-Blighttown-

Tetsuro awoke at length, looked around, and stood. There were no immediate threats, but Seiko was gone. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned to look up the sewer pipe, which was a ramp coming out of the mud leading to another, vertical pipe. Flickers of azure and sky blue told him Seiko was in the chamber, using Pyromancy. Tetsuro drew his sword and ran up the ramp as quickly as he could. He came to a stop at the lip of a circular chamber, two or three meters deep. Seiko was standing in the chamber, both hands focused on a bright flame, shaping it with the motion of her hands. If one hand moved away, the flame tried to follow while remaining anchored to the same spot. It shifted into elliptical shapes as Seiko manipulated it.

Tetsuro chose not to bother her, instead returning to the bonfire to use the souls he'd amassed to infuse himself with power, then went to retrieve the Uchigatana he'd lost in his fight with Mildred. The guard was barely sticking out of the mud, but he was able to find it. He slashed to the side a few times, flinging mud off of the blade before sheathing it on his back and going back to the bonfire. He pulled his Bottomless Box from the fire and set about repairing his gear. While he was doing so, Seiko returned, looking tired. She rested, Tetsuro repaired her gloves and leather cuirass, and once they were fully prepared they set out.

"That wheel is the way back to Firelink," said Seiko, pointing it out as they passed by.

"Good to know. I take it that's how you got out of here the first time, then?"

"Right."

"And what about the huge tree in the other direction? There's still a lot to see. I'm not too fond of the idea of going into a lair covered that thickly with spider webs."

They both looked ahead, to a huge mound covered in white webs and roots poking out of the ground. There was an opening in plain view, and a few ogres were carrying large rocks away from somewhere beyond the mound.

"It's safe enough for them to work," said Seiko.

"And what if the next powerful enemy is just a large ogre? Or their king?"

"But then why the spider webs?"

"Maybe they killed whatever made it. Or maybe they're webs of fungus and not spider webs."

"Fungus can do that?"

"Your memories really are a mess, aren't they?"

Seiko looked up at an angle, thinking. "I don't feel like I ever learned that before, though. So far, when I think I should remember something and I don't, I can tell. Like where I'm from or my name or how I used to fight. It's like whatever it is is right on the tip of my tongue but I can't find the right words. This is different."

"Sorry to bring it up. I'm not very funny, am I?"

Seiko looked at him with something on her face near concern. "Not really. Were you trying to be?"

"Nevermind… Let's just get moving. We should try to avoid those ogres. Let's follow the chasm wall to the mound, around those far pillars."

Seiko nodded and followed.

The two nearly made it inside the lair when a boulder flew out of nowhere and crushed Tetsuro, killing him instantly. Seiko flinched so violently she nearly fell over, her head whipping around looking for the source. An ogre had thrown the boulder and was running over to attack her as well. Behind it and to the side another ogre raised a boulder and threw it. Seiko rolled forward to dodge the rock, some of the spider webs sticking to her back, and threw a Great Fireball at the ogre drawing near. Just like the others, the ogre quickly caught fire and burned to death, groaning loudly in pain. The other ogre was running over now, ignoring the fact that his fellow was killed so easily.

Seiko didn't want to use too much Pyromancy and wear herself out, especially if there was another powerful enemy nearby. She looked back for a split second and had an idea. She turned, gripping the second boulder and bracing herself. With a heave, Seiko picked up the boulder and hoisted it over her head, stumbling under the weight. She turned, shifted her feet, breathed out, in, out, in, and threw the boulder with all her might and a yell of effort. The ogre continued running the entire time, drawing near until the boulder slammed into its chest, knocking it off its feet and squashing its head. The boulder rolled down the hill into the other wall of the chasm.

Seiko, still in the pose from throwing the rock and watching the aftermath, smiled to herself. She shook out her arms and went over to move the other boulder, in case Tetsuro had survived. She found he hadn't, rolled the boulder so it would continue down the hill and out of the way, and waited for Tetsuro to return.

-Quelaag's Domain-

Down into the lair, Tetsuro first with his shield up, Seiko next with her hands alight, the two Undead moved in. They heard an odd chanting that grew louder as they moved deeper in, which turned out to be coming from other Undead lying on the ground. There were sacs full of eggs extending from their backs that were nearly as tall as Seiko.

