Chapter Text
Chapter 36:
Unorthodox Solutions
Dark souls is owned by From Software.
- “Talking”
- “Thoughts”
“Powerful Beings”
“Whatever the Daughters of Chaos speak”
Line Break
Garret sighed sadly at the pile of bones and dust before him. “Can you fix him?”
“No,” Nito replied. “Rather, I could, but you said he was a blacksmith, no?” At Garret’s nod, he continued, “Well, it looks like his arms were among the first bones to go. I can breathe life into what’s left, but without his arms…”
“He might as well be dead,” Garret finished sadly, “I hear you.”
“…An odd place to call home,” Leeroy said, poorly trying to change to subject.
“I’m more curious about the lava pooled in those coffins, myself,” Nito added.
Garret ignored the pair, kneeling down in front of Vamos’s remains. He shook his head, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s for the best,” Nito said somberly. “Even if he were as sane as you say, the life of a skeleton is not an easy one.”
Garret was silent for a moment. Then, he said, “Vamos…I honestly don’t know what his deal was. All I can say is, like any decent Undead being, he had a goal.”
“What goal?” Leeroy asked.
“There’s an Ember down in Izalith—well, just before Izalith. It’s made of a piece of the Chaos Flame; it would allow him to infuse weapons with Chaos magic. Somehow, that translates to the weapon’s strength increasing proportional to how much Humanity you hold within you.”
“Really?” Nito hummed, “But, that would mean…well, only humans could properly use such an Infusion.”
“Yeah, stumps me too.” Garret reached towards Vamos’s remains, dusting off his skull. As he did so, something glinted from the pile, shining in his eyes. Garret winced, “What the...ah, right. The helm.”
“Helm?” Leeroy parroted.
Garret pulled Vamos’s horned helm free, wincing when a few bones rattled along the ground, “Sorry, Vamos.”
Leeroy stepped closer, “Can I see that?” he asked, holding his hands out. Garret nonchalantly tossed it to him.
Leeroy held the golden helm up, turning it over. “This is…an old piece.”
“Hold me up,” Nito commanded. Garret did so. “…You are right, Leeroy. I recognize the design; it was popular in Anor Londo ages ago.” He turned, staring down at Vamos’s crumbling remains, “I wonder where he got it?”
“Graverobbing?” Garret supplied.
Nito shook slightly, “Highly unlikely. At least, unlikely to have been done in the Catacombs. The majority of the people buried here are from when we warred with the Dragons. This style of helm didn’t come into fashion until some centuries after that.” Nito grunted, “I suppose the secret dies with him.”
Garret sighed somberly, “Guess you’re right.” Reached down, gingerly grabbing Vamos’s skull—along with his strange, but cool, bone-beard. He carefully set the skull on Vamos’s anvil, centering it. He then grabbed the hammer laying on the ground, propping it up against the anvil. Finally, he took the helm from Leeroy, resting it beside Vamos’s skull.
Garret bowed his head, “Rest easy, Vamos.” He turned to leave, only to pause at something flickering in one of the lava pools. He peered closer, “…Is that a Flame?”
“I believe so,” Nito said.
“An Ember?” Leeroy added.
Garret nodded. The Seer then lifted his right hand up, summoning his Pyromancy Flame. After a fire came to life within his palm, he clenched his fist, feeding the fire within him. The flame quickly spread out from his palm, reaching out to cover his whole hand, and then his arm, stopping just before the shoulder.
Garret took a couple quick breaths, then plunged his fire-wreathed arm into the lava. He bit back a groan as, even protected by his own Flame, the heat from the magma lanced up his arm. But, he managed to grab onto the Ember regardless, and quickly wrenched it free.
Lava gently seeped from the Ember, splashing on the ground.
“What does this one do?” Leeroy asked as Garret gently shook off the rest of the magma from his arm.
“It infuses weapons with Fire. It’s mainly a stepping stone to a greater Fire infusion, or the Chaos infusion…hopefully Boram, Andre, or Rickert can figure out how to make it work.”
“Boram’s a genius,” Nito said, “he’ll work it out faster than you can blink.”
Garret grunted, pocketing the cooled Ember, “Good to know.” He turned around, “C’mon, let’s help Pinwheel then get out of here.”
Line Break
Garret stared down the giant stone coffin—Pinhweel’s lair. “Never really thought about it, but this place is a serious fire hazard.” he said.
“It’s insane. Do you really think it cares for safety?”
