Blood Drunk Hunter (Shadow Slave/Bloodborne Fic)

Several high ranking officers in the Government met in a room. And they stood above a walking calamity.

Even the exalted Saint Cor and the dreaded Soul Reaper Jet had come to see this new entity that claimed to be an alien. 

Ordinarily this type of thing wouldn't have caused such widespread chaos in the Government, but the disappearance of a Terror was big news, and though they were covering it up for now, at some point the truth of what they found there would come to light. 

At the moment, he was remaining quite peaceable. 

He held conversations well, and though the explanations he offered were exaggerated, the thing called "Gehrman" did appear friendly. 

At that moment, Soul Reaper Jet came back into the room. She had taken a step out in order to call one of her contacts. 

Fortunately, she had a close connection to one of the biggest players in the Forgotten Shore incident: Awakened Sunless. 

Though he was listed as a scout, his rare affinity for shadows and drastic improvement made him an invaluable potential asset. And though he had not pledged allegiance to a clan or the government, he was still on speaking terms with Jet. 

Which was why it was so unnerving to see her come back into the room with a pale look on her face.

"...He says there was a young guy who fits the description I gave. Though the Gehrman he knew did not have eyes with a glowing circle, that can be easily attributed to a change brought about by Ascending."

Saint Cor frowned hearing this.

"Then why wasn't he with all the others? And why isn't he in our database?"

"That's the…weird part," Jet creased her brows. "He said that Gehrman died. He had been killed during the strife between Sleepers at the Bright Castle."

At this point, the gaunt Transcendent's eyes sharpened to those of a predator. 

"Then it's a Nightmare Creature puppeteering his corpse. I'll dispose of it now."

Sain Cor walked over to the Ascended that could phase him into the cage, but his path was blocked by Soul Reaper Jet. 

There was a clear difference in rank between the two. 

Though Soul Reaper was of high esteem, Saint Cor was one of the two Transcendents that worked for the Government. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was among the top 5 individuals with the most influence in the entire Government.

However, Ascended Jet had worked with Cor for a long time, and they had a great deal of respect for one another. 

For this reason, she was able to speak up against the old man. 

"Don't be rash. You read the same report I did, he dismissed a Memory. Last time I checked, Nightmare Creatures couldn't do that."

"A Memory that disappeared into purple sparks. The last time I checked that's not Memories work," Saint Cor snarled. 

Though it would seem terribly aggressive to an outsider, this was simply the veteran's personality. And Soul Reaper, who was very used to it at this point, did not back down. 

"Let me bring in Awakened Sunless and the others from that Cohort. Besides Han Li Caster, they are all unaffiliated and they should be able to respond fairly quickly," Jet paused for a moment. "And that girl, Song of The Fallen, would be among them. Her Awakened ability allows her to see some of other people's runes now. We can use that to double check his story."

"You would allow such a dangerous creature to live?" Saint Cor asked. At this point, he was no longer showing hostility, and was instead questioning Soul Reaper's intentions. 

"I would," she nodded. "Because I don't know very many Ascended that can kill a Fallen Terror on their own, if any. And I think it would be a real treat to have someone like that as a coworker."

…

In the wake of the Forgotten Shore incident, there were six individuals who stood out among the rest as the greatest new stars of humanity. 

Each of them had battled Fallen creatures despite only being Sleeper's, and that was a feat that made them nothing short of legendary. 

Three of which had gained fame and notoriety for gaining a True Name.

Song of The Fallen, also known as Awakened Cassia, became the de-facto leader of most of the Forgotten Shore survivors. Though blind, she had proven to be an invaluable seer, and despite her Flaw, she was still a dangerous fighter.

Raised By Wolves, also known as Awakened Athena or Effie had gained even more strength, though she usually kept to herself in the Dream Realm. 

