Reviews:
ZenousDin: Thank you for the constructive criticism! I tried to work on the issues you pointed out in this chapter. The characters feeling hollow like puppets is a limitation of my skill as an author, unfortunately but I'm trying to work on making them feel more natural. As for him traveling. yep. I was already planning to do that with him using the same magic Manus used to drag him back to Oolacile to go back and research the space time rift, and traveling to Jubilife Village and the Dimond Clan settlements at different points for different reasons.
Overgame00: Thanks!
Ap0c4l1pS1S: First, he was worried about politics. He didn't want to deal with any territorial disputes because he's not a tyrant who abuses his power to kill anyone who opposes him and takes what he wants by force. So he was trying to do things more diplomatically. Second, what did it cost him? Nothing but single day's work, yet it earned him land to build his home without any drama, people he could trade with, customers for his healing services, and a small population of people he could be friends with. More than worth a couple hours of work, no? So to him, it was an equal trade. Houses for a full on castle of his own and friends. And, looking at the crystal caves Seath built it is entirely possible for crystal sorcery.
RonaldM40196867: You're right. Typically building a village would be pretty difficult under normal circumstances. But with the right magic and a sorcerer skilled enough with that magic it can be relatively easy. And thank you!
It had been far too long since Alric had a chance to sit down and have a friendly chat over a nice cup of tea. He was often too busy with his research for such things, unless the conversation had to do with his research or the acquisition of knowledge. So it had been a nice change of pace.
Irida had enjoyed the green blossom tea. So he decided to make a separate controlled greenhouse wing of his home to grow more. He did have the seeds for it and it would be a good product to sell to the people of her village and the rest of Hisui whenever his healing was not needed. Plus he would be able to grow the different types of medicinal moss he had as well since they grew in the same sort of environment as green blossom. He might also be able to grow more Elizabeth mushrooms as well, but those would require special care as they were quite delicate. Thus why they'd gone extinct in the decades following the fall of Oolacile.
Regardless, after Irida left Alric began work on crafting his new home starting with the guest house. He tore down the shack he had built to have tea with Irida and made a house about twice the size of the houses he'd built for the pearl clan. Enough to house up to eight people. He didn't have any beds, so he would have to purchase a few or build them himself later. He did, however, include a latrine, though it currently lacked a chamber pot, and a built-in crystalline bathtub that could be heated by a simple wood fire both in separate rooms. Lastly, it had a kitchen, but Alric didn't need to eat so he didn't have anything to stock it with. He would have to purchase some pots, pans, silverware, plates, and bowls at some point as well. Unless travelers brought their own, which was also a possibility. He'd have to think about that.
With the guest house done, however, he had to move on to his own home. He started with a grand entrance hall with braziers for lighting and a pair of pillars for structural support. He planned to install a chandelier for decoration at some point but that would come much later. Perhaps he could commission it from the Pearl Clan since they had a bunch of his crystal left over.
The front doors were exceptionally large and imposing being made entirely from crystal. They had to be so large specifically so he could use his magic to create the hinges as Seath's Crystal Sorcery was not easy to make small enough for door hinges of a normal size. Not that it mattered to him. The imposing size would just make it harder for guests he did not personally invite to get inside as no normal human would be able to move the weight of the doors. Perhaps a giant could, but such beings were rare even in his world. He wasn't sure how many, if any, existed in this new world. The doors did have heavy knockers for guests seeking invitation inside for whatever reason.
He moved on to creating the adjoining halls, rooms, and staircases. He made a couple guest rooms in case the guest house proved insufficient for a particularly large group of travelers. A small cathedral with four altars to hold each of the Lord Souls, so Phasma could practice prayer and theology whenever he wasn't using the souls for anything. A sitting room to rest and talk to guests over tea. A medical room for emergencies where he may have more than one patient in triage. Several storage rooms. A kitchen and dining room in the event he was hosting guests more personally. A very large domed room, an entire building in its own right, with a roof made from invisible crystal that would serve as his greenhouse once he had enchanted crystals in place to maintain the temperature. A library spanning several stories with rows upon rows of empty shelves. A large study where he could sit and read or write. A large practice room where he would be able to train Phasma. And last, but certainly not least, a large laboratory where he could safely conduct experiments. He had yet to create any levels underground, but he had plans for underground additions in the relatively near future.
All in all, it took two full days for him to build and he still needed quite a bit of furniture to finish it off. Some of it could easily be made of crystal. Some would be better to purchase from skilled carpenters.
