Accursed Citrine - Yet another Dark Soul/Madoka Magica Crossover

[X] Move on



The two of you sit there for a short while longer, enjoying the strangely comforting warmth of the bonfire. It feels like everything will work out fine, so long as you stay here; as if there's nothing wrong with the world.

Eventually, you manage to shake away the notion and pull yourself away from the fire, before heading back out into the outside world.

Returning to the small area where the no-dead crossbow Hollow lays slumped against the wall, Oscar nods his head at the short, then stone bridge crossing over to a little building. "Let's be careful. This is the perfect place to spring a trap."

"Do you think everywhere's a trap?" You retort, rolling your eyes. Even if you mock him, you do keep an eye out as you step forward. While you can spot a Hollow standing idly through the doorway at the end of the bridge, you also hear faint creaks of movement on rotten boards to your left.

You backstep just in time to avoid a firebomb landing on the bridge. A trap, just as Oscar said.

Once again stepping back up to the bridge, this time not going far enough to pass the cover of some weird towers, you peak up at your ambushers. Three Hollows stand up on a rickety wooden platform, each waiting to throw firebombs down at anyone wanting to cross the bridge.

You grin. Target practice.

Retrieving a few of your new throwing knives, you ready three in your right hand before ducking out from behind the towers. You throw the knives with all your might, looking forward to seeing these idiots with knives sticking out of their foreheads.

You hear a single soft thunk from one of the knives hitting the wooden platform and the others soar well above your targets. The Hollows don't even attack for a moment, just staring blankly at you as if to passively mock your abysmal throwing. They don't give you any longer than that before Oscar has to pull you back from the thrown firebombs.

"What the hell was that?!" You exclaim, frustrated.

"Throwing knives are a lot different to whatever those claws of yours are. You can't just toss them in the same manner and expect similar results." Oscar replies, shaking his head. "I'm honestly not even sure how you manage to throw your claws as well as you do, given their shape and size."

You heave an agitated sigh, crossing your arms in what totally isn't sulking. "That's dumb. I don't even need to think about it when I use my claws, so why should it be any different with these stupid little knives?"

"Perhaps you just need some practice. We can find a target dummy of some kind for you to work out your form with at some point." Oscar suggests, peaking around the tower to get a look at the Firebomb-Hollows. "For now, however, I recommend we deal with this in a manner we know will work."

As he says this, he retrieves a firebomb of his own from his little bag. He steps out onto the bridge with his shield raised to face the Hollows, catching all three of their bombs in his guard. Before they can take out more bombs, he tosses his own up at the left two Hollows. The little black ball shatters against one of them, engulfing them both in flames.

Oscar steps back behind cover as his victims plummets from the platform, wailing pained shrieks. He looks back at you, a small grin just visible through his visor.

This only serves to worsen your mood. Cheeky bastard's trying to one-up you? Well let's see if he can one-up this!

Summoning your claws and magical girl attire, you leap across the bridge and land on top of the building. Before the last Hollow can turn to throw its bomb, you jump again, landing on the platform right beside it.

A quick slash of your claws and you send it plummeting down into streets below, separated at the waist. You look down at Oscar with a big smirk, knowing he can't do anything as flashy as that.

He just shakes his head and starts making his way across the bridge.

Annoyed by his dismissal, you step over to the side of the platform with a grumble. You had planned on hopping down to the path, but you spot a hold with a shield standing right in front of the door to the building Oscar's about to enter. Stupid thing doesn't even seem to have noticed the fight that just went on above him.

Annoyed that not even the Hollows seem to find your showing off worth any attention, you drop down onto it. You land on the Hollow's head, sending it down into a nasty faceplant that would probably have incapacitated a normal person. You slash your claw through the back of its neck to keep it down when it growls.

Meanwhile, Oscar has entered the little building and you can hear the sounds of fighting inside. You sit down on a raised ledge and wait for him to finish up.

After a few moments, the fighting stops and Oscar opens the door.

"What took you so long?" You ask, grinning at him and kicking your feet idly. Oscar only sighs in response.

Hopping down off the ledge, you follow behind him as he continues on up a staircase to the next level.

You don't get much further, as you hear a gargled shriek the moment Oscar reaches the top. He raises his shield just in time to block a firebomb and pushes forward to face a charging Hollow.

Two more Hollows crowd around him – one with an axe and the other with a broken sword and a bag of bombs – seemingly unaware of your presence. You use this distraction to your advantage, rushing forward and slicing through the closest Hollow.

