Rosario of Sorrow
Chapter eighteen: Family of Darkness and a Vampire
Once the light subsided, Soma found himself in a large eight-sided room, lined with bookshelves and medieval versions of filing cabinets. He surmised they contained ancient scrolls and other forbidden items. The dark energies he felt within the room were immense, which verified what the librarian had relayed. "Back there," he spoke to himself, as he felt a stronger aura from the rear of the room.
"[What do you think you're doing?!]" an unseen male voice demanded, which sounded very old and aggravated. "[You're not ready for this level of Glyph magic, without the runes you won't be able to channel their power properly!]"
"But I can't wait, sensei!" a young girl's voice protested. "I need the most powerful spells in this book so I can kill Rubi-san and avenge all my friends!"
The Japanese teenager inhaled sharply, as he recognized the voice. "No way!" he exclaimed under his breath.
"[And I'm telling you that you're wasting both our time,]" the first voice countered, though Soma couldn't have understood him, "[you need to master the basic spells before you attempt the advanced ones. Now put that book down at once!]"
"But Barlowe-sensei-"
"[No buts. You think I am unaware of what you desire? You need to be more patient, child, you wouldn't want your enemies to learn you're still alive, would you?]"
The little girl's voice cried out fearfully, clearly shaken by the concept. "N-n-n-no, no sensei!" she finally conceded.
"[Then stick to the basics, once you've mastered them, then we'll move on to the next set of Glyphs.]"
A mournful sigh came from the rear of the room. "Hai, sensei," the second speaker replied in resignation.
A low exhale escaped the white-haired youth as he cautiously made his way towards the center of the room. "That voice," he thought to himself, "I'm certain that was, Yukari-chan. But who's that old man? And how can she understand him, he's speaking in... Romanian," he concluded, as a suspicious look crossed his features. He weaved his way through the bookshelves in the middle of the chamber, and soon reached the far end. Once he did he saw a large bald man in some form of military attire, trapped in a light brown crystal, a look of shock and fear frozen on his face. "What the heck," he thought to himself, confused about how the man had entered the castle.
Not far from the immobilized man was a small girl in a witch's costume, her face turned away so Soma couldn't have seen her expression. Before her was what appeared to have been a Magic Book, similar to the ones the enigmatic youth had fought throughout the Library. The tome opened its pages before the girl, and a glowing white symbol appeared before it, which resembled the outline of a scythe, surrounded by gray wisps. The white-haired youth suppressed an inhale, as his gray eyes went wide. "What's going on here," he thought worriedly to himself.
"[Now then,]" an aged voice spoke from nearby, "[since you've managed to have developed your own absorption technique, use it on this Glyph before you.]"
"Hai!" the young girl replied happily.
Soma his gray eyes went wide, and the tried hard not to have gasped as he realized where the first voice had originated. "Did that book just... talk?!" he mentally asked himself."And how the heck does Yukari-chan understand him... it... whatever. " The troubled youth lightly shook his head of white hair, as he found it difficult to have discerned what had just occurred. "You mean all those books I've been fighting are... alive?" The academy student grimaced to himself,as he held the side of his head. "Man, this is way too weird."
The bewildered youth looked on as his classmate pointed her wand at the sigil before her. His eyes went wide when he saw a twisted aura around her usually cute scepter. He held his breath, as he watched the wand absorbed the magic in the page it indicated. "What the heck," he asked himself mentally. "Did she just... absorb that spell?"
As he remained behind the bookcase, the child prodigy concentrated her magic power, and thrust her wand forth. "FALCIS!" she shouted, and dark magic manifested at the end of her small scepter. The energy coalesced into a deadly-looking scythe with a somewhat short handle, which she then grasped with her free hand. She slashed through the air several times, then looked to the weapon in her hand, as a low menacing laugh escaped her. "Yes, yes! I feel the power of this wonderful spell!" she exclaimed as she held her magical scythe in the air. A few moments later, her dark elation subsided, and was replaced by a look of frustration. "But it's still not enough!" she grumbled, as her weapon dispersed in her hand. "I need more power in order to destroy Rubi-san and avenge all my friends, desu!"
"[Let's not get ahead of yourselves, young Sendo,]" the book replied in a chiding voice, "[as long as you're bound to your wand, you won't be able to utilize the Glyph's full power. In time, I'm sure we'll find a way to help you overcome this limitation. After that, we'll see about teaching you more advanced Glyph magic.]"
The brunette girl sighed in mild disappointment, as it seemed her instructor's answer wasn't what she wanted to hear. Though after a few moments, she lightly shook her head, and bowed before the tome before her. "Hai, sensei."
"Avenge?!" Soma thought to himself with a startled look. "Did she just say, 'avenge?'" He looked in between his classmate and the Magic Book, and his expression darkened as he came to an infuriating conclusion. "That bastard!" he thought angrily to himself. "He's teaching her forbidden magic! He must've told her everyone was dead, so he could use her for revenge! Well I'm gonna put a stop to that right now!" he concluded as he manifested his Unholy Crucifix.
"[Hrm, who's there?!]" the tome demanded.
The white-haired youth glared at the Magic Book, and had nothing to say as he was about to have passed by the young witch and cleaved the evil tome in half. But just as he'd raised his sword to have delivered the killing blow, he felt a malicious intent beside him, followed up by a cutting sensation across his midriff a split second later, which made him cry out and stagger back. "Get away from Barlowe-sensei you-" a girl's voice snapped at him, followed up by a startled gasp. He looked to his classmate, who wore a confused and horrified expression on her young features, as blood dripped from the edge of her magical blade. "S-S-S-Soma-san?"
The white-haired youth groaned as he held his wounded front. He surmised it wasn't a deep cut, yet it got him just below his breastplate, where he wasn't protected. "H-hey," the academy student replied with a rueful smile.
The small girl sobbed for several seconds, as tears ran down her cheeks. "SOMA-SAN!" she cried out, as she lunged forward and tightly wrapped her arms around the taller student's waist. "Oh Soma-san, I thought you were dead! I-I thought Rubi-san killed you too, like she did everyone else!"
"It's alright," the Japanese teenager replied with a pained smile, as he hugged the grieving girl's shoulders, "I'm right here... really. Ow, that really hurt."
The child prodigy looked at him in confusion, then gasped as she noticed the wound on his front. "Oh," she began in a guilty voice as she bowed her head, "I'm sorry Soma-san, I thought you were trying to ambush us, like that idiot over there did, desu."
"Yeah," the Japanese teenager replied warily, as he looked back to the immobilized soldier.
"[Sendo, who's this,]" the book asked curiously, as it hovered near the white-haired youth, who leaned back slightly from its proximity to him.
"Oh, Barlowe-sensei! This is my good friend from school," the brunette spoke as she motioned to her classmate, "Cruz Soma-san! Soma-san, this is Barlowe-sensei," she continued as she gestured towards the book, "he's teaching me some really magicky magical magic desu!"
"Get away from her you bastard!" the Japanese teenager snapped as he glared at the sentient tome.
"Hey!" Yukari shot back indignantly. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"That's what I should be asking you!" the enigmatic youth heatedly retorted. "That thing," he went on as he pointed at the tome, "is teaching you forbidden magic! It's pure evil! It has to be destroyed!"
"Barlowe-sensei is not evil!" the young witch shot back. "He was the leader of the holy Order of Ecclesia, founded to fight against Dracula himself, desu!"
"Sheah right! That thing reeks of evil magic! Use your head, Yukari-chan, it's just using you!"
"YOU'RE WRONG!" the child prodigy screamed at the top of her lungs, and then began to sob. "What... what's wrong with you, Soma-san," she asked with tears in her eyes. "You're starting to sound just like... like... Arikado-sensei!"
"[Arikado, you say,]" the Magic Book asked in a curious voice.
"Hai," the small witch replied as she turned to her supposed mentor, "he's a really mean man who makes everyone around him sad. He's not kind like you," she continued with undeserved reverence, "Barlowe-sensei."
Soma gazed incredulously at the conversation before him. "What the heck is going on here," he asked himself mentally. "It's like those weird sci-fi movies where everyone speaks in their own language yet they all understand one another." He then briskly shook his head, and focused on the matter at hand. "That part about Ossan might be true," he spoke aloud, "but that doesn't mean that stupid book is any better!" he snapped as he pointed to the object in question. "And whatever evil spell that thing," he continued with a contemptuous glance, "has cast on you I'm gonna undo it! And then I'm gonna tear it apart so it can't hurt anyone else!"
"You're wrong!" Yukari rebutted. "Listen to yourself, Soma-san, you're not even trying to understand him! You don't know," she went on, as her face became downcast, "how much, he's suffered."
On the highest level of a cathedral-like building, was a large round chamber, with a high-domed ceiling with exquisite carvings throughout the entire surface. A shot set of stairs descended from the only exit, into the room itself. Thick arches surrounded the entire perimeter of the room, the walls a light-green color. Before the wall was a barrier of sorts, with numerous cross-like extensions that rose from the top, that encircled the room as wall. Situated on the left side of the chamber was a huge antique-looking cabinet, that held numerous tomes and scrolls. On the other side was a well-maintained table, upon which lied several thick tomes, as well as a burning candelabra. A noble-looking chair, with soft red cushions, was tucked under the table. Light shone into the chamber through two large cathedral-style windows on opposite ends of the room.
In the rear of the room was a break in the wall, which extended into a short passageway that ended with a short dais, that rose barely ten centimeters off the floor. A short set of stairs headed up around the dais, and stopped near what appeared to have been a black standing coffin, which radiated a truly malevolent aura. Not far from the foot of the stairs was a man of considerable age, clad in a long grayish green long coat with golden trim, with dark brown pantaloons upon his legs and well-polished leather shoes on his feet. He wore a matching vest under his raiment, which had crisscrossing golden bands. He wore a white dress shirt under his vest, and a red string tie around his neck. His dark gray hair was combed back, and stopped at the bottom of his neck. Before him were situated three book stands, with thick tomes upon each one. Standing upon the dais was a slender young woman, clad in a long dress that had armored pieces sewn into the sides and front. She had thin covering on her slender arms, and brown knee-high boots on her feet. Her attire left her shoulders bare, which exposed the spiral-shaped symbols upon them. Her long night-colored hair framed her somewhat pale features and flowed majestically down to her posterior, which concealed the huge runic symbol on her exposed back, and she wore a mysterious look in her blue eyes.
