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Kaathe was gone.
A part of Yuria had known it would happen, from the moment Kaathe had entrusted the sacred ashes to her.
She knew he would no longer be there once she returned from her quest.
She had been gone only for a brief moment, but it had been long enough for her to miss Kaathe's departure.
"My Lord?"
The question lingered unanswered between her and the empty altar at the center of the chamber.
Slowly, Yuria approached it.
Her steps let out a faint echo across the room. It was a private sanctuary only she was allowed to enter, but she had never been alone in there before. Kaathe had always been there to keep her company.
Not anymore.
Yuria fell to her knees, right in front of the pit that had once served as Kaathe's portal and altar. She gazed down at the endless darkness that conformed that lightless well.
"My Lord."
Yuria's voice was devoured by the dark, leaving no resonance of it behind. It was only then that Yuria felt the true weight of her new world.
A world where Kaathe existed no more.
Never again would he answer to her call.
Never again would he be there to guide her, comfort her, or offer her his ancient wisdom.
Kaathe was dead.
A silent sob escaped Yuria's lips. She had prepared herself for that fateful moment for a long time. She had steeled her soul and heart as best as she could have; yet, in her most pathetic moments of weakness, she had always feared that no amount of preparation would be enough for her to endure Kaathe's demise.
She had believed she would falter, and that she would willingly follow Kaathe into his death.
How was she expected to live in a world where Kaathe was nothing more than a distant thought?
For her, the sole idea was unfathomable. She would not be able to move on; she would simply lose her will to live and lose her mind, just like the most primitive of Hollows had done in ages past.
They had been so frail, so defeatist, so prone to madness. And maybe, Yuria thought, she was not as above them as she had believed.
Yet, now that the moment of truth had arrived and she was facing it, she felt none of the crippling despair she had conceived in her imagination.
There was sadness and grief; they brewed inside her like a contained storm, but her pain was only a small drop that became lost in the ocean of her determination.
"Do not mourn me."
Kaathe had told her.
To Yuria, it had felt like a command, an order she was meant to follow.
She couldn't have been more wrong.
"I now inherit your dream. It shall be my one and only purpose."
Yuria stood up. She kept her eyes fixed on the infinite darkness of that abyss, as if it was staring right back at her.
"I'll make it come true, my Lord."
She was crying.
"The sacred ashes are on their rightful place. From them, your chosen shall rise anew, and I will be there to guide them to their fated path."
Yuria lifted her masked and dried the tears from her Hollowed cheeks.
"Farewell," she turned her back on the empty altar, "Kaathe."
She began walking towards the entrance of the sanctuary. She would never set foot inside it ever again.
Without Kaathe, that place had lost its purpose.
Without Kaathe, it was only an empty chamber.
No.
Yuria halted her steps. She closed her eyes and allowed the silence of the church and the last traces of Kaathe's scent to calm her bleeding heart.
This chamber did not lose its purpose. It merely changed.
And by changing, it had acquired the potential of becoming something new.
Something different.
Something better.
Change was natural, inevitable and necessary.
Just like Kaathe had always told her.
Slowly, Yuria opened her eyes. Strange, how she had only understood the true depth of Kaathe's wisdom now that he was gone forever.
"Our change has finally arrived."
She smiled. Her tears were no longer bitter with grief, but sweet with joy.
Kaathe, I see it now. Your death is not a tragedy; it is a cause of celebration. It is the promise of the world that for so long has been denied to us.
Yuria rejoiced.
Her purpose was far from being lost.
It had only begun.
He was aware of his existence. It was only a feeble perception at first, a drowsy consciousness more akin to a dream than a thought.
It was peaceful, if only briefly.
The more grounded his mind became in reality, the faster his heart started to beat. A rush of memories forced his mouth to speak.
"Solaire."
Oscar muttered, not fully realizing the meaning of the name he had pronounced.
"Solaire."
The blurriness of his awakening dissipated when that word echoed in his ears for a second time.
He gasped for air as if he had been drowning in a cold ocean.
