The King's Beloved

[Music Recommendation: "Night in the Brume" by Masayoshi Soken (Final Fantasy XIV OST) - available in Spotify or Youtube]

Hearing Rania's words, Amare replied with a smile containing both pain and hope, for she knew very well the weight of Rania's words.

Turning back to Elliot, she gave her blessing unto him.

"My name is Amare,

And I am the Twelfth Gate.

As the Guardian of Light,

In my heart shines Love.

Thou hast been tested,

And evil, I found naught.

Therefore, thou shalt receiveth mine blessings.

I shalt be with thou,

And thou shalt be with me."

A strong surge of power enveloped Elliot's whole body as Amare merged with the white crystal and transferred itself to the Zweihander. At last, the twelve slots on the sword were filled, and the crystals were completed.

The white crystal engraved itself at the top spot, with the black crystal opposite at the bottom. The pink and blue fixed themselves on the east and west, and the rest of the crystals were scattered like the hours of a clock. The sword gave a colorful glow, and the blade that once was solid black became a translucent night filled with golden dust inside. 

Finally, everything was ready. 

Finally, it was time to go to Gaia.

The team went back to Anguis Solum. Ducis created a new dark hole behind the door to Amare's domain. It was way bigger than the ones before and had a colorful ring attached to its corners like a rainbow.

"We cannot afford to waste any more time by using the teleportation stations from here to Gaia. It would take us several days to get there," Ducis explained as he created the black hole. "Instead, this portal should take us straight to Gaia in a matter of hours."

"Good thing you're the Guardian of Time and Space, huh?" Luna jested. "Imagine how many lightyears away Gaia is from Earth."

"Yeah," Ducis chuckled. "For that, I am thankful."

"If it takes Magi several days to go there using different teleportation stations scattered around their ally planets, then how long would it take humans to go to Gaia using their human spaceships?"

"Human life span won't be enough if they use that method."

"Huh?! What?!" Luna gasped. "Then, if the Magi didn't come here, we wouldn't even meet Rania."

"That's correct. Indeed, all things happen for a reason."

Meanwhile, Elliot felt somewhat nervous as he stared at the portal that would take him back to his home planet—Gaia. It had been a very long time since he last saw the place. He wondered what it looked like now. Was it really bad? Or maybe somewhat bearable like how he remembered from his childhood—just a bit different? How were the people there? Were there any survivors? If there were, did they get infected by the miasma? How many? Would it still be possible to cure them?

On and on, his thoughts circled from the planet to its people, then… to himself.

'Once we arrive there, will I be able to help them? Can I really… do this?'

He wasn't sure what got into him. Perhaps, it was the pressure finally kicking in. They were supposed to save the planet, and that was no laughing matter. He knew what to do, he knew where to go, and he had comrades with him, but still… there was a doubt that started creeping in.

Rania noticed this immediately, so he held Elliot's hands.

"It's gonna be alright," she said, smiling at him. "Whatever happens, we'll do this together."

Slowly, his loud heartbeat calmed down, and his worries started to fade. All it took was a smile from her.

"It's done!" Ducis exclaimed and let out a sigh. "That took quite a lot of my spiritual energy."

"Yaaay! Let's go!"

And so, everyone stepped inside the portal. 

Unlike the other black holes they went through, the portal didn't transport them instantly to Gaia. Instead, they watched over a series of glowing lights like aurora, a series of stars and planets, and so many things that could be found in the universe. They traveled at an unfathomable speed though their bodies didn't seem to move, only their surroundings. They all remained standing on an unknown glass platform with their eyes fixed on the faint light at the end of what looked like a moving tunnel made of galaxies. They weren't sure how much time had passed already, but they soon reached the end and stepped into the blinding light.

When they opened their eyes, what awaited them was… the sky.

To be exact, they were falling from the sky!

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Why did you transport us to the sky? It should be the ground! The ground!" Luna screamed at the top of her lungs. 

The wind was too strong for her to reveal her wings, and the trip from the portal made her body exhausted for some reason.

"I'm sorry," Ducis apologized. "I don't usually create portals this far."

"Stupid dragon! Aaaaahhh!!!"

Ducis transformed himself into a dragon to save Luna, only to get pinched on the cheeks. While the two bicker, Rania tried her best to be calm, but even she wasn't feeling so well from the travel. She tried to use her spiritual energy to control her body, but it wasn't working as well for some reason. She tried to speak, but the air pressure made it hard for her that she could barely scream.

"Aaaaahhh!"

On the other hand, Elliot was already flying in the air, able to control his spiritual energy despite the exhaustion from the trip. He immediately flew towards Rania and caught her in his arms, much to her relief.

Once everyone settled down from the shock of falling from the sky, they looked below them and saw… the whole continent that made up Gaia. Everyone fell silent as they observed its dire dire state.

Gaia was a planet that contained twelve continents, each governed by a Guardian. The continents were arranged like a spiral with ten continents at the ground, surrounded by waters, and two continents floating in the air, high above the waters. 

Among those in the ground were the continents of Ducis where the Grand Palace used to reside. It was located at the top center of Gaia. To its right were the continents of Fauna, Caligo, Terra, and Saburra, being Terra as the biggest one. To its left were the continents of Ignis, Luna, Bronte, and Burma, respectively. Luna's continent connects over Ignis' and Ducis' continents like an extended tail. Towards the south was Aqua's continent—the most elongated one amongst them. Its width might be extended, but its height was only a third of Bruma's and Saburra's continents.

Making up almost two-thirds of Aqua's continent's height was Ventus' continent—except it was floating high above the ground and the ocean. Several floating islands could be found around it, with the biggest ones leading towards the center of the planet where Amare's continent was located. Like Ventus', it was also floating in the air.

How magnificent the view could have been from Rania's and the other's position only if they were visiting Gaia before the chaos happened. Now, their eyes could only see nothing but darkness and ruin. Ruin that was far greater than what Earth suffered. 

The ground was lifeless—no greenery could be seen anywhere. A dark mist covered almost all the areas of the continents—every town or village, every forest that only had wilted trees, every dessert, every mountain, and even the ocean. Nothing escaped the darkness. Along with it were large fissures on the ground that appeared like deep wounds on the planet's surface. As if that wasn't enough, the volcanoes grumbled and spewed their magma. Craters and geysers were scattered around even in places they shouldn't be.

Everyone's heart broke at the sight of Gaia's current state.

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