My thoughts were murky and slowed, the sensation reminding me of the time I got surgery and was struggling to wake up from the drugs. I tried to push past the murky feeling but a cold spread through my limbs whenever I tried and I noticed a peculiar feeling in my chest, the sensation freaked me out so I stopped. It felt like days had passed before I tried again, this time succeeding easier now that I was more prepared. My thoughts were still slow and my body felt strange as I tried to wake up, but when I did I realized I was sitting on a chair.

"What?" I mumbled confused, had I not been sleeping in my bed at home, where was I? Opening my eyes was met with even more confusion, I was leaned over on a wooden chair and after inspecting my surroundings I concluded I was in some sort of medieval war camp. There were knights in golden armor mulling about and setting up a camp, with tents and even a food court that I could see set up in the middle. I sat up on the chair I was in, leaning over to get up when I noticed my body, one of my arms was slender and feminine. A big change from the sturdy male appendages I'd boasted before.

But even stranger than that was my right arm which was covered in golden armor and attached to my right hand was a long, equally golden katana. I recognized the weapon, I'd seen it in my own playthrough and used it after defeating its wielder in Elden Ring. My breath caught in my throat as the implications of what this meant dawned on me and I stood up abruptly. My new prosthetic legs actually moving smoother and with less trouble or pain than my old perfectly healthy legs had. Reaching up with my left hand I touched my hair and raised it in front of my face just to make sure I wasn't mistaken.

The scarlet hair shined in my left hand, gleaming radiantly almost as if in contrast to my roiling emotions. Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes I tried to remember what I'd done last, to try to remember how I'd gotten into this situation. Trying to remember was met with an unexpected amount of pain and a veritable flood of memories that threatened to overwhelm me.

And with a grunt of pain I remembered multiple lifetimes worth of memories and experiences, growing up in Leyndell with Miquella as a small child, the struggles I went through after the Scarlet Rot i'd been born with started spreading, the pain of losing my limbs and the joy and love I had felt being gifted new one's from Miquella which slowed the rot, meeting a kind, yet incredibly strong swordsman who'd sealed the rot god by himself and begging him to teach me how he'd done it, learning everything that swordsman taught me, becoming so strong that i'd yet to lose any fight, and after an age of challenging and being challenged finally mastering myself and growing capable of stopping the rot completely.

I remembered Miquella and I leaving Leyndell and the Erdtree behind, tired of distant god's curses and searching for a way to break them, before finally just deciding to get rid of those gods in general. We built a kingdom together, one that no gods could interfere with with Miquella leading it and me at his side as his loyal blade. And finally I remembered the shattering and how the world slowly devolved into chaos, the sadness that had followed Miquella like a shroud as madness and death spread across the lands. Eventually we both realized that the fighting would never end and I decided that I would make it stop with force. I was an Empyrion stil, and I was strong enough to destroy the still fighting armies and take control of the world as the Elden Lord of the Haligtree, to lead it alongside Miquella as our birthright. That ambition led me and my army here on our march to Caelid, to confront Radahn, to fight and kill him if need be.

Opening my eyes I also remembered how in the game Radahn did not surrender and that I, for some reason, ended up nuking Caelid and turning it into a shithole! I…would avoid permanently ruining 1/4th of the world I decided sheepishly. I was suddenly knocked out of my thoughts when one of my soldiers ran up to me.

"Lady Malenia, there seems to be a large army causing a disturbance at the east end of the camp! how should we deal with them?" The soldier (Captain Finlay if my memories were correct) said this in a matter of fact tone, unconcerned and nonplussed with the approaching army, and stood at attention, awaiting my verdict. I nodded once looking back down at my chair and picking up my helmet which had been resting on the top of it before carefully putting it on.

"Take me to them" I said in a commanding tone, the deep melodic sound of my voice was one that would have been alien to me just a minute ago. But I could now recognize as my own even more so than the voice I'd known I'd had as a man, since I now had more memories of sounding like this than the relatively short amount of time I remembered as a twenty year old human.

Finlay, unaware of my thoughts, bowed before spinning around and beginning to lead me towards the "disturbance". Only pausing for a second to give orders to a few other knights under his command. By the time I walked to the other side of the camp I had an entire regiment following behind me. The entire army seemed unconcerned about news of another army approaching and when I got to the edge of the camp and saw them I knew why.

