I ACTUALLY FINISHED A CHAPTER EARLY? WHAT KIND OF MADNESS IS THIS?

Since I actually sat down and didn't let any Cat Video's distract me, I managed to get this baby nice and ready for you guys. Nothing feels better than finishing a chapter ahead of schedule.

Buuuut before you guys get thing started, allow me to get too...

A Few Comments That Caught My Eye

4919- I enjoy reading your story, and I have a few questions if that's ok lol.
1. Do you think the dark is evil, dispite that humans are born from it? (I always figured the dark was acting violent to stop the assholes that claim to be gods from unnatural extending the fire lol. In my mind dark miracles, pyromancy, and sorcerys belong to humanity, and that the gods don't have a right to touch them)
2. With the prophet, Is this a Harem Anime, or actually a developing polyamorous relationship? I'm actually hoping for the second one myself lol. (It wouldn't even be out of place depending on what time period you're bashing their culture on, plus who's going to bat a eye against Velka lol)

My Response- Well I'm glade your enjoying things so far. And no, I don't consider the dark to be evil, I think of it as more of a force of nature that's been twisted into something it was never meant to be. To put it in short terms, I think there might be a difference between the dark and the abyss. So I don't go off on a huge tangent, I think that's about as decent an explanation I can give. As for dark miracles as something, I somewhat agree with you, in the sense that where the gods have the Light miracles, Dark Miracles are the domain of mankind. But obviously thanks to their influence and the brand of the undead, its never been explored by humanity.

As for the harem question, I'm starting to lean towards the relationship with more than one woman for the Prophet. The only question on my mind is what I'm going to do with Pricilla.

"Puts hands together sinisterly* Decisions, decisions.

The Furt- As always I enjoy reading your chapters at the worst times in the night. Its felt a little slow lately but that could just be me, so don't let it get to you. The largest thing that has come to bug me are the occasional grammar mistakes that are one too many for a single chapter. Its a pet peeve of mine so they stand out like mountains and usually ruin a story for me fast. That's not the case here thou, and I can easily continue reading due to the interesting characters and story. Like Priscilla. I'm not gonna lie. The mention of Priscilla in the story description is easily 87% of the reason I've been reading.

Please don't ban me from tail fluffing :C
I tried to leave a somewhat helpful review (while half asleep, your threat woke me up enough to type this)

My Response- Firstly, thanks for sticking with the story so far. Glad to be told I've managed to keep things interesting.

Secondly, apologies for the grammar mistakes as you aren't the first to bring this up to me. I do double check a chapter before posting it up, but I guess a few mistakes slipped past me. Though some of my earlier chapters seem to have been deleted from the website, I plan to go through and correct many of the mistakes I've made with previous chapters pretty soon. So I'll definitely try too shape things up.

ArchAngel319- Thanks SG for another awesome chapter. I really like the idea of this shipping between Solaire and Mildred. It's kind of one of those matches that at first glance seem kind of odd and unlikely, but with how you have written the dialog and events between the pair it's actual kind of touching and heartwarming seeing the two care for each other. So you have the Arch signature of approval with this awesome pairing. Lol. Also loved the dialog and bit with Solaire and the Dark miracle. Lot's of dramatic buildup and then the following climax with Mildred's intervention, very well written. I know that all of the characters like the prophet, Oscar, and Sigmire all have kind of new abilities now, kind of like when sigmire slew who I believe was Havel a few chapters back. It would be kind of cool if Solaire's new ability would be to be able to call upon both dark and light miracles. Since Solaire doesn't wholly believe in the light anymore it would be cool if he was able to call upon both the dark and the light when it came to miracles, kind of like a Grey Jedi from star war fanfics with the whole balance in the force deal and their ability to use both dark and light side techniques. You could write how Solaire endeavors with finding a balance between his faith in the light and search to find more power to protect his friends with bending darkness to his will. Anyway, good luck with your next chapter and as always have fin writing.

P.S. I have come to an assumption and believe that we both have a mutual appreciation and praise for the fluffiest tail in the land known as Priscila's tail. So I was thinking. I know how dark souls has the whole meme going with the phrase "praise the sun!", but I was thinking of starting a new one based on that old meme. So I give you what I hope to be dark souls latest meme...

PRAISE ! THE ! TAIL ! (**que picture insert of someone hugging Pricilla's tail**)

My Response- My friend...*Takes off metaphorical pair of glasses dramatically*….You're a goddamn genius.

My mind was blown from reading your idea for Solaire and I can honestly say I'm in love with it. I was think of having him learning Dark Miracles only, but hot dang, I clearly needed to think bigger with the Sun Bro. The thought of Solaire finding balance with the Dark and the Light is definitely the kind of thing I've been looking for with the story. I'm hype just thinking about the possibilities.

P.S. *Removes secondary metaphorical pair of glasses* By god, this man speaks gospel! We must spread word of the meme to the masses! PRAISE THE TAIL!

Welp that all I got to say this time around, my fellow tail fondlers. Hope you guys enjoy the new chapter.

Warning: Go no further if you are not prepared for things of things of intense Cray-Cray nature. You have been warned.

The Depths

Small shafts of light began to pierce the darkness of his consciousness as he ever so slowly began to collect himself.

"..Hm?...Hmm…" a feminine voice mewled next to his person. His mind hadn't fully caught up with his surroundings just yet, so he only just managed to groan under his breath a little. He then felt a few taps at his helmet followed by someone fervently shaking his body. "…Mhm...Sahler…"

His was just at the edge of waking up, but alas, the grogginess of a deep sleep had its hold on him and refused to let him awaken so easily. Honestly, he didn't feel very up to going against this feeling and started to let himself slip back into unconsciousness. But it seemed that whoever was shaking him back and forth was well aware of his half hazard attempts to fall back into his catnap and continued to shake him further.

