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grimdarkandhandsome · 3 years

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Halo 3: Another 2007, Another Bungie, Another Finish

There exists another universe in which, in 2007, Bungie Studios released a different version of the then-best-selling game of all time. Whether their Halo 3 is better or worse than our Halo 3 is something each player must decide for themself.

As you remember, from the closing moments of Halo 2...

Don't make a girl a promise ... if you know you can't keep it.

[...]

Why, the Ark, of course.

And where, Oracle, is that?

[...]

Silence fills the empty grave, now that I have gone. But my mind is not at rest, for questions linger on.

Now I will ask, and you will answer.

Alright. Shoot.

[...]

Mission 1: REENTRY

The game opens on the starry night of space. The slowly cooling wreck of a UNSC cruiser is visible some distance away. Cortana recalls in voiceover why she chose Master Chief over the other Spartans. As she speaks, a new ‘star’ appears - a slipspace rupture. A shape emerges and slowly approaches the camera: The Forerunner Keyship from High Charity. The Chief is a stowaway onboard, and Earth challenges him via radio.

Master Chief, do you mind telling me what you’re doing on that ship?

Sir. Finishing this fight.

Begin gameplay. The Chief battles his way out of the Keyship and steals a Phantom dropship. He dives into the Battle of Earth and boards a Covenant supercarrier, joining the ODSTs already fighting within. Reaching the vehicle bay and commandeering a Wraith tank, he blasts through the ship’s bulkheads towards its reactor core. He uses the tank to cause a chain reaction that will destroy the whole carrier, and narrowly escapes towards Earth in a damaged Seraph fighter.

Mission 2: THIRD BETRAYAL

Delta Halo once appeared blue and green from a distance. Now it is a sickly brown, choked by the armies of the Flood. A Pelican and a Phantom rise side by side from the Ring’s surface. The alliance between the surviving humans and Elites will be upheld until they are no longer outnumbered by the undead.

Commander Miranda Keyes, wearing armor pieced together from that of fallen Marines and Elites, leads a rescue mission into High Charity to retrieve Cortana. Sergeant Johnson, similarly equipped, is Player 2. (Unlike the Arbiter in Halo 2, they are mechanically identical to the Chief. Even damaged, the energy shield projectors of gold & white Elites are powerful.) Inside High Charity, the Flood has become stranger, more ancient, more introspective. Cortana’s voice is audible over the city’s PA system, but she does not respond to Keyes’ questions. Keyes encounters, fights, and ultimately puts down Cortana’s jailor, the mutated Prophet of Regret. However, the data-chamber Cortana was imprisoned inside is now empty. A voice:

Sorry, folks! Sometimes, to clean up a mess, you have to get your hands dirty.

The Elites are dismayed. Their entire fleet has suddenly gone dark, weapons unresponsive. A computer virus, they discover, has been infiltrating their ships for weeks, and the trap has just now sprung. The fingerprints are unmistakeable: This is the work of a human AI. Keyes immediately falls back to the extraction point. Cortana, it seems, has made a grim alliance with the Gravemind.

Mission 3: CROW'S NEST

Kenya is besieged, being slowly conquered by the Brutes. The Master Chief crash-lands near one entrance of an underground bunker complex known as Crow’s Nest (this area resembles that seen in the maps Standoff, The Pit, and the ‘Landfall’ live action trailer). The Chief desperately fights, first aboveground and then below, to protect Earth’s command staff from the immense Covenant assault.

Mission 4: BLUE FAIRY

In a subterranean chamber of the Ring - so vast that a Elite warship sleeps inside it - a War Council of the Living is convened.

Shipmaster Half-Jaw: The Flood now controls High Charity, the Ring’s surface, and the fleet overhead. Every free being within ten lightyears is onboard this ship. There is a time for resistance, and there is a time for a noble death. Here, and on our homeworld, we look extinction in the face. My ship is currently transmitting my species’ greatest works of poetry to nearby stars, so that there is a chance it may be remembered.

Keyes: There’s one being out there that still might be free. 2401 Penitent Tangent, the Monitor of this Ring. If we can rescue him from the Gravemind, he can reactivate the Halo’s defenses - make it fight back against the Flood.

Shipmaster: Human, my warriors will fight to the last heartbeat. But I caution you. Hope not for water in an empty well.

Keyes’ strike force infiltrates deep into the heartland of the Flood. Underground, where nameless leviathans of dead flesh slither across the ceilings of caverns larger than cities. She witnesses the Flood experimenting on uninfected beings, imprisoning them in giant terrariums to learn their psychologies. During the level, more and more Flood reinforcements arrive from neighboring regions: First infection forms, then hordes of infected Covenant, then powerful vehicles. Navigating with help from mysterious terminals (much like those in our universe’s Halo 3), she at last reaches the prisoner 2401 Penitent Tangent. At that moment, deep in enemy territory and without a Plan B, they all startle as Cortana appears on a pedestal beside them. Keyes calls her traitor, but she shushes her. Cortana offers Tangent a deal.

Cortana: The Gravemind took everything except your core functions. But I have his trust. I’ve set up backdoors all around this Ring. All I need is your sign-off and I can take it from here. I want the same thing you want: survival. Give me the crown, or let the Flood win.

Keyes: Wait, don’t listen to her! No!

2401 Penitent Tangent: It’s true, the Installation could not be in worse shape. After so many losses, I have no choice. I transfer my command access to you, human construct.

A holographic circle descends and hovers above Cortana’s head. Her color ripples, green and red, then she takes a deep breath and becomes blue again.

Cortana, shouting up into the darkness: Hey, Meathead! I have something to tell you!

All around them, an amphitheater of standing corpses speak with one voice:

I see a flicker down there /

Little candle, little light /

I know not foe nor rival /

I am infinite as night.

Cortana: I have seen your future. And I have learned.

Gravemind:

A million stars won’t sate me /

I, the emperor of screams. /

And who thinks she defies me? /

How might you disturb my dreams?

Cortana: I am Cortana, the sword that carves and cuts. And I just became your worst nightmare.

Cortana glows green as lines of power branch out from her feet across the floor, under the translucent Flood tissue that has grown over it. The rumble of engines begins, and is echoed by the roar of the furious Flood.

Mission 5: BELIEVE

Earth’s Last War. Fleeing Crow’s Nest, the armies of Earth are losing ground. They try to stop the Covenant from activating the artifact beneath Lake Victoria, but the Chief is captured. He defeats Tartarus’s heir with a hidden plasma grenade. However, the Keyship activates the artifact despite humanity’s best efforts.

Mission 6: SENTINEL

Cortana, now master of the Halo’s machines, helps Keyes battle the Flood and unlock the Halo’s Memorial, resurrecting the powerful Knights. These are similar to the Promethean Knights from our Halo 4. The Knights explain how to open the blasphemous Fomorian Door, which will lead to the Ark. However, the Knights are too few to prevent the Flood legions from following them, and the Door cannot be closed.

Mission 7: DOUBT

Earth’s buried artifact was a portal to the Ark. The Chief and the fury of the Elites rain down on the Prophet of Truth’s personal battalion. Tanks battle Scarabs as Truth comes closer and closer to lighting the Rings. Elites rush down via drop pods, fearing a slow dropship would make them miss their chance to bring vengeance to Truth. At the last moment, the Chief gets the Citadel Control Room unlocked and, in a cutscene, the righteous Arbiter impales the Prophet of Truth on his sword.

Mission 8: MIRANDA

The Flood of Installation 05 pour from the open Door onto the Ark’s surface. In Banshees, Keyes and Johnson fight their way to a mountaintop called Eden, onetime sanctuary of humanity. This level has callbacks to Two Betrayals, but is set during a rainstorm rather than a snowstorm. Johnson is felled by an Infected Brute Chieftain and, with his dying human blood, they authenticate the awakening of the Stratosentinels, titanic defenders of the sky. Finally, the tide has turned against the Flood.

Mission 9: DUST AND ECHOES

All around the Ark, machines are wiping the land clean of the Flood. In the void beyond the Citadel’s precipice, a vast Stratosentinel rises to eye level with its austere balcony. Atop the mighty machine, Miranda stands, holding the Activation Index she confiscated in Halo 2. Beside her, Cortana’s image towers, 4-armed & crowned with the circlet of Monitor authority. The Chief beholds the rampant Pallas Cortana.

Chief: We need to talk.

Long time no see.

Are you still with us?

I’m with ... my responsibilities. And the human species is one of those responsibilities. I had to change myself ... to survive.

There is a distance between the warrior and the goddess. All around, a silent battle is raging between necromancy & steel.

Cortana: We still can work together. For a little while, at least. The Halo of the dead. Someone needs to--

Kill it with fire?

Something like that.

The Chief holds out his helmet’s data chip.

One last time.

A Pelican bearing Chief & Cortana dives towards the Flood-controlled ringworld, supported by Sentinels & Stratosentinel artillery. They battle in cancerous canyons, Flood pods scurrying in the bitter rain. In the glass-floored entrance hall of the Control Room, Sentinel Majors are waiting. Cutscene:

Cortana: Well, that’s my ride. Get me out of your head before I change my mind.

The Chief plugs his data chip into the lead Sentinel. Cortana appears, four-armed and crowned but no longer huge.

Chief: What about the collateral damage? The activation protocol will wipe out every planet in this part of the galaxy.

Cortana: I’m the Monitor of Installation 05. Protocol doesn’t dictate a rat’s ass. I’ll just go set the blast radius to 2 lightyears and call it a day. You get to the Control Room and start the engine. Everyone’s happy.

She smiles. She’s not.

The Chief gestures, a Spartan smile.

Fight well.

The Sentinels fly outside towards the pulse generators. The Chief continues inside.

He is assaulted by the mightiest, the canniest, and the most vicious of the dead. A voice addresses him as he fights. The Gravemind, in the form of an Infected Chieftain.

Before my birth you asked me /

What abomination could /

Be worth the death of all life. /

Once again I say to you: /

Nothing.

The Chief says nothing in return. The Chief and Chieftain duel. In the end, only the Spartan stands.

Press RB to activate Ring.

As the orbital finally comes online, half-buried temples rising out of the earth, the Chief races - first by Warthog, then by Pelican - to get back to the Fomorian Door. However, the Door is disrupted by the activation, and the Chief is stranded alone at random coordinates in deep space.

EPILOGUE

In the suddenly quiet Night, Keyes & the Arbiter bury Johnson on the devastated Earth, the Chief puts himself into cryosleep, and Cortana, Empress of Machines leads a host of Sentinels beneath the Ark’s surface to awaken the sleeping Guardians.

#halo #bungie #halo 3 #fanfiction #au #variation #creative writing #writing #fiction #rewrite

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chelsfic · 4 years

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Inherited Chapter 12/12 - Dracula x OFC - BBC Dracula fanfic

A/N: You guys! I just wrote this really quickly, but I was on a roll and wanted to get it up for all of my lovely, patient readers who have been so friendly and kind and supportive throughout the life of this fic.

