Sorting Things Out
I don't own Castlevania.
"Table for two please."
"Of course. Here's a table for you, here are your menus and if you need anything else just call me over."
"Thank you Erika."
The waitress departed with a quick smile to Arikado before seeing to the next customer. It had been one month since the solar eclipse and things had returned to normal for Soma for the most part. He still saw Mina frequently and class work wasn't too much for him to handle yet. He hadn't heard from Hammer recently so he didn't know if he had set up shop somewhere yet. Things were calm.
"So Soma, why don't you tell me why you wanted to meet with me? I believe you said you had questions."
"I just want to understand everything about what happened during the eclipse. Maybe I should have asked sooner but I wanted a bit of time away from all of that. I couldn't ask right after reaching the throne room because time was an issue at that point," explained Soma.
"Very well," replied Arikado. "What would you like to know?"
Soma tentatively looked Arikado in the eye. "So… I am Dracula, right?" he asked.
"You are Dracula's reincarnation," replied Arikado. "Your soul and Dracula's magical powers are one and the same. You inherited the Power of Dominance from Dracula, as it represents his power to rule over the various monsters of his castle. Your mind however, is your own. You are yourself. Don't doubt yourself now."
"Okay. So why did you bring me to the castle?" asked Soma. "You did bring me to the castle, right?"
"Yes Soma, I did bring you to the castle. As for why I brought you there, it was bound to happen eventually so I wanted to make sure I was there with you so I could use my powers. If you had gone there on your own you would have eventually reached the throne room. You would have then awakened and the evil spirit would have flown into you. Once it finished, you would have become Count Dracula in soul and mind. By going there with you I was able to ensure that when you awakened I would be there to slow the flow of the evil spirit. I would also be there to tell you how to cut off the source of the chaos influencing the spirit, preventing you from being taken over."
"What was the spirit flowing into me?"
"The spirit of the castle," replied Arikado.
"The castle is alive?" asked Soma, eyebrows raised.
"Dracula's castle, Castlevania, is alive. It is a creature of chaos that has changed every time it has returned. The layout of the castle during 1999 was different from the layout when you went there last month."
"So cutting off the source of chaos stopped the spirit from flowing into me?" asked Soma.
"The spirit would not flow into you without the chaos to guide it," replied Arikado.
Soma took a moment to process what he had heard.
"So, do you have any more questions Soma?"
"… So everything is over, right?"
"Yes Soma, everything is over. Do you have doubts?" asked Arikado.
"I just want to be certain. So there's no chance of me becoming Dracula in the future? Like, what if there's some cult out there with a desire to resurrect Dracula for some nefarious purpose? There could be a cult leader with two underlings, one of them dumb muscle and the other a smug intellectual. Then the leader kills Mina in front of me and I get so mad I become Dracula."
Arikado raised one eyebrow. "That was an oddly specific description of a hypothetical group and event Soma."
"Yeah. I don't know where that came from," Soma agreed.
"Well Soma, there is no chance of that happening. If that were possible, bringing you to the castle and everything we did there would be for nothing. As for the possibility of you turning evil, whether you use your powers for good or bad is up to you. You can be good or evil but what you are is up to you."
Soma released a breath he didn't know he'd held.
"Thanks Arikado."
With no more questions, the two men turned their attentions to their menus.