The Crucible Fragment—better known now as the Crucible Incarnation—was one of the first beings Lloyd had ever encountered.
Unlike the others, though, after that initial meeting, the Crucible Fragment had simply remained dormant in his inventory, existing only as an item. It wasn't until their recent battle that it reappeared, reignited by the molten flames, and afterward, it had finally completed itself.
Yet the "complete" Crucible Incarnation standing before him looked nothing like the one in his memory.
In Lloyd's recollection, the Crucible Incarnation had been a towering, hybrid creature—a fusion of countless lifeforms and aspects. But the figure before him now...
She barely reached his chest in height, with short white hair, golden slit pupils, and intricate horn-like growths atop her head. A pale-haired girl, soft in form yet emanating the same ancient, primal essence as before. If not for that unmistakable aura, Lloyd might've suspected he'd summoned the wrong being altogether.
As for why she appeared in this form...
"When choosing a vessel, what gender do you think the essence of life itself would prefer?" the white-haired girl asked calmly, then added, "The form you met before was temporary. I had no body at the time, so I improvised—crafted one from local materials. It wasn't my true self."
"Even now, this version of me isn't... whole."
"In the past, that woman—Marika—wanted her sapling to grow strong. She planted its roots atop a furnace and used the Crucible as nourishment, giving rise to this colossal golden tree that blankets the sky."
"I don't resent her for it. It was still part of the natural course of evolution."
"But unfortunately, while evolution did occur, it wasn't complete."
"The great golden tree that carried her hopes never fully digested my power. It also absorbed countless impurities from other existences, becoming this seemingly magnificent, yet inwardly twisted and sickly form."
"In doing so, the very concept of life itself was distorted and rewritten."
Despite her words, the Crucible Incarnation's tone held no anger toward Marika.
After all, it had all begun with good intentions. Marika had sought to embrace all things—gods, laws, races—within the framework of the Golden Order. She had dreamed of a unified world where all beings could coexist in peace.
Had the Crucible's horns not resisted the roots of the Erdtree, even the accursed omens might have been tolerated by that "village girl" queen of hers. Otherwise, the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the capital would never have existed.
But in the end...
"Tragedies often begin with beautiful ideals," the Crucible murmured. "Any attempt to build heaven on earth only ever gives birth to a purgatory."
Lloyd said nothing for a moment. Then, quietly, he replied,
"She still succeeded, didn't she?"
His gaze lifted to the Erdtree towering above them, its soft golden light spilling over the scarred Lands Between.
Even now, after the devastation of the Shattering, the land bore deep wounds. The broken Ring had left the cycle of life and death in disarray—many now lived lives worse than death.
And yet, even so—
Even the lowly shrimp seller by the lake still dreamed of being reborn as a good man through the Golden Order's cycle. Those blessed by gold longed for the past—the "Age of Plenty" when Marika's radiance had shone brightest.
Marika had indeed created a kind of heaven on earth. It simply hadn't lasted.
But even if it had, that heaven would have crumbled one day all the same.
"When starving, people believe that eating their fill is everything," Lloyd said quietly. "Once they have food, they seek comfort. When they have comfort, they seek purpose. When they find purpose, they begin to question it."
"The world never stops changing. Even the most perfect life eventually grows dull. People's desires always climb higher—until they reshape paradise into just another world, reaching for something beyond it."
He looked back at her, smiling faintly.
"But that's life, isn't it?"
The Crucible was silent for a moment before nodding slightly.
"Yes. That's life."
...
After their talk of the Erdtree, Lloyd brought up her future.
Her true body still lingered inside the Erdtree—consumed, but not fully digested. It left the Crucible Incarnation in an awkward state, with no place to go.
Naturally, after some discussion, Lloyd decided to take her in.
When their conversation ended, he returned to where he'd left the others.
He had assumed, after all that time, that the argument there would have settled by now.
He was wrong.
He didn't even have to go far—just getting close was enough for the shouting to reach him.
"You said you wanted a man to solve your fertility issue! So I gave you half a male body to meet your needs—what's the problem with that?"
"The problem is, I didn't say I wanted to become a man, Marika! I said fix the issue, not turn me into one!"
"Then you should've been clearer! You throw out a vague demand with no plan, and I act on it—how's that my fault?"
"No sane person would think that way!"
"I'm not human."
Metyr's tone was utterly self-assured.
Marika was momentarily speechless.
"My children—"
"The project's nearly done, and now you say I used the wrong blueprint? What else can we do but tear it all down and start over?"
"The whole 'killing each other' part—"
"The demigods' deaths were severed by you! You know their state better than I do! They can't really die anyway! As for your people—rebirth under your system works just fine! You failed to manage your family drama, so why's that my fault? It's not like I told Maliketh to release Destined Death!"
"Then maybe explain things properly next time!"
