Maidenless No Longer (Elden Ring)

Bonus Chapter #6: Marika the Eternal

A/N: Here we are with a threesome, because Marika's head is all turned around but talking out one's issues is for suckers, chumps, and mortals.

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She felt as though she might very well be going mad. Twas rather reckless of her, to engage in a relationship with the Carian Queen. Marika knew this. She was no fool, nor was she all that prone to making rash decisions. Certainly, she'd done some impulsive things in her time, but one act of grief-fueled rage in the form of the Shattering did not wipe away her entire record as Ruler of the Lands Between. Surely not.

Regardless, she'd found herself inexplicably drawn to Rennala of the Full Moon. The Last Queen of Caria had caught her eye at the wedding, and from that moment on, she had struggled not to think about her. The reason why was... abundantly obvious.

She had subsumed her other half. Her twin soul. Radagon had gotten his wish, after a fashion. They had become one in the end, as he'd wanted. Of course, she knew it was not in the way he'd wanted. Nay, Radagon had sought control. He had sought dominance, in their mixing. In the end, he had not even come close.

Without the Elden Beast to support his efforts, their comingling could only ever end one way... in Marika's total and utter victory. And because of the way Radagon had gone about things, she could not have spared him, even if she had wanted to. It was eat or be eaten, consume or be consumed. And in the end, Queen Marika the Eternal refused to fall.

Radagon, as a result, was gone. Completely and utterly. But in his departure, he had left her with a handful of gifts. One, her slightly more mannish appearance. She was still a woman, with a woman's body, through and through. However, there was no denying that her shoulders were a bit broader, her arms a bit more muscular. She had... chiseled features all across her body that had not been there before.

Twas the remnants of a certain Champion, of that there were no doubts. Still, she was confident in her continued beauty. Her self-image remained intact. If these few minor physical traits were all that she was left with in the face of Radagon's attempt to subsume her very self, then that was fine.

... But it was not only that, was it? No, rather... he had left behind other fragments as well. One of those being his love for Rennala of the Full Moon.

Pah! If he truly loved the woman, he could have stayed with her! He could have refused the Greater Will's steward, could have ignored the vassal beast's call! If he had, the Elden Beast would have likely turned to someone else, but at least they would have been a lesser choice, by far. It was abundantly clear that Radagon had been the Elden Beast's primary option for her new Consort and Elden Lord, wanting a way to further tighten the chains around her person.

And he'd let the vassal beast use him willingly, come calling like a loyal hound to its master. He had abandoned Rennala at the drop of a hat not for HER sake, as it might have seemed, but on behalf of the Greater Will's Steward. And he had the audacity to still love his previous wife? To foist his feelings towards the Carian Queen upon Marika?!

Even knowing where it came from, Marika couldn't help herself. Before she knew what was happening, she was engaging in a clandestine relationship with her Queenly counterpart that, quite frankly, had the potential to ruin everything. If the Lunar Princess found out what she was up to, Marika could imagine Ranni's wrath would tear the new Age they were begrudgingly building together apart at the seams.

And yet, Marika could not bring herself to stop. She could, not for the life of her, find it in her heart to quit seeing Rennala. Which left her with only one choice really. Both for the sake of her and Ranni's tentative alliance, as well as Marika's own sanity... she would need to bring in a third party. Who better to act as something of a barrier between her and the Lunar Princess' wrath, as well as an affirmation that she was still herself... then the new Elden Lord?