A/N: Okay, okay… phew here we go.
Beta: Genatools
Chapter 2: Such is our Fate.
Beatrice's mind couldn't help to ponder on recent events, in all her travels she had seen multiple things and learned a lot, more than maybe even than most scholars at Vinheim would learn in their entire lives. It felt good to be able to boast as much, of being the Rogue Witch… and yet she never expected to find… to be summoned by someone so… foreign? She could guess it was an apt word as the language seems to indicate, but it wasn't enough to fully describe it.
Simple clothes far more well sewed than some others that were similar, it was delicate yet functional, nobles would be far more ostentatious while this attire seemed more practical. A mask that shone with something not appearing to be light, fire, dark, or even souls. And also even more… magic she hadn't seen anywhere else.
They had realized that she couldn't understand him, but that miraculously he could understand her.
"What… did you just speak?"
"Je-j'ai ego mondtam estas Eskar." (I- I said I am Eskar.) He replied and Beatrice looked at him, slightly worried.
"I... don't understand." Beatrice stepped back and Eskar raised his hands telling her to wait.
"Ki… Quid tu nomigas?" (Who… what's your name.) Eskar tried to make a bridge while pointing at her, she didn't seem to quite get the implication.
"I still don't quite… get what you seem to be saying." Beatrice said, Eskar for his part looked down and scratched the back of his head, he looked apologetic and then began to pace a couple of steps to try and think of something, finally he turned back to her.
"J'ai… Eskar." (I… Eskar.) Eskar slowly said while pointing at himself, when Beatrice didn't get it, he pointed at his own face with both hands. "Eskar."
"Your… mask?" Beatrice asked as she noticed him pointing at his own face, for a moment wondering if he was a member of some sort of cult perhaps. Eskar quickly waved both hands telling her no.
"Eskar." He said again only pointing at his chest, waving his hand around his whole body, pretty much signaling at himself in any way he could think of.
"You… are Eskar." Beatrice finally guessed.
Eskar for his part raised both his thumbs for bit, making sure she understood that she had hit the nail, then slowly he pointed at himself again. "Eskar." he said and then slowly pointed at her, signaling back and forth to try and correlate that Eskar was his name and he now wondered what her's was.
"I… am Beatrice, the Rogue Witch." She said, she could guess without much issue what he wanted to know.
"Be… Beatrice." Eskar tried to pronounce, he did it without much issue, however, he did have to try a little.
"Yes, that's my name, you… don't seem to be from these lands." Beatrice said mostly to herself, she stared back and saw Eskar shrug and nod, she realized then that he had indeed heard her. "Wait… you can understand what I am saying."
Eskar looked back at her and nodded.
"But you can't speak my language?" She asked and wondered how that was possible.
Eskar for his part scratched the back of his head and brought a hand to his chin, he eventually nodded and confirmed what she said.
"That's difficult to picture… if you know my language enough to understand it, then couldn't you have tried to have said, "I am Eskar." in my tongue?" Beatrice asked him.
"Aayyyy… Eeemmm..." Eskar tried, but his vocals were used to an entirely different language and to try and pronounce what Beatrice had said, in perfect form at least, was slightly difficult.
"Uh-huh… I understand, but don't worry, we know you can understand me, and as long as you can signal me, or gesture to me in any way, we should be able to communicate." Beatrice said, after all, she had met many undead that couldn't really speak. Either because of choice or maybe because of some impairment, she didn't know or prod on those matters.
For his part, Eskar nodded to her statement and was glad that at least they could establish some form of communication.
"So… I assume that however far you have come from, you have stumbled upon this garden and want my help with Moonlight Butterfly." Beatrice guessed.
"Pillangó… de lune?" (Moonlight… Butterfly?) Eskar tilted his head.
"You… don't know what I'm talking about right?" She asked, at which Eskar shook his head. There was an awkward silence in Darkroot Garden, looking back at the corpses of the Stone Knights around them, Beatrice could guess that Eskar hadn't actually summoned her to fight the Butterfly like so many others… no, it had either been an act of desperation or a mere accident.
"Where do you come from?" She decided to ask.
"Adal." Eskar was able to say.
"I've… never heard of those lands, are they at the East? North?... South?" She asked, and Eskar looked like he wanted to answer, but more than that, he seemed to wish he had an answer, he merely looked down and shrugged.
"Why did you decide to come to Lordran?" She asked next, trying to figure out the stranger that was her summoner.
Eskar for his part, didn't know, because he hadn't decided in the first place, he tried to think in a way to tell Beatrice, but the moment he tried and open his mouth he remembered she wouldn't be able to understand him, so he went back to thinking and figure out a way he could tell her, he tried pointing at himself and then crossing his arms to say he wasn't supposed to be there. Beatrice didn't quite understand at first glance.
He tried again by tapping himself and making a motion to try and say that he was sucked out of the Fold and into this forest, but it looked more like he was saying he had jumped over something and Beatrice merely raised an eyebrow.
"You… stumbled here?" Beatrice tried as she was still unsure of what Eskar was trying to tell her. Eskar for his part gave her a thumbs up but later waved his hand to indicate it wasn't quite the perfect statement.
