Ik some of you have been looking forward to this chap for a long while now. Enjoy.

Ranni's spirit pushed through the ward around the Academy. The magic barrier hardly even touched her, like trying to capture smoke with a net. Created by a congregation of the academy's finest it may have been, but Ranni was the lunar princess of Caria and a demigod besides

She slipped right on past it and continued onward, heading for where she knew she had left a workable doll.

As the lunar princess's consciousness traversed the way, Ranni's 'eyes' were scanning the academy, looking for any signs of battle. It took her no time at all to lock eyes on the crumbled remains of a tower that she knew for a fact had survived the shattering.

It was as she feared. The academy had likely fallen under attack. She had already detected that the number of sorcerers in the academy had been significantly reduced. Nothing short of a major offensive could be responsible for this.

But who could be responsible for this? One of the demigods? The stalemate hadn't been broken for a millennia now. Was Godrick seeking to make a comeback with her mother's great rune?

Ha! Not likely, that old dithering fool hardly had the stomach. Not only that, he lacked the magical acumen to even begin learning the lowest of the art of the stars, much less enough know-how to get an army through Raya Lucaria's defenses.

Who did that leave? It wasn't either of her brothers, that's for certain. Rykard, or what's left of him, is in gelmir, glutting itself on the bodies of fallen champions. Radahn wanders the scarlet wastes of his fallen caelid, gorging on the bodies of any his rot mad self might find.

Similarly, it couldn't be Malenia either…maybe her twin?

Miquella had been missing for ages now, though Ranni certainly had her suspicions. Had the last child of Marika finally returned?

It was doubtful.

That left precious little in terms of suspects, the veiled monarch, or perhaps the so called lord of blood was finally making a move. She had her suspicions about who that might really be.

All of this meant nothing, of course, if the whole act hadn't been perpetrated by a demigod at all. This could instead be the work of some other party. Ranni already has an inkling of who.

The next logical answer being the tarnished.

This was the more likely scenario.

All manner of their number had been trying to get the great runes of the demigods for years. They braved the land in search of great runes. Small a fragment her mothers shard may be, but it is still a fragment of the elden ring. Still coveted by all, especially those whom grace had once abandoned.

Had such a tarnished finally made their way to her mother's halls? But who among the tarnished could bring to bear such power that it destroyed a part of the academy itself.?

There was only one way to determine the truth. She had to see with her own eyes, and not just a sixth sense born from sensing the spirit.

She found the puppet body in a workshop in a long abandoned room. An older model, from Ranni's first foray into the art. Unsightly and bearing more in common with a marionette than her later, more elegant body, but it will suffice. She slips inside and brings it to life. The whole process eats at her, draining her spirit, shortening the time table on how long she has left before she must rest.

An acceptable trade. She needs to know the fate of her mother, and after she can slumber in blissful oblivion, for a little while anyways.

The limbs jerk to life, and the body staggers up and heads out of the room. Slipping down the tower she's in, she takes a path that she use to use, which wraps around the debate hall. As a girl she would take it to escape the hubbub of the Academy whenever it got overwhelming, and flee to heights no one would bother her.

Well, no one but her family anyway. Ryakard and Radahn had known her fondness for this place. They never came, it was a private place meant only for her, but her brothers had their ways. Radahn's cat would always follow her up, and leave once Blaidd inevitably came to join her. Rykard's own methods were much more creative, albeit less effective.

She quashes down the memory. It will not help her now.

She takes the next step on the path, and ends up looking in through one of the hall's windows, which is when her 'eyes' widen in shock.

The debate hall was packed full, something that had not occurred in centuries. Lines and lines of sorcerers take up the stands. Everyone in the academy seems to be in attendance, even those who would typically have no place in the hall, like the uninitiated nobles and serfs milling around the floor.

Even the Cuckoo knights, those damnable traitors, are in attendance.

Ranni does not care for any of that. What's most important is who is presiding over the hall.

Rennala of the Full moon is on the dais in the back of the academy. A throne had been placed there, which her mother now sits upon. There is a man in robes with long white hair sitting to the right of her, a little further back reading a book, but Ranni pays him no heed.

