It's Still Raining

Weak? I'm not weak.....

Witch had watched the tournament yesterday. She wasn't fully disappointed from Arle losing. She was disappointed, but it wasn't the whole portion of her primary feeling, which was sadness. She felt sad, not because of the loss itself, but because she knew that Arle won't return. She hadn't found out why, but she did have her suspicions. The way the announcer mentioned Arle not being able to return really did sound a little depressing, which somewhat implied that she was dying, at least for Witch.

Due to this, she decided to visit her. She grabbed her broom and flew to Arle's house, taking note of the overcast sky. She felt tired, but it wasn't the same level of tiredness that Arle usually felt. This was the kind of tiredness that a drink can fix.

She took a drink of her coffee in order to wake up a bit. She then looked down and saw Arle's house. When she did, she flew her way down there and knocked on the door.

Arle wobbled over to the door and opened it. "Oh... Hello Witch..... Come in..... I'm still not feeling like doing anything....."

Witch walked in, growing increasingly worried about Arle. The announcer's words from yesterday already hit her, but physically seeing her made her feel even sadder for her.

Arle sat on the couch, rubbing her head. "Ow.... My head..... Why do I have to have this illness....." She mumbled that last sentence, hoping that Witch wouldn't suspect anything.

"Did you say something, Arle?" Witch looked over at her.

"No. I was just mumbling......" She kept rubbing her head, her headache worsening. She then started to lay down on the couch, hugging a pillow.

"I see. How about a nice potion to ease the pain at least slightly? I've been experimenting with ingredients for these."

Arle glared at Witch. "......I don't trust your potions. I'm not falling for your unapproved, potentially dangerous drugs."

"If you insist..... By the way, I'm sorry that you lost the battle...."

"It's okay, I was too weak to fight, anyway. Besides, I signed up months prior to the tournament, so I didn't know that I'd be fainting and growing weak....."

Witch joined Arle on the couch, immediately hugging her. "It's okay..... I'm here for you."

"Mmmm....."

"So, tell me, how was the tournament itself?"

"It was fun! I made a new friend named Isin, and I watched him battle a girl named Lugo before advancing. When he did, I was up next. We performed our spells and repeatedly attacked each other, like you saw on TV. Then, I fainted. Twice. Once in the entrance, and the other on the field in front of the audience. I'm doing okay now, just weak......"

"Are you sure you're just weak? Because the announcer said you won't be returning, and I feel like you're hiding something."

Arle's eyes widened.

Oh shit. She knew I was hiding something.....! Dammit! But at least she doesn't know that the "something" in question is the fact that I have terminal cancer, so I'm probably okay, for now.

"Uhhh.... Arle?"

"Huh? Yes?"

"I know what you're trying to hide from me. Just dump it."

"No you don't. How can you know for sure? I-I'll tell you later. Right now, I don't want to talk about it. Can we please talk about something else?"

"Sure. What would you like to discuss?"

"Just general things, like how we're doing, relationships, things like that."

"Okay. Let's talk about..... Relationships."