A/N: A/N:A/N: Messed up my days! We'll have a massive update for Apples and Atoms tomorrow, alongside other things. Dark wrote this chapter, I simply adjusted and made edits.

Every review truly does help me write, large or small, any feedback is better than nothing at all.

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!

"REVOLUTION~!"

~Over Fallen Leaves.

To be Lost

Caelid was a hellscape.

The land stretched out before them in a grotesque panorama of decay, a place where even the sky seemed to fester. Scarlet Rot oozed from the cracked earth like an open wound, twisting the land into a nightmare of withered trees, blighted swamps, and creatures that should not exist. The very air reeked of corruption, thick with a damp, sickly-sweet stench that clung to the lungs like a death sentence.

And yet, Naruto took it all in stride.

Much to Malenia's growing exasperation, the blond had decided it was his personal mission to cleanse the land—one chakra-coated step at a time. His hands glowed with pure, pulsing energy as he casually burned away patches of Scarlet Rot like a man trimming weeds in his backyard. Each touch of his chakra dissolved the filth, purifying the ground beneath his feet and restoring small, untouched patches of earth. He had even started humming as he worked.

Malenia had not expected it to be this easy.

Loretta, ever the skeptic, had slowly begun to believe that, for once, something in their quest wouldn't end in catastrophe. Perhaps, with Naruto's absurd power, they could actually fix this wretched land. Perhaps—for the first time in an age—there was hope.

Then, of course, they met Gowry.

"Ohh! Ohhh! My lady! My goddess!"

The moment he laid eyes on Malenia, the decrepit old sage came staggering out of his miserable shack, his movements frantic, desperate. His skeletal frame, wrapped in tattered robes, trembled as he beheld her. Loretta's reaction was immediate—her spear flashed in her grip, and had Malenia not raised a single hand to still her, the old man would have been skewered on the spot.

Naruto, meanwhile, simply blinked as Gowry fell to his knees.

With a sickening crack, the old man slammed his forehead into the dirt—hard enough that Naruto winced. That definitely wasn't healthy. The sound alone made it clear that Gowry had no qualms about maiming himself in his reverence.

"Gowry," Malenia intoned, her voice even.

The old man gasped. "You… you remember me?!" His breath hitched, his clawed fingers gripping his own robes as he trembled. "Oh, blessed be this wretched life! My devotion has not been in vain! You have returned, oh Scarlet Valkyrie!"

Naruto frowned, looking between Malenia and Gowry before glancing at Loretta, who was still gripping her weapon with open disdain. "So… friend of yours?"

"No," Malenia answered flatly.

"A thousand times no," Loretta muttered.

"Ahaha!" Gowry's cackle was dry, brittle, and filled with unhinged delight. His sunken eyes gleamed with something deeply unsettling. "Miquella's divine sister walks among us once more! Come, come! I have prepared a shrine for thy worship! You must come! Nay—you must lead us! The Scarlet Rot shall spread again, and this land will be reborn as it was meant to be!"

Naruto stiffened. Malenia's expression darkened.

There was a beat of silence, filled only by the distant groaning of Caelid's diseased wildlife.

Then, Naruto took a step forward.

"Ohhhh, nope." His voice was light, almost casual, but the underlying steel was unmistakable. "We're not doing this today, old man. The whole 'burn the world to ash for some greater nonsense cause' thing? Yeah, not my style." He folded his arms, gaze unwavering. "We're actually fixing this dump."

Gowry's worshipful grin twitched, his lips peeling back just slightly.

"Fix?" His voice came out hoarse, disbelieving.

Malenia exhaled slowly, placing a hand on the hilt of her blade. "We shall restore what was lost."

Gowry flinched as if struck, his fervent smile flickering.

