With the death of Kalameet, Seiko and Jinta decided to use its bones to make Seiko proper armor. From Seiko's old armor, Jinta's was refashioned to be stronger and slightly heavier with silvery plates instead of gold-plated iron. Jinta sat and blessed his armor while they waited for the giant in Anor Londo to finish Seiko's armor, then they returned to the past, to Oolacile, to finish out their business.

Jinta was met with praise from Gough, and Seiko got to say goodbye to her mother before Ciaran would retreat to live in exile and be a parent. At the highest levels of the ruined city, near the arena where they had stopped Artorias, this all came to a close. But there seemed one final nagging issue that needed solving as Tetsuro came to find them and approached as they spoke. He was preceded by his own heavy iron footfalls.

"If you have no more excuses," he said loudly as he approached, to interrupt any other conversation.

"Then we can finally-" he stopped when Seiko and Jinta got up and he got a better look at them, as well as Ciaran sitting at the bonfire behind them. Jinta still had the same shape of helmet, but it was made of the same material as Silver Knight armor. The rest of his armor had changed too, the tattered cloth replaced, the plates, gloves, and boots also made like Silver Knight armor now. He was ungilded, all smooth and clear surfaces on his new armor.

Seiko, on the other hand, was in black plate armor and hers was finely crafted with etched designs on the main breastplate, the sides of her gauntlets, backs of her palms, and kneecaps. The designs were a masterwork depicting burning branches, but the breastplate also had a sigil of a thin ring with a small round gemstone. Seiko also had a golden tsuba for her katana, completing its imitation of the Black Knight aesthetic. She still had her gold-hemmed robes, but they had been cut open and modified to be a true mantle with a hood. The cloth hung from her left shoulder, looped back up below her waist to her right shoulder, and the rest of the length was wrapped around her shoulders and neck like a shawl.

The two had a different air about them than when he'd seen them together last,

"Finally what?" said Seiko. She took off her hood. "Talk? Really talk? About how we got separated, how you never really cared about leaving me behind, how you attacked the only person who really helped me after I lost you, or about how ever since you've had an obsession with fighting me?"

Tetsuro was silent and his expression was hidden in his visor. He didn't change his position, either. Still neutral, arms crossed.

"I'm surprised you have nothing to say to that," said Jinta.

"Real warriors communicate most clearly in combat. If you have something to say, I'll hear it without you ever speaking a word."

"That's absolutely asinine," said Seiko, with a deadpan expression.

"But," she continued, glancing at Jinta before looking back at Tetsuro, "If this is really what you want, and it might get me some closure with you, then let's get it over with."

Tetsuro shrugged and turned to have them follow him. He led them to a smaller arena, adjacent to the main colosseum where they had fought Artorias. There were two smaller fighting areas on the outside of that colosseum, and they approached the one that was nothing more than flat ground. Only time-worn bricks, moss, and weeds.

-Arena Of Stoicism-

Tetsuro stepped into the ring and purple motes of light that were barely visible swirled around him for a brief moment. Seiko followed next and the same faint light covered her before vanishing as well. Jinta, then, found himself unable to enter.

"One on one, Paladin. Maybe next time," said Tetsuro.

Jinta stepped back to watch and took off his helmet. He noticed that Ciaran had followed as well.

Seiko always had her sword drawn - there wasn't a leather strap in the world that could hold the weight of her sword, and she hadn't found someone who could make one that could using magic. Tetsuro, on the other hand, reached behind his back and pulled his Silver Knight sword and Iron Round shield from nowhere. Tetsuro took a ready stance, shield up, feet spread slightly. Seiko just stood there, looking more and more angry every second.

A/N: Des Melodies Entrecroisees by OkameP, translation available on VocaDB

Tetsuro tilted his head down and to the left barely a centimeter, as if incredulous at her apparent audacity to not even take a stance against him. Seiko rolled her eyes and raised the end of her sword. The two stood for a moment, unmoving, before Tetsuro took a running start at her. She switched her sword to her right hand, but otherwise didn't move. He kept his shield up and stabbed past it at her. Seiko dodged without leaving the spot and smashed her sword into his shield.

Titanite-infused iron met black metal and Tetsuro stumbled from the force, but he wasn't knocked down or blown away by her strength. He slashed at her with the shield between them, but she deflected the blade with the side of her gauntlet and punched him in the chest. He stumbled back several steps and blocked Seiko's follow-up vertical strike, then had to take several more steps backward to finally regain his balance.

