OOLACILE TOWNSHIP

Lex's basic Heal spell did manage to keep Artorias alive, though it was too weak to repair the worst of the damage. The cleric made some excuses about Petrus' prices and his dislike of the Catacombs, but Gwyn's champion would live – that was all that mattered. Ciaran had done her best to bind his shattered body together, but in the end, he looked more like a blue mummy than a knight. It would take years before he'd be ready for battle again, if ever. His ruined left arm had been eaten away from the inside by the hungry humanity, and the Lord's Blade made the hard decision of removing it at the shoulder.

"Hmph," Quelaag said quietly. "What a way for Anor Londo's finest to go. I'll have to fight him left-handed hereon."

Knowing his friend would live was enough for Gough, who had climbed onto a rooftop and was surveying the empty city below. Oscar had joined him, and they made light conversation about the Four Knights' past. Solaire was seated at the bonfire, trying to clean the lingering ooze from Artorias' sword. The corruption in the blade would likely linger, but it looked much less like sunken treasure now. Lex and Quelaag were speaking amongst themselves off to the side, but the glow of frequent Heals attracted attention as the cleric constantly burned himself by mistake.

Making sure Ciaran was watching, they shared a long, drawn-out kiss before the Chaos Witch approached the bonfire alone. She held out her hand, clawing at the air, and the ground cracked and oozed. Solaire quickly backed away as the pool of lava grew large enough to fit Quelaag's entire body, eating away most of the courtyard. She sank into the ooze slowly, smirking at the Lord's Blade and blowing a final kiss to Lex. When she had gone, the stone quickly hardened, but there was a massive crater around the bonfire now.

"Well, this would probably trip up invaders," the Earthling mused. "Not sure we're connected to any servers, though."

"What's all this, now?" Solaire asked as he sat down on the edge of the crater.

"Nothing. It's a prophet thing," Lex said, waving as if to physically swat away the question.

He looked down at the Township below with his hands on his hips.

"Well, crap. We don't have any light sources."

Solaire began to speak, but Lex shook his head and continued.

"Lightning spears don't count for some reason. And I'm not about to fight Manus without the Silver Pendant."

"What does a pendant have to do with a light source, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's behind a secret passage that opens when light is shone on it. No idea why it's there instead of with Artorias. It's part of his protective gear, after all. Speaking of which…"

He crossed the crater and headed up to where Ciaran was kneeling and watching Artorias.

"I feel kind of terrible asking, but did you find his Covenant ring? I kind of need it to kill the Four Kings."

"You humans," the tiny demigod hissed. "I know not of which you speak."

"Well, he, uh, kind of made a suspicious Covenant with quote-unquote 'beasts of the Abyss' in order to enter it without dying instantly. The actual power's in this tiny little ring, though."

"Artorias did nothing of the sort, demon-lover!"

In a flash of gold, she had one of her long knives to his throat. He swallowed.

"I'm, uh, from the future, and, uh, that's what's written in the, uh, secret texts, I guess they'd be. Not saying they're true. For example, I still don't know the whole Oolacile-New Londo timeline. Kind of a train wreck. Probably some plot holes."

"New Londo?"

"Well, I guess that answers it. Artorias was said to have fought the Darkwraiths of New Londo and also to have saved Princess Dusk a short time from now. He's obviously in no shape to do the latter, and it did look like New Londo was built in the Chasm that's been opened up here. Since Artorias was fated to die here, it was a bit confusing, what with him being in New Londo. I'm guessing it was an impostor on both occasions."

Ciaran withdrew the knife.

"What's strange, though, is that Sif of my time clearly remembers Artorias fighting Darkwraiths and ghosts and stuff."

He grinned wickedly.

"Or perhaps… I don't suppose there's an Artorias Jr. hiding somewh-"

The assassin had punched him in the throat, and he stumbled backward, gagging. He meandered through the crater and swept his hand in front of the bonfire before speaking again.

"Okay, that was uncalled-for. Ornstein didn't even do anything all those times I made fun of Gwyndolin."

"Then our captain has been remiss in his duties. You will treat Princess Gwyndolin with the respect deserving of a deity."

Lex pursed his lips and threw his arms out.

"Then you treat me with the respect due the second prince-consort of Izalith."

"Izalith has fallen to madness. I know not what spell that demon beguiled you with, but-"

"Actually, I was the one that seduced her. She killed me the first time we met. And more importantly, that's a lot of crap about a Princess who only has like four subjects. Izalith has more royalty left than Anor Londo has people in general."

"What…?"

"Everyone left. I think Ornstein said it was because they were worried about getting attacked while he was the only big important dude they had. I'm from the future, remember? What little life Anor Londo has left is just Gwyndolin playing with sock puppets."

He rubbed his chin.

"Actually, that would be pretty funny to watch, if he put them on the snakes."

Ciaran gripped her knives tightly.

"I was hesitant to believe the time distortion had grown so strong as to allow physical travel, but I can hardly accept that a human would have been able to learn of the Princess'… unique constitution in this era."

She knelt and bowed deeply.

"I apologize for my previous conduct… Your Grace."

Lex shrugged, unsure how to react to her taking him seriously.

"Apology accepted, I guess? Just stop pointing pointy things at me."

She looked up at him, unmoving.

"I had not thought much of it at first. You are human, aren't you?"

