4,157A/N: EDIT: I went back and added more substance to the chapter. Sorry for the delay. I'm not well. Lack of feedback certainly isnt helping matters. T_T
That's really not a lot of feedback, and I can see why, this chapter is a divisive one.
Not sure if its my depression acting up again or what, but I feel...off. Its affecting my update schedule; my mood is high, then low, then high again. Its affecting...well, everything, to say nothing of my energy levels. Sometimes its an effort to just get out of bed, get dressed, and drag my self to work. I can feel it eating away at me, sapping my motivation bit by bit. Thanks to Slifer and Advent, I'm fighting on, but its still wearing me down.
Just wanted to say, I appreciate you all! More feedback means faster updates! It's especially important, in these, trying times. Every word counts and i appreciate you all! All these reviews really keep me inspired! Looking forward to hearing from you~!
Update schedule also got a bit messed up as a result. Claws of a Lion and Long May He Reign should be updated tomorrow.
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!
"A Knight is Sworn to Valor! His Heart Knows only Virtue! His Blade Defends The Helpless!
His Might Upholds The Weak! His Word Speaks Only Truth!
His Wrath Undoes The Wicked!"
~A legend.
Open Your Eyes
Melina stared.
Naruto stared back.
Neither of them moved an inch.
Poor Rellana found herself caught in the midst of it all, looking this way and that, utterly at a loss, torn between comforting him and haranguing Messmer. Naruto barely noticed her; granted, he knew she was there, barely a stone's throw behind him, hand on his shoulder for comfort. And he appreciated that, really, he did, his attention was simply...
.
..
...elsewhere, at the moment.
Because you see, Melina looked...different; more than that, she was changed; her appearance radically altered since he'd seen her last.
An eerie aura emanated from her, one he couldn't quite place. Gloam-eye aside, he could tell she'd been through hell. Her once immaculate hair now resembled little more than a rat's nest of tangled snarls and knots in need of a good brushing. Stranger still, her traditional garments and hooded cloak were nowhere to be seen; traded away for a flowing black dress rather reminiscent of what one might wear at a funeral...or a wedding, if one were feeling particularly grim.
And her skin...oh gods...
He'd seen her burn scars before when they lay together, but now those almost seemed to glow as though lit from within, shimmering with dark light, as though she were burning from the inside out. There was something about those flames; the sight of them sent a chill shooting down his spine as nothing had before. He watched an ember of it curl around her shoulders before swirling downward, curling into her right palm. His sixth sense shrieked and the Great Runes trembled in his chest, telling him to run, to flee, to fly to get away get away get awayawaywayAWAYFROMTHATFIRE!
"Back away now." Kurama hissed out an anxious breath in his ear. "Slowly...
Retreat?! Why would he do such a thing? This was Melina. Right...?
His tongue betrayed him. "Melina...?"
"Run, you idiot!"
Nonsense! Surely, he was overreacting, right?
She stared at him and he saw no recognition in either of her eyes.
"Melina!" he raised his voice, daring a step forward. "You're still Melina, right? C'mon, say something!"
Here at last, her gaze narrowed, comprehending him at last. But her gaze was far too sharp for his liking. "Kneel."
Confusion flowered within him and blinked at her, baffled. "Kneel? What're you talkin' about, Mel?"
"I said kneel."
Her right hand snapped up and a wave of black-on-white fire surged up out of her palm, forcing him and Rellana to leap away. They landed on opposite ends of the room, far apart from one another; he had time enough to glance her way before another blast of death surged his way. He swept up a palm, intent on deflecting it-
Radahn's spirit barked a warning. "Don't let it touch you!"
It nearly came too late, his arm snapped back and his body tumbled into a clumsy roll as the air sizzled where he'd been standing. She was waiting for him as he sprang to his feet, dagger in hand. He caught her wrist and wrenched it back, only to find himself surprised as she swept an open palm up into his face, sparking with fresh fire. Gripping that wrist in turn, Naruto forced both arms over Melina's head in an attempt to disarm her, only for her to plant both feet in his chest and push.
"Hey!" he grunted Hold on a sec-ow!"
Unprepared to break her arms, he forfeited the contest of strength entirely allowing her to kick back off him and fly to freedom. That short flight saw her land not three yards away from him; from there she rose to her feet with an almost lazy grace; he had no doubt she could close the distance in an instant if she so chose.
