The fog of sleep slowly crept out of my mind. My senses slowly returned to me, one at a time. It was strange, for a moment all I was able to do was smell. And boy did it smell. Okay, mom was right, I need to clean my room. God does it smell. Suddenly, morning taste assaulted my tongue. Christ. I have to brush NOW.
Next was touch. My bed was hard, not to mention cold. It didn't feel comfortable, far from it. Hell, it was harder than the carpeted floors I had had to sleep on before. I also felt something on my head. It was held snuggly on my hair. When i moved my head, it stayed on.
Finally sight and hearing were restored. Before opening my eyes, I was able to hear the faint running of water. Someone must be running a bath, or a shower. Then I heard other people muttering away as if alone.
Everything was different then when I had fallen asleep. Green and grey wall surrounded me in a small area."The hell?" my vision failed to clear up, so I searched for my glasses. They were on the floor, no ground, next to me. I grabbed them and put them on. "Wait, this isn't my room. And these aren't my clothes!" I shouted, my throat dry, as I looked at my clothes. I hadn't played the game Dark Souls super recently, but I quickly recognized where I was, as well as what these robes meant. I must be a sorcerer, based on the stupid hat I felt on my head along with the thin, light robes, boots and gauntlets, or rather gloves. Well, fuck me. My lucky fucking day to wake up here. Hard enough going through with hours of grinding… or I could recruit me some help. Yes as long as I can save Oscar I should be golden. I'll continue from there, I thought. Might as well change things up for the better. If I'm actually here the characters must be real. Better be careful.
Where's Oscar anyway? As if the thought warranted him to appear, I heard a noise up above. A corpse slammed on the ground on the cold, moldy floor- er ground – in front of me. And there he was my literal knight in shining armor. I took the quick second to yell, "Demon on the roof, run man run!"
He looked up and he must have seen it, as he bolted. I heard his heavy footfalls on the roof, as well as the wail of the demon, signifying it's chase as it covered the sunlight for a quick second, before it tried to close in on the knight.
Now for the corpse. It was cold and had the key to my escape, literally. Before even placing my hand within a foot of the body a soft feeling enveloped my chest then head. This feeling pulled my eyes to the body. Letting my hands find their target, I recovered a key and a ring. I put the ring on my left ring finger and felt nothing physically change. Just by looking at it I could tell it wasn't the life ring. Well that leaves the witch's ring. Good I get to talk to the pale lady. I wonder if Kellogg, in her cave of Corn Flakes, will listen to me now that this isn't a game. I thought recalling a fanfiction I had read earlier in the year. Oh well, it's not like I want to go all Shepard on her anyways. Why can't this be 2, oh the things I would do to be in the same room as any of those girls, of some of the ones in 3. Well I wonder if Priscilla will let me fondle her tail… better get going.
My body begrudgingly lifted itself off of the floor. I went up to the door and fit the key into the lock. It opened with a creak, then broke off of the rusted hinges. Sighing and walking over it I moved on wadding through the ankle deep water. I walked past everything set on my destination. Up the ladder he went arriving at the first bonfire. I extended my hand to the flameless bones. The small pile of bones sparked to life. I lowered myself to the ground in front of it. It felt pleasant, ridding me of all pains. I looked at my bag now situated on my lap. I opened it, peering inside, and found nothing but a sword's handle. Good, I didn't want any starting gear anyway.
Seeing that I had to continue, I pulled myself away from the bonfire. There were those doors, they looked heavy, and in the real world I was pretty weak and even if in a fictional world I doubt I was much stronger. It was a pleasant surprise when I pushed as hard as I could and the doors were surprisingly light. As soon as they were fully open, I looked for that demon, that was no longer there. Huh. Well it's best not to look a gift horse in the mouth. I thought as I all but ran to the door I knew was on the left wall. The gate slammed down behind me.
