Marika had attended royal courts, war councils, diplomatic summits, and divine convocations attended by beings older than entire civilizations. Yet somehow, sitting on a worn sofa inside a small cottage while her wife looked ready to sink through the floor proved significantly more uncomfortable.
Still, Marika had not expected otherwise. Summer had spoken of Patch in snippets over the years, half-remembered descriptions of salt-laden air and wooden fences, of a husband who told terrible jokes, and daughters who laughed like bells. And the reality was, pleasantly, warmer than her words. It was indeed the kind of home where every scratch on the floor told a story.
She sat on the sofa beside Summer, close enough that their shoulders almost touched, and allowed herself a moment to observe.
Summer, her Dear Consort Eternal and Third Elden Lord, looked more embarrassed than uneasy.
Adorable, Marika thought while allowing a small smile to tug at the corner of her mouth. Absolutely adorable.
The goddess turned her attention toward the rest of the family.
The younger daughter sat almost vibrating with nervous excitement.
Ruby Rose. Another with silver eyes. She looked less like Summer than Marika had expected, until she smiled, and then she was the spitting image of Summer at that age… or what Marika imagined Summer must have looked like, before the Lands Between had worn her down into something harder.
Her consort had spoken of her often. Marika found herself understanding why.
Then, her attention shifted to the older daughter, the one who wasn’t Summer’s daughter by blood.
Yang Xia-Long. The missing arm was obvious, and so was the wary tension behind her eyes. The posture of someone who had recently learned that safety was an illusion.
It reminded her much too much of Malenia, if only distantly, but that was a conversation for another day.
Still, Marika found herself wondering how her children by blood would interact with these children by marriage. St.Trina and Malenia and Ruby and Yang.
The possibilities were either heartwarming or catastrophic. Potentially both.
Then, finally, her attention settled upon Taiyang. Summer's husband.
He sat across from her, elbows on his knees, watching her with an expression she recognized well: the careful neutrality of a man who had no idea what to expect and was determined not to show it. His hands were rough, calloused in ways that spoke of both honest labor and combat. And his face was kind, though, nervous, and reasonably so.
This is already going better than my reunion with Rennala.
Rennala had tried to blast her into the stratosphere after—rightfully so, if sadly—accusing her of ruining centuries of their life. Taiyang had simply… sat there. Unarmed, unarmored, and unafraid in a way that suggested either remarkable courage or a complete lack of understanding of what Marika was.
He cleared his throat.
"So," Taiyang said slowly, "those two bodyguards of yours… the ones in the black armor. They're just… standing out there?"
Marika inclined her head in acknowledgement. "They are Black Knife Assassins, sworn unto my protection.”
"Are they… comfortable just standing around?"
"They are accustomed to such things.”
Taiyang's brow furrowed. "That's not really what I—"
The air behind him shimmered as one of the assassins materialized from the shadow, her black armor catching the firelight, while the other materialized upside down from the ceiling. Both raised a gauntleted hand and waggled their fingers in a small, almost cheery wave.
Though their reactions varied—with Taiyang fluidly getting to his feet, a second behind Ruby, while Yang stumbled due to her missing limb—all had stood as quickly as they could and gotten into combat stances.
Meanwhile, Summer buried her face in her hands.
"I feel significantly less comfortable now," Tai admitted.
"Such reactions are not uncommon,” Marika replied casually.
The assassins vanished again, melting back into the darkness.
"…That," Taiyang said carefully, sitting back down, "did not make me feel better."
"They will cause no trouble," Marika assured him. "They are here only for my protection."
Yang leaned forward, already seated.
"Okay." She pointed directly at Marika. "I've gotta ask."
"Speak freely.”
Yang narrowed her eyes. "Why does a god need bodyguards?"
Marika turned to face her fully.
She did not answer with words. Instead, she raised her right hand and held it where the sunlight could catch the fissures running across her knuckles. Then she lifted her gaze to Yang's and held it, and the illusion concealing her condition faded: golden skin dissolved away as cracks spread across stone flesh.
The room fell silent.
"In my long life," Marika said, "I have been crucified for five hundred years. I have watched my children tear each other apart. I have shattered the very foundation of reality and rebuilt it from ashes." She paused. "If there is one thing I have learned, it is this: nothing is invincible. Not queens, gods, or even the Elden Ring itself. Nothing."
Though Ruby looked horrified, Taiyang and Yang’s expressions hardened. And Summer—
Smack!
Marika blinked.
Summer had lightly slapped her shoulder.
"Stop intimidating my daughter."
"I am educating thy daughter."
"You are intimidating her."
