Blood Drunk Hunter (Shadow Slave/Bloodborne Fic)

Trigger Warning: Mental Illness (idk. I feel like this is a given at this point but I'm getting into specifics here so be warned)

Two weeks later Gehrman sat in a different room. 

It was quite a boring place, with little decoration and a mostly monochrome color pallet. However, he still had a ray of the morning sun to look forward to every morning. 

At the moment, he was typing on a computer. 

Dorian had been a sheltered child, and though his guardian wasn't poor, he did not have access to technology. All the things he learned were through books and other such resources. Fortunately, it did not take him long to learn how to type.

After all, he was doing a lot of typing. 

Over the past several days he had been detailing the history and uniquenesses of Yharnam as best he could. The ensuing document was well over 300 pages. 

They had only given him this computer to write out this work after having both his runes read by Cassie and having been vouched for by his other Cohort members. 

He was endlessly thankful to them. But this was especially the case with Sunless, or rather Sunny. 

He found it odd to call the enigmatic shadow "Sunny" but it was even weirder to call him by his full name when not even that Ascended Government lady deigned to do so. 

After receiving the initial clearing and confirming several dozen times he was a human, he had been half-released from Government custody. 

Technically, Gehrman was on House Arrest as both he and the Government were unsure of what to do with him. 

But he didn't own a house, so in the end he was forced to stay with one of the Cohort members. 

Though each of them had a home and were wealthy and important enough to probably buy a mansion, most of them still lived with their parents. 

Only Sunny's modest house would have available space for him. 

And that was exactly where he was at the moment. 

His housemate gave him the run of the place for the most part, only locking him in his room during certain hours of the day. 

Apparently, Sunny had a student come by every once and a while that he trained. He didn't go into detail on why he was training this child, but it seemed to Gehrman to be a personal reason, so he didn't pry. 

This was fine for Gehrman as he did not really need to leave his room ever. Though Sunny had an impressive training area in the basement, it was not fit for an Ascended. 

Instead, Gehrman sat in his room and wrote a lot of words, anything and everything he knew about his old world. 

And today he was just about wrapping up. 

Gehrman had fun tweaking the format of things, adding fancy graphics and a table of contents. It was not unlike what any child would do when first presented with such technology. However, now that he had finally finished his work, he was unsure of what to do next. 

After having this thought, he decided to go to the place where he felt most at peace lately. 

It was a wonderful and exotic piece of technology that was never created in Yharnam, and he used it every day now that he had access to it:

The shower.

It was glorious!

He quickly stripped off his borrowed clothes that hung baggy from his lean frame. 

After he did so, he stopped and looked in the mirror. 

His hair had completely turned to grey. The same grey that Old Gehrman had, and his hair was styled the same way. 

Gehrman didn't do this intentionally, it was simply the way it fell.

He had already deduced that his figure was taller and more muscular than before, but there was another issue that he hadn't noticed until now. 

In gaining a new body, he had lost all of his scars and calluses. Though they technically weren't necessary given his skin now had the strength of Ascended material, he still felt odd having smooth flesh. 

But the eyes were definitely the most jarring. 

They now had a ring around the pupils that was decidedly unnatural. It wasn't something that Dorian, Old Gehrman, or Johann had ever had. In fact, the only time he had encountered such a thing was with beast-possessed Yharnamites.

They were the eyes of Madness. 

He shook his head and turned toward the shower. It was spraying hot water out of its tall faucet, calling to him and calming his nerves.

The feeling of the water hitting his back and face, rhythmically massaging and warming him in such a hypnotizing way. 

This was the perfect area to brainstorm!

At the moment he had several things on his "to do" list. 

He had to experiment with his new Aspect Abilities, both of which would surely offer great power if he managed to fully grasp.

He had to meet up with Caster, and though it wasn't strictly necessary, he wouldn't mind seeing Seishan as well. But Gehrmanowed the boy from the Han Li clan for holding up his end of a deal he made a long time ago. 

He also needed to become more familiar with the innate Essence manipulation he now possessed. 

