Six long years had passed since the Great Ones had left the world for their home within the Celestial Cosmos, and in those six years, much had changed in the ancient city of Yharnam, The Healing Church had come under new guidance following the coronation of Vicar Williams and went back to the first adage of Provost Willem, that the people should "Fear" The Old Blood rather than "Seek" it. The Choir was taken in a new direction by Lanius, a veteran and survivor of what was agreed upon by many to have been Yharnam's darkest hour.
The long passage of time also allowed a certain family residing within the now repopulated hamlet of Old Yharnam to purify the foetid water that once carried the baffling poison concoction that caused ashen blood sickness, something later discovered to have been an atrocious act committed by Laurence, the First Vicar of The Healing Church, once one of Willem's most trusted students.
At the very edge of the small hamlet stands an old church that was at one time home to one of the largest and oldest packs of beasts, they were the original inhabitants of Old Yharnam, taken by the Scourge of the Beast, the old church now stands as a memorial to those that fell six years ago, resting at the foot of a small altar deep within the main hall of the church lay five engraved and well polished stones each reading a name and a few kind words spoken in their memory.
"Maria, Lady knight of Cainhurst, Trusted mentor and Dear Friend..."
"Gehrman, The First Hunter, Mentor of Maria and the First Hunters of Yharnam, a True Friend that will never be forgotten..."
"Baalthazar, Leader of the Old Yharnam Beast Pack, Friend of Djura and of Our Family even in death..."
"Djura, Once a Hunter, he took to the defense of Old Yharnam, He later met his end at my own hands, A Kind Soul who now rests in peace..."
"Flora, Mother to all Hunters and Huntresses, Laid to rest by a cruel hand, may she yet find peace in her next life..."
Gaile, Nerco, and now their young daughter Flora had all taken to coming to this church to light a bonfire in the old church to honor the memories of friends lost in the last six years. "Mom… Why is Dad Crying?" Flora asked as she looked up at her mother who's pale ashen skin glowed in the moonlight "We both lost many friends to bring you into this world six years ago Flora, You are a special child, never forget that." Nerco said as she hugged her daughter close to her.
As He gathered himself, Gaile stood up and looked at his wife and daughter with a warm smile that both returned, "I'm fine sweetheart… I just miss my friends… That's all." He said as he ruffled Flora's jet black hair, a small tuft of snow white settled along her bangs, a small fleck of light surrounded in a sea of darkness, she had inherited her mothers piercing violet eyes, ashen skin, and her father's more beast-like traits. Slightly elongated canines being just one of a few features she shared in common with her father. The other was easily his protective nature and caring personality. She tried her hardest to get away from him as he continued to ruffle her hair, the action both embarrassing her and annoying her "Dad!" She whined in an attempt to get him to stop, with a chuckle he relented making her pout with an annoyed expression on her face. "You know, pouting like that only makes you look cuter." He said, making his daughter flush with even more embarrassment as she hid behind her mother "Gaile, give her a break." Nerco said with a knowing smile, always taking her daughter's side in these playful moments. "Y-You really mean that dad?" She said as she slowly came out from behind Nerco her face set in a questioning stare as her violet eyes shimmered in the moonlight, "Would I ever lie to you?" He said, as she rushed out of her hiding spot to capture her father in a tight hug. "Mr. Arkenmire I presume?" Said a male voice that put him and Nerco both on edge, they quickly moved Flora out of sight standing between this potential threat and her. "Do relax sir, I'm here on the orders of Her Majesty, The Queen of London." He said with a stout salutation to the man that he stood before, Gaile slowly returned the gesture, "And what, pray tell does Her Majesty want with a mere Hunter from Old Yharnam" Gaile asked, though he had a feeling what the man was about to say "Well… as you know war has broken out, The Hun are on the move and I fear that the war may come to Yharnam." He paused "Her Majesty has decreed that all Hunters and Huntresses of Yharnam and its surrounding territories are to report to active duty." He paused once more as Gaile's features hardened into a glare. "I've already heard this from a German recruiter." Gaile paused "I want nothing to do with your war or Her Majesty." He paused, "And neither do the others." Nerco spoke getting the recruiters attention, as he fixed her with a glare, "Men are talking woman, know your place." He said firmly as he looked back to find Gaile's repeater fixed on his head, "Very bad idea to speak to my wife that way." He said as he cocked the hammer back, but what happened next too Gaile by complete surprise as the weapon was deftly snatched from his grasp.
