A/N: EDIT: That troll down there in the comments has a real problem, methinks...can't we all just get along?
Warning! This story is visceral. Raw, even. Hope you're ready~!
There! That's all angles covered for real this time, Frenzied Flame included! No more new Elden Ring stuff!
I'm sure you all recognize the opening bit from my "Shards of Shattering" plot bin, no? This is that "shard" fully realized.
Ever had an idea that just gnaws at you? Well apparently this did for others. I was content to let it be a shard, a fragment, a relic in the bin, but I got pestered about it -FIFTY PRIVATE MESSAGES!- and folks wouldn't leave me be.
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? Well, it won't be continued. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, memes or themes. Nope, not me, no sirree! Not a wit or a one. They're merely tributes to those far greater than I.
This iteration of Naruto is not the one from "Grace". This be a different beast. He's a mystery. One that will slowly unfold as the story progresses...
Lastly, if this story gives you "Maidenless No Longer" vibes, that's intentional. Massive fan of that story.
There's a Linkin Park reference in here as well. Lets see if you can find it.
Came from a cover version of In the End, by Micki Sobrai, and its a right banger...
"No one is immune from failure. All have tasted the bitterness of defeat and disappointment.
A warrior must not dwell on that failure, but must learn from it and continue on. Yet not all learn from their errors. That is something those who seek to dominate others know very well, and know how to exploit. If an opponent has failed once at a logic problem, his enemy will first try the same type of problem, hoping the failure will be repeated.
What the manipulator sometimes forgets, and what a warrior must always remember, is that no two sets of circumstances -or worlds!- are alike. One challenge is not like another. The would-be victim may have learned from their earlier mistake. Or there may have been an unanticipated or unknown crossing of life paths.
Or perhaps...something resets the board.
~A Chiss Mastermind.
Lord of Frenzy
"Use me."
The Frenzied Flame sang to Naruto.
"Unleash me."
It sang to him as he stared at the remnants of Marika's fractured body, his final victim.
"Burn this rotten world to ash!"
He felt it whispering in his veins, boiling in his blood, awaiting his command. It would be so easy to give into his impulses and let loose; unleash it upon the Lands Between after all it had taken from him. And it had taken so very much indeed. All those he'd tried to help. Dead, or even worse off. Death might've been a kindness for some.
It certainly would've been for Rennala and Sellen. The others weren't much better off.
Blaidd, driven to madness, forced to be put down like the mad dog Naruto knew he wasn't. Iiji dead in a bed of blackfire. Nepheli, a ruined wreck bereft of purpose, one he couldn't rouse. Yura fell to his beloved's blade. Zoryas forgot all about him. Thopps lay in the academy, broken by forbidden knowledge.
It did't stop there.
Boc lost to foolish rebirth, the very thing he'd warned the little seamster against. Alexander shattered in Farum Azula. Boggart butchered and defiled by a mad lunatic. Milicent crumbled into a pool of rot. Fia withered in a bed of roots. Melina, who would've burned herself alive abandoned him instead, cursing him for taking her purpose. He hadn't even a chance to say goodbye. Roderika and Hewg had refused to leave the Hold, and so burned alive with the Erdtree and Nepheli.
Ranni had fled out of cowardice, deserting this world for the cold stars above. She hadn't believed in him, either.
Last came Hyetta, poor sweet, Hyetta the sole survivor, the one he'd tried to protect the most...until she melted in his grasp.
And with her death, he lost the last sliver of pity. His enemies...he'd killed and killed and killed them all, gods, legends, demigods all, until his joints ached and he could barely move his arms anymore. The Elden Beast had been his final victim. An emissary of a god, it too, had died screaming as he burned it from the inside. Blaidd's armor had served him well to the last; helped him tank hits he had no business enduring. He'd been outright reckless by the end,
Now its purpose was past, the ruined armor cast aside, leaving him clad in a white tunic and battered black breeches.
Hyetta had once called it inauspicious garb for the Lord of Frenzy. He'd laughed with her at the time.
