Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The Tarnished groaned as he laid down at the foot of the grace.

How many times has he died now trying to get to that accursed Stormveil castle only to get ganked by a horde of soldiers with the vocabulary of a demented dog.

A frown grabbed his face as he remembered his last death. He had gotten so close after silently dispatching most of the guards only for the captain to skewer him from behind.
Ofcourse it had been no one else’s fault but his own, this was a battle field and it was his own inattention that caused it but..
But
Still
The Tarnished roared in frustration and slammed his fists into the ground.
As he sat there seething in his rage he didn’t even notice the shimmering blue appearing behind him. As an apparition took form behind him.
A girl, one known in these lands to the few who’ve seen her as Melina stood there with one eye shut closed with strange markings over it, the other eye calmly observing the tarnished though there seemed to be just the tiniest glimmer of concern in her eye as she hovered behind him.

“Is this truly the right choice Torrent.”
She asked herself. Was this the man who would fulfil their goals. The afore mentioned Torrent must have been quite convincing as the lady simply shut her eye took a deep breath and said “Very well.”

She thus appeared behind the tarnished who was still absorbed in his irritation and she proceeded to make her presence known with a gentle cough and a statement of “pardon me”

The tarnished nearly leaped into the sky and drew his sword at the sound of that but immediately lowered it at the sight of her.
Melina looked at the tarnished fully expecting an avalanche of questions or perhaps an angry shout but all she got was instead a quizzical stare.

The tarnished had withdrawn his weapon as soon as he had drawn it and he proceeded to simply stare at her.
Not in a oogling manner of a depraved kitchen boy but neither in the manner of a suspicious warrior either.
He simply looked…
Curious?
Innocent curiosity?
In these lands?
What a rare sight indeed.
Melina decided to proceed with the task at hand
“Greetings. Traveler from beyond the fog”
She said as she removed her hood
“I am Melina, and I offer you an accord.”

