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Bloodborne belongs to FromSoftware, Horizon Zero Dawn belongs to Guerrilla Games

Chapter 22: Disconcerting Calm

LOG: Strange Circumstances: Data Corruption moderate

Cyrus Bishop: Doll, I've been thinking.

Doll: About what, Good Hunter?

Cyrus Bishop: About… everything.

Doll: Good Hunter?

Cyrus Bishop: Just think about it. The circumstances that have led to right now are as unlikely as they are strange. Don't you think? The world is about to end by a plague of mechanical beasts. I'm, somehow, the frontline of this war. Neither of us belong to this time or world, yet we both work to save it. And I've been offered a chance to finally rest without Eldritch interference… I hope.

Doll: Good Hunter, how am I helping to save the world? I am here in the dream, a companion for you and you alone.

Cyrus Bishop: That's why, Doll. You gave me strength when I had none back in Yharnam, and now you give me the will to fight on. If it weren't for you, I'd have fallen into the same depressive state as Gehrman, so many years ago.

Doll: Good [ERROR: DATA CORRUPTED]

…/…

Cyrus groaned as he rose to his feet. He had died in many different and painful ways in the past. However, this was the first time he had brought a mountain down on himself. Every movement hurt with the lingering memory of such a crushing. Cyrus forced himself to an upright position to take stock of himself.

Doll was sitting in her usual spot watching him. The dream seemed okay. He seemed relatively okay. The moon was a little darker than usual, but other than that, everything appeared to be fine.

"Are you doing well, Good Hunter?" Doll asked as Cyrus forced himself to his feet.

"Nope." Cyrus groaned. "Just brought down a mountain on myself. It felt lovely."

"Why did you bring down a mountain?" Doll asked.

"Had to collapse a nightmare that had leaked into the waking world." Cyrus grunted. "Did the Moon Presence have anything to say about it?"

"No." Doll replied. "They have been relatively silent on the matter."

"Relatively?" Cyrus questioned.

"I don't think breaking a nightmare is a smart idea." Doll replied.

"Of course it isn't." Cyrus said. "But I couldn't allow Aloy to be claimed by it."

"You have grown attached to her." Doll stated.

"Your point?" Cyrus asked.

"Just making a statement of fact." Doll said. "You have a tendency to grow attached to those around you. That is a generally unwise idea for a Hunter."

"I was supposed to be the last." Cyrus replied.

"You must have known that would never last, not so long as the Moon Presence has any say in it." Doll replied. "The Hunt can never be only one Hunter. Yharnam can never be only a memory."

"I know." Cyrus said. "But I will delay the inevitable as long as possible."

"Why?" Doll asked.

"Because I can." Cyrus paused. "Because I want to. Like you said, I have a tendency to grow attached. And this world, despite being a millennium older than when I was last awake, is still a world I care for."

"The Moon Presence will replace you eventually, Good Hunter. Every day you resist the will of the Great One is a day closer to your inevitable replacement." Doll said.

"I know, but I don't think the Moon Presence is so willing to toss me aside that easily." Cyrus smirked.

"Why not?" Doll asked.

"I resist, but I'm still a willing prisoner." Cyrus answered. "What more could be asked of a Hunter who fights to stay imprisoned?"

"I had not considered that." Doll stated. "What will you do now?"

"Return to Meridian and prepare for the oncoming apocalypse." Cyrus answered.

"The waking world is once more facing its end?" Doll asked.

"HADES is trying to reawaken the FARO plague." Cyrus said. "I've got to stop it… I'm certainly going to try."

"You doubt you can win?" Doll asked.

"HADES has awakened a few Blood Wasps. I can take them. The people of this world can't." Cyrus answered.

"Neither could the people who originally fought them alongside you." Doll stated.

"Yeah. I know that all too well." Cyrus replied. "You don't think I can expect the help of the Moon Presence, do you?"

"That would take a considerable level of pleading." Doll replied.

"Thought so." Cyrus said. "I've got a world to return to, farewell Doll."

"Farewell, Good Hunter." Doll said as the dream faded from his sight.

The night was still young as Cyrus materialized outside Meridian. A full moon was slowly rising into the sky. Cyrus sighed as he made his way into the city proper. The city's guards were on high alert. Squadrons of soldiers were preparing the various defenses the city had. Anyone able to wield a weapon had been given one. The rest were being herded to safety. Various captains were ordering people to where they should go.

Cyrus made his way through the city. The western side of the city was where most of the fortifications were being concentrated. A small assortment of people were gathered on the road leading toward the city's gate. He recognized a few amongst the group. He acknowledged Uthid and Vanasha with a nod of his head. He sent a questioning look at Nil, the bandit hunter he had encountered so long ago. The man just shrugged and smirked at him. Cyrus rolled his eyes as he approached.

"It has been a while." Cyrus stated.

"That it has. Has your blade tasted the blood of any more bandits since our first encounter?" Nil questioned.

"Can't say it has." Cyrus replied. "Been a bit busy dealing with the end of the world. I must say, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Your Nora friend has a way with words and arrows that can stop the bloodlust of a few insignificant bandits." Nil replied.

"She cleared out a few bandit camps with you, I take it?" Cyrus interpreted.

