CastleVania: Fire of the A b yss

By: Chris Keef


The year is 1835, exactly five years after the defeat of Count Dracula by Nathan Graves. Through his hardships, he managed to not only defeat Dracula, but free both Hugh and Morris Baldwin from Dracula's vile clutches as well.

It would appear the menace had ceased once again. Nathan had grown stronger, and Hugh trained harder every day to finally prove himself to his father, Morris Baldwin.

Yet strange occurances have been happening all over the Austrian countryside. But even as these occurances occur, it is merely dismissed as highly coincidental. Because around this time, CastleVania, the dreaded castle rumored to appear every hundred years or less, has not been sighted. CastleVania could only be resurrected if the Lord of Darkness, Count Dracula himself, was alive.

But elsewhere, near the cliff where CastleVania usually rests, a dark cloaked figure who hides his face in the shadows stands atop over the cliff to survey the landscape. He bowed his head and whispered words that sounded like that of hatred. "Damn those Baldwins! They took all the glory from me. I would have been victorious! Oh ....ten years ago ....I too was a vampire hunter ...a vampire hunter who was part of the greatest Hunter Clan there was! My grandfathers ....Simon, Trevor, Richter .....they possessed incredible powers beyond my control! Why was I not endowed with their gifts? Why did I fail, and see my failure of defeat through that of the Baldwins ...and those fuckin' Graves!?". He clenched his fist, and with sudden anger, he raised it high into the sky, and shouted at the moon before him. "Well now my chance has finally come! I, the most recent Belmont ....Derick Belmont, shall not let this humiliation rain over me in vain. I was not able to venture any further through CastleVania. I was too weak to fight the demons of Lord Dracula. But tonight ..I will seek another chance for glory!"

Derick held a large book embroidered with satanic and evil insignias. He opened up the book to where he had held the most prominent page! "This is it! Tonight ...the legacy of the Belmonts will live again ....and only by reliving another duel with Lord Dracula that my ancestors did! I will resurrect him once again .....and reassure that this time, no Baldwin or Grave shall get in my way! This is the only way to ease my suffering ..and brandished my heirloom whip at Dracula's flesh as it was meant to be!" He begin reciting strange incantations from the dark book, and as he did so, he raised his arm out to the sky with his hand spread out and his cloak flapping in the wind. "LORD DRACULA" he shouted "COME FORTH AGAIN!!! I DEMAND THAT I BE THE ONE TO SLAY YOU!! I DEMAND THAT REAPPEAR BEFORE ME SO I CAN GIVE YOU THE TRUE BATTLE!!!" As he shouted these mighty words, the sky appeared to be turning. The sky was turning into what appeared to be a large abyss. The abyss had dark and dark blue clouds encircling it. Lightning flashed as it turned more. Derick looked up into the sky smiling! "AH YES...HE WILL COME!! THE ABYSS IS FORMING!!!! SOON...I WILL BE THE VICTOR!!! THE BELEMONT NAME WILL LIVE FOREVER, AS THE TRUE VAMPIRE SLAYERS!! NO ONE ELSE WILL BE GIVEN THAT TITLE..ONLY ME..A TRUE BELEMONT!!!!!!"

But then, something odd had happened. The swirling clouds of the abyss began to twirl faster. The hole in the abyss grew larger. The winds began to pick up at a very large velocity. Derick shielded his eyes as he watched the abyss growing larger. "GRGH!!! What the Hell is this? This wind is too strong ...even for the abyss of darkness." Lightning was flashing wildly now, delivering about tens to thousands of streams of it spewing all over the countryside. "SHIT!!!!! WHAT IS THIS!?!?!!" Derick began to grow afraid ...this was not what he had envisioned.

Then, at that very moment....the winds grew immensely stronger, and Derick then felt his feet fly off the cliff! He was then being hurtled through the air towards the abyss. He screamed as he was tumbling through all time and space, until he was thrown head first into the bowels of the circle of the abyss.

After a while, nothing happened ...until, the hole of the abyss grew larger! From the hole came large stones that seemed to connect to one another. The stones formed rooms and towers of all sorts as they descended out of the circle of the abyss. Apparently ....this was in the form of a castle. A very large castle that descended from the abyss. It wasn't long until the entire castle reached the ground.

