(POV: 3RD PERSON)

Dewsbury, often called the Village of Burials due to it being the #1 burial site of past Heroes and Great Magic Users. For the longest time, its been free of strive because of the massive amount of respect the village holds.

That is, until now. Just recently, something has been coming in at night and desecrating the graves, digging them up and taking the bones of their greatest Heroes.

As such, they posted about it on the Notice Board in Masayoshi and hoped for someone to accept it. Their prayers were answers as Oscar took notice of the contract and decides to accept it.

Unfortunately, he had to do it alone since everyone else was busy with other missions they've accepted. Oscar didn't mind it too much, since he was used to doing thing solo.

So, gathering his items, mounting Zephyr and recalling his memory of a map of Fantasia, Oscar rides off for Dewsbury.

(SCENE: DEWSBURY) (POV CHANGE: OSCAR)

After 2 hours of riding, I've arrived at Dewsbury. I was about to ride into town when two guards stopped me. "Halt! Identity yourself!" The guard on the left orders.

"Oscar Storm. Witcher. Here about the job, involving your graves." I explained briefly as they looked at each other and nod their head. They then stand down & lowered their weapons. "You can enter. Talk to Hagrel and he'll fill you in on what's happening." The right guard explains.

I thanked him as I enter the village. It was peaceful and happy: people having friendly discussions and children running around happily & without a care in the world.

This made me wish my world was like this, but unfortunately we can't have nice things because of Radovid the Racist & Emhyr the Jackass make things difficult for everyone.

I shoe my horse in at the local Inn as I enter said Inn. It wasn't too busy, but not completely empty either. I approached the Innkeeper, who is a beautiful young woman. "Greetings, I'm looking for Hagrel. Know where I can find him?" I asked.

"You can find him at the Circle outside of the town. It's where we pay tributes to the gods and give them gifts. The Circle lies on the Northwest side of Dewsbury." The Innkeeper explains as she points out the window.

I aligned my sight to where she's pointing as I can see a faint structure outside of the town. "Okay, I see it. Thanks for the direction." I said as I exit the Innkeep and make my way towards the Circle.

(SCENE CHANGE: THE CIRCLE) (POV CHANGE: 3RD PERSON)

Oscar arrived at the Circle as he sees someone praying. "Must be Hagrel." He says to myself as he approached the man. "Sorry for interrupting, but we need to talk." Oscar says as the man stops praying, stands up and turns to Oscar.

"Greetings stranger. I am Hagrel, the Groundskeeper of Dewsbury." Hagrel introduce himself. "Please to meet you. I'm Oscar Storm, a Witcher. I'm here about the job. Something involving your graves." Oscar says, making the Groundskeeper breathe a sigh of relief.

"I was hoping someone would take the job. The graves are of great importance, not only to the people of Dewsbury, but for everyone in Fantasia. The graves are final resting place for all of the Great Heroes & Magic Users. For as long as we can remember, nothing has bothered us. Until now, that is." Hagrel explains.

"I already know what's going on: graves being dug up. But I need more information, such as the type of graveyard you have in Dewsbury and such." Oscar says. "Of course. Our graveyard is special: while most of the Heroes & Magic Users are buried traditionally, only our most powerful & respected warriors are buried in a special underground Cemetery, complete with catacombs and coffins. While a few of the graves on the surface have been dug up, only the underground graves have missing parts. And our troubles doesn't end there, unfortunately. Just recently, we lost a child when he wondered too far from the village." Hagrel explains.

"I see. Found the child? Any bodies or bloodied clothes?" Oscar questioned as Hagrel shook his head at this. "No. Though I think it's for the best, since his mother has been drinking herself to the brink of death." Hagrel says.

Oscar understood that as he once dealt with something like this before. It was in Nazair and he took a job from a Widow about her husband and a pack of Alghouls. Needless to say, it wasn't 100% pretty.

"Well, I am sorry to hear that. But back to the job, I would like to investigate the Cemeteries. See if I can find any clues." Oscar says as Hagrel nods his head and hands him the keys to the graveyard. "Our Cemetery lie directly opposite of us: Southeast." Hagrel says. "Got it. Thanks." Oscar says as he exits the Circle and makes his way to the Cemetery.

