AN: For the record the story will now be picking up hundreds of years later from the last chapters during the Dawn of Sorrow era assuming Soma was corrupted by Celia but he isn't the rebirth of a certain vampire... also ignore the dates given in the DoS games. That is no longer viable in this AU. So instead of 1999 the fight between Dracula and Julius was in the 2999...yeah real creative right? I wanted to still allude to 1999 and have the battle happen at the turn of the century but more in tune with LoS's timeline. So as it were Dracula eventually revived Alucard who went along his merry amnesiac way of fighting against the great evil Dracula. Events of the previous Castlevania lore could easily have spanned through this time - such as Alucard facing off against Dracula as he did in Symphony of the Night and Shanoa kicking ass during Order of Ecclesia etc etc.. This fic will be long enough with out me writing about ALL THAT stuff that happened between Alucard's revival up to this point as it is. Hope that helps with any confusion...


Alucard was surrounded by whispers and darkness. He walked through a void, unaware of where he was walking. He tried to will his legs to stop but they did not heed to him as if controlled by someone else and spurred him on into the shadows until, at last, he caught sight of a speck of light ahead. Disembodied voices called to him but he could not understand them. He thought he heard an intermingling of Latin and various other languages within the mass of voices but ultimately it was all gibberish to his ears. He walked steadily toward the light, its brilliance growing brighter and brighter until his boots finally clicked onto stone and the darkness receded from behind him.

What was this place? Was this inside Dracula's castle? How did he get here?

The man looked around himself finding the room seemed familiar yet he did not recognize it. The room was washed in candlelight revealing doorways with masterfully painted portraits above them and a statue of a great winged angel bound in the center of the room. The great structure, made of the darkest of obsidian, seemed to leer at him from the shadows and he felt himself shutter under its lifeless eyes.

"Where am I?" He whispered, a sensation at the back of his mind balking at this place. He felt an unknown dread growing that made him feel so very vulnerable in this mysterious shrine.

"Trevor…"

Alucard whirled around, looking around the room but found nothing. What was this madness? Where was Julius? Yoko?

Alucard looked warily around the ominous room before returning his attention back to the statue but became startled when he found it to be gone. Eyeing the empty pedestal he began to back toward a nearby exit, no longer wishing to stay within this room that was saturated with some unnamed egregious air. He jumped however when his back came into contact with something rigid. Turning around slowly he stifled a gasp finding the once missing statue to be towering over him.

Alucard spirited himself a distance away from the stone structure and watched in horror as its stony face showed signs of apparent life, a cruel smile pulling at the stiff lips and eyes that danced and spit sparks of an inner fire. Alucard stared a moment longer before he gathered himself from his shock and addressed the living statue.

"Who are you? Did you bring me here?" Alucard demanded, trying to remain calm in this odd twist of events.

The statue only laughed at him, throwing its head back as a creeping miasma began to unfurl from around it. Alucard watched in horror as serpents of all shape and size begin to writhe from the darkness, slithering forth to fill the room and crawl and wrap around ever surface they could reach. Two particular monstrous vipers wrapped lovingly up and around the statue, coming to rest around its shoulders and drape from its arms.

Alucard stepped back from the bizarre show and from a large viper that had begun to slide up his boot. He started to yell at the living stonework again but he found his voice had left him entirely. He turned to reach for his blade at his side but realized it was oddly missing. What was this sorcery? When he looked back up he was startled to find the large statue and its mass amount of serpents were also gone.

"What is this?" Alucard whispered to himself. He went rigid when he felt the room become noticeably colder, a breath later he felt himself grabbed and forced around, finding a flesh version of the same statue standing there, the two vipers still wrapped around his arms. He struggled against the strong icy grasp, crying out when the man grabbed his face with one hand and his right hand with the other. He forced his wrist up and Alucard was horrified as black creeping veins appeared beneath the man's grasp.

Before he could utter a horrified word the man leaned close to his face, their lips practically brushing. "Trevor…." The man whispered, nuzzling his cheek as one of the snakes began to slither around and up Alucard's seized arm, joining their master and his prey together. The vampire squirmed against its constricting body and winced as the hissing serpent wrapped languidly around his neck and flicked its tongue against his cheek.

"Come to me, little one. I'm waiting for you. Your master desires your presence at his feet…. Wake up!"

