Chapter 13: How about a little cleanup?
To call the ride back to the castle tense was a bit of an understatement, especially with what happened to Crina that morning.
For after a long hunting journey, she came up empty for the first time in years, only to arrive home covered in mud and blood as well as the smell of one certain animal. After a good hour long hot bath and using all the strong scented soap she could find, Crina was able to calm the smell from the formidable skunk that she stepped on, but it did not help her feel better after fighting and losing her catch to a large grizzly bear. However, despite her pride being hurt, a good but late breakfast of apple dumplings did help her a little, despite still smelling a little like a skunk. When originally, Edmund was planning to suggest Alucard joining Crina on her trade hunts, he instead figured that it was better to hold off. Alucard, however, got the idea to ask about it later since it did seem like a good idea to at least try to get to know her better.
And now, after a few hours and a few different conversations, Crina was taking Alucard back to the castle for the time, in which the latter felt like he overstayed his welcome. Despite Edmund's continuous insistence that he was welcome to come anytime, Alucard did start to get worried about the castle. Although he could walk back to the castle, he did like the idea of a house alert device, so he asked Crina to help him with that, which she agreed, as she could use something helpful and positive to cheer herself up. After a so far quite ride, Alucard looked at Crina, who appeared to be lost in thought and decided to break the silence.
"You alright?" he asked.
Crina looked at him, "Hm? Oh, yeah. I was just trying to figure out what I did wrong in bringing down my prey. It's just…normally bears wouldn't be this far up, but then again, it is spring, so they're probably going where the food is" she said, telling him her thoughts.
Alucard figured that was what she was thinking of, but then he recalled something that Trevor said before.
'We're professionals. We move where the work is'
He then gave a small chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Crina asked.
"Oh, just thinking about something that Trevor Belmont said. Although, now that I think about it, he does kinda remind me of a bear. A bear with a drinking problem" Alucard said with a smile.
"Trevor? A bear?" Crina asked. She then thought about it and then smiled, "Yeah, I can actually see that. He's big enough to be one and he can be like one when he's grumpy, as I recall when I spoke with Sypha" she added, chuckling a little bit. She then thought about Trevor's mate, "Speaking of her, I can see her as a fox" she said.
"A fox? Hmmm…" Alucard said, trailing off in thought, "I was thinking more of a deer because of her build, but with her amount of knowledge, she can be quite clever" he said.
"A deer?" Crina repeated, thinking about it, "I don't know…she is thin, but I often imagined her as more of a fox. Maybe it's her red hair. That or her good comebacks" she said with a smile.
Alucard thought about it, Sypha could be tricky if she wanted to be, as he recalled his time with her and Trevor, as well as the time she called him a teenager. So he nodded his head, "That's true, I can agree with that" he said.
"As for you…" Crina started, "You're very dog-like…maybe a wolf?" she said, "Although your eyes do remind me that of a lion" she added.
"A lion?" Alucard questioned.
"Yeah, I can't explain it, but your eyes seem to show some form of power to me, not sure why…well…that and you do have a gorgeous mane, just like a lion" Crina said with a cheeky grin.
Alucard gave an amused huff, "I do not" he said with a smile.
"Hey, you wouldn't be letting it flow freely if you weren't showing it off in some way" Crina added, still being cheeky.
Alucard gave another huff, "Perhaps" he said.
"So, how about me?" Crina asked.
"You?" Alucard thought. He then looked at her a little bit and thought about what he already knew, "I see you….as some sort of cat" he said.
"Feral or domestic?" Crina asked, eyebrow raising.
"Hmmm...feral. You hunt for your family and at the same time, you can be very independent. I see you as something of a lynx or a bobcat" Alucard said.
Crina smiled while chuckling, "Oh the irony" she said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alucard asked.
"Sorry, story for another day" Crina said, "Look, we're coming on the castle now" she added just as the castle came into view. "But before that, last question on this topic. What animal is Grandfather?" she asked, curious as to what he would say.
