3.
Oscar had run into trouble with the living trees inside Darkroot garden. He was caught off guard and a pair of conjoined creature with snakeheads attacked him and bit him on his arm. The bite was deep and poisonous, but he managed to disentangle with the creature and slay it.
He wasn't too far into the garden. It was dark and quiet with whispers of wood imps and rustling of leaves and flora. However, without an antidote, he was forced to return to the closest bonfire for a quick rest.
He stepped into the ruins and left the moonlit garden behind him as he came upon the friendly Astoran blacksmith again.
"Ah, hello again. Glad to see you doing fine." The blacksmith named Andre greeted him.
"Thanks to your craft, Andre. I would have perished if it weren't for you. The garden is indeed perilous. I have returned for lack of an antidote." Oscar explained. His skin began to burn slightly as the poison spread.
"The creatures in the garden ooze venom of all kinds. You best bring some moss with ya, if you wish to make it through." Andre informed him, "Sometimes those nasty walking bushes grow some, so make sure to double check once you've taken care of'em."
"Thank you. I will be more careful next time." Oscar nodded at the blacksmith then went up the stairs to the bonfire.
He saw another undead lying next to the bonfire with their back to him and walked close. When he sat down and took off his helmet, he saw her face and let out a big smile.
Aelis was fast asleep, but she opened her eyes in alert when she heard the clangs of his armor. There were fear in her eyes at first, then a sudden calmness, realizing that it was him, then tears in a mix of joy of their worlds finally converging and the terror that she had gone through. She pushed herself onto him and buried her face in his chest as Oscar realized that something was wrong from the subtleties of her expression.
She cried into him and he caressed her head gently, reassuring her that he was there, but her clutch on him only tightened.
"Aelis…" He spoke, lifting her head carefully and saw the red circles around her eyes. "Is everything alright?"
She stared at him speechless for a moment, because she didn't know what to say nor how to say it. She feared that he would hate her for what happened, but a better part of her reassured her that she could trust Oscar completely. After all, she had no one else.
"Oscar… I was…" She swallowed a hard lump in her throat and continued in a trembling voice. "I died… it was terrible…"
His expression softened as he caressed her cheek, "Such fate is inevitable for an undead. I'm glad that you aren't hollowed."
But she had more to say. "The knight named…" she paused as she felt nauseous with even just the mention of his name, "Lautrec… he…"
As she continued the tale, Oscar's expression froze and his body stiffened. He listened silently to the horrors she was put through and the torture… his knuckles turned white as he clenched his fist and his mouth opened in shock and anger. It was unbelievable that anyone could do such thing to another, especially to her.
When Aelis finally stopped and returned to shaking with interrupted sobs in his arms, Oscar had hot blood all over his veins and he wanted to kill Lautrec.
"…I'm so sorry." He told her first, his eyes almost wet from sympathy and love for the woman he cared for. "I should have been there. I should have. Forgive me, Aelis." He held his arms protectively around her and blamed himself for his inability. He felt so much hate and anger, for the first time in his knighthood, that he wanted to paint the walls red with Lautrec's blood and skewer his head on a pike. He would kill him over, and over, and over again, until knight Lautrec was nothing more than a pathetic, hollowed corpse. The honored code of knights wouldn't even have been strong enough to bind him.
Before he could express his thoughts to her, she spoke in a slow and cold voice. "I will kill him, and I will never be so foolish again." Her tears had dried, but her nose was sore and it was still difficult to breathe. Even as she said those vindictive words, a part of her was afraid, of the pain, and the memories. Having Oscar around her as more than a summoned spirit helped her calm down a lot.
He didn't comment on her resolve, knowing that she was more than capable of crushing a vermin like Lautrec, but he did worry, because the man was clearly a psychopath, and sick beyond imagination. Who knows what terrible things he'd do when threatened?
They held each other under the warmth of the bonfire and relished in the time they have with each other. The poison inside Oscar's body had long been cleansed by the magic of the bonfire, but he remained at her side and did not move until she did.
Aelis reached an arm up and caressed his scruffy chin. He looked at her and smiled faintly, thoughts still burdened with her torment. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Better now." She answered and let her hand drop to his chest, examining the golden lining and pattern on the tabard he wore. She didn't want to take her eyes off him because she feared that their worlds would disconnect anytime.
