Bloodborne - 129 Vicar Amelia

“Remain wary of the frailty of men. Their wills are weak, minds young.”

“Were it not for fear, death would go unlamented.”

“Seek the old blood.”

“Let us pray, let us wish… to partake in communion.”

“Let us partake in communion… and feast upon the old blood.”

“Our thirst for blood satiates us, soothes our fears.”

“Seek the old blood.”

“But beware the frailty of men. Their wills are weak, minds young.”

“The foul beasts will dangle nectar and lure the meek into the depths.”

“Remain wary of the frailty of men…”

Surgit was standing atop some stairs which led to the main nave of the Great Cathedral. After disposing of the giant, he only had to deal with two more church doctors to reach the entrance. At the edge of the nave of the Great Cathedral was a woman. The woman was kneeling at the altar and repeating the same words as if it were some kind of prayer.

Surgit stood there, motionless. The words the woman spoke had a deep meaning to Surgit who was struggling with bestiality. His beast form started taking over his body and he struggled to control it. He needed to collect enough echoes to gain a new rank. That alone will give him enough willpower to control the dormant beast inside of him.

Surgit enjoyed the powers his bestiality gave him. He was faster, deadlier and everyone around him seemed to move in slow motion. On the other hand, when his body transformed a little against that giant earlier, doubt and fear took over him.

He couldn’t remember what exactly happened as he sliced the giant’s face in pieced. All he remembered was that his body was covered in fur as he observed it shrink in size. He was afraid of using his visceral attack. He was also afraid of letting the beast take over.

On the other hand he wanted the power and strength that came with the package. He wanted to find a way to control his beast form. ‘The foul beast dangles nectar. They must think of beasts as an evil being,’ Surgit was thinking while observing the woman praying.

‘Everyone must be prone to beasthood then. Be wary of the frailty of men. They sought the old blood but rejected the side effect it came with. What’s evolution if we remain the same after all?’ Surgit shook his head as if to wake himself up from his daydreaming. However, the voice that spoke inside his head wasn’t him. It wasn’t the echoes either…

Surgit’s heart skipped a beat. ‘So you’re starting to realize the situation you’re in right now, don’t you?’ said the voice inside his head. Surgit kept a cool head though. He had been through this phase with the echoes before and he managed to shut them down. The beast inside of him was no different. He just had to endure and find more echoes.

After entering the Great Cathedral for the first time, he saw a message engraved on a wall. Surgit didn’t even know how he noticed that engraving. The sight that welcomed him inside the Cathedral was horrifying to say the least. Countless statues were erected at each step. Their heads looked exactly like the one he had seen in Yahar’gul. The statues held some kind of pole on their hands which extended forward.

The poles connected to the ones on the opposite side. Those interconnected poles formed an arch that Surgit walked through to access the nave of the cathedral. After he saw the woman kneeling and praying, Surgit stopped to observe. He learned to observe before taking action in Yharnam. Every little detail meant something and he wasn’t willing to skip anything anymore.

The engraving he found at the entrance to the cathedral read: “Heir to the ritual of blood, purveyor of ministration. Place your hand on the altar’s sacred covering, and inscribe Master Laurence’s adage upon your flesh.”

Laurence was a prominent legend in all the books Surgit read about Yharnam. After all, the books claimed that he was the founder of the Healing Church. Surgit was curious about this adage, he wanted to know more about what Laurence’s legacy.

Before he moved towards the woman, he made sure to inspect her with his insight. A name came to him along with a title: Vicar Amelia. Surgit was excited to finally meet a sane person from the Healing Church. At least, she could provide him with a semblance of knowledge regarding the beasts and the order of hunters.

As he walked to greet the woman, her body moved. Surgit observed the vicar as her body twitched. He squinted to focus on what was happening. The woman clenched something in her hand then the bones in her body emitted cracking sounds.

Her back bulged and her arm grew larger. Suddenly, with an explosion similar to the one Surgit experienced against Father Gascoigne, the woman transformed. A beast, as tall as the Cleric Beast, stood in front of Surgit and let out a harrowing scream. The putrid air that came out of her mouth repulsed Surgit.

Surgit sighed and took the axe. He was ready for battle. The beast had an Elk’s head complete with its antlers. The only exception was for its muzzle which had canine teeth. The beast still clenched something in its monstrously big hands. It jumped at Surgit and arrived before him in the blink of an eye.

Surgit was surprised at its speed. He jumped forward in order to avoid the slamming attack and landed between the monster’s legs. One swing from his axe and blood came rushing out of the beast. The tall monster let out a menacing growl then slapped Surgit with its backhand.

Imagine being slapped by a big gate. Imagine that the gate had five fingers from which sharp claws protruded. Imagine that the impact was similar to being hit by a fast moving train. If it weren’t for Surgit’s strength, he would have died instantly. Instead he landed on a pillar nearby and all air exited his body.

Surgit could taste blood in his mouth. He injected himself with a blood vial and instantly rolled to the side. The beast had caught up to him in an instant and almost finished him. ‘A moving building with the agility of a cat…’ Surgit cursed his bad luck and ran towards his enemy. The moment he thought that he was getting close to having some answers, the sane woman turned into a hideous beast.

He assumed that he had more of a shot if he stayed close to the monster. He would be able to dodge her attacks as long as he learned her pattern. He wasn’t willing to rush this enemy as he did the others. He knew full well the dangers of becoming hot headed. ‘If I want to beat this thing, I must not trigger my beasthood. I refuse to turn into a mindless beast. This one looks like she knows what she’s doing, I must observe and learn. Perhaps there is a way to control the beast, she could be the key to understanding it.’

For what seemed an interminable amount of time, Surgit kept dodging and carefully counterattacking. The beast didn’t slow down but Surgit learned a lot about her. For instance, fighting in melee range was its greatest weakness.

Because of the beast’s freakishly big legs, it couldn’t attack effectively using its arms. The beast didn’t seem to know how to use its legs for attacks as well. They were there to allow for nimble and fast movement. Surgit, consequently, stayed in close proximity.

He also learned that the beast’s injuries closed after a certain amount of time. He projected it to be around five seconds. However, if he struck the same area where the injury closed then it will reopen with a larger cut than before.

His objective was to hack at the monster until the injuries on its legs no longer supported its weight. Then he would climb on top of the monster and try to attack the head. This plan worked to an extent with the Cleric Beast. With his level of strength at that moment, he was confident that he could pull it off.

As he hacked and dodged, the beast became slower and fatigue took over. The vicar was now breathing heavily and tried to put as much distance between her and Surgit. On the other hand, Surgit was focused on attacking and chasing. The moment the beast jumped, he’d run as fast as he could and close the gap.

This time, as the beast felt tiredness take over, it jumped to the other edge of the nave. It’s worth noting that the nave of the Cathedral was as wide as a running track. Surgit always needed to run like an Olympic sprinter to catch up to the beast.

This time the vicar had put too much distance between them. Surgit cursed as he ran after his target. He saw Vicar Amelia join her hands together as if she was praying. The moment the two hands joined together, the vicar slammed them on the ground. The resulting shockwave caught Surgit head on and propelled him towards the stairs.

Surgit cursed as he got up. He instinctively rolled forward to avoid any retaliation from the beast. However no hit came his way. Amelia was actually praying and a gentle golden aura surrounded her. Although he was puzzled by this, Surgit decided to run and attack the monster while it prayed.

As he got closer, he noticed that all the previous big scars and open wounds he left on the monster were healing rapidly. “Well fuck me sideways!”