The young Undead lightly glared over his shoulder, “You don’t have to come with, you know.”
Leeroy scoffed, hefting his hammer in both hands, “I have sworn to protect Gravelord Nito. You seek to have a meeting with a creature that actively sought to harm him; I’d be stupid to just let you on your way.”
Garret narrowed his eyes lightly, scoffing, “So long as you don’t do anything stupid.” Leeroy stiffened slightly but said nothing.
Garret looked down at Nito, “You’re sure you can help them?”
The Gravelord was silent for a moment. Eventually, he let out a soft, “Yes.”
The Seer nodded, “Well then, let’s get to work.” He turned to his left, at Benito, who was nervously clinging to an outcrop on the wall. “You can wait back up, Benito.”
The bird looked between Garret, the coffin, and the sky, before squawking, and quickly flying upwards.
Nito shook slightly, “That bird…awful quirky, isn’t he?”
Garret cocked a brow, “Is that a bad thing?”
“It is when I never intended for him to have a personality.”
Garret pondered the problem, before setting it aside, “Eh, you’re old. Slip-ups happen.”
Nito growled lowly.
“Oh, like I’m wrong?”
A short cough sounded from behind them. Garret grinned widely, “See, Leeroy agrees.”
“Paladin?” Nito ground out.
Leeroy quickly walked past the pair, “What are we waiting for?” he rapidly said, dropping down into the coffin. Garret snickered, then dropped down himself.
After taking a moment to make sure both Leeroy and Nito were alright, he stepped forward, saying, “Pinwheel! Come out! I think I can help you, now!”
The area was silent for a moment. Then, wind started to rush into the coffin. The air swirled before them, and Pinwheel appeared in a flash of white light.
The conjoined being floated in the air, their three masked heads twitching as they moved forward. They then froze, all three heads fixed on Garret. The skull hanging off his chest, specifically.
The young man held his hands up defensively, “Easy…”
The Mother and Child wailed, curling up against each other. The Father growled, waving his six arms threateningly.
“Easy, Easy!” Garret shouted, “Nito and Leeroy are with me.” Pinwheel’s movements grew more erratic, the lanterns at the end of their arms glowing brighter and brighter. “He wants to help you!” Garret exclaimed.
That got a different reaction. Pinwheel stilled, no longer moving or moaning. Their lanterns burned as bright as ever, but they did not hold them in an offensive manner.
Garret lifted Nito up, “Tell them.”
The Gravelord grunted, “…Make no mistake, I have not forgotten your crime.” The Father growled. “However,” Nito pressed on, “I would be remiss if I allowed you to…exist as you currently are. These last centuries have been punishment enough. I do not forgive your crime, but I am willing to pardon it.”
Garret smiled, “See? He means well?” Pinwheel stared silently at the two. They then shifted their heads to the side, behind Garret. The Seer laxly waved his hand, “Don’t mind Leeroy, he’s no trouble.”
The Paladin grunted, but fixed his hammer on his back, said nothing.
Garret held Nito further up, smiling, “Now, think we can get started on this whole ‘fixing’ thing?”
“Yes, of course.” Nito bobbed his head towards Garret, “First, you need to draw that blade attached to your hip.”
Garret blinked. And blinked again. And again. His smile slowly slid off his lips, face twisting to a stern frown. “…Is that a fucking joke?” he ground out.
The air grew cold, and the candles lining the massive coffin blew out in an instant. The only light left being the scant rays of sunlight filtering in from the top of the valley, and the dim lights of Pinwheel’s lantern. “This is the only way,” Nito intoned.
Garret growled, lifting Nito’s skull to stare into its dark, expansive eyeholes, “Bullshit!” A small splash of water entered his hearing. Without looking, he thrust he free-hand back, blasting Black Flames. “Piss off, Leeroy! I need to have quick chat with your boss.”
The Paladin cursed, scrambling backwards, “What on earth?!”
“Black Flames,” Nito rasped. “Keep your distance, Leeroy. Cooler heads may yet prevail.”
“One of those ‘cooler heads’,” Garret spat, “Better actually try and help Pinwheel!”
“I am!”
“By killing them?!”
Nito grunted, “It’s the only way.”
“Bullshit!” Garret spat. Pinwheel growled in agreement
“Be reasonable!” Nito roared, “Even if, if, they were returned to their previous states, all that would await them is a slow end! This is the far more merciful option.”
