Chapter 22: Chapter 22
'The boss had been slain, but at what cost?'
His condition wasn't improving, in fact, it was declining at such a rapid pace that it worried her to no end. Biting her nails, Vestia turned to the dropped sword and brought it into their shared storage space. Before immediately shifting back to Dave, her beloved.
Gritting her teeth, a pressure bore down on her shoulder, literally. She slung his right arm over her body, heaving him up off the ground with much difficulty. A deep breath exited her lips, hastening as her muscles strained, knees buckling under the weight. This was too much in such a small amount of time, but she had to endure it… for his sake.
Her progress was slow, snail-like even. However, she was fortunate enough that the site of grace was only a few minutes away, lest she might have collapsed from exhaustion. Carefully placing down her beloved on top of a pile of rocks, her legs collapsed in on themselves, her entire body aching from the battle. Still, she pushed forth, administering a continuous and steady dose of his estus flasks.
A conflicted look overcame her face, distorting any emotion that was previously there. 'This had been her fault, right? If it weren't for her asking, then he wouldn't be in this kind of situation.' Many such thoughts drifted in her mind, her eyes blindly staring off into the distance as she chanted yet another healing miracle.
'No, he accepted to taketh thee on thine choice. It was his decision to let thee through, and he suffered consequences because of it.' A part of her tried to deny the part she played in the mess, while the other side rallied for the opposite, her mind torn between the two, her eyes drifting back and forth between the wider ocean just beyond the curve and her partner's body.
Both made arguments she could delude herself in for the rest of eternity, clinging onto whichever made the most sense at the time. Her mind raced a million thoughts a second, the tides between the two sides rocking like the raging seas in the distance, a stormy cloud crackling just above her.
Vestia shook her head, wrought with both pain and indecisiveness, her back leaned against a rock, both hands resting atop her head, occasionally shaking as water pelted her clothes. "A terrible day for rain, isn't it?" She asked the air before her, tilting her head and showing a bittersweet smile. "It sure is…" Pausing, her legs tucked into her chest, arms wrapped around her shoulders. "This was my fault. Had I not urged him, this would've been nothing more than a simple errand, but I myself chose this path…"
Craning her head up, she stared at the burnt arm of her beloved. Dave, her expression cracking. "What's done is done, and I can only atone for mine sins from here on out. I can only hope an apology will be enough to ease his mind when he awakes. Lest I turned up the same fate as mother…" A shiver ran up her spine, the cold sea breeze barely making it easier for the firekeeper. Huddling in closer into herself, she let her tiredness drift away, the day's plights washing over her as her body eased, mind drifting off into rest.
…
Damn crickets, always ruining my sleep.
Scratching my head, I cracked a good portion of my neck, popping a majority of the crooks that formed from my awkward sleeping position. Naturally, it wasn't a pleasant experience, but one that I shrugged off without much thought, my mind still in a daze after the blissful rest-
Vestia wasn't there…. Where could she possibly be? My eyes gradually snapped open, the flecks of dirt blocking my sight breaking apart without much though, the discarded remains falling off when I swiped them. With my vision the clearest it could be, I was treated to a magnificent sight, a spectacle, I'd expect to have been set up in order to cheer me up.
She stood over the moonlit, starry night sky, casting a shadow at the ground below. Her posture was relaxed, though almost contemplative, the most distant thousand-yard stare I'd ever seen. Her hair shone with the light of the quarter-moon, highlighting her flawless milk-white skin. Sucking in a deep breath, I stared at the beauty for what felt like hours, my eyes continuously drawn to her.
Taking a step forward, I staggered, the left side of my body falling into the rocky floor. Agony exploded forth, eyes twitching uncontrollably as the pain looped back around for yet another round. My teeth gnashed against one another, in a futile effort to ignore the time. Leveraging my right arm, I helped myself to a nearby incline surface, straightening myself before I turned into a fool.
But it would seem as though I already dug that grave, a hand reaching out for me. A smile overcame my face, the strength I had once lost returning at a rapid pace as I held onto it, pulling myself out of the situation I was in. "Welcome back, glad to see that you're alright." I greeted, pulling her into my chest. "had me worried sick looking like that. You should really have picked one of the many fur coats just lying around in the inventory. Stuff's practically collecting dust at this point."
Shrugging, her head didn't move one bit, even her eyes avoided to look at me. "Thoust should return the sword, and make great haste." She stated, my eyes widening slightly. Right, almost forgot about that. "We've already wasted enough time by resting, should we take any longer, and Sir Edgard might think less of us in the end."
