Ciel and Julius depart from Clock tower and walk towards their hotel a few blocks away.
"She is going to perform a consecration isn't she?" Ciel says, half to herself.
"I'd assume so. Nothing wrong with that" Julius remarks.
"It's not the ritual I'm worried about it's what they might find. Carrie herself doesn't even understand who she is, she's malleable. They could use her." Ciel says.
"We will check back with them in the morning. I'm curious to hear the results myself." Julius says. It does occur to him however, that it may have been wiser to ask if he could be present during the ritual. Olga wasn't a snake like the rest, but she was still a magus and not someone to be trusted. She could easily lie about the results and Carrie wouldn't comprehend what was going on.
"I don't feel good about this" Ciel responds.
"Now you're the one being overdramatic" Julius says. "Olga isn't going to hurt her and we need answers. Hunting vampires is the reason you came with me in the first place. Don't tell me you've grown attached to the girl?"
Ciel shoots a glare at the man but stands down. "I'm not saying I like her. But she's different. There's something familiar about her and there's a lot more to this than meets the eye."
"Of course there is, but there's not a damn thing we can do about it" Julius let's a sigh escape his breath. "At least tomorrow we'll know what she is. It's not much but it's a start."
Immediately after departing from the hearing, Olga leads Carrie into a small room with a single wooden table in the center.
"Have a seat Carrie" Olga motions for Carrie to sit down on the adjacent side of the table.
"Is this an interrogation?" Carrie asks as she sits where she was told.
"You aren't in trouble my dear, and this is a little more complicated than an interrogation. Have you ever heard of consecration?" Olga asks.
Carrie shakes her head.
"Splendid, well it's pretty self-explanatory. Sit tight I'll be back in a jiffy." Olga leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
Carrie sits alone in the empty room and examines her surroundings. There is very little to take notice of however. The room is empty aside from the desk and the empty chair in front of her. Even the walls are flat, gray, and boring. Carrie gets up from her chair and paces around. She checks the door to find it locked. No surprise there. "Am I being held captive?" she begins to wonder.
From the opposite side of the wall, Olga Belnades observes the blue-haired girl with interest. The wall in front of her projected by a barrier that acts as a one way window.
"There doesn't appear to be anything special about her." Daniel says.
"For the Director to ask that you oversee the process personally there has to be something. Look at her eyes." Olga says.
"Deep crimson red yes. Beautiful things, but nothing extraordinary. Eyes of Purity aren't that rare these days. Even without those eyes we can detect the energy shards ourselves with relative ease." Daniel continues.
"The test has already begun. If she can indeed sense magical energy she should be tuning in any minute now." Olga says, eagerly leaning forward in her seat.
The girl spends the first couple of minutes pacing around the room. She checks the door as most people would to find it locked and begins walking around once more. She doesn't appear to be in any discomfort.
"This may take some time Olga, you sure you want to dedicate so much energy towards this?" Daniel asks.
"The girl claims to be a Fernandez. That side of my bloodline died off hundreds of years ago. The very name vanished and could only be mentioned in ancient magical lore. Either she got her hands on a very old book, or she knows something we don't and I don't plan on taking a backseat to family history." Olga retorts.
After pacing around the room for an hour, Carrie begins to show signs of impatience. She twiddles her thumbs and peers into the keyhole on the door to try and see outside. Then surprisingly, she calmly walks back to the chair and takes her seat. She folds her hands onto her lap, closes her eyes, and ceases all movement.
"What is she doing?" Daniel asks. "Is she meditating?"
Olga remains silent, her gaze fixed on the girl still as stone. Her calmness seemed almost hypnotic. They had been waiting for over three hours now and she still did not seem phased in the slightest. Could she be sleeping? Could she be trying their patience as well? Did she know they were here? She had so many questions for this girl. First another hour pasted, then another three, another four. Yet the girl who calls herself a Fernandez hadn't moved a muscle.
"I don't know what she's doing Daniel. I'm not even sure how to assess that." Olga says.
"I suggest you go in there and talk to her yourself Olga, you've already succeeded in killing my entire evening. This girl waited over a hundred years to be woken from her slumber, we do not have the same luxury." Daniel says.