"…Grrrr…." The voice suddenly growled in frustration next to him until….

NOM

He felt a sharp pain suddenly emanate from his shoulder. Though "Sharp pain" was a bit of an exaggeration as his body barely recognized it as little more than a mosquito bite. But it was enough to force his thoughts forward until finally he opened his eye's to see Mildred kneeling next to him.

She was staring at him with a mildly annoyed glare on her face, silently demanding that he stop trying to ignore her and wake up. Admittedly, the sight was one more adorable than it had any right to be.

"..Huzzah…" Solaire said drowsily as he suddenly wrapped one of his arms around her and pulled her into a close embrace.

"Eh?!" Mildred yelped in surprise as she fell forward onto him. Caught completely by surprise at this sudden action, she could do little more than let herself be brought in and held like a soft bear. She didn't really understand what was going on and froze up for a moment at what was happening, but after allowing her surprise to settle she found the experience quite to her liking.

Wasting little time, she gave a small mewl joy before making her a bit comfortable in her position with him. With Solaire being in the condition that he was and her not exactly disliking their current closeness, the two would have been perfectly comfortable falling asleep just like that.

"You do realize she just took a bite out of your shoulder, right?"

Or at least they would have, had not a much gruffer voice suddenly decided to speak up and drag Solaire's thoughts back to reality.

His eye's shooting wide open, Solaire was quick sit up and take in surroundings. He quickly recognized that he was indeed still in one of the sewers many hallways, Oscar and a cleric woman he was familiar with were both standing above him and Mildred now appeared very displeased that her current sleeping position had been disturbed.

"Careful. I have taken care of your physical wounds, but you'll need a few minutes to regain the blood you've lost." The Cleric woman explained kindly. "There's no immediate threat, so take your time collecting yourself."

"Yes, make yourself nice and comfortable with your new friend, Solaire. No need to rush on our account. I hear the sewers are very well temperature this time of year. Perfect for a midnight nap." Oscar said dryly as he leaned against the wall at his back. "And it's not as if I'd like an explanation for what I'm looking at right now or anything."

"Oh, well that's good then. In that case, I'll just-"

"If you even think of trying to fall back asleep, I can guarantee you'll be in for a much more violent sort of awakening." Oscar said curtly, getting a bit annoyed at his friends attempt to brush his comments off.

"Alright, alright. No need to get excited now. Break times over." Solaire said with mock cheer as he steadily made his way to his feet.

"Aww…" Mildred moaned in disappointment as her current pillow gently pushed her off him and stood up. Now having no reason to remain lying down, she stood up at his side.

"Explain to me just what the hell happened to you. The last I saw; she was trying to kill you and now you're both huddled up together as if it's the most normal thing to be seen." Oscar said flat out as he glared at the woman at his friends' side.

Meanwhile, Mildred returned the look with a glare of her own. She didn't take kindly to the way the man was talking or looking at her one bit.

"Come now, Oscar, we've definitely seen stranger occurrences in our travels. I doubt this even ranks top twenty, right?" Solaire commented offhandedly in a lighthearted manner, attempting to buy himself some time to think about how he should say things.

"Solaire, the minute that woman was healed and fully conscious, she got up and growled at us, before lashing out until we backed away from you. Let me repeat that in case you missed it. She growled and attacked, until we got away from you." Oscar explained fervently. "You're lucky Reah finished fixing you up or I might have had to use violence."

"W-Well, I'm sure she was just being a bit cautious and was making sure I was alright." Solaire said in her defense. "And she is not "That Woman", Oscar. Her name is Mildred."

At this, the woman in questions ears perked up as she turned towards Solaire with a curious look in her eye.

"Mildred…? Me…Mildred?" she asked as she pointed to herself with an almost childlike innocence.

"Yes. That is your name." Solaire responded cheerfully. "Are you pleased to be called that or would you prefer we find another?"

Let it be known that Mildred wasn't aware, nor did she much care, about the small bit of reputation she'd gained among some invaders. She had no idea that they had unceremoniously begun to call her by this name, nor was she aware that they were the ones who told Solaire that was what she was called. Not to mention that, based completely off nothing more than her first friendly experience with him, she firmly believed that it was Solaire that had somehow healed her wounds after their battle together, not Reah.

In her mind, he had not only protected her from a Red Phantom but had healed her body and was now trying to deepen their bond by giving her a name.

Once her mind had fully put this together, Mildred's lips spread into an unmistakably joyful expressions she looked towards the Sunlight Warrior.

"Sahler, Sahler." Mildred said cheerfully as she practically leapt forward and rubbed her face against Solaire's unarmored chest.

Though his arms moved on their own to catch her, Solaire was speechless. He hadn't expected this level of a reaction from such a simple question. Her warmth enveloped him, stirring all sorts of emotions in his chest for an instant.

"…Ahem."

Oscar and Reah had been watching them both the entire time, with Oscar himself giving a faking cough to get their attention once again.

"Solaire. Explanation. Now."

Hearing the slight irritation of not knowing what was going on in Oscar's voice, Solaire released a calming breath before recounting the detail of what had happened between himself and Mildred. He told them of the giant rat, the creature with the massive eyes that almost turned him to stone, how they fought against the red phantoms together and how he wished to protect her. Though he made a point to avoid speaking of power that he nearly made use of. He wasn't sure what it was for certain, but he had an idea of what it might have been.

If Oscar's worry over the state of things was even close to his own, there was no reason to place more concern on his shoulders by speaking of hypotheticals. It was not lost on him that he was doing exactly what they asked the Prophet not to do with them.

Both Oscar and Reah held gentle expressions across their faces as they listened and didn't say a word from start to finish.

"You truly are a saint, Sir Solaire." Reah said in a pleased tone as she held her hands to her chest with a soft smile across her lips.

