Bloodborne Twin Chapter 17

By early morning, they reached the airport. To Ella, it felt like this was her first time going through the process of customs, even though she remembered going in an airplane before with her mother. After confirming their tickets, taking the easy route thanks to their status, and waiting an hour to board the plane, the two were seated for an air flight to Anima. After spending over three months of traveling to and from the city of Vale by Bullhead, she gradually got used to being in the air, though she still meditated whenever she grew nervous. Three and a half hours of flight, and another half hour of going through the same thing later, and the two were out on the streets of a fortified port town.

The scenery was more fascinating in person than what she saw in the videos and books. The building architecture here was vastly different from Vale's, with its roofs being made of tiled brick which curled slightly upwards at the bottom. There were no asphalt made roads but with white brickwork, and not a single vehicle in sight besides wagons and horse powered carts. Even the trees and plants set in the right places were exotic and beautiful to behold. She had sometimes been told that the Mistralians were artists in both peace and war, although their rulers almost destroyed art and culture in favor of Atlas's cold logic ideology long ago. But the natives of this continent were stubborn enough to keep some alive to this day, and recently revived others.

"We have everything we need except for food." Eileen started. "Let's search in the marketplace and gather what we need for the long journey."

"Shouldn't we take a Zeppelin instead?" Ella suggested. "It can take us there faster."

From her studies, she learned of the different cultures and technologies of the four kingdoms– With Atlas being the most advanced, Vale coming in second, Mistral in third, and Vacuo at its lowest in fourth. Here in Anima, the kingdom lacked the modern/superior firepower of both Atlas and Vale, which also included modern air superiority. What they did have so far to keep the air for themselves were known as zeppelins; flying machines, although somewhat slow compared to the others, were made mostly for reconnaissance, rescue operations, and safe transportation. They had been used since they first started trading with Atlas, before the Great War, and they were not prudent to changing them any time soon.

Her mentor shook her head. "In this particular port town? There isn't one I'm afraid. So we'll have to get there by foot."

She let out a soft sigh. "Which means it's going to take us days to get there, but I'm sure we can handle anything that gets in our way." She confidently finished.

"We can get there within two days if we're unimpeded." She theorized. "For now, let's gather what we need."

She nodded, and the two then searched until they found themselves into the marketplace. This was not like the shops one would find in Vale. This was more like a farmer's market but with the addition of a general goods store being put outside and spread out. Just when the two were about ready to shop, Ella realized what she forgot to do. "You go on ahead, Eileen, I need to make a call."

"Shouldn't you have done that this morning?" She asked.

"Sorry, it slipped my mind." She replied defensively.

She almost rolled her eyes and exhaled through her nostrils. "Just do what you have to do, you know where to find me."

She turned and walked up to the stalls to find and start gathering. Ella soon pulled out her Scroll, tapped the number to Ozpin's office, and put it to her ear as it dialed. After two rings later, the call was finally answered. "Yes, Miss Fall?"

"Hey, I'm calling since I forgot to inform you about the Doll."

"I see, so what is she able to do this time?" He asked patiently.

She had first and once informed him of the Doll's ability to change outfits with the snap of her fingers, though the information was considered mundane. This time, however, she believed it might be something to discuss about. "I've instantly learned to be able to summon my coffin yesterday, thanks to her."

There were a few seconds that ticked by until he responded. "Instantly...and how were you able to accomplish this?"

"She gave me the knowledge directly to my brain by simply touching my head, sir."

Then another pause. "This is… I'm not sure what to say about this, Ella. Either this is disturbingly interesting, or an even bigger phenomenon."

"I know," she nodded, "she keeps surprising me every time. Although I should tell you that the process was excruciating. It's like having my mind being pushed around to make room, or something like that."

"I see. Please, describe to me how she did it."

"She used both of her hands to touch certain parts of my head, then her fingers glowed. That's when the painful transfer starts."

"Hmm, this is arcane magic in which I've never seen." He muttered, though she could hear him almost clearly on the other side.

'What does he mean by that?' She wondered until he shook her out of her thoughts.

"Please continue to notify me of any developments in the future. Now, with the Doll aside, how are you getting along with the family, Miss Fall?" He asked personally.

"Better than I expected, really." She smiled as she told her situation. "I've already visited my father, and things have gone very well between us. Now Eileen and I are here in Anima. I'm hoping my mother's reaction is the same."

"I'm certain your mother would be very happy to see you after so long, I have no doubt about it." He reassured, then changed the subject. "Well, I should get back to work. Good luck to you both on your journey. And remember; if you decide to retire or continue your career, let me know."

"I will." She nodded. "Thank you, and good day to you."

"You as well." She hung up the call, and slid the Scroll back in her pocket. She was having a good feeling about this little adventure, but at the same time, it still made her nervous no matter the circumstance. She would just have to go there and see what happens. She then turned her head back to the marketplace, darting her eyes to scour for her master as she soon found her, standing in front of a meat stall haggling. She turned about and walked to her, maybe to give her an extra hand, just in case.

