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In the Age of Ancients the world was unformed, shrouded by fog. A land of gray crags, Archtrees and Everlasting Dragons. But then there was Fire and with fire came disparity. Heat and cold, life and death, and of course, light and dark. Then from the dark, They came, and found the Souls of Lords within the flame. Nito, the First of the Dead, The Witch of Izalith and her Daughters of Chaos, Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, and his faithful knights. And the Furtive Pygmy, so easily forgotten.

With the strength of Lords, they challenged the Dragons. Gwyn's mighty bolts peeled apart their stone scales. The Witches weaved great firestorms. Nito unleashed a miasma of death and disease. And Seath the Scaleless betrayed his own, and the Dragons were no more.

Thus began the Age of Fire. But soon the flames will fade and only Dark will remain. Even now there are only embers, and man sees not light, but only endless nights. And amongst the living are seen, carriers of the accursed Darksign.
Yes, indeed. The Darksign brands the Undead. And in this land, the Undead are corralled and led to the north, where they are locked away, to await the end of the world... This is your fate.

Only, in the ancient legends it is stated, that one day an undead shall be chosen to leave the undead asylum, in pilgrimage, to the land of ancient lords, Lordran.

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To the nameless undead, time was the only thing he had left. Left abandoned in the deepest cell of the undead asylum he found it nothing more than a curse. His body laid emotionless propped up against a moss covered wall, stripped of everything he found that even his name felt like it was taken away as all that was left was fleeting memories and fragments of his life too distant for him to even put into focus anymore.

The man who rather what was left of him was an undead, A fate worse than death if he hadn’t been captured he would be forced to wander the land awaiting a death that will only come once he became a hollow.

The word hollow sparked something in his mind recalling a vague memory that slowly came in to focus the more he concentrated… that’s right he actually met one once…

He recalled staring at a man walking, everything around him was too foggy to focus but he remembered the man, a elderly beggar walking aimlessly, he remembered his eyes lifeless and gray as if the soul had already left the body but it just didn’t know it yet. Did he feel pity for the man or fear? The undead’s couldn’t remember or bother to guess as the hollow beggar walked straight through a blade of a fuzzy figure. It took the beggar a moment to register what happened before simply falling back onto the ground as a white shimmering aura encompassed his corpse before the whole thing vanished as the memory ended.

That was his fate now there was no denying it, shifting ever so slightly he gazed upon his own body. It was rotten and a sickening pink with several toes as well as the ends of all of his fingers missing, his head was bald with his eyes sunken and slightly as even his own nose chipped away long ago. The only thing in his cell what’s the broken hilt of some sword which barely had any edge left to it as well as a rotting piece of cloth that more or less acted as a loincloth for the undead.

Reluctantly the undead turned towards the iron door of his cell, despite it’s rusty appearance it still held strong against the sword hilt as he had long abandon any attempt at breaking it down. Closing his eyes the undead attempted once more to simply wait out the end of the world as with his mind going blank he once again felt the darkness deep within his very being nipple way everything inside is mine.

Was this what going Hollow feels like? If so it wasn’t so bad, it was nothing, just pure nothing, it was as if he was slowly sinking into tar and though it clung tightly she’s being he didn’t bother struggling as it continue to pull him in faster and stronger.

The undead’s felt more than content letting oblivion take him that was however until something finally happened

A low heavy thud caused his eyes to shoot open as laying on the ground before him there was now a corpse with the leather cord wrapped around its neck and the end of it held a rust covered key. Pulling his shocked eyes away from that, The undead looked up and song in the iron grates above their stood a knight, his armor shining in gleaming as he looked back at him The force slowly getting up and moving out of sight.

Hesitantly the undead slowly peeled himself off of the stone wall and crapped towards the corpse picking up the leather cord as if it was some priceless necklace?

It… it just couldn’t be… could it?

Hesitantly the undead shaking Lee slips the key into the rusted iron door before slowly twisting followed by a slight clicking noise. Shaking with anticipation the undead places of withering hand on the door slowly pushing it open and for the first time in a very, very long time the undead took his first steps to freedom.

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The nameless undead moved slow and methodical as he reached out to grab the key fearing that it would shatter like glass in his fragile hands. It had occurred to him that some point during his affliction he had lost the sensation of touch in his hands and it took a few tries before he eventually managed to grip it properly and carry it to the lock of his cell door, The nameless undead would’ve gasped if he remembered how to when the cell door slowly opened for the first time since his imprisonment.

