(Author's note: This is a crossover, so I wrote up a neat little FAQ which can be found at the end of the chapter/story, for I will leave it there so that it will be shown after each update. If you have questions, please look there first. I may update it when more questions arise.
Now onto this one: I watched Made in Abyss in 2020 and fell in complete and utter love with the world. Just one year prior I played through Bloodborne and well, these two fandoms had to meet! I planned for this fic for quite some time, but being busy with various writing challenges and the pandemic happening, stuff got postponed and postponed until I finally found the time to sit down and write chapter one.
The characters in this chapter are still children, but they will grow up into adults over the timespan of the fic. There will be quite a few time skips actually. The first few chapters will mainly be world building and exposure.
Last but not least, this is both Made in Abyss and Bloodborne, so be prepared for some soul crushing angst and dark stuff happening. Just... nothing will happen to children. Other than Tsukushi, I prefer to torture adults and older teenagers.
So our protagonists are safe... for now...
If you enjoyed this, please don't hesitate leaving me a comment. Both BB and MiA are tiny fandoms, so I don't expect that this will get much attention, so knowing that someone enjoyed it will be all the much sweeter.)
„Laurence, breathe!"
The boy called Laurence took a deep breath, not even having realized that he had held his breath in the first place.
"Sorry, Gehrman.", he gasped out. "I am... nervous."
"Of course, it's your first time.", Gehrman said, glancing over to the group of Red Whistles which had gathered around their appointed Moon Whistle, which they all called Master Willem. Laurence' gaze followed Gehrman's. The children in front of Master Willem were all orphans from the Balchero Orphanage, like Laurence himself. The only difference was, that all of them already had gone delving at least once, while it was the first time for Laurence. He had only recently turned ten.
"Every Red Whistle gets nervous when they delve for the first time. You don't have to worry too much about going down, though, it's going up that should concern you. Speaking of going, it appears we are moving."
"Right, the curse.", Laurence wrinkled his nose at the thought as he started to walk alongside Gehrman. He of course knew all the effects of the curse of every single layer, but he hadn't experienced them personally. Yet. "Dizziness and nausea for the first layer."
"Correct. And I bet with you that you have to puke on your way up, I haven't seen a single first timer who hasn't.", Gehrman grinned at him. Laurence just gave him a look.
"I even manage to get sick without any curse affecting me, so that bet doesn't exactly feel fair.", he said, crossing his arms. "And I certainly won't get into any competitions. You are two years older than me and used to the curse of the first layer already."
"True.", Gehrman said. "But before you know it, you will be twelve as well and be allowed to go deeper into the Abyss. Before we both know it, we will be fifteen and be able to turn into Blue Whistles. Time started to move much faster once I was allowed to delve."
"Or we could die a horrible death down there.", Laurence said, looking down at his feet. He was wearing the standard delver boots. Every Red Whistle was wearing the standard delving gear, consisting of leather pants, a vest, gloves, said boots and a helmet. Laurence didn't wear the helmet on his head though, but instead it was clasped behind it. He disliked how it flattened his locks of auburn hair. He had tried so hard to preserve his hairdo once he tried on the delver gear, but to no avail.
"Are you thinking about your parents?", Gehrman asked, making Laurence stop in his tracks, but not for long, as Gehrman pushed him along so that they wouldn't lose sight of the group in front of them.
"...Is it that obvious?", Laurence looked at the ground next to him, not feeling like he wanted to look into Gehrman's eyes. "I always wished they could come with me to my first delving..."
"I know, we all wished our parents could have come with us.", Gehrman said, laying a hand on Laurence' shoulder. "We all know how you feel..."
The both of them fell silent after this exchange. Laurence' parents had both been delvers, Black Whistle's even and he always had been eager for the day he was old enough to earn his red whistle and go on his first delve. However, that day never came, because around three months before his tenth birthday, Laurence got the message that they had died on their latest delve.
He had gotten a warm welcome in the Balchero Orphanage where almost every child of delvers landed sooner or later, but the pain of their recent passing was still strong. He really really had wanted for them to be around on his first delve.
