"There it is!"
Simon rushed forward into the chamber that had previously stood hidden behind a statue. He could hardly believe it. Before his very eyes, laid on a cushioned pedestal at the very end of the chamber was the battle cross of his father.
There was no doubt in his mind that this was the one. Although the years had taken their toll on the memory of his father, Simon was still able to clearly recall his father's signature weapon, mostly due to the fact that he had once been obsessed with it.
As a child, he had loved his father dearly, looking up to him as someone he sought to be like. He would discreetly follow him wherever he went, sometimes even to the Brotherhood Headquarters. He would copy his father's movements, trying to stand and walk like him.
In his mind's eye, he could still vaguely remember the day his father departed. He remembered that his father had come home in tears early that day. His mother had spent some time talking to him, about what he didn't know, for he was too busy playing with the same battle cross. Then he left for Dracula's Castle, never to return.
With his father's battle cross firmly in hand, he felt a sense of peace wash over him, as though a part of his father's spirit still resided within the weapon. He felt confident that he would be granted success in his mission and finally put an end to the evil that plagued the land.
"Alright, I think we're ready to continue on with our quest."
Simon turned back, expecting to find Alucard standing right behind him. It took him only a moment of searching to spot him looking at something in the shadows."
"What is it?" He asked. "Have you found something else?"
When Alucard failed to reply, Simon went over to see for himself what it was that had captured his attention.
Displayed in a high up alcove was a set of clothing; a long tattered green coat with gold detailing overtop of a bloodied white tunic and a pair of dark trousers. Next to the set of clothing sat a partial suit of armour; a pauldron, vambraces, gauntlets, cuisses, and finally a pair of boots.
"These clothes … I've seen them before," Alucard said in an almost whisper.
Simon had to agree that they did seem familiar, but he couldn't figure out how. He was just about to question why a set of clothing would be displayed in the same room as his father's old battle cross when the realization dawned on him.
He felt his blood run cold.
The clothes were familiar to him because they belonged to his father. Now that he was seeing them up again, he recalled that his father wore the exact same coat the day he left. With the shirt torn and bloody, especially around the chest area, it wasn't hard to figure out just how he died.
"What is this?" he asked no one in particular, his whole body shaking uncontrollably. "Some sort of twisted trophy room?!"
Backing away from the display, he kicked over the pedestal on which the battle cross had previously stood in a fit of rage. Hot, bitter tears threatened to surface, but he forced them back. He would not cry… He refused to… No longer was he a child mourning the loss of both his parents, but rather a fully grown man who had come to enact revenge. He wanted the Dark Lord's head on a stick now more than ever.
"Simon, watch out!" Alucard called out to him.
He caught the warning just in time to see a shadow pass over him, but it was too late.
Out of nowhere flew a strange creature, one that Simon had never seen before, snatching the battle cross from his hands. He resembled a mummy in the instance that he was wrapped in bandages, except for that of his head and his chest, revealing nothing but a skull and rib cage.
"Zobek, my master, desires this weapon," the creature laughed, taunting the red-headed warrior with it. "Your father was not worthy of carrying it..."
Simon clenched his fists. He didn't know who this creature was, or it's master for that matter, but he hated them nonetheless.
"And neither are you!"
Simon went in to lunge at the creature, but was knocked back as a blinding ray of bright green shot out of the it's hollow rib cage, hitting with such strength that it sent him flying backwards through the stained glass window behind him.
"SIMON!"
He felt thousands of shards of glass scrape against his skin as he flew through mid air, descending down to the courtyard below at dangerously high speed. Pulling his eyes tightly closed, he braced himself for the impact.
It came a few moments later. He landed on the hard stone floor with a loud thud. Pain shot through his body as he struggled back to his feet, but he ignored it, gritting his teeth and bearing it as the creature flew down after him.
With a wave of the creature's bandaged hand, the gates surrounding him were slammed shut, thus blocking his exit. Once he was done with that, he turned back to face Simon, lunging at him.
