This place is far too big.

That was the conclusion Ledo arrived as soon as he entered the cathedral. It was perhaps only obvious that he would feel like this, as someone who grew up in the middle of nowhere, in a barely useful shack, fishing for a living, and spent the last five years of his life in a murky death-trap, he was not used to nor comfortable in such a luxurious space.

The fact that it was all built on a golden-like stone, the engravings on the walls, the giant pillars that held everything together, the sheer size of the room and building, it was all very unnerving, and overall gave him a bad feeling.

The answer to his problem was to just get used to it, this was the way the gods lived, this was their city, and he would have an eternity to get used to this.

Other than the size of the cathedral, he was overall pretty comfortable, the armor he was wearing wasn't uncomfortable at all after years of wearing, he dared say they were comfortable.

Though, that was all, the size and luxury bothered him, but it didn't make walking through the giant hall disconcerting or something he wouldn't like to do, his friend on the other hand was clearly bewitched by everything around her.

She wasn't acting like an overactive child, walking from one side to the other, she was better trained than that, and acted like a proper Knight ought to. Instead, she walked with dignity worth of a Knight, but he could see the little tells on the way she acted, the way her head turned from one side from another, while it was slow and strenuous enough that one might think she is just weary of the environment around her, but he knew she was awestruck with the cathedral around her, the little 'ah' and 'oh' she let out every few seconds really didn't help.

He saw her hand move from her side to the sword on her hip, and from her sword to her side, like a small child that couldn't contain her energy, though she was not a small child and was containing her excitement pretty well, so much so that if one did not know her they might not be able to notice it.

Whatever the case of what was going on in his younger friend's head, he had more important things to worry about himself. First being, this was their Accolade, or in other words, the rite of passage in which Knighthood is granted.

Their honor, capability and devotion to His Majesty, Lord Gwyn having been proven after spending five years on Sen's Fortress, this was a ceremony given to them, ascending to the ranks of Silver Knight.

Honestly, he did not know a lot about it, he knew that they would be presented in front of Lord Gwyn himself, do the common rites such as kneeling in front of him, and then his Highness would do something, but that was all he knew. Though, judging from the meaning of this ceremony, it was probable that His Royal Highness, the God of War himself be present.

That reminded him of the dynamics within Anor Londo's army, it had a pretty straightforward chain of command.

Starting from the bottom of the bottom, you had the giants, the vast majority being slaves, they were the bottom of the bottom of the hierarchy, the vast majority being brutish and not very bright. Due to their less then stellar minds they were usually relegated to manual labor or thrown around as mindless walls of obstacles the enemy had to defeat. Of course, there were exceptions, such being the case with the Hawkeye, whom he heard to be considered quite the intellectual.

Then you had them, the Silver Knights, they were elite warriors, the body of the army, with unwavering faith and strength. Usually they were feared and could fight most foes. They were generally used for all sorts of duties within the army, and despite being a rank above giants they didn't really have power over them, they could relegate simple orders and requests, but overall, they did not have true power over them, unless they received said right.

When a Silver Knight demonstrated to above their peers, be it in combat prowess, intellect, resourcefulness, or some others, they received the beautiful promotion of being commanders. These didn't really do the fighting, being much more responsible for logistics, giving orders, organizing things. They were the ones with true control over the slaves, and the Knights. And they could generally be discerned by their red togas over their armors.

Finally, you had His Majesty himself, the Lord of Sunlight to whom they offered their lives to. His word was law, his desires were orders, he is the one that organizes the commanders, the one who orders the army, the ruler of the gods and King of Anor Londo.

Of course, that was just the straight, official and direct hierarchy within the army contained in Anor Londo, pertaining to the Silver Knights. As there were other groups within the military, such being the case with the Lords Blades.

