Lunar Painting - A Sailor Moon / Castlevania Crossover
By Kane Magus
Disclaimers: The Sailor Moon universe and all characters in it was created by Naoko Takeuchi and is copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, DiC and probably a lot more.
The Castlevania universe and all characters in it was created by and is copyrighted by the nice folks at Konami.
Both are being used without permission or consent by this author. This author hopes they don't mind as this fan fic was written purely for fun.
And for the sake of this author's ego, which has swelled exponentially since he finally finished this blasted thing (^_^), feel free to distribute this fic to anybody and everybody you want. But please, try not to make any money off of it, because I sure know I'm not.
Prologue - Late 1996
Dak looked up from writing in his journal at a slight rustling sound just outside of the window. Just like every other night during the month that he had been staying at the small Romanian inn, he saw a small family of bats leave their hiding places in the roof of the inn and fly off into the night looking for food. However, unlike every other night, they gave him an odd sense of agitation this night. "Hmmph, I guess I'm just still wound up after today's excitement," he said to himself.
He glanced toward the back of the room. His eyes came to rest on the large, elaborately designed, wooden coffin that took up the majority of the area.
"I really wish I didn't have to keep it here," he said, thinking aloud, "but once I uncovered it I couldn't very well just leave it in that catacomb or tomb raiders probably would have found out about it and stolen it. I didn't have time to make arrangements for it to be taken to a more secure location. No, I made the right decision bringing it here, I'm sure."
Dak shook his head wistfully, still muttering to himself, "Boy the value of that single casket is beyond measure. To think that after years of searching I finally made the discovery of the century... no make that the millennium. I just wish that I could open it and see what all is in there..." At this he started to rise from his chair. Thinking better of it though, he sat down and muttered, "But no, I can't risk damaging it after all I've been through to get it."
As he went back to writing, he thought back upon the troubles he'd had in just the past month since he arrived in Romania, not to mention the troubles he'd had the many years prior to it. One of the bigger problems he'd had since arriving there was finding someone familiar with the surrounding countryside to act as his guide. Well, that wasn't exactly the problem. The real problem was finding someone who wouldn't curse him for a fool and leave him standing in the dust at the slightest hint of what he intended to do.
Finally, he'd found a guide who wasn't afraid of him or his quest. He'd been a little skeptical at first though. His guide was a young woman who couldn't have been older than maybe seventeen or eighteen years old. She'd told him her name was Kara Belnades and that she was very familiar with both the area and the subject of his journey. She'd refused to reveal anything more definitive than that other than to say that she thought he was wasting his time on a wild goose chase. She had turned out to be an excellent guide though.
Dak looked up again as he remembered the events of that very day. After weeks of walking the Romanian countryside looking for any sort of clue that might lead him to his quarry, they had come upon a small cave. The cave was so small in fact that had he been alone he probably would have missed it altogether.
"Ah, I think I see something, Dr. Jones," Kara said pointing to the small, almost invisible indentation in the nearby hillside.
"Well, let's go check it out, then," Dak replied. They walked over to the cave entrance and peered inside. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, Dak turned to Kara and said, "You want to wait out here with the team or come with me?"
"I'm coming with you. I've come this far with you, no sense in quitting now," Kara said as she began to crawl through the cave opening, sensing Dak's excitement at a potential discovery grow by the minute.
Dak turned to the rest of his team, which consisted mostly of some people he had hired in the States a few years back. They weren't exactly friends but he'd come to depend upon them. "Ok, guys, Kara and I are going in. You guys stay out here. I'll call you if I need you." He then followed Kara into the small opening.
The cave opened into a much larger catacomb that extended far into the hillside. Dak produced a pair of high intensity flashlights and handed one to Kara. Soon, they came upon, of all things, a large oaken doorway. There were runes on the doorway that Dak couldn't decipher.
"Hmm," Dak mumbled as they approached the doorway, "there seems to be some sort of writing on the archway over the door but I can't make it out. I don't understand the language. Can you read it, Kara?"
Kara walked up to the door and looked at the writing. Although she understood many different languages, this one looked archaic and thus would be difficult for her to translate. "It's... I think it's an old form of Latin. I'll try to translate: 'To any and all who are foolish enough to have come here. Take heed for my words are of the utmost importance. Beyond this portal lies at rest an unparalleled evil. Through the efforts of myself and my allies, we were able to put a seal on the chamber in which he lies that, hopefully, will keep him locked away for eternity. DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER. Your lives, nay, the very fate of this world will be endangered if you go any further. Again, heed my warning and go from this place and never return.' At the bottom is the letter 'A'."
After reading the warning, Kara paled visibly. "I don't believe it... the stories were true... my ancestors... I'm such an idiot to have doubted..." The rest of her speech was incoherent ramblings in her native tongue that Dak couldn't make out.
"Wow, that's some warning. It's almost as good as some of the ones I've seen on tombs of the Pharaohs." He stood there regarding the writing on the wall for a moment then began to force open the door.
Kara looked at him in shock, "Dr. Jones, for the love of God, what are you doing!"
"I'm continuing my search, what does it look like?" he said, stopping to look at her.
