Elizabeth didn't understand this small conflict that was brewing in front of her, in one side it was the new girl, Miracle Zephyria— Mira to shorten it into something more palatable. Glowering at Aura, whose presence seemed to seethe, Aura was feeling as vast as the universe, and at the same time, she was still keeping that impish strike into her smirk.
Sana was even standing at the side, hugging her tail with her ears flat against her head.
"Shouldn't you like each other?" Elizabeth asked confused, "You know…Space and Time are kind of a thing?"
"That may be true, Mistress," Aura said as she didn't lower on her presence. "But you are missing something from that."
"That we aren't merely a being made out of [Time], just as she-" Mira said pointing at Sana who was standing behind Aura, tail tucked against her chest, "Isn't a being only out of [Space]."
"...Snakes sometimes hunt Fox cubs," Jenna said, sighing from the side, "Is that the issue here?"
"Foxes are also predators, and will eat any kind of snake, even poisonous and venous ones." Aura said as her eyes shone with maliciousness, "Never forget that, newbie."
"Fine, I get it," Elizabeth said, raising her finger and pointing at Mira, "You are forbidden from initiating any attack against any Minion unless they start it first."
"That seems unfair," Mira said narrowing her eyes, "Foxes are hunters of my kin too."
"And you, don't start anything either." Elizabeth said turning to Sana, "And you too Aura!"
Elizabeth turned her eyes to the purple-haired maid, "I thought you didn't buy on the whole motherhood thing, now you find you care about the fox cubs?" Elizabeth did her best to not laugh at how ironic that was.
"She always loved me," Sana added from the side, "But she didn't start this only because of me."
"She didn't?" Elizabeth said turning to Aura, no wait, she had asked what Mira was too. "What's this about?"
"She… doubts my existence." Aura said, sighing, "You are aware of what kind of existence I am, right Mistress?"
"You are [The Maiden of Space]," Elizabeth answered, nodding, "What about it?"
"You aren't thinking it through again; how many epitaph bearers do you know?" Aura asked shaking her head, "You were one, are one even now, while not the same. Your friend here is another, both of your girlfriends were one before and are turning into another…And that thing, there is one. Even if a new and powerless one."
"Powerful enough to see what you were meant to be." Mira smirked as she spoke.
"Stop it," Elizabeth called once again, "Yeah, she is [The Magical Girl of Second Chances] or something."
"Exactly, she can view and see people who deserve, earned, or are on their second chance." Aura said, pointing it out, "What do you think she sees in this room?"
"What do you see Mira?" Elizabeth asked, not bothering with thinking about it, it was a meaningless effort if she could get an answer faster this way.
"You are a hurt soul who is living a more free life." Mira said pointing to Elizbeth, "She is a lost soul who craves for recognition…"
Then, she moved on to Jenna, which made the girl shudder for a second, only to turn her glare into Mira, who ignored her, "And you…" Mira said pointing to Aura, "You should be dead, beyond recognition, nothing should be left of you. Your soul should have moved, you weren't supposed to remain."
"That seems kind of harsh?" Elizabeth said, confused, "Aura is just doing her best."
"You don't get it, Mistress," Mira said shaking her head, "Her thread of fate was cut, her destiny was stripped clean, she was given a second chance, and failed to achieve the results, she died. She should have moved on, there are only so many second chances one should be able to get."
"And yet here I am, not by my power, I should add." Aura said, shrugging, "And I don't believe in Fate either; it can suck my-"
Aura stopped talking and turned to look behind, Sana was looking up to Aura and everyone else as they spoke.
"....behind." Aura finished speaking, Elizabeth was sure she was not going to say that originally, but said nothing about it. "Second opportunities are granted to those who persevere or those who are lucky enough. I fought for a way to remain, and managed to worm myself into this body. I earned the right of being here. No matter what anyone has to say about it."
"But are you aware of what your second chance looks like?" Mira pointed out, "It is live right now, I could bridge the gap."
"To what?" Aura scoffed, "It will not be me, it's better like this."
"...You could have a more tangible take at love." Mira said, magic pooling on her hands, "Just…take it…"
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"...I refuse," Aura stated, her presence blooming once again, "I am Aura Di Starbright, [The Maiden of Space]; I am not Aurelia Vitelius; I am not whatever you think I am. I am not who I was in another life. I am Aura."
