A/N: We've got a double update today~! This and "Misadventures in Mordor"! Hope you enjoy!

Also recently beat Callisto Protocol. Wasn't bad, wasn't great, still enjoyed it.

Do read this note, would you kindly? Big changes are coming to this site.

Aaaaand we're back! Slifer wrote the bulk of this one, I just made some tweaks. He tells things from a rather unique perspective~! Case in point, his idea for this chapter really went places!

Sadly, Scarlet Vow, Forget Me Not, and One With Spirits may well be moved back in the update rota soon. They're not all that popular compared to the rest. Which is a shame, because we thought folks enjoyed Roderika in "Spirits"...

Speaking of less-than-popular things...

I'll say it plain, if this email opt-in business with the Fanfiction site doesn't get resolved soon, I'm probably going to retire.

The app helps for some, for others it doesn't.

It HURTS to say that; but with this new system, reviews and readers have dropped to an all time low, authors are leaving the site in droves, and it feels like the end of an era.

If you're not already aware of it, ever since the 16th of November, you now have to turn ON your email alerts in account settings-MAKE SURE YOU CLICK SAVE SETTINGS!-else you won't be notified when anyone updates. No alerts, no email, no nothing. Apparently that's a thing we all have to do every ninety days or so, now. Alas, not many are aware of it...which is a problem. As things stand this new "fix" as it were, has cut everyone's viewership/reviewers in half because most folks don't know about it. Authors are leaving/quitting because of this.

Sometimes opting in works. Sometimes it doesn't. Really depends. Hopefully the devs can fix tweak/update this system before everyone leaves. No questions this time.

So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this story, and all others.

As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. Not a one.

They're tributes to legends far greater than I.

"Cease thine smiling!"

~?

Thy Hope

In the days that had followed Ranni's awakening to her new body, a slew of seemingly innocuous occurrences were witnessed within the halls of Raya Lucaria, their nature ranging from innocuously banal to outright bizarre. Old Moongrum had more than once felt the desire to vacate his post in front of the library to observe just what it was that put this feeling of childlike amusement in the air. The distant rustling of cloth and patter of bare feet on the hard floor was more often than not accompanied by sharp intakes of breath and snorts of laughter from an unseen but familiar-sounding blonde.

Stretching once in his aged but perfectly maintained armor, the Carian Knight again heard a series of doors distantly opening and shutting. One couldn't help but wonder just what Princess Ranni and her outlander of a consort were up to.

He gained his answer a moment later.

Wump.

"Blast it to hell!" Ranni's voice echoed through the halls, sucking air in through her teeth.

"Woah, you okay there?" Naruto replied soon after, voice sharp with concern but a note of relaxation that spoke of having the situation in hand. "Did you stub your toe again?"

Ranni's growl boomed off the halls in response, so much more vivid than the echoy voice of the doll that she had inhabited until quite recently.

"Be silent, mine consort; to speak of such wayward clumsiness is poor-natured slander amidst those who are courting!" a beat passed between them, Naruto's steadily growing grin filling Ranni's visage, leaning in large to her twinkling blue eyes. His own eyes dipped to the floor, her right foot poking from beneath the hem of her white dress, with its big toe throbbing redly. "It's just I…."

"Stubbed your toe again," Naruto drawled, dragging out the word in amusement as she slipped his hands behind his head.

"Have you no more brain than stone? The sensations of this body after so long are… alien to me. New yet remembered, abject in their idiosyncrasies compared to decades of-YOU CEASE THAT INFERNAL GRINNING!" she called, thumping a pair of clasped hands into the blonde's shoulder as he chuckled.

As it turned out, being away from her flesh for so long meant that a seamless reintegration to walking through the waking world; for while fine motor control was something to which she was attuned as a witch, unforeseen nuance had presented an interesting learning curve. It was not to say that Naruto had not done a superb job in crafting her new body, though predominantly because she had guided his efforts, she internally preened. Everything was there as she had mentally directed it, her four arms, slim waist and modest bust was rendered with alabaster skin as white as the moon she was the Princess of.

Every follicle of hair and capillary of her cardiovascular system was as it should be, adjusted to her two additional limbs seamlessly so as to not run into some unforeseen circumstances like her heart not being able to provide blood for two extra limbs.

The issue, as it turned out, was acclimatizing to sensation again.

Sensation in her puppet had been a cornucopia of vagaries and loosely defined ennui at best and at worst, something that couldn't be put into the common tongue without giving the receiver an aneurysm.

Naruto must've seen her pensive expression; for he waved her on.

"In my prior vessel," she grimaced as she stubbed her toe again, "Sensation was subjective, when not paying attention, it simply felt to my soul as a collapsing sphere. I could tell pressure, but the precise nature of haptic, olfactory and visual was quite lost on me."

He still regarded her silently, letting the Princess explain her perspective on the matter with understanding eyes, having long come to his own conclusion on the problem.

'She's been so starved for sensation for decades that adjusting to having it back is fun to the point of being distracting.' he thought, remembering the plethora of things they'd done together to wait out the days while Radahn slept through his recovery. She had walked every single type of flooring that Raya Lucaria had to offer, from cool flagstones to warm, fuzzy carpets and even the muddy, waterlogged grounds. Much as she had tried to hide her childlike wonder at relearning haptic feedback behind her ever-present ladylike demeanor, her new face was far more expressive.