"You are awake!" A familiar voice exclaimed.
Oscar heard it, but his mind did not process it.
Anxiously, he straightened his back. An old and dusty blanket dropped from his shoulders to his lap. Oscar then discovered that his chainmail and metal plates were gone, replaced by a set of comfortable clothes that were a bit too big for him.
Another revelation came immediately after.
The surface he was lying down on was not muddied swamp water, but a warm wooden floor.
Next to him, a bonfire burned gently.
No, no.
It was all wrong.
That was not where he was meant to be.
Where was he?
Where was Solaire?
"Solaire!"
Oscar was so driven by his confusion and need to find his friend that he became oblivious to the pain of his own body. It caught up to him when he tried to stand up.
He managed to stay on his feet only for a couple of seconds before succumbing to his weight.
He collapsed. His fall was cushioned by a pair of muscled arms.
"Where?" Oscar asked, struggling to catch his breath as his injuries stung and burned all at once. A migraine emerged from a pulsating bump on his nape and spread all over his head.
"You needn't worry." The man holding him said. "You are safe now."
Andre.
A small part of Oscar felt relieved at the sight of the blacksmith, but his worries remained latent.
"Where is he?" he insisted, limply resting his hand on Andre's forearm. "Where's Solaire?"
Andre gently put him back on the floor and covered him with the old blanket before giving him an answer.
"He's over there." Andre cocked his head to the right. The look in his eyes transformed Oscar's blood into ice. Fearing the worst, he gazed at the other side of the bonfire. The flames slightly blocked his view, but Oscar was still able to see Solaire's face clearly.
Just like Oscar, he was lying down, his body covered by a blanket. His eyes were closed, and he was facing directly at Oscar´s direction.
Solaire's skin was now free of grim, sweat and blood, but he was too pale, and the scars the parasite had left on his cheeks and forehead had barely healed at all. Blood continued to leak from them like drops of dew.
Opposite emotions brewed inside Oscar's chest.
Seeing Solaire alive had almost driven him to tears of happiness, but the state of Solaire's injuries left a painful knot in his stomach.
"He needs Estus. Here, use this, Andre. Heal him, heal him." Oscar's hand immediately searched for his flask tied to his belt. It wasn't until his fingers found only the cloth of his trousers that he remembered he had not his equipment with him.
"Relax, Oscar." Andre said as he finished tucking Oscar in the blanket. "Solaire is alive, but he still needs rest, as do you. I know you are confused and have many questions, and I promise I'll answer them once you've recovered your strength. For now, just rest assured that both you and Solaire are safe."
Safe.
Oscar had almost forgotten what it truly meant to be safe.
Despite Andre's insistence, Oscar was unable to feel at ease. Being safe meant very little if Solaire remained so gravely injured.
Why did the wounds on his face remained so fresh?
Why did the tone of his skin was so pale that it started to resemble that of a Hollow?
Why—
"By the lords, I can almost hear your thoughts just by looking at your face." Andre observed with severity, but not without sympathy.
Once he made sure Oscar was as comfortable as possible, Andre stood up. From Oscar's perspective, he looked as tall and imposing as a giant.
"Rest." Andre said. "Undead as we are, our bodies are not immune to the effects of a good moment of repose. Sleep, give your mind and heart a well-deserved break, that's all you need to do now. Allow yourself to heal, Oscar. Solaire is here, and he is alive. I'll keep an eye on both of you, and if something happens, I'll make sure to wake you up, alright? Have some faith in this old blacksmith."
Oscar could see the pertinence of Andre's reasoning, but he couldn't agree with him. He couldn't just drift away peacefully into sleep, not when Solaire needed him.
Yet, as unwilling as his mind was, his body started to succumb to his exhaustion, which was not only physical.
"I can't rest." Oscar whispered, desperately struggling to keep his eyelids up. "Not now."
I can't be this selfish.
"You can. You must."
Andre knelt next to Oscar and softly rested a hand on top of his eyes.
"And you will."
Oscar did.
Laurentius never would have thought his fire was capable of so much death and destruction.
