Chapter 6

"What's that mean?" Marion asked, tilting her head in confusion. Erica looked over at before face palming. "I said that aloud didn't I?" All she got in return was a slight nod.

"You really needn't worry about it... I was simply saying that I will regain my full power eventually." Erica said with a smile as she explained. "Your full power? How powerful was that?" Marion asked excitedly, eager to learn about the 'Powerful' new friend.

"Uhm, depends. How strong is the strongest person you are aware of?" Erica asked. "Hmm, that would have to Marleen. She's a good friend of mine and she could probably destroy a city in a few minutes. Though she is a leviathan so it's to be expected" Marion chuckled.

Erica whistled in appreciation of this Marleen, impressed despite having never met her. "That's not bad... Though if I were to compare her to my previous self, I'd say I was a good 1-2.... Hundred times stronger." Erica said with a straight face, a hand on her chin as if contemplating how much stronger she was.

"Huh?" Marion short circuited. "You mean you one or two times stronger, right?" She began to sweat. "Nope, 1 to 2 hundred times. In my peak i could pretty easily destroy a continent. Though I never did since I like to think I'm a good person. Well no, that's a lie. I did do it one time, but then I enchanted the land to repair itself. Funniest part is that the entire situation was because I lost a game of cards." Erica displayed a sad smile as she thought back to those wonderful times.

However rather than share her smile, Marion simply gaped at her. "What are you?" She asked, a bit of mild fear in her tone. "You believe me, just like that?" Erica was a bit confused. "I can tell when someone is lying... and you weren't lying..." Marion paled even more as she truly realized who she was speaking too.

"Ahh fair enough. But you don't have to worry, I'm not even as strong as you right now. Although I do actually feel a bit of connection with you. How strange..." A contemplative visage overtook her calm smile. 'Why is it that I sense a connection with this girl? And it isn't a connection on friendship but that of starin... Could I perhaps have an affinity with this girl's starin? Fascinating... Truly fascinating.'

Erica's reactions might seem strange to most, but to those who knew her that strangeness was just her. After all, aside from her pride, confidence, and compassion for the weak, Erica could only be described as the curious sort. She longed to know that which is unknown and to discover the undiscovered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marion asked a bit startled at the statement. "ah... I can see how that would be easily misunderstood. All I mean is that our starin has an affinity for each other." Erica explained before offering her apologies for the misunderstanding.

"No need to apologize Eri- Miss. Erica, but can't affinities between people develop overtime?" She asked remembering to try and be polite to this seemingly monstrously powerful girl. It seemed to Erica that Marion was similar to her, curious about the world and the unknown. It was to the point that Marion's fear of her seemed to disappear entirely.

"That is usually the case, which is the strange part... Perhaps you've met this body before I inhabited it?" Erica pondered on the question. Starin affinities between to people took many many years to develop. And yet Erica seemed to share one with this young girl she had never met before. She'd never heard of such a situation!

"I don't believe so... I think I would remember you." Marion responded, gesturing at the memorable sight that was Erica. her blood red eyes, hair as black as night and light brown skin combined with her tall and muscular physique was memorable indeed. Rather than memorable however, most would call her visage to be intimidating.

"Actually that brings up a question... What do I even look like? My skin-tone is much different that previous, and I have calluses and muscles from physical training, which I've pretty much never done in my previous body... Do you happen to have a mirror?" She asked, hoping that the young girl would possess one.

"Ah indeed I do!" Marion stepped away, into a different room in the small cottage. She quickly returned with a small handheld mirror. The mirror had a bluish frame with butterfly designs. 

"thanks! Wait..." Erica politely took the mirror, but before she could gaze at herself she noticed something familiar about the mirror. "I see... No wonder our starin has an affinity" She laughed quietly before getting louder. "I made this thing!" She pointed at the mirror. "I created the enchantment on it, which let you mingle with my Starin for so long!" She laughed again.

"Wait what?? But that mirror was created by the Goddess of enchantment herself as a gift for my great great great grandmother??" Marion tilted her head before widening her eyes. "Wait... You're... Oh my god... I'm so sorry for being rude!!!!" She almost bowed but Erica stopped her. "Relax, besides what do ya' mean being rude, you've been nothing but kind to me so far." She smiled widely, chuckling at the girl's behavior.

"But... but... I acted rude by not realizing who you were and acting afraid and and and" The girl continued to ramble. "Relax, It's fine. You're fine. You weren't rude, and it is entirely irrational to blame yourself for knowing who I was. I literally gave you zero hints before a few minutes ago." She chuckled once again at the girl's antics.

Deciding to let Marion calm down, Erica looked into the mirror. She gazed upon her new body, wondering just who she could have been before Erica took over. 'Also why the fuck was she in the sky? Oh well, doesn't matter... All that matters is what to do now.' With that, a expression of thoughtfulness overtook Erica.

What was she to do? Even before she died she didn't truly have a goal, she was just surviving to survive. She wasn't even truly living. All that sustained her was her pride and curiosity for the world. But to fulfil her curiosity and desire for knowledge she had to use her overwhelming strength and abilities for than a few times. But now all of that power was gone, without a trace. 'Well aside from this' She looked at the display window that she'd opened once again.

(Supporting God: !*&$!&(#! Delerayne, Goddess of Enchantment)

'What does it even mean to inherit a God's power? What use does it have, because I don't feel anything like I once did. Perhaps it's some kind of boost to growth? But how would that work?' Erica kept thinking and coming up with theories for a few moments before remember that she had someone who probably knew right next to her.

"Hey Marion? What does it mean to inherit a God's power?" Her words startled the still calming down girl, but she still delivered an answer. "Ah, inheriting their power basically boosts the power of your core quality. Usually its a pretty minor boost, but it's still very helpful." She said, thinking about it a little deeper. "But I truly don't know how powerful the boost will be if you truly did inherit the full power of a god... Wait, what god did you inherit from, cause aren't you like, also a god?" Once again Marion's curiosity overwhelmed her fear of Erica.

Erica chuckled, enjoying the company and antics of this girl. She was like her in a way, curious to the point of overwhelming her common sense. it was as if it was fate that brought the two together. 'Fate huh... I never did like that word.' She thought, but realizing she'd been asked a question she put her contemplations on hold.

"Ah, I inherited my own power." She stated simply. "Oh... that makes sense I guess." Marion said, wondering about the implications of inheriting your own power from your previous version. "How would that even work I wonder. I mean, your core qualities are contained in your soul, but your soul is right here. So how could you 'Inherit' what you already possess?" Marion rambled once again. "Perhaps I didn't inherit it but instead simply kept it. Though interestingly, part of my core quality did change." Erica responded.

"Before I was killed, we called my core quality the Sapphire Enchantress. But on the display it's called the Amethyst enchantress." Erica though aloud. "I actually know why that happened!" Marion said happily. "See, when someone becomes a fallen, it appears that their core quality merges with the quality that the soul that previously inhabited the body possessed. We aren't exactly sure why, since fallen are rare and usually go insane in the first few days of learning that they lost their powers, but we do know this much!" Marion looked at Erica with a strange gaze as she explained. It looked almost as if she wanted... Praise?

"Ohhh Good to know! Thank you Marion!" Erica thanked, before quickly falling into contemplation on what this could mean for her. 'Enchantment magic usually lasted a very short time, but combined with Gem magic, it gained an incredible boost. But that was only with the sapphire aspect of gem magic. I wonder what kind of boost my enchantments will receive from Amethyst magic?