A/N: Feedback keeps me writing, looking foward to chatting with ya~!

EDIT: Made some tweaks to the ending~! Still in a lot of pain with my leg/back, but still writing...somehow. Should be updating Strike a Match or For Love of a Witch next, depending on feedback. Hope you're ready; the sheer amount of sass here in this chapter is off the charts.

Enjoy~!

As ever, we're sticking with the tried and true "Embers" Rule for this story. If folks don't like it...well, it won't be continued. So speak up! Make yourself heard! Your voice matters! That's no joke! I have very little time to write these days, so feedback plays a large part in this. Daily updates ensure that I'm constantly busy working on one project or another. I cannot afford to stop and write something that folks don't like; if only because I feel that would a cold disservice to those of who who have stuck with me for so long.

Now for your questions, comments, and concerns. We'll keep it brief. As ever, feel free to skip this part if you like~!

Be warned, the first...concern ain't all that nice. Suppose its the way some people are these days:

T_T

Q: So YOU are the degenerate that has been flooding the Elden Ring section with hundreds of inane Naruto harem p***s.

A: Uh, mate? That's kinda mean. I don't think I'm a degenerate. I just like to write. And hundreds? Hardly. Maybe ten at tops.

At the end of the day, this is just fanfiction, and written both for fun/and requests that come my way.

No need to sling cruel words around.

Q: Mohg better not be running. He dies today, yes? Naruto won't let him get away, right?

A: Consider this! Naruto was low on chakra when he fought Malenia. Still won handily. Now he's had a chance to recover. He's also got a relatively healthy Malenia and Loretta with him. Granted, both are still recovering from their battles, but in terms of health, I'd say the ladies of the Haligree are about...hmm... lets say 75% at the moment.

Gotta love the good 'ol fashioned gank.

Q: Loving the snark in this, but what brought it about?

A: If you spent days wandering around, everything trying to kill you, you'd get a little passive aggressive too. Naruto's still the same at heart, just a bit less dense and less likely to put up with bullshit, including brother-stealing-shenanigans.

Q: I saw the ring, you cheeky dog! Wedding when?!

A: Really want this romance to feel natural, so I'll not be rushing things.

Alright, I've kept you long enough.

Once more! most likely be a single pairing, but it may become a harem depending on feedback. It'll be a shorter story at that.

As ever, I own no quotes, references, themes or memes. Not a wit or a one! Seriously. I mean that.

Now away we go! Hope this puts a smile on your face in these times.

...don't make me laugh. I know your kind. I've seen it before. You think you can just waltz in and take whatever you want.

But for all your schemes, you made one. Fatal. Mistake.

That's right, you forgot about one thing...

"And what would that be?"

"ME."

~Prelude to Transformation.

There Will Be Blood

"What sorcery is this?!"

Their landing was not a pleasant one, Malenia found; not by any means or measure. Indeed, that wretched bloody medallion seemed to take spiteful pleasure in whisking the three of them away to gods-knew-where. One moment they stood before a newborn Erdtree, the sum of her brother's ambitions finally realized, fingers brushing the corroded sigil in Loretta's grasp. In the next a hideous red sigil flashed. Time stopped. Reality folded as they vanished and reappeared...

...somewhere else.

Malenia broke free first and crashed backward, falling hard on her rear as she hadn't since she was a child. How embarrassing. Shame seared through her restored face beneath her dented helm, but she felt she could be somewhat forgiven for such a faux pass, given her companions were each in a similar state.

Not a stone's throw away, Naruto was sprawled atop a series of stone steps. A dazed Loretta lay draped across his lap, each thoroughly out of sorts thanks to the sudden teleportation...until quite suddenly, one of them wasn't. The blond raised his head. Piercing blue eyes narrowed. Saw the compromising position that the Knight of the Haligtree had landed in. Whiskered cheeks dimpled in a scowl.

"Off!"

He arched his back and bucked with gusto, all but skipping up the steps arse over legs. The impact didn't so much wound the knight as it did her pride; it certainly roused her from her interdimensional stupor and had her springing to her feet. She glared angry green daggers at him, and he, blue ones at her. Almost instantly, they were at each other's throats again, nearly forehead to forehead.

"Brute!" she seethed through clenched teeth!" How dare you kick me there! Hast thou no respect for a lady!"

"You're one to talk!" he snapped back, all but spitting sparks, "You were sitting on my-

Malenia tuned them out and cast a glance about, trying to quell her anxiety.

Her surroundings -and the lake of blood!- did little to assuage her concerns. A flickering shard of golden grace gleamed in the distance just shy of the steps. Yet despite its holy presence this place felt...tainted. Twisted. It wasn't just the false night sky, nor the looming cavernous ceiling overhead, or even the scent of blood clogging her nose and throat. It went well beyond that.

Her gaze raked over the dilapidated ruins in which they found themselves. She felt...something. Something...more.

She opened her senses to it and nearly recoiled on the spot. Almost immediately her mind found itself assaulted by a torrent of bloody blades; as if some great and terrible thing actively sought to carve up her thoughts and make them bleed. The Rot writhed within her, sensing a rival. Another presence, akin to its own, and thrice as twisted.

Malenia closed herself off from it, adjusted her helm and quirked a brow at the sundered sky. Something was terribly wrong here...

She felt another presence tug at her, then. It began as a whisper. She ignored it, determined not to give the Rot -or whatever that other thing was- a foothold in her mind. Yet it persisted still. First a whisper, then a word, followed by a shout, calling to her, screaming now, begging to be heardandhelpmehelpmeSISTERHELPME-

Reality cracked like a whip. She knew this presence. She knew that voice! "...brother?"

There was no response. Not even the faintest of whispers.

"...!"

Panic ripped the reins of her body from her grasp and she surged forward, bowling a startled Loretta down in her haste to move. Her knight cried out in surprise as Naruto caught her. Malenia scarcely heard it. The sound was faint, distant, muted to her ears. Malenia heard naught. Her false legs propelled her forward, shooting her past her companions to send her arrowing up the stairs.

Twisted creatures tried to bar her path.

