Under a Pale shattered moon

Chapter 7, Bloodkin

I do not own anything pertaining to either RWBY or Bloodborne in the ways of any sort of ownership.

As always, thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I hope this chapter is to your liking!

Now,

Fear the Old Blood!

[UPSM]

"So, whats in the bottle big guy?" Ruby questioned, having been making jokes with Weiss and Blake at Abels' expense on his lack of common knowledge, something the silver haired teen took in stride once he realized they were simply jesting and not attempting to be hurtful.

Abel hummed under his breath before standing from his seated position and reached towards the bottle before placing it on a high shelf, out of reach of the three members of Team RWBY present in his living quarters. "A specialty drink from Yharnam, something I only have a few bottles left of. It is nothing to concern yourself with, little Ruby."

The young Rose knew that Abel was hiding something from the way he was behaving about the bottle of crimson liquid, something the scythe wielder vocalized, "You know, alcohol isn't something to really be ashamed of, Yang is in love with the stuff."

"I suppose so, but either way, it is not something I should be leaving around." Abel shrugged, still deflecting the question to the best of his abilities. "So Weiss, I take it you know where I can exchange these coins?"

Filling a draw-string bag full of the golden and silver coins, Abel proceeded to toss the loaded bag towards the white haired Schnee, who caught the purse without looking away from the glowing runes etched into quite a few different sources throughout Abel's room.

"Yes, it shouldn't be an issue whatsoever. What are these symbols I am seeing?"

"Um... what symbols?" Ruby questioned, looking at where Weiss was pointing, though there was nothing that the Rose could see. "There isn't anything there, Weiss..."

"Believe it or not, Ruby, there are quite a few where she is pointing, I just thought I was the only one who could see them..." Abel murmured before sending a critical glance in Weiss's direction. "Those are Caryll runes, which work in tandem with one another to produce many different effects ranging from explosions, or even combinations that can increase your physical resistance to damage from fire or blunt force trauma."

Ruby and Blake perked up at the admission, each studying the blank pages on Abel's desk with a cruciual eye. The female Faunus could see the faint outlines of glowing symbols, though they were not clear images by any means while Ruby couldn't even see the outlines of the Caryll Runes.

Weiss, however, could see the images in all of their otherworldly glory, each glowing completely different colors and in varying degrees of intensity.

"So what does it mean that only Weiss can see them?" Blake questioned, looking away from the page after she began to feel discomfort behind her eyes.

The Schnee was not paying attention to either of the two, instead focusing on the Caryll runes to the point that if she closed her eyes, she could see the beginnings of a few of them in her minds eye. "This one here is very, very familiar." The Schnee murmured under her breath, allowing her fingers to trace the rune almost reverently. "It feels like it is almost calling for me..."

"That... that is VERY strange indeed, Weiss... that rune is very personal to me and quite a few of those I've left behind. That is the Blood Rapture rune, something that only those of Vileblood can see even beyond sight." Abel admitted, sharing a somewhat loaded look with Weiss, his mind still racing over the implications.

"Weiss, this will be a strange question... but you have not come into contact with my blood at any point, right?" Abel questioned, almost hopefully, only for a strange look to cross Weiss's face.

"...As a matter of fact, I am almost positive that I have, a drop got in my left eye when you started jerking in your sleep during the Bullhead flight back to Beacon... why?" Weiss questioned, feeling slightly nervous at the strange question, "I'm... not going to get sick, am I?"

Abel sighed deeply before he turned to the other two females in the room outside of Weiss and Doll, "Did my blood come into contact with either of you?"

Ruby shook her head rapidly, blanching slightly at the question, almost going green around the gills at the thought of such a thing happening. Blake, however, paused and then paled drastically before she slowly nodded her head.

"It got in my mouth..." Blake murmured low enough that only Abel was able to pick up the sound, causing the tall teenager to sigh even deeper.

"This is not good. Not good in the least. Ruby... do you mind giving Blake, Weiss and I some privacy?" Abel questioned, sitting down heavily on his bed while holding his head in his heads, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his blood had spread, even if it was completely unintentional, as well as trying to think of the ramifications of such a thing happening.

Ruby looked somewhat sad at being asked to leave, but a promise from Abel to spend more time with her as soon as he could had her leaving the room easily. Weiss sat down in the chair next to the bed while Blake sat down at the other end of the bed, each looking at the Iscariot while he tried to gather his thoughts.

"Do you mind telling me what this is all about?" Blake finally questioned after a few moments of silence, causing the crimson eyed Vileblood to look up after being broken from his reverie.

"We are Born by the Blood, Made Men by the Blood, Undone by the Blood. Fear the Old Blood. This was an adage spoken by Provost Willem, the first and last Head of Byrgenwerth. He was one of the men who would later found an institute who studied the effect of blood ministrations, transfusions and studies using the blood found deep within the ruins beneath the city of Yharnam..." Abel began the tale, knowing that with such things and theories, it was always best to start at the beginning.

