Maidenless No Longer (Elden Ring)

When the Graven Witch comes, Rennala feels fear. Not for herself, but for her sweetings, one and all. This is not the same as having one of the Academy’s scholars brave the Grand Library and risk life and limb for a particular tome. No, the Queen of the Full Moon knows quite well what sort Sorcerer Sellen is. She was the one who had her exiled, after all.
 
And so Rennala sends her sweetings away, to keep them out of the greedy Graven Witch’s grubby little hands. She will not let the woman turn them towards a terrible end. She will not let her daughters be twisted and used for Sorcerer Sellen’s mad ends. In truth, from the moment she lays eyes upon Sellen, Rennala knows neither she nor her sweetings have to fight. This… this is a problem that will take care of itself.
 
The Graven Witch has erred, either in who she’s trusted or in her own work. Rennala of the Full Moon knows naught which it is, but for someone like her, for the Last Queen of Caria, seeing the catastrophe waiting underneath Sellen’s skin is as easy as child’s play. Indeed, the Graven Witch is a bomb waiting to explode. All Rennala has to do is wait, and the situation will resolve itself.
 
Enduring Sellen’s gloating, when she initially takes up residence in the Grand Library is… a tasking chore, to be sure, but nothing Rennala has not endured before. Indeed, if she didn’t know any better, she’d say the Graven Witch was almost disappointed that the Queen of the Full Moon didn’t put up more of a fight.
 
Hmph. What would be the point in fighting a dying woman?
 
Alas, no one had bothered to tell Witch-Hunter Jerren any of that. The old man’s arrival had startled Rennala… it was in that moment that she’d known, beyond a shadow of a doubt… her son had fallen. She’d felt it, of course. The stars in motion once more. For the Last Queen of Caria, it would be impossible not to notice the sudden unshackling of the cosmos, the increase in the power of sorcery.
 
But Rennala had tried not to let herself imagine what it could truly mean until she laid eyes on Jerren. He was… an old acquaintance of the Carian Royal Family. Specifically, he was a guest commander of her son, her darling boy, her Radahn. They’d sworn an oath of honorable death to one another. For Jerren to be at the Academy once more… there was only one thing that could mean. Radahn hadn’t simply grown weak or mad enough to stop holding back the stars. He’d finally been laid to rest, his long agonizing journey finally at an end.
 
In the wake of that realization, Rennala had been filled with both grief and gratitude. No mother should ever outlive her children… and somehow, she could feel that she’d outlived all three. But at the same time, she knew Radahn had been suffering. She was not completely blind to the world, after all. It was… good, that his suffering was at an end.
 
Alas, poor Jerren had bitten off more than he could chew. Not because he’d made the Graven Witch his foe… but because the Graven Witch had made an ally of Rennala’s one-time lover. The Tarnished, that indescribable, perfect man, had returned to Raya Lucaria. To Rennala’s surprise, he’d done so to side with the Graven Witch against the Carian Royal Family’s old friend.
 
Twas not Rennala’s place to step in. And so, she did not. Witch Hunter Jerren died without knowing that his goal, his desire to see Sellen’s plans laid to rest, would have been achieved without him lifting a finger. He died, unaware that it had all been pointless, in the end. But… he also died an honorable death, at the hands of a powerful warrior. She imagined it was what her son would have wanted for him.
 
What followed was an interesting conversation between the Graven Witch and the Tarnished. Rennala had watched on, silent and out of the way. Twas not like she had anything better to do. She had watched… and from the sidelines, had come to realize that even the Tarnished knew that Sorcerer Sellen’s time was limited. Indeed, Rennala could see it in every line of the Tarnished’s face, even if the Graven Witch remained blind to the very end, till the exact moment when the transformation struck.
 
The Queen of the Full Moon had to admit some minor curiosity as to how someone had managed to inflict such a potent agony upon one single sorcerer. It was obvious that Sellen’s new body was not her original one, but at the same time, not entirely obvious how one sorcerer could possibly become a School of Graven Mages. The large orb of moaning glintstone crowns was, after all, made up of MANY sorcerers… usually.
 
Twas why she had sent her sweetings away, into the hidden stacks of the Grand Library, for fear that Sellen might use them for precisely those sorts of horrific experiments. Twas why she had not tried to fight with her daughters at her side, for fear that they would do worse than lose. Better to wait until the problem took care of itself, yes?
 
No, apparently. At least, not according to the Tarnished. Rennala can only blink, as he picks Sellen’s shifting, bulging body up off the ground and walks over to where Rennala is sitting, watching, waiting. As he deposits Sorcerer Sellen at her feet, Rennala cradles her egg a little closer, brow furrowing in honest confusion. He looks pointedly at her, then at her egg, and then at Sellen.
 