"You would… betray the Rot?" His voice wavered, a mix of heartbreak and madness. "No, no, my lady… you are the Rot. The Goddess of Scarlet—born to bless this land with the purity of decay!" His nails dug into his own flesh as he trembled. "Surely, you must see—"

"The only thing I see," Naruto interrupted, stepping even closer, "is that you're real lucky she's the one holding back right now." His usually bright blue eyes were hard, cold. "Because me? I don't like people like you."

Gowry's jaw trembled. "You… you cannot mean…"

"I do mean," Naruto deadpanned. "Now, last chance, old man. You get to walk away, or you get removed."

The threat hung in the air.

Loretta, wisely, kept her spear at the ready.

Malenia said nothing, her gaze unreadable.

Gowry's breath hitched. Then, with a croaking laugh, he stumbled backward, his expression twisting into something almost… amused.

"Ah… I see." His bony fingers clutched his own chest, his grin twitching between reverence and something close to disappointment. "Perhaps Miquella was right to remain sleeping… if even you have strayed so far."

His words, whispered almost wistfully, held weight.

Malenia did not react.

Naruto, however, narrowed his eyes.

Gowry straightened, stepping back toward his decrepit shack. "Very well… I shall not stand in your way." His grin sharpened. "But neither shall I aid you."

With that, he turned and hobbled back inside, disappearing into the shadows of his rotting home.

A long silence followed.

"…Creepy old bastard," Naruto muttered.

Loretta scoffed, lowering her spear. "You're far too kind."

Malenia, still silent, finally exhaled, her fingers easing away from her sword hilt.

"We move on," she said, voice quiet.

The Rot Calls

Then… something dark and dangerous slithered across Gowry's face.

His once-worshipful reverence twisted into something manic, his eyes gleaming with wild, feverish light. His lips peeled back into a skeletal grin, and the madness in his voice thickened like a poison in the air.

"No, no, no, no, no." He rocked slightly, shaking his head as if trying to will the truth away. "My goddess, surely you jest! The Scarlet Rot is salvation! Your very existence is proof of that! To abandon it—why, to deny it—is to reject your very purpose!"

Malenia's fingers tensed against the hilt of her blade.

"We're moving on," Naruto cut in, shaking his head.

Gowry froze.

Then, with a shriek of rage, his frail body convulsed, arms flinging wide as if he could physically block their escape.

"YOU SHALL NOT!"

A surge of magic crackled in his fingers, the very air around them warping under its force. The sky above them dimmed unnaturally, the already blighted land seeming to twist in on itself, trembling beneath their feet. The trees groaned like dying things, their gnarled limbs reaching for the heavens as if in silent agony.

A sickly red glow pulsed from Gowry's outstretched hands, his raw power spilling forth with reckless abandon.

"The Scarlet Bloom must spread!" His voice was shrill, unhinged, shaking with righteous fervor. "If you will not guide us, then you shall not undo what has been made! This land belongs to decay!"

Then his spell misfired.

The moment the words left his lips, something went wrong.

The ground beneath them trembled violently, as if reality itself were rejecting his will. A twisted screech echoed from the depths of the Rot-infested swamp as the magic coiled back on itself—like a serpent devouring its own tail. The very air fractured, thick with the scent of burning ozone, as an unseen force turned Gowry's own sorcery against him.

Loretta barely had time to snarl something vaguely dignified before the ground beneath them ripped apart.

A tear in reality split the land open, jagged and violent, swallowing them in a chaotic maelstrom of twisting space and shattering time. The very concept of stability crumbled as the world around them bent at impossible angles.

Naruto managed a single, well-spoken—

"Ah, crap—"

Then everything exploded.

A tidal wave of force launched them all into the abyss. Scarlet energy flared, tendrils of unnatural power lashing out, ensnaring them in its chaotic grasp. The last thing Naruto saw was Malenia twisting midair, her sword flashing as she tried to counter the rupture, her golden wings flaring in defiance.

Then the world folded.

