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"The armor was always meant to be a replica, but now, thanks to your incompetence, so will have to be the shield. Thankfully, the original helmet and sword were retreived by a dear friend, a man more capable than you in all aspects."
"Is that supposed to make me jealous? Because it's not making me feel anything in particular, other than boredom. And also a bit hungry, for some reason."
"Silence that insolent mouth of yours! You should be grateful that I, once again, found a way to make up for your mistakes."
"Yeah, I guess you are right about that, luv... then again, I think I'm more grateful to whatever blacksmith crafted this little piece! Just look at this beauty of a shield! It looks nothing like a replica to me! Which makes me wonder, why the hell did you send me to retrieve the original when—"
"It was my Lord's command. He wanted the original sword, shieId and helmet. I do not question his reasons, and if you appreciate your life, neither shall you."
"...Were you always this much of a naggin old hag, or did someone piss in your morning ale today?"
"Enjoy your idiotic jests while you can. You have a mission, hyena. You know what you must do; now, take all this and go. Do not fail me or my Lord again."
"Fine, fine! I'm going! Bloody hell, I at least hope this poor idiot has a more interesting conversation to offer than you, luv. Unless this fool is a Hollow too! Oh, Hollows... how boring you all are!"
The Hollows had perished swiftly.
Only their carbonized corpses remained.
The fire from the coiled sword burned as fiercely as Oscar's anger.
One last enemy stood in his way.
The crossbow-wielding Hollow aimed at him and took the shot.
Oscar repelled the attack with his shield, just as he had done with the many arrows that were now scattered on the floor.
His refined accuracy and agility made no impression on the creature; completely unintimidated by Oscar , the Hollow aimed again, unaware that the knight had already started running directly towards it, with his burning fire sword ready to end its miserable existence.
Soon, they were merely a few steps away from each other.
Solaire.
The memory of his friend sharpened Oscar's senses. He would kill the Hollow with a single blow.
The cut would be quick, clean and lethal.
Then, it all would be over, and Oscar would finally be free to return to Solaire's side.
The Hollow growled in frustration when the arrow was yet again deflected by the shield.
Perish!
"... you foul creature!" a booming voice roared from above. It shattered Oscar's focus. He feared the Hollow would seize the chance to end his life, but the owner of the voice destroyed the enemy with the plummeting power of his weight and sword.
The impact the newcomer made when his heavily armored body touched the ground created a tremor that shook the floor underneath.
Oscar barely had time to stop his feet before he crashed against the strange knight. He almost tripped and fell to his knees, but he managed to keep his balance by digging one of his heels on the rocky ground.
"I, Siegmeyer of Catarina, shall not let you hurt anyone else again!" The knight exclaimed, blinded by the frenzy of battle. He retired his gigantic greatsword from the Hollow's mangled corpse and turned around.
His gaze, slightly hidden behind the slit of his round helmet, fell directly upon Oscar.
His offensive stance didn't falter.
Oscar needn't see his eyes to know what the knight's intentions were. To him, Oscar was nothing but another Hollow, an insane monster that had to be cut down.
Oscar readied his stance.
He wouldn't escape the fight.
If the knight of Catarina was incapable of keeping his battle instincts in check and see that Oscar was not his enemy, then he left him no choice.
Oscar would kill him too, as mercilessly and quickly as he had done with the Hollows.
There was no other way.
Every second Oscar wasted in his presence could cost Solaire his life.
Forgive me, but I have to.
Oscar thought, wishing fervently that his hollowed face hadn't made an enemy out of the proud Catarina knight.
Knights of Catarina were among the most honorable, loyal and brave, and they often proved to be invaluable allies and friends.
I wish our meeting had been different. I do not want to do this, but I must save my friend. I am sorry, knight of Catarina. I truly am.
"Halt!" The Catarina knight exclaimed, spreading his arm forwards with an open hand. "Astoran knight, I do not wish to fight you. Your face tells me you are already half consumed by the Hollowing, but your actions show me that you're mind remains sane. You fight with an elegance and prowess no proper of a Hollow... but I need to be sure. Do you understand what I'm saying? Are you still capable of rational thought and speech?"
