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“Have you been well, Adeline?” Maria said, her voice soft as she sat to the right of the ex-blood saint, pulling her chair closer to her.
“I have, Lady Maria” Adeline answered, her thin and cracked lips struggling to form a smile. “It is worse during the day, but when night comes the sound returns, and the disquiet ceases.”
Maria frowned ever so slightly.
Sickly pale and unhealthily thin, Adeline seemed to daily move further away from “well” ever since her treatment in the Research Hall had began.
Of course, that was to be expected, as Maria well knew. It wasn't a cure that was sought in these rooms, no, but a breakthrough, and the methodology… well. The deep, dark circles surrounding Adeline's once beautiful amber eyes constantly reminded Maria of what she had been subjected to.
It made her heart ache, to see her slowly languishing in this blood-stained mockery of a scientific facility, but Adeline could not be dissuaded. She hadn't, when Maria disapproved of her aspirations to be a blood saint, and she wouldn't be now.
With a low sigh, she covered Adeline's hand with her own. Even through the thick leather of her gloves, made to withstand the harsh snow of Cainhurst, Maria could feel how cold the hand under hers was.
“Do they say anything? The sounds?” she asked, to humor her.
“Nothing distinct yet, no. But ah, the rhythmic dripping of water that echoes in my head… just a faint, tiny sound, but I can hear it, I swear I can!” Adeline said, the smallest glint of joy in her milky white eyes making Maria's chest grow tight.
“That's great, Adeline. Truly so” Maria said, glad she could contain the shaking of her voice. She knew, of course, what was soon to come.
The images kept her up at night, sometimes.
Adeline's smile widened a bit, and a content sigh passed through her lips. She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the right, letting it rest on Maria's shoulders as her body also subtly leaned towards the hunter. A slight blush crept on Maria's cheeks, and she idly pondered on how Adeline felt incredibly light against her, and how easy it'd be to lift and take her away from this horrid place.
It took some time, but in the tranquil silence that followed, Maria worked up the courage to raise a hand and lightly caress Adeline's thinning black hair. A soft hum left the woman’s mouth at the touch, satisfied, and Maria's lips opened into a more genuine smile, even as she silently lamented how the glossy tresses that Adeline once had were now reduced to dull, thin strands.
“Will you be leaving soon?” Adeline asked after a while, eyes still closed. A note of discontent tinged her voice, though Maria couldn't tell if it was due to the positive answer Adeline knew she'd receive or some other discomfort.
“I'm afraid so. A rather urgent order of business came a few days ago. A request for help from Byrgenwerth itself. Dealings with a fishing hamlet gone wrong, it seems, though details were… vague. Were it up to Laurence, we would already be there, really. I'm thankful that Gehrman could convince him of the need to better prepare since...” Maria licked her lips, hesitating for a moment. “Well, since it allowed me to come visit before we depart.”
A soft laugh came from Adeline, and Maria's blush intensified as she listed to the raspy yet still utterly enchanting sound.
“I'm glad as well” Adeline said, snuggling closer to Maria. “Your visits have been scarce lately. I miss you.”
“I'm sorry. When we return, I shall endeavor to pass by more frequently.”
“Oh, yes, please! And I will then tell you all that I heard in the meanwhile. I'm sure the most rapturous revelation will soon visit me. I can feel it, churning in my brain. The sounds of deep, deep water...”
Maria swallowed hard, biting down another plea for Adeline to abandon this foolish endeavor. She wouldn't listen, she'd be upset, and the last thing Maria wished was to leave with the bitter taste of another fight in her mind.
She instead turned and placed a kiss on Adeline's forehead, eliciting a pleased giggle from the woman.
“Have you visited the balcony lately?” Maria asked, trying to change the subject. “The breeze now carries the scent of the sunflowers in bloom, and they smell wonderful. It would do you much good, I think.”
Adeline shifted in her chair, uncomfortable. Maria sighed; she knew what that meant.
“I haven't, Lady Maria. I'm sorry… but the sunlight hasn't been kind to me these days, and the priests are not around to unbind me at night...”
