The Hunter

Gloria's First Hunt

The doors were opened by a very confused priest.

"Ah, Ms. Gloria as I recall. Was there a reason you felt you had to request entrance to the Church?" Father David asked curiously as he opened the door wider for Gloria to come in.

GLoria blushed. "I don't know, I was in a hurry and forgot I could just walk in?" She smiled apologetically at the elder priest. "I'm so sorry. I lost track of time at the market, but I brought you some fruit! It was going to go with our tea, but now I suppose they are an apology." Gloria pulled the apples and small boxes of berries from the larger bag and set them on the table.

"Ah! A feast!" The elder priest exclaimed. "We shall share this bounty with our flock of course." He patted Gloria's shoulder gently and smiled his thanks. "For now though, I believe you were wanting to speak with David."

"If you have time." Gloria directed the comment to David who was smiling indulgently at the elder priest.

"Now is as good a time as any." He said and led the way into the nave. "I thought if we talked about this in here it would help to set your mind at ease. More than in Finn's kitchen at any rate." From inside the sunshine through the windows went directly up the aisles from the alter and out to the entrance area. Gloria admired the lighting as she sat down, wondering how such a simple building could house such an amazing show of Heavenly Glory.

"I signed a Contract." Gloria said, dropping her eyes to the floor between her feet.

"The Chronicler Contract?" David asked as though he was just making conversation.

"Yes."

"That will ease a lot of worry from a lot of shoulders. More than you know at the moment I would imagine." David looked at her, his shadow head tilting on the back of the pew. "But you think this makes you even more Hell bound I suppose?"

Gloria nodded her head again and they fell into a silence broken suddenly and unabashedly by Finn walking into the nave.

"Gloria, I have to go on a hunt. Generally speaking part of your job is to come and record the hunt, make sure it's a clean one and all that, so I'm here to ask if you're coming or not." Finn said, hands on hips at the front of the pews. As an afterthought she waved at David. "You can come too if you want David."

"What are you after today?" David asked calmly and Gloria blinked at him.

"Crimson called. She lost control of an Incubus."

"Oh, no thank you." David said with a chuckle and touched Gloria on the shoulder. "You should go. We can talk more after, I'll try and actually have something more profound to say than 'I see' or to nod sagely. Make Finn take you to a show when you're done the hunt!"

Gloria stuttered and stood, moving out of David's way as he left the pew, and then following in Finn's wake through the confessional door where the house had connected to the church. They walked directly into a room Gloria hadn't seen yet and she made a mental note to train tomorrow by finding and reading the manual for the house. She also decided this room was the armoury. It had weapons and armour that ranged in sophistication from a baseball bat and heavy felt arm guards right up to a display case with different rifles and a body armour suit that wouldn't be out of place in a science fiction movie.

Finn had dragged a few pieces of cloth and leather out of a chest on one side of the room and tossed them onto a table. She pulled the last item out - the box that Michael had brought her a few days ago - and pulled the lid off that as well.

"Whether you come or not I'll need help getting my gear on. I can walk you through helping me and through putting yours on. If you do decide to come you'll wear one of those gems in the drawer over there. They break easily and they are enchanted so if you break them you end up back in this room." She dragged out a corset from the box and beckoned Gloria to come closer to her.

Finn proceeded to tell Gloria exactly what pieces went where. Touching the piece and explaining the how before she let Gloria attach it to her. Most of the armour was over Finn's ribs, no surprise there, but there was also a headpiece, a mask, and leather pants with protective symbols etched and painted onto them. For Gloria there was the necklace, the pants, and the order to under no circumstances speak to anyone, including Finn, while the hunt was on. 

Finn tucked a dagger into the knife sheath built into the pants and grabbed a black bag. She glanced at Gloria, held up her hand in a shushing way, and then opened the door. Which of course no longer opened to the house Gloria was expecting. 

The room they stepped into was lavish and dark, with couches in a deep brown leather draped with blankets of dark blues and greens. The floor looked like a dark slate that had been cut to fit, but not smoothed to a polish, rugs made paths from the doors to the seating area. Lounging on one of the couches were two women conversing quietly. When Finn entered the room they both stood up and the one wearing a deep blue wrap dress stepped forward with a warm smile on her face.

"Finn, it's so good to see you again." She offered Finn a peck on her cheek and Gloria was surprised when Finn not only allowed it but returned the greeting. The woman in blue turned an intelligent gaze towards Gloria. "And who is this?"

"The Chronicler." Finn answered simply and both women gasped in delight. "It's her first hunt, go easy on her. Who am I hunting Crimson?"

The woman in blue frowned in disgust and looked back at Finn. "She hadn't picked a name yet." Crimson pulled a small remote out of the folds of her dress and directed it to a wall. A screen lit up with a woman's image on it. She looked disheveled and dirty as though she had been picked up out of a gutter somewhere and stood in front of a bright light. The image flashed to a different woman, this one statuesque with hair that cascaded down her back and skin that was nearly transluscent.

"Well hell, she's gonna have a few guards isn't she?" Finn muttered.