Chapter 4: Solving a mystery...and maybe even re-writing history? WOO OH!
Sneaky Devil: Fuck Max. He decided to go have a life.
Edit: SO yeah 4th chapter. The part where we all remember that Valkyrie is human. And squishy. Also, this is the final "revised chapter" so expect delays past this point as it becomes less "sit down and write" and more "convince max to stop playing video games and sit down and write"
overall not too many edits but still fixed countless little things. Largest chapter yet..
CHAPTER START
Some Time Later, Firelink Shrine
"Oi," came Sad Guy's voice, intruding on Havel's rest. "Get up, Havel...oi!"
Havel continued to lay there, bits and pieces of his armor strewn around him, while under his head was a rolled up blanket. "Go away, Sad Guy," Havel grumbled. "Last time someone interrupted a nap, they wound up stuck in a wall."
Sad Guy pondered his fate for a moment, then asked, "Is this like the punching your way up a rock wall thing? Because I can make memos."
Havel opened one eye to glare at Sad Guy. "You're still talking. So, either you want to become familiar with the wall behind you or you're more terrified of whatever you woke me up for than you are of me at the moment."
Can we go with the wall? That sounds like a good time.
He blinked, looked over at the specified wall and then back to Havel, "...Yeah, Priscilla is having a...fire-spitting barnacle issue...and I'll take my chances with you over that barnacle you picked up."
Havel closed his eye, sighing. "Alright. Fair enough." He sat up, stretching his arms and popping his neck. "Got a few good hours, at least." After standing back up and latching his armor back on, he walked over to where Priscilla was, in the spot that Rhea had once been. Griggs had told Havel that she had up and left, continuing her own journey, going down into a place Griggs referred to as the Catacombs. Petrus had gone further up the stairs near the elevators, believing it beneath his station to put up with the half breed woman.
As he reached the small clearing, he saw Priscilla sitting down, her knees drawn under her chin, pouting. She brightened a bit when she saw Havel and gave him a weak smile. "Please tell me you're here to remove her," she pleaded.
Havel nodded, sighing as he looked at Valkyrie, who had once again entangled herself with Priscilla's tail. "Again, sorry about her," he said, kneeling down once he had reached the two. "Alright, Valkyrie, time to wake up. Come on, now."
"Munna~" she wiggled around some more before going back to sleep.
Havel rolled his eyes. Waking a pyromancer was never easy and was generally a bad idea, unless you were fireproof or had fireproof armor. "Alright, come on. Time to let go of the tail," he said, beginning to slowly pry her arms from Priscilla's tail. Not reacting beyond detaching one arm and raising at Havel, she didn't give him much time to react before a blast of fire shot forth. He gave a grunt and glared at her. "Alright. You asked for this, Valkyrie." This time, he firmly grabbed her wrists and began to apply force, slowly extending her arms straight out, making sure to aim them away from Priscilla and himself. He began to drag her back, Priscilla gathering her tail back up to hold against herself.
She began to flail about, incensed that she was removed from her favourite pillow, "Ahhhhh! Havel! I was sleeping~" She whined, still trying to turn herself around just a little bit.
Havel sighed again, keeping his grip firm. Last time he had loosened his grip on a half awake and angry pyromancer, he had lost his eyebrows, again. "And bothering Priscilla. Again. Besides, you've had a few hours of sleep by now. You should be fine."
"I only drooled a little this time!" she visibly drooped, "and I'm hungry, and thirsty...and tired."
Havel raised an eyebrow. "Just hungry, thirsty, and tired?"
She looked thoughtful for a second, "Ah...my legs hurt?"
"Look, just stop molesting Priscilla's tail, okay? At least ask before you grab. Now, I'm gonna let you go and you can go see if anyone has food or drink. And if you even think about fireballing me or using your gods damned fwoosh, I will literally make you part of the wall." Havel released her wrists, crossing his arms to see what she would do.
She humphed and turned to Priscilla, "Griggs probably has some food...and water, wanna go bother him for some?"
Priscilla fidgeted uncomfortably before giving in to her bodily needs, she nodded "Yes, lets. I do not think disturbing Havel any further is advisable." With that, they both walked off to bother Griggs for food and water, not that he really minded with it being those two.
Havel sat down in the little alley-like spot and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes to try to get another hour of sleep in. Sometime later, he opened his eyes again, hearing scuffling near him. He looked up to see it was Sad Guy again, nervously fidgeting. "Need something?" Havel asked, startling the chainmail wearing Undead.
"Um...you won't punch me through the wall, right?" Sad Guy replied.
Havel stood up, stretching. "Nah, I'm good now. Sorry about that. I get rather grumpy when I don't have a full nap. Doesn't usually end well for the one interrupting a particularly good nap." After another few seconds of stretching his legs out, he straightened up. "So?"
Sad Guy shifted nervously, "So...remember that shortcut under Firelink? Well, there are some very disturbing noises coming from the shaft, and I've heard Laurentius sleep talk with Griggs, anyway this stuff seems to be your 'thing'..." he trailed off, looking expectantly at Havel.
"I'm sorry, I have a 'thing' now?" Havel asked.
He smiled weakly, "...Yeah? You know...we all have a thing we are known for. I sit on a rock and look depressed. Griggs sits there and...does Griggs things. Lardo perfects the douchebag performance and Lautrec perfects the Serial Killer stare, which by the way, he was getting far too good at-"
Havel held up his hand, stopping Sad Guy from continuing. "Alright, alright, I'll go check it out. Shouldn't be but a few minutes."
Sad Guy looked over at Valkyrie nervously, "Could you take the nut as well? She's been pretty agitated since you woke her up and I'd rather not learn how it feels to be burnt alive, even if I have an infinite amount of them."
"Fine," Havel said, giving a half hearted yawn as he walked down the stairs, grabbing Valkyrie's hood as he passed by. "Let's go, you." He held her out in front of him, making his way down to the New Londo ruins elevator.
"Ah...see you later!" She waved as she was dragged off to parts unknown by the boulder.
As they stepped off of the elevator a moment later, Havel looked around, ignoring the Hollows leaning and laying down, some sitting against walls, others beating their heads or hands on the ground.
"This...is actually kinda sad..." Valkyrie trailed off, looking at them.
Havel nodded as they continued walking down the stairs. "A fate that is worse than death. To live on as a mindless drone, either hunting for humanity or to sit and rot for eternity." Once they had reached the bottom of the first flight, Havel looked around. "Strange...Sad Guy said he heard something down here, but I don't hear a thing. What about you, Val?...Valkyrie?" Havel Looked around trying to spot her.
"Ah...Hello there, why are you behind bars?" the question coming from near the ledge.
Havel walked over to the ledge and saw there was another flight of stairs ending in a drop. Valkyrie was near this drop, standing in front of a set of bars. "Valkyrie, what are you doing down here?" he asked, walking down to join her. He looked at the bars and was somewhat surprised to see a young man sitting behind them, dressed in black robes similar to what Griggs wore, a hat on his head. There was gold tracing on both his hat and coat, his gloves a dark brown.
The man behind the bars groaned as Havel strode into view, dropping his head into his hands. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" he moaned from behind his hands. "The school troublemaker is one thing, but now that monster from the tower is here, too!"
"Oh? You're from Vinheim Dragon School of Sorcery and Mystery!?" she said excitedly, then jumped subjects, "What are you doing in there?"
"Because it's safe in here! I can't bear the thought of Hollowing out there," the young man replied, shaking his head in misery, sighing. "But, I have very little with which to occupy myself. Not very forward thinking on my part." He perked up a bit, an idea coming to him. "You know, I could show you what made me the best mage smith at Vinheim. Let me forge your weapons! I don't have many tools, but what I do have is more than sufficient!"
"Oh! I think I remember you...sorta. You were the apprentice to the weird old guy right?"
"Boy, that really narrows it down, doesn't it?" he replied, sarcasm dripping in his tone.
"Hmph, be that way." she turned to Havel, "I'm going to go poke Hollows with a stick." And with that, she walked away.
Havel watched her go and turned back to the Undead student. "Well, you know our names or at least who we are. What's your name?" Havel asked him.
"Rickert. You know, for a Hollowed monster, you are surprisingly civil," the now named Rickert replied.
"I'd very much appreciate it if you'd refer to me as 'Havel' and not 'monster.'" Havel looked at the bars. "So. Safer in there, huh?"
"Much safer," Rickert nodded. "Er...Havel." He sounded as though he was unsure of the name, as though he was forgetting a lesson learned long ago in Vinheim.
"Not much room to dodge a sword or arrow, though. Or a spear, for that matter," Havel noted, Rickert's face paling as he realized that Havel was right.
"Oh...oh gods, I hadn't even considered that," he said shakily, feeling as though he were going to vomit from the mere thought of it.
Havel nodded, about to start ticking off more things that could go wrong in the self imposed imprisonment, but decided not to as Rickert was now almost as white as a bed sheet. "Right, uh...well...you could always head up to the Firelink Shrine. It's relatively safe there. No Hollows, at least," Havel suggested.
Thud
"AHH! HAVELLLLL! I MESSED UP! GURK-!" a panicked shout echoed out.
They looked at each other and sighed, "Not again…" Then Havel realized that this was the first time he'd ever heard legitimate panic in Valkyrie's voice. He ran up the stairs to see a figure in all black armor and a skull-like helmet holding Valkyrie by her throat, her feet kicking the air.
"Drop her!" Havel roared as he tackled the newcomer, startling the being enough for him to drop Valkyrie onto her rear, while he and Havel ended up on the ground. Havel took a swing at the being's face, striking hard, but it didn't seem to do much to the figure. In fact, the figure managed to knock Havel off of itself, slowly standing up and brandishing the sword in its right hand that Havel had finally taken notice of.
"Ah, fuck, a Darkwraith?! Really?!" Rickert's voice came from behind Havel. Rickert had apparently rushed out of his prison to see what was going on and was already starting to regret it. He was kneeling beside Valkyrie, who was rubbing at her throat.
"Ohh...I feel weird..."she held her head, eyes unfocused.
"The fuck is a Darkwraith?" Havel asked Rickert as he backed up a bit, the Darkwraith slowly stalking forward.
"A member of the Darkwraith Covenant. They can steal Humanity from others," Rickert explained, looking at Havel's back. "We need to get out of here, now!"
"And do what, lead him back to a veritable feeding ground of Humanity?" Havel spat back. He wasn't sure why, but he was wary of this Darkwraith. There was an aura around this being in front of him. Havel realized what it was; the creature smelled of and felt like death itself. He pulled out a silver sword from his darksign, holding it in front of him. The creature stepped forward again and Havel's sword tip pointed at its chest. "Not a step closer, creature." The creature actually stopped and seemed to be observing Havel, as if trying to decided if he was a threat or not.
"Now really isn't the time for heroics, Havel," Rickert said, now standing and propping Valkyrie up a bit. "We can't just fight one of these things!"
"But that's exactly what I plan to do," Havel replied, stepping forward and taking a slash at the Darkwraith. The wraith countered the slash, knocking Havel's blade to the side. Havel quickly withdrew his blade, only just catching the blade of his opponent on his own. He parried and stepped back, now defensive. This time around, the Darkwraith took the initiative, smashing its blade down onto Havel's, almost like it was trying to break Havel's sword. Havel met the Darkwraith blow for blow, surprised at the amount of strength the creature was putting into its strikes. Soon enough, their blades were in deadlock. Havel didn't noticed the creature's left hand reaching his neck, but felt it soon enough. He could feel...something being drawn towards the hand, weakening him. He found his breath coming in short gasps and he dropped his sword, gripping the Darkwraith's wrist in desperation.
The creature simply tilted its head in curiosity. It had never met a being that could resist the Darkhand as strongly as this human currently was. The human couldn't resist it in its entirety, but it was putting up a surprisingly strong fight regardless. Paying it no mind, it began to move its head forward, intent on feeding on the Humanity that was now gathering in the human's throat.
