A/N: Hello! It's been a while. How long has it been since I posted Castlevania? Last September, I think? Yeah. The end of last September. Holy hell. Well, we're back, my loves. We're back and better than ever! I missed writing for Castlevania. Now, are we ready to get back into it? Because I sure as hell am!

Time is a strange thing. One moment, someone could barely be scraping by. In the next, they're living like a king. Kind of like a little dhampir that went from being on her own to being Styrian royalty. Albeit now disgraced Styrian royalty. Or how she went from disgraced Styrian royalty to the Belmont she was always meant to be at the drop of a hat. I still think of that day every now and then. It's hard to believe that was five years ago. But it's not like I haven't been keeping busy since then. Oh, hell no.

Uncle Trevor wouldn't have allowed such a thing. If I wasn't out traipsing the Wallachian countryside in search of monster ass to kick with Uncle Trevor and Sypha, we were at home, rebuilding the former ruins of the Belmont estate. The time had come for us to reclaim what was rightfully ours. It's not like anyone else had tried rebuilding on our land. The church made it very clear that everything the Belmont family touches is cursed.

More bullshit rhetoric to keep the people scared and complacent. We weren't the ones who killed Dr. Tepes in cold blood. We weren't the ones who sat idly by as night hordes tore Wallachia apart and made her people into vampire food. All we wanted was to make sure to see her live another day. And what did that get us? Ostracized from our ancestral home? Burned at the stake for allegedly dealing in black magic? My god, I have been spending too much time with Uncle Trevor lately. I sound just like him.

But after five years of fighting monsters, it's taught me one thing. How to appreciate the downtime. And how to appreciate the little things. Especially one little thing in particular that stole my heart on day one. And as we put the finishing touches on the house, she should not be running around here.

"Eden! Eden! Eden!" a sweet little voice called out to me. Only for its source to come barreling around the corner to attack my leg.

"Hi, Mari," I put my hammer down and threw my arms around my adorable little cousin. Her dark curls fell in her face, covering up those big, dark eyes of hers. Those were definitely her father's eyes, "Be careful where you walk around here, ok, sweetheart? I wouldn't want you stepping on a nail. Can't imagine getting one of those in the foot would be much fun."

"Are you done yet?" Mari whined, hanging on my leg, "I want to see our new house."

"Almost," I promised, "We need to put in a few more windows and ward it. Then, we should be able to move in by the end of the week."

"Yay!" she squealed. I never thought I'd be the type to like kids, but dammit, this one…This one got to me.

"What?" I teased her, "You don't like living in Uncle Alucard's castle while we're home?"

"Can't say I do," a deeper voice rumbled from the doorway, "The sooner we finish here, the better."

"Hush, you," I rolled my eyes. Thank God, Mari got her personality from her mother. Because one Uncle Trevor in this world was plenty, "Do you see what I've been working with, Mari? All day with this one."

"Daddy!" Mari didn't care about my plight. As long as she had him, she'd be ok.

"What are you doing here, Mari?" Uncle Trevor wondered, "I thought you were helping your mother with dinner."

"Mama says dinner is ready," she reported, peeling herself off my leg.

"Alright," I pushed her hair out of her face, "Thank you, Mari."

"Tell your mother we'll be there shortly," Uncle Trevor ordered, "And Mari…"

"Hmm?"

"Come here…" Uncle Trevor got down to her level.

Mari ran over to him, "What is it, Daddy?"

He scooped her up into his arms and kissed her cheek, "Give that to Mama for me."

"I will," Mari's face scrunched up.

"But this one…" Uncle Trevor kissed her other cheek, "That one's for you."

"Daddy!" she groaned, her cheeks turning red.

"Go on," he put her back on the floor, "Go see Mama. Tell her I'll be there in a minute."

"Ok!" Mari started heading out, "Are you coming, too, Eden?"

"I think I'll sit this one out," I shot her down, "But I'll be around if you need me."

"But Eden…" Mari pouted, "You need to eat, too."

"I'll catch something in the woods," I promised, "It's been a while since I had a good hunt. No need to worry about me. But thank you, Mari."

"Go," Uncle Trevor reiterated, "Go see Mama. Go give her what I told you."

"I will!" And there she goes. Off to send a sweet message to Sypha and stuff her belly until she can't move.

"Well," I dusted myself off, "I'm going to…"

"Eden," Uncle Trevor cut me off, "Are you sure you'll be ok?"

I hated when he could see through me. I hated it so much. If I said I've been ok, I'd be lying, "Yeah. I'll be fine. I'll manage anyway."

