Azure found herself floating in the darkness of her mind. She had felt the chains of mind control wrap around her like a snake around its prey. Yet she felt safe.
"Oh no, you ain't, nobody is going to dominate my favoured child!" She heard the voice of the very goddess that had blessed her before.
Instantly, the chains that she felt coiling around her dispersed.
Her eyes widened as her mind sanctuary transformed into the lake where she had first obtained her power. In the middle sat the small girl she had seen before, yet she seemed angry.
"No. No. No!" The girl stomped on the surface of the lake, "That bitch! I will make her life miserable!"
Azure did not deign to approach. She trembled as if she saw a ghost. The goddess of misfortune seemed livid.
"She forced me to act! Fuck! Now I failed Chief again. I am useless!" Laleyn slumped down and sobbed.
"Goddess?" Azure reached forward.
The false girl's eyes lit up as she noticed Azure. "Azure… You were not supposed to see me like this."
"I…" Azure stumbled over her words as she noticed Laleyn's distraught expression.
"Azure, I was not supposed to interfere due to the presence of the Devourer." Azure tilted her head as she stared at the crying goddess.
"Devourer?"
"The elf you seem to spend time around! She made me unable to guide you!" She rose to her feet and cleared her throat.
"Ah, do you mean Aqua?"
"It has a name?"
"Please do not call her it!" Azure stomped. Despite being in the presence of a goddess and likely savior, she had to defend Aqua. She expected the gods to be afraid of her, considering her achievements, but to disrespect her heroine was far too much.
"Huh?" The goddess tilted her head.
"She is the only reason I am alive right now." Azure shrank back as the Goddess stared at her.
"But…" Laleyn scratched her chin, "No, that is not possible, are you sure you are not tricked? Mind control, maybe?" The goddess appeared behind her and inspected Azure closely.
"No, my lady. I assure you that I am not under any spell. The girl you called devourer is just a normal elf with great power."
Laleyn closed her eyes as she inhaled sharply, "Normal elf? No, my dear, it… No, she is far from it."
Azure frowned. The girl in front of her was her patron, yet she could not subdue her urge to defend Aqua. Even if it costs her life, she would not allow even a goddess to disrespect someone to whom she owed her life.
"My lady. I urge you to stop such disrespectful behavior toward her!" She stepped forward despite the difference in power.
Laleyn widened her eyes as she appeared some distance away from her. "Azure? Why such hostility?"
"I will not allow even you to disrespect Aqua; you may kill me. Curse me or whatever, I owe her my life, and thus, as a proper knight, I will fight for her honor right here!" Her lips formed a shaky smile; she had no chance against the goddess.
If Laleyn wished Azure to disappear, then she would have in an instant, yet she stood alive before a befuddled goddess.
The small child raised her hand forward, yet it shook as if she was afraid, "Please…" A tear rolled down her cheek, "I don't want my children to die or hate me."
"Huh?!" Azure stumbled back and fell as she gazed at the goddess.
"Azure, I only wish for your good. You refused the perfect Argussian form in favor of your flawed existence, and I accepted it. Even now, as you refuse me, I would never hurt you. Please believe me." She approached slowly. Instead of the usual dread, she felt around Laleyn, she felt as if she was facing a distraught child.
"I have protected your mind from the control, yet I cannot protect you from the Devourer. I only wish for you to be safe."
Azure pushed herself up and approached Laleyn. Gone was the goddess who she had begged for help when the golden rose attacked; in front of her was a worried girl, nothing more and nothing less.
She sighed before falling to one knee, "I know, and I thank you for protecting me. However, understand that Aqua is not your enemy; I am sure you would like her if you had a chance to meet."
Azure stared at the calm lake surface before she felt a hand on top of her head, "I will never curse or kill you, I love my children even if they despise me, despite my wish for them to love me as much as I love them. I will always protect and be with you, even if you believe I am not."
Laleyn's fingers cupped her chin and lifted her gaze to face toward the goddess.
Azure smiled. The goddess she was so afraid of was not bad at all. She had been right when she told Aqua that she trusted the goddess.
