Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials

by Blackdrag-rose

The Lost Bastille

It took some time for the ghost ship to arrive at its destination, the mysterious fortress that Rarity and Edric had been staring at since they had departed from No-man's Wharf, though when it did they simply walked onto the small dock in front of them and looked up at the stone walls that were above them. It appeared that the only way forward was to head into the castle passage that was resting in front of where the dock ended, as there was no way for them to scale the cliffs that were above them, not that Rarity thought that they could climb the cliffs to begin with. One thing she would have expected to see was some guards patrolling the front of the entrance, though she didn't see anyone guarding the entrance and that made her extremely worried.

"Edric, keep your guard up," Rarity commented, though at the same time she tapped her staff on the wooden dock for a moment, while also making sure that she would be ready to fire a spell if someone showed up to fight them, "No one is guarding the entrance in front of us... which tells me that we might be walking into a trap of some kind."

"If you say so," Edric replied, though while he trusted Rarity's judgement he suspected that she might be a little too paranoid about where enemies were located, but he did hold his weapon out in the off chance that she was right.

Together the two of them carefully walked down the rest of the dock and approached the entrance they had spotted, watching for enemies as they made their way towards their target, though once they passed through the entrance they noticed a large metal cage resting in the middle of the chamber they had found. The two of them looked around the rest of the area they were in, finding that there was a lever that likely called the cage down to this level if it wasn't here when they arrived. Since there wasn't anything else in the area they carefully climbed into the cage and pressed the pressure plate that was in the middle of the cage, which closed the door behind them and started lifting into the air, meaning that the mechanics were still operational.

They eventually came to a stop after a few minutes, in an area that had what appeared to be some cells, though when the door opened they discovered a corpse in one cell that was holding another soul and a Lifegem. Once they had collected those items Rarity spotted the way out and beckoned for Edric to join her, though as they walked out of the small area they had rode up to she discovered that they were in a hallway with several more cells lining each side of the walls. What shocked her was that the people who had been condemned to live in those cells appeared to have been charred, as if something had burned them while they were in a varying degree of poses... and she was slightly horrified that someone would willingly do this to the inmates that called this place home.

After a few moments of walking up the stairs in front of them, and Rarity doing her best to ignore the cells that were around them, before they walked out of the passage and discovered a walkway that belonged to some sort of castle or fortress. One thing that Rarity discovered was that the immediate wall on their right was slightly broken, as there wasn't anything to prevent one of them from falling off and either hitting the ground or hitting sharp rocks that were resting under the water. They followed the pathway in front of them until they found another Heide Knight, who seemed out of place like the one the two of them had encountered in the forest earlier in their journey, though this one also ignored them and allowed the duo to do whatever they wanted... to which they spotted a ladder that would take them into the fortress and decided to take a chance.

Rarity remained on the level where the Heide Knight was resting, so she could have a better vantage point of what might be resting at the bottom of the stairs, while Edric carefully climbed down to the lower level, though once he was finished climbing she followed after him. When she joined him at the bottom, however, an undead dog walked into the small area they were in an growled at them, though as it started to leap at them Rarity switched to her chime and emitted a force from her body that knocked the dog backwards. The beast staggered for a moment before Edric charged out and cut it down, though once that deed was done he turned back to find that Rarity was okay, to which he smiled at her quick thinking in using whatever spell she had used to push the dog backwards.

"So that's what the Force spell does," Rarity commented, looking at her chime for a few seconds before switching her gaze to the body of the undead dog, which was starting to disappear like most of the enemies she and Edric had fought so far, "Interesting... I'll have to remember that spell in case this ever happens again."

"Its always nice to have some knowledge on what a spell does," Edric said, knowing that Rarity would be on the lookout for any additional spells that she could add to her growing arsenal, because he was sure that they would be needing a fair number of them by the time they found one of the four Great Souls.