Relief floods Ranni, and were she still flesh and blood she might drop to her knees. As it stands she still gasps at the sight of her mother. She had been so worried she might never get another chance to see her mother ever again.

After a moment her mother stands and raises her scepter, calling forth the magic of the full moon and calling the attention of the entire hall.

Ranni's nonexistent breath catches in her throat.

Illuminated by the pale silver sphere, her mother shines as she had long ago, before her fathers betrayal. The full moon queen stands tall, looking at the inhabitants of the room imperiously, looking every bit the witch queen who pushed back the Golden Horde in two consecutive wars.

"Hear me, subjects of Caria." Her mother intones, magic and experience ensuring her voice commands the entire room.

"I am returned, to take charge of this academy and nation once more."

"I reassure you that the destruction of the tower this earlier week was merely an act of protection. The foul sorceries brought to bear by the rituals of the graven cult have been purged, and will never again affect this institution."

There is much muttering from the crowd at her mothers words. Ahh, so that is what was responsible for the destruction Ranni witnessed. It lifts her spirit to know that already her mother works to reestablish her grip on the academy. To just hear her voice again without the tinge of madness is a blessing Ranni never thought she would receive. Still, she can't help but wonder, what in the lands prompted this change? Rennala raises her hands, which brings about silence once more.

"For now, I shall accept an oath of allegiance from all of thee."

That silence becomes an utterly oppressive one as her mother just stares over the occupants of the room.

That silence continues for a long uncomfortable moment as no one moves. Ranni is incensed on her mothers behalf. How dare these men and women refuse to fall to their knees and pledge. Without her mother they would be nothing. What in the lands are they waiting for?

"Well? What are you waiting for, a grand invitation? Swear fealty to your queen." The man to her mothers side ordered, calling the rooms attention to him, voice dripping with contempt. As if all who were in attendance were foolish for not already doing so. Ranni finds herself taking a liking to this obnoxiously voiced man.

This caused aggravation amongst the assembly. Angry murmurs, and then some. More than a few hurl accusations about the destruction of the tower. So it was him then, and not her mother? Or was he merely assistant to her? Ranni desperately needs more information.

"Alright, I think I've heard enough." The man to her mothers side stood up, talking to her far too casually, His voice was too low for anyone to hear.

Ranni had only heard because of magics she had perfected for the purpose to spy craft and subterfuge. Tools that had been necessary in the capital long before she hatched her plot.

"Are thou sure? I thought thou said earlier that thee wanted to keep them around in case you needed more material for grafting?" Her mother asked back.

Had Ranni still been in a living body capable of breathing, it would have caught in her throat.

Grafting? Like that hideous bastard Godrick? What did he have to do with any of this? The last whispers she had heard of him had been that he fled stormveil and the position of lordship entirely. She had figured the craven had finally had all he could stomach, and fled with his tail between his legs.

There was no way he could be here. For one thing, that clearly wasn't even him up there. The man sitting with her mother was much to young for one, and more to the point, not a grafted monstrosity like that goofy bastard Godrick was.

Still, there was a puzzle to solve here, and Ranni had always been adept at solving them. She needed to listen in and ascertain more information for the situation at hand.

"Eh, we have to clear out your country anyway, right? Plenty of glinstone dragons for me to play around with. Besides, there's probably some sorcerers that are still skulking around academy." The man smiled at her mother again, even as the crowd got further agitated.

"And regardless", he continued further before her mother could reply, "We need me to learn magic fast as possible so you can focus on helping your kids right? You know this'll let me cut right to the finish line."

What in the lands did that mean? Her mother was planning on helping her? A warm feeling entered Ranni. For a moment, She had a vision that everything might be ok.

Then a crack in the vision formed.

"But I wanted to personally instruct thee in the ways of glinstone sorcery." Her mother pouted at the man. Pouted.

That dreadful feeling from earlier was back, and she did not like the implication here.

