-CHAPTER 7-
Sora had fallen unconscious again shortly after Clara fed her, and woke up in the afternoon. She looked around, her eyes falling on Kurt. She groaned, lifting a hand weakly to rub her eyes. "How long have you been here?"
"All night..." Kurt admitted, folding his arms on Sora's bedside and resting his chin on them. "We all voted that someone watch you, and... well, I haven't given up my shift."
"Is Clara alright?"
Kurt nodded, and slowly grabbed her hand. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit."
"You look like it," he agreed. Sora chuckled, rubbing her forehead with her palm.
"All I remember is seeing Taryn, passing out, seeing Eric and D, muttering something about Taryn, complaining about D carrying me, passing out again, and then tasting Clara's blood."
"We were all really worried... I thought you'd die..."
"I've had worse. Where's Clara?"
Kurt shrugged. "She's having some thinking time right now, and she's blaming herself for Taryn attacking you."
Sora shook her head, and sat up on her elbows. "It's not her fault at all, she should know that." She looked down at both of her legs. "Dammit... I won't be able to walk for another few hours." She fell back on the hospital bed and groaned, taking the pillow out from under her head and placing it over her face.
Kurt blinked a couple of times before reaching up and moving the pillow. "You really don't like staying in one place, do you?"
"Gee, ya just noticed?"
Kurt shrugged and sat up. Sora looked at him and tapped his shoulder. "Get to bed, dork."
"Not tired."
"Then stop worrying about me; get someone else to take over!"
As if to encourage what Sora said, the door opened, but Sora's shoulders slumped when she saw who it was:
D.
"Kurt," he said, "Clara has requested that you see her."
Sora sat up and grabbed Kurt. "Don't you dare leave me alone with him, dammit."
Kurt moved her hands away. "Sorry, Sora. I'll be back later, though."
"Kurt, wait!"
"Bamf!" Sora growled to herself, and waved the cloud of sulfur-like smoke away from her. She looked over at D. "What do you want?"
"Clara wishes to speak with everyone. When she's done with Eric, Kurt, Mazier, and Lilith, she will come down to talk to you. Until then, Clara has asked that I make sure you remain in bed," he answered, with that goddamn monotonous tone in his voice that Sora hated. Lucian used that tone when he was about to beat her.
Sora turned on her side, away from D, and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. "I suppose Clara's told you why I'm not exactly friendly to you, eh?"
"Yes, she has."
"Clara has enough protection; she doesn't need some bounty hunter to help her."
"Is that Clara saying that, or you?"
That shut Sora up. She growled deep in her throat, and sat up. "Who the fuck do you think you are, anyway? Alucard obviously hates you, and Alucard has damn good judgment, even for the son of Dracula! How can we trust you?" She'd wanted to say that whenever she got alone with D.
D stared blankly at her while she glared at him. They were both silent for a while before Sora said, "Answer me!"
"You'll have to find out for yourself," D replied softly. "As for my past with Alucard... just like you, I have a hard time trusting people with my secrets."
Sora scoffed. "Oh, great, a pissing contest to see how long we can hold secrets from the other."
D blinked slowly in disbelief. "If you wish to call it that..."
"Ah, shut up."
Clara slowly descended the steps that led to the med bay, her hand reaching out to touch the handle to open the door but then she stopped herself. Sora wouldn't like what she had to say one bit, and Clara knew that. Still... Clara shouldn't have let Sora leave last night, and she felt guilty ever since Eric and D came back with her. Everyone else she told was disappointed, but said they would help her along the way.
She reached up and clutched the locket which hung around her neck, twirling the gold chain with her thumb. She squeezed her eyes shut and reached for the doorknob again, hesitating again, but then she grasped it, and opened it slowly. "Sora? You awake?"
Sora looked up, and D left the room. Clara came in and closed the door, then hurried over to her bed and hugged her tight. "God, I was so worried about you," she murmured. Sora returned the embrace. "Hey, kiddo, I'm fine."
Clara pulled back and looked at her. "How are you feeling?"
"Better. What is this that D said you had to tell me?"
Clara fell silent, and sat down in the chair next to the bed. Sora narrowed her eyes, concerned. "Clara?"
