Updated a few times on AO3 and suddenly got forgetful, so be prepared for a few chapter updates in a row today!
It might have been a few minutes, it might have been hours, but eventually, the sky was not lit by the moon. Only the stars rolled overhead, and the sky changed from the darkest black to a rich, noble blue. Leon had barely moved, sniffling occasionally, not even able to feel the wind chilling his wet face.
The presence nearby didn't even register until right next to Leon.
"Are you planning to stay out here all night? Though I suppose it's almost over now."
Exhaustion had swept so fully over Leon he didn't even startle at the intrusion, only looked up from where he sat and found the vampire standing there. He was eerie in the starlight, like a specter; Leon supposed he didn't look much better himself.
He wanted to ask what the vampire was doing up there, but lacked the words or motivation. His throat was raw, and his limbs heavy-he managed to raise an eyebrow which he hoped conveyed his feelings.
It must have, because the vampire shifted the foot he was leaning on and said, "Bel- Trevor was too scared to face you." Leon suspected that wasn't entirely true. Right? "But he must have been worried you'd gone off to fight Dracula yourself, or bury yourself in the family crypt."
"Crypt?" Leon croaked.
"You don't have one?" The vampire leaned against a pile of stone and looked overly fascinated with his own gloves. He wasn't being serious, or at least he was trying to needle Leon, but Leon was too tired for it all.
"I don't know," he said, voice rough. "This isn't the home I remember."
Something about his words made the vampire uncomfortable, because he immediately looked away.
"Well. Then I suppose you're alright out here on your own."
Leon didn't nod. The vampire didn't move.
Even though Trevor hadn't come up to see Leon, he had sent one of his... allies. Someone Trevor trusted. It may have been Trevor simply didn't know what to say. Leon understood the feeling. His crying had drained a lot of his initial feelings, but he felt hollow in its place. Words had deserted him, and there was nothing much he could do about it. Nothing but wait. And perhaps apologize.
Leon was a stranger to the time, an intruder, and had someone tried to control his life in such a way, he wouldn't have taken kindly to it either. Yes, he should apologize to Trevor. Get to understand his plans. ...His allies too.
The vampire was still sitting nearby, watching the stars and forest-unmoving; It sent Leon's instincts prickling. But there was the smallest rise and fall of breath, a hint of life on the unnatural stillness of the man, and that, more than anything, helped Leon speak.
"What is your name?" he asked.
The vampire turned towards him, just enough to look out of the corner of his eye.
"I heard it, but things were... hectic. I apologize for not remembering."
The vampire watched for a few more seconds, the hand he had on the stone picking off small bits of rubble-an oddly human gesture. "The Wallachians call me Alucard," he finally answered.
"Alucard," Leon confirmed. Alucard nodded. "Alright then. Alucard, why are you here?"
"I thought I explained that," he said in a haughty tone. "Trevor-"
"Not here, in the courtyard," Leon interrupted. His brows came down in annoyance. "I mean, why are you here, at the Belmont Hold?"
Leon bit back any other leading questions he wanted to ask, certain they would lead to less answers and more fighting. Staying silent allowed others to speak. Sure enough, Alucard turned towards him fully, settling in.
"I presume you aren't speaking philosophically either. But I think we have made it quite clear that myself, Trevor, and Sypha are going to defeat Dracula."
"I was aware of that," Leon affirmed. "But, why? Why would you want to?"
"Because. It is my duty." Alucard closed his eyes for a moment, looking melancholy. The familiarity of it had Leon's arms tingling, wondering where he had seen it before. So caught up was he in the expression that he jerked when Alucard started speaking again. "Besides, you don't want the humans to die either, do you?"
Alucard's eyes pierced him, the gold of a hunting hawk, or owl. Of course Leon didn't wish people to die; What a foolish-or needling-question. The answer was so obvious Leon only made a face right back at Alucard before responding to the real question.
"What do you mean about humans dying? Surely he's been doing that already? Has he picked up his frequency?"
"Oh?" Alucard raised one brow, looking somehow condescending even in his surprise. "Didn't we mention our reasoning for doing so? Dracula has unleashed his army upon the land of Wallachia, intent upon wiping the humans from it. He will likely then move on to the rest of the world around it, if not stopped."
As Alucard spoke, Leon's eyes grew wider and wider, his breath caught, and suddenly he was on his feet.
"That's-!" He couldn't find a good descriptor for the way his heart wrenched in his chest, his blood chilled in his veins, and heat hammered against his voice.
Alucard nodded though, his face unexpectedly solemn.
