Modified the previous scene, and added in more. Still note sure I'm happy with it, but its better.
Sorry things are progressing slowly, its just that I keep getting distracted with other projects, then i forget about this, then something happens to remind me.
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Slowly the sound started to return. Predictably, said sound was shouting. Reah clearly hadn't been deafened in the first place, as she turned down the hall and yelled something that I still couldn't quite make out.
I could see just fine though, and Vince's worried expression was the first that I saw coming out of the shadows. After a brief pause to look around, he went straight to Reah and began babbling out worried questions. Oscar and Petrus strode through the murk shortly after. I couldn't see Oscars face, but Petrus was looking less than pleased.
Ok, seriously. One necromancer, and his room full of lackeys. I'm pretty sure any of the knights could have dealt with it by themselves. Oscar certainly could have, Petrus probably could have, and Nico wasn't exactly freaking out at the concept of facing the bone-heads either. Had I just taken Nico, I'm sure that we would have just gotten light praise at taking the initiative. Never mind that it probably would have turned out much more difficult had I done so.
I think that this is agitating me slightly. Reah is competent, and I'm about ninety percent sure that Nico would have punched me through the face had he thought that Reah was in any real danager.
Words slowly began to become clearer, and I begin to make out Vince and Reah's 'conversation' and… Oscar's chuckling? Well, at least someone is amused.
"…-eem to have made something of a mess through you then, Milady." I finally caught, hidden beneath Vince's fretting.
"Y-yes." Reah stammered. "I did not think that they would grant such power to aid one such as I."
"I told you that you didn't get to use that helpless maiden shtick anymore." I grumbled.
"What were you thinking, risking the lady like that?" Petrus grunted, looking at me coldly "She could have been killed. Do you have any idea-"
Ok, I've just been dragged into a terrifying crypt -that I've been very pointedly trying to not concentrate on so I don't freak out-, to fight skeletons and necromancers. I can't even put down the damn Skeletons for good. I, of all people, know how dangerous that this place is. I am the only person in the group at the moment that doesn't have a way to deal with the most common things we are likely to deal with. I'm well aware -more than anyone else here- what may or may not be lurking down here. Still, I took a breath, and forced myself to stay calm. Protecting Reah was his job, and despite having one of the clerical knights with me -which should absolve me of all of this hostility by the way, since Nico didn't object to my actions- I was still the one who took her away from the main group.
"-She is clearly not suited for this sort of fighting, and yet you put her right in the thick of it." He finished, "So what do you have to say for yourself?"
It might have be a little residual 'hollowness' from my last death. It might have been the stress of being cast as the bad guy despite having done the smart thing and dealt with a threat before it could build into something more dangerous. I might have just had enough of the condescending bull that was served up to me every time Petrus opened his mouth. It might even have been the raging hate I had for the sheer idiocy of people blatantly ignoring the devastation that 'innocent little girl' was capable of.
"Ok, no. 'What do I have to say for myself'?" I growled at him, "What I have to say for myself, you overbearing prick, is that Reah was in no danger. I expected Reah to eliminate the skeletons guarding the necromancer with a surprise attack, so I could put a Bolt into it without getting carved to pieces."
Petrus Scowl deepened, "Nothing ever goes the way we expect. There were a dozen things that could have gone wrong and-"
I stepped away from the wall and returned the glare petrus was giving me. "If that failed, Nico and myself would have been more than enough to block up the passage. Nico has a divine weapon -all of you do- so at the worst it would have been a waiting game until the deadties were finally put down. The Necromancer would have been easy pickings after that."
Vince had finally stopped his fretting over Reah, and listened to what was being said, though Nico was careful to keep between him and myself. I considered the thought prudent considering how hostile his expression towards me was.
Petrus stood his ground though "What if the necromancer had joined in on the attack? I have nothing but respect for the wards of Astora, yet the magical flames such creatures conjure are fit to reduce a man to in an instant." He gestured at my worn surcoat, "How long would it hold under such an assault? And what of Nico, who has no such protection at all?"
"Even in the absolute worst case scenario of both me and Nico dying stupidly, we would have bought enough time for her to run back to where you were arguing." I ground my teeth a bit, "Then, Oscar could have ashed them like he did the others." I took deep breath to try and cool my rising anger, "Instead, Reah made all of that pointless by calling down the fury of your gods, and turned everything in the room to dust and bloody smears. She turned the room-" I gestured to the rubble around us, "-into dust and smears. My precautions were pointless. I was pointless. Nico was pointless."
Vince and Petrus glanced around, and seemed to truly notice the debris around us for the first time. I wasn't sure that they understood the sheer amount of power to would have taken to cause this kind of collateral.
"Taking all of that into account, please keep in mind that while I might be a dirty godless heathen, and I might be a little bit reckless, I am not, however, stupid. You all brought me along for a reason Petrus, and it certainly wasn't due to my crossbow or skill with a sword. Consider that, and perhaps trust in the judgement of your fellow knight." I finished by nodding at Nico, who simply grunted and nodded back.
"Indeed," Oscar said, preventing what would have no doubt been an awkward silence. "And now, let us continue." He turned to Petrus, "I trust that Lady Reah will indeed be continuing with us?"
"Err… yes." Petrus nodded, slowly, as if somewhat dumbstruck, "Yes, that might be wise."
"Objections, Vince?"
Vince looked for a moment like he was going to anyway, but buckled "No milord." He shot me a fiery glare, "Not so long as she remains close."
