CH 25: Weeping Peninsula

(A/N: fyi, I'm not going to write how much time has passed when they travel since it gets annoying for me to write and for you to read. Just assume that it takes days at the very least and a week or two at average. After all, the Lands Between is a whole ass continent and each location is a freaking country lol.)

Miquella held the door open for Maliketh :"After you."

Maliketh :"No, after you."

Miquella :"I insist, after you."

Alistair pushed past them both :"After me."

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"Ahahaha pass it here, unc!" Alistair laughed cheerfully, waving excitedly at Maliketh who was equally as cheerfully :"Hahahaha but I'm not done playing with it!"

"Hahahaha come on, don't hug all the fun!" The noiret smiled brightly, making the wolf smile just as brightly, his sharp fangs illuminating under the sunlight :"Ahahahaha fine, here you go! Catch!"

Winding up a bit, he threw the ball shaped object in his hand. The atmosphere around them was of harmony, just an uncle and a nephew-in-law who got along very well playing together out in the open.

So why was Miquella, who was on Torrent's back, frowning, worried, and looked outright terrified? Emotions that he and his loyal steed shared and left them stunned away in the distance.

Away from the small battlefield on the Bridge of Sacrifice, which connected Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula, where a slaughter feast had just taken place. And where the said uncle and nephew-in-law who got along were playing catch with a poor soldier's detached head.

It started when they were approaching the bridge and a spear came flying at Maliketh's head. It didn't do anything, not even making him flinch, just leaving him flabbergasted. But the second one that was shot at the same spot while he was stunned at the audacity broke the camel's back.

After that, the slaughter began and Alistair was not one to stay out of fun times. And now, the golden femboy was stunned as Maliketh threw a severed head at Alistair, and his dear, gentle, loving consort hit a home run with said head with his club. The 60% boost brought by the Determination Ash of War causing it to fly even further.

"Woo, now that's what I call a strike!" Maliketh guarded his already covered eyes from the sunlight with his paw as he smiled at the flying head in the distance. Alistair smiled smugly, club coming down and crushing another soldier's skull :"Yeah, you got that right! That teaches you bitches to not just attack every random person you see, assholes!"

God, did he have a mini heart attack the first time he reached the bridge in the game. Those damn spears flying at him when he had barely gotten the hang of the game were awful. Oh well, he finally had his payback.

Unfortunately however, there was no one left to heed his warning. Maliketh grinned :"Yeah, that'll teach these bastards." Before humming curiously :"Do you think maybe they were just insane? They looked insane. Well, not like a lot of people are still sane in the Lands Between."

Alistair shrugged :"Sane, insane, what's the difference? Just look at how they went berserk the moment they saw us! Were you really going to let that disrespect fly? And besides, you were the one who went in guns blazing!"

Maliketh snickered smugly :"I don't know what that last part means, but you're goddamn right. Anyway, they're finished now, so we can get going. Hey, Miquella! We can advance now! Hurry up and come here!"

Miquella could only sigh before petting Torrent :"Come on, Torrent. Let's go before they do something else." By no means was Miquella unfamiliar with corpses and dead. To cure his sister, he had studied the scarlet rot for most of his life.

And unfortunately, scarlet rot didn't come in an alive package. It was the reason why he had become a master in surgery, especially on corpses, among many other fields that would make others sick in the stomach.

Sure, Maliketh and Alistair were comfortable, heck, even happy when killing. But even they would almost definitely get sick in the stomach by the things he had to do from a very young age for his sister. Things that were kept as very well hidden secrets.

Because even with all the control Queen Marika had on him, even she wouldn't be able to stop him from trying everything and mastering any field that had hopes of curing his sister and ridding her of her excruciating pain and end. In the end, all she could do was hide his acts to not shame their family.

But still, he needed corpses for very important reasons. He had never gone out of his way to fool around with them. It was the reason why he cringed at the way his uncle and consort played with the corpses so carefreely.

But other than that, he didn't spare but a single glance at the corpses. Maliketh was right, they truly had gone mad. Uttering nothing but roars and growls as they only remembered how to swing their weapons. The shattering and the wars that followed it had harmed the Lands Between more than anybody could have imagined. It has left the lands broken.

"Ohohoho, well hello there!" He heard Alistair's cheerful laughter as he looted something off of a corpse. One that had been there for a very long time. Certainly not their kill. As he checked out the Stonesword Key happily, Miquella studied him sadly :'He is broken as well, isn't he?'

He was a master of deception. That was no news. And deception could only work when one was a master at reading other people. Alistair didn't keep anything hidden, but Miquella could see it. That violence wasn't Innate. It wasn't something that he always had, nor something that had been developed.

'It's a mask...' He thought sadly. Behind all of that violence, all of that savagery he unleashed in battle, he could see a broken heart. That madness only worked to embrace that weeping heart. That gentle heart that if it wasn't embraced, would let out all the sadness, all the yearning his consort kept hidden and locked away.

