Before long, they met once more as Alexander started it off. "My mistake, I should have been watching where I was going."
"No harm done, Edgar." Kenmur spoke, patting the man on the shoulder. "You were right in getting us moving, if we had stayed a bit longer, that beast could have trampled us."
"And finding Maria here is a stroke of luck." Richter said as Maria beamed. "We now know that there are others taken by Dracula's forces, we need to save them before it is too late."
"An excellent thought, Richter Belmont, but now we have to divide once more..." Alexander turned to the paths and rubbed his jaw in thought, one path lead into another section of the castle while the other lead into a graveyard. "Who is to take to the castle and who will investigate the cemetery?"
"We will check out the cemetery!" Maria spoke, waving her hand in eager nature, making Alexander debate whether of not she was the real deal, but a nod of Kenmur's head told him enough as he also found himself agreeing with Shanoa doing the same as Richter.
"Then it is decided, Thersa and I will check out the castle, you three look into the graveyard, keep your eyes open for any captured maidens, we need to ensure that they are not left behind in this castle of nightmares." They divided into the two parties and headed out, both ensuring that they meet up again after they fight through the threat before them all...
"Such a once-holy site, Dracula's darkness ever envelops the light in its cold, merciless fangs."
"Well spoken, Thersa, though it has me wondering about it myself..." Alexander paused after they had conquered the initial guard of Bone Pillars and Spear Guards, coming face-to-face with a Giant Skeleton that looked like it was crafted in gold with their path also guarded by more Skeletons, Medusa Heads, and Fleamen. "...Why would Dracula, the Prince of Darkness, even consider keeping such a site in his castle, is it a reminder to hate what heroes strive to preserve or is it a far cry of a former life, one devoted to the light, but was lost in some great tragedy?" Shanoa paused as well as she looked at the site with eyes that questioned the same now, curious as to what it truly meant.
"...You are onto something, could Dracula have been once a man or has he always been the Prince of Darkness...?"
"Questions that we can find out much later, come on, let's face the monsters once more." They pressed on through, entering a stony passage with candles littering the way with a few more Spear Guards in the way before they came out into the moonlight once more and soon approached a great statue as Shanoa questioned.
"Whose statue is this, I have never seen such a statue before, what era do you think it is from...?"
"...It's Greek..." Alexander said as he looked at it. "It's not an ancient Greek god from lore, it is a statue of a man, but he must have had a role to play here to be constructed here, but which one...?" Alexander looked about as he started to puzzle it out, a massive steel door rested to the side as it was much too large for any normal human to be walking through it, but the ruined wall also had scratch marks across it, something that he nearly missed as he initially thought it was just claw marks from a big animal, but a closer look would have yielded a different look as the few marks were more of two marks per run, his eyes widening as he spoke the name. Unfortunately, that was the moment when another powerful soul entered him, the soul of Dogether, that he yelled it. "It was Minos, the King of Crete!" He winced as the soul came in too strongly as Shanoa rushed over to him as they both backed away as the steel door soon suffered bashing as Alexander, taking a moment to restrain Dogether, breathed before he spoke. "We just walked... into the lair... of the Minotaur..." The door shattered as red eyes gleamed from behind the way, the massive bull-man stepping forward as it turned its animal head to the pair and roared greatly as it started to the battle. Shanoa's ground was held as Alexander mustered himself up, but the binding of Dogether was somehow much more difficult than he had expected, leaving him in rear support as Shanoa fought the beast, her swords clashing with the monster's battleaxe with inhuman strength, she couldn't best it in a straight up fight, but she could parry and dodge the monster's swings as it leapt high with a jump slash and swung from the sides, but Alexander and Shanoa had it bested, knocking it to the door as it lost its axe, but not its fire as its fist started to glow and charged at them, Alexander thinking quickly as he plumed out leathery wings and jump with Shanoa in his grip, the Minotaur rushing to the statue and delivering a powerful uppercut, not touching the statue, but it was enough as the power kicked back and the beast slowly fell to the ground as its flesh combusted in the end, leaving its skeleton behind as both floated back down before Alexander collapsed with heavy breathing.
