Marika
They rode at a slow and steady pace. Luna had advised that they take their time as they had only just taken to the roads again, and she figured it would be best for little Malli to not rush right into the fray. The Rold lift, as she recalled it named, was not terribly far, anyway.
It was around then that the light struck Marika. It was warm as they crested over the hill that led from the Leyndell battlements towards the lift. She looked towards the source and was forced to quickly look away as it was far too intense for her eyes. Yet the feeling of it felt so different than that of The Erdtree, and she felt a sense of comfort as this strange glow passed over them.
"What... is that...?" She asked with a small amount of confusion. She looked to her knight, who was smiling her whole head off in a goofy display of joy.
"Your Sun." She said with a glow of joy. "It is finally outshining the Erdtree."
Marika's eyes widened, closing her eyes and turning to let her face become bathed in the amber glow. It was so serene compared to the almost dominating light of the Erdtree, and it gave her a sense of peace. "I haven't felt this kind of warmth in so long..." Her hand fell upon her now visibly grown belly. She smiled to herself that the babe had thankfully been unharmed by her coma. "He will be born seeing the sun rise on our lands again."
She felt her knight's smile without having to see it directly. She knew how happy she was to welcome their son someday.
"He will be so happy once all this madness is over."
"We shall make sure of that."
Malli perked up. "I gotsa cousin now?!" She clapped excitedly, bouncing atop Torrent's horns. Luna let out a laugh at her antics.
"Yes, soon you will have a cousin, sweetheart." She patted her head tenderly before giving a little motion of the reigns, and Torrent neighed as he began to continue his trot.
Soon enough, golden light gave way to ashen stone and dark structures that had long been abandoned by the golden order. She lamented just how far they had stagnated, and painfully, they reminded her of the failures of her past. Yet she would no longer be ruled by such feelings. She held onto the waist of her knight and stifled the ache of that gloom. She would fight this battle they had embarked on to the bitter end. Her people deserved it. Especially after all the pain she had caused.
...
Morgott
The old omen slowly sat down in his make shift chair of logs, taking a long breath to calm his growing anxieties. Mohg had fallen so damn far, and tragically, it seemed that Rykard, too, had become the pawn of another gods schemes. Morgott had hated what he had to do, but seeing his brother's face intertwined with that horrid serpent had sharpened his resolve. The deed had been done, and he tried not to focus on it. There was too much to do without dwelling on the fallen.
He looked around the ramshackle encampment he had cobbled together from broken weapons and old wood. The mountain was aplenty with old materials. There were too many battles that had begun to weigh down on Morgott. Too many lives wasted. He would weep for them when, at last, his work was done, but for now, he poked at the fire with his sealed cane to keep it tended. The mountain was warmer than one would expect of this altitude, but the rumbling heat came from the ever-present volcanic vents scattered across the mountain side. A fact he was rather thankful for. He did not enjoy the cold all that much. He had lived in it for most of his years and found the idea of returning to it far beyond unappealing.
Standing up from his little chair, he opened the map he kept on hand of the lands between. If the knight was true to her word, they would be heading towards the Grand Lift of Rold soon. He wasn't positive that they had the keys required to rise it, but he was equally sure that strange knight could find a way around such a lock. She was clever to the point of annoyance, and Morgott was thankful that fate had led them to be allies rather than foes.
It was a shameful reality that he could not avoid now with his own brother. Mohg had slipped entirely into insanity. He had even heard rumors that he had kidnapped the sleeping body of Miquella from the roots of the Haligtree. He knew there would be hell to pay should Malenia discover this atrocious crime. What goal could he even be seeking out? Was it Miquella in that bizarre cocoon? If it was, why was he adorn with a wedding ring?
He shook his head to dispel the spiral of woe that had briefly started to form and focused on the map. It wouldn't be hard for him to secretly travel back to Leyndell. He hoped he could catch the duo on their way to the lift. The land of the giants was a cold and dark place that he had very little interest in exploring, and he still had to go handle Mohg. He feared that confrontation, but he knew what had to be done. He wanted to at least see them off, however, in case he failed in his duties. A final moment with his mother, who had seemed to truly change. If he saw her and witnessed such warmth as he had so long sought from her, he could find peace with his death should it come to pass.
He folded up the map and tucked it underneath his cloak. Perhaps if he survived, it would be time to finally find some decent clothing. He had kept to these out of obligation and self penance for the crime of his birth, but so much had changed that he no longer was even certain he owed such penance. How the world had changed so quickly, all because of a single woman. At least, he had assumed this whole time that it had been her doing. Perhaps that was also only a piece of this great puzzle he had only begun to try and put together.
He only hoped to see it complete before he, too, met the cold embrace of death.
...
???
"So. This is the Lands Between, hm?" A husky feminine voice said as she breathed out a soft puff of smoke.
"It would seem to be." A monotone girl's voice responded.
"Talk about a shithole."
"I have seen your closet. Do not talk."
"Hey! I... I am working on it." She responded with a grunt of mild indignation.
"Sure. Right around the time we will see Momosa finally comb her hair."
"..."
A little smirk formed on the otherwise stoic face of the shorter girl. She tucked a lock of dark purple hair behind her ear. "So. Where are we supposed to go again?"
"Well. Skith sent us to make sure Luna didn't do anything too stupid."
"Luna. Our Luna. She wants us to make sure the wing nut, knuckleheads mcspazzatron doesn't do anything too stupid."
"Eeyup."
A long sigh came from the shorter dark skinned girl as she tightened up the scarf she had around her mouth. "She really does not give anyone easy jobs."
"Nope." She flicked the last embers of her cigar away as the paler woman reached up to brush some of her short, dark brown hair from her eye.
"Let's go find our goofball, then. I am sure she has left a trail of dead bastards."
"It is her usual M.O."