A/N: Here we go again, into what I consider the "most soothing" part of Bloodborne. I quite enjoy putting on a podcast and cranking out a few Chalice Dungeons, at least until I get to the Loran Darkbeast… screw that thing. It's a bitch and a half to fight with the Blades of Mercy.

Disclaimer: this won't be visible for several weeks, but you know what won't change in several weeks? My ownership status of these two franchises

Deeper Reaches of the Labyrinth

Katherine was convinced that they'd been down here for years. It felt like it'd been years anyway. With no sun and no hunger or thirst or any other bodily function grabbing at her attention it was hard to tell any sort of time. Not that any of it had been easy before these dungeons. Everything had just become a repetitive cycle of opening doors, digging through musty tombs for strange ritual ingredients that she knew were useful, though not how, and killing things… lots and lots of slaughter of the various denizens of the dungeons. They were soaked in blood and no matter how many times they returned to the Dream the Hunter never felt like she was cleaned of it, too often they found themselves falling into the bloodlust, nearly turning on each other as often as the beasts of the dungeons. Something about the bloodlust felt different now though… there was a bizarre clarity to it, like the veil that parted the worlds was… gone. Or rather that it was sheer, she could see through it from time to time, so close she could touch it, but so far from a petty humans' grasp. It wasn't right to be able to cross that barrier yet.

"You okay?" Nero asked her, some of the golden light fading from his eyes. Katherine shook her head to clear the higher thoughts away. The enemies they'd just fought hadn't been a challenge, far from it in fact, they were cannon fodder, simple minded and weaker still of body, often relying on traps or surprise to overtake their enemies. Unfortunately for them, neither Hunter nor partial devil were fooled by such things. No, the fire in their blood had come more from the easy overpowering of their enemies, of the waves of them cut down before blade and saw, blood spattering across stone and skin and- Katherine cut the thought off, swallowing past her suddenly dry throat.

"I am fine." she said simply, stepping past the devil hunter to pull the lever that the larger enemy had been guarding. Most of these dungeons had a simple rhythm to them, kill the bigger guy, pull the lever, open the door that had been unlocked, continue on to a bigger still enemy, kill it, and continue downward. Occasionally they'd surface to the Dream to perform another ritual, to be able to continue deeper down into the depths. Nero had asked how deep these things went, she had no idea. All she knew was that the true physical entrance was in Yharnam, that the city was built overtop of them; that the prospectors had found the Great Ones down there, that that was where the Blood had come from. The Dream simply allowed them to 'shortcut' between them using ritual and sacrifice.

"How deep are we willing to go?" Nero said as they came up on the now unlocked door and pulled the lever to raise the portcullis, the ancient machinery creaking and groaning as it moved for the first time in a gods' age.

"As deep as the answers are." Katherine said, keeping her eyes forward, toward their next prey.

-Devil's Hunt-

The dungeons were becoming increasingly difficult to simply hack and slash their way through, the defenders became more viscous, the environment more dangerous. They'd been working their way through several levels that were disturbed by an ancient wind, sand and dust kicked up into the air. Stranger still were the bits of sparks that drifted through the air, Nero had tried to get them to land on his sword, curiosity in his bright eyes but the sparks refused to be distrubed from whatever pattern they were intent to play out. The partial devil had mused on them and their source for a while until they rounded a corner, noticing a creature they'd yet to encounter before.

It was long, gangly, almost stretched in appearance, more a corpse than a creature, some sort of metal scythe wrapped loosely in boney fingers. The long, stringy, dark hair was only slightly disturbed by the wind and it stood, slack-jawed and staring ahead at something the duo couldn't see, twitching occasionally in a way that sent a disquieted shiver down Katherine's spine. Nero sheathed his blade, placing one of the metal arms in the place that his real one had been just moments before and clicking something into place.

The clicking had clearly been too loud, as the creature's head snapped to face them, blank sockets focusing on them in a way that was far too similar to that of a creature with proper eyes. It was stock still for a fraction of a second and then it screamed, charging forward and leaping with a speed that shocked both of them. Nero just barely brought up the metal arm in time to block and Katherine rolled out the way. She came up swinging, twin blades slicing through the air and biting into skin that felt more like dried leather. The creature wasn't done with them yet though, swinging a blade at Katherine and though she ducked it caught her across the cheek. It sliced through fabric and flesh alike and she hissed in vague pain before retaliating, swinging her own blades back in a frantic matter until it slammed a bony arm into her and sent her tumbling back ass over teakettle.

