A/N: This one should have come out earlier but there was a problem I had… that problem was Crusader Kings 3, I'm so sorry I took extra time on this one, but hey, could be worse… no that's not a proper excuse, shouldn't be using excuses either.

Welp, anyway sorry, but here's the chapter, enjoy!

Beta: Genatools

Chapter 3: What Seekest Thou?

Eskar slid to the side and then back stepped to avoid the giant titanite pole-arm weapon that the demon was swinging at him, while at the same time Beatrice fired souls arrows while the demon itself was distracted with him. The Titanite demon was not an opponent to take lightly, it had proven to be more agile that one would think and have more tricks that one would expect from a creature missing a leg and most likely weighing surely over a thousand pounds. Eskar ducked under the pole with a rolling punch and with an uppercut and a flying kick with the intention of drawing its attention and with a pushed back kick to the remaining leg he managed to stagger the demon… it was indeed very tough and hard on the knuckles to attack it, but not enough to deter him or stop him, he had punched and kicked at harder.

And besides, doing significant enough damage wasn't his job, that was Beatrice's with her sorcery. Before the demon could try and attack Eskar she fired everything at the demon's head… or at least what they assumed could be the head. It made it step back to try and get away from the assault of sorceries, in response it fired its own projectile of lightning, making Beatrice sidestep and then swiping at Eskar with the back end of the titanite pole. Eskar ducked with a heel kick… and was surprised when he hit nothing as the demon jumped.

Beatrice had to roll out of the way to avoid the attack from the demon, she raised her shield and blocked the next strike from the demon the best she could, she was knocked back and had to recover quickly as the demon was getting ready to catch her with the pole, she rolled out of the way and Eskar rushed in to cover her, unfolding his own sword and coming with an upward slash and two quick horizontal strikes. Beatrice covered Eskar back with soul arrows, stopping the demon from attacking and letting Eskar rush in with a jumping elbow that glowed orange and red.

It was a hard-hitting strike, a guard breaker, it hit the demon right where its head should be, and it made it buckle and stagger. Eskar made a thrust, a reverse grip slash, and winged back kick at where he could assume was the demon's neck. Regardless, it was pushed back and left open for Beatrice to blast it again with three perfect soul arrows, one at the leg, another on the arm, and another on the head. Both Eskar and Beatrice stood near each other as they took a quick breath, the demon looked worse for wear, they nodded at each other, and both rushed in… well, Eskar charged while Beatrice got ready.

The demon got ready to strike, and Beatrice landed a soul arrow to its head, it still tried to attack, and Eskar used his Earthquake to force the demon down and did a mill slash to its chin. Beatrice landed another soul arrow to keep it staggered and gave Eskar time to jump on a fallen pillar nearby, jump up to the demon's back and slice and thrust his sword at the demon's neck, it worked to make the demon arc it's back and lift its head, ready for a two normal and heavy soul arrows from Beatrice. That was enough to finally kill the demon.

Eskar jumped off the corpse as it faded into souls and dropped behind pieces of Demon Titanite, Eskar picked them up and folded the stones, Beatrice had told him what titanite was used for and that it was indeed valuable, this kind was different… but also rarer, it possibly meant it could come in handy eventually.

"That went particularly well," Beatrice said.

"En fakte." (Indeed) Eskar agreed.

"We should keep moving now, the Undead Parish should be in this direction, and from there we should be able to descend into Firelink Shrine." Beatrice pointed towards the entrance the demon had been… watching. It seemed it never expected or had intended for someone to come out of the Darkroot Garden, instead it seemed content with impeding the passage to people coming from the Undead Parish.

"What… will we find?" Eskar asked as they started walking the steps upwards.

"Probably more Hollows, I doubt there will-" Beatrice stopped as they heard a metallic clank, and then another and then another. They readied themselves as they moved up the last step and found a smith, working on a sword relentlessly… not the first and probably not the last if the number of weapons in the room were any indication.

"Oh, heh heh, ye both surprised, never expected anyone to come in that way. Well, whatever may be the case neither of you seems to be a crazed Hollow. I'm Andre, Andre of Astoria. Feel free to pass by, and if either of you requires smithing, just say the word." Andre introduced himself to them.

"A very generous offer for strangers wouldn't you say?" Beatrice asked him.

"Well perhaps, but the benefit of everyone around being Hollow is that you can tell who's sane, and most sane people need weapons to survive these parts. So I guess I become pretty useful, and I'm happy to serve those who need it, Hah hah hah!" Andre laughed.

"Hmm…"

"Say, I don't mean to prod, but that shield's seen better days, I could fix it in no time for you Miss, or replace it if you prefer. That or you or your companion could see what I have in my selection."

"Pretty a salesman aren't you? Very well, you are right that this shield needs some repairs." Beatrice handed over her shield, she did check if Andre had anything better, and he most certainly did, she was already used to her own, however… well for the few amount of times she used it. Eskar in the meanwhile examined the weapons.

He had no use for a shield and he would rather not have to use one, Andre had several swords, spears, axes, and even something he could compare to the wargloves made by the Ripan, if only made of wood and with no seeming inspiration from any sort of animal. Wooden knuckle dusters seemed like a more apt description in his mind.

