Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“So we need a key to get into the academy?”

The bald man nodded quickly under the deserter’s bemused gaze. “Y-yes. Without one, you can’t pass through the Academy, and you’ll never reach the Erdtree Capital.”

“Really?” Lucatiel frowned, but Nepheli cleared her throat.

“If you like fighting your way across the lake to miss out on a rune, then yeah, you can make it.” She shook her head. “No, he’s right. A key would make things much easier for you.” 

“And we don’t know where to find one,” Lucatiel noted. “That’s a problem.”

“One that needs to be fixed with information.” Hawkwood returned, not taking his eyes off the man. “Any idea?”

“Unfortunately no,” The man sighed. “I was on an errand for my studies and had forgotten my own key, but…hmmm. I suppose you could try near the Gate Town’s ruins? You will have to deal with some territorial Albinaurics, but it is my best guess for where you could find one.”

“Albinaurics, hmmm?” Nepheli muttered. “Interesting.”

“Oh?” The sorcerer raised an eyebrow, but the warrior shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter.” She replied distractedly. “I’ve tarried long enough.”

“You’re leaving?” Hawkwood said quizically, and she nodded. “Huh.”

“Want to come with, for a bit?” She asked. “Just up till the lake.”

“What for, more information?” Hawkwood frowned. “You’ve already told me of the Shardbearers and their dwellings.”

“Yes, but you know little else.” Nepheli replied urgently. “You’re newcomers, and...look, I’ll tell you more on the way there.”

“Just go, Hawkwood,” Lucatiel cut in. “I’ll finish up and see if I can get anymore with Thops.”

“Very well,” The deserter grunted. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Lucatiel replied, and they walked out of the church.

“Alright, so what is it?” Hawkwood began as they began to make their way down to the lake. “You seem dead set on a conversation.”

“It’s for my father,” Nepheli retorted. “For a former soldier, you and Lucatiel seem to be borderline neophytes when it comes to these lands, and none of what you’ve told me earlier really matches up.”

“Of course it doesn’t,” Hawkwood sneered. “Because if we told you the full story of the lands we hailed, we’d be derided as madmen. The notion would simply be ridiculous.”

“Oh?” Nepheli raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that.”

“You would if you knew,” Hawkwood gritted his teeth. “It really doesn’t matter, but–”

“Well, father wants to know, so you pretty much have to by Hold law.” Nepheli cut in. “And even if what you say is nothing but dirt, I’ve been in need of a good yarn anyway.”

“Well, you’re not going to get it,” Hawkwood said sharply as the lake came into view. “I’ll make this quick. The lands we came from had been dying for centuries, and we were both soldiers who fought for them.”

“You’ve said that before,” Nepheli said slowly. “But what do you mean by dying?”

“Oh, it’s a much similar case to here, in all honesty.” Hawkwood smiled hollowly. “Some god decided to sacrifice the world on his ego to persist the age. Only for much, much, longer.”

“No one was able to fix things?” Nepheli frowned. “Fix the god’s mistake?”

“No, because if you did so, you either doomed the world or continued it’s slow death,” Hawkwood replied bitterly. “I was one of the failed candidates to continue, you see, and if she hadn’t lost her way, she likely would have been as well.”

“And that explains why your here?” Nepheli asked as they began to enter some ruins, and Hawkwood shrugged.

“Something like that, yes.” He said grimly. “But now then…you wanted to help me learn more of the world?”

“Yes, but one last thing.” Nepheli frowned. “Why did you snap so badly about Godrick grafting the dragon?” 

“That?” Hawkwood laughed. “That was simply out of disgust for his lack of respect to the wyvern. They’re not their kin, but they are still majestic beasts.”

“So you admire them?” Nepheli raised an eyebrow, and at Hawkwood’s nod she shrugged. “Well that explains things.”

“Good.” Hawkwood muttered. “Anything else?”

“No,” Nepheli replied. “But I will tell you this. If you are partaking in dragon communion, be wary of it. A grim end is in store for those who let their hunger consume them.”

“So I’ve heard,” Hawkwood replied. “How many of them remain in the world?”

“Quite a few,” Nepheli replied. “Although father’s said most of their ancient kin have long returned to their home.”

