-CHAPTER 10-

Everyone had paused as soon as Alucard brought Sonia in and Lilith and Mazier brought Maria. Lilith had tried to feed Maria but she had refused, and she looked far weaker than Sonia. When D heard that Alucard had found a Belmont and was bringing her here, he refused to be present and at that time, was nowhere to be found.

"Sonia, Trevor, Sypha, Juste, Richter, Maria, and Leon have been awakened," Alucard explained, allowing Sonia to use him as a crutch, "Obviously something Taryn did with the locket turned all seven of these demon hunters to become vampires."

Eric thought to himself for a moment. "Wait... all of those Belmonts were the more famous and powerful ones... what about Christopher, or Simon?"

"Simon already suffered Dracula's curse after he defeated Dracula the first time, and he conquered that curse," Lilith told him, "As for Christopher, his son was taken under Dracula's spell, and Christopher defeated that power."

"That wouldn't explain why Richter's here; didn't he get taken captive by the vampiric power?"

Alucard shook his head. "Richter was not possessed by Dracula, he was taken by Shaft, my father's dark priest. Also, Richter was not blessed by the vampire's curse; he remained human."

Clara rested her chin on her laced fingers. "So, all of these Belmonts were the ones who didn't suffer under Dracula or anyone from the Tepes line as badly? Why are all the Belmonts tame? If they're vampires, and they've been dead, wouldn't they be monsters?"

"Belmonts' hearts and minds are too strong to be twisted so easily," Eric murmured, looking over at Sonia and Maria, "Even Maria, not a true Belmont, was taken into the family and blessed as one, as was Sypha."

"Eric Lecarde wouldn't have been resurrected because he took revenge against Elizabeth Bartley for killing his wife, and John Morris was too distant from the Belmont family, same as Reinhardt Schneider," Mazier noted, "Nathan Graves wasn't even a Belmont; he didn't even kill Dracula with the Vampire Killer."

Eric narrowed his eyes at the mention of the Vampire Killer, the Belmont Family's whip handed down since Leon's time. "Do you think, if Julius is dead, he'd be resurrected?"

Everyone fell silent when he asked that question. Sora looked like she wanted to answer, but decided against it.

"I don't think that power spread outside of Transylvania," Mazier murmured, "Or even the graveyard. No one here felt it...."

"I did, but then again, I was closer to the ruins," Lilith said.

Clara looked around and sighed. "Have Sonia or Maria said anything yet?"

Alucard shook his head, as did Lilith. Sora looked at Maria and grimaced. "She needs to feed, badly, even if it's something she doesn't want."

"We've tried," Mazier said coolly. "She won't drink."

"Would the temptation become too great if she waited a couple more hours?" Eric asked.

"It may," Alucard replied, "but the first thing we must do is find the other Belmonts and bring them back here and rejuvenate their strength."

"How do we convince them that we don't want to hurt them?" Kurt asked.

"They're all too weak to fight back, I imagine," Markus answered, "Just be gentle and don't make any signs of a threat, and we should all be good to go."

"What do we do with Sonia and Maria?" Eric asked.

Alucard looked at both of the weakened women. "Keep them here. Sora, would you mind watching them in case anything goes wrong?"

Sora looked up as she was addressed, and shrugged. "Sure, no problem. What if Maria needs to feed? I'm not exactly someone with a body weight who can handle giving up a lot of blood..."

"The med bay has a few bags of blood in the freezer," Eric told her.

"Why do you have blood bags in your freezer?"

"In case someone gets injured too badly and needs a transfusion. Alright, Clara, I think you and I should handle Juste and Sypha; they should be letting out extreme amounts of magical energy, so you could detect them. Mazier, Lilith, you both knew Richter pretty well, so try and find him. Kurt, Markus, look for Leon, and Alucard, you look for Trevor."

"What about D? What do I do if he comes back?" Sora asked.

"Explain where we all went," Lilith told her.

"Should we try to feed them on the spot?" Markus asked.

"If possible," Alucard interjected, "but do not allow their lips or fangs to touch your flesh, unless you have vampiric or demonic blood in your bodies."

"I still think it's creepy that the Belmont family's most renowned members have been resurrected just from that locket..." Clara murmured, "And Alucard seemed really bummed when he brought Sonia back..."

