Magnum Opus

by Ellen Brand

Soma Cruz just can't catch a break. There's another evil castle and another evil sorceror wanting to resurrect the lord of darkness. But this one's plan might be a little different.

Disclaimer- Castlevania belongs to Konami, not to me. This fanfic is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for violence, language, and mild sexual themes. In addition, this fic is dedicated to Carl Jung, without whom I wouldn't have a fanfiction career at all. Sharp-eyed readers may also be able to tell just how much Persona 3 and 4 I was watching during the writing of this… Game fans may note that I have taken the liberty of correcting the atrocious spelling from Aria's English Localization, usually in favor of the mythological sources. (e.g., Claiomh Solais.) I refuse to take anything called "Ronginus' Spear" with any degree of seriousness. Also, this fic takes only the English-language materials into account. I haven't read the novels, and I prefer "Trevor" over "Ralph."

Magnum Opus

Soma Cruz was really beginning to hate skeletons, completely out of proportion to any threat they represented. They weren't that difficult, really- bone was remarkably easy to shatter when not enveloped in a padding of fat and muscle. And they weren't particularly bright; the most complicated strategy they seemed capable of grasping was the Zerg Rush. Those weaknesses were actually part of the problem, though. Being weak and stupid, they were very cheap for any summoner to spawn, which made the Zerg Rush strategy viable for once. They still weren't dangerous, but Soma was getting annoyed.

He'd probably be less annoyed if they stopped attacking him in the middle of Minato-ku, he mused. On the street. Luckily it wasn't the middle of the day this time; he and Mina had been coming back from a late movie, so the sky was dark and the street was currently empty. Which would make sweeping this under the rug a lot easier. Explaining to the local police why he was recreating a scene from "Jason and the Argonauts" in the street was not his idea of a fun way to spend a weekend.

And speaking of Mina… Soma didn't dare risk a glance back, but the quiet chanting behind him reassured him that his friend was still there, and still keeping up her end of the battle. After that whole mess with Celia Fortner and her friends, it had become increasingly obvious that this wasn't going to stop. Whether he claimed the position or not, Soma was always going to be hunted by people hoping to resurrect the Dark Lord, one way or another. At which point Mina had put her foot down and demanded to learn to defend herself, with all the quiet steel of a samurai lady. Soma hadn't mentioned it, but he'd found that extremely hot.

Mina wasn't much of a fighter, and while Arikado had arranged for her to have some in-depth self-defense classes, hand to hand was never going to be her forte. Instead, Yoko Belnades had taken her younger friend under her wing for specialized tutoring. Not being a witch by bloodline or training, Mina's skills didn't lean towards throwing around ice or fire the way Yoko could. But as a miko, spells of warding, blessing, and healing came far more naturally. With training, Mina might even be able to eventually cast the "Sanctuary" spell, one of the only things in existence that could cure vampirism.

… Nobody wanted to be testing that any time soon.

Ducking a thrown bone, Soma easily sliced another skeleton in half with his sword. Mina's strength boost helped a lot, but he was just as glad he'd managed to keep the Claiomh Solais after his trip through Fortner's castle. What an Irish legendary sword had been doing hanging around not one, but two evil chaotic castles escaped him, but the Holy energy that the sword radiated meant that very few monsters could stand up to more than one hit from him. Yoko'd spelled a hidden magical pocket into his coat for it, so that he could actually carry it with him no matter what. Which was kind of good, given his current employment.

He'd tried sitting for the college entrance exams. He really had. Not that he needed the money, of course; between his parents and a couple trust funds, he could live the rest of his life pretty comfortably. But neither side of his family was comfortable just sitting back and loafing, and he wasn't much different. So, college, and further education, and see what kind of mark he could make on the world. He'd studied hard, even though he'd had to take a year off during the mess with Fortner. He'd worked. He'd read. He was ready.

He got attacked by skeletons two blocks from the testing center.

It hadn't even been a wanna-be dark lord that time. Just a necromancer with an entitlement complex, a grudge against the college that rejected him, and a copy of The Idiot's Guide to Raising the Undead. After the skeletons made him miss the start of the test… again… Soma had tracked the guy down with malice aforethought. When Arikado had arrived with the exorcists, the book was sealed in a steel lockbox, the skeletons were so much bone meal feeding the local plants, and the necromancer was duct taped upside down against the wall of his apartment while Soma raided his fridge. Arikado had offered him a job on the spot.

With a crunch, the last of the skeletons shattered into fragments, and silence descended. Mina put a hand on his shoulder, peering past him at the street.

"Is that all of them?"

Soma scanned one more time, then tucked his sword back into whatever hole in space Yoko had magicked into his coat. "Looks like it. What the hell did they want this time?" Mina threw him a look, but didn't comment. Soma's language tended to deteriorate when the adrenaline hit. They'd compromised- he tried to keep his speech clean most of the time, and she let it go when he slipped under stress.

"You again, I'm afraid." The speaker stepped out of the nearest shadow. Soma didn't bother drawing his sword again, though he moved in front of Mina just in case. He knew that voice and the tendency for dramatic entrances well enough.

Kicking away the remains of a skull, Arikado Genya gave them both a reasonably friendly nod. Reasonably friendly for Arikado, that was, Soma amended. The guy could give a Vulcan lessons in impassivity. Still, you learned to read him after a while, at least if he wasn't actively trying to be mysterious.

Mina's hand tightened on Soma's shoulder. "… Again?" she asked, only a faint tremble in her voice.

"Indeed." Arikado gave them both an assessing glance. "Come with me. I'll explain the situation over some coffee. Or hot chocolate, in Mina-chan's case."

Because the adrenaline dump was about to hit. Her worse than him, he was pretty much used to it by now. Soma grinned, taking Mina's hand as they moved to follow. "You buying?"

"For her. Not you."

"Aw, you know you love me."

Mina's giggle was all the result either of them could have hoped for.

---

All the gods bless everyone who discovered hot chocolate, Mina thought, focusing on the warmth in her hands to ward off the numb chill threatening at the edge of her thoughts. She hadn't actually been in a real fight before- her trip to Dracula's castle had seen her spending the whole time in the front courtyard, and as for the time Celia Fortner had threatened them… well, the only action she'd seen was Soma taking out several monsters, while she'd been safe behind Arikado's shield. All the training in the world couldn't prepare you for the shock of real battle. But the chocolate was warm and sweet, the café was cozy and quiet, and Soma was a warm, solid mass in the booth beside her, sniping casually back and forth with Arikado as the two men drank their coffee.

"Okay," Soma began, as the waiter bustled off again. "What idiot is trying to resurrect or replace the Lord of Darkness this time? And why don't these idiots ever get it through their skulls what a bad idea that is for your future life expectancy?"

Arikado snorted. "The ambitious are like teenagers, utterly convinced of their own personal infallibility and immortality. Everyone else may have failed and perished, but they will be different."

"Death by lack of pattern recognition. Way too common."

"I notice you don't dispute my claim."

"I'm twenty, I've grown out of that."

An arched eyebrow, which Mina knew was as good as a full-fledged snicker from anybody else. "As you say."

The dark-haired man slid a manila folder across the table towards them. "His name is Walter Barnard, and he is a sorcerer of admittedly great strength. Enough that even members of the Belnades clan might find him… challenging. Supposedly, he traces his ancestry back to a powerful vampire who threatened Europe, and who may have held the position of Dark Lord before Dracula himself."

Soma flipped open the folder to show a photograph of a red-haired man, tall and reasonably handsome, save for the arrogant expression on his face. His clothes were good quality, and what Mina could just recognize as cutting-edge fashion in much of Europe. Or at least it had been two years ago, when the photo was taken.

"Yeah? Before or after the guy got vamped?" Soma asked, nudging the folder towards Mina.

"Unknown. It may even be untrue; merely a delusion or a family fairy tale. Regardless, he believes it, and if you'll check the dossier, you'll see his date of birth."

Mina leaned over. "Nineteen ninety-nine, eleventh of August. Oh… Wasn't that-?"

"The day Dracula died, for good," agreed Soma. "So, he might be an heir to the Dark Lord Emeritus, he's one of the Dracula Babies, and he's an evil sorcerer. Picked up the hat trick, didn't he?"

Arikado actually smirked. "A hat trick is a term from hockey, a single player scoring three goals in a game," he explained, seeing Mina's confusion.

She shook her head, poking Soma in the side. "Going on three years in Japan, and you still talk like an American."

"And like a Japanese, you just don't notice that because it's normal for you. Dad laughs at me every time I wind up translating idioms literally."

"At any rate," Arikado announced, drawing their attention back to him, "Barnard has apparently settled into a castle in the mountains of Southeastern Germany… a castle that does not appear on any maps, and was not visible on satellite imagery until a week ago."

