Time, as they would say, is relative. How much time goes by depends on the perspective of the one who experiences it. Elizabeth had never thought much about that, for one, it was a stupid saying.

One second was one second, no matter if it was here or there, it didnˋt change how much it passed, one hour would always be one hour, Elizabeth had never felt time go slower or faster. She was aware that her own perception of time could change, but time itself wasn't changing.

Just because the world turned shades of gray, it didn't mean that less time was passing by; it just meant that her perception of the world was accelerated, time wasn't being manipulated in any way whatsoever. It was merely the use of high-end skills or Magic taking place.

Why did this matter?

"This is boring," Because now Elizabeth was painfully aware of how much time was relative.

Less than a couple of days had passed since Rossie and Rena left for their own training, and Elizabeth was sitting on a cushion in the middle of an underground facility. One that Jenna had brought Elizabeth to.

It was, allegedly, one of many safe houses set up for Jenna, one in which she could come and rampage as much as she wanted without fearing about damaging the world around her. One couldn't help but think how much Jenna was rampaging that they needed to build these.

Jenna didn't seem like the rampage kind of girl…but then again, her code name had been [The Juggernaut], so perhaps there was some truth to this, not that Elizabeth wanted to bring this into the open.

"Focus Elizabeth," Jenna said as Elizabeth's complaint resounded within the room. Jenna was sitting in another meditation and on a very expensive cushion, her eyes closed as the breathing came in a certain rhythm that probably wasn't that comfortable to breathe in a daily life setting, two fast breaths in, one slow breath out.

Who even breathes like that?

"This is stupid," Elizabeth grumbled, "I will not find an epiphany about Time just because I breathe in a weird way."

Granted, that style of breathing did wonders for her [Mana Cores], they were more active and could refine mana faster, but it didn't open her eyes to a new type of mana or anything, if it did something of the type, Elizabeth hadn't felt it.

"This isn't about finding Time Mana, it is about centering yourself and helping you even out your feelings, senses, and experiences." Jenna answered without opening her eyes, "Do you find your feelings, senses, and experiences more obvious?"

"My feelings?" Elizabeth sighed, "What about them? Does it have anything to do with this? I know my own feelings the best, even if my early childhood was filled with brain zaps, I got over them, I am okay."

"Are you?" Jenna asked opening her eyes, they shone in azure light, "Your parents left you, you turned into an orphan, you got raped while unconcious, all the people who knows you are dead or don't remember you."

"I didn't got raped," Elizabeth pointed out, "Rossie caught that asshole before he could do anything."

"Did she?" Jenna said, looking straight at Elizabeth, without blinking, "Did she catch him before he did the deed? Or did she catch him in one of his acts? You never questioned that?"

…Elizabeth did…question that, of course she had thought about it.

"It doesn't matter, the body I had then and the one I have now are different," Elizabeth said shrugging, "Even if they weren't different. I wasn't on my body at the moment, so that man at best would have played with a chunk of meat."

Elizabeth was exploring her Soulscape at the time, she didn't even have her full set of memories, so saying she had been raped…It would be a little too much.

"That was your body Elizabeth," Jenna said, "No matter how you look at it, and you say you have no thoughts about it?"

"What do you want me to tell you?!?" Elizabeth lashed out, "I had no control over the situation! If I was to have trauma over something it would be about how Ethan stole my body! Not about what some random civilian did to my unconscious body while my Soul was making its way back to the world of the living!"

"I thought you said it wasn't your body," Jenna pointed out, "You have experienced plenty of things that would scar and leave people loathing humanity as a whole, Elizabeth. Yet…you have not stopped for a second, ever."

"I have been busy, besides I have stopped, we spent a couple weeks with gran-gran…" Elizabeth said grumbling again, "And spent some time for Rossie to recover when we lost Beatrice."

"Time spent helping others?" Jenna pointed out, "When have you dealt with your own issues? Rossaline describes you as a beacon of light, Rena describes you as a lighthouse of hope…"

"That's nice of them," Elizabeth smiled, of course Rossie and Rena would be like that, "I really love that about them, how they embraced life."

"Did they?" Jenna pointed out, "It is not healthy, what you three have is not healthy."

"....Are you….homophobic?" Elizabeth said confused, "That…is not something I expected out of you."

"You know what I mean, Elizabeth," Jenna said, shaking her head, "Leaving aside same sex relationships, what you three have is toxic. You encourage your worst behaviour, you have not sought closure at any point, and instead just attempt to use Magic and skills to fix the problems."

"...But it's magic…" Elizabeth pointed out, "It works that way."

"No, Magic may fix reality. But your mind needs closure." Jenna shook her head, "Do you feel safe Elizabeth? Do you hate the man who threated you as a toy? Do you hate Ethan for what he stole? Do you hate anyone?"

