything, looking back, thinking of the worst, before swallowing and following Astra.

"And as much as I want to take Mio's place, I know all that'll do is harm rather than good. I need to do what Am' would want me to do... to play my cards right, rather than just following my heart. You have foresight, don't you? You know it can't end well..." Saying all of this made Shibo looked crushed, to say the least. It was clear that she'd do anything to take the place of one of those girls, but for the sake of drawing less attention to herself and making a more tactical descision, she had to force herself back.

"So for now... this is something I need to watch as well." Shibo simply murmured, her voice as deflated as could be. Her overwhelming guilt her heart felt aside, Shibo, as well as keeping a low profile, wanted to make sure everything was in the slightest bit of check. She wanted to decipher everything she could by watching the fight, by trying to see the officials behind it, because Amiko, Marcy, and Mio were a trio as high on a 'watchlist' as you could get. Maybe if she watched this battle, she could uncover something else that was really going on.

Astra doesn't give Shibo a response. She seems oddly intense compared to before. Her eyes seemed to scour the crowd. She didn't look in any one particular direction for very long until she found herself looking in the VIP area. This area was sectioned off for the particularly important jobholders of Spellheart like government sector workers and business leaders. These areas are located on the fringes of the arena and are rooms rather than individual seats to allow them to conduct business.

While the arena was a job for Shibo, for much of Spellheart it was a particularly social event. Around the stadium, people seemed to be chatting idly amongst each other. There were even people who seemed to be dating. Most unusual however was the odd glances people nearby had given Shibo. When she took a seat next to Astra, the whispers started to hiss around her. Looking around, she might notice that nobody sat within two seats in every direction of Astra. Shibo was the lone exception.

 

[Jakers]

"..."

The eyes didn't set well with Shibo. The eyes, piercing into her from every direction. It was a feeling that she'd never truly experienced before, and all the whispering amidst doubtful and hurried glances made her stomach churl. Being the centre of attention was never an interest of hers, and to her delight, being the centre of attention was something that rarely happened to her.

But now, she was. And what sort of attention was this? Were the people confused, or angry, or disgusted? Or merely curious? Shibo didn't know how to decipher the looks, but she wasn't going to try to. Sitting down, she tried to avert her focus back to the fight. This weird feeling of being watched... being singled out amongst the rest; it was one thing that she might have to get used to. People obviously didn't know Astra and Shibo were partners, right?

Shibo managed to understand a few of the many things wrong with this situation, but there was no going back now. Instead of looking panicked or uneasy, Shibo instead focused her attention down to the arena, her eyes cool and unglazed. Both she and Astra had their own personal reasons for watching this fight, so she didn't fully know why she'd sat next to her and drawn attention to herself in the first place. ...No backing out now.

It was this, or fighting in Mio's place. It was clear what the 'right' choice was, but it was clearer which would draw attention more.