Chapter 5: The Vicar

That very same night, Ludwig decided he would pay a visit to Oedon Chapel before heading home. He wanted to see the state of things over there as the city had been getting more and more refugees lately. Also, he was hoping to run into Vicar Amelia, who is there many times. He crossed the great bridge on foot, carriages pulled by horses passing him by in a rushed manner, and for a while he just leaned there against the stone rail. The sun had set already and the pale full moon illuminated the city. His mind wandered for a bit, thinking about how he didn't remember seeing other phases of the moon for a long time. He eventually chalked it up to not always going out at night and realized he was thinking silly, useless things.

Walking a little more, he made it to the Cathedral Ward's main plaza. A giant rotunda that lead towards the residential blocks, the Grand Cathedral, Oedon Chapel and a bunch of other destinations. A busy-looking family unloaded stuff from a carriage with the help of the driver. Carriages stopped often at the rotunda as from there onwards, the path to the Grand Cathedral only had stairs. A humbling exercise, Ludwig thought. A way to make people work to reach the Church, even if only a little. No matter how rich you were, the last mile had to be walked by your own two feet. No matter how rich you were, everyone arrived at the Healing Church on equal footing. Ludwig contemplated the statues in the plaza. He had often wondered who they were praying to and why there are so many of them in so many places in Yharnam.

In fact it was tough to find a city street with absolutely no set of statues praying and raising their hands up to the sky and looking upwards. This was something Ludwig had always found weird, since the Healing Church's holy medium was the Healing Blood, something that was excavated from a Dungeon. Even more confusing still were the figures that adorned the interior of the Church's grand cathedral, humanoid monsters with misshapen heads and eight arms, the kind of which he had never seen or heard about before. Was this Oedon who had his own Chapel built for him in the ward? Who was Oedon and why was he never taught that? There are plenty of churches and chapels in Yharnam, but most are just devoted to the Good Blood. Ludwig wondered these things and seemed to remember having these thoughts before.

In fact, Ludwig had often wandered about many things relating to this city he was a stranger in. His own past gone from his mind, he often couldn't help but imagine was his former life could have been like before. It didn't happen in a wishful thinking way of wanting to remember it, but more in a thought fuelled journey through his imaginary background. Although he's at peace with not remembering, he sometimes can't help but wonder about the things he forgot, like his family, friends or even possible lovers or children. In the end he would always reach the same conclusion. "No use thinking about something that's impossible to remember", and yet he thought about it, over and over and over again. If only he had known about the effects of the blood, he could have written a letter to himself, but he never got that chance and thus he will never return to that life. Today he felt a little different, however, almost like he no longer cared. The city was probably growing on him, and so were its people.

Finally reaching Oedon Chapel, Ludwig entered it and found what was actually a pretty peaceful environment and Amelia sitting on a bench in prayer. He sat by her side in silence, trying to be respectful, but sensing him, she opened her eyes, wondering who it was. The Vicar looked at him with a smile and resumed her silent prayer. Ludwig was too polite to interrupt and he was in no rush. As he looked up, he wondered again who Oedon was and decided he would ask Amelia, for she was pretty knowledgeable and often explained things to him that he didn't know or had forgotten about.

Looking around him, Ludwig saw a bunch of other people in prayer. An old woman with her hair tied up in an old-fashioned way. A man who whispered to a silently crying child. Three women who all seemed to be of different generations, but similar enough to be related. A man with half of his face and one of his eyes covered by bandages. And lastly a couple who were praying while holding hands. "Don't be weird, it's rude to stare!" said Amelia jokingly as she finished praying and looked at Ludwig.

He shrugged "Hey, I was just looking at how peaceful things are today!"

"Did you come here to check on me? You are a good friend, Ludwig!" smiled Amelia, "Oh yeah, how was lunch at the Gascoines?"

Ludwig answers: "It was nice, they're good people and it's great to see Gascoigne up on his feet again. I thought he was a goner…"

"He was in a bad shape when they brought him in, I'm glad you gave him some Blood Vials on the way back, but he really wouldn't have made it without actual sutures. How's your arm by the way?" asked Amelia.

"Good as new", gestures Ludwig, flexing a little, which makes Amelia chuckle.

Amelia glances at the sword on Ludwig's back. "I told you before you don't need to carry that everywhere, right? Did you go have lunch with that sweet family while bringing along your massive killing weapon?" asks the Vicar.

"Well, when you put it like that…" replies the Hunter in slight embarrassment "Hey, the kids actually loved it and wanted to see the Moonlight!"

Amelia laughs: "You bring the sword to lunch with friends, you bring it into the sacred halls of the Church, you are the worst!" Ludwig chuckles back as they head outside in more playful banter, finally being able to speak at a normal volume.

