Blood Drunk Hunter (Shadow Slave/Bloodborne Fic)

It took only one week for Seishan to hold up her end of the bargain. The solution was a bit odd, there was no tool that could allow mundane flames to melt Fallen material, but an Aspect could. 

One of the Artisans by the name of Cory had an ability that allowed him to turn a solid into a liquid. The ability was useless in combat since direct contact over an extended period of time was required for the transformation to occur. The length required only increased with the disparity between Ranks. 

Nevertheless he was perfect for what Gehrman needed. 

In the middle of the night, after a hunt one of the handmaidens showed up and asked him if this was acceptable. After agreeing, he hooked her up with a pack and sent her on the way with an advance payment of a couple dozen soul shards. 

The next night, a larger group came. Along with them was the wiry blonde kid who would help bring the Kirkhammer to life. Gehrman excitedly greeted him, gave him a handful of Ascended shards and had him use them to saturate his core.

Cory was a relatively new resident of the Bright Castle. He had arrived four years ago and despite being housed and fed in exchange for his work, he hadn't had the opportunity to gain many of his own Soul Shards. Therefore Gehrman's bribery was heavily effective and the boy swore absolute secrecy and fealty to "Sir Hermit."

On that topic, it appeared that he had become something of an urban legend. Gehrman talked a lot with Cory as we waited for the boy's Aspect to take effect on a couple of bones. It was then he learned a lot more about the Bright Castle and how its denizens operated. He also heard stories about the unifying outskirts and their leader Changing Star. There was a mixed reaction to her from the people of the Bright Castle. Given her philanthropic efforts, she wasn't hated by most. Though they did have a distaste for her giving "handouts." Unless they worked for The Host as warriors serving Gunlaug, none of them went out of their way to bad mouth her.

Gehrman wasn't the most informed on politics. Even when he was a hugely important player during the early days of The Hunt in Yharnam, he never talked much with the higher-ups of Byrgenwerth and The Church unless it was specifically asked of him. 

However, even to him it was clear that something big was brewing. He did not know how Changing Star was going to go about creating a revolution, but he started to ponder on what stance to take when it inevitably occurred.

On one hand his current ally of Seishang was hugely helpful, and he wanted to do whatever was possible to keep her (and her resources) available to him. However, Caster was the right-hand man of Changing Star, and though the little brat was a nuisance, Gehrman still had a little sympathy for him as he was the first human to help him in this world. On top of that, he had to admit that Changing Star had the moral high ground in this debate. If Gunlaug wanted to truly cultivate a peaceful community, he could do it in a way that didn't leave dozens of people to the creatures of the Dark City. 

In the end though, this wouldn't be an issue for a while. Changing Star and her cohort were still consolidating their forces, and Gunlaug and his lieutenants still seemed to underestimate her.

So, each and every party was lying in wait for the other to make their move. In three months, that would happen when the Bright Castle sent their people out to "arrest" Hunter Athena, the Pathfinder who acted as one of Changing Star's closest advisors. 

Hunter Athena would disappear for one week, seemingly living in the Dark City. After that, two people would be recruited to go on a dangerous mission. The first was the Sunless, the former party member and scout. The second was the dreaded Bloody Hermit. 

However, before that happened, four other things of note occurred.

… 

The first happened one month after the initial deal had been struck with Seishan. The Princess of Song had been very pleased with the arrangement, but was suddenly alarmed by a summonings from Gehrman. Not only that, he requested ten of her strongest handmaidens. He made this request for twelve Ascended shards with the added caveat that none of these fine ladies must ever discuss what would happen. 

The price being so incredible, Seishan naturally accepted and warily made her way back to the Workshop for the second time. After opening the door she and her retinue were met with an overpowering scent of fresh blood. 

Gehrman's hunt had wrapped up only minutes before, just as he had planned.

"Welcome! Welcome to my fantastical and unsportsmanlike Workshop!" Gehrman greeted them with a slurred drawl. "I'm so happy you could all make it!"

"Yes…would you mind now revealing what exactly this job is that you need us for?" Seishan replied hesitantly. 

"Well of course! I wanted to show you all this fun new room I made! It took a lot of work and I am just so excited to try it out."

Seishan narrowed her eyes and spoke frankly. "You don't appear to be in the best mind. Perhaps we should do this later."

"No no," Gehrman turned around and started walking down the Workshop hallways. "It is precisely because I won't be in my right mind that I need you all here. For you see! I am going to go absolutely and completely insane for a couple of hours, and I need you to make sure I don't go anywhere, ruin anything, or hurt anyone."

