Chapter 10:
"WHOA! What the hell?! Where did you come from?!" asked Griggs as I saw that he was resting by the bonfire alongside Big Hat Logan, Ariamas, and the clerics, all of which being shocked when me and my group arrived next to them holding the large Lordvessel in hand.
"Um, we just got back from Anor Londo. And this is our proof," I smirked as I showed off the Lordvessel, which was extremely heavy, like in Dark Sauce, but it could easily be lifted in the inventory or with my mind powers.
"You ACTUALLY managed it?! I guess I was wrong about you! You just may be the one to rekindle the First Flame!" said the voice of the Crestfallen Warrior, who I looked at with a small glare.
"Yes, I did, now shut up," I said with annoyance, him doing so.
"And Master Holly managed to rescue both Dark Sun Gwyndolin and Lady Gwynevere, both of whom were victims of Seath the Scaleless for different reasons," Pollocks smirked from atop his golem, which made the group look at him in confusion.
"Uh... I don't think I've known a single Necromancer to ever gain control of a golem... that's pretty impressive," Laurentius admitted, him chuckling at that statement.
"It's awesome, sure, but it can't really go through tight corridors, so I'm going to need a smaller ride eventually," he admitted as I noted that Ariamas was still there and that she was lying next to Havel and that the clerics were still sitting down... but all three of the males, including Petrus, had been tied up like Christmas hams.
"Don't. Say. Anything," Petrus said with a frown.
"No need. I can only assume you fought and Havel had to restrain you," I said, him growling at me.
"They all tried to attack me because I would be the only cleric to be given the bounty and the honor of bishop when you succeeded, but Havel stopped them. He would've killed them, but I told him to detain them without violence. So he threw his armor on them one piece at a time to pin them to the ground before we all worked together to tie them up," Reah smiled.
"I told you to do it quietly, Nico, but no, you had to shout like a maniac!" said the one of the men, me now remembering his name to be Vince.
"I told you, Vince! I only shouted because I saw that fat bitch without her clothes!" he shouted, Mildred then looking at me with her sack face and sighing, obviously feeling ashamed.
"I'm sure you weren't nearly as bad as they claim you were, Mildred... could I at least see your face?" I asked, her gasping before then grabbing me by the hand and leading me to Fraampt, who was currently napping, and hiding us behind the walls.
"Only you... never shown in public..." she said, me nodding at her. She then took her sack mask off and, underneath... I could tell why she'd want to hide her head. She had a lot of fur on her face, and she had a face best described as a cat's face, without certain distinguishing parts like whiskers or the rough tongue. "I know... Me ugly," she said, me smiling as I simply put my hand to her cheek and smiled.
"No, you're not. If I'm being honest, I think your face is not only unique, but adorable," I smiled.
"R-Really?" she asked as I heard Fraampt stirring a bit.
"You kind of look like my little kitten that I used to own, but in the form of a human. Her name was also Mildred... talk about coincidence," I smirked, Mildred finally giggling at me before Fraampt then woke up.
"Wha?... Oh, you managed to return with the Lord...vessel..." he said before seeing Mildred, who looked at the serpent in surprise before she then hid her face behind her bag. "I never thought that I'd ever meet a resident from the most ancient of Darkroot natives," Fraampt smirked.
"Darkroot?" I asked, Mildred gulping and nodding.
"A place where humans and nature used to live in complete harmony during the Age of Fire. But when Gwyn shut himself away with the First Flame, Darkroot fell from grace with an uprising of dangerous wildlife. Very few residents of Mildred's kind, the Sheatomen, are still around," he said, me rolling my eyes at the fact it sounded like an altered version of Cheetahmen, a terrible TMNT rip-off on a terrible compilation game.
"Anyways... I'm ready and raring to go to the First Flame. Mildred, can you go tell the others at the bonfire that I'll be back in a little bit?" I asked, Mildred nodding at me.