Marika glanced toward Yang, who still wore a hard expression, to Ruby. She indeed looked deeply intimidated.
Marika blinked, the intensity draining from her own expression. She looked almost… sheepish.
"My apologies," she said, dipping her head toward the two children. However, though Ruby was the one affected, her words were directed towards Yang. "I forget myself. Thou remindest me of someone I once knew. Someone very… stubborn."
The Eternal Queen immediately withdrew the illusion-breaking effect, and the cracks vanished, golden skin returning.
"...I'll take that as a compliment," Yang said.
"Such was my intent."
The tension in the room eased slightly, and Ruby finally spoke. Her voice came out higher than usual, somewhere between a squeak and a whisper.
"So… what happens now?"
Marika turned to her and straightened. "A fair question.”
She looked around the room, then smiled. "What happens now is that both of thee have become part of my family and lineage.”
Ruby blinked. "What?"
"By marriage," Marika continued, "Summer is my consort." She let the word settle. "That makes thee my stepdaughters."
Yang's eyebrow shot upward. "Stepdaughters."
"Indeed."
"To a goddess."
"Indeed."
Ruby's mouth opened and closed several times. "So that means you're our… stepmom?"
Marika considered this. "I would prefer simply 'mother,' if thou art amenable. But stepmother is acceptable for now. Thou needest not decide now."
In response, Ruby made another squeaking sound.
Marika waited patiently, and eventually Ruby recovered enough to ask:
"Wait." She pointed at Summer. "Third Elden Lord?"
"Aye."
"What happened to the first two?"
Marika waved a dismissive hand.
"They are…" She paused, searching for a diplomatic word. "…unimportant at this moment."
"Unimportant," Yang echoed flatly.
"Just so."
Ruby frowned but did not press further. Then her brow furrowed, and she turned back to Summer with a strange expression. "Wait. You said you had to fight demigods to get their Great Runes."
Summer nodded slowly. "Yes."
"You said you had to… take them out."
"Also yes."
Ruby's eyes widened. "You killed Marika's kids?!"
Summer held up her hands. "In my defense—"
"There is no defense for that!"
“Her Grace guided me to do so.”
Ruby slowly turned, wordlessly, in horror toward Marika. The expression clearly asked why.
Marika remained composed and met her gaze without flinching.
"Because," she said, "they failed."
Ruby's anger faltered in the face of that. "What?"
Marika’s expression hardened.
“For five thousand years, they chose war over duty.” She gestured toward Summer. “The Tarnished existed for precisely that possibility.”
After a while, Taiyang was the first to break the ensuing silence.
"So…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Where does this leave… us? Summer and I, I mean."
Marika brightened immediately. "Oh, very little changeth.”
Tai blinked. "What?"
"Thou remainest married."
"We do?"
"Certainly. Thy marriage to Summer remains valid," she declared. "I have no desire to dissolve what came before me. She is thy wife. She is also my consort. These truths can coexist."
Taiyang blinked. "They can?"
Then, rubbing both hands across his face, he stared at Marika for several seconds. Then he looked at Summer, then back at Marika.
“You know, when I woke up this morning, I thought my wife coming back from the dead was going to be the strangest thing that happened today.”
"Such relationships are not unfamiliar to me,” Marika continued undeterred. “The customs of the Lands Between have always been… flexible in such matters."
Ruby's nose scrunched. "How exactly does that work?"
Marika smiled teasingly. "Polygamy."
"Oh."
Ruby nodded, then paused. Then nodded again. Then clearly realized she had absolutely no idea what that meant.
Marika continued pleasantly. "It is quite straightforward."
She gestured between herself and Summer. "We are married." Then toward Taiyang. "Thou art married to Summer."
Then she smiled.
Ruby frowned at that. "So you're both married to Mom?"
"Yes."
"At the same time?"
"Yes."
"And that's… okay?"
Marika's cracked lips twitched. "For certain definitions of okay."
Taiyang was still processing, his mouth opening and closing several times. Marika watched him with something approaching amusement.
"You are a very handsome man, Tai Xiao Long."
Tai immediately inhaled his own spit, a violent coughing fit followed.
It was not a dignified sound, especially as his face went red, his eyes went wide, and he spent the next several seconds coughing into his fist.
Summer buried her face in her hands. "Marika.” The name was stressed.
"Yes, dear consort?"
"You cannot just say that."
"I did but speak plainly.”
"He's choking!"
"He shall survive.”
Taiyang, still red-faced, held up a hand. "I'm—cough—I'm fine." He cleared his throat. "Just… wasn't expecting that."
Marika inclined her head. "My apologies. I forget myself."
Summer covered her face again.