Obviously, even with all that, it had its exceptions, and they came shining like gold. The most accomplished Knights, those that proved themselves and managed to get into His Majesty's graces, the Knights of Gwyn, coming from any group or part of the hierarchy, they were theoretically outside the hierarchy, while some of them were still bound to possible leaderships and groups, they did not obey anyone but Lord Gwyn, and that was only when His Majesty needed something.

They were more often than not outside Anor Londo, if there is any crisis or outbreak outside, they most likely are there. Each having their own agenda on how to do things, protecting Anor Londo while also keeping their honor and chivalry. That meant that while they were a group on paper, they were not a true group, the title 'Knights of Gwyn' symbolized that there was a group of Knights that received such an honor, it was more accurate to refer to the individuals that had such a title as a 'Knight of Gwyn', as it was much more of a title and position than a group that coordinated.

Of course, he could spend some time explaining how the social standing within the ranking of the Silver Knights, such as one being human or not, changed some dynamics of power, but overall, that was purely behavioral, and mattered not when the subject in question was the right to command.

Though, if he wished to complain about something, it would surely be the heat. It wasn't unbearably hot, but it was hot enough to be uncomfortable. It probably wouldn't be so unbearable if they weren't wearing armor, while the sun was high in the sky, in a really sultry place.

But in the end, beggars can't be choosers.

He tried to move his joints while still maintaining a dignified appearance, obviously he failed, and his joints continued to be unbearably stiff. Well, he couldn't complain about the stiff joints, the way he slept yesterday was sure to make them sore, what he could complain about, were his sleep accommodations.

Seriously, they were supposed to be the elite fighters of the entire world, and they tell them to sleep on those tiresome stairs?

At least they had the decency to give them a new and tidy set of armor, of course it would be immediately thrown away to be replaced by a titanite one, but at least Ruby wasn't wearing rags that almost exposed her bare body, nor was she tainted in her own blood.

He sighed internally, looking forward, there were a set of stairs that probably led to the room where they would be given Knighthood.

He could only imagine what Ruby was feeling, probably some sort of anxiety, judging by how she was acting. While he himself felt pure boredom, in a level that would have made his movements akin to a person dragging themselves through mud had it not been for his discipline.

But it was only obvious, unlike everyone else, he saw this as nothing more than worthless formalities, it was needed, of course, but it really wasn't something that he deigned truly important or formal in any way or manner. They were going to stand face to face with His Majesty, and probably his firstborn, but really, they were the top of the chain of command, if he didn't get used to this then he was not fit to be here.

'At least they did not use this as an excuse to have a feast.' He commented drily on his head, acknowledging that humans, Silver Knights or not, did not deserve a feast, or such great acknowledgments. Unless the situation was incredibly extraordinary, of course.

He started climbing the stairs, carrying his on weight upwards, alongside the whole armor, and the heat that consumed this room almost made doing all of this unbearable.

He looked to his side, Ruby seemed to eagerly climb the stairs. He sighed, knowing she didn't even know what to do, truly the girl only cared about combat details. Back in the Fortress she never cared, or probably didn't even know how troublesome it was to take care of Main Camp, it was a stress unlike any other, and she all but chose to keep ignorant to it, much more worried about how to kill everything on the Fortress.

The other three were all reacting on different ways, but really, he couldn't care less about any of them, they were good sacrificial pawns, but now that he lost his right to order them around they lost all their already low worth.

They reached the top of the stairs, the Knight that guided them there, and just so happened to be Arkon, moved to the side, allowing them to be fully seen by the ones on the very end of the room.

It was giant, an almost rectangular like shape, its left and right walls filled with giant stained glasses, massive pillars sustaining the room, on the very end of it, stood the imposing figure on the God of Sunlight. On the edge of the sides, platforms of stone that ascended and descended.

He drifted his eyes upwards, the second floor, it was open, the only thing the existed there, that he could observe, being the sides that served as a balcony. On the very edged of a protrusion, standing on it, someone with an attire eerily similar to His Highness', on his hand a massive spear. It was undoubtful, that person looking from above was His Royal Highness, the God of War himself.