"She is my mom!" Sana said from the side, "And nothing else matters!"
"....So it will be." Mira said, sighing, "Second chances are all about taking them when they come…And I guess this is a second chance…even if twisted like that."
"Your opinion was noted, and promptly ignored." Aura said hmping at Mira, "So, enough about me. What the hell are you supposed to be? You are all over the place."
"I just arrived tho?" Mira said innocently.
"Your [Self], is spread all over the place. Not even Mistress has this messy of a presence upon [The World]." Aura said moving her hands all over, "You are all over the place, all the time, and your stupid snakes, what the hell are they even doing?"
"...Well…We are making sure everything is going smoothly?" Mira said confused, "Just like how your Fox Cubs are jumping all around the place, don't think I don't notice what they are doing to Mistress right now."
"We are doing what she asked us!" Sana said from the side, her tail standing up straight as its fur stood straight up, "Nothing else! Don't listen to the snake Mistress!"
"Enough about this," Elizabeth said sighing, "I know you both don't seem to like each other, but as far as I am aware and my senses are telling me, The Space Foxes and Sana aren't doing anything I didn't ask them."
Elizabeth made a show of summoning atop her head the Crown of Sin and settled on it the Space Gem, her awareness spreading all over.
She now was aware of what Aura had meant; Mira's presence…was overlapping with herself, while other versions of her seemed to move around the place, some merely looking around, others reading, eating, and one particular version was trying out different outfits.
"Mistress!" That particular version pulling out a curtain to hide herself from Elizabeth's gaze, that was…weird.
"Nothing out of order, the space foxes are doing what I asked them to do." Elizabeth said as her awareness returned to herself and focused on where Terra Nexus stood and how the Space Foxes were ensuring the spatiality of her Soulscape, Soul and Domain remained stable. "What are you speaking about here, Mira? Or are you saying your Space sense is better than mine, Aura and Sana?"
"Nothing like that, Mistress," Mira said shaking her head, "I could never claim to be better at Space than your dedicated minions."
"Then?" Elizabeth asked, wondering if she should slot the [Time Gem], she didn't want to do it, she had hoped that Mira or whatever came from the fusion would help her with that, "What are you speaking about?"
"...Are you aware of your options for the state of your Soul?" Mira asked the magic that she had used before flaring away once more, "What is happening, and what are your options?"
"Lately, my newest minions don't come with the info installed," Elizabeth said as the Crown of Sin faded away from her head, the feeling of omnipotence over space fading away with it, "But you, particularly you, the minion bearing the mark of the snake, are telling me that you know?"
"Yes," Mira said nodding, "I know, because who I am and what I wield, I wield the power of [Time] and the knowledge stacked up by the previous [Sage of time]."
"Right…" Elizabeth said nodding, "As to answer your question yes, I am aware. My Soulscape, my Soul and my Domain, arrived at a threshold usually set up for those who achieve apotheosis, my whole self wanted to evolve to the next step, and since I was not quite ready to become a Goddes, that meant that my Domain wanted to expand into the next best thing. Becoming its own World."
Elizabeth wasn't that sure about how that usually went about because she was half sure that not many people could just teleport a planet to an open spot away from their current planet, so really, if this was common, then more likely than not most would die from the collision between two planets.
"Yes," Mira said, nodding, "But the answer was not only that."
It wasn't only that?
"Another option would have been for you to take that step to Godhood, you had all you needed, by taking in-" Mira started speaking, only for Elizabeth to raise a finger.
"If any option you are going to give doesn't include bringing Rossie or Rena, then those are out." Elizabeth stated first, Mira deflated a little at this statement, "If any option you bring means that I would need to discard or consume the Souls of those that are currently within the Shadow Haven."
"You were saying? Miracle Zephyria?" Aura said with a smirk on her face as she looked down upon the newest Minion…Or well, was she even a Minion? Were any of those born out of Gems Minions anymore?
"....Fine." Mira said sighing, "You are making this hard Mistress."
"What was what you were going to say?" Elizabeth asked as the curiosity got the best of her.
