The King's Beloved

After rebuking the Basilisk, Rania went back to Elliot and Luna to check on them. The two were already awoken and slowly got up as they touched their heads.

"Waaaa, my head hurts," Luna groaned. "What happened?"

"We were trapped in an illusion when we stepped in the magic circle," Rania answered as she knelt before them. 

"So it was all an illusion," Elliot added. "Then that means - " His face lit up.

Rania smiled at him, "Yes, your first kiss is still safe and sound".

"Pfft, shouldn't it be yours, not mine?" 

"Hmm, well, technically, I'm the one who -"

"HUH?! What is all this talk about kisses?" Luna interrupted. Her face was filled with questions. "Who got kissed? And who kissed? Why didn't I see that? What in the world happened? Tell me!"

"Well … ahmm …," Rania and Elliot blushed from her persistent asking.

"It's not suitable for young audiences," Rania dismissed her as she raised her forefinger. 

"What? But I'm not young! I - I'm … agh, I don't know my age," Luna pouted. 

Rania chuckled. "Since you don't know, then that only means you're still young. You're not counting".

Luna pouted even more and played with her fingers. "I'm not counting because I don't like numbers, not because I'm young," she murmured to herself. "Rania, don't be mean to meeeee, please tell me".

"If you tell me what you did when we lost you back there".

"Ack!" Luna suddenly sweated, an obvious case of someone feeling guilty over something they did. "Ahm, I … ah … hehehehe. Let's just say the food distracted me". She then pursed her lips and whistled.

Rania laughed as she tapped Luna's shoulders. "So you mean you've been eating all this time?"

"You're one gluttonous fairy," Elliot teased. "Good thing we're not being tested from it". 

The three of them laughed. Then, Elliot noticed the City Lord a few meters away from them, with marks of golden chain in his body. His anger came back to him.

"That bastard," he got up on his feet and conjured magic on his hands.

"Elliot, stop!" Rania bid him. "It's alright now. He has been punished".

Elliot calmed down and Rania told him what happened while he was asleep.

"Wow, you're awesome Rania," Elliot's face lit up in amazement. "But how did you figure it out?"

"Let's just say … the Supreme told me about it," she replied with a grin on her face.

Elliot sighed. "Alright, as long as you're fine". He tilted his head afterwards and surveyed around the chasm. "It's so dark in here … and cold. There's nothing but fissures and rocks". Then his eyes fell back on the City Lord. 

Elliot contemplated for a moment - what happened back in the City of Tenebris, the words that the City Lord told him, the trial of self control, the punishment, and now, the chasm of darkness and the melancholic face of the Basilisk turned man. Reaching to a conclusion, he walked towards the City Lord. 

"You …," Elliot called out to him. He didn't know his name yet so he settled on that for now. 

The City Lord prepared himself for all the scolding and anger he would receive from him. After all that he did, he deserved all punishment. He had forgotten the most important thing - his true purpose as a guardian. So he decided, he'll take responsibility and take all the loathing to himself. Then, he lifted up his face and looked straight into Elliot's eyes. 

But then … the hatred and animosity he was expecting to see … were replaced by something else.

Those aquamarine eyes … reflected nothing but …

"Compassion"

The City Lord's eyes widened and his mouth opened in astonishment. 

"It must have been hard," Elliot's voice was warm and gentle, "to live in the darkness for so long".

The City Lord lowered his eyes and bit his lips. Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. His body trembled … but not in fear. He felt his heart squeeze and its beating echoed to the depths of his soul. He did not respond to his words, he only listened and engraved those warm words in his mind.

Again, Elliot saw things beyond the eyes could see. 

"Our past … doesn't define us nor does it dictate what we become".

At these words, the City Lord burst into tears. He sobbed and wailed and cried like a baby. There was something there, a piece of guilt and pain and hatred hidden in his heart. Something that Elliot, who had experienced living in the darkness for the most in his life, understood. Something that more than a thousand words and a thousand pictures could express.

Elliot gently patted the City Lord's head as he cried. "Thank you" and "I'm sorry" were the only words he was able to say. 

Then Elliot touched the golden chain marks on the City Lord's body.

"Supreme Being," Elliot prayed, "I forgive him. Let these chains be gone, and let his punishment be lifted. Let him be freed from his sins".

And as he prayed, the City Lord's body lit up, and the golden chains in his body broke into pieces until they were no more.

Rania, Luna, and Ducis smiled warmly as they witnessed everything that was happening.

"As expected with the Lord's Anointed.," Ducis thought in his mind. "The Supreme doesn't choose wrong …

For the Supreme sees not as man sees,

For man looks on the outward appearance,

But the Supreme looks on the heart …

He may be unable to comprehend much emotions but that doesn't mean he can't feel anything. Now he feels, and follows his heart".

  A few minutes passed before the City Lord calmed down and regained his composure. Afterwards, his body shined bright, and he gave his blessings to Elliot.

"My name is Caligo,

And I am the Third Gate.

As the Guardian of Darkness,

In my heart, shines Self Control.

Thou hast been tested,

And evil, I found nought.

Therefore, thou shalt receiveth mine blessings.

I shalt be with thou,

And thou shalt be with me".

Not long after, they went to the temple where Luna read the sayings on the door to unlock it.

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."

And lastly, Elliot took the purple crystal in the innermost room of the temple. The guardian, Caligo, rested himself inside the crystal. And like the orange crystal, the purple crystal fused with Elliot's Zweihänder. 

Now the sword had two crystals on its handle and a more powerful and domineering aura.

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Hi Beloved Readers!

As part of "Authors & Readers Win-Win Event", I've decided to do a mass release if we reach the below numbers of privilege readers for September! XD

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