Maidenless No Longer (Elden Ring)

Chapter 17: Ranni the Witch

Curse him, for making her feel again. But also bless him, for showing her that her hope was not misplaced.

Kneeling before her, the Tarnished takes the ring that he'd recovered from the Grand Library using her key. As he holds it up, Ranni cannot help but muse over its appearance and purpose, in this the crucial moment. Tis a ring depicting that of a leaden, full moon. Symbolic of a cold oath, it was supposed to be something she gave to her consort, once upon a time.

As an Empyrean, whosoever she gave this ring, would by rights earn the title of Lord. Which... which was why she had long ago endeavored to never give it to ANYONE.

Indeed, she'd gone so far as to engrave a warning within, using her own hands.

Whoever thou mayest be, take not the ring from this place, the solitude beyond the night is better mine alone.

A passing bit of teenage rebellion, her mother had called it. But even them, the Lunar Princess had been ill at ease with her duties and destiny, with the expectations placed upon her by the Two Fingers and the Greater Will that they served. It had been her way of striking back at them, no matter how small, by declaring that she would never choose a consort, never pull another into her life of responsibility and weighty purpose.

Of course, soon after, the Golden Order had been established, her brother had begun to hold back the stars for their father, Lord Godfrey had been banished, and Radagon had returned to Leyndell and abandoned her mother. Things had, understandably, gone to utter shit after that. Everyone else might say it wasn't until Godwyn's death that everything soured, but not for Ranni. Not for her mother either.

What started as a teenage rebellion, became something much more. Ranni had conspired to cause Godwyn's death, and in the aftermath, her own. She had cast aside her Empyrean flesh. She had gone on the run from the Two Fingers, before eventually turning her gaze towards ending her hunters once and for all.

Yet in the midst of all of that... Ranni the Witch had created a failsafe. Even as she cast aside her life as Lunar Princess Ranni, leaving her mother even more bereft of hope then ever before, she had instilled a small fraction of herself in this piece of jewelry, in the Dark Moon Ring. Lunar Princess Ranni had never truly died. Nor had her cold oath.

All of this and more, flits through Ranni's mind as the Tarnished places the ring on her finger, instead of the other way around. The doll that she has inhabited all these years shifts as he takes a respectful step back. The following few moments could be called excruciating, but tis nothing the Empyrean hasn't experienced before.

And... she is Empyrean, once more. As Ranni finally moves, as she rises from her seat, she reflects on the change. She sat down one last time as Ranni the Witch, triumphant in her goal of killing the Two Fingers, but still trapped in her doll-like form. She rises as Lunar Princess Ranni, Empyrean Reborn... but without the shackles of the Greater Will upon her. Fate and destiny are HERS to do with as she pleases now, even as she rises to her full height, taking in a deep breath and then exhaling it out as a smile spreads across her face.

All of it... thanks to this Tarnished before her.

"So, it was thee, who would become my Lord."

He looks to her, solemn but also proud. And why shouldn't he be? All that he has accomplished... and such a short time too. Hah, she was not even his primary quest, was she not? Or maybe she was... no, it did not matter one way or the other. She would support him, no matter what he chose to do next.

For the moment, at least, she steps forward and brings all four hands up to run along his body. The Tarnished, seeming to sense what she desires, helps her in beginning to remove his armor. He is coated with the blood of a certain Glintstone Dragon... but then, the cave itself is filled with the blood of the Two Fingers.