In a Kingdom Where Only I am Erased

Chapter 2

"Sire! The people are rallying at the door! They want the help of our royal pharmacists!" Maurice, the plump duke from before, came rushing to his majesty's office. He was bathing in his own sweat after running across the overly vast hallways in the palace just to reach the extravagant room King Elias is residing in, it was painfully obvious that he wasn't used to doing any running.

King Elias was unfazed and only looked up from his oak wood desk just to sneer at Maurice's disgusting and clammy appearance. "I am well aware of the epidemic, Maurice." He said nonchalantly before mustering up enough of his anger to his next remark. "I just do not fathom how on earth has those commoners even managed to enter my palace, what are my knights doing?"

Maurice flinched and avoided Elias' piercing gaze, clearing his throat as if preparing to drop unsavory information. "Those aren't commoners, your majesty." He uttered quietly.

"Then who are those barbaric people as if they're not educated?!" Elias fumed, slamming his desk with a closed fist. He is clearly bothered by the news since he dislikes people soiling his majestic grounds.

"They are nobles." Maurice deadpanned.

Elias stopped for a moment, processing the information he received from his trustworthy duke. "Why on earth are they acting like animals then?" He leaned back on his cushioned chair, clasping both his hands together.

"Sire, the epidemic has been rampant for the past few days. We haven't even heard any news from the lower classes. It seemed that the commoners are doing far worse than those nobles outside. They were asking for our royal doctors to help them." Maurice kept sweating since every word he says makes the king's expression look grimmer and enraged.

"I thought I would be delighted if those foolish commoners would die, but if that happens who will fulfill the duties of paying taxes? Those nobles are far too clever to see through my unnecessary increase in tax." Elias contemplated all the while standing up from his seat and pacing furiously around the room.

"What should we do, your majesty?" Maurice pushed on since Elias was too preoccupied, "Sire, I advise you to lock down the palace to ensure you and your son's safety. We have to wait out this epidemic, it will die out soon enough."

The king's eyes lit up as if realizing it, "You are absolutely right, Maurice." He remarked as he approaches him, he was about to pat both his shoulders but didn't after noticing the duke's sweaty clothes. "Tell this to all of the royal doctors, confirm anyone who is ill and send them away. Leave the servants who can still do their work. Close all gates and don't let anyone in, even nobles but don't treat them too harsh as to not raise a rebellion from them, just say that we are also infected."

Maurice smirked in contentment as he finally ensured his safety from the illness before rushing out of the door. He wasted no time telling everyone the king's orders and soon, everything was shut off from the outside world. The servants who wanted to go home to their families were not allowed to leave and those who need help from the talented doctors inside the palace can't come in.

The thick walls surrounding the palace, built to keep the commoners out, finally served its purpose. King Elias stayed in the comfort of his chambers all the while ignoring the cries of his forsaken people.

Meanwhile, in the part of the kingdom where mostly commoners live, people were suffering and no one was coming to help them. Even the knights who were supposed to be guarding the borders retreated inside the safe walls of the king's palace leaving them vulnerable to possible invasions from other kingdoms.

"The king is so selfish." Serafina heard from the townspeople standing idly at the deserted sidewalk since they really have no other choice but to accept their inevitable death especially when none of the doctors are appearing to help, believing that direct contact with an ill person would cause immediate infection. 

The illness appeared out of nowhere, none of the doctors could figure out the cause and its origins so they were having a hard time figuring out a cure. None of the officials was even doing anything to help the citizens believing that they are just a waste of time, so there they were, slowly dying in the hands of an incompetent regime. If someone is infected, they'll bleed out. Through coughing or through their nose, until not a single drop of blood is left inside their body. As appalling as it sounds, many of the citizens already claimed their early death since they couldn't stop from bleeding.

Serafina was visibly distressed as she was obliged to do something at the temple, striding through the somewhat empty and bloodied streets. She cast her eyes around her to see tightly bolted windows and doors of each house, the people who weren't infected were trying to isolate themselves from the rest as if those wooden doors and broken windows would do any good.

