In the Jade Palace Throne Room, five of the seven Song sisters gathered.
Eubin, the one known as Beastmaster, was the one who called the meeting. Greatly disturbed by her recent encounter with the man called Gehrman, she decided to ask her sisters for counsel.
Seishan was, of course, present as well. She had read over the document describing Gehrman's past. The unique world with the city called "Yharnam" and the eldritch abominations named "Great Ones" were described in great detail. On top of this, his own personal history as two different Hunters was described. As the expert on this topic as well as the one who knew Gehrman the best, it was natural that she lead the meeting.
Revel, also known as the Lightslayer, rarely left the Jade Palace. Though she was considered terrifying and mysterious by even other Saints of Song, the sisters knew who for who she really was: a reclusive shut-in. Her Flaw made it impossible to venture out into the light of day. And although she could wield True Darkness to offset this Flaw, she had developed a bad habit of never leaving the palace unless specifically ordered too. Since she had nothing better to do, she joined them.
Hel, also known as Death Singer, was the seer of Clan Song. Her abilities relied on sacrificing animals to read the future. She was perhaps the most impressive in the world when it came to knowledge of the future. Unfortunately, her visions (along with her natural personality) made her a bit paranoid and frantic. Though she felt safe and comforted around her sisters, she was still quite jittery.
Lonesome Howl was the figure who (in Seishan's opinion) was most similar to Gehrman. In fact, her initial favoring of the young man came due to nostalgia about this particular sister. She was a proud hunter with terrifying power. Very few could stand up to her, and she was one of the strongest Saints in the world. Though Beastmaster and Revel might be able to defeat more powerful Nightmare Creatures, they were limited by their unique aspects. Lonesome Howl, therefore, was the most reliable powerhouse in Clan Song, only equaled by her absent sister Silent Stalker.
Both she and Moonveil were out on missions at the moment, but it was still quite remarkable for this many sisters to come together.
Naturally, all of this was overseen by their mother. Since she was in thousands of different places at once, it would have been odd for one of her avatars to not sit in on this meeting.
"It's…even more absurd than I imagined," Seishan lamented.
She had just given the short version of Gehrman's history. Like all others who heard it, they felt that it couldn't possibly be true. At the very least, they thought at least some of it was lies or exaggerations.
"It's impossible, but part of the reason I wanted to talk is because he is an impossible existence," Eubin said with a grave tone. "Even most Saints wouldn't be able to shrug off my passive ability so easily. And the way he did it…it made my skin crawl."
Lonesome Howl raised an eyebrow.
"He must have quite a potent Memory that offers Mental Attack resistance then. It's noteworthy, but I don't think it's that big of a deal."
"There were no Memories, he was only wearing mundane clothes and there were no Charms that I could sense. He actively did something to block out the hypnosis. He released some kind of passive effect of his own. An aura of immense pain. Just feeling it made me feel as if I was being cut by a dull blade. He undoubtedly felt the same, and yet he showed no hesitation in activating it. No one his age should be able to have that kind of will or mental fortitude."
Lonesome Howl's face took on a look of disbelief.
"Are you implying you believe his story? That he is actually a hundred year old schizophrenic alien?"
"He isn't a child, that much I am certain of," Eubin responded coolly. She then turned to Hel, the seer of the group. "Have you looked into him like I asked? What did you see, Hel?"
Throughout the meeting Hel had met all words with complete indifference. But when she was put on the spot, her eyes focused sharply and she spoke with a panicked voice.
"He is a prisoner! A chained beast constantly writhing and screaming. Pulling at his restraints with such force that he makes himself bleed. But the blood makes his restraints looser. He mutilates himself to tear free, only for the chains to come once again! He is trapped in a cycle of pain and misery. One that he, by himself, will never escape!"
Even Revel, who was truly dispassionate about this whole topic grew alarmed with the rest of them by this vision.
Usually Hel was much more vague, offering strange symbolism that took a lot of effort to decode. But this detailed and clear metaphor was highly unusual.
After giving out the gruesome prophecy, Hel returned to a bored look and spoke with a lazy voice.
"Basically, he's crazy."
Each of the sisters had a deadpan look and thought similar things.
You're one to talk.
A bit hypocritical of you to say that.
After a decent amount of time, Seishan broke the silence.
"I think the most important detail is that last sentence. He can't break out on his own, but that implies he can rid himself of his suffering with help. I think that is even more reason to do everything we can to get him on our side."
"...I am a bit concerned, Seishan," Eubin said. "I have never seen your composure break in my entire life. But in the past two days you repeatedly falter and seem unconfident in yourself. This kind of behavior isn't like you. If bringing him into our fold means your performance as a leader suffers, then I don't see the benefit. No matter how strong he is, it isn't worth it if he brings discord to our family."