When was the last time she had seen her mother make an expression like that? Ranni knows exactly when.

When she had still been with her Father.

That dreadful feeling turns even uglier at the direction her thoughts go.

"Eh, you still can." The man waved off as he stood up and stepped towards the ledge. "I was mostly going to use it for roleplay anyway."

What did that mean?! The man then had the audacity to wink at her mother, before he jumped off the ledge and down to the angry mob.

As he came down, his body shifted in ways that defied logic. His mass expanded, features rapidly changed, and when he hit the ground it was on draconian claws. A multitude of limbs sprouted from the man like fleshy flowers, becoming large limbs packed with muscle.

The man's strange garb seemed to grow too, expanding to cover him and even forming new sleeves for the arms to pop out of on the fly. A sword spear appeared in his hands in a crackle of lightning, and he planted the tip in the ground as he stared out over the assembled crowd,

He was much larger than before, towering over the men and women in the debate hall but more than fair margin.

That sinking feeling got worse at the sight of the horrific body. Surely there was no way. There were clear indications that this was something, someone new. Now the mention of Godrick's repulsive art made sense, but thus clearly wasn't normal grafting. This was something far beyond. Just who was this man?

"Alright, so before we get started, let me just say I don't have a lot of respect for any of you." His voice carried loud and clear over the assembly.

Dead silence. Then realization. Followed by anger. Ranni cannot see the faces of the assembled sorcerers, but she doesn't need to. It's said in the way they tense and rear up at the man like monster.

That was a good descriptor for him.

"I mean, what even was the plan with The shattering? Hell, even before that you guys weren't every bright with your decision making skills. I mean, what even is this academy without the full moon queen?" He asks.

A part of her that still remembers the way the academy turned on her mother holds a vindictive pleasure in watching the assembled balk at the question.

"Like, I get maybe being disappointed in her response to Radagon leaving but what the fuck did you guys do!? Nothing! You tried to take a nation for yourselves, but seemed to fail to take into account a simple little fact: None of you are fucking special."

Even more reaction to that incendiary statement. We're it not for the sheer presence that the man held he would have already been attacked.

However, Ranni's is a million miles away from their line of thinking. A million and one memories flashing across her minds eye in response to his words. The name drop of her father leaves her reeling. Who is this man, and how dare he casually throw that fact out like that? Where did he get the right to speak about her mother that way?! She looks to her mother, expecting shock or rage at the statement.

Yet when she looks she finds the same placid, mildly amused expression. Even some manner of delight, if the look in her eyes is anything to go off of.

"Tell me, who are the most famous sorcerers from this land? Besides the beautiful woman behind me." He pitched one of his thumbs up at her mother. The doll's rough facial features pull back in a sneer. Once again Ranni expects a reaction, once again she is met with disappointment.

However, it seems Ranni is not the only one listening to this who's had enough.

One of the sorcerers voices raised above the rest, "what would you know of sorcery or sorcerers you mangled-" his voice abruptly cut off when a Carian piercer sheared through his throat.

One of the man's extraneous limbs manifested the large dismounting blade in the time it took to blink. The man released the spell with sigh, the blue sword disintegrating into motes of light that flickered and disappeared, before taking a step forward.

That… took more skill than what he made it seem. It wasn't a particular difficult spell, but it wasn't a basic one either. For the man to be that swift with his summoning, to strike that quickly? It took practice. Lots of practice. Her estimation of the threat this mystery man posed continued to rise.

"It was a rhetorical question jackass." The man spoke without a care as to the violence he was committing.

The whole room took a step back in response while the sorcerer who spoke up choked on his own blood.

Then her mother's…enforcer? Was that too hopeful?

Well, whatever the case, he took another step forward and used one of his draconic legs to kick the dying man, sending him flying up into the wall.

He hit it with a bone rattling smack, and there were appropriate gasps from the audiences as the body tumbled down and nearly hit some of the sorcerers. The likely
already dead sorcerer landed on the stonework with a wet slap, and the body twitched for a moment before falling still.

So he was a brute then. Nothing new in the lands between Ranni supposed.