At that, Hawkwood perked up. “Ancient kin?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nepheli shook her head. “At any rate, Liurnia and what comes after will be much different from Limgrave. You’re going to have to deal with the academy’s experiments, and there are many of them throughout the lake.”

“Like the albinaurics?” 

“Yes. Them, and the few Abductor Virgins who remain. That’s not even mentioning the Fire Monks and Knights of the Cuckoo–”

“Excuse me,” Hawkwood said slowly. “Knights of the Cuckoo ?”

“It’s an amusing name, but they are the most sadistic bastards you’ll come across.” Nepheli replied. “Even if they’ve long lost their minds in the war, they haven’t forgotten their cruelty in service of the academy.”

“What do they use?” Hawkwood snorted. “Armor bedecked in bird feathers?”

“No,” Nepheli replied unamusedly. “They’re mercenary knights who use magic and got through the Shattering with the least conflict. Be wary of them.”

“Alright, fine.” Hawkwood said, although his grin remained. “What else?”

Nepheli sighed. “Aside from that? They’ve got marionette automatons loose in the lakes, and if I remember correctly, they’ve taken care to experiment with some of the plants here. There’s also the creaturs that Deathbed Companion had informed Father of, like the Reve–”

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

“Wha–”

Hawkwood didn’t have time to finish his sentence as he could only barely comprehend a many-limbed thing crashing into him. He hit the ground hard as it slapped him to the ground, but as son as he reached for his greatsword, it disappeared, reappearing twenty feet away with a screech.

“What…the… fuck? ” He panted as he rose to his feet, and Nepheli chuckled as she flourished her axes.

“I see an example has come to display itself,” She grinned, and Hawkwood saw several hunchbacked humanoids make themselves known amongst the ruins. “That’s a revenant, and those are the wraithcallers.”

“You know, for a barbarian, you sure don’t talk like one,” The deserter muttered, and she shrugged as they both dodged the revenant’s next charge.

“Blame my father,” She said plainly as they were both forced to dodge spirits summoned forth by the Wraithcallers’ bells. “You handle this thing, I’ll go after his support.”

“But–” Hawkwood was cut off as he was forced to block the revenant’s next blow, leaving him to curse as he forced it back. “Oh, bloody hell!”

The revenant screeched in kind as it struck forward with it’s copious amount of limbs, Hawkwood being forced to retreat as they scrabbled all over where he once was, then vanished away to hock up poison all over the ruins. He could hear Nepheli reaching the first of the wraithcallers, but it hardly mattered when the thing was barreling towards him to dunk him in its poison.

To hell with it. He thought as he grabbed his seal, and the creature screeched in agony as dragonfire washed over it, the water doing nothing to alleviate its pain as Hawkwood dumped every single bit of magical power he had into cooking it. When he finally stopped, it was covered in burns, and the rags it had been adorned in had burnt away as it struggled to stand.

“Well aren’t you an eyesore,” The deserter sneered as he lunged forward before it could recover, greatsword chopping its head in half. “Annoying.”

“Good work,” Nepheli replied as she finished her own work. “Annoying, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are.” The deserter stumbled as his hunger struck him again. “Now then, any more threats you’d like to inform me of?”

“Hmmmm.” Nepheli stroked her chin, then shook her head. “No, that should be all, aside from the dragons you’ll probably enjoy seeing.”

“There are dragons here?” The deserter asked hungrily, and at the warrior’s nod, he frowned. “Huh. They seem to like lakes.”

“Maybe. I haven’t thought about it much,” Nepheli replied absently, then shrugged as she handed him a cookbook. “By the looks of you, you’re gonna need that more then me.”

“That obvious to you, huh?” He muttered. “Well, any tips against the creatures here?”

“Yes, I do,” The warrior nodded. “Healing will slaughter those revenants easily enough, for one.”

“Huh?”

“Yes, D showed it to me once as a ‘personal example.’ Their bodies are messed up, so the healing tries to forcibly fix it, which mutilates the thing in the process.”

“I see,” Hawkwood mused. That might come in handy later. “What else?”

“If you want a risky move, crystal darts will cause marionettes and golems to go berserk.” Nepheli added. “Although beyond that, I’m afraid that’s all.”

“That’s fine,” Hawkwood grunted. “I can deal with a horde of jumped up knights and sorcerers.”

