In a hidden place close to the full moon, the stars watched over the eternal ocean. Tranquil waters stretched to infinity, reflecting the night sky as though there were two of them, one cosmos on top of the other. And in the center, there was a fragment of Raya Lucaria, an identical visage of the academy from a faraway land that was once Ranni's home.
Elias woke up inside his room. There was an empty space beside his bed illuminated by the soft blue light of glintstone.
The first thing he did was open the nightstand's drawer. It was by instinct- he didn't even think.
His eyes laid upon a folded paper.
He could make out the final words, and it made his heart sink. Your friend, Millicent.
He closed the drawer, took a long deep breath, and put the painful yet sweet memories in the back of his mind.
Where's Ranni…?
The night sky called to him, and he walked to the balcony to peer over the railings, where he saw his goddess. Ranni was there, alone on the water, sitting peacefully outside their home. She was facing the moon and communing with the night's Outer God like she did usually.
He descended their tower and passed by the libraries, the gardens, and the halls, all unfettered and returned to its former glory before the Shattering. The main gate rose silently. Elias walked towards the witch in thick white coat; she may need some silent company.
She had already sensed his presence before he could talk.
"Dear consort, how was thy slumber?" Ranni asked, her head rising.
Elias froze. "Ranni. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb your commune…"
"All is well," she said. "I was not communing with the Full Moon."
"Oh, I see," Elias said and sat beside her. "Why are you out here? I was worried."
"Hm… I was merely thinking." Ranni's closed her eyes, both the spectral and physical. "About us."
Elias blinked. "Why?"
Ranni smiled and looked at him again. A cold, wooden hand cupped Elias's cheek, causing him to flash a bashful smile.
"Dear, tell me truly. Art thou happy here?"
Elias's smile faded, his eyes falling into a calm softness.
Ranni regarded him. Her hand cascaded toward the base of his neck before she withdrew it under her coat.
"Yes, I am happy," Elias spoke. "After everything we have been through. The friends we lost, the blood we spilled, the sacrifices we made… All of it wasn't for naught. I can sleep peacefully now-"
"And yet, there is a sadness in your eyes. I see it, every time you look at me."
"Ranni…" he faced her, then she faced him in response.
"Be honest with me, my lord. I will do everything in mine power to ease thy pain. I share thy sadness, after all."
"Ranni, please. It isn't like that."
"Then what is it? What pains you so? Is it me?" Ranni held both of his arms, pleading. She looked at the ground, her reflection in the water. She saw the face of a blue doll staring right back, and what seemed to be the once Lunar Princess, broken and fragmented. "Thou… thou art the only one…"
Elias held her hands tighter.
"Ranni, it isn't you," Elias said. "I'm sorry, truly. I have a feeling that you have been suspicious of what I feel lately. It's time I tell you."
The doll looked at him, but the glowing soul shed a single tear. Elias let out a guilty sigh.
"I spent a long time in the Lands Between, and I know that some things, some people, they never got their closure," Elias said.
"Right now, they're wondering why the Erdtree no longer glows and why their sky is in perpetual night. All those loose ends. My friends. They helped me become lord, and now I wonder… where are they? Who will help the souls we left behind? Ranni, your mother…"
Ranni's tender grip tightened a bit around his hands. "Elias… dost thou think I'm not hurt leaving behind my home? Dost thou think… that I do not miss my mother every passing second?"
Ranni, who was once so regal in her speech, now stumbled upon her words.
"When I struck destined death unto my heart, I knew truly the cost of my mission, yet… yet for millennia, even now, I feel the weight of mine actions, clawing at my heart. My body. My brothers. My friends. Blaidd and Iji… Such is the sacrifice we must make!"
Elias fell into silence. Then, he pulled Ranni into a hug.
She was holding back tears.
"You're right, Ranni. I'm sorry," Elias whispered. "Forgive me. Let's go home."
It wasn't easy keeping track of time when the night is eternal. Elias relied on the old clock in the bedroom, which indicated the progression of lunar phases in the Lands Between.
He realized that a few days' time had passed since that talk with Ranni.
She did not join him in bed since. She was always outside communing her god. When she did lie beside him, it was rather awkward.
Then again, it had been like that since the start; in bed all they had were a few stories shared and some meaningful conversations. Close, but distant all the same. Only now, he realized the oddity of it all.
Elias rummaged through his papers under the soft light of a candelabra. It was another nightly study inside the grand library, a faithful recreation of Raya Lucaria's own, where once he fought Rennala and her children among mountains of discarded books. Now, it was tidy, respectable, and organized. He set up a table near the central circle, where he would read every night.
As he flipped through the pages of The History of Selia and Radahn, the ground beneath his feet shook.
He paused and looked up. The chandelier swung precariously above him.
Something was wrong.
He shouted Ranni's name, but she didn't respond. Another quake shook the library and knocked his candelabra off the table, followed by an echo of a guttural noise.
Elias rushed up the stairs, burst into their bedroom, and grabbed the Dark Moon Greatsword resting beside the balcony. The moment he grabbed the hilt, he noticed something odd.
The night sky changed.
It bore pulsating veins of stars and nebulae, bordered by a faint glow of gold. It was like a nervous system of the cosmos snaking its way to the void.
Elias cast a silent incantation that lit his sword an icy blue.
Then, he stared into the starry expanse where the gigantic Elden Beast stared back.
His face turned pale as the beast smashed its hand on the balcony, sending it exploding into dust and rubble. Two jutting stone towers crumbled to the ground and collided with nearby structures in a catastrophic domino effect. Elias hurtled towards the water, but before he could make impact with the surface, a force of magic put his motion into statis. The same force morphed into a protective bubble where Ranni softly materialized inside.
"Ranni!" Elias cried as he found his footing.
Her dress bore nasty tears and a portion of her white coat was lit with golden fire. She took off the coat calmly, revealing to Elias the hole in her shirt where an arm used to be.
"We must hold our ground," Ranni said. "Do not let this foul trespasser get what it desireth."
A cosmic hand slammed into the forcefield, but Ranni did not flinch.
The Elden Beast looked as it did inside the Erdtree, from that battle long ago. It was enormous, with many wings stretching out from its back. Its body reflected an unimaginably large expanse of celestial objects and cosmic rivers, as though the essence of the universe was weaved into its very being.
"What does it want?"
"What we stole from it," she said. "The Elden Ring."
The Greater Will has returned.