(SCENE: DEWSBURY) (POV: OSCAR)

As I cut through the village to get to the Cemetery, I stopped midway. "You can come out now. I know you were following me since Masayoshi." I said as I hear someone step out of the alleyway.

I turn around to see that priest girl from the so called Hero Party.

"Ah, Dead Eyes, we meet again." I said as I start looking all around us. "So, where are your friends at? Where's Douchebag, Tramp and Fatso? Not mention your other friends." I said, thinking her friends were in hiding.

"They're not here." She says, catching me by surprise. "I came here alone. I heard about something desecrating the graves of the Great Ones that came before us. I couldn't stand for this, but the others didn't wish to help, so I came alone. I was about to take the job when you beat me to it. I knew you wouldn't want to work with me and I didn't know what to do, so I resorted to following you. But I guess I wasn't good enough, since you know I was following you at the very start." Dead Eyes explained as she was starting to peak my interest.

She doesn't seem like the rest of those idiots. But I can't exactly trust her 100% right now, because of the group she works up. "Well, since you aren't going anywhere anytime soon nor are you going to take no for an answer, guess I'm stuck with you, Dead Eyes." I said as Dead Eyes, surprisingly, smiled at this.

"Thank you for tolerating me. And it's Mina by the way." She says. "Mina. Names Oscar." I said as me and her heads to the Cemetery.

(SCENE CHANGE: CEMETERY) (POV CHANGE: 3RD PERSON)

Oscar and Mina arrived at the Cemetery as he used the keys he got from Hagrel to unlock the gate. The two enter the Cemetery as Oscar inspects one of the dug up graves. "Strange. The grave was dug up, but nothing seems to be out of the ordinary." He says as he checks the skeleton inside of the grave.

"Skeleton is perfectly intact, no signs of gnawing. Either the bones are terrible or whatever did this is pretty damn picky." He says as he reads the tombstone. "Hmm, seems like this Hero was an even Warrior: half magic & half brawler." He says as he finished his inspect and stands up.

He turns to Mina, who was in deep thought while looking at a grave. He walks next to her as he looks at the grave she's staring at. "Can't handle the dead? If so, you can wait at the entrance." Oscar says as Mina shakes her head at this.

"No, it's not that. Just.....thinking about the future." She says as Oscar got a grim look on his face. "If you're wishing for true love or something, then you might not get it since no one can compete with your one true love." He says, catching Mina by surprise.

"What? What do you mean by that?" She asks as Oscar chuckles and playfully pulls her band over her eyes. "It's yourself. I mean, who can compete with the Hero. The legend. Trust me, I know, I meet people like that. People who're so in love with themselves can't get others in their life." He says as he walks towards the entrance of the underground area of the Cemetery.

Mina pulls her band back up as she takes in what he said. 'I'm in love with myself? Yes, I have been arrogant and sure of myself, but I'm not so prideful that I love myself, right?' She asks herself as she feels a sense swelling up inside of her.

She shakes herself out of her thoughts as she catches up with Oscar, who unlocks the door to the underground Cemetery.

(SCENE CHANGE: UNDERGROUND CEMETERY)

As Oscar and Mina goes deeper into the Underground Cemetery, they started hearing voices around them. "Interesting. I heard stories about the Underground Cemetery of Dewsbury, that you can hear the voices of the Heroes that passed on to the afterlife." Mina explains.

When the two reached the main area, Oscar inspects the door. "Interesting. No signs of clawing or damage and nothing that suggests a Wraith or a Specter. Could be possible that whatever this thing is uses tools, meaning we're dealing with a sapient creature." Oscar says as he unlocks the door.

Oscar and Mina enters the main area as Oscar immediately checks one of the caskets. "Now we're getting somewhere. The entire skeleton reminds untouched while the head is the only thing that's been messed with." He says as he checks the other casket, whose skeleton is nearly gone.

"While this one has its head, the rest is gone. Thing either has an agenda or just extremely picky." Oscar says as he tries to read the names, dates and info on the caskets, but couldn't make it out. "Damnit, seems to cryptic." He says as he turns and approached Mina.