The hallway that housed his prison was dark and crumbling with the left side littered with cell doors into the right some sort of dungeon that he did not remember caged off with rusty iron bars. Though he couldn’t explain it the nameless undead felt a great fear when he looked to the pitch black dungeon with the only sound being a heavy scraping noise of stone meeting stone.

taking his first few steps of freedom was clumsy and awkward The cell he was kept and was barely long enough for him to lay down little little walk but call its stubbornness or determination he continued to walk down the hallway clutching the rusty key in one hand and the hilt of a broken sword in the other, an item he had no memory of owning nevertheless how it came to be in his hand

The undead he passed were a rotting pink color dressed in equally rotting rags, none of them acknowledged him as he thought it was for the best most likely thinking that he was one of them to which he remembered cruelly that he was.

The first junction he met looked to be connected to some sort of ancient sewer line as though all the passages say for a crumbling ladder were blocked he saw water for the first time in a very long time. Stepping into it he was surprised to feel a sudden shock of cold creeping up his legs, by the gods above he missed water.

Though being a dead men tell no longer needed to eat or drink that didn’t mean he missed it or that his body would slowly dry up without it

he felt the strong urge to throw his head into the water and drink as much as he possibly could but at seeing bits of flesh and dirt broke away from his body to flow with the gentle current he thought better of it.

climbing up the ladder he was greeted to a dusty ash Courtyard that lead to massive double doors. It was completely empty safe for what looked to be a spiral coiled sword stabbed into the middle of what looked to be a bonfire of ash and human bone.

At this a fragment of a memory slipped into his mind. The nameless undead saw a dark gloomy but clean courtyard lit with torches as he felt a blade scratch from his neck digging all the way down his body cutting into the flesh while they stripped him

“The it is… he is marked with the sign!” A voice shouted through the throbbing in his eardrums

“Mark it, and leave it to the others” another voice shouts

The nameless undead suddenly flung himself back as he remembered a piercing pain in between his shoulder blades that felt like it burned into the very core of his soul.

when the nameless undead opened up his eyes he found himself laying in the ashy courtyard that was dead and deserted with a dark cloudy sky hanging above

he needed to get out of there. He need his freedom, for the first time in a long time he felt something in his veins A burning desire for freedom that over powered the crushing darkness that was eating away at him.

The first thing he needed was a proper weapon but the only thing he saw that was available was that same coiled sword. Reaching out he grips the blade by the hilt only for him to be thrown back by a small explosion

whipping his head forward he saw that the sword was now burning hot like a bonfire but despite the explosion he did not seem to get burned in anyway in fact he couldn’t help but stare at the flame as it felt oddly enchanting. He crept closer… and closer… and closer until he found himself almost touching the flame as he bask in the warmth of it.

This warmth he felt radiated into his heart it was then he remembered where he felt this before… it was joy, The flame had brought him joy and as the nameless undead reached a bony hand up to his face he felt what was left of his lips crack into a smile.

he felt he could spend the rest of his life in front of this fire but after standing up the desire for him to escape burned even brighter, with more memory fragments slowly entering his mind the nameless undead remembered that there was a grand entrance hall before him just behind the doors and beyond that his freedom

foregoing any attempt at removing the coiled sword from its resting place the nameless undead marches up to the massive door and with a great struggle managed to force it open just wide enough for him to squeeze through.

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The nameless undead entered the entrance hall which was paved in lopsided stone with high hanging pillars supporting a mostly collapsed roof on the other side of the hall was another set of grand doors underneath the balcony that he knew held his freedom. With the warmth still in his heart The nameless undead charged to it, his determination standing stronger than anything else not even the awkward angle his foot was as he ran however everything changed when the dark shadow quickly appeared before him followed by a violent shaking that sent him knocked to the ground for now something had approached him… and to his horror it wasn’t undead but something much worse.

Standing before him was a colossus of a demon standing at least 15 feet tall it’s large moose like horns were only rivald by it’s obese spotty and it’s inhumanly large mace. The demon gave a bloodcurdling roar forcing the undead into flight as he tried running away back through the large doors. To the name of sun‘s horror a sheet of white fog manifested at the doorway causing him to collide harshly by some sort of magical force keeping him trapped with the demon. He knew what he had to do it was killer be killed and some sort of stubborn instinct in his body refused to let him lay down to let the demon kill him even though he knew he had no hope at defeating it, now armed with just the hilt of some broken sword the nameless undead charges at the demon and for the first time in a very long time he heard a scream of war escape his dry lungs

If this was a story of Hope and triumph one would expect the nameless undead to have beaten all the odds and killed The colossus of a demon but unfortunately such fantasies did not exist here.

The name is undead only managed to barely scratch a scale on the demons massive belly before he was knocked flying into the air and hit one of the large pillars while he felt as if every bone in his body was just shattered when he fell and hit the ground, The world was spinning his head was killing him as any hope of standing felt impossible as when the name was sundad looked down he saw that both of his legs were broken and twisted at horrible angles. If it wasn’t for what looked to be a large chunk of stone sticking out of his chest, the nameless undead felt like he would scream or even tried to plead with the demon as it slowly marched over. but given the grin on it’s twisted ugly face, he doubted he would receive any mercy.

