//------------------------------//
// The Fire Keepers 
// Story: Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

As Rarity and Edric slowly walked up the hill that was in front of them, mostly because Rarity was unfamiliar with her new body and had no idea how to walk properly, they both spotted something moving in the grass ahead of them, causing them to pause for a moment. As the movements continued Rarity wished that they had something to defend themselves with, as she had didn't even consider bringing any weapons through the crystal mirror with her, and she had no idea where to find one short of robbing one of Princess Celestia's guards. Plus she couldn't access her magic at the moment, which meant that something in this world was interfering with her natural magic, as she was positive that she still had her horn because Twilight still had hers in her hybrid form.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as whatever creature was lurking around them decided to make itself known, to which she and Edric watched as some sort of black furred animal, which looked like a cross between a lemur and a dog, jumped out of the slightly tall grass and looked at them. After a few more seconds Rarity heard the sounds of something else moving in the grass around them, to which she slowly looked around and spotted three more sets of eyes staring at them, which meant that the creature in front of them wasn't alone. The poor creature stared at them for a few seconds, as if it was trying to determine whether they were friends or foes, before it yipped and backed away into the shadows, leading the other three to follow the silent command and disappeared as well.

"Edric," Rarity said, to which she noticed that her companion was doing the same thing she was, glancing around to make sure that those creatures weren't coming back to attack them, "do you have any idea what those beasts were?"

"No, I've never seen their like before in my entire life." Edric replied, though that was followed by him pulling her forward, indicating that they were continuing their journey towards the structure that he thought he had seen, "Hopefully that's the last we see of them."

Rarity nodded as she looked at what laid ahead of them, because when Edric mentioned that he might have seen a structure she had been praying for him to be right, but now that she could see the structure in question, however, it reminded her of Twilight's first house in Ponyville. The structure in front of them appeared to be a house that had been built into the trunk of a large tree, complete with a small bridge for them to walk over, so they didn't have to cross a running stream, and a ramp for them to reach the door. When they reached the door, however, Edric insisted on being the one to open it, to which Rarity sighed and let him do what he wanted... though when the door was open, and they both walked inside, they were a little surprised by what they found.

The found four ladies, three of which were clearly much older than Rarity was while the fourth was much younger than the other three, resting in the room that they had walked into. The three elderly ladies were wearing red robes, which covered the majority of their bodies, and were sitting in some wooden chairs, while the fourth lady was standing on the right side of the room, almost appearing to be someone that was supposed to take care of someone else. Rarity quickly determined that the three elderly ladies were important, which was why they had someone that was supposed to be watching over them, but she said nothing as she and Edric walked closer to the table... which was when Edric gently let go of her arm so she could steady herself with the table in front of them.

"Heh heh heh…" one of the old ladies, one of the two that were sitting near the table, said, though at the same time Rarity suspected that they were going to be tough ladies to talk to, "What seems to be the ruckus?"

"Ooh, my! Your face." the other lady at the table said, her head turning in Edric's direction, which told Rarity that there was definitely something wrong with her companion like she originally believed, "The face of the curse."

"It's an Undead and its companion." the third lady, the one resting near the fireplace, stated, though at the same time it sounded like she didn't care too much for what was going on, "A pair of Undead have come to play. They all end up here, all the ones like you. You spoke to that kind old dear, didn't you?"

Rarity was completely lost by what the elderly lady near the fireplace was talking about, because she had mentioned that a pair of 'Undead' had come forward, when in reality Rarity knew that the only one like that had to be Edric, based on what she had seen earlier. When she opened her mouth to say something, however, Edric held a hand up for a moment so he could hear the elderly ladies speak, indicating that this was important, to which Rarity nodded and focused her attention on the elderly ladies as well.

"You're finished." the elderly lady near the fireplace stated, though at the same time it was clear that she was either finished talking or she wanted one of the others to speak up again.

"You'll go Hollow." the second lady spoke up, causing Rarity and Edric to turn towards her again, while at the same time the helping lady brought over something for her to drink, "Yes, you will become one of them. Hollows prey upon men, feast upon their souls. This is the fate of the cursed."

Rarity didn't like she was hearing, because the thought of someone preying on the souls of others made her remember what Tirek had done, as he had sucked out the magic from ponies and empowered himself in the process. She knew that it wasn't the same thing, but it was the best comparison she had at the moment, though at the same time she could tell that Edric wasn't liking the news that he was being given either.

"What is your name?" the first lady asked, causing both Rarity and Edric to turn towards her, as she had been silent the entire time, before they looked at each other and nodded.

"My name is Edric," Edric replied, noticing that all three of the elderly ladies were silent, as if they were waiting for both of them to talk before they started chuckling again.

