(A/N: Finally added our favorite merchant to the auxiliary chapter. Man I have been disrespecting our boy by leaving him out of it for so long.)
XOXO
"Hey! Watch the horn, you bastard." From the steps of their shared cabin, Melina watched Onyx catch one of Torrent's horns, feet dug into the ground as he pushed back against a charge. Not long ago Torrent would've had little issues trampling over him, but Onyx was far different compared to then. "Don't get mad at me because you don't like the truth. If you keep gorging yourself on all that food and sitting around all day you're going to get fat, buddy. You won't be outrunning me like that."
Torrent did not take kindly to the comment, managing a step forward through a huff.
"Sometimes they seem like children." Irina said through a small giggle as she twisted a shirt, wringing water from it. She sat on a chair near the cabin, tube of soapy water at her feet and another full of clothes to her side. Insistent on being helpful, she often took on washing her own clothes alongside everyone else's.
It was how Melina found herself in a worn pair of pants and a long sleeved shirt, both dark in color. One of the pair of clothes Onyx had brought back for her before Kalé left Limgrave behind.
Melina hummed along with Irina's observation, taking her word for it. Children were not a common sight in these times and she had no direct experience with them to speak of. To her the two appeared no different than usual though she suspected Onyx expected the half-hearted attack from Torrent.
He never failed to find an unorthodox way to train. Healers present or not, on her travels she had not seen many knights willing to risk the kind of training he did with actual weaponry.
As Torrent attempted another step forward, Onyx shifted his weight, both of them hitting the ground with his arms secured around Torrent's neck. That hold did not last, Torrent vanishing into mist and reforming over him, a single hoof raised over Onyx's chest. The blow was caught, Onyx using both hands to keep it from slamming into his body.
Onyx had resumed his communions with Queen Marika.
Few would believe he was in contact with their Goddess at all. The fact that he currently laid in dirt, fending off the hoof of Torrent would've dashed away any chance of those few being convinced of it.
But she knew better.
It'd stopped for a time, but the signs had returned. The sometimes unfocused look in his eyes, his attention not on the world around him but something within. His other times focused gaze on something no other could perceive.
Whatever the reason for their brief lack of communication, they exchanged words once more.
Melina raised a hand, fingering the handle of the dagger that rested beneath the belt around her waist.
Queen Marika, or perhaps some piece of her, rested within Onyx. Either way, the world which existed within him must be where she resided. Rather than the Erdtree, would she not be able to get the answers to her questions there?
But who was she to demand answers from Queen Marika herself? If the Goddess of the Lands Between had any words for her, would they not be relayed through Onyx himself? He was the one to be chosen by her. It only made sense.
As her thumb pressed harder into her dagger, Melina turned, heading to carry out another patrol. She wasn't sure what to label this welling of…excess energy within her, the flame within burning hotter than usual, but standing around in place had become difficult as of late.
Walking did not quell it but shifting her attention elsewhere had a small effect.
Answers were closer than ever, but she was in no position to go after them.
XOXO
Melina ran her finger across the edge of a page.
What was is that Queen Marika and Onyx spoke about? Was she among the topics? Would Onyx let her know if that were the case? There was much to consider but no amount of thinking brought her any of the answers.
"Melina? Is something wrong?"
Melina looked up from the pages.
Irina sat across from her, patiently waiting on the bed she so often shared with Onyx. Sellen was off towards the entrance of the cabin, carrying out an intense examination of the golden necklace that'd been given to Irina. A few lanterns were spread out, the fire within them providing the light they all needed.
That final detail would not mean much if she let her thoughts carry her away rather than doing what she agreed to.
"Nothing is wrong." Melina stated, turning the page to continue reading off the thick book's contents to her.
"Please. You may not be the most expressive among us, but you are not difficult to read when you do show something." Sellen said, lowering the necklace to join in the conversation. "Irina's study will be stunted as you are so why not tell us what's on your mind? The sooner your problem is solved, the better."