The creature laughed giving a play for kick that sent the undead rolling away from the pillar and bumping against a nearby wall littered with ground up bone and dust, at the side of the crushed skulls and dented armor around him he knew that this is where the demon loved to finish off its victims.

Has the demon raised up its massive mace ready to smash them into the corner the name is undead dig the hilt of the sword into the stone ground fling himself just out of the way, what happened next came at a complete shock.

He found himself on the entrance of some sort of hidden passageway that was just hidden by the pillars. It was dark and descended deeper into the asylum but he refused to be killed by this monstrosity as he pushed himself once more off the ground and down the flight of stairs just as an explosion of stone showered behind him followed by a roar of fury. The nameless undead fell down the stairs not having an ounce of strength to even brace himself as he descended down the narrow passageway as his final moments of consciousness was met when he collided with some thin metal beam that finally cracked his last good rib that the demon didn’t manage to do with its attack

When the nameless undead opened up his eyes he was amazed that he still found himself clinging to this world but more shocking he found that his legs were still attached to his body and somehow were put to right and moved at his command, his ribs no longer felt broken and the stone shard that lodged itself into his chest was now laying on the ground next to him with the wound mysteriously stitched up leaving nothing but the rotting flesh that was already there to begin with.

The shock at finding his body regenerated was slowly fading as his attention soon found itself to a pressing heat against his back. Turning around the nameless undead saw that it was another coiled sword piercing a stone ground with this small chunk of hallway and now burning with the same blissful flame he remembered fondly. Whatever this bonfire was there seem to be more of them not only that he suspected it was the reason he was still alive and somehow mended his injuries save for his rotting flesh.

Turning his attention back up the stairs he fell down he saw that the entranceway was almost completely caved in as he saw him staring back at him was the burning yellow eye of the demon watching him through the rubble . The nameless undead felt like he could laugh the abomination was too fat to get anywhere near him and from what he can see, looked like it threw a temper tantrum trying to smash the hallway wider to get to him

Not wanting to test if the demon would eventually get to him. The nameless undead got up to look for what little possessions he had. The hilt could not be found no matter how hard he looked as it was most likely either buried in the collapsed hallway or still in the room with the demon both of which not an ideal situation for him. By some miracle of the key to his cell managed to stay with him as he found it a few feet away from the bonfire, not wanting to lose it he decided to wrap it around his hips with the leather cord acting as some sort of crude belt to the scraps he treated as clothes.

Not wanting to stay any longer he ventured further down the hallway making a sharp turn to the left as immediately an arrow struck a few inches away from his head at the far end of this collapsed hallway student and dead armed with a bow and arrow clearly triggered happy as surrounding him were corpses covered in broken arrows and shrapnel.

With a grin the undead pulled an arrow out of the closest corpse to fire at him but the nameless one didn’t survive a demon just to be killed by some mad undead with a bow, charging at the Archer the name is undead grabbed The shattered remains of a barrel as a shield and used it to shield himself while the creature before him panics and runs away “you… will… die!!” The name is undead shouted grabbing a Club off the ground and ran into the following chamber up a flight of stairs where he mercilessly beaded the undead before him. He continue to hammer away until eventually the archers had caved in with Blood splattering the stone floor before him

It was then the name of the sun dead felt something as a tiny white wisp left his victim and flew around him as he felt a shiver of an emotion he did not want to name as the white wisp seemingly entered his body from in between his shoulder blades

Looking down at the corpse he regretted his ferocity as now the archers bow was nothing but splinters. If nothing else left for him he finished climbing the flight of stairs finding himself on the second level of the asylum that overlooked the courtyard that housed the first bonfire

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Venturing further through the asylum he felt stronger as the nameless son Dad was now armed with a Club and crude shield despite him seemingly only be able to kill the undead The fact that he was capable somehow reassured him that he would be able to escape this asylum somehow.

Once again he was greeted with even more stairs as the steps going down looked like they lead back down to the courtyard through another hidden passageway but the steps leading up seem promising. Unfortunately as he was making his way near the top the nameless undead saw what looked to be A massive iron ball slowly slowing being rolled towards him by another undead. He barely managed to get out of the way by jumping down back into the courtyard as the metal ball crashed and shattered through a stone wall. After surviving that name with undead made short work of killing his would be assassin however any hopes of going beyond those stairs were lost when he found that the gate leading beyond it was locked up tight

Turning back down towards the steps he saw that indeed the metal ball crashed clean through a wall into another room so he decided to pursue it hoping against hope that it would lead to the outside. He was wrong as instead he saw a small room slightly bigger than his cell but buried under bricks and heavy stones he saw it… it was the knight, The same one in the same armor they give him the key to escaping and by the looks of his helmet turning towards him he was still alive

“...Oh, you...“ he said causing the name of us undead to jump back slightly as he spoke in a soft almost charming accent. The night paused for a moment as he stared at the name was undead for a moment

“You're no Hollow, eh?“ he asked as all the nameless one could do was nod

“Thank goodness... “ the knight said taking in a wheezing breath of air

“I'm done for, I'm afraid... I'll die soon, then lose my sanity... “ He said staring down at the heavy stone debris that pinned him

“I wish to ask something of you... You and I, we're both Undead... Hear me out, will you?“

“Y… yes” The nameless one croaked out as he slowly moved forward placing his weapon down as he approach the man.