He had always felt underestimated by everyone, especially by his fellow pyromancers, but it had never crossed his mind how powerful his inner flame burned when he let go of his restraints and fought for the sake of those he cared about.
Perhaps, he thought, that was because this was the first time he had people dear to him he wanted to protect.
He had people that cared about him, however short their time together had been.
It was pathetic, Laurentius thought at first, but truth was that he was too grateful for the ephemeral friendship Solaire and Oscar had offered to him for him to feel ashamed about it.
Oscar.
Laurentius had not believed his eyes when he'd seen him alive, holding Solaire close to him and shielding him with his body. He'd thought it was some sort of trick from a nearby enemy, especially from that awful knight of Carim, or perhaps just an illusion fabricated by his own mind.
But Oscar was real, Laurentius had realized as he'd touched his shoulder in his attempt to get a reaction from the elite knight.
Siegmeyer, that kind-hearted knight of Catarina, had kept their enemies, abominations with rotten lumps on their backs, at bay in the meanwhile. He was a strong warrior, skilled with the imposing greatsword he wielded, but their enemies were strong and many.
They attacked with a violet savagery that exceeded even that of Hollows, and their march towards Solaire and Oscar seemed more like a coordinated attack than a random display of violence.
For whatever reason, they wanted the Astorans dead.
"Get them out of there!" Siegmeyer exclaimed at Laurentius as one of the abominations was about to get past him. It was only because of a miracle that his greatsword managed to cut the creature in half before it could reach Laurentius, Oscar and Solaire. "Hurry!"
Laurentius reacted instantly and tried to carry Oscar and Solaire on his shoulders, but Oscar refused to move and let go of Solaire. Though still conscious, the elite knight was trapped in a strange trance where no outside stimuli affected him.
It was as if Oscar's entire world had come to a halt, and all that kept him from Hollowing was his wish to keep the man on his arms safe from everything and everyone.
"Oscar!" Laurentius shook him by the shoulders, to no avail.
Before he had the time to try something else, the corpses of the enemies Siegmeyer had slain exploded into a mass of gore and puss all at once, birthing with their deaths dozens of worms with sharp red teeth.
"What in the world—" Siegmeyer said in horror just before he was attacked by a group of worms. They lunged at him, spraying a pestilent crimson fluid from their mouths.
Laurentius did not hesitate. He left Oscar and Solaire behind and went to Siegmeyer's aid before he was overwhelmed and killed by the worms and the remaining abominations.
One of the worms tried to make its way through the small slit of Siegmeyer's helmet, but the Catarinian knight managed to remove it and squash it with his hand. The creature left its mark on him, in the form of a big red stain splattered in the front part of his helmet.
Laurentius could only hope that none of that fluid had managed to reach Siegmeyer's face.
Anguished by the growing danger, Laurentius released his fire upon the nearby worms and abominations alike. His fire proved to be lethal and much more effective than Siegmeyer's greatsword.
Yet, the worms were sneaky and numerous, and many of them managed to evade his fire and continue their march towards Oscar and Solaire.
Laurentius casted a fire storm upon the worms before they had the chance to hurt his friends, but this small distraction had allowed the rest of the worms to get close to Siegmeyer again.
"I will be fine!" Siegmeyer exclaimed as he relentlessly continued to fight off the parasites. "Don't worry about me, Laurentius! A knight of Catarina can never be defeated by some puny maggots! Just focus on getting Oscar and Solaire to safety!"
Laurentius obeyed, barely able to ignore his grief at Siegmeyer's sacrifice.
He couldn't allow it to be for nothing.
One way or another, he had to get Oscar and Solaire out of that place alive.
I'm not leaving either of you behind.
Laurentius thought as he attempted to lift Oscar and Solaire from the floor. The combined weight of their armors was too heavy for Laurentius to carry. Even for a stronger man like Siegmeyer, it would have been a difficult feat, perhaps even an impossible one, given that Siegmeyer would also be burdened by the weight of his own armor and greatsword.
Yet, Laurentius did not give up.
