The King's Beloved

Chapter 209 - A Trip To The Past (Part 6)

[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 ~

"This is not good," Ducis' face wretched. "At this rate, she'll destroy the whole planet!"

"Amare! Please, stop this!" Flora pleaded. She tried to get closer to her dear friend but her aura had become so thick and kept blowing her away.

"Flora, we need to get her out of here!"

Sobbing, Flora turned to her lover and nodded. "Y-yes… She needs to calm down. Somewhere safe, and with no people."

Ducis waved his hands and in the blink of an eye, they were transported to a wide plateau with nothing in it, near the heart of Gaia. After that, he called forth the other guardians, seeking for their help.

Yes… Despite the strength Ducis already possessed being the Guardian of Time and Space, he admitted to himself that he needed help. For in front of him was another Guardian he didn't expect, possessing twice or thrice the spiritual energy that all of them combined together had.

One by one, the other Guardians came. Once everyone arrived, Ducis created a protective barrier through Space Magic, trapping them all inside. He did this to protect the planet. So that no matter how strong Amare's spiritual energy was, it wouldn't affect Gaia, and everyone in it.

After that was an epic battle of Amare versus all the other Guardians.

It was a long, and heartbreaking battle…

For the Guardians treated each other as dear friends, closest to their heart. Especially for Flora who treated Amare as her sister ever since she came to be… and even before she knew they were the same—that they were both Guardians.

Indeed, fighting an enemy was one thing, but fighting a dear friend… it was simply heartbreaking.

A torment to both the body, heart, and soul…

They pleaded with her to stop countless times but she couldn't hear them. Her heart was shut close as tears continuously fell from her eyes. Like a crying, mad doll, she attacked them, wanting to go out of the barrier and destroy the world.

"I'll destroy it! I'll destroy this world that took all of you! WRAAAAAAA!!!"

Blinded by revenge and hatred, she wrecked massive havoc around her.

Deep in her heart, she blamed the world and everything in it. She blamed them because of its never-ending greed and multitudes of sins. If it wasn't for the greed in a person's heart, none of those would happen. And it was impossible to take away that greed from a person's life. For her, as long as they lived, greed would continue growing, and multiplying, devouring everything in its way.

Her beloved king and queen, and their child… all they did was love the world and its people… but they all betrayed them.

For the love they gave, the received death instead.

How ungrateful, right?

Therefore, they must be punished. She must take down greed from its roots!

Yes… its roots must end.

The whole Magi race was a sinful race, a defect that the Supreme shouldn't have created. It was useless to love them and be faithful to them because they only knew how to bite the hands that fed them.

So for her, it was better if none of them existed.

They would just keep on sinning and being greedy anyway, over and over again. So what's the point of keeping them alive?

Yes… she was tired of being kind and loving.

If her beloved royal family's love didn't satisfy the world, then…

It was time to carry out their retribution. 

And she would bring it to them, in a silver platter!

CRAAAACCKK!!!

Unable to contain all of Amare's magic, Ducis' Space Barrier began to crumble. The Guardians became more anxious. They could barely handle Amare, and the barrier just had to give up on them as well.

Because of that, Aqua was forced to do something that would be extremely unacceptable for Amare. Something that was utterly hateful, and might even risk the severance of their friendship. But she had to do it for they had no hope of defeating her.

With her heart being tormented into pieces, Aqua poured out the remaining of her spiritual energies on her palms.

"… Perfect Clone."

From two giant spheres of water came forth two familiar figures—none other than the King Eli and Queen Alice. As a perfect copy of the late king and queen, their faces wretched upon seeing the state Amare had become.

The clones then went over to Amare and tried to talk to her.

"Amare," they called out her name, in perfect imitation of the late king and queen's voices.

Hearing their voices once more, Amare finally stopped. Her eyes widened, and her body trembled. Seeing them again brought hope to her tormented heart.

"My King! My Queen!" she exclaimed and quickly flew over to them, wanting to embrace them.

But before she was able to reach them, the other Guardians had to seal her… to protect Gaia.

DUG! DUG! DUG! DUG!

Eleven crystal pillars surrounded Amare in an instant. The crystals combined altogether, forming a bigger crystal that trapped her inside. It was only then that she realized that the king and queen were nothing but a clone. She became furious and shot her magic towards the crystal that trapped her.

"WAAAA! How could you do this! Let me out!"

Unfortunately for Amare, this time, the crystal barrier was no mere barrier made from spiritual energy. 

This time, it was made from holy energy…

As if it was something ordained, the Supreme granted each Guardian a "Holy Crystal" since the beginning of time. That Holy Crystal was to be passed along to all the succeeding Guardians until the end of time. And that Holy Crystal contained a tiny fraction of the Supreme's holy energy—something they could use to aid them in their most desperate of needs.

And so, using all the magic that the Holy Crystal had, the Guardians succeeded in sealing Amare. A huge crystal obelisk stood erect from the ground, at the heart of Gaia, with Amare inside it.

She continued to knock the crystal from inside but after a few minutes, it drained her energy, and made her fall into a deep slumber.

Thus, like a sleeping goddess, she remained inside that crystal obelisk unto this very day.