Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials

by Blackdrag-rose


The Iron Keep

A few moments passed before Rarity and Edric stopped staring at the large keep that was in front of them, as they were both sure that this was where the Old Iron King was supposed to reside, to which they started looking for a bonfire so they could rest after their battle with that naga. Rarity thought that the naga had been a pushover, especially after discovering such a fatal weakness, but at the same time she knew that if she kept thinking that way she would eventually miss that same thing on another enemy. Edric, on the other hand, was still thankful that Rarity had been sent to him by some unknown force, as he would have never thought to burn down the windmill or do something to the naga's head to make it much easier to kill... and he would likely still be hunting for the Lost Sinner if he didn't have her backing him up.

The search for the bonfire went quickly, as all they had to do was head towards the stairs on their left and walk down it, where they discovered one waiting for them near some railing that separated them from the lava, something that didn't comfort either of them at the moment.

Since they had gone through two more powerful creatures, had collected both their unique souls and the countless souls they had been keeping inside them, Rarity suggested that they return to Majula for some time and empower their skills once more. Edric was open to that idea, as he shuddered at the thought of losing so many souls, to which the two of them gathered around the bonfire and teleported back to where the Emerald Herald was waiting, where they went about their usual routine. Edric would speak to the Emerald Herald first and empower his skills, and then shop at the blacksmith once he was done, while Rarity would speak to Shalquoir about some of the items and souls they had acquired, before coming back to the main bonfire and empowering her skills as well.

While she was speaking to the all knowing cat, however, Rarity learned that the first powerful creature they had killed in Harvest Valley was called the Covetous Demon, who had once been a man that loved Mytha, the Baneful Queen, who had been the second powerful creature they killed. Rarity then learned that Mytha had been in love with the Old Iron King, but the king fell in love with another and she poisoned herself until she became the monster they had encountered, which was followed by the Old Iron King banishing her to where they found her. The man who had become the Covetous Demon had his feelings ignored by Mytha, causing him to turn to gluttony and eventually he transformed into the hideous monster that she and Edric had slain.

This story reminded Rarity of her own love life for a moment, as one upon a time she had hopes for finding true love and was constantly ignored, while at the same time someone else tried to express his love to her and she pretty much kept shooting him down... to which she resolved to settle things with Spike, once she returned home.

The moment Edric was done spending his souls, by empowering himself and his gear, Rarity stepped up to the Emerald Herald and further empowered her spells, though once she was done the two of them returned to the bonfire and teleported back to the Iron Keep, so they could begin their journey. When they arrived, however, Rarity found that her companion was growing sick and tired of the rotting look that he was sporting, so much so that he was willing to throw down their sign and have someone call them so they could perform some duties. Rarity didn't mind doing that, though she had a much better way to restore her former looks, thanks to the amount of effigies they had collected so far, to which she pulled one out and held it in front of her for a few seconds. She then crushed the effigy with her hand and waited for a few seconds, to which she watched as the rotting color retreated from her skin and she returned to her former glory, or at least the former glory for the form she was currently trapped in.

"See? This is much simpler than placing our sign down," Rarity said, though at the same time she looked around the area and noticed that there weren't any signs resting on the ground, meaning that either she couldn't see them because Edric was still in a hollow state or there weren't any around them, "besides, based on what I'm seeing at the moment none of the other Undead have reached this point. We also have plenty of effigies to spare, so using two of them right now isn't going to hurt us all that much... rather its going to hurt all of our enemies in the long run."

"It can't hurt to put one down anyway," Edric replied, though at the same time he reached into his pack and pulled out one of the effigies that he was carrying, as they had split the total number between them, before restoring himself to his full potential and getting onto his feet, "Very well then, let's get this venture underway."

Rarity nodded and together the two of them started walking across the bridge, though they stopped halfway when they noticed some signs resting on the bridge, but she then stopped her companion from touching them. When Edric inquired as to why she stopped him, as this would have been a good chance for them to get some allies, Rarity pointed out that these signs were red, just like the red spirits they had seen earlier in their journey. She was of the opinion that several Undead, who failed to complete their journey, had set up shop here with the intent on luring in other Undead, those that needed help, so they could kill whoever summoned them. This was, in essence, a trap that was waiting to be sprung and she wasn't about to spring it, though not a few seconds later the sign that Edric had been reaching for disappeared, meaning that someone else must have touched it... telling Rarity that there was someone else in this area, in a separate world, and that they likely testing their skills against whoever the sign belonged to.