After spending time at the market stalls, gathering what essentials they needed, and spending an hour having lunch at a restaurant, the two were seen walking out of the gates and into the open dirt road. Once they were under the canopy of trees, the environment surrounding her on both sides had the most exotic scenery she could ever lay eyes upon, with the trees, the shrubbery, and even the landscape themselves being most foreign to her. They were traveling lightly, mainly from Eileen taking full advantage of using her coffin when they secretly threw the provisions in there. Eileen had taken a liking to the idea, never having to burden themselves with the weight on their backs, and to easily be ready for any danger coming to them.

Almost several hours had passed since they set foot on the path, and so far, there had been no Grimm coming to try and kill them. It was good enough for the both of them, more so for Ella's sake, but there was one thing bothering her since they left town. She had not noticed it before, but when she glances at Eileen from time to time, she saw her being more wary of her surroundings, and her hands were always near her blade. She could understand why since the Kingdom of Mistral was a hot zone for, not only Grimm, but something just as worse lurking within the countryside.

Bandits: bad folk who were forced into a life of lawlessness, or simply chose to take the life of banditry, made a living off of raiding and stealing. She had heard a few stories about those kind of people. They tend to attack villages who would be less defended and take whatever they wanted, leaving the survivors in a state of fear from the aftermath to draw in the Grimm. Other times, they would ambush merchant and trade caravans to gain their own incentive. Which was why almost every village, town, and caravaneer had a few or more hunters to keep them safe.

They were a dangerous nuisance to civilization to the Good Hunter's understanding, and she had heard more than a few tales of Hunters who went as far as breaking their code and getting themselves either arrested or fired after wiping out bandit tribes, stating it was better to put them down now and spare the continued grief. She once brought up the idea to her master of hunting bandits like beasts, believing that no one would ever know what happened to them, but Eileen quickly shot the idea down. The veteran Huntress lectured and made her swear to keep the code of sparing lives, and the two never brought it up again.

Ironically, she, too had been doing the same thing, keeping her hand near her weapon, and keeping her senses sharp for anything wrong, but not as intensely as her master. She knew that just the two of them alone could handle anything the opposition would throw at them, caution or no, so there would have been no need to be this worrisome, yet she remained tense. What could possibly make a veteran Huntress like her be this apprehensive she wondered. She had to shrug it off as nothing. Right now, she had to remain vigilant as well.

Eventually they came across a fork in the road going in three directions, with a signpost bearing several signs as arrows pointing in the three directions. Ella found the sign bearing the name "Elatorion" pointing to the southwest-by-south road. They followed the sign and were about to head that way when they heard rustling from the foliage. Ella tensed up, with one hand on her weapon, ready for action when a pack of beowolves burst out from one side of the forest and typically surrounded them. There were typically thirty of them, and the alpha was usually hiding somewhere. She looked to Eileen to see, to her confusion, that she was simply relaxed and not going for her weapons.

"Hey, Eileen?" She asked. "Why aren't you getting ready?"

"I think it's time you showed me what you're capable of so far." She answered casually as she leaned a bit sideways and crossed her arms, being fearless and carefree even while being surrounded by bloodthirsty monsters. "Think you can do it?"

Not wanting to argue with her master's request, she nodded and then got ready, but then a thought had come to mind when she realized she was not wearing the proper outfit for the job. She smirked remembering what she brought with her, stood straight and and raised her hand. Eileen raised her eyebrow curiously at her pupil's body language, wondering what she was thinking when the Good Hunter suddenly snapped her fingers, and a coffin appeared on the ground beside her, startling the beowolves. The coffin was opened up, and she dived into the blackness, now drawing the Grimm into more grunts of confusion. Eileen, on the other hand, knew what was up when she easily put two and two together.

It was only a short moment, then Ella jumped out of the darkness of the coffin surprising the Grimm, no longer wearing a casual travel outfit, but back into her Huntress outfit. In her hands were holding two pistols: one in white and the other in black. The white one was her Winter Eagle she still kept since Huckleberry, and the other was the same model but painted in the opposite color. She pressed the switch on both of her pistols and the clips stuck out, the upper body of the guns moved slightly apart to reveal something sharp within, and then they sprung out as twin, single edged blades to form as swords. She had been saving up her lien to buy a second Winter Eagle and give these pistols an upgrade which fit her style. Accuracy, stopping power, deadly grace and sharpness; it suited her well.

She was told that the Hunter's of Remnant have a tradition of naming the weapons of their creation, and although she never made these pistols herself, and neither did she have the knowledge to build them besides the weapons she knew from the Hunt and maintaining them, nonetheless she had given these two their names; dubbing them Luna and Midnight respectively.

