Dark-Moon Dark-Sun

chapter 2

It'd been about a month since he'd woken up. Since then he'd recovered and lived a nicely calm life with Gwyndolin. Occaisionally he'd have to deal with the odd intruder to Anor Londo, such was his duty as knight of the darkmoon, but mostly he spent his time with Gwyndolin, who as always had an illusion of himself run the covenant in his stead.

They would read together and cuddle a lot, sometimes on especially cold nights they'd huddle up by the fire in a blanket and tell their own stories. Gwyndolin was especially good at weaving his own tales, stories that really felt inspired and interesting. Arias told him he should try writing some of them down, maybe write a whole book but Gywndolin told him he'd never be able to, not between running all of Anor Londo, the blades, and spending time with him.

Arias told him the two stories he had from his time out in the wilderness away from Gwyndolin. He told him of the crystalized archives, the crystal caves and its invisible walkways. The strange clams in there, and how he found the moonlight greatsword. He also told him of the Ash Lake, a tale which had Gwyndolin in awe, and a little disgust when he told him of the dragon.

Speaking of the Moonlight greatsword, Gwyndolin had actually teleported his weapons out with them, well the parts that were left anyways. He could tell from the way Arias fought that he valued them well and would probably be displeased having to adjust his hand to another weapon.

He had the giant blacksmith of Anor Londo repair them, and they came back in perfect condition, even the Moonlight greatsword which was astounding to say the least considering its nature. Arias was sure to thank the giant the next time he saw him.

Unfortunately, though, his armor was beyond repair, the leather of his gloves had been practically burnt into his skin, which had since mostly healed, though many scars were left, they were no longer scorched completely black and red. The rest of the armor had been torn, beaten and heavily burnt.

The blacksmith tried his best to repair it but was unable. Instead, Gwyndolin had him forge a new set of armor for Arias. One that had loose similarities to the last one but also a few differences, extra plating in some spots, more chainmail under the surcoat. More armor on both arms and improved pauldrons. The steel used was also greatly improved to make penetrating the armor much harder.

Finally, he had symbols of the moon etched into the plating and embroidered onto the new surcoat, to mark his status as a knight of the darkmoon, not of Astora. He had yet to show Arias this new armor set though, since it was only just finished recently, and he thought it would be nice to surprise him with it when he got the chance.

For now, Arias had been wearing a slightly modified silver knight set to fit him better, though it was pretty clear he had no love for the armor, not in terms of looks or comfortability, something Gwyndolin took great note of when he gave the blacksmith the order to forge his new set.

Despite how well things were for the two, despite it being everything he ever could've dreamed of and more. Arias felt uneasy still. He couldn't shake that feeling that something was terribly wrong, that perhaps something may even be after him.

He had to be more careful now too, now that the fire had been linked, the curse would be nullified until it faded again, meaning if he died now, he would stay dead for years. Which made his worry even more prevalent. He couldn't relax completely, not until this feeling went away. The last thing he would want would be for Gwyndolin to lose him, or even worse, for Gwyndolin to get hurt too.

He'd challenge fate itself if it meant keeping his lover safe. Arias' eyes widened in shock when he realized he recognized those words. He was just going for a walk in the courtyard in lower Anor Londo when he realized Lenovis had said that to him about Oscar, just before he took her out of her cell.

And those words, they sent a shiver down his spine, words he'd just used a minute ago to reinforce his determination now made him shudder just at the thought. But why? There's no way Oscar could challenge fate let alone him. That's impossible, he wouldn't even have a body or a mind to do that with, since Arias held possession over both now.

This must have a connection to why he felt so uneasy. And maybe even to what happened after he linked the fire. Gwyndolin told him he was completely still before passing out, but he remembered absolutely nothing of it. He didn't even remember defeating Gwyn, his memories went right up to grabbing that sword, and the next memory was awakening in Gwyndolin's bed.

Maybe he should go investigate Firelink Shrine. He couldn't go into the kiln anymore since he'd be incinerated by the now reinvigorated flame but maybe the environment outside would jog his memory if only a little.

Though then again maybe not, not in that silver knight armor anyways, it was far too clunky, if he ran into a threat, he'd have a much harder time than usual. Couldn't put himself in danger like that especially not now. He'd have to wait and see what happened.

Arias sighed and stopped walking for a minute. He took in a deep breath and smelled the pleasant fresh air. It was warm but not uncomfortable. With all this worrying and confusion, he must be sure not to forget what he's fought for. And what he'd earned with his victory.

He'd go back to Gwyndolin in a minute to get his mind off things, maybe ask him to tell him a story or read a bit. He really enjoyed that, and despite seeing it almost every day now, he still couldn't get over that wonderful smile he had when reading and cuddling.

A/N Despite there being a threat looming overhead, I thought it'd be good to have a few chapters of Gwyndolin and Arias just enjoying doing couple stuff. After all that they've been through they certainly earned it.