"Have you seen Andre, the blacksmith?" He said as he watched her hand go. He figured it was best to take her mind off bad memories.
"No, but I hear him. I should pay him a visit to replace these." She looked down at her mismatching armor, ripped off of nameless hollow soldiers. "You've journeyed far. What lies beyond here?"
"Well," Oscar began and pointed to the bridge to their right outside. "This path leads to Sen's Fortress, which is the only way to reach Anor Londo, but the gates had been sealed shut and none can pass. Below us, past Andre, is the ruined church which leads to the Darkroot garden and to the grave of Sir Artorias."
Aelis pondered a bit and said, "Do you think we can find a way to the second bell through there?"
"I don't know. However, I've heard from other undeads of a connection between Darkroot garden and the Valley of drakes. Dangerous paths, regardless." He adjusted his sitting position slightly to make himself more comfortable, but Aelis was already getting up.
"Well… dwelling here won't take us anywhere. To be honest, I've missed fighting beside you." Her eyes followed him as he stood up as well.
Oscar smiled and teased, "Is that all?" as he leaned in to kiss her.
Aelis' hands reactively sprung up and hold his face in place defensively as she bit her lips, taken aback by her own reaction. He realized what was happening and quickly backed himself away from her face.
"Forgive me, I…" he said with his head low, but Aelis responded by planting a reassuring small kiss on his lips. Even then, Oscar felt her lips shake, and his heart ached for her.
"No, Oscar… that is not all I miss of you… of us, but now is not the time." She said truthfully and gave his cheek an encouraging rub, "You did nothing wrong. I love you, remember that."
He took her hand and kissed it gently as he murmured back, "And I love you."
He let her hand linger in his for a moment before she slid away and readied herself for their adventure.
Downstairs, Andre hammered away at a long sword when the two of them showed up. The old smith beamed at both and paused his work, "Well look who returns. Oh? And with a pretty one." He lowered his head in respect. "I am Andre of Astora, a humble blacksmith. Who might your companion be, Oscar?"
Surprised that Andre had asked him to introduce Aelis, Oscar quickly replied, "Oh, she is Aelis of Astora. We've escaped the asylum together."
"A pleasure to meet you, Andre. Unfortunately as you can see… I have more work for you."
"Bah, tis no problem… as long as you pay me." Andre laughed and said modestly. "Now, how can I be of service?"
With the amount of souls she had, Aelis managed to fetch herself a new set of armor and even a weapon, a real weapon. Granted, the weapon costed her almost everything, but Andre was generous to offer her a discount. Now she had a nice set of knight armor and a polished, beautiful long sword that would last her a long time.
The two left Andre and ventured into the Darkroot garden. On their way they came across many creatures, but with a team so bonded like theirs, no challenge was a challenge big enough… until they came across a seven-headed hydra near the bottom of the garden.
They spotted the monster far above from the cliff side that they walked on and Oscar exclaimed, "A hydra… I thought those were mythical creatures."
"We should be careful to not wander too close to it, lest it starts attacking us." Aelis warned as they descended the hill. Dirt rolled off the edges beneath their light footsteps, the sound might not have stirred the Hydra, but it did wake something else.
"Do you hear that?" Aelis halted herself as a tingling noise filled the air, like wind-bells ringing.
Oscar looked around suspiciously as he took a few stealthy steps ahead, before bursting into a sprint as he spotted something.
Aelis looked confusingly at him and hurried herself to catch up to the knight. She watched him suddenly leap into the air with an unsheathed sword and landing onto a glowing little thing with a crushing blow. The tingling sound stopped as Oscar pulled his sword off of his prey.
"Crystal lizards. They provide useful gems for Andre." Oscar explained shortly as he knelt beside the dead creature and pulled out the dagger on his waist to pry out the various glittering gems on its skin.
Aelis got down beside him and took a closer look at the poor thing. The texture of its skin was something close to dark obsidian, but from how easily Oscar had slain it she would guess it was of lighter material. It had two eyes and a triangular mouth, which was open post-mortem with a pink tongue dangling out of the corner. She immediately felt bad for killing it; it looked kind of cute.
"They are extremely fast and expert ground diggers. Had I not ran, it would have burrowed. Here." He handed her a beautiful gem the size of his fist. She took the piece and began playing around with its facets and lighting. Despite having felt bad for the lizard, she must admit the gem was simply stunning; anyone not blind would have wanted a piece like this.