"Fine, I'll go talk to her." Olga says. She picks up her briefcase and stands on her feet. Carrie's eyes suddenly snap open.
"What's this?" Daniel exclaims. He pulls a pair of spectacles out of his pocket and peers closely at the girl. But Carrie remains as still as she was before, her eyes frozen as glass.
"I'm going in there" Olga spits as she storms out of the room.
Daniel readies his things and prepares the necessary magic for the ritual.
"Welcome back" Carrie says as Olga enters the room and places her briefcase on the table.
"Sorry I took so long, something urgent came up I'm sure you'll understand." Olga explains quickly as she opens the briefcase and begins sorting things onto the table.
"I didn't mind at all. Did I pass the test? Did you learn anything?" Carrie asked.
"Pass? This isn't a multiple choice exam. And I haven't even begun yet sweetheart."
"Don't call me names like that, I'm an adult and technically older than you. And I know you were watching me though the wall, it wasn't really that clever of a trick."
"Good then we can rush straight into the next order of business." Olga says.
"Alright." Carrie softly responds. "Though I don't know how much I can tell you, much of my past is a mystery as well. I'd actually be grateful if you could tell me more."
"Yes yes, first Carrie I am going to ask you a series of questions and suggest attributes based on those answers. Then we'll do some trials by magic to see if these inferences are correct. Do you understand?"
"Ask away."
"Good, then first question: What were you doing while you were waiting for me to return?"
"I'm not sure what you mean, you said you'd be back so I waited for you to come back." Carrie says.
"More specifically I mean, were you dreaming? Meditating? Analyzing anything?"
"I wasn't really doing anything at all, miss. You asked me to wait so I waited, it seemed like the natural thing to do."
"Ok, next question: You mentioned earlier that I was watching you, what makes you say something like that?" Olga asks.
"You were watching me."
"But would you know if I was watching you."
"I could see you, you were right in front of me. Is this a trick question?"
"Not at all Carrie. Let's move on to something else then. I want to hear more about you. Tell me, what is it you like most about yourself?"
Carrie has to think about that one for a minute. No one has ever asked her what she liked or didn't like. She was a person of action. She saw something that needed to be done and she did it. Much of her memory still eluded her but she could tell that from a young age she had always been set on the path to kill Dracula.
"My determination." Carrie finally responded.
"Good, and what do you least like?"
"Amnesia." Carrie says with a chuckle.
"An honest answer. How about your favorite color?"
"Purple"
"Hobbies?"
"Um, killing vampires? Is this entire test just a bunch of pointless questions?" Carrie inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Ha ha perhaps you are right." Olga responds and tears several pages out from her notebook. "You are a sophisticated girl, picture this. A group of fifteen teenagers are sitting on top of the railroad tracks. A train is incoming and on path to ram them. You notice a lever to redirect the train onto another path, though if you pull the lever the train will instead hit a single man walking by. What do you do?"
"I stop the train."
"You cannot stop the train Carrie. This isn't that type of question."
"If I were truly there I would stop the train. If the train couldn't be stopped than I would do nothing."
"You would not save the fifteen children?"
"I would be murdering the single man walking by. Those children knew they were taking a risk when they chose to sit on the tracks. The pedestrian didn't make such a poor choice."
"Ah, so you value that people be judged based on their own life choices?"
"Not necessarily, but you said I wasn't allowed to stop the train."
"Fair enough, how about a different proposal then." Olga inquired as she shifts through the pages in her booklet. "A wife's husband becomes extremely ill and he will die if he is not given a cure. The doctor who created the cure is selling it for an outrageous price and will not allow anyone to have it for free. The wife tries raising the money but is unable to do so. Before her husband dies, she kills the doctor and uses his medication to save her husband's life. Did the wife act immorally?"
"I would not say so. The doctor chose greed and greed fell unto him. There is no moral or immoral action here. The woman simply saved her husband's life."
"And what if I told you, that without the doctor dead no more of the lifesaving cure could be produced?" Olga asks. Carries eyes widen. "Did she strike a nerve?" Olga thinks to herself. Now she was getting somewhere.