"Eden," he put a hand to my shoulder, "You know he'll be back."

"I know," I sighed out, "Uncle Trevor, it's been two years now."

I remember the day we met. Beaten and bruised and chained behind Carmilla's convoy outside of Braila. And then again in her dungeon. It was oddly enough one of Mari's favorite bedtime stories. The time when Mama and Daddy and Uncle Alucard took on a royal coven of vampires in the city square of Braila with her favorite cousin and the forgemaster she liberated from Carmilla's dungeons. And once they were gone…Well, I don't tell Mari what happened after. Hell, Uncle Trevor doesn't even know about that. And it would stay that way or Hector would end up praying for the treatment Carmilla gave him tenfold.

"You miss him," Uncle Trevor figured, "Don't you, Eden?"

"Terribly," I laid my head on his shoulder.

"He'll be back," he promised, "One day, you're going to look down the road here and he's going to come over the hill and around the corner and there he'll be. Likely with some sort of half dead creature following him. Hector probably misses you, too. For whatever reason, I think he likes you."

"Gee," I stared blankly into the distance, "Thanks, Uncle Trevor. You really know how to pick up a girl when she's down."

"I already told you this, Eden," Uncle Trevor groaned, "I'm not good with the motivational speech bullshit. If you want that, you'll have to go to Sypha."

"I kind of figured," I gave him a smack to the shoulder, "But you tried. And that's all that matters. One would think fatherhood would've changed you."

"Only slightly," he assured me, "Only slightly. And Mari understands my motivational speeches better than anyone else I know. She knows what I'm trying to say."

"She gets that from her mother," I figured, "Sypha's pretty good at interpreting that, too."

"She learned, though," Uncle Trevor walked me out, "Mari knew that the day she came out of the womb."

I remembered that day like it was yesterday. Hell, it felt like it was yesterday. Uncle Trevor, Sypha, and I were on the road on our way back here when Sypha went into labor. Not to brag or anything, but I was the first face Mari ever saw. Mostly because despite all the time Uncle Trevor has spent tearing monsters limb from limb, he couldn't stand the miracle of childbirth without getting queasy. I specifically remember him saying something along the lines of, 'Just because I'm the one that put her there doesn't mean I want to see her coming out'. Or something like that. And then, there she was. Baby Mari was born in the back of the wagon half a mile from home. Adrian came to meet us shortly after. We got her cleaned up and taken care of and back home we went.

"I'm going to go on a hunt," I decided.

"And after?" Uncle Trevor wondered, "You don't need to be by yourself, Eden. You know you're more than welcome to join us."

"I know," I nodded, "I'll think about it."

"Ok," he backed off, "Until later then."

"See you later." And I took off light a bat out of hell toward the woods. It's been a while since I had any blood in me. Maybe a couple weeks. I needed something big. Normally, I could appreciate the smaller creatures. Squirrels, rats, foxes. That was plenty to quell the thirst my vampiric half cursed me with every once in a while. But given that I haven't fed in a couple weeks, I could stand something big. Mostly for the thrill of the hunt.

I stood in the middle of the woods and turned all of my senses off. Except for two. I listened closely to the wind for heartbeats. And a few different smells caressed my nose. Squirrel…Fox…Mountain lion…Now, we're getting somewhere. But just beyond that mountain lion…Elk. That one. I'll take that one. Elk blood may not taste like squirrel, but the rush of taking down a giant elk? That'll be worth it.

I changed form into a raven and took flight toward the clearing. Three of them. And big ones, too. Tonight, I feast like a fucking queen. I found a spot to land and changed back. That's one of those strange perks about being a dhampir. Sometimes, that shapeshifting thing came in handy. And of all things for me to be, I couldn't have asked for a better guardian than a raven's spirit. A messenger of good things to come. Thank you, little raven. Those few words put such an ache in my chest. Shortly after I saved Hector from Carmilla and her band of bitches, he hardly mustered the strength to thank me. He was so fragile then.

Once I had all those elk drained and in my stomach, I buried them all and gave them their proper sendoff. Thank you, beautiful creatures, for sustaining me another day. Your death will not be in vain. With a heavy feeling in my chest and a full stomach, I started my trek back home. I knew one place in the world that could ease my sadness. And nowhere else on this earth could do that quite like the Belmont family hold.

Generations of Belmont knowledge in one room. I loved this library so much. Every time I came down here, I could feel them. Every one of them. I could feel Leon's presence. And Simon's presence. I could feel my mother in these walls. This was home. This was where we were meant to be. It's a shame we were cast away from our lands for the sake of being a scapegoat for the church. At least we had the hold again. Even though it's now under Dracula's castle. But it wasn't the comfort of the Belmonts of the past I was down here for.

