//------------------------------//
// The Poison Pools 
// Story: Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

After defeating the Executioner's Chariot, as Rarity decided to call the creature she and Edric had defeated, the two of them found a door that they could walk through and started up the path that they discovered a few seconds later, which looked like there might be an upper area above where the chariot had been riding. Despite the fact that experience told them that the area passed a powerful creature wouldn't have any enemies, as the last several areas like that happened to have no enemies, the two of them held their weapons out as they walked up the stairs they discovered. The room they found appeared to have a few statues, with no other path for them to take, and had a bonfire to the left of where the two of them happened to be standing... though near the bonfire stood a new person they hadn't met before.

Rarity stared at the man for a few seconds, finding that he was dressed in some sort of black robes, had wrappings around his fists and wrists, wasn't wearing any shoes, and had some sort of headpiece that was preventing them from seeing his face... though the bloodstains around him made her decide that they couldn't trust him.

"Ooh, welcome, welcome." the man said, turning to face them as they approached the bonfire, though at the same time Edric made sure that the fire had been ignited before the two of them turned towards him in turn, "Do either of you have a lust for blood?"

"Um... no." Rarity answered, because despite the fact that she and Edric were willing to clear out all of the hollows that were in their past, as well as the monsters that accompanied them at times, neither of them were what this man was searching for.

"Well, that's no fun…" the man declared, sounding very disappointed for a few seconds, though that was before he waved his hand at them and turned back towards the statue he had been staring at before they entered the area he had been standing in, "Go back home. This is no place for you."

Rarity and Edric glanced at each other for a few seconds, not understanding the man at all, but at the same time they decided not to bother trying to figure out what he was trying to do and knelt beside the bonfire, to which they teleported out of the area and headed back to Majula. The moment they returned to the town Edric knelt before the Emerald Herald and transferred the vast majority of his souls into points to further empower himself, while the rest of it he planned on using to strengthen his armor and weapon. While he did that Rarity moved to Shalquoir's shop and sent some time chatting with the godly cat, as she seemed to know more about the world they were in than anyone else she could talk to at the moment... and besides, Shalquoir seemed to enjoy Rarity's company more than the vast majority of the Undead that she had encountered over the years and the timelines.

From what Rarity could tell Shalquoir slipped between the cracks of the various worlds and assisted all of the Undead that were on the same quest that she and Edric were on, no doubt making a note of who had done what, who had dealt with which powerful creatures, and who progressed pretty far before failing in some manner. She suspected that if someone had gathered the four Great Souls, and had gotten to whatever was after meeting the King, than the world would have been saved at some point and both she and Edric wouldn't be doing this quest in the first place.

"You and Edric are doing quite well for yourselves," Shalquoir commented, to which Rarity glanced over at her for a few seconds, where she found that the cat was smiling at her once more, something that she had grown used to over the last couple of days, "not many of the Undead can claim that they found, and took down, one of the four Guardians that are guarding the Great Souls. Most of them fight their way through the various powerful creatures that call this land home, gathering powerful spells, weapons, and armor along the way, but then find that the Guardians are too much for them to handle and eventually go hollow after some time. Then there are the select few that have managed to beat one of the Guardians, like you have, and have climbed higher than you two... though so far I haven't see one of them best all four of the chosen Guardians."

"That's... not very comforting," Rarity said, as she would have expected that someone would have bested all four of the powerful Guardians that rested across the land, but this wasn't a good sign of things to come.

"If I was you... yeah, I'd be thinking the same thing right now," Shalquoir stated, though at the same time she stretched her body for a moment as she looked out the window, where she noticed someone coming towards the building, "Rarity, follow the path that you found in the chamber of the Skeleton Lords... it will help you find the second Guardian and the second Great Soul."

"Understood," Rarity replied, though she didn't bother to question what she was being told, because Shalquoir could see things and understood things that no one else could see or understand, before she bid the cat farewell and walked outside, where she noticed Edric walking towards her.

They didn't say anything to each other as she walked up to the Emerald Herald and empowered herself again, knowing that the additional firepower to her spells would make them do more damage to the enemies that they were going to come across. Once she had spent the majority of the souls that were at her disposal, just like Edric had, the two of them gathered around the bonfire and teleported back to the bonfire that Creighton had been trapped inside, where they drew their weapons and moved forward. From that point onward the two of them retraced their steps back towards the chamber that the Skeleton Lords had been resting in, though as they fought their way there again Rarity explained that Shalquoir told her they should do so if they wanted to be on the right track to the second Great Soul.

Edric was glad to hear that they had a plan of attack, as he had slightly forgotten about the doorway they had seen in the area that the Skeleton Lords had been in, though since they knew the layout of their enemies they were able to make it to their destination without much incident. Once they reached their destination Rarity spotted the path that she had spotted earlier and beckoned for Edric to follow her, to which they held their weapons at the ready as they advanced into the unknown. They walked along the pathway that they discovered and followed it for a few seconds, though they had to stop when they came to a massive gap between them and the area they needed to go to... but a few more seconds passed before Rarity noticed the long bridge that was resting above their heads, and that there was a lever to the right of them.