“...Regrettably, I have failed in my mission... But perhaps you can keep the torch lit... “ he said giving a violent cough

There is an old saying in my family... Thou who art Undead, art chosen... In thine exodus from the Undead Asylum, maketh pilgrimage to the land of Ancient Lords... When thou ringeth the Bell of Awakening, the fate of the Undead thou shalt know... Well, now you know... And I can die with hope in my heart... “ He said with his voice sounding more horsed by the moment with Blood slowly staining the top portions of the blue robe resting on top of his armor

“Oh, one more thing... Here, take this... An Estus Flask, an Undead favourite... Oh, and this... he said” with foot little strength he had left he managed to pull free one of his arms holding out a glowing yellow flask as well as a key similar to the one that freed the nameless undead

Silently he took the items carefully placing them on the floor next to his weaponry before gripping the man’s arm. The nameless undead didn’t know much in the way of comfort but he figured the man did not wish to die alone

The knight stared at him for a long moment returning the grip before it slowly slipped free

“...Now I must bid farewell... I would hate to harm you after death... So, go now... And thank you...” he said turning his head to the side and just like that no longer moved afterwards

The nameless undead stared at him for a moment longer before slowly getting up and instead of walking away slowly began lifting stones off of the knight, One by one they slowly formed a pile until eventually his body was free. For a fleeting moment the nameless undead considered taking his armor as well as what looked to be a beautiful sword and shield carefully maintained and polished however a sense of pride he did not know he possessed prevented him from doing such acts. But instead he removed the knights helmet revealing an alarmingly young man Who would’ve had to of been in his late 20s if not early 30s and look to more alive than anything he has ever seen in a long time.

The nameless undead walked over to collect the flask staring at the liquid that almost seemed to glow within it. He desperately wanted to drink it but instead turned to look at the knight. It was an undead favorite or so he claimed but for whatever scraps of his heart that remained the undead couldn’t bring himself to taste it. He felt like this was a drink only worthy for a man to drink and unfortunately he did not feel like he was that anymore.

Kneeling down before the night he propped open his mouth slightly and dumped whatever remained in the flask into his mouth hoping that he would somehow saver his final drink.

The nameless undead spent a few minutes more collecting the sword and shield resting them on top of the knight ceremoniously and before freezing as he saw his own face within the reflection of the polished blade, it was horrific rotting scarred mutilated, he was ever thankful for the lapse in memory as he did not wish to know what his face used to look like before he died.

With a silent goodbye The nameless undead left taking the key with him, he wanted to take the flask with him but with his arms already full with his club and shield he did not want to risk tying it to the leather cord that held the keys in fear of the old material finally snapping and shattering the glass flask. Climbing up the stairs once more he unlocks the gate adventures further into the asylum.

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The nameless undead continue to battle his fellow prisoners through out the narrow passageways that quickly lead him to a small caged up balcony. Disposing the archers felt like child’s play this point as the hollows were slow and clumsly giving the nameless undead enough time to finish them off before they could load up another arrow. Once again feeling that same euphoria as white wisp of energy escaped the corpses and slipped in between his shoulder blades once again, he wasn’t entirely clear what that was but he could question it once he was free.

Two things caught his attention once he had finished vanquishing the hollows, on his left he found himself looking at what looked to be another fog gate immediately welcoming him back inside the asylum but what interest him the most was what was just beyond the balcony. Staring out behind the iron bars The name is undead began to remember something very important about the asylum, staring out to just beyond the asylum itself what is a small stretch of road that ended in nothing as the asylum itself was built on a tall plateau specifically designed to keep the undead from going any further if they somehow managed to escape.

The team was sundead gripped the bar is a bit tighter remembering that I if he somehow managed to escape he would still need to find his way to the lift that was used to transport them up the plateau otherwise he stood no chance at escaping.

His worrying thoughts were soon pushed aside when a gentle breeze swept through the bars and caressed his face

Closing his eyes the nameless undead slowly stretched out his arms as he took a slow deep breath filling up his rarely used lungs. The fresh air felt foreign as the sun carefully crept out of the clouds slowly warming his withered and rotten body but that wasn’t on his mind at the moment.