"One option was just that, to shed your mortal body and embrace Divinity, you would have been able to teleport yourself to a safe spot to create your own world in your own image, with nothing you didn't want…It would mean to leave your mortal coil and its desires behind…" Mira said sighing.
"And that would mean no Rossie or Rena." Elizabeth said, nodding in understanding, "Denied."
"Another would have been for you to consume what is weighing you down, you would grow in power and you would become a more [You] version of yourself." Mira said, summoning a projection of an Elizabeth doing just that.
A secondary image showed the Shadow Haven collapsing on itself, the minions kneeling as they prayed. Not a single one attempted to fight against the collapse, and some even brought out their own Cores to make it faster.
"...Denied, also destroy that." Elizabeth said tapping into her Prana to ensure the image was obliterated, "I do not need them getting ideas…I am sure there must be at least a few trigger-happy minions that would do just that."
Elizabeth couldn't help but shudder at that, one thing about giving them as much liberty as she did, was the fact that they could and would act like that if given a chance.
"I imagined," Mira said, nodding, "I wouldn't have been born if you took that path…And I would die now if you did so."
"And you wouldn't fight it?" Elizabeth asked, arching an eyebrow, "Aura, would you?"
"I would not, one doesn't fight against their Goddess and come out unscathed." Mira said shaking her head, "I would embrace the change and hope for a greater future."
"...I…am not sure." Aura said, sighing, "Before I would say no, I wouldn't fight it…but now…"
"We wouldn't fight it Mistress, no minion would!" Sana said from behind Aura, "Right Mom?"
"...I am unsure Mistress, honestly. I am unsure." Aura sighed.
"Yeah…sorry about that…" Elizabeth said awkwardly, "Bad question, considering the current situation."
"Well…enough about that." Aura said shaking her head, "Go and play with the other minions Sana, the grown-ups need to speak."
"Aye sir!" Sana said, doing a mock salute and teleporting away.
Elizabeth wasn't sure if there was even a group of minions the same age as Sana for her to play with, but a quick peek answered the question: the fox girl teleported around the Shadow Haven, picking up minions from here and there, and then teleported all of them to a meadow.
There they set up an area and started to play around, most of the minions were of the animalistic type, but Sana herself transformed into a space fox and played around with them, it was quite a cute scene to watch. One that Elizabeth wouldn't have been able to see if she had decided to take one of the paths that Mira had said were available to her.
"So, before you asked me for help to bring out the stupid idiot who got stuck out of time." Aura said starting the conversation, ripping open a rift in space that showed an image of [The Traveler], "I assume that now that you have that thing around you will use her?"
"That…is one interesting problem you have." Mira said, looking at the rift, "But…That…Doesn't look like someone who should be alive either…"
"....He is Arthur Saintsworths," Jenna started speaking as she walked towards the rift, "He is [The Traveler] a member of [The Twelve] most powerful humans on Zaanam."
"Only Twelve?" Aura asked with a smirk plastered on her face, "I am sure I found more than twelve last time I checked."
"Twelve people willing to play their part and follow orders," Jenna said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "We know there are powerhouses hidden away, when the group was formed twelve were the number of people willing to stand forward, and so, they stayed like that in honor of those names. In reality of the [Twelve] only five or so really mattered."
"Yikes." Aura said with a shrug, "Well, carry on then. What makes him so special. Besides the fact that he has the name of a cockroach species."
"I do need to agree with your purple geode here." Mira said nodding to Aura, "Besides his name I don't see any reason why we would bother saving him."
"We need to save him because of what he represents," Jenna said shaking her head, "He is a true inhabitant of Zaanam, one whose presence was tainted by the Saintsworths that came from Terra Invicta."
What? Elizabeth was aware that there were some Saintsworths natively to Zaanam, but she had thought most of them had been assimilated or annihilated by the Saintsworths that came to Zaanam. Alexanders' clan was that kind of place after all.
"Arthur is the last remaining pure Saintsworths of Zaanam, someone who managed to rise to the same level as the monsters that came from Terra Invicta, and someone who managed to remain untainted by them." Jenna said gravely, "Arthur also is the one we need help from if Elizabeth wants to ensure her peace, for he is also the one who is the rightful heir to the crown of Zaanam."
"...The what now?" Elizabeth asked dumbfounded. There…there was a crown? Another one?
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