She finally arrived at the also deserted run down temple located at the edge of the capital. When she entered through the huge creaky door, she had only to pause for a moment while adoring the once vibrant church with crystalized windows before she had all the details clearly in mind about her errand there. Sera walked the floor with deep attention at the end of the aisle, particularly at the marvelous statue placed at the center which is of their forgotten Goddess Aeris who shone upon Sera, beautiful as none can ever be. Years ago, people abandoned this temple but Sera was too young at the time to know anything about its horrific history. Some say that because of that incident, the goddess cursed this land to become barren so no matter what the rulers do to make their kingdom flourish, it will only be a fruitless endeavor.

 As soon as she was inches apart from the fading statue, she roughly dropped to his knees and tightly clasped her hands together, bowing her head down like she's desperate for something.

"Please. . ." She mumbled, tears forming in her firmly closed eyes hoping for divine intervention from the neglected Goddess. "Please save us. . ."

When Serafina felt that Goddess Aeris did not heed her prayers, she stood up and laid her hands upon the statue and grasped it; tightly too. She looked at the motionless image of the Goddess before crying on her own.

"Sera!" Maeri's voice reverberated from behind, startling Sera. She immediately turned around to stop Maeri who was sprinting towards her direction, her small footsteps echoing all over the empty church.

"Stop!" She desperately gestured her hands to the little child who seemed nonchalant about the current epidemic.

"What's the matter?" asked the little Maeri, tilting her head to the side as if scanning Sera's figure to see the usual. Platinum gold hair, red eyes, and her slim figure adorned with her familiar white day dress. 

"I-I have something else to do, go back to the orphanage, it's dangerous to be out here." Sera frantically uttered all the while stepping away from the oblivious Maeri before hitting her back against the statue. She suddenly felt nauseous but remained standing firmly.

"But everyone in the orphanage are-" Maeri walked but was interrupted by a frustrated Sera, now fiercely shouting at her.

"Just get away from me!" 

Maerie finally stopped, certain that there is something wrong with Sera since she never raises her voice to anyone nor acts distressed. Using the advantage of this close proximity from Sera, Maeri looked closely at her and it was only then that she noticed her condition. Serafina is also infected by the mysterious disease and not a moment too soon, she began coughing out blood.

"Sera!" Maeri refused to follow Sera's desperate plead and rushed to her side, letting her sit down beside the statue to rest.

"Why did you-" Sera weakly asked, her eyelids slowly draping from the unimaginable amount of exhaustion she's feeling after losing too much blood for the past couple of days.

"It's alright," Maeri smiled toothily as blood came streaming down from her small nose. Sera became all at once horribly shocked and despaired, such a cruel thing to happen to a small child she cannot understand.

Serafina feebly caressed Maeri's cheeks to wipe away the dirt on it, thinking that she must have desperately run and fallen numerous times to get to the temple. "What is it with you and your constant clumsiness?" she snickered but Maeri's smile vanished and turned into a grim expression as if remembering something important.

"I was running away," She answered miserably, through her eyes it was obvious that she had just witnessed something terrible. 

Sera noticed the change in her demeanor although she herself was too weak to notice any change in their surroundings, she has been hearing loud uproars from outside but was too preoccupied on Maeri.

"The king made a cruel judgment. All the knights are ordered to execute those who are infected as to not continue the spread of the disease." Maeri sobbed in between each word she says but Serafina was able to understand every bit of her sentence that moved her to rage almost beyond her control. 

"Then everyone at the orphanage?" 

"They were all killed,"

Serafina's anger only came to a halt when the door of the temple flung open and in came 6 knights who noticed their presence underneath the statue of Aeris. They immediately strode the aisle in a sudden access of their sharp swords.