Laurence had the feeling that was why Gehrman had decided to come with him even though he was allowed to go deeper already. The older boy had a certain fondness for Laurence and the two of them soon had become friends. He also had befriended a few of the other children, a boy named Micolash, who had a face like a gremlin and deep black hair which were messy curls, a girl named Maria which wore a beautiful white ponytail and a girl named Rom, with tan skin and straight black hair. Laurence always had the feeling that Micolash seemed to like her. Gehrman, as the oldest of their group, held them together and was kind of an older brother to the four children. All of them were heading down on that delve today.
"That's why I am nervous.", Laurence suddenly said.
"Huh?", Gehrman put his attention back on Laurence, clearly not having expected for him to speak again so soon.
"Nervous about going down here. I have dreamed my whole life about this day. The image of the Abyss is pretty much my first memory. I always wanted to come down here and see it with my own eyes, but now that it happened, I can't help but be nervous. Of course I knew that delvers died in here, but... that never was something that should happen to someone close to me..."
Gehrman came closer to Laurence and patted his shoulder. "Laurence, once we stop, I have to show you something. I am sure it will put your mind at ease. But for now, how about you stop looking at the ground and look at what is right in front of you?"
Laurence finally released his gaze from his boots and once he saw what was in front of him, he almost lost his breath again.
The Abyss... it was nothing short but beautiful. He saw green grass and lush vegetation, in the distance he could see a river flowing through the netherworld. There were little animals scurrying around between flowers of fortitude, butterflies landing on them, collecting their nectar. Even though Orth was covered in these same flowers, their sight never stopped being beautiful. Laurence wondered if the flower came from the Abyss or if it had taken hold in the Abyss. It was common for them to throw their petals into the Abyss alongside the ashes of the deceased.
"Beautiful.", he said, not knowing where to look first. He had been so caught up in his own head that he had completely forgotten to enjoy the experience.
"As soon as I saw it for the first time, I knew it was worth coming down here.", Gehrman smiled at him. Then, the group in front of them stopped.
"Ah, it seems we have arrived.", Gehrman said and then pushed Laurence' helmet onto his auburn hair. "You are supposed to wear the helmet on your head, not behind it."
"I don't like the helmet.", Laurence grumbled, adjusting it so that it would fit better.
"Well, better having some messed up hair than being dead from a stray rock.", Gehrman shrugged. "You get used to it. Also, there is a glowstone embedded into it, it will help you when it gets dark."
"Alright.", Laurence said, stopping as well once he and Gehrman had reached the group. His gaze fell on Master Willem. He looked already very old, but apparently was still fit enough to come with them into the Abyss. When Laurence asked Gehrman about him, Gehrman told him that Master Willem always had looked old. Seeing that a delver with such an advanced age still existed, made Laurence feel a little bit better.
Master Willem looked them over, silently taking stock if every child under his care was still there and then spoke to the group: "Everyone's here? Good. Most of you have already been down here once, so you can continue like the last time. Laurence, it's your first time, so you stay with Gehrman today. I am here if any of you have any questions. Remember, we search for relics. Keep out of the danger zones and don't go out of sight. Don't eat outside of the assigned breaks, come tell me if you need a bathroom break and don't go up on your own."
A combined "Understood, Master Willem." sounded from the children's throats and then everyone was off. Laurence kept standing where he was, unsurely looking at Gehrman.
"So... what do we do now?", he asked.
"First, I will show you what I talked about earlier.", Gehrman said and took Laurence' hand, guiding him a few steps away until they stood next to the wall of the Abyss. There, Gehrman laid Laurence' hand on the wall.
"Your parents died here, in the great chasm. This means, they have become a part of it now. While their physical bodies aren't there anymore, their souls will be with you each time you go down into the Abyss. Go on, ask them for their blessing."