"Maybe a different sort of human? But probably just a regular one. No one else has noticed anything especially different about me."

"Your is strange. The heavy stench of humanity is strong, as it is on your companions. There is a different scent underneath. Like a deva of Izalith."

"Guessing a deva is like a demigod?"

"The deva are a smaller people but still larger than humans. The Witch of Izalith's kind."

"'Smaller,'" the human said, making air quotes as he looked down at her. "But, yeah. I kind of went hollow, and Quelana did a thing to revive me. Quelaav had trouble telling us apart at first. I guess the nature of the soul fragment she gave me changed or something?"

"That… how strange. But not moreso than anything else you've said."

Lex shrugged again.

"All righty then."

He sighed, grimacing.

"Well, if Artorias doesn't have the ring, I guess I'll just have to get it from Sif in my time. Right now, though, a light source is the more pressing concern. I don't suppose you know a sorcerer we could bring along that doesn't involve carting Elizabeth around in a wheelbarrow?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Yeah, I thought so. Thanks anyway."

The cleric shook his head and walked off on his own. He glanced at Solaire hesitantly and raised his hand to his ear.

"Hey Quelaag?"

"Interesting. I had just returned. How long has it been for you?"

"Oh, no, you just left-"

"And you saw fit to contact me immediately? Shall I hold your hand while we go on adventures?"

"Uh, actually, I just remembered that I need a sunlight maggot."

The connection went silent. There was only the sound of Artorias' labored breathing. After a few seconds, Quelaag spoke again.

"What. What use could you possibly have for a sunlight maggot?"

"I need a magical light source, and the glow that miracles make doesn't count."

"So your first choice is a soul-devouring parasite?"

"Well, I'm certainly not digging around in the Catacombs for a skull lantern!"

Nothingness, then a sigh.

"I have a better idea."

The bonfire crackled and smoked, and the shape of a man formed. He wore a tattered robe of rough cloth from which the sleeves had been torn. Necklaces of assorted bones, shells, and stones criss-crossed his bare chest, and a hood hung from the back of it. He had shaggy brown hair that fell on either side of his face and several days' stubble.

"Oh, uh, hello all! I hope I'm in the right place. Time, I mean. This is all so overwhelming."

"Hello, yourself!" Solaire said, placing the sword down gently and rising to greet the new arrival. "I am Solaire of Astora, an adherent of the Lord of Sunlight!"

"Oh, yeah! I'm Laurentius… formerly of the Great Swamp. Now of Izalith, I suppose!"

He laughed nervously and looked around.

"Mistress Quelaag said that you you were in need of a light. It seems bright enough here, yeah? Where are we headed?"

Lex waved as he approached.

"Yo, Laurentius! I was a little worried when I didn't see you hanging around. I'm guessing Quelana dragged out out into the bog?"

"Master Lex! I'm honored that you remember me. We haven't seen each other since we passed at Firelink, have we? I never got a chance to really thank you after you got me out of that kitchen."

"Don't sweat it, man. But you said you could make light? I'd thought that light in particular rather than just an effect of throwing energy at something was an Oolacile-exclusive thing."

"It's not something that most people think about, yeah. I had to put a bit of work into it, but I think you'll be pleased with the result."

He held up the palm of his hand and exhaled slowly. Abruptly, he took a deep breath, and like a furnace, a brilliant red-gold sphere of light burst into life in his hand.

"Works for me!" Lex said, throwing two thumbs up.

"Wonderful!" Laurentius replied anxiously. "I'm glad you like it."

Seeing the commotion, Oscar and Gough had climbed down to meet the new arrival.

"Laurentius? I wondered what had happened to you."

"I feel awful about leaving like that," the pyromancer said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "When I heard the mother of pyromancy was near, I just forgot myself. I always meant to try and find you all to apologize, but every time I went to take my leave of Mistress Quelana, I found myself captivated by something she mentioned. Before I knew it, I was in the midst of training again. Well, then Mistress Quelaag told me to invent a light spell and threw me into the bonfire when I demonstrated my results."

"My baaaad," Lex groaned.

"Well, I'd been meaning to get away from my studies, yeah. It's not any problem to repay a part of the debt I owe you."

Ciaran rose to stand beside Gough.

"Now that you have whatever it is you needed, will you be going?" she asked seriously.

"Yeah, I just needed a light source to get the Silver Pendant from its hiding place. With Oscar and Solaire, we might have been able to do it without it, but it doesn't hurt to play it safe."

"Do what?"

"Kill Manus."

A morbid suspicion crept into Ciaran's voice.

"And who might that be?"

"The Father of the Abyss. The Furtive Pygmy. The Dark Lord. Progenitor of Humanity."

"Do you think this a game, human?! Artorias nearly lost his life, and Sif and Alvina are nowhere to be found! I don't know what legends of this time you may have heard from your lie-filled archives, but the Abyss is nothing to be made light of!"

"Ch-chill, alright? The Royal Wood is still around in my time, so Manus must have been stopped. Since you guys didn't do it, that leaves my group, right? And we're Undead, so we can throw ourselves into the Abyss like lemmings."

Ciaran lurched forward, but Gough stooped and caught her.

"Calm thyself," he said gently. "All men have their own way of making peace with death. 'tis better to make light of it than to bear another burden. After all, what is bravery without a dash of recklessness?"

"Bravado," the assassin said coldly, turning away.