Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials

by Blackdrag-rose

Heide's Tower

Rarity and Edric sat around the bonfire for a few more minutes, to relax from their travels and take stock of the weapons and armor they had at the moment, where Rarity noticed that her companion was a little upset over not having something better to protect himself with. Rarity, being the magic user, was perfectly fine with what she was wearing, especially since this appeared to be the best robe she could get at the moment, along with the fact that she didn't have any of the tools she usually used to make new dresses. What she was concerned about was the fact that she actually couldn't cast the Heal spell she had picked up from Melentia, which made her wonder where she could find one of those chimes that would allow her to actually cast the spell.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that Edric was getting up and was preparing to move once more, though when she made the effort to get back on her hooves, however, he motioned for her to remain sitting.

"There's something nearby I want to check out before we venture into Heide's Tower of Flame," Edric said, though he did beckon up the hill that they had walked down when they first entered Majula, to which Rarity knew that he wouldn't be gone long, "I'll be back in a few minutes, and then we can see what surprise Shalquoir was talking about."

Rarity nodded and watched as her companion walked over to the base of the hill they had walked down and retraced their footsteps until he disappeared from her sight, leaving her alone with the Emerald Herald, who actually seemed a little interested in what Edric was talking about. Rarity then stared in the direction that Edric had done in and swore that she saw him jumping off the edge of the cliff, causing her to worry that she would have to do the rest of the quest on her own. A few more moments passed before she spotted Edric's armored head poke up near the tunnel they took to reach the forest they had been in about twenty minutes ago... though it appeared that he might have found something to make the trip worth it.

When Edric returned to the bonfire, however, he had three new items to show her; a set of binoculars, a mace that could be used with one hand, and a golden item that seemed like a rod of some kind with several pieces branching out from one of the ends of it.

"I found a chime for you to use," Edric commented, beckoning to the golden object for a few seconds, to which Rarity gently took the item and looked over it for a few seconds, "I honestly have no idea how you're supposed to use it, but at least how you have the item necessary to use that Heal spell you picked up earlier."

Rarity stared at the item as Edric inspected the mace and the binoculars, no doubt making sure that they were in working condition and that he hadn't wasted his time, but from what she could tell he was more pleased with finding something that allowed her to use the healing spell. From what she could tell all she had to do was channel the power of the spell into the chime and then release the power, though according to the page she had purchased from Melentia she would also have to get in a kneeling position to make the spell work. She decided that she would determine figure out how to use the spell in the future, no doubt when they actually needed the spell, though she stopped focusing on the chime as Edric picked up the other items and started walking away from the bonfire.

Since it became clear that they were done resting Rarity pulled herself back onto her hooves and followed after her companion, to which they headed in the direction of Shalquoir's shop and spotted the opening in the rock wall that she had been told about, one that looked similar to the opening they had walked through to head towards the forest. They walked down the stairs that they discovered on the other side of the opening, though as they walked downwards both Rarity and Edric kept their weapons at the ready. They had no idea where their enemies were located, or if there were any this close to Majula, but that didn't stop them from being cautious... though at the bottom of the stairs they discovered a contraption that didn't work, which meant that they had to follow the path of their right and ignore the path that was on their left.

They followed the path they had chosen and walked down the staircase that they had discovered, though after some time they stopped beside a metal chest, where they discovered another shield inside the chest, though once they had it in their possession they continued down the path once more. They came to another stop when they reached the end of the path, where they discovered an area that had water on the lowest part of the ground and a gate blocking their way, which meant that there had to be a lever of some kind around them. Of course when Rarity thought about the switch that was needed for the gate she immediately spotted one of the wall in front of them, to which she walked towards it and used her spare hand to grab onto it.

She glanced back at Edric, to be sure that he was ready for whatever happened, though when he nodded she pulled the switch with all her might... to which the gate opened before their eyes, causing Rarity to let out a sigh as she followed Edric towards whatever the gate had been guarding.