"Fine, fine." Pulling out a water pouch from the ether, I guzzled down on its contents in less than a second and put it back in, my right arm hovering over the site of grace. "Here, let's make it easier for ourselves. If it really does work the same as the bonfires did, then that would mean it's only a matter of time before I locate the teleport switch."
Fiddling around with the semi-foreign mechanisms, I questioned just how convenient these things had worked up until now. My mind just couldn't wrap itself around the concept of the multitude of coincidences that had occurred one after another. Yet, things were still very much so different.
A grid-like map appeared in my head, a handful of pointers all concentrated on a single part of the image. It looked similar to the castle we were in, but different in some way, almost as though it were painted by an amateur. Pushing the stray thought off to the side, a mental picture of the grace I wanted to transport to hazily arose from thin air.
Its background was blurry, a mere afterthought to the one who made it. Though, the items in the foreground were detailed enough to identify where they were, the cellars near where we previously kept Irina for her safety. Turning towards Vestia, I snatched her hand, and confirmed my choice, a yellow mist obscuring our current surroundings from sight.
'Somethings never change I suppose.'
Reminiscing on the past, the dusty air struck my nose immediately afterward, dim darkness clouding my view. "Huh, much darker than I expected." I idly commented, turning my head back and forth. "Would've expected at least one torch in here, but I suppose those eventually go out as well."
For her part, the firekeeper kept quiet all the way throughout, only speaking when spoken to, and generally keeping to herself… dammit. It wasn't too hard to notice. The atmosphere around her after a while was blatant enough as it was. Though, likely wouldn't have been able to guess if it weren't for my prior experience. Had she been an undead, this would be the beginning stages of hollowfication… "Oh dear."
"Yes?" Vestia perked up, her hips leaning over, her eye mask clear and in view. "Is there something thousts require of me?"
A grimace gradually contorted my face, stopping when my brain caught up, giving her a reply. "No, no. There's absolutely nothing wrong. Just surprised at the amount of time that has passed, nothing more." Sucking in a breath of air, I turned towards the walk way, and stepped into the elevator.
'A plan, something, anything!' I pleaded internally, receiving no response from those who inhabited my mind. 'Alright, let's just relax and think through this more clearly. No good will come out of half-baked decisions. Only more suffering.' Reminding this to myself, the tension building up in my muscles subsided, if barely.
The beat of my heat boomed in my ears, a shock of warmth flooding my cheeks, flowing into my eyes. I had to take this slowly. Her condition would only worsen if I rushed things too fast. She was akin to a field of unseen traps. Should I even accidentally stray from the laid-out path, then only death would await me. Except, there was no map, and I didn't have anything to go by. Slowly but surely. Snaking both my arms around her lithe figure, an uncomfortable feeling welled up in my core. I promise, I will help you the best I can. For both of our sakes.
"Is there something on thine mind, Dave?" She asked, leaning into my embrace. "Thou seemth to be in distress." Swallowing down a lump that had formed in my throat, my grip around her tightened ever so slightly. "I… apologize for doing what I did. Clearly, it was reckless of me to jump in without so much as a second thought to reconsider."
At that moment, the elevator reached the top, my expression strained, hands waving. "No, no, it's fine. It was my fault for being unable to help soon enough. You don't have to say sorry for anything, really. Besides, with my arm like this, my pyromancies should theoretically become stronger, at the cost of some pain, but nobody said it wouldn't hurt."
I tried to play it off, her head blankly tilting upward to find my cheery expression, smiles all around. "Relax, and look at the bright side. Now, I can help you train without feeling left out. It's not that I don't do particularly well with miracles or anything like that. Sorcery and the pyromancer arts just fit better together than set in stone chants. Though, I do think you have been able to mold them into traps, if I recall correctly."
She hummed, taking the first few steps into the still burning courtyard. My breath halted immediately, hand reaching out for a pair of mint sprigs, passing them to the fire keeper. "Many thanks, Ashen One." What a fool I was. If this was enough to crack a smile on my face, then I'd better prepare for the future. "At the cost of sounding like a broken record, I have to ask thee once more. Is something the matter?"
Shaking my head, I looked to the starry night sky. "No, everything's fine. The day's just been taking its toll on me. To the point where, it feels like weeks have passed, when only hours have been set behind us." Taking my line of vision back to the earth, I stared at the passage way that led into the second floor. "Come on, just a little bit more. We can hand over the item and walk right out. Maybe even continue our rest once we find a place to stay."