"Hrm, I've never seen someone like you, not someone that has a mask like yours anyway," Andre spoke to Eskar. "That seems like charred wood, do tell me, what's the glow coming from? Is it magic?"

Eskar couldn't give a precise answer, the Mask-o-Lantern was rumored to house the spirit of the dead, others that it was just Essence shining, he honestly believed it to be the latter, but he couldn't really tell. The glow behaved differently than from any other kinds of Essence, and he hadn't really discovered how his mask really worked, it honestly didn't matter in the grand scheme of things as it acted only as a light. All that mattered was that it worked and it listened to him if he wanted to use fragments to change the color of the glow.

For Andre, he simply gave a shrug.

"Heh, very well, though if you ask me, seems like an ominous choice," Andre said.

"It is, but you grow accustomed to it." Beatrice chimed in.

"Hah, well do you see anything that might interest you? You don't seem to have a weapon." Andre asked him, Eskar looked back at Andre and in a second unfolded his sword in his hands, he let the blade rest in his hand while the hilt rested on the other to show it to Andre.

"My oh my, I've never seen a weapon capable of doing that." Andre admired the blade for a second, Eskar was keeping his distance as he didn't know what to make of Andre yet, though he seemed well-intentioned, Beatrice herself had been a little worried the moment Eskar unfolded his sword. In her time, any magic wasn't always… looked at with the most understanding of views, though only in some selective towns or villages, that was the common type of magic, even some rare miracles could be a source of a witch hunt if they seemed inherently dark or dangerous.

But a variation of magic never is seen before? She could guess however that Lordran was different, a lot of magic was present in the area, even in it's run downstate, and on top of it Andre seemed like a pretty open-minded smith, she could appreciate that.

"Huh, seems in good condition, sharp, it seems somewhat fragile, however… seems whatever magic it has-" Andre got stopped when Eskar shook his head, he pointed at his sword and then back at himself. "Ah, well, whatever magic you used seems to have made the blade less durable, that's no good at all, eventually it will break and you'll be defenseless."

"Je peux nélkül sen telum." (I can fight without a weapon) Eskar said, unwittingly letting Andre hear his voice for the first time, alongside the soft ghostly echo from his language and from his mask.

"Ehr… sorry I…"

"No, pardon me. I can manage… even with- with." Eskar tried to speak the common language but had trouble pronouncing the words.

"Without a weapon." Beatrice saved him from his own stuttering.

"Yes," Eskar said more clearly, the ghostly echo was still present in his voice, even in the language most common in Lordran.

"Huh… very well, I'm not one to judge nor it is my job, though a weapon like this is quite unique, wouldn't you say it deserves a little more respect?" Andre asked Eskar.

"His sword does repair itself after it breaks, and he can repair it himself with his own magic." Beatrice jumped in to explain.

"Really? Heh, the first time I heard of a sword that can put me out of a job, hah hah. Still, that sword could use some refinement as I said, it deserves a little respect, your weapons are about the only truest companions you'll ever get, they'll never betray you." Andre said.

"... True." Eskar agreed to some extent, your weapons could save your life, but at the same time there were many that could turn your weapon useless, but perhaps a more durable weapon would be beneficial.

"If I say so myself, you ought to find a way to reinforce it, but say, I'm not sure what you should do for it, trying to reforge a magic blade ain't my style. I could try, but I know I may not be the brightest around. Reinforcing it will also be a task as I don't think the normal stone will do. No, you'll need to find special stones for that, maybe then we could get some progress." Andre stated, at that, Eskar unfolded the pieces of titanite he had already collected, including the ones he got from the Titanite Demon.

"Mmm… sadly I don't think those will do, fret not though, I know what will surely be of use. They are just like normal titanite, but they hold a special power, they glow bright and have a particular energy, they call it twinkling titanite. It's rare though, not sure where you would find it." Andre suggested.

"We could keep an eye open if you are sure you can help my student," Beatrice said.

"That I can, apprentice eh? I suppose you are a witch then huh? The hat might have tipped me off. Hah hah."

"Heh…well is not like I try to hide it. You think you'll be fine, you won't need a spare? I've seen you defeat stone knights but sometimes it is best to not take chances." Beatrice asked Eskar as he folded his sword back, for his part he looked over to the selection of swords, he pondered for a bit and wondered if he should indeed have a spare weapon for the occasion, looking over the choices he decided that one of the longswords would do.

"I'll… take that one." He said pointing at one of the longswords sitting on the corner.

"Heh, good choice, you'll just need to pay the souls for it," Andre said to him.

"... Right." Eskar stood awkwardly as he tried to think on how to do that, he tried extending his hand, but as nothing happened Andre merely raised an eyebrow. Beatrice walked up to him and held Eskar's hand and started to siphon souls, the souls she had accumulated, Eskar got familiar to feel, it took him a couple of seconds to get a hang of the art. Then Beatrice let go of his hand and let him do the task himself, once he had man souls he directed them towards Andre.

