Hollow

by Demonfire463

Chapter 17 Fear the Flame

Chapter 17

Raymond pulls a knife off his belt and hurls it at me with great speed. I block it and charge forward, hammer in the air. I smash it down, but not quick enough. Now a monumental crack in the marble floor where Raymond just stood, I struggle to see his movements. He is like a blur of crimson and black. I feel a deep cut form in my side that quickly becomes infected. I turn to see a Black Knight Greataxe swing towards my head, and a Crystal Soul Spear hits the assailant in the shoulder. I hear a multitude of magic blasts and see the two sorcerers launching various wizardries at each other. I quickly turn back around to block a large blow from the axe. I run towards the sorcerer black phantom and swing the hammer horizontally as I charge. I send him flying towards Raymond and knock him down. I jump and the hammer comes down on Raymond's chest. As it does, I hear many of his ribs crack. The sorcerer gets up and now wields a Moonlight Greatsword, as does Arthur. They fight each other up close, hardly doing any damage behind each other's Crest Shields. Someone grabs my arms from behind me and brings me to my knees. I struggle with all my might to break free, but it's useless. I see Raymond slowly approach as he unsheathes the tracer, holding his ribcage with his free hand. Still doubled over in pain, he lunges his knee at my jaw. He stabs my right leg with the toxic weapon. He kicks me powerfully in the stomach and I cry out in pain, unable to block the attacks. I struggle to break free of the phantom's grasp, to no avail. He hits me in the face with a clenched fist. He punches me again with more power, this time hitting me in my right eye. I wrench my arms at another attempt to break free. Whoever this phantom is he's incredibly strong, and still holds my arms back tightly. I look up at Raymond, I now notice his skin is decaying a bit. He is hollowing. He stops for a moment.
"You kill innocent people, you killed our parents, and you expect me to forgive you?!" I shout.
"You took away my purpose." He says calmly. "Because of you I was removed from the Darkwraiths! Everything I had worked for, everything! Just gone!" He yells. "All the people I've killed, the humanity I've recieved, gone!" He raises his tracer. "Because of you!" He looks as though he is about to stab me again but then relaxes his arm. He kicks me in the chest with his metal boot. I feel ribs breaking. "So I will take away something you hold precious as well." He looks into the crowd and takes two ponies in his grasp, Fluttershy and a blue unicorn with a blue and white mane. "You seem to love these creatures very much." He says. "I relished being a Darkwraith, but serving the Gravelord has its advantages as well." He says while glancing at his black phantoms. Holding both of the ponies in one of his arms, he kicks me in my unprotected face, causing me to bleed badly from the mouth. He kicks me in the nose, breaking it easily and causing blood to drip from it. He kicks me a third time, in the forehead, shooting a wave of great pain through my skull. My vision is blurred from the kick but I see the blue unicorn escape his grasp, Fluttershy is obviously too terrified to move. "No matter, I'll kill them all one by one if I must." I hear Fluttershy sobbing, and I am close to tears as well. My vision finally clears and now I can clearly see him holding Fluttershy by the throat, away from his beaten body. She flaps her wings wildly as his grip tightens. I struggle with all my willpower and physical strength to break free and save the pegasus, if Raymond killed her now, Joshua would never forgive me or Arthur. The phantom's strength greatly surpasses mine and I'm still captive in his grip. I slouch in defeat and look down at his feet to see the marble begin to glow a bright orange. He looks down as well and loosens his grip on Fluttershy. "What is this?" As if to answer him, a monumental pillar of fire devours him, not an ember touching Fluttershy. He screams loudly and drops her as his flesh burns badly from the pyromancy.
"Sorry I'm late." A voice says. I look over and see a man wearing the Black Cleric Robes with no mask or helm.
"Joshua!" Fluttershy cries, overjoyed. She runs to him, now free of my brother's grip. Joshua kneels and catches her in a long and close embrace. Though I can tell they're speaking I cannot hear what they're saying, but I feel the grip of the black phantom slacken. I'll just buy them a little time. I lunge my arms forward as hard as I can and I am freed of the phantom's grip. At last! I land a strong punch to his face and it removes his helmet. I see a perfect replica of my face on the phantom, but with bloodred eyes that glow like torches. The phantom is of me! I dodge his punch and hit him again. I reach for the axe on his back and successfully retrieve it. I grasp it tighty with both hands, hold it so the blade it on the ground and drag it for a short few seconds. When the time is right, I heave the axe upwards and send the phantom straight up into the air. When he is about to hit the ground, I swing the axe right, sending him a couple feet away. I feel a sharp pain throughout my body as I look down and see the tracer protrude from my stomach. I cry out in pain and see the black sorcerer phantom fade away across the room. Arthur looks exhausted, but sends a Soul Spear in my direction. I duck my head and it hits Raymond in the throat. He releases the tracer, though it still is stabbed through my body. I look down at the curved sword again and see my blood dripping to the floor. I reach around to my back and painfully thrust the tracer out through my back. I fall to the ground in pain as the toxins take effect and I see Raymond running towards me. A volley of pyromancies hits him when he jumps to me. I see many bright orange lights caused by Great Fireballs, followed by a myriad of red flame pillars and several pools of lava from a Chaos Firestorm that swiftly dissipate. I now notice that the ponies are cheering our names, and I see Celestia and Luna both launch magic at the warrior black phantom. I use all that is left of my strength and willpower to stand up and face the warrior phantom. I hit him once more with the axe and he falls to his knees. I kick him back as he dissolves into nothingness. I turn to my brother. Joshua is standing over him. Raymond isn't dead but he is on the brink of death. His skin begins to rapidly decay, he is hollowing quickly. I limp over to him. His hair in singed and his skin badly burnt. I see his body's strained movements with every breath. I look at his face and he is crazed and insane. He looks me in the eye.
"I give up, I'm not even going to try to kill you anymore. You are just a lost cause." He says this as his sanity diminishes entirely. This will very likely be his final death, or at least he won't invade us again. I reach for Smough's Hammer as I drop the axe. I raise the great executioner's hammer high into the air.
"Farewell, Raymond." I raise the hammer higher and prepare to swing. "Farewell, brother." I crush his head with the hammer and feel the souls move to my body as I absorb them. There is a small yellowish flame as his body dissipates. I pick it up. The Soul of Raymond. I crush it in my hand and take the souls within as I feel his soul move on. "You are forgiven."