When he and Phasma exited to look at their new home from the outside. The crystalline castle was as breathtaking as any castle he'd ever seen if not more so. Alric smiled at the sight.
"Well, little one, how do you like our new home?" Alric asked Phasma
"It's so pretty…" Phasma said, awed by the sight.
Alric chuckled. "Why thank you. There's still quite a bit of cleaning up to do, but if I start now I should be able to sweep everything up in a few hours."
Phasma sighed. "It's been days… Can we take a break and do something else? Please , Alric?"
"Right. I keep forgetting how young you are. To me, two days is but a blink. Hardly any time at all. For you… I commend you for being so patient for as long as you have. You really need something to keep you entertained while I'm busy. Especially now, since you can't even read to keep yourself occupied. Children need enrichment for proper mental and social development. I had planned to buy you toys to play with as soon as I acquired some currency but it seems that won't be fast enough… Plus you do need someone to socialize with other than myself. Your dislike of humans makes that difficult… Hm… I need another apprentice."
"What?!" Phasma exclaimed, clearly scared.
"Calm yourself. I just mean that I need a second apprentice to play with you and keep you company whenever I'm too busy."
' And to pass my knowledge of sorcery onto. ' He didn't add. He felt horrible for thinking that but he really wanted to pass on his knowledge of sorcery but Phasma didn't have an interest in it. He had longed to train an apprentice for several centuries now, but finding a way to end the curse always came first and there was a heartbreaking lack of aspiring young sorcerers in Lordran and Anor Londo. Plus he didn't want his knowledge to be lost forever should the worst come to pass. The loss of knowledge was by far the world's greatest evil as far as he was concerned. Worse, even, then the curse.
He didn't trust the humans in the Pearl Clan nearly enough to seek an apprentice for sorcery amongst them. Besides which Phasma didn't like living humans anyway and half the reason he was considering this was for her sake. So making an entirely new child for himself was his only recourse.
"However, there are some issues with this. Come. We can discuss it in the sitting room over a nice cup of tea."
The two of them went back inside and went to the sitting room. Using some old wooden clubs he didn't have a use for as logs, Alric made a fire in the fireplace and hung the teapot above it to boil. He then took a chair and his table out of his bottomless box and set Phasma on the table.
The two of them sat in silence for a bit until the tea began to whistle. Then Alric got up, took the pot off the fire, and poured both himself and Phasma a cup.
Sitting down facing the fire, Alric said, "I know you don't have hands, so let your tea cool a bit before drinking. Just so you don't burn your tongue." He then took a sip of his own tea before saying, "So… Do you want a new friend?"
"Yes…" Phasma said shyly.
"Mm… This isn't something I ask you lightly, Phasma. We can work out another means of getting you the enrichment and social interaction you need. If I did this, you would no longer be my sole heir. We'd have to determine which of the Lord Souls which of you get. I think I already know how they'd be divided but, would you be against that? Splitting the Lord Souls. You'd still be a goddess, of course, but you wouldn't be as powerful as if you had all four."
"That's okay. I don't mind. Does this mean I get to be a big sister? I've never had a brother or sister before!"
Alric flinched at the implications of the question. He didn't want Phasma to consider him as her father. He was already thinking about how to use his time magic to go back and save her pack. The only reason he hadn't done it the day he met her was because he was scared of completely shattering time in the process by creating a paradox. Time was already broken in his world, he didn't want to break it here too. Once he did find a solution to the paradox issue, he would bring her actual father back, if he was able to be saved by the time her mother tells her to run away, and he didn't want there to be any conflict or confusion in that regard. He was just her teacher and a friend. That's all he wanted her to think of him as. Maybe a godfather or uncle at most. But he couldn't tell Phasma his plan to save her family just yet, as he didn't want to get her hopes up. Especially when he didn't know how long it would take to find a solution. That made this difficult.
He knew he would technically be the father of any being he created, but that was different. They wouldn't have preexisting familial bonds he would be getting in the way of. He didn't mind the idea of having children, but he didn't want to ruin any families or steal someone else's child.
Despite this he put on a smile and said, "If you want to view it as such, I suppose. I assume this means you want me to make a new apprentice?" There were individuals from different families that were as close as siblings. He himself had a few people he considered brothers and sisters that he wasn't actually related to. Priscilla, Eingyi, and Andre to name a few. He'd even become sworn the blood brother of both Quelana and Quelaan after he had cured the affliction that had been killing Quelaan and had brought the two back together. Which was the only reason they agreed to teach him the lost art of flame sorcery. So with that in mind, he would let her view his child as her brother or sister.
