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The call came without warning, blossoming like a golden flower bud in the night. When the morning came, Pluto found he could see the golden light again, weaving through the air like northern lights on a cold winter night, ethereal fingers pointing him home.
Like his many fellow Tarnished warriors, he dropped everything to return to their home, the Lands Between. There was a nervous energy crackling in the air; friends and compatriots laughed with each other still, but it was tainted by the edge of distrust. Already the Greater Will was sowing discord among them. They all know why they were returning—to reforge the Elden Ring, to become the next Lord—and they all know only one of them might succeed.
Pluto could hardly care for the Elden Ring. He had but one goal, one master in the Lands Between, one person whom he had stayed alive for, fought to return to through his long years of exile. He swore to the Great Will, as did all his Tarnished siblings, so that he might be allowed to return to his home once more, though when he slept he dreamt not of the grace of gold but of shadows, full moons, and chilled nights stretching into the great beyond.
When he woke again in the Lands Between, welcomed by the sight of the Erdtree towering over the world, golden leaves fluttering in the wind like graceful dancers—a sight at once familiar and foreign—he felt a certain resentment. The Golden Order had robbed them all of too much, and yet it expected the Tarnished to still serve it. It left a bitter taste.
He had no mount or steed, and where he hoped to go was far, the distance dangerous. But Pluto had survived the Badlands for countless years, fueled only by a distant dream. He would run, crawl there if he must. Nothing could stop him, not when he was this close.
—
She didn’t recognize him.
The royal knight that guarded Caria Manor finally disappeared into a burst of sparks as Pluto’s blade plunged into her armored chest. He gathered what her spirit left behind and quietly knelt down beside the grace that appeared where she stood guard. He was so close—he knew what he returned to the Lands Between for was only minutes away—but he was suddenly hesitant.
The Lands Between had always been a hostile place, but life had thrived here once; there had been more than just death and decay and a crumbling land. Loretta had been a friend once, a comrade in arms Pluto would gladly entrust his back to in a fight. Yet, the cold eyes of the spirit did not contain even a flicker of recognition. So much had changed in his exile. What if the ones he fought to return to had changed as well, and saw him as nothing more than yet another puppet of the Greater Will, seeking to restore what they hoped to destroy?
When he walked out from Caria Manor, his steps were heavy. A part of him—a naive part, the part that once believed his father’s words that they would return to the Lands Between soon—thought the world would not change; that everything must have frozen the moment he was chased from his home, disgraced and Tarnished at the whims of a power greater than even their eternal queen.
But the world hadn’t stopped, the Lands Between kept changing. His friends must have changed, too. Heavens know, Pluto did.
The towers behind the manor were much the same, dark stone seemingly untouched by time. Large clusters of glintstone, glowing softly with an ethereal blue light, grew from the towers and the ground like trees. He had known this place like the back of his hand once, sneaking around as children, laughing behind their hands. He wondered if there were still anyone here.
As he moved closer to the tower, a familiar shadow moved in the corner of his eyes. His instincts, hardened by so many years in the Badlands, moved before he did. His sword was out with a sharp noise as the shadow lunged at him, pausing barely in time before the tip of the blade pierced its throat.
“Wow!” a familiar voice said, hands shooting up to show that the newcomer was unarmed. “Pluto?”
“Veo?” Pluto asked, putting his sword down. Before he could even sheath the sword, his old friend was already pulling him into a tight embrace.
“By the grace, it is you!” Veo said excitedly as she let him go. “We have heard of Tarnished returning, but we weren’t certain…”
Pluto pulled back a little, studying his old friend. Veo had grown, her lithe figure taut with wiry muscle. A bow was strung across her back, and even as they spoke her ears were perked and listening for dangers. Scars marked her body, and there were little of the mischievous kitten that she once was in those feline eyes. What remained instead was a seasoned warrior. Pluto supposed she saw the same in him.
She turned and pointed to the tallest tower of the three. “Go ahead,” she said, nudging him forward. “He’s waiting for you.”
