Accursed Citrine - Yet another Dark Soul/Madoka Magica Crossover

[X] Look at Kirika's Page of Sins
-[X] Discreetly, if possible
[X] Buy something from Oswald
-[X] 2 Purging Stones



You frown at the idea that some weird god has been spying on you this whole time. A goddess of sin, especially. What does she want with you? You only want to find Oriko, so you can't think of any reason this god would have any interest in you. Your frown deepens when you remember Oswald saying you you're 'experienced in sin', so maybe she's just interested in what else you'll do?

"Kirka?" Oscar asks, looking down at you. "Is something wrong?"

You shake your head. "Ah, no. Nothing." You respond before looking at Oswald. "Hey, what does Velka actually do about sin again? She's interested in sinful people?"

Oswald's grin widens. "Indeed, very interested! When sin is observed, whether through one of My Lady's servants or a wronged coming to accuse, the sinner's name is placed within the Book of the Guilty. If their crime is sufficient and they are unwilling to atone, then they are made known to the blades of the Darkmoon Knights, and their fate is sealed."

"That sounds like a pain for the sinner…" You mumble, catching an odd look from Oscar through his visor. You shake your head again and turn to your friend. "Can you get the purging stones? I want to check something."

You don't wait for his response and instead step outside. You find a space to sit where you won't be disturbed, deciding on the edge of the floor around the backside of the belltower, and dig your Book of the Guilty out of your bottomless box. Once you're settled in, you start flicking through the pages in search of your own name.

It takes a little while to find your entry and you're surprised to find you're actually ranked lower than Oriko. Your list of sins is still just as long, however. Murders, more murders, a few assaults (wait, when did you attack Oriko?) and yet more murders. A few collusions in murder where you weren't able to keep Oriko from bloodying her own hands. Apparently it also counts withholding truths, though it seems to only care if it was a big deal (it was for Oriko's sake!)

Even if it's long behind you, you're somewhat relieved to find shoplifting isn't on the list. It seems like Velka can understand accidents and false accusations, although you're not entirely sure how this god knows about the things you've done in another world.

You pause at one of the crimes amidst the wall of murders. Assisted suicide: Oriko Mikuni.

You frown deeply. What does that mean? Suicide? Oriko? No, you watched her die. The last thing you ever saw was that black-haired girl putting a gun up to her head. Is the book wrong? Is the goddess wrong? It somehow knows everything else, so surely it can't have been a misunderstanding, right?

You tighten your grip on the book and a few pages start to rip. You'd never want Oriko to die. You'd never help her kill herself. You'd never…

Oriko said she was the happiest right before you marched on your school. She said it was the first time she could just be herself. Now that you think about it, that does sound like something you'd read in a suicide note of some cliché drama, but the whole point was to save the world, right? That was Oriko's wish. You were only making sure Oriko didn't become someone other than Oriko, right? You were fulfilling Oriko's wish!

"Caw!"

You blink a few times at the bird's cry and realise you've done a fair bit of damage to the book. The paper has a fair few pages that have been crumpled or torn and even the thick leather cover has a few rips in it.

You look to your right to find that crow that flew off when you arrived standing beside you, looking up at you with its black eyes. With an annoyed growl, you shoo the bird away and lean back to look over the city.

Whatever happened in the past, Oriko is alive here somewhere. Even if it means doubling or tripling your list of sins, you will bear them all to find her.



(Oscar has spent 6,000 souls, leaving 5,706)

---

[] Keep flipping through the book at random

[] Head back inside
-[] Talk to someone
-[] Buy something else from Oswald
-[] Absolve sin
--[]Try to absolve Oriko's sin
-[] Leave (write in)

[] Write in

[X] Keep flipping through the book at random
-[X] Keep an eye out for people we know, like that Griggs guy or that knight. The one that's not Oscar. Also maybe Oscar, though he's probably not in here.



You heave a long sigh and summon your soul gem. Tiny black wisps float about in the citrine and flicker at the edges, but it's nowhere near enough to worry about. Even if it was, you know from experience becoming a witch won't end your dedication to Oriko. You'd find her, whether as a girl or a monster.

