Chapter 1: Ascent Into Madness
Authors Note: Hey guys, so this is my very first Fanfic so any critique and advice would be great! I need to know if you guys like it to continue on, let me know in the reviews. Also there will be more chapters to this but it might take a while. On a side note this is a complete AU, my own personal head cannon, and things about Maria and her fate will definitely sway from the game.
- In The Cold I'm Standing
The grinding of the elevator comes to a halt as it reaches its destination. The dim light filters through the grand doorway that leads to the Research Hall, illuminating the floating specks of dust that dance in the stale air.
The Hunter steps off the elevator and taps the lamp before climbing the stairs that opens up into a cavernous room. She recoils back as a stagnant stench of mold and rot slams into her nose.
"Dear Gods what is that!?" Karigan thinks to herself as she pulls her face mask up. She prefers to keep the mask off for the most part, along with the tricorn hat that accompanied it. The leather hat got in the way of her wavy brown hair that she liked to keep up in a ponytail.
Distant moans and wails crept up Karigan's spine, echoing off the high walls. As she makes her way further into the empty room, a large pool comes into view. Her eyes widen. The sight before her makes all the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
A man, or something that resembled a man splashes around in the milky water. A large mushy looking bag writhes where his head should have been. Instinctively, Karigan gets into a defensive stance, her Holy Moonlight sword brandished before her.
"Has someone, anyone, seen my eyes? I'm afraid I've dropped them in a puddle." The soft voice emanating from the blob head said, while his hands methodically swished in the shallow water, "Everything is pale, now. . . "
A deep pit swelled in Karigan's stomach. Her gut threatened to lurch its contents up her throat. She lowered her weapon as she realized that the pitiful creature before her was not a threat.
"What am I doing here?" She sighed into the air. "I'm really not cut out for this." In truth she wasn't. Karigan never understood how she had managed to make it even this far in the Hunters Nightmare. She's timid and frightens very easily, often avoiding confrontation. Maybe it is because of her timidness that she continues to press forward. Her cautiousness during fights keeps her alive.
"Nowhere else to go but up." She thinks to herself while her eyes trailed the massive twisting staircase that spiraled up higher than she could see. She begins her ascent, her traditional hunters trench coat swishing behind her. The horrid noises that fill the air became louder and clearer the higher up she goes.
Thud, thud, thud! A burst of clumsy footsteps explodes to her right. Karigan whips around, drawing her blade while frantically trying to discern what is happening. Another man with a blob head lunges for her, his hands outstretched, viciously clawing the air as he charged. Karigan dashes out of the way, just barely making it before he slammed into her. She turned around to face him. Recovering from his blind charge, he tilts his head back and lets out a bloodcurdling scream.
Seeing an opening as he screamed, Karigan lunges, thrusting her blade as hard as she can into the man's gut. He gurgles something as he slides off her blade and crumples at her booted feet. Still trembling and breathing heavily from the sudden attack, she kneels down to get a closer look at her fallen foe.
He wore nothing but a dirty, bloodstained white garb that resembles a hospital gown. A leather harness was strapped across his shoulders and chest. His skin ashen and wrinkly, looking as if it has been submerged underwater for far too long. The most disturbing of all the features was the head. Or lack thereof. A pulsating mesh looking bag throbbed where his head should have been. It was large, bloody and dripping some sort of unknown fluid.
Confusion clouded her face, "He looks like a patient...Is this place some kind of clinic, or research lab? What's going on here?" She says while looking around, once again taking in her dark surroundings. Standing back up she makes her way up the stairs. A few more of the "patients" attack her but she manages to deal with them relatively unharmed. Their attacks are wild and uncoordinated, mostly making up of blind charges making them easy to deal with.
As she presses forward she comes upon increasingly disturbing sights. Dead patients strapped down to tables, an assortment of medical instruments stabbing them into place. Dried blood turned brown smeared and crusted on walls and dirty beds. To make matters worse a loud banging was echoing louder and louder off the walls. A deranged screaming echoing in union with the bangs.
