Interlude 1: First Flames and Dying Embers
Theisman Residence, Infinity Box
Asuka slowly got back to her feet, taking as deep a breath as she could while being grateful that the floor could change into something softer than the hard, blue stone that they usually walked on. Learning martial arts had long been a part of her training to become an Eva pilot. But the small, but noticeable boost in strength and speed that the Theismans had them limited to for now had thrown her for a bit of a loop.
And poor Shinji… he was learning the basics on top of that, she thought as she watched him take yet another fall. But he was always back on his feet within seconds, ready to try again. She smiled slightly at his almost limitless tenacity. 'That's my rookie.'
After a few more falls, Daniel, Shinji's sparring partner, helped Shinji back up. "Alright, we'll go ahead and take a break. Good job keeping at it, Shinji. All it takes once you know what to do is time to get used to moving faster and being stronger."
Shinji nodded, a tired smile on his face as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Thanks, Daniel."
Toji, who was currently on break sitting on a bench that circled from the edges of the room and cradling a bottle of water like it was his child, nodded at Daniel. "Y'know, you say that, and a question I've been thinking of comes to mind. How long have you guys been doing what you do? Does your Interfacing keep you looking, you know, young and stuff?"
Hikari, sipping from her own bottle, punched Toji lightly on the shoulder. "Now, Toji, it's rude to just ask someone how old they are."
Daniel and Eleanor both chuckled. "It's fine, Hikari." Daniel said. "It's a completely valid question. And yes, Interfacing does play a part in keeping us youthful. I mean…" he turned to Eleanor. "How old was Rasczak?"
Eleanor nodded, her gaze darting up and to the side in thought. "Hmmm… last I remember, she put some silver in her hair for her 1500th."
The Children's eyes all widened, even Rei's, who was, for the most part, nonplussed by much of what they heard concerning the wider Worldsea. "1500?" Asuka said incredulously. "What does that make you? 500 years old each?"
Eleanor chuckled. "No." she said easily, then paused as she pondered in her head. "I am still about 26 biologically. However, time does funny things whenever you enter an Echo. You're synched to that Echo's timeline in place of the wider Worldsea's. It's generally called the Narnia effect. Time goes slower outside an Echo than it does inside." Eleanor paused again as she pondered. "So, including time spent in Echoes, that makes me… about 50 years old, give or take."
The Children nodded slowly. "Okay," Shinji said after he took a deep drink of water, "makes sense." he looked over at Daniel. "I'm guessing you're about the same age?"
Daniel sighed quietly, his expression thoughtful and a little sad. "My age… is a little more complicated to explain." he walked over to the bench, grabbing a bottle of water and opening it, sipping thoughtfully. After a moment, he turned back to face everyone else. "Alright. We all need a bit of a break, and what better way to spend a break than by telling a story about my travels?"
The others nodded, some more quickly than others, and Daniel smiled slightly. "Good."
From the center of the floor, another bench sprang into existence, padded and with a back to lean on. In front of it, a single stool appeared. Daniel made his way to the stool and sat down. Taking his cue, the others sat down on the bench in front of him, and as they did, the room slowly began to darken. "I'll go ahead and ask that you remain seated at first." Daniel said, with a slight smile that was disappearing from sight. "But feel free to look around when I talk."
It was quiet for a moment, then the story began.
Tendrils of mist began to wrap around their feet, and soon enough, it seemed that they were enshrouded in fog. After a moment, massive, similarly grey trees began to break up the landscape. Then, Daniel spoke.
"In the beginning of this particular Echo's time, the world was shrouded in mist. There was nothing but crags of rock and the massive Archtrees to break up the scenery. The only living things found within…" he paused as a shadow passed over them, and his audience looked up to see a massive dragon pass overhead, four wings flapping with a thundering sound as it landed seemingly close by. "Were the everlasting dragons, with their scales that granted them immortality…" he paused again as a figure, wrapped in a cloak of grey to match the scenery, walked past from behind Daniel, walking past the group on their right. "And me."
Asuka's eyes narrowed. She had seen this before, she was sure. But where…
Daniel continued. "I was here for… well, a long, long time. Then… there was Fire."
