Alric, the Chosen Undead, had struck down the Lord of Cinder. He stood over the desiccated hollow corpse of the once great Lord Gwyn, holding Gwyn's Lord Soul in his hand. The gold hemmed black robes — which he wore solely for their lightness and resistance against fire — flowed around him as he knelt before the broken body of the one almighty god he had just slain and prayed. He prayed to the only Goddess left in existence that was still alive and worthy of such veneration. Velka, the Goddess of Sin. He prayed to her that with his death, the Lord of Cinder's sins may finally be forgiven. For now his sins would be forever undone and the world would be returned to its natural balance. The dark finally unbound by the curse, and the cycle of light and dark allowed to continue unabated as it was always intended.
After his death and subsequently being branded with the Dark Sign, Alric had spent what could have been and very likely was eons studying every facet of the curse in search of a cure. He studied how it functioned, its effects on the soul, its effects on humanity… its history… He learned it was the Gods, and specifically Lord Gwyn, that placed the curse on mankind as he Linked the Fire in a misguided attempt to unnaturally extend the Age of Fire and the reign of the Gods. Ironically dooming the Gods to extinction and damning humanity to eternal torment and suffering. It was the first and greatest sin ever committed and it was committed out of a desperation to cling to power, a misguided fear of the dark, and pure unadulterated pride and hubris on the part of Gwyn.
He had studied every possible avenue of undoing Gwyn's machinations. Sorcery, pyromancy, miracles. He had read each and every last book within the Duke's archives and learned all of the teachings Seath the Scaleless had to offer. He had traveled the world and found the Ringed City where he learned the secrets of hexes or abyssal sorcery from the Pygmy Lords themselves, including the time magic Manus had used to pull him back in time. After finding a way off the mountain top that was Priscilla's home to further explore the painted world in search of secrets, he had accidentally found Velka living within and had learned miracles from the Goddess of Sin herself. Finally, he had even managed to convince Quelana of Izalith to teach him the secrets of the lost flame sorceries of Izalith by finding a method with which to truly cure the affliction her sister Quelaan was dying from.
Unfortunately he was unable to find a means of reversing the effects the chaos flame had on her that rendered Quelaan half demonic, but that was of little consequence. He would focus on curing the victims of the Witch of Izalith's sin after he undid Gwyn's curse.
He had tested and experimented developing his own spells and miracles based on all he had learned. While doing so, he had determined he was going to need all four of the Lord Souls to fully break the curse. Despite having only been made with a single Lord Soul, Gwyn's Light Soul, it had grown in power since its inception and thus the power of all four of them would be required to undo it.
So he had spent centuries studying the door to the Kiln of the First Flame to find a way to open it without sacrificing the Lord Souls to the Lord Vessel. Eventually after nearly driving himself hollow trying to find a way to break that thrice damned lock, he found a method to simply trick the lock into thinking the vessel was filled with Lord Souls. However it cost countless trillions of more common souls. He had to make heavy use of time's broken state and spend a truly hellish amount of time doing nothing but slaughtering entire armies of hollows and other beings to accumulate all the souls he needed.
However, just as important as having all four Lord Souls he would need the lord souls to be whole. He had already restored Nito's Death soul to its former glory by merging it with countless other souls. He had also split the Dark Soul and merged it with its split pieces until it was on par with the other Lord Souls once more. Now the fragments of Gwyn's soul held by the Four Kings and Seath the Scaleless would need to be merged with Gwyn's soul once more.
To that end, once he finished his prayer for Velka to forgive Gwyn, he retrieved the fragments that were previously held by Seath and the Four Kings and began the process of merging them back with Gwyn's soul. This took only a scant few moments. Less than nothing compared to the millennia he had spent working to get to this point.
When he was finished, he stood up and approached the First Fire. He placed the Dark Soul and the souls of Gwyn, Nito, and the Bed of Chaos around the fire then drew his Tin Crystallization Catalyst and Velka's Talisman and set to work using the power of the Lord Souls along with his own soul and humanity not to relight the fire but to undo the Linking of the Fire and finally break Gwyn's curse.
The three souls of fire began to glow brighter as he worked while the Dark Soul seemed to grow darker and darker until it seemed to be pulling in the light from around it.
By the time Alric noticed something was wrong, it was already too late.
His eyes widened in surprise as his spell became unstable as he accidentally triggered a trap cleverly hidden within the miracle Gwyn used to Link the Fire and cast his curse.
Acting fast he began shifting the spell and miracle in a desperate attempt to restabilize it and stop the trap he had triggered. However, it was completely futile. The trap was using his own magic, miracles, and the Lord Souls against him, feeding on their energy to fuel itself. He tried to mitigate the damage this trap would cause by stopping his sorcery and miracles, and had he had time to study and prepare, perhaps he may have been able to. However he had never in all his millenia encountered such a thing as this. The trap did not let him stop his casting. It forced him to continue against his will.
A moment later there was a blinding flash of light. He was being teleported somewhere. He barely had time to react in order to pull the Lord Souls to him so as to not leave them behind in the Kiln. He would not risk losing them. As long as he had them, he could try again. He would not lose so much as a single one!
The light faded and suddenly he found himself in the middle of an icy frozen wasteland somewhere. The sun was high in the sky, but he wasn't anywhere he was familiar with.
He heard footsteps, looked, and saw an unfamiliar fur covered pig-like creature running away from him. Presumably startled by his sudden appearance.
