Well, this certainly has taken some time... I'm sorry for the long wait! I have another couple of chapters written so far, but didn't get around to edit them with uni being busy and all...
But I am glad to see that you guys enjoy it nonetheless! :) Thank you so much, really, I appreciate it!
I will try to get to the next chapter quicker, I promise...
Anyway! Have fun and I'll see you around! :)
~3-2: Mad Forest
In fact, they were getting closer to some kind of estate as the trees were getting more dense. Here, ruins of destroyed buildings and a couple of statues along the path greeted them. As it cleared, the group spotted the black clouds in the distance, the wind now free to take hold of them with its' cold. It was only a matter of time until the storm would arrive to meet them.
When they arrived, they noticed how many of those statutes looked frightening real. Their facial expressions were distorted from terror, if they could even spot a face. Many were missing their heads or their expressions were smashed. In fact, most of the marble statues were broken, some were missing a limb or half of the entire statue was torn off. Needless to say, the group held their breaths as they felt like they were being watched. They were unable to glance away from the fearful expressions, shuddering at the sight. The children couldn't even muster more than whimpers and nervous mumbling.
Then, heavy footsteps filled the silence. The sound echoed between the ruins and statues. How giant feet crunched the ground, slick and muddy.
The hunter narrowed his eyes and glanced down at the children that had marched with him under his cloak. What a sight, a vampire hunter with a couple of children hiding around him. "We will have to have you wait in one of those ruins." That way, they wouldn't be standing in the rain while the storm was rolling over them. Also not be the most obvious target if the monster, whatever it was, turned around the corner. As long as they didn't make noise, that was. Yet, before they were going to face the sound of footsteps from the right side, one of the kids pulled out the silver necklace out of the inner pocket of Grant's jacket and held it up in awe. The pirate, however, wasn't exactly pleased to see this. He took hold of it with one swift motion at which the young boy didn't seem to understand what happened until he saw it dangling from the man's neck.
"No toying with what's in there, okay? I will count everything afterwards and if I find one single piece missing, I'll take you back to the spider cave!" There was something threatening in his voice, the children backed off a bit at the glint in his sharp eyes. Even Trevor was about to tell him to back off, but somehow, he could only press his lips together and wave him to his side. At least, he wasn't going to take the jacket away altogether in his anger. The children were freezing already and Trevor left behind his coat as well just in case. Unfortunately, they decided against creating a fire for them to warm up. It could have attracted any kind of monster with the light. Also, children weren't the most careful individuals, so leaving them unsupervised with flames wouldn't have been the best idea either. As much as the kids didn't like being alone, they would be able to find comfort in the company of each other. Thus, they were obedient to their words, because after all, they had no others to trust. Anything was better than the horrors they had seen before. The two hunters accompanied them to a smaller ruin where they could cower in a corner under a roof. Not that they were safe from the wind, there were creaks all over and half of the roof had collapsed. This was as safe as it was going to get.
Trevor glanced at the group of children, edging close to keep warm. There was something akin to pity in his gaze and his voice was softer than he had expected when he spoke up: "We'll get back to you once we know that the path is clear. Stay here and try to not make noise. No matter what happens, we won't leave you behind." As much as they might have expected anyway.
That thought alone had Trevor sigh to himself out of frustration. This affected him way more than it should have. Being abandoned in the middle of danger with no one around you. The hunter shook this sensation off, this wasn't what they needed right now. If it wasn't for the two of them to succeed, who else would?
With that, they left the children on their own, following the source of the footsteps.
