“Queelag? My dear sister. Queelag, what is it?”
The Chosen Undead shifted uncomfortably as the great beast before her feebly reached out with its hands. Well…maybe ‘beast’ was perhaps a bit too derogatory a word to use, but the undead warrior couldn't really think of any other adequate term to use. True the hands that touched her helmet were that of a human female, and the torso they were attached to was likewise flesh and feminine, but that was where the innocence ended. The rest of the creature’s body was defined by its eight arachnid legs, each flexing weakly around a massive white spider abdomen to which the human elements were bonded. In summary, the creature before her was almost exactly like the creature the Chosen Undead had slain the last time she'd traveled down here, the so called ‘Queelag’ that had guarded the passage to the second Bell of Awakening, and who, like so many others, had tried her very hardest to end the undead's life. Indeed, the only reason the aforementioned had for NOT slaying the creature before her like she had everyone else was twofold: 1. She’d been told that this ‘Fair Lady’ as the servant cowering by the doorway addressed her, could aid in her quest to find the Lost City of Izalith, and 2. She looked far too sick, and weak and stupid to possibly be a threat. The fact that she also was keeping a bonfire which the undead warrior had made good use of to heal her latest batch of injuries had also given her cause to stay her hand.
“You…you speak the tongue of the Fair Lady?” Queried the servant in amazement. Clenching her fists, the Chosen Undead turned and stared at the languishing soul. Like the others she’d encountered on the way into this sanctum he’d apparently dedicated himself to acting as a living incubator for eggs, or something similar. His body was a mass of huge, tumor like growths piled high on his back, forcing him to crawl about on his hands and knees as thick dust and foul smelling pus constantly oozed from his flesh. He had a name, Eingyi, or something like that, but the Chosen Undead had no desire to get social with anything down here. Doing so had already cost her the lives of too many former friends....
“In all honesty, I am envious. What comfort can I offer the Fair Lady without speaking her tongue?” Eingyi lamented. Contemplating his words, the Chosen Undead looked to one of the rings on her fingers. It was one of the few personal possessions she’d managed to hold onto after being thrown into the asylum with the other undead, a fancy she’d picked up somewhere, in another life and another time long since forgotten. At first it had seemed to be valueless, but the script engraved across the band struck her as pretty looking. She’d held onto it hoping it could serve as a good luck charm, and indeed, it seemed that luck was finally paying off. While the ring lacked any magical enchantments, it apparently had proven very useful for communicating with the denizens of Lordran who hadn’t quite mastered the common tongue, such as the spider woman she now faced, and the egg carrying flesh pile that she so wished would back off and give her some breathing room.
“Well do not be rash with your pride! You have yet to earn my trust. If you try anything funny with the Fair Lady, there will be hell to pay!” Eingyi continued, unbothered or perhaps just not caring that his company was staring at him in scornful silence. Never mind the fact that she hadn’t actually said anything yet (mainly because the other two occupants kept cutting her off), but now they had the gall to scold her for something she hadn’t even done?
Inwardly the Chosen Undead sized her company up again. Neither looked like much of a challenge. She could easily cut them both down without breaking a sweat, and Gwyn knew they certainly wouldn’t be missed by any of the many other monsters and foul beasts that lurked down in this hell hole. Not to mention that one of them had to be a Firekeeper if the bonfire was any indication and she could definitely make use of that to keep her going.
Idly her hand brushed over the hilt of her chaos blade as she dwelt on this, however, her more sensible side pulled it back. She had few enough allies as it was so there was little to be gained by adding to her body count, however cathartic it might be, not to mention neither of the two had attacked her so she really had no justification to antagonize them.
“But don’t neglect the Fair Lady. She needs some company.” The egg heavy body ordered. The Chosen Undead felt her patience was wearing thin but still she kept her hands by her sides. If only these two would just hurry up and tell her what she needed to know then she could be on her way to finding the Witch of Izalith and thus getting out of this infernal pit.
“Oh my dear sister. Do not mind me. It does not hurt…terribly.”
The warrior turned back to the Fair Lady.
