CH 42: Queen Marika's Plan

(A/N: Gentleman, I am proud to say that one of my save's has retired. He has finished his duty by completing the game until the NG+7, and will now rest at the Elden Throne, with his right and left hands, Rotten Breath and Dragonice, resting by his sides, after butchering Promised Consort Radahn once more🗿.

Now time for another legend of Dragon Communion Incantations hehehehehehe!)

Alistair :"God can't heed your prayers, buddy. Mainly because he can't hear you over this bitch ass Ancient Dragon's Lightning Strike!"

Miquella :"Oh my god, just kill him already!"

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Alistair ran his fingers through Miquella's golden locks, rubbing his scalp soothingly :"Love, if talking about it makes you sad, we can just drop the subject for now."

Miquella sighed, sad again as his gaze dropped :"But it's a conversation we'll need to have one way or another. You told me once you don't know the exact details of what happened back then. We'll have to talk about it sooner or later."

Alistair gently kissed his forehead :"Yes, that's true. But it doesn't mean we have to do it now. We can talk about it little by little if it makes you sad, hahahaha one bit of detail every so often."

He managed to pull a chuckle from the golden femboy :"How about I just record everything in small letters and give one to you every now and then?"

"Eh, wouldn't bother me that much. That was kinda the way we did it in my world too anyway. Not the "from time to time" part, but the "small letters" part. Honestly, it was annoying how people wouldn't say everything in a single text. You can do that if you'd like though."

"Hahaha no, it's alright. I'm better now." Seeing that his mood had become better, Alistair smiled and waited :"And besides, it happened a long time ago. Although remembering it does make me sad, it's not too bad. Anyway.

Queen Marika, she... she kept her heart locked at all times. Barely ever letting any happiness show, never letting any love out. Nobody knew why she was like that. People said it's the demeanor of a goddess, ever so stoic and strict to keep the Golden Order standing proud and brilliant.

But it never felt like that. She wasn't strict, she was cold. She wasn't stoic, but calculative. But... it always felt like she wasn't always like that. It wasn't the behavior of someone who was born that way. It wasn't the behavior of someone who was raised that way. It was as if... she –chose– to be that way...

Nobody knew exactly why she was like that. Not even Godfrey, her first husband. At least not to my knowledge. Her past was known to no one. So everybody had to accept that Queen Marika, as amazing a ruler as she was, was unloving to all. Even to her other half, Radagon.

But only one was an exception. Godwyn, her first son. As I told you, she, like everybody else in the Lands Between, loved him, even though she didn't show it at all. Her shattering the Elden Ring from anger is enough evidence."

"I understand, but how are you so sure about her reason for shattering the Elden Ring? Maybe she had planned to shatter it from the get go anyway? That was a very popular theory in my world."

Miquella shook his head as best as he could :"That's unlikely. You need to understand two things. One, the Elden Ring is extremely important. Not to the Golden Order, but to the world itself. Tell me, why do you think death is not possible? Because the Rune of Death was extracted and sealed from the Elden Ring.

It's not just an artifact. It's the laws of the world itself. The laws were separated when the ring was shattered, but they weren't destroyed, because they can't be destroyed. Why else would the Rune of Death need to be sealed instead of destroyed? If it was possible, wouldn't Queen Marika, a goddess, the one who felled the god of the Fire Giants, be strong enough to do that? And if not her, then what about Godfrey?

So she wasn't planning on shattering it, because that wouldn't do anything but break it into multiple pieces. What was the point of having that plan if all completely unharmed pieces were with her in the end.

And two, how powerful do you think the Elden Ring was as a whole? All the demigods were enchanted by the strength granted by its mere parts. So why would Queen Marika, calculative and controlling as she was, destroy her greatest weapon?

Especially when her greatest warriors, Godfrey and his kinfolk, were no longer available? After all, even if she and father were already extremely powerful, her children didn't exactly love her. We were mighty as well. And on top of that, many.

You could say that Godwyn was the bridge between us and her. With his death, it was only a matter of time before either she or one of us waged war against her. And when that would happen, all of us would be involved, one way or another.

The children of Queen Rennala despised her for the harm she dealt to their mother by taking away father from them. As for me, Malenia and the Omen twins? Do I even need to mention again how much we've suffered because of her? More than any of her enemies, her children hated her the most. Heh, quite a sad irony, huh?

She did have reasons to shatter the Elden Ring, but it wasn't planned from before Godwyn was killed. But that's where the plot becomes twisted and confusing. What was going through her head that convinced her to destroy it?

By all means, no reason made sense. Surely, she of all people would have expected the aftereffects. She would lose her greatest weapon, and worst case scenario, her actions would definitely earn the anger of the Greater Will. So what convinced her to do it?

Everybody came to the conclusion that it was because of grief, but... even if she loved Godwyn very much, that's not like her at all. Even to this day, nobody truly knows. Even I'm confused. But she had a plan despite knowing what would happen to her.