"The time has come, Shanoa," the older man spoke to his pupil, the pride of the Order of Ecclesia. "Once you have absorbed these three Trinity Glyphs, you shall become mankind's savior, the morning sun that will vanquish the darkness! With you by our side, we need not fear Dracula any longer, and mankind shall know true peace!" he declared with his arms dramatically outstretched. "Now, let us begin the ceremony that shall complete your destiny."
"Yes, Sir Barlowe," the dark-haired woman replied in a mysterious voice.
The founder focused his energy on the suspended books before him, which opened on their own accord and floated into the air. The tomes then transformed into three glowing holy symbols, each with a ringed layer around its respective perimeter. The star pupil then turned around, and lifted up her long night-black locks, which exposed the huge runic symbol on her back. Her own symbol began to glow, which slowly drew the three Trinity Glyphs towards it. After several long seconds, they were absorbed into her back, and a bright white flash blinded the entire area for but a moment.
"It is done," the older man spoke with an elated smile, "the ceremony is complete. At last, humanity's savior has come."
Barely a moment later, the Glyph warrior's shoulders trembled slightly, as a low chuckle came from her.
"Shanoa," Barlowe asked, perplexed by her uncharacteristic demeanor, which began to worry him.
"Oh I'll save humanity alright, master," the dark-haired woman spoke sarcastically. "I'll save it-" She paused for a brief moment, and then turned fully towards the noble founder, a maniacal grin on her pale features, "-FROM ITSELF!"
The aged man gasped aloud, his wrinkled eyes widened in shock as he felt a malefic aura radiating from his pupil.
"You poor misguided fool," the suddenly unfamiliar woman spoke with a wry smirk, "you've played right into our hands. Now, we have exactly what we need."
"Our?!" the sage exclaimed with a frightened, bewildered look. "Shanoa, what are you-"
Suddenly, the sinister figure began to manifest a dark magical aura, which terrified the older man to no end. He watched as she raised her hands overhead, and the three Trinity Glyphs materialized. Barlowe watched in horror as crackles of dark energy shot around the Sacred Glyphs, that almost seemed to writhe in response, almost like they were in agony. His chagrin grew even more as he saw streaks of darkness appearing within the glowing white symbols, as the crackling grew even more intense. "No, stop!" the founder called out, as he saw his greatest hope being perverted right before his very eyes. "You- you can't do this!"
"Oh but I can," Shanoa replied with a nefarious, maniacal grin, as the corruption of the holy symbols continued, "I have the power to turn anything to the side of darkness, even these Sacred Glyphs. And once they've been completely bent to my will, can you guess what I'll do with them?"
"You don't mean," Barlowe began, then gasped as he realized the answer on his own. "NO!"
"Exactly, I shall use these Glyphs you've bestowed upon me, to revive our true savior. The one true Lord of Darkness!" she declared with fanatical glee, "Count Dracula!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!" the old man screamed in anguish and disbelief. "You can't do this! You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to DESTROY Dracula, not revive him!"
The sinister woman laughed in unholy ecstasy, as the holy glyphs had become all but completely subverted. "It's your own fault, Master. You trusted me!"
Barlowe gasped in horror and clutched his heart, which throbbed in massive anguish. Deep down, he knew she had spoken the truth, which hurt him far worse than any sword or spell ever could. "No," he thought incredulously, "this can't be. I raised her like my own child, I trained her every day to use our sacred arts. And now, they're going to be used, to revive that unholy monster?!" The old man fell to his knees, aghast that his noble mission had been so badly corrupted. "Dear Lord," he spoke with a blank expression, "what have I done?"
"It is far too late for regret now," Shanoa spoke with a sinister smile, "the Dark Trinity Glyph, is mine." With that, all the light within the formerly holy symbols was gone, replaced by seething darkness. She then exposed her back again, and the three subverted Glyphs shot back into her body, as a nefarious chuckle escaped her. "And now that I have this unrivaled power," she continued as she turned back to him, a demonic grin on her pale features, "I have NO further use for you!"
The founder of Ecclesia watched in despair, mortified that his holy mission had gone so terribly awry. As he brooded over his fate, his former pupil glowed with a seething an ebony and crimson aura, which made him alert again. "What are you-" he began, then inhaled sharply as his eyes went wide. "No! You can't! Not a Glyph Union! Not with those evil Glyphs! NO! STOP!" he pleaded desperately, as he looked into the face of death itself.
"NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOUR DEMISE!" the dark diva declared as the entire area became engulfed in a blood-soaked darkness, coupled with a titanic explosion of negative energy. Barlowe barely had a chance to scream before his body was completely disintegrated, along with the entire chamber. All that remained behind, was the book he'd always kept him with him.
After the explosion had subsided, Shanoa looked upon the destruction before her, and laughed in maniacal triumph. "It is done!" she declared in dark elation. "Now nothing can stop the return of our lord! His new reign of eternal darkness, is at hand!" She laughed once more, as crackles of ebony and crimson energy shot around her.
Soma looked to his classmate with a blank expression, shocked by what he'd just heard. "No... way," he spoke in a small voice, aghast that such a tragedy had actually occurred.
"Hai," his classmate replied with a sad look, "Barlowe-sensei lost everything when Shanoa betrayed him, even his own body. Only his noble spirit remained, bound forever to the book you now see, and trapped in this castle ever since. He believed in her, he raised her, he... loved her," she continued, as her face became downcast. "It's like... like... having your own child turn against you!" she cried out, then covered her face with her hands as she began to sob.
"Yukari-chan," the Japanese teenager implored, quite upset that his fellow student had been so taken in by such an obviously fake sob story.
But before he could've rebutted her, the image of the witch's face wavered, and was replaced by the troubled countenance of a blonde woman of clearly Western descent. "Vlad Spune-mi," the stranger began, immense sorrow in her otherwise beautiful voice, "unde-AM gresit?" She then closed her bluish gray eyes, as tears streamed from them. "Ultimul lucru pe care L-AM dorit vreodată, a fost pentru fiul nostru să crească până la te urasc."
Soma groaned in anguish, almost overwhelmed by the strange woman's nigh limitless sorrow. "It's her again," he thought to himself, "why does her face, make me so sad? What... happened to her? And what does she have to do with... Yukari-chan?" A light sigh escaped him, as he still found himself wrought with sadness. "If only I could understand her, it would make things so much easier. Why can I understand her in my dreams, but not when I'm awake?" He groaned sadly, troubled by the language barrier before him and the haunting woman, as well as the disturbing questions about his past that had become very relevant ever since he'd come to the castle.
"In a way I could understand him," the young witch spoke up, though the troubled youth was too distracted to have looked at her, "because I too was betrayed, and I thought I lost everything. That's why I need to learn these spells!" she declared insistently, which finally got his attention. "So I can get my revenge on Rubi-san! And if that evil Shanoa is still alive, I'll help Barlowe-sensei get his revenge, too! I won't let his death be in vain, desu!"
"S-S-S-Stop that!" Soma managed, still affected by the immense sorrow that plagued his heart. "Don't you realize what you're saying?! You... you can't do this!"
"And why not," the child prodigy retorted with a defiant glare as she placed her hands on her hips. "Rubi-san killed everyone I cared about, why shouldn't I kill her?"
"BECAUSE IT'S WRONG!" the white-haired youth screamed in desperation as he lashed his arms out to the side, aghast at the thought of his classmate fighting for revenge.
"Hmph, there you go again with that whole 'right and wrong' nonsense. So it's okay for Rubi-san to kill all my friends but it's not okay for me to kill her? Is that what you're trying to say?"
"Um, but," the Japanese teenager began tentatively, unsure about how to have answered his incensed friend's inquiry.
"Forget it!" Yukari interrupted in a harsh voice. "I'm gonna do what I think is right, and if you're not part of the solution," she continued as she pointed at her classmate, "then you're part of the problem! So go away, I've got magic to learn desu!"
"Come to your senses!" Soma shot back, as he felt himself becoming increasingly aggravated by the brunette's stubbornness. "That thing has brainwashed you! It's one of the Throne Room guardians, and it must be destroyed along with this stupid castle!"
"You are NOT going to hurt Barlowe-sensei! This is MY revenge, I won't let you take it away from me!"
"Get over yourself!" the Japanese teenager retorted incredulously. "What makes you think you can handle these people?! What, you think dropping a few pots and pans is gonna do anything? They'll laugh off your pitiful attacks and then kill you!"
"Pitiful attacks?!" the small witch snapped at him, rage in her violet eyes. "That's it, I'm not gonna hold back against you!"
"And what are you gonna do," Soma asked, not the least bit threatened by his classmate, "throw some playing cards at me? Get real!"
"OH YEAH?!" Yukari shot back, as her violet eyes glowed red, and a seething dark aura manifested around her. "How's THIS for real?!" she declared, as she levitated a good fifty centimeters off the floor.
"W-What the?!" the white-haired youth exclaimed, shocked at the magical power his friend resonated, which was much stronger than she'd displayed at the academy.
"NITESCO!" the small witch proclaimed as he aimed her wand at the incensed youth, which released a piercing beam of intense light purple energy. The Japanese teenager took it dead on, and found himself knocked off his feet and into a bookshelf behind him.
The enigmatic youth youth groaned in pain as he slid down onto the floor, his chest still burning from the piercing light that struck him. "What the hell," he asked, hunched over in pain from the surprise attack. "Where'd she learn that attack? Oh no," he uttered with a horrified look as he realized the answer on his own. "Yukari-chan stop! These are forbidden spells! You'll destroy us both!"
"I won't die!" the young ayashi retorted as she hovered over him. "I will destroy Rubi-san, Shaft, Shanoa, and anyone else who hurts people just for fun! They will all tremble before my new power!"
The wounded teenager cringed at his classmate's demeanor, aghast at what her desire for revenge had done to her. He became even more chagrined when a maniacal laugh escaped the child prodigy, who began to remind him of the evil witch she sought to destroy.
"I will master all these spells!" Yukari declared, a fanatical look in her glowing red eyes, "I will make Rubi-san pay for tricking me! I will become the most powerful and beautiful witch, IN THE WORLD!" she proclaimed dramatically as she spread her arms out wide, and another gale of maniacal laughter escaped her.