Havel wasn't sure why, but when he saw the creature moving its head toward his neck, he let go of the creature's wrist with his right hand, using that hand to hold its head back. His left remained clamped down on the wrist, applying as much pressure as it could, the armor on the creature's wrist trying to resist, but very slowly losing.
Meanwhile with Valkyrie
Rickert steadied Valkyrie as she swayed back and forth, staring unfocused at the hand. Suddenly, her eyes snapped to focus and her swaying ceased, while said hand began to emit a sickly red glow. She turned to Rickert, "You should take the elevator up to Fireside now, I will take care of this."
She strode towards the two wrestling figures with even strides, determination etched on her face, waiting for the moment when she could attack. The second Havel grabbed its head, she rushed in, and slammed her hands on the creature's back.
The Darkwraith faltered in shock at the foreign feeling, before beginning to feel confusion at the increasing heat inside of it. Then it shuddered violently and with a keening wail its chest exploded in a fury of molten metal and lava. Havel dropped the now dead husk of soft metal suit, holding his throat gently and rasping a bit, small droplets of lava cooling on his armor. Valkyrie calmly looked at the remains of the mutilated Darkwraith, "Hrmm, so it is possible to inject uncontrolled flame into a living being."
After a few seconds, Havel was able to find his voice again, breathing regularly once again. "Yes, well, as fascinating as that was, I'd rather we not have to repeat it," he replied, kneeling down to inspect the cooling corpse. "And for future note, please, don't do that to a human."
She looked at him oddly, eyebrow raised, "I make no promises, it may be necessary, and useful, to know and do in the future." She started walking back towards the elevator before stopping and looking over her shoulder back at Havel and said, "Now come along, she needs rest and food after this," before continuing to walk towards the elevator.
Havel looked at Valkyrie, noting the sudden use of third person and the complete one eighty in her personality. He shook his head, deciding to wait until later before he talked to Valkyrie about her seemingly split personality. Looking back to the Darkwraith, he reached a hand out to touch it, suddenly recoiling with a hiss. "The fuck?" he stared at his hand, wisps of dark red energy rising from it before abruptly disappearing. He clenched his fist and then unclenched it, repeating the motion a few times as he stood up to follow Valkyrie back to the elevator.
LOADING….Firelink Shrine….
The ride up the elevator was silent, and somewhat awkward for Havel, as Valkyrie remained stoic and quiet. "So...you, uh...still feeling a bit…" Havel looked at Valkyrie. "Are you okay? At all? Because this seems rather unusual for you."
Without glancing at him she answered, "I don't know how she usually acts. Normally I wouldn't be out for so long but whatever that creature did has sent her into a dazed state."
"Uh...come again?"
She tilted her head to look over at Havel, giving him a flat stare, "The one you call Valkyrie is unconscious. I was not."
Havel stared at the red head, edging away from her as the elevator reached the top of the shaft. "Alright, let's pretend that I don't know what you're talking about. And that you're going to explain it right now."
The edges of her lips quirked up, "I would like to know as well…"she trailed off. This time she showed a visible frown, "I know very little; what I do know is nothing you haven't mostly already seen. However, you must keep her supplied with Humanity. The more active she, and by such I, is the faster it is consumed." She turned to Havel with a serious look in her eyes as well, "You've seen what happens when her Humanity starts to run out, how scatterbrained she was."
Havel looked at her, slowly nodding in understanding. "So, her mental state is tied to her Humanity? Which isn't necessarily rare, but still." He stepped a bit closer this time, staring into this new personality's eyes. "But, that being the case, who's the real Valkyrie? Is it you or the one who I've been traveling with?"
She shrugged, "Neither? Both? We, she, is not who she once was. Stranded alone on a rock and your only contact is insane patients that were given up on? Haunted by the few memories she had left? Taunted with things she can no longer achieve?" She shook her head, "You never met the real 'Valkyrie', only whats left."
Havel pulled his helmet off, scratching the back of his head as he stared at the ground. With a sigh, he said, "I suppose it wouldn't be that easy. Nothing is ever actually easy in my life. Alright, then. Guess it's time for another break for her...er, you."
She looked thoughtful for a second, "I think not, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll pass out now." And with that, she crumpled.
"Gods fucking damn it," he grumbled, bending down to pick her up.
LOADED….Firelink Shrine….
"Guh, being human sucks," Valkyrie moaned. She shook her head as she pushed herself up to clear up the haze that muddled her brain. Looking around she spotted Havel relaxing near Sad Guy. She tried to stand up to join them but as she did so her balance suddenly skewed and she collapsed once more. "Urggh...I feel funny." she complained as she nursed the arm she fell on.
You know, you still have a Humanity in your pouch.
She blinked, "Ah..? That is what that is?" she thought for a second then shrugged before flipping herself over and rooting through her pouches for said entity. "Ha!" she held it up in jubilation before a confused look came over her face. "How do I use it?"
Sigh...wait, this is actually my job! Ahem. Humanity is fou-
"Yeah, yeah, how do I use it?" she waved her hands dismissively.
...just burn it.
"Ah, you could have just said that," Valkyrie stated as with a flick of her wrist she set the Humanity floating in her palm aflame, it burned a bright orange for a moment before popping. Valkyrie shot to full alert at the steady rush of energy flowing into her, her wounds and ailment erased. She took a deep breath and stood up up, stretching, "Ah...much better." She looked around from her position next to the bonfire, everyone was laying about or chatting with others, Firelink Shrine had become quite the little hub in the week she had been here, adventuring with Havel.
She wandered on over to the inlet that Griggs and Logan called home, as she neared she caught the ending of an explanation from Logan about a current theory of his, "...and such I believe that the similarities between Humanity and Soul is enough that if I can imitate the method which shards of Humanity crystalize that I will be able to increase the power of any soul created weapon by nearly twofold!" he exclaimed the last part with glee evident on his face, he turned to Valkyrie with a smile , "There you are, child, I must thank you again for freeing me, but I fear I must depart soon. The Duke's Archives, and the knowledge held within, is too great of a prize to give up on."
Taken by surprise from Logan's currently animated mood, Valkyrie stopped, tilted her head confusedly, and blinked, "Ah...okay?" The silence continued between the two of them for a second, then Valkyrie remembered why she had come over to them to begin with, "Ah...! We found a strange amulet in the archives, it was imbedded in this big crystal guy! All my sorceries just bounced off him,"she finished with a harrumph.
Logan looked very much interested at that comment, "Oh? You have been to the archives?"
She shook her head, "Not really, we took the elevator up but that crystal guy was all like 'Rah Rah!' and tried to smash me, but it's okay! Havel went all 'Rah Rah!' and smashed him! Then I found this amulet," she pulled out the amulet showing it to Logan and Griggs, both observing it critically.
It was Griggs that commented first, "That looks to be of Oolacile origin." At the questioning gaze from Valkyrie, he elaborated, "Oolacile was a major town that existed...possibly 700 years ago now. They were renown for their extensive research on the more...sophisticated use of sorcery, such as illusions. Sadly, the entirety of their knowledge was lost with their fall, to my knowledge the Vinheim Dragon School of Sorcery and Mystery! is still attempting to recreate many of the spells...with poor results."
Logan nodded, confirming Griggs' opinion, "Indeed, many of my colleagues have devoted the entirety of their lives to just figure out a single spell. I decided to pursue...other avenues of research."
"Huh, does the town still exist?" Valkyrie questioned, now curious about the place.
Logan's mouth drew into a thin line, "Unfortunately not, it is now merely ruins...filled with monsters straight out of a horror story." With a shake of his head he took on a more downcast look, "The only people who try to breach the ruins now are suicidal fools." Seeing the look on Valkyries face he offered one last piece of information, "However, if you truly wish to see the outermost ruins there is a route you can take from the cathedral, near the blacksmith, I believe."
She glanced down at the amulet, now resting in her hands, "I think I should go down there, to return the amulet at least."
Both Logan and Griggs looked at her with amusement, she had grown on them in the short time they had known her, Logan spoke up, "Good Luck with your adventure, I will be leaving in an hour or so to continue my own."
She nodded and began to walk away, towards where Havel was, leaving them with the parting words: "Good Fun, Have Luck!"
She walked over to Havel and greeted him with an out of place, overly-cheery, "Hello!"
"Well, you seem better," Havel noted, looking up at the red headed fire thrower. "Good rest?"
She shrugged, "Not really, I think I broke my arm."
Havel stood up and grabbed her wrist, bringing her arm up. He then let go, watching it flop back down. He shrugged. "Eh. You'll live."
She nodded, "I suspected as much, I'll let you in on a little secret of mine." She motioned Havel to come closer.
Havel shrugged, deciding to indulge her, leaning in. "Alright, let's hear it," he said.
"Consuming Humanity heals you," she whispered conspiratorially.
Havel stood up and looked at her, cocking his left eyebrow. "Uh...that's actually pretty common knowledge, Valkyrie…"
She looked surprised, "Ah...really?" she frowned, "wait, but not everyone is a pyromancer?"
"Uh...no...you still have that, I guess," Havel admitted.
She scrunched up her face, "But then how do people burn the Humanity then if they don't have the fwoosh?"
"Well, you can crush it in your hands," Havel explained. "Doesn't take a lot of pressure to do so."
She nodded, "Ah...I think that's what happened to the first one. It felt...wrong and weird." She shook her head, "Logan said that shiny amulet, that you broke, was from Oolacile. He also said that we should go to a blacksmith near the cathedral to find the path to Oolacile…..and that we may have to fight uh…'ooky spooky dark things'."
"Uh-huh," Havel said. "Still angry about that amulet, then. Alright, sure. Since it seems you want to go, let's go. Always wanted to visit Oolacile...hmm...I wonder if it's still in one piece…"
ITS TOTALLY NOT IN ONE PIECE...I MEAN, LINE BREAK!
The clanging of metal could be heard echoing through the ruins, corpses of slain Hollows littered the odd balcony, rotted and rusted. This was the scene that the duo walked onto, one wary, the other uncaring and eager. I'll give you a guess who.
"So...there are a lot more bodies than the ones I killed last time we were here," Havel noted.
Valkyrie tilted her head, "Ah...I don't think Hollows are very smart…"
"Well noted."
"Should I...clean up?" she said with a gleam in her eye and a ball of fire hovering in her hand.
Havel shrugged. "Sure, go crazy."
The gleam only increased as she raised her other hand, now also containing a ball of fire, both steadily gaining in size. Havel suddenly regretted his phrasing as said balls reached head size, he didn't know whether to be impressed or scared that she could casually dual-cast Grand Fireball. With a shout of exhilaration, "Grand Fireball!" she thrust out both hands and engulfed the balcony in fire. After regaining his vision , Havel witnessed the strange sight of Valkyrie cheerfully making her way forward through piles of ash and flame.
"Right. 'Go crazy' shall now henceforth be used in only the most dire of circumstances," he muttered to himself, following behind the pyromaniac...I mean pyromancer. "I know what I said!"
"Havel! Stop talking to G-Man and hurry up!"
Havel threw his hands into the air. "Fuck it! I'm done! Take me now, I'm ready!" After a few moments, he lowered his hands. "Yeah. Figures."
Are you done? Can we move on now?
…...
Good. Ahem.
Valkyrie made her way down the stairs, towards the source of the clanging that had echoed out earlier. After descending several flights of stairs in the odd husk of a building, she came upon the out-of-place sight of a large, muscular man with snow white hair hammering away at a sword on an anvil in the corner of the "basement". She blinked in surprise, "Ah? Havel! There's a weird guy down here!"
Havel shook his head, sighing. "Valkyrie, how is this any weirder than what we've seen? So he's a bit...a lot taller than most humans," he said, eyeing the blacksmith, who appeared to be doing the same, without missing a beat with his hammer.