He then tried a different strategy by grabbing a rock and pointing at the ground. "Adal," he said to indicate at his point of origin, he then waved his hand around to signal at the forest all around them, he pointed at a random direction trying to say that that direction was Darkroot Garden, he then pointed at the rock. "Eskar." he said and then moved the rock as if it were a doll, making it skip and move and act as if he was using a toy, he then made it shake and suddenly he tossed the rock in the direction he had pointed at earlier. He did make a show to say that it was indeed quite sudden.
"So… you were in Adal, and then you were here?" Beatrice tried to guess. Eskar for his part nodded.
"Then, how long did you travel for?" She asked and Eskar shook his hands and head, trying to say that he didn't quite travel, however, Beatrice didn't quite get or understood at what he was getting at. Eventually, Eskar hung his head and facepalmed as he didn't know how to properly explain where he came from.
"Very well then, I assume either way that you are lost." Beatrice said, at that Eskar raised his head and nodded, making a gesture to say something akin to 'well... yes'.
"You… don't know the dangers of this place then?" Beatrice asked, Eskar stared at her for a second and eventually shook his head.
"Well, regardless of who you are, you did summon me… and you seem truthful in your mannerisms." Beatrice wondered for a second if he was faking everything, but with everything, she had seen she wasn't inclined to believe it. "Summons are supposed to help their summoners, to cooperate as helpful spirits in time of need, and however I can I will try to help you, if that's alright with you?" She asked him, he nodded instantly and looked back at himself, at his injuries and at his scuff marks, from there Beatrice was able to notice when he motioned to them.
"You need a place to heal your wounds? Heh, well… you are in luck as I happen to know of a place nearby." Beatrice said and Eskar for his part… agreed to follow her, it wasn't quite an affirmation but he had stepped forward and made a tiny nod, he would follow her lead. "Well, stay close to me."
Both of them walked out of the ruin, Beatrice leading Eskar out and telling him to stop immediately. "We will need to pass through this forest, there will be a couple more Stone Knights we'll have to watch out for so for now we should not provoke them." Beatrice instructed him, he nodded and followed her through the outer perimeter, however as they were passing by the ground suddenly shifted and they heard the sound of dirt coming out of the ground.
They may not have provoked the Stone Knights, but they definitely provoked the Demonic Foliage hiding under the earth, it approached them and tried to whip it's vine arms at them. Both of them sidestepped and then moved in opposite directions to avoid the first and then a second whip. More living plants began to appear from the ground and as it seemed, they had managed to anger the last two Stone Knights as well. They quickly regrouped as they got out of the trees.
"Get behind me!" Beatrice yelled as she made a homing soul mass and fired a soul spear towards one of the Stone Knights. Her soul mass hit a plant monster, but it focused just in one and ignored another close nearby, as it approached Beatrice got ready to dodge but was instead surprised when the Demonic Foliage was swept off its feet, smashed on the ground and had it's head crushed… with only three kicks.
She looked at her summoner and saw him assume a stance as there was still one plant monster and two Stone Knights, he brought his hands together and with what could be described as a deep breath, his body glowed a tender red before assuming a stance.
"You can fight then." Beatrice said surprised, she would admit that seeing him without a weapon and worse for wear she had assumed him to be far more defenseless.
"Je estas bellator vegul." (I am a warrior after all.) Eskar said, both of them focusing on fighting, Eskar rushed the Demonic Foliage with a mill punch while Beatrice fired more soul arrows at the knight she had already hit. Eskar took quick care of the monster and with a restored vitality focused on the Stone Knights. Beatrice finished off the knight she had shot at and then focused on the last one, said knight was trying to go after her but was intercepted by Eskar with a tornado kick. Beatrice marveled for a second at the moves and the evasions her summoner was doing.
She had only met an undead that tried to fight barehanded once, but in comparison, that man could only do wild punches and looked rather unrefined, like a brawler. But this one… she didn't even know it was possible to kick or punch like in such a manner, or with such speed without getting tired. She watched as Eskar threw a jab, a roundhouse, and an illusion twist kick before hitting the knight with an elbow that glowed red like flames and staggered the knight, she stopped watching and fired another soul arrow before the knight could slow down everything around them. She would guess that someone like Eskar really needed to stay mobile to fight properly, the knight was staggered again and in turn, threw a wild swing at Eskar, she worried for a second only to see Eskar's crystals glow, and in a second he punched the ground and creating magical shatters that brought the knight down. With it staggered she finished with one final soul arrow.
Eskar dusted himself off after the fight, and she could see he was basically healed now, but other questions jumped to her head before she even acknowledged that fact.
"What did you do?" She asked as she inspected him and the crystals that floated at his back, she noticed that they were once glowing and now they were dark, as if consumed. It wasn't miracles, or sorceries or pyromancy. Not even dark magic, it was something different she had never seen, the way he fought and how it manifested implied that he had mastered an art she didn't know existed. And she had traveled far and wide across the lands.
"J'ai…" (I…) Eskar wondered how to explain it, he realized that Beatrice used something different from Essence and Tension, he wasn't quite sure what to call it in her language.
"What do you call it?" Beatrice asked him.
"Szilánkok. Tensio Artoj." (Shards. Tension Arts.) Eskar said.
"Silancoc…" Beatrice tried her best to say the word, but more than that she looked at the Shards themselves, Eskar allowed her to inspect them as he showed her the Shards, grabbing them from his back and allowing her to even touch them.