Alucard awoke from the nightmare with a cry, bolting straight up from the musty chair he'd sat down in before, sending the chair to clatter to the floor overturned. His eyes were wide with fear and the man took a moment to steady his harsh breathing as the nightmare's hold on him began to wane and what was happening in the world of the living slowly came back to him. Lifting his hands he gingerly prodded at his temples to ease the pain that was growing there.

When had he fallen asleep?

Alucard shook the wrinkles from his black cloak and ran his fingers through his false blond hair as he paced around the small room, feeling like a caged animal. He was waiting for Julius and Yoko. That's what he had been doing. The two of them were characteristically late he noticed with a sigh, gold eyes flicking over to a grandfather clock that was set against the opposite wall from the chair he'd once been sitting in. How late were those two for him to have actually given in to sleep?

Sighing in mild annoyance the man up righted the chair he'd overturned and began to pace the lamp lit room, deciding against sitting to avoid the possibility of falling into an unwanted slumber again, the very thought of having the nightmare return weighing heavily on him. He'd had them for as long as he could remember, since awakening in Dracula's castle eons ago. Always the same; the same dark void, the same unintelligible voices, the same dreadful feeling, and the same unreachable light at the end of a tunnel. …but he'd reached the tunnels end this time. It was the first time he'd ever dreamt beyond the dark void. That man… That creature, who was he? Claiming to be his master? He was so…frightening. Alucard pushed the sleeve of his coat up and turned his right hand over, finding relief in seeing no mark upon its pallid surface.

"Nothing but phantoms." Alucard convinced himself, unable to fight the shudder that wracked his body all the same. Forgetting the nightmare for the time being Alucard's thoughts turned to the quest at hand; destroying the newly risen Dark Lord. Two years prior Soma had become corrupted by the priestess Celia and had ascended Dracula's long vacant throne, having just recently come to inhabit Dracula's once lost castle. The Brotherhood of Light had attempted to foil the plot but ultimately they had failed, Alucard had failed, and now Dracula had returned to the land of the living.

Alucard's mouth twitched. No. That wasn't right. Soma did not feel like Dracula, Alucard knew the distinct pulse of power that the vile man emulated, no Soma felt different. He had suspicions that the Brotherhood had been wrong about Dracula being reborn anew and Soma fell into a different category altogether. The Brotherhood would not hear Alucard's suspicions so he kept them to himself but in his heart he knew Soma was unfortunate enough to be the newest Lord of Shadow, born from the corruption of Dracula's power and other's meddling.

But knowing that what did that mean of Dracula himself? Did that mean the monster still lived? Something unknown had went on behind the scenes; something he suspected the mysterious "Order of Shadows" had a hand in, when they'd sealed Dracula's power away so long ago. He would have to investigate the situation once they'd succeeded in destroying Soma and ridding the world of his corruption. It was an unfortunate loss of an innocent life, one that Alucard felt great pain in not being able to stop back in the castle that Celia had constructed for her Dark Lord candidates, the supposed 'inheritors' of Dracula's power, all of which had been nothing but lies.

Dracula… Alucard tensed up as he felt his blood begin to boil at the thought of the monster. Alucard could not remember much of his earthly life but he would always remember the monster that had killed his mother so brutally and then when he'd gone to rectify the situation and get revenge for his murdered mother, the Dark Lord had taken his life just as maliciously, cruelly inflicting his vampiric gift upon him as he lay dying. He'd been stripped of his very humanity because of the beast. His revenge was just as eternal as Dracula's curse was. The very thought that Dracula might not be dead made his mouth water for revenge…

Alucard glowered at a table, caught up in his dark thoughts as he was. The table simply took the withering glares in silence. The sound of footsteps made Alucard's ears twitch and he sighed loudly in annoyance, "Finally." He turned on his heel, relieving the table of its unwarranted punishment, and strode to the center of the room as he waited for his companions to cross the threshold. His hand fell to the Alucard Sword at his side, fondling the blade in anticipation and dread of what was to come.

"God has abandoned you…you will all fail beautifully little one.."

Alucard's face furrowed in surprise at the voice, his wrist beginning to tingle uncomfortably. He shook the appendage as he turned and looked around the simple room.

"They will die but worry not. I will find you and place you at my feet where you belong."

