The Tarnished was beyond shaken. He didn't understand how Marika had made the jump with him, or how she had even followed him to the Roundtable in the first place. Now he had to wonder if just her being here with him would cause any unprecedented changes to occur in this journey.
He was on high alert, his Greatsword drawn and pointed at the doors of the Chapel of Anticipation.
However, he hadn't realized that the enemy was in the room with him already. He flinched as he was suddenly flung into the wall and held up against it by an invisible force.
"Stop ignoring me! Now answer me, where is it that you have stranded us!" The Tarnished tried to fight back against the force, but he always felt tired after being sent back to the start of his journey so when caught off guard, there wasn't much he could do, but talk.
"I... went back." He groaned out in pain as the force tightened, and it felt like his armor was beginning to close in around his body. "What do you mean you went back? If you had not noticed, I am here too! Where is back, what is this unfamiliar church? Where are we?"
He tried to ignore the pain, but it was beginning to get to him, he didn't want to be permanently dawning this armor for the rest of his life, so he had to act fast.
The Tarnished struggled, and reached down grabbing his bell, and rang it.
Tiche shot out of the ground, and Marika instantly threw a golden spear in the assassins direction, but Tiche spun around it gracefully disappearing and reappearing behind Marika, grabbing her wrist.
Marika lost focus, but caught herself and turned her hand towards Tiche and slammed her into a wall, and then the one opposite of that, then the ceiling and lastly the floor. She lifted Tiche back into the air, and scoffed, while a rageful tear dropped from her eye.
"You must be one of the assassins that started this. It's all YOUR fault, why I even shattered that damn ring in the first place. You and your disgusting companions murdered my son for that little blue witch! It seems that you're serving your time though, as a spirit slave. Never to truly live again!"
Marika raised her hand high, and brought it down straight into her husbands waiting one. Marika froze, and tried to raise her other hand to catch him, but he grabbed that hand too. Tiche fell to the floor and patted herself off, before standing off to the side to let them talk things out.
"Marika, I'm sorry, but you need to calm down and listen. This situation is very complicated, and very very serious." His grip tightened around her wrists, and she recoiled.
"Tarnished, you're hurti-"
He swapped his hands and put both of her wrists in one hand, raising her wrists above her head and pinning her to the wall.
"Shut up, and listen." He stared her down and waited for her to show she was paying attention.
She whimpered and nodded her head, staring directly into his eyes through the holes in his helmet.
"Alright, we are no longer in our world. I went back to the Roundtable, and I was sending myself back in time to when I first started my journey to become Elden Lord, I was not aware that you would be taken with me, but you were never supposed to be there in the first place."
The Tarnished regretted her being here, he didn't want her to get hurt or worse for someone to find her while he wasn't around and she died. He looked down for a moment, and Marika chose to speak.
"How could I not have been with you, I shared the most amazing night with the first man in years that I have genuinely loved since Godfrey, and he leaves me in the middle of the night shooting off into the night?"
She looked like she was holding back tears.
The Tarnished laughed a bit. "For someone thousands of years old you act very young."
Marika looked embarrassed her face turning red in seconds. She then kicked the man into a wall, Tiche quickly running to his side to make sure he was okay.
Marika crossed her arms, and walked over to him and the spirit as he got back up.
"So, you have sent us back in time. Before you repaired the Elden Ring?" She looked up at him suspiciously.
"Yes, that's exactly where we are right now, when we leave this church there will be one of Godrick's grafted scions sitting in the yard where a statue of you is residing. After it's dead. I have to jump off of a ledge and..."
Marika raised an eyebrow, and waited for him to continue.
He raised his hands, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way. "and die?"
Marika rolled her eyes, and threw her hands into the air.
"Die!? Really, your grand plan is to die? You have gone back in time on one of the most jaw dropping adventures, and your first real objective is to die!?"
The Tarnished sighed, and leaned on Tiche as he explained himself.
"Look, this is my usual routine because I can keep coming back to life, until I become Elden Lord. It is my destiny, I can die an infinite amount of times until that point, and I've found that every time I die at the beginning, I will always end up right in that Stranded Graveyard before the Cave of Knowledge."
Marika turned to him, and looked confused. "Usual routine? I thought you went back in time because you didn't want to be Elden Lord, that you didn't want to be with me. Yet, you make it sound like you have done this before?"
Tiche backed up, and The Tarnished rolled his eyes, and looked away from Marika. She moved in front of him, and grabbed his face to face her own.
"How many times have you done this?" Her voice barely above a whisper she interrogated the man.
"I lost count a long time ago." He answered truthfully, but she still felt like he was holding back.
