The Skin of a Star

While you waited for Nightfall and after Diana had the chance to hold an ice pack between her legs for a couple of hours...

"It's wasn't that bad..."

"YOU TRIED TO EXPLODE MY UTERUS OLD MAN!"

As Hilde to care for Diana, give her a few alchemical mixes to help with the pain, Artorias patted you on the shoulder "Come with me."

Following your grandfather through to the Kitchen, Artorias paused as a harsh cough left his lips, drawing his handkerchief as you rushed to catch him as he staggered. "You alright?" You asked worriedly.

He pulled back his handkerchief, the white cotton stained red, like his bottom lips. You frowned but he smiled "I'm on borrowed time kid, This soul isn't mine, using the threads can't be good for me."

You frowned sadly "Y-Your old man, you'll okay, Your all young and-" You paused as He coughed again, drawing in laboured breaths.

"I might be younger, but it feels like the internal damage from years of overdrive is still there." He said, clearing his throat and nearly wiping the blood from his lip. He noticed the look of worry on your face "Don't be sad kid, everybody has their time, and Mine's long overdue."

You shook your head "...I wanted... you to meet your Great grandchild before you go."

His eyes became sad too "I won't last year kid... I'm sorry." But he renewed his smile "Now do me a favour and chipper up, I have a gift for you, to celebrate."

"Celebrate what?"

"The coming of your first hunt." He said, taking your arm to steady himself as he guided you towards the Basement.

You reached into your pocket and Brandished your dad's black key, You found it in his room in his desk last week after school, and you immediately knew which door it was for "Finally gonna get to see what's down here." You said in anticipation, slowly pushing the key in the lock in-

"Whatcha doing?"

"Ah!" You jolted as Jane looked over your shoulder.

Artorias rolled his eyes as He thumped your arm "Stop being so damn jumpy!"

You narrowed your eyes at him "I was just about to go into the Basement with the old man, where've you been hiding?" You asked.

Jane smiled "I was in the... woah... Libary." She wobbled a bit.

"Had a bit too much to drink?" You chuckled.

Jane shook her head and made a funny face "What... no... HOW DOES SHE SLAM 4 SCREWBALLS AND DOESN'T EVEN GET DRUNK!" She cried in irritation.

You rubbed her shoulder "Don't feel too bad, She drink like fish."

"I don't feel bad at all, Mr Drake cheered me up quite a lot with what I saw out there." She said knowingly.

You raised an eyebrow, then smiled "You were watching from the observatory?"

"Yeah... and... You did really well, I've never seen anything like that before." She seemed actually excited.

"Wanna see something even more exciting?" Artorias asked.

"Sure!" Jane agreed happily.

You turned the key and open the door to a long, pitch-black staircase. Jane held your hand as the old man held onto the bannister, his tall handsome form carefully traversed the steps down.

Jane frowned, gulping at the sight. You rolled your eyes, taking her hand "Come on, don't worry, I won't let anything get you in the dark, except for maybe me."

Her cheeks flushed and she stuck out her tongue "At least I'm not afraid of clowns."

You frowned "Now that I think about it, I am quivering in my boots just being around you."

She seemed cheered up by your banter, You missed it more than you'd care to admit "Call me a clown all your want, Sisterfucker. Let's go before I change my mind." you detected the genuine upset in her voice, even if it was hidden.

"Ugh..... why does it have to pitch black..." She muttered shakily as You activated the torch on your phone, taking her hand.

"It's okay, I've got you."

Your ears picked up the fluttering of her heart beat, Jane never did like the dark and her arm wrapping around yours in her rampant Nyctophobia as you followed the shadow of your grandfather further into the recesses of your father's basement.

Jane began to shake as you followed the long line of spiralling steps, her grip on you growing tighter with her nerves "I-I have to go back." She squeaked but you held her tight.

"You will encounter scarier things than the dark, if you're gonna be with me Jay." You said ominously "Come on, you're one of the strongest women I know. if you leave who's gonna stop me shaking in my boots?"

Jane's lips curled; eyes narrowing "Ugh... J-Just, hold that torch up, I hate this." her grumble didn't echo in what felt like an enclosed space however, her voice spread over the course of a long room, the vibration in the air tickled against your enhanced senses, almost painting a picture as you momentarily saw the shape of the room perfectly.

"What the fuck?" You asked... though as your voice travelled, you were just as blind as before in the shadows.

"Do not swear here, Boy."

Raising your torch, you looked around the room, seeing the vague impressions of importance and organisation... definitely, space where your father presided.

"What is this place, Mr Drake? and does it have any lights?" Jane asked, still vexed by the shadows.

Artorias smiled "Wake Up S.O.L"

Wonder and curiosity, are the things that ruled You and Jane as the two of you watched the engraved floor flooded with light, gathering in a gentle stream of luminescence, travelling along the ridges in the cobblestone, forming branches, rising and falling in the perfect shape of stag's antlers.

Light bathed the room then, shining from the walls, glowing as if... almost alive "S.O.L alchemical Intelligence Online. Hello Artorias." A voice called, robotic but with a distinct New England accent, it made you smile widely as the room was revealed to you.