Oscar was deep in thought, arms across his chest until he slowly opened his eyes beneath his helmet.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked plainly. "I'm going to be brutally honest with you, I really don't know how to take this. I can hardly believe it…"

The Knight stared at the woman that clung to his friend for a few moments as Mildred returned his look with a wary look of her own.

"I understand your experience with her has left an impression, but we've seen what she's done. We've seen that kitchen of theirs. The fact that she has so much blood on her hands is not something that can be easily overlooked."

It was at this point that Reah stepped forward and spoke to Oscar with her head held high.

"Then do not overlook it. Accept it. Accept that she has made mistakes and help her do better moving forward. But do not stand by and judge her as if you are above reproach yourself, Oscar." Reah said almost as if she was reprimanding the Knight for his careless wording, before turning back towards Solaire. "You are a kind man for what you're trying to do, and your actions were absolutely in the right. We all make mistakes in life, but it is never too late to attempt to do better. If she is willing to try to change, then why wouldn't we offer a hand to help her begin again?"

Pausing a moment to steel herself, Reah turned her gaze towards Mildred and spoke.

"Let's start off on the right foot. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mildred. My name is Reah, a Cleric of the Way of Blue." Reah said as she puffed out her chest and gave a friendly, energetic smile. "I hope that we can both become good friends."

Mildred gazed curiously at the woman from her position next to Solaire as she extended her hand to her.

"…Reah….Cleric?"

The words fall out of her mouth as the two make eye contact- before Mildred gives a slight huff and buries her face back into Solaire chest blissfully.

Truthfully, she didn't give two dung pies about the Reah's little pep talk or whatever Oscar's problem was, preferring the feeling of pressing against the Sunlight Warrior to be of much more interest. In fact, she found it somewhat annoying that the two talked so much.

So, she leaves the clerics hand hanging without giving it a second thought.

Awkwardly attempting to hold her smile, Reah was about to let her arm drop back to her side, but before she could do so Solaire reached forward and took hold of her hand.

"Thank you, Reah. For both your actions in helping us and your words. I will not forget this dept to you." Solaire said sincerely.

"Oh. Well, think nothing of it. I simply did what any true healer would choose to do." Reah said proudly with a smile, glad that her decision to come was of such great help and that she was saved from the mortification of being left hanging. "The Way of Blue strives to help any that we can."

"What is the Way of Blue? I have never heard of such a thing." Solaire commented.

"It surprises me not. We've only just recently begun our venture." Reah said with a bit of embarrassment. "Currently, it is only myself and my childhood friend Vince at the forefront. It may seem a bit underwhelming now, but once we get things going and gather the appropriate levels of humanity, we hope to be a beacon of hope to any that wallow in despair."

"That's wonderful. It sounds similar to the goals of my very own covenant, the Warriors of Sunlight." Solaire said cheerfully. "Our goal is to participate in Jolly cooperation with those in need. Whether it be against a band of hollows or a vile Red Phantom, we aid as many as we can."

"How strange. I have never heard of your covenant." Reah commented with am inquisitive tilt of her head.

"W-Well, I'm afraid I'm am the sole member and founder of the covenant." Solaire explained with a bit of bashfulness himself. "Heh, gathering new recruits is not as easy as I had thought it might be. But that still will not stop me from performing my duties and spreading knowledge of the glory of the sun."

"Heh, heh, how admirable. I suppose it's a rough start for us all then, eh?" Reah chuckled cutely as she looked to Solaire with an enchanting smile on her face. "Perhaps our two convents might come together in the future. A collaboration, as it were."

"I do not see why not." Solaire responded simply with a nod of his head. "We could no doubt accomplish great things together given enough time."

At this, the two held each other's gaze pleasantly for a few moments, before they both noticed that they had yet to release their hands from one another. Once they saw this, they each released their hold and reacted in a somewhat bashful manner. Reah sheepishly shifted her gaze away from Solaire and used her now free hand to stroke a stray strand of hair behind her ear, while Solaire merely brought his hand up to his helmet and gave a bit of an improvised cough.

But both still held the faintest of smiles on their lips.

Needless to say, Mildred didn't take kindly to what she was seeing. Knowing full well what Reah was doing right now.

She might not have been the smartest person around, but she was well aware of the fact that men liked "Soft" things. Taking a good look at her for the first time, she saw that Reah was indeed very soft. Her face was gentle, her hair looked velvety under her hood, and her body was womanly and feminine.

Looking her up and down, Mildred narrowed her eye's at the cleric.

"So what? Mildred could be soft too."

Her face might not have been all wimpy like Reah's and her hair might be a little bit wild, but Mildred was still confident in her looks. She had nice brown eyes, adorable chubby cheeks and she knew for certain that her hips were better than hers.

There was only one last thing she wanted to compare between them. The loose white robe she wore made it too hard to tell by just looking.

Moving forward with a determined look on her face, Mildred looked Reah straight in the eye as she fearlessly reached her hand forward and gently grabbed her breast. Giving a slight "Hmm.." as she checked her size for a moment.

It took all of two seconds for the Cleric to recover from the surprise of suddenly being accosted.

"Wha-? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR SENSES, FIEND?!" Reah squealed with the barest hint of a blush as she slapped Mildred hand away and took a step away from her.

Mildred, obviously not thinking it was such a big deal, calmly looked down to her hand in thought. Opening and clutching her fingers in thought for a moment, she smiled to herself pleasantly before turning her gaze back to Reah.

"Heh, heh..." Mildred laughed in a mocking tone as she proudly stood up straight and turned her nose up at the woman before her. As she did this, Reah was hard pressed to prevent herself from glancing towards the twin mounds that were only just barely being contained by a fabric of brown cloth.

