𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖎𝖊𝖉 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖀𝖓𝖇𝖗𝖔𝖐𝖊𝖓

Moon Rune

A/N: I apologize again. Chapter overdue. Needed something to post for you loyal readers to see.

A shadow covered the field of lilies as Roman looked up. Some *thing* was coming down. Down from the moon.

For its size, there was some semblance of grace that the great beast carried. Roman suddenly lost the ability to speak. "So many Hunters... but no Helper to guide them..."

"W-What do you mean?" Roman asked. He felt a calming aura from the beast, though from what he could tell, it was unnatural. It wasn't the calming aura that close friends or family would have. It was the calming aura that came from tranquilizer darts and certain poisons. It beckoned you to lie down and sleep and let everything go.

And frankly, it was terrifying.

The thing's finger gently caressed his face. "You are a sinner. But it matters not." The beast had no mouth, but its voice was overpowering. "You will be my Helper."

"And what if I don't want to?"

The beast leered at him if it was possible to do so without, well, eyes. "You die." Roman shuddered at those two words. He could tell that the beast would have no trouble killing him. He considered his options. He spent so much of his time getting here. Was he going to back out now? The beast suddenly began to laugh. "I'm not a 'beast' and I'm certainly not a 'thing', Roman Torchwood." It sounded amused, but the fact that it could hear his thoughts scared him even more. "So... will you become my Helper?" It asked.

"...I don't really have a choice in this, do I?" Roman asked, scratching the back of his head. "And if you aren't a 'beast', what is your name?"

The thing continued to laugh. "You already called my name. Flora." Roman nodded. "But... how do I become a Helper, whatever that means?"

"Wake up." Suddenly, Roman woke up on a... bed? He was in a clinic. This clinic certainly wouldn't pass health standards to operate, he thought to himself as he inspected the dusty room. He looked around and saw that his cane was off to the side.

He opened up a door and climbed down the stairs to another room with more beds, and that's when he saw the Beowulf. No, it wasn't a Beowulf.

It was a— The thing moved fast. But it was sickly. Roman sidestepped the beast and blasted it with a Dust round. He blew a hole inside it, and its blood splattered across his face.

Roman made a disgusted face and yet smiled. This was easy.

—

This was NOT easy, Roman thought to himself as he faced this gigantic creature with horns.

He strafed around, cutting into the thing's limbs. And when he thought he was about to win, the thing swiped backward and knocked him into a carriage. Then a great hand reached out...

What in the world happened?

Oh. He died. He barely registered the thing grabbing him and biting his head off before he awoke on the ground of the Dream.

"What was that?" He asked no one in particular as he felt his head for any signs that it was bitten off. There was none?

"You died." The inanimate Doll that was on the platform was *moving* and *talking*. "H-H-How are you moving?!" Roman stuttered out. "H-How are you talking?!"

"You gained Insight." The Doll bowed to Roman in respect. "Good Hunter—"

"Roman. Call me Roman."

"Roman. Flora has chosen you, and I will help you. I am a Doll, here to take care of you and embolden your sickly spirit with strength." Roman scoffed at this. He didn't need some porcelain Doll to help him, but it seemed she was not going to have any of it.

"Your weapon is not effective against the beasts. The Messengers will offer you." The Doll gestured to the small little things poking their heads out of the mist to offer three weapons. A cane sword, the bastard offspring between a saw and a cleaver, and a large axe.

Roman saw himself as a gentleman, and so picked the cane sword. The thing was light and had bite, even though it certainly did not equal the size of the saw cleaver offspring and the axe.

But the beauty of the weapon came when Roman found out he could transform it. It was a whip with dozens of sharp metal points, and Roman was sure the thing would hurt.

But wait there was more.

The Messengers offered him a firearm, even though he refused the use since his original cane had a gun function in it, but the Messengers were so persistent and somehow, he didn't know how in Remnant it happened, but he felt bad for not accepting their gift.

So he ended up taking a Pistol. It was a break-action pistol with engravings. The thing did not load Dust rounds unfortunately and seemed to take an entirely different type of ammunition.

Roman smiled. It was an uncharacteristic wolfish grin. This would be fun.

—

A few hours passed. All the men working under Roman had returned to the warehouse, except for Roman himself.

They were all waiting for their boss to return, and as time passed, a few were starting to wonder... was he dead?

Then Roman stood up, out of thin air. He was covered in fresh blood. "Boss... did you murder someone?" Roman seemed to be deep in thought, then answered, "No. Not at all. Also, how long was I gone?"

"You were only gone for 30 minutes." One man responded. Roman muttered to himself, "Felt like days..."

Micolash then arrived, 'Red' walking in next to him. "Ah... looks like you were having fun." Roman shook his head. "Where in Remnant were you?" Micolash then answered, "None of your business. But you feel more... powerful now, no?"

Roman nods. "I will admit, it works. Very effectively too. I feel... more light on my feet, stronger. I took down a beast five, no, ten times my size."

Micolash leaned in. "What did it look like?" Roman sat down on the ground, not bothering to go to the nearby chair. His men realized it then and there. Roman had changed. "It had a wolf's head, with these strange horns like tree roots. It had a shawl covering its eyes, and had brown, bloodied fur."

"You just slew a Cleric Beast. Impressive." Micolash says while 'Red' gives him a golf clap. "This lantern is just one step in many to total domination— er I mean, changing this world. For the better of course." Roman shrugged. "I'm tired. Can we continue this in the morning?"

"I suppose," Micolash said while shrugging. "Enjoy yourself, Roman. You can get even stronger than this, I can tell you that." Roman's eyes shone when he learned of this. He knew what he was going to be doing tonight.