Clara sighed heavily and began, "I was thinking really heavily about this last night... and..."
"Yes?"
"I've..." her voice faltered, "I'm going to give the locket to Taryn."
Sora's eyes widened and she gripped the sheets beneath her. "...What? Clara, you can't!"
"If I don't, he'll just keep hurting everyone."
"Think how much he can hurt the world if he gets that locket!"
Clara shook her head. "The spell Mother put on this locket is too strong; Taryn won't be able to open it. I'm confident in that."
"I'm not."
"I'm going tonight... everyone will be with me. I'll be safe."
Sora sighed heavily, shaking her head slowly. "I don't believe so... I'll be able to walk by then, sure, but... Clara, don't go to him."
"He could have followed Eric and D back to the estate, and then both my family and the Belmonts would be in danger. I won't have that."
"Clara..." Sora trailed off and looked away; she couldn't convince her. Taryn would hurt her if she came to him, she just knew he would. She felt Clara's arms wrap around her in a tight hug that she lightly returned. She didn't want to lose her best friend...
"I'm coming with you tonight," Sora finally said, "I don't care if I'll be able to walk or not; I'm not going to let you go near him without me."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
That evening, no one was in any sort of high spirits. Sora had started to use her legs about an hour ago, using Kurt as a crutch in order to limp to the library where everyone was meeting. Eric was standing behind Clara with his arms around her waist, his whip at his hip and his sword strung across his back, not to mention about five daggers, a crucifix- which Sora didn't see the need for; Taryn wasn't undead- and a few healing potions. Alucard stood near him with Mazier and Lilith; all had their swords, even Mazier, who now preferred guns. Alucard had donned his armor, and surely he had a lot of magical spells tucked away in his mind. D just had his sword. Clara had her staff gripped firmly in one of her hands, and the locket was around her neck.
Mazier looked towards Sora as she came in with Kurt. "You gonna need a sword?"
Sora just stared blankly at him. "What the hell do you think? I'll be fine in about half an hour. Gimme the sword."
Lilith walked over to her and strapped the sword across her back before asking D, "Are you sure he's living in the ruins of Dracula's castle?"
D nodded in response. "Granted, he's quite a ways underground... I've never followed him, so I wouldn't know what rooms he could be using."
"Clara," Lilith said, "are you planning on meeting him near the ruins?"
Clara nodded quickly and leaned back on Eric. Sora shifted her weight and glanced at Kurt. "You coming?"
"I suppose..." he replied slowly, as if unsure of himself.
"Your teleporting could prove useful if we get caught in a sticky situation," Sora noted.
"How well can you walk, Sora?" Clara asked. Sora shrugged. "Well enough, I'm just taking it easy until we get there."
Alucard then spoke up. "Clara, if your brother is indeed as powerful as D has specified, you may not want to approach him with all of us nearby. Go ahead of us, and give a sort of signal in case things do not go as planned. Remember, he wanted you alone."
Clara nodded, reaching up and touching the locket's chain. "Well... I suppose we should leave now, then... just get this over with. Remember everyone; he probably can't do anything with the locket."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Clara abandoned her friends inside of the Forest of Silence, where they would hopefully be safe. The ruins were so close, but Clara approached them slowly. She wanted to see her brother so badly, but he hurt Sora, and she doubted her trust in him.
Coming closer to the ruins, Clara could feel his presence; it was tremendous. D hadn't been lying; he had gotten extremely powerful. She kept her own aura dimmed, and her steps sped up slightly.
When she reached her destination, she looked around, feeling Taryn's presence, but not seeing him. She swallowed, and gripped her staff with one hand, the locket with the other. "Taryn?" she called out. A cold wind blew across the ruins, making Clara shiver, and she called out again, "Taryn? I brought the locket..."
"But you didn't come alone."
Clara yelped, and spun around, finding Taryn directly behind her. She looked up at him, and calmed down. He certainly looked different since the last time she had seen him; his dark brown hair had grown just below his shoulders, and his features took on more of an appearance of their father. He was wearing his warlock's robe, his own staff in his left hand, a large red orb clasped in a claw-like object, the staff itself about five and a half feet long, made of a metallic material.
"Hello, Taryn," she said softly.