Alucard whirled around, franticly trying to pinpoint the voice but finding nothing but the shadows the lamps threw across the room. What was this sorcery? Was this one of Soma's creatures sent to torment him and dissuade him? Was he going mad? Alucard continued turning wildly around in his spot in an attempt to locate the voice.

"Alucard? What are you doing?"

All at once it all stopped. No voice. No odd tingling. Alucard turned quickly and found the latest Belmont heir eyeing him curiously; noticing the unusual state of the disguised vampire was in. Alucard knew he must have been quite the site; twirling in place as he desperately looked for something that didn't exist. The equally perplexed look on the young Belnade's woman beside the hunter further proved it.

"N-Nothing." Alucard said, pushing the blond locks from his face that had fallen there in his excitement. "Just the a breeze…" His excuse was lame, even to him.

"Are you sure you are okay?" Yoko asked approaching Alucard, her brows knit severely and concern emanating from every bit of the sorceress, her 'maternal' instincts for the vampire seemingly on high alert this night.

"I'm fine." Alucard waved her off, giving her the smallest of smiles before turning his attention to Julius. "Julius, did you find anything?" Alucard asked the vampire hunter, watching as the man shook his head, messedy brown hair bouncing as he did. "No. Just the occasional monster and demon. Yoko had about the same luck as I. There are no apparent traces of Soma here but I know he's here." Julius' eyes narrowed, "I can feel his dark power. It fills this cursed place." The hunter's hand reflexively went to the combat cross that hung at his side, a replica of the Vampire Killer that had long ago been lost; there was fresh black blood from felled monsters staining its surface and the long brown coat of the man who held it.

"It's very odd," The rose robed sorceress added seemingly over her little motherly fit. She lifted a finger to her lips in thought, "The monsters here are not as many as they were back at Celia's castle. Why do you think Soma would abandon that place now where he had so many creatures to call upon and move his base here? Why seek out this ruined castle?" Yoko's blue eyes winced in thought.

"This is Dracula's castle, why wouldn't he return here? He is the rebirth of Dracula after all." Julius answered gruffly, shoving one hand into his blood stained coat as he looked around the room, not seeming to share the same theory as Alucard and believing the Brotherhood's word. "I'm surprised to see it, though. I thought our informants were joking when they said Soma had found the ruins of Dracula's castle. I thought they were mistaken but I was wrong."

"After Dracula was killed the castle disappeared but now it has reappeared. "Yoko continued with a click of her tongue, letting her arm slide around her midsection in a very usual stance for the woman, "Was the castle called back by Dracula's new vessel?"

"The castle never disappeared." Alucard pointed out, easing off of his lame leg to allow his weight onto the other. Another infliction he'd received from the great Prince of Darkness that only made him despise the other more, to wear the marks of the man made him sick. "This castle was only lost to the land and reclaimed by the earth. Before Dracula took this castle for himself it was inhabited by the Dark Lord of the vampires, Carmilla until some unknown warrior killed her. More than likely Soma sought this place out for the imprints of Dracula's power that are locked within the castle itself."

"Who do you suppose defeated Carmilla and the other Lords of Shadow?" Yoko thoughtfully asked shifting the focus of the conversation, tapping her chin again. "In all my study of the old scriptures I've never stumbled across a name. Kind of odd if you ask me because that's not something you don't keep record of." Yoko rocked on her heels and her eyes took a dark look. "I even tracked down one piece of the Brotherhood's historical script outside their walls. It wrote specifically of this hero but his name was marred from the page so that it could not be read. It's almost like someone, or shall I say a certain organization of Light, doesn't want us to know who he was. I know no one really cares for my theories but let us look at Gabriel Belmont; he was once the greatest of the Brotherhood's warriors and revered by all to the point of being deemed 'God's Chosen'. I wonder if Gabriel Belmont was the one that defeated the Lords of Shadow."

Yoko's theories were not popular, this much she was well aware but she was not the type of person to not seek out the truth. So far she'd escaped the ire of the Brotherhood of light but that was only because she hadn't dared question the history of Gabriel Belmont to their face. She had a feeling it would end badly if she did. But be that as it may, the Brotherhood's explanation that Gabriel had simply turned his back on them and God for no reason never set well with her. Men of his mold did not make such a sacrifice for no reason.