Nightingale, also known as Awakened Kai, was perhaps the most surprising member of this cohort. Due to commercial reasons, there had not been any press release regarding his disappearance, the masses just thought that he was on hiatus. So when he abruptly came back and it was revealed he had been fighting Nightmare Creatures, his fame grew even more. 

The other three were less well-known due to the lack of True Names. However, it was a widely held belief by those in power that the last three were simply hiding their True Names for one reason or another.

Awakened Sunless acted as a scout of the group, but what truly caught the Government's eye was his growth. In the Awakened Academy, he had been ranked last among his peers, and everyone fully expected him to die. But instead, he had recorded over a couple hundred Awakened Nightmare Creature kills. 

Awakened Seishan was a rather enigmatic figure. The Government wasn't able to gather any information on her due to her standing as a daughter of the Song Clan Monarch. However, from personal accounts it was made clear that she was on equal footing with all the other notable figures. On top of that, she had brought back a couple dozen of her "Handmaidens" into the folds of Clan Song, giving them a great number of promising young warriors. 

Awakened Caster was perhaps the most confusing individual. Though he had been lauded as the right-hand to Changing Star herself, after returning to the Waking World he had slunk away to his Clan headquarters, and had not seen sense. 

It was a widely held belief that he was torn up about not being able to save Changing Star, but nothing was confirmed.

When Ascended Jet put out a call to Sunless, she had asked him to bring the others if possible. 

Neither Seishan nor Caster responded, but he had already been with Nightingale and Raised By Wolves. So after they contacted Song of The Fallen, all four of them made their way to the secure Government where Jet had asked them to visit.

…

Gehrman laid on his back with his limbs splayed out. He was incredibly bored, and was considering asking for a book when he finally noticed something new. Three Awakened Soul Cores were coming down towards his level, and something else was with them. 

Gehrman flinched at the sight of the three spheres of impenetrable darkness he saw. They were completely different from anything he had seen before. 

His first thought was that a Nightmare Creature had snuck into the facility, but the Soul Cores he saw were not those of abominations…though it was hard to say if they were human. 

I wonder…do a lot of people have weird Souls or am I just getting really lucky today?

First there was that odd fragmented Soul Core from the beautiful Ascended lady, and now there was…whatever this was. 

Though he was confused, there didn't seem to be any panic among the others.

All of the new figures entered the room and started talking with the other Ascended. 

Then, to his surprise, it seemed that the Awakened were being sent down to talk with him along with the same Ascended-Transcendent duo from before. 

He found it odd.

Now there were six figures standing across from him, and Gehrman had to strain his neck to look up.

What he saw took away his breath. 

…It was his old friends from the Forgotten Shore. 

Though they looked a good bit different now. 

After Awakening, they had all become a tad more beautiful, the imperfections from their bodies being torn away by their evolution. 

Kai, the singer-archer, was even more mesmerizing than before. 

Cassie seemed to have grown into her body more, and didn't seem to be the same dainty flower that he had met in the Dream Realm. 

Effie…he almost didn't recognize her. And that was because she was in a wheelchair. Despite her meager state though, she was definitely the same boisterous warrior he had met before. 

And finally there was the owner of those three Shadow-Soul Cores. 

Ah, I probably should have realized. He was able to beat Caster after all. 

The third holder of a Divine Aspect stood before him along with the others. With his arms crossed and his face befuddled, the man known as Sunless was now staring him down. 

"What a reunion," Gehrman sat up with a grunt. "Long time no see."

The two older Government workers were judging the reactions of the four individuals before them, but their confusion did nothing to alleviate the tension. 

"Gramps?" Effie asked softly. "How?…we found your body."

Gehrman's mouth quivered upward into a grin at the mention of the old nickname. 

"Yeah, that's because I died. And then I came back a couple months later and you all had done something crazy without me," Gehrman paused. "Why are you in a wheelchair, Effie?"

As the others tried to find words, the bronze warrior started cackling. 

"That's what you want to know?! Gods, it really is you isn't it? No one else would be so obnoxious!" 