"Well," the man rumbled, putting his hammer down finally, "you two must be new arrivals to fair Lordran. I am Andre, hailing from Astora. If you need smithing, then you need look no further."
Havel nodded to him. "I am Havel, a native of this land, actually."
Valkyrie waved, "Everyone calls me Valkyrie, I'm from a rock."
"A rock, eh?" Andre leaned back, crossing his arms. "Well, I don't believe I've heard that one before. Certainly one of the more unique responses I've received. So, what brings you two down here?"
"Ah..we're on an adventure!" she replied enthusiastically.
"And to where might you be adventuring, young lass?"
"Big Hat called it Oolacy or something."
"Oolacile?" Andre clarified, Havel being the one to nod in response. "Then you're aiming to go through the Darkroot Garden. I would sell you the crest to open its doors, but I sold that off a few years ago. Haven't seen the bloke since. Probably fell off a cliff somewhere. You'd have to go up through the basin, in that case."
"The basin? And how would one get to there?" Havel asked, taking over the conversation from Valkyrie, who was currently inspecting and prodding the multitude of weapons surrounding Andre.
"To do that, you'd have to go back to Undead Burg and make your way down to the lowest level of one of the towers there. At the bottom is a monster of a man, said to smash and kill any and all that are unfortunate enough to stumble into its lair. If you were to be able to get past him, then you'd simply have to open the door just past the beast and you're in the basin. There'll be a ladder down by the lake, I believe. Though no one's ever actually come back to confirm such things to me." Andre picked up the sword currently resting on the anvil, inspecting it.
Valkyrie took on a confused look, as if seeing something she should have remembered, before her eyes widened with sudden realization, "Ah...you're a Master Enchanter, aren't you?"
He stopped inspecting the sword, laying it down to look at her. "Well, quite the knowledgeable gal you are, huh? Indeed, I am an Enchanter."
"Enchanter? Are you perhaps a smith with the knowledge of sorcery?" Havel asked.
"I suppose you could say that, yes," Andre nodded. "Though I'm only skilled in three or four specific enhancements. I can also make some changes to weapons given the right kind of soul."
"What about something like a dragon bone core?" Havel asked, pulling out the Iron Golem's core that he had picked up from Sen's Fortress.
Andre took the core from Havel, inspecting it, slowly cracking a grin. "Oh, I could most definitely do something with this. Perhaps apply this to a caestus. Would make for a good punching weapon. In fact, I believe did something like this a few years back." Andre began to rummage through a chest near him, pulling out a seemingly endless supply of weaponry, tossing it aside casually, before pulling out what looked like a rounded bone with an extended bit of bone on one half of the opening near the bottom of it. There appeared to be red twine or yarn wrapping around the bone. "Ah, here it is. Strange fella brought this and caestus to me, asking me to combine the two. Worked out just fine, but he never did come back to pick it up." He set it down, once again picking up the core that Havel had brought. "Come back in about two, maybe three weeks. I could have this turned into another bone fist."
Havel nodded, liking the idea. "Well, alright. That sounds like a rather interesting idea. You have a deal, sir."
"That'll just be seventy-five hundred souls." Andre looked at Havel, who waited for him to explain. "Five thousand to infuse the core and another twenty-five hundred for the other completed fist. Can't just be giving weapons away, now, can I?"
"That's a fair point," Havel conceded, pulling out the souls and handing them to Andre, who set them to the side. "So, through the tower of the monster, right?"
"Indeed. Well, go on, get going. Leave me to my work," Andre said, shooing the two away as he began to rummage around for a caestus.
"AH! HAAAVEEEEL! I MADE A MISTAKE!" came the panicked shout of Valkyrie from down the stairs.
"Oh, for the love of," Havel grumbled, walking down the stairs to see Valkyrie hiding behind a fallen pillar, a large being made of titanite with seemingly no head staring her down. "Okay, what did you do this time?"
"I just wanted to ride it!"
"And that seemed like a good idea at the time?"
"...it could have worked," she mumbled and pouted.
"You know, Ornstein said the same thing about a dragon once. Before it tried to eat him."
What ever Valkyrie was going to say was interrupted by a blast of lightning, temporarily blinding them, as the statue-like creature leaped forward. "Ack!" she cried as she rolled away from the catch pole, and stumbled towards the creature. Coming to a decision, she 'tagged' the right leg before backpedaling to gain more distance. Before Havel could comment on the seemingly ineffectual move, the leg glowed red where she tagged it, quickly followed by a "mini" explosion shearing the leg right off.
Huh, I guess that is how it lost the left leg?
Not even fazed, the creature swept its weapon in a wide horizontal arc catching Valkyrie with it in the ribs, sending her careening across the room. Her flight was abruptly ended as her fleshy body met very much solid stone, the painful crack and the blood now dribbling out of her mouth a testament to the winner. "Erhhhh.." she moaned, in pain as she tried, and failed, to stand, the demon dragging itself across the floor to likely deal the finishing blow.
She stopped struggling and simply glared at the demon, focusing her pain and rage at it, unknown to the creature but known to Havel who was watching the whole thing, ready to intervene if needed, the ceiling began glowing red. As it leaped into the air, catch pole ready to deal the death blow, the ceiling exploded in a torrent of fire, lava and stone, stopping the demon dead in its tracks by slamming it into the ground and burying it under the fury of rock and lava.
The lava quickly solidified as it is wont to do when created by chaos pyromancy, trapping it. After a few moments, and some more very disturbing sounds, Valkyrie pushed herself up, her right hand pressed over her left side as she hobbled over to the newest mound of stone that now occupied the chamber. She laid her left hand on the stone for nearly a whole minute before walking back to Havel, devoid of all her prior enthusiasm.
"So, welcome back," Havel said, noting the change as the same as Valkyrie's second personality. "Perhaps some Humanity would cheer you up?"
"No...maybe." She turned to Havel, "Though I recommend that you do not look at the chamber in another ten seconds," she shrugged and winced, "or do."
Havel turned to watch her walk up the stairs and then winced as he heard the rest of the chamber come crashing down behind him. He decided it was better to not look and walked back up the stairs, the heat of the pyromancy used following him.
HEY! LOOK OVER THERE! A LINE BREAK!
After making their way back through Undead Burg and a humanity given to Valkyrie to recover, they stood at the bottom of the tower in which Havel killed himself. Havel looked at the door, moving to open it. The knob turned easily enough, the hinges creaking loudly as he pushed the door open to reveal a hill with trees in it, a small number of crystal golems wandering through the area. Further past the sparse treeline was a waterfall, probably falling into the basin that Andre had mentioned.
"Well, this is kind of beautiful," Havel said as they walked down the stairs and onto the grass.
Valkyrie took in the scene, blinked, turned around to look back at the tower, then back at the scene in front of them and tilted her head confused, "Ah…? How did..? Wha?"
Hey don't look at me, this place is weird as fucking hell.
"Well, let's get going. Kind of looking forward to seeing Oolacile again." Havel started making his way, the golems ignoring them. About halfway to the lake, Havel stopped, straining to listen to something. "Hey, do you hear something?"
"Ah...no." she thought for a moment, "but I have a bad feeling about this…Hey G-Man, there isn't some big spooky thing ahead is there?"
What? No. Of course not.
AWHOOSH
"The fuck was that?!" Havel yelled, pulling his shield out. The answer soon came in the form of what looked to be a large water ball heading straight for them, splashing against his shield and nearly knocking him back, Havel unprepared for the amount of force behind it.
"I thought you said there wasn't anything big and spooky!" complained Valkyrie and she ducked behind another tree.
Well technically a hydra is just big, not very all that spooky.
"You couldn't share that earlier, you disembodied asshole?!" Havel planted his shield into the ground, holding out against the water balls.
Then why didn't you ask earlier, Mr.I-am-a-Big-Rock? I'm the Narrator not a gods-damned fairy, if you want guidance you have to ask for it.
"...Alright, I see your point," Havel said. "But that still leaves us stuck here. Unless you have some advice?"
The Hydra shoots powerful blasts of water at long-medium range, however if you get closer it will attempt to eat you with all of its heads. Before you complain and ask something like "Why would I want to do that", the Hydra is stupid and has serious depth perception problems seeing that it has fourteen eyes and seven brains all telling its body to do different things. This makes it easy for you to attack the necks of the creature, which are for some reason, a weak point.
"Okay...anything maybe, I don't know, a bit quicker and less dangerous?"
Its a water based creature and its sitting in a pool of water that is probably filled with heavy metals. Do I really have to spoon feed you the obvious?
Havel grinned as he realized what G-man was getting at. "Oh. No, I think I can take it from here," Havel replied, pulling his shield out of the ground and running forward, calling forth a bolt of lightning with his talisman, holding it as he neared the basin. He saw the hydra soon enough and moving his shield aside, he planted his feet and let fly the bolt. It hit the beast just below its middle neck, connecting with the main body. What proceeded afterwards was a spectacular light show and the smell of fried fish.
Havel turned back to Valkyrie watching him in awe...and suddenly snapping her attention to her hand that was wrapped with the Velka Talisman. "Um...how long have you had that talisman?" Havel asked, noticing the talisman as well.
Still focusing on her hand she replied, "Ah...ten years?" she narrowed her eyes as her hand began to faintly give off a crackling sound and the smell of ozone.
"Val, that's really not a good idea if you don't know how to properly channel miracles," Havel said.
Wait for it…
"Ha!" Valkyrie shouted in joy as the electricity began to form in her hand...which changed to a scream of pain as it promptly discharged into her.
Havel's gloved hand hit his helmet, slowly dragging it down. "Why does no one listen when I tell them not to. Every time. 'Oo, I can channel miracles now!'." He wiggled his fingers in the air, mockingly, "Fucking amateurs."
"I...ow." Her hair poofed out and frizzed from the current that had ran through it, "I don't think I like miracles."
"And they don't like you. Come on," Havel said, moving to wade through the shallow water. "Hey, is there something shining over there?"
"Quick! Kill it with fire!" was Valkyrie response, along with several Fire Orbs, followed up with a Chaos Fireball, and a Grand Fireball. Before Havel could get a word in, another continuous jet of flame went by him. When it finally cut off, she asked "Is it dead?"
"Yeah. Probably. I mean, you may not have...actually, I'm not going to finish that sentence." He walked past the pile of quickly cooling crystal, kneeling down to examine the corpse it appeared to be guarding. The corpse was dressed in a beautiful white gown of some kind, a thin crown with wings on either side of it on the head.
Valkyrie's eyes sparkled at the sight of the crown, "Oohh Mine!" and with that, she appropriated the crown.
Suddenly she froze, a feeling of absolute terror coming over her, disjointed memories flashing before her eyes only feeding the terror that was growing, leaving her completely unprepared when the rift in reality opened up next to her. She was snapped from her terror as the giant hand that sprang forth from the portal gripped her and began to pull, "AHHHHH! HAVEL! SAVE ME!"
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Havel grabbed the fingers of the hand, trying to pull against it. But this was a being that even he couldn't match in strength. His feet lifted off the ground and he and Valkyrie were pulled through the black portal.
A golden phantom appeared in the now tranquil lake, she looked around questioningly to see where her saviors had wandered off to. When she could find no one, she simply vanished.
And all was quiet in the basin once more.
BETCHA SAW THAT COMING, EH? HA! LOADING SCREEEEEEEN!
Valkyrie shot up, hyperventilating. As she calmed down, she began to look around and spotted something odd. "Ah...is that what you wear under your armor?"
Havel groggily shook his head, noting the missing weight of his armor and helmet. "What are you talking ab-" He then looked down. "WHY DO I HAVE BREASTS?!"
"WHY DO YOU HAVE BREASTS?" questioned Valkyrie hysterically.
No, seriously, why do you have breasts, this is a question that really needs an answer.
