Blue fields of grass and trees as far as the eye could see. Animals of all sorts mingling amongst each other, none of the animosity driven by instinct and hunger present, a sky of shimmering waters and fragmented light.
Her momentary confusion melted away, replaced by something she couldn't quite describe.
Whatever it was, Melina lowered herself onto the shifting grass around her.
The coolness of the water around her. The soft grass shifting beneath her hands. The air itself. It was all so foreign.
So different from the existence she knew.
She lowered herself further, her hair floating in the water as she laid across the ground and closed her eye.
A heat bloomed in her chest.
Melina opened her eye, greeted not by that odd sky but the now familiar darkened ceiling of Onyx's cabin. Onyx's bed was empty, the man himself already out with Edgar. Fickle decision making aside, he had no issue sticking to a routine, neither company nor injuries able to keep him from the training he subjected himself to day after day.
Melina unlocked her fingers and rose, turning to a sit on the bed's edge, her feet settling on the wooden flooring.
Impressive as it was that he built something like this on his own with little in the way of supplies, there were certain things that might be pointed out as lacking. The absence of any form of heating one of the first to come to mind. The floors were no doubt cold, Limgrave's windy nature and cabin's position on an island insuring that.
She knew that.
But she could not feel it.
All she felt was the heat at her center, nothing able to pierce through its, at times rageful, ever present blaze. A peculiar aspect of her current existence, she always knew as much, but it was not one that anything could be done about.
Not until she understood why it was she lived.
Even in her dreams, the place mere replications of what she recalled, that firm belief was called into question in that world created by Onyx.
There she could feel.
Why? How?
Melina let the questions go, fully dressing and coming to a stand.
She pushed open the cabin door and stepped out, faint winds spreading her hair about. She knew it should be cool and perhaps even relaxing, just as the periods of rest she'd started allowing herself at Onyx's recommendation should be, but she found herself wondering how exactly that would feel.
Just one of many things she'd begun to think more on since she began to travel alongside rather than follow him.
"Oh, good morning, umm..."
She was not alone with her thoughts, Irina sitting on the steps ahead. The dirtied formal dress she wore was replaced by a set of plain loosely fitting shirt and pants, both marked by the same sweat coating her forehead.
She joined their runs every day without fail, bowing out early but persistent in the decision. Onyx played some role in it but what was spurring her on to take on such an exercise? What could she be hoping to gain from it?
Torrent, resting on the corner of the porch, released a low neigh, Melina only just realizing that Irina's unfocused gaze, not blocked by her blindfold, had been turned in her general direction.
"…My name is Melina." She said, catching on to the unspoken question.
"Melina." Irina repeated before smiling. "Well, I'm glad to be able to talk to you once more. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you the last time we met."
Melina hummed. Irina was still completely unaware of the role she played in her recovery, speaking not of that but the brief moments spent guarding her. Onyx never brought up the former and Melina saw little reason in doing so either, the decision having served its purpose.
"Did you sleep well?" Irina asked before she could walk past.
Lingering thoughts of that dream and those foreign sensations were revitalized. She wasn't quite sure what constituted sleeping well other than it being uninterrupted but the ability to actually feel her surroundings, for the blaze housed with her to go unnoticed even if only for a brief period, was…different than anything she'd experienced in her wondering.
A different that sparked countless questions but was not all together unpleasant.
"Yes." She decided before preparing to take off once more.
"That's good." Irina said, turning away as her hands fell into her lap, Melina passing her and heading down the steps. "Um, I don't mean to pry or anything but there is something I wanted to ask you. If you don't mind, of course."
Melina paused just beyond the steps. Initially she hadn't seen much purpose in conversing with her or Edgar but that'd changed. Better understanding those that Onyx associated with and favored could only help to better understand him.
"I do not mind." Melina said, Irina jumping slightly as her attention snapped up, surprised to find her voice coming from ahead rather than behind.
"I understand that you are Onyx's Finger Maiden but, um-" Her head lowered as she twirled her fingers about. "-what exactly is the extent of your relationship?"
"We are traveling together."
"Of course, but that isn't exactly what I meant. I mean, you know…" Irina raised her head as she trailed off, her face reddening. Something Melina only saw when she was speaking with Onyx directly. "The two of must spend plenty of time together and you share a home so I thought that there might be more to it."
Melina tilted her head.
Truthfully, even with her ability to turn runes into strength, Finger Maiden was not a title that truly applied to her at all, Onyx outright rejecting the power. She supposed with their arrangement tarnished and Finger Maiden didn't truly explain them but what other terms did? Partners?
"Friends." Melina said, finding herself settling on the word before she could truly give it more thought. It was what he called her and they did share an odd degree of trust despite most of their time together being split between her watching him from a distance or in silent company. There was no other in The Lands Between she trusted to let down her guard and take up their suggestion of sleep. "We are friends."
"Really?" Irina questioned. "And, well, you aren't interested in anything more?"
Surprise due to Onyx's actions had become expected, but Melina was caught off guard by the drawn out conversation. Was that answer not enough to satisfy her?