While Gwyn was the real ruler of the army, he was also Anor Londo's King, therefore, he cannot command everything all the time, so, someone like the deity of war, his firstborn, who is considered to have the same standing as the Knights of Gwyn, takes over and controls majority of the army, it is only when war rages, or Gwyn issues an official order that his son assumes a position similar to that of a Knight of Gwyn.

All in all, he had to admit, it did cut a pretty imposing figure, but the fact that there were statues of both behind them, with Gold etched into them, made all the intimidation he might have felt become exasperation at the idea of humoring two narcissists.

He might be an honorable Knight on paper, but not only did he not have true respect, he was also ready to change teams as soon as it became the better option, even disposed to become one of Izalith's demons if it meant victory. Of course, dragging Ruby with him might be difficult, but not impossible.

They stood in a line, one by one, each of them knelt in front of their Lord. He could see the stiffness on Ruby's body, she was probably intimidated by the figure displayed by the literal gods.

Now that he noticed, the impromptu throne Lord Gwyn was sitting in had a ceremonial sword at his side. He knew it didn't really mean anything other than formalities, but really, one would think it would be more formal and chic, perhaps some servants or Knights, kneeling at his side, holding the sword to be given to him, but no, it was laid on the side of His Majesty's throne.

"Trial by combat?" He heard Ruby say under her breath, it was something that no one except he, that was at her side could hear. It wasn't a question directed at anyone, therefore he would not answer it. That and she should already know this, Arkon himself had ironed out the details multiple times in the Fortress, but she was probably ignoring him as she always does.

Well, whatever the case, he could clear things out with her once this was all over.

He looked at the sides, a dozen or so Knights positioned around the room, probably some Knights assigned as body guards for His Majesty, and he was sure that there were some Lords Blades hidden in the shadows. Honestly, he couldn't think of this as anything more than pure formality, with those two in the same place no enemy could possibly defeat them. If anything, they could easily destroy this entire cathedral by themselves.

After all, during the War against the dragons, it is said that the both of them formed one of the strongest duos around.

He heard the Lord of Sunlight cleaning his voice, all the attention on the room immediately drawn to him.

"Ye brave warriors, art those whose abilities flourished against all odds." The Lord of Sunlight said. It wasn't something he was interested in listening to, of course, as the discourse went on he gave it all his attention, but overall, it was just a bunch of praise for them and himself in an over complicated vocabulary.

"Ye seeker of mightiness, step forward for thy power is to arrive." From the corner of his eye, he saw the furthermost right Squire rise from his kneeling position and walk to their Lord.

The Squire knelt into the knighting-stool placed on the edge of the little step that led to the platform where their Lord's impromptu throne rested. The knighting-stool was but a tiny pillow that barely fit one's knee, they were to kneel in from of their lord. The Squire took away his helm, holding it close to his body.

The Lord of Sunlight rose from his throne, the ceremonial sword laid on its side being taken on his right hand.

Their Lord's robes shoot alongside his movements, the golden sword on his hand shining, both from his own power and from reflecting the sunlight coming from the stained glasses.

"O brave challenger, thee who wishes for power. Dost thou swear to always follow thy Lord?" The code of chivalry was to be sworn on that moment, despite the fact that they had been expected to be following it since they became mere Squires, furthermore, it wouldn't even be the complete code, just a few thrown in lines.

It should be clear by now, this was all a sham, pure formalities that the other party clearly held no interest on. This happened so many times that it warrants not a special ceremony.

"I swear." The antipathic answer from the Squire was given, thou, he was completely sure it had not been antipathical because that was how the Squire felt, oh no, he was completely sure the lack of emotion was to masquerade the complete inner turmoil that was happening inside of that Squire.

"Dost thou swear to respect all weaknesses, and constitute thyself as the defender of them?"

"I swear."

"Dost thou swear to never recoil in front of a stronger enemy, to never deny an equal's challenge?"

"I swear."