“Have you been locked up inside all this time then?”
“I… yes. I'm sorry...”
“Oh, Adeline...” Maria said, moving her hand from the woman's hair to her shoulder and lightly squeezing it. “Please promise me you shall breathe some fresh air in the night, at least? I will leave a note to the priests, asking them to accompany you.”
“I… I promise, Lady Maria. I promise.”
Maria kissed Adeline's forehead once more, lightly nuzzling against her as she nodded, pleased. Adeline sighed contently, and inched a bit closer to Maria.
Before long, the strident bells of the Astral Clock Tower rang, and the tightness in Maria's chest increased.
“That's… my cue to leave” Maria said, though she made no effort to get up.
“Oh… so soon? It feels as if you just arrived...” Adeline lamented as she slowly, reluctantly moved away from the hunter.
“I know. I wish I could remain for a bit longer, but I'm sure Gehrman is already waiting by the door for me, and you know how he is” Maria said as she got up from her chair.
She took a few steps away, and then turned to face Adeline.
This would be the last time she would see her like this.
The last time she'd see her as a human.
Sick and thin, her eyes blind, her lips cracked and chalky white, her skin cold as a corpse, but still human. Still beautiful in Maria's eyes, as beautiful as when she first saw her, praying quietly among the young starry eyed nuns of the Church. Still with her soft, sweet voice, that always made the butterflies in Maria's stomach flutter wildly when she sang hymns to the glory of the gods. Still with her stubborn, persistent, determined personality, which carried her through the painful rituals that turned her into a blood saint, and which gave her strength in her foolish quest to hear the whispers of the Great Ones.
Still the woman Maria had fallen so deeply in love with.
An overwhelming urge to rush in and kiss Adeline almost took over her; an untamable desire to taste her, to hear her moaning against her mouth, to feel her fingers snaking over the back of her neck, to see her pale naked skin beneath her as she gasped-
“Lady Maria? Are you still there?” Adeline asked, her voice small, breaking Maria away from her daydreaming.
“A-ah, yes, yes. I apologize, I was… lost in thought” Maria said, clearing her throat. Adeline giggled, which helped in nothing to calm Maria's nerves. “I-I shall be going then. May you find what you seek, Adeline.”
“Thank you, Lady Maria” Adeline said. She hesitated for a moment, then continued. “Would you accept a… parting gift?”
She pointed to the brass contraption attached to her right arm, to which a syringe was attached.
“Adeline...”
“I know you don't approve. But I don't have anything else to give, and the thought that my blood might make you safe would put my mind at ease.”
Maria considered for a moment, biting her lower lip. Then, with a sigh, she took a blood vial from under her coat and injected herself with it.
She walked towards Adeline as she felt the minor scrapes and bruises she had accumulated from her morning training session with Gehrman disappear, and attached the now empty vial to the equipment. Adeline let out a low hiss of pain as the needle pierced her skin. Her blood quickly filled the ampoule, which Maria then disconnected and stashed away under her coat again. She grabbed a ball of cotton from a nearby table, doused it in alcohol, and sat on the stool by Adeline's right.
“Thank you” Adeline said, as Maria concentrated on cleaning the area around the needle mark.
“No need, Adeline. I'm the one who's thankful” Maria replied, looking up from her task.
She admired Adeline's face for a few instants before, in an impulse, quickly bringing her lips to the corner of her mouth and planting a faint kiss on her pale skin.
It was all that she had the courage to do.
Adeline's eyebrows arched high in surprise, and she smiled widely.
“Now, I must be off” Maria said, throwing the damp cotton in the sink nearby as she got up. “Farewell, Adeline. With the grace of the gods, we shall meet again soon.”
“Farewell, Lady Maria. Promise to stay safe!”
Despite herself, Maria smiled.
“Of course.”
With a flutter of her coat, Maria turned around and quickly walked out the room, the sound of her heavy boots striking the wooden floor echoing loudly in the eerily quiet Research Hall.
With some luck, the business at the fishing hamlet would conclude quickly, and she'd be able to return before…
Well. It was foolish to think about it.
It was up to the gods now.