"Ah, An Albrecht Repeater!" The man exclaimed in excitement "I've heard of these but never seen one before now I believe they work on the same principal as the Galand Type." He said as he studied the gun despite its condition and obvious signs of wear and tear. "You've shown me yours sir now, I'll share mine." He said as he slowly reached into the folds of his great coat, and produced a most peculiar pistol, it looked like it had been hand crafted with the most precise tools money could buy, the intricacy of the mechanical work of the weapon intrigued Gaile "Mauser..." He said with a pause, "I Thought they only made rifles."Gaile said as he took hold of the pistol when it was offered to him This is a gift from Her Majesty, Please accept it Mr. Arkenmire. He said quickly as he stepped back with a bow "This Mauser C-96 has been re-chambered from 7.63×25mm Mauser to our very own .303 British." He said as he reached into his coat to produce a pair of strip magazines that were each loaded with five
.303 British cartridges.
Gaile took then and deftly loaded them into the internal magazine of the gun. "I like this..." Gaile said with a pause as he continued to examine the gun made by Mauser, and modified by the British. "I like this a lot." He said as he was handed a holster for the firearm. "But I have things to attend, I'm sorry but I will have to decline Her Majesty's offer." He said as he walked past the recruiter, his wife and daughter in tow. "Don't try anything you might regret." Gaile said as he stopped in the doorway of the old church, "The German is lucky to still be alive." He said as he closed one of the two doors, "Shut that on your way out." Gaile said as he turned around and headed for his home. Leaving the English recruiter alone before several marines appeared from placements behind the various pillars "How didn't the bloke know we were here?" one asked as the recruiter turned to regard him "He knew you were there, all four of you." the man said with a sigh "Her Majesty will be most upset about this turn of events, but highly amused that a German seemingly got the utter shit beaten out of him." He said as he beckoned the four Royal Infantrymen to follow him.
Back at the Arkenmire residence, Gaile and Nerco had gotten Flora to bed after reading a bit of her Fathers and Her own adventures through their world, minus their many times spent together in more intimate ways. The flames of passion were ignited with the two as they lay in bed with one another curled into each others embrace locked in a heated and deeply held kiss. Within his mind, Gaile's beasthood chirped playfully, "Don't forget about me now I have needs too." He said making Gaile groan internally and Nerco to sigh as she had a mental link with Gaile during intimate moments like these "Patience is a virtue Beast." She spoke within his mind, projecting her thoughts, "Gaile goes first you know this..." she projected the thoughts once again, the images he received only served to excite him even more. A sudden knock on the door alerted the two and Nerco, with a snap of her thumb and index finger was instantly clothed in her nightie, a violet garb that faded to ashen black as it reached the hem that rest just past her mid thighs, clad only in a pair of black underwear beneath it she slowly opened the door to find a sleepy Flora standing there, looking at her expectantly Nerco didn't speak but simply opened the door farther for her to come into the bedroom with them "Bad dream?" Gaile said warmly as he stared at his daughter, he was clad in a black sleeveless nightshirt and a pair of black pajama bottoms that Nerco had fabricated for him "Yeah..." She said, as she hung her head in shame "Hey, don't do that now, you have nothing to be ashamed of." Gaile said as he pulled his daughter into a loving hug that Nerco closed around her on from the other side. With a kiss planted swiftly on his daughter's forehead she slowly drifted off to sleep in the comfort of her parents close proximity "Good night little one," Gaile said as he looked at Nerco and Flora who were both sound asleep, before he allowed sleep to take him, within the darkness of his mind, Beast was frothing at getting cock blocked by Gaile's daughter once again. "I swear she's doing this shit on purpose." He said as he continued to rage within the expanse of Gaile's quieted and resting mind.
While she slept in the waking world, Flora found herself awakening in the central square of Old Yharnam, but something was very wrong here, she was standing on the sky! As she took a tentative step forward the surface of the sky rippled beneath her feet as if it were water, looking up she saw the entirety of the city had switched places with the sky, ahead of her she saw a crouched figure who sounded almost dead on to her own voice, she was hunched over and crying, ignoring the instincts she inherited from her father, she approached the figure rather than run away as her senses were screaming at her to do. "H-hey..." she started to speak as she got closer "Are you alright?" She asked innocently as she came to stand behind the figure who slowly stood and turned, what she saw intrigued and horrified her as she came to stare at a mirror image of herself with many differences. "You finally came to see me Flora." Her doppelgänger spoke to her in a chillingly cold voice that was devoid of any emotion, With a feral growl that reverberated off the reflective floor that they both stood upon her doppelgänger pounced, knocking Flora to the ground "This is going to be fun, trust me," she spoke in a slightly excited tone that scared the young girl, finding sudden strength she threw the doppelgänger off of her and ran for her life towards a pillar of light that had formed from the large fountain in the center of the square, running to it she found safety as she shot bolt upright in her parents bed with a cry of fear that woke them both. "No get away from me!" she cried, Gaile was the first to awaken, as he had an idea of what was happening "Nerco I think she's finally starting to awaken..." He said firmly as she sleepily rose from her slumber, the words at first had little effect before she had finally processed what he just said "Wait… you dont mean..." she said with wide eyes as she held Flora in a protective embrace, "She's awakening as a Huntress." He said with a firm stare in her direction "Flora what did you see in your dream" Gaile asked looking at her expectantly, his tone was less than warm "You aren't in trouble I just need to know." He said in a much warmer tone "Its very important so please..." Nerco spoke from behind her.