What was more concerning was her mother's reaction to this.

She was smiling.

Not a very large one, sure. She wasn't maniacally delighting in their suffering while laughing, or anything crazy like that.

But she was enjoying it. Ranni could tell from the slight curl of her lips and the pleased look in her eye.

She supposes she can't blame her mother for taking some enjoyment in the pain of the ones who shunned her and locked her away all those years ago.

Yet the whole thing rubs her the wrong way for reasons she can't entirely understand. More accurately reasons she refuses to understand.

"Now like I was saying, the most famous sorcerers to come out of this country are lunar princess Ranni, Praetor Rykard, and General Radahn." He continues without a slip in his voice.

Where she not so suspicious of this man, Ranni might feel some iota of pride and amusement at being named.

She doesn't.

"Notice anything about those names?" He was very certain to be heavy with his sarcasm this time.

No one answered his rhetorical question.

The man smiled before continuing, "They all come straight from Rennala." He said pointing up at her mother. "You know, the woman who held the entire force of the golden order to a standstill!?twice!"

Again, silenced stretched throughout the throne room. Ranni's mother looked on in bemusement.

"Like again, what was the fucking plan here!? I don't get it! You need her!" He continued jabbing his finger in the direction of her mother as if to hammer home his point. A rather primitive orator if Ranni might say.

However his words were starting to have an effect on the room. Some were nodding in agreement, others were not. The fear, the uncertainty. It was starting to breed discontentment among the sorcerers.

Evidently the man had noticed the same, as it seemed to be his intention. A subtle realization crossed his countenance. Then a devious smile grew, until it was nearly splitting his face. If Ranni still had a spine she would have shivered.

It was not a nice look.

"In fact, we're going to have a debate about just that! Yeah! This is a debate hall after all!" His enthusiastic words were tinged with a malicious glee, and he spoke the second half of that statement to himself.

"Everybody spilt! Right down the middle, from two sides!" He called out.

There was silence. Stone heads looked left and right. The sorcerers were confused by his words, but the undercurrent of fear still held the room in its thrall.

Then he held up his and moved them apart, showing his meaning. "Split apart. Form two sides! Everybody who supports Rennala move to that side, everybody against on the other!" He said while pointing to the opposite sides of the room.

It was still silent. The sorcerers continued looking between eachother. Surely it wasn't that simple.

"Come on! You know what you opinion is! Stop being little bitches and stand on it!" He goaded them, "Pick a side for or against and be prepared to debate your fellows as to why you did!"

His words worked, and slowly but surely a divide was made in the room as the scholars took sides.

To her ire, there were more on the side against her mother than for. The ones that were in favor of her were looking to themselves and the man, nervous.

"Wow, that was easier than I thought it'd be." He said to himself. "A bit larger of a a skew than I would have liked, but whatever." He shrugged. Shrugged!

What did he mean by that? Was he even taking this serious!?

"Thank you so much for making this easy!" He said as he turned to the side of the room that was poised to debate against her mother. "I appreciate your willingness to cooperate!"

Then he raised his many hands. More started to manifest, popping out from under his robes and stretching out as if grasping at the sorcerers. A mad, sadistic smile etched its way onto his face. "Unfortunately, Your services are no longer required!"

Then the whole area was choked in an aura that caused Ranni to freeze dead in her tracks.

A smokey Red and black power enveloped the man, and then shot forward, launched from his hands. The power shot forth in a wave, spreading out and enveloping the assembled crowd before they had a chance to cast sorceries.

Then the screaming started.

They writhed.

They clawed.

They went for their staves, their concealed glintstones, and the many backup plans cultivated through years of research and training in the politics and subterfuge of the academy.

It didn't matter. They hardly had the time to react to their own pain before they started dropping.

One by one they fell, their very souls being dragged out. It was like watching the forms of spirit ashes she had learned to summon from the witch be dragged out of an human body. It was a horrific process.

The spirits each gave hellish death throes as they were brought back to the man, who clenched them in greedy hands. They disappeared from existence seconds later, seemingly slipping right into those same hands.

