After 'rescuing' a man by the name of Hammer, obtaining the soul of a Malphas, and heading back to see what he has in stock for weapons and armor, Soma learned from Alex, the party watching and cheering as both learned and were taught, Soma's power growing and developing as he learned how to muster the souls to his strength and even learn on to manifest a lesser imp to help protect him just in case while Alex learned what made Soma different and that was the reason why the castle now echoed, it was seeking its reborn master and only one possesses that power, a power that would consume the weaker of souls, that would destroy the meager of individuals. Soma's power of Dominance was without question and he was learning to control it now, instead of shoving it to the corner and cowering before it.
Through this, Soma started to trust the party more as they shared with him some brief tales of their ventures, not going further than the events of the Order and still explain how, several years in their time, Alexander was a skilled tactician and leader for a faction known as the Broken Scabbards to the Church. The story went on, explaining that the Scabbards were the most talented and skilled force that the Church had ever seen, doing battle against cultists and heretics by the dozens before they were drafted into the realm of Africa where the church was having trouble with a persistent force of cultists, some say that they were trying to raise an undead pharaoh to usher the world into chaos and darkness. What none would tell about that time was that the cultists would not faultless, they were not without direction of guidance, the Church branch actually reveled in their greed and sin that they had fabricated a great deal of lies to get at the treasures hidden in the villages that were filled with cultists and were no better than fiends that the involving people, cultist or normal citizen, was to be put to the blade. It was their mistake as the Scabbards checked further and deeper and found the trail and, without anything to lose, they stormed the housing where the leadership had settled and slayed them all, Alex explaining that, though he could have just spared them for real judgement, his rage consumed him that day and it leaded him down a path that he found... unsettling.
The band divided to live out their own lives, free from the Church, but Alexander was forced into another war, this one a war for soul and individuality as he explained the events of Ecclesia with Shanoa adding her own input, they told the efforts to destroy Dracula through magical runes and glyphs, but the ultimate one was powerful, but made secret by those in charge of the Order. Shanoa was selected as bearer, but on the day of the merge, the three glyphs that made the power called Dominus were stolen and robbed Shanoa of who she was. It was only after trials upon battles that she managed to collect enough strength and power to overcome the 'traitor' of the Order, only to discover that the Order had long lost its path in fighting Dracula, their leader had become a madman who wished for humanity to be controlled and dominated by the vampire lord himself, giving up his own life so that the vampire may rise again, only to be struck down by the very power he sought to empower himself, it nearly killing Shanoa when the traitor, having been entrapped in the cursed glyphs, gave his own soul to save her, Alex both along for the ride and as the shoulder to which she cried into when it was all over, she had lost so much and needed it. She gripped onto Alex as he explained the later events, times that didn't seem right to Soma, but the detail of how it went when they aided the forces of Jonathan and Charlotte as well as John and Eric was breathtaking, said to have endured the hunt during the times when war was going on and no history book could ever tell the darker side of the story. It was interesting, but they were on a time frame, who knows what is going on and why now did the castle emerge like this, Mina up and about as Soma asked the question. "So why did the castle emerge like this and why now, Mina and I were just going to see the eclipse."
"That's a good question and I have a possible answer." Alexander answered as they listened to him, Kenmur somehow engaging with a open chat with Hammer on his weapons and somehow forged a brother-ship through muscles, no one saw that coming, nor how muscles could have solved anything. "It is possible that the eclipse served as a medium for whatever spell that bound this form of the castle in the eclipse, magic can be a tricky thing as the source can weaken or strengthen based on how it is, since that is the case, it should be a surprise that any of us ended up here." Alex continued as he explained. "Secondly, Graham believes that he is destined to be the heir to the power that dwells here, a reincarnation of Dracula himself, but I think that he is only that strong or powerful because the world has started to endure the full blunt of power that magic can have, an ancient power now dwelling up because of the backlash that could have been from either of the spell binding or the looming energies of the shifting cycles." Alex shook his head as he did take note prior and it seemed that, after the events of Hector, select individuals started to harness magical power into their souls, interesting how it came to be in such a way. "Still, we have little time to waste. We need to find out where the center of the castle is and find out the answers that we really need."
"Right." Soma had explained that he needed to head for the center or throne of the castle to understand to escape from the place, the party agreed to help him out as they headed out again, this time with directions found on... maps, strange how they just work sometimes, as they entered the Dance Hall and stopped before a bearded man with an aura of power... and confusion about him as he spoke, directing his words to Soma.
"Strange... I sense a dark power within you... Who are you?"
"It is rude to ask questions before introducing yourself." Soma countered as the man just nodded as he returned.