A weightless, sickening pull yanked them through the churning void—time and space fraying at the edges like a tattered scroll being rewritten mid-sentence. Shadows bled into light, shapes flickered between forms, and then—

Silence.

(...The Land of Shadows...)

For a moment, there was nothing.

Just a cold void, an empty stretch of weightless silence where time itself felt undone. Then—

THUD.

Naruto hit the ground with all the grace of a sack of bricks.

"Ow." His voice was muffled against the dirt.

A moment later, Loretta descended, landing with a smooth, almost effortless grace—though her scowl suggested she was barely holding onto her patience. Malenia, of course, landed as if she had done so a thousand times before, her blade unsheathed in a single fluid motion, already scanning for unseen threats.

Naruto groaned, rolling onto his back, eyes swimming. His whole body ached. "Okay," he muttered, voice thick with annoyance. "On a scale of one to 'I hate magic,' how bad was that?"

Loretta exhaled sharply, dusting herself off with an irritated flick of her wrist. "Unacceptable."

Malenia said nothing at first, golden eyes narrowing as she took in their surroundings. The tension in her grip had not lessened.

"…Where…" Her voice trailed off, uncertain for the first time.

Naruto sat up, rubbing his head, still dizzy from whatever chaotic dimensional nonsense had just thrown them through a blender. He was prepared to make some sarcastic comment—something about how this was why he didn't like teleportation—

And then he looked around.

He immediately wished he hadn't.

They were not in Caelid anymore.

The land of Scarlet Rot and festering decay was gone, replaced by something… otherworldly. The air itself felt wrong—dense with an eerie stillness, thick with power, as if the land held its breath in anticipation. Shadows clung unnaturally to the ruins around them, shifting ever so slightly, defying the light source like living things. The architecture was ancient, alien, impossibly massive pillars stretching toward a sky that looked neither like dawn nor dusk but something between the two.

Towering remnants of forgotten grandeur loomed over them, half-consumed by crystallized gold—a substance that pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat, neither alive nor dead. There was something unsettling about the way it spread over the ruins, creeping up walls, devouring structures, frozen in time yet feeling as if it could grow at any moment.

A whisper of wind brushed past, but there was no source—no trees, no leaves, no movement. Only echoes of something long lost.

Naruto exhaled sharply, his unease finally catching up to him.

"…Okay, what fresh hell did we just get dropped into?"

Loretta adjusted her grip on her spear, her posture rigid with caution.

"This place is unnatural."

Malenia remained still, gaze flickering across the golden corruption. Then, after a long pause, she spoke.

"The Land of Shadows."

Naruto frowned. "That sounds… ominous."

Loretta's expression darkened. "It should."

Naruto looked between them. "Okay, someone explain before I start assuming the worst."

Malenia's fingers twitched against the hilt of her blade, her voice even but laced with something… restrained.

"This is a place that should not exist."

Naruto arched a brow. "You're gonna have to be more specific. I've been to plenty of places that shouldn't exist."

Loretta's lips thinned. "This is where those who are forsaken are sent to be forgotten. A land cut away from time itself."

"…That doesn't sound great."

"It is not."

Naruto exhaled, glancing at the gold creeping across the ruins. "And what's with the… whatever that is?"

Malenia's gaze lingered on it, her expression unreadable. "…Foul remnants of something ancient."

Loretta tensed. "This place is tainted by a power unlike the Rot."

Naruto frowned, getting to his feet. His instincts were screaming at him—something was wrong with this place, deeper than what could be seen. The air was thick, pressing against him, not in weight but in intent.

Like they were unwelcome.

Like they were being watched.

Malenia, ever attuned to battle, shifted her stance subtly.

"We should move."

Naruto cracked his knuckles. "Yeah. Not gonna argue with that."

As they stepped forward, a deep rumble vibrated through the ground—low, distant, but unmistakable.

Something in the shadows stirred.

For one thing, it wasn't on fire.

And found themselves staring at a very talk person.