They walked passed the gate and stepped up the stairs that were on their left, though when they found nothing on the level above them they jumped back down into the water, which reached their ankles, and followed the tunnel to the other end of the passage. When they reached the end, and found a doorway that would allow them to progress onward, they also spotted a corpse nearby, one that was holding a broken sword of some kind and another soul, to which they grabbed the items and walked through the doorway. The duo then followed the passage they were in, and walked up a set of stairs, before stepping outside and stopping when they noticed that they were in an area that was vastly different from the forest ruins they had been in earlier.

Rarity and Edric stared up at the large tower that was some distance in front of them, one that had lights on in literally every hole that they could see, until they rested their eyes on the lower section of the tower and noticed that it contained some sort of arena. They then looked to their right and their left, where they found a large number of ruined structures scattered everywhere, along with a few select buildings that were still intact, which meant that they would actually spend a short amount of time in this area before they moved onto the next area they needed to explore. Rarity also spotted a bonfire ahead of them, though this one rested to the right of where a massive knight, as least twice as tall as the two of them, stood guard over the entrance to the rest of the area.

Of course this particular knight was wearing a suit of armor that covered all of its body, which happened to be bronze colored, and was wielding a large weapon, just like the greatsword that the Pursuer had been using, and a large circular shield, though at the same time Rarity suspected that this guy would be easier to fight than the troublesome knight that killed them.

The two of them walked over the ruined walkway and approached the area that the ancient looking knight was standing in, though as they did so Rarity stepped back and prepared her magic while Edric walked forword and demanded the knight's attention. As Edric approached the knight, however, his opponent lifted his weapon into the air and brought it down on where he was standing, though Edric managed to jump to the side and avoid the attack entirely, causing Rarity to let out a sigh of relief. Edric then forced the large knight to turn towards him and completely turned him around, exposing his back to Rarity in the process, who smiled as she started loosing Soul Arrows at their opponent, though while that happened Edric attacked the knight after another swing came his way.

Thanks to their teamwork they managed to fell the knight in a matter of seconds, though even as they relaxed a little bit Rarity knew that there would be more of these knights in the area ahead of them... to which she and Edric walked down the stairs on their right and activated the bonfire, before they turned around and resumed their trek through the area they were in. They walked up the stairs that were in front of them and found another ancient knight, this one wielding a large two handed mace, blocking the way forward, to which Rarity and Edric employed the same tactic they had used to defeat the first knight they had encountered. It was a tad bit harder to defeat this particular knight, especially with his chosen weapon and the speed at which he attacked them, but in the end the duo emerged victorious... and they were rewarded with some sort of bone dust for their efforts, which Edric claimed was important.

They paused for a moment, to inspect the corpse that was hanging over the railing, where they discovered another soul and a Human Effigy, though once they had those items in hand they walked up the stairs and found another small area with another large knight blocking their way. Fortunately the knights only seemed interested in fighting Edric, which made sense to Rarity considering that he was a warrior as well, though at the same time it allowed her to hit their opponents in their backs and weaken them. When the knight was defeated, however, they both paused as a contraption rose out of a small hole that the knight had been guarding the entire time... though after a few seconds of debate Edric pulled the lever and stood beside Rarity for a moment.

A few seconds later they watched as the area that they assumed was some sort of arena gained more ground for people to walk and fight on, as the lever made a ring, which looked identical to the rest of the arena, rise out of the water and stop when it was level with the top of the actual fighting area.

With that done the duo followed the pathway on their left and approached the somewhat ruined building that was in front of them, though when they entered the building they noticed three more ancient knights standing guard and waiting for intruders to enter their domain. Fortunately the closest one to them was more interested in them than his partners were, allowing Rarity and Edric to fall back and pull the guy out onto the walkway they had used a few seconds ago, where they could put their new tactic into action once more. It didn't take them too long to defeat the first of the ancient knights, though once he was down for good, and his body had fallen off the side and crashed into the water below them, the duo walked back into the building and determined which of their enemies they would fight next.

