Artorias I: Such A Hero....
Several hundred years ago.....
Pain and darkness were all Artorias was aware of.
The last thing he remembered was fighting that abominable creature in the Abyss. The Furtive Pygmy, if he recalled correctly. Another surge of pain went though his mind, halting his thought process. Every now and then he could see glimpses of his body. Rampaging. Slaughtering. The tunnel vision made it hard to make out the details. He tried repeatedly to regain control of his body, but the Dark was too strong. He felt an impact. He struggled through the fog in his mind, trying to see what had happened. His body had just impaled a monster from the Abyss on his great-sword. His other arm hung limply by his side, having been broken in the caverns beneath Oolacile. His body looked up, and saw a lone figure emerge from the entrance's threshold. He tried desperately to warn them:
"Whoever thou art, stay away.......Soon, I will be consumed, by Them, by the Dark....... "
Whether he succeeded, he didn't know. The figure was dressed in blue armor, and had a white sash with what the Sun emblazoned on it draped across its left pauldron. It carried a large light blue scythe on its back, and wasn't even fazed by the weight of the weapon. It pulled a long katana from the sheath on its left thigh, hefting a great slab of iron, with for wings forged on the front, a Berenike Tower Shield, on the opposite arm. Artorias' body, automatically targeting the new figure, drew in the Abyss coating the arena. It picked up the corpse still attached to the sword, throwing it at the lone swordsman. He quickly rolled out of the way, made even more impressive by the sheer weight of the shield he was carrying. His body lunged, attempting to end this would-be challenger with one blow. The opposing figure held up his shield, blocking the blow while staggering backward. Artorias' body flipped and brought the sword down onto empty space, as the other knight was already on the other side of him, hacking away at Artorias' armor. Surprisingly, Artorias could feel significant pain from each blow. What looked like a katana felt like a hammer. He chuckled inward. His body, however, swung his sword in a wide arc, catching the opponent on his heavily armored shield arm. The figure groaned, and jumped backwards while pulling out a small orange flask. He took a quick swig from it, as he just barely dodged another swing. The figure rushed Artorias, thrusting the katana straight forward. It ran Artorias straight through the upper leg, and he felt a sharp, but icy cold pain course through his maddened body.
"Thou are strong, human......Surely thine kind are more than pure dark "
The foe lept back, his sword still lodged in Artorias' leg. It pulled the scythe from its back, while the body of Artorias limped towards him, still moving at a remarkable speed. It swung, but missed, as the figure swung the scythe in an arc, nearly severing Artorias' right arm. His body screamed and roared in agony. The silent challenger didn't waste any time, however, swinging the scythe once more, straight into his opponent's stomach. Black blood, like ink, gushed everywhere, and Artorias' husk of a body let out one last scream of pain. It was a sound that would haunt the ruins of Oolacile for centuries to come. The great paragon of honor and tranquility, one of Gwyn's four great knights, Artorias the Abysswalker fell to the ground, defeated. He could finally feel the darkness leave his body in a great purge, and he was once more in control. He used his last bit of strength to utter his final words to the man leaning over his defeated form.
"I beg of thee, the spread of the abyss, i-it must be stopped.....*Cough*.....Ah, Sif, there you are......*cough*.....All of you, forgive me.......For I have availed you nothing...."
His eyes closed, and his breathing slowed.
Even though they had never met until this battle,the man bowed his head in respect, and replied in a soft tone.
"No, forgive me......"
He stood up and walked slowly through the opposing archway, attempting to forget Artorias' horrible fate. The man felt a sense of futility in fighting this curse. First his greatest friend, now his childhood idol. Who else would die along the way?
"When will all this pain end?" he sailed aloud to himself.
"There is no hope for my cursed brothers." he continued, not noticing Artorias' body sink into the ground, surrounded by a pinkish aura.....
______________________________________________________________________________________
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Darkness again. Only this time, it didn't hurt. It was warm, and somewhat comforting. Artorias tried to move. He could, but just barely. His eyesight returned in a blurry haze. He was sitting next to a stone pillar in what appeared to be a temple. He couldn't hear, for there was a ringing sound in his ears. Smoke and rubble were everywhere, and chaos was all around him. Colorful shapes were running amok. Some where white and gold, the others were black and purple. The two colors seemed to be fighting each other. He tried to pull himself up. To his surprise, the more serious wounds were mostly healed. Despite the other injuries he had sustained from that faceless knight, he found he was able to support himself. His helmet and greatsword were on the ground next to him. He picked the headpiece up and put it on. Using his sword, he slowly started limping through the chaos. He saw that he had been sitting in a small crater, and there were blast marks all around it. The colorful shapes, which looked quite a bit like horses, made sure to stay our of his way as he moved through the battle. Many tried to push their opponent into his path. The pain was becoming too much of a burden to walk, and he was moving slowly. He took out his talisman, hidden in the cloth on his armor, next to the fabled Silver Pendant he found in the Abyss, and recited a healing miracle. His wounds closed, and the pain faded. Shuddering as the miracle finished its job, he hefted his sword over his shoulder and began to sprint.