Shambling corpses, bloody albinaurics, wretched men in robes. They sought to slow her, halt her, prevent egress. She cut them down and moved on. None of them mattered. Any who tried to stop her were doomed to die and die they did by the dozens. She carved through them all, not caring a jot for their fates.

Because he was here.

Miquella, Miquella, Miquella...!

She could sense him, and he could sense her. He was so weak...

All the world descended into a bloody red haze. There was only her and her sword, her blade mowing down all who dared to impede her. Had to keep moving, couldn't stop. Mustn't stop. Up she went, ever ascending, heedless of anything else but the way forward. All the while her heart railed at her, cursing her for her foolishness. Her fault. All her fault, all of it, every bit of it. How long had he been here? How long had he suffered while she slumbered? No more. Not one moment more-

Something grabbed at her wrist.

Instinct howled. Malenia whirled, swinging her blade.

It slammed into -then through!- Naruto's right shoulder.

He stood there before, startled blue eyes bulging in thinly concealed pain as blood flew through the air. He'd left himself wide open. Exposed. His guard down, when it should've been raised. Perhaps he hadn't expected her to strike. Maybe he had. Who could say? It did precious little to dull the horror as her blade parted his flesh like butter. She could see it in his eyes, the disbelief, the unspoken question in his gaze:

Why?

Loretta clamored up the steps behind, saw the sight and screamed. "My lady?!"

"No...!" Malenia drew back with a cry, nearly wailing in disbelief. "This isn't what it looks like! I didn't mean...!" she tried to retreat; only to realize she could not; the sword was quite literally a part of her false arm, forged at the wrist by Miquella himself, so that she might go unarmed. Instead of escaping, her feverish attempts only worsened the wound. She would have to detach her hand just to get away.

And still Naruto continued to stare at her.

In a moment of blind panic she reached up to do just remove her false arm, fumbling for the catch. She didn't care if it left her vulnerable. She had to get away. She couldn't bear to look at him, to meet his eyes, to live with what she'd done. Even if she'd been a right state at the time, that was no excuse for her to...

...its alright."

Calmly, the battered blond reached up with his good hand, grabbed her sword...and tore it out his collarbone. Blood spattered the floor to stain the hem of her battledress. Loretta gagged in the background, yet for all that he whiskered warrior didn't flinch. Still bleeding, heedless of his grievous wound, he stepped forward to take Malenia's hand. Her human hand.

Her brain blanked.

Malenia tried to rally her thoughts as a general would her troops. Truly, she did. Yet she found herself unable. Such a simple gesture should have undone her so. She was Malenia, Blade of Miquella. She had never known defeat...well, not until recently, but still! The point stood!

Naruto squeezed her palm and her ind fizzled all over again.

"You're alright." he repeated, his voice a dulcet balm for her ragged nerves. "Don't worry. I'm fine. It'll take more than this to kill me, ya know.

"I...you...!" yet again her tongue failed her. She looked to and fro, eyes nearly rolling in a panic. "How are you still...?!"

Alive! Standing? Breathing?! All of those things! How?!

"You're worried about your brother, I get it." he used her arm as leverage to tug her into a one-armed embrace. "I know it hurts. I know you wanna scream." much to her chagrin, those merry blue eyes didn't hold even single bit of blame for her, not a one." But if you rush off like this, you'll get yourself killed. Just calm down. Breathe. We're here for you. We'll find him. You me, and madam-fussy-britches over thee.

Loretta seethed but -wisely!- didn't protest.

...I'm sorry." Gods above, Malenia hated being tall; she towered over him, even when he was hugging her. "The fault lies with me." her chin came down on his head and she found herself clinging to him like the girl she'd never had the chance to be. "I hurt you...

"Nah. This?" He grinned up at her, still bleeding all over the floor. "Just a scratch."

Now wasn't the time for jokes. "Your bloody shoulder's nearly fallen off!"

"Just calm down and-

Calm?! Malenia wanted to shout at him, to rave and rail and weep and laugh and beg his forgiveness all at once. How could she be calm when her brother was here?! When she had hurt the one person who'd sworn to help her find him?! No, she needed action...the very same action that had nearly cut her partner in half just now andohgodsabovewhywashesmiling...?

"Look, I'm fine." Naruto's cherubic smile gained a decidedly impish quality just then. "Watch. Kurama? Little help here~?"

Golden light pulsed throughout his body, a ripple in a pond. She looked down over his mangled shoulder and watched his wound close; saw the steam flowing forth from the tattered flesh as his body undid the injury. With moments it was hale and whole as it had ever been. He gave it a little role for emphasis, taut muscles bunching and moving with ease.

"See?" he grinned, causing her heart to skip a beat. "Right as rain."

Her guilt yet remained, twisting her heart apart. Her emotions bubbled and the Rot rose within her to gnaw at his arm. Naruto didn't flinch as it tried to consume him. If anything he looked mildly amused by his ambition; like a parent letting a child gnaw on their arm. Even with his skin peeled and the bone of his knuckles revealed, he still held her, uncaring of the hideous pain he must be in. Malenia couldn't even begin to imagine it.

"Release me!" she squirmed in his grasp, to no avail. "The Scarlet Rot will take your hand!"

"Not a chance." his eyes flashed with fire and something her skipped a beat. "In fact I think its about to buzz off."

His voice rumbled then, as something far greater spoke with him. Reminded of the golden avatar of death this young man in her arms could become, the Rot receded. Within a matter of moments, his hand was hale and hearty once more...and still gripping hers, the absolute madman.

"Right, then." he beamed at her and tugged her. "Lets go save your brother, eh?"

Loretta sank to her knees whimpered behind them. "Monster...he's an absolute monster...

A blond brow quirked over his shoulder at her. "This from the woman who can conjure magic and a steed out of thin air?

"Says the man' holding a goddess's hand!"

Malenia's golden eyes flitted to the fingers still laced within her own. Ah. How...kind of Loretta to remind her of that. She'd almost forgotten. In the wake of those words her cheeks began to burn all over again. He really was holding her hand quite often, wasn't he. So forward! Was this how people were in this era? She'd slept so long. How things must have changed. Was she out of touch-no! Focus! She could dwell upon this later. Much later. Naruto wasn't in danger here. Miquella was. She could feel her brother, her twin, her everything, her all, growing weaker with each passing moment.