Little by little Ludwig has seen that hidden side of Yharnam, the welcoming, sweet, caring side. He had found it first in Amelia, but that day he had found it anew in Gascoigne's family. For the first time Ludwig understood the man's words. Although his past would always be a curiosity to him, he now felt unburdened to live here, it was no longer something he was forced to do because he forgot where he had come from, it was his wish to live in Yharnam and he wanted to protect it for the sake of all the other Gascoignes and Violas out there. Amelia noticed he had gone silent during their walk to the residential ward: "Have you gone all mute on me now? It's not polite to ignore a girl, you know?" Ludwig came to his senses and called her over to a city bench instead of continuing on.

"Something on your mind?" asks the Vicar.

"Well, I've been feeling more and more like this place is my home, you know, but I keep thinking that I know so little about it" says Ludwig; "For example, who is Oedon? Why is there a Chapel dedicated to a divinity no one truly explains when we are learning about the Healing Church?"

Amelia looks up to the sky and explains: "Formless Oedon is just that, formless, he is an entity that is everywhere."

"How's that possible?" asks Ludwig. "Well, that's just how it is, I can't explain it. But you could always ask Laurence about it… he's much more knowledgeable than I am", suggests Amelia.

Laurence… Ludwig never knew what to think about Laurence. The First Vicar of the Healing Church wasn't one person he had ever seen much of, only in passing. He always seemed rushed, like he always had another place to be, which made him feel like he couldn't really reach out and have a conversation with him. He was surprisingly young for someone so highly regarded, as they were probably around the same age. It was weird for Ludwig to think about a religious leader and previous scholar being the same age as a mere slayer of beasts. He also seemed to be the focus of Amelia's affections, something which she always tried to conceal but Ludwig still noticed; her speech giving away more than mere admiration. "I'd like to meet him for real one day", said Ludwig.

"Come by the Grand Cathedral tomorrow", suggested Amelia, "Laurence will be around, looking at some of the patients. Construction is finally over on the new clinic where they'll relocate to and the Cathedral will finally become just a place of worship again!" Indeed the last time Ludwig visited the giant monument, it was filled with improvised beds, sick patients and moans of pain. It felt oppressive rather than hopeful, so he thought relocating them to a proper clinic would be a wonderful thing and said exactly that to Amelia, who nodded with a sad smile.

The two friends talked for hours and then Ludwig took Amelia home, where they said their goodbyes. Ludwig wasn't sleepy though, so he wandered the streets for a little while longer. It was a peaceful night and a nice breeze filled the hair. Many times Yharnam could be a smelly city, what with the very basic and not always used sewer system, but that night he felt nothing of the sort.

Ludwig wandered the streets until the sun was already rising in the horizon. Not wanting to miss on his promise to meet up with Amelia and head to the Grand Cathedral, he looked for a bakery and bought some bread, eating and walking along the streets as they woke up. It seemed that although people greatly avoided being outside at night, they were eager to come out as soon as dawn broke. The hustle and bustle in the streets often felt invigorating to him, who spent so much time cooped up in dungeons or the Workshop. Everyone feels so scared of the Beastly Scourge and the creatures that may jump them in the night that they probably just try to always make the most out of their day.

Ludwig stared at a farmer's market in a small street, the owner slowly opening up shop and greeting the passers-by. Truth be told, the fight he had in the previous week seemed just like a mere bad dream. It was then that it happened, Ludwig saw a huge twirling shadow cast on the floor at his feet and got extremely startled, turning around immediately and reaching for his sword. He looked in front of him, above him, everywhere between him and the sun, but there was nothing there, nothing that could cast any such shadow, at least. Looking back at the floor, the only shadows were those cast by the church towers in the distance, it all seemed normal. The people walking by him started to stare and wonder what the man was doing grabbing his weapon in the middle of a peaceful morning and Ludwig ended up thinking to himself that he should have slept instead of staying up all night.

However, now wasn't the time to go to bed, so he went to meet Amelia at her place. Ludwig knocked at the door and Vicar Amelia's voice answered from inside, saying she'd be out in a minute. And so it was. Locking the door behind her, Amelia waved at Ludwig: "Good morning! You look like shit, did you get any rest?" asks the Vicar.

Ludwig frowned and said: "Hey, I felt like walking, but don't let me stop you from telling me how bad I look!"

"Gee, it's a joke, you're always so serious! You know what? We should invite Maria and have some lunch ourselves, what do you say?" asks Amelia.

Ludwig nods "Awesome, haven't actually seen her in a bit!"

Amelia and Ludwig walked together towards the Grand Cathedral. She inquired him as to what he was doing all night and where he had gone to, and he ended up telling her all the places he visited. "You know what the good thing here is? You still made it back to me on time, so you didn't get lost! You're getting to know the city!" exclaims Amelia happily. Ludwig wondered if she's right or if it's just because everywhere you are, you can always see the Grand Cathedral and the Astral Clocktower, making it easy to head that specific way and not ever get lost.