“… Thou wouldst hath me birth the Graven Witch anew? I hope thee knoweth how much thou asks of me.”
 
He nods solemnly but remains unmoved. Rennala opens her mouth, about to elaborate as to the lack of supplies, when he reaches into his pouch and pulls out not one… but ten Larval Tears. And then another ten. And another. Rennala can only watch, as he produces a total of ninety-nine Larval Tears. An auspicious number, to be sure.
 
Instead of speaking, she sucks in a long breath. She’d been about to tell him that it was hopeless, that even with a Larval Tear she could not stop the change. But now… now it would be a lie, wouldn’t it? Haaaah… with this much, well, there could be only one answer, in the end.
 
“… Very well. I shall do what I can.”
 
-x-X-x-
 
The last thing Sellen remembered was the pain and agony of her transformation. That horrifying transformation. Based on previous research, she’d expected that when she woke up again, it would be in a truly agonizing state, all part of her new experience as nothing more than a ball of glintstone crown faces, suffering for the rest of her days.
 
In the end, she would only be able to hope that someone else from the Academy might come and find her and put her out of her misery. Only, she was the only one who had seemed willing to so much as step foot in the Grand Library. The others were all afraid of something to do with the place, as if the Queen she’d so easily deposed was some threat. As such, her suffering might have been… prolonged.
 
But instead, when Sellen opens her eyes… she opens her actual eyes. When she takes in a breath, it is through actual lips. Jolting, she brings her hands to her face, and then her body. She is… she is whole. She is fine. She is… not a moaning ball of faces, consigned to a life of pain and agony for however long she continued existing in that torturous state.
 
“W-What… what happened?”
 
“I birthed thee anew, sweeting. Though not without the help of this one.”
 
The voice of the Last Queen of Caria sends another jolt through Sellen, and she jerks away from Rennala, just now realizing she was held in the comfort of the other woman’s lap. Standing proves to be something of a mistake. She almost immediately swoons, her legs buckling beneath her. However, before she can take a nasty tumble to the floor, HE is there… her loyal apprentice, her ever-faithful student. He catches her and holds her fast in his strong arms as she stares up at him, wide-eyed and panting.
 
“M-My apprentice… you knew… you knew what was going to happen.”
 
“Twas obvious to any with an eye for sorcery.”
 
Rennala’s sharp, cutting words crash down on Sellen like a ton of bricks. No wonder the Queen of the Full Moon had been so content to stand aside. She’d seen through Sellen immediately, hadn’t she? She’d seen Seluvis’ trap, had known that Sellen’s time was limited and had seen no reason to fight when she could just wait. For a moment, Sellen is angry. Angry at Rennala, angry at her student, angry at herself.
 
That last anger… feels truer than the first two. She has no real reason to be angry at the Carian Queen. After all, it was not like she’d come to the Academy under any auspice of befriending the other woman. Meanwhile, the Tarnished… he was the only reason she was still herself, still whole. To think, she had said she wanted to restore the primeval current of glintstone sorcery. That she had been willing to give anything in order to open her mind to the true power of glintstone, unbound by terrestrial taboos.
 
A shudder runs down Sellen’s spine, as she considers for a moment what she had felt. A product of Seluvis’ betrayal, to be sure… but also a product of her own efforts, was it not? Her primal glintstone… if she had not shackled herself to it in an effort to unbind herself from the shackles of flesh, then Seluvis would not have been able to trap her in such a monstrous fate.
 
Her primal glintstone… tis gone. As Sellen silently takes stock of herself, she finds to her shock and surprise that she is wholly, completely bound to this form of hers. No more is it merely a puppet that she is filling, a snug fit but one full of youth and vigor for her essence. She would not be able to body hop again, not without repeating the process that bound her true self to a primal glintstone in the first place.
 
No… this is the price of salvation. Sellen is not unaware of the Queen’s Rebirth. And yet, this feels… much cleaner, than that. She still has her wits about her. She still has her mind. It is merely… tempered by the cost of what had very nearly happened to her.
 
Perhaps if she was stronger, she would be undeterred, but this… call it what you would. A wake up call, if you will. In that moment, Sellen knows she has erred. In that moment, she understands that some things… are forbidden for a reason.
 
“… Thank you, my Apprentice. Thank you, Queen Rennala… I apologize, for my transgressions.”
 
Rennala looks taken aback, the Carian Queen surprised by Sellen’s sudden forthrightness. The Tarnished though… he just smiles, and brushes a hand across her face, cupping her cheek. Sellen blushes… and then leans up and kisses him, hesitantly. When he returns the kiss without issue, she deepens it… and things begin to progress quite rapidly from there.
 