Laurence felt the cool stone wall under his hand. That was the Abyss, a part of it... his parents had died in here. Their souls went back into the Abyss. He knew that. It was how Orth functioned, what Orth believed. He heard that other countries believed in something like a god, some figure in the heavens that they never saw and he never got it. Why did they believe in something that they couldn't see?
The Abyss was there, it was tangible, he could touch it. In fact, he touched it right at this moment. At this moment, Laurence felt a connection. It felt like everyone who had entered this place was in unison with him. That also had to include his parents. He wondered if they could hear him, but he would never find out if he wouldn't try.
"Mom... Dad... please watch over me.", he whispered, opening his eyes, seeing how Gehrman smiled at him.
"And now we can start our delve.", he said. "Follow me, I will show you how it works."
Laurence followed Gehrman, always having questions on his mind. He probably should just spill them, no reason to stay silent. "Master Willem told us that we should tell him if we need a bathroom break.", he started. "Why?" Wouldn't it be fine to just find a corner to duck down into?
"Ah, we are not supposed to leave his sight.", Gehrman answered. "And he has to know where we are when we are under his care. We are also supposed to take a partner with us, so that the other can keep watch. It's how it works down here, you get used to it."
"Hm, makes sense...", Laurence said. "And we are forbidden from eating anything, other than when a break is called? What about drinking?"
"You are allowed to drink just fine, but we shouldn't eat outside of the designated breaks, because it can make us a bit sluggish. We are supposed to all take a little break after eating and it is easier when we all eat at the same time. Besides, sometimes new Red Whistles find food in the Abyss and eat it without thinking... and well, not everything is safe to eat."
Laurence shuddered a bit at the thought of actually eating something poisonous. Yeah, he should stay away from anything that was unknown to him.
"Do you have any more questions or can we start delving?", Gehrman asked, standing in front of what looked like a loose stone wall.
"Well, besides from what we are supposed to do, no, I guess.", Laurence said, fidgeting with his fingers.
"It's easy enough.", Gehrman smiled, getting a pickaxe out of his rucksack. "We search for loose stone structures like this and break it down." Gehrman demonstrated his words with a wide swing of the pickaxe and soon it crumbled, revealing a small cave beneath it. "Then we get into it and search for anything that looks like a relic."
Laurence just stood there when the wall crumbled, now very much knowing why they were supposed to wear the helmet. That would hurt a lot when stray debris would hit him. After a minute or so, he silently followed Gehrman into the little cave, his glowstone providing him with a small light source.
"And that is why the helmets are so useful.", Gehrman said, turning to Laurence and putting something that looked like a vase or something into his hands. "Look for anything that doesn't look natural or simply unusual. The more relics we find, the better. They give us more allowance the more we can unearth."
"I am sometimes amazed that we still can find relics...", Laurence said, getting on his knees and searching through the rubble. "Wasn't the Abyss discovered 1.900 years ago?"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that Orth existed that long.", Gehrman said, his trained eyes scanning the bottom of the cave with ease and soon he had a second relic located which went into his rucksack. "Besides, all the good stuff has already been found. All we unearth is trash. Valuable trash though."
"Hm, I guess...", Laurence shrugged, getting a bit frustrated with searching the rubble. If anything had been in there, it probably had been smashed to bits.
"Laurence, don't search the entrance, come deeper into the cave.", Gehrman said. "You rarely find relics at the entrance."
"Oh alright.", Laurence was more than glad to get away from the rubble and he wandered to Gehrman's place, searching in the opposite direction of him. When he saw something glistening in the wall, he approached it with a vague hope, but instead a yelp escaped him when he saw that it was a human skeleton!
"Laurence, is everything alright?", Gehrman came over to him and once he saw the skeleton, he was quick to calm him down. "Oh don't worry about those, this is a praying skeleton, they are apparently 2.000 years old. Isn't that fascinating?"
"But... the Abyss was only discovered 1.900 years ago...?", Laurence repeated his earlier statement, still a bit shaking.
"That doesn't mean that it hasn't existed for longer, don't you think?", Gehrman said, his smile in the vague light of the glowstone looking more creepy than reassuring. Laurence shook his head and then got up. "I think I want to get out of this cave..."