"Interesting…" She said as she inspected them, she focused long enough to come back to their task at hand. "I apologize, it's the first time I have seen anything like this, but you must still be in search of a place to rest, come, I'll show you." Beatrice said as she guided him back at the slope and into the locked gate, once there she stood next to the wall next to the said gate and tapped it with her catalyst, she nodded towards him and invited him to do the same. Eskar went up to the wall and tapped it with his knuckles and suddenly, the wall dematerialized, and inside there was a small space with another coiled sword encrusted in a pile of ash and bones.
"I've been summoned by other undead who have backtracked for this bonfire, it should suffice for you." Beatrice told him, he looked at the sword and then back at her, after seeing him try to feel the heat of the small dull flame she realized.
"You… don't know what a bonfire is right?" She asked him and he shook his head, Beatrice couldn't believe it, who was it there was someone out there that at this point didn't know what a bonfire was. "Okay… extend your hand and focus on the flame, once you do it should light, and once I'm gone you should be able to rest." She said extending her own hand as a sort of demonstration.
Eskar followed the steps and extended his hand and concentrated, nothing happened and he tried to focus more, he held his mask just as if he was activating an altar for the first time, and in doing so he was able to feel the flame, and lit the bonfire. Once he did he could tell it acted similar to altars, he felt the healing properties that it was emitting, the heat, the feeling of a safe place and the many other intricacies. Just as an altar it felt like it could also do way more.
"There you go, now if you ever need a place to rest, this should suffice, enemies will have time to wander around again as you rest however, time in Lordran is convoluted and there are a lot of entities that don't simply die… or that have more of them out there ready to take their place." Beatrice explained to him, Eskar looked back at her white spectral form and addressed her.
"Köszönöm." (Thank you.) he said.
"Hmm?" She tilted her head, he remembered she couldn't quite understand, he decided to instead do a bow salute. "A… thank you?" She asked and Eskar immediately looked up and pointed at her.
"Köszönöm."
"... Thank you. That's thank you?" She asked, and Eskar nodded. "Heh, well you are welcome, stranger." She said and they both shared a sort of comfortable silence, "If it is not much to ask, I suppose you don't plan to fight the Moonlight Butterfly at any nearby moment right?" She asked him, he looked at many directions, pondering… then after a while, he shook his head.
"I guessed as much, you seem to have gotten quite lost, but among all the odd undead that I've seen, you really stand out… if you need more help, be sure to find my summon sign again, and I'll do my best to help you." Beatrice offered, she was indeed intrigued by the magic Eskar had used and wanted to know more, it would be pleasant to learn more than only what she could gather from analyzing the creation of the Father of Sorcery if she would keep being summoned to Darkroot Garden.
Eskar bowed again and shortly after Beatrice pulled out her Black Crystal and began to disappear, Eskar looked worried for a second and tried to reach her, but before he could, she was gone, he knew that if he wanted to discuss more he would have to find what she said was her summon sign. For now, though he sat at the bonfire, felt it's full effects, and meditated.
From then on she was summoned time and time again, nobody else put their sign down to face the butterfly, and she kept being summoned by others, but soon Eskar appeared to summon her far more frequently, and she didn't mind.
She knew he was on the future, same as many others that summoned her, he looked so lost that she couldn't help to feel a small amount of pity, but with both their curiosities piqued they had decided to strike a sort of bargain, she would inform him of where he was… and in return, he would show her what 'Silancoc' could do. After a couple of visits she began to become accustomed to the forest, it was far different from… from her era, and the chaos that was unfolding around her.
"What am I?" She asked Eskar as they did another exchange of information as both sat next to the bonfire, he had been trying to figure out why she was… spectral for a lack of better word. He had tried poking her clothes, and could tell that… in a way she wasn't really there, the feeling of cloth was replaced with a smooth and silky feeling, and when they shook hands he could tell the same applied to the skin.
Eskar nodded at her question.
"I am a white phantom, not a dead spirit, but rather a person that has imbued their spirit with the aid of a soapstone, it allows others to summon us in order for us to assist them, is commonly used by warriors. I don't understand the intricacies of it, and I'm not sure if anyone does, but we can only be summoned to place with powerful beings with large souls." She explained. "That's with the White Soapstone, and we can also use a similar Black Crystal to restore ourselves to our own worlds."
"Woo… wa- Waarlds?" Eska tried to ask, it took some time but he was slowly figuring how to pronounce words in Beatrice's language.
"Ah, you see, in Lordran the flow of time is convoluted and many warriors pass from other words and even other places in time. I, for example, am from the past, from many years ago in a world that may… or may not become this present. And as much there are other worlds that have other differences." She explained to the best of her capabilities, in truth there had been some scholars that tried to figure out what made so many worlds and what connected them, but with your own world already being a mystery, might as well focus on solving those mysteries first before trying to figure others.
Eskar nodded, he had faced the idea of dimensions with Iktar, and that had landed him here. He had realized by now he was no longer in Adal and maybe he had no way of coming back, he had tried calling for him, as the bonfires acted similar to altars and they allowed him to feel Essence and meditate, and also as a place to store his folded equipment. But his connection to the Combat Trials, his school, and the Guides was gone… the last felt odd, but refreshing.