"But the warning... I never believed it before, but it is said my family has had a long history dealing with... him," she didn't even want to say the name, "Now that I know the stories are true, I think we should obey the warning and get out of here!"
He stared at her for a moment then went back to opening the door. "Look, there's no way in hell I'm going to let some ancient curse or whatever that was stop me when I'm this close. I mean, come on. What do you expect to happen? You think Bela Lugosi is going to pop up and put the bite on you? Those are just myths. Look, Vlad Tepes was just a person, like you and me. Granted he was a sadistic and bloodthirsty person, but he was still just a human being. I hope I can shed the light of truth on those myths with what I think we're about to find." He had the door open by then and went inside. Kara was deathly pale. She looked like she wanted to run, but instead she made the sign of the cross and followed Dak into the room. "Fool," she said under her breath.
Sitting there in the center of the room was the large casket. It was the only thing in the room. Dak walked up to it and put his hands on it. It perfectly matched the descriptions he had heard in the documents he had obtained over the years. "Finally, after years of preparation, I've found it. The final resting place of Vlad Tepes. Kara, go get the guys. We've got to get this thing out of here... Kara? Kara!"
He turned to see that she had fainted dead away. He picked her up and carried her out of the cave, then made arrangements with his crew to have the coffin brought back to his room for the night. He told them he would make further arrangements for it tomorrow since by then it was nearly dark.
"And now, the world will finally know about the man behind the myths," Dak thought as he continued writing in the journal. A slight bump caused him to stop momentarily. He shook his head and said, "Damned bats. They're really starting to get on my nerves."
"Ah, but what possible reason could you have to be annoyed at such beautiful creatures," said a very deep, very dark voice from very close behind him.
Dak's heart skipped a beat as he leapt up from the desk, knocking the chair back. He started to turn around when he felt powerful hands grip his shoulders and hurl him across the room.
After Dak got shakily to his feet, he looked at his attacker. His face went a pale white at what he saw. "....I do not believe what I'm seeing..."
Before him stood a man nearly seven feet tall, wearing a black vest with a white undershirt, black pants, and a long black cape with red inner lining. Around his neck was some sort of amulet. His long, grayish hair waved freely in the still night air. His mustache, which was the same color as his hair, stuck out from either side of his mouth. The most striking feature about him was his skin color. It was a pale grayish color; it almost looked as if it had a greenish tint to it. At least, it was the most striking feature until the man smiled, revealing very long, very sharp canines.
"Oh my God," said Dak as he started mindlessly groping for a weapon, not that it would do any good, "it can't be... who... what are you?!" But he feared he already knew the answer to that question, however impossible that answer might seem to him.
"Oh you know full well who I am, Dakota Jones. I am the object of your most foolish quest. You know, that myth that you were going to dispel by proving I was... human," the man spat the last word out, "My name is... well, I've gone by many names. You may know me as Vlad the Impaler or, of course, Count Dracula. I've been watching you from afar as what began as a passing interest in myself turned into an overwhelming obsession... with a little push from me of course. I must thank you. Because of your doomed search I am now free of that cursed seal... weak though it was... I would have escaped on my own eventually. But it never hurts to have help. May you serve me well as the first of my new army of loyal subjects." With that Dracula started to glide toward Dak.
Dak's hand came to rest upon a weapon at last. It was his most cherished possession: a whip that had belonged to his grandfather. He picked up the whip and with skill born of years of practice, sent it hurtling toward his adversary.
Dracula, for his part, merely reached out and caught the whip as it neared him. "Ah, foolish mortal. You are no Belmont, and this is no 'Vampire Killer'." He gave the whip a yank and once again Dak was flying through the air. This time he crashed through the large glass double doors that led outside to the second story balcony. Ignoring the cuts he received from the broken glass, he stood to face his assailant once again.
"Now, mortal, as entertaining as this has been, I must feed. I'm not quite fully recovered from my time in that cave, and also it is not yet time for my new rebirth. I have you to thank for my premature awakening." He continued on toward Dak.
Dak backed up until he bumped the railing surrounding the balcony. He looked behind him and saw the drop off. Although he was only on the second floor of the inn, the inn sat on the edge of a cliff, so below him was a good two hundred feet before there was any ground. To Dak, it had seemed a rather stupid place to build something. Now, that feeling was multiplied as he now had no where to run because of it. Dak turned to see Dracula almost on him. He screamed and threw his arms up, leaning back in the process. Suddenly, the railing behind him gave way. Almost as if in slow motion, Dak fell screaming to his death on the rocky cliff side far below.
Dracula looked down at his would-be victim in annoyance. "A pity. I really had my heart set on his blood tonight. But, as I said before, it is not time for me to awaken yet. I've been without feeding for nearly eighty years, I certainly think I'll be able to wait a few more months. I must sleep until that time..." He gave one last glance to the disfigured body at the bottom of the ravine.
He returned to his coffin and all was as it was before save for the broken rail of the balcony and the fact that the sole occupant of the room was lying with a broken neck over two hundred feet below.
