The gentle gurgling of a nearby stream and the crackling of a campfire provided a calming backdrop to the horrors surrounding the three beings huddled around the flames. Pieces of dead beasts littered the bloodstained earth. It had been two days since the run in with the bandits, and the beasts and marauders were only increasing in number and strength.

The previous day, the party had come across a group of [Roving Blood-Etins], large leafless trees with gaping maws in the middle of their trunks dripping fresh blood. They moved by manipulating their roots in the soil and dragging their decayed husks of bodies around through the ground, creating furrows wherever they went. They died quickly, bodies burning at an impressive rate from Quelaag’s fire. When they had camped for the night, a pack of Lizardmen bandits had attacked them in the middle of the night. Killing most of them, the rest decided that this group of travelers was not worth their lives, and fled. Jake acquired more coinage, a healthy sum of 5 Silver and 3 Copper jingling heavily in his inventory, along with a long black cape, which he spent the better part of the night swishing about and talking in a thick accent, pretending to be Dracula.

In the morning, after Quelaag woke Jake by burying her [Quelaag’s Furysword] into the ground next to his head, startling him from his rest. He was pissed for most of the day, striking out at anything with his shadow tendrils. With dusk approaching , they ran across a small stream and decided to camp there for the night. After getting a fire started, the group was assaulted by [Talon-Winged Harpies]. A female torso, with long wings instead of arms, talons extending from the joints at the top of the wings provided an… interesting accompaniment to their loud and obnoxious shrieking. The harpies would circle the group, and when the party was looking away, come shrieking in and try to cut them into pieces with the talons extending from their feet and wings. Jake and Mizutsune cut them down in the air, Quelaag providing support due to her attacks not quick enough to hit the nimble monsters. The fight had ended with Mizutsune killing the [Talon-Winged Matriarch Harpy], a larger specimen with three black feathers sticking out of the top of its head.

Quelaag looked over at Jake, who was laying down next to the campfire slowly puffing on a cigarette, with only his small clothes on to protect his dignity. His clothing had become bloody and rancid due to all the fighting they had been doing, and he took the time to wash out his clothes in the stream. Mizutsune was snuggled up into the spider, both sleeping soundly. Quelaag regulated how much heat the spider produced, keeping it from frying the small fox. She was happy that her other half and the fox were becoming such fast friends. She wanted to cradle the small beast in her arms, but she was afraid of what might happen to it, being so close to a cursed being such as herself. She went back to looking at the fire, mind far away in her thoughts.

“Go ahead, talk to me.” Jake rolled up into a sitting position, and looked at the spider woman. “What’s on your mind?”

Quelaag tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. “I was thinking of my sister.” She looked at Jake, and when he nodded, she continues. “I have tried my hardest to bring her the sparks of humanity, so that she wouldn’t feel the pain of what she had done.” Her spider body shifted slightly, and she gently patted its head to put it back to sleep. “I warned her. She could not protect them all, but she still tried. She took the curses of hundreds upon hundreds of peasants upon herself, and all for what? For her own sense of self-worth?” Her hands clenched into fists, trying to stop the slight shaking of her hands. Gritting her teeth, she looked back into the flames, imagining things that weren’t there. “She would have been fine. I would have protected her from anything, like an older sibling should. But I cannot protect her from herself.” She goes silent, her black eyes reflecting the dancing flames.

“It’s not your fault.” Jake lights up another cigarette, throwing the butt of the burnt out one into the flames. “Your sister made the decision she thought was correct. You cannot lock her up in a tower in an attempt to protect her, that would cause more harm than good. Your sister loves you with all her heart, and does not want you to blame yourself. If you are looking for someone to blame, the only person to blame would be your mother. She is the root of all of these problems that you and your family are facing. If she had not decided to make an attempt to recreate the First Flame, your family would still be whole.”

