When Gehrman put this night together he expected one thing: complete chaos.
While the mature reason behind this meeting of clashing personalities was to see if he could help endear them to each other, thus allowing the future pillars of humanity to get along better, the real reason was much more uncivilized.
Gehrman wanted to know what each "type" of drunk they were.
He had already figured himself out rather quickly. It was the same as Old Gehrman, he became loud and obnoxious. It was honestly not too dissimilar to how he was when he was a bit afflicted by Frenzy. However, he was much more prone to giving out random affection in this state.
This, in Gherman's opinion, was good. It would be quite rough if he was an angry drunk. That might lead to some serious, Citadel-ending problems.
Naturally, his second concern was whether any of his groomsmen were angry drunks. If they were, Gehrman would have to escort them out. He quite simply did not want to deal with one of these guys on a rampage on what was supposed to be a night of celebration.
Fortunately, none of them appeared to be angry drunks either.
Therefore, the night was ensured to be absolutely splendid.
That was because, despite all the yelling and tomfoolery, they were all actually speaking their minds.
Gehrman watched with a blissful smile as he sipped on his current drink, a Spicy Margarita.
At the moment everyone was a bit beyond tipsy with the sole exception of Sunny. Like he said, he didn't like getting drunk, and Gehrman didn't push him.
There was probably some event in the past that made him this way, but Gehrman wasn't an asshole enough (even while drunk) to pry.
That being said, even he had a specific type that was quite evident.
"It's just, I did it to learn new sword styles, and then the first 10 guys I fought all had the same one! And it was shit! Gods, it wasn't until that tournament thing that I actually started learning new stuff."
Sunny was a surly drunk. At the moment he was going on a diatribe about a rather interesting series of events that happened while Gehrman was in the 2nd Nightmare. Apparently, he had entered the Dreamscape in a disguise (very typical of Sunny) with the aim to learn, or at least practice against new battle arts.
However, the Dreamscape Arenas did not meet his expectations. Not only that, his incognito persona went viral, thrusting him into the spotlight.
"Dude, that was like…you were like the guy who my kid was watching and like talking about with his kid," Oskar hiccuped as he thumbed over at Gehrman.
"They love you dude, they like really fucking think your cool and shit."
Oskar, was a topsy-turvy drunk. Which is to say, he was sitting down, yet his upper body was tilted at a 20 degree angle. It was safe to say the world was spinning quite a bit for him.
"Damnation! I don't want that though, I just want to…be left alone in peace. I wanna open a Memory Boutique. I wanna be rich and do nothing all day," Sunny grumbled.
"You have a funny way of showing it, mister Devil of Antarctica," Mordret said.
Gehrman had to say, Mordret was the most interesting out of all of them. He seemed to oscillate between playful teasing, maniacal evil, and just going comatose and staring off into space.
He wasn't sure what to call this type, so he just ended up naming it: Mordret Drunk.
What a special guy with special tendencies.
"Didn't you save millions of people in your little trip across the Antarctic Center. I heard about that you know. Gehrman bragged about it. I think he was trying to get me to be impressed, but I'm just confused. Cause I KNOW that you really don't give a shit about that so why do you. Why do you do these things? Why do people do these things?" Mordret turned exasperated, leaning forward toward Sunny as if expecting a grand revelation.
"Because Sunny's a good person!" Kai abruptly yelled.
In a rather unsurprising twist. He was a loud drunk. It seemed his whole "heart out on his sleeve" thing evolved into just screaming out emotions whenever he could.
"Gods, he is such a good person. Like one of the best. Just so honest, all the time, never change Sunny NEVER change," Kai gripped his friends shoulders and shook them a bit.
Surly Sunny would have probably slapped anyone else, but since it was Kai all he said was- "Alright, alright, calm down you freaking…singer…unreasonably beautiful guy. Fuck you for that, you know. Why are you so…gah!."
Kai had to be held back from giving Sunny a big hug.
A lovely scene.
And it only got better.
"You know what!" Caster slammed the table and stood up.
Everyone's attention turned to him.
"You…you are a good guy. I fucking hate you, but you are a good guy. You're just a piece of shit, scum, bottom of the earth, mongrel also…" Caster trailed off. "Gods, did you go by Mongrel in the Dreamscape because I called you that on the Forgotten Shore? Did you use my name for you?"