Their path lead them to some sort of garden of the estate. There had been high bushes in this place, useful for hiding. More statues were scattered, more and more of them broken. It was a surprise to find two or three that were intact. Someone must have had a fun time distorting the frightened figures. After passing another statues and a dry fountain, the source of footsteps came into sight:
It was a giant, hunched over. Its' skin held a sickly blue tone and the ears were long and pointy. There was no hair on its' head which was looking quite sharp just as the ears did. All it wore was a piece of dirty cloth around its broad hips while one heavy hammer hung over its' shoulder. When they drew closer, the creature stopped in its' tracks and turned. Trevor found himself surprised to see a single, massive eye on the face of the giant. The thick fangs stood out of the mouth, not fitting in it at all and were out in all their yellow glory. The giant let out a battle cry and drummed its' meaty fists against its' chest which was as muscly as the rest of it. When Trevor got hold of his Vampire Killer to whip at the giant's legs, the tip was repelled by the bare skin as if hitting rock scales.
"It's a Cyclops!", Grant explained with his expression darkening. His daggers flipped between his fingers from growing panic. The sight of the monster taking hold of the hammer, which it had to clasp between its' two hands, was worrying. "So the real weakness is its' only eye!" The name of the monster did sound vaguely familiar to the hunter. Trevor believed to have heard about it somewhere, though he would have get back to that later. There were more pressing matters. Because the creature bent to its' knees and charged at them in high speed, more than expected. The duo split to avoid the charge and as the hammer hit the ground, it was hard enough for both of them to feel the vibration under their feet.
Hitting a small target on a monster's face wasn't the easiest task. The hammer was a large weapon that would keep them off for quite a distance. Even Grant's accuracy was coming to some limit. The Cyclops could see the attack coming more often than not. It blocked it off with a wave of its' hand, the skin immune to the sharp blade. And when they get closer, it triggered the monster to charge at them. It took that chance more often with the hunter than with the other since Trevor was slower. It was either the charge or the hammer that forced them to dance around the monster. Yet, none of this was getting them any closer to slaying the Cyclops and neither did it get a chance to smash them. This could have gone through the entire night until one of the sides gave up. Chances were that the two companions would first find themselves crushed, though. By then, the storm arrived which made it all worse for them. The cold rain had them all more sluggish, the ground hard to get a grip on. At least, the two of them weren't the only ones with that problem, so their dance merely got sloppier.
By rolling under the hammer as it rose, Trevor joined the pirate's side. Trevor took hold of his arm and his strength alone was enough to keep him in place. "Look, he's coming for me! Use this as a distraction to get closer to the Cyclops and hit him right where it hurts!" As there wasn't any time to wait for an appropriate answer, Trevor let go off Grant and dashed off. The desired effect took place right away: The Cyclops targeted him and forgot about the second person running around. With its' hammer, it swung at Trevor and every time it missed, the ground would shake from the strength. The hunter fought with his balance, forcing him to jump to avoid getting stunned. Yet, this made it difficult for Grant to sneak up on the creature. Not that the pirate couldn't keep up with the creature, far from it. But if he was too close when the Cyclops remembered his presence, he would be smashed into pieces by either a fist or hammer. Thus, the hunter planned to approach it enough for it to be confident to use its' only weapon against him. Trevor jumped before the hammer hit the ground, leading and avoiding it.
Being the hunted one was tiring and Trevor found himself being sluggish. From the corners of his eyes, he could spot Grant hasting to the back, his feet swift above the ground to create as little sound as possible. That moment was enough distraction for the hunter to miss the timing when he was supposed to jump. As much as he could avoid the rather predictable attack, the shock had his legs tremble and stuck to the ground. With one fist raised, the Cyclops planned to squish him, but before it could even rush it down to Trevor who, recovered right then, the pirate jumped on the back of the monster. He clutched to the bulging muscles as if he was going to die once he was to let go and, in some way, that was true. In blind rage, the Cyclops dropped the hammer. The weight alone caused the ground to shake some more. It used both of its' hands to reach behind himself and get a hold of the pirate that climbed up the , the arms of the creature were too think to reach behind itself. Much to its' dismay, it had to realize how Grant had reached its' shoulders and stood upon them with his feet. One hand grasped a meaty skin fold on its' forehead while he fought to remain balance. With a long dagger in his other hand, Grant pierced the eye with one strong push. He forced the blade in further and further, slicing through until the metal was buried inside. Black blood spurted from the wound, the hilt and his fingers getting soaked. Some of it had sprinkled the pirate's face and chest, too, but he was stubborn. The iris broke from the impact, blood streamed down its' face. The eye began to swell even worse than before as if it was about to pop from the beast's skull. It was disgusting to watch how it staggered around, screeching from pain. Trevor could feel his stomach twist at the sight, how the single eye was turned into mush. His ears rung from the wretched sounds that the Cyclops let out, but Grant was unmoved by any of this. Not even when his hands were completely soaked with the sticky blood, the stench so close to his nose. His hands shook from forcing it to stay inside the sensitive flesh, pulling it up and down and from side to side to rip the wound wider. The eye socket couldn't be recognized anymore at this point.