Garret frowned, calming slightly, “What do you mean?”
“...Do you not know why Pinwheel is the way they are?”
“No,” Garret admitted. “I know that they became,” he gestured to Pinwheel, “like that after they rebelled against you, but I don’t know, explicitly, why they did so.” He sighed, “Best I can infer, the Father’s Wife and Child were dead, and he wanted to bring them back to life. You wouldn’t let him.”
Nito hummed, “Close, but not quite.” He turned towards Pinwheel, “The Father, as you call him, did come to me to help his family, but they weren’t dead.”
Garret frowned, “But why—ah!” he grunted, “Right, Lord of Death and Decay. Some sort of plague, then?”
Pinwheel groaned sadly, the Child shivering as the Mother did her best to comfort them. The Father was deathly still.
“I would not classify it as a plague, in truth; more like a small epidemic. But yes, his wife and child grew sick—a terrible disease, fills the lungs with an endless amount of fluids—and he sought me out. I rejected him, obviously; unlike some, I do not try and delay the inevitable. I did offer to grant them swift, painless deaths, however. As you can see,” Nito hissed, “he did not accept my offer. I thought the matter over, but then he rallied other like-minded fools and led a rebellion against me. They were somewhat successful,” he begrudgingly admitted, “enough so that I had to enter a long slumber to regain my strength. But, as you can see, they lost, in the end.”
The Mother and Child whimpered, while the Father growled protectively.
“Come now,” Nito sneered, “Are you so arrogant, so foolish, as to believe your path was the right one? Still, after all these years?”
The Father’s growls grew into a snarl, before he slumped over, crying lightly. The Mother and Child shifted, doing their best to comfort the Father.
Garret stared at the broken family before them. Nito’s story more-or-less corroborated with his own thoughts on Pinwheel’s history. It still sucked, but at least he was right. He pushed aside those thoughts, moving Nito back towards him, “There has to be a way to help them.”
Nito scoffed, “Like I told him,” he gestured to the Father, “all those years ago, there is no cure for his wife and child’s affliction.”
Garret started to growl, but then stopped. He took a calming breath, “What about giving each of them their own bodies again?”
“…Even if it were possible,” Nito slowly stated, “they’d just return to their original, sick states. The woman and child would die in weeks.”
“That’s fine.”
Nito grunted confusedly. Pinwheel, though, gasped audibly. Angrily. The conjoined being them rushed forward, coming to a halt just in front of Garret. The Father and Mother groaned lowly, lanterns swirling menacingly.
“Oh, cool it!” Garret shouted, making them jerk back. “You too, Leeroy,” he said over his shoulder at the sound of splashing water. “Listen,” he turned back to Pinwheel, “what happened to you three was terrible, no doubt. But…this all started because you just…couldn’t move forward. There are some things,” he sighed, lowering his head, “some things you just can’t fight.” He lifted his head up, sternly frowning at the cursed creature, “You messed up, big time. I’m offering you a chance to, at the very least, die with dignity.”
The Mother grew silent, but the Father shook apoplectically. The Seer leaned forward, frown hardening. Pinwheel’s lanterns swirled dangerously, and Garret lit his Pyromancy Flame.
Then, a soft sob.
The Father froze, jerking around to see the Mother comfort a sobbing Child. He stared at the two, silently. The Mother moved slightly and was soon staring into the Father’s eyes. She nodded slowly. The Father moaned lowly, but she stayed silent. Resolute. Eventually, he gave up.
The Father turned to Garret, looking down and groaning softly.
Garret nodded, “Alright.” He returned his gaze to Nito, “You’re sure you can give them back their original bodies.”
Nito was silent for a moment. “I’d need some time to prepare,” he eventually stated, “but yes, I can separate the three of them.”
“Good.” The Seer looked back to Pinwheel, features softening, “I…I don’t know how to heal you. Best I can do is ask a Cleric I know about healing Miracles. And perhaps Seath’s archives has something on the disease that afflicts you two,” he said to the Mother and Child.
Pinwheel just moaned in reply, heads downcast.
Garret’s heart welled with pity, but he cast it aside. “Well, I guess we’re done here.” He reached into his satchel, pulling out a homeward bone, “Still got a few people I need to convince to head up with me, so I’ll drop you off at Firelink.” Garret waited until Pinwheel and Leeroy moved closer—Leeroy placing a hand on his shoulder, Pinwheel draping a couple lanterns on his head—before activating the homeward bone.