Just as Alucard was about to respond, a lone wild Raven was perched on a nearby tree and started cawing to the world. Both riders looked to the bird then looked away from it, deep in thought until…
"He's a Raven"
Both riders spoke in unison before realizing it and looking at each other with semi-shocked faces. Slowly they turned into small grins before breaking out in small chuckles.
"Good minds think alike apparently" Crina said inbetween snickers, looking at Alucard.
Alucard gave a small laugh as he looked at her, "Apparently so" he said.
For a moment the two of them looked at each other for a while, eyes appearing to look into each other's souls, gentle smiles adorned their faces. But when the wagon hit a small dip in the road, the two of them swerved a little, realizing they were staring at each other, making them both look away from each other with faint shades of pink on their cheeks.
"S-Sorry about that…I.." Crina said, stuttering a little bit.
"N-No…I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have stared, it was rude of me" Alucard said, stuttering back to her.
The two of them then dismounted and Crina pulled out her tin whistle, giving it a rhythmic blow and almost immediately all the birds flew from the castle, leaving their evidence upon the great castle walls. Crina took notice of this and scratched the back of her head. "Oh, seems that they decorated the castle a little. I can clean that up for you, if you'd like" she said with an apologetic smile.
Alucard looked at her and then at the castle, then back to her. "I am curious as to how you plan to do that, so please, be my guest" he said, wanting to see more of her alchemy in action.
Nodding her head, Crina then went to the wagon to get her bag, pulling out a stick that appeared to have a piece of charcoal on the end. She then proceeded to make a circle on the front doorstep, creating intricate designs to the outer inner diameter of the circle while the inner diameter consisted of a pentagon made up of five triangles, each with a different element of sorts: air, water, time, matter and light. Crina was about to do something when she realized she was missing something.
She then turned to Alucard, who was standing in the way of the wagon, "Say, you might want to duck" she said, only for Alucard to answer her with a confused look.
Crina then raised her right hand, put her middle finger and thumb together and made a loud snap. From the wagon, a flash of silver started to swing, making Alucard turn back only to duck his head low to avoid the oncoming item. The item then made its way to Crina, who then caught it and swung it down to the side, showing it was her trusty halberd.
"I told you to duck, didn't I?" she said to Alucard, making sure that he was alright.
Alucard nodded, but then looked at her, "I thought only those who had vampiric power could use magic weapons…" he said as he got back to a standing position.
"Well, yes. It's a long story, but lets just say that I get some vampiric abilities through my patron in exchange for the Blood Moons" she said, "But I will say that I'm not a cannibal in any way possible" she said, speaking strictly.
Alucard raised an eyebrow as Crina went on to finish her circle, then seeing her mark the iron front door, wondering what she meant by her choice of words. But then he recalled what she told him in regards to the Gateway's creed.
'…blood is never, EVER, taken without consent. Blood can be a form of trade payment, especially for those who have vampiric genetics…'
Alucard looked down a bit, thinking that maybe she was using vampire blood as a form of payment in exchange, but what would she want with it if she was mortal? For experiments? Surely not to drink? His mind was racing with questions when he noticed a light coming from where Crina was standing.
From the circle that the black haired woman stood, a silvery white light started to flutter from the ground. Crina twirled her halberd and struck the ground with the blunt end of her weapon, the impact sending a pulse through the land and the castle as the magic swirled from the seal to around her halberd, then herself before moving to cover the castle. Alucard watched as the magic wind shimmered on the castle like how light shimmers on moving water in a dark cave, seeing the jackdaw feces being removed and washed away. He then moved his gaze back to Crina, looking at her from behind, unsure of what she was like in the front, magic focused and determined to see her duty through. But seeing the way that her hair flows in tune with the magic surrounding the circle, it reminded him of seeing the leaves of a willow tree swaying in the wind.
Soon the magic faded and Crina stood still, putting away her halberd behind her back before looking over the castle and then turning to smile at Alucard.
"There we go, now that castle is clean on the outside" she said, a small sense of pride could be heard in her voice.