The beowolf in front of her lost its patience and went to tackle her just to rip her to shreds but…

She had a predatory smile on her lips, and in an instant, she dashed. It was quick, there was no sign of using her hunter's bone, and the beowolf was cut to ribbons as she was crouched down behind the dismembered beast. She stood back up in a relaxed stance, with her swords lowered to the ground. When she pressed her thumbs against the metal backside of her blades, she channeled her Semblance into the metal, and the blades were quickly superheated. That was the sign for Eileen to transform into a shadow crow and fly away from the inevitable carnage as the Grimm finally charge at her, ignoring the flying faux bird entirely as she swerved around and passed through the openings.

She eagerly spun about halfway and dashed straight into the one closest to her, never letting it get the chance to attack while being burned easily to pieces. Then she simultaneously cut the arm off the next and cut its head off to silence it's screams, and while she ducked under a bite and stabbed the offender through the chest as she pulled out and kept on burning and cutting them all in lightning speeds, all while snuffing out each cry of burning pain in an instant.

Over the course of three months, her Aura control had immensely improved under her master's tutelage. It is a method of boosting parts of your body, every tissue and muscle, and even your stamina to last much longer on the battlefield. Through meditations and exercises, her pool had grown larger for more use of her Semblance, and with the combination of her control over her speed and deadly use of her Semblance, she became a fiery whirlwind of death. She no longer needed the Old Hunter's Bone, she finally had the speed she needed to never use it again.

After cutting off the head of the Grimm, she bounced backwards off its corpse, spun around and used both her hot blades to cut the last minion down in a crisscross and splitting off in four pieces, landing in a crouch. After the dead beast fell apart, she stood back up and waited for the alpha to appear, but she did not have to wait as the alpha charged out of the foliage with rage and vengeance. Instead of cutting it to charred pieces, she stabbed her heated blades into the dirt and faced the beast head-on. She ducked and skidded left underneath a furious assault, then turned to face it and pushed herself forward, making a short forward jump and bear hugging the alpha so hard onto the ground. Its back was to the ground, and she was sitting right on top of it. She giggled softly and lecherously, but not in the way anyone else would think as she slammed her palms onto its bone armored, furry chest.

She channeled a lot of heat into its body quickly, and the alpha combusted from the inside out in an instant, screaming bloody murder before its death. The fire was so hot the monster disintegrated quickly into nothing but ash and smoke before it could evaporate like the others. She corrected her footing, and walked out of the smoke to show her attire and herself had been unscathed. She wore a casual smile as if this was just another day, then breathed in and exhaled into a relaxed state, feeling a bit better now that she did not have to hold back out here anymore.

She hummed a small tune as she turned around and walked over to her planted swords. They were still hot as she wrapped her fingers around the handle and absorbed whatever heat was left, but then the skin of her hands and forearms were still being red, indicating that she absorbed more than she needed. So she had that fixed by raising her hands away from herself and ejecting the excess heat off. Her skin soon turned back to normal, and then proceeded to pull out her gun swords, retracted the blades, and twirled them before sliding them back into their holsters in one smooth motion.

"Okay, what do you think now Eileen?" She asked casually with a smirk as turned around to face her teacher, now back on solid ground in her human form. "Has my training paid off?"

"Your speed has improved," she answered critically as she crossed her arms, "so it looks like you won't be needing the Hunter's Bone anymore. Your swordplay is still as good as always if not better, and you used only your swords instead of your guns to make things more quieter... if not for their screams." She mused. "Still, this was a small pack. I've yet to see how you can handle a horde this time."

"I've already took on a horde of them before." She reminded.

"Yes, but that was during your initiation, and you barely survived that!" She chastised. "So as of right now, I do believe you're capable of handling them more proficiently on your own."

"Guess we'll have to wait and see, won't we?"

"Indeed," she nodded, "now let's move on, shall we?" Eileen gestured to the dirt road ahead of them, and the two resumed their travel to Elatorion.

Although it had been over two hours since their short skirmish with the enemy, the two Huntresses had decided to stop and make camp near the road. They made a serving of stew over a fire as their supper for tonight, keeping the fires low enough to not catch anyone's attention.

"Hmm, the taste is decent enough. Well done, Ella." She complimented after taking her serving of stew.

"Thanks," she nodded. Cooking is an essential part of everyday life, from cooking meals at home, to cooking what is necessary in the wilderness. It was important for all Huntsman and Huntresses to know even the most basic cooking skills in order to survive outside the protective walls of the kingdoms. Ella had learned well over time how to cook at home, thanks to Iosefka's guidance, but the new challenge was cooking outside her home. They had gathered enough food for a two-three day trip to Elatorion, but Ella had been tasked with learning how to ration her food supply. She had never done this before, and never had she camped out in the wilderness for this long. Save for when she first traveled with her to the city, but they were eating food rations, so that never counted.

The two stayed in silence eating their stew, and they stayed that way for a while. Ella was quietly slurping and chewing up what she needed, making herself feel a little at ease since she sensed no danger lurking about, but all the same she still kept her ears open. Eileen, on the other hand, when she glanced up at her from her meal from time to time, was being so still, moving her eyes at one area and the next while eating quietly. Her expression was straight and subtly cold. Her blade was out of her belt strap and on the grass right next to her, ready to use it when something does happen. This reminded her somewhat of the urban jungle experience at night, but Ella was feeling this was something else. Now she was beginning to feel more concerned about her friend, and she could not hold them back any longer.

