A/N: Once again just before the end of the month… but made it!
Beta: Genatools
Chapter 9: Forever Without Light.
Eskar, Oscar, and Beatrice continued through the catacombs scoured left and right for a way down, even going back up the same way they had faced all the skeletons before. The burial grounds for the skeletons and the remains of the dead seemed the way to go deeper into the catacombs and then towards the tomb of the giants… almost in a literal sense. There was no clear way down, except to fall through the hollow remains and loose dirt of certain tombs.
"Urgh," Eskar grunted as he landed roughly on a pile of bones.
"Seems farther than we thought!" Oscar called from above.
"Prepare yourselves," Eskar called back as he looked around and noticed something of importance, promptly Oscar and Beatrice jumped down with the aid of the fall control sorcery, Beatrice made sure to ward both herself and Oscar.
"Are you alright?" Beatrice looked to see if Eskar had been injured from the fall.
"Igen. Nothing I haven't suffered before. But look." Eskar pointed towards the tunnel right in front of them, there were two crystal Lizards still unaware of their presence.
"Crystal lizards… we could use more Titanite." Oscar pondered.
"More Titanite will always be useful, the ones that found the most were capable of making weapons that could cut through armor as if it were butter. And armor that could withstand the heaviest blows." Beatrice said as she eyed the lizards. "I can take care of both of them from here."
"You'll be using another of your sorceries, and you already used many." Oscar told her.
"Indeed… but just one perfectly aimed soul spear could make sure we don't have to deal with them running away. Or those traps." Beatrice pointed towards the statues on the side of the narrow tunnel, the ones similar to the ones that had spikes coming out of their eyes, mouths, and chests. Beatrice was about to raise her catalyst until Eskar stopped her.
"We don't know what lies ahead." Eskar said as he lowered the catalyst.
"Yes… you are right." Beatrice lowered her head and stomped down that impulse to use a soul spear. "I'll leave it to you then. Do be careful."
Eskar nodded and looked back towards Oscar, who nodded to him as well. Both of them charged the crystal lizards while being careful of the spikes. Eskar dodged them as they appeared while Oscar used his shield for cover. Once they caught up with the lizards, Eskar impaled one and flipped it over on its back to finish it with a stomp, and Oscar cleaved the other on the side and then finished with a downwards swing of his sword. The bounty for their efforts was four White Titanite Chunks and four pieces of Twinkling Titanite.
"We got them. The little things have always been said to be slippery. It's as if they know how to be annoying, to go past the spike without a care in the world." Oscar said.
"Just like Titanite not much is known about the lizards, but they seem to know what's dangerous to those trying to slay them." Beatrice said as she joined them, walking the furthest away she could from the traps.
"This ladder leads up," Eskar said to his two companions.
"You believe that will guide us to the Tomb of the Giants?" Oscar asked Eskar as he and Beatrice approached him.
"It's the only way out." Eskar respond.
"Then we don't have a choice." Beatrice nodded and the three of them climbed the ladder, they dropped through another grave to keep moving forward. And found themselves on the same lever Eskar had used before to turn the bridge. The one that led to the place where they had been ambushed by all the skeletons.
"This place… we went on a circle." Oscar said.
"How did we…?" Beatrice mapped the place in her head, and was surprised when the space behind the walls and how far they dropped seemed to match. They still had gone down, and ended back up where they started. "I wouldn't call this a maze… but…"
"I would say… a ruche (hive)." Eskar said.
"A what?" Oscar asked.
"Ruche… hh… Hi…"
"Hi...Hive?" Oscar guessed.
"Igen. Yes." Eskar confirmed. Beatrice herself smiled as Oscar was beginning to help Eskar as well with words that still eluded him.
"A hive. Yes, I see it now." Oscar said.
" We are gonna need to go back where we were before. There might be another grave we could drop through." Beatrice said.
"And we don't know how long Lady Rhea and her friends have." Oscar told. Eskar and Beatrice nodded and rushed back to the area where they had been ambushed. It was significantly easier to traverse with all the skeletons gone. Once back in the main room their first instinct was to check the path of stairs that led down. But those ended on a dark abyss with no visible end. They did search as well for any sort of hidden tunnels or any secret walls… but they didn't find any.
"There seems to be nothing… what else haven't we checked?" Oscar asked.
"The other mausoleum rooms, we might find something. But I'm not sure." Beatrice responded.
"Hmm…" Eskar paused and once again looked towards the area where the stairs had once led.
"What are you thinking?" Beatrice asked Eskar.
"It… it must have-"
"It must have led somewhere before. Right?" Oscar quickly caught on as Eskar looked towards the dark abyss.
"Igen. It could be all crumbled tunnels and ruins." Eskar said however.
"It could, but alas, we cannot see." Beatrice said as the three of them looked down the hole. However, ever in her adventurous instinct, she decided to drop at least one Prism Stone to see how far the fall was. And to their surprise, the stone landed rather near, and the sound seemed to indicate they would survive the fall.
"It… doesn't seem to be that far away." Oscar said.
"Impossible. This hole couldn't be that dark and seems so… bottomless if it was just…" Beatrice tested her theory as she threw another stone, a bit farther away, but this falling further down. Making another sound indicating they could survive.
"It seems there are some platforms we can use." Eskar said.
"It seems so…" Beatrice threw another Prism Stone, this aimed towards the middle of the hole, that one fell far deeper and created a sound that indicated they would not survive. Yet they could still see the light from the stone. Meaning the hole wasn't bottomless… or at the very least, of the same height as a castle tower.
"This could lead to the Tomb of the Giants," Eskar said.
"Or we could get trapped with no way to get back up." Beatrice added.
"It is the only way we have found so far." Oscar told them. The three of them contemplated for a moment before deciding that they might as well try, worse came to worse, they could use a Homeward bone, granted they would need one for each person. With that in mind, they decided to go one at a time, to see the path led somewhere.
