A/N: So I'm… trying something right now, not at all sure it's going to work, I'm running a test at work in which I have 2 and a half minutes between actual active work, which is not really enough time to do my job, but maybe I can do this? We'll see…
Disclaimer: I don't even own this laptop
If You are Successful
The duo dodged and darted about the surprisingly quick corpse. Nero was still on the fence if there was any sort of consciousness in there or if he was like the beasts they so often faced, mindless and running on instinct alone. His ferocity was the same as any beasts but the calculated dodges and parry's made the partial devil think there may be some of the old man still behind the desiccated eyes. Regardless the martyr was no match for the two of them, particularly when he'd tried to cast some form of magic to keep one of them off of him, Nero had snatched the sword that had clearly been the source of the magic with his Breaker and smashed the conjured blade against the ground where it'd shattered like ice. Twice afterward the walking corpse had tried to do that trick, one of them destroying it before it had a chance to do more than glow. The waves of smokey skulls however, those hurt, and worse, made them stumble, stealing important breath away and causing them to step back to try to recover.
However after a short ten minutes that internally felt more like hours, Katherine managed to spear the old man through the throat, her blades cutting off his wheezes into a wet gurgle as he died and this time, remained that way.
They both stood there for a long moment, breath fogging in the frigid air, the lantern became visible to their eyes but even after it was lit, nothing seemed to happen, they stood on an empty roof with an already cold corpse next to them.
"Now what?" Nero asked. Katherine's red eyes flicked around them, seeming to search for some sign of what they needed to do next.
"I… That cannot be the end of it." she muttered, kneeling next to the corpse and beginning to rifle through its pockets. The ease with which she disrespected the dead continued to surprise Nero, sure he may dink around and toss about the corpses of demons but these used to be people… She pulled the crown from the head of the martyr and looked at it briefly before tossing it at him. He caught it more out of reflex than anything and just looked between it and his companion.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked, holding the bloodied, cold thing slightly away from himself.
"Put it on." Katherine said this as though it were obvious that he should wear a dead man's crown.
"Why?" he grumbled, inspecting it.
"It didn't match the rest of his garb, I presume that he obtained it here." she paused briefly before he saw the smile reach her eyes "And it certainly will not fit my head."
"Are you trying to tell me I have a big head?" he asked, raising a brow but placing the cold metal over his short hair anyway.
"Are you implying that you do not?" Katherine teased. The partial devil rolled his eyes and was about to give her some smart words of his own when the snow swirled and gusted around them, the pair both raising arms as though it would assist them against the biting cold. When it died down again there was a whole portion of the castle in view that Nero was certain had not been there before.
"Gonna be honest, was not expecting that." he said, already walking forward, crown dropping to the tiles along the way, he was eager to get out of this blasted wind. He may be more used to it now but having grown up on a temperate island had not done much for his tolerance of cold climates. Katherine followed him silently as he opened the door to reveal a large staircase leading upward. They both looked at each other and then began up the stairs, the large suits of armor watching them as they ascended. The room was eerily silent, even the wind from outside seemed extremely muted; Nero found himself trying to feel about for another demonic presence but there was nothing there.
As they crested the stairs they found themselves in a large throne room, both thrones occupied, one of them with a living breathing woman in a strange helmet, the other with a large pool of blood that had long since dried to dark browns against the reddish carpet. Nero wondered if the woman could see, and if she could, how she'd put up with the sight sitting next to her. The woman's head lifted as they entered the throne room proper and her voice echoed out from beneath the helmet.
"Visitor… I claim no subjects, but here lieth Our throne. Kneel afore Us… or get thee gone." there was a certain calm confidence in her words, like she knew she commanded respect and hell to anyone who didn't show it. Nero glanced at Katherine out of the corner of his eye, his partner simply started forward, kneeling into a gracious bow before the throne. Nero sighed softly and joined her. He may not have respected the Order of the Sword but he did remember how to pay proper respect, even if he didn't do it often. The woman, Queen, he supposed, lifted her chin ever so slightly in acceptance of their humility.
"Visitor... Moon-scented hunter… I am Annalise, Queen of Castle Cainhurst. Ruler of the Vilebloods, and sworn enemy of the church. Yet, Our people are murdered, and We are prisoner to this wretched mask. What is it thou'rt in search of? Speak thy mind." she said all of this calmly, though Nero wondered if she knew that she was the only one left living in this frigid castle.
"We seek answers." Katherine said, speaking up before Nero had the chance to, though it seemed as good a request as any. He just hoped that they weren't going to have to pay for this request with some horrible sacrifice. Answers in this backwards, nightmare world seemed to have a steep cost, usually one's own sanity.