“It only hurts…the eggs have gone still…I fear it may be too late…I’m so sorry dear sister.” The spider creature lamented. The Chosen Undead again took in the small, weak movements of her eight legs, and the sickly whisper of her voice. It was getting uncomfortable being mistaken for the same being who’s soul the warrior was currently carrying in her pack (a trophy she’d taken after hacking Quelaag apart till she finally keeled over and died), but if the Fair Lady was hinting at what she appeared to be hinting at…
The undead reached for her pack, pulling out various herbs as well as her estus flask. While she doubted she could do much to mend what was wrong with the spider it couldn't hurt to at least try. She had several items for healing different ailments, and if she could ease the pain this creature was experiencing then hey, that could only work to her favor. The Fair Lady didn’t appear to be wounded so that ruled out estus. An offering of purple moss was turned away so she wasn’t suffering from poison of any kind…
“Blightpus”
The Chosen Undead glanced in Eingyi’s direction.
“Worse than Undead, we are diseased, and unwanted. Like the grime of the Great Swamp that surrounds us.” The egg carrier waxed poetically, causing his guest to hang her head in dismay. Having just forded her way through that very swamp she knew it was home to hundreds of poisonous creatures and toxic plants, meaning that the damn spider before her could be suffering from any number of problems…
“But my dear Fair Lady! She cried for me…and swallowed the great Blightpus to spare my own suffering!” Eingyi sounded terribly grateful, and yet again the Chosen Undead pondered how bad it would really be if she just decapitated him right then and there. So, his damn spider mistress had ingested something from him and it was slowly killing her. Well, that was going to complicate things.
Looking down at her healing items, the warrior realized there was only one thing she had that could possibly remedy the Fair Lady’s ailment. A certain thing that she had been diligently saving up on whenever she’d been lucky enough to find some…primarily because it was the one thing that could not only cure all ills but also keep the last bit of her sanity from breaking. And now she was going to have to hand it over to a blasted arachnid thing just to heal a malady she had inflicted upon herself!
Silently, the Chosen Undead fumed at the decision now presented. She could just let nature take its course…but that’d mean she’d have to go into the ruins ahead without guidance….and again it wasn’t like there were many others clamoring to aid her down here.
With great reluctance, the husk reached into her pack and drew out a small black sprite. To the Fair Lady she held out a fire of pure darkness that would be recognized to most as…
***
“Humanity?” Twilight queried as she sipped her tea. “Did you just say humanity?”
From where he was immersed in another book, Seath nodded softly. “The rarest and most prized treasure Lordran has to offer, second only to the Lord Souls bequeathed to the gods themselves. It is that which fuels Gwyn’s flames. That which can restoreth life to the dead. That which keepeth the minds of the people sound, if only briefly.”
“People…” Twilight pursed her lips. “You mean the pink, hairless creatures that walk about on two feet and don’t have tails?”
Seath broke from his voracious reading to stare ponderously at the pony. “Thou dost know them well?”
“Well…in passing. There’s a local who talks about them at great length and swears they actually exist.” Twilight snorted in amazement. “Wow, so Lyra was right all along….that’s going to make for quite the scene when she finds out.”
Luna rolled her eyes at the thought and tried not to snicker as she signaled for Spike to refill her teacup. After returning from the outside, the talk between the equines and their visitor had continued long into the night. While Twilight’s friends had eventually bowed out to go to their respective homes, and Celestia had finally had to go grab a nap on one of the nearby couches, Luna and the lavender alicorn had remained hanging on Seath’s every word, lost in the awe of the new revelations he’d been talking at length about.
“That aside, what is it that sets humanity apart from other souls? From what you’ve told us, it sounds like souls are the bread and butter of your world. How could anything be more valuable than that?” Luna queried.
Seath let the silence hang as he studied a particularly engrossing passage on the page in front of him. It was a brief introduction to the Time of Darkness, when the very mare seated across from him turned against her sister and brought about an eternal night that finally required her being banished to the moon so that the sun could rise again. Reading it brought forth a number of very unpleasant memories for Seath, reminders that he had once been forced to call a similar terrain home, and was guilty of similar crimes when he betrayed his own kin and made possible their defeat. The only difference between him and Luna seemed to be that while she had been punished for her sins, he’d been hailed a hero and rewarded appropriately. Uneasily he shoved such thoughts from his mind and scribbled a note on one of the many scrolls spread out around him.
“All that souls are, humanity is not. Souls covet the bodies of the living, upon one’s demise they flee for the next nearest vessel that bears the fire of livelihood. Humanity holds no such generosity, and instead must be taken from the one it inhabits.”
The white dragon put the book down and blew into his hands to craft another crystal, this one fashioned in the likeness of a tiny bipedal golem.
