A/N- My internet is down again. So my updates will be few and far between. I'm trying my best, though, to finish up some of my fanfics. I have a few more planned--I want so desperately to a Castlevania/Harry Potter crossover. I'll pull it off eventually. Thanks for the reviews on this one, it seems to be my most popular fic!

Disclaimer- I don't own it. It belongs to Konami.

Chapter 8

Sage had never flipped through a book so fast in her entire life. She needed a spell, a spell that would help Adrian and her find Maria's soul.

It honestly shocked her how much she wanted to free Maria. At first, she was afraid it was because of some form of jealousy had overtaken her. As she poured over spell book after spell book, she discovered that she wanted to free Maria for the simple fact that nobody deserves to be trapped like that.

Sage's mother was related to the Renard family line, though distantly. Her mother's family line and the Renard family line had also never gotten along. Sage found herself wondering if Adrian had sensed some part of the Renard blood in her and that's why he fell for her. She shook this thought off. She would not let it distract her. She couldn't let it, for it was almost nightfall. Dracula would awaken soon and come to check on her. She needed to either give up and try again tomorrow or keep searching and think up some excuse as to why she was looking up Locater Spells.

"Good evening, Miss Sage," came Dracula's all too familiar voice.

Sage looked up. He was grinning down at her. She, as indiscreetly as she could, moved her arms to try and cover up the words on the page.

"And what are we up to this evening?" he asked pleasantly.

"Studying spells."

Well, it was the truth. Sage silently prayed that he would not carry the conversation any further.

"What kind of spells?"

No such luck. Trying not to stutter or hesitate her answer, she replied, "Locater…spells, Master."

"Why on this Earth would you want to look up those, my dear?"

"So…you…can locate enemies…when they enter your castle," she said slowly.

This seemed to satisfy him for the moment, though he didn't look anywhere near convinced.

"How was you night with my son?" he inquired. He had a wicked look in his eyes now.

Why you little…you planned last night, didn't you? You somehow knew we were going to sleep together? Sage thought. Out loud, she replied, "It was…interesting."

"Really? How so?" he pursued.

Sage found herself without an answer to this question. Dracula noticed and gave a smile. He pulled a chair up beside her and sat down.

"Was it that interesting, that you are lost for words?" he said.

"Perhaps," she replied, trying her best not to hiss the word at him.

The opening and closing of a door nearby was heard. Adrian soon appeared at the top of the stairs. He walked over and gave a slight bow. Dracula and Sage both inclined their heads in acknowledgement.

"Good evening, Father," he said. Dracula stood.

"What are you doing here? I thought I gave you specific instructions to feed the creatures at the castle entrance," he asked of his son.

"I did."

This conversation intrigued Sage. Dracula had deliberately sent Adrian to the very entrance of the castle, no doubt because he wanted to be alone with Sage. This raised another question of why.

"We shall see. A good evening to you both," Dracula said, giving a swift bow and exiting from the room.

Once they both heard the door close, Sage turned to Adrian. "Did you really feed all of the creatures in the entrance?"

"Yes, I did. You forget, just as he did, I'm very adept at magic."

Sage gave a grin at this statement. Now that she had thought about it, she had never seen him do any magic. Leaving this thought behind, she began to flip through the spell book again.

"Found anything?" Adrian asked after a moment's silence.

"A few, but I'm not sure they'd be powerful enough to break through the spells your father must've used to hide the globe. I'm going to try them, anyway," she answered. He smiled at her. "What?"

"Nothing," he said. She returned his smile.

"We'll try these spells tomorrow morning, when most of everything sleeps in this castle. Until then, I need to get back to the spells Dracula wants me to look for."

"Then I leave you in peace, my dear. Good evening."

He left. Sage copied down the spells she needed and slipped them inside a pocket of her dress. She was anxious to perform the spells, which meant that this was going to be a long night.

End Notes: Okay, I have to end this here. I need to take just a little bit and think of what needs to happen before I end this fic. I know not much happened here, but maybe a few things mentioned here will come into play later, eh? Anyway, thanks for all the reviews. I usually don't do what I'm about to do, but I'm going to make an exception for one of my reviewers. I need to point this one out. Starglade--goodness I hope I got your name right, which is one of the reasons I don't point out reviewers--Sage sounds like a paper doll? I've never heard it put like that before. To be quite honest, I like this phrase. Mind if I borrow it sometime? Anyhow, on this subject, unfortunately her "paper dollness" is a trap I've fallen into and can't seem to get out of. I always have this problem with my OCs. I hope to correct this before the fic ends. If not…well, maybe I'll do a sequel.