Chapter Text
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Noah Nevernight could feel a headache slowly crept in, as he tried to digest the… commotion that just kept coming non-stop during a few days of his journey.
He could still vividly remember the moment when he burned at the stake, could still feel the phantom pain of fire licking on his skin, of smoke filling his lungs, of that Bell Ringer’s deceptively easy smile and his even more grating friendly tone that clashed horribly with his ruthless actions.
He could still vividly remember the moment when he heard Empousa’s sorrowful voice that sang of a fervent longing for remembrance under the moonlight, could still feel the appreciation for her help on that fateful night, the faint silvery light of the full moon hanging above their heads a silent witness of the beginning of their journey to defy destiny.
He could still vividly remember the moment when he decided to embark on a journey to find the Four Moonblesseds, could still feel the rush of adrenaline when he fought the deranged Elder with his newfound companions and then departed for the first stop, the nearby Mouret Village.
He could still vividly remember the moment when he first felt the brunt of pure helplessness in front of Fate’s merciless machinations, could still feel anguish as he watched innocent people of Mouret falling victim to Black Blood disease left and right, both of his heart and mind still silently held hostage by Clive’s final decision at the Divine Body’s womb.
And now, just when he thought that their little ragtag group could somehow take a breather from the breakneck pace of their impromptu quest…
(While Noah greatly appreciated the immense help that Cain has been providing to them so far, sometimes, just sometimes… he really wished that the laid-back butler would take his job more seriously… To somehow mistakenly give them a receipt instead of proper invitations…)
“So you’ve encountered stowaways too? You must’ve dealt with them easily.”
A man with a big body that had just arrived in front of Noah and Aiona let out a hearty laughter at the ship mate’s question, completely disregarding their clear signs of trepidation.
“Oh, the two girls? I already…”
Hearing the burly man that easily bragged about taking care of two stowaways other than Noah and Aiona, the silver-haired Bloodborn could feel his blood boil at the blatant insinuation of his remaining companions’ current state.
With his mind already addled and his nerves already frazzled, worn-out from constant fights and travel before finally managing to arrive at this ship, Noah’s murderous intent was immediately focused onto that particular ship mate, one hand already hovering above the hilt of his sheathed sword, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice.
“Empousa… Hati…”
Distantly, Noah was fully aware that his tone was cold and unwelcoming, a complete 180 degrees from his earlier attempt at putting on an affable front, considering that indeed, it was their group that was technically at fault by not being able to provide the mandatory invitations.
The fact that you guys dared to draw the first blood despite our clear willingness to cooperate, though…
However, before Noah could actually move forward a step, he suddenly felt a faint presence right behind him, and a ‘click’ sound.
“Hmph, you’re not hiding your murderous intent, Silver-haired.”
In a split-second after Noah heard those words, suddenly there were bullets flying straight to his head. He barely managed to deflect them by banking on his instinct, at the cost of his arm’s clearly straining muscles.
(Noah briefly saw how those cyan eyes briefly darted towards the general direction of his sword arm, before snapping back towards his face. The silver-haired Bloodborn resisted the urge to click his tongue at that gesture, already wary of the man’s meticulousness at sniffing for his weak spots.)
“I’ve never met anyone who could deflect my bullets with just a sword.”
Said someone that suddenly sneaked up on me with my Bloodborn senses only barely being able to detect it… Noah could sense that the man was attempting to gauge Noah’s rough fighting prowess, while passing it off as a harmless remark in lieu of a proper greeting.
“And I’ve never seen weapons like yours.”
While Noah’s mouth said one thing, his mind actually already wandered to a whole other matter altogether: his eyes silently took notice of the brown-haired man’s pose, on guard and well-poised for snap movement at a moment’s notice.
At one glance, the Bloodborn knew that they’re facing an expert at elimination of his kind here, a conclusion that Noah had instinctively arrived at even when he could barely make out Aiona’s exposition about the top-secret ‘Future Artifacts’ that the man supposedly used.
This man is dangerous, Noah’s mind immediately warned.
“Hey! What are you using to point at Noah and Aiona?!”
Empousa’s voice immediately pulled away Noah’s focus to the man facing him for a moment, as he quickly shifted his gaze towards his two companions that suddenly appeared just inside of his line of vision.
While Noah’s mind relaxed a bit when he saw that his sire appeared completely unharmed, the sight of the usually lively Ganelon girl hunched and limping, however…
“What did he do to you? Especially Hati–she looks badly…”
Noah whispered with a barely restrained quiet fury, already preparing a combat stance to lunge at the Church’s Bloodborn hunter in front of him, with possible future repercussions of his intended action only an afterthought.
However, the moment his feet were ready to step forward, the man’s nonchalant words immediately stopped him on his track.
“She’s just seasick.”
Huh.
Noah’s focus immediately broke as he tried to digest the no-nonsense statement.
