Claire stared at the book with suspicion. Naturally it was because this was her world, and a trace of what felt like mana, but assuredly wasn't, spiraled out of it. That energy was the golden light that crossed her realm and, just as she would any being that stepped foot within, she knew it was alive.

The air chilled colder as she reached out her hand and grasped the floating book.

"That took you long enough," A voice echoed out passively. It resounded softly in the air, as if carried by the cold winds of her realm, but its presence was a striking note nonetheless. "Though, I suppose your caution is merited."

The golden glow came back from the sky, and spawned its remains out of the book as well, until it all coalesced into one blob of energy at her forefront. She stared, intrigued as that energy morphed.

"It's lovely to meet you."

White hair blew in the wind along with a single-piece dress of the same color while the individual which summoned themselves floated down. Then, pale, bare feet met the ocean surface of her world, unencumbered by Claire's power over water.

That person, a girl with azure eyes, stared up at her and stood still, smiling faintly.

"Claire Hill."

Claire felt a disquieting caution run through her mind once more. Though she had to look down to stare at the girl's face, Claire did not feel above her. Rather, if she didn't keep her focus up, the mere presence of the individual threatened to force her knees to the ground.

The azure eyes of the girl were a peculiarity. Claire realized she was looking at a set of old, tired eyes against the backdrop of a youthful facade. Though the girl seemed eternal and unblemished, Claire had the impression of something ancient and broken. Though the individual smiled, Claire did not think it real.

Yet, perhaps the strangest thing of all was the very fact that, though she stared at the girl a mere few paces in front of her—and though she knew all her features on instinct—she seemed unable to etch it to mind. One blink and she would forget what the person looked like until she opened her eyes once more. Even while glancing at her, eyes wide open, Claire did not think she would be able to describe her to anyone who asked. Her brain seemed to phase out any effort to note down who she was, appearance wise.

'I can remember anything.' Claire frowned. 'But I can't remember what she looks like?'

She had her suspicion. For a moment, she thought it was the girl they had been tracking, but that thought was soon replaced by something else.

"Are you a God?" Claire asked rather plainly.

Lara had avoided her <Lord's Glance>, and she had also stated that she made a deal with a god. Placing the two together, that seemed a higher likelihood than an unknown wreaking into her realm.

"Who are you?" Claire asked once more.

The girl's smile seemed to deepen.

"To answer your first question, indeed I am a God," The individual said. "To answer your second question, I am Para, and that is all you need to know for now. Anything else would be far more harmful than helpful."

Claire raised a brow at those words.

"So you're here to help me?"

This time, the girl didn't immediately answer. Instead, she turned her gaze about the land, her vision moving before her pale, azure, eyes focused onto a point. Claire tilted her head and followed Para's eyes. Then, she knew what the god was likely staring at. Somewhere within this realm, in that direction, though unseen, the Glacial Tower existed.

"How is Alice right now?" The god asked as her features softened.

Claire narrowed her eyes, the air about them chilling, colder now. "Are you threatening me?"

Para frowned, unaffected by her aura.

"I'm sorry, that came out more sharply than I would have liked. . .my old ways must have momentarily caught my tongue. Though, I can understand your needed caution," She spoke lightly as she shook her head. "I simply want to know how she is. Is she well? Unwell? Has she begun her first transformation? If I didn't get it wrong, that should be the case."

Claire calmed herself as the surrounding temperature returned to normal. Bitter cold, though less biting. She thought about the words of the god calmly and nodded.

"First transformation? Is that what's happening?" She said. "If it is, then you're correct. Aside from that, she is doing well asleep."

Para stared at her and slowly nodded, azure eyes faintly misting. Then she reached a hand forward as a golden energy flickered atop, as if a piece of flame.

"That is the trace of divinity that I left within Lara De. Frag. It has my will etched onto it and, when used, the single thing it is set to do will be activated," She explained calmly. "Take it and, when Alice awakens different from her usual self, separate it into two and place a half into her. It shall then stay with her and protect her present self from her past lives. That is all."

Claire frowned. What was this god saying? She wanted her to use an energy she knew nothing about on Alicia? There was no way Claire planned on blindly trusting the girl. Not least someone who she knew had manipulated Lara and Sora.

"I refuse," She said.

Para, however, shook her head.

"I'm sorry," The god said, "But you cannot refuse me. You cannot refuse my divinity. For our fates are intertwined."

