Alex and Alucard were in the main hall of the Grand Cathedral inside the Nightmare dimension. After killing Laurence in his beast form, Alex wanted to sit quietly for a while and rest in silence. Alucard also supported Alex's decision. She walked over to the sitting Alex and rested her head on his lap. Feeling Alex's palm gently stroke her hair, Alucard closed her eyes. While stroking Alucard's hair, Alex once again pondered what he had managed to understand about this place. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
But to confirm his suspicions, he would need to pass through the Clock Tower and reach the Fishing Hamlet. Alex was certain that once he arrived in the Fishing Hamlet, all his doubts would be dispelled. And one thing he definitely did not want was for what he was thinking to turn out to be true.
Sighing once again, Alex concluded that it would be far too stupid of a coincidence. Involuntarily thinking about it, Alex couldn't help but chuckle softly and shake his head. After all, he knew very well that coincidences didn't happen in his life — especially considering who his father was.
After all, only a few beings could interfere at the moment when he was opening a portal to another world. Hearing Alex's soft laughter, Alucard opened one eye and looked at her husband. Hearing the flow of Alex's thoughts, Alucard focused on his face for a brief moment, then closed her eyes again.
"Don't pay attention to it, my love. Isn't this the first time this has happened to you? Your father always makes you go somewhere, using small hints," Alucard said, lying on Alex's lap with her eyes closed.
"At least he would just call or write. Not like last time, when he brought my little princesses to Pandora and made me deal with the problems on that planet," Alex said in a dry tone, gently running his hand through Alucard's hair.
"As the believers used to say, the ways of the Lord are mysterious," Alucard said in a slightly mocking tone.
"I would agree with you. If that God wasn't my father. And the most annoying part is that I won't get paid for this world," Alex said, chuckling lightly and placing his palm on Alucard's cheek.
"Are you so sure about that?" Alucard asked, opening her eyes and looking into Alex's eyes with an amused gaze.
Alex thought for a moment and realized that all the hunter weapons that had ended up in his inventory could be considered payment for his work. Pursing his lips, Alex clicked his tongue lightly. Alucard gave her husband another mocking look and closed her eyes again. Alucard knew perfectly well about the strange agreement between Alex and his father, the Creator, and that Alex received payment for saving worlds.
Alucard even found it quite amusing how Alex kept repeating that he only saved such worlds because he was being paid. Alex, on the other hand, hoped that his father hadn't decided to help him a little once again. And even if that was the case, Alex could only shrug and finish what he had already started.
Payment in the form of the hunter weapons of this world could be considered decent compensation for his efforts. Alex saw no reason to ask his father whether he was involved or not. He had no intention of abandoning his work halfway. Stopping thinking about work, Alex lit a cigarette. After finishing the cigarette, Alex extinguished it on the floor and prepared to move on.
"Ready to go, my love?" Alex asked, looking at Alucard, who was still lying on his lap.
"To the Clock Tower?" Alucard asked, opening her eyes.
"It's the only place through which we can go further… without using small tricks like teleportation," Alex said with a slight smile, placing his palm on Alucard's cheek.
"Go without me, my love. Go save your princess from the tower. I have no intention of wasting time on a weakling who couldn't cope with her own guilt," Alucard said, lifting her head from Alex's lap.
"I thought you had changed your opinion about such people after what happened with Seras?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You helped Seras, and she stopped being a crybaby… So when that woman stops whining and becomes at least a little interesting, you can call me," Alucard said, stepping onto Alex's shadow.
Alucard didn't let Alex say anything more and sank into his shadow. Alex watched as Alucard disappeared into his shadow. He knew that his wife felt contempt for weak people, especially those consumed by self-reproach and drowning in their own guilt. And for Alucard, Maria was exactly such a woman who had ultimately trapped herself.
Alucard had felt the same way about Seras until she managed to change and come to terms with her past. Lighting a new cigarette, Alex understood that he would have to continue the rest of the journey alone or in Maria's company, depending on how the conversation went. Clenching the cigarette between his teeth, Alex took a step and once again appeared in the Lumenwood Garden. Passing by the creepy sunflower tree, Alex approached the massive iron doors that led to the Clock Tower.