"I'm not sure." Melina said. Onyx already agreed to her request despite gaining little out of it. Answers awaited her at the Erdtree but what they entailed? That she wasn't sure and given the power contained within him, she could very well end up requesting more from him should the situation call for it.
Irina smiled slightly. "Amazing as he is, he can be rather strange at times, can't he?"
While an assessment she agreed with, Melina felt as though there was something she wasn't understanding. The snort Torrent gave didn't help that deduction. She hadn't been exposed to much of it during their time together but being around Onyx had shed light on a more juvenile, for lack of a better term, side to the willful steed.
"Oh, um, I'm sorry if I held you up." Irina apologized, head bowed slightly. "There just isn't anyone else I can really talk about these things with. I hope I didn't trouble you."
"It is fine."
That perked Irina up. "Then, would you mind if we spoke again?"
"I do not mind."
"Right, great." Irina gave her one of the wider smiles Onyx so often drew from here. "Be safe."
Melina hummed, finally stepping away from the conversation. Her demeanor was certainly a unique one. Few in these times could be bothered to nor had much reason to express such positive emotions. Castle Morne had been one of the few safe havens for members of the Golden Order and with its lost, her life, along with all those she knew were gone.
Her father's continued survival and Onyx's presence had everything to do with it, but her continued optimism didn't make much sense.
She passed Edgar and Onyx on her way down to the dim shores, nods exchanged with the two, before making her way into the tunnels below the island.
She could not travel far from Onyx. Not without Torrent's aid. Still, as a way to offer what she could in exchange for his help she'd taken to constant patrols around both the island and the route leading into it.
Navigating the darkened tunnels was an easy task, Melina dropping silently from short inclines before her steps finally produced splashes. The chamber Boc rested in was kept dimly lit by his distant campfire.
"Mother…no…" As she reached the center of the chamber, Melina slowed, glancing towards the dry rocks where Boc set up. He was curled beside the flames of his fire, tools beside him. "No, no, no."
He was asleep and yet he spoke, twisting and turning with each muted cry.
Nightmares plagued his sleep but not even his waking moments were free of such a thing. More than once she'd come across him crying to himself when he wasn't throwing himself into the work he so eagerly did for Onyx.
His mother were usually at the center of such cries.
Had she been the same once? Had there been a time when she cried for her mother? Had there been a time when she felt what spurred him into tears?
Melina pulled her eye away from him, continuing her way through the chamber.
XOXO
In the cabin, Melina undid the bindings around her chest, unfurling the old length of cloth and placing it over the separators Onyx built. She raised one foot, sinking it into the water filled tub before, then did the other. The water shifted around the upper portion of her thighs as she stepped into its center.
She sunk down to a sit, stopping once the water was around her shoulders.
There were certain physical aspects to her existence, but she didn't have to deal with most of what others did. Her body's distinct lack of ability to produce waste was a convenient thing that regulated baths to cleaning off dirt and grime built up from general travel and a chance to do the same to her clothes.
That was not why she was here.
Before putting together the tubs they now used, she'd seen how Onyx and the others reacted to the waters down on the shores.
The water was cold. Ice cold.
Despite being shoulder deep in water, that knowledge was second-hand information. Its presumed coldness alluded her completely, the only true awareness she could claim of the water being the wetness of her skin. But even that was muted at best, barely registering over the burn within her.
Melina took a breath then sunk deeper, fully submerging herself beneath the water.
…
...
...
There was certain weight but not much else.
These muted sensations nor her dreams compare to what she felt back in that world. Back in that forested sea that defied logic.
Never trespass here again. It was no threat, not outright, but the warning Onyx had spoken in that world remained with her, curiosity kept at bay. Threatening was not a description she would attribute to him. Whether it be in his day to day or while he was bloodying his blade in battle. Though he carried himself and moved like an experienced warrior, he did not carry the aura of one.
As Irina noted early in their time together, he came off as one who came from a more peaceful walk of life. And yet in that moment, she felt it. In his voice and the water that'd been pressing against her.
The intent to kill.
Melina stood, water dripping off her body and soaked hair.
He'd been specific in his wording, however. There was no reason to trespass to see that world once more.
She finished up and used the furs hung over the separators to dry herself, redoing her wrappings then getting dressed, a beeline made for the cabin door. She stepped out into the gold lit night and descended the porch's steps.
"Irina." The rare sound of Edgar's voice gave her pause, Melina looking to their fire. "I…I have-"
Was the quiet man going to take Onyx's advice? What'd he'd told Edgar sounded the sensible thing to do but sensible and people didn't always go hand in hand. The state of The Lands Between was a testament to that.
"I am aware that you have an interest in, Onyx. Whatever you choose to do, I will not interfere." It appeared that he diverted away from what was really plaguing his thoughts, the man showing more fear here than in battle.
"F-Father." Irina called out, flame lit face further brightened by a dose of red.
There was truth to Onyx's words. If Irina felt the way Edgar expected, he was still treating himself harshly over something she didn't appear to be sparring a single thought. Melina had seen enough anger during her travels to recognize it.
