A/N: A/N: Warning! Warning! Warning!
As evidenced by the chapter title herein...well. Goes without saying, really.
...this chapter doesn't hold anything back. If anything it cuts loose, with a vengeance. Hope you're prepared.
I certainly am. Had a good long birthday weekend with the family, now I'm back and rarin' to cut loose. Hope you're ready for the revival; I stepped away from several stories, took some time away to think on things, draw up new character arcs, scrap others, then came back to finish what I started. Elden Ring can wait a little while longer this month; its high time I show some more love to my other stories.
Speaking of which!
I'll say it plain, if this email opt-in business with the site doesn't get resolved soon, I'm probably going to retire. 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. Sometimes the app helps, other times...not so much.
Sometimes the app helps, sometimes it doesn't.
If you're not already aware of it, ever since the 16th of November -more than two bloody months now we've been dealing with this!- 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 even now 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. Only story. Alright then, I've kept you long enough. Lets get back to it.
Once more, I own no quotes, references, or memes. Not a wit or a one. NOT! A! THING!
They're all tributes to legends far greater than little 'ol me.
There we go. Disclaimer over. Hope you enjoy~!
"...I warned you.
You would not listen.
Very well. You wrought this. Heed my words...
~?
Heed My Words
Godhood wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
Being an Elden Lord even less so; immortality had its benefits to be sure -and he wouldn't give up his family for a moment!- but as of late there were often times when Naruto found he almost didn't want the power or the prestige the title offered. By contrast it felt like everyone wanted a piece of him to the exclusion of all else. Not only was he expected to rule, but he was expected to rule well; keep the peace between the fractious peoples of the Lands Between as Great Godfrey had and likewise crush any enemies who dared to threaten the realm.
The former he could do. The latter...well. He'd always been more of a talker than a fighter, ya know?
What enemies yet remained for them to face anyway? They were in an age of peace. Family squabbles aside, there was no one and nothing left for the Golden Order to fight. Sad as it might sound, their enemies had been bested. The last giant remained confined upon the Mountaintop of his kin, protecting the infernal flame from any who might seek to use it. The Albinaurics had long since been brought into the fold, while the Omens were pacified by Godwyn some time ago alongside the dragons. Of the wretched Godskin Apostles, none remained, having been dealt with long before he'd made his way to the Lands Between.
Meanwhile, their alliance with the Sorcerers of Raya Lucaria had never been stronger. Rennala was even now with her fifth child, having given birth to darling Rowan shortly before Melina and Reyna came into the world. She and Radagon were quite happy in the Lakes.
At a glance, one might say all was well. But he feared for the future.
There were dark rumors stirring the south, whispers of corrupted creatures near Caelid. That was the very reason Malenia was headed there, to be their liaison with Radahn-to figure out what in blazes was going on. And if she favored her cousin...well, he found that entertaining Malenia and Miquella were strong, their skills honed to a razor's edge. He and Marika had seen to that personally.
But their girls...oh, their girls! They weren't ready. Where was the love of the fight, the thrill of the hunt, the rush of the chase?
Case in point...
Naruto raised his right hand. "Come on, then."
Melina struggled to her feet, dusted down her gown and and blinked up at him, little face writ in a frown. "You want me to hit you?"
His smile didn't waver, even as his words echoed out across the empty courtyard. "I want you to try."
Her frown became a scowl. "That sounds like an awful lot of effort. Why should I?"
"Because it was your sister's turn yesterday." He'd thrashed Reyna until she could barely move, yet even so she'd managed to cut him all the same. That was a passing grade. "You're just as strong as she is."
Melina huffed and muttered something less than pleasant under her breath.
A blond brow rose. "Doubting yourself again?"
"No." She shook her head. "There's no doubt at all." she raised her arms in a shrug. "I know that I cannot hit you, therefore it would be foolish to try. My energy would best be spent elsewhere."
Ah, his lazy little girl. No, not lazy he corrected himself-laconic. She simply didn't see the point in what she saw as a useless effort.
Time to tug that out of her. Kicking and screaming if need be.
"You won't get anywhere with an attitude like that."
She shook her head. "Father, this is pointless-
"No," he wagged a finger he way. "Pointless is giving up before you even try. Your mother taught you better than that. I certainly did."