After deciding to leave the red signs alone, so they didn't get invaded by enemies seeking to destroy them completely, the duo walked across the remainder of the bridge and noticed two armored knights, both carrying katanas, standing on either side of the keep's entrance. Edric quickly decided on taking out the knight on the right of the entrance, as he seemed the more active of the two enemies, leaving Rarity to deal with the foe on the entrance's left side, though she knew that she could handle the knight with ease. The two of them then separated from each other the moment they entered the area in front of the entrance, causing the knights to become alert and charge at them, though as Edric went on the defensive Rarity simply started dodging the attacks that were coming her way... as her opponent's katana failed to reach her every time the knight swung it.

The next attack that she dodged spelled the end for her opponent, as the moment Rarity dodged the blade she pulled the darkness together, into the form of a ball, and struck the knight in the chest, to which his armor was torn asunder and fell to the floor, where it stopped moving altogether. She blinked a few times, as she wasn't sure whether this was because she had returned to her normal state and was no longer hollowing, or if these enemies were weak against magical attacks, but at the same time she decided that this was a good thing. If the knights that called the Iron Keep their home were weak to magical attacks, which was what she specialized in at the moment, then she would be able to make sure that she and Edric got through here without any real harm coming to them... as long as the powerful creatures that called this place home followed the same rules that the knights did.

A few moments later Edric had finished off his opponent, allowing the spirit inhabited armor to fall to the floor as well, to which the two of them walked up to the iron door that was in front of them, grabbed onto either side of it, and pushed it open with all of their might. It didn't take them long to open the door and enter the Iron Keep, though as they took a few steps forward Rarity noticed two more knights standing on a level above them and one of them had its back turned towards the door they had just opened. Rarity seized the opportunity that was presented to them and called upon the lightning to gather around her chime, where she threw the Lightning Spear into the knight's back and blew the enchanted armor apart. Edric, however, charged up the stairs and dealt with the knight that was standing beside a statue that happened to be breathing fire... where Rarity noticed that the flames seemed to be protecting something, which she grabbed with her magic and levitated over to her.

What she discovered was that the item in question was an iron key of some kind, one that seemed important, to which she smiled as she stored it in her bag before they moved forward... though instead of following the stairs they walked down the path on the right of the entrance, where they found a merchant, of all things, sitting on the ground.

"What? Who're you?" the man asked, though his tone told Rarity that he either didn't like people approaching him, or they had interrupted something important and it would take some time for him to be happy once more.

"I am Edric, and this is Rarity, my traveling companion." Edric replied, to which he waved a hand towards himself for a few seconds, before doing the same thing to Rarity, though that was followed by him turning his head back to the merchant, "Who might you be?"

"Who, me? I'm Magerold, who else?" the man answered, giving the duo a name to put to the face that was before them, while at the same time making them wonder what he was doing here, in such a remote place like this, "What? Have a look at my wares."

Rarity and Edric decided to humor the man and see what they could find, though while Edric really didn't see anything useful for their current venture Rarity decided to grab the Dark Hail and Darkstorm spells, despite the fact that one of them sounded like one she could only cast when she was alone in an area. A few moments later, however, the two of them backed away from the man and stared at each other, as they were thinking about heading out, but at the same time Rarity couldn't help but wonder what the man was doing here.

"So what are you doing out here Magerold?" Rarity asked, because she figured that while they were here she would ask the question and be done with it, so the next time they were here, if they ever came back, they could get to business instead of talking all the time.

"I'm mainly a treasure hunter, you see. I'm only a merchant on the side." Magerold replied, though at the same time he smiled, as if he was pleased that someone was asking what he was doing out here, "I roam about, looking for a find, following my instincts. I don't care what a thing is worth, but what does matter is whether it grabs me. Do I enjoy what I do? Well… That's a good question. But I suppose I must, I… I've been doing it for ages."

"I see," Rarity said, though she was a little surprised that this guy was a treasure hunter, but since he appeared to be happy doing that, and being a merchant on the side apparently, she guessed that she wouldn't pry in his business.

"There's good iron in these parts. An old king even used it to build a castle." Magerold commented, to which he waved a hand at his surroundings, though at the same time Rarity and Edric stopped what they were doing and listened to what he had to say, "But the thing was too heavy, and it slowly sank into the ground. Fires spouted from the earth, and… and the place turned into this. At least, that's what I'm told. Not a bad story, eh? So, what will it be? Anything for you today?"

"No, I think we'll be good for now," Edric replied, as while it was nice conversing with someone that didn't want them dead, he knew that they needed to get going and make some progress before something happened to the keep, especially since it was slowly sinking into the lava around them.

"Hey, You know that odd fellow? With the hulking blue sword." Magerold asked, to which Rarity and Edric glanced at each other for a few seconds, before they nodded their heads and indicated that they knew the person he was talking about, "He talks really highly of it, but I got a feeling it's a fake. I didn't want to disappoint him, so I just sort of talked around it. Let me just say, there are lots of 'legendary swords' out there."