Grabbing his whip, he was ready to fight back and defend himself, but the creature stopped short, knocked back as the Lady Spirit he had encountered in the catacombs of the castle came out from hiding. He still didn't know who the lady was but she protected him regardless, shielding him with her own body.
"You hide behind a woman!" the creature spat at him. "You are as cowardly as your father was!"
With his crescent shaped staff, he grabbed the Lady Spirit by the neck, pulling her away from Simon and sucking her into the staff itself.
"No!" Simon cried out.
"Let's see how you fight without your little friend!"
Somehow he felt distraught at the loss of the Lady Spirit. Sure, she might be a ghost, but she was the closest he had to a mother figure in a long time. Since his own mother had died. The fact that this creature had just stolen her away from him angered him greatly.
And the battle was on…
Simon soon learned that this creature was something of a hypocrite, calling his opponent cowardly when it was himself that was the coward. For the creature kept conjuring monsters, skeletal warriors and zombies, to fight for him, floating above the battle as a mere spectator.
The monsters were dealt with easily enough, leaving the creature with no choice but to join the fight directly, throwing his staff to trip the red-headed warrior. Every time he fell, the creature would start laughing, angering Simon even further.
That's when Simon had an idea.
As the creature threw his staff once again, Simon waited until it was just inches away to reach out and grab it with his own two hands. Then, bringing his knee up, he broke the staff in two, tossing the halves of it off to the side.
"Let's see how you fight without this!"
Released from her prison, the Lady Spirit quickly returned to him, once again offering her body as a shield to him.
After this, Simon was finally able to take the upper hand in the battle. He attacked with full force, not letting even the pain he was in hold him back.
Eventually the creature got to the point where he was unable to fight back. Knelt on the ground, the creature created various magical barriers around him to keep Simon out as he regenerated. However, in his weakness, the creature had failed to notice a small gap in his defences. Simon, on the other hand, did notice this and took full advantage of it.
Once he was on the other side of the barriers, he pinned the creature down flat on it's back and proceeded to punch him repeatedly in the skull until he was knocked out. No sooner had the skull broken and the creature stilled, Simon pulled back and began to tear away at his bandages, digging until he found the stolen battle cross.
The creature beneath him turned to dust, blowing away with the wind.
Wincing with every haggard breath, Simon slowly got to his feet, slipping his father's old weapon into his belt alongside his whip. He took a moment to try to steady his breathing before glancing around. Seeing that the gates had reopened with the creature's demise, he started towards them but stopped as he remembered something.
His head jolted upward to see that every shard of glass from the window was gone, leaving a wide opening into the chamber, allowing rays of sunlight to stream inside.
"Damn it!"
With one hand clutching at his rib cage, he broke out into a run through the gate back into the castle, racing up the stairs as fast as he could to get back up to the chamber, swatting and kicking hunchbacks out of his way as he went.
"Alucard!" he called out to him. When he failed to hear any reply, he called out again. "Alucard, answer me!"
He cursed himself for not remembering his friend earlier. It was so easy to forget that Alucard was a vampire. He wasn't at all like the mutant bat-like vampires he had seen earlier. Unlike them, he had managed to retain a large portion of his humanity. He thought and spoke like a rational human being. It was almost as if he was a human trapped in the body of a vampire.
His eyes frantically began to search every inch of the room as soon as he arrived.
"No… No … This wasn't supposed to happen…" a familiar voice muttered.
"Alucard, is that you?" Simon asked, stepping further into the room. "Where are you? Are you okay?"
Hearing sounds of movement nearby, he searched the shadows, managing to make out his friend's tall figure in the darkened corner of the room. He started towards him, but the white-haired vampire held out a hand to stop him.
"Don't come any closer!" Alucard warned.
