A/N: Double update today! This, and another story. Please read this note, would you kindly? Angling for another double update today. Hopefully I succeeded.
Just wanted to say, I appreciate you all! More feedback means faster updates! It's especially important, in these, trying times, with the main site notifications down. Every word counts and i appreciate you all! All these reviews really keep me inspired! Looking forward to hearing from you~!
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. They're tributes to legends far greater than little 'ol me.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.
Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that.
In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
SPOILERS FOR SHADOWS OF THE ERDTREE AHEAD!
Warning; this chapter proves...emotional.
Messmer goes full Salem in this chapter.
You all know the scene.
Bloody terrifying.
"Elden Lord. You are a lord of lies. You know nothing.
Not of me, nor of Mother, or even yourself.
I will not abide a lord devoid of light!"
~?
An Eye for an Eye
Dinner proved a subdued affair.
Luckily the children all got on well enough, Naruto found, -Melina and Reyna were delighted meet Ragnar and the latter proved surprisingly magnanimous toward his little cousins-thank the sage for tiny miracles. The little ones were practically lost in their own world down there at the foot of the table, utterly unaware of the byplay. He almost envied them.
Children forgave and forgot easily. Would that adults could be the same. In the end, it was ultimately his fellows who braved the worst of the tension.
They were, the four of them, seated at northern end of the round table, with Messmer at the head, something the redhead seemed to take subtle pleasure in. Rellana was his both right hand and presumably his wife, so naturally so sat at his right, forcing Marika to take up the seat on his left, while he sat on her right.
It was all terribly confusing, really.
Having long since removed her helmet to eat, the Twin Moon Knight glared pale blue daggers at Marika, making no attempt whatsoever to conceal her hostility towards either of them. She at least, was an open book, and likewise easy to read. He felt he could keep up with Messmer's paramour easily enough, and defeat her with little effort. She wasn't the true threat here.
No, that was Messmer, silently brooding as he tucked into his own meal.
Dinner itself was pheasant or quail, maybe even lamb, he wasn't entirely sure, all he knew was that it tasted damn good. If it was poisoned, he couldn't tell. He doubted Messmer would invite them to a meal just to poison the lot of them in any case. Marika, for her part, had scarcely touched her meal. On the surface it might've been morning sickness, or perhaps her pregnancy simply had her lacking in appetite.
He knew it ran deeper than that. Much deeper indeed. His wife was stricken by a deep pain; not necessarily of the body, but of the soul. Try as he might, he couldn't see any way to lift her out of it without causing her still more pain, and even if he could, he didn't think she would thank him for it at the moment.
And so they ate in stoic silence. An explosion was imminent, he knew, but not from which side. It was only a matter of time.
Regardless, he would not be the one to make the first move; of that much he was certain. Instead he ate Messmer's food and drank his wine with deliberate slowness, all the while keeping an eye on the little ones. Melina and Reyna were babbling question after question, each of which young Ragnar accepted and answered with mild amusement. He, at least, seemed a decent sort. Whatever foul poison had blackened Messmer's heart, the son was not the same as his sire.
It seemed the apple fell far from the tree in this case. Good. He had no desire to harm the boy.
Still, the silence stretched on, interposed only by the occasional clink of silverware. No one dared to speak. He almost wished someone would; if only because this was growing terribly awkward...
.
..
...
Marika broke the pall at last, slamming her fork down with an audible clank. "I can't take it anymore! Why aren't you angry at me?!"
Messmer set down his knife and turned his good eye upon her. "Whomever said I wasn't it?"
His wife winced.
"I'm more than angry with you, mother." straightening his back, he rose in his seat to loom large over her. "I am disappointed. Do you think me a fool?"
To her credit, the queen lifted her chin and rallied somewhat. "I know not what you mean."
"Godwyn is not the only one you've lost. Rykard has also passed."
Marika froze. What?"
"You didn't know." Mesmmer granted her a laconic blink, a small, sardonic smile plucking at his pallid lips. "But how could you? I doubt you even noticed, bereft as you were. No," he all but dragged the word out over a soft, sibilant hiss. "We're all here because mummy's favorite died, and now she remembers she has a spare."
"Messmer, no, that's no why I-
"Please, mother. At least do me the courtesy of being honest if you can."
Naruto bridled. He'd been asked not to start a fight, but there was only so much a man could take. "Oi, don't be rude."
"Tell me, Elden Lord." Messmer rounded on him, swift as a serpent and thrice as deadly. "Did you know that she plucked out my eye? Or has she kept that from you, too?"
The causal statement struck him into silence. Worse, it was the truth. He could sense a lie plain as day and this...this wasn't one. It shook him to his core. Surely there was a good reason for it? There had to be. There must be. He looked to Marika, refusing to believe that this wild, wonderful woman he'd fallen in love with would ever do such a thing. But then again, that had been before they'd met. He had only found her after she'd slaughtered the fire giants...and she'd changed much since them.
What did he really know of her past? Little and less, beyond what she'd told him in the shaman village.
But to pluck out a child's eye...!
"Marika?"
She shrank into her seat. "I was afraid."
"Of your son." Rellana glowered. "Your own flesh and blood."
