4,050A/N: EDIT:...well, that's not a lot of feedback. what's the point in updating this when folks don't enjoy it?
Neither this nor "Golden Soul" got much feedback despite both being updated today.
Is this what I get for trying...? I just don't know sometimes. T_T
Apologies for the long wait, I was hoping the Elden Ring DLC would have come out by now, or that we would've heard something, but alas...
With my sixteen year anniversary on this site rapidly approaching, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.
And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things 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 here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. They're tributes to legends far greater than I.
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~!
The quote below is a reference. Enjoy~!
"Why do you hesitate? Everything in this life is a tool, a key to victory. Use it.
Open that door. Do not linger in the past. Regret will kill you.
Advance! Charge forward! Never look back!
Ever onward! Ever upward!
ADVANCE!"
~a reference.
Sacrifices Must Be Made
"So that's the plan, then?"
Naruto beamed. "Its better than the one we had before."
Milicent pinched the bridge of her nose. "My Lord, do realize we didn't HAVE a plan before this."
"Precisely!" he snapped his fingers and pointed her way across the Roundtable. "Which makes this plan infinitely better than the last one~!"
.
..
...are you going to get him for that, or should I?"
Melina smiled softly.
"Allow me."
When she leaned over to dig a finger into his whiskered cheek, Naruto endured it with a bemused smile. After all, things were better between them. He'd happily let Melina give him a jab or two and the odd smack on the back if if meant she'd stick around for the foreseeable future. And she was!
Life was good.
Now he just needed to wrangle the rest of his allies, convince them of his plan, and venture forth.
Easier said than done, but Leyndell wasn't built in a day or so they say.
"So we're going to burn the Erdtree," he said. "All in favor?"
Nearly every hand rose...save one.
"Great," he steepled his hands and laid his chin atop them. "I've already decided how, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. I'm fairy certain a normal flame won't cut it, so if any of you have alternative means...?"
His heart drummed wildly in his chest as he awaited their response. He had done all that he could. Talked and fought and cajoled each of them as best he could. Now he had but to wait.
He let his gaze roam over the lot of them.
Trish and Greyoll seemed content, but Therolina looked positively mutinous at the mere mention of fire. He could sense the roiling cauldron of her emotions even from here; she'd already disapproved of their many and myriad ideas before, but now she looked all of an instant from leaping right to her feet an' leaving the table altogether. That was a bridge he would have have to cross soon, or burn, like the Erdtree itself.
Voices rose all at once and not in agreement. He caught some snatches among them:
"Begging your pardon my lord, the Volcano Manor might have a means to-
"That foul place?! I'll never set foot in Mt. Gelmir ever again!"
"Whyever not? Its quite the peaceful place, I've found."
"Rya, my dear sweet child, you are woefully naive-
"Can we not just blast the bloody thing apart?"
"Bah! Spoken like a true beast, Blaidd!"
"The Forge of the Giants is the only-
"Do not speak such heresy!
"It is the only way!"
Right, they weren't getting anywhere with this.
Thankfully, he knew how to put a stop to it this time arond.
On a whim he raised a hand and brought it crashing down on the table.
"That's enough." his voice rang out into the silence that followed, sharp and cutting. "I saved you all; you're able to sit here, talking, arguing, espousing your ideals because of me. Yet you can't seem to agree on a single talking point. Hush up and listen already."
Ranni hid a hum behind one of her many hands. "No need to be so rude...
Naruto stared her into silence and she quailed beneath his glare. He held her eye until she finally looked away; only then did he take a deep breath to settle himself.
"Me, Melina, and Millicent will head to the Forge of the Giants first thing tomorrow morning. Greyoll and Lansseax will provide air support.," he didn't miss their triumphant expressions; nor did he fail to watch those words ripple across his assembled allies like a slow-moving wave. He paused just long enough for them so sink in and barreled on. "We think its best to have a small party to infiltrate before we bring the others; and someone needs to hold the capital while we're away."
"Ranni and I shall remain." Rennala demurred, speaking over her daughter's protest. "We have no love of the northern lands. They are far to cold for our liking."
"Suits me just fine." Blaidd rumbled his agreement. "Cold always bothered me anyway."
"I concur." Rya shivered a little, tail flicking behind her. "My blood would surely freeze in such a place."
Nepheli chewed her lower lip. "Someone approached me about Stormveil. We must claim it now that Godrick has fallen.