Pluto nodded, then turned to the tower. The trek to it was a familiar one—he had walked it a thousand times as a youth, then even more than that in his dreams. Step after step, stair after stair, taking him closer to home. In his dreams, the sky outside would always be clear, without the constant film of haze that seemed to hang over the Lands Between these days.
He found Sebastian at the top of the tower, his back to the door and reading over a book. He knew something had happened, knew the extent of Sebastian’s sacrifices, yet still he found himself stopped in his tracks. There was nothing of the flame-haired boy he remembered that still remained in the figure that stood before him, draped in dark purple robes. But as the figure turned, Pluto saw it, despite the years between them, and the strange way Sebastian’s spirit was hanging outside the doll’s body, this was the same boy he had dreamed of coming home to in long, cold nights in the Badlands.
Sebastian smiled. That same, familiar smile that kept Pluto going when he was newly Tarnished. “Welcome home, Pluto.”
—
“You are doing well,” Veo said as she walked up to Pluto, sitting over the edge of Sebastian’s tower, overlooking the lake. He was still recovering from the last battle with the Starscourge General, whose death precipitated their shared Prince’s destiny finally ticking forward once more.
Pluto grunted. It was a difficult battle, and it left a bad taste in his mouth. He remembered the days when General Radahn had been a lively man, full of life and easy to laughter. The husk that he had become had been disheartening to witness.
Veo settled down next to him, her tail swishing behind her. “I can feel them,” she whispered quietly. “Nagging in the back of my mind. The time may soon come that you must put me down.”
Pluto gritted his teeth. “No,” he said quietly. “I will not allow that to happen, and neither will Sebastian.”
“We may not have a choice,” Veo said. She smiled. “I have made this decision, Pluto. I know where this path might lead me.” Veo was Sebastian’s Shadow, a hidden assassin created by the Greater Will to prevent Sebastian from ever going against them. One day soon, when Sebastian openly rebels, she might become their greatest obstacle.
“There you two are,” a voice said behind them. Sebastian paced over, joining them at the ledge. He sat down, dangling his legs over the edge of the tower. Wind tugged at their clothes and hair as they sat in silence. In the distance, the bells of Caria Manor echoed in the misty morning.
“I will not let them have you,” Sebastian said quietly after a while. “Neither of you.”
“I can’t—” Veo began.
“No,” Sebastian interrupted her sternly. “They will not take those I love from me again. I will not allow it.” He reached over and took both Pluto and Veo’s hands into his. “I must be off soon, to seek my destiny. We shall reunite in that age, free from such oppression.” He turned to Pluto. “Do you have what we need?”
Pluto nodded. He reached into his bag and retrieved a wicked-looking dagger, dark and blood-stained, marked by Death. Sebastian took the blade and closed his hand around its hilt. He leaned closer and wrapped his arms around Pluto and Veo. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “Both of you.” He stood, looking out towards the Erdtree. For a moment, he seemed uncertain. Then, he gripped the dagger tight, and nodded at them.
“May the chill night encompasses all,” he said quietly as his figure faded away.
“May the chill night encompasses all,” Pluto and Veo said.
As Sebastian disappeared, Veo stood. “The day may come soon,” she said. “Be ready.” With one final stern nod, she walked back into the tower and disappeared into the gloom. Pluto remained where he was, keeping his eyes on the Erdtree in the distance. Once he dreamed of beholding that light in his eyes again. Now he only wanted to see it burn.
—
Pluto found Sebastian sitting beneath his Two Fingers, the vassal that marked him as an Empyrean chosen by a god. Pluto had seen many of these grotesque existence, withered and shriveled from the lack of care from their Golden Order masters. Never before, though, had he seen anything so mangled and twisted.
He sat slumped over, the fingerslayer blade loosely in his fingers, his body stained by the Two Fingers’ dark, fetid blood. As Pluto approached, he looked up and gave Pluto a wan smile. “Hello, Pluto,” he said. The blade slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground. “It is done, now. How is Veo?”
