Ascension of the last Celestial

Valerian didn’t know how to respond. A thousand thoughts were running wild in his head, and he couldn’t focus on a single one.

The phoenix looked at Valerian; he found Valerian’s reaction odd. He didn’t know why the name of the leader of the Celestials would cause such a reaction. So, he waited for him to gather his wits.

But Arthur, who was floating a few meters behind Valerian, didn’t have such restraint and voiced his thoughts with a shocked face.

"Dude, isn’t that your last name?"

The phoenix’s eyes snapped to Arthur, and then back to Valerian.

"What did you just say?"

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, that the young Celestial in front of him had the same last name as their leader, who had died thousands of years ago.

"Human child, repeat what you just said."

Arthur stiffened as the phoenix called out to him, and he immediately began to sweat in panic that he had said something he shouldn’t.

But he didn’t really have the option to refuse the being, so he slowly and reluctantly came closer.

"Ahem, if I remember correctly, and I might be wrong about this, we really don’t know the truth on this one, my friend Valerian here might have the same last name as this powerful leader. But again, my feeble human mind could remember wrong."

Arthur was sweating buckets; he didn’t know if the story the phoenix told them was the full truth. He regretted ever saying a word; this being could very well be evil and kill both of them instantly.

Valerian stayed silent throughout Arthur’s bad attempt to salvage the situation; his mind was too occupied with what he had heard.

’Valgareth von Astrea... It can’t be.’

With a quick command, he summoned his status, and there it stood, clear as day.

[Name: Valerian von Astrea]

He didn’t know what to think or to feel. The leader of the Celestials, the strongest being in the universe, was related to him... No, deep down he knew the truth, he just hadn’t accepted it yet.

But if the last name wasn’t enough, he clearly remembered every word the phoenix said.

So of course he remembered what he said about the Cosmic Dragons.

The leader of the Celestials fell in love with the princess of the Cosmic Dragons.

The second he heard the last name of Valgareth, he knew the truth. He wasn’t just a relative that shared the same name. He was...

’Father...’

That word made Valerian feel weird, and he could clearly remember when he met his mother, or the spirit of his mother, for all he knows, she could be dead too.

The weird feeling turned into an emptiness that was hard to describe, knowing that his own parents, whom he desperately wanted to meet, were dead. And not just dead; at least his father had been dead for thousands of years.

’Wait... If he has been dead for so long, how am I alive now?’

The war against the invaders from another realm ended countless years ago, but Valerian, who was the son of the person leading the Celestials during the war, was just 16 years old.

Lost on his own, he turned to what might be the only being left alive that fought during the war.

"Hey, what if I were to tell you that he was my father? Would you be able to tell me more about him?"

Valerian’s voice cut through the awkward silence that lingered after Arthur’s attempt to help Valerian.

The phoenix turned his fiery head to Valerian.

"Child of the Celestials, if your name is really von Astrea, then I, Azuriel, Sovereign of Azure Flames, swear my eternal loyalty towards the royal blood flowing through your veins."

The phoenix lowered his large fiery head in a bow.

"But I have to apologize, my liege; my time in this world is coming to an end. So please, during my last moments, there is nothing I would rather do than fulfill your request. So please, ask away."

Valerian was slightly taken aback by the straightforwardness of Azuriel; he didn’t expect him to just swear his loyalty towards him. But he couldn’t think too much about it; he wanted answers.

"First, how am I alive? You said the war ended thousands of years ago, so how is it possible for me to live now?"

The phoenix thought for a second.

"I can only guess, but Valgareth was extremely proficient in space and time manipulation, so he could have sent you into the future to protect you."

Valerian nodded his head.

’This makes sense. With his strength and a strong time affinity, he could have sent me into the future.’

"Okay, next: What about my mother? I know she is a Cosmic Dragon, but that is all I know."

Azuriel lowered his head.

"I... I don’t know."

A frown appeared on Valerian’s face.

"What do you mean you don’t know?"

"When Valgareth fell and the war began to end, all who sided with the Celestials were hunted down by the angels and demons. They wanted to make sure that no one would remember what had happened. So I- I ran."

Azuriel looked down in shame. This thousands-of-years-old phoenix that could shatter planets and wipe out entire civilizations was ashamed of his old mistakes.

But Valerian didn’t look at him with disdain or disappointment; he could understand him.

"So you don’t know what happened to the Cosmic Dragons..."

"Well, I don’t know what happened to their princess, but I know that they survived the war better than we phoenixes did. So there is a good chance that she is still alive."

Valerian couldn’t help but feel a bit of hope at the prospect of his mother still being alive.

"Then where would I be able to find her?"

"The homeworld of the Cosmic Dragons, Tiamat. It resides in a separate dimension that their patriarch created at the end of the war to protect his people. That would be your best bet to find her."

’Tiamat... I have to go there.’

Now Valerian had a new goal he had to achieve: Reach Tiamat so that he could finally meet his mother if she was still alive.

"How do I ge-"

Before Valerian could ask, a large wave of mana rushed out of Azuriel, flattening all the trees around him, but for Arthur and Valerian, it felt like a warm summer breeze.

"I’m sorry, my liege; I think my time has come. My soul is too damaged to rise again. This will be the end for me."

Panic surged in Valerian; there were still so many questions he had to ask.

"No! There has to be a way we can extend your life, even if just a little bit!"

But Azuriel only shook his head, causing blue embers to fly around.

"I’m sorry, but I have been holding on for far too long. The weave of fate has other plans for me, and I have fulfilled my purpose. Now the history of the Celestials won’t be forgotten. I couldn’t be happier."

The large form of the phoenix began to shrink in size; the flames that covered his body became smaller and smaller. But a light appeared in the eyes of the dying phoenix, as the weave of fate gave him one last vision, a final gift..

"Wait! Before you go! How do I reach Tiamat?!"

Azuriel tried to answer, but his strength finally left him after fighting against death for too long. Squeezing out all the strength he had left, his last words escaped his mouth.

"Sylas Starlight... He knows... My liege... Take my heart... It’s yours... I’m sorry."

And with that, the form of the blue phoenix turned into a wave of blue flames that swept across the lands. But they didn’t burn, didn’t turn everything they touched into ash.

Every being that came into contact with the fire felt a warm feeling in their chest, and all their wounds, aches, or pain disappeared, as the last gift of the Sovereign of Azure Flames gave life and peace to those that needed it.

Valerian floated in the air. The warm feeling in his chest from the flames didn’t feel good; they didn’t feel like a healing fire. It burned.

The fire that burned in his chest wasn’t one of healing or peace; it felt like an inferno raging in his heart.

The last being that knew what had happened to his people died. And no one in the universe remembers the atrocity committed against his people. And the sacrifice they made to protect those that needed protection.

And together with that feeling, a name burned itself into his mind.

Sylas Starlight.

He knew that name; everyone knows that name.

It was the name of the strongest being on the planet, a Peak Demi-God existence.

And the principal of the Starlight Academy.

’Just you wait. You will tell me everything you know.’

Valerian was hell-bent on getting his answers, and even if it meant squeezing them out of the strongest, then so be it.

There was nothing that would stop him from getting his answers.

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