Phasma nodded excitedly.
"Hm. Very well." He took another sip of his tea. "If you're certain… All that's left is deciding on what to make."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, there are quite a few methods, spells, and techniques I could use to create this child. I could build a sapient golem. I could create an intelligent moonlight butterfly. I could use some of my own flesh or the flesh or blood of something else. I could even use a few of the souls I've collected or some of the power of the Lord Souls. I don't want whatever I create to share my curse, so using my own soul is out of the question. Since it will likely be inheriting the Light and Life Souls, it shouldn't be a being of the Abyss. It will need to start out small but durable enough for you to run and play with too. Hm… Well, let's finish our tea while I think about it."
So the two of them did. They drank their tea and talked a bit while Alric thought about what to make and how to make it.
No darkness. No death. Not human. Closer to life and light, but not corrupted by the Chaos Flame. Something naturally powerful. Something naturally inclined towards sorcery.
He narrowed it down to four possibilities. A Moonlight Butterfly, a Dragon, a God, or some combination thereof.
He liked Moonlight Butterflies, they were by far his favorite of Seath's creations and they had a natural affinity for sorcery. However they were a bit… fragile. So a dragon? He had the materials to make one and they were the furthest thing from fragile. Though their size and how intimidating they could be could potentially lead to some issues. So a God then? He had the materials for that too. Though the gods had faults of their own. A hybrid like Priscilla? A God and a Dragon? He could make a demon, but they were too violent. Too wild. Too uncontrollable.
Though perhaps he was being unfair towards the demons… to an extent… Quelaan was perhaps the most kind, gentle, and peaceful being he had ever encountered, save perhaps Priscilla, and she was at least a half demon. Quelaag was similarly transformed and she simply sought to protect Quelaan and the accursed inhabitants of Lost Izalith. So perhaps they weren't inherently beings of pure violence and malevolence?
Gah… Was he willing to risk it? If Phasma got hurt because he made a rampaging demon, he'd never forgive himself. Quelaan and Quelaag were both outliers in that only their lower halves were transformed. They were far enough away to have escaped the full effects of the Chaos Flame when the Witch lost control over it. Just barely too close to have fully escaped like Quelana.
He thought about it for several minutes, mentally debating with himself. He even took out some paper, a hand carved crystal dip pen, and an inkwell and started writing to help streamline his thoughts and possible designs before finally coming up with something he hoped would work.
When they had both finished their tea, Alric stood up. "We're going to the lab. I have an idea."
The two of them made their way to Alric's lab. It had no furnishings yet, so Alric quickly made a large heavy slab of crystal supported by four smaller pillars attached to the ground for a table. Setting Phasma on the table he began taking things he was going to need out of his box.
First he took off his Flame Stoneplate Ring and Ring of Steel Protection and put on his Bellowing Dragon Crest Ring and the Ring of the Sun's First Born. He kept both his Old Witch's Ring and Dusk Crown Ring. Then he lowered his hood and put on the Crown of Dusk. He was going to be using a lot of power for this. These things would further boost his magic and hopefully create an even stronger and more perfect end result.
He then took out Havel's Dragon Tooth, and used a powerful lightning infused chisel to break a piece off the top where it would have little impact on the weapon. After casting a repair spell on the Dragon Tooth, he put both it and the chisel away. Setting the shard he broke off the weapon on the table, he took out the calamitous orange eye, the obsidian scales, a vial of blood, and a large bone shard of Kalameet. If he was going to make a dragon hybrid, he was going to make a hybrid of one of the last and the most terrifying and powerful of the Arch Dragons.
Moving on, he took out a vial of Quelana's blood. Similarly he took out a lock of Quelaan's hair. Separating the strands he only took about half before tying the rest back up and putting them away. They had given these to him willingly for study and experimentation after he had cured Quelaan's affliction. Though the lock of hair was as much a keepsake from Quelaan as it was material for him to study. Thus why he didn't use all of it.
Then he took out the soul of Quelaag. He had tried to give it back to Quelana and Quelaan after reuniting them, but they told him to keep it. They, apparently, weren't so sentimental as Ciaran. Or perhaps they were, but were unable to perform the same rites and rituals as whatever Ciaran had done with Artorias' soul. After all, the Gods had fled Anor Londo and they would never willingly perform a funeral service for a demon . Even a half demon like Quelaag. The bastards… Just another reason to loath the Gods of Anor Londo, he supposed.
