The King's Beloved

~ [Music Recommendation: "The Promise" by The Sunleth Waterscape (Instrumental only) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this scene ~

"Ha ha ha ha!" Ducis gave his most awkward laugh. "W-what are you saying drunkard midget? Go back to sleep!" He snapped his hands and Luna fell asleep in an instant. With sweat starting to form on his forehead, he replied to Elliot, "S-she's dreaming, master. Don't believe the nonsense she was talking about".

Rania and Elliot looked at each other and giggled. Ducis' tone gave him away. He had always been a guardian dragon who never knew how to lie. But if it's keeping secrets, he was pretty good at it.

"Alright, it's a dream if you say so," Elliot said, holding back his laughter. "But just a word of advice, next time you lie, try to do a better job. You suck at it".

Ducis' face flushed in embarrassment. "I - I'm sorry, master".

"Elliot".

"Yes, Elliot".

"I - It was an accident, nothing intentional. Just … sigh"

"It's okay, no need to explain it," Elliot chuckled. "It's fine really. Guardians are free to love, too. You don't have to hold yourself back".

"What? No! I'm loyal to Flora!" Ducis panicked.

Elliot was amused. He continued roasting him. Rania pulled her chair closer to Elliot, wanting to join the fun since they were still waiting for their food.

"Flora? Who's that?" Elliot asked.

"She's … my late lover," Ducis admitted, his tone suddenly changed to a serious one. 

Rania and Elliot felt the seriousness in his voice.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Ducis," Rania said in a soft voice.

"Actually, there's something I want to tell you two. And now's the perfect time since this midget is asleep. Would you mind coming over?"

Elliot didn't waste any time and told the servers to prepare the food they ordered for take out. Once done, they came to the hotel that Ducis told them about - Ventus Inn, and up to the floor where they stayed. They passed over a couple of rooms before they reached "Room 304" where Ducis and Luna stayed.

Ducis opened the door for them when they knocked. Elliot and Rania burst out laughing upon seeing the romantic decorations and design of the room. It took them a couple of minutes to calm down but once calm, they all sat on the large couch in a living room after the bedroom.

"What was it that you wanted to say?" Elliot began the conversation.

"That day … when I left with her," Ducis started his story," I discovered something about her that you two should know about. I'm not entirely sure what it means but …" Ducis' furrowed and sighed.

"Let's figure it out together," Rania encouraged him. "Whatever it is, it must be something that's weighing you down. Don't worry, we're here, too. We can solve it together".

"Luna … she has two spiritual cores inside her," Ducis said as he looked straight into their eyes. 

Rania gasped and Elliot's eyes widened in disbelief.

"But having two cores is impossible," Elliot commented.

"That's what I thought, too," Ducis nodded. "The fact that she had two cores was weird already. But what's more interesting is that one of the cores is full and the other is just half of a core".

"What?" Elliot furrowed. "That's impossible. How can half a core survive? Spiritual cores need a host to live on, and that's mostly the person's body where they developed. That's why it's impossible for someone else to use another person's core, thus, making it impossible for non-Magi to use magic. Same goes for transfer of cores between Magi to another Magi - it's very unlikely to happen and succeed".

"But it did, on her -" Ducis argued, pointing at Luna. "And that's not all, even if that core is half, it is still alive and glowing. It was very faint but I felt something like a barrier that enveloped it … as if it was being preserved on her body".

"Preserved?" Elliot pondered for a moment. "So it's possible to do that? If what you say is true, then that means … the owner of that half core will come and get it back, right?"

"Tell us, Ducis," Rania joined in, "do you know who's the owner of that half core?"

Ducis fell silent. His eyes fell on Rania, his brows knitted in worry. He didn't say anything but Rania understood it immediately. Rania fell silent too, and her eyes fell on the ground.

Noticing the heavy atmosphere, Elliot asked, "What's the matter? Who is it?"

Ducis was hesitant but he decided to tell him the truth this time, "She's the most powerful sorceress that ever lived … Amare".

"Amare …," Elliot repeated. Something in his mind told him that it was a very familiar name … but he couldn't remember. "So this … Amare, why does she have half of her core in Luna?"

"I don't know, too. I can only speculate. But speculations they'll remain. I have no proof to claim its truth, nor do I have any evidence. And no matter what idea I came up with, they just don't add up".

"This is tough," Rania commented. "So the half core belongs to Amare, and I presume the full core is Luna's right? Good thing Amare's core is not affecting her in any way".

"About that …," Ducis continued, "that's another thing that's amiss. Luna seems to not have a spiritual core of her own. Instead, the full core that she has belongs to another".

"Huh? But Luna can use magic. If the core is another person's then, shouldn't it be that … she won't be able to use it?"

"Yes, that's how it should be," Ducis shook his head. "But it seems that the core is very accustomed and compatible with her body. Thus, enabling her to use the spiritual core … even if it wasn't hers".

"How can one core be compatible with two different bodies? That's impossible," Elliot argued again. Everything he was hearing just didn't make any sense to him, abolishing all the knowledge about magic he knew. "And whose core is this that she's using?"

Ducis' smiled wryly and looked at Elliot to answer him.

"It's … Flora's core - the Guardian of Nature and my late lover".

A moment of silence passed by. Rania and Elliot took their time to process all the information they just received in one go. 

"Is … reincarnation possible for guardians?" Rania broke the silence.

Ducis sighed before answering, "If a guardian dies, they don't reincarnate, instead, an entirely new guardian is born - like Caligo. The original Guardian of Darkness was his master. However, due to some things that happened, he died, and passed on his guardianship to him".

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Rania bit her lips. "In that case, then maybe … Flora didn't really die but maybe, just maybe … she became a fairy instead or lost her memories?"

"But they don't look the same," Ducis contradicted. "If that is true, she wouldn't need to change her appearance".

Elliot tried to process all the facts before him. "I remember that before we started going through all the gates … Luna seemed to have been possessed by something right? She's the one who gave us that prophecy that we tried so hard to look for info in the library at the Forbidden Chamber".

"That's right," Rania agreed. "Maybe that's Flora's core acting up?"

"Or she could just be the same person?" Eliot thought. "A guardian's body is much more powerful than a normal Magi. It's needed since they can contain so much more spiritual energy than us. That's also why their spiritual cores are much more complex and larger than ours. So maybe it is possible for her body to change in appearance - like if she loses most of her spiritual energy". Turning to Ducis he asked, "How did she look before she became a guardian?"

"I don't know," Ducis shook his head. "When I met her, she's already Flora".

Then, Rania suddenly realized something.

"Wait a minute, if Flora was the Guardian of Nature, then … that means we'll go to her realm, too right? But then, she's no longer … how will Elliot take her trial?"

"Regarding that … since she's no longer with us, we just need to pass by her realm and take the crystal. Her crystal should still be there, though I'm not sure if a new guardian that will replace her has been born already. If that is so, then Elliot will need to take her trial".

"And if no one has replaced her yet? Does that mean I'm just getting an empty crystal?"

"Something like that, yes. But it will still have her spiritual essence. It can still help you in the battles ahead".

"I see, that's good then".

While they were busy discussing a very serious topic, Luna, on the other hand, looked like she was having a bad dream. Tears started falling from her eyes.

In a soft murmur, she uttered the words, "For Gaia".