"Empress?" A voice reached her from behind.
Aqua snapped her gaze toward the source of the voice. Unlike Sun God, who took the form of the phoenix, Valerie opted for the form of a beautiful woman.
Her hair almost reached her heels, and her eyes were blue, much like Aqua's. She wore a sundress of flowers, and her ankles were shackled by wreaths of flowers.
However, that was not everything. As Aqua inspected her, there were patches of rot underneath her dress. Valerie had surely attempted to mask her blight, yet it did not escape Aqua's gaze.
"My beloved, you survived?" She spoke excitedly. However, as soon as her eyes analyzed Aqua, she shook her head and let out a disappointed sigh. "No, not quite, you bear a mark but not of me. Who are you?" Valerie asked cautiously.
Aqua placed her hand on her chest and bowed deeply. "My name is Aqua. I am the champion of the Sun God, the world soul of my old world."
Instantly, her gaze grew more stern. "So that was the name of the invader. Why do the outsiders keep meddling in my affairs? I grow tired of it…" She grumbled.
Valerie was clearly in pain, forcing herself to even speak. Despite her attempts to appear strong in front of Aqua, she knew better.
"Yet, despite being an invader, you did not harm my daughters, and you even removed the cancer threatening me. For that I am thankful."
Aqua smiled. "I would never dream of harming the children of the world that I wish to make my home."
Valerie stepped forward, gracefully gliding through the grass toward Aqua.
"When the entity you call Sun God appeared on my shell. I panicked, yet when I pushed him away, he did not resist. Why?"
Aqua crossed her arms. She knew Sun God better than she knew herself, and for one thing, she was certain. "Its older brother's duty to protect and help his little sister, is it not?"
Valerie remained stunned. She stared at Aqua as if she had said something outrageous. "Little sister? Me?"
"Yes, to Sun God, you are a little sister that he tasked me with helping. I am here to cure the rot that afflicts you so deeply, and offer my alliance."
Valerie stared at her in silence for a moment. "Are you here to conduct reorigination?"
In Aqua's mind, it made sense. The world had many issues, yet she believed that reorigination was not necessary at the current time.
Aqua shook her head. "No, I am here to empower you and make you capable of pushing back the beast of 10 eyes."
"The beast of 10 eyes?" She asked, tilting her head. "Is that what is causing the rot upon my shell?"
Aqua nodded and paced around Valerie. "I will tell you about it, but first. I need to ask you something."
Her eyes glowed, scanning the world soul.
Valerie was far weaker than the Supreme Trash, despite being a world soul who had to be more powerful than any god, according to Sun God.
Valerie's head tilted. "What is it?"
"What happened to you? Why are you so weakened?"
Valerie went silent. She rubbed her arms, and a stream of tears rolled down her face. "I wanted to conduct reorigination when the Great Clock was shattered."
The Great Clock instantly piqued Aqua's interest, but she let Valerie continue.
"Three hands were scattered across my shell, causing untold devastation."
Aqua hummed. The clock hands, I believe, it's safe to assume they have a great deal of influence over time. This is bad.
She gulped. "Soon after, I had chosen my champion, even then, I was far too weak to conduct reorigination myself."
Aqua crossed her legs and sat in the grass, keenly observing Valerie's body language.
"But… but when my beloved Empress was on the verge of success, a mortal pierced her with the 'Hand of the End'."
Aqua rubbed her chin. She racked her brain, yet she could not find anything even remotely similar to the name. However, there was something that made her mind click. The vision of the echo of the past.
The old warrior had wielded a black clock hand that used [Authority of Time].
She raised her arm. "Valerie, does the hand of the end look like a black clock hand?"
Valerie looked at her in surprise. "Yes, how do you know of it?"
Aqua shook her head. "I only guessed. I witnessed a vision of it being used on some Ice giant."
"Ice giant… Frozen Lord, Gregor… Empress loved him so much, he was her right hand." Valerie slumped down and started crying.
