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A Hunter's Chronicle – Chapter 1

In Japan lies the ordinary town of Kuoh. It was nighttime and everything was relatively peaceful.

However, it didn't apply to an abandoned factory in a secluded area outside the town. While it appeared quiet from the building, there was actually a fight within its walls lasting for some time now.

In the loading area of the factory stood two figure and between them were puddles of blood, staining the floor. Despite the only illumination in the room was moonlight, they have trouble seeing each other.

"What are you…?!"

A beast-like figure shouted out as he struggled to breath from to his injuries.

Across his body were multiple lacerations and patches of dried blood. Despite the wounds that would fell an ordinary man, he remains on his feet.

"Isn't obvious?"

In front of him was a young man wearing a black duster coat. He also wore a pair of rugged grey leather boots and gauntlets. However, he also wore a grey bandana and a black tricorn, leaving only the upper part of his face and a bit of his black hair visible.

In his right hand was a serrated saw-like weapon, which was drenched in blood. The man's clothing was also drenched in blood, but it was his enemy's and not his own.

"I am a hunter… and you are my prey."

The man's blood red eyes appeared to glow as he pointed his weapon at the Stray Devil, who only roared in anger. The Stray Devil quickly charged at him with the intent to kill.

"Reckless…"

The man dodges to the right of the Stray's charge and retaliated by slashing his side with his saw; its teeth tearing into flesh. The Stray roared in pain as blood seep from his new wound.

"Ah, the smell… Fresh blood." The man muttered out in a relaxed tone as he inhaled deeply. "So relieving… But I can control myself unlike you."

"You!"

The Stray growled as he turned towards the man unleashed a barrage of fists, but the man managed to dodged all the attacks with ease much to his frustration.

After rolling away from an overhead strike from the Stray, the man swung his weapon to his right which activated a mechanism which turned the sawblade upwards; becoming a long-handled cleaver.

Before the Stray react, the man struck him with the cleaver with such force that it became lodged into his shoulder.

Letting go of his weapon, the man jumped back from the Stray, who was attempting to pull the cleaver out.

Wasting no time, the man raised his left arm in front of him as a unique breach-loading blunderbuss materialized in his hand. Pulling the trigger, a volley of rounds was fired from the barrel and it struck the Stray in the stomach.

Knocked back on the ground, the Stray Devil squirmed in agony as he lied on its back in a puddle of its own blood.

"No…" The Stray cried as blood flowed from his from mouth.

He attempted to get up, but no longer had feeling in his legs; few of the rounds manage to strike his spine.

Seeing that his enemy was down, the man breathed deeply to take in the scent of blood in the air as his eyes glowed momentarily. He quickly recomposed himself as he narrowed his eyes at the Stray

Reloading his blunderbuss with a silver round, the man approached his downed foe and pulled out his weapon from the Stray's shoulder.

The Stray felt the pain of the cleaver's removal, but barely made a noise as his life begun to ebb away. Moments later, he watched as the man placed the tip of the blunderbuss's barrel on his head.

"Another successful hunt..."

The man said as he cocked the hammer of his blunderbuss and pulled the trigger. Soon, a loud bang echoed throughout the interior of the factory; the hunter swiftly finishing off his prey.

It was now morning and Kuoh was lively as everyone was preparing for their regular routine. For many teenagers, it was time for school.

They were making their way to Kuoh Academy, a former all-girls private school which recently became a co-ed school. As of now, the student body has more girls than boys; many of the latter thought it was going to be paradise.

While many of the students were already inside, there was one still waiting outside the gate; leaning on the wall. His name was Gael Arisato, a 3rd year student and was amongst the first boys to enroll at Kuoh Academy and was said to half Japanese and half European.

Despite this, he was rather popular with many of the female students due to his looks and the fact he was also a high-ranking student; both intelligent and athletic.

It also resulted in being disliked by much of the males in the school, but Gael merely ignore their remarks. There were few that dare to pick a fight with him, but they learn the hard way why that Gael isn't to be trifled with.

"What taking her so long?" Gael muttered as he continued to wait for someone close to him to arrive. It was then he finally caught sight of her with dark brown eyes.

She was easily recognizable due to her beautiful appearance and long crimson-colored hair, more than enough to turn anyone's' head.

Upon seeing each other, they both smiled as they greeted one another.

"Morning Gael."

"Morning Rias."

Another thing that is well known about Gael throughout Kuoh Academy was that he was the childhood friend of one of the school's Two Great Ladies; Rias Gremory.

"How was your errand last night?" Rias asked him. "Everything went well I hope?"