Leaning his chin on one hand, Soma rolled his eyes. "Castle Dracula probably has grounds for a copyright suit by now. So, we're going to drop by with housewarming presents? Preferably big, sharp, and flammable ones?"

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to stay behind?"

"Two words, Arikado. Collateral damage. I'd rather as little of it be scattered around Tokyo as possible, and even if you put the best of the best on us, we'd still be making a mess. This time it was late at night on an empty street. Next time? I could get on the news. And I'd rather not worry about innocent bystanders on top of that."

A thoughtful nod. "Excellent point. And it will probably be less… problematic if I'm keeping track of you and your trail of destruction from the get-go."

Mina took a deep breath. "I'm coming too," she declared. Seeing both of them look her way, she steeled herself and continued. "The collateral damage argument applies in my case as well, and I can't protect myself as well as Soma can. Staying here would pull people to protect me, ones you might not be able to spare. I can heal and I'm pretty good at barriers, even if I can't fight very well. And I'm a pretty good runner. If you're bringing along your usual people on this, I'm probably safer going into that castle with you than I am left on my own."

"… You make excellent points, Mina-chan," the dark-haired man conceded. "I think perhaps I need to put you on the payroll as well. I suspect you could at least qualify for probational status."

Feeling her cheeks heat at the praise, Mina squeaked and stared down into her mug.

"So, we're off to Germany," Soma commented, and the tone of his voice made Mina dart a look towards him. The smile on his face put her in mind of a very smug white tiger. Arikado obviously recognized it as well, since his usually impassive expression now looked the slightest bit wary.

"How were you planning to get there?"

---

The most annoying thing was, Arikado mused, the boy's arguments had been quite logical, and unassailable. Commercial flights were out, of course, given the weapons and specialized equipment that were needed for a mission of this nature. Magical pockets were quite useful, but only held so much, and spellcasters like Yoko Belnades had a tendency to make airport security scanners… twitchy. Admittedly, air travel in 2037 was a good deal less restrictive than it had been twenty years ago, but still. Airport security tended to ask uncomfortable questions when the scanning equipment burned out, or melted, or in one memorable instance, started playing old Looney Toons episodes. No, a commercial flight had never been an option.

Which meant a private flight. While the organization he worked for would have provided a plane and a pilot without much issue, he would have had to announce his intention to take two civilians along on the mission. He'd been rather… avoiding telling his superiors too much about Soma Cruz and his connection to the Dark Lord, which was why the boy's position was with Cross Industries, the shell corporation he'd constructed ages ago. Arikado had no wish to draw any more official attention to him than necessary. To say nothing of Mina's involvement.

Besides, a flight under the agency's banner, or even that of Cross Industries, would be traceable. There were passports and border crossings and other detritus of a paper trail strewn all along the way, for anyone to trace if they felt so inclined. Arikado hadn't survived the past three and a half centuries without developing the instincts of a healthy paranoiac, and he did not like to be findable by anyone, unless he deliberately chose to be. Soma, interestingly enough, shared that particular paranoia, hence the boy's choice of transportation.

"Quit grumping," Julius Belmont said, amused tone clear even through the dying sound of the helicopter's rotors. "I remember having to carry half a platoon's worth of stuff up to Castle Dracula by hand, because the road was too steep for the personnel carriers. Being able to set down on a flat spot right outside the doors is worth putting up with just about anything."

The Belmont snickered. "Plus he's finally stopped flirting with Yoko every chance he gets."

Arikado followed the other man's gaze to the front of the helicopter, where their pilot was just removing his ear protectors. "I suppose," he replied. "And it's rather hard to begrudge Soma-kun the opportunity to have someone at his back whom he can rely on unconditionally."

There was a moment of silence as the two men shared a look. They were both- all, really, Yoko as well- very fond of Soma, though Arikado would not admit it aloud. The boy was courageous, compassionate, and surprisingly decent, given his experiences with the worst of humanity, both in his last life and the present one. And Soma seemed fond of them back, treating Yoko as an older sister and Julius, in many ways, as some kind of favored uncle. He mostly snarked at Arikado, but as a teenage male and given the ambiguity of their relationship, that was as clear away of showing affection as any.

But all of them, Soma included, were constantly aware, on some level, of the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Dracula was truly dead and gone, but by the nature of his power, Soma would always be vulnerable to the powers of chaos. Pump too much in, overwhelm him with hate and anger and fear, and the Dark Lord might well rise again. And if that happened… they would have to kill him.

Soma knew that. Relied upon it. It was, in fact, part of the reason a young man with his history had come to trust the three of them so deeply and utterly, that knowledge that they would fight to the end to save him, but would end him should they fail. It was an oddly comforting thought, to one who was so familiar with his own inner darkness.

Comforting, but not comfortable. Like a rock under a sofa cushion, or a pea beneath a mattress, it was always there. Hammer, however, was Soma's. Utterly. If he one day faced the Dark Lord, and stood against him, it would be as a duty to his friend, not to the world, or to an ancient family geas. Arikado, Belmont, Belnades; all three of these were in Soma's life because of the duties of blood and the chains of fate. Hammer was there by choice, and had been since he chose to sneak a headstrong teenager into Eastern Europe when no one else would help.

It was more than a favor for a friend, Arikado knew, as they began to unload the packs from the helicopter. After the trip to the Castle in the Eclipse, Hammer had returned to his Special Forces unit, only to leave some weeks later after a heavily redacted debriefing and with an honorable discharge. Apparently his commander had been pushing a psychological evaluation, until someone had quietly read him in on the events of 1999, which certain members of the world's militaries had been involved in.

Hammer had then spent all of a year as an "antique weapons dealer," selling swords and knives and battleaxes, mostly to collectors, recreationists, and the occasional demon hunter in need. And then Soma Cruz had called and asked for a favor.

In the aftermath of the mess with Celia Fortner's cult, Soma had promptly hired the man as a general assistant and personal pilot. Hammer still kept his original business as a sideline; the Internet was invaluable for such things. But for the most part, the man seemed to be nothing so much as a retainer to a great house, amusing considering just how Americanized both parties involved were.

The subject of his thoughts let out a low whistle, shading his eyes as he stared up at the castle. "So. Go in, find this guy, kick his ass, get out? That our plan?"

"Pretty much," Belmont replied, shouldering his pack. "It's all very simple. At the beginning, at least."

Hammer chuckled. "Simple, not easy. Got it." Shrugging his own pack onto his shoulders, he bent to pick up his weapon, a large war hammer.

Yoko cocked her head. "Where'd you learn to use that?"

"Special forces, you tend to pick up a lot of stuff that you normally wouldn't. Guys have weird hobbies, missions go FUBAR in weird ways, things like that. After I opened the business, I put time into most of my stock, gotta at least know what it does. This is what I liked best. Her name's Starfall."

Soma's groan got everybody's attention. "Which makes her a meteor hammer?"

The larger man's grin could have lit up a crypt.

---

Other Belmonts, Julius thought, with some amusement, get to retire. Train up a successor, pass on the whip, and spend the rest of however long as the wise old elder, giving advice. You, on the other hand, are fifty-seven years old, which I'm pretty sure is the record, you actually killed Dracula himself, and what are you doing? He ducked the bat which flew at his head, train of thought barely skipping a beat. Wandering around a different evil chaotic castle in Europe, heading off the rise of another would-be Dark Lord. What's wrong with you?

Well, there were probably a couple answers to that question, he mused, whip snapping out to knock another bat out of the air. One of Yoko's fireballs vaporized it before it hit the ground.

First and most important, he had, in fact, killed Dracula. For good, despite what some desperate dark sorcerers might want to believe. What little remained of the Lord of Evil who had been a recurring terror for a millennium was little more than a collection of memories and shadowy powers in the mind and soul of a boy who had sworn never to become the man they had belonged to.

And if it comes down to a question of willpower, I'm betting on Soma, he thought. The classic "immovable object" has met its match.

But with Dracula gone for good, the Belmont family's charge had also expired. Which meant he certainly could retire, if he chose. No one would blame him. But Julius had lost thirty-six years to his amnesia, after Dracula's fall. He'd made a life for himself, it had even been a reasonably pleasant one after a while, but that sense of lost purpose had always been there, just out of reach. Two years of having his identity returned had done nothing to change that.

Besides, he was a Belmont, and while the family's oath had only ever covered Dracula, their senses of duty had long spurred them to fight any supernatural evil that crossed their paths. And a few mundane ones- he had more than a few relatives involved in law enforcement, social work, and both sides of the criminal justice courts. Even if it wasn't Dracula being revived, as long as he could fight, he was going to do so.