"And I am Rarity," Rarity added, though she found it odd that when all three of the elderly ladies laughed, as they started doing so after she said her name, they did so in perfect harmony.

"At least the two of you know your own names." the first lady replied, once she and her sisters, for that was what Rarity assumed they were, had stopped laughing, though she followed that up by reaching into her robe and pulled something out, "Here's your reward for sharing. It's a Human Effigy. Take a closer look… Who do you think it's supposed to be? Think back, deep into your past."

"Is... is it an effigy of myself?" Edric asked, though he sounded a little uncertain as he stared at the item he had been handed, though Rarity could see why he was uncertain, as the thing he was holding appeared to be a number of metal bands arranged to resemble the upper part of a person's body.

"Yes, it's an effigy of you." the first lady said, apparently pleased by what Edric had said, though at the same time Rarity had to wonder what was so special about the item anyway.

She immediately got her answer, as Edric's body glowed for a moment as the upper part of his clothing melted away before her eyes, revealing the rotten skin and sickly nature of his body, before whatever magic was at work quickly restored his body to a healthy, and not rotting, state. Rarity watched as Edric's clothing morphed into a set of what she guessed was leather armor, while at the same time his boots and gloves morphed in shape until they matched the armor he was now wearing. His hood pulled back and revealed his rugged, yet slightly beautiful, facial features that had been restored like the rest of his body, before his hood morphed into a helmet of some kind and settled down on his head, making Edric look like a warrior.

The look even came complete with a small shield that appeared to be made out of some sort of metal, likely iron by Rarity's guess, and a sword of some kind, though it took Rarity a moment to realize that the blade had been snapped in half at some point in time.

"And what about you dear?" the first lady commented, holding a second effigy out towards Rarity, who gently took it in her hands and glanced down at it for a moment, "What do you see when you look into the effigy?"

For a moment Rarity thought about answering that she would have seen her old self, her pony self, when she glanced down at the effigy, but that was where she was wrong, as a few seconds later her body started to glow as well. The strange magic that had changed Edric's attire worked on her as well, transforming her ragged robes, which she had ignored when she first woke up, into a black robe that flowed down towards her knees before they cut off. Whatever she had been wearing over the lower part of her body transformed as well, becoming what she assumed was a pair of trousers, before two weapons formed in her hands; a small dagger in her right hand and a wooden staff of some kind in her left hand. A few moments later she felt something unlock in her mind, almost as if she was being granted some sort of knowledge, and she realized that she had been given a spell to use for while she was in this world... something called a 'Soul Arrow'.

A few seconds later, when the glowing stopped, she realized that she looked like one of those sorcerers, or in her case a sorceress, from one of those games that Spike liked to play when he was alone in Twilight's castle... before she shook her head and looked at the group once more.

"All people come here for the same reason." the first lady stated, patiently waiting for Rarity and Edric to finish being molded by whatever magic that had been at work, and transformed their clothing in such a manner, before she bothered talking again, "To break the curse."

"You're no different, I should think?" the second lady added, though that was followed by what appeared to be a hint of sadness, as if she didn't believe in either of them, "Hmm… doesn't stand a chance."

"Well, you never know!" the elderly lady near the fireplace said, causing all of them to laugh for a few moments, before they all became serious once more, "Go through the door and trot along to the kingdom."

"But remember, hold on to your souls." the first lady added, though at the word 'souls' Rarity knew that she was definitely missing something, and she was sure that Edric knew what the ladies were talking about, "They're all that keep you from going Hollow. Oh, I'll fool you no longer… You'll lose your souls… All of them. Over and over again."

Rarity turned towards Edric for a moment, trying to understand what insanity she had gotten herself into, but before she could say anything Edric beckoned for her to follow him as he walked towards the other door that was on the opposite side of the room. As he walked away, however, Rarity found an immediate use for the staff that she had been given, to which she used it as a walking stick as she carefully made her way over to the second door, though when she arrived Edric opened the door and allowed her to walk outside first. As the two of them walked outside, however, Rarity discovered what appeared to be some sort of sign that gave them some information, which meant that she had stumbled into a quest on a completely different world.

"Let's see here," Edric commented, bending down to read the sign for a moment, while at the same time Rarity pulled back to politely close the door that they had opened, before she returned to her companion's side, "It says 'Bonfires are places of respite' and that we may 'also light torches at them'."

The 'bonfire' was actually a pile of bones and ash that had a sword of some kind stuck in the middle of it, as the tip of the sword seemed to be piercing the pile, though when Edric held a hand towards the blade a fire ignited from the middle of the pile and lit up the area a tiny bit. Rarity was a little freaked out about the bonfire, because she had actually never seen anything like it before, but Edric seemed to be a little relaxed at the moment, which worried her considering what the elderly ladies told them.

