A/N: The delay is depression. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, so I'll leave it at that. Summer has always been the time when I've been able to hammer out tens of thousands of words, but clearly it's gotten too bad for me to be able to do that now…
-Demon Ruins-
"Is that…!"
Jinta turned away from the giant demon, Ceaseless Discharge, and ran for something else. Seiko turned to see where he was going and saw what caught his attention. There was a small altar back along the wall of the cavern, upon which rested a body clothed in Gold Hemmed Robes, like the ones Seiko had around her neck. Robes that could only come from a Daughter of Chaos.
"So one of them is already dead. Along with Quelaag, and the Fair Lady, that makes three of the six we're looking for, right? Quelaana is the seventh Daughter, and we don't need to worry about her."
"Right."
"Shouldn't we take the robes?"
Seiko turned to him, immediately furious. Jinta put up his hands, placating.
"Hold on! Hold on! Hear me out. These robes absorb heat. They're unique in all the world! I bet no one knows how to make another. Some of them could already be destroyed, as well. You and I both know we've taken things from dead bodies before. And things less useful than unique, fireproof robes. I don't like it either, especially since you have a connection with her. But we don't even know her name, and if we don't take it, someone else will. Would you trust someone else with these robes?"
Seiko scrunched up her face, a grimace that said she agreed, but she didn't like it at all.
"I'm really not into the idea of graverobbing one of the Sisters," said Seiko.
She paused a moment.
"But I have to agree with you. Fine…"
They barely touched the robes before red hot tentacles yanked them back and tossed them into the magma pool below.
A steel boot crushed the last maggot on the smoldering hill. Tetsuro, the visor on his Elite Knight helm up, surveyed the path ahead.
That pool of magma leads nowhere. But the pool is coming from that giant thing. I guess I either ask it to stop… Or find some way to kill it. I can see the path further into the Ruins from here, but I can't reach the path without either jumping and praying, or somehow removing the magma pool.
Tetsuro continued down, crossed the nearby bridge, and headed toward Ceaseless Discharge. He put his visor down as he came closer.
"You there," he began. "You don't seem hostile. Can you stop spewing magma into the pool long enough for me to pass into Izalith?"
No response.
"Can you hear me?"
Tetsuro waved a hand at the big demon. It looked at him briefly, then continued looking over his shoulder. Tetsuro followed its gaze to the dead Chaos Witch.
"Ahh… I see. You're here to guard her secrets, I'm guessing? Well, then, how about I show you a trick? Since you don't want to listen to me, we'll have to fight. But I'd like a flashy opening to this one."
Tetsuro put his shield on his back and raised both his empty hands into the air, almost like a surrender.
"Nothing in my left. Nothing in my right."
He put his hands behind his back. When he spread out his arms again, he was suddenly holding a Dragonslayer Greatbow and a greatarrow.
"I'm gonna make that woman's body disappear!"
He spun, drew the arrow quickly, and fired at the dead body. The altar she rested on exploded into shrapnel and her body vanished into the cloud of smoke. Tetsuro stowed the bow and dove to the side… Just in time to avoid being crushed by Ceaseless Discharge. It roared in fury and swept its massive tentacle at Tetsuro. He jumped up and vaulted over it, even in steel armor.
"Hahahahahahaha! Now you'll pay attention to me?! Good! Dwelling on those lost is a waste of time. Fight me instead, and give me a good one!"
Ceaseless Discharge just roared back and shook violently, spraying magma over the cliffside. Tetsuro drew his shield and Silver Knight sword. He dodged globs of magma as he ran forward, slid under another glob, and slashed across Ceaseless Discharge's face as it shook. It took a step back and swept tentacles at Tetsuro again, this time aiming a bit higher to try and keep him from jumping over the attack. Tetsuro hit the ground on his back, letting the attack pass over him.
He popped up, now with a heavy crossbow in his hand instead of a sword, and no shield to be seen. He took aim and fired the crossbow. The heavy bolt he used wasn't designed to go far, but it didn't have to. The bolt struck one of Discharge's main eyes, spraying magma and causing the beast to flinch away.
Tetsuro drew back the bowstring with his left hand and took aim again. As soon as Discharge lunged forward, with renewed fury after the injury, Tetsuro shot out another one of its main eyes. The demon reared back again, this time more screaming than roaring. Tetsuro quickly switched to his greatbow.
"You simple thing! Come on! Get creative!"
He shot a greatarrow for Discharge's forehead. The impact, combined with it flinching away from the crossbow shots, nearly bowled it over onto its back. This time, when it came forward, it slammed its entire head and part of its torso onto the cliffside. Tetsuro had jumped back away from the cliff, then only had to dodge the head. A splash of magma from the impact hit his legs as he dove away, burning straight through his armor, legs, and out the other side.
Tetsuro dropped his greatbow, rolled, and did two things at once. With one hand he raised his visor, with the other he drew his Estus flask to drink from it. His slapped his visor back down, put his flask back on his belt, and snatched up his greatbow just as Discharge slammed a tentacle down to try and crush him. Tetsuro had to roll uncomfortably while hugging his greatbow to his chest, perpendicular with his body, but he avoided the attack.
"It's not creativity, but it is interesting! A living blob of molten rock."
He got to his feet again and replaced his greatbow with a shield and halberd, each time reaching behind his back and drawing things that couldn't possibly all fit on his person and be out of sight.
The two had a few more exchanges until Tetsuro got fed up.
"I can see clearly that you've got no ability to adapt! You're a sorry excuse for a sparring partner, but I suppose you were an amazing guard dog until you met me! Let's finish this!"
