Anor Londo, City of the Gods

Seeing the city filled with life instead of barren and empty was interesting, Menma looked around with interest the city looked to have a golden sheen as the setting sun illuminated the city with all its fiery glory. Giant's clad in golden armour weilding greatshields and massive halberds stood guard at various points.

"This place looks way better now than it does in my time." Said Menma, smiling at the sight of 'Demi-gods' strolling about, Silver Knights speaking with the Giants about 'The Demon War' that seemed to be picking up steam, and looking over the balcony to the city below one could spot the humans living in relative peace.

"What troubles befell this place in your time?" Asked Gough, curiously. Sif sniffing at his hands to look at the carving, this amused Gough, he was happy to see the pup hadn't lost its luster for life after the death of Artorias.

"From what I found, it was abandoned, the Gods fled this place. Leaving it to rot. The Undead Curse must have rocketed through the humans or they were just killed because they aren't there, and only Gwyndolin remained." Which reminded him, he really had to get around to getting her out of him. Whilst he loved the sensation of her soul in his chest it probably wasn't good for his new Dark energy to be nourishing her soul. Who know's what effects that would have.

That's essentially had been happening within him, his own power fed the greater souls that he didn't consume, keeping them in a stasis of sorts until he did something with them.

"That is...Disconcerting, what caused this?" Asked Gough, he could see the weight put upon Ciaran with that came with the conversation.

"The waning flame, uh...I think Gwyn tried to extend the age which messed with the core of the planet and made the curse run even more rampant years later. I'm not exactly a student of history when it comes to Lordran, I was more focused on gathering up some power so I could fix the problems in my homeland." Informed Menma with a shrug, the group descended an elevator and left off towards the main keep.

"Well...Our Lord has already left to feed the flame...He did so before we left for Oolacile." Said Ciaran, trying to keep a stiff upper lip.

"Well, I wasn't here in the past. Who know's maybe we can come up with somethin' to keep it all together?" Offered the dark holder.

"The new Lord of Dark ruling in place of the Lord of Light. I'm sure nothing but the best can come of it." Grumbled the Lord's Blade.

"Hang on...From what I know the 'Dark Lord' is only supposed to be some heretical prophecy..." Said Menma with a narrowed gaze.

"All those in the higher circle know of the Pygmy. Lord Gwyn, Lady Izalith and the First of the Dead had attempted to make a stronger contact with him when we were still within the greylands, there was little success but The Three knew what soul it held. We also know that it was bred into humanity, thus why the sprites of dark have such a name." Said Ciaran, she didn't care if the guards around them heard this, she wouldn't have some uninformed fool holding the Dark at bay.

"Interesting." Murmured the apparent 'Dark Lord'. He looked at his gloved hands was that the thick feeling in his blood? Was that the power of a Lord? Curious indeed. "Would it be best if we kept it between us all?"

"For the time being, yes." Said Ciaran with a nod, taking his wrist into her hand forcing his attention, "I will tell you when you can reveal yourself, until then please just...Remain silent on the matter." She pleaded Menma smiled lightly and nodded his head.

"You don't gotta worry, Ci. I may have been raised a killer but information comes with the trade." He tapped the side of his nose and winked, he felt her body heat rise slightly, was she blushing? My word that was an amusing idea.

"Oh you, getting all flustered, don't try to hide it c'mon I know I'm a good lookin' guy no need to be bashful." He teased nudging her shoulder only getting a knife tip on his chin in response, "Wanna test how durable I am, good idea. After we do the physical we can do the physical." He wiggled his eyebrows as she pressed the blade against his throat, hardened skin began to sprout from the dagger point, effectively nullifying the blade.

"The Witch is quite fond of me, so knives aren't doin' you any good, darling." He teased further, instead she settled for a punch in his head, he merely laughed. "Good to see you aren't all grim and torment."

Sif barked an affirmative and sat between the two so Ciaran couldn't hit her new friend again, the big pup happily wagging its fluffy tail from side to side. Gough allowed a small smile upon his face underneath the cage of his helmet. The elevator came to a stop they walked towards the keep, the great building looked quite magnificent in the light of the sun.

A soft caw alerted Menma to a crow that had chosen to flutter down onto his shoulder, the black creature was a little smaller than other crow's he'd encountered, and sported a pair of bright blue eyes, not uncommon for crows but still it looked nice.

The little creature chittered at him and nibbled at his ear getting a reflexive giggle from the man as he rubbed the ear to rid himself of the sensation, the crow cawed once more and sat in his hair instead. "I'm just making friends everywhere I go today." He said with amusement.