"Are you sure?" Beatrice asked Oscar as he offered himself to go down first.
"Yes. If something happens to me, I can come back. Before, I felt the next death would be my last, but now… I don't feel that anymore." Oscar said.
"Let's try and make sure you don't die." Eskar said as he placed a fall control sorcery on Oscar. Oscar nodded and then made sure to align himself with the closest platform. He jumped forward and landed safely on the platform just below them.
"What can you see?" Beatrice called from above him.
"I can see the next platform, and…" Oscar focused his vision and looked at the bottom of the hole. He could partially make out what it was thanks to the Prism Stone that had landed next to it. "I see the bottom. I see a cobblestone structure. And there's another hole… there seems to be a way down."
"Alright… I suppose we'll follow and keep going through this way." Beatrice said as she casted fall control on herself once again.
"One at a time." Eskar said to her as he did the same.
"Right." Beatrice nodded. Oscar jumped to the next platform and found a Green Titanite Shard, being followed by Eskar who went in next, and then Beatrice. The three of them made it to the bottom of the hole, and now they all could see where the hole led to, which seemed to be a better-kept mausoleum.
"This seems like a tunnel far better kept." Oscar said.
"Can we see where it leads?" Eskar asked.
"Not from here. But if anything, we should be closer to the bottom of the ravine, and the deeper we go, the closer we should get to the domain of Lord Nito." Beatrice told them.
"We are already here, and there's no way up." Oscar mentioned.
"Then we should see for ourselves. Let's be ready." Eskar said and the others nodded. Eskar jumped down the hole first and was quickly followed by Beatrice and then by Oscar, the three of them landed roughly on the same spot and were ready in case any more skeletons appeared. They didn't have to wait long for them to hear resounding stomps coming their way. With what little they could see, they were able to make out the figure a big and wide skeleton with… a metal beard. The sight was odd, but they still remained on guard as the skeleton seemed to be approaching them with a pickaxe, they were on guard ready to fight. But then the skeleton stopped and turned to the side.
The trio saw as the skeleton looked at them, raised his pickaxe, and then smashed a hole through the wall that seemed to lead to the ravine. They looked at the skeleton with curiosity, it then turned towards them and spoke.
"... Be gone with you!" The skeleton said as he motioned them to take the path he had just made.
"... Why…?" Oscar began.
"I said be gone!... You'll spoil my focus!" The skeleton said as he turned around and didn't pay them any more attention. It was clear that it didn't want them in his… tomb? Regardless of the circumstances, the group now had a path to follow. And more than that, once they looked backwards they saw they also had something else, a Bonfire.
"That… it… he. He's not a normal skeleton." Beatrice acknowledged, then they heard the telltale sound of a hammer hitting a piece of metal on an anvil. "He… he is a blacksmith." Beatrice could guess.
"Huh, I suppose he would have to to be that… stubborn," Oscar said.
"So he would rather work eternally rather than rest…" Eskar pondered. The three of them lit up the bonfire and rested on it to refill Estus, energy, and spell slots. With them themselves recovered, they were able to keep moving without major issues. They went towards the hole that skeleton made and saw that they were now indeed at the bottom of the ravine, however, they still had some questions left to be answered… and the blacksmith skeleton seemed the only one present to answer.
"Excuse us…" Beatrice tried to start a conversation.
"...What's that then? Need some smithing?" The skeleton asked, the three of them looked at each other and then looked back at the skeleton. They had an idea that he would only talk with them if they did have some smithing to be done, but granted, they wouldn't want to give up their equipment while inside the catacombs. Even if the room looked safe, one wrong step and they could end up surrounded again. But most of all, they couldn't daily daddle while they were on a rescue mission.
"Some… quick repairs wouldn't be a bad idea," Oscar said, showing his sword and shield.
"Heh, of course, they wouldn't. You need them? Then produce me some wares!" The skeleton exclaimed as he extended his hand. Oscar handed over his sword and shield and they saw as the skeleton began to quickly and wordlessly work on repairing the damages to both the sword and the shield.
"How should we call you?" Eskar asked.
"I'm Vamos, the blacksmith." The skeleton answered matter of factly.
"Well then, I'm Beatrice, this Eskar, and this is Sir Oscar from Astora." Beatrice introduced the three of them.
"... Hmph! I'm here to smith, not to chit chat," Vamos responded.
"... I see."
"We could still use your assistance," Eskar said.
"... I'm giving it. I've told you, I'm here for the trade, not for the talk!" Vamos emphasized.
"While you are repairing my gear, could you at least give us some directions?" Oscar asked.
"Hmph. Well you are a persistent bunch are you not? But I'm afraid I'm a mere blacksmith, it's just me and my trade. I would be of no help to adventurers such as you." Vamos said to them.
"You are still a… resident of the catacombs. We were hoping you would know where we would need to go to reach the tomb of the giants." Beatrice explained.
"Hmmm, normally the living would want to get out of here. What are you searching for? Rite of kindling like all the others?" Vamos asked.
"All the others? How many?" Oscar asked.
"Too many for me to count, most of them clerics, ever since I was here." Vamos said as he kept hammering.
"How long have you been here?" Eskar asked.
"Very long." Vamos answered. The trio looked at each other and continued with their questions, they did know they would need to be quick and to the point with them, however.
"Very well, they all come here for the same thing, the Rite of Kindling. Do you have an idea of where the clerics would go to find it?" Beatrice asked.
"Don't know where they go, they always go below to the tomb. Don't have an inkling as to where they could be. But happen to know what they are after and what's happening though… Lord Nito doesn't have the Rite of Kindling." Vamos told them.
"He… doesn't…?" Beatrice asked, estranged.
"That's right. The power was originally in his custody. But not long ago, he was fooled by one of his own. One of his own necromancers wanted to do something, bring someone back permanently from the other side. So they stole the power instead and began to form their army of the dead. All the while trying to bring who they lost back." Vamos explained.