Coupling the way Mildred was smiling and her previous actions, it didn't take a genius to get the message she was sending.

"W-Well-. It's not a competition!" Reah said defensively, suddenly feeling very insulted. "And I'll have you know there is nothing wrong with humble sizes!"

Mildred took her words in complete stride as she grin knowingly and stroked a bit of her hair behind her ear just as Reah had done moments earlier, before turning towards Solaire and placing a hand on her hip. She even went so as to smugly position her body to show off her thighs somewhat, of which she believed to be superior to Reah's as well.

"Yes…well…let's say we retrieve my shield and Mildred's weapon and be on our way." Solaire said, deciding that it would probably be best to not comment on things." It shouldn't be too far from here in one of these hallways, I believe."

"For the sake of what's left of my sanity, yes. Let's go." Oscar said having watched the entirety of events between the woman unfold before him and feeling the same sort of headache he'd usually get when the Prophet did something unusual.

Moving as one, the group cautiously backtracked the way Solaire had come and roamed the halls until the inevitably found his shield alongside a massive cleaver nearly the size of a person's body.

As Mildred gleefully reunited with her weapon, Solaire took a moment to think back on what he had almost done to himself as he gazed at the smiling sun on his shield.

He could still feel it inside him. That cold and beckoning emptiness. A part of him did not wish to try and acknowledge what it was, but another part of him felt he already knew. It was darkness. But….it did not feel as malevolent or evil as he had believed. It even held many similarities to the normal miracles he used.

The two could be compared to the feeling of a river. If one wanted to use weild the Miracles of the light, then one had to be as steadfast and unwavering as the stones within a turbulent stream. But the dark felt to be the opposite of that. It instead beckoned him to allow himself to be as free and shapeless as the water itself.

These feelings and experiences left him with questions. This was not based in doubt, just curiosity. This could not be the same dark that the Prophet had warned them about, could it? This did not feel of destruction or taint, it only felt like the act letting go. He was missing something vital in all of this. His lack of knowledge of both the dark and the light taunted him and demanded he find the truth of the matter.

Looking away from his shield and toward Mildred, his thoughts turned to her and the effect his choice to save her had on him. It was mystifying how such a coincidental encounter could have such a profound effect of things.

"Heh. But I suppose a series of coincidences is what some would call fate…right, Prophet?" Solaire laughed solemnly to himself before he thought hard on what he would do from here on out. He took everything he had been through into account before bringing himself to a firm decision. "I must regain my faith in the light. But not by disregarding the dark that dwells within my spirit, for it is just as much a part of me as is the light…

Placing his shield upon his arm and tightening its strap until the familiar weight was firmly settled upon him. His eye's hardened with a single-minded determination beneath his helmet

"I must seek the path of balance between the two. A path that neither submits to the dark, nor is a slave to the light. A path to master and transcends them both is what I must seek out." Solaire all but swore to himself. "I am well versed in the light and the will needed to wield it, so the next step should be to master the of the darkness within me. Perhaps then I will begin to work regain the use of the light. But I need to be careful, lest the dark-"

Before Solaire could think on this further, he felt a gauntleted hand fall on his shoulder.

"You alright? You spaced out there for a moment." Oscar said, noticing that Solaire had taken a sudden deep interest in the shield attached to his wrist.

"Of course." The Sunlight Warrior said unhesitantly as he moved past Oscar and began to lead the way. "We have what we came for now, so let's head back."

Without another word, the group retraced their steps back to where they met. Once there, Oscar took the lead and led them all back down the path to the bloodied kitchen. Of course, the area was more than enough to give each of them pause for various reasons.

Oscar found himself tensing up and readying his body for a fight, as if he believed something was waiting just along the shadows for its chance to get the drop on him. Reah, now knowing of Solaire's aim to help Mildred, tried her best to keep her gaze from the blood and pieces of flesh around the room, but she could do nothing to hide the look of disgust on her face.

For her part, Mildred felt as if there was a small knot being tied in her stomach as she guiltily turned her gaze away from the group.

This was her home and she felt more than comfortable being within it. The blood stains along the floor, the pieces of bodies that lay strewn about, the bits of flesh that lay cooking over the fire, none of it bothered her in the slightest. But what did bother her was the fact that Solaire was there and it was all on display for him to see.

Contrary to popular belief, Mildred was aware that people did not look kindly upon her family's meals. Not that she understood why, but people were always afraid or angry when they saw what they'd done.

She could care less what Oscar or Reah thought about her, but when she thought about what Solaire might be thinking a look of shame marred her features. She didn't want him to look at her with disgust or anger like she knew the rest did.

She didn't have to think on it long though, as the group made their way through the main kitchen where they all first encountered one another, and her eye's fell upon the massive body of the Butcher laying unmoving upon the floor.

With the look of sadness entering her eye's, Mildred walked up to the corpse of her family and fell to a knee beside her. Allowing her weapon to fall to the ground, she placed a hand upon her kins unmoving body, only to feel that it had become deathly cooled. Confirming what she already knew.

Doing little more than closing her eye's and releasing a mournful sign, Mildred wrapped her kins arm over her shoulder and attempted to lift her off the ground. But it became quickly apparent that she was not nearly strong enough to lift such a large person on her own and only succeeded in grunting in her attempts.

But suddenly, the corpse felt as light as a feather as it was came up from the floor.

Looking to her side, Mildred saw that Solaire had stepped forward and taken the entirety of the weight upon his shoulders before lifting it up.

"Um…Just tell me where you want me to place him." Solaire said as respectfully as he could.

Still holding the miserable look on her eye's, Mildred gestured towards the wooden table that they'd placed Laurentius upon not but a few hours ago. Doing as she wish, Solaire moved the body towards the table and placed it atop, even going that extra mile by placing the arms neatly at its side.