He missed her voice.
Too much pain. Too much death. What was the point of a world like this, the final boss defeated, when he had nothing to show for it?
He didn't want any empty throne. He wanted his friends. His family. Blue eyes blazed with golden fire. Before creation there must come destruction. And after death, rebirth.
But he didn't want that kind death. Not really. He wanted to reset it all and start over.
Ha! If only there was such a thing. He'd settle for an end instead.
"Use me, my Lord."
He intended to. On his terms. In truth the Frenzied Flame had been tamed from the moment he took it into his body, that once uncontrollable blaze was broken and bent to his will like a beast of burden. The very essence of an Outer God made his, all that power burning at his fingertips. Now it was eager to serve; to please him. He would've felt bad, if it hadn't been so inherently evil. It was no match for his and Kurama's willpower. Even now it awaited his command, ready to consume all at his will...
.
..
...even if this was a hollow victory.
What was the point in winning if he did so alone? If only Melina had listened. If only Millicent kept the needle in. If only Hyetta stopped eating those grapes. None of this would have been necessary if they stopped being so damn stubborn and opened their ears. But they hadn't, she didn't, and she wouldn't!
No one did! No one wanted to listen! They all thought they knew better!
If only he'd used it sooner. If only he'd made them listen to him.
He'd been foolish to ever think he could have a life here.
If only. If only. If. Only. So many ifs...
A burning leaf fluttered down from on high and landed in his hand. Naruto caught it, watched now as it smoldered away into grey ash. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Tendrils of hungry gold flame crept up his body. He grabbed them, directed them, sent them shooting down into the base of the tree, preparing to tear it out, root and stem. Even then, he lingered, waiting for Melina to appear and at least try to stop him. She didn't. Somehow, that hut even worse. Even now, in his moment of triumph, she didn't dare show her face. But her words lingered.
"You are no longer fit."
He snarled at the memory and the Flame cracked angrily within him.
Kurama felt it. "You sure about this? This ain't something you can take back.
Only a few short months ago, he would've said no. Would've tried to find another way. But now? "...yeah."
"Alright, then. Lets give this world a show to remember."
Naruto focused the flames, not letting them spread out as it initially wished, but instead wrapping them around the Erdtree and the Erdtree alone. He would not destroy everything. Even now, at his lowest point, he was better than that. He forced the flames higher, wrapping them around every faced of the russet-red-trunk before him, With destined death unleashed, there would be gods and immortality here no longer. Only mortal men and beasts. They could fight over this crumbling world to their hearts content for all he cared. He wouldn't be here to see it.
If his friends and family weren't here, then he didn't want to be here either.
Burn it all, start over, and go back.
...I wanna go home."
A lone tear rolled down his cheek and burned way to steam. Naruto felt a muscle jump in his jaw, his eyes glowing gold. He leaned his head back as the ash began to rain down around him. He'd scorched a hole through the ceiling, enough to see the stars high above, thinned through the smoke.
"Are you watchin' me, Melina?" he spoke to the dead, empty air. "How about, you, Ranni? Do you still think I'm wrong?" he eyed the ring on his finger, once her promise to him, now cold, dead metal. Even so, he couldn't bring himself to remove it. He regarded it now with a wistful sigh as his body began to crack and burn. "I wish you'd scold me for this."
Her parting words had stung too, hadn't they?
"I will have no part of this madness, consort." she'd said that to him. "If you wish to burn the world, that is your business, not mine. This is where we part ways."
At least she'd rebuked him before she left, even if she didn't understand. He wasn't going to burn the world! He'd had everything under control!
Here at last, anger sparked in him. What was the point in control now? He could survive this, if he truly wanted to. But he didn't. His body could burn away for all he cared.
"I hope you're enjoying yourself up there!" His fists clenched at his sides as he hollered up at the stars. "I hope its everything you ever wanted! Enjoy your cold night! I HOPE YOU FREEZE!"
"..."
