New Event 19: Dark Souls

If ever there were a sight to define despair, it was upon the ashes below Lordran. Rinne stared in horror and rage as Kama slipped off the Black Knight's sword. It had impaled her, and was now staring at Rinne as if to say she was next. It was a losing battle for everyone. Kuronoko's curved greatsword had cracked in the middle, leaving her with only a hand's length of the blade above the hilt. Ryuuko's body had long gone to ash and vanished. Rii could only stand on the ashen dunes and watch as Seiko gave her all in her own losing battle. Seiko almost looked Hollow. Her skin was darkening, her hair falling out, and now steam mixed with Abyss, wafting from her body. The Black Knight she'd stolen a greatsword from had regrown its severed right arm, had its armored fists balled, and was fighting hand-to-hand. Still, the two were even in strength and speed. The Knight avoided any attacks with Abyss, having learned from watching Seiko overload another Knight. Still, it couldn't kill Seiko. She'd been hit hard several times, but the Abyss she was overflowing with held her together. Time was what she needed, even at the cost of her own life...

"Seiko! Look out!" screamed Rii, making herself hoarse hoping she could be loud enough to somehow warn Seiko. The other Knights had won and were coming down the stairs. Two of them on top of the weaponless opponent Seiko faced. Seiko heard the heavy foot-falls of the approaching enemies in time to rush her original opponent. It took a swing at her, but she opened her mouth and let Abyss fly. The Knight stopped and dodged, letting her pass and go lower on the stairs. She ran down to the flat landing just outside where Gwyn was. Seiko put both hands on the Black Knight Greatsword in her possession, her eyes completely black, her whole body sagging. Even Power Within couldn't help her contain much more Abyss, and without the Abyss holding her up, Seiko would quickly die from her internal wounds. The two new Black Knights approached, both raising shields, each with a different size sword. Seiko heaved, like she would puke, but stayed up. The Knights shifted closer, never underestimating their opponent. Slowly the three fenced her in, shielded Knights on the left and right, unarmed Knight in front. Seiko had her back to the opening where Jinta and Solaire were walking toward their opponent.

As if it were the most natural thing, Gwyn raised a hand and threw a spear of sunlight at the archway, forcing it to crumble down and trap his two opponents in with him. The very air the spear had touched felt charged with energy.

"No!" exclaimed Jinta, looking back and watching the opening crumble, apparently just behind Seiko.

"You must push it out of your mind! Painful though it must be, she is sacrificing herself in a way only she can to give us this chance... To give you this chance! Do not make all her suffering be for nothing!" said Solaire.

He was right of course, but for Jinta pushing a feeling he'd never had before out of his mind was nearly impossible. Jinta hadn't been exaggerating; he literally felt like a part of him was dying with Seiko, even if she would return in three days. What she was doing was beyond self-sacrifice. It was self-mutilation. No one had any way of knowing if such contamination by the Abyss could be reversed, even in death. She may be giving everything for the chance that Jinta or Solaire may succeed Gwyn and break the cycle of suffering and death the Undead had come to know.

"We must hurry," said Solaire, his voice solemn but resolved.

Jinta couldn't speak. He relaxed his fear-grip on his swords, too experienced to let such a mistake force the blades from his grasp. He had no way of telling how Solaire felt. In what felt like a practiced scene, Gwyn stood and lifted his sword as Seiko dropped hers. As Seiko fell to the Knights' blows, Gwyn lit his sword in the First Flame. As Seiko's body wilted away, freed from the unspeakable pain at last, Gwyn took his stance and prepared for a fight to the death...

The city of Anor Londo really is the last chance any Undead has to deny the existence of giants. Upon entering the city of Lords, any doubts are crushed. Sets of stairs for human and giant feet, age-old guards in giant suits of armor, and the remaining silver knights of Gwyn are just a few things that prove their existence. For all the giants Solaire and Jinta had ever faced, nothing could prepare them for facing the Lord of Cinder himself. The Great Lord Gwyn, with his flaming sword and tattered robes, stood taller than any human. The charred crown atop his head, greatsword burned black, and smudges of ash on his old and expressionless face only served to further his image. Jinta and Solaire now stood alone against him, to either succeed or be forced to try again at the start. In ordinary circumstances, such a thing would be easy. But with Gwyn having brought half his faithful knights to the Kiln, and he himself being the most imposing foe yet, hopelessness and Hollowing seemed more likely here than anywhere else. Worse, it would force Jinta and Solaire to have their friends make ever more sacrifices. Neither wished that upon anyone, so for both of them it really was do or die.