Slightly taken aback, Oscar felt his battle instincts slowly going numb. The coiled sword lost its engulfing flame and returned to be a scorched piece of metal.
Oscar focused.
He couldn't let his guard down more than he already had. The Catarina knight may have stopped being an enemy, but Oscar had no reason to believe his intentions were pure.
"I am." He replied, trying to make his voice sound as normal as he could, but its demonic undertone could not be silenced.
He feared it would scare the knight and turn him hostile against him, but the knight of Catarina gave no signs of being particularly shocked by the abnormal sound of his voice. Instead, he immediately relaxed his stance, leaving himself exposed to any of Oscar's potential attacks.
"I'm glad! I knew you were not like those creatures. I knew it from the very start... well, maybe it took me some time to get to that conclusion, but now I'm sure of it. It's a pleasure to meet you, knight of Astora. Perhaps you already picked up my name from my less than discreet scream from earlier, but allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Siegmeyer of Catarina, and I have come to this land to quench my thirst for adventure and—Hey, wait! Where are you off to?"
Oscar didn't answer. By the time the question reached him, he had already left the Catarina knight behind.
He had no time for idle talk or introductions.
The Catarina knight would not attack him, that was all he needed to know.
Oscar secured his crest shield on his back and sheathed the coiled sword on his belt. Before he knew it, he already was back to Solaire's side.
Solaire's eyes were shut, his lips moving softly, speaking a quiet and senseless blabbering that Oscar couldn't understand. His injured arm was glued to his chest; the blood sprouting from the blistered skin had painted the yellow sun on his tunic into a dirty crimson.
"I'm here, Solaire." Oscar said soothingly, grabbing Solaire's healthy arm. "I'm here."
"Hmm? Oh... Oh! I know this man!"
Oscar's heart skipped a beat and he turned around defensively, his hand ready to remove the coiled sword from his belt and use it to stab the intruder.
His shocked nerves lost their edge when the enemy turned out to be none other than the knight of Catarina. He had followed Oscar all the way back to Solaire; how Oscar hadn't heard his footsteps and the clinking of his enormous armor disconcerted him for a moment.
Either the knight was incredibly guile and agile, or Oscar had been so eager to return to Solaire that he had become numb to his surroundings.
"Solaire! My friend, it's good to see you again." Said the knight of Catarina, Siegmeyer if Oscar remembered correctly. "Do you remember me? We shared some Estus soup on our way here and then—By the lords!"
Siegmeyer gasped in horror. Before Oscar could say anything, Siegmeyer was already kneeling right to his side.
"What happened to him?!" Siegmeyer asked without hiding his concern for Solaire. He leaned closer to him. "A dragon wound! Oh no, no, no. I'm truly sorry, Solaire. I can only imagine the pain you're in. Here, at least let me help you with this."
"Don't touch him!" Oscar snapped at Siegmeyer. He held Siegmeyer by the wrist before he could get his hand closer to Solaire.
"Relax, knight of Astora." Siegmeyer said. His calmness made Oscar feel some shame for his reaction, but he refused to let him go. "I merely want to pour some Estus on his wound. I have no intention to hurt him. He is my friend as much as he is yours."
Oscar, regretful of his brashness, released Siegmeyer and allowed him to heal Solaire. It required their combined efforts to separate Solaire's arm from his chest.
"My sun, my sun!"
"Hold him, knight!" Siegmeyer urged Oscar as Solaire's erratic trashing almost ended up with his Estus flask shattered on the floor. "Just for a moment more! I've already poured half of the Estus!"
"Solaire!" Oscar steeled his body and soul and grabbed Solaire's wrecking healthy arm and force it to stay still. "You've got to hang on! You will be fine soon, I promise."
"My sun." Solaire whimpered, his eyes finally relaxing and opening. The blue of his irises was blunted by the blood around them. "My... sun."