Seeing her standing there under the cool light of the moon, smiling innocently at the feeling of wet grass under bare feet, her white dress fluttering in an errant night breeze, Naruto felt butterflies thunder from his stomach to his chest. She looked the same, but the small changes made Ranni so much more of a beautiful creature to observe. The light rise and fall of her chest, taking actual breaths, the small jump of the vein in her neck with each pulse and the more authentic feeling of life radiating from her body felt nice against his sage senses.

Before, she had simply existed, a singularity in space and time, a frozen moment rendered porcelain. Now? Ranni the Witch lived…

And he could not help but fall in love all over again.

Shaking his head to rid it of the pink-tinted thoughts that his furry tenant would doubtless rib him for, Naruto decided to make a suggestion to Ranni, who even now was looking to break into stride once again. "If it keeps happening, maybe ask Iiji to make you some new shoes. Or if you can't wait that long, maybe we could do something to get you a better hang of your body before you put it through its paces."

Ranni hummed in thought, striking up a thinking pose with one hand on her chin, the other bracing its elbow, and the other two crossed under her bust. Snowy brows knitting together, her mind alighted on an idea before a full-body blush rose up from the tips of her toes to her hairline. "We…we can't do that just yet! To ask is most salacious indeed!"

A blond brow rose in mild consternation. "I meant like going for a run or something, what are you even-"

Her blush tripled when Naruto didn't catch her meaning.

"Not a jot more from your vulpine maw," Ranni pushed a finger against Naruto's mouth to shush him, beating the internal voice squealing at his lips' softness against her finger into submission. Schooling her features, the only daughter of Carria came upon another idea. "Well…there is this one thing, but it has been many decades…then again, so has everything for me."

Tilting his head, Naruto wordlessly gave his assent to whatever the young woman chose and fell into step behind her as she led them through the labyrinthine halls of the Academy to her new destination.

As they walked, many scholars and sorcerers adorned in variations of the Academy's uniform and helmet gave the pair a respectful birth, inclining heads and offering bows or curtsies to their Princess and her right hand. Yet another odd change in the past days, after returning to the Academy with Radahn's unconscious body in tow, a marked change had overtaken the Academy.

From the expansive lakes surrounding Liurnia, many long-thought-lost stewards and knights that had once served the royal family prior to the Shattering had emerged from the mists and renewed their vows of fealty. So too, had the scholars, who had until recently shown Ranala and her brood nothing but scorn, entered a respectful, if intimidated, subservience to them. Each set about refurbishing the Academy to its proper status as a magical fortress, until quite suddenly, it was just that; a bastion against the madness of the world.

'Doesn't matter to me, just so long as they don't turn their swords our way, not a jot.'

"Mimicking Ranni now, are we?"

'Bah! Hush up!'

The supreme confidence with which these words were thought in soon proved a memory of the past when twenty minutes later, Naruto stood in front of Ranni in an abandoned but otherwise cleaned lecture hall, its lecterns and desks shunted to the edge of the room.

...You want to do what?"

Ranni smirked unabashedly. Despite being barefoot, she felt vindicated that the boot was on the other foot, metaphorically speaking. "Thou and I are going to waltz," she said, making no effort to hide how amused the thought made her. "Is that a problem?"

His eyebrows shot to his hairline, his face unbelieving, "Waltz? I can barely jump up and down in time to the music when drunk, there's no way I can do some fancy-schmancy high society dance."

"You can, you will, and in fact you already promised to," Ranni replied with a calm cadence. She snapped her fingers with a glitter of manna and all at once, a dozen gramophones placed along the walls sprang to life; their crenulated horns producing a warm, lilting tune that even in its opening bars was heavy on brass. "More to the point, thou hast a truly wondrous reason to attend."

Ranni approached the taller blonde and squared her posture, her upper arms grasping Naruto's form in a traditional hold while the lower pair guided Naruto's to their appropriate places. "Oh, and why's that," he asked, a dusting of pink at his cheeks.

Ranni looked up at him, the music rising in resonance as her magics also worked to rid the horns of any rust, her own cheeks flushed. "Firstly, for I am thy partner."

"And the second?" Naruto asked, the pair slowly beginning to sway against one another.

"Because there comes a time, dear consort of mine, when everyone, be he man or boy, must learn to dance."

As the music built, so too did their movements, gyrating out in ever-growing circles in time to the three-bar centric waltz until, with an unsaid agreement, they stepped out. It was not without its faults, for even at the best of times, six arms in the mix made for a hectic medley of limbs; believe it or not, Ranni was the problem child. There was an intoxicating nature to his touch, the feeling of Naruto's corded muscles under raiment that she had designed, in her embrace and dancing in step made her mind wander. He was hers, and though their words and affection was still chaste in action, there was a karma that bound them as one cohesive unit.

By hook or by crook, she was his, and he was hers, and these new feelings, these new experiences underscored things she had always secretly known. How foolish was she to deride herself so long ago for thinking their meeting was something out of a juvenile fairy tale yet now all she wanted to do was reach out and-

"Oof!" Naruto grunted, eyes bugging but paling in comparison to Ranni's own. In her fervor, she had...oh. Oh dear, 'did I squeeze his buttocks!?'

