"How many more battles await me?" A woman clad a faded, hooded robe muttered to herself as she pushed open a set of tall, heavy stone doors. Aldia's keep lay before her, the traveler pulling back her hood to reveal her soft, youthful features and long, platinum blonde hair. Each step held the faint ringing of a bell, the various chimes of the devout decorating her form. She held no sword, no hardened armor, seeming to leave everything in the hands of her beloved deities.
As the cursed woman pressed forward a small shack caught her eye. Inside a fire crackled, the shadow of a figure sat beside it. She pulled the sacred chime from her side, fingers clenching the relic as she prepared for the worst. She pulled aside the small curtain, revealing none other than another traveler, a knight of Mirrah at that.
"Ah. Lucatiel. It's been too long since we've seen each other." the blonde said with a small smile, replacing the chime at her hip. The other drew her attention from the fire she had been staring at. A look of confusion passed her features, lips parting as if to speak but remaining silent until she started again.
"Who... Oh. Eleanor. Please, forgive me. Yes, truly. It feels like an eternity since we've crossed paths." Lucatiel replied. Eleanor moved to step entirely into the shack now, kneeling on the dirt floor near her companion.
"How has your search for your brother treated you? Still no sign of him?" She asked, head tilting idly off to one side.
"Ah... I've... I've lost hope of finding him, Eleanor. From the twisted depths of the Black Gulch to that terrible prison I've wandered. I can find not even a trace of him. I fear he may not even truly exist. Perhaps he was a twisted phantom of my insanity... Much like I fear you may be as well." Lucatiel replied solemnly. Eleanor shook her head, reaching out to gently set her hand on Lucatiel's shoulder.
"I am very much real my friend. A phantom cannot touch you as I am. The church says that the undead who lose their way are cursed to hollow. That's why I have remained a lucid as I am now. No matter what happens, I trust in my purpose. You must remember yours, Lucatiel. So long as you have your quest you cannot truly hollow." Eleanor stated firmly.
"I... I never believed in the rantings of such followers. If the Gods truly existed they wouldn't curse us to this insufferable fate. I believe only what I can feel with my own two hands." Lucatiel retorted. Eleanor shifted herself a bit, drawing her hands to cup Lucatiel's cheeks and turn the knight to look at her.
"Look at me, Lucatiel. You and I are one in the same. Take refuge in my words for you can feel their truth." Eleanor said softly, light blue eyes shimmering faintly with intent. Lucatiel hesitantly raised one of her own hand, setting it on Eleanor's own.
"I owe so much to you, Eleanor. You've given me more strength than I thought possible. Yet again, I must thank you." She replied, drawing herself away from her friend to stand. She strapped her large, round shield to her arm once more, hand drawing the well worn blade from its place in the dirt. Lucatiel turned to face Eleanor whom was softly brushing the dirt from her robe.
"I knew you would see things my way, Lucatiel. Much as you needed my strength, I need your sword. Shall we work together once more my friend?" Eleanor asked, hands folding in front of her.
"Please." Was all Lucatiel replied with, Eleanor nodding once and starting out of the shack with Lucatiel following close behind.
The imposing keep stood before the pair, Eleanor calmly walking up the steps while Lucatiel watched in a paranoid fashion for any sort of danger. The area was quiet, almost sickeningly so. No other place was this peaceful, why was it so different here?
"I will go first." Lucatiel said suddenly, pushing forward ahead of Eleanor as they came to the large entry way to the keep. A chill suddenly shot up Eleanor's spine, the blonde looking around for something amiss, only to spy a blood red phantom rising up from the ground. The garb of the phantom made Eleanor gasp, it looked just like Lucatiel!
"Lucatiel! Behind you!" Eleanor called out, the knight turning just to see the greatsword of the attack coming down onto her. Quickly she raised her shield, deflecting the blow and seemingly stunned by who just attacked her as well.
"Aslatiel. It can't be." She said, the blood-thirsty phantom offering no words as he attacked again. Once more Lucatiel raised her shield to block the ethereal blade. Eleanor's chime was already crackling with lightning, the woman raising her arm to aim the great spear of lightning only to have her concentration broken by her companion. "No! Do not interfere." Lucatiel yelled to Eleanor.