Looking down he saw that in his arms were all four Lord Souls. He had successfully managed to take them back before he could be teleported away. That was an immense relief to him. As long as he had the Lord Souls, he could always find his way back to the Kiln of the First Flame and continue where he left off.
The trap was rather pathetic, all things considered. Impotent even. Merely teleporting him away? Gwyn really should have had the trap destroy him entirely. It was a little worrying, honestly. After all, why would the King of the Gods resort to such a paltry trick to protect the First Flame? It didn't make sense. It implied that there was something he wasn't accounting for. Something more insidious. However, he lacked any information to work with. He had not had a chance to truly study the divine energies involved in his sudden relocation to determine how the miracle worked, after all.
So, he knelt in prayer and cast the homeward miracle, to bring himself back to the Fire Link Shrine. The divine light that was supposed to gather around him as he performed his miracle simply didn't appear as the miracle completely failed.
He reeled in surprise. Frowning, he put away Velka's Talisman and reached into his bottomless box. He retrieved a homeward bone and crushed it in his hand. Still nothing. Cursing he reached towards his chest where his dark sign was branded upon him. He didn't want to do this. Using his Dark Sign was always unpleasant. However, he saw little choice.
His chest blazed with agony as he used his dark sign. He could feel his flesh rotting and his body desiccating as his humanity was consumed by the curse. However, this was all that happened. When it was over he was still within the icy wasteland.
With a ragged raspy sigh Alric withdrew a humanity sprite from his bottomless box and immediately restored his humanity. Through his research, he had long since learned how to do so without the aid of a bonfire.
Alric assumed this was part of Gwyn's trap. The god had somehow found a way to prevent him from returning to the last bonfire he had rested at. It was much like the situation he had found himself in after the first time he was slain by Seath the Scaleless within the Duke's Archives.
Frustrating but otherwise of little consequence. He just had to find out where he was and find his way back. If it was a situation like the Painted World of Ariamis, he just needed to find the exit. He would not, no… He could not allow this to stop him for long. All undead had a purpose that kept them from going Hollow. His purpose was ending Gwyn's curse. So he would stop at nothing to fulfill his purpose.
Determined to overcome this newest challenge Alric set off in a random direction.
He walked for several hours, warming his undead bones with a simple pyromancy, before eventually noticing something. The sun was going down. When Gwyn linked the fire, cast his curse, and broke time the cycle of day and night had completely ceased to be. Instead, time differed from area to area. The sun could be blazing in the sky in one place then you could walk a few feet in another direction and it could be the dead of night. The best example of this he could think of was the short walk from the Firelink Shrine to the Darkroot Garden.
So the gradual shift in the light he had noticed should not have been a possibility. So he just stopped and stood there, staring up at the sky. He wanted to test to see if he was just coincidentally walking along a specific path that led along a particular stream of time that made it seem like the sun was moving or if it really was moving.
Time passed by and sure enough the sun went down fully and the moon began to rise.
"That's… concerning ." He muttered as he stared at the moon. If the sun and moon were operating in a normal cycle then that meant time wasn't broken. If time wasn't broken then that suggested something incredibly insidious of Gwyn's trap. Either this was an illusion he would have to break out of, he was sent back in time to a point when time wasn't broken, or… he was in another reality all together. He had long theorized other realities existed. An infinite number of them.
If it was true and this truly was an alternate reality getting back was going to be near impossible. That thought completely terrified him. He needed to get back. His entire purpose was ending Gwyn's curse. If his purpose had become impossible to fulfill, going hollow was inevitable.
He shook his head. No… No, no, no. He wasn't going to think like that. He could not think like that. If he did, it was over. Nothing was impossible, it just took time. And time was something he had plenty of. This was just a setback on his road to ending the curse, that was all.
He had to keep going. He needed to find a settlement and find out where he was.
Drawing his catalyst he cast a spell and created an orb of light above his head to illuminate his path before continuing on his way.
As he wandered aimlessly he eventually heard what sounded like a mix of sobbing and pained whimpering. Somewhat curious he decided to follow the sounds and eventually ended up in a relatively hidden spot at the base of a frozen cliff.
After a bit of searching he managed to determine that the sounds were coming from a small hollow at the base of the cliff hidden by some built up snow. Clearing the snow out of the way he looked inside and saw a red and white fox-like creature. It was curled into a ball, its whole body trembling. It didn't seem cold however, rather it was seemingly injured and afraid.
Alric frowned and shook his head. "Dear oh dear... Now what on earth happened to you, little one? Did you get into a fight with something a bit bigger than you? Ah no matter…" Feeling a bit generous, he reached into his bottomless box and pulled out a Divine Blessing that he had been saving but had never ended up using
The creature jolted, startled upon hearing him. It turned to look at him but upon seeing him it pressed itself as far into the hollow as it could go, clearly terrified of him.
Alric raised a hand placatingly and moved very slowly, trying to show the wild animal that he wasn't a threat. "Calm yourself, little one. I'm not going to hurt you. Quite the opposite. Here, this should heal you right up." He said, as he pulled out the crystalline stopper at the top and held the bottle out towards the creature. However, unsurprisingly, the creature only tried to cower further away from him.
Alric sighed and set the bottle on the ground next to him before reaching back into his bottomless box and pulling out a dagger. Holding out his hand he showed the creature his exposed palm. Taking his hand back out of the hole and plunged the blade of his dagger through his palm until the dagger was buried up to the hilt and the blade was sticking out the back of his hand. Pulling the dagger out and putting it back in his bottomless box, he picked up the Divine Blessing with his right hand and showed the creature his now horribly wounded left hand. Finally he poured just a single drop of the glowing golden liquid within the crystalline bottle out onto his wounded palm and the hole in his hand proceeded to heal almost instantaneously on both sides.