Indeed, Havel now had on the gown from earlier, plus a new set of mammaries. He poked at his chest. "...Wait, is this thing padded?" He peeled it off, holding it up, thankful that his trousers at least were still on. "Huh...I was actually kinda worried there for a moment." He dropped the gown, looking around for his armor, spotting it just in front of a large mushroom. Moving over to it, he began to don his armor once again, putting it on piece by piece.
Quick! Kill it with Fire!
"Valkyrie, no fwoosh!" Havel yelled, moving to lower her already raised hand.
"Aww," she extinguished the flame with a pout.
The extra large mushroom opened its eyes and look at the duo, "Well, look at these. From what far-away age hast thou come? Thy scent is human, indeed…"
"We are indeed human...uh...I'm, uh, not really sure how I should refer to you," Havel replied, scratching the back of his helmet.
"I am Elizabeth, guardian of the sanctuary...please I beg of thee, save our Princess Dusk from that terrifying primeval human. If you accept, I shall assist thee, to my utmost."
"I would gladly assist if I can, but first, perhaps you could tell us where we are?"
"Havel, it's a giant talking mushroom," Valkyrie monotoned.
"Yeah, and we can hear a disembodied voice, I fought ancient immortal dragons, you've killed a couple demons, and most of the things in Lordran nowadays want to eat our faces. Oh, and I've come from the past and killed my future self. What's your point?"
"Its a mushroom. A giant talking mushroom." the disbelief started to seep into her voice.
"Okay, just, please, continue and ignore her, Elizabeth," Havel said, dismissing Valkyrie for the moment.
"I...see. In thanks for you rendered assistance, I shall provide thee with Golden Pine Resins and scrolls on Oolacile Sorceries. I shall have to hope that what little assistance I can offer shall be enough."
Valkyrie shot to attention, "Oolacile Sorcery...scrolls?! You have them!" She became progressively more excited, over imaginative thoughts about the 'wonder of Oolacile Sorcery' that Griggs talked about bouncing in her mind.
"Why do you sound so surprised? Of course there'd be scrolls of Oolacile Sorcery around," Havel spoke up, confused by Valkyrie's behavior on the matter.
"You don't understand! Vinheim Dragon School of Sorcery and Mystery! has been trying for hundreds of years to recreate them!"
"Recreate? Wait, what do you mean recreate? Oolacile didn't keep secrets concerning their illusion sorceries."
She blinked, "Ah...right." She lost much of her enthusiasm , "Oolacile fell and all the knowledge they had gained was completely lost, according to Logan people had dedicated their whole lives to trying to recreate even one of the sorceries from Oolacile, and everyone one of them failed."
"Of course. Why wouldn't Anor Londo's closest neighbor also be in the shithole?" Havel said, shaking his head. "I mean, silly me, hoping that at least one thing from my own time would be in one piece."
"If it's any consolation, I remember being mindraped by a creature from the Abyss."
Havel stared at her. "...No...no, that really isn't a consolation."
"Oh…" she paused, looking down in thought, before turning to the mushroom, "Can I have those sorceries now? I really feel the need to burn something right now."
The mushroom did the equivalent of a fungus nod, which was nothing, and said "Indeed, in the grass underneath I, shall you find thy sorceries thee seeks."
She nodded and ruffled through the grass until she found the promised scrolls, giving a quick thanks while storing them in her pouch, she marched out, fireball in hand. Havel nodded to Elizabeth and quickly moved to follow Valkyrie, intent on making sure that she didn't get herself killed. Valkyrie stomped through the forest, igniting the animated scarecrows as she went, with possible excessive use of fire. As they wandered aimlessly through the forest, leaving charred remnants of animated constructs in their wake, they somehow ended up in front of a ruined building with a strange carved block inlaid on the ground next to a hole.
Valkyrie tilted her head, "I think this is an elevator…"
"I'm sorry, can we go back just a few minutes?" Havel asked. "Is there anything you want to get off your chest?"
She ignored him, and instead chose to kneel in front of the block and brush the dust off to better read the inscription on the outer rim. She stopped after a few moments of silence and sighed, "You know the rock I keep calling my home was an insane asylum, right?"
"Yeah. Unique enough to not forget."
She nodded slowly, "Yes...it was a place made for sorcerers who had lost their minds in the pursuit of...whatever."She paused and read a bit more of the outer rim, "Ever since I started this adventure, or should I say consumed that first Humanity, my mind has been getting progressively clearer, with each Humanity consumed...and so have my memories."
"I...see."
"The reason why I froze up when that hand grabbed me...that feeling that it gave off triggered a series of disjointed memories," she turned her body and looked up at Havel, "memories of terror and incomprehensible horrors. The reason why I had lost everything and was locked up on that rock in the first place."
"And…" He gave a slight gesture with his hand, gently urging her to continue.
She turned back to the stone, mumbled some sorceric gibberish and stood back up and the plate glowed with a blue light, "I'm scared, Havel. Everything we fought before I knew was dangerous...but it didn't matter to me, I was having fun. This?" she motioned her hand forward, "This is not fun, the creatures we will face are not simply 'dangerous'...there is more to lose here than just our lives. I would know, I already lost my mind, once." The grind of the stones stopped with the elevator now floating gently in front of them, she stepped on it turning back to Havel, "Ready to see how far the rabbit hole goes?"
Havel stepped on, looking at Valkyrie. "If you're scared, you don't have to go. Stupidity isn't the same as courage. Running doesn't make you a coward."
The plate on the elevator flashed blue and the whole platform began to descend at a rapid pace, "Where would I go? Back to the Sanctuary? What would I do? Stay with the talking mushroom and cry?" she shook her head sadly, "Hesitation will only get me killed now, in this twisted land. Regret will only dull my actions and my mind. It isn't Stupidity to charge forward when your back is against the wall, it's the only option left. After all, whatever brought us here certainly isn't just going to put us back." She chuckled sadly, "After all, when you stare into the Abyss, the Abyss stares right back..."
"Then I'll count on you to watch my back," Havel replied. "And when we meet this Abyss of yours, I'll show you there's nothing to fear from it."
The elevator jerked to a stop as it reached its destination and the duo stepped off of it, Valkyrie raised her fist and looked down at it, watching the fireball that formed as she flicked her hand open, "Time to see just how hot my fires burn."
"He he he, Hello adventurers!" came a call from the shadows near the stone bridge that lay in front of them." You haven't seen a large, toothy arm around, have you? Didn't even take me to dinner first, he he he."
"A common occurrence, is it?" Havel asked the figure as they neared it.
The figure stepped out from the shadows, it was a odd man, eccentrically dressed with a permanently grinning mask and top hat to, top it off, "Oh? It's already cheating on me? Shame. Say, do you even know where and when you are stranger?"
"I know that we're in Oolacile, sometime in the far past," Havel replied.
"Oh? Knowledgeable, aren't you? Pity, and here I was going to be so generous and let you ...peruse my wares, for a fee of course. He he he."
"Strange that you would only offer your wares should you have given us the information."
The odd man stepped back, hands over his heart, "You wound me with your harsh words sir, " he let one hand drop back down over his stomach, as the other took off his top hat with a flourish while he bowed, righting himself he continued, "Of course, I would never refuse a paying customer, Marvelous Chester is always at your service...if the price is right, of course. Mwah Hah Hah!"
"Well, as much as I would love to stop and pick up some souvenirs for those back home, the lass and I really must be on our way," Havel said.
"Oh? I assure you I offer much more than simple 'souvenirs'." He stepped further a bit more and leaned in with his hand on his face as if it was hiding his mouth, "In fact...you seem like quite the Undead sort with that monstrous strength of yours, care for some...Humanity? He he he."
"I'll have to decline that offer for now," was Havel's answer, as he stepped past Chester to follow after Valkyrie, who had already wandered past the bridge. "Perhaps another time, Chester."
Chester back up to the wall once more, Havel noticing an extra large crossbow leaning next to him, "What? After all that? Hrumph, see if I help you again next time we meet. Heh. Heh. Heh."
"Haaaveeel~ Hurry up! There is a fog gate up here!" Valkyrie called out from across the bridge, near the coliseum entrance.
Havel walked up behind Valkyrie, looking at the fog gate she had spoken of. "Like I said. I'm counting on you to watch my back," Havel said, pulling his shield from his Darksign and holding it with both hands in front of him as he walked through the gate.
Valkyrie psyched herself up and called a Great Fireball into existence, "Okay, I can do this! Haaaa!" and with that she charged through the fog gate ready to rain fire down on her foes- WHAM- and straight into the back of Havel. "Oww~ Havel~ You're suppose to be all 'Rah Rah Rah'!"
"..."
She stared at him, waiting for an answer. When none came she decided to see what made him stop...by jumping up and pulling her head over his shoulder. "Eh? Who's big, blue, and spooky?"
"...Artorias," Havel said, his voice quiet. The tall figure in silver armor and dark blue cloth looked at them, growling. Valkyrie's earlier words were now ringing in his head about how there were worse things to lose. The sword on his right shoulder was abruptly lowered to the ground, Artorias letting loose a howl, akin to a beast. His left arm hung limply, moving about with the movement of his body, obviously broken.
"If it's any consolation...I'm still alive," she said to him as she hopped off his back.
Havel drew his silver sword, readying his shield. "Thanks."
Artorias gave another howl and leaped at Havel, bringing his greatsword slamming down onto Havel's greatshield, leaning in to roar in Havel's face. Havel retaliated by slapping Artorias in the neck with the flat of his sword, trying to get him to back away. It didn't work, rather, it seemed to have angered the feral knight.
Valkyrie looked on helplessly, knowing that much of her repertoire was what people called "lethal". She had a flash of inspiration though, remembering the words of Griggs about Oolacile sorceries being sophisticated illusions. Rummaging through her pouches she pulled out the scroll labeled "Light" and began to read.
Back with Havel, he had dropped his shield on the ground, focusing solely on swordplay. He didn't want to kill Artorias and tried to disable him, but it was proving difficult, as his old student seemed to ignore any and all pain. He found himself on the defensive far more often than on the offensive. He grit his teeth and began to push back, adding punches in past Artorias' guard if an opportunity presented itself.
Valkyrie stood there, completely absorbed in the scroll, mumbling to herself, "So if I apply that matrix to the end of that one...amplify the power...reduce the duration…" She sighed, "This is going to hurt."
Havel backstepped, the tip of Artorias' greatsword catching his helmet and flinging it off, revealing a sweating Havel. As Artorias brought the sword back down, Havel stepped into Artorias' range and grabbed the wrist, his silver sword in his right hand in a reverse grip. He was surprised when Artorias suddenly grabbed his right wrist in retaliation, the broken arm somehow moving through sheer force of will, the both of them now in a deadlock. Havel looked at the cloth covering Artorias' face, feeling the hot breath of the insane soldier on his own face.
"Incoming!" Valkyrie shouted as she dashed at the deadlocked duo with the added mumble of "I hope this works…" Artorias saw her coming and tried to break out of the deadlock, Havel's grip tightening on his wrist, but it was too late as just as he broke free Valkyrie's catalyst was in the middle of them, the tip glowing with energy. With a shout of "Flashbang!" the tip went off with a bright flash of light and an extremely loud bang, stunning and disorienting all three of them. Unfortunately for Valkyrie, Artorias began flailing around in rage and the back of his right hand caught her on the face, sending her spinning backwards into the ground.
Havel held his left ear, blinking the spots from his eyes, his head turned away when he had seen Valkyrie's catalyst glowing with energy and shoved into Artorias' face, the ringing in his left ear slowly dwindling. He saw Valkyrie on the ground, slowly moving, while in front of him, Artorias was stumbling around, hand held to his head, screaming in pain and rage...not that anyone heard him. Havel took the chance to run at Artorias, his steps like those of a drunk, his balance now messed up due to one ear still ringing. He dropped his silver sword and tackled Artorias to the ground, wrenching the greatsword from his hand and throwing it off to the side. Artorias bucked and kicked, trying to get Havel off of him, but as most do, found it rather difficult to simply throw a boulder off of one's self, even if you are super-powered by the abyss.
