Chapter XXI:
Abominations
Robin's heart ached with each passing minute. She still watched where Lucina had slipped away into the wispy air of the fog wall and for a single second, Robin worried that she would never see her again. Just as she did, snowflakes began to shower down onto her dark robes, the cold running up her spine.
Robin gazed up, seeing the white flakes dance down from the endless cloudy sky. The moon filled that sky with a mute light that made the fog look like a river of grey.
The group of miners stood with Robin and Owain, watching... waiting for anything to happen. The suffocating atmosphere became unbearable as whatever traps lay beyond the fog wall crept into Robin's thoughts.
No, she thought to herself; Lucina had been through far worse by herself.
She would be fine… and if she wasn't, the last conversation they would have shared was about how Robin was treating a grown woman barely younger than her like a child.
Robin shook any ill thoughts out of her head. All she could do was wait; wait and watch fog as it ominously cascaded down onto the icy pavement.
The tactician heard a sound to her right and her head spun to meet it. Robin witnessed the man who was attacked by the darkwraith earlier finally sit from the ground. After such a violent attack, she had assumed he was dead.
"Owain" she barked, and the Swordmaster followed suit.
Owain ran over to him and helped him off the icy ground, the man looking delirious. He looked at Owain with a disturbed look and suddenly with a shout pushed Owain off him.
"Whoa!? Hold on, sir!?" he relented in surprise.
The man scampered to his feet, suddenly feeling his face in the most peculiar way. He bolted away towards the ruins of a house. Owain watched as the man rounded the building and disappeared. Bewildered by the exchange, he returned to back Robin and two once again were fixated at the fog wall.
Only 5 minutes had passed when the wispy smoke unexpectedly evaporated without sound or warning, exposing the old walls that separated the old parts from the new parts of Renault.
"What the?" Owain exclaimed, looking up in the air with confusion.
Robin held her levin sword at the ready as the last of the fog wall in front seeped onto the ground for good, exposing an archway that led onward. The walls were made of an old, tired red brick which had seen much better days.
"F-fuck... Get ready for anything!" Dain shouted scared as he swung an old pickax in front of him.
The other miners drew their makeshift weapons, forming up behind Robin. A cold breeze blew at them from the entrance, dashing any loose clothes into the night air.
Robin glanced behind her to face the men, woman and even children that stood in the square; whatever spell that kept them dumbstruck before was lifted.
There were nearly fifty in total gathered around, waiting for whatever would be coming out. Robin returned to the front, waiting for whatever abominations would come.
Instead of a rush, moments of silence passed before finally two figures emerged. First was the otherworldly knight, and then finally Lucina herself.
Robin let out a sigh of relief as the two returned, but their return lacked triumph. Ansem walked absentmindedly; even though he was wearing his helmet she could see something was off about his demeanor.
Lucina on the other hand, looked fine, not a scratch on her. Her face looked concerned, but when she saw Robin her face lit up with a small smile.
No one in the crowd made a sound, but this apprehension felt much different to the one from before. Somehow, the air felt lighter, like the shadow that had been looming over the town was finally lifted.
Or maybe she was simply happy that Lucina was back in their graces.
The two knights finally were in talking distance and Ansem broke the silence.
"She's gone for good" he muttered, almost under his breath.
Robin opened her mouth to ask what happened, but she caught a glance from Lucina. Her sudden wistful, apprehensive frown told her all she needed to know.
She relented and let him walk past her.
Robin watched as he continued to stumble-walk into the crowd, who parted as he walked by then. Each one stared at him, curious but fearful. Eventually he made his way past the last person, and towards the Elder's house.
Nothing but the wind made a sound, until Owain gave a rousing cheery cry.
"The two warriors return triumphantly! The evil priestess is dead!" he cried out into the air.
The crowd erupted into cheer.
Suddenly there was screaming, jumping, crying, all with heavy joy. Robin shuttered, feeling the vibrations in the air as each celebrated chortle exploded in the air around her.