As the two reached the Cathedral gates, they walked past a bunch of people working together to bring out beds, mattresses, other room furniture and plenty of surgical apparel. Some were wearing Church clothing, but others were dressed more commonly. There was even one Hunter among them, an older man who Ludwig knew as Vitus, even though they had never talked.

In the cathedral, a few of the sick were being led to wheelchairs and stretchers so they could be carried to the new clinic. Next to the altar, Ludwig could see Laurence had already arrived and was helping with taking care of the sick. Laurence had dark hair and wore a more luxurious version of the white garb of the Healing Church. He was standing, clearly sharing words of comfort to all those who worried about their future. "You'll see, Mister Cain! They'll take even better care of you down at the clinic! Iosefka is one of our best doctors!" explained Laurence with a warm smile.

Seeing Ludwig and Amelia approach, Laurence asked to be excused and went to them: "Amelia and… Ludwig is it? What brings you here? Came to help out?"

Amelia nods adding "I did, but Ludwig said he really wanted to meet you so I brought him along to make some proper introductions!"

Ludwig felt shy at those words, because they made it sound like he was some admirer of Laurence who, after hearing them, turned his attention towards Ludwig. "The bearer of the Moonlight Sword, am I right? Although we haven't talked, I've held your blade myself when we were studying it. Tried to unlock its secrets to no avail. I actually meant to see its light, but never found the right opportunity to invite you and ask… It felt pretty entitled of me to just do so", said Laurence with a smile.

"No time like the present! I'll go help out with the patients, but you two can talk and Ludwig, show him the light!" said Amelia, running off to help push a wheelchair outside.

Ludwig nodded shyly, it was common for people to want to see his sword, but to have it be requested by the leader of the Healing Church himself felt very massive to him. He grabbed the sword from his back and closed his eyes, calling to it. When he opened them again, the green hue wasn't just marvelling Laurence, but also a bunch of the people around them, who had completely stopped what they were doing to look at the moonlit blade.

"It's so much more than I thought! How wonderful!" said Laurence, "does it hurt if I touch the light?" Ludwig gestured for him to go ahead and Laurence felt the warmth emanating from the shinning blade. "This was a great discovery, Ludwig, treasure it always!" said Laurence with a smile, "I'm sure it'll end up saving your life many times!"

"It already has, sir!" replied Ludwig with a tinge of pride.

"I'd love to hear about these stories someday, I feel greatness from you, Ludwig… The sort of man that can not just unlock the secrets of such a relic, but be the only one who can do so, has to have a bright future!" prophesises Laurence. Ludwig doesn't know what to reply to such a declaration, so he just nods.

"No need to feel embarrassed my friend, I've held your sword and got nothing out of it; that should tell you that your kinship to it is unique!" continued Laurence.

"I do feel how special it is, sir! And I'd be happy to show you more someday!" retorted Ludwig, with a tiny bit of jealousy forming after imagining someone trying to attune to His sword.

Smiling softly and regaining his more stoic composure, Laurence asked Ludwig if there was anything specific he had wanted to meet him for. Ludwig nodded, "Amelia said you could better explain Formless Oedon to me, just like those odd statues at this cathedral's entrance…"

Laurence smiled, "Ah, the inquisitiveness of a Hunter… Formless Oedon is a Great One, a being beyond our very plane of existence and understanding… A God… He is all around us, in the walls, the rocks, he exists in our very bodies…"

Ludwig lifted an eyebrow, "so how did you learn of him? I don't mean to be disrespectful, but how do you know he exists?"

Laurence took a few steps and opened his arms to the sky: "We are in a church, dear Ludwig, as an outsider, I understand this might seem weird to you, but a religion is made of hope and what is hope, if not a belief? A belief that you'll be healed? A belief that a city, far off in the edges of the known world has some miracle cure for any ailment? You believed it too, didn't you? That's why you're here now! Oedon is that same belief; that same feeling that gives people hope when they need it, not that all of them do, of course."

Ludwig was a little taken aback by the sudden monologue, but asked "what about the monster statues?"

"Please, don't call them monsters. The Amygdala are Great Ones too, they just have a clear form, unlike Oedon. Every Great One is different" explained Laurence assertively. Ludwig didn't really know what to say, it seemed this was more than simple belief to Laurence, but he couldn't help doubt all of what he had said and think it all an unfounded religious belief.

"But isn't the Healing Church supposed to worship the Healing Blood?" Ludwig manages to ask the First Vicar.

"The Healing Blood is worshiped by the people, it brings them comfort and hope, but we of the Church? We know better, we know more…" explains Laurence. "It's normal that you don't understand, you are new here and don't have enough Insight about this city. Maybe you want to do something for me? It might help you gain some", suggested the First Vicar.

"Sure", said Ludwig eagerly still sizing up the man in front of him.