In the sea of quanta the unnamed hunter could be seen wandering aimlessly, slaying any beast that got in his way and scaring weaker beasts until they passed out. The hunter who was looking for someone was starting to feel annoyed as the place was too big for one person to search alone.
"How far do I have to travel," The unnamed hunter grumbled as he sliced a tree. He had been cutting a straight path for a while, but with no results.
No signs of intelligent life.
"Should I try raining destruction upon this pitiful realm?" He considered wreaking havoc until she appears, but it was unlikely as whenever he tried to cut open the space to summon his armies they could never pass through in one piece.
Trying something he had tried in the sea of quanta a dark red portal opened, a hand appeared trying to claw its way out, but the more it struggled the more it was evident that it had no chance of getting through, soon blood was starting to gush out from it's veins and next the hand was the only thing that went through.
But that didn't stop him from trying to summon something stronger.
Nightmare Realm. It was a realm purely made out of people's fears. Monstrosities were born and morphed in that realm and the unnamed hunter was the only one who could access the realm and bring out those nightmare creatures into the real world.
The Gatekeeper of The Nightmare Realm. A title that was held by one man for a very long time. The mental capacity one must have to bear the weight of that responsibility and power is unfathomable. Even his name was eventually lost. Forgotten. He had been a gatekeeper before he became a hunter, but when he was recruited he felt as if he belonged there. The hunters were no different from him, they were all people that played on the lines that separates insanity and rationality, waiting for a strong wind to push them to one side.
The day he became a hunter was the worst and best day he ever felt. Why he became one was because he had a sense of familiarity to the hunters. It was then he remembered that his companion was a hunter as well.
The never ending ravings of tormenting others with nightmares escalated, yet he finally found a place he could call home once in a while.
He was called The Saint of Nightmares. The creatures he unleashed upon the Honkai was a spectacle to watch and the hunters grew interested in the creature to the point where he had to summon creatures just for the hunters to fight.
But alas happy things never stayed the same. The cravings finally caught up to him and his seven personalities that each represents one of the seven deadly sins all broke at the same time and in the end consumed by his own madness he killed everyone he was close with, but the duty of a hunter is eternal. In the end he completed the mission by sacrificing one hundred thirty seven all for one Herrscher Core.
A giant hand clawed the soil in the sea of quanta as a gorilla-like creature with eyes like a spider and a scorpion tail successfully came out of the portal. Its six red eyes looked around the forest before turning to the unnamed hunter and knelt in front of him.
"So at least a nightmare of your power," The hunter muttered as a few more portals opened up and soon creatures of many kinds crawled out of the portals.
Gigantic snakes with scorpion stingers, bats with three heads, tigers with a snake as its tail and a horn on its forehead, an eagle with six wings and claws made out of obsidian, and many more creatures that looked like they came straight out from a nightmare.
"Your job is to find a girl," The unnamed hunter looked around the dozen or so creatures he managed to summon and soon they all spread around the area and the unnamed hunter walked through a path that none of the creatures ventured.
This was a path he never wanted. A role he never needed . An ability he never wished for. A life he never imagined. The Nightmare path is all he knows and it will probably be the only thing he'll remember in the end.
Seven personalities each represent one of the seven deadly sins and then another seven that represents the seven heavenly virtues. But not even one of those personalities ever experiences rationality. In the end madness could corrupt anything and everything.
As time passed he started to forget, Who was he? Why does he have this power? But there is one thing that he'd remember until the end of all time. He was the companion of Gehrman the Blasphemer. He was the one who held against multiple high existences so that Gehrman could do what they set out to do. As for why, he doesn't remember.
Walking along the forest with his scythe on hand he hadn't thought about how long he had walked, how many days it had been, and how many creatures he'd killed. Right now his sole purpose was to only find what he was ordered to find.
Meanwhile a few miles away a girl could be seen walking around the forest collecting edible fruits.
A voice rang in her head telling her to hide and soon enough creatures she had never seen before passed by them, they stayed for a while looking around before walking past the girl.
"What was that?" The little girl muttered as she got down from a tree and made sure the coast was clear.
But before she could think of anything she heard the stomping of boots and before she could hide again a man was behind her, his blood red eyes gazed upon her indigo orbs.
Kneeling down the man asked.
"Are you Seele?" The mysterious man asked in a gruff and annoyed tone.
"Yes, and you are?"
"I can't remember my name, but you can call me hunter for now," He answered as he stood back up and squinted his eyes as if trying to find anything unusual from the girl.
"A stigmata," He muttered as he pointed at Seele's chest.