"You know me." Gael replied. "I always get the job done."

With that done, the two students walked side by side as they passed through the school gate and made their way toward the building.

They soon heard chatter above and they look up to see their fellow students watching from an open window on the second floor of the school.

Gael sighed as this always happen every morning. All the students would stop what they are doing and turn to look at them whenever they approach.

He turned to Rias and saw that she gazing at a male student, one he was familiar with and not in a good way.

'Issei Hyoudou.' Gael thought with a frown.

Issei was infamous throughout the female student body for being the most perverted student around and he wasn't alone. He was friends with two other students who were equally as perverted as he was and they were soon known as the Perverted Trio.

Gael recalled the run-ins he had with the Perverted Trio, which started from their first year in Kuoh Academy. Having a knack of catching them in their perverted acts, Gael either personally deal with them or let the girls handle them.

Unsurprisingly, it made him more popular with the girls while becoming despised by the Perverted Trio. Ultimately, he was deemed the Hunter of Kuoh Academy.

'I hope he is going to be worth the trouble Rias.'

When school ended for today, many students were going home except a few. Gael was amongst those few and was walking towards the old schoolhouse of Kuoh Academy, which was converted to a clubhouse a few years ago.

The club in question was the Occult Research Club, who many students would find strange if not the fact it was lead by Rias and its few members were actually amongst the most popular in the student body, which Gael was also a member of.

Upon reaching the building and climbing the stairs to the second floor, he scanned through each of the doors before finding the right door leading to the clubroom.

Opening the door, Gael entered into a Victorian-era style room with a variety of furniture and objects related to occultism. The thing that stands out the most in the room was a large detailed symbol at the center.

Quickly scanning the room, he saw Rias looking outside from an open window. She turned to see who opened the door and smiled who it was.

"Gael."

She said in a happy tone as he approached and stood by her as they both looked out the window.

"Rias, when are we going to Issei the truth what happened to him a few nights ago?" Gael questioned her.

"I'm still trying to find the best time to reveal the truth to him." Rias replied. "Doubting my decision to reincarnate him?"

"No." Gael shook his head. "I'll admit that I'm a bit surprised that you taken up an interest in him due to his perversion. Still, I know you and I'll trust your judgement."

"His pervertedness is an interesting aspect to him don't you think?" Rias merely giggled at Gael's response. "I know that you and Issei have a lot of run-ins in the past, but I am sure you two can get along in time. Think of him like an idiotic brother of yours."

"A perverted idiotic brother... I'll be blunt that I am not going to be very comfortable working alongside someone like him." He said. "The same goes with him getting along with me."

Little did the students in Kuoh Academy know that a few amongst them are not human, but Devils. Rias and Gael were among the secret minority that are hiding themselves in plain sight as humans.

It was then Gael raised another important question to Rias regarding Issei.

"What type of Sacred Gear he has that would attract the attention of Fallen Angels? Especially one that would go as far to trick him into a date just to kill him?"

"I am not sure Gael. But I had to use the rest of my Pawn pieces on him, so it must be quite powerful."

"Seems you would have another powerful Pawn to serve you. I hope you don't forget about me."

"Don't be like that Gael." Rias said as she smiled." You will always be important to me no matter what."

"Yeah, I know." Gael said as he relaxed his expression. "I always wonder how you were able to convince your brother to trade me to you those years ago.

Rias giggled before she asked him a question of her own.

"Anything in particular of the Stray you hunted?"

Gael took a deep breath as he explained what happen last night.

"Like you said, the Stray was indeed in the abandoned factory. He prefers to use brute strength and was quite reckless. He did put up a fight, but I successfully eliminated him. Thought it took some time for me to clean up the mess."

"I wish we didn't have to deal with so much clients last night." Rias said with a frown. "Then we could have accompanied you against the Stray."

Knowing how worrisome Rias could be whenever she had to send out on dangerous tasks alone, he made a comforting smile.

"I am stronger than I look and can easily take care of myself. So have more faith in me Rias."

"I know, but…" She sadly said. "The curse is still active and I do not wish for you to fight alone without support. I know you eliminated Strays by yourself in the past before, but still..."

Gael then placed his hand on Ria's shoulder to ease her worries.

"I didn't lose control of myself back then and I don't intend to anytime soon. I will find a way to defeat this twisted affinity for blood that my Sacred Gear cursed me with…"

Gael as the last part in a somewhat pained tone. It was then she wrapped her arms around his waist and brought him into a hug.

