Chapter 4:

Once we reached the safe spot by the bridge (only after I had to deal with the tower's Black Knight by snapping his legs apart and ripping his arms off with the Drake Sword) we then proceeded to sit down at the bonfire as we then had a rest stop, us talking about things in the process.

"So... what was your world like before you were brought here, per chance?" Solaire asked me as I simply hovered in the air, since the ground wasn't too comfy for me.

"It's a highly advanced civilization that has vehicles that can go on the land, in the air, on the oceans, and under the oceans. We have food that is so tasty, you cannot get enough of it, and a lot of nice people if you know where to look... but sadly, that's the only positives that my world has," I frowned.

"What are the negatives?" Pollocks asked as he decided to rest somewhere that I was willing to let him stay just to make him comfy. In between my boobs. And one look at him showed that he was very blushy.

"Well, poverty affects nearly 80 percent of the people on the planet while the rest are either middle class or the ones that have too much money to care. There are wars all over the planet that are usually only started for stupid reasons or because they hate people of a certain sect or religion. Crime has gone up by nearly 400 percent in only 2 years, and mostly in the bigger cities. And people are routinely punished for defending themselves or others while criminals, killers, and rapists are released the day they get arrested," I explained, that making Pollocks sigh.

"That kind of reminds me of Minos's next-door neighbors in Oolacile. They used to be very nice and defended anyone they wished, but now? Now they've become horrible people that routinely come to my village in Minos to steal our small people for disgusting purposes, including dinner," he said, me frowning at that. It was a shame that Oolacile had been sent downwards since Dusk was alive.

"I see... that sounds absolutely disgusting, but I must ask. Are they undead? Or are they acting on their own accord?" I asked, him speaking to me after.

"It's almost as if they've gone off the deep end. And I have no idea why that is," he said as I then decided to try something out. I used my magical mind's eye to look to the distant lands and managed to sense a lot of little people that lived in an underground civilization... and that Oolacile surrounded them all over. And when I saw the minds of Oolacile, I completely understood what was going on. They were all sent to insanity because of the loss of a special item. Which item was it? A trio of Dragon Scales! I immediately looked to my drake sword and then proceeded to take off at least 10 scales off of it, which destroyed the weapon.

"What are you doing? Why are you destroying that sword?" Castor asked as I then spoke.

"Because I now know why Oolacile has gone crazy. It's because they had their dragon scales stolen," I said, which made Pollocks gasp.

"Aha! That's it! I remember that, 10 years ago, a thief in heavy armor rushed to town and stole the dragon scales from their temple! And only a few days after, they started to do monthly attacks on Minos," he said, me nodding as I then sent the dragon scales to them via teleportation... and when I did, I immediately heard a voice in my head.

"W-What the... What am I doing?... Oh god! Ptooey!" I heard the voice of a little girl gasp as I then saw the mind of her and was surprised that she was about to eat a Minos resident whole! "I-I'm sorry! I-I don't know what I was thinking! P-Please forgive m-... EEK! D-Don't worry, I'll get you out!" she shouted, me realizing... she'd already eaten one of them! I then teleported the Minos person out of her belly and right on the ground next to her, which made her surprised.

"What's going on?... Who saved you?... And me?" the little girl asked. And it was then that she searched for me and i smiled.

"I did. I saved both Minos and Oolacile. It was because of someone stealing your dragon scales from your temple, so I gave you some from where I'm at," I said.

"T-Thank you, sorceress! We must know your name!' I heard an elder woman say in my head.

"Penny Pines is my name. Unfortunately, I can't come around as of right now to greet you, since I'm kind of far away from your countries and on a hero's journey... are there any Minos residents that need to be rescued as of right now?" I asked as I then sensed around and saw that, luckily, only the little girl had gotten one in her stomach already. All the others were safe and sound.

"Penny?... Did you just do what I think you did? I can hear your thoughts clear as day, you know?" Pollocks asked, me smiling at that.