Julius made a disapproving sound in his throat at Yoko's accusation. "The fact that you are suggesting that the Brotherhood has tried to keep something like that secret is flirting with treason, Yoko. You should be careful of what you say." Yoko met her fellow hunter's eyes, refusing to back down, but while there was severe disapproval there she could see a distinct conflict about the subject there too. She suspected Julius, for all his loyalty to the Brotherhood, was beginning to have his own doubts about their altruism he just wasn't willing to admit it. "No matter whom Gabriel Belmont was the man rejected the 'Belmont' namesake when he gave into the darkness. His name should have been wiped completely from history for such a grievous act. He is no ancestor of mine."

Yoko ignored the last of Julius' comment and turned the conversation in yet another direction. "Interesting fact; did you know Dracula actually means "Son of the Dragon"? Which if you think about it that name should go to his direct heir." Yoko tapped her cheek thoughtfully, "You know I've heard that Dracula did in fact have a son, maybe even before his turn from God. Some say the child was murdered by Dracula others say Dracula turned him into a vampire and now he haunts the shadows of the night. I wonder what really happened to him."

"If a child bore from that demon did exist I'm sure Dracula murdered the babe as it slept, "Julius spat, "I wouldn't put it past the monster to murder his own child to benefit himself or keep the child from growing up into a true Belmont that would have hunt him down."

"Oh come on Julius!" Yoko burst out, stomping her heeled foot as she glared at the man. If there was one thing the two disagreed on it was history, especially a history this personal to both of them, "Even Dracula wouldn't have murdered his own son!"

"Who said he had a son?" Julius crossing his arms defiantly at the woman, "He could have had daughter that he drowned." Yoko huffed angrily and was about to enter into a vicious debate over the "mythical child of Dracula" but before it could go any further Alucard cut them both off, tiring of this conversation. "If Dracula had a son or daughter I've never encountered such a creature. This 'phantom child' is likely nothing more than that and it's not worthy of arguing over nor is Gabriel Belmont's history when we have a very real danger lurking in this castle. Have you both forgotten the severity of our predicament already? We came here to slay Soma not argue over trivialities. So let us stop wasting our time and do just that." He snapped. Both the other hunters grumbled under the withering glare that Alucard gave them.

"Well in that case…what about my theory that you're actually Dracula's son, Adrian? You don't know in what era you lived. It could be a fit." Yoko added, using the moniker that most people called Alucard. She was unhindered by the other man's attitude, her eyes lighting up with her proposed theory. But the far fiercer glare that she received from the other man made her hold her tongue.

"That man is not my father. Don't ever say something so ridiculous again." Alucard's words were like venom but the spirited Yoko did not look away under the fiery rage that simmered in the golden eyes that bore into her. "It's just a theory and food for intellectual thought. Nothing to get worked up about." She soothed, holding her hands up in surrender. The witch pursed her lips and glanced over to Julius, not ready to let their argument die completely, "This isn't over Belmont, mark my words." Julius rolled his eyes but smiled at her, accepting her challenge of historical debate, "I look forward to your verbal thrashing and vast knowledge of Dracula lore later."

Ignoring the two, Alucard began to advance further into the castle as the other two followed suit. As they passed under the shadows of titanic suits of armor all the party couldn't help but be amazed at the magnitude of the castle and the furnishings that lie strewn around. Great chandeliers, tables and benches and chairs fit for a king, beautiful architecture and equally wonderful statues littered its vast chambers. To have seen this place in its hay day would have truly been something to behold.

"This castle was once the home to the Bernhard family over two millennia ago." Yoko said aloud, seeming to wish to be their historical guide once more, "The family was nose deep in the occult and had a bad habit of summoning demons."

"The Bernhard's still have that bad habit. Ever heard of the "Order of Shadows"? That family is bad news." Julius added with a shudder. "I've seen their Commander; Cullen is his name I think. I've talked with him a few times and he seems a pleasant enough kid but something seems very off about him, but I can't quite put my finger on why."

"I suspect there is a greater power behind Cullen." Alucard rubbed one of his hands along the wall, looking into a doorway that lead off into another wing of the castle, but passed it by feeling nothing of importance to be that way. "I can sense something dark and ancient within their circle but I've yet to discover what it is. Any scouts the Brotherhood has sent to investigate have wound up missing or dead, their throats tore out and drained of blood. Perhaps it is an old vampire that lies at their heart."