"I'll admit, I'm curious about where you come from as well, what you have shown me so far has been rather… surprising." Beatrice said as she looked at all the pieces of clothing Eskar had unfolded and made the bonfire look like a little camp, there were some weapons as well. Eskar himself was wearing something more fitting for the humid yet cold ambient of Darkroot Garden, grey and black pants from Tear gatherers made of raw cotton padded with black wool that served as good protection, a dark blue Oratian under top with very short sleeves and that left the arms bare combined with shaman tunic, made of dark blue leather that wrapped around him and acted like a half cape on his right thigh. He kept his leather boots and had also different gloves while, black leather bow hunter gloves that covered the hands and wrists while leaving the fingers free. Around his neck and shoulders, there was a thick set of dark fur that served to keep in the heat.
Beatrice thought he looked like some sort of eastern nomad, she was slightly curious at how he had found blue leather at some point, she was also curious about many other things, his mask and his abilities for example.
They had found that as much as he could demonstrate, Eskar couldn't really explain much until he familiarized himself more with the language, but he had shown her what he could do. From folding and unfolding items he found, to draw weapons from nothingness, and to also make incantations, it became apparent for her that the crystals at Eskar's back acted as a way for him to channel magic. Magic that he got from combat as he kept fighting and that later he could use to either summon his sword, heal himself or release a small earthquake.
He had also shown her his other powers, he showed her the Shockwave and the Exhaustion Tension Arts and others, she had multiple questions, questions Eskar couldn't answer due to the language barrier, but regardless she was still fascinated non the less as to how these abilities could affect reality and directly affect others, even more so as to how it seemed to have… not an endless supply, but yes a renewable source that didn't depend on resting or a bonfire like spells did.
They did exchange more kinds of knowledge, as much as they could given the circumstances, all the while going out there and fighting more Demonic Foliage and Stone Knights in order for Eskar to show his abilities, Beatrice also saw him use more moves, such as kick that made him duck while spinning while he was almost in all fours, a high kick that made him raise his foot and leg in a very flexible way, and a palm strike that made his hands glow red and made the Stone Knights stagger, as they kept encountering each other, and kept on working together to… figure out Eskar's circumstance, important questions began to come forth.
"Miért tiu terre est-elle infelix?" (Why is this land so barren?) Eskar asked out loud during one of their exchanges.
"Hmm? Sorry I can't… guess what that..." Beatrice to her credit had tried to take steps to decipher Eskar's language, but it was rather difficult.
"I… land…" Eskar tried to piece it together for her to understand, he pointed at both of them, he clasped his hands together as to show they were there in Darkroot Garden, he also kicked the body of Demonic Foliage to say that there wasn't another human or person anywhere near, all the while making a sort of show… waving his hands as if he had an audience and was asking where the crowd was. That final comparison was the one that got Beatrice to understand.
"Oh, where's everyone else?"
"Igen." (Yes.) Eskar said. They had already made the connection of what was yes and other short words in his language. 'No' was 'Ne' and 'What' was 'Quid' for example.
"Oh… you, no, if you are from far away… well, I might as well explain it. In our time we are in the age of fire, before us there was the age of ancients, where the world was ruled by everlasting dragons, according to the tales. The three Lords found souls in the depths of the world amongst the fire of the First Flame, then they rallied and put an end to the rule of the immortal dragons, creating the age of fire. We had prosperity… at least… on the grand scheme of things. But as the age passed, the splendor of the age of fire began to dwindle, something happened and the gods became less… present. And later, stories about dark and about undead began to emerge from what I have been told. That's when the curse appeared." Beatrice told.
"C-cooarse?" Eskar asked, trying to pronounce the word and ask what she was referring to.
"Curse, it is the curse of the undead, a dark sign that brands humans and makes them… unable to die, every time they die they lose their souls and their humanity, some are able to recover it, but some fall into endless pits of despair, lose hope, even sometimes without dying… and finally, they lose purpose and become something else, a thing the feeds on souls and cannot go back to being human." Beatrice's tone became more somber as he continued.
"They become hollow, they prey on men and on their souls as the curse spreads like a plague, no one knows why someone becomes branded, or the reason as to why it began or how it spreads… but even in my time, the curse has affected the land to a point where there are even fewer people near Lordran, and entire cities and land have become... deserted. And in this future… it doesn't seem to get any better." She told Eskar.
"Ho-hollow…" Eskar repeated out loud.
"Some consider it the final death, an endless dark rest where nothing matters to you anymore, they don't even care… all they want is souls." She said.
"Perditaj fortunis." (Lost prospects.) Eskar made the comparison, so beings that were immortal, and couldn't handle the effects of it, that began attacking anything that moved and instead… became less than human. The way Beatrice explained it did sound final and more of a curse, to lose yourself while wearing a mask of moral… it was more of a sentence than a curse, it was even reversible. But this curse didn't sound like that at all.
"Missionaries, mercenaries, knights in noble quests… many have tried to find answers and nobody has been able to do so, undead go in errant quests to find answers or salvation while the rest of the world tries to get rid of them, imprison them or try to flee away from the spread of the curse, and from these dancing lands." Beatrice sighed.
"Many are more concerned with keeping their power rather than doing anything, some use it as an opportunity to research the secrets of life and death, to pursue old legends, others simply as an opportunity for nefarious purposes… and others simply try to find a peaceful place to go hollow." She said.
