Chapter 28: Decisions

It'd been a long time since Trevor had just walked through these woods.

Yvette was still running around trying to get what she needed to know.

'I want to rejoin my caravan,' Sypha suddenly said. 'This is a story that should be read into our memory stores.'

He knew that was the logical thing to happen next, but it still made him feel sad.

She continued. 'But…after that, I don't know.' She looked thoughtful.

'You'll travel with them, surely,' Trevor said. Cause that was what Speakers did. 'Go back to your old life.'

She stopped. 'I don't know.'

Trevor stopped and turned around. That was odd. He'd never even heard of a Speaker considering not returning to their caravan permanently. He looked at her and waited.

Sypha smiled at him. 'Since I met you, I've come back from a living death, I've fought demons in the city square of Gresit, I've stopped a raiding force from reaching Haregesh, I've discovered forgotten spells in the greatest hidden library in Europe, and I've trapped a castle that uses magic engines to move from place to place and pinned it to the ruins of the Belmont home. Why would I want to stop now?'

So…she was enjoying this life? (With him?) Trevor wasn't sure how to react to the feeling that rose up in him upon hearing that. 'Go on.' He turned and started walking again.

Sypha hurried to catch up to him. 'Yvette said Dracula used at least two forgemasters, right?'

'Yeah.'

'So, you'll be going after one and she'll be going after the other?'

'Probably. Forgemasters are rare but, when they do show up, they're always trouble.' It was part of the reason the Belmonts had always scoffed at the Watcher insistence that Slayers didn't kill humans; part of why it'd been agreed to never let a Watcher anywhere near a Belmont Slayer. Forgemasters were always human. And the only way to stop them from making demon hoardes was to kill them.

'And what about the church?' Sypha went on. 'We've both seen how corrupt and twisted it is. And who knows what else is happening out there? What then?'

Trevor smiled to himself. So…she did want to stay with him? He looked at her. 'Well…what then?'

Sypha smiled at him again. 'Then we're not finished! Are we? And I don't want to stop.'

She was dancing around what he really wanted to hear. 'Stop what, for God's sake?!'

'This! What we're doing! And it's good for you too.'

'I've been told that.' Trevor smirked to himself. 'Yvette always told me if I didn't demon hunt I'd be a wandering drunk bum.'

'You mean you weren't a wandering drunk bum when we met?' Sypha asked coyly.

He looked over at her in mock annoyance as they came to the clifftop his father used to bring him to. 'What is that supposed to mean?'

'When I met you,' she thumped his chest, 'you reeked of piss, blood, and stale beer. You were only demon hunting because your ancestor had pushed you into it.'

'She told you that?' Trevor asked.

'Yes, she told me that.' Sypha went on. 'And then you stormed off like a toddler with a thistle up his back end.'

'Right. How does that even—'

She cut him off and shushed him. 'And now, in the short time we have known each other, you have rediscovered yourself. And you have grown. Today might be the first time I felt like I was talking to an adult man. You're better than you were when I met you. Do you know why? Why I think that is?'

Trevor averted his eyes and wordlessly shrugged.

'You're finally doing what you were born for – because you cared enough to do it rather than because someone else was making you do it.' She put a hand to his chest and he just hoped she couldn't feel his heart rate pick up. 'As insane as it sounds, this entire nightmare scenario has made you complete.'

He wanted to make a wisecrack, but he couldn't think of one.

'I think you should see it through. With me.'

Trevor looked at her. 'With you?' he asked.

'Yes.' She smiled and faced the horizon. 'You could be my handsome sidekick. Or mascot. Imagine that. If you didn't talk much, people would think you were my deformed pet bear and throw you free food.'

He knew she was teasing him. 'Sypha…'

'Yes, Trevor?'

Trevor sat down on the grass and dropped his arms over his knees. 'You're asking me to roam the countryside and get into horrible trouble,' he grinned up at her, 'because you think it's "good" for me?'

She knelt down next to him and put a hand to his arm. 'Listen to what I'm really saying, Trevor. I'm saying I want you to be with me. And I want you to have adventures with me.'

Trevor didn't really even have to think about it. 'This is the closest thing I've had to a life in…' He paused, trying to remember the exact figure. But, with how hard he tried to forget as a boy, it eluded him. He let out a breath. '…I don't know when.' He looked up at her. 'And you're the closest I've had to a friend.'

She offered him her hand. 'So will you come with me?'

She really wanted to stay with him? Him, of all people? Trevor smiled and closed his eyes, letting a breath out through his nose. He took her hand. 'I wouldn't know where else to go. Or who else to be with.'

She smiled at him and wound her other arm around his. 'Good.' As she leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder, he looked down at her. She'd closed her eyes and just rested against him. Trevor quickly averted his eyes, unsure how to respond. He quickly decided, though, to just stay still and let her rest against him.

It was…kind of nice, to be honest.

'Where to first?' he asked softly.

'After we find my people?' Sypha responded. 'I think we should see Braila. Chase after Carmilla and the forgemaster she's got there.'

'They'll have moved on by the time we get there,' Trevor murmured.

'Yes, but we still should be able to trace them. If Yvette's right and Carmilla's trying to take over Dracula's throne, she'll be making an awful lot of noise.'

'True enough.'

'But…let's stay here, just a little longer.'

'I'll send Reudi to check on Alucard while the rest of us look for these forgemasters. Sounds like the kid's been through a lot.'

Yvette smiled at her old mentor and fellow immortalised Slayer. 'Oui. I was concerned about leaving him alone in the castle.'

'So, what are you thinking about the forgemasters, then?' Eliza asked.

'Alucard and I checked the mirror that was in Dracula's study. We both agree that Dracula sent the first forgemaster through it to save his life from us. The last place it opened up to was a desert in the middle east. I'll go out that way. That will leave Trevor and Sypha to head towards Brailla. I imagine they'll want to track down her caravan on the way though.'

Eliza pulled a face. 'Yes...'

Yvette frowned. 'Is something wrong?'

'Nothing concrete,' Eliza said. 'I've just got a feeling.'

'You too, huh?' Yvette pulled her own face. 'Well...if anything has happened, we'd probably be better to rip the bandage off, at it were.'

'So, you're sending them to Brailla anyway?' Eliza asked.

'Naturally.'

Eliza nodded. 'I already sent Law ahead.'