[Lone Wanderer] 3 – The Order, the Chaos, and the Rot

[A/N: I have no idea why, but this story is really messing with my mind. I need to write some chapters]

Order.

A beautiful order tinged in Gold took hold of the Lands Between, forged and brought into being by Marika, God, and avatar of the Greater Will, an outer God that represented Order. Due to Markia's tampering with the Elden Ring, Destined Death was removed from the Order of the Lands Between, preventing the true death of all that perished within the lands. It was given to her shadow, giving her complete control over Death through her loyal servant.

With the shattering of the Elden Ring, the order was thrown into chaos, and so, the Greater Will called forth those outside of the Lands Between to hunt down the fragments of the Elden Ring and become the new Elden Lord, restoring Order to the Lands Between. These people were Tarnished. Some were gifted with the ability to see and use Grace, a guide and tool created by the Greater Will to assist the Tarnished. The Tarnished were tools to the Greater Will, tools to spread its Order, and tools that could be discarded with ease.

Yet, in the Greater Will's domain, it felt something that shook its order, a being much like many of the other races of the Lands Between and beyond, but different, seemingly anchoring its existence to the Lands Between with their will alone, its foreign nature made the Greater Will wary, for the creature could be like it, an Outer God, a foreigner to these Lands, only this one took upon a physical form, but it was too...weak, too mortal for it to truly be like itself and the others.

That's when the Greater Will felt the presence of two more like itself fighting for control of the creature's body: the Frenzied Flame and the Scarlet Rot. The Greater Will could not allow the mortal to fall into the hands of its two enemies, one that embodied Chaos, its opposite, and one that embodied Rot.

How the Flame had managed to establish a small domain hidden from it within its own concerned the Greater Will, how had the Flame slipped past its senses, creating a proxy to expand its influence in the form of a Three-Fingers.

Yet, the Greater Will was limited in its influence on the Lands Between, especially after the shattering of the Elden Ring and loss of its most powerful servants, the traitor God Marika and the Demi-Gods, but despite its brief weakness, this was still its domain, and it could still reach through the sites of Grace throughout the Lands Between and the rotting Erdtree.

The Chaos and Rot noticed its rising presence within the chamber of the burned Three-Fingers, and the Greater Will knew that if it were not quick, then the potentially useful tool would burn and rot and burn before it could establish a hold within the mind of the mortal.

Its essence and Order flooded the chamber, alerting the two others to its presence. Of the three, the Rot was the weakest, but it took hold of the creature's flesh for easier than Order or Chaos. The three were at a stalemate, and the  Greater Will knew that the mortal would not last between the three of them fighting to claim him.

Not wanting to lose such a unique tool, the Greater Will came up with an idea. If it could awaken the mortal's mind and reinforce it with Grace, turning the mortal tarnished, then the Greater Will could 'push down' the influence of the other two, though it wouldn't remove them from the mortal altogether, not unless the Greater Will were to invest more resources into the tool and raise their status to that of a God, such as Marika.

...

Pain. Indescribable agony assaulted my senses. I burned. I rot. Yet, something held me together. 

I found myself standing on the surface of a beautiful lake. Above me was a night sky filled with countless glittering stars. I recognized where I was. The arena you would end up in to fight the Elden Beast and decide the fate of the Lands Between.

That's when I noticed the waters beneath me begin to ripple like a stone had been tossed into it.

Before my eyes, a vividly realistic Elden Beast climbed out from the lake, and I felt...weird, like it didn't belong.

I felt as if the Beast could see through me and into my mind, and then I felt it reach out to me, but not with words, only emotions and concepts.

Danger. Assist. Offer. Exchange. 

I was...

I remembered and screamed.

The Scarlet Rot infected me, and in my delirium, I sought the only thing I could think of that would burn the rot away: the Freinzied Flame.

Why was I so stupid?! There were many different ways I could have cleansed myself of Scarlet Rot, though they may have been difficult to do, such as [Flame, Cleanse Me], a spell that cures the Tarinshed of Scarlet Rot, and other conditions. 

But...the Greater Will offered me a deal. It would assist me in getting rid of the Scarlet Rot and Freinzied Flame...in exchange, I would have to serve it. It was...not the worst deal...by far, especially as its role as an Outer God of Order.

I asked in what way I was to 'serve,' and the response I got made me hesitate.

I was to serve as its...envoy and avatar. Spreading Order wherever I went. It wanted me to repair the Elden Ring, reestablish Order in the Lands Between, or assist another Tarnished in becoming the Elden Lord. 

It was... challenging to swallow...but what other choice did I have? 

At least with Destined Death gone and my new 'Tarnished' status, I wouldn't be able to permanently die unless I came across a pissed-off Malkith or one of the Black Blades. 

Though...could I even handle the pain that came with Death, even if only briefly? 

Left with no other feasible choice, I accepted, and I felt its presence settle within my mind.

My vision was overtaken by darkness for some time before I opened them again, finding myself lying on the ground in the chamber of the Frenzed Flame's Three-Finger, now a husk of what it once was, the flames doused and gone, its corpse on the ground unmoving.

I winced, looking down to see what remained of my clothes after being burned by the Three-Finger. My skin was scarred from where the Three-Fingers touched me with the Frenzied Flame. 

I winced in pain when I moved to stand before nearly falling down to the ground again when I  felt my insides flare in pain.

I felt the worst heartburn of my life, alongside a fierce need to cough.

I grimaced. I needed to find the spell and cleanse my body of the Scarlet Rot and find some other way to rid myself of the Frenzied Flame, now.