This was indeed CastleVania ...the residence of Count Dracula. Derick's plan was apparently successful ....but this meant that Dracula was alive. But what about Derick? The abyss had sucked him in ..but then again ..it was most certain he was alive. Derick was now in the bowels of CastleVania, beginning his search for Count Dracula. And he would be victorious ...or would he?

CastleVania has been resurrected once again ....this time, by a Belmont. What new horrors await? What of the new evil being spread? Is this really the Belmont's last chance for eternal glory ...or had Derick gone mad?


As the story unfolds ..only one thing is certain. CastleVania has returned, along with Dracula and more evil presensces. And the battle will begin once again ...as it has for many years!



CastleVania: Fire of the A b yss



The next morning, in a small town in Austria, a man with gray hair holding a whip his side was casually walking down the road. It was Nathan Graves. He was more happier this morning than he usually was. He was looking forward to another day of training, and willing to become stronger.

"Ah." He sighed "I always feel ready for the next battle! I can almost sense my surroundings! Without a doubt ...I am indeed growing stronger! I still am dumbfounded on what an adventure I had five years ago. This excitement and glory. Hmmm ....I suppose I miss it all. After all ...life has been pretty boring without that old castle around. Still, the world is safe from evil for now. But ...to relive another adventure ....that would be truly exhilirating!"

Then, at that moment, Nathan felt himself being pushed to the gorund. He landed on his hands, and drew out his dagger. He spun around, and found himself at the point of a blade. Slowly, he looked up, and saw a figure with dark long hair and a gray robe stand before him holding the sword. "Hugh?" he asked in disbelief.

It was Hugh ..the very same Hugh Baldwin. He slowly lifted the sword, and smiled warmly at Nathan. "Good morning Nathan." He spoke in a clam voice "Nice day isn't it?" Nathan then got irritated and scowled at Hugh as he stood up. "Aw dammit Hugh ....you always have to do that don't you?" Hugh let out a hardy laugh. "It's funny because it gets you every time." Nathan smiled crookedly at Hugh. "Idiot" he whispered under his breath. "What's the matter?" Hugh asked "I thought you said you could sense your surrounding! After all ..you want to relive the adventure don't you?" Nathan just smiled, and let out a little chuckle. "Kind of! But it also makes me feel sorry for you when we fought." Hugh stared back at Nathan still smiling. "How could I forget that? Figures that Dracula would pull off a cheap trick like that!" "One thing's for sure" Nathan replied "We've both improved much since our last battle." "Indeed" Hugh said back "But keep in mind our little rivalry still lurks ...just not as strong as it was back then." "I'm glad about that" Nathan replied as he wiped his brow. "One thing's for sure ..I could have killed you." "Likewise" Hugh said back letting out a tiny chuckle.

Nathan decided to change the subject. "How's master doing?" "You mean father?" Hugh asked. "He's fine. I'm still doing my best to prove myself worthy to him. That's why I'm here. Nathan ..father wishes to see you again!" Nathan brightened up. "Gladly" he replied "It's been a long time since I last saw him." "He says he has something important to tell both of us ....and that he wishes us to hear." Nathan was more curious now. "Okay then, let's go" Nathan replied. "Hold on a sec" Hugh said putting out his hand in front of Nathan " I want to show you something really incredible before we go." Nathan's curiosity grew some more. "Really? What is it?" "You'll see" Hugh replied. "Just turn around". Nathan then got confused. "huh?" "just turned around" Hugh ordered "You must see this. When I tell you to, you can come back and face me again!" "Well ...okay" Nathan said back. Apparently, he was a bit irked by what Hugh seemed to be doing. Nathan kept his back turned. Then, Hugh gave the order. "Okay Nathan ..you can turn around now." Nathan then spun around, but was soon shocked at what he saw.

Hugh had transformed into a grotesque demon. His red eyes flared, and his sharp teeth dangled from his mouth. Horns grew out of his head, and he let out a large shrill growl! He then roared into Nathan's face. Nathan was too shocked to move, but to let out a scream instead. Then Hugh, now a demon, leaped out at Nathan ready to bring him down.