It didn't help that he didn't exactly have a successor to pass the whip to, either. His family had long since given him up for dead, and those left… well, with Dracula gone for good, no one had seen a need to keep up with family training, especially with Vampire Killer lost in the castle as well. And as for breeding one… well, he wasn't old yet, except as vampire hunters usually went, but he was quite a bit older than most women still capable of starting families. He might look into training an apprentice; with Dracula truly gone, the power of the whip had…changed. Gentled a bit. It no longer would suck the life away from anyone who didn't possess the Belmont bloodline.

The sight of a large, ornate door blocking their path brought him out of his thoughts with a start. None of them really had any idea where they were going, except "up," but generally doors like this marked something more important than the castle's usual proliferation of bedrooms, storerooms, and empty parlors.

"Gonna knock?" Hammer asked from somewhere near the back. "'Cause I brought the door knocker."

Julius snickered. "I think I'll try opening it first. But let's take it slow, just in case." Carefully, he pushed gently against the door, which swung inward on noiseless hinges.

Beside him, Yoko tilted her head. "That's new. They usually go for the creepy squeak," she said, summoning a fireball in one hand.

"Must have been watching modern horror movies," Soma offered. "That whole 'Nothing Is Scarier' thing."

"Kid, they've been doing that since the 1920's. Great way to get around the cheesy effects," Julius replied absently, scanning the view. A short hallway ran another ten or fifteen feet further along, before opening out into a much larger space. "Soma-kun, you and I'll take point. Hammer and Arikado behind us, Yoko and Mina-chan in the back, since Yoko's got the ranged attacks and Mina-chan's support. Move in, spread out, guard the center."

The teenager beside him nodded sharply, readying his sword as the two of them moved quickly but quietly down the corridor. As they reached the mouth of the passage, Julius stopped for a moment.

"It's… a dueling arena," he realized, gaze sweeping around. The large oval room was lined with what looked like nothing so much as bleachers, seats for viewers to watch the show. The floor was covered with dust, but was almost certainly made of a hard wood rather than the stone of the rest of the building. On the other side of the room was another doorway, perhaps to a room where the combatants could change clothes, or arm themselves.

Beside him, Soma hadn't stopped as quickly, his momentum carrying him two steps further into the room. With a brilliant flash and a smell rather like ozone, some sort of forcefield sprang up between them, knocking Soma forward and Julius back against his companions. Mocking laughter filled the room, seemingly coming from everywhere around. At the other end of the room, a ball of shadow welled up from the floorboards, and then fell away like the petals of a black rose.

Doppelganger, Julius realized. It was fairly obvious; given that it looked very much like Soma, save for the blood red coat, wild hair, and… Julius squinted, giving thanks for the Belmont bloodline's enhanced sight. Yep. Those were yellow eyes. Huh, that was a little unusual.

"Now, what are you fleas doing invading my castle?" the double asked, folding its arms and smirking. Behind him, Julius could feel Arikado twitch; a bad sign given the other man's usual impassivity.

"Your castle?" Soma replied. "Last we heard, this place belonged to a guy named Walter Barnard. Heard of him?"

The doppelganger smirked. "Maybe I'll tell you… if you can defeat me!" A black sword appeared in one hand as the creature attacked.

---

Just as well I'm tall, Hammer thought to himself. Meant he could move to get Mina and Yoko into the center of their little knot and still see what was going on up front. Which was good, because there was no way in hell he was taking his gaze off that for a minute.

At least it wasn't the typical fight you saw in the movies and on TV, where two guys who looked exactly like each other fought like cats in a sack until there wasn't any way of knowin' who was who. Soma and the doppelganger had the same face, but different everything else. On top of the hair and the coat, the thing was carrying the Caladbolg- yes, Hammer'd gotten up close and personal with most of Soma's legendary arsenal on the last two castle crawls. The black sword was as close to an evil twin as the Claiomh Solais had, so it made sense for the other one to be carrying it. But doppelgangers usually mimicked their opponents perfectly, didn't they? For the whole "kill and replace" shtick. Why was this one hittin' the "evil twin" thing so hard?

"Having fun?" the thing asked, ducking under one of Soma's swipes. "We always have enjoyed this kind of thing. Gets the blood moving, right?"

Soma parried a strike at his head, wheeling away. "We? What are you talking about? I'm pretty sure I'd remember meeting you."

Teeth bared in a mocking smile. "Aw, I'm hurt. We've been together so long… I'm YOU, after all. "

"I think that breaks- a couple laws of physics," Soma puffed, as the two circled each other.

"This castle built itself up out of rubble, you can pull cats out of thin air, and you're letting bilocation throw you? Subatomic particles do it all the time."

"We're a little big for a pair of quarks, if you hadn't noticed."

Despite the battle going on, Yoko had to snicker. "Well, they both certainly share a sense of snark," the blonde remarked.

"Deny it all you want," the doppelganger said, "but you know it's true. I'm you. You're me. We are the lord of darkness."

Soma's eyes blazed. "I'm NOT the Dark Lord, damn it! I'm not DRACULA!" The Claiomh Solais came around in a blazing arc and would have parted the creature's head from its shoulders had the doppelganger not suddenly vanished in a puff of black smoke.

At the same time, the force-field suddenly collapsed. Pushing past the others, Mina quickly moved to help hold Soma up.

"What the hell was that?" the kid asked, as the rest of them moved more cautiously into the room. "Because last time I checked, doppelgangers weren't that chatty!"

"Unknown," Arikado replied, and boy, that tight tone of voice didn't mean anything good.

Hammer snorted. "I'm real sure we're gonna find out, one way or another."

The suit nodded, a wry twist to his mouth. "I have no doubt."

Sighing, Julius holstered his whip, making his way to the door on the other end of the arena. "If that thing was here, it was probably guarding something reasonably important, whether it's actually in charge of this place or not. Shall we see what it is? … No, Soma-kun, stay back there until you've got your breath. Hammer can cover me."

Hefting his hammer, Hammer did as he was bid. "Age before beauty."

"You're not as funny as you think you are." Cautiously, the older man pushed the door open. Inside was a room, empty except for several benches and some wooden cabinets that might have served to hold weapons or clothes.

Hammer cocked his head. "Looks empty. Raid the cabinets?"

Julius nodded. "Carefully. You never know what kind of booby traps this place might have."

"Believe me, man, I have the greatest respect for anti-personnel traps. There was this one time in Guatemala… oh, wait, that's classified. Sorry."

Arikado gave him a dry look, but Soma and the girls were snickering, which counted as a win in his book. Each taking one side of the room, the two men carefully searched the cabinets, and Hammer was brought up short when he opened one to find a leather-bound book.

"Now what is that doing tucked away in a place like this?" Surprisingly, the cover was free of dust, and while the leather looked well-aged, there were no signs of wear or decay. Quickly checking to make sure it wasn't connected to anything, Hammer reached in and pulled it out. Flipping through it, he grimaced.

"What is it?" Mina asked, moving a little closer to the door.

He shrugged. "Hell if I know, it's in Latin. At least I think it's Latin, closest I speak is Pig Latin."

Soma stood up straighter, not leaning on Mina anymore. "Give it here, I'll take a look at it."

Seeing that Julius hadn't found anything in the room either, Hammer made his way back out and handed the kid the book.

"You speak Latin?" Yoko asked, surprised.

"My parents moved me out of Japan when I was eight because stuff kept… happening. They decided Catholic school was the safest bet." The teenager's smile was just a little wry. "Everybody was surprised how fast I picked it up."

Soma made a thoughtful noise as he paged through the book. "Looks kind of like a diary. Or maybe research notes. I can probably read it, but I'd like to find somewhere safe enough to do so, it's going to take concentration." Reaching the back, he paused. "There's a note here, though, definitely addressed 'to the finder.' Signed by a… Rinaldo Gandolfi?"

Arikado stiffened. Hammer sighed.

"Okay, I'll bite. Who's Rinaldo Gandolfi?"

"An alchemist of great skill, who lived at the end of the 11th century. Among his creations was a weapon known as the Whip of Alchemy," the other man answered.

"That whip, with the help of a man named Leon Belmont and a great deal of sacrifice, was transformed into the weapon known as Vampire Killer."

---

"I always wondered," Hammer mused, as they set their packs down, "why are there always rooms like this in these places? Kinda out of character for a 'stronghold of evil,' or whatever." His wave took in the entirety of the small chamber, covered in white lacquered tile and light-colored hardwood, with blue accents here and there. Against the back wall, opposite the door, stood a statue of a woman, her face kind and her hands outstretched in benediction.

Yoko had to admit that was a good question, and one she'd often wondered about herself. Soma's friend was a lot more tolerable when he stopped pretending he was only smart enough to work an automatic rifle. … And when he stopped trying to hit on her. He'd never been creepy or pushy about it, and she'd never felt unsafe, but her lack of interest meant that she just felt embarrassed for him whenever he got flirtatious.