"I repeat," said Tetsuro, "Really not fond of the idea of going down here. What if the bell is in the other direction."

"We're already here, though."

"I have Homeward Bones. We don't have to be here."

Seiko leaned forward so he would see her out of the corner of his eye, so Tetsuro looked back at her.

"Are you scared of spiders?"

"I'm scared of turning into one of these things instead of just dying. Death, we can recover from. But if whatever is up ahead lays eggs in us and we rest at a bonfire, that's the end of the line. The bonfires remember your past self, right? What if they remember those eggs and think they're part of you? You could be stuck like that for a very, very long time."

Seiko scrunched up her face in disgust. "So… I dunno… Don't get… Laid-on? With eggs? What do you call that?"

"Let's just agree to not have to find out what you call that. Come on…"

Through the chamber with the chanting, living egg sacs, and the next tunnel was blocked with fog.

"Figures."

"You were right about there being a powerful enemy down here. Maybe it guards the bell?"

Tetsuro looked back at her again, shield and sword down.

"Maybe it does," said Tetsuro, "But I'm going to be livid if it doesn't. I'm looking for memorable fights, not everlasting nightmares or permanent scarring."

"Kinda hard to scar when we die and revive so often… You'd have to be hurt for a long time to-..."

She trailed off when she saw how Tetsuro was looking at her.

"I've got Humanity to spare for now. I'm willing to give this a shot if you are. If we fail, we can just try the other way. Are you ready?"

Seiko nodded, hands up.

"Then in we go."

"That's a very big… Wait… What's that on its head?" said Tetsuro.

"A wo-... She's a Chaos Witch."

"A what?!"

"Quelaana said The Witch of Izalith didn't fear her own flame and tried to recreate The First Flame… It overloaded, went out of control, and corrupted everything in Izalith, even The Witch's Daughters of Chaos. That must be one of them."

The thing they referred to was slowly approaching them from across a huge arena with a brick floor and a curved ceiling made of spider webs. It was a massive spider, glowing with heat, with a mutated face that had too many eyes and a mouth with pointed teeth and a tongue. It also had too many legs to be a normal spider. If that wasn't bad enough, sticking out of the top of its head was the torso of what was once a woman. Her overgrown hair hid most of her, but in her hand was a blade that appeared to be made of chitin. With a flourish, the blade trailed flames of red and orange.

"We have to beat her to leave. I guess this will be a good test for your Pyromancy, won't it?"

Seiko looked over at him, slightly worried. She nodded.

"Here it comes."

The spider suddenly sped up a bit and jumped. Its mouth opened to vomit lava as it landed. Both Tetsuro and Seiko had run to either side, Seiko to the right, Tetsuro to the left. The Witch, Quelaag, slashed at Tetsuro with her curved sword, since he was on her right now. She was very far away, really, but Tetsuro assumed that if she was swinging, she thought she could hit him. He put up his shield and was thrown off his feet by the force that hit his shield. Quelaag turned to focus on him, raising her sword. Tetsuro hit the ground, looked up, and scrambled aside before Quelaag could slash at him. Her blade spewed flames that extended her reach, cutting into the bricks and scorching them.

Seiko jumped onto the spider's back, readying Firestorm. She figured if she could push her flame into an enemy that size and force the flame out, it would die instantly. Instead, she almost immediately burned her hand as it touched the spider's exoskeleton. Quelaag herself drooped, as if asleep for a moment. Seiko was confused for a moment, but before she could think to do anything she was sent flipping through the air by a shockwave from the spider. She hit the ground near the side of the chamber, where there was still dirt instead of brick. The fringes of her robes were smoking, but they'd kept her from catching on fire.

"This thing is… How do we fight this?!" said Tetsuro. He circled the spider as it turned to face Seiko. Just when he thought it would attack again, he slashed at one of its many legs with the Uchigatana. The leg sheared off cleanly and fluid leaked from the severed leg. The bricks the fluid and leg landed on began to melt. Tetsuro immediately planned to cut off legs until he could reach the Witch herself. Simple, but effective.