Eric shrugged. "The last thing he wanted was for Sonia to become a vampire, even though she begged him to Turn her while she was on her deathbed... he blames himself for her death but at the same time would feel just as bad if she were alive today. From what I've read in the family diaries and biographies, Alucard was the only man Sonia ever loved, and Alucard told me he's never really cared for anyone as much as he did for Sonia..."

Clara nodded, and folded her arms over her chest, tucking her staff between her arms and her bosom. She and Eric were following a weak magical trail, which Clara probably guessed would be Juste.

Clara looked over at Eric, who looked as if he were trying to debate something. "What's up?" she asked.

Eric shook his head slowly. "Just thinking..."

"About Julius?"

He nodded. "What if he really is dead? He left in 2000 after having a really hard time just trying to remember anything. He wouldn't accept the Belmonts as his family, and he just up and left, leaving a note expressing his appreciation of the family's hospitality, and that he would hopefully return if he found out his past... I don't have any idea where he is right now."

Clara narrowed her eyes in thought, and then smiled. "He'll come back someday, I'm sure of it."

"Alucard told me that if he ever stayed with the family any longer, he'd go out and search for Julius. If he does, I wanna be there with him."

Clara shook her head. "No... Alucard can handle him. And hey, don't beat yourself up because he beat you and had to face Dracula; you were only fourteen years old then, and he was nineteen. The decision was made even before you picked up your swords and whips."

Eric just shrugged; he'd been told that so many times before, but he didn't care that he had been too young for the average Belmont hero. Sonia had only been seventeen when she faced Dracula, Juste the same age, and Maria was only twelve when she aided Richter in their first struggle against the vampire king.

Clara suddenly stopped, and Eric turned around to see what was wrong. "What is it?"

"We're really close. Whoever's letting off the signals is right in this area, no more than fifty feet in any direction," she told him.

"Can you tell who it might be?"

Clara shook her head. "It could be Sypha; I'd expect it if she's as weak as Maria was, but if it's not her, it's definitely Juste."

Eric nodded, and thought for a moment before saying, "You know, I'd really hate to see what Trevor looks like... he threw himself over that cliff, remember? I'd imagine his body's real beat up..."

"No, Sypha retrieved his body and repaired it with magic so it would be suitable for a funeral." Clara walked in the direction where she felt the power beginning to grow. Eric followed behind her, hoping that whoever it was hadn't managed to feed already and had become defensive.

Clara almost passed by the weak figure lying helplessly on the ground, until Eric softly called to her. She turned until she saw the frail white-haired man, half-sitting against a tree, his face marred by a painful grimace.

Juste Belmont.

"Okay, so you were right," Eric said, "What do we do with him?"

"Feed him, gag him so he doesn't bite, and go find Sypha," Clara suggested. Eric shrugged and nodded. "Alright... but how do we gag him?"

Clara knelt down and grabbed the hem of her pant leg, ripping a long piece from it, and holding it out to Eric. "Will this work?"

Eric only stared blankly at her. "I suppose."

Clara caught the dagger he lightly tossed to her, and cut her palm, kneeling next to Juste, who immediately opened his eyes when he caught the scent of blood. He seemed alarmed to see Clara, but calmed down when she spoke, "We're here to help you; don't be afraid."

She put her undamaged hand on his cheek and tilted his head back, holding the wound above his mouth, letting the blood drip onto his lips and tongue. He lapped at it for a moment before Clara pulled her hand back. Eric slowly moved behind Juste and gagged him with the torn cloth. Again, Clara reassured him, saying, "This is for our safety as well as yours, we'll take it off soon."

Eric helped him stand, and looked at Clara. "Pick up any other signals?"

"Not yet... she's been dead for so long, she might not even be letting out any kind of magic to try and save her strength..."

Eric nodded, and thought for a moment, his expression growing worried. "...What if Taryn found her first? He honored her as an ancestor, what if he plans to use her?"

Clara fell silent, and sighed. "...Let's get Juste back to the estate and wait for everyone else."

By the time Clara and Eric had returned, Alucard had found Trevor and brought him back, and Kurt and Markus brought Leon back to the estate. Mazier and Lilith were still out searching for Richter.

Sora was relieved to see Clara, and stood, walked over to her, and folded her arms over her chest as she stood directly in front of her. "Yo, Clara? Don't leave me here to baby-sit again." Then she left and sat back down.

