Chapter 12

Exploring the Capital and learning the Truth

Beta: Old man of the mountain/Darklord331

Naruto and the girls had settled out by the balcony. Mostly taking in the sight of the city and Naruto having to admit leaving that room was for the best.

Not only was it far away from the everything else but the biggest problem he had was the woman situated there. He didn't get too much of a look at the woman other than the iron helm she was wearing. She didn't say anything to them as they rested; she just stood there unmoving and unflinching at their presence. For some reason, he wasn't sure why but he felt her presence was more than enough to ward him off along with the rest of the girls. Mentioning there was a coldness they couldn't explain.

From there they returned to the balcony and looked out on the city and Naruto had to admit the architecture is pretty.

"Man this city is massive. There is so much here and yet so much to see."

"Yes." Quelaag frowned, "Gwyn's greatest design. Sadly, this city was built on something quite horrid."

"Huh?"

Quelana grunted,

"It was built on the graves of dragons. Apparently Gwyn decided to really stick it to the dragons after winning the war by using their former nesting grounds as his home and showing them that he didn't care about the corpses that remained. He even had Nito break down their fucking bodies just so he can incorporate their corpses into weapon and armor. Now, he just uses them as some of his troops and even makes it a taunting tool when he even kept the skull of a mother dragon trying to protect her children." Quelana shook her head, "Mother said that was one of the earliest signs she remembered of Gwyn's true madness. Someone who just hated when people stood against him or didn't stand with his ideals."

"Geez," Naruto looked out on the city and hearing this, painted a new perspective on things. If Gwyn did build this majestic city purely out of spite and just to fuck with the dragons; then what else was he truly capable of? Was he really this benevolent leader that everyone made him out to be or was it just propaganda to cover up his more, sinister intentions?

"Plus it isn't like the other lords were here much anyway." Quelana stood at the edge of the balcony, "Our mother didn't step foot in this place until signs of the first flame diminishing started to spark. He demanded our mother find a solution with her pyromancy magic but ultimately she failed." She gripped her fist, "That's what led to the creation of the demon race and many of our family falling into absolute despair and even mutations."

Quelaag nodded.

"Yeah, thanks to you though, we managed to avoid being cut down due to this." She smiled, "So, where to next?"

Naruto frowned,

"Honestly, I don't know." Looking out on the world he frowned, "The truth is I'm not 100% sure what we are supposed to be doing here. From what I can gather from both the bells and this whole pilgrimage. There is something in this city we are supposed to collect but what it is, I'm not sure. But there is something else that has been bothering me." Looking out he frowned, "Have any of you noticed that this place seems almost homey compared to the rest of the realm? I mean the Undead city, the church, and Blight Town. All of them seem to have more trouble than any of them can handle. But at the same time, they were all dreadful while this place seems to be completely untouched. I mean if Gwyn was still here I can understand that but he is not."

"True," The girls frowned, "Do you think it is the monsters and warriors in this city that are doing this?"

Naruto shook his head,

"From what I can tell most of them are golems and those bat like demons, meaning that if they were the only means of defense most warriors might not have a hard time with this. Even larger parties would have an easier time of this." He sighed, "I guess we will find out the further into the city we go."

The three nodded their head and quickly head to the left. There they continued into another building where two golems stood at attention.

Naruto and Quelaag made quick work of both of them with Naruto cutting through its ankles and making it fall over while slamming his sword through his neck. There, Quelaag would enhance her sword with flames burning through the metal and piercing the creature's core, making it disappear.

From this, they exited out of the building after killing a mimic chest, which almost ate Naruto by chance if not for Quelana. But they were ambushed by another golem but Naruto just managed to summon Dragon Slayer and sliced through its legs making it collapse. There, Quelana point blank, exploded flames into the armor's slits destroying the magical core inside.

Seeing a dead end they returned to the balcony where they saw a ground floor next to the lift. There, they walked onto the lift and traveled downward eventually reaching a gargoyle with a halberd and shield.

"Seriously what the fuck?" Naruto quickly drew out his Dragon Slayer and rushed the monster which flew into the air for a second and came down with a mighty swing of his weapon.

But it soon found itself falling to the way side due to the weight of the blade carrying itself through its body and making it collapse into nothing. Naruto saw the creature explode into dust and soon a halberd was sitting there on the ground. Grabbing the weapon he sent it away and pulled out his normal sword and replacing Dragon Slayer with it.

