A/N: I had been working on this one offline and the file got corrupted… I had to start over in Drive, where I usually work, so I apologize for the massive delay and any oddities in this particular chapter.


-The Abyss-

Seiko felt dizzy from the height she fell from, suddenly hitting something solid as if she'd only fallen a few feet. The blackness was disorienting, it was so complete. Seiko looked down and could still clearly see herself, which struck her as even stranger. She spun, looking around for the enemies she had expected. Not a single thing in sight. Seiko turned around again. Now there was a silvery figure practically right next to her. She threw a punch at it, thinking it was one of the Four Kings. Her fist never reached the man, which threw her off. With her fist to compare, suddenly the man seemed distant. Seiko blinked.


BRS TV: Blue Flames, composed by Hiromi Kikuta. The official short version will do.


Suddenly this silvery, robed figure was right next to her, floating at waist level. It looked down at Seiko, and she could feel an aura from the thing that made her feel even smaller. With a sweep of its fist, Seiko was thrown tumbling through the air. She noticed that she didn't feel as though she were falling down, only spinning in place. She righted herself and her feet touched the nothing, allowing her to stand. Perplexed, but leaving her questions for later, Seiko readied a Fireball and threw it at the King as it approached to follow up. The flames burst on its chest, a direct hit. The King flinched from the intensity, but swept an arm through the flames and aimed a palm at Seiko. A purple Soul Spear shot from its hand right at her. Seiko rolled to the side, coming to her feet with her flames at the ready.

The King was ready for her next few Fireballs, dodging and swaying aside, sweeping its arms at her and launching magic attacks to counter. Once, it swept an arm at her, palm open, and she tried to stop the attack. Seiko caught the arm at the wrist, trying to hold her ground. She slid over the blackness, pushed aside, unable to gain much traction and stop the arm. Before it lifted out of reach, Seiko hauled off and punched the King's wrist. The King moved away from her, cradling the arm, It appeared to slouch, and Seiko advanced to press her advantage.

Magic exploded from the King in a wide sphere, blasting Seiko backwards. She landed on her back, her ears ringing, but she managed to get over the disorientation and stand. She prepared to throw a Chaos Fireball, seeing the King immobile. Her grin of confidence turned into shock and pain as she felt magic burn through every fiber in her body. A wave of it passed through her from behind, a Soul Spear from another King that had appeared from nowhere. Seiko stumbled, her skin prickling with a thousand needles and numbness. She turned, and spotted a third King as she spun, one that hadn't noticed her yet.

Four of these…?! No way…

The second King approached her slashed at her with a blade of magic. Seiko raised her left arm to somehow shield herself. The magic burned away part of the gauntlet and some of the armor on her shoulder, but the armor did its job and saved her life. The force of the attack knocked Seiko into a sitting position. She thrust her right palm forward as the King bent low, shooting Chaos Fire right into its eye. The intense flames spiraled through its head and out the back of its skull. Without another action, the King sank into the black Abyss, breaking apart into white mist.

Seiko didn't have a moment to appreciate the victory as she felt a massive hand try to close around her. She scrambled through the fingers, but in the process the ring of Artorias, slightly too big for her thin fingers, slipped off. On reaction, Seiko managed to catch it in her right hand, but the second it was off her finger, the Abyss seized her. All of a sudden, black smoke seemed to be forcing its way into her through her ears, her eyes, nose, and mouth. With her free hand, she clawed at her throat, suffocating. The first, injured King, scooped her up easily in her mortal distress.


The world went quiet. No Estus for her wounds, no way to drink if she had it, and if she failed the Abyss would be set free because of her. Her failure. There was pain, of course. Certainly worse than drowning, for the Abyss was invading more than her body. She squeezed the ring in her right, gauntleted hand, so tightly that the gem became unbound from the metal as it bent in her grip. If even her tear ducts were free from the press of the darkness, she would have cried. Her grip gave out. She stopped clawing at her throat to try and breathe. She could feel herself dying.

Her teachers went through her head. Eingyi and the Fair Lady briefly, but mostly on Quelaana. Her memories flashed before her. Neither the Princess of Sunlight and her task, nor the Chosen Undead she wanted to help were her concern anymore. In one irrational, dying thought, to Seiko it would be Quelaana she would fail.


"Unofficial Super Saiyan God Goku Theme" by The Enigma TNG


Another into the fold…

She felt the words more than heard them. She realized it was some wordless will of the Abyss that spoke to her. She felt a vastness and a hunger unlike anything she thought possible.

Another? she called back.

You are not the first of your blood to serve. You will be the last.

Serve? My blood…?

You are a shadow of your father. Hardly worth our power.

Seiko's grip tightened.

My father defeated you once before. If he could, why couldn't I?

She could feel all of the Abyss laugh at and deride her.

The small gem in her hand shattered under the pressure of her tightening fist.

