Event 25: Truth Of The Battle
The Undead of Lordran possess an unusual and powerful ability. By absorbing the souls of those dying around them, they add to their own power. Upon death, this power returns to the environment around them, retrievable only by its owner. The power of a soul cannot be measured, only felt. Trades with souls are agreed upon by the two making the exchange. But special souls exist... Ones far too powerful to simply glide through the air to a new master. They must be claimed from their fallen body. As far back as the Asylum Demon, Seiko had known this. She herself had claimed several large souls and even held Lord Souls for a time. Yet, as she approached the spot where her father had finally been set free from the Abyss, Seiko couldn't help but feel that this was something she was meant to do. Seiko stepped forward, well rested after the tough battle and with Jinta behind her watching. With her black sword in her left hand, Seiko reached out with her right hand and called to her father's soul. A thing slightly resembling Humanity gathered and swam to her open hand. The Abyss-corrupted soul of Sir Artorias the Abysswalker, last of his clan. Seiko had hoped to reclaim whatever Artorias had taken from her; the same something that had made his ring so special and that had made her an ally of the Abyss for a time. As she held the soul of Artorias, Seiko knew it had been lost to her. The true ring itself must still be somewhere, or she wouldn't have received it in the future as she did. As Seiko pondered this, Jinta approached from behind to look over her shoulder. His gold Paladin helmet was in the crook of his right arm, and his close-shaved black hair had a faint reddish tint in the sunlight above.
"I think we should keep what's happened here a secret... Your father deserves the legend that comes out of this. We should make legends of our own..." said Jinta.
Seiko, still staring at the purpled great soul in her hand, just nodded her agreement.
She and Jinta awed only seconds longer, both on the verge of some bigger conversation, when Seiko looked back at Jinta. Just as she was about to speak, she noticed a figure in dark blue robes barely two meters away.
"Jinta!" she said, her face serious once more, dashing passed him and bringing the tip of her katana right to the throat of the masked figure. An emotionless white porcelain mask stared at her over the sword.
"So it was you two who ended the plight of Artorias," said a woman's voice. It sounded like Seiko, but deeper and fuller, like someone older and more experienced with the world.
Seiko, her coat on and hood down, eyed the figure with caution. How had this woman gotten so close without being noticed?
"I assume, then, that you hold his soul with you as well?" continued the woman, ignoring Seiko's blade a centimeter from her mask.
"Who are you?" said Jinta, his voice muffled by his helmet, Seiko realized.
"I am a close friend of Sir Artorias. For now, that's all you must know of me," said the woman.
"It was the two of us that stopped him, yes. But what could you want with his soul? And, more than that, how did you get in here so quietly with those metal boots?" said Jinta.
"It is a skill earned by many years of service, young knight. As for the soul, perhaps you would understand my use of it if you knew who I was. However, I will not give an introduction without first receiving one," said the woman.
Jinta hesitated, not knowing how to introduce himself or Seiko, as they were not of the current time. Seiko, noticing the drawn out silence, nodded for him. He should just go ahead as normal. Seiko still watched the woman, sword unmoving but ready. Jinta took a moment to breathe, then began. It was proper manners, after all, to introduce oneself before demanding the identity of another.
"I am Paladin Jinta of The Way Of White, and this is Seiko, daughter of Artorias and pupil of Quelaana of Izalith. Now who are you?" said Jinta. It was short, and his tone was intense, but he'd fulfilled his moral obligation.
The woman seemed to sag in her robes. The very air about her seemed to settle into the floor, distraught. When at last she spoke, it was with difficulty.
"I... Am Lord's Blade Ciaran, The Hornet. Assassin of Lord Gwyn... And I am the only lover of Knight Artorias..." said the woman.
Seiko's expression instantly moved from killer intent to brimming with tears.
"So it will be a girl...?" said Ciaran, awed beyond measure.
Seiko slowly lowered her sword, straightening up out of her low battle stance.
"Mother...?" sighed Seiko, just as awestruck.
Jinta as well relaxed, struck speechless. A Knight of Gwyn in the flesh and lucid. Not to mention the future mother of Seiko.
"Seiko is your name? Where did I...?" started Ciaran, slowly.
