Azure fidgeted nervously as she tried to shuffle closer to Aqua, "Soooo…Any favourite animal? I would say mine would be an earth drake! They are so adorable and are very good at pulling carriages and carrying warriors into battle!"
Aqua raised her brow as she chomped at the last remaining pastry. "Earth Drake? Do you mean the things that pulled your carriage?"
The girl hummed for a moment before she nodded, "Yep, I still feel bad that they died when I transformed, but there is nothing else I could have done." She stared into the sky and let out a sigh.
"I never wanted to accept that blessing, you know?" A soft, pained giggle escaped her lips, "But you know how desperation is."
"I know fully well…" Aqua nodded as she rubbed her hands together. "I can remove that cancer from you once I am sure your goddess is not gonna be too troublesome."
Azure leaned forward, "You speak of it as if it's some disease to be cured."
"That is because it is. Azure, you might not realise it because you haven't interacted with the divine entities much, but every single one is a corrupting influence. They are the festering corpse that spreads the illness that is their blessing." Aqua frowned. "They are even worse than the disease…"
Azure kicked her legs slowly, "The goddess was not that bad in my opinion… she seemed rather innocent despite the sheer terror I felt when facing her."
Aqua blinked slowly and then exhaled loudly, "Let me tell you, Azure. Those who seem most innocent are the ones you need to take care of the most. No matter what, you can't trust her. I don't want you to get hurt, you understand?"
"I guess…so should I be on guard around you then? You seem rather innocent to me, too." Azure leaned back on the bench and crossed her arms.
Aqua's face and ears gained a slight red tint, "Yes, even me. You must not trust me fully; I, too, carry a divine nature. You should distrust me."
The champion grinned, "Yeah, no. You are not someone I could just distrust after everything you have done. You are my friend!"
She is so trusting. I guess I have to be worthy of trust, huh? Her lips widened into a line.
Aqua's ears slumped as she smiled shyly. She stared at the floor before she muttered, "I really appreciate that… more than you can imagine…"
Azure used the opportunity to slide close to Aqua and push her body against hers, then she wrapped her arms around the heroine and hugged her tightly, "I will keep reminding you, until you get it into your pretty head that we are friends now, despite our initial meeting!"
"Hah… Thanks…" Aqua let herself get squeezed as she stared into the distance. "Although I would feel better if you didn't show so much blind trust toward me."
I would not trust anyone carrying divinity… except Sheira, whom I had cursed personally.
"Sooo, you haven't answered my question. What is your favourite animal?" Azure grinned as she let Aqua out of her embrace.
Aqua held down her laughter before it burst out of her, "Hahahaha, Azure… why are you so interested in something so quaint?"
"I just want to know more about you. What better way to start than knowing some minor preferences?"
Aqua tilted her head slightly, "I would say I am quite fond of many kinds of birds, crows especially, are really nice."
"Oh? Crows? Is that what Sun God is?"
"What?! No?" Aqua reeled back, almost as if she had been insulted. It took her a moment to calm down, "I guess you don't have them here? If you assumed the glorious presence of the Sun God would be equal to that of a crow."
Azure turned to Aqua and placed her hands defensively as she sweated. The girl who was gentle and kind in expression now gained that of anger.
Aqua exhaled slowly, "Crows might be neat, but I do not want you ever to compare Sun God to an animal!"
"I am sorry! I didn't know! Then what is he?" Azure shouted loudly as she gained an apologetic expression.
Aqua looked over Azure. The girl was terrified; she should have controlled herself. I'm sorry, Azure! She should not have guessed that Azure would know the difference. After all, the Sun God was one of a kind.
"No, I am sorry for getting mad so suddenly. Well, first, Crows are birds, while the Sun God is the world soul. However, their body shapes are similar. The crows usually have pitch black feathers and are rather soft to the touch."
Aqua nodded along as Aqua seemed to relax.