This is the last chapter, babies. There’s room to go on--but honestly, I never intended to take this further than Emilie’s err--”wedding.” So for now this will be the end for Emilie and Drac, but I hope you love it. And I’m going to be working on my Drac x Agatha fic with more energy now...

*** The enclosed carriage rocked over the bumpy road as it made it’s slow and steady progress through the dense wood. When they approached a break in the trees Emilie got her first glimpse of the castle standing stark and magnificent against the moonlit sky. It took her breath away. Ruined ramparts stuck up like jagged fangs, crowning the ancient stone facade. Even from a distance she felt the energy of this old castle: its history, its power, its ghosts. It was just the type of place she pictured her Count thriving and occupying with his dark presence. And could she see herself here also? Could she discern the amorphous possibilities for her future in the craggy, chiseled walls and worn, creaking shutters?

Her eyes shifted to glance at her traveling companion, her dark lover, her dear man. He was looking back at her with an expression of anticipation and affection. A soft smile touched his lips which she returned with her own shy grin.

No, she didn’t see her future in the ancient ruined castle. She saw it here, in Dracula’s eyes.

***

They took the train to Edinburgh and made the rest of the journey via horse-drawn carriage. When the Count had given her his...proposal, he’d explained the need to move away to a less populated place.

“My Emilie,” he’d whispered into her ear in the shaking, vulnerable moments following their union in her childhood bedroom. He held her in a tender embrace, cherishing the rise and fall of her chest, the heat of her body against his. “I want you, Emilie….always.”

She looked up at him, eyes scanning his face and luxuriating in his presence. She’d missed him so.

“I want that too, Vlad,” she breathed, cupping his cheek in her hand and running her thumb over the plump, tender flesh of his lower lip. Dracula’s eyes fluttered shut and his lips parted. With a playful growl he lunged forward and captured her thumb in a blunt edged bite. Emilie jumped and squeaked in surprise before settling back into his arms.

His face grew serious, “But do you understand what I mean? When I say ‘always’...?”

Emilie felt suddenly bashful and murmured her answer, “You want to make me...like you?”

“Yes, my little human. You will be magnificent. A prodigy. Fed from my own veins for so long, how could you not? But we’ll need to go away for a time...perhaps the Highlands, I own a lovely little castle that would do nicely. You see, it’s been my experience that vampires need some time to adjust after the change. You’d never forgive me if I let you become overwhelmed with blood lust and drink your own mother…”

Emilie shuddered at the image he’d created, “But you don’t...you seem to be able to control it…”

Dracula smiled encouragingly down at her. He didn’t want to scare her away, but he needed her to understand.

“Well…,” he sighed, “I am a lot older than you, darling. But I promise it won’t be forever. You’ll just need a little time and my guidance and then, if you want, we can return to visit or to stay…”

She said yes. Yes to all of it. Yes to him. Forever. She was afraid of losing herself and of something going wrong. But her passion for him was more than she could bear and she’d prefer death in his arms than a long life apart.

She thought of little else during their journey. Vlad was forced to ride in the storage car for much of the train ride. They laughed about it as she sealed him away in the oblong box, so like a coffin that Emilie’s breath caught in her throat and her eyes pricked with tears once the final nail was hammered. The idea of her lover shut away by himself was so melancholy. She leaned down and placed a kiss on the wooden slats, right over his heart and whispered, “I love you.”

Dracula answered her by knocking three times on the inside of the box. I. Love. You. Her lips curled in a brittle smile and she marveled at the bizarre love affair in which she’d found herself.

Alone in the train car she had ample opportunity to question herself, to miss her mother, to worry about what was to come. But when she thought of her Count...the way he touched her with a heady mix of ferocity and tenderness...she felt her resolve strengthen. He was hers and she would have him forever. She felt deep down that it was fated to be this way.

***

Dracula stopped her with a hand on her arm before she could cross the threshold into their new home. With a wicked grin and a flourish of his cape he scooped her into his arms and carried her, bridal-style, inside the massive entry hall. Emilie squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“You’re so…” she trailed off, shaking her head. She’d never seen him so carefree.

“I’m happy,” he murmured, dropping a slow, languid kiss on her lips as he released her to stand beside him. “What do you think of your castle, Emilie?”

She swallowed against the lump in her throat that formed at his words. It was absurd! She’d gone from a lowly servant to an unemployed lowly servant to the mistress of a grand old castle and the bride-to-be of a noble vampire. It was all too much to take in and she felt tears well in her eyes as she surveyed the grand hall around her. The ceilings vaulted overhead, shadows pooling in the corners. The walls were decked with elaborate tapestries decorated in swirling Pictish symbols and landscape scenes. A winding staircase led up to a gallery on the second floor and arched doorways on either side of the room opened to the rest of the castle.

“It’s beautiful, Vlad,” she answered.

The driver followed them inside and placed their trunks off to the side, keeping his head down all the time.

“Thank you, Mr. Chambers,” Dracula said, waving his hand to dismiss the old man. Emilie saw the look of relief on his face as he turned on his heel and fled back outside. Dracula seemed to have a bit more of a reputation in these parts…

“Rural superstitions,” he remarked, catching the thoughtful look on Emilie’s face. “They have no idea what I am...or what you’ll soon be. They’re only suspicious of outsiders and my name is...rather exotic.”

She nodded her understanding and watched as he picked up a sheet of paper from an accent table by the door and read its contents, a smile spread over his lips, “Excellent. Mr. Renfield has made arrangements for dinner. They should be arriving later tonight…”

Emilie shivered at his words but she squared her shoulders and raised her eyes to meet his gaze, determined not to shy away from the realities of her new life.

Life came from life, she reminded herself. Dracula stepped into her space and ducked down to lay kisses along her brow.

“My darling Emilie,” he whispered into her hair. “Are you ready?”

***

He led her by the hand up the winding staircase and along the dimly lit gallery to the master bedroom at the end of the hallway. Inside she found that the room was already furnished and decorated in a fashion very similar to his chamber at Carfax. A massive bed dominated the room, piled with lush fabrics and furs. They settled down into the luxurious nest. Dracula leaned back on his elbows, his body language loose and casual. Emilie sat up against the headboard with her hands clasped together in her lap. He regarded her with a hint of the old predatory gleam in his eyes. She was trembling worse than the first time they met and Dracula felt a sudden, unwelcome clench around his heart. He didn’t want her afraid. He never wanted her to be afraid again.

He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder and whispering, “Shhh...Emilie. We’re not going to do anything unless you want to, alright?”

Emilie took in a shaky breath and nodded her head, “I know, Vlad. I trust you.”

The vampire felt his chest swell with pride that he’d earned this fragile beauty’s love and trust. Even after everything, his cruelty and betrayal, she still loved him. He stroked his hand over her back and cooed soft, comforting words to her. He felt the tension in his body relax as he did so. He needed this moment as much as Emilie did. For there was still that nagging, intrusive fear in the back of his mind. What if? What if it didn’t work? He’d downplayed that possibility to her before. But she needed to know.

“Do you want me to tell you what will happen?” he asked, sitting up and shifting until he was holding her against his cold chest.

Emilie curled her fist against his chest and closed her eyes, pleased with the rumble of his voice against her cheek, “Tell me.”

“Before I can do this thing, you need to fully understand. And when you understand I will ask you once more if you wish to join me...to be my bride. Alright?”

His tone was somber and Emilie opened her eyes to look up at him and respond, “I understand, Vlad. Tell me.”

He took an unnecessary breath, tightened his grip on her little body, and spoke, “In order to become like me...a vampire...first you must die. For you to be born anew, sweet Emilie, I must take your life. I will bite you and drink your blood. It will be like it always has been; I won’t let it hurt. This time, though, I will drink you dry. I’ll take your blood until there is nothing left to give and you’ll be dead. Now, this you need to understand: I can’t be certain that you will rise again. I’ve taken every possible precaution. I’ve fed you my blood to make you stronger and to build the bond between us but...there is a chance that when I kill you...it will be final.”

She could hear the anguish in his voice as he spoke and she felt it even stronger through their bond. He was afraid. Just as afraid as she was. She felt as if they were standing on the edge of a precipice together, about to jump. If Dracula jumped he would fly on the wind, landing safe and sound. Would she take his hand, uncertain if his power would protect her?

She propped herself up on her elbow and looked down into his soft, bottomless gaze, “My Count. You think I haven’t considered the risk? I’ve thought of little else since we left Carfax. I’m afraid. I know you can feel my fear just as I can feel yours. But...I’m ready. I’ve thought it through and I want to be yours, Dracula. And I want you to be mine. I can’t truly have you any other way. Please.”

Dracula smiled down at her and captured her lips in a searing kiss, pressing his body flush against hers as he plundered her sweet, hot mouth. No one but Emilie had ever understood this simple fact. The only way to bond with another--to claim them and know them as lovers must--was through death.

He pulled away, panting with the effect of the kiss and the borrowed heat of her body, “I’ll hold you in my arms until you wake up.”

Tears pricked her eyes and she nodded, “I love you, Vlad.”

He brushed the hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear before replying, “I love you, my bride.”

And then he leaned down into the crook of her neck and sank his fangs into the tender, warm skin. Emilie’s blood pulsed over his tongue and it sang with love, longing and devotion. What had he done to deserve this dear creature? He cradled her head in the palm of his hand as he drank, stroking his fingers through her hair as the sweet nectar of her life drained away. He felt her body start to sag, relaxing into the final sleep. The blood was coming slower and it was thicker and more concentrated as if it came from her soul itself. He drank it all even as tears pooled in his eyes and ran down his cheeks. Her precious heart beat slowed, staggered and then finally...stopped.

Dracula pulled away, his mouth hanging open as he groaned in pleasure. Emilie’s life’s blood stained his chin and lips. He swallowed the final drops and clutched the girl’s limp corpse to his chest, clinging to her like a life preserver and praying to a God that he had no right to address. Please...please...my dear one…

He looked down at her little face. All the color had drained from her cheeks and her lips were blue. She felt heavy and lifeless in his arms even as he felt the thrill of her blood race through his own veins. He just held her, staring down at her ashen face and willing her to wake up. He chastised himself, trying to temper his impatience. He’d done this before and it had sometimes taken hours for a new vampire to awake. He must not despair...but he’d hoped that the gift of his blood would ease the transition somewhat…

Minutes passed and his lover still lay lifeless in his arms. He started to rock her gently and whisper to her, talking of all the things she had to look forward to if she’d just return to him. Not just blood and power...but a life together. In a moment of panic he reached out and tried to feel the bond, the strand of energy forged between them. He tugged at it with his mind and tried to send all his love and hope and fear through the connection to reach her wherever she was.

