Which Are Lost

It all happened in an instant... Less than a second, the victor stood tall... All that could be heard was the silence, broken only by the faint whisper of the wind as the lancer collapsed to his knees, his body gradually disintegrating into dust, while the crazed look on his face slowly faded away along with his spear. His lance was impaled into the ground again, just a few centimeters away from Bazett. 

"I... won?.."

Bazett said as she watched the spear vanish near her, then glanced down at her body, seeing there is no damage done at all, not even a single graze on her. Then she looked at Star, probably seeking some sort of explanation to how this happened. Star was staring down at the lancer, who also vanished quickly after his spear. Star's guitar dematerialized as he still held it, and then he casually slipped his hands into his pants pockets looking back at Bazett as she was still staring at him with an confused look.

"What you looking at me for?"

"I... I just didn't think I would be able to live a-after."

"Well you did. So enjoy getting to live to see another day, yeey... wooo...!"

Star's tone was sarcastic and pretty dull as he said his part, then he walked closer to Bazett and spoke;

"Or is it... that you feel sad because you killed that guy?.. Because you won?.."

"S-Shut up..."

Star chuckles softly to himself before casually nudging Bazett with his shoulder, his hands still tucked in his pockets, as he talks to her;

"Let's go back inside... I feel like he came here alone... We are safe for now."

"But... even so... Who sent him here?.. Whoever did... also knows our location too..."

"Don't worry about it yet... Plus you must be tired. Come on..."

Bazett slowly nods and both her and Star goes back inside the small mansion again. Bazett heads to the kitchen area of the mansion and opens the fridge, only to find it stocked with nothing but canned foods, provided by the Clock Tower as food supply while she quietly mumbles;

"Who in the world puts canned meals in the fridge anyway...?"

Star watches over her as she takes out a canned tuna, fork and sits on the small chair on the kitchen. He watches as she slowly opens the can and begins to eat the tuna in order to replenish some energy. Bazett's eyes slowly darted at Star as he was still watching her intently;

"What did you do?.."

"Hm?.. What you mean?.."

Bazett sighs and leans back in her chair, her gaze still fixed on Star;

"I know you did something back there... at that moment... neither of us, me and that servant, were supposed to survive. Were we?.."

"Heh... There's no point in denying it, is there... Let's just say it's one of my other abilities..."

Bazett takes one final bite of the canned tuna before tossing the empty can into the trash. Then, she speaks again;

"What sort of "ability" was it then?.."

As Star sighs he responds sounding unwilling; "The neat sort... Ah... I get it... I get it... We had an agreement... But man, these stuff are just so dull and cringe to talk about... Y'know taking away the mystery takes the fun out of it too... Ugh, anyways... You want to know what I did?"

Bazett nods slowly, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly while keeping her gaze fixed on Star;

"Then watch closely..."

As Bazett still kept her gaze fixed on him, she suddenly began to see two images of Star overlaid, causing her to squint and furrow her brow in confusion;

"Huh?.."

Then, she heard Star's voice coming from behind. As she turned to look, she was met with the sight of a third Star gazing down at her, saying;

"Happy now?"

This sent a shiver down her spine as she noticed another figure among the multiple Stars. It was herself, staring back at the other Stars. Startled, she leaped from her chair, then cautiously approached the figure that resembled her. With a trembling hand, she reached out to touch it, causing it to vanish into thin air in an instant. Then all of the copies of Star vanished too, as the real one spoke;

"Pretty cool isn't it? Something that I don't really choose to use anymore..."

"...So you are telling me... That you can make copies of... people?"

"Uhhh... Well first hand not 'only people' pretty much anything... And well... second... those are not copies..."

Bazett felt even more bewildered by this revelation; "Then..."

"Those are just illusions made by nothing else but one's own mind..."

"Wait... So... You have mind control?"

Star laughs at Bazett and speaks; "I guess, it could count as something like that... But... this time I've gotta be honest... Its... not great... It only works to some extent and sometimes doesn't work at all... All depends on the target's own mental structure, and power... This thing, allows me to basically see one's memories, ones even they don't remember themselves..."

Bazett is utterly amazed by his ability, recognizing its incredible potential, but also feeling a sense of unease as she realizes he could have delved into her memories as well. Star starts to chuckle softly as he sees the change in Bazett's expression from amazed to uncomfortable;

"Pff... Don't worry I didn't look into yours... Although I can't say the same to if I tried to or not."

He says with a playful tone, causing Bazett's expression to shift to one of embarrassment as she responds;

"I would kill you if you did. Never use that on me again."

"Hehe... Trust me, your boring memories don't interest me at all..."

"Good."

Bazett says, leaning against the wall as Star resumes speaking;

"I call this move... The 'Mental Diffusion'... quite the fancy name, isn't it? I know... I just came up with it right now-"

"How long does its effect last? Until you will it to end, or...?"

"As I've said, it depends on the person's mental state... The weaker it is, the easier and longer it can go on for... Or yes, until I make it stop... Heck, sometimes I can even make one being able to touch and feel the stuff they are seeing... It usually works better with minds under stress.. Like that lancer's back there..."

"I see... That... that can be really useful actually..."

Bazett nods to herself, and speaks in a quite tone, sort of murmuring;

"Then... Thanks for that... For what you did... I guess..." 

Quickly after, she clears her throat and leaves the kitchen walking towards the door to outside. As Star chuckles softly;

"What was that supposed to mean? I'm just a 'servant' right? It's what I'm supposed to do." 

"Nothing... Ugh... Just forget I have ever said that then." Bazett says as she opens the door ready to head out as it is close to midnight right now;

"Wait... Are you seriously going out now?.. After that whole fight?!.. Don't you think taking a small break would be a much better choice?"

"Hm? What do you care for? You are just 'my servant' hm? Now lets go. We are heading back to the city."

Star sighs and shrugs wearily, his shoulders drooping as he trudges toward the door, heading outside with a tired gait;

"For fuck... sake... Kill... me..."