Showing it his now freshly healed hand he said, "See? It's simply holy water blessed by the Goddess Gwynevere herself. Even a small amount will completely heal the most grievous wounds. So if you would simply come out from there then I would be more than happy to tend to your injuries. I swear on my honor that no further harm shall come to you while you are within my care." He had no idea why he was speaking to it as if it could actually understand him when in all likelihood it was just an animal. However he saw no harm in it so he just decided to allow himself this and continue for the moment.
Strangely enough the creature seemed to listen to him and hesitantly came out from the hollow. Alric smiled at it. He then proceeded to pour the holy contents of the divine blessing on the animal's wounds. Every so often he would adjust the creature so he could more easily access a few of its wounds, making sure to be as gentle as possible as he did so. After he poured the remaining contents of the crystalline bottle out over the last wound and watched it close, he put the stopper back on the top of the now empty bottle and stuffed it back into his bottomless box.
Others might have considered it a waste since he could have just cast a miracle to heal the wounded creature but he disagreed. With Gwyn, Nito, the Bed of Chaos, Seath, and the Four Kings all dead he had no use for the divine blessing anymore anyways.
Gently patting the strange little creature on the top of its head he smiled warmly at it and said, "Well, little one, I certainly hope you are all better now."
"Thank you…" The creature muttered, its voice sounding like that of a young girl.
Alric blinked in surprise, completely caught off guard by this. "You can speak?"
The creature stared at him in shock. "Y-you can understand me?"
The undead cocked his head in confusion. "Er… Yes…? Wait…" He looked down at his hand in sudden realization. He was still wearing his Old Witch's ring. Seeing that he chuckled and shook his head. "Ah yes, that makes sense. I believe I know what is going on here. This ring has a rather unique enchantment, you see. This enchantment translates everything I hear and everything I say. Thus I am able to converse with absolutely anyone flawlessly regardless of any linguistic barriers, so long as I am wearing it. It has been incredibly useful to me so I rarely if ever remove it."
He pulled the ring off of his finger and held it out so she could get a better look at it. "Now try saying something, just to see if I can still understand you or not."
"Rua zorua zor?" The creature asked curiously.
Putting his ring back on, Maledictus inquired, "Forgive me but what does the word 'Zorua' mean?" He was very confused about that and the fact that she was just repeating certain syllables for some reason.
"I'm a Zorua… You're a ghost right? You're dead, like me…" There was a note of resentment in her voice.
Alric frowned and shook his head. "I suppose that depends on what you mean. In a way I suppose one could call me a ghost. I am undead and I have been for a very long time… So you're undead too, little one?"
She nodded. "Yes…"
Alric sighed and stroked her head. "I see… You sound so young too… If it isn't too crass, may I ask how you died?"
"It was the humans… They were afraid of us because of our illusions so they drove us all here. We all froze to death here in the ice and snow…" She told him.
Alric closed his eyes and shook his head. "I see… You mentioned others. Am I to assume your family died with you? If so, do you have anyone to return to? A family or tribe?"
Tears welled up in her eyes and she shook her head. "I… I did but they're all gone now… We were attacked by a really big and strong Dusknoir… Papa, the biggest and strongest of our pack tried to fight it, but he lost and disappeared… Then it attacked the rest of us… We tried to fight it but after I got hurt mama told me to run…She… She said she would find me… It's been days… I… I think I'm the only one left…" She started sobbing again.
Alric picked her up and wrapped her in an embrace. "Shh… There there… Everything is going to be alright…"
They stayed like that for maybe half an hour before the distraught Zorua finally started to calm down.
When she finally started to calm down a bit, Alric set her down again.
"You… You seem really nice… C-can… Can I come with you? I… I don't want to be alone…" She pleaded.
Alric winced. He was conflicted. That probably wasn't the best idea. Yet he didn't have the heart to just abandon her here.
"Little one, I… I'm not sure how much time I have…" He told her.
"W-what do you mean…?" She asked.
"I mean I am cursed. Every undead with my curse needs a purpose to keep them sane. To stop them from going hollow. A hollow is an undead who has lost his sanity and become a mindless soul devouring monster. I was about to fulfill my purpose and end the curse entirely when I fell for a trap and was transported here. There is a possibility that my purpose has become impossible to fulfill, in which case it is likely I will go hollow at which point I will be a threat to you. I have not given up. As such, it is unlikely that I will go hollow anytime soon, but I might eventually. If that happens I won't be able to control myself. I don't want to hurt you." Alric explained.
The Zorua stared down at the ice and snow covered ground, clearly growing even more distraught.
Seeing this, Alric's long dead heart ached for the little creature. Sighing he continued, "But… I can not in good conscience just leave you out here all by yourself… So I would propose a compromise."
"A compromise…?" She asked, a bit of hope creeping into her voice.
Alric nodded. "Indeed. While you might not be able to stay with me forever, in what time I do have left if you are willing to learn then I can at the very least teach you some form of magic so you will be able to survive on your own and defend yourself whenever necessary. Sorcery, pyromancy, miracles, or hexes. You may choose to learn one, multiple, or even all four if you wish. Then if the time ever comes that I start to lose myself I will even bestow upon you all of my worldly possessions. While they may be designed for humans to use, I imagine some of them could still be of use to you, and if I go hollow I would rather not have my weapons so it would be harder for me to hurt anyone. Besides, if the Great Gray Wolf, Sif, could learn to use a greatsword, I'm sure you can learn to use a catalyst. So, how does that sound? Are we in agreement?"