"And to you, Sister," Taryn replied, "You betrayed my requests... why? You know I would never hurt you..."
"Call it brainwashing if you want to," Clara began, "but from what I've heard, you're not exactly the same as you were the last time we saw each other..."
"And neither are you, but I mean that in a good way."
Clara stayed silent, and eventually settled her staff in the crook of her elbow so it didn't fall, reached behind her neck, and unclasped the locket from her neck. She held it from the chain in Taryn's direction. "This is what you wanted, yes?"
Taryn smiled, and held his hand out. Clara dropped the locket into his palm, and quickly withdrew her hand. Taryn closed his fingers around it. "Good girl." He tucked it in his robes, and then reached his hand out, touching her cheek. She flinched slightly, but didn't protest.
"What level are you in magic? I imagine you're a sorceress now."
"Witch," Clara corrected. Taryn blinked, puzzled. Clara sighed, "I know spells in the sorceress rank, but I haven't been able to master the ice spell, so my rank hasn't been changed."
Taryn nodded slowly, and let his hand fall down to his side. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Clara looked away from him, and squeezed her eyes shut. "Why, Taryn?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you do that to our family? Mother, Father..."
"They are still alive," Taryn replied, "Probably not in the best condition, but they're alive."
"Why did you kill Viktor? He was the one that made Mother and Father proud..."
Taryn cocked his head to one side. "And you lived in his shadow. Now that Viktor is dead, and our parents want me dead, you are the favorite, Clara. You are the best in their eyes."
"I don't want to be the favorite if it's at the expense of other peoples' lives. Mother and Father know that I did my best, and they were proud of me for just that. You would have been a lot more powerful if..." she trailed off, not wanting to talk on that subject. She cringed, hearing him chuckle as she stopped talking.
"My feelings for you haven't changed, my dear little sister. You think a little exile is going to keep me from thinking about you? It's only what caused me to come for you."
"Why do you want the locket, Taryn? You can't open it."
He glanced down at his robes where he had concealed the locket. "I have my reasons... but I won't need to act upon those reasons if you agree to something."
"And what is that?"
Taryn relaxed, and exhaled heavily. "I want you to come with me, Clara. We can go back to our family; if our parents see that you trust me, they'll let me come back."
"What makes you think I trust you!" Clara suddenly snapped, moving a few feet away from him quickly. "You kill our eldest brother and half of our family, injure our parents, threaten to harm my friends, and expect me to come willingly?" she gripped her staff tightly, as if it were protecting her from him.
Taryn's calm expression faded, but Clara couldn't read his emotions; he appeared irritated yet furious at the same time, but with little showing on his face.
"So you won't come, then?" he asked, and calmly raised a hand, level with his eyes, palm facing upward, his fingers curling inward slowly to a fist. "Pity."
Clara heard the flames even before they rose. She spun around, looking to the forest, where everyone was waiting. In an instant, the small area burst into flames. "NO!" she screamed. She shot a hand out, about to cast a water spell to drench the flames when she heard the distinctive "Bamf!" and turned around, hearing Sora scream as she charged towards Taryn, Kurt disappearing again and coming back with Eric, who did the same as Sora. She was relieved that they were alright, but...
Taryn swung his staff, and Sora moved with it, and Taryn fairly slammed her into the ruins they stood upon and did the same with Eric, only he held the Belmont descendant in the air. Clara's eyes quickly widened in fear, and she took a step forward to stop her brother. "Taryn, no!"
She heard swords unsheathe, and she didn't have to turn around to know that D, Alucard, Mazier, and Lilith had escaped from the miniature inferno safely, but they didn't dare trying to approach the sorcerer.
Clara stood, frozen. She dropped her staff, the clatter echoing across the air as it landed. "Taryn, let him go... please."
Taryn scoffed, briefly glancing to see Sora slowly stand, still recovering from the blow. "Why save this pathetic excuse for a Belmont?" he sensed Clara's anger flare. He continued to hold Eric in the air, and applied psychic energy to his throat, gently beginning to choke him. Clara let out a light cry. "He's worthless, Clara... remember, it's his fault his own brother lost his memory."