The Flame's Prodigal Son

The man—the legend—stood atop a vast, shadowed temple staircase, his towering frame wrapped in ornate armor, a presence that exuded both nobility and overwhelming power. His golden mask glinted ominously in the dim light, and his amber eyes, burning with an almost divine intensity, locked onto Malenia.

For a long, heavy moment, no one spoke.

A gust of wind stirred the temple's ancient banners, their tattered edges whispering secrets of a forgotten past. The air was thick—thick with history, with tension, with something unspoken.

Then—

"I have a sister?"

Naruto's brain completely short-circuited.

Messmer strode forward, arms crossed over his chest, his expression a mixture of astonishment and intrigue. His eyes raked over Malenia, his gaze like a scholar dissecting an ancient text.

"A sister with red hair?" His deep voice echoed across the temple grounds. "A warrior of our bloodline?!" His arms uncrossed as his brows furrowed, his expression shifting between suspicion and wonder.

"Who art thou?"

Naruto blinked. Then turned to Malenia.

"You wanna handle this one?"

Malenia, for all her battle-hardened resolve, had been prepared for many things in life—including, but not limited to, fighting entire armies, slaying demi-gods, and resisting the Scarlet Rot's torment.

But she had not been prepared for a long-lost sibling to appear out of nowhere.

Her throat tightened, her stance stiffened.

"…You are Messmer?"

Messmer threw back his head with a booming laugh. "Indeed!" His voice radiated confidence, pride, and something almost theatrical. He thumped a fist against his chest, the sheer force of the gesture making the air tremble.

"Son of Marika! Brother to Radagon! And—evidently!—to thee! Ohoho!"

Malenia barely held back a wince.

The crimson-maned warrior's expression flickered from astonishment to utter delight. His grin widened with something almost childlike, as though he had just discovered an unexpected fortune.

"I must tell everyone! Radahn, Ranni, Mohg—I am an uncle! What a revelation!"

Naruto, still processing the sheer absurdity of the moment, choked violently. "Uncle?! What—how?!"

Messmer turned, spreading his arms to the sky, his voice rich with excitement.

"I AM AN UNCLE!"

Somewhere in the sky, there was a distant boom—whether it was thunder or divine exasperation, no one could tell.

Malenia had never felt this tired in her entire existence.

Messmer suddenly spun back around, eyes gleaming as he looked between the unfamiliar figures beside Malenia.

"And these—" He gestured toward Naruto and Loretta, his expression positively radiant. "Are these my nieces?!"

Loretta, who had only just managed to steady herself from their chaotic teleportation, stiffened, giving the man a look that promised violence.

Naruto, still kneeling on the ground, simply gawked at him.

His entire being rebelled against this notion.

"No—nope—absolutely not—"

Messmer hummed, seemingly unfazed. "Then perhaps my nephews?"

Malenia sighed, rubbing her temples. "They are neither."

Messmer frowned, tilting his head in confusion.

"Oh," he mused, then his eyes gleamed with sudden realization. "Then—who is the father?"

Naruto immediately gagged on his own spit.

Loretta's grip on her spear audibly tightened.

Malenia stared at Messmer with the same expression one might give an incoming storm—cold, impassive, but full of underlying exhaustion.

Naruto, meanwhile, was dying. He fell to the floor in a fit of wheezing disbelief, gripping his chest as if the sheer mental whiplash had physically hurt him.

Messmer, still obliviously radiant, beamed down at them.

"Well?"

Malenia exhaled. "Messmer."

"Yes, dear sister?"

"Stop talking."

(...Meanwhile, Elsewhere…)

Ranni was having a very, very bad day.

The Land of Shadows was already a realm steeped in mystery and danger, a place best left undisturbed. But no—her meddlesome half-sister, Malenia, had somehow found her way here, bringing whatever chaos naturally followed in her wake.

That, alone, was enough of a headache.

But now, she had to deal with Radahn.