"No response, huh?" Naruto palmed his face, stifling a bitter laugh in his palm. "Heh. Ha. Hahaha!" His shoulders shook with humorless mirth. "Listen to me, shouting at the sky. I've lost my mind. I can't even bring myself to be angry anymore..."
There was no answer to his final plea. No, of course not. Even now he clung to one last bit of hope that someone would say something, do something, try to reason with him. But they didn't. Melina was likely still hiding from him; lurking in a land away for fear of what he might do to her. He didn't want to do anything untoward to her. He just wanted to hug her. Make her understand, ya know? All this. He'd done all this so she could live, so everyone could live, not die!
He closed his eyes. Golden flame flowed beneath the shut lids to flow down his back, fanning out like wings on either side of him.
His eyes snapped open. "You were the one I wasn't supposed to lose...
Still no answer.
"Alright then." He grit his teeth, fists clenching at his sides, body blazing gold. "Watch closely now, wherever you are! I've got one last ace up my sleeve!"
He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air one last time. The Flame of Frenzy responded and swelled within him, lashing itself ever tighter to the Erdtree. Bark burnt and buckled beneath its grasp, unable to resist the power he brought to bear. He let it, waited, felt his power build...until...there!
Naruto threw his head back with a howl, and so too did the Frenzied Flame roared with its new master.
Together they screamed. They screamed and screamed and screamed. All their rage. All their sorrow. All their spite. Beneath those golden flames the Erdtree became so much ash. It crumbled and fell down around them, hollowed out from within by the Flame. Fragments buffeted Naruto's body, which even now began to burn, cooking from the inside out. He didn't stop. He directed the flame onward and upward, refusing to spare so much as a single branch. This era would end, once and for all.
In cleansing fire, the world was reborn anew.
Naruto wasn't there to see it.
He was already gone.
(.0.0.0.)
"...?"
Cold eyes opened in the dark.
Beheld the Frenzied Flame burning in the world below.
"...what a foolish consort. And more fool I, for not believing in him..."
It was too late now, wasn't it? She could not go back. Such was her lot in life. Always, always, always too late...
(.0.0.0.)
The sky burned black.
Melina saw it all, from her distant perch atop a crumbling building, she beheld the fire.
Indeed, from afar the Frenzied Flame burned like a beacon in the night, an impossible heat felt even here on the capital outskirts. It was fire. It was death. It was the end of life itself. All would be consumed before it, just as she'd first feared. She watched and waited for it to spread, knowing it would consume the Lands Between as was its wont...
.
..
...but it didn't.
Make no mistake, the flames burned high and hot, but only upward. Not outward. Fingers of golden flame scorched away the clouds in a proverbial pillar of molten death, straining for the very stars themselves as though it wished to rip them out the sky and cast them down to earth. Trapped within that pillar, the Erdtree stood no chance. It had already been weakened by the giant's flame. The Frenzied Flame merely finished what had begun so long ago.
She couldn't approach. The Flames were too hot. The very air burned. To come any closer promised certain death...and yet for all its wrath Frenzied Flame did not spread.
Although the Erdtree began to crack and crumble, the fires of frenzy did not consume the capital. Melina could feel their hunger, their anger, their burning need to destroy, but they didn't move beyond the roots. Restrained by some unseen hand, they scarred the sky itself. No more. Almost as if they were being leashed somehow...
Realization broke in a bitter dawn, sending her hearkening back to an old argument, one they'd had before their parting.
"I can control it!"
"You cannot!"
"I CAN!"
Melina crumpled to her knees. "No...
For an instant, she could've sworn she felt his hand on her shoulder. Imagined his words. "Are you happy, now?"
She felt his spirit pass from this world a moment later, and knew the Lands Between were lesser for it.
Just like that...he was gone.
She couldn't even bring herself to speak further, such was her shock.
He'd kept his word. And she, faithless wretch that she was, had abandoned him.
Naruto had proven himself all along. For all her surety she had been wrong. Not only did he control the Frenzied Flame, but he made certain it burned out with him, never to trouble the land again.
