As dusk set over the city of Yharnam, the shadows cast by the fading light darkened the new office of Laurence, the First Vicar of the Healing Church.
This organization was gaining traction quickly, the miraculous power of the Old Blood was as close to divinity as what they had on earth.
They also carried a fair amount of respect due to the higher-ups' relationship with the great college of Brygenwerth.
That being said, Laurence had done a lot of work to make sure the distinction between them was clear. After all, the relationship between his Church and Brygenwerth was… strained, to say the least.
His confrontation with Master Willem still replayed often in his mind. The old man's dismissal, his stubborn refusal to study the route of the blood as a form of evolution, was an antithesis to what they stood for: the pursuit of knowledge.
Still, unlike Master Willem, Laurence saw no qualms with seeking every route toward evolution. That was why, when he heard of the Fishing Hamlet that had demonic rumours around it, he had lent Gehrman to Brygenwerth in order to ensure the acquisition of the mutated townspeople.
The stalwart man closed his eyes gently, maintaining decorum even in the privacy of his room.
With measured movements he took the parchment from his table and put it away, laying it within a drawer with an ornate brass handle.
At that moment, he heard a knock at the door. He had long been expecting Gehrman. His old friend would come with a scowl, report his success, then complain about the scholars of Brygenwerth treating him poorly when he went to drop off their share of the specimen.
Laurence would nod along, reminding him that they were simply ignorant of his friend's genius.
It was always nice to remind Gehrman that this was the best place for him. So Laurence didn't mind the people Byrgenwerth being rude, it kept him close, after all.
However, instead of seeing the deceptively weak man, he saw Maria.
Blinking once, he contained his surprise.
"Maria…I assume Gehrman is securing the samples in the Upper Cathedral Ward?"
The beautiful woman's eyes darted to the side.
"No, I'm afraid not. We failed to acquire any samples."
Laurence's body language did not indicate any surprise, but the First Vicar's head tilted slightly to the side.
"Oh?"
Maria's jaw worked silently.
"Something occurred."
Then the lady launched into an explanation of oddities. Gehrman's collapse, his sudden change in attitude, his eerie language conversing with the mutated abominations of the Hamlet, his going to Caryll, and not Master Willem, and his sudden fascination with Runes and the Great Ones.
As she talked, the shadows drew stark contrast across Laurence's angled face. Though he remained stoic, it was as if the light itself expressed his unease for him.
After she finished, Laurence was silent for a short while.
And even after that long pause all he said was:
"I see."
Maria did not venture to speak further, but she also did not leave, sensing Laurence had more to say, he was simply ordering his thoughts.
"How do you suspect the mutations of the Hamlet folk occurred? A disease, a strain of blood, or something new altogether?"
Maria pursed her lips.
"It is hard to say. We only saw so much of the place. However I did not see any indication that blood was being ministrated so–"
"It's a parasite," a new voice cut in. Without a sound, the First Hunter had arrived in the office, startling Laurence.
Maria, naturally, had been aware of his approach. Her senses surpassed superhuman levels, similar to Gehrman himself.
However she did not think he would enter so brazenly. She had expected him to hesitate and listen, perhaps lean an ear against the door, but he did not seem at all inclined to act in such a manner.
"A parasite, or some form of disease. Like the Old Blood has a physical medium in blood, there is likely something else that physically exists that is now within the Hamlet folk."
Laurence's eyebrows furrowed and his lips turned down slightly. The handsome man rested his elbows on his desk and let his fingers interweave with each other.
"Gehrman. You have heard our discussion," he said in a neutral tone.
To his surprise, the First Hunter's response was of a matching tone.
"I did, and you are right. I too suspect I have been contaminated by whatever it is that turned the people of Innsmouth into those fish."
For the first time that Gherman could remember, Laurence's face took on a look of complete surprise. Maria too was shocked, but her fear ran deeper far quicker. She made the connections that Laurence would make once he sat down and deliberated the next course of action.
If Gehrman was truly taken by something akin to the madness of the bestial plague then he would surely be experimented on, and then slaughtered.
However, that was what would happen if a random hunter were to develop this condition.
Gehrman was much more significant, and perhaps more importantly, he was one of the very few things that could alter Laurence's stalwart logic.
"I am not gone yet though," Gehrman sighed. "My emotions remain human and my memories have retained clarity."
The First Hunter's eyes softened as he glanced amicably at Laurence.
"I recall the first day we met, a dawn morning where the sun's harsh rays reflected off the Mirror Lake right into my eyes. I had to work on a small dock, since one of the planks had a blemish that would soon turn to rot…I liked that dock, no students ever came over there, so I went ahead and redid the entire thing. It was pointless, but if only that singular plank had been replaced the color would have been distinctly off. It was more satisfying that way,"
Gehrman paused, a small smile on his lips.
"You thought so too, I think. After I was done I had been sitting, admiring my handywork when a student suddenly appeared. I told him off and asked what made him come out to this more remote area of the college. And do you remember what you said?"
Laurence's eyes, which had grown more and more distant during the retelling of the old memory, took on a warmer tone.
"I came on a whim."
They were still then, Laurence sitting and Gehrman standing. The reason behind the stark keeping of that memory was not known to either of them. But it still held a place in both their hearts.
For Gehrman, it was the meeting of his first friend.
For Laurence, it was the meeting of a special comrade…as well as a most valuable tool.
Still, the preference he held in his heart had, at some point, gone past the usual fond detachment Laurence held for most of his peers.
Though the First Vicar would never know or admit it, Gehrman was also his first friend.