"Was there anything different?"
The Tarnished knew what she was getting at, but he didn't want to tell her. He feared she might've been his reason for death this time if he did. He attempted to evade the question.
"What do you mean?" Marika hit his chestplate in anger, probably hurting herself more than he himself.
"You know exactly what I mean you bastard! What did you do? How did you experiment with this power! Were there others? Did you even choose to save me every time? No, why would I even ask, of course you didn't. If you had lost count long ago, then you wouldn't treat the woman you'd spent countless lifetimes together with like that!"
Marika paced in the chapel, biting her finger in anger and thought.
The Tarnished reached out to her, but she swatted his hand away.
"You are as evil as the damn outer gods! You toyed with me, and for what? Why did you even help at the Capital if you were going to abandon it all anyway?"
"I didn't plan to! I promise!" The Tarnished tried to reach out to he, and she stopped waiting for his explanation.
"I was trying to be content to find my peace, and I was talking to Tiche."
Marika looked towards the spirit, and Tiche pulled out her... notebook! Marika rolled her eyes and focused on her husband.
"After she suggested that we do it again-"
Marika raised her hand for him to pause. "That assassin cannot only communicate, but she remembers your... whatever this is?!"
"Well, yes. Spirits, and all my items travel over with me after being sent back. Tiche however, is the only one I know for a fact that remembers everything."
"So your other spirits do not?"
The Tarnished went to speak, but paused. He seemed to enter a moment of deep thought. He then lifted his bell, to ring it like a madman, and didn't stop until Marika began to feel the room was getting cramped.
She looked around and examining her Tarnished's spirit army.
Crucible Knight Ordovis and Siluria, A Mimic Tear taking the likeness of her husband, A Bloodhound Knight, A Headless Knight, A Knight with a sword cloaked with lightning, One of her stepson Radahn's Knights, A knight from her daughter Malenias' infantry, an Albinauric lame, and three wolves one of which she sat upon.
Quite the unique group.
They all looked towards The Tarnished some seemingly more agitated than others. He who dumbly sat there, before pulling out a sword. A sword that belonged to her own daughter!
Marika sat there shell shocked, while The Tarnished was none the wiser.
"Does everyone in the room, recognize this terrifying blade? " The wolves whimpered, the Mimic patted his arm while flexing it, Ordovis and Siluria nodded, Tiche laid a hand on her hip, The Bloodhound Knight dragged his claws across the stone floor, the Cleanrot Knight looked towards the ground, the Headless Knight crossed his arms in indifference, the Ancient Dragon Knight's sword crackled in revenge, and the Redmane knight fell to his knees smacking the ground.
The Tarnished eyes lit up. He hadn't realized that his other spirits had retained their memories also! Oh, this was great he had more companions to give notebooks to as well!
Suddenly the room shook violently, and all of the summons prepared for battle. The Tarnished looked confused and sought out Marika, to protect her. Laying eyes on the woman and realizing the shaking was all her.
He couldn't understand what had angered her. Besides he and the summons there was nothing else in the room to make her mad, unless it was Cleanrot Knight Finlay? Ohga wouldn't have bothered her as much as her own birthed daughters knight would have.
Yet Finlay, was a noble knight the very one that carried her all the way back to the Haligtree after her battle with Radahn after all, and even now he showed respect and sorrow for her when her sword was displayed!
Oh, thats right... her sword. That was built into her arm. He was in danger. He hadn't killed Malenia in his last journey since he saw no reason to. He just did everything he needed to do to become Elden Lord and nothing else, allowing Mohg, Malenia, Radahn, Rykard, and Renalla to go unbothered by him.
"Marika I can explain, I only killed Malenia in a past timeline because she would always attack me first! And Ranni would always advise-"
The shaking stopped and Marika's eyes locked onto him. She hadn't even considered that one of the alternate timelines her husband had indulged in would lead him to that disgusting stepdaughter of hers.
"The witch... advised you? You killed my daughter, and had relations with that witch..?"
Congratulations fool. He facepalmed not even going to waste his breath as he wondered how he could slip like that. Marika flashed forward towards her Tarnished and summoned her hammer.
All of the spirits attempted to block the direct blow, but they quickly understood why you do not interrupt a lovers quarrel.
In seconds, the entire chapel exploded in a golden light killing him and all of his summons in a single blow. His body cast into the sea far below. Marika pouted as he hit the water, and disappeared into particles. Swiftly walking away from the scene of destruction.
Meanwhile Godrick's Grafted Scion looked after the explosion, and chose not to appear as Marika angrily walked through the yard, and created a golden bridge of light to connect with mainland to reach the Cave of Knowledge.