"Quelaana named me," said Seiko, trying not to cry. "I Hollowed long ago. I don't know my real name... A sealer in New Londo used magic... He told me who my parents were..."
"Hollowed...?" said Ciaran, stricken with sadness. "So, then... You wouldn't know where you were born... Or how I raised you... If I raised you...? Nothing...?"
Seiko, looking down, shook her head. She had not a trace of memory before seeing Jinta in the Undead Asylum yard.
"I... Suppose that is for the best..." said Ciaran, "If I knew, I may try to force events... After all, not everyone is so fortunate to know how beautiful and strong their child will become..."
The sudden line caught both Jinta and Seiko off guard, but Ciaran quickly continued.
"If you two have the time, I'd like to tell you more about Artorias... And if you would listen, I can tell you how to finish what he started..."
Jinta and Seiko looked at each other, Seiko drying her tears. Both nodded, ready to listen...
Ciaran told them everything. She'd been in the coliseum, tracking Artorias and ready to kill him herself when the moment arose. Artorias had sacrificed his arm and shield to save Sif, his companion, but in the process had given up use of his dominant left hand. Jinta and Seiko already respected Artorias, perhaps even feared him, but those feelings only grew as they realized their entire fight with Artorias had been against him using his off-hand to swing his sword. Even more, Ciaran expressed concern that Artorias hadn't been completely gone; he may have been trapped in his body by the Abyss. Jinta and Seiko supported it by telling Ciaran that they'd heard his dying words of thanks.
Jinta told Ciaran much as well, only after having her swear to never act on any knowledge she may receive. It was the first time Seiko got to hear Jinta's full story.
"From what I understand, Seiko started regaining her sanity a few days before I did. We were in the Undead Asylum, and I was in the of the rear-most cells, first I remember. A knight, someone I don't recognize, dropped a dead Hollow into my cell from a hole in the ceiling. It had a key to the cells in the Asylum, so I took it and escaped... I remember snapping to fully a while after and realizing I needed some clothes or I'd freeze, so I took some from some dead adventurer. There was a straight-sword hilt on the body, so I took it... I still have it, actually... I tried to leave, but the Asylum Demon stopped me... There was no way I could fight, so I ran through the only open door... Just by following the path I found my falchion here... I used it later to blind the Asylum Demon by dropping on its head, then I killed it by cutting under its stomach and around its legs so it would bleed to death. After that, some giant crow took me away and dropped me near a bonfire, where I won't say. I heard about a legend, met someone from the Way of White, and before I knew it they wanted me to try and fulfill the prophecy. I fit it because I came from the Asylum, so they offered to make me a Paladin if I could ring both bells and return from Anor Londo... They fixed my falchion, gave me a claymore, and sent me on my way..."
"...Once I got back from Anor Londo, the church game me my Estoc and blessed both it and my falchion. They gave me my armor, a new talisman, and told me to retrieve the Lord Souls... If I'm being honest, I've never worshiped the Lords. I worked for the Way of White because I could be ambiguous about my faith and still follow what I really believed. So I disobeyed them. I went back to the Asylum, put the man who rescued me to rest, and traveled back to Anor Londo where I entered... A certain place... I was trapped there for a long time... Again, I lost count of my deaths... When I finally made it out, I felt I needed wisdom from the one who'd sent me in the right direction for my mission... When I went to see him, I met Seiko... I'd heard about her, but of course, who hadn't? She'd come out of the Asylum just days after I had, but for some reason she never made it to the bonfire I'd been dropped at. She ended up in a huge cavern full of poison and met a Sister of Chaos, Quelaana, who named her and trained her while I was slaughtered over and over... She must have spent months or years down there... If I lost track of my deaths, and each cost me three days, it had to have been years... Regardless, she'd risen up on my heels, as I've heard, and escaped the cavern, following right after me all the way to Anor Londo. The only reason we didn't meet then was because I was told to go through the flames back to the bonfire I'd first seen in Lordran. Of course, I left right away, and Seiko has said she even saw me disappearing... From there, she hasn't said how, but she did a major part of my job for me, then waited in a place she knew I'd have to come to... Together we finished what I started, uncovered a terrible secret, and that secret has led us here..."