Oscar finished taking out the rest of the gem on the lizard's corpse and sat back down to join Aelis. "Quite magnificent, aren't they?" He commented and stared at the array of stones in front of him in different sizes and shapes. "Perhaps that's why they've become a rarity, from all those who hunted them." He took a smaller piece of gem and positioned it between them, just about where her collarbones met.
"Perhaps so. Hm?" She noticed his move and stared at him questioningly, although she couldn't tell much of anything with his visor down.
"Nothing." He said casually as he closed his hand around the piece and hid it away in his pocket, pretending what he did was nothing of importance. "Let us continue."
He let her take her pick of the gems and kept the rest. Strange forms emerged as they descended further into the Darkroot basin. Crystal golems roamed the area in considerable numbers and the two had to plan the path to proceed.
"There's a path down here." Aelis pointed it out, a branching from where they stood. It seemed to travel further down into the basin, into nothingness.
"Don't want to fight a Hydra?" Oscar said teasingly as she pinched the weak spot under his armpit in retaliation, making him chuckle.
"No, I'm just curious what's over here, since we already have an idea of what we'd be facing the other way." She replied and watched the golems move around in the distance.
"Alright." Oscar agreed and followed her.
Aelis carefully descended the narrowing passage as she tried to not glance at the nothingness beneath her feet, a misstep would have meant death. She froze when a dark shadow blocked their way.
It was tall and smelled burnt, with a large darkened shield in one hand and a halberd in another. Aelis recognized it as one of the black knights she had encountered before. The knight let out an inhuman shrill at them and charged forward with its halberd pointed. Aelis felt Oscar grab her arm and pulled her up a ramp to avoid being cornered by the knight.
She almost stumbled under his sudden force but managed to get back on her feet and began putting a distance between herself and the black knight with a raised shield. The knight menacingly walked towards them, emanating a sinister aura, and poised itself for combat.
Aelis began circling around the black knight to apply pressure as it responded with rotating ever so slightly towards her, but keeping Oscar in sight. The reach of the halberd kept her at bay while Oscar approached its backside slowly. Sensing pressure from both sides, the knight first thrusted forward with the halberd, forcing Aelis to defend herself, then immediately shoving the other end of the polearm behind, hitting Oscar hard on his shield, inching him towards the edge of a cliff.
Then, in quick succession, the black knight swung its halberd around and slashed at Aelis, aiming to forcefully break her guard. Oscar tried to attack the knight from behind with a strong thrust through its back, but the knight did not fall and instead brought its halberd around towards Oscar, almost cutting into his stomach. Oscar felt the friction of the sharp blade against his chainmail and knew the impact must have bruised him.
Aelis took the chance to bring her long sword from beneath the knight's arm in an upward slash to sever its halberd wielding arm. She was surprised when it worked and the armor dropped to the ground along with the weapon still in the hand's grasp. The black knight screeched, seemingly in pain, and stumbled to his other side due to imbalance. Oscar then walked up to it and bashed away the shield it held to plunge his sword into the knight's chest, piercing its armor and body.
The black knight stared into Oscar's helm before it became limp and dissolved into nothingness. Souls were freed from the slain foe and were shared between the two as they put away their weapons.
"I see you've learn a move or two from me…" Oscar said to her.
"I learn from the best." She smiled back, "Now, let's go see what's really down there."
To their pleasant surprise, there was a bonfire waiting for them just beyond a small cave entrance. They lit it and sat down for a brief rest. Both took off their helmets to let their faces enjoy some air.
"Hey, Oscar?" She started. Her shoulder was touching his and their fingers crossed on the ground.
"Yes?" He said as the fire crackled.
"How long do you think this will last?... Our worlds converging."
"I'm afraid I don't know. Time works in mysterious ways in this land. It could be any moment." He replied honestly, feeling her fingers press into his.
"Sometimes I wonder what the reason of all this is… ringing bells and fulfilling a prophecy. Is there truly one at all?" The question had been bothering her, for as much as she knew, the undead were cursed, and the cursed could only find salvation through discovering the fate of the undead.
Oscar was silent for a moment, then let out a sigh. "To be honest with you, I have the same doubts every now and then. There are many of us, still few, but a handful; why haven't someone broken the curse and put an end to this misery yet? We can't be the first among the cursed… but such is the will of the Gods."