He could hear Siegmeyer's exhausted grunts, combined with the awful growls of the worms and the abominations.
There were still far too many enemies left.
Too many for any of them to get out of Blighttown alive.
My friends.
Laurentius had been about to lose hope when he'd heard a voice that was not Siegmeyer's.
Violently making his way through the army of enemies, Andre eventually emerged from the ensuing chaos. He was covered with blood that wasn't his.
Behind him, he'd left only smashed and dead foes in his path.
Laurentius stared at him with his mouth open. His hold on Oscar and Solaire never faltered.
Andre immediately helped Siegmeyer defeat the worms that had been about to overcome him, and once he made sure the knight of Catarina had replenished some of his health with Estus, Andre rushed directly towards Laurentius.
"Are you alright?" the blacksmith asked him.
Laurentius replied only with an incredulous stare.
"Snap out of it, lad!" Andre told him, giving him a painless smack in the head with the back of his hand.
The gesture was surprisingly effective.
Laurentius blinked twice and fixed his gaze on Andre.
He wanted to question him about his presence, but to do so would be a waste of time.
Andre's reason wasn't relevant at all.
Whatever had caused him to change his mind and come to their aid was something they could discuss back at the old church.
Right now, getting out of Blighttown alive was all that truly mattered.
"I can't carry them." Laurentius brokenly said to Andre. "I'm not strong enough. And Oscar… he's not well. I fear he may be starting to go Hollow and—"
"Leave them to me." Andre said, taking Oscar and Solaire from Laurentius.
When Andre tried to break Oscar and Solaire apart, Oscar openly confronted him by throwing his fist at Andre's face. His punch landed on Andre's nose. It made him bleed, but Andre endure the hit without wincing or showing any sign of pain.
Instead, he replied to the attack by throwing a direct and powerful punch to Oscar's nape.
Oscar's arms immediately went limp after Andre's knuckles crashed against his skull.
He let go of Solaire as his now unconscious body fell to the floor. Andre caught him before he touched the swamp's water. With no effort, he stood up as he carried Oscar with one arm and Solaire with the other.
He made it look so easy that Laurentius almost felt tempted to try carrying his friends again on his own, but he knew his effort would not be successful.
"We're all set." Andre announced hurriedly. "Let's get out of this place, now!"
Laurentius couldn't agree more.
Yet, when he and Andre looked at Siegmeyer fighting against the worms and abominations, one thing became painfully clear.
"They will follow after us. We won't be able to make to the elevators if we all go together."
Someone needed to stay behind and buy the rest the time necessary to escape.
His fire made him the perfect choice for the job.
Laurentius swallowed hard.
He had always been such a coward. Even now, his courage was as thin and brittle as the surface of a frozen lake. He wasn't sure for how long he'd be able to keep up a brave front for the sake of his friends.
I'll do it.
Laurentius trembled from head to toe. His forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and his heart raced so quickly inside his chest that he feared it would get pierced by his own ribs.
He was far from resembling a brave man. He knew that, to anyone else, he looked like the cowardly, nervous loser he had been in his previous life.
But I'll still do it.
"G-get Oscar and Solaire out of this place, Andre. I'll make sure none of these creatures chases after you. I'll tell Siegmeyer to join you too… he's done more than enough for me already."
"What are you talking about? Have you gone mad? You can't fight them all on your own! You'll get killed!"
"Perhaps." Laurentius agreed with a bitter chuckle. His hands were lacquered with the essence of his fire. "N-nothing to worry about. I'll just be reborn from the old church's bonfire. Do not worry about me, Andre. One way or another, I'll get out of this mess alive… but if Oscar or Solaire perish here, as broken and injured as they are, it could drive them to their Hollowing. They-They cannot die now."
"Don't be foolish, Laurentius. You are in no condition to die either!" Andre exclaimed.
For an old man that claimed to be indifferent about the well-being of others, he was too perceptive.
I guess I'm not the only one here whose words aren't precisely coherent with his actions.
