This is purely fanfiction, not oficial in any way.
Arianna huh? i wonder how she looks like i couldn't get a clear view from the window, still i will see her when i get back from the search, all i need now is look for that old hag i found a while back near the aqueduct, maybe she will be interested in the chapel...
"i heard, i have, that shutting up indoors isn't always enough, if you hunters got off your asses we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Oh please, i don't need any of that attitude again... i'm not obligated to help ya know? so, are you going or not?" Bell said, fed up with the old woman who talked like a hag, he get where she was coming from, really, but that did not excuse the needless insults towards someone who just wants to help.
"Watch that tongue mister, i know all of your tricks, you are lucky i don't have anywhere else to go... so where is this chapel anyways?" Seeing the potential for a little revenge the hunter only said with a mocking tone.
"And why should i help you hag, after all the abuse you threw at me i should be letting you rot in there." But before she could say something he changed his tone. "Go to cathedral ward it's simple enough from there." and left before the old woman could do anything.
Truth be told he felt a little bit bad, surely she must have a reason to hate hunters that much... still he went on his way to a nearby lamp to do some repairing on his weapons, the hammer's blade was a little dull and fat made the cleaver's mechanism looser than normal, atleast it was a good excuse for him to see the doll...
"Welcome home good hunter."
"Hello doll, how is mr. Gehrman doing?"
"He is currently asleep, still plagued by the same nightmares still..." The heavy tone at the end was depressing, while Bell found out about the nightmares Gehrman suffers from a while ago, both still wish for a way to help him, for it is simply in their nature to help, both human boy and porcelain doll.
"Okay then, i will be fixing a few weapons, anything new around here?" The answer would be, in any other time no since the realm is almost stuck in a weird state of time were nothing truly changes, just forever frozen as a grey sky and the insidious moon above all.
"Actually, good hunter, i believe the little ones wanted to talk to you."
"The messengers? seriously?"
"Yes, i do believe they have an item for you."
"Thank you then, i will speak to then after finishing up in the workshop."
"Very well good hunter." The conversation was kept to a minimal, mainly due to the repair work that really demanded concentration. I am getting pretty good at this... i wonder, if i had the blades made from someone else, could i design my own trick weapon?
After fixing his damaged equipment, his trusy weapons, he went on to the steps of the stairs that went up to the workshop's entrance and found the bunch of messengers holding up a note and a weird object to him, an eye, with it's pupil collapsed. The note read something about an nightmare, old hunters, and a weird creature at cathedral ward... he would check it out, mainly due to the survivors he sent there.
Grabbing his equipment and strapping the belts on his garb, the hunter quickly made it to the gravestone where he entered cathedral ward. As the grey mist dissipated in the air, the hunter was immediately greeted by the faces of two people, one was the dweller he new fairly well, the other was a woman, she wore a dress with deep crimson, fit for a noble, her face was fair and her short hair was blonde, she must be Arianna.
"Hello there, Arianna is it?"
"Why, yes hello, you must be the hunter who got me here, i must thank you, without you i probably would not have last out there. I'd like to extend my thanks, but i only have my blood, so if you will, please accept this whore's blood."
"E-eh, a whore?"
"Yes, any problems?"
"N-no i'm sorry."
"Please, don't be."
"E-either way, it must be hard..."
The rest of the exchange was quick, Bell had gotten the blood and explained to them the supposed creature around the ward, asking the dweller, Arianna and the old hag that had just arrived to not leave the ward untill he give them a sign, afterwards he ran outside to find nothing, searching for a few hours untill he looked nearby a corpse where he got his hunter garbs, untill a sudden pressure wrapped around him, strong and unrelenting, he could not escape it, he found himself floating, and as he looked around he saw the outline of a nightmarish creature, that squeezed him untill the world around him was but the familiar grey mist.
"Argh, where am i?"
He woke up in the familiar setting that was the chapel, but no one was there, the lamp was unlit and there was something eerie about this place. Lighting the lamp and going outside he was welxomed by a distorted realm of nightmarish terrain, it was the cathedral ward but weird white plants were scattered about and the streets were overun by weird terrain that felt like something out of a children's book, but without the innocence of one.