She had been standing at the very edges of the Shadowlands, her spectral form shimmering against the ever-twilight horizon, preparing to venture forth when the air suddenly shook.

A crack of force split the sky.

Then, with the might of a falling meteor, a mountain of muscle, armor, and unbreakable will descended from the heavens.

Radahn struck the earth like a divine calamity, his sheer presence sending a tremor through the very fabric of the land. The winds howled in protest, the ground cracked beneath his massive form, and spectral flames flickered ominously across his armor. His twin greatswords were already in hand, their gleaming edges reflecting the light of the cursed sky.

And then, without hesitation, he rose.

The towering figure of General Radahn straightened, a colossus standing before his sister, his stance unyielding.

His voice rumbled like rolling thunder.

"You shall not pass, sister."

Ranni's four spectral arms flexed slightly, her expression unreadable beneath her ever-serene mask. A lesser being might have balked in the face of such raw power, but Ranni merely narrowed her chilling azure eyes.

"Oh? And why not?"

Radahn did not move.

"None shall enter this place." His words were absolute, spoken as if they were law itself. "I will not allow it."

Ranni sighed. The burden of family.

"…So this is how it shall be?" Her voice was soft, yet edged with frost.

Radahn did not waver.

She let out a slow breath, lifting a delicate hand.

A flick of her fingers.

Darkness rippled. Shadows stretched.

And then, like a whisper through time, a figure emerged beside her—a champion wreathed in cold, shimmering power. A presence ancient and terrible, yet honed for the sole purpose of battle.

Radahn's brow furrowed. His grip on his blades tightened ever so slightly.

Ranni's voice was glacial.

"I shall pass, brother. And thou shall not stop me."

The air shifted.

Radahn exhaled, slow and deep, eyes narrowing as he took in the warrior standing at his sister's side.

Then, for the first time, he spoke directly to the figure.

"And who is this?"

A pause.

A slow, dark chuckle.

And then—

A deep, snarling voice rumbled through the air, thick with an almost hungry anticipation:

"Finally. A worthy opponent."

Radahn's lips curled into a fierce, grinning snarl.

A challenge.

A battle.

A true fight.

Lightning crackled along his armor as he stepped forward, his greatswords igniting with the fury of a warrior born to carve through the very stars. The force of his presence alone sent shockwaves through the land, as if the realm itself recognized that something monumental was about to unfold.

He lowered into a stance—heavy, grounded, unbreakable.

The champion did the same, eyes gleaming with the fire of battle.

Then—

The world exploded into war.

A/N: Note from Dark Hope you enjoyed! Writing Messmer as an overly enthusiastic "long-lost uncle" is hilarious, and the contrast between Radahn and Ranni's serious confrontation is gold. Let me know what you think!

A/N: There we go.

That said, would you like weekly updates for this story? Do let me know~!

Well? Should this remain a story? Yay or nay, what say you? Not much else to say this time 'round. Reviews keep me writing, and without them, my inspiration falls flat. Ever bit of feedback helps. Pain hurts. Pain hurts a loooot. But silence from readers and reviewers? That hurts even more. As ever, reviews keep this old man alive during these dark and crazy times. I ain't joking.

Just wanted to thank everyone for their heartfelt support. Covid has...given me a lot to think about.

There are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things, of this site, when I'm gone.

Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. Feels like everyone's lost their minds sometimes. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas... Review...Would You Kindly?

May the make you smile~!

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

PLOT DETAILS AHOY!

YE BE WARNED!

Read at your own risk!

Mostly the same here. Didn't want to spoil the next arc.

(Previews)

"Speak, and I will listen."

Gowry grinned. "All part of the plan...

"WARRIOR!"

"Oi, oi, oi! Its too damn early for this!

EDIT: Hey, you made it! Thanks for reading!

Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? Well, it won't be continued. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- 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 hearing from you all when I get back from work~!

R ~!