Naruto tilted his head, mildly pleased to see her finally shaking herself out of her stupor and taking the initiative. Good for her. She had to step out of Gideon's shadow sooner or later. The man was dead after all and had been for some time; no point in crying over spilled milk.
Not that he'd ever shed a tear for that rat bastard.
"Go right ahead," he said. "I'll see you soon."
Her face went red.
Kurama whistled in his head.
Latenna squirmed in her seat, drawing his eye to her. "I...would prefer to accompany you. I wish to see the Haligtree and I have business to attend to in the North besides."
Sure enough, the old fox was quick to nudge him yet again."Bring her along. I've got a good feeling about this."
Against his better judgement, he shrugged. "Fine. I suppose we can squeeze in one more. Anyone else?"
Therolina found her vice next; as he well knew she would. "And what if we disagree with this plan?"
Melina went still. Milicent tensed at his side, one hand falling to the hilt of her blade.
"Simple." Trish crossed both arms before her chest; now that he'd finally restored her voice, she wasn't shy about expressing her opinion. "Then we move on without you."
The holy maiden glared at the tree sentinel but found no traction in her implacable gaze. Nor did she find sanctuary in any of the others.
At length, she hung her head. "I...cannot hope to stand against you."
Naruto let out a soft, silently relieved breath of his own.
"But neither will I support you."
Fool of a girl!
Greyoll clicked her tongue in mild admonishment. "Where is your god now, child? Far and away. It cares not for thee."
The Maiden huffed. "I will be the judge of that."
"So you say." Trish's hooded gaze sought his not a moment later. "In that case, I shall remain to rally the Sentinels and secure the city. If that's alright with you, of course, my lord."
"It is." he granted her a nod in assent, only to be briefly baffled when a small smile flashed across her lovely face.
He was missing something here, wasn't he?
Kurama saw right through to the heart of it, as always.
"She wants to prove herself. I expect she'll have a surprise or two waiting for you upon your return."
"Alright, then!" He clapped his hands. "We'll make camp in the city. Everyone else is free for the day."
Ranni made to rise with the rest of them just a little too quickly.
Naruto fixed her with a small smile. "Not you."
She sat back down with a huff.
(.0.0.0.)
"Not you."
Ranni eyed Naruto with due wariness as he approached her chair.
This was it. The moment she'd long anticipated. They were alone; he would surely try to seduce her now, as he had the others.
But she was no easy catch!
"I am not some easily wooed wench, good sir." she sat up straighter in her seat as a queen would upon their throne and steepled all four hands in her lap. "Keep thy hands to thineself."
Confusion flashed across his face. "I'm not here for that.
.
..
...what?
Ranni's mind fizzled out in a shower of sparks.
Why wasn't he trying to woo her with his wily ways?!
Did he think her not good enough? Did he disdain her because of this doll body?
The thought should've brought her some small semblance of solace. Instead riled her up. "Oh? I am one of the last living goddesses in this land. Whatever my form may be now, I shall soon ascend to the night sky reclaim my true form, and gain a power heretofore unknown to all. You would be wise not to underestimate me-
"Sorry, but that's not happening." his smile stopped her short. "I haven't underestimated you from the moment we met. I like you just as you are, ya know."
She whipped around, face rose red. "Confounded silver tongue!"
Blue eyes shut and opened in a baffled blink. "I'm sorry?"
"Are you?!"
He flung up his arms! "What did I do?!"
Everything! He-no. Calm. Be calm. She mustn't play into his hands.
...nevermind. 'Tis no fault of yours." she looked away with a huff. "What do you wish of me?"
His smile became a tad sheepish. "Well, I was wonderin' if you still had your Great Rune on hand...
What manner of madness was this nonsense?! She jerked back with a scowl leaned back, eyeing him warily. "Thou...you want my Great Rune? You know not what you seek."
"I kinda do." he pulled out the chair opposite her and flung himself into it, lazily draping a leg over one arm rest. "A certain someone mentioned it to me," he most notably refused to say whom, "said you threw it away and everything."
Ranni made angry Ranni noises and covered her face with all four of her hands. "You know not what you ask."
"Don't I?"
"No!" her head snapped up to glare at him. "I discarded it in the far north long ago."
"You did? Great!" Ah, but the boy's enthusiasm truly was dauntless, wasn't it? "Perfect, even! That's where I'm headed."