"NO!" Soma screamed in desperation as he rose to his feet, horrified at what his classmate was starting to become. "I won't let this happen!" He quickly regained sight of the Magic Book that had deceived her, and channeled the power of his Flame Demon soul. "BURN AWAY!" he shouted as he released a huge fireball from his right hand, aimed right at the sinister tome. However, he watched as Yukari flew right in its path, and gasped in horror.
"SCUTUM!" the small witch shouted, and a small blue and gold shield materialized before her. The fireball collided with the shield, and small streaks of flame shot in all directions as the self-proclaimed genius was knocked back into the far wall.
"Yukari-chan!" Soma cried out, worried that he'd inadvertently injured his classmate, who slumped onto her butt. "Yukari-chan," as he called out as he ran towards her, "are you al-"
"NITESCO!" the small witch shouted as she aimed her wand and fired another purplish beam, which caught the youth in midstep. He was sent flying back, and slammed into the bookcase behind him.
Soma fell to one knee, as he held his still-burning chest. "Man," he thought to himself, a pained look on his pale features, "she might not be as strong as the coven elder, but that still hurt!"
"What do you expect when you underestimate your opponent," his darker persona replied in an impassive voice.
"Shut your hole! I'm trying to save her life! Both our lives!"
His alter ego hummed in response, and said no more.
"[Sendo, wait!]" the evil book called out as it hovered near the young girl. "[It's too dangerous to fight in here!]"
"Barlowe-sensei," Yukari asked with a bewildered look.
"[Just a moment, I'll take us someplace safer.]"
An immense magical aura manifested around the book, which dwarfed that of the child prodigy nearby. Soma watched as his surroundings began to waver, like the disturbed waters of a pond. "What is it doing," he asked himself as he warily got it his feet, and watched as the area began to shift.
Elsewhere in the castle, Alucard made his way inside a large tower, comprised mostly of turning gears and a walkway that ran around the perimeter of the structure. "The Clock Tower," he spoke with an unreadable expression, "Richter said he once encountered Shaft's ghost here, so this could be where he's hiding. Either him or the old man," he went on, as a contemptuous scowl crossed his features. "I can't let him find Soma, or it'll ruin everything."
He immediately headed up the walkway, but soon stopped as he saw a large section had broken away. Though before he could've planned his next move, he sensed several malicious intents nearby, coupled with the fluttering of wings. He looked to his left, and saw a Harpy closing in on him, a dagger held in its taloned feet. He also watched as several Medusa Heads floated towards him, evil written all over their ghastly faces. "Useless," he remarked with an unimpressed look as he drew his sword. The Harpy backflipped in midair, and hurled its weapon towards the dhampir. The ancient hero deflected it with his sword, and knocked it into one of the Medusa Heads, which shrieked in mortal agony as it burned to ashes. Another one of the evil heads drew near, and Alucard rent it asunder with a single strike. He was about to have killed the next one when the Harpy shrieked and sped towards him, its talons extended. The dhampir saw through its predictable attack, and changed his body into mist, and the birdlike monstrosity grasped onto nothing. He then reformed his body, leaped into the air and nailed the demon with a vertical slash that neatly cleaved its body in half.
The blonde swordsman then turned to the network of gears before him. As he examined the operating clockwork mechanism, he noticed a couple of the gears looked unstable, and guessed they might've collapsed out from under him. He also sensed a few more had a distinctly different aura about them, which he knew would've caused Soma a lot of problems once he reached the tower. He then changed into his bat form, and flew upwards through the turning gears, being especially careful to have avoided being caught in between them, lest he be killed in his current state. Three more Medusa Heads materialized and closed in on him, yet he expertly outmaneuvered them and headed up to the next part of the walkway.
Once he hovered over the path, he resumed his humanoid form and landed on his feet. No sooner than he did that he sensed a powerful magical aura, which was too close to Soma for his tastes. He held out his right hand, and the image of the white-haired youth appeared over his palm. He saw the oblivious boy in a strange room, which didn't look like it was part of the castle. Before him was a Magic Book, as well as a familiar girl in a witch's costume. "This can't be," he remarked with widened eyes, "I thought they were all dead. But why are they-" As he continued to watch, he saw the witch's form wavered, and the form of a familiar woman became superimposed over it, one he knew only too well. "No," he spoke worriedly, aghast at the thought of the two people he saw in the vision ever meeting again, "no it can't be!"
Once the phenomenon had subsided, Soma saw the archive room had disappeared, and was replaced with a large round chamber with a domed ceiling, built in a style he'd never seen in his short life. "This... room," he spoke to himself as he looked about the area. "This is-"
"Barlowe-sensei," the small witch's voice asked, "is this-"
"[Indeed, don't worry about me child, I created this space for your sake. Now you can fight to your heart's content.]"
"YAY!" the child prodigy exclaimed, and laughed in wicked delight.
The white-haired youth soon found his classmate, and gave her an incredulous look. "What is she so happy about," he asked himself, baffled by her inappropriately exuberant behavior. "Is that... thing controlling her mind?"
"You hear that, baka?!" the small brunette declared defiantly, a demented look in her glowing violet eyes. "There's no escape for you now! I am Sendo Yukari-sama, here comes the pain!"
"Give me a break," the Japanese teenager grumbled to himself, "the Yukari I know would never say anything that lame."
"Hold that pose!" the witch shouted as she thrust her wand forth and fired a small brownish crystal, which struck the enigmatic youth and immobilized him in a large crystalline structure.
"What the-" Soma thought to himself, shocked that he'd been paralyzed so quickly. "This is what happened to that other guy! Yukari-chan did that," he asked himself mentally, shocked that his friend possessed such abilities. He struggled to have freed himself, but found the task more difficult than he'd expected. Frustrated, he summoned his dark power, which made his eyes glow red. He then thrust his arms forth, which rent his crystalline prison asunder, though it left him slightly injured as well as a tad disoriented.
"Take that!" the small witch cried out, and Soma felt a crushing blow atop his head, which seemed like it came from a hammer of sorts. "And that," she shouted repeatedly, which was punctuated by another hammer-like blow.
Tired of the constant beating, the white-haired youth instinctively reached up, and grabbed the handle of what appeared to have been some sort of hammer, with a long thin head that had a curved rear end. "Who do you think you're messing with?!" he demanded of the startled witch, who struggled to have freed her weapon. "It's gonna take a lot more than this to take me down!" With a single yank, he pulled the hammer out of Yukari's grasp and hurled it behind him, only to watched it dissipate before it landed on the floor. "What the," he asked himself, baffled by the experience. He turned back towards his opponent, and received another hammer blow upside the head, which spun him around several times.
"LAPISTE!" the child prodigy shouted, and Soma spun around again to have been smashed by a huge stone fist, which knocked him all the way across the chamber.
The white-haired youth slumped onto his butt, dazed after the crushing blow he'd received. "Man, this is not good," he spoke to himself, worried about both his chances and his friend's well-being. "What can I do, I can't hurt her, she's my friend!"
"[What are you doing?!]" the Magic Book demanded. "[I told you not to use such advanced Glyphs! If you keep this up you'll exhaust all your magic, and that'll leave you vulnerable to your enemy!]"
"I'll be fine!" the brunette girl shot back. "Once Soma realizes how serious I am, he'll apologize and stop getting in my way! Have faith in me, Barlowe-sensei! I'll make you proud, desu!"
Soma growled in aggravation, incensed by what he'd just heard. "Who does she think she is?! Expecting me to apologize? I'm trying to save her and she's giving me flak?" He growled once more, and briskly shook his head. "No, it's not her, it's that stupid book. Once I destroy it, Yukari-chan will wake up!"
"Will she now," his alter ego mused from deep within his soul.
The Japanese teenager ignored his alternate persona's comments, and manifested his Unholy Crucifix. He then pushed himself to his feet, and charged right for the Magic Book that had turned his friend against him.
"Oh no you don't!" Yukari snapped, as she flew into his path and reared back with her wand. "ACERBATUS!" she shouted, and a fired a large sphere of seething dark energy from her wand, which streaked towards the charging youth.
"WHOA!" Soma exclaimed as he leaped to the side, and the evil sphere barely missed him. The Japanese teenager was grateful that it was slower than her beam attack, then he recovered and headed back for the evil tome again. Though again, the young witch obstructed his path yet again.
"GLOBUS!" the small witch shouted as she thrust her wand forth, which released two small spheres of dark purple energy that streaked rapidly towards Soma. The charging youth lunged forth and tumble rolled across the floor, and the orbs passed over him. He then rolled up back to his feet, and continued towards the evil tome again. But before he could've reached his target, he got nailed in the back by dark energy, which knocked him facefirst to the floor.
Soma groaned in pain, his back still burning from the dark energy that had struck him. "What the, what happened? I thought I avoided that attack!"
Before he could've discerned the answer, high-pitched laughter resounded from ahead of him. He raised his head, and saw his hovering classmate before him, an insane grin on her young features. "Now do you understand," she asked with a fanatical gaze. "This is the power I've obtained for my revenge! With Barlowe-sensei behind me I cannot fail! And YOU," she spoke with an intense gaze as she pointed her wand at the fallen youth, "will not interfere!"
An incensed growl escaped the white-haired youth as he pushed himself to his feet. "Enough of these games!" he snapped at his deranged classmate. "One way or another I'm going to set you free, and there's nothing you can do to STOP ME!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he rushed forth, his Unholy Crucifix slung over his shoulder.
"Wanna bet?!" Yukari shot back defiantly. "Fine, have another taste of my magicky magical magic!" she proclaimed, as she reared back with her wand. "NITESCO!"
The charging youth knew what the witch had planned, and immediately brought his sword into a defensive position. He found himself stopped, as the purple-colored beam that shot forth collided with his bladed. "So... powerful," he managed through clenched teeth, and realized that the beam continued to push back, unlike the previous instances. He struggled to have stood his ground, but then saw crimson crackles shot around his blade. "Oh man, is this thing gonna hold?" He then grunted in exertion, and called upon more of his own dark power, and pushed back against the powerful spell that continued to have assailed him. "Why, why has it come to this," he asked, aghast at his situation. "Why am I, fighting against my own friends?"
