A/N- I apologize for the long wait. Originally, I intended to knock this chapter out about a week or so after the last one. As we can all see… that didn't happen. I've started my new job, and it's going great! Since I've learned to run everything that a clerk would need to know—and I applied putting "open" for all of my hours—I tend to get called in if they need an extra hand. So I've been getting some good hours (something I really need). Let's see… Oh! I've moved living locations, my car—the one my fiancé and I share—is broken down, and I'm way, way behind on all of my writing. Fanfiction, NaNoWriMo, Wishlist, and 50 States of SPN. Oh, btw, Fan of Games, the answers to your questions in your review (since you have your PM off and I couldn't find an email) will be down below the End Notes. But enough about all that! On with the chapter!
Chapter 20- Something to Go Right
Ria had a plan. It was a sound plan, and one that required not only herself, Isaac, and Alucard, but also Keisha—for an extra pair of hands. She had let Keisha in on it from the moment the two had met that morning in the school parking lot. She had seemed a little wary, but after a decisive nod, Keisha let Ria know that she had her back.
The spell Isaac had found was all they would need to force the Master Librarian out into the open, but they could not risk doing so during school hours—and no one knew where he lived on the weekend—forcing them to wait until Monday anyway. The thought that grumpy Mr. Hamm AKA Master Librarian was living on school property made Ria more than a little uncomfortable, so she pushed that thought aside. But despite the great pleasure Ria was receiving by simply thinking about what was going to happen, she and Keisha still had to make their way through their normal school day—which meant suffering through Hamm's class.
The pompous twit was huffing and puffing around the front of the room, glaring at the students like he had a ferret stuck up his rear end. Ria was not paying enough attention to know exactly what they were studying today—American history, that was all she knew. The young huntress kept shooting knowing looks over to Keisha, some of them more questioning than others. She hated bringing Keisha in on this part of her life anymore than what was necessary, but Keisha had already protested with that too well-known phrase, "What are friends for?"
Sara stood in the aisle between the two girls, her ghostly eyes trained on Hamm. She shook her head and, not for the first time that day, muttered, "I just can't believe it."
She had not been the first to voice her disbelief. Alucard had seemed very amused by the idea that Ria's portly history teacher was the Master Librarian, while Isaac seemed just as baffled as Sara. It left Ria wondering what exactly this man was going to look like after his glamour was dropped. Propping her head in her hand, she blew a quiet sigh out of her nose and lost the rest of the class time to imagining just that. She had scoured the Belmont Journals the night before, but no clear description of the man existed. Something about that did not sit too well with Ria.
The ringing of the bell rocked Ria out of her thoughts, and her eyes flew open much wider than necessary. The scrapes of desks and chairs—and the sound of Hamm's voice rising above the noise to deliver last minute homework—filled the room as Ria and Keisha sat as still as possible. Their classmates jostled by without a thought, squeezing out of the door as fast as possible. Ria shared a look with her ghostly mentor, who nodded once. Ria then mimicked the nod to Keisha, and the two—three—of them approached the front of the room. It was only them and Mr. Hamm now.
He was erasing the board, his stomach brushing the very bottom of it as he reached up as high as he could get to clear the top notes. Ria's brow furrowed. Why would he write so high when he knew he could barely reach it? She shook her head, banishing the useless thought. Keisha eyed her, waiting for her to make the first move. This was all foreign territory to Ria, but she put on a confident smile. No reason to make Keisha nervous. She took a step forward and set her books down harder than necessary on the podium separating her from Hamm.
The teacher whirled, running a hand over his non-existent hair. He had looked genuinely worried for a moment, but that passed. He placed his customary smirk on his lips, lifting a sarcastic brow in her direction.
"Ah, Miss Smith. You are aware of what the ringing of those infernal bells mean?"
The second bell rang just then, leaving Ria with her mouth partially open like an idiot. She sighed.
Isaac and Alucard had said they would only need a few moments. Just long enough to ensure that no students would really notice them entering. Ria and Keisha only had to keep Hamm busy for a few minutes. The ringing ended.
"I do know what the bells mean, sir. However, I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me."
His eyes seemed to simultaneously light up with excitement and dim with suspicion. Keisha stepped forward, setting her textbook down beside Ria's.
"Yes, we wanted to know more about the crossing of the Delaware that George Washington made," she elaborated.