She slapped his knee. "You do not understand. But how could you? That is a burden I alone bear, and one I had resigned myself to forget."
He didn't rise to her bait. He just kept staring at her with those earnest eyes of his. She quivered, and not in an unpleasant way.
...very well. "I shall tel you its last known location. It is heavily guarded.
"By what?"
"I do not know." it had been so long now, she wasn't sure if the protections were still in place. Something -or someone!- may have found it by now. But she could still sense it near the Haligtree, glimmering faintly in the back of her mind, a distant foggy beacon she could never truly discard. "Seek it if you dare." a thought occurred to her, and in a rare moment of mercy, she prodded him. "But bring that shade of Malenia with you and fix her!"
Hopefully by some miracle, this boy could use that girl and put her sister out her misery. Or perhaps...
Her cold, black heart twitched traitorously in her porcelain chest. Such an unpleasant feeling.
All because of him. He'd started this T'was he who first made he wonder in the first place.
...enough." she looked away, unable to bear the weight of his gaze. "Get thee gone."
His brow furrowed in quiet confusion. "I don't know what you mean."
Ranni huffed. "You shall soon see for yourself.
"Oi, you're not making any sense here-
No more! She'd reached her limit!
Enough! To bed with thee!
(.0.0.0.)
Night came quickly to Leyndell.
And in that inky gloom...
...the shadows stirred.
(.0.0.0.)
She couldn't let him do this.
It was heresy, blasphemy, the foulest of treachery.
To allow such sacrilege...there could be no greater sin in the Lands Between
.
..
...do what must be done. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy.
The voice of the Greater Will was loud in her head. It demanded action.
And so poor, fretful Therolina crept closer to her beloved's bedside, dagger in hand.
She didn't want to kill him, really, she didn't, not when he had done so much for her. But what choice had she? This was the Erdtree, the very symbol of her faith, the very thing that allowed her to use healing miracles in the first place...and he wanted to burn it down. The very concept horrified her. She had been raised to believe in it since she was but a child, it had been the center of her world for so long and for him to just decide to be rid of it simply because it was in his way.
How could the bittersweet pang of a first love possibly compare to that which she had nurtured and believed in all her life?
She knew the answer. It could not.
Should not. Must not.
And yet.
Naruto looked so peaceful in his sleep. Downright innocent as he slumbered in his bed.
This was her one and only chance to change things before fate flew free.
Must she do this?
She had no desire to end his life, she didn't want to, truly, but if she let him be he would willfully destroy the very foundations of her life. She couldn't abide that.
Steeling herself, Therolina raised the dagger over her head. Her eyes burned with tears. No, keep them open; she would see this through to the end.
This would be her punishment as much as his. Once he died, she would join him in death.
She brought the dagger down with a silent sob.
It slammed into Naruto's chest.
CLANG!
The Great Runes emblazoned in his body sang a song of defiance and an otherwordly light turned her blade aside. Therolina gasped as her dagger was torn clean out of her grip; the sheer force of the repulsion knock her down; she fell back to the floor with a gasp and landed heavily on her rear.
Dazed, she blinked up at him.
Naruto was unharmed. Utterly untouched.
"Why?!" she hissed at his slumbering body. "I can't even murder someone properly! Do you have any idea how much I had to psych myself up for this?"
"KILL HIM."
The voice in her head was so loud. She couldn't even conceive of resistance.
Her body betrayed her and staggered up to its feet, grabbed the dagger.
She closed her eyes, unable to bear the sight.
This time there was no resistance.
The blade plunged deep.
Naruto didn't wake.
The knife fell from her numb fingers. She joined it on the floor, crumpling to her knees.
"What have I done...?
A rhetorical question. She already knew the answer. She had tried to kill him...and for what?
The Greater Will did not sing her praises. Her god was silent now. She had served her purpose and been cast aside. She'd done its bidding and for what? Nothing. The realization appalled her. She was a murderer. A killer. She would take the dagger and end her own life to save herself from such SHAME-
Something struck her from behind.
What? Who dared?
Why did she feel so cold...
Where had all her strength gone?
Therolina looked down, utterly baffled, and nearly screamed at what she found there. A blade had burst through her back and tore through her stomach. Aghast, she touched a trembling hand to the wound. It came away red.
Wait, she knew this sword.