"Easy." Oscar said, gently putting Solaire's limp arm down and resting a hand on his agitated shoulder. "Everything will be alright. We are not going to abandon you."
"There!" Siegmeyer announced. He held Solaire's injured arm until the effects of the elixir began to show.
Slowly, a semblance of lucidity returned to Solaire's face.
"Oscar? Is that you?"
"Yes." Oscar couldn't suppress a smile. It was however, too soon for celebrations. "Let's get going. Come on, just one last effort."
"No... let's rest for a moment." Solaire insisted, still quite disoriented by his fever. He hugged his burned arm and closed his eyes. "One minute more Oscar, that's all I need."
"I'm sorry." Oscar said, remorsefully preparing himself to carry Solaire again, no matter how much his friend asked for the opposite. "We can't."
Siegmeyer intervened just as Oscar was about to grab Solaire's arm.
"I'll carry him."
"No, I can take care of him."
"I know you could." Siegmeyer said, standing up together with Solaire. "But you can't expect me to stay here and do nothing. It's obvious you two have endured enough; please, allow me to lend you a hand. Not to worry, I'll be careful with him."
Oscar stood up as well. Though genuinely grateful to Siegmeyer for his selfless assistance, he felt uneasy at leaving Solaire under his care.
Despite all their qualities, the knights of Catarina were also infamous for being clumsy and bumbling.
Though it was nothing more than a foolish prejudice born from the constant mockery they received because of their peculiar looking armors, Oscar couldn't quite silence the fears in his heart.
He then remembered how cleanly Siegmeyer had dispatched the Hollow. There had been little elegance in his entrance, but his movements had been precise and calculated, and there certainly had been nothing clumsy about them.
Oscar chided himself, and for the first time, he felt a sense of trust towards the Catarina knight.
"Thank you, Siegmeyer."
A simple nod was his answer. Then, as if reading his thoughts and sharing his sense of urgency, Siegmeyer started to walk, his steps careful but quick.
"Follow me, Oscar." He said. "There's a bonfire nearby. I'll take you there. There we can heal Solaire."
Though not used to being the receptor of orders, Oscar didn't contradict Siegmeyer and immediately did as he had told him.
He went to Solaire's side and offered him as much support as he could without further injuring his blistered arm.
Solaire was barely conscious, but still he tried his best to keep his feet moving so that Siegmeyer wasn't forced to drag his limp body. His endurance was outstanding, no less impressive than his strength.
Oscar wondered what had ever kept him from joining the elite knights.
Granted, Solaire's battle style, from what Oscar had seen, was far from perfect, but his flaws were more the natural results of self-training than the consequences of a lack of skill. Under the right tutelage, his whole potential could have easily been unlocked.
Your skills could have equaled mine.
Why hadn't Solaire been given the chance when it had been granted to Oscar?
Was there really a gap so big between Solaire's skills and his own?
Or maybe it's just as Petrus said. It was not my skill which got me into the elites, but my birth.
The thought stung more than it should.
Siegmeyer guided them through an open corridor that led to an abandoned building, an old church that paled in comparison with its counterpart.
"We are close now. The bonfire's downstairs." Siegmeyer announced.
Oscar reacted at his hopeful announcement, and he immediately abandoned his musings about the customs of his homeland.
How Oscar could allow such trivial and insignificant things bother him when Solaire was in so much pain was shameful beyond belief.
Oscar steadied his hold on Solaire's shoulder as they entered the old church.
His past was lost and mostly forgotten.
At that moment, nothing mattered except Solaire, and Oscar would not help him by pondering about the injustices that had been inflicted against him back in Astora.
You are a true knight, Solaire.
Oscar though as he stared at Solaire's growingly pale semblance.
You know this, right?
"Hang in there, Solaire. Your pain will be over soon, you'll see." Siegmeyer said as he and Oscar helped him down an old set of wooden stairs.
Solaire gave them no answer, and both knights hastened their steps, both equally worried about their mutual friend.
The stairs seemed never-ending. Oscar thought he would succumb to distress, but the sizzling of the bonfire's embers burned away his fears.