"Hold," Havel said through his grit teeth, pushing Artorias' shoulders onto the ground, "still!"
Feed…
Havel's head snapped up, trying to find the source of the hissing voice, looking over his shoulder to see nothing. "What-"
You must feed. He is weak. Lost. You can end his suffering. The voice sounded sweet, enticing. Persuading. It would be so simple to simply listen to it, to end Artorias' misery. Wisps of dark red energy began to rise from Havel's right hand, which was slowly moving to Artorias' throat. Just one little grasp and he is free…
Havel felt Humanity rising to Artorias' throat, slowly gathering under his right palm. "Ha...vel," came a groan. It shocked Havel into releasing that Humanity, as he realised that it had come from Artorias. He shook his head, just now realizing what it was he had been attempting to do.
Just one little taste won't hurt him! He has so much Humanity within himself! FEED!
"Silence!" Havel snapped, realising that the voice was in his own head. But it was what the voice had said. That it had claimed there was a large amount of Humanity within him. He looked at his right hand, an idea coming to him. "Too much Humanity corrupts, taints, and destroys. It corrodes at one's very being. I may yet be able to save you, my friend." He concentrated on his hand, willing the power to once again answer. And answer it did. He placed it on Artorias' chest and began to slowly absorb Humanity, feeling his Darksign taking it and storing it.
"Cease your foolish plan. You don't need to use such a power of folly and greed…" came the sound of Valkyrie's voice from right next to him, "Though my plan is no better, it is far faster."
Havel took his hand away, looking up at Valkyrie, a bloody gash running down the side of her face where she was hit. "We really should come up with a name for you, if you aren't Valkyrie."
"Hrmph, if you insist, it shall be Shard. For that is what I am."
"Alright, Shard. What's this plan of yours?"
"In layman's terms? I'm going to shove my Flame into his chest and burn away his excess humanity in a way only pyromancers can." She crouched at their heads and held up a small flame, giving off incredible waves of power, "It will hurt. A lot." With that said, she slammed her hand into his chest and took on an intense look of concentration.
Artorias began to buck and spasm wildly, Havel tearing off Artorias' helm. "Could have mentioned the possibility of seizures!" he exclaimed, sticking his index finger in between Artorias' teeth.
Valkyrie said nothing, the only hint that something was happening was the waves of heat that began to pour off them both, accompanied by a faint red aura outlining them that was steadily getting stronger as time passed.
Soon the heat and aura reached critical mass, even Havel was starting to feel the intense heat though all the layers of his armor. With a shout of mixed happiness and pain, Shard ripped her hand away from his chest, and what followed was a flame equal in size to a Grand Fireball. She panted in exhaustion and eyed it with apprehension, "I agree with your sentiments Valkyrie, this is going to hurt." She took a deep breath and thrust the flame in her own chest, and promptly screamed in ahem...not quite pain. You know the one.
"Uh...you okay there, Shard?" Havel, having removed his finger once he was sure that Artorias wouldn't end up swallowing his own tongue, looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she squirmed. "You seem a little red in the face."
She only got redder when he said that and the squirming increased, now more in embarrassment, "Eep."
Havel's brow raised higher. "I'm sorry, 'eep'?"
She shakily got to her feet and turned away, arms hugging herself, "Ah...I...underestimated the effects...of such a procedure."
"I very much doubt that. Unless you're a masochist. Or something like that."
She snapped around, face still beet red, eyes showing her alarm, "No! No. Nothing like that. I...ah..." she glanced at the now still form of Artorias and quickly turning back, cupping her face, squirming once more, "Ah...The pain was not the problem…"
Havel looked between the two, wondering if he could raise his brow any higher. "So...what was the problem?"
She stilled, shivered, and coughed into her hand, "We aren't talking about this, someone approaches."
Havel looked back to the door to see a small, petite figure walk through the dissipating fog, staring at the ground, her blonde hair tied into a braided ponytail, the blue cloth she wore swaying slightly with her movement. She apparently wasn't watching her feet, as she stumbled on Havel's helm, doing a twirl and regaining her balance, making it seem as though she meant to do so. Havel gave a light clap and a laugh. "Beautifully done, Ciaran! Beautifully done!" he cheered, the figure snapping her head up to stare at Havel.
"General...Havel," Ciaran muttered, shocked at seeing her mentor in the coliseum, sitting beside a downed Artorias and a woman she had never seen with red hair, wearing strange clothes. "Sir…" Behind her porcelain mask, her expression fell, believing Artorias to have been slain by Havel and the woman. "I see that you have discovered Knight Artorias' fate the hard way. I thank you for ending his misery."
Shard turned around, "Actually, I successfully removed his excess Humanity." She looked at Havel, "Your General had the brilliant idea of trying to suck it out with a dark art from New Londo."
Ciaran glared at Shard. "I would ask that you hold your tongue, human. To spout such accusations and alleged deeds is a good way to lose it."
Shard had the benefit of lacking a helmet so Ciaran received the full glare back, her hand ignited with an extra large sickly ball of orange, "Oh? Says the little girl hiding behind a mask who can't even see what is in front of her?"
Ciaran herself pulled out two daggers, her infamous Gold and Silver Tracers flashing in the setting light. "Out it shall come, I see."
Havel took this time to clear his throat, drawing the attention of the females. "So, just a heads up, the red head is a master Pyromancer and Ciaran there is a master Assassin. If possible, I'd like for there to still be an Oolacile to save at the end of the day," he said. When both readied themselves once more, he sighed. "Also, Artorias would probably be disappointed."
With a synchronized "Urk" the two quickly put away their weapons of choice, and settled on glaring at each other once they realized what had happened.
From beside Havel came a groan. "And speaking of," Havel said, turning his head to look at Artorias, whose eyes were starting to flutter open.
Artorias slowly sat up, his blue eyes still slightly clouded over, disorientation evident on his face. His jet black hair was scraggly, having not been taken care of for close to two years now, scruff on his face. "What…?" he began, his voice croaking, his throat feeling dry and scratchy. The next thing he felt was a small sack of rocks hitting him, something wrapping around his chest, and managing to hit nearly every bruise Havel had given him during the fight. He grunted in pain, looking down to see a familiar blue hat and blonde ponytail. Ciaran looked up at him, her mask still on. Artorias slowly moved his right hand to the mask and gently removed it, revealing Ciaran's blue eyes, tear trails running down her cheeks. Artorias cracked a small smile, putting down the mask and brushing Ciaran's cheek. "Ciaran," he whispered, the smile turning into a grin.
Shard took in the scene before her and frowned, with a flick of her hand she flipped the hood up and positioned it to shadow her face. A thought came to her and a mischievous smirk grew on her face, grabbing her catalyst she intoned, "Disappear," and vanished.
"Wha-" Havel looked around. "Shard?" He continued to scan the arena, looking for the pyromancer he had been traveling with. "Shard, where'd you go?" He stood up, going to grab his helmet and then turning back around to once again look around the arena. He narrowed his eyes, seeing something like a shadow standing where Shard had been. He walked closer and saw that she was still there, merely transparent. "Is that one of the sorceries that Elizabeth gave you?"
She pouted at him, "Hrm, I see what they mean now on that theory. Yes, it is a sorcery from those scrolls, it was nicknamed 'Hidden Body'."
Havel rubbed his chin. "Hmm. Interesting."
She dispelled the effect on her and gave Havel a conspiratorial smirk, "I can make your weapon actually invisible…for a short time." She gained a thoughtful look, "I wonder if I can cast Hidden Body on someone else?"
"Havel, sir," Artorias spoke up from behind them, now standing with the help of Ciaran. "Thank you." He nodded to Shard. "And to you as well, m'lady."
Shard set herself stoic and gave him a flat stare, "And what, pray tell, happened that turned you into such a state?"
Artorias closed his eyes, shuddering at the memory. "I made a mistake. And I paid for it. I sought to fight and kill something far beyond what I was capable of. I daresay, I was arrogant."
Shard's whole posture shifted to a more understanding one, her mouth creased into a thin line, eyes downcast, "Yes...the Abyss certainly does that to you. Gods know I have enough experience to say so."
"You have my sympathies, then," Artorias said, wincing as he tried to shift his posture slightly.
"So, as interesting as this is," Havel interrupted, "there is still the issue of your arm and, well...injuries, Artorias."
"Nothing that a few miracles can't fix, I'm sure, sir," Artorias said with a grin. "Almost feels like training again."
"Yeah, see, Shard here...well, normally, she's Valkyrie, but anyways! She doesn't know about my whole rank thing, so no need to bother with formalities around her. Seriously, you know I fucking hate that," Havel said. "Second, the problem lies mostly with your arm. See, all that Humanity that was corrupting you, while doing a fantastic job of keeping your body healed, it also healed your arm when it was still broken and unset. You ever seen what an arm has to go through when it's not healed properly because it wasn't set?" Havel walked over and pulled the armor off of Artorias' left arm, setting it down to the side.
"Uh, no," Artorias replied. "Why?"
"Well, let's just say it's going to be quite the experience." Havel pulled his talisman from his belt and kneeled down, while Ciaran helped Artorias sit down.
Shard interrupted them by handing him a thick, wound strap of leather, "Here, you might want to bite on this." A glowing white circle appeared around the two soldiers and Havel began the process of healing him.
"Well, this doesn't feel so ba-NGH!" Artorias bit down hard on the leather still in Shard's hand, nearly chomping through it. Cracking sounds could be heard coming from his arm, the skin seeming to crawl as bones rearranged themselves accordingly. After a few minutes of agonizing pain and muffled screams, Havel had finished and Artorias' wounds and arm were once again healthy. He opened his mouth, the leather dropping out, bite marks cutting deep into it. He flexed his left arm, feeling the muscles, the Humanity from his corruption having kept the muscles from atrophying. "That, uh...yeah. You were right. That was an experience."
"Geh!" Shard stumbled and caught herself on the wall, "I'm sorry, Havel, but I need to burn this energy now, or there will be consequences. There will be fire involved. I recommend you stay behind me." She moved on ahead through the second exit, flames ready in each hand.
Once she was through the arena's exit, Artorias looked to Havel. "Now, what was that about Valkyrie and Shard?"
"Split personality," Havel answered. "Normally, Valkyrie is the personality in charge. In the last, ah, about thirty-six hours, she's undergone that little personality change to Shard. Seems to happen when her body is put under extreme duress. Such as being backhanded by a knight in full armor."
"Ah. Then the blood on her face was my doing," Artorias said with a wince. "I should probably apologize for that later."
"Well, to be fair, she did do that strange spell without warning." Havel looked at Ciaran and Artorias, crossing his arms. "So. Oolacile. I can make a guess as to what happened here, from that dead body over there and what you've apparently been through, Artorias. What I want to know is why you two are here without Ornstein and Gough?"
"I came under Lord Gwyn's orders to investigate and assist as needed," Artorias explained. "There were reports of strange behaviour from Oolacile's citizens, shortly before they cut off all ties with Anor Londo. Soon after came reports of Kalameet, who has made a nest somewhere in the valley. I came here and found the state of affairs to be much worse than believed. Sif and I...oh, gods...I don't know if Sif made it out!"
An explosion of flame and dark smoke went off in the distance.
"Worry about Sif later," Havel said, trying to get Artorias back to debriefing. "We'll find out what happened to the pup before we leave, I promise."
"Right...yes, of course," Artorias said, straightening up. "I went to confront the creature known as Manus, whom the denizens of Oolacile had awakened. He is, to the best of my knowledge, capable of controlling the Abyss itself. To what extent, I'm not sure. Somewhere along the way, I had to leave Sif behind. To keep Sif safe, I left my shield behind. I eventually met with Manus and was swiftly defeated. It was during that fight that my left arm was broken. It was after that fight that the Abyss was able to corrupt me."
