Sellen and I were walking toward the chapel atop the small hill, booted feets scrunching against the grassy road, wooden fences lining the way to our right, some of them intact, some were broken, by the look of it, either by age or deliberately broken by something, or someone.
I wasn't too focused on it, to be honest, just an idle curiosity as we walked toward the quite a walk away building ahead of us, we were silent as we walked. Not that it was awkward by any means, it was sort of like a companionable silence, one that you experienced with someone that has been close with you for years, though in all honesty, it shouldn't have been any sort of companionable at all. Because Sellen and I just got acquainted quite literally today.
Both of us were victims of circumstances not of our own doing but clearly, I was the one that came out on top all things considered, not that I could say for sure since I didn't know the full scope of what happened to Sellen before I "saved" her life.
"Can I ask you something?" I said abruptly, we still had quite a few minutes before we reached the chapel atop the hill it looked like.
"Yes, dearest of mine, you can ask anything of me," Sellen answered, a bit weirdly. But I put it out of my mind since I was curious about something else at the moment.
"I want to know what happened to you before I came along? You don't have to tell me the whole thing, just an abridged version will suffice," I said, then added, "if you want to indulge me, that is. Just an idle curiosity of mine."
Sellen straightened her posture a bit, "I was a criminal," she said simply, waiting, looking at me from the corner of her eyes as we continued walking. When I didn't answer, she continued,
"I did some..experiment that the Academy did not agree with, and I was punished because of it," she said somberly, but not in a sad way, just serious, like she talked with a weight I don't quite understand of this matter, "in the end, one side wanted to simply exile me, while some..wanted me to be outright killed for my, transgression," she snorted then shook her head.
She stared at me again, waiting for me to say something, maybe to judge her, she looked a bit vulnerable as she glanced my way, and I decided I didn't like that look.
That was why I wouldn't do any such things, I didn't care if she was a horrible person before, she was mine now and I wouldn't judge a person because of their past misdeed. And I was a selfish person anyway, if what she did could benefit us without any negative fallout to our interest, then I would give her my full support.
"And then?" I prompted, with a small smile.
She huffed, "I told you before, dearest, I was..is still immortal, but something else held my life then, I tied my fate to the unmoving stars. As long as General Radahn lives I can't be killed."
"And who's General Radahn?" I asked curiously.
"He was..is the most formidable of the demigods children of Marika. I'm not sure why he did it, but he conquered the stars with his power over gravity and then stopped them in their cycle."
"He did WHAT?" I almost screamed the last one, if that guy was supposed to be one of the bosses, I was literally screwed, dead, nonexistence, nu-uh, gone.
"Can you repeat that, honey? Surely I heard something else," I chuckled nervously, "my brain did not seem to be braining."
Sellen had the gall to giggle over my reaction, "don't worry dearest, the good general is only a shell of his former self, and it's not like you intend to do anything with him, right?"
I laughed dryly, then shrugged, "well I don't know, really."
Sellen widened her eyes, "No! Aaron..just no, even if he isn't in his prime, General Radahn is not someone we can contend with, not to mention the state he was in now," Sellen shook her head, "enough with the tangent, do you want me to continue your original line of questioning?"
I nodded my head a bit numbly, anything to get my thought away from the star conqueror, even saying that in my mind was ridiculous. Damn this world.
"Where was I? Right, I was immortal, and the Academy knew it too. So they compromised by holding me in a specialized prison, they restrained my magic and did something to my body to make it rot from the inside," she shuddered at the end.
I hugged her sideways, Sellen took the comfort and leaned her head on my shoulder comfortably.
"But you should not mistake what they did as cruelty, Aaron," she said, a bit haltingly, "I too was aware what I did prior to my holding, I experimented on people," there was a hard conviction in her voice.
We were silent as we walked the rest of the way toward the hill, finally arriving before the chapel, the door still closed.
A weird glowing-looking arrow stood vertically in the air quite a few meters in front of it. I ignored it for now in favor of the metal door of the building.
"Why are you silent? Have you changed your mind about me? You think I'm a terrible person too, don't you?" She said with a snort, breaking our silence, words coming fast from her mouth, "I do not regret what I did, I'm simply efficient to my craft, to the advancement of it, I would not let stupid morality stop me, I have my own principles, but I don't care about the ones being shoved to my face that would hinder my passion in pursue of the secret of the universe," she continued, her eyes staring hard at me as I gazed at the building before me, wondering if someone was inside or if I could open it from the outside.