"Jinta?"

Jinta glanced over at Solaire, but said nothing, still sick to his stomach.

"I need you to be at your best. You are a Chosen Undead, just as I am. A Paladin greater than any before you. I need you free of doubt if you're going to be any help at all. For a man of faith like you, I would think that should be easy..."

Inside his helmet, Jinta looked down. He'd always had faith, just never in himself. But Solaire believed in him. Seiko believed in him enough to risk everything for him. Those two! Walking, breathing legends believed in him! Jinta took a deep breath, his first unhindered breath in several minutes.

"You're going to do something stupid too, aren't you?" he asked.

Solaire didn't answer.

"Remember what I told you about my promises?" asked Jinta, focusing on Gwyn.

"I remember," said Solaire.

"I promise you, you can count on me."

Silence between them...

"Then the time has come at last," said Solaire, raising his sword and shield.

"It has indeed," said Jinta, adjusting his gold boots in the ash and holding up his Divine Estoc and Divine Falchion.

The two eased forward, keeping their footing with each step and ready for anything. They drew within extended range of an attack. Lord Gwyn waited patiently, ready as they were. His eyes flickered everywhere, absorbing everything his opponents did. He'd fought countless Undead while chained to the First Flame. Experience was his greatest weapon. He'd fought Undead with summoned phantoms, great wizards and Pyromancers, living legends and nameless warriors, had been beaten innumerable times and had won innumerable times more. He waited for both warriors to be well within his reach before striking his first blow. Gwyn, without a single telegraphed motion, swung his flaming greatsword horizontally, aiming to cut his foes down in one stroke at their waists. Solaire raised his shield and Jinta crossed his swords to catch the blow, both sliding over the ash and struggling to keep their footing. Solaire managed to tilt his shield and roll under the blow, charging Gwyn in his open moment. The move surprised Gwyn and he jumped clear, leaving Jinta shocked by the strength of the first attack.

"Jinta! You're faster! Focus!" yelled Solaire, running at Gwyn.

Jinta cursed how he still wavered, following after Solaire. Gwyn stepped in, stabbing at Solaire as he charged. Solaire dodged the blow but Gwyn shifted his grip and turned the stab into a slash. Solaire had to absorb the blow on his shield again, the sturdy metal now creased where it had been struck so hard twice. Jinta dashed in, a white and gold blur, jumping over Gwyn's sword and slashing across Gwyn's ribs. Ashes flew from Gwyn's side, but no blood sprayed forth. Now behind the giant, Jinta jumped and speared Gwyn through the back with Estoc. The blow carried them both the floor. Jinta jumped clear as Gwyn pulsed with flame, standing quickly. As Gwyn stood, he sliced upward at Jinta. Jinta crossed his swords again in an X, the tips of his blades almost on the ground, to block. Gwyn's strength was so great, Jinta was sent flipping through the air from the blow. His holy swords would not break, but if he landed wrong the fall would kill him. Below, Solaire rushed Gwyn in the opening, slashing across Gwyn's chest several times before any counterattack was made. Gwyn made a savage kick at Solaire, catching him in the chest and sending him flying into a jagged pillar of some black stone. Solaire, winded, struggled to his feet and raised his shield, catching his breath. Gwyn looked at him for a second, waiting oddly. He suddenly turned and threw a lightning bolt at Jinta, just as Jinta landed and rolled. Jinta stood in time for the bolt to strike him square in the helmet. He screamed in pain and cringed, smokes issuing from the eye holes of his helmet. Gwyn was then surprised to find that he'd been struck by his own lightning, his eyes flicking to Solaire, who'd thrown the bolt. For a moment, Gwyn was awestruck for some reason, but quickly angered and slashed at Solaire. Solaire rolled forward, under the attack, and Gwyn's greatsword struck the rock pillar and stuck to it. Solaire came out of his roll looking right up at Gwyn's ashen face. There was an unnatural moment of pause for the two... Right before Solaire stabbed Gwyn in the stomach with his Sunlight Straight-sword. Gwyn saw the sword in detail, jutting from his abdomen, and got a look of utter disbelief on his face. Solaire let go of the sword as Gwyn stumbled back. Behind them, Jinta had positioned himself to pounce on Solaire's signal. He waited, mumbling a prayer verse under his breath. Gwyn had left his sword in the stone pillar behind Solaire and was stumbling backwards step by step, a sword he never thought to see again sticking out of him. Solaire raised his right hand, calling forth one last bolt, and threw the spear of sunlight right into his own sword, channeling it through Gwyn's whole body. As Gwyn shuddered and jerked from the attack, Jinta jumped toward him from behind, his swords held point-down.