I drop to my knees, then onto my face. I feel myself slipping away, Rarity rushes over to me. There is a small puddle of blood that I lay in now, my own. My estus flask is levitated off my belt and brought to my lips. Three doses are poured down my throat and I can now hear the ponies around me saying something.
"Agroth, c'mon, stay with us." I can hardly make out fainbow Dash saying this. The sight of her is blurry, a blob of cyan with many colors on it. I cannot hear well either. A hand takes a purple clump of moss with white flowers on it off my belt and puts it to my mouth.
"Agroth, the toxin." I hear someone say. Joshua perhaps? I chew the moss and bitter juices are released. Nonetheless, my vision and hearing return to normal and I feel the infected gashes in my body heal.
"Rarity!" I call as I rapidly sit up. Pain shoots through my skull and I lay back down.
"I'm here Agroth." She says, sitting near me. I sigh, relieved.
"Thank the Lords." I say as I put my hand to my head. Damn, it feels like my head is full of Chaos Bugs! Where is Solaire? How did Raymond get to Canterlot? He was a Graelord Servant? My head aches ridiculously as I mentally ask all these questions. "Joshua, you're very late." He helps me to sit, then to my feet, tentatively.
"Ascended pyromancy takes some getting used to." He replies. I see Arthur struggling to get to his feet.
"Help him." I tell Joshua.
"That was some fight dear." Rarity says. I touch the new scars on my face caused by my brother's boot. Arthur limps over with Joshua and Twilight.
"You handled yourself well Arthur."
"Thanks Agroth, wish I could say the same." He says, staring at my still broken nose and bruised forehead.
"Am I still bleeding?" I ask.
"Only a bit." I look down and blood is still steadily dripping from my nose.
"Here, use this." Rarity levitates me her shawl.
"Oh, no. I couldn't."
"I insist, you need it." She levitates it to my nose to stop the bleeding and I hold it there.
"Thank you, that's very generous of you Rarity."
"We should get to our rooms. Twilight dear, where's Spike?" Rarity asks. I look around and find him staring at the crack I left in the floor when my first attack missed my brother. It looks like a giant slammed his shield down in the spot the crack is so big. He stares at it wide-eyed, obviously not believing I really caused such a thing. But he knows I did, for he saw it himself. I stumble over and pick up the hammer.
"Spike, we're leaving. Rarity and I are going back to our room. You should go with Twilight and Arthur." This snaps him out of it.
"Wha- oh, yeah. See ya then Agroth." He says. I look over and see Joshua carrying Fluttershy out in his arms, her wings are wrapped around his shoulders as well.
"Let's go then." I say to Rarity.
"You three, may I see you for a moment?" Celestia calls to us.
"Of course" I say. We walk to Celestia and Luna, who lead us to a rather large room with a fireplace in it. They sit down.
"I have a couple of questions for you." Celestia says.
"I do as well." Luna says. Solaire walks in and sits down next to Celestia. The three of us still stand.
"What just happened down there?"
"An invasion, by a Darkwra- I mean, Gravelord Servant. He was a Darkwraith once though."
"What's a Darkwraith?" Luna asks.
"A Darkwraith is someone who feeds off the humanity of innocent people, that one was Agroth's brother." Arthur explains. "Darkwraiths are able to choke the humanity out of people, he didn't however. He just wanted Agroth dead."
"Will he come back?" Celestia asks.
"No, when I killed him, he was deeply hollowed. I took his soul and released him. He won't come back. That was his final death." I tell them.
"You used to hunt Darkwraiths right? But you were an invader?" Luna asks. Celestia looks puzzled.
"Solaire, would you explain the Darkmoon blades to Celestia please?" He nods and begins to whisper to her. "Yes Luna, I was an invader. But I used the Blue Eye Orb, which only affects the worlds of sinners. They use the Red Eye Orb or Cracked Red Eye Orbs, which affect everyone."
"What's the difference if it's cracked or whole?" Celestia asks.
"A cracked orb can be used by anyone, whereas a whole orb can be used an infinite amount of times, but only by Darkwraiths." Joshua says. "He must have used an Eye of Death, then a cracked orb." He tells me.
"I don't care how he got here, I'm just glad he's gone." I say with some anger and frustration, trying not to speak of my now permanently dead brother.
"What is an Eye of Death?" Luna asks.
"My brother mentioned he now served the Gravelord. The Gravelord Servants use Eyes of Death to lure invaders to their world. He must have found a way to use an Eye of Death and a Cracked Red Eye Orb at once. When an Eye of Death is used, black phantoms exist on the infected worlds. They mimic beings except they gain half the strength of the being they mimic, which explains why I couldn't break free of the phantom's grip."
"Why did he invade you?" Celestia asks us.
"Not certain, possibly revenge. This was his second invasion, he invaded us in Ponyville as well. Ponyville!" I shout. "What if another demon entered?! One of us should have stayed back there to keep everybo- er, everypony safe!"
"There are Royal Guards there now, I stationed them after Twilight sent me a letter explaining about the beast attacking." Celestia informs us. We sigh, intensely relieved.
"Still, we should get back there soon. We should probably leave tomorrow." Joshua says.
"Alright, we would love to have you stay though, anytime you wish to come to Canterlot you may stay in the palace if you wish." Celestia says. The princesses smile at us, we kneel down out of habit.
"Thank you, your majesties." I say. We stand and exit.

Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Spike are all waiting for us. Joshua goes with Fluttershy, Arthur with Twilight and Spike, and I with Rarity.
"Hello." She says gleefully. "What was that about?"
"She just wanted some information. About covenants and Raymond."
"Oh, I see. Agroth, I've been thinking." She says ponderously.
"Yes?"
"I think perhaps, I would like to go to Lordran with you." She says as she flinches away. Obviously she also though about how I would react.
"Absolutely not! No! I'm not ever taking you to Lordran!" I shout. I take some deep breaths as an attempt to calm myself. "As your friend, I refuse to take you to that awful, hellish place. I pray that you, as my friend, will come to your senses and not wish to go to Lordran." We exit the palace doors and begin to walk around to the back where our rooms are.
"You spoke of adventure and battle, and it's not like I'd be going alone." She says as she looks up at me. She puts on a begging face that says 'Please? Just this once?'
"Faces do not work on me Rarity, my heart is as cold as my blade." I sigh. "Except to friends, as yourself." I stop and kneel on one knee beside her. "If you got hurt in Lordran, I could never forgive myself. If you were to be killed...well I'll try not to think about that. Lordran is a very dangerous place, insanity and chaos run wild in the forms of hollow men and demons." I sigh as she continues to stare at me. "I'm sorry Rarity. But I refuse to let you die as I have so many times before."
She sighs heavily as I stand and continue to walk. "If you really think it's for the best. But, thank you Agroth."
"Hm? For what?"
"Looking out for me, caring so much, not wanting me to get hurt." I walk over and hug her, even though I'm still in great pain.
"Of course." We continue and reach the door leading to the hallways. We travel down one, Rarity seems to know exactly where we are going as I feel hopelessly lost. It reminds me o the Depths, only much cleaner and less violent. We reach our room and I begin to remove my blood-drenched armor. She walks to another room and returns without a dress as I slip my chainmail off. She stares at me in my cloth shorts that I always wear under my chainmail.
"What?" I ask.
"Where is it?" She says, circling me.
"Where is what?"
"Your cutie mark." She says.
"My what now?" I ask. Cutie mark? What in Gwyn's name is that?
"Cutie mark. You don't have one." She says.
"I don't know what that is." I say as I slip on my black chainmail.
"It's a mark that shows your special talent, the thing that makes you different from everypony else. Didn't you notice them on everypony?"
"In fact I did, I just didn't wish to offend anypony by asking what that mark was on their backside."
"Well, now you know. Do you not have cutie marks in Lordran then?"
"We do have a mark... But no, none like that. Our mark is not unique, but everywhere in Lordran." I point to the mark of a flaming circle on my left cheek an inch or so under my eye. "This is the Darksign. All it tells anyone is that you're cursed and therefore only deserve to be locked away in the asylum in the far north." She nods slowly.
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I don't really mind." I lie.
"Well, I won't further press the matter." She sneaks under the comforter of the bed from the top where the pillows are. "Goodnight Agroth." I lie down on top of the blankets and try to relax.
"Goodnight Rarity."