Alucard did not have much time. The Christening was scheduled for Sunday, only five days away. Just enough time for the new Archbishop to arrive from Targoviste to administer the sacrament. Therefore, he asked Greta, the godmother, who was aware of his plans, to handle the preparations for the ceremony and the subsequent feast. He would be spending all his free time either in the Belmont Hold studying that family's art of forging sacred weapons (meant to kill his own kind no less – 'I must be some sort of sick masochistic bastard,' he thought to himself), or in the dungeons of the castle where his father's (well, it was his now he supposed) forge was located.
'Ha!' he voiced his thought, 'There is more irony in that than you could shake a stick at!'
The last laugh may just be on himself. Or maybe this was how it was meant to be. The half vampire, half human remakes a holy weapon titled 'Vampire Killer' using Dracula's own forge.
He could not stop himself from laughing out loud.
Greta just so happened to be passing his door at that moment and heard his mirth. Poking her head in she smiled and asked, "What is so funny?"
Alucard got up and stalked toward her wrapping his hands around her waist and rocking her lovingly in his embrace.
"Oh, it is nothing," he told her, looking over her head, "I'm sure you'll hear all about it on Sunday." Dropping his eyes to hers he asked, "How are the preparations coming along?"
"Oh, just fine," she replied, sliding her hands around his back and swaying with him, "Trevor has staked out the location for the future church and wishes to have the archbishop consecrate the ground and then baptize the child on the spot where the altar will be."
"I find it ironic that they chose me to be the boy's godfather. I have no religious background. If anything, my father and his kind have always been associated with the forces of darkness. My mother, even though she raised me with Christian values, was burned at the stake by the bloody church! One might easily assume I would want nothing to do with that institution, and rightfully so!"
"Of course, Trevor thought of that. You know he loves to torture you," she said with a quirk of her lips and gave him a squeeze.
"Precisely!" emphasized Alucard, "Has he ever considered what might happen if I get splashed with the holy water? He has asked me to play an active role in a religious ceremony, an integral part of which involves the liberal application of a substance used to kill or main my people. Add to that, you now tell me, the bishop will hallow the ground on which this rite is to take place! Can I even walk on that? Has Trevor considered any of these issues!?"
"Again, the answer is: of course, he has. Alucard, you walk around in the daylight and have not turned to ash and drifted off on the breeze. I know you have eaten garlic and yet you are still here. Didn't you even spend a year sleeping on 'hallowed ground' in the catacombs underneath the cathedral in Gresit?"
"Well…," he fished. "The cathedral had been defiled by night creatures," he was grasping at straws, "like the cyclops that almost killed Sypha!"
"Was the cyclops there when you tucked yourself into that coffin you called a bed?" she teased.
"Um, no," he reluctantly admitted. "Still," he avowed, "I think Trevor wants to get me killed!"
"No," Greta asserted. "It is precisely the opposite," she poked him in the chest, "He wants you to live! He is challenging you, much like you told me your mother did with your father, because she loved him," she gave him a shake. "He is encouraging you to explore your human half. Not to mention he also likes to push your buttons," she teased and used two hands to pantomime pushing buttons on his chest, "and it works," she smirked at him. "But mostly," she slid her hands up and around his neck, "they chose you because they love you, they trust you, and they want you to be a part of their child's life."
Alucard knew all this. It was just hard for him sometimes to believe that, after being lonely and friendless for so long, there were people out there who truly cared for him. One of the most significant being the one in his arms right now. His look softened as he stared into her dark brown eyes.
"Thank you, Greta," he said earnestly.
"For what?" she asked.
"For being my friend."
"I was hoping that I was a little bit more than a friend," she smiled and winked.
"You are," he replied with a smirk, and captured her lips in a kiss.
….oOo….
Greta returned to the kitchen to make preparations for the feast while Alucard traipsed off to the Hold to do some research. As he crossed the Belmont town square, the space between the castle and the Hold, he saw a group of speakers also heading in that direction. They noticed him approaching as they were about to descend and waited for him. He stepped onto the platform and thanked them for holding it for him. As they began their descent he caught part of a conversation between some of the speakers.
"I couldn't believe that she got married in the Church."
"After all her protestations and vows of disbelief, why did she hitch her wagon to that man and his beliefs?!"
"And now to have her child baptized into that faith… the child should be raised as a speaker."
"She didn't have to marry him. We would have taken her with us and helped her."
Alucard couldn't help it he had to interject himself into the conversation and defend his friends.
