CHAPTER 18: DEATH
The past seemed familiar to Alucard. He started on a stone floor and progressed a bit to a spot where the ceiling was dripping on the floor. Alucard got ready to cross the small droplets, he noticed they were eating through the floor. He waited for a small pause in the drops to cross. Next in line was a small line of mummies throwing bandages at him (We don't know how that hurts... I guess they squeeze hard?) Alucard used his Marsil's special and the mummies became walking torches. He proceeded, jumped down to the stairs and went down, jumped a pit and avoided a shower of acid droplets to the next area. In the next, he had spikes very close to his head and firemen in front of him. The slow but powerful warriors of flames left a trail of blazes wherever their feet touched the cold marble. Alucard used his Runesword to weaken them from afar and finished them off with one swipe of an Icebrand when they were in range. He went to the next room, avoided one droplet of acid and went to the next. Here he had water pits to deal with. He leapt the first and heard something move wind very fast in his direction from above. He turned to mist before a large spike covered ball crossed him. If it had hit, he would've gotten incredible damage, plus be thrusted into the watery pit while unconscious. He remained in mist and crossed two more such traps before reforming on a solid platform. He climbed some stairs, jumped a pit and ended in a room with a coffin in it.
Alucard: Ah... So this is why this is so familiar... This is where I met Trevor so many years ago... He crossed to the next room, torched the mummies and went to the present... but ended up in the future...
***********************
Magus was in a dimly lit room. A few torches hung from pedestals around him and below. He heard wings flapping below. He leapt to the first platform a bit lower and saw a large blue gargoyle fly upwards to him. It flew in a predictable fashion, trying to go above him. Magus set his swords and let it kill itself, the corpse falling and dragged one of it's friends down with it. Magus dealt with the other two in one strike each. He went down a bit more until he was in front of a massive golden wolf head. The mouth was open, as if asking him to enter. Inside of it were two skeletons with spears disposed off in seconds although they were much larger than normal. In the next room was a familiar face... well, skull.
Death: Ah, so Magus Leah himself came to this castle.
Magus: Well, I have a friend here that I need to catch up to...
Death: but first, you must get through me!
Magus: And that shouldn't be hard at all.
Death: Why would It be easy? I'm not that weak.
Magus: No, it's not that...
Death: what then, are you immune to my scythe, my shadow spells, are you immortal or just damn careless, I'M DEATH!
Magus: Yeah, yeah, just one of so many...
Death: I don't care! I'm the most powerful of the lot! I'm strong!
Magus: Poor, poor Death... I tried to fool you into committing suicide and I managed to do just that...
Death: What? I'm Death, I can't commit suicide and I won't.
Magus: Actually, there's been a law concerning Eternal Entities such as Death and the others stating that developing a personality is now illegal and punishable by extermination. Mr. Boom here is here to carry out the sentence. Behind Magus was a large floating reddish figure that looked quite angry. It had a face on it's front and another on it's ass. It looked at Death quite happily, an evil grin all over it's face.
Death: Um... Ah... Well... Hi.
Mr. Boom: You've disobeyed the rule, now you go boom... ^_^
Death: N... no... You're mistaken! I didn't develop a personality, I swear it! I DID NOT SAY I ... ... Oh Dammit!
Mr. Boom: Yes, Dammit... ^_^ ^_^ A large grin on the being's face, Death blew to pieces, bones flying everywhere, bouncing off walls and floor alike, shreds of cape falling from the air, it's scythe clanking as it hit the floor.
Magus: I'll keep the scythe as payment for delivering him to justice, Ok?
Mr. Boom: Fine :D It faded and Death's remains turned to dust, except for it's scythe that Magus picked up and put in his cape, teleporting it in his stash of weapons. Magus noticed the huge golden door. He went over to it and found it to be nothing more than a huge amount of gold forged to resemble two doors. He crossed over to the next room where bats covered the ceiling and weeds had taken control of the floor. Magus noticed a small switch behind a stone and pressed it, making a wall move to reveal a hidden passage. Inside was a small hall leading to a small descending room. At the bottom was a crumbly wall. Magus slashed it and found a really, really old man there.
Magus: Are you ok, sir?
Geezer: Ah... someone... found... me... Magus sighed and healed him, allowing him to regain some strength.
Old man: Thanks.
Magus: How long have you been here?
Old man: What year is it? Magus: Well... around 2245, why? Old man: Well, around 800 years... Magus: Ah... You're as old as me! How the hell are you still alive?
Old man: Well, only being alive once in awhile helps... Magus: What? Old man: I only live while the castle is here and since it's never around for very long... my life has lasted quite many years... Magus: hmm...