When the last of the Erdtree crumbled, she felt a shift in the air and herself. With the tree's destruction and the Elden Beast within, Destined Death crept back into the Lands Between once more. All were made mortal once again, herself included. She could feel her immortality slipping away and her strength alongside it. These people, the survivors, would live their fleeting lives as they were meant to. As would she. Given time, she knew the cycle would repair itself and a new kingdom would rise from the ashes of Leyndell.
But what of her? She was bereft. Adrift. Alone.
Worse, she had no one to blame but herself. If only she had stayed by his side. If only she had listened to his pleas. But she hadn't now, had she? She'd been so certain of herself, so sure that he would fail in his quest or worse, be consumed by the Frenzied Flame. He'd called to her one last time there, before the end. Begging. Pleading. She'd heard him. Could have gone to him. Could've prevented this. Perhaps, if she'd been by his side at the end, he wouldn't have felt the need to sacrifice himself. She could've saved hm...
.
..
...and she hadn't.
Coward. Coward. COWARD.
Anger roared in her, at herself, at the world.
Melina drew herself upright and warped to the Erdtree. What remained of it. Her feet landed in scalding ashes, burning the soles of her bare feet. She didn't even feel the pain, numb as she as. Naught remained. Even the roots had been burned away. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.
With the last of her fading strength she reached out and pulled, trying to find something, anything to latch onto.
Nothing happened. There was naught to draw back. Naruto was well and truly gone.
She raised her gaze to regard the horizon. There was no sunrise. No stars. The shadows crept in, a deep, cloying darkness that promise naught but peaced.
There would be none for her. "You had the last laugh after all, my friend. My love...
Never again would she look into the only eyes that ever knew the real her. Never again would she see that silly smile of his as their merry little band sat 'round a warm fire. Never again would she hold his hand as they made love in the darkened halls of the Roundtable. She'd lost him now, jutterly and truly, through no fault but her own. The realization was a dagger in her heart. If she had but stayed by his side a little longer, this might never have come to pass. In seeking to prevent such an ending...she had guaranteed it. T'was irony at its most bittersweet.
A glint of light in the ash caught her eye. She stooped to inspect it.
Naruto's armor and weapons were long gone but the melted scraps of his headband remained, bound by burnt black cloth. Trembling fingers curled around it. A broken, bitter sigh fled from her lips. She could still see the insignia etched into it, preserved despite all else. What was she to do now? Her eyes stung, her sealed orb drifting open at last as thick, heavy tears rolled down her cheeks. She fell to her knees once more.
"You were the one after all...
Fate was foul. Destiny, demented.
And so she was left behind once again.
"I'm sorry." she said the words too late. "Please, forgive me...
Melina fell to her knees in his ash, clutched he headband to her chest, bowed her head, and wept.
"You've leapt past me once again; gone somewhere I cannot reach you. 'Tis not fair...not fair at all, Naruto...
(.0.0.0.)
Reality came unmoored like a rusty anchor.
Lurched now, water flowing in reverse.
Time unwound anew.
(.0.0.0.)
Blue eyes opened.
.
..
...wait. That wasn't right.
Grass tickled his back through his tattered tunic
Naruto blinked. Frowned. Squinted now against the harsh light that hadn't been there a moment before. It didn't make any sense. He'd died in darkness. There shouldn't be any light. Said frown became a scowl as he a raised a hand to shade his face. Sure enough he beheld an intact limb He shouldn't even have hands at all for that matter; not after he'd burned himself to ash. He squinted at his palm, frowning as he forced his fingers into a fist.
It wasn't light, he realized, once his eyes adjusted. He knew its source all too well.
No.
He desperately didn't want to look up; didn't want to confirm his suspicions; if only because he intrinsically knew what he'd find waiting for him there in the sky. It wasn't just the sun; he could see that creeping lower in his peripherals, nearly ready to set; no, the light he loathed came from another source, one he'd come to loathe beyond anything else.
No, no.
His eyes betrayed him.