She saw the Elder's grandson and his friend exchanged a tight hug, Dain's deep voice giving a hearty half laugh-half cry of relief. Someone began to sing and a few members of the crowd began to join in, and in mere moments Robin, Owain and Lucina were swept into the celebrations.
More Renault denizens came out of hiding, eager to join in.
Eventually the quick celebration died down and Dain approached Robin to converse. He mentioned that the Renaultians kept a supply storage that was for the winters.
"-the storerooms were the first place we tried to dig a tunnel to. We were making good progress but as soon as we dug under to where the district wall was above us, the fog impeded our progress underground. We tried digging around it but each time we dug in the right direction, we would end up digging up against the fog and hit another dead end. But now, we should be able to reach the storerooms by morning" he explained.
Robin considered it, they had been in Renault no more than an afternoon and Robin was far from impressed by the mushroom tea. The Feroxians would be able to eat something dignified, and there was not much risk underground.
"Dain" a shy voice spoke up.
Robin followed the voice and saw the tiny frizzy haired girl speaking. Tristen's "friend", Brigitte looked at Robin with her round green eyes and Robin could sense the nervousness emanating from her posture and tone.
"S-sorry. My lady" she said, nervously curtsying at her.
Robin frowned.
"No need to be formal with me, Brigitte" she responded calmly.
She nodded her head. She turned back to Dain.
"The tunnels with the sounds... What about those?"
Dain shook his head.
"Aye, we collapsed those around noon today, not long after the Ylisseans had arrived".
The girl gave a hearty sigh.
"Oh good. I'll... uh, get some people ready for the dig" she said, before turning to leave.
She paused, looked at Robin and *almost* did her curtsy before smiling and quickly walking away. Robin shook her head with a smirk and returned to face Dain.
"I need your militia to set a perimeter at the gate here. Owain and Lucina will stay here to help out, I need to go check up on Ansem".
Dain answered with a gruff "Aye" and Robin was off.
She headed towards Owain and Lucina, passing by groups of citizens who had created fires in pits near the gate. Robin let Owain and Lucina know that the Feroxians would need to help setting a perimeter.
They acknowledged but before they parted, Robin took Lucina aside.
"Hey, Lucina before you go..."
Lucina nodded her head, probably anticipating what Robin was going to ask. Lucina explained to Robin that as soon as she slipped behind the fog wall, she gave chase but stopped when she saw Ansem and the speaker.
According to Lucina, Ansem didn't seem like he was in danger and Lucina took the opportunity to examine the situation first. He was locked in conversation with a someone else, a knight in blue silver and bronze armour. She inferred this was the speaker, based on her robes which were crumbled up near where Lucina was standing.
Lucina continued on, steady and report-like without uncertainty.
"The fight was quick, and he bested her with only a few steps. But when she fell, he caught her as she died, holding onto her when she burst into a cloud of ash and smoke- much like the way Tristen described it... but" she muttered.
Robin stood silent as Lucina paused.
"he... I don't know how to put it... Ansem transformed. He was still bore his appearance but the skin underneath his armour looked like fiery embers- you know the ones just when they are about to burst with a gust of wind? The light that emanated from inside his armor was nearly blinding. It was like at any moment he would've erupted into a ball of fire-"
The worried look on Lucina's face quickly faded away as she continued.
"but only for a moment... A second later, he was normal... but changed. I approached and told him to get up in case anything else attacked us, but he just said she wasn't coming back and gave me this".
Lucina reached around her belt and produced a small, ornate box. It was the same size as the one Ansem owned but while Ansem's was lightly decorated, this one was intricately designed. The wooden artwork showed golden fields that stretched out to a large castle overlooking an ocean.
Lucina opened it up, showing Robin the contents- or lack thereof. Lucina explained that she had stolen Ansem's own a few days before and couldn't make heads or tails about its inner workings.
"He alluded towards teaching me about it later and I didn't press on him to explain anything else. It... just didn't seem right" she murmured, putting the box away.
"That's probably for the best. I'll go check on him. Come back to the Elder's house when you and Owain feel confident about the defenses" Robin responded calmly.
