The King's Beloved

[Music Recommendation: "The Fire Within" by Hiroshi Mizuta (Final Fantasy XV OST) - available in Spotify or Youtube]

"It's gone. Thank you, Elliot," Rania said and sighed in relief. "I'm sorry you had to help. I barely managed to create clones while defending its attack. It's too fast—"

"It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. It was too witty and tried to separate us all. I didn't even think of that possibility."

"Me, too. We should think of a countermeasure in case that happens again."

"Rania!" Luna, who suddenly popped out of nowhere, called her in a worry-filled tone. "Are you alright?"

"Luna!" Rania called her back. "Yes, I'm good. How about you? Were you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. But I heard your scream."

"I see. So that's why Elliot suddenly came, too. How did you hear it, though?" Rania asked. She looked around, but the desert was vast, and it was not like her voice could travel that much distance.

"It's an extended illusion," Elliot answered. "We're still inside the innermost place of the shrine. Somehow, the monster was able to distort the place and appear bigger than it was, altering the surroundings as well. That's why I was able to teleport to you. Honestly, I didn't know where you were, so ideally, I shouldn't be able to go to you. But when I teleported, I imagined you on the same spot near the crystal obelisk, and it worked."

"Yes, I did the same thing," Luna seconded. 

"I see. If that's the case, then it all makes sense. How do we tear down this illusion?"

"Hmm. Let me try," Elliot suggested, and he lifted his hand in the air.

Sparkles of spiritual energy gathered towards his hands. Then, the vast desert started to look smaller and smaller. A few moments more, the desert illusion was down, and it turned to its original look. Elliot was right—they were indeed still inside the shrine. Along with it, the surrounding area of the shrine returned to its original state—a state where it was filled with darkness everywhere. What's worse, there were carcasses of dead monsters and piles of bones.

"This is a very advanced level of illusion-making. It looked so real and felt so real. No wonder it's the only bright place we encountered."

"You're right. Maybe that sphinx got stronger because… it ate other monsters," Rania said solemnly as she saw that at the corners of the innermost place were bones of dead monsters.

Elliot and Luna saw them as well, and they, too, fell silent.

"I've been wondering," Rania added. "These monsters… weren't they normal beasts before? It's just that the miasma got the better of them, consumed them, and turned them aggressive."

"That's true. But don't worry. Beasts in Gaia populate like how animals on Earth do. As long as there are still survivors left, they could still increase in numbers. For the high-level beasts, though, and some other special kinds, the spiritual energy in the surrounding that accumulated over the years gives birth to them. So as long as we return Gaia in its original state, they should be fine."

Hearing this, Rania smiled. "That's great to hear."

"Don't be sad, Rania. Worst-case scenario, Fauna can summon the extinct ones from her realm and reproduce here!"

"You're right! Fauna's realm has lots of kinds of beasts."

"Uh-huh! And I'm sure she'll be more than happy to share some of them."

"That's really great. There's another thing I'm wondering, though."

"What is it?"

"If a monster is eaten by another, they become like these?" she pointed at the bones. "Don't they usually just disappear like sparkles in the air? Or did the miasma affect them like the undead?"

"I'm not sure," Elliot answered. "The monsters we fought before all died naturally, disintegrating in the air like dust. But these here didn't. Maybe being eaten affected them. It's forbidden to eat other beasts that are not meant to be eaten. Normal beasts don't do that, especially to their comrades. Yet these carcasses and bones here are remains of random monsters, including young sphinxes. This is not how the Supreme designed this world."

"Anyway, let's stop this depressing talk and get some rest," Luna intervened.

"Yes."

And so, they all decided to rest. Elliot created a stronger barrier for the shrine first, Luna cooked some meals, and Rania created a clone to fix the fissures.

Little did they know that Rania's clones from the previous shrines they had already conquered started to grow stronger. Since the fissures were fixing themselves, the surrounding land revived little by little. Grass began to grow, and sprouts of life began to rise. The world that was once filled with darkness started to bloom tiny lights like the stars at night. And the rate of its revival kept on growing faster.

Meanwhile, Clavis' team was done resting and were now on their way towards the next shrine beside Ignis' located towards the south—the Shrine of Lunaflora.

"I wonder if mother and the others are okay," Selena pondered as they traveled on the dragon's back. "We're near them, right? Is it okay to visit them? Oh, wait. We don't have much time. I hope they're doing fine. No monsters attacking them or anything."

"Don't worry," Clavis replied. "Mother and father are pretty tough themselves. The same goes for our relatives and the other Magi in there. They should be able to fight back. And they promised to contact us right away in case of emergencies."

Sighing, Selena nodded. "Right…"

Clavis patted her head, seeing that she still looked worried.

"Patting won't help, you know," Selena said while acting cute—smiling and blinking her eyes. "But a hug will do."

Clavis chuckled. "Alright. Here's your hug."

"Yes!"

And so, the two lovers embraced each other. 

Ducis, on the other hand, rolled his eyes.

'Tsk. These two lovebirds. If only Luna is with me,' he thought. 'Oh well, it's for my master. I'll cuddle her lots once all this is over.'

Noticing their reactions, Illuminaire chuckled to herself, enjoying the funny scene.