Tensions: A Shoujo Parallels Headcanon Short

Technika
The Otherworld
Beta Belt

“You never shoot, Eri,” Andi Schnee said as she watched the Lightning Parallel aim at a target. “At least…I’ve never seen you shoot. Or even come here in the first place.”

Eri said nothing. Andi sighed silently and merely watched, the Parallel not missing a single target. It was simple, really – there were targets aligned twenty, maybe even thirty feet away. All she had to do was shoot. The targets would automatically retract upon impact and would be replaced by new ones. The process would go on until the person who was practicing stopped the session.

Knowing Eri, Andi thought to herself, it would be a very long one.

As Eri reloaded, Andi took the opportunity to at least gauge her into speaking.

“I know you asked me to come to you for a reason.” she said, twisting her long hair into an effortless bun. Her grey eyes watched the female, “Or else you’d be perfectly content by yourself. What’s wrong?” Eri merely shot at a target and finally put the gun down, putting it back into safety mode before turning to Andi.

“Sorry. I usually talk to Mathias about these things.” Her gaze cut away awkwardly, “He’s the one who just…knows a lot about these kinds of things.”

“I don’t need to know a lot about it,” the other offered. Eri let herself smile at that. “What’s eating you up, Spinnen Kumpel?”

“…it’s her.”

Andi’s brows furrowed. “Amaya?”

“No, not Amaya. You know,” Eri allowed herself a moment’s worth of hesitation, “Arzen.” Andi’s eyes widened and she nodded quickly, Eri pulling herself out of her own personal thoughts for a moment. “I told you, remember? We have this thing that connects us to each other.”

“Right, right…so…what about her?”

Eri felt like clamming up again.

And she knew it wasn’t because of herself.

“Something…bad. I feel something bad,” she admitted to Andi, “It felt so bad that I had to send Mathias back earlier than he usually would.” Andi frowned, “And you know him. He usually spends five more minutes finishing up, but this time he just left his own work at his station. Cissa wanted to kill him,” she retorted dryly. “Truth is, I’m scared for her. She’s got this place of her own that’s murky in its own way.”

Andi listened, trying to figure out what Eri was trying to tell her.

“We have this other connection. I can peek into her mind,” she explained. “But she can’t peek into my own. I don’t do that – I hate knowing that I can do that, actually – but I just had to. Just once, after I asked Mathias to check on her.”

“…and it was dark?”

Andi’s words were quiet, but they still reached the other.

“It was dark. It was unusually dark; there would always be some kind of light illuminating the way, but…” Eri shivered. “There wasn’t any light, Andi. And that’s what scares me.” Eri picked up the gun once again, turned off the safety, and aimed. She shot, but it missed the center by millimeters.

“Don’t you think you should be the one to check on her for once?” Andi spoke. Eri Blitzschnell shook her head.

“No. I can’t. I have to stay here.” An unspoken rule, she told herself. Which was why Mathias had to go through a lot just so his visits to the Mortal Realm could be approved. “It’s not obvious, Andi, but it’s some kind of law that forbids us from interfering. Mathias only goes because I’ve explained my reasons to the Nastassja, and she was able to get it approved for him and me. But he’s the only one.”

“But don’t they know?” Eri gave her a blank look, “That Technika’s stability is influenced by Arzen’s? Helping her will help us. Surely they don’t…” she faded out, but Eri sighed.

“One is enough.”

“Well.” Andi pursed her lips, “I’m sure Mathias is doing a good job, anyway. You trusted him to do it, right?” she nodded, “And I’m sure you did because you knew that he was the right person. So he can’t exactly mess up or disappoint you after having been provided with a hassling job,” she finished. Eri managed to agree with that.

“But I still can’t shake off the feeling that something’s wrong.”

Andi looked at Eri sadly, prying the gun off her hands and putting it back into safety. “Come on. You need to drink something before the nerves get the best of you.” The Snow Parallel took Eri’s hand, but the other barely felt it at all. “I’ll bring you to the Rasant’s. They’ll know how to fix you up,” Andi started, but Eri heard nothing else.

The brunette saw that she left her gun behind and sighed quietly, mentally noting for her to pick it up later when the black-haired lady was already in bed.

Please feel better, Eri. I hate it when you’re like this. Plus…Mathias is just going to worry about you again. Amaya, too. 

She gave Eri's hand another squeeze but the lady didn't say anything else.