Maidenless No Longer (Elden Ring)

Chapter 43: Melina

A/N: Ohey Melina, how have you been doing since... Chapter 33?

-x-X-x-

She's been watching. Of course she has. It wasn't like she'd gone off to sulk and feel sorry for herself or anything. Certainly not after letting the Tarnished not only claim the Frenzied Flame, but also letting him convince her to stick around and see things through. No, Melina wasn't so petty as all that. She'd watched on as he'd made his way to the Mountaintop of the Giants. She'd watched on as he'd gone practically everywhere in those forbidden lands EXCEPT for the Forge of the Giants.

What was the point of him taking the Frenzied Flame upon himself if he wasn't going to actually use it to burn the Erdtree? True, there was no real rush, even now. All the reasons there might have been, had been removed from the board most... effectively. Only Morgott's demise might have been cause for concern, since it left Leyndell undefended and the path to the Erdtree unprotected.

But what did that matter? Let the Royal Capital burn. The Erdtree would not burn alongside it without the Fell Flame of the Giants, after all. And besides... most of the demigods had already been taken care of. Those who would have pounced upon the Capital's weakness in the wake of Morgott's defeat had been removed from the board.

One by one, her chosen champion had gone around handling things. One after another, he'd dealt with any would-be problems before they could potentially expand further. It was easy now, in hindsight, to see how his path had led him to unilaterally fell some of the greatest monsters the Lands Between had ever seen. And neuter some of its greater schemers besides.

More than that though, his actions in the Mountaintops of the Giants had finally allowed Melina to understand her Tarnished at long last. After what he'd done for the Albinaurics with the spirit Latenna, and then what he'd done for Millicent... and then what he'd done for MALENIA of all people, Melina finally understood him quite well. There was no longer any doubt in her mind. There were no more mysteries, as far as her champion was concerned.

It was simple, really. He was a self-sacrificing asshole.

Admittedly, that should have been obvious to her ages ago. Indeed, one of the very first things he'd done after they'd had their chat was go gallivanting across Limgrave and Caelid, making contact with and rescuing damsels in distress wherever they needed his help, completely disregarding his own safety in the process.

Hell, he'd picked up the one-armed swordswoman all the way back at the beginning, hadn't he? Moving with unerring accuracy, he'd gotten her back on her feet, putting that needle into her. All part of his grand scheme to save both her and Malenia later on.

How? How did her chosen Tarnished seemingly know just about everything ahead of time? In hindsight, it all seemed so planned and carefully plotted out. Melina, who had been with him every step of the way, could recognize it now. One might think he'd just bumbled into everything, taking it all as it came and handling life one step at a time like most in the Lands Between did.

But Melina knew better. She knew that her Tarnished had put that needle in Millicent's flesh in order to have her carry it all the way to the Haligtree, where he could then use it on Malenia. And while that sort of act would seem to hold a special callous disregard for Millicent and in many cases mark her as his patsy, it wasn't that simple. No, because he'd used her prolonged experience with the needle to loosen the Scarlet Rot's hold on her... and then forced an unnervingly large amount of Preserving Boluses down her throat in order to finish the job.

Saving Millicent was one thing. Saving Malenia? From herself? Yes, Melina's champion truly was a self-sacrificing imbecile. Did he not understand what he had done? All he'd done was temporarily free Malenia from her curse of rot. It was still there, lurking beneath the surface. The Scarlet Rot was the instrument of something much more powerful than that needle he'd used. He couldn't possibly expect it to hold back an Outer God's influence forever.