"The 6th's stigmata nonetheless," He added as he turned around to slash a beast's head that sneaked towards them.
"Do you have a place to talk? I don't think this is a good place to have a chat," The man asked as he flicked his scythe close.
"I.. I do," Seele nervously answered, the voice inside her also couldn't see any possible way for them to run nor hide. The aura of doom and death the man was radiating was unlike she'd ever seen in the past.
Seele led the man into her tree house and inside the man looked around the simple interior of the house, a bed, a couch, a chair, a table, and other daily necessities for a house.
"Do you ever get bored staying here?" He asked as he finished inspecting the place.
"I.. I do, but it's still bearable," She answered as she went to what seemed like a small kitchen and took out a wooden cup and poured something into the cup.
"I.. It's tea I found in the sea of Quanta. I kind of like the taste myself," She stumbled between words as it has been a long time since she talked to anyone other than her other self.
"I appreciate the gesture, as for why I'm here shall we perhaps take a seat," The hunter took the wooden cup and walked towards a table that weirdly enough had two chairs.
"Do you live alone?" The hunter inquired as he checked the area again.
"Yes, I live alone," Seele answered as she took a seat and the hunter sat down across from her.
"The reason why I'm here is because I owe someone a favor and he used that favor to find you, although he hadn't given me any further instructions he was quite adamant that I familiarize myself with you," The hunter calmly explained as he took a sip of his drink between his words and observed the girl's reaction.
"May I ask who this person is?" Seele asked and the hunter nodded.
"You might not know him at all, but I must explain that I am from an organization called hunters, Emendiel is the one who ordered me to find you, as of why… even I'm still kept in the dark," The hunter made sure to explain further to avoid misunderstandings and worst case her running away from him and making him have to hunter her down again.
But soon her eyes shifted in color which made the hunter raise an eyebrow, but nevertheless still alert of what might happen.
"I am not Seele, you can call me Veliona, I am a personality that was born from Seele's helplessness to fend for herself and as a result I'm the personality that is in charge of taking drastic measures if that is ever needed," Although she sounded calm, the threat she added in the end was not unnoticed by the hunter which smiled in return. Now he understood what Emendiel meant.
"Can she still hear our conversation when you guys swap places?" The hunter inquired with curiosity as he took one last sip of his drink.
"Yes she can," Veliona answered truthfully and the hunter nodded.
"Well while we get ourselves acquainted you can ask me questions, but I do not promise I can answer them all. Like I said, my memories are a bit cloudy," The hunter rested his back on the chair as he waited for the questions the two girls had for him.
"You call yourself a hunter, what is a hunter exactly in this organization of yours," Velonia asked.
"Hunters are people who have Honkai blood in them, they are to protect humanity," The unnamed hunter answered shortly.
"Isn't it dangerous to mix human blood with Honkai blood?" Velonia inquired as she remembered the experiments she saw through Seele's eyes.
"Yes, that is why only hunters have the ability to mix their blood with Honkai blood," The unnamed hunter answered.
"Today I saw a beast I never saw in the sea of quanta and it felt awfully coincidental for you to find me just after the beast walked past me," Velonia asked, suspicion leaking through her tone as she eyed him with doubt.
"Those are my summoned creatures," The unnamed hunter answered shortly, not wanting to disclose too much. He has yet to find out why Emendiel wanted him to escort her, was she a potential hunter? Or was she a potential threat?
After a few hours of asking and answering Velonia was half satisfied with the results, She could feel that the hunter had answered her questions, but never went into depth as if just merely answering without explaining which made gathering information of his capabilities hard.
Velonia soon swapped back to Seele and the little shy girl asked.
"Can you tell me what I missed? I was gone for a few years and I don't mind you telling some stuff from your own experience…" Noticing her mistake she quickly corrected it. "Of course of events you can clearly remember and not sensitive," She hastily added to avoid offending the man in front of her.
"Recently the third eruption happened in Nagazora. From what I've heard it was caused by an Anti Entropy enforcer…" Closing his eyes the unnamed hunter tried to remember some information. "If I'm not wrong her name was Cocolia," He spoke with uncertainty as he was not part of that big hunt.
"Matushka?" Seele muttered in a low tone, but because of his sensitive ears he could roughly hear her.
"Is she perhaps your mother?" The unnamed hunter asked carefully. Although currently his temperance personality was actively interacting with the girl the counter part was roaring. Gluttony was actively having the desire to fight something. That uncontrolled desire that could hurt or even kill the innocent girl in front of him.