"Eileen?" The veteran huntress made a short hum, her focus broken as she looked back at her. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she nonchalantly replied, "why do you ask?"

"Ever since we've been traveling down this road, you've been acting rather… off. It was kind of subtle but I've been noticing it. It's as if you don't seem to trust everything that's around you. Is there something dangerous I should know about?"

"None of the sort we can't handle." She answered. "I simply don't like being here."

This only made her more curious. "Is there someone after you?"

"More like several," she corrected. "I made some enemies in Anima during my days here. They're not the powerful types, worry not, but they do hold a grudge against me. This is my problem to deal with, there is no need for you to be concerned."

"Are you sure?" She questioned. "We're still partners after all, aren't we?"

"Yes, but as I said before, this my problem to deal with."

She opened her mouth—

"End of discussion!" She quickly shut her up with finality in her words. This took Ella in hurtful surprise, but otherwise she backed down. She never expected her master to refuse her help, because in her mind it was logical to resolve it together. Could this be too personal, or was it more complicated? There were more things about the Night Huntress than she already knew, and by the serious aura she was giving off, she knew there would be no point in trying to argue with her.

The Veteran Huntress looked up at the night sky. "It's already nighttime now, let's put everything away and call it a night." The Good Hunter sighed with resignation, and the two got started putting away the utensils and tools and putting the leftovers in separate containers for later, cleaning the bowls with a rag and a bottle of water and putting them all back inside the coffin.

"Just as we discussed," Eileen started after the utensils and leftovers were put away. "We'll take turns on watch until sunrise. Go get yourself some rest until I wake you."

"...All right," she said before turning herself in on the blanket laid out on the ground, and soon rested her head on a makeshift pillow. She could not sleep, not while her mind was still reeling, but after a while, her eyes were growing heavy, and eventually, she fell asleep.

Eileen kept listening to everything around her, glancing about from one spot to the next, moving her head a little, all while still sitting on her makeshift bed. She then looked back down on Ella's sleeping form with a pang of guilt. She knew she meant well, and it would have been wise of her to lend a hand, but the Night Huntress did not wish to drag her down into her troubles. The girl was powerful enough to handle anything, even though she just did not know it yet, but this was not her problem to fix.

This was simply her problem to resolve on her own accord. Besides, the several others who held a grudge against her would not dare to try and hunt her. They were cowardly after what she had done to them, but… There was only one person in this kingdom who would have no problem taking her on. The only person who used to be a friend, but had since turned her back on the world, including her. She could only hope that that someone did not know she would be here.

Friend… it was almost a fragile thing to her heart, she would admit it. Seeing her friend and pupil now in a new light…

Suddenly, she heard the sound of flapping and soft cawing going across in front of her. Her eyes looked up at the shadowy figure of a bird flying low until it perched onto a tree branch, faintly illuminated by the fire. It turned itself around by jumping once. It was a black bird, but to Eileen as her expression became serious, her eyes becoming narrow as she glanced intensely at the bird, knew that this was no ordinary blackbird, nor was it a Grimm. The bird stared back with its crimson irises, not even cawing again and turned its head to the side, looking back at her with its one eye. The two did not remove their eyes from each other as the quiet tension grew between them. Eileen's hand was slowly and unconsciously hovering over her blade. The bird soon saw the action happening, and after a tense minute of consideration, it flew away.

She breathed out the air she held inside her lungs through her nostrils, but it was not out of relief. 'She knows I'm here,' she thought bitterly. It had been a long time since she last met her, and it would seem they would be seeing each other again, and to Eileen's perspective, hopefully on neutral terms. If not…

After nine hours of switching places to watch, the two made breakfast over the fire. They had bacon and eggs, and Eileen brewed coffee for the both of them. Coffee was not really one Ella preferred, but it did give her the buzz she needed to wake up. They broke off camp, gathered everything and headed on back to the road.

During the whole day of their trip, for some strange reason, they had not run into any Grimm. Ella had begun to chalk it up to dumb luck, but the Veteran Huntress thought otherwise. When night came, however, they were almost caught by surprise by a wandering pack of Grimm, but the duo made easy work of the monsters. On the next day, the duo eventually saw the silhouettes of buildings and walls through the foliage further ahead of them. As she predicted, they made it to Elatorion within two days without much incident.

"This must be it, we're getting close now to seeing your mother." Eileen concluded as she turned to her. "Are you ready?"

She paused in a moment of hesitation, a bit nervous like before, but she then breathed deep and let the worries fade away as she breathed out. "Yeah… I'm ready."

"Hm, there will be no need to be nervous about this. I'm sure your mother will embrace you with open arms." She reassured her.