"Hey Mina, need help in translating the caskets." He says, but Mina didn't speak as she appears to be in a deep trance. "Mina? You okay?" He asks as he snaps his fingers in front of her face, snapping her out of her thoughts. "W-What? What's going on?" She asks in a dazed confusion.

"Alright, spill it, kid. What's on your mind?" Oscar questions with crossed arms as Mina's face and eyes shows regret and hesitation. "Well, I have to ask: is it true you're living with Rein & his party?" She asks as Oscar got confused at this. "Yeah, what of it?" He asks.

"Well, you see: Rein was once part of our group. More specifically: with me, Arios, Aggath & Leanne. But he kicked out because Arios deemed him weak. While Aggath and Leanne went along with it willingly, I was skeptical about it. But I had to do it because I realized something once he left." Mina explains, confusing Oscar even more.

"And what's that?" He asks. "We were the ones holding his true potential back. Think about it: while he was with us, he was bad in several categories. But once he was kicked out, he instantly became one of the strongest Beast Tamers in Fantasia. Seems like we weren't as high and mighty as we thought, since you beat us with minimal effort. But since you took away our weapons, everyone in the Hero Party sent half of their money on new weapons. I didn't, because my staff has more sentimental value then profits." Mina says as she turns her attention to a random casket.

"You see, that staff was with me through my entire time in the Church. I first got it when I was initiated into the Church. I had it when I casted my first spell & when I exorcised my first Demon. The staff became a big part of my life, that it felt like it was apart of me. And now that I lost it, I feel like I'm split into two." She says as she turns to Oscar.

"Tell me Oscar: after hearing my tale, am I disgrace to the name of the Church? Am I a disgrace to the Hero name? Am I destined to live my life as some sort of demon in human flesh?" She asks as she starts shedding tears.

Oscar's face holds no expression as he wipes Mina's tears away. "No, I don't see a disgrace nor a demon. Just a young girl that lost her way in life." He says as he grabs Mina's shoulders. "Listen: we all make bad choices and the consequences catch up with us eventually. I should know, I made plenty of bad choices and I suffered for it. But you can take those mistakes and turned them into something else. And I'm sure Rein would forgive you if you showed him you really mean it, no half truths & no bribing or anything. Tell him exactly what you told me and do something meaningful for him or his friends to really show you've changed." Oscar explains.

"But I'm scared that they'll refuse my apology or if I upset the Hero Prophecy." Mina says with fear in her voice. "And I can understand that, but you shouldn't let fear own you. It's nothing but your mind playing tricks with you. And besides, Prophecies are like water & wind: invisible to the eye and not always clear. Devoting your life to a Prophecy can both a good and a bad thing, because you can be both a Hero & a Villain. If want to do good, then it should be on your own terms and not on the grounds of some sort of vision that can shift & change in an instant." Oscar explains.

Mina takes all of his words in as she realize he's right. Gaining new resolve, she wipes away her tears and give Oscar a determined & resolved look. "Thanks Oscar. You're as wise as you are strong & fierce. Know that I'll try hard to regain the trust and forgiveness of Rein, my old comrade." She says as then adopts a shy and bashful expression.

"But, I want it to be a surprise, so don't tell anyone of our little talk. Okay?" She asks as Oscar chuckles at this and gave her a pat on the head.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." He says as he adopts a serious expression. "But we got a job to do." He says as Mina nods her head in agreement. "Now then, I can't read anything on the caskets, I'm hoping you can translate it for me." He says.

"Yes, I can." She says as she gestures to the casket she was reading. "This is the grave of Lady Miara, a powerful elf sorceress. She was said to be the one to developed the spell to transform a human into their spirit animal." She says as she then points to the graves Oscar was at.

"And the graves you were at belongs to Sir Vom & Lady Surse. They were a powerful couple, whose love knew no bounds. Sir Vom's strikes were swift and deadly, almost like he was wind, thus earning him the title: 'Knight of the Wind'. Lady Surse had the power to hear the voices of inanimate objects, like trees and rocks. While it wasn't as powerful as destruction magic, she could use her abilities to pinpoint enemy locations." Mina explains as Oscar got an idea.

"Tell me: when Magic Users die, do their skeletons and corpses still have leftover magical energy?" He asks as Mina nods her head. "Well, based on the skeletons that are missing bones, I can guess that whatever's doing this has need of them." He says as he spots something shiny on the ground.