“I can believe that,” Nepheli replied evenly, then turned to the nearby waygate “Although I believe this is where we part ways.”

“Where do you think that leads?” The deserter frowned, aand she shrugged.

“I don’t really know, but I don’t think you have much to worry. This was former academy ground.” She said simply. “Should lead you closer to your goal.”

“Very reassuring.” The deserter said sarcastically, then turned to see Lucatiel walking up. “Hello again.”

“Good to see you too,” The knight replied, looking him down. “Judging by your appearance, you got into a fight?”

“Yes, he did.” Nepheli snorted. “Did quite well though.”

“I see,” Lucatiel noted. “Well, I talked with Thops a bit more, and he told me something about this place. More specifically, that waygate.”

“You know where it leads?” Hawkwood asked, and she nodded.

“Yeah. He said it takes you straight to the academy gate.” She explained. “Used it to get to where he is now.”

“Then that settles things.” Nepheli said, hefting her axes. “We both know where to go now, and I believe it’s time we parted ways.”

“Yes,” Hawkwood replied, then shook her hand. “Farewell.”

“Good luck,” Lucatiel added.

The warrior nodded as she turned to leave. “You too.” 

The two waited for her to leave before Lucatiel began. “Now what?”

“We have two options ahead of us.” The deserter grunted. “Either we take this waygate and try to find our key from there, or we try to find the key here, then come back to this gate.”

“Hmmmm.” Lucatiel hummed. “I like the former idea more, but what do you think?”

“I agree with you.” Hawkwood replied pensively. “I’d rather not go through the whole lake to get to our destination.”

“Then that settles things,” Lucatiel said, walking up. “Let’s go then.”

The two entered the portal, and sure enough, they found themselves standing near a grace, a massive gate stretching out in front of them.

“Hmmm. Convenient.” Hawkwood noted as he lit the site. “Well, there’s our gate.”

“Yes, although we’re still stuck without a key.” Lucatiel said as she did the same, then frowned as something caught her eye. “Hmmm. Wasn’t expecting to see him again so soon.”

“What?” Hawkwood frowned, then followed her gaze to see a very familiar face absently looking over a map. “Orbeck?

“Hm?” The former assassin tensed as he looked around, only to relax as he saw them, pocketing the map. “Ah, hello Hawkwood.”

“What was that map?” Hawkwood asked, and the other undead sighed. 

“It’s for a meeting place.” Orbeck replied. “Apparently, it details the location of a few select keys…you know them?”

“Yes,” Lucatiel nodded. “Met a sorcerer in a church?”

“Why yes,” Orbeck nodded. “Swell fellow, needs more confidence in himself.”

“I figured you’d like him,” Hawkwood noted. “But at any rate, it appears we have similar goals for the time being.”

“Getting into the academy,” Orbeck finished. “Well, I’m not one to withhold information, although I do seem to remember we three are all in a race for that Great Rune.”

“Maybe,” Lucatiel replied. “But wouldn’t it be a bit easier to have help on the way there?”

“I can handle myself.” Orbeck returned sharply, then sighed. “Still…I don’t suppose it’d hurt to get some aid for this. The keys have quite a guardian, from this map.”

“What do you mean?” Hawkwood raised an eyebrow. “From what I know of you, you’re not one to back down from a challenge.”

“And I’m not, but consider this a favor, because I think you’ll like this.” Orbeck said firmly. “It’s a wyvern. One infused with glintstone, from…eating a bunch of sorcerers.”

“And you're getting my help because you don’t want to join them.” Hawkwood smirked. “A magic wyvern. Who would have thought?”

“Not me, certainly,” Orbeck snorted. “It’s west of here, and we shouldn’t have much resistance. I cleared the academy’s men when I got here.”

“Good,” Hawkwood grinned. “Have you heard their name?”

“Yes,” Orbeck snickered. “Cuckoo Knights.”

“Pitiful naming.” Hawkwood chuckled in front of a bemused Lucatiel. “They give much trouble?”

“Not at all,” Orbeck replied simply. “But now then, shall we go?”

“You have a mount?” Lucatiel asked, and the sorcerer nodded.

“Grabbed myself a horse on the way here,” He said plainly as they walked down. “Irritable sort, he is.”

“Similar to mine then,” Hawkwood returned. “Let’s go.”

With that, the three Undead made their way out of the academy.