A large, collected room stood before you, with a wide station packed with stacks of papers, neatly collected files. A storied bookcase made up the west wall, packed with ancient tomes and dusty notes pinned to a corkboard.

Several articles of the Wallace Newsday post were pinned there also, with the faces of empty spaces and formless shadows within their pictures, connected by lines of red and black strings.

The bed was small and neatly kept, situated beside a small training area complete with hand to hand practice rack. You wandered towards this space, your fingers gliding along the surface of the triple-wide hickory desk, the alchemical ingredients labelled and kept neatly on its shelves, the dark crucible glowing ominously in its centre.

You were enamoured by this place, the trinkets hung on the hall, mementoes of a bloody past, the shadow of your father imprinted into the very wood of his Black pipe that he would sit in the garden and puff on come sunset.

"Warning: Foreign Entities detected." The Voice said, the lights falling into a deep angry red as they spiralling animatedly about the room.

"S.O.L, Code 07J0461: Foreign Entities to be logged as welcome inhabitants: Jane Watson, female. Charles Drake Male-"

The Lights went a deeper red, cutting your grandfather off.

"Error, Entity Charles Drake, currently present, and Family member Charles Drake, non-biological match. The entity in the current vicinity is unknown."

You paid the strange voice no mind, gently picking up the long black pipe of your father and admiring it in quiet nostalgia.

Artorias raised an eyebrow, though he nodded to himself "S.O.L merge entities biological signature."

The Room buzzed slightly and dipped into a more relaxed Yellow light "Entities Merged. Welcome Jane, Good afternoon Charlie."

"H-Hello... um, weird room lady," Jane said as you continued to admire the room under your Pop's smiling gaze.

"It's almost like he just left, eh?" Artorias chuckled.

You even detected his smell in these walls "He spent a lot of time here?"

Pop's nodded, tracing his fingers along the walls "Planning out hunts, tracking targets... paying his taxes, if it weren't for his preparation, his tact, we'd all be long dead." But the old man strolled to the centre of the room, looking down at the circlet engraved into the ground below "I had to wake Hilde up for her first hunt, she had overslept... but Rom was awake hours earlier, planning it all out already, that knowing look in his eye like the universe would bend to his whim... He promised me when he was a boy that he'd always be a star for us, that he'd guide this family, He... He was our Black star until the end."

Jane seemed just as fascinated as you, turning to you as your frowned a little "This is why he was so absent? because He was fighting monsters?"

"No, he retired after Charlie was born... He was absent because of his efforts to protect his family from his past, to secure this place and its fortune for his family. He may not have had as much soul as a father should, but he never stopped fighting for this family or this city."

Your face widened with a soft smile "The more I look back, the more I see the stepping stones he laid out for me, all the workout routines, controlling my diet, he was trying to make me strong, because I was his heir... I was just too stupid to see it."

Artorias placed his hand on your shoulder "I may not be your father, Chip. but as long as there is breath in this body, I will do everything in my power to guide you, Hilde and Diana are with you always, we are protectors of this place; our home and You are the future of our House. Time to look the part." The Old man cleared his throat as Jane took your hand, listening to his commanding tome "S.O.L. shoot for the stars in an Abyssal..."

The Lights curved into round star-like symbols, as Sol's voice filled the room "...a man without the skin he lives in, is no man at all."

The ground cracked, a circle of stone staggering upwards shakily, this small monalith was adorned with what you realised was... attire, attire that made your eyes widen as you approached it.

This was armour, full outfit of military-grade kevlar; lightweight armoured boots with utilitized trousers, fitted with plates on the thigh and shins. a toolbelt, with space for vials and storage were sleek and tightfit to the black metal buckle.

The White shirt wasn't quite normal, the cotton looked thick and durable, weaved over like gambeson, but it was the breast plate that caught your eye, covering from chest to abdomen, ingraved with silver patterning culminating in it's chest which depicted a 6-pointed star with a sword in it's center. Your fingers traces the diagonal weave of shiny almost glass like substance that you knew not to be metal "All of these plates, gauntlets, Breastplate, shinguard and forget, all Obsidian treated fibre glass, enlaid with silver. Thick as reinforced steel, light as leather, the silver keeps undead hands away."

"No arm protection?" You asked.

"When you weild a blade that constantly threatens to burn both you and your enemies to **** with a single slice, you'll quickly find that you need the extra mobility."

But there was one thing that you had your eyes on... on top of the monolith, was a mask, made of black glass, just like the armoured plates. this mask had a sharp faceguard, splitting into 6 sharp branches in a sleek backwards design, a Visage of the star.

"A Decendant is no barbarian, we do not charge In head first with brute ****. We are one's that fight and kill shadows, we slay mist, we crush the darkness with darkness. Speed, tactics, focus, these are the foundation of our way, we are the Hunters of hunters." Artorias spoke the words of legends, and now you were one of them.

"I'm a killer now then." You said, in a kind of soft melancoly.