Heat! Searing fire scolding alabaster flesh, her brain unable to process the information her soul sent, throwing her body into uncharacteristic shambles. One hand squeezed his while the other pulled his waist closer and-

Squeeze~!

Not again!

But contrary to her internal screaming, Naruto did something that she could not have expected, he found his rhythm. With a soft turn of his lips, the brash blond stepped in to lead the dance in accordance with the music, leading them in ever-widening circles of 1, 2, 3 - 1, 2, 3 -1, 2, 3. Ranni's mania cooled even as her face remained as red as her long lost empyrean hair, her spasms came under control and she too danced, holding Naruto close as the music rose to its zenith then slowly trailed off.

Soon enough they were left standing alone in the heart of the hall, their blue eyes locked in a tender moment with neither sure what to say until Ranni drew his face towards hers, feeling his breath tickle her face, their lips, so close-

An awful crash shook the entire Academy, sending the duo toppling atop each other in a tangle of arms.

Someone squawked in the distance. "He's awake!"

It took Naruto a few seconds to regain his composure but deep down he knew the moment was lost.

"Radahn?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Ranni knew too, letting out a huff. "But is he sane?"

There was only one way to find out.

(.0.0.0.)

Radahn's awakening had proven... bombastic, to say the least.

Transporting him from Caelid to Raya Lucaria had taken more time than any would have liked, but the prospect of housing the titanic Demigod would have given any logistics chief a heart attack. In the end, it was decided to empty out an entire lecture hall on the ground floor - for fear the man's sleeping bulk would destroy the stairs- where Ranala and Rykard had overseen removing and disposing of his lion-themed armour. Though Naruto's power had expunged the Rot, the armour was barely holding together, the man's will and subconscious gravity magic holding the pitted plates together.

Not wanting to leave her firstborn son on the hard stone floor, though Naruto was sure he could sleep under a mountain with nary a complaint, Ranala had drafted the blonde and Blaidd to make a fitting bed. A difficult task, given that the good general was some 27 feet tall. Such odds had never put the blonde Uzumaki down, so it was with his wulfen friend that they bolted together a solution. Raiding the academy dormitories, they stole some 24 single mattresses and arranged them 6x4 on the lecture hall floor before surrounding the outside of the bed with straw on the off chance the slumbering giant fell out of bed. Rennala had levitated her son onto the bed and left him to sleep off Naruto's miraculous rejuvenation.

He had remained like that for days, until, with the abruptness of a cannon firing, he awoke, "Leonard!" Unconsciously using gravity magic to catapult himself skywards. Sadly for Radahn, Rennala and later Ranni had foreseen such a possibility and warded the ceiling to repel physical damage, rebounding brave Radahn into his bed with an earthshaking bang.

Radahn placed large palms against his face and slowly took the time needed to clear his thoughts, oblivious to the chorus of scared screams outside the room and running feet. Everything ached, but he reflected that it was better than the Rot. All at once, a torrent of memories flooded into his waking mind, driving him to close his golden eyes and plug his eyes to stem the tide.

Looking up at a great King, an Elden Lord with a Lion chuffing at his shoulder, how he wanted to be like him when he was big and strong.

His parents smiled at him, pride in their eyes as he levitated his instructor in gravity magic over his head.

Little Ranni and Rykard grew into power and status as he was called to lead armies of his own.

Leonard, scrawny, dependable Leonard who had born his bulk even as he put his enemies to the sword-

Marika's banishment of Godfrey, father, taking his place, the tears of his mother.

The Night

The Shattering

Malenia!

"Brother?" said a voice he could never forget, so small and feminine yet full of power. Opening his eyes, Radahn took stock of his surroundings and found himself looking into the single blue gaze of his sister. He knew it to be her, though she was a far cry from the little redhead he had known, whose corpse he had seen burned atop that blasted rooftop.

'I like her better this way,' he mused, his once granite-coloured face now a much healthier tan. She was not alone, the blonde from before, who shined like the sun, stood at her elbow, a guardian sentinel with a smile on his face and warmth in his eyes. He straightened up, honour compelling him to give respect to the one who had saved him from that horrific fate.

"You're looking better, big guy," Naruto peered up at the giant of a demigod, assessing the progress of his still-healing body. "I didn't rough you up too bad, though I got to say you got a mean right hook; pretty sure you busted my liver with that last dive," he said in jest, earning him an elbow to the stomach from Ranni.

"Must you bring down the mood, Naruto?" Ranni scolded her consort, drawing a wan smile from the blonde who kept his gaze fixed on Radahn's face.

"I can't not be me; there's a minimum amount of normality I can handle before I have to have a spot of fun. Plus, he did bust my liver… among several other organs."

The pair broke down into a bickering routine that the eldest sibling found a joy to watch after so long in the red wastes, it was with childlike elation that he recognised this lecture hall, the same one he had first practised Gravity Magic in. Raya Lucaria, then, oh, the memories.

The door swung open again, and two more figures entered, one man and one woman, his kin both.

"Brother, you wake!" Rykard groused, his bearded face glowing with reserved excitement, a far cry from his usual austere repose. "How are your injuries? Did the blonde blaggard leave anything out of pla-" a feminine fist backhanded Rykard out of the way before a blue and red shape blurred towards Radahn, arms wide.