Clara blinked, giving her friend a puzzled stare, and quirked an eyebrow. "Things not go well?"

"Maria's still not feeding, and they're boring as hell to watch. I'd take a hyperactive two-year-old with a mountain of sugar over those two."

Eric looked around at all of them, and winced. "We don't have enough spare blood to get them up to health... someone will have to run to the blood bank tomorrow..."

"Or the emergency room tonight," Kurt suggested, "Aren't hospitals always open?"

Eric stared blankly at the young man before shrugging. "Alright, that sounds cool. The Belmonts aren't questioned when we ask for blood... how many bags do you think we'll need? Start with seven and play it by ear from there?"

"Ten," Sora said, "They're not the only bloodsuckers here, and quite a few of us haven't fed in awhile."

"She has a point," Clara murmured, "Hey, has anyone seen D?"

"Anyone even care?" Sora asked, only grinning when Clara threw her an angry glare.

"Maybe we should just wait for him to come back; he may be out trying to find Taryn," Eric suggested. Clara shook her head.

"Taryn's more than likely at the ruins, and I can't sense any kind of disturbances in the area," she said, "Does anyone want to go out and look for him?"

"No." The reply came from both Sora and Alucard. Everyone else stared blankly at both of them.

"I'd do it," Markus said to Clara, "but... I'm not really well known to you all..."

"I don't know the area," Kurt said, almost upset that he couldn't help. Clara shrugged off Kurt's offer.

"I could go with Markus," Eric offered, and then looked over towards the Incubus. "That is... if it's alright with you."

"I don't mind," Markus replied, shrugging.

Clara nodded, her eyebrows knit together. She walked over to Eric and stopped in front of him, folding her arms over her chest. "If anything, and I mean anything bad happens to either of you, get your butts back here."

"Yes, Mother." Eric smiled at her, kissing her forehead. Clara smiled back and turned towards the two Dunpeals and Kurt.

"I'll go to the blood bank. Al, Sora, Kurt, do you think you can watch over the Belmonts, and maybe get them into some of the guest rooms?" Clara asked. Alucard and Kurt nodded, while Sora just gave her a thumbs-up.

Eric and Markus were still out when Clara returned from the blood bank, and all the Belmonts were still weak, save Sonia, who was the only one so far who had fed, and she could hardly do anything other than move on her own. Mazier and Lilith were still gone, too, and Clara had begun to worry.

They began to attempt to feed the Belmonts, failing at first, but as soon as they smelled the blood, they drank the bags dry. Naturally, they were all ashamed of what they had done, and wouldn't touch another bag afterwards, so everyone decided to take them to individual guest rooms. Clara had helped Juste and Maria, Sora took Trevor and Leon, and Kurt was just doing what he could to help anyone with difficulty. Sonia refused to let anyone but Alucard help her with anything, so he was the one to assist her.

It had felt both awkward and relieving to hold Sonia again; Alucard was still in mourning over her death, but he knew that, even if she was in his arms again now, she was still dead, and would eventually have to be put to rest. She seemed to realize this, as well.

Alucard helped her sit down on the bed, but did not sit next to her. Sonia only gazed up at him, her soft blue eyes holding a sort of longing. Alucard couldn't think of anything to say, and his eyes fell from hers.

"You should rest, Sonia... you are still weak," he told her, "My room is just across from yours, so if you should require anything, do not hesitate—"

"Do not leave," she whispered, her voice not as harsh as it had been earlier. Alucard's eyes widened a little bit, surprised at how her voice sounded. She weakly lifted her hand, holding Alucard's. "We have been without each other for so long... please, stay."

Alucard swallowed, drawing in a shaky breath. He had wanted her to say that, refusing to impose upon her by just staying without her consent. He looked at her again, and smiled gently. "Of course, Sonia." He knelt in front of her, holding her hands in his own.

Sonia looked down at him, and then patted the space next to her. "Sit, please..." her voice was just above a whisper. Alucard did as she asked, and allowed her to move his arm around her shoulders. She seemed sad. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"Strange," she replied, "weak... but I'm a little better now..." she looked up at him, and gave him a light smile. Alucard returned it, and kissed her forehead.

"Did you keep the promise that you made to me?" Sonia asked.

