Maria felt weightless. Like she was sinking into increasingly murky water. She couldn't see anything. Feel anything: no pain, no anger; nothing. But occasionally, she could hear voices. There was no telling what they were saying and with every passing moment, they grew more and more distant. But no matter how deep she sank, she remained aware of one voice in particular. It sounded…anxious. Sometimes even like it was grieving.

Then suddenly, she felt herself being carried towards the surface. It was an agonizingly slow process, but in time, Maria broke above the waves. Breath returned to her lungs, the open air grazed her frigid skin and with what little strength her body could muster, she willed her eyes to finally open.

Through her blurry vision, she could just barely make out an unfamiliar ceiling above her. It was still much too painful to move her head, but at the very least, she could sense that she was no longer lying on the arena's stone floor, but rather on something much more comfortable - a bed, she imagined. And almost the moment she felt her senses return to her, she could hear that voice again. She still couldn't quite make out what it was saying, but there was no mistaking it now. It was the same voice she had heard just before the darkness had claimed her.

"A-Adrian?" she weakly muttered.

Her brother's face soon entered her field of vision; even in her dazed state, his relief was obvious. "Yes, I'm here," he softly said to her. "I knew you'd come back to me, Maria. I never lost hope."

As consciousness returned to her piece by piece, she could feel Adrian clutching her hand, as if desperately trying to keep her bound to the mortal plane. But beyond just that, Maria also felt…lighter. Like a part of her very essence had been taken away. Corrupted.

Before she could dwell too long on this, her brother let go of her hand and disappeared from view. Soon after, she could hear the sound of pouring liquid, making her acutely aware of her parching thirst far before he returned with a clear glass of water. "Here. Drink this," he said as he brought the glass up to her. And as much as Maria wanted to protest, she allowed him to carefully tip it forward, letting the nourishing liquid flow to her lips. Yet even after several eager gulps, her thirst proved overwhelming, leading to her attempting to grab hold of the glass with both hands…and sending a surge of pain through her body in the process.

The water she'd been drinking spilled out of Maria's mouth and onto the white gown she was wearing. Through her fatigue, she hadn't even realized she was no longer wearing her armor. But then…

"Easy," Adrian firmly commanded, easing her back against her pillow. "You may be awake, but you still need time to heal. And that's not just the doctor's order."

"Doctor?" she thought to herself. And that's when everything finally clicked into place. The soft bed, the velvet gown; she was in the infirmary. The last thing she remembered was a sense of almost primal rage and then, a numbness - numbness to the world around her. All that had mattered to her was to see the target of her fury tremble before her. To see the light drain from his eyes.

And then, nothing.

"What…what happened to me?"

"You lost control," Adrian answered. "And in doing so, attempted to kill King Logarius."

Upon hearing those words, Maria was overcome with horror. "What? No, no, that can't be….I would never…."

"But you did," her brother interrupted. "And the crowd called for your head, even as your life was slipping away before us. I pleaded that you receive medical attention…and by the grace of His Majesty, you find yourself here."

This additional information only barely registered in Maria's mind. She remembered everything now. Her public duel with King Logarius - a battle that had pushed her to her very limits and beyond. But past a point, her king completely disappeared from her memory. Because in her mind, she hadn't been facing him, but someone else entirely.

Gehrman.

But then, it was over. She remembered Adrian holding her in her final moments of consciousness, completely and utterly horrified. And looking at him now, her brother looked completely exhausted. Traces of a beard were visible along his jaw; dark circles had appeared under his eyes, which were themselves swollen and bloodshot. This was concerning enough on its own, but she distinctly remembered him being clean-shaven when she encountered him before her duel.

"How long was I…" "Two weeks," he swiftly answered. "But with how much blood you lost, you're lucky it was only that long. By the time we brought you here, every wound you suffered had already been sealed and there were no signs of internal bleeding…yet you remained at death's door. That accursed sword had drained you."

Adrian's voice faltered as he recounted these events. To Maria, it felt as if no time at all had passed, but if what he said was true - and he had no reason to lie - death had come close to claiming her. As she struggled to come to terms with this fact, one question remained in her mind. How had she survived?

"There was only one thing to do. We needed to replenish your blood supply, but…" he trailed off then, averting his gaze for the first time since she awakened.

"But what? What happened?" Maria demanded.

