Leon woke up first; Considering he had slept the most recently, it wasn't surprising. He took some time to stretch and really allow himself to wake. It had to be early in the morning, a time he rarely got to enjoy. Sypha was curled up in her pillow and blanket, barely visible at all.

Leon walked quietly so as not to wake her; She did the most research out of any of them, and deserved the rest.

Trevor was still sleeping too, one arm under the pillow propping his head up, though he grunted a few times as if dreaming. Leon crept past him as well. He had no idea where Alucard had gone, but since he didn't hear any rustling pages or footsteps, Leon assumed the dhampir was still sleeping. Hopefully. Alucard could move the most quietly out of all of them, so pinpointing him or his current activity was like trying to find a rabbit den.

Even so, Leon made it to the section where he had last stopped looking for information with no disturbances. The books had been mostly cleaned up, but he saw a few more stacked on a nearby table. After looking at them, he confirmed they were on almost completely different subjects from earlier the previous day, most of which Leon had little to no context for. Sypha really had moved on-Leon wondered if these books had been any help.

Flipping through them idly gave him no clues, so he set out for his own research.

While searching for Mathias himself, Leon had come across several subjects which had intrigued him, one of which had been a way to view distant areas. It had been called a distance mirror, funnily enough. Leon wondered if he or any others in the family had managed to get their hands on one.

Should he be able to locate one in the hold, even if their little group required more time tracking the castle down and getting into it, they would at least know where Dracula was and what he was up to.

Leon couldn't help but admit to himself that he was also morbidly curious, for personal reasons. What had happened to Mathias over the many years? Would Leon even recognize the man he had become? Well, Leon wouldn't find out unless there was a mirror in the hold anyway.

He searched through the lectern at the bottom, coming upon several possible items, though having one described as "dust" was distinctly unhelpful. He decided to ignore that entry.

Unfortunately, none of the objects were helpful. A couple were magical, but not distance mirrors. Leon actually wasn't sure what they did, or if they worked properly. And one which had seemed most promising was not placed where the index declared it. Running hands over his face, he groaned, frustrated.

There was a small groan back.

Leon grimaced and turned. No one was there. He took a few more steps and peeked around the corner of a bookshelf.

Sprawled part way on a bookshelf and leaning dangerously, sat Alucard, blanket over his lap and one shoulder. His head rested at an angle, neck looking uncomfortably crooked to the side, but he was fast asleep, face looking far younger without the frowns and sarcastic stares. Of course, it also looked like a terrible way to sleep.

Leon shifted away, and when Alucard didn't even stir, he walked to his own pile of pillows, grabbed them, and made his way back as quietly as he could. Alucard hadn't moved.

After carefully moving up to Alucard, Leon bent down to place the pillows on the ground. Alucard sighed and shifted his head, but didn't wake. Holding his breath from nerves, Leon reached out to place hands under Alucard's side and the junction of his head and neck. Alucard grunted and shifted some more.

Heart pounding, Leon lowered the sleeping man to the pillows, nestling him onto them before pulling the blanket up.

With a satisfied noise, Alucard wiggled himself around on the soft surfaces and fell right back into a deep slumber, long, slow breaths coming from his barely parted lips.

Leon let out his own breath, wiping his forehead. Mission accomplished.

Even though he hadn't found the mirror, Leon's sense of triumph kept him happy as he continued his search around the hold. At one point, he heard a small yelp. Looking over a nearby railing, he caught a glimpse of Trevor sitting bolt upright, head swiveling back and forth like he was looking for something.

"Trevor?" Leon whisper-shouted down.

Trevor tensed, then looked back up. He shifted and pulled the blanket further onto himself, then gave a shy little wave. Leon waved back.

"Are you alright?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Fine," said Trevor. Then he gathered up his sleeping things and disappeared behind a nearby shelf.

Huh. Leon worried he may have awakened from a nightmare and resolved to talk to him about it later-at least to be a comforting presence. Perhaps Trevor's companions would also be of help, since they seemed to be close.

Leon saw Sypha stirring in her own little nest and decided to start breakfast. The mirror could wait.

