Chapter 3:
Upon befriending two magic users in the form of a very tiny man and a tough mage that used Soul Mass effectively, we managed to plow through the Baldur Knights in front of us as well as the great shield knight in the cathedral area before then going up the staircase and me utterly demolishing all of the hollow husks that were in the room before then finally reaching the fog door, which we stepped through to find the next area, it being the rooftop of the cathedral.
"I feel that this is getting a bit too easy, almost as if we're being watched," Pollocks said from the body of the Baldur Knight he was controlling, me then looking above and seeing the first true fight waking up as we walked across the tiles, me then getting my Drake Sword with my mind as the gargoyle duo woke up and flew down to us with an axe slam, me dodging the first slam before then using the Drake Sword to slash across the gargoyle's bladed tail, which slashed it off in one go and proceeded to make the gargoyle shriek in pain.
"Come on, that's supposed to be a shrill shriek? Naw, you're supposed to do it like this," I said as I then proceeded to do the best roar I could ever do, which I'd learned how to do via practicing mimicking certain game monsters/characters. The one I did for this one? It was one that actually made the second gargoyle throw off his swing and having it slam to the far left of Solaire. The jump scare sound from Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion that sounded like a horrid banshee wail!
And when I did this, it left Solaire, Castor, and Pollocks plenty of time to finish off the second gargoyle and for their bodies to lay motionless on the cathedral rooftop.
"Would you mind if I were to control the body of this powerful gargoyle?" Pollocks asked as I simply smiled.
"Honestly, it would be a crime not to," I said, him then smirking and jumping from out of the Baldur Knight corpse before then going onto the head of the gargoyle and then controlling its lifeless body effortlessly!
"Praise to Gwyndolin! This feels awesome to control!" Pollocks shouted, which immediately made me concerned.
"Um... are you saying you're a follower of Gwyndolin?" I asked, him looking at me in confusion.
"Yes, I am. Is that an issue?" he asked.
"Well... he's kind of holding his sister hostage in Anor Londo as we speak. At least, according to this letter that was written by Gwynevere," I said, Pollocks immediately grabbing the paper with his magical prowess and holding it in front of his face, reading it over and then looking confused at the one where Gwyndolin was holding Gwynevere captive.
"This can't be right... Lord Gwyndolin said that Gwynevere had long since vanished from Anor Londo... are ye sure that this was from the Lady of Sunlight herself? Or is this a farce?" he asked... and then we heard a voice in our heads. Not just me, because I saw the other three look around at the voice as well.
"Well done... you have managed to reach the first Bell of Awakening, Penny Pines. Ring it and then proceed to the next one. I already know you have rescued the Ash Maiden, Ariamas from the possibility of her demise and given her protection... and to your Minos friend, Pollocks, everything she has spoken of is true. Only by convincing my brother to do so will I be able to be freed from imprisonment... because of he should die, then so would I. Do not attack him, or it will be a bust," she said, me smirking at that. Unlike her bust, I thought. "I can hear your thoughts, pervert." And when I heard that, I immediately yiped at that. "And if thou must know, I must remain pure, so I won't accept any advances."
After that, the group of males then looked at me as I then looked at them in concern. "Um... ehe... what's with the weird looks, guys?" I asked, Castor speaking first.
"What were you thinking about Lady Gwynevere to have her say that?" he asked, me sighing and blushing.
"I... I like both?..." I said, which made Solaire confused.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked.
"I think she means that she is in love with men and women. Definitely didn't expect we'd be journeying with... one of them," Pollocks said, me frowning at that.
"And what exactly would that be, little man?" I asked him in annoyance, which I could tell made him frightened.
"Um... uh... a uh... I think you know the word," he said, me frowning at that.
"There are multiple words for that where I come from, where it's a hell of a lot more acceptable than those in this world, I am sure. I'm used to Bisexual, Yuri, Lesbian, LGBT, gay, and even more words that would result in me blowing your head to bits if you tried to call me those words," I said, him then shutting up immediately.
"Not to risk getting killed... but how would that work for a union of two women?" Solaire asked as I sighed.
"Marriage does not equal make kids immediately. In my world, marriage is more about love than what lit's like in this world, I'm sure," I said, Castor sighing at that.
"I know what she means. I had a wife once, and we didn't marry for lineage or for children, but because we loved each other. And then... then Lautrec happened... I'm glad you killed him with my attack," he said, me frowning at that.
"I already have a feeling of what you're talking about, and I can say this. When the First Flame is rekindled, which WILL happen if I have any say in it, then undead will never happen again and the first flame will roar forever," I said, that making the trio look at me in confusion.
"Would that be proven, though?" Pollocks asked... and then we heard a voice in our heads.
"She speaks the truth," said a voice in our heads... but this time, it was not from Gwynevere. It was from someone that made Castor gasp.
"Lady Alvina!" he gasped when he heard it. It was the one in charge of the Forest Guardians, who was in charge of leading people away from Artorius's gravesite.
"I have already been given the rundown. I didn't expect the Chosen Undead would arrive at all... but I sense the gargoyles of the first bell have fallen. Meet with me in the forest when the Lordvessel is acquired and when you have spoken to the Kingseeker. I know how to allow you to speak to the great beast, but you must promise to not harm any of my fellow forest guardians. Do you agree to these conditions?" she asked, me nodding at that.
"Yes, but you didn't say the truth or explain that part," I said.
"Oh, sorry, how positively forgetful of I... It goes like this. The First Flame was able to roar for centuries... but after Gwyn started to grow old, so did the fire, until it has been reduced to cinders and where Gwyn has become Hollow. The only way to ensure the First Flame can roar again for eternity... is to give it a false sacrifice, a sacrifice that does not link the life force of the caster to the flame. That is why you must complete that checklist.
