Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials

by Blackdrag-rose

Choosing a New Path

Rarity moaned for a few seconds as she forced her eyes open, though at the same time she felt an intense wave of pain course through her body at the same time, reminding her that the last fight she had been in was against the Pursuer, which brought up her anger for the warrior. When she actually managed to open her eyes, however, she found that she was sitting in the area that they had fought the Pursuer, or more like resting against one of the ruined walls, while at the same time noticing that Edric was no where in sight. The last thing she remembered was being stabbed in the chest, though as she looked down at her body she noticed that there weren't any wounds on her arms, legs, or even her chest, making her wonder what the heck had happened. Since they were where the Pursuer had been waiting for them she assumed that Edric had killed their foe while being struck down at the same time, but without the sphere of souls floating in the area she knew that her companion hadn't died... which made her wonder what she was missing.

She was also sure that the Pursuer had killed her, but she didn't feel any worse than she had when the Lost Sinner had struck her down, so she really had to wonder what had happened and why she couldn't remember anything passed being stabbed in the chest... and she hoped that Edric could tell her what she was missing, when he got back anyway.

"Rarity?" a voice said, to which Edric appeared to the left of where she was resting, though he knelt beside her and made sure that she could see him, "I'm glad to see that you're alright, especially after what happened to you."

"I'm happy to still be alive, but I'm not sure what happened," Rarity replied, though at the same time she moaned one more time, as part of her body still ached, but she knew that she could continue their quest, after she figured something important out anyway, "Can you tell me what happened? Because I'm afraid that I don't remember what happened after I got stabbed in the chest."

"I'm shocked that you don't remember what happened, but I'll explain what I can." Edric said, to which he sighed as he recalled what he had seen, before he stared Rarity in her eyes, "After you got stabbed, and the Pursuer dropped you on the ground, I thought I was done for and that we had messed up by coming after him again. Before he could reach me, however, some sort of dark mist surrounded your head for a few seconds before you got up, where I noticed that your eye color had changed and the strange mist was emitting from you eyes. You then shouted something about being tired with the Pursuer and slammed your hand against the floor, where a crystal spire of some sort pierced the Pursuer and killed him a few seconds later."

"Dark mist?" Rarity asked, because if that was what she thought it was, from Twilight's descriptions of Dark Magic, then she had something to worry about, especially after what happened to the first pony that used the magic.

"Yeah, there was this strange purple mist emitting from your eyes," Edric explained, to which he shuddered for a moment, as what he had seen had struck some fear into him, something that he wasn't used to feeling, "though your eyes took on this crimson red color, with a deeper red colored center, while your sclera turned this eerie green color. I have no idea what happened to you, but it was more than enough to take out the Pursuer and end the feud that the two of you were apparently having with each other... and I found the armor set that Shalquoir told us to collect."

Rarity was pleased that they had found the area, as it would allow Edric to survive even longer when they continued their quest, though at the same time she was shocked by what he had told her, because she almost refused to believe that such a thing was possible. She had no idea how she could have any sort of access to Dark Magic, the realm of King Sombra, and the only other pony that knew about it was Twilight, who refused to teach anyone about that type of magic, even though she had only used it a few times to save the Crystal Empire. The only thing that made sense was that her anger and hatred for the Pursuer had undone something inside her, allowing her to awaken some sort of power that had been sleeping inside her... much like how Twilight and Discord described what had happened to Sunset.

If she choose to believe what Discord had told her, about all of the displaced ponies gaining new and extraordinary powers during their travels, and even ascending to new heights, then it was possible that such a thing was possible... but that made her wonder what sort of power she was supposed to be have, as Dark Magic was something she could have done without.

Rarity glanced to the left of where she was sitting, where she noticed the large crystal spire that Edric had mentioned and spotted the corpse of the Pursuer, though while she knew that she should be feeling sorry for killing him in such a way she had to admit that she felt nothing for the warrior. She sighed as she pushed herself back into a standing position, where she swayed for a few seconds, but she was pleased to announce that she was just fine and that nothing had been permanently damaged from what happened to her. One thing she knew was that Edric would be wondering what sort of power she was using, though at the same time she figured that Shalquoir would be interested in that information as well, so she decided to tell them both instead of saying it twice.