"Kneel before me, you who would be Elden Lord." When she spoke again, he couldn't help but notice her voice thrummed eerily, as though something else were speaking with her, beside her, through her. "Swear fealty to me and me alone, and in recompense for thy deeds in protecting mine vessel thus far, I shall name thee my consort in the age to come."
"What is that even supposed to mean?!" the longer she looked at him like that, the more he felt the cracks in his heart widen, begin to break. "Melina, please, snap out of it-
"I am not Melina." The baffling being before him blinked slowly, sleepily. "I am Anilem. You address the Gloam-Eyed Queen, mortal. Prostrate yourself."
"Gloam-eyed-what-now?!"
Her dagger stabbed in at his right eye and he dodged nimbly, giving ground as she gave chase, unwilling to hurt her. His brain buzzed for a moment more before he understood. What she'd said just now, that was an anagram of some sort? Anilem was Melina spelled backwards, wasn't it? There was something else at work here, dark forces he didn't understand, and they had everything to do with that eerie eye of hers now, didn't they? Just what had he stumbled into here...?
A stray strand of blond hair fluttered to the ground as her knife came a touch too close for his liking.
"Enough!"
He slammed a fist down and the stone ruptured beneath his knuckles, launching Melina backward; much to his annoyance she vaulted to safety, leaving him glaring up at her from the crater he'd created.
A low chuckle pervaded the room, and belatedly, he remembered they weren't alone.
"Magnificent, isn't she?" Messmer stepped forth and laid a hand on Melina's shoulder -he refused to call her anything else- smiling like the sly serpent he was. "Mother may have sealed her power away as she did mine, even made her forget herself, but she failed to extinguish her consciousness fully." A hand traced her face, sparking his rage further still. "She was always here, right beneath the surface, waiting to take back control. I simply gave her the means to do so. That said, I simply must thank you for bringing my sister back to me. Together, we will burn-
"MESSMER!"
Rellana finally lost her patience and dove at him, sword swinging. Blast. He'd forgotten about her-
A flash of flame and she found herself blocked by a long lance, their weapons clashing harshly, sparks flying.
"I see." Messmer considered her intently across their interlocked weapons. "So you betrayed me as well. A pity. I had thought you loyal."
The Twin Moon Knight bridled. "I cannot betray that which was never given!"
"Such tripe...
Naruto clicked his tongue and moved to help, only for "Melina" to leap down into the crater and bar his path, drawing an aggravated shout from his lips. "Meli, c'mon! Now's not the time!"
The Gloam-Eyed Queen stepped forward, her face deceptively blank. "Will you kneel?"
It would be easier if he pretended to, but he knew she'd see right through it.
Besides, he was Naruto Uzumaki. He wasn't the sort to lie. Ever.
His eyes met hers. "...not to you. Not like this."
"...I see."
He dodged around her, only to find himself trapped in a cage of deathly flame. He nearly ran headlong into the bars before Radahn reeled him back in.
"Don't try it, my friend. Not here. Even you won't escape those flames unscathed in the Realm of Shadows...
"Kneel," The Queen intoned anew outside his cell, "Or she will die."
He knew what would happen if he submitted.
"Never! Give Melina back!"
"Do you not see?" A pale, scarred hand reached through the blazing bars to stroke his cheek. "There is no Melina." For a fleeting moment, her face softened. "There never was. Even if there were, she no longer exists." Her nails bit into his whiskered visage, drawing a hiss of pain from him. "The woman you claim to love was mine sealed self, ignorant and powerless, born to burn and nothing else. "
The words were akin to a slap in the face, a desecration of everything she'd ever said and done. For her to say something like that...
.
..
...Melina couldn't be gone. She just couldn't. That was impossible.
Rellana cried out in pain, just out of sight.
"But I was aware." The Gloam-Eyed-Queen crooned, caressing his cheek. "I saw thee, I watched thee, I observed thee in my dreams. All this time I looked on as thou guided my pitiful self to glory." she drew his face to hers, forcing their foreheads to touch through the bars. "You were faithful, you were loyal, and you were true. You brought me to my destiny, unwitting though you were, and for that I will be forever grateful." her lips closed around his, cold as death, stifling his protest. Together we will crush that wretched Black Blade, reclaim my true power, and usher in an age of Fire."
True power? This was her in a weakened state?!
"Stop." Naruto shook his head, trying to break free from her. "You're lying."
The Queen's fingers stroked his face. "Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
His eyes burned with tears, tears that turned to steam, such was the heat. "Can't you just give her back...?"
A pause followed, long and poignant. Her gloam-eye closed for a moment, then opened anew. "Such is no longer within my power."