Quelaag noticed her leg was removed, instantly forgot Seiko, and turned to face Tetsuro. As she turned, the spider puked more lava, keeping Seiko and Tetsuro separated. Seiko slowly got up, aching from her fall. She couldn't move her burned hand, and didn't dare look at it. She needed to get to Tetsuro for Estus, but was blocked by both Quelaag and her lava. Seiko looked at the bottoms of her boots. They were slightly melted, but still together. They might survive another few seconds standing on Quelaag.

While Seiko planned to make another jump, Tetsuro was busy dodging slashes and slicing off legs. Quelaag was having to use legs further to the rear to keep herself upright already, having trouble not leaning very far forward. Seiko jumped, took two steps on Quelaag's back, and landed next to Tetsuro. Quelaag sagged again, preparing another shockwave in response to Seiko landing on her back.

"Back up!" yelled Seiko, backpedaling.

Tetsuro didn't have enough time to react. He started backing up, shield up, when the shockwave went off. Tetsuro slid back over the bricks a bit, but was up and ok.

"I need Estus…" said Seiko.

Tetsuro sheathed his Uchigatana, snatched the flask off his belt, and tossed it to Seiko. He was used to her having good reflexes, as was she, but with a burned hand, Seiko failed to catch the flask. It hit the bricks and rolled, spilling everywhere. With no vessel, the Estus evaporated almost instantly. Quelaag had recovered and was jumping forward awkwardly, spitting more lava. Seiko ran for the flask, snatching it up and jumping to get away from the attack. She could almost hear Tetsuro cursing her name.

Quelaag looked right, at Seiko, then left at Tetsuro. Tetsuro was moving in to slice off more of her legs, so she slashed at him. Tetsuro rolled, dodging the slash, and attacked as he stood. He came in contact with a thicker leg, and his sword failed to cut all the way through. He yanked the sword out, but the leg lashed out at him, knocking him down and searing his cuirass. Quelaag turned, raising her sword, when Seiko landed on the spider's head right behind where her torso stuck out. Quelaag swiped a hand back at Seiko, but Seiko was already gone with another jump, landing near Tetsuro. She yanked him to his feet.

"Here! It fell!" She handed him the Estus flask.

Tetsuro sheathed the Uchigatana and took the flask, drinking from it himself before putting it back on his belt, empty.

"You've got to distract her from me. If I can slice off a few more legs, I don't think she'll be able to move. After that, she should be easy!"

Seiko nodded, hiding her burned hand. She'd caught a glimpse of bone on it while she was jumping, and that fleeting image was enough to tell her the hand was useless. She didn't even know if there was any glove left on the hand, and the shock was starting to give way to pain. She made another jump, throwing a punch at Quelaag as soon as she landed. Quelaag swayed back, dodging, and pushed Seiko with her off-hand as she came back up. Seiko fell just as her boots melted away, landing on her back. She squinted against the pain, raising her left hand, palm up. Quelaag raised her sword and slashed. Seiko let out a blast of physical fire, Great Combustion, deflecting the slash. This happened several times before Quelaag slashed straight down and managed to cut through Seiko's blast, slicing her in half and causing her to fade to dust.

Before Seiko completely faded, Tetsuro managed to use Iaito's slash on the draw to shear off a major leg of Quelaag's. Without it to support her, Quelaag listed to one side and crashed to the bricks. It was a left leg, so it put Quelaag in an odd position if she wanted to slash. She couldn't move anymore beside a shuffling rotation to the left with her right legs. She did so, trying to get Tetsuro in range. He dashed forward, Iaito back in its sheath. Quelaag slashed wildly at him. He deflected one slash, dodged another, and the next flat-out missed. Quelaag stabbed at him and he rolled aside. Her spider puked lava and Tetsuro swayed under Quelaag's sword arm. She pulled back to swing again… And Tetsuro sliced her clean off the top of the spider's head on his next draw.

-Blighttown-

Seiko woke by the bonfire. Her boots and glove were still ruined, but once she restored her human form with one of her Humanity, she was perfectly fine. She looked around and didn't see Tetsuro with her. She looked in the sewer chamber and he wasn't there either.

-Quelaag's Domain-

Instead of egg-bearers in the first chamber, there were maggots as long as Seiko's arms with sharp mandibles. Taken off guard, one bit her on the leg before she burned it with Fire Surge. She cleared out the maggots with disgust, inspected her wound, which was light, and moved forward. The fog wall was gone, and the chamber was empty.

"Tetsuro…?"