"I know you can master your Sacred Gear and overcome its curse. But I always feared that one day, the curse would drive you to do something you would regret…"

Rias said as she tightened her arms around Gael's waist.

"So please Gael, do what you can to not lose yourself to the urges. I don't want to see you gave in to bloodlust and lose yourself…"

She quietly pleaded to him, which Gael responded by wrapping his arms over her waist.

"Rias, no matter what, I will fight to the bitter end against the curse. Even if I can't break the curse, I will ensure that I am in control of it and not the other way around. Besides, I also promised that I will stay by your side, didn't I?"

"Yes." Rias muttered as she placed her chin on Gael's right shoulder, which he returned the gesture by the doing the same.

They stayed like this for a few moments before they were interrupted by a voice coming from the door.

"Ara Ara."

Gael and Rias quickly let go of each other and turned to who it was, which was a beautiful girl with her long black hair tied into a ponytail.

She was Akeno Himejima, another Great Lady alongside Rias and her best friend as well. She was also the Queen in Rias's peerage.

"Don't mind me, please continue."

"Not if the mood is already ruined Akeno." He muttered quietly as Rias was attempting to keep her blush under control.

The Queen merely giggled as she approached Gael and much to his surprise, quickly enveloped him in a hug.

"What are you doing?" Rias showed her annoyance at what Akeno was doing to her first Pawn.

"You are not the only worried about Gael-kun Buchou." The Queen as she nuzzled Gael's cheek. "I too can't bear the thought of him losing himself and abandoning us."

"Were you eavesdropping Akeno?" Gael questioned as he freed himself from the Queen's hug much to her disappointment.

"My apologies Gael-kun, but we notice you two were having a moment and wanted to see how it would go."

"We?"

Gael looked behind to see two other people at the door. One was a young handsome man with short blonde hair and beside him was a young petite girl with short white hair with a cat-shaped hair clip.

"Kiba, Koneko, not you too." Rias may be affectionate to her servants, but she would like some privacy when having moments with Gael.

Kiba Yuuto was Kuoh Academy's Prince by the female student body, but there were girls who argue that Gael was equal or better than him. Beside him was Koneko Toujou, which many student consider her the school's mascot.

They were also part of Rias's peerage; her Knight and Rook respectively.

"Sorry Buchou." Kiba apologize to his King before turning to Gael.

"I am glad that you are alright Gael-sempai. I was worried that the Stray would be too much for you to handle yourself. Glad I was wrong."

"You already know what I am capable of Kiba, so I would appreciate you didn't doubt my skills."

Gael said to the Knight as he then noticed Koneko approaching him.

"I am glad as well." She then wrapped her arms around Gael, which slightly startled Rias and Akeno. "I too don't want to lose Nii-chan to madness."

Gael smiled as he rubbed the top of her head as she let him go.

"You don't need to worry." Gael stated as he turned to everyone in clubroom, retaining his smile. "You are my family and I will never abandon any of you."

Rias, Akeno, Kiba and Koneko could smile warmly at Gael, the one who played an important role in each of their lives.

After having a brief meeting, the Occult Research Club went their separate ways late in the afternoon. While they had a number of contracts to deal with, Gael chose to remain in standby just in case another incident like last night occurs again.

It was now nighttime and Gael was currently resting in his apartment, which was spacious and had plenty of modern comforts ranging from a widescreen television to a high-end computer. Usually, Gael would use them when he finished his homework and studies, but that was not the case today.

Gael was sitting on the couch as he lifted his right forearm and gazed upon the back of his hand. As a precaution, there was a ward in the apartment which prevents anyone from seeing or hearing anything supernatural inside.

He narrowed his eyes as he begun to channel the power of his Sacred Gear to manifest one of his weapons. His eyes turned blood-red and on the back of his right hand then appeared a glowing blood-red mark; an upside-down claw with a dot at the bottom. Soon, a wrapped handle soon appeared which Gael grabbed as the rest of the weapon appeared.

In Gael's hand was the Saw Cleaver, one of his favourite melee weapons out of many and the same one he used last night against the Stray.

"Paleblood Echoes… I will break your curse." He whispered as he slides his fingers on the side of the saw's teeth.

Paleblood Echoes, a Sacred Gear of unknown origin and it plagued Gael to this day. While it granted him many abilities such as the ability to manifest strange weapons, Paleblood Echoes cursed him as well. The curse was an unnatural sensation that Gael would feel whenever he sees or smells blood of any kind.

The sight of blood would be disturbingly pleasant to him, the smell of blood of would be strangely fragrant to him and the taste of blood would be sickeningly sweet to him.

