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lemonagaga · 4 years

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Demonbirds

Chapter 4: House of Mystery

The battle was over. The titans rested on the cold hard ground gasping for air, unable to process what just happened. They've been fighting non-stop for hours, killing off every parademon they see. It seemed like it would never end at first, and they feared that they might not be able to hold them off any longer. But then, to everyone's surprise, all of the parademons suddenly shut down.

"What just happened?" Beast Boy asked, shifting back to his human form. His left arm was broken, his legs and face bloodied and bruised. A look of confusion covered his face, not knowing if he should be happy or terribly worried.

"They're all down!" Superboy said in disbelief, he sets himself down on a piece of metal that fell off from a building. "I can't believe it..."

"That must mean they succeeded." Damian said matter-of-factly. He wanted to look calm and collected but his face betrays him. A wave of relief hits him, his lips curving up.

Everyone cheers. They hugged each other, cried tears of joy, and healed each others wounds. Now it was a matter of waiting for the justice league to come back.

Three hours passed and finally a boomtube appears on the sky. The familiar faces of heroes fly down and land softly on the ground. Their bodies were badly wounded too, but they seem to be holding up better now.

Damian runs towards his father but says nothing. He looks around, noticing the lack of numbers. 'Where is she?' he thought.

"They will follow us shortly. Cyborg couldn't handle opening a boomtube big enough for everyone to enter. Constantine will be opening a portal anytime soon for the rest." Batman announces to everyone as if reading his son's mind.

"Were there any heavy casualties?" Donna speaks up, worried about Diana who stayed behind to teleport with Constantine's group.

"None." Batman answers. "There's no need to worry, it was a success. Everyone did a great job."

The titans let out a sigh of relief and cheered again. "Let's celebrate!" Beast Boy shouts happily, Shazam and the others join him.

"We'll celebrate after we fix up the mess." Superman said, killing the atmosphere. "Don't get me wrong I'm not against it, after we're done with this we'll have a big celebration sponsored by Batman." he adds quickly, feeking guilty for ruining the mood.

Batman glares at him but he doesn't protest. Everyone cheers again and chatter excitedly about the future party.

"What's taking them so long?" Damian asked. He didn't care about the party, instead he felt impatient and uneasy. He worried about Raven, his chest hurt thinking about her. 'Is she injured too? Did Trigon hurt her? Is she healing now?' Countless thoughts run in his head wondering if she's alright.

"Be patient dude." Superboy said, patting Damian's shoulder. "Raven's a strong girl, I'm sure she's fine."

"I know she's strong." Damian felt offended that Superboy thought he saw Raven as someone weak. "But you've seen how Trigon has hurt her, and that's him being trapped in the crystal imagine if he was set free."

"Well Batman said everything was fine. If something bad happened to her I'm sure he wouldn't lie about it especially to you. " Superboy shurgs. He enjoyed seeing Damian being a lovesick fool, it's a fresh breath from his usual rude and cold demeanor. Whenever he teased her about Raven he would always get annoyed but he could see that he didn't actually hate it. Although he worries that his friend is clearly still in denial of his feelings and how this may become a hindrance in developing their relationship.

"I suppose you are right." Damian admits with a defeated sigh. He didn't understand why he felt so overwhelmingly worried about Raven. He didn't understand why seeing her made him feel so at ease. Lastly, he didn't understand why he didn't feel those same emotions towards his other team mates. 'Why do I feel like I'm being biased towards her? Why do I have these feelings?'

Suddenly a bright golden circle cuts through the air, and in it John Constantine steps out carrying Raven, with the the other heroes following behind him. Panic swells in Damian as he watches John carry her seemingly lifeless body.

"Calm down boy she's asleep." John said quickly, noticing Damian's look of horror the moment he steps out of the portal. At first he thought he looked horrible and disheveled to the point of shocking the boy, then he remembers who he was dealing with, why would Damian care about he looked? He followed Damian's eyes which landed on the girl he carried and he remembers. 'Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. That boy fancies this girl.'

Damian releases his fist, he wasn't even aware he was clenching it so hard. Behind him Donna rushes forward towards Diana. They hug and nod at each other, having an unspoken understanding.

"Why is she in that state?" Damian's voice was calm but terribly cold. "You said there were no casualties father."

"Trust me, it could've been worse." Batman replies. "Be thankful Zatanna and Constantine knocked her out before her unstable magic cause any damage to herself and to others."

Damian felt frustrated at how only Raven seemed to be the only one carrying the burden of this whole plan. "Let me carry her."

"Yeah about that..." John hesitates, looking at Zatanna for backup.

"Damian," Zatanna speaks up. "We sense something strange about Raven's magic so for the moment John and I will take care of her at the house."

Damian was speechless. 'I dont have the right to protest.' he thought. He simply stared at Raven's sleeping face and memorizing every detail, scared of never seeing it again. "Make sure you take care of her well." He shuts his eyes and force himself to turn away, looking for any distraction.

