Castlevania: Minuet of a Cursed Fate
Chapter two: The Memories of a Soul
Cover image: Soma and Saber back to back and blue energy strings floating around with the ghostly images of Mathias and Dracula in the background.
Avenger and Lancer were about to begin their duel, the masked servant studied his opponent carefully, awaiting the horned servant's attack, the blue coated man waited for the opportunity to analyse the rival combatant's fighting style and so that he could adapt accordingly.
"Why are you standing still?" Lancer was annoyed by Avenger's lack of activity, the horned servant wanted a fight, but her opponent didn't move an inch.
"I have to provoke her… if she's angered, her movements will be far more predictable… and I will have the upper hand." Avenger stood his ground, keeping his menacing golden eyes locked on Lancer, the masked servant now engaged his opponent in a battle of wits, where the first attacker would be placed at a disadvantage.
"Now I'm really mad! How dare you make a beautiful maiden wait for a dance, I'll make you suffer!" Lancer seethed with rage, as an irredeemable egotist, the idea of being toyed with by an opponent was far too much for her to take, and when the horned servant noticed how calm Avenger was, her already volatile emotional state worsened, the enraged girl then charged the masked servant with her spear in hand, intent on making him pay for his insolence.
"Good… now I her thoughts will be clouded." Avenger sidestepped to avoid the blade of Lancer's spear, the masked servant then commanded the dagger tip of his chain whip to seek out the horned servant, the crimson blade then floated in the air and darted towards the pink haired girl.
Lancer saw the flying chain headed straight for her; the horned servant then knocked away the dagger tip with her spear, only for the blade to recover from the blow and resume its assault.
Avenger the called the chain back, retracting it into the handle of his whip, the masked servant knew that Lancer would attack very soon, so he decided to vary his attacks, careful not to rely on a certain pattern, but the blue coated man realized that he had left Rin alone at night, making her an easy target for his opponent's master.
"Damn you…!" Lancer glared hatefully at Avenger, it took her some time, but she realized that she was playing right into the masked servant's plan; the idea of being toyed with really angered the horned servant. "I won't forgive you for this insult… I'll put you in your place!"
"Let's settle the score when you're in a calmer mood… I apologise for using such underhanded methods." Avenger bowed at Lancer as he lied, knowing that his patronizing attitude would surely put her in even more of a disadvantage during their next encounter, the masked servant then disappeared into a shadowy flock of bats.
Soma stood at the park, still unable to believe that he was now involved in the Holy Grail War, a war the white haired youth absolutely despised, before the Cronqvist Heir stood Saber, his servant, who was equally shocked by her master's striking physical resemblance to her lost love, Mathias Cronqvist, the man who would become the evil Lord Dracula.
"You look just like him…" Saber approached Soma; the blonde servant couldn't believe her eyes, the regal girl saw the image of Mathias in the white haired youth. "Why…? This can't be…"
"Saber… what are you saying?" Soma stared at the blonde servant, the white haired youth felt that he recognized the regal girl's appearance, but he quickly dismissed that feeling. "It wasn't supposed to be like this… I didn't want to fight in this war." The Cronqvist heir clenched his fists in frustration, knowing that the Mages Association had tricked him.
"Master, are you upset with me?" Saber stared at Soma, though she still couldn't get his appearance out of her mind, the blonde servant noticed how frustrated and stressed the white haired youth looked at his situation.
"No, it's not your fault, Saber." Soma sighed, though he was clearly angered at being tricked into participating in the Holy Grail War, the white haired youth knew better than to direct his ill feelings towards his servant. "It's my fault for not being able to see through this…"
"See through what?" Saber kept her gaze fixed on Soma, as the white haired youth's servant, the regal girl felt that she had to know what was causing her master's foul mood.
"Well… this was supposed to be a simple familiar summoning ritual… but as you can see I summoned you instead." Soma laughed nervously, seeing no point in acting rude to Saber or brooding over his current situation, the white haired youth tried to maintain a light-hearted attitude. "You're much better looking than a bat, that's for sure."
"I see…" Saber was unfazed by Soma's attempt at humour, seeing the strange circumstances of her summoning as well as the white haired youth's striking resemblance to Mathias as a far more pressing matter. "Master, what was the catalyst for summoning me?"
"W-well… that's…" Soma scratched his cheek and blushed nervously, though he was an aspiring magus, the white haired youth always hated the way spells sounded, likening them to embarrassing scripts written by passionate thespians. "A little hard to repeat…"
"Tell me." Saber demanded bluntly, not liking how indecisive and timid Soma was being, the blonde servant knew that her master was hiding something from her, and she intended to find out.
