Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials

by Blackdrag-rose

Revenge

"It appears that we are at a crossroads," Edric commented, glancing over at Rarity, whose gaze had been on the church building that a certain knight was resting in, though she looked back at him when he started speaking, "either we fight the Old Dragonslayer again, or we head down the path that is in front of us and come back to fight him when we're much stronger than we are now."

"Frankly, I'd love to fight him now, but I know that doing so is a terrible decision," Rarity replied, knowing that a part of her wanted to defeat the Old Dragonslayer and figure out what he was guarding, but the other part of her knew what they should be doing, "Let's move forward and see if we can't find a new location to explore... something tells me that this is all we'll be seeing of Heide's Tower of Flame."

"Honestly, I thought that with these new spells of yours, or charms or whatever their called, you would want to fight that knight again," Edric said, though he smiled as he spoke, indicating that he was pleasantly surprised by her sudden change of mind, regarding the knight anyway.

"We can come back and fight him later," Rarity stated, though at the same time she got up from where she was sitting and looked at the path that was in front of them, the one that they had unlocked after defeating the Dragonrider, "at the very least exploring the area in front of us will give me the chance to experience using a new set of abilities... I'm interested in seeing how powerful these new spells and miracles are."

Edric nodded and stood up as well, to which the two of them walked down the stairs that were on the other side of the walkway they had walked up to reach this bonfire, where they found a small bridge that connected the tower to the building they had been staring at. Once they walked inside the building they found a staircase that lead them deeper into the building, before they followed a short passage that revealed a small area that an ancient knight was standing in, who turned and advanced at them almost immediately. Edric charged forward and forced the knight to turn towards him, though at the same time it gave Rarity the opportunity to test something out... to which Rarity pulled out her chime, held it up for a moment, and watched as a bolt of lightning sprung to life above her hand.

Once the Lightning Spear was above her had, however, Rarity gripped the spear and hurled it at the ancient knight's back, to which she watched as it actually pierced the armor for a moment and caused the knight to stagger for a few seconds, allowing Edric to finish their opponent off. Rarity stood there for a moment, looking down at the chime and the damaged that the spear had caused to their opponent, as she was shocked by what had happened.

"I think I'll save that for when we actually need it," Rarity commented, though at the same time she smiled, because she could already imagine the damage she could do to the Old Dragonslayer and the Pursuer.

Edric nodded and poked his head around the corner that they had been walking towards, until they were spotted by the ancient knight, where he spotted another knight that started advancing on them immediately. Edric waited for the knight to raise his arm, and his large sword, before jumping backwards and allowing their opponent's attack to miss him while Rarity blasted the knight's chest. Rarity restrained herself from using the Lightning Spear against such an opponent, though instead she made sure to use the Great Soul Arrow to deal damage, even though it didn't pack the same punch as the spear did. Together the two of them brought down the knight and wandered into the area that he had been guarding, where they discovered a small cache of items; another soul, one larger than the other souls they had picked up off of random corpses, a halberd, another effigy, and a potion that was labeled 'Dark Troches'... though Rarity suspected that neither of them were even going to touch the potion, unless they knew its effects.

Once they finished searching the small area, and were sure that they had grabbed everything that was available to them, they turned around and returned to the area where they fought the first knight, where they discovered another passage that had some stairs that they could walk down. When they reached the lower level they found another knight standing in their way, though Rarity and Edric used the tactic they developed against the other knights and quickly brought an end to the fight before it really even started. They then walked out into the circular walkway that was in front of them and turned to the left, where they came to a dead end a few seconds later, to which they turned around and headed back towards the other side of the path they could have taken. Rarity spotted another knight standing in their path, to which she allowed Edric to step forward and gather the knight's attention, though she waited for a few more seconds before loosing a pair of arrows into the knight's chest.

With her attack staggering the knight Edric took the opportunity and finished him off, though they found that the knight had been guarding a small passage that brought them to some sort of elevator... to which they stepped onto the platform and lowered themselves into whatever area existed beneath the building they had been walking through. When the elevator stopped at its destination they found a path in front of them, one that had some water resting above the walkway, to which they carefully walked forward and looked out for any enemies that were in the area. They quickly found another ancient knight guarding an opening, which had to be the way forward, to which the duo separated from each other and used their tactic once more. Rarity still found it amazing that their tactic, involving Edric commanding their opponent's attention while she fired spells from afar, was able to topple so many skilled enemies... though something told her that their tactic wouldn't last much longer.