It didn't take long for the soothing warmth stored in the room to comfort his body. It offered him relief, but Solaire remained unresponsive and silent.
"Siegmeyer, there you are! I thought you were already gone and that you had forgotten your things here. I served myself some of that soup you prepared, I hope you don't mind." A man greeted them. Oscar looked at him from the corner of his eye.
A rough looking, bearded old fellow, muscular and big. He was sitting with his legs crossed right before the bonfire, holding his own Estus flask in his raised hand as if he was making a toast.
"Your friends, I assume? Well, it's always nice to see new faces around here."
Oscar could clearly see how the stranger's smile disappeared as soon as his eyes inspected his face.
"A Hollow!" He stood up and glared at Oscar. His stare softened when he looked at Solaire. "His arm! Siegmeyer, what the hell happened, for Gwyn's sake?!"
"I'll explain later, Andre." Siegmeyer said as he and Oscar gently laid Soilare in front of the bonfire and moved his arm as close to the flames as possible.
It took a moment for Solaire to react again. During that whole time, Oscar could feel Andre's penetrating and distrustful eyes resting on him.
"Siegmeyer, this man—"
"He's not Hollow." Siegmeyer said. "Oscar's a brave knight, his heart and mind are sane and pure. You needn't worry about him at all. It's this man who now needs our help the most."
"Aye, that arm of his is in awful shape." Andre conceded. He knelt next to Oscar, and while he could still sense some level of wariness against him, Andre's attention was exclusively directed at Solaire. "That damned Hellkite dragon really made a number on him. You pathetic, foolish man."
"Shut up!" Oscar exclaimed. Andre recoiled at the sound of his voice and jolted away from him, falling on his back. "I won't allow you to address him that way. He's not foolish or pathetic, he is a proud Warrior of Sunlight and a knight of Astora! If you're not going to help him and you've got nothing more to offer other than some petty insults, then step aside and stay quiet."
"Now, why we don't we all calm down and—" Siegmeyer started, in a pitiful attempt to keep the peace.
Oscar ignored him. He stood up and stared at Andre, who looked at him from the floor with an astonished expression. Disdainfully, Oscar turned his back on him. He wouldn't waste his time in that old fool.
Instead, he searched inside his bag for the piece of Humanity that would save Solaire's life.
"Ah, Humanity!" Siegmeyer observed, his voice still trembling with the lingering shock Oscar's reaction had caused in him. "Yes, well thought, Oscar. Solaire will need all the Humanity he can get. We don't want him to go Hollow after he dies and—"
"He won't die." Oscar said.
"What are you saying?" Siegmeyer was perplexed. "The bonfire has already acknowledged his existance. He can now be reborn from its ashes. I don't understand, I thought you wanted to heal his wound!"
"And I will." Oscar continued, reaching the Humanity closer to the bonfire.
"Wait, what are you—"
"I'm kindling the bonfire. It'll make the fire burn strongly enough to heal Solaire. This way, he doesn't have to die."
"But a dragon's wound never heals!" Siegmeyer insisted, getting in Oscar's way. "Oscar, you can't possibly think this will work!"
"It will." Oscar said, feeling exasperated at Siegmeyer's defiance. It may have been well-intentioned and born out of an honest concern for Solaire, but that didn't make it any less annoying. "Please, move aside."
"But... but—"
Oscar was about to reinforce his statement with a much harsher and even threatening tone when a hand grabbed him tightly by the shoulder. Oscar turned his head around right towards Andre; the neutral expression he had been trying to maintain for Siegmeyer quickly turned sour as his eyes became fixed on the elderly man.
Andre didn't react to his defiant expression, and he merely strengthened his grasp on Oscar.
"Siegmeyer is right, Oscar." He said, and Oscar didn't appreciate his name being spoken so casually by a man that did not know him; the same man that had insulted Solaire. "I've been Undead for far too long. Trust me when I tell you that, in all my years, I have never witnessed a bonfire heal a wound inflicted by dragon's fire, no matter how kindled it may be. You'll only be wasting a fine piece of Humanity, and Solaire's pain will not be any less agonizing than it is now."