He needed to find his own home, both in the Waking World and the Dream Realm. 

He needed to become more familiar with the technology of this world in order to better understand weaponry and improve his own craftsmanship skills. 

He needed to continue killing, and eventually form his Titan Core. 

He needed to decide whether he should stay unaffiliated, or chose to pledge loyalty to either the Great Clans or the Government. 

…and he needed a job. 

"That's like…seven different things. I am too old for this crap," Gehrman moaned. But as he said this, he felt a strange scratching at the back of his mind. 

This was not the same scratching that came from [Eyes on the Inside], but one that came from within his own subconscious. 

There was something else that was even more important than all of these things. And that was hunting down the beast that had destroyed his body and put him in this mess in the first place. 

Unbeknownst to him, the ring of Madness around his eyes shuddered slightly and the unconscious Shadow downstairs flinched in its bed. 

As if possessed, Gehrman stalked downstairs and out the door into the chill night. 

He closed his eyes and felt a great stirring of memories and emotions. He thought of the landscape he needed to go to, the isolated cabin and the land surrounding it.

A ripping sound tore through the quiet, peaceful streets. The trench coat of his [Hunter's Attire] disappeared, and enormous red wings grew from his shoulder blades. They looked like the wings of a dinosaur. 

Gehrman crouched down, and then he jumped into the sky.

He hunted for the scent of a beast.

…

Saint Cor had a splitting headache as he looked over the series of documents at his desk. At that moment, he was regretting not killing the entity known as Gehrman. After all, the paperwork he created was nothing short of monstrous. 

His runes, writing, and transcripts were all compiled and analyzed several times over. And they all pointed to one conclusion:

This man was an alien. 

At the very least he was something unlike anything else they had seen. 

The first surprise came right away when they saw he had a True Name, ordinarily one would introduce themselves with that title, as it offered great prestige. 

But when asked about it, Gehrman's response sent shivers down Cor's back. 

"That is not my name. Do not speak it. Do not share it."

It was not something that seemed terribly important. The term "Paleblood" was not an insult in any language or translation. And even in the long, long "history" of his world, the term was not mentioned once. 

It was probably a secret that Gehrman did not see fit to share. 

And that scared the hell out of even an old Transcendent like him. 

The only thing he could think of, was that it was the name of one of the "Great Ones" he wrote about. 

Many of the Government employees had been genuinely terrified after reading about such entities. It was quickly and quietly agreed upon that the cosmology that Gehrman described was equivalent to cosmic horror.

The entities that ruled over his world, or rather "dreamed" of it were not beholden to any laws of physics. 

Since data around Cursed and Unholy Nightmare Creatures did not exist, it was likely that these creatures were of similar power to those unseen abominations. 

However, Gehrman posited that the Great Ones existed outside the Nightmare Spell. 

In this single paper he had created, he had caused a world of chaos throughout all departments as they scrambled to implement this new knowledge into their own findings and theories. 

Cor didn't care for it. 

All of the knowledge he provided was hypothetical and could have been dreamed up by a writer. A seriously impressive writer, but a human nonetheless. 

What finally forced Cor to confront the fact that this man was telling the truth, was actually a couple of documents that he sent as "sidenotes". 

What he provided was blueprints for so-called "Trick Weapons". 

After putting them through an AI program, it was determined that these designs and weapons had never been conceived or been put into practice in all of recorded history. 

Not only that, these weapons were actually viable. 

Though many of them bore strong resemblance to the weapons from a thousand years ago, the specific gear work and "Trick" mechanisms were so precise and specific that they truly seemed to be of another world.

All of this information was incredibly valuable if it was true. 

But all they could be was "fairly certain" that it was a true account from an alien. It was impossible to prove or disprove the information since it came from an area outside the Nightmare Spell. 

"I don't know what you're so worked up about, just offer him a job," Soul Reaper had told him earlier that day. "Both he and his runes say he is a hunter. So, let him hunt."

It's not that simple, Cor lamented. 

If they wanted to reap the benefit of his information and strength, they needed a lie to fool the public. The problem was, coming up with a lie that took into account all of his strange aspects was terribly difficult. 