"I don't have an answer for that" Carrie responds.
"What do you mean you don't have an answer?" Olga smiles. "Is the action immoral or isn't it?"
"By killing the doctor she has doomed countless others to their death. That's not right."
"So in the previous example you claim to value the choices of the individual, yet here you value the lives of the masses over those choices made by the individual." Olga says.
"That's not what I said, I said I would have stopped the train."
"That's not possible Carrie, I understand you've been around a lot of magic but your answer must correlate with the parameters set within the question."
"Why? There's no reason for that."
"Why? WHY?!" Olga face turns cherry red. "I'm the one asking the questions darling. Let's move onto something else. What do you remember of your life before you awoke in our time?"
"I lived in the countryside with my step parents. One day a vampire attacked our home and my mother sacrificed herself to save me. I vowed from that day forth that I would destroy Count Dracula so children everywhere could sleep in peace. I killed the Count, and somehow ended up here." Carrie responded.
"What of your friends? Did you have any?"
"I met a few people along the way, but they are all dead now."
"Not even a boyfriend?"
Carrie paused for a moment then replied, "No I did not."
"Hmm what a shame for such a lovely woman like yourself." Olga says. Her comment seemed to bother Carrie, which was more of a response than she could gather verbally. "One more question before we move on Carrie. And though this may seem silly it is in fact very important that you answer me truthfully."
"I've answered all your questions truthfully."
"I hope you have." Olga smiles and switches to a new page in her notebook. "So then Carrie, are you a virgin?"
The train escapes from the earlier question and slams into Carries stomach. She feels sick all over. Her shoulders tighten so much she has trouble keeping her head from shaking. "What was that?" Carrie asks her to repeat the question.
"Are. You. A. Virgin?"
Carrie has no recollection of ever having a love interest. She didn't even like boys in her early childhood and it wasn't until long after her journey into the castle that her adolescence set in. There was no one. There couldn't be anyone. It was just her in that castle, with the boy Malus, and the Dark Lord himself. But it couldn't be true, she couldn't remember anything! It couldn't be true! It mustn't be true!
"Need I ask the question again?" Olga pressed.
"No" Carrie coughed.
"Then what's your answer?" Olga insisted. She stared right at Carrie and was clearly not going to let up without an answer.
"No." Carrie softly spoke.
"Yet you said you never had a boyfriend?"
"Yes"
"I see, may I ask who it was then?"
"I don't know, I have no recollection of it. But I know." Carrie lied.
"Was it a Fernandez?" Olga asked.
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know that name?"
"I told you it's my last name. You said that was the last question I'm not answering anymore." Carrie spat. She crossed her arms and broke eye contact with the Belnades magus. "I've already lied once, I don't want to risk doing it again." Carrie thought to herself. She did in fact remember how she lost it. She could remember losing it over and over again, with multiple people but that wasn't what terrified her. "That's not like me" Carrie's insides screamed. This all happened inside Dracula's castle, a large chunk of her memory was still missing from that time. This was bad, this was unspeakably bad. Words could never describe how bad. No other human being could possibly understand how bad. Yet deep down she knew there were far worse things lurking in her mind and the very capacity for her to imagine a worse circumstance terrified her to her very soul. Truly Dracula is the incarnation of evil itself.
Suddenly her mind her eyes shot into the back of her head. Yet she could see something:
There is a line up ahead. A hundred or so people heading into a church so large it dwarfed the surrounding countryside. They are fleeing the country for reasons I cannot understand. Yet I'm in line too. I glance towards my left hand and see a medallion inscribed with the symbol of death. I quickly stuff it into my purse. I'm going with them.
"ARGH!" Carrie cries in relief. She hadn't spent her entire time within the castle after all. There was still hope. It didn't make rational sense, but if she did indeed escape from that dreaded castle there had to have been a better life out there for her somewhere.
"Calm down. I'm not going to ask you questions anymore." Olga says.
"I apologize." Carrie responded, much more cheerfully than before.