Suddenly, the beam dissipated, which made him lurch forwards. He quickly used his sword for support, so he wouldn't have landed facefirst into the floor. "Whoa," he spoke in a winded voice, "what just happened?" The white-haired youth looked forth, and saw Yukari on her hands and knees, her mouth stained with blood. "No! What happened to her?"
"It seems she exhausted all her magic," his darker self noted in response. "Now is your chance, seize it."
"What are you saying?!" Soma demanded of his alter ego. "I can't fight my friend, I'm trying to save her from-" He paused in mid-sentence, as a realization dawned on him. "That's right, the book! Now there's nothing left to protect it! Now you're MINE!" he shouted as he charged at the evil tome. Though just as he was about to have dealt the final blow, a familiar shield appeared and parried his attack. He looked forth and saw his friend had arisen, and was clearly struggling to have maintained her shield. "Why," he asked of the stricken girl, "why are you doing this? Why are you getting in my way?!" he demanded of his insane classmate.
"Au tradat, Vlad! Si acum incearca sa fure tron!"
"What the-" the enigmatic youth exclaimed, shocked by the dialect his friend had used. "That's Romanian! And that voice-"
"Indeed," his darker persona remarked, a surprised tone to his usually impassive voice.
"Dar EU sunt puternic acum," the young witch went on pleadingly, "lăsaţi-mi lupta de partea ta, Vlad!"
"[Vlad,]" the Magic Book asked itself, "[could it be?]"
Soma inhaled sharply, his will to fight waning in the face of the spellbound girl's sorrowful eyes. "What's... going on here," he asked himself mentally, "who... is she?"
"There's no time to explain," his darker self replied, "you can't have her involved in this, can you?"
The troubled youth groaned in response, as he knew his alter ego was actually being rational, for a change. He wasn't sure about his reasons, but he knew there truly wasn't time to have debated the matter. With that, he reverted his sword to its state, and wrapped his arms around the strange girl before him. "I'm sorry," he spoke in a grave voice, and then smashed the butt of his cross into the back of her head. He felt his classmate had gone limp, so he gently placed her on the floor. He then rose to his feet, no pleasure in what he'd done. "Don't worry, once you wake up, this will all be a bad dream."
Suddenly, the witch's prone form began to waver, much like the room did earlier. "No!" Soma called out and instinctively reached for her, but found his hand ghosted through her insubstantial body, and watched as she slowly disappeared from sight. His whole form trembled, as he gazed intensely at where his friend had once laid. "YUKARI-CHAAAAAAAAAAAN!" he screamed to the ceiling, aghast that his classmate was no longer with him.
The tormented youth then lowered his head, still in shock over what had just occurred. As he continued to mourn, dark energy began to suddenly assail him, in particular his brain. Soma cried out as he held his head, which was apparently the focus point of the attack. After several long seconds, the energy subsided, and the white-haired youth hunched over in pain, as his head continued to throb.
"Must you be so melodramatic," an aged voice asked from behind, "she's only been removed from the battlefield, she would've just gotten in the way at this juncture."
"That voice," the formerly stricken you spoke with an incensed hiss, and immediately straightened up. Once he turned around, he saw not a Magic Book, but a grave-looking gray-haired man. He was clad in a long grayish green coat with golden trim, with a tome tucked under his left arm. The teenager's rage blazed anew, as he was certain that he beheld the true form of his enemy. "You! What have you done with Yukari-chan?!"
"Did you hear me earlier," the newcomer asked, a twinge of annoyance in his voice, "I've merely removed her from the battlefield. You shouldn't overreact like that, you could get yourself killed here."
"Can it Ossan! I don't need advice from the likes of-" He then lurched back involuntarily, as he realized he'd actually understood the man before him. "Wait a minute, how are you speaking Japanese?"
"I'm not, you're hearing Japanese, thanks to the spell I cast on you, the same one young Sendo experienced. Hrm, remarkable girl," he continued in a clinical voice, "if she wasn't so impulsive, she'd make an excellent Glyph warrior. All she needs is patience, and then she could easily be my best pupil." He then hummed to himself, as a mysterious smile crossed his aged features. "I daresay even Shanoa would be impressed."
"I don't think so!" the angry teenager snapped as he got in the evil mage's face. "You are not gonna use my friend in your plans anymore, I'm gonna end them AND YOU!" He drew his crimson blade, and wielded it in both hands. "DIE LOLICON!" he proclaimed as he reared back with his sword, and unleashed a vicious horizontal slash, aimed right at the man's neck. Though instead of decapitating its target, the blow harmlessly passed through it, which left the white-haired youth dumbfounded. "What the?!" he exclaimed with a startled look, shocked that his blow had been completely ineffective.
"Didn't I tell you not to overreact," the aged man asked in the same infuriating tone, "you're not a very good listener, are you? That too could get you killed within these castle walls."
"ZIP IT!" the hot-headed youth shot back as he slashed through his opponent's neck again, though again failed to have beheaded him. He slashed three more times, though again with the same results. He then screamed as he reared his sword back, intent on cleaving his enemy in half. He slashed downwards with his sword, yet his enemy split apart into several images of himself and disappeared.
Soma frantically looked about the room, as his breathing came in short spurts. "What's going on here," he asked himself in between breaths, "why can't I kill this ossan?!"
"Tell me, were you always this erratic," an old man's voice asked from behind him, "or do we have Arikado to thank for this?"
The incensed youth spun around, and saw his enemy behind him, which incensed him even further. "What do you know of him?!" he demanded of the older man.
"I know he is your enemy, and that as long as he lives, he will never allow you to embrace your destiny. So he must he destroyed!" he declared with an intense look.
"Say what?!" Soma asked with a baffled look. "You mean I have to fight him and Dracula? That's insane!"
"Hmph, he really is playing for a fool," Barlowe remarked with a bemused smirk, "how shameless."
"Shut your hole! At least he doesn't play with little girls like you do! I KNEW you were evil!" he declared as he stuck his index finger in the charlatan's face. "And now I'm gonna end you so you can't hurt Yukari-chan anymore!"
"How misguided," the two-faced creep remarked, and gave his gray head a disgusted shake. "I really don't want to do this, but perhaps if I fight you, then you'll remember who you really are." The schemer rose high into the air, and glanced down at his opponent. "EN GARDE!" he declared, an insane look on his formerly peaceful features.
"SCREW YOU!" Soma shot back, and unleashed a huge fireball via his Flame Demon soul. Unfortunately, his attack harmless passed through his target's body, and dissipated once it struck the ceiling. "What's the deal here?!"
"HOLY TRUTHS!" his opponent shouted, as a pair of magical tomes materialized, one hovering above him and one beneath his feet. Curved streaks of lightning formed around the madman, who stretched his arms out wide. He then bounced about the room like a pinball at blinding speed, laughing maniacally as he went. Soma found himself unable to have avoided him, and was knocked back several meters until he landed on the floor.
The Japanese teenager groaned in pain as he began to rise, still a bit dazed from the unorthodox yet clearly powerful attack. "What the heck," he asked himself, and looked towards the ceiling. Once he did he saw Barlowe above him, and instantly rose to his feet. "Don't look down on me!" the incensed youth snapped at his enemy. He then summoned his Axe Armor soul, and hurled a double-bladed weapon at his enemy. The axe hurtled towards his enemy's cranium, yet harmlessly passed through. "What the!" Soma snapped, and hurled another axe at his enemy, only to have gotten the same results. "I'm really getting sick of this!" the Japanese teenager snapped at his enemy, and channeled his anger into his next attack. "Eat THIS!" he shouted as he hurled a blazing axe at his adversary, who split apart into several versions of himself and disappeared.
The incensed youth looked about the area, and soon found his enemy behind him, as he dropped a tome from his outstretched hand, which slowly descended towards the floor. "Like that's gonna save you!" Soma snapped, and rushed towards with his enemy with a fierce battle cry, his Unholy Crucifix slung over his shoulder.
"GLACIUS!" Barlowe shouted, and the charging youth quickly found himself encased in ice. "Inpexerienced!"
"Grr, this ossan is starting to get on my nerves!" the Japanese teenager thought angrily to himself.
"It doesn't help when your aim is off," his alter ego remarked blandly, "or have you already forgotten what he is?"
"What do you mean my aim is off?! I've been aiming for that idiot the whole time, he should already be dead!"
"Hmph, if he was fighting you with murderous intent, then you would be dead."
"As if! I'll show you!" He summoned the power of his Minotaur soul, which enhanced his strength. With a fierce growl, he thrust his arms out to the sides and broke free of the ice. He then channeled his dark power into the Unholy Crucifix, which extended and crackled with crimson energy. The incensed youth caught sight of his adversary, who hovered three meters above the floor. Soma then slashed across, and unleashed a huge wave of crimson energy from his blade. Unfortunately, his target disappeared from sight, and the crimson wave smashed into the ceiling, which made small pieces of debris fall towards the floor.
Cruz Soma growled in seething aggravation, livid that his enemy had evaded him once more. "Blast, what does it take to kill this ossan?!" He then mentally glared at his alter ego. "And what do you mean my aim is off?! Answer me!"
His darker persona said nothing in response, which vexed the Japanese teenager even further.
"Hold still!" the dark holy man's voice snapped.
"Who asked you?!" Soma shot back as he spun around towards his enemy, but his anger was replaced by fear as he saw several large fireballs headed towards him. "WAH!" the white-haired youth cried out as he frantically ran about the room, as the fireballs successively crashed into the floor behind him.
Once he sensed the attack had stopped, he turned back to his enemy, his shoulders heaving in exertion as he held his crimson blade in both hands. "Man," he thought to himself, "what does it take to stop this guy? If I can't even hit him, what am I supposed to do?" As he considered his options, he watched as his opponent descended near the floor, stretched his right hand forth, and a magical tome materialized. "Oh no, not that attack again!" he thought worriedly to himself, and then noticed his opponent's stance as the tome began to descend. "Wait a minute, he's not moving. This is my chance! Just gotta time this right, and I'll get him good!" He equipped his Undead Soldier soul, and hurled a magical grenade towards his target. It bounced three times as it continued across the floor, passed under the floating book, and a fiery explosion erupted right under Barlowe, who cried out in pain and immediately shot into the air.
The evil man growled in anger, as a seething dark aura surrounded him. "Take that!" he snapped, and he shot four small spheres of dark energy from his hands, which bounced rapidly across the room. Soma cried out as he strove to have avoided the evil orbs, but for caught by one of them and was knocked to the floor.
