Castlevania: The Seven Roses of Sorrow
Chapter one: Soul Cross and Mercury Lamp.
Cover image: A confused looking Soma Cruz carrying a smirking Suigintou with Hector behind them, wearing an impassive expression, the background being a red rose and black feathers fall around them.
The year was 2037 A.D. 38 years after Lord Dracula's defeat, and a relative peace has graced the world since that fateful day, but all was not well, for a new evil was born in the Dark Lord's wake, in the form of his subordinate, the resurrected Devil Forgemaster, Isaac, who seeks to replicate the Prince of Darkness's reign of terror, but unknown to the mad alchemist, his rival, Hector, who was granted immortality the moment he sealed the Vampire King's curse, was alive and knew all about the plot.
The story begins with Soma Cruz who had failed the entrance exams of all the high schools of his choice, and he deemed the mysterious Yokai Academy application form he had gotten from the white robed priest far too suspicious, living without a purpose and a broken self-image, he went from one part time job to another until Hector gave him a permanent one, over the course of five years, he would fight his fate as the reincarnated Dracula not once but twice, now he is thrust into an all new struggle.
It was a dark and cloudy over the skies of Hakuba City and a young man with white hair and grey eyes, dressed in a black shirt, blue pants and a fur collared white trench coat was on his way to a figure modelling shop with a dark green sign that had gold text that read "Unschuldiges Leben" as the mysterious youth entered the store, he saw toys of various kinds from dolls and puppets to well-made figurines, and behind the counter, an older man in his mid-twenties with shoulder length silver hair and icy blue eyes dressed in a white, button up dress-shirt and black pants.
"Ah, Soma…" The silver haired man greeted the white haired youth with the respectful tone one would give a valued student. "Here for another lesson?"
"Yeah, thanks for all the tips, Mr. Hector." Soma smiled before taking a look at the Devil Forgemaster's newest creations, the white haired youth aspired to replicate the figurines he saw before him. "It's a good thing I can work here full time; becoming an alchemist is a lot cooler than some desk job."
"You still have a long way to go." Hector smiled at Soma, finding the white haired youth's enthusiasm with his work very satisfying. "By the way, something arrived yesterday and I feel you should have it." The Devil Forgemaster gestured at the large brown box with gold markings behind him.
"Thanks but…" Soma eyed the large box suspiciously, though he was grateful to Hector, the white haired youth couldn't help but question the sudden gesture as well as the contents of the case. "What is this?"
"She is your… entrance exam as my apprentice." Hector pointed at the box with a stern expression on his face, demonstrating the importance of its contents.
"Then whatever 'she' is, I won't fail!" Soma picked up the box, determined to pass Hector's test, the white haired youth's uncertainty replaced by excitement.
"Handle her with care, she may act tough, but she's very delicate." Hector displayed his clear caring attachment to the box's contents, which urged Soma to pass the test even more.
"Whatever that means… I'm not screwing up!" Soma's confusion returned. He knew all about Hector's eccentric attachment to his work, but what baffled the white haired youth, was the Devil Forgemaster's implication that a living thing resided in the box.
Soma headed home to his apartment with the strange box in hand, there, many alchemic texts and modelling materials, but what really stood out about the room were the large amount of figurines and the stacks of dvds, games and books.
"Let's get started on this test…" Soma opened the box, but what he saw surprised him, a silver haired doll dressed in a gothic black and white dress with two black wings sprouting out of her back but around the appendages, the white haired youth noticed several cracks that ran down the figures back.
"So I have to fix this doll, huh?" Soma smiled and placed his finger on the figure's cheek, using his alchemic abilities to identify the materials used to craft the 'girl' before placing his other hand over some of his modelling material to match the dolls.
Soma performed the spell and a blue flame appeared between Soma's finger and the doll's back, as the newly transformed materials filled in the cracks, repairing the figure.
"That should do it!' Soma smiled, pleased by the result of his alchemic spell. The doll was now fully repaired; the white haired youth then noticed a gold key in the box. "Guess I just have to wind her up." The mysterious young man placed the key on the figure's back, winding it up.