"I hope she doesn't decide to attack," Alex said, placing his hands on the iron gates.
As he began to push the doors open, Alex heard a faint metallic crunch. Continuing to push the massive iron doors and listening to the strange metallic crunch, Alex realized that the sound was coming from the locked mechanism of the iron doors. Remembering that he had never found the key to the Clock Tower, Alex applied a little more force and flung the massive iron doors open, breaking the lock.
When the massive iron doors opened, Alex immediately saw the huge clock mechanism. Seeing the clock mechanism, Alex couldn't help but stare at it with slight admiration. Climbing the stairs, Alex didn't take his eyes off the clock mechanism in the Clock Tower. After climbing the stairs, Alex found himself in a spacious hall, and high above, huge bells hung motionless, just like the clock mechanism itself.
Lowering his gaze, Alex saw Maria herself sitting at the far end of the hall. Without making any sound, Alex slowly began to approach Maria. Getting close enough, Alex stopped to examine her. She was sitting with her head tilted to the side, and one of her arms hung down. Alex couldn't help but think that Maria's hunter outfit suited her very well.
"She really is beautiful," Alex thought, continuing to look at Maria's face.
As he continued watching Maria, Alex listened carefully and heard her steady breathing, as if she were simply sleeping. Not wanting to disturb Maria prematurely, Alex quietly walked around the chair where Maria was sitting. When Alex passed Maria, her nose twitched slightly, as if she had sensed a new, unfamiliar scent. Walking past Maria, Alex climbed the stairs to the clock mechanism and began examining it.
Wanting to see what was on the other side, Alex looked past the clock mechanism. Looking through the glass of the clock, Alex saw an ordinary view of the distorted Yharnam that opened up on the other side. Using his magical vision, Alex looked through the glass again. And now before him appeared a gloomy view of a rainy landscape where rain poured endlessly, and it was difficult to make out anything through the veil of that rain.
The clock mechanism was a passage leading to a completely different place, and that passage led precisely to the Fishing Hamlet. Looking at what was on the other side, Alex saw a small part of the Fishing Hamlet where everything had begun.
And the more Alex looked at the Fishing Hamlet, the stronger his suspicions grew regarding his assumptions. The sight of the gloomy Fishing Hamlet reminded Alex of one particular city that had an identical past: a sea god worshiped by the residents of that coastal city, and the exact same transformation of people into fish-people.
"I hope I'm wrong. I don't want to deal with the offspring of that creature," Alex muttered, narrowing his eyes and looking at the gloomy, rainy view on the other side of the window.
While Alex hoped he was mistaken in his assumptions, Maria, who had been sleeping until then, slowly opened her gray eyes. The reason for her awakening was a sweet, unfamiliar scent that Maria had never smelled before. Opening her eyes, Maria slowly scanned the hall of the Clock Tower.
Before her eyes was the same place she had seen countless times, as if everything had frozen in one specific moment in time — which was exactly what had happened. But the only change in this place was the sweet scent that hung in the air. Usually in this place, Maria smelled blood, which always lingered in the air.
Inhaling the sweetish scent once more, Maria traced where it was coming from. Like other experienced monster hunters, Maria could determine the source of a scent and where it led by smell alone, to follow the trail. And Maria quickly realized that the new scent was coming from somewhere behind her.
Rising from her chair, Maria turned in the direction from which she sensed the unfamiliar scent. She immediately saw a man in black hunter clothing standing by the clock mechanism. Maria could no longer remember the last time she had seen someone in such clothing.
Without moving from her spot, Maria began to watch the stranger intently, who had appeared in the Clock Tower — a tower created from her own guilt and which had become her prison. Listening carefully, Maria heard muttering coming from the unfamiliar hunter. Maria narrowed her eyes, thinking that the hunter had gone mad. But she immediately dismissed that thought when she saw him writing something in a notebook.