It was until the pirate decided that it was enough and slipped the blade back out of the wound. The dagger had blocked some of the blood flow, but now it spurted in streams. Roars were coming from the Cyclops that was flailing and staggering around, but the movement died out. Grant jumped from its' shoulders before it collapsed on the ground with a thud. As Trevor approached the groaning pile of muscles, its' eye lazily pushed out blood and created a pool that was watered down by the rain. Something plump dropped from it and the hunter recognized it as an orb. With a piece of cloth, he rubbed it clean from the blood and Grant couldn't help his curiosity and edged to his side.
"Any idea what that is?", he asked while his eyes couldn't tear away from the wine red color that shimmered dimly. Trevor noticed the wobbly fog within the crystal.
"I can only make my guesses… Not sure though. It's full of energy, so I'd rather take them with me than leaving them here before any other servant of Lord Dracula can pick this up and use it against us", Trevor responded and gave a light shrug before he slipped it in the leather bag along with the other orbs. As much as this wasn't any kind of answer that left Grant satisfied, he could understand Trevor's motives and wouldn't bother him. Besides, both were far too exhausted to mind right now, having survived and all. Instead, the hunter showed him a weak smile, an hint of triumph behind it. "Now that the main threat of the woods seems to be gone, we should be able to pass through. Get the kids and find the next town, correct?"
The pirate couldn't even give an answer to this anymore when a bright light blinded them for a mere second. It resembled lightening, though the thunder was faint like before. Light dots danced in front of their eyes still, keeping them dazed. There was another soft thud on the ground, then many other gentler ones as if pieces were falling into the mud. Only by a frustrated, pained groan followed after that. They were able to tell that someone might have fallen afterwards, too. When their eyes allowed them to see again, they spotted a cloaked figure between them. This person held his head as if suffering an headache, his face in shadow because of his hood. Around this person were many pieces of marble and it was then that they had realized that there had been a statue in this spot. None of them had paid any particular attention to it during the fight, of course.
"Good Sir, are you doing okay?" Grant approached the man who resembled a priest with this type of robe. The light blue color was strange... The companions could only think that it might have something to do with where he was from. Then again, the cloth was stained quite a lot to even make out the color.
The priest, however, was somewhat distraught to see the black blood on the pirate. He stumbled back, disoriented and confused, terror in the half-hidden features. Once he noticed how both of them were no threat and were as human as he was, he allowed his frame to relax and his shoulders sagged down. "Thanks for… Helping me." His voice was breathless as if the priest had ran a marathon. Then he glanced down at his hands in pure disbelief and didn't notice the silence that had befallen them for a while. Slowly, the priest lifted his gaze to meet theirs. "I'm Father Cypher, a-a priest sent out by the church to rid this land of the Lord of Darkness." Despite all the shock that shimmered in the green eyes, Father Cypher knew that they could have harmed him if they wanted. Thus, he better be honest before one of them decided to take action in form of violence. It was almost confusing to see that, Grant remembered how troubled he had been when he was freed from his demonic form. Perhaps the others' mind wasn't as troubled, being stuck and in some form of sleep.