It was too much for his heart to bear; his body burst into light.
"LIAR!"
Flaring his chakra, he drew a kunai from his belt to slash at her, forcing her to retreat or lose the limb entirely. Bereft of its target, the knife impacted the bars of his burning cage instead and promptly crumbled to dust. As would his weapons -as would he!- if the flames found his flesh. Even then he nearly lashed out anyway, such was his rage. Kurama and Radahn's presence stopped him, but only just.
"So be it." The Gloam Eyed Queen -Anilem!- stared back at him, her newly opened eye reflecting only mild displeasure. "Now your knight will die. Perhaps them you will be more pliable."
Naruto went mad.
Snarling and shouting and screaming, he beat at the bars with arms of purest chakra. Smashed a Rasengan against them. Followed by a Rasenshuriken. Even a Bijudama point blank succeeded, only in burning himself. Kurama's chakra did nothing against the bars and the cage held below him as well as above. There was no escape.
Perhaps had been in his right mind, he would've thought of some clever solution; as things stood, he could only focus on the burning need to get out now before Rellana got hurt or worse...!
The Gloam-Eyed Queen stared at him intently throughout. "You will learn to love me, in time."
Infuriated beyond words, Naruto looked past her and finally beheld a battered Rellana through the crackling flames, only to find her struggling against Messmer anew.
Braving her lone blade with both hands, the Twin Moon Knight pushed against the Lord Impaler; for all the good it did her; for all her fury, she couldn't budge him. "I gave up everything for you!" she growled at him, chest heaving. "My name, my title, my throne! I could've become a queen! Commanded the whole of Raya Lucaria! Rennala never wanted it!" Her voice piqued with despair, tears running down her cheeks. "And what did you give me in return? Nothing! No, less than nothing, as though such a thing were possible! Even your dogs were given more attention than I! At least they were happy enough to lick your boots!"
His face closed down. "You speak treason, my lady."
"I am no lady of yours!" A small despairing bark of laughter leaped from her lips. "Perhaps I never was. Perhaps I was simply too blind to see it. Perhaps I am the fool here."
A flicker of something flashed across the demigod's face, there and gone before he could comprehend what it might be. Whatever it was vanished before he could see it in the flames. Then Messmer crossed his spear over her lone blade, content to force her down. "Your services are no longer required."
Rellana snarled up at him. "Is that all you have it say to me?! I loved you!"
"The realm thanks you for your service. Die as you lived, alone."
She sneered at him. "My new husband says otherwise!"
Naruto winced.
Oh, dear.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. He knew that more than most; having seen his share of angry women in the Elemental Nations. Rellana was no different in that regard. Messmer had taken, shaken, then broken her heart, leaving her to pick up the pieces. Of course she hated him; loathed him with all the fury of someone who knew what love was, only to lose it in the end. Small wonder she said did something in devilish delight, one final act of spite, one last jab before she said goodnight. But what she'd just done.
Naruto palmed his face to hide a fiery flush. "Rellana no...
Messmer drew back, good eye wide. "You didn't."
"We did!" she laughed, half-crazed with pain.
Melina twitched at those word and remarkably, the god-slaying-flame-cage containing Naruto dimmed. Not enough for him to escape, but to notice? Definitely.
Waitaminute!
An idea dawned.
There might be a way out of this.
By the sage, Melina she was absolutely going to pummel his pelvis for this; assuming she didn't just murder him outright. Still, he didn't have any other options at the moment.
Radahn slapped his back and absolutely cackled in his ear. "A crazy plan is better than no plan at all!"
Better yet, Messmer was staring -glaring!- at him, utterly incredulous. "You married her?"
...in a sense." he scratched the back of his head. "She kinda gave me a sword and apparently that's a thing where she comes from...
Rellana's face turned a delightful shade of red, eliciting another twitch on Melina's part.
Messmer looked utterly baffled; the sudden admission appeared to have broken him; he didn't even noticed Rellana limping away, oh no, he only had eyes for him. A look of complete and utter loathing flashed across that pallidly handsome visage before it drew taut with anger. "Enough of this. Kill him and be done with it, sister."
"..."
Melina didn't move.
Messmer frowned. "Sister...?"
"Marriage?" For once, the dual tenor in the Gloam-Eyed Queen's voice faded. "Without me?" The pain in her tenor brought him up short. "You were...wed?"
Naruto saw his opening and perked up despite his guilt. No way out but through. "Surprise...?
With a gasp, the fell queen doubled over and clutched at her head. "Be quiet!"