Alucard looked over the castle and saw that the castle was indeed clean, even had this weird shine to it.
"Impressive. Very impressive" he said with a small smile.
Crina chuckled, "Well, when you have a big house with 10 siblings, sometimes it's hard to get things completely clean. So restoration circles like this one are quite handy when you got so much going on and so little time to clean" she said, "We got these in every area of the house. I'm a little surprised that you, one who takes in all his surroundings, didn't notice the circles in the house" she said.
Alucard thought about this and tried to remember walking through the Lupo house. It was then that he did recall seeing a few strange circles along the walls, although they were smaller, about as small as Alucard's hand, than the one Crina was currently standing on, which was roughly the size of two beer barrels. Just thinking about circles like that, and then thinking about the castle, immediately this made him get an idea.
"Say, Crina?" he asked.
"Hm? Yes?" Crina asked back, raising an eyebrow.
"I hate to ask this of you since you have done so much for me. But,…do you um…have some time?" he asked, "I have a favor to ask of you" he said.
Crina tilted her head, unsure of what he was planning.
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"…So, just to be clear, the only room you don't want to have affected by this is your old room, correct? Not even the windows?" Crina asked as she started to prepare her chalk, which she also had on hand to use along with the charcoal pieces.
Alucard nodded, "If necessary, I'll fix those myself…" he said. As much as he appreciated the offer of fixing those windows, that room was still too hard to look into because of his father and his death.
After months of trying to figure out how he was going to repair the castle after the damage he and his father caused, it was emotionally hard for him considering that the memory of him killing his father was still fresh in his mind and the innocence of his old life was gone. He just couldn't bring himself to clean up everything, which made him feel both unproductive and depressed. But now that he had spent time with Crina, getting to know her, seeing her grandfather again after years of being away, he felt like his life was getting brighter and brighter with each passing day, knowing that close friends, true friends, are close to him. Seeing how smart, responsible and strong she can be, he figured that if anyone had an idea of how to repair the castle, it was Crina. And that was proven when she cleaned the castle earlier. And now, seeing as how she was helping him, although he felt like he was being a bit demanding for things such as this, he knew he had to pay her back eventually. And if things went well, as long as he worded things properly, he might have just the plan.
"Alright, I'd just hate for you to catch a cold from the draft that comes through there" Crina said a little worried, "Even Dhampirs and vampires get colds and flus, as I have seen in the Gateway. Good thing we have our doctors there" she said.
Alucard raised an eyebrow, but he shrugged, "I'll be alright for now" he said, "But thank you for the concern."
Crina nodded, "Now, while I set up the circle, you'll need to take off your boots" she said.
"Why would I need to do that?" Alucard asked.
"This chalk has been made with a small piece of myself, more specifically, pieces of my hair that I trimmed off a while back. By making the connections of essence between me and the chalk, the circle can do as I wish it. But since this will involve your memory, the chalk needs to have a connection that isn't covered. Your hands could be an option, but since your feet are closer for the connection, it makes sense to use them instead of your hands, which would make the connection slower. Therefore, with your boots and socks off, the chalk can connect via skin contact through your feet" Crina explained.
Alucard listened to this and nodded, seeing as how this made sense. So he sat on the nearest steps and started to undo his boots. Once his feet were cleared and open, he stood near the circle, waiting for what was next.
Crina had finished her circle, similar to the one she used earlier to clear the outside of the castle, now it was filled with different symbols: Rock, Metal, Fire, Matter and Time. Once she was satisfied with the circle, she then took a bit of charcoal and started to mark her forehead in a strange fashion, using her Halberd as a mirror of sorts.
"What are you doing to your face?" Alucard asked.
Crina looked at him, with a mark consisting of a triangle and within it, an upright infinity symbol, which looked like the number 8.
She then pointed to her forehead, "I'm creating the alchemic symbol for memory," she said, "a symbol that is considered essential for restoration circles" she explained. "I'll need to do your forehead too, Alucard" Crina added.
He raised an eyebrow, "Why?" he asked.