"Huh? What's this?" He asks as he picks up the item, revealing it to be a golden ring. "Beautiful craftsmanship. Engraving look runic and the gem is Aquamarine, which symbolizes courage." He says as detects a faint scent from it. "Interesting. Ring smells of Lavender." He says.

"Lavender is used on the bodies as an ancient custom of peaceful transition into the afterlife." Mina says as Oscar takes a whiff of the ring. "Scent's still strong. Can use it to find the lair of whatever's robbing the graves." He says as he and Mina raced off to follow the Lavender scent trail.

(SCENE CHANGE)

Oscar and Mina followed the trail to an old abandoned hut. "Can't imagine the filthy scum that picks such a place as its hideout." He says as he approaches the door and blasted it open with Aard.

They carefully enter the hut, but find it completely empty. "No one else here. That's good. We should look around." Mina says as Oscar nods in agreement.

The two then proceeded to search the room. Oscar opens a box to fix makeshift keys. "Yep, definitely a sapient creature. Only a thinking one can craft tools like these. But these are craved with long sharp claws, not with a knife." He says as he closes the box.

Mina took notice of a cauldron hanging over a bonfire as she examines the inside of it. She lets out a gasp of horror and placed her hands over her mouth while having a terrified expression on her face.

Oscar hear her gasp as he walks to her side and sees inside the cauldron. "Shit." He cursed as he realized why Mina gasped. For inside the cauldron, is the femur of a human child.

"Mina, if you want to wait outside, then do so. I can take over from here." He says as Mina agrees with him and leaves the hut. Once she's gone, Oscar resumed his inspection of the hut.

He searches the pantries to find the bones of the warriors that were stolen from their graves and every one of them missing their bone marrow. "The bone marrow is missing and said bones are only from those Warrior Heroes, makes sense." He says as he close the pantry door.

Afterwards, he found what seems to be the living room. In the center of said room, are skulls aligned into a circle. "Interesting. Skulls are placed in a magic circle to draw strength from them." He says.

"This, along with all other evidence, it all points to a Grave Hag. An old, clever and experienced one at that. Stole the skulls for power while the bones for food. Grew confident that it began prowling the village and going after people." He says to himself as he rips off one of the curtains in the abandoned hut.

He then gathers the skulls into his makeshift bag. "Alright, need to head back to the Cemetery. Sun's about to go down, so we don't have much time left." He says as he heads out of the hit. Oscar also makes sure to take the bones too, to really get under the Hag's skin.

(SCENE CHANGE: OUTSIDE OF THE HUT)

Oscar exit the hut to find Mina sitting down on a rock as he approached her. "Hey, how're you holding up?" He asks. "Little better now. Still in shock about the child's death." She says.

"Yeah. Sometimes death is unfair, but if death was picky, then things would've been a lot worse. You just need to accept somethings as unavoidable, and death is one of those things. As a priest, or whatever your position is in whatever Church you've come from, you need to learn to handle death." He explains as Mina recompose herself.

"You're right. I was expecting to see death when I joined the Hero Party, but to actually see it was something terrible. But it is what it is & I can't do much to change it." She says as she takes notice of the bag Oscar is holding. "What's in the bag?" She asks.

"The stolen bones from the graves. Turns out the being that's doing this is an old Grave Hag. I can handle monsters like that, but I wouldn't mind some help." He says as Mina nods her head. "Of course, but my magic isn't as powerful as it was when I had my staff. But I still have some magic spells I can use." Mina says.

"Can you create a barrier?" Oscar asks as Mina nods in confirmation. "Good, because I plan on fighting the Grave Hag in the main room of the Underground Cemetery & I want to make sure the Grave Hag doesn't try to get away." He explains as Mina stands up with a determined look on her face.

"I'll do my best to help you." She says as Oscar smiled at this. "Come on, then. Let's get the Cemetery before dark." He says as he & Mina make their way back to the Cemetery.

(SCENE CHANGE: UNDERGROUND CEMETERY)

Oscar and Mina managed to made it back to the Underground Cemetery as Oscar set the bag of bones on the grounds. "Okay, the Grave Hag could be here any minute. Mina, think you can find a safe place to set up the barrier without the Hag seeing or smelling you?" Oscar asks.