"Sorry!"
"Not you." Melina -for this was indeed Melina- gnashed her teeth and he couldn't help but noticed that her gloam eye had gone dim. "Can't you hear her? She's so loud...!"
Sure enough, eer wicked eye blazed back into brilliance, warping her voice with it. "Why do you persist? Begone!"
A pained scream rattled her as her good eye brightened weakly. "Stop! This is my body!"
"You served your purpose! You no longer have any place here! Away with ye!"
"It is you who should depart!"
Left and right she thrashed, eyes alight, voice changing constantly.
"Hey, listen!" Naruto interjected into the tableau. "Listen! If there's anyone you should be angry with it, its me! I'm right here!"
"Traitor!" Melina rounded on him, anger giving her strength, just as he planned. "You were to wed no one before me!"
Just a little more now! "Its a long story!"
"Then shorten it-gah!" Her good eye blazed as her gloam-filled orb dimmed, flame flickering around her. "Wretched woman! You may have taken my mind and my body, but there is one thing a Maiden always keeps!"
She thrashed to and fro, shaking her head fiercely. A note of panic twisted her expression as the gloam-eyed queen managed one last, futile protest. "No! Don't you dare!"
Oh, yes, she definitely dared. "Her heart!"
Melina reared back and seized her gloam-eye with three fingers, gritting her teeth as she forcibly lifted her eyelid to expose the baleful blue orb within. Her left hand grasped her wrist, but she didn't falter, not once. Naruto realized what she was about to do and averted his gaze in the nick of time.
Somewhere behind him, Messmer lunged forward with a roar of rage, intent on stopping her.
Rellana jumped him, bearing him down to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.
And well that she did, too; because:
Melina plucked.
Her eye.
Out.
Naruto didn't see the exact moment she did it; but he certainly heard it, that awful tearing noise, the agonized scream, the wet squish of sound that followed. When he looked back she held her bloodied gloam-eye tightly clutching it between her thumb and forefinger.
Gasping for air, she prepared to crush it.
"This isn't over!" the queen's agonized voice arose from the ruined orb. "You are not rid of me-
Melina popped the eye like a rotten grape and let the detrius fall to the floor, taking her words with it. Bereft of her attention, the cage of fire faded completely, allowing him to tumble to freedom. Three quick strides carried him to Melina's side to support her, but Surprisingly, she didn't even seem to notice him.
Instead, she rounded on Rellana, good eye glaring the wounded knight down. "You!"
The wounded woman squeaked, still pinning Messmer to the floor. "Me?!"
"He was not yours to marry! I was to be the first!"
Rellana whimpered. "I'm sorrrryyyyy~!"
"Enough of this!" Messmer bucked, flinging her away into a wall; righting himself, he affixed his sister with a mournful glower. "Sister! What have you done?! You've maimed yourself! And for what?!"
"For myself." Melina swayed on her feet like a drunkard at last call, blood still leaking from her now-closed eye. Naruto silently stepped into her, allowing her to lean against him. She did so, but glared sleepily at him all the same. "We will...have words about this, my lord...
He granted her a watery smile as her good eye drooped. "As many as you like."
"I shall...hold thee to that. I desire a ring...as well...
She collapsed, like a puppet severed from her strings, forcing him to catch her before she could fall.
He thought that was the end of it.
.
..
...it was not.
A tortured scream laughter arose from Messmer, shattering his delusion.
"No, no, NO! You've ruined everything!"
Was that all he had to say question mark! After all, he said, all he had done, he never once thought of the pain he had caused Melina.
Right, then he needn't feel bad about this...
Naruto righted himself with a growl. "I'm about to ruin a whole lot more than that...
Messmer made a noise, caught some between a sob and a snarl. "Impudent pup! I will NOT-
Whatever else he might've said, was silenced by a flying kick; it caught him square in the temple, and sent him sprawling to the floor in a heap.
Don't give him time to react!
Even as he rose, Naruto fell, crashing down onto him from on high, rasengan in hand. His favorite jutsu slammed home in his adversary's gut.
And that was that.
The ground burst beneath them, taking a goodly portion of Messmer's torso with it, annihilating any form of defense, he might have managed. His visible eye rolled back into his head as the rest of him went limp beneath him.
He did not rise again.
Naruto climbed off him, waited a moment to make sure he wouldn't get back up, then stalked away.
Rellana balked at the slaughter, thunderstruck. "I had not thought you so ruthless...
Had he overdone it? Maybe. Did he feel any regret?
Nope.