Irina held none towards her father.
Leaving them to their business, Melina headed up towards the church.
Her brow twitched upwards as she stopped in the entranceway.
Eyes closed as always during his meditation, Onyx had adopted a far different stance, dressed in nothing but his pants. He stood at his full height, arms spread out and head tilted ever so slightly upwards, strands of short messy hair swaying about.
Did he halt his meditation to enjoy the wind or-
In an instant, a moment she could scarcely perceive, that same time stopping power that brought her out to the western shores of Limgrave and to Onyx filled the world once more. And this time it persisted, a heavy pressure slamming down onto her shoulders and dropping her to one shaky leg.
Down his neck, his shoulders, down his torso, along his legs. Dark blue energy spiraled down his body, gatherings of it sparking off his body and lighting the grass around him aflame. Both intensified with each passing second, Onyx soon shrouded by a cyclone of swirling energy while the flames rose high, spreading further and further.
The flames reached the grass at her feet.
Unable to fight the oppressive weight on her shoulders, she could do nothing more than watch as sparks flew off the flames closest, landing on her face.
Energy, invigorating as it was soothing filled her, the strength returning to her legs as the pressure on her eased. Only as she rose did she notice that the energy, while dancing and spreading like an untamed fire, wasn't burning anything. In fact, the grass around them was growing more plentiful, the few patches of dirt within the ruins soon taken over by fledging grass while the patches already present slowly grew taller beneath the energy.
She stumbled forward but quickly righted herself, heels dug into the ground and hand raised to shield her face as the flaming energy suddenly flew from the ground as well as herself, all joining the spiral around Onyx.
The spiral swelled before, with a bright shine that nearly blinded her, shooting out in all directions, the loose energy flying clear of the ruins. What remained around Onyx began to shrink, his face the first thing to be revealed.
A smirk, quite unlike that of any of the grin or smiles that came from him, had spread across his face as his wide eyes stared up at the skies above.
"YES!"
XOXO
She slammed her palm into the ground, trees and grass unlike uprooted but her target rolling out of the way, narrowly avoiding being reduced to a paste. A group of tarnished, three and each a warrior of some kind, swung their weapons at her as they darted around her, their weak blades barely able cut through the surface of her scales.
Sent by that fool who fancied himself a leader, she was sure.
She visited that crumbled shell he used to rally tarnished together. Laid eyes on the Two Fingers housed within. Gauged those who walked the ancient halls. Determined the worth of the one operating at their forefront.
Gideon Ofnir the All-Knowing was as arrogant as such a moniker suggested.
If that were his only fault perhaps she'd given him more consideration.
He amassed knowledge by sending any tarnished willing to heed him wherever he pleased, careless of what dangers awaited them. That could be excused. Even the more questionable acts he had the cutthroats among their number conduct could be excused if he did anything significant with all that he learned.
Instead, he was content to sit within those hallowed halls playing mastermind.
Arrogance was not that man's greatest failing. It was his inaction. Strip away the front he put on and he was nothing more than a fainthearted fool who lacked resolve, his machinations keeping the tarnished around him stagnantly following some plan that may not even exist.
He was-
Power.
Raw and untainted.
It flooded every sense not quite attempting to suffocate her but by its existence alone forcing all other beings privy to it to bow their heads, and if not that, acknowledge it at the very least. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt and yet-
And yet-
Lansseax flapped her wings, trees and grounds torn asunder as she pulled back into the air, her roar reverberating through the plains as the ignorant tarnished below were uplifted in the chaos. The storm of crimson lightning that struck them left behind nothing.
With another flap of her wings, she shot from the Golden land of the Atlas Plateau and towards the south.
That power.
She didn't know who could possess such overwhelming power, but it felt like one of her kind.
XOXO
Marika awoke.
XOXO
(A/N: And with this I consider the intro done. Its weird to think I'd been writing a version of this story where Marika was a prominent constant from his first day on that island but pivoted to this and took it so much further.
This is the part where I humbly request, not your stones for once, but some feedback. Either as a comment here or as a review, if you guys have the time I'd like to hear your opinion on the story so far. Not asking for some essay or anything like that. Just curious where people stand. Maybe even suggestions on plot points or the harem if you have them. Can't promise I'll use but you never know, something you say could shape the future of the story.
Personally I think I've struck a decent pace between keeping the plot moving forward but giving the characters time to talk and/or wind down. There are some scenes that got bigger than planned, some scenes here and there even occupying an entire chapter, but typically I think whatever happened in them or the insight provided into a character's thoughts were important enough to warrant such a degree of focus.
Probably the biggest problem is that smut tag. I think I'm keeping it. Sure there's been plenty of build up, definitely more than planned, but once the harem forms that content will naturally become more common. I don't need someone getting deeper into this story then suddenly acting surprised if, actually when, the plot takes us to some back-to-back smut scenes or some important plot points ends up mixed up in said smut. And yes, that is most certainly part of my plans.
My retrospective on my own stuff over with...hand over your power stones fools. Did you really think you'd be leaving without paying the toll?
Tribute aside, enjoy your weekends.)