The scene changed, and beside them stood one of the Archtrees, a cleft in its roots seeming to lead deep underground. Then, the scene moved, some of the Children clutching at the seat as they seemed to enter the cleft.
"And with Fire came Disparity." Daniel said, almost reverently. "Heat and Cold, Life and Death. And, of course…"
They seemed to enter a massive cave, glowing at the far end with a similarly massive flame that stretched across the back wall. Beside them stood Daniel from the past, with short hair and a clean-shaven face. "Light and Dark." the current Daniel said. He paused for a moment. "I was there when the First Flame of this world lit up. I watched as, from the dark, they came."
Daniel glanced back from his stool, and those on the bench strained to look, as shadowy, nearly skeletal figures began to emerge from the darkness of the cavern, and slowly make their way towards the flame.
"And within the flame, the Hollows found souls. Three of them found especially powerful ones. The Souls of Lords."
They watched as three particularly adventurous husks stumbled forward, stopping short of the flame. One eventually pushed on, reaching into the flame with both hands, before extracting a glowing orb that flickered much like the flame did. After a moment to seemingly marvel at it, it brought the soul to its chest.
Then, the image seemed to blur, great amounts of time passing in moments before it slowed. "The first of these Hollows to gain a soul was the first to die, and thus became Lord of Death. His name was Nito." The blur slowed to show what seemed to be a massive pile of skeletons, wrapped in a cloak of black feathers, the skulls fanning out beneath a skull that was larger than the rest.
Time began to pass quickly again, and slowed as another reached into the flames, taking for itself another bright, flickering soul. The soul seemed to burn as any fire would, scorching the Hollow's hands as it took in the soul. Time began to blur again, and the image resolved into a tall woman, wrapped in robes and surrounded by 7 smaller, similarly robed figures. "The second of these Hollows gained mastery over the flame, learning to bend it to her will, a skill that she taught her daughters. Her name was Izalith, and her students the Daughters of Chaos."
Time blurred again, and the last Hollow reached into the flame, taking for itself a soul that shone like the sun. Again, time flew by, and settled on the image of an old king, his hair long and curled and white, his beard nearly stretching to the middle of his stomach, clad in shining armor and attended by an army of similarly gleaming knights. "And the last of these souls was like sunlight, which the world had never seen before. Thus, Gwyn became the Lord of Sunlight, and his Silver Knights were ever faithful to him."
The image returned to the First Flame, now seemingly abandoned, save for a single Hollow who kneeled beside it, holding in its hands a small flame, almost seeming to threaten to go out at any moment. "And yet," Daniel said quietly, "there was one more soul, almost as great as the others, but cast aside for those that shone brighter. And the forgotten, dark soul was, fittingly, attained by the furtive pygmy, so easily forgotten. And it was he who would become the first Man."
Daniel looked back at his audience. All were enamored, even the usually blase Toji and the stoic Rei. After a moment, he continued. "In time, the Lords found themselves dissatisfied with their lot. They sought to claim the world from the dragons that lived above them. So, they burst from the earth that gave them birth, and began to fight the dragons."
The scene shifted to above ground, and all watched as a massive battle swirled around them. True to Daniel's word, the scales of the dragons could not seem to be pierced by any weapon that the Lord's forces possessed. "It was a hard struggle for the Lords and their forces, and few dragons fell in the early days. But then, a turning point arrived, in the most unexpected of ways."
The scene shifted again, and a pale dragon, blind and seemingly without legs, spoke to Gwyn, who seemed to listen intently. "Seath, the Scaleless, shunned by the other dragons, told Gwyn that their scales could be pried apart by lightning."
The scene shifted to show Gwyn, at the front of his army, facing down an oncoming flight of dragons, as he summoned a crackling bolt of lightning in his hand, throwing it like a javelin. The men behind him did much the same, and the lightning bolts were like a flock of birds as they flew towards the dragons. True to Seath's word, the lightning peeled apart their scales, and dragons began to drop from the sky.
"And the war swung into the Lord's favor, as the dragons began to fall from the sky. As the Archtrees began to be set ablaze by Izalith and her daughters, and Nito unleashed torrents of death and disease."