That was your wish, after all. To be useful to Oriko. To be whatever she needed. You only ever wanted to be by her side…

Idly, you notice the crack that started the end of your time with Oriko has been repaired at some point. The damage no amount of healing or care from Oriko could heal, dealt by the one girl that survived you. When had it fixed itself, though? Was it fine when you first woke up here? Maybe its has something to do with the bonfires.

Whatever the case, you're somewhat impressed by the little stone's usefulness. It's no wonder that Griggs guy was so interested in it.

Griggs.

Oscar was concerned about him. He kept saying his group were super dodgy people. The guy seemed pretty pissed that you didn't let him touch your soul gem, so maybe you should do some research on him?

Returning your attention to the book, you start flicking through the pages at random in search of the shady sorcerer.

You find his name pretty quickly thanks to the surprising number of crimes pinned on him.

Manipulation, betrayal, espionage, assassination. More than anything, murder. So many murders. Almost as many as you.

You were right when you saw the look of a killer in his eyes. Oscar was right to mistrust him, according to this. Maybe you should just gut him next time you see him, just in case?

At that though, your mind drifts to another shady dude Oscar was unsure about. What was his name, you muse, flicking through the book? Larry? Lawrence? Laaaau….

Ah, Lautrec! Here it is!

More murder, which at this point seems to be a given for getting into the book. Betrayal. Stealing. Lying to manipulate.

Seems like kind of a shitty guy, although you suppose you can't talk. You almost feel a kind of pride in knowing Oriko far surpassed him, but you suppress that thought.

Kind of getting into this sin-searching, you decide to keep going. Oswald said something about Oscar having some sins of his own, so maybe you can dig up some dirt to mess with him later?

Strangely, you find Oscar's entry almost right away, as one of the tags filling the book specifically marks it. You expect a short list of minor things, but while it's short, it's not nearly as minor as you thought.

Betrayal. Murder of comrades. Murder of a lord. Murder of a sibling. Assisted suicide.

You frown at the words. Oscar did all that? Your polite, cautious and generally knight-like Oscar? Surely not. Maybe you got mixed up with another Oscar?

"Kirika? Are you ready to head off?"

Your investigative flicking through pages is stopped by Oscar's voice from around the corner. He must be finished with Oswald.

"Kirika, where did you go?"

"H-Here!" You call back, scrambling to your feet and shoving the book back into your magic box.

The knight steps around the tower's corner and looks you up and down. "There you are. What were you doing out here?"

"Just, uh… looking through that big book we got from Oswald." You reply, kicking your feet.

"I see…"

---

[] Head off
-[] Return to Firelink
-[] Stop by Andre
-[] You can't keep avoiding the sewer…
-[] Write in

[] Discuss what you found in the book
-[] About Griggs and Lautrec…
-[] Confront Oscar

[] Go talk to Oswald

[] Write in

[X] Head off
-[X] You can't keep avoiding the sewer…



You clear your throat and start walking back towards him. "So, uh… did you get those stones?"

He nods and retrieves something from a pouch on his belt. "Indeed. They weren't the cheapest, but I believe they'll come in handy nonetheless." He says, holding out his hand to show you the pair of Purging Stones.

"Cool. Great." You say with a nod. You then make a face. "Well, I guess we better get back to finding your bell."

"Yes, I suppose we can't put off descending into those sewers anymore." Oscar agrees, sounding just as unenthusiastic as you are.

The two of you begin heading back the way you came in mostly silence. Perhaps it's the apprehension of slogging your way through a sewer keeping you both quiet. You know in your case it's mostly thinking about Oscar's entry in the Book of the Guilty.

Murder is understandable. This place is an absolute hellhole and you can't imagine many would get by without doing something dodgy. But it said he murdered a lord and a sibling. Were they the same person or different? What made him do it? You don't have any siblings, but the closest thing you can think of to murdering a lord is killing Oriko. The very thought makes you want to shudder.