"Do not underestimate my fire, Andre. Weak as I may be, I'm still a pyromancer from the Great Swamp. I will not go down so easily. Now go."
"Wait!" Andre pulled Oscar up to his forearm. Once his hand was free, he unbuckled an axe and wooden shield from his belt and offered them to Laurentius. "Take these with you. I do not doubt the power of your fire, but if at any moment you need to change your strategy, make use of this instead. These are fine weapons; they will serve you well."
Is this why you came here? To insist that I take the equipment I refused to accept from you back in the church? Was it really your wounded pride which made you change your mind, old man?
Laurentius thought as he, after a small moment of hesitation, took the weapons into his fire-covered hands. The wood of the axe and shield did not burn at the contact with his flame.
They were truly the work of a master blacksmith.
He looked at Andre.
Or are these weapons only an excuse? Just a way to hide your true reason?
A small, imperceptible smile appeared on Laurentius' mouth.
"Be strong, lad." Andre told him as he reaffirmed his hold on Oscar and Solaire. "Don't you dare go Hollow."
"Take care of them." Laurentius replied.
With that, they each went their separate ways.
Laurentius went to Siegmeyer's side and joined him in his fight.
Meanwhile, Andre made use of the distraction and rushed towards the wooden lifts at the other side of the swamp.
They are safe.
The thought was a beacon of hope for Laurentius. It made his inner flame burn like it had never done before.
My friends are safe.
For the first time in his life, Laurentius felt proud of himself.
"Go with them, Siegmeyer!"
Siegmeyer removed his greatsword from the severed neck of an abomination. He gave Laurentius no answer. Instead, he stomped his foot on the maws of a worm and plunged his sword directly at the hand of an abomination that had tried to seize him by his ankle.
"I'll take care of them!" Laurentius insisted after reducing to ashes a group of worms with a torrent of fire and sinking his newly acquired axe into the skull of a crawling abomination. "Go!"
"I'm a knight of Catarina!" Siegmeyer exclaimed. "I shall not turn my back on my enemies, and I shall never leave a comrade behind! I'll stay here and fight by your side Laurentius, whether you want it or not. This is the life I've chosen for myself!"
He swooped his sword around him, cutting in half three worms that had been about to land on his helmet.
The blood of the creatures stained his armor, and a few drops managed to find their way to his face. Just like the first time it had happened, Siegmeyer simply allowed the fluid to dry on his skin.
"This is my code of honor!"
He kept fighting.
Laurentius did not try to convince him to flee again.
And if he did, his words became lost in the heat of battle.
It was the sound of metallic steps which woke Oscar up this time.
He remained closer to the realm of sleep than reality.
All he was able to see before he drifted away into unconsciousness again was a man clad in ridiculous armor.
Siegmeyer.
The knight of Catarina had returned.
He was alone.
Oscar's eyes closed before his mind had the chance to understand the implications.
He dreamed of Astora.
He was in a tavern, sitting around a round table, surrounded by his faceless fellow elite knights. In silence, and without giving an explanation to his comrades, Oscar stood up from his chair and left them all behind.
They laughed at him, and they laughed louder the closer Oscar got to the man sitting all by himself in a distant table.
The man noticed his presence and looked at him. Neither of them were wearing their helmets, and so they could see each other's smiles.
Without saying a single word, Oscar sat next to Solaire. They drank together, and eventually, the distant laughter stopped.
It was the most peaceful dream Oscar had had since the Darksign had appeared on his body and his life had changed forever.
She wondered when those two knights would be back.
Anastacia looked at the broken coiled sword and the shards of the shattered Estus flask.
It had taken a long time and plenty of effort for her to crawl towards the entrance of her cell to recollect her peculiar gifts.
Strange as they were, Anastacia had become fond of them.
I would never admit it out loud, of course, and not only because I have no tongue.
Her lips pursed into a tiny, silent smile.
She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled, but being able to do so again felt good.
She didn't deserve to feel good, impure as she was.
But she did… and it was all thanks to those knights.
Anastacia lifted her head and stared at the bars of her cell.
Come back soon.