Her problem? Perhaps that was an accurate way to describe the situation she found herself in.
"I am…uncertain of what to do."
"Concerning?" Sellen questioned.
"Onyx."
"Oh?" The admission drew two distinctly different reactions, Sellen pushing for more information with the same intrigue she tackled all else with. Irina's brow furrowed, a frown spreading across her face.
"You two didn't have a fight, did you?" Irina asked, far more concerned.
Melina wasn't sure which of them could be called the appropriate reaction but could at least tell from their fixed gazes that she'd need to further elaborate. Without bringing up Onyx's tentative but very possible status as the champion of Queen Marika. He was in no rush to share his situation with others so she would do the same, the course of action likely the wisest choice given the state of the world.
"No." Melina said, setting the book aside on her bed. "There is something I wish to ask of him."
A moment of silence.
"I yet to see where the problem starts." Sellen said.
"Is there some reason you can't ask for whatever it is you want?" Irina followed up.
"I am not certain I am in a position to make the request of him. I believe it may be-" Melina paused searching for the right word. "-presumptuous of me." She finished. For all the stories and archived history involving her, Queen Marika the Eternal had always been an elusive figure to all but a select few outside of very specific circumstances. To have laid eyes on her was something she'd barely come to terms with. To demand, request, or so much as hint at an audience with her?
That required audacity she wasn't sure would be appreciated.
Then there was Onyx's opinion of it to be considered. If Queen Marika truly resided within that world of his, it was the one thing he truly held sacred, being the only thing he'd threatened another over so far. Would he allow her there once more?
"Nonsense, you're bogging yourself down with needless concerns." Sellen said. "You are his maiden, are you not? From what I've gathered, the rest of us here have made rather presumptuous requests of him without fully taking on the risks he'll be facing if he pursues the Elden Ring. I very much doubt he'll be bothered by another coming from the one set to follow him through all that may come his way."
If their arrangement perfectly reflected that of the traditional tarnished and Finger Maiden there may have been solid logic in those words. She did intend on continuing to accompany him and fighting alongside him, but her usefulness remained questionable.
"Is…is this about, um, well, never mind." Irina abandoned her question, looking down into her lap. Redden faced and antsy fingers. Melina had seen those signs enough to recognize what topics drew them from her.
"No." She said. Whatever may have been going through Irina's mind was far removed from having anything to do with the situation at hand.
"Either of you care to explain?" Sellen questioned, a brow raised.
"My feelings regarding Onyx." Melina stated. She wasn't so certain the feelings Irina had brought up before her cemented relationship with Onyx existed, but it appeared the conversations had not been forgotten.
"Oh, then you're aware of them?" And it also appeared that Irina was not the only to be sure of such a thing. Why and how was it that Sellen came to such a conclusion? "Don't look at me like that. I've dealt with my fair share of the devout. I know when one is acting out of duty and trust me, the way you eye Onyx has very little to do with some arbitrary sense of responsibility."
The way she eyed him? She observed him more closely perhaps, but she didn't do anything differently compared to her examination of others.
Sellen shook her head, clicking her tongue. "My, you are quite the sheltered one. Count yourself lucky Irina. You don't have to worry about this one trying anything during their travels."
Sellen's comment, full of the same amusement it held whenever she traded mocking insults with Onyx, only caused Irina's head to lower in a desperate attempt to hide her face completely.
Somehow the conversation had derailed into territory, that like these feelings the two spoke of, Melina couldn't say she comprehended.
"If it's so important to you, simply ask. If you don't get the answer you want, you can move on if nothing else." Sellen said, lax tone exchanged for one of seriousness as she returned to her study of the necklace. "Hesitation is just a prison without chains." She muttered the last bit absent mindedly, the two of them no longer spared much, if any, of her attention.
Advice worth heeding.
