Rectification

Castlevania and all associated characters are property of Konami.

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"Ugh," Sypha groaned, bending over slightly and rubbing her temples, "did you have to pick the bumpiest road possible?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Trevor replied, flicking the reins and urging the horse to pull the carriage faster. They hit another bump, the extra jostling earning him a glare. "It's not as if I want to reach the estate before sundown, wanting to avoid all the monsters that really, really want to kill us and all that." She glared at him, but it quickly faded into a fond, if queasy, smile. Trevor smiled back and eased up on the reins.

But he frowned as he stared out into the road. "Though I will admit, the road has seen better days."

Sypha kept a gentle grip on her stomach, nodding, "Not that surprised, to be honest. I know Alucard wanted to turn your family estate and Dracula's Castle into a place of learning, but people don't seem to like the idea of travelling to a giant castle that appeared in the middle of the ruined Belmont Estate by magic."

"Fancy that," Trevor chuckled.

"Of course," Sypha continued, lips curling into a grimace, "there's also the other things people have been saying about the place."

"…I know." Trevor replied.

"Of course," Sypha shrugged, smile back on her face, "they're probably just exaggerating. Most of the people out here probably sleep with farm animals!"

Trevor let loose a full-belly laugh, remembering his last barfight. "You know, I think you're right!" He would have recounted the tale, but the horse sliding to a stop and rearing up halted all further conversation.

Sypha yelped, holding onto Trevor as he steadied their ride. "What in the…world…" she trailed off, face paling at the sight before them. Trevor's face was blank, before his face twisted into a glare at the dozens of impaled corpses littering the way forward. Some were desiccated, rotted flesh falling off in clumps. Others were just beginning to be stripped by the crows.

To his side, Sypha leaned over the carriage, emptying her stomach. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She said when she finally stopped, "I mean, I've seen worse—hell, I've done worse but—"

"I get it," Trevor cut her off, moving his iron-hard gaze from the field of bodies.

"…It's just," Sypha continued, voice growing small, "that Alucard would….do this."

"…I should never have left him alone."

Sypha turned sharply. "What do you mean?" But Trevor ignored her, forcing the horse to continue forward despite its instincts—and to be honest, his own—screaming for them to turn back. "Trevor," Sypha repeated, voice stronger, full of the passion he'd come to love, "what do you mean? But still he ignored her, thoughts filled with Alucard and what he'd been up to. What drove him to this.

Finally, they reached the entrance to Dracula's Castle, which had the most, and the oldest, corpses. The main doors were open, the building's natural darkness leaking out into the world, spreading death and decay. Trevor hopped off the carriage. "Stay here," he said.

"What?!" Sypha bellowed. "Are you insane? You think just because—!"

"Sypha!" Trevor shouted back. She jerked back, only relaxing when he reached up and cupped her face in both hands. "…Please."

Sypha's expression softened. She leaned forward, kissing his forehead. "…You've got five minutes." Trevor smiled, before turning around, entering Dracula's Castle one more time.

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The inside of the castle, predictably, was worse than the outside. There weren't as many corpses—though those that there were displayed in more macabre ways than simple impalement—but the air of the structure was…darker. Not as evil as when Dracula called it home, but just as heavy and soul-crushing. And it was also, well, literally dark. Trevor could barely see his hands in front of his face.

But the lights came on before Trevor even reached the main hall's halfway point, and his mood dropped even further at what it revealed.

Alucard sat upon his father's throne, but he didn't hold the countenance of the dead Count. He was stained with blood and grime, hair a wild, frazzled mess. He held onto his sword—which was caked in gore—like a lifeline, seemingly uncaring that he was cutting into his own flesh.

But the worst part were his eyes. There were wild, unfocused and unhinged. Drowning in a blend of contempt and despair that Trevor had only previously seen in Dracula himself.

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up." Alucard finally spoke, voice raspy, as though he hadn't used it much (which he very well may not have). He swept his arm out, blood splattering forward, "Do you like what I've done with the place? My father would have approved, I think."

Trevor stared up at the man he counted as one of his only friends left. He took a deep breath. "…I should never have left you alone."

