The Legend of the ruthless Empress Freya

[N/A: surprise at the end]

- POV Kalaa -

I had lived for thousands of years by the side of my little sister who had always done her best to preserve our House. The Gods and Goddesses of our House all admired her without exception and I, her older sister, was the first. Lucifer, as far back as I can remember, had always had that Imperial side that made her enemies tremble and her allies trust her blindly.

I could not say that our long life had been the calmest, for the deities were at war with each other for a reason that could not be forgotten. A power struggle had arisen among the Gods and Goddesses who populated this vast universe and who ruled over the different worlds. A struggle between two ideas and two Houses, one of which has been named after my sister and me since the beginning of time.

House Nightshade was composed of several branches of Gods and Goddesses who did not have the same blood as us but who were allies. Among the deities, the hierarchy was defined by blood, strength or powers, separating us into different categories. There were the Demi-Gods, the Minor Gods, the Gods and finally, the most powerful of all and still never reached by anyone: Supreme God or Goddess.

The Demi-Gods were generally those who were just born and did not yet possess a lot of power. The Minor Gods, on the other hand, had already lived for hundreds of years but were those who had not distinguished themselves more than that by their strength, their powers or their blood. Titania, Lucifer and I were Goddesses in their own right, that is, those who had the ability to create or destroy worlds.

Our blood was also a factor because in almost all cases, those who reached the rank of God or Goddess, had a powerful bloodline because rarely were those able to reach this rank without a thousand years of blood, creating racism. The very last category called "Supreme God or Goddess" was the one that had over the years created two factions opposing their ideas.

House Luxumbra wanted to see the advent of a Supreme God or Goddess for the first time, while House Nightshade was firmly opposed to it. To reach this never-before-seen stage, one had to possess an almost infinite amount of divine mana that could only be found in deities. Thus, the House that Titania's family served wanted to sacrifice Demi-Gods and minor Gods in order to achieve this project.

For thousands of years, the Luxumbras and their allies had shown their greed for this power, seeking to rally as many Gods and Goddesses as possible. So while their House gathered Gods who were won over by the idea, ours gathered Demi-Gods and minor Gods who had become targets. However, there were no laws among the deities but due to the fact that our two Houses were quite powerful, wars were rare.

Total and destructive wars were therefore replaced by plots, traps and machinations to destroy the opposing house. Guided by a Matriarch each, our two factions fought a cold war that only intensified as time went on. Thus, Lucifer representing House Nightshade had been the main enemy of Pria Luxumbra whose House bore her name.

Indeed, if no sacrifice had been made so far, it was not only because of the threat that the Deadly Nightshade Sisters posed, but also because of the fact that the Luxumbras wanted to see an end to the threat. The Luxumbras wanted a Supreme Goddess to rule us all: Pria, but in the Realm of the Gods, only one had been able to touch that stage without even wanting to: Lucifer...Goddess of Death and Blood and Master of the 7 Demon Sins.

For thousands of years my little sister had been the main reason for the hesitation of the opposing Gods thanks to her almost unrivalled power and the only fear her name inspired in people's hearts. At the time we were still together, the only one able to compete with her was Pria herself, but starting a war meant too much risk and loss against a being like Lucifer.

The Red Empress, the Demon Goddess, Death, the Wrathful...my little sister had been called many terrifying names, but I knew her only as Luci. She may have inspired fear throughout the Realm, but only those in our House knew her true nature. Yes, Lucifer was a terrible being as an enemy, but those who walked beside her knew that her heart was generous, kind, loving, just and noble.

For a very long time we have welcomed into our faction, families of the minor Gods and Demi-Gods protecting them by our name. Diversity was therefore common in our House, unlike the House of Luxumbras, which advocated only "pure" blood. This is why for so many years my little sister and I fought to protect a balance that without her could be broken at any moment.

However, trapped one day by Titania by whatever means, today Lucifer was no longer there and I found myself alone. Alone with my feelings, my regrets, my anger, my sadness and especially the lack of the one I had sworn to protect. I had not been there the day she had gone to meet the representatives of the House of Luxumbra and because of my lack of judgment my little sister had been killed.

Or so I thought....

____

My desire to destroy this world was strong, starting with the protege of the one who had taken everything from me, had led me to this exact spot. The Dark Forest, where a great Empire stood, founded by a half-human named Freya, who at that moment held the little girl who was born from the egg containing my powers. Thanks to her and our link, although very weak, I had discovered with amazement her link with Titania, the one I had sworn to destroy.

Why did the heir to my powers have to end up in the hands of Freya and Titania ? Was it a coincidence or was it all planned ? I didn't know, but all I wanted was my revenge, no matter the cost. The moment I entered that forest, blinded by my pain and anger, all I wanted to do was kill and clear the name of the Nightshades...with blood.

I was a shadow of my former self, nothing in me reminded me of the pure Goddess of Time and Wisdom that I had been, but that didn't matter anymore. Since Titania had taken away what I held most dear, I had not given up on destroying her world no matter how long it took. So today I was in the middle of this war that was taking place for an unknown reason but that did not interest me at all.

The one I wanted to fight was easy to find because her aura flooded the place like a thick fog and even if it looked familiar I knew it was Freya's. Our fight had not lasted very long and against all odds, had even played in my disadvantage despite the technique I had used.

The attack that only I had the secret of had been almost perfectly countered by Freya while I thought I would succeed and hit her with a fatal blow. Ever since she had emerged from my prison of chaos ice walls, my heart had suddenly clenched as her blood red hair brought back memories. Despite what she looked like, she couldn't be my little sister and I hadn't had time to think about that anyway.

Every move I made was as if this young woman knew them and I couldn't understand why. Or rather, an idea was starting to germinate in my mind but that for me was not possible. On the other hand, the foot technique I had used might have seemed simple but was in fact very complex since it relied on the strength, speed and synchronization of the legs.