Aelis pondered his words before he began again, "Yet… without this journey, this purpose, I fear I would go hollow. Not from deaths, but the meaningless of existence. So I venture on, because it's the only life I'd ever known; to fight, and obey the Gods' will."
She silently agreed with his words. "So, who were you in life?" she asked smiling. "You've never told me much, and as far as I know, we could have been cousins." She giggled.
Oscar chuckled at her joke. "I was born son of Duke Urian, who was in command of a band of mercenaries in loyalty to the King. My father trained me and my brothers and sisters ever since we could hold a shield. Naturally I became a knight and fought for honor of my homeland and my King, until the day Astora was no more, and I became undead." his voice lowered.
"And… your kin?" Aelis asked carefully, although she already guessed the answer.
Oscar shook his head, "Some perished before they became undead, others hollowed and were never seen again."
She nodded in silence and squeezed his hand. Oscar returned the kind gesture.
"What about you?" He asked.
"I hadn't the fortune to be born nobility, but…" she smiled and played with a loose strand of her blonde hair, "I had always suspected myself to be a bastard of one, because my mother did not have these features. I didn't want to settle as a serf nor a wife, so I picked up a sword. Gods know how right I was, the next thing I knew, I was undead and locked away."
"I would have loved to take you for a wife, but I suspect you'd ask me to spar with you first." Oscar looked at her with a grin.
She blushed under his gaze and laughed embarrassingly, "Well, you'd be correct. But that's a life for another lifetime, I'm afraid." She sighed. Bantering with him made her feel so at ease and she cherished every moment together.
"So? Would you have said yes?" Oscar pressed teasingly.
Aelis raised an eyebrow at him. "You would have to spar with me first."
He leaned over and punched her chest armor playfully, to which she first reacted with a how dare you look before giving his stomach a full blow. Oscar was surprised by how much force she put into her punch before he tackled her down and pinned her to the ground. All was fun and play before Aelis began furiously struggling against his hold, which startled Oscar as he let her go. She immediately threw a big right hook punch with anger and tear-filled eyes and forced him off her. Oscar was confused by her aggression when she sat herself on top of him, and simply punched his chest armor over and over as she cried and sobbed.
"Aelis?" He could still feel the sting of her punch on his face, but he was more concerned about her well-being. "I'm sorry… I…" He began apologizing even though he wasn't sure what exactly he did to trigger such response. He held his arms in front of him and caught her wrists with slight pressure in hope of stopping her from hurting herself.
She stopped punching him when her fists began to hurt and simply draped herself over him and cried. She felt horrible for lashing out at Oscar like this, but she couldn't help it; when he pinned her down, she began to panic and all she could think of was to flee. She remembered being that helpless, trapped with that murderous psychopath, and she hated it. It made her act like this.
Oscar felt her shivering and brought his arms up to hold her. "What was it?" He asked carefully.
"The memories… they…" she began, but couldn't continue.
He held her a little tighter this time, realizing the episode she just went through. "I'm so sorry… are you hurt? Let me see your hand." He found one of her hands and slowly sat himself up, all the while keeping her close to him, afraid to stir her again. He brought her hand between them and patiently undid the gauntlet as she leaned against him.
"Why aren't you angry at me?..." she asked like a child who thought they had done something wrong.
He took off her gauntlet and examined her bruised knuckles with a pained expression. "Why would I?"
"Because… I hurt you." She looked at him guiltily.
He smiled faintly and leaned down to kiss her knuckles, "You're forgiven. I know you are hurting a lot more than this. Forgive me, I did not know." He looked into her eyes understandingly.
Aelis felt tears rush to her eyes again and she closed them and sank her head into his chest again. Like a wounded beast she found her nest in his arms, and there was nowhere else she'd rather be, because he kept her safe.
"…Thank you." She whimpered and put her arms around him in a tight embrace.
"Rest on me if you wish to." His voice calmed her, "I won't go anywhere. I promise."
They snuggled for a while before Oscar helped her fasten her gauntlet again once her hand cleared up. The two then got up and continued with their journey in search of the second bell.
At the end of the cave there was another exit via an elevator. Peeking over the ledge of the elevator hole, it was a long way down and a deadly fall. Fortunately there was a lever nearby, and together they managed to move the old construct and called up the platform.
When they arrived at the bottom, they were greeted by distant roars and movements that belonged to the drakes.