The Zorua smiled widely and slammed into his chest with a surprising amount of force as she jumped up on him and began nuzzling him happily. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise I'll be the best student ever, just you watch!"
Alric smiled and gently patted her on the back of the head as he returned her affection. "Oh I'm sure you will, little one. Speaking of which, if you are to be my apprentice I can't just keep calling you "little one" now can I? My name is Alric. What might your name be?"
"I don't have one…" The Zorua muttered shyly.
"Ah, well that won't do at all now will it? In that case I hope you don't mind but I shall name you Phasma. How does that sound?" Alric said, patting her head.
"Phasma… I like it!" Phasma chirped happily.
"I'm glad. Now, first and foremost I need to know where we are. I know you may have some hard feelings towards them considering what they did to you and your people, but might you know where I could find the largest human settlement in this area?"
"Humans… Grrr… I think I do but it's a couple days from here… Do we have to go meet the humans?" Phasma asked, the hate and resentment clear in her tone.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. I'm sorry, Phasma… I'll make it as quick as I can. Now, would you mind leading the way?" Alric requested.
"Okay…" Phasma said before turning and walking in a particular direction.
Alric followed after her.
They walked for four days and four nights straight. Neither of them were alive and so neither of them strictly needed food, water, or rest. Alric did, however, let Phasma rest by carrying her in his arms while she pointed the direction for him. While they walked he told her stories, much to her delight. Stories of his past and his favorite myths and legends such as the legend of the great hero Artorias, fictitious as that particular legend was. Then, eventually, a small settlement came into view. Though calling it a settlement was a bit of an overstatement in Alric's opinion. It was little better than a glorified camp, complete with mere tents rather than homes. The only building he could see was what he assumed was a large temple or church on top of a cliff.
"Phasma, it shouldn't take too long so I'm going to give you a choice. Would you like to wait outside this settlement while I speak to them or would you like to come with me?" Alric asked as he and his inhuman apprentice looked towards the village.
"I'll come. I don't trust humans… What if they try to hurt you?" Phasma asked.
Alric chuckled mirthlessly. "I would be more worried about them getting hurt if they tried, little one… I have power enough to crush entire kingdoms. I've fought, killed, and taken the souls of Gods . I'll tell you those stories later but believe me, I am not afraid of a few dozen mortals."
"You've fought gods?" Phasma asked in an awed tone.
Alric reached into his bottomless box and pulled out Nito's soul. "This is a Lord Soul. It belonged to Nito, the God of Death. So yes. I've fought Gods." He put Nito's soul away and knelt down.
Phasma took that as an opportunity to hop up onto his shoulder.
Smiling at her, he scratched her under her chin. He then set off towards the village.
Once he reached a bridge, he lowered his hood revealing his face. He had short messy black hair, almost ghostly pale skin, blue eyes, and a clean shaven face. Not a single scar or blemish marred his features. Despite appearing no older than his mid twenties, if one were to look in his eyes they would see the look of someone who had lived far too long and had seen far too much. Otherwise his features were quite unremarkable.
Phasma examined him curiously as this was the first time she had seen his face.
Now hoodless, Alric crossed the bridge and approached the settlement.
A pair of men saw him and approached him. "Who are you? Do you have business here?" One asked.
"I am but a humble sorcerer by the name of Alric. I'm afraid I'm lost. Phasma here led me to this settlement so I might ask where I am and perhaps acquire directions." Alric introduced himself.
"You're in the Alabaster Icelands of Hisui, this is the settlement of the Pearl Clan. Where do you need to go?" The man asked.
"Hisui, the name is unfamiliar to me… Tell me, have you heard of Lordran?"
"I'm afraid not, stranger. Were you caught in a shipwreck on the coast or something?" The man asked.
"No, though I almost wish I was, It would make matters far simpler… Very well. Hisui sounds like a kingdom within the far east. Astora has decent trade with the east. So have you heard of Astora, by any chance?" Alric inquired, giving his best friendly smile.
"No… I've not heard of any such lands…"
Alric sighed. "I see… Very well then. In that case I have one final matter I would like to discuss before I leave."
"And what's that?" The man asked.
"Trade and land. I am stuck here until I can find a spell to bring me back home. For that I'm going to have to do quite a bit of research as I arrived through arcane means. To that end I'll need materials such as books, ink, quills, and other such commodities and I am willing to trade my services for them. I will also need a small section of land to build my own temporary residence upon so that I may conduct my research out of the snow. To that end, would one of you fine gentlemen point me to whoever leads your clan so that I may discuss this with him?"
The men looked at each other for a moment before the one who was silent up until now asked, "Should I go get Irida?"
"Go on. I'll stay here with the stranger." The first man told the second.
The second man nodded before turning and running off.
"You said you're a sorcerer?" The man asked.
Alric nodded. "Indeed I am. I am well versed in the ways of the arcane, as much as I am well versed in matters of faith. You can consider me a sorcerer as well as a cleric of sorts."
The man frowned at that. "Hm… So what's your homeland like?"
"My homeland…" He sighed and shook his head. "It was beautiful, once. A thriving kingdom. Now it's been all but destroyed. Wars, plague, famine, the curse… What those haven't destroyed, the bandits left in their wake have torn asunder. It's not even a shadow of what it once was, sadly."
"Oh. My condolences."
Alric waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine. I have long since come to terms with the fate of my home."