Old man: You see, I was once one of Count Vlad's men... Back them, the count was pretty generous, but still greedy, his worst fear was that of dying. At the time, the Dracul river was blocked by something under the castle. He knew he had caves under Castlevania and ordered some miners to search down there for the river's shortage. They fell upon an old mineshaft, buried under a pile of debris for countless years. He received news of the discovery shortly by a miner, but the rest that went to discover the cause of the clog in the river didn't return. After three days, Vlad sent a squad of guards down there and didn't receive a word after two days. Next were the advisors with an escort of guards. He'd warned them to return at the slightest sign of danger, but they didn't either... He finally decided to go down himself. He brought his 12 elite guards with him. I was one of them. Pretty fast, we found the golden wolf head, crossed it and ended up in the reaper's domain. The body was covered with headless bodies, a carpet of inanimate corpses. Vlad and his crew entered the room and saw a titanous entrance to a cave, but before he could go closer, he heard screams behind him. He turned to see his guard's legs being clawed by the dead's arms. They all screamed and slashed at the bodies, but it was already too late, an unhearable slash happened and the men lost their heads. The bodies fell to the floor and joined the carpet of corpses, the heads floated for a second and floated up, through the ceiling. An eerie laugh filled the air as a hooded floating figure appeared. It's black robe covered it's body, letting only it's hands show, hands made of bones carrying a dark scythe. It extended one bony figure at him, lifting it's head to expose it's macabre skull.
Death: Ah, so good of you to finally come down here, Vlad Tepes. As you may have figured, I am Death.
Vlad: D... Death... Have you come to take me to the other side?
Death: Perhaps... But first, I feel like making you an offer...
Vlad: An offer?
Death: you see, guarding this gate for countless years have made me weary, your men were... diverting, so I wish to make you a deal... I've been guarding this damn cave for years 24/7, so I'd wish for you to help me build a gate here under my strict orders...
Vlad: And what's in it for me?
Death: Well, I can make you Immortal...
Vlad: Immortal?
Death: Swear your soul to the darkness and eternal life shall be granted to you.
Vlad: Eternal life you say... Allright, I accept!
Old man: and I heard that the river started to pour again that night, but until the sun rose, blood flowed in it's banks...
Magus: Wait, if everyone that went in that room died, that means you're also...
Old man: No! Actually... I chickened out at the wolf's head and saw everything from a distance, remaining hidden since then.
Magus: Great... Just great... And what have you been eating this whole time?
Old Man: Well... Rats... Bats... Spider... It would be easier if I remembered how to use these damn peanuts!!
Magus: ... ... ... My fault for asking. Magus left the room, a bit depressed by all of this. He returned to the Plant/Bat room, cast a widespread inferno and watched them fry, descended the stairs of two more rooms and left the present mines, a bit more informed about Dracula's curse, but more intrigued than ever about the gate... I mean, what could be important enough to have Death as a guard 24/7 and then there's the large outbreak of high-level demons around here... a behemoth, that demon from the church, the Hellchoc, Behemoth King Catoblepas... something big was happening here and Magus intended to figure out what.
The past seemed familiar to Alucard. He started on a stone floor and progressed a bit to a spot where the ceiling was dripping on the floor. Alucard got ready to cross the small droplets, he noticed they were eating through the floor. He waited for a small pause in the drops to cross. Next in line was a small line of mummies throwing bandages at him (We don't know how that hurts... I guess they squeeze hard?) Alucard used his Marsil's special and the mummies became walking torches. He proceeded, jumped down to the stairs and went down, jumped a pit and avoided a shower of acid droplets to the next area. In the next, he had spikes very close to his head and firemen in front of him. The slow but powerful warriors of flames left a trail of blazes wherever their feet touched the cold marble. Alucard used his Runesword to weaken them from afar and finished them off with one swipe of an Icebrand when they were in range. He went to the next room, avoided one droplet of acid and went to the next. Here he had water pits to deal with. He leapt the first and heard something move wind very fast in his direction from above. He turned to mist before a large spike covered ball crossed him. If it had hit, he would've gotten incredible damage, plus be thrusted into the watery pit while unconscious. He remained in mist and crossed two more such traps before reforming on a solid platform. He climbed some stairs, jumped a pit and ended in a room with a coffin in it.
Alucard: Ah... So this is why this is so familiar... This is where I met Trevor so many years ago... He crossed to the next room, torched the mummies and went to the present... but ended up in the future...
***********************
Magus was in a dimly lit room. A few torches hung from pedestals around him and below. He heard wings flapping below. He leapt to the first platform a bit lower and saw a large blue gargoyle fly upwards to him. It flew in a predictable fashion, trying to go above him. Magus set his swords and let it kill itself, the corpse falling and dragged one of it's friends down with it. Magus dealt with the other two in one strike each. He went down a bit more until he was in front of a massive golden wolf head. The mouth was open, as if asking him to enter. Inside of it were two skeletons with spears disposed off in seconds although they were much larger than normal. In the next room was a familiar face... well, skull.
Death: Ah, so Magus Leah himself came to this castle.
Magus: Well, I have a friend here that I need to catch up to...
Death: but first, you must get through me!
Magus: And that shouldn't be hard at all.
Death: Why would It be easy? I'm not that weak.
Magus: No, it's not that...
Death: what then, are you immune to my scythe, my shadow spells, are you immortal or just damn careless, I'M DEATH!
Magus: Yeah, yeah, just one of so many...
Death: I don't care! I'm the most powerful of the lot! I'm strong!
Magus: Poor, poor Death... I tried to fool you into committing suicide and I managed to do just that...