Alucard nodded, then paused. "Well... to a point."

"How so?"

"You made me promise to love again, while you could live with one love in your mortal life... and I did... but it was nothing like I expected it to be."

"Did she love you?"

Alucard sighed, and shook his head. "No... I have a daughter in another dimension, however."

Sonia let out a soft laugh. "And the other promise?"

"Yes," Alucard said, "Trevor never learned of his lineage. I only told Sypha, and she even swore to not tell. The Belmonts only found out in this generation..."

"Who is our latest descendant?"

"Eric Belmont, but the last to defeat Dracula was Eric's older brother, Julius. Clara Belnades, the young girl you may have seen earlier, is a descendant of Trevor and Sypha's line."

"There were two lines?"

"Trevor and Sypha did not marry, but they had two illegitimate children, which took the Belmont name for only a few generations before taking back the Belnades name. The current Belmont line came from Trevor and his wife."

Sonia nodded, leaning her head against Alucard's chest. "How long has it been since my passing?"

"Nearly five and a half centuries. Currently we are in the second, nearly third year of the twenty-first century," Alucard told her. He couldn't believe how happy he was just being able to hear her voice and know it was real. Vampire or not, Alucard suddenly didn't care. He wanted her to stay. It sounded weak for his character, but even after five hundred years, Alucard had still remained in mourning over her death.

"May I ask you something?" Alucard asked.

"Of course."

"What is death like?"

Sonia shook her head. "It is terrible. Most people want it, claiming it to be the ultimate release, but... it is anything but that."

"Can you describe it?"

Sonia drew in a deep breath, thought for a moment, and continued. "Have you ever had a dream where... you know it is a dream, but you cannot wake up? That is what it is like... you relive your life over and over again, and you hurt more because you know it is not real... I suppose the only good thing is that you can skip between memories and relive your best ones over and over... but... if you dwell too long on good memories, you can end up in the worst ones... I tried to see just the good, but... whenever I began to feel even the slightest bit happy, my memories would turn bad... the worst ones were when you left... when I injured you in Dracula's castle, and having to go through my pregnancy without you by my side."

Alucard fell silent; he knew he would hurt her when he left, and what was worse, he knew she was pregnant in Dracula's castle, and left her to fight on her own. Perhaps he just didn't want her to be bogged down with worries of him.

"Morian helped me through the pregnancy, however," Sonia said, and looked up at Alucard, "yes, your brother came to my aid after you left; he abandoned Dracula's servitude, and helped me through my pregnancy, and even came with me to Walachia when I was banished, and stayed with me so that Trevor would have some sort of father figure, but he left when Trevor matured."

Alucard tried to not noticeably wince. It was enough that Morian had abandoned him and Sonia so suddenly to work for Dracula, but he was the one who told him of the child growing in Sonia's belly just as he was leaving the castle. "I was such a fool for abandoning you, Sonia..."

"Is Morian still here?"

Alucard sighed. "...He lives still, if that is what you mean."

Sonia nodded slowly, understanding. "Alucard?"

"Yes?"

"...Do not let me die again... I truly wish not to return to that nightmare."

Alucard glanced down at her, unsure of what to say at first, before holding her a little closer. If he had known death was truly as bad as she said it was, he would have heavily considered her request of having him Turn her. "I shall do my best, Sonia."

"One thing I wanna ask is: if the Belmonts are Vampires now, why are we all helping them?"

D didn't reply to the question, nor did he intend to dwell on it. He himself had been thinking the same thing. Taryn was probably manipulating all of them, and waiting until just the right moment to have them attack, but everyone was fooled into thinking the Belmonts were innocent pawns in this. He had left the estate before all of the Belmonts had been brought back, and could still tell that one, maybe two, were still out in the wilderness.

"What will you do when you get back? Are you going to find one of the missing Belmonts?"

"Be quiet," D ordered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his glove.

"Oh, c'mon, D, not the glove!"

D said nothing as he slid his left hand into the glove, silencing the parasite which dwelled in his left hand. It could still talk to D in his mind, but it wouldn't disturb the area around them.

For some reason, D didn't want to have anything to do with the vampiric Belmonts. Especially Sonia, if she and Alucard had renewed their love.

