Chapter 21:
Mission Accomplished
Dark souls is owned by From Software.
"Talking"
"Thoughts"
"Demon/deity speech"
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Patches grunted as he pushed a small boulder aside, revealing a small hole, "So," he panted, "I found these little beauties a little after I was dumped here". He scratched his nose, "No idea who made 'em, or why, but they're all over the catacombs".
Garret bent down, staring at the hole, which widened as it went deeper into the wall. "Hmm," he looked over his shoulder, "Any ideas, Havel?"
Havel hummed, "…I think those tunnels were used by Lord Nito's servants in the old days".
Patches frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Well, before everything went to shit, Lord Nito and his followers preserved these graves," he gestured around them, "And you've seen how insane it is to move around".
Garret nodded, "So he devised a series of tunnels to make his servants' tasks that much easier. Smart".
Patches clapped his hands, "Right! Well, I can certainly lead you," he pointed to Garret, "Back to that Vamos fellow," he turned to Havel, "You though…"
Havel waved his hand, "I'm too large, I know," he pulled out a homeward bone; "Let's just get this over with".
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Dusk wrung her hands tightly, "Are you sure they are okay?"
Solaire gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder (before taking a quick swig of Estus) "I'm sure they are fine—although I am beginning to regret summoning you here, if only because of how worried you look".
Beatrice scowled, "We shouldn't have let them leave on their own".
Rhea shook her head, "Miss Beatrice, we were too injured, we would not have been of much use".
Beatrice sharply turned to look at the priestess, "What do you mean 'we'?"
Siegmeyer cleared his throat, "Now, now, I think it would be best if we all just calmed down".
"Oh, I'm perfectly calm".
"Perhaps if you took a moment to pray".
Siegmeyer grunted as he gently grabbed Beatrice, holding her back.
"My dear," Solaire called out to Rhea, "you are not helping matters".
Oscar looked to his left when a long, suffering sigh caught his attention, "Something the matter".
The apathetic knight scowled slightly, "…You couldn't have brought them all somewhere else?"
Oscar shrugged, "This is the most safe place".
The knight's scowl deepened, "With how many of you there are, I doubt there isn't any place that isn't safe".
"…Well, my sister is the Firekeeper for this bonfire".
"Oh right," he rolled his eyes, resting his face on his hands, "Lucky me".
Oscar grunted, "It's not like we spend all our time here".
"No," the knight conceded. He then glared at the Beatrice and Rhea, the former actually managing to move towards the latter despite being held back by a stout Catarinan, "But that doesn't mean I have to like it".
Griggs did his best to ignore the bickering women just down the dilapidated stairs. He turned to Laurentius—whom he was making an effort to get to know, being the only other magic-user that stayed at Firelink. "So, who taught you Pyromancy?"
The Pyromancer cleared his throat, "W-well, Master Salaman was the one who introduced me to the arts".
Griggs hummed, "I believe I've heard Master Logan speak of him".
Laurentius snorted, "Nothing good I suppose".
Griggs shook his head, "No, actually," when Laurentius looked at the sorcerer, he shrugged, "He didn't have much to say, but he told me he found the man to be very fascinating, and if he wasn't already devoted to the mysteries of sorcery, he would have loved to travel with the man".
Laurentius smiled softly, "Master never did stay in one place for long".
Griggs opened his mouth to respond, but snapped it shut as loud splashes caught his attention.
Laurentius heard it as well, "Well, they'll be happy to know that they returned".
Griggs nodded silently, but gaped as he say the state of the man that walked by.
By the bonfire, Solaire heard heavy footfalls. He turned around, "Ah, th—By the sun!"
Everyone turned, staring wide-eyed at Havel.
He looked terrible. His armor was burned, and fragments of bone caught in between the stone plates or his armor. His shield had several old, rusted swords sunk in it. The head of his hammer had bits of skulls and ribs hanging off.
Beatrice pushed past Siegmeyer, running up to Havel, "What…?"
Havel grunted, "Ran into more trouble than expected".
Dusk swallowed nervously, looking past Havel.
"Don't bother," the bishop stated suddenly. He sat down in front of the bonfire; "I lost contact with Petrus and Garret after we were ambushed".
Solaire, Oscar, and Siegmeyer exchanged looks. "What ambush?" Oscar asked.
"A bunch of corpses raised by whatever had its grip on your artifact," he said, gesturing to the clerics.
Vince grimaced, "W-what happened to Petrus and Garret?"
Havel grunted, dusting of his hammer, "Don't know. Got separated and pushed down a cliff. Must have killed thirty of the things before reinforcements stopped coming. Tried to climb up, but the Cliffside couldn't support my weight. I used a homeward bone to escape".