"Then... you wish to see him gone, so that humans will still exist for you to feed on?" Leon couldn't think of any other explanation. "To take his place as the ruler of the night, perhaps? If he has an army, deposing him would grant you more power."
Alucard sneered. "Truly thought out. But I have said I do not need blood."
Leon's heart was still racing, but he managed to put on a frown of his own and speak somewhat calmly. "And that's impossible. I'm not inexperienced with vampires, Alucard, and all vampires need blood. Do not lie to me."
He kept his clenched fists at his side, and noticed Alucard doing the same to his sword sheath.
They stared each other down, moments sliding by like the wind in the trees. Alucard tsked.
"I thought you might have caught on." Leon changed stances as Alucard stood up straight from the rocks, planting his feet on the ground. Leon noticed he had his torso turned away, just enough to help if he was attacked. "I do not lie. I do not need blood because I am a dhampir."
He said it with such obvious emphasis, he clearly meant it to be a revelation and explanation. It was neither. Leon cocked his head.
"A what?"
Alucard practically rolled his eyes. "Not inexperienced?" he said in a mocking tone, which Leon felt unfair. "My mother was human." Leon blinked and dropped his hands down in surprise. "I'm half human, I eat human food."
After a quick inspection of his expression, Alucard appeared serious and truthful. Leon couldn't wrap his mind around it, had never come across any proof of the possibility-vampires were dead after all. Still, he had wanted to learn more of Trevor's allies, so perhaps this was a chance.
"I have never run across a- a dhampir." Leon scratched at his chin. "What else does that mean for you?"
"Do you want a biology lesson?" Alucard asked, voice flat. "I don't have time for that."
Leon waved away the sarcastic offer, but huffed regardless at being treated as an annoyance.
"I mean, can you touch silver?"
"You... want to know if I have any weaknesses," Alucard said, voice somehow even flatter and more unimpressed.
"No- I apologize if that's how it came across." Leon scratched at his scalp, trying to pick his words more carefully. "And for if I offend you further. But I have not thought union between a vampire and human, if it were survived, that a child could even come from it. And of course, we've only just met. I hope you can understand my skepticism."
Alucard narrowed his eyes, but appeared to be thinking more than glaring. "You want a test?"
"A test?" He supposed it would alleviate some of his concerns.
Alucard looked around, stopping at the lightening horizon. "The sun will rise soon. I shall stay out here until then, to prove I am what I say. Will that satisfy you?"
"Yes." Leon felt a nervous flutter in his stomach, the faces of Trevor and Sypha rearing up in his mind. "Are you quite certain?"
Alucard did roll his eyes this time. "Yes. It is hardly something which will affect me. No more than you, at least."
So Leon took his word for it, incredulous as he was about the whole idea. Besides, if he did want to become ruler in Dracula's place, this would easily solve the problem. Leon's stomach lurched at the image of this- of Alucard's ashes floating away, so he stopped thinking of it.
Shaking his head side to side, Leon asked, "But then, you never answered if you wished to take Dracula's place as ruler. A... dhampir, could still benefit in this way."
Alucard shook his own head, sending his longer blonde waves over his shoulder. "It is not something I aspire to."
"No?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"No point in it," Alucard sighed. "Even it was something I wanted, Dracula's generals would never listen to me. Even if, and especially if, I killed him."
Dracula's generals? A bigger army than Leon thought-even if Leon had known of his "all in" tactics-but he put it aside for now.
"They would not respect your power?"
"...No. I would be fighting alongside vampire hunters, or one and a human magician. I have tried to fight Dracula before on my own, and lost."
Leon's eyes were drawn by the aborted motion Alucard made towards his own chest. For the first time, Leon took note of a small strip of exposed skin there, as well as something Leon himself was intimately familiar with seeing: a scar. It looked raised, puckered in a way quick regeneration should have smoothed over; It looked human. Did being a dhampir mean no quick healing? But then- "You are lucky to be alive, then."
"Yes." Alucard lowered his head. "Lucky."
So he would not be received by the vampires, nor, as Leon himself had demonstrated, by humans. Leon felt a small tinge of empathy. There was no one this man could turn to, no one who would assist him or bring him into their community. Being reviled by both sides of himself had to be difficult. Had even his parents not cared for him? Leon didn't wish to bring it up. Moving his hands around uneasily, one bumped into his whip. He grasped it to soothe himself. Upon noticing Alucard watching him, Leon spoke.
"I lost my betrothed," he said, hushed.
Alucard stiffened, his head moving slowly back to get a proper look at Leon.