Clara felt her body shaking, but it wasn't visible to others. How dare he... that was no excuse to kill a member of the most renowned Vampire Hunting line in history.
Clara let out the air she had held in, and swallowed, her mouth feeling dry. She tensed for a moment, and then began to back up. Taryn's eyes narrowed, and then widened as he saw where she was heading.
Eventually, Clara backed up until she was at the edge of the ruin, on the steep cliff, where, if she fell, she would fall into the sea to her death. "You kill him... you lose me."
"Clara!" Sora shouted. Lilith let out a light gasp, and Mazier snarled at Taryn. Clara could hear Alucard whisper something under his breath, but didn't pay attention. Taryn pinched his eyebrows together. "Clara, you won't—"
"Try me. One..." if he didn't let go by the count of three, she would jump. She wouldn't let Eric die.
'Trevor Belmont threw himself and another general over a cliff during a war while Sypha watched in order to save Transylvania... now if I need to be in Trevor's place while Eric be in Sypha's... so be it. I won't let him harm my friends,' Clara thought to herself.
"Clara, this is foolish," Taryn told her.
"Two!"
"Clara, don't," Eric choked out. Clara felt tears spill over her cheeks.
"...I love you, Eric," she whispered, and looked over towards Sora, who shook her head. Clara sighed, and looked back at Taryn. "...Three."
Taryn dropped Eric and ran for the cliff as Clara fell backwards, as did everyone else. Taryn stopped before reaching the edge, but Sora was there first, and attempted to grab her before she fell too far, but failed. "CLARA!" she shouted, about to throw herself over when Kurt wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back.
Eric stumbled for his footing as he approached; almost shoving Mazier aside to try and look over, silently praying that she had grabbed hold of a cliff, but there was only fog. "Clara..." he whispered.
Sora's ears twitched, and she heard something... something beating against the air... wings? She then heard something hit something else... not so much a body hitting rocks, but someone catching something...
Clara was alive. Sora stood and turned around, but Taryn was gone. Sora growled under her breath, but then calmed down. D looked towards her. "What is it?"
Sora felt herself twitch a grin as she glanced at everyone. "Clara's alive."
Sora had fallen unconscious again shortly after Clara fed her, and woke up in the afternoon. She looked around, her eyes falling on Kurt. She groaned, lifting a hand weakly to rub her eyes. "How long have you been here?"
"All night..." Kurt admitted, folding his arms on Sora's bedside and resting his chin on them. "We all voted that someone watch you, and... well, I haven't given up my shift."
"Is Clara alright?"
Kurt nodded, and slowly grabbed her hand. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit."
"You look like it," he agreed. Sora chuckled, rubbing her forehead with her palm.
"All I remember is seeing Taryn, passing out, seeing Eric and D, muttering something about Taryn, complaining about D carrying me, passing out again, and then tasting Clara's blood."
"We were all really worried... I thought you'd die..."
"I've had worse. Where's Clara?"
Kurt shrugged. "She's having some thinking time right now, and she's blaming herself for Taryn attacking you."
Sora shook her head, and sat up on her elbows. "It's not her fault at all, she should know that." She looked down at both of her legs. "Dammit... I won't be able to walk for another few hours." She fell back on the hospital bed and groaned, taking the pillow out from under her head and placing it over her face.
Kurt blinked a couple of times before reaching up and moving the pillow. "You really don't like staying in one place, do you?"
"Gee, ya just noticed?"
Kurt shrugged and sat up. Sora looked at him and tapped his shoulder. "Get to bed, dork."
"Not tired."
"Then stop worrying about me; get someone else to take over!"
As if to encourage what Sora said, the door opened, but Sora's shoulders slumped when she saw who it was:
D.
"Kurt," he said, "Clara has requested that you see her."
Sora sat up and grabbed Kurt. "Don't you dare leave me alone with him, dammit."
Kurt moved her hands away. "Sorry, Sora. I'll be back later, though."
"Kurt, wait!"
"Bamf!" Sora growled to herself, and waved the cloud of sulfur-like smoke away from her. She looked over at D. "What do you want?"