The only ones there were mad hunters and beasts, who would kill anyone in sight. Still he continued through the somewhat familiar terrain untill he was in front of the cathedral where he fought vicar amelia.
After taking care of the guards he stumbled into a room where a giant flaming beast was sitting on the altar like a throne to it's blood thirsty self. What the actual heck... he approached it carefully untill seeing a pendant in it's hand, stealthly taking it to not wake up the beast he ran away from the room in order to not fight such strong foe unprepared.
Okay, that is gonna be though, and i still need to see what is over there. Hunting for any sense of where he could be, the hunter continued untill stopping at the sight of the horrific river of blood, corpses and blood sucking beasts littering the crimsom landscape, to the point where a mob was forming, thinking fast he ran untill he figure he was relatively safe. He entered a random building where he found another hunter but a sane one at least.
"Oh a hunter, and a sane one at that, must have taken a wrong turn eh?"
"Suppose so..."
"Well we are more alike than you think, this is the hunter's nightmare, were hunters end up drunk with blood. You've seen them before. Aimless, wandering hunters slavering like beasts. This is was the poor fools have to look forward to. So don't be brash, turn back now."
"So this is what happens to a hunter?"
"Yes."
"Then isn't turning back now the same as setting me up to suffer the same fate?"
"Ah so you do have interrest in nightmares, you can sense the secret within this one. And you cannot bear to let it alone, as the very spirit of Brygenwerth lives on within you."
"It's curiosity i suppose, yet if this truly is what awaits future hunters then it's a simple obligation to end it, is it not?"
"A hunter with a sense of justice, that is rare indeed, but beware, secrets are secrets for a reason."
"Understood, so what should i call you then, if we are going end the nightmare?"
"Simon is my name."
"Well then mr. Simon my name is Bell."
The hunters did not speak for too long as both of them had things to do and beasts to kill. Bell was thinking hard about the nightmare, he saw what a blood drunk hunter becomes when fighting Hennrick and Gascoigne, and he did not envy their fate, still if this is something that can be stopped then he would give his all to do it, after all, his one ambition in life still is to become a hero.
So, he wondered around the river of blood fighting of beast and hunter alike, in search of the way forward and towards the secrets held within the nightmare. At this point, Bell had spent quite some time in the hunt, somewhere between a year and some months, yet the night was still the same, and the hunt was just as brutal and unchanging.
That was, untill the river started to end, or begin?, he was reaching tunnel after lighting a lamp at a familiar church, but was confronted by a living corpse.
"Ahhh... help uss... help us... an unsightly beast... a great terror looms..."
"W-what terror? who is there?"
"Ludwig the accursed is coming."
That line sent Bell's mind into a spiral, Is it the same Ludwig? it can't be... he is a hero not a beast, but... He was interrupted by the screams of the living corpse.
"Have mercy upon us, have mercy!"
A great beast then barged in, it looked like a disfigured horse made of flesh and eyes, it's head was almost separated by a line between the more unsightly side and one where he still looked like a normal beast. In that moment, Bell knew, that it was the hero he heard about, shattering Bell's thoughts about heroes, were not they great warriors with kind hearts, who would do the right thing for the sake of it, if so then how could one be corrupted into a mindless beast.
The cautious hunter was already in battle mode when Ludwig jumped to him, rushing in for the kill, Bell quickly sidestepped the attack while lashing out with the cleaver as using the slower kirkh hammer was pointless considering the beast was too quick to use it effectively, so using the saw cleaver was the way to go. It's probably better considering he had wanted some quicker weapons so getting adjusted to the change would be better.
The initial stage of the fight was rather easy for the hunter, Ludwig for all his former glory was still a mindless beast and could be dodged and punished, but after a few hits in the fight would become harder and harder, from erratic behaviour to new attacks and tricks the beast was difficult to kill, and while Bell wanted to free him, he was unable to do so in his first attempt, dying after the beast clung to the roof and dropped down on him.
Time after time, the hunter fought for the freedom of the hero Ludwig, and the secrets of the nightmare. In some attempts the beast had crushed his lungs between it's hooves and the blood covered ground, in others he was trampled over and, in more gruesome ones, he suffered a combination of all of the above.