No, no, no! A thousand times no!
A harsh, bitter bark of laughter filled the air. It took Naruto a moment to realize it belonged to him.
...is this some kind of a sick joke?"
Certainly felt like one, it did; because the bloody Erdtree awaited him the moment he raised his gaze; a shining golden specter looming in the distance. It burned no longer; its very presence was a splinter in his soul-pricking his conscience, mocking him for his failure. He sat up fully and spared a furious glance for his surroundings. It only served to confirm his suspicions.
"The hell am I doin' back in Limgrave?"
And near a site of grace at that! Those were supposed to be gone. They'd evaporated after he became the Lord of Frenzy.
Had he failed after all? He'd intended to die, and hopefully in dying, kick himself back to his world. Or barring that have some semblance of peace. But he had neither. His body was intact, and so too were his memories. They writhed in his head like worms. The Erdtree stood firm and strong in the distance, mocking him for his failure. He couldn't even die properly. A rasengan snarled in his hand. In that case...
"Safe!" A thin, reedy voice stirred in his mind before he could pitch over the edge. "Safe." softer, now. "Relax."
Naruto felt his world spin round again.
Though his Great Runes were gone, he could still feel the scarring across his chest beneath the shirt, the power pulsing within. The Frenzied Flame lived in him still, leashed as before; an obedient hound waiting to serve, yet faint. Muted. Hiding. Concealing itself. He could call upon it at a moment's notice, burn everything to ash, but he didn't want to. He wanted to understand.
"Why the hell am I here? Kurama? You there? Answer me!"
"Well, this is a most unpleasant awakening."
His heart ached at the reminder. "Don't use Ranni's words."
He felt a spark of chagrin from his old friend, his last loyal companion, even now. "Sorry...
Wasn't his fault. Ranni had said those seven sorrowful words to Seluvis once...just before she tore him apart. Bastard's own fault after he'd tried to feed her that amber draught. Watching that perverse puppeteer torn limb from limb had been one of his finer moments in the past; one of the few things that actually worked in his favor...before everything went wrong.
And now here he was, all his work undone.
Just thinking of it drew a growl from Naruto. He burst and stomped forward a few paces and made it to the cliff where, finally, his temper got the better of him. His world went red.
"Damnit!
A fist swept back and smashed a crater in the ground.
"Damnit!"
Unsatisfied, by struck again. The crater deepened, widening into a basin.
"DAMNITALL!"
A third and final blow bloodied his knuckles but birthed a gaping fissure, sending trees plummeting into the abyss. An awful crack filled his ears as massive portion of the cliff-side split off and plummeted to the beach below. He didn't spare it so much as a second glance to fix it. Instead he stomped back to the site of Grace he'd seen and plonked down beside it in a huff. His hand would heal sooner or later.
Again. Yet again, now."
"We're back were we started all those months ago, but why?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Silence trickled between them as they watched the last of the sun's light fade from the sky. Wait. Light. He'd seen a light before he woke up here...
An inkling dawned. He opened his right hand. "Oi, Frenzy. You have anything to do with this?"
Embers of dull gold danced to life in his open palm. "...you wished. I granted."
Naruto's brow shot up into his hair, anger rising with it. "You did this?!"
"I wanna go home. Words. You said them."
He closed his eyes and bit back a curse.
...where did you take me, exactly?"
"Beginning."
It was only a supreme effort of will that saved him from another fit. Go home. Yes, he'd said that, hadn't he? The Frenzied Flame had granted his wish, albeit in an unintended way. Indeed the Lands Between had been his home for a time. It must've seized on his longing and brought him back to the beginning. Doing so must've weakened it to an extent, yet its power still burned like a brand within him. More than that; he'd been brought back with his memories and power mostly intact. He even had those blasted flasks Melina gave him.
None of which would get him out of this situation!
"This isn't what I meant!" he snapped at it, drawing a childlike whimper from the parasite. "When I said I wanna go home, I didn't mean here! I wanted to go back to the Elemental Nations, not relive my failures again! Fix this!"