Perhaps sensing her discontent, Naruto turned his gaze back to her.

"I know, I know, you wanna see your brother. We'll go together. All three of us." he released her hand at last -boo!- and stooped to help a listless Loretta to her feet. "I promised I'd help, remember? I mean," whiskered cheeks dimpled in a bemused frown now as he looked to the temple above, "This is a bit earlier than I expected, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna leave ya to it. C'mon."

The knight huffed and looked away from him. "At least you have some semblance of honor, knave."

He clicked his tongue at her. "And you have no sense of self preservation."

Loretta sputtered, face gone red. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Figure it out~!"

Naruto paid her little heed; he was already moving for the steps. Malenia matched his stride, leaving the flustered knight to follow in their wake.

Calm, Malenia willed at her hammering heart. Be calm. Yes, she could do that. She was calm. Whatever horrors lay ahead, she wouldn't have to face them alone. She'd nearly forgotten it in her frenzy. Loretta was nothing if not loyal, and Naruto had proven himself a friend ten times over.

An insidious little voice cooed at her. 'Just a friend?'

She hissed at her traitorous thoughts and kept walking.

In short order they found another lift, this one guarded by another bloody noble with yet more wretched monsters. Loretta must've been seething after all the humiliation she'd endured thus far; because she was quick to conjure her astral greatbow, plant her feet, knock three giant arrows to its string...draw them back...charge them up...and...!

"DIE!" the knight howled, positively incandescent with rage "ALL OF YOU! JUST DIE!"

The twisted monstrosities raised their weapons and turned to face the enraged knight too late.

Loretta let her arrows fly with a cry...then another trio right behind it, followed by yet a third; nine wicked missiles in all.

They struck as one.

Malenia raised her false arm in a vain attempt to shield her face from the sheer eruption of blue light that followed. It did nothing to ward off the awful ringing that came in its wake. Wind whipped forth, casting her hair back as she and Naruto squinted into the haze. The latter titled his head with a whistle to regard the smoking ruin where their enemies once stood. Looked to Loretta now, her eyes wild, chest still heaving for air. Back to the crater that had housed no less than a dozen enemies not a moment before.

"Alright." At length, he clapped his hands and shook his head. "That settles it. Magic is bullshit in this world."

Loretta stalked past him, every step a stomp. "And don't you forget it!"

"I certainly won't be forgetting that earache anytime soon...

The ghost of a smiled touched Malenia's face. It almost made the ride up the lift bearable. Almost.

Up went the lift. The seconds that passed were still torture, the waiting moreso. She could sense her brother now, close enough to touch. Couldn't this thing move any faster?!

"We can help you, little bud...

Despite her best efforts not to, Malenia flinched. The Rot could, couldn't it? A part of her wanted to give into the Goddess; let her wings bloom once more hurtle onward, come what may. Such power could be of great use in the battle to come. Surely that wretched Mohg awaited them at the top. If she could steer her power his way...would that not be worth the risk? The more she used the Rot, the stronger its hold grew over her. There could be no doubts as to what it wanted from her. From the world. It would do to the Lands Between what it had done to Caelid. But if she could control it...

"Good girl. Let us offer you an accord...

Naruto laid a hand on hers and the world snapped back. Malenia looked to him.

He didn't say a word. Didn't have to. There was no judgement in his gaze, only silent understanding.

In an instant she made her decision. "No."

"No?! Foolish child, you know not what you refuse!"

...even so."

At last the lift creaked to a halt, shepherding them to their destination.

An open arched awaited them, and an open expanse beyond. Malenia passed through the former without hesitation. Upturned cobblestones shifted underfoot, wretched and uneven, burning with dying embers to warm her feet.

"...?"

Malenia had witnessed many a grisly sight during the Shattering. She'd seen armies routed, bodies ripped apart by Radahn in the dozens and left to rot; massacres on a scale that would make Morgott himself flinch. She'd seen cruelty and betrayal in spades, the abominations birthed by blasphemy and grafting alike, lost good soldiers and friends to the ravages of war.

The horror before her exceeded them all.

This wasn't a temple. Not at all, she realized. T'was a tomb. Because there, beyond the gravestones at the end of it all, atop an altar hewn from the innards of the Haligtree itself...lay a cocoon. Something was jutting out of a long crack etched within. It almost looked like...

Loretta gasped.

Naruto stilled beside her. "Is that...?"

"No." the word tumbled from Malenia's lips. "No, no, no!"

She tottered forward on trembling legs. Her companions followed behind, flanking her on either side, ready for an ambush. But none came. Mohg was nowhere to be seen. In his absence, no one challenged them. She was able to stumble up the steps to the altar without being impeded in the least. Just as well too; because the moment she reached the cocoon -touched it!- the fight flew out of her. She saw it all. Miquella's final resting place, a long, mishpapen arm dangling within, grasping in vain for the sky. Someone had forced a ring onto one of its remaining fingers, so small that that it had pierced the skin itself.

When the tears came, she couldn't fight them.

They rolled down her cheeks as the first sob rattled her body.

"This cannot be...it mustn't be...! Trembling fingers reached up to cup his arm. "Miquella." She fell to her knees before him. "Brother of mine, what has become of you...

Naruto knelt beside her. For a moment she thought he might try to tear her away. But no, he reached to her brother's hand guided it down, grasped the ring upon his finger, and pried it off. He cast it down without even a second thought, leaving it to clatter to the floor at Malenia's feet. The noise reactivated her, and though she questioned the ring's removal, she soon understood why.

She could sense her brother again. Had the ring muffled his presence somehow...?

"Dark magic." Loretta spat. "The trinket is charmed." She muttered a cantrip and a faint blue shimmered across its surface. "Here, my lady. The spell is undone."

Malenia accepted it numbly and slid it down her glove. The ring didn't matter. Miquella did. She could feel his life force fading, slipping away.

Na

He'd restored her eyes, earlier. He was a healer. He could do something, surely.

"Do something! Please!

No price would be too great, no sacrifice too much.

For the first time since she'd met him, Naruto's smile vanished.

