AN: And of course I lost the file that I had already partially written of this chapter. Because of course this website hates me and refuses to save my files more than once every three or four times I click save. But, a promise is a promise. A new chapter, delivered in a timely manner following the previous one. Enjoy it.

Chapter 21: Unbroken

Raven barely felt Oscar's arms around her as she wept. She felt his hand stroking the back of her head gently, felt the warm cloth that was wrapped over the top of his armor against her cheek - but it was all distant, of little concern. Because around her, the whispers beckoned.

"Raven! Come back!..." Aran's voice, screaming in desperation before fading into nothingness, as if he was being dragged away.

"Why didn't you protect him?" Ethan's voice, accusing her of abandoning Aran. Which she had, no matter the excuse she gave.

"This is all your fault, Raven," Ornstein's voice told her hauntingly.

They continued, growing louder and louder around her, becoming more frantic until they overlapped one another and became garbled tones of anger, fear, hate, and loss. And then, suddenly, even her dim awareness of Oscar's touch, and the feeling of the hard floor beneath her, vanished, along with the whispers that were steadily dragging her into insanity.

Slowly, Raven opened her eyes. She stood - no, floated, for there was no sensation of ground beneath her feet - in a black void. It was blessedly silent, even lacking any hint of the whispers which plagued her. Then, she heard a single voice - not ethereal like the whispers, but grounded, solid. A voice she recognized, if only from a person she had briefly met.

"You humans are all the same," Ciaran's voice said from the darkness, "You think you're tough - unbreakable, even - right up until the moment you shatter." The person behind the voice stepped out of the darkness a moment later, her arms folded in a posture of extreme arrogance.

"Now, Ciaran," said a second voice, a man, who Raven didn't recognize, "She's been through a lot. You aught to cut her some slack - she's been through a lot, after all. And though she's yet to prove it, she's less fragile than either of us." The owner of this voice stepped out of the darkness to stand beside Ciaran, and upon seeing the design of his armor, Raven recognized him at once. This was the legendary Artorias, the abysswalker and arguably the most skilled swordsman ever to have lived - although strangely enough, this version of the man was missing his left arm. Legends said that he had given his life in an effort to stop the abyss in its spread through Oolacile - arriving to late for the sake of the city, which had crumbled into ruin shortly after, but succeeding in sparing the rest of Lordran, and the outside world, from its touch.

Artorias knelt down in front of Raven, placing his single remaining hand on her shoulder.

"Raven... I know it's hard. Believe me, I know what those whispers can do to you. But you have to remember one thing: They're lies. I know for a fact that Ornstein doesn't blame you - for anything that's happened, and I doubt your father would either. Your brother... he might feel some resentment, but I'm confident that he'll come to forgive you in time. Family usually does." Artorias stood up again, and turned to go.

"Look, I can't keep you here much longer. You'll have to go back soon. When you do, I need you to stand up and push forwards. You need to keep moving, and complete the mission. For all our sakes..."

As the Wolf Knight began to fade back into the void, he turned around to look at Raven again.

"One last thing. Before you enter the Kiln, find the lake in the Darkroot basin. It's near the tower where Havel was imprisoned. Cross the lake to the far shore. At first glance, it doesn't look like much, but... there's something back there that you need to see." Raven nodded her understanding, making a mental note to investigate the location.

"I'll be seeing you, Raven," Artorias said in farewell, "Good luck." As Artorias and Ciaran faded completely back into the void, Raven once again felt Oscar's arms around her, as the whispers rose into existence. It was so sorely tempting to fade back into despair as the whispers, still claiming the voices of the family and friends which she had lost, attempted to demoralize her.

"Raven..."

"You failed..."

"... all your fault."

"No." Raven's voice, hoarse after the tears she had shed, caused the whispers to hesitate.

"Raven?" Oscar's voice, questioning. It was the final push that Raven needed.

"I am not going to let this be the end," Raven said firmly, picking up the Zweihander from the floor beside her and rising to her feet. Oscar drew his own sword, and placed his helmet back on his head.

"Let's catch up to Havel, shall we?" Raven turned and started down the long balcony.

