Aqua and Poludnitza made their way into the rootway of Valerie's world tree. It was spacious and clearly seldom used.
Katarina and five other Vilas were preparing a large circle of flowers and mushrooms, while Katarina herself was in charge of creating a large magical circle.
A faint sound of flowing water could be heard from its depths, and a large stone ledge stood in a silent vigil over the underground rivers.
Aqua separated from the queen and approached the edge. She leaned over and gazed into the abyss.
It reached such depths that even her senses could barely see its bottom.
She nodded and turned toward the Vilas.
Poludnitza had started instructing her subordinates, leaving her to merely stand witness to the ritual.
It is surprising that the world soul is tied to this tree. She hummed. Sun God was never tied to anything similar, which made her think that it was due to Valerie's relative weakness.
"I guess I just need to ask Valerie," She muttered.
"Champion!" Katarina's excited voice reached her, shortly followed by a flap of the butterfly wings.
A pair of arms wrapped around her waist, almost sending the two girls flying off the cliff.
Aqua's heels dug into the ground, and she quickly wrapped her arms around the excitable girl.
She looked up to her with sparkling eyes. "Praise me! I have finished the ritual preparations!"
Aqua chuckled, her eyes looking around the ritual chamber.
The circle was ready, yet its purpose eluded her. She looked down at the girl and gently patted her head. "Good job, but what is the circle for?"
"Ah, that!" She exclaimed before quickly separating from Aqua and curtseying before fondling her ethereal blue scarf.
"It's a dance circle. Us Vilas will dance and create a space where you will fall into deep slumber," She explained. "We will dance from dusk to midnight, once the moon is at its zenith, the way will open, and you will need to let the sleep take you."
As she explained, she guided Aqua toward a small table. She then picked up a small cup of world leaf tea. "This tea will help you relax your mind and fall asleep, it is important that you do not miss the hour of midnight."
So it's just a typical sleeping aid, I shouldn't have an issue with that.
However, despite her not having issues ingesting a sleep aid, another troublesome fact arose. She was immune to any kind of poison. Her divine phoenix blood would quickly incinerate any pathogen or poison that dared invade her body.
Aqua rubbed the back of her head. "I am immune to all poisons. I am not sure if it will work."
Katarina chuckled while dragging her finger under her nose. "This tea is nowhere close to a poison. It just relaxes the mind. You can trust me, I helped with the ritual with the Empress, too."
Aqua hummed. If it was merely meant to calm her a little, then her natural immunities shouldn't destroy its effect.
She nodded. "I got it. What should I do while you girls dance?"
"What do you mean by what you should do?" She asked, tilting her head. "You will dance in the middle of the circle while we dance around you."
Aqua's eyes widened. "Wait, what?!"
"This is how we connect to our mother, we all dance as a way to connect, and once it is finished, we will stop, and you will lay down and let sleep take you," she said. "Unfortunately, we don't have any other way to commune with Mother these days, I am sorry."
Aqua rubbed her chin, embarrassment on her face evident at the fact that she would need to dance. "I… this is embarrassing, but I never danced before. I am not sure if I will do well with it."
Katarina chuckled, her fingers fidgeting with the scarf. "If you think you are a klutz, you should have seen the Empress. Don't worry, as long as you try, it will work."
Aqua nodded before exhaling in relief. "Good, how long until we start?"
Katarina put her hands behind her back and hummed. "We should start in about an hour when the sun disappears over the horizon. You are free to do anything you want until then, but please make sure to return on time."
Aqua thought for a moment. Was there much for her to do other than wait for the ritual? In her mind, there wasn't anything more pressing than speaking with the world soul as soon as possible.
However, the rot was still a threat to the village. Despite destroying its nexus and eradicating the soldiers, the forest was most certainly teeming with twilight rot that has since disconnected from the cancerous growth.
"I will make sure to return soon," Aqua said. "Before then, I will go investigate the forest. I do not want the rot to attack you while the ritual is conducted."
Katarina nodded. "Sure, we will finish with the rest of the preparations and get ready for you. Good luck, champion!" She said excitedly.
Aqua couldn't help but smile widely, her hand landing on Katarina's head, making the girl squirm. "Thank you, Katarina. I really appreciate what you are doing for me."
The Vila leaned her head in, making it easier for Aqua to pet her. "Don't mention it. It's an honor to help someone like you, Champion!"
After a moment, Aqua separated from Vila, and quickly teleported out of the ritual chambers.
She found herself far above the world tree once again, her eyes scanning the forest.
Lesh is doing a great job at keeping the rot away. Yet despite that, the rot managed to nestle itself into the world tree. "I should have asked him more about the situation," She said, sighing.
Yet there was no point in lamenting her lack of foresight. She was self-admittedly not the smartest woman in the world, despite having some degree of intelligence.
There were and would always be things that she would overlook and fail to notice, and worst of all, it was not something easily mended by power alone.
Aqua chuckled. As long as she had dealt with the aftermath, there would be no lasting issues.
She squinted.
Her senses spread over the massive forest, aiming to find Lesh.
Soon, she picked up his presence at the outer rim of the forest, clearly locked in a deadly fight against multiple rotten entities. "Ah, here he is!"
In a flash, she appeared next to Lesh, who instinctively struck at the sudden arrival. Of course, Aqua blocked the hit, but did not retaliate, after all, the spirit was in the heat of the battle.
"I see you are in a pinch, Lesh."
What greeted her was a group of four former Vilas.
Lesh rumbled. "Former Vilas, now corrupted. It breaks my heart. I want to defend the village."
Aqua sighed. She snapped her gaze toward the rotted monstoristies. They somewhat resembled Vilas; however, they were much closer to the spindly soldiers that arose from severe corruption.
They were shorter, their wings were oozing the dark rot, and their eyes resembled a crying girl.
These Vilas were the epitome of assimilated and corrupted entities.
Aqua grabbed the spirit's arm, despite his renewed vigor, the corruption would have taken him again. "Lesh, leave them to me."
The spirit deliberated for a mere moment before taking a step back. "Thank you, champion. Put them to rest."
Aqua smiled warmly. "I will. Nobody deserves such a fate."
The black fire enveloped her hand.
In an instant, the corrupted Vilas attempted to fly away, yet she was not about to allow it.
"Come back here, [Black Hole]."
The gravity of the dead star pulled the group of Vilas toward her. "Are you so afraid of Black Flame? I don't blame you, of course."
For a moment, she thought of a way to save them, yet she knew it was impossible.
Once the rot had assimilated them, it was over, even with her vast power, they could not be saved.
Only time could heal them, or consumption could free them from suffering.
Aqua closed her fist, and the black fire consumed the group of rotted Vilas. "Such a terrible fate."
A tear ran down Aqua's face. Despite only knowing the creatures that were Vilas for less than a day, they grew on her. They seemed pure, albeit strange. She needed to empower the world soul as soon as possible. Only then could the assimilation of those killed by rot be prevented.
Aqua sighed before turning to Lesh. "I will help you deal with the corrupted Vilas. Stay away from the twilight rot, only I am equipped enough to deal with it."
"I am the guardian, it's my duty to protect."
"If you get assimilated, your duty will quickly become killing and corrupting everything you hold dear. Just let me do it, okay?" She said, smiling at the spirit.
A faint sense of lavender invaded her nose. "Then, I leave it to you, Champion."