Azure stared at Aqua. "Huh?!"
In response, Aqua merely smiled and pulled her close. "No matter how long an event has passed, an echo in time remains. To merely show it would be child's play."
Her eyes fluttered. "I…"
Aqua placed her finger on Azure's lips. "Shush, this seems to be one of your favourite legends, if you wish to witness how it truly transpired, unbound from flawed mortal history, then I will make it happen."
Azure's eyes fixated on Aqua's finger and blushed. "If you don't mind, my star."
The heroine nodded and quickly turned toward the monument and stretched her hands toward it. "I shall drag the moment in time and let you witness it. Observe!"
Aqua's senses never betrayed her. This place had a powerful temporal echo in its past, all she needed to do was bring it forth.
While this act would require the usage of [Authority of Time], it was such a minor amount that it was about as dangerous as an act of illusion.
Her eyes closed, and the power flowed through the air.
Hm, there is no spell for this, but I am sure I can manually do this. She brought her fingers against her chest, and the sound disappeared from the surrounding area.
The chirping of birds and the howl of wind ceased, and the color was drained.
After a moment of silence, Aqua stretched her right hand and clenched her fist.
As she did that, a large [Temporal Barrier] was erected around the monument and the two girls.
Azure stared with amazement in her gaze, yet she did not look at the miraculous scene unfolding before her, instead she peered at her heroine and future wife.
Aqua's fingers moved through the air, her focus unbroken.
A large bronze circle appeared in front of her, and her fingers quickly traced over it. The moment Aqua had finished the circle shattered, and the world around them coiled into itself. Like a snake eating its own tail, the temporal isolation zone reversed.
Soon, the monument was no more, what stood in front of them was a large clearing, unbloodied and serene.
There was no trace of the forest, the area was completely frozen, and no life could have existed here.
Oh, so this was far enough to even witness the age of frost.
She clasped her hands, and the time flowed inside the dome of stillness.
Azure approached cautiously, "How long ago was this?"
"If I am to give it an approximation, I would say a couple millennia. Much older than you thought. "
"I am impressed you were able to bring forth this scene, but I really should not be surprised," Azure said, stepping toward where the monument once stood.
"It's nothing, this place seemed important to you, so I wanted to bring it to life."
"But to think you could rewind time just for me…"
Aqua chuckled and stepped next to Azure. "It's not rewinding of time, but merely showing a fragment of it isolated from the world at large."
"Equally as impressive, if you ask me," Azure stated.
Not really. Yet Aqua had no heart to argue against Azu, thus she merely took a step back and let the scene play out.
"If I am correct, something will happen in the next ten minutes right where the monument stands. Let's just relax and watch," Aqua said, flicking her wrist and creating a pair of chairs.
Azure nodded and took her seat. She scuttled over close to Aqua and leaned against her. "Perfect."
The minutes passed, and the scene shifted as from the temporal barrier emerged a creature of frost, it was massive, dwarfing the size of the monument.
In its hand, it carried a large club, each step making the earth quake.
"What's that monster?!" Azure shouted.
I am not sure of it myself.
It was impossible to gauge its strength in the phantasam of the history long past, however, it seemed as powerful as a Dragon Lord.
"I do not know, I have never seen something like this either."
Azure sucked in her lips and leaned forward.
The monster was not the only entity inhabiting the scene.
Soon, another figure emerged, nowhere as imposing yet resolute in the face of the creature.
He stood confidently, his halo melting the frost and golden armor glistering under the snow.
His crimson cloak billowed in the powerful winds.
The hero's short black hair was slicked back, and what was even more surprising was that he was a human. A human whose stature was frail, yet held a great deal of power.
"And here I thought it would be an elf."
Aqua ignored Azure's comment and peered at the apparition.
In his hand, the hero wielded a black spear.
Strange shape for a spear. Aqua's eyes focused on the weapon. It did not have a normal shape for a spear, instead it resembled a hand of a clock.
Two combatants stared each other down. The giant raised its club in the air.
Then a swing came down with the force of a demigod.
The ancient hero dodged, his hands gripping his weapons.
In an instant, the air froze, and a myriad of icy spikes appeared around the hero.
Before he could even blink, the ice shattered, and the snow razors collapsed upon his body.
The blood dripped.
The fresh snow was stained by the blood of the hero, and he fell on his knee, the spear at his side.
The giant raised his weapon.
Hero wrapped his fingers around the spear and, like a spark of starlight, appeared above the giant.
Azure stared at the man with sparkly eyes.
He does have a similar fighting style to Azure. Aqua smiled and crossed her legs.
The ancient hero gripped the weapon and then hurled it toward the frost giant.
The black spear flew at speeds surpassing sight, striking the giant right at the back of its skull.
However, what intrigued Aqua was the event right after.
A spectral clock appeared above it.
And then, the monster disappeared. Gone from the annals of history.
What the hell?! That's [Authority of Time]. Aqua wanted to shout. She was sure of one thing: the echo in time was caused by the artifact.
Azure remained unaware of Aqua's inner turmoil.
Teeth sank into her lip. No, that thing should not exist.
Both the hero and the spear fell onto the frozen ground. His age advanced even further, and his power weakened. He crawled over to the weapon, and as he grabbed it, the events faded. The echo grew too faint to witness.
Aqua grumbled. Why is this world in so much shit?!
No matter what, finding more about that weapon was her top priority once the world soul was dealt with. The barrier shattered, and the monument appeared once more.
She stepped forward, her mind a muddy puddle.
Soon after, she felt the warm presence of her friend.
"Aqua~ Stop wandering off like that!" Azure shouted, pulling Aqua toward herself. "You need to hang out with me until tomorrow!"
Aqua sighed. Azure was right, she had promised to spend a day with her, and it wasn't like she knew where to even go to begin investigating the mysterious weapon.
"Of course, Azu. Let's head back," Aqua said, smiling.