"Well, that's a bit too many, maybe I should have told you the amount, heh. Don't worry though, here's your change, and your purchase." Andre said, handing over the longsword and the rest of the souls, Eskar accepted them both.

"Now I don't know if you can do that with any weapon, but be better be careful, cause the moment you do that, I bet the sword will turn the same, repair it anywhere, but far easier to break," Andre warned him, it was indeed a concern and so Andre handed Eskar a sheath to carry the sword with, Eskar did find it a bit cumbersome to move about with a sheath and a strapped weapon to his hip, but he would have to accommodate.

"Heh heh, you are an interesting one, you seem newer than many others that passed through here, a bit… bumbling, but you seem like decent folk."

"Sajsnitet…" (Sorry...) Eskar said and caught himself speaking his own language. "I meant… uh, sorry?"

"Heh heh, don't worry."

"It's not his fault he's from a foreign land with its own language," Beatrice said.

"Really? Well, I never saw folk that looked like you, do your people wear masks as well?" Andre asked.

"Igen." (Yes). "Have you… not seen any?" Eskar asked.

"We are searching for groups of… his people," Beatrice told. "Are you sure you haven't heard rumors or heard anything out of the ordinary?"

"Well… everything is mad and wicked currently, I cannot say for sure, besides, the people I've done work for aren't always chatty, I can only say I haven't seen anyone like your friend, sorry Miss." Andre bowed his head.

"It's quite alright, you don't need to apologize," Beatrice told him.

"Still, thanks for your help," Eskar said with a short nod.

"Ah, it's quite alright, if you come back and some of your people pass through here, I'll let you know… but in the meantime, I still have a shield to repair Miss." Andre stretched out a hand for Beatrice to hand over her shield.

"Oh, yes, of course." Beatrice handed over her shield and Andre started to do his work, in the meanwhile, Eskar was getting a feel for his new weapon, but he was also curious.

"Do you know… what's…"

"Up?" Beatrice asked him as he seemed to be having trouble, Eskar nodded to her assumption, it was good that by now she could guess pretty well what he was about to ask.

"Well, you both came from Darkroot Garden, which is a little odd, most people that go there… well, they don't come back. I know little of it but… I know there was a divine blacksmith, helped people that got stumped on the catacombs with the aid of his divine weapons." Andre explained, and both Eskar and Beatrice looked at each other, Eskar unfolded in his palm and Ember, a Divine Ember.

"My, that's the ember of a divine blacksmith, did you… How did you find it?"

"He was atop of a tower, in his workshop, petrified," Beatrice explained.

"Well, that's a pity, but sometimes that's how things are. Would you consider perhaps, leaving that with me? I could produce divine weapons with a flame such as that." Andre begged the question. Eskar looked at the Ember and also at Beatrice, they had no use for it, Beatrice simply did a small shrug, perhaps it would be better in Andre's hands. And so Eskar handed over the Ember.

"Well, thank you mightly for that. You've made a fine decision, one day you'll see. I still cannot help you but maybe this could help in the future. Heh heh." Andre said as he placed the Ember nearby. "I must ask though, you seem to have gone decently deep into Darkroot Garden. Did you perhaps go into the grave of Sir Artorias the Abysswalker?"

"The tomb… of Sir Artorias… n-no, we didn't." Beatrice quickly said, she thought quickly on a way to change the subject, "You still haven't said anything about what lies the other way."

Eskar stared at Beatrice for a second, there surely things everyone preferred to not talk about, and he would respect that, but he had ever heard a quick change of that kind from her, maybe thrice… he couldn't help but wonder.

"Right, this here is the old church, it was abandoned in favor of the much bigger church that is the Undead Parish. This place became crossroads to two forbidden planes: You already know about Darkroot Garden, but there's also Sen's Fortress. They both attract all sorts of lunatics, no-one as cultured as either of you though, heh heh." Andre told them.

"Sen's Fortress, isn't that the death trap?" Beatrice asked.

"Aye, an old proving grounds built by the ancient gods. Is the only route to great Anor Londo. Of course, most fools can't even find a way inside that place. But that won't stop them from trying, Hah hah!"

"Yes, we are not going in that direction, we are headed to Firelink Shrine."

"Aye, the Undead Parish had an elevator that went all the way down to it, it was at the end near a staircase. If I recall, it broke down some time ago, but maybe it might fix itself, I've heard of many contraptions that for them to work you just have to keep trying. Hah hah." Andre said as he finished Beatrice's shield.

"That was indeed quick." She admitted, she put the shield back in its place and got ready to keep moving toward the Parish, and then to Firelink Shrine. "Thank you for your service." She said and Eskar nodded as well.

"It is my craft, after all, hope you have luck in your journey." Andre waved them goodbye as they began to walk up the steps. "Do be careful, neither of you seem to be undead, gods only know how you lasted this long. But either way, don't get yourself killed, it would be a shame to see you die, or even go Hollow." Andre said as they stopped to listen to his warning… or concern, Beatrice nodded and Eskar did a two-finger salute to say his own goodbyes.

Once up the stairs they discovered another bonfire next to the path to Sen's Fortress, Eskar lightened up the flame, with it they took the chance to refresh their spells, or at least mostly Beatrice's.

