Dearth of Gold (Elden Ring X Fairy Tail)

Major spoilers for Elden Ring and Fairy Tail. This is also an alternate universe for Fairy Tail, though I strictly maintain the overarching themes and feeling of the setting, as well as characters.

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The world burns.

Sickly yellow flames crest into the sky, merging atop the heavens to rain across the Lands Between. The Erdtree has become an ashen stump, unseen from neighbouring realms for the first time in millennia. Its demise only reinforces what all know amidst the madness: the Golden Order has fallen.

The Lord of Frenzied Flame has since departed for realms unknown. Melina, last living daughter, will soon follow. Vengeance is sworn. Destined death unsheathed.

But this is not Melina's story. It is that of another, one who did not survive. No, their remains are already consumed by the flames, or about to be. Fuel, kindling, no different from a piece of wood in function or value. All their ambitions laid bare and put to rest, all desires extinguished. Be it in battle or by another's hand, they have well and truly fallen.

Yet their spirit has not been grasped by the Erdtree, for it is no more. No reincarnation, no call of grace. They linger still, witnessing scraps of burning Leyndell. The Altus Plateau, Liurnia of the Lakes, verdant Limgrave, even rotten Caelid is ablaze all the same. They are everywhere and nowhere, a silent witness to the final end of an age.

Dead they should be, but aware they are and somewhere they go. The visions of fire fade and physical sensations begin to return. Motion that is not quite falling, a shift in more than just the ash-choked air. Wherever it is they go, it receives them first wary, then warmly.

They do not understand what is it that imparts momentum. The fate once bestowed has lost all meaning. What they feel dragging their spirit may be familiar, but their barely concious mind can not comprehend before the sensation fades. All they know is that they are going somewhere new, where the Golden Order has no hold. No Greater Will to impart fate upon all. No ring to crown the Lord.

They are a demigod. Child of a true deity, with the pedigree to match. Millennia of experience and knowledge emerge as shattered mind reforms and faded body assembles upon strings of gold. The full might of their pedigree manifests.

Emerging into the embrace of Earthland is...

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Pick Your Character
The options not chosen can be encountered later. Story focus and challenges change based on character, depending on the respective demigod's interests, strengths, and weaknesses.

[] Kindness, nearly drowned in blood yet undeterred

[] Naked ambition, unfulfilled even as fate burns to ash

[] A guardian bereft of purpose, once felled and twice blossomed

[] The last king of a crumbled realm, moving ever onward

A few words on what to expect in this Quest.

Themes:
Fairy Tail and Elden Ring are rather antithetical in their themes, one being an upbeat world where friendship is magic and the other a bit of a hellhole. But just like FT has its dark moments, ER lets brightness shine through on occasion.

I want to explore both of these things in this Quest. How this manifests will depend on the chosen main character, but the broad idea remains the same: there will be friendship, there will be heartwarming moments. But there will also be worry, fear, anger, and grief.

Unlike Fairy Tail proper, people can die and will stay dead. Unlike Elden Ring, not everyone is fated to die along the way. I want to meet somewhere in the middle, where death is a real concern but not a bogeyman lurking around every corner.


Characters:
Naturally, I will have to extrapolate a fair bit for Elden Ring's cast. We do not have much on how the demigods behave normally. I will try to give each of them a fair shake, though I invite everyone to share their own interpretation of a given character. Especially context clues like item texts that inform a given trait are welcome, as that helps me make this better.

On the Fairy Tail end, I am afraid we have a little problem. To be blunt, I dislike the particulars of most characters. Not who they are or what they stand for in most cases, but that these respective qualities were dialed up so far they overshadow the rest.

To give an example: Laxus is of the Jerk With A Heart Of Gold archetype. He is, however, so much of an asshole in early FT that his entire turnabout at the end of the Battle Of Fairy Tail arc feels too jarring. He goes too quick from jerk to actually having that heart of gold for me. As a consequence, I have dialled down his assholery by a notch or two as a default.

This is a recurring pattern I engage in. Those who read my previous Fairy Tail / Dark Souls story, Souls Betwixt, will remember what I mean. Newcomers who want a better idea can also go there before investing themselves here, if they want.

Oh, and one last matter: I know shipping is a thing. I am not going to stop you from engaging in it for as long as things stay civil. And as long as the shipping does not slip into the votes.


Updates:
Once a week, on Mondays. Votes will remain open until Thursday, though I may extend for contested votes.


Power Levels:
I have no plans to turn this into a vs thread; discussion is appreciated, but please keep it civil.

The primary lens through which I look at Elden Ring's characters is the lore. Gameplay only factors in to inform specific descriptions. You play as a demigod, child of Queen Marika the Eternal. This means more than just having a big health bar and some fancy moves. It means experience, intelligence, and power that few others can match.

When I say overpowered, this is not to mean just "in a fight". Again, the specialty depends on who is chosen. But at the same time, most of your options can throw down with just about anyone in Earthland. Some will be in trouble on occasion, others will not. But this is not a story about being the strongest anyway, so being able to punch out everyone else will not solve every problem.

For clarity's sake, I am adding rules here as needed.

• Write-ins are allowed
• Approval voting is allowed
• If a vote is tied, I pick my preference from the tied options as the winner