"Clara wishes to speak with everyone. When she's done with Eric, Kurt, Mazier, and Lilith, she will come down to talk to you. Until then, Clara has asked that I make sure you remain in bed," he answered, with that goddamn monotonous tone in his voice that Sora hated. Lucian used that tone when he was about to beat her.
Sora turned on her side, away from D, and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. "I suppose Clara's told you why I'm not exactly friendly to you, eh?"
"Yes, she has."
"Clara has enough protection; she doesn't need some bounty hunter to help her."
"Is that Clara saying that, or you?"
That shut Sora up. She growled deep in her throat, and sat up. "Who the fuck do you think you are, anyway? Alucard obviously hates you, and Alucard has damn good judgment, even for the son of Dracula! How can we trust you?" She'd wanted to say that whenever she got alone with D.
D stared blankly at her while she glared at him. They were both silent for a while before Sora said, "Answer me!"
"You'll have to find out for yourself," D replied softly. "As for my past with Alucard... just like you, I have a hard time trusting people with my secrets."
Sora scoffed. "Oh, great, a pissing contest to see how long we can hold secrets from the other."
D blinked slowly in disbelief. "If you wish to call it that..."
"Ah, shut up."
Clara slowly descended the steps that led to the med bay, her hand reaching out to touch the handle to open the door but then she stopped herself. Sora wouldn't like what she had to say one bit, and Clara knew that. Still... Clara shouldn't have let Sora leave last night, and she felt guilty ever since Eric and D came back with her. Everyone else she told was disappointed, but said they would help her along the way.
She reached up and clutched the locket which hung around her neck, twirling the gold chain with her thumb. She squeezed her eyes shut and reached for the doorknob again, hesitating again, but then she grasped it, and opened it slowly. "Sora? You awake?"
Sora looked up, and D left the room. Clara came in and closed the door, then hurried over to her bed and hugged her tight. "God, I was so worried about you," she murmured. Sora returned the embrace. "Hey, kiddo, I'm fine."
Clara pulled back and looked at her. "How are you feeling?"
"Better. What is this that D said you had to tell me?"
Clara fell silent, and sat down in the chair next to the bed. Sora narrowed her eyes, concerned. "Clara?"
Clara sighed heavily and began, "I was thinking really heavily about this last night... and..."
"Yes?"
"I've..." her voice faltered, "I'm going to give the locket to Taryn."
Sora's eyes widened and she gripped the sheets beneath her. "...What? Clara, you can't!"
"If I don't, he'll just keep hurting everyone."
"Think how much he can hurt the world if he gets that locket!"
Clara shook her head. "The spell Mother put on this locket is too strong; Taryn won't be able to open it. I'm confident in that."
"I'm not."
"I'm going tonight... everyone will be with me. I'll be safe."
Sora sighed heavily, shaking her head slowly. "I don't believe so... I'll be able to walk by then, sure, but... Clara, don't go to him."
"He could have followed Eric and D back to the estate, and then both my family and the Belmonts would be in danger. I won't have that."
"Clara..." Sora trailed off and looked away; she couldn't convince her. Taryn would hurt her if she came to him, she just knew he would. She felt Clara's arms wrap around her in a tight hug that she lightly returned. She didn't want to lose her best friend...
"I'm coming with you tonight," Sora finally said, "I don't care if I'll be able to walk or not; I'm not going to let you go near him without me."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
That evening, no one was in any sort of high spirits. Sora had started to use her legs about an hour ago, using Kurt as a crutch in order to limp to the library where everyone was meeting. Eric was standing behind Clara with his arms around her waist, his whip at his hip and his sword strung across his back, not to mention about five daggers, a crucifix- which Sora didn't see the need for; Taryn wasn't undead- and a few healing potions. Alucard stood near him with Mazier and Lilith; all had their swords, even Mazier, who now preferred guns. Alucard had donned his armor, and surely he had a lot of magical spells tucked away in his mind. D just had his sword. Clara had her staff gripped firmly in one of her hands, and the locket was around her neck.
Mazier looked towards Sora as she came in with Kurt. "You gonna need a sword?"
Sora just stared blankly at him. "What the hell do you think? I'll be fine in about half an hour. Gimme the sword."
Lilith walked over to her and strapped the sword across her back before asking D, "Are you sure he's living in the ruins of Dracula's castle?"
