Maidenless No Longer (Elden Ring)

They thought her mad. Her, Rennala of the Full Moon, Last Queen of Caria. Quite the lark, was it not? They thought her descended into lunacy, only because she knew the truth and they did not. Alas, twas the way of things. The blind very rarely accepted that they were blind, refusing to see the unvarnished truth of the world. She, who understood the way things truly were, could not help those who did not want to be helped.
 
Certainly, once upon a time she’d tried. Once upon a time, Rennala had given her all to both her family and the Academy. Born to the Carian Royal Family, a dynasty of mage royalty descended from the very first astrologers, she had been the original bridge between her family and the Academy of Raya Lucaria. The Academy had feared the Royal Family of Caria’s growing power, until Rennala had come along.
 
As a young woman, she had made her way to the very top of the Academy in no time at all, mastering the Full Moon sorcery and bringing about a new age of prosperity and harmony for all of Caria. Despite the Academy’s reverence for the stars making her focus on the Moon somewhat… unorthodox, Rennala had been able to prove that the two need not be at odds.
 
Becoming Master of the Academy had simply been the obvious next step, and in doing so, she had instigated the formation of the Cuckoo Knights and a variety of other reforms and practices besides. All of which had only increased the power of both the Academy and Caria to greater and greater heights.
 
That was what brought Radagon to her doorstep. Ah, dear Radagon. Rennala’s husband had arrived in her lands at the head of an invading army. A portent of doom, one might say, but Rennala had always liked to think one made their own destiny, if one had enough power. She didn’t entirely believe that anymore…
 
Regardless, Radagon might have arrived as a conqueror, but before the end came, it was she who conquered him, or so she’d thought. Theirs was a love that was so true, it bore them three children. Radagon had gifted her the amber egg she clung to even now, after all, the power of Rebirth hers to wield to this day. And she, in turn, had gifted him the weapon that he had reforged into a great, golden sword.
 
Truly, she had been a fool in love. THEY had been fools in love, or so she liked to think. But… all good things came apart in the end. This was one of the truths of the universe that Rennala had been forced to accept, that so many others refused to see the evidence of all around them.
 
In starting his war to establish the Golden Order, Godfrey, the First Elden Lord, had called her beloved son Radahn to fight for him. General Radahn, as he would come to be called, would do much on behalf of his commander. He would shackle the stars themselves, in an effort to maintain the Golden Order. And thus… thus did ruin come to pass.
 
Rennala did not blame her baby boy, of course. Radahn had always had a strong, caring heart to him. From growing his red hair long and proud out of love for his father, to learning gravitational magic in spite of his warrior’s path, all to be able to continue riding his trusty steed Leonard into battle long past the point where her boy outgrew his mount.
 
Still, there was no denying that Radahn’s act of holding back the stars had dire consequences for their family. The Carian Royal Family and the astrology their magic was based in, was tied to the movements of the stars. Their shackling stagnated Carian sorcery. This alone might not have been so bad, might not have been so disastrous or ruinous. Rennala, at least, would not have minded things being quite so… hm, slowed down. After all, Radahn’s shackling of the stars had the additional effect of bringing her daughter Ranni’s destiny to a standstill as well.
 
It was not Rennala’s wish to see her daughter suffer… and Ranni’s destiny, to one day usurp Queen Marika the Eternal, did not please the Queen of the Full Moon, if she were being honest. In the end, it was for the best that Ranni’s destiny was put on standby. But then… things got worse.
 
After the Golden Order was firmly established, the Grace left Godfrey’s eyes. The First Elden Lord was exiled from the Lands Between, and Radagon was recalled to Leyndell, to stand as Queen Marika’s Consort. Knowing what she knew about the two of them, Rennala couldn’t deny that she’d felt betrayed. When Radagon left her… her heart went with him.
 
And yet, things could always get worse. And they did. The Night of the Black Knives arrived, and Queen Rennala lost her only daughter. Godwyn’s demise got far more fanfare, on account of his death leading Queen Marika to shatter the Elden Ring in her grief, but Rennala… Rennala only truly cared for her daughter. She’d already lost Radahn to his father and Rykard to his blasphemy. Ranni was all she had left. Until… she wasn’t.
 