She gave a short grunt as she nodded, then the two went forward to the town's gate. In the clearing, they walked passed fenced fields of grape vines on either side of the road. Upon getting close to the walls and the Lone gate, she saw guards wearing a strange set of armor and weapons unlike Mistral's military. They were armor plated from top to bottom artistically almost in the shape of muscles which fit their physique perfectly, and their helmets were stylized with some kind of hairy mohawk. They also wore some kind of skirt or sash, but was somewhat protected by leather strips. They carried large round shields that were of bronze color, and their weapons were that of spears, with the spearheads clearly made of steel.

She had gained little information about Mistral's variety and tactics when it came to their military, sadly due to the libraries being burned long ago, but she did get some snippets of that knowledge from an old book that survived, briefly mentioning warriors using spears and large round shields as a spear wall called a phalanx.

They got close to the gate, but the guards suddenly halted their efforts by standing in front of them with their spears leaning forward.

"Halt, strangers!" Said the guard on their right in a wary, no-nonsense tone. "State your business here."

The two Huntresses did not expect this, but all the same they should not be surprised given where they were. They turned their heads halfway to glance at each other, metaphorically reading each other's minds before Ella took two steps forward. "I'm here to see a woman named Selene Loukas," she explained her intentions cordially. "Her last name was formerly Fall."

The guards looked to each other with some skepticism, then the guard looked to her with suspicion followed by his duty. "I'll need to see identification. Pull your wallet out slowly."

She slowly took out her wallet from the folds of her coat as was told, just to not spook the guards she supposed. She then unfolded it, pulled out her Huntress ID and handed it out to him. The guard retracted his spear, strapped it to his side and took the offered card to inspect it.

"So you're a Huntress," said the guard, a bit surprised on his features after taking a quick look at the card. He then looked back at her. "And your last name is Fall. Are you her daughter?"

"Yes." She answered truthfully and without hesitation.

"I see… Yes, we do have a Selene Loukas living here. She runs a class and instructs Yoga. My wife attends to her sessions." Ella had already known about her profession from the file she read, and had remembered the address in her head. There was just only one complication…

She continued the conversation. "I see. And I'm glad she's still here." She put back her returned card into her wallet, while the guard brought his spear back out. "Do you know where I can find her?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, but no. I never bothered paying a visit to her class, and neither do I bother knowing where she lives. You'll have to ask around in order to find her."

"I see."

"So what about your friend beside you?" Asked the other guard as he looked stone face at Eileen.

"She's a Huntress as well."

"I'm still gonna need some ID, lady." He demanded evenly. Eileen sighed softly with annoyance, already having her wallet and ID out just in case and simply showing it in front of his face for him to see. "Uh, Right. It's legitimate too."

"You two can come on through then, but don't go causing any trouble, understand?" He asked them both sternly at the end as the two guards moved back to their positions beside the entrance to let them through. The two Huntresses nodded, and the guard looked back at the gate and shouted: "Open the gate! We've got traveling Huntresses!"

Someone clearly heard him from the other side, and as they all saw the reinforced gate sliding apart into the walls. "Welcome to Elatorion."

The two Huntresses nodded in thanks, and then proceeded on through the opened entrance. Past the entrance, they were witnessed to a totally different scenery from Mistral's port town. Their buildings were made of marble and brick, with most of them being plastered white, or that some were painted a different color such as red, sky blue or pink. Their roofs varied from being flat to having a round dome, painted in blue. The roads were made of cobbled stone yet were well done, smooth and maintained. There were vines and flowers which added more to its beauty. Elatorion was considered to be a port town, and as they walked further in to the town in wonder, they see that the elevation was going downhill, all the way into port. Overall, it was truly a drastic yet breathtaking change of scenery, even for Ella as she audibly whispered wow in awe.

"Indeed," Eileen agreed.

She continued admiring the view until she hummed in question when she saw a hanging sign to her right. It was written in a foreign language that she nor Eileen could decipher. This was the complication they were going to run into, and the reason they were going to be asking around instead of looking. Eileen admittedly had never visited places like these, so she never learned the people's written language.

"This town is rather large, though." Eileen continued. "Like he said, we'll have to ask around for directions to her home."

"Right, since we can't obviously read the language here. We could ask for directions to the yoga class, maybe." She suggested. "It's still rather early, and I'll bet it's still opened."

"We'll just have to see." The veteran Huntress looked around and spotted a young, clean shaved man wearing a red toga, short pants and sandals. "Excuse me, sir." She called out to him as she walked up to him, gaining his attention as he looked in her direction.

"Uh, yes?" He asked unsurely.

"Do you by any chance know a woman named Selene Loukas? She lives here."

"N-No, I don't believe I know that name. Sorry."

"I see. And do you know of a yoga class around here?"

"I believe so…," he wondered aloud. "Although you're going to have a hard time finding one here. Places like that are all spread out among the various levels of this town, you see. Even I wouldn't know where all of them are since I never visit those places. So you might want to ask around in the market level. They're at the lower level near the docks." He pointed his finger straight down the hill toward the docks, where several fishing boats were currently moored.