“Lechers. Though art lechers, both.”

And yet, Rennala doesn’t sound all that bothered by it. And in fact, as Sellen finds herself laid back, it is not on the cold, hard floor of the library… but into the Queen of the Full Moon’s arms. Looking up at her, Sellen sees that Rennala is as surprised as Sellen herself feels. And yet, still the Sorcerer spreads her legs, as the Tarnished takes her.
 
A low, earnest moan echoes through the Grand Library, as Rennala hugs Sellen to her lap, arms wrapped around her. As the Tarnished’s member delves into Sellen’s depths, she gasps and flushes, her hands clawing at Rennala’s dress for support.
 
“W-Were you… ever my student, t-truly? Or was I s-simply a project for you, O’ Tarnished… another damsel, to be saved?”
 
Looking up at her, making eye contact, Sellen can only blush under the strength of the Tarnished’s gaze. He doesn’t speak… he never has and perhaps never will. And yet, there is a world of explanation in those immeasurably deep eyes of his. As he slowly takes her, sliding in and out and drawing further moans from her lips, Sellen thinks she understands. He had learned from her. But at the same time, he had grown beyond her quite quickly, hadn’t he?
 
She didn’t quite understand when he’d come to realize the true depths of her folly. Had he initially intended to help her, before realizing he would need to save her instead? Or had he always known he would have to do this, have to save her… from herself?
 
Perhaps he could have approached her about it differently, but would she have cared to listen if he had done this any other way? No… no, she would not have. Oh, perhaps she might have foregone using the body that Seluvis had prepared for her, especially if she learned of the failsafe. But would she have given up on her goals of restoring the primeval current of glintstone sorcery, if she did not have the experience she now did?
 
That feeling, of her body turning against her, of a magic beyond her understanding taking her over… it would haunt Sellen for the rest of her days. She had gotten exactly what she wanted. But you know what they say… be careful what you wish for. Hah, unbound by terrestrial taboos indeed!
 
Her Tarnished had saved her. And now he made love to her, sweet and true. Reaching up for him, Sellen pulls him down into another kiss, even as he continues to drive himself into her depths. This body of hers… no doubt, it was different. Certainly, Rebirth was a taxing process and one that usually left the recipient weakened for the rest of their days. But Sellen didn’t necessarily feel weaker. Just… changed. Born anew, perhaps.
 
When the Tarnished finally fills her with his essence, she lets out a shuddering gasp into his mouth and happily takes it in, welcoming his seed within her. It feels right… she feels complete. Perhaps this is what she needs. A purpose beyond the one she now knows to be false. How long had she spent cursing the Carian Royal Family? How long had she worked to undermine them, when they did not even hold control over the Academy that had cast her out any longer?
 
Well, no matter. Now… it seemed she’d joined them.
 
-x-X-x-
 
The Tarnished eventually finishes his goodbyes to the reborn Sellen and takes his leave. Rennala and her newest daughter watch him go, knowing that he cannot stay, knowing that his path is that of the Elden Lord. Once he’s gone, they look to each other. All around them, Rennala’s sweetings have slowly left their hiding places. Whether it was the joyous cries of Sorcerer Sellen, or the familiar grunts of the Tarnished that drew them out, her daughters are now watching, in silence.
 
Slowly, Sellen lowers herself to her knees and drops her head, repeating the words she’d spoken once before.
 
“Forgive me, my Queen. I have erred greatly. Please… help me to find the right path once more.”
 
Rennala… lets out a slow exhalation of breath and smiles softly. If this is the Tarnished’s will, then who is she to disagree? If this is his desire, then she shall forgive.
 
“Thou needst not fret, my daughter. The path was always just before thee, merely waiting for thee to return to it. Thou needeth only look up.”
 
Sellen does in fact look up at that, seeming both relieved and shocked in equal measure at Rennala’s magnanimous words.
 
“… Thank you.”
 
Her quiet reply brings a bit more life to Rennala’s smile. Tis always good, when a wayward child can be saved. And to think, she had long since given up on this particular prodigal daughter. The Tarnished, even now, was teaching her that not all things had to have unfortunate and regrettable ends.
 
That said… even as she and her sweetings welcome the newest of their number among them, even as Sellen settles into her new place here in the Grand Library at Rennala’s side… the Queen of the Full Moon can’t help but feel the loss of her trueborn daughter, Ranni, all the more keenly. Her sweetings give her purpose and bring her joy and happiness in some form or fashion one and all… but none can ever compare or replace the beautiful child she lost.
 
Her beloved daughter, taken from her by the machinations of the powerful.
 
A single tear trails down the pristine, high cheekbones of the Last Queen of Caria, before she focuses on the present, and leaves the past in the past.

-x-X-x-

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