The two of them stood in silence for a moment before someone approached them. A woman in strange red and white clothing.
"So you're the so-called 'sorcerer' hm?" The woman asked, suspicion clear in her voice.
"Indeed I am. My name is Alric. And who might you be?" He asked politely.
"I'm Irida, the Leader of the Pearl Clan. You wanted to talk to me?" She asked.
At this point the first man walked off leaving Alric and Irida alone. "Indeed I did, Lady Irida. I'm stranded in this land and require a place to stay. I am not asking for lodging within this settlement, of course. I merely request permission to build an abode within the Alabaster Iceland, as that kind man from before said this place was called. I am going to have to conduct a significant amount of research to find a spell to send me back home. To that end I will require things such as empty books, ink, and quills. I am willing to exchange my services in return for such goods or for currency which I can use to pay for the goods. Either or."
"Services such as…? I can't agree to anything unless I know what you can do. I have trouble believing you can actually use magic…." She told him.
"I can do many things. For example, I have noticed your people live in simple tents. Give me a few hours and I can build entire houses of crystal for every family within this settlement. And several spare homes for any who may seek to move in in the future. They would be far superior to the tents you currently use, I'm sure. I would be willing to do this for you in exchange for the land upon which I can build my own home."
She stared at him for a moment before saying, "Prove it. I won't agree unless you can prove you can actually do it."
Alric nodded. "Very well. There's a nice clear spot over here. Do I have permission to create a building right there, as an example?"
"Yes. Go ahead." Irida stated, clearly not believing it was actually possible.
Alric drew his Tin Crystallization Catalyst and said, "This will take a few minutes so I'm going to have to request your patience." He then raised his catalyst and began using the same crystal sorcery that Seath used to make his crystal caverns to make a house instead. He started with the ground floor. He made the walls, a fireplace for heating and cooking, a small kitchen with a crystalline oven for cooking and baking, a walk-in pantry, a storage area for firewood and other such things, then he made stairs leading up to the second floor. Walking up the freshly made stairs he proceeded to make an actual floor for the second floor with two bedrooms positioned next to the chimney of the hearth for added warmth. Finally he made the roof.
All in all it took him about fifteen minutes to make the house.
Going back down stairs he exited the newly made house and saw that a crowd had gathered around to watch. Irida was at the head of the crowd and she looked absolutely dumbfounded.
"Since this was a test I took the liberty of filling the gaps where windows would be installed with solid slabs of perfectly clear crystal. Unfortunately that means they are permanently installed and are incapable of being opened. However the crystal windows are intentionally thin near the edges so they can be broken out easily if you wish to put in windows of your own. Lastly, I would recommend cleaning the building just to clear out any small shards of crystal leftover from the construction as they might be a bit of a nuisance. Otherwise, tell me, has this proven to your satisfaction that I can do as I claim?"
"It has… You said you would be willing to build houses for everyone in the settlement in exchange for some land. I think I can agree to that. But you also said you wanted to trade. So what other things can you do?" She asked.
"I am more than just a sorcerer. I have studied all fields of magic extensively. Sorcery, Pyromancy, and even Miracles. So I have miracles that can heal even the most grievous injuries and cure various diseases as well as spells that can purge toxins and poisons as well as cure various curses. So if anyone is in need of any sort of treatment, I am more than capable of providing it." He informed her.
"I don't suppose you're capable of proving that without having someone whose injuries or sickness you can treat to begin with, can you?" She asked.
"I can, actually. Excuse me everyone, if there are any children present please cover their eyes. I am going to injure myself then heal my injury as a demonstration." He said, reaching into his bottomless box and withdrawing a dagger
Irida's eyes widened at that. "W-wait, what are you doing?!"
He held up his hand showing everyone that it was intact. "This." He said before plunging the knife all the way through his palm causing quite a few people to gasp in horror.
Tearing the knife back out of his hand he held up the injury for everyone to see, to prove there was no trick. He then drew Velka's Talisman and cast a simple healing miracle. When it was over, he held up his now uninjured palm for everyone to see. "See? The injury is healed."
"He has a Zorua with him, it could be an illusion!" One of the people called out.
"It's not an illusion, you stupid humans!" Phasma snarled at them, though none of them understood her.
Alric reached up to where she was still sitting on his shoulder and stroked her a bit in an attempt to calm her down. He then drew his dagger and wiped the blood off before flipping it around and holding the hilt out towards Irida and the crowd. "If you don't believe my demonstration, perhaps one of you would be willing to volunteer instead. I won't ask you to stab yourself as I did, of course. Just a simple nick to draw a bit of blood would be sufficient for the purposes of proving my point."
Irida stepped forward and took the dagger from him. "I'll do it but this had better not be a trick…" She grumbled at him. She then dragged the blade across her palm, making a nice cut and drawing quite a bit of blood. She gritted her teeth and hissed in pain as the dagger bit into her flesh.
"Show them your injury, please." Alric requested.
She held up her hand to the crowd, showing them her cut palm.
"Thank you. Now stand still for a moment." He said before casting a healing miracle on her.
She looked at her hand and gasped in surprise as she watched the flesh knit itself back together, leaving only a small scar as evidence that it actually happened.
There were stronger miracles that didn't leave scars but Alric saw no point in using them for something so minor as this.
Wiping the blood from her palm she showed her freshly healed hand to everyone. "He's telling the truth."
There were no claims of trickery this time.
She turned and handed the dagger back to him. He took it and returned it to his bottomless box.
"So would my services be of use to your people?" He asked.