"I see, thank you."

"No problem. Now, if you don't mind, I should be getting back home."

"So long, then." She turned around and headed back to her apprentice while the young man went his way. "It's not much of a lead but hopefully someone in the market level will tell us where to find it."

"It's good that we're starting somewhere." She shrugged with agreement. "Besides, at least we get to see more of the local flavor here."

"True, but let's stick to the task first, then you can sightsee to your heart's content later." The duo turned about and walked down all the way to the market level at a casual yet careful pace. Once they reached the level, they were introduced to a wondrous sight indeed. On this street corner at the market level, the patio doors were painted in various colors, probably to signify which is which. There were a few buildings that hung potted plants and had pottery next to the doors to give a classic look. The signs were hung by hand made metal hangers elaborately looking like vines. There were also these vine-like trees which stretch all the way to the rooftops and crisscrossed the open sky, with bundled purple flowers dangling from the twiglike branches. To the duo, they first thought they had just walked into a realm of fantasy.

"Alright, you go down this street and ask these people if they know about her or her whereabouts." Eileen told her. "I'll go to the street across from here."

"Okay." The two split off in search of answers, and Ella walked up to the first few people sitting around a table outside a coffee shop.

"Excuse me...," she said politely garnering their attention from whatever conversation they were having. Two of them were elderly men and third a woman. "I'm new around here, and I'm searching for a relative of mine named Selene Loukas. Do any of you know her?" She pulled out a photo of her mother while she spoke. Then she gave the photo to them. The one to her left, an old man with balding gray hair and spectacles, took the photo and examined it.

"Selene? Hmmm… I think I know that name but… where…?" The old man pondered aloud as he looked away from the photo.

"Let me see that." Said the man with long gray hair and a hat who sat across from him. His friend gave the photo to him and made a quick look over. His features creased. "I don't believe I've met her. Sorry."

"May I?" The old lady asked, and he passed the photo to her. "hmm yes, I've seen her face before." The old lady said after confirming with her memory. "She comes to the market level often, and she sometimes comes through here."

"Do you by chance know where she lives?"

"Sorry dear, I don't." She apologizes as she gives the photo back.

"I see," she said a little solemnly as she took the photo back. "Then perhaps you've heard of a yoga class around here called Loukasia?"

"Oh, I believe I…" Then suddenly she had look of realization. "Yes, I do remember. It's been set up here, last I read, but I never visit there knowing my age, so I don't know where it is I'm afraid."

"I see. Thank you for your help anyways. I'll leave you all alone then, thank you." She was about to walk away when…

"Hold on." The kind old lady stopped her. "Take my advice. Just ask the women around here. The men here don't take yoga. I'm sure one of the young ladies will point you in the right direction."

"Thank you for the tip. Good day to you." She left them alone and went searching for the women down the street.

She had come up to a few women on this level, thinking one of the natives might know, but sadly they all had no information on her whereabouts or the yoga building. She did, however, get a tip that Selene mostly visits the next street down. So she went down the next level, asking several more girls, but even they did not know. Most of them had turned out to be tourists on vacation, so it was going to be obvious they would have little information. It was becoming one dead end after another, and she sighed after failing to gain information from the next one.

"This is turning out to be harder than I thought." She muttered to herself in complaint as she massaged her temples, feeling a little regret in asking only the women. "I mean, how can nobody know where one person lives?!" She was looking up in her complaint when she saw a sign with the drawn picture of a wine bottle and a few grapes with various colors. Even if she could not read it, she could hardly guess it was a wine shop. She had a few wines back in her apartment besides tea, just for simple luxury while reading a book. There were only a few she liked so far, and she preferred to be a light drinker.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look inside." She suggested herself. She walked under the sign, opened the door with a dinging sound of a bell and walked into the shop. The singing of the bell alerted whoever worked here as she heard the store clerk.

"Welcome! How can I help you, miss?" The clerk was a lady around her mid forties by the look of her features. She had light tan skin and wore a green stylish tunic shirt which accentuated her figure (as far as she could tell from above the counter). With dark brown braided hair and blue eyes, and a sharp face so attractive to any man.

Then Ella looked around herself, seeing a vast assortment of bottles being placed in a wall of racks. All the dark green walls in the room had racks filled or nearly filled with them. The two round tables had bottles placed standing up, as another, smaller table stacked at the center had more bottles on top. It helped her confirm after seeing the labels of red and white that she was indeed in a wine shop.

"This is quite the establishment you have here." She praised. "And I must say you have quite the selections here."

"Truly, and you should consider yourself lucky." She spoke rather alluringly with a passion which spoke salesmanship. "Apothica. Red Autumn. Osmanthus. Museles. Obelisk Wine. And of course, our town's Lyndel Wine. I have many, and I make it a habit of gathering good wine from all the four kingdoms." She then casually spread her arms out in greeting. "This establishment you're standing in, this is Elana's Vine; the most frequented shop for tourists and natives alike, and the only shop that sells the best wine grown here and outside of Elatorion." She introduced her shop with an honest, besmirching smile, then introduced herself as she placed her hand on her chest. "I'm Angelina Vascou. If there's a certain flavor you're looking for, I'm sure I might have it here."