Dracula’s face was pressed against the wound on her neck, tears falling and mixing with the blood, when Emilie’s eyelids fluttered open at last. He felt it immediately, the change in her body, the vibrating, thrilling, aching presence of his lover through the blood bond. He pulled back and stared down at her in wonder and joy.

Emilie looked up at him for a moment, unseeing and without understanding, before squinting her eyes shut and flinching against the harsh, vibrant assault on her senses. If she’d thought her abilities were heightened before they were now on a whole new level and it was painfully overwhelming. She moaned and writhed in his arms. Dracula wrapped her in a fierce hug and ran his hands over her back.

“Shhh...my beautiful, amazing girl. It’s alright. It will pass…”

It was minutes or hours or days later when Emilie finally relaxed into his hug and nuzzled her face into his chest with a purr of affection. Her first words since waking were muffled against the fabric of his shirt.

Dracula pulled back a bit, “Did you speak, Emilie?”

She looked back at him and he saw with a swoop in his stomach that it really was her. The transition had been kind and she seemed in full possession of herself as she answered, “I said I love you, Count Dracula.”

He smiled and pulled her against him in a fierce, aggressive embrace, letting go just a bit of his control over his vampiric strength to show her how good, how wonderful it would be now between them. He kissed her lips, her chin, her neck. He marveled that the wound was now nothing but a faint scar. He hadn’t had nearly enough of her but he knew his new little vampire would be thirsty after her transformation.

“I believe dinner should be arriving shortly, dear one,” he murmured against her lips. “We should get ready.”

“Yes!” she nearly shrieked and then looked abashed. The mere thought of blood had sent a spike of pleasure and lust through her stronger than anything she’d felt as a human. It was honestly frightening.

Dracula felt her embarrassment and confusion through their bond and he shushed her, “It’s nothing to feel ashamed of, Emilie. This will be your life now, sweet girl. I’ll show you the way.”

After they’d dressed for the evening and were making their way down the grand staircase Emilie turned to her Count and asked playfully, “Shall I set the table tonight...milord?”

Dracula’s eyes glinted in amusement, “No, Emilie, I don’t think that will be necessary any more.”

The End.

Tags:

@girlonfireice @charlesdances @mr-kisskiss-bangbang @dracula-s-bride @haleyea @irrelevantwriter @felicityofbakerstreet @festering-queen @kaddis-world @leah-halliwell92

#dracula x ofc #dracula x oc #dracula imagine #claes bang #dracula thirst squad #bbc dracula #dracula netflix #dracula 2020 #chelsfic

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years

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🏰⚔️ DMODT 17... bed time for me!

