Venus

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore traversed the terrain in pursuit of a rumor. Despite being the headmaster of Hogwarts, chief warlock, and supreme Mugwump, he had forsaken all his duties in pursuit of this rumor.

The town through which Albus wandered lay barren, devoid of life. The desolate human constructs, coupled with the absence of wildlife, only served to enhance the eerie ambiance.

A vacant town that materialized out of thin air mere days ago. A ghost town that emerged at the very spot where the alleged star plummeted.

The scale of the event was too vast, too unforeseen to conceal entirely. It was now too late to ensure that the Muggles remained oblivious to the phenomenon.

All the magical community could do was impede the Muggles and divert their focus temporarily, with the hope that Albus, the designated investigator tasked with addressing the anomaly, would have sufficient time.

It evoked reminiscences of simpler times when Albus's days were consumed by the pursuit, exploration, and comprehension of magic in all its manifestations.

It summoned memories of the halcyon days he shared with his companion before everything spiraled into chaos.

It brought to mind the halcyon days he once enjoyed before acquiring and subsequently losing everything. Indeed, was he not truly advancing in years? Lost in ruminations, ensnared by memories of irretrievable moments.

Perhaps, one day, he would find solace, far removed from his transgressions, far from the darkness he had unleashed, and free from the burdens of duty.

Coming to a halt, Albus reached the precipice's edge. His gaze ascended to behold the unmistakable source of the anomaly.

Perhaps those who claimed a star had plummeted from the heavens were more accurate than they dared to comprehend.

Above, he beheld her—a vision of unparalleled beauty and ethereality. Adorned with hair as crimson as freshly spilled blood, skin as pristine as alabaster, and a face that could be deemed divinely crafted.

She appeared too flawless, too otherworldly. In his centuries-long existence, Albus had never witnessed a sight comparable to this.

Gradually, she opened her eyes, their frigid emerald hue nearly blinding him, as a surge of magic, more potent than any he had ever experienced, radiated from her being.

With alacrity, Albus conjured a shield with the Elder Wand. The earth surrounding him disintegrated into oblivion as her unleashed magic commenced its inexorable march toward annihilation.

From his peripheral vision, he witnessed the city being obliterated, erased from existence. His decision to embark on this endeavor alone had been vindicated. Had he brought others, it would have culminated in a massacre.

The Elder Wand pulsated warmly in his grasp, almost sentient. It communicated with him, transmitting concepts rather than words. Flee, it conveyed.

Flee, for even death shall not shield you from her wrath. Despite this, a smile graced the countenance of the venerable wizard.

Albus Dumbledore had not harbored fear for his life in over half a century! He would not capitulate, not here, and if this marked his demise, so be it.

To most, his actions would appear madness, an encounter with a force deemed too perilous to engage. However, Albus Dumbledore perceived an opportunity.

Albus locked eyes with the celestial being above, for what else could she be? A falling star? A visage so captivating as to render a Veela unremarkable?

"I bid you greetings, Morningstar," Albus exclaimed. It could be none other than Venus, or at the very least, a celestial entity affiliated with the archetype represented by the planet.

She shifted, seemingly dissipating from reality to materialize directly in front of his barrier—a barrier he knew she could dismantle effortlessly, yet her restraint served as an auspicious sign.

"I stand before you," he persisted, "to extend an offer to Your Highness—the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor."

"Albus Dumbledore," she intoned, her voice both mesmerizing and hollow. He refrained from inquiring how she had acquired knowledge of his name. "Do you perceive my identity? Do you comprehend my essence?" she queried.

Wings unfurled upon her back, expanding until they spanned dimensions vast enough to eclipse the sun.

"Someone whom I aspire to regard as a friend one day," he avowed earnestly. For the most compelling arguments were those grounded in truth.

"Would you dare befriend a monstrosity? Would you dare invite an aberration into your domain?" her hands coiling around his neck, the barrier he erected disintegrated before he could react.

"Yes," he confessed without reservation. "Though you may be deemed monstrous, you have possessed the capacity to obliterate me from the outset. Your might could have exterminated us upon your arrival. Yet you refrained. Thus, I would extend a cordial invitation, and I would gladly entertain a monstrosity within my stronghold."

"You harbor intentions of exploitation," she asserted.

"Yes," Albus acknowledged unapologetically.

She withdrew her hands from his neck. "I shall accompany you," she declared. "Let us witness the unfolding of your machinations with my presence."

"By what title may I address you, Your Highness?"

"Here, I am but… Rias," a melancholic smile graced her face, as though reminiscing upon a poignant memory. "Refer to me as Rias."

 ************

I had accepted Sophia's proposal. I had accepted it, just like a coward, leaving everything behind.

When I accepted, I thought I had made the right choice. I was scared of the great war, of devils and their cruelties, of how everything I seemed to be doing always resulted in screw-ups.