"Excuse me, gentleman," he said politely, "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation."
The speakers were not at all offended and kindly welcomed his intrusion. They had discovered early on in their acquaintance with the Domnul (Lord of the Manor) that Alucard was highly respectable and quite learned. He didn't say much but anything he did say was worth listening to.
"I have observed Sypha ever since she left your company," he began, "and I can tell you definitively, she believes in God. She may have thought he hated her, but she did believe in Him. Every day she witnessed Trevor defeat the powers of darkness with his holy weapons. His faith, despite the Church's treatment of his family, stayed true. Sypha could not spend so much time with Trevor and not be affected by this. It was for this same reason she fell in love with him. He is strong, loyal, brave, and compassionate. They each challenge the other to be a better person, and so they are. If that does not constitute true love, I don't know what does."
Many of the speakers lowered their eyes and Alucard could tell they were thinking about what he had said.
"As speakers I am surprised to find you so antagonistic about the church," Alucard interrogated, "That might be understandable though, taking into account the way some of the clergy have been behaving to your people, as well as others, here in Wallachia as of late," he said with a grimace, thinking of the church's highly unjust treatment of his mother, "However, have none of you memorized 'Confessions' by Augustine of Hippo, or 'Summa Theologica' by Thomas Aquinas? If not, I highly recommend them as extremely insightful of Catholicism. All volumes of each are conveniently located right here in the Hold."
By this time, they had arrived at the bottom level of the Hold.
"One more thing," added Alucard, "I do believe this wonderful, extensive collection of books," he said, turning in a circle as he gestured at the vast number of volumes surrounding them, "may even have Sypha doubting the efficacy of the Speaker mission of memorization and passing down knowledge by word of mouth. There is so much more knowledge stored here than all of you could possibly store in your minds."
The Speakers thanked him for his words of wisdom and Alucard pointed them in the direction of the religious works in the Belmont collection. He himself headed toward the armament and weaponry section.
….oOo….
Alucard quickly found the Belmont Family Book of Armaments. It was a thick tome set out on a lectern surrounded by various displays of arms and armor and emblazoned with the Belmont crest. He was glad to find that it had an index and began by looking up Trevor's whip by its various names, 'Morningstar Whip,' 'Holy Whip,' 'Whip of Alchemy,' and avoiding what he considered its most offensive name, 'Vampire Killer.' He was at least satisfied to find that it was cross referenced under all three designations.
Here is some of what he found:
The whip called Vampire Killer is the Belmont Family's signature weapon. It has been wielded by a member of their clan since its founder, Leon. But Vampire Killer is no ordinary whip. It is a magical weapon whose true power only a Belmont can unlock. In their hands, it strikes down not just vampires, but demons of any kind. This restriction likely comes from the whip's origin. Leon Belmont's beloved, Sara Trantoul, sacrificed her life to imbue her soul's purity into Vampire Killer.
Infused with holy energy, the whip's tip lights up and ignites any creature of dark magic it comes in contact with, causing them to explode. The explosion is deadly for any surrounding night creatures and given its ability to instantly one-shot so many foes and greatly damage even the most powerful enemies, it stands as the Belmont's best option in ranged combat. If there is any problem with the weapon, it comes from the difficulty in using it in close quarters, where a fight matters most. As such, its real strength is in keeping enemies at bay.
This information, although educational, did not help him with the repairs that needed to be done to the weapon. It was quite well battered and damaged after Trevor's battle with Death. Turning the page however, he was happy to find detailed schematics of the weapon. He quickly memorized these and moved on to the other weapon in need of repair.
The Combat Cross was Trevor's newest weapon that he conveniently found in Targoviste, right before he broke his sword. The Combat Cross was the weapon he used in close combat when his Morningstar Whip was ineffective. Only one of the four blades was still intact. It would need the most work including a vast amount of reconstruction. Alucard realized he would probably have to corner the Archbishop before the ceremony to have him re-consecrate the newly made weapon. But he was getting ahead of himself. First, he had to find drawings for the combat cross and then reforge it. He had his work cut out for him on this one.
Finding and memorizing the dimensions and workings of the combat cross, Alucard departed the Hold to seek out the castle's forge. Along the way he sought out the Belmont town smith to aid in the process. The two of them would be quite busy for the next five days.
….oOo….
A/N: My sources for this chapter were castlevania-belmont-family-weird-facts, and castlevania-strongest-weapons. Quotes from those sites are in italics.