"Then what happened to you?" Trevor narrowed his eyes at the cloaked figure who shifted in place. It was as if he still needed to get used to the fact that his entire frame wasn't stone anymore. The pirate suggested that they should return to the children and continue the chat on the way. They would need to check on the poor tiny brats and start a fire so that they won't freeze to death.
Father Cypher glanced between them in surprise. "Children? You have found children here?" His voice was faint and his cheeks paled. Both the hunter and pirate threw one another a confused glance before Grant answered:
"Yes, we have found them imprisoned in a cave of spiders. A group of 13 actually." He nodded to himself as if trying to remember if he had counted them correctly. The priest let out a shaking breath and they could see a shiver run through him.
"W-When I had first come here and wandered the path to find abducted children of the village…". It was as if the memory alone brought terror to his heart. His eyes hung in the air as the images of the past events came to his sight in front of him. The priest spoke of how a source of light had drawn him closer to a glade. It was an unnatural campfire, the flames flickering orange to light blue. Around it a couple of monsters, skeletons, werewolves and a Medusa. "A female looking creature of Greek mythology with a snake body and instead of hair, it has snakes. When one looks at its' face, it turns you into stone", he explained with a weak smile when Trevor's expression showed confusion. It was somewhat surprising that the pirate seemed to understand. Perhaps he came along Greece on his travels, who knew.
Father Cypher kept telling his tale. Around the campfire weren't only monsters, but there had been dancing children also. It was as if they had been in trance, their movement fluent and coordinated. Their bodies stripped naked for everyone to see how symbols were carved into their flesh. Content smiles plastered on their faces, blood dripped from them. Their eyes had been pecked out, only dark red holes stared back at Father Cypher when he had hidden behind bushes to watch this horrifying scene. Some of the demons had danced along between them while the skeletons used drums. The skin used for them was too light to be of any cow and the priest had preferred not to think about it much longer.
"Then, each child jumped into the flames. One after another." Pure horror reflected in those words. "They smiled. They smiled so much and yet they screeched in pain. The flames feasted on their skin and flesh until they collapsed and… Became part of the pile. Every next child stood with its' naked feet on the burning flesh of the other, shifting and jumping as if dancing while the screams pierced my ears." His voice was starting to tremble terribly. Just as much as the priest hadn't been able to look away from the scene, the duo couldn't tear their eyes away from the other while he spoke of the horrors. The priest shook himself in the next moment to clear his mind to not be frozen by the images that were burnt into his mind.
This children sacrifice had ended with the demons cheering along and the drumming becoming wilder to accompany them to death. Father Cypher had stumbled back from the sudden dread taking hold of his heart and the movement alerted the creatures near his hideout. The Medusa ordered for the priest to be caught and slithered after him, too. Father Cypher found the strength to escape from the horde. After all, he couldn't fight an entire group of them. One against an army? The result might not be favorable for him. Fleeing into the woods proved itself to be more effective than anything else.
The Medusa had chased him down to the garden of the estate where he was taken by surprise by the Cyclops. In shock, he turned around to avoid that creature, too. Yet, as he had done so, he looked straight into the other demon's face and the curse worked its' magic on him.
"Everything had turned dark. It was as if I had fallen asleep." Father Cypher sighed and shook his head in shame. To be caught like this was naïve and silly. He couldn't believe that he had been so foolish to get himself hunted like a rabbit. "At least, it was painless." These words held such a bitter tone that Trevor couldn't help but feel pity for the other. It was difficult to come up with a smile after he had explained what had happened to him. Instead, he patted his back to show his sympathy.
"You did what you could do, none of us could blame you." To be fair, the hunter wasn't even sure what he would have done himself in that situation. He might have ended up the same way in the end. Though it was Grant who tilted his head and frowned.
"What I don't understand is how you were freed from that curse… I thought that once you are changed by medusa, you are dead?" Once again, Father Cypher was impressed by the pirate's knowledge of Greek mythology.