"Dost thou swear to be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against injustice and Evil?"

"I swear."

The monarch approached the squire, the side of his blade being put on the subject's shoulder. "I hereby declare thee, o brave challenger, a sword and shield of thy Lord. Thou art to be as great as thy brethren, o faithful Knight." The sword was raised over the Knight's head, flipped counterclockwise so that the same side of the blade shall touch the Knight's body, once again being put onto the Knight's shoulder. "Arise, o Knight." Their Lord said the awaited words.

The now Knight arose, his head laid down in respect to his Lord. The monarch reached his hand towards the Knight's helm, raising it over the Knight's head and putting it on the Knight. "Then I declare thee, as a Silver Knight, eternally bound to thy duties."

The Knight dipped his head towards Lord Gwyn, rapidly going back to the place he stood before, yet this time he knelt not. Instead, he stood his sword drawn and being held with both his hands, the point of the sword being pointed to the ground.

After that, the process was repeated with the other two, leaving only he and Ruby.

During the whole thing, as each person was granted knighthood, all he could feel was bothered and bored. He wasn't some action junkie that just wanted to fight, but this whole thing was just terribly boring, and really uncomfortable. If they had at least given them a real ceremony.

He rose from his kneeling position, step by step he approached the Lord of Sunlight.

Kneeling on the knighting-stool, he removed his helmet, holding it closer to his person he dipped his head to the King of Anor Londo.

"O brave challenger, thee who wishes for power. Dost thou swear to always follow thy Lord?" The King asked him the same question as he did to all the others, the routine-like manner in which this was asked and served bothered him. Yet, he had no choice but to say yes, not that he had to mean it or anything like that.

"I swear." He silently wondered if the King would notice, that unlike the others his was a truly antipathical voice, there was no internal turmoil within him, no wish to continue doing this, pure apathy towards everything. Yet, he continued smiling.

"Dost thou swear to respect all weaknesses, and constitute thyself as the defender of them?" The honest answer was a sounding 'no', but alas, he was not here to say any sort of truth, or pledge himself to any sort of Lord.

"I swear." Therefore, for him to lie was as easy as breathing.

"Dost thou swear to never recoil in front of a stronger enemy, to never deny an equal's challenge?" Once again, his answer was a resounding 'no', all he cared about was his and Ruby's survival.

"I swear."

"Dost thou swear to be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against injustice and Evil?" That question indeed deserved quite a bit of thought, did he mean his version of right and good? Or the common sense of man? Depending on what he meant one's answer could differ severely, although, he would personally go with a 'no'.

"I swear."

The king lowered the sword towards his shoulder, touching it with the flat of the blade. "I hereby declare thee, o brave challenger, a sword and shield of thy Lord. Thou art to be as great as thy brethren, o faithful Knight."

He could feel it, unlike all previous time, when he was observing from afar, he could feel it. An incomprehensible amount of power swirled within that sword, connecting to his own shoulder he could feel the change within him. It was not a change of self, but rather, a modification within the soul.

The sword was raised just above his head, alongside it, the power contained within the blade, and just like water slipping through someone's hands he could feel his insides, changing.

His body felt alien, like he was wearing it instead of being it. He noticed he couldn't move a single muscle, like the alien clothing he was wearing suddenly became a prison for himself.

Feeling like he was swimming under a never-ending body of water, the soul changed in a rapid pace, almost as if it was rushed by something, changing into something seemingly artificial.

'So that's how.' He heard the Knights saying some weird things about soul and 'the duke's idea', alongside all they said Lord Gwyn would bless them with. He understands what they mean by that right now, well, it didn't change anything, it was just additional knowledge.

Flipped counterclockwise, the blade was put on his other shoulder, the feeling of his body being alien vanished, he suddenly could move his body again, although an overwhelming tiredness attacked him, preventing him from moving.

He felt lighter, like the armor being worn was but a sheet of silk, in fact, all his senses felt greater, his vision was better, hearing, feeling, and was that… he could feel the taste of his saliva in many different ways?