Alucard tilted his head at the declaration, before throwing it back and laughing—or perhaps crying. "Indeed! Regretting our previous partnership, Belmont? Not surprised—your family made their fortune slaughtering all sorts of creatures of the night. To be honest, I'd always wondered when you'd make me another notch on your legacy's belt!" Alucard shot up to his feet, his blood-stained sword clattering to the ground. He stomped down the steps, face set into a sneer. "Are you happy? Proud that your family's beliefs have been vindicated? I've read your ancestors journals, when I wasn't—how do the ignorant fools that shamble through Wallachia call it? Ah yes, terrorizing—the populace. I know that your people took great care to eradicate the, as one of them put it, 'abominations begotten by only the most depraved of beasts'. Always fearful that the bad blood would win out." He was scant feet away from Trevor now, arms spread wide, lips split in a mad grin. "Well, I'm proof! Eu sunt fiul lui Dracula! His evil reborn! So go ahead, Trevor Belmont of the House of Belmont! Fulfill your duty, slay me as you did my father!"

"…I should never have left you alone."

Alucard rolled his eyes, "You said that already."

"I'm sorry."

Alucard stilled, focusing on Trevor with a blank expression. The man himself sighed, lifting his head up and running a hand down his face, "Good god, what the hell was I thinking? Your mother is killed, your father puts you in a year-long coma when you try to keep him from razing the earth. You wake up and one of the first things you see is my face, and then barely a week later we kill your father, in this very castle. And I just left you, in this very castle!" He turned back to Alucard, face a mask of sorrow, "I am sorry. Yours isn't the first life to have been destroyed on these grounds—I should have known better. I should never have left you alone. Please, forgive me."

Alucard stared at Trevor, arms slowly falling to his side, face unchanging. Then, he cracked. His lips quivered, tears forming in his eyes. He took a deep, shuddering breath, bending over and clutching his shoulders. Trevor let him be. He'd laid all his cards on the table; Alucard would determine how everything played out.

His friend stopped shivering, but dears flowed down his cheeks as he lifted his head up. "…You really did fuck up, didn't you?"

Trevor cracked a smile, "Don't tell Sypha—I give that woman an inch and she takes a mile."

"Of course she does," Alucard managed a watery laugh, wiping his tears away, "a slobbering hound like you needs a short leash."

"God, I'm bringing the two of you together again." Trevor rubbed his temples but was unable to hide his mirth. He waited until Alucard cleaned himself up—well, minus all the blood staining his body. He let loose a long sigh, staring out at the corpses littering the hall. "Why impalement?" he grumbled, "It looks horrible, and smells even worse. Why not just burn the bodies?"

"There is the fear factor," Alucard replied, sheepish. "And, well, recently I've found I'm…unfond of the smell of burning flesh." Alucard drew into himself once more, and Trevor recalled what Sypha had done to Dracula's corpse.

Wanting to sidestep that pit of spikes, he said, "Well, we're going to have our work cut out for us, cleaning all this up. Doubt you'd want your godchild to stumble into one of those things when they're learning how to walk."

"…My what?" Footsteps cut off Trevor's reply. They both turned, Alucard sucking in a breath as Sypha entered the castle, his eyes drawn to the slight, but ever-noticeable, bump in her belly. Alucard turned to Trevor, eyes wide. Trevor just shrugged, a fond smile on his face as he stared at the mother of his child (and future wife, once the current crisis was dealt with).

But Sypha didn't spare Trevor a glance, focusing solely on Alucard, horror and grief marring her features. She sprinted the rest of the distance to them, quickly wrapping Alucard into a hug.

Trevor wanted to chuckle at the scene but was dumbstruck at Alucard's reaction. He'd gone stock-still, paled even more than usual, his face a blank, wide-eyed mask. He was only torn from the scene when he heard a low clang from behind him, turning to see Alucard's blade shakily rise into the air. But before he could even think of pulling Sypha to safety, there was a loud, ragged gasp, and the sword fell uselessly to the ground. He turned back to the pair, just in time to see Alucard, slowly wrap his arms around Sypha, tears flowing once more as he hugged her as tightly as he dared.

They pulled apart only when Alucard ended the embrace. Sypha sighed, reaching up and cupping his face, "Oh, Alucard. You're positively filthy!" He pulled her hand make, groaning, "And now I am."

Alucard let out a bark of laughter, sniffling as he wiped away his tears. "Consider it practice for the baby. Although," he side-eyed Trevor, "I suppose you're already a master, cleaning up after him."

Sypha hummed, lips splitting into a grin, "He does get himself into the oddest messes."

"Oh god, kill me now," Trevor half-heartedly grumbled as the two shared a laugh. But he didn't dare stop them. The horrors of the night (and his pride) could wait until they were done.

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A/N: Wanted to put this out before Season 4 of Castlevania dropped. Be sure to leave a review. Later.