"Edgar, are you okay!?"
"I'm doing fine... I think that Dogether was trying to take me apart from the inside, but Wallman shattered it to pieces..." Alexander slowly got up and breathed more calmly as he continued. "I'll be fine... Just it is going to be a bit of a challenge to keep going if there are more souls like that." Shanoa nodded, but her heart was concerned, was he going to be experiencing such pains and trauma from all the souls he gains, he was in danger, but as she looked at him, she started to realize something else... He was walking a path alone, yet it looked more like those monsters that he had formed bonds with were right beside him, walking with him as she shook the image out of her mind for a time and followed him through to the end of the section to wait for the others...
Kenmur was not too pleased with the cemetery now, he never really liked going to some place with the dead were laid to rest, but it was even worse when the ground had become mud sand, ghastly men of mud crept through the muck as other creatures suck below the mud and never came back out. It was unsettling, but he pushed on with Richter and Maria, the girl's newfound powers working greatly as both observed her ability to strike with invincible birds, cats, even a projection of a female fighter whose punches were MORE than enough, even the Giant Skull that came to fight was no match for Maria and her magic. They pressed on to another maiden as she turned and looked at the trio, her attire that of a woman of the cloth, a nun as Maria spoke. "Are you okay? You're saved now!" The woman ran over and thanked whoever was in Heaven watching over her. "Hey, thank Him later! Come on, we've got to go!"
"You are truly an angel. May I ask you your name?"
"It's Maria Renard and these are my friends, Richter and Samson. What's yours?" Kenmur lightly sighed, did they really have time to chat a while, they're in a castle of doom, but he could expect that some things are not so easy to understand at times, he gets a lot of that from Alexander.
"Maria, the Holy Mother and her faithful guardians... My name is Tera. Sister Tera." Kenmur withheld himself as he spoke before Maria could interject.
"She must have been suffering from delusions from her capture, if she believes it, then there is actually little we can do for her here, let's get her back home before more monsters come."
"I'd be unworthy of such attention. Please, let me find my own way out, and see your mission through." Maria tried to interject on that notion when Tera removed a necklace from around her neck and offered it to the trio. "Oh, and please accept this. It's nothing compared to your power, I'm sure, but if it helps... then there's been a purpose to my time here." Maria lightly took the necklace and gazed at it as she agreed.
"All right, I understand. Now run for it before things get too dangerous. See you!" The party headed back up as Tera ran for it, her path clear from the monsters as even the mud itself had settled to a halt as they pressed on, Tera's necklace granting them the power to truly destroy the red skeletons and the red skeleton barriers that barred their way. They smashed several chained balls and dropped down below as they followed the path laid out before them before they tried to head further down when the stairs beneath them crumbled, Maria being caught by Richter as both hunters landed on their feet and they looked around, curious as to where they are before the air became filled with ancient markings and they gathered to one point before revealing a massive floating eyeball with a mouth as it looked at them before generating similar runes to attack them, using a tri-beam, a stream of fire, and a defense of stone to attack, but they were too mobile to take too much pain from the monster as it seemed to start to chant in its final leg, runes being marked where it went before they gathered on it and it turned into a symbol and started to fly overhead, making a suicide attempt on Maria, but Richter was faster as he dove for her, grasping her out of the way as the monster burst into flames and died. "Thanks, Richter."
"No problem, let's get going, that thing could come back." With that, they headed up once more through a passage that opened up with the monster's defeat and they soon arrived at another cross road...
Shanoa and Alexander didn't wait long as Richter, Maria, and Kenmur soon joined them as Alexander spoke. "Glad to see you are all in one piece, friends."
"Not just that." Richter showed off Tera's necklace as he explained. "We found one of the captive girls, she quickly escaped from this place after giving us this necklace, its power is considerable as it has the ability to destroy those red skeletons."
"Making the risen dead FOREVER dead again." Kenmur said as he looked at the cross road in forth of them. "So which way, scenic or spooky?"
"I don't know..." Alexander said a he too took to looking. "The upper route seems to lead into a dungeon while the lower route leads to some far-off manor in the castle grounds." Maria steeled herself as she spoke.