"Eventually," Daniel said after a dramatic pause, "the dragons, and the world they inhabited, was no more. Nito and Izalith returned underground, Nito to be left alone, and Izalith to found a city in her name. Gwyn stayed on the surface, stylizing himself as the god of this new world, ruler of an Age of Fire, and built a city worthy of hosting him and his family. The City of the Gods. Lordran."
The scene, and time, passed in another blur, and eventually, Daniel and his audience found themselves atop a high wall, looking down on a beautiful city that seemed to glow with sunlight. Daniel stood, his seat disappearing. "You can go ahead and stand if you'd like. Makes the story just a bit more immersive."
The others stood and joined Daniel's side as they looked down on the majestic scene. As they looked, Asuka snapped her fingers. "I know where this is!"
Everyone else looked at her inquisitively as she placed her hands on her hips. "This is the world of Flammenseelen. It's a video game that Daniel and I played on the X360."
Daniel chuckled. "Yes, it is. Where I'm from, it's known as Dark Souls. And yes, it's exactly as hard as it is here."
Asuka rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I can imagine. What was it you always seemed to say when either of us died? 'Failure is not an end…'"
"It is simply a chance to begin again, but more wisely." Daniel said with a small smile. "It's a lesson the game teaches very… bluntly."
"With the number of times I died, I guess I didn't learn it very well." Asuka grumbled, even as she smiled.
Daniel chuckled slightly, then turned back to regard the city. "This city of the gods lasted for generations. Then…" he paused for a moment. "As all flames do, the First Flame started to burn low."
After a quiet moment, Daniel continued. "Each of the Lords had their own solution. Nito's was perhaps the simplest: let it die, as all things do. Izalith, in her pride, decided to try and make a First Flame of her own. The flame ran out of her control, becoming the Chaos Flame."
"And that's how the demons were made, right?" Asuka said, and Daniel nodded.
"That is correct, Asuka." Daniel said. "And Gwyn fought a bloody battle against the demons. But the First Flame continued to gutter, and the Age of Fire seemed doomed to pass into the Age of Darkness. The Age of Men. Gwyn feared the loss of his power and the seemingly limitless power of the Dark Soul of Man. So, he did two things."
Daniel's brow creased into a slight frown. "The first was to place a limit, a choker, on the souls of men. A Darksign that surrounded their souls, causing many of them to slowly, but surely, go mad."
"And the second," Daniel said, "after all else seemed to fail, he offered himself and his soul up as kindling to the Flame, in order to keep it alight. Thus, the cycle of the Flame being rekindled began."
Daniel paused for a moment, sighing quietly. "The cycle went on and on, and, eventually, I had the… well, the 'privilege' of lighting the First Flame myself."
The scene changed from the grand city to a dark, arena-like structure, a small fire flickering at the center as a sword with a coiled blade stood embedded in it. In front of it, Gwyn, now a withered husk, stood sentinel with a massive blade.
"Gwyn's soulless body was the final challenge. I had… done what I could to help this world. I healed what Daughters of Chaos survived, and even helped them find a way to extract Izalith's soul from the monstrous Bed of Chaos. I traveled back in time and healed the legendary knight Artorias of his madness and helped him slay Manus, the first Man. And now… I had to fight Gwyn. Stubborn old bastard that he was, in death as much as in life."
Through a gate of mist, Daniel, clad in simple armor and wielding a sword and staff, walked forward as Gwyn charged at him with a mighty leap, his sword bursting into flame.
They watched silently as Daniel and Gwyn swirled around each other, strike and block, parry and riposte making an echoing dance around an arena that was otherwise silent as the grave.
With a flash of magical light, a glowing blue bolt of crystal shot out from Daniel's staff, and Gwyn's sword went out as he crumpled to the ground, eventually turning to dust. The Daniel of that time walked over to him, crouching to pick up a flickering mote from within the pile of ash. It was his soul, or what was left of it, dim and slowly flickering. Daniel stepped over the pile of ash that was once a god and stood before a decision.
"So…" Asuka said slowly, turning to the current Daniel. "What did you do? Did you let the flame go out and leave the world in darkness? You clearly didn't give your soul to the First Flame to keep it going."
Daniel watched as his past self knelt down in front of the bonfire. "No, Asuka. I chose the third option."
The Daniel of the past stood and turned to walk away, glancing down at an object that glowed brightly before walking out of the arena.