"That's fortunate, ready to keep going?" She asked her student.

"Ön post te." (After you.) Eskar answered as they continued.

Eskar impaled his new sword into an undead soldier, these were the first Hollows he ever saw, skin-tight to the bones, decrepit, lifeless. They really looked like there was nothing left in them, and their attacks showed as they simply had the energy to do some kick attacks with their weapons… they still had the energy to be dangerous, but they were clumsy, sloppy, and unbalanced. Then again he didn't believe he could expect much more from a lifeless corpse.

Regardless, he didn't waste time, as Beatrice fired a soul arrow to the crossbow soldier, he spun around and hit the second soldier with an elbow and a hook kick, pulled the sword out from the other soldier, and with a sweeping kick made the undead soldier fall on it's back and promptly stabbed it through the chest. Pretty underwhelming in his opinion.

"These undead… I wonder how long they have been here." Beatrice pondered.

"How many were… in your time?" Eskar asked.

"Not many, more than these, but… everywhere I went people were running from this very place, we all heard tales of Lordran being overrun, and now. These walls, the lack of sounds in the distance, the decay. Maybe it was indeed overrun completely." Beatrice explained, for Esar it sounded almost too similar to current Adal, a place being a ruin of its former place.

"I doubt we… can… change now." Eskar tried to place the words together.

"... Perhaps, I never cared for places of worship, still… It's somewhat disheartening." She lamented. "But you are right, there's no use on thinking about it, we must press on." Both of them walked into the abbey, and were met immediately on either side by Balder knights and a Berenike knight, heavily armored and grand of stature.

"Curses!" Beatrice said as she readied her spells, they were quickly charged by the Berenike knight and with a swing of his mace, he forced them to roll under and into the Parish. Eskar quickly rushed the Balder knights as he and Beatrice tried to put them between them and the Berenike knight. He waved between them with quick sword strikes before they could attack and pushed one aside with a winged back kick, he also managed to parry and retaliate with a quick punch the sword strike of one, he however had to block and protect himself. Two people attacking one was already difficult to defend against, but three? He felt very quickly how his arms and sides began to be struck and cut at certain places, he would need to make a quick move or he would die.

Beatrice for her part tried to blast the Balder knights with a soul mass, and it worked, giving Eskar some much-needed breathing room, but quickly had to backstep as the Berenike knight went in with a giant swing of his mace, she dodged, fired a soul arrow and then rolled out of the way, trying to fire more souls arrow, but cursing the moment the hit the knights shield. Eskar used his window to use his Earthquake to force the Balder knights down. He quickly uses wide spinning hook kicks and sweeping kick and slices to catch all of them in single motions, the knights blocked the attacks, but only some of them, Eskar wouldn't let them be on the offensive against him anymore, with an endless barrage of sword strikes he alternated between them, cutting at ankles, kicking them hard the chest, and elbowing one back before it could strike.

Attacking so much was exhausting, but he had no choice if he wanted to survive this, he used his soul darts to spray one Balder knight on the face, blinding it while he blocked the attack of another and countered with a knee and head-splitting slice and followed with illusion twist kick to its head, two quick kicks, and three slices got past the knight's defenses and killed it. Eskar used another Earthquake to stop the other two knights from attacking him and got ready to kill them as well… until he got hit by a soul arrow on his side and quickly felt the point of a sword am into his shoulder.

He noticed the sorcerer on the second floor as he backed away to avoid the blade sinking further into him, he also saw how Beatrice was hit on the back by a souls arrow, staggered, and then hit with the mace towards the Balder knights.

"Aargh!" She coughed up, Eskar immediately moved and rushed the two knights, he thrust his sword into one, impaling it and then slicing its neck with a two-handed strike and ducked under the other knight's attack with a Meia Lua kick that dislocated its jaw. Not stopping he sliced at the knight midsection and cut through and almost killed it as he passed by him, but that wasn't the goal. No, he had rushed to Beatrice's side, he saw the sorcerer aiming, he ran and pressed his back to her and blocked the sorcery with his sword.

He felt regardless, but far better than either of them being directly hit, they both faced the Balders and quickly killed them, Beatrice with a quick soul arrow to the weakest one and Eskar with a thrust to the one with the rapier… the knight was read to perry the attack, and he did. He wasn't ready however for Eskar to parry his riposte back at him. An Absolver had to recover quickly and recover quickly he did as he stuck back with a quick punch, impaled the knight, elbowed his head, and spun behind him to wrench the blade out.

Beatrice held back the Berenike with soul arrows and her soul mass, and meanwhile, Eskar covered her back by striking another spell out of the air with his sword, again, not efficient but it was something. They were two on two now, at least until another Balder knight with a rapier decided to come down the stairs.

"I've had enough of you!" Beatrice yelled as she used one soul arrow to the Berenike knight and then used a soul spear to kill the Balder than mindlessly rushed at them, she was done holding back, Eskar used what he had as well, hitting the sorcerer with a couple of soul darts, they didn't do much, but they seemed enough to stop it from casting another spell. Back to back, they had to think of their options.