Then Nathan woke up from his bed. He was sweating, and then began looking around his room!

"Fuck" Nathan muttered "It was a dream!" He then put his hand to his forehead, wiping of his sweat. "But God ..it was so real!" He then thought about it for a moment. How one day he was walking along to meet Hugh; and then have Hugh suddenly transform into a demon. "What kind of shit-head dream was that?" But to Nathan's delight, it was morning. His friend Hugh was next door. "I'll bet Hugh's up too! Better go check on him."

Nathan got dressed in his usual outfit that he always seemed comfortable to wear, or be ready for battle. He then opened the chest that contained his cherished Hunter Whip. "I wonder if Hugh's up for some more training today. Knowing him, he'd probably look forward to try an' kick my ass." He laughed silently to himself as he pulled out his whip. He studied its design as he often did to make sure the whip was entirely intact. "Looks as if it's as good as always." He then strapped it to his belt and made his way towards Hugh's room.

For about three days now, Hugh and Nathan went travelling to seek adventure and challenges to build up their training. Both agreed that the best place to do so was always CastleVania. But to their knowledge, CastleVania was gone. At least that's what they thought. This being the fourth day, Nathan and Hugh had spent the night at 'The Fox Hole Inn'. Nathan was always with Hugh, and both would enjoy a good drink here and there. Hugh usually liked it when girls paid attention to his looks.

Nathan went up to Hugh's door and gently knocked on it. He then called out. "Hugh. You up?" A rather surly voice came from behind the door. "Aw Christ Nathan ...let me sleep!" Nathan grew impatient. "C'mon Hugh ....It's past ten now! I thought you said we would go hunting for Wargs." At that moment, the door flew open, and there, standing right in front of Nathan, was a tired and grouchy looking Hugh. Hugh said in a low voice "The Wargs usually don't hunt for another four hours. Just give me at least two more to sleep in." "C'mon Hugh" Nathan urged "It's been about four days now. I know your father's probably getting irritated by the fact we've been gone so long. The least we can do is hunt a few Wargs for experience before we return home to him." Hugh just hung his head low. "Sonnuvabitch Nathan ....I don't need this talk about my father at the moment. Sure I want to impress him, and I've been doing that for five damn years. I think you and I are way overdue for another match. Why waste your time with Wargs when we can have another fight with each other? Ya know .....like last time?"

Those last words made Nathan angry. He immediately grabbed Hugh by the color, shaking him awake. "Dammit Hugh!!! If you ever say that again, I'll rip off your fuckin' head and impale it on your father's fence post!!!" Hugh was wide awake, startled at what Nathan just said. "God damn Nathan ...what's your problem?" Nathan then let go of Hugh's collar and silently looked down. "Sorry Hugh" he sighed "I don't know what came over me. I had this weird dream last night. You were in it." Hugh then looked at Nathan with interest. "Oh yeah?" he asked "What happened?" "Well" Nathan began "You and I were walking down town one day. You then told me to turn around cause you said you had something to show me. When you told me to look, you then became a demon, and you were about ready to kill me. That's why I got so pissed when you said we should fight again."