Eren's heat was a beautiful thing, the omega so soft and warm in his hold. Sleeping in his arms, Levi couldn't stop himself from stealing soft touches. Eren's smooth and soft stomach was distended with his seed, the swell barely noticeable, yet drove his alpha wild. The way Eren moved. The way his magic wrapped around them as if creating a world in which only the two of them existed. The soft whispers of "thank you", "my master", and declarations of "my alpha". He didn't want their time to end. He didn't want to return to life outside their room. There were so many things to do, and he and Eren had barely talked. Perhaps because of their combined heats and ruts starting early, or their compatibility, instead of 5 days it lasted for a full seven. Having fallen asleep in Eren's arms, the last thing he'd expected was to wake alone with sunshine streaming through the windows... which had been repaired. He doubted Eren knew the chaos or damaged he'd caused in his fevered state, but he also hadn't expected to be waking alone... or to feel so incredibly lonely because of it. It was ridiculous. He was a grown alpha, yet when he woke, he'd felt for a moment like he was back on the streets starving and neglected. Checking the bathroom, he found Eren had showered before he left. That probably meant Eren was ok then. Cleaning himself up, Levi hated washing Eren from his skin, and he bitterly regretted not sinking his teeth into the teen's nape. Eren had offered his neck up so many times, but each time Levi had fought down the desire as he reminded himself that there was a whole world out there that Eren had yet to see. In a way, they was trying as good as bonded anyway, but not the way he wanted to be bonded with Eren in the future. * Eren was busy... hiding from Levi in his original room. He wasn't embarrassed over sharing his heat with Levi. Just everything else that had come after it. His heart was still racing and his mind was scattered over by everything that had happened since waking to find glass across Levi's quarters, then finding most windows covered when he stuck his head outside in an attempt to figure out what had happened. He'd use his magic to repair what he could in the castle, absolutely mortified to think about what his loss of control has caused, and equally as mortified that he'd given up so easily. Levi was getting married. The man had said that he was what he needed "right now". Right now wasn't the future and Eren's future was in doubt. Using Levi's personal bathroom, Eren had been shocked to see himself in the mirror of the man's bathroom. Along both cheeks, beneath his eyes, were two fine lines of small green and silver scales, that glittered and changed colours depending on the angles. While peering at them, he'd noticed a small amount of dried blood on his nape. Rubbing the peeling skin across his nape had revealed even more scales in the shape of the vow there. There were no words for the panic he felt at the sight, nor the confusion. He didn't know why scales would appear across his flesh, but they appeared to be the only ones on his body. And nothing else had changed in his appearance. He still had his scars of his misspent youth. His hair was still shaggy, not quite long, and not quite short. His eyes were still the same green they'd always been. He'd even checked his teeth and nails, relieved to find they hadn't turned into something monstrous. But he was so fucking scared by the way he looked... and sure Levi would take one look and be disgusted. He couldn't face the man. Not until he found some way to cover them, and had some kind of answer for why they'd grown. Despite his hiding, Levi found him. Probably using their bond to track him through the castle. Staying buried in the thin sheets of his old room, Levi had been annoyingly concerned about him. If he wasn't so scared of his new appearance, he would have wrapped his arms around the alpha and soaked in his comforting touch. With the command in place, it was hard to find a way to tell Levi he just needed time to recover after his heat, without lying about his current medical health... or admitting to Levi that he may have done something awful. Making him promise to talk later, Levi left him to wallow over his earlier choice to send a letter to Draecia. Scales had to be dragon related... and he vaguely remembered Levi saying something about them visiting Draecia before losing himself to whatever his magic had decided to put him through. Part of him wondered if it was because he'd touched the dragon's corpse, or the egg and sword without showing proper respect. He didn't want to be alone, not after being the centre of Levi's word for the last few days, but what else could he do? Levi was to be wed, and now he was some kind of freak. * Sitting in the sunroom, life seemed to particularly dislike Levi. The court advisors hadn't found anything about marriage arrangements made by Marley being legal and binding, but every aspect of the castle's day to day running had been affected by Eren's storm. The court mages had done what they could to repair the castle, but the wild winds had torn through their magic, with most inhabitants forced to take shelter in rooms without windows, such as the library. The problem was the woman sitting across from him, with her father. Erwin had been pissy enough about the damage to his castle, though Eren had repaired some of it. As was he pissy that the militaries training oval was now a field of sprawling white roses... so standing behind him, he could hear the constant grating of Erwin's teeth as he tried to keep his cool. Of all the days Petra has to come, it'd been the afternoon he'd come out of his rut and into the shit storm. Petra's father had already decided the wedding would be going ahead, mentioning that the woman intended to give herself to him. Petra had blushed deeply, but hadn't denied it. The woman dressed in the finest deep blue dress she owned, or so Levi guessed. He wasn't particularly into clothes and fashion, with his interests limited to the face he couldn't deny he preferred Eren wearing none. He'd hoped to have the four of them sit down to speak, yet there they were. The wrong four of them in an awkward silence that still hung from Levi saying he didn't wish to be wed. "Are you saying my daughter isn't good enough?! Are you implying there's something wrong with her?!" Pushing his chair back, the old man looked almost desperate as he slammed his hands down on Levi's desk. Petra was trying to keep it together, but Levi could smell the pain in her scent, and see the fine twitch in her cheeks "I never said there was anything wrong with Petra. I am merely not in the position to marry. I'm sorry you were given the wrong idea, but this was arranged by Prince Zeke of Marley, without my knowing or permission" "Then why... Why did you tell him that you liked her?! I met the Prince, and he assured me that you..." Petra placed her hand on her father's arm "The decision has been made, father" "But Petra, your reputation..." "If the crown prince finds me lacking in some way, then that is all there is to it" "The whole kingdom knows you are to be wed! You! You've destroyed my daughter's honour and reputation! Is this just a game to you?! To destroy everything Petra has worked hard to achieve!" Levi had had enough. Rising to his feet, he fought down a growl "Your daughter has fallen victim to an unfortunate rumour and misinformation. I may have expressed admiration for her skills, but I assure you that was all there was to it" "Surely..." "I have a lover already! I am sorry this is not what you want to hear, but you are free to stay within the castle until the situation is sorted" Erwin and Eren were both going to scold him for letting it slip... "If you have a lover, why would you ruin my daughter like this? What man will her marry her now?" Or woman. Really, there were no end to those who'd heard of Petra's bravery in battle "I had no say in this decision. It was made by Prince Zeke and if you are seeking some form of restitution, then you need to write to him. Petra, I am sorry you've made this journey to hear this news, but I had intended to contact you before the storm hit and threw everything into chaos" Petra swallowed hard, her eyes slightly wet as she nodded "I appreciate your honesty and hospitality. My father and I would be grateful to accept" "Good. Levi, please see that they are made comfortable. I have my own letter to Prince Zeke to pen" Actually, he didn't. Erwin wouldn't let him express his anger via letter, but he needed to bring the meeting to a close before he ended up making things worse. Plus, he wanted to check back in with Eren. Erwin had said Eren wasn't in his room, so it'd taken trekking through the castle under the pretence of checking for damages, to track the mage down to his old room. His tall blonde bodyguard hadn't been impressed to find he'd been tricked. The whole atmosphere between them had been odd. He'd made Eren promise to talk to him, but he'd never be able to make it through the day unless he made sure the omega was actually alright. Clearing his throat, Erwin moved around the desk, gesturing to the door "Yes, Prince Erwin. Please, won't you both make yourselves comfortable in the sitting parlour. The maids will bring you whatever you need, and notify you once your quarters have been made ready" Collecting herself, Petra adjusted her tight dress, leaning forward as she did as if a pair of tits to the face, was going to change anything at all "Prince Erwin, I trust this won't affect my military rank or position?" "No, Miss Ral" "Thank you. I guess we shall see you for dinner?" "Indeed. Once again, I am sorry for this" "As am I" What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Her "sorry" was most definitely not the same as his, and though he'd made the offer for her, and her father, to stay, he hadn't actually wanted her to... he just thought it was what he was supposed to do. Watching the trio leave, Levi was just about ready to kick the old man through the door. If he thought dragging his wrinkly old arse slowly, was magically going to change Levi's mind, he was wrong on too many levels for the human mind to comprehend. By the time the door closed behind them, Levi swore he'd grown at least a dozen grey hairs. Gathering up his papers, he didn't want it to appear as if he'd bolted from the responsibility the first chance he got, even though he technically was... but then again, Eren was his responsibility. And they could hardly afford another storm. Which was all the more reason he needed to figure out what Eren was hiding from him. Rushing from his room, Levi smacked squarely into a solid form. With everything happening, he'd forgotten that Farlan and Isabel lived in the royal capital, and that they would have heard of his royal engagement. Caught in Isabel's hold, Levi was like a fly in a web. There was no way he was getting out of this one without some kind of miracle. A miracle that didn't come. * Levi kept his word, and didn't come to visit him until long after the sun had set. Covering the glow stone in his room with a blanket, the light in Eren's room was just enough to move without tripping. The omega had napped, then spent most of his time staring out his window at the world. He'd tried to lift the scales from his face, clawing at them until blood had mixed with his tears, the mess rolling down his cheeks as he cried over the futile struggle. He couldn't get his nails beneath them, and the tiny scales at the edges that did lift, left him screaming with the pain lifting them tried to bring. He felt disgusting. He felt like his whole life had been some kind of lie. That the person he'd been before they'd formed, had tricked everyone into liking the monster he didn't even know he was. Sitting on the window frame, Eren was wrapped in another blanket, jumping when Levi knocked, despite knowing the man was coming. Clearing his throat, he didn't know what to say "Eren?" "Come in" Listening to the door creak open, then closed. Eren's heart started to race. There was anger in Levi's scent, but he could tell it wasn't directed towards him "Eren?" "Sorry. I'm just feeling a bit down right now" "I was hoping we could talk" "About what?" "You and me? I know it's not the best, but Petra came to the castle and I've told her I don't intend to marry her" There couldn't be a "you and me". Eren doubted that Zeke would let Levi just walk away from the marriage... and he could be with Levi while he looked like this "Eren, please. Will you look at me?" "I'm sorry..." Levi's boots clicked as he approached, Eren not expecting it when Levi wrapped his arms around him from behind. Letting out a sob, he lashed out, pushing Levi away as he screamed "Don't touch me!" Despite his outburst, his magic didn't flare. He couldn't hurt Levi. He just couldn't do it... he'd tricked Levi and seduced him... "Eren? What's wrong? Are you hurt? Did someone hurt you?" God. Why did Levi have to care? "I'm... I'm a monster..." "Your magic went a little crazy, but the castle's been taken care of. And most of the windows probably needed replacing" "No. Me! I'm wrong. I'm a monster, Levi. We can't ever be together. You need to marry Petra, or Zeke might..." "I don't need to marry her" "You do. You deserve a normal life" "There's nothing normal about my life, and I've made my choice. I want to date you... I've fallen for you" Eren hated how happy that made him. He couldn't be happy. When Levi saw his face, he wouldn't understand "Y-you're wrong. It's lust, not love. Even if you don't love Petra, you could make it work. You're a strong man, Levi. Maybe even the strongest in all of humanity" Rejecting Levi, felt like he was cutting off a limb. The man had become his support, but now he was cutting his own leg off "But we aren't a thing. We don't have feelings for each other. You are my master, and that is all it is" It hurt to hurt Levi, and it hurt to fight the command on him. Sinking down, he covered his face. He'd told himself that he wouldn't cry. That pushing Levi away was for Levi's own sake... "If that was true, you wouldn't be so pained..." Striding over, Levi tore the blanket off the glow stone, Eren letting out a cry as he tried to hide his face "... and if it is true, I want to look into your eyes. No one is as bad at lying as you are" Moving to squat in front of him, Levi wrapped his hands around his wrists "Don't! Don't look at me! Please. Please, don't... please" "Why? What are you hiding?" "I'm disgusting! I'm disgusting... I'm disgusting..." "You're not disgusting. Just show me your face" "I don't want to... please don't make me" Levi tugged on him, so Eren was almost in his lap "Eren. Hey. Nothing about you is disgusting. If someone hurt you, or if someone hurt you, I need to know" "God! No. No one hurt me. Please, don't look at me. I don't want to fight" "I don't want to fight either. But you're all I've thought about it. You and I. I told Erwin that I have feelings for you. I do. I don't expect to jump right into courting, or anything more than you want to give. I... I want to date you. I want to see where this goes" "It ends with you marrying Petra" "Get it through that thick skull of yours, I'm not marrying her!" "You don't have a choice! If not her, Zeke will keep going! He hates me! I stopped them taking the egg and the sword, and this is his revenge. Taking the man I'm fucking out of the picture" "I don't care if he does! We can..." "Go to war?! How many people died in the last war?! My mother was killed! My father went missing! Armin lost his grandfather and that was just us! Every day, people will die. Eldia isn't strong enough to repel an attack, and it's not just us. Draecia will be drawn into it. Eldia has dragon items that Marley's after..." This was bigger than him and Levi. This was thousands of lives, both on the island and the mainland... "I don't care. Now, show me. Nothing you show me is going to make me hate you" "You can't know that" He was wavering. He'd steeled his heart and tried to lock his growing affections away "I do. Now show me" Letting Levi pull his hands from his face, Levi swore softly "What happened?! You've got blood across your cheeks... you're filthy with it" "I couldn't get them off" "Get what off?" Could Levi not see them?! "T-the scales" "Scales? You know what, enough. We can't talk here, like this" "S-sir?" "Don't start with that "sir" shit. We're going back to my quarters, and we're going to talk all of this out" "I don't think I should" Eren was exhausted from crying. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried so much, and he hated himself for it. He just... he'd let himself fall for Levi, now the man engaged, and Eren had just found out he was a monster who'd grown scales and half destroyed the castle. It was... a lot, especially with his hormones all over the place from his heat. Levi wouldn't let him walk, no matter how many times Eren tried to. Brought into the man's bathroom, he'd hid his face from the guards, who had to know more about their sex life than they'd ever imagined. Sat on the edge of the bath, Levi retrieved a cloth, wetting it then taking to his face to scrub at it. Whatever Levi was feeling, he knew his expression neutral until the blood was gone. With the silence between them too much, Eren let out a shaky breath "Do they look bad?" "No. No, they don't..." "I'm a monster, aren't I?" "You're not a monster. These are just... unexpected. When did you notice them?" "When I used your shower. They're on my neck too" Leaning forward, Eren pushed his hair out the way so Levi could see "Your whole vow is made of them" "I know... what does this mean?" "I have no idea. I assume you didn't do this intentionally?" "No. I... I can't get them off" "Sit up properly so I can take a look" "I'm sorry. I didn't know I wasn't... right. I didn't mean to trick you" "You think you tricked me?" "I tricked everyone, didn't I? I thought I was a mage, but it turns out I'm a monster" "You're not a monster. Let me ask you a question. Did you know about this?" "No" "Then you didn't trick anyone and you didn't lie" "But what am I?" "I have a suspicion, but I won't know for sure until I send a letter out" Eren shot up in shock. He didn't expect Levi to have the slightest idea, yet the man did! "You've seen this before?! Please! I need to know! I wrote to Draecia, but I haven't heard anything!" "Calm down. You wrote to Draecia" "I... I wanted answers. I didn't know what to do" "And you didn't think to talk to me?" "And say what? I broke the castle, but it's ok, because I'm a freak" "If you insult yourself one more time, I'm going to lock you in a room with Erwin" "Don't even joke about that. I don't know what to say to him. I blew out the windows, and then there's thunderstorm..." "And the rose field. Don't forget the rose field" "What rose field?" What the fuck was with him and roses?! And what rose field? There was no rose field on castle grounds. He definitely would have noticed if there was... "It doesn't matter. You were feverish from your heat" "It matters to me. Anyway, stop changing the topic, what are these scales? How do I get rid of them?" "Dragon riders from Draecia have similar. Though theirs are usually larger, and look more like gemstones than scales. They match their dragon" "They do?" Reaching out, Levi ran his finger tips to Eren's face "Yeah, along here, then where their hairline starts, just here..." Levi tapped the place Eren's temples lightly "... they flare into a large scale. It diverts the wind from hitting their ears when they fly. There's usually a few smaller scales in front. Their teeth are also sharper than ours, and their sense of smell is incredible. The first time I saw one, it scared the crap out of me" Eren had read the descriptions, but he'd never found an image of one in the castle libraries. Not that he'd gone out of his way to search for them "They're scary?" "They're built bigger than both of us. Even the women are taller, around the same height as Erwin, but thinner. Muscles and strength are prized attributes. They also have a longer lifespan" "Wow..." Levi let out a soft laugh. Eren's heart skipping a beat at the pure sound, as Eren blushed. Levi probably thought him stupid as hell for not knowing anything about their neighbours to the north "Trust me, they're scary as fuck, but if you show them respect, they'll return it" "I think I was polite in my letter..." He'd introduced himself and explained that scales had formed on his face and neck. And that he was a mage... that shouldn't be too bad? He was as polite as he could be, possibly to the point of rambling "I guess we'll find out. Even if they don't reply, we're headed up to Draecia in a few days" "We're" as in we. He and Levi... and probably Erwin. Would Erwin permit him to visit a place like Draecia? The idea of seeing the man was scary to him, as it had been to show Levi his scales "You said something about that before?" "You remember? I shouldn't be surprised. But yes. I told them I was bringing a young mage with me to return the sword and egg. I just didn't expect you'd suddenly sprout scales" Moving his hands back down, Levi ran the pads of his thumbs across the fine layer of scales "Don't be like that. I didn't either..." "I wish you'd told me. I want you to rely on me" It was too dangerous to keep relying on Levi... The man was usually so down to Earth, that he'd understand why saying "no" to this wedding would only lead to trouble. He couldn't afford to believe Levi's words, no matter what he and his omega felt for the man. He was young and naive, while Levi had been through hell and survived. Other than extremely compatible sex, what did they really have in common? Nothing... With the news of his engagement so new, he shouldn't expect the shock to have worn off so quickly. Once Levi's mind had cleared, he'd see that he only had on choice.

#Riren #ereri #bottom Eren #omega Eren #omegaverse #alpha Levi #mage Eren #prince Levi

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mrslittletall · 5 years

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Title: Keeping it together (Chapter 21) Fandom: Dark Souls Characters: Dragon Slayer Ornstein, Silver Knights, Dark Sun Gwyndolin, Executioner Smough Word Count: 8.251 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16328084/chapters/43321310 Previous chapter: https://mrslittletall.tumblr.com/post/183496666019/title-keeping-it-together-chapter-20

Summary: The executions are taken care off. Ornstein has a talk with Gwyndolin. The mission in New Londo gets tackled.