"Lord's Blade Ciaran, Hornet, and Assassin of Lord Gwyn," said Jinta, drawing his speech to a close and kneeling. "We have been sent by Gwyn's stricken son, Solaire, to find a way to break the cycle of death surrounding the First Flame and the Age of Fire. We've managed to stop the cycle of time in the future, but without a way to live without the Flame or a way to indefinitely sustain it, a dark age will surely come. I beg you, if there is anything you know that may help us, please tell us... We have no other leads..."
Ciaran looked at him for a time, her porcelain mask betraying nothing of her thoughts. After a long while, she sighed, shaking her head.
"To start... Let me be the first to congratulate you for all you've done... I doubt anyone else will understand, after all... It must have been unbearable for you two. While I cannot understand what it is to die and revive many times, what I know of mortal pain is enough to let me glimpse at how you've suffered... Next, I wish you to forgive me... I know nothing that could save the First Flame... Humanity may sustain it, and powerful souls may anchor to it to guide it, but none of that is forever... Beware feeding all the Humanity you find to the First Flame. In time, even it may fall pray to the Abyss, which is the influence of the Dark Soul... Humanity is but pieces of that mighty soul... Last, as if I had any right, I must ask a favor of you myself..."
Both Seiko and Jinta were crushed. They'd never expected to see Ciaran here. In fact, they thought they'd only meet her upon escaping. They'd also assumed she was Undead, which she'd just revealed she wasn't. She'd be long dead in their time. It was like opening the door to a treasure room, only to find that every jewel was made of glass. They were once again without a lead. Seiko was the first to break their silence.
"I'll help..." said Seiko, before even hearing her mother's request.
This surprised Ciaran, but Jinta had expected that reaction.
Ciaran couldn't speak for a time, and when she regained herself, her voice was choked.
"Artorias failed... The Abyss is still spreading... He didn't escape, he was sent away... His partner, Sif, is still down there and won't last much longer... Surely Artorias' spell will wear off soon... It is my turn to beg... Beg that you save Sif... Even if you cannot halt the Abyss, please at least do that..."
Ciaran bowed her head, unable to say any more.
Jinta stood, looking at Seiko. He'd decided her fate long enough. He wouldn't speak a word to influence her in this.
"... How...?" said Seiko. If Artorias himself failed to resist, how could Seiko or Jinta.
Ciaran answered, "You must not know about Sir Artorias' clan... They are able to resist the Abyss, even where none can control it. Throughout the ages, whispers have indeed passed about members who could control portions of it, but all ended the same as Artorias has. You are of his clan. The last of his blood. You alone have the chance to resist the Abyss and plug it at the source... At the very least, you are the only one who can save Sif..."
Seiko's eyes widened a bit, for only a second, as a sign that she had realized something. She heaved a sigh, closing her eyes. When she spoke, her blue eyes opened, the same undeniable certainty swimming within as always.
"I will," she said, simply.
Jinta, inside his helmet, smiled. Even knowing the most he could do would be to help her reach the Abyss, he wanted to repay her. If this was one way, Jinta was ready to act.
"I know I have no right to ask this of you... For you to have become Undead... To have Hollowed... I cannot help but feel responsible in part... I will wait here for your return..." said Ciaran.
Jinta and Seiko rested outside the coliseum, at a nearby bonfire. Just beyond them were the stairs leading into what was left of Oolacile. Deep below, an unnatural darkness shifted. The entire city seemed to grow out of a ravine which grew too dark to see into much earlier than it should have. The buildings were of stone, and many were corrupted and collapsing. Somewhere in the town, beyond this point, Sif was still exposed to the Abyss. And somewhere even further, a great foe lurked...
Event 26: Into The Abyss coming soon...
Author Note: For those who saw the preview version, yes I removed the section about Seiko's sword. I realized it was a dumb idea, and I don't need any more dumb ideas. I WILL be taking this all the way to Kalameet, but once we hit that, fair warning, the end is near. Again, I'm not getting any more feedback, so I have no idea if what I'm doing is still ok with you guys. I'm not asking for an inflated review count, I'm just asking for you to send a PM if you liked something or hated something in particular. I'm here to practice for a book, damn it, I need some help!