-Quelaag's Domain-
Seiko went down the set of stairs she found near the second Bell of Awakening. She saw an egg-bearer blocking a hallway and another tunnel that looked like it had been broken into through the bricks. She approached the egg-bearer, seeing a bonfire behind him, but the rest of the chamber was blocked from view. Something exceptionally itchy made her pause and rub her head through her hood.
"Ahh," came a kindly voice from the man on the floor, overtaken by the egg sac on his back, "You must be a new servant, come to see the Fair Lady. Am I right?"
"Maybe? Is the 'Fair Lady' Quelaana?"
"Quelaana…?" said the man, confused. "She vanished long ago. The only talk of her involves Salaman these days. Are you a Pyromancer, then?"
"I am. Quelaana taught me. She really hasn't been seen for that long?"
"A Daughter of Chaos… Quelaana herself… What is your name?"
"I'd forgotten my name. Quelaana called me Seiko. I have a hard time controlling the heat of my Pyromancy, so my flames are always blue. She named me after the color."
"I see. I am Eingyi, a humble servant of the Fair Lady. I was once a Pyromancer myself. If you will agree to help the Fair Lady, I will exchange knowledge with you."
Eingyi backed out of the way, his heavily callused hands, knees, hips, and feet dragging on the stone under him. Seiko walked forward, looking around, and caught sight of what looked like a pure white Quelaag.
"Go ahead. Approach her and bow your head. If she recognizes you, you will be a Servant of Chaos."
Seiko walked up to the Fair Lady, regarding her curiously. She looked back at Eingyi.
"What happened to her? She's not burning hot like Quelaag. Can't she move?"
"No," said Eingyi, his voice soaked through with pity, "She took it upon herself to save many lives from the Blight. It has nearly killed her, but Humanity can ease her pain. The Servants of Chaos bring her Humanity, and in exchange they learn the ways of Chaos Pyromancy."
Seiko looked back to the Fair Lady. She bowed her head, but kept her eyes on the pale woman as she did so. The woman's eyes opened, and she looked at Seiko for a moment, silent, before closing her eyes again. Seiko felt a wash of heat and a rush of new power. She also felt that itch on her head again.
"And so you are her servant," said Eingyi. "Come now, and let us speak of our arts."
"Wait. Did anyone else come through here before me? It would have been very recent."
"No," said Eingyi, tilting his head and thinking. "No one else new today."
"No one named Tetsuro came here?"
"I've never heard the name before, no."
Seiko sighed. "Ok, then. Pyromancy it is."
-Firelink Shrine-
Tetsuro rang the bell after his victory and returned to the bonfire in the sewer. He searched high and low for Seiko, but never found her. Eventually, his search led him to the Great Hollow. He was curious enough to continue down, but did no more than rest at the bonfire before returning to the Bell of Awakening. He found the stairs, descending to meet Eingyi, who had never heard of Seiko. He was turned away by Eingyi for refusing to be a Servant of Chaos, so he returned to Firelink Shrine, confused by the disappearance of his traveling partner. He rested by the fire before being noticed by Laurentius.
"You there," called out the Pyromancer.
"Yes?"
"Have you seen another Pyromancer on your travels? A woman by the name 'Seiko?'"
"She was my traveling partner until just recently. I guess you haven't seen her either?"
"No. I've been here, waiting for her. She said she would exchange Pyromancy with me."
"Sorry to tell you, but she seems to have vanished. The only thing I can think of is that our worlds were thrown out of sync when I killed Quelaag without her."
"That's a shame… I'll have to chance it in Blighttown on my own, then. Before I go, I could teach you a bit… Unless you find Pyromancy unsavory, that is."
"Actually, it would be quite a help to be able to do what she does. I'd love to learn a bit."
"I'm afraid what I teach won't be the same. She learned from the mother of Pyromancy herself. I come from the Great Swamp. We've different ideas about Pyromancy. I can teach you Fireball, as well as the more potent Fire Orb, and Combustion for flames. Beyond that, I'm well versed in Flash Sweat and Iron Flesh, useful for my travels."
