A/N: Okay so I'm pretty excited about this chapter, I love the Lady Maria fight. My first time I didn't do many parries and used the Blades of Mercy and we danced. It was exhilarating :3 So suffice to say, I'm excited to do this :3
Disclaimer: I'm going to do a Lady Maria cosplay. I don't own any of this shit, but just thought you guys should know that.
The Sweet Blood
Katherine shouldn't have been surprised when the corpse got up and started fighting them, but she was and it made for a very poor beginning to the fight that they were currently engaged in. Lady Maria had begun by stalking toward her and Katherine was ready for the strike, what she hadn't anticipated however, was for the other Hunter to switch gears and gun for Nero, her dagger plunging into his thigh before he had the chance to react. He swore and backpedalled, Katherine flicked her cleaver out and charged after him, trying to keep her off of the devil hunter, who's larger blade was struggling to keep up with the swift dagger strikes. She was able to hold off Lady Maria for a few moments, the pair caught up in an intricate dance that one misstep would spell pain for either of them… Missteps that Katherine kept making, unable to keep up with the speed of the older Hunter. Something in the back of Katherine's mind noted that the bone from the Hunter's Dream must have belonged to Lady Maria to be able to pull that quickening effect from it that the Lady did seemingly without thinking. She tried to keep her mind out of the bloodlust, Lady Maria was a Hunter first and foremost, if she lost herself to the bloodlust she would be no more than the beasts that the Lady had slaughtered, an easy kill. There was a blue flash as Nero pulled more on his demonic power, trying to keep up with the fight but she could tell that he too was struggling. She engaged again, took a couple too many slashes from the Hunter's weapon and backstepped, pulling out a vial, jamming it into her leg, trying to ignore the rush of the blood in their veins. Nero started to dart forward, wings raised above his head and fire in his eyes, neither of them anticipated Lady Maria smoothly pulling a pistol from her coat and landing a bullet home between Nero's eyes. She was in front of him in an instant, cruel glee etched into her face as she leaned into his ear, her hand buried in the devil hunter's gut. Katherine was already moving, even as Maria wrenched her hand back, innards falling out like so many pink worms across the floor…
Nero collapsed forward, Katherine knew deep down that he should return at the lantern, whole and well but the Hunter couldn't think past the spatter of red that dripped from their compatriot. The cleaver bit heavily into Maria, not giving her the chance to fight back as it ripped and tore, when she finally took a step back, the first in the fight, the Hunter whirled back to Nero, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him, shouting at him to get up, to keep fighting… The devil hunter didn't respond other than a raspy breath that may or may not have been an attempt at words. Katherine paused, the vial in her pocket suddenly seeming very heavy… She saw Lady Maria determinedly shove her blades into herself, that did not bode well… There was no time for any other choice, Katherine pulled out the vial of Arianna's blood, hoping that someone of the mysterious Cainhurst line would have sufficient power to their blood to aid them in this fight. Katherine gave the smallest of pauses to lean forward and speak into Nero's ear, uncertain whether her words reached him in that moment or not.
"I am sorry for this, but you must let your instincts drive you, we need the beast inside." and then she jammed the needle into his arm, Nero gave the smallest of flinches as the metal pierced his skin, and then the plunger sent the Yharnam blood into his veins…
Katherine heard the explosion behind her and the spatter of blood on the ground, the sound of footsteps as Maria approached but did not have the chance to turn and face their enemy as they were knocked off their feet by a blue lit force emanating from the partial devil. Katherine regained her senses just in time to see Nero stand, in his demonic form, though the intelligent light that she'd always seen in those amber eyes was gone, she'd gotten her wish, this was the beast that lurked under the partial devil's skin, he roared and Lady Maria smiled. It was the smile of a Hunter, one who had just been given exactly what they wanted. Katherine felt her heart sink as Maria lowered into a stance, launching herself forward, blood backing up the power of her strike this time. However Nero was unfazed, slamming straight through it, ignoring the damage done to his own body and by the time Katherine had blinked all that remained was the blood that had spattered out of the wound. The devil hunter went to town on Lady Maria, forgoing the sword to instead slash and bite and rip and punch his way through the other Hunter. Katherine closed in on her as soon as she made the mistake of backing up to try to get away from the feral partial devil.
For the first time since the fight began, Katherine noticed worry begin to etch itself onto Maria's face. Her attacks began to get more desperate, fire swirling in to join the blood that she had infused her attacks with. The Hunter felt their skin skald more than once but they could tell that they were nearing the end, mostly thanks to Nero's relentless, brutal attacks. The partial devil kept coming, didn't stop tearing at Lady Maria. The older Hunter had just backed away from Katherine in an attempt to recooperate but Nero was on her again, wings reaching and grabbing and claws tearing and there was a quick spurt of blood as the partial devil leaned forward and ripped her throat out. The Lady went down with no last words, merely a choked gurgle… Katherine felt relief, until Nero turned to face her, blood and gore dripping from the manic grin that split his face.
"The blood… the sweet blood…" he whispered, stalking forward toward her…
A/N: I'm having fun right now, this chapter was really fun to write.
Till next time,
-Winged Element