"Me be brave... try without mask," she said, me smiling as she then went out and Fraampt then looked at me with seriousness.
"Just... be gentle?" I groaned, him nodding as he then grabbed me with his giant, gross mouth and, shortly after, I'd been coated in darkness and slime. And then, after waiting for... 30 seconds (?) I met the ground once more in front of Fraampt, me looking around and seeing it was just as the game depicted, under some giant tree roots.
"Welcome to the resting place of Lord Gwyn, the Kiln of the First Flame. Penny Pines, please place the Lordvessel on the pedestal," Fraampt spoke, me doing so with my magic and then forcing it down into the grooves. And once I'd done so, a huge blast of light emerged from the Lordvessel and above us! I then gawked as I saw the three different magic barriers completely dissipate that led to the Witch of Chaos, Seath's archives, and Nito's Tomb!
"I feel like I still have the powers of the Lordvessel at my fingertips... it's so bizarre..." I admitted.
"You will get used to it over time," Fraampt spoke from above me. "Now you must gather Lord Souls in order to power the Lordvessel so you can meet with Lord Gwyn. You must seek out the souls of Seath the Scaleless, the Witch of Izalith, Gravelord Nito, and the Four Kings, which make up the remnants of Gwyn's own soul. This will be the greatest challenge. Are you prepared?" he asked, me nodding at him.
"I need to go back home at some point, so I'm going to say YES!" I shouted with seriousness.
"Good, very good! Now, would you rather warp back to Firelink, or do the other way?" Fraampt asked, me immediately going to the Lordvessel's bonfire and warping to Firelink, him chuckling at that as I heard his voice in my head as I warped away. "No fun at all," he chuckled. I then reappeared at the shrine next to the others and I saw that most of the people were actually very nice to Mildred with her mask off... emphasis on most.
"Ugh! How ugly can one woman look?!" Petrus asked in disgust, me then responding by walking over to him and kicking him in the side, which caused him to get the air knocked out of him.
"Rule number one, fake cleric, NEVER call a woman ugly. If I find out you did anything else mean to her, I'm going to make sure that you are tried by Gwynevere herself for attempted murder of your fellow cleric and for betraying the very idea of what a cleric should be," I said, him growling at me as I saw Mildred come from behind me and give me a hug, me appreciating it.
"And that go you two also," Mildred said, me smirking at how she felt safer when near me.
"Shut up," Vince growled.
"Rule number two, fake clerics, never tell a woman to shut up or be quiet. It is simply not in our nature!" I said at him, which caused Reah to giggle at that.
"Most women, but I prefer to speak properly and demurely," she smiled.
"So we're going to go to Gravelord Nito now, right? Do we have anything that can create light?" Castor asked, me nodding as I used the spell Cast Light and a small sphere of light cast itself above me.
"Not much, but so long as we travel in a tight group, we shouldn't get backed into a corner," I smiled.
"This is going to be dangerous. Gravelord Nito can create a powerful miasma that can kill us with a single breath," Pollocks said with fear.
"And I have a weapon of fire in my ring that can produce any Pyromancy I desire. He's going to burn to ashes before he gets the chance," I smiled.
"Make sure you find and bring back Patches' head on a pike," Reah said, me nodding at that.
"We gotta get outta these ropes, guys! Come on, let's-" Nico was about to say before I gave him a glare.
"Just for saying that, Havel, add some more ropes to their bodies," I said, him nodding.
"Indeed. Bad guys no get free," Havel said with seriousness as he then did so and I saw that Ariamas was looking from the lower hill with a small smile.
"Don't worry, Ari. When we're done with Nito, we're going to give Seath some payback. And when that's done, we'll bring her back home," I said, her smirking at that.
"Be safe," she said, me nodding at her. I would be, but I had an extra duty when I went through this place, and that was protecting my allies from falling to their dooms or getting demolished by the giant skellies. It would be tough without a doubt.