He tried to glare at her for the insult, but his face kept falling apart into laughter. It had been…a long time since he had laughed.

Actually, have I ever laughed before?

The simple exchange made Gehrman's heart melt a little. He hadn't talked to anyone in a relaxed environment ever since the last trip he had been on. Ever since their expedition to the end of the Forgotten Shore. 

"For your information, my body has always been like this. In fact, I was fully paralyzed before I was Awakened, but look at me now!" Effie raised her arms and did a little dance with them. "After I become Ascended, I'll probably be able to walk and everything!"

Gehrman's childish grin warmed even more. 

For some reason, that simple dream meant a lot to him. 

After spending so much time suffering, killing, and dying in the Second Nightmare, he had lost a bit of his humanity. 

And Effie was perhaps the most human person he knew. Being around her, and all the others again was really nice. 

"You said you met with Neph?" a cold voice brought him back from his daydream. Sunless appeared to be experiencing a great number of emotions. The topic of Nephis seemed to bring him a great amount of pain and fear. 

This was not the reaction he was expecting. 

Gehrman had thought the two were on their way to being a romantic couple. But something was very different now.

He thought back to what Neph had said about the end of the battle with the Crimson Spire. 

The Gateway that would take everyone home was powered by the Spire itself, not the Fallen Terror, but the ancient machine that had been its host. 

The last two people there were Nephis and Sunless. 

But when Gehrman came too Nephis had been the one who had stayed. She was the one who remained. 

If he recalled correctly, Sunless was willing to have the both of them stay together in the Forgotten Shore in order to escape the hellscape together. But that was not what had happened. 

Nephis had "made him leave".

She didn't explain how, but it was clearly not something that Sunless was pleased with. 

"I did," Gehrman finally acknowledged. "One of my Attributes allows me to come back from the dead. It is similar to something that can happen in my home world, I think the Spell was trying to recreate that when giving me this Attribute."

The explanation he provided would be in line with his runes, as he planned to read off all of his abilities as a sign of trust. However, he tried to add details that would make it seem more believable. 

"It is a long and brutal process and it takes a heavy toll on my Soul and memories. It took me several months before I was able to come back. By then the sky was pitch black, the Dark Sea was gone, the Crimson Coral was gone, and the only person left was Changing Star. She told me about what you all did," Gehrman let his words trail off as he offered all of them a sincere look of apology and acknowledgment. 

"I'm sorry I wasn't there. You kids did a good job fighting that thing. You did a damn good job."

His four friends seemed taken aback by his solemn praise. Kai seemed to be even a little choked up by it. 

"We weren't kids then and we aren't now," Effie muttered. But her voice was a bit strained as she seemed to be holding back a tear.

"So where is she? How come you are back and she isn't?" Cassie asked. Her voice seemed much colder, and for the first time she felt that she was actually angry. And it wasn't a childish anger, but one forged by torment. 

Gehrman raised an eyebrow and appraised the girl. 

He hadn't initially taken notice of it, but her entire demeanor had changed. Her back was more straight and her face was more serious. It wouldn't be incorrect to call her a leader. 

"...We worked together for a couple of months. Getting more Memories, power, and experience. The plan was to travel to the Hollow Mountains, walk along the range as we tried to find a way through it. We'd also search for a Nightmare Seed that we could challenge. Though it seemed insane, it was probably our most realistic shot at getting back. But we got seperated."

Gehrman looked at all four of his friends and the two other Government officials with a level gaze. 

"I didn't mean to enter the Seed, I had lost focus and the Call hit me too hard. I fell in before Changing Star was aware. She wasn't able to follow after me."

The room was heavy with silence then. 

To the Government, Changing Star was an asset like no other.

To the others, she is one of their closest friends. 

Gehrman leaned back then. As if he didn't care about this development that affected them so deeply. 

"I wouldn't worry about it though. She will conquer the Second Nightmare the same as me," an easy grin spread across his face. "After all, that is her will."