"You mean a safe room?" Arikado asked, settling down in a cross-legged position against one wall, as the others spread out their bedrolls. They couldn't afford a full eight hours of sleep, of course, but better to catch a short catnap than to wind up making mistakes due to exhaustion.

"It's a case of supernatural physics, one might say," the dark-haired man continued. "A castle such as this, or Castle Dracula, or Fortner's 'replica,' is basically an… upwelling of chaotic energy. Hence being situated on some sort of portal to the Realm of Chaos. For these purposes, it's best to imagine the power of Chaos as water. It certainly behaves as such. Amorphous, but with mass and thus power and momentum. But like water, it possesses surface tension, and so attempts to pull itself back into a regular shape.

"Do you know anything about investment casting?" Seeing blank looks on the faces of Hammer and both teenagers, Arikado sighed. "Very well, then, imagine you're making a Popsicle. You let the water flow into the mold and freeze it. And then you pull it back out. The castle is a Popsicle mold, the chaotic power is the water, and the Chaotic Realm is always pulling. So, what if the cavity in the popsicle mold has pegs going across?"

Julius nodded, wincing a little as he sank down to sit on his bedroll. "You're saying that whatever keystone the castle has keeps the power 'solid.' But to avoid it being pulled back out of the 'mold,' there have to be places where the power doesn't touch. Like pins in a butterfly."

"Which is why Dracula, or whoever, is always a Load-Bearing Boss," Soma threw in, with a yawn. He was obviously still a little drained from the fight with the doppelganger, which was why they'd unanimously called a halt upon discovering this little room.

Arikado sighed. "Yes. Killing the castle's master removes the stabilization, and the power reverts back to a 'fluid' state."

Sinking down onto her own bedroll- near Julius, but not enough to crowd or look too eager—Yoko stretched. "And if you can destroy the tap itself, the way Soma-kun did back in the eclipse, the castle falls to pieces permanently, rather than until the next time the tap gets turned on."

"Do you think the tap's in the throne room?" Mina asked, leaning against Soma.

"Perhaps," Arikado replied. "It would be a convenient place for Barnard, or whomever is the castle's master, but there are other places it could be."

Pulling the book out of his rucksack, Soma flipped through it. "Well, maybe there's something in here that can help. That bit at the end was definitely a message left for whoever found the book, so Gandolfi definitely had something he wanted to tell us. Let's see what."

"Only if you promise to get a nap afterwards, kid," Hammer instructed.

Soma rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, mother hen."

The next twenty minutes or so were rather quiet, broken only by the munching of various rations and Soma's occasional mutterings about esoteric vocabulary, leaving his dictionary behind, and what sadist came up with declensions anyway? He sounded rather like any of the young wizards she'd known when ensconced in a research project, and Yoko had to suppress a giggle when she met Mina's long-suffering gaze.

"… Hoo boy," Soma said, finally, lowering the book.

Julius and Hammer exchanged concerned glances. "That's not ominous at all," Julius commented, shifting position.

"Drop the bomb, kid, get it over with," added Hammer.

Soma ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, I've only read the bit at the end so far, but apparently Gandolfi and Leon Belmont travelled together for a while after they met, because this is dated 1095, and in here, Gandolfi says they came to the castle in search of something called the Alabaster Stone."

The name gave Yoko a twinge of recognition, but Arikado went utterly still, a reaction that never boded any good.

"Lemme guess, that's a bad thing." Hammer folded his arms across his chest, leaning back against the wall behind him.

"You might say so. There are… legends among the creatures of Chaos that speak of three stones of inimitable power and twisted, malign magic. The Ebony Stone, which conferred an eternal night on its bearer. It belonged to a vampire known as Walter Bernhardt- yes, the one our current sorcerer believes to be his ancestor. The Crimson Stone, which stole the souls of vampires and made them into power for its wielder, but carried the vampiric curse along with it. That was in the possession of a man known as Mathias Cronqvist, though he later became better known as Dracula. And the Alabaster Stone, location unknown even to the seers and wizards, which supposedly could strip the human flaws and weaknesses away from the one who held it, leaving only a perfect immortal creature."

Soma made a face. "Yeah. According to this, the Ebony Stone was destroyed with its master, and Mathias fled to the east carrying the Crimson Stone. But the Alabaster Stone had been walled away here, and Leon and Rinaldo came to try and destroy it."

"I take it they failed?" Julius asked.

"Yeah. Killed the alchemist who'd used it, but they hadn't found a way to destroy the stone itself. All they could do was turn off the tap and hide the book here with a preservation spell so that if the castle rose again, whoever found the book could pick up where they left off."

Arikado scowled. "I wonder if perhaps we may not have been baited into a trap. A man wishing to resurrect the Dark Lord might well feel that the failure of previous attempts had been due to said Dark Lord's humanity.

Yoko shrugged. "It's possible, but our response would have been the same anyway. Can't leave Soma behind, he's too tempting a target. Besides, when it comes to traps, I've always been a fan of the Obi-wan method."

"Dare I ask?" One graceful black eyebrow arched.

To Yoko's mild surprise, her response was echoed by both Julius and Hammer. "Spring the trap."

Soma gave Julius an odd look. "Seriously?"

"I was an amnesiac, kid, not in a coma."

"It's just… those were so bad."

It was very quiet, but Yoko thought she heard Arikado snicker.

---

Deciding to take full advantage of the halt, Julius dug into his pack, pulling out a couple meal bars and a bottle of water. Generally, he tried to eat lightly in situations like these- a castle full of darkest evil was no place to find yourself suddenly in need of a bathroom. But it didn't do to be light-headed or faint from hunger, either. The type of energy bars used by hikers and climbers were generally a good compromise.

Not far away, he saw Hammer doing the same, biting into the chewy substance with obvious pleasure. Noticing his regard, the larger man grinned.

"Beats the hell out of MREs, I'll tell you that."

Julius shook his head. "They haven't gotten any better in thirty years, huh?"

"Consider yourselves lucky you never had to subsist on K-rations," Arikado drawled, making no move to join the rest of the group's repast.

"Mrmph?" Soma inquired.

Arikado shot the boy a dry glance. "K-rations were the US Army's solution to the problem of transporting food over long distances in World War II. And don't talk with your mouth full."

Manfully, Julius hid his snicker. If Arikado had any idea how easily read his amused affection for Soma was… well, he'd probably be quietly appalled. There weren't many people Arikado would let read any emotion from him whatsoever; in fact, Julius had been fairly sure before this that he and Yoko were the only ones with that privilege. Seeing him so comparatively relaxed around Soma, Mina, and even Hammer… it was surprising, but hardly unpleasant.

"Once you're done with your meal, Soma-kun, I want you to finish translating the diary, at least the parts that look relevant to our situation," the black-haired man continued. "I'd prefer to know everything Gandolfi and Leon Belmont knew about this place before we go any farther."

Yoko swallowed, giving him a surprised look. "Won't the delay be a problem?"

"Under normal circumstances, yes," Arikado allowed. "However, this situation is rather different from our norm. The castle is not in an alternate dimension that might lose connection with our world, there are no innocent hostages under threat, and from what we have deduced of the probable plan of the castle's master, the world in general is not currently his target." His mouth quirked slightly, in what would have been a smirk on a more demonstrative man. "Because we have, as you said earlier, sprung the trap."

Mina brightened. "Oh! Because if he wants to turn Soma back into the Dark Lord, which is really all he could use the Alabaster Stone for, then he needs Soma right there with him, right?"

"Exactly. By bringing you and Soma to the castle, we removed the opportunity to abduct him, or use leverage to compel him to surrender himself. But as long as we're in the castle, the best strategy for our opponent is to remain where he is and make us come to him. Springing an assault on us, especially while we're forted up in a safe room, would be foolhardy. Which means we have all the time we need to prepare."

That got a nod from Soma. "And depending on what Gandolfi wrote in here, we might be able to figure out exactly what the Alabaster Stone does and how that bastard's planning to use it."

Cracking his knuckles, Soma picked up the pad of paper he'd been using for the translation. "Okay, anybody who needs a nap, feel free to take one, because this is probably going to take me a while. Unless you guys want running commentary?"

"Better than bein' bored," Hammer replied.

Things quieted down after that, except for Soma's occasional grumbles on the vagaries of Latin and the handwriting habits of long-deceased alchemists… and of course, the aforementioned commentary.

"Mostly experimental notes, gonna skip those. Oh, here's where Leon Belmont first showed up to go after Walter. Heh, apparently Gandolfi didn't know quite what to make of him at the time."

"What do you mean?" Yoko asked.