Now that I said it out loud, it did sound off. But, what else were we supposed to do? Fight in the middle of the night? That plan was practically suicidal unless either of us found a way to see in the dark. Shaking my head at the idea, we climbed up the ladder and trotted down the path which led straight for the father-daughter duo we had left a while back. Both of whom were engaged in small talk, their heads turning to face the two of us as soon as they heard our footsteps, Edgar's hand grazing his halberd.
"Relax, it's just us!" I called out, the older man's body easing by just a tad. "Sorry for the hold up by the way. That bastard was tougher than we thought, took a good portion of my arm with it. Thankfully, it still works just fine." Flexing it back and forth, my hand reached into the ether, Irina staring at her surroundings, flipping from both me and her father.
It took an immense effort to heft, my muscles bulging, voice groaning as it got off the ground, inch by inch. The sword looked like an art piece than an actual weapon. Though there were blades of its size like the 'Fume Knight Greatsword' , it was frankly less practical in all regards.
Too big to be wielded properly, more akin to a massive slab of iron with jutting spikes. A weird decision since anyone stricken by it would've been bisected by the crazed mad man who chose to wield this thing. Struggling to present it in front of the castle's watchdog, he nodded at the sight, sagging his shoulders defeatedly.
"I suppose I'm in your debt, tarnished. For keeping the sword away from those fallen heathens, I am no longer bound by duty." Edgar stated with a sigh, his gaze falling to the other blind woman. "Irina, we must go. We have already spent these people's time enough. We can only assume that their patience with us nearly, or already has run thin. We must find and seek shelter. Shelter far and away from this barbaric violence." The seat beneath him groaned, the weight lifting off its back as the man stood upright, his polearm in one hand and his daughter in the other.
"Dave, Vestia!" Irina called out, her legs stumbling to regain their balance. "I can't thank you enough for all that you have done for me. Even if there wasn't much for me to do, and my actions were befitting that of an oaf's, there aren't enough words to describe my gratitude for the both of you."
Her words struck a cord in me, the edges of my lips rising as the two of them waved us both off, their descent covered by the night's veil of darkness. "Finally, I can rest easy knowing that she's safe." Falling to the ground, all the air in my lungs blew out, the pain of the sudden action reaching me almost immediately.
"And for thy efforts, thou hath received another sword, adding yet another to the growing collection." Vestia added, her figure crouched, leaning over my body, blocking the starry night sky. "So, where dost thou choose to go next, Dave? So I may chart a course to its most optimal route."
I hummed in thought for a moment, than a few more. My head blank of any thoughts. It was hard to say, really. There was so much to select from, and still, very little to go by. This land felt so empty, but also large and expansive. There was just so much to explore that it felt like such a daunting task to accomplish.
My fingers tapped idly, mouth opening and closing before I came up with an answer. "We take everything not immediately nailed down to the floor. Perhaps even visit the local churches for their sacred tears, they have been quite useful in keeping us alive."
"Then I shall see what I can do. In the meantime, I suggest we set up camp." She instructed, her slender hands reaching into the void and pulling out a fragment of the coiled sword. "And, should be theory be correct, then the item before thee should have the ability to warp us to any previously visited site of grace." Placing it on my chest, my eyebrows raised as she gave me an expectant look.
"You want me to use it? Alright, guess it wouldn't hurt to try." Shrugging my shoulders, I sat back up, meeting her eye to eye, my hands tightly constricting around her shoulder. Pouring a slight bit of my power into the broken sword, our surroundings immediately shifted in the blink of an eye, whisking us away to some other far-off place. There was one concerning detail, however. The control I once had over this item slipped from right under my fingertip, making it hard to dictate where I wanted to go.
'By the God of Luck, where am I headed to next?'
____________________________
[A/N: I have returned... the latest chapter was longer than what I thought it would be. Some smut was had, I burnt through all of my available braincells, and I'm going to step away from this fic for a bit, again. I've written nothing but this fic for the past week, so I hope you all can understand. Still, thank you for reading this far, where many others have already left, it means a lot to me that you still continue on. Copy and paste stuff below.
Anyways, if you find anything wrong in the fic, let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts, opinions, and what I could have done in place of what is present.
Join discord server. I have one.: /eTb2kPab4z
I also have a at balls1124. For only a dollar or more, you can get access to 2 more chapters beyond the current one. That's pretty neat if I do say so myself..
With that being said, going to revisit a fic I haven't written for in a while.]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone