Devoured

-Sophie Flamestone-

'What happened to him...he doesn't appear to be injured. Yet his aura and essence seem to have almost vanished, I can't sense them at all.' I thought to myself while looking at ranika, who was sleeping peacefully on a hospital bed. The beeps from the heart monitor were the only sounds you could hear in the room, that is, until gwen began to speak.

"He was found in this state, from the field reports it seems like he had expended all the essence in his body." She said, her face was a mask of guilt, and her voice was audibly trembling.

"It's not your fault gwen, knowing him, he bit off far more than could chew. It's always been a bad habit of his."

"I still sent him out there, sophie...I gave him the order to fight, even after he explained his situation to me..." Her voice was no longer just trembling. She was forcibly holding back sobs now.

"Ra-ra will be okay... he's strong." Olivia chimed in, her own emotions showing through her confident facade.

I know that both of them are trying to be strong for his sake, but they needn't be. Ranika has suffered far worse than this. Hell, I remember how he was after luna had been taken from him. Compared to that day, this is nothing. 'If what happened back then couldn't break him, then this won't either..' I thought to myself.

"Gwen..where is his armor and sword?" I asked after noticing that neither were in the room with us.

"I had them taken to the vault..why do you ask sophie?" Her voice had become more even now, but the tears running down her small cheeks made it apparent that she was still hurting.

"Bring both of them back here immediately, along with the core from the great beast he slayed." I didn't mean to sound so demanding, but now that I knew what state he was in.. I knew that without those three items, all of us were in danger.

"What, why?"

"Just please do it...I'll explain my reasoning in detail later, but we need to leave this room until they are here."

"Um, ok? I'll send the orders now." She was hesitant, but I guess since she trusted him, I was getting a similar respect.

All of us left the small room and waited patiently outside on the uncomfortable benches outside the rooms. As we waited for the soldiers to bring the items in question, It had felt kind of awkward if I was being honest with myself, I hardly knew gwen or olivia, but I find myself trusting them more as each day goes on.

It was only the second day of ranikas' return, and so much has already happened. He's already been pushed this far in such a short amount of time,to the point where his abilities will run wild soon enough if not prevented. All of this makes me fear for the days to come. Pulling myself from my thoughts upon hearing the boots running up the hall, I stood up.

"Captain gwenavere! We have what you requested!" I big man dressed in a green uniform yelled out, a bit too loudly considering where we were.

"Thank you for your haste. You are dismissed." Gwen said, authority evident in her voice. which surprised me considering her fragile emotional state.

"Ok, this next part I should do alone." I said, as I began moving toward the beasts core.

"I'm sorry, sophie, but I'm helping whether you like it or not." Olivia said, her resolve caught me off guard.

"If you are going to insist, I suppose I don't have a choice, but keep what you see happen in this room to yourself. Commander gwenavere, you should check up on tatiana, I'm sure ranika would be distraught if he didn't know her condition when he finally gains consciousness."

"Ok, I'll go check on her, but expect to be informed the moment he wakes."

"Of course." I replied. Seeing her start to walk away, I continued with what I was doing. Picking up midnight and the core I turned to look at olivia, the small girl looked like a stalwart soldier who was given a weapon too big for her. Eclipse was sitting awkwardly on her shoulder before something else decided to catch me off guard.

"P-put m-m-me down! O-only ranika c-can h-hold me!" A broken yet angelic voice yelled, making olivia and I jump in suprise.

"Eclipse....I didn't know you could speak with others. I promise you this is only temporary. We are taking you to him right now." I said, my tone coming across as soft and comforting.

"Please miss sword..ra-ra needs all of us right now.." Olivia followed up, trying her best as well to calm the mysterious sword.

"..."

The silence was my que to move forward with my plan, I ushered for olivia to go in the room first with me following closely behind. Once I had the door closed behind me, I got started right away. This wasn't my first time dealing with this, so by now, I was efficient in it.

I placed the small black orb that was wrapped in a lavender colored cloth on his left palm, then I removed the small piece of fabric, letting midnight do its thing. 'I swear, every time I see this, it freaks me out.' I thought while watching the small orb reach out with black tendrils and climb up his entire arm, stopping at his shoulder.

"Olivia, place the sword in his other hand, okay?" I said, with a silent nod olivia did as I asked. After Eclipse came in contact with ranikas skin, everything was ready.

"Olivia, you may want to avert your eyes for this part." I warned.

"No, I'll be okay.." She replied. She was hesitant but obviously trying to put on a brave face.

Nodding at her, I started, I cut the hospital gown on ranika to reveal his bare chest. The criss crossing scars that littered it made me unconsciously flinch, 'I'm sorry ra-ra... but I'll be adding another... forgive me.' I thought to myself as a glowing blade of my fire aura formed around my index finger.

Positioning the fiery blade over the largest scar on his chest, I applied pressure. The results were immediate. The small blade cut through skin and bone with precision while also cauterizing the wound in the process. This helped keep him from bleeding out during this process, one of the main reasons he taught this to me.

"Olivia, this next part, I will need your help. Can you hold the beasts core for me for a moment?" I asked, not looking away from the hole that I just put in his chest.

"Uh....yes. of course, sophie.." She trailed off, approaching the other side of the bed she hovered over ranika, her eyes glued to the wound I inflicted. Not bothering to explain, I handed her the core without looking up, and then I began the part that sent chills down my spine.