"There it is… the gate to New Londo." Oscar exclaimed in amazement when he saw the giant wooden doors that guarded the city, or, kept something sinister in.
"You know of New Londo?" Aelis asked and he nodded.
"I have heard tales… terrible fate had befallen New Londo. The enemies of the Gods, the Darkwraiths and the abyss had swallowed the city and they threatened to take their rampage outside. Only, before they could do so, the city was flooded in the final effort of containing the spreading abyss." Oscar said solemnly.
"These Darkwraiths, are they beings that fed on humanity?"
"Yes. Their greed knows no end. As every undead naturally sought after humanity, the Darkwraiths only wanted more. So many lives must have…" He stopped and shook his head in silence.
"Come on. We must keep going." She comforted him and the two pressed on.
The drakes were hostile upon noticing their trespassing and moved slowly towards them in a defensive manner. Their scales were azure blue and shiny with occasional electric current running beneath them. Outnumbered, they had to think on their feet.
To their left was a narrow path along the face of the valley that led elsewhere. It was the only way they could run to, so Aelis made a headstart and began running towards the path.
As she turned the corner, a drake surprised her by emerging from its cave and roared into her face, almost making her deaf. Lightning leaked out of the corner of its maw and Aelis knew what was going to happen.
"Run!" She commanded Oscar as she thrusted her sword into the chest of the drake in front of her, causing the creature to cry out loudly. Hot, red bood ran through her gauntlets as she pulled her sword out. Staggered by the attack, the drake couldn't react fast enough to release the electricity it had stored in its mouth. Oscar made it past the drake, almost losing his balance and falling into the valley below, but managed to hug himself against the mountain. The drake stood between them, wounded, but enough a threat.
The other drakes heard the wail of their kin and all turned their heads towards the scene. Together, they marched towards them quickly. It would seem that these drakes were flightless for whatever reason, but Aelis was thankful for it.
"Come quickly!" Oscar said to her as he attacked the wounded drake from behind, jumping onto its back and stabbing his sword into its thorax for the fatal blow. The beast struggled for but a moment before it went limp and Oscar kicked himself off it to grab Aelis.
Rocks rolled off the cliff edge as she stepped close to him. One glance below and she felt blood rushing to her head, threatening to faint her. Together, they relied on each other and quickly followed the trail forward with panicked haste. There was a moment when the thought of coming to a dead-end occurred to both of them, but they ventured on regardless.
After a few dangerous hikes, they found a giant, half corpse of a rotten creature. Weary of the party of drakes behind them, they bolted through the dead being as fast as they could, not realizing that it was, in fact, still living.
Stumbling on one of its claws, Aelis woke the large corpse as it came to life, shaking the ground beneath them. As the two of them dashed away, Aelis saw bile flowing out of its mouth and the ground around it corrupted by what seemed like poison. The undead creature didn't attempt to attack them, instead only vomited out a mix of miasma and poison puddle out of its maw. They ran forward and didn't stop until the sound of the drakes were far, far away.
The valley was vast and dangerous to tread through. After their exciting escape, the two made a brief stop at a natural cave to rest their feet.
The blood of the drake had already dried on Aelis' gauntlet and left a red taint over her reflective armor. She looked to Oscar to see him pushing his visor upwards to breathe.
"That was…" She started, and Oscar answered with a nod.
"Let us hope we never set foot in that place again." He said as he hissed suddenly from pain.
"Are you okay?" Aelis moved closer to him and saw that he held his right arm tightly.
"It's nothing. Some electricity left over on the drake's scale. It's only a cramp, it will pass." He smiled at her as she relaxed.
Letting out a long breath, Aelis sat quietly next to him for a while before a thought occurred to her.
"Oscar, we've been together for a long time now, haven't we?"
"Yes." He replied calmly.
"How are our worlds still… converged? Would you disappear any moment now?" Her expression betrayed her as her brows pulled together in a worried frown.
Oscar let out a sweet smile and said, "I don't think I will disappear so soon, but I am thankful for our time together." He offered her his hand as she took it in hers.
The visor shaded his eyes but Aelis could still feel the warmth radiating from them. How strange times are, that she had been rescued by this nameless Astoran knight and fell in love with him. Sometimes she wondered how this all happened, as if fate had a play in their misery. If only times were different, like she said to him earlier, then they could have enjoyed a different life together. Life of being ordinary couples, life of being human.