Shanoa lets out a content sigh as she sinks deeper into the warm water filled bathtub.
One month…
One month has passed ever since she first arrived here…
One month has passed ever since she first arrived on the future and lived with the reincarnation of Dracula… it still sounds strange in her mind…
After their battle against a cult member who refers herself as Shards, life has been uneventful, at least for Shanoa. While Soma has his study and responsibility as a university student to take care of, Shanoa has nothing else to do aside from learning to adjust to live in modern time. Most of the time, Shanoa will learn Romanian language as Soma thinks it is essential for her to be able to communicate with the people around her without his help and since the majority of people in Romania doesn't speak English, the only language she knows, Soma has tasked her to at least learn how to hold a simple conversation in Romanian.
He even gives her a dictionary to aid her and will teach her directly when he has time during nighttime.
Aside from learning a new language, Shanoa also busies herself by learning how to operate her smartphone as well as all the technologies within Soma's living quarter, like the electric stove and microwave. Each day, Shanoa can't help but wonder if she will need to completely adjust to this new life in modern time since it seems to her that getting a chance to return to her own time proven to be a difficult task especially since the Belnades, Yoko, hasn't made any progress in her investigation over this cult who targets her even after a month.
Soma has tried to reassure her that Yoko has other responsibilities that she needs to take care of thus can't devote her entire time in her investigation over this case but even Shanoa can see that he starts to get worried over the lack of progress too.
Deciding that worrying over matter that she can't do anything against will only further worry her, Shanoa decides to think of something else… like the people of Wygol village back in her time.
It has been a month since she last seen them. She remembers that just before she left to retrieve the missing item that the merchant has asked her for, Shanoa has made a promise to Laura that she would come along with her to learn how to sew from Monica. Shanoa isn't too interested in sewing but decides that learning it will at least allow her to fix her own dress instead of depending on Monica's help in case something happens that damage her dress.
There is also her new job as Irina's assistant in her bakery. Shanoa might have defeated Dracula but that doesn't mean she was paid for doing so. Furthermore, she also still needs money for living; the villagers were already nice enough to provide her with a house. While she still occasionally gathers materials for the other villagers, Shanoa has decided to settle for a job that will also give her a new skill since she does need to learn how to cook for herself and Irina is more than eager to teach her how. Ecclesia has a mess hall that she can visit whenever she was hungry but she doesn't has that kind benefit now since visiting Aeon's restaurant means spending money.
Of course, now that she is in the future, none of those matter anymore.
Soma can cook himself and when he is too tired to cook, Soma will simply order a food for the two of them, mainly pizza which is a little bit too greasy for her taste. She has helped him cook on one occasion and learned that she is too inexperience to be a full help for him; at least, she can cut vegetables and meats into fine pieces as he requested at the time.
If she thinks about it, she owes Soma a lot. Not only he is nice enough to provide a roof for her but he also hasn't complained about needing to feed her alongside himself. On top of it, he also has bought her various items from clothes to smartphone.
She hasn't asked from where he gets all those money but she assumes that he simply comes from a rich family. Also, despite Yoko's warning of forbidding him from bringing Shanoa outside, he still brings her outside. Two weeks ago, Soma decided to bring her to this place called 'Cinema' which according to him is a place where people can watch a movie in a big screen.
Shanoa almost leaped off her seat when she thought the monster on the screen has came out off the screen in preparation to battle the monster and preventing any casualties if Soma hasn't stopped her and told her that everything wasn't real, and the monster only looked like it came out of screen because of special effect. Unfortunately, Shanoa's action still managed to disturb the other people and force Soma to apologize for her sake. She was unsure if she was feeling uncomfortable because of the other people's stare or because of her own embarrassment… probably both.
On Sunday, Soma will usually bring her out to the nearest park, the place where they first met, to do a little exercise. They only do light exercise like jogging, sit-up, push-up, squats, and a little bit of what Soma refers as gymnastics. Soma also asks her to sit on his back while he does a push-up if he feels he wants to do more exercise.
However, living her makes Shanoa realizes one thing. The reason why she hasn't been able to completely adjust to her new life back in her own time is probably because she wasn't raised for such things. As long as she remembers, Shanoa has always been trained in combat ever since she was young. Yes, she still plays games when she was a child, especially with her brother. But the majority of her time was spent training, both in physical combat and glyphs mastery.