"Well, he was a Baron, which, you know, nobility, even if he was the lowest rung. French- well, a Frank, given the time period. And he'd been guarding pilgrims to Jerusalem for a year or more. But apparently he could read and write, and not just in Latin, but Arabic."

A round of blinks. "Seriously?" Julius asked.

"Yeah. Gandolfi asked why, and apparently Leon said it was easier to get through cities if you could read the signs."

That got a rueful snicker from Hammer. "Oh man, don't I know THAT feeling. Of course, I took Spanish."

"And Japanese," Yoko pointed out.

"That one I picked up after I joined the Army, Spanish was how I met the entry requirements."

Soma grinned, still scanning the diary and occasionally writing things down. "Let's see… potion experiments… ouch. Looks like this one was right after they made Vampire Killer. I don't think we need to read that." He flipped a page. "Oh hey, this one's right after they took down Walter."

For a long moment, Soma was silent, working his way through the passage. "This is interesting," the boy said slowly. "Apparently Gandolfi decided to go with Leon after Mathias once Walter was defeated, mostly out of having nowhere to go. He describes the whole thing as being like the process of the Great Work. Starting with the nigredo, the decay phase, where he and Leon lost everything over the course of that eternal night. Moving onto the albedo, or purification phase, which I guess was Walter's defeat. He said it left them standing as opposite poles. And then the dawn came as the third phase, citrinitas, where the opposites combined and they set out on their journey. 'The last stage, the rubedo, is said to be the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. I know not what the product of this vessel may be, but perhaps a friendship is, in the end, not so far from immortality."

Julius frowned. "Wait, citrinitas? I thought there were only three stages to alchemy, the nigredo, albedo, and rubedo."

"I didn't know you knew anything about alchemy," Yoko commented, amused. "You're full of surprises."

Firmly telling himself he was too old to blush, Julius coughed. "Call it continuing education, given how often it's part of whatever we're cleaning up."

She inclined her head towards him. "Excellent point. I suspect most of your reading was people like Agrippa, Paracelsus, and contemporaries? From the end of the 15th century on, when those gentlemen were writing, the citrinitas was considered part of the rubedo, and considerably downplayed in importance."

"That wasn't very long before alchemy became basically obsolete in Europe," Arikado threw in, "for the most part due to the rise of the scientific method and the proliferation of fraudulent alchemists. In the 19th century, however, alchemy saw a comeback as a spiritual, philosophical discipline, which on some level it always was, as Gandalfi's description shows. It was often thought that finding the Philosopher's Stone would be a way of uniting the human soul with God."

"And then in the 1920's, Carl Jung got ahold of the idea and started using the stages of the Great Work as metaphors for the stages of psychoanalysis," Hammer added. "The nigredo was the bit where you come face to face with your Shadow, which was all the things you don't like about yourself, and shove into the closet whenever you can. Wrestling with that separated you into the animus and anima, the male and female parts of your psyche, and that was the albedo, purification by polarization, basically. After that was the citrinitas, where you reintegrated, and the result was the rubedo, or the whole, healthy Self."

Julius knew he wasn't the only one staring. The larger man gave them all a sheepish grin.

"What? You got any idea how much hurry-up-and-wait there is in Special Forces? Man, there have been times I've been so desperate, I've read the ingredients list on a can of soup."

"You definitely have hidden depths," Julius replied. The expression on Soma's face was an interesting mix of pride and smugness.

Hammer shrugged. "I'm big, I'm black, and I'm military. If people want to think that means I'm just bright enough to put my boots on, it's not in my best interest to correct 'em."

Well. Julius could hardly contradict that. He distinctly remembered getting a few good licks in on Dracula, mostly because the Dark Lord hadn't at first believed a scrawny 19 year old could possibly hurt him, Belmont or not.

Soma shut the diary, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "That's pretty much it for relevance," he said. "The next entry's about how they found out that the alchemist who made the Ebony and Crimson stones was holed up in this castle, and they were heading here to deal with it and him. After that, it's just the note I already read you."

"Very well, then," Arikado announced. "Everyone start packing up- our next stop is the throne room."

As they gathered their gear, though, Julius couldn't help but notice that Soma looked very thoughtful about something.

---

"So I threw myself forward, just managed to turn it into a roll, and came up facing behind me to see Death rising up out of the cavern floor, waving that scythe of his and yelling something about hedgehogs," Julius said.

Soma blinked. "Hedgehogs?" he asked, certain he couldn't have heard that right.

"Yeah, it's been almost forty years and I haven't figured that one out. All I can say is he apparently wasn't very fond of the things."*

There hadn't been any enemies around once they'd entered the grand stairway that led to the throne room, and it hadn't taken much discussion for the group to slow down and walk the rest of the way. No sense arriving for battle out of breath, after all. Julius had been helping keep the tension down by telling the story of his first adventure in Castle Dracula, back in 1999, with occasional dry interjections from Arikado.

"Okay," Soma said, as they walked up the decaying, red-carpeted stairway, "why do these places all look the same? This isn't even Castle Dracula, why the whole open-air final staircase? This place was built more than four hundred years before Castle Dracula, why the hell is there a flying buttress over there?"

Arikado raised an eyebrow at him. "That's your most pressing question at the moment?"

"You've answered all the others, and it's been bothering me pretty much for three floors."

"How do you even know what a flying buttress is, anyway?" asked Yoko.

Soma snorted. "Tenth grade history. We spent almost as much time on the Gothic Cathedrals and their construction as we did the Renaissance."

"To answer your question," Arikado replied, as they reached the great doors, "this castle is a chaos upwelling. Chaotic architecture happily borrows any and all architectural advancements in the world at large, and will add them in at random. These castles are not so much haunted as they are ghostly, if you appreciate the difference.

"Also, flying buttresses in their earliest form date back to Biblical times, so even the original architect was likely familiar with the concept," he continued, pushing the great door aside without strain.

Soma blinked. "Really? I thought it was a feature of the Gothic church style, so starting around the 12th century." Ahead, he could see his doppelganger lounging on the throne at the end of the aisle, but if the thing was anything like him at all, it would hate being ignored. The group of them entering its sanctum while discussing architecture ought to piss it off nicely.

The quirk of Arikado's lips indicated that he knew exactly what Soma was doing, as did the fact of his response. "In the form you're most familiar with, yes. However, Byzantine architecture used a precursor, supporting smaller inner walls by connecting them to the larger outer walls of the structure, in effect making the outer walls the buttress."

"Okay, but that up there is TOTALLY a ribbed vault," Hammer threw in, as they entered the throne room proper. The doppelganger, already looking annoyed, rose to greet them, even as the six of them started to spread out.

"If you're done commenting on the architecture?" the duplicate drawled, folding its arms.

Soma made a face. "Actually, I could go on for another four hours about OSHA violations, but I don't think they cover demon castles anyway. Did you want something?"

"Didn't you? I mean, you are here to kill me, right? That is what heroes do."

"Hey, if you want to pack this whole thing in and go relax on a beach in Cabo or something, I'd be perfectly happy to let you go," Soma replied easily. Even so, his hand hadn't left the hilt of his sword. One, he really, really doubted that the doppelganger would actually take him up on his offer, and more importantly, he was the distraction. The plan was for him to do what he did best- be loud, rude, and attention-getting, while Arikado, Yoko, and Mina cut the doppelganger out of the castle's power network. Not that it would mean anything if he actually WAS the castle's master, but given that that was the easy option, none of them were about to lay money on that. If, on the other hand, the doppelganger was simply a front to let Barnard work in peace, then cutting it off from the tap would keep the castle from collapsing around their ears until they had a chance to locate both Barnard and the Alabaster Stone.

"Sure you would," his double smirked. "But that wouldn't be any fun, right? It'd be boring, and we hate being bored. Hey, what did Mina think of your little architectural tour of the castle, anyway? Did you show her the Master bedroom? Or maybe the dungeons, there's LOTS of interesting things down there, and she'd look SO good bent over—"

The Claiomh Solais swept out at head height, meeting the Caladbolg with a loud clang, and whatever else the doppelganger would have said was lost in the ensuing battle.

Despite appearances, Soma hadn't completely lost control of his temper. The whole point of this was to keep the doppelganger focused on him, and the best way to do that was to play the 'brash young hothead' role to the hilt. And if he let it keep talking about Mina, it might realize what she was doing right now, which would be extremely bad. Not having to hear anything more about the thing's sick fantasies was just a bonus.

Doubles or not, Soma and his adversary weren't entirely equally matched. The Claiomh Solais was a double-edged broadsword, its heavy blade made primarily for cutting. The Caladbolg, in contrast, was a "cut-and-thrust" sword, a far more balanced weapon that did exactly what the name implied. As a result, the doppelganger was faster, while Soma had more power, which unfortunately put him on the defensive. This would have been more of a problem if Soma actually had to win the fight; as it was, he only had to avoid losing.