Oscar could only stare on as Solaire helped the woman. He felt that it would be best if he did not attempt to help him on this matter since he was the one who had ended the Butchers life in the first place. From the small glare she gave him, Oscar assumed that Mildred knew he was the one that had did this. Still, he did not feel guilt or regret his actions. He did want needed to be done and would not be seeking forgiveness for it, especially from someone like her.

Surprisingly enough, the anger in Mildred's eyes was quick to fade from smoldering to a lukewarm as she turned back towards the body of her kin and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

The sight left each of the group wondering just what sort of relationship she had with the Butcher for her reaction to be this way. She did not bawl her eye's out in tears, nor did she lash out in rage at the culprits before her. There was only this strange air mournful acceptance.

The answer was more than simple for her though.

For her family, death was not the end of life, it was only a part of it. They did not hate the bear when it strikes out and kills the hunter. It was just the way things went at times. A natural part of the hunt. She would mourn, she would hold a level of resentment to Oscar for what he'd done, but she would not scream to the heavens for the natural way of things.

For a person many would call a soulless monster, it was almost surreal how calm she was remaining as she held her hand on the corpses shoulder.

For whatever it might be worth, Solaire placed a hand on Mildred's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"Oscar…you go on ahead without me. I shall remain here with her." Solaire said to his friend as Mildred gently grabbed onto Solaire's hand. "I'll find you in Blighttown when my business here has concluded."

"What? You can't be serious." Oscar said at the unexpected declaration.

"I am. I have sworn to offer my aid after all." Solaire replied simply.

Taking one more look at the nightmare of a kitchen, at the blood and carnage that surrounded them, Oscar spoke honestly to his friend.

"Are you certain? You know we still need to keep moving." Oscar said, trying to remind the knight of what was at stake.

"Well…I'm sure the world won't end so readily if I take some time to help Mildred for a bit, right?" Solaire said with a bit of casual cheer. Luckily for them both, Reah took this comment as nothing more than a passing metaphor and did not think to question what he meant. "Besides, we hardly had the time to actually talk things out together. So, I would use this time to help her grieve and hash things out."

The woman in question quickly looked up to the Sunlight Warrior as she heard his words.

"Sahler stay with Mildred?" She said hopefully as she took his arm and wrapped it around her.

"Yes. For a time at least, I will stay." Solaire responded, earning him a smile and causing her to snuggle closer beneath his arm. It was a good thing that Solaire wasn't a particularly shy person when it came to women. As such, he didn't bat an eye at her action as he turned back towards Oscar. "I will not be twiddling my thumbs doing nothing, but there is no merit in you waiting here for me. You have your own path to take if I recall. To find a hidden entrance inside a large tree."

"Yes, but-"

"Move forward, Oscar. You have your own path to travel, and I have my own." Solaire said with finality, making it clear that this was not a discussion, but rather only him informing Oscar of his decision. "I will follow and find you in Blighttown when I am able."

Hearing the resolve in his voice, Oscar no longer thought of trying to convince Solaire to do otherwise. He felt that to try to argue a single word further would be to spit into the face of his conviction. It went without saying that he respected his friend too much to do that.

So, he instead chose to step forward and raise his fist out towards him.

"What are you doing?" Solaire asked.

"The Prophet once told me this was a symbol of brotherhood and friendship in his homeland. It's called a Fist Bump. You supposed to bump your fist against my own."

Hearing the explanation, Solaire hesitated for a moment before bumping his fist against Oscar's with a bit more force than was necessary and they held that pose.

"Heh, you know, I haven't heard you say a single word about the sun for quite some time." Oscar joked halfheartedly. "I'm actually getting a bit worried."

Solaire gave an exaggerated recoil and a gasp at this.

"My word, your right! I have slacked in my duties!" the knight said before he retracted his fist, placed both of his beneath and raised both of his hand above his head in the shape of a Y. "PRAISE THE SUN!"

The gesture was strange, entirely unexpected and the silence that followed would be one to the most awkward that Oscar and Reah would experience for years to come.

But it ensured that Oscar would leave his friend behind with a smile upon his face.

?

Could you ever imagine living years in a waking hell, only to be given a taste of freedom and heaven, then being forced back into said hell?

The experience was enough to break the mind of anyone, human or otherwise.

As the water hit her, she knew what was coming. She knew there was no point in fighting it. A vicious wave of moisture enveloped her, forcing her down, dragging the air from her lungs. Even though her mind had made the decision to accept what would happen, her body did not agree with it. She could feel her lungs screaming for air, crying out, as her legs and arms struggled flutily against the weight of the lake that imprisoned her, hoping and praying to get free. She knew she had to stop them, hold them still and save herself the pain of fighting, but it was so hard not to fight with the air leaving her. It felt like there was a heavy blanket over body. She couldn't breathe... and it was crushing, devastating and horrifying! Her Mind screamed "No! Not Again!", but It didn't matter... soon it would all end. She could feel her heartbeat slowing down increasingly and she feet the panic fade away into numbness. She inevitably tried to breath in, but when all she got was water... her mind went blank... her heart began to give up its fight and her body stopped altogether... she died.

No…it would not be that easy. She would not receive a blessing as wonderful as death this day. Like an old friend waiting for her return, a cold dark wrapped around her body and prevented the life from leaving her body, yet doing nothing to help her escape.

And so, it was that she lay there, with her throat and lungs clogged full of water. Back where she started.

There should have been fear within her, the dread that would eternally question if she might ever be able to get free of this prison once again. But there was nothing of the sort within her mind….there was only joy. So much so, that everything else seemed to fade to the background.

She needed only a few moments before she could pull her thoughts together fully and recall what had happened to her.

"…Yes…He's coming….At last…" she thought to herself happily. The feeling of euphoria and delight that flowed through her body was so great that, had she been capable of doing so, she would no doubt be giggling to herself like a mad woman.

