ghost

The Church used crueler, more wicked means than all to utterly perturb her thought.

Outside the true Laurentina, wraps 'Specter.'

Laurentina... and Specter at the same time. It has taken time endless, but in the end, she chooses to accept it whole.

The fact she no longer tears at her nun's clothing tells it all.

Ah... ah... I've found you...

Good day... Doctor...

Specter... you're back safe.;Specter.;Are you alright?

Heheh. This is my first time talking to you awake...

Yes... awake. I am still awake right now, but I am also... somewhat fatigued.

Relax, Doctor. You are already used to this sort of conversation with me. Now, you may understand me even better.

There's so much I want to ask you.;What are you willing to tell me?

Doctor... you have seen me before as I washed about, spoken with me.

If there were words then that you could not comprehend, do not... do not heed them.

Those madnesses should not be passed on, but it is beyond me to control it. Fortunately, I still have the right to silence.

I'll hear you out, Specter.;You need to say it. You want to speak.;I can take it.

Heheh, Doctor, there are so few who should be willing to try.

My one regret is, in that form, I am unable to sing. And I... the I of now, no longer have the voice for song...

Doctor... I will sing you a song.

Why?;Alright.

I must sing it. And then... you have... some kind of power. I believe, after you hear this, you may be able to understand.

Doctor, I have met my colleagues. My captain... as Abyssal Hunters, we endured selection of the prime, elimination of the unfit, uncountable times.

Gladiia once commanded us to jointly resist that terrifying enemy... the darkness from within the ocean. She remains the same even now.

But I. I am the name 'Shark,' yet have become 'Specter.' Akin with Skadi, we carry the odor of dry land. We carry the scent Rhodes Island carries.

Doctor, in the times I cannot maintain wakefulness, I cannot swim together with my captain... my body has been implanted with makings of dry land, and I am forced only to crawl across this world.

I thirst, thirst to stand upon the battlefield, thirst to enter the sea, thirst to sing.

You are the tactical commander... on the battlefield, you know, the way in which I fight. Do not let me leave the battlefield for too long. That is my... evidence, that I live after others die.

What should I do?

Put even more danger upon my share.

......;No.

Then let me a little closer to the enemy. Do not worry, Doctor, I'll be more obedient on the battlefield than ever before.

Do not fear my strength... simply keep far from me, what you do not want my saw to cut.

Fundamentally, an Abyssal Hunter's battle needs no surplus communication.

Worry not, Doctor. Break us in for a bit longer, and we will only become more familiar with each other, and the bindings of language... will have no meaning at all to fighters like us.

Should I trust you, commander of dry land?

To allow me to fight like an Abyssal Hunter, allow me to fight more and more... so that my faint consciousness returns to these hands of mine, power overflowing, weapon in their grasp?

Specter.;......;Alright.;Trust in me, Specter.

...Heh, heheh, hahahah...

Observe, Doctor, I still have so many 'secrets,' and I will be sure to tell them to you, before you go to that place...

But now, but now, just what ought I do...

Go on and sing, Specter.

Sing... yes, sing.

When she prayed♪

The stars ceased to shimmer♪

Specter seems utterly content with the scene before her. She breaks into a laugh, and serenely laughs away.

Humming those old, mysterious refrains, a body on the waves leaves the Doctor's sight.

And when she wept♪

The night let out a smile♪

This... Specter can sing.

Specter?

And when she wept♪

The night let out a smile♪

Specter... Laurentina, stand still.

A colleague's scent... oh...

Specter, can... you hear me speak? Specter—

Don't touch... me...

You have not... undergone baptism... return your filth to the ocean... the breath of dry land repels you... seduces you...

Hahh... I hear your call... hahh... the edge of the darkness...

The hunter Skadi silently follows behind her, a distance left between them.

Set in her walk forwards, Specter does not heed her again.

In spells, she mutters to herself, then sings out loud, fully complacent reveling in her madness—in the tranquility within.

Skadi thinks, at the very least, she once again knows how to sing.

And as she lamented♪

The anguish sprawled upon her madness♪

And as she lamented♪

The anguish sprawled upon her madness♪