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"...Of course," Elizabeth said nodding, "I hate Ethan for what he did to me, for how he stole my body….I am thankful to some degree, because thanks to that I am able to stand now free of influence from both him and [The World], had he not played his hand, I would have never known how much influence he had on me."

She still would kill him if possible, hell, she wouldn't mind resurrecting him just to stick him in a low orbit around the sun.

"I hate Echidna for the pain she made Chloe go through, I hate the student council for being stuck up self serving assholes who think they are bettere than the rest even though they do as bad as others…I hate Akira for what he did to Rena and Rossie…" The list could go on for ages, "I hate Maximilian Windsor for destroying the image I had of [Shadow Pact]."

That one was important.

"I hate….I hate myself for the lives I have made worse…" The last one hurt to say.

"You have helped many people, Elizabeth, knowingly or not," Jenna pointed out, "What lives have you made worse?"

"....Rossie…" Elizabeth said in a low voice, "Because of me, Rossie is like she is now."

"Like she is now?" Jenna asked standing up and sitting against Elizabeth's back, "Happy? Fulfilled? I know she looks forward to becoming a Mother, that is no small step forward you know? Giving birth to a new life is a scary thing. I don't think I could do it."

"Bound," Elizabeth said hugging her knees against her chest and hiding her face between, "She is bound…to a Hero, again. I know she doesn't say anything about it, but…If I had been bound, toyed, played like she was…I would loathe the feeling… But she is not only bound by simple skills or blessings…She is subservient to me, I can play with her Soul and mind…I know…All it would take is some mana and she will twist to my desires…"

"Have you done so?" Jenna asked, her voice didn't hold any judgment.

"Of course not!" Elizabeth screamed back, "I have talked this through with her, she told me that she trusted me, that I would…She knows that I would never do it."

"Then if you talked it, why do you fear it?" Jenna pointed out, "Her life is better now is it not? If it was someone else would they act like you?"

"....So she is better off being my slave because she can taste Freedom? A slave is still a slave, no matter how pretty the collar they have is." Elizabeth grumbled, "Freedom…Freedom should not be given out as a prize or treat, it should be a right. Rossie should be free because she is, not because I permit it."

"The World does not work like that," Jenna pointed out, "The powerful dictate the Fate of the weak. You are powerful Elizabeth, and that is why Rossaline Singh can be free."

"... But I am not," Elizabeth deflated, "Had I been powerful, Rossie would not be like she is, with a fractured Soul that can't survive unless tethered to me…Rena wouldn't have suffered for fifteen years…Aura wouldn't have died a dog's death because she got assigned to my apartment…"

"And had you not been there what do you think would have happened?" Jenna pointed out, "What do you think Rossaline Singh would have done if you didn't meet her? What do you think Watanabe Rena's Fate would have ended up as? What do you think your maid would have done if she hadn't met you?"

What indeed…

"... They would have ended up within Akira's dirty slimy hands…" Elizabeth sighed in defeat, "That doesn't mean their fate is better now, they still ended up as a Hero's toy…"

"Do you think of them as toys?" Jenna pointed out.

"It matters not what I think," Elizabeth said looking up, "It is the role Fate provided for them…Do you know what my role was? What was I supposed to do? If I followed Fate's plan?"

"Graduate as top student?" Jenna said with a joking tone while Elizabeth sighed.

"Yes, but not what I meant." Elizabeth shook her head, "My original Fate was to join the student council, fall in love with Asher, end up as her girlfriend…Become the best friend of Selen, look up to Evangeline… Enjoy school life as the new student president when they graduate…Marry Asher…"

She could even see it, the cogs falling in place as all happened naturally.

"Then I would grow in power, perhaps cultivate one Virtue or two…Ascend as [The Goddess of Shadows] and bring Zaanam onto the right path..." Elizabeth sighed, her current path of power was so different, and yet…she couldn't see much difference, she would still walk the path towards apotheosis…And she was still surrounded by Shadows. "Rossie and Rena…Aura…Mordred…Alice…Chloe… all the people around me, all of those that got called towards me… Their Fate is now twisted into something that wasn't meant to be."

"You aren't including me in your victims?" Jenna said with a laugh, "What, you aren't mentioning how my fate changed because of you?"

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked, "You were barely around me!"

"That is correct, but instead of being adopted by your Father, I got turned into an impromptu friend, and trained into a stalwart guardian for you." Jenna said shrugging, "I was made into a shield for you, or a spear and sword to protect you if needed. I became a safety net. Are you not going to blame yourself for my Fate? Just before the Advent, I had the emotional intelligence of a five-year-old, you know?"

"....I…" Elizabeth couldn't answer that, she didn't know how to answer that.

