Dracula's face was calm, cool, composed. The same could not be said of the state of his mind. His consciousness was panicking, worried, angry, stressed; every negative emotion he had driven out of himself in order to survive, and make his family survive. Yet with Adrian unconscious, on the brink of death in his arms, all those banished emotions came back in a painful stab to the brain, and to the heart.

I need to get him healed immediately. The fairies should be quick enough to arrive at my chambers within the next few minutes. Until then, I just need to stop the blood.

The sharp clicking of his heeled boots startled the few creatures within the palace this close to his chambers to the sides of the corridors.

Blood dripped off Adrian's fingers to the stone floors below, leaving it to be swept up by the thick, inky blackness of Dracula's cape.

Everything will be fine...everything will be fine...

The Prince of Darkness kept repeating this line like a prayer even as he got to the large double doors of his chambers, untouched in more than a year. He repeated it even as the doors creaked their hellos and even when the bed sank under his son's weight. He kept repeating it.

Everything will be fine...everything will be fine...he'll be fine...

The fairies entered soon after their master, and quickly went about the process of healing Adrian, their prince. They didn't ask what had happened as Dracula settled stiffly into a chair to observe. And the vampire was grateful for that. He didn't want to talk. He just wanted some silence, knowing that Adrian was going to be okay.

Trevor was shocked. And angry. Oh, he was so angry. Angry at Dracula, for taking his comrade. Angry at Alucard for trying to kill himself. Angry at Celia for starting all this. And most of all, angry at himself. He stood by, and did nothing until it was too late, until Dracula had already gotten too close. Even when Trevor knew what the vampire wanted, he still did nothing but stand there, as if just staring at the man would drive him away with his tail between his legs.

I'm such a fucking idiot... Trevor growled in his mind. I couldn't even protect my friend when he needed me the most.

He had been up for a decent amount of time now, waiting for Sypha to get up as well so they could go and find that bastard Dracula and beat the shit out of him. It was getting to the point where Trevor was seriously debating kicking the Speaker in the gut to wake her up. It had been twenty minutes too long for her to be sleeping. But the Belmont refrained himself. It would not do to have an injured party when trying to kill the king of vampires when their friend's life was on the line.

Five more minutes... He decided. Five more minutes and then she gets kicked.

Trevor started to tap his foot impatiently on the soft, grass covered earth.

What was Dracula doing now? Torturing Alucard? Was Alucard even awake? Even alive? Did Dracula even care?

Trevor's mind went back to what the vampire said before he knocked them out.

To "give him his son"...It sounded like he really cared...But that's impossible. He's the one who tried to kill Alucard in the first place, why would he suddenly start to care about his wellbeing? Ugh, thinking is not my forte...

Five minutes seemed to pass at a snail's pace, only quickening the insistent tapping of Trevor's foot. But, finally, as the last second passed in the hunter's mind, he sprang up from his spot on the ground to stand right above Sypha. His boot came back, intent on striking the tender spot between the side and stomach, but as soon as it came within reach of the unconscious figure, a hand came out of folds of blue and grabbed the offending appendage, pushing it back with surprising force.

Trevor stumbled back onto the riverbank (thankfully a clean section), landing flat on his ass, watching as Sypha sat up and shot a glare over her shoulder.

"And what exactly were you going to do with that filthy boot of yours, Belmont?" She spat out at him.

"Kick you awake," Trevor growled back, surprise long forgotten, thoughts once again flooded with fantasies of killing Dracula in all sorts of brutal ways, with an underlining of saving Alucard.

"And why were you going to do that?"

The tension was almost thick enough to cut with a knife. A little more, and they might start to actually fight.

"Because. Alucard's been gone for probably a couple of hours now. Dracula could've used that time to go to any number of places! And we don't know where. Dracula could be torturing him right now! He could already be dead-"

"DON'T SAY THAT!"

Trevor fell silent.

The hunter felt a clenching in his gut as he watched as two shiny trails were made down Sypha's cheeks, and soft sobs broke through the barrier of her lips. He had almost forgotten what had happened earlier, and felt like an idiot after bringing up something so close to the topic so soon.

"Sorry..." The word came out in a whisper, but both knew that the other heard it. Trevor was not one to apologize much, and so, for him to admit that he was in the wrong, even with the hesitance, was such a major thing, that you didn't dare to miss it.

They sat in silence. Sad, tense, silence. Trevor did not risk speaking again, in case Sypha decided to lash out again. It was best to stay silent.

And thus, Sypha was the first to do something.

The Speaker stood up from her spot on the grass and walked over to where Trevor still sat on the riverbank.

"Well, Alucard's not gonna come back to us if we just wallow in guilt and sadness." She nodded a little, seemingly more for convincing herself than him. "Now get up and let's go kick some vampire ass!"

Trevor's trademark smirk came out of hiding after seeing Sypha's bright, determined, albeit a little watery, smile.

She offered a hand to him.

"Yeah. Dracula's gonna regret messin' with us after we're done with him!"

Trevor took the hand and the Speaker helped him to his feet. And instead of wiping her hand off on the fabric of her cloak like she usually did, she just started walking, a skip in her step, back to the wagon. A small chuckle was all the sound Trevor made as he followed after his comrade.

They would get Alucard back. If they had to sell their souls to the devil, or make a journey through Hell and back, so be it. Alucard was theirs; Dracula already messed his chance up. He didn't get another one. And once they got their hands on the dhampir, he would be scolded, spoiled, and not least of all, helped. They all needed so much help... But everything would be fine! They would make it fine! It wouldn't be normal, but it would be perfect for them.

So very perfect...

A shadowed figure sat atop and iron throne. Pieces of pearly white bone could be seen poking out from the iron cage that confined them. Yellow tinted skin was stretched tight over slim bird boned hands that rested upon the arms of the throne. Long black talons, not unlike that of an eagle's, tapped against the bumpy metal, creating an eerie ringing sound that echoed throughout the large, empty, stone chamber. Red eyes, tinted gold shone in dim candle light that fell across the room from a high placed chandelier on the ceiling.

Small, almost dainty sounding steps entered the room, joining the ringing taps in a sinister harmony.

Striking red hair flowed behind the figure of a small girl, looking to be around twelve or so, dull, brick colored eyes finding the sharper, brighter eyes of the shadowed figure atop the iron throne. There was silence for a few seconds before the shadowed figure broke it, speaking with a deep, and venomous voice.

"You changed your appearance again, my pet."

"It felt stuffy in my old guise. Forgive me, milord, if it does not please you."

The shadowed figure, now known as a lord, tapped another talon against the metal of his throne.

"It does not bother me in the slightest. You can do as you wish as long as you stay loyal to me." The young girl (if she was even either of those things) dipped her head forward in a small bow of gratitude. "But let's cut with the pleasantries." Another tap. Another ring. "How is dear Dracula doing?"

A small smirk spread the girl's lips apart, bearing sharp, white teeth.

"On the path to destruction, milord."

Hi~! I"m back~! Sorry for the semi-late update; I got my laptop taken away for the week. But now it's back, and I can post~! This A/N is gonna be short coz...coz. Probably because I'm sick and my mind doesn't want to think. Yeah, let's just make that the reason. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all in a few weeks~!

Bye-bye~!

Majesty