D nodded in response. "Granted, he's quite a ways underground... I've never followed him, so I wouldn't know what rooms he could be using."
"Clara," Lilith said, "are you planning on meeting him near the ruins?"
Clara nodded quickly and leaned back on Eric. Sora shifted her weight and glanced at Kurt. "You coming?"
"I suppose..." he replied slowly, as if unsure of himself.
"Your teleporting could prove useful if we get caught in a sticky situation," Sora noted.
"How well can you walk, Sora?" Clara asked. Sora shrugged. "Well enough, I'm just taking it easy until we get there."
Alucard then spoke up. "Clara, if your brother is indeed as powerful as D has specified, you may not want to approach him with all of us nearby. Go ahead of us, and give a sort of signal in case things do not go as planned. Remember, he wanted you alone."
Clara nodded, reaching up and touching the locket's chain. "Well... I suppose we should leave now, then... just get this over with. Remember everyone; he probably can't do anything with the locket."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Clara abandoned her friends inside of the Forest of Silence, where they would hopefully be safe. The ruins were so close, but Clara approached them slowly. She wanted to see her brother so badly, but he hurt Sora, and she doubted her trust in him.
Coming closer to the ruins, Clara could feel his presence; it was tremendous. D hadn't been lying; he had gotten extremely powerful. She kept her own aura dimmed, and her steps sped up slightly.
When she reached her destination, she looked around, feeling Taryn's presence, but not seeing him. She swallowed, and gripped her staff with one hand, the locket with the other. "Taryn?" she called out. A cold wind blew across the ruins, making Clara shiver, and she called out again, "Taryn? I brought the locket..."
"But you didn't come alone."
Clara yelped, and spun around, finding Taryn directly behind her. She looked up at him, and calmed down. He certainly looked different since the last time she had seen him; his dark brown hair had grown just below his shoulders, and his features took on more of an appearance of their father. He was wearing his warlock's robe, his own staff in his left hand, a large red orb clasped in a claw-like object, the staff itself about five and a half feet long, made of a metallic material.
"Hello, Taryn," she said softly.
"And to you, Sister," Taryn replied, "You betrayed my requests... why? You know I would never hurt you..."
"Call it brainwashing if you want to," Clara began, "but from what I've heard, you're not exactly the same as you were the last time we saw each other..."
"And neither are you, but I mean that in a good way."
Clara stayed silent, and eventually settled her staff in the crook of her elbow so it didn't fall, reached behind her neck, and unclasped the locket from her neck. She held it from the chain in Taryn's direction. "This is what you wanted, yes?"
Taryn smiled, and held his hand out. Clara dropped the locket into his palm, and quickly withdrew her hand. Taryn closed his fingers around it. "Good girl." He tucked it in his robes, and then reached his hand out, touching her cheek. She flinched slightly, but didn't protest.
"What level are you in magic? I imagine you're a sorceress now."
"Witch," Clara corrected. Taryn blinked, puzzled. Clara sighed, "I know spells in the sorceress rank, but I haven't been able to master the ice spell, so my rank hasn't been changed."
Taryn nodded slowly, and let his hand fall down to his side. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Clara looked away from him, and squeezed her eyes shut. "Why, Taryn?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you do that to our family? Mother, Father..."
"They are still alive," Taryn replied, "Probably not in the best condition, but they're alive."
"Why did you kill Viktor? He was the one that made Mother and Father proud..."
Taryn cocked his head to one side. "And you lived in his shadow. Now that Viktor is dead, and our parents want me dead, you are the favorite, Clara. You are the best in their eyes."
"I don't want to be the favorite if it's at the expense of other peoples' lives. Mother and Father know that I did my best, and they were proud of me for just that. You would have been a lot more powerful if..." she trailed off, not wanting to talk on that subject. She cringed, hearing him chuckle as she stopped talking.
"My feelings for you haven't changed, my dear little sister. You think a little exile is going to keep me from thinking about you? It's only what caused me to come for you."
"Why do you want the locket, Taryn? You can't open it."
He glanced down at his robes where he had concealed the locket. "I have my reasons... but I won't need to act upon those reasons if you agree to something."
"And what is that?"
