Felise was the picture of poised elegance as she walked down a dimly lit stone hallway. Her eyes were downcast, not drawing attention to herself. This was the result of being a Handmaiden for several years. It was tricky to navigate the Bright Castle while being as inconspicuous as possible…while also being as deadly as possible.
For years Lady Seishan had been training girls, taking them under her wing, making them warriors surpassing the Castle Guard. The work was brutal, but it was also fulfilling. What was perhaps the best feeling was looking at the men who used to leer now look at them with a distant, solemn respect. This respect was carefully cultivated, and it had to be reestablished every time a new batch of Sleepers came. More often than not, someone would try their luck and unwittingly anger loyal followers of the Bright Lord.
…But now the Bright Lord was dead. The protection they had experienced for so long was gone. It weighed on Felise a bit, but it also made her excited. She was excited for the rest of the Sleepers to see just how much the Handmaidens outclassed them.
Of course, there were a few that could surpass them. The Lieutenants of the former Bright Lord as well as Gunlaug himself were unstoppable. Some Hunters and most Pathfinders were also deadly enough that they couldn't be engaged by a singular individual. And now there was also Changing Star and her cohort. From seemingly nowhere, they managed to become venerable and frankly absurdly powerful warriors. Traveling to the edge of the Forgotten Shore and back. Some of their followers also drastically increased in strength recently. Changing Star had brought back a veritable mountain of Soul Shards as well as some weapons made of a Fallen creature's corpse.
It would have been enough to instill a deep awe in Felise, but she had seen it all before. She had seen a mountain of Soul Shards, and she had seen the singular horror who gathered them. The Bloody Hermit, Sir Gehrman was an anomaly like no other.
When Lady Seishan first made contact with him the other girls were quietly dismayed and confused. They had never brought a man into their fold before, no matter how powerful he was. It was not a question of whether Lady Seishan could recruit him. As far as the Handmaiden's were concerned, the Princess of Song was nothing short of a Goddess in their eyes. A divine savior made flesh.
Then she returned from her initial visit with the Hermit, and her glamorous facade cracked for the first time. Felise herself witnessed a single drop of sweat fall from her Lady's face as she recounted the encounter with The Bloody Hermit. Then the story became even more absurd. The Bloody Hermit was in fact a child. Not even 15 years of age. And yet, his strength apparently matched the Lady's own. On top of that, he was confirmed to be utterly deranged.
It made Felise anxious. This was a wild card that could actually harm Lady Seishan. What's worse was she seemed hellbent on becoming closer to the Hermit. He had boundless potential to be sure, but he was also unstable. No one liked the idea of their savior embarking through the Dark City to visit such a creature. Felise even considered killing him herself if she got the chance. From the sound of it, his home wasn't secure. Any human could enter without much trouble.
The only thing restraining her was the Lady's fascination with him. None of them would ever go against her wishes. And so it was that they started to work with this madman. Felise herself brought the artisan to the strange cave on occasion, acting as a liaison. It was then that any thoughts of aggression were crushed. The menagerie of corpses, the piles of Soul Shards, the number of Fallen Beasts slain, the craftsmanship of his home and tools, they were all beyond Felise's comprehension.
Sir Gehrman, (as they had been instructed to address him as) was horrifying. She would be lying if she said she hadn't lost sleep over him. The constant, oppressive scent of blood he carried with him was far uglier than the subtle sweetness of the Lady's blood-tinged aroma.
Then there was that ghastly ritual. She had never seen such a sight in her life. The boy was stabbed into the wall. Crucified and bathed in blood. The screaming. The night she got back she threw up her guts. She wasn't the only one.
Each of the Handmaidens made a silent vow after that. Never say his name. Never mention him. Never speak of his deeds. Even the ones who hadn't met him caught on to this rule. The haunted looks in their peers' eyes said enough.
Being around him made Felise's hair stand on end. She turned her gaze further downward. Then she shuddered. Even thinking about him had given her goosebumps…but this was not the reason for the reaction.
"Pardon," his voice cut through her like a rusted blade.
Felise stopped in her tracks, breath caught. She had not noticed him until he had appeared right beside her. The ghoul of a child had grown, distinctly transforming into a teenager. Despite this, his speech was still dominated by a painful rasp. No doubt developed over the dozens of hours he let out madness-induced screams. He was taller than her now. The thought made her sick.
"I apologize if I startled you. I wanted to come completely sane, but circumstances wouldn't allow it. I'll try my best to be presentable," he murmured, facing straight forward. He did not look at her, just standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her. A few inches separating them. "In any case, I would like to see Seishan. Would you feel comfortable leading the way?"
The gentlemanly talk was just another unnerving detail about him. He got like that sometimes, when he wasn't bouncing off the walls talking nonsense.
Felise cleared her throat. "The Lady is out, currently." The steadiness in her voice–which had become second nature to her–-did not betray her unrest.
"May I stay until she returns? This matter is rather serious, I'm afraid."
No. Felsie wished she could simply turn him down. But her loyalty won out. "We would be honored to host you, Sir Gehrman."
"Much appreciated," he said as he took off his strange cap and bowed slightly. After that, a part of his attire disappeared in a swarm of sparks, leaving him in his "casual" buttoned shirt and trousers. It was always creepy to see him without that mask (or was it a cowl?) obscuring his face. In the moonlight, his young, yet brutal features did much to humanize him. Much to Felise's annoyance.