"When can we see her again?" Starfire speaks up. Damian felt thankful for her voicing out exactly what he wanted to say. 'When will I see her again?'

"She's still part of the titans. We need to know when we can have her back or when we can see and visit her." Nightwing supports Starfire.

"We're not taking her away forever, she's your team mate and if the house lets you in then sure you can visit." Zatanna explains.

"Since you want to hold her so badly, carry her for a minute while I summon the house of mystery." John said to Damian.

Damian doesn't hesitate to carry her, he held her as if she was the most precious treasure in the world. "Quite heavy isn't she?" John jokes.

"Not really." Damian replies. "Maybe your arms have gotten weak."

John rolls his eyes and proceed to summon the house of mystery. A few seconds later, a huge wooden house appears out of thin air. "Viola! This is the base for the Justice League dark, where Raven will be staying temporarily."

Damian was amazed but he wouldn't admit that. The other heroes gather around the house, wanting to seek refuge where they can rest properly. "All of you can try to enter, if you're accepted by the house then you can relax but if you're rejected...well you better use that flying skill of yours."

John steps in the house first, followed by Zatanna. A couple of heroes entered too but many of them were sent flying out a few seconds later. Damian was relieved to have his feet remaining on the floor, the house accepted him and Raven.

"Where's the bedroom?" Damian asks.

"Aren't you a little young to be doing such things?" Green Lantern teases, much to everyone's surprise he wasn't kicked out of the house.

"Not cool dude." Flash comes to defend Damian. "That joke is so not appropriate right now."

Damian ignores them and proceeds to go upstairs. Somehow it felt like the house was guiding his feet to go to the right direction. Soon enough he found himself in front of a dark door labelled 'Bedroom'.

He opens it, and to his surprise the room was furnished nicely. He carries Raven to the bed and placed her down carefully. He sits on the bed, watching her sleeping figure. 'It doesn't seem like she's having any nightmare.' he thought. 'Trigon really is no longer trapped within her crystal.'

Seeing her sleep so peacefully made him feel drowsy too. The tiredness from the fight earlier seemed to finally settle in his body. He rubs his eyes and slaps himself, trying to fight off the fatigue. Too bad he couldn't fight it off any longer, eventually his eyes close and his body fall on the bed right next to Raven's.

'Only for a few minutes.' This was his last thought before he succumbed into deep slumber.

***

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Anyway I wrote this when I was sleepy af last night so I hope this chapter isn't a complete mess.

Hope you enjoy it :)

Wattpad:

#damian wayne #damian x raven #damirae #dcamu #rachel roth #teen titans #justice league

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bellringermal · 7 years

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«She fancied Gehrman, unaware of his curious "mania", but was left heartbroken when Gehrman couldn't, or wouldn't, reveal his feeling towards her.» WTF, fextralife?!

Thank you fextralife! ~♡No okay let’s be serious for a second and put aside my fangirl heart that craves for the damn romance and let’s look at the facts, shall we?

Let’s begin with the Hair Ornament and how the Doll reacts to it.

The item is described as “ordinary” and does look as such. This is not something fit for a woman of noble lineage like Maria is, is the sort of gift that a middle-class Yharnamite would give his fiancee. In fact, I would say that the Red Jewelled Brooch that Gascoigne gave to his wife looks way fancier and in line with what a Cainhurst noble would wear than the plain, ordinary hair ornament.

Giving little tokens of affection before the marriage was a no-no for Victorian lovebirds unless the couple openly expressed the intention to get married and both families agreed to the arrangement.

In Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Marianne Dashwood’s spontaneous behaviour is considered unorthodox and her (only rumoured!) clandestine engagement with John Willoughby is heavily frowned upon. One of her biggest ‘sins’ was to have sent John a bunch of letters and locks of her hair that the young man respectfully gives back to her before marrying another woman.

So, if we take for granted that Yharnam’s courtship customs are similar to those of the 19th century’s I think it’s safe to assume that if an unmarried man gave something as cute and personal as a hairpin to an unmarried woman he was clearly saying “hey babe I like you. But I haven’t the slightest idea of what I’m doing and I should’ve finish that “how to pick up fair maidens” book before doing anything on my own” :P

Of course, we can’t take Victorian society and expect Yharnam’s to be exactly the same because of all the obvious differences such as the clearly more prominent role of women in society, (Amelia is the highest authority of the Church, many hunters are women, Viola, though traditionally married, takes instant action to help her husband etc) but I still think it to be a good lens through which seeing the game’s world and it surely gives some extra credit to Gehrman’s conscious decision to hide his feelings from Maria.