Nil nodded. "And now I find myself here to once again feel the thrill of battle."

"I have a feeling that won't be enough." Cyrus muttered, walking away from Nil.

The number of people who had shown up to fight for Meridian and their world was quite staggering. At the end of the day, though, Cyrus had a feeling it would never be enough. He sighed as he made his way up to the top of the city. He wondered where Aloy was as he wandered through the mostly empty streets of the city's upper level.

"CYRUS!" he heard a shout from his left. "You're alive!"

Cyrus looked to his left in time to see Aloy as she embraced him. She let him go and stepped back.

"I wasn't sure you had made it." Aloy said.

"I told you, we're Hunters. Death is an impossible dream." Cyrus replied.

"And now I have firsthand evidence of that." Aloy said.

"You didn't believe me before?" Cyrus asked.

"You said you can't stay dead; I took that with a grain of salt. It's a little easier to believe." Aloy replied. "But no one can survive being buried by a mountain."

"True. How has the rest of the world reacted to the mountain's destruction?" Cyrus asked.

"Right now, people are too worried about their impending doom to care." Aloy replied.

"How bad is it?" Cyrus asked.

"Bad." Aloy sighed. "Avad found a traitor amongst the guards. If what the traitor has to say is true, they've got an army bigger than anything we can imagine on its way."

"I can imagine bigger, but this is just the start." Cyrus said, wandering over to a nearby balcony.

He leaned against the balcony and looked out over the defenses.

"The attack is supposed to be coming from that ridge." Aloy said. "All we know is that there are more machines than men."

"Better than nothing." Cyrus said.

"But not enough." Aloy continued. "The Oseram blacksmiths have made some rather impressive guns to help keep the machines at bay, but we only have four of those."

"Four guns, no matter how powerful, have no chance of stopping a FARO swarm, especially if there's Blood Wasps amongst them." Cyrus said. "And that's discounting the machines enslaved by the Scarabs."

"At least they won't have a Horus." Aloy said.

"Small mercies, I suppose." Cyrus replied.

"We're all going to die, aren't we?" Aloy asked.

"No. You and I won't." Cyrus said. "The Dream sustains us. The rest… we can only fight and hope. You have a plan for when the attack arrives?"

"Defend the spire at all costs." Aloy said.

"Not much of a plan." Cyrus chuckled.

"Better than nothing." Aloy said. "How about you?"

"I'm going to ask for help." Cyrus said. "Our patron cares more about the Hunt than anything else. Perhaps it is feeling… sympathetic tonight."

"Do you think you'll get an answer?" Aloy asked.

"No… but I have to try." Cyrus said. "Eldritch power is probably the only way we will stand a true chance at stopping the assault on the city. If, by some chance, I do get through, then when I command it during battle, Everyone needs to flee. It would only break their minds."

"I'll go and tell them." Aloy said. "Good luck. Avad gave us Olin's home to rest in for the night."

Cyrus sighed as he watched her leave. The Good Hunter turned back to the moon and raised his left hand straight up. His right arm he held straight out and waited. A minute passed before he switched arms. His right arm raised straight above and his left arm. He breathed deeply as he felt a familiar Eldritch presence brush against his mind. The moon's glow took on a red hue to his eyes.

"I know I don't do this often, but we need your help." Cyrus muttered.

Cyrus could practically feel the Moon Presence smirking at him.

"This world could end when we are attacked. It would leave only Aloy and me in the Hunt. You don't even have to physically show up." Cyrus continued.

The Moon Presence's voice sounded in his mind. The Eldritch words took form.

"WE CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR HELP!" Cyrus begged. "I know I've faced the swarm before, but that was a thousand years ago with technology far better than what we have here. The people of this world are primitive even by my standard. I can't hold them off forever."

More dismissive Eldritch words echoed throughout his mind as he switched his arms again.

"What do you want?" Cyrus regretted his words immediately.

More of the Eldritch tongue echoed in his mind as the words and runes took shape. A deal with the devil in the moon. Cyrus sighed in defeat.

"If this guarantees your help, then so be it." Cyrus replied.

He could almost imagine the satisfied yet sinister smirk on the Moon Presence's non-existent face. The Eldritch being left his mind. Cyrus sighed and lowered his arms. His walk through the city took him to Olin's old home. Aloy was already there..

"Of course you aren't." He heard her voice as he entered the building.

His footsteps weren't exactly quiet as he entered.

"Cyrus?" Aloy asked as she descended the stairs.

"Who else?" Cyrus asked as he sat down.

"Did you get a response?" Aloy questioned.

"Yep. We will have Eldritch help during the battle." Cyrus said.

Aloy smiled. "Then we stand a chance. I'm going to rest before the morning."

She ascended the stairs.

"At a cost far worse." Cyrus muttered as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

ERROR-DATA_CORRUPTION-BEGIN_FILE_RECOVERY…/…

Data Log TEH-022

We have one more chapter, maybe two before the end of Zero Dawn. Frozen Wilds will be its own arc, then on to Forbidden West. That is the plan for the time being. Apologies, but I sincerely doubt I will be able to return to a relatively steady update schedule. I have a job and other more important priorities that come first.

Thank you to all who read this, your feedback and views are much appreciated.

Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.

End Log S.T.K.