"Well!" Oscar clapped his hands together, "Now that that is done, let us see if we can find the entrance to the catacombs proper."
"I believe that the stone plate in the room we were having our discussion in would be the gate." Petrus noted, "Perhaps there is a mechanism to open it?"
Well, there was a way in from what i remembered in the game, and it would make some sense if you considered it an extension of the graveyard. But then, why have an above ground graveyard in the first place? Something didn't make sense here, but i couldn't put my finger on it.
"I'm not entirely sure there will be." I noted. "Why would anyone bother to bury anything up top if there is a convenient way in?"
"The gods may be inclined to open the way." Reah said quietly.
Oscar nodded, "It may come to that. However, let us see if Petrus' mechanism exists before we go troubling them." He patted me on the shoulder, "Come. We can cover more ground if we split up."
I noticed... something in his voice, and i nodded confirmation. I turned to the rest of the group, "Meet back in front of the stone plate if no one finds anything?"
A chorus of grudging assents, then me and Oscar left the clerics to pick through the rubble.
Silence followed for a couple of minutes as we walked. It was becoming increasingly clear that Oscar didn't really think there was a mechanism, but that he wanted to talk to me away from the group.
Why he wanted a private conversation was becoming increasingly clear. It also agitated me. I made a bit of a show picking around looking for a device, and he did the same. Still, we couldn't hold it off forever.
"You're going to chastise me." I growled at him.
He nodded, "I am going to chastise you. But not for the reasons you think."
"Oh?" Seriously. What did i do wrong there?
"First, let me say that I approve of you taking the initiative. I approve of you being careful and taking Nico. I'm not sure I approve of you taking a non-combatant into a dangerous situation without more backup, but I am certainly not going to argue the results." Oscar sighed, and leaned up against, "Indeed, what you did was objectively correct given the circumstances. It was a rational decision, and indeed solved several problems."
"So where did i screw up then? Because we wouldn't be having this discussion otherwise." I asked. I won't lie, I just wanted him to get to the point. I knew it was a good move, though I didn't know how good it was at the time, but stoking my ego wasn't exactly the point of being chewed out.
"To the point then." Oscar said, "The problem is that people of seldom rational, and while it was a good move in regards to usage of our assets, it was a poor one for diplomacy and group cohesion."
He continued, "You have not made yourself Vince's friend. In addition, you have also undercut Petrus' authority." He sighed, "in addition, while bringing along Nico was an excellent move tactically, it also means that he could be seen as an accomplice to any of the perceived crimes of yours." He fiddled with a few straps, "I do not think that will be the case, but the possibility is on the table."
I frowned, "Ok, really?" i shook my head "I don't seriously think that anyone could be that stupid."
"Not all of us can be forces of rationality." Oscar noted, "And those afflicted with brotherly love can be less rational them most under the best of circumstances."
hadn't thought of that. I should have, I've seen plenty of people act like idiots for the dumbest reasons, but I'd more or less assumed that i was dealing with intelligent people here-
No, I was dealing with intelligent people. That's not the problem. The problem was that I'm dealing with people in general. Something that is surprisingly hard to remember when the people you're surrounded by technically aren't suppose to exist. Hell, its hard enough for me to remember when I was dealing with people period. When its at the front of my mind I do alright, but otherwise... I guess avoiding social activity because its hard wasn't my best call.
Not that being in a crypt was doing anything for my thought processes.
"I'm... Not terribly great with people." I admit quietly, "I work better when I'm left to my own devices."
"I'm beginning to note that pattern myself." Oscar said gently, "T'is strange. You were able to cover my own slip back at firelink, yet..."
"I made a pretty colossal goof here?" I snorted, "Easy to explain. Reah's devout, and honestly too humble for her own good. When she got huffy about the miracles thing, I put her on the spot with something that made sense." I adjusted my own straps, "Conversation's are easy. One can react to the reactions, and with a bit of wordplay can change the meaning, or clarify, or feign having used the wrong words. Doing stuff with people is much harder, because I can't see the reactions until its too late, and I can't exactly say that I accidentally made off with Reah to fight deadites."
"Indeed, and much harder to apologize for, especially when you have truly done nothing wrong but offend sensibilities." Oscar noted, before changing the subject, "I do not see anything that may constitute a gate mechanism. Perhaps we should rejoin the clerics?"
"Probably." I agree, letting him do so gratefully, "I just want to get this mess over with as soon as possible. I hate this place."
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SB Bonus
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Gwyn stepped through the gateway and stared out at the subterranean city of the dead.
For city it was. The marble walls gleamed in the pale blue light of the glowing spheres Nito had commissioned instead of the lamps that were more commonly used. Gwyn brushed his fingers gently over the engravings on the surface closest to him. The vines depicted were touched with ebony and stretched out as far as the eye could see. It was almost certainly done by magic, and Gwyn privately suspected that Nito had done much of it himself.
There were several mausoleums lining the 'street', a testament to the family that was entombed within. The closest had simple silver filigree, and the ebony engravings twisted into images depicting the lives of dead.
On the other side of the street, a great fissure in the ground. Peering over, the lord of sunlight could see more tombs, and caskets lining the walls. Every one different, and yet each precious, just as the lives of those who dwelt within. Each placed with loving care. Each granted their due rest.
Yes, Gwyn thought, the dead have certainly been paid due respect.
"Well? What dost thou think?"
Gwyn turned to his fellow lord, "T'is beautiful Nito. Thou hast an artist's hand."