"I did not leave him that way!" her voice rose, piquing now in distress. "I put a seal of grace in its place to act as his new eye-
"It does not matter." Messmer spoke over her, voice low. "You did the deed regardless. Because you feared what I might become, what I might do if left unchecked." His winged serpents hissed sullenly, betraying the anger of their master. "Do you know who was responsible for that, Elden Lord? Who put the idea in her head? What is the saying you humans use? An eye for an eye? Tooth for a tooth? Evil for evil?"
He was about to find out, wasn't he?
Marika made a pained noise, the first he'd heard in some time, and he was glad their children were too far away to hear it. "Son, please. I did not come here to quarrel with thee, but to make peace-
"Stop." Messmer raised a pale hand, bracer gleaming in the low light of the candles. "Let me rephrase the question, mother of mine. Who is responsible for what hath befallen me?"
The Eternal Queen took a deep, trembling breath. "The Greater Will-
"But that wouldn't be fair now, would it?!"
In an instant her son grasped the table and flung it aside, upending food and people alike, everyone and everything. Not even his family was spared. Naruto found himself flung backwards in a rare moment of surprise, and in his haste to catch the children, was momentarily powerless to stop Messmer as he stalked forward to stare down his mother.
"We all know who's truly to blame...
Naruto set his daughters down and surged to his feet.
Rellana's blade found his throat. "Not another step, Elden Lord."
He slapped her sword aside, unconcerned with harming himself. It was be child's play to break free-
And then she pivoted, setting her blades to the necks of Melina and Reyna.
Ragnar protested. "Mother, no!"
Naruto swore.
.
..
...damnit. Couldn't risk it.
He tried to seek out Marika's gaze, to no avail.
She stood her ground before her firstborn, frozen, speechless, eyes wide.
"We all know who's really responsible for my sorry state, and that of this land, don't we?" Messmer slammed his forehead against hers. "T'was not Father, or Godfrey, or even the Greater Will that bade you to do what you did. Who unleashed me upon the Hornsent, who subjugated this land for revenge, who cast me aside when I had served mine purpose? I want you to tell me whose fault this was." he seized her face in his hand, fingers biting hard enough to bruise. "Now."
Her lower lip trembled as a lone tear rolled down her cheek. "It's my fault...I'm sorry...
"That's right." he crooned at her. "You should be sorry. But sorry isn't enough. I want you to understand your failure. I want you to understand why I despise you. I was left to toil isolation for nearly a thousand years. For the first five hundred, I believed in you. Did you know that? I was certain you'd return, that you were merely preparing the way for my return, a place for me, at your side. Ha!" He covered his good eye with a hand for a moment, unable to hide his hollow laughter. How foolish I was."
"Son-
"I am no son of yours!" he snapped at her. "Just as you are no true mother of mine. You are a vile leech. Incapable of trust. Unknowing of love. And I want this Elden Lord to know what I know in my heart; once he has served his purpose, he too, shall be cast aside like the rest."
Marika opened her mouth to speak. "No, I wouldn't...I never-
"Truly?" Messmer was relentless. "You never considered abandoning him? Not once?"
For once, this strong, stubborn, sassy woman he'd fallen for didn't have a retort.
Messmer barked a bitter laugh. "Now they see you as you are, parasite."
"I'm not a parasite...I'm not the same...
"No? Then prove thyself, mother."
Naruto felt her heart break.
Even then she dared. She reached up with one hand cupped her son's cheek. "My dear son, I am so, so sorry for leaving you alone in the dark...
For a moment, his face softened. But only a moment.
It wasn't enough; He gripped his mother's wrist and cast her to the floor. "But I don't want your apologies, mother. I want you gone from my sight."
Something shattered softly in Marika, then. He felt her break. Averting her eyes, she turned on her heel and fled the room.
Messmer scoffed at her tear-stricken flight and made no attempt whatseover to pursue his broken mother.
On the contrary, he dared to face him and even bid Rellana lower her weapons, freeing the children.
"Ah, much better. Now that we've rid ourselves of that parasite, we can discuss terms-
Naruto's fist plowed into his face.
A/N: Messmer...you know naught what you've done...
Well? Should this remain a story? Yay or nay? Do let me know!
As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot muster the strength to write. Just wanted to thank everyone for sticking with me.
I'm weary from work these days, but coming home after a long one to read feedback really make it worthwhile~!
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~!
Mostly the same here.
(Previews)
"Even now you defend her!"
Naruto didn't rise to the retort. caught the snake by the first snake throat, ignored the second as it bit deep into his arm to fill him with venom. Kurama burned it away and he pivoted to slam an open palm into Messmer's chest. The redhead rocketed backward with a startled grunt and slammed into a nearby wall, trapped there amongst the stones.
Rellana rushed him from the side the moment she saw an opening, swords swinging in a baleful arc of moonlit night and blazing flame. He didn't even deign to look at her; he simply raised his free hand, then conjured an almighty push. She joined her husband in the wall, wedged there by impossible force. Her armor buckled, warped, twisted...!
Marika's power burned through him, turning his eyes a molten gold.
For the first time in a long while, he felt like a god.
"KNEEL."
Marika kept running.
He found her in the field of flowers, a small, sobbing shrunken shell of herself.
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Thanks for reading! Hope you have great luck and a great day~!
Looking forward to chatting with you all when I get back from work~!
R ~!