Add this moment he enjoyed a simple pleasure he was denied for so long he didn’t even remember it existed until that very moment.

Laughter filled his ears, The bubbling babble of an infant squealing with joy in as well as a gentle smile on a vague form that made his heart swell up, for a moment it’s spoke something intangible to the undead as if it was being drowned out by the piercing silence surrounding them.

When the nameless undead snapped back into reality he found himself still gripping the iron bars of the cage ever more tightly before he slowly relaxed his hands and pulled away. He couldn’t stay, he needed to get out and get his far away from this asylum that he can possibly get.

Turning back around he stares at the fog gate which seem to be the only way to move forward as his only other way out was locked yet again by another door that did not seem to work with any of the keys he held. Placing his hand against the fog it felt solid at first before his hand sink into it, far too late did he realize that his hand wasn’t sinking in but rather being pulled through taking him with it before he was forced out the other side onto another even smaller balcony

Whatever Blood was in his veins at that moment turned into icicles as looking down at the narrow balcony and just 5 feet below him was the head of the asylum demon staring back up at him as its face of confusion slowly turned back to its wicked grin.

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At the side of the demon the first action the name of thunder and try to do was the force this week back through the fog gate, but no matter how hard he tried it wasn’t as eager to send him through like it was a few moments ago

Turning back around he saw to his horror take the demon leapt into the air it’s small but effective wings causing it to hover high before it drops while swinging it’s massive mace down on the small balcony. Stone and rubble were sent flying on contact completely destroying the balcony as the nameless undead just manage to jump off of it to the ground below.

Looking around quickly while the demon recovered he realized there was no way to escape now, The passage way he took the first time was still caved in as the double doors he originally entered and still had a fog gate that he suspected won’t let him through this time leaving him with only one choice.

Gripping his club as tight as he could he rushes out to the demon just is it finished lifting it’s mace to do a downward swing. The nameless undead leapt forward and rolled past the attack in the feat of dexterity that surprised the demon that defend himself as he slams the club hard against its kneecap.

By the judging of the demons Howell and the slight misshapen lump where is club made contact he realized he must’ve done a bit of damage.

The demon responded by leaping into the air once more flying towards him before dropping out of the sky in the attempts of crushing him with its mass obese body.

“Don’t… don’t you fuck with me demon!” The nameless undead shouted just managing to roll out of the way before slamming his club against the demons spine breaking off a piece of spiked bone that was protruding from it.

This is how the fight continued on with the undead predicting the demons attacks and rolling or dodging just in time to avoid them before taking a few pot shots with his club. But then he began to feel the gravity of the situation. Slowly his body felt a bit heavier as if just reminding him that he could still feel exhaustion.

His last attempt at dodging the demons club failed miserably as he ended up tripping over a large chunk of stone that used to be the balcony and before he had even a moment to recover his body made contact with the mace sending him flying hard against the large iron doors that all but separated him from the outside world.

This is it, this is how he would die. This is the creature that will end his life. Those words spoke in his head as he saw the demon casually walk over dragging its makes behind him

But nameless undead couldn’t move even if you wanted to his body refused to cooperate while it recovered from the shock he could still feel radiating through his body in blinding pain.

The demon stopped a few feet before him as it slowly Rosa bits mace clearly savoring the moment just before the kill. The undead struggled but he managed to force himself to stare into the eyes of his killer, he refused to let his final moments be one of cowardice as he stared into the demonic yellow irises spat were squinted in glee

That’s if fate had another plan the soft sounds what could only be described as rolling thunder could be heard just above the two of them. When the demon lifted its head up to see what that possibly could’ve been, something very sharp and metallic pierced its forehead.

The demon gave a violent scream throwing itself back and began flailing her aunts name is undead was rendered speechless has he saw a sword had pierced the demons head but clinging onto it was the knight as he hung desperately onto his blade while the demon flailed.

He hung on until his body made contact with one of the pillars and despite his full play armor didn’t protect him well from such an impact and immediately fell to the floor in a daze.

The demon however did not even acknowledge this as you continue to flail and scream trying desperately to rip out the sword still in bedded into its head but it’s fat heavy body refuse to bend forward enough for it to reach the sword.

With the shock leaving the nameless undead‘s body he quickly got to his feet clinging to his club as he looked from the demon to the knight. With the demon roaring and stomping about he realized it was inch and closer and closer to the knight to stagger to move out of the way.

Knowing he had no chance of reaching midnight in time much less drag him out of the way from the crazed demon, The nameless undead grip to his club with both hands charging at it with all his night before taking a swing and it’s already damaged kneecap.