"A Channeler? Of course, there had to be one of those freaks. I can take him, spell to spell, think you can get past this knight's shield?" She asked Eskar.

"Igen." Was his answer.

"Good." They both switched targets, Beatrice hitting the Channeller by surprise with a soul arrow and Eskar sliding under the knight's legs as it tried to hit him. He managed to get three clean strikes with his sword at it's back before it turned with another swing. However, Eskar parried the attack deftly and struck back with a punch followed by two fluid slices into a kick. The knight was big in stature and had immense strength, but nothing he hadn't dealt with before, he parried another strike and managed to get another sword strike and a flying kick before he was pushed back by a shield bash.

Eskar took the space between them to heal himself up with his Tension Arts and went on the offensive again to gather more Tension he could use to heal himself even further. Beatrice on her end fired soul arrows that hit her mark as she sidestepped the Channeller's quick souls arrows and even blocked one with her shield. Eskar used his offensive and managed to land four sword strikes of his blade, parried four swings of the mace and kept the pressure on the knight and recovering his vitality on the process, going as far as hitting the shield with his Guard Breakers attacks and make the knight's arms buckle, as the knight's shield faltered he got ready to stab it through the throat to finish it. But the knight finally got a hit in and sent Eskar flying into a pillar.

Beatrice fired two soul arrows, one at the Channelers knee and another at the shoulder, with it staggered she fired a soul spear strong enough to kill it right then and there, it went out as its lifeless corpse fell off the second floor and into the first. She sighed satisfied at her work but quickly turned around when she heard loud metallic boots behind her, the knight was ready to charge into her with downwards strike… until a sword rammed into his back knee, making it fall on its other knee. Eskar had thrown his longsword straight into the Berenike knight and sprinted towards it, unfolding his own sword and using it to deliver a final downward jumping strike, with it they finally killed all their enemies.

"Huu Phoo… ugh. Next time we'll retreat outside the room." Beatrice said as she caught her breath and held on to her side as she tried to recover from her injuries, Eskar was quickly at her side, aiding her on getting back up.

"I can manage… Phew, you- you... look fine, it's almost as they didn't even hit you." She looked Eskar over. He simply looked at his side cuts and at his injured shoulder, it had been painful and he still felt the sharp pain of the thrust in his shoulder, but his wounds were mostly fine by now thanks to the power of Essence.

"Oh… right, you can heal yourself with every being you defeat. Well, I don't have that luxury sadly, I'll be fine though, just give me a couple of seconds and-" She kept saying as Eskar held her shoulders, he folded his sword back to recover some energy in his Shards, and use them to heal Beatrice. Essence had been first used as a tool for medicine after all.

"That's… heh, tingly." She said as she felt the pain go away, once it was minor enough she removed Eskar's hands from her shoulders. "I'm fine now, I can manage on my own from here." She said to him, it was an act of pride in a way, showing that one could endure through the pain, Eskar actually understood, he would have done the same thing if he had been in her position. Done it in her position… He nodded and picked up the longsword from the knight's corpse.

"We will have to be more careful if we plan to keep this up," Beatrice warned him, and he agreed. Unlike him, Beatrice would die definitely once they fatally wound her… then she either would get branded by the curse, or never return. As for him… he would theoretically come back, he still felt the mask of moral's influence over him… but he wasn't keen on testing it anytime soon.

"This place seemed… guarded," he commented as he dusted himself off.

"It was indeed, now I wonder if it was because they simply decided to go Hollow here, or for other reasons…" She looked around, the room had been made a mess on their brawl, well, as much of a mess they could add to the rundown church.

"There's that." Eskar pointed to the altar, there was a corpse there with a white wisp of energy. They both approached it and found the-wisp to be a soul. "That… is not like the souls, it's-"

"Different, it's a Firekeeper's soul," Beatrice informed him.

"Ah, Firekeeper? You said… once that-"

"That if we wanted to use souls to break the limits you currently have, we would need the aid of a Firekeeper. Yes, they are women that tend to the bonfires, and act as their guardians… and maybe even as their fuel. Their souls are a draw to the humanity people offer to a bonfire, and so they become gnawed by an almost infinite amount of it." Beatrice explained.

"... Humanity?" Eskar asked.

"Humans, we have something more than just a soul, a black sprite within us that represent our humanity, just like a soul it's in an incorporeal form, but… all these Hollows we fought, they were human once, one becomes undead once they die… and once dies, they lose their humanity, humanity is essential to us, is part of us and once we lose it… and once there's nothing left of us, we become mindless husks." She told him, the best she could, as not even she knew everything that there was to know about humanity.

"I do not know what makes it different from souls. All I know is that its part of most humans, and for us, it's far more important to keep humanity instead of souls to avoid turning Hollow, it's origin isn't known, but we do know that it is innately… dark."

"Dark? How?" He asked.