Aqua's eyes widened. To think a world soul would shed a tear. She quickly stood up and sat at Valerie's side, hugging her tightly. She then gently wiped her tears. "I am sorry for reminding you."
She knew firsthand how difficult it was to be confronted by the past.
After a solid minute, Valerie gathered her wits and turned her head to Aqua. "I am sorry for the display…"
Aqua gently patted Valerie's head. "Please don't. Cry as much as you need. I am here to help."
"Thank you," She thanked Aqua before shifting her gaze toward the horizon. "The human used that accursed artifact on my Empress, and then everything broke. I lost a lot of my power, my gods weakened, and mortals lost many of their gifts."
Aqua mused for a moment. The artifact of such power was far beyond anything she had ever seen, yet it was not free. It had taken so much from Valerie.
Then that is the reason elves lost their immortality. It makes a lot of sense.
Her ears focused on Valerie, who continued talking about the Empress. "Peron and other gods tried so hard to stop the mortals from using it, but they failed. The moment it had taken its payment, they had to retreat to their divine realm."
Aqua suppressed her smile. As much as she enjoyed the fact that the gods were weakened, it did not change the fact that the artifact was a danger to Valerie.
I wonder if my [Altered Time] can counteract it.
Aqua's eyes narrowed. Due to her great hatred of divinity, a thought appeared in her mind. "The gods worked together with you. Are you sure they weren't the cause of all the issues?"
The grass and flowers wilted around her.
Valerie frantically tried to calm Aqua down. "Aqua, your hatred is oozing out! The gods are my dear allies, I assure you that they were not to blame for what happened to me."
Aqua pinched her chin. "Believe me, Valere. The gods all deserve death, I am sure they were involved, even if you aren't aware of it."
I find that hard to believe. They are all parasites.
"Even if you distrust them, Peron had spent many centuries protecting my tree. Without the pantheon, I would have been long dead."
Despite her unwillingness to believe that any god would protect anything out of the kindness of their own heart, she refocused her mind on another important question. "I meant to ask you, why can't you leave the world tree?"
Of course, she had her theories, yet it was one thing to theorize and another to get the direct confirmation.
Valerie sighed. "It's my life support. I am so weak that I would die if I were cut off from the roots."
Aqua hummed. "I see."
This is worse than what Sun God thought.
"Not like that matters, considering the cancer."
"I did notice you are hiding patches of rot on your skin," Aqua nonchalantly said.
"Y…you saw?"
"Of course, I just didn't want to pry before we had a talk."
"You are just like my Empress," Valerie chuckled.
Aqua wished to ask Valerie a way to enter the divine realm, yet she suppressed the urge. Despite gods needing a purge, they were still far less of a threat than the rot.
Aqua giggled. "I spent some time trying to contact you. In retrospect, it makes sense that I could not reach you, considering your state."
Valerie averted her gaze. "I am sorry, I thought you were a threat too."
"It is a wise thing to do, Valerie. You are besieged on every side, for all you knew, I was just as dangerous as the rot."
The duo looked into the horizon before Valerie stood up and looked at Aqua.
"What do I need to do?"
Aqua pushed herself up and leaned toward Valerie. "I need you to strip down."
She deliberated for some moments, and her dress dissolved, revealing her slim nude body.
Aqua inspected her closely.
Her breasts were halfway consumed, and most of her stomach and back were covered by the twilight rot. It pulsed and spread, yet each time it spread, Valerie pushed it back.
"It hurts so much, I cry every day. If you can help me, I will trust you. I am desperate."
While most people would feel shame at others seeing their nude form, it wasn't the case with the higher beings. Why would they feel shame at others seeing the shape of their avatars?
Yet, despite that, Valerie wore a blush covering her face. "I only ever let Empress see this body before."
Adorable. Her fingers glided over the rotten flesh. I am impressed you are still alive.
The rot that appeared on the surface was nothing, but Aqua traced it deep within her soul.
It was much like the tree. A mere decade would have pushed Valerie across the point of no return.