"I am not scared, we can take the dungeon."
"I don't know, Maria." Richter paused as he commented on it. "I don't think that what we will find in that path will be too good for anyone, even I shudder to think what to think what could be there."
"We can do it, Richter, Annette is waiting for us, I know it!" Richter nodded as he stepped forward.
"We'll take the dungeons, you two search the waterway and forest down below, the night continues to reside over the land so long as we don't stop Dracula from his evil ways."
"We will do what we can, Richter Belmont, but the same goes to you, be careful." They divided into the areas, the trio heading to the dungeons while the forest and its canopy is explored by Shanoa and Alexander...
Maria was not quite ready for what was in the dungeon, but she swallowed her fear and suppressed the urge to gag as the dungeon was not JUST for the convicted, but also the doomed to die by horrible methods as they headed further up. "I am regretting the agreement of this."
"Yeah, it seems like only few are able to stomach this." Richter grimaced as they continued. "Samson, how are you not sickened by this?"
"Long history, I can tell you, some battles that I went through with rogue priests and foul heretics often trailed into such places, sure not as bad as this whole torture chamber, but it was pretty bad." Kenmur was doing his best to not gag either, The place had a stretch to it and it really was getting to him. "I often felt like what they were doing... there was no point in the madness at all, it was just some sick, twisted interest in causing harm to others." He shook his head as they pressed on to a cleaner appearance. "You know, a cleaner appearance can often mean that someone WANTS people to come and visit... so they can die at the hands of some crazed lunatic."
"Obviously, you have too much time on your hands to analyze everything around you." Richter said as they soon dodged more dangerous tools and toppled a massive column with bombs that were inside its base. "This is Dracula's castle, of course there is going to be some crazed creature waiting to kill us, we are here to hunt down their master."
"Yeah, we can best them easily!" Maria was cheerful now, despite what she had seen in the lower wards as they pressed on into a green mist, none of them coughing in sickness from it, but it was eerie as they pressed on to another room where a woman sat, Maria sighing in relief when Kenmur and Richter raised their arm in concern, Richter the first to speak.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The woman stood up and spoke. "I am a prisoner of this castle, I seek heroes to save me from this fate."
"Lady... I DON'T trust you." Kenmur said, his gut feeling telling him just that as he continued. "There is something wrong in this room and I will not be fooled by a simple 'plea' trick to dismiss it."
"How troubling..." The woman's shadow extended out as she continued. "I may be a servant to Her Grace, but I will not be treated like a monster." A figure arose from the shadow, bringing forth a mask that shattered to pieces to a skull as a exposed demoness started to lounge on the bony frame as the woman spoke. "I am the voice of my master, Carmilla, and you all will feed her thirst of blood."
"Not going to happen...!" The battle started as the trio avoided the servant whose presence was a concern and focused on the floating skull, its tears of blood sprouting into flames before it fell to the ground in a blaze with its owner as the trio turned to the servant.
"I will not be done in so quickly, heroes." The dress was ripped off to feline features and a black attire that looked from a circus high-diving act, the hair revealed to be violet instead of black, but Belmont was not having it.
"Go back with your master, this world is not for you, her, or Dracula." The speed and grace that the servant showed was not enough as she fell to the ground, wounded, as energy flowed out of her and she collapsed, fading away to join her master as the trio continued on...
The way was not too terrible as Shanoa had explained, it was a pleasant path that was only touched by a number of monsters, but the landscape itself was rather peaceful. "You know, since we are here, it may be best that you could talk."
"About what?"
"Your power, it is clear that you are taking it as it comes, but has it been hurting you... in any sort of way since we have met?" Alexander rested a hand to his forehead as they proceed down into a crystal cavern.
"To think on it, it hasn't been easy, I will admit, but it has been much simpler than I had expected, the souls of the Ecclesia members have made it more bearable, they have maintained order in the mindscape that I have them all in, it only hurts when I take on the soul of a powerful monster whose own soul is malice and hate." He rubbed his jaw as they paused. "It also looks to be that I am only able to support the summoned creature for a limited window of time, otherwise I start to feel like I am breaking apart, switching with my... other self wouldn't have hurt, but the prolonged stay in the other body had drained me and I started to fear that I was losing myself, it was strange... he said that it could not be helped, but I felt that he was withholding his own power and the others devoted some to keep me intact, would it have been benefiting them all if I were to drop..." Suddenly, a rolling headache crushed into him and Shanoa felt the power that surged from it as he exclaimed. "Alright, alright! I was just saying!"