If you were to link the flame without assistance from the Witches of Chaos, you'd never be able to give control of the First Flame to Gwyenevere in your stead.
If Gwynevere does not ascend to the throne, then no one could watch over the flame who was eternally young.
If you go to the abyss without gaining Sif's trust and her special Crest of the Sun, then you'll never be able to descend into the Abyss and risk being slain by the Darkwraiths and their master.
If the Ash Maiden is slain, then the First Flame being rekindled will be all for naught, for the flames would have nowhere to go across the multiverse.
And if you were to link the First Flame without gaining the powers of Life Drain from Prisiclla the Crossbreed, you'll be consumed by the fire as a sacrifice, which will only be a temporary fix. That is the most important part that must be done. Without the Life Drain, you'll be sacrificed, and the world will only be safe for 100 years, with no other options left to save it from reducing to nothing but ashes and dust," Alvina said, me then asking the question as I finally started to climb the large ladder to the top of the tower, making sure not to look down for fear of getting queasy from my fear of heights.
"Before you stop talking, I must ask. How are you able to speak to our minds right now when you're nothing but a cat?" I asked, her snickering in my head at that.
"Just a gift from an old friend. One you were speaking about before I interrupted politely," she said, me frowning at that before finally reaching the bell and proceeding to ring the bell by pulling the lever, which made a loud ringing sound that resounded all throughout the land, me then looking over into the edge and seeing that, down the mountain by Firelink Shrine, Ariamas, the Crestfallen Warrior, and Petrus, were all looking up towards the cliffs that were literally right below the cathedral.
"First challenge, complete! And not a single hit taken?... Damn, I wish I had some kind of camera on me so I could be one of the few nutjobs to go on a hitless Dark Souls run! Heeha!" I smirked before then using my powers of levitation to go back down the cathedral and down to the rooftops to the other men, who looked to be speaking to Oswald, who looked at me in confusion.
"My my, what have we here? A woman who happens to like women and men?" he asked, me frowning at that.
"You better choose your words carefully, sir, because I am not going to be called a sinner for living my life," I said, him snickering as he usually did.
"Oh, don't worry, I wasn't going to say anything like that. I was just surprised, is all. The last I'd seen someone like that, they were running back to the crow with their tail between their legs and a hole in their stomach. And she looked just like you. Heeheeheha!" he snickered, me then going to him and simply grabbing his fingers and placing them in a painful position. "ACK! Release me, now! It hurts!" he shouted, me frowning at him.
"Not until you apologize for being a jerk," I frowned, him then growling and saying it.
"Okay! I'm sorry! I apologize! Stop it!" he shouted, me then releasing my grip and him to frown at me. "You certainly are different than her, that's for sure. Much more brash and ready to fight," he frowned.
"According to what I've heard from others, I'm different than every other version of me that's come before," I said with annoyance. "Now, we need to get going to Blight Town. Anyone have any ideas?" I asked, knowing not to reveal too much to any of my allies.
"Hmm... If I recall, I remember meeting a young Pyromancer that said he came from the Great Swamp, which is at the bottom of Blight Town. The only feasible way to reach that place is through the aqueducts of the lower portions of Undead Burgh. I actually know where the key is to reach the underpass of the burgh via the bridge, since Lautrec put me in charge of protecting it when I was still controlled by that bastard," he said as he then held the key in hand, me smirking at how it was the one we needed.
"Well, that's great! But before we head out, we need to find a place to fix our weapons. My Drake Sword needs some tune ups... and a cleaning," I said as I noted that it was super bloody all over, most likely from the pig I skewered like a shish kebab.
"Where did you get that sword, by the way?" Solaire asked me.
"I killed a dragon, chopped off its tail, the tail was super sharp at the tip, so I use it as a sword. Smart, huh?" I smirked, him chortling at that.
"You make it sound so easy! Hoho! I wish I could be as risky as that!" he smirked.
"Not really, I just used some mental magic to make its head reach its tail, have him chew it off, and then I had him snap his own neck," I said, that making Pollocks surprised.
"You can control the bodies of the living? That's an advanced part of magic from my home of Astora! It's a technique not even I have mastered! Same with your ability to levitate and control objects with your mind. It's honestly incredible," Solaire said as I smiled.
"My guess, it might be because of me being extremely smart? In my world, I learned enough to get to a very exclusive school and managed to graduate a week before being sent here, which I celebrated with a party. And when I wake up, it's to me being sent here... with a splitting headache and hangover," I frowned.
"Hangover? What's that?" Castor asked as we then finally proceeded to go back downwards and we went to the next part, us going down the stairs and ladders before I then did something different, that being activating the shortcut to the Firelink Shrine, which I did so by using a corpse to hit the plate and then, when the plate had been pushed, I then forced the body to fall off the thing after it got to a certain point before then forcing it to fall down the endless hole. It would probably be down in either Ash Lake or New Londo Ruins.
"It's what happens when you drink alcoholic beverages at night, then you wake up feeling like you're sick because you had too much, you get a massive headache, and sometimes you puke. I vomitted about three times when I first woke up in that stupid asylum, but seeing myself in an area that wasn't my own room, and it looking like a rusty jail filled to the brim with undead hollows? It was quite a kick to the theoretical nards. Even more so when I met... myself," I said, Pollocks frowning at that.
"What does that mean?" he asked.
"I'll tell you when we get to the bridge again. Mainly because I want to take a rest stop before doing anything else," I admitted, him nodding at me after.
"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't hurt to get some rest, especially after a battle on a rooftop overlooking a cliff... I'm not too good with heights," Castor admitted.
"Same," I admitted to him.