...I'm not sure if I can."

He knelt and raised his good arm. A golden claw burst from the stump of the other, serving as a facsimile. He pressed both against the coccoon. A thin, reedy cry came from within.

Miquella's arm twitched in response, drooping down at their feet. Then it began to bleed.

She almost dared to hope. "Miquella...? Brother, can you hear me?"

"That ain't him! Move!"/"My lady! We must away!"

Naruto and Loretta all but spoke as one as they grabbed her by the arms and yanked her backward. Malenia kicked out furiously with both legs, trying to resist, but her grief had weakened her for the moment and they took full advantage to haul her down the steps to safey. What were they doing?! Could they not see?! Her brother was wounded! He needed help! He...

...why was his arm glowing?

Because the blood had begun to pool at their feet, growing larger now.

From within that putrid bloody puddle, a monster emerged.

At first Malenia couldn't quite comprehend its bulk; not with its back turned, its dark shadow rising from the depths...until it took shape. Dripping in her brother's blood, he rose on bent knee to caress her twin's distended limb.

"Dearest Miquella," withered lips dared to kiss that deformed hand, then touch a horned head to those withered fingers, "You must abide alone a while."

His voice was a low rasp, deep and throaty. Malenia knew it well. Once upon a time, she had pitied it. Now she loathed it. He was taller than she remembered, more twisted than before, clad in embossed robes of red and dark blue and gold. But no matter how one might dress up a monster, it was a monster still. Her eyes flashed. Him. It was all his fault. If only she'd known. If only she'd seen. If only, if only, if only...!

"Let us in. Take your revenge." The rot whispered in her ear. "Slay him. This is right! This is justice!"

She clasped a hand to her head and grit her teeth against it. No. This was her kill. It would not be stolen from her...!

Naruto hissed beside her. "What the actual hell?"

The newcomer pivoted and her thoughts dissolved completely.

"Welcome, honored guests!" It rasped in a twisted, guttural growl. "To the birthplace of our...oh." Mohg paused. Saw who stood before him. "Oh, dear."

.

..

...MOHG!"

A furious shriek rent the air.

In hindsight it might've been a name; indeed it took Malenia an eternity to realize the voice belonged to her; by then she'd already lunged forward and slammed her sword through her accursed half brother's stomach. His squeal of pained panic was sweet, sweet music to her ears. The sheer force of her blow sent them skidding away from Miquella's cocoon, all but impaling the larger demigod against a pillar.

She wasn't prepared for the laughter that followed.

"And so the sister shows herself at last." Mohg leaned forward with a hiss, heedless of the blade in his gut, of the fact that she'd skewered him like a pig, of the pain he must be in, of anything but her. His lone eye blazed down into her own, blazing a baleful, bloody red. "I had wondered when you might come." even his breath reeked of accursed blood. "Alas! You are too late. Miquella is now mine and mine alone. He shall be reborn as the great Mohgwyn and bless this world with blood!"

Fury frothed in her veins as she twisted her blade. "He was not yours to take!"

"Of course he was!" He only laughed at her, still making no effort to attack despite his grievous. "He was always mine! The Formless Mother has shown me thus!

Malenia glimpsed a flicker of movement in the reflection of her blade; saw Loretta materialize soundlessly above Mohg, slamming her war-sickle down at his head. It was a good blow, delivered with all the speed and grace of her kind. There was no chance of him evading, not while she held him like this. A quick death. He didn't deserve such, but it would do.

Mohg reached around and caught the edge of her weapon without looking.

...pitiful." he scoffed. "A knight thinks she can slay a god?"

Then he yanked.

In the same seamless movement, he whirled with both weapon and wielder as a bludgeon. Malenia had all of an instant to grit her teeth and brace; then she found herself ripped away, inadvertently freeing the loathsome Omen from the pillar to which he'd been found. Clawed fingers raked across the air in their wake , conjuring a wave of fiery blood to scald their flesh. the pillar she'd drilled him into.

"Yet another intruder." he tittered with an affable smile, teetering back on one foot as he righted himself. "My, but I've had so many of them today."

Loretta dragged herself upright, clutching her dented breastplate. "How is he still...?"

"Alive?" Mohg scoffed and touched a hand to the hole she'd left him, still dripping red. "Did you think this would kill me?"My Mother craves wounds. You've only made me stronger!"

Naruto stepped after her, good arm already sparking gold. "I'll show you strong, you sonuva-

"No!" Malenia rounded on him with wild eyes. "He is mine to finish! Save my brother! Nothing else matters!"

"Yes, yes!" Mohg barked out a raspy laugh, startling her terribly. "By all means! Hasten my Lord's ascension! She has foretold this moment!"

Malenia hesitated. Her beloved blond didn't waver however, bless his sweet soul. He trusted her to do what needed to be done. Rather than retort, he knelt before Miquella's cocoon. His hand glowed gold and a nebulous light spread from his body. Another thin, reedy cry escaped the confines of her twin's container. Blue eyes flicked her way, then back to his work.

Mohg preened at it. "Can you hear it? The time approaches. A shame you won't be here when he wakes."

"You took him...!" Malenia dove after him, Rot writhing within her once again. "Why?!

"To help him ascend!" Mohg's trident speared at the sky as he blocked her advance. She tore into him and, infuriatingly, he refused to falter. "A new dynasty will come, one born in blood, and I shall be its herald!" another wave of scalding blood hurled her away before she could truly take the fight to him, forcing her to retreat lest she lose her eyes. Rather than pursue, he flung his arms toward the false sky of the cavern with a mad cackle. "I can see it, plain as day! The Golden Order shall drown in an ocean of blood! Our dynasty begins as the Formless Mother ascends!"

He was insane. Stark raving mad, yet sane enough to know what he'd done.

"Do you see now? Such is the will of his goddess." The Rot whispered to her again, its voice the low buzz of countless insects in her ear. "The Formless Mother has ever been a hedonistic creature who craves only pain and her own pleasure."

"You are no better!"

"Am I not?" it almost sounded affronted as she clashed with Mohg again. "I merely wish to usher in the great rebirth of this world. Mohg is as much an enemy to me as he is to thee. Use me. Worry not, I shan't take thy sight again."