"I exited the Kiln of the First Flame," the present Daniel said, as the view shifted to a set of stairs, bathed in white light, that the past Daniel walked up. As he reached the top of the stairs, two rows of massive serpents, with massive drooping jowls and a rictus grin of wedge-like teeth, regarded the Daniel of the past.
"What're-" Toji said before Asuka put a hand over his mouth. "Quiet, Toji," Asuka said, "I want to hear what happens."
As Asuka finished, the first serpent on Daniel's left spoke. "My Lord, bless thy safe return. Let Kaathe and Frampt serve Your Highness. We are here to serve Your Highness. Let true Dark be cast upon the world. Our lord hath returned'st."
The Daniel of the past stood silently for a moment. Finally, one word echoed through the long chamber. "No."
Many of the serpent's heads jerked up as they heard this, and a susurrus of confusion filled the room as the closest serpent to Daniel's left looked upon the past version of him with no small amount of incredulity. "Your Highness… what do you mean?"
The Daniel of the past looked up at the primordial serpent, then raised an arm back to whence he came. "Look to the kiln, and see."
The serpents seemed to crowd towards the present Daniel, Eleanor, and the Children, Toji letting out a startled cry as he seemed to get far too close a look at one of their leering faces.
They were silent, then their eyes seemed to widen still further than they already were as they, along with the group from the present, felt a bloom of heat, and saw the stairway of light somehow become even brighter, one of the serpents looking at the past Daniel with no small amount of shock. "How is this possible? You have left the First Flame behind, and yet the flame is lit again? What sorcery of flame is this?"
The past Daniel turned to regard the serpents, more than a few of whom were almost quailing in fear of him. "I have given this world a chance to continue without sacrifice. If those who come after my passing wish to rekindle the First Flame, I have placed a Soul Ember there, which shall light it without a sacrifice of their souls as kindling."
"Thou who guardest the Flame," the past Daniel continued, as the present one rolled his eyes at his verbosity, "let not this thing pass from your memory. For a soul is a precious thing, indeed. To use it as kindling, even for the First Flame, is to throw away the greatest of artworks, the most profound potential, to simply continue what is."
The past Daniel walked then away from the group of serpents, and those who watched the memory. The image began to blur again, and the present Daniel sighed. "Lordran fell soon after that. Reduced to darkness and long-lost memories. And in time, the Soul Ember was forgotten, and the world plunged into darkness again. Then the flame would be relit for a season, then extinguished for a season. Time had become… nearly meaningless."
Daniel shook his head. "And I moved on. In time, I came to rest in the land of Forossa, near the kingdom of Drangleic."
Asuka slowly nodded her head as the blur resolved into a view of a city, low to the ground and severe with an almost military feeling in the air. "Drangleic is from the second one, right?"
Daniel nodded. "That's correct. But Forossa is where I ended up, among the company of the Lion Knights. They were dedicated to being among the best soldiers in the world. They were led by the estranged son of Gwyn, Faraam."
The image moved, and it entered a massive training hall, where men and women all trained with sword and shield, with axes and greatswords and polearms. "Faraam valued martial prowess above all else. After all, one's strength and endurance were what carried the day in this world of Hollows and… the Abyss."
"The Abyss?" Rei said, causing a few in the group, mainly Toji, to jump slightly.
Daniel nodded. "The Abyss is the collection of all the negative aspects of humanity's Dark Soul, said to have been brought into being when Gwyn created the Darksign. It is an almost existential threat to all life in this world. Sometimes, foul creatures, or Hollows that had been tainted by the Abyss, would attack those around them madly, seeking simply to destroy everything around them."
Daniel sighed as a line of men wearing red cloaks, bound in chains. "The threat was great enough that slaves were made into soldiers. Their red hoods stood out on the field of battle." he pointed at one, an older man with a rough beard and sunken, shifting grey eyes. "Remember him. His name is Gael. He would die at the end of the world, searching for the blood of the Dark Soul to take to his new home within a painting. He and I are the only ones I knew of at that time to have ever lasted so long."
The image blurred, refocusing on Daniel undergoing training. "I joined their ranks. Rose through them until, in time, I came to lead a great number of them. A battalion."