"I don't blame you Elizabeth, I knew all along about it. Even while my emotional intelligence was that of a five-year-old." Jenna said before Eliabeth could say anything, "And after I could have killed you. There was nothing Jack could have done, Catherine wouldn't be able to save you. Not from me…I would have been killed of course, your Father would have twisted causality enough to ensure I never existed…But you wouldn't return to life."

The carefree tone that Jenna used was chilling, Elizabeth knew that Jenna was strong…but that strong?

"So don't pity me Elizabeth," Jenna stated, "Nor do a disservice to Rossaline Singh, Watanabe Rena, Aurelia Vitelius, Chloe Starbright or Alice Starbright… Everyone who has decided to stay with you did so out of their own belief."

"....Even if they are tied to me by Mana and Fate?" Elizabeth said, she could see the threads after all, all going to her…all of them sinking into her heart.

"Your father and I…we are tied by Fate to Zaanam," Jenna said standing up and turning to Elizabeth, "In more ways than one."

Elizabeth turned to see Jenna, and saw her materializing a rope made out of Azure mana with a golden and purple tinge to it, the rope sank into the ground…And went as far as she could sense, sinking deep into the planet.

"And even like this, we both can and are able to destroy this planet. I wouldn't survive…probably, but do you think your Father would die if he broke this world?" Jenna asked with a grave tone, "Do you really think [The American Crusader] would die that easily?"

"....No." Elizabeth shook her head, "I don't think Papa would die…I don't even think breaking his Core would slow him down."

It would annoy him at best, but besides that? Nothing.

"Just because someone is bound to other people, it doesn't mean they are helpless… Your Mother was bound to the will of a Hero once too, and she managed to escape did she not?" Jenna pointed out, so she knew of that too? "And if you think it is because she was your Mother…You have other examples, do you not? Of someone who fought against his Fate…"

"...Alexanders…" Elizabeth remembered it, the grief and sense of loss that she got from the Vestige… The regrets of the man who fought against Fate to save his world…Even if he failed in the end.

"....Michael," Jenna said sighing, "Michael Shepherd."

"Oh right, he did manage to fight and keep his memories against Akira's wishes…" Elizabeth said nodding, "Right….Michael probably planned to use these to fight against Akira…"

Not that it was a good plan, saving that many memories didn't do him good. As he ended up with too much grief and decided to leave his memories, mana, skills and Magic and reincarnate as a new soul…

Actually…

"How did he even manage to do that?" Elizabeth wondered aloud, "What kind of spell allowed him to do that?"

Elizabeth was a genius, she was smart and talented in mana manipulation. It was part of the reason why she was that good with the shadows and Magic. But Michael? Michael wasn't Elizabeth, he may have been smart, but all he had was talent with Magic. So what he did, was achievable with Magic.

"What kind of spell did he use?" Elizabeth wondered again.

"Time will tell," Jenna said from the side, "Time will tell, just as how you need time to process your own grief and trauma instead of distracting yourself with this."

"...Time…" Elizabeth said nodding, "Time….Time? Oh….right, time…"

Time was the only thing that Michael had, Time. The time on that planet was resetting. Aetheria was stuck in a time loop to help Akira figure out a way to save the planet, but Akira used the time loop to be a pervert…

And while they didn't grow older naturally, their souls still degraded, one faster than others. Rossie and Rena ended up with a soul that was a match to Akira's tastes.

Akira twisted his Soul into one that he could feel confident…But Michael? Michael just turned older and older. Why?

Why was Michael getting older faster than the others? Rossie and Rena's bodies got twisted into Akira's tastes. Akira's own Soul and body were a match to what he wanted to look. But Michael? Michael turned into an old man, did he want to look like one?

No, Elizabeth didn't know Michael that much, but she was sure that he didn't want to look old like that. Then why did he look like that?

Because he didn't have an option, but why didn't he have an option?

"...Michael was a Time Mage." Elizabeth said aloud as she came to the conclusion, "Michael found a way to use Time Magic…He wasn't a normal [Sage], he was a [Time Sage]."

And now Elizabeth had access to his spell repertoire…Elizabeth had the way to understanding Time all along, it was stuck inside the stupid gem she was trying to learn how to use.

"I know how to learn about Time." Elizabeth stood up and pulled out her [Crown](Without any gem stuck to it) and the [Time Gem], "But it may be somewhat dangerous."

"...That is why I am here," Jenna said smiling at Elizabeth, "I will punch you out of any time bubble if it turns dangerous."

"...That's a way of saying it…right?" Elizabeth asked just to make sure.

But all she got for an answer was Jenna's body shining as an armor materialized around the blue-haired girl. She hoped it was just a way of speaking…A punch from [The juggernaut] couldn't be good for one's health….

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