Monster Girl Quest Reacts
Chapter 1
Inspiration: Dark Souls Prepare to Cry Remastered Gwyn's Light
Author's Note: I do not own any of the characters or series shown except for my OC. Spoilers for Monster Girl Quest and any other media I show. Enjoy.
In a white void there was silence. No ground, no sky, and no people. Until a blue orb of light appeared in this world of nothingness. It began moving around and as it moved it began to speak.
"Let's see, how about a movie theatre?" The void began to change in to form a massive theatre, complete with food and drinks in every seat. "Perfect, now I'll need a little change in attire. It would be boring if I was just a ball of light." The light began to change and morph into a human male wearing a black clothing with a blue coat covering his shirt. His hair shifted from black to green before changing to blond. He looked at himself before smiling, "Not bad, and now finally, it's time for the guests." He spun around to face the empty chairs and snapped his fingers.
Several people began to appear. The first two that appeared was a purple haired man with a cape and a sword that appears to be made from multiple statures of angles, along with a white haired woman that has a red snake tail for a lower body and purple skin with tattoos. These were the Hero Luka and the Monster Lord Alipheese (or simply Alice) respectively.
The next four were a blue slime with tattoos covering half her body, a girl partially covered in green scales with slit pupils wearing armour and carrying a large sword, a child with fox ears and nine fluffy tails dressed in a kimono and despite her young appearance carries a sharp gaze, and a succubus dressed in revealing clothing. These were Erubetie, Granberia, Tamamo and Alma Elma. The four Heavenly Knights.
The last two that arrived was a red haired female in a white lab coat, an unusual design compared to the other guests. The final guest was a woman with long blonde hair and two white wings on her back. These were the angel Promestein and the Goddess Ilias.
"Wh-what? Where are we?" Luka exclaimed. Surprised that he was in an unfamiliar place. Looking around he spotted Alice seated next to him as well as the Heavenly Knights sitting a short distance away. What shocked him even further was the fact that Ilias herself was also seated there along with Promestein.
"Ilias? What are you doing here?" Tamamo scowled, hiding her expression behind a paper fan. Everyone stood up from their seats ready to attack each other. Suddenly everyone froze in place, unable to move but still able to think and speak.
"Whoa, let's calm down everyone. There is a lot of excitement ahead so we don't have start fighting, at least not yet." The man on the stage spoke as he held his hands up, being the only person that can move."
"Who are you? Such phenomenal magic, it seems there is still many things to research" Promestien questioned. Intent on analysing the situation.
"A great question, you may refer to me as J." J answered before pacing back and forth on the stage. "Now the reason you are all here today is because I brought you here for a very special reason…" J stopped and threw his arms out to face the audience. "Ladies and Gentleman, Humans, Monsters and Angle alike. You are here to react to stuff straight from the multiverse!" Behind him a giant screen appeared before flickering on and showing four words.
Welcome to the Theatre
"Now let's all take a seat and not fight. I'll try to answer any concerns you have but we have many things to do so let's make it quick." Snapping his fingers, J unfroze the audience who didn't sit down but didn't start fighting either.
"Why are you doing this?" Asked Alice with a serious gaze befitting of the Monster Lord.
"…Alice you have some crumbs on your mouth" Luka said. To the surprise of most people, Alice had already begun eating some of the various food that were presented to them.
"Q-Quiet! I can't help it, it all smells so delicious." Alice blushed as wiped the crumbs off her face. J began laughing
"Well the reason I am doing this is to see how you react to some of things I will show you. Will you laugh? Will you cry? Will you learn a lesson from it or will something else happen? It's all to see what you will do. And don't worry, I mean no harm for any of you." J gave a wink before raising his arm and pointing to the ceiling.
"Now who is ready to get this party started?" J shouted.
"Let's do it, it sounds like fun Granberia." Alma Elma giggled, playfully leaning on the dragonkin swordswoman.
"You are always too carefree, fine it doesn't seem like we can leave anyways" Granberia sighed.
"Well as long as we can't attack each other it sound be fine, I'm also a little curious myself. What about you Erubetie?" Tamamo said, eating some fried tofu.
"…Fine." Erubetie said.
