Mother Leanne smirked at the sight of the speechless Hunter. However, for once she managed to show a moment of patience, as she waited for the dazed-looking man to come back to his senses. Tobias's gaze fixated on the glittering midnight potion Mother Leanne casually displayed. An almost violent compulsion overtook him for a moment, as he felt an itch in his fingers. Greed, in all its dirty glory, formed in his heart at the sight before him. With his body trembling, he felt a power begin to build within his core. A snake-like voice slithered into his brain and attempted to wrestle control, roaring, "Take it!! With just one drink, we could finally have the power we need! The power to take that man down! I'll kill that banished maiden! Releasssse me and your dream is just one step away!" With a grimace marring his features, Tobias mentally slammed his mind closed. His eyes, that were at that moment, twisting into a deep yellow and slitted, returned to normal but appeared dazed. As if he had just woken up, with a shake Tobias found everything returning to sharp focus. Tobias broke his violent stare at the bottle and looked down at the unconscious Loch instead. Who was even now beginning to leak blood from his mouth again.
The sight of the boy and the memories of the boy's previous brave but stupid actions earlier in the night made him almost become nauseous at his previous thoughts. A sense of utter revulsion overtook him. 'Has the boy not done enough for you already? Were they right? Are you just like that, man?' A series of thoughts swam through Tobias's head that made him grit his teeth and clench his fist. The sound of metal on metal made him look down and, to his rising horror, he saw his hands had unconsciously morphed, now resembling scaled claws.
After several long seconds of staring at his hands, Tobias finally snapped out of his dazed state and looked up to see Mother Leanne's smirking face. With haste, he retracted his claws, turning his hands back to normal. With one smooth motion, he lifted his hand and gave his own face a vigorous smack. That even led to a trickle of blood to run down his lip. The action seemed to even catch Mother Leanne by surprise, as her smirk was gone and she stood before him with a quizzical look. After seeing the man's now placid and composed gaze stare back at her. Mother Leanne nodded and said, "I guess the rumors are true. I'll admit I was waiting for that side of your father to come to bare at the sight of this potion. He was never one to care for the consequences in his pursuits for power."
"I am nothing like that man and will never be. Kindly don't compare us," Tobias said, his face a mask of calm. Mother Leanne didn't respond to his statement and just gave him a raised eyebrow before pointing at the boy on the desk. "Are you going to help me then or not?" Tobias walked over to the desk and used one hand to prop Loch's head up and the other to open his mouth. His hands were steady, but he couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure this is the right thing for the boy? I know the only thing that will help him now is a Hunter's Nightmare potion or an Awakening stone, but without the mental training and a very strong willpower, that Fiend-Level potion of yours would not only be a waste but also could very well kill the boy. I'm more than happy to retrieve a Demon Level Hunter's Nightmare for him. Just give me thirty minutes to cash in some contribution points at The Cabin and I'll get him one. I owe him at least that much for what he had done for me tonight."
"Once again, I don't need you telling me what the boy needs, even more than that, I don't need you telling me what he is capable of." Mother Leanne snapped back at the Hunter, but continued nonetheless, "Considering your worry is coming from a sincere place, regardless of the debt you owe the boy. I can tell you that this potion is, in fact, not mine to waste. It is and always has been, Loch's. Even though it's earlier than we planned and under very different circumstances, but this boy's life had always been filled with bumps, so it didn't actually come as much of a surprise. This is just another one. Fate determined it is now and now it will be. So, less talk from you and hold his head steady."
The more the woman spoke, the more confused Tobias seemed to be, especially making him wonder how a poor orphan boy could be in possession of a Fiend-Level Hunter's Nightmare. It's worth in gold would be enough to buy half of the Shambles. Seeing the woman about to pour the midnight black potion into the boy's mouth, Tobias refocused and held Loch's head steady. The dark liquid, with its trapped starlight and texture like goo, ran down Loch's throat. The unconscious boy coughed a little, but Mother Leanne kept pouring until the vial was empty. She then nodded to Tobias, who gently placed Loch's head back down.
Jack looked between the two and was flapping his wings back and forth, causing Mother Leanne to look over to him, after which he began to caw several times. "It's what's needed. Unless you want us to wait for the damn storm inside him to grow in strength and explode. Is that what you want, you darn bird?" Mother Leanne said as she waved her finger at the bird again, who in return was cawing sharply in reply while swinging one of his wings left and right. A low but long groan from Loch interrupted the bird and the woman's odd little bickering.
The veins travelling down Loch's throat took on the color of ink and began to enlarge, jutting out of his pale skin, while the liquid began rocketing throughout his body. The veins all over his body looked similar to the veins in his left arm when he had a flare up. Within minutes the ink had travelled throughout Loch's body, leading to a vast and messy looking network of black lines crisscrossing everywhere. All leading to his navel in a large visible ink swirl through his paper-thin skin.