Once through I lit the bonfire, but kept moving. I arrived at the room with a corpse holding a shield. I dove into the room before the archer hollow at the far end. I looked at the corpse, silently thanking him for the shield as I pried it from his, or her, cold, dead hands. Putting it onto my left hand, I exited the room, lifting the shield and charging into the hollow. As soon as I neared, it bolted to me left and up the stairs I couldn't see. I stopped to grab a dinky dagger. I ran after it brandishing my new weapon. Luckily I caught it as it's back was turned, backstabbing it. By the looks of it, this body of mine had the muscle memory of someone of this actual god forsaken hell. Good, maybe I won't die too much.
With that done, I went up to the wall of white fog. I pressed myself up against it as it slowly dissolved at my touch. In front of me was… the room Oscar was supposed to be in. Oh well I had been planning on changing things anyway. Still, where could he be?
And then it hit me. Not a realization or anything, but a person, in heavy armor. Oscar had sailed through the air and landed on me turning us into a mess of limbs. Our weapons landing on the ground, a few feet away from either of us.
"Fuck!" I all but screamed in pain. The knight of Astora just gasped at the sudden situation. He seemd alright, his armor was in good condition, and his soul felt strong. I removed myself from him, pushing his heavy body off of me, feeling a little more than winded. My chest ached as I bent over him and offered a hand.
"Hello my good sir, it seems as if we are in a fine pickle. Well that's beside the point. I recognise your armor as that of an elite Astoran knight. I, myself, am Daniel of… Melfia. A small country out in the middle of nowhere, where a new school of magic has started." I added as I saw the utter confusion on his face. That was the equivalent to the dragon school in Dark Souls 2 right? Hopefully he believed my story and wouldn't question it. I grabbed his holy sword and handed it to him. I crouched down to get my dagger, slipping it into a small sheath as Oscar put his sword in its scabbard.
"We should rest at the bonfire." I suggested, pointing over the short railing to the small fire. With a nod he led me, with a slight limp, towards the stairwell, taking the right path down as a bolder rolled over the spot we were at, just seconds before. As he looked back, I urged him forward and to ignore it for now. He begrudgingly continued. He pulled out a key ring and opened the previously locked door.
"Nice to meet you, sorcerer Daniel, you are correct about my homeland." Oscar started as we sat at the bonfire. I felt so much better just sitting there. My soul and body were rejuvenated.
"I am Oscar, elite knight of Astora." He continued, as he took out his flask to fill it with Estus. It had been empty. "I'm glad you are sane. I'm in your debt for the save back there. I had thought that the foul demon would have stayed within the confines of this forsaken asylum."
As he was about to speak again, the giant demon he spoke of flew over us on its tiny wings, stopping to growl at us, and made a bee line for the boss room. There was a loud slam as it landed on the ground floor in there. Good, now we can plunge attack it.
"Can you fight Daniel?" Oscar asked as he walked toward the massive doors. "Yeah, but that door is locked by some form of magic," I said as he struggled to open the massive doors. "We'll need to find a way around. And please, call me Dan."
"Well lucky for us there is a way around. Follow me, Dan" Oscar stood and led me back to the door he had recently opened. "We need just walk up these stairs and reach the ramparts. We'll have to see if that path leads anywhere." He led me up the first flight of stairs. Stopping to let the giant bolder slide down the stairs. Once it passed Oscar took point, his sword drawn, ready to cut down anyone in our way. Easily felling the simple hollow, we passed through the door, after Oscar unlocked it.
"Say, if you don't mind me asking, where'd you get that keyring?" I inquired, eyeing the aforementioned keyring. "Oh, these? I found them on a hollow, likely the hollow of the warden. I had to find your key to be able to free you. Luckily the locks were all the same." He shared. "Let's keep moving."
A little farther ahead I saw another corpse, this one holding a stave. As with the shield, I quickly and quietly thanked the poor undead for the staff and took it. Before I could celebrate being able to cast magic, the sound of a couple of hollows filled the air.
Oscar acted quickly, slaying the hollows in one fell swoop. His sword was strong, as was he. I was glad I had him helping me. Before I could thank him, my soul was drawn to something, a second later I found that it had been an Estus flask on the body of one of the hollows.