Another explosion, followed by a plume of lava.
Havel nodded, "Thank you, Artorias. Now, for you, Ciaran."
"I...followed Artorias after he did not return for six months," she began, lowering her eyes to the ground. "I was worried, but...Lord Gwyn would not send reinforcements, for whatever reason. When I arrived, I did find Artorias...but he was that which you fought just a small while ago...I was not the only one to come. Gough also followed us here."
"Gough is here as well?" Havel asked, somewhat surprised. "Where is he?"
"In the tower connected to this coliseum. He is locked in there. I have no key, so I have to climb it in order to reach him." Ciaran looked at Artorias longingly, before turning around, beckoning for Havel to follow.
"Artorias, you stay put," Havel said as he followed, stopping to grab his shield and put it into his Darksign. "That's an order. Your body needs some semblance of rest after that." Ciaran led Havel through the halls of the coliseum and up some stairs, out into the open air. He saw the tower and walked to it, stopping at the metal door. "Shouldn't be too hard," he announced, grabbing the handle and pulling at it. The bricks around it began to creak as they tried to fight the mountain currently trying to yank the door from them and were slowly losing. After a minute or so of exertion, the door came off of the brick and Havel tossed it over the side of the small bridge that led to the tower, dusting his hands.
"...Show off," Ciaran said with a grin. She hadn't seen her teacher in a while and the familiar sight of Havel casually using brute force to solve a problem brought some of the more fun memories she had after the Dragon War. They climbed the ladder, coming out at the top to find a giant in armor built from a near similar material used in silver knight armor, carving away at pieces of wood. His chestplate was strapped with chains, his helmet somewhat dull in the light.
Havel walked over to the carvings, inspecting them. "Wow. Quite the collection you have here, Gough," Havel said, Gough stopping his carving.
"Thank you, stranger," his voice rumbled. "Thou must be the one who freed Artorias. For that, I must thank thee."
"Gough, I fucking hate that."
"Apologies?" Gough was confused, wondering what this new visitor was referring to.
"What, do you not recognize me?"
"Ah, Havel, sir...he's, um...he's gone blind," Ciaran whispered into Havel's ear, Havel looking back up at Gough.
"Gough. Have you truly gone blind?"
"I am afraid that I have, friend. 'Twas one morning that I woke up and the world was black," Gough replied. "Without my sight, I am useless as an archer. No use to Lord Gwyn or the Four Knights. So here I stay, carving and refining."
"I...see," Havel said. "That is sad to hear. Gough, it's Havel. I was told by Ciaran that you were here, but I wasn't aware that you had lost your sight. I am sorry."
"General, sir!" Gough gave a rough salute, before laughing. "Your comment now makes sense. You were never a fan of such speech."
"Indeed, Gough," Havel smiled. "It is a shame that the world has lost such a talented archer. Do you have any earthly clue as to what may have caused you to be struck blind?"
"Not a clue," Gough said, putting down the carving he was working on, apparently completed. He bent down, feeling for another bit of wood. Havel noticed something sticking out of his helmet.
"Gough...hold still a moment," Havel ordered, walking over to Gough's helmet. He took a closer look and saw that there was straw and pine resin stuck into the holes. Havel's expression turned to one of fury, but it was quickly calmed. "It would appear that you aren't blind after all, Gough. Someone has stuck something into your helmet's eyeholes. Give me just a moment." Havel took off his glove, reaching up to start peeling straw and resin from the eyeholes. "Close your eyes." After a few minutes, Havel was done and he put his glove back on, stepping back. "Alright, how about now, Gough?"
Gough sat back up, opening his eyes. "I am able to see once again," he said, looking around at the scenery. Soon enough, he looked at Havel and Ciaran, laughing. "Truly, it is good to see familiar faces!"
Another large plume of fire and lava filled the distant sky, followed by a deep rumble.
Havel looked past the coliseum. "Uh, perhaps I should go make sure she isn't destroying the entire town," he said. "Gough, have you got a way to get down into the coliseum?"
"It should not be too hard," Gough replied, picking up his bow and quiver of arrows.
"Alright. While I go get Shard, you two stay with Artorias in the coliseum, alright? He needs to rest a while yet. If I need help, I'm sure I or Shard or Valkyrie will think of something to get your attention." With that, Havel went down the ladder to go find Shard. Once back at the coliseum exit, he went down the stairs and entered the township itself, looking around. There were burnt corpses and scorch marks on almost every surface. He followed the burnt ruins and remains a short ways away. He walked past a few patches of hardened lava, fairly certain he was on the right path. Soon enough, he found her, staring across a thin bridge at being on the far side.
"Come over here so I can kill you, you coward!" shouted Shard, fist in the air, fire in the other.
"I don't think she wants to do that, Shard," Havel commented. "And considering what I passed on the way here, I don't blame her."
She turned around, clearly surprised, "Oh. Havel, when did you get here?"
"Just now. Rather impressed with how you cleared the way here."
She gave him what could be considered an evil grin, "You'd be surprised what kind of damage I can cause."
He pat her on the head, "Cute. Real cute."
She frowned, "Hrmph, don't patronize me." She narrowed her eyes, "Oh! I found this silver amulet in some, ah...ex-hidden room."
He took it from her outstretched hand, inspecting it. "Interesting. Well made, too. And in surprisingly good condition, all things considered." He held it back out to her.
She took it back and placed it on her neck, "I like it...it also deflects this abyss sorcery."
"Handy," Havel commented, when his body suddenly stiffened as he turned around, soon dropping into what Shard recognized as his ready stance.
She tilted her head, "Hrm? Problems?" she hook her head, "No matter, let me take care of our rear." With that she raised her foot and stomped down, after a few moments an eruption of lava consumed the sorceress on the other side.
"You didn't hear that ominous wailing?" Havel asked, pulling out his shield once more, as well as his dragontooth.
She shook her head and looked at Havel oddly, "You know, the first sign of insanity is hearing things that aren't there." None-the-less she readied fire in her hands.
"No, I definitely heard something," Havel replied. But instead of Shard answering, it was a sniper bolt bouncing off of his shield. He looked up the stairs he had just finished coming down to see a red phantom, one that looked oddly familiar.
In fact, he was pretty sure it was Chester, if the top hat, the bowing at the waist, and the obnoxious comment of "Hello Adventurers!" didn't make it obvious enough. He quickly ran up the stairs, watching Chester dodge fireballs that Shard was chucking over Havel. When Havel was close enough, Chester threw three knives with rose shaped hilts, all of them pinging off of Havel's shield. Havel slammed down his dragontooth, just missing a backflipping Chester, who fired another sniper bolt at Havel, though this one bounced off of his armor. Havel threw his shield at Chester, aiming for his torso. Chester managed to duck low, but when he came back up, the dragontooth was already starting to crush his hat. The rest of his body soon followed, the phantom disappearing in a flurry of red mist.
"Alright. Fuck that guy," Havel said, walking over to pick up his shield. "Glad Artorias wasn't here to see that. Don't need him commenting on such a stupid move." He walked back down the stairs, gesturing to the bridge. "So...we should probably go."
"How eloquent," Shard comment dryly
Havel shrugged. "Why be eloquent when it's faster to just say it?"
She shook her head in amusement, "I'm going back to sleep, the energy is at a more manageable level and I think I scared off a majority of those creatures."
"...I don't have to carry you again, do I?" Havel asked.
In response she just shook her head and merely closed her eyes, as she reopened them moments later her whole posture had changed. Valkyrie tilted her head in confusion, "Ah...Havel? Where are we?"
"Oh, we're in the township. You burnt and/or scared most of whatever lives here, and I think you blew up a building as well."
She merely nodded, as if expecting that kind of answer, "Ah...okay. Onward?"
Havel pointed forward. "Onward!" He chuckled a bit. "Boy, that brings back some memories." They continued their way, walking through large stone buildings, going ever deeper. There were few enemies left, their path unimpeded, the occasional fireball being tossed at the few that were foolish enough to stay. They occasionally had to drop down to a lower area, Havel having to catch Valkyrie for some of the higher drops.
Eventually, they came across a collapsed wall, which lead to a collapsed building that made the perfect bridge to the foreboding open-aired path that seemed to lead into the heart of the darkness. They quickly made their way across the building, quickening their pace when it began to groan. Just as they made their way across the building finally buckled and caved in on itself, sending the rubble careening into the depths.
"Hm. Wonder where this goes," Havel said, looking at another of the strange elevators that was in a small room, seeming to extend up quite a ways.
"Ah...I hope it works..." Valkyrie commented.
"Hmm...We'll double back if we need to, then. For now, let's keep moving."
"Incoming!" Valkyrie shouted in alarm, the abominations, that were affectionately nicknamed Bloatheads, were rushing up the stairs and climbing up the edges.
Havel drew his dragontooth, smashing two that had come too close. Valkyrie immediately slammed her hands onto the ground and watched as a thick wall of flame surged forth on the stairs, preventing even the most foolish from crossing. She then turned her attention to the Bloaters that were attempting to scale the sides, sending Fire Orbs from boths hands into their faces, causing them to lose their grip and plummet into the waiting abyss.
Havel's shield intercepted two orbs of dark energy from the two sorceresses on the opposite stairs. He ran down the first set and then right back up the second, steamrolling over the two monsters, his armor crushing them as he stepped over them. "I think we're clear," Havel called to Valkyrie, seeing there were no longer any moving enemies to worry about.
Valkyrie ceased the wall of fire and walked over to him, "I don't think I like this place all that much."
"Nah, it's not so bad. I mean, sure, these were once people, but are now abominations of the Abyss...you know, now that I say that out loud, it sounds way worse than I thought it would," Havel pondered. "But...I see what you mean, about the Abyss, that is. It drove a good friend of mine mad and these poor people into...those things."
"Not everyone can be saved," Valkyrie replied sadly, letting out a deep sigh, "Lets keep going before we encounter something we'll regret."
"As if we haven't already," Havel said under his breath, leading the way into the new structure, almost a grand entrance in its own right. They stepped into a large, tall room, lit by torches along the walls, headless female statues holding what looked to be white branches lining both sides of the room. At the end was...something, a being with what appeared to be a metal post stuck to it and wrapped in chains, a large metal ball attached to the edge of a chain that used far wider links than the chains encasing him. "Well...that can't be good for us…"
The creature just looked at them and screamed in agony before lurching towards them, dragging the ball and chain behind it. "That. That is exactly what I was worried about," commented Valkyrie.
Havel held his shield at the ready, stepping in front of Valkyrie. "Okay. I'll take the brunt of its attacks, you take care of it from back here. Decoy and shooter."
Valkyrie narrowed her eyes and kneeled, hands on the ground, "I think I can do this…" As the abomination continued to lurch forward she quickly caused lava to bubble up around its feet, engulfing them. Just as the creature began to burn she cut the power to the lava, which as many times before, cooled it rapidly, encasing the horror's feet and lower thigh. Unperturbed, the abomination attempted to continue forward which, unfortunately for it, the stone proved stronger, enough so that its tortured legs were held in place and with a sick snapping and wet tearing sounds, the thing freed one leg at the knee. With its weight suddenly only on one leg it fell forward, but again the stone proved it sturdiness and did not yield, causing the other leg to separate at the shin. Lacking both legs it slammed into the ground and futilely tried to move about.
Valkyrie stepped back, horrified and a bit sick looking, "Oh gods..."
Havel took this time to raise his dragontooth and then bring it down onto the thing's chain wrapped head, crushing it one fell swoop, ending its existence. He looked down at the mutated being, shaking his head. "Poor thing," he muttered. He looked at Valkyrie. "If you need to relieve your stomach's contents, it's fine."
She shook her head, "No...no. I...was expecting this eventually." she had a look of pleading in her eyes, "Can we go? Now? Before worse show up?"