Havel growled in fury as his target teleported away for the eleventh time in a row. He stopped to scan the room, searching for the spot where the channeler would reappear. He spotted it after a few seconds, on the far side of the archives one balcony up. The archbishop immediately broke into a sprint, heading for the stairs that connected the two balconies. He ignored the soulmass which ricocheted off of his great magic barrier as he took the stairs two at a time, determined to reach the bastard before it teleported again. But he was once again out of luck - the channeler vanished just as he made it off the stairs - reappearing a larger distance down the same balcony. It flung another soulmass, which Havel once again ignored as he rushed towards the infuriating six-eyed monster. And once again, just before he got within striking distance, the channeler vanished, appearing where Havel had just been standing moments earlier - back across the archives and down a balcony. Havel was growing incredibly annoyed as he recast Great Magic Barrier before sprinting towards the channeler once again. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, a sword erupted from the channeler's chest before it exploded into a ball of blood-red fire, revealing Raven standing behind it with her Zweihander extended. Oscar stood behind her as he slashed through a crystal soldier which appeared to have been chasing them.

"About time you two showed up," Havel commented in frustration, "I've had time to search nearly the entire archives - and chase that damned channeler across the entire place."

"Find anything?" Oscar asked, turning away from the dead crystal hollow and towards Raven and Havel.

"Not much. A ladder off to one side that I don't dare check - there's an archer across from it which I can't reach without some sort of bow, and my greatbow is still sitting in Seath's lair where I dropped it. I don't suppose either of you picked one up?" Oscar shook his head, before Raven stopped him.

"I don't have a bow, but I think I know a pyromancy that should do the trick," she said, "Lead the way." Havel chuckled, before waving them forwards and leading them to the indicated location. Sure enough, an archer overlooked a ladder heading downwards on a narrow ledge which seemed unreachable.

Raven nodded before summoning her flame in her left hand, and flinging a massive flat disc of flame which spun through the air, brutally shearing the crystal archer in half as it slammed into the hollow's midsection. Havel looked shocked at the sheer brutal power of the pyromancy.

"Since when can you do that?" he asked as he began to descend the ladder.

"I came up with it in Zena to combat a horde of skeletons during the incident," Raven explained, "Can't do it very often, though. It takes a lot out of me just to cast one of them. I can manage three at most without resting... any more is asking for me to pass out."

"Save one for Seath," Havel told her, "That looks like it could shear his head clean off. Might be a way to take him down if we can't take his regeneration out of the picture first." Havel dropped off the ladder, thudding heavily as he fell the last few feet to the floor. Raven dropped to the ground shortly after him, followed finally by Oscar. Havel looked at a lever which seemed to be connected to the barrier next to a blocked doorway.

"Might be trapped," Oscar warned as Havel stepped towards the lever.

"Not likely," the Archbishop said, "This is a library, after all. The architecture is designed for ease of access, not to keep people out." Havel yanked the lever, and the sound of gears clinking sounded from inside the wall, as the doorway obstruction slid outwards, and then shifted to one side.

"Hidden bookshelf doorway," Raven commented, "What was that you were saying about ease of access?" Havel sighed in frustration, knowing that it was an argument that he wouldn't be able to win.

"If my sense of direction hasn't failed me, there'll be a bonfire just there," Oscar commented, "You think we ought to stop and rest?"

"Why would we?" Havel grunted, "We haven't really exerted ourselves too much getting this far."

"Raven? Are you fine to go on?" Oscar asked, in a tone that implied he was more concerned for her mental fortitude than her physical.

"I'll be fine," she replied, turning back to the room they were in, "Havel's right. There's no reason to stop and rest just yet."

At that moment, a loud, dissonant crash sounded from the room to the left, fallen by a masculine voice cursing in apparent frustration. Raven stepped cautiously towards the room.

"What was that?" Oscar asked, alarmed.

"I have absolutely no idea," Havel commented, "but with all three of us, I doubt it hurts to check." Raven nodded, raising her Zweihander to the ready in front of her as she cautiously stepped into the room - only to find a robed figure with a comically large hat cursing extensively amidst a pile of fallen books.