Keep of the Lord

Menma and the Knights stepped in, the guards opening the towering gates for them and bowing as they did, at the other end of the lengthy cathedral was a woman clad in silks, long chocolate brown hair and closed eyes, for the moment, a contingent of guards with her along with a smaller figure with a sunlight crown covering their face, pale skin and a long white dress.

It took him a moment to realize who he was looking at, Gwynevere the lady of massive mammaries, and Gwyndolin, but as a chibi. That random dude with the red hair and tanned skin though, never saw him before.

This party of three was flanked not only by Silver Knights, but a man clad in golden armour modeled after a lion, a brilliant red plume stuck out the back and a great spear was held in his right hand.

"Welcome home, Knights of great father Gwyn..." Greeted the Princess of Sunlight, as they approached, Ciaran and Gough knelt, Sif sat on her haunches whilst Menma just looked at them, the lion clad man gestured he do as they do, for the sake of time and lack of drama he acquiesced. Dropping onto his left knee and tilting his head slightly, the little crow hopped back onto his shoulder.

"But I know not of you, Ciaran could you please explain?" Asked Gwynevere, opening her eyes and effectively trapping Menma in a trance, he'd never seen such rivers of emerald in his life, her eyes were something to behold. Mortal women eat your hearts out because damn if this woman did have it all.

"My apologies my Lady, I regret to inform you that Artorias has been...Lost to the Abyss." Reported Ciaran, Gwynevere looking slightly shocked. "This young man...slew Artorias after he was distorted by the wild darkness and took up his task on his own." The lion man stiffened at the news, his helmeted gaze locked onto the marked face of the dark clad man. And then onto his sword.

It...Unnerved him, he felt the presence of Artorias in this man and yet felt the endless power of not one but two Lord, he oozed power and it made the hairs on his neck stand on end, and those eyes. The pitch dark around the bloody red just set his heart rate a little faster than it needed to be.

"Oh my..." Murmured the Princess placing a hand over her heart.

"Oh my indeed, my dear." Parroted the redhead man, "Tell me stranger, what is your name?" Asked the man, placing his hands on his hips and bolstering his presence by puffing his chest slightly.

"I am Menma, and you are...?" He queried with a risen brow, the Chibi-Gwyndolin put her hands over her mouth to hide her smile at the flabbergasted look on the redheads face only for him to wash it off with a smirk.

"I am Flann, God of Flame. I would have thought any Demi-God would have heard of me, it is good that there are those I can give an impression upon, without my reputation preceding me." It would seem he was making some poor attempt to save face, petty really. Menma already didn't think much of the puffed up redhead.

"...Right-o then." Was all Menma offered in response, shrugging. "So what you're just like, really got at Pyromancy or something? 'God of Flame' is a bit of a nebulous term all things considered." To emphasize this he summoned his own flame, the small orb of blue dancing across his palm.

"Menma must you..." Sighed out Ciaran, a suffering sigh indeed, she palmed her mask he merely looked at her in confusion. "We have only just returned."

"You're right, you must be sleepy, eh?" He said with a smirk, fully aware how few fucks he was currently displaying.

"I will lead them off, milady." Said the lion, bowing slightly as he gestured they rise and follow him, Menma did so first, sticking his hands into his pockets, and following after the man, Sif was the next following closely by Ciaran though Gough left the keep the way they came and took a right.

"Where's he going?"

"Gough has separate quarters, he prefers the outside and his a good deal larger in size so he sleeps where he pleases." Informed the lion man, "We have not been acquainted, I am Ornstein. Captain of the Four Knights." Said the man, "So...You truly did what even Artorias could not?"

"So it would seem. From what I've gathered thus far, you 'Demi-gods' don't have humanity in you, so any exposure to it can fuck you up severely. I was human when I came to these lands and through...Circumstances I've changed quite a lot. Ciaran darling is it ok to tell Mr. Whiskers?" Asked Menma with a smirk at her audible snarl.

"Do as you please, keep it from the Princess for now, Ornstein." The curious Dragonslayer nodded as he looked over his shoulder to the Dark Lord.

"I ate Manus' soul and in turn became the new Lord of Dark, Ciaran thinks we should keep it all hush-hush for the moment." He said with a grin, Ornstein paused in his walking and turned in full to face the man who stood to his equal height in full, the lion staring down the Dark, "Pretty fuckin' crazy, eh?"

"You ate the soul of complete darkness and you didn't turn into some raging beast?" A rather normal question one could expect.

"Darkness isn't inherently evil, so I didn't go berserk. If anything I feel calmer than I did before, and as for transforming? Well it feels like the soul is asleep at the moment so that could be why?" He pondered aloud. "At the moment all you needa know is that I'm in complete control of all my faculties, so you don't have to worry your shiny helmet about it." Assured the vessel of Chaos with a smile, Ornstein prodded the Dark Lord on the chest with a finger and leant forward.