And that was exactly what Gehrman was betting on.
He knew Laurence would be ruthlessly efficient, it was inevitable. Some time later, he ordered the capture and murdering of Gehrman. No matter how warm his face was now, his obsession with the pursuit of knowledge was more important than his humanity itself.
However that too could be leveraged.
"So long as I can maintain this state, I believe it will be beneficial to refrain from acquiring the Fishing Hamlet for the time being," Gehrman rested his hand over his center.
"Laurence, allow me to continue serving my duties. I have already left a message for Gairm notifying him of my likely compromise, he will be sure to keep me out of trouble. At the same time, take my blood or whatever it is you may need to study a live sample. I doubt it will be easy to come by when we take Innsmouth…If we try to take living prisoners we will almost surely die."
…
Gehrman was meandering through the Workshop in the deepest reaches of the Upper Cathedral Ward when Maria appeared behind him, her hands trembling slightly.
The wooden shelves and desks were new at this point, the grains smoothed out and clean. Of course, it would not remain this way for very long. Soon many eccentrics would make their way down here at the request of Laurence. Many from foreign lands would be recruited after tasting the Old Blood and becoming indebted to the Church.
Around this time, an ancient line of hero-knights would also start to be rallied by Ludwig, who was himself an heir to the clandestine group. Their prestige and honor were unique in their unwillingness to bend to any group or government, but they too would ingratiate themselves to the Church, becoming a small group known as the Holy Blades.
They were largely swayed by the Old Blood, much like the others, but more so Ludwig's finding of the Holy Moonlight Sword deep in the Pthumerian Labyrinth.
It was this discovery that led them to eventually becoming the elites of the Tomb Prospectors, searching for the light of Guidance that their young leader would describe.
In any case, it was largely this group and their weapon-smiths along with a man named Archibald who were prevalent at this point in the timeline.
The Holy Blades were concerning due to their strength being roughly the same as the Workshop Hunter's Gehrman would one day unleash.
But Archibald was of a greater interest to Gehrman. He was the man who would be fascinated by the recently discovered Dark Beast variety that the Gehrman of the original timeline would have hunted down recently.
The beast's strange ability to call down and utilize deadly blue bolts was something that only Archibald managed to replicate. Soon he would create Bolt Paper, the Tonitrous, and much later on, the Tiny Tonitrous.
At the moment, he was waiting for the man to heed his call. Gehrman aimed to expedite the man's discoveries, which to this day remain a mystery to Gehrman. The ability to unleash this lightning would prove especially effective against the wet folk of the Fishing Hamlet, after all.
However he would first have to deal with the distressed Maria.
"Master…" she said, her voice thick with emotion. "You, must–"
"Flee? Run and abandon my post? Turn into a monster on my lonesome?" Gehrman did not look up from his pursuing Archibald's scribbled notes.
There was a tense silence for a moment.
"You can't let them kill you. I can't let them kill you."
Gehrman stilled then, his mind suddenly hyper focused on this conversation.
Ah, I should probably take advantage of this.
"They won't kill me," Gehrman turned to look directly into her eyes. "You will. You're the only one who can, after all."
Her perfect alabaster skin paled further at his words. Her face contorted into a grimace.
"Y– you can't expect me to do that!"
Gehrman measured her extreme response and felt guilt start to creep into his heart. However, it was nestled right next to the pulsing and ravenous greed that Caryll had recently stoked. And there could be no comparison between the two feelings.
"Hmm, true, I suppose it is Gairm's job. I don't know why I even asked that of you."
Maria's face pained further at his words.
"I can't understand why you are so accepting of this? Why are you so ready to give up? To leave m-"
She cut herself off this time, her lips snapping shut before her hidden thoughts would be revealed to her Master.
Of course, Gehrman already knew what truly pained her.
'Why are you so willing to leave me?'
Gehrman thought back to Johann's memories, the demon that this master Hunter was, the incarnation of ruthless violence. A vessel of blood and flame.
It was hard to reconcile these two people as one in the same.
In a complex storm of emotion a thought occurred to Gehrman.
Ah, this whole relationship…it was already this warped from the start.
Old Gehrman had been, for a lack of a better term, very inexperienced with women. And for Maria, her Master was the first one who seemed a man. The only who was as gifted and talented as her, the only one who surpassed her.
It was a fumbling and imbalanced dynamic that eventually led to Old Gehrman's demented obsession and the creation of The Doll.
But he wasn't just Old Gehrman.
He was Johann, and he was Dorian.
…And he was also, technically, engaged.
It wouldn't do to be kind to this version of Maria, no matter how much her very sight stirred his soul.
So instead of comforting her, he stayed silent, waiting for her to spiral in the direction he desired.
And, of course, she did just that.
"There has to be a solution…in the tombs below Byrgenwerth, in the college itself, in…Cainhurst."
She said that last word as if she were admitting defeat.
It was exactly what Gehrman wanted.
He performed some stellar acting then. Acting as if an idea struck him, but then hiding it.
Maria took notice of it, and her dread and distaste of her home suddenly became feeble before her desire to save her teacher.
The [Greedy Bloodstone Tailsman] thrummed once more then.
The Vilebloods had been a great source of Memories for him in the last Nightmare. They were not at their peak yet, nor had they started hunting down the Hunters of the Church. However Gairm had already given out that particular strain of blood that turned them into vampiric creatures.
It would also help balance that final conflict which would surely be a source of great boons.
The Kin of Kos.
The Vilebloods of Cainhurst.
The Associates of the Healing Church.
All would converge on Innsmouth.
And Gehrman would reap them all.