Death: What? I'm Death, I can't commit suicide and I won't.
Magus: Actually, there's been a law concerning Eternal Entities such as Death and the others stating that developing a personality is now illegal and punishable by extermination. Mr. Boom here is here to carry out the sentence. Behind Magus was a large floating reddish figure that looked quite angry. It had a face on it's front and another on it's ass. It looked at Death quite happily, an evil grin all over it's face.
Death: Um... Ah... Well... Hi.
Mr. Boom: You've disobeyed the rule, now you go boom... ^_^
Death: N... no... You're mistaken! I didn't develop a personality, I swear it! I DID NOT SAY I ... ... Oh Dammit!
Mr. Boom: Yes, Dammit... ^_^ ^_^ A large grin on the being's face, Death blew to pieces, bones flying everywhere, bouncing off walls and floor alike, shreds of cape falling from the air, it's scythe clanking as it hit the floor.
Magus: I'll keep the scythe as payment for delivering him to justice, Ok?
Mr. Boom: Fine :D It faded and Death's remains turned to dust, except for it's scythe that Magus picked up and put in his cape, teleporting it in his stash of weapons. Magus noticed the huge golden door. He went over to it and found it to be nothing more than a huge amount of gold forged to resemble two doors. He crossed over to the next room where bats covered the ceiling and weeds had taken control of the floor. Magus noticed a small switch behind a stone and pressed it, making a wall move to reveal a hidden passage. Inside was a small hall leading to a small descending room. At the bottom was a crumbly wall. Magus slashed it and found a really, really old man there.
Magus: Are you ok, sir?
Geezer: Ah... someone... found... me... Magus sighed and healed him, allowing him to regain some strength.
Old man: Thanks.
Magus: How long have you been here?
Old man: What year is it? Magus: Well... around 2245, why? Old man: Well, around 800 years... Magus: Ah... You're as old as me! How the hell are you still alive?
Old man: Well, only being alive once in awhile helps... Magus: What? Old man: I only live while the castle is here and since it's never around for very long... my life has lasted quite many years... Magus: hmm...
Old man: You see, I was once one of Count Vlad's men... Back them, the count was pretty generous, but still greedy, his worst fear was that of dying. At the time, the Dracul river was blocked by something under the castle. He knew he had caves under Castlevania and ordered some miners to search down there for the river's shortage. They fell upon an old mineshaft, buried under a pile of debris for countless years. He received news of the discovery shortly by a miner, but the rest that went to discover the cause of the clog in the river didn't return. After three days, Vlad sent a squad of guards down there and didn't receive a word after two days. Next were the advisors with an escort of guards. He'd warned them to return at the slightest sign of danger, but they didn't either... He finally decided to go down himself. He brought his 12 elite guards with him. I was one of them. Pretty fast, we found the golden wolf head, crossed it and ended up in the reaper's domain. The body was covered with headless bodies, a carpet of inanimate corpses. Vlad and his crew entered the room and saw a titanous entrance to a cave, but before he could go closer, he heard screams behind him. He turned to see his guard's legs being clawed by the dead's arms. They all screamed and slashed at the bodies, but it was already too late, an unhearable slash happened and the men lost their heads. The bodies fell to the floor and joined the carpet of corpses, the heads floated for a second and floated up, through the ceiling. An eerie laugh filled the air as a hooded floating figure appeared. It's black robe covered it's body, letting only it's hands show, hands made of bones carrying a dark scythe. It extended one bony figure at him, lifting it's head to expose it's macabre skull.
Death: Ah, so good of you to finally come down here, Vlad Tepes. As you may have figured, I am Death.
Vlad: D... Death... Have you come to take me to the other side?
Death: Perhaps... But first, I feel like making you an offer...
Vlad: An offer?
Death: you see, guarding this gate for countless years have made me weary, your men were... diverting, so I wish to make you a deal... I've been guarding this damn cave for years 24/7, so I'd wish for you to help me build a gate here under my strict orders...
Vlad: And what's in it for me?
Death: Well, I can make you Immortal...
Vlad: Immortal?
Death: Swear your soul to the darkness and eternal life shall be granted to you.
Vlad: Eternal life you say... Allright, I accept!
Old man: and I heard that the river started to pour again that night, but until the sun rose, blood flowed in it's banks...
Magus: Wait, if everyone that went in that room died, that means you're also...
Old man: No! Actually... I chickened out at the wolf's head and saw everything from a distance, remaining hidden since then.
Magus: Great... Just great... And what have you been eating this whole time?
Old Man: Well... Rats... Bats... Spider... It would be easier if I remembered how to use these damn peanuts!!
Magus: ... ... ... My fault for asking. Magus left the room, a bit depressed by all of this. He returned to the Plant/Bat room, cast a widespread inferno and watched them fry, descended the stairs of two more rooms and left the present mines, a bit more informed about Dracula's curse, but more intrigued than ever about the gate... I mean, what could be important enough to have Death as a guard 24/7 and then there's the large outbreak of high-level demons around here... a behemoth, that demon from the church, the Hellchoc, Behemoth King Catoblepas... something big was happening here and Magus intended to figure out what.