Pride. Hope. Irritation. Anger. Fear.
These were the emotions that went through her mind as she faced Radahn in Caelid, her Cleanrot Knights doing their best to aid her as she fought perhaps the strongest of the demigods to hold a Great Rune of the Elden Ring during The Shattering. Pride in her abilities and swordsmanship. Hope as she witnessed spear after spear pierce the Starscourge's hide of steel. Irritation as, despite his injuries, he fought like no other. Anger as he dared challenge her, succeeding in severing her Unalloyed Gold prosthesis.
Fear, as she felt the desperation claw to the forefront of her mind. Her actions were not her own, she felt, as she ripped her beloved brother's needle free from her flesh and cast it aside. In her panic to face Radahn and win, she couldn't feel the Scarlet Rot partially guiding her actions. Not initially.
It was when she stared into Radahn's eyes, her blade plunged into both of their bodies, that she realized what had happened. Horror was hidden behind her helmet, though she somehow felt that Radahn knew she had no true control over what she had just unleashed into his bloodstream.
And so she bloomed. A beautiful, vibrant red and orange colored her vision as the Scarlet Aeonia consumed all. And then she knew naught but brief glimpses as one of her Knights - Finley, she thought - hoisted her upon her shoulders.
She remembered several skirmishes between her valiant Knight and those that sought to waylay their journey to the Haligtree. She couldn't remember who dared to try, merely their fallen silhouettes. And then her place by Miquella at the root of his tree.
It was here, she recalled, flowing between almost waking and a deep coma for who knew how long. Her mentor watched over her, she knew. Until he didn't. Until the Tarnished came.
She was roused from her slumber, reattached her arm prosthesis, her blade readied. She fought with her legendary prowess, and yet… the Tarnished proved to be a foe as great as Radahn. Perhaps even greater. She recoiled as the Scarlet Rot refused to allow its vessel to succumb to this foe, and so she bloomed once more. But alas, it wasn't enough. Even with the Outer God consuming her very flesh, the Goddess of Rot failed. And the Scarlet Aeonia thrived, while she felt herself slipping away. Until the Tarnished inserted a very familiar needle, now repaired and glistening with the blood of a Daughter of Aeonia. And with the needle, they also relinquished her infected Great Rune back unto her. A surprise indeed.
The regression of the Scarlet Aeonia was not a slow process, but Malenia was aware of it happening. She couldn't say how long she had waited for her body to reform, but it did. Along with this awareness, she learned that Miquella was no longer one with the Haligtree. She couldn't say what happened, nor could she deny her grief at his absence. But the time spent reforming, a great many years she felt, dulled that grief.
This time to herself allowed her to ponder many things, and question even more.
The Golden Order and its supposed perfection. The actions of which ultimately led to the Shattering by Marika, though she supposed Ranni was perfectly at fault as well. Radagon's attempt to repair it was… well, she didn't have a fully formed opinion on the matter. So long as her beloved Miquella, to whom she had dedicated her life to defending, survived. She would do anything to ensure his health.
The Eternals and their underground cities. The people responsible for Godwyn's accursed state of Death, of which Ranni is again at fault once more. She suspected that it may have been one of these folk that had stolen her beloved Miquella from his tree, though could very well have been one of the Omen Twins. She had no proof one way or another.
Ranni herself, Malenia couldn't help but hold some bastardized form of respect towards. On one hand, she cursed Ranni for her selfish machinations and what they had wrought. But on the other hand, she knew that if she had such a choice to rid herself of the Outer God that made herself its vessel… she would have done it in a heartbeat. So long as Miquella was at no risk.
And finally, those born from the Scarlet Rot itself. The Kindred, and the Valkyries that she knew Gowry sent to her at the base of the Haligtree. She recalled the whispers spoken to her during her slumber, about the Kindred and those that Gowry claimed to be her daughters. She had not experienced the Kindred herself, though she heard her mentor speak of the abominations that revered her. And apparently possessed enough intellect to ally themselves with Miquella's soldiers and Knights.
The so-called Valkyries, on the other hand… she could feel them as they bloomed. The greatest of them all, especially. One named Millicent, who desperately wished to hold on to her sense of who she was. Malenia could feel the sense of betrayal that Millicent felt when the Tarnished that had slain even the Goddess of Rot, struck her down with the aid of her sisters. It was this woman's blood that coated the needle that had been thrust into Malenia's Aeonian Bloom, and it was perhaps for this reason that she was able to assert her influence over the Scarlet Rot as she did. As the Unalloyed Gold needle did for her, so too did she asserted her dominance over the Scarlet Rot granted to her by the Outer God of the same name. Millicent would not forget who she once was even as the same rebirth Malenia went through was copied by Millicent. Her daughter.
And then, she simply awakened.
She was still at the base of the now-putrefied, and indeed petrified as well, Haligtree. But even the Scarlet Rot that had taken hold was… not gone. But dormant. And it didn't heed her command, much to her relief. But then, she could still feel the ever-present roiling within her, demanding to be let loose, yet the needle she now found between her bare breasts held its demands at bay, with her own mental fortitude reinforcing the purpose of the Unalloyed Gold.
