Two Halves of a Corrupted Ring 1

>>Chapter 1:  A Fellowship Forms<<<

<<<Sasha>>>

The ruins were… pretty ruined honestly.

She could only wonder if the building was the home of a large family, or perhaps a chapel of sorts. There wasn’t anything left to tell either way, any paned or colored windows were shattered completely and any possible symbols of worship had long worn away. Still it did provide plenty of space to create a safe house for herself and her sister.

Now, if only she filled up her inventory with building supplies before this happened, but there was no way she could’ve predicted being yeeted into another world completely. 

Scratching the base of her horns, Sasha decided the best place to start would be deciding what to use. Should she make something with stone, so as not to clash with the remaining structure? Or just go with wood and just deal with the clash? Both would be pretty easy to do even without proper tools, she could shatter concrete with her fists and she doubted ripping trees out of the ground would be all that difficult.

“Well as long as they’re not hideously giant or gold,” She thought dryly.

Glancing at her sister for a few moments she sighed, she couldn’t make up her mind.

“Hey sis, which sounds better? Stone structure or wood?” She asked.

“... Sasha, I love you but you are so autistic,” Aliva sighed before gesturing to an armored woman staring at them, “We found a local.”

Sasha stared as well, “Okay, cool… so… hi?” Honestly she wasn’t sure what to make of the woman, but she hasn’t done anything but stare so she would restrain herself from sparta kicking her.

“I didn’t expect to see anyone sane out here, you weren’t here when I went by last time,” The woman started, walking forward and sheathing her longsword, “I’m Elsa, what’re your names?”

Sasha snorted, “I’m Sasha and this is my sister Aliva.” She said before looking at her sister, “But seriously. Wood or stone, you know this will bother me and you know how indecisive I can be.” Maybe it was due to her Creator power or something else but… she really hated clashing aesthetics.

“... Stone would work better, but maybe clothes would be even better?” She suggested, “I can give you some basic equipment?”

Sasha blinked and looked, “Huh, how’d I forget that…” She was actually surprised she wasn’t swinging in the wing honestly… though the breeze did feel rather refreshing.

Elsa just shook her head, “I mean… I’m not going to say I don’t appreciate the sights.” She said, “But maybe you should get something to wear?” Even as she spoke she threw a few robes to them, “Linen, so they aren’t the most comfortable things ever stitched together, but they get the job done.”

Aliva snorted faintly, “I’ve seen this woman walk off being thrown from a city highrise twenty stories up,” She said, “I don’t even think she’ll notice. Besides, she likes the attention.”

“Only from you sis,” Sasha said shamelessly, “And maybe Elsa when we get to know her.”

“I see…” Elsa started, “Listen, I gotta get to a ‘Site of Grace’ and you… don’t seem like locals, no offense, so do you wanna travel together for a bit? I have some food from hunting the deer around here.”

Sasha had already lost interest and went and started collecting loose pieces of stone, what small shrubbery and trees around them, and anything that caught her attention to be repurposed by her Creator power.

<<<Aliva>>>

“Ah… what’s your sister doing?” Elza asked as she tried, and failed, not to stare at her giant red amazon of a sister.

If anything the linen robes just drew more attention to her everything. Not that Aliva could really blame the stranger, though she wasn’t entirely sure if it was her size, skin color, or her overall oni deal.

“Oh, she’s just gathering materials,” Aliva replied, “For building.”

“That… okay?” Elza clearly decided not to question it, “Anyway… ah, sorry. Um, travel together, I mean how would you like to travel together?” Aliva didn’t giggle but it was a close thing.

If she had a quarter for everytime someone was dumbfounded by her sister and her abilities, she’d have a small fortune she imagined. You think being so active in fighting crime for so long people would be desensitized by Sasha’s unique appearance, but you’d be wrong.

Still, it always was for a good laugh to see a rookie cop see her for the first time and freak, it was even better when they shoot her and Sasha apologizes for scaring him. Just how many egos had she shredded?

“Alright, so dragon girl what’s your deal?” Elsa asked, cocking her hips, “I’m a bit more of a Miracle gal myself.”

“Oh, I carve people up and change their organs around,” Aliva replied with a smile, “You know, normal things.~”

“Uh-huh…” Elsa just shook her head before looking towards her sister… who had just demolished the entire right wall and reclaimed the materials, “So… does that make her the bodyguard?” She asked.

