Arena Nine: The Phoenix Burns II

"Well, that should be all today."

I jumped in surprise as Grey suddenly appeared behind me out of nowhere.

"W-where have you been?"

I asked, taking a deep breath.

"Doing... Work. Don't mind that. Anyhow, you should head out for today."

"... Alright."

I nodded.

Anastasia turned towards me, and grabbed my sleeves.

"When are you going to log in again?"

"I... I don't know. Why?"

"That's... Well, you need to get briefed on the current status of the squad, as well as other miscellaneous things."

"I see... Well, I'll log in once I settle my enrollment in the first academy."

I glanced at Grey, who nodded.

"Wait... You're getting enrolled into the First Academy?"

"Yes."

"That's good... We'll discuss more in the academy then."

Seeing her relieved face, I felt guilty. Even so, I had to say these words.

"I don't... Really want to associate with you from now on if possible."

"W-what? Why?"

Even Phillips, who was a total bystander, widened his eyes in surprise hearing my words.

"I don't remember where exactly I had heard it, but the Valentina family... it's a major noble house, isn't it?"

I knew the name felt familiar. And seeing the officials surrounding us as we had stepped down from the train, my guess was cemented further.

And I had decided to take the chance and make the assumption.

"..."

Seeing her pursing her lips, I became sure that my guess was a correct one.

"Don't get me wrong. I don't really mind associating with you. I just... don't want to get you into trouble."

Nor I wished to get into trouble myself, but I didn't tell her that.

"No, you don't have to..."

"Can you guarantee that your family wouldn't take offence if you associate with me?"

"..."

"See. As I thought."

I said, sighing. Then I gently let her hand go off my sleeves.

"Come on, Grey."

I turned around and started walking away, but a hand suddenly gripped my sleeves again.

"... Do you hate me?"

"... I don't."

"... Then..."

"... I don't understand. We just met a few hours ago. Why are you so infatuated with me?"

"T-that's..."

"Your characteristics changed quite a lot in the past hour. Why?"

"..."

"Hah... Listen. I don't hate you, and we can keep being friends and teammates as long as it doesn't affect either of us. Alright?"

"... Thanks."

She nodded, and let go.

I turned around and started walking again. This time, she didn't call me back.

...

[Anastasia's POV]

...

I saw him leave, but didn't call out to him again.

I could feel Phillips's gaze on me, but I didn't care about that at all.

I placed my fingers on my lips. I had long removed my mask, back when I was taking a shower. My fingers felt the soft skin of lips, where he had placed his.

I didn't know what to feel about him.

After he had kissed me, I felt like being with him was the most natural thing to do.

It was as if I was born to be with him.

I knew something was wrong with me. I knew something had changed within me.

In the past hour, the changes in my personality were so drastic that it surprised even me.

In front of myself, I had turned into a completely different person. Just in a few hours.

I felt neither hatred nor disgust towards him, unlike how I felt towards Phillips and the other boys I knew.

He was different... No, he made me different.

But... It seemed that only I was thinking that way.

Perhaps to him, I was a nuisance. Maybe someone annoying, someone that he didn't want to have anything to do with.

Even so, I wanted to hope. That he'd accept me.

That he'd look at me.

Maybe this was what people called love?

...

[Arnold's POV]

...

"Her personality trait is probably unreliable..."

I muttered as I walked alongside Grey.

Hearing my words, the old spy laughed.

"Well, a lot of things happened with her today. Cut her some slacks."

He chided me with a gentle voice.

"That's... True."

My mind went back to the kiss. Perhaps that was the reason? From the kiss, I suddenly remembered something.

"Grey, is it normal for first-time users to have personality issues?"

"Users of the Stigma gear?"

"Yeah. I mean, those who enter this world."

"It's rare, but does happen sometimes. Though, with your mental fortitude rank, it shouldn't be possible for the gear to affect your mind negatively."

"But... You see, I've been feeling weird for the past few hours."

I didn't know anyone else who could answer my questions. I knew Grey was monitoring me, but I had no one else to rely on.

"Weird? Can you explain?"

"Well... You see, I used to hate Elliots, right?"

"Ah... You did say something about that."

"But now I feel like they are not at fault. Not just that, my negative emotions towards everything regarding them is gone."

"That's... Interesting. Anything else?"

"I feel like my mood is all over the place. And I feel like I'm forgetting something... But I just can't point out what it is."

"I see... Well, we'll do a checkup once we return."

"Oh. By the way, why can't we log out directly? Where are we going?"

"When we log out and log in again, our avatars get respawned at the place we log out from. So it's a regulation to go back to the logging bay, and use your designated seat to log out. To prevent any harm coming to your body once you log back in."

"But we didn't do that in the real world?"