As Soma finished winding up, the doll started moving, and before the white haired youth could comprehend what was going on, the figure's wings flapped and she started floating in the air before opening her wine red eyes.
"So you wound me up?" The doll eyed Soma intently before curling her lips into a smirk, seeing the white haired youth's mysterious yet noble appearance excited the figure. "You don't look half bad… for a human."
"Umm… thanks, I guess." Soma smiled nervously at the doll, for any normal human, a talking doll would have been a frightening experience, but the white haired youth had already seen many horrors in Dracula's Castle. "My name's Soma."
"I am Suigintou, the first Rozen Maiden Doll." The doll proclaimed proudly to Soma, but before she could finish her introduction, the figure noticed that her damaged body was repaired. "D-did you?"
"Yeah, I fixed you up good." Soma smiled at Suigintou, waiting eagerly for the First Rozen Maiden's reply to his handiwork.
"You did a good job, I suppose." Suigintou looked at Soma, she was very grateful for his repairs to her body, but the doll refused to show her gratitude to a human she had just met.
"Good to hear, I guess that means I passed Hector's test." Soma sighed in relief, glad that he had proven himself to his mentor, but the white haired youth knew that he still had to take care of Suigintou.
"Human…" Suigintou kept her gaze fixed on Soma, though his voice sounded kind and gentle, the white haired youth emanated a cold and regal aura not unlike a dark prince, the unlikely combination stirred up the First Rozen Maiden's emotions in a way she's never felt before. "I suppose you will become a fine Medium for me."
"Your… what now…?" Soma was confused by Suigintou's choice of words, Soma knew about animating life from Hector's lessons, but never has he heard the words "Medium" or even "Rozen Maiden" for the matter in any of the texts. "This is really confusing…"
"Kiss this ring." Suigintou held her hand out to Soma to show him the rose ring on her finger, the First Rozen Maiden's smirk returning as she glanced at the white haired youth once more. "And you will become mine…"
"What the hell am I getting myself into?" Though confused at Suigintou's gesture, Soma still saw the request as part of Hector's test, without another word, the white haired youth gently took the First Rozen Maiden's hand and placed a kiss on the rose ring and with a burning sensation; an identical rose ring appeared on the mysterious young man's finger. "Great… now I'm engaged to a doll…" The Reborn Dracula joked mentally about the matching rings.
"Now you're all mine, human." Suigintou's smirk widened as she saw the rose ring form on Soma's finger, signifying their contract, just then, the image of a castle bathed in the light of the blood red moon appeared in the First Rozen Maiden's mind and up on the throne room, was a man in his late twenties with long white hair and piercing red eyes dressed in a regal black coat with red accents over an elegant black dress shirt with a gold trim, the dark figure emanated a powerful malefic aura and his eyes glowed with hatred. "H-human… what are you?" The doll was terrified by the castellans sinister yet striking appearance.
"So, it's the kind of contract where you can look into my mind, huh?" Soma saw the signs of fear on Suigintou's face, the white haired youth saw the same look in her eyes that Mina had back in the castle when his true nature was discovered. "Yes… I am the reincarnation of Dracula…"
"D-Dracula!?" Suigintou was shocked, having been alive for almost two centuries; the First Rozen Maiden was no stranger to the legend of the Dark Prince, even having seen the Vampire King's evil deeds first hand.
"I understand if you're afraid of me…" Soma stared at Suigintou, seeing the still shocked look on the dolls face, the revelation of his true identity would scare even the most ruthless individual.
"That's… amazing!" Suigintou's fearful expression was replaced by a lustful smirk, the First Rozen Maiden could barely contain her excitement as a blush crept up her cheeks, at first, she thought her medium was just an unusually attractive human, but Soma was far more than that, he was the legendary Prince of Darkness, Dracula himself. "You were meant to be mine!"
"Right…" Soma stepped back, feeling disturbed by Suigintou's unusual reaction to his true nature and the frightening look on her face. "Just great…" The white haired youth sighed mentally, dreading the days to come.