And a good thing too. Hamm had looked like he was about to question Ria's interests, and she would have been in some real hot water then. She had completely blanked. But now, she smiled and nodded.
"Yeah," she said. "I mean, what was the big deal?"
"The big deal?" Hamm huffed indignantly. "I do believe I covered what the big deal was in class, had you been paying any attention."
He put his back to them, going back to the board as Keisha elbowed Ria in the ribs. She mouthed an apology, and Sara rolled her eyes.
"Never mind, Ria!" she said, pointing behind the girls. "They're here."
The classroom door opened and Isaac and Alucard stepped inside. They closed it quietly behind them, but Hamm turned in their direction nonetheless. His eyes widened as he seemed to puff up even more.
"What's the meaning of this? Who are the two of you?"
The imagine of a blowfish puffing up, pushing out its spines, entered Ria's mind as Isaac and Alucard—whose own glamour slipped away in a single step down an empty aisle of desks—made their way up to a clearly defensive Hamm. To his credit, the Librarian remained in his character, jumping back so hard that he collided with the board behind him, his eyes wide.
"How—?"
"Drop it," Ria said, carelessly tossing her textbook and bag—but holding onto the Vampire Killer—to the nearest desk. "The jig is up."
Keisha, Sara, and Isaac all turned toward her.
"Really?" Isaac smirked.
Ria shrugged, gesturing roughly to Hamm/the Master Librarian. Alucard took a few more steps forward, taking the lead.
"It's been a long time, old man," he said with a smile that suggested an inside joke. He dropped the smile as he added, "Time has not been kind to you."
Hamm shook his head. "What the hell are you talking about? Who are you people? Miss Smith, if this is your idea of a joke then I will have you suspended!"
Ria and Keisha rolled their eyes.
"It's not worth it," Keisha sighed.
"We know who you really are," Ria added.
But Hamm was not going to give up that easily. He shook his head, incredulous now with a hint of fear.
"You're insane, all of you."
"Cast the spell, Laforeze," Alucard ordered.
Ria half expected Isaac to quip back some sort of sarcastic remark, or at least to tell Alucard to kiss his ass. But he only nodded and began to chant in Latin. Instantly, the character was gone. Hamm allowed his face to contort, anger coloring his features as a yellow light began to gather all about him.
"No," he growled moments before he was swallowed by the light.
It was blinding as all but Sara shielded their eyes. The moment their vision returned, Hamm was no longer before them. Instead stood an old man dressed in long burgundy robes—with a matching, soft hat—with long, frizzled gray hair and beard. His eyes were a beady black, and his crow's feet were deep—not to mention the rest of the wrinkles on his weathered face.
"Congratulations on finding me out, Young Master Alucard," he said.
Ria was taken aback. Even his voice had changed into a higher one that, just for a second, made her want to groan. Beside her, Sara muttered something that might have sounded like "Rinaldo," but Ria could not be sure.
"Do you mean to do me harm?" the Master Librarian asked.
"No, old man. We need your help."
Now the Librarian crossed his arms, casting a slow gaze out of one of the numerous classroom windows to his right.
"I could assume what this help might be, but I'd prefer to be asked before I throw myself to the wolves."
"We need you to re-anchor the Throne so we can stop Galamoth," Ria explained.
He chuckled, shaking his head. "It's been many an age since I've been called forth to perform that particular task. I was known by a different name then."
Ria and Keisha exchanged a look, while Sara gasped. Ria dearly wanted to ask her friend what was so shocking, but, given the situation, it was just not possible.
"But… will you help us?" Ria asked of the Librarian.
The old man put a long, gnarled finger thoughtfully to this chin, glancing listlessly upward. He drew out a long "hmm" and sighed.
"Well, I'm not sure."
"Not sure?" Isaac asked.
"Well… re-anchoring the Throne is a very difficult task, considering the power I have to hide under it. Galamoth is not, as it is said these days, a pushover. Even with the help of a Belmont descendant, the son of Dracula, a former devil forgemaster, and—" he eyed Keisha, the light in his eyes suggesting that he knew something they did not, "—Miss Stone, it might not be enough. There's a very high chance that one or all of us might die. Now… what could possibly make me want to go through all that?"