"I didn't even have a mouth before! You sealed off the Land of Shadow—I had no signal! How exactly was I supposed to talk to you?"
"That's because you're completely unreliable! Every time you handle something, it turns into a mess! How could I possibly trust you?"
"You didn't specify anything! Your demands were ridiculous! Even without misunderstandings, mistakes happen when you rush!"
The argument raged on.
Lloyd listened for a while. At first, it was mildly entertaining—but once he realized they were just looping the same points endlessly, he stopped caring.
He turned and walked away, eventually finding Melina.
She had been there at first, but after only a few minutes of their shouting, she'd felt her head start to ache and slipped away to a quiet corner.
When Lloyd sat down beside her, she stayed silent for a while, then shifted slightly—leaning softly against his shoulder.
"…Thank you."
Lloyd accepted her gratitude with calm ease, slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. He toyed with her gently for a while, only releasing her when her breath grew uneven and her gaze turned faintly resentful.
"Is there something you wanted to say?"
Melina looked up at him as she asked.
Lloyd didn't answer right away. His eyes flicked toward the direction of the still-ongoing argument, confirming it wouldn't end anytime soon, before lowering his gaze to the girl in his arms.
"I want to take you to a dungeon."
"A dungeon just for the two of us."
Melina didn't quite understand what he meant, but trusting him as always, she didn't refuse.
...
When she opened her eyes again, she saw the Erdtree—and the Royal Capital.
But unlike before, the city before her was whole and resplendent, as if newly forged. The streets bustled with people, full of life and warmth, untouched by the decay she remembered.
The Erdtree, too, still reached toward the heavens—but having grown used to its later, massive form that blotted out the sun, she now noticed how much smaller and younger this one appeared.
And not just the tree.
Turning her head toward the glass beside her, she caught her own reflection. Her face was younger, her skin smoother and more delicate than before.
After a brief silence, she turned to the man beside her.
"Is this one of my memories... or some kind of temporal distortion?"
"Neither."
Lloyd shook his head and lifted his gaze toward the world before them.
"Think of it as a separate timeline I created for you. A place just for us—to spend time together, and to make peace with what was left unresolved."
Melina was quiet for a long moment.
"I don't have any regrets left to resolve."
She raised her eyes to meet his.
"Or rather, any regrets I had—you've already put them to rest outside this dungeon."
"I don't mind being with you," she continued softly. "But there's no need to do it here. If you want company, I can stay with you... outside."
Lloyd only smiled.
"Then consider it keeping me company while I clear my head. Stay here with me for a while, alright?"
He leaned down and kissed her.
Melina sighed, her tone resigned but gentle.
"Fine... if that's what you want."
And so, a new dungeon began.
But unlike the ones before, there were no battles here. No endless tinkering or reforging like with Chaos—just ordinary life.
Or rather, it was a chance for Lloyd to accompany Melina through her lonely, stifled childhood once more, walking beside her through the endless dark as she slowly grew.
"That child wasn't always this way," Marika had once said. "She wasn't lively, no—but she wasn't so repressed either.
Because of her eyes, I couldn't let her be seen by others. And as my most trusted daughter, she was the best suited for matters I couldn't handle myself...
I never wanted her to take on that kind of work. But back then, I had no choice. Later, even when I found others who could take her place, she had already adapted—used to restraint, to silence. I couldn't undo that.
And in the end, I even let her burn herself away, hoping she could correct my golden mistake. But all it did...
Was make her die for nothing.
So, as a mother who failed her, I ask you—please, grant her happiness. Give that child, who has lived all her life in darkness and loneliness, a touch of warmth that belongs only to her.
She wasn't meant to be this way."
Those were the words Marika had spoken to Lloyd during the intermission of that earlier confrontation—and one of the reasons he had created this dungeon in the first place.
The only issue was that Melina herself didn't seem particularly moved by the idea.
After all, as Marika had said, she had been the Black Glove for so many years that this way of life had long become second nature.
She understood Marika's burdens, held no resentment toward her, and never saw her own past as tragic.
But still...
"Are you sure you're here to keep me company and not to torment me?"
During yet another stretch of office work, after Lloyd ambushed her with teasing hands, Melina glared at him with quiet exasperation.
He met her gaze honestly.
"Well, I have to do something to pass the time."
"Then help me with the work."
"If you don't mind me breaking things, I'd love to."
"You—"
But despite her tone, Melina never truly rejected his interruptions.
At first, she thought she'd at least be annoyed—if not angry—when he disrupted her work.
But she wasn't.
Not only because she now had someone at her side, but because Lloyd was... surprisingly good at it.
He always knew exactly when to act, how much to push—never going too far, never hindering her work, only adding a bit of mischief and liveliness to her otherwise monotonous days.