"Why in the blazes are these shelves so blasted unstable? They were designed for access, and whoever built them should have thought to accommodate someone of human stature - that's over half the population of this archive, after all, even if they have gone hollow... oh! Who are you lot? And how long've you been standing there? I don't suppose you'd mind helping me take care of this mess..." Raven wasted no time in setting her Zweihander down and helping the man pick up his books, while Oscar sheathed his sword and placed his shield on his back before following suit. Havel, however, simply stared dumbfounded.

"Mind telling us who you might be, and what business you have in the paledrake's archives? Seath has a nasty habit of murdering trespassers," the archbishop commented, unamused.

"You mean you haven't heard of me? The famous Master Logan of Vinheim? Not even my dreadful nickname, 'Big Hat' Logan? Oho, well, there's a first. Especially seeing as if you're looking around in this section you must be sorcerers yourselves, unless I'm wide of the mark..." the sorcerer trailed off, straining to reach a shelf and replace one of the fallen tomes.

"You're more than a bit off," Raven replied, "as we're here trying to discover the secret behind Seath's immortality. I doubt he would have written it down somewhere on one of these shelves. We're trying to gain access to the crystal caves."

"Well, you're on the right track, and in the right area. You see, if you have fought him, and were imprisoned, you must know that Seath is a true Undead, different from ourselves. His wounds close promptly, and no mortal blow affects him, granting true insulation from death. It is an effect of the Primordial Crystal, a sacred treasure pillaged by Seath when he turned upon the ancient dragons. So, only by destroying the Primordial Crystal can you so much as scratch his hide. And it so happens, the Primordial Crystal is in the inner garden of these very archives, the Crystal Caves. To get there, leave this room and turn left, then follow the path as it leads downwards. Beyond that, I have no assistance for you. If you are not here to learn sorceries from me, I ask that you leave me to your research - after, of course, you so kindly help me clean up this mess." Logan smiled and chuckled from beneath his massive hat.

"Remind me again why you two stopped to help that bumbling old man?" Havel growled as Raven and Oscar left the room about fifteen minutes later.

"It didn't take that long," Raven replied, "and he helped us with information, so it was only fair."

"Whatever," Havel grumbled as he stomped off into the next room before looking around.

"Another lever," Havel commented, "Do you reckon it's safe?"

"What happened to traps being unlikely?" Oscar asked, walking over and yanking the lever, causing a section of the floor to drop out into a staircase leading down.

"The mimic chest in the corner," Havel replied, gesturing to a harmless-looking chest, and Raven winced. She remembered very clearly just how painful a mimic encounter could be from her experience in Anor Londo.

"Well, let's get moving," Oscar said, descending the stairs with his shield raised - for good reason, as a crystal soldier slashed at him before he was halfway down the steps. Oscar quickly batted the attack away before retaliating with a well placed thrust to the hollow's throat, killing it quite efficiently. Raven noted the chest in the room, deciding not to risk it being a mimic, and stepped out onto the balcony beyond it.

The view was breathtaking - a well cultivated garden with lush grass and vibrant green trees. It was inhabited by several blue crystal golems wandering aimlessly, as well as a single large, golden crystal golem which stood as a sentry in the middle of the garden. To the left was a ladder leading down from the balcony, and on the leftmost side of the garden there was a cave mouth shining with brilliant blue crystal.

"For being blind, Seath has excellent aesthetic taste," Oscar commented as he surveyed the area beside Raven.

"Oh, please. You think that the paledrake was the one to cultivate all of this?" Havel scoffed indignantly, "Some lowly servant somewhere, probably long hollow, is responsible for tending to this place, unpaid and unremembered while Seath completely ignored everything that he or she worked for. It's certainly beautiful, but Seath would never have sunk any amount of time into something like a bloody garden. But that's beside the point - we've got a paledrake to kill," Havel said, leaping off of the balcony and landing heavily on the ground below. Raven and Oscar, not in the mood for dramatics, simply climbed down the ladder, before rushing to catch up to Havel, who was already stomping off towards the crystal cave, catching the attention of the golden crystal golem as he did. He made it about twenty paces before hte golem jumped forwards and lunged at him, slamming him in the back and knocking him over. Raven winced on the archbishop's behalf as he bounced and tumbled several feet down the hill, before raising her Zweihander in challenge against the golem, which turned towards her in kind. Oscar lunged at it from the side, connecting a solid thrust to the golem's torso, but his light sword barely chipped the crystal which comprised the golem.

