[h3]Hidden Shrine, Forbidden Woods, southwest of Yharnam[/h3]
Returning to her former abode for the second time was no less thought-provoking than the first, and a sense of melancholy seemed to hang about Ophelia as they continued on their journey as though she were mired by memories. By the time they'd gotten to where Nayra--or whatever she'd become, for she was evidently no longer human--had ambushed them the last time her wariness and apprehension had grown to the point that the melancholy was largely forgotten. As they continued along the path Ophelia watched it with new eyes, and used senses that she'd never possessed as a girl. How different it looked in this new light, so many years later... she navigated the hidden path with such ease and dexterity that she could never have even fathomed possessing before, to say nothing of how her studies of the arcane had progressed. When they arrived at the shrine, Ophelia felt a familiar anxious reverence welling up inside her, though her visit this time was much different compared to the last.
[I]“Do you sense the Great Serpent nearby? Have you any idea how we might call its attention? Farren has a Snakescale Hourglass on his person--perhaps like can call to like?”[/i] she asked her blade while she glanced around the place languidly, looking for anything that might serve them in their quest.
“[I]It is here,[/I]” the voice reported dutifully. “[I]It is already watching you.[/I]”
Ophelia thanked her blade for its dutiful service with a silent prayer, taking a moment to breathe in and focus before she continued.
“O Great Serpent, we have come to entreat you on behalf of our world. A ritual is underway to beckon forth Obcasus, the Worldbreaker, who will surely reduce our world to nothing to slip back into slumber. It is our intention to stop this ritual, but... we are running out of time. Time I pray that you can grant us more of.” Ophelia spoke aloud, falling to her knees before the altar in a pose of supplication. She hoped that simple words would be enough for it to grace them with its presence, and that the price it asked was not too steep to pay.
At this point even Farren, who had previously been about as impudent in the face of authority figures as he could get away with – particularly with the Vileblood Queen – acted on the gravity of the situation. In a show of deference he knelt willingly, stowing one piercing rifle in the holster on his back and laying the other on the ground beside him, bowing his head.
There was a moment's pause before the voice spoke to Ophelia again: “[I]No reaction... It likely does not understand human speech. It is still watching and listening, but it doesn't seem to understand what you are trying to tell it.[/I]”
Ophelia considered for a moment the things a Great One might understand if not their paltry language. They had a rune that afflicted one with the eyes of Obcasus--perhaps they could present it? Perhaps the hourglass could tell it what they needed? The thought of such vague communications put her mind ill at ease.
[i]Can you perhaps translate for us? Or... I don't know. I fear I cannot fathom what such a powerful being might understand if not our words. I could show it the Oblivion rune, but how would it know that we are trying to stop such a thing rather than cause it?[/i] Ophelia replied, beckoning forth the little ones to retrieve the runebrand just in case.
“[I]Even the runes are just human interpretations of the words of the Great Ones,[/I]” the voice explained. “[I]The rune would be no more meaningful to a Great One than if you wrote with your own letters. And the sword cannot commune with Great Ones anymore than you can.[/I]” There was a thoughtful pause. “[I]Great Ones are simultaneously complex beyond comprehension and very simple. Show it emotions. Communicate with it as though it was an animal. The Great Ones are sympathetic in spirit; if it senses that you need help, it will likely try to grant it.[/I]”
Ophelia thought on her blade's words for a moment, and did her best to follow its suggestion. She looked up into the canopy plaintively, and let herself feel all of the things that she had previously only been thinking about. She was not truly certain where thought transitioned into feeling, or what the difference between them was exactly, but she forced herself to think of Nayra's awful cosmic eyes. The vastness, the emptiness, the indifference of the cosmos as she was devoured and caressed and crushed by something so unfathomable that it surely thought of her no more than she thought of specks of dust as she moved through the world. She let the panic rise up in her chest and her breaths heave with weight, let the helplessness run rampant through her... but never at any point did she give up. She shed a few defiant tears as she clung to hope, staring up into the canopy as she tried her best to project her desperation and her desire to fight. If the Great Serpent could not offer them more time... everything would die. Though she'd said to Farren that the golden bastard was a last resort, her heart was not truly in that idea--if they were reduced to having to rely on him, it was as good as over. The mere thought of it echoed through her and replaced the feeling of helplessness with anger. She would not allow him to win for as long as she drew breath, having tried to use her love for her mentors against her. Against the whole world... a world she was part of and wanted desperately to save from a truly horrible fate.
“It understands emotions, not words. Show the Great Serpent how we feel, how desperately we need its help.” Ophelia added, to help give her companions some grounding.
Hearing Ophelia's instructions, for once, Gerlinde's smile faltered. Show how she feels? How desperately she needed its help? What a joke. That was the old her; the new her always smiled and laughed boldly even in the face of adversity, and she [I]never[/I] needed anyone else's help. Old her had needed help, but never got any. Old her had showed emotion, and no one ever cared. Old her was weak and submissive, and she suffered for it. She would never be that girl again. Could never be her again.
But even so, the aid of this creature [I]would[/I] be useful. Though she could not fully comply with Ophelia's request, she would do what she could. So Gerlinde got down on her hands and knees – a sight that made Torquil look as though his eyes might pop out of his head – and touched her forehead to the ground, prostrating herself to this supposed Great One.
Distracted though he was by Gerlinde's display, Torquil still made an effort to try to think of what to do. Show it how he felt? He was confused, mostly, and had never made any attempt to hide that fact. He spent a moment trying to think of a way to make himself cry like Ophelia was, but could not manage it. The most he could do was to think of all the horrible ways he had died this night, which filled his heart with fear and left him shuddering and trembling.
Then he got down on his knees and prostrated himself as well... wondering all the while if he was doing it right.