When he was younger, he was deeply afraid of his Sacred Gear. Scraping what information could be found about it, he learned that the few known wielders ended up succumbing to bloodlust in some point of their lives and transformed to bloodthirsty beasts.

The last known wielder was an powerful exorcist devoted to the Church a hundred years ago, but he too fell to the curse and after that, Paleblood Echoes was never seen again. But it did surface again and within Gael, who at the time feared of his fate of becoming a mindless monster in the end.

However, Rias and her family refuse to give up on him and after careful observation of Paleblood Echoes, they found an loophole to exploit. With it, they gave Gael a specialized training regime which in the end, helped him in resisting the curse of his Sacred Gear while making use of its properties.

While Gael wasn't able to rid himself of the unnatural sensations, he was able to at least stop it from clouding his thoughts.

As of now, he is the one in control of his Sacred Gear and not the other way around.

Gael was about to activate the Saw Cleaver's secondary function when he felt a familiar feeling as he turns right to see a red glowing seal appear on the floor.

In a few moments, the seal glowed brightly and there appeared his master Rias.

"Ah Rias, did anything come up that I need to attend to?" Gael asked as he dematerialized his weapon and his eyes returned to normal.

"No Gael, I wanted to see how you are doing." Rias replied as she sat down on the couch to his right. "I see you were looking into that Saw Cleaver."

She sighed as a slight frown appeared on her face. "I can't understand why you would still use it despite having more appealing weapons in your disposal."

"Appealing to the eyes you mean. It may look brutal, but you and I can't deny its effectiveness."

Gael remarked as he scooted closer to his King.

"I just wish that your weapons that Hunter's Echoes provided you wasn't so uncomfortable to look at."

Rias then laid her head on Gael's shoulder and soon, a smile returned to her face. Gael in turn made a relaxed sigh as he enjoyed how close they were.

"This reminds me back when we were still children back in the Underworld."

"Indeed."

As she closed her eyes, Rias recalled back to her childhood during her time in the Underworld, where Gael at the time didn't like to be away from her. They would always play together, study together and watch their favourite shows together. He always treated her as who she was and not one of nobility.

Originally, Gael was originally part of Sirzechs's peerage, her older brother. He was special despite being a Pawn for he reincarnated with a Mutation Piece, which only one out of ten Devils are said to possess such a valuable piece.

Sirzech was considered extraordinarily lucky back then when he first gained his Evil Pieces since he ended up obtaining two Mutation Pieces.

When she finally received her Evil Pieces, she discussed with him if it was possible to trade Gael to her. There were plenty of concerns among the Devils about the trade though due to Gael's mysterious Sacred Gear and the dangers it could pose.

In the end though, Sirzechs agreed to her sister's wishes and thus Gael became her first Piece.

He always stood by her side and was always there to help her when she needed it. Even when Akeno and Koneko joined the peerage and he spend time with them, Gael always find the time to be hang out with her.

As they grew older, she soon realized her feelings for Gael, but a chain of events made it difficult to reveal it to him. It became more complicated when she learned that Akeno and Koneko were becoming closer to him as well.

While her first Pawn retain a strong bond with her, he also developed a similar bond with both her Queen and Rook. Rias could tell that the former developed a crush on him and the latter appeared to treat him as an older sibling. However, she also notice that the two were trying to further deepen their bond with Gael over the years.

While there were moments where the three ended up bickering for Gael's attention, he would always try to placate them and spend time with them. Even so, he always treats Akeno and Koneko with the same care and consideration as he does for her.

'Gael...' Rias thought in her mind as she enjoyed his shoulder.

Unlike many human societies across the Earth, Devils have no qualms have with polygamy and some even encouraged their fellow kind to follow such a practice. Even though Gael never said anything about it, Rias was sure that he was at least tempted by the idea especially since how close he is to herself, Akeno and Koneko.

Even though Rias's selfish side wanted Gael to be hers and hers alone, another side of her was telling her she would have to make such a compromise when the time comes.

Devils were selfish beings after all.

As she continued to think further into the subject, Rias then felt her senses flare up; signalling her that one of her servants was in trouble.

Rias soon realized who it was as she quickly opened her eyes and got off the couch.

"Is there something wrong Rias?"

Gael asked with concern as he stood up to face his King.

"Issei is in trouble." Gael frowned as he heard the news from her. "Come with me."

"Understood. Let me get into my attire first."

Raised his right hand as the symbol appeared again, Gael's body was then covered with a blood-red aura as his eyes also changed into the same color. Moments later, he was no longer wearing his school uniform and wore instead the outfit he wore against he Stray last night; his Hunter outfit.