Kneeling before Melina's prone form, he gave The Twin Moon Knight a firm glare. "He had it coming.
She gulped, slightly red in the cheeks. "of that I do not doubt, but-
Messmer twitched behind him.
"For the love of...!"
Naruto spun and launched a Rasenshuriken at him, hoping to finish him before he could try anything tricky.
It was not to be. The slippery redhead tumbled to safety, retrieved his spear, and leaned heavily upon it. A glint of wild madness shown through his good eye
Do you think this is over?! No!" It's over when I say it is over! I will not abide a lord devoid of light!"
Before he could think to stop him, Marika's firstborn reached up and ripped his lone golden eye from his socket in a shower of blood. Gasping at the pain of such an action, he crushed it in his hand. It shattered not like a thing of flesh, but glass, cracking apart into countless golden sparks.
As he looked on aghast, a fell fire bloomed from his lean body, lending his already eerie visage an even more ominous aura. His shoulders slumped, yet somehow he stood all the taller for it, his smile a crazed, twisted thing.
And the power stemming from him...
Kurama swore in his head. "That...can't be good."
"I warned you." Radahn echoed him. "He was the firstborn for a reason...
Gingerly, Naruto laid Melina down behind him and turned to face her brother fully.
"Fine!" he stomped a foot. "Ya want round two?! Let's have round two! I wasn't done with ya anyway!
Summoning his spear to hand, the Lord Impaler stalked forward to meet him in return.
"Soon...Tarnished," Messmer rasped aloud, "Wilt thou be taken in the jaws...of the Abyssal Serpent...shorn of light!"
With a wave of his hand, the the world dissolved into a savage slurry of snakes.
A/N: Phase two, incoming. Naruto's got a fight ahead. An actual fight!
But hey, Meli-Meli -if you know the reference, you know- is finally back! And she got an upgrade!
Its heavily implied in the story that Melina has some affiliation with the Gloam-Eyed queen. Here, we simply took it a step further.
The many myriad misunderstandings are marvelous~! We'll cut it here for today~!
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.
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!
Messmer smiled. It was not a nice smile.
And now the real battle begins.
Messmer raised a hand and all the candles in the room guttered out at once.
Naruto inhaled sharply. He'd fought in the dark once before; long ago, when he was but a boy, when he wasn't half the man he was now. Fire flashed in the gloom. He gripped his new sword in his right hand and one of Radahn's blades in his left, crossing both before himself.
A spear -or was it a lance?- came crashing down into his guard a moment later.
Errors were made!
Blocking rattled his bones,.
Messmer was strong. Stronger than anyone he'd ever feced.
Surprise gleamed in his lone golden eye, followed by wary respect.
Impressive. Most impressive. But you are not an Elden Lord yet.
Wuh-oh.
"That doesn't mean I'm going to lose, snake for brains!"
Everything descended into a mad, frenzied fight.
I hereby swear! To every living being, and every living soul! Now comes the age of our Eden! A thousand year voyage guided by compassion! Beginning here, love encompasses all! No living thing will be denied, no deed censured in the name of Order! I am ready! To embrace the whole of it! Let us go together!
"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?"
It stabbed a hand into its stomach.
"Whoa, hey?! What're you doing?!"
Flame flared forth and took on a strange shape...almost humanoid in nature...
I am Rakshasa! Face me if you dare!
Ow! Dang, she hits hard...
The Roundtable Hold lay in tatters. He flung open the doors. A man's dead body lay on the floor, broken and twisted with black briars.
Of Fia, he saw nothing; she was gone, and his unborn children with her.
All that remained was a note nailed to the wall.
...what is that thing?"
Hewg offered him the Weapon.
"Its what she asked for. The power to kill a god."
"YOU'RE MARRIED?!"
"CURSE YOU BAAAAAYYYYLE!
"Yeah, what he said! You tell 'em, Igon!"
Florisaax tilted her head. "What am I watching, exactly?"
Sir Ansbach heaved a sigh. "She's a feisty lass, that one...
Reminded him of the old days.
"I'm so sorry!"
"GIVE HER BACK!"
He grabbed the needle.
"Please don't go...please...I can't do this without you...
"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 struck as one with a mighty roar.
Their fists collided in a shockwave, sending them reeling back with ruined arms.
Never one to be outdone, Naruto stepped in and headbutted the larger man fiercely.
Godfrey -no, Hoarah Loux, now- granted him a feral grin in return.
"That's much better! I can actually FEEL that!"
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Hope you enjoyed this!
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 ~!