"Arise, o Knight." Gwyn gave him the permission to get on his feet.

Putting on his best smile and most impassive face, he rose, his eyes making contact with the King's, all his attention seemingly dedicated to that exact moment.

The King's hands took the helm from his hands, raising it high above his head the helmet was put on him. "Then I declare thee, as a Silver Knight, eternally bound to thy duties."

Internally acknowledging that he was going to vanish as soon as he wished, he dipped his head towards the King.

Going back to his place, he drew his blade, pointing it down, he held it in both his hands.

There was only one person left to go into this, and then it was work for all eternity.

He looked at his left, Ruby stood up. He sincerely hoped she had paid attention to what everyone was doing, he had no doubt she had paid no attention to anything when they had been explaining this.

Although she seemed impassive as she walked towards the King, he could see, the little actions she took, the way her hands twitched, the way her feet leveled a bid upwards every time she was about to take a step.

She was undoubtfully stressed and afraid.

The girl knelt in the knighting-stool, he couldn't see her face from where he was, yet he could basically feel her nervousness.

For each question Lord Gwyn asked, he could hear her stutter, it was almost painful to watch… almost.

Yet, despite her awkwardness, everything seemed to be progressing without a hitch. The Lord of Sunlight raised his sword just above her head, saying the same things as he did to all the others.

By the end of it, despite stuttering, and being quite awkward, Ruby managed to do it without any major mistakes. Finally becoming a Silver Knight herself.

The five of them lined up, as the Lord of Sunlight exited the room, all the Knights that were on the sides left together, and despite not being able to see them, he was pretty sure a good number of Lord's Blades exited alongside them.

A loud sound reverberated throughout the area, coming from the place where the statues were located. The Firstborn prince had jumped from the balcony he was located at, landing right in front of where his father had been stationed.

"Alright, as you should already know, when His Majesty is not in control of everything, I'm the one doing the honors of giving you all orders." He started, so awfully casual, almost as if he didn't deign them worthy of his attention and awareness. "Well, rejoice, for more likely than not, I'll never order any of you directly again."

That was true, the firstborn son of Gwyn was to only order around the Commanders, and chances are, five unruly humans would not come to become some of those. However, the almost neglect he displayed when dealing with them, somehow bothered him.

"Ye shall all go to the deity that runs that forsaken smithy and get yourselves some quality titanite weapons. After that you should all just go and obey whatever your commander, in this case Arkon, tells you to do." And of course, he doesn't really care about this, he shouldn't really be surprised about this, like father like son he supposed, the two of them even used similar attires.

Well whatever the case, this sham of a ceremony was finally over, and he could finally go on to serve 'for all eternity' which only really meant that he would be around until he didn't want to be around anymore, and Ruby would be going with him, obviously.

The tinkling of armor reached his ears.

A Silver Knight entered the room, seemingly carrying something in his hands, apparently a scroll, but there was no way to confirm that.

The Knight hastily approached the deity on the room. "Your Royal Highness." The Knight knelt in front of the prince, in his outstretched hand there was what definitely was a scroll.

"What is this?" The deity said as he unraveled the parchment of paper in his hands, reading its content. "-What? Father approved this…? He is far too old to continue reigning in." He said in a discontent voice.

Despite what just happened, he didn't really care about the contents of it, surely it was a message from Lord Gwyn to his son, but why would it contain something that regarded them-

"Anyway, which one of you humans is 'Sir Rose'?" And suddenly he was very interested in the contents of that scroll.

A plethora of ideas suddenly came to his mind, the contents of the scroll, what it would mean for Ruby, how he could help her, how to run away from Anor Londo, whom he would have to kill.

"I-It would be me, Y-Your Royal Highness." Her voice rang true in the room, worry filled him, whatever was said in that scroll, it would decide his and Ruby's next plan of action.

