Eleanor stared blankly at the golden fluid that shifted weightlessly within her grip, its texture squishy but also warm.
It was unlike anything she had ever held before, and it seemed to have a consciousness of its own, trying to rasp at any bits of mana leaking from her hands.
Does it recognize me as its master now that it was given away?
Thinking for a moment, she imagined a set of beautiful ruby earrings that could glisten like the sun while also fitting the small holes in her ears she had been forced to continuously poke due to the potency of the Emblem of Circe and its minor healing factor.
Then, closing her fist around the slimy solution, she felt a rush of mana leave her core at a speed faster than she could comprehend.
Not only that, but almost simultaneously, she felt a tiny prick into the muscle of her palm.
"Ouch…"
Releasing her grip slowly despite the pain, afraid to drop what rested inside, she watched as two intertwined rubies appeared before her.
A smile crept onto her lips as she used her left hand to gently caress the surface, finding an invisible wire connecting the two earrings together.
So even when its form is transformed, it acts as one singular entity…
Picking them up gently and sticking them through her lobe holes, she felt a warmth seep through her body, an unmistakable urge to sleep echoing through her mind.
Her eyelids drooped, and her body sagged against the soft bed beside her, looking far too pleasant for someone on the verge of losing her sentience.
It's… making me… groggy…
There didn't seem to be any harmful effects associated with the change; rather, the opposite seemed far more likely.
Around her mana core, the feeling of a presence taking root immersed her thoughts in a drowsy sensation.
Aether is like… a parasite…
Leaning backwards, she fell against the softness of her comforter, the world around her gradually fading to black.
With the remainder of her consciousness, she noticed as the shades of her window fluttered with an odd shudder.
Yet, she was already too far gone, her mind blank, and the only thing left for her to do was watch what stood before her.
And watch she did, as at the moment before her eyes completely shut, Eleanor Lynn felt a rumble beneath her form, an explosive light encapsulating the rather dark land outside the window.
There was no danger present, and not even the mana around her fluctuated; only a single connection resurfaced, one she could recognize even if it were as small as a grain of sand in the depths of the sea.
As her spiritual form fell into slumber, the physical form of the blonde child in the Dimension of Waves was propped against her hospital bed, facing yet another window, similar but unlike the one in her room in the Great Beyond.
Certain vitamins were essential for residents of the ward to attain—the comatose girl no exception—but that day, she would not be granted the dignity of the sun; instead, she would be shown the Descender of Madness, a monster from tales of yore.
…
"Mother… Is this truly the graceful thing to do?"
Ariel Elaris sat beside the slumbering Eleanor, gently stroking her blonde hair that was spread out in any manner of direction.
Not long after the incident within the Dimension of Waves, she arrived in the child's room to check her condition.
To her surprise, she had fallen asleep rather peacefully, ears adorned with a unique set of earrings that the Angel had never seen for sale in the markets.
Without mana-rich resources in the Great Beyond, most available artifacts were mass-produced junk that a false Angel could give a weak seal as part of their training; however, the two rubies in her ears, along with their golden band, piqued her curiosity.
Such a thing was a mere distraction, though, as her reason for coming was unrelated; the words that her lord had told her were far more important.
"How can we send you through those trials alone…? Is it not cruel? Is it not unjust?"
Her tone was weak, yet never shaky, but within her beating golden heart laced with traces of Divine Authority, she felt pity for the child.
Even if shadows of resentment for the emblem on her neck still remained within her mind, there was no world in which she would allow them to cloud any aspect of her judgment or her opinion on the girl.
That anger was not directed at Eleanor Lynn, but more accurately, towards her very own mother, who had abandoned her duties for the universe outside their borders.
Whether it was her decision after her chains were cut and her Divine Authority stripped, there was no excuse for leaving her young daughter behind, forcing her to rise through the ranks of the Angelic Order without so much as a loving embrace to return to.
Ariel did not know who her father was, or rather, if there was even one; as for Angels, asexual reproduction was not impossible.
Death himself was tight-lipped about such things, much like he was with everything of importance, and even the other True Angels spoke truthfully when they told her of their own lack of knowledge.
How are you so brave, young one? You are not immortal nor even strong, and yet you put such a burden on your back to carry…
The woman turned her raspberry-colored eyes downward, staring at the white bedsheets.
Are there others like you in that dimension? Is that why my mother left me for that realm?
The young priestess stirred, causing the True Angel to retract her hand, the sadness still evident on her face.
Gathering her emotions behind a calm mask fitting of her position, she stood slowly, holding her hand only a few centimeters above Eleanor's forehead.