With that Lucatiel swing her own greatsword in a wide arc, the phantom raising his own shield to guard the blow. Their styles were identical, but the phantom was faster, stronger. Each blow seemed to stagger Lucatiel's guard, the woman's own strikes having far less effect on the assailant.
Eleanor looked on with worry, hands clasp together in prayer, begging for her friend's safety. The phantom swung wildly at Lucatiel, the knight diving away and fumbling with the strap of her shield.
"Let us fight proper, brother." she muttered, throwing the shield to the ground and gripping her sword in two hands. The phantom stopped for a moment, mirroring Lucatiel's motion and falling into an identical stance. The pair of Mirran knights charged at each other, their blades clashing between them as they locked into a battle of wills.
Lucatiel pushed the phantom away, her once sluggish strikes suddenly turning to fluid, graceful cuts. Her style was something Eleanor had never seen before, but with each wonderfully executed movement, the phantom was right there with her. Back and forth their steel struck, sending sparks flying throughout the hall.
"If I am to die in this land, it is only fitting it be by my brother's sword." she yelled to the phantom, suddenly spinning and grinding the tip of her sword along the stone ground before raising it in an upwards slash. The tip cut through the phantom, sending the thing recoiling.
Lucatiel pressed the attack, charging forward in a pointed lunge attack at the red phantom. Lucatiel knew this strike well, it was the one she always used to finish her foes. However, the phantom knew it as well. Just as Lucatiel braced to feel her sword hit home the phantom turned slightly. It knocked the blade upwards with its free hand, Lucatiel gasping as she was so effortlessly countered.
"I should have known." she hissed out, the phantom's blade now turned to deliver an identical strike. Unlike Lucatiel's own, however, this one hit its intended mark. The knight gasped as the greatsword buried into her chest, knees buckling in pain. She did not fall though, suddenly raising up a foot and kicked the phantom away from her. With labored movements she drew the phantom blade from her body, tossing it onto the ground before the invader while her fingers went to her wound.
"The undead do not bleed. In another life that would have been another victory, brother." Lucatiel said softly, gripping up her blade once more and charging at the unarmed phantom. She cut with wide strikes, carving her blade through the phantom again and again before finally ending with yet another thrust.
This time, her own strike hit its mark, the sword erupting out the back of the phantom. The thing cried out, falling to its knees while Lucatiel raised her foot to press it against the other knight's chest and push him off her sword. Just as the phantom finally hit the ground, its red essence scattered along the winds.
Eleanor quickly ran towards Lucatiel, chimes ringing with the bells of respite while her hands glowed with power.
"Lucatiel..." She said quietly, already tending to the wound of her friend. The flesh melded together, the cloth soon following as the cleric did what she did best. The Mirran knight chuckled to herself, shaking her head as she looked around the hall.
"Never in my life have I bested my brother. It was... Bittersweet, to do so here, of all places." she replied, eyes eventually falling onto the sword laying on the ground. It was once a red phantom, but with its master gone, it took on a more suitable shape. Lucatiel walked towards it, sheathing her own sword at her hip before reaching out to pick up the other.
It was identical to her own, Lucatiel's gloved hand trailing along the edge before finding something of interest. She raised the blade towards her face, lips eventually curling into a small smile.
"What is it Lucatiel?" Eleanor asked, the knight heaving a sigh of relief as she turned towards the cleric.
"Years ago Aslatiel and I made a promise to one another. A promise I thought would remain unkept. Until now. Even if he did not succeed in his quest, he was ever a man of his word." she replied. Eleanor perked a brow curiously, however it was met with a dismissive wave of Lucatiel's hand. "Worry not, Eleanor. Just know that you were instrumental in my own quest, and I shall forever be in your debt." she said, leaning the blade one wielded by the phantom of her brother against her shoulder before she started forward.
"Come now, have we not another quest to complete, Eleanor? After all... It would be selfish of me to leave you now that I've my own answers. I did promise you my blade, and now I promise you my brother's as well."
Eleanor smiled at that, nodding once before starting off after Lucatiel down the halls of the keep.