"My boy", Rannala shouted, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, Radahn opened his eyes and accepted his mother into his embrace with a pained grunt but did not resist, recognising his mother and the warmth that he had long since thought forgotten.

Pulling himself to stand, Rykard fell into step on the other side of Ranni to look at the reunion, Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw little Rya poking her head in through the door, her starstruck face at seeing another uncle brightening the room.

Ranni slowly shifted her hand, letting it find Naruto's and interlocking her fingers, seeking the comfort that he was all too willing to provide. Squeezing her hand twice, Naruto met the gaze of every family member, all with various reactions. Maternal love veiled by waning madness, ruffled annoyance being browbeaten by surprise, innocent desire, thankful assent and love.

Words did not need to be said, for the feeling alone conveyed its meaning.

Thank you for bringing us back together.

After what seemed like an eternity of Rannala crying her happiness into Radahn's exceptionally broad chest, the mightiest Demigod finally spoke, his voice rich yet hoarse. "Firstly, I must ask, is Leonard alright?"

His questions sent all save Naruto sputtering, he could understand the want to know your steadfast partner was okay. "The brave little horse? He's fine, he followed us all the way from Caelid. He's sleeping it off in the stables." he explained, whiskered cheeks dimpled.

"I'm glad, for all my madness, for how far I fell, he never left me… that brave…stupid little horse of mine…." Finally, the impenetrable visage cracked, a single tear rolling from his rock-hewn face, "I love him so much, but there is much to hear, I assume, of how the world has changed in my fugue."

It was Ranni who answered Radahn for what would be a very long explanation.

(.0.0.0.)

Three. Long. Hours.

Naruto did his best to ignore the crick forming in his neck. In total, it had taken roughly three hours for the group to explain to their wayward son just what had happened since his climactic battle with Melania had come to an explosive end. The blonde felt an abstract level of kinship for the big man, who, despite his size and power, was humble, eloquent and patient, only asking questions or providing his insight when the other members of the family had incomplete knowledge. He was content to sit comfortably on his giant bed with his mother sitting in his lap like an oversized child, Rya sitting in hers in turn.

'They look like those nesting doll things,' he observed glibly.

"You're all tiny to me; twenty feet of height difference really isn't much when you're over four hundred feet tall." Kurama supplied, keeping Naruto's mind busy while the family talked shop; this was, after all, a family matter. "This family tree sounds more like a bramble bush than a real tree."

'Don't I know it, to think that all six members of Ranni's biological family all have names that start with an R'

"If the little witch has her way, you'll probably have to come up with a name beginning with R in the distant future." Kurama rumbled, cackling off into Naruto's subconscious as the blonde sent a tirade of expletives his way.

"Something on your mind, Naruto?" He was drawn back to reality by Ranni's words and realised that all five of the family members were looking at him inquisitively.

Pinching the bridge of his nose in indignation, Naruto shook his head. "Just an old fox being a pain in my rear; I swear he always gets extra catty after I've needed major healing."

Radahn let out a hearty laugh, nearly shaking the room, "Ah, I know the feeling all too well, noble Naruto. The first time I dropped from the sky, I broke a leg, and while it did not phase me all that much, Mother would not let me ride for a week, taking every moment to snipe a joke at my expense."

The pair shared a knowing laugh until Rykard cleared his throat.

The Prator stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Much as I relish the prospect of the vulpine fool of a consort being made jest of for his idiocy, quite remarkable idiocy that would get anyone not so stubbornly strong killed, I might add, we face encroaching issues on more front than one. Which leaves us to wonder, where do we go from here?"

Radahn was quick to respond, using a colossal finger to tickle Rya's hair which his niece appreciated. "For now, I shall remain here until I am completely recovered and furnished with new armour. I shall send word to Jerren to martial what little forces that still count themselves amongst my armies to stand with us should we need it. Other than that, I am content to make up for lost time." His beefy arm hugged his mother to him, planting a familial kiss upon the crown of her head.

"Hmm," Naruto turned his head to look over and saw that there was something amiss with Ranni. While usually, she would have been able to hide her emotions behind the emotionless repose of a doll, her living face held far more visual tics about the turmoil that bubbled under the surface as she looked at Radahn. She slowly rose from her seat and made to quietly exit the room before Naruto caught her wrist. "What is thy meaning for stalling our exit?"

"Something's eating you," he said softly with a thoughtful frown. He looked between his Ranni and the rest of her family. "You've been mostly silent for the last ten minutes."

Ranni made a discontent noise at the back of her throat. "I said all that needed to be said, best to leave Radahn to his recovery; we hath other errands to be getting on with."

"Ones more important than talking to a brother you thought lost? Because I can tell you from experience that not speaking when you have the chance that's gonna haunt you later."

"What more could haunt'th me for mine deeds?" Ranni bit out with veiled vitriol, none of it directed at her consort, whose hand remained ironclad around her wrist. She knew one answer, a prospect that filled her with more dread with each passing day, yet she was not brave enough to explain it to him.

Naruto's face did not change, not a jot, he maintained a neutral sun in the raging storm of her heart. "I know there are some things that you still don't think you can tell me," he whispered, "and I'll admit that that hurts… but I think I know you well enough to say this is for something you did, not what you are going to do."

