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There it was. A fragment of the Bloodgem, a powerful stone of extraterrestrial origin, capable of empowering whoever infuses themselves with its strange energies. And it was in the hands of this Nosferatu woman.
Your eyes flitted between the stone in her hand and the face of the woman who may or may not be trying to trick, trap or kill you and your whole family. You weren’t too familiar with Nosferatu customs, but this one seemed to be pretty far removed from whatever passed for hideous vampire culture. Her red dress looked to be made of fine materials, and it had been tailored to fit her slight, skinny frame.
Noticing that you were still undecided on the stone, her ruby lips quirked upwards slightly, and you couldn’t help but allow your gaze to travel to the fangs that constantly protruded from her upper lip. A common trait of Nosferatu was their inability to hide their fangs. At the very least, though, Mina made sure that the rest of her teeth were mostly straight and clean.
You stretched your hand out, allowing Mercy's tendrils to experimentally probe the stone before you touched it. And her reaction was immediate.
Mercy hissed and retracted her tendrils, the edges of them visibly smoking from the brief contact.
You cast a suspicious glare at Mina, but the vampire was only frowning in confusion. Part of you was glad that her eyes could glow in the dark. That was the only way you could tell how she was feeling, considering the poor lighting and the web of dark fabric obscuring the upper half of her face.
<span class="mu-r">“A curious reaction. What is the nature of that, er...<span class="mu-i">thing</span> you are wearing?”</span> she asked, looking you up and down with those glowing eyes of hers.
<span class="mu-s">“Nevermind that. Why don’t you start by telling me what that thing is, and how I'm supposed to use it.”</span> you said, rubbing the cloth covering your arm in an attempt to soothe Mercy.
<span class="mu-r">“I was hoping that you would allow the Bloodgem to interface with your body, thus bolstering your physical form, and protecting you from things such as psychic intrusion, possession and vampiric infection.”</span> Mina said, lowering her head to stare curiously at the stone. <span class="mu-r">“But…seeing as how that is no longer possible…”</span>
Mina tightened her hand around the stone, and seemed about to place it in her dress’s pocket.
<span class="mu-s">“And…you were just going to let me have it? Just like that, without any catch?”</span> you asked, making her pause in putting it away.
<span class="mu-r">“That was the idea, yes.”</span> she said, brandishing the Bloodgem once more.
You stared at it, and your pulse quickened. Having that would undoubtedly give you the boost you needed to beat Ward, but Mercy seemed to be having a bad reaction to it. Maybe it had something to do with the gem's effects.
If Mercy was a ghost that'd been conjured up by Khonshu, then maybe you couldn't use the gem, and wear Mercy at the same time. But that didn't mean that you couldn’t hold onto it for later.
(Cont.)