Even so, Cor was about ready to give the order and have some of his men and women start working on such a lie. 

But then, someone knocked rapidly at his door. 

"Enter," the Transcendent said in a low voice. 

As soon as he said the word the door immediately swung open. 

"Sir! We found him!" The Awakened messenger was sweating profusely and red in the face. 

"Calm down," Cor ordered. But even as he did so, he wondered what could rile up his underling. They were all very calm under pressure, even if a high Ranked Gate spawned they would not be this excitable.

"Explain."

And the Awakened did. 

"Sir, regarding the order of researching the human child 'Dorian' connected to Case 03173. W-we found him. His records were not recorded in our database, but by using the other names he gave, we were able to figure out who 'Dorian' is."

Saint Cor showed no emotion on his face, but his heart beat accelerated. He had made this order directly after meeting Gehrman. Since it had been several days since then, he assumed that he must have just been someone from the Outskirts, and thus someone who had no records in their system.

"What is the issue?" Cor said in a low voice. 

"Well, it was how we found him sir, it wasn't through any sort of online article or post, it was through our own classified files."

Cor raised his eyebrow, thoroughly confused. Are you saying he was a criminal? Or the child of an Awakened criminal?

"No sir, we would have found that after the first day if that was the case. It was only after searching through all of our files that we found one that mentioned all three names he provided…but sir…" The Awakened trailed off, his face pale. 

Instead of continuing this farce, Cor reached out his hand and there was suddenly a crow standing on the shoulder of the messenger. 

He jumped, but the bird simply took the paper he carried and brought it over to the Saint.

What he read chilled him to the core. 

It was a psychiatric report.

Name: Dorian ******

Age: [Redacted]

Date of Birth: [Redacted]

Sex: Male

Educational Attainment: ~Grade 9

Source of Referral: Dr. Pezmond

Reason for Referral: Psychological Evaluation

Client: Arthur ******

Behavioral Observations: Patient shows signs of chronic anxiety. No signs of physical violence pain. When conversing, the patient avoided eye contact and spoke softly. After probing as per Client request, two Alters were identified. 

Aventine: a boy with less emotional maturity but superior social/emotional intelligence. This Alter is protective of the original personality and appears to fulfill the social role in the patient's life. Not fond of Tokka. When stimulated with the Client's name, this Alter shut down. Tokka: a girl who shows favor toward the Client. Has trouble conversing on any topics besides [Redacted][Redacted][Redacted][Redacted][Redacted][Redacted][Redacted] [Redacted]. Despite this, describes herself as shy. Is very protective over Dorian, but finds Aventine obnoxious. Due to her submissive nature, the client has requested this Alter "be the only one". 

Signs of more Alters forming are shown. Requested back in three years to measure development.

Client Request: The Client's request can not be fulfilled due to the fact that manipulation of Alters is not yet a science that can be reliably executed even with the proper equipment. Note: The Client has offered necessary funding, but issues may arise with finding experts who are willing to undergo an anonymous procedure.

The Client also wishes to remove any chance for Nightmare Spell infection. Naturally, this is impossible, nor our jurisdiction. 

Diagnosis: Moderately Developed Dissociative Personality Disorder

Prescription: 200 ml of SSRI (#5), 150 ml of SSRI (#6)

Cor stared at the paper with an open mouth. 

"What…are 'Alters'"

He had a lot of questions at the moment, but this one seemed to be the most pressing. After all, in this report Aventine and Tokka were described as Alters, not people. 

"It's a term used when discussing Dissociative Personality Disorder, or DID. In other words, the Alters are that person's other personalities," the messenger's face shook as he summed up his findings. 

"Aventine and Tokka don't exist. Dorian created them in his mind."

Cor stood up and started walking out of his office. 

"Have Jet contact Awakened Sunless, I'm heading over there now." The old Transcendent champion was cursing himself for letting the man known as Gehrman go. 

Everything he knew and everything he saw showed him that he wasn't a malicious person. But now there was a new thought dominating his mind. 

He isn't the only person in that body.