AN: This took WAY too long to get written. It's been almost three months since my last update. It's about time that I gave you another chapter. So, here you go.

Chapter 22: Infinity, Finite

Raven struggled to find joy in the sight of Havel and Sieglinde's reunion. Not out of any selfish reasoning, but for the simple reason that she had once again been forced to stop moving. And the whispers, though she had denied them once, still persisted. Her knuckles grew white on the hilt of her Zweihander as she desperately tried to block them out, to ignore them, without spoiling the happy moment. Distantly, she was aware of Havel explaining to Oscar the significance of the reunion and who Sieglinde was, but his words were distant, and she couldn't bring herself to hear them distinctly. They were overwritten by the voices, who had found yet more ammunition to use against her.

"You'll fail them too..."

"You can't win, Raven..."

"Just give up..."

Raven had no intentions of heeding the voices - not after Artorias had confirmed that they were nothing more than simple lies - but they were still horribly distracting, and there was some small part of her that couldn't deny them quite thoroughly enough.

"Raven?" At first, she thought it was another voice, the way it blended in with all of the other whispers. A moment later, she abruptly became aware of Oscar's hand on her shoulder as the knight looked at her with a worried expression. She shook her head in an attempt to force her mind back to reality, and sighed with relief when it blessedly worked. The voices once again faded into the background.

"Sorry. What was that?" She asked, assuming that Oscar had come to her with a question. Oscar looked even more concerned that she had completely spaced out, now.

"We'll talk about it later," she told him, as Havel explained to her that Sieglinde wanted to come with them.

"Absolutely not," Raven said, "She's human. Death will be permanent, and I seriously doubt that we'll manage to defeat Seath on our first attempt. Or even our tenth, for that matter. He's going to be guarding that crystal Logan mentioned like..." Raven trailed off, flinching at what she was about to say. She had intended to bring up Ornstein's guardianship of the Lordvessel, but now realized that she couldn't even say his name without inviting the voices to crescendo. Instead, she finished with, "Like a starving man guards a meal."

Oscar nodded agreement, although his expression remained worried for her, and Havel seemed to understand where she was going, but Sieglinde seemed very put off.

"After Seath stole away my daughter, you really expect me to stand by while others deal with him?" she demanded furiously, raising her bastard sword in an almost threatening manner. Raven calmly raised her Zweihander from her shoulder, point down, to deflect the blade sideways, sending Sieglinde stumbling a few steps backwards in the process, hoping desperately that this mention of Sieglinde's daughter - a girl she had never even seen, much less known - would be ignored by the voices. But she knew that it was just another piece of ammunition they now had to use against her.

"Sieglinde," Havel said, placing his hand on her shoulder, "Do you trust me?" Sieglinde hesitantly nodded.

"Let us take care of it," he said, "It's too dangerous. We can afford to get knocked around a bit, maybe even killed a few times. You can't."

The catarinan sighed in disappointment, but seemed to agree.

"The way back through the archives should still be clear," Havel told her, "And you should be able to handle any foes that remain. Make your way back into Anor Londo, and to the high gate. The stairway downwards has been sealed, but there's a bonfire in the gatehouse where you can wait for us."

"All right. You had better come back soon - and don't let Seath off the hook too easily," she told him, before turning towards the edge of the garden. Havel seemed to visibly relax as she agreed to move herself out of danger, and turned towards the bottom of the gardens, and the crystalline cave opening that waited there. Raven moved to follow, but Oscar pulled her aside.

"Raven, what's going on? You were just staring off into the distance, completely missing our conversation." Oscar said, his voice still carrying a worried tone.

"Please, Oscar, we'll talk about it later. I want to take care of Seath first," Raven told him, before turning to follow Havel, but Oscar stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

"There's no way I'm going to let you fight Seath if you could lose focus like that. You'll get killed, and..."