The priest did frown at that, too, and pondered about it. "Honestly, I'm not quite sure how that worked... Though I'm glad that it did. I wouldn't have wanted to end up as some sort of garden statue... God has granted me a second chance and I am more than grateful to take it!" It was good to see a faint smile on those lips, it reflected on their expressions as well.
The pirate was becoming as bright as ever and leaned in to his side a bit with a growing smirk. "Indeed, would be a true shame, this place isn't looking nice enough to be decorated with the likes of you! Besides, there are more fitting relics in churches and cathedrals all around! This would be too sad to have another one in, I suppose!"
In a way, this silly joke had the priest chuckle to himself. As strange as it was to hear someone talk about himself like that anyway. "I haven't heard your names yet, good sirs, perhaps it would be nice to share them after I had done so with mine." The duo blushed a bit at that and introduced themselves. Father Cypher, like everyone else, was surprised to hear the Belmont name drop from Trevor's lips. "I didn't even believe that one member of this clan was still alive... I have been told that exile must have killed them somehow. But then again, this wouldn't give you as much credit as you deserve with your powers..." The priest gave a subtle shrug. Trevor couldn't tell whether the other was all right with being in their group or not.
Any other discussion about this was pointless as they had arrived by the ruins. The children had cowered in a corner from the cold, protected from the rain. Their eyes lit up at the sight of them, though weary of the new person that they had with them. The soft voice and gentle manner of the priest won their trust over more quick though. The majority of the kids were sleeping at the moment, at least. The calming, safe spot gave them enough peace to take a nap. That and the exhaustion that they had went through before. One could only wonder if their dreams were pleasant.
"Unfortunately, we can't stay over here during the night...", mumbled Trevor as he took care of the campfire for them to warm up. The pirate chewed on his lower lip at those words.
"Right, we don't know whether there are still monsters around... We can't take the chance to stay and having to fight off so many when we're not by ourselves." They would need the energy to get to the town beyond the forest no matter how dark it had gotten at this point. Father Cypher frowned at this plan, but he agreed with a low voice. The children needed to get proper medical attention and a safe house to stay in. They were bound to get sick if they were to stay outside for much longer than a night. Somehow, these two would have known better than him, he figured and let them decide on what to do next. Clearly, they were adventurers and the priest couldn't say so as much himself.
They instructed the kids on how close they could get to the fire. So they gathered around the three adults without any shame and held out their hands to warm those up. The ones who haven't woken up yet were gently pulled closer without trying to disturb them. Not a second later, the children were told to take a nap as well before they would continue their march. They'd need some of the extra energy to make the final stretch. It was silent between them, the children too exhausted and scared to be as loud as they usually were. The grown-ups were caught up in their thoughts, too. The drumming of the rain and the distant thunder filled the silence and the sounds calmed their heads a bit. It was pleasing to hear how there was peace around them in a cursed environment like this. Soon enough, they were also surrounded by the sound of 13 children snoozing.
For the three of them, there wasn't much to talk about. Father Cypher once stated that he was becoming somewhat hungry. He hadn't eaten since he had left the village for the Codrii Vlăsiei, so they shared a bit of their bread with the priest. Yet, they did feel bad once they realized how the children hadn't eaten as well. The spiders most likely didn't feed them while they were stuck in the cave. Thus, the priest could only take a couple of bites before he returned half of the loaf.
"This will do until we arrive in the next town. I would wish to eat and drink something warm rather than tasteless bread." It was obvious by the empty gaze of his eyes that this was a lie. Neither of them would add anything to it, since it wouldn't change anything.
The next morning found them half asleep. Silent breakfast with the children, then a prayer instructed by Father Cypher. Not that Trevor or Grant remembered all the words. At least, the priest did in both Latin and Romanian. It was important to him that the children of God would understand after all.