And the plan involved the Tarnished. As everybody knows, she banished Godfrey and his kinfolk to prepare them for something. For a battle. It was the reason she wanted them to fight and wage wars in the Badlands until each and every one of them died and came back. For what battle, nobody knows.

Alistair :"Uugghh, that part is so confusing. How come someone as calculative as her suddenly became so emotional?! There's literally no reason why she, with her personality, would suddenly throw away everything knowing she would fuck up too in doing so! She literally just threw a tantrum and decided to ruin the world!" 'But well, I guess she finally had enough after what she endured in the Shadow Lands...'

Miquella was silent before sighing :"It wasn't a tantrum, it was a breaking point. I told you, Queen Marika wasn't born or raised to be cold. Despite having everything she would even want, always looked like she had nothing when she wasn't putting up a front in front of the masses. She looked like a dead husk trying its best to look alive.

The only time when she wasn't like that was when she was with Godwyn. She looked like she had something in this world. She looked like she was a real family when the only son she acknowledged was with her.

But when he was gone, she broke. She finally looked dead, instead of just as a husk. Remembering her dead eyes from back then still gives me the chills. So when she broke, when she finally lost everything, she decided to break the world as well, I suppose.

Alistair sighed :"Yeah, she literally had a mental breakdown. And I think I know the reason why... you said you don't know her past. Is that really true?"

Miquella nodded :"Yes, that's true. I know she was born and raised in the Shadow Lands, but I... haaah, as embarrassing as it is to admit, I refused to know more. She was gone. She was a relic of the past, and I intended to forget the past. Do you know about her past?"

Alistair sighed again :"I wish I didn't. Believe me, if you did, the reason for her breakdown would make complete sense. But forget about it for now. I seriously can't bring myself to explain it, alright? Like, believe me, just thinking about it makes me sick. You'll know when the time comes."

Miquella looked concerned :"That bad even for someone like you? Goodness, then I guess her past was much more morbid than anybody would have expected..."

"Heh, you don't know anything yet. Anyway, let's drop that part of the subject. What was her plan afterwards then? You mentioned it involved the Tarnished."

Miquella grew silent again, annoyed before sighing :"It was to make us demigods into stepping stones for the Tarnished. Queen Marika wanted, no, needed the Tarnished to be powerful. For what battle, nobody knows.

So once they had returned, what would be the greatest challenges for them? What would the biggest test of worthiness be for them? Defeating the demigods and taking each and every Great Rune back, that's how.

She knew who was the mastermind behind Godwyn's murder. Anybody with half a mind would know. Why else would Godwyn suddenly die and Ranni would be nowhere to be found. She understood what Ranni wanted to do.

Destined Death kills all, body and soul. Ranni wanted to cast off her Empyrean flesh, but keep her spirit alive. Few weapons would be able to achieve that. But if she wanted to use Destined Death on herself, she wouldn't survive.

So she performed an equal exchange. The body of one demigod would die, while the soul of another demigod would die. It's how she managed to stay alive. Queen Marika and I figured that out very easily when she went missing.

And as much as it filled us with rage, we couldn't do anything about it. Ranni went missing and we couldn't find her. So, Queen Marika, in her rage, came up with a brilliant plan. She would be able to empower the Tarnished who returned even further, while also able to avenge her son, and kill all the children she considered as nuisances to her.

But why would the Tarnished fight the demigods, beings stronger than all others, for no reason? Even if they were strong and battle hungry, that would be the action of a fool. And no fool would be able to survive in the Lands Between.

The Elden Ring had to be fixed. There was no way around it. So she shattered the ring knowing the demigods would take one each. Heh, she even instructed us to fight for the positions of Elden Lord and that of godhood. How foolish we turned in the face of greed.

The Great Runes we treasured became baits unknowningly. None of us knew of her plan. The shattering of the Elden Ring was too sudden. We were caught off guard, but were quick to move. All of us acquired a Great Rune, not knowing that we put Queen Marika's plan into action.

We realized her plan only when the Tarnished began to come back. And by that, I mean only me and Ranni did. But it was too late. The power that the Great Runes bestowed upon us was too good to let go. Ranni, however, did discard her Great Rune, to not be hunted by greedy Tarnished. I needed my Great Rune's strength for my plans, however. So I couldn't afford to do that.

And there you have it. Queen Marika not only ruined the world that had somehow ruined her, but she would get all of the children she hated, and the Tarnished who would heed her command would come back to the Lands Between which had become a testing ground with everybody thrown into madness and after their throats."

Alistair looked impressed :"Oh, wow... I thought she just threw a tantrum at her favorite son dying, but even in her crazy state, she still was calculative and messed up enough to want you all dead too, huh? And ironically enough, her plan would succeed." 'Not the biggest plan I have seen, but you gotta give it to her, she was a hater.'

"But unfortunately, nobody, not even Queen Marika herself, would be able to celebrate it."