"They are incredibly smart and adorable. My teacher of illusion, Umbra, used to keep 3 of them as pets!" Aqua lifted her hand and covered her mouth as she let out a soft chuckle.
"She even taught them how to speak…" Then her mood soured. Poor guys…
"Used to? What happened?"
"I would rather not get into it now; it would ruin the moment." Aqua shook her head.
Azure sighed, "I am sorry."
"Don't be. It's in the past, but I prefer not to talk about it if at all possible."
"I understand, Aqua. Please don't ever feel like I am pressuring you to talk about hard topics."
"I really appreciate that, Azure."
Azure leaned forward, "Should we go take a walk while we wait for Sheira?"
"Sure. "
Aqua pushed against her knees and lifted herself up before stretching her hand toward Azure, "Here, let me help you out."
Azure's eyes widened as she turned red, "S…Sure!" She stretched her hand forward and gripped Aqua's. With a pull, both girls stood side by side as they headed to explore the village.
Aqua pulled her hand away, much to Azure's dismay. "It would be nice to hold hands…" She muttered under her breath. Yet despite speaking so quietly, Aqua turned to her with a curious expression. "Why hands?"
"Just so we don't get lost or something…"
"You know neither of us is that incompetent, right?" Aqua tilted her head in confusion.
"It's not that! I just thought it would be nice! Don't worry about it…" She brought her fingers together as she averted her gaze.
Aqua stared at her for a moment before she let out a sigh. Not that big of a deal…
With the speed surpassing even the sight, she grabbed Azure's hand and smiled, "If it matters to you, sure."
Azure's ears perked up as she stuttered, "R..really… A…are you sure?"
"Why not? Let's go." Aqua pulled her gently forward.
"Let's!" Azure blushed heavily as the two girls went deeper into the village.
Two girls passed through the gaps of the primitive buildings. The villagers made a path for them as they casually walked down the busy path.
This is a rather large village, huh?
Aqua looked around at surprisingly bustling streets despite their rather plain appearance. They passed through the busy street of the village center and made it to a less populated area.
Azure stared at the connected hands as she enjoyed the walk. She couldn't get rid of the blush that she wore every time she was around her heroine. Although she was not in a hurry to hide her face from Aqua.
"Honestly… nothing is interesting in this village other than the fact it's populated by my kin." Aqua brought her other hand to her chin. "Also, Azure, we are being stalked. I guess some thieves fancy us as an easy target."
Azure let go of Aqua as she gained serious expression. She reached behind her and retrieved Mortal's Hope from her back. "I will deal with them!"
Aqua placed her hand on Azure's wrist, "Do not use that weapon on ordinary people. You don't know if they are deserving of death."
When danger presents itself, she really is quick to act. Aqua nodded in a satisfied manner.
"I spy with my little eye… an unarmored knight and an arrogant noble lady." A rough voice reached them from behind.
"Azure, I will let you deal with them. I don't think you need to kill them, just beat them up." Aqua grinned as she crossed her arms. It was not many times she could relax and let someone else fight.
"Don't worry, Aqua, I can handle some ruffians on my own." 3 large elven men surrounded her; the leader's ears were clipped, and he had a missing tooth.
Azure cracked her fists, "Time for me to get some exercise..." She puffed out her cheeks slightly, "And show off to Aqua."
Not that I can prove anything by beating up a bunch of thieves.
Aqua stared in disbelief as Azure dashed behind the first thief. While Azure was not the strongest, the bandits or whatever they were moved so slowly that Aqua's eyes felt as if they would fall asleep.
In what seemed like an instant, the trio collapsed, and Azure cleaned her hands. "What do you think they wanted?"
"Doesn't matter, we can just leave them here." Aqua approached Azure.
"So should we co…"
BOOM
Aqua's voice was interrupted by a sudden burst of Mana and a massive boom. "I guess we've got more important matters to attend to. Azure, let's go!"
"Right behind you!" Two girls moved with blinding speed towards the explosion.