Chapter 4

After researching the story of Priscilla and the game of Dark Souls for a bit, I found out quite a lot of information, but also a whole lot of nothing. The games were apparently made with the intention of the player to think of the scenarios for themselves, very few times does it tell you exactly what to do, and if it does, it's only to point you in the right direction. As for the story, it was slightly altered from what Prissy said. Apparently, in the game, the Furtive Pygmy became the Four Lords of Darkness found at the bottom of an abyss that could only be accessed by gaining a special amulet from a giant sword-wielding dog. Not only that, but the game had very little information about Priscilla the Crossbreed, as they called her. She is the daughter of a dragon and a human according to the game, but they never say outright who her parents were. Also, Ariamas wasn't the dragon. In fact, it was a male human that created the Painted World to be modeled after his home.

But even more surprising was what the game told me about Priscilla's powers, birthright, and even the numerous monsters she lived with. The monsters looked varied and scary, with some being blobs with shields and spears, some being literal bird women, some skeletal soldiers, and the most disturbing, there were undead humans that had giant pores on their heads. And if you hit them with a non-elemental attack, they exploded in a horrid poison cloud.

"Hmm... this is concernin'... Prissy never mentioned any of these monsters an' the website has it wrong in some parts... maybe them Jap designers that visited 'er... maybe they changed the stuff to protect her true identity... also, they changed what the doll looked like, so that may be another reason," I said aloud after I had turned the computer off.

"Ah think Ah'll give Prissy some ice cream tomorrow... or whenever she calls me next," I smiled as I then got a call on my cell phone. My phone was not as fancy as other people's, as it was just a touch phone that couldn't play games at all. I only used it for necessary calls and answers, never texting once. And I was getting a call from my maw. "Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, Billy. I need some help right now," mom said, her being from the north, and therefore, the only one in my family that could speak without the southern slang.

"An' Ah have some questions fer you, but you first," I smiled at her.

"I need you to meet me outside. I'm bringing home some groceries and I need help lifting the heavy stuff," mom said, me smirking at that. By heavy stuff, she meant the feed bags for the chickens and cows.

"Ah'm comin'. An' Ah need to ask ya'll some questions about the doll you gave lil' Lindsey," I said to her, mom gasping at that before hanging up, me wondering why she'd do that without saying goodbye.

I eventually met her at the front door and saw her SUV and saw that, once again, it had a ton of groceries in it. Most of it was for the gardens, the crops, and the animals, but there was also the food and drinks that we got that weren't home grown, such as the veggies we didn't grow like tomatoes or melons. After all, we were planning a family picnic with our relatives.

Before she even opened the trunk, she slammed her door and she looked at me with a stern gaze. I knew she could get mad, and this was no different.

"What do you know about that doll? You didn't take it to a mirror, did you?" mom asked, me sighing and simply showing her my hand, her gasping and looking at me with shock. "Y-You met her too... dammit... I should've never let that doll on the table..." mom frowned with a growl in her voice.

"Maw... it's fine. Prissy's nice," I said, her looking at me with a frown and sighing.

"I know she is... it's the place she comes from though... I wanted to keep visiting her in secret when I was a little kid, but I almost got killed by an intruder that tried to drain my life from my body... I vowed to keep that doll under lock and key from that point on. I thought that Lindsey was asking about the fairy doll I got her at the store when she found the doll. But only after I saw the fairy doll on the ground did I realize I made a huge mistake... you didn't let Lindsay see that place, did you?!" mom asked, me gasping and sighing in defeat. I couldn't lie to my own maw. I simply nodded my head in shame. Mom sighed and put her hands on my shoulders, a sad frown on her face.

"Look, I'm not mad or anything, but I'm scared for you, Billy. That place is dangerous. The people that try to attack Priscilla are murderous fiends. And those creatures that guard her... horrifying... please, promise me that, if you ever go back to that place, you carry a firearm at all times," mom said, me looking at her with a frown. I didn't like using guns for anything, but I could see the fear in my maw's eyes. She was very rarely scared of anything, save for bears and rattlesnakes. So this was definitely an exception to the rule.