In the back corner, I kept a box for no one else but for me. Hector's letters. Every single one he's ever sent me. I made sure to keep them safe for days like these. I pulled a few out, just to remember he was still there. When he said he wanted to go reclaim his humanity in any way he could, I told him I was fine. I understood then. He needed to go find himself. And that was fine. I just didn't realize what kind of collateral damage that would leave behind. However, the words he sent me put me in a much better place.

To my dearest Eden,

In these many months I've been on my own, I find myself searching for your face in every crowded marketplace, in every passing encounter. One day—I don't know when—but one day, I may look up and see the whole world in front of me. My whole world. Soon, my darling. Soon.

All my love,

Hector

I miss him.

"Eden?" a voice broke the still silence, "I know you're down here."

"Adrian," I called back, "Yeah. I'm down here. Hi."

"What are you doing down here?" Adrian joined me on the floor, "Brushing up on your studies?"

"No," I knew better than to lie to him flat out. Adrian knew my tells better than Uncle Trevor did. And any time I'd lie to him, he'd just bitch at me, so honesty was the best way to avoid the lecture.

"Are you ok?" he looked me over, "I was talking to Trevor earlier."

"And you both live to tell the tale," I joked, hoping that would take some of the heat off me.

"Believe it or not," Adrian assured me, "We can be civil. We're not completely children."

"I specifically remember you yelling at him for using your fork the other day, Adrian," I spoke flatly, "Before any of us sat down to eat. And then, you insulted him by saying you were surprised he was civilized enough to know what a fork was. Don't try to give me that we're not completely children bullshit."

"So, we have our moments," he brushed me off, "But they're also just that. They're moments. Now, don't try to distract me, Eden."

Fuck, "What did you and Uncle Trevor talk about?"

"You mostly," Adrian draped an arm around my shoulders, "Are you ok?"

There's no sense in trying to hide it. Of all the men in this world, few could make me feel better like Adrian does. And Hector understood that. He knew Adrian was my brother at the end of the day. Nothing more, nothing less. And that my love for him was much different than the love we shared. I cuddled into Adrian's ribs, "I'm empty."

"Let me guess," Adrian pushed my dark red hair out of my face, "Hector?"

"Yeah…" I let out a heavy, depressed sigh, "I miss him, Adrian. He's a hard one to pin down. Just when I think he's in one place, I suddenly get another letter from somewhere else."

"Are you down here torturing yourself with his letters?" he grabbed my letter box, "Eden, I understand you miss him, but this can't be good for you."

"What else am I supposed to do?" I scoffed, "It's like I said. He's next to impossible to track down."

"You know," Adrian suggested, "You could track him down…"

"What do you mean?" I perked up, "We can track him?"

"You might want to check that section over there," he pointed toward an old bookcase a few rows down, "Chances are, you might find some sort of tracking spell. And a need for rose quartz."

"Adrian…" I wondered, "Do you know tracking spells?"

"Not personally," Adrian got up from the floor, helping me shortly after, "But it wouldn't surprise me if one of the Belmonts somewhere down the line got a little obsessive over someone. It's not like you don't have something of Hector's to use for calibration."

Maybe I could do it. Maybe I could be crazy enough to track Hector down and find him. I've never done something so fucking crazy for love, but I've never had Hector before. Hector was something special. When all the bullshit with Carmilla was over and everything was ok again, I promised him the most wild night of sex he'd ever have. Some of my old tricks would come out to play. But for the longest time, I could only hold him. That alone was enough for him. Don't get me wrong. We did manage to get that wild night of pure, unadulterated fucking in. But just holding him? I could give up sex for the rest of my life if it meant replacing it with that. Hector soaked up my love like a sponge. And I loved him for it.

"I think I will," I decided, skimming this locator spell, "I'm going to track Hector down and bring him home."

"Before you do that," Adrian wrapped his arms around me, "Maybe you should get some sleep first. Please."

"Damn minor human inconvenience," I grumbled to myself.

"You could've been turned," he pointed out, "Carmilla would've been more than happy to bite you."

"No," I knew better, "Are you shitting me? I'm too Belmont to be a vampire. A complete one anyway."

"That's right," Adrian kissed the top of my head, 'Come on. I'll put you to bed."

"Just like the old days," I awed, having flashbacks to baby Eden's first adventures in this castle.

"Of course," Adrian hid a little smile from me, "Anything for you, bright eyes."