Surprisingly, their sister did not snap at Beastmaster for the comment. Instead, her demeanor became one of reflection.
"...Your worry is valid. I do find myself acting oddly when he is concerned," Seishan admitted. But then, her gaze hardened and she spoke with determination. "But this is something that can be remedied. Losing him will be a mistake that will be an unrecoverable blow." She paused for a moment. "At his current level, he may be able to fight a Saint to a standstill. If Gehrman were to become Transcendent before the war…it may very well turn the tides in our favor."
Each of the sisters fell silent.
"He can form seven Soul Cores, and he currently has six. So even as an Ascended he could grow even stronger," Revel mused. "A Divine Aspect…is even more terrifying than I imagined."
It was at that moment that a voice that had not spoken cut through the room.
"You are overlooking something. A uniqueness that is even more important than a Divine Aspect," Ki Song said. The corpse she spoke through was that of a child this time. One who died due to an unforeseen illness. It was odd for a woman of notable age to be speaking through one so young. But for some reason it only gave her words more gravity.
Ki Song's eyes glided to Seishan's. "In that report, he mentioned briefly how he traveled to our world. He described a Void," the child's voice then became gravely serious. "He does not elaborate much, but this is something of great significance. The Void is very real, and it is a complete unknown. It is a sort of 'unreality' that even the gods treated with reverence and caution. It was the origin of all things, including the gods themselves. It wasn't until they expanded their Divine Domains and created the laws of the world like 'death' that they were able to keep the Void and its creatures in check. But out there, there is no such thing as space, time, or any sort of physics. No one except a very select few should be aware of the Void. And it is likely that you would all perish if you even laid eyes on it. I myself might only be able to glance at it for a short while before being completely destroyed."
All of the Song Sisters then realized that what their mother was talking about was not simply important, but a secret of reality and the cosmos itself. Such knowledge was so restricted that they were only learning about it now.
Indeed apart from Ki Song, only three others were aware of it. The two who stood as her equals, and a lost Prince whose nature was similar to that region. And the Prince only knew about it because one of Ki Song's equals had educated him.
So for Gehrman to be aware of its existence meant that he was either telling the truth, or he had connections to one of the other secret masters of the world.
But since his behavior was so neutral and no party appeared to be offering him aid, it was practically a certainty that he was telling the truth.
There was no way Anvil of Valor would let such a force do his own thing. He would undoubtedly have the boy under constant surveillance and have him be a close confidant.
The Dreamspawn was trapped, and had been for quite some time. There was no way for him to have taught Gehrman as he did the Prince.
In other words…
"He is telling the truth. Though I can't speak for the place called Yharnam, at the very least he is not of this world. And that means that we must have him on our side. Even if we have to suffer chaos in our ranks."
The sisters were all shocked by this turn of events.
Never before had their mother given such a direct command. Of course, she had given them plenty of orders and missions before, but it had never been one that ignored the concerns of her daughters so completely.
And yet, none of them resented her for it. They simply quietly accepted that this was a far more important matter than they had ever considered.
"I propose we negotiate with him," Seishan said, her voice firm. "Gehrman values personal freedom and agency more than anything. If we try to give him a rigid position then he will undoubtedly run the other direction. Not to mention that most things that we can offer are not appealing to him. Soul Shads are useless, Memories and Echoes won't work either, as his uniqueness prevents him from accepting them."
Seishan made sure to include these details in her explanation, as her forgetting his inability to accept Memories was something she had not forgiven herself for. In truth, it played in her mind frequently as of late, bringing her much shame and discomfort.
Eubin, who was rather opposed to him, now actively contributed to this line of thought.
"He grows stronger from the flesh and blood of Nightmare Creatures, right? Then we give him the corpses of Great Nightmare Creatures and nurture his power. If he values agency, we could also facilitate 'hunts' for him. Since Mother's domain stretches around Ravenheart, he would never be in any real danger."
"And he desired land," Seishan added. "This would be a rather easy accommodation. We were planning to conquer that Citadel in the marsh lands anyway. We could offer him that territory."
The sisters who had not met Gehrman felt uneasy about the idea of giving so much away for a single Ascended, but with everything they learned and the addition of their mother's words, it felt like a natural turn of events.
"Such an interesting fellow, this Gehrman," Lonesome Howl said with a laid back smile. "I would like to meet him."
Revel did not agree with her verbally, but she gave a tacit agreement with her own proposal. "We should have the negotiations here, it would be good to demonstrate the power of the Song Clan."
It was extraordinarily rare for visitors to be allowed in the Jade Palace, in fact, it had never been done before.
But each of them quietly agreed that this was a fair exception.
"I will draw up a contract then," Seishan said. "And when it's done, I'll reach out to him."