If you like my work, please consider supporting my ! There is currently a poll for my fifth story to replace Cardio Silica on there, open to anyone who signs up as a free member.
Chapter 31: Night Time Discovery
She was familiar and yet at the same time completely alien. Her body was obviously flesh and blood, or at least her equivalent. The spiritual body that hung off her side was absent, both pale blue eyes open and staring at me. Her skin was pale and unmarked, inhuman in it's smoothness. I could remember the doll body in the game had cracks on it's neck, but it appears that this form did not have said blemishes.
"Thou art still a troublemaker, it seems. Once again, I find you fighting something Gold." She looked down to the spear in her hand, the Longinus shining brightly still.
Her brow furrowed as she stared at the Sacred Gear, before she turned to regard me, "Well, mine consort? Hath thou lost your voice?"
"Sorry…" I spoke slowly, watching her closely, "I don't exactly know how to react to all this."
The truth would not hurt to vocalize, the longer she talked the longer I had to come up with plans. Besides, I didn't even know if lying was possible here. My sense of magic was highly advanced and right now it was telling me that she was unlike anything I have ever sensed before. She existed at such an advanced level it was like trying to describe a new colour. It reminded me of looking at the ocean from a beach, the vast expanse stretching infinitely into the horizon.
"Ah." She nodded, the wide brim of her hat flopping slightly at the movement, "It appears mine appearance here is unexpected. Not surprising, I suppose."
Her hands clenched around the shaft of the spear, almost wringing it between them, "Tell me, mine Consort… You remember me, yes?"
Ah, well here is the problem. She's been speaking as if she knows me, but all I know of her is half remembered from a game I played more than five years ago. The theory that was most likely is some form of time loop, meaning her past was my future. That has some problems though, as she obviously thought I would know her.
If I met her in the future, I would have known to tell her that I would not know her at this point. Of course, it could be alternate universe time travel, but that has it's own problems. I could think on this for decades and likely not arrive at the correct conclusion.
Leaning on what I remembered, she was very partial to the Tarnished once they became her Consort. No matter what you did, she would not attack or stop you. Hopefully, that tendency continued into this situation.
"I'm sorry." I picked my words very carefully, "I know of you as Ranni the Witch, but to my knowledge we have never met."
She bowed her head at that, obviously disappointed. The light shining on us from the moon above dimmed slightly, the persistent mist swirling in agitation.
"Disappointing. Still tis well, so long as the foundation exists, anything can be rebuilt through sufficient effort…" Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it carried clear.
She looked up, her blue eyes boring into me, "Listen well. Thou art mine Consort. The being in the void explained to me that your interaction was through an imperfect medium, but it does not change the events that transpired. Thou became Elden Lord, ascending me to godhood much faster then I could achieve on mine own. After becoming my one and only Lord, thou disappeared, as if a dream. After searching through the realms for you, I could find neither hide nor hair of thee."
"Until, of course, I found a ghost who held connection to thine soul. Using that connection, I found thee upon this world." She straightened, declaring her verdict upon the Earth, "Though promised me, Dear Consort. A thousand year voyage. Should it happen amongst the stars, or upon this foreign soil, it matters little. Wilt thou still travel it with me?"
I had questions, of course. Hundreds, even. Was she sure that it was me? How? Why would she care when I am a completely different person, by definition? Just who was this 'ghost' who supposedly had a connection to my soul? Most importantly, what the fuck was Catharsis playing at?!
More pressing than any of my questions however, was the reality of the situation. An obviously eldritch entity had broken her way into the world, likely sending alarms throughout every even remotely spiritual community. Not to mention, she had done it in Japan, after one of their gods had been prayed to by me. Then she asked me to be her Consort.
Declining, even if I wanted to, would be severely deleterious to my health. I didn't want to, of course. Ranni was one of my favourite characters of all time, there was a reason she was on the List. But having her come here, before I could explain anything or set up her expectations… This could very easily blow up in my face.
