Summary

Two Lynxes catch up over beers and realize they’ve got way more history than they thought.

Good to See You Again

Patch was still in his flight suit when he hit the bar after that day’s disastrous mission. Well not disastrous for him, he’d gotten out alive, but he didn’t figure his employers were too happy about it. Another Lynx might’ve been worried, but hey he’d survived this long hadn’t he? As he sat down at the counter and asked the bartender for a beer a familiar face sat next to him, the enemy Lynx that had let him go. He took a sip of his drink as he regarded them.

“No hard feelings about today right? It’s just business after all. How about this, if I treat you to a drink will that take the sting off?” Patch grinned.

“I’m not here to pick a fight, but I wouldn’t say no to a drink.” The bartender passed them a beer. “Just wanted to ask you a question is all.”

“Fire away.”

“Why the fuck do you act like that?”

“Don’t catch your meaning, friend.”

“Well for example today, a couple hours we were trying to kill each other and now you’re buying me a drink. You act like you don’t care about or believe in anything or anyone when I know you do.”

“You’re assuming an awful lot from one fight. Don’t tell me you’re one of those idiots that thinks you can learn everything about a man just from fighting him.” The other Lynx looked like they were about to say something, but then decided against it. Patch sighed. “Let me tell you a story.”

“Imagine there’s a man who trains his whole life to serve a god and keep a demon, the father of all demons actually, from breaking free after it was sealed away. Now imagine this man leaves his home on a holy journey to keep this monster sealed, dying and coming back to life over and over for the mission, only for a man he treated like a saint to tell him that the god he served was the father of all demons. What do you think would happen to a man like that?”

“I figure he’d probably kick the saint down a pit and start up a business instead.” The other Lynx took a sip of their own drink. “I’ve got a story for you too.”

“Imagine there’s a knight, fresh out training and sent to a world far beyond their own on pilgrimage. They’ve got no clue what they're doing and they find a place that’s broken beyond repair. Demons are running around, the whole world is unstable, but they manage to find a couple people they care about: a witch, a blacksmith, a blind maiden, a stockpiler, even a bastard of a thief. They get the choice towards the end of their journey whether or not they want to keep an ancient evil sealed or unleash it upon the world in exchange for power. What do you think that knight would do?”

“I figure they might seal the demon away.” Patch answered. “How about this one,”

“A man, the same man tries to go home after the demon is sealed away and ends up somewhere else instead. It’s somewhere similar, but it’s not the place he left behind. Clerics are still hypocrites, gods are still demons, but now he’s also cursed so he can’t die. He keeps going though, getting his teeth kicked in over and over again until he reaches the end of the world, but by then he’s been around so long he can’t even remember who he is.”

“A knight, the same knight, meets a thief, a real bastard of a man, but one who seems oddly familiar. They grow closer throughout the years and over time the knight begins to notice there’s at least one person the thief will risk his neck for, and that humanizes him. The knight manages to also reach the end of the world and finds the thief. He asks that they still remain friends even once he gets his memories back.” Patch twitched.

“A thief survives past the end of the world and finds himself in a new and strange one, in a city where they drink blood as often as water. He becomes a scholar, trying to figure out what’s happening to him and delves too deep. He ends up a monstrous servant to an even more monstrous god.”

“A Hunter still buys his goods, even after he tries to sacrifice them to it.”

“You were real fool for that one, my friend. Here’s another one. That thief, now needlessly learned, gets dropped into yet another world by an outer god. This one is still decaying but the corpse is still fresh. He joins a group of likeminded warriors looking to overthrow the gods.”

“A knight, once again with no renown, kills the thief’s serpent king and delivers a pair of castanets to his beloved. Before ushering in an age of stars.”

“And how’s that been working out for you.”

“Turns out getting rid of tyrannical gods just replaces them with tyrannical mortals.”

“Thought you would’ve figured that out in Yharnam. Then again, you were always the gullible sort.” Patch smiled. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Good to see you too, Patches.”