Hugh just laughed. "Oh man" Hugh said brushing his hair back "I gotta hand it to you Nathan ....you always have the most fucked-up dreams." Nathan then looked sternly at Hugh. "It's not funny" he exclaimed. Hugh still kept chuckling. "Relax" he said reassuring Nathan " Don't take these dreams personal." Nathan then grew edgy. "I dunno Hugh" he said looking down "Lately, some weird things have been going on in my thoughts. I can feel something wrong here." Hugh decided to humor Nathan some more. "Well hey" he said "Maybe CastleVania's back along with ol' Count Dracula! Maybe we can go back and have some fun!" Nathan still held a long face. "yeah right. Even so ...I'd be pretty worried if CastleVania was back. That means that there'd be more problems" "So what" Hugh shrugged "At least we can get more experience form it. C'mon Nathan ...even you want to go back to CastleVania. Adventure, experience, all that crap. Hell even I'd like to go back!" Nathan then looked at Hugh with another hard stare. "I just get so confused" Nathan sighed "One part of me dreads CastleVania and Dracula, whilst the other part wants to go back! This is the kinda stuff that always bothers me." Hugh then punched Nathan lightly in the arm. "Don't be a fuckin' baby Nathan .....I'm sure you're as ready as ever to go back there if it came back." Nathan couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "I guess so" he sighed "But I sure wouldn't want Master to go through that same ordeal again." "Likewise" Hugh said "Father just has to let himself be caught. By the way ....I'm sure you realize our true rivals are still pretty sore about us defeating Dracula." "you mean the Belmonts?" Nathan asked "Yeah so ...they've always had their shot. We got ours so we pretty much should be even." "Not quite" Hugh warned "I'd like to tell you something as soon as we leave the inn." "Okay" Nathan said "I'll wait for you outside. And for God's sake ..don't sleep in." Hugh sighed. "Ya know what Nathan ..you've become a lot like my father." He then closed the door behind Nathan. "Well" Nathan casually said "first compliment I've heard from his mouth in years."


Nathan waited outside the inn for Hugh. As he expected, he was in for a long wait. It took Hugh about thirty minutes to get back outside. "There you are" Nathan sighed "Late as always." "Big deal" Hugh replied "Deal with it. Now quit whining and let's start walking." The two of them began their walk. They were heading down a rugged dirt path towards a thick forest up ahead. Nathan then noticed some peculiar occurances in the sky. "That's strange" he said as he looked up "The sky's getting really darker now." "Big deal. Probably gonna rain!" Hugh said seeming uninterested. "looks darker than rain" Nathan said still looking up "Too dark for daylight." Hugh grew annoyed "Then stop looking at the fuckin' sky and keep walking!" he snapped back. Nathan then decided to do so. "Sorry" he replied. "Don't apologize" Hugh snapped back "I'm just about ready to tell you something about the Belmonts." "What about em?" Nathan asked "Is it bad?" "Afraid so" Hugh replied.

As they walked, they suddenly realized that they were entering the forest. They still walked through it ready to look for Wargs. Both Nathan and Hugh were calm, and Hugh began to explain what he knew to Nathan. "For a long time now" he began "Belmonts have always been Dracula's mortal enemy. Every time Dracula was resurrected; they always seemed to be there." "I know" Nathan replied "I guess that goes for Dracula's son as well ..Alucard." "But strangely enough ...it appears the last great Belmont was form the late 1700s" Hugh continued "The next Belmont afterwards, the most recent of the Belmont Bloodline, became the black sheep; the curse of the bloodline." "Curse?" Nathan asked "As in a threat?" "Obviously" Hugh replied "This recent Belmont, Derick Belmont, is the real Belmont who is really pissed off at knowing that your parents and my Baldwin bloodline were the last to kill Dracula." Hugh lowered his head and continued talking. "Derick Belmont is a bastard Belmont. He possesses pure hatred in his heart. He sees that the only vampire hunters that should ever walk on the face of the Earth should be only the Belmonts." Nathan grew even more interested. "Yes" Nathan said back "I've heard the legends of Simon, Trevor, and Richter Belmont .....and you are saying that Derick is the most evil Belmont?" "Correct" Hugh replied "Derick is an unknown Belmont who is selfish and diminutive. He brought shame to the Belmont name. He truly believes that only Belmonts can rid the world of Count Dracula. When your parents killed Dracula, he grew furious. He did not want to accept the fact that it was not a Belmont who destroyed Dracula. About ten years later, which to us was five years ago, he tried again. Unbeknownst to us, he was in the castle all this time. It was the Necromancer who mortally wounded him, and Derick barely escaped with his life. Derick suffered great humiliation from his loss, and swore that he would have another chance to fight Dracula" "Wait a minute" Nathan replied "How do you know all this?" "because of this" Hugh replied. Hugh then pulled out a small book from his robes.