Taryn was surely at the ruins still, and D didn't know what to expect if he attacked the sorcerer head-on. Should he wait until Clara and her friends went with him? Clara was still in disbelief about this all, Eric wasn't exactly the strongest Belmont, and Sora... the only reason she would fight would be to protect Clara.

D sighed as he came to a conclusion; he wouldn't go after Taryn now, but rather, with everyone else. He turned around to head back to the estate, which wasn't too far away, but halted.

In front of him, a Belmont, his burial clothes soiled with dirt and blood, stood, a Hunter's whip which he was probably buried with, in his hand.

Richter.

Markus landed on the ground, folding his wings behind his back. Eric came up from behind him, following the Incubus on foot while he took to the air.

"Did you see Taryn?" Eric asked.

Markus shook his head. "No... he may be underground... didn't you tell me he found a chamber underground that hadn't collapsed?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't know where it is. D told us, and I don't think he even knows."

"Do you want to head back?"

Eric shook his head. "No. We came here to find Taryn, and I'm not leaving until we find out what he's up to. You can leave if you want."

"No, I was just wondering."

Eric and Markus walked out of the forest, seeing the ruins ahead. Eric narrowed his eyes, feeling the strong magical aura in the area. "Taryn's either gotten stronger, or someone's with him..."

"Sypha?" Markus asked.

"God, I hope not."

When they reached the ruins, Eric was the first to run to the center of the site and look around, searching for any sort of entrance to the underground chamber.

Markus looked around from where he stood, grimacing. "I... don't see anything."

"There's gotta be something," Eric said, "A door, or just a hole... something!"

"If by door you mean a stone slab of some such covering the entrance, that's impossible," Markus told him, "it'd be too heavy for anyone to lift."

"Not a sorcerer with strong magic."

Markus crossed his arms and looked around even more. He tried to use his powers to follow any human presence he felt, but the magic power in the air was too overwhelming. "Is there any place where this power is the strongest?"

"I'm feeling the same throughout it all..."

"I'd use some kind of blast of energy, but I'm afraid to."

"Ditto, but my solution would be holy water... the magic's clearly anything but white magic."

Markus nodded, and knelt down near the ground. "...I'm an Incubus... if I could detect Taryn's soul, I could find him."

"Is it dangerous?"

"If I do it wrong, I'll go into a hunger craze and kill half a town."

Eric grimaced. "And how often do you mess up?"

"Not a lot, but if Taryn has enough magic that you say, and if he has someone like, say, Sypha, down there with him... I'm not going to try it."

"Good idea," Eric said, nodding quickly. "What if... he wants Clara here?"

"Huh?"

"He wants her, no one else. Do you think if Clara were here, he'd open the entrance?"

Markus narrowed his eyes, staring at the young Belmont. "Um... she won't be alone, will she?"

"No, most likely Sora, Gramps, and I will go, but everyone else can follow if they want. There's no way I'm leaving Clara alone with an incestuous brother who killed half his family just looking for her."

"Do you want to head back?"

"Yeah, but I also don't want to make it look like we came here for nothing."

"Well, we didn't... we found out that there's definitely some people with him, if there's this much of a magic presence, so we at least know we're going to need more than just weapons."

Markus had a point. The only problem with that point was that, other than weapons, that meant magic, and in the group, Clara and Alucard were the only ones with any extensive knowledge of magic. Sora knew hardly any spells other than a few very weak healing spells, Lilith knew of some telekinesis and basic black magic spells, both Lilith and Mazier had their vampiric shape shifting abilities, although Lilith used hers more than Mazier did his. Eric only knew that Kurt could teleport, which was helpful in very dangerous situations, but he didn't know if Taryn's magic could intercept him at any moment. D didn't look like he used magic at all.

"You're right," Eric said finally, "Yeah... let's head back."

Sora all but fell back on her bed, actually exhausted for once. It had been awhile since she had gotten a good night's rest, and getting Trevor and Leon to cooperate wasn't exactly the easiest task.

She rolled over on her side, groping around her for a corner of the blanket beneath her so she could pull it over her. Not only was she tired, she was hungry. Smelling the blood that was being fed to them drove her crazy. Clara offered her one, but Sora turned it down, afraid the blood would make her crave more and that she would end up hurting Clara or Kurt.