"Is something wrong?" Oscar asks, obviously noticing your very subtle occasional glances.

You shake your head and chuckle awkwardly. "Ah, no! Nothing at all!"

He eyes you for a moment but doesn't press further. Does he suspect you? You doubt he'd be able to take you in a fight, but could he try? You've never needed anyone but Oriko in the past, and any alliances were just Oriko using them for a while before throwing them away. You don't really want to kill him, but if he tries something…

No. No, you won't kill Oscar without a reason. He knows more about what's going on in this place than you do and it'd be a pain having to deal with all the crazy stuff on your own. Plus, he doesn't seem like that bad of a guy. A bit overly knight-like, but still way better than any of your fake friends back before you kicked the bucket.

"Oh, hello dearies! Heading down into the nice moist tunnels, are you? Hehehe!"

You were so caught up in your thoughts (you've been thinking a lot harder since you woke up here) that you jump at the Hollow lady's voice. She and Oscar give you an odd look, but you shake your head and step past her. You hear Oscar say something to her behind you, but ignore them. You don't like awkward situations, and explaining yourself to anyone besides Oriko tops the list of what you consider as much.

Not wanting to think about it, you quickly follow the stairs down the tower towards where the sewer entrance is and-

An arrow impacts beside your head.

Grumbling, you summon your claws and peak down at the Hollow archer standing on the raised platform in the middle of the tower. Didn't you just kill this asshole? You deal with him no probably by stepping off the edge and cleaving him in half before he can even get another arrow ready.

Let's see how long it takes for him to come back from that…

"Kirika?" Oscar calls, appearing at the top of the stairs.

"Down here." You call back, waving up at him.

"Playing with the Hollows, are you?" He asks as he steps down towards you.

You take a moment to process his words and stare at him dumbfounded. "Was… Was that a joke?"

"Is it so strange?" He asks, sounding genuinely insulted.

You shrug as he reaches you and you both carry on down the stairs together. "Well, you're always pretty stoic and all that. Kind of a downer at times." You say, poking him a bit.

Oscar chuckles. "Well, our surroundings have been in somewhat in poor taste for jokes. I admit I'm probably not the centre of a party, but I'm still human."

"Hmm, I guess." You mumble, putting your hands behind your head and leaning back. "But I always imagined knights were all 'honour and duty!' and that kind of thing."

"Well, I won't deny I hold my duty rather highly." He says strangely hesitantly. "But I had a lively younger sister that would keep me on my toes. I suppose I've likely picked up a few things from her."

"Had…?"

Murder of a sibling.

Oscar turns back when you pause. "What's wrong? Did you forget something?"

"No… still nothing." You mutter back, stepping past him with a frown.

Did Oscar kill this little sister of his? If so, why?

You don't have time to think about it, because you're suddenly assaulted by the stench of the sewer. You quickly shut off your sense of smell before you're inclined to bring up whatever your last meal was.

"Well, the quicker we get this over with, the quicker we can leave." Oscar mumbles more to himself than to you. You see him take a deep breath before starting down the stairs.

You don't expect to follow him down into a somewhat normal-looking storage room, but you're even more surprised to find the next flight of stairs leads you to a wide hallway with open windows looking over what looks like a big kitchen area.

Clearing the few Hollows that jump out at you in the hallway is no problem and you take a moment to look down at what's ahead.

Down another set of stairs is a makeshift eating area, with rickety tables and benches around the place. A whole mob of hollows, many with torches, wanders about mostly aimlessly. Below that you can make out flickers of a cooking fire and the bubble of something boiling. The thunk thunk thunk of someone cutting with a heavy blade echoes around the room. Through the gaps in the eating area's floorboards, you can make out a less than pleasant-looking pit of sludge and water.

"Not quite what I was expecting." Oscar comments dryly. "A lot of blind spots for Hollows to be lurking."

---

[] Head down into the kitchen
-[] Battle plans go!

[] Talk to Oscar
-[] About his sister
-[] About his "sins"
-[] Write in

[] Write in