"As you didn't take my legs and arms?!"

The distraction cost her; she dodged that blazing trident a hair too late; it ripped past and punctured her ribs. She struck back just as fast; her Great Rune enabling her to heal in time.

"Sacrifices must be made."

She didn't want to give in. "

She flicked a gaze to her companions.

Loretta lay on the ground one leg twisted beneath her, clutching her chest for air as she fumbled for a flask of crimson tears. She whistled for her steed and mounted it instead. Naruto was still working to restore Miquella, his focus consumed entirely on the task at hand, just as she'd asked. It seemed to be taking his every effort; she could see him trembling from here. She couldn't keep looking to him for aid whenever she failed. Her pride howled at the thought...and yet whatinallthehells?!

Her eyes bulged as the unthinkable occurred; Miquella's distended hand whipped around with blinding speed, grabbed her ally, and yanked him into the now-golden-cocoon. The crack in it closed, trapping both her brother and erstwhile partner within.

Just like that, Naruto was gone.

"Blast it all!" Loretta snarled and knocked an arrow to her bow. "What was he thinking?!"

Mohg slapped her shot aside and cut down the knight's spectral steed; cleaving it in twine to hurl the albinauric woman back to the ground. Now he was fast advancing on the woman himself. His bloodied trident cocked back for another one-armed swing that would surely pierce her through. There was no time. Naruto was occupied. She was too far away-no, she'd not make in time. Not as she was. She still hadn't recovered from her last was only one thing for it.

Her helm struck the ground...

Loretta raised an arm to shield her face...

And the crimson flower of Scarlet Aeonia speared into Mohg's body like a thunberbolt.

His trident swept wide, missing Loretta's head by the merest of margins, raking sparks across the stone floor. Credit where it was due, the twisted creature reacted quickly. Even as his good eye bulged, even as his body pivoted -doubtless to fling himself away from the glorious explosion of Rot- Malenia tracked with the movement and struck true. A long leg caught his chin, heel cracking across his face. Momentum reaped its bloody toll and left unchecked his body crashed backward, hurtling through a series of tombstones.

Loretta slumped down at her feet with a haggard sigh, utterly unaware of just how close she'd come to death.

Less so as Malenia landed before her.

It felt good, letting go again; stretching her wings, letting the Rot burn away all her hesitation, all her weakness. Al her fear. Too good. She'd need to end this before she lost herself completely. It was only a matter of would not be a second Caelid. She refused to let that travesty occur once more...

"My lady...?"

She flicked a glance down at Loretta, at this tiny little light that had sworn herself to her. She seemed so small now that she'd ascended. Fragile. Wide green eyes blinked up at her. Already, her armor had begun to rust merely by kneeling in her presence. Even now she could see corrosion creeping across the once-consecrated metal. Time was of the essence. She'd not last long. Maybe a minute. Once the rot reached her skin...

"Flee." she spoke, perhaps a bit harsher than she meant to. "This is a battle between Demigods. You have no place here."

Her knight flinched as if she'd been struck. "I cannot abandon you!"

...I am not asking you to." Her gaze drifted to the glowing cocoon that contained her brother, and now, Naruto. He was still in there, somewhere. "Help him."

Loretta firmed her lips like the child she still was at heart.

Malenia didn't get the chance to hear her answer; a torrent of cursed blood hurtled their way. She deflected it with on one wing and waded in, eager to put some-much needed distance between her and her faithful follow. Loretta made no move to pursue. Eventually she heard the girl drag herself toward Miquella's altar. Good. Distance would do wonders for the Rot. So long as she remained apart from her in this state she would be fine...hopefully.

"Finally!" Mohg lowered his arm and righted himself with a near-euphoric leer. "You show your true face! I shall feed you to Mohgwyn's cocoon as well!"

He'd planned this, the fiend. "...his name is Miquella."

That twisted spear swept her way. "Your compliance isn't a factor here, dear sister."

Fool. He'd pay for those words. Maelnia smiled at him, full of venom, Rot rising once more. "Nor is yours."

She launched herself headlong at Mohg.

Her wretched sibling had made it to his feet by the time she reached him. She graciously gave him the chance to counterattack, if only to see his face when she broke him. Sure enough his tainted trident swept in to take her head. She effortlessly parried it with her false, breaking his stance wide open. From there she flowed in, up, and around him, all but mounting his back to grip him by the horns. Rot sizzled at his skull, drawing a gasp from him as they grappled.

"I'm sorry," she cooed in his ear, "Does this hurt? T'would seem so.

Rotten wings buffeted him as she soared up, dragging her kin with her. Then she came crashing down with vindictive force to smash his hideous face into the cobblestones. His gasp brought her more pleasure than a thousand deaths. Laughter spilled out of her as she reveled in his cries of pain. Once. Twice. Thrice, did she force his face to be intimate with the ground in a way no demigod desired. Clawed hands scrabbled at her, to no avail. She relished every second of his agony.

"Every second." she hissed into his ear, fingers digging into his horned scalp. "Every indignity you visited upon Miquella, I shall repay tenfold."

Mohg arched his spine and heaved, hurling her away. Malenia alighted lazily in the air, wings spread to control her fall. Good, good. He still had some fight in him. After all, it wouldn't do to break him so early in the game. He shouldn't die quick. He must suffer first. Slowly.

Painfully.

finally found enough leverage, bucked his back and heaved, forcing her away with a torrent of accursed blood.

She leaped upright into the air, watching his good eye widen as she hung there, defying gravity.

Yes. Fear. The Rot sang in her veins. He should fear you. All should.

Then she dove at him.

Her rotten Waterfowl Dance was a savage thing to behold; she slashed at him, all grace forgotten, all pretense abandoned in her rage. Once. Twice. Thrice. She flew into a whirlwind of blows and kept swinging, kept driving her sword into his body, screaming all the while. Mohg thrashed about himself like a wild beast with his trident, but he couldn't escape her. She harried him relentlessly, never once giving him to recover. She hit him again. And again and again. A raw cry tore out of her as she sought to cut him apart. Mohg would die a death of a thousand cuts.