One of the possible reasons for said explosion appeared from the forest, carelessly lighting the fuse of the dormant bomb.
"Damocles?" CC asked, walking through the trees, immaculate as always. She paused, beholding the figure I was speaking to, "Is this the cause of that intense pressure we all felt?"
"I am Ranni, of the Dark Moon. Who are you?" The blue witch inquired, obviously unhappy at the other woman's presence.
"CC." The witch with green hair flicked it over her shoulder, "Damocles' Queen."
The spear in her hands cracked. The disgusting thing was already trying her patience, a soul cage, leashed to reside throughout a succession of wielders, forced to act according to their whims. The thing's existence was an insult to her, considering her personal feelings on free will. The only reason she had not destroyed the thing on sight was due to it lacking a soul to be imprisoned.
Feeling the wretched thing reach into her psyche, or at least attempt to, trying to tempt her to act on her anger and use it against the two in front of her. Her anger ran rampant as her fists clenched tighter, her Moon's light intensifying as she overpowered the enchantments layered onto the implement.
Blue shined through the cracks as her grip tightened, before wit ha loud, soul-deep crack the spear shattered into golden flecks. Letting her fingers opened absently, the golden dust trailed through them as it drifted to the frozen water below.
That was far from her mind however, as she focused on containing her intense anger. Her Consort remembered her, yet still had a Queen? Taken this woman as his Queen, and not her? She would more easily forgive such trespass should all memory of her fled from his head, but when it very clearly was not the case…
Wait. She could be lying. Turning to the harlot, she inquired, "Oh? Thou art married to mine Consort? I see no ring upon thine finger."
"What?" the woman seemed confused at my words, "Why would we be married?"
Before her confusion progressed further, her Consort hurried to explain himself, "Ranni, CC means she is the Queen of my Peerage, the system of followers used by my people in this world. Its like… It's like Godfrey and his Crucible Knights."
"Thou remember that, but not your oath to me?" She was most displeased.
"Listen..." He sighed, "Can you tell my what the oath was? It seems unfair to blame me for something I have no way of knowing."
She mastered herself. Her consort was right. He reincarnated into this world, the fact that he knew who she was already was nothing less than a gift from fate. Regaining her composure, she informed her wayward Knight of his obligations.
"Thou swore to always remember me, to never change from the man I knew... To always be mine." She stared into his eyes, impressing on him the seriousness with which she took his words.
Her gaze was broken by a stifled laugh. She whirled upon this 'Queen' of his, "Do thou doubt mine words?!"
"Not at all." The amused light in her eyes irked her, "It is exactly the type of ridiculously corny thing that he would say."
She did not know what 'corny' meant, but the fact that her words were believable gave her hope. Her consort had not changed overly much, if his outlandish penchant for lofty declarations remained.
Still, it annoyed her that this woman seemed to know how her Lord courted his interests. Was he more of a womaniser in this world? The thought disquieted her, but it was something she was prepared to confront. Differences could be worked through.
"However," The green haired woman looked at Ranni, a confrontational aura draping itself around her, "He cannot keep that promise. He is ours, after all."
"Yours, you say?" Her voice was low, dangerous, "What say thee about this claim, Consort?"
Her knight sighed. He looked so different from what she remembered, youthful, smooth, not scarred by decades of war. His long white hair was also different, yet strangely she thought it suited him. He tensed, looking at her with determination, resolve filling him. Looking him like this, she could see the similarities from his time in the Lands Between clearly.
"My Peerage are my family, Ranni." He started to explain, "I have found them, in this world and others. They chose me, and I chose them. I will not abandon them, no matter who asks."
"Your relationship with them is carnal, I presume?" She inquired.
"Some, yes." She looked down at the admission.
Being the sole recipient of the affections of her Tarnished, it had been something she realised she cherished. Was that feeling something she cherished more than her Tarnished himself? Not even close, she realised.
"I never thought you one to take Concubines, my Lord..." She spoke softly, before a terrible thought came to her, "Have you wed in this life?"