Reaching into his chest, I started to feel around for his other cores. The sense of his beating heart against my hand was surreal and disturbing. Its rhythmic beat soothed my nerves while at the same time made me fully aware of how fragile he was in this state. Reaching behind the heart, I located the cores, all five of them, "Ok, olivia, hand it to me now."

"Right, of course.." She responded, her tone let me know she wasn't happy with what I was doing to her new master.

After she gently placed the core in my opposite hand, I placed that one in his chest as well. Going solely based off of feeling I placed the core next to the others with a gingerly touch. Then, pulling my hands out, I looked at olivia.

"Your aura is plant based, correct?" I asked the fragile looking girl.

"Uh yes! But why do you want to know..?" She replied, a questioning look painted on her face.

"I need you to use vines and roots to assist in closing his wound. Can you do that for me?"

"I-i can try.."

Activating her aura, the room was illuminated with a green ambient light, and her single emerald eye began to shine like a true gem under sunlight. With her eyes in an utter focus, vines and thick roots began to form out of both her hands. The roots entered the wound first. It was fascinating to watch as they took the shape of his ribs and sternum, essentially replacing them.

After she was done with the bones she started on the skin, the vines coming from her hands shrunk to the size of a sewing thread. Then she begrudgingly started to stab the threadlike vine in and out of his skin, over and over again, until the gaping wound looked like it was hand stitched together by a professional. The green vines were beautiful when paired with his pale and scarred skin.

"T-there...all d-done.." She gasped out, the procedure obviously took its toll on her. It was made apparent that she wasn't accustomed to using her aura for even short durations.

"Thank you, olivia, now this next part... you may want to take a step back for." I replied, I tried my best to sound confident in the work we've done, but this next step is the scary part. Pouring a bottle of greater essence into his mouth, I held my breath. It didn't take as long as the last time this happened, but the results were far more intense.

"Woosh,"

A wave of pure killing intent and power washed over the entire room, making me and olivia bow down to our knees on instinct. The pressure was so great that the window situated inside of the metal door to the room began to crack and break.

Then his auras were let loose, a myriad of colors began to emanate off of him, you could see a black as dark as a moonless night sky, then following thay was a beautiful and vibrant green that shone as brightly as olivias eye. The colors just kept coming like a rainbow in the form of a wave, it was the pure white that seemed to catch my eye though, it seemed to be trying to drown the black with all of its might, the other colors appeared to be attempting the same.

'Midnight... he's trying to take over ranika, just as he had done in the past. This is why I call him a thing... he's more akin to a monster than a man.' I thought to myself, it was clear that the black would soon fade. However, just like the last time this happened, a core would be devoured by midnights overwhelming strength again. 'Hopefully, it's the core of the abyss creature..'

Watching the battle between the cores was an odd experience every time I witnessed it. There was no physical carnage as with normal battles. Instead, it was just shockwaves of pressure each time they clashed. It wasn't until I saw the white and green aura that both attacked simultaneously that I realized who they actually were. Barely visible were to hazy figures that appeared to be women, and both of them hovered in front of ranikas body protectively, as if guarding him and not their own cores.

"It's luna and his mother..." I whispered, the realization dawning on me like a bucket of ice cold water.

The fight between the auras raged on for what seemed like hours, but eventually, it died out just as suddenly as it had started. The room had become a mess with equipment and tools thrown everywhere. Olivia and I were still prostrated on the ground infront of the bed not willing to move just yet, then a voice spoke out, it was angelic and beautiful, but it also had a motherly tone to it.

"Thank you, sophie flamestone, or should I call you the core-keeper? Regardless, you have helped my boy a great deal in recent years, and I appreciate it. However, keep vigilant the true enemies are closer than you think." With that warning, all the pressure in the room dissipated, leaving me feeling hollow and cold.

'How did she know my true purpose...' I thought my own train of thoughts were quickly interrupted, however.

"What did that voice mean when it called you the core-keeper?" Olivia asked. Her tone was cold.

"That's...it's a conversation for another time olivia..I promise I'll tell you, but not here." I replied.

"I'd like to hear about this as well." A familiar baritone that I knew all to well said, the words that were spoke had ice and venom laced in between them, making me freeze on the spot.

"Ra-ra....I can explain.. but can we do it at home..?" I managed to stutter out meakly.

Without warning, or even the slightest motion, he was standing in front of me. He had moved too fast for my eyes to follow, and this filled me with fear and awe. 'I can't remember the last time he showed this kind of presence or speed...'

"Then let's get moving. I'd like an explanation immediately, so stand up. The both of you." His words were akin to commands from a deity, making me move on instinct or was it fear? Right now, I couldn't tell which, so I just began moving hastily.

Olivia followed suit. Her composure and movement were completely opposite of mine, though. She looked at him with a newfound reverence instead of fear or instinct, almost like he truly was her deity. I didn't like that look one bit, I had read about the people that once held it, and now they are all dead or cursed, betrayed by the gods they had worshipped.

Before we managed to leave the hospital a couple things had happened, first was gwenavere, she caught us near the exit and almost had a stroke at the sight of ranika walking so soon so she had insisted on coming with.

The second was eclipse. The sword had somehow gotten stronger and was now able to speak in less broken sentences. Then there was tatiana, I don't know how the stalwart woman was up and moving already, but she was now following us as well.

'Let's hope he doesn't get too angry about the truth...'