"A book?" Nathan asked. "No ...a diary" Hugh replied. "Diary? Oh ..it must be Derick's diary huh?" Nathan exclaimed. "Exactly" Hugh said "You catch on quick." "Hugh ..why did you wait so long to tell me all this?" Hugh sighed. "Because I waited for the right moment to tell you a secret curse to the infamous bloodline of Belmonts." "This long?" Nathan asked. "Yeah ....cause then you'd be trying to go out another crazy adventure if I told you all this. But seeing how I now prefer telling you ....I might as well tell you all about Derick." "where did you get his diary?" Nathan asked. "He hid it somewhere in a small cave. I found it one day ...about a few days after he was apparently missing. I was busy studying it when I came across something interesting. Apparently .....he was looking for another diary." "another diary?" Nathan asked. "Yes ...the 'Lost Diary of Shaft'" Hugh replied. "'The Diary of Shaft?' Wasn't he the dark priest who resurrected Count Dracula over 50 years ago?" "that's the one" Hugh replied "And here's more...."

But before Hugh could go on, he stepped into something that made a large squishing sound. "Ack ....God what is this?" Hugh asked indignantly as he looked down. What he found what he stepped in appeared to be a pile of light red intestines. Except, they were really large intestines. "Jesus!" Hugh yelled! Nathan then caught something in the corner of his eye! "Oh my God ....Hugh, LOOK!!" He pointed at something, and Hugh then looked at it in astonishment.

For what Nathan saw was a large Warg. However, the Warg was impaled through a sharpened tree. The spike of the tree went straight through its mouth, and it's eyes were completely rolled back revealing nothing but dull white. The blood was still trickling down from its mouth and eyes. It appeared that its legs were all broken. Splinters of bone peeked out from flesh wounds all over its body. The head was impaled also through the neck, as the rest of the body laid limp crookedly on the ground. Its stomach was slashed open, revealing all the entrails it spewed out. Ravens and a few buzzards were flying nearby, and tons of flies swarmed around the impaled corpse. The smell was also unbearable.

"Holy shit" Hugh exclaimed "This Warg has been completely desecrated." "Who the Hell was able to do this?" Nathan asked? "It would take a man of great strength to impale a Warg like this and disembowel it" Hugh replied "I got a bad feeling about this." "Same here" Nathan said "And the smell just makes things worse". "My God ...whoever was able to do this is not only strong ...but a definite psycho" Hugh said.

Nathan then noticed a bloody dagger near the corpse. "Whoever it was left that dagger behind" he pointed out. Hugh rushed over and picked up the bloody dagger. "Hey" he yelled "This dagger is part of the sub weapons that we and the Belmonts use." "Sub weapons? If so ..why didn't it disappear?" Nathan asked. "I don't have a damn clue" Hugh replied examining the dagger "But most certainly ....it was someone who would enjoy killing something like this in a horrible way." Hugh then looked at three flesh wounds imbedded in the Warg. "Those look like whip marks" he pointed out. "Whip marks ?" Nathan replied "you don't suppose..." Hugh then stood up. "No" he replied "I know my father would never kill something and then tear it apart like this. The only other person I know who owns a whip and uses sub weapons is...." "Derick Belmont?" Nathan asked. "Yes" Hugh said "He was here. No doubt it was Derick who did this. Something tells me he's up to no good if he were to kill a Warg in this gruesome state."

At that moment, the sky grew even darker. Even the new coming darkness was not suitable enough for day. "Why is it getting dark all of a sudden?" Nathan asked as he looked up in the sky. "This definitely isn't good" Hugh responded "There's a heavy possibility that evil influences are more than present." At that moment, lightning began to flash, and heavy rain began to pour. "Jesus!" Nathan yelled "This is starting to look even worse. You were right about it going to rain Hugh...Hugh?...Hugh? Are you listeni..." But before Nathan could finish, he saw that Hugh was looking at the path ahead of him. "Hugh ..what is it?" Nathan asked. Hugh then outstretched his hand. "Evil" he exclaimed "Great evil is near". "Ah" Nathan replied "So that must mean ...." "don't answer yet" Hugh replied "I sense something coming towards us." "Huh?" Nathan asked in bewilderment. He then looked down the road Hugh was looking down at.