Deciding to find out who this man was, Maria quietly climbed the stairs and stood behind him. Maria didn't have her weapon, but that didn't mean she was unarmed. She drew a silver dagger from behind her back, stained with dried blood, and pressed it to the man's neck.
"You know that hunters shouldn't turn their backs on their prey," Maria said, pressing the silver dagger to Alex's neck.
Alex, who had been lost in thought the entire time, flinched slightly and instantly turned his head. Turning his head sharply, Alex found himself just centimeters from Maria's face, looking straight into her gray eyes. When Alex turned, she also saw his face and especially his strange multicolored eyes. Alex and Maria stared at each other without moving, and Maria continued to press the silver dagger to Alex's neck.
"You almost gave me a heart attack. Didn't anyone teach you not to sneak up on people from behind?" Alex said in a calm voice, looking straight into Maria's eyes.
"I only know that if your prey has its back turned to you, you should strike first," Maria said, pressing the silver dagger even harder against Alex's neck.
"Really? Then who will be faster? You or me?" Alex said with a faint smile on his face.
Maria looked at Alex with a calm gaze, wondering what he meant by his words. But very soon Maria got the answer to her question when she heard a small click from below. Lowering her gaze, Maria saw a strange firearm whose barrel was pressed against her stomach. Maria raised her gaze to Alex and saw a faint smile on his face.
Aiming the Blue Rose at Maria's stomach, Alex continued to smile, showing that he could do quite a lot as well. Continuing to look at Alex, Maria smiled slightly at the corner of her lips and put the silver dagger away behind her back. Seeing that Maria had lowered her weapon, Alex chuckled lightly and put the Blue Rose away behind his back, storing it in his inventory. Maria leaned against the wooden railing, continuing to look at Alex without taking her eyes off him.
"It's been a long time since there have been visitors in this place… This is quite unexpected," Maria said, looking at Alex.
"And I didn't expect to meet a woman in this place. Just kidding, I did expect it," Alex said, shrugging with a smile on his face and bringing the cigarette to his lips.
"So you managed to unravel the secret of the Church. And that's why you came here. For what lies on the other side," Maria said in a calm tone, pointing her finger at the window of the Clock Tower.
"It wasn't that difficult. I just had to search every floor of the Research Hall. Reading the diaries I found took the most time," Alex said in a carefree tone, exhaling cigarette smoke.
Maria continued to look at Alex and couldn't help but notice that he looked quite young. All of Alex's behavior in Maria's eyes looked like the behavior of a carefree man who didn't care about what was happening around him. And even this place didn't seem like anything special in Alex's eyes. Even during their conversation, Alex didn't take his eyes off Maria, watching her just as attentively.
And seeing Maria's gray eyes, Alex saw only hidden inner pain that Maria hid very well behind a mask of calm. If the Doll's eyes held only calmness and tenderness, Maria's eyes contained deep pain and a strong sense of guilt. Exhaling cigarette smoke, Alex thought that he would need to steer the conversation properly toward the Fishing Hamlet. But that would take time.
"And after everything you've seen, what do you think about this terrible legend and those sick wards of the church?" Maria asked in a calm tone, wanting to know Alex's opinion.
"Does my opinion change anything? I don't think so… I only feel sorry for the people who became victims of those experiments," Alex said, shaking his head.
"I understand what you did with those people… It's not your fault. The Nightmare held them captive, and now they are finally free," Maria said in a gentle tone, sighing slightly.
"It was the only thing that could be done for those people," Alex said, shaking his head and exhaling cigarette smoke upward.
Maria noticed that Alex genuinely felt pity for the people who had become victims of the experiments. After all, how could she not know that these people had ended up in this place because of her own actions. But she couldn't leave this place and couldn't help these people free themselves from this nightmare.
It brought her a small sense of relief that someone had been able to free these people from this nightmare. But Maria couldn't understand why someone like Alex had done something like this. And most importantly — why he had come to the Hunter's Nightmare and what his goal was. All these questions swirled in Maria's head, and she wanted answers to them.
