Aqua placed her hand on the console. Instantly, it lit up, and the mental display appeared in her head. All she needed were the coordinates.
"Sheira, Azure. Place your hands on my shoulder." Aqua turned to the girls while she kept her hand on top of the console. In the instant the girls placed their hands on her, their minds linked together.
She could see where they needed to go, and in that instant, the console lit up. Aqua opened her eyes as she yanked her hand back. The elven duo watched her in surprise, which did not last long as the ship's artificial personality spoke.
Acknowledged, Endurance will realign itself…
The mana Engines roared to life as the ship recognized Aqua's signature. Soon, the massive wind burst forced the hull of the airship to rise into the air. In mere seconds, they found themselves far above the Ebon Forest.
The passengers braced themselves at the sudden upward acceleration, yet they relaxed once the ship stopped. The mana engines pulsed pale blue light as they automatically realigned themselves toward the entered coordinates.
Nobody had time to enjoy the scenery as the engines pulsed with power, and in an instant, they found themselves traveling at speeds never before seen in this world.
Capacity at 99.99%, Estimated Capacity at Arrival: 86%.
"I overdid it with the charge…" Aqua sighed as she turned to the girls.
"How… is this possible?" Azure shook as she approached the railing, even though they travelled at speeds that made the land below them look like a mere blur, they still did not even feel the wind.
"It is the marvel of Engineering. Admittedly, I wouldn't be able to ever create something this advanced; it was one of the most talented people I have ever met who was responsible for this ship. Even in my old world, it was an outlier and one of the reasons the engineer was hunted down." Aqua approached them slowly.
Her face carried a solemn look, yet some happiness beamed forth, perhaps because of the willingness of two elves before her to listen or something more selfish, as a wish to brag about her friend's magnum opus.
When it came to Mystic Engineering, she was quite capable, but she could not construct an artificial personality like 'Endurance' without his help. Her constructs were never truly autonomous, and they required manual input.
Of course, they weren't anything to scoff at; she had a plethora of her experiments stashed away within her pocket dimension when she was studying the art of Mystic Engineering. One could not talk to them like with Endurance, but they most certainly could direct them to do almost anything.
It wasn't only engineering marvels that she had stored; there were various potions, food, materials, and items. It was a courtesy of infinite space. It was her own world that she carried in case she needed anything.
However, she did not wish to use anything from her limitless storage, just because each item could have a use later on, it was a mindset that she was truly thankful to have, as in this new world, she was unlikely to find the same raw materials.
While she could always use Aether and Mana to give any material similar property, it would not be the same. A small difference that could drastically affect the resulting product. A healing potion could instead become poison, and the Vitality and Strength candy could instead make you 3x heavier.
Aqua closed her eyes as she focused on what she had stored. Tens of thousands of potions, jewelry, and weapons of various properties. Some weapons were far too destructive to give to anyone in this world, and some jewelry with special effects that could bend reality to its will.
Just as she was too dazed, she was pulled into reality by the Sun God. Its crackling voice pierced her mind. "I have spent some time analyzing this world's properties."
Aqua's eyes shot open, and her stare pierced the phoenix. "What is it?"
"It's Water and Earth. Preservation and Stagnation. It is the complete opposite of me. However, that alone is not an issue."
Aqua sat down on the floor before she brought her legs to her chest, "Please tell me."
The phoenix went silent for a moment, "It is weakened beyond anything I would expect. Something terrible happened to this world. We need to help her."
Aqua reached forward and pulled the phoenix into her lap. "How?"
"I do not know. All I know is it's far too weak. It is not capable of defending itself. It would never be able to cleanse the rot. I feel that I could force my stay here, and she would not be able to do anything about it. It's a dire situation." The phoenix chirped, its tone conveying frustration as Aqua streaked her fingers through its fiery feathers.
"Whatever happened is far above even the Supreme God. This is an act of something far more primal."
Aqua hummed for a moment, "Is it Space or perhaps Time?"
"I do not know, Aqua. It is worrying. A weak world soul needs support; otherwise, this entire planet will crumble to dust." Its feathers changed color to white as it radiated immense heat.
Aqua inhaled deeply as she closed her eyes, "How do we help? I don't want this world to crumble."
"We need to commune and strengthen her. She needs our element of Rebirth and Change. Stagnation and Preservation cannot fight the rot. She NEEDS our cleansing flames."
"Sun God, we must figure out what caused her weakening. We must not rush blindly." Aqua placed her hand on the fiery avian's back.
The crackle stopped, and the phoenix changed its color back to its usual orange and red. "I know… yet I see her as my sister, she needs our help. I do not want to force my stay here… It will hurt her… I will have to depend on you again to find her; she must allow me to help."
Aqua smiled, "Of course, I would do anything for you. I will find and commune with her the moment we figure out what caused her current situation."
The phoenix stopped, the crackling of flame subdued as it peered into Aqua's blue eyes. He stared for a moment before averting his gaze. "Thank you. It hurts me to see my sister in so much pain."
Aqua's eyes squinted slightly, and her lips formed a thin line as she wrapped her hands tightly around the fiery avian. "You are so adorable! Argh!"
The phoenix squealed, but it let the eager elf girl crush it. His form was, after all, made of pure flame. The physical damage was inconsequential. Yet Aqua did not damage him; her hug was warm and gentle.
"I am the World Soul, Aqua. You are ruining my image of a terrifying entity beyond compare!" It protested, yet it enjoyed being buried in Aqua's bosom.
"Shh… It's just like old times when you consoled me. It's my turn now. Above everything, you are everything I have left of the old world. I don't see you as mere World Soul, I see you as my dearest friend and teacher." Aqua smiled as her hands streaked through its fiery feathers.
Sun God's form crackled, "I guess I can allow you this… only you, though." Its head nudged forward as it let itself relax.
Aqua let out a soft chuckle; she gently petted the phoenix as she raised her gaze towards the others. They all stared over the railing at the rapidly changing scenery. Everyone except Laura who was still stuck at Golden Fang's side.
Laura seemed to truly be attached to the man. She had his head in her lap as she stared at his closed eyes. Her eyes wandered to Azure and Sheira who chatted while they enjoyed the scenery.
It was rather tranquil. It felt as if the world was not hostile to her kin. Yet despite wishing to relax, it was impossible for Aqua not to worry about the Red Dawn and even the gods that observed both her and Azure.
Her own experience refused to allow her to put her mind at ease. Aqua expected danger from every corner and every crack. From the skies and from the ground. Her gaze wandered down to the phoenix in her embrace.
Everyone here was most certainly safe, but to bring the guard down just because of a moment of respite was foolish beyond measure. She exhaled loudly as she continued petting the Sun God.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed two elven girls had finished talking and had decided to head over to her. She did not mind their presence; on the contrary, Azure and Sheira were incredibly pleasant conversation partners.
While she had only known them for a short time, they had already started to grow on her. Her lips curled into a wide smile as she looked towards the approaching girls.
"Hey, Aqua! We noticed you looked lonely, so this nice lady, Azure, thought she should chat with you a little!" Sheira smirked as she glanced at Azure. On the other hand, Azure had the look of someone who had just been stabbed in the back by their best friend.
Aqua raised her brow as she looked at Azure. "Of course, what did you want to talk about Azure?"