Not that I'd need to open it to go inside, I had intangibility, hah!
Sellen looked down, her face carefully blank, "But I understand only a handful of people think like I do, I- urk-"
I stopped her with a knock on her head.
"What was that for?" She said while rubbing the top of her head.
I chuckled to her, then engulfed her whole body in mine in a big hug.
"You're rambling, love," I said as I released her.
She looked at me silently, unsure.
"I. Do. Not. Care." I said each word clearly.
"What?" Sellen answered with a furrowed brow.
"I don't care what you've done prior to meeting me, just make sure anything you do won't kill us and come back to bite us in the ass, kay?" I said while I mushed her hair with the palm of my hand.
She took it like a champ, eyes boring into mine.
Which made me laugh, she was so worried about my reaction, it was cute.
"Hmph," she harrumphed, "what a weird expression, but fine you have my words," then crossed her arms beneath her bust while she looked away.
"Thank you, dearest," she said after a few moments.
"No problem, now stop sulking," I answered cheekily as I walked toward the closed door.
I didn't hear her indignant response as I neared the door because I heard something peculiar.
I wasn't sure so I walked closer, then I heard it. Screams. Not just any scream, it was screams of panic, of fright, of terror.
I stopped before the door, beginning to question my decision to enter this building.
I gulped then turned my MS, just before I stepped forward-
"Are you sure this is a good idea, my love?" Sellen asked worriedly, she was standing behind me, which made me realize she probably also heard the screams.
"Just a peek," I said, uncertainty beginning to creep into my voice.
As soon as I said that, there was a particularly loud scream, which made both of us wince.
"Besides, I'm untouchable, you know?"
At that point, I wasn't sure if I was convincing her or myself. Before I could doubt myself some more, I stepped toward the metal door, 'just a peek' I promised myself mentally, for a moment my vision was blocked by the metal then I moved forward, still black.
I moved forward some more- then back from the blackness as fast as I could.
Because I realized I wasn't seeing black because of the door, it was black because there was literally no light inside, it was pitch black.
"Nope, nope, nope," I repeatedly said as I arrived outside, shivers wrecked my body for a moment.
Screams, blocked metal door, old chapel, blackness all around?
I wouldn't explore that shit even if you offered a million dollars. Screw that.
I was met with a laugh as I stood outside staring at the metal door.
"What? It was pitch black! And screams!" I said to Sellen after her laughter receded, my hands raised a bit miffed.
"I'm sorry, dearest," she not-apologized with a shake of her head.
I also shook my head, the tension leaving my body, then my eyes landed on the hovering golden arrow.
"Do you know what that is, love?" I asked curiously, my mind already forgetting the chapel behind me.
Sellen hummed then nodded, "that is a Site of Grace. No one is sure what it is. Only that it appeared all over the place with the advent of the Golden Order."
"Long ago travelers used to make camp around it, but now it seems to have some significance to the Tarnished, specifically," she said while making her favorite thinking pose.
I approached closer then stood almost atop it, only then I felt it.
A sort of stirring in my soul, this thing..for lack of a better word, called to me.
So of course, I tried to touch it, then gasped.
"Dearest?!" Sellen stopped beside me to force me back by the shoulder.
But I gestured her to calm down.
"This, this is a portal!" I said excitedly to Sellen, I was sure there was a big smile adorning my face at that moment.
"A portal, dearest?" Sellen asked skeptically.
"Yes! To our pocket dimension!" I answered, "you know? The one from my benefactor?"
Sellen widened her eyes, "are you sure? A site of grace can take us to your personal dimension?" Her face morphed to an unsure expression, while her arms took her adorable thinking form again, "but that doesn't make any sense? A site of grace is said to be linked directly to the Erdtree, that means.."
She continued babbling things I didn't understand while I touched the glowing arrow again.
I felt the connection once more, I was pretty sure this thing could take us to our home, to a place to rest, to a safe haven
"Sellen." I called to my lover. She didn't answer, still locked in her own world, monologuing to herself.
"My love," she still didn't answer.
"Hey! Grandma!" That got a reaction, her eyes twitching. But this time she chose not to give an answer.
I chuckled, "come on, you wanna see our home?" I gestured to the site of grace.
"Our, huh?" She murmured beneath her breath, a complicated expression on her face.
Then she nodded to me with the most beautiful smile I have ever seen on her.
"I would love to, dearest."
A/N: next chapter a few hours later, prolly lewd as well.