In his favor, however, the Claiomh Solais was a Holy sword, to which the doppelganger's Dark magic was violently allergic. Soma himself had no particular type, which meant that minor wounds remained just that, minor. Oh, they still hurt badly enough, but a cut to the arm wasn't going to be enough to disable him.

"Come on, Soma, you can't tell me you haven't missed this," the copy panted, ducking away from an overhead swing. "This is what we live for, right? Hearts pounding, blood pumping through our veins, riding the adrenaline high? It's like Dad said, we're born fighters."

Shut up and fight. The advice of nearly fourteen years of combat instructors echoed in his brain, and Soma decided not to give his enemy the satisfaction of an answer. Smart-ass remarks in combat had their place, but they were best used to goad the enemy into a mistake. Ideally, he'd stop listening to the bastard altogether, but given that he HAD to keep it focused on him, he didn't have that luxury.

Black and white steel clashed together in a blade lock as his double gave him a slightly unhinged grin.

"Admit it, this whole thing… it's the best thing that ever happened to us, isn't it? All sorts of action, we get paid to have fun, we get a never-ending stream of people and things we can feel GOOD about killing… and hey, we're not alone anymore! We're not that weird half-breed kid with the funny hair, the one who keeps forgetting which side of the Pacific he's on, the one people are only nice to because his parents are rich. No, we've actually got some friends now! Oh sure, they'll kill us the first time we step out of line, but hey, small price to pay, right?" The black sword darted towards his face, and Soma deflected it with his own blade, twisting away as he did so.

"Julius is kind of like Dad, if he weren't half a world away and stuck in meetings for half his life. Yoko says she's our big sister, which is really too bad, given those legs, but ah, we're panting over Mina all the time anyway, so whatever. She hasn't called us a freak to our face yet, that's a win, right?"

Soma could feel the growl starting to build up in his chest. It was getting harder to keep a reign on his temper- some of those verbal barbs were hitting too close to home, even if they were couched in a bunch of Grade A bullshit. He wasn't going to lose his temper though; one badly-chosen strike and he'd have his head taken off while he was trying to correct.

"Arikado thinks we're useful," the doppelganger continued, still dodging Soma's strikes. He was slowing down, though, forced to block more often and evade less. "Useful's good enough, I guess, at least he's polite. And Hammer's just plain got our back. Seriously, this is the best it's ever been!"

"And if I WAS you- if I turned into Dracula again- I'd lose all of it," Soma shot back. "Not helping your case here."

The other smirked at him. "Wouldn't have to. Minds bend pretty easy… you remember, don't you? The way you felt when Celia Fortner almost broke that seal you put in your head, the one you shoved me behind? All you have to be is a little bit stronger, and you could have everything you want.

"It's not like that world's got anything for us, right?" it continued. "We don't fit in, not in Japan, not in the States, not anywhere. There's always been something wrong about us, beyond the way we look, something everybody felt but couldn't identify. But here's where we belong. With the darkness, the power, the blood. We want it, we've always wanted it. All we have to do is give in, and we'll have everything… and everyone… we've ever wanted."

The thing snickered. "Don't you think Mina'd look great in black?"

Dimly, Soma heard something tearing inside his mind. Almost on autopilot, he watched through a haze of red as he batted the Caladbolg aside and impaled his double through the torso with one thrust.

"It won't happen," he snarled quietly, right into his opponent's face. "I'm never going to become that monster."

"Heh. Wh… what makes you think… you have a choice?"

The doppelganger dissolved into a fountain of lights, a black soul ball flew out to merge with him- and Soma's legs decided they'd had enough and went on strike, dumping him onto the floor.

---

As it turned out, the doppelganger's death didn't even get a shudder out of the castle, thanks to the ritual they'd performed. A cursory search turned up neither Alabaster Stone nor anything resembling an energy upwelling, to no one's real surprise.

"Using my powers of pattern recognition," Arikado drawled, "I suspect we'll find it either in the center of the castle… or underground in the catacombs themselves."

Mina left the four adults discussing the odds in favor of the two possibilities, making her way over to where Julius had deposited Soma against a handy wall. Soma wasn't in any condition to be standing just yet, and he'd flatly refused "to get anywhere near that fucking throne, thank you very much."

Nobody'd commented on his language; after what he'd just handled, he was being surprisingly restrained.

Sliding down the wall to settle next to him, Mina gave momentary thanks that she'd had enough warning to dress for a dungeon crawl this time. Her miko's robes had been warm, but extremely restrictive, and as for the usual outfits she wore around town, forget it. Jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and hiking boots might not have been the cutest thing in her closet, but they were warm, durable, and she didn't have to worry too much about what she might be sitting in. No wonder Yoko'd warned her to wear clothes she wouldn't mind feeding to an incinerator afterwards.

Soma sighed, leaning over to touch his shoulder to hers briefly. "So… how much of that did you hear?" he asked, staring absently at a candelabra on the other side of the room.

"More than I wanted to," Mina replied honesty.

"Tell me about it," he snorted. "Still trying to figure out what the hell that thing was. I've fought doppelgangers; they don't talk that much and they sure as hell can't get into your head. And…"

She turned to look at him, tilting her head. "And?"

"And the soul I got from that thing, whatever it was- it's not assimilating. It's just… there, like a stone in a spiderweb."

"It was black. I saw that. I thought they were supposed to be colored?"

He nodded. "Some of them are light grey, the ones that are always on, but yeah. Black… there was one black one once, but that was Dmitri. He'd done something special to it to let him body-jump. This one doesn't feel like that, exactly. Dmitri- once he got in, I couldn't feel him at all. "

"Does it feel bad? I mean… wrong somehow?"

"Not really?" He paused, obviously groping for words. "It's like a jigsaw puzzle piece that's just slightly out of place. It should fit, it will fit, but you've got to turn it the right way first. And it's not turning. Maybe it's more like trying to open a combination lock with a stethoscope. I don't know. They don't make vocabulary for this kind of shit."

Despite his frustration and the dark subject of their discussion, she couldn't help but giggle.

"Yeah, yeah, go on and laugh at me, I can take it," he grinned. "I'm used to it after all."

"… Yeah," she replied softly, sobering. "So I heard."

Closing his eyes, Soma tipped his head back to rest against the stone wall. "Gah. That was such a mess. Ninety percent bullshit, just enough truth that I can't just forget it. Like a rock in your shoe, you know. But it doesn't matter, because the most important thing was bullshit. I'm not Dracula, and I'm never going to be."

"Un." Mina took a deep breath. "But that doesn't mean you can't be the Dark Lord."

"What?" Soma's head came around fast enough to give himself whiplash, grey eyes fixed on her with disturbing focus.

Another deep breath, turning to face him and meet his gaze as steadily as she could. Nine years in America and only three back in Japan meant Soma would most likely read the sustained eye contact as open and honest, rather than rude. I'm so glad Yoko-neesan was willing to teach me all this, she thought fleetingly. Pushing the thought away, she returned to the subject at hand.

"Soma… I've known you most of our lives. I pretty much know you better than anyone except your parents. Even with you in America for nine years, we had email and video calls, so… you've never been someone I don't know.

"No, you'll never be Dracula. You're too kind, you're not really capable of that kind of sustained hate. But that doesn't mean you can't become the Dark Lord, just a different one. But still Soma, even so."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember how we met?"

A nod. "Sure, we were five and some bullies were picking on you at the playground because your hair was red."

Mina giggled a bit. "And then you called them all poopy-heads and said my hair was pretty, and when the biggest one tried to shove you, you bit him."

"Yeeeah, not my finest hour. That's when Kaa-san started making me take self-defense classes, actually. Said if I was going to get into fights, I should know how to do it without risking food poisoning." Soma shook his head. "What's your point?"

"My point is that the first thing you did was try and comfort me. You do like fighting, but it's not your first choice. You've always been more interested in protecting people than hurting them, it's just that if you have to hurt someone to protect someone else, you don't have a problem doing that. It's not a bad thing, and… well, it's one of the things I like about you. But that means it's also kind of your weakness."

He was silent for a long moment. "When Celia Fortner killed that doppelganger that looked like you, I kind of freaked out," he said slowly. "If I hadn't had your omamori protecting me, I probably would have fallen."

Mina nodded. "I don't think… you're never going to become the Dark Lord as long as they keep promising you things. But the chance to wrap us all up like precious glass? That might do it. And you can't keep running away from the possibility. That just… what did Oba-san say? 'Gives it a free shot at your back?'"

Soma chuckled weakly. "Yeah, that sounds like Kaa-san to me. But you're right. I'm not Dracula, but if I keep focusing on that, I'm not guarding against being… well, me. And God knows I'm not exactly a saint."