"You sound very passionate of your work here." She observed.

"Hmhm, isn't it obvious?" She chuckled under her breath at the compliment as she crossed her arms. "Did you know that high quality wine used to be considered a beverage meant only for the rich and noble? Well today, everyone can have a taste of such quality luxury… with the right price of course. So what'll it be?" She asked as she placed her hands back on her hips. "Any brand that catches your eye?"

She knew an exaggerated advertisement when she heard one, but looking at all the selections of wine here nearly made it sound true. She was feeling tempted to buy a new kind of wine, but she had to remain at her task. "I thank you for the offer, and I do feel tempted to buy something good, but I'm not ready to buy a beverage just yet. There is, however, someone dear to me living here and I'm looking for her."

"Oh? Is this someone a lover, or perhaps a relative?" She asked with a raised brow of curiosity and she crossed her arms again.

"A relative." She answered. "She goes by the name of Selene Loukas. Do you, by any chance, know her?"

"Do I? Why of course I know her." The clerk was a bit surprised someone knew her as she sincerely smiled. "In fact, she and I are good friends since I first attended her class." A glimmer of hope was growing inside Ella once she heard of their status. "Are you her niece perhaps?"

"Actually, I'm her daughter."

"Wait…," she was calmly taken aback with this information. Then she looked at her, wondering until she snapped her fingers. "Ah, are you Cinder? Because I must say, your mother truly misses you."

"I'm not Cinder." She shook her head. "I'm actually her second daughter, Ella."

If she thought she would never be surprised, she was now. She took a step back and gasped softly as her eyes widened. "Oh my…!" Was what she could say in exasperation before trying to come back to her senses. "She told me she had two daughters once, but never spoke too much about her past. I thought it was a touchy subject so I never pushed it."

"Please…," Ella pleaded as she walked up to the counter. "Tell me where she lives. I… I don't understand the written language here."

"O-Of course! I can help you with the address, and the directions to her house. Hold on, let me find a piece of paper just a second." As Angelina ducked down searching for a pen and paper, Ella's hopes were coming to fruition as she grew excited inside. "Here we are." She said as she got back up with a stretch of paper in one hand, and a pen in the other as she set on the counter to write. "So here's where you need to go." She started writing down the address. "First, you need to…"

She was halted in her writing when she heard the bell ringing above the front door. Someone had come in, and she was still on the job. "Hold on a sec…," she then spoke up to the newcomer. "Welcome to Elan–a's…" Her voice got hitched by the sight of the familiar friend she spoke about.

"Angie? What's wrong? Why are you looking so surprised?"

Ella turned around to see why she stopped talking, and investigated the owner's voice when she softly gasped. Standing near the door was her mother. She still had those features and graying hair from the photo last she looked, and she still looked as beautiful like a goddess in her age, body and all. She wore casual attire, with a light shirt and jeans and leather sandals. She was also carrying a red purse in her hand.

The two of them looked at each other, not certain who should start when Ella finally spoke one word. "Mother?" She asked merely loud enough for her mother to hear her.

"Cinder? …Is that you?" She asked as well, a little uncertain but knew what she looked and (almost) sounded like the last time she saw her little girl. She looked so beautiful and feminine like herself, but her hairstyle and attire almost threw her off.

"No… but your second daughter never forgets." She understood that her mother would not tell the difference, though she could not help but let it sting her a little.

"Second… *gasp*!" She gasped in realizing disbelief as her eyes widened, and her left hand went up to her lips while her right went weak enough for her purse to fall to the floor. Her emotions were roiling inside her as she tried to hold them back. Old memories were surging to the surface, to when she remembered the good times when she had two daughters in her life. This had to be a dream she thought, but she wanted to know. She wanted to believe. "...Ella?"

Ella for her part was doing her very best to hold back the tears. Although her questioning made her heart ache, but at least she still had proof of her existence. She walked up to her as she reached up to the back of her neck and unclasped the lock keeping her necklace together. She soon now stood nearly face to face with her mother, and she offered the silver heart shaped locket to her, which she recognized right away.

She gently took the the locket to examine it. She opened it up to reveal two familiar little girls smiling together, with the insignia etched into the metal saying 'together and always'. A single tear managed to escape from her eye. She closed the locket and turned it over… to reveal the name of the owner standing in front of her. The floodgates could no longer hold back the tears as she looked back at her long lost daughter, now truly believing who stood in front of her, here and now. There was something she wanted to say, figuring out where to start, but her words were trapped inside her throat when all she could do was sob.

"I've come home," Ella spoke weakly as she, too could no longer hold back the tears, and the feelings of longing had come back two fold.

Selene closed the small gap between them and eagerly embraced her daughter, wrapping her arms around her and holding her tightly as she sobbed more. "My baby…!" she said between sobs. "My baby!"