"Don't say our names! Besides, I never asked for your advice." Oscar tried to brush his hand off him, but Andre refused to let him go.
Incensed by the constant confrontation, Oscar began to suspect the whole situation would descend into chaos and aggression.
He made one last attempt to keep the peace, if only for Solaire's sake.
"A cleric from Thorolund shared this information with me. I know what I'm doing. I don't need the guidance of neither of you."
"You obviously do, you impudent child." Andre said. His hand on Oscar's shoulder became heavier, almost oppressing. He forced Oscar to turn around completely and face him. "Do you think you know better merely because some cleric shared the secret of kindling with you? Well, did he tell you that the ritual doesn't work if it is performed by someone heavily marked by the Hollowing? It's already difficult for a normal Undead to accomplish it; a half-Hollow man like you has no chance! Well, elite knight? Did he tell you this? Do you still think it's a good idea? Are you still willing to risk wasting a Humanity on this fool's errand?"
Oscar's anger finally exploded, and it found a perfect outlet in Andre. He attempted to deliver a crushing blow to his nose. The blow would blind and disorient him long enough for Oscar to kindle the bonfire without more of his relentless meddling.
Who did that old fool think he was?
Why did he insist in prolonging Solaire's pain?
Did he want Solaire to go Hollow?
What made him think he knew better than Oscar?
Petrus.
The cruel and mocking sneer of the cleric numbed Oscar's senses and changed the course of his thoughts.
What had made Oscar think Petrus had been honest with him?
What had made him trust the cleric's empty and treacherous advice so fervently?
To add insult to injury and more confusion to his mind, Siegmeyer intervened yet again.
"Oscar, please listen to Andre. I know not exactly what you are trying to accomplish by feeding Humanity to the bonfire, but it will not work. There's only way for Solaire to heal and you know this as well as we do. He has to die and—"
The word released Oscar from his baffled paralysis.
"No! I won't let that happen!" Oscar managed to escape Andre's grasp. He back away from the two traitors, keeping the Humanity close to him in case either tried to steal it from him.
Had that been their plan all along?
Yes... yes of course.
Oscar should have known it was too good to be true. No one would have aided him and Solaire so selflessly without some hidden foul play in between. Oscar had been an idiot for trusting Siegmeyer in the first place, and he had been even a bigger idiot for allowing Andre to make him doubt his judgement.
It was all a trick.
Oscar knew what he was doing. His mind was sane. The Humanity inside him was scarce but strong. He was a sentient Undead, not a paranoid half-Hollow.
The Humanity in his hands didn't belong to Siegmeyer, or Andre and especially not to himself.
It was Solaire's alone.
Oscar would not allow it to be used for any other purpose that wasn't Solaire's healing.
"Oscar..."
"Stay back!" Oscar exclaimed just after Siegmeyer tried to take a step closer to him. "I'll kindle this bonfire and I'll save Solaire, I don't care what either of you think. Thieves, you shall confuse me no longer! I will not let you take this Humanity from Solaire... I will not let him die! And if either of you tries to harm him, if you even dare to lay a finger on him, I swear I'll kill—"
"Oscar!"
Solaire's shout was illuminating, and it destroyed the pulsating sense of tension among Oscar, Siegmeyer and Andre.
Without a second thought, Oscar ran pass the two other men without even looking at them. Neither tried to stop him, and they merely watched him kneel next to Solaire.
"I'm here." Oscar said, without a trace of the anger that had taken over him seconds ago. His dispersed thoughts found a sequence again, but it was difficult to remember, even less understand, why he had allowed his emotions to get out of control in such manner.
The reaction had made sense in the moment, but now that silence and peace had returned to the scene, Oscar felt as if all had been a fever dream, a moment of madness that had been out of his control.
It scared him to think he was not as in control of himself as he had thought.
I just lost my senses for a moment... I am fine. I am sane, my Humanity is strong.