"But what about you? Did you gain any benefit from all of this?" Maria asked, narrowing her eyes slightly at Alex.
"Of course. I met you. That's my entire benefit," Alex said, nodding his chin toward Maria.
"Me? You wanted to meet me? We don't even know each other. And I don't think we've ever seen each other before," Maria said, surprised by Alex's answer.
"I found this in the diary of one idiot," Alex said, taking a sheet of paper from the pouch on his back.
Alex extended the sheet of paper toward Maria so she could see for herself what he was talking about. Without changing her expression, Maria took the folded sheet of paper from Alex's hand and unfolded it. Maria was slightly surprised to see a drawing of herself.
Frowning slightly, Maria tried to remember who could have drawn this picture of her. Seeing Maria's reaction to the drawing, Alex smiled slightly, continuing to smoke and watching her. Still unable to recall the face of the person who could have drawn this picture of her, Maria handed the drawing back to Alex.
Maria saw no reason not to return the drawing to the hands of the one who had given it to her. Alex took the drawing from Maria's hands, carefully folded it again, and put it back into the pouch on his back. Maria couldn't believe that the man in front of her had come to this place just to see her.
"You came here just because of this drawing?" Maria asked, leaning against the wooden railing by the clock mechanism again.
"Almost. One of the reasons is you… And the second…" Alex said, pointing his finger at Maria.
"And the second? What else are you looking for in this Nightmare? The secrets of this place will bring you nothing good," Maria asked in a calm tone, shifting her gaze to the window behind the clock mechanism.
"I'm interested in what caused this place to exist. And it's on the other side of this tower," Alex said, leaning his shoulder against the clock mechanism.
"I thought so. Nightmares and secrets… They will only take you so far. But the truth of this place is quite simple. It's human greed and cruelty," Maria said in a sad tone, thinking about what she had done.
After finishing speaking, Maria fell into sad memories that once again began to consume her from within. She couldn't stop blaming herself for the act she had committed. And this place served as a reminder of her actions. She was a prisoner of her own guilt, which tore her apart again and again from the inside. At that time, Maria had thought that only death could help her get rid of the feeling of guilt.
And so she decided to end her own life with her own hands. And when life was leaving her body, she still felt the lingering sense of guilt. But in the next moment she opened her eyes and found herself trapped in this Clock Tower, with no way to leave or even step outside for a moment. And the most unpleasant part was that she knew all the patients she had killed with her own hands to end their suffering had also ended up in this place.
While in this place, Maria had gone through all the stages and had ultimately come to terms with the fact that this place would become her eternal prison, from which she could not escape. Continuing to look out the window she had gazed through countless times, Maria was partially glad to see someone and to have someone to talk to. But she also wanted her interlocutor to leave this place and never return.
"You'd better leave this place. There's no need for you to go any further. What lies there is not something you should get involved with. So just go, good Hunter," Maria said in a quiet tone, turning her head toward Alex and looking straight into his eyes.
"Since you're driving me away… How about we just talk?" Alex said with a slight smile on his face.
"Talk? About what?" Maria asked in a surprised tone, startled by Alex's suggestion.
"I don't know. I'll tell you about myself, you tell me about yourself. We'll just talk. Sometimes a simple conversation is enough for people to become closer," Alex said, stretching slightly to loosen up.
"I think… that's possible. It's been a long time since I talked to anyone," Maria said with a soft smile on her face.
"Then sit next to me. Time doesn't move in this place anyway. So we have plenty of it," Alex said with a cheerful smile, sitting down on the wooden steps and patting the spot beside him.
"I never would have thought that in this place there would be someone who could still smile," Maria said, sitting down on the steps at arm's length from Alex.
"Even in such dark places, you can find a ray of light if you just look for it," Alex said with a slight smile on his face.
Maria was surprised by Alex's words. But she had learned from bitter experience that in such places there was no light like the one Alex spoke of. Seeing Maria's reaction to his words, Alex decided to quickly change the subject to start the conversation. Alex began with the simplest thing — introducing himself. Gradually, Alex told her about himself, without mentioning things Maria didn't need to know yet.
