The first thing Rarity and Edric did, after defeating the Belfry Gargoyles and acquiring a key that Rarity swore was important, was return to the bonfire they find found after defeating the second powerful creature that Shalquoir had told them about and teleported back to Majula. There the two of them used the souls they had gathered to empower their bodies, purchase some Lifegems from the vendor they had encountered in the Forest of Fallen Giants, and did what they could to improve Edric's gear. Rarity remembered that Shalquoir had mentioned that another suit of armor rested behind where the Pursuer was hiding, back in the forest, and wondered if they should even consider trying to get the armor... after they take out the Lost Sinner and recover the soul that the Emerald Herald told them to gather.
While they were relaxing for a few minutes, however, Rarity voiced her idea to Edric, as she was curious as to whether he would want to get the armor before fighting the Lost Sinner or rather he would want to wait until they defeated their current target before they went back to the forest and searched for the Pursuer's hiding place.
"I don't think we should bother with the Pursuer and the armor that Shalquoir said that he's guarding," Edric said, though at the same time he crossed his arms and stared at Rarity, who raised an eyebrow at him in return, especially after what had happened when they fought the Lost Sinner for the first time, "If you are right that this key is the item we need to defeat the Lost Sinner, however that is supposed to happen, then we won't need anything else to aid us in defeating our opponent. We should be able to walk into the fighting area, use the key in whatever manner we're supposed to, and then we should be able to win the battle and claim the soul that the Lost Sinner is holding."
Rarity had to resist the urge to tell Edric that his current armor wasn't cutting it at the moment, as part of the reason he had died so quickly during their fight with the Lost Sinner was because his armor was quickly becoming obsolete in the face of their enemies. Sure, she was sure that the armor Shalquoir had told them about was better than what he was wearing, but it would also quickly become obsolete and they would be searching for a new armor set for him to wear and provide him with extra protection. The longer Edric stayed alive the more their enemies would focus on him, meaning that Rarity could move in with her spells and deal additional damage to their foes, but it appeared that he was going to resist her suggestions until they defeated the Lost Sinner.
For a moment she wondered what she had done to be paired with someone that was so resistant to her suggestions, but then she remembered that it was because of her desire to see other worlds that had brought this terrible fate upon her, to which she mentally sighed and focused on her companion.
"Very well then, we won't hunt down the Pursuer." Rarity replied, though at the same time she was thankful for that, because while she had gained the desire to do battle with their enemies she still wasn't looking forward to the eventual final confrontation with the one knight she hated, "Shall we return to the bonfire and see what this key goes to?"
Edric nodded and together the two of the returned to the bonfire that was sitting near where the Emerald Herald was sitting and knelt before the flames, to which they both focused their minds and selected the area that rested near the location of the elevator that would take them to the Lost Sinner. Not a few seconds later they disappeared from Majula and reappeared in the Lost Bastille, to which they turned their attention back to the reborn archers that rested near the bonfire and removed the hollowed archers. Once they were done with that Edric climbed down the ladder while Rarity made sure that no one tried to attack him from behind, though the coast was clear when he reached the bottom and she quickly followed him down to the area above where the elevator was resting. They then quickly made their way towards the elevator and climbed onto it, where they silently rode the contraption down to the area that the aberrations were guarding... though this time around they already knew how to defeat their opponents.
Edric taunted one of the aberrations into abandoning the others and caused it to come after them, where he and Rarity unleashed their various skills against their opponent and defeated it in a manner of seconds, though once that was done they repeated the process on the second and third aberration. Once the aberrations were defeated, and the area was cleared of enemies once the zombies swiftly followed them, Rarity and Edric walked over the walkway in front of them and made their way towards the Lost Sinner's prison. When they reached the entrance of the Lost Sinner's prison the two of them stopped and Rarity pulled out the key they had acquired, to which she looked around the area for a spot for them to use it in... where she spotted two doors on either side of the entrance of the Lost Sinner's prison.
"See someplace to use that key?" Edric asked, as he had seen that look in Rarity's eyes before and knew that she must have figured something out, though at the same time he didn't see anything.
"Maybe," Rarity replied, to which she turned to the left and walked up the curved walkway that was in front of her, though when she reached the door she slipped the key inside the lock and turned it, where she smiled as the door opened in front of her eyes.
In front of her rested some sort of scone or wall ornament, one that looked like it contained oil, to which she walked back to where her companion was standing and asked if their torch was still lit, which was something that she expected him to say no to once he pulled it out. Oddly enough she discovered that the torch was still on fire, though it appeared that it only activated when Edric was using it and went out when he put it back inside his pouch, to which he handed it over to Rarity. With the torch in hand Rarity returned to the container she had discovered and gently held the torch near it, where the oil ignited and filled the entire small passage with flames, though instead of returning to Edric she headed towards the other door and ignited the other container.