"It is a black sprite, a cold, dark, and soft sprite that gives away a pleasant feeling, it's a very peaceful energy, and yet it feeds into people's desires. Some even start hunting others for it… it has an affinity to what would be considered occult and dark. The gods and other beings that aren't humans don't have it, and some see us as creatures of purest forms of the dark. It has been proven that it does hold some dark energies, and many attributes its influence as to why humans cause so much harm and destruction, how they can become corrupted, just like pure dark can corrupt itself." Beatrice continued, Eskar didn't know what to think, as what he heard so far seemed rather… far fetched, it was similar to how the Guides spoke about the use of Essence. Only Essence was more of a tool, not something that lived inside every human.

Still, Essence could indeed corrupt, whether by human nature or by its own influence and yet it wasn't the whole story. There was far more to it than just that, and many used without being corrupted, the entire army of Absolvers and Guides were proof enough of that, something sounded off about Beatrice's description.

"Is it really... A source of…"

"A source of what?"

"Malno." (Evil) Eskar tried to say, only to realize he hadn't quite heard the word evil in Beatrice's language just yet. He made signs pointing at his mask and the shape of the face carved into it, as well as giving himself little horns with his fingers.

"Devilish? Evil?" Beatrice asked, Eskar shook his head at the former and nodded at the latter.

"Evil… yes."

"... No. It really isn't. I've traveled far and wide and I've seen what true darkness looks like, what real abominations are, and what they can cause. Humanity may be tied to the dark, but it simply doesn't compare to what the Abyss can do. And as far as our human nature… it is true when humans can be a lot of things, but… I've heard the gods have done similar acts, and other beings have done so as well, even though they don't have humanity." Beatrice looked at the ground. "They can do the same as us, feel the same as us, and be corrupted by petty things the same as us… I don't know what true human nature is, but it can't be pure dark… can it?"

"I… do not know?" Eskar answered, in truth, he never had to be concerned about the origin of his nature, he always knew what he was, even if he had been mostly a servant and a soldier, he always knew his faults, mistakes… and ignorance were his own, not because of any innate failing. And maybe… for humanity that was the same, he didn't know enough, and he did wonder if he truly was the same as Beatrice, were they both human? Or for them was he… something else?

"Would it matter?" He asked back.

"Hmm?"

"Would it matter for us, if we still have paths to travel, and… goals to make?" He asked.

"... Perhaps, perhaps not, but you are right, we still have much to travel to doubt ourselves, or to mop over what we might or might not be. Hmm, it's funny, I should know better, I chose the path of a witch after all."

"Then what should we do about this soul?"

"Keep it, these souls are invaluable to other Firekeepers, and I've heard these souls have powers related to the ones of bonfires, it could come in handy if we ever meet a Firekeeper," Beatrice said, she reached out and grabbed the soul and stored where she stored her other souls, only it wasn't consumed though, no… that would be a waste.

"Andre said there was an elevator here," Eskar said once they were back on track.

"Near the staircase, yes." They both looked for the staircase and saw what at first glance might have looked like a confessional, but a closer look revealed it to be, more than that if it was indeed an elevator it seemed oddly placed and structured, but regardless they had to try. They nodded at each other as they went inside and stood on the platform, nothing happened as they stepped inside, however, nothing seemed broken… it seemed more, stuck.

"The chains seem good enough to last another few decades." Beatrice examined them.

"Hmm…" Eskar pondered as he stared at the panel in the middle of the platform, it didn't move once they stepped inside, he stepped on it again but it didn't move. Ust at that time Beatrice stepped into it by accident as she tried to see if there was anything blocking the chains or the path of the elevator, once she did the panel seemed to budge… but not press down like it was supposed to. Both of them stared at the panel and decided to stomp it together, once they did the panel was forced down, with the sound of metal clicking and gears acting up as if they hadn't been used in years the chains began to move, and the elevator went down… fast.

"Iii I- I guess it wasn't broken!" Beatrice yelled as she held on to her hat.

"N-Nem did tibi!" (Y-You don't say!) Eskar replied as he tried to balance his footing.

"I-I don't believe I made your acquaintance before and judging by the sudden crash of the elevator… I believe you must have come from the Undead Parish perhaps?" Petrus asked both Beatrice and Eskar, both covered in dust, dirt, and soot that had accumulated inside of the elevator shaft.

"We did indeed, yes," Beatrice answered.

"You both certainly look different from the usual kind of travelers that pass through here, do tell me is the elevator still… intact?" Petrus asked.

"It is, we just had a rough stop," Beatrice said.

"Ah, I see, if that's the case, unless you have business with us I would prefer we keep our distance, if possible," Pretus said, both Beatrice and Eskar looked at each other, confused.

"Us?" Beatrice raised an eyebrow.

"Why keep our distance?" Eskar asked, letting Petrus hear his voice and the echo of it.

"Uh, oh forgive me, I'll present myself more properly. I am Petrus of Thorolund, and I realize that I requested that we retain our distance. But it wasn't meant out of any ill-will, my apologies. Here, take this as a token of peace between us, go ahead, is yours." Petrus handed over a copper coin to Eskar, both him and Beatrice looked dumbfounded at the mannerisms of the man, and the way he seemed to get rid of them in a friendly manner.

"We are not vagabonds asking for charity," Beatrice said.