"Because the circle requires the memories of both the castle before and after the battle. If we just went with my memory, as one who has not seen the castle before the destruction, it wouldn't work. In order to restore the castle to its former life, we need someone with the memory of the castle before the Dracula's war" she said.
"Very well, but you're also in the circle…" the young dhampir pointed out.
"I will represent the memory of the present, since my memory of the castle is so little. Meanwhile, your childhood memories of the Castle will help put the repair into perspective. Plus, since you were part of how the castle got this way, the memories of the fight with your father will distract from the restoration, so you need to focus more on the castle of the past" she explained.
Alucard then understood everything that she was doing as of that point and it made perfect sense to him, since distractions do tend to lead to trouble. He then nodded, "Very well" he said. He then made his way over and Crina got to work on marking his forehead. Once the two of them were set, Crina had Alucard stand on the outside of the circle, toes touching the outer rim. Taking her halberd and setting it up so the base of the weapon was hovering over the circle, she then looked at Alucard.
"You ready?" she asked, receiving a nod in turn. "Alright. Now, I need you to close your eyes and in your head, slowly count to twenty while thinking back to what the castle was like before all this" she said.
Alucard nodded and gently shut his eyes. Slowing his breathing as he mentally counted to twenty and thought about the castle in the past. Just then, he felt wind rushing around him and he felt his mind going through the many halls of the great castle, taking in every single detail that he can recall of its grandeur and power, all while seeing the castle that he remembered as it once was, restored and complete. As this went on, he felt an energy gently flow through his body and through every inch of his being, but it wasn't cold or threatening, rather, it was soothing, almost like…like a gentle hand caressing his face…or rather…the gentle embrace of both his mother and father, back when they were together. More memories of the castle flooded his mind and before long, the magic faded and all turned to darkness again.
"…."
"….ard"
"…..lucard"
"Alucard?"
"Alucard! Wake up!"
The young dhampir felt himself being shaken awake as he flashed his eyes open and sat up in shock. A move that he would regret as he felt his mind swimming in consciousness. Holding his head, he looked at the young woman before him, who had a look of worry and fright.
"C-Crina? What happened?" he asked, sounding a little woozy.
Crina then gave a huge sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. I thought I might've lost you there. I forgot to tell you that there were some side effects to using the seals for the first time, especially to one of this magnitude…one of those being a loss of energy and strength. You'll regain it in about a few hours though. It's not permanent" she said. "Sorry that I forgot" she added, clearly apologetic for the whole thing.
Alucard gave a small groan at that, "Would've been nice to know that ahead, but….it matters not. How's the castle?" he asked as he tried to look around. Sadly, his swimming head prevented him from doing much.
"You can see about it later, once you've recovered from this whole thing. I'll make you something to ease your head. For now, let's get you to the nearest room" she said. She then moved to drape Alucard's arm over her shoulder and lifted him up, walking the unsteady man to the nearest bed where he could relax.
After settling him down in the nearest bed, Crina went to the kitchen, looked through the pantry and found a jar of peppermint leaves, grabbing them as she knew from experience that this was something that could help with dizziness. As she made the tea, she began to wonder if she could have anything on hand to cook for Alucard. Finding a few apples, she started to work on peeling them when she started to think about Alucard, and the look the two of them shared earlier that day. The way his long locks flow in the wind, his pale skin glowing in the sunlight, his warm golden eyes looking deep into her soul and that smile that shows both his gentle nature and compassionate heart. His curious nature as to the Gateway, his intelligence involving the sciences and history, and his witty sense of humor, all of these thoughts brought a smile to her face. He was a kind soul that needed love, after being alone for so long. She could only imagine what he was thinking, being on his own, feeling like the only one in the world who knows what he is going through. Her mind traveled back to when they first met, with his gaze cold and deadly, like he could snap her neck in two in a single attack. And now seeing him being all smiles with good people, good food and good laughs, Crina couldn't help but smile at the whole transformation that he's been through. She gave a sigh as she finished cutting the apples, recalling a small trick that she learned in the Gateway years ago, making little rabbits out of the apple slices.
