White light seemed to surge from the mana spring in waves. Tendrils of light exploded up into the air, striking the meteors above and causing them to slow down. White light wrapped around Astria and then continued, carpeting the land. The mana disappeared slowly, like the afterglow of a flash of light, it faded away until there was no more.

When I could see again, the meteors that had been falling to earth destructively had been snuffed out. The rocks themselves slowly floated down to the ground at a speed that seemed surreal. In front of me, the wind began to swirl around in a small flurry. It grew increasingly severe until it began to take on a shape. That shape grew and morphed until a body seemed to solidify as if from the air itself. A beautiful fairy appeared as light as air, but her voluptuous body seemed to contain a great deal of mass in certain areas.

“Master!”

I blinked, a bit surprised at being called such a name. She looked directly at me, and there wasn’t a bit of pain, hesitation, or fear.

“C-Celeste.”

“Receive my love!”

“Eh! Ahhhh!”

Celeste erupted like a bullet. Whirlwinds exploded behind her winds, and the ground exploded into a dust cloud. However, she was already flinging herself at me at an enormous speed. I slammed my feet into the ground and braced myself as a form slammed into me. I was pushed back as two massive torpedoes slammed into my chest with a speed that created a shockwave. There was a booming sound as our chests thudded together, and I experienced a feeling that was both soft and extremely violent. As I pushed forward with my feet, they tore into the ground, creating a groove in the earth as I was pushed back fifteen feet.

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I had been forced to excel, losing my breath completely, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a bruise or two in my ribs. It was truly a devastating blow. I’d have thought she was attacking me if she wasn’t giggling with her arms wrapped around me while nuzzling her nose in my neck. That’s when I realized this hadn’t been her strongest attack. Celeste had just shown me a fraction of her power, and suddenly I felt like I was the one falling behind. She had spent two months absorbing not just a mana spring, but energy extracted from all the captured people in town too. The fairies had all been tasked with collecting and bring mana to empower Celeste.

“You received my love.” Celeste laughed happily.

“C-Celeste… if I received any more of your love, I might have died.” I spoke in a wispy voice as I tried to regain my breath, even casting a heal spell for good measure.

“Oooo… if Master didn’t want to receive so much love, then Master shouldn’t have disappeared on us for so long!” She was using a playful admonishing tone, but I still grimaced with a guilty expression on my face.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t strong enough. It must have been awful when the bond broke and you thought I was dead.”

Celeste looked up innocently. “Eh? I felt the bond break and was annoyed, but why would Master be dead?”

I blinked, looking into her innocent eyes. “My bond would have only broken like that if I was killed, and the connection between our souls was severed.”

“True… but Master would always find a way back for us. My mother came back. So did Salicia. So did Elaya. Where there is a will, there is always a way, and I trust Master will always return. I would wait for Master, as long as it took. So, don’t be afraid to go away, just make sure when you come back, you’re prepared to accept the love of all of us you left behind.”

“Celeste…” Tears began to form in my eyes.

I didn’t know how, but in just a few words, she had destroyed all of the pressure weighing on my heart. I embraced her tightly. We stood there in a field of green that moments before had almost been turned to ash. Now, that field was sprouting flowers and life like it was always meant to be.