Her eyes went wide and she made to cry out, but someone clamped a hand over mouth and kicked her forward, tearing her off the blade.
Therolina fell to her knees, clutching her grievous wound.
Red hair lofted before her vision.
Her eyes widened.
Millicent!
"He saved you." Her voice was sharper than the weapon she wielded. "He was willing to give his life for you, and this is how you repay him? With treachery?"
Therolina looked back to Naruto.
He was sitting up, rubbing his chest with one hand.
Much to her horror, he tore it free, looking down on her with a sigh. "Did you really think that would work...?"
Her tongue failed her. "I...you...sleeping!" She finally managed. "You were asleep!"
"I never was." His words were a scythe, cutting down her certainty like so much wheat from chaff. "I knew you were here the moment you entered the room," a sigh left him in a ragged breath. "I really wanted to believe you wouldn't do it." A tan hand palmed his face as he shook his head. "Reality is often disappointing. Different pasts, different names, in the end its all the same...
Therolina saw her death in his eyes and balked. It wasn't supposed to be this way! "No, wait! I'll leave! I'll never darken your door again! I swear!"
...I'm sorry." Her heart soared when she heard those crouched down before her. "I want to trust you, I really do...but after that...I just can't."
Millicent yanked her backward with a hiss. "Death before dishonor. May you find peace in your next life."
Agony slashed across Therolina's throat with blinding speed. An ugly flash of pain turned her world red as everything faded to darkness. Her thoughts blurred together in a mangled, muddy mess.
Why was her head on the floor? Oh. Her body was still standing, no, toppling to the ground now like a felled tree.
But there was no light.
Why? Where had the grace of gold gone?
The Golden Order always said there would be...light...
(.0.0.0.)
Her lord was wounded.
Not in body, but spirit, pained but what transpired here.
Milicent could see it at a glance; he wasn't displeased with her, no, his anger lay with himself.
He sat on the bed before her, unblinking as a pair of shadow clones carted Therolina's corpse away. Had he gone into shock? Did he simply not wish to speak? She risked a glance toward the crimson cadaver as it rounded the corner and stifled a sigh in the back of her throat. Betrayal was always painful; not because of the pain rather, but because it never came from an enemy.
She would not allow doubt to creep in. Not here. Not now.
"You did what you had to."
"That's what worries me." Naruto shook his head with a rueful sigh. "It was easy, letting you kill her. I know I didn't know her as well as I did you, but I should've felt sad when she died. All I felt was...disappointment." his right hand clenched into a mournful fist, fingers biting down until she saw blood. "What does that make me?
"A good man." her metal hand grasped his and eased said fist open. "We couldn't trust her going forward, not with her loyalty so compromised."
Milicent kissed him then, sweetly, softly, slowly, her mouth moving over his to stifle his concerns. She took hold of his hands and guided them to her hips, then her breasts, now her clothes, silently urging him on, making him forget the horrors that had transpired tonight.
She could trust him, she knew, trust in him absolutely. He would never let her down.
She trusted him with her whole heart. Her whole being.
She was his, as he was hers.
'And if I ever become someone else,' her lips brushed his anew as she made him push her down and let him have her way with him," If I ever cease to be me...I can trust him to kill me.'
But she dare not say the words aloud.
(.0.0.0.)
...I killed someone last night."
Fia awaited his words patiently, hands in her lap. "With your own two hands?"
"No," Naruto admitted ruefully as he sat before her, framed in the rising rays of dawn, "But I let it happen."
"Was it Therolina?"
He rounded on her. "How did you know?"
"You forget, I am a Deathbed Companion." As she always was, as she always would be. "I felt the moment of her passing. Poor girl. She never could figure out which side she was on." One must always know one's truest loyalty from the first; else things got messy. "I trust her end was swift?"
He nodded, yet dithered, looking torn. Poor boy.
"Please, speak your mind." she patted the empty space beside her on the bed. "Your secrets are safe here, with me
Naruto proved quick to sit. "I wanted to give her a chance, hell, I gave her two! But she wasted them. And at the end she begged...and I let her die."
Ah. Therein lie the rub. She understood now.
"We will all give something of ourselves before the end." she shifted her hips and laid her head against his shoulder, soothing him with her presence. "Sacrifices must be made. But not all need be lost." she touched a hand to his. "I am as adept at granting life as I am death.