The stricken youth groaned as he found himself facedown, still in pain from the powerful spell. "Man, that's the same attack Yukari-chan used. Urgh, no wonder it got me before. And he can fire four of them, man no doubt he's on another level from Yukari-chan. Darn, he could be as strong as the coven elder." He groaned inwardly in response, quite unnerved at the thought of facing another such opponent. The Japanese teenager quickly brushed his troubling thoughts aside, and pushed himself off the floor.. "But I hurt him that time," he spoke under his breath as he looked for his opponent, "so I know, I can beat him."
The wounded but still resolute student caught sight of his opponent, who hovered off to his left. Though when he saw his enemy was visibly uninjured, shock overcame him for a moment. "What the heck," he thought to himself in bewilderment, "I know I hurt him! That explosion should've burned his legs, his coat, and-"
"HOLY TRUTHS!" Barlowe shouted.
"Oh shoot," Soma remarked blankly, as he saw his enemy become encased in an electrical sphere. Once his adversary began to bounce around the room, the white-haired youth immediately braced himself. He then leaped aside each time the laughing madman drew near, and fortunately managed to have avoided any injuries, which he knew was a necessity at that juncture.
The Japanese teenager faced his enemy again, who had begun to turn back towards him. As he did, Soma saw large burn marks around the tome under his arm. "Wait a minute, that explosion did hurt him. It hurt-" His gray eyes went wide, as he finally realized the truth. "HIS BOOK!" he literally screamed in his mind. "UH! I really was aiming for the wrong target! Man, did he put one over on me, I got distracted by his body and totally forgot he wasn't a man!"
"Took you long enough," his darker self remarked in annoyance.
"Can it! You just watch I'm gonna get this guy now!"
The more confident youth looked to his enemy, and watched as several spectral tomes appeared over his outstretched right hand. "Hold still!" the old man snapped, as the books caught flame and began to descend towards him. Soma broke into a sprint to have avoided the onslaught, and circled around to his opponent's blind side. He then called upon his Axe Armor soul, and hurled a large double-bladed weapon at the tome in his left hand. Though it passed through his hand, it cut into the book it held, which made Barlowe scream in agony again.
"DIE!" the old man shouted as he spun around towards Soma, a seething black youki around his clearly spectral form.
"Crap, he's not done yet," the Japanese teenager asked himself with a chagrined look, then watched as his enemy vanished from above the floor, and reappeared directly across from him.
"How dare you," the old man snapped as he rushed towards Soma at blinding speed and smashed hims upside the head with his book, which spun the white-haired youth around and sent him across the room, where he saw the sinister man reappear. "interfere with," Barlowe spoke heatedly as he rushed forth and smashed the teenager with his book again, which sent him across to the other side of the room, where he reappeared once more, "my disciple," the schemer went on as he smashed Soma once more with his book, which sent him back across the room, and saw his enemy materialize in his path again, "you," the evil man continued, obvious anger in his voice as he streaked forward and smashed the Japanese teenager with his book again, which sent him across the room once more, and saw his enemy in path yet again, "stupid boy!" Barlowe declared as he smashed him upside the head with his book, which sent him flying into the far wall, which he slid down and landed on the floor in a crumpled heap.
Cruz Soma groaned weakly as he struggled to have raised his head, barely alive after the crushing attack. "Man," he uttered in a pained voice, "that guy sure has a temper. Can I really win this?" As he struggled to have risen from the floor, the faces of his remaining friends appeared in his mind. The sight of them made him growl in aggravation, and he grit his teeth together. "What am I saying, I HAVE to win! Or I won't see Yukari, Eucliwood, or Moka ever again!"
The stricken youth turned his body to the side, and saw his enemy hovering fifteen centimeters off the floor, his right hand outstretched. "Oh shoot, I only got one chance at this!" he spoke urgently, and summoned his Undead Soldier soul. He hurled a magical grenade at his opponent, which passed under his book as it landed on the floor. "Oh no!"
"GLACIUS!" Barlowe shouted, and the whole floor became covered in ice, which included the prone Soma as well.
"No!" the white-haired youth mentally cried out, as he feared he'd missed his chance.
Suddenly, an explosion erupted from outside his icy prison, which promptly faded away. Though since his vision was blurred, he couldn't have clearly seen what had just occurred. Though the burning sounds, along with screams of agony, clearly reached his ears. "Why?!" the old man's voice cried out in despair. "Why Lord DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" The mortal scream was the last thing Soma heard before he passed out.
Outside the archive room, the Master Librarian remained motionless as he watched what occurred within the one of the most tightly secured areas in the whole castle. To a casual onlooker, he would've been mistaken for a statue, as there were no visible signs that the robed figure was still alive. His dead lungs hadn't drawn breath for centuries, and his heart hadn't beat in the same amount of time. Despite that, he diligently watched over the castle library, which was his eternal duty, assigned to him by Lord Dracula himself.
The ancient vampire continued to watch, undeterred by the physical walls before him. He was surprised that he'd found two more people in the archives, one being in a state of suspended animation. He also found a magical tome, which contained the soul of a man who'd labored to have revived two centuries before. The librarian was a bit concerned when the white-haired youth confronted the forgotten individual, yet despite the difference in power he managed to have prevailed in the end.
"Mm, impressive," the ancient demon remarked as he lightly stroked his chin, "and most courageous as well, facing such an opponent with no means to have restored himself. Though I do hope he doesn't make a habit of it, or he may very well perish before he learns the truth." The bearded figure then regarded the unconscious girl on the floor of the archive room, who'd begun to awaken from her current state. "Hrm," he began, as he suspiciously narrowed his red eyes, "that girl, could it really be?" The vampire hummed to himself, and blinked his ancient eyes. "How ironic, to think that they would be reunited after so many centuries." The corners of his mouth lowered, to have formed a nigh imperceptible frown. "But if it is her, and the young master finds out, who knows what he'll do. I'd best keep a close watch on them for the time being."
Soma groaned weakly as he slowly regained consciousness, his whole body protesting his every move. "What... happened," he asked, unsure about how he could've been in such a wretched state. He opened his gray eyes, and rubbed them with his hands. "Man, do I have such a migraine," he remarked, as he held the side of his head, and felt the area around him with his free hand. His touch encountered a hard wooden floor, along with a wooden surface to his right. "Hrm," he asked himself, and then looked to the right. Once his vision cleared, he saw what appeared to have been a bookshelf, filled with various tomes. "Wait a minute, are these-" He stopped in mid-sentence, as the sight of the tomes brought back painful memories. "Wait... I remember," he spoke with a stunned expression, "the archives... that crazy old man... and... YUKARI!" he screamed as he instantly rose to his feet. No sooner than he did that his body screamed in pain, which reminded him of the dreadful battle he'd just survived. He willed the pain away, and then looked about the area. He found himself in an eight-sided room, with several bookshelves and cabinets strewn about the chamber. "This is... the archive room. Then that means-" The Japanese teenager inhaled sharply, and his eyes went wide in enlightenment. "I won... somehow. Man, that was too close. If my grenade got froze, who knows what would've happened." He then looked about the room, and saw the immobilized soldier, still with the same frozen look of shock on his face. "Hrm, so if Barlowe is dead, then that would mean-"
Suddenly, his body was wracked with seething dark energy, which made him scream in agony. Moreover, he felt his dark power rapidly being drained, which quickly left him depleted and brought him to his hands and knees. He looked about the area, and saw his classmate behind him, hatred all over her young features. "Yu... kari... chan."
"You bastard!" the enraged witch screamed at him, as tears ran from her violet eyes, and a menacing dark aura surrounded her. "How dare you kill Barlowe-sensei! I'm never gonna forgive you!"
"Yukari-chan, stop!" the stricken youth desperately called out. "You can't fight for vengeance, it... it's wrong!"
"Wrong?!" the incensed girl shot back spitefully. "Wanting to avenge my friends is wrong?! Wanting to avenge Moka-san is wrong?! What kind of an idiot would say something like that?!"
"Hold on!" Soma called out to his irrational friend, but feared his words weren't reaching her.
"You take away my precious sensei," Yukari went on as she approached him, "take away my chance for revenge, leave me with nothing but hate, and you say that's NOT wrong?! How DARE you!" she declared, as a deadly-looking scythe appeared in her hand. "DIE, ARROGANT HUMAN!" she proclaimed at the top of her lungs, her face a mask of death as she reared back with her vicious-looking blade.
Desperate to have stopped his insane friend, the stricken youth lunged forth, grabbed the sides of his classmate's face and pressed his lips against her own. "Stop it Yukari-chan!" he spoke mentally, hoping she would've somehow heard him. "Don't sink to their level, you're so much better than that! Please! Yukari-chan! COME TO YOUR SENSES!" he mentally screamed, as he wrapped his arms around her diminutive form, striving to have purified her soul of all evil and hatred with his kiss, and thus freed her from Barlowe's control.
After several long seconds, he sensed her murderous intent had vanished, and thus released the liplock. He then opened his eyes, and saw a somewhat delirious look on the young witch's features, as she moaned in incoherence.
"Now do you see," Soma spoke to his classmate as he lightly shook her shoulders, "you don't need vengeance! Don't think you have nothing but hate, that's how losers like Shaft and Rubi think! You have so much to offer the world, don't throw it all away for the sake of vengeance. You leave that to me!" he continued with an intense look. "I will destroy all your enemies, I will destroy all evil, I will decimate ALL WHO OPPOSE ME!" The troubled youth jerked his head back with an aghast expression, as he realized what he'd just spoken. "Wait a minute, that doesn't sound very heroic. Is this your doing?!" he demanded of his alternate persona.
A bemused chuckle resounded from deep within the Japanese teenager's mind.
"Stop that!" Soma snapped at his darker self. "Don't screw this up for me!" The white-haired youth then vigorously shook his head, and turned back to his classmate, whom he noticed looked far more alert. "Hey, Yukari-chan, come with me. I'll get you out of this hellhole, and once it's destroyed you won't have to remember any of this nonsense again. Yukari-chan," he asked curiously, as he noticed she hadn't replied, "Yukari-chan?"
The small witch gazed lovingly at him, as her hazy eyes went wide in recognition. "VLAAAAAAAD!" she exclaimed happily, and threw herself bodily at him, her lips mashed against his own.