There was a great tension then, as Caster's presence grew heavy. Despite being probably the weakest Master there (except for maybe Kai), his sudden intensity made everyone shiver.
Then, he collapsed onto the chair, his eyes shimmering.
"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me," he said, his voice filled with jubilation. He laughed then, his voice a mix of wonder and whimsy.
Though Mordret was the most surprising, Caster was his favorite.
The asshole, prideful, former Legacy was a happy drunk.
Sunny looked over at Gehrman and mouthed the words 'what the fuck.'
"I've given you, like, two Transcendent Memories you know," Gehrman said, his voice full of fake hurt. "How is that not the nicest, uh, thing done?"
"You…you don't count. Everything you do doesn't count. You're just…Gods, you're so great too though. What a crazy, fucking lunatic you are," Caster spoke in a voice that was almost like a whisper, but it was loud enough for the whole table.
Now it was Oskar's turn to look surprised.
"Dude, since, uh, since when did you swear?"
Caster didn't respond, just laughing happily and pointing at Gehrman with great fervor.
Kai leaned over to Sunny then.
"Wait, did you choose Mongrel because Caster called you that?"
"I, I did not!" Sunny sputtered. "I was just at a loss because every name was taken so I just went through everything I've ever been called and that was one of the most recent ones at the time."
Out of nowhere, Mordret let out a sharp laugh, causing everyone to stop.
But when they looked over at him, expecting him to say something, he was just staring off into space.
"Okaaay, I gotta ask," Oskar said, one hand rubbing his ear.
"We know everyone's deal now. Sunny's a fricken celebrity by accident. Kai's a celebrity on purpose. Caster's a celebrity because a movie made him out to be the boyfriend of the girl he tried to kill in real life. Gehrman's a celebrity cause he's fuckin' terrifying. So why is this guy a celebrity?"
"No one ever said he was a celebrity," Sunny grumbled.
"Okay but there's a pattern here. Plus, you said he was infamous in the group chat," Oskar pressed. "So what's your deal, mirror-eyes guy?"
Mordret was still staring off into space, as if he hadn't heard the question, but just as Oskar opened his mouth again the Prince of Nothing started to speak.
"Well when I was born my mother died. My father hated me, and the rest of the clan treated me with a certain amount of distance. Then, when I passed my First Nightmare I was sold off to the worst, most odious monster of all creation. My father made a deal with this creature, you see, and so I was under that thing's care for a good long while. When I came back, they were even more disturbed. My father still hated me, of course, and by then I had a baby sister. Some new woman, I guess. Anyway, it doesn't matter, what does matter is what came next."
Mordret suddenly got a maniacal look in his eye. His expression, which had been impossibly blank and neutral turned into a viscous sneer.
"They thought I was unstable, I suppose. Or perhaps my father just couldn't stand the sight of me. Maybe the elders thought that I would kill off my sister for some reason. The reasons didn't matter. What mattered is they destroyed my body, shattered my Soul, and trapped me in a nightmarish prison crafted by dear old dad to keep me locked up for all eternity. You wanna know why?" Mordret seethed.
"He locked me up, because he couldn't kill me. That man, who was oh so powerful, couldn't kill a mere Awakened. And no one stopped it. Everyone allowed a boy, someone not even an adult yet, to get locked away in the darkest pit they could throw me in."
There was quiet at the table.
Gehrman knew, of course, a good deal of this story. However it appeared that most of the others were ignorant. Only Sunny seemed unsurprised by the whole thing.
Something caught his attention though.
'the worst, most odious monster of all creation'.
That…was quite the title
And coming from Mordret it was more than disconcerting. That was because, despite the fact he couldn't die, it was clear that this "creature" didn't kill him. Valor were the ones to slaughter his body and shatter his soul.
So it wasn't a Nightmare Creature. And if that was the case, then it had to be a human. One who even Mordret considered a terrifying entity.
Since he was now allied with Song, and it was impossible for his father to be that creature, there was only one option left on who it could have been.
That missing Sovereign, the Dreamspawn.
Gehrman frowned. He had always had a somewhat neutral impression on the third Supreme of humanity, but this changed things quite a bit.
What a terrifying entity he must be, to invoke such words from Mordret.
"So," Oskar said, breaking the silence. "You're trying to kill them? Valor I mean. You're infamous because you couldn't die even with your Soul shattered which, by the way, makes no damn sense. Plus, I bet you killed all your jailors on your way out, making you more of a cryptid among those Valor pricks."