Simon stopped in his tracks, taking notice for the first time that his chest and shoulders, basically any and all bare skin, was criss crossed with cuts from the window shards. He felt like smacking himself over the head. Of course Alucard was warning him to stay away. He was probably driving the vampire crazy with all the open cuts on his body.
"Oh… Sorry about that," he apologized, rubbing his neck as he backed away. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I thought you might have gotten caught up in the sunlight when I fell through the window."
"I'm fine. I got out of the way before it could burn me too badly."
"Good," Simon let out a breath of relief. "Now that we've found my father's battle cross, we should make haste to find Dracula."
When he heard no reply, he assumed that Alucard was in agreement and just started on his way back out of the room. Alucard didn't follow.
"Are you coming? The sooner we find him, the better."
"Do you truly believe that you can defeat the Prince of Darkness?"
Simon raised a brow at that. "What are you on about? Of course, I do. I've trained my whole life so that I could avenge the death of my father and that of my mother when the time came."
"Your father was one of the greatest brotherhood warriors that ever lived, and yet he could not defeat Dracula. The greatest dishonor you could do to him is if you were to meet the same fate!"
That's when it dawned on him. Alucard had gotten his memories back.
"Did you know my father?"
Alucard didn't reply at first, but this time, Simon was determined to stand there and wait. He wasn't going anywhere until he learned what Alucard knew of his father. By the way he spoke, it was clear that Alucard knew who his father was at the very least. He couldn't recall having ever told his friend that his father had been a warrior of the brotherhood, and yet he knew. Though, he couldn't figure out how this vampire could possibly know his father, seeing as his father had died thirty years ago and Alucard had just recently woken up.
"Answer me. Did you know my father?"
Instead of answering the question, Alucard did something that took him by surprise. He disappeared… His body vanished and in his place came a swarm of bats, rushing past him.
"I can see that you will not be persuaded. You truly are just as stubborn as him," Alucard's voice could be heard from within the swarm. "This I promise… You shall not stand alone against him."
"What do you mean?!" he called out.
He chased after the bats, but it was no use. The bats flew off, high into the scaffolding and out of sight. He was left standing there, left with a head full of questions. Who was Alucard? How did he know his father? Why did he leave? Who was the creature that had tried to steal his father's battle cross? And who was Zobek?
It all started when Alucard saw those clothes up on display. He was drawn to them right from the moment he entered the chamber. No sooner had he begun to examine them, then his mind was engulfed by a vision of a time long past; of a time that up until then he had forgotten. A time that he probably would have been better off if he never remembered.
Images of a gruesome battle flashed through his mind, a battle that had been fought in the exact same room in which he awoke.
There were two men, both with dark hair, though one a bit shorter.
One was human and dressed in the exact same clothes as those on the display before him. Trevor was his name. It came to him instinctively, as if he had always known it deep down.
The other, however, was far from being human. With skin as pale as bleached bone and eyes glowing of crimson, it was clear to see that he was a vampire. Much like the previous, Alucard knew his name as well. It was Dracula. For he felt the same strange sense of fury wash over him at the sight of him as when he first heard the name spoken.
The battle intensified, during which both men were airborne for a while and though Trevor fought with all his might to slay Dracula, fate was not on his side and in the end it was him that was slain instead.
Trevor came crashing back down to earth like that of a meteor, a puddle of his own blood forming around him as he winced with pain. His own battle cross had been plunged into his chest.
Just then, something caught Trevor's eye. The mirror that stood on the northernmost wall had begun to glow brightly.
What he saw in the mirror made his eyes widen with shock. What the mirror showed him, and he imagined Trevor as well, were images of Dracula's life before he became a vampire.
Gabriel Belmont was his name … His true name … Once a high-ranking warrior of the Brotherhood of Light, Gabriel fell into darkness after a life filled with nothing but pain and sorrow, having lost everything and everyone he ever loved. Manipulated into murdering his own wife without even knowing that he had done so.
He did not become a vampire by choice, but out of necessity in order to save the world from the clutches of a rampaging demon.