"Can't...too weak...sorry...
Wasn't that just peachy? His luck was rotten as ever.
Footsteps reached his ears, faint steps in the gloom. He craned his neck.
"Oh, my." a familiar voice crooned form the dark, dripping false sincerity. "I thought I heard a noise. Are you alright?"
A figure stepped into the light of the Grace, idly rubbing bloody hands together as he approached. Naruto recognized that ghastly white mask, those wretched surgeon robes. A hand slipped behind his back, reaching to a knife. Varre. If that wasn't proof enough that he'd landed in the past, he didn't know what was. He'd seen Sellen slay him the last time around. Blasted bloody finger. He'd looked better without his head.
"Tarnished are we?" the madman prattled on, heedless of his growing ire. "Come to the Lands Between for the Elden Ring, hmm?" his mistook his silence for acceptance. "Of course you have, no shame in it. Unfortunately for you, however," and he could just imagine his face twisting in that horrid smile of his behind that mask, "You seem to be...
Naruto absolutely hissed.
No. No, no, no. They were not doing this shtick again.
...Maidenless."
The insult had meant nothing to him during his first go around. Why would it? Now?
It cut deeper than Maliketh's blade. Reminded him of his every failure.
Right. He dies.
He'd let him live too long last time. That had proven a mistake. Sellen and Eleanora paid in blood for it before he finally went down. To say nothing of the madness that followed with Mohg...no. Best to have him out the way here and now than risk his interference a second time.
The Frenzied Flame stirred in him. "Enemy?"
The worst kind. The sort that would pretend to be your friend then stab you in the back at the earliest opportunity.
A fresh peal of laughter tumbled out of him. "You never change, do you?"
Here at last, Varre seemed to notice his ire. "Have we...met?"
"In a sense. Things aren't the way they were before, Varre." he shook his head and climbed to his feet, motes of golden light rising around him. "You wouldn't even recognize me anymore." a quickstep carried him forward, bringing him well within the bloody finger's guard. "Not that you knew me back then, anyway."
"Yes, well, I''ll just be going-
"Come now, don't be a stranger!" He grabbed the surgeon by his garb and yanked him close. "We have so much do discuss! I'd like you to assist me with a few tests. You don't mind, right?" His eyes shone with the golden light of the Frenzied Flame. "No, of course you don't." he seized the man's wrist with free hand, locking him in place. "Its the least you can do."
"What're you doing?!"
His grin grew. "Doing the world a favor."
Frenzied fire roared out of him, eager for to do his bidding. Varre was powerless to resist. He recoiled with a shriek and thrashed back out of his grasp but it was too late. The damage done. He would have its due. Naruto let the bloody finger go and watched him writhe, let him clutch at his face as the Frenzied Flame cooked him from the inside out. It was the work of moments. His mask cooked and melted, clinging to his face, muffling his final cry. He expired with a dusty rattle, fell to his knees, and moved no more.
Runes rushed into him, warming his blood.
"Hmm." Naruto thumbed his chin, considering the crumbling corpse. "Seems I can still used the Frenzied incantations at least. Maybe a Rasengan would've been better...nah.
He was tempted to leave him slumped there on the hill, a testament to Death, but he thought better of it.
"First things, first...
Bending a knee, he began to rummage around in the man's robes, searching. Where was...ah! There. His fingers closed around damp metal, still faintly warm to the touch. He withdrew it and inspected it by the low light of the Grace. It gleamed a burnished red in the golden light. Pureblood Knight's Medal. Sellen had pried it off the man's corpse and given it to him, once. He'd not bothered with it last time-seeing as he'd gotten there the hard way. Might be useful this time around.
"I'll be taking this."
He took the man's corpse too, burned it to ash, then blew those ashes away with a bit of wind chakra.
Movement from below drew his eyes. The Tree Sentinel trotted along the plains below the site of Grace, wholly oblivious to the brief bout of violence that just transpired. He considered challenging it as he hadn't last time, then thought better of it. No point wasting his strength on someone who had nothing to offer him. He already had a goal in mind. He could always visit the merchant in the church later, restock if need be.