Naruto leant in close, bruising a strand of blue-white hair behind Ranni's ear and whispered into it. "I… don't like seeing you sad, ya'know. So if you're gonna sit there and let yourself fall to misery when all you gotta do is talk, it falls to me to give you a push in the right direction. So…do it for me?"

Inhaling sharply, Ranni's one unsealed eye glinted in the shadows cast by her hat, then nodded once and pulled at her wrist, Naruto did not protest as she approached the titanic form of Radahn.

"Brother, there is something I must ask of thee, something that for all these years I have been unable to answer." Ranni slowly looked up into her brother's face, her words as clear as she could make them and four hands stapled in front of her. "Why did you hold back the stars?"

Whatever mirth had been eked out of Radahn's face evaporated on contact with Ranni's question. He wordlessly shifted his weight in a gesture that his mother instantly understood, picking up Rya and carrying her off to the side to give the brother and sister space to speak.

Rykard opened his mouth to interrupt, but Naruto fixed him with a sideways stare that stayed on his tongue.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Ranni, If my actions did you or your followers harm, then I am sorry." Radahn ground out, his eyes closing.

"Sorry? Thou art sorry? Sorry? Sorry!? SORRY!?" Ranni's hands balled into fists, the ground under her feet began to freeze and expand outwards to cover the floor, the temperature of the room dropping to the point where her breath was visible in clouds of steam. "WHAT COULDS'T THOU BE SORRY FOR!?" she jabbed a single accusatory finger at Radahn, oblivious of the boiling hot tears now pouring down her cheeks.

Radahn took the fury head-on and did not flinch, even as frost formed on his knuckles, eyes remaining closed and face solemn.

"Thou art the strongest of us, perhaps the strongest since father or the absentee eternal, yet when thou combatest our severed sibling you shackled your power by holding back the stars, you could hath won yet you maintained thy scourge of the stars! You subjected yourself to such abject misery to do something that need not be done, if anyone need to apologise…then it is I!"

She grabbed at her chest, her legs feeling weak under her. In a moment, Naruto was at her side, holding her in place to help her stand, his face worried but willing to let her continue. "I started this. I set in motion the Night, mine own machinations killed Godwyn, shattered mother's reason, shattered the very fate of the lands between…yet still…YET STILL!"

Naruto placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, her final words coming out as a frigid whisper, "yet still thou would rather hold the stars and rot than simply wash thy hands of me… Why?"

Radahn stayed silent, biding his time until he was sure that Ranni was finished. No. That wasn't it, Naruto realised, he was making sure that his sister was okay.

"No more."

Radahn's words brokered no response. "I failed to bring father back to mother's side, failed to keep you from the finger's machinations, failed to stop you from the night nor the shattering that followed. When I looked into the night sky, to the stars that would govern the fate of Caria's descendants, I declared, no more."

Gold eyes opened, a sad intensity to them as their owner continued to speak. "No more fated doom. No more pre-written ends. No more outer gods. No more subverted tarnished. No more greater will. NO MORE!" Radan boomed, the many mattresses begging to shake and float behind him; no, the very land itself quaked at his intensity.

"EVEN IF I HAD TO ROT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS, TO THE HEAVENS ABOVE OR HELL BELOW, THOSE STARS WOULD NO MORE DICTATE THE FATE OF MY FAMILY! UNTIL NAUGHT BUT SUN AND MOON BRIGHTENED THEIR LIVES!"

Silence.

It reigned between brother and sister with a tension that could be cut by the moonlight greatsword itself, decades, if not centuries, of tension coming to a climactic crescendo in a single exchange of words.

"...why must the men I doth love be so ardently stubborn?"

A push, that was all it took, the most gentle of nudges from Naruto sent Ranni running forwards, her hat falling to the side as she threw herself into her brother's arms, her slight form tiny against his bulk. She buried himself into his chest and with no shame for those who watched on began to bawl, "I…I missed you, big brother."

Radahn brought his sister into a gentle embrace, his titanic head resting atop hers, "No more than I missed all of you…."

There was nary a dry eye in the room, save for Naruto, who smiled a glimmering smile, happy that the siblings were truly united again. As he stepped back to allow the group to slowly heal, Naruto would never know the thoughts that passed through General Redahn, Scourge of the Stars' mind as he looked at his strong back.

'It's you, you are the sun that gives my moon her light.'

(.0.0.0.)

"It's not much further, over the next rise. Do your best to keep up, boy," Rennala said over her shoulder, her tall form astride a strong-looking mare with a glossy black coat.

"I'm trying, I'm trying, but well, to be honest, I'm still kinda new to horse riding!" Naruto called back, his legs flailing a little in the stirrups. In comparison to Rennala's midnight black steed, Naruto's was a mare with a speckled brown and white coat.

"Do the equine not traipse across the land of thy birth. For if not, it may be a curious land indeed." The queen's horse maintained an even canter up the steep track they were currently making their way up, the younger and clearly less experienced beast of burden following from behind.

"No, we had horses. But when most of my people are taught how to get across the land and trees on foot, the only people who end up needing to ride are nobles who don't train or peasants." Naruto explained, fumbling with the reins. Instantly he bit his lip, realising he may have just indirectly compared the powerful queen to a peasant.

