The Vampire Queen - How I Became The Worlds Last Boss: Chapter 19

Rhea

I watched as Celestia went through the waterfall. Just what in the world could be inside that place? My curiosity was at its peak. It was crazy to think she would actually be able to create a new life in this way, and Celestia also mentioned meeting a goddess the last time she entered. My mind can’t help but wonder even more if this goddess knows something about my circumstances.

The ceiling once again started to activate, with multiple bright lights dancing all around. Being so far underground and having a sky as beautiful as this. You’ve got to wonder what in the world is going on with this small universe above us. That’s when an image of Celestia appeared within the sky, along with someone unknown who was hugging her from behind.

“What??? Who the hell is that other girl with Celestia?” I pointed unconsciously at the scene in the starry sky. Just who in the world is that? Oh, right, could that be the goddess? But why would she be hugging Celestia? My mind starts to scramble to find a reason as a pain starts to resonate within my heart.

‘Calm down, Rhea; it’s not what you think.’ Hieko comes over and puts a paw on my shoulder.

‘That’s right, Rhea; it seems the goddess is willing to reveal herself to Celestia. Also, I can assure you that it’s not what you’re thinking.’ Mila chimes in to calm my rising emotions.

“What in the world do you mean by revealing herself? Isn’t that what she did last time?” My mind was in a state of confusion, not understanding this situation.

'Well, you see, Rhea, last time the goddess kept herself hidden because she was not ready to reveal her appearance. But I guess something happened just now that caused her to change her mind.’ Hieko tries her best to comfort me, with one of her tails brushing up and down my back.

“When you say reveal, what does that mean?” I asked quizzically.

‘Since it seems Goddess Noah is letting it all out, there’s no harm in telling you the truth. Until now, we were told not to reveal anything until our goddess did it herself.’ Mila chimed in from my other side with the name of said goddess. It was the first time I actually heard her name because Celestia hadn’t mentioned it before. Just who the hell is she? And is she going to take Celestia away from me?

“Goddess Noah… Just who is she to Celestia?” I felt my body start to heat up at the thought of losing Celestia to this unknown entity. She’s mine, always mine!

‘She’s Celestia’s birth mother.’ With Hieko’s statement, I became completely dumbfounded, and at the same time, I felt a little apologetic for my thoughts of wanting to kill this goddess. How could I think that of my mother-in-law? Instantly, I felt my whole body run cold, as if I'd just made a mistake.

“Um, she’s seriously her mother? But how could that be?” On one hand, I was in complete disbelief, but on the other hand, her power was off the scale. It honestly made a lot of sense for her mother to have such a status. “But didn’t Celestia say her mother died when she was very young? How can a goddess actually die?” Something here doesn’t make sense.

‘About twelve years ago, Goddess Noah descended into her avatar body, and with the help of Hieko, she created the illusion of giving birth. Then, after she spent six months with Celestia, they once again gave another show for the Voltaire family, giving the mistress of the house credit for killing Goddess Noah’s avatar.’ Mila replies.

“But why would Goddess Noah allow her avatar to die? Why didn’t she just protect Celestia all this time?” She’s just like me; we both went through a lot of pain in our childhood. Celestia’s parent is a freaking goddess, though! How could she allow her child to suffer?

‘I won’t go into the whole back story of our goddess, but what you must know is that she has the power of foresight. She saw Celestia coming from thousands of years ago and has been preparing for this day. I’m sure right now Goddess Noah is feeling a lot of fear and pain at the thought of how Celestia will react to her.’ Hieko sighs, thinking about how driven their creator has been over the last few millennia.

“So you’re telling me this goddess saw everything coming and still allowed her daughter to go through it? She seems just as bad as my parents! All they care about is their own well-being.” I can’t help but be overwhelmed with bitterness towards this goddess. She could have helped her at any time!

‘That’s not entirely true, Rhea; she would give anything for her daughter Celestia to be healthy and happy. There are circumstances that you’re still unaware of, and Goddess Noah did what was best for our master’s current path. You’ve got no idea how often the heavens thundered with rage at the way Celestia was being treated. I’m sure you’ve noticed how erratic the weather has been over the past twelve years.' Mila comes in with some facts that really threw me through a loop.

It’s true that there has been some catastrophic weather over the past decade. To think this act was done by Celestia’s own mother. What makes it even more believable is that I don’t remember anything like this in my first four lives. So I see she was pissed at her treatment, but that still doesn’t change the fact that she left her there knowing what would happen!

“But she still did it, knowing that fact?” I blurted it out, needing to have this answered!