At that Eskar pointed at her and asked silently what was the reason she was in Lordran.
"Oh me? I… I am not undead, I'm not branded or cursed, not yet at least. The reason I'm here… well, you could call it wanderlust. I'm a rogue witch that decided to travel the world, to learn more, and when necessary face adversity. What about you? What were you? Were you adventuring for powerful souls?" Beatrice asked him.
"S.. s-s- souls?" Eskar tried to pronounce and ask at the same time.
"You… you don't…" Beatrice soon realized, that like many other things, Eskar just didn't know about them, she also realized something on the way she had been looking at her. Even though the mask, she saw the stare of a man hearing a tale for the first time. And going back on what she told, she pieced something else together.
"You don't know about… the First Flame, or about the Lords, or the curse, or… souls." Beatrice proclaimed, and Eskar shook his head as indeed, he didn't really know about any of those subjects.
"Just from where did you come from?" She asked him in complete disbelief.
To think that she would have this chance, after that he showed her where he had… according to him, appeared. He had appeared in a cave and from the gestures and some drawings that he had to put on the wall of said cave, he explained that he had been pulled out of one reality and thrown into another, the drawings included some other figures that for the moment she decided not to ask about. But the fact was that he was human from another reality, one without the Lords… or the curse.
It seemed almost too hard to imagine, and that was only because of what she had learned. She had heard of magical transportation, of the ability to warp, and of strange occurrences where people had been brought between paces in an instant even while benign in completely different lands. And that wasn't even counting the events of the soul of some men traveling outside of their bodies or as the result of possessions. Other people might have considered Eskar a lunatic.
It sounded incredible, a place without the undead, and without the curse… and with a completely different plethora of magical arts. But in this she had also learned that Eskar himself was a result trapped in a reality that wasn't his own, he didn't seem to care much, but no matter the fact he was still a lost soul, and quite a unique one at that. The days became... cultural exchanges, of whatever little they could exchange given the circumstances, she had asked him why so far he had decided to stay in Darkroot Garden as well.
The answer had been that he had actually explored, he wasn't sure where to even go but his curiosity, his thirst for adventure and for a challenge had settled in as well, he wanted to venture and to face more foes, to test his skills. She could honestly relate. So far he had faced one drake on the Valley of the Drakes, pummeled a Crystal Golem in Darkroot Basin, and learned some of the moves of the Titanite Demon before backing up from that fight on the way to the Undead Parish. But then she asked why he decided to return and not push forward, he was clearly capable and had the bravery and the experience to do so… but as it turned out…
"In… my land… I am a…" Eskar tried to explain.
"A warrior? A fighter?" She asked.
"Igen. But… more… a… ab…" Eskar tried to pronounce another word, there existed a problem with his way of learning the language and that was that he needed to hear a word first before he could attempt to pronounce it and replicate its structure.
"Abstained? Abstract?" Beatrice asked as she tried to help him, but he shook his head, it wasn't the right word, he made hand gestures again trying to represent a sort of chain benign broken, it might have been easier due to not man words or concepts starting with ab, but eventually, Beatrice did land in the right track.
"Absolute?" She said and Eskar pointed at her.
"Absol… Absol…" He tried to say.
"Ab… Absolve?" She asked.
"Absolve… Absolveeerrrr." Eskar tried to finish the word on his own.
"Absolver?"
"Absolver."
"So you were an Absolver, what does that imply?" She asked him.
"We… are… Militistoj (Warriors). We… like… fighting, to perfect… to… learn." He tried to say in a single sentence.
"Huh, you… practice your fighting like an art, you seek perfection?" She asked him and he shook his head, perfection was impossible, he had learned that the hard way, what they really sought was…
"Javulás… Improvement." He said.
"I see. I have definitely seen diligence and perseverance out of you, and you clearly have sought to become more efficient." She said as she remembered their fights against the guardians of the garden, sometimes even before she was summoned or while summoning her he would engage them and fight them, blocking and parrying their moves with swift delicate movement and countering like lightning. He had even practiced avoiding and deflecting the attacks of the Stone Knights, he wasn't able to do it from the get-go, and she had to intervene a couple of times and save his life. But he kept going, he kept trying and trying and never gave up, until with the help of his sword, he found a way to evade the attack by deflecting it and stopping its momentum… It was a simple trick, to avoid the attack and close the distance while he blocked it. It had to be done right or the giant stone blade would push him and send him flying, but how he managed, he basically slipped inside their defenses the moment they attacked and countered quickly.
His dedication was noticeable and she respected it, but for now, he seemed interested in something else.
"Peux-tu povas instrui me?" (Can you teach me?) He asked pointing at her, more particularly at her catalyst as she was holding it with both hands.
"I… understood 'Can you' but the rest, I couldn't understand, forgive me." She said, Eskar nodded and quickly tried to find another way to tell, he tried to reference practice, and he did so by doing some guards and jabs as if he were practicing moves with other Absolvers. It only got Beatrice to raise an eyebrow and Eskar had to figure something else, he found it when he picked up a large twig from the ground and then held it the same way Beatrice was holding her catalyst, he pointed back and forth between them and Beatrice's eyes widened.
"You… you want me to teach you sorceries." She said and Eskar nodded, they remained in silence for a second, she couldn't really believe it, he wanted to earn from her. She couldn't help but laugh for a couple of seconds, though her fit of laughter Eskar kept looking at her with the same determined gaze.