Don't you… Make a fool of me…

Daughter of the enemy, you've made a fool of yourself to come here. We are the Abyss - timeless and boundless. You are a single Undead, branded by the curse that could not sink into the flesh of your parents. You are weak.

You don't know me.

More derision.

What is my name?

Silence and stillness.

You think you know me, but you don't even know my name.

Blue flames sparked on her fist, and Seiko tensed up in the grip of the injured King.

You have a will. I can feel it now. But so do I. If I am to find my purpose, I can't allow myself to be swallowed up by you or your lies!

Seiko, on instinct, came to the conclusion that she had no reason to press her flame to her chest to use Carmina's Pyromancies. It was simply a trick those ill-suited for her techniques could use to make them easier. In the back of her mind, somewhere subconscious and free from verbal expression, she realized why Carmina's student hadn't grasped Carmina's genius.

Immolation and Power Within flared up together, burning the fingers right off the King's hand. Seiko hit the nothing with Abyss jetting from her mouth, nose, and eyes. The Dark fused with her flames, tinging it with black streaks. Whatever had allowed the ring to shield her was within her. Excess Abyss was being expelled, but what her body could now handle was anchored to her by the same force. It seeped into her Pyromancy as it had tried to consume her soul, changing it forever. Physical Pyromancy was now something innate to her flames, as Dark Sorcery also had a physical presence.

Suddenly her eyes were clear. The flow of her flames flowering at her feet and rising pushed up her bundled robes and her free-hanging hair as if a wind blew from beneath her. Her blue eyes seemed to glow brighter than ever. She raised a hand as if to form a Fireball, and part of her Immolation spiraled into her hand to shape it. She threw the ball, blue Chaos Pyromancy even under Power Within. The flames splashed over the injured King's chest, burning away its form unevenly and causing it to shatter.

Seiko spun to see the third King she'd noticed earlier rushing forward, a magic blade like the second King's held over its head. With the added strength from Power Within, Seiko leapt aside, easily dodging. Her feet hit nothing and she pushed forward, planting a flaming fist in the King's face. The force bent the King, allowing her to stand on its head as it fell. With her left hand, her whole body wreathed in flames from Immolation, she struck with rigged fingers. Trace amounts of Abyss joined her flames as the burrowed into the forehead of her enemy, and the third King's head exploded in blue and black fire.

Seiko jumped off the King as it fell and shattered, landing. The last of the Four Kings had appeared and was approaching. Seiko let go of Immolation and focused her flames with both hands, using her Flame Arrow as she had against the hydra, blasting it at the King. She fired several shots, feeling their drain on her acutely. In another few seconds, Power Within could kill her, another fact she knew very well. The King, approaching from afar, dodged her flames and threw a spell of its own. Seiko dodged and undid Power Within, breaking out in a cold sweat almost immediately.

The King kept coming, firing a much slower spell that homed in on Seiko. Seiko waited until the spell drew close before dodging. She rolled, and found that she didn't have the strength to come to her feet out of the roll. She knelt, squinting, struggling to keep her eyes open, gripping consciousness with an iron will. The King raised a blade of magic to strike her down. Seiko reached up with her left hand and thin, black chains tore from her bare skin, digging into the wrist of the King. With a yank, she barely diverted the blade. She quickly raised her hand again and fired these Abyss chains into the cheek of the King, pulling it.

With the last of her strength, Seiko pulled the King close. She reached out with her right hand as she yanked back with her left, fingers rigid and flaming, implanting the last Pyromancy she had just under its eye.

Mission… Accomplished…


Seiko awoke to the warmth of a bonfire. She opened her eyes… Or so she thought until she saw nothing but black. Afraid she'd gone blind, she bolted upright, sitting on nothing. She could see her feet, and a lit bonfire to her right. Her armor was still missing a left gauntlet and shoulder, but there were no Kings in sight. Seiko removed her other gauntlet, looking at the ring Siegmeyer had given her. The small pink gem glittered in the firelight, and Seiko wondered if the ring had somehow saved her. She replaced her gauntlet and started to turn toward the fire when she heard a strange clacking noise behind her.

Seiko spun around and her eyes met with a horrible monster rising out of the depths of the Abyss. A green-skinned serpent with large red eyes, no lips to cover its big, flat teeth, and strange tentacles that almost looked like a moustache. The strange thing spoke to her.

"I never thought I'd see this - a will to rival the Abyss. You are a powerful woman to have felled the Four Kings. I am Darkstalker Kaathe, Primordial Serpent. If it is your wish, I will share with you the terrible truth of this world and the task given to you by those in Anor Londo."

"I'm Seiko… What truth? I'm in no mood for more stupid tricks."

"The truth of my words may be something you would rather see for yourself, but allow me to place you on the path to discover it. You do not possess the Lordvessel, so I assume you have been sent on behalf of the 'Chosen Undead?'"

"You say that like you're skeptical."