He could never find a use for it before curing Quelana, and he could never bring himself to do anything with it afterwards. This could, perhaps, be a second chance for Quelaag. A sort of "reincarnation" similar to what some in the far eastern lands believed in. She would have no memories of her past life and would thus be in essence an entirely new person, but it was still technically her in a way. If only Quelana and Quelaan could be here to see it and give their input on how he should remake her. Would they be opposed to the form he would be giving her? He desperately wished he had some way to contact them so he could be sure he wasn't making a grave mistake… In fact, he wished he could talk to Priscilla since she would have a better perspective on the issues with being a dragon hybrid.
Next he took out an empty glass vial and a normal dagger. Cutting his palm, he filled the vial with the thick red ichor streaming from the wound before healing himself and putting the dagger away. It was just enough that his child would be related to him. It would have his blood running through its veins. However it very explicitly wouldn't be human. He wouldn't allow it to be. It would not have a human soul. It would have no humanity. He would not allow the curse to propagate in this world if he could avoid it. Besides which, he didn't want his child to suffer as he had.
Then he took out a branch from the Bed of Chaos. After defeating her, he had studied the Bed of Chaos, wondering how the Witch of Izalith could have turned into such a diminutive creature. What he learned was astounding. That creature wasn't the Witch herself. Not entirely anyway. It was just a part of her. Specifically it was her heart. When she had lost control of the Flames of Chaos her body had become the massive tree-like demon he had fought, which was why it looked vaguely humanoid, while her heart turned into the insect and fell out of her chest as she was transforming. It was still linked to her body through her soul, thus why she died when it did. If he was going to create a demon-hybrid, it seemed only fitting to include the mother and greatest of all demons in the process.
Finally he took out the Life Soul. He was going to create a new life, not using any of the methods Seath devised, so he was going to need the power of the Life Soul. He just had to be extremely careful to avoid this going wrong.
"These are the materials I will be using. A tooth fragment of an Everlasting Dragon. The eye, scales, and a shard of bone of the calamitous Arch Dragon Kalameet. The blood of a goddess named Quelana and the hair of a half god half demon named Quelaan, my blood-sisters. A branch from the Bed of Chaos, the mother of all demons. And most importantly of all, the power of the Life Soul to make the process I'm going to use actually possible." Alric explained, taking out both his catalyst and talisman.
Though there was a difference this time. Instead of the Tin Crystallization Catalyst he normally used, he took out the Witch of Izalith's Catalyst. While the Tin Crystallization Catalyst was better for general sorcery, the Witch's Catalyst was immensely superior for flame sorcery which he was going to have to make use of. Though he still took out Velka's talisman, as usual, and held it in his off hand. He always did his best work when using multiple forms of magic in tandem. Plus he was going to need miracles to properly utilize the full power of a Lord Soul without directly absorbing it.
Looking at Phasma he smiled. "I know you want to watch but I'm going to need you to back up. I don't want you getting caught up in the spell."
Phasma backed up about as far as she could while staying on the table.
Satisfied Alric began. The Life Soul blazed furiously and the materials all raised up off the table. Quelaag's soul floated in the center, surrounded in a ring by all of the other materials save for the Lord Soul. Blood flowed out of all three vials and mixed together enveloping Quelaag's soul and merging into an amorphous raw power Life Souls caused the crimson sphere of blood to seemingly catch fire and burn with divine power. The flames started flickering red as Alric carefully brought forth the power of the Chaos flame. It started slow at first but it didn't take long for the chaos flames to practically explode forth. Alric grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut, every muscle in his body was tense from the sheer effort it took to restrain the Chaos Flames and prevent them from overwhelming the flames of the First Fire.
"GAAAH!" He yelled from the struggle.
"Alric? What's wrong?!" Phasma asked, taking a step forward.
"STAY BACK…! P-please… I… n-need to… f… focus… Don't… dis… distract me…" Alric growled, from the herculean effort.
Phasma backed off, albeit reluctantly and she seemed to be having trouble sitting still. She could tell something was wrong and it was making her visibly nervous. Alric didn't see this, however. He just had to trust she was doing as she was told.
He opened his mouth and summoned his pyromancy flame within his jaws, a technique he developed taking inspiration from the dragons. Fire began spewing from his mouth with every ragged strained breath he took. He couldn't do this with just miracles and flame sorcery alone. He needed pyromancy as well. This divided his attention even more which put significantly more mental strain on him, but ultimately it made it a bit easier to keep the chaos flames contained so it was worth it. The Dusk Crown Ring was his only saving grace at the moment, providing him barely enough focus and mental fortitude to cope with the strain. His Bellowing Dragon Crest ring, the Ring of the Sun's First Born, and the Crown of Dusk working together were the only reason he had anywhere near enough power to hold back the Chaos Flames of the Life Soul on his own. Even then he was considering taking out all three of the other Lord Souls to reign in the raw untamed power of the Life Soul and Chaos Flames.