"Okay, maw. Ah'll arm mahself if Ah get called back to action," I said with a smile.

"Not just that, you need to ask her for armor. Some of the people in her world have powerful magic that can make you burn to a crisp, pierce through your body with an arrow made of soul energy, and even poison you. You must be careful," mom said, me nodding at everything she said.

"Okay, maw... Ah'll do that too... now about the groceries, Ah think the cold stuff is gonna melt in this heat," I said, her immediately looking at them and sighing.

"Yes, you're right... okay, let's start," mom said as we opened the trunk and proceeded to take the items to where they needed to go... but I still had one more question to ask her, which I did when we were putting away the food.

"So maw... ya said you were one of Prissy's defenders, right? Where's your tattoo?" I asked, mom smiling and pointing to her head, her lowering it for me to wonder where it was... until I parted the hair to see it was on the top of her scalp, it being a brown color to perfectly blend in with her hair.

"That's my tattoo... she changed the color of it when I told her I quit... she understood, though I could see the sadness in her eyes. We were best friends, you know... even when I was 14, we still conversed about a lot. But I got hit by that Darkwraith user at age 15, me realizing that protecting Prissy was too dangerous. Especially with my family at home absolutely worried sick about me being completely drained of my energy. I couldn't even talk for 2 days," mom said, me now knowing just how dangerous the Darkwraith users were.

"So what happened after that?" I asked her.

"I told her that I was going to hide the doll from any viewing eyes and that I'd make sure no one ever saw it again... I put it on the shelf a few days ago because I was thinking about burying it in the backyard in a locked box... but then that happened with Lindsey," mom sighed.

"Yeah..." I said as I then gasped as something started to happen to my hand. It started to glow a bright blue and I saw that mom had completely stopped in time!

"Sir Billy... someone is coming to do me harm... get ready for battle," Priscilla said in my head, me immediately booking it to my dad's nearby gun closet and picking out a pistol and some ammo for it. I also got a small pot for my helmet and I put boxes on my arms for makeshift armor. After all of that, I then had Prissy warp me to her side along with the other three helpers.

"Nice to see you again, Sir Billy," Kirk said with a smile... but then Beatrice noticed the thing I had in my hand.

"What's that supposed to be?" Beatrice asked.

"No time for conversation, the intruder is almost upon us," Priscilla said as she held her ground and her scythe with worry. I then looked at the door and wondered who would emerge. Color me surprised when the one to come through was a regular person... at least, that's what I thought, until I saw her hand was coated in dark red and black colors.

"No... A Darkwraith..." Prissy gasped, me immediately pointing my gun at the woman's face, her looking at me with a smile on her face.

"What do you expect to do with that little toy, little boy? And are those boxes on your arms? Heh, how pathetic... I shall end you first," the woman said, her trying to approach before I clicked off the safety and clicked the gun.

"Stop! One more step and yer dead!" I exclaimed at her, me growling at the woman as she simply waltzed towards me with a couple more steps, me aiming for her head and pulling the trigger, the group all gasping when they heard the loud bang that came afterwards... and then the woman I shot at fell to the ground, blood pouring from her forehead where I shot her... and the hand she had then turned into something else... something... hideous.

"Hehehehe... what a useless host..." said an ominous voice as the hand slowly turned into what looked to be a large, ugly-faced serpent creature that looked quite menacing.

"Oh my god..." Beatrice gulped as Laurentius crackled his fists with flame and Kirk readied his thorny sword.

"Darkstalker Kaathe... how darest thou invade my realm," Priscilla growled lowly at him.

"I apologize, my dearest Priscilla, but I have come for what is rightfully mine... now quietly hand over your Darkhand," the ugly lizard said as he slithered towards her and I stood in between him and her, me aiming my gun directly at his face.

"One more inch towards my lovely Prissy, an' you'll end up like yer lady friend!" I yelled at him with anger in my voice... but Kaathe snickered at me as sweat dropped from my head.

"Your fear betrays you, fragile human," Kaathe said with a sinister chuckle as he was able to lunge at me, me clicking the gun and firing extremely quickly, Kaathe gasping as I managed to shoot him directly through the face, the bullet exiting it and reentering his torso numerous times as he was coiled up.