Dusk gripped the hem of her dress, "And what of Garret?"
"And Petrus," Rhea added.
Havel shrugged, setting his hammer aside, "If they haven't arrived, I'd say they're still down there".
Vince grabbed his weapon, "Then we have to rescue them!"
"Don't be stupid, boy!" Havel growled, "The last thing we need is more people bumbling around the catacombs".
Siegmeyer hummed, "Then what do you recommend we do?"
"Garret's a resourceful young man," Havel rested a hand under his chin, "He'll think of something clever".
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"So, did you just stick bones on your lower jaw, are you're osteoblasts working overtime?"
"Ostewhat?"
"Cells in the body in charge of bone growth," Garret said without looking back.
"Ah," Patches hummed, "I still don't get it".
"Neither do I," Vamos grumbled as he hammered away at a piece of metal, "and I don't really care".
"But you've got to be curious?"
"I've got my craft, it's all I need," he looked over his shoulder, "And I thought you said you had something for me?"
Garret frowned slightly, "I don't have it on me, but I know where it can be found".
Vamos nodded, "Well, you can get back to me when you've found it".
Garret nodded, "Yeah, sure. By the way, you want to get out of here?"
Vamos stopped his work, turning around fully. He eyed Garret; "…You know I'm a skeleton, right?"
Garret scrunched his face, before his eyebrows shot up to his forehead, "Oh, god no!" he chose to ignore Patches snickering in the background, "I mean out of these catacombs".
"You've got a place in mind?"
"I know another blacksmith who—"
"Not happening," Vamos started to hammer once more.
"What?" Garret asked nonplussed.
"Ever heard of the phrase 'too many cooks ruin the soup'? Besides, I work best with an active pool of lava".
Garret bit his lip, "…Can you at least consider the possibility of moving? This," he gestured to the surroundings, "Is terribly inconvenient, you've got to admit".
Vamos grunted, "Bring that ember, then we'll talk".
Garret nodded, "Fair enough. One last thing, though," Vamos merely grunted, "Can I dip my clothes in one of your lava pools?"
Vamos slammed his hammer directly on the anvil, a harsh, loud clang reverberating through the room, his bones rattling due to the force.
"Why would you…Actually, never mind, I don't want to know".
Garret looked over his shoulder with a wide grin, "Aw, you're learning".
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Garret gave himself a once over, "Does it look convincing?"
Patches groaned, "Yes, you look like you've been through hell". He then brushed his hand over his tunic, which had deep gashes running along it, "But did you have to ruin my armor as well?"
Garret smirked, "You're supposed to have lead me to safety, and unless you have precognition, you'll have gotten hit".
Patches still grumbled.
"You could have died saving me".
The grumbling stopped.
"Now come on, we've got a bit of a show to put on".
Patches slumped his shoulders, but followed regardless.
After crossing the water filled floor, Garret took a moment to shake the wetness from his boots.
"Garret!"
Garret smiled softly as multiple heads whipped around. He waved, "Hey guys".
Griggs and Laurentius (being the closest) were the first ones to walk over. "By the gods," Griggs said, looking over his fellow sorcerer, "What happened to you?"
Garret shifted his gaze downwards, "That's…a bit of a tale".
By then the rest of his friends (and the clerics from Thorolund) had made it over.
Dusk covered her mouth with her hands, gasping, "What on earth?"
Garret shrugged, "Yeah, not the best time I've ever had".
Beatrice (who also had a stricken expression plastered on her face) noticed someone trudging behind Garret. She narrowed her eyes slightly, "You?"
Patches cleared his throat, "H-Hello all".
Rhea, Vince, and Nico looked past Garret and Patches, "Where is Petrus?" Rhea finally asked.
Patches wrung his hands while Garret stared at the ground. "Oh, right. Terrible shame what happened to him," the thief softly stated.
Rhea grimaced, "W-what happened?"
With a sigh, Garret brushed past his friends, sitting down in front of the bonfire. Patches chose to lean against a wall.
Garret pulled out his repairbox, "I assume Havel told you how we were ambushed?"
Several nods.
"Right, well," Garret let out a sigh as his armor returned to its normal state, "Petrus and I immediately ran for a wall, try and give us some breathing room, you know? Anyway, Petrus took the role of support, I did my best to take out the necromancers—we're low on firebombs by the way, might want to look into that".