The concept of time was difficult to understand while marching. That and the Codrii Vlăsiei covered an huge area. It was a miracle when the group found their way out, the sight of the countryside had become unfamiliar.
But a town! There was one in the near distance!
That gave them enough energy to pull through the last stretch to find themselves before wooden walls. If it wasn't for the children with them, the guard patrolling might not have let them in. The church in town, he said, there they should head and meet Sister Diana. There would be shelter for he children.
There wasn't a lot of life on these streets as they entered. They sure had a bunch of curious watchers that couldn't believe the sight, though. People glanced from their windows and doors, but no one raised their voice. The village from before seemed to have a greater mix of people than this place did. This townsfolk had kept itself isolated from the dangers outside being surrounded by a spiked wall. Except for the harbor which, they noticed, wasn't used at all. The small ships were kept tied to land with their sails tugged in and no others had come in.
Naturally, it was Grant who noticed this circumstance first and he frowned at that. "What a sad sight. Quite a waste to leave them there. I guess that Dracula's army has even taken over the water…"
"They are everywhere, it's spreading like an illness..." Father Cypher looked around and narrowed his eyes as if not trusting the situation. In comparison to many villages and towns around the area, they were in good shape. "It makes me wonder how the Wallachian Demon hasn't reached them, yet…"
Trevor couldn't help but glance at Grant from the corners of his eyes and saw how his expression hardened. "Because it moved west, not east. Can't be at three places at the same time." His answer was sharp, aggressive almost. Grant tried to swallow it right afterwards, especially with the priest confused by that reaction. "Luckily. Having fought against one of that kind was bad enough. Wouldn't be exactly pleasant to find out that there is another one, don't you agree?"
The hunter flinched at that and stuttered a bit before he could square his shoulders and return the glance. "Indeed. The Demon was quite a nuisance." Trevor wasn't a man of big words and especially not now. It was strange to talk about his friend that way, but Grant knew how he meant it and left it without a comment. Father Cypher, however, was evermore baffled.
"You have encountered the Wallachian Demon? And made it out alive?"
"Defeated it. In the Clock Tower. Which is a pile of rumble now, by the way." The pirate shrugged as if all of this wasn't a big deal and old news. Which it was, but being a piece of stone in the forest wasn't allowing one to get informed on what happened.
The priest blinked at them out of disbelief. Now it was his turn to be at loss of words until he could only mutter: "The curse was on me longer than I thought…"
The group found Sister Diana outside as the old nun was assisted by other ladies. Again, the sight of the children had her grow emotional and shooed them inside an house. They discovered that the nun ran an orphanage which was evermore needed these days. Their group of children approached the other with care, but neither side could be hostile. They all went through difficult times and only remembering them had them sobbing.
"Get yourselves comfortable, travelers!", she would say as she accompanied her helpers. "Lunch is almost ready anyway!"
Without being able to deny the offer, the three of them sighed and took place by the table. Exhaustion took over them, their shoulders sagged down. At least, they had enough energy to take off their cloaks and jackets. As Father Cypher did so, they noticed how soft his features were, keeping his blond hair in a ponytail. Something about his looks had them think how this job fitted to him, gentle and reassuring.
Before they could even ask the priest about it, the assistants and Sister Diana brought in pots with stew. The companions leaned back, their eyes half open from tiredness.
"I must thank you for your bravery, kind sirs", she said as she took place on another chair as well with a shaking breath. "We have believed that there was no one else around this town anymore, people usually perished when they ventured out..."
"We are surprised ourselves that we've found your town practically unharmed." Father Cypher somehow shook off his exhaustion the quickest. It put them to shame and they pulled themselves together to be able to join in on the conversation.
"You must have been lucky with the invasions", added Grant with a weak smile as if trying to cheer the old nun up. She folded her hands in her lap as if in prayer.