"If you can boost me up to the upper level, I can find a good place and set up the barrier." She says as she and Mina walked up to one of the walls of the Underground Cemetery.

Oscar got into boosting position as Mina stepped onto his hands. He then lifted Mina up as she caught onto the ledge. Oscar and Mina worked together to get her onto the upper level.

Once she's up on the upper level, Oscar got back to the bag as he placed it in an empty casket. "Now all I need to do is wait." He says as he sat down into a meditation pose.

(TIMESKIP: NIGHTTIME)

When night had fallen, Oscar awoke from his meditative state as Mina contacted him through telepathy. "Oscar, I think the Hag's approaching." She says.

Oscar used his Witcher Senses to hear that she's right as he hears the Hag approaching. He then takes out his Silver Blade and coats it in Necrophage Oil. "When the Hag gets pass the door, block off any exits on both the upper & lower levels." He says in his mind as he sheathed his Silver Sword.

He then takes out a potion of Black Blood and takes a drink of it. He flinches at the potion's toxicity as the potion is taking effect, shown by his darkening veins. He shakes off his flinch as he hears the Hag entering the Underground Cemetery & quickly approaching them.

Oscar stands up as the Hag appears. The Grave Hag has pure white eyes with dark grey hair & black streaks in it. Her shoulders and forehead are covered in warts. Her forearms and shins are covered up with the rib cages of unknown skeletons, acting like armor. Her chest has been covered with old ragged, looking to be stitched together from the clothing of other people. Her skin around a sickly pale white with various dirt stains on them.

"Thief! Bastard! Whoreson! He stole from me! I'll kill him! Kill then bury him!" The Hag exclaims in anger as Oscar takes out his Sword and prepares to fight.

The Grave Hag charge at Oscar and prepares to strike him with her claws. But the Witcher dodges the strikes as he lands strike across the Hag's chest with his sword.

The strike provided Oscar with enough time to step up a Yrden sign on the ground, effectively slowing down the Grave Hag. He then strikes the Hag multiple times with his sword, dwindling her stamina.

The Grave Hag then blocks one of the incoming strikes with her forearms and strike Oscar with her long, prehensile & venomous tongue. Temporarily blinded, Oscar's guard was lowered enough for the Hag to knock him on the ground with a backhand strike.

The blindness wears off when he recovered from the hit as he quickly rolls out of the way from an attempted attack from the Grave Hag's claws. He gets back up and pulls out a Samum bomb & chucks it at the Grave Hag.

When the bomb hit its mark, it exploded in a bright light, stunning the Grave Hag. This bought Oscar enough time to cast a Quen shield onto himself & dash grab his Silver Sword.

As the Samum effect was starting to wear off, Oscar cuts off the right leg of the Grave Hag as he cuts off the Hag's left arm, making her scream with pain. The Grave Hag tries to run away, but gets knocked back by the barrier Mina set up.

Oscar then grabs his Crossbow and fired multiple shots at the Grave Hag. Deciding to end things, Oscar withdraw his Crossbow and draws his Silver Sword out again as he charged at the Grave Hag.

In desperation, the Grave Hag attempts to blind him with her tongue. But Oscar anticipated this as he dodge the tongue's strike and sliced said tongue off. Now that the Hag is defenseless, Oscar thrust his Sword into her chest, piercing both her heart and lungs.

Oscar used one of his legs to trip the Grave Hag up, forcing her on the ground. With a twist of the blade, the deed is done and the Grave Hag is no more. He sheathed his sword as he turns his attention to the upper level of the Underground Cemetery.

"Mina! Job's done. You can shut down the barrier." He says as the barrier powers down and Mina emerges from her hiding spot, which was behind a statue that lies above the entrance of the gate.

Mina created a staircase from magic as she steps down to the lower level. Once on the ground, she immediately approaches the dead Grave Hag. "Whoa. Never have I seen something so revolting as this creature." She says with a disgusted look on her face as Oscar shrugged his shoulders at this.

"Eh. Seen worse then this." Oscar says as he takes out his knife. "But more on that later. Need to take the Grave Hag's head to Hagrel as prove." He says as he grabs the Grave Hag by her hair and break the Hag's neck first by the bottom of the knife's handle & then cuts off the Grave Hag's head.