And when real problems arose—tasks that even she struggled with—he would step in, working with her to think things through and solve them together.
This world wasn't real. It was a replica—a detached fragment of time.
Melina knew that. But it didn't stop her from wanting to make it better.
Armed with what she'd learned, she made wiser choices when facing the same trials again.
And now, with that flame who constantly pestered her yet never left her side... her path no longer felt so cold.
And so, change began.
From girlhood to maturity, from the Golden Order's rise to its quiet decline, from taking up the Black Glove to mastering its burden—Lloyd had woven his presence deep into Melina's past, walking with her once more along a familiar yet altered road.
Together, they punished traitors of the Golden Order and shared warmth in the frozen chambers of the capital.
They corrected many of the Order's mistakes—most notably the disaster with the Great Caravan—and prevented countless tragedies.
It wasn't a perfect story. The root of corruption lay within the Law itself, and neither of them could rewrite that truth. Some events were inevitable. Even when, this time, Melina did not burn herself, but used her flame to burn away Marika's thorns, it changed nothing.
Yet even so, Melina felt content.
Originally, she had thought reliving her past in this dungeon would be pointless and dull.
And had she been alone, it would have been exactly that.
But now... she wasn't.
With that restless flame beside her, it felt like a traveler in darkness catching sight of a bonfire. Even if he did nothing—just existing there—he brought her comfort.
And now...
Raising her head, she listened to the violent crashes echoing within the Erdtree. As fragments of the shattered Ring scattered like stars, Melina fell silent for a long time before turning toward the Ashen One beside her.
"It's over."
"Let's go back."
After saying that, she naturally took Lloyd's hand. Neither her body nor her mind offered any resistance.
But—
"Over? It's not over yet."
Melina froze.
By all logic, things should have ended here. In the original course of events, she would already be long dead, the Shattering would follow, and her past would no longer concern her. She should be leaving by now.
But she'd forgotten something—
Her past wasn't only her childhood.
"There's still our journey."
Though she had accompanied Lloyd all this time, because of her own emotional barriers, even as the one who had been with him from the very beginning, her interactions with him had been few and fleeting. Aside from matters of the Frenzied Flame and healing, they'd rarely shared a moment of true connection.
But now...
"How about we do it all again?"
Lloyd reached out his hand, smiling softly.
"My dear little Finger Maiden."
After a brief hesitation, a pale, delicate hand rose and clasped his.
"If you just want to play around..."
Melina tried to make it sound casual, but even she didn't believe her own excuse. Her voice trailed off to a whisper.
Lloyd, amused by her flustered expression, pulled her into his arms. He teased her for a while before looking down at the breathless little Finger Maiden, blinking mischievously.
Heat began to flow between them.
Then, he lowered his head.
Instinctively, Melina closed her eyes—familiar with what usually came next.
But this time, instead of the warmth of lips, she felt a breath of hot air against her ear.
"Oh, right. I forgot to mention something."
"...What?"
"Before entering this dungeon, I perfected my temperature control. Now I can... handle interactions with hotter entities on a more—personal—level."
At first, Melina didn't quite understand. When she finally did, her eyes snapped open in shock.
"Wait, you mean—"
Her voice stopped abruptly.
Something had silenced her.
And by the time her thoughts cleared, the world around her had shifted once more.
They were in Limgrave.
The place where they had first met.
Even her clothes had reverted to her original maiden's attire—the black-hooded missionary robe.
The setting was the same, but everything else... especially between the two of them, felt entirely different.
For example...
"Greetings, traveler who has crossed the fog. My name is Melina. I wish to offer you a bargain."
After reciting the familiar lines, the girl removed her hood and knelt gracefully before him.
"Do you know of the Finger Maidens? They serve the Two Fingers, guiding and aiding the Tarnished. But you—have no maiden at your side."
"I can take their place. I can turn Runes into your Strength."
"If you seek the Elden Ring, my help will surely serve you. In return, I ask one thing—
take me to the foot of the Erdtree."
The Tarnished lifted his gaze, smiled, and said simply,
"Of course."
Normally, this would be the point where she offered the ring to Torrent... right?
"That's how it should have gone."
The hood slipped off. Buttons came undone.
"But this time, I want to make our vow in a different way."
"What do you think?"
The Finger Maiden didn't answer. She simply lay there, face flushed—an expression Lloyd knew well. It was the same look she wore whenever she grew shy and had no words.
"Well then..."
He smiled faintly.
"I won't hold back."
And he lowered his head.
Everything began again.
But this time, the Tarnished was no longer hesitant, and the Maiden no longer resisted.
The rest of the story, then, naturally unfolded...
"...A bit hot."
"Sorry, sorry—I didn't control it well."
"It's fine. I don't mind."
"...Let's try again."
In short—
Their story was far from over.
It would continue for a long, long time.