Ranni knew that power. Knew it in her soul. There was no mistaking that red and black energy, tinged with flecks of gold, nor the feeling of utter finality that came with it. A cold hunger that seemed to eat the edges of one's sanity if they weren't careful. This was the power of Destined Death.

But how? Ranni's mind raced. How had someone possibly gotten their hands in Destined Death. No one knew where rune of death was, not even Ranni, and she was the one who had helped conspire to steal a fragment in the first place!

Maliketh had dropped off the face of the earth, and though she knew through Blaidd some inkling as to where he might go, no one had seen the black beast since the shattering.

Had this man found and slain him for the rune of death? No. It wasn't possible. The rune of death wasn't here right now, Ranni would be able to feel it. This power may have felt like Destined Death, may even be identical in nature, but this was not Malikeths Rune.

This was a sorcery that was controlled by man.

The screams of the damned had finally stopped, the last of them dropping to the floor.

The onlookers who had chosen the right side were shock still. Fearing to move. Ranni could not fault them as cowards, for she was still frozen much the same. Then again, she had good reason to be.

She was much more intimately aware of what it was like to be killed by this power. Ranni may have only taken her life in body alone, but the rune left its mark. It is a final kind of pain she never wants to experience again.

And yet this man here, who clearly courts her mother, he wields it like she wields the moon.

Who is this man?

"Alright, the rest of you, clean this mess up and get out of here." He told the ones still living, who had chosen their loyalties correctly. Ranni is sure that they only chose this because they felt it would keep them alive. Evidently they were right, yet that doesn't mean they're loyal to her mother. However Ranni was also sure none of them would be trying anything anytime soon.

There was no response to the man's question.

"Oi! Do I need to do the same to you!?" He said, one of his many hands clenched and burned with red.

That certainly got a response.

"R-right away my lord!" A scholar spoke up with no small amount of fear and practically tripped over himself to get moving. The others followed suit.

"Good. When your done with this go about your duties. You take orders from Lady Rennala, and Lady Rennala alone."

A chorus of voices answered, "yes my lord!" Some of those voices were certainly louder and more terrified than others, but the man didn't seem to care.

He turned on his, well not heel because his feet were currently giant draconic claws, but he turned and made his way back to her mother. Climbing back up upon the dais, he smiled at her mother, whose expression was… amused but tense.

Ranni wondered what her mother was thinking right now. Was she just as horrified?

It was the man who broke the silence as she approached."You know, when you said you wanted to test my skills as a leader when we rounded up all the scholars, I thought it would be much harder." He remarked.

Her mother's expression immediately went to less amused. "Thou killed almost every single one of our subjects, Godrick."

"I know! I'm surprised myself. I thought I was gonna get 'em all right there, but what do you know?! There's still some people in this academy with two brain cells to scrape together." The man missed the point entirely.

Wait a damn minute... Godrick!?

"Godrick, thee..thee!" Her mother got worked up, before sighing. Then she chuckled. "I don't even know what I was expecting. Thee told me that's what thee wouldst do if made to stand before the scholars of the academy." She said, sounding just the littlest bit resigned.

Godrick snorted, "You know you've wanted me to do that since the first stupid insult. Besides, Scholars? Pfft, that implies some manner of critical thinking going on behind those stone heads. Like I said before Ren, them abandoning you to your fate was possibly the dumbest fucking decision ever… of all time."

That casual familiarity... Ranni's wooden hands feel like they're about to splinter.

Her mothers expression twisted, and she fought down a smile. Ranni's chest constricted again at the sight.

"So thee have said…repeatedly." Her mother teased, with humor evident on her face. "Come, let us head to the library for your next lesson." She started to walk away.

"It just doesn't make any sense! Why the fuck would they do that when a huge fucking war is about to start. You were literally the most powerful one here, which dumbass was like, hey you what would be a good idea? Let's get rid of our leader and strongest defense again the golden order right before.. hey wait a minute, you just used your in a sentence instead of thee or thou!" The man called out as they disappeared around a corner.