"You are right." Solaire told him in a voice so low that it could only pass as a whisper. "I believe you, Oscar. I want to kindle this bonfire... give the Humanity to me. I'll feed it to the fire... and then I can heal."
"Solaire, you don't know what you're saying!" Siegmeyer exclaimed. "For Lord Gwyn's sake, listen to me for a moment! You need to die, Solaire! I'm aware of how horrible it sounds, but otherwise, you'll never get better; your pain will eventually make you go Hollow! Use that Humanity if you think you don't have enough to endure a new death, but please, do not throw it into the fire! Andre, help me with this; make them see reason!"
"I'm afraid," Andre said. "they already made up their minds. There's nothing we can do, Siegmeyer. If this is truly what they wish for themselves, so be it. We've done all that we can for them. This is their choice, not ours."
"But..." Siegmeyer didn't know how else to continue, and the rest of his sentence never materialized.
Oscar, silently grateful to Andre for finally understanding and for respecting Solaire's choice, smiled at Solaire.
His friend returned the gesture.
Softly, Oscar picked up Solaire's healthy arm by the wrist and put the Humanity on the palm of his hand.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes. You don't have to help me kindle the bonfire, Oscar. I can do this on my own... This injury is my responsibility. Let me do what I must in order to heal myself."
Oscar was about to protest, but Solaire had spoken with so much confidence that to deny him would seem like an insult.
"Can you just... help me sit down? I'll handle the rest from there."
"Of course." Oscar said, letting go of Solaire's wrist. Then, he put his hands under Solaire's back. "On the count of three. One, two..."
It happened in an instant, far too quickly for Oscar to understand what Solaire had done until it was already too late to stop him.
Solaire pressed his hand against Oscar's chest, right above his heart. The Humanity Oscar had so fervently protected disappeared from sight and fused with the little specks that lingered inside him.
He plunged himself backwards, as if Solaire had stabbed him with a dagger.
But the sensations the act were causing in him couldn't have been any less painful. His mind was clearer, his nerves were soothed; he felt renewed, more alive... and enraged.
Both at himself for falling for such a trick, and at Solaire for his betrayal.
"No." Oscar stuttered, clenching to the silk of his tunic, right were the Humanity had touched him. "What have you done?"
He got back on his feet, his hand still clinging to his chest. He wished he knew of the dark art that allowed Humanity to be extracted. He even wished, for a cursed second of despair, that Petrus was there, so that he could perform the deed and return to Oscar the Humanity Solaire had so carelessly thrown away.
"Why, Solaire?" There was no other thing he could think of other than that simple question. "Why?"
"Because you needed it." Solaire answered with a smile. "And also... because I want you to remain sane after I die, Oscar."
Solaire then moved his eyes and stared directly at Siegmeyer.
Oscar felt his heart sink to his feet, and he too looked at the Catarina knight.
"Siegmeyer, I hate to ask, but... please, you know what you have to do."
"Solaire." Siegmeyer hesitated. Oscar thought he would reject Solaire's petition, but his hopes burned to ashes when Siegmeyer nodded and wielded his greatsword, still wet with the Hollow he had killed before. "Very well. Your pain shall be over soon, friend."
"No! I won't allow any of this!" Oscar uttered, his hand already holding the handle of the coiled sword.
"Oscar... this is how it must be." Solaire continued; his words were so weak that they could barely resonate above the sizzling of the embers. "I will be fine... I'll be reborn. I won't go Hollow... I promise. I'll come back with my mind intact. Please..."
"You can't promise that! You can't be sure you won't go Hollow... not after what happened!" Oscar pointed the sword at Siegmeyer as a warning. "Don't move. I won't tell you again."
"Oscar, please..." Solaire said, his huffed panting betraying the level of pain he was in.
Oscar wavered, and felt trapped inside a maze where no matter what road he chose, the destination would always be failure.
"Solaire." Oscar finally spoke, his entire body trembling. "I can't... I don't know what I'm—"
Before Oscar could even reconsider his actions, a couple of muscled arms grabbed him by both sides, restrained him and lifted him.
The coiled sword escaped his fingers.