"As you should be. There is no 'chosen' one to end this cycle. Kingseeker Frampt, Goddess Velka, and Darksun Gwyndolin have deceived many like you. They seek to prolong this Age of Fire, for their benefit. They fear the passage of man."

"Why would such powerful- I mean, I've heard of them, but- Why would they fear humans?"

"It is the nature of the Dark Soul, the basis of Humanity, to split and grow. Even now, you are within its influence."

"The Abyss? Humanity is part of this?"

"In a way."

"Then they're right to fear it! If this is what comes from Humanity, who wouldn't fear it?"

"And yet the Abyss now lives within you. And with your appearance, either you've never died or you have made use of the Dark to strengthen yourself before."

"Restoring my Humanity…?"

"Indeed. Or have you never noticed how much more resilient you are as a human?"

Seiko was quiet.

"With the spread of the Abyss, and the growth of the Dark Soul, man would become the rulers of the land. The Lords of old feared to lose their power, to be subjugated by the very creatures they used as slaves. What you find yourself a part of is a cycle of death and fading light, a plot to forever keep the First Flame lit. It is one of the few things that remains constant across the bounds of the many worlds. But just as countless Undead rush to their doom as kindling, even one of you could end the cycle for good… By taking the Flame for your own, snuffing it out entirely."

"And you want me to do that?"

"That is a choice you must make on your own. If not you, someday someone else will at last recognize the truth and rise to be the Dark Lord."

"Is there no other way to break the cycle? To forever keep the flame lit, or to save everyone from the Abyss?"

"As of yet, no. Even still, the passage of The Dark will come. Those not suited to it, or those not strong enough to withstand it, will be snuffed out, just as the flame they so worship. As a Pyromancer, you must understand the need of fearing the flames."

"That's not what Quelaana's teaching means. Don't twist her words to suit your purpose. I'll keep your 'truth' in mind, but I have no reason to trust you… I don't get the feeling I should, either… Now, if you'll excuse me."

Black clouds gathered around her, to lift her out of the Abyss at her direction. As she rose back toward the opening she'd fallen through, Kaathe spoke one last time.

"To fully understand, you must bring to me the Lordvessel, Gwyn's heirloom. With it, you will prove that the truth becomes you, and earn the right to become the true Lord of Darkness."


Seiko emerged from the tower, restored by the bonfire and troubled by what Kaathe had said. She barely crossed the thin stone bridge to the other side before Ingward stepped in front of her.

"I'm sorry, young Undead, but you harbor the Abyss. I cannot allow you to leave before I reinvoke the seal."

"You mean drown me?!"

Ingward raised his arms, catalyst in his right hand. Seiko felt the hairs all over her body stand on end, and a rush of power through the air.

"Wait! I know the Abyss has affected me, but it's not a danger! I promise! It's barely there at all!"

Ingward didn't stop. The sluice gates shut and water started pouring in from the ground level.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, "But even the smallest fragment can swallow a nation. Even Lord Gwyn himself feared it. And only Artorias was able to stop it. Unless you can prove, quickly, that I should let you go, the Abyss will be sealed here and now, and us with it."

Seiko held out her hands, palms up, and manifested the shard of Gwyn's soul.

"I beat them! I stopped it! Look!"

"No… You cannot feel it as I do. The Abyss is alive still, tied to another."

"Kaathe…?"

Ingward didn't make any sign he understood or didn't.

"Kaathe! It's Kaathe!" She had to yell over the rushing water now.

"What is Kaathe?"

"Some huge snake. He had a title, but I wasn't paying attention… He wants me to betray you all, and take the Lordvessel. He wants me to put out the flame. But I won't do it. Please, I promise."

Ingward's demeanor was just as much a mask as the metal that hid his face. Water seeped over the ledge they were standing near. The rate at which the chamber was filling slowed now that the water had more places to go.

"You are asking me to risk the world. To trust you with the very thing I have dedicated my life to keeping hidden in just one place. Either way, I must invoke the seal. I have not the power to both stop you and fill the chamber. All the more reason, now that I know a Primordial Serpent has tied itself to the Abyss."

The water was halfway up Seiko's shins. She was speechless.

"I won't make the decision. If you make it out before the chamber fills, so be it, but I will pour my very soul into filling the chamber as quickly as I-"

Seiko didn't hear the rest. She lept up onto a ledge above and ran with all she had.


A/N: Before I could bring myself to finish this, Re:Zero aired its 15th episode, and CircusP released "Deja Vu." Inspiration is an unspeakable thing. Because of those two works, the last piece I was missing for my fourth book fell into place. Now 1-4 are completely ready for me to write them. Rereading Kell of Light, and looking over this, I feel I'm ready at last… None of you know how tempting it is to just drop everything and get started. But I can't. I won't. I have my word to keep, and I don't want to look back years from now on these two stories and regret not finishing them… I'll try to get back on my weekly schedule, but I've got company coming to stay from his Friday through next, so I doubt I'll release more until the week after that. Sorry...