"No." Came the response, filling her with relief.
"Very well, my plans remained unchanged." She resolved herself, declaring her intention, "Dear Consort, though our courtship has fled thy memory, it is still something I hold precious. I wish to stay with you, to prove to you my intentions are true. I have searched for thee for a long time, I will not accept failure."
"Ranni." He smiled a familiar gentle, the sight filling her with warmth, "So long as you swear to not hurt my family, you are more than welcome."
He raised his hands, showing off the Dark Moon Great-sword in his grasp, "I remember what this means to you. I accept it... again I suppose, but still."
"You remember the weirdest things." Was her response, Before she solemnly nodded, "Very well, upon my name as Ranni the Witch, I swear to bring no harm onto the ones you cherish."
"Thank you." He spoke, tension fleeing his shoulders.
"So we have a Lovecraftian God following us around now? One that is smitten with you as well, no less? At this rate, a domestic incident in our house will be a world ending event." The sarcastic words from the supposed 'Queen' made her regret her oath instantly, as she shamelessly broke the moment Ranni was sharing with Damocles.
The woman flew up to his level, inspecting him carefully before molding herself into him in an embrace, kissing him with a whispered, "I'm glad you're uninjured."
"Now is not the time." Was his muttered response.
The smug look she sent towards Ranni made her regret intensify. Keeping her promise would be harder than she thought.
Two more figures emerged from the forest, a calm looking white haired girl and her Chosen Herald. Melina stared at the scene in front of her, before she sighed.
"Oh, I see."
"Melina?!"
Of course. Her Consort remembered her too.
In the Domain of Night
She flew, floating through the closest thing to her lost Silence she could get on this wretched planet. She hated being here, everything was far, far too energetic. Even the very air itself was flooded with activity, different waves and particles making an unbearable racket constantly. Thankfully, Hades' friend was able to conjure a perfect night sky, a bit of space that although not empty, was vastly better than the norm of her personal hell.
She asked for this favour so she could focus. Her connection to her Silence was still in place, allowing her to feel when beings passed through. For the past couple of years, fairly regularly, she had felts a small presence flitting too and fro through her old home. She was trying to find it, something that could access that place at will would be a great help in murdering that stupid Red vermin.
The transits were incredibly fast, even by her standards, so pin pointing the location they started from was difficult. She needed to go to a place with few distractions, at around the same time the presence would make it's transit, in order to guarantee success. The time varied, but usually happened the same time every unit of measurement the mortals called a 'month'.
With that in mind, she was spending said 'month' in this lovely place created by her friend. She had decided that anyone capable of creating something so beautiful deserved to be her friend. She was tempted to just stay here, it was that much better than the noisy, smelly, bright world she had left, but this place still paled in comparison to her Silence.
So she floated, calmly monitoring her old home, patiently watching. Being here was not a chore, in fact it was almost relaxing. As she watched, something happened to the boundary between worlds. However, it didn't come from the direction she expected, in fact it seemed to reaching through to the world, instead of away from it. She looked at the being making it's entry and had her breath stolen.
Strong.
It was so monstrously, incredibly, unbelievably strong. It reminded her of the Red, how annoyingly powerful he was, strong enough to fight her to a standstill. This being was stronger than that. She watched as it's brief tendril of power, the small amount it forced through a specific point, completely dominated the world below it. It wrested away control of the Night Sky, moved the very Moon itself, even warping it in it's own image.
Yet it could do so much more. However it restrained itself. The tendril of power it sent through remained stable, unbreakable, the amount of power flooding the link manageable. Sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker, but always carefully measured.
Restraint.
Reason.
The thing could be talked to.
The sudden usurpation of the Night Sky caused the magic building the domain she was in to crumble, but it hardly mattered. Even as she returned to the bright, noisy and smelly world of mortals, she had a wide smile on her face.
Something existed that she could use to kill the Red. With the Being's power and hers combined, it would be a sure thing.
It was the best news she had ever received.