"If I'm being honest with you, I have no idea." It was a simple truth. I didn't truly have any plans with the dead Runebear. The only reason I had fought it in the first place, was due to not having any other choice.
"Why, do you want it?" I asked, raising a crimson brow.
Luciana inspected the great beast, leaning over it and pressing a finger to its head. When she pulled it back, it was slick with blood.
"You did a number on it with that hammer of yours." She said, wiping the blood off on her black jeans.
"You saw that?"
"I saw all of it." Luciana gave me a grin, even as I stayed quiet. "You're a Risen, aren't you?"
I blinked, confused by the term. "Mind explaining that to me?"
"Oh, right, amnesiac." I rolled my eyes at her, even as her grin turned sheepish. "It's the common term we use for those who go through the Ascension process. Mercury's have to go through the Purging Ceremony to become one, whilst you, high born lot are usually born naturally with Sacral Essence."
There it was again, that term, Sacral Essence. My Title, [The Honoured One] mentioned it as something mortals possess, different but alike to the mana the Gods and I wielded.
'What a strange thought. Comparing myself to a divine being, as if I even came close.' I nearly snorted aloud.
"What's the Purging Ceremony?" I instead asked, neither confirming nor denying if I was a Risen. Best to try and avoid the question for as long as I can. I had a feeling the System was vastly different to whatever the Ascension process was.
I wasn't subtle about it, if the way Luciana's lips twitched up was anything to go by, but luckily, she didn't call me out on it.
"It's a yearly little thing of ours. The Archon come down from their lofty palaces, and see which Mercury's brought the least back from the forest. Those unlucky fools then go through the Ceremony."
"There's a correlation between the Purging Ceremony and the Risen being called such, isn't there?" I had a bad feeling about this. A feeling that grew when Luciana gave me a grim nod.
"Look at you using big words." She grinned weakly. "But yeah, there is. A Mercury's heart is stabbed with a ceremonial dagger, and they get injected with foreign Sacral Essence. Once it happens, they only have a minute at most to connect that Sacral Essence to their Axion Core. If they don't, they die. If they do, well, they come back to life all the stronger for it."
'How…barbaric.' An ugly feeling pervaded through my chest, it felt very close to disgust.
"An apt name then, calling them Risen." I muttered, feeling a small scowl form on my face. "Is there no other way?"
Luciana shrugged her shoulders again. "Being born lucky is usually your best chance."
"Of course it is…" I sighed, before a sudden realisation dawned on me. "Wait, you said you were here to hunt the Runebear?"
"Yeah…?" She seemed confused by my question.
"Are you going to be one of those unlucky fools going through the Ceremony?"
She looked at me for a moment, before a scowl suddenly built on her lips. "Who are you calling a fool, you fool!?"
"Wha-That's what you called them! I'm just following your example." I defended, taking a quick step away from her. She huffed at me, her eyes set at a glare, before she answered.
"That's what I thought." She raised her chin then. "Yes, I am. That's why I wanted to know if you had any plans with it. I was going to propose a trade."
"Alright? What was it going to be?" I asked, still reeling from the heat of her earlier words. Honestly, where had it all come from, she had been so casual this entire time.
"Its simple enough. I bring you back to my Clan, and you allow me to keep the bear." She met my eyes, and raised a thin silver brow, as if daring me to say no.
Was it wrong that I found her amusing? She only reached to my chin in height, yet she had enough spirit and backbone to fit someone far larger.
I found myself respecting her a little.
"That's acceptable, but I want a share of the bears meat." I told her, watching as both of her brows slowly rose higher.
My own rose with hers not a second later.
"Wait-"
I realised how my words could be misinterpreted a moment too late. Luciana didn't hesitate to pounce on the chance, sounding far too amused when she spoke.
"I didn't think you swung that way, Artorias. Here I was thinking I got a good catch." A cheshire grin traced her lips as my cheeks bloomed with warmth. "A bear too-"
Faster than she could react, I surged forward and covered her mouth with my hand. My face burned with heat I blushed that hard.
"Please, shut up and accept the trade." I kept my eyes away from her in embarrassment, but I could feel the smirk playing on her lips against my palm. The glee in her eyes almost felt like a physical force. "Do we have a deal?"
I felt something wet lick the palm of my hand, and quickly pulled it away with a yelp, wiping it desperately on my cloak.
"That's disgusting." I told her, only for Luciana to laugh at me.
"That's what you get for covering my mouth." She told me with a grin. "But as to the deal, yeah, I accept. You did kill the Forest King, your justified to its meat." Luciana didn't even bother trying to hide her laugh, all but cackling as soon as she finished.
'Alright then, two can play this game.'
"You're giggling a whole lot for someone who just admitted to finding me a good catch." I said, crossing my arms and raising a brow at her, a small grin of my own worming across my face, as her laughter suddenly stopped.
She stood frozen for a moment, her entire face slowly beginning to glow a brighter and brighter red, before she swiftly spun away from me, leaving me to face her back. Her voice was hurried when she spoke.
"We should leave now!"
"You're forgetting the bear."
"Damn it all!"