“Oh no,” Aliva replied, waving her hand, “She’s more of a loyal sister and minion, and bruiser. I don’t need help with self defense.” She decided not to mention occasional lover and cuddle buddy.

Maybe once they got to know each other she’d reevaluate her thoughts on Elsa.

“... Alright, so we going to go now?” Elsa asked, “People to see, things to kill, places to explore?”

“Sure, just give my sister a few minutes,” Aliva said, “When she gets focused like this it’s best to let her finish. And I wouldn’t try to disturb her,” She warned.

She never forgot the day she made that mistake, her entire torso was a giant bruise for months… but having Sasha fret and fuss over her certainly made things more tolerable.

“... Alright, so wanna break for lunch?” Elsa asked.

Alvia’s stomach growled. “Sounds lovely,” She said.

[hr][/hr]

It was always a pleasure to watch Sasha enter Autism Mode when she was making or disassembling shit. The fact that she was nearly seven foot even and possessing superhuman strength, there was very little she couldn’t tear down if she is determined.

Sasha is quite literally a one woman demolition crew. And an absolutely terrible pack rat, she collected everything. Useful stuff, not useful stuff, straight trash, pretty sure Aliva saw her chuck dead animals and other things in her inventory.

But watching her systematically demolish the ruin and essentially clear cut the surroundings was always fascinating. Mainly because Aliva really liked watching those muscles of hers flex as she worked, and she had no doubt that Elsa was in full agreement with her.

Still, she did eventually finish after their meal (deer steak was not bad, as it turned out).

“So…” Elsa chewed a bit on her last bite of deer steak, “You and your sister were blinded by golden light and you suddenly found yourselves in the middle of a field.”

“Yep,” Aliva said as she watched her sister slowly come to a stop, “Oi! Get over here you big goon!”

Sasha just shook her head before coming over, and easily dropping down beside her sister.

“Have a steak as we walk,” Aliva said, handing her a homemade plate (just a bit of wood, really), “Elsa here thinks we might be able to hide out in something called the ‘Roundtable Hold,’ but she doesn’t know how to get there except by following little gold shiny floating things.”

Sasha just hummed before shrugging as she took the steak in hand and took a bite and chewed, “Well, can’t say I’m a stranger to wandering around lost,” She said with a snort.

“That was one time,” Aliva grumbled.

“One time is more than enough,” Sasha retorted with a smirk before she pulled her sister into a one-armed hug pressing her face into her right boob.

On purpose no doubt, because the lucky bitch didn’t sweat. Neither did she, really, but she was still lucky.

Aliva still hugged her back before pulling away, “And she thinks we need new clothes.”

Elsa looked at the visibly straining robe, “Well that goes without saying.”

“Eh, if it fails it fails. Wouldn’t be the first time I walked around with my girls hanging out,” Sasha said, “Though it would be the first time not getting hounded for breaking indecency laws.”

“Well, there’s no one around to complain except your sister and me,” Elsa replied with a shrug, “I mean, I won’t because you can throw me off a cliff from the bottom of it but…”

“Please, I know I come off as a meathead but I am observant,” Sasha replied, “I saw you ogling my girls before you gave me the robe.”

“To be fair sis, who wouldn’t?” Aliva asked with a giggle, “I mean… those big old red tits are very eye-catching you know.”

“I’ve never seen a giant red person not try to kill someone and bathe in their blood,” Elsa said, “So I’m a bit weirded out about you guys in general. And I’ve never met a dragon before, I’ve only heard them described.”

“Honestly, just wait until she’s comfortable with you.” Aliva said, “Then she gets affectionate, don’t worry though… I’ll pull you back if she smothers you with her tits accidentally.~”

Elsa shrugged, her armor making the smallest amount of noise it could for being made out of metal, “I wouldn’t mind too bad, it’s not like I can die…”

That got Aliva’s attention. “Oh?~” She asked with a wide smile that seemed to creep the girl out. “What do you mean that you don’t die? Are you biologically immortal? Can I test your blood if so?”

Elsa took a small step back as Sasha spoke up, “Relax sis, relax.~ Reign in your crazy a bit.”

Aliva slumped. “Fine… but can I shake her down for the answers to my questions at least?” She knew she sounded a bit sad, but that was reasonable because there were real tears in her eyes!

“No need!” Elsa said, hands going up, “I mean that when I get killed I wake up at a Site of Grace after!”