A chill ran down the posse of Handmaidens. They were all generally annoyed at the Bloody Hermit for having the gall to summon their Lady Seishan. Most had never met "Sir Gehrman" as they had been ordered to address him, but they were now starting to understand both of his monikers. The title of Hermit was evident enough, this strange artificial cave along with his mannerisms made them afraid he would snap at any moment. As for calling him "sir" the answer was clear. It was a measure taken to ensure he wouldn't snap. Each step he took was made with the silent promise of brutality. They felt that if the madman wanted to, he could kill them without a second thought. 

Seishan was even more alarmed by this turn. She was certain it hadn't been on purpose, but the fresh blood in the Workshop made her thoughts jumbled and chaotic. She knew that it would be reasonable to ask for more explanation, or to demand that he stop this whole thing now, but she couldn't find the words. In the end all she could do was say "It will be done," in as steady a voice as she could muster.

Gehrman, who was oblivious to all of this, led them into his bedroom where he gestured to five cots that he had been building over the past week. "You can take turns sleeping. I don't know how long this will last, but I built these all just in case."

Then, he pulled a new, massive lever that had not been there the last time Seishan had been there. It moved a much heavier boulder-door and revealed a dark staircase. "Alright let's go," Gehrman happily sauntered forward and downwards. The steps themselves were far from uniform, and since there was no light the Handmaidens had to carefully sidestep their way down. The thought occurred to all of them that this would be a very obvious and easy way to murder them all, but their leader said nothing so they followed obediently. 

After a minute of walking downward, they finally reached the bottom. A few torches burned, letting them see the truly grotesque sight. A Nightmare Creature, a living one, was chained to a wall. Its bare fleshy body sagged under the push of gravity, and a silent cry escaped its multiple lips. Multiple pieces of its flesh were missing, as if they had been visciously torn off. Three poles of bone impaled the creature, furthering it's torment. The abomination had many faces. Several different colored eyes, twisted noses, and hollow mouths all twitched in the dim light. 

The Handmaidens were hardened killers, but at the sight of this monstrosity grotesquely hung up on the brink of death they recoiled. All of them did, except for Seishan, whose eyes were transfixed at the blood pooling below the creature. Small channels in the floor allowed the liquid to all pour into one area, a bloody, imperfect circle. It looked like a demonic summoning circle from the times before the Spell. The Princess of Song's mouth hung open slightly, her pupils dilated.

Then, a small hand came to rest on her shoulder.

The gentleness of it shocked her out of her trace. To her surprise, it was Gehrman who comforted her, his eyes looking completely different from anything she had seen. 

Only seconds later though, they changed back. "This fucker is an Awakened Devil. I named him Micolash because I hate him." He sauntered over to the creature, his excitement evident. "Today I am going to consume Micolash, leaving nothing but bones." This proclamation stunned the others, so much so that they didn't interrupt his monologue. 

"I grow stronger by consuming flesh and blood you see, Soul Shards do nothing for me, that's why I'm giving them away like candy. However, every time I grow stronger I also get a bit more insane. It wears off after a while, but it can get very ugly. Today, it will get more ugly than ever before. If I want to keep growing stronger I need to experience more madness, and to do that in a safe way I need you all to act as my jailors."

Gehrman regarded the Devil with a spiteful gaze. "Micolash, I want to kill you myself, but it is such a pain in the ass every time. Besides, I won't get a Memory from it, so there really isn't any point…" He then turned towards his new friends. "Would one of you ladies please put him out of his misery. Tonight, I will be the one in chains."

…

"Oh, Laurence... Master Willem... Somebody, help me... Unshackle me, please, anybody... I've had enough of this dream... The night blocks all sight... Oh, somebody, please..." Gehrman cried. He cried with fervor, his humanity no longer holding his tears in. He was made pale and feeble by the light of the moon. 

The moon loomed over him. Despite the darkness of the cave the moon stayed watching. It's love so sweet and sticky that it would sooner tear off his skin than separate. Oh the moon loved him. It loved him so so much. It was his baby. This sweet sweet child. 

"Aventine, Tokka, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Dorian cried hideously. "What have I done? Why am I like this? I just want to forget! Stop it! Stop telling me these things! I don't like it! It hurts! It makes me feel terrible!"