Melina sighed explosively. "May I at least procure Reyna's help...?"
Kurama chuckled before he could. They both knew the answer.
"You know, ordinarily I'd say yes, but...!" A deafening explosion rattled the earth on the other side of the capital, punctuated by a rush of hot wind and a rising plume of black smoke besides. "She's busy with your mother and hers." Vivid blue spellfire flashed through the air to scorch the clouds. "Would you care to interrupt?"
Melina shook her head fiercely, setting her hair a-swaying like a fiery curtain.
"Didn't think so." Naruto cracked his neck and stalked towards her. You have three seconds to reach me before I reach you."
Melina sighed explosively and vanished before his very eyes. Quite the neat trick, that. One moment she existed in the physical plane-in the next, she simply didn't. He still didn't know who taught her that spell, be it her mother, Reyna, or if she'd simply come up with it on her own. Regardless the results spoke for themselves.
Silence reigned supreme over the courtyard, stretching on into eternity.
Kurama sighed into it. "You're not going to move, are you."
The ghost of a smile graced his face. "Nope."
Not a sound was made. He could have done any number of things. Instead he chose to wait.
He'd promised her three seconds. No more. No less. One. Two...and now, three.
Naruto turned his head a fraction of an inch to the right. "There you are."
He sensed his sullen daughter a heartbeat before she struck; Melina reappeared behind him in midair, wreathed in a shroud of azure, poised to strike at his exposed flank. Time slowed to a crawl. He saw every second, every moment, her face writ in concentration, dagger poised to stab into the back of his neck. Good form and impeccable poise to be sure, but her speed left much to be desired. He didn't even deign to bat the blade down; instead he ducked, whirled with a grin, and kicked her in in the chest.
She went flying across the yard, hair lofting around her head in a tiny halo, then she was gone, hurtling across the yard in a thunderbolt of motion.
A stray strand of blond hair fluttered through the air in her wake.
"Impressive." he caught it between his fingers. "Most impressive. You almost got me that time."
"Almost isn't enough!" she granted him a small, severe scowl. Heh. She really did remind him of a younger Marika when she pouted like that. "Can't you go easy on me?!"
"I am going easy on you." A quick flicker forward and he was upon her before she could react. He caught her by the wrist, reached over her little head and got ahold of her hood. From there he hoisted her up and dangled her before him was one might a naughty kitten. He gave her a light shake in the air for good measure. "What did you do wrong?
She shrugged helplessly in his grasp, crossed her arms and and refused to look at him. Such a grouchy little girl.
He smiled for her and gave the answer he knew she needed. "You gave your intent away."
Her brow furrowed in confusion. "How do I mask that?"
"Would you like to learn?"
Melina's head bobbed once, in a quick nod, an equally rare sign of actual emotion from his otherwise stoic daughter.
"Alright, then." He sat down and patted the space beside him only to laugh now when she plonked herself down on his knee instead. "For starters, its a matter of control." a hand descended upon her head to muss her hair, drawing a fearsome pout from his child. "In battle, you can't give your intentions away, be it hollering before you attack, or even allowing others to sense you."
A startled shriek echoed above them
"Someone catch meeee~!"
"Like so."
Naruto chuckled once, reached up, and snatched little Reyna out the sky before she could reach terminal velocity, casually correcting his wayward child's fatal plunge to pull her into his lap. All this without looking up. Eyes wide and hair frazzled, blue skin flushed with glee, Melina's sister clung to his left arm for dear life and latched on tight with all four of her arms. Two guesses where she came from. First two didn't count. Really, those two didn't know the meaning of restraint.
"Hello, little moonbeam." He patted her head with his free arm. "Having fun, are we?"
Sure enough, Reyna's little blue face lit up in a wild grin. "Mother threw me!"
A blond brow rose in mild bemusement. "Which one...?"
Marika alighted in a pointed crouch behind them.
"Suppose that answers my questions."
By contrast the lady Renna's descent proved far more sedate; she didn't so much fall out of the sky as she did glide, landing lightly beside the Queen. A cross look was returned with a bemused smile on Marika's part, to which she huffed and she sauntered toward the three of them with intent. She caught Reyna's chin with one hand, pinching her cheek as only a mother could.
