Kwai kwai nidobak! In case any of you were wondering, that means "hello, friends" in the Abenaki language; my native language. As you readers could probably guess, this story is a crossover between the Hobbit movies/book and Demon's Souls. I've wanted to write this story since I watched The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Whether you're here because this involves the Hobbit or Demon's Souls, I will do my best to appease both crowds and I'll make sure to explain the lore of both series. Also, this story WILL include spoilers to both Demon's Souls and the Hobbit. I figured that it would be best to mention that. This story takes place about halfway through the Hobbit and after twelve demons have been slain in Demon's Souls, including the infamous tutorial boss that usually kills players in one hit. Now then, remember to leave a review or send me a PM!
Chapter 1: Of Demons and Hobbits
On the first day
man was granted a soul.
And with it, clarity.
On the second day
upon Earth was planted
an irrevocable poison.
A soul-devouring demon…
- Demon's Souls
There was not an inch of sunlight that peered into the lonely Nexus and the only thing that supplied the hidden temple with light was candles. Time was meaningless in this place and it provided a place of safety for those who had nowhere else to go. The stone floors and walls protected the new residents from the Demons of the colorless fog. And the wandering Maiden in Black that kept the candles lit brought both a sense of peace and dread to the few people staying within the Nexus.
A few people could be seen scattered throughout the Nexus. On one side of the Nexus, the priests of God could be seen praying while on the other side of the large room, the magicians studied the Soul Arts. There was also a blacksmith and a man with large storage bags around him in the center of the room. A little ways away from the two rather ordinary men, a circular opening in the floor could be seen, but a magical barrier with gold symbols covered the opening, which functioned as a floor.
A set of stairs circled around the magical floor in a set of two. The set of stairs closer to the magical floor led to six rectangular stones that were almost twice as tall as the average man, but one of them was shattered to pieces. The second set of stairs led to a much higher section of the Nexus, the home of the legendary Monumental.
The five stone structures around the first section of stairs were created from magic and they each had a different image carved into them. In order from left to right, the images were a king with a golden crown, a bald king with a long beard, a wise looking queen, a shadowed man with a circular shaped hat, and a chieftain wearing some kind of bird mask. These five structures were known as the Archstones and they allowed people to quickly travel to different lands within the world just by touching the stones' surface.
In front of the Archstone of the bearded king, a greenish blue colored mist appeared in the shape of a human body. Soon a human man materialized in front of the stone structure and he took a step forward, his steel armor clanking with each movement. He was completely encased in the fluted armor, which protected him greatly from the blunt of physical attacks. The only organic parts of his that could be seen was his eyes and a little bit of his nose at a certain angle within his helmet's eye slits. His eyes appeared to be dark brown, which looked black from a distance. This man was a knight who, judging by his armor; was from the land of Latria, just south of the Kingdom of Boletaria.
In the knight's rightt hand, he was holding a Knight's Sword. The blade was straight and as sharp as a razor, yet thick enough to hit its mark quite a few times without dulling. He was also carrying a Dark Silver Shield in his left hand. The shield was shaped somewhat like a kite and there were markings all over its surface. It also held a slight golden aura around the knight, which protected him from magic. On his back, a large Bastard Sword with a red handle was safely secured to a leather sheath strapped to the back of his armor. A talisman of beasts was also strapped to his belt, which allowed him to caste spells of the Souls Arts and Miracles of God. On the other side of his belt, an Augite of Souls could be seen, which glowed brightly and supplied a source of light. This eliminated the need for a torch.
The armored man sheathed his Knight Sword as he made his way down the stairs around the Archstones and he looked around the Nexus. His brown eyes locked onto the Maiden in Black however and he saw that she had just finished lighting a few candles with that candle staff of hers. From the back, he noted how beautiful she looked. Her clingy black robes and loose black cape matched well with her obsidian colored hair. He'd go as far as saying she was attractive judging by the smooth curves of her body.
When the maiden turned around however, his opinion of her appearance changed; as it usually did. He didn't really mind her pale skin, but the cooled over wax that was covering her eyes honestly put him on edge. He already knew that there was no chance that she would hurt him, but speaking to someone with such a strange form of blindness didn't bode well for him for some reason.
With a light sigh, the armored knight approached the Maiden in Black. She looked in his general direction when she heard the clanking of his armor as "stared" at him with a blank frown.
"Thou seeketh soul power, dost thou not? Then touch the Demon inside me." she stated with a voice as soft as a whisper.
Staying silent, the knight bent down on one knee and lowered his head. He slowly closed his eyes as he held his right hand out in her direction.
"Soul of the mind, key to life's ether. Soul of the lost, withdrawn from its vessel. Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended. So the world might be mended." the Maiden in Black recited as he focused the energy of the souls he's collected from his journey into her.
In exchange for the souls he allowed her to absorb, he was granted with a little increased strength and endurance, which made his armor seem lighter to him a little. Before she could absorb all of his souls however, he pulled his hand away and slowly stood up. He wanted to save at least some of his souls so he could trade them to the blacksmith, who would fix his armor and equipment. He also figured that he'd see if one of the magicians had any spells to teach him. After the demons arrived in the world, souls became the new currency.