"Her Majesty's blood changed you - made finding a suitable donor all but impossible. And so, I went to her, ready to beg for her help, but even our doctors agreed that it was no use. Even with the "gift" she bestowed upon you, your relation is far too distant for a transfusion to be effective."

Despite finishing there, it was clear that there was more to Adrian's story. Something that he didn't want to admit to her. The fact she could still draw breath revealed as much. And it wasn't long until she realized what that was.

Looking down at her right arm, she noticed that the area between her wrist and elbow was wrapped in bloody bandages. It couldn't have been for one of the many stab wounds she'd sustained in her battle with King Logarius; Adrian had said that they had all been sealed. That could only mean that the wound they protected had occurred while she was unconscious and unable to heal herself.

This could only mean one thing. They had found a suitable blood donor. But if not Queen Annalise, then…

"No…Adrian, you didn't…"

Without saying a word, he turned back towards her and lowered his right sleeve, revealing a fading circular wound on his wrist. No more words were needed, as the disgust in his eyes spoke for itself - disgust not for her, but for himself.

Maria could only stare at her brother in shock. As she suspected, it had been his blood that had saved her life. And although she had next to no knowledge about medicine, his decision seemed logical; after all, they shared the same blood . But that did not matter when her own had been tainted beyond recognition…unless, of course, his had been as well.

"Why, brother? There must've been…" "There was no other way, Maria," he interrupted her, rolling his sleeve back up in the process. "And to save you, it was a small price to pay."

"A small price to pay?" she repeated, her voice growing quieter and more distant with every word. "Look at me! Is this what you want for yourself?!"

"NO!" Maria was taken aback by the intensity of his reply, causing them both to fall back into silence as a result. That was, until Adrian concluded his statement.

"But I would rather live as a monster than see you die as one."

A tense silence settled over the infirmary as the two siblings stared at each other, neither of them seeming sure on what to say next. But what was there to say? As frustrating as her brother's decision was, Maria knew that if their situations were reversed, she would have done the exact same thing without hesitation. Because he wasn't just her brother. He was her oldest and closest companion; the only person in this entire castle that she could still trust with her very life. And for better or worse, her faith in him had not been misplaced.

Yet it was not Adrian's unwavering devotion or her debilitated state that occupied her thoughts. It was the word he'd used to refer to himself. To both of them.

"Monster."

Before she could dwell too long on this, she heard footsteps coming down the hallway outside. Adrian must have as well, for he immediately sprang from his seat and turned towards the door, clenching his fists as if preparing himself for the worst. However, his stance softened significantly when they heard an all too familiar warning echoing through the hall.

"Make way for the king!"

Brother and sister alike looked on in bewilderment as none other than King Logarius himself entered the infirmary. It took him but a moment to locate Maria's bed, but once he did, she could see the faint traces of a smile from beneath his beard. "So, it is true," he said before beginning to make his way over.

"Your Majesty!" Adrian exclaimed. Yet rather than standing aside, he prostrated himself at his feet. "Please, I beg of you, have mercy! My sister, she didn't…!"

"Calm thyself, young Adrian," King Logarius said in a surprisingly gentle tone. "We are not here to cast judgment, nor do We intend to. We merely wish to congratulate thy sister on her miraculous recovery…and if possible, to speak with her privately."

Maria's surprise could not have possibly exceeded that of her brother, who looked up at the king like a confused dog. As if sensing his uncertainty, His Majesty placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Fear not. No harm will come to her; We promise thee."

Even with this assurance, Adrian was slow to react. A few moments later, he rose to his feet and dutifully bowed his head. "Thank you," was all he said to King Logarius before walking past him. Just before he walked out the door, he took one last look at Maria, who herself had to give him an affirming nod before he finally left the infirmary. Before he did, the two of them came to a silent agreement that their discussion was far from over.

But that would have to wait. Once her brother was out of the room, Maria's attention turned to her unexpected visitor, whose friendly demeanor didn't change in the slightest even once they were left alone. "He has hardly left thy side," he said in reference to Adrian. "Never in all Our years have We seen such a loyal caretaker…or guardian."

She understood at once why King Logarius would choose such a descriptor. Adrian mentioned the crowd calling for her head and given that almost the entire population of Cainhurst had laid witness to her transgression, there were bound to be those who would seek to enact justice upon her, especially when they knew she was helpless to stop them. And her brother knew this, too, as well as the powerful enemies he stood to make by protecting her.

Yet it seemed he was not quite alone in this endeavor.