Once she was back on her hooves, however, she and Edric retraced their steps to the closest bonfire, the same one they used to get to the ruins, before they carefully teleported themselves back to Majula and left the ruins behind... though once they arrived at their destination they found Shalquoir waiting for them, to which they followed her back to her shop and waited for her to sit down on the table.

"Your new power... what is it?" Shalquoir asked, though while she could easily ask the statue behind her what this power was, as it served as a direct contact to the creature that appeared around the shop every now and then, she liked getting the information straight from the source.

"Dark Magic," Rarity replied, to which she sighed as Edric turned towards her, though she noticed that Shalquoir raised an eyebrow at the same time, "On my home world this type of magic isn't one that is commonly used, much less even known about to most ponies, and only a select few even know how to harness the dark power. I don't know if I've always had access to Dark Magic or if this connection was forged during the battle with the Pursuer, but it appears that my hatred for the warrior allowed me to push myself and I gained a new power in the process. The change in my eyes are one of the effects of using that type of magic... and they should return to normal at some point in the future."

"Well, we should focus on finding the next Great Soul and its Guardian," Edric said, though at the same time he let out a sigh, because he had no idea what this new type of magic was going to do to their quest, "and maybe your eyes will change back to normal before we find said Guardian."

"If you head back the way you came, when you left the Fire Keepers, you'll find another passage in the rock wall," Shalquoir commented, causing the two to turn back towards her for a moment, reminding them that she knew more about this world than either of them did, "That will allow you to start your journey for the second Great Soul, provided you have the strength to repeat what happened with the Lost Sinner and the creatures that were protecting her."

Edric nodded and immediately walked out of the shop that they had been standing in, indicating that he was eager to get the next leg of their journey started, to which Rarity sighed, said farewell to Shalquoir, and followed after her companion before he got too far ahead of her. Together the two of them headed up the slope they had walked down when they had first emerged from the area that the Fire Keepers had been resting in, and where they learned the basic moves that Edric used. It didn't take them long to find the hole in the wall that their friend had mentioned, though the moment they laid eyes on it before Edric and Rarity pulled out their weapons and carefully walked forward, because there was no telling what sort of enemies were waiting for them this time around.

It didn't take them long to find a small stone walls, which looked like they had once belonged to some sort of fortress or building that had been forgotten about, though they did find a passage they could use and climbed out of the slightly covered area, where they found a ruined fortress in front of them... and there was a warrior sitting on the ground to the left of the walkway.

"Have you business with me?" the warrior asked, revealing that the person was male, though at the same time Rarity noticed that he was resting a large two handed sword over his lap, one that was light blue colored, before he beckoned to the building they had been heading towards, "The way yonder's all blocked up you see, by this god-awful statue. Heavens above, who thought it was a good idea to put it there!"

Rarity and Edric shared a glance for a few seconds before they walked into the building that was in front of them, though when they approached the statue in question, which happened to be holding onto a switch that was likely what they needed to use in order to move forward, they spotted something odd. The statue almost looked like it had been a living person at some point in time, something that Rarity knew about thanks to the cockatrice that Fluttershy had told her about, which had tried turning her to stone until she forced it back with her Stare. She had no idea what sort of creature in this world could do such a thing, but it was highly likely that such a creature existed nearby and that they had to be careful... and she already knew what they could use that Fragrant Branch of Yore on.

After a few seconds she and Edric turned around and headed back to the warrior, as she was curious as to whether that was all he had to say about the situation or if there was more he could tell them, something that Edric clearly agreed with since he was walking beside her.

