Part three of five

Bargaining

After losing his temper, he no longer taunts her as usual. Instead, Sync has taken to coldly ignoring her. He no longer sneers at her and says not a word to her.

Dist delights in the fact that Sync has finally learned to shut up, but becomes agitated when Sync decides to make Dist the new target of his cruel mockery. The new development affects nobody else in particular and changes none of the dynamics of the group, so Dist finds no help from any of the other God-Generals, who simply turn a blind eye and deaf ear. Of course, Dist records it all in his revenge diary, but Sync rips pages from it when Dist isn't looking.

"Apologize to him!" Dist shouts at her, "I can't stand him anymore!"

Arietta ignores Dist (as everyone does unless it is absolutely necessary not to) and avoids Sync. She won't admit it, but she's afraid of him now. It's scarier that he says nothing at all, the only part of his exposed face only ever shows an unreadable expression like he is a mindless replica.

That he does not mock and antagonize her now leaves her not with relief, but a horrible unsettling feeling, like she has missed something important and won't ever know what it is. It is like a wager that was made without being accepted and now its possible consequences will never come to pass.

"It's that mask," she mutters to herself, "His stupid stupid mask."

She had never seen his face before. Why not? Arietta couldn't think of a reason. After all, the others must have seen his face at some point... but when Arietta asks them, they brush her off and avoid the topic. She becomes fixated with the thought and becomes the source of irritation. Her one apparent opportunity to find out why he wore that ridiculous mask was gone, especially now that he ignored her all the time, as though she did not exist.

When she finally runs into him in hallway, she steps on his foot; he couldn't possibly dismiss such a deliberate action entirely. Sync stops only for a moment, to frown angrily. But before he walks away, Arietta grabs his unbandaged arm.

"Take it off!"

As she looks at his masked face, Arietta's agitation has reached its peak. What very little of his face she can see looks puzzled and he remains silent.

"That stupid mask of yours!" she shouts, "I'm sick of it!"

He stands impassively, not moving, not reacting at all to her words.

"Show me what's behind that stupid mask of yours!" she demands angrily.

A smirk slowly forms on his face, a horrible familiar expression that Arietta remembers associating with dread.

"Are you sure you really want to see?" he says, "What are you willing to give me?"

"What?"

He raises his arm and turns his head slightly to the side to look at his bandaged hand, moving his fingers without wincing. The smirk disappears for a moment, as though he was bored.

"You're asking to see a terrible thing," he says almost thoughtfully, "I'm not going to show it to you for nothing. I'm not taking the blame for what happens to a fool like you."

Sync tilts his head just so she can almost see his eyes, his face still mostly obscured in the shadow of the mask. The smirk re-emerges and there's a strange glint in what little of his eyes she can see.

"After all, I'm not the sort who does stupid things more than once," Sync comments, "Unlike you, Gloomietta."

She tightens her grip. The fact that it's forbidden only makes her irritated. But if she doesn't see his face, she won't be able to stop thinking about it. And it annoys her that everyone believes her to be too stupid to accept such trivial matters, like the appearance of Sync's stupid face.

"I won't tell anyone," she promises, "Just take off that stupid mask!"

"Really?" he says, "Not Van? Or Legretta or Largo?"

"I won't tell anyone! Nobody else!" she says almost pleadingly, "You said you'd show me! I need to see!"

"Need to see or want to see? Those are different things." He starts to laugh. "But, if you put it that way, then I'm absolved of any responsibility."

Sync shakes off her hand, but then grabs her arm and twists it. He bends over so that they are at eye level and all Arietta can see are the odd patterns on his mask.

"Now, look closely," he orders in a strangely kind voice, one that sounds far too much like Ion's. "You only get to look once."

He removes his mask quickly, without any hesitation. Arietta doesn't realize her face has gone completely ashen with shock as Sync smiles at her with a cold cruel smile, the same one Ion once wore when he thought she wasn't around to see it.

Author: I didn't realize I went too far with Sync last time; all I considered was what would happen if Arietta hit all the wrong notes.