The image blurred again. As it slowed, they saw the Daniel of the past, clad in white robes and pants, with black boots and similarly black armor, holding a black helmet under one arm while holding a staff capped with a blade that would not look out of place on a sword. The present Daniel smiled. "Damn. I miss my Pride Lord armor."
Shinji pointed at the weapon in the past Daniel's hand. "That seems… unwieldy."
Daniel chuckled. "No, actually, it's quite finely balanced. All the Dragonslayer Swordspears were. They were Faraam's favored weapon, and to train in and wield one was a symbol of Faraam's trust in your abilities."
Daniel's smile faded somewhat. "Then… Faraam left for the Archdragon Peaks. And the Abyss made its presence known in Forossa."
The scene blurred for a moment, and the view of Forossa that they had first seen was now in flames. True to Daniel's word, hideously twisted creatures, seemingly made out of tar and smoke, ravaged whatever was around them, pockets of Lion Knights trying desperately to defend the fleeing civilians from Hollow knights with glowing red eyes and ragged, foreign armor.
"My men and I were tasked with securing the way out of the city for the fleeing civilians and the retreating soldiers. We would be the last ones out. If we survived."
The image shifted to rows of soldiers arrayed in front of a massive, intricately carved stone gate, the past Daniel standing in front of them, as they stoically waited in formation while terrified women and children streamed past them. Eventually, the flow became a trickle, the women and children replaced by their beleaguered defenders as they made their way out of the city. "We didn't know it then, but we would be the last great stand of the Lion Knights of Forossa." the present Daniel said reverently, as the last fleeing soldiers passed through the gate, the Lion Knights closing ranks as the portcullis slammed shut behind them.
The wait was tense, the air filled with smoke and the howls and moans of the creatures of the Abyss, while ash fell on the Lion Knights like snow. Then, from a side street, one of the massive, tar-like beasts stumbled, followed by a group of Hollow soldiers. Further up the thoroughfare, more of the creatures stumbled into the line of sight, and the howls became a roar as a wave of creatures from the Abyss began to crash its way towards the Lion Knights.
The ranks shifted, rows of spears bristling outward like a deadly hedge, with Daniel's swordspear at its center. Within the ranks, a few Lion Knights, their armor etched with flame patterns, raised glowing hands, and the blades and points of every weapon became wreathed in fire.
As the horde drew ever closer, the past Daniel's swordspear crackled with lightning. With a thrust, a bolt of lightning lanced through a few of the Hollow soldiers, causing them to crumble to dust.
Then, the creatures of the Abyss crashed into the front line of the Lion Knights with a thunder of howls and clashing metal and screams of pain.
"The battle was fierce. Perhaps the fiercest I had seen as a Lion Knight." the present Daniel said, as the front line began to bow inward, a hail of arrows and lightning and fire slamming into the ranks of the Abyss. "We held back the weight of what seemed like all the Abyss in the city. And that most likely wasn't too far from the truth."
The battle continued, Hollow and monster and man alike all falling as blood of red and black seemed to make a river in the street. Eventually, a few Lion Knights, the past Daniel among them, and some of the larger monsters of the Abyss were all that was left standing. "I was among the last survivors of the battle when I was knocked unconscious." As he said this, the past Daniel was caught by the backhand of a monster, and flung back against the gate wall with a thud, as Daniel hit the ground and slumped over.
"When I woke up…" Daniel said, voice now full of sadness as the image blurred again before settling on a charnel field of dead bodies. "I was the last survivor of my battalion. There were others, yes, but for the most part, the Lion Knights were no more than story, now. I would have sought them out, but a Pride Lord was supposed to live and die with his battalion. So… I left the city when I woke and began to wander again. Time, once again, lost all meaning."
The present Daniel paused. "Days, weeks, months, years… who truly knew how much time passed. The very fabric of reality had become distorted by Gwyn's linking of the First Flame. The flow of time became convoluted."
"And relations shift and obscure." Asuka said quietly, as the image blurred more than a few times, each showing the past Daniel on a part of his journeys.
"In time," the present Daniel said after a moment of silence where the image resolved into a view of a massive city seemingly surrounded by wilderness, "I came to rest in the transitory lands of the kingdom of Lothric, and the cities that surrounded it."
Asuka tilted her head. "Lothric? I don't remember that one."