Her mother laughed in response, loud and high and free.

The voices trailed off as they got further away, and Ranni dropped her surveillance spells, but didn't move.

She sat frozen in her place, her heart like ice.

She was still numb. Her mind whirring with possibilities and trying to make sense of it all.

Godrick. Godrick. Godrick the fucking grafted. How hadn't she seen that!? The signs were obvious! The whispers of him fleeing stormveil should have worried her much more. She never cared to pay attention to the runt of the litter. He was a mere annoyance at best!

And now he was probably sleeping with her mother. Her heart clenched with black rage at the thought.

She was angry at herself too. She should have recognized who that was sooner!

The many hands, the easy and casual cruelty. She should have recognized who that was immediately!

Oh, she should have helped her brother destroy this upjumped little shitstain playing as a lord well over several millennia ago!

And yet, her mother…

Her mother was coherent again.

Her mother was happy again.

And it all traced back to Godrick. the. grafted. There was a taste of bile in the back of her throat at the thought, and she didn't even have a stomach anymore.

Not to mention, that bastard Godrick had somehow managed to get his grafted hands on the power of Destined Death.

How had that goofy bastard managed to do any of this? It had to be some form of horrible nightmare, some sick joke brought about by a horrible potion of Seluvis. Any second Ranni would wake up and find herself back in her tower behind the family manor.

Oh, and that Carian piercer he used. Had her mother taught him that? Her nonexistent stomach turns. The suggestive tones they took with eachother…

Oh stars, what else was she 'teaching' him?

Ranni's spirit's eye's blazed as her mind frantically turned and twisted with this new and horrible information. She needed to plan. She needed to get in contact with Blaidd and Iji, and let them know what happened here. She needed to find a way to talk to her mother without that bastard around. She needed to, she needed to…

She turned in place and began to stride away on shaky steps. She didn't care. She wasn't even paying attention to that. She needed more information. She needed to do something that wasn't stew in her own thoughts. So, onward she marched towards where the sorcerers who hadn't attended this gathering. There was bound to be at least one. Several if there was anyone left in this academy with a modicum of intelligence.

That thought reminded her of something Godrick said, and she wanted to scream. She shook her head and continued forward.

Step after step, trying to keep her mind focused on something that wasn't those thoughts.

She didn't succeed.

-

On the other side of the castle I shut my book of death, closing the ancient yet new pages with a snap.

"What's got thee in such good spirits ?" Rennala asked as she walked up next to me, wearing nothing but the outermost layer her robe. I looked over at her and raked my eyes across the feast of eye candy she was providing,

We were on her academy apartments balcony, enjoying the crisp air after working up a sweat

I smiled a smug ass smile as three hands snaked out. She let out a yelp when those hands groped, followed by giggling as they scooped her up and lifted her into my embrace, "Oh, just the fact that I have the most beautiful women in the world in my arms is all."

I tossed the book of the dead over my shoulder and into my pocket space, as I leaned down to kiss her.

"Hmm, flatterer." She hummed while gazing up at me with a lust filled expression, before pushing herself up and pressing her own lips into mine.

Perhaps I should have been more concerned with the fact that Ranni was on academy grounds.

I couldn't find it in myself to care. I was to busy reveling in smug feeling of supremacy.

The book showed me the location of the worlds most recently deceased. The lands between was nothing but immortals while the elden ring still exists, and Ranni was the only one besides Goldwyn to truly 'die'.

I was gonna make sure to put on a show for little miss spy puppet.

I pushed my tongue into Rennala's mouth and made her moan into mine.

Revenge was sweet, and tasted like rowa fruit.

Welp. There it is, the dreaded anticipated Ranni reaction. I hope it's everything u wanted. This actually ended up being a little longe than I originally planned. Didn't want the chapter to solely be 'haha Ranni ur mum' so I tried to have some actual plot stuff happening kinda sorta in the background. The academy is firmly under our heroes control, and the ones left alive have submitted or been taken as prisoner for execution via grafting.

See you fuckers tmmr.