"That's…disturbing." Julius countered, stepping aside some rubble, "I thought Dracula had been the only vampire not killed by the Brotherhood, well, besides you, Alucard. Are you not the last?"

Alucard shook his head, "No. I highly doubt the Brotherhood has been able to find all the vampires that hide in the darkest parts of our world. It would be impossible. The ones that are obnoxious enough to challenge the Brotherhood have been killed but it is the clever ones that bide their time and choose their moves carefully that one needs to be wary of. It would be foolish to assume there would not exist children of the night that have learned how to play their hand carefully."

Julius was quieted by the revelation, pondering it carefully. His hand again sliding to the hilt of his combat cross that served to calm his nerves. As the trio wandered further into the depths Yoko suddenly spoke up. "Adrian, what is your name?"

"Alucard." Alucard coolly said back.

Yoko rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance, "No. Your real name."

"Adrian." Alucard answered again, kicking a stone out of his path and not feeling like having this conversation either. What was it about Yoko that made her so curious about everything? The brotherhood should have sent her to work with the historians behind the scenes with her unending curiosity and ability to retain certain information so well. The Brotherhood's master librarian and she would have gotten along well.

"No. Your real name. R. E. A. L." Yoko spelled out with some aggravation, flipping her blond hair out of her face with a hand, her nose scrunched in annoyance. "You have a given name. It starts with a 't' I think, or is it a 'c'? No, no, it's a 't'. There might be an 'r' in there somewhere too. I can hear the whispers of it from your thoughts some times."

"My name died with me a long time ago." Alucard replied with a sigh, adding "It's a bit rude for you to read me with your clairvoyance." Yoko breathed deeply before she sagely answered Alucard, "Just because you died as a human Adrian, doesn't mean your name died. We all change as we grow and in most cases we all grow into very different people from whom we once were or thought we'd ever be but it doesn't nor shall it ever change our names. We are who we are."

Alucard contemplated her deep words for a moment before answering again, "Arikado." The name garnered a low amused chuckle from Julius at the false name and caused Yoko to growl in anger, "Oh God damnit, Adrian! Are you even trying anymore?" Knowing she was defeated Yoko sulked for the time being and the trio fell into silence for a time. After a period of slow progression through the candle lit halls Julius broke the silence with his own curiosity.

"Alucard, I've noticed you have not shed your disguise yet." The hunter eyed the vampire's convincing guise. Long blond hair cascaded and licked at his human features, flowing over his shoulders and well down his back. The clothing he wore was befitting of one of a noble birth; a long black overcoat hung off his body, decorated richly in and lined with gold and beneath it he wore an equally black long vest that was held together with a silver broachs, the same gilded decorations lining this inner vest as well. At his neck a ruffle of a cravat could be seen peeking over his vest. The only thing that didn't go with the disguise was the inhuman gold irises' set in the whites of his eyes. It seemed it was the one thing the vampire was unable to hide.

On more than one occasion the vampire hunter had teased him about his appearance, calling him a "warrior princess" which had gone over about as well as one might assume. He would find himself eating dirt under a very unforgiving foot but to him, and even Yoko, it was worth it to see the way the man's mouth would quirk into what was certainly a pout. The man was vicious but he could pout when he was teased.

Julius knew he was a force to be reckoned with but his masculinity was a bit less severe than he expected. Alucard was no brute and was far more refined than most. Moody with a tendency to brood but still refined. His true appearance, which the hunter had not been privy to witness more than once, held the same features in the vampire hunter's opinion, there was a more feral aspect to him as a vampire but the face was still just as lovely, even if it was an odd sort of lovely. Were Julius privy to playing both sides of the fence or a young man again, Alucard would have been at the top of his list.

"Julius is right. I figured you would have shed your disguise by now, Adrian. Surely this is worthy of releasing your vampiric side completely?" Yoko piped up, excitement and curiosity flashing in her eyes, "I've always wanted to see what you look like so unbound. I've never seen it. I bet it's impressive." The woman was all of writhing her hands in excitement. To see a vampire and not one of the lesser types to her would have been vastly intriguing to see up close.

Alucard leveled an annoyed look at the overly excited sorceress. Excited over seeing a monster? Clearly the girl was mad. No one wanted to see the true form of a vampire. Alucard did not relish in showing the creature he had become to anyone. He remembered the sly looks of horror and disgust he'd received over the years at seeing his inhuman condition. He was very much a unique creature among even his own kind because of his choices to not sate his blood lust on humans. "Very few have ever seen me as I truly am and I'm sorry to disappoint you but I have no intentions of doing so now. I am confident I will be strong enough to handle Soma without my full strength unleashed."