The golden flame jumped from the girl's hand.

Claire's figure flickered and, in the next instant, she was at the edge of her world. The edge of the space Lara had made vanished into eternal darkness. Yet, as soon as her feet touched the surface of her realm once more, the golden flame was already before her, leaping into her heart.

Her figure momentarily froze in place.

Her eyes glazed gold.

Then, she felt her mind rip apart as her scream tore into her realm. The ocean of her world rumbled into waves, and the sky became blanketed in a snowstorm.

[You have acquired a Trace of Divinity.]

[All prying eyes, god or men, magic or skill, are now incapable of tracking you.]

[You have broken from Estea's System.]

[You can no longer see your Sacred Text.]

[You can no longer see the Sacred Text of others.]

It was less a seeing of information, and more a knowing of information that seemed to resound in her mind with Para's indistinguishable voice.

Claire's feet shook in place as her heart tightened, threatening to rip out of her body. She took a cold breath in but, even then, her knees fell onto the surface of her world as more information pierced through her mind.

[The Trace of Divinity has recognized you as its rightful owner.]

[A basis of divinity is being inspected.]

[A basis of divinity has been found.]

Then, for the instance of a few seconds, everything was pain. Pure, searing pain as if a part of her had been devoured.

[The Trace of Divinity has consumed the Water Seed.]

[You have acquired divinity over Water.]

Her realm calmed. Her heart calmed. And she stood, azure eyes blinking as her breath steadied. As she took in the information running through her mind, Claire didn't feel any more powerful than she had been a moment prior, but something certainly felt different.

Then she realized why.

It was raining instead of snowing in her realm, and Lara's damage to it had been fixed. Claire incredulously scrunched her brows and willed her status up, but nothing came.

"There is no point trying," Para's voice rang besides her, "You have no status, everything is now truly yours and internal. You're no longer attached to this world's system. Though, you still remain contracted in this game as the 'Fairy'."

Claire spun around and found the girl looking up at her, staring at her expressionlessly.

"That book shall return to Lara now. She has served her purpose, and she will serve you well in the future."

The 'Record of the Dragon Slayer' still in her grasp disappeared from Claire's hand, escaping her realm without her control as Para sighed listlessly.

Claire's anger bubbled then as the whole ordeal with this god struck her.

"Who are you really?" She asked, water dancing atop her hand.

The god did not answer her question. Her figure shook in place, displacing momentarily like static as if resisting erasure.

"It seems this is as far as I'm getting," The god chuckled. "It's quite troublesome to break into a game set by 3 gods, you know? No matter how powerful I may have become, it still ate almost-all of my divinity to simply reach here before you. The rest, I've left in your hands."

At those worlds, Claire felt something still within her. A part of a divinity that hadn't merged with hers. It seemed that god had taken the liberty of splitting the halves in the end.

"You may choose to not heed my words, but if you do not," Para spoke as her gaze softened, "Your lover shall become someone else, a True Demon Lord, and die to the Sword Saint."

Claire narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"Either way," The figure of the god disappeared as her last words fell, "You will know who I am in time, one way or the other, Claire."

Her world regained its calm as rain fell upon the realm. Claire stood silent, thinking as the drizzle touched and had no effect on her person. She lowered her hand and the water she had summoned disappeared.

"Isekais are far too troublesome. . ." She muttered.

Finding that she much preferred snow, the sky of her realm shifted to snowflakes with a thought. Indeed, she much preferred snow.

Claire disappeared from her place and reappeared within the Glacial Tower. She took over their bed and what should have been Alicia.

". . ."

There, there was a crimson cocoon upon the soft mattress. If she wasn't mistaken, it was made of blood.

'So, she didn't lie about this being her first transformation,' Claire thought.

She touched the outer wall of the cocoon and felt its hardened, smooth texture and its warmth. Inside existed an Alicia undergoing her transformation. Claire wondered if this was what Albert Stref had tried to achieve and speed-up.

Then she thought about the god who had disappeared.

"What had she called herself again. . .?" She muttered.

She had already forgotten the name of the god she had just met, as well as how she looked. Though she remembered her words, everything else became covered in a hazy fog. Dig as she might, the Ice Queen with the ability to remember anything had, for once, forgotten something.

'. . .I should have asked her how long Alice will sleep for,' She thought as her mind cleared.