Lucina gave her a nod and turned away. Robin watched as she walked up behind Owain who was talking to two malnourished miners carrying shovels. Giving her a final glance, she took a deep sigh of relief. With a quick vow under her breath, she walked into the night.
Robin followed the path until she saw the familiar house from before. She climbed the shanty stairs and walked towards the door. She tried the handle-
locked.
Hm, she thought to herself. Surely the old man was still inside, so did he lock everyone out for the night?
Descending the stairs and looking around the tight alleyways between the Elder's house and the abodes next to it. She caught the fiery glow of a fire dancing across the cobbled walls of the Elder's house.
She followed the light and walked down the icy path towards it. She rounded a corner and saw a tiny gathering of crumbled stone and wood.
The recessed gathering must have been a mudroom of sorts for the ruined home, but the structure had collapsed leaving the interior exposed to the elements. Robin stepped through what would have been the doorway and saw the glistening otherworldly fire staked by a plain sword in the center. The reclusive knight sat by the fire, not acknowledging Robin as she walked towards him.
"You missed the celebrations" Robin said, mustering up a smile and trying to be as cheerful as possible.
Robin kicked away some of the dirt and rubble and sat down onto the ground. Ansem sat still peering into the fire, holding in his hands what looked like two silver pearls that gleamed in the fire's light.
Robin recognized them as the spoils he kept from the arena fight. A cold wind blew, and the icy cold pierced her robes and armour, only to be quickly flushed away by the heat of the fire. Ansem turned his gaze towards her, waiting for her to speak.
"Who was she? The speaker? She was someone you knew- someone from your past, wasn't she?" Robin inquired.
The knight nodded his head solemnly.
"Yes... She was someone I once admired but betrayed, and from... what I did... it led her down a dark path. Right into Yuria's service" he said, crestfallen.
Robin nodded her head.
"From what Lucina tells me, you two knew each other intimately. What was her name?"
The otherworldly knight put away the silver marbles into his decorated box before taking off his helmet. He looked exhausted- at least...more than usual.
"Her name is- was - Anri of Astora. She wasn't the most skilled with a sword, but her heart was always in the right place. That was a rare quality in Lordran and it made her easy pickings for Yuria. I was complicit in her abduction and through a ritual, we striped her of her dark sigil to further our goals and then she became a mindless peon".
"So, she essentially became a hollow? How did she come back from that?" Robin pressed.
"After my departure," he continued, "Yuria must've rekindled her strength with her own dark sigil and made her another one of her knights. I don't know what was running through Anri's head to come to an agreement. Maybe she promised revenge? Is that why she came to this world?" he asked aloud, ending in an open question to no one.
Robin didn't offer any response. Ansem continued by himself.
"No... she was surprised to see me so that cannot be it. She was probably just clinging onto the evil position Yuria gave her to just stave away more hollowing".
Robin continued to say nothing. She huddled closer to the fire, listening to the knight speak his piece.
The knight explained to her what she had told him in their final moments. That the people here were cattle, and somehow, they were extracting their humanity in the upper district, their experiments masked by the fog.
"I don't know the why or how for certain, but judging by how Anri looked husk-like, I think this place was meant to supply hollows in my world".
"If that is the case, then they would need a way to move between worlds close by. I would bet that somewhere inside the upper district lies our answer" Robin said with conviction.
The only way to find out would be to explore the upper district... and I am not sure I want to find out" he said, rubbing his eyes slowly.
Robin gave him a wistful smirk.
"Well... like it or not we are venturing into the district eventually. This was supposed to be a relatively easy outing, but this is clearly much bigger than we were anticipating. We'll need reinforcements before making any big decisions so that needs to be sorted out first" Robin answered with a direct demeanor.
Ansem said nothing in return. He gave a slow nod and resumed staring into the fire absentmindedly. Robin finally choose to ask something that was plaguing her mind. Ever since they entered the city, something was glaring wrong with the timing of these events.
"Ansem" she began, "there is something I can't wrap my head around. From the events here, Yuria seems to have arrived long before you. But from the stories you told, you made it seem like you were on the run. How did she get here before you?"