The Hunter looked up and rolled just in time for the two scythes to come clashing down into the stone that she'd just occupied. Then the sound of rumble and fire washed through the space the creature was, Nero's fiery sword alighting it's dry skin and killing it swiftly. Katherine rose to her feet, more than a bit startled by the creature that had come up on them so quickly.

"That was… unpleasant." she said, wheezing slightly from where it had slammed its arm into her ribs. Nero offered her a hand up and she gratefully took it, rising to her feet and looking at the still smoking corpse. The partial devil just snorted

"Yeah, you could say that again." he said, sheathing his sword on his back once more. Katherine sometimes wondered how he kept his clothes from catching on fire, the flames and heat on that blade didn't disappear instantly.

"It moved faster than I would expect for a creature of that size." she said as they peered into the room it had come from. Thankfully the lever that they were seeking was inside with only a few rats now guarding it.

"I quit trying to use size as a judge of speed, some demons will surprise the heck out of you if you do that." Nero said, yanking the lever against its rusty gears. It protested with a shriek and then clattered back to its original position. In the distance they could hear the mechanical click of a door unlocking. "I wonder why they locked up so much of their tombs, who would want to come down here?" The devil hunter continued as they made a casual pace back toward the now unlocked door in the main room of this level. Katherine shot him a knowing look and he just rolled his eyes.

"Other than us, of course, I'm pretty sure we've both completely lost it, and therefore, don't count." Nero said, Katherine scoffed as she stepped forward to lift the portcullis that was blocking their path.

"Then perhaps it is to guard against madmen. Yharnam certainly doesn't seem to be in short supply of those." she said teasingly. These small respites, tiny tastes of normalcy that they both shared with good-natured ribbing and casual paces helped her feel more human. It was both relieving and saddening, it reminded her of what was lost, what she felt she was losing the more insight into this nightmare she gained, what had been gone from the moment she'd awakened on that transfusion table.

They both shared a look, wondering if the other was prepared to dive back into the bloody madness that would enshroud them the moment the huge door was opened. Katherine tightened the grip on her cleaver and their unspoken break was over, Nero pushed open the door and they both stepped inside. The bones on the floor sparked suddenly, rising up of their own accord and roaring their displeasure to the ceiling above.

-Devil's Hunt-

Katherine needed to sit down. This was all just becoming too much. The Hunter had already predicted that things would become far more difficult the deeper they delved, that much had become apparent after the first few however she hadn't been anticipating their hardest enemy being their own bloodlust. Falling into it was becoming an almost surreal experience, like diving under deep water, rocked by heavy currents and every motion their body made was not quite their own, dictated instead by the motion of the waves. She could tell whenever she started to fall too deep. This had been one of those fights. The current set of dungeons was a strange, almost arcane tinted place where the veil was as thin as tissue paper. And the enemy they'd just fought? Stranger still. Somehow, the Hunter knew, just upon seeing it that they were viewing something special, something magnificent. Something… abandoned. Why had the others left their Kin, their Daughter down here while they transcended the stars?

"Katherine you okay?" Nero asked, equally as covered in blood as she was, she knew it was blood, it was all the wrong color but she knew somehow and seeing it coating and sticking to his clothes was sad. Was… wrong?

"I…" she looked down at the floor instead, hoping the solid ground would help to keep some of the glimpses into knowledge she didn't want at bay. "I need to sit here." she said. Nero didn't question it, she could hear how hard he was breathing himself. Likely fighting with the bloodlust on his own terms. It hadn't been an easy fight. She'd died at least twice amongst it and Nero had been relying so heavily on his demonic form that it was almost startling to see his human face. The silence was long. It could have minutes, it could have been hours, the Hunter couldn't tell but she finally raised her head and looked up, no longer feeling as though the world made too much sense. Nero also looked calmer now as well, didn't have the near crazed expression that he often adopted when under the influence of the blood-drunkeness.

"What was that?" he asked, shifting his position on the ground a bit.

"She was where the Church initially gained access to the Old Blood." Katherine said, Nero only gave her a strange look, clearly not the answer he was expecting.

"I meant with you. That didn't seem like the normal bloodlust." he said gently. The Hunter nodded

"Ever since…" she paused to think on it "the Lecture Hall, reality has been… clearer, different. I am still uncertain if the change is a good thing. It makes the blood-drunkeness… different. I am more aware, however in no more control of my own actions. It seems almost that the veil that parts our own world from others is easier to peel back."

"That sounds like it sucks." Nero said, he seemed more comfortable in his own skin again and shuffled over, nudging her knee with his own, neither of them caring in the slightest that they were coated in gore. "You going to be okay?" he asked. Katherine took a deep breath.