Daniel shook his head. "No, you wouldn't. Lothric would only become known in the third game, which was released on my world in 2016." as Asuka nodded in understanding, Daniel sighed quietly. "By now, the Flame could not be rekindled by one person alone. Many powerful souls, the Lords of Cinder, were required to keep the Flame going. Once I realized this, I had a mission. A drive that I hadn't felt since the last stand of the Lion Knights so long ago. I… would bring this world to a peaceful end."
The Children all looked at Daniel as he shook his head. "It was the kind thing to do, now." Daniel said quietly. "The world was limping towards its end, one way or another. My choices were to keep a vigil on the Flame until I had to face the next person to come along and kill me for the right, usurp the flame and become a Lord of Hollows, or… to let it die naturally."
Daniel sighed. "In time, I found myself in the land of Irithyll, nestled within the Boreal Valley. It was a beacon of light and warmth in the cold, and the daughter of the late Gwyn, Guinivere, came to reside here. She had even taken a portion of Lordran with her, making it the center of the city, as it had once been."
Daniel shook his head as a small smile came to his face. "Gwyn had a daughter here, a fair princess by the name of Amaya. She was kind and graceful, possessing her mother's charity right alongside her deep crimson hair and green eyes. She acted as… well, kind of an older sister to me at that time. Her lover, and eventually husband, a knight named Vordt, was a captain of the city guard and welcomed the experience that a Pride Lord of the famed Lion Knights of Forossa brought. We all became close during that time."
Daniel's smile disappeared. "Then Guinevere left, and Sulyvahn came."
Hikari blinked. "Who's Sulyvahn?"
The present Daniel's jaw became set in a wave of old anger. "He was a foreigner from a painted world, who worked his way up the political chain within Irithyll. In time, and with Guinivere's mysterious departure, he declared himself Pontiff, and his political opponents began to disappear."
Daniel's eyes began to fill with sadness as the image showed the past Daniel looking back over the city from a hill. "I had to leave Amaya and Vordt behind, or risk 'disappearing' myself. The Pontiff had made Vordt into an Outrider Knight, giving him a monstrous power held within gems that he called his right eye. And he made Amaya a dancer in his court, before… subjecting her to the same sort of power he had given Vordt. I promised before I left that I would free them. One way… or another."
It was silent for a moment. "I found myself," Daniel finally said as the image blurred and began to show a stark, dry valley height, with stoneworks in front of a massive building, "at Firelink Shrine. And I, at last, rested at a bonfire after defeating its guardian."
Asuka shook her head. "You mean you didn't rest at any of the bonfires in Lordran?"
Daniel chuckled slightly. "No. No, I didn't. Call it pride, call it stupidity, but… I stayed alive when I was in Lordran." he sighed. "That would not be the case here. In my quest to gather the Lords of Cinder… I died. Then I died again. And again. And again. I lost count of how many times I perished, and of how many different things brought me back to rest at a bonfire. But regardless of whether it was the Abyss Watchers of Farron Keep, or Yhorm the Giant King of the Profaned Capital, or Aldritch, Saint of the Deep and Devourer of Gods, or Lothric, son of Guinevere... I gathered the Lords of Cinder, and I made my way, once again, to the Kiln of the First Flame."
The image blurred and resolved into a bleak view. Behind and around them, buildings of every kind looked as though a massive hand had pushed them all together, creating a pile of brickwork and roofing that seemed to reach for the sky. In the middle of this chaos, a single, massive pillar rose into the sky, with a spiraling trail of dirt leading to a barren top, spikes of stone acting as the only walls to surround the top, and the remains of an archway acting as the only entrance.
Above them, what appeared to be the sun was nearly completely black, a ring of fire surrounding it and seeming to bleed towards the horizon, the sky seeming as if it were twilight even as the sun sat at its zenith. Asuka's eyes widened along with the rest of the Children's. "That's… the Darksign." Daniel nodded silently.
"I made my way to the top of the Kiln, retracing an old path." Daniel said after a moment, pointing out a lone figure that steadily grew closer as they seemed to float over towards him. It was revealed to be Daniel, his once white robes stained and bloody, the black armor he wore showing gleams of silver where strikes had scratched it or pierced through. The past Daniel stopped at the entrance of the archway, regarding the solitary figure that sat alone at the center of the plateau. "And I prepared to face the Soul of Cinder, a collection of the residuals of every soul before me who had rekindled the flame."
