The King's Beloved

~ [Music Recommendation: "The Name of Life" by Joe Hisaishi "Spirited Away" OST - 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 chapter T_T ~

Luna, who was somehow in Flora's body, wiped her tears as she sniffed from all the crying.

"Don't ask me," she pouted at Ducis. "You're the one who just kissed me when I woke up. And this heart, " she clenched her chest," it's … hurting again that's why I couldn't help but cry".

"And why did you kiss me back?" Ducis asked, perplexed.

Luna blushed hard. "W-well … that's - you're the one who started it! I just got caught in the mood and … and … waaaah! Don't ask!"

"No," Ducis said firmly. "That's not the real reason".

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You're in Flora's body," Ducis said, staring at Luna's eyes. "You have Flora's spiritual core. Your heart aches when you see events that are similar to Flora's painful memories. Your heart aches for me. You act like her, even speak like her! It's too much to be a coincidence!"

"So what are you saying? That I'm your long lost lover? She died right? How can someone who died be me?" Luna answered back, irritated. "I'm not Flora! I'm Luna, okay? Can you please stop confusing me for your old lover? Geez. It's as if you're telling me to stop existing and just be your old lover!" Tears fell from her eyes once more.

Ducis was taken aback. Luna was right. The more he kept on insisting that she was Flora, the more he denied Luna's existence. And that … hurt Luna the most. He was only thinking of himself. Hoping and wanting Flora to come back … be alive again. But in reality, Flora's already gone. There was no way for a dead person to come back to life. If one would think logically, it was really impossible for Flora to still be alive ...

Finally calmed down, he wondered … Why? Why was Luna in Flora's body? Was it because of Flora's spiritual core inside her? Why did she have her core in the first place? Was it the core that somehow recreated Flora's frame? Or was it because of the half core that was still inside her? Was it creating some form of abnormality since ideally, only one spiritual core should reside on a person's body? Was it interference? Was it a form of distortion?

Despite getting lost in his deep thoughts, Ducis wiped the tears in Luna's face and sincerely apologized to her.

"I'm sorry. You're right. It's impossible for her to be alive".

Then, he placed his hands near Luna's chest.

"Luna, I'll try to remove the half core that's inside you," he warned her. "I'm not entirely sure but I think that's the reason why you're on Flora's body right now. Your spiritual core is full and complete now so it shouldn't affect you negatively".

"Huh?" Luna was confused. "What do you mean? And how will you extract a spiritual core? That's impossible".

"Not for me. If there's a way to put it inside, then there must be a way to pull it out".

And so, Ducis, fully determined, began the extraction process.

"Aaahhh!" Luna screamed. "Stop! It hurts! Aaaahh!"

Ducis immediately halted. "I'm really sorry but we must remove this inside you or I don't know what else it will do to your body".

Luna bit her lips and tried to endure the pain. Few minutes passed as Ducis continued to extract it.

"Aaaaahh!" and with a final cry, the half core was successfully removed from Luna's body. "Hahh … hahh … hahh …" Luna breathed heavily.

On Ducis hands, floated a reddish core in the shape of a half moon. He quickly enveloped it in a timeless barrier made of his black spiritual energy with golden dusts. As its name implied, the barrier creates a timeless space for anything that was inside.

While Luna tried to recover from the excruciating pain she suffered, she unconsciously stared at the half core that was extracted from her. As she stared at it, a series of flashbacks came rushing into her mind … like a movie being played backwards at a very fast pace.

In those flashbacks, she saw ...

A scene of her fading like sparkling lights … Ducis crying in agony … Gaia regaining its energy …

Then, a woman with red hair and a kind smile … She was gathering something on her palm … A pink but small spiritual core …

After that, everything went black.

Another scene played - a scene where she woke up in the Forbidden Forest, in a tiny body of a fairy … so exhausted and out of energy. The sprites found her and asked her name to which she answered "Luna".

After that, a scene of meeting Rania and everything that happened from then on, playing so fast in her mind.

"Ahhhh!" Luna grunted in pain. She held tight on her head. The memories rushing over her were too painful … both physically and emotionally. She sobbed as she remembered them one by one.

"Luna! What's happening?" Ducis asked anxiously. He quickly grabbed Luna's hands in an attempt to lessen her pain. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Sniff … sniff," Luna continued to sob.

No, it would be wrong to call her just Luna …

Since from the very beginning, she was Flora herself …

Reduced back from her fairy form, forgetting her old memories as a Grand Fairy and the Guardian of Nature …

But thanks to the half core that was once inside her, her damaged spiritual core healed up as years went by, slowly returning everything back to her - both memories and powers. 

"I'm … Lunaflora," she whispered to herself. "That was my full name but it was too long so I always just introduced myself as Flora … sniff … sniff …," she let out a chuckle while crying.

Finally remembering everything, Lunaflora turned to Ducis. Her eyes spoke to him the many words she couldn't begin to utter at that moment. There were too many things she wanted to say - all coming together at once.

"Ducis ... i-it's me," were the only words she was able to mutter. "I'm back!"

Ducis eyes widened. His hopeful heart returned once more.

"W-w-what did you just say?" Ducis asked, trembling. "You mean ... y-you're really -?"

But he was unable to finish his words. Lunaflora pulled him in close to a deep and longing kiss.

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