A/N: Short chapter this time. I'm not pushing myself, lest I have another anxiety attack.
The spree begins. It was torture waiting this long. Seems I was right to pause and wait for the DLC after all. Now we can continue. Can anyone see this chapter? Notifications are down yet again. Do let me know in the reviews!
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~!
Speaking of which, I finally bested the last boss on NG 4 after many hours, I've beaten the DLC...and I am dead inside.
What. Was. THAT ENDING?! How am I to sleep after that! The DLC also forced me to change up a few story beats in several of my stories for Elden Ring, while, oddly enough, enhancing others. Runt of the Litter -Naruto reborn as Godrick- and Forget Me Not -Naruto reborn as Miquella- come to mind. To say nothing of the others. Slifer and I are preparing a story given Marika's official origins now, and it's going to be a doozy.
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!
"Come one, come all, to the Queen's Caress!
Finest pleasure house in all of Leyndell!
What say you?"
~?
Omen of Silk (Interlude)
Two Omens and a Princess walk into a brothel, searching for dragons.
If it sounded like the beginning of a bad joke...
...perhaps it was.
In any case, the hunt for the Dungeater's patron had begun in earnest now at Godwyn's request. and it fell to him now to see things through...one way or another. As far as searching for a traitor went, one wouldn't think to find the a cilent -or any patron!- lurking in such an establishment, let alone one like as this. He'd come here expecting harsh, contrasting colors, but what he found proved to be anything but.
Soft.
That was the frist word that came to mind when he swept open the door and barged inside.
No one took any notice of him at first, not him, nor Albedo, or even sweet Rya. They were completely, utterly ignored.
It didn't take long to see why, given the...clientele.
Heat rose to his cheeks when beheld the various men and woman in states of undress.
Momentarily embarassed, he averted his gaze. The walls and carpets were a sweet, mellow yellow, while the very walls themselves seemed to shimmer with fettered light. No, not yellow he realized, but gold.
What was this place called again? The Queen's Caress? No points for ingenuity, there.
Regardless, it was very…clean. At least, Naruto thought so.
Not a speck of dirt anywhere! Well done.
Then again, when you were born and raised in the sewers your entire life, all the world seemed clean by comparison. This place, meanwhile, was cleaner than most. The scent of perfume wafted across his nose, tempting his senses like a long lost lover. Everywhere he looked, his found his gaze lingering, despite his best efforts to avert it. A blond woman dressed in the style of Queen Marika herself sashayed past him, wearing a gown of see through silk and against his will, he found his gaze drawn to her backside.
Albedo hissed behind him.
"Relax." He patted her head. "I wasn't trying to look, ya know. There's a difference."
Someone touched his hindquarters and he sucked in a reflexive breath, startled by the sudden contact.
"Oooh, an Omen." a velvety voice caressed his ears, soft as silk. "We don't get many Omen around these parts."
"Or any at all, really." Another added.
"Didn't know they could be so handsome...
He caught sight of a redhead with flowing curls before she vanished into the crush of people. That was his only warning before they were noticed; the rest assailed them. He studiously averted his gaze and stared at the ceiling, doing his best to tune the lot of them out, to no avail.
"Look at him, he's proper fit. And those horns look like a crown...
"Have you come to play with us, my prince?"
"And he has princesses with him!"
"Aren't the three of you a lovely couple?"
"We'll give you a discount...
Now it was Albedo's turn to sputter. "Discount?!"
Rya tilted her head. "Couple?"
Albedo's pale face had grown increasingly red throughout the conversation, which made her dark lustrous hair and curved horns stick out all the more, the better to draw attention to her natural beauty. Naturally, said attention made her even more red, so on and on it went, to say nothing of her body and wings. If she hadn't lost her tail long ago, he was certain someone would have tried to grab it by now. Her dress only made matters worse for her. All white with gold sequins over her bosom, it left little to imagination.
This was precisely why he'd dressed down before coming here, favoring a simple a grey tunic embossed with hints of green and gold himself.
Rya was dressed like...well, Rya. She liked her green dress, same as always. In truth she didn't seem at all flustered.
Was she really that pure? She'd insisted on coming here with the two of them, Rykard had even allowed it, while Godwyn seemed amused by the notion.
"Its nothing she hasn't seen before." He'd said at the time. "Be sure to ask about her mother."
What did that imply, exactly...? Nope, nevermind! Ignorance was bliss!
A hand caressed his face, catapulting him back to the present.
"Oh, look at him. He's proper handsome for an omen."
"A moment of your time, dear prince?"
"Surely you have some for us...
Albedo absolutely hissed. "May I kill them?"
The Formless Mother crooned in his head. "Yes, please!"