"Yes?" Olga says. "Don't answer that, next I'd like to see what the fates have to say regarding our discussion earlier." She pulls out a stack of cards and spreads them in an oval across the center of the table. "Choose"
Carrie silently reaches for the nearest card to her but Olga interrupts, "it is of grave importance that you take this seriously." Carrie glares back at her, and grabs the same card she was reaching for before and lays it face-up on the table. The card shows three arrows rising out of a multicolored flame. It is titled "Wands of Three".
"Very good." Olga says, a golden look on her face. Now choose two more and place them here, she motions to dual positions to the upper right and left of the first card. Carrie quickly choses two more and places them as instructed.
The second card is filled with faceless bodies surrounding a dark structure in the sunrise. Or is it a sunset? The card is titled "Judgment of Twenty".
The third card shows a naked man standing in the middle of a vast desert. A school of floating fish swim along either side, avoiding him. The card is titled "The Fool of Zero".
"Good, very good." Olga repeats. "Now one last card, and place it at the center of all three. Choose carefully, this is especially important."
"I am choosing cards blindly Olga, I can hardly make a proper decision." Carrie complains yet still compiles with Olga's instructions. The final card depicts a brilliant white moon hovering over an ocean. A group of clouds obstruct a portion of the moon's gaze and red liquid drips down from the obstruction and into the ocean below. The card is titled "The Moon of Eighteen".
Olga stares at the cards for a moment, then with the snap of her fingers the wall behind her vanishes. Daniel is revealed on the other side. "Well done Carrie, well done" he says.
"Were you able to get a reading off any of this?" Olga inquires without turning her head.
"Not a thing that makes any amount of sense" Daniel says. "She's made quite the fool of you Olga Belnades."
"Thought so" Olga calmly states as she rises from her chair.
Carrie remains seated as Olga steps towards her. This "test" of sorts still did not make a complete sense to her although trickery seemed to be a common theme throughout the process. Carrie could recall reading about such things before, referred to as "double blind" studies. "I'm not supposed to understand what's going on" Carrie thinks to herself. Olga pauses only a few feet from Carrie's seat and stares down at her.
"Is there something else I'm supposed to…." Carrie is thrown backwards onto the floor. The chair she was sitting in tossed aside on the ground. Before Carrie can recover from the throw, Olga grabs her and throws her against the wall.
"Cut the crap Carrie we already know!" Olga says in a stern commanding voice.
"Cut what out, what did I do?" Carrie says. Olga slams her fist into Carries stomach and takes a step backward, allowing Carrie to brace herself against the wall as she coughs blood.
"The game is over Carrie" Olga calmly says. Without allowing time for Carrie to catch her breath she demands, "Tell us your real name."
"Cough.. Carrie Fernan-dez" Carrie says softly. Olga punches her square in the jaw.
"We are going to find the truth sooner or later. Now I'm only going to ask you one more time." Olga kneels down to look at Carrie eye to eye. She pulls her head back by the hair and says "Are you a virgin or not?" Carrie's lips move as if to speak, but her breath hesitates. "ANSWER ME!" Olga screams.
"No, I'm not a virgin." Carrie says. Olga's lips curl upwards in a sinister smile. Without speaking a word, she stands and walks back to the suitcase.
"The analysis has failed. There's no point in continuing this here. Move her to the dungeon where we can observe her better." Daniel says.
Olga fumbles through the bag and pulls out a small round disc perhaps a foot in diameter. One side of the gray stone is covered in symbols and patterns which weave through one another so closely that Carrie can scarcely make out individuals letters. Daniels eyes widen upon seeing the device though he does not speak further.
"Whatever form you are trying to hide isn't going to last much longer. I'll give you a final warning." Olga says. Carrie remains on the ground and doesn't say a word.
Carrie is fully aware that something horrible is about to happen. But the mages do not show any intention of letting her go regardless of what she says. What did they want her to tell them? That she is a witch? A demon? There were certainly other woman living in Dracula's castle, perhaps they were confusing her with one of them? A better question however, was why their so called "analysis" was failing in the first place. She wasn't trying to obstruct them. Unless of course this very act is a part of the process itself.
