Maidenless No Longer (Elden Ring)

Chapter 33: Melina

A/N: Don't worry guys, everything is going to be fine. Put down the pitchforks and just read the chapter. And remember. The Tarnished has a Plan.

-x-X-x-

For a long moment, Melina says nothing. Silence hangs in the dead, stagnant air all around them. The smell of his burnt flesh fills her nostrils. The most grievous wound she's seen him take, and it's something he chose for himself. For a long moment, she just stares at what the Three Fingers have done to him, as he stares back at her, quiet as ever.

When she finally speaks, it does not even sound like her voice. Her tone is dead. Lifeless. There is no emotion to her words. They come out feeling almost clinical in nature.

"You have... inherited the Frenzied Flame. A pity, I suppose. You are no longer fit to become Elden Lord. As such... our journey together ends here. And remember..."

Here, she stands, glaring down at him with a bit more heat as the beginnings of true rage start to flow through her veins. She wonders if this is what Marika felt, all that time ago, when the machinations of others led to the death of her son.

"Should you rise as the Lord of Chaos, I will kill you, as sure as night follows day. Such is my duty, for..."

Here, Melina's heart catches in her throat and she has to swallow thickly, tears pricking at her one open eye. After a moment, she finds the words, though her voice is even hoarser than before.

"Such is my duty, for showing you the way. For putting you on the correct path."

She didn't know how she was going to beat him, if it truly came down to it. The Frenzied Flame was powerful in and of itself, and destructive beyond measure. And now... now it had a champion who was beyond any other Melina had ever seen. Her Tarnished was Perfection Manifest. How would she ever bring him down? She could only hope that when the Frenzied Flame finally took its due, it would weaken him in some way.

No matter. Her purpose as kindling maiden had been usurped. This... this would have to do, for a new purpose. Steeling her heart, straightening her spine, and clenching her jaw as well as her hands into fists, Melina moves to step away.

"Goodbye, my companion. Goodbye, Torrent..."

Except, just as she's turning to leave, he catches her. As he's proven before, he's more than capable of stopping her from dematerializing on him. Whipping her head back around as he holds her by the wrist, suddenly standing there before her, Melina goes to snarl, only for the action to freeze upon her face when she beholds the look on his.

It's a stern look. A disapproving look. A... a look of discipline, and lecture. In that look, Melina sees every inch of the Tarnished she'd been bound and disciplined by. She sees every inch of her domineering champion, the one who had taken her and made sweet but firm love to her. In that moment, for just a beat, Melina finds herself frozen in indecision.

So of course, her Tarnished steps in and takes advantage of her hesitation. His other hand comes up, and cups her face, as he leans forward and gives her a kiss. Melina jolts, as his lips meet her own. It is both a tender, but also incredibly confident kiss. He does not seize upon her beyond the initial grab of her wrist, but it is as if he does not believe he needs to. He kisses her... and Melina, weak as she is, lets him.

She'd told herself that with their new accord, she would no longer fall for his lecherous ways. That with their new accord, things would be different between them, because it wasn't fair to him to love a fleeting existence such as hers. She was meant to be kindling, always had been, and nothing more.

But then he'd gone and done this. Usurped her purpose. And for what? To save her? Did he even stop to wonder if she WANTED to be saved? Did he stop to ask? No! Because he didn't fucking TALK! Stupid, foolish, bullheaded man! Idiotic, braindead Tarnished!