"Thank… the gods!" I hesitated as to not offend the knight who could cut me in half and not break a sweat. "My own Estus flask! Good, we'll need it!" After the small distraction, we continued to push forward. Oscar barely blocked an arrow before it went through his head. "Let me get him," I said raising my staff, calling a small soul arrow forth. It was strong enough to kill the hollow, hitting it's head, blowing it clear off. The use of magic was weird. I felt a little tired, not physically, but mentally.
There it was, a fog gate, signifying either a new area, or a boss. But this was no new area. "This looks like it will be the way in, but we are on the second floor. How will we get down?" Oscar asked. "I was in there earlier, when you were fighting it, and there appeared to have been a small platform, right above the door to our freedom. And by the sound of it, the demon as well. You should enter first, plunge attack if possible and then go on the defensive, while I shoot it from up here. Worst case scenario, it comes at me, I'll just plunge at it with my dagger. So, we good to go?" I asked Oscar, as I readied my dagger in my right hand and my staff in my left. Oscar just nodded as he walked up to the fog, slowly being consumed by it.
Right after he entered I heard a horrifying scream, understanding that the plunge had worked. Good, now its show time. I steeled myself as I pushed the fog around me. The path was small and up high. Great my fear of heights has returned. I thought as I started casting silent spells. As soon as the first one hit, the asylum demon turned to look at me. The next ones hit him strait in the face.
Suffice to say he didn't look very happy. As he neared, I two handed my dagger. It was directly below be and started rising when I finally jumped. I sailed through the air for a single second, my short blade met the skull of the demon.
To add excruciating pain to injury, I twisted the dagger, I grabbed one of its horns, ripped out my blade and stabbed its eyes. The demon struggled to keep its body airborne. Finally, it hit the ground, still alive, but very hurt. "Finish it! Go for the throat!" I screamed at the Astoran knight, as I pulled my dagger out of the demons bloody eye sockets.
Oscar two handed his sword and cleaved the monster's head off as my feet touched the floor. The body of the asylum demon dissolved away into souls that split and went to Oscar and I in an equal amount. It felt like a large amount compared to what the little hollows had dropped.
As the last of the body disappeared, a key appeared on the ground. I picked it up and unlocked the door.
We silently made our way up to the cliff.
"Where do we go. The prophecy said nothing of how to make it to Lordran. Do you know, Dan?" Oscar sounded very confused about how to leave.
"We may be here a while," I responded, as I sat down, patting the ground next to me to tell the knight to sit next to me. " It's good, because I need to tell you something." Oscar sat and took his helm off, showing me his longish, curly blond hair and blue eyes. He looked young, likely in his early 20s. "I am not of this world." I didn't pause as I continued. "You may not believe it, but I was born in a different, not Melfia, that land does not yet exist. No, I am from another reality where we had no lords, no magic, no hollows, just good old human ingenuity. Eventually we created an interactive for of media. This media went over many stories, including this one. I have a knowledge of most things that will occur in our little adventure. It's why I knew the demon was on the roof. It's why I knew the plunging would work. I'm not asking you to believe me, but just listen to what I say, as it could save your life." I waited for him to say something, but he was busy contemplating.
Finally he asked, "Was I supposed to die here?" he asked quietly. "Yes," I said unable to lie to him. "Then I owe you my life." He finished quietly. Really? Just like that? Well we did never see his real personality in the 5 lines he spoke… well I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. "I'm glad you understand. We should keep this to ourselves, as servants of the gods would kill us for 'blasphemy'," I air quoted. "Good. The way we leave is via giant crow. It seems the lady of sin favors undead heroes. It is usually one, but it may be two. Anyway we should go stand by the cliff." I finished, standing up. "At Firelink shrine, we will meet three people, a fire keeper, she has been through a lot and is locked in the face of the cliff, there is a depressing undead warrior who hasn't given his name, and a cleric by the name Petrus. He's an asshole to say the least." As soon as we neared the top of the cliff, two giant ravens wrapped their talons around our arms and lifted us out of the asylum. The fear slowly left me around the time I began to see the faint glow of Firelink in the dark of Lordran. It seemed as if time was not stuck as it was previously in the game.