Olga grabs hold of Carries cheeks and pries her head forward. Carrie tries to turn away but Daniel appears from her right side to hold her in place. The magus holds up the gray disc and turns it around to reveal a glossy side. The edges shimmer like water and Carrie can clearly see her own reflection glimmering upon it. Her face is beaten and warped, and the image itself begins to twist and turn. Suddenly, the image glows a bright white light. It leaks out from the edges and begins to eat away at the fine lines around her features. The image grows brighter, and Carrie can feel her own face begin to swelter as if she'd been horribly sunburned. It grows brighter and brighter as the burning transforms from irritation to extreme pain. Carrie screams!
Everything goes blank
The girl passed out.
"That is unfortunate" Daniel says.
"It can't be right. You were measuring her responses as well." Olga responded. Throughout the examination they had ran dozens of spells across Carrie's aura and all of them had returned with contradictory results. Such paradoxes were always the result of trickery on the subjects end. Even the best analytical spells could be easily deceived by a good magus which meant that compliance was absolutely essential for the examination to work. Truly this was a good thing, as the system prevented undesirable eyes from prying into ones soul. Knowledge was power, and even a slight revelation could change the course of a battle.
"Have you considered the possibility that the readings are indeed accurate?" Daniel proposed.
"They can't be. I've never heard of anything like this. Unless there's something you're not telling me."
"Possibly, I will have to consult the scriptures to be sure. But first I need to inform the Director of what has happened here. You have no objections I presume?"
"Why are you giving me so much credit? You seem to know more about what's going on than I do" Olga says.
"Not as much as you'd think" Daniel replies. He turns towards the door but pauses before walking through. "Where did you get the mirror?"
"My family has had Lilith's Mirror in our possession for several generations now. Not many know we have it and I'd prefer to keep it that way if you'd be so kind."
Daniel nods in affirmation. "I'll see to it that the girl is moved to a room with stronger security. You're task is done here." He walks out the door.
"Damn" Olga thinks to herself. Why did she have to lose her cool like that? These kinds of tests never ran into such difficulty yet even if she did it wasn't appropriate to rattle someone like that. She knew that but there is something very very wrong about this girl. She acted friendly enough, but Olga had encountered plenty of demons that initially appeared to be allies. Carrie is an unknown, and she came from a place of great evil. But there was a bigger problem.
Lilith's Mirror is an ancient tool dating back to the age of the Gods. Magical arts peaked during those times and many of the skills used in the era have long succumbed to the death of time. No living magus can compete with a sacred mystery making the mirror a foolproof way of identifying an entities true nature regardless if desired to or not. Yet even the mirror seems to have its limitations. Carrie's test results were scattered. At times she put off a strong demonic aura and at others she gave the vibe of an ordinary human. Her origin was completely off the wall and didn't match with anything she'd ever heard about before. She was able to see past the one-way wall yet appeared oblivious to the thousands of other conjuring's stirring about that room. Then there was the matter of her eyes. Red eyes, certainly they were among the mystic eyes although the properties of which eluded her.
Olga stepped outside, leaving a bloody unconscious Carrie on the floor. If any of the tests were to be trusted it was the mirror. Though just because she had never heard of anyone countering it before didn't mean it couldn't be done. She came out of Dracula's castle after all.
She turns around the corner and bumps into the man she least wanted to see.
"Ah Olga, I was just on my way to see you. How did things go with Carrie? Did you find anything?" Julius asked.
"The results were inconclusive." Olga stated. A frown slowly began creeping across the Belmont's face. Olga quickly retorted, "It's inconclusive because Carrie is lying. That or she's completely delusional."
"How so?" Julius inquired.
"I asked if she was a virgin, as I'm sure you're aware of the relevance between vampires and purity. She looked as though she had seen a ghost and she told me she had lost her virginity years ago, yet was unable to describe the lover."
"How is this bad news?" Julius further inquired.
"I tested her soul myself. She's not only a virgin, she's as pure as an angel. I've met newborn infants with a cloudier aura than she."
"You still haven't answered my question."
"She CAN'T be that pure Julius. She's hiding something and until I figure out what, she is staying with us."
Olga stormed around the corner leaving behind a rather confused vampire hunter.
