A/N: Ahoy! Hope you enjoy this updated! Still here, still sick, still writing. *coughs miserably*
Can't tell if this is bronchitis, pneumonia or something worse.
Still, Monday's here and I just had to update at least a little Elden Ring this month~!
Well, seems Dance of the Dread didn't get a lot of feedback. Suppose that's what I get for updating it twice in one month. Back in the update rota it goes. T_T
As my fifteen year anniversary on this site draws near, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.
And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things when I'm gone.
Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. The recent earthquake in Turkey/Syria serves as a terrible example. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
Once more, I own no quotes, references, or memes. Not a wit or a one. NOT! A! THING!
They're all tributes to legends far greater than little 'ol me. Now then..
This will most likely remain a single pairing, but it may become a harem depending on feedback. It'll be a shorter story at that.
We'll keep the clarification up here for Naruto and Malenia's "children" since there are a LOT of names going around right now. Nania's really the only OC here. The rest actually exist in the game.
First and foremost we have the adorable Nania and Millicent.
Mary is the eldest, wielding her halo scythe with ease.
Maureen comes second, with a heavy-treespear.
Amy, would be third with her curved swords.
Polyanna is, the youngest, having a dagger.
Now, then! let us continue!
"Isn't it remarkable? One can have all the power in the world, and yet a single act of kindness undoes it all.
There's irony to be had in that, I suppose. Now, onward they tread.
Over Fallen Leaves.
~?
To Know Ambition
Morgott had never thought to face Malenia in combat.
He regretted it now. Oh yes, he did.
By the gods did he regret it.
He had forgotten. Forgotten what it was like to be truly pressed in a fight for his life, to wage war against a foe as great, if not greater than he. Errors were made.
And they were all his.
That first punch nearly killed him outright; the impact that followed even moreso. Clenched knuckles barreled into his face, his back kissed an iron root, and then he was gone-tumbling end over end, crashing through men and catapults like so much kindling. A hand scrabbled for purchase at one of the battlements as he found himself blasted over it. By some mercy the stone held and he managed to cling on, if only just.
A long shadow fell over him. Bugger.
...I had no quarrel with you, Morgott. Truly." Malenia alighted before him, eyes hidden beneath her helm, face carved from stone. "Leave this place, swear never to return, and you shall be allowed to live."
His gray face writ in a scowl. "And where is your pet?
"Do not call him such." Malenia's face went red beneath the helm. Gods above. Malenia, Blade of Miquella, being shy. He'd never thought to see the day. "My intended is busying himself with your beasts.
Morgott looked back. A giant golden fox -an actual fox!- was ripping through his army as though they were naught but toy soldiers. Bodies hit the floor. Flew through the air. Shattered into countless pieces. Color drained from his face. Even the trolls couldn't hope to stop him. The few who dared try were summarily stomped to death.
He looked back to Malenia with a scowl. "You slew my brother!
"Oh, woe." golden eyes rolled in abject derision. "That degenerate pervert who wanted to f***k my brother's half-dead corpse?" she raised her false arm, blade clicking in salute. "Truly the world is lesser without him. Here's to Mohg, the first of his name, and the ROT I shoved down his throat. Miquella is well to be ride of him."
It was too much.
Morgott lunged with a roar.
His half-sister parried him effortlessly and thrust her blade through his torso, bending him double.
"We've never fought before, have we?" her lips brushed his ear and here at last, he glimpsed her golden eyes beneath that wretched helm. There was a high, wild light in her gaze now, one that spoke of battle madness, an anger, sadistic godly glee he wanted no part of. "I wonder why?"
He grit bloody teeth against the pain, refusing to cry out. "Wench!"
Malenia laughed -actually laughed!- and kicked him off her blade, leaving him to crashed down onto his back. His cane narrowly deflected her sword as it sought his throat. Sparks skittered across his face to blind him. The moment he blinked she grabbed him by his horns with one hand, wrenching his head to one side.
Her blade crashed down on his neck.
Frantic, he swung his tail, trying to sweep her legs.
Rather than retort, the rotten hopped over his tail, kicked off one of his spectral weapons, defying momentum to hang in the air. Morgott recognized it too late. He'd seen it from afar once; just as he'd seen what became of the poor fool who tried to defend themselves against it.
Waterfowl Dance.