"Art thou done?" the maiden asked, to which he nodded despite her blindness. "May thine… strength help the world be mended." she told him before she turned around and slowly began to walk away to light more candles.
Without a word, the knight made his way over to the side of the Nexus where the magicians stayed. At the moment, there were only two of them. He didn't bother to learn the name of one of them because said magician was a simple apprentice. The other however, was Sage Freke, the Visionary.
Sage Freke hailed from a land known as Yormedaar and he was a scholar of the Soul Arts, a powerful form of magic. Even though he is passed middle age, he was still well respected by magicians all over the world, but the priests of God shunned him for his studies of magic.
The quiet knight approached Sake Freke and noticed that the older magician was wearing dark gray robes with a pointed hood, like he usually did. The powerful sage slowly looked up at the knight with blue eyes and he smiled warmly.
"Ah, hello there, my fine magician friend." he greeted cheerfully as he closed a book he was reading.
The knight could never understand why Sage Freke called him a magician when he was clearly a knight, even though he did used spells when necessary. He never corrected Freke however out of respect. Not wanting to be rude, he nodded as a form of greeting.
"I have a proposal for you which you might be interested in." the Visionary began, earning another nod from the knight, urging him to continue. "I'm sure you're already aware that the Blue and Black Eye Stones you carry allow you to transport yourself to different versions of our world, but I have a theory that you might like to hear about. If you were to allow me to borrow one of those stones for a moment, I might be able to find a way to get you into other worlds that are completely different from ours." he explained with a cheerful tone of voice.
"How would that help us?" the knight questioned, speaking for the first time in a long while, which didn't help his dry throat.
"Simple… if you were to go to a completely different world, then you might be able to find yourself some allies; allies that could help you stop the Demon threat. And you wouldn't have to go there as a Blue Phantom either, so you can go there while you're still alive as well." Sage Freke answered as he shifted slightly in his seat on the floor.
The knight thought this over. It would be nice to have some company on his journey's outside of the Nexus, but he wasn't sure if this little science project would be worth his efforts. Then again, all he had to do was let Sage Freke borrow his Blue or Black Eye Stone for a little while. After a few moments of thought, he reached into one of his leather pouches and pulled out the Blue Eye Stone and held it out.
"Just please don't break it." he said as the Visionary in front of him gently snatched the stone out of his grasp and looked it over.
"Don't worry, I'll treat it like a mother treats her babe." Sage Freke assured as he carefully held the Blue Eye Stone in both of his aged hands.
That didn't really assure the knight after the things he's seen in the Valley of Defilement. He decided not to think of those dark thoughts however and simply nodded.
"Now then, is there anything else you needed from me? Perhaps you're willing to trade one of your Demon souls?" the powerful magician started, but stopped when he noticed the knight shake his head. "Very well. I can still be patient, my fine magician friend!" he said with a kind smile before he looked down at the Blue Eye Stone in his hands.
With nothing else to say, the quiet knight turned around and walked away. He decided to pay Blacksmith Boldwin a visit; he needed some of his equipment repaired anyway. Then afterwards, he'd purchase some Fresh Spice and Full Moon Grass from Patches, the Hyena. Once he paid them both a visit, he'd return to Sage Freke, the Visionary.
Dragons covet gold
with a dark and fierce desire.
Erebor was lost.
For the dragon will guard his plunder
as long as he lives…
- The Hobbit
It was a sunny day in the area around Mirkwood. In the grass fields outside of the infamous forest, a party of men could be seen approaching the forest from a distance. The group included a human Wizard, thirteen armed Dwarfs, and a Hobbit.
Thorin Oakenshield and his Dwarf companions were on a mission to retake their home from the fierce dragon, Smaug. They had been traveling for a long time and faced great challenges from the Orcs and other hostile creatures, but they would stop at nothing until the Lonely Mountain was under Dwarf control once again.
Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit, walked at the back of the group with his head down slightly. For the past few days, he's been thinking a lot. For some reason, he felt like something bad was going to happen, but he couldn't quite figure out what that was. The only indication he got of what this was, was the strange dreams he's been having recently. He would usually only see darkness, but a deep whale-like moan would always be heard. He never could understand what this meant.
Sure: he, Gandalf the Grey, and the Dwarves were about to fight the most powerful dragon in Middle-Earth while some bloodthirsty Orcs were on their heels, but this rather strange dream and feelings kept bothering him. It was as if a dark shadow was standing over his shoulder and he couldn't make it go away.
After awhile of walking, the group stopped to take a five minute break. As everyone sat down in the grass, Gandalf walked over to the Hobbit with a kind smile.
"Hello, Mr. Baggins. How are you today?" the aged man questioned as he lightly leaned against his walking staff.
"Oh, fine. I'm doing fine." Bilbo answered a little quickly as he looked up at the much taller Wizard, who was donned in gray robes.