"Edric, can I ask you a question?" Rarity said, though at the same time she gently sat down on the rock that was near the bonfire, while her companion turned his head and looked at her, "What did that lady mean when she said that we were 'Undead'? I only woke up in this world a few minutes ago and there's no way that something killed me, so what did they mean whey they used that term?"

"It means that we were branded by the symbol of the curse," Edric replied, sounding a little bit surprised by Rarity's question, as if he had expected her to know this, before he removed his helm, pulled off part of his armor, and showed his left shoulder to Rarity.

Rarity stared at Edric's shoulder for a moment, noticing a terrifying mark on his skin, one that appeared to be a swirling mass of darkness that was gathered around a central point, though at the same time the dark tendrils didn't touch the tip of his shoulder or the side of his body. After a few seconds Edric pulled his armor back up and made sure that it was in place, before he slipped his helm back on and fastened it back into place, making it look like he had never taken it off to begin with.

"That was the mark of the curse," Edric explained, letting out a sigh for a moment, meaning that there was more to the curse than what Rarity knew, which she silently realized was nothing, "It first showed up some time ago and I tried to ignore it, but eventually some raiders attacked the village and forced me and the others to defend ourselves. We managed to repel them, but at the same time one of them scored a lucky blow and managed to fell me... and that was when I discovered, for myself, the full nature of the curse. I died in that battle, and the other villagers saw it before their eyes, but at the same time I came back and lost a piece of myself to the curse, until I stopped caring about everyone around me.

My wife eventually gave me an ultimatum; either find a cure for the curse, or she and my daughter were going to leave and find somewhere else to live... which finally snapped me back to reality and I started my journey to come to this forsaken place. There's supposed to be a cure for the curse in this land, though I have no idea how one is supposed to get the cure and figured that someone would explain things to me."

"Edric... I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you," Rarity said, as she was still shocked by the appearance of the twisted mark on her companion's shoulder, and the eerie feeling she got when she looked at it, but that still didn't explain why the elderly ladies had said the same thing about her, "but I don't have a mark like that anywhere on my body. I don't understand why those ladies would label me as an Undead as well."

"Well, there's only one way to tell for sure,"  Edric replied, to which he got onto his feet and walked over to her, where he placed a hand on her shoulder, almost as if he was trying to calm her down, "Do you mind if I take a look at your shoulder? Its the only way to be sure you have the mark... or determine that the old ladies temporarily lost their minds."

Rarity was a little shocked by how forward Edric was about wanting to look at her shoulder, but she quickly determined that it was the only way to determine if she had the mark or not. She wasn't feeling the emotional numbness that Edric had mentioned, which eventually lead to his wife delivering her ultimatum, or anything else that her companion had told her about, but she eventually sighed and nodded her head. A few seconds later Edric gently moved the neck of her robe and pulled it down just a bit so he could see her shoulder, in the same manner that he had shown her his own shoulder. Rarity stopped breathing for a few moments, if she wasn't already, as she waited for her companion to give her the news about her condition... and whether she was going to become like him.

A few more seconds passed before Edric gently returned the part of her robe to where it had been before he had pulled it down, to which she watched as her companion sat back down at the bonfire with a frown on his face.

"Edric... what's wrong?" Rarity asked, though at the same time she could actually hear the fear in her voice, because despite the fact that she didn't know anything about the curse that plagued Edric she still dreaded having the affliction herself.

"Rarity... I'm sorry, but you have the mark as well," Edric replied, though at the same time Rarity's eyes went wide, because this was something that she didn't want to happen to her, "the elderly ladies were right... you are Undead, just like me."

Rarity was devastated, because she wasn't entirely sure what being Undead entailed and not knowing anything about her new affliction terrified her to no end. When she determined that she was going to enter the crystal mirror, and go on a slight adventure, this wasn't what she had in mind at all, though now that she was cursed she had no choice but to stay and find the same cure that Edric was searching for. Based on what the elderly ladies had said she and Edric would need to gather souls to prevent themselves from going 'hollow', but it chilled her to her bones to consider killing someone and take their essence to keep herself sane. Sure, she had fought against the Changelings during Princess Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding, but she had only knocked them unconscious... but this was something different and she had no idea if she could bring herself to kill someone else, even if it was to save herself.

At that moment she had no idea if she had what it took to survive in this strange and dark world that she had found herself in... and she was worried that she was going to die so many times due to her inexperience, before she even had a chance to find the cure that Edric had told her about.