"And that… necromancer is the one that has the Rite of Kindling still?" Oscar asked.
"Yes, along the power he stole. Pinwheel." Vamos said with a small amount of disdain, but mostly pity. "The fool wants to really bring a loved one back. But it didn't work, his own spell… instead now, they are together forever in the same body. If I had to guess, Pinwheel has been trying to separate himself so that he and his loved one can all be in different bodies, but he has only achieved in making copies of himself." Vamos explained as he finished some touches to the shield.
"... Death can be escaped, but not fooled," Eskar said.
"Hmm, one could say that. You are the first to come here in a long time, most clerics that reach this point are already dead. Or throw themselves to the Tomb of the Giants, just to never leave again." Vamos said.
"And Pinwheel is there?" Beatrice asked him.
"Right damn near the entrance, but they don't know that. Pinwheel hides himself from Lord Nito, in a place he can't reach easily. But you should be able to, you made it this far. And you're already pretty close." Vamos huffed. The trio however paused to wonder if he was serious. They wondered how they were able to reach a place where a being with a Lord Soul was not capable of entering.
"Has… has Lord Nito become that weak?" Beatrice asked, not many knew in depth the desires of the First of the Dead, or his true strength. But she still assumed that the God could be capable of handling these matters on his own.
"The Lord is powerful, but even the likes of him can do so much when he has to face an army on his own. Pinwheel stole more than you might think. And Lord Nito, just like the other gods… has been losing his power for some time. But Pinwheel doesn't care for the likes of you. You go into the Tomb of the Giants, and look for nearby sarcophagus, a giant one. Most clerics stroll by towards the Tomb, but the Rite and Pinwheel would be right there at the entrance, still experimenting, and waiting patiently for the Lord of the Dead to make a move." Vamos said as he finished the repairs he had been tasked for.
"Thank you." Oscar bowed his head.
"Well, that's all the talk out of me you are gonna get. Now get lost." Vamos turned to his forge and began to work again.
"Ehem, we thank you, but to finish this. Where from here is the tomb?" Beatrice asked.
"Hmph… from here follow the ravine to the left, can't miss the sarcophagus from there," Vamos responded.
"Thank you." Eskar said with a small nod. Then the group turned around towards the hole that Vamos himself had made.
"Be careful with the Bonewheels, now go! Don't spoil my focus!" Vamos began to hammer his next work. Eskar, Beatrice, and Oscar turned towards Vamos, then looked at themselves and then made their way past the hole in the wall that Vamos had made. They remained on guard, however, as whatever the Bonewheels were, Vamos seemed to make a point that they were dangerous. They remained alert and on guard as they exited the safe room. And thankfully it worked in their favor as they noticed wooden spiked wheels coming their way.
Eskar jumped to the side while Oscar rolled to the side and Beatrice quickly backstepped to avoid the spinning wheels. As the three of them turned towards their attackers they noticed they were skeletons that were inside these wheels and using them as weapons of sorts.
"I never would have thought…" Oscar paused as he looked at the Bonewheels. The Bonewheels themselves began to run and spin towards them again.
"Careful!" Eskar called to Oscar, who instinctively rolled to the side as another Bonwheel almost hit him on the back. As the group dodged they were able to assess their surroundings better, they were on the bottom of the ravine, in a tight space, and surrounded by rock and piles of bones. The Bonewheel skeletons being possibly the discarded remains of many others, and the wheels possibly discarded junk that found its way down to the Catacombs.
Oscar didn't even try to block, knowing full well that the spinning wheel would probably chew through his defenses with how fast they were moving. And even if he could block one, he would be too focused on one and probably get hit on the back by another. How they managed to spin and move so fast was a mystery to him.
"Out of the way!" Beatrice called to him, Oscar promptly dodged to the side and was able to move just in time to avoid one of the Bonewheels, letting Beatrice hit a perfect shot with a great heavy soul arrow on it. Breaking away the skeleton and making the wheel fall, but their troubles were just beginning.
Eskar dodged to the side to avoid a Bonewheel charging towards him and hit it right as it went past him with a spinning jumping back kick and made the skeleton break apart. He then had to run toward the side as a Bonewheel tried to hit from the side. As Eskar dodged he noticed another Bonewheel coming from the dark and aimed their charge toward him. Eskar ran toward the wall and jumped on it to then leap over the Bonewheel as it came for him, avoiding it, but then witnessing as the Bonewheel kept spinning and rode up part of the wall, continued alongside it, and then came back towards him.
"What in the…" Eskar quickly used his Earthquake Tension Art to make the Bonewheel coming for him break apart, and then he had to prepare to dodge to the side as another came his way. However, Oscar charged towards it, and shield tackled the Bonewheel from the side as it spun towards Eskar. Eskar had to repay the favor as yet another Bonewheel tried to attack Oscar from the back. He unfolded his sword and stepped to the side with a strong horizontal slice and then followed it up with a powerful side kick.
The Bonewheel crumbled down and then Oscar and Eskar turned to see as another one tried to charge at them, only it was stopped by a fire orb thrown by Beatrice. However, she herself had to dodge as another one of the skeletons charged towards her. Eskar used a soul arrow to hit one of the Bonewheels as it rolled past them and then deftly stepped to the side and hit another with an upwards spinning slice, an upwards reverse grip slash, and a combustion to bring down the Bonewheel. Oscar on his side attacked a Bonewheel as it was charging Beatrice with a jumping attack, intercepting it and then blocking and pushing away another Bonewheel. Beatrice ran to a more open area and hit two Bonewheel with a single soul spear however she then had to roll out of the way as she heard another one coming up behind her.