"See that I do not." Leaning back the man gathered himself and said, "You can have Artorias' room, we will erect a cenotaph in his honour as his body no doubt perished. No point letting space go to waste." Menma noticed Ciaran left to her room, seeing her back disappear behind a door.

"That one." Said the Dragonslayer, tapping a door with his spear as he walked past, peeling off the plaque with ease and catching it, "Sleep well, Dark One. We will be watching closely, rest assured if your control slips we will put you down." Menma smiled at him, the slightest of sinister gleams shining in his eyes.

"I'm not a dog to be euthanized, Lion. Try not to sour any possible relationship we may have with prejudices." Menma waited for Sif to enter before closing the door. The pup pulled off her sheath and sat next to the bed, Menma looked around the room, the main colours were black and blue, much like Artorias' armour, he liked it in here, the little crow hopping off his shoulder and sitting on the bedside table.

"So this was his room.." Menma pulled Artorias' soul from himself it actually hurt to do so, not any great pain but it was worth noting, "Here Sif, shall we bond over your Master?" He offered, pulling the soul apart and dividing it in two, Sif whimpered and pressed her nose against the hand holding the smaller fragment, Menma pulled the larger back into himself.

"I know darling, you miss him. I will try my best to look after you in his stead, partners?" He asked softly, smiling at the wolf, her stormy grey eyes filled with warmth as she took the small fragment into herself, dark rings forming around her eyes but nothing else really happened.

"I won't pretend to fully understand the significance of your bond with him, Sif. I was very much a loner during my youth, but whatever you need. I'll be here." He promised, pulling off his coat, shirt and boots, leaving him only in his loose trousers, Sif scampered up onto the bed and curled up next to him, he closed his tired eyes and retreated into his mind.

Mindscape

Instead of the hellish landscape that once ruled his mind Menma's mindscape had been molded into a calm forest of flaming trees with a great black lake in the middle, he sat beside the lake and sighed contentedly.

"Why have you not released me?!" Asked the voice of Gwyndolin, her face appearing in the pitch black lake, "Thine point has been made my soul is repaired and I am willing to listen to your reasons for appearing before me as some filthy creature." She was bereft of her crown, instead showing her lilac coloured eyes.

"Well now that I'm stuck in the past it'd be pretty tricky if a second Gwyndolin just appeared..." He said, before dipping his hand into the lake and pulling her out, "The best I can do at the moment is keep you outta the Dark." He said, helping her sit beside him, she stiffened at the lack of snakes beneath her skirt, "They weren't originally part of you, so I doubt they'll be making a return anytime soon." She placed a hand to her mouth and nodded trying to keep whatever emotional was bubbling up to herself.

"If it's that big a deal you can cry or whatever. I'm not gonna say anything." Said the Dark One, taking a hand of hers and patting it, her shoulders jerked slightly and he silently sighed, throwing and arm around her shoulder and pulling her over to him, "C'mon, do what'cha gotta." He tried to soothe, rubbing her back as she sobbed in relief.

"So you are capable of more than fuckery." Observed Kurama, Menma's head snapped towards the creature and bared his teeth, Quela came out of the tree line and smiled lightly at him attempted to assuage the possible conflict.

"Fuck off cretinous pest, I'm in no mood for your bullshit." Snarled Menma.

"Whoever thou art, flee the dark comes!" Begged a voice, from the lake, Menma's mood did a complete 180 as he turned to the black waters, "I beg of thee, the spread of the abyss it must be stopped!"

"The tormented soul of Sir Artorias." Said Quela, her voice morose.

"Such is the fate of the once mighty Wolf Knight." Muttered Gwyndolin.

"So wait I'm going to have this poor bastard screaming in my mind for the rest of my life?" Asked Menma, getting silence in return. "Yeah no, I'll just put him outta my misery." Said Menma standing up and walking on the black lake, seeing the fractured image of Artorias he dug into the lake as he did with Gwyndolin, pulling the hazy image of the Knight from its imprisonment, "ARTORIAS CAN YOU HEAR ME!?" He yelled at the image.

"A voice?! Where are you stranger? It is not safe here, I cannot control myself! Flee please!" Called out the Abysswalker in return.

Menma sighed, "Looks like you'll needa be fed some power, we'll have you stable soon mate." Menma condencesd the soul into its base form and place it gently back into the lake of darkness, "It's pretty relaxing to me, so it might be to you...Or your worst nightmare, who knows." Muttered Menma as the purple around the souls sprite was being gnawed on by his own power.

Menma returned to the shoreline and ran a hand through his hair, "I feel like my life became a great deal more complicated."

End

Raxychaz!