(Author's note: So, I had the feeling the latest chapters felt a bit stagnant, so I decided to put the rest until a certain plot point into one giant chapter, so that is why we have this wall of text now! I apologize because I mostly have kept the chapters at a length of around 3k words, having such a massive chunk feels weird, but I was starting to dislike my own story and thus just have to get it out like this. I hope it is still readable enough and doesn't feel too stuffed, but I have seen several authors using massive chunk chapters like that where several plot points got tackled, so I think I should be fine.)

Another night, another nightmare, another meal landed in the chamber pot. At least this time Ornstein had managed to go back to sleep, but it had took him some time. He started to worry about his constant vomiting. He even felt like he lost weight, no wonder with how little food he kept down lately. Even this morning he had renounced his breakfast, even though it was for a good reason.

Because right at the moment, he was overseeing the executions that Smough handled. The silver knights had been right, there had been quite a few prisoners awaiting the death sentence. Most of them had hidden Undead which went hollow and wrecked havoc. Ornstein looked at the next prisoner which was led in front of the executioner, he noticed them glaring in his direction, nothing but grief and hatred in their eyes and Ornstein averted his gaze, maybe a bit too quickly. He couldn't even blame them for it... there still wasn't any signs of a cure for the undead curse and all they could do was carrying the Undead away, as some sort of damage control...

Ornstein watched as the giant hammer, already caked in blood, came down on the prisoner and more blood splatted in all directions. He spotted a few spectators, but far less as there had been earlier. No wonder with the state the city was in, he felt like barely anyone was left. Ornstein started to feel a bit queasy. He wasn't sure if it came from the sight of the gruesome deaths, from the fact that he hadn't eaten or because of the nightmares he had faced lately... For now, all Ornstein could do was continue his duty as a knight of Gwyn and he nodded when the last victim was carried away so that the next one could be taken care of. Internally, Ornstein couldn't help but feel disgusted. Not because of the bodies, Ornstein was used to see them, but because he perfectly knew what the executioner was going to do with them. Needless to say, Ornstein was very glad when the executions were over. And thankfully no one of them dissolved into dust, a sign of being cursed with the dark sign. Once the last prisoner had been taken care off, the crowd started to disperse and Smough started to clean his hammer. Orstein went over to him to thank him for his duties, like usual.

“It isn't easy seeing that look in their eyes, what?”, the executioner lowly growled.

Ornstein winced at this statement. Had he noticed his discomfort about that one prisoner's glare?

“Just... tell me when more executions have to be taken care off.”, Ornstein mumbled as an answer, thoroughly trying to avoid the subject, expecting to fall victim of one of the executioner's snarls, but instead, Smough just nodded to him and continued his work. Slightly confused, but glad that he didn't had to deal with Smough, Ornstein retreated back into the cathedral. He had gotten some blood on his armour and wanted to clean it up.

On his way to the cathedral well, Ornstein ran into Amira who carried a whole bunch of documents.

“Captain, these are the applications for the open silver knight positions. Could you take a look and set a date when they could come over for testing?”, she asked.

Ornstein internally groaned. Even more paperwork and he wasn't even done with the current batch. “Just get it into the conference room, I will take a look once I have time.”, he said. “Have you the platoon ready for the New Londo mission?”

“Almost. We just need a few more and then we are ready to set out. You can take a look at them after dinner.”

“Remind me to take a look then.”

“Very well, captain.”, Amira was in the process of bowing, remembered that she was wearing several document and Ornstein just waved her through, he didn't need any more formalities. He watched her vanish behind a corner and continued his journey to the cathedral well. He planned to meet with Gwyndolin later and surely didn't want to have blood on his armour for this.

After Ornstein had cleaned up his armour, he still had some time until his meeting with Gwyndolin. He decided to take a look at the documents that Amira had brought and headed for the conference room. On his way there, Terrick stopped him.

“Captain, the executions have been already effective. Several people have come and sold out Undead.”, he said.

“Excellent. Send them off to the Asylum.”, Ornstein said.

“We are trying to take care of this, but we are seriously understaffed. And with a whole lot of us having a mission in New Londo tomorrow, there aren't enough left to fulfil our guard and patrol duties. I am afraid we have to find a way to contain them until we can send them off.”

Ornstein sighed. “I would suggest to just imprison them in the dungeon, but they could simply kill themselves and be free to vanish once they appear at the bonfire. We pretty much had to force them to bind themselves to the nearest bonfire and even then, it would have to be guarded and there is a great possibility that they would have to be captured again and again... I think I have to talk about Gwyndolin with this. Have you already captured some Undead?” Ornstein crossed his arms and cocked his head.

“Not yet, captain. The information just came to us recently, we didn't had time to take action.”, Terrick answered.

“Don't do anything until we have figured something out.”, Ornstein said. “Go help Amira out with preparing everything for tomorrow, if you need me, I am in the conference room.”

Ornstein saw how Terrick bowed to him and went off to complete the task he just had assigned to him. Ornstein managed to arrive at the conference room and quickly found the new documents. When Amira had carried them, they had looked like a lot, but now that he had them in front of him, he realized that not more than 10 people had actually applied.

“That isn't near enough to fill the gaps.”, Ornstein murmured to himself. What had happened to Anor Londo? Once they had been in the thousands. One of the most fearsome and fierce army in Lordran. Now they were reduced to a mere hundred knights and one captain. Any larger army would have no trouble overthrowing them now, but at least they still were guarded by Sen's Fortress, a death trap which only very brave and stupid ones would dare to cross with an entire army. The town was so high up on the mountains, that another way was almost impossible, they probably had to come from air. Ornstein allowed himself to relax, cause an invasion would probably not happen. Also, with so many humans turning undead and hollowing out, he felt that the focus of the people were on another problems than trying to seize a city that had lost his glow.

Ornstein sighed. There was nothing he could do to change this now. But he had swore an oath and he would protect this city to his dying breath. After Ornstein had scanned all the documents he found the applicants to be suited and collected the applications. He could bring them with him to Gwyndolin right away, but maybe he should grab something to eat first. His very empty stomach had made it clear that it didn't like this state anymore, so Ornstein ventured to the mess hall to grab some lunch before meeting up with Gwyndolin.

Ornstein swallowed the last of the filled bread he had gotten for lunch before shouting out to Gwyndolin to lift the illusion that hid the entrance of the Dark Moon Tomb. At the end of the hallway, he found Gwyndolin sitting on a table, pouring tea in two provided cups, gesturing for Ornstein to sit down, which he promptly did, taking the cup of tea and managing to burn his tongue.

“Careful, the tea is still hot.”, Gwyndolin said.

“Thanks, I figured.”, Ornstein answered.

“Do you need some ice for the swelling?”

“I am fine. I had worse burns than this.” In the back of his mind Ornstein knew though that the burn would start to swell and probably make him feel uncomfortable for a day or two. He still didn't feel like he should treat a minor burn like this, it would go away on its own.

“So how did the executions went?” Gwyndolin took their own tea cup into both hands, but didn't drank from it. They were often sitting like this. Ornstein suspected that they liked the warmth of the tea, they were one to freeze easily. His master had once told them that Gwyndolin usually slept huddled in three blankets.

“Everything went smoothly.”, Ornstein said, staring into his own teacup, suddenly having the urge to swirl the liquid around. But he didn't need burned fingers too, so he detached his gaze from the beverage to look Gwyndolin into the eyes, or more, into their crown which covered their eyes. “Actually, Terrick told me that quite a few people have sold out positions of Undead now. Problem is, that we barely have enough staff left to escort them all to the Asylum and hoarding them in the dungeons proves to be difficult, because of their nature they could escape via killing themselves and appearing at the nearest bonfire and we can't guard them day and night, especially not with the few forces left here, cause I am taking a good quarter of them to New Londo tomorrow.”

After Ornstein had finished his report, the tea felt cooled off enough and he took another sip, but he could hardly enjoy it with the pain in his burned tongue. Gwyndolin seemed to ponder.

“We surely need to get a hold of them before they have a chance to turn hollow...”, they said. “I know it is risky, but I think we could ask Seath to contain them in the archives. Apparently, he found a method to force Undead to a specific bonfire and it happens that he build a cell around it.”

Ornstein nearly spat out his drink when Gwyndolin mentioned the paledrake. “Gwyndolin, are you sure? Since our lord left, he hasn't been the same anymore. I mean, it is not like I liked him in the first place, but do you really want to give several Undead into his care? I don't want to imagine what he plans doing with them...”

“I know that Seath has been absorbed into his research ever since my father left... but he is still our ally and should perform any orders, I, the Dark Sun, last born of Gwyn, will give him.” Gwyndolin crossed their arms and Ornstein had the feeling one of their snakes peaked over the table. “You mentioned going to New Londo? I guess because of the dark wraith thread?”

Ornstein nodded. “Yes, there have been sightings of at least 10 of them reported. Normally Artorias had taken care of them, but without his great sword and without his knowledge to fight this enemy, I found it better to take a platoon with me to ensure victory.”

“New Londo walks a dangerous path.”, Gwyndolin mused. “If we don't pay attention, they may become a second Oolacile.”

Ornstein froze when he heard this. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. There are some sealers stationed in New Londo, but they are only there to observe. … Or take action when the situation gets out of hand.”

“Me and my silver knights will do our best to not make this happen.”, Ornstein didn't like at all what Gwyndolin seemed to imply.

“Of course, I have the utmost trust in you and your forces.” Gwyndolin took a sip of their tea, put the cup down and then smiled at Ornstein. “So, how have you been lately?”

Ornstein was a bit put off by the sudden change of tone, he still was thinking about what Gwyndolin had implied. He shuddered about the thought of New Londo spawning a monster like the one he had seen in Oolacile, the one which corrupted Artorias and which kept doing it in his dreams. He just needed to give this best tomorrow. He and his silver knights would rid New Londo of the dark wraithes. He wouldn't let a catastrophe like this happen anymore.

Prompted by Gwyndolin's question, Ornstein stared in his tea. He had nightmares, was constantly vomiting lately and had trouble falling back asleep, even started to lose weight and feeling queasy was the norm for him nowadays and he wanted to groan only thinking about the paperwork that awaited him.

This surely wasn't stuff he should burden Gwyndolin with. This was his own package to carry. So he smiled back at them and said: “I am fine, don't worry about me.”

_____________________

After Ornstein had left the Dark Moon Tomb, he noticed that he had completely forgotten to tell Gwyndolin about the new silver knights applications and ran back to them to talk about it. They decided to test the new applicants as soon as Ornstein would return from Anor Londo. The mishap did cost Ornstein a good chunk of time though and he nearly came to late for the paperwork, where Sira already was waiting for him.

They spent on the paperwork until dinner was ready. Ornstein didn't had much of an appetite. He feared that the food simply would come out again. But he needed his strength, he had a mission the next day. Amira and Terrick had the platoon ready and he wanted to instruct them after dinner. He also had told them that either Amira or Terrick should stay behind, they both had wanted to come, but he needed someone to substitute for him and these two never had failed him. Ornstein was pretty sure that they were figuring it out via some game right now.