Perhaps she’d gone a wee bit mad, in the aftermath. Perhaps she’d become somewhat withdrawn. But was that any reason for her subjects and students to betray her? For them to confine her to the Grand Library, after the Academy revolted against her family? Ah… but she was not completely alone, at least. Nay, for even in this moment, Rennala of the Full Moon had followers. There were those who followed her into this imprisonment, this confinement.
 
Those, she had given the greatest gift she could. Utilizing the amber egg, granted to her by her husband, she’d allowed her followers, one by one, to undergo the process of rebirth. Each of them became one with her in blood, in life, in appearance. Her ever-present family… her brood of daughters, her horde of sweetings.
 
They were NOT replacements for her dear Ranni, no matter what one might say… no matter what SHE might say, in her weaker, darker moments. But they were, in fact… all she had left.
 
Alas, without larval tears to perfect the process, they all came out somewhat… imperfect. It was a mere consequence of rebirth, one that Rennala could do nothing about, confined to the Great Library as she was. And besides, none of her sweetings blamed her for it. When all was said and done, they were happy to be with her. That was all that mattered.
 
So long as she had her sweetings, she would never be alone again…
 
The sound of the large doors of the Great Library being pushed open draws a languid blink from the Queen of the Full Moon, as she floats high in the air above the library’s main room, caressing and holding her amber egg close to her chest. In the darkness and quiet, a pair of bared feet can be heard, padding across the floor. Hm, not likely to be one of the Academy’s scholars then, come to sneak a book or two out from her before her sweetings can properly assemble and grab them.
 
No, indeed, this one approaches slowly enough that her sweetings have already cut off his escape, even before the candlesticks are lit and his visage comes into view. Staring at the almost naked man who has entered the Great Library, Rennala can’t help but feel a little… nonplussed. What IS he doing here?
 
Standing there, unarmed, one might think he’s come to her as a follower would, to request rebirth. But Rennala is no fool. There are paths to such things, and this one has not followed any of them. More than that, he is… Tarnished.
 
It has been an age, since the Queen of the Full Moon’s face did what it’s currently doing. The ever so slight lip curl of a sneer, as she looked down upon this Tarnished in her midst. Cradling her amber egg ever closer to her bosom, she whispers to it as he comes closer and closer, easily stepping around her crawling sweetings as they nip and clack their teeth at his heels.
 
“Hush, little culver. I’ll soon birth thee anew, a sweeting fresh and pure…”
 
Just as soon as she’s dealt with the Tarnished who had disrupted her rest. Another fool, come to fight against destiny and the way of the world. How can she not be derisive, in the face of him? Signaling her sweetings to begin singing her a song of protection, Queen Rennala lets her eyes drift shut, even as the golden shell of power forms around her, making her unassailable, the defense impenetrable.
 
“Sleep tight, bound tight, by the mother’s amber. Sleep tight, find life, in the mother’s amber~”
 
 
Such good girls, her sweetings. And soon enough, the Great Library would see this Tarnished destroyed as all interlopers who had made attempts on her life before him had been. Without armor, he’d no doubt be brained by a book any moment, and while it would certainly be a shame to stain one of the tomes, sacrifices must be made. It was-
 
“Sleep-eep!”
 
Rennala blinks, as the singer among her sweetings is interrupted. Almost immediately another takes up the torch, continuing the song of protection, but the damage is done all the same. The golden shell protecting her begins to show some fractures. Too many more interruptions, and it will shatter altogether.
 
… The Tarnished had sussed out the weakness in her protection far too quickly for the Queen of the Full Moon’s liking. Slowly, she turns her head and looks down at the ground, expecting to see one or more of her sweetings crushed by the Tarnished’s bare hands. And yet, instead she sees the original singer wiggling her nose and just looking… all around befuddled.
 
Eyes tracking across the floor, she finds the Tarnished just as he’s coming upon the next singer, the sweeting fearless in the face of his mostly naked advance, still going strong. For a moment, Rennala wants to turn away. She has no desire to see one of her daughters hurt by the Tarnished. But… her curiosity overwhelms her. She must know what he did to the first, to leave not a mark on her.
 