"Have you heard of Paleblood?" Johann asked. "Thank you all the same. We outsiders must stick together." Johann stood up and walked away, even though he was chained to these walls. He turned around. "What do you mean you won't be able to help much longer? Are you feeling alright? Gilbert? We outsiders must stick together." He pulled against the chains. "Gilbert?"He rose from the lamp and was attacked. There was a blood-thirsty beast. He slaughtered it. Easily. "Gilbert?" 

He cried, and cried, and cried. 

"The Blood makes us human, makes us more than human, makes us human no more."

"What nonsense is he prattling on about this time?" he asked and answered in one voice. 

"Our eyes are yet to open." 

"I understand why he says it."

"Fear The Old Blood," he spoke of him and as him. 

"We are thinking on the basis of planes," he said as him.

"Planes of thought?" he asked to him.

"Planes of thought and planes of reality. They are one in the same. Our eyes simply can't see them."

"Eyes can't see thought."

"Their eyes can. Eyes on the inside."

"This is madness."

"Exactly."

"What?"

"Madness…is evolution, growth, strength."

"What is this?" Dorian asked.

"Why are you here?" Johann asked.

"Please just let me wake from this nightmare." Gehrm@n cr!ed.

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…

Eighth minutes after the last drop of blood had somehow been consumed by Gehrman's seemingly bottomless stomach disappeared, Seishan senses finally returned to her. It was also around that time that she fully understood just how big of a mistake this was. 

The man, or rather thing in front of her could not be considered human. Multiple blood vessels in his body had popped, leaving him with several pronounced bumps all over his body and his eyes covered completely in red. However none of them could approach because he was constantly thrashing and pulling. 

The chains connected to the wall were exceptionally numerous, and they appeared to be carved out of the bones of Awakened creatures. Gehrman also made them impale his wrists and feet. Even then, he was still pulling his body around violently, tearing open new skin and muscles each time. The sight was nothing short of ghastly. 

The one good thing about this night (besides the shards) was that Seishan finally got an idea of what Gehrman's aspect was. This was because his blood would randomly start flying around the room at high speed. Sometimes it would harden into a solid mass, but that never seemed to hold for long. More often than not, they just scuttled along the floor like insects. 

Many of the Handmaidens left throughout this time. They took shifts like Gehrman had suggested. Not because they were tired, but because it was simply too horrific of a sight. 

The only one who stayed the whole time was Seishan. 

It was not out of some sense of honor, but instead curiosity. In this state, he was yelling out several names and having full blown conversations with himself. She wanted to see if she recognized any of them, and maybe she could start to piece together his story. However, she was left with nothing but confusion. None of the names said were familiar, with the sole exception of Maria. That was the name he had mentioned when he had first met her. 

…he talked about Maria a lot. 

His descent into madness was indeed a complete one, just as he had promised. And he also rose back from the depths of that abyss, just like he promised. It was eerie, seeing his frantic eyes occasionally focus, only to fall away again. 

However, after several hours, they stayed locked on her eyes. The extended eye contact should have made her uncomfortable, he was hanging from a wall and a bloodied mess after all. But it wasn't off-putting. He didn't look at her with reverence, lust, anger, or any of the other emotions she was accustomed to. Instead he simply looked at her with a shallow relief. 

That being said, Seishan only waited for a couple of minutes before approaching him, and swiftly pulling out the spear that impaled his feet to the walls. Gehrman made no sound as they did, the scrapping of bone rang hollow through the cavern. 

"You are back?" she asked lightly.

"Yea," he said in an incredibly hoarse voice. Gehrman dipped his head to look down at his body, and then he looked around the room, taking in all of its features (as well as the pale faces of the Handmaidens). "Thanks for doing this."

"Of course," the Song Princess replied with a smile. "It was a more than fair deal," she said as she pulled out the remaining two spears that were in his wrists.

This time at least, Gehrman grunted and winced a bit as the weapons left his body. They had pierced him in a way that allowed for no permanent damage to be done, but the healing would take a while. 

Some of the Handmaidens came forward, and following their Lady's lead, unchained him. 

He fell forward and was caught in Seishan's arms. It surprised her again how small he was. He had worn his strange attire throughout this whole ordeal, making her forget that he was just a kid. A small pang hit her heart as she considered how she had just allowed the torture of this thirteen-year-old boy. 

After a second he pushed off of her and somehow stood on his own. Once more he turned his head down to examine himself. Then, in a hollow and raspy voice he said: "On second thought, I have another job for you. I am going to need food and water delivered here for a week. You can take whatever Awakened Soul Shards you can carry back as payment."

Seishan looked at the boy, and a warm smile came across her face. "Alright, sounds good."