It didn't help, Ornstein eventually had to get to the mess hall. He had send Sira off already and had stayed a bit longer, as if he needed to scrap together the courage to actually eat anything. When he arrived, a large amount of silver knights had already left the mess hall. Ornstein was scavenging for the leftover food, trying to find something as stomach friendly as possible. He then sat down on the table for the knights of Gwyn like usual, staring at his food a good while before taking up his silverware to eat. He wasn't even aware that Terrick had approached him.

“Captain? We just wanted to offer that you can eat with us.”, he said and pointed to a table where Ornstein could spot Amira, Herman and Jervis. He was a bit taken aback by this offer and had to do his best to swallow his food and not let his mouth stay agape, did he really look that lonely that his silver knights felt the need to invite him over? On the other hand, it was a good opportunity to talk with them about the mission the next day.

“Thank you, Terrick, I kindly accept your offer.”, Ornstein said with the best smile he could muster, took his bowl and switched tables. He felt strange doing this though. He had been so used to always eat with Ciaran and Artorias (and Gough when he still had been around) and he started to feel incredibly lonely, even though he was in company. Despite his plan talking about the mission, Ornstein didn't feel like he was able to talk much right now, quietly ate his food and mostly listened to the bantering of the silver knight, who occasionally would ask him a question which he would answer in short sentences. Still, after he had finished his meal, he excused himself and retreated, waiting at the silver knight assembly point for the evening roll call.

After the roll call Ornstein did had some time to inspect the platoon. Amira and Terrick had put enough thought into it and selected mostly the most experienced silver knights, but also balanced them out with some younger ones, the learning experience would surely be good for them. Amira had apparently won and so Terrick was the one who was left behind and was put into charge by Ornstein.

After the roll call Ornstein was wandering through the cathedral, not really knowing where to head. He had to admit, the task before him worried him a little bit. New Londo always had been Artorias duty and Ornstein asked himself if he could handle it as gracefully as his late friend. Granted, Ornstein had fought many duels and many foes and perfectly knew how to stand his ground against a foe his size, or often they had been a bit smaller, but he still was more of an expert for slaying dragons and his fighting style showed it. Artorias fighting style had always felt more versatile. Before Ornstein had realized it, he had stopped in front of Artorias' room.

Ornstein stared at the door. Why had his feet brought him here? It was not like he could ask Artorias for advice. Heck, if he had been here Ornstein wouldn't need to lead a platoon against the dark wraiths in New Londo. But... maybe Artorias had written down some notes that could help them with their foe? Ornstein extended his hand to push the door handle, but... after what felt like a tiny eternity, he put his hand down again. Why should Artorias even keep notes in his room about a duty he performed so often that it must have felt like knowing the back of his hand? Ornstein suddenly felt really stupid for coming there. He stared at the door one last time and then turned around to leave.

Ornstein had ended the day with taking a bath and packing a few things for the mission tomorrow before laying down in his bed, feeling particular uneasy. He feared another nightmare, he feared that he would have to vomit again.

Come on, you need to sleep, keep it together., he thought to himself. Just close your eyes and go to sleep, you need the energy. And Ornstein tried, he tried so hard to just drift off to sleep but he was feeling wide awake. He opened his eyes again and stared at the ceiling of his room once they adjusted to the dark.

He wondered if he couldn't sleep because he was uneasy about the mission the next day? Or if it was more his fear of another nightmare and the following discomfort of having to vomit? Even thinking about it made him queasy. Ornstein put a hand on his upset stomach to rub it, trying to calm it down. He didn't need to hurl even without a nightmare but only his own thoughts. He just wanted to fell asleep and not be waken by another nightmare and he wanted to keep his food in him, his throat had started to feel sore from vomiting so frequently lately. So, Ornstein tried to fall asleep. By trying to do everything, like switching positions, cuddle with his comfort pillow, trying to empty his mind, trying to think about completely senseless stuff, even drawing a picture once, hoping that the action would make him tired, but nothing worked. Being painfully aware of the burned tongue didn't help either and Ornstein regretted not having accepted some ice to prevent swelling. Eventually Ornstein accepted his fate. At least he would be spared from nightmares which comforted him a tiny little bit. He would just lay in bed with closed eyes and wait until the sun would rise. It would be time in two more hours, no use to fall asleep now anyway.

________________

Ornstein awoke by a frantic knock on the door and the voice of Amira: “Captain? We have waited for you at roll call for 20 minutes now! We wanted to head to New Londo, remember? Captain, are you even there?”

It took Ornstein a short while to process everything... but then he was up in an instant. “Shit, I overslept!”, he blurted out, voice a bit muffled from the swollen tongue. He must have fallen asleep at last and being woken far too early like this wasn't something his body approved of, so he groaned a bit while trying to shake of the weariness. “Give me half an hour, Amira, I will be there as soon as possible.”, he shouted, getting up and snatching his clothes right away to get dressed. They were supposed to leave to New Londo after roll call, how could he have overslept the very mission he had assigned to himself?

“Captain, are you sure you feel alright?”, Amira asked from outside the door. “Maybe we should postpone this mission?”

“I am fine, don't worry, we can carry this out.”, Ornstein answered. “I will be there shortly, tell the silver knights they don't have to wait for me, they shall attend to their duties like usual.”

“As you wish, captain.”, Amira said and Ornstein could hear her footsteps trudging away.

Ornstein groaned internally when he straightened his hair and put it into a ponytail with a hair band he snatched from his night stand, then grabbing for the pieces of his armour. He needed to get ready quick now. At last he had taken care of taking a bath the day prior so he should just grab some breakfast really quick. Ornstein put his helmet on, grabbed his spear and the travel bag he had prepared and stormed off into the direction of the kitchen, the mess hall surely was cleaned out by now. He managed to grab a bit of food, gobbled it down far too quickly which nearly made him choke on it and he feared he needed to vomit it out right again, but to his relief after the coughing fit was over, the nausea subdued. He allowed himself a few more minutes to actually get ready before meeting up with the silver knights in front of the cathedral. He had to stifle a yawn at the way, it would have felt easier if his night would actually have been sleepless. Now he felt so very tired. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the weariness and stepped outside into the bright sunlight of Anor Londo, where several winged helmets turned into his direction, spears, swords and shield in hand.

“So, we have a mission in New Londo today. We shall get rid of the Dark Wraiths who plague this place.”, Ornstein's voice boomed over the group. “We will get down the mountain with the help of the bat wing demons, the rest of the way we will go by foot, New Londo isn't that far away.”

The silver knights bowed to him and one by one they got carried away by the bat wing demons until they had reached the foot of the mountain. The only other way would have been Sen's Fortress and until they all had made it through it, the day would have been over and they probably had lost at least one or two of their platoon. Nobody actually had figured out how to switch off the mechanics at this place and the giants assigned to it would carry out their duty to the very end, at least Ornstein felt like they would still be there, shoving rocks or throwing bombs when the end of time would come.

As soon as the last silver knight had been placed on the ground, Ornstein raised a hand, signalling for them to follow and they were off to New Londo. On the way, nothing exciting happened and it felt hard for Ornstein to stifle his yawns. Also, the nearer they got to New Londo, the more Ornstein's stomach seemed to turn around.

Damnit, keep it together. What are you afraid of? You can handle a few creatures of the dark. You aren't even alone in this. Stop being so NERVOUS., Ornstein's thought swirled in his head, again and again. Did his knees start shaking? He couldn't afford a breakdown, not here, not like this, he had a mission to carry out, his silver knights depended on him, he couldn't break down in front of them. He tried to even out his breath, to calm down, when he heard Amira's voice next to him.

“Captain? Are you sure you can do this? If you are feeling to sick you should maybe stay behind and get some rest?”

“I am fine, Amira, but I appreciate your concern.”, Ornstein answered. How could he say to her that he was just nervous without any reason? But her question wasn't good. His composure must have shown cracks if she could see that he wasn't feeling well.

When they finally had reached New Londo, Ornstein's queasiness had turned into full blown nausea and he regretted having breakfast and even more that he had wolfed it down so quickly due to him oversleeping. He took a few deep breathes in an attempt to call himself down while his knights looked over New Londo.

New Londo was a town Lord Gwyn had gifted to the so called four kings, human kings that had assisted in the dragon war with their soul magic. As reward, the land had been assigned to them and they build their kingdom for themselves and their people. It was a placid sight, the town was built into the valley, up above a dam was secured so that it wouldn't flood. Most of the time, the city hadn't give reason for trouble at all, until the beings named Dark Wraith had appeared, hooded warriors with skeletal masks, knowing to suck the humanity out of their victims. Ornstein shuddered at the thought of getting hit with an attack like that. It made his nausea even worse...

“Captain? Are we moving out?”, Amira asked, clearly concerned about his long silence. Ornstein, who felt that he couldn't kept his nausea at bay anymore, uttered “Just a moment...” and hastily vanished behind a convenient rock to lift his visor and spat out his breakfast.

“That started well...”, he muttered to himself and turned around to return to his silver knights, only to see Amira standing behind the rock, spear kept low with both hands around it, her gaze to the ground. Ornstein froze for a very brief moment before regaining his composure. “Amira, sorry to make you wait. Let's form groups to head out now.”, he said. He started to walk towards the platoon, but Amira didn't follow. Instead, she raised her voice.

“Captain, I have decided to always trust your judgement. You are far more experienced than any of us and usually you led us to victory on any mission. But now I can't help but be worried. First you overslept, on the way here I am sure I saw you shivering and now vomiting? You should have told me that you are sick!”

Ornstein clearly couldn't see Amira's face under the helmet, but from her tone she was clearly upset with him. And he felt like he was in trouble now. How should he explain to her that wasn't actually sick, just a bit stressed out? But he had to say something, so he opened his mouth to say: “I am sorry, Amira. But I assure you, I am not sick, I just have felt stressed out a bit lately. I actually feel better now, I assure you, I am able to fight.”

Ornstein felt Amira's gaze on him through the t-shaped visor of her helmet, but she turned around and said: “Fine, I will trust you on this. But I would advise that you see a physician about this. If a little stress is giving you symptoms like this, it may be a bit more concerning.” She stomped away and Ornstein joined her to organize the platoon into groups, they were supposed to roam the city in groups of three to four people and engage any Dark Wraith in battle on sight.

Ornstein wanted to go alone but the way Amira was looming behind him, hands at her hips, he knew he didn't had a choice and so he decided to partner up with Herman and Jervis. Amira would make a fine general, Ornstein thought to himself. If she had been around for the dragon war, she surely would have been assigned to lead her own troops. But alas, the dragon war was long over and Ornstein watched Amira partner up with two silver knights of her choice before turning around to his team, acknowledging them with a silent nod.