Kara awoke from her fitful sleep with a jump. That night she had dreamed that she was on a quest to destroy Dracula. With her in the dream were three other beings, but she could not make out who they were. All she remembered was that one of them, apparently the leader, used a whip. Another of them was some sort of sailor, maybe a pirate of some kind. The third was the most mysterious of all. She remembered nothing of him other than that he had a close connection to Dracula. They all seemed very familiar to her, and not just because she had been told stories similar to her dream many times by both her mother and her grandmother. No, this was different even from those countless tales from her youth. However, their small group had not been alone. There were several others who were helping them as well. She could remember nothing of them however... in fact she didn't think that they were part of the stories she had been told as a child either.
"Weird dream..." she thought as she got out of bed and dressed. She left her room and immediately noticed something was wrong.
Down the hall, the door to Dak's room was open, and she could hear voices coming from within. She entered the room and saw several people, including Dak's team, surveying the room.
"What's going on here?" she asked, heading toward Jeff, the one who was usually left in charge of Dak's team when Dak was otherwise occupied. "Where's Dr. Jones?"
Jeff looked at her with a solemn expression then pointed toward the balcony where several more people were examining the railing. Kara went out on the balcony. She noticed that the railing was broken in one area. She also spotted an old leather whip lying, apparently undiscovered by the others, in the corner next to the wall. Stepping carefully on the broken glass, she moved over and picked up the whip. In the distance, she heard a helicopter getting closer.
She went up to the owner of the inn who was out on the balcony with some others and asked, "What has happened here? Where is Dr. Jones?"
The inn keeper jumped as if startled, and turned around to face her. "Great evil was here very recently! I can feel it! It's that cursed coffin that he had brought here very much against my wishes! This is the work of a vampire, mark my words! It should be destroyed now, while we still have time! You, of all people, should know that what I say is true!" He pointed toward the broken railing. "There... there you will find your friend."
Before Kara could say anything more, the people on the balcony went back inside the room and headed for the coffin. Jeff and the others in Dak's team stepped in front of them. "What do you think you are doing?" Jeff asked.
"We are going to destroy the evil that lies in that coffin. Do not try to stop us!" They forced their way past Jeff and the others, ignoring their protests. Upon reaching the casket, the innkeeper forced it open.
Kara walked over with Jeff and they looked into the coffin as well. The coffin was empty save for a thin layer of dust lining the bottom.
"See," said Jeff, "you people are too superstitious for your own good. As horrible as it is that Dak fell off your balcony, you can't go dreaming up wild excuses for it. If anybody is to blame, it is you. If you had just bothered to maintain this run down excuse for an inn, you would have seen how rotten that wood out on the railing really is. You..."
The innkeeper looked up from the coffin angrily, "I do not care what you say. I know there is evil in the air. I want this thing out of this inn before noon today. I don't care what you do with it, although I wish you would destroy it, I just want it out of here and you with it!"
"Fine," said Jeff evenly. By then, the helicopter had arrived and was landing nearby. "Our ride back to the airport is here. We'll be happy to oblige you in your stupid superstitions. As soon as we... can get Dak's body out of that chasm, we'll load up the coffin and be on our way. It'll be none too soon for my tastes. You and your damned garlic. I'm so sick of garlic I could puke."
Meanwhile, Kara had been examining the coffin more carefully while Jeff and the old innkeeper argued. Although she couldn't get a bead on it she could definitely feel something was amiss with the coffin. "I know there is more to this than it seems. I can't just dismiss that warning in the cave. I suppose all that is left for me is to accept my destiny. I will keep an eye on this coffin and at the first definitive clue that Dracula has really returned, I will follow in my ancestors' footsteps."
Jeff, finished with talking to the innkeeper, walked over to Kara. "Well, Kara, I wish Dak were here to do this himself, but he isn't. Here is what we owe you for helping us in our search." He handed her a good amount of money.
Kara said, "I can't accept this. Not after..."
Jeff continued to offer her the money. He said, "Look, I know Dak's death is a blow to everyone, but he would have wanted you to have this. You turned out to be all right after all."
"Instead of repaying me with money, can you do me a favor?" Kara said.
"Um, I guess that would depend on the favor," Jeff replied.
"Let me go with you. I don't know why, but I feel that my role in all this has not yet come to an end."
Jeff stood thoughtfully regarding her for a moment, then said, "Well, I don't see any problems with that I guess. But our part in this will be finished when we get back to America. We will turn the coffin over to the university. I think they were going to tour it in various places around the world, sort of like they did with the remains of Rameses a few years back. Of course, we'll be leaving today, as soon as we get it loaded up... and as soon as we can make arrangements for Dak's body."
"That will be fine," said Kara. "I live alone so I have no real connections with other people to have to break, since my parents have both passed away. All I need is a little time to get a few things I need to take with me and I'll be ready. I'll be back here in a little while."
Later that day, the team loaded up their things on the helicopter that would take them back to the airport. Kara joined them with what she had gotten together. They flew back to the airport and then caught their flight back to the United States.
"I think my life just took a major left turn," Kara thought to herself as she watched the clouds pass by the window. She fingered a leather pouch that was in her lap.
In the cargo bay of the jet, noticed by no one, the coffin of Dracula glowed softly, as a fine mist seeped out of it.