Satisfaction seared through her, dark and sinister. She would have her way.

"You will not take him from me!" Mohg straightened suddenly, gripping his trident with both hands. her with a feint and flung her away. "I will not fall here! Tres!"

His weapon speared the sky. A ring of blood coalesced around her. Malenia ignored it and continued to savage him.

"Duo!" he rasped, buckling beneath her rot. Blood few forth. Two rings now.

Her blade bit deep, nearly taking his arm. Still, he chanted on.

"UNUS."

That last word held an awful finality to it; enough to give her pause. Three rings circled her now, their barbs facing inward toward her exposed form. But there was no pain. And there wouldn't be, if she had anything to say about it. She surged forward, determined to have his head before he enacted whatever sordid scheme he'd concocted. He turned a crazed grin on her.

"Nihil!"

Everything went red as Mohg's trident stabbed forth, wounding the very world. With it, the first ring stabbed into Malenia body.

Her body buckled beneath into a thousand wounds, driving her to a knee. No matter. She grit her teeth and forced herself upright long enough to take his right arm. He didn't even flinch and here, a flicker of fear touched her at the last. So long as she counter-attacked these wounds meant nothing...didn't they?

"Nihil!"

Another thrust, staggering her, sending pain blazing through her very soul. Blood fountained forth from her lips- as she looked on, he regrew his lost limb before her very eyes. How?!

He hadn't even touched her!

Mogh gripped his triden with both hands. "NIHIL!"

Darkness crept in at the edge of her vision as the final ring pierced her ribs, sundering what remained of her armor, bringing her crashing down to her knees. Ebony wings burst forth from her brother's back to rip through his robes, showering her in dark feathers. Frantic, she retaliated in kind with her own power, blighting the stonework before him, forcing him to choose between safety back or death. Imagine her surprise when he stormed through, unaffected.

His trident swept in, blazing with tainted blood. "This ends, sister!"

Couldn't move in time...!

CLANG.

There was no pain. Why? Why wasn't there pain?

Malenia looked up.

"Oi."

Naruto stood before her, one hand gripped the largest spike of the spear, holding that deadly edge despite its wicked bloodflame. His body bled much as hers did, but unlike her his wounds were already healing, closing, mending before her very eyes. He'd recovered. Of course he had. The beast within wouldn't let him die.

"That was a clever trick you played back there." Merry blue eyes beamed up at Mohg as he held the spear at bay. "Congrats. Its been a while since someone took me by surprise, ya know?"

Mohg balked, lone eye bulging in seething disbelief. "Why were you not consumed by the cocoon?!"

"Meh." Naruto's grin was all teeth. "Struck a bargain. Miquella's a pretty chill guy. Also, really angry with you right now...so I gave him a loaner." he made a pinching motion with his fingers. "Just for a bit."

Malenia blinked.

...whatever was a loaner?

Baffled, she cast a frantic glance back to her twin's cocoon and found Loretta beside it crouched on her hindquarters, hastily removing her corroded armor. The once-pure-chrysalis beside her glowered no longer. She soon saw the reason why; the gaping hold her companion had torn through it to escape. Her brother's long emaciated limb was nowhere to be seen; at first she feared the worst. But no, there was something in there all the same. She glimpsed someone sprawled within its womb, something smaller, slender...

Could it be...?

"I know your kind." Naruto's voice snapped her back to reality, and for a moment, it sounded as if Miquella himself were speaking with him. "Pity is wasted on your ilk." he stepped in, glowering at the bloodied Omen like the little ant he was. "You think you can just waltz in and take whatever you want. But for all your schemes, you made one. Fatal. Mistake. That's right, you forgot about one thing...

For a fleeting instant, Malenia could've sworn she saw her twin's spectral form standing over his shoulder.

Mohg failed to see it, fool that he was. "And what would that be?"

Blue eyes shone with unalloyed gold. "...you messed with my family, Mohg. And for that..."

Naruto stepped forward and with a grunt of surprise, Mohg found himself forced to retreat. He advanced again, frog-marching the wretched Omen backwards; one step now, then two. Followed by three. Four. Although her accursed half-brother strained against him, it was all for naught. Muscles bunched and strained, yet for all his newfound strength he was as helpless before him as she'd been back in the Haligtree.

"You like transformations, do you?" Blue eyes glistened as he glared up at him. "I've got a few, too. Wanna see?"

Mohg scoffed. "Changing the color of your eyes will not grant you victory!"

"Maybe not." Naruto bobbed his head in acknowledgement. "Growing wings won't save ya either. Say," his face brightened suddenly, "I've got a joke for you. "What did the fist say to the face?"

Mohg blinked. "What?

"Nope. Punch."

"I don't undeeeeeeeergh?!"

Words dissolved into so much gibberish as Naruto's fist scythed upward. Mohg's body went with it, snapping back with an audible crack. Fangs flew through the air, as he did he. A flicker of movement above him and then up became down again as he crashed into the ground. It was too much to hope that would kill him.

Sure enough, the one-eyed Omen righted himself with a sneer. "Do you intend to fight me with such weakness, boy?"

"Fight you?" Naruto's smile turned colder than the Mountaintops of the Giants. "No. I wanna kill you." he jabbed a finger over his shoulder. "So does he, for the record. Usually ain't the kind to advocate for that sorta thing, but since he's in no shape to deal with you at the moment...well."

Mohg stilled, seeing something Malenia didn't. "No...

"Naruto" tilted his head, but rather than a crass retort, he wore a strange smile instead. "Quiver, Mohg. Thy time has come."

When he walked his way the Omen stumbled back, shaking his head. "No, no...

"Whatever is the matter, brother of mine?" Naruto continued to smile, but there was a bitter, sardonic edge to it that he could never wear. "Aren't you pleased to see me after all this time?"

"No, no, no!" Mohg thrashed about with his trident, spitting blood. "Miquella was to be mine! I am his consort! YOU CANNOT HAVE HIM!"

"Yours?" a light laugh pierced the false night. "I was never yours." he paused, looked down. "And this one has already been claimed by mine sister." patted his bare chest, now. "I really should make sure he doesn't come back to an injured body...

