The King's Beloved

[Music Recommendation: "Somnus" by Yoko Shimomura (instrumental only - FFXV OST) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the true atmosphere of this scene ~

Elliot, Calum, Clavis, Illuminaire, and everyone sobbed as they watched the horrid truth unfold before them. Elliot\'s heart ached terribly… as if the pain in his head was not enough to torment him.

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Noticing their heartbreak, especially Elliot\'s and Calum\'s, Ducis continued the rest of the event on that depressing day. On another wave of his hand, the story proceeded.

Like what happened to little Elliot, Amare\'s spiritual energy went wayward.

How could she not?

Her beloved king and queen suddenly died! Even their little prince was killed in cold blood!

Innocent lives… lost in an instant.

And not just anyone\'s lives… 

For her who had no family, they were her family.

"Sniff… sniff…"

A nasty mixture of anger and despair clouded Amare\'s heart…

She couldn\'t breathe properly. Her heart ached terribly… 

Tears flowed through her eyes continuously…

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" she wailed at the top of her lungs. With her voice, the whole planet trembled. "My King! My Queen! Sniff… sniff… my poor prince… WAAAAAAAAA!"

Everyone mourned with her. For truly, the whole royal family was loved by many.

"Wahu-hu-hu-hu… Don\'t leave me… Please," she begged with all her might as she tried to heal them—the hole left on the queen\'s body, the king\'s shattered spiritual core, and the prince\'s lifeless body.

But none were working… they all remained lifeless.

"No… sniff… please… Wake up… hu-hu-hu-hu."

"Amare," Flora went over to her, wanting to comfort her.

But Amare refused to be comforted.

No. When the most precious people in her life were taken from her all at the same time just like that.

In her craziness, she turned to Ducis and grabbed him by his shoulders.

"Guardian Ducis… t-this can be resolved, right? You just need to turn back time!"

Deep madness could be seen from her eyes.

Ducis\' body trembled, feeling perplexed by the horrible thing she\'s suggesting. Logically, yes, it would resolve the situation, but it\'s taboo—an abomination. He was the Guardian of Time and Space for a reason. It was because the Supreme trusted him that he would never do that. Playing with time and life… acting God… that would be the greatest sin anyone could do. 

Shaking his head, he answered her firmly, "No. As much as I love the royal family, I could never do that. I am not God. I am—"

"Then ask Him to do it! You\'re close. Please?" Amare urged him desperately.

Ducis and Flora glanced at each other, both thinking Amare must have gone mad due to the severe shock of the royal family\'s death.

"My dear friend," Flora called her dearly, "I know this is too much for you to take. But I need you to be strong. Please, don\'t be like this."

Hearing their disapproval, Amare\'s madness went to the brim. 

All the light in her eyes faded, replaced by darkness instead.

And the love in her heart… turned to hatred.

"In that case… there\'s no need for this world to exist."

Amare\'s aura turned ominous. Darkness started to cover her whole body. Her beautiful burning red hair, turned into deep red like blood. The kindness in her eyes, completely gone.

Along with the surging hatred in her heart, the desire for vengeance arose. For she would not sit still until she made sure to make whoever caused her beloved family\'s death, suffer the way they should.

She turned around, surveying with her eyes, whoever caused this wicked tragedy. And on the scene, the only person she found was a little child… none other than Calum.

Seeing her wrathful eyes fall upon his own dear son, Sanguis covered Calum in his back.

"You… you\'re the reason why this happened, aren\'t you?" she asked the poor little Calum with a menacing tone. Her sanity left her, blaming even a little child for the loss of her loved ones.

Little Calum, who was also convinced that it was all because of him, cried his heart out.

"I\'m sorry," the little boy trembled. "I\'m really sorry."

"No! It\'s not him!" Sanguis stepped in.

Remembering the Exsorbeo slowly slithering away when King Eli came, he already knew who started everything. He opened his mouth to say it was Avarus but then… he wasn\'t there. Amare would not believe it. And she could easily use tracing magic in her eyes to see where the energy flowed—she would see it came from Calum\'s hands.

"Avarus planned this out really well, huh?" he thought. "But she won\'t be convinced if I say he\'s the one who gave it to Calum. There\'s no relationship between them. But if it\'s me… she will believe it, right? She will spare Calum. She can punish me all she wants. I\'m good with that. I deserved it because I… didn\'t even do anything to stop him."

Having made his decision, Sanguis placed his hand on his chest.

"It\'s me. If you\'d blame anyone, blame me. It\'s all because of me."

Little Calum\'s eyes widened. His beloved father just took the blame from him. He wanted to speak and rebut him but Sanguis covered his mouth.

"You…" Amare\'s voice shook in anger. "HOW COULD YOU?! Your brother loved you so much… sniff… how could you betray him?!"

Her dark aura blasted like wind all around.

"WRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

Her voice filled with agony, echoed in the surrounding.

"Killing you is not enough! SUFFER!!! Suffer by a thousand fold! You and all of your descendants! Receive the curse of my hatred! Receive my pain! WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

And so, the darkness from Amare covered Sanguis\' body from head to toe, cursing him in the process.

"Uggghhh," Sanguis grunted as excruciating pain traveled all throughout his body like a burning fire, or a piercing of a thousand blades. He fell to his knees and coughed up blood.

"Father! Father!" little Calum sobbed. "What\'s happening?" Turning to Amare, he begged her with all his might, "Please, stop this! Don\'t do this to my father. Please!"

"Amare! Amare, please stop! Please… calm down!" Flora tugged Amare\'s body, trying to wake her up from her madness.

But Amare won\'t be stopped.

"No!" she said firmly. "How can I calm down? How could he do this? And to someone so innocent! What has he done? All they did was love this world and everyone in it… how could he plot to kill him? And for what? For power? For the throne? HOW DARE YOU!!!"

Her darkness started spreading. The moon and the skies wept. Thunders rumbled and the ground shook once again.

"All of you… SUFFER!!! There\'s no point in having this world if they\'re no longer in it! WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Everyone trembled in fear. For a great darkness covered the whole planet.

Amare\'s curse didn\'t stop at Sanguis and his descendants.

She cursed the whole world with them…

For she didn\'t know that she was no mere sorceress nor simply a Judge…

She was a Guardian! 

The Guardian who was supposed to be the foundation of all other guardians…

The Guardian of Love!

Only… her love turned into hatred instead.

"I… HATE this world… this world where you all no longer exist."