Walking to the end they saw that it was an elevated platform preventing them from moving forward.

"Hey." They turned to the youngest who pointed at the church next to them and they saw a path that was leading from a lower part of the path and to the church balcony. There, they quickly rushed through and found themselves standing outsides the second floor of this church. Looking inside Naruto frowned,

"There are enemies inside and by the looks of it we are going to need more mobility to traverse our way across. Meaning that two of us are going to have to make it through while the others follow behind after we are finished killing the enemies."

Quelaag agreed to stay behind while Quelana joined him on his excursion.

Naruto and Quelana walked into the church where on the ground floor Naruto frowned seeing a statue of Gwynevere.

'Gwynevere, is this your place of worship?'

"It was. Sadly, this is just a poor reminder of my betrayal as this is also where my father murdered my husband."

'Husband; the lord of Fire right?'

"How did you know that?"

Naruto gulped.

'I might have been having some weird visions of what looks like your past recently.'

"For how long?"

'Um, since I have used Senjutsu on the butterfly.'

"What have you seen exactly?"

'I saw some kind of white beast, you had a baby after that, you and your father arguing about something, him killing you, and your time with the thing that was called Seath I think and how you were planning on having someone kill him.'

"I see. So you know most of my history since my father and that is how you learned of my husband?"

'Yeah saw his killing of your husband and something about won't tolerate failure?'

"Sadly yes. What you saw was most likely the history in a nutshell. More; my life as Seath's little mate, the birth of my child that was taken from me, the death of my servants who were morphed and him raping me, and also the death of my husband for failing to recreate the first flame."

'I'm sorry I should have-'

"Its fine we'll talk about it later but for now you should know that my father did kill me as more time passed he stopped being the man I once knew as an honorable king."

Naruto nodded and got back to the objective at hand which is fighting some of the white cladded figures. While they proved to be more mobile than most of his opponents they needed a higher level of durability.

Luckily Quelana was able to counter his movement and even create a small fire trap on the floor that when he stepped on it, the trap exploded killing him in an instant.

"Nice."

"Thanks, first time I was able to use the fire trap spell that I created but I think it worked perfectly."

"Considering he is dead yeah I think so too."

The two of them quickly ascended to the next floor, taking them over the beams. Naruto and Quelana carefully traversed the beams in fear of falling off but Naruto had Quelana ready as they noticed two more of the white figures ahead of them.

They quickly cleared the ceiling after a few well placed fire balls sent them falling over the ledge and to their death's below.

At the same time, Naruto and Quelana made it across landing at the foot of Gwynevere's statue. There they shouted for Quelaag and the youngest to come over, which they were able to do without hinderance. Arriving by the statue the group decided they needed to figure their way out of the building so they started by going down left only to find some chests and equipment material.

So, backtracking to the statue they found that their path to the right and quickly traversed through the narrow halls without trouble.

At the end of the hall they saw a fog gate and walked through only to find themselves back outside where they saw a single stone walkway. Walking to the end of the walkway they found a wheel in the center of the pavilion with a staircase at the bottom. Naruto looked at it and then looked at the area around it.

"It seems that this connects to multiple locations."

"So, turn it then." Quelana frowned. "We can handle anything coming our way right now so as long as the three of us are here there is no trouble."

Naruto shrugged his shoulder and pushed on the metal line. There, the entire tower twisted to the left. This action lead to the tower connecting to two lower bridges one to a massive palace like building to their left while connecting to another building to their right. However, Naruto didn't have a chance to think on that as a screech was heard.

The girls looked up and saw another Gargoyle flying around them and landing next to the spinning wheel.

"Geez, do you guys ever get bored of being killed?"

The gargoyle swung his halberd.

The youngest backed away while Quelana chucked a fireball at the creature which it promptly blocked with its shield.

Quelaag rushed the creature with his fire sword but it blocked with its halberd after tilting it sideways.

The creature opened its mouth, forcing Quelaag to jump backwards.

A bolt of lighting erupted from the creature's mouth.

Naruto seeing this went through his inventory and found one of his daggers and threw it into the creature's mouth. Making the creature, choke is the best word he can come up with. He wasn't sure a stone creature could choke, but it seemed they could choke. Given that the knife going down its gullet forced an end to the lighting blast.