Ella returned the gesture, trying not to weep so much as her mother, but she could not help but sniff from time to time. The warm feeling of reunion, of reconnection… it all came back to her again. She did not want to let this feeling go, though of course, neither wanted to let each other go.

All the while, Angelina was moved to tears as she watched. She stayed silent for them. She understood from her friend how much this meant for her. From the times she had asked her about her marriage, Selene would only give short pieces of information. When she brought up the subject if she had any daughters, however, she told her of the times she had with her two little girls, but spoke nothing more on what happened to them. From then on, she stayed away from it for her friend's sake.

Eventually, her mother regained most of herself and almost broke off, having her left hand (holding the necklace) to rest on her shoulder while her right hand moved to caress her cheek, and her thumb gently wiping away the tears and rubbing against the strands of her ashen black hair while she had a sad smile. "I have waited.. for so long."

"Now you no longer have to, mother. I'm home now." Her cheeks streaked with glistening tear stains, with her cracking smile still on her lips.

"Yes… Yes you are." She guided her daughter's head forward, and she kissed her on the forehead before releasing her gentle hold and looking into her eyes again. "I'm sure we have much to catch up on."

She nodded, and they went back into their embrace, even if just for a little longer.

They both walked outside of the wine shop. Her mother led the way out of the narrow street, leading her to her abode after agreeing to talk more inside her home. Once they stepped foot on the main street…

"Ella, I've found… oh." Eileen stopped herself when she saw her mother. "I see you found your mother." They both looked in her direction to see a young woman standing next to her. "And sooner than I imagined."

"Of course," Ella said now standing between them before introductions were made. "This is Selene, my mother." She gestured, then she looked to Selene. "Mother, this is Eileen. She's my partner, and also my teacher."

"Teacher?" She questioned with both raised eyebrows. "Teacher of what?"

"We're Huntresses, Miss Loukas, and Ella is currently my pupil." Eileen explained.

"Oh really?" She asked evenly as she then looked at her with that "look".

"Uh, mother? Why are you giving me that look?" Ella asked with some apprehension as she leaned away from her a bit.

"... Let's talk about it more at my house, okay?" She sighed.

"Um, okay." She was uncertain what that was about, until she remembered her father saying she did not want Cinder to be a Huntress. It was probably the grief of hearing the name which stuck with her.

Then she changed the subject as she looked back at her teacher. "So I'm guessing she was to be our guide?" She asked about the girl standing next to her.

"She was, yes.. but it seems that won't be necessary."

"Hey, teach, how's it going?" The girl asked.

"Very well." Selene answered glady. "And how has the technique I gave been coming along?"

"It's going great, ma'am." She answered with enthusiasm. "I haven't felt this much better in years."

"That's good to know, dear."

"So, Eileen, will you be joining us?" Ella asked.

"Not this time." She turned down. "This is a moment between you and your mother. I'll just be staying at the inn tonight." She half lied. "Are you going to be staying at her place then?"

"Maybe, we'll just have to see."

"Alright, I'll pass the information on if you do. though you should come back and grab your things."

"I understand." She nodded. She also knew the reason behind the excuse. They did hide their luggage in a magic coffin with them at the time, so they would have to find a nice spot to pull them out without causing suspicion.

"So, shall we head home then?" Her mother asked. "I would very much like to catch up on everything."

"Yes, let's…" The two then went off in the direction of her home, then Ella glanced back at her teacher and waved her hand. "Have fun!"

"You too." Eileen smirked, then turned to the girl. "You don't mind having the time to show me around?"

"I don't mind at all," she said. "I know a very nice place to visit. Follow me." The girl led the way down the street, all while Eileen took her time to look at all the scenes around her. And so the two Huntresses parted ways for one day.

A/N: And another chapter done! Hope you like the emotional reunion I worked so hard to make (and I hope I did not overdo it), and that certain, familiar someone who decided to pay them a visit that night. It won't be the last time we see that bird, I promise you.

Now, you all might be thinking, "Kyro, why are you making a light hearted story when this has Bloodborne (a dark, bloody game of nightmares and rage quitting) in the Crossover?" I know, I know, but there's a reason why I'm putting the light hearted beginning, and why I chose to have her parents be alive than dead. I'll reveal more in the coming chapters, but I'll tell you this: This story will not be as light hearted after Volume 1, and things will start to go dark… fast. All I ask is for all you dear readers to be patient with me. Also, I do promise to bring more Bloodborne character appearances in the future, so I'll be looking forward to writing about their new life in Remnant.

About Elatorion. Since looking back at Pyrrha Nikos, I thought to myself that perhaps Mistral has its own diverse culture, but since we never got to see that in the series, I figured I might as well create one with a Greek theme to them. I hope you guys like what I've made.

Right now, this is simply an unedited chapter that is yet to be proofread by my friend CruxMDQ, so until he gets back, this'll be what it looks like since I did not want to keep you guys waiting for so long.

This is Kyro2009, signing off.