“Souls can be captured, contained within a suitable shell such as this. Humanity calls home to no other than the bosom of a mortal. Yay, not even the everlasting dragons with their immortal stone scales could hold even a single human sprite.”
Seath set the effigy down on the table. Positioning a hand above it he began curling and flexing his fingers, akin to how a performer would work the strings of a puppet to make it move. To both Twilight and Luna’s amazement it turned out that was exactly what he was doing! Beams of pure white magic flowed from his fingers into the golem and it began to dance about between the teacups with a life of its own.
“Souls can be manipulated, bonded to weapons to increase their strength, or projected through one’s flesh to craft the many spells that are part of sorcery. Humanity can only be used for the most primal means: to feed the flames, and to recover one’s self from a hollowed state.”
His little party trick done, Seath retracted his magic back from the golem, causing it to return to being a lifeless hunk of crystal. He flicked it off the table and it shattered as it hit the floor.
“Awww, what a waste. That’d have made a nice addition to my collection.” Spike commented as he put the teapot down and ran to retrieve a dustpan and brush. Twilight shared her assistant’s sentiment but decided not to voice her own disdain. Not when Seath was revealing such juicy bits of information she could record and add to her study of magic.
“Well then…I stand corrected. Lyra was right about humans, but she was only scratching the surface in terms of their potential.” The lavender mare grabbed her scroll and resumed jotting down her own notes from the conversation. Luna took a moment to compare the scribbling of quills, noting how Twilight and Seath were almost in synch with their frantic recording of the conversation.
“That does raise another question though: if humanity is needed for these flames, this fire you keep speaking of, how were you able to do the same thing with a crow’s spirit?” The moon princess queried. Seath looked out the window, down at the bonfire blazing silently away outside.
“The Kiln still burns for now, thanks to the sacrifice of Lord Gwyn. A simple catalyst t’was all that was needed to link thine fire with Lordran’s.” Seath dipped his head in remorse. “But even with such heavy quarter given, the flames continue to fade, and once gone, all will be lost. For such calamity to be held at bay, only humanity can do the deed. Many were the years I did labor to find another means, and many were the years that the pox of failure did plague me!”
He slammed his fist on the table, giving Twilight and Luna a jump. The latter glared at this sudden outburst.
“As such now you would prefer to escape the death of your world than continue to try fixing it?” Luna pointedly asked. Seath snarled at the black alicorn.
“Woulds’t thou labor for a millennia, crafting mastery beyond all known art, only to let it all be lost to time simply because of means beyond thine control? Woulds’t thou accept thine own death while those around thee contently live in immortal bliss, simply because thou was cursed by an unlucky toss of the fates?” He demanded while leaning in closer to Luna. Twilight placed both her front hooves on the table, trying to keep herself between the dragon and her fellow princess. She didn’t like putting herself in danger, but she certainly wasn’t about to let a fight break out here in her own castle. The two stared intently at each other, Luna searching for a deeper meaning behind Seath’s anger, while Seath silently expressed his demand that she answer him before he got violent.
“Having never faced either such situation, we cannot truthfully say.” Luna replied, her voice rising in volume to adapt to the old Royal Canterlot form of speech, something she had a habit of reverting to when angry or nervous. “If we have strayed onto a topic of distress for thee, however, we apologize sincerely.”
It was a somewhat weak answer, but also a diplomatic one, and though Luna’s voice was fierce she showed she was not about to attack another while on mutually friendly territory. Seath glowered and punched the table again with dissatisfaction, however he nevertheless drew back upon feeling a second set of eyes boring into him: those of Twilight telling him to calm down and stop throwing a damn tantrum.
“Tis a place of great upset, but know of it thou could not. Again mine wrath at matters that concern thee not blinds me to thine hospitality.” He turned away from the table to stare at the bookshelves, searching for something else to distract his mind. Behind him Luna took a deep breath and likewise quelled her anger.
“We….forgive thee for thine outburst. Such matters are not as foreign to us as one would think.” The moon princess rose and crossed over to the balcony. “Though our nighttime sky has endured even without us, it has never been as appreciated as our sister’s sun. Though we craft each night with our heart and soul, just as thou apparently does with thine own art, our merits remain obscured by the shadow of our dearest kin.”
Seath’s fairy like wings fluttered at this. He thought back to the page he was reading on Luna’s history, suddenly seeing the sense in her actions as Nightmare Moon. He then thought back to Lordran’s Age of the Ancients, back when he had been little more than an outcast, ostracized by other dragons for his lack of scales, his albinism, his misshapen body, pretty much everything about him. Again the correlations between him and these ponies came to the forefront of his mind, speaking of the importance that he investigate, not alienate, while he was here.