It was no wonder why the Witch had lost control of the Chaos Flame, considering the difference in the sheer magnitude of what she was trying to accomplish. Even he would surely fail under those circumstances. Fortunately, what he was trying to do was nothing near so lofty as trying to replace the First Fire itself. He was just trying to create a single being. One new life. Something much smaller in scale which was well within his bounds.
As the ritual continued the bone fragment plunged into the burning sphere of blood. After that it began to morph and take shape as the bone began to grow, stretch, break, expand, and form its skeleton. First the torso, then the shoulders, the neck, the arms, the legs, the tail, the head, the hands, the fingers. Much to Alric's surprise, four dragon-like wings sprouted from the child's back. Two were larger and higher up while two were smaller and slightly lower on the back. Their sizes and positioning would have almost made them look like the wings of an insect, almost like a butterfly or moth, if it wasn't for the fact they lacked webbing and were thus completely skeletal.
Priscilla didn't have wings, so he hadn't expected this child to have wings either so this came as a shock to him. The influence of the Chaos Flame and demonic side of her perhaps? He couldn't afford to waste effort thinking about it now.
The tooth fragment shot into the jaws before splitting and forming the teeth. Kalameet's eye was absorbed into the mass as well, forming a singular eye in the center of the forehead. Four other eyes formed lower on the face, closer to where eyes would normally be, bloody red and lacking the same inner glow as the single orange eye in the child's forehead. Instead they burned with the flames of chaos. Eyelids formed shortly after her eyes.
Alric modified the spell and ensured the oddly vertical eyelids around the eye of Kalameet were sealed similarly to the eyes of a newborn kitten. This way he would have some time to teach the child to be careful with it and to not use it recklessly. It was a power even the gods feared at the height of their power. Gwyn himself refused to hunt down Kalameet for fear of bringing his wrath down upon the gods because of this power. So leaving it in the hands of an untrained newborn was flirting with disaster. Especially if things went wrong and the child went berserk. He'd faced that eye in battle once and it had been the single hardest fight of his existence. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of it again.
Then the blood began to transmute, forming organs, veins, arteries, muscles, flesh, and more. Kalameet's scales were pulled into the child, splitting and morphing to cover parts of the child's body. It ran up from the child's digitigrade draconic feet, up the legs and back, down the tail, covering the back of the neck, the arms, and the back of her viciously clawed hands. The front of the child's body had patches of scales but it lacked the same coverage as the limbs and back. The child was very visibly a girl at this point. There was a small smattering of scales on her cheeks and forehead. Otherwise her face looked remarkably human, save for the color of her eyes, her reptilian pupils, the number of eyes she had, the fact her skin which was so pale it was quite literally the color of ashes rather than any natural skin tone, and the sharp draconic teeth in her mouth.
Quelaan's hair planted itself in the girl's head and rapidly spread across it before growing to reach past her shoulders. It started out gray but rapidly changed to charcoal black, regaining all the color Quelaan's hair had lost due to her illness.
A set of tiny horns resembling the branches of a tree sprouted from her head. Then what looked like the delicate roots of a plant began to spiderweb between the fingers of her wings interweaving and meshing together in place of the fleshy membrane most dragons had. Similarly the spikes on her tail resembled branches instead of the horns Kalameet had. These plant-like features were assuredly the influence of the Bed of Chaos.
Despite her odd mix of draconic and demonic features she possessed an other worldly almost ethereal beauty similar to that all of the gods possessed. However, like with Priscilla it was diluted somewhat as she was a crossbreed. However, diluted as it was, it was further accentuated by the lethal grace of the dragons and enhanced by the Flames of Chaos that permeated her very being. The crimson fire blazed across her horns and wings. Her torso had a faint red glow as the chaos flames burned within her body. It even blazed beneath her obsidian scales, the red light glittering off their glossy black surface.
All in all, she was about the size of a large toddler. Though Alric could tell she was going to grow very large very rapidly. As a crossbreed she was already destined to be giant, but part demonic as she was and having been given birth to by the power of the Life Soul, she was going to be even bigger than priscilla and was going to grow far faster than a normal child.