"I understand now … I understand everything," Trevor managed to find the strength to speak, though he sounded hoarse.
The vampire, Dracula, appeared before Trevor in a puff of black smoke.
"I have fought against my fate, even though it was in vain," Trevor continued. "But you… You accepted your fate… You were betrayed at every turn. Yet you still followed the path set out for you… Even when that betrayal included your own wife!"
Dracula raised a brow at the man in confusion, but allowed the dying man to continue on with his rambling.
"Fate is cruel. In the end, I pity you … Father…"
Trevor's voice had grown so faint that human ears would not have even been able to hear him, but he was still somewhat audible with the heightened hearing of a vampire.
"Father?"
Dracula looked at the dying man as if he had suddenly sprouted a second head, and Alucard felt just as confused.
Trevor said nothing more, but managed to raise an arm and shakily point behind the vampire lord.
Following the direction of Trevor's hand, Dracula finally noticed the glowing mirror. "What is this?" he asked.
When he failed to get any response, Dracula went to the mirror to see for himself.
The mirror did not show Dracula in his human form this time, but rather that of a beautiful young woman seated in bed with a newborn babe clutched to her chest. From what Alucard could see, the babe was crying, as was the woman.
A group of men came into view, each wearing identical robes, surrounding the bed. One of them reached forward and took the child from the woman.
"Please, I beg you to reconsider!" the woman cried. "Gabriel would never hurt the boy!"
"I'm sorry, Marie, but we must protect the child from his father," came the reply of the eldest man. He looked back at the woman but briefly before turning and leaving the view of the mirror.
"Damn you!" Dracula roared as he witnessed the scene unfold. "Why?!"
The image soon faded from view and with it came the realization of what was unfolding.
Turning away from the mirror, Dracula's face twisted with horror to find that the dying man, whom he now knew as his son, had taken his last breath. His body was cold and still, his heart beating no more.
"No!"
Transforming into mist once more, Dracula reappeared a moment later, kneeling at Trevor's side. With a gentleness that was unexpected of the fearsome prince of darkness, he lifted his son, pulling him closer so that he was resting on his lap.
In one swift movement, the combat cross was removed from Trevor's chest, discarded off to the side.
"Live!"
Alucard couldn't tear his eyes from that of the father and son, watching as the vampire father bit into his own wrist before lowering it over his son's open mouth, letting the blood pour in.
Minutes passed but nothing happened.
Dracula then did something that truly shocked Alucard.
Believing that it was too late, that his son was truly dead, the mighty Dracula buried his face into his son's hair, screaming and crying hysterically.
"Live, my son … my son …"
By the time the vision finally passed, Alucard too had tears in his eyes.
He understood... He remembered who he was … or rather who he had been …
His name was Trevor Belmont, the name given to him at birth, but his name was also Alucard, the name given to him by his father upon his 'death'.
He was the son of Dracula; the very man he had been taught to hate at the hands of the Brotherhood of Light and sent to kill.
And Simon … His own son … He too had been led to the cursed castle, not by the Brotherhood of Light, but by the small mirror that Trevor himself had given to him as a child.
If only he had known then what the mirror truly was capable of. For it seemed that all three generations of Belmont's had been manipulated by fate.
By the time Simon charged back into the room after his battle with the Necromancer, Alucard's mind was swirling out of control as he struggled to process everything that had happened … everything that he had just discovered about his past.
He didn't want to leave his son, not now, not after all the years that had passed. He wanted to take Simon in his arms, tell him who he was and give him a hug. Alas, he knew that was not possible for him.
Simon could never know what had become of his father, how he had become a creature of the night who thirsted for human blood. He would be far better off if he would just leave the castle and never return.
Unfortunately, he soon realized that Simon was much too stubborn for his own good, a trait his son had inherited from him.
Alucard made his decision. He could not walk alongside his son, but he would watch over him from the shadows, helping him as he went. He would make sure that Simon did not end up like him ...