A giggle radiated from Rennala, her shoulders set aquiver by the blonde's brusque words. "A world where those fleet of foot could outpace the blue-blooded carriage dwellers, a most appealing prospect indeed!"

Naruto smiled, he preferred this side of Ranni's mother. While the trio of siblings were taking the time to collectively heal their long-shattered bond, Naruto had found himself in a rare moment of listlessness these last few days. Usually, he would be bothering Iiji about that weapon or checking on Blaidd, but with the influx of new arrivals as of late, everyone was busy.

Ergo, it was with great surprise that this morning, Rennala had appeared before him this morning with the request to come riding with her, shoving a pair of spurs into his hands. After getting over the initial confusion and the simple yet complicated process of putting spurs on, Naruto had found himself embarking on his first true lesson at riding a horse.

In hindsight, he didn't understand why anyone could ride such an animal that gave your balls such a busting!

Compared to his outfit, which had only gained a pair of silver spurs, Rennala was a far departure from her usual long robes and crown. She donned a form-fitting black bodice over which she donned a red female waistcoat and riding coat of midnight blue. Her legs, long and limber, were adorned in matching riding breeches with an internal red stripe, tucked into polished knee-high boots with spurs. Moreover, her long black hair had been drawn into a high ponytail that swished from side to side as she rode.

And when it was said that she rode, she rode, both legs over either side of the horse as opposed to the expected side saddle of some ladies.

All in all, it was a bizarre experience that had taken Naruto this deep into Liurnia, but he enjoyed it all the same, a nice change of pace, so to speak. "Where are we going again, ya damn slave driver?" he questioned, his last words muttered under his breath.

The Carian Queen was sharper than he gave her credit, turning her head halfway over her shoulder to send him an amused glare. "Lest I remind you again, I am mad, not hard of hearing, if you want to complain then do it with a strong voice!" she said, not angry at him at all. In fact, she as of late her mood could be described as positively elated, and while she had her lapses back into delirium from time to time, having a task in mind kept her on the straight and narrow.

Reaching the top of the rise, the unlikely do came to a stop, gaze falling upon a large structure that was unmistakably a castle, though not quite as large as the academy or even Radahn's former abode.

Letting out an appreciative whistle, patting his steed as it whinnied, "That's some castle, I take this is what you brought me out here for." It was not a question.

Nodding surely, Rennala pointed at the castle. "This is the Carian Manor, the ancestral seat of my family. I reasoned it would be a good plan to reclaim from its current… infestation."

Peering closer, Naruto struggled to see what she meant until a shifting shadow caught his attention by the main portcullis. A large thing skittered in the mist, many dozens of limbs undulating together to create motion. For a moment, he thought it a spider and was going to make a comment when Rennala whipped her catalyst from its resting place and swung it in a lateral arc.

A lance of semi-solid blue energy shot from the staff's tip before lancing through the misty gloom, parting the lingering precipitation with a sonic boom before nailing the errant creature in its body, throwing it into the air and nailing it to the wall where it spasmed in twitching horror. The mist unveiled and illuminated by the spear of magic currently impaling it to a wall, Naruto still had trouble saying what it was.

Then he saw the giant rings.

"A hand?"

Rennala nodded, "Fingercreepers. The final form of this plague of grafting that has swept the lands. And while its origin mayhap lay with Godrick, I can't idly let it plague my home when my children have finally come home." No more would anything decidedly finger-shaped, in turn, shape her family. She met his gaze, her glossy lips parting, "Will you join me?"

Ah…bonding through combat…Naruto couldn't imagine a better way to break the ice. "You bet, those things are hella creepy anyways."

"I take thou art armed?" she asked, seeing a long brown shaft of some weapon tucked into the blonde's saddlebags.

Grinning, Naruto withdrew the familiar form of the Serpent-Hunter, he was not about to let such a good weapon go to waste. "While Iiji works on something from me, I guess this will do."

"It shall more than suffice. Now, come!" Rennala dug her spurs into her horse's flank, pushing it to gallop towards the gates of her home with catalyst in hand and spells thrumming with mana.

Not wanting to be left behind, Naruto did the same, seeing now just how this woman had long ago stalemated armies with sorceries alone.

Their slaughter was quick, thorough and without mercy. Every piece of grafted filth was put to the sword and tossed out to the wolves to feast upon as nothing but desiccated chunks. They went are by area, Naruto's sage senses seeking them out before either dicing them apart with spellfire or driving the Serpent-hunter into their tough innards. It was surprisingly cathartic for Naruto, an end to his listlessness, but he got the feeling that the feeling was more real for Ranni's mother; she was after all quite literally putting her house in order.

When they had at last chopped the last Fingercrawler to viscera and left it on a pyre of blue fire to burn away, Naruto found himself pleasantly aching, but he saw that his pest control partner was looking at him with emotion thick eyes before turning on her heel and beckoning him to follow.

They walked in silence until she came to the central building that rose in gothic spires above a hall that the Full Moon Queen pushed open with a wave of her hand. Swinging in on aged, rusted hinges, the doors produced a horrid screech that rent the air but Naruto remained unflapped, following Rennala into the dark hall. For every step they made inside, torches of blue spellfire ignited around them, illuminating the hall, which was mostly untouched save for dust, and while it was mostly empty, there were two objects at the far end that caught his attention.

