Chapter 10 : Past

Still under the shock , Mashiro and Gal were running in the corridor to join Mai's group .

' Is it really ok to leave Tomoe alone against her ? Arika was quite serious when we were still fighting her ..'

' Don't worry Mashiro-chan . If Natsuki sent her , it's because she has faith in her so let's do OUR job first.'

' Fine . Do you remember what you have to do ?'

' Yeah … It's not so complicated ..'

' Great . so hurry . Tomoe will need our help .'

' If you think so …'

Meanwhile , in the previous room …

' Tomoe ! you bitch ! why are you helping windbloom ?! they are the one who started everything !'

' Come on .. Who told you that ? because it's 100 bullshit . Windbloom did everything to stop what happened.'

' Shut up ! The archduke told me everything ! The real puppet master who was behind my dear Mashiro is Natsuki ! She's seeking more powers for herself ! That's why this war happened again !'

' I can see that the archduke is very skilled when it concern mind control .. despite the sadness you felt after Mashiro's death , you had to stay lucid . you didn't . and because you're a baka antsy ( AN : mix between baka ribbon (in Idolmster xeno also edited by Sunrise ) and Arika's nickname ) , you believed the archduke … you really disappointed me back then …'

' Really ? I'm so sorry Tomoe-chin ….' Answered Arika ironically

' I guess that why you killed Midori so coldly …but even so , If I sum up the whole thing about you , you've been duped and moreover , because of this masquerade , you've lost your dear master and one of your closer friend … Sad isn't it ? Well , I used to appreciate Mashiro , maybe because she was our Queen but I didn't know Midori much …. Of course she has been the one who beat me when the fist war was about to start , that's maybe the main reason …'

' Tomoe ! What's your point ! I don't have time to waste !'

' My point is : you and me we're the same . I betrayed Windbloom once and you were here to defend it . Then You betrayed it and I took your place . funny isn't it ? We are both traitor for Windbloom but you know , the main difference between us is that I didn't commit a ' Crime de lèse- majesté' like they say in France ..but you did . And now you're the hugger bounty head in Windbloom . Feel honored ?'

' I didn't kill Mashiro ! Midori did it !'

' Well , according some peoples , YOU did it . Maybe the archduke gave you some drug too …. Anyway , let's stop this interesting chitchat and let's fight . I really want to try my new Otome's dress against you …'

' A new dress ? sounds interesting . I really want to see it too if you don't mind ..Even if I wear the most powerful Otome's dress…'

' You seems to forget Nina's former dress … the ultimate black diamond is powerful as yours and moreover the most powerful Otome's dress in the whole history wasn't yours but Fumi's … So I still have a chance to beat you .'

' In your dreams , yeah , but not in the real life …'

' Maybe .. But unlike you , I still have a Master …But even if Mashiro was still there with you , I would be able to beat you easily .. She was soooo weak , mouhahaha …'

Of course , Tomoe's provocation worked and Akira , who became very mad at her after the ultimate insult she made against Mashiro , rushed toward Tomoe . The young girl dodged Arika's attack and then she jumped on a burned table .

' Gosh , you're so predictable ..and so violent too . But you honored me to make the First move , so I have to give this honor back … so die bitch … TOMOE MARGUERITE , ULTIMATE BLACK SPEARS , MATERIALIZE !'

Then suddenly Tomoe's dress change to a big black dress decorated with a huge emerald on the chest . she was also armed with a big spear with a gold pike shaped like horns .

' quite impressive dress … but don't you know that a spear is only good when the two opponents are far from each other ? really , you're way too stupid tomoe-chin …'

Arika suddenly jumped and tried to slash Tomoe with her swords but Tomoe's spear shortened and hit Akira so violently that she crashed on the other side of the room because of the counter attack's strength .

' Don't ever underestimate the real strength of a spear Arika …. Mine is special . she can strike opponent from long distances but also from short distance … and I haven't unlock my Zwei mode so I'll let you finish my point by yourself Arika …'

' your point is that you're so weak that you need a cheater weapon to survive … That's so pathetic . I really have to teach you a lesson , kiddo ….'

' Come and try Arika ..'

back to Mai's group

the whole group arrived in a room full of books everywhere . the only furniture different from a book was a very luxurious table and a few chairs .

' Mashiro ! why did you bring us here ? there's only books !'

' calm down Nao … geez , the Nao I know is also as clumsy as you are …'

' you're lucky , robot-chan .. if you weren't hurt , I could kill you .'

' yeah but if you want to give a try , you'll need my help .. right girls : We're going to give you your power back thank to Garderobe's technology .'

' really ? that's so great !'

' well , don't be so happy about that , Kuga … you'll have to face a greater danger than before . The archduke isn't as easy as Homura was … Dai artai IS really scary . After all , his coup almost succeed if Arika didn't interfere ..'

' Arika-chan helped her country by the past ?'

' Indeed , Shizuru , answered Gal . In fact , Arika is one of the girls who lived the second great war in our dimension . she has been in the past our main force . you don't know it , but Arika's mother , Rena-sama , who was the first souten no seigyoku , was also the strongest Otome before she died . after Rena's death , an awful war debuted , a lot of friends passed away and because of that , Windbloom decided to seal the Otome technology . Of course , you may wandering why Arika survived during the first war … It's because her grand mother took care of her until she found out about her mother and decided to fly from her hometown in the desert to Garderobe . She studied , she showed her true strength and became one of the stronger Otome , along Nina Wang , the shikkoku no kongouseki . But because of Dai Artai's conspiracy , Nina betrayed us and worked along Dai Artai on his coup . I'm gonna sum up for you , but another war debuted and in the end , Arika was the one who saved us all .'

' So why is she betraying us right now ?'

' Good question , Mai-chan . It's because when a country finally find peace again , it doesn't last . Quickly , without knowing why she resuscitate , Fumi-sama , the first Otome in our history came back to live and because of news weird power , she started to stalk the others Otomes and attack our world in general … well it's also a very complicated story but Arika saved us again this time . the only problem was that after this event , Arika and Mashiro became more distant between each other .. Furthermore , Nagi manipulated Mashiro by telling her that soon or later , Natsuki will claim more power because of theses two wars she's been through . The poor Mashiro felt into the trap , chased Natsuki from Windbloom and she put Nagi instead . But she realized soon that it was a bad idea because Nagi turned the Otome's academy into an awful thing were discrimination and murder were authorized . That's when she woke up and decided to search for Natsuki . Arika join her because she was her Otome but when they found Natsuki in the new city that Midori Build after the Dai Artai's coup , Midori , who didn't know the truth about Nagi's second coup , attacked Mashiro …. Starting now , I'm not quite sure , but it seems like that Arika killed both Mashiro and Midori when she tried to defend her master … of course she accused Midori because her sword was still in Mashiro's chest but still .. That when Nagi acted again and he took Arika back , leaving us , citizen of Fuuka , alone , without any aid …'

' Wow , big story … I understand now .'

' That's good , Alyssa-chan , because we don't have time to waste …'

he pressed a button and suddenly , all the bookcases disappeared in aid of big computer and different screens . The table changed too and a medical chair appeared with a computer next to it .

' Lady , this is the Surrogate System advanced , Hime version …'

author notes : long time no see . Sorry , I'm quite busy with my studies , I don't have time anymore to keep writing . so here's the 1Oth chapter . hope you'll like it .