“[I]It moves,[/I]” the voice told Ophelia, a hint of excitement in its tone. She would likely note that the whispers of the Holy Moonlight Sword were never as emotive as the voice of the Cosmic Sword of Truth had been. “[I]It is close... on the slab![/I]”
And sure enough, anyone who deemed to look at the stone slab serving as a naturalistic shrine might notice an old, weathered canine skull wiggled back and forth a little. A second later something emerged from one of its vacant eye-sockets: the tiny head of a bright blue snake. It was so incredibly small, only some twelve centimeters long or so, and appeared to be small even for a hatchling. It writhed its way out of the skull and dropped gracelessly to the stone... only to start growing larger, very, very quickly. In the space of no more than five seconds, what had previously been a young and puny creature had grown into a snake that looked like it was at least three meters long, though it coiled to still fit on the stone slab. It seemed that it had just gone from a minuscule hatchling to a large adult in the space of a couple of heartbeats.
The creature raised its head and looked around at them, and it would be quite apparent that it had only looked like a snake before increasing in size. Though its body was clad in bright blue scales, it also seemed to be at least partially made up by tangled tendrils of some kind, like the roots of some sort of unknown plant, and though the shape of its head was reminiscent of that of a snake, it had no mouth. And while one might initially assume that it had only the two eyes one would expect a snake to have, a second glance revealed that what might appear to just be part of the pattern in its scales were actually neatly arranged, evenly spaced eyes spread out across the length of its body, staring at them all.

The Great Serpent cocked its head, its snout turning from one to the next of the Hunters... and then they would all feel the air crackle, the entire area permeating with immense eldritch power. The creature's eyes glowed with an inner light of their own, and the entire clearing filled with swirling purplish light. Their ears filled with a loud noise that was like a mix between the rumble of an earthquake and the roar of a storm, until the entire world was consumed by the light.

And then, quite abruptly, the light vanished, and the Hunters found themselves somewhere else. They were still in a forest, but the trees did not look the same. There were several rocks nearby that looked somewhat similar to the ones they had just seen scattered in the clearing, but otherwise this seemed like an entirely different place.
There was no shrine and no Great Serpent here.