Malenia flushed and risked a glance back as Mohg lunged, screaming obscenities. She spied Loretta moving in her peripherals. The albinauric woman was setting her leg, clutching a trembling flask of crimson tears in hand. Her gaze shifted back to the brawl unfolding behind her. And in a moment she understood. Naruto was stalling for them she realized, running his mouth, buying them time to recover and regroup. That sweet, silly boy. Did he intend to fight him alone? To...what was the phrase? Solo him?

The flask of crimson tears bumped against her leg. Loretta must've rolled it way.

Golden eyes rolled in mild exasperation. Such a stubborn girl...

She knocked it back and drank, wincing as her wounds closed. A roar pierced the air and she turned in time to see both men blur again.

There was blood, of course. So much blood. They ripped and tore into one another like the giants of old, caring naught for their wounds, seeking only to slay one another. There was no place for her to leap in, no moment that she might seize upon, chance to intervene. She could do naught but watch the chaos unfolded.

Naruto had that beast inside him, but Mohg was empowered by an Outer God, just as she was. His wings gained him the high ground; one he use to devastating effect, sweeping down upon him time and time again to shower him with accursed blood...for all the good it did him. Naruto had been a warrior before. Empowered/guided by Miquella as he seemed to be now, such tainted filth had no effect on him. Indeed, he seemed to make a point of wading through it, just to mock him.

"Fool!" Mohg dove low again, parrying a blow that would've surely ripped his head from his shoulders and retaliated, seeking to skewer him. "The Formless Mother fights with me! We are one! You cannot win! All shall fear Mohgwyn and rejoice!"

A hand grasped the sacred spear midswing, holding fast. Firm fingers gripped. It shattered in his palm, leaving him clutching three feet of ruined metal.

The blond stopped smiling. "Let me ask you...does an Omen like yourself ever experience fear?"

Mohg stumbled back, gripping his ruined weapon. "Never!"

...more's the pity, I suppose."

"Miquelaaaaaaargh?!"

Clenched knuckles barreled into his twisted visage, warping his cry into a howl of pain. A broken horn struck the ground. Naruto didn't gloat. He blurred. One moment he was before Mohg, the next he alighted between his massive shoulders. A bare foot planted itself against the Omen's twisted spine. In the same instant, golden claws seized his wings.

"No!" Mohg thrashed, eye bulging in its socket. "Not like this! I cannot be bested! I am Mohg! I am inevitable!"

"And we! Do not! CARE!"

A mighty tear ripped the wings free and sent the ugly omen skidding away on his face. Naruto stalked at him, uncaring of the burning blood nipping a this feet. Reached down. Grasped Mohg by the head. No, she realized, not his head...

"Dearest Mohg, do you know what ten pounds of torque does to a human-and-or Omen ear?"

Mohg whimpered, the sound muffled against the stone. "No...?

He snarled. "Lemme show you.

Mohg screamed.

Under any other circumstances, Malenia might've felt bad for him. Few deserved to suffer so. But he'd taken Miquella. Ripped him out of the Haligtree and turned him into this...this thing. No pain was too great. No power too much, no punishment too severe. The rot within her urged her to act. And she would...after he suffered a bit more.

"I'm sorry, I really am." a startled laugh burst out of Naruto's puppeteered body. "I really should've finished you off by now. I'm just so angry." he touched a hand to his head, chortling softly. "In fact, I can't remember the last time I was this furious.

"Its those eyes...you have the same eyes! Like him...no, they're different!" Mohg scrambled back like a drunken crab, trying to scuttle to safety. "What are you?! What's inside you?!"

A golden palm rose.

...you'll never know. Begone."

Black light swelled from his fingertips, forming a singular sphere as large as Mohg was tall. Still it grew, dwarfing them all. An awful keening noised filled the air; that giant fox from before -Kurama!- returned with a bloody vengeance now, jaws gaping wide. No more words were given. No taunts issued, no threats made. He let the sphere fly, the world burned with a rush of black light, and Mohg ceased to be.

In the aftermath, Malenia blinked the spots from her eyes.

He could've used that against her, she realized. Wiped her out at any time. And yet he hadn't.

...just what was he?

"Phew...that was a trip." Naruto cracked his knuckles, rolled his shoulders once, and bounced in place. "Ouch!" he grunted, working a kink out his neck. "Not used to somebody moving my body about like that...what did I miss?" He looked left, right now, then frowned. "Jeez, he really went nuts, didn't he? Guess that's what I get for loaning myself out like that. All's well that end's well, I guess...

Malenia tried to speak. Gibberish flowed forth instead.

Loretta huffed at him. "You stole my kill."

"Secured," came the cheeky response. "I secured it."

"Ha...ha...ha...

A low wheeze pierced the haze.

Naruto pivoted, one arm flung out to protect her and Loretta alike, but he needn't have. The blow never came.

Malenia followed his gaze and nearly gagged. Mohg lay sprawled against the cocoon...well, what was left of him. He'd lost much of his lower torso, his legs, and an arm besides. Barely a quarter of him remained; that he even drew breath at all was a miracle. Anyone could see he wasn't long for this world. Yet still he laughed.

"Ahhh...I can see it, clear as day...the coming of our dynasty...!" A glazed eye rolled back. Focused on Naruto "You're him, aren't you? The one he spoke of...Naruto...Uzumaki."

The blond stilled at her side. "How do you know my-

"Ohhh, yes." the Omen rattled out a raspy breath. "He told me all about you, that you would try to stop me...

"Sasuke?!" He grabbed him by the collar. "Where is he?!"

"You're too late. He's long...gone." another raspy cackle pierced the air as Naruto let him go. "I think...he wanted to kill me, but his companion wouldn't let him. Ah, such a beauty she was." he reached for the sky with his hand, fingers grasping for something they couldn't see. "To see her again...but alas. I go now to be with the formless Mother. Together, we shall rise again, to remake this world...

"No." Malenia seized his head between both hands, gripping him firmly. Peace was the last thing he deserved. "Let your flesh be consumed by the scarlet rot, you twisted wretch!"

His lone eye widened. "No...!"

"Yes." she snarled. "Now suffer, as I have suffered."

He tried to struggle, tried to cry out, but it availed him not.

