Is there really such a thing? Real friends, who last forever?

- Kodaka Hasegawa (Haganai)

Emily and I were seated beside the arena, and we could clearly hear the two combatants talking.

“Aria, we finally meet again,” her opponent said while glaring at Aria. “After all these years, I can finally have my revenge.”

“My apologies, but I can’t seem to remember who you are,” Aria replied, emotionless.

“So you even forgot about me,” the girl spoke while looking down. She then angrily snarled at Aria. “I will never forgive you!!!”

“The battle between Aria Silvermoon and Robyn Accalia, now begins!” The gong was hit, signaling the start of the battle.

***

Robyn immediately dashed around the stage, attempting to confuse Aria.

She’s fast.

Moving like those characters fighting in an anime, I almost can’t see her. Meanwhile, Aria was observing her surroundings carefully.

Robyn then charged towards her, however, Aria immediately used her scythe and cast a spell. “Phantom Shield.”

The shield didn’t break, however, the force from Robyn’s attack was too strong, and Aria was knocked back a little. Robyn dashed around again and attacked simultaneously. Aria couldn’t do anything but defend herself---Robyn was just too fast.

“Aria...” Emily’s hands were clamped together.

This is bad. Defending alone is not enough, her magic will eventually diminish but Aria’s opponent is too fast, she can’t even counter attack.

“You can’t defend forever you know!” Robyn attacked again, breaking Aria‘s shield. The force accumulated was too much, the spell couldn’t keep up. Aria was thrown quite far. “Hahahaha!!!” Robyn laughed maniacally.

“Aria!!!” Emily screamed.

“What’s wrong, Aria? Stop using Necromancy and use your Curse!” Robyn shouted.

Curse?

“What are you talking about?” Aria asked while looking at Robyn. “Who are you?!”

“You still don’t remember me? I know I changed my surname but my face never changed.” Robyn replied while looking at her right hand. She then switched her gaze towards Aria. “Let me refresh your memory for a bit, little miss cry baby.”

“I-It can’t be. R-Robby?” Aria, stuttered.

“At last, you remembered me. I will never forgive you for forgetting and leaving me back there!” Robyn roared her despair.

“N-no, you’re wrong. I have never forgotten you!” Aria responded while raising her left hand.

“Shut up!” Robyn shouted. “If you didn’t forget me then why didn’t you recognize me?”

“T-That’s because... That’s because you’re wearing a girl’s clothes right now!” Aria yelled.

… Huh?

“You’re a guy right?!” Aria questioned. “Why?”

My eyes then switched to Robyn’s skirt.

What?

“Why are you wearing a skirt?”

“EHHHHHH!!!” Everyone was shocked.

No. No. No. No.

Please, no.

“W-w-w-what are you talking about?” Robyn blushed.

“I’m sorry, Robyn. I didn’t know,” Dullahan spoke.

“Why Robyn, why?” a disappointed random demon shouted.

“It’s okay Robyn, we still accept you,” however, a bunch of random males cheered in unison.

It’s a trap!!!

“Noooo,” Robyn shrilled. “You guys are ALL WRONG!”

“It’s okay as long as there’s love,” the butler shouted.

“Shut up, you perverted butler!” Robyn rebutted towards the butler beside King Arthur. “I was never a man. I am always a girl!”

“Ehhh?!” Aria’s eyes widened.

“Really?!” Everyone’s doubts were instantly clarified.

“Yes, I... am... telling... the truth,” Robyn defended herself.

“I can testify she’s a girl. I used my ‘magic’~” Lucie confirmed.

“We believe you, Robyn!” a lot of her fans cheered in unison.

“Yeah, we do!” another bunch of random males shouted simultaneously.

“Just shut up,” Robyn angrily glared at Aria. “You will pay for this humiliation!”

“I-I’m sorry Robby,” Aria apologized. “I-I didn’t know.”

“Shut up!” Robyn dashed at Aria and grabbed her. “I will never forgive you.” She then threw her in the middle of the arena. “Why?!” and struck Aria with a series of attacks in every direction possible. “Why?!” Aria cast Phantom Shield again “Why did you leave me?!” However, Robyn was moving too fast. “I was alone!” Aria couldn’t keep up, she could only defend herself.

This is bad, Aria is losing

Once more, the shield broke, Aria was hit and was thrown into the wall of the arena creating some cracks.

“Aria,” Emily murmured after standing.

“I’m sorry,” Aria apologized, barely standing. She was wounded all over the place.

“If you won’t fight me seriously then I might as well end this.” Robyn removed her boots and her bracelets. “We don’t need you in this castle!”

Something’s happening to her. The aura around her is changing. I don’t like this feeling.

Robyn transformed; her arms and feet turned like that of a clawed beast. With the addition of a tail and fangs, her appearance changed similar to a wolf. It was further amplified by her new long ears and her right eye turning that of a wolf. She then stood in all fours while glaring at Aria.

Did she become... a werewolf?

“Die!” After preparing her stance, Robyn leapt at Aria attempting to claw her; she was faster than before.