Quelaag launched an immense attack with her sword going down its mouth and her pushing her pyromancy into the blade and soon incinerating the creature from the inside out. The monster vanished a cloud of dust like its predecessors but Naruto could tell that this one was far weaker than his counter parts. More so while he had some of the same weapons and skills his abilities were far more limited in comparison.

Naruto and the group went down the stairs and headed into the church. There they saw a hoard of the white robed figures and Naruto just sighed.

"This is going to be annoying." He pulled out his fire and motioned for them to follow.

The girls did with the youngest quickly supplying some replenishing flames to help with their fatigue and to give them more durability going into this battle.

Naruto and the girls quickly got to work with Quelana landing powerful balls of flames and those that got close eating large torrents of flames in the face.

Quelaag was moving around the room with lighting speed cutting down the guards with ease and incinerating those that got impaled on her blade. From this, one tried to do a back stab on her but she quickly ducked and rolled under the strike before cutting it off at the kneecaps. When its body hit the floor it screeched in pain but she slammed the blade through the back of his throat making it go silent.

Naruto was using his fire as effectively as possible, casting fire balls at some while hitting others with torrents of flame.

He managed to kill two of them with the fireballs as they were caught off guard by the attack but the rest were dodging his movements. Naruto soon had to use his sword to cut down the rest of the enemies. With his sword dug into the chest of one of them he held his other hand out and hit one charging him from behind with a torrent of flame making it scream in pain. Naruto pulled his blade out and slashed off the head of the other.

The room was cleared.

Naruto and the girls looked around the room and found some stuff that could be useful to them down the line but Naruto did find peculiar armor that he wasn't sure who it belonged to. Looking up he saw that he was right below one of the rafter banners, leading to him concluding that he must have slipped and fell to his death.

Naruto silently prayed for him, picked up his armor, and put it away in his magical space.

Once they had cleared the temple Naruto looked at the statue one more time and walked out so that they could make it to their next destination. Naruto and the girls decided to turn the wheel again as they noticed there was an opening on another building that when turned would lead to safety and a bonfire.

After turning and reaching the bonfire, Naruto took a seat on the ground and closed his eyes telling the girls he was going to get some sleep as they had more ground to cover in a bit.

They agreed and got to work either sleeping or preparing the material they would need.

Naruto in his mindscape saw Gwynevere tending to the larger souls that he had gain and smiled,

"You're really good with caring for those in pain at a time."

She smiled,

"Yes it is the only way I can somehow redeem myself from the mistakes of my people."

Naruto frowned,

"Gwynevere this seems to be more than just a simple feud or something akin to what I would say a pissing match; what is really going on? What did your father do during the war that made him so distrusted by the others? I mean obviously you have your reasons for what Seath did to you and your priestesses and how he did that to you after ended some of their suffering. But this feeling with your father; it seems deep."

She sighed, sitting down on a small log she formed,

"Because it is. Its true that my father and I didn't always get along but there was more to the reason why I hate the man after all this time. More so than him just killing me out of spite. The truth is; I hated him because of what he was becoming and what he did to people."

Naruto motioned for her to continue.

"As you know father was fearful of the Pygmy race, he viewed them as the greatest threat to the people and his reign. More so, he viewed them as a blight on the world and feared what they would bring to them. As during the war they proved not only the most numerous in numbers but the most valuable in the war effort. For some reason the dragons were struggling against them more than his own troops and some of the other figures of the war. It was only thanks to them that we made it this far. Sadly, those that were loyal to him were blinded by the idea he would honor them or how he would honor them. As for Seath; that fucking parasite was a different story altogether."

She glared down at her hands, clenching her fist, "He was a dragon. One that was born without the normal features of his own kind; no eyes, no scales, and no lower body like the rest of them. He was just a writhing mess and something akin to a dragon but not an Eternal Dragon. He envied his own kind and feared what this all meant for him. So in time; he grew more and more resentful to the point that when father and he meet, they hit it off. Seath provided them with sorcery; a powerful form of energy he created that anyone can learn. He created spells that would allow their mana to pass through the scales of the dragons and kill them as necessary." She sighed, "This intrigued my father to no end so he agreed to whatever demands the dragon had in exchange for this information. Seath wanted nobility, the grand archives to research to his hearts content, and access to anything and everything that he would need to further his own studies and help the kingdom."

"I'm guessing he agreed? Wait if you guys had sorcery why would you need him?"