Finding the edge of the blanket, Sora moved just enough so she could pull it out from under her and then proceed to wrap it around her, but something stopped her. She heard a whip crack outside, and she paused, opening her eyes. Eric? Sniffing the air, she caught the scent of death in the air. No, it wasn't Eric...

"Damn it," Sora groaned, getting up and heading for the door, "Whatever it is out there better be edible, cuz I'm fuckin' tired and hungry."

She could then smell blood, and she knew something was wrong. She began to run for the entrance hall, pulling open the doors when she got there and running out. Yes, she was idiotic, knowing she had gone out to face a possible duel, and not bring her sword with her, but she had her fists and fangs.

Sora halted upon seeing the first person. "D?" She was about to just scoff and turn away until she saw that he was wounded, and not to mention the fact that Sora felt a pair of eyes glaring at her. She glanced in another direction, seeing the Belmont, and recognizing him from his portrait inside the estate.

Richter Belmont, the man who was probably the most famous, and strongest, in the family's history. Sure, Simon Belmont had fought and killed Dracula three times, but Richter had saved his future wife and sister-in-law from him, managed to conquer his possession without going insane only one year later, and then helped the mother of Alucard's daughter by protecting her against one of Dracula's generals and her fledgling.

"Sora, find help," D told her, cradling an injured arm.

"I would," Sora said, trying not to move suddenly, knowing that Richter somehow knew she was part Vampire, thus, a threat, "But the only people inside are Clara, Kurt, and Al." And everyone knew Alucard would do anything but help D, from the way he acted around him.

Damn it, Richter must have caught something and fed from it while still out, probably something like a nest of rabbits, because Sora smelled blood coming from him. Whatever he fed from, it made him strong enough to move on his own without help. Her eyes fell down to his side, where he held a common Hunter's Whip, the braided leather loose and frayed from age, but it had not lost its effect if used right, from what Sora saw of D's wounds.

"Can you move?" Sora asked, not taking her eyes off of Richter.

"Yes, but he's too fast."

Sora pinched her eyebrows together, trying to think of what to do. If he attacked, Sora knew how to dodge a whip, just from training with Eric. Richter began to move towards her now, and Sora moved back at the same speed in which he came towards her. She didn't know exactly how strong one lash could be, but she knew that at the distance away from him she was right now, she was not out of the whip's range.

"Sora!" Eric's voice shot through the air suddenly. Sora's head instinctively moved to where the sound came from, and the next thing she knew, the whip was around her throat, tight. She fell to the ground, moving her hands up to try and pull it away, but she couldn't slip a finger between the leather and her throat. She could barely breathe, but with one more tug of the whip, she found herself suffocating.

She tried to call for Eric, but she only ended up trying to gasp for more air. She distantly heard the crack of another whip, and Richter's whip suddenly loosened. Sora tore it away from her neck, coughing and gasping for air. She looked up, seeing Eric holding Richter down, the Vampire Killer wrapped around the wrist that had held the Hunter's Whip.

"Are you alright?" Markus asked, kneeling next to Sora and helping her stand. Her hand was at her throat, rubbing where the whip had been. She nodded slowly. "Help Eric, I've gotta get the first aid kit," she said, hurrying back inside, hearing Eric and Markus restraining Richter to bring him inside.

Sora ran to the med bay, grabbing a small first aid kit, a can of antiseptic spray, and some extra bandages. She ran outside, finding D trying to use his sword as a crutch to stand. Sora hurried over to him, easing him back down. "Don't move, I've gotta see how bad your wounds are," she told him, turning her attention to the aid kit.

"I'll be fine," D told her, still trying to stand. Sora frowned.

"No! You can barely stand, and--," Sora paused as D stood up without any help now, picking up his sword and sheathing it. Sora stared up at him in disbelief before standing. "Wait..." She looked at his wounds, watching as they closed on their own. "How..."

"I told you, I'm fine. I am not unlike you, Sora," he said simply, turning on his heel to go back inside, but walking slowly, probably because his legs were still weak.

Not unlike her? What did he mean by that? Sora gathered up the kit, slowly following him until it dawned on her, and she stopped abruptly. "Wait."

D stopped, only slightly turning to face her. "What is it?"

"Not unlike me... are you saying... you're a Dunpeal, too?"

A long silence passed between them both. Sora only glared at him, not angrily, but in curiosity.

Finally, D exhaled heavily, his expression softening.

"Yes," he replied.