"The effect of what they designated 'Old Blood' would not be evident at first, outside of the almost inhumane boost in strength, agility, perception and other bodily functions. These evident effects would later lead to a Schism in Byrgenwerth. Laurence, one of the members who disagreed with Provost Willem would denounce his ties with Byrgenwerth and then found the Healing Church... an organization whose sole purpose was to experiment on the entirety of the city through... what did they call it... Ah, 'Blood Healing'."

Weiss and Blake seemed to be paying attention closely enough, though he could see the confusion written on their faces as plain as day. He turned to Doll to see what she was doing, only to see her listening to the tale closely as well. Thinking back, Abel couldn't be certain that she even knew how the entire thing began from a Hunters perspective, Gehrman was never known to be very talkative of such matters.

"Before Laurence, however, there was another Schism in Byrgenwerth... one that I think was far more profound. Lady Maria, the first apprentice to the man who taught me everything I know, found a much older, and much more powerful blood deep within the catacombs, something her family had been searching high and low for." The Iscariot spoke the tale with a distant look in his eyes, which had been lowered some time after he first began to speak.

"The Blood of the ancestors of my Queen Annalise, Arianna, Lady Maria and now myself. This line was gifted with what would be termed... vampiric, I believe the term here is, in nature. The imbibing of blood was a common thing in Yharnam, but the Royal Line and the old noble lines of Yharnam had been partaking in such affairs long before the Healing Church existed."

Weiss seemed to pale a bit further while Blake seemed to take the information in stride. She had already known Abel imbibed blood through a special brew of pungent wine, though she had no idea that he shared blood with foreign royalty. The way he spoke of it sounded more along the lines of a blood adoption rather than being born into said line.

"So what does all of that even mean?" Weiss questioned, her face eventually schooled into a blank mask to hide either her confusion or disgust, it was a toss up between the two Abel was sure.

"It means that if even a minute amount was imbibed by either of you, it would take hold and slowly grow in strength. Usually, those who ingested my blood were shortly thereafter slaughtered, but for obvious reasons that is not an option..." Abel trailed off, "Enhanced speed and strength, heightened night vision, enhanced musculature and strengthened bones... and a thirst for blood."

The Schnee heiress was almost as pale as the Paleblood Hunter at this point while Blake continued to maintain her facade rather well. "We aren't going to be averse to holy symbols or burst into flames in the sunlight, are we?" The Belladonna questioned, her ears hidden behind her bow slightly twitching every so often.

"... Why in Oedeons name would that happen?" The silver haired Iscariot questioned, almost as if offended, "I am perfectly capable of walking in daylight without combustion. And 'Holy Symbols'?"

Abel scoffed before shaking his head in the negative, "You only have a thirst for blood and become far stronger than previously. My Queen hinted that her lifespan might have been increased largely, but I am unsure if that would apply to myself or even either of you unless you go through a complete transformation."

Weiss and Blake nodded at the information and seemed to go into shutdown mode, trying to process the things they just learned. "But what does that have to do with these... Runes?" Blake questioned, glancing at a particularly brutal looking claw mark out of the corner of her eyes, noticing in sharp detail the etchings unlike many of the other symbols she could faintly make out.

"Only those with Insight can get a glimpse at the etchings, let alone make them out in fine detail. You would have to have universal... cosmic knowledge of the esoteric, or come into contact with enough beings that exist beyond the plane of natural existence such as this one."

"That doesn't make ANY sense." Weiss huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, "What are you even saying right now?"

With a sigh, Abel turned to the Doll for some help, but she seemed to be off in her own little world at the moment. Clearing his throat, the Iscariot continued where he left off, trying to explain as best as he could, "Things exist beyond rational thought. Sight beyond Sight. Seeing things with your mind rather than your eyes. Once you gain knowledge of the Eldritch Truth, you will see things that will drive you insane if you let it."

Abel removed his journal of his time in Yharnam before flipping towards the end of the book, showing the two girls the corpses of the Amygdalla, Ebrietas, Kos and Mergo's wet nurse. Beside the pictures of each creature lay the description of each Great Ones attack patterns and known weaknesses, information that Abel thought would be worth writing down in case he ever began to forget his experiences.

"These are but a small few of the Great Ones, though I have no doubt they will not bother these lands. I have been here long enough to have felt even the slightest presence of anything... More than normal," Abel noted, "Creatures of Grimm, notwithstanding those that have allied themselves with me, release nothing but negative emotion most likely absorbed from the Humanoid beings, whether Human or Faunus, but they do NOT release the same horrifying presence of even some of the weaker creatures I have faced."

Taking a deep breath, the silver haired Paleblood Hunter leaned back and began to fiddle with a coin that had been left out. Times spent throwing the coins at a door that would not open, even if it should have raced and disappeared from his mind, reminding him of times that he spend not so sane.

Tonight certainly felt like a night that would lead to him feeling not so sane.