CH 7: Torrent the Spectral Steed

Alistair smiled nervously :"Did I ever tell you how pretty you look when you're angry?"

Miquella :"Well I must be gorgeous right now because I'm fucking furious!"

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Miquella cleared his throat, before smiling politely at Melina :"Well, lady Melina, allow me to explain. First off, as you seem to already know, I am Miquella of the Haligtree. And the reason I'm here is... well, because..."

His smile turned to Alistair, before presented with a small hand :"I have found a talent yet unrefined. A talent I dare say greater than my sister, Malenia, and my brother, General Radahn. One that, as you seem to also believe, will ascend to become the Elden Lord. And this talent caught my eye."

His gaze returned to Melina, but his smile wasn't the cute smile from before. It was a scheming one, like a snake's, and it made Melina frown :"Just like it did yours. So I made up my mind. I shall nurture this talent. Nurture him to become a worthy consort of my Age of Compassion."

Melina's eye twitched, before she glanced at Alistair :"...And you have agreed to this?" It was a question, but she didn't ask it for the sake of asking it. Just Miquella being there answered her. What she wanted to do was to see if Alistair was under Miquella's influence. To see if his heart was being controlled.

He of course knew her intention :"Yes, I have. And don't worry, my mind is clear as ever." Anybody who wouldn't get influenced by Miquella's gift would.

'So he knows.' She thought :'That's good then. As long as he doesn't break our accord.' She hummed :"Well, it doesn't matter to me. As per our accord, I only need your help to take me to the foot of the Erdtree. What path you take afterwards is none of my business."

'Lord of Frenzied Flame ending would say otherwise.' He nodded :"Don't worry, I'm a man of my word. As long as you are patient, I promise we'll get there eventually, since my goal is in that place anyway."

"I am glad to hear that." She nodded :"Then I shall leave you to your own privacy. Call for me if you need anything." And she disappeared once again.

Alistair turned to Miquella, grinning :"That was one heck of a change of behavior there. So that's the Miquella everybody knows and fears, huh? Or well, loves, would be the word."

Miquella shrugged :"To not lose in politics, you need to be sharp and have a sharper tongue. If you're not assertive, you'll only suffer losses. Didn't you see how she backed down after my change of tone? You need to learn these things for when you become my king consort and the Elden Lord, you know?"

"*Smirking* So my fate is already sealed as your consort, huh?"

"*Smirking* Isn't that what we agreed on?"

"True. But you sure treat the subject of marriage lightly though. Shouldn't there be love in it?"

"Love doesn't suddenly appear. It blossoms naturally with time. As we travel, struggle and succeed together, love will surely bloom between us if we are not to deliberately prevent it."

"Alright, fair enough. But man, you sure are straightforward with these things. No hint of shyness or hesitation in literally saying "oh, hey, we're gonna get married, and that's final."

"*Smirking* Shyness? Hesitation? For me, whose only strength is in the field of politics? Do you have any idea what kind of a battlefield the world of politics is? What, did you expect me to be a fair maiden, blushing at every glance and touch you give me?"

(A/N: Don't worry, although I love me some assertive femboy, he'll also get his cute tomato red moments. And this is a build up for some brat taming breeding time huehuehue!)

"...Alright, fair enough. And also, although I did think of that possibility, I like this better." With a smirk, his hands suddenly circled Miquella's thighs and picked him up, surprising him as he was suddenly at a higher eye level than the tall boy :"I've always had a thing for assertive people rather than the shy ones, after all. This only makes it more fun."

"You aren't one shy cookie yourself either." Miquella's surprise turned into a smirk, one hand on Ali's hard (di-) shoulder as the other booped his nose :"But patience is of virtue. Being too assertive will prevent genuine feelings from growing, and now that I have nothing to worry about, no plans or schemes, I have decided to actually commit to this, since I need actual effort to capture your heart.

I have decided to commit to making this relationship work, since it's the only relationship I've ever had. So you be assured that I will get your heart in the right way."

A purr erupted from Alistair's chest, a hungry look in his darkened eyes that sent a shiver down Miquella's spine :"Is that so? Then I hope you spoil me a lot, my future lord husband. I may get pouty if not, since I need a lot of attention to function properly."

"Hahahaha, then spoil you I shall," Miquella chuckled at his childish pout, ruined by a smile stretching the corner of his lips. His hand traveled to his dark locks, gently rubbing his scalp as he petted him :"My cute, future king consort."

Alistair smiled, unable to suppress a light blush, much to Miquella's amusement :'Heh, he can be pretty cute, huh?'

(A/N: I was going to write about their discussion about how spirits can't be summoned whenever and a Rebirth Monument needs to be around, so Miquella wouldn't be able to stick around in the physical world all the time. But they would fix that problem soon by plucking out a Rebirth Monument and just carry it around all the time lol. But I thought those existing everywhere and at every boss fight location was just game logic, so I removed that limitation about ashes.)

Miquella couldn't lie, Alistair's hair was top quality as well. His hair strands were like silk as he drew his small fingers through them. But although the moment felt nice, he had to ruin it for their safety :"Alistair, I hate to ruin our moment, but we need to get out of here. This camp is just a bit from the Stormgate, so Godrick's soldiers might find us if they're out on a patrol. We should get out of here quickly."