Keisha's gaze hardened quicker than any of the others. She took a dangerous step forward, the heel of her stiletto making an especially loud click on the floor as her finger jabbed in the direction of the Librarian's face.
"Are you… are you asking us to pay you? To save the world?" she asked, disgusted.
He reached out and actually patted Keisha on the head.
"My dear, if I've learned anything over the many, many years I've been alive, it's this: nothing, if not for a price."
"What the hell? What kind of person are you?" Ria said, just barely keeping her voice underneath volumes that could be considered "yelling."
Alucard held up a hand to silence her, and she complied with a reluctant huff.
"Name your price. My company can wire any amount to any bank account you wish," the dhampire said.
The old man waved his hand dismissively. "Money is not the issue. I've found that, in this day and age, anyone can acquire money if you know the right routes to take. It's a wonderful time to be alive. No. What I require is of a greater, mystical value."
Ria shook her head, and she was sure that if she was a cartoon character that steam would be pouring out of her ears.
"You pathetic little man," she hissed. "The world's hanging in the balance. You have the power to help stop the potential deaths of millions, and you'd rather leave it all to a couple of kids, a blood-bonded ex-devil forger, and a half-blood vampire who's pretending to be a member of the Japanese government. All because there's some little something you want that we might not be able to get. If there was someone, anyone, else we could be going to… I'd kick your ass so freakin' hard right now!"
"Control yourself, Adriana," Alucard warned before turning back to the Librarian. "What is the item you seek?"
"Lightning, made solid. It is an object of immense power, and if divided correctly, even the smallest piece can make the most powerful of spells."
Ria groaned, turned, and took a seat in one of the front row desks. She rested her head in her hands, shaking it.
"Where are we going to find something like that?"
"It is an incredibly rare object. It doesn't happen that often, and as such, it is often coveted. I would not know of anyone who would possess one and be willing to part with it for any amount of money," Alucard explained, his usually even voice holding the tiniest note of despair in it.
For his part, the Librarian looked downright giddy at the fact that his request was so impossible.
"Um, I've got one," Isaac said.
All eyes fell to the crimson haired forgemaster.
"What?" Ria asked.
He shrugged. "I have one. The bidding was rising like crazy on it. But in light of the situation, I'll let it go for free. In exchange for him re-anchoring the Throne."
"How?" Alucard asked, a little bit more aggressively than necessary.
"How do all of you think I make any money? With my good looks?"
Ria stood, brow furrowed. "I don't understand."
"I sell mystical objects to the highest bidder on the internet. As many of my—ahem—connections from my former life were immortal in some fashion or another, I can still obtain items that mystics of today can't. Well, can't without significant chance for personal harm. So, I have the lightning. You'll anchor the Throne?"
They all turned back to the Librarian, who looked fairly impressed.
"Huh," he said. "In light of the situation, then yes… I will re-anchor Dracula's Throne to Castlevania's ruins."
A quiet wave of victory passed over the group, and Ria took the first relaxed breath she had had in a very long time.
"Simply bring me the item at the time you wish me to re-anchor the Throne. But I'll warn you… I'd make this happen soon. Galamoth's followers have been after the Throne as well. They've just been… unsuccessful."
They all nodded.
"Is there anything you require for the anchoring spell?" Alucard asked.
"Only the person who is responsible for removing the Throne in the first place."
Sara, unbeknownst to anyone but Ria, turned.
"Ria, I know who that is. Sophy mentioned it while you were at school one day."
Ria nodded. "Yeah. Betcha I won't need three guesses to figure it out."
End Notes: So how was that? Kind of on the shorter end of my chapter lengths. Also, we finally know how Isaac gets money, lol. Yeah, I know, not the main issue, but a fun one. Once we hit five updates left on this story, I'll start doing my customary countdown in the end notes. Just to mention, Sara's little muttered word when she saw the Librarian in his true form was from a little theory my fiancé and I have. It's totally not important to this story, but it does shape my idea of the Librarian's character, so I worked it in. Oh, also, the "lightning made solid" thing was borrowed from an episode of Supernatural. Please review!
Review Reply to Fan of Games: Thank you so much for your review! I really love Nightwish, but I haven't heard that song. I'll have to give it a listen. As for the answer to your question, yes, I'll be posting those fics here. I tend to post my fics on multiple sites, so they'll appear here, on a website called Twisting the Hellmouth, and on my personal LiveJournal.