They had wondered as to how there were so many, but Eskar realized soon enough as he sidestepped one Bonewheel and then slashed at another while dodging and then knocked it down with a powerful midsection punch. He noticed as one of the skeletons began to assemble themselves even though it seemed to have been killed.
"Necromancer!" Eskar called out.
"Damn!" Beatrice cursed as she rolled out of the way of one Bonewheel and then immediately back stepped out of the way of another one. She made sure to conjure a soul mass as she looked for the Necromancer. "I don't see it." She said as she used her soul mass and a soul arrow to kill one Bonewheel. Eskar dived in with a Shockwave Tension Art to protect her from a second one, it went flying backwards and then both of them together very nearly killed it with soul arrows. The pleasure of killing it was Oscar's, good thing too, as it stopped it from reforming.
Oscar turned around and began to block one of the Bonewheels as it began to spin against his shield. He felt his arm buckling, but was rescued from the Bonewheel by Eskar as he came in with a flying kick from the side. With the Bonewheel knocked to the side Oscar bashed his shield against it, allowing Eskar to get in a vertical slash, and then Oscar ended it with an upwards strike of his sword. Beatrice managed to hit another Bonewheel right on the back and happened to guide right into Oscar's sword, while Eskar protected the flank with a rushing thrust of his sword. Knocking a Bonewheel out of the way and narrowly avoiding another. Beatrice landed two soul arrows to one Bonewheel while Oscar also came in to help, rushing in with a downwards strike and knocking one of the Bonewheels away with a thrust of his sword. Eskar himself rushed to the side of a Bonewheel that stopped spinning and met it with a horizontal cut, followed by a plexus elbow and a powerful knee. The skeleton crumbled and Eskar decided to not let it reform.
"Sir Oscar!" Eskar called as he kicked the skull of the still moving skeleton towards Oscar. As it flew toward him, Oscar extended his sword and ended up impaling the skull and killing the Bonewheel, crumbling as it tried to search for its skull.
"Impressive!" Oscar called out as he rolled out of the way of one of the Bonewheels, Beatrice covering him as he recovered his footing, then she herself had to run as one of the skeletons tried to charge at her. They had noted by now that there were a decent number of Bonewheels, and that if they had even one less person in the group, they could have been overwhelmed, nevermind if they didn't have a divine weapon to kill them.
Eskar jumped to the side to avoid one Bonewheel, and then charged another as he brandished both his swords, doing a flurry of three strikes and crumbling the bone with a heavy roundhouse. Beatrice threw a fireball at one to knock it away and then had to roll to the side as a Boenwheel tried to kill her, it turned around almost immediately and tried to catch her again, only for it to be swatted down by Oscar with a big two-handed swing. Oscar stomped the bone and hammered the ribcage one last time to kill that one.
With only two Bonewheels remaining but they were nowhere in sight. The team gathered and pressed themselves back to back, waiting for the final two Bonewheels to appear from wherever they had gone. Oscar noticed the first as it came from his direction, Eskar and Beatrice turned around and fired great soul arrows that unbalanced the Bonewheel. Then Oscar gripped his sword with both hands and sliced through both the skeleton and the wooden wheel as still tried to charge at him. However, from right behind the defeated foe came the last Bonewheel. The three of them rolled in different directions and prepared to kill the last one. Beatrice landed a fireball on it as it rolled away and made it stumble and crash into the ground. Eskar then rushed towards it and stabbed it on the back, pulled the skeleton out of the wheel with his sword still wrenched on its spine, and held it in place as Oscar decapitated it.
"Hah… Hah… That's… that's all of them." Oscar said between breaths.
"Phew… Hah… Damn skeletons." Beatrice used her catalyst to support herself.
"Heh… If that was all that remained, then we are here…" Eskar turned towards the direction that Vamos had mentioned. "That should lead to the Tomb of the Giants."
"And to Pinwheel," Beatrice said as she recovered her breath.
"We… we still don't know where Lady Rhea and her friends are," Oscar said, all of them seemed to have recovered their breath by now.
"Or… if they reached the tomb in the first place." Beatrice added.
"... Unless they are hiding in a grave or in a secret room. I don't see where they could be here." Eskar pointed out.
"The direction of the rite could be our best bet. It was never a secret that it was deep in Nito's domain." Beatrice said.
"If we have the rite, we could also convince them to leave the quest. They would be completing it." Oscar added.
"... We would be the first to achieve it. Think we can do it whereas others have failed for hundreds of years?" Beatrice asked.
"... I wouldn't know. Is… is anyone injured?" Eskar asked. Oscar looked at himself and shrugged. Beatrice was much the same way.
"No… a little winded. But we seem to be fine." Oscar said and Beatrice nodded alongside him.
"Then this might be the best we are gonna be to face him," Eskar said.
"And we are already here to begin with… Very well, I think we are agreed." Beatrice approved the idea, she was worried still, however. "With luck, Pinwheel might be more a thief than an actual threat."
"Let us hope so." Oscar nodded as the three of them made their way to the tomb of the giants.
"Even still, we'll still have to find the young lady," Eskar said.
The three of them found the giant sarcophagus that Vamos had spoken off, it was hard to miss. But it was also off the beaten path towards the Tomb of the Giants. The irony wasn't lost to them that the clerics would send their people towards the depths of the tomb… while the rite they were looking for would be right at the entrance of it. As they climbed the sarcophagus they began to hear some eerie sounds, such as the rattling of chains and a strange clicking sound.
"It's a far drop," Oscar said as he looked down at the slightly opened sarcophagus.
"It's nothing we haven't dealt with before," Beatrice responded.
"What creature was this thing meant for…?" Eskar wondered with both curiosity and a tinge of dread. To say the sarcophagus was giant was an understatement.
"Giants, as the name of the tomb implies. Where are they now, or why is this one only partially opened. I do not know." Beatrice said.
"Thankfully, we are not here to fight undead giants," Oscar said.