However, she just then realized that she spent that entire time thinking about the man she was caring for.
'Wait…wasn't there something about having thoughts about a person like crazy that Alister told me about?' she thought.
'I'm telling you Cri, Nicoletta is always in my thoughts. She's always on my mind and I love every bit of it….I….I think I'm in love.'
Crina then paled, 'Wait….what? Oh no…no no no this can't be happening. We're just friends, nothing more. That's all we are' she thought strictly to herself as she finished making Alucard his little meal. 'No love is in my future. You have no time for it' she thought as she made her way to the halls.
Once in the room Alucard was in, Crina set the tea down.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"A little better now that I laid down…still a bit dizzy though" Alucard said.
"Here, this tea should help" Crina said as she held the cup. Gently helping Alucard to a sitting position, she handed him the tea and let him drink it. "It's peppermint tea. I saw some in the pantry and decided to make some tea with it" she said.
"Oh, right. I found that outside the castle, close to the garden actually" Alucard said, thinking back a little. After blowing on the tea a bit, he took a sip and then a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the tea. "Mmmm, this is what I needed" he said. He then turned to Crina, "Thank you, and I forgive you for earlier" he said with a smile.
Crina smiled back, "Think nothing of it. I had to make up for my mistake. Now, once your done with your tea, I cut up a few apples for you as they can help with recovering from dizziness" she said.
Alucard nodded, taking another sip of his tea and giving another sigh. However, as he did, his face fell a little.
Crina took notice of this, "What's wrong?"
"I feel like I've been taking advantage of your kindness. While I do appreciate the help, I wish to help you out with something, somehow" Alucard explained, feeling a little guilty.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Besides, it's like you said before, we're friends, Alucard, and I'm not one to leave someone in pain high and dry" Crina said, smiling.
'And meant to stay friends, I'm sure' Crina thought to herself, even though she felt a small tug at the back of her mind as she thought that.
Alucard heard that and nodded, but then he set his tea down, "Well….I may know something that I could help with, if it's alright with you" he said, looking at her.
Crina looked at him, willing to hear him out.
"I spoke with your grandfather and he said that you were a trader of sorts for the Gateway. He said that you may need help gathering items. I'm willing to help you with that if you'd like" he said.
Crina's eyebrows raised at hearing that, "Oh…you know what, that's….a great idea" she said with a growing smile, she then moved to sit on the bed, back to Alucard but head turned to him, "Considering that I did take a year off from my occupation to try and get answers on you for Grandfather, I could use the help with getting back on my feet" she said. "But are you sure about this? You don't know this land like I do. Are you willing to go to such lengths and leave the castle and ruins for days for this?" she asked, unsure if he wanted that.
Alucard thought about it, but he felt responsible for repaying back her kindness. He then looked at her in the eye and nodded, "Anything to give back to you what you have given me" he said, his voice speaking with a gentle determination.
Crina felt a shiver go up her spine as she heard that, looking away a little. Once she recomposed herself, she looked back at him, "Very well. Then I'll need to get started on that home alert device we talked about before, as I don't want the Jackdaws to mess up the castle again. Also, you'll need to get up early for these hunts. I used to go after my morning routine, usually a few hours after sunrise, but you usually wake up after sunrise, correct?" she asked.
Alucard nodded, "Yes. But I can try to wake up earlier" he said, feeling unsure as to how he could do so.
"Hmmm, somehow I doubt that…but…I'll see if I can craft something. I'll have one of my Jackdaws carry it to you and we can see about it after that" Crina said.
Alucard felt a little hurt that she doubted him, but he nodded nonetheless, "Very well, that does sound nice. Thank you. I'm looking forward to seeing what this land has to offer" he said. He also was looking forward to spending more time with Crina, but he knew better than to say that.
"Alright then. Will you be alright for the rest of the day? I don't want to leave you sick" Crina said.