She knew she should be sentenced to death a thousand times over for thinking so, but the fact that she had a part of him, a part of her destined lord, inside of her served to increase her excitement and sent shivers down her spine.

It was a feeling too wonderful to describe.

She could see almost all of him. His thoughts and memories came and went through her own. It was almost tragic that the Dark Hand did not allow her to experience things with perfect clarity, though to fair she never had a desire for it too until now. Things came to her as prominent moments from his memory and a deep well of knowledge and information.

There were names of importance, hidden secrets and truths about the world, items of power that lay waiting to be taken….

None of that mattered!

She wanted to know as much as she could about her lord! These people, these places, all of it meant nothing to her in comparison. She searched thoroughly through his thoughts, every one of his fleeting moment was to be experienced, every step forward he took forward had to be witnessed.

She was surprised to see that there was no beginning for him, at least not as far as she could see. There was only a cell and his awakening. Then fear and his willingness to step forward to face his fate with the briefest of jest on his lips.

She followed and saw the entirety of his journey through his eye's. She saw the friends he'd made; she began to understand his personality and mannerisms perfectly and even began to understand the parts of him that he kept buried deep inside himself. By the time she was done, it could be rightly said that she knew him better than any of the others around him did.

"…Like an old friend…. right, prophet? Heh, heh, heh…." She laughed to herself gleefully. Never would she dream of addressing her lord so formally, but she could not help but let the little joke slip.

She did not let their first encounter together bother her very much. She had the feeling that her lord would regain himself without question, the thought of which made her giggle internally for a moment.

It was only after she had learn all she could about him that she bothered to concern herself with the deep well of knowledge her lord held. She saw all the pieces on the board of his rule. The Dark Soul, the Pygmy Lords, Kaathe, Frampt, Artorias, Gwyn, the Abyss, the First Flame and a mountain of other things that he intended to deal with.

"….Hmph…Ignorant fools, pathetic obstacles and pretenders to the throne….unfit to stand before our lord in any fashion…"

She then turned her attention to his more personal attachments and friends.

The first that came forth was his thoughts of Anastacia, the gentle little Firekeeper, and Velka, the oh so perfect and dangerous goddess.

"…Heh, heh, tis only natural….What lord taketh no concubines?..."

The next that came was what she interpreted as nothing less than her lieges' generals. There was the lost little sun, Solaire. His skill and ability were more than worthy of note. A perfect addition to his rule. Then there was the sleeping oaf, Siegmeyer. He did not appear very impressive to her at all. Everything he brought could be replaced by another, not at all worthy to stand as her lords general. But she supposed that now was not the time to be picky with allies and decided that he could at least be a useful pawn.

Her thoughts then turned to Oscar, who she quickly found was her favorite of the three.

"..Aw, poor little stray pup …Heh, heh, such desperation to be included in fate….Well, worry not, dear little Oscar, our lord shall give you the purpose you desire…"

With all of this information thoroughly review, there was the last piece of things. Her lords' true goal. His plan for the world and all within it.….she could only laugh.

It all came together, piece by piece. Coming to a head at that final decision within the Kiln. She understood him perfectly now. Every step he made, every stride he took was all to gain that last, final decision.

But her lord was conflicted. The path converged with Gwyn's death. He refuses to accept the dark or the light as his master….and leaves himself with the choice to repair what was broken or to force them both into submission. There were two choices, but he was unsure which to choose.

But she wasn't.

She knew exactly what he should do. She needed to reach him. She needed to help him prepare to that final choice.

And so, she struggled. She forced her body to tear itself apart from the inside out to get it to move, even if it would only be at a snail's pace.

There had been many times where one of her kind attempted to escape their prison, but the pain and the burden was too much to bear even for creatures such as them. But this Wraith had discovered something that the others did not have. She had discovered purpose. While all the other had nothing but their hunger for humanity to help push through the agony, she had discovered something worth suffering an eternity pain for.

So, when she clenched her fist and began to move inch by inch across the murky depths of New Londo, the pain was nothing to her. Even when her lungs were quite literally ripping themselves open, when her eye's stood at the very edge of bursting from their socket due to lack of oxygen, when her heart felt as if it might explode inside her chest, none of it impeded her as she clawed her way forward with the single minded purpose of reaching her lords feet.

She moved like this for hours on end without a single instance of pause, the pain never relenting, and the black void seeming to stretch into eternity all around her. She didn't even know if she was actual making any meaningful progress, but still she crawled forward obsessively.

Her lord needed aid. He needed strong allies to clear his way. To ensure the pieces would fall into place as they should. How could she even think here remaining here confined alongside these ignorant fools and those four pathetic pretenders beneath them. They think themselves kings?! They are nothing more than steppingstones that have yet to learn their place!

But he would teach them. He would teach each and every last one of them….

THUMP

…and she would be at his side when he does.

She had felt something. Her hand had been forced to a stop as it bumped onto something solid. At this point, her lungs were in tatters and her muscle screamed at her to stop moving, but she forced them to obey her as forced her arm to raise off the ground and onto whatever was in front of her.

The darkness of the waters blinded her, so she didn't know it, but she had reached a small set of stairs at the front of some nameless home. So, when she raised her hand forward, she managed to place it directly on top of the first step. Straining herself further and further, she struggled to pull herself up that step and made it to the second, then the third. Bit by bit, she made her way up. First up the stairway, then to the door handle, which she used to force herself up to the point that finally she was able to raise her body up from the ground.

There was only one last push she needed to make. With lungs that were long since ripped themselves apart searching for air and muscle that shouldn't have been able to even lift a cup of water, she leapt upward and began slowly swim her way to the surface.

The agony she brought on her body was unimaginable, but soon enough, like a devil breaking free from hell and entering heaven, she broke through.