Now, on the subject of Plain Doll, if we gave her the Hairpin she says this:

What… what is this? I-I can’t remember, not a thing, only… I feel… A yearning… something I’ve never felt before… What’s happening to me? Ahh… Tell me hunter, could this be joy? Ahh…

And as she speaks, they even took the time to actually animate her so that she would wipe her tears and gave us the Tear Stone:

Now, the dialogue itself is enough for me to say that Maria had feelings for Gehrman because there’s _no way_ that mere admiration and/or respect for the guy would make her surrogate, who only shares a few, blurred memories with her, cry tears of joy. But hey, we could say that since Plain Doll was “made” to love her creator her perception could be warped by what Gehrman wants her to feel towards him. So, let’s read what the lore has to say about this ;) let’s turn the Tear Stone into a Blood Gem!

Created from a shining silver doll tear, this blood gem is a quiet but unfaltering friend that continually restores HP, the life essence of a hunter. Perhaps the doll’s creator had wished for just such a friend, albeit in vain

BOOM! “Albeit in vain”… and here it is why I think Gehrman doesn’t talk to/doesn’t care about and is openly dismissive of the Doll. She is not the woman he used to know but a pale imitation. She doesn’t have Maria’s memories, she is nothing like the hunter that fought by his side, the strong and kind woman he secretly fell in love with. Before Moon Presence brought the Doll to life, Gehrman poured love and care into her creation that most likely happened after Maria’s passing. All item descriptions related to the Doll include this bit:

“A deep love for the doll can be surmised by the fine craftsmanship of this article, and the care with which it was kept.“ It borderlines on mania, and exudes a slight warmth.”

Which once again, reinforce my idea that my boi Gehrman cared for Maria not _just_ because she was hot. He doesn’t dress her up in revealing clothes nor does he keep her hunter attire while retaining elements of it such as the brooch and her boots. Maria killed herself after renouncing her life as a hunter, her conscience forever stained by what she and her teacher had done to the inhabitants of Fishing Hamlet. Dressing the doll in her hunter set would have been an even greater insult to her memory. Gehrman’s decision to dress her up in the seemly clothes of a respectable woman of the time is actually pretty tasteful if you ask me. May look strange and “unnecessary cute” to us modern-day players but that’s how women used to dress. Take a look at this picture of Mia Wasikowska’s in this movie adaptation of Jane Eyre. The reason why I pick this movie is its director, Cary Fukunaga who also directed the first season of the award-winning HBO series True Detective. (a show inspired by R.W Chambers and Lovecraft’s nihilism & cosmic dread.) This too is a pretty dark and spooky rendition of Charlotte Brontë’s classic.

But no more talking about Gehrman, let’s get back to Maria:

Among the first hunters, all students of Gehrman, was the lady hunter Maria. This was her hunter’s [cap/garb/gloves/trousers], crafted in Cainhurst. Maria is distantly related to the undead queen, but had great admiration for Gehrman, unaware of his curious mania. [Maria’s Hunter Set]

This description tells us a lot of things, but most of them are irrelevant to the subject of this analysis. I could go on for hours pointing out the similarities of her set to the Knight’s and other Cainhurst fashion but let’s not do that. What matters here is that Maria, despite being of noble blood, had no social prejudice towards her mentor (and I would assume, any of her fellow hunters.) and, just like Gwyn’s firstborn, “had respect only for arms and nothing else” :P

I wouldn’t say that the reason why she was heartbroken was the fact that Gehrman never revealed his feelings to her (as mentioned in the ask) but that she idolized him and the cause of the Byrgenwerth Hunters as a whole and couldn’t bear the guilt once the college’s research pushed their actions too far. Like Ludwig who had an unshakable faith in the ways of the Healing Church, Maria had faith in and was possibly in love with Gehrman and couldn’t believe that the man she admired so deeply would blindly obey Byrgenwerth’s orders.

“Go and kill those fishmen who did nothing wrong and aren’t bothering anyone. Oh, and be sure to rip that umbilical cord from the body of thad Great One that washed ashore.”

“Yep.” No question asked.

THAT’s why Maria felt betrayed. It hasn’t anything to do with Gehrman’s “mania”. In my headcanons Gehrman’s total obedience to Willem is motivated but there’s no solid proof in canon so let’s just say that Gehrman was an idiot who never questioned the orders from above :/

And now, let’s get to the final, FUNDAMENTAL point of this analysis: did Maria love Gehrman back?

Yes she did. Why else would anyone want to take a look at any picture one last time before killing themselves? To remember what they lost or could’ve had if things were different.

Why am I 100% sure that Gehrman is in that picture? Because in canon we don’t know the name of any other member of the Old Hunters. It’s just the two of them: Gehrman and Maria, the only ones with faces and backstory in a crowd of faceless, bloodthirsty mannequins.

Here you go, thanks Fextralife.

#anon ask #bloodborne #lore #gehrman the first hunter #lady maria of the astral clocktower #cainhurst castle #hunter's workshop #hunter's dream #plain doll

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