A massive battle was taking place through this castle. Pillars were toppled, walls had huge gashes torn out of them, and some places that were clearly once buildings were now reduced to rubble. Small explosions popped up everywhere. As he walked outside into a large courtyard, he saw that it was night, and the moon was out. He continued running, not taking the time to question his surroundings. One of the gray creatures finished off an opponent, and was a bit more gutsy than all of his counterparts. It lunged at Artorias, thrusting its spear, golden eyes set upon his target. Artorias easily sidestepped, and elected to kick the equine away rather than kill it. It was light, and easily flew a good distance. A large explosion rocketed through a large building to his right, blasting the roof apart. Two shadowy figures flew out of the gape left behind.
"....Some of my answers may be found there...." Artorias thought to himself. He started towards the structure, dodging weapons and rubble. A few of the braver fighters challenged him, but they stood little chance. Artorias did note, however, that those that attacked him were all of the grayish variety. He was getting closer to the source of the explosion, but out of nowhere, a giant statue of what looked like a monstrous bear lurked out from behind a broken archway and smacked Artorias backwards into the wall. Normally, he would welcome the challenge, but he had an objective to meet. He would have to end this quickly. Avoiding another swipe, he ran between the bear's legs and struck at both of them, his strength making large gashes and sending cracks up its body. The monster collapsed, but Artorias didn't stop. He jumped on its back and sank the blade into the stone, running up its spine as he tore through the rock like butter. He pulled the sword out and jumped, bringing his sword down on the bear's neck. A clean decapitation It started to crumble, slowly turning to dust. Artorias turned around, only to barely be able to deflect a stone sword that had been blasted off a statue across the doorway. It broke against the opposite wall.
Artorias kicked down the door, and beheld a spacious room with two thrones. One had the sun depicted on the wall behind it, and other had the moon displayed prominently next to it. The room had a dark maroon carpet, and the moonlight streamed in from the broken ceiling. The two figures that had left before were battling in the air. A black equine was chasing a white one through the air and around buildings. A blast came from the black one, knocking the other back into the throne room. Artorias hid behind a nearby column, watching the scene play out. From what he could tell, the white creature was avoiding conflict with the black one.
"I didn't want to do this Luna, but you give me no choice."
A slow rumble filled the room. A small square part of the floor moved aside, revealing a pillar holding up several platforms, each holding a different colored jewel. They floated upwards, surrounding the white being. A light filled the room, and Artorias assumed she was casting a massive spell in order to defeat the black creature with one blow.
"No!" the black one cried, and launched another dark bolt of magic towards its white counterpart. Artorias had to intervene. He ran out between them, pulling out the Pendant. He used its power to reflect the blast back at the black equine, stunning it for a brief moment as the white one finished her casting. A multicolored ray of light shot from the jewels, engulfing the black being and sending her flying. She kept going and going, towards the moon, and finally, a bright light shone off of the lunar body, while several craters in the shape of the equine's head appeared. The white one, slowly returning to the ground, looked at Artorias.
"I owe you a......" she paused, looking at Artorias with a stunned look on her face. Artorias, not wanting to start any conflict, remained silent. Some time had passed before Celestia decided to speak.
"Who or what are you?" She had a look of what Artorias almost thought was fear. He pushed the thought aside and replied cordially, not wanting to come off as hostile.
"I am called Artorias. In my own realm, I was known as the Abysswalker...........May I be so bold as to ask thee thine own name?"
"I am Princess Celestia, and as of now, I am the only sovereign ruler of the Land of Equestria." Artorias bowed in respect. He waited for Celestia to continue to speak.
"Tell me, Artorias, do you know how you came to be here?"
"I know only as much as thee."
Celestia pondered this strange being. He had saved her life on a whim, but she could have simply gotten the lucky draw. Him saying he had no knowledge of how he arrived made him all the more suspicious. As she thought on these matters she noticed two things about the strange alien. One, she could not see his face. The lighting in the room cast a shadow on his helmet, obscuring his facial region. The second was how quiet and curt he was. When she spoke to him, he got straight to the point, and had yet to initiate conversation. She might as well deal with the former matter first.
"Would you be so kind as to remove you headpiece?"
Artorias, without word or hesitation, unstrapped his helmet and took it off. Celestia's eyes widened, and she couldn't hold back her gasp. His skinr's normal color was a very pale white. One eye was green, and his mane was black. However, an ashen discoloration dominated the left side of Artorias' face. It turned his skin an ashen gray, fading out as it extended across his skull. Black veins stretched out from the darkened region, as though his very blood was corrupted. His other eye had a black sclera, and a white iris and pupil. Something, at some point, had afflicted this being. If the outside looked like this, what was on the inside.
