The King's Beloved

" ~ Hosanna, Hosanna

Hosanna in the Highest

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Hosanna, Hosanna

Hosanna in the Highest ~"

As if the heavens came down, the Temple of Guardians reverberated with the angelic voice of the Oracle, singing her praises to the Supreme.

With no statues, or relics to worship, the priests and priestesses from the Sortis clan gathered in their usual morning assembly to give thanks to the Most High.

Selena could easily be found in the crowd since her purple hair stood out. She sat beside Clavis and Mitis.

As if seeing an Unseen Being, they all worshipped with their hearts and souls.

When the song ended, the Oracle led them in a solemn prayer. And the assembly continued on for a whole hour.

After it ended, everyone went back to their homes and went on to their usual daily routine. The Oracle was left in her room to offer a dedicated prayer.

"My Lord," Illumináire started her prayer with a deep sigh.

Her bowed head, lifted up and gazed at the skies. She barely uttered a word, but her eyes already began to weep.

"My Lord … my heart aches for our world.

Daily … daily I feel each passing soul.

And my heart breaks as Yours breaks,

When one of your beloved children,

Returns to the world.

Truly, they returned to You …

And there is no greater comfort than to be with You.

Yet my heart aches - that the reason -

Sniff … sniff …

- The reason of their deaths was rooted

From our own selfishness.

If only we have learned to be contented,

If only we have learned not to greed,

If only we have not coveted what is not ours,

If only we have followed Your chosen king,

None of this would have happened.

And now we burden other worlds,

Not even begging for them to share their abundance,

But plundering, stealing,

And even resorting to killing the innocent!"

The Oracle trembled, and her knees began to wobble until she knelt down and laid her hands on the ground to support her body. She weeped miserably. Her tears won\'t stop from falling.

"I … I still remember the day we came to this planet.

How I have seen the slaughter of thousands,

Yet do nothing to stop it!

For they were meant to happen.

How I\'ve closed my eyes,

Only to hear their cries.

How I had to separate a woman from her lover,

How I could not heal the wounded,

How I could not stop my brethren from their merciless killing,

Because she had to see …

Her heart needed to be shattered …

For her to rise up and be strong …

For she was your chosen …

In our evil, we cursed ourselves,

In her kindness, she offered herself.

In order to save us, she had to be broken,

In order to free us, they had to be imprisoned.

My Lord! I do not want this kind of salvation!

I do not desire freedom in the expense of others!

I do not desire for anyone to suffer!

Please, is there no other way than this?"

Hours passed as Illumináire continued to weep. Her eyes got redder and redder by each passing minute until her strength left her and she fell asleep in front of the pool in the Oracle\'s prayer room.

In her sleep, Illumináire dreamt of the two moons and the sun once again. But this time, it was longer.

As the sun began to rise, the darkness of the skies lightened.

When its light peeked against the earth, the skies blushed in dawn.

But the sun had trouble rising - a barrier blocked its path.

Yes, the sun was sheltered in a barrier made of glass.

Then a maiden in white appeared and broke the glass.

Finally, the sun slowly rose from its slumber,

As it rose, it brightened the whole world,

Until the darkness in the sky was no more.

And the maiden smiled,

As her body was engulfed in the light.

Illumináire gasped as she suddenly awoke from her dreams.

"The sun … was indeed salvation!!" she blurted out in her joy. "But … it was not her. Instead, she got engulfed in the light. Does this mean … she\'ll disappear? Or return to her planet? But the prophecy said … \'a maiden that is not one of us, will save us\' …". Illumináire continued to ponder over her own dream.

Then she gasped again, but this time in great horror. "Unless …"

With trembling hands once more, she conjured a trident out of the waters from the pool. She mustered up all of her strength and stood up again. Releasing holy magic from her trident, she summoned her brother upon her call.

"Clavis!"

And so, a bright light came from the trident and Clavis appeared from thin air, in front of his sister.

Seeing the reddened eyes of his sister, Clavis got worried.

"What happened?"

Without words coming from her mouth and only a simple nod to welcome her brother, Illumináire walked straight towards the pool, removed her shoes and stepped on the water. She showed her dream to her brother.

Clavis observed quietly as he saw the same thing regarding the two moons and the sun. Then his eyes widened upon seeing the continuation of the dream. After a few moments, the dream ended and Clavis was shut silent.

"Did the Supreme tell you anything?" Illumináire asked her brother.

"One thing - I know who the sun is," he answered with great confidence. "And you know him as well - since we\'re the only ones who know about him".

Illumináire\'s eyes widened in disbelief. "Then that means -"

"Yes," Clavis nodded and smiled.

Illumináire began crying again, with a gentle smile on her face. Clavis patted her and tried to calm her down.

After a few minutes, she raised her head and asked again, "Tell me … the last part of my dream - the kind maiden was engulfed in the light - what does it mean?"

Clavis gulped and breathed heavily before he answered.

As his lips uttered the words, Illumináire dropped on her knees again.