“Then thou knowest at least a fraction of the pain that plagues me, equine.” He said while looking at his hands, clenching them as moonlight shimmered across his smooth, vulnerable skin. “Mine own efforts lie buried and neglected in the Duke Archives, and the one means I possessed to extend my life till such time as to deem my work complete is destroyed. Even with this gracious boon thou has granted me, there is still naught but death that waits for me back in Lordran. Yay, I fear such fate will befall me even t’were I to stay here instead.”
Twilight blinked in shock, then shook her head in disbelief. “What? What are you talking about Seath? You just said dragons like yourself were everlasting!”
Seath grumbled and told himself to stay calm. These ponies obviously needed time to process all he’d been telling them, and even if their slow wittedness grated on his few remaining nerves he was still very weak. Indeed without a catalyst to cast the higher tier sorceries there was little he could do besides amuse them with mere parlor tricks. Seath made a mental note to see if he could craft a new tool for himself while he had the time.
“Nay pony, the other dragons of Lordran were everlasting. I, as before, was born an exception to the rule, lacking the stone scales that grant immortality, and with this fetid primordial form as a mockery of mine kin’s majestic visage!” He turned and spread himself out for the ponies to behold, thumping his tentacles against the floor to show his upset.
“So…is that why you don’t look like a normal dragon?”
All eyes turned to Spike who was sweeping the last of the crystal shards off the floor.
“Sorry, I just really wanted to ask…though I didn’t mean it the way it sounded! I…uhhh…I meant….” The little drake grinned nervously. Adjusting his glasses again, Seath glared at his purple counterpart. While he spared some small sympathy for whatever curse had afflicted Spike with his diminutive stature, he otherwise seemed to harbor everything Seath had been so cruelly denied, with his scales, his coloring, his nice, normal anatomy…his damn cheery air, it was positively infuriating!
“I’ll….uh…just be over here, if you need me.” Spike meeped as he scurried back over to his seat.
Grumbling again, Seath closed his eyes and fought against the constant malice gnawing at his mind. His problems were no fault of his gracious hosts, and making them suffer for his own trials would accomplish nothing.
“Thou speaketh the truth, hatchling. I am half-formed, a bare step up from the repulsive serpents that worm through Lordan’s underground. T'is because of thus that mine work will never reach completion, nor will I fare better in resuming it while here.”
He slumped against the bookshelves, melancholy descending in full force upon his spirit. There was so much he could research here, so much he could do to advance this world he’d been landed in. Why did time and frailness always have to be the limiting factors to his pursuits!?
“Well…why can’t we help you with that?”
Seath glanced down at Twilight.
“We just discussed sharing our knowledge with each other, why can’t we do the same to help advance our skills in magic simultaneously?” Twilight demanded. Though her optimism was endearing, Seath shook his head at Twilight’s naivety.
“An art not easily mastered is sorcery. Neither mere faith nor strength of will shall see thee through in thine studies. One must possess intelligence and a seasoned hand for the highest of all magical abilities!” He stated flatly.
Twilight glanced down at her hooves, then up at her horn. Taking a deep breath she pressed forward with her next argument.
“Well why don’t you teach me then? If you are as great as you say you are, I would be honored to be your student!”
Silence held again as Seath now found himself as the one having to catch up. That was a complete 180 from what he’d thought the pony had been inferring, and not something he’d been offered many times before. Those that came to the Duke Archives, back before he’d barred entry to anyone besides his staff, were veteran sorcerers who generally wished to study from the tomes stored there, not learn from the one who had penned them.
“What’s more, much as I hate to dwell on it, I AM going to be around for quite a while, possibly forever. I could see to it that your legacy is remembered here at least!” Twilight said, spreading her wings proudly for Seath’s observance. “Furthermore I also embody the Element of Magic, and earned it studying under Princess Celestia herself...”
The white alicorn snored loudly in the corner. Twilight pretended she didn’t hear it.
“If there is anyone more fit to pass your knowledge onto, it’s me!” She concluded with a flourish. Behind her, Spike looked to Luna and nodded thoughtfully.
“She does make a valid point.” The little drake said.
Luna slowly turned to the white dragon. “Seath?”