A glance across the chilled ground rewarded her with a view of the precious Unalloyed Gold prostheses crafted by her brother. Her clothing lay beneath them, neatly folded, along with an urn. Beside all of these was her blade, thrust into the ground.
She made to stand, before remembering that her limbs were no longer that of the bloom. Back to two legs, though both had suffered from the Scarlet Rot. As she looked at her own body, Malenia came to the conclusion that she was still eternally scarred by her experience with it, missing most of one leg and half of the other, which ended right below her knee. Likewise, her right arm was missing in its totality, though the Rot that had covered her torso had receded to naught but unblemished skin. The same could not be said for her left arm, however. While it was all there, the diseased flesh of her arm was blackened and scaled with cracked flesh and rotted growths beneath, as it had been since she fought Radahn.
No matter. She reached out with her diseased limb and pulled herself closer to her equipment. First to go on were her leg prostheses. Her balance just simply felt off without them, though she wasn't even upright. As she handled them, she made a mental note about how bright the Unalloyed Gold shined, as if freshly cleaned and oiled by her beloved brother.
Once the legs were fastened, she reached for her clothing. As she donned it, she was pleased to see that a long brown leather glove had been added to her equipment, though she wouldn't be able to put it on until she fastened her arm on.
Which is what she did next. Many long years of practice made the motion go smoothly, the pain of her nerves attuning to the fake limb more of a comfort than anything else. After a few experimental clenches of her fist, she reached down for the lone glove and pulled it on over blackened flesh, releasing a nearly silent hiss through her teeth as the leather fit over her hand and arm perfectly.
So someone was both expecting her, and knew her exact measurements. Off the top of her head, she knew of only two people who would know anything so intimate about her, and neither of them would be here. Even if the Scarlet Rot was dormant.
She finally came to her helmet, picking it up and looking upon her reflection in the front of the shining helmet. She was happy to see that like her main body, her face seemed to be clear of plagued skin. Even her eyes, once nearly replaced by the Scarlet Rot, were once more shining golden, a hue only seen in the brilliance hers exuded within the Golden Lineage. With a mental shrug, she turned the helmet around and placed it upon her head, obscuring her visage once more.
With there only being one last thing upon the ground that wasn't her blade, she knelt down to the urn and placed a hand on it, sensing the ashes contained within. To her surprise, the urn began to crumble, the pieces and ashes contained within swirling, until a very familiar Knight began to form.
While she didn't speak, Finley wasted no time in bowing to her liege, her sword and scythe clattering to the ground in her haste. She apparently attempted to speak, if the strange gurgle that came from beneath the Cleanrot Knight's helmet was any judge, but found that anything she said was unintelligible. Instead, she merely bowed her head deeper.
Malenia reached for her blade and began to socket it into her arm when she spoke.
"Rise, noble Knight. You have served me faithfully in life, of your own choice. The Scarlet Rot has yet to take you, and I yet have need of your companionship. Would you continue to walk faithfully by my side, in the service of Malenia, the Blade of Miquella?"
While she could not speak, Finley was able to bow her head deeper before she stood and saluted Malenia by crossing her weapons in front of her. Malenia nodded, silently glad to not be alone in the shell of the Haligtree. And so they turned for the exit, now covered in petrified branches that look to have been broken down from the outside. The elevator they found no longer functioned, forcing them to begin their climb through the city surrounding Miquella's tree.
On guard, the duo traveled through the remnants of Elphael's Embrace, now crumbled, overtaken by Scarlet Rot, and petrified in the same way as the Haligtree in which the city was built around. In some places, Malenia could even make out the forms of Kindred of Rot, some buried into the ground and yet others bowing in some mockery of prayer. In other places, one could make out the infested armor of Cleanrot Knights, indicating that Finley was not the only one who survived Caelid. Unlike her faithful Knight, these ones did not crumble and return to life when she touched them, though she found that she could yet feel their blighted souls writhing still within their petrified husks. She did not hesitate to crush their bodies to release them, though she wondered how they might be reborn. There stood no Erdtree above her, and the Haligtree itself was far past dead.
Regardless, wherever their souls now went, it was better than the agonized existence they had lived up until now.
Wherever they were, they were still located on the edge of a cliff. She could see the sea spreading forth from the walls, a beautiful cerulean hue spreading up the colorless petrified walls in reflection of the sun. Malenia had to stop and observe for several minutes to organize her thoughts, though it didn't last long. When they resumed their trek up through the city, they came across an interesting creature.
Wraith-like, humanoid, bearing a white mask with red markings upon a black body with bone-like protrusions. Tall, thin, wispy… and bearing absolutely no thought of self preservation. The sound that came from its throat was imbued with a form of magic, she could tell. Not glintstone, nor anything else that she could easily identify, but she felt its effects as she felt her worry lessen slightly.
Her blade sang through the air, removing the creature's head from its shoulder. She would not allow such an abomination to influence her thoughts. She already had one infernal being trying to do so, she would suffer no others to try.
For she is Malenia, the Blade of Miquella. An Empyrean, the child of Marika and Radagon. The vessel of Scarlet Rot. Bearer of a Great Rune of the Elden Ring. And most likely the only demigod left standing after the Tarnished came along.
And yet… she had never felt so lost as she did now.