"It should be fine, He said he didn't mean any harm" Luka reasoned.
"Your too soft-hearted you idiot, fine." Alice said with a smile.
"The opportunity to observe other worlds… Perhaps something could be learned." Muttered Promestien.
"What a waste of time." Ilias spoke but didn't outright object.
"Alright! Now let's do this!" J disappeared in a flash of blue light as the screen started to flicker.
"Do not go gentle into that good night" The screen showed an old man with a crown wielding a flaming sword. "Old age should burn and rave at close of day. Rage, rage against the dying of the light"
Granberia was intrigued by the flaming sword which was similar to her own technique. While Tamamo was intrigued by the poem.
"The light meant everything to Gwyn, for before light he was nothing." The screen showed an image of a dark cavern briefly illuminated by flashes of embers.
"Who is Gwyn?" Asked Luka.
"You could say that he bears some similarities to Ilias in this world" Replied J
'What? How could such a man even compare to me?' Thought Ilias. She was the Goddess of light, if light was so important to this Gwyn then he should worship her.
"Imagine being a nameless member of some primitive congregation, barely scraping by in a harsh dark world" Gwyn now stood in front of several people in armour, surrounded by darkness. The scene changed to a cavern filled with a large fire that seemed to burn with sort of fuel.
"Then you come across a most glorious sight – light, and by that light you find a soul. Not just any soul, but the most powerful soul. One that carries with it the power – no, the responsibility – to lift your race out of the shadows onto, the surface where the dragons dwell." Gwyn is seen standing in front of the flame before the scene shifts to show many dishevelled people starting to get up off the ground. The image changes to show a dragon seemly made from stone yet it could be seen breathing.
"What is that? How could a soul come from a fire?" Questioned Alice.
"That is the First Flame, it is also called the flame of disparity. During the time called the Age of Ancients, dragons ruled the world with stone scales that granted them immortality. When the First Flame appeared, it granted four powerful souls called Lord Souls. The Death Soul went to Nito who became the first undead creature to exist, the Life Soul went to the Witch of Izalith, the Light Soul went to Gwyn and the Dark Soul went to the furtive pygmy who was easily forgotten. The lords raised an army and went to war against the dragons and eventually won with the help of a dragon named Seath the Scaleless. Then began the age of fire with Gwyn as a God-no a Lord of Sunlight."
Many were shocked that the dragons possessed immortality and further shocked that a flame could give the power to become a god. Promestein was reminded of how she gave fire to humanity a long time ago and how far they had come since then.
"Gwyn did not win this first war overnight. We forget this, but during the age of ancients, there was still time for the Lords to rise." A silver night holding a sword faced a dragon before the image shifted to a large city with medieval architecture.
"Civilizations were built, alliances were forged, loyal knights were appointed and betrayers were born, for after disparity came creatures that were not born equal." A grotesque creature that could barely be called a dragon was shown. It had pale skin that lacked any scales that a dragon should have, 4 large fairy like wings and a lower body covered in crystals.
"Creatures like Seath who lived without the immortal stone scales of his brethren. With his mortality came a desperation, an ambition, a jealousy; things the stone dragons never had and could never understand."
Alice and Luka thought about the monsters and humans encountered on their journey. Especially Lazarus who spoke about how they couldn't understand the plight of humans because they were strong. Erubetie thought about the slime monster that betrayed her and the rest of her kind by poisoning one of the few remaining places that slimes could live in.
"And so, with their secrets betrayed by the pale drake, the dragons' homes were burned to ash, their scales were pierced by lightning and their flesh was exposed to disease." The image showed a massive fire burning down large trees, Gwyn hurling bolts of lightning at the dragons and Nito holding his skeletal arms up as the dragons rotted and turned to dust.
Ilias, Tamamo, Granberia and Promestien were intrigued by the power of the Lords. Ilias seeing the sunlight spears as similar to her own attack with light magic, Granberia being remind of her teacher Salamander who was a flame elemental spirit and Promestien compared Nito to one of her former members in her group.