For a moment, she turned her gaze to the children running around in the room. Some of them were playing with broken wooden toys in the corners while others chatted. "We seem to have been rather lucky, yes... As much as we have suffered, too, I can safely say that we were given enough time to protect ourselves. We expect a second wave and... Well... I don't know if we can withstand that." Sister Diana crossed herself seven times. "For the sake of our children and for those that you have found alive in those hopeless days... I am praying that it won't happen anytime soon and that the Curse of the Lord of Darkness will be vanquished by God for we are too weak to go against the Antichrist himself." She shook her head in despair and her wrinkles now were formed by the worry which drew grim shadows to her expression.
Once again, it was the pirate that had taken the initiative, he was better at talking than the hunter or the priest. "If everything goes well, we will be able to have a hand in that!" It almost came out as a joke, but his light eyes spoke of such determination that Sister Diana wasn't able to comprehend his words.
"You… You are planning to reach the Devil's Castle and go against the Demon Lord himself?" Fright welled in this question, took hold of her rosary and crossed herself once again. Father Cypher reached out to take hold of her shoulders and showed a smile.
"It seems that God has brought us together for us to carry out this holy mission of His." His kind eyes were so confident as if believing that God had chosen them to meet.
Trevor, however, wasn't exactly pleased himself with this explanation and frowned. "You are planning to accompany us?" This wasn't supposed to be a road trip. It was bad enough that he was pulling Grant into this, he wouldn't need to put a priest in danger. The hunter crossed his arms at the gaze he received from the other, there was some form of stubbornness to it.
"Well, the Church had sent me to do the same as you planned to. So I figured that it would make sense to join you as going alone proved itself to be much more dangerous."
This made sense and the hunter cursed to himself as he realized as much. Yet, he wasn't willing to go down without a fight, so he glanced at Grant in hopes that he was better at this than he was.
Luckily, the pirate wasn't only quick on his feet. "Oh, but wouldn't you say that people like Sister Diana need you? Men of faith like you are important to those who have nothing to cling to anymore. In fact, you are more than needed, but unfortunately, there aren't many of your kind anymore to do so."
At that, Father Cypher glanced at him in silence and eyed him with care. The priest leaned back in his chair with a low sigh. "I am very well aware of this. It eats on me more often than you could imagine." His shoulders hung low and at that point, he avoided eye-contact. "I wish that I could do more. I wish that I could protect those in need and do it for everyone. Even if I know myself that it's impossible and that I'm only one, but… I wish to be strong. Powerful enough to be a protector and give the poor a sense of safety in this mess." There was something so awfully bitter to his words that Grant couldn't help but edge closer. He gave a soft pat to his shoulder at which the priest flinched, though he didn't move away from the touch.
Was this it, had Trevor lost this kind of conversation again? In a way, he couldn't ignore the wish of Father Cypher. As much as he'd like to tell himself otherwise, he was aware that the priest would march towards Dracula's Castle. Whether they were with him or not and, in the end, it would have been safer for him to be with them instead. His expression already spoke of defeat before he could even raise his voice again. "I suppose, you are the same with no home to go back to until any of this is finished?"
At once, pain and guilt rose in the priest's green eyes. It was so violent that Trevor could feel a cold shiver run down his spine as if someone poured cold water all over. There was no answer, though one wasn't needed. The hunter had his heart sink in his chest like stone, guilty himself that he had said anything to begin with.
This was why he was bad with words. Being in exile for many years did make one bad at using one's tongue after all. Not that Trevor wasn't going to take it as an excuse. He did mutter an apology under his breath at which the priest waved him off.
"It wasn't your words, it was the memory that returned to me." As soft as Father Cypher had spoken, Trevor couldn't ignore the same pain that the other wasn't able to masquerade.
As the priest did before, the young man left it without words.
"I believe, it is time for lunch."
Sister Diana had raised from her seat and glanced at the three of them and laid out the plates. With that, their conversation had ended. There wasn't much to add to it anyway and all were somewhat glad that they were interrupted like that.
They had another time to ponder about these things anyway.