With a calm and calculated movement she started her walk towards the Lady Seishan's meeting room.
A lot had changed in the chaos following the death of the Bright Lord, but the forces they had allied with, Tessai and the Castle Guard, were formidable. Their old lodgings had not changed, though the air was much more suffocating than before.
The Sleepers of the Forgotten Shore were now divided into three war parties. There was the Handmaiden's and the Castle Guard, the Hunters, Pathfinders, and Artisans, and Changing Star with the people of the outer settlement.
…There was also a distinct figure missing. Somehow, in the chaos, the morbid executioner Harus had died. No one claimed the kill, and no one had the faintest idea who could have done it. Perhaps Changing Star, Gemma, or Tessai could have, but they were all in the main hall participating in the slaughter. Their ruthless power was on full display.
In terms of strength, the first and third factions were about equal. Tessai's Aspect (which allowed him to wield a dreadful cold) countered Changing Star's flames well. For that reason, neither side could gain the upper hand in a battle of pure strength. What's worse, they were low on supplies and could not gather the strength to mount a full battle without risking the second faction taking over. The Hunters, Pathfinders, and Artisans lacked numbers, but their fighters were elite and their resources were plentiful.
On top of that, Nightmare Creatures had breached the Castle Walls for the first time in years. Powerful abominations made nests and slaughtered Sleepers by the dozens. The Bloody Hermit was the only thing keeping the death toll at an acceptable amount. Stories of his slaughtering of Fallen creatures were spreading quickly. They were compounded by the new rumors of a phantom creature known as The Blood Lord. Something was draining the blood of the Castle Guards, Hunters, and Pathfinders, leaving new corpses for people to discover every morning. It was not a delusional presumption to assume the blood-crazed Hermit was the culprit. But Felise knew for a fact this was wrong.
In any case, it was a dangerous stalemate…but it wouldn't last much longer. The Blood Lord was slowly whittling down their numbers. The numbers of those who opposed Changing Star. Which was exactly what Lady Seishan wanted.
For she was the Blood Lord. The Princess of Song took action for the first time in years to secretly help out her partner, and the one she placed her bets on: Changing Star. Indeed this entire time the Handmaidens had been plotting a betrayal of epic magnitude. A betrayal that would end this conflict for good.
But for now, they had to wait for their time to strike.
By the time Felise finished reflecting on the current situation, they had arrived at the meeting room. "The Lady will be notified of your arrival," Felise said with a bow. Sir Gehrman nodded at her and moved into the furnished room, taking a seat on one of the cushioned chairs and lazily lying back. His head turned to the ceiling, his neck was open to be cut. He was so vulnerable.
Felise shivered despite herself. It was all a lie. He could kill her easily, in less than five seconds most likely.
With one final bow, she exited the room, doing her best to keep her feet from running away.
Gehrman yawned as he considered dozing off. It was now technically the morning. If he had to guess, it was about two hours before the sun rose. His polite demeanor had shifted into one of childish annoyance. He had "sobered up" so to speak, but that only made him more angry at how long this was taking.
At that moment, Seishan finally entered the room.
Without moving his head Gehrman allowed his eyes to slide towards her, studying her state.
"Seems you were out hunting. Miss Blood Lord," Gehrman said scathingly.
Seishan seemed to be caught off guard for only a moment. Then she smoothed out her dress and sat across from her. "What makes you think such a thing?"
"Your eyes aren't fully clear. It reminds me of my own. And as I recall, we have similar tendencies when surrounded by blood."
She said nothing, simply staring him down. Her eyes were indeed unfocused. Though she seemed to have bathed beforehand to get rid of the stench, the madness, or rather the weariness that came from fighting off madness still clung to her. Eventually, she sighed and changed topics.
"What do you want?"
"A lot of things," Gehrman grinned. "For one, I'd like it if you all stopped killing each other and started killing the Beasts that have entered our beloved city. I'd like it if you turned your attention elsewhere and stopped acting like a serial killer. I'd like to take a nap. Alas, none of these things are fated to happen."
She closed her eyes, her brows furrowing as she fought off the urge to tell the Gehrman off. But she didn't.
"What do you want?" Seishan repeated.
"What do you want? Why are you going around killing your 'comrades?'"
"...you don't need to know that."
"Afraid that I'll start yelling your secret plot for all the world to hear after I get some blood in me?"
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of," Seishan agreed bluntly.
Gehrman smiled. It was a lot easier to have a conversation with her when she was exhausted. He made a small mental note of that and continued.
"Well, let me tell you what I think your plot is. I think that you have been working with Changing Star for months. I think you fed her information. I think you are planning to stab Tessai in the back and end this whole mess in a couple of weeks."
"If you are thinking all that? Then why bother asking me?"
"Well, it's nice to have confirmation. I appreciate it by the way," he smiled smugly. Seishan's eye involuntarily twitches. She always hated it when he started acting childish at random intervals. It made sense when considering the voices in his head apparently came in the form of both an old man and a child. Gehrman's odd mania did follow a twisted logic.
"What do you want?" Seishan asked for the third time.
"...There is a Fallen Devil that has made a nest in what used to be one of the training grounds for the Castle Guard. I need you and some of your ladies to take care of the Awakened Beasts outside so they don't interfere."
Seishan blinked slowly. "You want to fight a Fallen Devil… by yourself?"
"I don't want to. It's just the most efficient way of doing things," Gehrman grinned widely. "Besides, the thing is beast-like. And its fangs would be a great material for a new sword."