"Your Majesty, I am truly sorry," Maria said while hanging her head in shame. "You must trust that I would never knowingly bring harm to you."

"And We do." Upon hearing this, she quickly raised her head to find him moving closer to her bedside, pulling up the chair that Adrian had been using and calmly taking a seat. "But putting that aside for a moment, We are truly impressed with thy newfound tenacity. Thou art every bit as mighty as Our Queen said thee would be and more. We congratulate thee on thy victory."

What surprised Maria wasn't so much what His Majesty had said, but rather the almost casual way in which he said it. She had blatantly disregarded his orders, humiliated him in front of his subjects and came close to choking the very life out of him; yet despite all of that, there hadn't been a hint of hesitation in his voice when he said he believed her or in his belated concession. Few in Cainhurst's history have ever matched the mighty King Logarius in combat…and as far as she knew, none have ever bested him.

"My King, I…" Before she could say anymore, he raised his hand, silencing her in an instant.

"There is no need for explanations," he said calmly. "Thy service is a testament to thy character, Lady Maria. We do not believe that such an honorable warrior would resort to such senseless savagery…without cause, that is."

Much like that, His Majesty belied the real reason he was here. "You have done nothing to draw my ire," Maria soon said.

"Then are We to believe that the anger thou displayed in our battle was not thy own?"

If Maria had any doubts as to the purpose of His Majesty's visit, they were instantly put to rest. What was still uncertain was whether he was merely seeking answers or seeking to confirm existing ones. But whatever the case may have been, she knew that she could not hide the truth from him - at least, not entirely.

"I wish I could say it was not."

His Majesty's reaction was a middling one. After stroking his beard, he stood up from his seat and walked towards her bedside window. "Yes. We feared as much," he said as he gazed out across his kingdom.

"And what could possibly frighten His Majesty?" she tentatively inquired, being careful to avoid coming across as derisive. And just as it seemed her question would go unanswered, he turned his head to look at her…yet she found that the nature of his gaze was different, somehow. Not disgusted, but rather regretful.

"Allow Us to answer thy question with another question," he said as he turned towards her. "Why dost thou serve Us?

Understandably, Maria was taken aback by this sudden and seemingly unrelated question. "I…do not understand."

"Ah, but thou does," His Majesty insisted. "Thee, and thy fellow subjects, all chose to submit thyselves to Us; in return, We serve and protect thee, and the lands we inhabit, from those who might bring us harm. Now, the existence of those enemies tells us that not all recognize Our authority, but they too have lords that they serve and lands that they wish to protect. It is the way of the world. But what makes it so? Loyalty. Rationality. And above all else, a desire for a better life."

He continued. "Humanity is defined by those qualities, and this kingdom - our kingdom is the culmination of humanity. Yet, what would happen if its residents were to…regress? To accept the lot that nature has granted them and nothing more? To answer that, we need only look to our ancestors. Chaos. Savagery. A life devoid of any meaning or purpose, driven only by the most primal of instincts. That is Our fear."

King Logarius' words were passionate and forceful, as well as reminiscent of the address his wife had given Maria before her departure. The people of Pthumeru had submitted themselves to the Great Ones, forces of nature that none of them could ever hope to control; a realization that in time would drive them all to madness. And now that she had seen what little remained of her ancestors for herself - the withered, mindless drones that roamed the ruins of the once-mighty civilization they had built - she understood His Majesty's fear. The harrowing prospect that Cainhurst, perhaps even all of Yharnam, could suffer the same fate.

However, history was unlikely to repeat itself verbatim. Both King Logarius and Queen Annalise understood the danger of worshiping the Great Ones…but that was not the only path to insanity, as Maria had so clearly demonstrated. She had not been guiding Chikage in her battle with His Majesty; it had been guiding her, stoking the fires of hate that burned within her until they had consumed everything. So while she pursued her vengeance beyond all reason, the blade continued to eat away at her drop by drop, with her being none the wiser. She no longer answered to anyone. Rationality had gone out the window. And she had but one desire left; the destruction of her prey.

"You knew this would happen," she said, not quite knowing if it was a question or a statement. And judging how King Logarius fell silent, he himself wasn't certain of what his response should be.

"We had concerns over Her Majesty's proposal from the outset, but they were rooted in mere hypotheticals. Neither of us truly knew what results this, shall we say, initiative would yield."