To Melina’s surprise the Tarnished halted her in that moment with a motion of his hand.
As she stared at him with questions in her eye he simply proceeded to point down and immediately sank into a sitting position.
Before she could say another word the Tarnished spoke his first words
“I’m unsure about you but when having a discussion I do believe it’s better had sitting, rather than standing.”
His voice sounded guttural
Like it hadn’t been used in centuries
Yet there seemed to be a tinge of dry humor in the man’s voice.
Melina simply sat down as well silently and before she could speak she was interrupted yet again by him
“Well do you agree? Ah well since you’re sitting I suppose you do agree to an extent. I think. I may be entirely wrong but please do elaborate on this accord you speak off.”
Melina raises an eyebrow and stated
“You know for a person who was wailing in frustration and rage a minute ago, you’re oddly ill at ease”
The tarnished gave a grin before he responded
“You’re the only person I’ve seen who hasn’t tried to shank me or insulted me to my face the first second I’ve seen them.”
“I may still insult you, you know.”
Melina responded rather curtly as she tried to form her judgment of the man sitting infront of her.
“Ah sure you might but still you don’t have the expression that makes me believe you think I’m lower than pig shit.”
Melina couldn’t resist a slight twinkle of a smile in her eye at that statement.
“However I’ve been quite rude carrying on with my chatter. Please lady Melina do tell what this accord of yours entails.” stated the tarnished with a glance full of curiosity.
“Do you know off the finger maidens Tarnished?”
“Yes I do”
“Then you know the guidance and aid they provide the tarnished?”
“Yes”
“Well then I see no point dithering, to the point, you I’m afraid are maidenless…!”
Melina paused as the tarnished made a low guttural sound at her statement.
“Tarnished are you alr-“
“What is it with this lands obsession with calling me maidenless?”
“Excuse me”
“The first person I spoke to in this land wore a white mask and basically insinuated I would die miserably cause I had no maiden. Miserable sack of donkey shit he was.”
Melina had to crack a small smile at this as she imagined the situation.
“Well if it’s of any relief tarnished I’ve come to offer you aid in that very situation.”
“What”
“I propose I play the act of maiden, turning your runes to strength. To help aid you on your search for the Elden Ring to become Elden Lord.”
“…”
“All I ask is that you bring me to the foot of the Erd Tree.”
The tarnished stared at her and brooded for a second.
She noticed his eyes had suddenly become cloudy but just as suddenly as they had become cloudy they cleared and he looked at her with a determined expression.
“I agree to your accord lady Melina”
Melina smiled before she continued
“I’m glad we’ve come to an agreement, then with our accord being agreed to I wish to bequeath this unto you” she said as she fished a ring and pressed it into the tarnisheds hand.
Before she could utter her next phrase the tarnished raised his hand clearly wanting to state something.
Melina tilted her head
“Yes tarnished?”
“Is this a marriage proposal?”
“I- WHAT?”
Melina squeaked out in shock before she noticed the tarnished was grinning like a jackass.
“I’m merely teasing, it is however funny that you appear here Melina stating you wish to play the role of maiden and offering me a ring”
Melina huffed and stated “It wasn’t me that asked to appear here but the ring.”
“What do you mean?”
“The ring summons a spectral steed by the name of torrent. He chose you and will aid you in your travels across the lands between.”
The tarnished rolled the ring in his hands before carefully putting it onto his finger.
With this done he then stated “I am quite grateful Lady Melina. I thank you for the aid you’re giving” he proceeded to give a bow.
Melina was rather taken aback at this sudden show of respect and simply stated
“It is of no issue, I’m merely fulfilling my part of the accord in hopes it will help you fulfill yours.”
“That may be so but I do feel quite apologetic over flustering you earlier.”
“A tarnished with manners are we?”
The tarnished raised his eyes and could see in Melinas eye a glimmer of amusement at his mannerisms and realised she had quite forgiven him already.
“Ah well I felt it rude to propose marriage when one doesn’t even know my name.”
Melina blinked
And blinked again
And then felt a surge of embarrassment
She hadn’t even asked the man’s name
“Before you spout something about being sorry you hadn’t asked for it earlier. It’s fine. I have no recollection of my full name.”
“Full name?”
“I remember being called Zavin but I have no real memories attached to that name.”
“Would you prefer I called you that?”
“Whichever name you see fit Lady Melina”
“Well Zavin did you know in many cultures here the offering of a steed signifies an interest in a permanent bond of marriage”
It was now the Tarnished/Zavins turn to get flabbergasted and flustered before he saw Melinas eye twinkling with laughter.
“Oh you cheeky-“
“Consider us equal in our accord now Sir Zavin”
Zavin ruefully smiled as he rubbed his temples
“Very well then. You said you could turn my runes to strength could you not?”
“Yes I can.”
“Could you do it now?”
“Ofcourse, allow me to rest my hand upon you for but a moment, share them with me, your thoughts, your ambitions, the principles you would follow.”
“Very well”

I have an idea on how to continue whole revealing your ambitions to melina part. However I shall flesh it out and make that the next chapter.
That’s all for now folks.
Thanks a ton for reading.

Chapter Text

As Melina's fingers fluttered onto Zavin's hands, she felt the surge of his thoughts rush into her mind.
Most of it meaningless babble as it streamed in from his live consciousness.
This wouldn't do she needed to dig deeper to find the very foundations that made up the tarnished before her.
Just as she dug deeper into his thoughts, she hit an iron wall, a completely insurmountable blockade on his thoughts. She stared at it in her mind's eye before proceeding to try and poke through his mind's armor.
A near fatal error, as the moment she tried to breach the wall, she found herself writhing in agony as mental chains constricted around her and held her in a suffocating grip that threatened to crush her mind.

Melina let out a gasp and fell backwards, her eye opened as far as it could go with her pupil dilated, and the tarnished Zavin fell backwards too with a grimace of pain on his face.

Melina: "What in the name of Marika did you just do?"

Zavi: "My apologies. I did not expect you to, dig into my mind like that.''
''You haven't answered my question, Zavin. What was that you just did?"

The Tarnished brooded, staring at her clearly picking his words carefully so as not to offend Melina.

''I am not sure, as I've said earlier when giving my name, I have not much memories, but.... I do remember crawling, wringling hands in my mind, I remember steeling myself lest I go mad with them seeping into every corner of my mind. I do not know what to make of those memories, rather their more of a feeling than a memory, really. I apologize sincerely. I trust that you mean me no harm, but it must have been a subconscious trigger of mental defenses from my past. I was not aware, and I do not intend to deceive you. I truly... had no recollection of this till we touched our minds together just now.''