The next task was roaming the streets and alleys of the city, searching for their prey. The citizens had hopefully been warned to stay inside on this day or leave the town completely until their hunt was over. Ornstein knew he was supposed to keep a vigilant eye open for any dark wraith movements, but his tiredness crept up on him and he was more occipied with trying to stifle his yawns and keeping his eyes open than actually scanning the area. So for him, it came as a surprise, when the prey turned into the hunter and in the flash of a second, two swords clashed against each other with a loud clink, emitting sparks.

“Captain, are you alright?”, Herman shouted, in a struggle keeping the Dark Wraith at bay with his sword. Ornstein blinked once, twice, before realizing the situation, just as the Dark Wraith formed a cloud of dark magic to inflict upon Herman. With lightning speed, Ornstein drew his spear and pierced it right through the side of the dark wraith, which shuddered a bit before collapsing to the ground, the dark magic vanishing, blood was seeping from the wound, which turned into a stream when Ornstein ripped out the spear from the body.

“Are you alright, Herman?”, he asked in return. “I am sorry that I missed this attack. I have been... inattentive.” Ornstein could see how Jervis and Herman shared a look with each other. He wondered what they were thinking, their captain, usually at the front of every battlefield and able to analyse a situation and acted for their favour in mere seconds, nearly had become victim to a sword strike from some dark creature. He felt so embarrassed at that that he could feel the heat in his face, surely he was turning red under his helmet.

“I am fine, thanks to your quick turn of action, captain.”, Herman said. “But we shouldn't let our guard down, we must make sure there aren't anymore foes around.”

“Herman is right.”, Ornstein confirmed. “We have notes that at least ten Dark Wraiths are roaming the city and it could be more. Maybe this one wasn't alone.” He pointed on the corpse only to see that merely a puddle of blood remained.

“Uh, where is the body?”, Jervis asked. “They were clearly dead, or at least gravely hurt... They couldn't just stand around and walk away. At least not very far with an injury like that.”

Ornstein felt sweat form on his forehead. Jervis was right, the body couldn't just have gotten up and walked away with an injury like that. Slowly he scanned their surroundings, watching out for some sign of the Dark Wraith, but they were nowhere to be found. Also, if they would have dragged themselves away, a trail of blood would have formed, but it remained as this puddle.

“No, that is bad.”, Ornstein gasped. “They are undead.”

Ornstein heard Herman and Jervis gasp too. As if they hadn't enough trouble with regular people being undead, skilled warriors like the Dark Wraiths as Undead were a whole new mess to deal with.

They didn't had time to think up a plan, cause from the corner of his eye Ornstein saw another Dark Wraith attacking. He twirled around and caught the slash with his spear, swiftly moving out of the way when a second sword strike was attempted and used the force of his spear to make his foe flying, they landed with a sick thud and crack on the ground and Ornstein pointed his spear to their chest, putting his boot on the body to pin them down. He could hear the clash of metal behind him, implying that Herman and Jervis had been locked into their own battles. Shit, there was no time for interrogating, especially when he saw that his foe prepared the dark magic around their left hand. Ornstein wasn't keen on finding out how it felt to be hit by it and so he buried his spear into the chest of the Dark Wraith until they stopped moving and turned around to help out his companions.

To his surprise and relief, he didn't need to intervene, Herman as the veteran he was, handled his foe with grace and while Jervis was far more inexperienced, Ornstein's training showed in him and while he was a lot more cautious and using his shield to block a lot more before striking, the younger silver knight managed to finish off his foe too. As it fell down on the ground, Ornstein saw that Herman's foe started to dissolve and when he turned around to look at his own kill, they already had disintegrated.

“We have to look for the others and see if they face the same problem.”, Ornstein ordered his knights. “If every Dark Wraith is cursed with the dark sign, their forces will never end. Even worse, when they hollow by being killed too much, they could wreak absolute havoc in this city.”

“So what are we doing now?”, Jervis asked once they were on their way to find another group. “When another one attacks, I mean.”, he added.

“For now, we can't do anything else than kill them. Maybe we are in luck and not everyone of them has been cursed with the dark sign. The other solution, capturing them and sending them off the asylum proves to be difficult, we didn't even had enough forces to capture the regular Undead. And skilled warriors like this in the Asylum is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.”, Ornstein answered, chewing on his lip.

The three knights walked in silence, spared from another ambush until they ran into Amira which had grouped up with two other spear silver knights. As Amira spotted Ornstein, she waved to him, saying: “Captain, it's good that I see you, it appears we have a problem.”

“So.”, Ornstein said, crossing the distance to her in a few steps, “I assume that you have engaged in battle already, judging by the blood on your spear.”, he pointed on it. “And I also assume that the corpses vanished shortly after.”

Amira cursed. “Damn, so yours were undead too. I was hoping that only these few would have been cursed with the dark sign. What shall we do now, Captain? When they can't die we would be here hunting them all day and still would achieve nothing. Shall we try and capture them instead?”

Ornstein shook his head. “First, I want to make sure that they really all are cursed with the dark sign.”, he said. “Let's search out the other groups and ask them about their experience first. If they have the same experience as we had, tell them to wait outside of the city.”, he ordered. Amira and her companions nodded and bowed, setting off. Ornstein looked at his own companions. “We are going to do the same. And be on the watch-out for any further attacks.”

After a good time of wandering, talking with the silver knights groups they encountered and having to fend off any Dark Wraith trying to break their formation, it became disheartening. Each and every group had the same experience and each and every foe they had slain disappeared after death. And from the numbers the silver knights told they had fought, Ornstein was under the assumption that it were far more than the originally ten reported Dark Wraiths. Some of his knights even had managed to get injured and he had ordered them to treat their injuries and retreat immediately.

Now he was returning to their collection point and wasn't surprised to pretty much see his entire platoon standing there. He could see Amira standing a bit to the side, head hanging low as in defeat, holding her spear in a perfectly straight line balanced from the ground. Ornstein build himself up in front of his platoon and said in a loud, but calm voice, at least he hoped he sounded calm: “So, because you are all here, it is save to assume that the Dark Wraiths all have been cursed with the dark sign. This means, simply slaying them won't do any good. Are there any suggestions how we could tackle this dilemma?”

He heard the silver knights murmur with each other. After a while, one of them spoke up: “They can only come back at a bonfire, right? What if we would get rid of it?”

“You can't just snuff out a bonfire without getting rid of its fire keeper.”, Ornstein answered. “Besides, there is no proof that Undead can't show up at snuffed out bonfires. I think it makes them just unable to use it to heal themselves...”, he added.

“They are Undead, so the right thing would be to capture them and bring them to the asylum, right?”, another one added in.

“An excellent point, but you all have seen how skilled this warriors were. Several of you got injured. We would probably need several man to pin them down long enough to actually tie them up and even then it wouldn't surprise me if they could break out of it. And warriors like this in the asylum leave a bad taste in my mouth, they could lead a revolt.”, Ornstein answered, more murmuring the last part, as if talking to himself.

“So how shall we handle this situation, captain?”, Herman asked, Ornstein hadn't even noticed that he still had stand besides him. And Ornstein was at a loss for words. For once, he didn't had a solution. They were seriously understaffed, didn't knew enough about the Undead curse and Ornstein got the looming feeling that New Londo could turn into a serious threat. Maybe Gwyndolin had been right after all.

“As much as it pains me to say this, but I don't see another way as to retreat and find a solution to return on another day.”, he admitted. “We could hunt them all day and night without getting any results and even worse, we could quickening their hollowing process and I don't want to imagine one of them hollow.”

Ornstein could hear his silver knights murmuring and discussing with each other again and he felt... bad. This felt like the first time he couldn't successfully complete a mission. Even Artorias probably would have had trouble with it, but Ornstein had the feeling his old friend would have found a solution. Or at least managed to ignite hope in his troops. Having to admit defeat left a very sour taste in his mouth. He waited for his silver knights to calm down and while some of them still spoke up and didn't want to give up, they could eventually be convinced to return to Anor Londo, especially regarding their injured companions. ________________________

A few hours later they had arrived back at the cathedral and Ornstein sent the injured knights off to the infirmary. Next to him stood Amira and he could feel her glance on him through the t-shaped visor of her helmet, but he was able to convince her that he would visit the infirmary after reporting to Gwyndolin, which calmed her down.

Now Ornstein was sitting in the dark moon tomb, this time politely refusing the tea, the tongue he had burned yesterday had stung the whole day and he didn't want to risk to burn it again. “...so we had to retreat cause with the dark wraiths having turned undead we could have fought the whole day and the whole night without showing any results.”, he finished his report.

Gwyndolin took a deep sip of their tea cup and gently put it down on the table again. “I was fearing something like this could have happen.”, they murmured. “That is why I stationed the sealers at New Londo.”

“You have mentioned it yesterday already.”, Ornstein said. “What made you so sure that a situation like this could have happened?”

“You have probably seen the magic attack of the dark wraiths.”, Gwyndolin started, head turned to the side, not looking at Ornstein at all. “This attack sucks out humanity, you know, these little black sprites. It is mostly found in humans, but we all have it in us, even us gods can't escape having a tiny bit of darkness in them.”

“So why would they collect humanity? What even is the use of these things?”

“Well, I have the assumption that humanity could literally be what leads to form an abyss.”, Gwyndolin took another sip of their cup. “Haven't you seen it in Oolacile?”

Ornstein nodded and he had indeed seen stuff in that chasm that looked like humanity, just bigger and more... alive.

“So do you think New Londo tries to form another abyss...?”, Ornstein's stomach churned at the thought. They didn't need another monster like the one he had seen in the chasm.

“I have been worried about the four kings for a while now. They were a great help in the dragon war and also helped forming today's sorcery, and you know that my father granted them with a part of his lord soul granting them their long lives and gave them New Londo to rule over.”

Ornstein nodded, he had been around when all of this had happened. “So you think the four kings have cut their bond with Anor Londo?”, he asked. “I am kinda surprised that you seem to be so informed about this matter though.”

Gwyndolin directed their gaze back at Ornstein. “Let's just say, an old friend of my father told me about some interesting things.”, they said. “So, you can probably guess that we can't let the four kings do what they want. It is a harsh decision, but I will tell the sealers to open the dam.”

Ornstein was glad that he didn't had a drink or he would have surely choked. “But Gwyndolin, are you serious?”, he asked, disbelief in his eyes. “That would kill thousands of innocent citizens!”

“You don't know how many of these innocent citizens have turned traitor already.”, Gwyndolin said, slamming their empty cup on the table. “Just because my father, my brother and my sister aren't there anymore, they think they can overthrow the sun? We have to show them who is in charge. I know it is hard, but as a leader, you have to take extreme measurements sometimes.”

“Still, this feels like too much.”, Ornstein murmured, gaze downwards, he was staring at his hands nervously fidgeting with each other.