"Ally." The Flame needled him, a little stronger for its meal. "Those of the caravan will worship you. You are their Lord."
...I'll consider it."
With one last lingering look their way, he sat back down at the site of grace, tucked his knees into his chest, and laid his chin atop them. His eyes slid shut, longing for the rest he'd been so cruelly denied. His mind whirled and churned. No point in venturing out just yet. He needed to think. Varre's death wasn't much of a change in the greater scheme of things, but he found himself hesitant to venture further.
Because he couldn't bear the idea of losing everyone again.
"So don't."
...wanna run that by me again, furball?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Kurama huffed when he didn't answer. "Way I see it, this is your-our!-second chance. You know what you did last time. How their journeys ended, no?"
Naruto did. He'd become painfully intimate with their endings, and the myriad of mistakes that led to them. Most of them had been good people. Those who weren't, he'd managed to reform before their untimely ends. Even poor ol' Patches and Bernahl didn't deserve to go out like that. Others were already mad, like Malenia and Radahn, each of whom refused to listen to reason. He'd been forced to kill them both. Others such as Milicent had chosen to take their own lives rather than live on. No one wanted to listen. No one wanted to let him help. Respecting their wishes hadn't gotten him anywhere!
"Then use your knowledge to swing things in your favor."
He opened his eyes for a moment, considering the gentle glow of the Grace before him. Tempting. Very tempting. Almost terribly so. His fingers rubbed the bloody medallion beneath his jacket. In a sense, he already had a way of bartering with Malenia. He knew what -who!- was held captive in that cocoon down in Mohgwyn's mausoleum. Did he care enough to try? He wasn't sure.
"What if I fail?"
"Won't fail." The Flame nudged him before Kurama could. "Too powerful now."
"Power, eh?" A bitter chuckle escaped him as he hung his head. "It'll take more than power this time around...
He'd need to be clever. Use his head, you know? No more charging in like a lunatic or flying by the seat of his pants. He'd seen where that got him. Strategy was needed. There was a small part of him that was excited by it all. He knew who his enemies were. Who not to trust and who could be a true friend. He could do it right this time. So long as he was careful, so long as he didn't let his emotions get the better of him-
"Greetings, a voice called to him from the darkness, dashing his thoughts against the rocky crags of reality. "Traveler from beyond the fog."
Naruto's head shot upright, eyes bulging. Blood burned in his veins. He knew that voice. How could he forget...?
A cloaked shadow approached his fire, darkness gradually taking on shape and form.
As he looked on aghast, she swept her hood back and knelt before him.
She knelt and rugged back her hood. "I am Melina."
Memories stabbed him. "You are no longer fit."
A muscle jumped in Naruto's jaw, pounding alongside a vein in his temple. He stifled both as he gazed upon her.
Melina.
...no. He stilled himself with a supreme effort, mastering his brief surge of murderous intent. This wasn't his Melina. Not the one who wronged him. Not the wretch that abandoned him in his time of need and inadvertently brought about everyone's ruin through her own arrogance. Not yet. This...he didn't know what this was? Some fever dream?
He wanted to hug her. He wanted to shout at her. He wanted to cry. But he didn't. He absolutely did not dare, for fear of giving himself away.
There was something different about her, too. It took him a moment to realize what it was, still rattled by her presence. And then he noticed it. Her brand. The trio of black marks that once sheathed her left eye now stood upon the opposite of her face; on the right, rather than her left and the leftmost orb gleamed a strange gloam-like color. He could feel a strange power emanating from it. Cold, but strangely familiar. What did that mean?
Naruto stared at her.
Melina stared back, considering him grimly. "I, offer you an accord."
Those five fearsome words hung heavy between them, heavy with expectation.