“Huh,” Sasha scratched her cheek at that, “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of anything like that before,” She admitted, “And don’t mind my sister. She’s a drama queen.”

“Alright…” She replied, “I’m not gonna wake up one day with her standing over me, am I?”

Aliva waved it off. “Nah, reviving is just a weird power. When I get some tools to, you know, do proper surgery I’ll give you a discount for some mods. Er… some modifications to your body to make you stronger, smarter, tougher, whatever.” And she would give a discount! A deep one! Free if the changes were experimental!”

“Though you might want to bar and lock your door when you sleep,” Sasha said, giving Aliva a smug smile, “I’m rather happy with my surprise of course.”

“I’m not that bad! I saved your life with those changes!” Aliva complained, whining and crossing her arms, “I never changed you in your sleep otherwise!”

“I was talking about one in particular,” Sasha corrected with a teasing smile before she pulled Aliva into another hug and kissed her, “You know I’m messing with you right?”

Elsa paused when she saw that, “... Are you two nobles or something?”

“No?” Sasha tilted her head, “If anything we’re technically criminals? I know we bounce between being seen as criminals and vigilantes.”

“Vigilantes usually,” Aliva said, “But sometimes I get branded a villain when people find my labs…”

“But when child predators are involved?” Sasha said, “Then we’re straight up war criminals.”

“That would imply we were at war,” She replied with a shrug.

“Can you say with a straight face that some of the shit we’ve done isn’t a crime against humanity?” Sasha asked with a raised brow, “Need I remind you of the Cube incident?”

“I can get behind torturing child predators,” Elsa said, “And a bit of experimentation is fine, some people are fair targets.”

“She’s a keeper,” Sasha said with a nod, “Finally someone that gets it! Besides, even if we sent them to prison they wouldn't survive long enough to serve their sentence.”

“... Prison?” Elsa asked, “Eh, normal people problems. Confessors, like myself, don’t have that problem. Either they did it and they die or I extract a confession from them and then they die.”

“Different worlds, different rules,” Sasha said with a shrug as she finished the steak, “So, we’re following these gold things to this stronghold?”

“I’m just following the gold things in general,” She replied, “The Two Fingers told me to, so…”

“Fair enough,” Sasha said before she got up and stretched, well as much as she could without ripping the robes, “And I can make a shelter for whenever we stop for the night.”

“We still have a while before night falls,” She replied, “And I’m going to head back to a merchant for some stuff so you guys can stitch up some clothes for yourselves.”

“I know, and it’ll give me more time to gather materials!” Aliva just rolled her eyes at the eager grin she had on her face, “Oh… well we don’t have any money to give you so… we’ll pay you back for this eventually!”

“It’s fine,” Elsa said, “Honestly, having traveling companions alone is more than enough pay in my mind.”

“You’re not bad, I like you. We’re keeping you,” Aliva said, hugging the girl, “Forever. And ever. And ever.”

Elsa stepped away a few feet. “Is she serious about that?” She asked, “Please say no.”

“It’s not as bad as you’re thinking,” Sasha said, “Besides we never really had anyone that got us regarding child predators. So… the forever and ever thing? Exaggeration. But keeping you? Yes, we are friends now.”

“I see,” Elsa replied, “Oh hey look, people to murder ahead.”

Sasha looked over alongside Aliva, allowing Elsa to slip away and scurry off to the mad soldiers in a torn up fort, doing… something to cause her to be nearly silent as she ran.

“... You know I don’t know if that was a coincidence or what,” Sasha admitted as she watched, “So… should we do anything?”

“She’d probably appreciate some help, the guys down there don’t exactly seem that sane,” Aliva sighed, “If they were, they’d have more fortifications around the area- and Elsa just ran one of them through the spine. Wow, she's stealthy. Let’s go then!”

Sasha just chuckled before she started to jog towards the fort, which slowly turned into a run. And, despite Aliva running after her, a part of her couldn’t help but admire how her sister moved so fluidly with no wasted motion. Everything only further added to her overall momentum, turning her into a battering ram that was clocking in at high speeds.

There was a reason Sasha pouted when Aliva vetoed the alias Wrecking Ball after all. It was just too on the nose!

She did, however, blink in surprise when she hit a solider, barreling at him at Mach Fuck, and there was a moment of resistence before the speeding oni won and bits and pieces of the unfortunate solider went flying around everywhere.