Alric continued for a bit, doing some finishing touches with the Life Soul to ensure the absolute perfection of his daughter, making sure there were no defects and that she would be as healthy as possible. He also made sure the girl wouldn't be hungry for at least a day or two, just so he would have time to go out and acquire food for her since she was actually alive and would thus need sustenance. Alric was going to have to finish his little garden sooner than he thought so he could produce some of the food for his daughter himself. Then again, she was almost certainly a carnivore so perhaps he'd have to hunt food for her instead of simply growing it.
When he was done, he ended the spells, nearly collapsing now that his exertion was over. However he forced himself to keep standing and wrapped his arms around his daughter, catching her as she was floating back down to the table. Fortunately despite the flames she proved to be safe to touch, though she was incredibly warm. Her body temperature was much higher than most living creatures.
Her eyes snapped open almost immediately as she landed in his arms. His smiling face was the first thing she saw. She bared her teeth and snarled at him, struggling in his grasp. She kicked at him, her talons tearing into his flesh and disemboweling him. She slashed at him with her claws, leaving deep gouges across his face. Her body temperature started climbing rapidly until Alric's flesh began to char and burn.
"Alric!" Phasma cried out.
"Stay where you are!" Alric ordered even as he was starting to burn alive as his body was being shredded. Summoning his pyromancy flame to his hand, he used his connection with nature to touch the child's soul. Through this connection he could sense her rage, indignation, her desire to be free, and above all else her fear. But noticeably there wasn't even a hint of malice within her. She was merely lashing out like a scared trapped animal. That was enough for him. Thus, instead of ripping her soul from her body with his Dark Hand as he planned to do if he sensed malevolence within her, he used a modified form of Rapport and stilled these tumultuous emotions within her. Subduing her fear, her anger, and indignation. Reducing them to little more than a barely noticeable undercurrent within her subconscious. It used up all of the remaining energy he had. After this he would be too mentally exhausted to cast anymore spells until he had a chance to rest for at least a few hours.
She slowly stopped kicking and struggling and her temperature began to reduce to safe levels again.
As she stopped struggling, Alric wrapped her in a tight embrace, stroking the back of her head. "Shh, shh… It's alright. You don't need to fight. I'm not going to hurt you, dear. I made you. I'm your father. So just calm down."
The girl seemed uncertain of the gesture at first but after a moment he could feel the remaining tension drain out of her.
He then collapsed to his knees as his mental fatigue and injuries were starting to catch up with him. Phasma jumped off the table and rushed over to him. "Alric, are you okay?" She asked. She was clearly trying to stay calm but couldn't hide the worry in her voice.
The demonic crossbreed looked at her but Alric's modified Rapport spell was still in effect so she didn't immediately jump to lashing out violently again. Instead she seemed more curious than anything.
"Well… my guts are hanging out, I have multiple third degree burns, and I'm completely exhausted. That said, I've survived worse. Hahaha… Ow… Gah… Laughing hurts… Damn…"
Setting his new daughter down in front of him he reached behind his back and pulled out his estus flask. Uncorking it, he took a swig of the liquified fire within and his injuries began healing. Putting the cork back in and putting the flask back in its holster on his back he sighed in relief.
"Ah… That's much better… Phasma, there's something you need to understand about me. Even if this had killed me, I'd come back in a few minutes regardless. Though I'd look like the desiccated corpse I am. Hahaha… I've died so many times. I've lost track. It has to be in the millions by now… We may both be undead but my curse is very different from yours. No matter how many times I die I will always come back. Mine is a curse to experience the agony of death over and over again for all of eternity until I eventually go mad. So, you really must stop worrying so much, little one."
As he was talking, the demonic crossbreed crawled over to Phasma and the two of them smelled each other. Phasma was, understandably, very wary of the crossbreed while the crossbreed was just curious, any fear she might have felt being suppressed.
Alric picked the two of them up and set Phasma back on the table while holding onto the crossbreed. Looking at her, he sighed and shook his head. "Tsk, tsk… Now look at what you've done. You're all covered in my rotten old blood, and burnt blood and meat. Now we'll have to bathe you to get all that gunk off… Ha! I'm going to need a bath as well since I'm covered in it too. You're going to be quite the handful, I can already tell. Before that, though, I suppose you need a name. Hm… How about, Alarice? How does that sound?"
"Rah?" Alarice babbled curiously. Uncomprehending. This was to be expected. She had only just been born.
"Alarice? That sounds like your name." Phasma commented.