"I saved both of them with some dragon scales and then I saved two different Minos people that were about to be eaten and digested by a little girl from Oolacile, who had also been driven crazy," I said, Pollocks smiling before then jumping out of my bust and proceeding to give my neck a hug, me smirking at that.

"Those two Minos residents were my daughter and sister. I'm forever grateful to you for doing that!" he said, me smirking at that.

"Just helping out is all. But keep in mind, it won't mean anything until we add something to the list. Find the one who stole those dragon scales and make him pay for his sins. Who do we know who steals dragon scales?" I asked as Solaire spoke.

"I do believe I saw someone who was completely coated in dragon armor, and he had a dragon's tooth as his weapon of choice, which was able to squish an undead so badly, it split him into chunks upon contact," he said. "I knew not to mess with him when I saw that."

"Where's the last place you saw him?" I asked him.

"The last I saw him; it was in the big tower before this bridge."

"So how did you get past that giant demon?" I asked, him chortling at that.

"I didn't, I just climbed up the side of the castle to avoid the fight," Solaire said, me smirking at that.

"Smart. Okay... are we all rested up now?" I asked, the group nodding at me as Pollocks then went back to the top of the gargoyle's head and hid himself under a helmet once again, us then getting up and proceeding across the bridge, where I saw that the hollows were alive again and we had to kill them all again before then getting stopped by Castor at the door and him then putting the key into the door. We then went inside and proceeded to slide down the ladder until we got to the Lower Undead Burg, where we then proceeded to get jumped by some demon dogs, which I killed via soul mass, which made them explode!

"That was kind of graphic," Solaire frowned as I sighed. There was a reason I blew them up though.

"Well, everyone has their fears... I'm terrified of vicious dogs. So anytime I see one, I go into a flight or fight response," I said, which made the others look at me in surprise. "If I have protection and they try to attack, I fight. If I have no protection, I run for the hills... I just know that we'll find more, though," I shuddered, knowing exactly what would come next. We'd need to go after the Capra Demon and his demon dogs in the terribly cramped arena, which was one of the most unfair fights in the game. I proceeded to attack the baddies regardless with my sorcery skills alongside the other three's assistance, getting the undead dogs and thieves defeated before we heard a voice.

"Hello?! Hello?! Is there someone decent out there? I'm kind of trapped behind a locked door!" shouted the voice of Griggs from Vinheim, me going to the area in question and knocking on the door.

"Hey, we're decent. Are you decent? Or does the emperor have no clothes?" I asked, that actually making the other men in my group chuckle.

"Is this really the time for jokes? Please get me out of here!" he said with annoyance.

"Okay, I'm going to do this in an unorthodox method... no guarantees for safety, so go to the corner furthest from the door and hunker down, okay?" I said, me hearing some shuffling before he then spoke.

"Okay, what's your plan?" he asked, me then forcing a powerful magic attack in the form of Great Soul Arrow at the door, which absolutely decimated it and for splintered wood to fly against the wall on the interior and me seeing that Griggs had been unharmed, save for a couple of pieces of wood on his skin.

"Ow... I think you gave me splinters," he groaned.

"Peh, it worked, didn't it?" I asked, him frowning as he got up from his position.

"It did, and I'm grateful. I am Griggs of Vinheim, fair maiden. May I ask you and your allies' names?" he asked, me nodding as we then introduced ourselves, which he nodded when he heard the names.

"I got jumped by one of those undead thieves and he locked me in this room. I'm going to head back to the Firelink Shrine for safety. If you'd like, come to me and I can assist you in the art of sorcery... but as for you, Penny? Your magic rivals even my teacher, Logan... I just hope he hasn't gotten into any danger," he said, me smirking at him.

"What does this Logan person look like? We'll try to keep an eye out for him and get him back to the shrine," I smiled.

"Oh, I'd be forever grateful! You can't miss him. He's wearing a giant hat that obscures his face. It even doubles as a blade for close-quarters combat," he explained.

"Always a smart idea for a sorcerer to have a backup attack, especially when it's a hidden weapon," Castor said with a smile.