"Hmm, you're right. Although I would appreciate the runes, I'm not strong enough to fool around yet." Alistair nodded thoughtfully, before grinning :"Alright then! We just need one more thing before we start our little journey!"

"And what's that?" Miquella raised an amused eyebrow as Alistair chuckled :"The item I love the most!" Before Miquella could ask, he had already opened his system map and selected The First Step Site of Grace.

The scenery instantly changed once again, and he found himself back at the structure he had exited. However, Miquella wasn't in his arms anymore. Instead, he heard his dissatisfied voice in his mind :"So I come back here everytime you teleport, huh? Oh, well, at least it's not permanent."

"Don't worry, I'll summon you as soon as I can." He mumbled sneakily :"And that's definitely not now, while Varre is around." But when he looked to where Varre was supposed to be, he couldn't find him :"Oh, he's not here. Guess he's out on another business. Better for me then."

Making sure that Varre wasn't around, nor anybody else, he summoned Miquella again.

"I knew it, being in a physical form is the best." He stretched, cracking a few joints before turning to Alistair :"Alright, what now? What did you wanna get from here?"

"You'll see. We need somebody's help to get it though." Bringing the ring on his finger to his mouth, he blew into it, causing a high pitched whistle to come out before everybody's beloved spectral steed, Torrent, appeared beside them with a loud neigh.

And at his appearance, Miquella's eyes widened :"Wait, so the spectral steed is Torrent?! Hahahaha, I did not expect that!"

"Ranni literally said his name though."

Miquella deadpanned :"I was too angry to hear her correctly."

Alistair tightened his lips into a line :"So you know him?"

Miquella smiled, petting the horse who was definitely happy to see him :"Know him? He was MY horse back then!"

Alistair had a look of realization :"Ooh, so the DLC cover WAS you and Torrent."

"The what?"

"Basically, something like the cover of a book's sequel. You and Torrent were together, seeming to be traveling to a giant tree."

"Ooh, I see. Anyway, you should introduce yourself to Torrent. Although a horse, he's very smart."

"Yeah, you're right. Hello, Torrent." He smiled at the spectral horse, who turned to look at him :"My name is Alistair, and I'm a friend of Miquella. I hope we get along, partner."

Torrent seemed to size him up, before stepping forward and nuzzling against him :"Bffh." It brought a smile to Alistair's face. After all, this guy was going to be his companion forever. He petted him gently :"Yeah, I hope we get along too."

"Bffh!" Torrent stepped to the side, as if urging him to get on. His smile turned into a grin :"Alright then, let's roll! Hey, Miq, can you go back for a second. This part is gonna be a bit... dangerous."

"I told you to not call me that. But alright. Be careful though."

"Sure." He grabbed Torrent's reins :"...Now what? I've never rode a horse."

"What? Then how did you travel long distances in your world? Oh, were you maybe of nobility, so you always traveled by carriages? Being lazy isn't good, Alistair."

"What? N-no, it's not like that. We were... oh, whatever, I'll explain later. Can you help me out here for now."

"Alright, I'll teach you. And if you're in a hurry, just tell Torrent which direction to go. I told you, he's very smart."

"Oh, okay then. Hey, Torrent?"

"Bffh?"

"Can you go to the back of this huge building? We need to go somewhere from there."

"Bffh." With a snort, Torrent gently made his way to where Alistair wanted.

"Huh? There's nothing here. It's just a cliff." Miquella frowned, while Torrent also voiced his confusion with a snort. But Alistair just smiled calmly :"Torrent, please go to that edge right there."

"Bffh..." Torrent obeyed, but froze when he saw two spirit springs down below. Very, very below.

"...You cannot be serious..."

"...I'm serious. There's something we absolutely must get."

"Bffh!" Torrent voiced his disagreement, turning around to walk back the way they came. But Alistair quickly stopped him :"W-wait, Torrent! Wait! I'm serious, this is very important! Just that single thing will help us astronomically! Please, pal? I know you can do it! I believe in you, come on!"

"Bffh!" Torrent voiced his reluctance again, but Alistair's pleading eyes finally melted his heart :"...Bffh..." His head hung low as he gave up, making Alistair cheer :"Yes! Hahahaha this is why I love you!"

"Bffh." He snorted with a glare, complaining. But Alistair just chuckled, rubbing Torrent's neck :"Come on, don't be grumpy. And besides, this is going to be easy compared to what we'll need to do in the future areas."

"Bffh..." Simply adding to his depression. As he stood on the edge of the cliff, Miquella gulped :"Y-you're gonna kill us all, Alistair..." And Alistair's crazy smile didn't do anything to calm him down :"D-don't worry, Miquella. Even if we die, I'm immortal. We'll just be revived, all of us, so no need to worry!"

"I-I find that hard to believe with how you're behaving. H-how about we t-take another route?! I'm s-sure we can go down there by another way than falling to our death!"

"C-can't do that Miquella. We need to save time! Now, Torrent! Fly!"

"N-no, hold on! AAAHHHH!!" Miquella screamed as Torrent began to descend. He wasn't a horse anymore at the moment, he was a huge eagle. At least according to the interviewed eagles flying around.