Unfortunately, there was no relief that greeted her as she erupted from the violently erupted depths and swam forward until finding a stone structure protruding from the water to lean herself against. With a body as ravaged as her own, there could obviously only be more pain waiting for her here, a different kind to be sure, but pain, nonetheless.

Even still, even as she gagged and choked on the water in her body, she was ecstatic and overjoyed.

She had done it. By his grace, she had found the strength to break free. This had to be a sign. A sign that her presence was needed immediately. A servant should not keep her master waiting any longer than necessary.

Dragging herself along the structures body, the Wraith at last found herself a foothold and pulled herself onto some sort of walkway. Crawling forward until she was certain she was safely out of the accursed water, she remained on her hands and knees as she tried to regain some of her strength.

"….I'm…free…heh…heh heh…My dark and gracious lord….thank you for this boon…" she whispered to herself with a smile as she closed her eyes and thought back to him, allowing his memories to consume her once again as she thought of how perfect it would be to serve under his glory. It was then that an epiphany hit her. Her lord thoroughly despised the sight of Darkwraiths. "Unacceptable…for me to think to approach him wearing the face of the pretender's pawns. It would be the height of disrespect. An unforgiveable slight against his name."

With little more than that, the Wraith began to relinquish her armor one piece at a time and dropping it back into the water from whence she came. What form that lay beneath was a ravaged and deathly pale thing indeed. The last piece that was to go was her skull shaped mask. But this piece of armor was different from the others as it was partially fused with her face.

But that did not stop her. Not even for a moment.

Placing her finger along the helmets jaw and inside the eye sockets, she began to tear it free.

"…Ugh…Ngh….GYAAAAHHHH!" her screamed echoed through cavern as she mercilessly tore away the flesh from her face to remove the mask. The thought of stopping never even entering her mind. Then, with one final yank did the plate of bone come free, ripping away large portions of her face and spilling much of her tainted blood along the ground as it went.

She tossed it into the water as if it were trash with a smile on her face. This marked the moment she would discard the will of Kaathe and his ilk, and entered the service of their future ruler.

Standing to her feet and giving a moment of silence to this joyous occasion, she began to make her way forward. Letting the memories guide her way.

It would not due for a servant to greet her master in such a damaged and sickly state. She need to heal and regain herself. As such, she traveled through the buildings of the Ruins of New Londo with perfect clarity, knowing exactly where she was going and who she was looking for. Another gift from her lord of which she intended to pay in full.

The ghost that appeared before her were scattered like mist the moment she grazed them with the Dark Hand. They were nothing but background noise to hear.

After some time, she came upon a building that contained a great deal of skeletons along the ground and a single ladder in the back. Moving forward, she climbed the ladder until she reached the roof of the building where a single man wearing a worn, red robed stood with his back to her.

Seeing him standing there just as the memories told her, a smile bloomed over her face.

Step by step, she silently made her way towards the man until she was close enough to quickly wrap one hand around his throat and the other around the catalyst in his left hand. She then leaned her body into a position that ensured he would never be able to break free before she could drain him dry.

The man gasped sharply at the tight grip that suddenly grabbed hold of him. It was a testament to how much of a monster she truly was that, even with he body as damaged as it was, she still had the strength to firmly restrain him for the most part.

"Shhh….Be still, Ingward. Do not struggle." She said whispered gently within the man's ear as she subtly let the darkness fall over her hands. She did not begin to syphon anything from his body though, the gesture served as little more than a warning and to inform him exactly what had a hold upon him.

"No….Impossible." the robed man, now known as Ingward, said in disbelief as he saw the shadows. As the last Sealer left in New Londo, he knew exactly what they meant and knew that if he went against her words now, it would mean certain hollofication. "You…You can't be free. How?"

"It was because he willed it. Heh, heh, because I have a part of him within me." She whispered in a sickeningly sweet tone as she gazed upon the shaken Sealer. "It's all because of my lord that I am free. Unbound as their slave. A new woman."

"Your…lord?" Inward question a pit of fear forming in his stomach.

The Wraiths mind jolted with excitement as he asked that question.

"Yes, Sealer. It was unreal. I killed him, drained him nearly completely dry. I saw the light fade from his eyes as he hollowed, felt his being enter me. An unforgivable act, I know, but one I will treasure for the rest of my days." The Wraith said pleasantly as she tightened her grip around Ingward throat and closed her eyes at the fond memory. "But still he rose up and smited us all with his power. And that was but a taste of what he will become. Heh, heh, heh…."

It unnerved the old sealer to hear her so happy about what she claimed to be a defeat, but he did not interrupt her rambling as he tried to think of a way to free himself.

"I had no idea; I swear to you, my lord. I will do whatever necessary to correct my mistake. Endure whatever punishment you see fit." The Darkwraith whispered to herself before opening her eye's and gazing upon the Sealer with a hungry look in her eye.

"So you were freed by this ruler of yours and now seek to free others of your kind."

"Now why would I want to do something like that?" the Wraith calmly, causing the Ingward's heart to sink into his stomach.

"W-What? You don't-

"No, no, no, Sealer. I do not want them freed. I want them to stay right where they are until my lord comes to deal with them." The Wraith whispered in his ear like a long-lost lover as she gazed out upon the still waters of New Londo. "They're time will come, just not yet."

"T-Then what is your aim for coming here?"

"But of course, there are only two reason I would come to see someone as irrelevant as you." She whispered gleefully into his ear. "To save my lord the trouble of coming for that key of yours…and a nice welcome meal."

With that, she used both of her hands to consume the humanity from the old man's body. He struggled, as all do, but it was futile. He body may have been in shambles, but her hunger made her grip next to unbreakable. With his strength quickly leaving him and being added to her own, there was never any chance he would escape.