Maria watched Alex attentively and, listening to him talk to her, she felt a small sense of calm because after so much time there was finally someone beside her to talk to or simply listen to. After some time, Maria also began to talk about herself. Maria spoke about her past as if she were talking about a completely different person she no longer was.
Alex listened carefully to the part of Maria's life story that he knew nothing about. And he was genuinely interested. Maria didn't know why, but she simply felt like telling someone about herself. And gradually she reached the part of her life when she became a hunter. As she spoke more and more about the times when she had been a huntress, Maria suddenly fell silent when she reached the moment of the Fishing Hamlet incident.
"You don't have to continue if you don't want to. I already know what happened there," Alex said, extinguishing another cigarette.
"Thank you… It's hard to talk about what happened there," Maria said, shaking her head with a sad look in her eyes.
"Would you like me to give you my opinion on what you and the other hunters did?" Alex asked, leaning back and supporting himself with his hands on the floor.
"You want to say that things could have been done differently? That you shouldn't have gone to that village? Or that you shouldn't have killed the residents of that hamlet? I thought about that for a long time. So many things could have been avoided if it hadn't been for Laurence's orders," Maria said, hugging her knees and resting her head on them.
"No, you did the right thing. Those residents needed to be killed, as did the two creatures that were washed ashore. You just shouldn't have dug around in the villagers' heads. You should have simply burned the entire village to the ground," Alex said in a calm tone.
Hearing Alex's words, Maria froze and slowly lifted her head from her knees. She hadn't expected such an answer from Alex. From their conversation, she had understood that he was a rather kind and pleasant man. But his words that the massacre they had carried out had been the right decision had thrown her off balance.
And the only thing Alex condemned was that the hunters had cracked open the skulls of the Fishing Hamlet residents to extract the brain eyes. Looking at Alex, Maria froze in place, trying to process what she had heard. Maria silently stared into Alex's eyes, trying to understand what he meant by his words. Gradually, a small realization began to dawn on her about what Alex had meant.
"What do you mean by your words? What could possibly be good about a massacre?" Maria asked, frowning as she looked at Alex.
"Then allow me to explain something to you. Something you didn't understand even after ending up in this place," Alex said, taking out a notebook from the inner pocket of his hunter coat.
"Alright… I'll listen to what you want to tell me," Maria said, nodding and sitting closer to Alex.
Seeing that Maria had sat down beside him, Alex opened a blank page in his notebook and began making quick notes to convey to Maria what had actually happened. After making a few quick notes, Alex turned his head toward Maria.
"The beings you call the Great Ones and consider gods. And whose blood you used, are far from the entities you can comprehend," Alex said, beginning to draw on the notebook page so Maria could follow his train of thought.
"What do you know about the Great Ones?" Maria asked, watching Alex draw in the notebook.
"A lot. I know far more than you can imagine. All the idiots from Byrgenwerth didn't even come close to the truth of what the Great Ones really are. They exist outside the physical dimension," Alex said, beginning to draw in the notebook.
"Outside the dimension? What does that mean? Do they exist among the stars? Up there?" Maria asked, pointing her finger upward.
"Oh, if only. I won't go into the details of this information because you wouldn't understand it. But the point is that the Great Ones essentially cannot exist in the physical dimension," Alex said, drawing a circle in the notebook.
"If they cannot exist in the physical dimension, as you call it, then how did Kos end up on the shore?" Maria asked, carefully following Alex's actions.
"And here we come to the important part. The residents of the Fishing Hamlet were conduits. All their rituals, prayers, and sacrifices. All of it served to open the doors for Kos. You saw what happened to the residents of the Fishing Hamlet who worshiped Kos," Alex said, drawing a picture of a fish-person.
"They turned into those creatures. Laurence said it was the result of Kos's blood influence," Maria said, pointing at the drawing in the notebook.
"And that was only her influence from another dimension, from where she interacted with people," Alex said, tapping the pencil on the notebook page.