The Japanese teenager was completely taken off-guard, and staggered back several steps. After around ten seconds he finally managed to have pulled the ecstatic girl off him. "What the?!" he exclaimed, flabbergasted by what had just occurred.
"Oh Vlad," the brunette spoke with an affectionate smile, "at long last I hath found thee again! Tis been far too long since we last met!"
"W-what are you talking about?!" the flustered youth demanded of his classmate. "Are you still under Barlowe's spell? Come to your senses, Yukai-chan!" he practically shouted as he grabbed her shoulders.
"What art thou saying," the peculiar girl asked in the same ancient dialect. "Hast thou forgotten mineself? What on earth hath happened to thee?"
"S-s-stop talking nonsense!" Soma shot back, frustrated by the latest turn of events. "Snap out of it!" he snapped heatedly as he shook her shoulders.
"Vlad, stop!" the irrational girl cried out in a pleading voice. "Why, why art thou art hurting mineself?"
"I am not Vlad!" the white-haired youth all but shouted. "I am Cruz Soma! And you are Sendo Yukari, NO ONE ELSE!" he exclaimed angrily. "Darn it, what do I have to do to make you listen to reason?! Snap out of it you stupid girl!" he screamed right in her frightened face.
"ImbeCILE!" a familiar growling voice proclaimed, which resounded right in the incensed youth's ear. The teenager looked up, and beheld a towering figure in a regal ebony and crimson attire, a brooding scowl on his deathly pale features, who stood behind the comparatively diminutive brunette. The figure reached out with his elongated fingers, and grabbed the top of Soma's head. The ominous being then pulled upwards, which made the stricken youth gasp in horror. Then he realized he couldn't have gasped, and was even more horrified when he found he couldn't have felt his body. The dark figure then slammed him back down, and Cruz Soma saw nothing but darkness afterwards.
Alucard continued his ascent up the tower, as he hopped in between turning gears. A few minutes earlier, he'd lost sight of Cruz Soma, which truly unnerved him. He was certain that as long as the ignorant youth held the Unholy Crucifix, he could've found him regardless of his location or state, even if he was in the Forbidden Archives themselves. He was more concerned about the girl he saw with him, and dreaded what might've occurred if either became aware of their true selves.
The blonde swordsman jumped back onto the walkway, and resumed his trek up the Clock Tower. He passed by another doorway to his left, and stopped at the foot of a staircase before him. At the top he saw a powerful figure, clad in heavy dark green armor, and a large broadsword in its right hand. "Hmph, a Sword Lord," the dhampir remarked in an unimpressed look, "is that the best they can throw at me?"
"Stop right there evildoer!" a high-pitched voice called out from above the staircase. Alucard looked up, and watched as a slender figure in a frilly pink dress, nailed the armored monster in the back with a diving kick that knocked him forward. The enemy went flying towards the tragic prince, who braced his legs, caught the hurtling energy and threw him aside into the gears. An agonized scream escaped the armored foe as its body was crushed between the huge turning gears, which resulted in sickening crunching noises of flesh and metal, as its form soon disappeared from sight.
Once the enemy had been destroyed, the ancient hero then turned to his supposed savior, something he never needed in the least. The figure was that of a young girl with short brown hair, violet eyes and a proud smirk on her young features. The very sight of her tested his ability to have reined in his emotions, which all but seethed at that juncture. "You've got to be kidding me!" he thought angrily to himself. "My daughter is dead yet she'sstill alive?! What sort of sick joke is this?!"
"Aha!" the Masou Shoujo exclaimed in a braggadocios manner, as she pointed towards him. "I've found you, Alucard-dono! Now all I need is to find the Dark Lord, and I can bring you both back to Villiers! Oh Dai-sensei will be elated that I've completed my assignment!" she continued giddily as she looked to the ceiling. "Then again," she went on with a conceited smirk, "since I'm the awesomely awesome breathtakingly brilliant colossally cute and supremely powerful super genius Masou Shoujo, invincible defender of all that is just and cute, failure was clearly outside the realm of possibility! So now," she proclaimed as her bedazzled eyes fixated on him, an her ahoge stuck straight into the air, "you are coming with me! Lilia-dono awaits!"
"I am not going back to Villiers!" the dhampir shot back in obvious aggravation. "So stop wasting my time and begone!"
"Oh, so now you think you can dictate terms to me, do you," the overconfident child declared, wholly unaware of her own glaring incompetence, "I think not! This is the will of the magnificent Lilith Lilia-dono, so you have no choice but to comply! Give up," she went on as she produced her masou renki, "or prepare to be beautifully beaten by the majestic might of the greatest intellectual of this millennium, the genius Masou Shoujo, Haruna-chan! And that's me in case you weren't taking notes!"
"Get over yourself! A conceited child like you doesn't have the slightest chance against-" It was then that he felt a titanic demonic aura, right where he last saw Cruz Soma. "No," he uttered, as he feared what had just occurred.
"You're wide open!" the Villiers girl proclaimed, which got the dhampir's attention. He looked forth, and saw her somersaulting towards him in midair, her masou renki out by her side. "MYSTLETAINN KICK!" Though before she could've unleashed her attack, the blonde swordsman turned into mist, and wafted into the doorway beside him.
Alucard reformed in a small room, filled with crates as well as large cogs. He telekinetically closed the door behind him, and concealed his aura so the annoying girl wouldn't have found him. The dhampir extended his right hand, and the image of Cruz Soma appeared over his palm, though his form was concealed by black smoke, and he resonated an insidious aura that the tragic prince knew only too well. Even worse, the witch girl looked not the least bit scared, but elated over the phenomenon before him. "No, this can't be!" he exclaimed, terrified by the scenario he watched. "No, no, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, as a huge explosion of demonic aura erupted around his body as he magically streaked towards the last known location of Cruz Soma, desperate to have stopped the disaster he beheld a few moments before.
Haruna looked about the area, befuddled that her target had escaped her seemingly unbeatable attack. She was glad that she'd finally found Alucard, but annoyed that she'd eluded him yet again. "Where'd he go?!" she demanded, as she continued to have scanned the area.
Suddenly, a familiar voice screamed aloud from behind a closed door, not far from her position. "Aha!" she exclaimed as she kicked the door open. "There's no escape for you now!" The slender girl launched herself forth, her masou renki extended. Unfortunately, instead of taking down the elusive Alucard as she'd expected, she wound up crashing into a pile of crates, which went flying about the room. She continued forward and slammed into the far wall, which crumbled from the impact, as gears fell on her.
"Haruna-chan!" Mystletainn telepathically called out. "Harnua-chan are you alright?"
"I'll... be... fine," the brown-haired girl replied in a dazed voice, "this... is... but... a... tem... po... ra... ry... in... con... ven... ience." The magical warrior promptly passed out, large purple swirls where her eyes should've been.
"Oh no, she's lost consciousness! And what's this," the masou renki asked worriedly, "I sense a very sinister aura from... that wall!" the spirit of Mystletainn exclaimed. "Haruna-chan, Haruna-chan wake up! There's danger nearby! Please, Haruna-chan, answer me!"
A black smoky aura surrounded the enigmatic youth, as his ivory tresses grew longer and wavier. His usual white coat turned jet black, with a blood-colored trim. And his bared teeth exposed elongated incisors, which looked anything but human. Yet despite the frightening transformation, the small girl didn't flinch. Instead, she wore an anxious and hopeful look on her young features.
Finally, the black smoke vanished, and the teenager opened his blood-colored eyes, which then gazed at the apparent child before him. "Lisa," he began in a rasping voice, with an all but indiscernible hint of affection with it.
"Vlad!" the girl replied happily. "At last, thou hast returneth to mineself!"
"How long hath it been," the transformed youth asked, as he looked into the hazy violet eyes of the equally spellbound child before him.
"Far too long, my lord," she replied with a somber look. "Verily didst I thought that after all these many centuries, that thou wert finally at peace. And then-" She paused for a moment, as a pained expression crossed her features, "-that horrible man, doth venture into the Underworld, and tried to absorbeth thine soul. Yet verily he didst release it once more."
The sinister teenager scowled in response, as a low menacing growl escaped him, for he knew exactly who his beloved had mentioned. "Insipid man, thinking he couldst become my successor. He hadst no idea what being the Dark Lord dost entail."
The former Sendo Yukari nodded her head in response. "Yea, tis a most heavy burden. I couldst see how much it doth weighed on thine soul. Is that not why, you desired Adrian to hath succeeded thee so badly?"
"Yea," the foreboding man replied with a somber look. "I thought eternal life wouldst hath been a blessing, only whence we first met didst I realize mine error. To live on, unchanging, while everything around thee withers and dies. If only I hadst known this earlier, I wouldst never hath obtained the Crimson Stone. All those wasted years."
"Tis far too late for regret, my lord. Had you not, we wouldst never hath met, and our son wouldst hath never been born." She then mournfully bowed her head, as her small hands went to her stomach. "I remember when he longed so eagerly for you, now he only longs for your death. Oh Vlad, where didst I go wrong," she asked with a pained look, as she covered her grieving face with her hands. "What couldst I hath done to have avoided this?"
The white-haired lord gently took her into his arms, and felt his embrace returned. "Perhaps it could not, he is my son, tis not surprising he hath chosen the path of darkness. Whether he doth admit it or not."
A deep sigh escaped the troubled girl. "Yea, though verily dost I wish that it wert not the case. I just desired thou and Adrian, to be at peace, never to fight one another until the end of time itself." She tightened her grip on the man she loved. "Vlad," she asked with a troubled look.
"What is it, Lisa," the imposing man asked, as his red eyes briefly darted to the side, then back to her.
"I hath given it much thought, wouldst thou desire to try again?"
"Again," the foreboding individual asked with a surprised look.
"Yea. Despite everything that hast happened, I hath no regrets about bearing Adrian in mine body. I hath often wondered, if he doth hath a brother, or a sister, then maybe he wouldst not have been so lonely. Regardless, Iwouldst like to bear thine child once more."
The former Cruz Soma gasped lightly in shock.
"Only this time, please pressure him not. Alloweth him, or her, to chooseth thine path, than try to choose it for them."