"I've never heard of those last two."
"If you traveled with a student of Quelaana, you wouldn't, I'd imagine. See, Quelaana taught Salaman, Salaman taught Carmina, and Carmina traveled through the Great Swamp. Quelaana's descendant students all had their own ideas, ya see."
"Seiko did mention that Quelaana hadn't wanted to teach her everything she knew of Pyromancy. Perhaps this is what she meant?"
"If it's Quelaana, it wouldn't shock me to know she'd thought of or heard of the Pyromancies of her students. But enough about all that, let's get started."
Jinta reached Firelink Shrine at last, worn out, but there was no bonfire to rest at. He knew why, too. He'd seen the bloody remains of the Firekeeper, after all, and found the Black Eye Orb resting in the grass. Before he could say or do anything, the man in chainmail spoke up.
"Ugh, thank goodness you're here. There's a new problem here. It's annoying, it's ugly, and it reeks to Anor Londo and back. See if you can do something about it, will you?"
"I'm afraid I don't follow… But I'll have a look around."
-Quelaag's Domain-
Seiko offered ten Humanity to the Fair Lady before departing, leaving her with only two. She returned to Firelink shrine to find the bonfire out and Laurentius nowhere to be seen.
"Did a Pyromancer come through here?" she asked the crestfallen knight in chainmail.
"Not that I've heard of, no. Odd to see you here again, though. Weren't you with the other-... Nevermind. You'd better hurry unless you want the worlds distorting until you're all alone."
"What are you talking about?"
"The master of this world has headed to Anor Londo, through Sen's Fortress. Perhaps you can still catch him. It's up the elevator, near the Undead Church."
Seiko assumed he meant Tetsuro, so she thanked him and hurried on her way.
-Undead Parish-
Seiko rested at the bonfire above Andre. She asked him to repair her ruined glove and boots before continuing.
"If you don' mind," said Andre as he was finishing the glove, "What happened to the other fellow y'were travelin' with?"
"I don't know. We were in a fight and I died, and when I came back he was gone. Things seem different as well."
"Ahh, that'll be the worlds shiftin'. Ya've been removed from his flow o' time. Things like that happ'n now an' again. If ya manage to correct the differences, yer world should meld with his again."
"So, like how Solaire had to be summoned into Tetsuro's world to help?"
"Right. Have ya got a soapstone?"
"No. Tetsuro had one, though."
"Hmm… You'll need to find help elsewhere, then. Ya can't summon unless yer the master of the world. I can't tell if ya are by lookin', but to be safe ya'd better keep an eye out fer signs. Findin' another partner'd be in yer best int'rest as well."
He looked over the glove, compared the size to her existing one, and handed them back to her.
"That'll do it, then. Watch yer step in the fortress; there's traps everywhere. How I hear it told, ya've already nearly Hollowed once. Don't want that happ'nin' again, do we?"
"No," said Seiko, putting her gloves back on under the sleeves of her black robes. "Thanks again."
-Sen's Fortress-
Seiko crossed the bridge, stepping boldly forward, hands up. She felt her foot shift on one of her steps and looked down, confused. Her confusion switched to mortal pain as she was struck in the chest with a stake longer than her hand. The impact knocked her down and two more stakes flew over her as she writhed in pain. The stake was embedded between her ribs, just below her collarbone, nearly piercing a lung. She looked down, tempted to rip it out, but remembered both that she had no Estus Flask without Tetsuro and that the nearest bonfire was just over the bridge. She stood, gasping in pain, and returned to the bonfire.
On her second attempt, Seiko saw the switch on the floor. It was camouflaged with the other stone tiles, a slightly raised two by two unit of tile. She stepped around it, continuing into the chamber. The room grew darker the further she got from the entrance, but she could see large figures move to block her way. Seiko threw a Fireball at one of them and saw it collide with a stone shield. The blue flames illuminated her enemies, revealing two tall men with heads like the body of a large snake and scales covering them to match. Their necks were so long that they had to curve back down, forcing the head to look up to look straight. They had simple rags on and carried stone shields and large stone swords. Despite their odd appearance, they certainly could handle their weapons, advancing down the stairs quickly.
