The preparations for Hilde's "ghost" took about another hour. Hilde readied a few jugs of holy water for the hunter before lighting as many spare candles as she could find near the altar. While Vynx set about coating his cutlass with the blessed water, Hilde offered a small prayer to the statue of the Lunar Goddess watching over them. With the visitors gone and the clergy members away for the evening, it left the two of them as the only living souls in the building as night fell.
"Are you ready, Vynx?" Hilde turned to him as she finished her prayer. She had initially been reluctant about summoning her avatar within the church walls, but Vynx decided that it would be better to be in a space surrounded by holy relics. The last thing she wanted was to desecrate the chancel with her abilities, yet if her Goddess had wanted to cast her aside, Hilde was sure she would have lost her blessing long ago.
"I'm all set. Do your worst, Sister." Vynx flashed her a fearless smile. His cheery disposition stood in stark contrast with the cleric's anxious state.
"If you say so…" she murmured. Her red eyes glowed in the dim light of the church as Hilde finally allowed her powers to manifest in full. Again, the dark spectre formed at her side, this time with the visible appearance of a looming skeletal creature. Matching red eyes gleamed within its skull, and a long, tattered black robe covered the rest of its towering form. Its arms were crossed across its chest, and Vynx noticed two heavy iron shackles with chains dangling from its wrists. Much like before, dark energy radiated from the reaper and swirled around Hilde like a thick cloud.
Vynx could feel the familiar oppressive aura weighing on the very air around them. He approached cautiously, keeping his blade drawn and another jug of holy water in his left hand. Vynx wondered if attacking the spirit would hurt Hilde as well, or if the reaper was a separate entity called by her to this plane. She did mention that it was an ability rather than a familiar, so he needed to be careful with how he handled things. It would be the last resort, but Vynx wanted to avoid spilling the poor cleric's blood on the steps of the altar.
Hilde could only watch in fear as the apparition let out an ominous growl. It looked past Vynx in the direction of the cemetery outside the church, as if it were staring right through the stone walls. Lurching forwards, the reaper raised a clawed hand and lowered its jaw. Black smoke poured out of its skull, and suddenly, the pair could hear a cacophony of ghastly wails erupt from outside the church walls. The candles in the room flickered as the air around them dropped several degrees.
The hunter tightened his grip on his sword. He shifted his attention from the reaper to the direction of the graveyard. Translucent spirits began to phase through the walls of the church, groaning as they drifted towards Hilde's reaper. The ghosts all bore hollow eyes and were surrounded by motes of pale blue light that dotted their see-through bodies, each in various states of decay. Like mourners in a funeral march, they closed in around the pair at the command of the reaper's dirge.
"P-please, you must disperse them before they get absorbed," Hilde begged Vynx. "I don't know what will happen if the reaper claims them, but I sense it won't be pretty," she admitted. In the meantime, she did her best to try and dismiss the apparition, but it seemed to ignore her completely. Whether it was from her lack of control or because it was overdue for its harvest, the reaper kept its hand raised to draw the spirits towards them.
Thankfully, Vynx was armed and more than familiar with dealing with the risen undead. Banishing the incoming ghosts would be a cinch, even if their moans did always give him goosebumps. Vynx worked swiftly, slicing through the incoming spirits and dispersing their essence before they could reach the reaper. The ghosts emitted mournful howls and deathly groans as his blade cleaved through their incorporeal forms, and the hunter could only hope that this fate was better than whatever Hilde's reaper had in store for them. He lost count of how many spirits he banished, but once the last dying gasp faded, he lowered his sword and looked back towards Hilde.
The cleric had sunk to her knees, clutching her holy symbol as she prayed for the fallen. Her apparition remained, unaffected by her words and the presence of the holy artifacts behind her.
This at least confirmed one of Vynx's theories: that the spirit, while horrifying to look at, was not necessarily evil, though he still hoped the holy water would work on it. He could tell that Hilde was in no shape to recall the reaper on her own, so he'd have to send it away the old-fashioned way. "Alright, let's put you back to sleep." Vynx cracked open another jug and poured the water over his cutlass. He charged at the reaper and slashed at its form, only to blink in astonishment as his sword clanged against solid bone. Then, to his surprise, the apparition reappeared behind him and swung at his back with its long arm. "Duck!" Vynx dove forward, avoiding the skeletal hand and landing atop Hilde as he did.
"O-oh!" Hilde yelped as the hunter fell on top of her. She barely had time to register what was happening before Vynx was back up on his feet and hacking at the spirit faster than it could teleport away. The cleric watched in amazement as each swing cut through the reaper's tattered robes until one final horizontal strike cut the skeletal spirit in two. Hilde's eyes dimmed, and the reaper rumbled, almost in disappointment. It cast them both an unnerving but indifferent gaze before slowly fading, its dark essence withdrawing back into Hilde as her eyes finally returned to normal.
"Phew. Glad that did the trick." Vynx sheathed his sword and spun back around to offer his hand to Hilde. He had a feeling the spectre wasn't gone for good; however, its presence had dissipated for the moment, and the woman appeared otherwise unharmed. "Are you alright, Hilde?" he asked.
Hilde took his hand and shakily pulled herself back to her feet. "I-I'm fine. This was just the first time I've allowed myself to manifest it in full, but it seemed rather displeased that I haven't used it since... well, since I lost my memories," Hilde lamented. "I was foolish to believe there was no danger. Thank the gods you were here, Vynx..." Hilde looked up at him with watery eyes as she held back tears.