The approaching army was certainly made up of real soldiers but other than that they looked like a joke. The flags they were waving around seemed to have been made in about ten minutes, tops. Their soldiers weren't marching in formation, or even marching at all, just walking at a steady pace towards my army's camp. And they were obviously just Limgrave soldiers wearing a new coat of arms. The army had no archers, no cavalry, and looking at them she would be surprised if they even had a single mage. At the head of the army was their new Lord, Godrick, who seemed to have grafted a smaller giant's body onto himself. What does this bumbling buffoon think he is doing? I thought incredulously, giving one of the twenty regiments with me the order to get in formation and start marching towards them, while telling the other's to just stay back and watch.

Eventually Godrick's army "marched" over and stopped. They were about three hundred feet away when I called out to Godrick and his army.

"State your business" I demanded, my voice somehow easily carrying all the way to Godrick and his men. They all stopped at the sound of my voice, hesitating, smart of them. But Godrick kept going for a few more paces before responding.

"I am Lord Godrick, and I am here to destroy your army, claim your great rune and become the next Elden Lord!" Godrick screamed, seemingly pouring all of his confidence into his words. His soldiers cheered at his words, emboldened by their task given to them by the last scion of the illustrious golden lineage, my army stood there silently, as if in disbelief.

"I did not come here to toil with fools, my army marches to defeat Radahn the starscourge. You hold no hope of defeating even an eighth of my army, and you hold no hope of ever defeating me" I told him matter of factly wondering why he thought this was a good idea, my frankness seemed to piss him off because I could see him tremble with rage before responding.

"Fools!? Fools!? I am Godrick Lord of all that is Golden!" He screamed, I could practically see him stomping his feet like a child from here.

"Most of your army isn't even standing behind you! And I know you are half dead! Rotting from inside out, how could you possibly beat me!?" He continued to scream in outrage. His words sparked a deep fury inside me and I stilled, this scum was barely a Lord! I could kill him even if I was half dead.

"You are just a child, stomping his feet" I told him calmly again, unwilling to even entertain the thought that this battle would be hardfought.

"I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella" I stated, a deathly calm in my voice as I flared my sword arm out in what some would call a flourish, but what I knew to be the beginnings of an attack. "And I have never known defeat." I finished, my words full of deadly promise. Godrick got the message and only felt more infuriated, snarling before screaming at his army to charge.

"Rune Arc formation" I said calmly, my cleanrot knights instantly forming up into a flared out wall, with several of them stepping forward at the ends to form a bowl. Just before Godricks army could get within 50 feet of mine with their reckless charge I dashed forward. Going so fast that most of the soldiers hadn't even been able to see my run, to them I might as well have teleported. I hit Godricks front line and tore through it in a second, killing any of the soldiers within a 30 foot radius around me as I went. The weak formation of Godricks army was easily broken and my cleanrot knights tore through any soldiers in front of them, one step at a time.

800 of my knights easily ripped through Godricks 25,000 men, the number of the opposing force would have been more threatening if my knights weren't capable of killing multiple of them with one swing. Each one of my knights needed only to kill thirty one of his soldiers and his entire army would be destroyed. An easy prospect if you consider they were frequently killing three of them with one swing of their spears, and many more if they used even one incantation. I killed around a thousand of his men before finally having enough of this farce of a battle and rushing towards Godrick. I could see him standing slack-jawed in the distance, hiding behind his army. I killed all the soldiers in my path to Godrick and when he saw me he paled before raising his axe and getting into a basic fighting stance, his new giant body flexing its muscles.

"So you've come to fight me after all? Then I wi-" that was as far as Godrick got before I was on him, leaping in the air and using my waterfowl dance technique to rip his limbs to shreds, dodging his powerful, but extremely slow, axe swings as I did. He staggered back, trying to get away from my swords only to trip as one of my swings cut his foot off at the ankle. I didn't stop, even as he fell and it soon dawned on him that he truly stood no chance against me.

"W-WAIT, please stop! No more! I'll do anything!" He screamed, trying to drag himself back and away from me as he begged for his life. I stopped, knowing he couldn't fight anymore, I had cut both his arms off as he was flailing them around when he fell over.

"Why should I spare your wretched existence?" I asked him pointing my sword at his neck while he bowed at my feet. On his knees, he continued begging before realizing I had asked him a question.

