The Queen of Elysium

Chapter 15 - Aftermath

Elissa blinks and is greeted by the sight of a cloudless blue sky. The warm pillow shifts beneath her head and her father's face comes into view. Immediately she smiles, then falters noticing the tautness of his face.

Memories of the duel slam into her mind and she gasps, breathless from the shock. Lucifer! Morpheus!

Sitting bolt upright, she instinctively reaches out, her magic stretching out further and further in search of them. She is relieved when she skims over Morpheus, though it concerns her that his power only flickers briefly in response.

When her search of the island finds no trace of Lucifer, she anxiously turns to her father. "Where is Lucifer?"

Aldebaran hangs his head, grief etched into his features. "He has vanished from Elysium."

Staring down at her broken nails, she recalls trying to reach him. "He got, I don't know, sucked into this red orb. Maybe if we can find the orb, we can get him back," she suggests, hanging onto a thread of hope.

Aldebaran crushes that hope with a single shake of his head. Whilst she sometimes clashed with Lucifer and didn't want to be his queen, there is no way that she wanted it to end like this.

She glances up, aware that a third figure has joined them and sees Celestia, all traces of a heartless queen gone and in its place a mother mourning a child taken too soon. The image jabs into Elissa's heart and she can no longer hold back the tears.

Celestia kneels on the grass, mindless of any stains upon her pristine white gown and gently enfolds Elissa in a loving embrace. Rain falls softly down upon them.

"I'm so sorry," Elissa mumbles against folds of silk and relaxes as Celestia strokes her back and kisses her hair.

"You must not blame yourself, Elissa. A soul bond is a sacred union of two souls. Regulus knew this and never should have tried to force it upon one so young. His actions have caused the realm to lose both her king and the Light of Elysium."

"The Light is gone too?" Elissa calls out in alarm, pulling out of the queen's arms.

Celestia wordlessly pulls out a vial containing glittering blue dust and hands it to her. Elissa can't believe that this is all that remains of the mighty Light of Elysium. No! Elysium needs it. Was everything in vain?

"I have failed." She hangs her head in dismay. "I was entrusted to find the Light and instead I had a hand in its destruction."

Celestia puts a finger under Elissa's chin, gently forcing her face up. "The Light was but an object. I would rather place my trust in you. I cannot promise that the path ahead will be easy, but you shall not walk it alone."

Then the usual impervious mask falls into place and Celestia stands, gesturing to Sirius, who is standing a respectful distance away, having cast an invisible arc over them to shelter them from the rain.

He bows his head solemnly in greeting. "Celestia, Elissa, Aldebaran."

"Is the Royal Council of Elysium ready to reconvene?" Celestia enquires.

"We thought it best to sit after lunch and also to use one of the state meeting rooms." Sirius responds, shuddering slightly as his eyes flicker to the building that has seen the end of too many of his family.

As they walk back inside, Celestia casually asks, "How fairs Morpheus?" Although her voice implies indifference, Elissa is sure that, deep down, she cares.

......

The food they insisted she ate sits rather leadenly in Elissa's stomach and she shifts uncomfortably in her chair. The last time she was in this meeting room, she had to break up with Aren. She would really rather not be here, but Celestia insisted that she attended the Royal Council meeting.