NOVEL NEXT Ch. 54 – The Goddess’ Gift
“Hello, people of the capital! I’m here to help me best friend, because your little King there went and tried to pull a prank on Maven.” Henna declared loudly to the people below. “If I know anything, I know Maven. She’s the nicest, cutest girl I’ve ever met - a girl who only wants the best for all the people of Avalon. So…… when someone tries to hurt my cute little Maven, the adorable Henna appears to save the day!”
《You’re really laying it on thick, stop it!!》 Maven squealed in embarrassment, ferociously blushing at Henna’s hyperbolic praise.
Henna certainly made for quite the spectacle as she spoke, floating high in the air and wreathed with an impressive amount of the purest of dark and death attribute magics as she was.
Everyone could only stare speechlessly at the strange, frilly little girl currently grinning down at them from the sky. The King appeared especially bug-eyed as an interloper appeared to throw a wrench into his perfectly laid plan.
“What is this trickery?! Stop lying to my people, you evil creature!” The King shouted at Henna in a thundering manner, determined to regain his momentum. He was determined to poison public perception of the strange, ghostly little girl.
“Now, now, little man…… There’s no need to get so angry. You and your ancestors have been making a mess of the world for hundreds of years, vilifying the attributes of darkness & death and those who wield them. Now why would you do that, when I can use that so called ‘evil’ power to do this?”
Right as Henna finished scolding the befuddled King, she swung her cute little wand high above her head and forced all the magic collected from Maven right into the enormous heart-shaped jewel at the tip - the focal point of her cosplay.
“Somebody stop her!” The King shouted thunderously. He was getting a terrible feeling from the cute little ghost girl in the unfamiliar, frilly dress. Whatever she was about to do with that obscene amount of magic, it would likely be a catastrophe for him.
“Yes, sir!” Several well-dressed soldiers replied smartly. Following their king’s command, they lobbed dozens and dozens of spells in Henna’s direction. Fire balls, water blasts, wind blades, streaks of lightning - they accurately flew in Henna’s direction. Unfortunately for the, they just phased right through her body - disturbing not so much as a single hair on her head. They were completely powerless in front the divine little girl and her new ghostly body.
“Hehehe, stop that. It tickles!” Henna giggled at the soldier’s impotence, her cute smile and flawless face capturing the hearts of the average citizens below.
“It’s a goddess……” Some people murmured as they stared up at Henna, enraptured at the sight of such an angelic little girl smiling down at them. Her dark and divine aura only served to further heighten her majesty.
Hearing those words, Henna’s smile only widened further. Her Cheshire grin sent a chill tingling down Maven’s spine.
“How’d you know?” Henna said playfully. Hearing Henna admit her godhood, Maven couldn’t help but face-palm in despair.
《You need to stop, Henna! Stop it right now! I know that smile…… You’ve already raised a huge commotion, but you’re about to raise an even bigger one!》 Maven moaned, knowing there was little she could do to stop this runaway train at this point but still needing to try anyway.
《Hehehe, you were kind enough to loan all this power to me, Maven. Let this adorably amazing goddess use her power to show you what a goddess can really do!》 Henna replied, though this just made Maven even more anxious.
Perhaps deciding she had built up enough suspense, Henna waved her little arms down to cast whatever spell she had whipped up. Shouting with a cute little, “Ey!” Henna lightly swung the staff through the air and black light exploded through the air.
Somehow both infinitely bright and endlessly dark, that light carried with it the chill of death and the warmth of boundless love. This dark, boundless light was the miraculous result of the fusion between the most powerful of mortal magics and the divinity of the goddess who created the world.
“Your king plotted to bring misfortune to Maven and the world. He wanted to use this power to ruin my friend and make you hate her. Instead, this cutest of goddesses will use that very same power to give you all a gift. Darkness and death magic is not to be feared, nor is it evil. Instead, it can be used like this.” Henna smug voice could be heard in everyone’s ear as the light flooded through the entire capital.
Ignoring such petty obstructions as walls and doors, a piece that light entered the bodies of every single human, elf, beastkin present on this day. That magic, filled the death attribute and infused with Henna’s power over the circle of reincarnation, opened a bridge. A bridge to the afterlife.
Crossing that bridge, hundreds of thousands of ghostly apparitions appeared in the capital on this day. One for each and every citizen.
*Gasp*
“Mom!”
“Dad!”
“Dear!”
“Darling!”
Henna’s magic had summoned the souls of the dearly departed. A miracle had been created through the combination of Maven’s magic with Henna’s authority, allowing each and every person to meet the soul of the ones they missed the most.
It took about a hundred years for the souls of the dead to completely make their way through the circle of reincarnation. At the end of that process, a soul would be cleansed of their memories and be reborn in a new body. However, before that happened, it was completely possible to summon that soul back toe Avalon - especially if it was just for a chat.
Henna used Maven’s titanic power to reach into that circle and pluck out the souls of whoever each person wanted to meet the most.
Mothers & fathers, brothers & sisters, husbands & wives - people were being reunited with their most beloved friends and family all throughout the capital. All thanks to Henna. She had truly given the people a gift. The chance see the one they missed most, to meet the parents they never knew, and speak the goodbyes they never got the chance to say.