The drake flapped his wings restlessly, a whole new sensation wracking his core at the prospect. An immortal? Willing to be his apprentice? The chance to see that if he did not survive in body he could at least do so in legend? Temptation stroked his Lord Soul like the hands of a gentle maiden, reminding Seath that this could go as disastrously wrong as it could go so wonderfully right. It already HAD gone wrong before, but then again he had a fairly good idea of where he had erred.
“Thou speaketh with an air of more than a mere scholar. A personal desire I sense in thine tones.”
Twilight nodded with barely restrained glee. “What you’ve demonstrated, what you’ve said, it opens up whole new fields of study and I really, REALLY want to further study it all! I could write a book, no several books, no, a whole new wing of my library based on your teachings!”
Seath trembled terribly as he again heard that all too familiar sound: the tone of an intellectual hungry for new ventures, and who would faithfully chronicle everything they learned so that thousands more could then make use of it. Though his memory nagged him with warnings of what his own enthusiasm had wrought, the dragon felt himself warm to the idea.
“I see in thee the fire of a true sorcerer…though is thou not already a student of thine fellow princess?”
“Celestia has long since turned Twilight loose to learn on her own initiative. Provided she grants her blessing, it will be no problem for you to become her new mentor.” Luna walked over and gently nudged her sister. Celestia murmured something and then rolled over on the couch, still very much lost in slumber land.
“Sister, dear, you’re needed in the conversation again.”
“N…na moment. I’ll have breakfast in bed….” The white alicorn muttered as she draped a wing over her head to shut out the noise. Luna sighed and nudged her again.
“Tia, come on now, it’s getting close to sunrise!”
The solar princess defiantly remained asleep, as she tended to do during the early months of the year. It was largely why the sun always rose later and set earlier when the weather was cold, and Celestia liked nothing better than to curl up all nice and warm in her bed and hibernate.
“Celestia, please…just give us five minutes and then you can go back to sleep.”
The white alicorn curled herself up into the tightest ball possible for an equine, using her own body to shield her from any attempts to rouse her from her Zzzzz-ing. Seeing that gentle measures were not going to work here, Luna sighed again.
“Excuse me, this won’t take long.” She closed her eyes and lit up her horn. A stream of black, star filled magic flowed out across the gap between her and Celestia, slipping through the feathers of her wing to reach her head. Luna flinched as something seemed to trouble her, then promptly stepped back as if she’d just gotten a major electric shock. Looking down at the slumbering alicorn, she snorted and cocked a very bewildered eyebrow. Concentrating harder she tried not to giggle as Celestia tossed restlessly in her dreams, then suddenly shot up from the sofa like a rocket.
“AAAAGHHh! NO! NO! NO! Ooh Faust, please! Save the whipped creaaaam!!” The white alicorn gasped, before glowering at her snickering sister. “Luna, I thought we agreed you wouldn’t do that right before dawn!”
“Well you weren’t leaving me much choice. No wonder your chambermaids keep three alarm clocks set in your room during this time of the year.” Luna smirked. “Also, just while it’s still fresh in your mind, might I suggest trying Battenburg cake instead of Black Forest for that purpose? It makes far less of a mess.”
Celestia deliberately gave her sibling a wide berth as she trotted over to Seath and Twilight. “What did you need me for?”
“Seath is in need of someone to aid him in his studies. I was wondering if I could volunteer to be his student.” Twilight gave a very wide-eyed stare of want. Celestia glanced to the white dragon who seemed likewise in need of her to say ‘yes’. Momentarily the alicorn turned to her sister again, exchanged a silent message, and then smiled.
“For now I believe it’d be a worthy undertaking. You are by far the best choice out of all ponies to further our research into magic, Twilight.” Celestia said, much to the lavender pony’s pride. “I only ask that you keep me informed of what is exchanged between you two. I expect weekly reports much like when you were relaying what you learned about friendship.”
Twilight nodded quickly. “Of course I will! Oh, this is going to be so great!”
Celestia smiled quietly. “Certainly seems like you both already have your work ethic synchronized…”
Equine and dragon looked around, and both gave an embarrassed snort as they beheld the mess of scrolls they had accumulated, covered in lines upon lines of detailed notes from their conversation.
“That does seem to be the case…” Twilight said while curling a hoof awkwardly behind her head. “But it still doesn’t mean anything though!” She snapped.
From where he’d been quietly eavesdropping on the conversation, Spike nodded slyly.
“Surrrre…” He said while Celestia suppressed a giggle.