In his blind panic, he too made the mistake of guarding. He should've run. His courage availed him naught. Malenia was upon him in a dervish of death not a moment later; a dozen wounds blossomed along his back and chest. With them, his strength slipped that much further. He crashed to a knee and conjured a mighty golden hammer to his free hand. Swung hard, now. A dull clang was his reward as the rotten woman was forced to abandon her dance and deflect at the last.
"You're strong, Morgott." he heard the smile in his half-sibling's voice. "Stronger than Radahn, yet your mind is weaker than that of a child."
"Hold thy tonuge." he hissed.
"I shall not." his little sister tutted. "What manner of madman chains himself to his abuser?
"Silence!" anger empowered him further, enabling him to surge to his feet. "The golden order is all!"
The golden order is ALL but ashes! Look around you, brother!" Malenia flung out out an arm. You alone champion it! Godwyn is gone! Mohg has been slain! Radahn is rotten by hand! Rykard fed himself to a serpent! Maliketh is nowhere to be found and stars know where Ranni is! To say nothing of mother and father! Your own sire stands in exile! And you would wage war upon us because your god tells you too! Thou art a fool, brother of mine, the most foolish fool to ever exist!"
He wiped a line of blood from his mouth and glowered a ther. "You...will not live past this day. I will see your line eradicated, torn up and burned, root and stem!
Laughter. He wasn't prepared for the laughter. It burst out of Malenia in a short, sharp bark of amusement; as though he'd made some terrible joke. Or perhaps he was the joke. He didn't know anymore. The lack of such frightened him more than he cared to admit.
"You will try dear brother, you will try." she lowered her blade, letting it drag in the dirt. "I've heard all I wish to hear from you. Time to switch."
"Swiiiiiaaaaargh?!"
Words warped and horns broke through the air as a blond meteor fell out the sky and plowed into his back, smashing him into the roots. He felt someone tap a boot against his spine.
"Miss me?"
Ah. So the blond braggart had returned. Which meant...
He made the mistake of turning his head. Sure enough, he found only death there.
No more. He could hold back no longer; it was this or death. The same death his army had suffered.
"Thy kind are all of a peace!" He bucked the blond off his back, righted himself squeezed the hilt of his cane until it began to creak under his grip. "Pillagers!" it crumbled away, revealing the blade beneath. "Emboldened by the flame of ambition! I shall smother thy embers once and for all!"
No ambition here, pal." much to his chagrin, the whiskered warrior merely folded both arms before his chest. "I won't even move from this spot.
Malenia balked. "Beloved?!"
He clicked his tongue at her. "Hey! Have some faith in me-
Morgott swiped at him when he wasn't looking. He missed. Impossible. Had he misjudged the distance somehow?
Naruto only smiled.
"A clever trick. It shan't work again!"
This time he saw it when he struck; little more than a twitch of his head. A third time he swung only for the wretched rapscallion to sway out the way. His feet remained planted against the roots of the Haligtree, but that smile only bloomed larger with each passing moment. How he hated it. How he loathed it.
"Are you trying, or...?"
"Knave!" Morgott went mad, conjuring all manner of spectral weapons to get at him. The new tactic availed him naught; every other assault was blocked or in some cases, outright ignored. "Fight back, you coward!
A knee slammed up into his chin, jarring his teeth together with a painful click. He bit his tongue and gagged.
A hand caught his tail.
Morgott froze. "Oh, no...
Naruto grinned. "Ohhhh, Yes."
The blond devil whirled, spun him around with vicious speed, and quite suddenly, Morgott found himself airborne. Clouds blitzed past as he glimpsed the Haligtree-turned-Erdtree below, the city of Ephael rushing by. The sight took his breath away; if only because he could truly see from here; see the city, see the bodies of his army, see the ruin that had been wrought.
A hand settled on his shoulder, warm as a sunbeam. "Nice view, ain't it?"
Morgott rounded on him in the air. "You can fly?!"
"That and jump good. Going down!"
Ground. Blood. Pain.
He must've blacked out at some point; because he woke suddenly, righting himself with a gurgling gasp. Had to get up. Had to move. Where was he...? Why was he in a crater...?
With a groan, he touched one hand to his head only to find broken horns there. Several had lodged into his neck. Ah, yes. That would explain the blood.