Mohg's screams turned to agonized gurgles as his tongue fused with the back of his throat. The power of the Formless Mother was great indeed, but so too was the Goddess of Rot that lived in her veins. Malenia was quite happy to take that power and turn it on the monster that had taken Miquella from her. She was at her peak and he, a wounded shell of his former self. The outcome was never in question. Still she kept squeezing, pouring all her wrath into him, until finally, his body dissolved into a festering puddle at her feet.

She glared at his remains, turned her head aside, and spat into its murky depths.

"Lord of Blood indeed!" her lip curled in a sneer. "You are lord of nothing!"

So ended Mohg the Omen. Here at last, she was satisfied.

The Rot wasn't. It surged up out of her control even as she pivoted, causing her body to buckle and fall to her knees. She felt its hunger rise as tendrils of grasping red burst from her back. Not content with the death of Mohg; it yet craved more. More death, more decay, more lives to feed its insatiable hunger. At first she didn't understand; what else could it possibly want? And then she knew. It already had her. It had all but consumed Mohg. Who remained in this place with divine blood coursing through their veins? The answer was cruel.

It wanted Miquella.

"No!" she grabbed at her human hand when it rose, grasping for the cocoon. "You can't!"

It could and it certainly would. "We had an accord, child. A life for a life."

She grit her teeth. "You have me! Our bargain is concluded!"

"It is not. Your are already ours. And so will he be."

No. No, she couldn't. She wouldn't...!

Golden hands -one human, the other forged from purest light- reached through the maelstrom of Rot to cup Maleni;as face. Someone's forehead touched hers. She clung to them instinctively in her panic, not caring who it was. A nameless tune hummed in her ears, words, yet strangely familiar. Where had she heard it before? She looked up

"Naruto...?"

"Oi, goddess." His face peeled and healed in the instant as he held her, speaking to her, and yet not her. "You let her go right now."

"Never." The Rot hissed in her head. "She is ours. You cannot stop us!"

He growled. "Kurama."

Golden light suffused Malenia's skin for the merest of moments. It was like flicking a switch; when faced with the Fox, the Rot retreated. She felt it recede, heard her wings crumble to nothingness, felt the dull ache in her head recede to a little more than an unpleasant throb. He had not stopped it, nor sealed it; he'd simply pushed it back. Forestalled her eventual end. Bought her time. Even so, she felt her heart soar.

She pivoted on bent knee to thank him. "Sweet tarnished, you have my thanks-

"Owwwwww!" Naruto tumbled onto his hindquarters heedless of her words, rubbing raw hands over his still-healing chest. "Damnitall, that stings, ya know!"

Stings?! That same power had rendered Mohg a raw ruddy red puddle at their feet. And he said it stung?! It was too much. A peal of disbelieving laughter burst from Malenia's lips.

"Wonderful." Loretta flung up her arms with a put-upon sigh. "Look what you've done. You've broken our lady."

Malenia couldn't help herself; she doubled over and she kept laughing.

Without warning, Miquella's cocoon burst into light.

And their world lurched again.

A/N: Fight really dominated this chapter, sorry.

Cookie for you if you guess where we're headed next. Wasn't subtle.

To be clear! That Miquella-possessing-Naruto bit was a one time thing. Naruto made a deal with him, giving him a chance for payback. There's precedent for it as well. Its something our boy allowed waaay back when before Shippuden. I believe the episode was called the "Man Who Died Twice?" Episode 193, maybe? Don't quote me on that. Did anybody get the Let me Soio Her reference? No?

Aaaaaand there we be! Hope you enjoyed it? Well? Should this be a story? Yay or nay, what say you?

Not much else to say this time 'round. Reviews keep me writing, and without them, my inspiration falls flat. Ever bit of feedback helps. Surgery hurts. Surgery hurts a loooot. But silence from readers and reviewers? That hurts even more. As ever, reviews keep this old man alive during this dark and crazy time. I ain't joking.

Seriously, we're all locked away anyways these days, feedback is all that sustains me.

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas... Review...Would You Kindly?

And enjoy these previews! Remember those hints?

Yes? No? Hope you paid attention. Because!

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

PLOT DETAILS AHOY!

YE BE WARNED!

Read at your own risk!

(Preview)

"Dear brother, please wake up...


The Haligtree was delighted to see them again. It almost sounded like it was...singing.


Malenia, as Naruto soon learned, was a cuddler.

She liked to be close to him, brush up against him at the oddest intervals. Small touches, little things, to make certain he was still there. As though to remind herself this wasn't some wretched fever dream. She seldom said much, or even why, but she seemed to revel in it all the same.

It was absolutely adorable and he wished he had a camera.


Malenia was looking at a ring.

Madness. This was madness. She'd kept Miquella's ring on a whim when it had fallen from her brother's finger, but she'd not thought to find this! Still! Was she honestly considering-

"Hey!" Naruto's voice called down the tunnel. "You alright down there?"

She curled her fingers around the tiny thing and hid it up her glove. "I'm quite fine, thank you!"

"Whatcha got there?"

...nothing."


"I feel I must make amends with Radahn."

"Radahn...you mean the big guy you and Loretta told me about?"

"The very same."

"The one you reduced to a mindless beast."

She squirmed, feeling every bit a naughty child beneath their combined stare. "T'was...not my intent at the time...

Naruto and Loretta leaned back as one, glared at one another, then looked back to her.

"Are you insane?!/My lady has lost her mind!"


...this pointless resistance avails thee naught. We will have what we came for. Your words bore us."

"Girls, girls. Five against one, and you're worried about this fight being boring?"

He dragged himself upright with a low laugh.

...I'll spice it up for you then!"

Then he was among them. A clawed hand closed around one attackers face and whipped her into her siblings. Two were still hurtling back when the rest fell upon him. He caught the spear slamming at his gut in one palm conjured a golden claw from his stump and spun, bludgeoning the redhead who'd sought to stab him. A cry of pain went up, but he didn't care to hear it. Slitted scarlet eyes snapped to the remaining duo. He hunched his back and dove at them with a snarl.

"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!"

Cries of terror filled the air.

They stood no chance.

R&R~!