...I don't understand."
"Here." she took hold of his right hand in hers. "Place your palm upon my stomach."
Naruto didn't hesitate; he remained bold as ever even in his confusion.
His palm settled upon her stomach...
.
..
...and he realized it was no longer flat.
He felt the bump there and jolted immediately. "I felt a kick...! No...two...?!"
"Naturally." She said she would be the mother to his children and so she would be. Her smile was radiant. "I promised you a son, but in light of last nights events, I shall grant you a daughter as well." she took his hand and guided it back to her belly. "I took her soul at the moment of her passing and drew it into me. Little Therolina shall find peace in rebirth as your daughter, cleansed and free of all pain and memory...with her brother."
Naruto caught the meaning quickly, bless him.
"Twins?!" he tried to protest, or perhaps he simply realized the truth. "It hasn't even been...
"I told you did I not?" try though she might, Fia couldn't help but preen at his awe. "I grant life, and I grant death. It was a simple matter to use some of my stored vitality -and she had so much of it thanks to him!- to speed these little ones on. Worry not," she amended at his worried expression. "I'll not birth them yet. Its still much too soon, and I've grown rather fond of them you see.
But before that.
"If he was to leave...
...she might not be here when he returned.
The thought pained her; made her want more time with him.
Her arms encircled his chest. "Let me hold you, just for a little while...
(.0.0.0.)
Come the dawn, they set out into the northern lands. The last phase of their journey began; the final act of a story that would see their Erdtree toppled and their hopes ascendant.
It would be the dawning of a new age; the beginning of a new era.
Naruto prayed everyone would live to see it.
A/N: Ominous~!
Well? Did you like this story? Yes? No? Maybe?
Would you like weekly updates? By all means, speak up! Make yourselves heard! Your voice matters~!
Silence hurts worse than any flame. Looking forward to reading your feedback when I get home from work~ If this chapter gets a ton of feedback-hopefully!-then I'll do my best to ensure another early update again. If not...I don't know. I really don't.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story.
If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself isn't popular? It will remain, but it won't be continued! I'm working two jobs to keep the lights on, as such 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.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas....Review, Wouldst Thou Kindly?
And have some previews. Some are quite a ways off, but still...
Mind you, most of these previews are the same.
Wouldn't do to spoil what's coming up.
Vote for what you want to see!
And as ever:
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
SPOILERS LAY AHEAD!
YE BE WARNED!
(Previews)
The Mimic Tear plodded forward.
She had been shown mercy, given a task by her Lord.
Such a bountiful blessing. Shewould not forget, never forget. She would repay him...no matter the cost.
"If you wish to save your maiden, then heed the words of I, Shabriri...
They had him by the throat. So why...why was he smiling?
Naruto grinned, heedless of the blood on his face, the fingers biting down into his windpipe, even the crater he was being crushed into. "Not bad! Lets kick it up a notch or two!"
An open palm smashed into their ribs and they went flying.
She lifted the blanket with a trembling hand, exposing the rest of herself to him, curves all, not a stitch of clothing to be seen. "Lay with me."
His throat went dry. So that's what she looked like under alll those robes.
Daaaamn.
...what is that thing?"
Hewg offered him the Weapon.
"Its what she asked for. The power to kill a god."
"I'm so sorry!"
"GIVE HER BACK!"
He grabbed the needle.
"Please don't go...please...I can't do this without you...
"What was this? A projection? He didn't think so. And yet...
"I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella. And I-
CLONK!
-am not in the mood." Naruto finished as he stalked over her prone form. "Buzz off."
...wait."
Aw, hell.
"Whoa, now!" He waved up at the fire giant. "Friendly! Friend! No stomping, please!"
The behemoth squinted down at him in utter confusion. Progress.
Naruto beamed up at it. "Wanna be friends?"
"I AM HOARAH LOUX!"
"I AM NARUTO UZUMAKI!"
Two titans collided with a snarl. And the Erdtree trembled.
Naruto's head snapped back against a rousing right hook barreled into his face, leaving him spitting blood.
Godfrey did the same, eyes squinted shut as he reeled in pain.
They reared back and their fists collided!
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Hope you enjoyed this!
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 isn'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.
Silence...silence only hurts.
Looking forward to chatting with you all when I get back from work~!
May you have a good day filled with luck and peace,
~Nz.
R&R~!