Melina had been listening to the tarnished with a bit of an irate expression; however, her expression softened as she looked into Zavin's eyes, which held a look of immense guilt and frustration.
In the lands between, where deceit is at every corner, seeing a person where his emotions so clearly on his face was a rare sight. Despite the fact she had only just met the man, Melina felt rather inclined to trust him.
''I believe you Zavin but if I am to help you and do my part of the accord, I'll need you to trust me—not just you but your subconscious mind too, all of you, if you will."
''I understand...but I can't promise that I will be able to shut off my defenses so simply."
''I don't need you to shut it off, I want you to help me bypass them.''
''Meaning?''
''It would be easier to show you but I will explain in brief, I mean to make you my guide in your mind.''
''I... see.''
''Hark, get rid of that sour look of doubt Zavin, do not fear, simply let me do what I am meant to do as maiden.''

With that Melina once again squatted low beside the tarnished and grasped his arm
Once more she was in Zavin's mind and once more she side stepped the stream of his consciousness, but rather than diving deeper into his mind, she ever so gently called out for him
''Zavin''
....
''Zavin''
.....
''ZAVIN''
"Fucking hell, Melina, that was loud...wait, no...we're not speaking what in go—"
"As I had said, Zavin, I wished to make you my guide to your mind."
''You say that as if I have daily tours of my mind every blasted day.''
"Come now, it is not the time for dithering; share with me what you wish... or what you can share."
"It would be easier if you hadn't shouted my mind into pieces."
''I apologize for it.''
"Alright, alright, no need to apologize."
"Now...share my mind.. share my mind...hmmmm..."

Melina paused as Zavin's coherent thoughts went from coherent to a slight hum all around her. She did not interrupt, as for one, she did not want to rush the man; it was a task that required concentration of immense proportions, and for two the slightly more truthful reason was she did not want to accidentally trigger another mental defense; the feeling of the chains suffocating her had felt horrifically real and she would rather not have that happen again.
As Melina pondered over how Zavin had reached such fine tuned mental control and defenses her brain was suddenly flooded with thoughts.
It was memories that Zavin was sharing from the inner core of his mind and existence.
Images of a feral, stocky warrior flooded her mind, he leapt with great agility and immense strength as he wielded what appeared to be a dragon's tooth to crush his foes. She felt the warriors arrogance and pride.
Images of a dreary library and a feeling of dread and giddiness filled her as she observed a book through his eyes.
She felt an unimaginable weight across her shoulder as the warrior now clambered to the top of a fort holding several wounded, all signs of feralness banished, and she felt an intense rush of guilt and panic.
The last images that filled her mind were a very suspicious-looking brewing station, the feeling of despair, and a glinting weapon before...
Darkness
The end of all things.

Melina gasped and once again snapped awake, lurching forward; this time her eye dilated. This time the tarnished too had lurched forward, and they both collided and backed away, murmuring apologies. They both sat there in silence for a minute observing one another, before Melina spoke lest the silence get too heavy
"Those memories you showed me, Zavin... do you, do you remember any of them?"
He stared at her before slowly saying, "No...yes...kind of... I remember the emotions I felt, yet I do not know the whys, the hows or the whos. It's almost as though Im watching another man's life.''
''I see.''
''Well I fulfilled what you just asked, is it now possible to turn my runes into strength?"
He asked while looking at Melina, she was observing him with an expression he could not read.
"Yes, I can, Zavin. In fact, I already have if you haven't realized."
Zavin blinked at her and then suddenly realized what she had said was true; slowly he stood up and unsheathed his sword.. my god it felt like a toothpickin his hands now and.. his mind. He felt clear, he could not tell how but it seemed Melina had made him increase his intellect and focus and that wasn't all, he felt a great amount of energy, like he could run for miles; his raggedy armor and pack felt like nothing on him now.
The tarnished proceeded to let out a whoop of delight and raise his arms in the sky as he ran around the sight of grace with joy.
''Ach tarnished, one would think you a child to see you so taken up with delight."