Unfortunately the area that the knight was guarding was a dead end, leading them to explore the rest of the walkway until they found a tunnel in the wall, to which they walked through it and entered a cave... one that had a bonfire resting in it, while at the same time Rarity spotted someone standing near it. Edric smiled for a moment as he approached the bonfire and lit it, filling the area with some light, while at the same time ignoring the lady that Rarity was staring at. Rarity, on the other hand, approached the lady with the intent on figuring out what someone like her was doing here, because she had a weapon and it appeared that she was here for some reason.

"What is it?" the lady asked, though at the same time she lifted her head up, giving Rarity the chance to see that she was wearing some sort of mask over her face, "I don't know you or your companion, and neither of you know me. Things are better that way."

"That reminds me of a friend of mine that said something to that effect," Rarity replied, recalling how Twilight had acted when they first met each other, how she had no interests in being friends with anyone, before she and the others became friends with Twilight, "My name is Rarity, and you are?"

"You are an odd one." the lady commented, though her tone either indicated that she was a little annoyed or a little surprised by what Rarity told her, "Normally, people keep a safe distance when they see this mask. But you… very well, I am called Lucatiel and I hail from the land of Mirrah, to the far east, across the mountains. They say Drangleic brims with powerful souls, and so I came to claim my share. But what a strange place… even the rumors did not prepare me."

"I have to agree with you on that," Rarity said, though at the same time she had no idea what sort of rumors Lucatiel was even talking about, but at the moment she didn't care enough to ask about them, "I, too, was also not prepared for what this land contains."

"You are an odd one, indeed." Lucatiel stated, though while she spoke Rarity had the feeling that the lady was staring at her, no doubt trying to determine what was wrong with her, "I've always made a point of avoiding people while you, on the other hand, have made a point of engaging me. I can see that you and your companion are mid-journey. If you require more assistance, I will help you. I come from Mirrah, a land of knights, so my sword is always ready. Don't hesitate to call upon me. Whatever happens, I won't be missed…"

Rarity nodded and watched as Lucatiel removed herself from the wall she had been leaning on and departed from the cave, using the path that they had walked down not a few moments ago, before she let out a sigh and joined Edric by the bonfire. She was a little depressed over what Lucatiel had said, that if something were to happen to her she wouldn't be missed, and that made her think about how Sweetie Belle was doing after she discovered that she was no longer there. She was sure that there was someone in Mirrah that would miss Lucatiel, if they weren't doing so already, and wondered if there was a way to help the lady out... though she eventually sighed and pushed the thought away, just like she did with all of the other depressing thoughts that were bothering her lately.

"Can't say that I'm surprised to meet someone all the way out here," Edric commented, to which Rarity nodded her head, as they were both a little shocked to have found another ally of sorts hanging out in a cave, before they both picked themselves up, "Well then, let's see what's at the end of the other tunnel."

Together the duo walked over to the other tunnel and followed it for a few seconds, though when they reached the end they discovered a large cave that had been hollowed out, as there was room for a large ship to dock and a large number of buildings that were resting around the entire cave. Rarity could tell that this was some sort of pirates den, if the land of Drangleic even had pirates to begin with, and that this would be the perfect base for such a group, despite the fact that there weren't a lot a lights in the area. There were enough lights for them to see a path they could follow, though at the same time the main lantern seemed to be dark, meaning that there had to be some way to turn it on... to which Edric informed her that they should back away for now and retreat to Majula.

Rarity had no idea what Edric was talking about, but since she didn't know any better she decided to go along with her companion's suggestion and returned to the bonfire... though when they reappeared in their new destination she found that they were above the chamber that the Dragonrider had been standing in.

"What are we doing back here?" Rarity asked, though at the same time she followed Edric down the stairs as they retraced their steps back to the ruined building, while taking out the ancient knight that was guarding the doorway that they had to walk through, "I thought you wanted to go back to Majula."

"And we will... but I decided to make a change to our original plan," Edric said, to which he beckoned his head to the church building, though that was followed by Rarity's eyes widening in surprise, "I don't know if we're strong enough to take out the Pursuer, but we should try our hand at killing the Old Dragonslayer, just so we don't have to come back to this place in the future."