“Aria!” Emily shouted.

However, Aria was not hurt. For some reason, a wall of ice appeared and blocked Robyn’s attack. She then fell to the ground and immediately moved back.

“Finally,” Robyn spoke.

Aria then grabbed her necklace and took it off. Throwing her necklace, a strong gust of wind suddenly appeared, which was coming from her. “Ahhh,” she shouted, holding her left shoulder with her right hand and the other shoulder with her left hand. Her left eye finally opened as some sort of magic rune soon appeared in her iris. A dark light then surrounded her, accompanied by smoke, and the chilling gust soon formed a tornado from where she was standing.

“Aria,” Emily murmured. “Please, don’t.”

What’s happening to her?

Suddenly, black lightning was shot from Aria’s place directed to Robyn, however, she dodged it. A large chunk of ice soon appeared to where the lightning hit.

Ice magic?

The tornado subsided; Aria came forth. However, her appearance changed. Standing was a woman filled with dark aura holding a scythe. With fangs and bat wings in her shoulders, I knew that she was not the same girl I talked to three days ago. The left part of her once beautiful face was covered by a black mark, with the iris of her left eye turned red.

Is this... really Aria?

“Finally, I’ve been waiting for this,” Robyn chuckled. “Artificial Vampire.”

Wait, a minute. Did I just hear “Artificial Vampire”?

“Aria,” Emily whispered, still worried while looking at her sister.

To ease her worries, I held her hand. “It’s okay, Emily. Believe in Aria.”

***

Meanwhile, in the arena, no one was making a move. It seemed the two of them were waiting for something. They were just looking at each other.

Suddenly, they both dashed into the middle of the arena. It was too fast. With just a blink of an eye, they reached the middle. Aria tried to slash Robyn but she countered with her claws. Her palm was as sturdy as steel. Throwing their attacks, the shock waves produced from it was too strong, it made small earthquakes. The two of them then began attacking each other nonstop. My eyes couldn’t keep up.

This is too intense.

They continued until Aria finally landed an attack on Robyn, knocking her away but she wasn’t wounded. She then created black lightning in her hands and blasted Robyn from afar.

Robyn blocked it with her hands and she, too, was unscathed. However, a chunk of ice appeared just below her.

“Emily, is that ice magic?”

“No,” Emily replied. “It’s lightning… Cursed Lightning.”

“Cursed Lightning??”

“Curses are a different type of magic,” Emily explained while looking at the combatants. “Instead of mana, which came from the combination of Life Energy and Positive Energy, curses use anti-mana which is made from the combination of Life Energy and Negative Energy that came from negative emotions.”

“Negative emotions?”

“Yes. Because of this, Aria’s lightning behaves differently than the usual Lightning Magic,” Emily added. “Instead of lightning that burns, she can produce lightning that freezes anything it hits.”

Curses, judging from her explanation. It’s a type of magic that bends even the Laws of Physics.

“How is this even possible?”

Emily and I were talking to each other when we heard a crash.

“Aria!” Emily shouted. It was Aria who crashed into the side of the arena.

“You’ve been using your curse to slow me down,” Robyn said. “Too bad I am protected by chi. It may have worked before, but not anymore.”

“Wait, did she just said chi?”

“Werewolves are known to be physically strong because they can perfectly utilize the usage of their chi energy in both their offense and defense,” Emily explained. “This also protected them from certain types of magic and curses. Robyn is probably using her chi to strengthen her skin to withstand Aria’s blade and to increase her body temperature against Aria’s Cursed Lightning.” Emily added. “My mother once said in the previous war, there was a powerful werewolf that annihilated an entire army of humans all by himself.”

“You lost,” Robyn spoke while walking towards Aria. “You’re exhausted now and your Cursed Lightning does not affect me anymore.” However, as Robyn came closer and closer to Aria, she suddenly fell on her knees. “W-what just happened?”

“It seems you forgot something, Robby,” Aria spoke. “You were too focused on my vampire part that you forgot that I’m also a necromancer.”

“I-It can’t be,” Robyn said. “This is...”

“I’ve been using Life Drain while we were fighting,” Aria revealed. “True, using your Chi Defense, you can nullify my Cursed Lightning.” Aria then stood. “However, it would also leave you vulnerable to necromancy.”

“No!!!” Robyn punched the ground. “This can’t be happening!”

“Robby, I’m sorry,” Aria apologized. “From that day until now, I always regret what I did when I left you in that lab and I don’t know if you will ever forgive me.”

“However, it is not true when you said that I forgot you. It’s impossible. How can I forget you?” Aria then picked up her scythe. “Since before, when I thought you were a guy...” She smiled at Robyn.

“...You were my first love.”

Pointing her scythe to Robyn, she shouted, “Phantom Bullet!!!”

“I... lost.” A green beam of light then struck Robyn.

After the explosion, Robyn was seen lying on the ground, unconscious.

“The winner of the second match, Aria Silvermoon,” after the host finished announcing the winner, Aria fell down.

