2,300A/N: EDIT: Hardly any feedback for this chapter, I suppose that's what I get for writing, while ill... T_T
Double udpate is a go! This, and Can't Be Erased!
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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!
Maul tribute here. You all know the one.
"Little Ranni...what a trifling fool thou art...
...'tis almost laughable in the end...
...you know naught...
...what you have...
...unleashed.
~?
Thy Fingers
Lost.
They were lost.
Trapped underground for eons, now.
And yet, they could feel... HER presence... so close, so close... they could... see her... in their mind's eye...
Ranni.
RANNNNIIII!
Ungrateful pup! Wretched, spiteful Empyrean!
She who had strangled the golden age! She who had brought about a stillbirth to the Golden Order! She who had ruined any and all chance of reconciliation with the Greater Will; even now determined to tear down all the remained of its machinations and strip the world of divinity as a whole!
They had been cursing one another ever since.
Lost, severed from Mother Metyr and their Furled Father, lost and alone.
She was coming for them now. To finish that which she had begin so very long ago
But they were not defeated, no, nay, not just yet. They still held a few tricks up their nonexistent sleeve; they merely needed time to prepare, and now it had. Those foul intruders would rue the day they trespassed upon their territory. Dozens of spectral soldiers awaited them in the ruins above, countless spiritsones primed to detonate the moment anyone drew near, and the undead ghost of a dragon!
A most brilliant gauntlet of traps, if the Fingers said so themselves.
The fools knew naught of what awaited
They would never reach them! THEY-
An almighty crash reverberated above its sanctuary, punctuated by the sharp staccato of countless explosions.
Someone snarled, the dread growl of a beast. A dragon screamed, and fell silent.
Said silence stretched on into painful eternity.
The Two Fingers were not capable of sweating, they'd long since shed such an unnatural function in their evolution, but they did tremble; their double digits craning toward the rocky roof of its hideaway to tentatively touch at the surface of their dwelling. Surely they could not have triumphed so suddenly, so swiftly, so soon! Such wasn't possible! It simply wasn't fair. Perhaps they had been defeated after all...?
Without warning, the stone ceiling above them ruptured and gave way.
Something came crashing through with a triumphant cry.
The Two Fingers bridled furiously.
Ranni.
Different in body though she may be, her attire much changed since they'd "seen" her last, yet her sinister soul remained the same. She even had the gall to plant one of her many hands upon her hips and smirk at them, as though this were her doing and hers alone.
"Is that all?" her voice rang with cold disdain. "I had expected more resistance from thee. Yet here you are, hiding yourself away, like a rat in the dark."
"Don't speak ill of the dead, Ranni...
Belatedly, the Two Fingers noticed the Golden One with her; he who had enabled all her schemes, reunited her family, slain the baleful shadows and brought her here, to this moment. It was his fault. All his fault. She was never meant to triumph! Yet she had, because of HIM!
Cursed be his name! May he suffer! Damn them both!
"Nothing to say, creature?" Ranni didn't leer, but it was close. "Hast thou no words befitting thine end?"
The Two Fingers drew themselves up, bristling, and dared to speak as it had not in eons. "You will lose Him, in the end."
Ranni scowled coldly, ever the petulant child. "Even now you hurl threats at me, all for naught."
Not for naught. Preparations had been made. Such was its way.
"Kill us if you can!"
It spat curses at them, weaved webs of light to slow them down, all for naught. Its bulky body wasn't suited for combat, it never had been. Spells shattered against the Golden One's body as he strode forward at a sedate pace, slapping some aside, outright stalking through others. Curses wrapped around him and failed to take root, spiteful hexes cracked across his glowing flesh, only to flicker and die within the fiery flames of its form. He shrugged them all off, relentless in his advance.
All the while Ranni walked behind him, one hand planted upon his back, using his broad shoulders as a bulwark,
Of course the wicked witch would use Him as a shield! Coward!
"We shall not die alone!"
If it could just kill the blond one, then all her schemes would be for naught. If it could just...!
Wait.
Where had Ranni gone?
Wasn't she behind him a moment ago...?
Pain stabbed into its palm as something stabbed deep into his palm, drawing an agonized squeal from its very knucklebones. Aghast, it cast its senses down to find the baleful blue bitch at the base of its body, driving an awful weapon deep into its flesh. It knew well the bite of this blade, for it had slain many of its kin in the past.
Here at last, fear dawned upon the wizened immortal Fingers.
A finger slayer blade! No! No, no, nononononooooo!
This was death!
It lashed out in frantic desperation with both its digits, only for the Golden One to breach its spells and intercept. A burning palm caught its leftmost digit and tore it clean off at the base of the hand, followed immediately thereafter by the right. The Two Fingers shrieked in awful cadence, quite literally disarmed. Blood sprayed everywhere, dousing them both, and still the attack continued.
All the while, the wicked witch kept stabbing!
There was no escape; when the Fingers tried to crawl away, the golden one dragged them back and held them down, allowing his mistress to finish her wicked work. Gradually, their spasms weakened as their body bled and grew frail No one came to save the Fingers. Mother had lost herself to madness. Father had long since fallen silent, deafened to their pleas. There would be no salvation.
But as the last of the Fingers perished, they did so with grim laughter.
More than anything, they wished to live, but if they could not...
...they would settle for Ranni's pain instead.