Rarity nodded and together they followed the path that was on their left, as it appeared to be the only way to go, though after a few steps they had to take care of another undead dog that came charging at them. As Edric dealt with that foe, which was easy to kill as he down it with one swing of his sword, Rarity spotted another dog standing in front of a gate they needed to pass through. Instead of getting close, however, she lifted her chime up and gathered the same force she had used to knock the first undead dog backwards, though this time she cast it out as a blast of energy that knocked her target into the gate. That allowed Edric to walk forward and put the poor cursed dog out of its misery, though once they had regrouped they found that the key to opening the gate was literally to their right... to which they prepared themselves in case something attacked them from behind.

They were right to be prepared for an attack, as a large warrior walked up behind them and tried to hit them with his large weapon, though Edric gladly took the fight to him as Rarity focused on the pair of undead dogs that had been waiting on the other side of the gate. Fortunately the warrior was rather easy for Edric to take down, as it took him a few swings of his sword and dodging a few attacks before his opponent rested against the floor, to which he turned around and watched as Rarity blasted another dog into the wall with her Emit Force spell, the same one they had picked up in No-man's Wharf. He was amused that she could wield the power as accurately as she could, because when they first met he thought that she looked like someone that didn't trust their own skills with magic... and yet here she was, using her powers to great effect against common enemies and powerful creatures.

He was also sure that there was something inside Rarity that he hadn't seen yet, something that was begging for release, but he had absolutely no idea if Rarity even knew about it and, if she did, had no idea when she was going to release that power... but he simply shelved the thought and followed after his companion.

As the two of them turned the corner they found that the wall on their left had a decent sized crack in it, meaning that it might be breakable if they applied the necessary catalyst to the wall, at the same time noticing a door in front of them, one that happened to be locked from their side. On their right rested some stairs that would take them to a higher point of the fortress, though at the top of the stairs stood another warrior, one that hadn't noticed their presence yet and Rarity intended on keeping it that way. When they both stepped onto the stairs, however, the warrior snapped his head around and kicked the small barrel that was in front of him, sending it down to where the duo was standing. Rarity, knowing that the barrel had to be filled with something dangerous, pulled Edric back behind towards the gate and let the barrel pass by where they were hiding... to which it struck the cracked wall and blew an opening into it.

With the barrel out of the way the duo emerged from their hiding spot and charged up the stairs once more, though this time Edric went on the defense as Rarity loosed a few Soul Arrows at their target, bringing it down before it could actually do anything to them. When they looked back at the hole they had made, however, they discovered that a bonfire had been hidden by the wall and that whoever had built this place wanted to make it difficult for someone to find that one without having access to explosives. The two of them smiled at each other as they walked back down to where the bonfire was located, to which they paused for a quick rest before they teleported back to Majula, as they had some souls to spend and some information to get from Shalquoir.

---

When they got back to Majula a few seconds later, once again amazing Rarity by how quickly she and Edric could move thanks to those bonfires, Edric approached the Emerald Herald and went about empowering his body, though partway through the process he stopped and headed over to the blacksmith. Before Rarity could ask him what he was doing he simply said that he wanted to ask the man about those stones they had found and what they were useful for, which only made her wonder why they didn't just ask Shalquoir the question since they were heading her way anyway. The cat seemed to know the answer to every question they could possibly ask her, which meant that she was incredibly useful to their mission... while at the same time making Rarity wonder why none of the Undead that were questing in the other worlds bothered to talk to her.

Now that she thought about it she knew that Shalquoir had seemed a little sad when she made the comment that no one liked to talk with her, save for the Emerald Herald, but she was sure that her visits were improving her mood and was making her forget about the other Undead that shunned her.

Once Edric was finished with the blacksmith he told Rarity that the Titanite Shards they had come across, the small one and the large one, were actually useful for upgrading weapons and armor, meaning that it would be in their best interest to collect them so Edric's armor and weapons were in good condition every time they got into a fight. She thought about it for a moment and agreed with him, that securing more of these strange Titanite Shards would be useful for the enemies they encountered in the future. After that they turned towards the large hole that was in the middle of Majula and headed towards Shalquoir's shop, where this time they found the cat resting on the middle of the table, though once again the sounds of Rarity's hooves woke Shalquoir up... to which they waited until she was sitting in front of them, just like all the other times they had been here.