"Yes, you're right." He paused before continuing. "I can't give you my name, but people call me J." Soma paused in confusion as he asked, the party pondering the same thing, why 'J', was there something about him that needed to be a concern or was it a nickname?
"People call you 'J'? Why hide your real name? Are you a criminal?" J shook his his head as he explained.
"No. I have amnesia." The party nodded with Soma still thinking about it as J continued. "I'm told that I was in an accident in nineteen ninety-nine. When I woke up in the hospital, I had forgotten my name and my past." That was a concern indeed as Soma nodded to the confirmation.
"Oh, I see... Well, my name's Soma." He tried to introduce the others, but he paused from both not recalling who they called themselves and J asking about the power that he sensed.
"Your dark power...? Were you born with it?" Soma stepped back before speaking again.
"I don't really know. I first noticed it when I entered this castle..."
"I see..." The man hummed before he continued. "I guess I was mistaken." Soma spoke again, forgetting to introduce the party as he instead asked why the man was here.
"Mr. J, why have you come to this castle?"
"Call me J." An informal way to greet, but whatever floated J's boat was no matter for the party to butt in on as he looked about the castle with narrowed eyes and furrowed brow. "I am filled with fear when I hear the name Dracula. I came here because of the prophecy." That meant that he was indeed here about why the castle had reappeared, even in an eclipse. "I also thought my memory might return. In fact, since my arrival, I have felt like my memory is returning." Soma pieced it from the notion and asked.
"And your accident from nineteen ninety-nine...? Maybe Dracula was involved...?"
"I fear you are correct..." J hummed to himself as he spoke a bit more. "Especially since I have magical powers..." There were several positions where J could have come from as Soma went with the holy section.
"J, are you an exorcist?" The man shrugged as he answered.
"Well, you might say that." He shook his head to the notion of being connection to a faction. "But I work for no one but myself. I must be going now." J headed in the same direction as the party as he bid them farewell. "I'm sure we'll meet again."
"Yes, see ya..." They followed suit into the domain of dancing and spirits, the path barred some with Durgas and undead officers before they crept down into the echoing corridors of the ball room where more evil lurked, walking wooden constructions, vile butcher monsters, fleamen, and even a few Minotaurs and Creeping Skulls. They soon arrived to a wine cellar to fight off against a titanic behemoth of a golem, Soma proving once more that he had the power and now had the control over it as he was quite skilled with his power and showed it with able measure.
They returned to the top and took a moment to exhibit care for their journey through the castle. Soma took in Alexander and spoke up. "I need to ask, why are you helping me, what are you getting out of this?" Alex hummed before he answered.
"The answer to that is... you." Soma gave a look as Alex continued. "It has been a long while since someone was interested in my knowledge and I am more than glad to share it with others, just like my companions. I am pleased to help you as a student of mine as I can both learn more about you while you learn more from me." He nodded as he continued. "You remind me of another that struggled with this power, young and full of a interest to avoid a battle that he found himself entering, but with a will to protect that which you hold dear." Alex chuckled as Soma stammered.
"It's not like that...!"
"I know, but our feelings come out as naturally as water flows through both a forest and its bed." The cloaked youth nodded before continuing. "He found a reason to fight and has held true to it through it all, he also released his soul from the grasps of something far worse than what ambitions will tell." Alex hummed before he finished. "The reason I tell you this is something greater... you may not believe it, but you carry a stronger air of control, of willpower." Alex mustered a flame to hand and hummed as it changed colors from red to green, blue and back to Soma's amaze. "This is your path, I will not leave you to travel it alone, but as a mentor, I will often show you different shades of the world around you. It is your choices and your opinions that must dictate how you handle the new surroundings around you." Soma nodded as he spoke.
"Can you do more than just... guide me, show me an example of your strength?"
"Now, that is a question that has need of a far greater foe than what we have endured." Alex smirked as the flames puffed out. "But first, we should continue on with our journey." The party nodded as they continued on and into the inner quarters, Soma nearly attacking to the maid in the entrance with the party before Alex stopped them and stepped forward himself as he spoke. "Who are you exactly, a demonic maid hardly seems fit in the recovering castle."
"You misunderstand, attuned-one." The maid answered as she bowed. "The master created us to take care of the castle and to await his return. You yourself have encountered others of my kind and have given them refuge when none were willing, so why do you believe that we cannot serve a master who has yet to return?"
"Why indeed, I ask myself that question many times with a different answer each time." Alex replied before he continued. "Then perhaps you have heard of Graham Jones, he's..."
"Not the master, no matter how much he deludes himself of that title, his birth only granted him power, not the one he vilely seeks."