Is he trying to trick me–
However, before his mind could spiral down further, Empousa’s faintly exasperated voice helpfully provided further information to Noah’s confused mind.
“Despite his attitude, he didn’t actually hurt us.”
…Oh.
“It’s my principle not to harm suspects before a proper trial–even if you are Bloodborn who deserve no mercy.” As if aware of Noah’s internal confusion, the man bluntly said the ‘reasoning’ behind the contradiction of his action.
… Huh. Okay.
“Tch. What a bunch of clueless fools. No need to panic–this ship happens to have a Bloodborn expert aboard. Isn’t that right, ‘Sir’ Van Helsing, Eight of the Silver Cross?”
Just a moment after the Church knight said those sarcasm-laden words, Noah could feel how the whole room’s atmosphere shifted.
In one corner, there were the sailors that not-so-subtly exclaimed amongst themselves, hushed bewilderment and amazement at Van Helsing’s apparent star-studded qualifications between the younger ones and the burly man’s single sentence, laced with a peculiar sense of disbelief that belied a hidden knowledge about the aforementioned position.
As response to Empousa’s question (that Noah privately also wanted to ask), Aiona then explained briefly about what the Silver Cross unit of Tempus Church could supposedly do.
“In other words–they’re powerful, secret operatives who work behind the scenes.”
Finally coming back from his brief daze, Noah immediately offered his own thoughts about what he had just discovered about Van Helsing–so that is his name–all while focusing his whole attention on said brown-haired man.
“‘Powerful’, huh… Can’t tell if that’s a compliment–or sarcasm.”
There was a strange interest hiding behind those dry remarks, that Noah was perfectly aware that Van Helsing didn’t even bother to hide.
While Noah admittedly didn’t have much in terms of life experiences that he could still remember with clarity, the silver-haired Bloodborn could still accurately identify a bait when he saw one; it was as clear as a mid day sky that the heretic hunter was attempting to bait him to give a further response.
Hmm, quite a shrewd one, isn’t he… It seems that the best course of action right now is just to stay silent.
Noah could sense that Van Helsing was trying to gauge his power level by digging around from his vague response. And so, with that in mind, Noah didn’t budge and stayed silent even in front of the pressure from that intense gaze, geared specifically to dissect his every single cues.
…And then Empousa suddenly chimed in about how they had faced enemies stronger than the Bloodborn hunter, which was immediately oh-so-helpfully refuted by the rude knight keeping an eye on her. To add the cherry on top, said knight also added a detail about how the only ones capable of defeating SIlver Cross members were the Bell Ringers themselves.
(Noah really cherished his sire, and sincerely appreciated her companionship from the bottom of his heart. But sometimes, just sometimes, he wished that the Bathory lady would be more aware about certain times when she should just shut her mouth.)
Well…so much for trying to not give him any ideas.
By the way Van Helsing’s eyebrows raised for a moment, Noah certainly knew that the Silver Cross captain’s internal radars were blaring the moment he heard that seemingly harmless boasting.
“You’re not seriously implying that Bloodborn like you faced a Bell Ringer and lived to tell the tale?”
Clearly unhappy with the overt attempt at probing that came from Van Helsing, Noah succinctly gave the man a non-answer, laced with a slight frown for a good measure.
“... That depends on how you define ‘still alive.’”
Van Helsing’s eyebrows raised a bit at the sentence, now positively intrigued by the implication of Noah’s vague statement.
“So you don’t deny it. Figures… your tone, your attitude–it’s annoyingly similar to mine. Equally unpleasant.”
Noah could feel his left eye twitch at Van Helsing’s response to his blatant deflection; distantly, the silver-haired Bloodborn felt that he should be more annoyed at the Bloodborn hunter’s accusation, of being likened to a man from an institution that had so far provided Noah with displays of abject cruelty over and over again.
However, Van Helsing's earlier statement about his own personal credo against indiscriminate killing made Noah hold his tongue, as it once again somehow echoed again inside his mind and he couldn’t find even a slightest hint of dishonesty behind those cyan eyes.
“Regrettably, Silver-haired, we are clearly incompatible.”
However, inexplicably, Van Helsing’s one-sided assessment of their supposed ‘incompatibility’ somehow rubbed something inside Noah in the wrong way.
And that was weird in itself, because the silver-haired heretic usually couldn’t find it in him to care about what a stranger, especially a stranger from Tempus Church, would think about him in general.
However, before Noah could offer a reply to that statement, the ship mate that previously went to inform the ship’s captain about the stowaway problem suddenly re-appeared, and the opportunity was forever lost as Van Helsing followed the man and all of them were going to meet with the ship’s Captain.
(Privately, inside the safety of his own mind, Noah couldn’t help but wonder how much of that statement will still hold true after they arrive at Sunset Isle.)
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