"Whatever that is let's try to avoid it. I'd rather not face whatever is making that noise." She thinks. It soon becomes apparent that the halls are a labyrinth. The many different floors, rooms and stairs were starting to trouble Karigan. As if she wasn't already deeply troubled by the grisly sights. The halls atmosphere felt suffocating. It was isolated. Dark. Disturbing and lonely. Karigan wishes that she had a companion to accompany her through this nightmare. As she makes her way through the many halls, she stumbles upon a balcony overlooking unnaturally large Lumenflowers. In the corner a patient was hunched over some flowers, fixing their petals, arranging them all while repeating "Plip plop, plip plop, splish splash, splish splash." It was a rather sad and disturbing sight. Feeling nothing but pity, she turns around and leaves the man to tend to his wilting flowers.
After what feels like years of walking around directionless, wandering into dark patient rooms and patrolling up staircases, she comes upon a ladder. The only problem is, that the source of the violent banging and screaming she had been hearing seemed to lie at the top.
"You have got to be joking. Nope. There's no way I'm going up there." She said as she turns away from the ladder. She walks away a few steps before groaning and turning back to face the ladder. She knew this was the only way to progress. She was terribly lost and this was the only place she hadn't tried yet. So with her jaw set she reaches up and begins climbing up the ladder.
The monstrosity that awaits at the top sends Karigan reeling. It's another patient, but this time it's about twice her height. What looks to be a bloodied and bent IV stand is grasped firmly in its gnarled hand. It stops it's thrashing and screaming for just a moment as it notices her small presence. It's eyeless
bag-head staring at her. It's shoulders heaving up and down. The slight twitching of it's arms and legs. All of these features put Karigan into a state of shock. She's so transfixed on the creature before her that she is rooted into place. She's quickly snapped out of it once the creature goes utterly berserk.
It leaps through the air, IV stand held high above it's head before it comes crashing down with a scream, where just mere seconds ago Karigan had stood. She holds her sword in front of her, but before she can even react the IV stand slams into her rib cage, pain radiating from where it smashed her. She's sent tumbling across the room with a cry. As she lay gasping on the ground, trying to pump air into her shattered rib cage, the thing lunges again. Karigan rolls out of the way, but the creature just keeps coming. Once again Karigan is left dodging and dashing out of the way, trying desperately to see an opening. The few slashes she has gotten in seem only to enrage the berserker more.
"How am I supposed to fight this thing if I can't even get any attacks in!" She clenches her jaw as another blow grazes her shoulder. She pumps a blood vial into her arm to regain her strength, however the constant evading is beginning to tire her out. Her stamina is slowly depleting. Her breath is coming out in ragged gasps through the face mask. She knows she needs to deal with the creature very soon or things are not going to bode well for her. The fear of death isn't that relevant however, since she will just reawaken through the hunters dream to continue on in the nightmare. Even with this knowledge, Karigan fights with all her might. She never enjoys feeling the pain and humiliation of dying to an enemy.
Figuring that by this point she should be trying anything, she whips out her pistol and fires right before the thing smashes down the stand onto her head. He drops to his knee, stunned. Seeing her chance she goes in for the visceral, sending the thing flying. It flails and twitches for a few moments then lies still. Dead.
With a sigh of relief Karigan drops to her knees. She feels battered and her coat is soaked through with the creatures blood. Probably some of hers as well. She puts her hand up and tenderly touches her throbbing rib cage. She winces as pain radiates under her touch.
With a groan she slumps against the wall, holding her rib cage as she takes in another blood vial. She looks out into the research hall, a sinking feeling settling in the bottom of her empty stomach as she realizes just how far she still has to go. It seems hopeless.
"If only I didn't have to endure this alone. I sure wish Eileen or maybe even that crazy old coot Durja were here." She speaks aloud with a sigh. "Well I can't lay here all day."
She pushes herself up onto tired feet and continues her ascent into madness.