"... by The Wrath Of The Gods!" he finished, stabbing into the tops of Gwyn's broad shoulders and exploding in white light.

Gwyn howled in agony, falling to his knees and beginning to disintegrate. The last thing Gwyn would ever see was the helmeted face of Solaire of Astora...

"Wait, Jinta," said Solaire, a few moments later when the two stood before the First Flame at last.

Jinta paused and looked back.

"Step aside. Let me. It is my destiny to be chained here, not yours."

"What? Solaire, we are both Chosen. It is not the destiny of just one to feed the Flame," said Jinta, confused.

"Remember that Ryuuko said it is impossible to measure the soul. While she was right, I am sure that no matter which of us feeds the Flame at this moment, we will succeed The Great Lord Gwyn. Allow me to bear that fate. You, unlike me, have set roots in Lordran. You would be mourned. Missed. I have been in Lordran for a short time, and have pursued this end, and only this end, for far longer than I care to admit. Let me be chained to the flame... Let me give light to the world for just a while longer... Time may move again, but the cycle will not be broken... Other Undead will rise, hear the same false prophecies, and make their way here. Succeeding Gwyn is not enough. Someone must venture forth, and break the cycle. Would you do that? If, after I bind myself here, you see the first new dawn, would you go forth and seek a true ending to this curse? Break the cycle and free the Undead from this endless Purgatory of despair and suffering?..."

Jinta was speechless. He had no reaction prepared for such a thing.

"Paladin Jinta, you made a promise to me. You gave your word I could count on you. Will you really break that promise, especially to a comrade...? To the son of a Lord...?"

That struck Jinta even deeper than before. What other Lord could he mean than Gwyn? Did Solaire believe himself to be the lost son of Gwyn, or was it really true? And Jinta had never broken a promise in his life, so of course he didn't intend to start now. Solaire waited patiently for Jinta's response. When at last Jinta spoke, his voice was clear, his mind at last at ease.

"We are cursed. Undead are everywhere, but few carry the Darksign we mysteriously bear. Though we have long walked together, this day one of us shall be lost forever. Were our fates reversed, I believe in my heart you would do for me what you have asked of me. This world is one of fading light, despair, and everlasting sorrow... But I believe... That of our Dark Souls... It is yours that will burn brightest of all..."

Jinta stepped back from the First Flame, nodding to Solaire, who took his place.

"In another life, I would have liked to call you 'brother,'" said Solaire, his back to Jinta, outlined in orange light.

"And in this life, I already do. Goodbye, Solaire."

Solaire of Astora reached his hand over the First Flame, his soul surging through his body and joining with the burning tendrils at the heart of The Kiln. As The First Flame began to flare up, a raging firestorm with new fuel, Jinta blew the debris in his way to bits with Force and stepped out of the coliseum. Behind him, a warrior remembered for generations gave himself for the cause his father had... To keep the Dark at bay, if only for just a while longer... Jinta left The Kiln, unassailed by the black knights who knelt in the ash, paying tribute to their new Lord. Out in the sun, on the very spot he'd landed his first day in Lordran, Jinta sat. There he waited, for three days, for his only reason to go on... For Seiko to emerge from the flames again...

Event 20 coming soon...

Original Author Note: No New Game+ here. No choice at an ending. Just great men and women, Dark Souls, and a good reason to go on living. Will Jinta and Seiko find a way to save Solaire and the Undead? Was Solaire right, and will the next dawn really be different? What is the truth of the legend of Artorias The Abysswalker? If you ask those questions, you're asking the right questions. And you'll get your answers...

New Author Note: I had intended on extending the fight with Gwyn, but I couldn't find a way that wouldn't just be bloating the content. If you all want it, I'll do it. I'm sure I could at least make it interesting. But at this time, of my own will, I won't.