Ansem once again nodded his head, this time in agreement. Robin continued.
"When Yuria fought you in the arena, I honestly thought this was a recent development. I thought that Torvus' dealings with her began and ended with the tournament, at least, it seemed that way from the way they conversed. But now... her arrival could have been as far back as a year, maybe even longer. Yuria may have even been instrumental to Pudet's poisoning...- the possibilities are endless" she said in a wistful tone.
"I wish I could say I knew how she accomplished any of this, but I don't" Ansem interjected.
"I already tried to see if I could return to my world through the bonfires or even between bonfires but I can't. She may have found a way, but something tells me that her arrival before me was unintentional. When I came through, I was weak, it would have been easy to accost me if she been awaiting my arrival".
His voice lowered into a deep growl.
"No... she must have been waiting, planting her roots in the shadows of this continent. In my world, there was a miracle that faked sunlight and comfort to fools thousands of hollows into safety. Maybe Anri casting hers here could be priming other villages as future farms. The stubble influence of her song slowly poisoning the minds".
Ansem took a slow pause, gathering up his thoughts. He continued.
"That might even explain that village we came across days ago- a-and maybe Yuria was hoping word would get out from this city and lead us here. Perhaps every step of my entire arrival here, and you picking me as champion was more than a coincidence".
Robin shook her head with visible doubt.
"I don't think she had the foresight to see that coming. While it is true that the parameters of this arena fight were clearly meant to limit our options for warriors, if Yuria was planning to capture you at any point in time before or after the arena she failed to prepare for it and there are too many variables involved".
Robin put her hand to her chin, thinking about the possibilities of this 'trap'.
"If you had arrived a week later or a week too early you might not have run into Delilah's company or come across the supply run heading towards the Outrealm Gate. You might have gone in the complete opposite direction and wandered aimlessly through the land and nothing would have prevented Torvus from becoming the next Khan. I believe she had every intention to win the fight against one of our other Shepards, assuming she had been pulling the strings to set up the circumstances".
She let her hands fall comfortably between her legs before continuing.
"What she wasn't expecting was you, and upon realizing you were here and who you were serving, she decided she didn't need whatever Torvus was offering her with her continued service" Robin stated with a thoughtful tone.
Robin danced with the idea in her head. Yuria was for sure offered this fringe mining city and probably potential for resources for understanding what was going on in the world outside of Regna Ferox.
From there, she could have hoped to figure out where Ansem would arrive. If she heard about the Outrealm gate, she could have inferred that is where he would be arriving from.
It was safe to bet she hadn't heard of it, or she would most likely never would have bothered to help Torvus for anything else besides Renault. Perhaps as icing on top, she was underhandedly preparing surrounding settlements as humanity cattle. That might explain the level of madness they exuded days ago.
Robin scrunched her face into a frown.
Even if this hypothesis was true, it still didn't explain how she traveled between worlds without using the Outrealm gate. Ansem broke her train of thought.
"I suppose that makes sense. Anri's surprise at seeing me only further proves that idea. If Yuria had expected me to arrive, surely, they would have sent more than just two darkwraiths and an undead to capture me. But... I'm still not convinced that as soon as we enter the upper district there won't be something sinister lying in wait for us".
Robin gave a agreeing nod.
"Well, there is also the chance that she rode out to Ylisstol as soon as she found out you were a Shepard. After the whole disaster at the arena, I warned Chrom that she might be on her way. The way Chrom put it, either she is making her way to him or retreating to where, what we hoped, she potentially was keeping Flavia".
She took a pause with a defeated sigh.
"Sadly... we haven't made much progress in that department".
"So, it seems" Ansem responded softly.
Once again there was silence in the air. Nothing but the cracking fire and its warm glow to entertain the chilled night air.
"Ansem..." Robin began, "you still haven't explained why Anri is 'dead for good', as you put it".
Robin would not have believed any more colour could drain from Ansem's face, but as soon as she popped the inquiry his face became even ghastlier. After the moment of shock had passed, he responded.