Still he was steadly getting better at reading his oponent's attacks and dodging them to a flawless degree, only to be surprised again by a new trick or combination that caused the beast to gain the upper hand.
After starting his 12th try he was surprised in the middle of lengthy battle when the beast stopped the dance of attacks and sidesteps, instead just glancing at an object wrapped in bandages as it started glowing and growing, eventually it started to do what no beast had done before, speak with clarity and intent instead of the insane mumbles certain beasts still dare to utter.
"Ah, you were at my side all along... my true mentor... my guiding moonlight!"
Bell immediately realised what had happened, that, for one last fight, that beast crawled out of insanity, and he was going to give it a worthy fight, Ludwig the beast, no, the hunter drew his holy blade, the abyssal sword of green glow showed it's face as the two began fighting, for Bell this fight was one he could not lose anymore, his pride would not allow him to lose just to come back and try again.
Rays of abyssal light flooded the room as with each swing of the sword another magical attack followed, it reminded Bell of one legend his grandfather, king Arthur and his magical sword excalibur.
The change in fighting style was a set back for Bell, who returned to being more cautious, since now, he was not vanquishing a beast but dueling a hunter to a glorious death.
Blows were traded as both were still fighting with all their might, ludwig was still not at his prime thanks to the beast scourge, but still a daunting opponent that would have made Bell give up were he less determined. Wave after wave of the deadly abyssal light that the sword shot was thrown towards him, still his resolve pushed him forward when the hunter's onslaught was pressuring him into corners he never knew existed within the blood covered corpse pile of a room they were fighting on, a less than unsigthly arena.
No vials left... the cleaver is jammed in normal mode, but my bullets are almost untouched since they have no use here. His health is in an even worst state than mine, if i can avoid his next sword pulse, that's it, i know how to do it.
The hunter's newfound determination pushed him towards his goal, as he sidesteps away from ludwig, throwing a molotov to his feets, distracting him long enough for an opening, as Bell runs towards him raising his cleaver, Ludwig bringing his sword down on him, Bell jumps to the side narrowly avoiding the weapon as the legendary hunter swings again to slash his enemy in half, but the white haired hunter just throws himself to the ground and slides past the blade as it hits his head, knocking away his tricorn hat and giving him a rather shallow but still gruesome cut.
Still through all of this attacks the determined young hunter persisted, and when finnaly hitting his target he drove his cleaver, slashing through Ludwig's body.
The beastly body of the hunter thrashed in pain and staggered him, Bell, wishing to not give him a painfull death drove his fist into his body in a visceral attack, finishing Ludwig and closing the curtain on Ludwig the holyblade's heroic, if tragic, tale.
Heavily breathing, Bell looked at the ground on his knees when he heard a sound, or rather a voice, it was Ludwig, somehow barely alive even though his time is coming, he still had the energy to speak.
"Good hunter, did you see it? the thread of light, a hair, a fleeting thing, yet i clung to it, steeped as i was in the stench of blood and beasts."
"So you really are a hero huh."
"Many would not call me that... but please tell me, about the church hunters, are they the honorable spartans i trained them to be?"
Bell thought for a second, having met alfred who was a real help. He answered honestly, even though in hindsight all he was doing is lying through his teeth.
"Of course."
"Ah that is good, such a relief... to know i have not suffered such denigration for nothing. thank you kindly, now i may die in peace..."
"Yes."
"...Even in the darkest of nights... i still see... the moonlight..."
Seeing as he was needlessly suffering, Bell finished him, granting Ludwig the Holy blade, his gracefull end.
After that he picked up his sword, which was glowing the same abyssal light as when Ludwig used it, the sword and the tiny beings of light within it recognised Bell as Ludwig's rightfull succesor.
The hunter's victory was one without celebration, as it would be cut short by the blood loss and wounds on his body, still he could see the weird light even when the world turned grey...
.
.
"Doll?"
"Yes good hunter?"
"Do you know if mr. Gehrman is awake? I want to share something with him."
"I assume it's related to your state?"