"Do what needs to be done, Siegmeyer." Andre spoke, taking Oscar with him downstairs as the knight fought desperately to break free from his crushing grip. "I'll take care of this stubborn idiot."
"No! Let me go!" Oscar exclaimed, but no amount of struggling was enough to escape Andre. "Solaire! Solaire!"
Their eyes met one last time.
Oscar sank into a dark, familiar feeling.
It lasted only for a second before Siegmeyer blocked their eye contact with his body, wielding his greatsword in hand, steady and prepared to fulfill Solaire's petition.
Oscar struggled, uncaring of the damage he could inflict on Andre or on his own body with his brusque, demented movements.
"Enough, elite knight!" Andre ordered him, pressing Oscar against him with his abnormal strength. "There's nothing you can do!"
Oscar noticed.
He noticed that Andre had not intended his statement to be a threat. Regardless of his rough treatment, Oscar was not ignorant of the heartfelt concern the old man felt for him, for whatever reason.
"This is how it must be." His words were raw, but not barbed. They had been spoken with sympathy, meant as solace.
Oscar understood, and for a moment, he stopped struggling.
But when the memories of his departure from the Northern Asylum resurfaced, forcing him to understand than Andre's arms felt no different than the raven's claws as he was carried away, while the Chosen Undead was left behind to be devoured by the Hollows, Oscar's unhinged urgency to save Solaire returned.
And any sense of peace was lost.
Death was meant to be meaningless for an Undead. It was its fatality which made it so horrifying for the living, but when such quality was trivialized, what was left to fear?
Ever since the Undead curse had finally appeared on his flesh, Solaire had not given more thought to the subject.
His new ability had fascinated him at first, and more than a curse, it had felt like a blessing.
After his first encounter with Oscar and the events at Firelink Shrine, Solaire could no longer look back at his old self without being overtaken by embarrassment.
Oscar was right.
Death was never trivial, not even for the Undead; but sometimes, it was necessary.
"Are you ready?" Siegmeyer asked. If what he was about to do conflicted him, he did not show it.
Solaire closed his eyes. He was grateful to Siegmeyer for his kindness and bravery.
But Solaire wasn't ready. He couldn't; not when Oscar wouldn't stop screaming his name.
Sometimes, Oscar mistook Solaire's name for that of his fallen friend, and he cried it with no less grief.
It pained Solaire to witness the effects his stupid mistake were having on Oscar.
Solaire had thought that the Humanity would help his friend see things clearer, that it would give Oscar the strength necessary to endure Solaire's death, and even overcome his potential Hollowing and permanent death.
He had been an inconsiderate fool.
"Solaire?" Siegmeyer asked again.
Solaire couldn't answer, not when Oscar's screams kept ringing in his ears, reminding him of all the pain he had yet again inflicted on those he had tried to help.
"Solaire?"
"Chosen Undead!"
"Enough!"
Andre slammed Oscar against the floor after numerous failed attempts to calm him down with words. All the air inside his body abandoned him, and the impact almost succeeds in knocking him out.
A flashing white light blinded Oscar for a moment, but he regained his sight and senses before it could sink him deeper into unconsciousness.
The first thing he saw when the blurriness of his eyes faded was Andre's face. He was holding Oscar down, but he did not care.
Nothing mattered for him.
Only Solaire.
The Chosen Undead.
Oscar tried to call their names again, but his voice remained trapped in his throat. One of Andre's hands clutched to his neck almost with enough force to asphyxiate Oscar.
Oscar snarled at him, exposing his teeth as if he was a rabid dog. He clawed Andre's arm with his gloved hands.
"Are you Hollow?" Andre asked Oscar, not caring in the slightest about the small injuries he was leaving all over his forearm. "Are you a mindless Hollow?"
The questions made no sense for Oscar, but Andre wouldn't stop pestering him.
"Are you lost to madness and grief? Was the Humanity Solaire gifted to you useless? Is this how you want your existence to end?" Andre grabbed one of Oscar's hands when he tried to attack his face. Andre slammed it against the floor, right next to Oscar's face. "Is this your fate, Oscar?"