‘It was the best possible path moving forward to achieve her awakening and allowing her to come into contact with you.’ Hieko drops a bomb that hits pretty hard.

So all of this was to awaken Celestia? But she needed to go through hell to awaken her power. That’s a pretty cruel fate, but I’m pretty much preaching to the choir about this fact. My life has been nothing but an uphill battle. I thought the light at the end of the tunnel all this time was Celestia. So that means I was brought back those four times just to meet her? I never once saw her in any timeline before the fifth.

‘I can pretty much guess what you’re thinking, Rhea. You regressed those four times by the will of Goddess Noah to make sure you would meet her daughter Celestia. She needs you more than you can even imagine. As much as I can see your love burst out for Celestia, she also needs your feelings to be this strong.’ Mila once again, with her smooth and relaxing voice, enters my ears.

So, I had to go through all of that because of this goddess, but at the same time, can I truly hate her for it? She never directly harmed me and only gave me more chances to live. On the other hand, she’s never actually tried to help me in the past. I would have never met Celestia as well, if it weren’t for her. Who knows where I would've been if I never came back after my very first life?

I still can’t help but feel a little annoyed at her, though. Couldn’t she have at least told me something along the way in all that time? I’m sure that with my current feelings, I will completely forgive her mother, though, the second I see Celestia. It’s hard for me to hate anything that has to do with the girl I love. Also, I can only imagine that this goddess, Noah, probably looks a lot like Celestia.

“Why does Celestia need me so much? Don’t get me wrong; I love the fact that she needs me. But I’m just curious in what way?” I was quite intrigued by this fact.

‘Very soon, Master will activate the cradle and have to use up the majority of her creation magic. You’ve got to be her savior when she goes into her berserker-type state. She will get overwhelmed by her destructive magic side and not be in full control of her actions. With your powerful holy magic within you, countering her destruction magic to calm her down should be very doable.’ Mila interjected.

“Oh, I think I remember something about this: in both lives, I was sacrificed. They said my power in holy magic was needed to bring powerful heroes to our world. But what I don’t understand is why they had to summon heroes in those timelines. Celestia was never there, so what did they summon those heroes for?” Why in the world were their heroes summoned in both time lines? I was sacrificed.

‘I’m not aware of why heroes were summoned in those two other timelines, but I’m sure you realized how drunk in love Celestia is with you. That’s the best way I can put it. It’s because she feels the absolute best around you because of your innate holy magic.’ Hieko replies

Does that mean Celestia only loves me because of my magic? How do I even feel about that? There’s no way that’s the only reason for her feelings toward me. That can’t be. But, do I even care? That is my magic; it’s a part of my body. I’ve already decided to give everything I am to her, so in whatever form that is, I don’t really care. It’s not like I can go back on my words now, and I would never do that anyway.

“So... what do I need to do to bring her back from the state you mentioned? Do I just need to hug her or something?” I ask with slight agitation at the fact that Celestia will soon be in some kind of danger.

‘It’s not quite that simple. As with the master's power, it took rage to use her destruction magic. Your holy power is the opposite. With your strong feelings for Celestia, you must activate your holy fire and consume yourself with its mastery. Just imagine a type of fire that would wash over her and heal any ailments. As cliché as it probably sounds, you must use the power of love to bring out your power and break the imbalance within her body.’ Mila put one of her wings around me. ‘We all have faith in you, Rhea. Goddess Noah the most of all, as she used a great deal of power to bring you back four times.’

With that, I went into deep contemplation about what was about to come. But to my dismay, I didn’t get much time to reflect on what I must do shortly as the sky brightened immensely. After the whole world went completely white for a good ten seconds, I was able to see once again. Next to Celestia and the goddess in the stars above, there were now twelve other individuals.

“What’s going on, Hieko, Mila?” I was quite startled by the implications of what this could mean. My time to shine was probably about to come, and I didn’t even fully understand what I had to do. My whole body starts to shake as sweat pours from my brow.

‘Rhea, just remember what we told you about how your holy fire reacts to your feelings. Just trust in the way you feel towards the master and all should be fine. I saw it the first time you were both together; there’s no doubt your feelings towards each other are very strong.’ Hieko’s comforting words did heighten my spirit.

“Alright, I can do this!” I blurted it out to confirm my own resolve. I can’t let Celestia down.

I keep my eyes trained on the sky above as I look over at Hieko and Mila, who were also doing the same. The sky once again starts to brighten, with all twelve individuals disappearing. At the same time, I hear the trees around the cradle’s opening start to creek. There were now twelve different massive pods that started to protrude from the surrounding trees directly above the water and next to the falls. There are six pods on each side, with the waterfall in between.