"Nobody is. And I like you better this way anyway; saints are boring."

"Aww. Love you too, Mina." Soma was now watching as the four adults seemed to come to some type of decision, and missed her blush.

"Looks like we're about to get going… um. Can you help me up? I think I'm stuck."

She couldn't help it- Mina burst out laughing.

---

Going down the castle, Hammer reflected, wasn't actually any easier than going up. For one thing, most of the path was level corridors either way, with the occasional staircase in various states of repair. For another, now that they were heading for the heart of the structure, the enemies were getting bigger and meaner. Or smaller and meaner. If he never saw another one of those damned Fleaman things again, it would be too soon.

Soma had been kinda quiet most of the way down. Not hesitant or withdrawn, he certainly didn't seem to be having any problem knocking those little bouncing monsters out of the air. Just… quiet, like he was thinking something over with whatever RAM the fight left free. Didn't take a genius to guess it had something to do with all that bullshit that doppelganger had been spouting, but it didn't look like Soma was upset or hurting, so he'd leave it be. For now, anyway.

His thoughts were interrupted as the group came to a sharp halt. Pushing forward to stand beside Julius, who as always had taken point, Hammer couldn't help but stare. Even for one of these crazy castles, this was something completely new.

"Damn," he commented, looking down the vast shaft that led into the bowels of the castle, and quite likely the rock it stood on. A staircase wrapped around the walls, spiraling down into the gloom. "Anybody else feel like Sima Yi?"

Arikado gave him a dry glance. "You've read Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

"No, I just played every Dynasty Warriors game ever as a kid. The Empty Fort strategy came up a few times."

"Would someone like to translate for the uncultured gaijin in the audience?" Julius asked, fiddling with his holstered whip.

Soma moved to join them, peering down into the dark. "Zhuge Liang was one of the great strategists of Ancient China. At one point, the fort he was in was threatened by Sima Yi, one of his greatest rivals. Zhuge Liang didn't have the time or manpower for a fight, so he swept the roads, opened the gates, and sat on a viewing platform playing an instrument. Sima Yi figured it was a trap and ordered a retreat."

"Of course, that's one of the parts of the book that's probably fiction," Mina added. "It's one of those things we all study in high school literature. Also, I liked those games too."

"So is it a trap or a bluff?" asked Yoko, completing the group. "Of course, I don't suppose it matters."

Arikado nodded. "Regardless, what we seek is down there. The stairs are wide enough for two abreast, but if we have to fight on them…"

"Single file," Julius decided. "There's a railing, but it's still too easy to go over in a fight. I'll take point, with Hammer behind me. Soma-kun, you're next in line. Put the sword away and focus on projectile soul powers. You want to hit things before they get to you, and preferably before they even get to me. Mina-chan, you go behind him, focus on buffs and throwing out potions if anybody gets hurt. Then Yoko behind her, since her magic attacks are the longest range, and Arikado can take rear in case of back attacks."

Nobody had any objections to that, and they fell into line, carefully making their way down the carved rock, deeper and deeper. Hammer shivered.

"Okay, somebody wanna explain why all of a sudden I feel like a radio antenna?" he asked, adjusting his grip on his hammer.

"It's the castle," Soma replied, sounding subdued. "You never went into the depths of the other two… this is where the power is. It's… it's more REAL than the rest of the building."

Just as quiet, Arikado chimed in. "I suspect this place was here before the arrival of the stone. It isn't a creation of the Chaos power, only suffused with it."

Hammer considered that. "Great, does that mean it won't collapse on us when the tap's turned off?"

"More than likely it will not," the other replied, tone betraying some amusement. "But the castle falling down might result in us being trapped in the caverns anyway."

"Greeeeeaaaat. You're a real ray of sunshine, you know that?"

They continued downward in silence for a while longer, before Julius raised a hand, bringing the group to a halt.

"Doors ahead," he reported. "Pretty ornate, skull motif. Something's on the other side, even if it's just the catacombs. Move up into two-by-two formation, and let's carefully see what we've got."

Exchanging glances, Hammer and Julius moved up, each setting his shoulder to one of the carved bronze doors and pushing slowly. The doors swung open with soundless ease, opening onto a spacious chamber cut out of the rock.

The chamber as a whole was easily four stories high, and obviously not naturally built. Frankly, he didn't have any idea who or what could have carved it, and he didn't want to know. It reminded Hammer of nothing so much as a stadium or an old colosseum. Ahead of them, the ground fell away in a series of tiers down to a flat, open area some hundreds of feet below. Instead of bleachers or seating, though, the tiers were walls honeycombed with niches that almost certainly held coffins… or at least had at one time. In the center of the open space was a large slab of carved rock, its shape reminiscent of an altar.

"This isn't a cemetery," Hammer announced quietly. "It's a boneyard. Ain't nobody down here resting in peace."

"Ah, my visitors have arrived at last!" The call came from down near the altar, where a tall, red-haired man lounged against the side of the altar. "Please, come down and let's talk, face to face!"

"Might as well," Julius grumbled. "Even long-range attacks won't do much from here."

Hammer snorted. "Besides, maybe we can get him monologuing. We still don't know what he wants, just our best guess."

That got a nod from Arikado, and the group cautiously made its way down the stairs.

"Gentlemen!" Barnard stood as they approached smiling widely. "And ladies. Welcome to my humble abode. I do hope you've been enjoying your stay thus far?"

"Peachy," Soma drawled. "All the comforts of home."

The sorcerer laughed. It wasn't the sort of laugh you'd expect from someone like him- no cackling, no booming, and no particular hint of instability. All the same, there was something disturbing about it, possibly because it seemed so normal.

"My apologies for the lack of welcome. I'm afraid I've been distracted with other projects,, and couldn't come to meet you personally. I do hope the guide I provided was satisfactory?"

Hammer shrugged. "Up until it had an accident."

"Ah, yes, but he seems to have served his purpose well enough, as you've found your way down here in good time. I must say, it's been quite entertaining, monitoring your progress through my castle. You're quite the tight-knit unit, even though this is, I think, your first true outing together?"

"We're very adaptable. It's a human thing, I can see why you wouldn't understand," Soma replied acidly.

Barnard laughed again. "Humanity is such a nebulous concept though, isn't it? Who does or doesn't qualify is always changing, depending on who and when you are. Under Dracula's reign, technically neither Miss Belnades nor I would have been human. Certanily your tall, dark, and silent friend wouldn't have been. It's far more common to say what isn't human than to identify what is. Humanity is great and petty and wise and foolish and selfish and noble and endlessly fascinating, like the waves of a changing sea. Wouldn't you agree?"

Arikado cocked his head. "If that is what you believe, then why seek the resurrection of one who aspired to the destruction of the human race?"

"Ah, but you misunderstand!" Spreading his arms wide, Barnard's smile grew more genial, if that were possible. "I don't seek the resurrection of Dracula; his time is finished. I'm far more interested in the rise of the NEW Dark Lord, the one who will follow. Just as day follows night and winter follows spring. An old world passes away, and a new one dawns. It is the way of all things, including the lords of darkness. I'm just standing in as midwife to help the new world along."

Soma growled, hand on the hilt of his sword. "If you think we're going to stand here and just let that happen, you are seriously off-base."

Faintly Hammer could hear Yoko behind him, pushing Mina farther away from the threat.

The sorceror's smile was amused and almost condescending, his hands folded in front of him in a mockery of paternal benevolence. "Ah, you're still so young. There's more than one way to awaken you to your destiny."

Faster than a blink, a handgun appeared in Barnard's hand. Hammer barely had time to register it- snubnose, automatic, probably nine milimeter- before the other man raised and fired.

And Julius dropped like a stone, doubled over from the sudden hole in his gut.

---

Before the echoes of the shot had died away, Yoko was moving, throwing herself to her knees and clamping her hands over the welling hole in Julius' gut. She was faintly aware of Mina beside her, chanting softly and urgently as she ran through the words of one of her constitution-boosting spells. Magic, their kind of magic, wasn't much good for actual healing, and giving Julius a potion wasn't happening with a gut wound. Their only hope was to stop the bleeding and keep him strong enough to get him out of there, to a hospital or someting, keep peritonitis from setting in-

A pair of large, calloused hands came down over hers, breaking into her racing thoughts. Blinking, she looked up to meet Hammer's dark eyes, unusually serious.

"You leave this to me an' Mina-chan," he instructed. "I've dealt with more bullet wounds than either of us wanna think about, and there ain't too much I can do to something like that." He jerked his head to one side, and Yoko's gaze followed his motion, paling as she saw what she'd missed in the last few seconds.