Melina's voice fluttered in cutting into the mans delight.
It did not stop him however as he spun around with a wide grin on his face as he dropped down to one knee, kneeling while looking at her in the eye.
''Lady Melina, 30 minutes ago I believed I was a lost cause, I now have a steed and a maiden- ha take that, you white-masked prick!"
At that statement Melina had to stifle a smile as Zavin continued his little rant
''And now I am quite literally a stronger, smarter, and better man than I was before this. Of course I am delighted; I thank you most deeply, Lady Melina.''
With this he bowed his head.

Melina felt a flush of embarrassment and shyness form a blush on her cheek.
"Ah, Tarnished, raise your head up. I do not accept submission; we are equals in this accord, are we not? And before you thank me, you should thank Torrent, for he was the one who marked your value, not I.''
Zavin leapt up from the kneeling position the moment he heard raise your head up. He looked at her still with a smile on his lips as he said, "Well, then I ought to be grateful to him then'' as he wrangled the calling ring from his pack. He then held the ring infront of him and Melina could hear him softly thank the ring with utter reverence. It made her smile and filled her with a bit of hope to the next part of the task at hand.
''Well Zavin, do you think you're ready to now deal with the lord in Castle Stormveil?''
''OFCOURSE''
and with that the tarnished let out a roar and jumped off the site of grace and charged the soldiers patrolling near the gate.
Melina watched him sprint with her smile dimming as she realised she hadn't fucking told him how to use the damn spectral steed ring.
With a sigh of frustration she proceeded to watch the tarnished Zavin club a off guard soldier over the head with his sword.
''Well this is going to be spectacular.''

Chapter Text

Zavin clubbed the soldier with the delight of a child taking it's first steps. So proud was he of his newly acquired strength, he hadn't even gone for a strike to kill, merely a very heavy blow intended to knock the wind out of the soldier. The soldier dutifully crumpled under the heavy blow to the ground and groaned as Zavin skewered his collapsed form, fading into ash as he groaned.
Zavin twirled around with delight and faced the soldiers, who were alerted by the commotion and were surrounding him.
"COME FORTH," roared Zavin at them.
This roar of confidence alongside the disappearing ashes of one of their own made the common soldiers hesitate for a mere moment.
However, the knight captain had no hesitation and immediately charged Zavin fully confident he once again would triumph against the raggedy tarnished.
Zavin, however, already expected this and sidestepped the spear as it whistled towards his torso. Melina, watching this, raised her eyebrow slightly. ''Perhaps this tarnished is of passab-?''
Her thoughts cut off as she watched Zavin instead of deftly jabbing the knight back with his sword as she expected him to do, proceed to do something that seemed insane even for a tarnished.
The fool grabbed the spear and yanked the knight towards him. The knight staggered forth, but it seemed more to be out of shock rather than Zavin's strength, and while he stood befuddled, Zavin proceeded to slash his sword into his side.
This blatant display of sheer disrespect enraged the soldiers and the knight, and they proceeded to mob Zavin, who, for all his newly acquired strength, had not yet discovered the way to deal with ten men mobbing and beating you over the head.

Melina, watching this shitshow, rubbed her temples in sheer confusion and a bit of irritation. The tarnished could have easily countered the knight, and using the shock of losing their knight captain, annihilated the remaining soldiers before proceeding past the gate and into the lord's lands. So why did this fool attempt that weird maneuver?
It baffled her, and she resolved to ask what in Marika's name he was thinking as soon as he returned to the site of grace.

''Fuck''
That was the last thought Zavin had before his form expired from the repeated wounds the mob of soldiers gave him. As his form slowly regenerated itself at the site of grace the tarnished had a moment to think.
"Logically I should have used that moment to attack normally, yet... that move, the yanking of the man's spear—Marika, that sounds wrong; as boorish as that was, it had felt natural."

With that thought he reformed at the site of grace and immediately noticed Melina staring at him with a rather severe look in her one open eye.

Feeling sheepish, he opened his mouth to say something

What that something was Melina did not find out as in that moment Zavin fell over from his sitting position, clutching his head and letting loose a groan of agony.
The irritation in Melina quickly faded away at the site of this as she rushed to his side with a look of concern and confusion.
In Zavins flickering consciousness, he smiled internally at her look of concern, before he got dragged into a deeper level of his subconcious and warped memories and darkness engulfed his mind.