Oh crap, i forgot about the guts covering me... i should be more worried about how i did not notice them...
"Yes it's also about this sword." He said showing the doll the holy moonlight sword.
"Good hunter, you should clean yourself first... It's too early to think that being covered in blood is normal..." Her last words carried more weight than any of the others, She didn't knew why, maybe because of his pure innocence she had seen when he first started the hunt... she wanted to preserve it even if for a while longer...
"Either way good hunter, Gehrman is in fact asleep, however if you wish to talk about it i am here to assist you."
"Well then... im... how can i put this... you do remember my dream right, when i told you about my rather childish aspirations..." he could feel his face burning in shame.
"Of course good hunter, a dream more noble than many others."
"Thank you, but that's beside my point. The sword i carry here, belonged to Ludwig the holy blade, he was the beast i was hunting down... and i'm beggining to think that i should give up this dream... if even someone like Ludwig who Gehrman told me so much about can fall to the scourge... i don't know of i could do better..."
"Good hunter, i am positive your fears are unfounded and irrational. You are doing much better than all other hunters i've seen."
"But-"
"No buts" boy ya doing a fine job!" the moment was interrupted by Gehrman who had woken up and heard the conversation.
"Mr. Gehrman, thank you!"
"No problem, anyways, i would suggest you start to prepare that sword for your next hunt."
"Huh?"
"Don't tell me boy, yer not planning to use your new sword?"
"But it's not mine though?"
"Yes it is, you defeated Ludwig the holy blade and not using his blade at least once would be a disrespect to that weapon."
"I suppose so."
"Then go, the workshop is waiting and that sword seen better days..."
The three of them talked for a little bit more, but after Bell had finished the work on his weapons and clothes, who had become quite damaged, he went on with the hunt, more importantly his expeditions towards the hunters nightmare.
Waking up at the lamp inside the room of the corpse pile he saw Simon the harrowed silently watching the remains of Ludwig.
"Hey there."
"Did you do it?"
"Yes, it's a pity really such a good man, and formidable warrior..."
"At least he shall no longer shame himself, although i would suggest that you should be going onwards, i still have things to do here..."
"No problem."
There was a small corridor adjecent to the room, entering it and dispatching a few enemies in cold blood, Bell found a few prison like cells, in one he found an man banging his head on the wall opposite to the cell's iron door, still he did not respond when talked to, only mumbling something about curses, so Bell decided to come back later.
But as he progressed he saw a bigger cell one that contained a man clad in the hide of a cleric beast... Bell felt a weird sense of dread when passing by him, however to his even bigger surprise the man called to him when he was still distracted by the other man...
"...Bell..."
"W-what?"
"Do you hear the toll of the bell?"
"N-no?"
"Good, the beasts you seek will not be found here, go back to your hunt and put this night behind you..."
"I'm afraid that is not an option."
"Then i will warn you, don't pry into the unknown..."
"I won't, but still my only way is forward..."
"Very well then..."
The interaction was akward and eerie but not the worst he had so far in Yarnham, which got Bell thinking... were is he actually, since this is clearly not the same Yarnham as he saw before, but searching for answers just led his mind to worse mysteries of this land.
He mad ehis way through what looked like some kind of clinic inside a church, when he realised that there were two hunters nearby, who were not as friendly as Simon, after again a rather fast fight and even faster slaughter, the hunters were sent back to the afterlife were they would not be stuck in the nightmare...
Finding himself at the foot of an elaborate shrine looking statue of a few church members performing some kind of surgery on a man, his head was cracked open and a slot was inside it to insert something inside. Eventually Bell discovered the puzzle's answer and inserted the eye pendant inside it, activating the massive hidden elevator that was the altar, What? they make those elevators this big? wow... Bell who had only seen one other elevator and had already found that one incredible was absolutlely floored...
But the rather light hearted moment was interrupted when the elevator stopped revealing the research hall, home for the Healing church's worst experiments and although lesser crimes compared to their first sin...
As the poor hunter forced to see through the blissfull ignorance of the Healing church's facade was discovering the victims of it's unsightly actions, he was forced to kill the poor test subjects, finding little solace in the weak belief that he was doing them a favor...