"And you think that I'm one death away from hollowing," Raven finished for him. She gave a sad smile. "You're not far off, but... the mission is something to focus on. As long as I have that, I can hang onto whatever sliver of myself is left. Afterwards... Hollowing doesn't sound so bad, anymore." At this, Oscar gasped in shock, and Raven realized the words which had just come out of her mouth. She realized with horror that she meant them, and unconsciously clutched at the shattered pendant hanging on her neck.

"Raven, don't do this," Oscar told her, "Don't give up. If not for yourself, stay for me. Without you... I don't think I'd make it very much further before I joined you." Raven lowered her eyes, suddenly ashamed of what she had said - and the feelings which had birthed those words.

"Oscar, please, just... not now. Not here." Raven didn't see him nod, but she knew that he was done arguing for the moment. Steeling herself, she pulled Pinwheel's Mask of the Mother out of her belt and placed it over her face, before jogging after Havel.

The crystal cave was eerily silent. Aside from a faint tinkling noise - like tiny chimes in the wind - there was no sound. It was as if the cave was holding its breath. The click of boots, both stone and metal, on the crystal beneath them was deafening in comparison as Havel, Raven, and Oscar carefully walked, single file, down a long crystal which jutted between two more stable surfaces, creating a very narrow, precarious makeshift bridge. The cave entrance above them had already passed out of sight - ramping crystalline surface after ramping crystalline surface had led them over three hundred feet downwards, and the temperature surrounding them had begun to increase, to a point where Raven knew that anyone with the capacity to sweat would be doing so by now - and recognized that although it wasn't necessary to her survival, breathing was also becoming difficult.

Havel stepped up to the edge and froze - there was no path forwards. A massive chasm, unbridged in any way, stood between them and their goal - a wide, deep shelf at the far end of the cave. He screamed in fury.

"Of course that blasted dragon would have this here! One last trick, for the security of his precious crystal. It can only be reached on wings!" He slammed his dragon tooth into the wall in anger - causing the crystal there to crack. Some fine, crystalline powder rained down from the ceiling.

"This does seem to be a problem," Oscar agreed, "Walls to slick to climb, and no bridge to show the way. I wonder if that drop there is survivable. Got any prism stones?"

"I saw some in a chest we passed earlier," Raven said, pulling one out of a pouch. Thank goodness she had thought to grab the things - they didn't tend to have much use, from what she had heard about the things. They were only really effective for checking the safety of a drop. Raven casually tossed one into the chasm - and froze as it let out a plink and halted its descent, landing firmly on thin air.

"Invisible bridge?" Oscar asked, "Curious. Let's see if this gets us anywhere."

"Of course there would be an invisible bloody bridge," Havel said, stomping out to the location of the prism stone. Sure enough, it held, and Havel cautiously took another step. That air seemed to be solid, too, as he shifted his weight further forwards. Raven cautiously stepped out behind him, with Oscar bringing up the rear. Every so often, Raven dropped another prism stone for referencing the location of the bridge - they would likely have to cross it again in the other direction, after all.

It was a slow process, carefully prodding at the air to check if it contained a solid surface or not, taking careful steps, and repeating. Multiple times, Raven had to catch Havel as he estimated the path of the bridge poorly and began to tip to one side or the other. But at the end of a painstaking process, they reached the far ledge with a line of prism stones strung behind them.

"That wasn't so bad," Oscar commented as he stepped off the bridge onto visible ground.

"Not so bad?" Havel growled in response, "How about you try going first next time, see if you enjoy not knowing whether your next step will land on air. Then see if you're still willing to say it isn't so bad." He stomped off down a glittering tunnel which, at its end, seemed to open into a large cavern filled with a white fog. He made it approximately ten paces before he was tackled by a giant bipedal clam. Raven reacted quickly, stepping forwards and slamming her Zweihander into the thing's shell, knocking it backwards. The blade left little more than a nick in the clam's upper half, however. Havel quickly scrambled to his feet and brought his dragon tooth down on top of the clam with a resounding crack. The clam collapsed to the ground, seemingly dead, but as the noise echoed through the tunnel, Raven saw six more clams rise from inert positions on the floor to begin waddling towards them. Raven summoned her pyromancy flame in her left hand, and tossed a disc of flame to shear them each in two before they could make it more than five or ten paces.