She let his hollowed body fall to the ground roughly as she stood with her body now healed of its injuries. Without her skeletal armor, her body held the pale imitation of a woman's.

Soon after the dee was done, she grimaced at the feeling dwelling inside her. It seemed her lord had left her with a taste for the finer things in her meals. One does not devour a Five-Star meal, then feel satisfied eating cheap, dried up knockoffs.

But still she felt extremely liberated. Stretching her limbs as if she was waking from a long slumber, she moved to take the Sealers worn red robes to cover her naked and exposed body, choosing to forgo the ridiculous mask the wore.

"Freedom. But what should I do with now with this freedom? My lord is likely still within the confines of that pitiful city. I cannot reach him so easily. So what to do next?" she questioned almost entirely to the memories within her, receiving a clear course of action only a few moments later. "Ah, of course. The path to reach my lord may be blocked, but the path to his generals…"

Closer and closer did she come to forming a plan, with each thought causing a smile like that of a child thinking of receiving a pleasant treat to form upon her face. But then she came upon a lone problem with her plan…

"Oh, but they will never accept my true self. Heh, heh, how troublesome. But I suppose a new façade would be a welcome change." She thought giddily to herself. She then thought hard for the next few moments, wanting her this change to be a symbol for her master. It had to be perfect. The memories spoke to her and she listened intently, until she found the perfect match. It was the memory of masked woman wearing a black dress, who spoke in a soft and knowing tone that the wraith very much admired. "Perfect."

With an empty look in her eye's, the Wraith straightened herself up ceremoniously, placed both of her hand over one another in front of her and adopted the look of an innocent, pure and virtuous maiden. Though she could do little to hide the predatory look with her eye's.

She then gave pleasant sultry and suggestive smile, before giving gentle and formal bow.

"Greetings. I am Yuria of Demacia, an adherent and close friend to our Lord Kaylen."

She held the pose for two seconds, being as ceremonial as she possibly could, before giggling to herself in an amused fashion. Little Yuria and her "Black Church' were not fated to exist until the very last cycle. The Wraith found it funny that she would take a name only herself and her lord would recognize and understand. Not to mention that she took the name of her lords' "homeland" for herself.

"He will recognize my falsehood without question. He will uncover me within moments of hearing my name…and then…" Yuria said as she closed her eyes wrapped her arms around herself, the thought of receiving her lord's curiosity almost bringing her to blush. "I can hardly await the day, honorable Lord. But until then, do not worry. I am more than capable of leading your followers down their proper path of power in your absence. This servant will spare you any possibility of ending up as anything other than what you are."

With that solemn vow made, she at last began to make her way from the roof of the building and through the ruin of her old prison. She knew there was only a handful of places she needed to go to find the one's she needed. Lordran indeed felt so small and revealed in her eye's now.

With the memories guiding her way forward, she felt less like she was walking through a sunken graveyard of death and decay, and more like she was taking a calm midnight stroll. She even completed the image as placed her hands behind her back and began to hum sweet tune.

For any whom she deemed useless to her lord, this was truly a dark day indeed.

OKAY, HOLD ON! JUST ONE SECOND BEFORE YOU HIT THAT REVIEW BUTTON!

FIRSTLY, I need to say that this chapter got waaaaay out of hand. I swear, I started off saying I was going to tease the Darkwraith a bit, but then it turned into a whole goddamn event. I swear, I don't know how this happened.

Secondly, to make things clear, the Darkwraith is aware of just about everything the Prophet is aware of, but she does not have knowledge of the actual real world. I'm am not even going to try and open up that can of worms, as I feel it would kinda ruin the mood of the story a bit. So she is aware only of In-game knowledge AND a deep understanding of the Prophet himself. Keep in mind that what she feels for him isn't attraction. Its a dangerous obsession. Think of an extreme religious fanatic and that's her. She's not crazy, she can think and plan with perfect clarity, she's just obsessed with serving the Prophet to a disgusting degree. If your not with him or can be of use to him, then you serve no purpose. That means characters like Quelaag, Quelana, Kirk, Quelaag's sick sister and a whole crap ton of others could possibly be on the chopping block. Especially if she's able to use Oscar or any of the others to help her do it.

Thirdly, let me say that in the next chapter I am going to be getting back to the goddamn Prophet and moving things forward. For all of you that wanted to see Pricilla in this story, by god, I hope your ready. You wanna see action? You want to see tail fondling? WELL IM GONNA GIVE IT TO YOU!

Let it be known before hand that I am sorry for what I'm gonna to the Prophet and to Pricilla because things will get rough, but rest assured, it will be my masterpiece. This will be the Prophets moment of truth. No more "Possible inner power" or anything like that. I'll never let him become so strong that he's untouchable, but I'm ready to let my man be unchained and reach his true potential.

Lastly, this is officially the last call, boys. I'm gonna do thing by a majority vote. Should the legendary fluff, Pricilla, get with the Prophet. Speak now or forever hold you piece, gentlemen.

But that's enough hyping things up from me.

As always, feel free to leave a review and tell me what you guys thought about this chapter of the story.

Honest opinions are always appreciated as I'm always looking to improve my style of writing to make this story a bit more interesting for you guys. So don't be shy in telling me your thoughts about how things are going so far. Outside opinions will have a huge effect on how this story will play out.

This is Supreme Gamer, Signing out.

P.S. Do you guys think I should make the Darkwraith a sort of a dark, attractive beauty like something that looks nice but would devour you in a second if you got to close or should she keep the air of danger and predatory air that Darkwraiths are known for? Still trying to think of a mental image for this looney that just killed freaking Ingward. I keep thinking attractive femme fatal, but I'm not sure if that's the way to go. What do you guys think?

P.S.S. Also, wow. Death by naked Darkwraith. Poor Ingward.