Taryn relaxed, and exhaled heavily. "I want you to come with me, Clara. We can go back to our family; if our parents see that you trust me, they'll let me come back."
"What makes you think I trust you!" Clara suddenly snapped, moving a few feet away from him quickly. "You kill our eldest brother and half of our family, injure our parents, threaten to harm my friends, and expect me to come willingly?" she gripped her staff tightly, as if it were protecting her from him.
Taryn's calm expression faded, but Clara couldn't read his emotions; he appeared irritated yet furious at the same time, but with little showing on his face.
"So you won't come, then?" he asked, and calmly raised a hand, level with his eyes, palm facing upward, his fingers curling inward slowly to a fist. "Pity."
Clara heard the flames even before they rose. She spun around, looking to the forest, where everyone was waiting. In an instant, the small area burst into flames. "NO!" she screamed. She shot a hand out, about to cast a water spell to drench the flames when she heard the distinctive "Bamf!" and turned around, hearing Sora scream as she charged towards Taryn, Kurt disappearing again and coming back with Eric, who did the same as Sora. She was relieved that they were alright, but...
Taryn swung his staff, and Sora moved with it, and Taryn fairly slammed her into the ruins they stood upon and did the same with Eric, only he held the Belmont descendant in the air. Clara's eyes quickly widened in fear, and she took a step forward to stop her brother. "Taryn, no!"
She heard swords unsheathe, and she didn't have to turn around to know that D, Alucard, Mazier, and Lilith had escaped from the miniature inferno safely, but they didn't dare trying to approach the sorcerer.
Clara stood, frozen. She dropped her staff, the clatter echoing across the air as it landed. "Taryn, let him go... please."
Taryn scoffed, briefly glancing to see Sora slowly stand, still recovering from the blow. "Why save this pathetic excuse for a Belmont?" he sensed Clara's anger flare. He continued to hold Eric in the air, and applied psychic energy to his throat, gently beginning to choke him. Clara let out a light cry. "He's worthless, Clara... remember, it's his fault his own brother lost his memory."
Clara felt her body shaking, but it wasn't visible to others. How dare he... that was no excuse to kill a member of the most renowned Vampire Hunting line in history.
Clara let out the air she had held in, and swallowed, her mouth feeling dry. She tensed for a moment, and then began to back up. Taryn's eyes narrowed, and then widened as he saw where she was heading.
Eventually, Clara backed up until she was at the edge of the ruin, on the steep cliff, where, if she fell, she would fall into the sea to her death. "You kill him... you lose me."
"Clara!" Sora shouted. Lilith let out a light gasp, and Mazier snarled at Taryn. Clara could hear Alucard whisper something under his breath, but didn't pay attention. Taryn pinched his eyebrows together. "Clara, you won't—"
"Try me. One..." if he didn't let go by the count of three, she would jump. She wouldn't let Eric die.
'Trevor Belmont threw himself and another general over a cliff during a war while Sypha watched in order to save Transylvania... now if I need to be in Trevor's place while Eric be in Sypha's... so be it. I won't let him harm my friends,' Clara thought to herself.
"Clara, this is foolish," Taryn told her.
"Two!"
"Clara, don't," Eric choked out. Clara felt tears spill over her cheeks.
"...I love you, Eric," she whispered, and looked over towards Sora, who shook her head. Clara sighed, and looked back at Taryn. "...Three."
Taryn dropped Eric and ran for the cliff as Clara fell backwards, as did everyone else. Taryn stopped before reaching the edge, but Sora was there first, and attempted to grab her before she fell too far, but failed. "CLARA!" she shouted, about to throw herself over when Kurt wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back.
Eric stumbled for his footing as he approached; almost shoving Mazier aside to try and look over, silently praying that she had grabbed hold of a cliff, but there was only fog. "Clara..." he whispered.
Sora's ears twitched, and she heard something... something beating against the air... wings? She then heard something hit something else... not so much a body hitting rocks, but someone catching something...
Clara was alive. Sora stood and turned around, but Taryn was gone. Sora growled under her breath, but then calmed down. D looked towards her. "What is it?"
Sora felt herself twitch a grin as she glanced at everyone. "Clara's alive."