"The war was won and Gwyn could have eliminated Seath here, but he chose not to. Instead he did just the opposite. He granted Seath a piece of his very own soul. He elevated him to the peerage, he granted him dukedom and also the hand of his daughter, Gwynevere, with whom he could sire royal children." A giant woman with extraordinary beauty laid on a seat dressed in white garments.
"Ara? It seems this Gwynevere is quite pretty, maybe she had some fun with Seath." Giggled Alma Elma.
"They did have a child together, I believe it was named Priscilla." Commented J.
"Honouring Seath like this ended up costing Gwyn his closest battle compatriot, Havel the Rock, who harboured this deep hatred against the scaleless dragon. Havel is not found in game, but deep within Anor Londo behind an illusionary wall and protected by a mimic, are his armaments, alongside the occult weaponry designed to kill a God." A man was wearing armour that covered his entire body that had scale like patterns on it, he held a shield of similar design and a large dragon tooth as a club.
"Ah Havel, a lot of players hated him and many loved his armour. Damn did he have poise." J commented.
"Players? What are you saying?" Questioned Luka.
"Oh I must have forgot to mention, this world has a counterpart in another world where it is a videogame called dark souls. Think of it as using technology for entertainment." Explained J.
"Videogames? How common is technology for it to be used for entertainment? It seems that world is more advanced compared to this one." Promestien was curious about the development of technology for entertainment. Perhaps she should make one based on her world.
"From this we can guess that Havel nursed this resentment for Gwyn, though it seems he never acted on it. At this time, after all, Gwyn was surrounded by his entourage of knights, many of them wistfully craving this return to the combat that had once given them purpose." Many different knights were shown from swordsman to archers with arrows as large as spears.
"Gwyn would repeat this behaviour throughout the Age of Fire, keeping his friends close and his enemies even closer, for fire was at its peak, and the whole world was charmed by its brilliance." A large castle was shown with the sun shining brightly in the background.
The audience thought about Black Alice who was an enemy to everyone here but Ilias kept her as an ally because it was necessary.
"Good men, the last wave by crying how bright, their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay. Rage, rage against the dying of the light." The poem resumed as a man wearing a metal helmet quietly carved a sculpture from wood.
"To Nito, Gwyn permitted a quiet domain for all of the deceased, and in return Nito never did spread death to the gods. Over in Izalith, the Witch was tolerated despite spawning her creatures of chaos. But there was a fourth Lord – one that I didn't mention when talking about the dragon wars, but one who took part in them just the same- the furtive pygmy race and their descendants." The Lords were shown after the war with Nito resting in a silent catacomb, the Witch having been transformed into a flaming tree that demons crawled out of and a shrivelled person holding a small flame.
"What happened to them?" Asked Alice who was surprised at the change of the witch.
"The Witch of Izalith tried to experiment with her Life Soul in order to try and create another First Flame. Unfortunately it failed and turned her into a mindless thing called the Bed of Chaos which used its powers over life to create demons." J answered, looking over at Promestein who had done many inhumane experiments.
"The Pygmy Lords, squirreling away a soul of dark, represented the most significant threat to Gwyn's Age of Fire." A corpse of a short king was sitting on an old throne surrounded by ash and rubble.
"So what do you think Gwyn did? Exterminate them? No. Instead, Gwyn indebted them with the greatest gifts of all. While the Pygmy Lords waited patiently for light to fade, Gwyn twisted their fate." A stature could be seen of Gwyn giving a crown to a pygmy.
"Prop up this tiny race, bathe them in the glory of the light, blind them with its brilliance, and give them a crown, a Ringed City, his youngest daughter. Let them indulge in bounty and, while they're still weak, raise a dragon to watch over them, seal their dark with fire and shackle them to mortality. Let them spread across the earth and forget their heritage, their accomplishments. Let the origins of humanity be buried, out of sight and out of mind." A city with giant walls was shown along with a giant black dragon looking down on it.
"Gwyn deceived them?" Luka frowned. It was similar to how Ilias lied to her worshipers about the origins of humans and monsters.
"So the pygmies were walled off, safe in a city that exists only at the end of the world. Most of them stayed there forever, happily subservient to their princess Filianore who's very slumber was a miracle that was designed to prevent time from passing." A woman with black hair was sleeping while holding a cracked egg, her eyes had black veins visible as they were kept closed.