Deep within a subconscious field, Hector and a mysterious white haired, bespectacled man dressed in an ornate white Victorian era suit, armed with a bladed clock, were conversing in a dimension that consisted of nothing but magic seals, silver mirrors that hung like fruit from a twisted white tree with a large blue eye that seemed to writhe like a living being and an abyss of purple haze.
"It has begun, Aeon…" Hector spoke to the bespectacled man with a sense of both urgency and dread in his voice, the thought of the coming conflicts were heavy on the Devilforgemaster. "The next Alice Game."
"Your daughters will do anything to meet you, isn't that right, Hector?" Aeon chuckled at the Devil Forgemaster's seriousness involving the Alice Game and the dread in his voice. "Or should I call you by your alias… Rozen?"
"Indeed… they are the result of purified Devil Forging, created from life magic instead of dark sorcery…" Hector now wore a guilty and sorrowful look on his face, as if he had just committed a grave sin. "In my foolish quest to resurrect Rosalie… I made them to fight each other."
"But now you've entrusted your first daughter to Dracula." Aeon smiled, the irony of Hector entrusting his precious creation to his former evil lord was amusing to the time guardian. "Let us see how his fate plays out in this world."
As Aeon finished talking, the countless mirrors started to glow ominously each showing different versions of Soma's fate across the multiple worlds.
One mirror showed a world where Soma accepted the Yokai Academy application form and as a result, was reunited with his childhood friend, who was in reality a dual natured vampire and soon after, the alternate white haired youth made friends with a succubus, a necromancer, a witch, a snow woman, a magiclad girl, vampire ninja and a his childhood friend's violent younger sister. The events would lead to the mysterious teen to retake the mantle of Dark Lord.
Another mirror showed a parallel world where Soma was raised as a sorcerer of the Cronqvist bloodline and forced to participate in a war where legendary heroes were resurrected as servants. The white haired youth fought alongside King Arthur, who took the form of a regal blonde woman with green eyes wearing an armoured dress that claimed to know both Mathias and Dracula.
Another mirror showed a future world where Soma was a student in an academy where humans and vampires alike with his two childhood friends a girl with mid length auburn hair dressed in a black uniform and a similarly dressed silver haired man with violet eyes.
Another mirror showed Soma in a village with its citizens under a curse that was slowly turning them into demons and the white haired youth stood beside a blonde demon princess with red eyes in a black dress with red frills and a gold trim. The noble girl had a similar secret to the Reborn Dracula, both being reincarnated Dark Lords.
The final mirror showed a far darker future, where after losing everything he loved, Soma became a horrifying vampire knight wearing a Victorian era style blue-green trench coat with a silver trim over a dark red dress shirt and a white mask that hid his facial features, his eyes now a piercing gold and his hair grown to shoulder length. The Dark vision wielded a bat themed cross with a blood red chain with a dagger tip floating ominously around him.
Back to the twisted tree, Aeon and Hector observed the mirrors intently as the tree writhed and the wretched blue eye started to glow.
"Time flows, Fate plays out." Aeon spoke as he watched the countless fates depicted within the mirrors, the time guardian, observing the conflicts across the many worlds with a scholarly interest. "That is the will of the Tree of Life."
As the tree writhed and the sinister glow intensified, a sleeping humanoid figure was seen within the wretched blue eye, waiting to be awakened.
Author's note: The first chapter of my new story is up! This is a story I planned on writing five years ago and I'm happy to say that I've started! Suigintou's attachment to Soma will become deeper as the story progresses, as of now; she feels more of a possessive urge than love for him. The rest of the Rozen Maidens will appear with new mediums and Hector's background as Rozen will be explored further. Hector's stance as a Devilforgemaster made so much sense in the Rozen Maiden universe and the dolls always reminded me of Innocent Devils. The part with Aeon links all my Castlevania stories together and will be hinted throughout this story and expounded once all the others conclude. This story is a direct parallel to Rosario of Sorrow and the Tree of Life is the same one depicted at the end of the Demon Castle Arc. This timeline was created by an as of yet unknown temporal distortion. Within one of the mirrors was a sneak peek at my upcoming story "Castlevania: Rose of Reincarnation" Which crosses over Castlevania and Disgaea 2 starring Soma and Rozalin.