"...They trust you... you have made their lives different and gave them peace for your own belief, but it has returned in kind to you that they would entrust their own power into you, they would not have benefited from you dying, their power and abilities wouldn't have changed otherwise, they would be stuck the same as before." Alexander shook his head as the wave eased out and he breathed.
"Let's hope that is the truth, I don't want to feel useless or miserable again." They continued into the tunnel before they encountered another one of the captive maidens, looking to be the daughter of a doctor or individual of science. She stirred and stood up as she spoke.
"Who's there!?"
"Everything is going to be fine." Alexander started as he introduced the pair. "I am Edgar and this is my companion, Thersa." Shanoa bowed her head as he continued. "We are here with three others to save those taken and defeat the evil count who did all this."
"Thank you both, I'm Iris, thank you for saving me."
"Our pleasure, now quickly, go before the path is closed by more monsters." Iris nodded before she gasped.
"Wait a moment!" Both was taken back as Iris continued. "Thersa, let me see your arm." Shanoa extended out her arm and realized that there was a long scratch across the side of her arm, a skeleton having made it with a broken bone and getting her before its demise at her rapier.
"Oh, this... I had forgotten that I had gotten this, it is minor though."
"Oh, believe me. If we don't treat that right now, you're looking at infection, and then putrification."
"Words of a doctor, what can we or you do about it?"
Iris chuckled a bit as she spoke. "I was kidding about it, but it is still a wound, let me bind it up. My father's a doctor." She started to dress the wound and soon was done, clearly having some medical supplies before she was taken. "There you go. That should make it much better." Shanoa moved her arms carefully and felt it was much better than how it was beforehand as Iris stepped back.
"I thank you, these wounds are often minor, but in truth, even the smallest could be dangerous, thank you, Miss Iris."
"My pleasure. Now, before you two go, take this with you." She offered a small charm and Alexander took it off her hands as he asked.
"A good-luck charm?"
"Yes, it is to help keep you safe as it has for me." Alexander nodded as he pocketed the charm and spoke.
"It can do more than that, but the best thing right now is for you to escape, this is not the time to linger." Iris nodded as she headed off, Shanoa and Alexander's attacks now empowered to destroy the crystal wall formations that would bar their way as they moved on back onto the regular path, heading for the manor as they fought more Fleamen, their avian carriers, and skeletons hiding behind trees before they entered the foyer, Shanoa quickly raising her hands to her arms and rubbing them as she commented.
"Is this another part of the count's magic?"
"Perhaps... but this chill... it is no normal cold wind..." They headed on in to the very tile and stone also becoming frozen as they entered into the next chamber to see it was lined, wall to wall, in ice and the open passage yielded frozen soldiers, some wearing rigid expressions while some were in total shock as their bodies had turned blackened with ice cloaking their frame, but the most prominent feature was the guillotine, ice coating its frame and blade as a rigid figure stood in the ice as Shanoa made a double check at the figure.
"Hold on, is this one a man or monster and why is he frozen...?"
"...It is self-imprisonment... it wanted to freeze itself in the defense of the master..." Alexander quickly jumped back from the ice as a cavalier lance sharply dropped from the ceiling, both getting ready as the ice cracked and shattered to the figure to knee down before its held possession, a man's rigid head, came to life with a flash of its green eyes and it was tilted up in response as the armor stood up and grabbed the lance with its free hand and pulled it free as the head spoke.
"Those who dare defy the master will perish..."
"It's a Dullahan..." Alexander smiled sadly as his created spade faded from his hands and he straightened up as Shanoa was still on guard, completely lost as to WHAT Alexander was doing. "But who do you serve, mighty Dullahan, who is your master in this time of strife...?" The lance was readied to attack and it lunged forward, but it completely missed Alexander on purpose as ice formed at the tip and the head spoke, sharing a gaze with Alexander.