The firebomb-Hollow turns to you, his mouth hanging open and drool dropping from his rotten mouth. He steps back and raises a firebomb to throw at you, but you manage you duck under it and cut the Hollow in half.

The third Hollow is knocked to the ground almost in sync with the firebomb-hollow's death, and Oscar stabs his sword down into its chest with a grunt. He gives you a nod as he pulls his sword out.

"These guys are getting kind of-" Your comment is interrupted by a crossbow bolt embedding itself into the back of your shoulder.

Seriously? Again?!

Growling, you ignore the pain and look behind you in search of the bastard who shot you. You follow a tower up to find a Hollow working to reload his crossbow up on the battlements. With another growl, you leap up to the top of the tower in one go and cleave the Hollow's head off.

With your revenge dealt, you pull the bolt out of your shoulder and snap it with your hand. While you do this, you spot yet more Hollows, this time two with swords and shields.

"Hey Oscar, there's more of those Hollows with shields." You call down, poking your finger through the hole left in your clothes with mild annoyance.

"Yes, I noticed!" Oscar calls back, the sound of metal on metal accompanying him. You peak down over the battlements to see Oscar fighting with a Hollow with a spear and shield. Just like the two you encountered earlier, this one seems to be keeping defensive, thrusting out from around its shield without exposing itself.

Remembering how you dealt with the last pair, you take out a firebomb and toss it down on the unexpecting Hollow. It lands right on its head, shattering just as it's pulling back for another thrust.

Oscar thrusts his sword through the burning Hollows throat as it flails about against the fire.

"Thank you for the assistance." Oscar huffs as you hop back down from the tower.

You shrug and point your thumb past the tower where you saw the other two Hollows. "We're not finished yet. Still got two more down there."

Oscar sighs and rolls his shoulders. "Alright, I'll draw their attention while you get them from behind, just like we've been doing."

You and Oscar deal with these two Hollows just like that. You even have a nice raised spot to jump down on them from next to the stairs Oscar holds them at. Once the two Hollows are dead, Oscar nods over at some stairs leading up to a big tower.

"Looks like we can get up onto the wall from here. We should be able to cross over into the upper city if we follow that along."

You don't see anything wrong with that, so you star making your way-

Wait, who's that down there?

A small staircase branches off from the path, leading down to a little alleyway. At the end of that alleyway is an unnaturally tall figure clad in burnt-brown/black armour.

"Don't even think about it." Oscar says, apparently having noticed you stopping to look at this weird knight. "Black Knights may merely be the empty, violent shells of what they once were, but they originally served as Lord Gwyn's personal retinue. Just one is equal to a hundred Hollows, if not far more."

That guy doesn't look that though. Surely he's nothing compared to the dozens of Witches and veteran Magical Girls you've faced, right? Wait, is this just Oscar looking down on you again…?

Maybe you should attack this big dude just to prove you're not as much of an idiot as Oscar seems to think you are. It'd definitely help saving your own ego after the blunders you've made since you've arrived in the city…

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[] Save face by attacking the Black Knight

[] Listen to Oscar and let the Black Knight go about its business

[] Write in

[X] Listen to Oscar and let the Black Knight go about its business



For a few moments, you contemplate ignoring Oscar's warning. Surely, you can take this guy on no problem. Maybe he might be protecting something to do with Oriko?

But no, that's a stupid thought. With Oriko missing, you need to think for yourself. That Madoka girl said Oriko is somewhere high up in the city, so this guy being down here probably means he's not related. Plus, as much as his caution annoys you, he does know this place better than you. These 'Black Knights' might actually be serious business, and you do have to admit you don't really do well in tight quarters like the alley he's standing in…

With a disappointed huff, you shove your hands in your pockets and move on up the stairs. You'll have a chance to show off your competence later. There's no need to blindly rush into a fight you know nothing about. Oriko wouldn't approve…

"Kirika, watch out!"

You're suddenly literally pulled out of your thoughts by Oscar yanking you back by the arm. A burning barrel tumbles down the stairs you were just on and bounces over the railing before exploding.

Before you can even get a "thanks" out, you hear the growl of a Hollow behind you on the stairs. Oscar shoves past you and smacks the Hollow's sword away with his shield before thrusting his own sword into its gut. Instead of dying outright, the Hollow swings its sword back at Oscar while his shield is too far out to block.

You move quickly, slowing the fight down with your magic and summoning your claws. With a slash, you sever the limb at the elbow. Instead of embedding into Oscar's less protected neck, the sword only bounces off of his big pauldron.