"No," he sighed, and delved a hand into his belt, withdrawing a pouch of runes. "No murder. I'm looking for someone." he let he runes jingle against one another for good measure, drawing all eyes directly to him. "Several someones, really. One should be a maiden with pale hair and bright eyes, the other a man with dark hair and pallid skin, never far from her side. I'll pay good money-
The "ladies" crooned in dark delight, cutting him off. "He must mean the dragon siblings!"
"Is he choosing them, then?
"Lucky!"
A redhead pointed toward the southern end of the room, near the stairs.
Belatedly, he spied the young man and woman in question -mercifully clothed unlike everyone else here!- berating one of the patron; a bald corpulent roll of a man who's silk double and breeches seemed several sizes too small, and no amount of fanciful fashion could hide it. Of the duo maligning the poor fellow, one was of dark hair, the other white as snow. Neither seemed aware of them with the ruckus they were making; they were lost in their own little world, heedless to the rest. Which worked out rather well for them; thanks to that he was able to get right behind them without even noticing.
"Tell us where the Dungeater's patron is our I shall eat you!" the girl snarled. "And not in the good way!"
Spirits, he could've fired a spell in their face and they still wouldn't have noticed, so fixated were they upon their task.
Belatedly he caught sight of their telltale golden eyes and quirked a brow. "Ten runes says those are Lanseax and Fortisax."
Albedo scoffed and ran a hand through her frazzled hair. "No bet."
Naruto clicked his tongue and paid the "Lady" in question.
Rya whined. "Aw, but runes..."
Ignoring their byplay, Naruto shouldered his way forward and, carefully, tapped the woman on the shoulder.
Not carefully enough, it seemed; because she rounded on him with a yelp and swung for the fences.
A fist filled his vision, to which he nimbly ducked aside.
Albedo, standing directly behind him, however...
.
..
...did not.
Down she went with a bloody, eyes rolling back in her head.
Rya yelped and caught her before she could fall and dash her head against a table, but even then it proved a near thing; so much so that Naruto immediately found himself pivoting about as he rose back to his feet, forced to ignore the claint as he fled. His fingers hooked into a claw to grab Godwyn's so-called "friend" by her wrist and reel her in like a fish.
Right, there went any good will he might felt. "You are Lansseax, right?"
The pale-haired lass rounded on him, "I am, what of it? Is this about the gir? You should tell your woman to be mor careful."
Narutps temper twitched tenfold. "Great!" he stomped a foot so hard, every candle in the room winked out. "Our mutual friend sent us."
Fortissax slapped a hand to his own forehead. "Oh, dear...
"Godwyn?" His sibling perked up, anger fading somewhat. "Has he a message for us?"
Naruto nodded briskly. "He does! Funny thing, though, so do I."
"And what might that be-
CRUNCH.
He decked the disguised dragon in the schnoz and sent her hurting through a wall and into a pillar.
Naruto lowered his fist and spat as she hit the floor facefirst, out cold. "That's my message."
Rya whistled. "Oooh, she flew!"
"A thousand apologies for my sister." Fortisaax pinched the bridge of his nose. "But you shouldn't have done that."
"Why?" Naruto barely spared him a glance; he only had eyes for Albedo; taking her from Rya, he gingerly laid her down on a nearby couch and went to work healing her bloody nose despite the protest of the Formless Mother in his head. "Way I see it, someone should've done something like that a long time ago."
"You're not wrong...but you'll see when she wakes up.
He huffed. "She gonna be angry?"
"Angry? I think not. She'll demand a rematch, likely of a more...physical nature.
Rya tilted her head and made a questioning noise. "Like wrestling?"
Naruto heaved a sigh. "Its always the crazy ones...
How little he knew.
(.0.0.0.)
"...!"
Ranni heaved a sneeze.
"That churl better not be thinking about me!"
A/N: Have I set the scene? Whet your appetite? Good!
Next chapter will be longer than this, rest assured, I just need TIME to write.
I'm well aware that this story isn't as popular as the others, but even so, I'll try to keep going.
Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I lose hope. Guess that makes me weak. So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly?
Here, have some previews.
Some are the same.
And as ever.
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
HERE BE SPOILERS!
(Preview)
Minemineminemine!
Naruto had time enough to blink before someone barreled into his side.
What does she have that I don't?"
He frowned. "Are you...jealous?"
"I-I most assuredly not!
"You definitely are."
A blade whistled down at his head. He caught it with one hand and reeled his attacker in. "Hello, there! Is there a particular reason you're trying to kill me?"
"Wretched Omen! Die!"
"Hmm, hmm." Naruto thumbed his chin and. "You make a good point. Allow me to offer my rebuttal."
CRUNCH.
A pleasure to meet you.
He didn't trust this Gideon guy. Not one bit.
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was a blast to write.
Looking forward to chatting with you all when I get back from work~!
Seriously, writing only to receive silence hurts. It hurts alot.
Tired,
~Nz.
R ~!