Not content with that, she prattled on, saying the same words as she had during their first meeting. Naruto listened with half an ear as she droned on. This was different from their first meeting, too. He'd met her at the gatefront back then. Instead she'd sought him out here. As if she were actively searching. Why? What was different? What had changed? Did it have something to do with her eye?
And what of her offer?
He could say no, he knew. Maybe he should. Just refute her and go on his merry way. Might even be easier. It would certainly spare him some anguish. But if he declined, she would surely seek out someone else. She might even get in his way. For some reason she couldn't seem to sense the Frenzied Flame within him either; if she had, she would've cursed him and fled by now. Was she not aware of it, or simply not commenting on it. What had changed?
The Frenzied Flame nudged him. "Weak. Hidden. Won't find."
Right, right, it was weakened by bringing him back...
Naruto gave it a brisk mental pat. "Good girl."
The Flame cooed like the child it was.
"You need only take me with you." Melina's voice tugged him back to the present, drawing a frown to his face. "To the foot of the Erdtree. What say you?"
Naruto bit his lip, exhaled in a long sigh. He'd considered all possible angles, and so, made his decision. Best to keep her close. And if she figured out what he was, if she tried to run...well. He'd stop her. The shock of her betrayal had paralyzed him last time, slowed his reaction, allowed her to slip away into astral form where he couldn't reach her. He'd not make that mistake again.
He didn't trust himself to speak. Not yet. Not in her presence. He settled for a nod instead.
"Very well." she favored him with a wan smile, an expression oh-so-familiar. "Let my hand rest upon you, for but a moment...
This time he wouldn't let her get away. This time, he would make her understand.
This time, he would correct his mistakes.
This time...he would have it all.
A/N: Aaaaand scene.
Well? Should this be a story? Did you like it? Yay or nay?
Again, radically different Naruto, and this one's probably going to wind up as a hard M with mature themes. Massive harem too, bigger than even "Shed No Grace on Me".
Heavy romance, lemons, and the like. Have mercy on the latter, because its been a LONG time since I wrote one.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this particular story, and others.
If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? POOF! Gone. Completely. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot write. So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly? T_T
Here have your previews, wild though they are.
As ever:
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
(Previews)
There was something...off about her Tarnished.
Melina wondered what it was.
"I'm not in the mood, Margit. Or should I say Morgott? Move, or I'll move you."
He knew who he was? How? "What madness is this?!"
...hmm." his eyes shone with yellow fire, madness made manifest. "Suppose that's the right word."
His cane swept down. Smacked into an open palm.
"I warned you...
"Mercy, huh?" he rain a bloody hand through his hair. "I wish I could give you some. Unfortunately...
His fist scythed down. Blood spattered his face.
...I'm fresh outta mercy.
"I knew it! It is you!" The merchant all but knelt before him. "My lord! You are just as I remembered!"
"Stop that, Kale! Up with you!"
He acted like they were old friends. But they'd never met before! Hadn't they...?
Laughter burst from her lips.
"Ha! You.. truly are a warrior indeed!"
It was like he knew exactly what to say to her, the right words to push her buttons.
She dropped her weapons, grabbed him by the face and kissed him roughly, physically pushing him back against a wall. His hand dove beneath her left leg and lifted, warm fingers tracing her thigh. Good. He understood what she wanted. Easier that way. She made a pleased noise and pulled him closer, crushing her bosom against his bare chest...
Gideon clapped him on the back. "Knowledge is madness, is it not?"
"How did you know that?!"
"I suppose you could say...this is my second time around.
A hand closed around their face. "And you're going to help me...friend."
Was it just him, or were the enemies stronger than last time? He wasn't any weaker, yet this lot was faster than he remembered.
Weren't they? He narrowly ducked a swipe and grinned. They were!
"What fun, what fun!"
"What have you done to the Frenzied Flame?!"
"Oh, its just you, Shabriri. Hello...AND GOODBYE!"
Why was he looking at her that way?
EDIT: Hey, you made it!
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? Well, it won't be continued. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
Looking forward to chatting with you all~! Have a great day~!
R&R~!