"I don't know why, but I have a feeling that thing was actually trying to protect you," he noted. The spirit had not been hostile to him until he started swinging in Hilde's direction, though it certainly seemed annoyed that he had gotten rid of all the local spirits before it could absorb them.
"Still, the reality is I cannot stay here. I feel awful for disturbing the dead like this, and once the others know—they'll label me as a witch and—" she blubbered on and suddenly buried her face into the hunter's chest, bawling. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen..." Her body trembled not in fear of her own powers, but rather the uncertainty of her future. She gripped onto his jacket, losing the last of her composure as she cried.
"It’s okay…" He patted her back while speaking with a soft tone in his voice. "Matters in the occult can get… well, messy enough for a guy like me to get involved. I wouldn’t fret too hard about it since we are in a place where all that ghosty energy is at its strongest. Maybe if we were elsewhere, it wouldn't be so hungry for other souls." He brushed his hand down the back of her veil, soothing the sobbing cleric. "I think…." Vynx paused and looked up at the ceiling before continuing. "I think that this kind of stuff should be accepted before you think about leaving like that. Trying to hide and live without letting others in is far from what I would call an "ideal life." He wrapped his arms around Hilde, trying his damndest to console her. It was easy to imagine that hiding like this was only going to make things break at some point. Even then, (while this didn’t weigh on the hunter’s mind at all during this moment) it was bad hunter etiquette to up and leave a job before it was finished.
Hilde stared up at him through hiccups. "I... I don't have the heart to tell them. How could I?" she stammered. "I know I can't hide forever, but... I don't want them to worry or see me as some kind of heretical monster." She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sniffled. "You're probably the only person in this world who doesn't seem to mind a woman haunted by spirits. Or in this case, haunted by something even worse than the spirits themselves."
"Trust me, you're nowhere near as bad as the witches I've met back in the day," he added offhandedly, hoping that tidbit of info would somehow be of comfort to her.
She bit her lip. "I... don't have anywhere else to go. And I'm afraid I won't be able to control this power on my own. I know I've already asked so much from you, but... would it be possible to go with you after tonight?" Hilde asked, her voice quaking as she peered hopefully at him.
Vynx tilted his head for a moment. "If that's whatcha want, though I must warn you now—being a hunter like me can be dangerous at times." He placed his hand on the top of her head. "If you’re okay with that (and traveling with an odd set of characters), then I see no reason not to help you."
"I-I promise not to be a burden! I can bless your weapons and heal whatever you need," she insisted and pressed herself closer to him in desperation.
"Right now, I’m more focused on getting the reaper under control. I’ll have to teach you a bit about survival on the road and in the field, magic notwithstanding. I need you to know how to take care of yourself out there," he added.
She wiped the rest of her tears and nodded. His words calmed her, and she felt assured simply knowing he would be there to help her after all this. "I have no protests about that. Somehow, I feel like this wouldn't be my first time on the road either," Hilde mused. "I'm sure having another mouth to feed in your party wasn't what you signed up for when you took this job... but I don't intend to rely on your kindness. I'll pull my weight however I can," Hilde promised and hugged his torso tightly. "And these powers of mine... perhaps once I can control them, they can even be of use to you."
"If there’s any consolation about the numbers thing..." Vynx cut in, "Having more members on hand means I can charge more for jobs where more than one of us is needed, so in truth, it kinda evens out. Even if you do decide to take a smaller job on your own every now and again." His eyes naturally wandered down towards the cleric's cleavage, and he offered a playful grin. "You don’t have to sweeten the deal like that, y'know?"
She quickly pulled back once she realized how close they were. However, Hilde did blink at the realization that traveling together meant she would no longer be bound by the rules of the church. "I wasn't—well, I mean... if there's anything else I can do to sweeten the deal, I certainly wouldn't be averse to it either..." she whispered, blushing as she glanced down at his chiseled chest for a moment.
"Hmmm... I take it that means the whole holy thing was a bit more of an act than what I was expecting from you." The hunter winked, keeping his arm around Hilde's waist before she could slip away.
Hilde reddened once he called her out and turned away sheepishly. "I—it's—well, again, it was the Sisters who took me in, but I can't exactly say what kind of life I led before ending up here," she admitted. "When it comes to desires of the flesh, I'm likely no better than anyone else," Hilde said quietly. Before Vynx could prod her for further details, she shook her head rapidly and began pulling him away from the altar. "I believe that's enough confessions for today! Oh, forgive me, Goddess…"
Vynx tried not to laugh as he followed the cleric down the aisles of pews. If nothing else, he was glad to see that she was in better spirits after the entire incident. "By the way, I'll have to stay here for the rest of the night to make sure you don't accidentally let your friend roam free again. Why don't we head somewhere a little more… private?" He leaned in as he spoke the last word, sending a shiver through Hilde.
"Y-yes, of course! You're more than welcome to stay until morning, Vynx," Hilde squeaked. "I'll be sure to tell the Father about all your help and have the payment ready—oh right, I must come up with a reason for leaving and start packing my things too. Gods, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight…" the woman rambled to herself the entire way to the attic.
"I'm sure you can come up with something. A sudden strike of inspiration, a newfound thirst for adventure—whatever you go with, I'll back you up." Vynx discretely admired her rear as she climbed the ladder up to her room. The hunter already knew he was going to have to come up with his own list of reasons for why he was returning home with yet another woman on his arm, but he had the rest of the night to brainstorm his speech to win Sophia and Soleil over. After all, what he lacked in class, Vynx liked to think he made up for with good deeds.
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