"Usually, Elliots and other personnel are given rooms at the facilities in the real world to log in from. We were in a hurry, so we didn't use these measures. But once you get back, we'll follow the safety protocols to avoid any unwanted injuries."

"Got it."

I nodded and followed him silently. We soon reached a wide room, with countless capsule-shaped beds inside it.

Grey quickly moved to one near the corner, and had me lay down. Then he pressed the button on the side of the capsule, and a glass panel covered me.

"Menu."

I muttered the command, and a screen appeared in front of me. Just like with the gun and the rifle, I had received all the necessary information about the gear as I had touched it before.

This ability of mine was oddly specific. It didn't activate when I was touching the elevator's walls, nor it activated when I had touched the seat of the train.

It seemed to only work on objects that were somehow related to Arena battles. Was that intentional?

Thinking such things, I quickly scrolled through the stats page and inventory.

Wait. Inventory?

I was surprised. I hadn't seen the option before when I was checking my stats for the first time.

And there was even an item inside it. It didn't have any picture, nor it had any description. It just had a "question mark" symbol, which at least proved that something was there.

I clicked on the item, and something appeared in front of me.

I could feel Grey's confused gaze on me, but the piece of a photograph that had appeared in my hands held more importance to me now.

"Wait... This is..."

A wrinkled, old woman was smiling gently at the camera. I knew her. I knew her very well.

"Grandma?"

I muttered, and suddenly my vision turned black.

[Force logging out.]

I heard a mechanical voice declare, but I couldn't answer or reply anymore.

My consciousness soon faded.

...

I opened my eyes while feeling a terrible headache.

"Ugh..."

I sat up, or tried to. But the straps around my body didn't let me.

"Ah, you're awake."

The lady from before approached me and opened the straps.

I sat up, rubbing my temples.

"What... Happened?"

I asked, looking around.

"We... Don't know. The gear forcibly logged you out. The headache you are feeling is a side effect of that."

Grey, who had just entered the room, said to me.

Also, to note, I was in some kind of laboratory, not where we were before. I could only guess that Grey had moved me while I was unconscious.

"So... Why was I strapped to a table?"

"Ah, that. We were doing a checkup. You mentioned feeling uncomfortable, remember?"

The woman replied to me as she tapped on a holographic screen in front of her, projected by a nearby drone.

"Yeah. What are the results?"

"Your brain activity... Well, it certainly is interesting."

"That... Doesn't tell me much."

"You don't have to worry about it. Though, can you tell me what day this is?"

"Er..."

I looked at the clock. It was already past midnight. That meant I had been unconscious for quite a long time in the real world, as time flowed slowly in the Stigma world.

"It's... The celebration day, right?"

"Anything else? Like, was yesterday of any importance to you?"

"... Not that I can think of anything."

I had a feeling that I was missing something, but decided to ignore it. If I didn't remember, then it hadn't been important... Probably.

"Alright."

She nodded and walked away towards a nearby cabinet, before coming back with a glass of juice.

"Here, drink."

"Ah... Thanks."

I was thirsty, so I accepted the glass without hesitation. Grey silently watched me for some moments, before speaking up.

"Wait here. I'll go prepare the documents, and then we'll go and finalize your enrollment."

"Got it."

I nodded, and he left with the woman in tow.

I sat there, drinking the juice alone. It wasn't a bad feeling, in all honesty.

...

[Grey's POV]

...

"So... What did you think?"

I asked 'her', who looked at me and sighed. We were currently in an adjacent room, me standing in front of the table, while she was sitting in a nearby chair.

"He lost a large portion of his memories."

"So that explains the change in his personality in that world."

"Probably. What exactly did he do to get affected such strongly?"

I mulled over it for a moment, but then decided to tell her. It would be safe to tell her... And remembering her relationship with the involved parties this time, I didn't want to hide anything from her.

"He tried to save Anastasia, and in the process, somehow managed to activate Helios and beat the phantom back."

"... That's a lot to take in."

"I know..."

I sighed. If it was someone else, they would have looked at me as if I was a mad man.

But 'she' didn't.

"So you're saying the unusual activity inside his brain came from him forced piloting a Regalia?"

She asked, pouring down some coffee into two cups and offering me one.

"That should be the case... I think. I'm not an expert in that field, you are."

"True."

She chuckled, her lips moving elegantly.

But then, she frowned.

"But... He saved that child... Huh."

"He did."

"I guess I'd have to repay him somehow."

"You don't really need to, but your choice."

I knew she'd say that, so I didn't stop her.

It was her choice, whether she thanked Arnold or not.

As long as it didn't interfere with my mission, she was more than welcome to do whatever she wanted.

It was... 'Her' choice, after all.