"I used the memories of my soul…" Soma mumbled, hating how dramatic the summoning spell sounded, just the thought made the white haired youth feel itchy with embarrassment.
"If Julius's summoning spell used the memories of his blood… then that means…!" Saber was shocked once she realized the implications of the words of Soma's summoning spell and his striking resemblance to Mathias. "No… I saw him die! With my own hands… I…" The blonde servant looked back to the day of Dracula's death and the part she played in it, the memory saddened the regal girl. Knowing that she sent the person she loved most into oblivion.
"Saber…" Soma noticed how Saber's serious expression changed into a more melancholic one, the white haired youth recognized the expression on the blonde servant's face as the product of grief, the same expression that Rin wore on the day she told him about her father's death.
"Master, what is your name?" Saber tried to regain her knightly composure as she faced Soma, the man who inherited Mathias's face.
"It's Soma Cruz." The white haired youth replied to Saber's question, despite knowing that the blonde servant was essentially a ghost given form by mana, the white haired youth still extended the respect he would to any other person. "Pleased to meet you…." The Cronqvist Heir forced a smile, though he was still upset about being dragged into the Holy Grail War, the mysterious master didn't want to make his servant feel unwelcome.
"Soma…" Saber approached her new master and placed her hand on the white haired youth's cheek, upon gazing into his eyes; she saw not the hatred and bitterness that Mathias felt during his time as Dracula, but the kindness and compassion that her lost love had when they first met.
Soma was left both speechless and flustered by the closeness he and Saber shared, the white haired youth tried to speak, but he was distracted by the blonde servant's sheer beauty and the nobility she radiated, the Cronqvist Heir felt the memories of his soul call out to him, as if to tell the mysterious master about his connection to the woman he had summoned.
"Master, are you alright?" Saber noticed just how flustered Soma was, not knowing that she was the reason behind it, the blonde servant found the white haired youth's gentle and indecisive attitude considerably different from Mathias's calm and calculated demeanour. "There's no way…"
"Y-yeah… you're just a little too close for comfort." Soma blushed nervously, at that moment, he saw Saber as a beautiful woman rather than a servant, the close proximity between him and the blonde servant was making the white haired youth very nervous.
"Forgive me for not respecting your personal space, Master." Saber stepped back from Soma, still unable to understand his reaction, just then, the blonde servant heard footsteps headed for their direction. "Someone's coming!" The regal girl entered a combat stance, grasping what looked like thin air like a sword.
Lancer was wandering the park to cool off after her fight with Avenger, since the fight was short, her stamina was still high but the horned servant was still livid from the masked servant's insulting behaviour, she was looking for something, anything to take her anger out on, and as luck would have it, the pink haired girl spotted Soma and Saber and immediately recognized them as master and servant.
"What do we have here?" Lancer smirked at Soma and Saber, eyeing them like a predator that had just cornered her prey, the horned servant was out for blood after her encounter with Avenger, and she intended to take it.
"Master, stay back, I'll handle her." Saber stood in front of Soma with her invisible sword in hand, protecting the white haired youth from Lancer.
"I know you…!" Lancer took a closer look at Saber and recognized her from a past encounter, the horned servant then seethed with rage, as if her rival servant was a mortal enemy. "You're the bitch that took my beloved Lord Dracula away from me!"
"It's you… Elizabeth Bathory!" Saber recognized Lancer from the battle of 1999 as Dracula's mistress and most loyal subordinate second only to the Death God.
"I've been waiting for a chance to get my revenge on you… this is for Lord Dracula!" Elizabeth's materialized her spear and charged at Saber with a rage befitting a Berserker class servant. "Your blood will dye my Kilenc Sarkany red!"
Saber parried the blow from Lancer's Kilenc Sarkany with her invisible sword, but the brute force from the horned servant's attack was putting stress on the blonde servant's arms.
"Die!" Lancer continued on with her assault, trading accuracy for crushing power and gradually wearing down Saber's stamina.
"I can't just stand here and watch…" Soma clenched his fists in anger, like it or not, he was now part of the Holy Grail War, and knowing this, his sense of duty towards Saber wouldn't let him stand idly by as she fought. "Memories of my soul… grant me powers thought lost to death." The white haired youth cast the spell on his own soul to scan and temporarily recover lost abilities from the past experiences of his spiritual memory; the Cronqvist Heir then aimed his left hand at Lancer and waited till the horned servant was far enough from blonde servant. "Dark Inferno!" The mysterious master yelled out as his eyes glowed a blood red and he materialized a molten orb of both dark and fire magic and shot it straight at the pink haired girl.