Unfortunately their decision was made for them, as the moment they entered the building for a second time both of the remaining knights came at them, forcing Rarity and Edric to separate from each other and come up with their own plans to deal with their opponent. Edric chose the direct approach, which involved standing in the area around his opponent, dodging whatever attacks came at him, and attacking whatever opening he could find before the ancient knight could fix his defenses. Rarity, on the other hand, had to do her best to avoid the large greatsword that her opponent was carrying, which actually cut off a good portion of her tail because of how careless she was, to which she growled and made her way to her opponent's backside... where she pumped his back full of Soul Arrows and dropped him to the floor.

Once the deed was done, and both of their enemies had been taken care of, the two relaxed for a moment, though while they did that Rarity checked out the condition of her tail... where she let out a sigh of relieve as she realized that she was only missing a some of her tail and that none of the bone had been wounded in the process.

"Is something wrong?" Edric asked, as he had noticed that Rarity was busy staring at her tail, which he was still shocked to discover that she had, and that she seemed annoyed about something.

"Only that my ruffian of an opponent cut a part of my darling tail off," Rarity replied, though she finally let go of her tail and stared at her companion, knowing that he would never know, or understand, why she was both annoyed and upset over what had just happened, "Come on, let's see if we can't find a way out of here and locate the next area... I'm already getting tired of the condition that this area is in."

Before they moved onto the next part of this area, however, Edric stepped up to the nearby lever that had revealed itself and pulled it, to which the duo watched as more flooring was added to the arena area, as another ring had burst out of the water and connected to the fighting stage. With that done the duo considered their options and eventually determined to check out the path on their left, which appeared to lead right to some large building that may or may not have answers for them. In front of them stood two more ancient knights, though the one on the left walked forward and chose to fight them alone, which ended up costing their opponent his life as the duo made quick work out of him... allowing them to turn their attention on the other ancient knight, who started walking towards them the moment his ally had been taken out.

Once their enemies were defeated, and the area was clear for the moment, the duo walked up the stairs that were in front of them and made their way to the walkway that was above them, where they discovered another ancient warrior that was guarding another lever. Fortunately their tactic of Edric being the center of attention and Rarity attacking from behind worked out well, though when the knight fell, and they pulled the lever, they lowered a large bridge down into position, where it connected to the platform they walk standing on. The large bridge essentially allowed them to walk up to the front entrance of one of the buildings they had been staring at when they entered this area... though this one looked like a church of some kind and had a fog door at the building's entrance.

To their immediate left rested another corpse, which had a Lifegem that Edric picked up, with a chest that stood near the corpse, though inside the chest they discovered another Human Effigy and a ring... one that Edric determined was a Ring of Binding, though even he wasn't sure what the ring did, which made Rarity suggest that they could ask Shalquoir about it when they returned to Majula.

"You sure do like that cat," Edric commented, noticing that Rarity generally went to Shalquoir for information or advice, which was why they were here and not in the forest ruins, and that she generally came back with something interesting or important to tell him.

"I can't help the fact that an omnipotent cat likes me and is willing to give me advice," Rarity replied, knowing that she should have been shocked by the fact that Shalquoir liked her, especially since the cat might be a deity or something, but her life in Equus had taught her otherwise, "but we should be focusing on that fog door... and the powerful creature that's likely waiting for us on the other side."

Edric nodded and the two of them approached the fog door, though as they walked through to the other side, however, they discovered that their opponent was another heavily armored knight, much like the Pursuer, only Rarity noticed that this knight's armor looked more like it was copying the look of a intimidating dragon... and the knight was carrying a deadly looking spear in his right hand. Based on the knight's armor, and how it looked, Rarity could only determine that the man or woman had been a dragon slayer at some point in their life... and that she was correct in feeling some fear when she gazed at the knight. Edric seemed uncertain of their chances as well, which made Rarity somewhat pleased to find that she wasn't the only one feeling this way, but they had gotten themselves into this mess and they either needed to kill the knight or die to him.