The former District Boss stroked a non-existent beard, musing for a bit.
"Uh, I don't know about the rest of you, but killing the fucks who put you in that prison and trying to kill your dad seems pretty fair to me. No debt unpaid, right, fellow Outskirt rat?"
Oskar turned to Sunny.
The shadow scowled, but he didn't deny it either. That was because that mentality of "no debt unpaid" was one that was engraved in the very core of everyone in the Outskirts, no matter who they were.
Mordret started laughing again, his voice even more strained and gasping than before.
"Yes, YES! Exactly! Dear Gods I know I'm insane, but I thought the rest of the world was even more so because they couldn't understand such a simple thing!"
Mordret pointed a finger across the table at Oskar.
"You! You're a good guy. I'll promise you this. If you don't try to get in my way ever, I won't ever kill you."
Oskar put his hands up, his eyes and voice distant.
"Sure dude, don't get no reason to interfere with this shit show."
Mordret let out a long sigh and started mumbling to himself.
The rest of them seemed a bit uneasy. Especially Caster.
Gehrman didn't really think about it until he had been so aggressive against Mordret in the group chat, but growing up in a Vassal of Valor, he would of course have heard the horror stories of the Prince of Nothing.
Now, however, he was treated to a different side of the tale. A new angle, which, as of recently, was something Caster was more open to.
Kai seemed the most surprised though.
"He…He's not lying about any of that," the singer frowned. "I don't like that. I don't want to empathize with someone like you."
"No one asked you to," Mordret said, suddenly dead serious.
The table fell quiet again, and Gehrman abruptly stood up.
"Okay, on to bar nuuuumber 5! We got two more left! The night is young!"
Oskar burped.
"It's not the night anymore, technically, I think."
"Time is an illusion!" Gehrman yelled back, already walking out the door.
The others straggled behind him, swaying a bit except for Sunny and, surprisingly, Mordret.
The Prince of Nothing was suddenly beside Gehrman, giving him a blank stare that he had no idea how to interpret.
"Uh, you good bud?" Gehrman asked.
"I'm gonna take a walk. I'll meet you at the next bar," Mordret said.
And just like that, he was gone, disappeared into a mirror. Already he was flying from reflective surface to reflective surface, traveling at insane speeds all throughout New Yharnam.
Gehrman just looked at the spot he had been.
Kai was moved there, and he leaned down and touched the place where he had been standing.
"That's…probably not good, right?"
…
Mordret flew from mirror to mirror.
It was fortunate that this place had so many, it was quite easy to get around. He internally groaned at the onslaught of dizziness.
Things had almost gotten bad, he almost had forgotten why he had come.
He briefly materialized and summoned a Memory, one of his own that he had gotten a long while ago.
It was a Tool that removed toxins, and Mordret desperately needed it at the moment.
Letting out a breath as the world refocused, his blank eyes sharpened.
He blinked a bit, recalling all the conversations in a sober light.
Mordret had gotten a lot more drunk than he had intended. In fact, he had been planning to detox after each "bar" so as to remain in total control. However, something unexpected happened.
He was having fun.
It was interesting being with those people. The intrusive thoughts were there at the start, what would happen if he went in and quickly eviscerated that Sleeper, creating a pawn out of someone close to Gehrman.
Yet as the night went on, his desire to do so dulled.
Only after that last little chat did he remember why he was here.
It wasn't to do anything dangerous. He wouldn't even be killing anyone. However, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to plant a certain seed.
With renewed focus he continued traveling, keeping to the mirrors and reflections that were in the houses where Awakened would be.
Naturally, a few of them would be gone, went to the gateway and returned to the Waking World.
However, he knew that some Squire of Valor would be up, reporting on what was happening in this strange Citadel.
It took him only minutes to find one.
A younger lady, probably only recently recruited, scrawled away on a piece of parchment. A small fire lit up the table she was sitting on, but the rest of the room was quite dark.
Her words were mainly about the new Sleepers that were making their home here, the "New Hunters" that trained under Gehrman.
"Indeed, they are fascinating aren't they?" Mordret said, stepping into the room. His material form is on full display.
"This place, its people, its master. Oh, I've met the man, he is quite something. I daresay that all the Saints of Valor may perish before him, even if they combined all their efforts."