What miracle is it that you wish, child… I shall do my best to grant it…
Closing her soft eyes, she dug through the collective subconscious that housed each wish of those with living souls.
Within that world of the mind, a face appeared in a blurry backdrop of turquoise mist, one bearing blond hair and ocean-blue eyes.
A boy…?
She tried to sense the anchors of the wish, attempting to pinpoint the specific request that she desired.
Yet with each manipulation of the boy's face, the mist only grew thicker, as if to hide his appearance from her.
How strange… Is it her own mind preventing me from seeing her desires, or rather, something greater than that?
Knowing that the blonde-haired child had met her own fate by staring at the fully manifested form of a deity, there was a certain carefulness that she kept as she examined the mist; however, after nearly a minute of searching, only one thing stuck out.
Something… Something is watching me…
A shiver went down the Angel's spine, and despite her indisputable combative power, at that moment, she felt as weak as a doll.
Trying to exit the world of the girl's wish, she felt her eyes be pulled towards a corner, a flash of white nearly blinding her.
Her eyes adjusted fast, only to come face to face with a set of yellow pupils, long black slits running down the middle.
Ariel's throat felt constricted, squeezed shut by invisible force, her limbs heavy as if wrapped in lead.
What is…
Before she could finish the thought, the wish shattered, and the blue-haired woman snapped back to her senses within her own body.
Looking down at the sleeping child with mild shock, she closed her eyes, sighed, and stood up.
To have something lurking in your own mind seems like a fate worse than death… Perhaps the trials will pale in comparison to the true body of a deity.
She paused, realizing something suddenly.
Why would her deepest desire include a boy?
Ariel blinked for a moment before smiling slightly, her eyelids fluttering like a teenage girl reading romance novels.
"How adorable…"
With those words that reflected her severe misunderstanding of Eleanor's true wishes, the woman made her way to the window and promptly departed the chamber.
…
The next morning, Eleanor moved through the alleyways of the city with a mask made of Aether covering her face.
Ahead of her, the hooded man that she was tailing moved slowly and discreetly through the narrow passageways between buildings.
Deciding two days prior that she would discover whatever strange occult rituals the man was likely performing, she found the most opportune moment to be the morning after she awoke from her Aether-induced dream.
It seems that whatever form it takes determines what the positive and negative effects will be…
The mask she wore now provided a near-impenetrable invisibility, but conditioned on the amount of clothing she wore.
If she wished to be completely invisible, she would need to be down to her shirt and undergarments, while if she wore a heavy coat and multiple layers of clothing, she would become about as invisible as an elephant in the middle of a street.
Strongly deciding against risking her dignity, she wore her usual attire, only leaving behind her socks, shoes, overcoat, and ceremonial wave necklace.
With everything else still covering her form, the mask seemed to grant partial presence erasure while also dimming her prominent features.
Her blonde hair was reduced to a bland gray, her pale skin falling even paler, and her blue and white priestess attire becoming a solid black robe.
It's truly careless about style… I should try to find a better transformation that has fewer negatives…
Finding a goal for a later date, she rounded a corner where the hooded man had vanished earlier, his footsteps allowing her to follow even when he disappeared from her sight.
The path was unfamiliar to the girl, and for such a reason, she couldn't anticipate what she was going to see when her eyes finally peeked around the building.
Is this luck or simply fate…?
As she took a step forward, her gray eyes reflected an endless field of tombstones that stretched onward forever.
Out of any possible location that she could've predicted the hooded figure to venture, never did she expect the graveyard to be his destination.
Her thoughts raced as she tried to piece together his actions, yet nothing came to mind—the situation was too perfect but also far too random to be a coincidence.
Madame Hick mentioned that he had only moved in a few weeks prior to my arrival… If that's the case, then could it relate to the Sea Fallen incident?
It was a stretch, even for her; however, with the odd behavior he exhibited that even the memory-deprived locals noticed, there had to be some uniqueness about him.
He didn't seem inherently hostile, but it was impossible to tell from a distance, so if she wanted answers, there was only one way to get them.
Taking a deep breath, she watched as the man trekked through the dense fields towards the canine gargoyles that sat on both sides of the gate.
It was the same place where she had ever-so-narrowly escaped the monstrous gas that sought to kill her, a scene of her greatest blunder within the Great Beyond.
If I follow him, then it would be impossible for that gas to spread as easily, right…? That is, if he is truly the cause of it…
Still attempting to connect the missing links, she came to a single conclusion and formed a plan in her mind.
The corners of her lips tipped upward, and her eyes glistened as she placed her hand on the mask covering her face.
Gently pulling it off, she looked down at its golden hue, feeling the malleable substance shift in her grip.
Let's see if I can get lucky with these transformations, eh?