A pair of thrones.

"You and my daughter doth court one another, and while I might at times find thy antics to be annoying, I cannot deny the joy that you bring to my family and her, even returning her to flesh as yet untouched by empheryan." Rennala explained, slowly approaching the pair of thrones, "but if you shall court through to the very end, if you shall become my son by wed, it falls to me to tell thee of thy place."

Approaching the larger of the two thrones, engraved with glintstone and gilded filigree, Rennala ran a hand over it. "My family is matriarchal by nature, have you noticed that while Radahn is my firstborn, he is a general, not a prince? And Rykard, a Praytor of distant Volcano manor, only little Ranni bears the title of Princess. When the time comes, she shall sit here, Darkmoon Queen of Caria."

Naruto's eyes widened for two reasons, the first was the implication of what marrying into such a family would mean for him, and the second was that he had finally put two and two together with why the throne looked familiar to him. It was a large, much more ostentatious version of the little wooden chair from Ranni's rise.

Wordlessly, he looked at the second throne, smaller but no less plush nor ornate, the throne of a King-consort. "Why are you showing me this?"

"...mayhap I simply wished to see a glimmer of what might be after an eternity of stagnancy…but I think I needed to set to stage for some motherly advice." Rennala whispered, laying a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Promise me, you shan't do as we did, do not let the happiness of what could be slip away to madness once again."

Naruto's eyes hardened, "I won't-"

"Promise me!" the Full Moon Queen begged.

"...I promise."

And those words set them both free.

They left the Carian Manor shortly after, taking a contingent of long-lost Troll Knights with them, the great beasts in Carian Armour happy to see their queen after so long and all too eager to rejoin her growing retinue.

It was this odd gaggle lumbering and galloping forms that a figure on horseback observed through a pair of binoculars from a distant rise, her body clad in consecrated steel and unalloyed gold, her helm proudly displaying the sigil of the Haligtree.

Loretta bit her lip to the point where it nearly bled, conflict raging at the heat of her plate, unsure of what course to take. She had been hearing many bizarre and seemingly impossible things coming from the land of her birth, ranging from the movements of a spectral golden creature, the seeming death of the recusants and the apparent turn of Elden Lord Godfrey. So she had ventured deep into Liurnia to see the truth from the lies and what she had found made her insides twist into knots.

The Queen of Caria, a woman whose magical might had stalemated lord Radagon and made him her husband, a woman thought lost to madness, rode once more. The Blasphemous Praytor Rykard, returned to his senses and most troubling and impossible of all… word that General Radahn had been freed from the Rot.

Impossible. Simply impossible. Lady Malenia's Scarlet Rot could not be undone… but she could not deny the truth before her eyes.

And it galled her that she did not know what to do.

Liurnia was her home, where she was born and bred, raised to be a knight and serve the Carian royals, something she had abandoned after the shattering drove Rennala mad, instead pledging herself to Lord Miquella. What had once been glintstone adornments to her Armour was now unalloyed gold. Her path and loyalty to the Haligtree was unquestionable…but still.

'Lady Melania's Scarlet Aionia reduced half a continent to rot in an attempt to kill Radahn, it was a tragedy, all for nothing if he once again lives without madness…what am I to do?'

After an eternity of dithering, Loretta turned her steed away from the retreating Carian host, a single thought in her heart.

"I must awaken Lady Malenia!"

(.0.0.0.)

"You're mad, Ranni! This is a simple calculus; it's them or us!"

"There is still much to do, Rykard, and I will not have us marching to war again when things could be so much easier to resolve."

Naruto felt the beginnings of a conniption scratching at his mind as he listened to brother and sister argue on either side of the table that they were using as a war room. A large and comprehensive map of the Lands Between covered its entire length, adorned with several wooden, metal or stone monuments to mark specific points of interest from the Erdtree to Raya Lucaria.

"Can the both of you just take a second to cool off? There's enough hot air blowing between you to trigger a thunderstorm." Naruto reasoned, trying to bring their argument to an end only to be ignored entirely.

Rykard thumped the table, setting its models quavering, "We have many great runes under our control, between mother's returned retinue, my former recusants and those trickling in from Caelid, we have the biggest army since the shattering. As it stands, if it truly is Godfrey pushing up from the south, then let us meet in the field!"

"That's a stupid plan, Rykard, and you know it!" Naruto blasted back, Ranni nodding in agreement to her consort's words. "This needs a scalpel, not a sledgehammer unless it's unavoidable."

"What are you if not a sledgehammer? An iron rod to break against that would stand for the Golden Order or against us. You are with us. Radahn is with us! All we need do is just a few more men and we can stall out Godfrey's menials for long enough that we can acquire the rest of the runes."

Ranni wrapped her four hands around the table, "Neigh! We stay to the course and find Nokron, I would not have war again if it can be helped."

"I'm not fond of seeing war again either," Naruto added quietly.

Rykard scoffed, "And what would you know of war? Eh? Bearly a score old and you think yourself some long juried master of martial prowess, did I truly fall to an idiot such as this so innocent to war."

Ranni felt the air in the chamber change, and watched Naruto's hair shadow his eyes, his face grim. Rykard took this as a sign he had cowed the blond and pushed his advantage.