"Thank you, Persephone, born of demonic energy to serve." She bowed before somehow fading away, the party surprised as Alex didn't pull out a weapon or skill, nor even heard a crack or snap, she just disappeared into a number of flower pedals. They continued upward through the castle before finding themselves before another blue door, Soma speaking up about it.
"So what is with the blue doors?" The party turned to him as he was able to see the doors like them when their past companions couldn't, even Shanoa started out like that before enduring the Symphony of Night adventure and found that she could see the door the same way as everyone else.
To that question, Kenmur gave a short answer as he rubbed his neck, Ragnell glancing as well before he spoke. "Well, the doors actually seem to hold foes or dangerous enemies that would be considered a 'boss battle'."
"Boss battle?"
"Basically, it is a fight of severe difficulty or menace to the ones who enter." Morgan hummed as she tossed a knife in the air while Sapphire just loomed close and listened with the rest of the party, none choosing to enter yet. "I don't understand the big purpose behind it myself, but I do know that whenever these doors appear, you have to be ready for a big fight, we faced who knows how many monsters, vampires, and demons that clearly were the top things of the food chain or something."
"Easy, Morgan, you'll scare the young man." Alex answered as he stepped forward and slightly loomed over Soma once more. "We have faced a great deal of monsters that are held under the sway of a powerful force, often divided out to spread out the influence of their true masters, these powerful spirits and creatures are what guard the ways, prevent us from saving those that need our aid, or hide secrets from the eyes of the world, as some are forbidden to know." He hummed before continuing. "I am not fully sure I can explain it in such a way that will be fully understood, but a more accepted answer is that, while the castle is recovering from its bout, it has placed unique foes in our way as I will show." He turned and headed through the party behind him before they withdrew back to the number of preserved heads on the shelves and the three apparent on the fire place's mantle while the room rested the body of a woman as the woman's matching head spoke, floating over to the body and attaching itself with whitish vines, the bind somehow perfect.
"What fortune, more wonderful heads for my collection." She pulled a knife, but Alex answered as he reached to his side in the air and, to Soma's surprise, pulled out a large blade that blasted a wave of energy at the monster and cleaved its head, shock filling its features as it dropped with a burst and slumped forward as Alexander twirled the blade and planted it in the tile.
"This is a species I have never encountered prior, but from the collection, I'd say I was contending with a Headhunter, a monster that often steals the heads of numerous people and utilizes their knowledge, wisdom, or abilities for its own benefit." The old man head shuddered and shook before floating up and binding to the body, changing it to the wizened man's as he lectured.
"And, since you have cost me a wondrous head, I will take yours after your demise." Lightning and flame dragons emerged form the magical scroll that the Headhunter brought forth, but Alex was not deterred, rather huffing as he broke the electric attacks with a swing and the dragons slipped into the blade that glowed red hot more than what the dragons were capable of.
"I have faced greater flames than these poultry tricks." Gripped the blade hard, he lashed out from his standing position, a cascade of flames ripping through as the head burned to ash as the body collapsed once more in a pyre as Alexander weighed the blade on his shoulder. "Had enough, Hunter?"
"Far from it!" Something leapt out of the consuming flames and clung to the walls and ceiling as burnt clothing clung to the creature that was now some sort of hybrid lizard, Soma slightly glad he didn't face this thing without a plan or his mentor. "Human filth, you cannot hope to beat me now, I am in my primal form." It growled and hissed at them as the party remained where they were while the thing's lizardish eyes glared at the cloaked man with a broadsword on his shoulder. "Only a miracle will save all of you from my venom and lashed tongue!"
"Ah, but I have no need of miracles..." Alex turned as the sword turned into orbs of energy that seeped through the cloak before Soma watched in amaze on how the shadows seem to change to Alex's own place. "...I need only those that trust me and are quite able from the shadows." The thing tensed before jumping at him, nearly touching him before being held in midair by two giant claws, the shadows releasing the full creature of golden and violet as Alex continued with a small smirk. "Headhunter, meet Blackmore, my protective guardian and he's a 'fire-and-brimstone' type of beast." Before Headhunter could spew its toxic contents, Blackmore hurled the thing into the fire, mouth aglow, before blasting a searing beam into the flames, it latching out and burning the heads to dust as the creature wailed in death before fading to the fire as Alex turned and spoke. "How you use the power you possess, Soma, is solely up to you. We may give you guidance, but we are not the gods nor the answers to your long-standing questions, you need to ask yourself those questions more."
Soma nodded as he felt Headhunter's soul enter him and felt stronger, likely from the other souls that he been collecting with the party as they headed through, Soma confused as to a storm going on when they were in a 'clear, peaceful' eclipse. They pressed on to find very little more to do up in the clouds there, so they headed back down and through the castle once more, the next place feeling a bit more open and airy, like a garden or something...