"I-I'll fight with you! We can defeat Radahn together!" He said, desperately trying to convince me to spare him. I thought over his offer for a few seconds before shaking my head, dismissing it completely. I didn't need him or his army, but I also didn't really think I needed to kill them all right now anyway. Turning around I surveyed the battlefield, my knights were strong, having already cut his army down to almost less than half of its original numbers. "You will order your army to surrender themselves to me" I told Godrick, pointing my sword at his neck and glaring at him menacingly.

"Yes, yes! GOLDEN KNIGHTS SURRENDER!" He screamed desperately, his voice carrying over the sounds of battle. At his surrender most of his knights stopped, dropping their swords and raising their arms in supplication, their sagging forms affecting an air of sharp relief. It seemed they'd finally realized the truth of their Lord's strength as well as I had. Those who didn't stop fighting were immediately killed, further encouraging others to surrender to me and my army.

I made sure to give the signal to accept his army's surrender and ordered the nearest general to have his men round up all of Godrick's soldiers. This wasn't something I would have done before gaining memories of a human from earth, but since I did, I knew that killing all of these knights would leave the citizens of Limgrave defenseless. It was the only reason I could come up with for why in the game Elden Ring most, if not all citizens of Limgrave were dead or undead. Hopefully I could order these knights to defend their citizens and reinforce their castle. I was knocked out of my thoughts by Godrick deciding to speak once again.

"Oh thank you Lady Malenia, Thank you! I will serve you ever loyally" He told me, still groveling at my feet" I scowled at him before correcting his mistake.

"I have not spared you Godrick I have spared your soldiers" I told him, venom in my voice. "For the crime of claiming Lordship over a land you did not earn, for the crime of abusing your subjects to fight and die for a cause that would leave their homes and families defenseless, and finally for presuming that you could try to besmirch my honor I sentence you to death!" I told him harshly, done with his nonsense, he should never have been able to become a Lord in the first place I knew.

"I am the last of the golden lineage! I earned Lordship with my birth, and as their Lord they must obey me!" Godrick screamed at me, probably trying to stop me from executing him. Too bad for him I would not be moved, I remembered now, In the game that is no longer just a game "I" let Godrick go and he ruined Limgrave. His knights no longer protected their citizens, he sent them out to instead hunt Tarnished to graft onto himself for personal power. He became a monstrosity and I judged him unfit to be a lord in both the present and the future.

"Your ancestors gave you a legacy and a social standing, however you were not trained, nor educated for ruling, and there are no feats of your own that would grant you this right. Godfrey took Serosh upon his back to suppress his ceaseless lust for bloodshed after winning many battles, he earned respect for his actions on the battlefield and he proved he earned his lordship once those battles were over." I told him in a toneless voice, I wasn't participating in a debate, I was reading out a sentence.

"When you gained lordship you did it through strength, but that strength was not your own and you dishonored not only yourself but your legacy, through the horrendous act of grafting." I said, both armies were watching intently now, I continued.

"When you fought me on the battlefield, you accepted the consequences your actions would wrought. You accepted that whoever lost would be at the other's mercy." I continued, raising my sword high over my head.

"NO NO NO NO NOOOOO, MEN TAKE UP ARMS PROTECT YOUR LORD!" Godrick screamed, a child again, crying out for someone to save him.

"Bow your head and accept your death with dignity, for you died in battle." I told him, willing at least, to give him this one honor. He, of course, appreciated this kindness from me none and immediately started to scream again. With a swing of my sword faster than the eye could see I beheaded him cleanly, cutting him off from any further dishonor. I was about to turn around and address the enemy prisoner's when suddenly Godricks body glowed golden, surprising me.

Coming from Godricks body, coalescing into existence in golden light was a great rune, I…had completely forgotten that Godrick was a shard bearer. And as the great rune rose from Godrick's body I had just enough time to realize the implication of a great rune rising from the body of a deceased shardbearer while another shardbearer was near before the rune fully formed and slammed hard into my chest, eliciting a respectful noise of surprise(and definitely not a squeak) before my entire body burned gold, I expected even more pain, but feeling my rot-weakened shard latch onto Godrick's was the most blissful feeling i'd ever felt.

