Aqua couldn't be more proud of Sheira. Just as she went unconscious, Aqua stopped her relay in the skies above Onost and the Academy. Both the final statement and the power of their new goddess were clearly displayed.
Of course, Aqua felt conflicted about thrusting such a responsibility on Sheira, yet it was something that the princess herself wished for.
She twirled the bracelet in her hands. Now that Sheira had awakened even outside the rewritten timeline, the gods themselves were sure to notice her.
The suppression was not enough anymore.
So, the fight against Zm'aj was perfect for Sheira's growth. Aqua felt stupid for not providing it for her, she feared letting divinity overwhelm her.
Yet, she handled it like a real soldier.
Her eyes scanned the unconscious girl, unlike the doomed timeline, she merely fainted and would awaken after some decent rest.
The bracelet she had gifted her was only meant as a precaution while she was gone, in retrospect, it was a horrible and cruel thing to gift to someone with as much potential as Sheira.
I should modify it.
Her mind also went to Azure's ring. She had weakened her beloved knight only due to her paranoia and fear of divine corruption.
She needed to get Azure a proper engagement ring, or at least modify the existing one. It wasn't even meant to be an engagement ring. She couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.
Her finger dragged over the bracelet's gemstones. Instead of dampening Sheira's divinity, she would make the bracelet hostile toward other divinities in her presence.
I do not want it to weaken Azure. She sighed. This was delicate work, so she pulled Sheira's head onto her lap and got to work. First, she erased the circles that dampened divinity.
Then, she redrew them, with a modification that would target only entities that the user had declared an enemy. Her fingers traced the edges, drawing the Mind and Soul, then followed by the Divine.
The combination with the addition to the dampening effect would mark a soul as the target and let the aether circle make a distinction between who would get dampened and who would remain at full power.
In the past, every divinity was an enemy, so there was no need for such a stipulation, yet this time, there were at least two that she really loved.
After some minutes of work, the modification was successful. She placed the bracelet on Sheira's wrist and smiled. This should dampen the hostile gods enough for me to come and help her.
Of course, if the god were too powerful, the bracelet might shatter. Aqua swore in her mind that she would not let a disaster like the doomed timeline happen ever again, she would be on Sheira's side if anything dared threaten her.
"Good, now how do I convince Azure to let me modify her ring?" Aqua asked herself.
As much as she hated that her curse grew, she hated Azure being hurt even more due to the weakening effect of the ring.
Zm'aj said that Red Dawn knows how to enter the City of Glass. If his wish to claim a throne in that place is to be trusted. Aqua smiled. She would just need to get rid of Azure's goddess permanently and empower her future wife herself.
The Red Dawn would be destroyed, but before then, they would provide some use to her. The monstrous humans would allow her to destroy both those who played with rot and time, and in the end, even the filth of the divine.
The world would be cleared of them all, and her own peace and happiness would be secured.
I am sure Valerie is still under the false belief that they are on her side. She spoke of gods as if they were benevolent, which was impossible.
Once she had purged them, Valerie was sure to hate her. After a while, she was sure that the world soul would see that Aqua was right.
Their actions do contradict their nature, though. Aqua thought. Both Hikari and Azure were wonderful young women, yet she knew that they were merely toys to their gods. However, the gods seemed rather kind to both women, not to mention Valerie's protectiveness toward the pantheon.
Something deep inside told her that she was merely being paranoid, but such a thought was self-destructive, she needed to stomp it out.
Only good goddess was Sheira, nobody else.
All in due time, Aqua. She slowly picked up Sheira in the princess carry and looked upward. First came the culling of the savages who threatened her home, then she would deal with the threats looming over the horizon.
She felt a tug on her coat. The princess stirred awake and yawned, her eyes looked into Aqua's eyes. "Azure will be jealous if she sees you carrying me like this."
Aqua's gaze snapped down, shock plastered on her face. She recovered so fast!
With a chuckle, she tapped her nose. "You did well, Sheira."
"I thought I was gonna die for a moment, to be honest," Sheira said with a chuckle.
"You did fight someone very powerful," Aqua said. "Not only fought, but also defeated. I am proud of you."
A proud smirk formed on Sheira's face. "I am the best, I know! Now I need to brag to Azu."
Aqua chuckled. "You are the only good one," she muttered quietly. "Alright, Sheira, let's portal back to the Academy, and then… I have to pay back the savages a hundredfold for what they did."
Sheira sucked in her lips, and her eyes wandered down. "I think you should leave it to our soldiers. You have done so much for us, and if you destroy their tribes, I would feel like we are not doing enough for you."
Aqua looked at Sheira and closed her eyes. She understood where Sheira was coming from, and she truly appreciated it, but she was still livid. She needed to vent her frustrations against the scum that had allied with the rot.
As long as she left a couple of dozen of the savages, their extinction would be avoided, and Valerie would have no issues.
Sheira tugged at her again. "We also need to rescue our people from their villages, they treat us like cattle."
Aqua blinked.
"Cattle, in what way?"
"As far as I know, they use us for the meat and milk. Lira's intelligence never provided us details, but we could never push into their territory," Sheira said seriously. "We need to rescue them if possible, and this is a burden that doesn't need to be yours to bear. I know you can handle it, but you said it before, you do not wish to be used, and we do not want to use you."
They use sapient creatures as cattle?! Aqua felt as if she were about to throw up.
This changed things, she could not just erase the tribes. There were elves that needed rescuing.
Noticing Aqua's disgusted face, she shifted in her arms. "Can you put me down? I like being carried by you, but I don't want Azu to think I'm stealing her fiancé."
Aqua snapped out of her thoughts and nodded. "Sorry," she apologized before gently putting the princess down.
Aqua looked over the princess and crossed her arms. "I should give you a change of clothing, too."
Sheira glanced down, and a small blush appeared. "Oh, that fire really wrecked them. Please give me something amazing."
The void opened, and Aqua searched through her storage.
"Do you want another dress?" Aqua asked.
Sheira nodded in response. "I would like a dress. The one you gave me before is probably my favourite dress I've ever worn. I wouldn't mind having one more like it."
After a moment of searching, Aqua pulled a simple red dress, very similar to what she had given to Sheira before, yet it was even more elaborate with its golden embroidery. She then pulled out boots similar to her own.
"Here you go," she said, handing the princess a new set of clothing. Sheira quickly grabbed the clothing, gesturing for Aqua to turn around, to which she quickly obliged.
I need to dress up Azure, too. She felt bad that she had not offered her beloved Azu a set of clothing, yet until now, there just weren't opportunities to give a gift to her.
She knew that her future wife preferred armor to the usual feminine clothing, which limited her options rather drastically.
She didn't even have time to ponder her thoughts for long before Sheira cleared her throat and pulled her attention.
The princess wore a warm smile, and her arms were behind her back. Her dress was elegant, leaving the sides open for Sheira's thighs to be visible, and the boots made sure that everything up to them was covered.
"Do you like it?"
Sheira nodded and ran next to Aqua. "It fits me great, thank you, mommy!"
"Of course, Sheira. Let's head back to the academy. I think you deserve some rest."
The princess wrapped herself around Aqua's arm and looked up sheepishly. "Don't you dare disappear, okay?"
Aqua giggled. No matter how many times her new family refused to use her, she could never get tired of it. It made her want to do everything for them, no matter the consequence. "I promise. Also, we will be starting a rigorous training regimen. Your new power is far too high to keep suppressed."
Sheira reeled back. "I am scared."
"Don't worry, I will be gentle," Aqua said, and the two girls teleported back into the academy courtyard.