Tetsuro put away his shield and halberd, then held out a flame. Pyromancy.
"I'm not the best with magics, but I think this one will work perfectly to finish you!"
He pushed a flame into his chest through his armor and a mist suddenly dispersed around his body, covering his skin and armor in water. A light fog wafted from him in the heat of the Demon Ruins, betraying the temperature difference.
Now Tetsuro drew two Silver Knight swords and sheathed them on his belt, then drew his heavy crossbow again. He dodged another few swings from Ceaseless Discharge, then shot it in another eye. He sprinted forward as Discharge reared back, stowed his crossbow, and drew the swords, leaping off the cliff and stabbing Discharge in the face with both blades.
"If you won't come to me, I'm coming to you!" he yelled, following that with a war cry and shredding Ceaseless Discharge's face. It took a step back for balance, then threw it's head and torso forward. Tetsuro used the momentum to jump back, flip so he'd land on his feet, and then sprint at Discharge before it could lean back again. His blades, protected by a blessing that required no faith of its user, dripped with magma as they scraped over the demon's bones. Discharge was too injured to gather strength, but wasn't dead yet. Now that there was a large enough section of bone visible, Tetsuro stowed the blades and drew a great-hammer.
Smough's hammer, with a long thin shaft and a mallet nearly the size of Tetsuro himself. He lowered the hammer, took a step, and swung wide and up at an angle, back-handed. The hammer shattered the skull of this giant magma demon and it began to fall back. As it did, a last act of vengeance, it swept a large tentacle at Tetsuro's back. He didn't see it coming, so Tetsuro fell into the magma below…
Tetsuro awoke at the bonfire, restored his humanity, and quickly went to inspect the magma pool. It was already draining, except for a few pools closer to the cliff he'd been on top of. His way forward was secure, worth the death he'd suffered.
Seiko and Jinta descended the stairs away from the bonfire they'd found toward a Lesser Taurus Demon guarding the path.
"What should we do about him? Are you going to try poison again?" asked Jinta.
"I actually want to try the acid pyromancy you told me about. I'm still confused about how you could have found that in a painting."
"In that case, I'll step back. I have no idea what to expect out of that."
"It's magic… So, I shouldn't be affected by it. But I can't say for sure if you will or not. We're allies, but I don't think the magic is that complicated. Even if it was, I doubt I have the control to make it ignore you. I've used other mist Pyromancies before - ones that were poisonous - and they didn't hurt me at all. On the other hand…"
Jinta waited for her to continue. She noticed.
"I accidentally burned Tetsuro once. I tried to attack an enemy, he took it down from behind, and my attack hit him instead. So, my Pyromancy isn't safe for you."
"That's why you threw me your robes when we fought Pinwheel. At first, I'd thought you had thrown them to me to help against Pinwheel… But then you went wild with your Pyromancy and I realized what you'd meant. So, you go ahead. I'll stay back and be ready to jump in if things don't work out."
Seiko nodded and continued down the stairs. As she reached the bottom, the Taurus Demon charged forward. She jumped over its tackle, vaulted over it to land on the other side, and its hard skull crushed some of the stairs. Seiko sucked in a breath as it turned and blew acid into a cloud up at its face. Right away, the demon dropped its huge hammer and covered its face, eyes boiling. By bringing its hands up, they too were eaten into by the cloud. The demon screamed, shrieked in a sound neither of the Undead had ever heard from such a creature, and began thrashing about.
The flailing began to clear the cloud of acid, but before long the demon coughed blood once, violently, and fell over dead. Inside his helmet, Jinta's horrified expression was hidden. Seiko's, however, was plain to see. She put a hand over her mouth in shock, standing still and trying to process what she'd just done.
Fortunately for her, she wouldn't have to ponder any longer, as a worm demon poked its head out of the ground, spotted her, and spat similar acid at her. The glob ate through her robes, Silver Knight armor, and her back. She yelled out in pain and died before Jinta could get down the stairs to her. In stride, Jinta threw a Lightning Spear at the worm demon. The bolt blasted off some of its stone skin and carved a divot in its head, a glancing blow that was close enough to kill.
Jinta went back for Seiko, and the two continued forward once she restored her humanity and repaired her armor and robes. On their way back to the staircase, they noticed that something had changed ahead.
"Wasn't… There a huge demon in that room ahead?" said Jinta.
"Patrolling?"
"Could be. We should go look."
The two went down the stairs, then up a different set ahead toward the chamber they had seen. It was empty, with some lingering flames here and there on dead roots. As the got closer, however, Seiko spotted something.
"Oh! That's the shortcut Eingyi told me about. We should go to it."
"But… The demon?"
"No need to fight it if we don't have to. There are probably tons of them here."
"I suppose…"
The two followed giant roots like pathways down, down, down to the next floor below, in front of a large door.
"These roots… The scene in the Tomb… Do you think we're above the Archtrees here?" said Jinta.
Seiko furrowed her brow.
"I don't think so. We saw Chaos too, remember? Izalith? I think we're beside it."
"Beside it? You think there's a way there from here? They're too different for that to be the case. How could we go from lava lakes to black water? If it's even water."
"There might not be a way between the two, but that doesn't mean we're not still right next to it."
Seiko approached the door and raised a hand. Her Pyromancy manifested and heated, and the door reacted. Panels moved to the ceiling and floor, clearing the way for her and Jinta. Something skittered across the ground, red eyes glowing. It jumped. Seiko dodged. Jinta didn't.