"My Lady, I assure you that I am safe with Aqua; she is no danger to me, on the contrary, I have never been safer."
"Good… That makes me happy." The goddess made a toothy grin, "I wish you liked me as much as you do the devourer, as to challenge a goddess to a duel." Laleyn chuckled. "But that is fine."
Azure nodded, "My Lady, do you know what happened to me?"
Instantly, the goddess changed her expression. "That snake paralyzed you and attempted to shackle your mind."
"Attempted?"
"She would have been successful if I hadn't intervened; it was so sloppily done that you could have been left brain-dead. Some expert that snake is."
Azure's ears twitched at the surprising news. "Brain-dead?!"
"Of course, I would not allow it." Laleyn took a look around, "And also, I can sense Dev… I mean, Aqua's presence in your mind, I dread to think of what would have happened?"
Azure scratched her chin as she thought about it, "I think it could be the Heart of the Phoenix she placed on me. As far as I know, it returns me to life if I die."
"Is that so…" Laleyn slumped forward, "Sure, she can play with natural order, as expected."
Laleyn took a deep sigh and muttered, "While her power is terrifying, the fact that she left you alive and is keeping you safe makes her more trustworthy than Chief or I thought."
"Incredibly so, I beg of you, my lady. Please do not make an enemy out of her!"
"That, never was a plan, my dear Azure." Laleyn crossed her legs and sat on the surface of the lake.
Azure tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean, my lady?"
"While we wish to establish some kind of control over the devourer, as she is far too dangerous, we do not want her as an enemy. On the contrary, we wish to be on amicable terms if at all possible." Laleyn stared toward the sky as she continued.
"Do you wish to know what our first image of Aqua was?"
Azure nodded. Any information about Aqua was something she would gladly have, no matter whether it was small or big. She wished to know everything she could about her heroine.
"Yes."
Laleyn disappeared and materialized next to Azure.
Azure jumped back out of instinct, but walked back as the Goddess of Misfortune beckoned her over.
She tapped the lake twice, and it rippled.
The dark water shifted and changed. The waves grew in frequency before the entirety of the lake became an image of the sky.
In an instant, the serene blue sky shattered, and from it fell out two entities, one she did not recognize and yet could sense the immense power from and another she knew well.
"Aqua…" She stared in disbelief at the scene as Aqua sprouted the wings and covered the divine corpse in black fire.
"Laleyn…" She muttered.
"Yes?"
"What was that thing?"
"A god. An extremely powerful one at that." Laleyn went silent for a moment, letting the information sink into Azure's mind. "We call her the devourer because she is capable of consuming our divine essence."
Azure nodded, "Even so, I feel no reason to fear her. She had told me that it was because of that god's actions that she had lost everything."
"Oh, do you know more about the devourer?" Laleyn raised her brow as the lake returned to its previous state. If her Azure was able to provide her with anything more, it would help her and most certainly would impress Chief.
Azure thought for a moment. Aqua was unlikely to want her to reveal much about her past. If she were to betray the heroine after everything she had done for her, her life would have been meaningless.
"Nothing more than that god was at fault."
"Hmm…" Laleyn grinned. "I will leave it at that."
"Thank you." Azure exhaled loudly, a massive burden lifted from her heart. Laleyn could most certainly force her to tell her everything, yet the goddess seemed to be earnest in her love for her children.
I really misjudged her.
There was no reason to fear her as much as many believed; she might have been a goddess of misfortune, but to Azure, she was nothing but kind.
"Now, Azure, would you like to return to the mortal world? You will most certainly have to stay in some smelly cage until the Snake needs you. I would not recommend fighting her; she is more powerful than you are currently." Laleyn offered her a hand. "Or stay here with me and observe what that snake wanted to do. However, I will not be able to observe Aqua; last time I did that, she almost found me."
Laleyn rubbed the back of her head. It was shameful for her to admit that she was indeed terrified of the Devourer.
Azure's face contorted in anger, "I want to cut off Lira's head… but I believe it will be better to stay here for now."
"Excellent!" Laleyn clapped, and the lake shifted again. "You can take over your body anytime you wish. I made sure that her pesky little spell is rather loose around you."