"I'll leave this to you," he said as he backstepped out of the way of the golem's counterattack, a heavy swing with it's stumplike arm. As it overswung, Raven stepped forwards with an overhead slam of her Zweihander, cracking the top of the golem's head, before jumping into a dive roll under the golem's second retaliatory swing - identical to the first, but with the left arm rather than the right. As Raven came to her feet, she pulled the Zweihander into a rising slash which connected on the underside of the golem's right arm, causing more cracks to appear. The golem turned, creating a massive club of crystal, with sharp spikes jutting out of it, to swipe at Raven once again. Raven brought her Zweihander around and braced, but the sheer force of the blow sent her skidding back several feet anyways. As Raven recovered from the impact, she saw Havel finally rising to his feet out of the corner of her eye. The golem jumped again, and Raven quickly rolled under it, so it overshot and passed her. Havel charged up from the side and bashed it squarely in the back with his dragon tooth, causing cracks to spiderweb outwards before raising his shield to block the golem's powerful retaliatory punch. Raven quickly closed the distance as well, attacking the head a second time with an overhead blow. The attack widened the cracks, and several sizeable shards of golden crystal broke off entirely.

The golem, unable to decide between two targets, simply slammed its arms down onto the ground, generating an explosion of crystaline structures which speared outwards. Havel was prepared with his greatshield, but Raven was comparatively unprotected and took one of the massive crystal protrusions straight to the chest. Her heavy brass armor saved her from being impaled, but didn't stop her from being thrown backwards by the sheer force. Havel, having successfully avoided a similar consequence, followed Raven's example and smashed his club into the golem's head, which shattered outright when faced with a third brutal impact. Unfortunately, it seemed as if the golem could function while lacking it, as it immediately punched Havel in the chest, depositing him on his back next to Raven.

"Damn it. Do we seriously have to shatter the whole thing?" Havel growled as he hefted himself back to his feet.

"A well-placed black flame might do the trick," Raven replied, "But we need to put a few more cracks in it first - the chest and back are the most important. I don't think the arms and legs being intact matters if they aren't attached to each other."

"I can do that," Havel confirmed as he sprinted towards the golem, slamming his dragon tooth square into the golem's chest with enough force to make the construct stumble backwards. Raven saw significant cracks left behind in the chest, and as the golem performed a counterswing she entered the fray herself, performing a horizontal strike which connected across the golem's back, placing another line of cracks as Havel backed off. The golem swung at her, being the only target in range, and Raven easily sidestepped before making a precise strike to the golem's right shoulder, spreading cracks from it to the chest, before rolling backwards as the golem swiped again with its spiked crystal club. Havel, from the other side of the golem, smashed his club into the golem's back, widening Raven's existing cracks and creating fissures which wrapped around the golem to the front. It was enough. As the golem stumbled forwards from the impact, Raven stepped into range, willed her pyromancy flame into existence, and extended her palm, creating a plume of black flames which flowed directly into the golem's chest. The golem exploded into hundreds of golden crystal chunks, and - more surprisingly - a catarinan knight, who was launched backwards forcefully, slamming into Havel and bowling them both over. The catarinan groaned with a distinctly feminine voice.

"Thank you for freeing me," she said, "But could you maybe have been a bit gentler?"

At hearing the voice, Havel, who was halfway through the process of climbing to his feet, froze, and seeing his reaction, Raven instantly knew who the woman was - the lover he had mentioned to her when they had first entered the archives.

Sieglinde.

AN: That took a bit longer than I had hoped, but I'd say it's still a somewhat timely release. No promises on the next chapter, but I'll try to have it done sooner than later. I'd love to see your thoughts. Oh, one last thing. Feel free to verbally slap me if the next chapter isn't out in two weeks. I can't promise that a chapter won't be out in two more weeks, but if it isn't, I probably deserve a verbal slap. I have just proven that I'm capable of writing a decent chapter in less, and it wasn't even that difficult once I sat down and committed to doing it.