Even with a mask carved in the shape of a laughing or smiling skeleton, she could tell he really was serious, he wanted to learn sorceries, he wanted to harness the power of souls and use it in tandem with what he already knew, it fascinated him enough to see if he was capable… she didn't consider herself a teacher, but then again she couldn't think of anyone else he could ask this sort of request.
"Heh heh… well it might take some time. But there could be potential in you, hmmm, very well, I shall be your teacher." She granted the request.
She never dreamed of finding a student, and oh what a troublesome student had he been and still was. Trying for him to internalize the spells and to harness the power of the soul had been difficult, if they thought that learning a language was difficult, to read it… especially the complex ways of sorceries certainly was an arduous task. It took days, weeks, eventually, she even became pissed when others summoned her and interrupted their lessons, leaving her no choice but to leave her summon sign in a hidden spot where no one but Eskar would look.
However they persevered, the lack of catalyst was a problem, and for a time she wasn't even sure Eskar was understanding, she guessed he had the intelligence to cast a soul arrow, but the difference of language could have made things more difficult. They had tried as well to enhance Eskar abilities with souls, bonfires in Lordran were capable of doing so and grant undead and others strength beyond their normal capabilities. Eskar had been intrigued at the prospect but sadly they seemed to have failed, as souls didn't cling naturally to Eskar as the people of Lordran. If they wanted to truly use souls to surpass his limits, then they might need the aid of a firekeeper.
It was a good thing that she had been trained by her mother in a less… academic way, it resonated better with both of them, and it proved to bring results sooner than she might have thought.
Once summoned Eskar greeted her with a bow, one far more well-performed than the one other undead or even people on her time did, it was quick and carried respect, it was a pleasant welcome if she was totally honest.
But this time he also seemed eager to show her something, he guided her to an area where Demonic Foliage liked to stalk, there he provoked one of them to attack and kicked it back several feet, he then stretched his hand out and channeled his shards, and from his hand, came a wisp of blue… it was too small and a little weak to be a soul arrow, but he had managed to use his shards to create quick dart. Not only that, but he could sustain it and fire many more, it took six of them after the kick to bring the monster down but he did.
She was surprised, he had managed to channel the Shards on his back to create sorceries, it did consume the power inside the shards, but this clearly was a sign he was learning. It was funny even, he had managed to create a new sorcery even before being able to cast a soul arrow, what a paradox… but then again his Shards weren't something one could find in Lordran, and he still had ways to go before he could be a proper sorcerer. But he was on the right track and with time, practice, and with improvements to his personal attunement, he would certainly become a proper magic user.
"Köszönöm, Beatrice." Eskar thanked her, she could guess it was for her aid and for teaching him.
"You still have a lot to learn… and maybe in return, you might be able to teach me more about your Incantations, heh." She chuckled.
"As we train… we learn, as long as we… both keep… practice, we both will learn more." Eskar said, each time his vocabulary expanded, still in broken sentences, but it was definitely improving. Beatrice looked down as she thought of what he had said, as long as both of them kept learning from one another, their knowledge, abilities and strength would expand… as much as you can learn from someone… in a different time.
"You are correct." She said to him.
That thought brought her back to her present, where she had been hearing for a couple of weeks of a crisis in New Londo. The Abyss had reached it and the Four Kings and their Darkwraiths were stealing people's humanity, guarded by the abyss as the Four Kings festered inside of it. Where no hero or mortal could enter without being consumed by the darkness.
No one… except the Abysswalker, Artorias… and the only other person that had learned the art of Abysswalking. Her.
It had been a unique chance to learn how to walk the Abyss, from one of the Four Knights themselves as well, it had been an informative set of lessons and to be the only other Abysswalker was… something that awed her. And now that Artorias the Abysswalker had sacrificed himself to halt the expansion of the Abyss on Oolacile, she was the only one left that could possibly do such a task. And the more she thought about it, the more drawbacks she found.
It was her responsibility as the only remaining person to be able to traverse the Abyss to face this threat, to put an end to its expansion, and before the Sealers used the contingency. Many hoped for a way to evacuate the city… the fools, they wouldn't dare to give the dark any foothold, they would either make the city collapse on itself, or flood it. Many lives were being lost and more would if it continued, someone had to put an end to it, and she seemed the only one that could… but was she capable? She had seen the strength of the Darkwraiths and their dark strength, defeating one was difficult enough… to face their kings would be even harder.
She didn't know if she was capable, and the more she thought on the prospect she wondered what would happen if she succeeded or failed, she thought to herself that if she could just defeat the Four Kings, maybe the barren future she had seen could be averted… but Eskar was in that future, and if she changed fate, she didn't know if their worlds could be connected anymore… and if she failed…
Even so, she wondered what she could do for her student when she was too many years in the past to even reach him, she couldn't help but think she would be failing as a teacher if she either died or came out victorious. She began to question what was the right approach… she hadn't found an answer as she visited an old temple to question one of the only people she had heard that knew of where exactly in the city had the Four Kings retreated. The people in New Londo knew, but she would rather not enter the city without a plan of where to go if it was truly overrun.
That person happened to be a pardoner of Velka.
"Oh, cometh thou to confess… or perhaps thou comes for another matter?" The pardoner asked in their ever almost too cheery tone.