"I am uncertain." she said simply, pulling the hat from her head to wipe the now cold sweat from her brow.

"That's okay, this whole thing is… bonkers." he finished, looking up at the top of the room where starlight seemed to gather against all reason. He sighed and looked at her again, expression hard to read under all the grime "You ready to keep going? Or is this answer enough?" he asked. Katherine paused to ponder his words, letting them seep in and looking at the chalice that she was turning over and over in her hands.

"There's more to know deeper down, I know it."

-Devil's Hunt-

"Do you ever wonder how long we've been at this?" Nero asked, they had paused to open various chests and coffins, and Katherine grabbed the various materials that may have been of use to them for the next ritual. This dungeon had been particularly brutal, sapping their strength the deeper into it they went. The watchdog that they'd fought having downed her once right before they'd managed to kill it.

"Much and more time, and yet no time at all." she responded easily, time seemed to just fall into place as it needed to, the sense of it all just beyond her grasp, sometimes the logic was perfectly clear, sometimes it was as dense as mud. This was a clearer moment. Nero didn't seem to think so, based on the look he shot in her direction but he continued to dig through the chest that he'd opened, holding up a small cup of some sort of ritualistic blood. Katherine shook her head and he tossed it off to the side where it spattered on the floor unceremoniously.

"How did you do so well against that dog-beast?" she asked, giving voice to something that had been on her mind since the fight. She always came back during their battles but she was confident that Nero had yet to suffer mortal wounds during one of these encounters. Most of the time she was able to keep her jealousy in check. Most of the time. Nero gave her a smirk, almost as if he knew and wanted to rub it in that his own skill kept him alive far better than her own did.

"Not the first time I've fought a large fiery monster, probably won't be the last either. These beasts aren't like demons, there's a lot of the same, and sometimes there are in demons too but most of the time, you never know what you're going to get. You have to be able to adjust and think fast, one wrong move and you're done. I've just had a lot of practice, it becomes second nature," he shrugged "and then sometimes Dante and I would get into competitions where-" he stopped, a frown crossing over his face. He sighed and hung his head, the sudden remembrance of what had come before overwhelming him. Katherine hesitated but then put a hand on his shoulder.

"Tell me more, if it is not too painful to think back on." she said, wishing, not for the first time, that she had a past to think back on. Nero glanced at her, appreciation and longing warring for control of his expression and finally he huffed.

"Alright, well there was this one time that-"

The conversation carried them both forward as they pushed through this particular floor, winding rooms and balconies and lots and lots of enemies to rip and tear and shred apart. Nero had just finished another tale of spectacular fights and prideful demons when they pushed open the doors to the final room of the dungeon. It appeared empty for only a moment before a creature launched itself off of the ceiling and landed in front of them.

"Oh hey, it's our spidery friend, this should be easy." Nero grinned as Katherine drew her blades, ready for the fight.

-Devil's Hunt-

"Y'know I think I take back what I said, that magic hit like a truck." Nero grumbled, meeting her at the lantern where she was still readjusting to the feeling of all of her bones not being crushed.

"Is it dead?" she asked when she felt like the feeling of death had eased its claws from her soul.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't." Nero said, granted she felt they'd been close when she'd miss-timed a dodge and gotten squashed but she wasn't sure. The devil hunter also looked worse for wear, a large dark bruise on the side of his face slowly fading as they spoke and some of the red blood staining his clothes likely from himself rather than the monster they'd fought.

"It can't be easy, covering for me until I get back." she said wearily, feeling a bit like an anchor, keeping the partial devil back. However he just shrugged

"I didn't exactly have a partner in combat before this, so honestly, the company's pretty nice, even if you are a bit off in the head." he poked her forehead with a grimy finger which she glared at. The resurrection didn't get rid of all of the holes but it at least cleaned the muck from her clothes and skin. Nero just laughed and held up another chalice.

"You ready to unlock the deeper reaches of the labyrinth?" he asked, giving the ornate cup a little shake. Katherine sighed, she needed to know what lay at the bottom but she was unsure how much more of this she could take.

"Onward and downward." she rose to her feet, before turning to the lantern to transport them back to the Dream where they could prepare the proper offering to break the seal, she had a feeling they were nearing the end of the dungeons, she could only hope that that sensation was correct and that they didn't have ages yet to travel into the depths.

A/N: Okay so more chalice dungeons polished off, only a bit more to go on them. Poor Nero's getting really homesick and I can't blame him. Katherine's more on the homesick for something she's never had scale. Anyway

Till next time,

-Winged Element