“REGRETTING the horrors of the War taking place and determined not to let these horrors continue or happen again,
“ACKNOWLEDGING the intrinsic drive and primal urge in each of us that makes combat, punishment, humiliation and suffering inevitable and even desirable,
“NOTING that mud, slime, food, water and touch can all exist without one dominating another and all can contribute to both love and excitement,
“and WISHING that all girls of all nations live their lives to their fullest not at the expense of others,
“have agreed as follows”
— Preamble to the Treaty on Friendly War
“Girls, I got the Treaty! It’s just been signed!” shouted Ciel as she ran into to the gymnasium. Only the four of us were there, practicing battle skills: I, Ciel, Xeelee and Espoir. I and Xeelee wore pink gym shorts and sports bras which looked a little out of place on Xeelee’s greenish skin. But Espoir was still naked. I understood that one could never convince an Ancient to get dressed.
Ciel waved with a piece of paper. “Astra, this is the greatest accomplishment of our lives. ”
“Is it that good?” I said.
“Better. It contains everything: the Recall Beacon, the Sanctity Barrier, even safe zones and sanctuary zones!”
“What’s the final name?” asked Espoir.
“It’s the Treaty on Friendly War.”
I grimaced. “They kept War in the name, huh?”
“As a concession to the dirties, um, sorry,” Ciel corrected herself, “I meant, the slimeborn and the mudborn.”
Xeelee smiled.
“Personally, I think it’s a good thing,” Ciel continued, “I mean the Princesses are right. Even us kissborn need battles in our lives.”
“Do we really?” I asked.
“Yeah, well, look,” she said and jumped onto me. She tackled me on the floor hard, pinned my arms down and sat on my chest.
“Get off me!” I shouted and summoned a sheet of mud in her face. She didn’t flinch, just took the mud head on and summoned her own mud and smeared it on my neck. I quickly liberated my arms and pressed back against Ciel, forcing her to stand back up.
Seeing us wrestle, the other girls joined in. Xeelee on my side, summoning a bucketful of green slime that she threw on Ciel, covering her back. And Espoir on Ciel’s side, she called forth six ethereal hands that attached themselves to my body and started tickling me.
Some of them tickled my sides and armpits — where I was the most sensitive — and some went between my legs and on my breasts, and I felt the tingles of arousal in me. They seemed unable to penetrate into my shorts and bra but just as I had that thought, Xeelee and Ciel fell on my chest in a tumble. I gasped from the shock and immediately resumed laughing.
Ciel seemed to have a little extra time so she tore down my shorts. The ethereal hands noticed and two of them floated over on my panties and their ministrations intensified. My body wanted to moan and laugh at the same time.
It was both glorious and torturous.
Then for a moment Xeelee appeared to have the upper hand and used that to grab Espoir’s hand and pull her into the melee as well. She blushed at first but then it was all four of us grappling each other, summoning mud on our friends and pushing and pulling each other.
The wrestling proceeded for a couple of minutes and at the end of it, I and Xeelee stood victorious. We were both covered in mud and I had lost my shorts but we were sitting on our naked and messy opponents and had them fully pinned.
“You lose,” I said.
“Yep,” Ciel answered, “how do you feel?”
And I understood. I loved it, both the wrestling and the feeling at the end. I looked at my friends and I saw that they all loved it, too.
“It is within us, Astra,” said Ciel, “we need conflict. It’s what makes us happy. Moderated and safe, yes, but war needs to continue to exist.”