"I... haven't been completely honest with something... there is something else I haven't told you... or anyone else yet" the ashen knight spoke in a slightly quivering tone.
Robin braced herself by crossing her arms, unsure how to perceive his new tone.
"The First Flame... sometimes it... i-it talks to me. It has its own voice- well, many voices. It communicates with me as if it is sentient- through visions of the Lords of Cinder before. It happened when I first received it and when I defeated Anri. L-look I know how it sounds but the first time it happened, it instructed me on how to leave Lothric and..."
He paused; his eyes gleaming as if he was looking into a faraway land. He visibly shook his head, before continuing.
"T-this time... it told me that any undead I slay... will become tinder to the flame inside me, extending its life".
"Oh..." Robin said, uncertain of what to say.
Conflict ran though Robin's mind. On one hand she was relieved that, of all the undead, theirs is the only one who can kill others.
It was mighty convenient to say the least.
But... something was clearly amiss by his tone of voice.
Her stomach felt twisted as she tossed the news in her head. He always seemed... unhinged-at least to some extent- but now he claimed to hear voices coming from a sentient flame.
She considered her next words carefully, believing it better to assume he was telling the truth. But she still was a little annoyed that he was keeping secrets.
"That doesn't seem faintly fair. A-are you okay with that? I know this is rather recent, but how do you think it's best to use this ability?" she asked honestly.
The other worldly knight shook his head.
"I don't know what to think. When Solair-...the flame told me about the caveat, it shook me to the core. I was thinking to myself that it would be better to hide away forever, never seeing or hearing from anyone ever again. Then when I realized that those years added amounted to nothing more than a drop in the bucket, I felt calm- I accepted it. But sitting here at the fire, I started to think that maybe... maybe this was a rare blessing in disguise- an upper hand that I could use to eliminate Yuria and wipe out the Sable Church".
A grimace appeared on his face as he continued.
"But I cannot shake the feeling I am being manipulated, that maybe the flame maliciously sends me astray. Maybe this is all a ploy to grow its strength to overthrow its prison of flesh, ash and bone... I just wish the Fire Keeper were here with me, she might know what to do or say".
Robin let out a sigh.
"Listen, Ansem. If I could offer a word of advice, I-"
Before Robin could continue they both heard a shuffling noise nearby in the alleyway Robin had come down before. They exchanged quick affirming looks, making sure that neither of them misheard the sound and leapt to their feet.
As their blades left their scabbards, they heard a snarling sound come from the shadows just out of sight of the fire.
"Come on out!" Ansem demanded, pointing one his swords towards the entrance of the camp.
In an instant, the being hiding in the shadows leapt at Ansem. Robin only caught a glimpse of its red fleshy skin as it jumped onto Ansem, knocking him onto the floor. The poorly clothed wretch let out a ghastly growl as it flailed its arms at Ansem, scratching and clawing at his face with reckless abandon.
Ansem let out a gruff 'oof' as the wind was knocked out of him from the tackle. He struggled against the abomination, throwing his hands up in front of his face but was too late to offer any real protection.
The monster dragged its nails across his face multiple times and he let out horrible screams as spatters of blood flew into the air, staining the walls, the snow and ice.
Robin sprang into action and swung her levin sword, unleashing a blast of energy at the creature. The projectile connected, throwing the being off Ansem.
The fleshy monster crashed into the wall of the crumbled building but quickly recovered. It sat hunched over, snarling at Robin with blind aggression.
Robin finally got a proper look at the ambusher and was taken aback by the sight.
It was clearly a man of sorts, wearing nothing but tatters and worn clothing. Its skin was red and grotesque, similar to a zombie but the skin was fresher. It looked like the outer layer of the beings' skin had recently fallen off and any expressive skin on its face was absent.
Eyebrows, lips, hair, even the cartilage of the monster's nose was missing.
But that was not the worse part; the worse part was its eyes. They were sunken into the monster's face and sat deep into the recessions in the face were black, beady, lifeless eyes.
Before she could utter a word the fleshy being ran towards her with the same recklessness as before. It charged over Ansem and immediately, Ansem's hand shot out and clasped the abominations ankle.
