The hunter and tarnished approached the entrance to the Manor with caution. The tarnished continued forth as it wasn't his first time walking through the Manor. The Hunter on the other hand walked forward while looking around aggressively. Something about the manor seemed very off to him as he entered. It reminded him closely of the Nightmare Realm he came from. Pressing forward, the tarnished kept moving without the hunter eventually losing track of him. The hunter slowly moving forward, he notices something crawling on the wall. It moved swiftly and in the shadows. He slowly pulled out his pistol and prepared to be attacked. Faster and faster it moved through the trees and in the darkness. Until finally it slowly came out. The hunter pointed his pistol at immediately. A small hand comes out walking on its fingers and holding a flower. It places the flower down and motions as if to look up at the hunter. The hunter looked down and felt nothing. Nothing, but disgust at the creature that lay in front of him. Just before he pulls the trigger, he turns around to see a much larger hand behind him. Its bone is able to be seen from some segments as well as wearing multiple rings on its different fingers. The hand itself was almost twice the hunter's size. And unlike the smaller one, this one seemed aggressive. The hunter leaps back and points his weapon at it, but just before he fires the tarnished comes running back and jumps in the way. The hunter signals for him to move but he refuses. As the tarnished stands in front, the huge hand behind him quells its aggression and pats the shoulder of the tarnished. They were…..friends… The hunter slowly lowered his weapon while getting closer to the Tarnished.
"What is thy doing" The hunter asked the tarnished while grabbing him by his collar. "These beasts… they are to be killed, not befriended." The hunter looks at tarnished with a serious stare.
"Well, I know not where you come from…but not all beast are mindless killers" The Tarnished responds while smiling. The hunter may not agree with that statement but what he said carries some merit. They are not being attacked and can freely walk through the Manor. Against his better judgment, the hunter presses on. They continue through the Manor until finally reaching the 3 sisters domain. They make their way to Ranni's tower and again the hunter feels a bit of nostalgia. Something about this place is interesting. The energy in the area reminds him of the nightmare, but most importantly there are no great ones here. None at all. Despite all of the other places they have visited being littered with them. They soon reach the peak of the tower and continue to Ranni's room. She sat in her chair fast asleep seemingly in pure bliss. The tarnished stare slowly approaches Ranni, shaking her awake then backing away. Ranni opens her eyes slowly and looks up. She looks at the Tarnished with a heart warming smile.
"I'm happy you were able to make your way here. And peacefully I hope." She begins speaking in a soft voice. She turns to the hunter who offers her a simple bow. Ranni continues to ask them to sit while she explains her plan. The tarnished listened to her speak almost as if he was in a trance. He really did love everything about her. From her soft voice to her enduring personality. Ranni continued to explain that the ideal plan for them is to take down all the Demigods at once and not one by one. She explained that the hunter is more than powerful enough to take them down as long as the stage is set properly. But as she is explaining the hunter seemed bothered. He wasn't staring at Ranni but at the area next to her. She takes note of this and decides to ask.
"Does something bother thou hunter? You seem afar." She asked while grabbing his attention. The tarnished turns toward the hunter as well. The hunter looks at Ranni then points at a ragged doll on a shelf.
"That doll… hand it to me" He states with sorrow in his voice. Both Ranni and Tarnished turn to see a small doll in an antique dress. It has faded white hair and a red scarf with a bell on it. Ranni signals for the tarnished to grab it and he does so. The tarnished places it next to the Hunter, still confused as to why he wants it. He never took him for a weirdo who loves dolls. Ironic. The hunter reaches for the doll and holds it in one hand. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out madman's knowledge and holds it near the doll. Ranni and the Tarnished become alarmed when pulls out the skull. They remember vividly what they saw last time and begin to slightly hide.