"Of course it does, I named her after myself. It's something of a tradition amongst the Gods. Gwyn named his children after himself. The Witch of Izalith named her daughters after herself. Manus named the first Pygmies after himself. Nito… well… Nito never had children to begin with otherwise I imagine he would have done the same. I am the Chosen Undead, the bearer of all four Lord Souls. I have, in essence, become the supreme deity of my world. Well, I would be if I absorbed all four souls anyway. So I thought it only fitting to follow tradition."
He paused for a moment before adding, "That being said, I was also considering naming her Quelaag after the original owner of her soul, thus also naming her after the Witch of Izalith. After all, she is Quelaag, assuming one believes an individual is still the same person after they've been reincarnated. I was also considering Kalamitas after Kalameet, the main dragon whose parts I used. Either would be fitting. However, while she's related to both the witch and Kalameet, in a way, she's related to me as well and I'm the one who made her not them. So, I decided to be just a little selfish."
Gently holding her cheek in his hand, he wiped some half burnt blood off of Alarice's face with his thumb and gave her a warm loving smile, being careful not to show any teeth. She was like a scared animal so she might view a toothy smile as a sign of aggression. He didn't want to provoke her again when his spell wore off in a few minutes.
"Phasma, I realize this might not have been the best first impression. However, please don't hold it against her. Alarice was only just born and she was scared and confused. She doesn't know or understand anything yet. So please just give her a chance and I'm sure you'll become great friends."
' I just hope I'm right and I can raise her to be like Priscilla and Quelaan. A kind, gentle soul. Not a monster like many other demons or dragons. Gods, I hope this wasn't a mistake. '
Phasma looked at Alarice. She still seemed upset. Still she eventually gave in. "Okay… As long as she doesn't try to hurt you anymore…"
"I'm fairly confident she won't. As I said, she was just scared and confused. So long as we don't provoke her, it should be fine. Just… be careful while you're playing. I'm going to have to file her nails down to something a bit safer, or find some way to cover them so you don't get hurt while you're playing together. Also, there's a fifth eye in her forehead. I'm sure you saw it as her body was forming and the vertical eyelid is clearly visible. If it opens while I'm not watching, run and tell me immediately. It shouldn't open for at least a month or two, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."
"But why? Is her eye dangerous?"
Alric looked at Phasma with a deathly serious expression. "Yes, it is. Very much so. It is one of the single most dangerous things in existence. Even the Gods were terrified of its power. Kalameet, its original owner, used it to single handedly slaughter entire armies in the war against the dragons at the height of the Gods' power. Armies of lesser gods clad in silver armor that specialized in killing dragons. So it is not something to be taken lightly."
Phasma gave Alarice another wary look.
Alric made a dismissive gesture, trying to quell her worry. "Don't worry, it should be fine. She just needs to be taught how to use it responsibly. Now, Alarice and I are both in desperate need of a bath to wash all this blood and ash off. Would you like to join us?"
"Mm… I don't like baths…" Phasma muttered.
"Ah, don't be like that. Come on. A nice warm bath will do all three of us good." Alric said, picking her up and carrying Phasma and Alarice off to the bathing room within the castle.
Unfortunately the bath was empty. He was going to need to go collect some snow to fill it.
He set the two of them down in the empty bathing room. "Phasma, I'm trusting you to watch Alarice. I have to go collect a bunch of snow to fill the bath. It's okay for her to explore a bit, but don't let her leave the castle. She shouldn't be able to since the windows should block her, but if she finds a balcony or something and tries, come get me. Alarice, be good and listen to Phasma. I'll be right back."
"Um… She… She won't attack me, right?" Phasma asked nervously.
Alric glanced at Alarice who was already exploring the bathroom. "She shouldn't as long as you don't provoke or scare her. My modified Rapport spell should last another five minutes at least. If she does when the spell wears off, I'm going to need you to run. Hide if you have to. You can fight if you have to, but I would advise against it. I fear that's not a battle you can win."
"Mm…"
Alric sighed. "I'll tell you what. I'm going to give you a couple of things." He reached into his bottomless box and took out a pair of rings. "These are my Flame Stoneplate Ring and Ring of Steel Protection. They should give you some protection from fire and physical damage. So if she does go rampant, you have some protection from her." He knelt down and slid them over Phasma's front paws. They automatically adjusted their size to fit her. He then took out a white soapstone and etched his summon sign on the ground. "And this is a white soapstone. It allows me to be summoned and summon others from other worlds. If there's an emergency, all you need to do is touch it to my summon sign here on the ground. I will immediately be summoned to help you. Nothing should happen. You shouldn't need to use this at all. It's simply here in case you need it."