"That attack…!" Saber recognized the flaming dark meteor as one of Dracula's signature attacks, the blonde servant now knew that without a doubt, Soma and Mathias were indeed connected.
"That's Lord Dracula's power!" Lancer was shocked at the dark magic Soma produced, thinking that she'd never see any sign of her beloved lord ever again.
"Damn!" Soma got down on his knees as he felt a strong pain on his left hand, which was now burnt from using Dark Inferno, the white haired youth also felt as if he had used a large amount of mana. "That hurt!"
"Master…!" Ignoring Lancer, Saber quickly rushed to Soma's side to check on his injuries, the blonde servant was still baffled as to why her master injured himself to protect her.
"It can't be…" Lancer took a closer look at Soma and saw that he was the spitting image of Dracula; the horned servant could barely contain her joy, feeling that she was reunited with her beloved lord, so much that she lost herself in a fit of laughter. "You've come back to me!"
"Saber, we have to retreat, right now, I'm an easy target for the enemy." Soma struggled to stand after having burnt his hand and exhausted his energy; the white haired youth knew that Lancer would target him in his drained state.
"Understood… Master…" Saber helped Soma back to his feet and walked away from the battlefield while Lancer was still in her deranged fantasy.
Soma and Saber narrowly escaped their first encounter with the crazed Lancer; the white haired youth led the blonde servant to his apartment so that they could both recover.
"Master, how did you use that dark spell?" Saber, who was seated on the sofa, stared at Soma, wanting to know how he used the same magic as Mathias during his time as Dracula.
"Oh, that?" Soma sat down on the sofa, careful to keep his distance from the blonde servant. "I used my Soul Scan spell." The white haired youth explained the technique he had used to the regal girl. "It's a magical ability that allows me to recover any spell or weapon used by my past lives, but the spell puts stress on my body, so I can't just go around using it as I please, so I'm guessing one of my previous incarnations was a dark mage."
"Since you used that method to summon me…" Saber glanced at Soma, after hearing about the true nature of the white haired youth's magic, she was certain that her master and Mathias were linked somehow. "Master, you will tell me everything about your bloodline."
"Well, about eleven years ago, my parents had my blood tested by the Mages Association, and they found out that I was descended from the Cronqvist Family." Soma sighed, remembering how much pressure was put on him that day and how high expectations were of him, it didn't help at all that his ancestor, Mathias, was regarded as the most powerful alchemist in history, the white haired youth wanted to live a peaceful life, but he now knew how impossible his dream was. "So many more qualified mages deserve recognition… I feel like I'm just riding on my family's coattails…"
"C-Cronqvist…!?" Saber stood up, shocked to hear Mathias's family name, and even more surprised by the fact that her master was her lost love's successor, but the blonde servant knew that the white haired youth's connection with Dracula was far more than blood, but the regal girl couldn't figure out what that connection was.
"Yeah… I guess that's why my style of magecraft revolves around alchemy and the dark arts, and the past life I tapped into tonight was a powerful dark sorcerer that vanished during the 11th century… the ancestor of the Cronqvist Family." Soma exhaled bitterly, the thought of using magic to harm people unnerved him, though through alchemy, he could use his magic for constructive purposes, it was his ability to tap into the dark arts that put the white haired youth in such a melancholic state. "Thankfully, I'm not a very powerful magus, so I don't have to worry about hurting people."
"It's you…" After some thought, Saber concluded that Soma's connection to Mathias was much deeper than she initially expected, summoning her through his soul's memories, using Dracula's dark magic and his striking physical resemblance all pointed towards one conclusion, Soma Cruz was Mathias Cronqvist reborn, with that revelation, the blonde servant held back tears as she approached the white haired youth. "Mathias…"
"Hey, are you even listening-" Soma tried to speak, but he was soon interrupted by a bone crushingly tight hug from Saber, the white haired youth felt as if the life was being squeezed out of him, and the blonde servant's armour made it worse.
"Mathias…" Saber held onto Soma tightly never wanting to let go of her lost love ever again, the tears she held back since Dracula's final death now flowed freely down the blonde servant's beautiful face.
"Saber…?" Soma was dumbfounded; the white haired youth did not expect the blonde servant to react so emotionally upon learning about his unique heritage, not knowing the true reason behind the regal girl's tears.
"Master, I'm so glad that it was you who summoned me…" Saber kept Soma in a tight embrace, still overcome with the emotion she thought lost after the battle of 1999.