Seiko walked forward and Tetsuro realized her expression wasn't anger, but disappointment. He scoffed and stepped in again. As he attacked, he saw Seiko watch him closely and simply wait for the attack before her counter. He purposefully left an opening, a slight one, but she either didn't see it or didn't bite. So he slashed again, backhanded and threw in a grunt of effort and a step forward, to appear even more aggressive, but still she didn't take the bait.

It was he, however, who was taken off guard when she slid a foot forward and hit his right foot to unbalance him. He nearly fell and covered himself with his shield, the clash of metal he heard and the shock on his arm told him he was right to have done so. He recovered and sidestepped to take distance and slashed blindly under his shield arm. The strike connected as he turned his head to see Seiko, but it was like striking a stone pillar. He was used to Titanite infused enemies, but it was more than her armor that contributed to the stability.

Seiko smacked the end of his sword up with her free hand, taking the scar in her armor in stride, and punched him in the side of the head to bring her fist down. He took the hit, presented his shield, and blocked an upward swing of her sword that rolled him over onto the floor. He got up immediately and suddenly had a dagger in both hands. He stepped in and stabbed with one, deflected her sword with the other, and tried to aim for the gaps in her plates that let her move freely. Seiko kicked his left leg out from under him and bowled him over with her arm, smacking her forearm into the bottom of his visor to do so. His daggers both hit solid plate as she moved, doing nothing but leaving small carved dots.

Tetsuro got back to his feet quickly and produced a bastard sword and his shield again. As Seiko moved forward to pursue him, he slashed low, up for her lower ribs. She stopped and stepped back with one foot to dodge, then lunged with her own sword. Tetsuro deflected the blow with his shield, repositioned his sword, and used the quillons to leverage under her arm to perform a grapple. Seiko was slammed to the floor and Tetsuro stabbed at her head, but he was too slow.

Faster than she'd moved so far, Seiko was out of the way and up on her feet. She lashed out with her sword, scraped across his shield, and switched her sword to her left hand. From there, she moved to a two-handed grip and slashed horizontally at Tetsuro right as he was turning to attack. He was forced to block with his sword, and was successful but the sword was knocked from his hand and clattered to the ground across the arena.

Tetsuro shook out his wrist, bashed with his shield, punched with it, then drew Murakumo and slashed upward in one fluid motion. Seiko was hit by the bash, took a glancing blow to her right elbow from the lip of his shield as he punched, then blocked the slash from Murakumo edge-to-edge. Neither Titanite-infused blade yielded, and there was an awful screech of metal-on-metal.

Tetsuro swept the sword through the air with surprising speed, slashing horizontally next, across his body, then turned the blade and slashed backhanded before punching with the edge of his shield again. Seiok ducked under the first slash, blocked the second, then was struck in the chest by the lip of Tetsuro's shield. She was unmoved by the attack, instead she let go of her sword with one hand to grab his shield arm.

Tetsuro felt, saw, and heard his armor begin to dent under her grip, so he stepped forward and shoved her with his shield. It took all his might to move her as she resisted, but her feet weren't placed right to put her full strength into holding her ground. In the opening, Tetsuro slashed down at an angle to hit her shoulder to hip. Seiko got her footing and blocked, but Tetsuro kept coming in, pressing in close, their swords between them.

"I'd almost forgotten," he said, "Why aren't you using your Pyromancy?"

"Because you said you could hear my thoughts through my sword… And I have so much to say."

Tetsuro felt a sudden heat and Seiko pushed back. Hard. Tetsuro was thrown back off his feet and landed on his butt. Sitting on the floor, he had to block as quickly as he could to intercept Seiko. She had run forward almost as fast as he'd be thrown back, and slashed down as soon as she was in range. Tetsuro blocked and swept Murakumo at her feet, but she jumped over him and landed facing him, then slashed down again. Tetsuro laid all the way down, blocked the hit which slammed his shield arm down onto his chest, then rolled to dodge the next attack.

Tetsuro got to his feet and was almost surprised to find Seiko not pursuing him, but instead still standing where she'd been. The air around her was filled with mist from Power Within, but she looked almost ready to cry. Like it took every ounce of self control she had to keep fighting him without conceding defeat. It made him remember what dead weight he'd thought of her as while they were together.

Seiko raised her sword and the mist began to clear. She took a calming breath and ran in. She couldn't tell a thing about Tetsuro because his helmet hid everything. But she had left her hood down and her new helmet with Jinta because she wanted Tetsuro to see. Tetsuro watched as she ran at him. Saw she was slower because of the armor. Noticed that she still wasn't a master of her sword, but trusted it more than many other warriors trusted theirs. Tetsuro blocked her first strike, countered with Murakumo to slash her from left hip to right shoulder, and kicked her in the stomach.