"You ask a great deal, Lisa. Twil be the same for him as it was for Adrian. Verily hath I learned, that those who possesseth the most power, often hath the least freedom. The world wouldst seek to control them, or even destroy them. Canst we really taketh a risk such as this once again? "
"Our child doth be worth the risk," the small girl spoke resolutely. "Even though I cannot do so at this time, in another decade I canst verily make it a reality. I hath waited over six hundred years to be reunited with thee, another ten wouldst be but a pittance. Anything for thee, my beloved Vlad."
"Lisa," the imposing man spoke softly, as he lowered his head towards her.
"Vlad," the small girl spoke lovingly, as she raised her self up on her tiptoes, closed her eyes and puckered her lips.
"GET AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!" an enraged male voice screamed from close by, as a gloved fist lunged forth and slammed into the side of the white-haired man's face, which smashed him into the nearby wall.
Cruz Soma was rudely awakened by an intense pain on the side of his face, and found himself slumped against the wall. "What.. the... hell," he asked, as he held his injured countenance. "What was that? I... I feel like I got hit by a bullet train!"
Before he could've pondered it further, an unimaginably strong gloved hand grasped his throat, slammed him against the wall again, and lifted him up it with punitive ease. As he struggled to breathe, his gray eyes beheld the enraged countenance of a pale-faced man, his fangs bared in anger and his eyes glowing red with seething hatred. His long blonde locks flowed from the titanic murderous intent he exuded. "What the-" he managed in a strangled voice, then finally recognized him as the man he saw in his vision, who walked alone in a corridor filled with monstrous bodies and blood. "YOU!"
"You miserable wretch!" the newcomer growled in a rasping voice, twisted by his immense hatred. "How dare you defile her with your blasphemous presence! HOW DARE YOU!" he screamed in demonic rage, as his murderous intent only seemed to grow.
"Can it!" the Japanese teenager shot back as he sent a punch right for his assailant's face, incensed at him for his cowardly attack. Unfortunately, his blow was caught in his attacker's free hand, which horrified Soma in response. He then felt his fist bent back, until a loud cracking sound was heard. The white-haired youth screamed in agony, as he knew his wrist had been broken. He was then hurled into a bookshelf, which actually toppled over from the immensely powerful impact, and his body rolled across it.
The Japanese teenager coughed painfully as he was slumped on the floor, favoring his throat and right wrist. He hadn't expected to have encountered the Pitiful Scion so soon, and knew he was in way over his head.
"Soma-san!" Yukari's voice cried out, coupled with hurried footsteps.
"Get away from him!" the madman shouted, followed by the small witch's pained cry. "He betrayed you! He is not worthy of you! And I will not allow him to torment you any longer!"
The stricken youth growled angrily as he forced himself off the floor, incensed by the shrill cries of his classmate. "You bastard," he snarled through clenched teeth as he strove to have risen into a sitting position, "who the hell do you think you-" He got no further as a leather boot smashed into the side of his face, and forced his head back onto the floor.
"You are no one to challenge me!" the assailant declared hatefully. "You've destroyed billions of lives, and now it's time you paid for your sins!"
Soma would've protested, until the madman pressed his boot into the side of his face, which made him groan in agony.
"So tell me, how does it feel to be crushed underfoot?! HOW DOES IT FEEL?!" the maniac screamed in seemingly limitless hatred.
"What is this guy," the stricken youth thought to himself, as he heard cracking noises from his face. "He makes Barlowe look like... nothing!"
"Stop it!" the small witch cried out in a shrill voice, clearly aghast by the carnage before her. "Stop it please!"
"Never!" the blonde man heatedly retorted. "He has tormented you for far too long, he's NEVER stopped tormenting you! And I won't permit him to exist any longer!"
Soma reached up and grabbed the man's boot, as he strove to have pushed it off his face. However, his assailant even more pressure, which threatened to have crushed his head "Die monster!" the madman screamed down at the stricken youth under his heel. "You don't belong in this world!"
"ADRIAN FARENHEIGHT TEPES!" the small witch shouted at the top of her lungs.
The blonde man gasped in horror and involuntarily staggered back, which released Soma from his predicament. The teenager immediately held the side of his face, which still throbbed in pain from the crushing pressure it had just endured. He then turned his head, and saw his classmate standing before the maniac, an indignant look on her young features. "Yukari-chan, get away!" he called out in a pained voice.
"What is the meaning of this?!" the small witch demanded of the cloaked figure. "You dare try to kill Vlad before me?!"
"But Mother, I must destroy him!" the blonde man protested. "I have to save you from him!"
"Mother?!" Soma exclaimed in a stricken voice, as he guessed his enemy was more insane than he ever imagined.
"I never asked you to save me!" the former Sendo Yukari shot back. "Why must you two keep fighting, there's no point to it!"
"Of course there's a point!" the madman shot back heatedly. "As long as he lives, no one on this world is safe! So he MUST BE DESTROYED!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!" the small witch cried out, as a powerful magical aura surrounded her. "I won't let you hurt Vlad anymore! I... I LOVE HIM!"
"Yu... Yu... kari... chan," Soma spoke weakly as he began to rise, shocked when he saw his classmate hovering above the floor, as she did when she was possessed by Barlowe. The very sight motivated him to have ignored the pain of his wretched body, and pick himself off the floor.
"What are you doing?!" the madman demanded, shock on his pale features. "You can't defend him, he's evil! He never loved you, he'll abandon you like he did before!"
"That is not how it happened! Say what you will about Vlad, say that he hurt me, say that he betrayed me, but don't you say DARE say he never loved me!" she proclaimed dramatically, as crackles of magical energy shot around her body.
"Mother, stop!" the blonde maniac called out, desperation in his voice. "He's a monster, he's not capable of love! You'll DIE if you go back to him!"
"Are you saying I don't have the right to love whom I choose?!" the incensed witch demanded of her accuser, as her violet eyes glowed with indignation. "Who do you think you are?!"
"But Mother-"
Soma decided he'd heard enough of the madman's rantings and ravings, and vowed to have shut him up permanently. He tucked the Unholy Crucifix under his right arm, concentrated his strength into his his left fist, lunged forward and drove it right into the side of his distracted enemy's face, which made him stumble for a couple of moments. The blonde man turned back and glared hatefully at him, but the Japanese teenager gave it right back. "Yeah, doesn't feel good being sucker punched, does it," the white-haired youth spoke tauntingly. "What's wrong, can't face me like a man so you need to sneak up on me?"
"SILENCE!" the maniac shouted as he nailed Soma with a vicious backhand, which sent him into another bookcase, which actually toppled over from the powerful impact.
"VLAD!" Yukari practically shrieked as she clearly saw what befell the Japanese teenager.
The beleaguered youth groaned as he laid atop the bookcase, his wretched body jarred yet again. "What," he began weakly, "what kind of a... maniac is he?"
Before he could've begun to recover, he felt himself grabbed by the mouth and chin, and lifted into the air, his feet dangling above the ground. He looked forth, and saw his assailant had accosted him yet again. "Miserable worm," the madman growled through clenched teeth, which exposed his deadly fangs, "you have mocked me once too often!" The tall man reached into his coat with his free hand, and produced a blood-colored jewel, attached to a silvery chain. "This ends NOW!" he declared, his face a mask of hate and rage as he held the jewel aloft, which began to glow with an ominous sanguine aura.
"ENOUGH!" a girl's voice shrieked from behind, and the maniac cried out in agony as he was struck from behind with a powerful spell, which caused him to have dropped Soma onto the floor. The stricken youth looked past the his assailant, and saw the brunette girl, who looked angrier than he'd ever seen her before.
"M-Mother," the madman uttered as he turned towards the enraged witch, "why?"
"You know why," the former Sendo Yukari retorted, her face wrought with sadness, rage, and bitterness. "I thought you respected me, I thought you were better than this! But no, you just can't stop yourself, you're just too proud!" she continued, as her whole body trembled, and tears streamed from her face. "JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER!" she screamed in her ire, as her magical aura became immense in size and strength.
Soma gasped as he beheld Yukari, frightened as well by the immense power she exuded. Moreover, he watched as her body began to change as well. Her legs grew longer, and became very shapely as they stretched the fabric of her stockings. Her arms also grew longer, as did her hands and fingers. Her childish physique developed rapidly, as her hips flared out, and her previously nonexistent bust became sizable. The Japanese teenager almost expected her to have suffered a wardrobe malfunction at any moment, and the very thought made him instinctively cover his nose. Finally her childish features became breathtaking, and would've been deemed exquisite were she not seemingly lost in rage. The prone teenager looked to his assailant, and saw him covering his face with his arm, fear evident in his stance.
"You've pushed me too far," the transformed witch spoke in a radically different voice, which sounded nothing like her previous kind. "I never wanted to do this, but this seems to be the only thing you and Vlad ever understood! If you can't stop yourself, then I will stop you!" she declared boldly, as she reared back with her wand, which glowed with the same magical aura. "BEGONE!" she screamed as she thrust forth her wand, which released a huge sphere of seething dark energy. Soma immediately rolled out of the way as the dark orb nailed the maniac head on, and wracked his body with its energy, which made the cloaked figure screamed in agony.
"That spell," Soma spoke weakly to himself as he rose to his hands and knees. He watched as his enemy fell to his knees, his face wracked with anguish. Though after the madman had tried to kill him, the Japanese teenager saw no reason to have pitied him. After a few seconds, the maniac's body seemed to glow with a dull red aura, became translucent and then vanished from sight.
The white-haired youth watched as the cursed sphere dissipated. He had hoped his adversary was gone, but the strange disappearance of his foe indicated otherwise. "No!" he cried out, as he slammed his left fist onto the floor. "We had him! We had him! Blast, if only I wasn't like this, I could've ended him here and now!"
"Vlad," a dazed woman's voice called out.
Soma looked forth, and saw his transformed classmate headed towards him, her legs shaking with each step. "Yukari-chan?"
"Vlad, I'm... sorry." The adult witch collapsed onto the floor, and her body became still.
The white-haired youth groaned weakly, as he felt himself losing consciousness from what he'd endured in the archives. "Yu... kari... chan," he uttered in a barely audible voice as he finally passed out.