"Are you sure about that? You seem troubled by something." Gandalf questioned with a raised eyebrow, knowing that something was wrong.
The well-dressed Hobbit sighed as his grayish brown eyes lowered to the grassy ground at his large feet. He could never understand how the bearded Wizard could so easily understand his emotions.
"Nothing gets past you, huh?" Bilbo asked as he looked up at his old friend again. "I don't know what it is exactly, but I have this feeling in my gut that something's amiss." he explained, gaining some attention from the Dwarves.
"What do you mean by that?" Balin, the white bearded Dwarf in the red clothes, questioned with a look of concern for the Hobbit.
"I don't know; that's the problem. And it's not about our journey to Erebor either… it's something else." Bilbo replied as he scratched the back of his head, frustrated that he couldn't give a better answer than that.
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing." Glóin, the Dwarf with the light brown beard, said with an assuring smile.
Right after he said that, Thorin Oakenshield himself stood up from where he was sitting and slowly walked over to the Hobbit. This gained everyone's attention and they looked at their leader. He only stopped when he was right in front of Bilbo and they looked into each other's eyes.
"I want you to ignore these feelings you have for now. But if they get any worse, I trust that you will tell me about it immediately." the Dwarf leader spoke with his hardened, dark eyes and his long, brown hair shifted from the slight breeze.
"No worries from me. Um, I'll make sure to let you know." Bilbo quickly assured as he hastily nodded his head.
Thorin simply stared at the Hobbit for a few moments before his eyes softened and he nodded as well. He then looked over at the other Dwarves and the Wizard in their party.
"Alright, we must keep moving now!" the Dwarf leader stated loudly so everyone could hear him clearly.
The others nodded in understanding before they continued their walk towards the forests of Mirkwood. None of them really wanted to go there, but it was the fastest way to the Misty Mountain. The walk itself was mostly quiet and everyone became lost in their own thoughts. Some thought about what they'd do once they made it to Erebor while others thought of what they'd do after they defeat Smaug. Bilbo did his best not to think about these uneased feelings that has been plaguing him and he focused on their walk to Mirkwood.
Gandalf the Grey kept a straight face as they walked, but he too also felt like something was amiss, but he's been having this feeling for years. But Bilbo's recent nervousness gave him a lot to think about. He made a mental note to keep an eye on the usually cheerful Hobbit just in case. It seemed that things wouldn't be as simple as he originally thought.
Back in the Nexus, the knight had finished his business with the blacksmith and merchant, and he was now approaching old Sage Freke. He noticed in his peripheral vision that Sage Freke's apprentice was glaring at him, but he ignored it and approached the apprentice's master.
Sage Freke, the Visionary was holding his wooden catalyst in his left hand and a small white light could be seen on the tip of the magical wand-like object. The sage was holding the catalyst over the Blue Eye Stone he was given and he seemed to be in deep concentration. Out of respect, the knight chose to stay quiet until he was addressed.
A full minute passed before Sage Freke glanced up at the knight and the light faded from his catalyst. He was frowning at first, but his lips quickly curved into a smile before he held up the Blue Eye Stone, which now held a slightly darker tint to it.
"Here you are, my boy. Use the Eye Stone like you normally would, but instead of being summoned, you will invade another world… similar to your Black Eye Stone. However, you will not turn into a phantom." the old sage explained as the knight slowly took the offered Eye Stone.
"Have you tested this?" he asked as he looked at the darker Blue Eye Stone.
"…I am now… with you." Sage Freke answered after a short pause. "I'm sure that everything will work out fine, my friend. And unlike usual, I have made it so that this Eye Stone can be used in the Nexus. Invade this new world, find some allies, and then use that Eye Stone instead of your White Eye Stone. If you use the blue one, then you will return to the Nexus with anyone within arm's reach of you. At least, that's what it's supposed to do." he told the young knight with his ever present smile.
The knight simply sighed before he took a few steps away from the sage. He held the dark Blue Eye Stone in both hands and concentrated on the magical stone. The Eye Stone emitted a dark blue flash of light… and nothing happened. He raised an eyebrow behind his helmet and glanced at Sage Freke, who was watching closely.
"Just give it a few moments." the wise magician said reassuringly as he gently rubbed his thumb on his wooden catalyst, eager to see what happens.
They both waited for a few moments and the knight eventually slumped his shoulders, giving up. He was just about to speak before a bright green mist envelope his body. His brown eyes widened as the mist tingled with magical energy and with a bright flash, he disappeared.
Sage Freke smiled at the display and lowered his head to look at his lap. All he had to do now was wait for the knight to return so he could see the results. Thankfully, he was a very patient man.
Unknown to the sage however, the Maiden in Black was standing behind a stone column. She stood completely still and leaned against her candle staff, but if one were to look closely, they would've seen her lower lip quivering slightly. Whether she was sad or angry was unknown, but it was certain that she was upset by what the knight and sage just did.
Instead of confronting the sage about this, she quietly walked away despite the wax covering her eyes. She now had much more things to do because of their little experiment, and she still had to keep the candles of the Nexus lit.
