Read your sun and moon two sides of the same coin fanfiction and i love it! The story is interesting! When the next chapter will be? I can't wait to read more!
- Eye for an eye
Arururururuwurururur!!!
Glad you find my silly dark fic interesting!!! Have this as a treat:
It's from one of the future chapters (somewhere between chapter 10-15 XP)
As for the next chapter. Soon. Very soon. Maybe a day before new year maybe on the day, who knows but all I can say is that veeery soon! =D
Warnings: strong language, sexual themes, blood/gore, body horror, cannon typical violence, action, use of magic, comalike state
Summary: The Lady Tarnished is called upon to fulfill her duties as God.
Feedback appreciated, 18+
The job of the GodLord did not end at restoring order or ruling the Lands Between; she also was charged with the task of safeguarding the Erdtree against the influence of other outer gods.
A task that, when spoken, seemed arbitrary. She didn’t discover how truly deep that task ran through her very form until almost a year into her ascension…
Morgott was awoken by a scream, sitting bolt upright in a moment. He was alert within seconds, shifting around to see the Lady Tarnished clawing at her chest.
She cried out in pain, back arching. Moonlight filtered in, setting her body aglow. Morgott swallowed bile as he saw cracks forming on her skin, as if the Lady was made of fine porcelain instead of flesh.
Golden ichor beaded along the forming cracks, not blood. Her face twisted in agony, golden eyes getting set aflame, burning like suns in the dark room.
“P-please.” She begged between pained huffs, “Take m-me to the Tree!”
Morgott ran through the halls, clutching the tarnished to his chest. The castle awoke in his wake, alarm filtering through like a plague. Some staff and a small collection of knights fell into step behind their King, following him as he made way to the base of the Erdtree.
Bursting free of the doors, Morgott paused, looking up into the night sky. The air felt wrong, a negativity crackling around them, akin to the low pressure felt before an oncoming storm. The branches of the Erdtree swayed despite there being no wind.
The Lady cried out again, pulling his attention back to her. The hairline cracks of her skin were torn much more open now, staining his robes a rich gold. Despite the color, the ichor still stank of fresh blood, clogging Morgott’s senses.
He swallowed thickly, pressing on. Before entering the chamber of the elden throne he paused, instructing the crowd that had amassed behind him to hold. They complied wordless.
Morgott stepped closer to the tree, the Lady reaching out to it.
“We must go,” she pointed to the crack within the bark, “We must go inside.”
“Art thou positive?” Morgott asked, face painted with misgivings.
The lady nodded weakly.
He quickly made his way through the hallway connecting the inner chamber to the outside, the place Morgott had called home for so long prior to becoming consort. He paused before the threshold, the large carved stone no longer barred by enchanted thorns.
He’d never entered the inner chamber, thinking it barred to those of his kind. For so many years he sat beyond the thorns, thinking why it didn’t allow him access. But now his little god begged him to step through, and he would not defy her.
They entered the inner chamber, air alive with energy. The floor was odd, a liquid sea of cosmos that allowed one’s food to sink in ever so slightly. The chamber was encircled with pillars of light, disappearing into the false night that made up the ceiling.
Under different circumstances it would be breathtaking.
Morgott realized he’d just been staring around him when the tarnished pulled at his robes. Snapping back to reality he gazed down at her.
The Lady struggled to get free of his hold, Morgott setting her down softly.
She stumbled forward on unsteady legs, that odd floor threatening to swallow her. Fractals of light pulsed around her with every step, traveling along the floor then up the pillars like a heartbeat.
She knelt on the ground, hair pooling around her. Her eyes wept ichor, mixing in with the copious amounts that spilled from her ever fracturing body and intermingling with her hair to form an indistinguishable pool of gold around her.
The liquid grew, edges of the pool eating up more and more of that odd floor. Morgott was frozen, clutching his staff as he watched an unnatural amount leave his small wife. He was so caught up in watching the progression of that gilded pool that he was struck unaware as the Lady Tarnished was ate up completely.
With a bubbling sound her form melted, consumed entirely.
Now a great mass, the ichor shifted, shaking with an inner life. Hair, blood, and bile rose, all a rich shade of gold, becoming a lattice.
Morgott was the first mortal witness of the birth of a new beast. It pulled free of the pool, draconic in its ever shifting outline.