Still he could only stomach the terrible sights inside the damned halls, but when the hallways and staircases led him to a door, walking past another one of the terrible patients who could not be called human anymore, just a bag of flesh still concious... he stumbles upon a garden in an open area there he finds the few more progressed patients still labeled as failures... the living failures...
The fight up to the start was simple he would smite the alien like monsters with the moonlight sword when they were open after an attack, then switch to the untransformed saw cleaver to help his hit and run tatics, but as he killed more and more of then he realised that even more of the same monster appeared, he was desperately dodging their magic-like attacks of cosmic origin, Still he managed to regain his tempo and went again in the offensive, slashing and hacking away with his cleaver in a brutal but beautifull dance of blood and killer instinct. Before he knew it he was sitting on the floor covered in blood, hevily breathing but with no more enemies in sight...
He looked at the lamp that appeared in front of him... then at his bloodied hands and weapons caked in filth, fat and of course blood. to say he was distraught was an understatement, for time and time again he was losing track of the battled he fought, giving himself up to instinct, especially during his time at the chalice dungeons... he figured he could talk to the doll, but first he would clean himself at the dream...
"Hey doll, are you there..."
"Good hunter, what happened?"
"I... i don't even know a this point... all i knew about the church is apparently false... that byrgenwerth university is apparently involved... at least from what i saw there so many research papers... and the patients... by the gods... that was beyond humanity... ar-are all hunters monsters like these... i feel like i am gonna puke just by remembering... i cannot do this... i am giving up, yes just giving up... it's better this way..."
"Good hunter, i'm afraid i cannot give you much advice... but please you've come this far..."
"And look where it brought me..." Tears streaming from his eyes, the hunter was suffering the consequences of the secrets he saw within the nightmare.
The doll was already playing the role of a therapist of sorts, but now she knew that if this hunter succeds or not in his journey would depend on her. So she tried something she never did before, a hug...
They spent days talking about the most varied things, from the things he saw at the research hall to the more embarrasing details of his life, such as the ideas his grandfather tried to fill his head with, Gehrman who listened in for a bit had a laugh at the similarity between the boy's grandfather's philosophies and his favourite book...
Even if unnoticed by the hunter, the doll argued with Gehrman that the hunter needed a break, some time away from the hunt, Gehrman argued back saying that it was not up to them, that an even higher being holds controll over this decision and it might grow impatient should a hunter decide to not do it's job... However, strangely enough, when secretely speaking about it when Bell was training they got the most unlikely of answers... the moonlight appeared to intensify as if trying to respond, the insidious moon could not risk appearing in front of it's new hunter... yet it's answer was a clear "Yes" not an overly enthusiastic one but it still puzzled the doll and old Gehrman... still they would do what the presence wanted.
Bell spent three months inside the dream, while time would not pass on the hunt so he still had time, he did not just sit idly, he and the doll tried to work on his more emotional side, mostly not breaking down whenever he sees the terrific images of the hunt, while he spent more time with Gehrman as he taught him some moves with his weapons and how to properly choose blood gems, apparently maxing things weapon stats was important... it was weird for Bell to think that all this time he spent there is technically just the same as an instant, of course that was explained to him by the doll but he still did not understand it.
He would first return to the REAL chapel, just to let the others know that he was okay, I was starting to miss you dweller... Arianna too... but not that hag.
After that he just tried to test my new abilities with the moonlight sword, i would've like something lighter but either way this weapon is a work of art...
I wonder if my skills are on par with the heroes and warriors i read as a kid... either way-
"Oh it's you again, Bell, wasn't it?" His train of thought was interrupted by the familiar face of Alfred, the hunter he befriended a while ago.
"Oh... hello mr. Alfred... how have you been?" As much as Bell tried not to think ill of Alfred, he still had much resentment for the church itself... still he was mature enough to separate the instituition from those who work under it...
"A-also... i'd like to ask you a few things about the church"...
authors notes: Again sorry for the wait, this chapter was a bit irritating to write, basically i tried to make the start of the DLC, i will have him at least discover Byrgenwerth before he comes back to the Dlc tho... ty for the few comments also, they help a bit to write.