Apparently that was enough damage to cost of the creature to stagger falling on all fours just inches away from the knight. Sing this is the perfect opportunity the undead wasn’t going to waste it not for second as he rushes over as fast as he possibly could to face the demon.

it’s confused state seem to have slowly faded as their eyes met once more. Before the demon had a chance to move the undead raised up his club and slammed it with all of his might against The pommel of the sword with a sickening crunch Coming from the demon as it slumps to the ground silent.

This was it The demon did not move safe for a few final twitches before going completely still. However just as the nameless undead took a breath of relief The demons body shifted and glow to pure white before shattering into a giant ball of white mist.

Before he had a moment to prepare himself the nameless and dad fell to the ground with the euphoria of the The wisp flying into the center of his back.

He was in such a daze he did not realize the night had recovered as when he looked up he saw the armored individual with his recovered sword offering a hand to him as White wisps were circling his neck before entering from where he assumed was his windpipe

“ it is good to see you again. I came to help you but it seems I once again owe you my life” The knight said chuckling

The name of the son dead was speechless but nevertheless he reached out his own thinner hand as the knight lifted him up to his feet like he weighed nothing “h-how…?” He asked staring at the man as if he grew a second head.

?” Was all he could say as he stared at the Knight as if he grew a second head

Good night chuckled for a moment as he reached onto his belt pulling out the flask he originally offered him now half full of the same orange liquid that was barely in it the first time he saw it

“Are you familiar with an Estes flask?” He asked as the undead shook his head.

“ as I said before it was a favorite of the undead. The Estes has a power to mend our injuries through the power of the bonfires, when I gifted it to you I didn’t know I had any left.. I can only assume you were the one who fed what was left to me when I lost consciousness” The knight said holding out the flask to him

The nameless undead looked to the flask then to the night before nodding a few times as he hesitantly dropped his weapon to carry it with both hands to stare at the liquid within it.

” if you don’t believe me I’ll happily take another swig to prove I didn’t poison it” the knight added patiently as he watched him

A bit startled the nameless undead took a swig and almost choked on the liquid. The flavor was impossible to describe as he had better luck describing the texture as it felt like he was drinking liquid fire that alarmingly felt pleasant as it went down his throat quickly spreading a gentle warmth throughout his entire body

His alarm to look is he stared at the flask caused the night to laugh once more

“Oh… how foolish of me. It appears my manners have escaped me. My name is Oscar, Oscar of Astora” he said extending his arm once again to the undead

He stared at Oscars hand for a moment wanting to reach his own how to but instead just returns the flask with it “o… Osta… Oascae” The undead croaked trying to force a smile and hoping to the gods that it looked like one to the knight.

Oscar didn’t respond very much to that as he reluctantly took the flask from the determined undead Who adamantly refused to take it back

“You are an unusual one don’t you?” He asked staring down at the nearly hollow man as he recovered his club, his shield unfortunately was nothing left but splinters presumably crushed under the demons foot during its flailing

The ended didn’t know how to respond to that but instead focused on where the demon took its final breath as though it completely disappeared including its mace it left behind something else.

Carefully approaching the items the undead saw a massive iron key that looked alarmingly polished butchered similar design to the others he had collected and next to it was an odd object he had never seen before. It look to be a black shard of nothingness that gave off a glowing white aura, The undead quickly realized that whatever this thing was was extremely fragile as though he held it in his hand he somehow managed to crush it with The dark aura flying up his arm and disappearing in his back granting him that same sensation yet again of bliss but oddly something more that he just couldn’t put to words

“You earned that… just be sure to keep it safe” Oscar said putting the undead‘s back before looking to the large iron doors that separated them from freedom

“ I believe it’s time for us to leave this horrid place. Would you like to accompany me on my pilgrimage? These days it’s very rare to find a friendly face and I wouldn’t mind your company after everything.”

The nameless undead stared at him once more, he wasn’t too clear on what he was meant to keep safe but nevertheless the idea of freedom as well as a companion felt great to him. “Y..yes” was what he managed to force out giving him another smile as he rushed to the door and after slipping the heavy iron key into the lock there was a soft clicking noise before the door slowly opened as their freedom was just on the other side.

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The nameless undead was the first one out of the asylum, feeling the wizard grass underneath his feet the man leaps onto the nearest living patch not really bothered by the fact that he landed on a rock but was thankful to look up at the sky to not see iron bars or stone structures.

closing his eyes he almost wish the sky wasn’t so cloudy so that he could feel the sun radiating onto his body. How long had it been since he felt grass? Years, centuries? He couldn’t say but he allowed himself this pleasure and took a deep breath of fresh air feeling his lungs fully expand before expelling once more.