"Come on, Laurence, you are getting used to the sight. There are still relics to find in here. How about you come over and help me with searching?"
Laurence looked back at the skeleton, then to the cave exit, which wasn't even far away, the cave actually was more of a little alcove in the wall, and then nodded, walking over to Gehrman. "I just didn't think my first find in here would be human bones...", he murmured.
"Nobody expects to find them at first. I should have warned you, sorry.", Gehrman patted Laurence' shoulder and then pointed at the floor. "Now, help me find anything unusual that you can see."
"Alright.", Laurence kneeled down, glad that the thick leather of his pants protected his knees and observed the floor. A few minutes later, he had several round and flat things in his hands, that clearly weren't rocks.
"I found something.", he said. "I think...", he then added, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious about his find. As Gehrman put his attention on him, he showed it to him. "What could that be?"
"Currency maybe?", Gehrman suggested, looking at the relics. "There once must have been a civilisation in here, they probably used it to pay for wares and stuff."
"Hm, makes sense.", Laurence said, putting the "coins" in his own rucksack. "It doesn't seem to be very valuable though."
"Like I said, most stuff in here is trash anyway. You will rarely find something good. And if, then don't even think about keeping it." Gehrman let something fall in his own rucksack. It looked like a statue of some kind. Maybe for rituals or anything?
"What happens if we keep relics?", Laurence asked, curious. He knew they weren't supposed to keep relics, but he never had asked what the punishment for it would be.
"Then the punishment will be worse than being hanged naked.", Gehrman said, rather casually, as Laurence' face fell. He still had nightmares sometimes about the time a prank on Master Willem had gone too far and this had been his punishment, it had been the peak of uncomfortableness and humiliation... and they had a punishment that was even worse than that?! He didn't want to find out about it.
"Yes, so make sure to deliver all of your relics. We are taking stock of them anyway.", Gehrman said as he saw the drained colour from Laurence' face.
"Understood.", Laurence said and quietly kept searching, filling his rucksack with a bit more odds and ends that looked like someone's dinnerware. Maybe it was. If there were skeletons that were 2.000 years old in the Abyss, then why not their homes as well?
After he and Gehrman had cleared out the cave, which had taken far longer than expected, it was already time for their lunch break, as Master Willem was rallying them up to take a break and eat what they had brought along. The problem was that Micolash wasn't making any advances to come and sit down with them.
"That oddball again.", Laurence sighed, getting up when Micolash still didn't move even though Master Willem had called his name three times already. "I better drag him over here."
"Do what you must.", Gehrman said, knowing that Laurence kind of could connect with Micolash, he always had been the odd one of the group and only when Laurence had arrived at the orphanage had he managed to get out of his shell.
"Micolash, what are you doing?", Laurence said, stopping next to his friend, feeling a bit dizzy when he noticed that Micolash stood at the edge of a rather steep cliff and was staring down into it.
Micolash raised his head, slowly, almost looking creepy and stared at Laurence. Then, he opened his mouth and said: "If you stare in the Abyss, does the Abyss stare back?"
What? Laurence felt a bit at a loss at what to reply to this question, when Rom spoke and shouted over to them: "If you want to get swallowed up, then stare in the Abyss, otherwise head over finally, so that we can finally eat!"
Laurence heard both Gehrman and Maria giggle at Rom's statement and couldn't help but grin himself at it, while Micolash actually looked... a bit embarrassed. Maybe. It was hard to tell.
"You will understand one day.", he murmured as he finally got into motion. "All of you will understand one day."
"What, that staring into the maw of the netherworld is making you speak in riddles?", Rom was at it again and the children around her started to giggle again, as Micolash glared at her a bit.
While Laurence had a hard time to suppress his own giggling, he said: "She's just teasing you, Micolash, that's all." Though he had to agree with Rom mostly, the Abyss couldn't stare back if you stared into it. It didn't have any eyes, right? ...Right? Suddenly, Laurence wasn't too sure about it anymore. He should stop thinking about it and finally eat.
