The King's Beloved

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

Amidst all the darkness that hovered around the whole planet, there was one place alone that the darkness didn't touch. It was none other than the extension of land in Luna's continent that connects towards the edge of Ignis' and Ducis' continents. A thick, translucent barrier covered the place, keeping the miasma away. The team went towards it, and as they guessed, it was the place where the Sortis family gathered all the remaining Magi.

Their number seemed to amount to millions of people from afar, but when the team drew near… only half of them were living beings. The rest were all dead bodies lying on the ground as if they were merely sleeping and yet, no life energy could be sensed among them.

Realizing it first, Elliot's already broken heart shattered all the more. He flew fast towards the place and landed on the ground with a bang. Spinning his head around, he looked closer at everyone, and just as he suspected, they were all truly dead… just like those lifeless bodies Avarus used to control. What's worse, there were even children among them.  So young and yet… they didn't manage to survive.

'If only we arrived sooner,' he thought, 'then maybe… maybe we could have saved more of them.'

With his head bent low and his gaze fixed to the ground, Elliot tried to calm down and muster his emotions, but the deep misery anguished his heart and filled his eyes with tears.

Rania, Luna, and Ducis, who followed Elliot closely, all gasped in shock when they realized that the hundreds of thousands of bodies lying around were all dead people. Their faces turned pale, and just like Elliot, their hearts were crushed beyond measure.

They all wept as they offered prayers and flowers for them—the only things they could give to people they failed to save.

"Your majesty," the heads of the Sortis family arrived one by one and greeted Elliot as they curtseyed and bowed. Amongst them were Mitis, Selena, Clavis, and Illuminaire.

Elliot wiped his tears before facing them.

"There's no need for formalities. You all must have been exhausted already," he said. "Make sure to take some rest."

"I'm afraid there are still much that needs immediate attention, my King," Illuminaire disagreed. "You do not need to worry about us. Everyone is taking turns in resting. But as for us, we can still go on a little longer."

"I don't want anyone else to die. Please, rest and recover your energies," Elliot replied with furrowed eyebrows. "For those in need, just tell me where they are."

"Your majesty!" Clavis exclaimed. "Are you going to treat them yourself? You cannot do that. You will wear yourself out. Please conserve your energy and fulfill what you came here to fulfill."

"Yes, I will do that, but your family's numbers are not enough to treat everyone here," Elliot argued. "I have seen the whole situation. One of you is treating tens of thousands of people! There's no way your holy energy will be enough to heal them. That's why… that's why…."

"That's why we only managed to save a few," Mitis finished it for him. "I understand you are aggravated with the situation, your majesty. And believe us, for we all are much—much disheartened with everything. But we could only do so much. And so do you."

"But I can create clones of myself and assist in healing and purifying everyone. I have a tremendous amount of spiritual energy, so I—"

"Spiritual energy that you need to reserve," Clavis argued back. "The miasma is going thicker the more people die. The thicker it is, the stronger the darkness becomes. We don't know what awaits us once we go to the Guardian's shrines. We don't know how powerful the monsters have become or anything. So you must—"

"What? The miasma thickens when people die?" Elliot was bewildered.

"That's… I'm afraid so."

"Is that why instead of letting their bodies disintegrate and go back to the planet, you preserved them and kept them lying here? You didn't perform the Ritual of Passing?"

Everyone turned silent and nodded their head. 

"My King, please quell your anger," Illuminaire reprimanded Elliot. "I understand that this may seem disrespectful for you, but we had to do this to respect the dead as well. The reason why the miasma grows stronger when people die is that it absorbs them! Instead of going back to the planet, the dead are consumed by the darkness like food! This, I believe, is way more abominable than not granting them the Ritual of Passing."

"C-Consumed by the darkness?" Elliot was shaken beyond words. "H-How do we…."

Luna and Ducis patted Elliot's back, trying to calm him down. But who could really calm him down when he himself thought that the battle was too great for him? Compared to this, the trials from the Rite of Passage were nothing but a breeze.

"In that case," Rania finally stepped in, "we just need to make sure that the remaining Magi survives, especially those affected by the dark miasma. Since it requires holy energy to purify them, and Elliot can't recklessly use his energy since we'll surely face battles ahead, why don't I use mine instead?"

Everyone turned to Rania, unsure of what she meant. If their king doing it would be a risk, what difference would her doing it make?

"You're right!" Luna agreed as her eyes sparkled in hope. "You see, Rania has unlimited holy energy! She's like this supermassive or bottomless container that can hold a LOT of holy energy! And spiritual too! She can't control them all like the genius Elliot, but she has an unlimited supply of it!"

"That's true," Ducis nodded. "In that case, Rania can create clones of herself and help the Sortis family in healing and purifying the infected Magi."

"Yes! I can do that!" Rania smiled. "Creating clones and ordering them to heal everyone shouldn't be too complex for me."

As the three discussed, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief. Most of them knew Rania as a human though being the Chosen Maiden must have granted her powers, but to have an unlimited amount of it? For them, it was really hard to believe.

Hearing that, Elliot started to calm down.

"R-right… That's how Rania's magic works. It doesn't flow like how normal Magi does," Elliot murmured under his breath.

Rania approached Elliot and patted his head.

"You seem to like carrying the burden by yourself, huh?" she teased him. "What happened to all the learnings we got from the trials?"

"I—ugh… I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I understand this must be a lot to take in for you. Take your time but don't forget, the Supreme is with us, so you don't have anything to worry about. Just like this weird way my powers work. The Supreme must have planned it all out since we will need it right at this moment."

"Yes… you're right," he whispered. Then, he took Rania's hand on his head, kissed it, and held it tight. "Thank you, and I'm sorry."

"Elliot, there is nothing for you to be sorry about. It's normal to be shaken. It's normal to feel sad and lonely, angry or confused. That's why we're here. Let's carry the burden together, okay? We can definitely do this."

Feeling encouraged once more, Elliot finally let out a chuckle.

"Thank you. What will I ever do without you?"

Hearing that, Rania felt her heart sting. But still, she gave Elliot her sweetest smile to encourage him more. After that, she created thousands over thousands of her clones in nothing but a single command.

"Perfect clones."

Thus, her clones scattered all around, bringing healing to those in need.

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