"That night... My betrothed had been kidnapped by a powerful vampire. She had been in his abode for some time already once I finally arrived. Once I reached her... She was turning." Leon turned his face away to wipe at his eyes. "She hated the very idea of it. Didn't wish to be beholden to him in any way. She was afraid the vampire might force her to fight me, to kill me, as he had done to so many others."
The world was quiet, the sky turning to a fine purple-blue, like iris flowers fading to periwinkles. Leon breathed in deeply through his nose. His lungs filled with the scent of cold stone.
"She knew I could not defeat the vampire with the weapon I had. She sacrificed herself to give me a chance. To give others a chance."
Quietly, just on the edge of Leon's hearing, Alucard whispered, "I see."
Leon huffed a sad laugh. "It is the reason I fight. That I hunt. So no others are like her."
"...Then, this vampire, was Dracula?"
"No. No, a different one," Leon said, trying to smile though it felt wrong on his face.
"Not Dracula? I thought you chased him down to arrive here."
"I... well I was chasing-" This was it. He had to say it aloud, see what reaction it garnered. Alucard knew of Dracula and his vampire army. "Mathias, was his name."
Alucard hummed. "I don't recognize the name."
"I suspect he changed it at some point. There was no one more powerful, nor so well versed a tactician."
Alucard tensed up. "That... does sound like Dracula."
Leon nodded. "It is my best guess. Only a guess. But as you said, I could not leave people to die, regardless."
"Yes. I'm seeing that." Alucard offered the most tentative smile, and Leon returned it. "But if he was not the one who... tried to turn your lover-" Leon felt his ears heat up. "Why were you chasing him?"
"He was involved." Leon's tone was clipped. "The reason the other vampire-Walter-stole my betrothed away."
Nodding, Alucard said, "I did not realize he had such a long history with the Belmonts."
"It is rather complex."
"I think every interaction I've had with the two of you could be called that."
Leon huffed with a grin and watched the sky. A brighter pink had begun to push at the horizon.
"Actually, I'm rather touched." Leon made a questioning sound. "I think I may be one of the only vampiric beings who Belmonts attempted to kill upon first meeting, but became- ... allies with."
Leon laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Perhaps so. Even one vampire I did not set out to kill told me to silence myself. It... didn't end well."
Amazingly enough, Alucard laughed. "And it seems all Belmonts tend to be mouthy. Do they get that from you, I wonder?"
Leon laughed too.
As they did, Leon noticed they had gravitated closer, like comrades. And they could be, he realized; Alucard was trying, joking and answering questions and attempting to put Leon at ease with his presence. Leon thought if they were to be allies a proper introduction was in order. As the sun crested the hills, throwing the first rays across the sky, Leon stuck out a hand for greeting.
"Allow me to start over," he said. "I am Leon Belmont, hunter and protector."
Alucard looked down, softened, and gripped it back.
"I am known to the Wallachians as Alucard." A slightly mischievous smile curled his lips. "But my name is Adrian Țepeș. Son of Vlad Dracula Țepeș."
Leon swore the world stopped then, or at least his heart. But the sun kept rising and the rays hit the son of Dracula and he kept standing there. In the bright morning light, so intimate to Leon, Alucard's face became familiar. It was Mathias's. There were differences, small shapes here and there which weren't the same, but he was there-in the eyes, the cheeks, the way Alucard's grin tilted... Leon couldn't believe he'd missed it before. Ignored it in his anger, most likely.
Mathias had a son. Mathias had a half-human son.
Mathias was trying to kill humanity. Alucard was preparing to kill his own father.
In its inescapable cage, Leon's heart twisted yet again.
Oh ho ho ho ho, it's getting juicy now. :3c Finally, finally got around to Leon figuring out who Dracula and Alucard are to him. Leon is... having too many crises. haha. ^^; Poor Leon. At least he won't be running about trying to stab Alucard anymore though.
Also, irises and periwinkles? Yeah, mentioned them for a reason. Blue irises are symbolic of hope and faith. Periwinkles can symbolize a beautifully blossoming friendship. ヽ(๑╹◇◠๑)ノ hehehe.
Also, a little headcanon of mine that probably won't be a part of the actual plot here:
Maybe Alucard doesn't need blood and is the only dhampir to survive so long because Dracula was not a naturally made vampire. He gained the curse of vampires from the crimson stone. This gives his progeny, Alucard, more of a fighting chance. Perhaps even makes him a bit more human. (•᷉ुε ू•᷈,) hmmm.
What do y'all think of the chapter? Please tell me! I have been excited for this scene for some time. (ง •ૅ౪•᷄)ว I would love to hear any comments on it!
Until next time, stay safe everyone. ゚+..:。+゚