"I warned you not to provoke her, child."
Reyna stuck out her tongue. "I didn't think she'd throw me that far!"
"Nor did I expect you to enjoy it so much. Thou certainly do no lack for courage."
Marika nudged Renna aside, patted the girl's head in passing, then sat beside them on Melina's side for good measure. Naruto blew out a sigh as his daughter gave a happy chirrup and laid her head to rest on his shoulder. It was too much to hope that wouldn't provoke Renna...which it did, of course. Sure enough she claimed Reyna's side. Her hip brushed his, two of her arms wrapping round their daughter, while the remainder circled low around his waist. If she thought to provoke Marika, she was sorely disappointed. The Queen only smirked.
"Why, look at us. Aren't we a happy family?"
Renna hissed. "Thou art no sister of mine, accursed witch."
"No?" long lashes fluttered in a sinister blink. "Then why do I recall you screaming my name-
"Ah!" Naruto butted his between them before they could say something that might scar the girls. "Not the time or place!"
...fair." Renna relented with a growl. "How goes their training then?" she lifted her chin. "My daughter has already mastered her first set of spells."
Marika preened. "Melina has much to learn, but plenty of time in which to learn it."
"Hey, ow did the three of you meet?"
Naruto bit his lip to stiffle a hearty guffaw. Leave it to Reyna to miss the tension and blast right through it. Bless her sweet, simple soul.
For once, both women winced. Renna found her voice first. "That's...'tis not a tale for younger ears, my daughter."
...alright," the little imp allowed with a displeased noise, "But then who's stronger?"
Melina tilted her head, not quite comprehending. "Stronger...?"
"Well," she said with all the logic of a child, "Someone has to be."
There it was, the gauntlet thrown down. Naruto would've palmed his face if his arms weren't held captive. As thing stood, he could only sigh.
Melina took the words to heart, just as he knew she would. "Mother is stronger, of course."
"Child." Renna tutted and bopped her nose. "I would destroy the Queen in a fair fight."
Marika's smile was positively lascivious. "On that, I beat thee handily."
The witch turned absolutely scarlet. "I said in a fair fight!"
Naruto winced. "Lets not be hasty-
Melina damned him. "...I would like to see such. Father is stronger than both of thee.
Naruto shrugged thoughtlessly. "Well, they're not wrong on that account-
Mistakes were made. Marika and Renna fixed him with a dark glower.
"Oh?
"Bold words...
"Mmm!" Reyna clapped with two of her hands, using the remaining duo to stifle a giggle. "Fight, fight, fight!"
"It has been some time since we truly clashed...
Naruto heaved another sigh.
Surely Malenia and Miquella were having any easier time of things.
If the twins weren't, he'd eat his bloody boot and tear his hair out besides!
(.0.0.0.)
They were waiting for her.
In truth Malenia had seen this ambush coming for some time now; from the moment she left the capital, she'd been aware of the eyes upon her. Likewise she'd noticed riders in the distance as she journeyed south. At first they only ever remained that. Distant. Close enough to see the distance plum of dust, yet too far for her to discern their identities. A foreign, nebulous threat, one she hadn't paid much heed to. She was no stranger to the commonfolk, nor was she to those who wished to see her.
She'd wanted to believe this was such. And so she'd put it out of her mind.
Until today.
She'd awoken this morning and found no sign of her pursuers on the road as she and her entourage departed; which meant one of two things. Either they'd given up the chase or, more likely, they'd taken advantage of her respite and rode ahead-the better to prepare a trap or some other fell trick. The likelihood of them being supplicants or admirers dwindled with each passing hour.
In truth, Malenia hoped they weren't allies.
She'd grown restless back in the Capital; adrift, with lack of purpose. If combat was to be had today then she was rather looking forward to it; a chance to truly test her skills in an uncontrolled environment. Naught but her own wit and skill, the THRILL-
"My lady?"
Malenia reigned herself -and her steed!- in with a restless sigh.
She did not begrudge Finlay and young Thrud their concern. They were her Scarlet Valkyries, her guards, part of a elite company of twelve handpicked by her and her alone. Today they numbered but two. She hadn't seen -or felt!- the need to bring the rest for so meager a meeting with Radahn. No need to bring the entire Order with her for something like this...or so she'd thought at the time.