He set the soapstone next to the large tub built into the ground. The tub was a large square hole he had dug into the ground with his magic, did some finishing details with a pickaxe and a spade, then coated it all in a thick layer of solid crystal. It had built in benches and plenty of space for multiple people if he had guests over and they didn't mind sharing a bath with each other. It had no drain at the moment though he planned to install one in the future if it was used very frequently. To empty it, he would just evaporate all the water with pyromancy then mop up the remaining filth afterwards.
"So, do these make you feel a bit better?"
Phasma nodded. "Yes… Sorry… I know I shouldn't be scared of her but…"
Alric rubbed her head playfully. "It's fine. Watching her burn and disembowel me had to be pretty scary. I understand. I don't expect you to get over that immediately. Like I said earlier, just give her a chance. That's all I ask. Can you do that?"
Phasma nodded, looking somewhat ashamed of herself.
"Good. Now I'll be right back with that snow. Be good, you two."
With that he turned and headed out to go collect the snow he needed.
Outside, he set his bottomless box down on the ground with the top open and used his spade to start filling it with snow.
As he was shoveling snow into his box, he heard footsteps crunching towards him. "Alric? What are you doing?" A familiar voice asked.
He froze and looked down at his shredded robes and the blood covering him. He was not presentable at the moment.
"Lady Irida. What are you doing here?" He asked, not turning around.
"I came to see what you built and introduce you to Gaeric. He was going to head out to get supplies for the village and wanted to meet you. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to do both… But by Palkia, when you said you were going to make something big I didn't think you meant this ." Irida said.
Alric looked over his shoulder and saw a smiling shirtless man with blue hair. "Hey, I heard you're pretty strong!"
"Haha! You could say that… Uh… I'm sorry. This is a bit of a bad time, I'm afraid. I'm really not presentable. I was just gathering some snow so I could take a bath." Alric said, turning around to face them fully.
Both of their eyes widened seeing his robes shredded and the blood covering him. "What happened?!" Irida demanded.
"I, uh… I made myself a daughter. She's a bit of a handful." Alric said, unsure of how else to explain it.
"You made a daughter? Irida didn't mention you had a wife. And how did a child do that? Where did all that blood come from?" Gaeric asked suspiciously.
"I don't. I made her through magic. She's not human either. She's a crossbreed, meaning she's part dragon. More of a chimera, I suppose… Regardless, right after she was born, she was afraid and angry not knowing what was going on and I was holding her at the time. So she tore into me with her claws and burned me pretty badly. I've since healed myself and managed to get her to calm down but now we're both covered in my blood, thus the reason I'm collecting snow for a bath. Phasma's in the bathing room watching her right now. If you're willing to sit and wait a bit, I'm willing to introduce you to little Alarice after we finish our bath and I get changed. Then I'd be willing to talk and give you the grand tour of my home."
Irida and Gaeric looked at each other for a moment. "Well… We're already here and I'll admit I'm curious. What do you think, Irida?"
She sighed and rested her head in her hand. "I really need to stop being surprised by all the weird things Alric can do… Sure. I'd love to meet her! But Alarice? You named her after yourself?"
"Indeed I did. It's something of a tradition. Anyways, I believe I've gathered a sufficient amount of snow for the water I'll need for my bath. So, come in. I'll show you to the sitting room and put on some tea for you while you wait." Alric said, picking up his bottomless box and motioning for them to follow.
Well, now Phasma has a new friend to keep her busy. A crossbreed of Kalameet and the Daughters of Chaos corrupted by the Chaos Flames and with elements of the Bed of Chaos within her. The perfect host for the Life Soul and a perfect contingency plan/weapon against Alric himself should the worst come to pass.
So what type do you think fits Alarice the best? Personally I'm of the opinion Demons should have the Fairy type since according to lore they're Life gone completely wild and out of control which fits fairies quite well, IMHO, especially with Xerneas representing Life in Pokémon being a fairy type. Though I could be convinced they should be Dark instead, at least within the context of Pokémon's type system where Dark more accurately represents "bad" or "evil" in a way. So something like Fire Dragon. Fire Fairy. Fire Dark. Or maybe a triple type of Fire, Dragon, Fairy or something. I don't mind straying outside the normal duel typing since this is fanfiction and I don't have to worry about game balance or a massive amount of possible combos, and Dark Souls is a bit of an Out of Context problem for the world of Pokémon anyway and wouldn't necessarily abide by its usual rules.