“I have placed her in an evergaol,” Pluto said, kneeling down on one knee before Sebastian. The Greater Will did not count on their love for each other surpassing even divine madness; nor did they count on the fact that Sebastian would do anything to ensure his best friend lived. Still, it was better to seal her away for now, to ensure no interference until what must be done was done. “She has told me to relay to you. Please do whatever it must take to see our dreams come true.”
Sebastian looked back at the monstrosity behind him. “We shall go now, to free our friend from the madness forced upon her by the false gods.”
Pluto nodded. He reached into his pouch and retrieved the ring entrusted to him by the shadow of Sebastian’s mother, engraved with the image of a half-moon, obscured by shadows and mist. A final step, sealing their fate, marking his final betrayal of the Greater Will. He did not care. He had dreamed of this day for years.
Sebastian smiled as Pluto took his hand and slipped the ring onto his finger. His long, cold fingers closed around Pluto’s calloused ones and leaned closer, pressing his forehead against Pluto’s, the way they did when they were children. The dark blood stained Pluto’s armor. Neither of them moved.
“So it was you who will become my Lord,” he said softly, smiling. “I have dreamt of this many times. When you were gone in the Badlands. I dreamt of your return.”
“And I waited,” Pluto said quietly. “For our plan’s fruition. For the Tree to call me back for their own downfall.”
“I do not ask much,” Sebastian whispered, lips brushing Pluto’s cheek. “Only that you remain at my side.”
“You have me,” Pluto said quietly. “Always will. Your dreams are my dreams. Wherever you go, I shall as well. It is your Will, your Age, that shall be my destiny.”
Sebastian smiled, leaning forward and resting his forehead against Pluto’s shoulder. Pluto folded him into his arms. A part of him missed the past, missed the warmth he used to associate with Sebastian. The cold body in his arms were yet another reminder of all the things the Greater Will had taken from them, the decisions they were forced to make for freedom.
Pluto lost track of how long they remained there. Only after a long time did he stand on numb legs and retrieve Sebastian’s robes, discarded aside. He draped them over Sebastian’s shoulder and helped him stand. Sebastian leaned against him, still weak from slaying the Two Fingers.
“Let us go then,” Sebastian said quietly.
—
Sebastian stepped onto the stone platform in a burst of purple sparks.
“It is over, I see,” he said. He placed his hand on the ground, and a few moments later, Veo’s shape appeared over a glowing summoning sign. He smiled as she stepped into existence. “I have taken it upon myself to free our friend from imprisonment. There is nothing to fear from meddling gods any longer.”
He walked towards the crumbling shape of the queen that was meant to be eternal, and cradled her stone head in his hand. The crumbling figure began to disintegrate into golden lights, flickering away, fueling their endless night.
Pluto watched, feeling the shift in the air, the lifting of a burden from his shoulders, as the full moon rose above the world, silver light cleansing away the gold, shadow devouring the light. Night descended upon the world, a new Age—their destiny.
Sebastian turned back to them, the embodiment of a new Order. Veo and Pluto lowered their heads as they knelt on one knee in reverence. Sebastian paced over, placing a gentle hand on Veo’s shoulder. “Dear friend,” he said softly. “I ask that you must remain here, in the Lands Between, to act as my agent, to keep the peace we fought so hard for.”
Veo looked like she wanted to argue, but ultimately nodded. She had never been parted from Sebastian, but someone must remain to ensure their dream did not become undone by others. She rose, bowing deeply, before fading from the chamber.
Sebastian stared at where she stood, a faint smile. “She shall be a fine warden, I think,” he said. Finally, he turned to Pluto. “We must be off, then, my love. Into the darkness and the shadows. Our pilgrimage through the Shadowlands, to the place where dawn breaks. May the Moon guide our path.” He reached out a hand to Pluto, who took it gingerly, cupping it in his gauntlet-clad hand as if it was the most important treasure in the world. Pluto looked up and saw Sebastian standing there with a soft smile, the same one he had fallen in love with as a child, the same one that supported him through the long nights of exile, that kept him going, kept him alive. How many nights had he dreamt of that smile? Now it was all his.
“Let us go, then,” Sebastian said, as they were pulled away from the world, into the great beyond and the unknown. “My beloved. My fair consort. Eternal.”