Seiko's armor parted and Murakumo slashed to the bone, but the attack crossed Tetsuro's arm over his chest. As he turned the blade to slash down at her head, Seiko reached out and grabbed the wrist of his sword arm. It left her ribs open to his shield, but she twisted her body and went to one knee before he could strike. She came back up and raised her knee into Tetsuro's elbow as she yanked his arm down. The joint in his armor as well as his elbow itself were practically shattered against her armor.

Tetsuro cried out in pain, but he was in the perfect position to strike with his shield. He punched with the lip and crushed Seiko's right eye and cheekbone. He kneed her in the chin, kicked her over, and punched the lip of his shield down right between her eyes. Jinta heard Seiko's skull crack open, and a few seconds later, she was faded to ash and gone.

Seiko found herself reformed at a bonfire inside the colosseum, not the one just above Oolacile Township. The flames were a bright purple, and she found herself to still be in human form. She found her way back to the arena in about a minute and right away Tetsuro was approaching her.

"That wasn't the fight I wanted. Why didn't you use Pyromancy?!" he demanded.

"I already told you-"

"You could have been completely overwhelming! I've seen your Fire Arts. Am I not worth the effort? I saw the way you looked at me. That was nothing short of an insult! Explain yourself!"

Seiko took her helmet from Jinta, hung it from her belt, and pulled her hood back on.

"I thought you could understand me if we fought. That's what you said."

"I- … I certainly heard something. Disappointment. But I don't understand why! What do you have to be disappointed about?! You are not my superior! I don't answer to you or your code or your morals!"

"She-" started Jinta.

"You keep out of it. You're nothing without her. If she hadn't been separated from me and been sent to help you in the first place, you'd be a footnote in history at best."

Both Seiko at Jinta didn't say anything. Tetsuro took off his helmet as they both weren't wearing theirs. As his voice betrayed, he was livid.

"You're wrong," said Seiko, calm, the look of further disappointment written across her face.

"I'd be nothing without him. I had no purpose from the start. Not really. I think Quelaana teaching me would have given me life for many years, but they would have been empty. Wasted. There wasn't a single person in the world who needed me, and I didn't know who I was or why I was here. My strength then came from determination, and hope for the future, however dim it was.

I chased after you, not him. I felt like I was supposed to be your traveling partner. When I got left behind, I felt like I had to catch up. I was lost without you because I had made your purpose my purpose. Not to confuse you, I didn't love you or anything like that. But I had no one else. Even when Siegmeyer traveled with me, helped me to reach you, I didn't feel the same attachment to him as I did to you.

But then I met you again and you genuinely seemed not to care at all. And then I found out Jinta could use my help. Worse, in helping him, I became confused as to what was the right thing to do. I was lied to by everyone, left behind, and alone. But when I finally met Jinta, mess that I was, he was patient with me. He appreciated me and relied on me. He helped me find a new strength, and I think I loved him longer than I realized.

I'm disappointed. Disappointed that you weren't who I thought you were. You seemed to be a wandering warrior who would do right because it meant you could aim higher and fight harder. But now I see that you just hate weakness in yourself and others so much that you cull anyone and anything that doesn't meet your standards. You're a heartless man encased in metal, using more metal to scar the world wherever you touch it, only to look back with pride that you've made your 'mark.'"

Throughout her explanation, Tetsuro had calmed down, but by the end he was struggling between anger at her and himself. He couldn't find the words to say what was on his mind because he was, more than anything, confused beyond description. He found himself locked up, one thought after another going through his mind, all of them conflicting with one another. He was at once refusing to accept that she was right, but unable to avoid acknowledging what she said. Finally, after about fifteen seconds of trying to start a sentence and stopping several times and just confused and frustrated expressions passing across his face, Tetsuro found something to say. He was much calmer when he spoke.

"I told you, I don't answer to you."

He wouldn't look at either of them. He just put his helmet back on and walked away. He heard them start another conversation as he left, but he didn't stay to listen beyond the first sentence.

"Before we leave," said Seiko, "How about you and I have a match?"

Seiko took down her hood and put on her new helmet. She stepped into the ring first without waiting for his response.

"I'd really rather not fight you," said Jinta. "I realize my miracles do a lot for you in our battles, but I also know you'd easily beat me. I've gotten a lot stronger since we met, but I don't think I'm capable of putting up much of a fight against you. Not to mention I just… Don't want to."