"You don't claim to be a master of powers beyond yourself, but you have an aura... one that I haven't felt since..." The lance was removed and then firmed planted in the ground as the head was gently handed to Alexander as it continued to speak. "Tell me, boy, are you the heir to the Elmendan power, the power of 'devil forging' that has gone beyond its usual calling and has become an equal power to the Lord Dracula?"
"You creatures sure know of my late ancestor a lot more than I do..." Alexander held the head up as he continued to speak, the head floating up. "Who are you, to know of my ancestor's power and who he is...?"
"I am Sir Tidus, once a powerful lord and knight, my own arrogance lead to my untimely execution... by the falling blade..." All three turned to the frozen figures as the armor moved toward them with the head following in its float. "They say that the use of the device is inhumane, that it is an monster onto those that find themselves under the blade, but the day I died was the day that evil found me and cursed the blade, I to be their loyal servant in terms of betraying those that I once held dear, the frigid essence of my power evident as well as my marking of imprisonment." The armor fist gripped tight as the head calmly dropped into the other arms's grip before a fist slammed into the device, shattering it to pieces as Tidus continued. "I may be dead, but I am no one's servant, if you dare contain me as your little pawn, blood of Elmendan, then I will fight for my freedom."
"I was hoping that you would come to terms with the fact that you are still a free soul, you are free to leave whenever you choose, but if you feel that way... then I will put your sadness to an end, prepare yourself, Tidus..." Alexander's shadow bellowed to the side as a beastly man arose from it and glared at the Dullahan, snorting out steam as armor coated its body and a great battle axe emerged from the dark as well as Alexander finished. "...I will not hold back the fury that my summon possesses."
"As expected, I am to fight a creature whose legacy is blood and fury, the Minotaur does not scare me, it is just a beast of burdens." The lance was quickly snatched up as it lunged once more to the Minotaur's panting in anger as it spoke.
"Burdens!? You are just a man who was killed for the belief of peace." The beast swung the axe and pinned the weapon down as the monster continued. "I was forsaken... given life by a god whose very gift was spared and my mother the king's own wife. I have become a monster when the king sealed me in a tomb of stone and tunnel, my life ended when a hero came to slay me, I once served the Count..." The Minotaur puffed in anger as it readied a fist. "...BUT NO LONGER!" The armor bent to the punch and the Dullahan coughed out blood as he glared to the beast from his skidded position. "I am not a beast of burden, I am the Minotaur, monster son of King Minos, blood of Crete, and killer of soldiers and lives for my own survival, the time of ancient gods has passed, but here I stand to kill!" The lance flew back into the Dullahan's hand as the Minotaur made to strike again and the battle started anew as blows clashed with blows, the Minotaur's axe enchanted with fire while it battled the frigid shaft of the lance as both battled, energy bolts matched by debris hauled and the Dullahan was swiftly brought down as the axe was dropped and the beast stomped through the fallen soldier, his head resting on the ground as the armor tried to get up as well, lifting the head up and holding in both hands. "My blood boils at the chance to destroy you, your story is not as strong as mine...!" The grip loosened as the Minotaur held the head up in one hand. "...But... anger is not the answer for me now, I have been changed, given a new purpose and I may soon learn more of myself than anyone else has ever believed, I have changed and, unlike my brethren to come, I have a soul to carry on with..." The beast tossed the head as it burst into flames and the armor shattered to pieces before the lance impaled the now hollow armor as the Minotaur turned, stomped toward Alexander, and knelt down. "May my power, whether it changed with my soul, ever serve your mission, Conjurer." Alexander lightly nodded as the monster flaked apart, the once-summoned monster now returned to the mindscape as the Dullahan's followed suit and Alexander sighed.
"Just my luck, it is a rivalry between them, who is stronger and who is faster..." He shook his head as they moved along. "I just hope that, when this is over for a time, that those two will ACTUALLY understand what the other is going through." Shanoa nodded as she too sighed, clearly it is becoming a thing where either Alexander convinces a monster to join or tests his strength with a summon or two...