"Can you manage another for Seath, or did you just waste our best weapon?" Havel demanded furiously as the charred clam halves settled to the ground.

"I think I can handle one more," Raven said, before stepping cautiously forwards, mindful of any further clams. Luckily, it seemed that the total clam count of the tunnel was seven, as no further clams appeared as the party cautiously entered the main chamber.

"That's the thing, huh?" Havel asked, looking at a crystal formation jutting out of the ground on the far side of the cavern. It was faintly glowing, but fairly unimpressive, and would probably be shattered by a single strike.

"Looks easy to break. I'm worried that it might be a trick - some sort of decoy or something," Raven warned.

"I don't think so," Oscar replied, "There was enough that we had to get through to get here - it was kept secure enough to be the real thing."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Havel demanded, before hefting his dragon tooth and charging across the cavern, which suddenly shook violently, throwing all three of them to the floor. Raven spun towards the entrance as she staggered to her feet, which burst open as Seath flew into the cavern, sending crystals showering everywhere from where he had shattered them. Clearly, it had been a while since he had visited the cave - long enough for crystals to have grown, sealing the path enough that the dragon could no longer easily fit.

The Paledrake swept across the cavern and over the party's heads, before landing between Havel and the crystal. The archbishop swore in frustration as he had to dance backwards to avoid being crushed by one of Seath's tentacles as the paledrake settled to the ground.

"Do you know how long I have worked for this? I will not allow you to take it!" Seath exclaimed in a seething, furious voice, little more than a raspy whisper despite its booming volume. Raven instinctively grabbed Oscar's arm and yanked him aside, just as a blast of blue energy sliced through the air behind them, splitting the crystal floor and creating sharp, jagged spikes behind it. The paledrake turned to swipe at Havel with one of his claws before they had even reached their feet, and batted the archbishop aside with ease despite the weight of his armor. The stone clad knight bounced a few times before sliding to a stop on cracked crystal.

"I expected the Archbishop, sooner or later. I knew he wouldn't give up on his grudge," Seath commented, before leaning towards Raven and Oscar, "But who are you?"

"A knight on his quest," Oscar replied, and Seath, surprisingly, chuckled.

"Not you. You're worthless," the dragon commented, and Oscar had to duck as Seath's talon swiped at him to bat him aside, and failed miserably. He bounced across the room, landing near Havel. "the woman."

The whispers around Raven suddenly reacted as the paledrake leaned down, his snout nearly touching her chest. Raven shivered as Seath's cold, crystalline breath washed over her. She did her best to ignore the whispers, trying to keep her mind on the foe before her - until she realized what they were saying. The voices - no, voice, now, was more coherent, and seemed to be advising her.

"He's blind," the voice told her, "and relies on sound and smell in battle. Smell you can't mask, but it isn't as useful to him, either - not with no air movement down here in this cave. If you hold your breath, and take off the metal bits of your armor, you might be able to reduce your noise enough to sneak past him and break the crystal. Loud noises also might be able to incapacitate him, as his hearing is more sensitive than most." The voice faded into the background as Seath spoke again.

"Yes, you, who stinks of the abyss. Tell me, do you hear them speak within your mind? Those remnants of humanity, of the Dark Soul, that provide your power?" Raven's eyes went wide, and she couldn't help but gasp slightly, eliciting another chuckle from the paledrake. He knew. How did he know?

"Don't worry about that now," the voice warned her, "don't let it get to you. He's about to attack Oscar and Havel. Tell Oscar to block the beam with his shield. It should hold up."

"You'll need to be studied further. But I have no need of the other two," Seath commented, before pulling back and turning towards Oscar and Havel, who had begun sneaking around towards the crystal.

"Oscar, your shield!" Raven shouted, and Oscar raised his crest shield just in time for a beam of blue energy to slam into it. Seath held the beam, attempting to burn through the pair, not understanding what the obstruction was.