Rarity really didn't want to die again, especially since she and Edric had been restored to their normal forms, but before they could decide on what to do the dragon slaying knight started walking towards them... though before they could actually move the knight dashed forward and drove the tip of his spear into Rarity's chest, piercing her left lung. The knight lifted her into the air for a moment, as if it was studying her, before it spun around and threw her into one of the pillars that littered the room, though at the same time it opened itself to one of Edric's attacks. Rarity coughed up blood for a moment as she tried to pick herself up off the floor, because despite the fact that Edric said that they don't feel pain she knew that the wound would normally hurt... though while the Old Dragonslayer was busy, however, she pulled out the flask she had been given and downed the contents, to which her wound healed and she instantly felt better.

Once that had happened, however, she got back up and started throwing spells at the Old Dragonslayer's back, hoping to draw its attention away from Edric before something terrible happened to him... though that was before the Old Dragonslayer leapt into the air, slammed the tip of it's spear into Edric's shield, and staggered him for a moment. Rarity fired a Great Soul Arrow into the Old Dragonslayer's back and hoped for the best, though the knight still ignored her as it drove the tip of it's spear into Edric's chest until it came out his back side. Instead of tossing Edric to the side, however, the Old Dragonslayer pulled its spear out of Edric and grabbed his head with its spare arm, to which it threw Edric into another pillar... to which Rarity watched as it collapsed on top of her companion, who stopped moving.

Rarity's eyes widened as she realized that this was the exact opposite of the Pursuer fight, as she had died first and Edric had followed her, though now it was Edric dying first and she was bound to follow him... though she growled as she unleashed arrow after arrow at her opponent, before she felt the tingle of the Dragonslayer's spear puncturing her once more. She staggered off of the spear, allowing her blood to drip onto the ground, before she gripped her staff and struck her opponent in the side, though even as she did that she realized that her attack had no effect on her opponent. A few seconds later the Dragonslayer headbutted her, where parts of its helm cut into her forehead, before it thrust its spear into her heart with enough force to send her flying into the wall behind her.

Rarity remained there, pinned against the wall for a few seconds, before the Dragonslayer gripped the end of its spear and pulled it out of here, where she fell against the floor and laid in a pool of her own blood... under the world faded away, just like when the Pursuer had killed her. A few moments passed before she reappeared in the area around the bonfire she and Edric had ignited earlier, though she didn't have to look down at her arms to know that they had taken on the rotting appearance they had taken when the Pursuer had killed her. She let out a sigh as she leaned against the rock wall behind her, because it appeared that empowering themselves hadn't done much to actually help them... and that they were going to need some more practice before they could beat someone like the Old Dragonslayer they just encountered.

Comments

[Ze1a7in]

Are you going to make Shalquoir an agent of Discord, or a Kai?

[Blackdrag-rose]

8558580 Considering her abilities, which include being able to determine what the character's doing at any particular time, is able to determine which bosses the character has killed, and has the power to break the character's connection to the many covenants in the game... Shalquoir is at the very least a Kai.

[tererdrone]

yep the 5 d's of the DARK SOULS, dodge, duck, dive, dip, and dodge learn them well in dark souls,(and I know I said dodge twice)

[Blackdrag-rose]

8558599 It'll be some time before those two understand the finer points to combat in the Dark Souls world... especially Rarity.

[HB_DS2013]

Music theory is surprisingly helpful in Dark Souls and it's easier if I treat all the fights like a rhythm microgame.

[Silent_Knight]

omnipotent means all powerful omniscient means all knowing so Shalquoir is omniscient not omnipotent

[Silent_Knight]

8558599
Actually the 5 d's in dark souls is dodge, duck, dive, dip, and die