"Now I suggest we get going before the undead rise again," Pollocks said, me nodding as we then went back on track and went further through the alleyways and streets, needing to contend with more thieves and dogs in the process before we found the final area, which wasn't blocked by a fog wall, oddly. And I could also see the key we needed in the back of the arena... but then, Solaire took up arms.

"I sense a demon's presence in that arena ahead. It's sure to pounce the moment we get that key," Solaire said.

"You can sense demons?" I asked him.

"Such is the way of the Warriors of Sunlight. We get our powers from Gwyn himself, or what's left of him. And from what I've learned, he's employed demons ever since the calamity of the Witch of Izalith," Solaire said grimly.

"Well, then I think I know what to do. I'll go in alone and use my mind's eye to sense for the demon's exact location. And when I get the key, you guys charge in to assist," I said, them nodding as I then went forward and doing just that, sensing that the demon was on the upper parts of the rooftop. And he'd noticed me. I immediately grabbed the key while also protecting myself with a Soulmass around my body. And then, I sensed the demon right above me! I instinctively rolled out of the way before then slashing the Black Knight sword against the back of the demon, which I was shocked to see actually sliced him in half! But even then, he was still alive, trying to slam his giant machetes into my body as I saw the others in my group had managed to put down his mutts. I had to dodge a slice to the left before I activated a Soul Spear, which obliterated the Capra Demon the rest of the way, earning all of us a crapton of souls and netting us the key!

"YES! A great battle and even greater tactic!... But where does that key go to?" Pollocks asked as he then got closer with his gargoyle puppet and sniffed it. "And why does it smell so... foul?" he asked with a recoiled nose.

"Yeah... I think I know where it's going to go... we need to go down under the burgh to find the second bell. And what usually runs under a city?" I asked, making the men revile at that. "Yep... ugh... we gotta muck in the sewers. And once we're done down there, we need to wash off somewhere safe," I said, that making the trio frown. "I'm a girl, I need to keep clean. And I know you're not going to be all hunky dory smelling like feces and piss when we're down there, right?" I said, them nodding at that. "Then let's go."

"If I'd have known it was going to lead to us going to some filthy sewers, I wouldn't have said anything," Castor frowned.

"Oh, you think the sewers are bad? After that, it's only further down to Blighttown, the bottom of which is a giant swamp filled with water that's poisonous to the touch," I frowned at them.

"And how did you know that?" Pollocks asked, me frowning. I might've revealed a bit too much, so I decided to make a small, white lie.

"I know because of meeting with this guy back at the Firelink Shrine. He said that there was a bell in Liar's Berg and another past Blighttown, one above and one below," I lied, the others looking at me in confusion but then nodding.

"So Blighttown is where we go next, huh? Why do I feel it's going to be dangerous?" Pollocks asked.

"Have you even seen what we've been doing lately? And only now you say it's dangerous?" I asked him.

"Eh... you have a fair point, Master Penny," Pollocks smiled, me smiling at that.

"Master?"

"You saved my family and my people. I wish to follow you until the day I die," he said, me smirking at that.

"I just hope you don't shrink to the point that you become microscopic," I smirked.

"Microwhat?" Solaire asked.

"It means being so small, you can't see it without the help of a powerful magnifying machine. Imagine taking a blot of blood, looking through a lens, and you can see everything that's inside of the blood blot, every single cell and everything that makes it up."

"That sounds very interesting, but also kind of gross," Pollocks admitted.

"That's why I don't know if you're going to shrink to that size... because if you do? You won't be able to get around anywhere because of how much bigger the world will be," I said.

"I should hope that never happens, then! But I do know that there is a limit for each Minos person. It's different for every member, but we always end at 1 foot tall or smaller," he said.

"Enough gasbagging. Those sewers aren't going to smell any nicer and I don't want to stick around in case the undead rise again," Castor said with annoyance.

"Castor's right, we need to leave before we get a gaggle of monsters attacking us on the way out," Solaire said, me agreeing as we then proceeding to go to the absolute sloggiest slog in the game. The sewers.