Seiko blasted Fire Surge briefly toward the legs of one of them, forcing it to stop and lower its shield to absorb the flames. The second one came forward and jumped, swinging its sword overhead to chop down. Seiko jumped back, far out of reach, landing behind the trap trigger on the floor. The snake-man pushed the advantage he saw and stepped on the trigger. The three bolts fired from a slot in the stairs up ahead, embedding in the back of the snake-man. When it thumped to the tiles, Seiko looked down at it, then back to the remaining snake-man, completely confused but in no way inclined to complain.
The remaining snake-man approached with its shield up, head suddenly snapping out. Seiko presented her arms in a block and the snake-man bit right through her gloves. The snake-man pulled away, having left only shallow wounds, and Seiko threw a Fireball at its head. It flailed and writhed in pain before falling over dead.
The rest of the room was filled with empty pots, so Seiko moved up the stairs and further into the fortress. She quickly came to a large chamber with several bridges and openings both above and below her that could just as easily be windows as doors. Axes swung, each to their own tempo, across the path of the narrow bridges. Far below, what looked like tar covered the floor, and two large stone monsters patrolled. As if all that weren't enough, there were more snake-men posted at key points to guard against invaders.
Seiko, eyes faintly glowing under her hood, couldn't help but wonder if she was making the right choice by pressing on. Surely, by now, she was strong enough to find the mage in New Londo, she thought to herself. But something about her current path seemed like the right thing to do, and she didn't want to be left behind. It was a split between the curiosity to see what lie ahead, the curiosity to learn what had happened before, and the feeling that she should be traveling with Tetsuro. Moving forward won out, and Seiko stepped forward carefully, avoiding the swinging axes and crossing the bridge.
A snake-man at the other end grew impatient and tried to meet her halfway, but was struck by one of the axes and fell to its death. Seiko dodged the axe that had sent it to its fate and found a set of stairs. She went up, turned a corner, and found herself on a bridge above the first. There were axes placed closer together, and another snake-man, this one with the head of a cobra and four arms. With its one free hand, the other three holding swords, the cobra-man threw a ball of lightning at Seiko. She dove aside, but the ball never made it to her, colliding with one of the axes instead. Seiko approached the corner with caution, peeking around it. The cobra-man saw her, but didn't make any moves, waiting for her to try and move forward.
Considering her options, Seiko decided to use one of the Pyromancies Eingyi taught her. She lacked the practice to use his Toxic Mist technique, but she could use Poison Mist well enough. She clenched her fists, internalizing her power and breathing in. The clean air mixed with the strange magic in her lungs and she stepped out in front of the bridge again. She exhaled completely, Pyromancy changing a simple breath into a wafting cloud of poison. The cloud, a purple gas that was lethal if inhaled, wafted both forward across the bridge and back into the hallway where Seiko was standing. She knew from Eingyi's training that the poison wouldn't harm her thanks to the magic involved, so she calmly hid behind the corner again. When the air finally circulated enough that she would be able to see across the bridge, she peeked around the corner. She hadn't heard it over the sound of the axes swinging on their mechanisms, but the cobra-man had thumped to the tiles soon after she'd used her Pyromancy. A first practical success with the technique, in Seiko's mind.
Further into the fortress, Seiko came across an opening that she could see trees out of. Considering the fortress was surrounded by a forest, that wasn't terribly noteworthy. What was noteworthy was the path that opening led to. It had a smooth, rounded groove in the center, almost like something that would help direct the flow of water. Seiko approached the opening, trying to catch a whiff of oil or smoke, suspecting a burning oil trap. She was looking around for some kind of trigger when something rumbled past. Seiko poked her head out of the opening, looking left and right, but she didn't see any enemies. She looked left again, the direction where she'd seen a ramp leading up to a door, assuming that was the way to go.