The creature, clumsily plucked out of the air, came crashing down onto the ground. Ansem immediately climbed onto it's back, leaking blood from his face as he moved, and ran his arm around its neck and squeezed into a headlock.
"I-I have him" he coughed as he tightened his grip, wrestling the monster to the ground.
The creature screamed an unholy, guttural cry as it squirmed violently on the ground. Robin traversed the space between them quickly and gave a quick, powerful kick right into the monster's skull. But to Robin's surprise, her attempt to incapacitate the monster was too much for the skin to bear and her boot broke through the skin and ended up caved deep into the abomination's skull.
In an instant the monster's struggling ended and the air was quiet except for the two of them panting. Robin withdrew her boot and immediately prodded the skull fragments off her with the tip of her sword.
The smell emitted from the split head was revolting.
"Ugh" she involuntarily uttered as the slimy chunks landed on the snow.
Ansem released his grip and fell sideways off the red zombie. He placed his hand against his face but through the fingers of his gauntlets blood still flowed out.
"Ansem! Are you okay?!" Robin exclaimed worriedly.
Ansem gave a quick, hurried nod in response.
"Fucker did a number on my face" he spat.
He took his hand away to reach for his amber flask. Robin caught a glimpse of the wound, not only was Ansem blinded in his left eye but through the fleshy, jagged hole in his cheek Robin could see his teeth and gums.
He quickly took a swig of his healing potion and in an instant, the flesh began to heal and his red, bloody eye cleared up.
As grotesque as the wound was, Robin had to admit she had seen worse. Her attention turned towards the creature whose brains were on her boots seconds ago.
"What is this thing?" she asked aloud bending down to get a closer look.
Robin ran a finger over the cadaver's skin. The slimy red skin was interwoven like muscle, but it felt incredibly delicate. It certainly was not risen, and although it could be a zombie it acted far more feral.
"I've been attacked like that before" Ansem began as he felt his cheek where the hole had been seconds earlier.
"Early in my journeys, I cut through hundreds of hollows like this. I hate to say it, but I think this are one of Anri's chosen" Ansem said, still breathing heavy from the adrenaline.
As Ansem put his flask away, Robin turned her attention back to the creature. Did one of them escape the upper district? Where dozens of them storming the militia right as this moment?
Surely, they would have heard more commotion- maybe the militia hadn't had enough time to set up…
Robin then remembered the man attacked in the town square earlier, the one who ran away from Owain. If this was the same man, his transformation was extremely quick, it had only been an hour at most since he recovered from his attack. Ansem finally stood up and drew one of his swords and placed it next to the creature.
He bent down and started to examine the skin with careful eyes. After looking at the monsters back, he turned it over, looked up and down at its chest and then his hands ran down to its tattered pants.
Without warning, he undid the rope around the waist and pulled them down.
Robin did not bother to look away but was still shocked by what she saw. Where there was supposed to be its bits, was nothing but fleshy skin. It was like it was born the right organs.
Was the man born a eunuch or?
She them remembered that these undead were called so for a reason. She pointed her blade at the corpse, waiting for it to reanimate.
"What're you doing? Aren't you worried it will revive soon? You were only dead for a good minute or two back at the arena".
Ansem gave her a sideways glace, keeping the hollow in his vision.
"Nothing to worry about" he said calmly as he examined the legs of the creature.
"Proper hollows don't revive at bonfires, they just lay here for some time and get up eventually- but sometimes they just lie there for hours, even days. In undead settlements, the most crazed hollows are stuck on pikes so that if the pus of man consumes them, they aren't a threat to the others. I'm looking for any round marks on its body".
"Pus of man?" Robin exclaimed in utter confusion.
After he finished looking up and down the body, he gave a reassured sigh.
"Good" he muttered.
"Good? Good what? You still haven't explained what you were trying to find" Robin asked in an annoyed tone.
"Oh, right. Sorry about that. I was looking for the dark sign. Do you remember when I told you about them?"
Robin gave a nod, remembering the conversation they first had when he was telling her the history of Lordran.