Laurence joined the group and sat down on a rock, eagerly unpacking his lunch. This morning had been a special day, not only because it was his first delve, but also because that meant that he could eat rice for the first time in his life. Orth, as a city on an island, had to import rice and therefore it had turned into a delicacy and was a food that only delvers were allowed to eat, at the day they went to delve into the Abyss, because it could be their least meal and they deserved to have something special then.
Gehrman had prepared the rice into rice balls, a simple dish with salt and alga and it had been one of the most awesome things Laurence had ever tasted, even though Gehrman told him that was one of the simplest forms in which rice could be prepared. He actually had to be stopped from overeat himself, so he had taken the leftovers with him and was now happily munching on it, enjoying the taste of the food he did had to admire from afar for so many years.
As Laurence was enjoying his food, he could hear Gehrman talk. As he put his attention on him, he saw Gehrman sitting next to Maria. Apparently he was asking the girl questions and she was answering them. Laurence slid a little bit closer to overhear their conversation.
"And what are these insects called?", Gehrman asked, pointing at something in the grass, sitting on top of a flower of fortitude. Laurence' eyes sparkled when he saw the butterfly, far bigger than the ones in Orth and with sparkly wings.
"It's a crystal wing.", Maria answered. "Their wings sparkle like this because of the sun that gets reflected from the forcefield. They try to dazzle predators with them."
"Correct.", Gehrman said. Laurence still had his eyes on the crystal wing, what a beautiful creature, when suddenly a lizard-like animal appeared out of nowhere and had the butterfly in its mouth. Nothing short but shocked, Laurence lowered the half eaten rice ball, feeling as if his food got stuck in his throat.
"And this?", Gehrman asked, both his and Maria's eyes on the lizard.
"A stalking lizard.", Maria replied. "Always attacks from the shadows, seemingly from nowhere, the prey won't even know what killed it. Insects are its favoured food."
"The Abyss sure is cruel...", Laurence mentioned from his spot, still not feeling able to keep eating on.
"It's something you will get used to.", Gehrman said. "At least we are not part of their diet. Actually the stalking lizards can be quite tasty, if you manage to catch them. Dastardly fast though."
"One time I thought I had one and only had the tail in my hand.", Maria said. "And they can even get rid of their legs if they please. They can grow all their limbs back without trouble."
"Sadly, only the meat that isn't extremities is palatable.", Gehrman added.
"I see...", Laurence said. He knew that they sometimes got meat from the Abyss in the orphanage to eat, but nobody actually had ever told him what exactly it was they were eating. He wondered if he had maybe eaten these lizards already.
"Do you want to know more about the creatures of the first layer, Laurence?", Gehrman asked. "I was just testing if Maria remembered everything I told her. Feel free to join us and listen in."
"Gladly.", Laurence said and got up to sit closer to them. As he ate the rest of his rice ball and washed it down with some water, he listened to Gehrman and Maria going over various creatures of the first layer, the different insect species, the well known hammer beaks, a little rodent that was pretty much harmless, but could mess with trying to steal the smaller relics, the trouts that could be caught in the underground river and many more. He knew that a lot of the creatures in the Abyss actually were still unnamed, but he was sure that the first layer probably had a pretty complete encyclopedia of the wild life.
After they all had eaten, Gehrman pointed out that it was the perfect time for taking a bathroom break before they continued with their work, so they did exactly that, with Micolash, Gehrman and Laurence being one group and Maria and Rom the other. Laurence found it made sense that the boys and girls would try to stay apart from each other during it.
Then, they continued what they were doing before lunch break, with Master Willem having a vigilant eye on all of them. Laurence stayed near Gehrman and absorbed everything that his friend could tell him about the Abyss and about delving in general. At the end of the day, both of their rucksacks were filled with various relics that looked like they were just common household objects. While Gehrman kept insisting that it only was trash, Laurence knew that even the trash could be sold for a high price into foreign countries. It was how Orth managed to stay so wealthy.