"I… I saw the town… but I… We, she said hatefully were standing on the sky, it was reflective like a lake. I saw a little girl who was hunched over, she was crying..." Flora said, at this Gaile nodded "going against your better judgment you approached her didn't you?" Gaile said as tears began to roll down her face she hugged her father as her sobbing form trembled in his embrace "She looked just like me!" She said through the tears "She was covered in blood and she had black eyes with red pupils" Gaile held her in a protective embrace that Nerco once more closed on the other side "Flora understand that because of what I am, as a Hunter, I experienced the same thing at your age..." He said as she began to calm down, "Its something called the Manifestation of your Beasthood" He said to her "Its a part of you that you can choose to accept or deny" He said as he pecked her lovingly on the forehead "It's far easier to just accept it though," He said with a sigh "It can be really scary when you encounter something like that as a child." He finished as he slowly stood up "Come on," He said with a smile, "Let's get some breakfast and then we can talk more about it." He said as he started to walk out of their bedroom toward the kitchen. Nerco didn't really get to experience it much during their time before they defeated Vridd, but Gaile was a very good cook, so she really looked forward to anything he made, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. "That would be lovely." she said in a sultry tone that made him stop dead in his tracks and sigh before he continued into the kitchen "Please let it happen tonight kid!" Gaile heard his inner Beast speak in his mind, something he silently agreed with.
Breakfast was never a simple meal with Gaile he believed it was the most important meal of the day so it was always a hearty one, Gaile had prepared for each of them an omelet that was delightfully fluffy in texture and tasted heavenly Nerco wanted to know his secret and asked many times, but he would take it to his grave, he would say when she asked him. Alongside the omelet were five strips of perfectly cooked bacon, not too crispy but not undercooked either, all three ate the same meal, and as if on cue Gaile stood up and produced three mugs and disappeared back into the kitchen, "Where is he… Ah, Coffee" Nerco said with a smile as he returned with two mugs filled with coffee in their chosen styles Gaile took his black with three sugars, as did Nerco, she took her mug from the plate he carried them in on and took a sip, it was strong the way she liked it but was without the bitter taste coffee normally carried. "This is heavenly Gaile, thank you." She said with a smile as Gaile handed Flora a cup of hot cocoa, she insisted on imitating her parents in her own way and drank cocoa as it resembled coffee to some degree she took hers with a small amount of cream and a spoon with some peppermint melted onto it to stir it with. "Perfect, thank you dad!" She said happily as she began to stir the peppermint spoon into her cocoa "You're welcome little one." he said as he lightly ruffled her hair, on cue when he stopped she wore a pouting face that fell apart under the raised eyebrow he wore "Oh come on dad you know I hate that..." She said lowly under her breath.
After they had all gotten dressed into their usual clothing for the day, they had all settled in the sitting room of the house, it was just a short walk down the main hall to the front door. Gaile looked up moments before a familiar knock sounded on his door "Come in Lanius." Gaile's voice sounded from on the other side as the door was opened by Flora who greeted him with a Cainhurst curtsy "Hello Mister Lanius!" She said happily as the towering man nodded in her direction "Hello to you too little Flora." He said kindly as he bowed to her, "I got your message Gaile," He said as he looked over to the man who sat in an upholstered red leather armchair set near the empty fireplace "My forces are already clearing out Byrgenwerth as we speak." He said firmly, his tone matching the seriousness of the situation, "It will be ready within three days time." He finished with a bow to the man in the armchair as he turned around to leave "I do still look forward to facing you one of these fine days Gaile..." He said as he closed the open door behind him, the fading sound of his metallic boot soles clanging lightly on the cobblestone walkways of the Old Yharnam Square.
Night began to fall upon the city as the fiery picturesque scene of reds and yellows became blues and violets as the sun fell behind the horizon of the clouds in the distance. Gaile and Nerco lay in bed staring passionately into one anothers eyes "Its been too long you know" Gaile said lovingly as Nerco blushed lightly at the comment "Yes, I dare say it has," She paused, "But our child comes first always." She said knowingly with a warm smile "Yes but even we have our needs," He said, Nerco knew he was speaking for both parts of him. "Well then," She said as she rolled him over and straddled his hips, "Shall we?" She asked as she felt him begin to harden beneath her.