"Vanity is unfitting of you, Alucard." Julius grinned, causing Yoko to laugh lightly behind her hand. Alucard turned a glowering look at them before stalking away only pulling further chuckles from his companions. "I'll be asking the Brotherhood to transfer you two to someone else's supervision when we are done here." Alucard growled behind him, leaving the two to hurry to catch up. The two hunter's choked laughter got louder at his empty threat.

For what must have been hours the trio explored the inner sanctum of the castle. Eventually they found the great door, carved with the effigy's of writhing women and men, that led to Dracula's old throne room and after shoving the rusted door far enough they entered the room. They found it empty and silent like the rest of the castle.

"He's not here." Yoko pointed out, despite not needing to state the obvious fact. Alucard carefully approached the grand stone throne and ran a hand over the dusty fixture, remembering a time when the very thing caused men of different ages to blanch at the mere thought of it; the seat in which the man had sat, carrying out crimes of hate against the world. His eyes fell on a large mosaic of an eclipsed moon at the foot of the throne. His hand strayed to the sword at his side, swearing it was thrumming unusually beneath his hand as if it sensed something but he felt nothing. Shifting his gaze he glanced around the musty room, noting the massive statues that were carved from the pillars and moldy rug that ran from the throne to the door. Indeed there was nothing here; no hint of power from the new dark lord was here, only moonlight filtering in through the stain glass that was mounted in this room.

"Well I guess we'll just have to keep searching then if he wants to play a game of 'Hide & Seek'." Julius growled turning and leaving the decrepit room in a huff. "Oh hey! Shit! Come on, Adrian. He's leaving us. We shouldn't separate, Julius!" Yoko hollered after the haughty man, hurrying after the hunter, not wanting him to get too far away. Alucard cast another long look around the shadowy room; visions of a far away past when he'd challenged an insane necromancer and defeated Dracula subsequently, rising briefly. But the memory was gone and long since played out.

'They will blame you for his sins. They will always blame you because of what you are'

Alucard stiffened at the return of the whisper but quickly discounted it as his imagination. It had to be. Turning from the throne Alucard hastened out of the room, his eyes falling on the odd mosaic once more before he exited and easily caught up with Julius and Yoko. Together they ventured further into the castle and just as before there were few monsters, only the occasional imp or possessed armor, of which were easily dispatched by either a spell or weapon. It was very odd and none of the hunters was as eased by the lack of resistance as they might have normally been.

Walking through a corridor Alucard noted a large axe armor that he knew they had passed earlier. It seemed the castle was beginning to toy with them. It did not bode well for any of them. It became more obvious of the demonic influence when they found themselves back in the same wing in which they had started despite having never turned back in the direction. It was a disturbing and maddening find.

"Damn it all to hell!" Julius snarled kicking a broken table over. "We keep going in circles. Is this castle haunted by a poltergeist that enjoys toying with us?"

"Demon." Yoko corrected, not caring when Julius gave a tired sigh and glare her direction.

"Whatever it is, it is impeding our progress. This isn't working out as well as I had hoped." Julius snapped back earning himself a glare from the Belnades sorceress.

Alucard fingered the blond tendrils that licked at his face and lightly chewed on his bottom lip as Julius and Yoko quarreled, it was a habit he had picked up over the years. The castle was beginning to get to them; even Alucard was feeling strained from this unwanted turn of events; lost to the wiles of the castle. Perhaps it was time for a slightly different course of action.

"We should split up." Alucard suddenly said, silencing the other hunters.

"Whoa, whoa! Is that really a good idea?" Yoko asked a bit irate, fixing Alucard with a wary glare. "Isn't that what it," Yoko's hands flipped in air to indicate the castle around them, ", would want? I have to disagree with what you're proposing, Adrian. It would be very unwise to separate."

Julius made a sound of agreeance in the back of his throat, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yoko is right, Alucard. It might not be wise to separate. I've seen enough horror movies in my time to know splitting up leads to someone dying. I hope you're a virgin Yoko, they're the only safe ones." Julius spoke the last part toward the sorceress who sent him a nasty glare that he only laughed at.