"Mine knowledge of current events is… limited. Circumstances prevent Us from leaving these grounds, if thine question pertains to such matters We cannot provide enlightenment." she stated, and then paused, waiting for them to speak again. Katherine hesitated and Nero raised his head slightly to gaze upon this Queen, and spoke.
"What are the Vilebloods?" he asked. The last thing he expected was for the Queen to laugh, but she did, briefly, before answering him.
"Art thou an outsider to Our lands?" she said and the partial devil could feel the amusement radiating off of her, he wanted to sigh, why was everyone so surprised that he wasn't from around here? "Vilebloods art Hunters of blood. Our subjects and oft protectors of Cainhurst's noble way of life."
"And can anyone become a Vileblood?" Katherine asked, her eyes sparkling in a way that Nero wasn't sure he liked. She usually only had that look when she was about to do something verging on insane.
"Art thou pledging thineself?" Annalise asked, she'd shifted forward in her throne ever so slightly, clearly intrigued by the idea. Nero wanted to have time to think over joining some random covenant that they'd just heard about today… or last night. Time had taken on a strange, dream-like quality to it.
"Yes." Katherine said with conviction, bowing her head once more. This time Nero did let out the smallest of sighs, of course they weren't going to talk this over…
"Yes." he said, feeling the weight of the Queen's hidden gaze upon him after his companion had spoken.
"Well, well… An odd hunter thou art indeed… We've tired of these piteous nights… Share in Our plight, and take oath against the church. If thou wouldst this path walk… I prithee partake of my rotted blood." she took up a small but incredibly ornate dagger from the table next to her and made a small cut along her wrist and extending the limb to the pair of them. Of course this is how one joined this mysterious group, Nero thought, couldn't just sign a piece of paper or anything… Katherine stood and took the two steps forward to the Queen, kneeling once more and pulling the covering away from her face before leaning in and kissing the blood away in a gesture that Nero felt was far more graceful than it had any right to be. The Hunter stood, bowing deeply and kneeling back in the place that she'd been moments before.
Nero tried to ignore the growing discomfort of nerves jangling in his stomach as he stood and stepped up to the Queen who made no motion but to bend her wrist back, agitating the wound and causing more blood to seep out. He swallowed and tried not to be slightly disgusted by the whole thing. Sure, he'd gained a newfound bloodlust that exceeded that which he'd already had being part devil but that didn't mean that he went around wanting to lick blood off of things like some vampire wannabe. But he wasn't about to back down now and bent down, trying to mimic the casual way that Katherine had performed the action, expecting to only end up with a couple drops on his lips and was instead surprised by the mouthful he'd ended up with. It was thick and bitter and shockingly cold for blood, causing the Devil Hunter to wince as he stood up and took his place back with Katherine. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, hoping that she was ready to leave, the roiling in his stomach and the pounding of his heart made him think that there was something more to the blood that he'd just ingested that he initially thought.
"Might we take our leave, Queen?" Katherine said gently. The masked woman raised her chin in acknowledgement of the words.
"We await thy return, for the honor of Cainhurst." she said in simple dismissal. The duo both stood and started back down the many, many stairs. At the base Nero turned to Katherine.
"What happened to wanting answers?" he asked, more than a bit agitated "Also, what the fuck was with that vampire shit that we both just did?" he hissed, trying to keep his voice low. He had no idea how good the Queen's hearing was and didn't want to insult her.
"Most of our questions pertain to current events, or near enough. I do not think she has much awareness of anything outside this room. I do not know if she is even aware that all of her people are murdered, not just some of them. Anything else I would like to ask, pertaining to the 'corrupted blood' and Cainhurst in general, would likely be answered with cryptic nonanswers. You heard the way she spoke too did you not?" Katherine said. Nero sighed, his shoulders slumping.
"Yeah she weirdly reminded me of some of the priests where I grew up, though most of them weren't that bad, even in sermons. That doesn't explain why we just up and joined some sketchy group out of the blue."
"You were free to decline."
"After you just did it with no questions asked in front of a Queen? Yeah right." the partial devil rolled his eyes. Katherine glared at him, clearly nonplussed herself.
"And I should have done what, do tell? Rejected her outright?" she snapped. They both just glared at one another for several moments before Nero broke the eye contact.
"Well now what? This place seems to be a dead end."
"Or a place with more questions than answers. And none pertaining to the Paleblood." she mused, looking out at the gusting snow on the rooftop. Nero considered briefly how strange it was that they entered the castle's throne room from a rooftop but the idea of the Queen in that strange mask whisked the thought away. There were stranger things here than how to get to the throne room. Katherine turned back to him.
"Do you have a preference for where we turn to for answers next?" she asked, mask still pulled down around her neck. The partial devil noticed that the Queen's blood had stained her lips a brighter red than normal and he wondered if his were the same. It was a disquieting thought.