Alucard shook his head, "I'll be just fine now that I've had this tea. I'm looking forward to seeing the Castle back to its old form. Besides, I don't want to keep you from your family for too long since you were just coming to drop me off" he said.
Crina gave a nervous chuckle, "Yeah. I don't think they'll mind though" she said, "But you are right. I should get back. I'll…see you in a few days then?" she said with a smile.
Alucard smiled back and nodded, "I will see you then" he said.
Crina nodded and then got up, slowly to move, looking back at Alucard for a moment before leaving the room, shutting the door in the process.
Alucard then went back to drinking the last of his tea and moving to his rabbit carved apples.
'Cute' he thought to himself as he munched the treat happily.
It was then that he reminded himself to deal with the corpses outside his home, his newly restored home.
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Outside the window of the room Alucard resided, in one of the many nearby trees, a single hawk watches the scene before it unfold. It then flies off toward the west, flying through many forests and over a mountain or two. Before long, a castle comes into view, one that has seen better days but still looks occupied. The hawk flew into a large room where an alter resides and a sole figure stands. Chanting unknown words in soft murmurs, the figure looks at the statue of a cross with a body that seemed to represent Christ, but it was clearly a fresh body as blood could be heard dripping from the hands and feet of the corpse. The sole person in the room stopped his chant and looked at the bird which flew on to the alter, looking at the man before him.
A single red cloaked arm, covered with a glove, gently perches the hawk on his hand and looks at the bird.
"My pet. What have you found?" asked a voice that could give any soul the chills, sounding as cold and dead as the body before him.
A small bit of light came from the hawk as he looked in the eyes of the master before him. The two stood in silence as the light faded from the hawk's eyes.
"So….Dracula's castle stands still in a new location, does it? And there is someone besides Dracula occupying it?" the man asked, searching through what the hawk had seen.
But then he caught sight of a certain black haired person, one that made him both interested and disgusted.
"So…this is where that impure trash has been all these past years? I thought she committed suicide after…." He then paused, looking away, "No matter. I'll look forward to seeing her face wrought in pain and despair, just as she did before, all those years ago" he said as he set the hawk back on the alter. He then snapped his fingers, to which a low servant appeared to him from the shadows, clad in black with red trim, kneeling in submission. "Keep watch over the castle. Try to find out what you can about the owner within. See if the true master is in the castle, as I am interested in seeing him more than this…. blonde whore-man" he ordered his servant.
"As you wish…Grand Priest" said the servant as it disappeared from the light and back into the shadows.
"Lord Dracula….if we can get his castle…and have him become my slave, just as I have done with ones just like him, as well as half breeds and livestock…I'll show those who opposed me, those who dare defy my intentions, what it really means to be a nation of power, what it means to be strong and what it means to be pure, all in the vision of both God and Chaos" the man, now known as the Grand Priest, said darkly as he turned to the man on the cross again.
The Grand Priest then gave a huff followed by a low dark chuckle that slowly started to gain volume, just enough for it to be heard through the castle he resided in without screaming, passing through the dark halls filled with night creatures and servants of all types, all which could rival even that of Dracula's castle.
A/N:
Long chapter! And ooooh, the plot thickens. Are Crina and Alucard feeling the love or is something holding them back? What will these adventures hold for the young pair? Who is this Grand Priest? Will Alucard wake up on time? Will I ever get my air conditioners in? Who knows, but stay tuned for more!
Now for some fun facts!
-I think the animals mentioned for the trio do work well. Trevor's big as a bear, Sypha's clever as a fox, and Alucard has the gaze of a lion ready to tackle its prey. But what animals do you think work for them?
-Yes Alucard can use magic, but there was nothing specific to say that he handles Alchemy, so I figured that this could be some sort of exposure to it. And with anything, sometimes it takes a while to adapt to certain things, including medicine, so why not Alchemy?
-Peppermint is proven to be an herb that helps with dizziness. Have yet to try it myself, but mint helps in calming the mind, so hey, it'll work.
That should be it for now. Enjoy this chapter and I will update as soon as I can.