"Anyway, then this giant skeleton—well, it wasn't really a skeleton, more like a really bony corpse—charged through the ranks. Petrus and me dodged out of the way, and we both went for its knees. It roared, actually moved my armor a bit from the force of it, and I shoved a few firebombs down its throat".
Garret picked through his satchel, "Dropped this, after the explosion blew out its throat" Garret removed his hand, revealing a black and red thing, which seemed to look like a hunched over human.
Vince, Nico, and Rhea immediately crowded around Garret, undisguised awe on their faces.
Oscar blinked, "Is that…?"
Garret shrugged, handing it over to Rhea, who held the item with trembling hands, "Petrus seemed to think so".
Siegmeyer hummed, "What happened to Petrus, though," he gestured to Patches, "And how did you two meet up?"
Garret grimaced, "Well, after grabbing this, Petrus and me decided that it might be a good idea to run. I started to rummage through my satchel, for a homeward bone, when I got hit in the head by something".
"It was a bunch of rocks a couple of arrows knocked loose".
Garret nodded, "You want to take over?"
Patches grunted, "Seeing as how you were knocked out, sure".
Patches squatted across the group, the shadows of the bonfire flickering across his body.
"Well, I was just doing what I always do; roaming around, scrounging up loot for my shop".
"Your shop?"
Patches smirked at Beatrice, "'Patches' Trusty Trove of Treasures', here for all your undead needs!"
Havel growled lowly.
Patches paled, loosening his collar, "Moving on…I heard all the commotion, but didn't think anything of it. The dead are particularly restless that deep in the catacombs, infighting I suppose. But then I heard a massive explosion, and I knew that there were actual people there".
"I ran as fast as I could to see if there was anything left worth saving, and low and behold, a cleric and sorcerer were standing above a burning corpse, just down a cliff. And then massive arrows hit just above them, a bunch of a rocks falling onto his," he gestured to Garret "head, knocking him out cold".
Patches sighed, "I rushed over to an outcrop just above the two, tossing a rope—along with a few firebombs at the monsters for good measure—down. I yelled down, 'Hurry up mate! Grab you're friend and I'll pull you up!'" A smirk ghosted its way onto his face, "Then, that cleric surprised me. He used that weird miracle—the one that pushes everyone back—and tied up Garret with the rope. He then shoves a bone and that red thing into Garret's hands, and tells me to pull…I didn't think twice".
All were silent as Patches finished the tale.
A chuckle then broke the hush, "Well what do you know, it really does exist…still, and all this does is prove how useless you clerics are".
Vince glared at the ever-smirking, apathetic knight; "Petrus gave his life for this!"
The knight nodded, "As did all those poor fools sent by the church, but who actually brought it back? An insane sorcerer and a shady salesman, along with the former's friends, of course," he chuckled once more, "Hell, they probably could have done it a lot faster, with no casualties, if they didn't have to babysit you lot".
Vince and Nico shot up, gripping their weapons.
"Oh," the knight grinned lowly, "Going to prove your worth by attacking a man with an opinion?"
"Vince, Nico, stop!" Rhea shouted.
The two young men looked back, bewildered, "He's blaspheming the church, our contemporaries!"
Rhea took a shuddering breath, "…And he may have a point".
Thirteen heads snapped towards Rhea. Dusk cleared her throat, "Miss Rhea, I believe you are being too hard on yourself".
"No princess," Rhea shook her head, "I am not". Rhea held her hands out towards Garret, "Please, Garret, take it. We are not worthy".
Garret moved his eyes between the rite and Rhea. He gulped, "…You sure?"
Rhea grabbed his hand, putting the Rite in his palm. "I'm sure," she said with a soft smile. She stood up, walking away.
Havel grunted, "Where are you going?"
Rhea stopped, turning to face the bishop. "…I am not fit for the rigors of this land, I can admit that. But I…I do want to live, beyond this curse, go back to Thorolund. Until such a time comes, I shall be in the parish above, praying for the souls of my fellow clerics, alive and dead".
She bowed deeply, "It was a pleasure, and I'm sure we shall meet again".
She marched for the elevators once more, stopping only to allow Vince and Nico to catch up (the two young men offering their own temporary good-byes as they passed the group).
After the trio left, the knight sighed, "That's three gone, thankfully".
"I think you mean four," Patches said.
The knight narrowed his eyes, "The big one's death is cancelled out by your arrival".
A/N: And done. Shorter than the last couple of chapters, but hey, what'll you do. At least the escort mission is done with. On to the depths! The rat-infested, basilisk crawling, pus filled depths (and Domnhall). Along with the (technical) introduction of one of the sadder storylines the Dark Souls series has to offer. Be sure to leave a review. Later