“Aria,” Emily and I shouted.

“Guards, quickly bring them to the recovery room,” Dullahan ordered. The guards then quickly but carefully carried Aria and Robyn. Lucie then runs to the arena and picked up a glittering object.

“Hiiro, please go to Aria’s side,” Emily pleaded.

“Emily? How about you?”

“I’ll be alright,” she replied with downcast eyes. “Actually, I also want to go to her right now, but, I have an upcoming match so I can’t.” She then looked at me in the eye. “Please, Hiiro, take care of her; please look after my sister.”

“Okay, I’ll go,” I said to Emily as I chased the guards carrying the two previous combatants. I looked back at her and made a thumbs up. “Emily, good luck with your fight.”

“Yes, I will do my best,” she smiled. It was the first time I saw her with a fake smile.

***

The guards guided me to where Aria’s room is located. There, Lucie was standing beside the door.

“Hello, Hiiro

“I see.”

There was a bit of silence before Lucie spoke.

“Sorry about Robyn’s behavior,” Lucie began talking. “She’s always been that way ever since we saved her from that lab.”

“That lab? Lucie, can you please tell me what happened between Robyn and Aria?”

“Hmm. Well based on the records we’ve gathered, seven years ago, a group of terrorists called The Shadow Purgatory kidnapped two human children,” Lucie explained turning towards me. “They were the first test subjects of a certain experiment called Project: AD… Project: Artificial Demons, that is.”

Project: Artificial Demons? From the name alone, I can tell, this is some inhumane experiment.

“Wait, by two children you mean—?”

“Yes, those two were Robyn and Aria,” she replied. “As the name implies, Project: AD aimed to create Artificial Demons by transferring a demon’s part into a human.”

Wait a minute, is she talking about organ transplant?

“The humans did a lot of cruel experiments to them. Firstly, Robyn’s limbs were cut and changed into that of a werewolf’s while Aria... had a more bizarre experiment,” she continued. “Her heart was changed into that of a vampire. Right now, the blood flowing through her veins is not hers.”

They even perform a heart transplant?

“After two years of experiment, the two of them decided to escape, however, the other child was caught. As you heard, that child was Robyn. Out of anger, the humans then punished her by performing even more extreme experiments on her.”

“That is… too cruel.”

“Hiiro,” Lucie spoke, giving me a necklace. “From what I know, this is a magic tool responsible for sealing Aria’s vampire part. Please, do give it to her.”

“Thank you.”

“Now Hiiro, what are you going to do~?” Lucie asked, walking away. Noticing the doctors leaving Aria’s room, I decided to go in.

***

As I entered, I saw Aria sitting on top of the bed. It seemed, her room was separated from Robyn. Her face was still covered by black marks with bat wings still sticking from her shoulders.

“Why are you here?” Aria asked, however, this time I could feel a little bit of emotion added in her words. “You should go and watch Emily.”

“True, I am worried about Emily’s fight.” Aria looked gloomy. “However, I am also worried about you.”

“Huh? Worried? You, for me? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Aria shouted. “We’re just acquaintances who happened to know the same person! How can you be worried about someone like me?!”

“Well, I’m telling the truth.”

“Shut up,” Aria whispered, looking at me with crying eyes. “Shut up!” she shouted as she suddenly stood and grabbed my shoulders. “Look at me! Look at me, I tell you! I am a monster, an abomination; neither a human, a vampire nor a necromancer. I am just a test subject, a rejected experiment. I am nothing but trash.”

“You are Emily’s beautiful sister,” I shouted back, stopping her from talking any more nonsense. She then let go of me and back for a bit. “I don’t care what your past is, what you look or what you are.” Looking at her eyes, I walked towards her. “There’s only one thing I know; you are not a bad person. You saved us a bunch of times: you became Emily’s family when her mother died; you supported her when she was alone; you helped us when we escaped the village when we’re in danger; now you fought very hard for our sake,” I said grabbing both of her shoulders.

“Hiiro,” Aria mumbled.

“Don’t call yourself things you are not. You are Aria, Emily’s sister, and friend. You are not trash; you are beautiful.”

She blushed.

Realizing this, I let go of her. “I’m sorry... I got carried away.”

“It’s okay, Hiiro,” Aria spoke

“You know, they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that beauty is a very subjective word. Well, that’s true, since, with my eyes, I can say you’re very beautiful. If others tell you’re ugly, then I’ll say otherwise.”

“Hiiro…” Aria said.

“You see, a certain philosopher once said that the ability to speak and reason separates us from other living beings such as animals and plants. It’s what constitutes our humanity. It’s what makes us human. What’s wrong with being a little different from others? To me, you're still a genuine human.

“Hiiro… Thank you.” Aria bowed.

Today, I got to know Aria’s past, however, there was one thing that was bothering me the whole time.

Heart transplant. If you think about it, this is impossible considering the technology of the early 19th century. Or... is it because of magic that humans have this possibility? I don’t know what to feel right now.