"There is no need to wear for this occasion Gael."

"Sorry, but force of habit."

Rias sighed, but retained her smile as she then channeled her magic to teleport them to where Issei was.

As for Issei, he was running for his life.

He has left his friend's house and was going back home when he caught sight of a man wearing suit in front of him. The man then asked who his master, which the Issei couldn't understand.

Feeling the killing intent emitting from the man, he chose to flee and thought himself safe when he reached the town's park.

It was not the case as he soon felt chills throughout his body. He turned to see the same man as before behind him with a pair of black wings on his back.

The sight remained of the dream had, where Yuuma Amano, his girlfriend grew a pair of black wings and the killed him with a spear of light.

Just before he could do anything, the man raised his hand and much to Issei's shock, light channeled into his hand and formed into a spear.

Before Issei knew, he was pierced in the stomach by the spear and soon dropped to his knees.

Blood poured from his mouth as he struggled to pull the spear out, but it only burned his hands as he felt his insides being on fire. Issei cried in pain as the man channeled another spear to finish him off.

Just before the man could deliver the blow, a bang echoed to his right as his hand was struck by a bullet.

The bullet shattering the shaft the spear as it went through his palm. The man grabbed onto his bleeding hand as he felt a burning sensation.

"Don't you dare harm him." The man turned to see it was Gael, who was pointing an ornate, breach-loading pistol in his left hand.

"You…"

The man growled as he then noticed Rias stepping out of the shadows and now stood between him and Issei.

"Crimson hair… You must be from the House of Gremory…" He said as he glared at Rias in anger. "And you just let your servant attack me?"

"My name is Rias Gremory. My apologies Fallen Angel, but he doesn't tolerate anyone harming his fellow servants."

She replied as she gestured to Gael.

"And nether do I. If you are try to hurt this boy, I will not hold back."

"So, this boy belongs to you and this town is part of your territory as well." While the Fallen Angel said calmly, Rias and Gael could still feel the hate in his voice. "I apologize for today, but I advise you not to let your servant out alone. Someone like me might hunt him down while having a walk."

"Appreciate for the advice to my master, but this town is under her surveillance." Gael stated as he kept his eyes and weapon on the Fallen Angel. "Interfere again and you will find yourself the one being hunted."

The Fallen Angel then spread his wings as he flew into the air.

"The same applies to you as well. My name is Donaseek. I hope we don't cross paths again."

After giving a glare at Gael, he then disappeared in the sky as Rias went to check on Issei who fell consciousness due to his injury.

"How is he?" Gael questioned as he went to Rias's side as he dematerialized his pistol.

"His wound is pretty bad and also lost plenty of blood." She then turned to her Pawn. "He would need your…"

"I know." Gael then placed his right hand in his pocket and took out a small vial with a needle; filled with a red fluid.

Kneeling down, Gael then injected the contents of the vial into Issei's arm. The boy groaned as he felt the pain in his body slowly die down as the wound inflicted on him begun to close.

As for the vial itself, it then vanished without a trace within his hand.

"He is now stabilized, but it will not be enough to fully threat him."

"Don't worry." Rias stated as she touched Issei's shoulder. "I will take him back to his home and handle the rest. It shouldn't take too long."

"Very well." Gael then channeled his magic to teleport himself back to his apartment. "I hope Issei can handle it when we explained the truth tomorrow."

"I'm sure he well. Have a good night Gael."

"Same for you Rias."

With that, they teleported away from the park. Tomorrow was going to be interesting day indeed for them when they will introduce their true selves to their newest family member.

Author Note:

(April 23, 2017)

My interest in Bloodborne was renewed when I replayed it a few days back. It was then I had this idea that I needed to get out of my system, so I ended up writing this. This will either be a one-shot or I may write more in the future.

I like to note I was on the spur of the moment when I got this idea and wrote this. This story could either be a good piece of work on my part or the poorest one I made yet. Either way, I will let you readers be the judges of that.

Update:

(Jan 16, 2018)

Since I'm taking a break from writing Dragonborn to Vanadis, I was looking through my other stories and see which one I try to update instead. When I read through this story again, I not only made a number of tweaks to this chapter, but also written a second chapter as well. A Hunter's Chronicle is finally no longer a one-shot as of now.

When I first wrote A Hunter's Chronicle, I was under the experience of a spur of inspiration and didn't give much thought how it would play in the end. I'm pleased to see that this story is as of now seen in a positive light and I hope to keep it that way in the future.