One thing Rarity noticed, before they even spoke a word to the cat, was that there was something new in the shop, and that something happened to be a miniature stature of Discord, in his 'singing' pose that was entirely carved out of a single piece of stone... and that its open mouth seemed to be pointed in her direction.

"It is good to see that the two of you are alright," Shalquoir said, nodding her head to the pair in turn, who repeated the gesture so they didn't upset her, especially since Rarity had no idea what sort of power the cat actually possessed, "So, what items do you have for me to look at today?"

"Just these," Edric replied, pulling out the ring that they had acquired back in No-man's Wharf and set it on the table, while at the same time gently removing the soul he had taken from the strange creature they had fought aboard the ghost ship, before setting it down as well.

"Most interesting," Shalquoir commented, looking at the ring for a few seconds, showing that she definitely had an great deal of knowledge when it came to the various rings that existed in this world, before she turned her gaze towards the duo, "this is a Royal Soldier's Ring. These rings were granted to warriors who distinguished themselves in the service of King Vendrick, who favored simple warriors that staked their every battle on strength alone. These rings are supposed to allow the wearer to carry more without suffering some serious side effects, such as a loss of stamina, having a shorter distance to roll than normal, and losing quite a bit of speed. Most of these rings were either taken by the King or were destroyed in some manner, but I know that there are at least three of them in existence... and this is one of them, despite it possessing the lowest amount of power between the three rings."

"Still, its better than nothing," Rarity said, though at the same time she was sure that Edric could definitely use the ring, if only to prevent him from experiencing the side effects of having too much loot on him, before she turned towards the soul, "What about this soul?"

"This would be the soul of the creature that's known as the Flexile Sentry," Shalquoir replied, though as she spoke Rarity could have sworn that she heard something interesting in the cat's voice, something that made her think that they might be close to one of their targets, "According to what I know this creature was a merciless creature whose purpose was to punish the Undead that were being ferried over to the Lost Bastille... which means that you two have discovered that location and found a bonfire to travel back here."

"That's good to hear," Rarity said, to which she connected the fortress to the name she and Edric had just been told, before something else came to mind, "What's so special about that place? You seem rather happy that we uncovered its location and can go back there."

"Because it means that you are close to finding one of the four guardians," Shalquoir answered, though that not only brought a smile to her face, but also to the faces of Rarity and Edric, "the Lost Sinner to be exact. All you need to do is challenge and beat two more powerful creatures, the Ruin Sentinels and the Belfry Gargoyles, before you can reach the Sinner's Rise. Once you have beaten those two creatures, and defeated the guardian, you'll both be one step closer to completing your quest."

Rarity was happy, because they were so close to finding one of the four Great Souls they needed to complete the quest that the Emerald Herald and all that stood in their way were two creatures and the guardian. She was sure that they could pull this off, especially with their skills in overcoming the other enemies, but they also needed to be careful before their overconfidence caused their downfall. Besides, that statue of Discord, something that she recognized and Edric didn't, informed her that the Spirit of Chaos had to have come to this planet at some point in time, to which she reflected to be mindful of who was around her in case he came looking for her.

She intended giving Discord a piece of her mind once she returned to Equus... provided she managed to stay alive that long and complete the mission she and Edric were on.

Comments

[Ze1a7in]

One thing Rarity noticed, before they even spoke a word to the cat, was that there was something new in the shop, and that something happened to be a miniature stature of Discord, in his 'singing' pose that was entirely carved out of a single piece of stone... and that its open mouth seemed to be pointed in her direction.

God dammit Discord. I don't know why I am surprised at your lack of subtlety.

[Blackdrag-rose]

8599376 Discord had to make a small appearance in this story, just because he's appeared for a tiny bit in all the other crossovers.

[Ze1a7in]

8599398
His appearance at the end of the first arc in Starlight of Solana was the funniest, by far. And has he had a cameo in Daughters yet?

[Blackdrag-rose]

8599469 He slipped into the statue that Buu made of him, that's why it was following Gale around... and I'm actually going to get into that aspect when the next chapter of Rainbow and Applejack's story hits.

[Ze1a7in]

8599511
I forgot Buu made that statue! Evil Buu just overshadowed it.