"Prevent time from passing? Was Gwyn really that afraid of them to seal them in time?" Asked Ilias who understood how difficult it was to manipulate time.
"He wasn't afraid of the pygmies, at least not to this extent. He was afraid of the First Flame fading and with it, his power over the world." J said.
"Meanwhile humans, the pygmies' descendants, had spread to the outside world and out there, they too warmed themselves by fire. However, unbeknownst to most of them, this ran counter to their true nature." A knight seen sitting next to a bonfire that had a strange coiled sword inside it.
"In the dark there are no shadows, but where fire resides shadows twist and shrivel. So, some members of the dark did sense that something was wrong and they began to ram against their shackles." An ugly monster was shown as it dragged a ball and chain as it ran.
"How mean, everyone should be free like the wind." Sang Alma Elma in an unusually serious comment.
"First, the Mad King was born to the pygmies and he was undying, as the dark should be, so he was held in a dark room until the end of time. Later, yet another Pygmy Lord would go on to spawn an Abyss when he was unearthed in Oolacile." The screen showed a large hole in the ground that was filled with darkness that seemed to twist and thrive.
"And, over time, even mankind turned into monsters. This hollowing process that unfairly became attributed to their darkness instead of the fire that branded them" A person in rage held their head as they kneeled on the ground. They had no hair and had such thin skin that it showed the bones underneath them.
"Though wise men at their end know dark is right because their words had forked no lightning. They do not go gentle into that good night." A large monster was shown that had many glowing red eyes across their horns, along with a left arm that seemed to bulge and thrash with dark energy seeping off it.
"This darkness, it seems much worse than the dark magic that the First Monster Lord used to create monsters in our world" Observed Tamamo.
"You are right Tamamo. The Abyss corrupts not only your body but your mind as well, making you nothing more than a savage beast trying to take back the humanity that they lost." J shakes his head thinking of a certain wolf knight that lost himself to the Abyss.
"Gwyn's favoured tool of control was the church. Something he had used to great effect already in the Ringed City, and he would use it again now to indoctrinate the people of the wider world." A building of a church was shown with an undead holding their hands together in a prayer.
"Gwyn the White was their deity of worship and Lloyd the Grey was at its head, acting as a sort of intermediary between gods and humans." A statue of Gwyn was shown holding a sword with the point facing the ground.
"So he used the church as well, sound familiar?" mocked Alice as she glared at Ilias.
"Do you have something you wish to say?" Ilias gave a cold smile back.
"Now settle down ladies, you were doing so well." Said J in a relaxed tone as he laid down floating in the air.
"They framed undeath as a terrible sin, and so the undead became the subjects of undead hunts lead by cleric knights charged to cleanse the unholy. And if such a cleric, god forbid, actually became undead themselves, then there was a solution to that too." Corpses of undead were burned to ash as a cleric knight began travelling.
"Such ironically cursed humans were shipped off to Lordran and given a new holy mission: retrieve the rite of kindling from the deadly catacombs, and if you should fail, well, so what?" One person could be seen walking through the catacombs with a sword and shield in their hands.
"Undead were treated that badly?" Luka frowned, he despised necromancers for disturbing the dignity of the dead but he didn't have anything against the undead themselves.
"Gwyn had basically dressed up exile for his undead clerics. But one man whose exile he did not spin, for once, was the banishment of his firstborn son. The Nameless King, God of War and leader of the Sunlight Covenant had his godhood rescinded after it was discovered that he was fraternizing with dragons. This was something he covered up." In the church was the statue of the gods including Gwyn yet there was an empty pedestal for a stature to be put in its place. The scene shifted to show a man with long white hair and wielding a large sword-spear and riding a drake.
This scene reminded Ilias of how her own firstborn Lucifina. Her betrayal had hit her hard and made her regret some of the actions she had done. Could they have continued to be a family if she wasn't so focused on becoming an omnipotent goddess?
"In addition, it seems like Gwyn's captain of the guard, Ornstein, went on to leave his post in favour of the Nameless King, and so too – it appears – did Havel, whose knights arise in the Nameless King's defence at Arch Dragon Peak." A man wearing golden armour with red hair flowing out the back of his helmet carried a cross spear as walked away from a large fat man holding a hammer.