"What is thou's plan hunter?? Why has thee pulled out the skull once more!" Ranni asks with fear. The Tarnished follows up by saying "Yeah, and why do you so casually have these??" The hunter ignores their cries and cracks the skull near the doll. "This time the knowledge.. Is not for you two." He says while white particles float into the air and begin circling the doll. The doll's body size gradually begins to change, eventually becoming human sized. Ranni stares in amazement as this doll her mother gave her comes to life. She remembers after her mother gave her the doll she asked where it was retrieved from. Her answer was always the same. "It is as old as time, but as young as a new breed. It simply needs a burst of life to return to its former glory. For it was Gehrman's Dream." The doll returns to her former size and slowly opens its eyes. It looks around confused at first but all worries fade as it sees the hunter. It jumps up and wraps its arms around his body. "Hello hunter. It's nice to see you again." It says in a shallow but sweet voice. The hunter returns the hug and responds , "You as well, my love". The tarnished stares at the doll then at the hunter. "W-...WHAT!" He yells out loud. He couldn't believe it. He didn't think the hunter was capable of compassion let alone love. Ranni, still shocked at the appearance of this doll, begins to wonder if her mother knew about this already. How much did her mom truly know? Who is Gehrman and what does he have to do with the Doll? Her. Mom-
The ground below them begins to shake and magic around them becomes thick and plentiful. Things begin to levitate in the air as particles can be seen around them. The hunter and tarnished look at each other and immediately rush outside. From the top of the tower, they see a large build up of magic coming from the academy until. *Boom* A bright blue beam can be seen shining from the lake as if a beacon had risen. The beam was made of pure magic and destroyed anything it touched. It slowly began spreading out, covering a good chunk of the lake. Amongst all the chaos, Mohg can be seen narrowly escaping the blast. He only has one arm remaining as well as many burns. Ranni steps out to bare witness at the beacon of magic as well and she knew where it came from. She looks down and returns to her chair, her face covered in sorrow. As the beam slowly dissipates, the damage around the area can be surveyed. A large crater can now be seen in the middle of the lake with all the water rushing into it. Majority of the surrounding monsters and people have all been wiped out. The Hunter and Tarnished return inside and sit back down. Both not knowing what to say about the spectacle. Ranni sits in silence as well. The doll on the other hand looked at Ranni and began examining her. "You.. you're a doll yourself yes?" She says to Ranni. Ranni looks up and at the Doll with confusion. The doll continues ,"Daughter of Renalla. You possess great abilities." Ranni looks at the doll with anger and commands they all leave.
The doll steps out of the tower and is amazed at what the world has become over time. The Hunter following close behind her, The doll approached some wandering spirits and began speaking with them. Ranni sat atop her tower watching. She doesn't know what the doll is or what connections the doll has with her mother. But what is certain, is that that explosion of magical energy was caused by her mother. She had just recently patched their relationship and now she's just gone. Ranni went to take her seat and rest while the sorrow in her heart was quelled.
While exploring, the hunter explained to the doll the situation they were in. The doll looked surprised at the world. "These people… are trapped in a cycle. Because of the gods of this world. Is that why you show such hate for this world hunter?" The doll says while slowly turning to the hunter. The hunter says nothing but it could be felt that she was right. The hunter points at the Erdtree and says. "What is your opinion on that?" The doll looks at the Erdtree but it isn't a tree in her eyes. It's a god. She stares at it for a long time before saying "It is the root of this, the reason for reasons. It must go". As she finishes her sentence Mohg lands behind the both of them. His skin still sizzling from the earlier blast and his arm still severed, he kicks the hunter to the side and grabs the doll. Taking back to the sky, he says "You two must go hunter! I will be based at the Volcano Manor. Go to the Audience Pathway!" After he finishes his speech he speeds off in the air. The hunter immediately jumps back to his feet and glares at Mohg. He pulls out his pistol and fires multiple shots towards Mohg. All missing, he turns toward the Tarnished and in a dark and eerie voice he says "Where." The tarnished looks at him with fear. He reminded him of that thing he saw but much worse. He quickly pulls out his map, his hands trembling with fear, he points at the location of the Volcano Manor. The hunter waste no time and leaps off the cliff landing on his feet and running to the manor at high speeds. Ranni comes outside because of the commotion and sees no one but the tarnished left. The tarnished was shaking with fear. He slowly looks up at Ranni with pure terror in his eyes. The tarnished only says "We are going to the Volcano Manor".