Maria frowned again, looking at the drawing of the fish-person that brought back unpleasant memories. To prevent Maria from fixating on what had happened in the past again, Alex continued explaining, drawing in the notebook and explaining every detail so Maria could see the bigger picture.
Just like at the beginning of the conversation, Maria frowned slightly. But gradually her gaze cleared as she learned more details. Maria experienced considerable shock at how much Alex knew about the Great Ones. She was especially shocked by how well he understood the nature of these beings. And when Alex reached the final part of his explanation about why Kos had been washed ashore, Maria's eyes widened in shock.
She couldn't even imagine that Kos being washed ashore had been part of her plan. At first, Maria expressed disbelief at Alex's words. But every word Alex said was a fact she couldn't refute or argue against. But Maria also wondered how Alex knew so much about such beings and how he could understand what they were striving for.
"You… How do you know so much about these beings?" Maria couldn't help but ask after Alex finished speaking.
"Hmm… That's my job — to kill beings like them. You hunters hunt monsters. And I hunt beings like them. As for who I am… Well, that's still a secret," Alex said with a slight smile, putting the notebook back in his pocket.
"Let's assume I believe you. You know how this place is structured. How it was created and who maintains it. And what are you going to do next?" Maria asked, placing her hand on her forehead and trying to process the new information.
"I've achieved my first goal. Only one remains," Alex said with a smile, raising two fingers.
"What is it?" Maria asked, lowering her hand and looking at Alex.
"I told you, I'm here for you. And I wasn't lying. You didn't notice that the guilt you felt has begun to fade. You still blame yourself for past events, but not as strongly after learning the truth about the Great Ones," Alex said, pointing his finger at Maria.
"You came to me just for that?" Maria asked again in a stunned tone.
"Yep. I have a weakness for princesses in towers. And that's why I couldn't pass by," Alex said in a cheerful tone, spreading his arms.
"You came here only because of that?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Alex.
"Yep, such a simple, ridiculous reason. I just wanted to help you, and I did. Now stand up. It's time to move on," Alex said, standing up from the wooden steps where they had been sitting for several hours.
"I can't leave. I've already tried," Maria said, shaking her head and not moving from her spot.
Alex rolled his eyes and touched his finger to Maria's forehead. Maria didn't understand what Alex had done, but she clearly felt that whatever had been holding her in the Clock Tower suddenly disappeared. Maria raised her gaze to Alex, who was looking at her with the same calm smile on his face.
Alex extended his hand toward Maria, offering to help her up. Maria hesitated for a moment before taking Alex's hand. Alex pulled Maria by the hand, helping her stand. Alex realized he hadn't fully helped Maria yet. But even this much help was enough for Maria to gradually stop blaming herself. And as always, it would take time.
Maria was still in slight confusion over the fact that the man she had been talking to for several hours had come specifically for her, to help her cope with her guilt. She couldn't help but consider Alex's action completely absurd. But at the same time, she had almost forgotten what it felt like when someone did something for her.
"Alright, now open it," Alex said, pointing his finger at the clock mechanism.
"Are you sure about this?" Maria asked, staring intently at Alex.
"Yes, I'm sure. Don't make me go through your pockets. We're not that close yet for me to do that," Alex said, lazily rolling his eyes.
"Perhaps I wouldn't mind. Just once," Maria said, reaching behind her back to open the pouch on her belt.
Alex froze in place, staring at Maria in slight bewilderment. Maria saw Alex's reaction, smiled slightly, and took out the Celestial Dial from her pouch to activate the clock mechanism and open the passage to the Fishing Hamlet.
To be continued...
(So this is the beginning of Maria's route. As you know, I prefer to develop Alex's relationships with the girls. So next on the list is a little brat who needs to be beaten up. Or the Fishing Village, where Maria will once again experience her guilt, but this time she'll have someone by her side to support her. Well, you know how it is. The voices in my head speak, I write. And now, most importantly, mealtime. Peace, love, and if you're fast, you're fast.)
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