Irida nodded, though he could tell she was reluctant. "Yes, they would…"
"Wonderful. Then I take it that we have an agreement." He said, holding out his hand.
She grabbed his hand and shook it. "We have an agreement."
"Most excellent. Then I will get started constructing your houses right away."
"Hold on! First, everyone's tents are still up. Second, I'm not sure everyone will want their permanent homes in the exact places their tents are. So I'm going to have to ask you to wait at least a few days. Also, while this is nice, we are the Pearl Clan not the Diamond Clan. So, not to sound ungrateful but would it be possible for you to make the crystal into pearl instead? Or at least change the color to make it look more like pearl?" Irida asked.
Phasma growled at her.
Alric raised a hand to his chin in thought. "Hm… Unfortunately it's called crystal sorcery for a reason. It only produces crystals. Pearls are a natural biological product of certain molluscs that are decidedly not crystals… I have an idea for how it may be possible to produce giant pearls but it would require experimentation and if it works it would be quite dangerous. I'll work on it in what time I can spare. That said, I do believe I can tweak my spells to produce crystals of a different color. How long it takes depends on the specific type of pearl you would like it to resemble. Pure white pearls would be the most difficult, sadly. There is a certain type of opalescent blue green pearl that would be easier to mimic. If you wish for it to be white it would take several months. If you prefer speed, the second option should take me maybe a week. This is only a rough estimate of course. Which would you prefer?"
"While it would be nice if you could make them resemble pure white pearls, we can settle for the second option. Mighty Palkia would forgive us for that much. Besides, it gives us plenty of time to work things out on our end." She told him.
Alric bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Very well. Then would you like for me to demolish the house I have already built? Or would you rather it stay?"
"It can stay. I'd like for us to have an example to test how well these houses function before you start building the rest. That said, can you make doors for the house too?
"I can make large slabs of crystal that you can turn into doors. I warn you they would be quite heavy. Not immovable by any means, so long as you have a few strong men working together to carry them, but very heavy. You would need thick iron hinges to support the weight too. As such I would recommend only having the front door made of crystal. Any internal doors should be made of wood instead, purely for the sake of convenience. Does that sound reasonable?" He asked.
"I suppose so…"
"Excellent." He turned and pointed his catalyst at the empty door frame and suddenly it was slowly filled with a solid slab of crystal. Alric cast another spell and the door fell outwards onto the snow covered ground with a loud THUD. "There. Now—" Alric was cut off as something slammed into him from behind and his body was engulfed in agony.
Phasma cried out in surprise and leapt off his shoulder to stand between him and who or whatever it was, growling at them. Looking down at her he saw her entire body trembling.
"No! Go away! I won't let you take anyone else from me!" She shouted.
Alric turned to face whatever had attacked him and saw a large cyclopean creature with a single glowing red eye.
"Lost souls, the afterlife calls to you…" It groaned.
"An alpha Dusknoir? What's it doing all the way out here in the Alabaster Icelands?! Why is it attacking us?!" Irida called out in surprise
Seeing the massive cyclopean monster people in the settlement all started running for shelter.
"We can discuss this later. For now, Phasma, get behind me. Irida, you should go hide with everyone else until this is over." Alric said as he grabbed his catalyst and stepped between the Dusknoir and Phasma. He raised his catalyst and cast homing crystal soul mass. Five crystalline orbs appeared in an arc over his head before streaking towards the massive creature.
It attempted to dodge, and it got very close to doing so. It was remarkably fast for its large size. However the homing nature of the spell combined with its large size meant its attempts to dodge were futile. The sharp crystalline orbs slammed into it shredding its flesh, yet it survived. If anything it merely seemed to grow angry.
Alric was surprised. That would have torn most creatures completely in half. The fact it survived was a testament to its power in and of itself.
Alric raised his catalyst again and was about to cast Crystal Soul Spear, however using its surprising speed the creature rushed towards him and punched him in the face while grabbing his catalyst and ripping it out of his grip.
Alric responded to this by conjuring his pyromancy flame and blasting the creature with Great Combustion as the creature retreated back from him.
"Glaceon use shadow ball!" Irida shouted.
Alric looked back and saw a blue canine thing come bounding out from deeper into the settlement and launch a shadowy orb at the Dusknoir.
The creature dodged it and subsequently flung Alric's Tin Crystallization Catalyst at the glaceon. Alric heard bones break and saw blood spray as the sharp crystals of his catalyst tore the creature's flesh.
"GLACEON!" Irida screamed in horror.
Alric quickly reached into his bottomless box and pulled out an Elizabeth Mushroom. "Irida, this mushroom can heal wounds! Make Glaceon eat it then take it and run! Bring Phasma with you!" Alric shouted, tossing the mushroom at Irida.
She caught it, albeit barely, and immediately grabbed Phasma before rushing over to her glaceon.
"Wait, no! Let me go! Please! Alric !" Phasma cried as Irida carried her away.
As Alric was turning to face the Dusknoir again, he was immediately hit by a ball of darkness almost exactly like the one Glaceon tried to use. As agony coursed through him, he realized that must have been the attack the creature had hit him with when he had no idea it was there in the first place. However, this time he felt it sap something from him. He didn't quite know how to describe it.
"Well, shall we truly get started then?" Alric asked as he reached into his bottomless box and withdrew the Sword of Nito himself. He had taken the blade from the Gravelord's corpse after slaying him in the Tomb of the Giants. Holding it in one hand and his Velka Talisman in the other, he charged the Dusknoir.