The past Daniel took a deep breath, then stepped through the broken archway, walking slowly through the field of flowers before stopping as the figure looked back, noticing him. It stood, and drew the coiled sword from the bonfire with no small amount of effort, and turned to face him.
The two figures stood silently for a moment, then ran at each other, their weapons clashing, shattering the silence that had fallen on them. They twirled around each other as their weapons struck each other, the Soul of Cinder backflipping from a strike before the coiled sword heated up in his hand, becoming a magical staff, from which a massive blue ray blasted at Daniel, who barely dodged it.
Fire and lightning quickly followed in its stead, the Daniel of the past dancing around them as his swordspear crackled with its own energy as a lance of lightning slammed into the Soul of Cinder, driving it to its knees.
Daniel backed away as the Soul kneeled there for a moment, an aura of fire seeming to build around it before exploding outward, nearly slamming into Daniel as the Soul stood once again, the coiled sword now burning with an old flame as the Soul of Cinder leaped at Daniel.
He dodged the familiar attack, and almost every attack afterward, parrying and riposting whenever he got the chance. The dance burned the flowers around them as it knocked over the swords planted similarly in the ground, the heady scent of burning plants filling the air as Daniel parried once again, then drove the swordspear into the Soul of Cinder's chest.
The Soul of Cinder spasmed for a moment, then sank to its knees as it began to turn to ash. Daniel pulled the swordspear out and watched with a sad look on his face as the Soul of Cinder crumbled completely, some of the ash that made up its body blowing away, leaving the coiled sword within it. "Goodbye again, Gwyn." the past Daniel said softly, crouching down to pick up the coiled sword, still warm from its time in the bonfire.
He looked over to the bonfire, which seemed incomplete without the sword to adorn it, and saw a glow appear next to it, resolving into words in an ancient language.
As the Daniel of the past walked over towards it, the present Daniel nodded his head. "I had only to summon the Fire Keeper now, the guardian of Firelink Shrine, to ensure that this world would pass into the darkness it so needed."
The past Daniel crouched down, his fingers brushing the edge of the sign, as it glowed brighter for a moment, then disappeared. The past Daniel stepped back as a swirl of light opened up at the spot the sign once occupied, and a woman with white hair and a simple black dress, her hands covered in burns and her feet bare, faded into existence, regarding the past Daniel from behind an intricate mask of silver shaped almost like a crown, decorated with pale white gems.
As she turned to regard the First Flame, the Daniel of the past put out his hand. "Wait."
The Fire Keeper paused, looking back at the past Daniel silently. The past Daniel continued. "Do your eyes work?"
It was silent again for a moment, then, the Fire Keeper bowed her head slightly as her hands slowly came up to the mask, before slowly sliding it off.
As the mask came off, the Fire Keeper's eyes were closed. Then they slowly opened, revealing eyes almost as silver as the gems that were on her mask. She looked around and stared at the dying sun. "Yes," she said, in a voice that was quiet, but kind, "they do work."
"Good." the past Daniel said, as the Fire Keeper looked back at him to examine him. After another moment of silence, the past Daniel spoke again. "What is your name?"
The Fire Keeper blinked, then looked down. "None have asked me before, and thus I have not spoken it in… an age."
She looked back up at the past Daniel, the look in her eyes almost desperate as the past Daniel, along with the present Daniel and his company, saw the beginnings of tears in the corner of her eyes. "I do not remember." she said, her voice cracking slightly.
It was silent for a moment. Then, the past Daniel nodded. "Very well. Then whatever your old name was… you have the chance now to take up a new one." As the Fire Keeper's eyes widened slightly, the past and present Daniels shared a small smile. "What of the name Vesta?"
It was silent again for a moment, then the Fire Keeper nodded, a small smile growing on her face. "Very well. From this time forth, I am Vesta."
Vesta turned back to regard the First Flame, still burning within the bonfire. She silently approached it, kneeling down and reaching her hands towards the source of the flame.
"You have called me here to finally let the First Flame die." she said, matter of factly, as she held her hands out to seemingly warm them with the guttering flames.