Marshalling the fading dregs of his strength tore them free and muttered an incantation under his breath, suffusing his body with golden light. It didn't heal him completely, not enough, but it stemmed the worst of his wounds...for now...
...because the blond braggart was waiting for him at the lip of the cater he'd created. "Are ya done?"
His temper bridled anew. "Nay!"
"I think ya are." Golden eyes gazed placidly back at him, without hate or fear. No, t'was a far fouler emotion he faced. "You know, its kinda funny...and sad."
Morgott planted his blade in the ground and leaned against it, gasping for air. "What is?"
"If we had met under better circumstances, we might've been friends." he offered one to him, now. "It doesn't have to be this way. You can still stop."
"Never!"
Naruto frowned. "Wasn't asking."
A spinning kick crashed into his ribs and sent him stumbling away.
He was still tumbling when he heard a low keening noise. A strange sphere smashed into his back and brought him low. Another found his leg, ruining his knee. Five firm fingers -metal fingers!- closed around the back of his head and smashed him into the roots of the Haligtree, breaking his nose. Accursed Malenia. T'would seem she wasn't content to let her consort fight alone. They could've continued further; could've embarrassed him yet more, he knew. Instead...they let him go.
Realization dawned.
So.
This was it, then.
The end of his long journey.
He bowed his head with a groan. "...Kill me. Now, before I recover."
Naruto froze. "What?"
"I will not stop." he turned a bruised eye upon them, willing them to understand. "I cannot stop. So long as I live, I will hunt thee." his shoulders slumped. "I can do no less. There is no other path for me."
Here at last, the blond hesitated, little fool that he was. "How can you say that?
"It is all I have ever known.
"As you wish." Malenia raised her arm.
"Hey, hey! You can't just kill him like this!
"It is what he wants. Or would you rather he suffer?"
...Rest now, brother. The blade descended.
Morgott closed his eyes. He felt no fear. Only peace.
Cold steel descended.
A/N: Morgott stole the show~!
Next chapter will reveal whether he lived or died...well, if there is another chapter.
Well? Should this remain 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. Pain hurts. Pain hurts a loooot. But silence from readers and reviewers? That hurts even more. As ever, reviews keep this old man alive during these dark and crazy times. 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?
May the make you smile~!
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
YE BE WARNED!
Read at your own risk!
Mostly the same here. Didn't want to spoil the next arc.
(Previews)
"Mama! Miquella's awake!"
Malenia all but vaulted the steps, taking them three at a time to reach her brother's cocoon.
Someone stood before it, tall and slender, their back to her. Perhaps that was a mercy; because they were naked as a newborn. But no newborn was this. She recognized that golden-white hair, but little else. Her mind all but fizzled at the sight of what should have been her brother...and yet Miquella was not as she knew. What on earth was that body?!
"Brother...?"
The stranger turned to face her fully, revealing golden eyes and a small smile. "Good morning, sister."
Malenia absolutely choked. Behind her, Naruto took one look at Miquella and fell over laughing.
Nania clapped her hands. "Pretty!"
...to what do I owe this visit, Sister?"
Ranni raised her hands. "I would have words with you."
"Bold words, coming from the witch who begot this madness in the first place." She clicked her tongue. "Oh, yes. I know about the night of Black Knives. You were its architect...
Ranni's gaze cooled. "Then you know of what I am capable. I would ask you to stay out of my way."
"You come here, into my home, and threaten me?"
"Not a threat, sister. A warning. I wish no more death between us. Has there not been enough?"
Radahn raised his head, swords in hand, to loom over them.
"Oh, bugger, you didn't say he was that big...
All hell broke loose.
"WARRIOR!"
"Oi, oi, oi! Its too damn early for this!
Malenia took a deep, shuddering breath.
Then she rounded on Naruto.
He balked. "Uh-oh."
She stepped in and drove her lips against his with furious passion, all but crushing him against the bed. Her bosom pressed into his chest. Wings bloomed behind her back, sending rotten butterflies flitting through the air in a storm of noise. She paid them no heed; there was no need, because he was holding her, returning her affection with slow, gentle sincerity. It was too much. She lost herself.
A hand flitted out, tearing his shirt away...
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Thanks for reading!
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? Well, it won't be continued. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy.
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
Looking forward to hearing from you all when I get back from work~!
R&R~!