"Well, unfortunately for you, the duke has just requested you as his personal appointed Knight, therefore, I can no longer order you around. Your immediate orders, as written here, are to present yourself in the Regal Archives." The God of War threw the Scroll to Ruby with a quick 'fetch'.

While all that happened, his mind ran with ideas, the suddenness of everything did not faze him in the least, much more worried on how this would affect Ruby, why this is affecting Ruby, and what the deity had meant when he said 'unfortunately for you'.

Surely, at the moment everything appeared to be quite harmless, but he would not let his guard down, on the slightest signal of danger he would make sure to kidnap Ruby himself and make sure no one will ever find her… probably some place far from here, perhaps the Ringed City on the edge of the world? No, to controlled by the gods, maybe the east, it was a war filled place, definitely he and Ruby would fit in just right.

"I would wish you the best of luck, but I don't think all the luck in the world can help you with this." And suddenly he was dead worried.

He started to plan on how to help her, he could not cause a scene right now, he was in front of a deity and without titanite equipment, but as long as Ruby survived to the next day he could have a plan of action ready to escape Anor Londo.

"Well, what are you all waiting for? Should I take a page from the duke's book and say that all these orders are urgent as well?" The deity's booming voice rung through the room, and all scurried to follow their orders.

AN:

Me: Did I put enough foreshadowing for this? Probably not, but oh well, such is life.

Yep, this was an offensively small chapter, I know. But, I really just write the chapters with the content within them in mind, their size is just a side-effect of it. Though, I think that all the chapters after this will be quite bigger.

Because? Well, WE FINALLY ENDED THE PROLOGUE… can I even call this a prologue? I don't know, it's a 70k+ prologue, so I would say 'no', but when I look at the plans for the story, this is definitely the prologue story-wise… so, arc 1 or Prologue, call it whatever you want, it's over.

If anyone is asking themselves after this chapter, no, Ruby will not be learning any sort of magic any time soon, we follow the same line of thought that we did on the whole strength thing based on stats, therefore, while she is not dumb she doesn't have the smarts needed to actually use magic.

Now, if you are asking yourself, then why was she able to use the 'lightning arrow' miracle last chapter, the answer is simple. Most miracles are casted around based in the faith, as do most talismans come from, however, if we look at Velka's talisman, it scales with int. Now, you might be asking yourself, what does this mean, allow me to explain it. The concept of actually casting a miracle based on faith is literally that, faith, you need to believe, not go deeper and make questions and understand, just believe. The existence of an int based talisman suggest the casting of miracles through knowledge, not blindly believing but knowing that it is real. In the Lordran set up, it makes sense, the Way of White is so obviously corrupt and not actually faithful that obviously one would need to just believe instead of knowing, while someone like Oswald, that knows his shit and is a priest of Velka knows things and doesn't need to simply believe. Therefore, I use the same logic for that miracle, it requires 35 faith, but that is because he is being casted in an age eons past the Age of Fire and the war against the Dragons, is a ridiculous story about some knights shooting dragons of all things in the eye by the order of a forgotten god no one even cares about anymore, in that sense, it kinda fits that you would need a ridiculous and blind faith to actually believe any of this make-up story. While now, where Ruby is literally being trained by Silver Knights, in their fortress, in the door to their home, knowing the real story (As the description of the miracle states that old stories are full of embellishment.) it suddenly becomes easy to believe and know to cast.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

And if you are wondering were I got the whole Silver Knight ascension thing, I shamelessly stole it from Soulslore on the theory section of the page about the Silver Knights.

As a side-note: If you are wondering why Nameless is acting so uncaring towards everyone, here's the reason. DS1's Great Lighting Spear: "The weapon of the God of War, who inherited the sunlight of Lord Gwyn, but had respect only for arms, and nothing else." And while this may mean that he respected brothers and sisters in arms, in some interpretations and translations of the game, it becomes pretty explicit, he only respected Weapons (and the King of the Storm, but that is a story for another time.)