He gathered the water for porridge himself, Trevor showing up to help by gathering a few more berries and safe mushrooms-though he expertly dodged any questions about what had woken him up with an embarrassed look on his face-and Sypha followed not too long after, yawning.

"Where's Alucard?" she asked.

"He was sleeping still, last I saw," Leon said.

"He actually went to sleep?" Trevor asked.

"He did. Though it didn't look very comfortable. He must have fallen asleep while reading or something."

Sypha shook her head, yawning once again. "Trevor, go get him."

"What, why me?" Trevor sounded indignant as Leon had expected, but there was also a small note of panic in his voice. "I'm already helping to set up breakfast."

"I'm going to light the fire."

"I know how to light a fire!"

Leon intervened. "I don't see anything wrong with letting Alucard sleep a little longer. He seemed tired enough for it."

The other two agreed and settled in, though it seemed Sypha had caught on to the odd way Trevor acted as well. She stared at him until he asked for the fire she'd already offered to make; Trevor never mentioned what had woken him.

"How did you sleep?" Leon asked Sypha instead.

"Oh, much better," she said. "I don't know how you found all of those things, but it was the most comfortable I slept in weeks."

"Good, I'm glad." Sypha smiled, and Leon returned it.

"You as well?"

"Yes, thank you. Though I think I shall search for something specific today." And he told both of them of his plans to find the mirror. Since they both seemed amenable to the idea, Leon recruited Trevor's help in looking for it. He huffed, but agreed.

After they had finished eating and Alucard still hadn't shown, they began to worry.

"He may have needed sleep," Sypha said, "but he has never slept for so long before. I always assumed it was just because he didn't need as much."

Trevor shrugged. "Or maybe he wasn't hungry and is just moping around the books."

Sypha slapped his arm. "Then maybe you should go start on your task while Alucard and I 'mope around the books.'"

Trevor scratched at the back of his neck.

Laughing to himself, Leon said, "I'll take some of this back to him, just in case he is hungry. We did make enough."

Alucard was still sleeping. Leon stood there, a little impressed he was still out, given the way Trevor and Sypha were still sniping only one floor away. Leon had thought Alucard might wake up, if not for the research, then the smell of the food Leon had brought into the hold from breakfast. But no, even though his face turned and he appeared to take a sniff, he did not awaken.

His companions had made it seem like he was the least lazy of all of them; Still, Leon couldn't help but wonder if Alucard wasn't really sleeping, just enjoying the comfort.

Either way, Leon didn't think he should wake him. At least, not by himself.

So he set the food down nearby, watched as Alucard once again shifted his head towards it, and left to go find Sypha and Trevor. Sypha, as expected, was already several books deep into her research. Trevor was attempting to scour the area for... secret passages maybe. Though Leon hoped he was looking for the distance mirror.

"He's still asleep," Leon announced. Sypha hummed, but Trevor turned to face him and frowned.

"Fangs? He's still sleeping?"

"That is odd," Sypha said, still flipping pages.

"It was like he didn't enjoy people watching him sleep. He used the wagon most of the time, when Sypha and I were driving it. No way he should have stayed asleep after you checked on him twice." Trevor ran a hand over his face, catching the look Sypha was shooting him over the pages of the book. "Fine. Fine! I'll wake him up. But don't expect me to be nice about it."

He stomped away to where Leon silently pointed him.

"Well," Sypha said, "that's done. Trevor said the mirror might be in a corner near the books on geography and travel."

Leon took the hint and wandered off. As he looked through the shelves, he kept his ears sharp, listening for any indication Alucard woke up. The sharp yelp followed by growls and cursing convinced him, yes, Trevor had done it.

With a small smile, Leon continued his search.

Huh. I wonder why Alucard kept sleeping. Probably just because he was tired, right? No other reasons. :3c

Anyway, Leon is headed off to find the mirror finally, so we're getting back on track for plot. huhuhu. Next chapter is gonna be a bit of a longer one.

So please let me know your thoughts! I'm always happy to hear from y'all! (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