Noticing Loch's condition, Jack ceased his squawking, gently touched the boy's cheek with his wing, and then flew to the bookcase to keep watch. Mother Leanne watched the raven's action for a moment before turning back to Tobias, saying, "The nightmare has begun. It's up to the boy now. Come, I still need an explanation from you. I especially want to know why Loch's core had partially awakened, when he hadn't even trained in Aether control."
Tobias nodded and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk, as did Mother Leanne. "Honestly Maiden. I wanted to ask you that myself. The reason the boy came to my rescue tonight was partly my fault. I don't deny this, but it was also partly his. Somehow, he had tapped into my Aura call." Tobias said, as he matched his stares with Mother Leanne, trying to catch any expressions from the stiff-faced woman.
"Odd indeed, but I can say it's not terribly surprising, either. The boy is special, and that's all I'll say about that. Now, back to why one of my charges has returned all bloodied and battered, with a Deathstalker looking equally as battered. I would know if a Fiend has entered the Shambles and it is not time for a demon tide. According to my reports, the first one of the season is more than a week away. And I'm sure I would notice a horde of Demons entering my area. So, speak, what made one of the oh so dangerous Deathstalkers in such dire straits that he would need an eleven-year-old boy to come to the rescue?" Mother Leanne asked.
Tobias couldn't help flush at the woman's scathing words, feeling as if he was ten years old again, being scolded by his own mother, with a couple of fake coughs to regather his composure. Tobias explained the events of the night from his point of view, starting from his mission to investigate Mr. Kapers the butcher and his subsequent ambush. Once he got to explaining about the Twisted form of the Butcher, Mother Leanne interrupted him with a hand raised, "Even though it sounds like one of Vlad's abominations, was there any evidence to confirm that? It could have also just been a rogue twisted Hunter who failed one of his advancements or one of the Nomads from outside who had fallen to the Tainted Aether."
"Well, if we don't consider the fact that one of Vlad's minions was following us tonight as direct evidence. Then I can only say it is a gut feeling. I've also seen some of his disposable minions before. It was during the last time he personally led one of his scourges down the mountains against Rubicon. They always came in many shapes and sizes, but all of Vlad's twisted creations have that sign of being in a constant state of ravenous hunger. Gluttons incarnate." Tobias thought over the night and replied.
Mother Leanne nodded in thought for several seconds and said, "In regards to that little vamp from earlier, I've seen him roam about the Shambles many a time over the last year but never felt it was worth it to purify him, as he avoided my street, like a good little bloodsucker." Pausing, Mother Leanne tapped her finger on her chin several times before continuing, "I'm sure The Cabin will be able to have a more in-depth look at the Butcher's corpse. Those morbid twits love roving around in corpses and harvesting all the juicy bits. Now, continue your story."
Tobias didn't continue the topic about the origins of the Twisted, as he also thought the people back at the Cabin would be able to figure it out when he returned with the corpse later. He then continued his retelling to Mother Leanne. When he got to the part where he felt as if his converted Aether was forcefully absorbed by Loch, he finally saw a truly shocked expression pass over the iron lady before him. He smirked, briefly enjoying a small victory over the woman, but his face quickly returned to its usual calm indifference when he saw Mother Leanne's eyes narrow menacingly.
Once Tobias arrived at their current time in his story, he left Mother Leanne to ponder in silence, while he took the chance to lean back in his chair and relax for a moment. He was overcome by exhaustion, he didn't mention it as part of his story. But he had been hunting the Twisted Butcher for three solid days now, with no rest in between. Besides some people reporting missing loved ones inside the Shambles, there were also traces of someone climbing the walls several times, found by an outside patrol, making The Cabin issue the task as an emergency mission to the Deathstalker branch and ultimately Tobias. "Now that is a story." Mother Leanne said after several minutes of silent contemplation. When her gaze landed on the fatigued Tobias slouching in his chair, she said, "I would tell you to return now that your task is complete. But I'm guessing you would like to see the outcome of the boy's nightmare trial."
Tobias straightened up and said, "Correct. I owe this boy my literal life. Considering the time of arrival of those tin can Sentinels after the battle, no one but this young lad was answering my call tonight and I would have most likely ended inside that thing's stomach." When he finished, he looked over to the boy with gentle eyes and a fondness he hadn't felt for anyone since he started his Hunter's journey.
Mother Leanne also noticed the way Tobias looked over the boy and a calculating gleam crossed her eyes while she said, "I won't force you to leave, then. I'll go arrange some food and drink. The boy will need it once he wakes and you clearly need some now. Plus, I think I know of a way you could repay the boy, if you truly want to, that is." Tobias looked over to the woman and replied with a furrowed brow, "Of course I'm serious. What do you have in mind?" Mother Leanne didn't reply and instead just smiled at Tobias, which would have made it the first time that night. To Tobias, the smile looked particularly ghastly in what he now thought was a dimly lit room.
She stood up and began to make her way past Tobias and towards the door. With the same full teeth smile, she patted the middle-aged man on the shoulder and said, "Good." Before heading out of the room. Leaving Tobias staring at her back with a worried look on his face. Even Jack on his perch was looking at the befuddled Tobias with a shake of his beak, while covering its beady eyes with one wing.