"Umm… where is all this coming from?" Soma blushed nervously as Saber held him; the white haired youth was baffled by the blonde servant's display of affection, but the regal girl's embrace seemed all too familiar to him. "But, in any case, I guess I'm glad I summoned you, too." The Cronqvist Heir gave his servant a warm smile as he returned the hug.
The night passed and Soma still had no idea why Saber was so attached to him, the possibility that she was somehow affiliated with the Cronqvist family had been considered by the white haired youth, but his servant's emotional reaction still didn't fit into that theory.
"Saber…" Soma was on his bed, thinking about the blonde servant's emotional attitude towards him, though the white haired youth was only seeing the regal girl for the first time, he felt a strange sense of familiarity with the summoned being.
As Soma thinking alone in his room, Saber stood on the balcony of the apartment, the moonlight shone over the blonde servant, giving her the appearance of a lonely goddess in the night.
"Perhaps I may have overdone it…" Saber thought to herself, though it was clear that Soma was the reincarnated Mathias, the white haired youth had no memories of his previous life. "Mathias is right here… but…"
Before Saber could finish her train of thought, a flock of bats gathered behind her and they suddenly took the shape of a deceptively young man with long, wavy platinum blonde hair and golden eyes, dressed in a black Victorian era suit with a gold trim.
"So you've met him… Father's reincarnation…" The mysterious figure spoke to Saber in a familiar tone, as if he were acquainted with the blonde servant. "It seems Fate isn't done with the two of you yet…"
"Alucard…" Saber looked back at the dhampir, thoughts of Mathias still within her mind. "Mathias is here… he is at my side once more… I should be happy… but he doesn't remember a thing." The regal girl exhaled bitterly, upset at their reunion being a sad one.
"And it must stay that way." Alucard replied coldly, despite seeing how those words hurt Saber, the dhampir was determined to keep Soma's memories sealed. "Should he remember… there may be a chance of him taking up the mantle of Dark Lord… becoming Dracula once again…"
"I know that, but…" Despite her sadness, Saber saw the reasoning behind Alucard's words, knowing that Soma's tragic memories and the horrors of the upcoming war could mean Dracula's return. "I understand, for his sake… I'll keep that secret." The blonde servant's face showed her knightly resolve to protect the Cronqvist Heir.
With a nod of acknowledgement, Alucard disappeared into the night, leaving Saber alone with her thoughts once more.
The next day, Soma taking a stroll in the park, the white haired youth was still trying to process all the new events that were now changing his otherwise peaceful life, mainly Saber and the Holy Grail War.
"What the hell am I going to do now?" Soma sighed, feeling like he was heading to a bloody path with no way back, the peaceful illusion that was his life breaking apart in his hands. "I know if this drags on… I'll have to take someone's life."
"You look sad, Mister." A doll-like girl with long silvery blonde hair and red eyes, dressed a purple long-sleeved shirt with a light purple scarf to match, a long white skirt and purple boots, noticed Soma's melancholy expression, but the strange girl's eyes shifted to Soma's command seals and her lips curved into a smile. "My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern. Want to play with me? "
Author's notes: After a long break, chapter 2 is out! Soma and Saber share a one sided reunion on Saber's part and Alucard urges her to keep Soma's identity as Dracula a secret. The mysterious Avenger fights Lancer. Soma taps into Dracula's abilities using his unique brand of magecraft, Dracula's powers are still far too much for him to handle physically, so during the first parts of the story, he won't be that powerful, but with some training, that will change, expect Lancer to have yandere tendencies towards Soma and a huge amount of animosity towards Saber and Avenger. Shirou will get his servant very soon, and as promised, she's a Castlevania fan favourite. Soma meets Illya and their encounter next chapter will be an interesting one. To anyone who thinks I made Saber too emotional, please bear with me, my other stories, Castlevania: Finale of the Dark Ballad and Fate of the Dragon add context. Expect more Rin next Chapter.
Now to answer my reviewers
Zero-Nightmare
Thanks! Expect another Finale of the Dark Ballad as well!
Thanks, I figured it would give me more to work with in the Type Moon universe, expect more twists and turns involving that!
Next chapter, Rin will give Soma an incredibly hard time.
Thanks again! Bathory will have a lot to do in the coming chapters, expect some crazy developments!
Thanks for all the tips!
Alhazad2003
And Soma's troubles are just beginning! More of his past will haunt him as well as his bloodline. Avenger will be an extremely shifty and mysterious character, and yes, very convoluted and twisted indeed. Yeah, his work is appreciated. I'll try to keep things interesting.