The Dusknoir responded by unleashing a wave of darkness that made Alric's body flare with excruciating pain. "Cease your resistance, lost soul. Death calls to you."
"If only it were so easy!" Alric shouted back as he pushed himself through the pain and slashed and stabbed at the Dusknoir with the Gravelord's Sword before casting Wrath of the Gods to knock the creature off balance. He then cast Gravelord Greatsword Dance.
Massive crimson blades erupted from the ground and very nearly impaled the Dusknoir. However it managed to evade the blades by launching itself into the air. Alric was then hit by some invisible telekinetic force that made him stumble backwards. The Dusknoir didn't let his staggered state go to waste as it released a pulse of darkness different to the last. Alric's muscles contracted involuntarily in something akin to a flinch. The Gravelord's Sword then moved against his will and it stabbed him through the leg, injecting the purest form of Nito's miasma deep into his veins.
He snarled, ripped the sword out of his leg, and summoned a Sunlight Spear to his hand with his talisman. He flung Gwyn's lightning at the beast faster than the eye could see, knocking it out of the sky.
Grabbing his estus flask he took a swig of the liquid fire within to heal the damage Nito's miasma was wreaking on him before throwing yet another Sunlight Spear at the Dusknoir. Seeing the lightning bolt in his hand it tried to move out of the way but Alric led his shot, aiming just ahead of the direction the Dusknoir was moving. It was hit once more, knocking it to the ground again.
At that point Alric rushed forwards and impaled it through the chest. It stared him dead in the eyes as its life drained from it and it was devoured from the inside by Nito's miasma. He twisted the blade, inflicting further damage on the pinned cyclopean monster.
"I may have lost, but I shall… still bring you with me, lost soul… Our destinies are now… bonded… When my life fades… so too shall… yours…" It wheezed at him.
Alric could tell it wasn't lying. He could feel the curse it had placed upon him within his very bones. He reached into his bottomless box and withdrew a purging stone. Crushing it in his hand, he felt the curse fade. "A simple curse won't be enough, I'm afraid." He then summoned one final sunlight spear and slammed the bolt of lightning directly into giant Dusknoir's singular glowing red eye, finishing it off. White energy flowed into him as he devoured the creature's soul.
Ripping Nito's sword out of its chest, he climbed off of the oversized corpse, reached into his bottomless box, and withdrew a blooming purple moss clump which he devoured to purge Nito's miasma from his system. It only lessened the effects, unfortunately. It was very much still killing him. Nito's miasma wasn't just simple poison or toxin, but a divine blight that was the antithesis of all life. Including the false life of the undead. He could purge it entirely but it was going to take some time and effort. All he had done right now was slow it down to buy himself time. He took another draw from his estus flask to heal the damage that had been wrought on him by the miasma.
Had he known the thing could stab him with his own sword from a distance, he would have used a different weapon.
He walked over to where his Tin Crystallization Catalyst lay in the snow and picked it up. Shaking off the bits of flesh and drops of blood he began casting the spell on himself to start clearing the miasma.
With the sounds of battle over, the people cautiously started coming back out of hiding.
Irida came out holding both Phasma and her Glaceon in her arms. Her glaceon was still covered in blood but the injuries seemed to have already healed. Still it wasn't moving. Alric guessed it was unconscious. Understandably so considering the injuries it suffered.
Phasma wriggled in Irida's grip before finally managing to break free and run towards Alric who was still in the process of purging the miasma from himself.
"Alric! Are you okay?! Please tell me you're okay!" She pleaded.
Alric knelt down and patted her on the head. "I'm fine, little one. Don't worry. I can't say the same for that creature over there, however."
"Is… Is it…?" She muttered looking over at it.
"It's dead. You don't have to worry… I suppose this means your family has officially been avenged." He said, smiling at her.
Tears welled in Phasma's eyes as she sat down in the snow staring out at the Dusknoir.
"Alric, what happened? Why did that Dusknoir attack us?" Irida asked, walking over to him, now holding her glaceon in both arms.
"I met little Phasma here four days ago. She was hiding in a hollow space beneath a cliff. She was hurt, scared, and alone. I healed her injuries and she told me that her pack was destroyed by a large Dusknoir. I couldn't in good conscience just leave her behind. So I brought her with me. I planned to care for her and teach her sorcery so that she may survive on her own in my absence. Unfortunately, it seems the Dusknoir that destroyed her pack was tracking her. Had I known this, I would have dealt with it before coming here. I am so sorry for the trouble I brought upon your home. Because of me, Glaceon there nearly died… If you wish for me to leave and never return, I will do so. I certainly wouldn't blame you." Alric said, genuinely apologetic. He had made a mistake in assuming the Dusknoir wouldn't bother hunting Phasma and it had very nearly cost a life. He felt terrible about that.
"No… You told me to run. I should have listened rather than getting involved. Glaceon was hurt because of me. Plus you gave me that mushroom that healed her. Technically both her and Phasma are alive because of you. That said, what do you mean when you said Phasma told you what happened? And what do you mean by 'in your absence'? You're talking like you're going to die soon." Irida asked.
"Oh, right. You can't understand her, can you? I have an enchanted ring that translates everything I say and hear. So I can understand everything Phasma says perfectly." He held up his hand and showed her the ring.
Irida's eyes lit up at that. "So you can understand pokemon…?"
Pokemon? He had never heard that term before but he could guess what she meant. The strange creatures he had seen since arriving in this world.