He sheathed his knife and grab his hook as he sticks the Hag's head on the hook. "Okay, time to head back." He says as Oscar and Mina exits the Underground Cemetery.

(SCENE CHANGE: THE CIRCLE) (POV CHANGE: OSCAR)

Me and Mina returned to Dewsbury's Circle as we approached the still praying Hagrel. "Hey Hagrel, job's done." I said as Hagrel stops praying. "Ah, that's good." He says as he turns around and spots Mina.

"Oh, Lady Mina, I didn't know you were in Dewsbury. Quite an honor to have someone from the Hero Party here." He says as he bows in respect. "Please, don't bow. I'm not that big of a deal, anyone can be better Hero then me." She says with modesty and humility as I smiled at this.

Looks like my words and that beatdown I gave her knocked some sense into her & managed to free her from her fantasy land.

Hagrel was touched by this. "Such a humble young woman." He says as he turns to Oscar. "But back to the job, managed to solve the mystery and took care of the problem?" Hagrel asks as I nod in confirmation.

"We did. Problems were caused by an old & experienced Grave Hag." I said as I showed him the head of the Grave Hag. Hagrel was startled at the Hag's head, but he quickly shook it off. "Well, how about the child?" He asked as Mina got a little upset about it while I remain stoic about it. "Tyke's dead." I said as I forced the Hag's head off the hook. "Take the bitch's head to the child's mother, give her proof of the death of her child's murderer. Also give her our condolences for her loss." I said as Hagrel nods in agreement.

"Will do just that. You can come with me, since the boy's mother is the one issuing the reward." Hagrel says, but me and Mina shook our heads at this. "No thanks, we're good. Doesn't feel right taking money from a grieving mother." I said as Mina nod in agreement.

"Just humble & kind individuals you two are." Hagrel says as he takes the Grace Hag's head and leaves the Circle to spread of the Grave Hag's death, leaving me and Mina alone.

"Well, my work here is done. Time I was on my way." I said as I turn to Mina. "If you wish to return home, I can drop you off." I offered, but Mina shook her head at this. "I'm not heading back yet. I thought about what you've said: about me being arrogant and full of myself. I realized that I was prideful sinner. So, I've decided to go and travel around a bit, finding people I've wronged and make amends to them. Unfortunately, Rein would have to be saved for last, since I've committed the biggest sin against him & I'm sure his friends would attack me on sights if I even tried to approach him. But I will do anything it takes to redeem myself in his eyes." She explains I nod in pride at this.

"What a noble and selfless thing of you to say. But how are you going to keep your friends off your back?" I asked as Mina got a little bit sad at this. "They kicked me out of the house until I learned not to talk back to them. Right now, I'm living in the spare room at the Church I worked for." She says as I was shocked and angered by this.

"Well, I'm sorry I can't do more like having you move in with me and my friends, but I can offer you help whenever you ask for it." I offered, but Mina shook her head at this. "I can't. I just can't bring myself to come face to face with Rein just yet without properly redeeming myself first." She says.

I said nothing as I nod my head at this. I remember something like this a long time ago. It was somewhere in Zangvebar, back in my world.

"Sorry I couldn't do anything to help you. But I'll be hoping for your successful redemption." I said as I was about to walk leave the Circle when I stopped dead in my tracks. "You know the next meetup I have with your friends will probably end with bloodshed, right?" I asked.

"I do. I will not get involved & I'll be praying you don't hurt them too much." She says as I smiled at this and let out another whistle tone I've learned through my travels.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(POV CHANGE: 3RD PERSON)

As Oscar leave the Circle, Mina felt a strange sense of gratitude & something else in her starting to raise. She couldn't understand why, but it was feeling she had not felt during her time in the Hero Party.

"Until we meet again, Oscar. Until we meet again." She says to herself.

(Here's Chapter 10 done. I decided to give Mina a bit more depth to her character into why she agreed to kicking Rein out and her hidden regret of it. And yes, this chapter has a few Puss in Boots references in it because Oscar's little whistling he did back in Chapter 3. Anyways, next Chapter will bring Oscar back to Matlock.)