The bone easily crumbled to dust in his grip, a golden rune lighting up beneath his feet. He felt a tingle in his gut, which then spread throughout his body. The light grew, until it encompassed his whole world. A moment passed, and then the light started to dissipate, the sensation disappearing. Garret blinked, rubbing his eyes as Firelink Shrine came into view.
“Huh,” Nito said from his chest, “So that’s what that feels like.”
“A pleasant feeling, no?” Leeroy said.
Pinwheel half-heartedly grunted in agreement.
“A little too bright, for my tastes.”
Garret scoffed, “Says the guy that spent untold centuries stuck in a cave.”
“Hello?” A loud voice called out from behind them, “Is anyone there?”
Leeroy whirled around, as did Pinwheel. “Who sai—”
“Ignore him, you two,” Nito said.
“But who—”
“I can hear you, whoever you are.”
Garret rolled his eyes, “Might as well meet him now,” he said, rising to his feet. “Just, stay here,” he gently gestured to Leeroy and Pinwheel, “I’m going to go gather the rest of the people down here.” Pinwheel—the Father, specifically—nodded, and hovered over to Mathias’s overturned pillar, resting on it. Leeroy stared at Garret for a moment, but eventually sat down at the Bonfire.
The Seer looked down at Nito, “You want to stay here, or come with me?”
“I think I’ll stick with you for the moment,” he replied, “Like I said, I’ve been stuck in the cave for ages.”
Garret nodded and walked the short way to Frampt. Upon seeing him, the toothy serpent blinked, “Greetings. Are you the one th—!” he froze, pupils widening, jaw dropping open. “th-th-tha-th-tha—” he started to stutter.
“Frampt!” Nito jovially shouted, “It’s been a long time!”
“L-L-Lord Nito!” Frampt eventually stammered out. “H-H-H-How are you?”
“Oh, I’m just dandy,” he drawled. “But this young man here—I believe you know him as the…what do you call yourself?”
“Chosen Undead,” Garret supplied.
“Ah yes. The ‘Chosen Undead’ here has informed me that, well, I was supposed to die at his hand. Did you know about that?”
Frampt gulped audibly, eyes darting about wildly, “Er, well, you see, G-Gravelord, I only—”
“Ah, I don’t care,” Nito cut him off.
“Y-You don’t?” Frampt whispered disbelievingly.
“You don’t?” Garret asked casually.
“Of course not,” the Lord of Death scoffed, “If I sought reprisal against every being that planned on killing me, I’d have never gotten anything done.”
“How many people have planned to kill you?” Garret couldn’t help but ask.
“Oh, I stopped keeping count after the thousandth minor lord came to me, griping and moaning about some plague ravaging their lands.” He huffed, “I never should have named myself ‘Lord of Death and Decay’. That’s double the amount of circumstances people will needlessly blame me for.”
“Honestly, you just drew the short end of the straw.” At Nito’s questioning grunt, he elaborated, “Gwyn got his hands on the ‘Light Soul’, the Pygmy found the ‘Dark Soul’, and Quela got the ‘Life Soul’. Your soul, the ‘Death Soul’, is the only one with inherently negative connotations.”
“Hmm…I never called it that, but you’ve got a point.” He sighed, clacking his jaw, “Maybe I should have taken Gwyn’s advice on that whole ‘Selling Yourself’ thing he kept blathering on about. Bah,” he huffed, “what did he know?”
“Your main form is a giant skeleton made-up of other skeletons, with a giant blade for a right arm. All wrapped up in a black, tattered cloak.” Garret deadpanned.
“That’s supposed to be a problem?” Nito flatly replied. The pair were silent for a moment, before erupting into laughter.
Frampt nervously wet his lips, “Ah…if that is all, Gravelord, Chosen Undead, may I suggest—”
“Shut it.” Garret said, smile not leaving his face. Frampt did so promptly. Garret continued, “I’ve still got a number of things I want to do before I place the Lordsvessel in its receptacle. So, you just sit tight until I need you.”
The toothy serpent gulped, “As you wish.”
Garret nodded, then turned around. “C’mon Nito,” he said, “Let’s see if we can’t convince the last few sane folks here to come with us.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Nito replied. “It’s Anor Londo. Even if it’s a bit too gaudy a city for myself to call home, it’s a lot better than this sinkhole.”
A/N: I thought I’d be done with Garret’s side of things at this point. Ah well. Be sure to leave a review. Later.