"I know, I'm sorry if I sound abrasive but I have a task of most importance that I must focus on, I have to await my companions, we have a mission to perform and I must focus on that if you wouldn't mind. But I truly meant that token of peace, take it, is all yours." Petrus said with a smile, one that didn't seem entirely friendly. It was obvious he didn't want to fraternize with them, at least not anytime soon, Beatrice eyed him up down trying to figure him out, but so far he seemed to be telling the truth, even if he was trying to get rid of them.

"As you say, cleric." Beatrice backed away into Firelink Shrine, Eskar followed her, eyeing Petrus up and down as he followed.

Once in Firelink, they could see that it was indeed… empty.

"This is Firelink Shrine, I heard about it but… I thought perhaps it would be different, to be frank, I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but… I didn't expect nothing." Beatrice deflated slightly, the pardoner told her she would find something here, was she a fool to believe him? Perhaps, but all the options she heard were either here on the Undead Asylum, and that was far away from Lordran.

As she pondered, Eskar tapped her shoulder and pointed towards a figure near the bonfire at the center of the shrine, it seemed to be a warrior in chainmail, one with a somber sad look. Beatrice and Eskar approached the man to ask some questions, once close he noticed them.

"Oh my, that's quite the mask, you might give someone the wrong impression, but I suppose some undead-... wait a minute, your faces, the look of your skin, no… neither of you are undead? How did you make it all the way here? Huh, quite marvelous really." The warrior said, mostly to himself.

"Yes, we are not undead, but we're actually looking for any people that look similar to him." Beatrice pointed at Eskar.

"Not with this mask, but with others… light clothing, even colorful," Eskar added.

"Hmmm, can't say I picture anyone around with their wits about truth be told, at the very least no one like that has appeared here, Hah hah."

"No one?" Eskar asked to make sure.

"Most people that come here are in a journey to fulfill the prophecy of the fate of the undead, but every single one goes mad, loses hope and goes Hollow, unless they are undead they have no reason to come through here."

"What about you? Have you traveled and seen perhaps anyone similar to my friend?" Beatrice asked.

"I couldn't say, then again, why would it matter? I haven't set foot out of this shrine in a long time, so don't ask me. I simply wish to be at peace once I go Hollow."

"You wish to go hollow?" Beatrice asked.

"Yes, I've given up, this prophecy, there's no salvation in it, and how are people like us supposed to even have a chance to ring the bells of awakening? I've chosen, and I don't care, I and many others would have done better to rot in our homelands or in the Asylum. And once again, if these people were here, they would be simply mad to come here, why would they matter, what difference could they make in the grand scheme of this… rotting world. What do you seek out of all of this?"

"They matter to me! They may not to you… but they are my… people, and I need to find them." Eskar said to the Crestfallen Warrior as he got close to him.

"Oh, I see, so you are like that, one of those with a sense of duty, do forgive me but I simply cannot say that I've seen your people… unless... wait, you said all of them wear masks?"

"You know something?" Eskar pressed for more details.

"I seem to recall fighting someone like that long ago, did they fight with their bare hands? Kicking and punching? I remember fighting a crazed mad person that spoke in gibberish, it had some friends and they all looked rather scared. I never knew how many ways one could be kicked or punched, I never want to be ganged up and beaten to death so mercilessly like that again, I would take a sword to my gut over bare-hand beatdown any day after that." The Crestfallen Warrior said as he looked like he tried to suppress an awful memory.

"Do you know more?" Eskar asked again.

"Are you sure they are your 'people'? They seemed rather crazed with the sounds they were pronouncing."

"Ça sonne hangzik? Erant?" (Sounds like these? Were they?)

"Huh… that's something new."

"You clearly know more than you said at first, can't you tell us more?" Beatrice asked.

"Ugh, lady, do realize I don't really care, I just want both of you to leave alone so that I go back to a peaceful existence without curious wanderers asking questions." The Crestfallen Warrior said, Eskar could feel his handball up into a fist as he grew more impatient, this man was possibly the only lead they may have, and he seemed set on being quite uncooperative.

"The quicker you answer, the quicker we'll leave you alone," Beatrice said to him, dropping to a knee to be at the same eye level. The warrior sighed as he resigned himself.

"Very well, I do not remember when that was, it was on my way to Lordran, but I seem to recall seeing a similar figure close to Blighttown, and maybe another prowling on the roofs of the Undead Burg, but I never got close enough, and none of them seem to come here, this place receives more people from the Asylum than anywhere else. Maybe that says something about this place. Hah hah hah." The warrior laughed.

"This is like the second time you mentioned the Asylum." Beatrice pointed out.

"Yes indeed, many people get dropped from there directly to here, all of them so far have disappeared or gone Hollow, though some of them were talkative, and they mentioned finding people with strange fighting tactics, a knight and a warrior once passed b thinking up strategies on how to beat 'agile brawlers' as they called them."

"How do people get from the Asylum directly to here?" Beatrice asked.

"And you did say, 'dropped here'," Eskar added.

"Do you both see that giant bird?" The Warrior said pointing at the giant crow.

"That-that is a-" Beatrice began to mumble as to what could- no, what was more than likely a messenger of Velka.

