Chapter 213: Buried Secrets
Surgit and Karla sat on the old leather couches at the Hunter's Dream. They both stared at the fireplace in silence, ruminating about what they'd just witnessed.
Surgit cleared his throat, breaking the silence that was already weighing on them. "Do you think whatever we saw there is around here, somewhere?"
Karla shrugged. "I don't know what to think anymore." She stood and started pacing the room. "I can't think without that bloody lake invading my thoughts. I can still see it, and that thing that flew before the moon. What the hell was that?"
"Whatever that thing is, it has to do with the red moon," Surgit said. "Everything's changed since it appeared in the sky."
Karla turned to him, frowning. "How did it end up there? What changed it?" She looked at the workshop's door, her frown deepening. "Why does it show here as well?"
Surgit scratched his head. "All I know is, after I killed the spider in Byrgenwerth, the moon appeared."
He straightened up, his eyes wide.
Karla turned to him. "What is it?"
"A lot of things happened since that fight it completely skipped my mind," Surgit said, his voice rising with every word. "There was a woman there, pale and tall, very tall. She was pregnant. She was looking at the moon, crying."
Karla stopped in her tracks. The memories of her last night in the past haunted her. She remembered Lady Maria, screaming in pain, unable to move. She told her she was pregnant before they parted ways. Did she have anything to do with all of this?
Karla rushed to him. "What woman? Can you describe her?"
Surgit looked at her, surprised. "What's gotten into you all of a sudden? You think you know the woman?"
"Speak, damn it!" Karla screamed.
Surgit raised his hands in the air in surrender. "Alright, calm your horses lady."
Karla's eyes narrowed to slits. "I am no fucking lady!" she said through gritted teeth.
Surgit smiled. "Jeez, you can be really scary sometimes."
She clutched his collar. "What did the woman look like?"
Surgit gently pushed her hands away. "I don't know what else to tell you. She was tall, taller than any human should be. Her face was pale, and her cheeks were hollow, as if she hadn't eaten in days. That's about all I remember."
Karla let out a frustrated sigh. "What was she wearing?"
"A white wedding dress, from the looks of it. I only caught a glimpse of her before the moon crushed me," he said.
She collapsed on the couch and set her eyes on the fireplace. She fidgeted with the cross guard of her Saif, carefully placed against the couch.
Surgit adjusted his clothes and leaned back against the couch. "Did you see that woman when you went back?"
Karla shook her head. "Not her! There was another woman back then. We never liked each other, but I came to understand her a little before she died." She let out a long sigh. "Come to think of it, I don't even know if she died, but I know she was pregnant too."
Surgit nodded. "That explains your curiosity, but it doesn't explain your tantrum. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
She glared at him. "Me? What's gotten into you? You used to be the scared little cat, anything would cause you to jump and run behind me for safety." She looked around her, at the weapons attached to the ceiling, at the bloody altar where they inscribed runes into their minds. "This place doesn't scare you at all. It's like you've grown used to it, to the blood and carnage."
Surgit snorted. "Used to it? Are you joking? I could never get used to this hell!"
She looked him straight in the eyes. "Then what is it? You ask me about my 'tantrum'. I ask you, Mister Hunter, why aren't you scared, nervous, or even angry at our predicament?"
Surgit looked away, at the back door that led to the little garden behind the workshop. White flowers blossomed and danced although there was little to no wind. No one watered them, no sun shone on them, yet they grew, challenging all that's logical.
That's how he felt about Yharnam, about their predicament. He didn't know how to explain it to Karla in words she would understand.
He could feel her eyes trainer on him, even when he didn't look. He cleared his throat.
"Did I ever tell you I was a soldier in his majesty's army?" he asked.
Her eyes widened. "You? I wouldn't have believed you even if you told me."
He chuckled. "That was one reason I never told anyone."
She cocked her head aside. "And the other?"
He took a deep breath. "My sickness took everything from me; a bright future; the promise of a wife, children, a legacy... I haven't thought about all this in a long time. Gods, it feels like ages."
His heart ached at those memories. He'd forgotten all about his previous life when he got the blood ministration. "I wanted to heal, by any means necessary, just to prove to the people who scorned me, who rejected me, that I was worth something."
Karla leaned forward and listened. She didn't interrupt. She played with her Saif's pommel, her eyes trained on Surgit.
"I came here, and all my dreams came true. Once I found out that I couldn't leave, that our way out is shrouded in secrets and mystery, it broke me. I focused on hunting, on killing and drinking blood, on getting stronger. I had to find a way out of this place, I have to," he said then turned toward the fireplace, pensive.
Fire licked at the logs that would never burn out. Its crackling was the only noise in the workshop for a while.
"Do you have someone to go back to, someone to prove your worth to?" Karla broke the silence.
Surgit shook his head. "I don't wish to prove anything to anyone anymore."
"Then what do you wish for, Mister hunter?" Karla asked.
He gave her a dark look. "Don't call me that!" he snapped. "I hate it here. I want to leave as much as you do. Yet, I know our way out isn't at grasp. I will do everything in my power to find my way out of here, and that means that I need to get stronger, that I need to kill even more."
He stood and looked at Karla. "In my previous life, I rose in stature, had a promising future, only for it to crumble before my eyes. I fell, and experienced true defeat. I learned what it meant for a man to give up hope." He gave her a wry smile. "Then I came here, expecting a cure, a magic solution to all my troubles. Imagine when I found out we're cursed, that we're beasts in human form."
Karla raised an eyebrow. "We don't know that."
He scoffed. "I've died so many times I lost count, Karla. I know I'm cursed, I can feel it running through my veins, mixed in with my blood." He raised a finger before his eyes. "Now, I have but one goal, I don't want to be trapped in this place forever. I want to leave, as healthy as I've dreamed of before. I won't let anything get in my way this time."
Karla chuckled. "Or anyone."
He extended a hand toward her. "What about you? Do you want to let anger and doubt drive all your actions? Or do you want to leave, and never look back?"
Karla rolled her eyes then grabbed his hand. "You know my answer very well."
He nodded. His lips parted into a genuine smile. He pulled her up to her feet. "You know we can't leave this place until we piece everything out, don't you?"
She nodded. "Where do we start?"
Surgit scratched his head. "The biggest clue I have about leaving this place is Paleblood."
Karla frowned. "What's that?"
Surgit sniggered. "We wouldn't be here if we knew that now, would we?"
She chuckled. "Let me guess, the only place that can offer us more clues, is the tomb of the old gods."
Surgit nodded. "First, we have to spend whatever echoes we got from the previous one. We'll need some for the ritual. We can use the rest to upgrade."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
GoodHunter
GoodHunter Hello everyone,
I hope you enjoyed today's chapter.
I know many of who hadn't read the story in so long you must have forgotten most of it already.
I'll try to put reminders where I can without breaking immersion.
Thank you for supporting this story, and for sticking around!
And as always, thanks for reading!
PS: I'll try to answer all your comments from now on. Work is quite crazy, and I can barely squeeze some time to write.
But heck, I enjoy it, so expect more chapters soon.
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