The Elden Beast was the weaponized tool of the Greater Will, tearing apart its vassal to use her very body. Unlike the Beast that dwelled within Marika this one was young, infantile. It would take time to grow to its full power within the new GodLord, time it seemed it was not awarded.
That feeling of unease that was felt within the night air grew, suffocating the stale air within the tree.
The ever shifting mass of Golden ichor and holy light stepped closer, head dipping down low. Morgott stiffened, willing himself not to move. The beast was unyielding in its scrutiny over the lesser’s form. Golden jaws widened, dripping ichor.
Morgott looked at its gilded teeth as they closed in, heart twisting but unable to move. Just as the closest fang brushed his horns did an internal struggle break out within it. The Lady Tarnished’s voice rang out in the creature’s head:
Stop!
You know him…he is our consort…
He is here to help us…
…you know him…
The creature paused, pulling back its jaws. It turned back up the sky, pulsing every so often as if in search of something.
Morgott let out his held breath, glancing up to squint into the swirling darkness. The ceiling of the chamber was an illusionary mirror of the night’s sky, a mimic of the cosmos. It trembled with a presence.
Opening its maw, the Elden Beast released a roar. It echoed around the chamber, heavy with both passion and ferocity. As the sound waned from its lips a beam of holy light erupted from it, rising into that false night and casting a defensive ward over the Erdtree.
The Elden Beast and the GodLord began to fulfill their sacred duty, warding off whatever outside influence currently attempted to sink its claws into the Erdtree. The creature trembled in its effort to maintain the beam, large swatches of ichor slogging off and breaking against the floor.
All at once Morgott realized the reason the Lady wished him here. He raised his staff, gripping it fully with both hands. Concentrating, he channeled his magic into the Beast, empowering it.
Emboldened, the Elden Beast swelled with renewed Holy light, roared out once more. Morgott stood firm, allowing the creature to syphon power from him.
He could feel the intensity of the holy magic around him, as it wracked through every nerve of his body. He had to close his eye against the rising light, blinding in its magnificence.
The Elden Beast strained, calling more of him. Morgott gave to it freely, fighting against the weakness that threatened his very bones.
He stood fast, mind going back to that first day that the Lady Tarnished rose as a god. How they both combined their holy power to heal the beloved Erdtree, and this moment echoed that completely. He let the memories blanket him in needed comfort.
From outside the crowd watched as the glow of the Erdtree became a burning light, having to shield their gaze from it. The power emanated from it in thick waves, washing over the capital entirely. For a fleeting moment, night became holy day.
A handmaiden clutched a knight beside her, cheeks wet with tears.
All at once it was over, serenity returned to the night as the Erdtree waned back into its comforting glow.
Morgott fell to his knees, clutching at his stomach and having to use every intact nerve not to retch within this sacred place. His blood felt like it was on fire, skin hot as ichor seeped into his robes.
Every muscle screamed out, exhaustion threatening his very soul. He blinked with stinging eye, watching as the mass retreated. What was once the new Elden Beast was nothing more than a pool of gold now, congealing and gathering upon itself.
Morgott stood on unsteady legs, stumbling forward to the pale shape that formed.
Reaching down, he gently took the Lady into his arms. Ichor refilled her form until the cracks healed over her body.
Her duty, fulfilled.
~
It had been hours since they left the tree, and although the sky was calm the atmosphere within the castle was a stark contrast.
The Lady Tarnished did not wake, nor did she crumble to ash. Her body lay still upon her bed, the most shallow of breaths the only sign she yet lived.
Morgott looked from her bedchamber window, waiting for the physician. The Erdtree shed glowing embers of holy light down upon the capital, blessing his people with a healing touch. He took a breath, unable to rejoice in their victory.
The physician came promptly, bringing a bag of healers tools in toe. He looked her over carefully, the longer he looked the deeper a frown set into his features. It wasn’t promising. As the man went to wash his hands in the small basin he finally addressed Morgott.
“I've read of this…” the man explained, “Of this state that can befell the vassals. The Lady has used too much of her power tonight, her body demands rest.”
“This is normal?” Morgott questioned.
“Far from it.” The other scoffed, “There is little even written about it. It is like death, the vassal falling into a dreamless slumber while they mend.”