As she watched, a smooth, round boulder rolled around the corner above the door she saw, dropping onto the ramp into the groove she thought would direct water, and rolled toward her. She quickly stepped back into the previous room and the boulder rolled past her harmlessly. She looked out again. Judging by the distance, she thought she could make it to the door in time before the next boulder. She bolted for the door, her strength propelling her at an incredible speed…
Until she had to come to a fast stop and side-step a spell. Another cobra-man had appeared in the door and hurled a lightning ball at her. The attack missed, but she'd slowed down too much and now there was an enemy in the way. Seiko threw a quick Fireball at the cobra-man, who dodged, and heard the next boulder coming. Seiko dropped to the ground and rolled to the right, thinking if she was small enough and near enough to the edge, the round boulder would simply pass her by, but she was in too much of a hurry and went over the edge.
Seiko cursed her fate as she fell, initially thinking she was falling to her death, all the way to the forest floor, until her fall was broken earlier than she expected. She landed on her back, the wind knocked out of her, atop a long-dead warrior with a curved sword in his hand. Aching, she stood and looked around. There was a path hugging the wall below where she'd come from that connected to where the boulders were rolling. Seiko jumped down and landed right behind a figure sitting with its legs over the edge of the path. There was a very large sword and a shield with a single, hand-length spike in the center resting next to the figure.
"Hmm?" came a muffled voice from the figure. It turned to see what the noise had been, which had of course been Seiko landing.
"Oh-hoh! Hello, there. Were you repelled by those foul rocks as well?"
The voice was definitely a man, but it was fairly muffled by the helmet he wore, which looked like a slightly squashed onion.
"It was that snake-man," said Seiko.
"Oh, dear," said the man, "Yet another obstacle to add to the conundrum. There goes the plan I was forming…"
He sighed, standing up.
"I am Siegmeyer of Catarina," he declared proudly.
"I'm Seiko, a Pyromancer."
"A Pyromancer, you say? I haven't run into a Pyromancer in quite a while now. Would you be willing to lend me a hand? I'm much too slow to be outrunning these boulder traps myself."
"I'm not sure what I can do, but I'm willing to try."
"Excellent!" said Siegmeyer. "By the way, I'm curious; how do you get by when Pyromancy doesn't work? You've no weapons."
"I'm a lot stronger than I look," answered Seiko.
"I'm sorry if I seem rude, but I find it hard to believe anyone could travel effectively in these parts with fire and fists alone."
Seiko thought for a second how she could demonstrate what she meant. She wanted a new partner, after all, and Siegmeyer seemed experienced, even if he had his head in the clouds.
"What are- Oh, my! What have you done?! Put me down!"
Seiko had grabbed Siegmeyer by his sides and lifted him over her head. He squirmed, taken completely off-guard.
"I see what you mean, now, please, let me down!"
Seiko put Siegmeyer down, worried he'd be angry until he chuckled.
"You gave me quite the start, you know! That was the last thing I expected when I first saw you. You look positively frail, to be honest."
Seiko grabbed her right arm through her sleeve with her left hand. It showed how much substance the robes appeared to add to her. Siegmeyer was right, she thought, but she'd been gaining more mass as her body adapted to fighting again. She'd also noticed her overall health improve when she had used soul infusion.
"I was nearly Hollow not too long ago. I have a lot of memory loss, and I was sitting still in a cell for a long time."
"A cell?" Siegmeyer's tone had changed, as if he were prepared to be hostile if she were a criminal.
"In the Undead Asylum."
"Ahh. Of course. Well, that certainly explains a lot. I'm sorry I doubted you! Now, then, shall we get going? There's lots more to see in Lordran!"
"You seem very adventurous."
"My dear, adventure is my life!"
A/N: I'm running out of premade chapters... I'm writing #12 and posting 9. I used to have 5 done ahead (which is what I waited for before I even began posting the rewrite). On the topic of Catarina Knights... Siegward is AMAZING. Sunion Bro for life! A TOAST!