Rarity and Edric stared at each other for a few seconds before they both understood what they needed to do, to which Edric pulled the lever and they watched what happened next, though that meant watching the bridge lower itself down towards where they were standing... though once it was in place they crossed over it and walked towards the area that they needed to explore.

The moment they were on the other side of the bridge, and entered a small mountain pass, the two of them followed the passage that was in front of them until they reached a ladder, which allowed them to drop down into the area in front of them before they moved forward again. A few seconds later they found themselves entering a larger area that made them choose between two paths, as the one on the right would take them to a bonfire and the one on the left would allow the two of them to meet someone that they hadn't encountered before. Since they knew how important the bonfires are, and what they had used them for in the past, Rarity and Edric turned towards the bonfire, but then Rarity stopped when them when she noticed the dark green colored water in front of them.

"Poison," Rarity commented, though at the same time she grinned, as she had an excuse to use the Dark Magic to their benefit, before she placed her hand on the ground in front of the water and summoned a small crystal walkway for them to use, "I may not like Dark Magic, considering how corrupting it could potentially be, but even I have to admit that there are times where it has its uses."

Edric chuckled, because while he disliked the seemingly foul magic that Rarity had unlocked he had to admit that it had its uses in situations like this, before they walked over to the area that the bonfire was resting in and activated it... to which they reversed the direction they were heading in and walked over to the lady that was sitting on a rock.

"Are the two of you travelers?" the lady asked, though at the same time she glanced up from the rock that she was holding in her hands, indicating that she was studying it in some manner and had been interested in it before their arrival, "I am Chloanne, an orestone trader, which means that I travel about collecting rare stones and sell to make my living."

"Well met Chloanne, I am Edric," Edric said, before he waved a hand towards Rarity, who smiled and waved at the lady to convince her that she was friendly despite the dark mist that was rolling off of her eyes, "We are indeed travelers, searching the land for powerful creatures to kill and recovering powerful relics in the process."

Rarity knew that a lot of people they met had no idea what they did, or what their quest was supposed to be, but Edric's description of what they were doing wouldn't alarm Chloanne or inform her that they were doing anything wrong, just in case she thought they were up to something evil due to the darkness moving away from her eyes.

"You know what, I never planned on visiting this gods-forsaken place." Chloanne stated, to which both Rarity and Edric raised their eyebrows for a few seconds, but at the same time they had the feeling that they were going to learn exactly what the lady was talking about, "I don't know how it happened… but I just sort of ended up here. As far as I can tell I must have just wandered in and made myself at home, but, now that I'm here, I've been scouting around for rare bits."

"Rare bits..." Rarity commented, though she suspected that Chloanne was talking about the orestones that she liked to search for and sell to people, but she wondered if this world had any actual gemstones as well.

"Oh, don't look at me like that!" Chloanne lightly snapped, though at the same time Rarity held her hands up in defeat, as she had no idea what she had done that had upset the lady, but she wanted Chloanne to know that she wasn't judging her or anything like that, "Many of these stones are quite useful... for instance, certain stones are used in smithing. Ahh, now your ears prick up! I have a few extras, if you can pay my price. This is my trade, after all."

Edric decided to see exactly what she was selling and discovered that Chloanne was selling Titanite Shards, ten of them at the moment, though he shook his head and said that they would be back once they had more souls to spend, to which Chloanne nodded her head and went back to her rock... though at the same time Rarity approached her, as there was something that she wanted to ask her before they moved into the area in front of them.

"So, you said that you came to this place in search of rare stones?" Rarity asked, though at the same time Edric raised an eyebrow for a moment, as he was curious as to what she was doing at the moment, "Orestones to be exact. Can you tell us what you found in the area?"

"Yes, I came here in search of rare stones, but…" Chloanne said, though that was followed by her waving a hand towards the area behind her, where Rarity noticed what appeared to be a large windmill of sorts in the distance, "This place is nothing like I was told. All this poison, and you can't get very far inside. Don't just go haplessly wandering about. These stones, however, may look all the same, but to the trained eye each of them is unique. Some of them, as I said, are used to smith weapons and armor, some of the more unique stones provide special benefits, while some of them are extremely rare and should be used with great thrift. None of this differences are easily spotted, but I've learned quite a lot over the years."

"I see," Rarity commented, though at the same time she was interested in the other stones that Chloanne was talking about, as she was sure that some of them were going to be useful in the future, if they could find some of them.

"Drangleic… I honestly have no idea how I ended up here." Chloanne said, though that was followed by her sighing as she got onto her feet, to which she turned and stared at Rarity and Edric, "Well, I've searched every nook and cranny here. I suppose it's time to move on. Perhaps we'll meet again, if we live that long!"

Rarity had to resist the urge to moan as she and Edric walked away from Chloanne, as she had no idea what sort of enemies would be waiting for them when they reached the end of the path in front of them... though she had the terrible suspicion that there might be some sort of creature that would prove to be difficult ahead of them, and potentially kill them in the process.