Seiko didn't respond, she just waited partway across the arena.

"I see no reason the two of you couldn't spar," said Ciaran. "Your… Friend… Wasn't wrong. Warriors can communicate by fighting. But the language is too base, too instinctive to translate into a real conversation. You'll learn a lot. Go on."

Jinta looked out to the black knight that was Seiko now, then back at Ciaran. He sighed and put on his own helmet, then stepped into the ring as well.

You Say Run! Metal RE:remix by FalKKonE, originally composed by Yuki Hayashi

"Don't hold back!" said Seiko. She ran forward to attack right away.

Jinta drew a sword and talisman, recited Sunlight Blade, and barely blocked after applying the miracle to his sword. Seiko tensed up from the shock and Jinta cast Force, throwing her back across the arena. She got up and shot a Fire Arrow at him with one hand before running toward him again. He was reciting another miracle, she could see, and he sidestepped the attack without breaking concentration.

As Seiko got close, she felt a sudden stillness. An emptiness filled the air she couldn't place, but it unsettled her so much that she stopped her advance and backed off. As she got her distance, the feeling vanished. She threw a simple Fireball and watched as it flew through the air… And went out as it got close to Jinta. She understood and ran in again, sword up. She realized, this time, that everything went completely silent. She couldn't use Pyromancy, but he wouldn't be able to cast miracles either.

With Sunlight Blade already on his weapon, however, Jinta moved in with confidence to strike. Her dragonbone armor wouldn't tolerate the lightning, and her metal sword would conduct it. Seiko ended up dancing about trying to hit him and trying not to get hit so much that neither of them landed a single blow for the duration of the miracle's effect. As soon as she could hear her and her opponent's footsteps and movements again, Seiko snapped out Combustion. Jinta came right through the flames with both swords drawn, no more Sunlight Blade but Great Magic Barrier instead.

He slashed with great speed, carving scars in her armor but unable to completely break through. Seiko knew this was his last miracle, so she pressed in and attacked. She was strong enough that every time Jinta tried to block, she threw the sword aside, but he was skilled enough to redirect the force each time as well. She slashed down at an angle and he guided her sword to barely miss, then attacked on his own. She pulled her sword up to block his attack, then turned the motion into an attack of her own.

Jinta stepped back to let her miss and attacked in the opening. Seiko barely dodged and threw a punch with her free hand. The hit knocked Jinta down and she readied a Fireball to throw. Jinta pulled his legs up and flipped backwards out of the way of the Fireball, but his barrier went down as he did so and he felt the heat wash over him.

"You might be the idiot who trusted me with the Abyss, but you're my idiot now. Don't tell me you can't even put up a fight against me! I have to be able to trust you for a long time to come, don't I?!"

Jinta put his right sword away and drew his talisman. It confused Seiko to see him give up his dominant sword-hand to cast miracles when he was already at risk of casting too much. He pulled back a hand and threw a Lightning Spear. Seiko tried to dodge, but couldn't judge the direction in time and was struck out of the air by a hit to the shoulder. Her pauldron was blown to pieces and she landed awkwardly.

Seiko got up and immediately had to defend herself from Jinta's sword. She deflected, not nearly as well as he could, and Jinta managed to slip past her guard and score a solid enough hit to open Seiko's armor just below her ribs, where the armor was more like scales than plates for mobility. Seiko swung down at him and he stepped aside quickly, slashing at the open weak spot. His sword trailed blood as it cleared Seiko's body and he drew another Lightning Spear into his right fist.

Seiko slashed horizontally at Jinta to try and stop him, so he backed up and less threw the spear as stabbed her with it. Seiko fell back, caught herself with her free hand, and Jinta felt like he'd just stuck his head into a furnace. He knew almost before he saw the mist rise from Seiko and trail from her limbs as she approached to attack again, much faster than before, that it was Power Within. He started reciting his last miracle of the fight.

Seiko heard the thrumb from his helmet, but not in time to stop him from casting. She suddenly felt heavily weighted down, like it would be almost impossible to move if she weren't using Power Within already. The miracle was one she vaguely remembered him using, but she didn't remember the name, and he'd said it quietly enough that she couldn't make out the words.

Tranquil Walk Of Peace more than counteracted Power Within, making her slower than she'd been with it. Even still, their next clash was even. A swing of one sword was met with the other, a punch was redirected with another armored fist. Kicks to the ankle were dodged, armor blunted glancing blows, and there was eye contact more than once through the visors of helmets.