"Yes, indeed. It goes from time to time and comes back carrying undead from many different places to here, from many different Asylum's as well. Many have escaped, and it takes care to bring every single one that it finds worthy or cursed enough to come to this place… well unless there are many of them, and I never really noticed."

"So it goes… and it comes back with undead?" Eskar asked.

"Yes, oh… but something strange did happen not long ago, it flew off from here, with somebody in its clutches. I believe it was a man curled up in a ball. Strange, but at this rate, stranger things have happened… well, maybe." The warrior shrugged.

"Did he return?" Eskard asked.

"No, but it did go in the same direction it goes towards one of the Asylums, perhaps if you do the same, you might be able to visit it." The warrior said.

"That is it." Beatrice stood up as she realized what the pardoner had meant. "The Asylum, I heard some of your people were sent there the same as other undead, maybe some are still there, and if not, we can maybe guess where they went."

"That sounds like our best bet." Eskar agreed.

"Thank you for the information," Beatrice said as she turned and walked towards the structure where the crow laid atop of.

"Finally back to some peace and quiet." The warrior said, Eskar however stayed there, staring at him for a couple of seconds, judging him, he had seen people broken down before, but this man… he hadn't been broken down, he had been disappointed and bullied into resignation… of everything... and instead chose to give up and forsake whatever dignity he might have had once.

"Don't look at me like that, it will do you no good." The Crestfallen Warrior said once he noticed Eskar staring at him, he was right though, it wasn't worth the effort. Eskar looked away and followed Beatrice towards the structure, leaving the warrior to his own devices.

After discovering that the path towards the crow's nest was… destroyed if there ever had been one, and after a short encounter with two skeletons, they tried to find another way to the top of the building, that they could guess it was probably the ruin of an ancient church. They circled the entire ruin until Eskar noted that there was a nearby roof near the exit of the elevator and so they got ready to ride the elevator again.

They stepped out just as it was going up, nearly bashing their heads on the roof of the ceiling but still managing to reach one of the roofs of the ruin, and finding no way across.

"Nothing, there's gotta be a way to reach over there, think there's a way… we could climb the walls?" Beatrice asked Eskar as they looked for a path to the other side, Eskar happened to find it as he pointed at a convenient window or door next to one of the pillars.

"What… oh no." Beatrice shook her head and started cursing under her breath. "No, you think we should jump?"

"I don't see a quicker way," Eskar replied.

"You think we can make it?" She asked again, Eskar didn't reply as he walked near the edge of the roof onto the side of the cliff they were against, he found a spot perfectly lined up with his destination.

"I… believe so," Eskar said as he looked over the edge, wondering if a wrong move would kill him, probably break his legs… but he would survive… probably.

"Wait." Beatrice stopped him before he could try and jump, she waved her staff and on Eskar's feet magical energy seemed to gather, Eskar jumped in place and he could tell that his feet felt both light and soft on landing, like his own weight didn't affect his legs. "Just in case," she said as she gave him space for a running start.

Eskar jumped and landed perfectly on the pillar, the landing far softer than he would have thought thanks to the spell, now it was Beatrice's turn. She put herself in position and Eskar was ready to catch her in case anything went wrong. She put Fall Control on herself as well and got ready to jump, taking a deep breath, and making sure to not look over the edge lest she decided to change her mind.

She sprinted forward and made the jump, the landing a bit more awkward than she would have hoped for, but Eskar caught her before she could slip off, both of them went up the ruin and found themselves on the roof next to the crow, there they also found a nest.

"So, how do we... tell it to carry us?" Eskar asked.

"The man said the person it carried was curled up in a ball," Beatrice said as she waved to the crow, it didn't seem to acknowledge them.

"A ball…" Eskar echoed as he thought of ways to do that, Beatrice beat him to it as she stepped in the nest and crouched and curled up next to the eggs, Eskar stared at the action and then back at the crow, it seemed focused on them now, slowly he walked up next to Beatrice and did the same as her.

"You think it will notice?" Eskar asked her.

"I have a feeling it will," Beatrice said from her position, seconds passed and nothing happened, they didn't even hear the crow move.

"I'm not sure it will- Eargh!"

"Ooof." Both Eskar and Beatrice grunted as a massive talon grabbed them both and pushed them together in an uncomfortable position, both of them struggled to try and get comfortable as the crow started to fly up, they heard the flap of winds, then the sound of the wind, and after that, they felt a change in temperature. They were flying, and if the Crestfallen Warrior was to be believed, probably en route to the Undead Asylum.

"How long will we be like this?" Eskar asked as he tried to wrench his leg out of the talons and make some space.

"Not sure, could be a while!" Beatrice muttered as she tried to move her shoulder, or at least get comfortable.

"Nagna…" (Great…) Eskar complained as he tried to get Beatrice's elbow to stop bumping into his head.

A/N: That took me long enough, but yeah, Undead Asylum finally, and then after that, we can get back into proper chronological track… kinda, it's gonna be different, but hey, it is more fun that way. Hope you enjoyed it, there' more to come so do stay tuned for the future everybody!