"You two are probably right which is why you should stick together and check the Western wing of the castle, maybe the divergence will abate the castle from leading us astray. I'll go and do some scouting of my own to see what I can find." Alucard said as he turned away from the Brotherhood hunters, but a very defiant Yoko whirled around him and blocked his path, her brow furrowed in concern. "Adrian, I still don't like this idea. I feel… I feel it's a very bad idea. I just.." Yoko cut off, her blue eyes searching the ground before looking back up at Alucard, a maternal worry swimming in their depths, "I just have a gut feeling. You should stay with us. It would be safer."

Alucard's face softened at Yoko's severe apprehension. The woman, only barely into her thirties, had picked him to mother hen over long ago, despite him being the oldest of them all by far. Unable to bare children of her own it seemed the woman had chosen him as a surrogate of sorts and no matter how he tried to brush off her maternal words and actions toward him she never backed down. Often she'd jokingly call him her "teenage rebellious son". Perhaps he should be angered at her for treating him as if he was a child but honestly he was touched by it. In a way it made him feel human to have someone worry about him so.

"Worry not; I will be fine, I assure you, 'Matris'.* I will not stray from you two for long, only long enough to check a few places before I return." Alucard reassured her, using the word he would occasionally call his human adopter. Yoko smiled at the Latin word but her worn look did not leave her pretty face.

Alucard turned to look at Julius who finally sighed his own defeat, knowing he could not convince the vampire otherwise. "Very well, Alucard. I know there's nothing I can say to stop you. Just be careful, won't you? I'd rather face Soma with you at my side and not beat to a bloody pulp on the floor." Julius grinned mischievously, raising one bushy eyebrow.

Conceding to the new plan, Yoko patted Alucard on the shoulder as she passed him, whispering "Good Luck" before joining Julius at his side. "We meet back at the castle's entrance in one hour Alucard, no longer than that. We've wasted more than enough time as it is. If we find nothing of Soma we should retreat from the castle and come up with a new plan back at the Brotherhood's base, maybe the elders will have some wisdom to impart to help us." Julius ordered, taking on the characteristic Belmont leader that the man was.

"Agreed." Alucard accepted.

"Good, then we should be off!" Julius yawned and stretched his arms behind his stiff back in an attempt to loosen up, but winced when his back gave a loud snap. "Damn, I'm getting far too old for this shit." He grumbled morosely, rubbing at his lower back. "Remind me to retire when we do finish this mission. Both of you." Yoko smiled and chuckled at the Belmont but held the 'old man' joke that sat precariously on her tongue while Alucard rolled his eyes. Julius always threatened the same thing every time they had a mission but everyone knew he was just as capable if not more so than his younger protégé that he tutored. The Belmont would retire when he was six feet below the ground and none sooner, such was his passion.

"Let's just get this over with so we can properly mourn for the loss of Soma afterwards. He was a good kid." Julius sighed. The trio went silent for a moment, each feeling some sort of blame for letting the boy come into his fate, before they separated for the time being. Julius and Yoko disappeared toward their given destination and Alucard slipped into the shadows, heading back to re-explore Dracula's throne room in case there were any clues he missed in their quick visit earlier. If he found nothing he had a few other haunts to investigate.

For the moment, in this accursed place that was refusing to offer up its secrets, it was the best he could do and hope it would yield something of use.


Note:

See what I did there? I wanted to have a throwback and give a nod to the previous CV games so I made Alucard's alter ego 'Adrian' and have the same appearance as the previous incarnate of Alucard, gold eyes and all. Perhaps he masqueraded as Arikado at some point but his 'Adrian' disguise is his most used in this AU. Yes I'm insane I know that. :)

*'Matris' is Latin for 'mother'

I'll just put the note here that Yoko and Soma's ages will be slightly varied from what they were in the original CV lore. In this AU I bumped Yoko's age to 32 which will make Soma 26 by the six year age difference that they were in Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow. Julius's age is 56 which isn't actually a change from the original games but he still looks just as sexy for a 50-something year old dude. You go, Julius. Stay classy bro. It's not a huge change but I figured I'd point it out. I have a thing for more 'mature' characters I've found the older I get. I guess it's why I liked the LoS characters, they were all older than your typical cast which I have mad respect for in a world that revolves around 'younger is better!'.

Screw you bastards! Us old farts are awesome too.