"N-no! Serafina!" Maeri screamed as she was violently pulled up from the ground by one of the knights, Serafina tried to stop them with her flimsy arms but couldn't do a thing with her current condition as well as having 4 swords pointed at her neck.

"Stop, stop this!" Serafina managed to scream in pain and anger but the unbothered knights spared no second in thrusting their sword through the body of a 5 year old Maeri. All the life in her eyes was drained and when she finally stopped from writhing, her body was roughly thrown on the floor as if she was nothing but a rag doll.

"No!" Sera cried, dampening her bloody cheeks. She squirmed to Maeri's direction and the knights watched her while laughing, finding amusement in her greatest peril.

"Kill her before she spreads the illness," one of them remarked but another one thought of a better idea.

"She wants to spend more time with her little friend so let's just stab her limbs, she'll die soon anyway so let it be a slow painful death." They all snickered at the idea and began to execute their plan since they have nothing else to do now that they almost halved the town's population. 

Serafina realized that she could do nothing more about her fate as she crawled towards Maeri, sobbing in pain while coughing out blood. She soon felt a piercing stab on her legs that caused her to scream in terrible anguish.

"Please, have mercy!" She pleaded but the knights were far too amused in their small act of fun and continued to stab another long silver spear to her other leg, they stabbed it too hard that it penetrated through the floor. Once again Sera screamed in pain but none came to her rescue, even the Goddess who loomed over her, staring down at her as if watching everything with satisfaction.

When even her arms were stabbed to the ground and she couldn't move an inch anymore, the knights left and mounted their horses before riding away to continue their execution. Serafina looked on at Maeri's corpse just a foot away from her, she felt miserable as she couldn't even hug her with the spears pinning her to the ground.

"Maeri. . ." She uttered, her vision was slowly disappearing and an overwhelming darkness slowly consumed her. 

-

"You are finally here, my dear child."

A soothing voice echoed, causing Serafina to flutter her eyes open in confusion to find herself floating in mid air. She was certain that she had just faced a brutal death but instead was hearing a warm voice and suddenly acquired the ability to float in a place that looked too complex to describe, it was more like being in the middle of the universe with brilliant golden lights enamoring the whole place.

"Where am I?" She asked particularly no one as it appears that it was on her own with not a single person in sight but as soon as she asked that, a woman suddenly materialized in front of her. A beauty like nothing she has ever seen before, not even the pampered empress can even rival with her magnificence.

"Serafina," The woman smiled thinly as she takes a lock of Sera's gold hair that startled the young lass to receive such comforting sensation from a strange woman. 

"Wh-what? Who are you?" Sera cast her glum eyes on the hovering woman adorned with marvelous clothing and on closer look looked exactly like the statue inside the temple.

"I am the one deigned to intervene in your greatest peril," Her hands began glowing, thousands of tiny lights began to materialize in front of her before passing it to Serafina's body that caused her to glow as well. 

"What are you doing to me?" asked the confused girl, writhing away from the unfamiliar lights yet found herself being drawn to it.

"What? What's happening to me?" Serafina's body felt light and heavy at the same time as if her body was being replaced with a new one through the help of those bright golden lights that the woman inserted in her.

"My child, I pity you. So I will bestow upon you a gift that will rival those in power."

Those words were what Serafina heard before the place she was at suddenly melted away and before she knows it, she was back in the kingdom specifically just across the abandoned temple. She found herself faced to face with a fuming knight with his sword pointed at her.

"Wh-what?" Sera uttered in confusion as she looked around, the kids in the orphanage, as well as Maeri, were hiding in fear behind her as the knight was about to strike her down in one blow.

"Attacking someone without a weapon and what's worse is just a child, how pathetic." The king's voice sounded out from the carriage that stopped the knight from attacking. "Don't waste my time, fool." 

"This is. . . " Sera stood frozen and looked on at the carriage as their expedition continued, when she met the prince's soft gaze as the carriage passed by and how Maeri and the other kids were groveling in fear behind her, it was only then that the realization dawned upon her.

She was back in time.