I suddenly realized that Godrick's shard was the base shard of the Elden Ring, it was the shard which every other shard would connect to. I hadn't realized before just how important this shard was, until I felt my shard restoring itself. Once the two shards connected, my shard seemed to regain the strength it lost when it came into contact with my scarlet rot curse. And even my body had felt rejuvenated, stronger. I stood up to my full height while my body was still glowing and looking at my left hand revealed that my Scarlet curse was retreating, no…wait, not retreating, my body just became more resistant to it, it felt as if in my soul I had become almost immune to the Scarlet Rot that had lingered in my own body.

The realization sent a shocked joy through my system. I was about to laugh in happiness, or maybe relief when suddenly, I realized that everyone around me was kneeling. I wasn't…unaccustomed to praise and adoration. But it took me a second to place the reason they were kneeling now, even Godricks army was kneeled down reverentially. When I looked around I realized the mistake I made, the golden glow around me wasn't just coming from the great rune, but the Erdtree itself was shining down on me. With a sinking feeling, I fully realized what was happening, I tried to decide if this was a good thing and failed.

I was still speechless when one of my knights, never moving from his reverential bow, started speaking. "All hail the God Queen Malenia, may her rule be long and prosperous!" He said with the fervor of a man who's prayer's had been answered, and his gods proven real. Immediately after he said that, it was repeated like a prayer by the whole army. My ten thousand knights(this number including the majority I'd told not to fight), the servants, and even Godricks eleven thousand soldiers. All of them recognizing me as their queen, sounding like men and women who had been damned all their lives and had suddenly been saved. "It kind of is like that" I realized suddenly, the shattering had ravaged the lands with madness and undeath, in a land that had done away with destined death it must have seemed to them like in the wake of the shattering, everyone was destined for death once again, or worse.

Their chanting hardened my resolve, I could feel it now, the new power I had gained as a god. Even weakened with only two shards, those power's had symbolized what many had thought wouldn't happen for a long time. The Elden Ring was repaired, and miraculously I had become a god with only two shards. I hadn't even realized how close I had been to godhood, even if I was an Empyrion, every demigod had known (assumed now I guess) there was no one strong enough, or close enough to godhood to become the next Marika. The demigods hadn't even been fighting for godhood, they'd all thought if they maybe gathered every single Great Rune then they would be able to become Elden Lord with Marika as their god. No one had thought that they themselves would be able to ascend to godhood at all.

Me becoming a god had proven that everyone who followed me was more than right to, and it shined a beacon of renewed hope on everyone in the lands between. I would not let them down as Marika had.

"We march to Caelid, to end this meaningless bloodshed, I will give one chance for Radahn and Selia to surrender. And if they do not, then we will end this war for them, are you with me my warrior's." I told them, my voice sounding strong and charismatic to my own ears and the golden glow illuminating my form still. Not a single one of them said no to me, or doubted their decision. This moment was what legends were made of, it was the equivalent of Marika's first days of her reign, of Godfrey asking his soldiers to march with him to victory just as he became Elden Lord. My soldiers roared their consent, their hearts soaring with joy, "this was the beginning of a better world!" They all thought deep in their souls.


It was many hours before things calmed down, anyone that I walked near still bowed deeply as I passed. I wasn't completely comfortable with the attention as I'd mostly been treated with respect and awe. Miquella had always been the beloved one and I wasn't used to receiving this kind of attention alone. Ever since Miquella had grown the Haligtree and we'd started to build up our own kingdom, free from the greater will and the two finger's, Miquella had made the laws of our land and my knights and I had enforced them.

I wondered how Miquella was doing without me by his side. He was probably still asleep, cradled in the embrace of our golden Haligtree "hopefully when he wakes he will be free of his curse like I nearly am" I thought happily with an edge of nervousness, Miquella was kind and would never hold such a thing against me, but we had always faced our curses together and it was strange but I wanted to continue doing so. In a way it was how we had fought together, Miquella was too weak to do many things but we faced our curses side by side with strength. "Once this is over we'll be together again, living peacefully and without worry at our Haligtree" I thought to myself, a small smile on my face.

Authors note: I liked Malenia's character and design, so I had to write about her. This was written for fun so there might be more chapter's or there might not. I also mostly wrote this at night when I had insomnia, i've been told my writing either gets better at this time of the day or massively worse, we shall see, it might be weird. But nonetheless have a good one, Peace! :D