“... I wanted to steal stats from him,” Aliva sighed, “Something for later then…”

Slowing to a more sedate pace, her arms behind her back, she observed the carnage dispassionately. The bodies vanished shortly after death, no hope for material recovery there, but their equipment stayed. Bits of armor, some weapons, arrows. Useful things, but not worthwhile to use. They were too… inferior.

Besides, she needed knives, not long blades.

The world was medieval in nature, likely feudal as well, and recently had a war or cataclysm. The damage was recent, but not so recent that it wouldn’t be repaired by the time they’d arrived. Perhaps the seeming madness caused both? No, they weren’t mad… not sane, but they were too organized to be mad.

Brainwashed? Yes, that would explain things. Their bodies are emaciated to an extent too, like they were starving. Possibly related to the strange immortality Elsa had mentioned? If it affected all natives of the land, avoiding packing food in wartime scenarios wasn’t the worst plan.

Then the inevitable happened, one of the soldiers got a lucky swipe in and the robe became scraps.

“Hey! I just got that!” Sasha exclaimed as grabbed the soldier before slamming him into the dirt and stomping him even as he faded away.

Aliva just sighed, her sister always had a temper…

Still, that was the last of the opposition and it didn’t take long for Elsa to get where she, apparently, needed to go. Indeed, as she sat down even Aliva could just see something gold and flickering in front of her. Not the same shade that had taken her and Sasha, but… akin to it, much more gentle seeming.

“Wow, that’s pretty…” Sasha said after she finished her stomping and walked over and looked at the golden light, “A lot more pleasant than the light that sent us here.”

“It is common for others to attempt to usurp the imagery of the Golden Order to convince others to their cause,” Elsa replied casually, “They are my favorite targets for assassination, though I must say that the Order of things seems to have gone to shit.”

An understatement, truly.

“Still, I think that-” She cut herself off in surprise, not that Aliva blamed her. A woman was stepping out of… something. She was, for a moment, shrouded in sparkling smoke before it dissipated, revealing a one eyed redhead.

“What a strange place we find ourselves in…” Sasha muttered.

Aliva couldn’t help but nod at that.

“Tarnished One… you’ve found yourself some interesting companions.” The woman said, looking towards them curiously.

“They seemed as sane as some of my fellow Tarnished,” Elsa replied, “A low measure to meet, but one that many here don’t seem to. Besides… they looked like they needed help.”

“Tarnished? How curious…” Aliva thought.

“Help indeed,” The woman continued, “But they are irrelevant to this. They have… some Grace, enough to accompany you… and I, if you take my accord? I am Melina, and I can act as your maiden.”

“Accord?” Elsa asked with a frown, “What’s the catch?”

Melina explained, Aliva didn’t like it… but on the other hand, it did give them a goal and the potential to meet someone that could help them escape.

“So, just curious really,” Sasha said, “But is an accord really necessary to travel with Elsa?” 

Melina smirked and asked, “I wish to get to the base of the Erd Tree, do you have an alternate destination in mind that you must arrive at? If not, then I don’t see why you’d need to form an agreement to reach there in exchange for your assistance.” Her hand gestured to the area. “I can fight, yes, but I can only become physical in certain locations and, worse, I can not travel very quickly.”

Sasha just scratched her cheek, “Fair enough I guess, and we don’t really have a destination in mind. I think it's obvious we’re not locals,” She said, “Eh, sure why not? Let’s make an accord.”

Melina paused. “I was making it with the Tarnished,” She clarified, “I can give them the help they require, I can give you nothing. It is up to them to make it.”

Elsa coughed, “I accept, of course. I’m unsure where my Finger Maiden went, but I suspect she was murdered. Are you willing to take that risk, that you might be targeted to stop my quest?”

Sasha just muttered something under her breath and shrugged before she started taking the fort apart and storing it in her inventory.

“They’ll find me harder to harm,” Melina replied, “I am, after all, already dead.”

[hr][/hr][hr][/hr]

Nightmare723764: What’s more terrifying than a charging oni? A charging oni with the Flowmotion power! :V

Vyor: If it wasn’t obvious, Aliva is very much more Tinker/Thinker/Trump than Sasha is. Sasha is… very Brute first, ask questions never. Unfortunately for Aliva’s enemies, though, the questions she asks are “What happens if I replace your blood with oil” and “Can you live without your prefrontal cortex?”