And the only way to keep it that way was to inflict the pain he felt in missing something he had lost, something Miquella was very aware of, onto every enemy he could find. In hopes of locking away the pain, locking away the yearning, locking away the weeping, and ignoring it all, even if for just one more day.

'Ignorance truly is bliss.' Miquella thought. If he wasn't aware of Alistair's pain, the consort who loved and comforted him whenever he needed, he would be able to show him his love unconditionally as well. But the guilt of trying to ignore what he could so easily see, in hopes of respecting Alistair's privacy and wish to keep it locked away, gnawed at him every second he saw that bright smile. The one that hid so much sadness.

As Torrent reached him, the hand that suddenly caressed his head caught Alistair's attention. Causing him to look up and smile at the gorgeous consort of his he saw :"Miquella? What's up?"

Miquella smiled gently, fondly, hiding his own sadness to not worry him :"It's nothing. I just had the urge to pet you, that's all."

Alistair raised an amused eyebrow before chuckling :"You can be so interesting sometimes. Fine~, pet me all you want. I like it anyway."

Either for Alistair's happiness or to appease his own guilt, Miquella continued drawing his fingers through his black hair fondly, his smile unable to leave him.

Poor Maliketh on the other hand was forced to get used to their constant, shameless show of affection on their long journey. He wasn't even bothered at this point as he stood with them, treating it like the normal occurrence that it was :"So we're finally in the Weeping Peninsula. I finally understand the name."

The way it rained only on one side of the bridge and not the other was pretty interesting. And apparently, it was always raising, hence the name.

"Yeah, that's true." Alistair stretched, popping a few cracks as he put away his club :"For now, let's get the nearby Site of Grace. It shouldn't be far."

It truly wasn't. Only a few minutes at most. But he didn't take the well deserved rest he needed after touching the Grace. Instead, walking towards the road nearby to check something. Earning Miquella's curiosity in doing so :"Where are you going?"

"Oh, just checking something." But he frowned when he didn't find anything. The road was empty for as far as he could see. No corpses, no blood, no nothing. 'I know that I wished to come to Elden Ring some time before the plot started, but don't tell me it's going to take a very long time before it does. Millicent wasn't in the church, unfortunately, and now Irina isn't here either.'

"What's the matter?" Maliketh walked to his side, making him hum :"Unc, do you see anything down this road? You've got better eyesight, as ironic as it is with your hood, so maybe you'll see something unusual."

"Something unusual? Hmm..." He put a paw over his eyes as he looked, but shook his head :"No, I don't see anything. Why? Is there supposed to be something here?"

"Hmm, yeah... oh well, forget about it for now then. I guess it's not the time yet." Leaving the wolf confused as he walked back to the Site of Grace, where Miquella was resting. Torrent was laying down beside him, carefully feeding off of the rowa fruits Miquella held out for him so as to not accidentally bite his hand.

As he sat next to him, his beloved consort leaned against his larger frame :"I was worried about the rain. Thankfully, the Sites of Grace are as useful as always."

Alistair smiled, an arm circling the smaller femboy and hugging him :"True. Now we don't need to worry about getting caught under the wind. We wouldn't want to get sick."

"True." Miquella sighed comfortably at the warmth. The Site of Grace worked well as a campfire, almost completely warding off the cold air. But still, more warmth was appreciated :"So where to from here?"

"Hmm, definitely the map first. After we get the map of this place, everything else will be easy. There should also be a merchant on the way to the map who sells one of the talismans we're looking for."

Maliketh, with his head laying on his paws, looked at him suspiciously :"You know, I have been thinking of asking you this, but how do you know so much? First, there was the location of Radagon's Soreseal and one half of the Dectus Medallion, then the Sacred Tear in Caelid, then the Sacred Tears here in Weeping Peninsula."

Miquella grew worried about Alistair's deep secret, but the noiret just smirked :"Cause I'm Alistair, bitch. Things like this shouldn't even be a surprise at this point."

Maliketh growled :"Don't call me a bitch. I'm a male, you little shit."

Alistair rolled his eyes :"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, just know that I know some things and leave it at that. You'll spare yourself the headache of how and why I know them."

Maliketh hummed before shrugging :"Sure, that's true too. Alright, I'll be getting some shut eye if we are resting here for now then."

"Sleep well, uncle." Miquella smiled as he closed his eyes, or they assumed so at least :"Night." It didn't take long before soft snores could be heard from him. It was pretty easy for him to fall asleep.

As Miquella himself rested against Alistair, he noticed he had summoned his system screen to check his attributes. He leaned in to see himself. The journey had been pretty eventual so far. Enough for Alistair to raise his level to 40, focusing on Strength as he did so.

[Level: 36 -> 40

Runes Held: 2,739 -> 6,019

Runes Needed: 9,956

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Vigor: 30

Mind: 9

Endurance: 12

Strength: 24 -> 28

Dexterity: 14

Intelligence: 7

Faith: 8

Arcane: 11

-

HP: 994

FP: 75

Stamina: 99

Equip Load: 51.4

Discovery: 100%]