Well done, the movements gave the impression of being like an illusion, preventing the opponent from finding a good parry at the right moment. Always, those who had undergone this attack ended up in tatters due to the speed of rotation and my swords that were spinning at the same speed as me if not faster. This technique was both imposing and very dangerous, yet Freya did not hesitate for a second.

She had thrown herself at me without even thinking twice with a bloody smile that had also thrown me a few seconds into the past. However, I had been caught in a hurry due to our level difference and I had been hit in the leg while I was hitting her half helmet. I had been stupid to throw myself into that forest without thinking of a plan but driven by my resentment and anger, I had not hesitated.

I had managed to strike a blow at her, but not without hearing the bone in my right leg snap from the force of the impact on her incredibly hard body. We both ended up on the ground and while the red-haired she-wolf was on top of me, I suddenly heard a cracking sound. The demon helmet she was wearing had shattered and the pieces falling to the ground let me see her face.

Before I could say a word, the eyes that Freya had closed for some unknown reason, also opened. At that moment, two magnificent purple eyes had plunged into mine raised by this magnificent blood hair. In front of me, the spitting image of Lucifer was shining under the last light of the day, making me instantly forget why I was here.

"Ka..."

"L-Lucifer ?"

The name I hadn't been able to pronounce in a very long time escaped my lips as my hand moved towards her face. My sister, my little sister was in front of me and even though she was a little different, her eyes, her features were the same. Her tattoos were much smaller not to mention the fact that she had ears and a wolf tail. Ears ? A tail ?

*N-No...that can't be...that's not her."

However, just as my hand was about to touch her face and the tears were about to roll down my cheeks, everything stopped. It wasn't Lucifer, it couldn't be, she had died hundreds of years ago and I couldn't find her here. The name of this young woman was Freya and she was related to Titania I knew that very well. Why did she look so much like her ? Why did the one I wanted to kill have the face of my little sister ?

What had that cursed Goddess of Ice and Chaos done ? For a moment my heart had felt soothed and happy but now it was breaking a little more. The pain I had endured was coming back with incomparable power, making my whole body tremble. My leg may have been broken, but it was my mind and heart that hurt the most as an urge to scream rose up inside me.

"N-No ! S-Stop ! I-I can't take it anymore !!! I-It's enough !!!"

My head hurt, I wanted this to stop and I was willing to do anything for it. My so great determination to get revenge had burst at the mere sight of Freya's face. Why did I have to go through this ? All I had ever wanted was to protect my only family and yet events kept torturing me. I couldn't breathe, my whole body was shaking and the pain was rising, over and over again without me being able to stop it.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH !!!!!"

As night fell, my scream pierced the forest, its echo bouncing against the trees and carrying all my physical and mental pain. I wanted to scream, I wanted to scream until I couldn't anymore. I wanted to let out what was destroying me, but no matter how much my voice broke, it was always more painful.  I was suffocating, the air was no longer getting into my lungs and everything was starting to spin around me.

I had felt the same way when I heard about Lucifer's death, but this time, this time was too much for my mind and my heart. I didn't care about Freya, the one I had come for, or even Titania. She had won and I had lost. This Goddess had succeeded in taking everything away from me, even this desire for revenge by using I don't know what means to give the features of my little sister to her protégé.

*It's over...*

As I suddenly felt my mind go blank due to the lack of air, a horrible pain in my cheek shook my head. The slap had been powerful to bring me out of my thoughts and make me unconsciously take a deep breath but not enough to hurt me seriously. I had forgotten what I was doing here and who was in front of me but as I was about to look up, water was falling on my leg even though it was not raining.

*W-Wh...*

Little drops were falling down my blue leg and as I finally looked up to understand, my breathing was cut off once again. The young woman known as Freya had her head down, her hair that had turned black again falling over her face, preventing me from seeing her. Her hand closed into a fist on the ground was shaking as much as I was and the only thing I could see was her chin where tears were silently flowing.

"D-Don't give up..."

"..."

"Please...don't give up now..."

Her voice was shaky, with each word it broke and the last few she used made it hard for me to concentrate. As my mind began to put the pieces together, as if she understood, the young woman in front of me changed. Still with her face hidden, I could see her ears and her wolf tail disappearing little by little while her hair returned to its blood-red color.

Her horns were getting longer, her ears were getting pointed as well as her nails which were getting colored in a black color as dark as the night. Not only did Freya take on an appearance that I knew very well, but this aura that I had felt familiar flooded me and paralyzed me. Not because of its power, but because I could recognize it between a thousand, because this inimitable aura, noble, frightening but at the same time so reassuring...was that of Lucifer.

"Lucifer...it's you..."

I had no doubt anymore, I didn't know how it was possible but this Freya that was in front of me was indeed my little sister. No matter what Titania had done and why the one I loved most in the world was related to this Goddess...Lucifer was there. With my heart beating wildly, I put my hand on her face this time without hesitation to lift her head and see her face once more.

"Kalaa..."

​ "Luci..."

Once again, my eyes dipped into hers which were filled with tears and reminded me of that vulnerable side she had always shown only to me. Luci was a beauty I couldn't forget and as I unconsciously wiped away her tears, I knew they belonged to my little sister. Hearing her say my name made me smile and as my pain faded, my vision also began to blur.

The same tears were streaming down my own face, our bodies were shaking, we didn't even know what to say but it didn't matter. So many questions were running through my mind but that didn't matter either because the moment I opened my mouth to speak, Luci was ahead of me. Throwing herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck, she spoke two words that I had so longed to hear again.

"Big sister..."

[N/A : The surprise is : two new illustrations of Shiro (you can see the full ones on Discord without the transparent background)] (here) ->