Once, when I was younger, I had tried to hang myself. I had wanted something definitive because the pills, fortunately or unfortunately, never seemed to work. I had tied the noose around my neck and jumped off a chair.

Regret had bloomed at that moment faster than I ever could have imagined. My body, my soul had desperately yearned for release, to continue living.

The rope had snapped at the noose, and I had lived. That fear, that instinctive regret I had felt that day had been identical to what I felt when I realized the choice I had taken.

Even with how hard things had seemed, even with how chaotic this new world had been, there had been things that had made it more than worthwhile.

I had gained a family, people who would follow me to the depths of hell with a smile, who would lay down their lives without hesitation for me, and I had given all of that up.

The last thing I had seen before falling had been Sophia's face, Sophia's disappointed face as if I had failed a test, as if I had failed myself. She was a mirror, and it had felt as if I had truly betrayed myself, betrayed everything Rias Gremory was and could have been.

I chose, yet never had something felt so bittersweet, so soul-breaking. I was free and falling. I was free and wanted to skin myself with my fingers.

I fell somewhere, somewhere empty, devoid of life. I knew that my fall hadn't been a silent one, that it was more than likely that it had attracted a lot of attention.

I didn't care. Since I was younger, I always had days, sometimes weeks of what I would call emptiness.

It wasn't depression or something similar, I think. Could be wrong. In those moments, I felt nothing. In those moments, everything stopped being something worth caring for.

I didn't care if something hurt. I didn't care if something happened to me or someone close to me. I didn't care about messing up my relationships with family and friends. I didn't care about living or even dying.

This emptiness had disappeared when I became Rias Gremory, at least, this is what I thought until now.

I don't really remember much except sleeping and my demonic energy acting weirdly. Maybe I would have normally.

I was woken up from my sleep by the presence of Death. It was faint, more an echo of an echo, but I had felt it.

I had woken up because I had wanted to die. A part of me had hoped for such because I was too emotionally messed up to either try to go forward or take my own life.

I had woken up to disappointment. The moment I had opened my eyes and saw him, I had understood that.

He had been more than an open book to my eyes. Just looking at him, without any metaknowledge, I learned everything about him, about his past, his fears, his hopes, and his burdens.

What I had felt had been the elder wand. A tool I knew unless wielded by something akin to a god would be worthless against me. My essence hadn't even reacted, confirming what I already thought.

He called me Morningstar, and I wonder if he knew how both right and wrong he was. Morningstar had been the name, the title of Helel, my ancestor. It was also the title of the Satan Lucifer, of my brother.

Dumbledore I could see in his mind hadn't seen through this angle. No matter how sympathetic he may have been to muggles and muggle-borns, Albus wasn't one.

He wasn't taught since his childhood hymns and chants in the name of a tripartite god. He wasn't taught of the story of the son of a virgin woman, an aspect of the divine.

It's not that he didn't know but Albus saw as much interest in those beliefs as a physics major with philosophy classes.

He had called me Morningstar because Venus had been considered by Pagan religions as the Morningstar.

Venus also represented Aphrodite, daughter of the sky born of sea foam, goddess of love, beauty, war, and so many other things. Aphrodite, a new name given to a goddess once called Ishtar.

I had fallen from the sky. My demonic energy had created around me a city it wouldn't be wrong to call Roman when in reality, I realized it was a failed replica of the false world in the home office of my brother.

My brother, one I left behind without hesitation. Oh Sirzechs, would you be angry if you knew? Disappointed? I loved him even though I was nothing but an imposter, even though those feelings I inherited weren't truly mine.

I loved him because he made it so easy to do so. I loved him because I don't think anyone has ever cared as much as he did. I loved him and I would have gladly lived forever without telling him that I wasn't the sister he loved so much.

Akeno, would you notice something's different? Would you be happier with this better Rias? Would you love her more? I wanted to be jealous. They were my brother, my queen, they were…they were.

I had made my choice, and I wished I didn't. I was thankful for once for this emptiness inside because I knew I would have broken myself and maybe the world around if I could have felt.

Dumbledore had called me Morningstar because he had recognized me as something more. He had called me Morningstar because he had thought me a deity of beauty.

'It was flattering,' a little part of me thought. That part was swallowed immediately after by the emptiness inside.

Dumbledore wanted to use me. I could see it clearly. I didn't need to ask him to know it. He saw in me a means to end the things he feared.

He proposed to me to become a teacher at his school, and I accepted. He wanted to use me. I accepted because he gave me an opportunity.

I was too cowardly to end my own existence, but what I could do was create a silver bullet. Dumbledore wanted me to teach, and it is what I will do.

I will make his students, the soldiers of his future war, strong, stronger than anything he could imagine, so strong that with their magic, they'll be able to do what I couldn't, allow me to finally rest.

I'll make them strong and ask them to give me the rest I wished for, and if they refuse, heroes always slay villains and monsters didn't they?