"Just a necromancer that stole power from a god," Beatrice commented.
"... I… I was trying to brighten up the mood," Oscar said to Beatrice.
"... Pardon me. I just hope we are capable of this." Beatrice sighed. "Shall we go?" She asked.
"We shall," Eskar said as both he and Beatrice used the sorcery fall control, and then applied it to Oscar as well. With their minds set on the matter, they jumped down into the sarcophagus, landing in the pool of water that was at the bottom of it they were able to see the interior. It had some candles and torches while inanimate skeletons hung from the walls and some chains hung from the ceiling, but most of all, there was a giant pile of books at the end of it and a table with a skeleton on it. It seemed to be designed as a study of sorts.
There, right in the middle. There was a robed figure that seemed to have six arms and six lanterns hanging from rods that seemed to be coming from said arms. It seemed to be somehow thinkering with the skeleton on the table before it turned around as it felt their presence.
"Hmmm…" Eskar hummed as the figure looked at them, the three intruders.
"Pinwheel?" Beatrice asked. Pinwheel looked at itself, the three masks looking at each other as if they were conversing. The dominant mask seemed to shake as it looked at the others and the others very slightly cowered. The three masks looked at the group of three and seemed ready to fight as it poised itself.
Eskar and Oscar raised their guards and their blades while Beatrice raised her catalyst, Before they could make the first move Pinwheel made two copies of itself that began to float towards them. The three of them stepped out of the way as flames came from the lanterns that the original Pinwheel had. Beatrice didn't waste time and fired a soul arrow at one of the duplicates, and noticed it made banish in one shot. Whether they were illusions, or something more, they were fickle and could be dealt with easily. Eskar had cut down the second duplicate with a jumping slice… but as they turned towards the original, there wasn't only one Pinwheel, there were five.
"Hrnngg…" Oscar prepared as he rushed in alongside Eskar. Pinwheel and the illusions threw balls of fire in their direction with their lanterns, but Oscar was able to block them with his shield while Eskar was able to dodge them. Beatrice threw her own fire orb to one of the illusions and managed to hit two as she casted a soul mass. At the same time, Eskar very quickly cut down one illusion before it could use its fire magic again, and made another banish with a hook kick. Oscar unsheathed the Drake Sword and used it to cut through three illusions. Yet as they killed everything in sight, they noticed there was nothing left in the sarcophagus.
"Where is it?" Oscar called to his allies. There were no footsteps they could hear, all they could hear were vague whispers that seemed to resound all around the sarcophagus. There was no trace of Pinwheel until four more illusions in his image appeared from nowhere, Eskar cut one immediately and then saw as Beatrice used two soul arrows and her soul mass to kill four. More and more Pinwheels seemed to surround them, yet all of them felt fake. There was an aura to them that made them feel as if they were nothing more than lifeless husks. Not even mentioning that they were disorienting at worst, they could barely try to fight back, and every kind of fire magic they threw, the three of them were able to dodge or block.
But then and there as the three of them killed the illusions, Eskar felt it. While Oscar cut through four illusions with horizontal swings and Beatrice killed six with a soul mass fired in multiple directions and shot soul arrows, he focused, he killed an illusion to his left with a single sword swing and felt something, it was a faint whisper and an eerie aura. He focused on it and as more illusions appeared, he went forward and used a Shockwave Tension Art. it killed all the close illusions and helped reveal the real Pinwheel. A puff of dust appeared as something impacted the wall and Eskar noticed.
He rushed forward and used a flying punch to pull Pinwheel out of his invisibility. Revealing him, Eskar landed a diagonal cut on it and made him float away in fright.
"There he is!" Eskar called and Oscar and Beatrice were able to focus on the real Pinwheel. Ignoring the illusions the three of them chased it down. Beatrice used sorceries with one hand and pyromancies with the other, landing a soul spear and a fire orb on Pinwheel. Oscar managed to strike at Pinwheel with his sword, and as it floated further away he threw a lightning spear at it. Pinwheel began to spaz due to the electricity, it was then that Eskar jumped into a wall and landed a flying slash and a fling roundhouse kick on him, making Pinwheel fall t the ground prone, and then finishing him off with a hammer kick, three sword strike and finally, a point-blank great soul arrow.
Pinwheel banished into souls and all his illusions banished with him, as he banished, he left behind what he had stolen, the Rite of Kindling. As the fight concluded, there was an air of disbelief in the group, and it was that compared to everything that they had faced on their journey to the catacombs, Pinwheel had been the one fight where they felt less at risk. The illusions had given them a small fright, but even then, they hadn't put up much of a fight.
"That… that is it?" Beatrice was bewildered. "This… this is the necromancer that had the famed Rite of Kindling?"
"Maybe you were right. He was more of a thief." Oscar said as also he was dumbfounded that the treasure that the church had been seeking, hadn't felt that threatening. Something sat at odds with him as to how the church had missed Pinwheel for so long.
"This was… the one that stole from Lord Nito. Was the First of Dead not concerned with him? That he stole his power and a sacred rite? Why would he let him roam in his realm, even if Pinwheel could upset the other dead and the skeletons? Even if he could raise an army… he himself wasn't-"
"Strong enough." Eskar finished for Beatrice.
"Do you really think the undead Pinwheel commanded were strong enough to hold back a Lord?" Beatrice wondered. "The gods are powerful, but… I would never guess how powerful really, they are being with souls after all. Maybe they are far frailer than we think." Beatrice said, she would never defend the omnipotence of the gods, but she still had a hard time thinking Pinwheel would have been a real threat to the likes of Nito.
"He seemed keen on running away. Maybe that's all he did. Run away…" Oscar offered.