Artorias took you by your arms "No... we are more than that, we protect the world, mortal and monster, Hilde has her reasons to discriminate, but you will kill with controlled wrath, weild the sword to protect the innocent, regardless of race of creed. This is the responsibility of the Executioner, Diana investigates, negotiates, I make the decisions, and You deliver our justice, that is your purpose until I decide you are ready."

"Ready to rule?" You asked.

"Ready to lead. Try it on, you're a little more muscular than Rom, but it'll be a good fit." He instructed, You nodded going to get dressed, though his fingers grasped around your wrist as he whispered seriously "This is not an inheritance. You earn this, from now on and until the day you die, you earn this, am I clear?"

You stepped back and bowed lowly, respectfully "Yes, Mentor."

Jane fiddled with her fingers as the moment ended, and the Old man smiled his youthful smile at her "I suppose I should see if my old armaments still fit. Don't be long, day is breaking and Hilde will not wait for you." Giving your beautiful companion a kind smile, Pop's marched from the room, leaving the two of you alone.

"Help with this?" You asked. She blinked back from her thoughts nodding.

"Yeah, alright."

Pop's wasn'r wrong, it was a tight enough fit, but Jane got the job done, hiding her flush as you derobed and slid on the trousers, Jane strapping the Obsidian plates to your arms as you slid on the fingerless gloves, tightening the belt around your waist as you donned the gambeson shirt and Jane tightened the buckle for the hardy breastplate.

You stood in the Black Star's attire, feeling the weightlessness of it on your body, and the paradoxical strength it made you experience "How do I look?" You asked softly.

Jane beheld you "Dangerous...." She looked as if she didn't speak then she'd explode "...This is all crazy, you family, what they do-"

"What we do." You corrected.

"Right, it's just a lot."

You nodded "What's worse is that it doesn't get much better, at least now that you're stuck with me." she peered at you, folding her arms.

"Your sister... do you, really love her? like you love me?" She couldn't help but ask.

Moving closer your hand wrapped around hers reassuringly "I don't love anyone like I love you. This passing week, seeing you with Duke, it's not the way things are supposed to be."

Jane's eyes flickered up to you, swayed by your charm "How are thing's supposed to be?"

Her body felt so different to hold, compared to before she was lean and groomed, neither as lazy aesthetically or physically in what obviously was a lot of effort to fit in her new Untouchable role... but damn, seeing her this beautiful, and with that look she gave you when she was close, you never wanted it to escape you again.

"Eating pizza at 2am, playing Mortal kombat and you whipping my ass..." Jane chuckled as you smiled "...us together, that's the way it should be."

But Jane was a realist, she always had been, it's what brought the reasonable hesitation in her eyes then "You're asking me to stay blind to a lot of things, Charlie."

"Pft, I couldn't blind you to anything, what do you even need these for?" You asked tapping the side of her glasses. But Jane was serious "If you ever, feel overwhelmed by all the girls, or the monsters, or even me. Then I want you to tell me, and I'll do everything in my power to make you feel like you feel safe, and if you don't then I understand if you just want to be friends."

Jane frowned, folding her arms "Obviously... I... don't just want want to be friends, I think we've been friends for long enough!" She started "I did not spend like seven years, giving you signs, which you obviously missed every time, that I liked you. All the short skirts and the dinner dates--I am not going through all of that again."

Your smile returned "You wont have to."

Her eyes, the colour of dark honey narrowed as she smiled "I think you should ask me out on a date."

You blinked "You want to go on a date? but you always said Dating is overrated, and we've uh... already--"

"Yeah I know, but... If you're serious about me, and want me to share you with all these girls, including your sister... then I deserve to at least feel special."

...You, didn't make her feel special? well probably best not to just assume that, that clearly isn't what she meant but. Ugh you'd been so consumed with everything else that the basics of romance seemed to just fly away into obscurity!

Okay... she wanted a Date, then you'd not only give her a date, but the greatest Date your brain could cook up.

"Tomorrow, Lunchtime, we'll spend the whole half of the day together, just you and me, how does that sound?"

A Light began to shine in that smile of hers "W-Well... we don't have to spend like... the whole day together, w-what about the academy?" She asked.

"Don't worry about that, I've already got a plan. Just meet me here at Twelve tomorrow, and I'll take you for the ride of your life, I promise." You meant it.

Jane sighed, sucking her red lips in as she smiled "Come here."

You blinked "Why?"

"So I can kiss you, moron."

Jane wasted no time in wrapping her arms around you, and kiss you she did, a soft compassionate kiss that almost made you see stars you were so taken aback by it's effect, your face burning red, skin flushing with heat. This was the first time that you'd kissed for real since all the way back then, back when you were just two ratty nerds in the Golden suite, but as the two of you embraced today, it was far more passionate, far more intense, so much so that even as you parted, a flicker of adoration still smouldered in her autumn eyes.

"I've been waiting so long to do that." She whispered

"I can tell... heh." You beamed like a school boy, scratching your head.

Jane bit her lip as she touched your chest "Do me a favour, don't get killed out there. Okay?"

Chuckling, you lent down whispering "No promises."