"W-what in Equestria is this?!"
"To put it simply, I was corrupted, consumed, and controlled by the same Abyss that I was known for traversing. These scars is the remains of the Dark's wrath upon my body."
"Then I suppose it's a safe assumption to believe that this 'Abyss' is an evil entity?"
"The very epitome."
"Wouldn't that make you just as evil as this so-called Abyss?'
"At one point I was. Just before I came here in fact," Celestia immediately became alarmed, but Artorias wasn't done talking. "A wandering knight managed to defeat my rampaging body, giving me control of myself again. It was in what I thought to be my final moments."
His blunt delivery shook Celestia. This creature, swallowed by what his world considered to be the paragon of evil, and yet, here he was, acting like it never happened in the first place. How could anyone be so nonchalant about such a terrible thing? It didn't seem natural, and Celestia was becoming more and more unsure of his stability. At that moment, she heard hoof-steps. A lot of hoof-steps. Her own royal guards, dressed in their golden armor, stormed into the room. Artorias, sensing potential danger, lifted his sword.
"It's alright, they're my stallions." Celestia reassured. Artorias slammed his sword through the ground, and stood with his hands clenched together behind his back, becoming silent once more. The soldiers on the other hand, had come to a complete stop, just standing there with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Artorias remained silent as Celestia started speaking, trying to alleviate the fear. She spoke in both a kind and soft tone to her troops:
"Soldiers, don't be alarmed by our guest's appearance. If it weren't for him, I would not be here talking to you." Some of them relaxed at this information, but others became even more alarmed. Celestia, while she didn't fully trust Artorias just yet, decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. She tried once more to convince her troops to be calm.
"I promise you have nothing to fear. As I said-"
"No,"Artorias interrupted. "They have every right to be afraid. I'm an unknown creature with unknown motives. If they began to trust me right away, I'd call them fools." Celestia frowned at this, but at least Artorias was being honest about the situation. However, his bluntness once again got under Celestia's fur. As for now, she would handle the situation following her battle with Luna. She turned to her captain, Granite Grindstone, and asked for a field report.
"Ma'am, we have eighty-five deceased, twenty-seven being civilians, forty-two wounded, and two missing. The enemy has fifty-six deceased, thirteen wounded, and eight missing. We have a total of thirty-four prisoners, including seven non-mortally injured. There has been major damage to the palace's support structures, which is now the repair team's top priority. The battle ceased the moment the rebels saw Princess Luna being defeated. Lastly, we have Platoon Sonne assuring the safety of non-military survivors."
"Thank you, Captain Grindstone. Assure that every pony killed in the battle receives a proper burial, regardless of who they fought for."
"Yes, ma'am. You heard her, stallions, move it!"
"Not so fast," Artorias interjected. Everyone in the room froze, even Celestia. Artorias pulled his sword out of the ground, and walked toward the group of soldiers, who didn't look too pleased with the situation. Artorias stopped in front of two of them. He took the Pendant out of his pocket.
"The one good thing to come from my curse is this," He indicated to his darkened eye. "Thanks to this little deformity, I can see the darkness pouring off of you two. You can fool them, but you won't throw me off as easily." He summoned the Pendant's power once more, and a golden aura shot surrounded Artorias and the two stallions. Their skin seemed to melt into shadow, leaving the cowering form of two of Luna's troops. Artorias picked them both up by their necks and carried them over to Grindstone, who was looking at the scene with a deep interest.
"Here are your two missing, Captain." He dropped them both at Grindstone's feet.
"Ah, yes, well, thank you. Stallions, take care of them." He nodded to Artorias, and walked away with the rest of the soldiers. Celestia walked over to Artorias and looked up at him. He looked back at her, but said nothing.
"I think we need to speak a bit more privately."
Artorias simply nodded. They walked off. However, it's a wonder how they didn't see the glowing green eyes lurking in the far corner of the room, staying in the shadows, and watching their every movement.
"Soon...."
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Onion bro and sun bro hanging out with abyss bro? Fighting evil? I'm okay with this.
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I look forward to reading more.
Oh man I am going to look forward to Laurentius joining in, I've played DS1 and I have to say, he's likely my fave NPC, he is just so friendly, heck, he even gives you a pyromancy flame, which is a piece of HIS OWN SOUL. I doubt he would have much difficulty making friends, he is just so damned likeable and kind, now that I think about it he'd probably hit it well off with Fluttershy if I remember his personality correctly.
lol katana souls
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Welcome to insanity, my friend. Enjoy your stay.
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Needs a chapter with "Trusty" Patches.