Even if Andre's hand wasn't pressing his throat, Oscar wouldn't have answered.
The question broke through his defenses and shattered his delirium.
For the first time ever since he had lost sight of Solaire, a semblance of lucidity enlightened him and casted away the darkness of his grief, both old and new.
"Or are you a knight?" Andre continued. "A knight capable of enduring the burden of the Undead curse. A knight capable of trusting the strength and respecting the decision of Solaire, a proud Warrior of Sunlight... a knight of Astora, an Undead warrior just like you!"
Oscar's limbs lost all their resistance. Andre kept holding him back against the floor, but Oscar could have sworn he too had relaxed his grip on him.
"You carry an incredibly pain within you. Do you think I don't notice? I can see it in your reactions, I can hear it in your voice, destroyed by the Hollowing as it is... but you cannot let all this overcome you. You have to be strong and accept Solaire's choice, Oscar, no matter what the results may be. You are an elite knight; wiser, stronger, more experienced, and I know that, in your heart, you wish for nothing else than to save your friend."
Andre let go of Oscar's neck.
His breathing became whole again, but he still made no sound.
Instead, he stared at the elderly man, who looked at him with a soft, almost fatherly expression.
"He is Undead, Oscar. As are you, I, Siegmeyer and everyone else in this land. Death is our curse, and from our curse we cannot escape. It catches up to us and steals from us, and one day, it will reduce us all to Hollows."
How cruel of him, to remind Oscar of what he already knew.
"But that's a future that could still be far away for you if you choose to, Oscar." Andre continued, his eyes glistening. "Death is our curse, Hollowing is our fate; but right now, being strong enough to endure all this and having faith in Solaire's willpower is your choice, Oscar... Just as it was Solaire's choice to give you that Humanity and deciding his own way to heal his broken body."
Andre took a deep breath before he could continue.
"If you really want to help him, then have faith in him, Oscar. Don't fall to despair and let old wounds consume you. Trust Solaire and in your own strength. If my long existence has taught me anything, it's that in this Undead life, faith and hope are no less powerful than Humanity. Hang on to them. Right now, there's nothing else you can do. And that's not a bad thing, Oscar."
The silence that followed was brittle, tense, but also appeasing.
Oscar allowed it to remain unbroken, and when it finally came undone, it was not by his screams, but by the echo of a sword hitting the wooden floor from upstairs.
"You are not Hollow, Oscar. You are an Undead knight, just like Solaire." Andre said while Oscar's body and soul reacted to the incident that had just occurred above them. "You are both strong enough to overcome this. I know you are."
Solaire had wished for it, but a surge of concern surpassed even the pain of his wound once Oscar's screams ceased.
"Do not worry." Siegmeyer told him. "Andre would never hurt him. A kind heart beats underneath that bundle of muscles, I assure you. Oscar is safe, Solaire."
Solaire nodded. His relief eased his soul, but it also allowed for the pain of his arm to be felt in all its intensity.
"Siegmeyer."
He couldn't say more.
There was no need to, for Siegmeyer understood his cue.
"This is not farewell, my friend." Siegmeyer lifted his greatsword.
Solaire felt as if he was seeing death right in the eye for the first time.
"Wait." He said in the last second. "Just a moment, Siegmeyer. Just a moment."
The Catarina knight complied in silence.
Solaire closed his eyes and rested his arms to his sides. His Humanity and heart beat together in unison.
This is not my end. I'll not go Hollow. I'll come back, just like I promised.
Oscar had been right yet again. Solaire had no way to justify his promise, but he trusted he would.
Hope had never felt so weak, but it was all Solaire had left, and he hung on to it.
"I'm ready."
Siegmeyer nodded, and though Solaire couldn't see him behind his eyelids, he did hear the whistle of his greatsword as it was lifted upwards once more.
"I'll see you again soon, my friend." Siegmeyer said. "We all will be waiting here for your return."
That simple image fueled Solaire's soul.
It stayed with him until the blade came down and ended it all.