Rarity and Edric decided to leave at that point and retraced their steps towards the area they had found the key in, but before they reached that area they found a side passage that allowed them to head to a level above them, where they found a knight blocking their way. Rarity let her magic surge for a moment, which formed an orb of darkness once more, and she dismantled the spirit infused armor in a single shot, to which she and Edric moved forward and kept their eyes open for anything else in the area. As they finished climbing the stairs Rarity felt that something was off about the area, to which she tapped on the wall to her right and revealed a hidden passage that took them to one of the ballista that they had seen in the forest ruins... and a hidden wall in front of the weapon revealed a room with three more knights standing guard, which actually looked like a room they needed to pass through.

Rarity smiled as she noticed that none of the knights had noticed them yet, to which she extended her hand and blasted the knight in front of them with a Dark Ball, blowing the various pieces of the suit apart while the spirit inside it was torn to pieces. Edric charged forward and started fighting one of the other two knights that were in front of them, where Rarity focused her energy on the furthest knight, allowing her companion to focus his attention without being interrupted by anyone. As her second target fell Rarity looked around the area and found that the doorway on the left of the hidden passage did take them back to the first room they had walked through, to which she patiently waited for Edric to finish his opponent before they moved through the other doorway and exited the part of the keep they had been in.

As they walked along the walkway that was in front of them, however, they nearly got hit by an archer's arrow, to which Rarity focused on where the archer was standing and snapped a Lightning Spear into existence, where she hurled it through the air and blew the archer to pieces. While she was doing that Edric raised his shield and blocked the incoming attack from the knight that was in front of them, where he returned the favor and hacked the enchanted suit of armor apart, to which one of the arms fell into the lava below them as the knight collapsed in a heap of parts. Rarity noticed that there were some more archers on a level higher than where they were, but instead of climbing the ladder below them she simply used her Soul Arrows and blasted the enchanted suits of armor apart.

At the same time Edric walked down the stairs that were near them and found a knight guarding the door that was below them, though he was more than strong enough to block the attacks that were coming at him and destroy the enchanted armor could hurt him. With the knight defeated Edric noticed a lever that, when he pulled it, lowered half of a large bridge into place, meaning that when they were done with their other enemies they would be able to at least investigate the other side of the area they were in. Instead of opening the door in front of him, which would lead into a room that was bellowing a large volume of fire, he waited for Rarity to return to him before they made the journey over the part of the bridge that was lowered... while at the same time his companion blasted whoever was trying to loose arrows at them while they walked.

The only enemy that Rarity found to be interesting was the enchanted suit of armor that was clearly more powerful than any of the other ones that they had encountered so far, as it carried a bow that was more powerful than any of the others ones she had come across so far. She knew that because she actually loosed a Dark Ball at the knight and it loosed an arrow at her attack in return, one that canceled the two of them out in an instant, which caused her to chuckle for a few seconds as she landed on the walkway that the knight was walking on. She could tell that this was a strong opponent, as it also carried a blade that had lightning coursing around it when he drew it, but since they weren't here to play games she knew that the suit of armor needed to be taken care of. Instead of damaging the armor, however, she sent her shadow forward and attached it to the suit's shadow, driving the spirit out in the process... where it moved around like a copy of her, only with the power that the armor gave it.

"Okay, that's a new ability," Edric commented, as this was unlike anything he had ever seen before, because shadows didn't possess an already possessed suit of armor and take full control of it, "and I really don't like the way that the suit is staring at me right now."

"Well, that just means that my shadow is concerned about your safety, as I am," Rarity replied, because since Edric was her companion, and was the first friend she had made in this world, she wanted to be sure that nothing terrible happened to him during their journey, "Come on, let's go find the other lever and get the bridge lowered into place... then we can rest before we fight the powerful creature that's lurking behind that fog door."

Edric glanced at the fog door that the knight had been guarding, before Rarity had taken over the suit from whatever spirit had been controlling it, and wondered what sort of powerful creature could be lurking behind it, especially since the Old Iron King was hiding somewhere nearby. At this point he was willing to take whatever strange and unique powers that Rarity developed over their journey, because some of them were going to make their lives all that much easier, though at the same time he had no idea what this power was going to do for them. He suspected that Rarity had taken a liking to the powerful weapons that the possessed suit of armor was carrying and intended to make the most of it while she had it under her control... and maybe take out the powerful creature in the process.

For a moment he actually felt sorry for whatever opponent was waiting on the other side of the fog door, but then he sighed and knew that the powerful creatures would try to kill them regardless of what they were feeling... and this next battle was likely going to be one of the more stranger ones, once the bridge was fully lowered into position.