Havel looked at her, sympathetic to her feelings. "Valkyrie...I'm more worried about what we'll find moving on than what might show up staying here."
She gave him a wavering smile, "The closer you get to the darkness the less you can see."
Havel chuckled, amused. "Alright, then," he said, leaving his thoughts unspoken. 'It's what you can't see that can kill you,' he thought to himself as they made their way down a set of stairs to find an elevator again. Getting on it, the panel glowed and they descended. At the bottom of the shaft, they stepped off, and through a hallway lined with six broken cells, the bars bent and broken. The wall at the far end was broken to reveal a lit bonfire. "How about a quick rest?"
Valkyrie eyed the crumbled wall that lead into absolute darkness, "I guess…" she said as she took the farthest corner, with Havel in the middle, of course.
They sat there for a few minutes, left to their own thoughts. All too soon, Havel stood up, walking over to Valkyrie and offering his hand. "Come on. Just a bit further, I'm sure," he said.
She grabbed his hand and he lifted her to her feet, "No way to go but forward…"
They stepped through the second hole and into complete and utter darkness, barely able to see more than eight feet in front of them. Havel scanned the darkness, noticing that there were small blips of light that seemed to make a path. "Prism stones," he noted. "Alright. We'll have to watch our footing. Come on, I think I see where we need to go." They followed the prism stones for a few minutes, inching along as they tried to see where they were placing their feet. They reached a narrow bridge that appeared to slope down. In the darkness below, Havel noted white outlines that faintly glowed. "Hey, Valkyrie. Does that look like…?"
"Ah.. they are Humanities...we are getting close…" she mumbled as she ignited her flame once more.
"Hang on," Havel said, stepping down the path, looking at his right hand again. He concentrated, finding it easier than earlier to call upon whatever foul power had invaded his soul. "Alright, you want to feed, then here we go. Even with you taking part of it, there's more than enough here to help Quelaan." Havel held out the hand, walking up to a Humanity Phantom taller than he was, touching it with the hand. It began to shrink, disappearing and being stored in Havel's Darksign, part of it feeding whatever fiendish parasite resided within Havel. Their progress was slowed further by this process, as Havel continued to collect Humanity, continuing along the path set out by the prisms. He suddenly stopped, something having caught his eye. "Alvina?"
"Ah…? Havel, are you hearing things again?" Valkyrie questioned.
"No. I'm seeing things," he said, walking off the prism stone path. Havel was seeing Alvina, the feline protector of Oolacile's Royal Woods. He stepped closer to her, when suddenly, she disappeared from his eyes. And from underneath him, the ledge he was standing on vanished, dropping him down. He landed on another ledge with a grunt, the unexpected fall jarring him a little.
"Havel?" Valkyrie shouted in alarm as she rushed to the edge, "Oh." She pulled out her catalyst from her pouch and quickly cast Fall Control on herself before jumping off.
"Alvina, wait!" Havel jogged ahead, following the disappearing and reappearing cat through the narrow path. The snaking path soon opened into a larger area, a ledge to the right, a doorway to the left. Havel held out his hand, absorbing two Humanity Phantoms that had been coming closer to him. Alvina stood at the far wall, looking at him, before using her paw to hit at the wall behind her. Havel walked up, unsurprised when she disappeared once again. "What's going on, Alvina?" He put a hand to the wall, pushing against it, surprised when it disappeared. "An illusory wall...in a cave?"
Valkyrie simply followed behind Havel at a distance, ready to attack anything that was bound to pop out.
Havel walked into the new entrance, following the path. "Sif!" Havel ran forward, seeing the wolf that usually accompanied Artorias, Artorias' greatshield lying before the wolf pup. Sif appeared to be asleep, surrounded by a glowing yellow circle that appeared to be keeping the Humanity Phantoms off of it. Havel quickly dispatched of the phantoms, moving Artorias' shield once done. He rubbed Sif's head, waking the wolf. The wolf gave a yawn and then a yip of joy as it realized it was free. It rubbed its head into Havel's hand, grateful, before running off, soon gone. Havel picked up the greatshield, storing it into his Darksign for the time being.
"I want a pet wolf…" Valkyrie pouted.
"Maybe we can get you one when all this shit is done," Havel laughed, patting her head for the second time that day. "Come on." They walked back out, deciding to inspect the entranceway first. "Huh. Another elevator." Havel stepped into the room, craning his neck to look up. "Must go all the way back up top. Definitely need to remember this one, then." He walked back out and started following the prism stones again, stumbling onto a corpse with a scroll. Valkyrie was the one to pick it up, Havel picking up one of the prism stones to hold over it for a dim light source.
As Valkyrie read more and more, she became progressively more horrified and it showed on her face. She rolled up the scroll and stored it in one of her many pouches, "I...The scroll was a journal of a pyromancer that was caught up in all this. He tried to add Humanity to his flames to make them stronger. He succeeded, but…" She glanced at the corpse. "You can figure out what happened."
Havel nodded gravely, dropping the prism stone back down. "Yeah. But...it sounds useful, however terrible its conception may have been."
She nodded slowly, "I could teach you it…but not here, apparently his use of this black flame is what drew those large Humanities to him."
"It can wait, obviously," Havel agreed. "Alright, back to following these stones." They continued on, Havel dispatching of the Humanity Phantoms. At one point, the prism stones led to a busted column that had fallen, leading further down. Havel could see prism stones all along its length. "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me."
"Wait...how...Why is there a random column here?" Valkyrie asked, thoroughly confused.
Oh. You're asking me. Uhm. Look, it was there when we got here, it will be there when you leave. That building that collapsed was a fluke...probably…?
"Well, no use debating it, then. Let's go." Havel lead the way down, turning back to offer Valkyrie assistance when needed. After a while, they found themselves in front of a large fog gate, both staring up at it. "Well...I suppose this is it. Who knows? Maybe there's nothing behind it."
She leveled him a flat stare worthy of Shard, "Yes, and maybe we will all ride a huge black dragon that breathes black flames into the future and attack the sun."
"Why would we want to attack the sun? I thought you liked the sun. And all its 'burniness'."
Valkyrie gave him a deadpan stare before he realized what she was saying.
"Oh...right...sarcasm, that is a thing people do." Havel walked through then, leaving Valkyrie outside the gate.
She shook her head and sighed, following him through, psyching herself up for the inevitable eldritch horror they were bound to face. She appeared on a ledge overlooking true absolute darkness, "Havel...I have a bad feel-" Just then, that same enormous hand shot up, gunning for Valkyrie.
"Valkyrie, back!" Havel yelled, grabbing the back of her hood and yanking her back behind him. The hand hit him, latching on and reeling back down into the darkness. There was the sound of something slamming from down below a few seconds later and a pain filled yelp.
"HAVEL!" Valkyrie screamed, she pushed herself up and panicked because she knew that the two of them were no match for something that could tear through the boundaries of space and time. 'I have to get the Knights!' she thought as she turned back to the fog gate and pushed. The gate resisted her attempts to retreat, "I don't have time for this!" she pushed harder and harder, slowly moving back through the fog gate. She stumbled as she fell through to the other side finally, quickly picking herself up, she dashed to the elevator they had found, hoping that it would put her somewhere nearby the Knights.
ALL HANDS ON DECK! THIS IS A LINE BREAK!
Artorias was sitting up, having finally been allowed by Ciaran to do something other than lay still for the past five hours. He was currently watching her as she moved back and forth, dictating something to Gough. "Ciaran, Gough, what in the blazes are you two doing?" he asked, curious.
Ciaran stopped moving back and forth and looked at Artorias, her mask attached to her belt at the moment. "I'm making a small memorial for the people of Oolacile. When all's said and done, I doubt people will remember much of the citizens who once lived here. It's just...something to honor them by, I suppose," Ciaran answered. "Gough is carving the words into the stones for me."
"Which I have finished," Gough spoke up, showing Ciaran a small stone that he had first chiseled into a long rectangle with a pyramid tip, then carved the words into it. Ciaran took the memorial from Gough, bringing it over to show it to Artorias.
"In memoriam to the Oolacile People, Masters of a craft beyond understanding," Artorias read aloud. He nodded. "A good gesture, that. I am glad to see that you do still care for humans to some degree, Ciaran."
Ciaran blushed. "Please, do not misunderstand. I still believe humanity as a whole to be filthy and despicable. But there are still those who are innocent, who aren't deserving of such a gruesome end. And I can appreciate their work into illusions as a whole. Deception is my job, after all," she replied, placing the stone in the center of the coliseum.
Whatever tender moment they were having was interrupted by an incredible flash of light followed by a loud bang. "What was that?" Gough asked, looking to the entrance of the coliseum.
"That sounded like the spell that woman used against me earlier," Artorias said, standing up. "Ciaran, help me with my left arm, please," he asked, putting his helmet back on, while Ciaran picked up the armor for his left arm, helping him strap it in place, finishing just as Valkyrie came running in, panting, her eyes filled with worry and fear.
"Havel!...Arm!...Abyss!" she managed to pant out as she caught her breath.
"Slow down, girl," Gough rumbled, standing with his greatbow slung across his chest. "Take a breath and try that again."
"We made ..our way to...a fog gate!" she breathed, slowing down now, "When we went through, we were on a ledge. Then that huge arm that brought us here came out of nowhere and tried to grab me, but Havel threw me out of the way and got grabbed instead!" Her arms were back to flailing around at this point, her entire posture and expression was completely different from when last they had seen her.
"Uh...Valkyrie, right?" Artorias asked, remembering Havel's earlier comment about her two personalities.
She nodded, before turning back around, "Hurry we need to save him!"
The Knights quickly followed her as she lead them to an elevator. When they reached the building, they stopped, the three humans looking at Gough. "It will be a tight fit, but I believe I can manage," he assured them.
"Ah...it's a sorcery powered elevator…"
"Oh...that may take a bit longer, then," Gough said. Artorias, Ciaran, and Valkyrie went in first, taking the elevator down. At the bottom of the shaft, they could hear Gough grunting as he tried to crawl through to the elevator. Eventually, the light at the top was blocked out by something and soon enough, Gough was slowly shimmying his way down the shaft. "Made it."
GO GO GO! GO TEAM GO! LINE BREAK!
Havel hid behind a large stone, his breathing ragged. His legs had been broken when he was thrown around and was trying to control his ragged breathing after being forced to crawl to cover. This creature, Manus, was nearly as strong as, perhaps even stronger than, the dragons Havel had fought against in the Dragon War.
He pulled out his talisman, casting a small healing miracle, hoping Manus didn't see the glow. The accompanying roar told him he was wrong. "I see you, little human! Where is my pendant?!" Manus roared, slamming his long hand through the stone Havel was hiding behind. Havel ducked under it, rolling away, looking at the monstrosity. The creature was large, covered in dark, tendril like shadows, close to eleven red glowing eyes staring at Havel. Its left arm retracted, the hand attached to pure darkness, abyssal energy keeping it attached to its body. Manus' right hand held a large catalyst, reminiscent of an axe in its appearance.
"I don't have your gods damned pendant, monster!" Havel yelled back. "I know not what you are speaking of!"
"Then you are of no use to me. Be GONE!" Manus held up his catalyst, gathering dark energy at the tip. He released a smaller orb just before it, Havel going to block it, but it knocked away his shield, the shield flying from his hand. Havel grit his teeth, his wrist nearly broken from the hit. Manus released the larger orb, Havel raising his left hand instinctively. A shield of warped dark energy appeared, intercepting the dark sorcery. Dark red wisps were rising from Havel's hand, the parasite attempting to feed off of the Humanity in the sorcery, but it soon broke through. While smaller in size, the orb still hit Havel hard, knocking him down onto his back, sending him sliding to slam into the wall of the ledge he had originally come from. Manus stalked towards him, the ground shaking with each footstep.
"Well, at least I can say it took a monster to kill me, I guess," Havel said, coughing in pain.