Tranquil Walk Of Peace wore off before Seiko let up with Power Within, though, and suddenly Jinta was thrown back when he tried to block another swing. Seiko was unchained, and he couldn't risk another cast. She sprinted after him, slashed once and missed, switched her sword to her right hand and slashed again, Jinta dodged again, then she had to hop back to avoid a counterstroke.

Both hands on her sword, Seiko was forced to let go of Power Within. She felt her stomach wound start to take its toll, and too much more Power Within would kill her on its own. Still, though Jinta stepped up to press what would be his best chance, Seiko was more than a match for him now. She was physically worn down, but he was becoming unfocused because of his casting. Between her inexperience and his stupid mistakes, they both landed a few hits that drew blood here and there.

In the final moments of their fight, Jinta tried to back away. Seiko let him go and watched him draw his other sword. Both were breathing hard, but Jinta stepped in again to finish out with what he had left. Seiko swung full force to parry the first attack, throwing his sword out of his hand easily. Before Jinta could do anything substantial with his second sword, Seiko ran him through with her katana and let it go.

Jinta fell back and pinned by the sword and he faded to ash a second later.

Seiko met Jinta as he returned from the purple fires of the arena and handed him his had her helmet off again, hood down. Jinta noticed what she did not: that the sword had a faint glow in her hand now, even if it did grow much more obvious when he received it.

"You held back," he said. A simple statement, more disappointed with himself than accusatory.

"Well, not when you used that weight or gravity miracle, but otherwise… I had to."

"It's not about who is stronger," said Ciaran, walking up beside them.

"You both clearly know each other's strengths and weaknesses well, and you both seem to respect one another. But what did each of you get from your fight?"

"He has more potential than I realize," said Seiko. "He used miracles I didn't expect, and his swordsmanship is better than mine. I'm sure he must be stronger than an average human, but because of my Pyromancy and my blood, I'm just in a different class, physically. He understands how I fight to exploit weaknesses, but I don't think he did as much as he could."

Ciaran looked at Jinta. He took off his helmet and had a thoughtful look.

"She clearly held back, but I feel like it was more to let me act in close combat and try to learn from me or see what I would try to do. She can use Pyromancy strong enough to overcome my barriers, but she chose to mostly use her sword like she had with Tetsuro. I think she knows how I fight and could have finished me off immediately, but I felt like she wanted to communicate that she didn't think of me as useless or a burden - the opposite. But I suppose I only got that because she's gone out of her way to say as much and defend me."

"Do you feel like a burden?" asked Ciaran. Seiko looked like she wanted to hear the answer as well.

"I used to, though I'm not sure why. I think it was because without her I was always behind everyone else and I didn't really make progress at their speed until she was helping me. But I realize now, as I have for a while, that she can fight with abandon like she has because I'm supporting her. I can defend myself, so she doesn't really need to keep watch over me, either. It just took time for me to actually rationalize all of that. I think nothing says more about my ability to find victory on my own than Kalameet, who Seiko really didn't help much with at all."

"I tried," said Seiko, defensive. "But I just wasn't prepared for… Whatever it was Kalameet did to me."

"If he'd done it to me," said Jinta, "I'm sure I wouldn't have been prepared for it either. And I'm sure you would have won afterward, just like I was able to."

"What will you two do now?" asked Ciaran. "I cannot stay, and I have nothing more I can do to help you. You have my fine blades, and I don't know anything to help you find your solution to the plight of the Undead. I have my own destiny to chase now, if a modest one."

"First," said Seiko, "We need to retrieve Artorias' sword from the colosseum. Just because almost no human could move it doesn't make it safe to leave there."

"Second," said Jinta, "We need to return to Elizabeth and tell her what's happened. After that, we can leave to our own time and… I guess we start looking for leads and chasing them until we find a way to keep the First Flame lit or live without it."

"Then this is goodbye," said Ciaran. "It has been the experience of a lifetime to meet the both of you. I can't imagine ever forgetting our conversations. Thank you… For all you've both done here."

Seiko held out her arms, inviting her mother to another hug. Ciaran returned the hug and the three went their separate ways.

None of them noticed Tetsuro, who had stayed to watch Seiko and Jinta fight.

None of them would see Ciaran alive again, and Tetsuro wouldn't reunite with Seiko and Jinta for several lifetimes.

But there were many lifetimes for an Undead, and their story reached far further than any mortal struggle - a search for peace in the world and a mortal death after a life lived just once.

つづく