"No words. To be expected, no experience in real war and how loss is a necessity. Why don't you just go back to your chambers and let mine sister attend to your bruised pride while I speak of war-urk!?"

"This is not a war." faster than any of them could have understood, Naruto's arm had glowed with golden light and a spectral chakra arm had expanded, striking out to lock around Rykard's throat like a viper. Raising his head, Ranni was shocked to see that Naruto's face had changed, still as young but lined, a facade cracking to reveal utter seriousness beneath, his eyes molten gold with cross-shaped pupils.

"This is a squabble," he spat the word as if it were poison, "brother fighting brother, sister fighting sister and for what? Scraps. I fought in a bigger war than any of you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine, and when I close my eyes... I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you want to know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight... til it burns your hand. And you say this: 'No one will ever have to live like this. No one else will ever have to feel this pain. Not on my watch.'"

Ranni stilled, a strange beat in her heart.

"When you take that first stab, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die! Whose children will scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much BLOOD will SPILL until everyone does what they were always going to have to do from the beginning! Sit! DOWN! AND TALK !"

The arm dissolved into particles of golden light, Rykard rubbed at his throat as he gasped for air, Naruto turned on his heel and made for the door. "Talk between brother and sister before you have nothing left, just dust and echoes...

(.0.0.0.)

She found him in their room sometime later, curled up in bed with his back facing her as she sat down beside him. Naruto did not speak as Ranni slowly sat beside him and watched him silently, nor did he say a word when she slowly wrapped her four arms around him from behind, modest bust pressing into his back.

Warm. He was so very warm, yet Ranni knew that this was wrong, someone so bright should not be left in the dark alone.

"Naruto?" Ranni said, her voice a whisper.

"Ranni," he replied, voice flat.

"...I am glad thou fell from the sky that day. And while asking for secrets of your past is somewhat… unfair given mine own reticence… know that I shall be with you, until the end."

Slowly, Naruto turned in her arms to face her, his face still so very old, but a glimmer of light returned to the deep blue depths of his eyes. His arms encircled her in turn, and their foreheads pressed against one another.

Sensation… how she had missed this…

'Or was it love I craved after so long alone?'

Of those who thought that, none could say, for now, two lonely souls embraced in their bed with no violence or war in their minds.

Only the joy that being with the love of your life brings.

'I…can never let this slip away.' both thought, their eyes drifting closed with smiles, small but genuine, planted firmly on their faces.

Ranni drew away first.

"Touch me."

He ran a finger along the back of her leftmost hand, trailing it up her arm to her shoulder. She shivered.

"You felt that?

She did. After going so long without, her body was admittedly...sensitive. Such would change in time but now...

...she surged upright.

For all the strife of the night, the madness of the shattering or profane horror of these last centuries, that night, there was a change.

That night, all of Raya Lucaria slept peacefully.

A/N: Aaaaand scene. Hope you liked our work. Slifer really did well~!

Well? What say you? Hope you're enjoying this, so by all means, lemme know!

Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this little tale. Sad to say, but if folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? Well, I'll love the drive to continue it! I'm working two jobs during the holidays 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.

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review, Would You Kindly?

And have some previews.

Mostly the same here.

(Previews)

"When will you learn? Your witch isn't the hero of this story. She is the one who started this. Countless lives suffer because of her...

Rennala smiled softly. "When can I expect grandchildren from the two of thee?"

Naruto choked on his own spit.

Ranni sputtered incoherently.

"He trusted you. Just as I did. Will you betray him, too?"

...you're not real.

"Aren't I?" the specter spread their arms, eyes hidden in the gloom. "It matters not I suppose. Believe what you will. There's nowhere you can hide, Ranni. Put as much distance between you and the truth as you want...it changes nothing. Pretend to be everything you are not; witch, wife, mother-to-be...

She glowered darkly at the last word, tugging on the last of her armor over her dress.

...but there is one unavoidable truth you will never escape." the specter before her sneered as she completed her preparations. "You cannot change. You will always be...a monster."

"'Tis true, I know." the witch stood, staff in one hand, dagger in the other. "But I am your monster no longer. After all, it takes one to know one." She pivoted to face them fully. "Prepare yourself, wretched creature. I come for thee next."

The specter smiled. "You will try, dear sister...

"Thy reckoning is nigh."

Miquella is mine and mine alone! My dynasty shall reign supre-ack?!"

"Heed my words. I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat.

Naruto smiled. It was not a nice smile. "You're about to. I brought friends."

The doorway shimmered behind him. "Hello...sister."

"Usurper! Smoldering with thy meager flame of ambition! You shall not pass!"

Footsteps resounded behind him.

...I already have. I'll just be taking a look at the tree now...

Morgott rounded on them. How had he gotten past?! In a frantic fit, he lunged at him!

"I've shown thee courtesy enough...

Naruto tore off the last of his damaged upper armor, leaving his torso bare. "Right back at you...

Ranni flung up her arms. "You are such boys!"

"Look, foul witch. Look upon your work. Look at what you have made.

She saw Godwyn's ruined, bloated corpse.

"No, I never wanted that for him!"

Fortissax roared.

Naruto snarled back at the dread dragon. "COME ON THEN!"

EDIT: Hey, you made it!

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 chatting with you all when I get back~! Have a great day~!

R&R~!