When she returned to Edric she handed him the torch and watched as the flame went out as he stored it inside his bag, though she shook her head and decided that it wasn't worth the time to consider how such a thing was possible... to which the two of them turned towards the fog door and walked into the Lost Sinner's prison. What Rarity noticed, the moment they walked into the prison, was that there were two large braziers near the ceiling of the prison, lighting up the entire area and getting rid of the shadows that the Lost Sinner had used to kill them earlier. The Lost Sinner turned towards them and stared at them as she raised her two handed sword, though this time around they could see her movements and separated from each other, forcing their opponent to pick who she wanted to face first.
Rarity was banking on the Lost Sinner picking Edric, as that appeared to be what all of the other powerful creatures wanted to do the moment they started a fight, and was relieved to see the Lost Sinner following the pattern that she had established in her mind. Instead of using her Lightning Spear, as she was growing tired of finding enemies that were weak to lightning, Rarity focused on some of the other spells she had learned so far and started casting Soul Arrows, both the smaller ones and the larger ones, while making sure that nothing she did caused the Lost Sinner to turn her attention towards her. The last thing she wanted was for a large weapon to find its home in her chest, as she was growing tired of her enemies killing her by stabbing her with large two handed swords, which was another reason why she kept her distance from the Lost Sinner... just in case the undead creature targeted her next.
Thanks to the cuffs that the Lost Sinner was wearing, no doubt put there by whoever had imprisoned her in this cell, Edric was able to dodge the majority of his opponent's attacks, because now that he could see them coming he could actually react and avoid them to the best of his ability. Of course there were instances where the Lost Sinner was slightly faster than him and he would still get a light gash on his body where the sword cut into him, but for the most part he was able to avoid the attacks and take less damage. Despite the fact that Rarity wasn't using the Lightning Spear, which was likely one of her highest damaging spells in her limited arsenal, Edric saw her pulled out the Soul Spear Barrage when she got close to the Lost Sinner for a few seconds, forcing her opponent to take all of the spears to her back before she retreated to the other side of the chamber.
At one point the Lost Sinner grew annoyed with Edric and changed targets, as she decided to go after Rarity next, to which Rarity gulped and hoped that all the damage they could do would cause the Lost Sinner to fall to the ground before she was harmed in some way. As the Lost Sinner swung her two handed sword at Rarity, with the express purpose of taking her head clean off, Rarity steeled herself and unsheathed her sword, to which she raised it up and tried to block the attack with her own weapon. The resulting shock of her weapon meeting the Lost Sinner's weapon caused a crack to appear in the blade of her sword, while at the same time the force of her swing knocked Rarity back a few steps.. but that was when Rarity decided to change her mind and threw a Lightning Spear into the Lost Sinner's chest.
This time around Rarity knew that their opponent wasn't weak to lightning, as the Lost Sinner stared at her for a few seconds while taking stock of the wounds that were scattered across her body, before she dropped her two handed sword and collapsed on the ground... to which Rarity sighed as a soul, larger than the ones they had acquired from the other powerful creatures, escaped the Lost Sinner's body and surged though her body before settling inside Edric's body.
"That... that was a Great Soul!" Rarity exclaimed, understanding what they had just done, to which the two of them smiled as they realized what had happened, "Edric, we're one step closer to our goal!"
"Indeed," Edric agreed, though the happy expression on his face indicated that he was very pleased with what they had done, while at the same time he glanced at Rarity's sword, "though we may want to repair your sword before we start the search for the other three Great Souls."
"Edric, who cares about my sword?" Rarity asked, though at the same time she couldn't be upset, as she was too happy about what they were able to accomplish, to which she noticed the door the Lost Sinner had been standing in front of when they first arrived was now open, "Come on, let's see what else the Lost Sinner was guarding."
As they walked down the stairs that were behind the previously shut door, and left behind the chamber that the Lost Sinner had been locked away inside, they paused only once as they spotted an iron chest to their left, to which they pulled the lid up and found two items inside, a branch of some kind and a mushroom. Rarity had to admit that the two items definitely weren't worth the effort to fight the Lost Sinner, but she was willing to overlook that disappointment as she took some joy in the fact that they had succeeded in acquiring one of the four Great Souls. They then walked into the chamber ahead of them and spotted a bonfire in the middle of the large square area, though this one was snapped in half and Rarity suspected that it would provide a one way trip back to Majula.
Together the two of them lit the bonfire and focused their minds, to which they returned to Majula with a look of joy in their eyes, as they were one step closer to completing their quest... though they had absolutely no idea where to go next so they could find the remaining three Great Souls. Rarity, on the other hand, knew that Shalquoir would be willing to point them in the right direction, though they could talk with her once they finished resting after what they had just been through in the Lost Bastille.
One step closer to Aldia, and the shocking truth about Gwyn and the linking of the Fire.