To see a Darkened Sun
chapter 1
After sacrificing his humatity to the bonfire presumably for the last time, he trod carefully down the stairs, as if trying not to wake a sleeping inhabitant.
He soon arrived upon a yellow and purple mat, adorned with Four candles, one at each corner. He bent his knee and clumsily kneeled in front of the fog covered entrance to the tomb proper.
He waited in that spot for a short while before he heard the soft and slow tapping of bare feet against against the marble floor.
"Welcome back, O knight of the Dark Moon. If thou require mine assistance thee need only ask."
And there it was, that soft, comforting voice. He did not respond, his mind was again going at such a pace that he could not comprehend his own thoughts. He did not know how long it'd been since Gwyndolin had spoken but apparently it was long enough to warrant concern.
"...Knight, why is it Thee remain silent?"
Silence soon settled again, one of the knight's passing thoughts cursed him for his silence but it was quickly swept away by the tide.
"...Knight, it is mine role to safeguard thy person. If thee face any afflictions please do not hesitate to speak of them."
This seemed to get through to him. The tide of thoughts slowly calming, anchoring on the voice of the deity.
"Ah... My Lord... I..." He was struggling to find a place to start off, Gwyndolin was proving to be patient however, this he was thankful for.
"I have been... on a quest since I arrived in the land of the gods and... oh it has been ever so arduous, those I would have called friends have long since died and hollowed away..." He trailed off, his voice shaking ever so slightly.
"...Even so... I continued on, for their sake, and for the sake of my duty. I had collected the Lordvessel from the princess Gwynevere, and later I would meet with the Serpent..." He once again stopped for a minute, straining his memory for a name.
"Kaathe. Who attempted to suade me from my duty. I did not give in, and continued on to pursue the rest of the Lords. However, when I reached Izalith, I could feel something great and dangerous ahead. And I soon found it. The bed of Chaos." Gwyndolin made a barely audible sound in response to the mention of Kaathe. Causing him to lose focus briefly.
"It took me days and yet still I could not destroy such a thing... And now... Here I am, hopelessly hollowed, I remember not even my own name. All I know is that I am a knight of the Dark Moon, on a quest to link the fire...
And that I have failed..."
The Knight looked down to the ground in sorrow, knowing full well that even a god such as the Dark Sun could do nothing to save him from the curse.
Gwyndolin remained in silence, she had likely heard of the curse and how it afflicted the bearer, but had never seen it in person.
"I am sorry mine knight..." He braced himself for the words he knew were about to come out of her mouth.
"But there is nothing even I can do to prevent the curse from consuming thee..." There was a brief moment of silence that filed the room, before the quiet pattering of tears and the small, sorrowful whimpers of the hopeless could be heard. Most of the tears were caught in his visor but some fell through.
The knight quickly attempted to regain his composure, looking up to see a small white gloved hand reaching out toward him. He flinched slightly in surprise but let the hand slowly pull the visor up, revealing his face. The hand reached in and gently caressed the side of his face. He could finally see her.
She was leaning down to reach him, she was undoubtedly tall and possessed breasts of a similar size to her sister. A large sun shaped crown adorned her head, covering over her eyes and a large majority of her head. He could see her nose and short white hair. Her skin was fair and a pale shade of pink. She wore white silk robes tipped with gold.
The knight stared into her crown, the symbol of the sun embedding itself in his mind, as something of hope, a dying hope, but hope nonetheless. She could see his eyes, so full of sorrow, still pouring tears.
"Well..." She sighed, frowning ever so slightly, still caressing the side of his face with care.
"Thou hast served as mine knight exceedingly well. I think thee more than deserving of a reward, if there is anything thou should desire before passing, please do not hesitate to speak of it."
She spoke in an incredibly soothing voice, indeed he felt as if her very words were small waves of relief to his ailing mind. Truly, the woman standing before him was a goddess.
"I..." He immediately trailed off, finding it hard to find the words for what he wanted to say.
"...I simply wish to... Spend my final hours with the goddess I have devoted myself to."
Any other human or undead wouldn't have even dared speak what he just had, indeed in the eyes of some it could have amounted to profanity or even blasphemy. But the knight had no fear, he had nothing to lose either way.
Gwyndolin was slightly taken aback by the request, having never heard any other of her followers express such a desire. However she could clearly see there was no harm in it, besides she was not one to go back on her own words.
"...Very well." She let go of his face, rising up and standing tall above his kneeling form. He was understandably surprised that she had accepted his wish.
"Wouldst thou like to spend such time with mineself within mine quarters?" She asked him, also very much to his surprise. He nodded, rising from his feet and quickly wiping away the tears that covered his face, as if in shame of them.
"Very well." She said once again. lifting her catalyst from underneath her robe, she lifted it into the air and chanted a spell. Soon a bright symbol appeared on the floor accompanied by a soft ring, sounding like a small bell, and a glowing aura surrounded the two, quickly getting bright enough to warrant the knight closing his eyes and raising his arms to his face.
The knight felt something under his feet seemingly shift and peaking from between his arms he saw that the light was gone, and they were standing in a totally different room. The knight lowered his arms and looked around.
The room was significantly smaller than the bedchambers of Gwynevere and seemed darker than the interior of the central chapel. The floor and walls were of the same make as the others though, the room did boast significantly fewer windows however, and the curtains were drawn as well.
The wall opposite the windows was adorned by bookshelves full of books, all neatly kept and ordered. In the middle of the bookshelves seemed to be a clothes drawer, presumably full of fancy clothing all worthy of a goddess.
At one end of the room there was a canopy bed, not as tall as some others in Anor Londo, but much wider and longer. To the left of the bed, towards the wall with windows was a tall cupboard, to the left, towards the wall with the bookshelves was a short bedside table adorned with flowers and a book.
The carpet in the room was of the same colour and patterns of the one in front of the wall of fog back in the dark moon tomb, just on a larger scale.
The other end of the room, had a fire place with some wood neatly stored next to it. Near the fireplace was a table and a few chairs, a pot of flowers sat alone on the table. to the left of the fire towards the wall with the bookcases was a door that presumably lead to a corridor.
Under the windows was a purple couch, that looked quite comfortable. This room also had a noticeable lack of paintings compared to others he'd seen in the city.
Gwyndolin noticed the knight taking in the room and gave him a patient smile. He'd never had a bedroom of his own, not that he remembered anyway, previously he hadn't even considered them anything more than another room to pass through, most were uninhabited anyway, so to see one still lived in and well kept was a strange experience.
"Thou may take a seat if thee wish so." Gwyndolin gestured toward the couch, taking the knight out of his thoughts.
"Ah, yes." He nodded, still having trouble keeping his thoughts somewhat consistent. He walked over and sat down. The couch was comfortable and warm, one could tell it was fit for royalty simply by sitting on it. Gwyndolin walked over and took a seat next to the knight, resting her catalyst on her legs.
She turned to him and gave him a small smile, he smiled back, grateful that she'd taken a lowly undead like him here because of a single request.
He relaxed into the couch and sighed, exhausted from the swirling of his own mind.