Maidenless No Longer (Elden Ring)

Chapter 50: Melina

But then, does she even have to ask. Of course he is. One Rune Arc becomes two. Two Rune Arcs become ten. Ten Rune Arcs become a hundred. This is not like when he forced those Preserving Boluses down the red-haired swordswoman Millicent's throat, however. For one, there is no swallowing to be had. He pushes the Rune Arcs into Marika's stone flesh, and her crumbling form absorbs them like fertile earth absorbing desperately needed water.

For two, he never pauses, nor hesitates. There is no stopping him, and no slowing down, not even for a moment. He works like a man possessed, and before Melina knows it, she's watched him feed Queen Marika nine hundred and ninety-nine Rune Arcs. Where he'd even FOUND so many of the larger shards of the Elden Ring, Melina did not know. But... it wasn't enough.

Even as he abates for a beat, Melina looks upon her mother with a held-in breath. The transformation that Marika had begun to undergo has been halted. The red strands in her hair have not multiplied any further. She is still a woman, still of golden locks. And her body... her body is somewhat repaired, in some ways.

But at the same time, she is still of stone, and more of her is crumbling then not. Her eyes remain closed, and it is apparent that she is far from fixed. For a brief moment, Melina wonders if perhaps... perhaps she has watched her Tarnished finally reach his limit. Is this how far he can go? He is only mortal after all.

For all that his potential is fully realized, she cannot expect him to be able to save a God, can she? And yet... she had; Melina realizes. He'd given her hope that he had a plan and that that plan extended to even now, far past that moment beyond time where he'd saved himself from the Frenzied Flame.

He had clearly done his best though. She would not-

The Tarnished pulls out a Lord's Rune, feeds it to Queen Marika's stone form, and begins the process anew. One Lord's Rune rapidly becomes a hundred, and then a hundred more, and... Melina's mouth is open now, her jaw dropped, and she's not sure she will ever close it again. The Grace that dwelled within the inhabitants of the Lands Between, that lingering residue of gold... it had ALWAYS been the domain of Queen Marika the Eternal.

It was by her Will that Grace was distributed. By her Will that Grace was taken away. The Lord's Runes were said to be the runes of those who were destined to become a Lord, only for the Elden Ring to be shattered, leaving behind naught more than a distant duty. Only a handful of individuals could lay claim to such a right, only a handful of people could possibly have said to be on such a path.

So then where the FUCK had her Tarnished found nine hundred and ninety-nine Lord's Runes? The impossibility of it all almost makes Melina miss when he finishes with those and quickly moves onto the same amount of Hero's Runes.

It was said that there were once heroes who walked the battlefields of the Shattering War, abundantly blessed by the Erdtree itself... and who upon earning their honor, simply died, having fulfilled their purpose. THAT was where Hero's Runes were said to come from. Certainly, said heroes were far more numerous than those candidates for the position of Lord. But even still, could there really have been hundreds of them, even across all the time that had passed between the Shattering and now?

Did it really matter if there was or not? At this point, Melina supposed she really shouldn't even be surprised. If he somehow got his hands on nine hundred and ninety-nine Rune Arcs, and nine hundred and ninety-nine Lord's Runes, then of course he would manage to get his hands on nine hundred and ninety-nine Hero's Runes.

That said, when he finishes with the Hero's Runes and moves onto the Numen's Runes next, Melina is just about ready to throw her hands up in the air in disbelief. Truly! She'd had some inclinations that her Tarnished was a bit of a hoarder, and that he had some sort of unique power for carrying his collection around with him, in some way keeping it away from prying eyes. The way he changed outfits and armors and weapons and spells on a dime, the way he altered his entire aesthetic without hesitation for every possible situation at hand... she'd have been a fool not to notice.