Oscar steps to the right and kicks the Hollow off of his sword, sending it tumbling down over the edge to plummet off the cliff. With a deep breath, he leans against the wall. "Thank you for the rescue. I'd say that makes us even."

"Uh, y-yeah. No worries." You reply, scratching the back of your head a bit bashfully. "Thanks for the save."

Oscar nods and pushes off the wall. "Alright, let's keep an eye out for more traps. The Hollows appear to be getting more devious."

You follow behind him up the stairs, keeping alert for any kind f trick or ambush. Probably too much so, but you did just stupidly stumbling into one a moment ago…

The short climb up the stairs into the tower wall brings forth no more issues and you enter a small round room. A curved staircase leads up, presumably to the wall, while a bland wooden door blocks a way on the other side to where you entered.

You're both about to brush the door off as unimportant until you hear heavy footsteps resounding up from the other side. VERY heavy footsteps.

You and Oscar share a look, then you go over and put your ear up to the door. The heavy thump-thump footsteps sound, surprisingly, somewhat far away, but the heavy their vibrations cause it to reach all the way to the door.

"Let's not find out what that sound is." You say, stepping back away from the door.

Oscar nods. "Agreed. Anything with footsteps as heavy as those is something to avoid."

With both of you in agreement, you begin to ascend up the stairs.

The second floor has a bunch of barrels stacked about, probably just as fire-ready as the one that Hollow rolled down the stairs, but the next floor has a doorway leading out onto the wall. The stairs further up are smashed and crumbled, so outside you go.

Upon stepping out onto the wall, you see a stunning view of the sun shining in through the clouds. It's not just sunlight, but beams of the sun's rays creeping in to shine down on the city. The only thing that puts a damper on the view is the same odd sense of wrongness about it…

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Oscar asks, gazing up at the sunlight beside you. "I've heard that the sun shines brightly on the city of Lordran, basking the home of the Gods above in an eternal glow."

"That sounds kinda inconvenient, doesn't it?" You reply, looking away from the light. "I mean, how do they sleep if it's always day? Even Gods need to sleep, right?"

Oscar chuckles at the question. "I never thought about that. It does seem rather troublesome, no? Perhaps the legends are just that. Though it would certainly be a bit disappointing…"

"Yeah, well the only prophetic nonsense I believe is what Oriko tells me." You say, stretching and moving along the wall. "Ah, not that anything Oriko says is-!"

You're interrupted by a loud, animalistic roar. At the other end of this section of wall, a giant horned beast jumps down from the tower. It's covered in a redish-brown fur and is wielding a giant bloodied axe. Oscar called the monster back at the Asylum a demon, but this fits the image of what you've seen in western-based stories much better.

Oscar immediately steps forward, readying his shield. You're not sure what it'll do against the demon's massive axe, but you suppose it's better than nothing. You summon your claws and magical girl attire, then step up beside him.

"Don't get smashed through the roof again, okay?" You say with a checky smirk.

"That was just unfortunate luck!" He retorts. "A tile gave way under my feet and I was unable to move."

You snicker. "Right, well just make sure to-"

You're once again interrupted by a sharp pain in your back. You look down to find the tip of a crossbow bolt sticking out of your chest. Why the hell does everyone always shoot when I'm mid-sentence?!

Your brain having processed that you have a bolt wedged through your chest, you suddenly find it difficult to breath. Shit, it must've gone through one of your lungs. Gasping for air, you grip the bolt and pull. It catches on your rib and sticks halfway, causing a stab of agony to shoot through you.

Grinding your teeth, you bite back quite a few foul words that come to mind and push the bolt back in ever-so-slightly. Twisting it a bit, you yank on it again, this time the full shaft coming out without much difficulty.

The now open hole in your chest begins to flow with blood and you feel your punctured lung filling with your own life fluids. Stumbling sideways, you lean against the wall's battlements and try to focus your mind on healing the injury.

The chink of another bolt hitting the stone at your feel makes it clear that you don't have time to fully heal. Neither does the loud roar and heavy footsteps of the demon charging down the wall towards you.

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[] Fight through the pain
[] Cut off your sense and ignore the pain
[] Drink some Estus
-[] Put it back in the bag
-[] Hand it to Oscar

[] Battle plan
-[] Let Oscar fight the demon while you deal with the archers
-[] Fight the demon while Oscar deals with the archers
-[] Write in