"Perhaps… maybe he really wasn't a threat. And simply was left to rot here to continue to try and fail in his experiments." Beatrice said as she looked at the table with the skeleton. "To steal power from one of three Lords. For loved ones…"
Eskar knelt down on the spot where Pinwheel had died and picked up a mask that was left behind. A silver mask with embossed hair as part of its design, the Mask of the Child. "For love and family, one can achieve great things, or make the greatest mistakes… in the end, he couldn't let them rest," Eskar said as he analyzed the mask.
"Hmm…" Beatrice hummed.
"... What would have happened if he had succeeded?" Oscar asked, curious.
"He would have succeeded. But… I don't know what he would have had to do in order to do so." Eskar said.
"It could have been at a greater cost, or perhaps, with the approach he took, he would never be able to succeed." Beatrice added.
"Hmm… Regardless, we now have the rite. And we still need to find the lady and her knights." Oscar said.
"We should be able to climb out of here… through there," Beatrice said pointing at a corner of the sarcophagus that had something akin to a ladder. Beatrice led the way and Oscar followed, Eskar indeed them right after he folded the Mask of the Child. To his surprise, it seemed that the mask was infused with magic, and from what he felt from it, it could maybe be used as a Mask of Moral.
"If Pinwheel commanded these things, then maybe he had more power than we thought." Oscar said as he rolled out of the way of a frenzied downwards swing from a giant skeleton.
"Perhaps!" Beatrice called as she fired two great soul arrows and allowed Eskar to rush in with a combination of two sword strikes, a pushed back kick, and a rising hilt strike to the giant skeleton's leg. Oscar took the chance and 'guessed' where the other leg would be and landed a heavy two-handed strike to the back of it. Together both strikes made the giant skeleton fall on it's back and left it open for Beatrice, Eskar, and Oscar to attack it. Eskar landed a sword thrust and a combustion, Oscar did an overhead strike filled by an upwards swing, and Beatrice killed it with a combination of a heavy great soul arrow and a fire orb. The giant skeleton disassembled, and much to their relief, it didn't resemble itself again.
"Phew… that's another one. I still can't see much." Oscar looked around to try and find the torch he had been using. Once they had realized how utterly dark the Tomb of the Giants was, he went back to the sarcophagus and procured one of the torches from the walls, but of course, he had to drop it when they had to fight. Finding the torch again would be difficult, but luckily they also had other ways to make light.
"I don't see anything here." Beatrice said as she used her pyromancy flame to create light.
"Mmm, Eskar, what about you? Can you look in this direction." Oscar asked as he tried to adjust his eyes to the dark.
"... Yes." Eskar sighed as he looked towards the direction of Oscar's voice.
"Found it!" Oscar got a hold of the torch again and asked Eskar to lit it on fire again. "I suppose we are lucky."
"I hadn't expected it to glow in the dark…" Beatrice giggled. Eskar for himself made no comment, but he was both thankful and slightly embarrassed. He wouldn't complain though. As it turned out, the blue light that came out of his mask illuminated a fair bit in pitch darkness, and just by looking in a direction, he was able to illuminate that path in a faint blue light. It wasn't a substantial light but it was more than if they tried blindly look in the dark, and it was useful when necessary.
They had other issues to deal with rather than Eskar's luminescent mask, however. The deeper they went into the Tomb of the Giants, they found Prism Stone scattered about in a path. It seemed in case of getting lost someone at some point decided to leave them behind in case they got lost or were unable to use a light. Their hope was that it had been Lady Rhea and her knights. They followed the Prism Stones and used the sarcophagus that were scattered as bridges they could slide down to the next area of the tomb. Facing more giant skeletons along the way.
Even though they were able to take down the giant skeletons, it wasn't entirely easy. One giant skeleton required some degree of teamwork in order for them to leave unscathed, it also consumed spells from them if they decided to keep their distance. Oscar used a lightning spear to hit the head of the next giant skeleton they faced while Eskar and Beatrice used great soul arrows to hit its midsection. Eskar then used the Gravity Tension Art to slow down the giant and make its arms fall off, letting Beatrice hit it with a soul spear while Oscar killed it by bisecting at its waist.
"We need to keep going down," Oscar said as he picked up a large soul left on a corpse, then immediately crouched as he heard the twang and the sound of an arrow hitting a wall. A giant arrow by the sounds of it. "Archers!" He called out.
"I cannot see where they are… I can't see anything." Eskar said as he heard another arrow miss, but it seemed to have missed by a decent margin.
"Let's keep going down, maybe we can avoid them that way. There's not much that can be done if we can't see them either way." Beatrice said, the others agreed and used the next sarcophagus to continue and slide down. They were able to see one massive arrow land close to them, but didn't have time to pay it any mind as they soon had to face two giant skeletons.
"Oh no…" Beatrice prepared a soul mass alongside with a fire orb. Eskar diced in and narrowly ducked under a giant swing before striking at the legs of the giant with two slashes and then performed an orange flashing flying knee. The second giant skeleton tried to crush Eskar but he managed to roll away and used the magic weapon sorcery to empower his sword. Oscar used the Drake Sword's shockwave to hit both skeletons and then struck at the closest one. The giant skeletons moved further with big swings of their swords, Oscar backstabbed while Eskar sidestepped the attacks and went up behind them, just then, Beatrice was done preparing. Eskar landed a thrust one giant's back and then performed a combustion and then followed up with a one-handed slice, a roundhouse kick to the giant's leg, a rising Mill slash, and ended his offense with a devastating punch that made the giant buckle to its knees.
Beatrice let her soul mass strike the closest skeleton while her fire orb made an explosion that made the skeleton's skull fly away on impact. She then made a soul spear that passed through both giant skeletons, and a fireball that hit the second giant skeleton in the head. Oscar didn't hold back in using the Drake Sword, the moment the giants were stunned he unleashed another shockwave, and then a second one, as he did so one skeleton stumbled back and Oscar saw an opportunity. He used the knee of the skeleton as a stepping stool and jumped upwards, coming downwards with a downwards swing that carried the powerful shockwave of the Drake Sword. It cut the skeleton's bone in two as the shockwave forcefully split the bones as it came down.