A chuckle broke that moment of tranquility as looking up he now saw Oscar steering down at him. The undead would flush in embarrassment if he could before quickly shooting to his feet before the knight had any chance to offer his help to stand

“ forgive me” Oscar said clearing his throat after recovering from his laughter “ it is just I’ve never met someone so joyful especially in times like this”

The nameless undead was silent, not wanting to respond hr turned his head away to stare up toward the crest of the plateau. though his memories leading up to the Asylum was a bit fuzzy he did remember the lift right at the end that the end that will get them out of here and far away from the asylum

“The…” The undead choked a bit on his own voice before taking a deep breath “The lift is… is there” he said hating how muffled and dull his voice sounded not wanting to give too much thought on his damaged vocal cords and tongue from his decaying state

“Ah of course, thank you my friend. After that we will make the pilgrimage to Lordran and ring the bell of awakening” Oscar said his voice is full of pride and hope as they marched up the well worn path

Climbing up the steps however caused a bit of dread between the two men. The plateau had weathered heavily then how either of them seemed to have remembered as either side of the path got dinner and thinner.

Gripping his club tighter, the nameless undead’s walk began to pick up the pace “no no no!” He said running up the ever dwindling path as he remembered just over the crest of the plateau was the lift house, it was so close he could practically touch it.

“Friend!” A voice called out to him as the undad reach the handle of the old structure his hand sank right through it as he stepped back into reality staring face-to-face with an endless foggy void.

shocked and confused the undead looked around now realizing he was upside down with Oscar gripping his ankle at the edge of a cliff

“Don’t worry, I got you just don’t squirm” he panted and slowly began to pull him back up until the sound of a loud screech made both of their hearts go still.

A black raven swooped down from the sky bigger than any bird the nameless undead has ever seen, it effortlessly snatched up the knight in its talons and took flight once more flying higher and higher in the sky with the nameless undead at the mercy of his friend own strength.

They flew fast and hard as The creature glided through clouds effortless with the wind deafening their shouts and screams.

Breaking through the clouds once more both men were greeted with a golden sunlight radiating down a beautiful massive kingdom half segmented off by a massive high stone wall.

It was breathtaking to the nameless undead,
Staring at what he could at such an awkward angle he felt a strange buzzing in his ear that quickly turned into what felt like a needle digging into his head. The pain grew and grew and just as The darkness in his mind began to take over the crow dives to the ground.

Chapter Text

Somewhere in his foggy mind the nameless undead saw bright blue lights streaming through the mist. I took a second for us I was to adjust but when he opened them again he found himself moving down a narrow alleyway his left arm hung limping useless with his sleeve slowly turned a deep crimson. He had no time to rest the moment he propped himself against one of the walls A blue iridescent bolt exploded just by his head causing then man to fall over with a piercing ring in his ears.

Slowly staggering in an attempt to get up he saw a group of three cloaked individuals all of them holding identical thin wooden staffs, The leader of the three raising his high in the air glowing blue at the end of it.

The undead gripped the hilt of his club as he was about ready to chuck it at the man but instead his arm did something else entirely. Now finding himself holding a staff as well and instead of throwing it he channel the a darker blue aura only it charged up faster shooting out an arrow striking the man in his chest as he fell over.

This gave the undead a chance to get back up on his feet rushing down the alley and found at the gates that’s still remained open only a short distance away from him.

“Almost there, almost there. You just need to get beyond the gates and you can lose them in the woods.” He kept telling himself with his breathing fast and shallow before going into a dead sprint.

He didn’t care about the bolts and magic flying past him or the burning sensation of one of the magic arrows shooting through his cloak and burning his side.

He was just 15 feet from the gate, 5 feet from it, but then what he can only describe as an explosion was felt in his solar plexus as he was flung just outside the gates and onto the ground with an odd feeling of detachment. Shakingly the undead slowly looked down only to find something roughly the size of a spear jutting out of his stomach before he coughed up blood violently.

Soon he felt dizzy and cold as a cold silver hand grabbed him by the back of the neck forcing him up as he felt the spear violently ripped out of his body. His body was growing numb his mind swimming and his eyes unfocused he saw nothing but silver come into view. It was nothing but silver and silver shapes as any words he heard were now muffled as his final moments of consciousness was met when a silver shape rushed to his face as he saw stars before it all turned black.