Granberia was interested in the knights that followed the Nameless King along with the man himself. After all they were strong warriors and Gwyn's firstborn was said to be a god of war, so she was curious what it would be like to fight them.
"A war had been fought in the name of disparity. Yet, how righteous, truly, was their war against the ancient, unchanging, everlasting dragons, when Gwyn himself refused to cede to the natural order? But Gwyn's manipulation would not last for the Nameless king was just a crack in the dam and the wall was set to burst." Gwyn was seen fight against the everlasting dragons before being shown as a stature giving a crown to a pygmy.
"Wild men who caught and sang the Sun in flight and learn, too late, they grieved it on its way. Do not go gentle into that good night." The nameless king stood next to his drake as it laid on the ground dying. He pointed his spear at its head, his hand shaking, as he put it out of its pain.
"It seems that Gwyn's reign over the world is ending. What would happen next?" Tamamo wondered.
"After the Age of Fire ends, the Age of Dark would begin. In which humanity would inherit the world, but even now Gwyn hasn't given up." J Spoke.
"Many alliances broke, seemingly all at once. Gravelord Nito had become increasingly reclusive and the Rite of Kindling had been lost within his domain, Izalith had defiled flame and Gwyn's war against her demons had weakened his armies, Seath was trending towards madness, the Way of White had begun to worship Lloyd instead and there were even whispers that Kaath, one of the primordial serpents, had begun speaking the truth about the Pygmy Lords." All of the Lords were shown as the Age of Fire was coming to an end.
"Gwyn's light was waning. Illusions could keep it alive no longer and some people waited for a Dark Lord to be born amongst humans. Was Kaath right? Was he fighting against the inevitable? Had he found the wrong soul? No, he was Lord Gwyn, august magnificence, and if he was not yet worthy of worship, then it was because he had not yet made a great enough sacrifice. So Gwyn would link the fire, leave a mark, perform the miracle that was so great, a sacrifice so complete, that it would bring the world back from the brink of darkness, and it worked well. Too well." Gwyn journeyed from his home all the way to the kiln of the First Flame.
"What is he doing? He is giving his life to keep his age going? Does it mean that much to him?" Luka was surprised.
"Yes, it meant everything to Gwyn." J held his head with one hand and shook it. Not because of Gwyn giving his life, but for what comes after.
"Gwyn was consumed and, with his dying breath, utterly defied disparity. The world became cursed. And from this point on every time an Age of Fire dwindled, the souls of Lords would flourish anew, so that it could all play out again. The timeline of fire had warped. It had turned from a straight line, linked into a circle, becoming this wall containing that rightful Age of Dark until the end of time." Gwyn was became fire as it exploded outwards and renewing the Age of Fire. A black circle became encased in a ring of fire as it burned. The Darksign.
"To prevent time from progressing naturally so completely, no wonder the world became cursed." Muttered Ilias who pondered on his desperation.
"Eventually, as the world burned out over and over again, ash itself would arise. A new being, created from a thousand failures who had tried to link the fire over the years. But ash did not belong in this world, and honestly, they had more in common with the beings of the Painted World, where all of fire's discarded things reside." A large castle covered in snow was seen in the distance where a knight was standing, looking towards it and leaving ash behind when they walked.
"Painted World? There is a world inside a painting?" Promestien was intrigued by the possibility to create worlds inside a painting.
"Yes there is, it was initially a place to imprison things that threatened or simply disgusted the gods but over time it became a safe haven for those who had lost their purpose." Explained J
"So, they fought for a new purpose: to reunite the Dark Soul, and to paint a new world with it, so that they could escae the ashen wasteland that Gwyn had created. And so, far away, at the very end of the world, one of the first victims of the curse, Slave Knight Gael, hollowed beyond belief, also sacrificed himself for a new world, and he did not go gentle into that good night." In the ruins of a kingdom that became a wasteland full of ash, a knight wearing a red hood knelt on the ground.
"Blind eye could blaze like meteors and be gay. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, curse, bless me now with your fierce tears I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light." The image faded to black as the video ends.