Eskar finished the other giant with a triple kick that started with a heavy spinning hook kick, continued into a roundhouse kick, and ended in a flying spinning hook kick. To make sure it was dead, Eskar stabbed his sword into its torso and then used a great soul arrow to make the bones fall apart.
"We need to keep moving. It seems they still have an eye on us." Beatrice said as they heard another arrow hit a wall.
"And terrible aim." Eskar quipped as he folded Risryn's sword. The sword had held up magnificently during their fights, but it had finally reached its limit, and now he had run out of Shards to keep the sword whole.
"Let's keep going." Oscar said as they dropped down another sarcophagus into what seemed to be a quiet nook. They heard the arrows become more distant and there didn't seem to be any sort of skeletons that could get in their way.
"Seems we are safe…" Eskar said as he focused the energy of his SHards into cheating a small light with the sword now folded, he could concentrate his Shards into something else.
"I would not bet for any part of this tomb to be safe." Oscar commented.
"Oh, you three should be fine for now." A voice came from their right, they raised their weapons and catalysts in the direction of the man. "Oi oi oi… I'm friendly!" The man they saw explained with one his hand raised, he was bald, had a tower shield and also a spear, the hand with spear was raised along with the spear in a way that couldn't hurt them or threaten them.
"... You should be more careful if you are greeting people in this place," Beatrice commented as the trio lowered their weapons.
"Eh heh heh, you got a point lady. Good day to you. You look reasonably sane. What are you doing in the Catacombs? Are you clerics or something?" The man asked.
"We could ask you the same thing," Eskar responded.
"Me? Oh no no no-no. I would never be cut to be one of them, eesh. Huh, you are one of those Masked Ones, I mean the mask is telling. Bloody frightening in the dark, if I turned around and that was first thing I see…" The man shuddered.
"At very least it shines in the dark," Oscar said.
"Yes, I see that… hah hah hah hah." The man chuckled. "But well, looking at you closer, you don't seem to be clerics. Never met a Masked One that was a cleric, not one that could talk our language to begin with, do you all have this echo to your voices?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Heh, and from what I can tell… a witch-" The man turned towards Beatrice
"Indeed." Beatrice nodded.
"And a knight." The man then turned towards Oscar.
"Soldier of Astora first, a knight due to family and accomplishment," Oscar said with a tinge of pride.
"Are you some sort of noble or something?" The man asked.
"Family of knights, that was our pride, but we didn't have much more than others," Oscar admitted.
"Well, still odd to see a group like yours here. What brought you here? Are you looking for trinkets or riches?" The man asked.
"No we might not be clerics, but we are looking for a group of lost clerics," Beatrice said.
"Lost clerics? Hmm… well they do send a lot of pilgrimages here."
"Have you seen them then?" Oscar asked the man.
"Well… no but… a lot of clerics end up just down there. You see, there seems to be a lot of treasure down there. I would take guess the clerics are looking for something and the treasure down there might be what they are looking for… or maybe they think it's there."
"Treasure?" Oscar took a peek over the edge, the hole the man had gestured to was a bit too dark for him to see anything however. "I can't see clearly."
"I promise you there's something there, even if you can't see riches you should be able to see distant souls down there. I promise there's treasure there. A promise made by Trusty Patches himself."
"Trusty Patches?" Eskar asked.
"Yes, that's me! Go on, it's right over the edge, I think maybe who you are looking for could be down there. There's a good chance at the very least, not like anyone else has gone far deeper with all the skeletons." Patches shrugged. The trio looked at each other and decided to take a quick peek over the edge, they managed to see three white lights in the distance, but still couldn't see clearly what was at the bottom.
"Beatrice, you think a fire orb would illuminate down there?" Eskar asked.
"Maybe, but it won't last long…" Beatrice said.
"I could throw the torch, we have other ways to make light." Oscar offered.
"It would be better if we keep it." Beatrice said.
"Oh, this will do just fine." They heard patches say in a more somber tone.
"Hmm?" Eskar turned around and felt himself gasp as he saw Patches charge them with his great shield. The trio turned around just to see Patches attempt to push them over the edge, but the plan hadn't gone to Patches' liking. Just as he hit them, the trio held on to Patches' shield, and in desperation clawed their hands past it and managed to get a hold of Patches himself. At first, it was in a panic to not fall, but then as they began to fall… it became a way to make sure that if they went down, that Patches would go down with them. The four of them screamed as they fell down the hole and landed roughly several meters below.
"Arrgh!" Eskar exclaimed as he landed.
"Oof!" Patches got the air knocked out of him as the trio spun him around in the air, effectively making him land below them.
"Raghh!" Oscar landed on his side.
"Oww…!" Beatrice seethed as she hit her back on the landing. Steadily the trio got up and looked around.
"Damn… that wasn't part of the idea…" Patches slowly said and turned towards them. The four of them were crawling on all fours, but Patches could tell the hateful looks that the trios were giving him. A tense silence brewed, and then after a couple more seconds, Patches tried to stand up. "N-now ho-hold your horses… I!"
"Get him! He's not getting away!" A furious Oscar shouted as the three of them scrambled up as well, with new energy and rage they tackled Patches and pushed him to a wall.
"Ow ow ow wait-" Patches was silenced as Oscar punched him with his glove hand right in the cheek.
"Ouch… wait I can-" Patches tried to speak but was interrupted again as Eskar punched him twice across the face and then used a front kick to knock the air out of him.
"Ooh.. oh ho. Wait wait I-" Patches tried to raise his hand but was knocked to the ground as Beatrice hit him across the head with her catalyst. As they knocked him down Oscar kicked Patches in the ribs and Eskar stomped his head once, Patches was bruised and bloodied, but much to his luck the trio stopped right there.