When the undead stirs he heard muffled voices and his body felt like it was being shaken, as he opened his eyes he saw nothing but silver. The man’s body lurched up only to see stars once again when he collided with something hard and metal.

~~~~~

There was a bull thud and a scrap that was followed by a dull throbbing on the undead’s forehead.

“Well, what do we have here? Not one but two new arrivals. What an treat.” a man’s voice calls with a hit of a sneer in his voice as a man in full chain mail armor looking towards the undead and held his sheathed long sword on his lap while he sat on an old worn stone
The undead stared at the man with his greasy black hair and grim look before something else pulled the undead’s attention away from him. Looking up and rubbing his eyes the undead found himself in the ruins of some ancient shrine, Well worn and crumbling save for a few free standing stone wall, he had also spots a crumbling high tower just north with an incredibly tall tree that shaded it all.

A groan from behind him quickly quickly made the undead whip. Laying on the ground by a bonfire was Oscar is the man had a pink mark on his forehead while his helmet laid by the by the fire.

immediately the undead rushes over to help him up giving him silent apologies well dusting off his armor

“Im well, i am well my friend” Oscar said giving an awkward smile as he casually picks up the undead to put him by the fire

“By the looks of it, you appear to be doing better. I don’t mean to pry but it looked like you were having some sort of fit when we landed”

At this the undead froze for a moment rubbing his temple as he recalled the memories. Just what was that? Rubbing his head The undead shook his head with the memory slowly growing more fuzzy “l… lost it” he said with a sigh

“ I would be careful if I were you Knight” The man in chain mail said to Oscar with a grin

“What do you mean crestfallen?” Oscar asked as the other man reached up to a tattered patch on his armor with his smile falling

“I mean look at him, he looks practically hollow at this point. Without some humanity I’m sure it won’t be long until he joins the mindless drones that patrol the undead burg. Perhaps if you’re more merciful you can leave him in the ruins of New Londo down below the shrine, i’m sure the blacksmith wouldn’t mind a new friend” he said chuckling softly at the two of them.

Oscar gave an incredulous look at the crestfallen warrior “listen here you-“

But before Oscar could say anything else the undead stood up and bumped his armor a few times to get his attention “please” he said shaking his head at his friend before approaching the other man

“Ahh struck a nerve I see. Looks like you have a bit of sense left in you do not have someone else fight your battles, but I should warn you you’ll be doing me a favor if you put me down with that club of yours.” The crestfallen warrior said standing up and drawing his blade and look to the undead slowly approaching him with club in hand.

what surprise the quest fallen warrior was when the undead casually tossed his weapon to the side before looking back at him

“Hu, humanity… Wh-what is it?” The undead croaked out staring at the man

The crust fallen warrior with silent for a moment giving at the end of the very suspicious look not wanting to let his guard down but eventually spoke

“Humanity… it is hard to put into words but I suppose you can say it’s a spirit, A black little wisp that’s the manifestation of what we desperately cling too” the knight said sounding a bit sorrowful

Shaking his head at the site of the concerned and confused Undead he continued “ if you have one you can offered to the bonfire to restore what you’ve lost. They say you can find them from other undead that manage to cling on to life after everything they have been through” The crestfallen warrior adds before leering “ just don’t get any ideas with me”

The undead was silent for a moment thinking back to the asylum and the black wisp unintentionally crushed, he felt an odd sense of detachment as when the undead looked down in his hand he found the wisp resting in the palm of it flickering small flex of white from its black outline.

The Crestfallen Warrior took a step back at that almost tripping into his stone seat as he looked at it “ looks like you were fortunate enough to find one best use it soon before you lose what little do you have left” he adds giving his final advice before collecting his shield, giving the two one final look he decided to head north deeper within the ruins and out of sight.

Watching the Man leave the undead then slowly look down to the humanity spirit then to Oscar Who looked from the path back to the undead.

“ it seems I owe you an apology my friend, I was under the impression you knew what that was”

The undead just shook his head giving a half hearted shrug before walking over to the bonfire and taking a seat by it. Feeling the warmth of the flames wash over him for a moment the undead took a slow deep breath before looking down at the fragment of humanity.

After staring at it for a moment the small object shattered in his hand spreading his tingling sensation that quickly ran up his arm and a wave of white mist. Oscar quickly shot to his feet stretching out his arm as he watched muscle and tendon its self back together and flash crawling up his fingers, nerves that had died long ago flared back to life as his heart hammered in his chest, he staggered to the ground when he felt the sensation reach his head as it felt like a sharp needle was yanked out of his mind. Fragments of memory flashed in his mind coming and going too fast for him to process.

Eventually the sensation began to fade as looking up to the bonfire Lisa white wisps flying past over his head and entering the flames that grew ever so bright.

“Friend… how do you feel?” Oscar asked with an expression of shock on his face

“I… i am well” The undead said in a surprisingly flat but normal voice, Instincually he reached up to feel his throat but he stopped to stare at his own hands finding them human once more with fingernails and all, And after a quick glance you say no trace of rot or decay on his now alarmingly normal but thin legs as he even now had a nose much to his delight.

With a smile he cautiously walked over to the knight as he was more aware of the grass and dirt underneath his feet then with a smile he extended his hand out to him.
“Uhh, Oscar hello… my name is …. Darwin” he said he remembering his name the moment it left his lips

Oscar grand giving him a firm handshake “ it’s a pleasure to meet you” he said with a hearty laugh