He nodded. "Yes, I suppose it does. So long as I'm wearing this ring anyway. Regardless, to answer your second question, I suppose I am dying in a sense… I have a particular degenerative malady that may eventually consume me. I'm working on a solution but I'm not sure if it will claim me before I can find its cure. I don't know how long I have. It could be anywhere from weeks to years or even decades depending on a wide variety of factors. That's why I need to get back to where I'm from and why I'm going to need to do so much research you see. My chances will be significantly improved if I can find my way back to where I belong. And I am very far from where I belong, so I need to find a spell to send me back. To that end I must conduct research."
"I see… Alric, by any chance, did you fall through the space time rift before it was closed a few days ago?" Irida asked.
"The what?" Alric inquired, thoroughly confused by this question.
"Just a short time ago there was a rift in the fabric of space and time above Mount Coronet. It was visible from everywhere in Hisui. Someone else fell out of it and ended up near Jubilife Village. The rift was closed almost a week ago. I was wondering if you might have fallen out of the rift before it closed." Irida explained.
A rift in space and time? That… actually sounded like a plausible means of how he may have arrived. Though it could also very easily be a complete coincidence since no such rift was present within the Kiln. He shook his head. "It's plausible, I did arrive through… arcane means. However, I'd need to study the phenomena to be certain. Are there any lingering effects of this rift?"
"I'm sorry, but no. There were space time distortions that were happening all over the place when the rift was open but they seem to have stopped ever since it was closed. Though it's only been about a week so it might be that the distortions have just become less frequent…" She told him. She was clearly trying to be optimistic about it.
"Hm… How unfortunate." He said. He fully planned on using time magic to go back and study this space time rift. However, he wasn't going to let on the fact he knew such magic. Better to keep that fact to himself.
He looked down and noticed Phasma was no longer sitting there in the snow. He looked and saw her standing next to the body of the Dusknoir. Her mane was blazing with blue energy. Said energy enveloped the corpse which seemed to immediately freeze and start to crack and crumble.
"Pardon me, I must go attend to Phasma." He told Irida before turning and walking over to the Zorua attacking the soulless corpse.
He knelt down next to her and saw her crying as she continued to attack the corpse with whatever magic she was using.
He reached down and gently placed a hand on her back, being careful not to touch whatever energy she was unleashing. When she didn't immediately lash out or attack him by mistake he proceeded to start stroking her back in an attempt to comfort her.
He heard footsteps behind him and he assumed it was Irida.
Eventually Phasma exhausted herself and could no longer sustain whatever it was that she was doing. At which point Alric picked her up and embraced her. "There there, little one… I'm here… It will never hurt you or anyone else ever again…"
"You say you've only known Phasma for four days but you already have such an amazing bond with her." Irida commented.
Alric said nothing as he stood up still embracing Phasma. Taking one hand away from the crying Zorua, he pointed it at the Dusknoir corpse. "Lady Irida, I appreciate the sentiment. However, I strongly advise you to back away. I'm going to dispose of the mess I made and I don't want to get burned."
Irida did as Alric advised and backed away. As soon as he thought she was a safe distance from the corpse he summoned his pyromancy flame to his hand and unleashed a powerful stream of chaos flames directly onto the corpse. The corpse was rapidly incinerated as the previously icy ground it laid on was turned to a pit of boiling lava. Even Alric himself had to step back from the intense heat of his pyromancy, if only to protect Phasma from the crimson flames.
In a matter of seconds the body was little more than blazing ash drifting away on the wind leaving behind only a pit of burning rock where it used to be.
Alric didn't want any children to burn themselves thinking the area had cooled off after the lava was gone. So he grabbed his catalyst and cast a spell to erect a small crystalline barrier in a circle around the area to act like a fence. That should stop the children until the spot had cooled at the very least. He would just have to take down the fence later on.
With that he put his catalyst away before turning and heading back to Irida with Phasma still crying in his arms. "Again, I must apologize. I truly did not anticipate the possibility that creature was following us… The ground where its corpse was laying will be hot until tomorrow. I will tear down the barrier once I return. For now, however, no one should enter that area. I will be taking my leave now. I have brought enough misfortune upon this settlement for one day."
"And where do you plan to go? We haven't even decided on a place where you're going to make your home yet." Irida asked.
"I'll make a temporary camp a few miles to the west from here. I'll return when I have finished my experimentation and have managed to find a way to alter the look of the crystals my spells produce. We can discuss the matter of my more permanent residence after I have upheld my end of the agreement and built your houses for you. If you still want me to do so by the time I return, that is. After today, I fear I may be considered an ill omen to your people. Now, I'll be off. Blessings of the Gods be upon you and your people, Lady Irida." With that he raised his hood once more before he turned and began trudging off away from the settlement into the snowy tundra.
This is my first time writing a Pokémon fanfic so please let me know how I did. Was it clear what moves the Alpha Dusknoir was using? Most of them were Dark Type and are all moves that are on the list of moves Dusknoir can learn, through various generations. What about Iridia? Did I get her characterization right? I don't want her out of character. So let me know if she is in anyway out of character and what I might be able to do to fix it.
Also I need recommendations for Pokémon. Alric is going to find and befriend three more pokemon. For reasons I can not divulge at this time I would like a Fairy, Fire, and/or Electric type. The observant may be able to guess my reasons to an extent. Unfortunately Hisui doesn't seem to have a great selection of those types. The choices I personally would have made aren't really on the Hisuian pokedex, except maybe Gardevoir for the Fairy type? I might possibly need a Dark Type as well, but the Dark type may very well just be one of the artificial pokemon he makes himself. Sort of like how Seath made the Moonlight Butterflies.