It didn't stand a chance against the golden spear she turned around and threw at it either.
...
Melina was in a joyous mood there was actual good weather in Limgrave today, the Tree Sentinel had let her pass by without , and Torrent had found a Tarnished that he thought would become Elden Lord.
What ruined her mood however, was when Queen Marika burst open through the doors clearly no longer locked away inside of the Erdtree. She quickly hopped off of Torrent, who went back to his ring very quickly, and kneeled.
"Q-Queen Marika, I was not expecting to see you here, or ever for that matter..." She looked at the ground sweating bullets. Something was wrong, and horribly wrong at that. Marika shouldn't have been here, but somehow her majesty was strolling right past Melina and to the Tarnished that Torrent had just chosen.
Melina watched very carefully as Marika lifted the man into the air a golden aura around her hand before ripping the cape off of his armor and laying it across a nearby rock. She sat on the cape covered rock and laid the man across the rock and placed his head on her lap.
"I despise you, but I understand the duties I as a wife should have towards her husband. When you wake up, you better have a grand explanation for all you've done and been through." She removed his helmet and kissed the handsome man's forehead before playing with his hair a bit. Melina saw the way the woman restrained herself from treating the man too harshly.
Melina watched the situation awkwardly, taking this as her moment to leave silently. Her cape beginning to turn into particles. "Wait." Melina looked up to see Marika looking at her curiously, Melina sweating profusely, but not understanding why.
"You remind me of another, someone I had sent my brother to dethrone." She tilted her head and then seemed to understand whatever it was she was pondering. before motioning for Melina to come forward.
Melina walked forward, and kneeled once more when she was directly in front of the queen. She then cupped Melina's face in her hands gently. "You are mine, I remember making you. A daughter fashioned in the likeness of the Godskin Empress, what better an offering for Godfrey to offer up than an enemy that I never saw die? However, my daughter I fear that Godfrey has long since departed from this place."
Melina felt tears come to her eyes, as she was acknowledged by her mother. She didn't fail to notice how her mother did not sugarcoat her purpose in life, and pulled back a bit.
"Do not reject me just yet, dear Melina. Your mother is free, and she and her Tarnished shall fix the horrors I cast upon this land in my anguish." She placed gentle kisses all along Melina's face, something her daughter melted into.
After Marika was done Melina paid attention to the Tarnished in her mother's lap. Could Torrent have been right? She looked at her mother, and Marika seemed to allow it as Melina touched The Tarnished's head to sense his strength.
She almost lost all the heat in her body as she sensed a power that seemed to go on forever. She felt an endless strength look down on her, and snatched her hand away from his forehead. He was definitely the one, and from the looks of it... she might've just woken him up.
The Tarnished stirred, and opened his eyes smiling when he saw Marika, and because she tried to hold back her own, a blush took it's place instead. He tried to sit up, but Marika pushed him back down.
"My lap is warm, and I like the feel of your hair. You will stay." The Tarnished rolled his eyes, and laid back down. He looked around the Stranded Graveyard absentmindedly to see if there was anything different thanks to Marika, but besides the kneeling Melina everything seemed to be fine.
He looked directly at Melina in shock. The woman who had been by his side through all of this, and died for him without a word every single time. She loved him unconditionally, and she was the sole reason he ever used the ability to be sent back in the first place.
He wanted to say something, anything, but he knew he couldn't in fact this was the wrong way to go about things entirely. Marika had accidentally disrupted the order of things and now, her interruption might cause him to lose his connection he always had with Melina.
No. He wouldn't think like that. He would fight through hell and fire to make sure everyone was saved, and all his relationships rebuilt. This would be the one.
He looked at her, and the girl looked confused as she stared back. He raised a hand towards her, and touched the tip of her nose. Then he stared back at Marika who had a jealous look in her eyes.
"My daughter is off limits husband.."
He leaned up, and whispered in her ear.
"Who do you think got me to the Erdtree the first time, wife."
She bit her lip, and hit the man's head back into her lap.
"Melina, everything Im about to say, will take quite a while, and may mess with your head a bit. So listen carefully. And be sure I speak the truth." He smiled at her, and while Melina's nerves were high she still steeled herself for what came next.
"Oh, and pull Torrent out so he can hear too." That was odd to her as she hadn't told him a thing about Torrent yet. She whistled for Torrent, and Torrent sat down next to her appearing in particles.
Marika moved his hair out of his face.
"Go on, we're waiting."
He sighed, and reached up to hold her hand, grabbing Melina's hand in his other.
"I'm going to tell you everything I can remember from the Chapel until now. Now listen to this Tarnished's tale."