As expected, his words were ambiguous and inconclusive, but not to the point where Maria could not piece together the implication behind his answer. It wasn't too much of an assumption to say both he and Her Majesty knew far more about the Old Blood than most - enough to know about its potential side effects. In addition, she vaguely remembered him saying that both Queen Annalise and himself wished to gauge her progress with Chikage, so needless to say, the two of them must have agreed that this process - no, experiment was necessary.

"And know you do. So I ask; what is your conclusion?" Maria knew that this was a rather bold demand, but she found it difficult to care. As she saw it, she deserved to know - both as their subject and the focus of their little experiment.

"Her Majesty still believes it is possible to control the power thou possesses, as well as those who wield it," he said as he turned back towards the window. "She is of the mind that since We are now aware of its 'imperfections' it is possible to avoid its worst effects."

This idea seemed completely laughable at first glance, but this was only because Maria had experienced the effects of these "imperfections" first hand. And besides, there was no point of comparison; what happened to her might very well have been entirely due to circumstance. "Yes, I suppose it is… possible," she acknowledged.

"But not certain," said King Logarius. "And like most things, little good comes from soldiers one cannot control."

Despite herself, Maria's eyes widened in shock. Thoughts of her fallen compatriots filled her mind or more specifically, the order she had given them…and the one they disobeyed.

And while she herself was stuck in the past, her sudden silence did not escape His Majesty's notice. "Ahh. Then that is the source of thy rage," he said, drawing her gaze towards him. It still wasn't clear how much he knew about her ill-fated expedition, but Maria could not bring herself to question him or to deny his hypothesis. Her forlorn expression provided all the answers he needed.

"Yes, the loss of thy company still weighs heavily upon thee," he stated, but without the subtle disappointment even Queen Annalise's guile couldn't conceal. "Forgive Us. It was not Our intent to reopen old wounds."

Still, she remained silent, ruminating on her failure. Yes…the failure was hers, was it not? They had been her men. Her responsibility.

"Your Majesty," she suddenly said. "You were a leader of men once. Does it ever go away?" Though Maria did not specify what she meant, she knew she did not need to.

"No," King Logarius soon replied, turning away from her. "The burden of leadership is holding the fates of others in thy hands…and ensuring that those lost were not lost in vain. A burden that will be bared until the time finally comes to join thy fallen comrades."

Just as she expected, Maria received no comfort from his answer. She was not foolish enough to believe her mission - any mission could be accomplished without sacrifice. But she did believe she could bear the burden of responsibility. Perhaps that was the most foolish belief of all.

"Twas the same struggle that so defined thy grandfather."

On the mention of his name, King Logarius quickly regained her attention, something that His Majesty acknowledged with a soft smile. "Yes, We had the honor of serving with him in many a battle. He was an extraordinary warrior, but We remember him as friend, as did all who fought with or for him. His loss was one felt by all of Cainhurst…so it pleases Us that his influence can still be felt in Our court."

These are all words Maria has heard countless times before. On the eve of her grandfather's funeral, His Majesty himself had come to her to offer his condolences, praising him in similar glowing terms. But it was not her grandfather he was praising now.

As she quietly looked up at him, King Logarius suddenly turned to leave. "It is best that We give thee a chance to heal. Rest assured that We will have further words with Our Queen…but rest thee must," he said as he approached the door of the infirmary, turning back towards her just as he opened it. "And do remember this, noble Lady Maria. Once thy strength returns, an important choice lies before thee. Until then, and after, We will pray for thy continued well-being."

With that final warning, His Majesty exited the infirmary and carefully closed the door behind her, leaving Maria alone in her bed, which felt more and more restrictive as the moments ticked by. That she had been on death's door for days, if not weeks hardly mattered; there was still much for her to do.

"And then what?" she thought to herself. That was all she could really do now. Think. About her brother's selfless sacrifice; about the nature of her newfound power; about what she stood to lose by enhancing it. Maria did not fear death, but death of self? The loss of everything that made her…her? It was a possibility that she never imagined, but that now seemed almost inevitable.

And as she lay in her hospital bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling, that single pressing question swirled in Maria's mind. Her reputation was built on a foundation of lies - a reputation that she never truly desired to begin with. Yet she accepted it regardless. She needed to, in order to have the means to satisfy the one calling she still had. But would it bring her peace? Was peace even what she sought?

She didn't know. For despite being wide awake, she could feel herself sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss, which beckoned with a single, harrowing word.

"Monster…"

...