Tears began to spill out of Quelaag’s eyes, slowly at first, before picking up speed. As they hit the body of the spider, they evaporated into a small cloud of steam which was quickly blown away by the wind. “I know.” She is barely able to speak through her tears. “I know that this is my mother’s fault, but she is my mother! I cannot blame her for everything that has happened to us, because she did not know it would happen.” She glared at Jake with glistening eyes. “How do you even know this? This happened a lifetime ago. You would not have been alive then, and even if you were, how are you here in this world?”

Now it was Jake’s turn to stare into the flames, thinking of the easiest ways to explain. Looking back up at the still slightly crying woman, he opened his mouth before closing it again without saying anything. A moment later, he began to speak. “Back on my world, we had the ability to travel to worlds far different than our own, through the means of what we called ‘immersion’. We would find worlds and planes of reality that interested us, and transport ourselves into the lives of certain people in those worlds. I decided to go ‘immerse’ myself in your world, specifically in Lordran.”

I really don’t think it would be a good idea to tell her that my people had created her world for our own amusement. To know that all of her suffering and hardships that she has faced were just a story for our amusement would be too much.

Quelaag stares at him for a few seconds, fighting back more tears. “Why would you come to my world? It is a dark and dangerous place. There is nothing in Lordran but sadness and death. There is no goodness, only dark.”

“There was good, as well. You, for example.” Quelaag looked at him in confusion. “You protected your sister through everything that that horrible world sent your way. Even if you were cursed, you did not care for your own safety and willingly risked your life to protect your sister.” Jake shrugged. “I think that is a beautiful thing, in its own way.”

Quelaag looked back into the fire, gently patting the large spider. She smiled sadly. “If only that were true.” She turned her sad gaze back to Jake. “Tell me about your world. If you have the power to transfer between different worlds, I would imagine that your world is very impressive.”

Jake grunted. “It really wasn’t.” He took another drag, and flicked the butt into the flames. “My world doesn’t have any magic, or if it did it has been long forgotten. Instead, we developed technology. We created amazing things just for the sake of our own comforts. Sure, if you went to my world you might believe that it was magic, with all the things we could do, but it really isn’t anything special. And even if it was something completely amazing, the general population will use it for something incredibly stupid.”

Quelaag tilted her head to the side. “Can you give me an example?”

Jake scratches his chin. “Hmm, ok how about this. In my world, we have created something that will allow people to share ideas, beliefs, stories, and art works, pretty much anything that we can think of that someone else would like to anyone in the entire world, and it can be reviewed at any time after it has been put out there. Think that would be magic?” Her eyes widened in shock, and she nodded mutely. “In my time, people used this to attempt to force political and religious beliefs down other people’s throats, or they made fools of themselves to the world.”

Quelaag thought this new information over in her head. “So, correct me if I’m wrong, but this… world wide web of ideas and beliefs has been corrupted into brainwashing others? Why would something so revolutionary be used in such a manner?”

“Because people are stupid.” Jake laid back down in the grass, listening to the quiet snapping of the flames. “We want others to think exactly the same way we do, so that we can feel accepted. If we aren’t able to change their beliefs, we tend to kill them off or kick them out of our society. It might be something wrong with me, or maybe the entire world for all I know, but I think that that is a stupid plan. If no one accepts you for who you are, then there is nothing wrong with you, the problem is with everyone else. If you are needing that much attention and sense of comradery to survive, then you do not deserve to draw breath.” Jake went silent, thinking back to his old life in a world that wouldn’t accept him.

“Would you want to go back?” Quelaag asked quietly, still staring into the flames. “Leave all this behind? It is difficult for someone to leave what is known and comfortable to venture out into the unknown. Would you go back, and forget about everything that has happened?”

Jake remained silent for a while. Quelaag thought he had fallen asleep, and was about to do the same when he finally spoke up. “No. I have the chance of doing something great here. I can murder and kill my way to power, all for the greater good. I think that this would help me deal with all of the problems that I have had, a very fucked up way to relieve stress, as it were. Back on my world, I would be killed for doing something like this. I don’t even know if I’m going to be the same person coming out of this as I was when I was brought here, but I honestly don’t care. My world can choke on my flaccid cock for all I care.”

Quelaag remained silent for a moment, before speaking. “Did you have to bring your penis into this?”