At that moment, a low hissing sound was heard coming through the dark forest. It grew louder as it edged it's way closer. The hissing then turned into a cackle. A kind of cackle a crow would make. In the darkness ahead of Hugh, he made out what appeared to be a yellow beak, accompanied by two blue eyes. "What the fuck?" Hugh asked himself in confusion. The beak then opened up and down, and let out an evil cackle. Hugh could see what appeared to be a spear coming into view. Before long, Hugh saw what appeared to be a skeletal type bird creature. It held a long spear and appeared to be of a dull grayish color. It then looked at Hugh in delight. Its voice was that of a crow if it could speak. "Ah ...so you two must be the ones that Belmont fellow is mad at" the creature said "I see you've just checked out his masterpiece. Hee hee hee!"

Hugh looked at the creature with disgust. "You must be a demon" he yelled. "yes ...allow me to introduce myself. I am Gergis ....a type of Slogra. We're very rare demons don't ya know" "Slogra?" Nathan asked. "Hmph, didn't know demons had names" Hugh replied. Gergis just let out a raspy laugh. "HA! That's cause you never bothered to ask" he exclaimed "you vampire hunters are too busy trying to get rid of our master Count Dracula." Nathan then remembered. "Wait a minute ...if a demon like you is here ...then that means ....oh my God ..Count Dracula has risen." "No shit pretty boy!" Gergis yelled "not to mention the appearance of our humble domain known as CastleVania." "So then ..." Nathan replied "The horror of CastleVania is back." "yes indeed ...thanks to our newly found and unexpected summoner ...Derick Belmont" Gergis said back "Thanks to him ..me and my other Slogra brotheren are back to aid in our master's quest for power and chaos." "So it WAS Derick Belmont" Hugh replied "I should have known he would try a cheap trick like this just to get back at Dracula. I found his diary, and knew about the Diary of Shaft." Gergis continued to laugh, "Oh ..what makes you think Derick wants to fight Dracula?" he replied "It just so happens he's got plenty of opportunity already." "What?" Nathan asked "What do you mean?" "Honestly" Gergis replied "do you think I'd tell the likes of you?" "No ..seeing how all you demons are arrogant SOBs!" Hugh snapped back "At any rate ...we'll have to move you out of our way." Gergis just laughed. "fools ..do you honestly think you can beat me?" Hugh then smiled darkly at Gergis "Look shit head ...we got you outnumbered" Hugh replied "Do you think that dinky little spear of yours is gonna ward us off?" "Oh ...well I'm not fighting alone" Gergis replied "GAIBON ...COME HERE!!"

At that moment, a huge roar filled the air. Nathan looked up to see a large blue, winged demon with tiny horns fly near Gergis. It stood on a thick branch and roared as it looked at Hugh and Nathan. "This is Gaibon ....my loyal companion. He and I will destroy your pathetic lives" Gergis explained. Gaibon then lout a roar and spoke in a deep voice. "You filthy humans will be no match for us. I will roast your flesh alive, I will be unstoppable." "Whilst I skewer you with my spear, or perhaps my beak." Gergis replied laughing.

"Hugh ..we gotta take em on" Nathan replied. "No shit" Hugh said back "but it looks as if our first encounter's gonna be rough seeing how these two work in a pair. Be on guard Nathan. Well take down these fuckers with our combined strength." Both Gergis and Gaibon laughed. "Stupid humans!" Gaibon replied "They underestimate us." "Yes" Gergis hissed "Let's teach them a lesson."

"Okay Nathan ...be ready!" Hugh called out "you take Gergis ..I'll take on Gaibon." Nathan was still staring at them in wonderment. "Dracula's back, CastleVania's back. And we're facing two demons who look very powerful! It looks as if my wish for adventure has finally come true. But now...I just may regret!" "NATHAN!" Hugh yelled "QUIT DADDLING AND LET'S START TRASHING THESE ASSHOLES!!!" Nathan then snapped out of his trance. He and Hugh were ready to fight a Slogra and Gaibon. But were they really ready? Did they have what it would take? All Nathan knew was ...the true horror had begun.



To Be Continued.............



Thus ends the first chapter. Keep in mind I made up Derick Belmont, as well as the story line. I hope this was okay. Thanks for reading. :)