Manus lifted his left hand, intent on crushing Havel under it. He was interrupted, however, when Artorias dropped down onto his back, his greatsword digging into the monster's flesh. Manus roared, raising his head, just in time to see Ciaran's mask and golden dagger flash before it hit one of his eyes, blinding him in it. Shaking his head and body furiously, he was able to dislodge the two, when a heavy weight landed on his back, pushing him down. Gough had been the next one to drop down, landing perfectly on the Father of the Abyss. He managed to roll Gough off, turning back to Havel only to find him gone. He growled before releasing a scream of rage, rage at having been interrupted in squashing the bug before him. He turned his sights on the Knights, intent on crushing something.
Behind another large rock, Valkyrie was helping Havel to sit up, speaking "So...I, uh, got help." She looked over the rock to see the three of them doing only minor damage to Manus, "I think it's working...sorta."
Havel coughed again, before nodding, pulling his helmet off, breathing in slightly fresher air. "No. You did good," he said. "I just need a moment to heal. I have only one miracle that might be able to fell this beast. But it takes time. I need a distraction. That flashbang thing you did from earlier. Any idea how big you can make it?" He took out his talisman, healing himself once again as he waited for an answer.
She nodded to herself, "Enough to blow out his eyes from sound alone...probably." She looked over at him, "It requires focus more than it requires power."
Havel stood up, looking at the talisman in his hand. "Man, I really liked this talisman," he said, frowning as he realized that it could very well disintegrate with the miracle he planned to use. "Knights!" he yelled, stepping out from behind the rock. "Sunlight Formation!"
"What's the Sunlight Formation again?" Artorias asked, jumping back from an overhand smash by Manus.
"We distract the target while Havel charges a miracle," Ciaran replied from behind him, running at Manus' hand to strike and then retreat.
"Oh...right, I think I was repressing those particular memories," Artorias said, watching a great arrow bounce off of Manus' hide.
"And when Valkyrie yells 'flashbang', back off, close your eyes, and look away!" Havel added to his order, holding his hands together as he began to gather the power needed for his strongest offensive miracle.
The Knights continued to hound Manus, drawing his attention every which way as Valkyrie and Havel focused on their own jobs. Soon, Valkyrie was ready, raising her catalyst. "FLASHBANG!" following her shout a visible distortion literally blew out of her catalyst, shattering it, and violently exploded into light and sound right in front of the eldritch being's face. The pressure from the spell was so intense that Manus' eyes literally erupted, and the concussive force from the sound disoriented him. The others did not escape unscathed, as Valkyrie was down for the count, Gough and Artorias both extremely disoriented from their helmets amplifying the sound. Only Ciaran and Havel remained mostly unaffected.
"How much longer, sir?" Ciaran asked, looking at Havel, eyes widening when she saw his right arm raised, a bolt of orange lightning crackling and growing in power. She hadn't seen him charge an attack this powerful since the Dragon War itself.
Havel opened his eyes, done gathering the power. Manus' vision was slowly coming back and he sensed the buildup of divine energy, turning to find Havel was the source. "What do you think you can do with borrowed power, tiny human?" Manus laughed.
"I can get rid of you, foul beast," Havel said, planting a foot as he drew his arm back. "You may be equal in strength, if not stronger than, the dragons. But even they could be slain by the hands of man. You are no different, I assure you." With that, Havel flung the bolt, watching as it slammed into Manus. A lightning bolt, or even a great lightning bolt, may have been able to inflict some form of injury on the abyssal abomination. But a Sunlight Spear that was cast with both the power of one's own faith and the power of the god being called upon and freely given? It could even be stronger than Gwyn's own spears of sunlight, capable of rending apart anything in its path.
"NO!" Manus roared, the power of the spear eating away at the dark energy in his body, overcoming his defenses. He could feel his life slipping away, the power of death slowly embracing him. Soon, Manus fell to the floor of the cavern, lifeless, his catalyst clattering away.
Havel dropped his hand, wincing at the backlash of pain in his right arm. He felt his Darksign pull Manus' soul into it, storing it away, should Havel find a use for it later on in life, which he doubted he would. He then fell back and started laughing.
"Sir...Havel?" Ciaran asked, pulling her mask off to reveal concern on her face.
Havel waved her off. "I'm fine, Ciaran. Just tired. And shocked. We just killed a being of immense power. I think we've earned a bit of rest for that." He leaned back, watching as Artorias slowly stood up, holding his ringing ears.
"Second time today," he grumbled. "While a most useful sorcery, it's quite a nuisance, as well."
"That was most painful," Gough agreed, shaking his head.
"Ergh, If you keep this up, I might just think you actually like me or something," Shard moaned as she sat up. "Can you try to keep the life threatening situations down to a minimum please?" she deadpanned.
"Oh, hi Shard. Welcome back. Just got done killing the stuff of nightmares. How's your day been?" Havel asked.
Her response was a flat stare, "I know. I was there. For all of it."
"That's nice. So...how the fuck do we leave?"
She sighed and stood up, "Simpleton, through the portal floating above the corpse."
"In my defense, I can't see it from this angle," Havel defended. "Also, I may be temporarily blind from that Sunlight Spear."
"Quite, someone grab him, the rest of you get through that portal." She paused waiting for movement, "Unless you want to stay here in the Abyss." She paused once more, "You know, forever."
Artorias walked over to Havel, helping him up, while Ciaran went to Havel's other side, trying to help Havel walk, but struggling a bit. Gough simply picked him up after a bit, Ciaran going to pick up his helmet, while Artorias grabbed his shield, the three walking through the portal.
Shard watched them all go through before she finally started to follow. As she raised herself onto the corpse she took one last look at the Abyss, and saw hundreds of little red eyes staring back at her, "Ah...I see. So it didn't lie." With that she turned back and vanished into the portal.
Had she stayed even a moment longer, she would have see an oddly dressed man drop down, wielding a large Sniper Crossbow, donned with a Top Hat and grinning mask. "Oh ho? What is this? Somebody slew the the creature? How...Interesting…" He walked around the corpse looking for anything to loot. His laugh echoed through the emptiness of the abyss.
DON'T YOU FEEL LIKE BIG GODDAMN HEROES NOW? LINE BREAK!
The Knights stared at the basin before them, trying to figure out where they were now. "Welcome to present day Lordran, kiddies," Havel said, blinking. "Huh. I think my vision's come back a little."
Shard popped out of the portal just as it wound shut, depositing the last of the group back to the time where only one of them rightfully belonged.
"Well," Havel said, Gough letting him down, "let's get back to Firelink. I think we're all ready for a good long rest. Hell, maybe we should just take a vacation. Not like the world's gonna get unfucked any quicker if we take a day or two off."
DOPPITY DO! FIRELINKED!
As the group approached Firelink, Shard stopped and braced herself on the cliffside. Taking a deep breath she let herself fade back. Valkyrie stumbled as she gained control, determination on her face as she set a course over to Logan and Griggs. The two saw her approaching, bruised and dirtied and they were thoroughly confused. Logan voiced as such, "Lass, did you not just leave minutes ago? What could have possibly turned you from your path?"
She gave him a weak smile, "It is a long story...Logan, can I join you on your expedition? I need to get stronger...Havel almost died because of me."
Logan studied her from under that Big Hat of his, "I...do not see any issue with such a request. You have proven yourself to be of a strong and imaginative mind." His lips creased, "But, I will not be lenient, nor held back, by you. I will teach you, and it will be your duty to learn, not mine. Do you understand?"
Valkyrie nodded while Griggs looked on, surprised, "I understand Master Logan...but I will need another catalyst, mine, ah...blew up." She blushed as she admitted to such a folly, knowing that such things are difficult to come by in this land.
Logan looked at her, with his eyebrow raised, "...Yes, you will most definitely be telling me this story of yours. Come, I have already packed plenty of food and drink. We set off now and will see about acquiring you a proper catalyst for the future," he stated as he stood up and brushed off the dirt, brokering no complaint.
Valkyrie could only sigh and nod, giving a parting wave and a copy of the bundle of scrolls to Griggs, she followed Logan, "Yes, of course Master Logan."
END CHAPTER
Sneaky: Poor Val, we are so hard on her. Ah well, 'tis Dark Souls after all! So now I know, some of you are once more shaking your heads(if you even got to this point) and have some complaint or another about *censored by maxforce* ...Fuck you to max.
Max: If you want to insult me, at least use proper grammar.
EDIT: Max:So, as you can see, not a lot of major edits to this chapter. We will now be moving away from the somewhat quick updates to far slower updates. Sorry about that. But, rewrites and revisions don't take as long as lore-digging and story-telling do.
Sneaky: And college. And jobs. And life. Don't worry though! We have no plans of abandoning this story(or improving my grammar/spelling)
OMAKES
Over the Mountain
She stared at him, waiting for an answer. When none came she decided to see what made him stop...by jumping up and then walking right over him, now standing in front of him.
"Did...did you just walk over me?" Havel asked, shocked out of his stupor.
Welcome to Oolacile
Havel and Valkyrie were exploring Oolacile, currently inspecting a tower with two rickety floors. They heard a wailing noise, the noise that usually preceded a red spirit showing up. Havel quickly stepped to the door, his shield up and head swiveling back forth as the invasion was completed.
DARK SPIRIT 1R0NxM4N_TURTL3 HAS INVADED!
A hammer came smashing down on Havel's shield, pushing him back slightly. The red spirit at the end of it looked at the two, shaking his head in disgust. "Hey, quit using your boyfriend as a fucking shield!" he yelled at Valkyrie, assuming her to be the host of this world.
Valkyrie pouted, "But he makes such a good shield!"
The Spirit nodded, "Fair enough." And proceeded to roll off the ledge. Valkyrie joined him.
Hi-Ho, Calamity!
"Wait, wait, wait...Kalameet is here?" Havel asked.
"Yes, he is. Right down in that valley, in fact," Artorias answered, pointing through the entrance of the coliseum. "Why?"
Havel looked at the entrance, back to the group, and then back to the entrance, before walking towards. "I'll just be a minute," he said, disappearing from a view after a minute.
A few moments later, Artorias, Shard, and Ciaran heard the roar of a dragon. "Kalameet!" Artorias exclaimed, looking up to see the figure of the black dragon circling over them. "He never comes here! Why now?"
Kalameet roared again, coming in for a dive. At the last second, his wings flared and he landed gently, staring at Artorias. Ciaran and Shard were both ready with their respective weapons, glaring at Kalameet, when Havel suddenly popped up from behind Kalameet's head. "Alright, got us a new ride!" he said, clapping his hands together as if he were dusting them off.
"How...why...when?" Artorias couldn't quite find the right question to ask, as Havel rode off into the sudden sunset.
Doki Doki
She stilled, and coughed into one hand, "Ahem, ah. Havel...is..is Artorias seeing anyone?"
"Yes, actually. She's a master assassin. Who can make it look like a kitten killed you with a spoon. Why do you ask?"
"Ah, is she, uh...important?"
"Important as in…?"
"Would anyone miss her if she suddenly...disappeared?"
"I don't like the turn of this conversation…"
Tens All Around
Havel looked back to the door to see a small, petite figure walk through the dissipating fog, staring at the ground, her blonde hair tied into a braided ponytail, the blue cloth she wore swaying slightly with her movement. She apparently wasn't watching her feet, as she stumbled on Havel's helmet. She did two tumbles before jumping into the air and doing a tucked somersault, landing on her feet, her arms raised. There came the sound of three set of hands clapping and she saw Havel, Shard, and even Artorias clapping. "I'd give that a ten!" Havel exclaimed. "What about you guys?"
"Impressive, indeed," Shard agreed, nodding. "Ten, as well."
"That's my girl!" Artorias cheered, whistling. "Ten from me!" Seeing as he had one working hand, he had to settle for just slapping his thigh repeatedly, rather than clap.
Ciaran blushed before taking a bow.