That wicked wench knew naught what awaited. She would experience true horror, despair as she'd never known. Everyone and everything would be taken from her. And in the end, she would drown in her own tears with naught but her misery for company. And in the end, she would extinguish herself...
Ranni slashed down one last time.
A mortal blow, to an immortal being, bringing an end to all.
The Two Fingers scarcely felt it; they died laughing. "You...know not...the lie...
(.0.0.0.)
The deed was done.
Ranni lowered her blade, heaved out a trembling, ragged breath, and ran two of her four hands through her hair. They came away red and sticky. Small surprise. She'd all but bathed in the blood of the Two Fingers. Such was thankfully powerless and quite unable to curse her in her current form, but that didn't make it any last ghastly.
Her robes were quite ruined. Such a pity.
Drawing herself upright, she became vaguely aware of Naruto nudging her backwards to safety; as she looked on her beloved gave the Finger's massive corpse a kick to be sure. Then blasted it away to atoms with a pair of...what had he called them? Rasenshuriken? Yes, that was the word.
In the end, nothing remained of her foul captor. Not even atoms.
Finally. 'Tis over. With this, she was free.
But what had the Two Fingers meant there at the end? "You know not the lie?"
Concerning. No. She would not fall for such base whispers.
A lone tear rolled down her cheek.
Startled, she swiped at her face, and only succeeded at getting more blood on herself.
"Why am I crying...?"
She had never been one for tears, not since she was a child. And yet here, now, that she was finally free.
"Stop." she snarled at herself. "Thou art stronger than this. Do not weep."
But she couldn't help herself. After so long, it was finally over...
Strong arms encircled her from behind as Naruto's chin came down over her shoulder. His breath warmed her ear. "Its alright. Let it out; let it all out."
For some reason, that made her angry, causing her to drive an elbow back into his gut. "I do not wish to!"
He accepted the blow with a grunt and only held her tighter, unflinching as she squirmed.
"Ranni. Its okay to cry, ya know. Everybody cries. Even me."
"I am to be a goddess. I cannot...I must now...
Her lips trembled.
The Two Fingers had taken so much from her; from yhe moment she was declared Empyrean. First Father, then Radahn, followed by Rykard. Even Mother was not safe from the madness of their depredations. Everything and everyone she had ever know was stripped away from her, piece by piece, until only Iiji and Blaidd remained. She'd nearly lost them, to. And now that the deed was done, the Fingers dead, the madness finally over and her goal in sight, the circle complete...
Only a few threats yet remained. There was still much to do, and possibly the Realm of Shadows to content with and...and...and yet...
She sniffled, ever so softly. "You must think me weak...
"Nah. You're one of the strongest people I know."
"Naruto...
He didn't say anything. Didn't protest as she turned around, latched onto him with all four of her arms, and buried her head in his chest. Ranni did not weep or wail. She didn't scream and shout. She certainly didn't cry like a child; no matter what anyone might say. If one were to ask her otherwise, she would deny it to her dying day.
Naruro held her tighter. "Please don't go."
Silly fool of hers. She had to. She must, in the end
But that was not an argument she wished to have at this moment.
And before that...
Abrutly, he released her; she saw her chance and took it; squirmed out of his arms to kneel.
Imagine her surprise when she found Naruto already down there, on bent knee.
No. Surely not. He couldn't have. They eyed one another, incredulous.
Ranni found her voice first. "Get up, you oaf-
"No way!" he laughed, slightly hysteric. "You get up! I got here first!"
Her brow furrowed. No matter. She would beat him to the punch.
"Will you marry me/Will marry me, my dear consort eternal?"
The answer was never in question.
Ahhh, dear reader, but who asked whom asked first?
She pouted. "Dost thou even have a ring?"
"Of course I do!" he huffed. "Do you?"
"Naturally."
He glared back at her, undaunted. "We exchange 'em on three, then?"
"Agreed."
One...
...Two...
...Three...!
At some point he scooted close and slid a ring on her finger-where had he gotten that- unaware of the very ring she'd acquired for him. She did the same unto him, sliding it gently across his own finger before taking a brief moment to inspect her own. When nothing happened, nothing exploded, and none attacked them, for the first time in ages, she allowed herself to relax every so slightly.
It was a perfect fit.
Naruto looked up from examining his own ring. "Is that a yes, then...?"
Ranni couldn't help herself; she lost control. She launched herself at him through two of her arms around his neck and the other two are around his waist, then used all four to pull him close and kiss him deeply.
Naruto held her close, and she did the same unto him.
Laughter tumbled out of her, pained at first, then relieved.
This ring was the most lovely thing in all the world.
All was well.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this lovely little chapter.
Well? What say you? Should this remain a story? Moreover, do you want weekly updates? Ya or nay! By all means, let me know!
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this little tale. Sad to say, but if folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? Well, I'll love the drive to continue it! I'm working two jobs during the holidays 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.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
Enjoy the previews~!
(Previews)
Heed my words. I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat.
Naruto smiled. It was not a nice smile. "You're about to. I brought friends."
The doorway shimmered behind him. "Hello...sister."
"Usurper! Smoldering with thy meager flame of ambition! You shall not pass!"
Footsteps resounded behind him.
...I already have. I'll just be taking a look at the tree now...
Morgott rounded on them. How had he gotten past?!
In a frantic fit, he lunged at him!
EDIT: The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
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.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. Not a one.
They're tributes to legends far greater than I.
Hope this chapter brightened your day!
Peace~!
R ~!