"You wanted to kill us?!" Oscar questioned him.
"Well… it wasn't necessary."
"He's a looter, a thief, he wanted for us to die here so he could steal our belongings." Beatrice accused him.
"Now now, it's… it's more complicated than that. Yes I did you wrong but… well you kinda blew the party as you pulled me down as well." Patches said, earning a kick to the teeth from Eskar. "Aaah… okay maybe that's too soon."
"Well congratulations, you are on your own trap as well now," Oscar said condescendingly at Patches.
"Hey, this is what I do. Don't act like you are any better. Like I'm gonna believe a noble knight would be here, pfft! You stole that armor didn't you? And a witch looking for clerics? I bet you are a bunch of greedy guts looking for treasure… you are not looking for clerics- Ough!" Patches exclaimed as Beatrice hit him on the nose with her catalyst.
"Don't try us." She said.
"You really think we are lying?" Eskar knelt down.
"Wait… you are not? Oh, well I'm sorry, but I don't think you'll find them here." Patches said, to his credit he did seem apologetic.
"You! You are the lout Patches!" They heard a voice coming from the darkness. As they couldn't make out from where it came from they turned in all directions.
"Uh… hey hey, ou, the Masked One. Use the lantern." Patches said as he pointed to one of the objects scattered around. Oscar kept guard over Patches as Eskar picked up the lantern, to his surprise, it emitted a powerful light once he lifted it into the air. He noticed it was the same lantern that the necromancers used. As he illuminated the cave, he noticed a figure in the distance. It was dirt and sullen-looking Rhea.
"Lady Rhea!" Oscar called to her.
"She's alive still." Beatrix was surprised, but also relieved in her own right.
"It… it's you. Thank goodness." She said as they walked closer to her, forcing Patches to stand up and follow them.
"The… the wench is still standing?" Patches blurted out. Earning a hard smack on the back of the head that knocked Patches on his knees. "Ow ow ow sorry! I just… forgot my manners, I admit. But it's not like clerics deserve that much respect."
"How dare you! How could you! You tricked both Nico and Vince… and now both of them. They lost faith and-" Rhea could barely suppress a sniffle.
"What happened to them?" Eskar asked.
"They… they are now Hollow. My… my prayers did them no good, and I… failed them. I was too frail and too… It pains me to think of the trouble my failings caused them. Heavens. They were brave knights, who would let such strong spirits be hollowed so?" Rhea lamented as she cried. The trio turned to Patches.
"Look I… I… Listen I know clerics, they are all the same really."
"Don't sully their names, please! If you are gonna accuse someone, please, accuse me!" Rhea cried out.
"Eh…"
"Don't bother trying to save face," Beatrice told Patches.
"Lady you should understand. You are a witch, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about."
"... But you are the one that pushes others down this tomb, clerics or not." She retorted.
"I'll admit, the temptations get to me sometimes but… look, you are still alive, and she's still alive." Patches said.
"And all of us are trapped down here. Thanks to you." Oscar said to Patches.
"Well… not trapped, there is a way out." Patches confessed, earning the attention of all the others present. "What? Thought my plan was really to do so for fun, no! I have a method, I happen to know how to walk out of here in one piece!" He proudly said.
"Then you are going to show it to us, and you are going to help us get out of here," Eskar said.
"Ah well, I can do that… wait. You plan on escorting her out of the catacombs?" Patches asked.
"Indeed…" Oscar responded and then paused for a second. "You know a way out, don't you?"
"Well, that information might cost you, not everything comes free in this world you know." Patches said, he then felt as a boot pressed on his back and pushed him to the ground.
"In my world there's something that is done to thieves, their fingers are cut. You might be undead, but I reckon you know it's best for you if you cooperate." Eskar threatened Patches.
"Hey he, not in front of the young lass… wouldn't you think this could affect her?" Patches said.
"I was thinking losing a few fingers might teach you a lesson," Beatrice said.
"Be grateful, I've heard of towns that do worse to thieves." Oscar joined in.
"Alright… Alright yes. Fine, I'll help you escort her. Happy?" Patches asked, he sighed in relief as Eskar stopped pressing down on his back.
"You… you came to save me?" Rhea asked them.
"We did," Oscar confirmed.
"I… I do not deserve your kindness, or your heroic actions. I've failed in my task. There's nothing I can do to repay you." Rhea began to say.
"We are not going to leave you here. Let us help you, here… you will only perish and go Hollow." Beatrice said to her.
"...Then perhaps it is my fate." Rhea lowered her head.
"I'm sorry. But we won't allow it. We won't let you rot here." Eskar said to Rhea. She looked up to them and sniffled once again.
"Please Lady Rhea… there's been enough tragedy." Oscar extended his hand.
"... Very well. It would be a sin to refuse your aid when you came selflessly all the way here to rescue me, to rescue us… I only wish Nico and Vince were… Aah! Nico. Vince…" Rhea gasped and her eyes bulged as she fought more tears that threatened to appear. The group looked towards where she had looked and noticed there were two hollows approaching them. They were Nico and Vince.
"Lady Rhea…" Beatrice put a hand on her shoulder, Rhea looked towards Beatrice at her gesture. "Please, cover your eyes," Beatrice said. Rhea did so as Eskar, Beatrice and Oscar dealt with the former knights.
A/N: Cliffhanger, I know. But hey, I managed to get everything I wanted in the chapter, and I also decided to leave the conclusion of this arc for the next chapter… Well, the full conclusion might be a stretch, but some other things will begin to change. That's for sure.
Now yeah, I did make the fight with the Bonewheels far more epic than the one with Pinwheel, but let's be honest, there's a reason why that fight is considered a joke. I'm surprised I made as long as I did. But anyways, those Bonewheels deserve the spotlight for the damage and fear they can instill.
Review and follow if you so desire, and I'll see you on the next one.