Chapter 1: A tale of two Alucards?
"…and they said that he is in Dracula's castle, which is right now, right across from the Belmont Ruins, Grandfather" said a female voice, full of confliction and confusion after telling him what she was told by two strangers she met.
"Hmm. Well, I always said to never trust a Belmont, but a Speaker Magician is another story" said the Grandfather, just as confused about the tale himself. "Speaker Magicians always speak the truth about everything, that's why churches hate them so goddamn much. So I see no reason to not trust….er, what was her name? Sylvia?" he asked.
"Sypha Belnades, Grandfather" said the female voice, speaking matter-of-factually.
"Ah yes, thank you, Crina" said the Grandfather to the female, now known as Crina. "Well, either way, take it with a grain of salt. But then again, you often go to the Belmont Ruins, don't you?" he asked.
Crina nodded, "Yes Grandfather. I haven't been there for a while, and I'm sure those flowers are in bloom at this time of the year. I should go harvest some for powder and such" she said, "But, if the story is true and he is there, I should probably ask him for permission" she suggested, trying to be positive.
"But then again," Crina's Grandfather started, "it could be that it was a faker pretending to be Adrian Tepes and is just using the castle for a show" he said, bitterness filling his tone at the very thought of that.
"I'm sure it's not that, Grandfather. They wouldn't have told me this story if they didn't witness that themselves" Crina said, trying to stay true to her story.
"Perhaps, but for now," her Grandfather said as he gave a big yawn, "it's bedtime. And I believe you need to be up early to hunt for dinner. If you can, see about getting a duck or something. I could go for some good roasted duck or something" he said, moving himself out of the chair that he was currently sitting in to get up and move.
Crina immediately got up and went to her ailing Grandfather's side to help him get to his bed without falling. After making sure that he was all good to sleep, she moved to his face.
"I'll see what I can get. We may have to stick with just fruits and vegetables again, but I'll see what I can do" Crina said with a gentle smile. She then leaned in and kissed her grandfather goodnight. "Sleep well, Grandfather. I'll see you in the morning" she said.
With a final grunt from the elderly man, Crina shut her door and made her way from his room down the hall and up the stairs to her own room to prepare herself for sleep. But with a mind like hers, sleep may be impossible, as thoughts of all she was told about Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes filled her mind. It was then that she made a promise to herself. That tomorrow, after ate breakfast and hunted for dinner, she would go to the ruins to see if indeed Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades spoke the truth. As she finished her thoughts, sleep eventually found her and she shut off her brain for the night.
_*v*v*v*_
The next morning came and just as she had promised her Grandfather, Crina went and got a duck for dinner that night along with different wild herbs for seasoning and seeds for the garden behind her parent's beloved stone house.
Although her father wasn't around, he wasn't dead, just often away on trips to different cities and towns, away to expand his knowledge of the lands beyond his beloved home in Wallachia. Crina's mother, on the other hand, was often home to keep watch of the house, and she was always one to tell others who was the one who wore the pants in the house. Here's a hint, it's not Crina's father. Regardless, Crina's mother supported her family with love and care, something that people these days say is hard to find.
Once Crina finished her breakfast of Deer Drob* and fresh vegetables, she made her way upstairs to gather some supplies for her other promise: to go and see about the Belmont Ruins. Pulling out her adventuring outfit, which consisted of her thigh length short sleeved green tunic, cream colored long sleeve turtleneck, red brown knee long pants and dark brown boots, she then got dressed. Taking her waist long raven hair, she parted it into two halves and wrapped both in two dark brown ribbons, making sure no stray strands will get in her face as she explored. After gathering her pack, filling it with her father's distance goggles, a sketchbook, a journal, a pouch for flowers and herbs, and a small sack for other interesting items, she then made her way downstairs to grab some food for a possible outdoor lunch.
"Heading out to the ruins again, Crina?" asked her mother as she was working on the duck. The smell of both rosemary and parsley filled Crina's nose as her mother chopped away at the herbs while she nodded at the lady's question.
"Yep, gonna see about those flowers that bloom around the manor. One of father's books says that the flowers have a special power against creatures of the night. But I wanna find out for myself if that's true" Crina explained.
"I thought you were gonna see about that rumor those two travelers told you about?" called Crina's Grandfather from the table.
"That too, Grandfather, but I gotta see about those flowers as well. If Father's book reads the truth, then maybe they can help others too" Crina said as she finished gathering her lunch.
"Welp, I'm off" Crina said as she made her way to the door.
"Hold it, young lady. Aren't you forgetting something?" her mother said as she looked over her shoulder.
Crina looked at her weirdly but then realized what it was she was missing.
"Oh, right. Cloak. Thanks Mother" she said as she ran upstairs to grab her missing garment.