XOXO
Both hands pressed into crumbled stone, Onyx maintained a perfect handstand as he made his way along the walls of the ruins, moonlight and the Erdtree's glow illuminating the windy night. At the same time his mana flowed throughout his body, his weight far beyond what his physique should allow.
Just as he could enhance his senses, toughen his skin, and add to his overall strength, a number of others changes to his body were well within his control.
He was forgoing sleep in favor of more training. That dream, which he could only assume to be one of Marika's earliest memories, the hot anger that accompanied it fledging compared to what she now radiated, was a sign he wouldn't ignore. He'd been riding a fine line at most hours of the day, constantly using mana for all sorts of things to quicken this body's adjustment to it without triggering another high.
It'd gotten results, his reserves already bigger but he wanted more for what he planned on attempting.
"Onyx." He looked over the edge of the crumbling stone and spotted Melina down in the ruins beside the old dragon corpse. With a slight shift of his weight, he fell forward, his mana flow slowing and body lightening as he landed in front of her.
"You're up late." He said.
"I wish to ask something of you." Melina said. Her single eye held that rare shine of resolve he'd seen from her on occasion. It'd taken her quite some time to build up to this.
"Me?" He questioned, hand raised and offered to her. "Or someone else?"
Her cloak shifted but no hand emerged, Melina silently regarding him rather than the offered limb.
"Both." She said. "If you do not wish for me to enter that-"
"You're fine, Cyclops." Onyx said. "I admit that this isn't something I'd normally look forward to, but I'm real interested in how things play out." Even now he couldn't quite make total sense of the chaotic mess of emotions Melina garnered from Marika.
A moment.
Then another, the silent second spent looking up at him with a stare softer than her usual one. With a slight nod of quiet gratitude, she raised both her burn marked hands, grasping his. As she closed her eyes, he felt the same pull from last time but resisted it, allowing her and only her into the depths of his soul.
Curious as he was, whatever conversation came from their meeting was for them. He would satisfy himself with connecting the dots or anything shared with him.
That was the plan anyways.
"Running away from a conversation?" Onyx said through a chuckle as Marika formed over them. "Not sure I've ever seen anyone calling themselves a god do that."
Marika bristled, a metric ton of annoyance finding its way through their connection, but, surprisingly enough, no anger. "As things stand, a conversation between us wouldst serve no purpose."
"Does it have to?"
Marika didn't see fit to respond, simply floating away and taking a seat along the crumbled walls. An interesting outcome but one that more than likely left Melina disappointed.
Either way, it's not like she got nothing out of this. Her softening expression said as much.
Onyx carefully picked up Melina's nearly limp form, taking up a spot in the grass where he allowed her head to rest on one of his legs. Within his soul, she finally had the chance to fully feel something once more.
Might as well let her enjoy it. He thought as he leaned back across the grass himself. It was a bit too cloudy to see many of the stars, but the way the moonlight shined through them made for a beautiful sight of its own.
The night was cold.
Too cold.
Onyx rose back up as a gust blew past, the strong wind bringing with it a rolling fog of frosty mist. More of that mist rolled over the walls and slipped through the cracks of the ruins, crackling filling the air as the grass froze over. The patch they sat on was spared, the frost parting around them and gathering along one of the nearly demolished walls near the entrance.
"Greetings." A voice, soft and distinct, reached him.
A bluish white dress, a wide brimmed pointed hat of the same unique color, and a furry old cloak draped over the shoulders. Two faces, one ghostly and the other solid, rested beneath the hat's wide brim, the porcelain skin, shoulder length hair, and single eye, the right kept shut, of the latter all sharing in the same bluish color. The eye was especially vibrant, alluding to immense power for any perceptive enough to catch on to it.
The intriguing visitor sported two sets of arms, the lower half settling on her lap while the fingers of the upper pair pressed together as her single eye met his.
"A pleasure to meet thee."
XOXO
(A/N: Finally another big player shows herself. Look forward to the chapter after this. Some very interesting things in it for few different big characters.)