"See that statue?" the warrior inquired, to which Rarity and Edric nodded their heads, as they had gotten a decent look at it and had an idea to get rid of it, and potentially save whoever was frozen in such a state, "Gives me the willies. Stare at it for long enough, it starts to look alive. Ach, it just does nae seem quite right. There are no craftsmen round these parts. Hey, the two of you don't think that a real-life person was turned to stone, do you?"

"Its quite possible that something like that happened," Rarity commented, to which Edric turned towards her and raised an eyebrow, while at the same time noticing that the man in front of them did the same thing, "Where I'm from there are creatures that are capable of turning people to stone with a glare, so it isn't hard to say that something like that might have happened to the poor dear whose statue bars our path... if that is a person and not a really talented artist showing off their skill in an unusual manner."

"Let's investigate it a little more and see what the verdict is," Edric said, to which Rarity nodded and left the slightly confused warrior behind, though that was followed by him pulling out the branch they had picked up after defeating the Lost Sinner earlier.

When they entered the building again they noticed two doors, one on the left and right of where they were standing, that led to two small rooms that had one hollow, each carrying a log or branch of some kind, wandering around aimlessly while ignoring the door. Edric, deciding that they might as well prevent their backs from being attacked, opened one door and jumped backwards, avoiding the attack that was coming his way, while at the same time giving Rarity an opportunity to blast them with an Emit Force blast. In no time the two of them had dealt with the two hollows, allowing them to approach the statue once more, though when they arrived Edric pulled out the Fragrant Branch of Yore and held it before the statue... which caused the unfortunate lady to unfreeze, turning her back to what she had looked like before she had been frozen, and forced her backwards.

Edric, thinking fast, caught her before she could hit the other wall behind where the lever was resting, though at the same time Rarity looked around to be sure that nothing dangerous reared its ugly head while they were dealing with the now unfrozen lady.

"Th-th…Thank…thank you…" the lady said, though she had to cough for a few moments, something that Rarity had been expecting due to the fact that she had been petrified for some amount of time, "I've been… petrified… hard to… speak… Oww… Give me…a moment, please!"

"Take your time," Edric replied, though at the same time he had Rarity made sure that there weren't any other creatures waiting around the area, because they only had one branch and they had used it up, so if something happened to them or the lady they would be stuck until they found another Fragrant Branch of Yore.

"I'm fine, I think. Hrgg!" the lady stated, to which she coughed for a few more seconds, indicating that she was still damaged from her ordeal, though at least she was alright, "No no no, I'm fine! Really, I am! Um, my name is Rosabeth.
Thank you so much for rescuing me."

"My name is Rarity, and this is my companion Edric," Rarity spoke up, though while the lady was surprised by her appearance, much like everyone they had encountered so far, she said nothing about her being part pony, "Its a pleasure to meet you Rosabeth. Is there anything you can tell us about yourself?"

"Well, I'm quite a hand at pyromancy." Rosabeth replied, though at the same time she rubbed the back of her head before she pulled a stone of some kind out of one of her pockets, to which she handed it over to Rarity, "So, perhaps… You could consider this my thanks? I was also attacked, and turned to stone… I think… I owe you two my life! If the two of you had not come…"

"Your clothing is ripped and tattered," Rarity said, to which she let out a sigh as she grabbed onto Rosabeth's arm, before she started pulling her in the direction of Majula, "Edric, we are returning to Majula and finding some materials to make her a better dress or robe, something that's better than the rags that she's wearing. Then, once she's properly equipped, we'll return and continue our quest."

Edric had absolutely no idea what was going on with Rarity anymore, what with the Dark Magic and the sudden desire to make a dress for someone they had just encountered, but he sighed and followed after his companion... while at the same time hoping that this didn't take too much time out of their day so they could continue their quest to find the second of the four Great Souls.

Comments

[Ze1a7in]

Ah Rarity. Even stranded in the most unforgiving of worlds, in a body shape not your original, and being undead with access to Dark Magic, you are still your generous self. Making dresses for complete strangers merely because their current outfit looks like little more than tattered rags.

[Real_Atomsk]

8638581
Actual peak Rarity right here