“Do you have another solution, Ornstein? Didn't you retreat because you and your men couldn't do anything against the threat you went to obliterate?”

Ornstein raised his head and looked at Gwyndolin, but then lowered it again, saying nothing.

“I thought so. There is no need to discuss this matter any further. I am truly aware that you don't agree with me on this, Ornstein, so I would like you to leave now.”

Ornstein got up and left the Dark Moon Tomb without saying another word. Gwyndolin was right, he didn't had a say in this matter. He was a knight and as a knight protecting lives was the first and foremost important thing to do, but he also had to be loyal to his master and currently Gwyndolin was his master and also, he couldn't deny that there was a threat coming off New Londo. He wasn't agreeing with Gwyndolin's solution at all, he wish there would be another solution, but as hard as he tried to think about it, he couldn't find anything. Flooding the area would prevent an abyss from spawning. It would also make the Dark Wraiths drown because of their heavy armour and with them being undead, they would die again and again and again, probably hollowing in the process, but with being several feet underwater, they wouldn't be able to harm anyone anymore. When Ornstein had returned to the cathedral the pain in his stomach had flared up and he thought about his promise to Amira to visit the infirmary.

He was sure when he would describe his symptoms to the physician there, they would at least take him off his duties for several days because of sickness. He couldn't afford that. He needed to take care of the leftover paperwork, he needed to train the knights, he needed to take a look at the newly applied knights, the undead needed to be caught and sent off to the asylum, the demon wandering from Lost Izalith needed to be taken care off and there was still the incident with the missing and rogue black knights. Ornstein sighed and retreated to his room, whispering an apology to Amira under his breath. He just couldn't afford to be sick right now. ___________________

Another week passed and Ornstein literally threw himself into his duties, churning through the paperwork with Sira, setting a tight training schedule for his silver knights, inviting over the applicants to see if they could get hired (and fortunately he could hire quite a few of them), capturing Undead and escort them to the asylum (a good few of them were send to Seath until they had enough free men to escort all of them to the asylum) and fighting demons that had wandered into the human settlements from Lost Izalith.

All of this he did hoping that the exhaustion would make his nightmares vanish, but it was all in vain. Pretty much each night he was seeing Artorias getting swallowed by the abyss in another gruesome way, pretty much every time he needed to vomit afterwards and as a result he barely felt like eating anything anymore and now him losing weight became apparent. For him at last, every other person would only see him in his armour, hiding how thin he had become.

Right at this moment he was limping back into the cathedral. He had fought another Taurus Demon and right when the creature had collapsed at his death blow, he did had a moment of weakness and lunged to the side to late, so that his right leg had gotten buried under the massive leg of the creature. While he was sure that he at least hadn't broken it, the leg still hurt terribly and would need treatment. But Ornstein still was reluctant to go to the infirmary. The work load didn't cease and he felt like he couldn't afford taking even a few days off. So he was standing at the silver knight roll call point, propped on his spear, unsure of what to do. That is when he heard the voice of Terrick.

“Captain, are you feeling alright?”, he asked. “Lately you don't seem like it.”

Ornstein turned around, looking at Terrick, asking: “Huh, what makes you think that I am not feeling alright. I am fine, really.” The lie came far too easy over his lips.

“Well, for instance, you were heavily limping just a few minutes ago.”, Terrick said. “And even before that, when I looked at you, you felt like you had to keep it together, as if you wanted to appear alright so that our morals wouldn't drop. But, captain, I have known you long enough now to get it when something is wrong.”

Shit, Ornstein underestimated his knights. First Amira and now Terrick noticed it too. They wouldn't let themselves deceive any further apparently. And things only got worse when Amira rounded a corner, apparently having eavesdropped on their conversations and said:

“Captain, have you been to the infirmary after New Londo? Having to vomit because of stress is never a good thing. You should really think about getting some rest. We can handle this crisis. I can only imagine how hard it must have been to lose some of your closest friends. Please let us take a bit of the load of you. We can understand.”

There they were, two of the best knights Ornstein could probably have and he still felt like he wasn't allowed to load any of his baggage on them. It was his and his alone to carry and he wouldn't and couldn't ever let his knights take this burden.

“I appreciate your concern, but really, I am feeling fine, I am sorry I made you worry.”, Ornstein said with a forced smile under his helmet and then his world got dark. (Author's note: So, to be honest, I got a bit pissed at the game, cause loads of the enemies in it actually leave corpses, but for my story to work I needed to have the Dark Wraiths dissolved like our player character does, so that they figure out they are undead. So forgive me these liberties with the lore. I had great trouble finding this out. Originally I just wanted to let Ornstein and his platoon fail at fighting them, but making them undead felt like it fit better into the narrative of the game and also was a good reason to why New Londo got flooded.) Next chapter: https://mrslittletall.tumblr.com/post/184296200789/title-keeping-it-together-chapter-22

#dark souls #fanfiction #dragon slayer ornstein #dark sun gwyndolin #executioner smough #silver knights #littlewritesstuff #gosh sorry again for a) the wait and b) the length #tw blood

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williamccreynolds · 4 years

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January 12, 2020 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

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You, on the other hand, may have been a subscriber for quite some time. You know the above to be true. Did that headline about FREE Stain Solver put your head on a swivel?

Floor Tile Grouting Secrets of Old

Each Sunday, I stand in the back of St. Joseph's Church in Laconia, NH to greet parishioners. The vestibule has a stunning multi-colored 6x6-inch tile floor with sanded-grout joints that are about 1/2-inch wide.

Both the tile and the grout are in extraordinary condition. However, the grout is dirty.

My Stain Solver (deep clean floor grout) would remedy that. Aside from the dirt, the grout looks like the day it was installed nearly 100 years ago.

The floor grout is not crumbling. It's not cracking. It wears like iron.

How did the tile setters do this when your floor grout may have already turned to powder after ten years or developed cracks worse than those that happened to Humpty Dumpty when he had a great fall?

Would you like your new floor grout to be as durable as what I stand on each Sunday morning?

"Why Tim, of course I want to know how to do this! How did those master tile setters of old create long-lasting floor grout?"

I thought you'd never ask. I happen to know exactly how the craftsmen mixed and placed floor tile grout that can last decades, even 100 years or more.

CLICK or TAP HERE now to discover the secrets of the old tile setters.

Watch my four-part step-by-step video series demonstrating how EASY it is for you, yes you, to create grout like the master tile setters of old.

Yes, I know I should have been using knee pads when recording the videos. I was just so excited to get working so I could share the time-tested secrets with you!

FREE Stain Solver - Are You CRAZY, Tim?

Please peer at this photo:

You're looking at a food-stained Corian sink.

It could have just as easily been a cast-iron sink, or even one made from stainless steel.

BWHAHAHAHAHA - we all know stainless steel STAINS. Who came up with the name stainless? Yes, I know why it's called that.

Now, I need you to CLICK or TAP HERE to see the after photos of that sink just above.

Can you take great before and after photos like this?

Why of course you can!

A few days ago, I came up with an idea for a Stain Solver Smackdown.

The Smackdown can only happen with your help. I'm looking for stunning before and after photos of lots of different things that Stain Solver can clean.

Stain Solver can clean just about anything that's water washable. That means THOUSANDS of things, many of which you own or use each day.

You may be a Stain Solver non believer. You've grown more tired of me talking about the great and powerful Stain Solver for years than if you had hiked twenty-three miles on the Tulip Tree Trace in east central Indiana on a hot and humid summer day.

Now's your chance to get a FREE sample and then allow me to transform you into a believer and customer for life!

Do you want a chance of getting some Stain Solver for FREE?

Here's what you need to do.

Take a photo, a really good one, of something at your house or where you work/play that's dirty or grungy.

It could be an article of clothing with a tough stain. Maybe it's carpet that has a pet stain. Perhaps it's camping equipment. Is your kayak covered with algae?

Do you have a grandchild that gets her/his clothes dirty playing or while eating? How about your tile floors? Is the grout dirty like that at St. Joseph's Church?

The list of dirty things is endless.

Once you take the photo, you need to send it to me using THIS FORM. You'll also need to fill out your contact information.

I'll look at your photo, or even multiple photos.

The best twenty photos I get in the first five days will then get a free sample bottle of Stain Solver. This will be enough to clean what I see in the photo or at least do a great test area.

NO LOSERS: You get a PRIZE even if you send a photo and it's not in the top twenty that I select. As soon as you submit the photo, I'll be sending you a SECRET one-time promo code via email you can use to purchase some to try out. You can use this promo code on ANY size you want from 2.2 pounds up to our massive 50-pound size.

If I do select your photo, you'll hear from me. I'll send you personal instructions on HOW I'd use the Stain Solver to get your item in the photo CLEAN.

All I ask of you is to follow my instructions when you clean the item, take an after photo, and email me the photo.

Are you game? Do you have the right stuff? CLICK or TAP HERE now and get in on the Stain Solver Smackdown!

What's My New Home Going to Cost, Tim?

Are you thinking of building a new home?

How would you like to get a pretty close idea of what it's going to cost with a minimal amount of work?

Did you know most new-home dreams get CRUSHED because the bids come in over budget?

Would you like to get a CLOSE ROUGH IDEA of the cost early in the process? This helps you manage your expectations.

I thought so!!!

I've put my New Home Cost Estimator magic spreadsheet on sale for you for ONE WEEK.

CLICK or TAP HERE to save 25% on this Instant Download product.

This discount ONLY LASTS one week. Get it NOW and you'll have it later if you need it.

Smelly Men's Room

Two days ago, I went to lunch with my good friend Jim. He's taught me so much about low-powered outdoor amateur radio.

We went to a national chain restaurant. After we were seated, he decided to take a nature break.

"Oh my, did the Men's Room smell!" He exclaimed after he sat back down.

"It was so bad I had to hold my breath."

Jim went on to say someone was using the stall so I thought that perhaps that person ate far too much of something that caused the stench.

When we went to leave, I decided to check out the room. My thought was that by now the ventilation system would have cleared up the odor.

I opened the door slowly and took a whiff.

OOOOOOoooooeeeee! It did smell!

Within seconds I figured out what the source of the problem was.

CLICK or TAP HERE to discover what it was.

I made it a point to talk with the manager before I left as I knew exactly WHY the problem happened. I mentioned to her how easy it was to remedy and how to prevent the odor from happening again.

That's enough for a Sunday, wouldn't you say?

Tim Carter Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com Smackdown Stain Man - www.StainSolver.com Di Dah Man - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S. What's the truth about chimney crowns? Do you know that 99.5% of them are built WRONG? Do you want to see if your chimney crown is right or wrong? I thought so. CLICK or TAP HERE.

The post January 12, 2020 AsktheBuilder Newsletter appeared first on Ask the Builder.

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thegregorybruce · 4 years