The cloak in question was a hip long crimson red cloak with gold trimmings in the pattern of a winding dragon, something that her father got her while traveling to Norway a few years back. Since it was getting cold out, Crina's mother was strict about making sure her family was warm, from the clothes to the amount of firewood burning, and today was no exception.
"Alright, now I'm officially heading out. I'll be back in time for dinner" Crina said as she made her way out, just barely hearing the comments from her family as she closed the door behind her. Moving to the stable behind the house, Crina got her mare, Gabi, saddled up and rode off toward the Belmont estate, unsure of what to find or even see.
_*v*v*v*v*v*v*_
After a good hour of riding, Crina eventually made her way to a cliff that overlooked the Belmont Ruins. Normally, the view from the cliff would include a vast array of beautiful trees starting to show signs of new life in the early spring, but this time, Crina was in for a shock as right there, before her and across from the Belmont Ruins, in all it's dark and gloomy glory, was Dracula's castle.
"Well I'll be damned, those two were right. The castle is here…." Crina said to herself as she looked off in both shock and amazement. She then looked down at the ruins below and saw some movement. For a moment, her heartbeat started to speed up a bit with excitement.
"Is that him? Is that Adrian?" she said. She then quickly fumbled through her bag and pulled out her father's goggles. After a moment of adjusting the rims so that she could see clearly, she focused on the figure moving.
Though it was slightly hard to keep still, Crina eventually found herself eyeing what was moving so steadily. It was indeed a human, with long blonde hair and a thin looking figure, but this figure appeared more feminine than masculine from what she could see. Of course, being on a cliff at least 50 meters away from said sight would cause some form of confusion on the appearance of the target, but she didn't let that bother her. What mattered was that Trevor and Sypha were right. Well, at least Sypha was, as Crina was willing to admit. The Belmont, not so much. Either way, she had to see about those flowers at the ruins, but she didn't want to cause a problem with the person in the castle as she didn't want to disturb him by trespassing.
"Hmmm, maybe it's better not to explore the Ruins today, since it's clear that there is new ownership of the place" Crina said to herself as she weighed her options. After a little more thought, she came to a conclusion. "I'll at least draw the castle to let Grandfather see for himself, and then tomorrow morning, after I hunt, I'll see if I can talk to him about getting the flowers" she said, nodding to herself about the plan.
She then looked through the goggles again to look at the castle when something caught her eye, specifically, two items at the entrance, which froze her blood at the sight.
Two bodies, both on spikes, pinned roughly 12 to 18 meters apart from each other at the bottom of the staircase. This only meant one thing: Danger, do not enter.
"Wait, this can't be right….the Adrian Tepes that Grandfather talked about wouldn't do such a thing…." Crina said to herself. She then went back through her mind to her plan and decided then to make a change. "Maybe I'll go in really early, to not only get the flowers, but also see if the bodies are in fact people. Cause if they're animals, maybe he's attracting predators to hunt. I remember seeing some people use such bait while out in the woods…." She said to herself as she went through her mind of past experiences.
Once she went over the new plan in her mind again, she then got out her sketchbook and started to draw the castle and ruins. It was going to be a long boring day, but at least she had a plan for the next day. All she had to do now was to figure out what to say to said person if she was found out, and more importantly, show that she was a friend and not a threat. But that was for later, as for now, it was best to continue her drawing as her Grandfather was going to be very surprised about this.
Author's notes:
Hello everybody! After so long, I got into the series and decided to try my luck with this idea. It may not make sense at first, but please bear with me as more chapters will hopefully bring answers to you all. A comment would be appreciated to let me know what you think as it helps my confidence in this story. And if you have any criticism, please keep it to positive criticism as past incidences have caused me to go into a hiatus. Long story for another day *wink*
Now for some fun facts:
*This dish is a twist on a traditional romanian dish called Lamb Drob, a meat loaf made from the offal of lamb such as the liver, heart, kidneys, etc. and combined with spices. Figured that it would be a good breakfast dish for a family living off the land and hunting for food.
-The main character's name, Crina, means Lily in Romanian.
-In season 2 episode 3 where the main trio arrives at the Belmont Hold, there are flowers that grow around the ruins. Those flowers are being referenced in this story. Don't know if they are an easter egg or not, but I'm gonna put my own twist on them since they seem to have grown at the estate for years. Wait and see what happens. Also, if anyone knows what sort of flowers they are, let me know. Much appreciated as they look like morning glories of some sort.
-If you're curious about the goggles, binoculars didn't exist during the 15th century, so this was the best substitute I had. Besides, there are a lot of glasses related items in the Castlevania series, so why not add a little something to the group?
That's all I got for now. Let me know what you think and I'll post as soon as I can. Thank you for your time.