"Take your plate off, quick! While he's distracted!" Raven didn't waste any time, and quickly undid the straps and buckles holding her chestplate in place, before slipping off and setting it gently on the ground, to reduce the sound it made. She then removed her greaves, before glancing up to check that Seath was still busy with Havel and Oscar. The beam of energy had cut off, but Seath had slithered forwards, and was now swiping methodically with his claws, having concluded that the energy beam was unable to harm them. Raven quickly removed her gauntlets, pauldrons, and the interlocking plates which were set under the rest of the armor, stacking them in a neat pile by the ground, until her Gambeson was all that was left on. She winced as Seath connected with Havel, sending him skipping a good distance across the cave once again.

"Good enough. Go get that crystal," the voice told her. Remembering the voice's advice for reducing noise, Raven stopped breathing. It wasn't really all that difficult, considering the fact that as an undead, she didn't have any need to do so. She breathed more out of habit than necessity, anymore, but it still felt a little strange not to have air in her lungs. Oh, well. Raven started towards the crystal with methodical strides, staying on the balls of her feet as she had learned to do what felt like ages ago - but really had only been a few years past. Seath connected with Oscar, but Raven ignored it, knowing that he still had enough estus left to shrug it off. As she reached the crystal, the voice spoke again.

"Listen, I can't keep advising you. This connection is taking a lot of effort on my end. Just... whatever you do, don't use your black flame. The pendant will amplify it to incinerate everything in the cave. Seath will die, but so will all three of you... I suppose that's a winning trade, in the end. Just hold off on that unless you're really getting your asses kicked. Good luck."

With that, Raven's clarity of mind vanished immediately, the normal, jumbled voices returning in force. Raven quashed them down as she raised her Zweihander.

"You lose, Paledrake," Raven said aloud as she brought the sword down. Seath spun to face her just as the crystal smashed to bits, and the dragon roared in pain, recoiling. Raven immediately willed her pyromancy flame into existence, and threw her third flame disc. She felt a tearing sensation inside her, and immediately knew that she'd overexerted herself magically. Immediately, she was overcome with pain, and dropped to her knees. But the pyromancy flew true all the same, biting into Seath's neck and cutting a scorched hole through his scaly hide.

It wasn't nearly enough. Seath's own pain seemed to fade a moment later, and he hissed, lowering his head towards Raven. The scorched scar on his neck was obvious, but it barely even slowed the paledrake down as he inhaled to prepare another energy beam. Raven noted that both Oscar and Havel had begun hacking away at his tentacles, and the wounds weren't healing over. Seath was well and truly vulnerable. Raven had the presence of mind to roll to one side as the beam seared through the air where she had been not a moment previous, before sweeping wildly about when Seath realized that he had missed. As she staggered to her feet, however, pain flared again, and she cried out involuntarily, revealing her location to the paledrake, who swept his beam across her.

Remarkably, the energy didn't kill her instantly. The pain was incredible, of course - far beyond anything that magical exertion had just caused, and enough to overload her nervous system so she only felt it for a few seconds before she went completely numb - but she did survive, and, with a shaky hand, managed to raise her estus flask to her lips, downing the entire thing and still not managing to restore herself completely. Her senses returned just in time to see Seath spin and snatch Oscar in his hand, before picking him up and throwing him across the room. Oscar bounced several times, before rolling to a stop. He disintegrated into ash a moment later, his darksign triggering. Havel, nowhere to be seen, had apparently met a similar fate moments earlier.

"Guess there's nothing for it," Raven said weakly to herself, before staggering to her feet. Not even bothering to close the distance, she raised her hand and cast black flame. The whispers surged to the loudest she had ever heard them in the moment before everything went dark.

AN: Glad that's over with. Not my best choreography ever, on account of it being a non-humanoid enemy and something very much larger than anything that could reasonably exist, and I struggled to figure out how I wanted to write this. Before I go, I just wanted to mention that the black flame nuke at the end will be explained later. I have the next chapter already mostly finished, since I started work on it while struggling with this, so I really hope that it won't take me another three months for an update. I'm not going to say three or four days, (since I never seem to meet that), but a second release in the month of April is my goal.