Hieko and Mila, at this time, push me forward towards the water as I look at their faces. Both of them gave me a nod. Oh my god, that was the only thing I kept thinking. What in the world was about to happen?

With my heart currently in my throat, I see something burst out from the falls, completely covered in a deep red aura. It was very similar to the power I saw Celestia use to open up the door to enter this room.

That’s when I saw the shape of a head start to rise out from under the shallow pool of water. It was definitely Celestia, but at the same time, it seemed like no one was home. Her eyes looked completely glazed over, and they were as bright as I’ve ever seen them. Giving off the most sinister feeling I’ve ever experienced. My body starts to get pushed into the ground as I fall to my hands and knees.

The only big difference was in her hair, which now had a slight bit of red appearing in her beautiful white hair. I wonder if the destruction magic going berserk has some kind of link to that. Honestly, it looks pretty nice, in my opinion. But at the same time, she was always the most beautiful girl in my eyes. But it’s definitely not the time to admire her beauty.

Celestia’s oppressive aura keeps shrouding the room in complete authority, as both Mila and Hieko couldn’t get their bodies off the ground. My body tightens up a great deal as I can just muster enough strength to stay on my knees without being completely forced into the ground. I watch on as Celestia casually walks in my direction, a swirling storm of crimson all around her.

The only thing in here that was completely safe from her actions was the cradle, as everything remained untouched from Celestia’s outburst.

‘Rhea, please save my daughter!’ These words come from a voice I’ve never heard in my head. I can only assume this is the goddess's word. With the current situation, I couldn’t even think to reply to her, as my whole body started to feel even more pressure.

The closer she got to me, the more violent the spinning hurricane orbiting Celestia's body would become. The red, black, and white colors all mixed together chaotically. I was finally pushed completely to the ground, and my body was starting to break under the pressure. The feeling of what was currently going on in the room and the idea of failing to protect Celestia from her magic keep running through my mind.

This is my role, my reason for living, and I can’t fail! I must not fail! Come on, Rhea, get your ass up and prove they didn't make a mistake in trusting in me. I refuse to fail! Never, never, never, never! I will never fail her; I love her too much to fail! GET UP NOW!!!

With a burst of energy, I feel my whole body become as light as a feather as a white aura bursts out from all over. It directly impacted the vicious red aura Celestia was currently spewing out. As both powers clash, they come to a complete stop, with one side completely covered in chaos. The other was tranquil, as everything went back to a state of normalcy.

Luckily for Hieko and Mila, they were by my side. It gave them the opportunity to stand back up, as I felt both their intentions very clearly as I stared at them.

I must get to Celestia and bring her back! It was currently in a stalemate, as both powers weren’t able to overpower each other. My mind was as clear as it’s ever been. My only option was to get to her! Right now!

With that in mind, I started to push forward into the eye of the hurricane, where the violent winds and overwhelming aura were still bursting out. A sudden eruption occurred as a tremendous amount of her destruction magic blasted all three of us violently into the far cave wall, smashing our bodies against it.

My hand wiped across my forehead, which was now bleeding from the impact of her magic, and then the wall. At the same time, it healed in no time with this holy fire magic I had just awakened. Probably also because of my new race as well.

I couldn’t help but start to look down on myself, seeing how I’m failing when it's my time to shine. What the hell are you doing, Rhea? I yell internally at how pathetic I’m being right now. Stop failing her! The one you care the most about in this world. You can’t lose her! Now win; you must win!

With my resolve even higher than before, a similar burst to what Celestia just blasted out happened within my body. As I watched her get hit by my fire, I saw her eyes widen and start to flicker. With that action, Celestia starts to charge in my direction with full force as she spears my body, causing me to once again impact the wall behind me. I was now pinned in between a rock and a hard place as the chaotic world started to descend onto our location.

She was now only inches away from me, and I felt my eyes start to water as my deepest desire to save Celestia was beginning to fail. So I did the only thing I truly wanted to do before I possibly died at Celestia's hands. I gave her a deep kiss as I forced my lips on her and wrapped my arms around her head, pulling her in. My body becomes a vise, not willing to let go.

As our kiss continued, I saw her eyes flickering nonstop. This was for sure working as I tried to burst out with as much of this holy fire as possible. The whole world goes white with my fire. I saw her eyes lose their aggressive glow as she went back to a completely normal state, and she in turn also started to tear up. I could see my Celestia come back to this world!

“Welcome back, Celestia!” I cried out with as much emotion as I could.

“Thanks… Rhea… What would I do without you?” Celestia mutters in a low voice as she completely crumbles in my arms, losing consciousness.