Barnard wasn't laughing anymore, but that sadly wasn't because either Soma or Arikado had managed to put a length of steel through the bastard's lungs. A black smoke or fog had risen from the ground, and was swirling around and into the sorceror like an ebony whirlwind. Arikado and Soma were circling him, weapons out, but neither dared brave that miasma for a strike.

Julius's blood, Yoko thought numbly, as she suddenly understood. The castle was unholy ground, not only Dark, but evil, anathema in every way to the holy and near-divine power that ran in the Belmont line. And Julius had always been considered the strongest of the family, surpassing even the legendary Richter. Spilling his blood on the tainted soil of these catacombs... to be honest, it was like adding bleach to ammonia, and the results were just as deadly.

And then Barnard began to laugh again. This time the sound held more than a little of the edge of madness in it, and it built with the swirling wind, growing more shrill and high-pitched as the man's form swelled and changed, growing extra arms, bat-like wings, and eyes in places no eyes should ever be. Forcing her gaze back to meet Hammer's, she nodded sharply.

"Right." Pulling her hands out from under his, she stood. "Keep him alive. We're going to finish this." Not even bothering to wipe the blood from her hands, she ignited a fireball and dived into the fight.

Afterwards, she could never remember the battle as anything more than snapshots, much like any other in her history. Jump over the dark fireball. Sidestep the thrusting rib-spikes. Duck under a lashing tentacle and send a spray of ice at the eye in the torso. Distantly she wondered why these things always had so many damn eyes. Multiple eyes, mouths in places they shouldn't be; really, for all of Barnard's cunning and creative plan, he'd gone and turned himself into a bargain-basement eldritch abomination, the kind she'd cut her teeth on training under Dr. Aulin all those years ago. Somewhere to her right, Soma was swearing ripely as he threw fireballs, lightning, and at least one cat in one of the thing's multiple faces. To the left, Arikado was a silent shadow in black, phasing in and out of visibility as he sliced and stabbed at anything in range.

Finally, after too long and probably very little time at all, Soma took advantage of the opening she and Arikado had made for him, leaping into the air to bury the Claiomh Solais hilt-deep in the large eye that connected the Barnard-thing's torso to its... base. Screaming, the thing exploded, sending clouds of actinic black smoke everywhere.

Clouds that promptly turned and made for Soma in far too familliar a fashion. Yoko swore, taking a step towards the younger man, only to find Arikado blocking her path with one arm. Fruitlessly, she glared at him. All right, so there probably wasn't anything she could do to help Soma if the darkness pushed him over the edge again, but did the bastard have to be so bloodless about it? Which wasn't fair to Arikado either, she knew he cared about Soma just as much as the rest of them, but she was rubbed raw right now, and wasn't feeling particularly charitable.

Slowly, the black cocoon around Soma faded away, leaving him standing there, apparently unchanged. Except, of course, for the dark aura that pulsed around him with an almost audible throb. Ignoring the rest of them, Soma turned and picked his way lazily across the bone-strewn floor, over to the altar where a palm-sized orb glinted with the white of polished bone- or alabaster.

Soma stared at the thing for a long moment, then let out a tiny huff that might have been a laugh. Seeing him start to reach for it, Yoko threw herself forward. Arikado was faster off the mark, but even he didn't manage to reach the altar before Soma's fingers touched the stone, and white light seared the world away.

---

Stopping a few feet outside the makeshift campsite, Arikado braced himself lightly against a tree as he stopped to listen.

"Do you remember those cakes with the barbie doll in the center, like a skirt?" Yoko was asking, earnestly.

Julius looked wary. "... Yes."

"Well, imagine the cake had eyes and tentacles-"

And that sounded like as good a moment as any to step in, before the metaphor became any more disturbing. Hideous abominations became passé after a while, but trying to describe them never ended anywhere good. Clearing his throat, Arikado stepped out of the trees as four curious gazes turned to him.

"The helicopter is almost loaded, and apparently received no damage in the castle's collapse," he reported. "Hammer believes we can lift off at any time."

From his seat against a large rock that might once have been a cornerstone, Soma squinted at the sun just clearing the eastern horizon.

"Thanks, Arikado," the boy said tiredly. "Sorry we weren't more help." One arm was tight around Mina's shoulders, as the young miko snuggled a bit closer to him.

"I believe abdominal wounds and extreme magical exhaustion are reasonable excuses to avoid manual labor," Arikado replied dryly. "It's not as though Hammer and myself had any trouble with the heavy lifting."

Julius sat up a bit straighter, Yoko supporting him just a bit. "Speaking of abdominal wounds," the man asked, prodding his stomach, "why don't I have one anymore?"

A shrug from the woman beside him. "Search me. All I know is the world went white and we were suddenly out here. You and Soma-kun were out cold, and your bullet wound was completely gone." Blue eyes turned to Arikado, who gave his own shrug in reply.

"Eheh." Soma shifted slightly, an almost sheepish expression crossing the boy's face.

"Oh, there's a look with a story behind it," Hammer announced, wiping grease off his hands with a cloth as he joined them. "Spill, kiddo."

Soma straightened up a bit, one hand coming back to rub at the back of his neck. "Well... it's kind of a long story, but... lemme see if I can make it a bit shorter.

"Okay, for me, at least, it started with that doppelganger Barnard made. It wasn't just a doppelganger, though, because Barnard added a little something extra. As near as I can tell, he went to the site of Walter Bernhard's old castle and managed to find some dust that was left from the destruction of the Ebony Stone."

"After almost a thousand years?" Mina blinked at him.

"That stuff's not like ordinary dust, Mina. Even with the stone destroyed, it still had power. All he had to do was say the right spell and it'd pull back together. Not enough to remake the stone but certainly enough to make a doppelganger special."

Julius frowned. "Special how?"

"Hammer said it, remember? The Shadow, Jung's idea of the nigredo. That thing was basically only half a doppelganger. The rest was my Shadow, everything I repress or deny. So it knew how to push all my buttons, and being part doppelganger, it could lie to do it."

"A win-win situation," Arikado realized. "Either the Shadow double would kill Soma-kun, and thus effectively become him and rise as the new Dark Lord, or Soma would absorb it and be consumed."

The boy nodded. "Yeah. Except he didn't figure on me accepting my Shadow. Doubt he thought anybody like me could or would accept all of that without giving in to it."

"Okay," Hammer broke in, lowering himself onto a nearby rock. "But that doesn't explain the rest of what happened down there."

Soma ran a hand through his hair. "So we killed Barnard, and all the dark power and stuff ran straight for me, probably because I'm most susceptible to it, like cats do if you're allergic. But with that soul still unassimilated in my head, it all had somewhere to go and someone else to manifest as. We wrestled it out and... well, like Mina said. I'm not Dracula, but I know Soma can be just as bad. But if I stop running and face up to it... well, I know who I am. And that means it isn't going to control me anymore."

Shifting again, Julius leaned forward. "But why grab the Alabaster Stone? Given what it was supposed to do..."

"The stones were a trio, they were made together. The whole thing was to pervert the Great Work, right? And the doppelganger inside me had the remains of the Ebony Stone. And I picked up the Alabaster Stone. But there's one more. Guys... what was the power of the Crimson Stone?"

Oh. Arikado thought he knew where this was going. "It stole the souls of vampires and gave their power and abilities to it's master."

Yoko sucked in a breath, and Arikado knew she'd realized the same thing he had.

Soma's smile was wry. "Yeah. The Power of Dominance... I am the Crimson Stone. And the Crimson Stone was always a flawed version of the Elixir of Life. So with the two other stones and all that power, I could fix things. Just that once."

"But... if the stone was flawed..." Mina ventured.

"Citrinitas," replied Soma. "The stones were flawed because they left out the third stage. Gandalfi said it was the switch from silver to gold, lunar to solar, illusions to truth." He suddenly looked unutterably tired. "And the whole Lord of Darkness thing was really just one big lie, after all, to keep from facing that he'd lost something he'd never get back."

And whatever else might befall, Arikado knew, Soma was never one to run away from truth, especially not when those he cared for needed him. Suddenly, he huffed in amusement.

"Are you familiar with the practice of Kintsugi?" he asked, as five startled stares winged his way.

Mina cocked her head. "Repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer?"

"Indeed. One repairs the flaws and damage with gold, to highlight that the piece has survived. That it is enduring, rather than perfect."

Soma blushed at that, and quickly changed the subject. Arikado let the conversation wash over him as he soaked in the warmth of the rising sun. Yes... not a vessel of immortal perfection, or a cold, empty eternal stasis, but gold settling into the cracks and making something new.

Yes, he could see that now. And for the first time in a very long time, he found himself eager to greet the new day.

Owari

AN: If you're wondering about why Death hates hedgehogs... In Rondo of Blood, Death was voiced by the late Chikao Ootsuka, who provided the voice of Dr. Eggman in all the Sonic the Hedgehog games.