Now she found herself wondering if she should have.
Though full helmets hid their faces, she could feel their disquiet all the same. They were nervous.
"Worry not." She laid a hand on her knight's shoulder. "If this is a trap, then we shall be the ones to spring it. On our terms."
Finaly perked up and saluted. "Yes, my lady!"
They found the first roadblock ahead; a series of ramshackle long logs bound together across the road. Pitiful. She could leap clean over that in a single bound, if not cut clean through it. Was this truly the best they could bring themselves to muster? Even mere brigands should know better; yet this coordination smacked of a higher power. A plan. A scheme.
She confessed herself curious as to what it might be.
Sure enough she found them ahead. Ten in all, Ttey were a strangely motley crew all things considered, and a grim one at that. Some of them didn't look...right. Their armor had seen better days, to say nothing of their blades. Some were twisted and misshapen much like their bodies and the smell, oh gods, the smell...what was that? A sickly sweet stench arose from them; a foul odor that made her eyes water and her throat close.
They'd hemmed them in. Bold...and stupid.
Malenia swept of her horse with a sigh. "Honestly. They never learn...
"You there!" One of the soldiers, a woman judging by the tenor of her voice, barked at them. "You enter the domain of our Lady! Supplicate yourself at once!"
...heed my words." she drew herself upright with a sigh, uncaring of their ravings. "I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat." her sword escaped its sheathe with a naked rasp of steel. "I came to Caelid in good faith to treat with my cousin, but I will not allow you to pursue this madness of yours."
"Ignore her!" the largest of them brayed. "Stupid brat's alone and with only two guards. This is our chance! For our new Lady!"
Her interest piqued. "And what lord might that be?"
"For our Lady of Rot." the man removed his helm and glimpsed the twisting pustules in his face, growths covering his eyes so much so as to render him blind. "She demands your supplication." His lips split in a grin, revealing ugly broken-yellow teet. "So shall it be. You shall serve her. All shall serve."
She bridled. "I serve no one but my family."
"You will serve!" The madman brayed! "Take her! Take the girl!"
Malenia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Released it now...
.
..
...enough."
Finlay and Thrud stepped back. Wise of them.
For in that instant Malenia leaped upward and the man's words died an ugly death. She hung there for a moment, blade in hand, defying gravity itself. Her attackers looked on aghast. More so when they realized there was suddenly more than one of her; two perfect copies rising from the smoke flanking them in a perfect triangle. The demigodess granted them a thin smile, golden eyes flashing beneath her golden Valkyrie helm.
Her would-be kidnappers hesitated. More fools they.
In a heartbeat she was upon them.
Triple Waterfowl Dance.
A/N: Aaaand scene.
The plot thickens! The pieces move!
Hope you enjoyed it. Gotta get to work, now...
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this particular story, and others.
Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot write. So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly? And have some previews~!
I'm deliberately being coy with them this time around.
Some are far off. Others are closer than you think.
Once again, SPOILERS AHOY!
Seriously, ye be warned~!
(Previews)
You think yourself so clever. But you're no ruler. You have never been. And never will.
"An army at our gates, you say? That is just...adorable."
"Marika, put the hammer down."
"No, I don't think I will...
"You can't touch me!"
"Alright." Naruto inhaled slowly. Deeply. Angrily. "Parry this, you filthy casual."
"A challenger at our gates? How quaint."
"He says he's a messenger...for someone called the Gloam-Eyed Queen."
Marika smiled. It was not a pleasant smile. "Finally got too big for her britches, did she? Perhaps I should send Maliketh after her...
"Godwyn's been acting strange...
"I'll have a word with him.
"Hammer down!"
"Aaaaand that is why you never piss off your mother."
Black knives gleamed in the moonlight. Their leader gave the signal .
As one, the blackened blades descended.
"Hold this, would you?"
"Hold whaaaaahey!" He growled as she shoved her hammer into his grasp and leaped into the fray.
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Thanks for reading!
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. Meaning, if folks don't like this, it won't be continued. If the story itself isn't popular? I'll likely discontinue it. I'm working two jobs -holidays are kicking my ass!- 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 from work~!
R&R~!