"Uh, the brand of the undead right? The mark of the afflicted, you have one if I remember correctly".
Ansem nodded.
"That's right. If I am killed, I start to look like our friend here and my sign is much more visible, right over my heart. But it could appear anywhere on the body. Everyone in Lordran should have one, but this one doesn't".
Robin put her sword away.
"So, they aren't proper undead? Then what is it?"
Ansem grabbed his own sword and placed it in its scabbard.
"Well... we should impale him on a pike or a sharp branch and wait to see if he comes back. We'll be able to tell because they'll wake up and let out a loud scream and quickly die again".
Robin gave him a crude look.
"I'm sure they have pillories in this city, those will do just fine" she responded flatly.
"Fine with me. If he stays dead, then we can relax and maybe infer that the curse is only inflicts people who come from my world. If he does come back... Maybe the best thing to do is find a way to bring these people back with me. They probably all have it at this point-"
Robin quickly interjected.
"One thing at a time, Ansem. We'll cross that bridge wh- if we get to it" Robin declared.
Ansem gave her a serious look, then nodded his head. Robin looked back down at the hollow and then a flash of concern ran through her head.
The darkwraiths! Did were still in the town square!
"Ansem! We need to go back to the town square! We need to take care of the darkwraiths!"
Ansem gave her a surprised look and immediately stood up. From the looks of it, he had forgotten about them himself.
He drew his swords out of their scabbards and, without hesitation, plunged him into the chest of the hollow. They easily sank into their flesh and he gave them a quick jostle to ensure they were deep enough into the ground.
He took out his box, took a deep breath, and reached in.
He withdrew a pair of curved blades, one distinctively shorter than the other.
"Let's go" he remarked as he moved towards the entrance.
The two ran back down the alleyway and out of sight, leaving the crumbled camp in silence. Minutes passed, and the clouds parted enough to allow a streak of moonlight to dance over the wretched body and the eternal bonfire. Nothing but the crackling of fire to fill the air.
A/N:
First, I want to apologize with how poorly the last chapter came out.
I uploaded a draft that wasn't edited and there was literally missing dialogue. There was a bit where Lucina literally only spoke with a question mark- I am oozing cringe just thinking about it- but just before I uploaded this, I replaced the chapter with best version I have. It might not be perfect, but most of the errors should have been caught.
I can only imagine how surprised people were by the significant drop in quality.
This chapter is straight forward. We deal with the aftermath of the battle from last chapter and Ansem ponders on what to do next with this new ability. Robin and Ansem theorize on what might be in the upper district and how Yuria has been spending her time having traveled here before Ansem.
The two concluded that although she did arrive here before him, as far back as a year, she had been operating without the proper knowledge to set up a trap for him. As fate would have it thought, the two ended up crossing paths at the apex of her plans Torvus' plans.
There is a bit of a call back to older chapters in which I felt referenced other events in the world and Ansem reveals to Robin about the sentience of the First Flame and the possibility that maybe it isn't as benevolent as it appeared back in Lordran.
The two are interrupted by what appears to be a rabid hollow from the battle with the darkwraiths. The battle goes fairly well with only Ansem getting a bit of his face torn off. Ansem examines the body and finds that this abomination does not have a darksign, so the undead curse might not apply to these Feroxians even if they have their humanity sucked out. The implications of these hollows are concerning, since if the curse is here, maybe everyone in the city is already afflicted with it. After the quick scuffle, the two realize they forgot about the darkwraiths and race back to the town square. Ansem hints at a weapon change, one that has been a long time coming and then the chapter ends.
With this chapter I am deciding to change the rating from teen to mature, mainly just due to some of the violence and the partial nudity from this and last chapter. I am not going to go off the rails with it, I just don't want to get in trouble with the website. This is about as 'mature' as the story will ever get so don't worry!
I hope y'all are still staying safe and are enjoying the story so far! I'm very excited about the upcoming chapters and will be sticking to shorter chapters (~5k words). Please feel free to leave a review or recommend it to others, I am always happy to hear criticism! (Even just for the memes, I vibe with them too!)