"With all due respect pardoner, I've come only for information you seem to have." Beatrice said.
"Well, if I can be of any assistance please voice thine inquiries." The pardoner bowed.
"I have heard you assisted people fleeing from New Londo, I've also heard that amongst all that you have heard of where the Four Kings have retreated to." Beatriced said, never going too close to the pardoner, many people found them… creepy.
"Oh indeed, if thou seeks the Four Kings home, then thou would only need to follow the screams and the Darkwraiths gathering humanity for their masters, although I must confess, I do happen to know a bit more."
"If you could share…"
"Of course, the folk said that the tower from where the kings resided collapsed. Crash under the appearance of shadow, and formed a cavern, a drop of pure blackness from which none return, if thee knows where the old tower was… seek it, and venture into Abyss if thou seeketh answers. Heh heh heh." The pardoner laughed.
"The tower… into the Abyss, right. If that's all you know, then I'll be gone." Beatrice turned around to leave once she didn't hear anything from the pardoner...
"Has thine answers ease your burden?" He asked suddenly.
"Burden?" Beatrice turned around immediately.
"Oh I've seen many faces in my time, many with the shackles of their sins, but my eyes have seen the burden of choice and responsibility many times in order to spot them. Thine burden is plain to see for me."
Beatrice wanted to tell the pardoner that it wasn't any of his business, but she also didn't want to dignify him with a rash response, instead she decided to probe and ask some questions.
"Tell me pardoner, is the flow of time set in stone? Are the worlds linked through the soapstones a constant? Possible futures? And even if those were… would worlds still be connected after events change?" She asked.
"Hmm, thine question is quite a difficult one, I know for a fact the more that interlopers go into other worlds, the more connected their worlds are, whether this affects time… we don't know, the past cannot be changed, but the future can be affected, as folk from far and wide have received gifts from heroes of old. Meaning that many worlds are connected indeed. And strangely that those gifts listen or hath sense… to whom they were intended." The pardoner cited.
"Hmm…"
"The worlds hath become a curiosity as more strangers have begun to appear." The pardoner suddenly grew a smile.
"Strangers?"
"Why yes, humans wearing mask and fighting foes with their bare hands, they seem to have appeared into existence from other worlds." The pardoner said as Beatrice's eyes widened.
"The poor fools, does thou not wonder what it would mean to be alone in an entirely different world? Keh heh heh heh…" The pardoner laughed and Beatrice balled her hand into a fist, if what he had said was true…
"As for thine question if fate is set in stone… well, the past is, but the future isn't, and yet the future can change the past, time is ever moving, but even so many have escaped or bypassed its barriers, quite convoluted wouldn't thy say. Heh heh heh…" The pardoner finished, Beatrice swore he knew something… she felt her anger spike, but now with this information, she realized that there were more like Eskar in the world… it was something he would most likely want to know. She had heard so many contradicting tales of phantoms from the past and present, and knew that eventually, if she allowed it. Their worlds would be separated… unless she found a way to cheat time itself. That or try and save a city that by all accounts was already doomed and already fallen.
"If thy ever need answers to these strangers, go to the Northern Undead Asylum, I've heard that some have been rounded up there, who knows, maybe you'll find more answers there… or even in Firelink Shrine, heh heh."
She cursed the pardoner, and cursed Velka as well as she made a plan.
Eskar waited for Beatrice to be summoned as he gathered Essence and souls, it had been some time since he had seen her summon sign, she told him she would be traveling, and it had been a pleasant surprise when he saw the sign appear again.
Recently he had discovered that gathering fragments or Essence was nearly impossible… but instead, he was able to transmute the Tension that his enemies made when they fell, and instead of using to heal himself, he could use it with the aid of souls to create pure Essence, he wasn't sure what that said about Essence itself, but it was very useful to have a supply of it, especially when it was possible Essence didn't exist naturally in Lordran.
Without the singing of Essence or the influence of the Guides his mind felt free and open, he could manipulate Tension in way he never had before as well, that had been how he discovered how to make Essence and to use sorceries with Shards, he could even feel his mind able to focus in changing moves in the blink of an eye. Maybe that had been how Rysrin was able to switch combat styles fluidly, maybe the control the Guides had was far more oppressive than once he had thought.
Eventually Eskar heard Beatrice appear in her white form into his world, once she was there he bowed and greeted her.
"Bonvenon." (Welcome.) Eskar greeted her.
"Greetings Eskar… I actually bring news." Beatrice said, with a determined face he had only seen when they were in the middle of a battle.
"News…?" He inquired.
"Yes… I have traveled in my time, and I discovered you don't seem to be the only one that came from Adal to this world." Beatrice said, for his part Eskar was dumbfounded, he never believed that others came with him.
"Are… you certain?" He asked.
"I am not, but their description fit yours rather well." She said, he understood then that if that was the case, there was a chance they were as lost as him, Prospects and Absolvers knew that they needed to fend for themselves, but if they could help each other, they would. "I also have… maken a decision."
Eskar didn't speak as Beatrice seemed to be speaking of a serious matter.
"You need to kill the Moonlight Butterfly." She said to him.
"Biztos-vous certas?" (Are you certain?) He asked her as they were in front of the fog gate to the domain of the Moonlight Butterfly, Beatrice had explained herself to him, he had been worried that killing the butterfly would break the connection between their worlds, and Beatrice told him it would… but she had a plan to cross time inside a crystal, as she said.