The past Daniel nodded. "Yes. We both see that this world has been awake for too long, its brief moments of sleep in the darkness not enough to heal it fully. It must sleep peacefully now. This is the only way it will ever heal."
The present Daniel nodded. "It was then that a group I never thought I would see again made itself known."
Behind all of them, a throat cleared itself, and all turned to see Izalith, in a plain robe, her pale face and dark hair uncovered, her golden eyes scanning the two figures that she saw as six other figures stood behind her.
The past Daniel and Vesta's eyes widened as they saw the group. "Izalith…" the past Daniel said. "How are you here? How are your Daughters here?"
Izalith smiled slightly. "We have persevered, as the First Flame has." she said in a surprisingly deep voice. She sighed. "But as you have said, the time has come for the First Flame to go out. And for those who are linked to it, in one way or another, to take their leave. We, from the Age of Fire, will not be in our right place in the the Age of Darkness."
The past Daniel nodded. "I can arrange for us to leave. I know of many things beyond this world. Beyond fire and darkness."
Izalith nodded. "Very well. We shall go with you, and see the wonders that await us."
Vesta nodded as well, then turned back to the flames, reaching into the ash and pulling out not just an ember, but the fire itself.
She marveled at the flame for a moment, and the Children all gathered close to the bonfire to marvel at it with her. As she held it, the world began to grow dim, as the ring of flame around the black sun began to go out in sections.
It was silent for a moment, as all looked at the sight hanging in the sky. After a moment, Vesta spoke. "The First Flame quickly fades. Darkness will shortly settle." she paused for a moment, then continued. "But one day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness. Like embers, linked by lords past."
Vesta fell silent again, as everything became cloaked in darkness, everyone vanishing from each other's sight as the Children seemed to hold their breath. Then, Vesta spoke again. "Shall we take our leave, Daniel?"
The past Daniel's voice answered. "Yes. Yes, we shall."
And the story ended.
As the room returned to being made of blue, slightly glowing stone, Daniel stepped forward, then turned to the Children and Eleanor. "So, to loop back around to the question that started it all, how old am I?"
He paused for a moment. "Well," he said, "like Eleanor, I am around 26 years old biologically. Chronologically… it might be easier to count how many millennia I have experienced rather than how many years. As you all saw, I was there for the 'beginning' of the universe, and I was there to lend my hand to its end. I am… old. Even I cannot tell how much."
Daniel began to sit again, a stool rising up to stop him from falling, and the room was silent.
"So," Hikari said after a moment, "what happened to Izalith and her daughters, and to Vesta?"
Daniel cracked a smile. "I took them aboard my vessel, gave them direction to ask for passage to Tel, and flagged down another passing Seabreaker, who promised to take them there." he paused for a moment. "That's what we call the vessels that let us cross the Worldsea, by the way."
Daniel nodded after a moment. "More than likely, that's where they are. At Tel, adjusting to the many, many different surprises there."
After a moment, he looked up and saw Eleanor in front of him. She reached for his hands, pulling him up to look him in the eye. Daniel could see the tears brimming in her eyes. "You know," she said in a slightly husky voice, "I don't know what I was expecting. But it certainly wasn't that."
She said nothing more, pulling him into a hug for a silent moment.
As they pulled away from the hug, Asuka nodded at Daniel. "And here I thought you wouldn't be old enough to talk the way you did in that world." she said with a slight smirk.
A chuckle rippled through the group as Daniel shook his head slightly. "And that, I think," Daniel said to the group, "means that we can go ahead and go home."
An audible sigh of relief rippled through the group. Another day of training was done.
As two side rooms for showering opened up, and the conversation switched to other topics, of Hikari and Toji's date, and why Shinji and Asuka didn't just go with them, and why exactly that would be disastrous, Rei turned to look at Daniel and Eleanor. "I did not expect you to be older than my progenitor." Rei said quietly. "It is... humbling to think of your experience."
Daniel put a hand on Rei's shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it. There are few even in the Worldsea that have seen as much time pass as I have. And really, it would be rather awkward to try and explain just how I manage to break the age section on NERV's personnel files if I was being honest."
Rei chuckled softly at the thought, then made her way to the women's showers.