"His sorcery was effective against all enemies; not just normal races or just dragons. It was powerful magic that we can't even fathom. Sadly; he was more interested in the archives and destroying his own kind as a way of supremacy."

"So that is how you guys won the war?"

"Yes; sadly the Eternal Dragons were chased from the lands to near extinction. Some still exist but they are hard to find as they choose to live outside Gwyn's eyesight. He never bothered to chase them feeling he proved his point and thanks to his allies he honored his agreement to Seath."

"Thus giving him nobility and the achieves."

"Exactly." She sighed, standing up, "From there he performed horrid experiments, captured people for his research, and when the time came he was curious if he could procreate. So father sent me to procreate with the monster. Once we confirmed a pregnancy I had to carry my child." She rubbed her stomach with a sad smile, "I promised I would protect them from their father and my father, but when she was born, they feared her. Fearing her power and fearing what she could do just as an infant. So, father took her and locked her away from me, forbidding me from raising her or even having communication. My husband begged for my father to overturn this decision but he stood by it. From there, she was permanently sent away and I was forced into depression. That is when I was forced to return to help Seath further but as you can guess; it lead to me finding my priestesses and saving them from their torment but in the end all I got was raped again. In time he claimed he accomplished his goal and he was now finished with me. Sending me away and now just reading and researching all the magic he can and creating new spells to go with it."

"Then you talked to Havel right?"

"Yes he was a loyal subordinate of my father but he grew to distrust Seath due to his treachery in the war and wanting to kill the dragon instead of allying with it. Finding him more trouble than he was worth. Sadly, Havel and I's plan was found out right before the relighting and thus he was sealed away in a tower in the Undead Burg while I was killed for my actions."

"Woah, that's, that's heavy." Naruto sighed, "I'm sorry you had to relieve all of that."

She shook her head, turning from Naruto,

"Naruto I know I can't make you do anything but would you do me one favor if we continue?"

"Of course what is it?"

"If we have the chance to let the flame die out, please do so."

"Why?"

"Because it will be the only thing that I can still take from my father that meant so much to him. Doing this will ensure the end of the Age of Fire and the end of my father's tyranny. For what he did to the Witch, for what he allowed with Seath, and what he did to all of us." She clenched her fist, "It has gone on long enough, its time for it all to end."

Naruto nodded his head,

"Okay if the chance comes I will." Naruto smiled, "You know, I feel like there is more to the story about the Pygmy and their city and these cases of your family. But I think, we should leave it. This obviously is bothering you."

She smiled,

"Thank you Naruto I truly appreciate it."

"No problem, we'll talk later."

She waved at him and sat down again and frowned,

'Naruto there are dark forces in play even we feared what they were doing. Please be ready because I think that even the Abyss has a hand in your path.'

Gwynevere the city was sprawling out before her, she could see everything clear as day.

Looking back into her room she saw a woman wearing a pale white veil and covered in a white cloak.

"Sister would you give me a few minutes alone?"

"You mean to plot Father's demise?"

"Sister."

"I understand your reasoning but the Age of Fire is everything. If it stops who knows what will come from it."

"What has come from it!? Our brother is gone, our sister is forever asleep! You were casted into the shadows and beaten by him! Havel is thrown away for his treachery that I instigated and Seath is made into a fucking hero! A hero that has students in another nation learning everything he has been leaving behind as 'magical studies! Tell me, what good is coming of this age if all it is father's own instruments of deception and chaos!"

"If you are talking about New Londo, then you should know Father planned for their betrayal. More than anything he knew they would attempt to summon on those dark powers to overthrow him. Why do you think he made their city that way."

"And there lies my point; he gave them a piece of his Lord Soul, branded them heroes, and then submerged them even vaguely when they start planning something. More so, I saw what he did when he learned about the Abyss in that other nation that formed years ago. He basically sent Artorias to his doom without any help whatsoever!"

"It was all his will sister, you must learn to accept this."

"I refuse." She turned out to the city, "All he has ever done is try to take us all down his road of madness. Giving up his fragments to that fucking parasite rapist and those four delusional kings, I have nothing but disdain for him." She frowned, "Maybe an Age of Dark is what the world needs to set things right and put the natural order of things in place?"

"Be careful sister, that train of thought is dangerous." Turning the woman left, "For what it is worth I shall safeguard the key, protecting her from those that would do her harm."

"Thank you Gwendolyn."

Chapter End