Rarity nodded and followed Edric through the area that they had been fighting through earlier, though this time she conserved her new spells for later, that way she could actually give the Old Dragonrider a Lightning Spear to the face and see how he liked being impaled. That was also another thing that sort of shocked Rarity, the fact that the more time she spent in Drangleic, fighting for her life no less, the more eager she became for fighting someone, though it was a slow and gradual change that she had noticed. Sure, when the Changelings attacked Canterlot she had fought to defend herself and her friends, but the Changelings weren't out to kill them, merely capture them so Queen Chrysalis could take over... though now she was actually fighting for her life and she had, accidentally, awoken some hidden desire to fight.

Part of her wanted to blame Discord, because it was his fault for making her curiosity rise every time he told her a story about the others, while another part of her actually wanted to thank Discord for awakening this side of her... leaving her very confused as to who she should feel towards the Spirit of Disharmony.

Fortunately the duo were able to make their way towards the church without being hurt by the other ancient knights, once more surprising Rarity by the fact that the tactic they had come up with worked like a charm, before they walked up towards the fog door. They stood there for a moment, looking for any signs that would allow them to call upon someone for assistance, namely either Lucille, Saru the White, or Lucatiel... but, sadly, there weren't any signs resting on the ground, which meant that the other Undead had either given up or they had already bested the knight in their own worlds. Once they determined that they would not be getting any assistance from anyone else, and that it was going to be the two of them, they carefully walked through the fog door... where they found the Old Dragonslayer standing where he usually stood, who turned to face them the moment they walked into the church.

This time around, however, neither Edric or Rarity were scared of their opponent, who actually tilted his head to the side for a moment, as if he had been expecting them to quake in fear as he approached them. Once the Old Dragonslayer reached the middle of the church, and crossed half the distance between them, Edric walked forward while Rarity moved to the side, as they were determined to use their earlier tactic to their advantage. Rarity noticed something unusual about this fight and the fights they had been in earlier, the Old Dragonslayer was ignoring her and was going after Edric, leaving her to her own devices. Since the opportunity pretty much landed in her lap, and the knight was choosing to chase her friend and fight him, Rarity pulled out her chime and held it up with her palm facing the ceiling... to which a Lightning Spear phased into existence above her open hand.

Rarity waited for a moment, which happened to be when the Old Dragonslayer swung his spear forward and missed Edric, who happened to dodge by rolling backwards, before she gripped her own spear and hurled it at her target, which struck the old Dragonslayer in the back and caused him to stagger for a moment. When the knight regained himself, however, he turned around and stared in Rarity's direction, indicating that he knew that she was the true threat, but at the same time Rarity grinned as she summoned another spear, which struck the knight in the stomach area. Edric took the opportunity to hack into the knight's back a few times, though before the Old Dragonslayer could attack him, however, he moved out of the way and retreated.

Rarity then used the remaining Lightning Spears that she could use at the moment to stagger the Old Dragonslayer, though as she did so she had to avoid the attacks that came in her direction, where she received a few light cuts, from her opponent's spear and the sharp pieces of rock that erupted whenever he hit the ground. When she loosed the final Lightning Spear, and watched the Old Dragonslayer stagger again, she thought that she was done for and that all of the souls she had gathered since they last fought the knight were going to be wasted... though that was before Edric pierced the knight's chest with his sword, right in the heart if her memory was correct.

As the knight went still Rarity took a seat on the ground, because she had been expecting the knight to finish them off, but she was pretty pleased that they were able to take out the Old Dragonslayer, claim both his soul and an odd ring that he was carrying, and open the way to whatever the knight was guarding. Though while she was happy to claim revenge on this particular knight, however, she knew that she and Edric would need to face the Pursuer again in the future... and put him down as well, before they moved on with their quest.

Comments

[Ze1a7in]

Part of her wanted to blame Discord, because it was his fault for making her curiosity rise every time he told her a story about the others, while another part of her actually wanted to thank Discord for awakening this side of her... leaving her very confused as to who she should feel towards the Spirit of Disharmony.

I can relate to feeling confused towards him, only for me, instead of it being a battle lust it was more "how exactly did Discord's spell affect the mirror portal, and lead to such an awesome story" in Starlight of Solana.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

8575163
He simply removed the anchor to Earth thus the portal sent them to random places instead.

[Midnight Moon]

Sure, when the Changelings attacked Canterlot she had fought to defeat herself and her friends, but the Changelings weren't out to kill them, merely capture them so Queen Chrysalis could take over... though now she was actually fighting for her life and she had, accidentally, awoken some hidden desire to fight.

I think you you meant defend instead of defeat.

[Blackdrag-rose]

8856741 It was supposed to be defend... no idea how it ended up as defeat. Thanks for catching that.