And so, she watches, as the Tarnished comes to a stop in front of the singing sweeting, easily ducks two floating books, one that tries to smash into his face from the front, and another that tries to brain him from behind… and leans down to boop the singing sweeting right on the nose. Yes, boop. It is undeniably a boop, the way he just… gently pokes her nose. There is no other word for it.
 
Needless to say, the second sweeting is just as baffled as the first, her singing subsequently interrupted and even more cracks appearing in Rennala’s golden barrier. A third sweeting quickly and hastily takes up the song, but Rennala’s own personal shattering is already happening. Tis only a matter of time now.
 
… The Queen of the Full Moon does not blame her daughters for the Tarnished’s antics. He is a strange fellow, and his tactics stranger still. However, she must admit, that does not make them any less effective. Her third sweeting inevitably suffers the same fate as the first two, though this time with her watching, the Carian Queen is able to witness the Tarnished dodge, leap, and roll through every attempt at stymying and hindering his progress that both her sweetings and the library itself try on him.
 
From falling chandeliers to floating world globes, to candelabra-assisted flame breaths, not a single thing seems to so much as touch the mostly naked Tarnished. Until finally, he stands in front of the last singing sweeting, who has just a hint of panic in her eyes. However, her sweetings are not so cloudy minded that they cannot recognize patterns, even as they’ve become after their rebirths.
 
The panic in her third singing daughter’s eyes hides something that only Rennala believes she sees… a slight confidence, a determination. In that moment, Rennala knows for a fact that this sweeting will not stop singing, even if the Tarnished does boop her nose. No, she will not let such a thing distract her from her work, not even for a moment.
 
And perhaps that will be enough for them to finally catch the Tarnished off guard. Perhaps he can still be brought low, before Queen Rennala’s protection fails. Perhaps-
 
The Tarnished, rather than simply poking the third singer in the nose, reaches out quick as a whip… and snatches her nose clean off her face! Rennala’s eyes widen in horror at this display of magic, before her eyes catch up with her and she realizes exactly what she’s seeing. What she’d initially thought was him holding one of her daughter’s noses between his index and middle fingers… is instead his thumb, jutting out just enough to look like it might be the tip of a nose.
 
A clever ruse, to say the least. And unfortunately, it works like a charm on her sweeting, who gasps and immediately stops singing to bring her hands to her face and check on her nose. Of course, even the sweeting realizes just how badly she’s been had a moment later, when she feels her untouched nose still upon her face, flushing as the Tarnished just smiles kindly at her.
 
Once again, Rennala does not blame her sweetings. But alas, there’s no stopping what’s happening now. The golden barrier has taken too many hits. There have been too many interruptions to the song of protection. The shell protecting her and her amber egg shatters, and an explosion of force sends her rocketing to the ground as it does so.
 
Rennala lets out a cry as she shields her amber egg with her body, holding it close to protect it even as she impacts with the floor rather hard. So long as the egg is safe, her own health matters not. Except… she is unprotected now, and it will be some time before one of her sweetings can possibly wind up another, fresh song of protection.
 
Time which the Tarnished can use to finally visit the violence he no doubt wishes to visit upon her. Indeed, as kind as he has been to her sweetings, the Queen of the Full Moon expects nothing but pain as the naked, unarmed Tarnished strides towards her. With his own two hands, will he try to strangle her? Will he crush her throat? Will he- what is he doing?
 
Rennala can only blink, as the Tarnished scoops her up into his arms, one of his hands going to the back of her head to cradle it, and the other moving around to the small of her back. She has not been held in such a familiar way in hundreds of years, and chalks that up to how surprised and caught off guard she is, as he leans in… and kisses her soundly on the lips.
 
To say the Queen of the Full Moon is shocked would be an understatement. Just how foolish is this Tarnished? Does he not know exactly who he’s dealing with? Near-naked as he is, and with her having the amber egg in her arms… he’s put himself completely at her mercy.
 
Hmph. Very well. If it is Rebirth that he desires… she shall grant him his request.

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