"I don't, I just want to go home." Nero said bluntly. Reflecting on how long he'd been here was always an effort in futility but he sometimes did anyway. He wondered if Kyrie was missing him yet, if Nico had begun looking for him, if any time had passed at all back home or if this would be some strange groundhog day bullshit if he ever got back. That was an uncomfortable thought, never being able to escape this hellish nightmare. Perhaps he'd died and this was his hell, forced to fight through strange nightmares for all-
"Nero?" the partial devil blinked at the hand on his shoulder, flinching when he looked up at the too many eyes watching in worry from Katherine's head. Another blink and they were gone, hidden beyond the veil once more.
"What?" he asked, swallowing the suddenly thick saliva in his mouth.
"We'll get you back to your home." she said it with such conviction that for a moment, the hunter believed her.
"Well for now let's get back to the Dream. I'm tired of freezing my ass off." he grumbled, still shaken by both the idea of never returning and the horror he'd just seen.
-Devil's Hunt-
The path of travel was no worse than usual and upon waking in the Dream, Nero had to take a moment to collect himself from the horrific visions that always plagued the space between. Katherine took a few moments to speak to the Doll, Nero took the time to paw through their meager collection of spare clothes and shoes to see if there was anything he could replace his currently falling apart wardrobe with. He'd already switched out his shoes for some other leather boots that had been in the chest, they weren't as stylish as the ones he'd entered this nightmare with but they'd lost the fight with the poison filled swamp and it was that or go barefoot. The hunter pulled out a coat, not entirely dissimilar from what Katherine was wearing and shook it out, holding it up and debating.
"Gives you the look of a proper Hunter." Gherman's voice cut in. Nero startled slightly, the old man was capable of moving eerily quietly and if he didn't know better he'd say that he just teleported about the Dream.
"Not sure if I want to be a 'Proper Hunter'." Nero scoffed, tempted to toss the garment back into the box that he'd pulled it from just to spite the old man. Not that he truly had anything against the old hunter, the man was kind enough when he was completely with it.
"You don't get to choose, boy." Gehrman said gently, a world weariness in his eyes and once more Nero wondered what the man's story was. He knew that Gehrman had been a Hunter, but what his life had been before that? Katherine had no idea either, and if the Doll knew, she wouldn't speak of it. Gehrman coughed roughly, the spasms wracking his whole body. Nero put a hand on his back soothingly but was mildly surprised when it was slapped away.
"I don't…" more hacking coughs "I don't need your pity." the old man snapped, the coughs slowly subsiding. "For better or worse this Dream sustains me, you needn't spend your worries on me boy." He looked up at the devil hunter with steely gray eyes, clear and without the milky haze that often accompanied age. "Life often decides our path, with or without our desires, there's no use in fighting it, do the best with the hand you're dealt." Nero looked back to the coat in his hands and then turned, about to speak to Gherman again only to realize that he'd disappeared. The partial devil sighed and shrugged out of his current coat; there were too many holes in it anyway.
When he found Katherine again she was kneeling next to one of the gravestones, placing odd items at its base. She gave him a brief glance before turning back to what she was doing.
"It fits you well." was the only comment she made. Nero nodded and knelt next to her.
"What are you doing?" he asked, wrinkling his nose at the coppery smell that lingered out of the small chalice, undoubtedly filled with blood of some kind.
"Performing a ritual to enter the Pthumerian crypts buried deep beneath Yharnam." she said, pouring some other strange blood into the chalice and swirling it gently, as though it were a fine wine and not mouldy ass blood. Nero watched, she seemed to know what she was doing and he wondered what old book she'd found this in and whether it would work as intended.
"What will you do? If you are successful in finding a way to your home?" she interrupted his thoughts and he looked at her curiously.
"First of all give Nico hell for not doing enough research on missions before accepting them. Go home, kiss my girlfriend, go back to fighting demons, probably research this place, see what I can find on other worlds." he paused "What about you?"
"Try to find the life I led before." she said "I wonder who I used to be, it would be… satisfying to know who that was. Perhaps I will see the sunrise in Yharnam and perhaps things will be better." she bit the end of one finger, dripping the blood in and giving it one more swirl before looking at him.
"Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be." Nero snorted, putting a hand on her shoulder. She took a deep breath and dribbled the blood over the gravestone and placed the chalice at its base. The tiny creature leapt up around their feet and the world faded around them.
A/N: So they've met Analise! At first I was very excited about that until I got to that moment and went "right she talks like a weirdo" and then struggled to figure out how she would say things. But yeah, progress has been made and I've made the decision that they're delving into the chalice dungeons, not sure if I'm going to regret that…
Till next time,
-Winged Element