She had decided it would be best if they met in person, and she would rather make sure he would be able to find her and according to her, wake her. She decided that the tower passed the bridge that the butterfly guarded was a good location.
"I am… I have already made preparations." She said as she handed him a strange set of sticks conjoined at the middle and a smooth round red stone, they turned from ghostly white to their natural state in his hands. "Once you are in the main chamber of the tower, split those apart and then crush the stone over the rock you will find, then… smash the golden crystal. I know it sounds confusing… but I have to make sure only you will find me, but once you do… we'll finally meet." She said as she took a deep breath.
"Understood." Eskar said as he prepared himself to cross the fog gate, once he did, Beatrice came after him in a narrow walkway, they soon saw the butterfly flying towards them.
"Be careful of its projectiles." Beatrice warned him and he nodded, they both avoided blasts of moonlight energy, Beatrice rolling to the side to avoid the needle-like projectiles and Eskar sidestepping slightly to the side.
Beatrice landed an entire soul mass and a soul spear on the butterfly while it flew, it didn't seem to be keen on landing anytime soon, she did word when it tried to fire a wave of energy at Eskar, however, he had been informed of the tactics of the Moonlight Butterfly. Beatrice had told him that it would stay in the air for a while before descending and feeding on the plants growing on the bridge. He had prepared and decided he would not wait for it to land.
He used the Gravity Tension art to make the butterfly's flight far heavier, it stumbled in the air as it tried to right itself, and after that Eskar did so again to forcefully bring it close to the bridge. Beatrice was surprised as she saw Eskar bring the butterfly down, she had learned that Gravity wasn't a Tension art that willed your own strength over an enemy, no it was instead a power that casted an effect on the enm and made it like a curse. Eskar didn't have to bring all his might or the full energy of his mind to bring it down, he just had to impair it and let it's added weight do the rest. And he had done so in just the right time to bring it down to his level.
Eskar performed a barrage of kicks and punches that pummeled the Moonlight Butterfly with mill punches, powerful mawashis and powerful punch and forced it to retreat, Beatrice in turn blasted it on the air again. It was almost dead, it couldn't handle Beatrice's spells or Eskar's strikes, it tried in a desperate attempt to kill them with a beam of energy.
"Look out!" Beatrice shouted, Eskar saw the beam and decided to jump on the railing to get an easy way to jump over the beam, while Beatrice ducked under it as the butterfly tried to aim higher to hit Eskar.
Eskar jumped from one rail to the other nimbly and watched as Beatrice sent what should have been a final sou spear at the butterfly, it was shaking, barely flying, but it was still alive, it made it clear when it fired quick needles of energy towards Beatrice. Eskar looked and focused on the butterfly, he aimed his hand forward and fired three soul darts to what assumed was the head of the butterfly, and as the hit, the butterfly convulsed and began to dissipate into souls.
Eskar soon gained some of those many souls and a black, warm, fuzzy, yet cold sprite he had never seen before, he didn't have time to ponder on it as Beatrice rushed him.
"Remember. Sticks first, then the stone!" She said to him as she shook him slightly, he saw as she began to disappear in a different way from when she used the black Crystal, he got worried for a second as she completely banished… he then looked at the tower at the other end of the bridge. Determined not to fail her he walked inside and saw nothing out of the ordinary, he placed himself in the middle like Beatrice had instructed him and split the conjoined stick, they made a wave of mist around them that quickly passed over the chamber… and revealed an odd large rock that hadn't been there before.
Eskar then used the stone, it was smooth and surprisingly easy to crush, making a fine red powder that sprayed over the rock. Eskar marveled as the rock became… a golden crystal. He soon realized what it was, it was a golden Crystal Golem that had its arms and legs removed… it still tried to wiggle to attack him as it was unpetrified, he took a closer look and saw a figure inside of the Golem. A figure he recognized as Beatrice.
He raised his leg and with one hammer kick shattered the already weak Crystal Golem, it dispersed into souls and from the spot where it had been, Beatrice fell on the ground. She couched and hacked as she came back to her senses, she opened her eyes to see Eskar offering her a hand.
She took it, and for the first time, they were truly face to face.
"It worked… heh heh." Beatrice laughed, maybe even felt a pang of disbelief, she had fooled time and space, she had done it.
"Vi es van." (You are here.) Eskar said as he felt the difference, the air around her, the smell, the way her hand felt, it was completely different, it was real.
"I am…" She said as they both stepped back.
"Now?" Eskar asked.
"I assume you want to find your people." Beatrice said and Eskar nodded, "Then for now, that's what we'll do, and for that we are gonna have to get out of this forest and go to a place called Firelink Shrine. I happen to know where it is too." Beatrice said, Eskar crossed his arms as he pondered on the subject, regardless where this journey would take them, it would certainly be far easier if they stayed together.
"Very well." He said as they agreed to this goal.
A/N: Well, that took some time but finally did this, now if you consider this little stunt something you have seen before... well I admit that's because it is. Sue me. But regardless I really wanted to use Beatrice and this is the best way I could think of it, should prove interesting on how I make it work. Who can say no to a challenge? Thank you for reading and expect more in the future. Review if you feel like it.