"G-Gagh... what?... a measly peashooter... this kind... of damage... what is in that weapon?" Kaathe asked with a hiss as well as blood dripping from his horrifying mouth.

"Lead, steal, gunpowder, an' mah badass-ness," I growled at him, Kaathe gasping as I then noticed his body start to slowly disintegrate.

"N-No... Lead... I'm... dying... help me... Pris...cilla..." Kaathe gurgled before his face fell to the ground and his body slowly evaporated into nothingness, my face completely coated in nervous sweats and Priscilla gawking at that.

"Dear gods... thou hast slain my worst enemy..." Priscilla gasped after a few seconds, me looking at her and me simply hugging her tightly, her being a bit surprised at first before letting her scythe down.

"Mah maw told me that she almost died as yer protector by a Darkwraith... Ah was scared stiff... that was just pure luck Ah exploited a weakness..." I cried into her soft, fluffy fur, Priscilla hugging me and the others looking at me in confusion.

"It's okay, Billy... it's okay..." Prissy said, her leaning down and doing something that made the other three gasp and my tears to go away in a snap. She kissed me on the lips! I gasped at this and her cheeks flushed red when she did so.

"My Lady Priscilla... did you just kiss him?" Laurentius asked in shock.

"I did... he has earned my trust and my love... to slay the master of the Darkwraiths, he has now cut off the use of their life-stealing magic," Priscilla said, me grabbing her arm gently and her looking at me again.

"Prissy... what did he mean when you said you had the Darkhand as well?..." I asked her with my tears still kinda there in my eyes.

"I had some of his power, as my father had to retreat to the Abyss after exuding his energy to make the Painted World a possibility... after that, his power was stolen from Kaathe... the same power I have, from his embers... the power of Darkhand, though mine is merely hereditary. My father's soul has already been used to save the world from total ruin, but there still existed evil in certain areas... Kaathe was one of them..." Priscilla said with a story of her own.

"Prissy... Ah want to let you know... A-Ah don't know how to say it... Ah love you," I said, Prissy smiling at me as the others looked at me with disgust... before Prissy hugged me close and kissed me passionately on the lips for at least 7 seconds, me gasping at that and the others looking at me with smiles afterwards.

"And I love you, my savior," Priscilla smiled at me, her hug feeling extremely soft and warm. I almost didn't want it to end.

"You're a very lucky man, Sir Billy," Laurentius said as he placed his regular hand on my shoulder. "Lady Priscilla almost never views her protectors as potential suitors. You promise to never betray the lady, right?" Laurentius smiled at me.

"Ah promise to love her even after death," I smiled.

"I promise the same to you, my lovely Billy," Prissy smiled as she hugged me again. "You should probably go home now... tell your mother I said hello... her name was Abby, right?" she smiled.

"Abby Finster was who she was before. After marrying mah dad, now she's Abby King," I smiled.

"Last name or title?" Kirk smirked.

"Last name. A woman can't be a king," Priscilla smirked widely. "I'd like to share ice cream with you on your next visit, Sir Billy," Prissy smiled at me as I felt her use her powers and I reentered my world in a flash of light from where I stood before I got ready, mom gasping when she saw what I looked like now.

"Billy?! S-She called you to battle, didn't she?" mom asked, me smirking and nodding before I told her what happened.

"Ah avenged your near-death maw. Ah slew the ruler of the Darkwraiths... turns out their weak to lead bullets," I smiled, mom gasping at that and her immediately hugging me.

"Just a simple bullet... and it saved your life... Billy... allow me to go with you the next time you visit Priscilla. I'll bring a lead gun too just in case," mom said, me smirking and shaking my head at that.

"The Darkwraiths have no more powers to steal life away. Not after Ah killed Darkstalker Kaathe. Prissy's words, not mine," I smiled.

"Even better... you're a miracle, you are, my little Billy," mom smiled at me as she hugged me, me smirking and getting very bashful.

"Oh, c'mon, maw," I groaned at that.