"You did well today, children.", Master Willem said as they all presented their finds. "We will rate all of your finds back at the orphanage. The better you managed, the deeper you will be allowed into the Abyss. We were only 50 metres deep today."
"Understood.", the children replied in unison. Laurence was pretty excited. After he had seen what was pretty much the beginning of the Abyss, he already was eager to see more. But first... first they had to get back up.
Which meant that he would experience the curse for the first time.
iYou will puke./i, Gehrman had said and as much as Laurence wanted to believe that it wouldn't happen, how bad could a little dizziness be...
The moment they had started to go upwards though, he had been hit by the worst dizziness in his life. That wasn't any usual dizziness... his head hurt, his vision seemed to swim, he actually had trouble seeing clearly and that alone was bad enough so that his stomach was revolting from the mixed signals his body gave. Laurence had to clasp a hand in front of his mouth, trying so hard to swallow down the bile that tried to force its way out, but had to give up after only a minute or two and retched on the ground, being on both his hands and knees while it happened, heavily breathing at the unpleasant sensation.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and when he looked up, tears in his eyes from the burning in his throat, he saw Gehrman smiling at him. "You will get used to it.", he said and offered Laurence a hand which he took. "But for now get used to throwing up once you ascend. At least you are not the only one."
Gehrman gestured at the other kids and Laurence felt a tiny bit better when he saw that Micolash pretty much experienced the same fate as him.
Still, he would be more than glad once he wouldn't have to throw up anymore after going up, but he had the feeling that would take quite a while.
After they had fully ascended and the awful feeling of the curse slowly vanished, Master Willem led them back to the orphanage where they were supposed to rest and then tally up their finds. Laurence could only think about one thing though.
It had been his first delve and he had returned alive. And still, he couldn't wait to go down into the Abyss a second time.
It truly had a fascinating aura around it, it was as if he was drawn to it.
The second delve couldn't come fast enough.
(FAQ:
1) I have never played Bloodborne? Will I still understand this fic?
This fic takes place in the world of Made in Abyss. I simply put some Bloodborne characters into the world of Made in Abyss and act like if they had grown up here. There will be a ton of Bloodborne references though, but you don't have to have played the game to understand the plot I am going for. And the characters... we know very little about them, so they are basically 80 to 90 % OCs, so you can just see them as OCs if you please.
2) I have never watched Made in Abyss? Will I still understand this fic?
I strongly advise to be familiar with Made in Abyss for this fic, for it takes place in the world of Made in Abyss. You don't have to be familiar with the plot though, for I am going for a completely different plot detached from the canon of the anime/manga.
I will do my best to explain the world building though, which is 50 % canon and 50 % my own. Anyone familiar with the canon feel free to point out where my headcanons took place.
3) Will characters from MiA show up?
Any MiA characters will likely only be cameos, for I want to focus on the life of the Bloodborne characters here. Don't expect that anyone of the MiA characters has a very huge role. They will more be mentioned in passing and appear for short whiles, but never play a big role.
4) When does this fic take place? Is it during the canon timeline of MiA?
NOPE. This fic takes place before the canon of the manga/anime. During the first chapter, Riko hasn't even been born yet. This first chapter takes place around 20 to 25 years before canon and even after the characters grew up, there won't be much overlap, if any.
5) Why are you using the Old Hunter characters?
Because they are my favs, haha ^^ I have a lot of headcanons about them and they work best for the story I have in mind.
6) Laurence as POV character? Really?
Yep, because he's my ultra FAV. Truth to be told, I actually made up this AU so that I could roleplay Laurence in an MiA verse, but I liked the idea so much that I wanted to make a whole fic out of it.
7) Why did you decide to write a crossover of these two things?
When I watched Made in Abyss, I saw Bloodborne at every corner. Then I thought up Laurence' MiA verse and then... well, I read an interview from Tsukushi himself and he actually said that Bloodborne was one of his big inspirations for Made in Abyss! Speak about coincidences!)