The woman froze. Red sparks formed as she summoned a broadsword, already swinging it without looking at who had spoken.
However, Mordret was a Master, not only that, he had not been idle since the whole Winter Beast fiasco. With that thing gone, the Antarctic Center was a suitable hunting ground to regain his strength.
He did not have to deal with "Blood Fragments" or whatever Sunless had to do in order to gain new Soul Cores.
He just absorbed the Shards, and all it took were a few gates to get him back to his current level.
An Ascended Titan.
Mordret caught the blade in his hand, before putting more force behind his grip. With that, the Memory shattered under his strength.
The woman's eyes went wide, and her pupils dilated as she saw her own reflection staring back at her from the mirror like pupils. The fire from the lamp casting an ominous haze on the man's iris.
A sharp gasp escaped her, and she shut her eyes quickly.
Her breaths turned rapid and shallow.
"Y-your that thing, the abomination," her voice trembled.
Suddenly she steeled herself.
"You won't survive this, even if you take me, I will be of no use to you. You will fail in whatever it is your planning, you vile thing," her voice took on venom.
Mordret let out a chilling chuckle.
"I seriously doubt that."
He raised his hand, reached towards the girl's neck, and abruptly stopped.
A shiver went down Mordret's spine.
From there? He can see me from there?
Indeed, though there was no way to know for sure, he could feel the presence, the eyes of the Red Judge on him. He had to be a few kilometers away, and yet it was clear that if Mordret made a move, things would not end well for him.
However, he was also not rushing over here.
"All right, I hear you," Mordret said.
He clucked his tongue and gently patted the woman on the shoulder, who flinched in terror.
Mordret moved past her and walked over to the parchment she had been writing on. At the same time, a shimmering Reflection appeared. It quickly transformed into the visage of Sunny.
Without looking at the summoned thing, he reached out and grabbed the Reflections pinky finger, and then, he pulled.
The sound of shattering glass ripped throughout the room, causing the woman to flinch again. She was shivering, paralyzed with fear.
The finger quickly transformed into glass. Glass that was, Mordret, his very essence.
He smirked and took up the quill that she had been writing with.
On the bottom of the parchment he wrote two short sentences.
'What joyous times we live in. I'll see you soon, dear Sister."
Satisfied, he placed the piece of glass atop the parchment.
"Be a dear and deliver this for me, will you?" Mordret whispered into the ear of the young woman, causing her to shiver. She was sweating profusely, and a tear was working its way down her cheek.
He turned to face the window.
"Oh yes, one more thing. You really should be grateful for that man's hospitality. No one else would have stopped me from…well, I'll leave it up to your imagination."
And with that, he disappeared.
The Squire stood shaking for several minutes. Then, she collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her face.
Soon, a new horror story would make its way through the warriors of Valor.
…
Gehrman let out a sigh.
"Well, good news, he didn't kill anyone. Though I think he traumatized a random girl," Gehrman said.
The rest of the groomsmen were still drunk, but they were all focused and serious.
"I'll have to pay her back a Memory, and maybe also some psychological counseling. Can't say I didn't expect this though."
The chilling voice of Mordret rang throughout the street.
"Oh, then why did you bring me along?"
Gehrman frowned as the man sauntered up, eyes trained on Gehrman.
There was a long silence as for the first time that night there was genuine tension.
Then, Gehrman sighed.
"You know, unpaid debts and all that," he muttered. "Plus, I thought it'd be funny, and it was, or rather, is."
Gehrman walked over and threw an arm around Mordret.
"Come on you little psychopath, you got sober so now you're gonna be taking shots to get back on our level."
Mordret's face betrayed his surprise. There were even undertones of concern, as even the Prince of Nothing worried about the sheer instability of the man.
They walked in silence for only a moment before Gehrman laughed.
"Sunny, why don't you tell us why half of the internet thinks Mongrel is a woman?"
Slowly but surely, the atmosphere returned to one of relaxation. Though revelry never returned to that night.
Still, Gehrman was satisfied.
He got his friends drunk and they seemed to have bonded a good amount.
However, with that latest move from Mordret, a feeling of dread started to creep up on him regarding his upcoming wedding.
Gehrman glanced over at Mordret. He didn't say anything, but when Mordret returned his gaze, he still communicated his intention to him.
I am not letting you mess up my wedding. You'll have to wait, you little shit.