“Thou art her physician, trained to care for our very god.” Morgott rounded, his exhaustion and fear causing his anger to come to the surface.
The man paled, stammering, “I was but a boy when Marika was the Greater Will’s vassal. I want to help our Lady…but I am at a loss. I know not what keeps her from waking, my Lord.” His voice was genuine as he added, “My apologies…”
The staff slowly filtered out of the Lady’s bedchamber, giving Morgott privacy. He pulled up a sturdy bench, sitting down heavy beside the bed.
The tarnished looked to be in a deep sleep, body almost completely unmoving. The handmaidens had sponged her body clean, brushed every knot from her golden hair and dressed her in a light gown.
It was all akin to a death ritual…
Morgott thought silently, feeling sick.
He took her hand in his, so small and fragile. He slowly brought it up to his cracked and dry lip, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.
Pulling back with a shaking breath he murmured, “Tis almost our anniversary, do thou remember?”
Silence answered him.
“I had a gift commissioned for thee.” He dug into the deep pocket of his robes, “Twas waiting, but seeing thy current predicament…”
Morgott pulled free a small box, looking suddenly self conscious. This all seemed silly to him, attempting to wake her with a gift.
But he pressed on; fumbling with the box to open it, his large fingers a poor match for the task at hand.
He revealed a necklace: a pendant of a carved Erdflower from a chunk of ivory, hanging from a braided chain of gold. The details of every petal was delicately carved, filigree like patterns adorning around the edges.
Morgott gave a nervous chuckle, looking down at the item. “Since my Lady always seems so determined to have her accused consort close, I thought…” he swallowed. He curled into himself a bit, feeling foolish. “I thought,” he repeated, “Thee woulds’t appreciate having a piece of mineself close to thy heart.”
The fingers of his free hand drifted up, feeling over the broken bit of horn he’d lost weeks ago. His gaze drug back to her form, only the slight movement of her chest any sign of life still about her.
Morgott sighed, closing the box. He stood on uneasy legs, mouth a thin line. Looking over her once more, his hope swelled for even a hint that she was to stir. But the Lady remained still.
He placed the box on her bedside table, retreating away. His mind went back to the place it always did in times of trying, numbing itself with work. It was an easy way to cope, given the circumstances and his continuous flow of papers that always cried for his attention.
So he bided his time away, hiding within his duties silently. And he waited.
~
Morgott wrote at his desk, burying himself deep into his work. The scratch of quill drowning out poisoning thoughts and numbing his mind. The words began to meld together, however, flowing into one another and becoming a jumbled mess to the senses.
He rubbed a callused hand over his face, sighing. It had been days. He felt so tired….
Morgott was unsure how long he sat there in a stillness, face covered and taut, but just as he was about to condemn himself to more mountains of paperwork the door creaked.
He jolted a bit, turning to see a handmaiden peek in. Her face was oddly bright.
“My apologies for intruding, my Lord.” She fully came into the room, looking fit to burst.
Morgott didn’t answer, turning fully in curiosity. The staff almost never just barged in on him as such.
“The Lady has awoken!” The handmaiden informed.
The words tumbled around his head before falling into an arrangement he could accurately discern their means, thinking he misheard the girl for a moment. But the second they sank in he was scrambling to his feet.
He all but burst into the queen’s bedchamber, breath held in anticipation. His eye fell on her, his Lady Tarnished.
She turned her head towards him, already sitting up in the bed. Her golden gaze was tired, not fully recovered just quite yet. But as her eyes fell on him her face split into a bright smile.
Morgott almost choked with relief, coming to kneel by the bedside. The grace of her sunlight never left him, reaching out a hand that he eagerly took.
With a stinging eye he whispered, “I did miss thee so…”
This new beast is a Zhou-ou - Chinese mythological beast. This was confirmed by Eddie in an interview from SDCC. He said he spoke to it in mandarin but it was so bad that scene was cut!!.
He is briefly distracted by Beth’s voice and Cat actually manages to hit him. After getting his a** briefly kicked by Cat, he grabs her by the neck and is about to choke her when Beth comes in. No one expects Catherine to be able to physically best a beast, but she shows us that the brute strength isn’t the only way to prove you’re strong.Then new beast decides to just jump out the window.