As both figures laid prone on the floor, the witch's body began to glow with a lavender aura, and her physical form began to regress. After a few moments, it had returned to its previous state. The magical aura coalesced into a single sphere, which shot up through the ceiling of the archive room. It flew up towards the highest reaches of the castle, where a small tower was situated, the only entrance blocked by a great seal, comprised of four ringed layers. The sphere struck the magical ward, which crackled with demonic energy. As the crackling intensified, the outermost layer of the seal began to fade away. And after several seconds, it completely disappeared, as the phenomenon came to an end.
"Soma," a sad girl's voice implored, "Soma. Please Soma, wake up, wake up!"
The white-haired youth groaned weakly, as the voice began to rouse him. "Who's... there," he asked uncertainly. While he couldn't have identified the speaker, he felt an undeniable softness against his face, which made his cheeks warm up.
"I'm sorry Soma," the same voice spoke penitently, "I had, no idea he'd attack you so soon. That horrible monster!" she moaned, and began to sob. "Again, I failed to protect you."
"Huh," the Japanese teenager began in a barely audible voice, his mind very hazy at the moment. "Monster, protect, what," he asked incoherently, though he did feel a distinct weight upon his waist.
"But don't worry, Soma," the unknown girl continued, and Soma felt himself pulled away from the softness. His blurred vision then beheld a sad face, framed with silvery white hair, and a pair of morose red eyes that stared into his own, "I won't let you die."
The enigmatic youth lightly gasped, as he had a good idea of who was before him. He then felt a pair of slender arms wrap around his shoulders, and heard a distinct hissing sound in his right ear.
"Wait!" an older man's voice spoke urgently, and Soma heard the girl inhale sharply in response. "You mustn't, if you give him your blood it'll attract his attention. And you don't want him returning now, do you?"
The morose girl groaned, and the white-haired youth felt her trembling as she continued to hold him. "Why is he doing this," she asked in a broken voice, "why is he after us? Why is he after Soma?"
"He can no longer stop himself," the second speaker replied, "his desire for vengeance has driven him mad, and has made him everything he professes to hate. Did you not desire to protect your betrothed from such a man?"
The academy student looked to the sad girl, though his vision was still blurred. Despite that, he noticed her looking away, an air of immense sadness about her. "How I can stop him? I failed Soma, just like I failed-" She then began to sob morosely, as her silvery bangs fell into her eyes.
"Mo... ka," the white-haired youth groaned weakly, certain that it was his close friend who held him.
"Don't be dismayed," the older man spoke in a gentle voice, "you do possess the power, I can sense it. The castle has told you as well, hasn't it?"
The despondent girl inhaled sharply as she turned to the man behind Soma's shoulder.
"But be patient, this is not the time to face him. The Master would be very sad if he lost you now. So let me help him child, it has always been my duty to protect him from harm."
The enigmatic youth felt himself placed on the floor, and he looked to the blurred ceiling above him. And before he could've begun to discern what was occurring about him, he felt an immense dark energy coursing through his body. But instead of harming him, it actually began to mend his broken form. All the injuries he'd suffered in the fight against Barlowe, as well as those inflicted by the madman who sought his life, slowly began to heal. Once the process was complete, Soma groaned as he felt himself losing consciousness.
"There," the older man spoke with undeniable certainty, "he shall be fine now. The librarian shall watch over him while he rests. Now come, you too must rest, so you can awaken, with him."
A somber exhale came from the silver-haired diva, which denoted her disappointment. "Hai."
Soma groaned lightly as he felt himself lifted slightly off the floor, and he beheld his classmate's features once more. "Farewell, for now," the vampire spoke in a resigned voice. "But I promise, I will become stronger, so you'll never have to live in fear again. Soma, I'll always... love you," she concluded as she brought her face close to his own. The white-haired youth then felt her lips upon his own, which he'd sorely missed since the castle had come into their lives. He returned her kiss, and lightly wrapped his arms around her. "Moka, you're... back," he thought to himself, as he felt unconsciousness take him.
Eucliwood sat alone on the side of the walkway, which led to the castle gate. Her fingers were tightly intertwined, as she eagerly awaited Soma's next call. She hadn't heard from him since he was about to have entered reputed Chamber of Wisdom, on the highest levels of the library. After that, he virtually disappeared from her sight. The Necromancer became very worried, as she hadn't forgotten how Soma almost died after his intense battles in the central tower. She grimaced at the thought of losing him yet again, and strove to have kept her emotions in check, lest they cause even further chaos.
Her worries grew when she sensed Alucard rapidly headed towards the same destination, and the malevolent intent he exuded told her that he wasn't planning to rescue Soma. She remembered the seething disdain the dhampir had shown him at school, yet he never left him alone, which truly bothered her at that juncture. "Alucard," she spoke towards the dark palace, "what are you planning for Soma? Why must he face this alone?" A truly disturbing thought came to her, and she struggled to have kept her emotions in check, lest they case disaster for her long lost love. "No, no it can't be. It mustn't be! Alucard, you're not planning on-"
Before she could've finished her sentence, she sensed a powerful presence had stirred, on the highest reaches of the castle. Though with her senses being essentially crippled, she couldn't have identified it. "Oh no," she spoke worriedly to herself, "what could this be? I have a bad feeling about this." A few moments later, she sensed Alucard fleeing the Library at top speed, and felt an overwhelming sense of despair from the tragic prince. "What the," she asked herself, baffled by the dhampir's demeanor, "what happened in there? And that presence, it stirred around the same time the tragic prince went after Soma." She tried to have pushed her senses into the Library, but cried out in pain from what she experienced as a result. "Blast," she spoke with a wincing look as she pulled her mind back, "whatever Alucard did, it disrupted the magical energies in that area, I... I can't sense what's going on. I can't sense... Soma!" The ageless girl broke own into tears, and covered her face with her slender hands. "Soma."
Co-Author's Notes: Hello all, so now the first seal on the Throne Room has been released, though Soma is unaware of it, as well as what's truly occurring around him. Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I didn't want to have overwhelmed you all with huge chapters. And I apologize for not finishing the Library part of the story in this chapter as I promised earlier. But rest assured, it is all but finished, and will be completed in the next chapter, along with what's occurring outside the castle walls.
Glossary:
Vlad Spune-mi, unde-AM gresit? - Tell me Vlad, where did I go wrong?
Ultimul lucru pe care L-AM dorit vreodată, a fost pentru fiul nostru să crească până la te urasc. - The last thing I ever wanted, was for our son to grow up to hate you.
Au tradat, Vlad! Si acum incearca sa fure tron! - They betrayed you, Vlad! They're trying to steal your throne!
Dar EU sunt puternic acum, lăsaţi-mi lupta de partea ta, Vlad! - But I am strong now, let me fight by your side, Vlad!
(These phrases were supposed to have been in the last chapter, but I edited out the Yukari encounter and placed it here. I apologize for the confusion)
Now onto the reviewers:
Demons Anarchy
Indeed, and this whole incident with Yukari has only added more fuel to the fire. Not to mention quite a few people in the castle will be quite vexed with Alucard trying to "take Soma out of the game," so to speak. Yeah, he'd better lay low if he knows what's good for him.
Lord Destroyer
Well yes, that is very true. But think about it from his perspective, he was having a fun summer vacation with his friends, then he and the others get pulled into some sinister ritual which apparently got everyone he cared about killed, all for the sake of reviving Dracula's castle. Wouldn't you be pretty angry, too? Though like you, I do hope he doesn't let his anger get the better of him. For if it does consume him, what then?
As for Alucard, yes, he isn't going to sacrifice billions of lives for the sake of his ambitions, yet there are things he will sacrifice for his goals, you'll see how far he's willing to go during this arc, as well as later on in the story.
Indeed, though now that he's found Yukari, and he thinks Moka was truly with him after Alucard fled the archives, he has hope that some of the others might still be alive, so he won't be completely alone. Though as I'm sure you can tell, his journey through the castle is far from over.
Finally, I'm not as skilled in foreign language as you might believe, I just used the Translator option at Dictionary dot com. I also know people who are actually fluent in Japanese, so that helps too. Couldn't find an English to Latin translator, though, so I used Romanian for spells and incantations instead. Hope this clears things up.
Imperial warlord
Indeed, and thanks for posting the hundredth review for the story, it's most appreciated! :D I hope you find the next chapter just as awesome.
Lord-Krun
You're right about Haruna, she has no idea what she's getting herself into. Though considering her current location, it's gonna be quite a while before she finds Eucliwood again. And yes, she has no idea Shaft was using poor Eucliwood as a sinister ventriloquist dummy of sorts. Hopefully cooler heads prevails, or someone's gonna get hurt, or worse.
Precisely, in all the time he's known Alucard, he's never seen pull anything like what he's doing to our beleaguered hero. So he's definitely eager to try and remove Alucard from the "game," if you will. It definitely won't be pretty should they ever meet again.
Yes, I would agree. Fortunately it'll be a long while before he encounters an opponent as potent as the head witch, she herself won't reappear for just as long. And it's a good thing he found Barlowe's weakness, or it might've ended just as bad, if not worse. And don't worry, Soma will indeed be getting an upgrade on the way to the second Guardian, which will prove very useful later on.
Indeed, it saddened him that the coven elder turned to Dracula, as did all her sisters. That'll give him a lot to think about as he continues through the castle. As for an alternative, we'll just have to wait and see.
And yes, that was indeed the same Librarian from SOTN, so he knows exactly who's dealing with. And yes, the thought of Soma's whole mission being a setup is very disturbing to him, it'll definitely give him even more questions for Arikado once he finds him again. As for what was actually stolen, you'll find out later on in this arc, along with who stole it. Yes, as Soma's darker half said, he'll be shocked by who took them, and how they were used.
Indeed, you'll be seeing more of the ruined world outside the castle in the next chapter, aptly titled World in Ruins and a Vampire, so everyone will get a better picture of what havoc has been left behind in the wake of the Black Rite. Not to mention there'll be further plot complications that'll tie in to the main story and its most prominent characters. And yes, virtually all modern technology has been destroyed, so the world has indeed been plunged into a Dark Age of sorts. And yes, once such organizations find out who caused this catastrophe, there will be Hell to pay. So Akuha better find a place to hide, lest she discover what it's like to have the whole world as your enemy. As for Mikogami, it definitively seems like he blew it, doesn't it? We'll be seeing what he was thinking later on, though whether it justifies a virtual apocalypse is anyone's guess. Anyway, until next time...