Shanoa never looked beyond her mission, she never consider what she will do once she completed her mission even before she lost her memories and emotions. When it seemed that she has nothing else but her mission to defeat Count Dracula, Shanoa doesn't even consider the possibility of surviving her mission… and she might not survive at all if not for him…
Shanoa lets out another sigh before she decides that she has spent enough time bathing and that Soma should be home anytime soon. As Shanoa starts to empty the bathtub, she can't help but remind herself that if she is stuck in the future then she won't be able to visit him again.
She has made a small grave for him near the now abandoned headquarter of Ecclesia. The first thing she did after defeating Dracula was to retrieve his body so she can give him a proper burial with the help of Father Nikolai. She regularly visited his grave once a month to pay her respect to the one who done everything for her… but now that habit is impossible to do considering she has no idea where the Ecclesia's headquarter is now or if it even still stands…
Once Shanoa has dressed in simple black top and blue sweatpants, she steps out of the bathroom and glances at two Mini Devils who are flying in front of the front door and kitchen respectively. After their encounter with Shards, Soma has felt that the barrier alone won't be enough and has summoned his familiars to guard his apartment when he is away for classes.
There are two Gaibons at the top of the building, posing as statue, and several bats and black cats on various spots around the building plus two Mini Devils within the room he and Shanoa occupy. Since his familiars are mentally connected to him, they can immediately alert him of anything strange, acting as his own surveillance cameras according to him.
Shanoa can't decide whether she appreciates his level of protectiveness or not but what she can appreciate is the fact that Soma makes it clear that she isn't his prisoner by giving her permission to go outside whenever she feels like it… but only if two of his familiars will come with her. In the end, Shanoa knew Soma only mean well since they can't let the cult that caused all of this to get hold of Dominus within her for whatever they need it for.
Besides, Soma still does bring her to a few places during Sunday morning even if he needs to be scolded by Yoko afterward.
Just as she sits down on the couch and grabs the dictionary that she has left there, the front door is opened as Soma steps in with a tired expression on his face.
"I am back" Soma declared with a tired smile as he closes the door, prompting the Mini Devils, and his familiars outside, to disappear. It is draining him to maintain that many familiars all at once for most of the day which probably contributes to the exhaustion that he constantly shows for the past few days.
Shanoa has tried to at least tell him to decrease the number of the familiars he summoned so it won't affect him as much but he always insisted that he is fine… and most of the time, unless something tiring happened to him that day, he always looks fine.
"Welcome back" Shanoa greets back, out of habit, as she drops her dictionary on the coffee table and stands up to go to the refrigerator. She doesn't start with greeting him back like this as in her first week living here Shanoa will simply nod her head to greet him back. But eventually she learned from Yoko, who has provided her with much information regarding how to adjust as a woman in modern time, that she better greets Soma back verbally.
Soma has given her a strange look at first but seems to accept her new greeting without any complaints.
"I bring us dinner" Soma announced as he puts two boxes of noodles on the coffee table before he collapses on the couch after he throws away his coat on the empty sofa and drops his bag on the floor. Soma then looks up to see Shanoa approaches him and hands him one of the cans of coffee that she retrieved from the refrigerator.
"Thanks!" Soma said with an appreciative grin before he immediately opens the can and drinks its content. Shanoa simply sits next to him after placing another can in front of Soma before she opens the can of coffee she retrieved for herself.
Shanoa has learned Soma's habit after living with him for a month. Whenever he came home from university, he will always grab a can of coffee but when he is particularly tired, Soma always grabs two cans of coffee. So Shanoa has decided, after living with him for two weeks, that when Soma came home with a tired expression, she will get his coffee for him. This is the least she can do as a thank you for giving her place to stay and taking care of her needs.
It does give her a weird feeling somehow… probably because she is trying to be nice to the reincarnation of Count Dracula.
It kinds of bewilder her how the more time she spends with Soma, the more comfortable she gets. It probably has something to do with the fact that he is the only source of human interaction she has in this era since she hasn't bothered to meet the other occupants of this building. The last time she tried to interact with another occupant of this building, under Soma's suggestion, the woman she interacted with asked too many questions that Soma himself needs to stop the interaction before the woman's questions start to overwhelm her.
Another factor that has something to do with her getting comfortable at his presence is his behavior and, again, kindness. The first thing she appreciates about Soma is the fact that he hasn't tried to pry her past anymore, seemingly content with the information that she shared with him and Yoko on her first breakfast with them.
He never asked anything regarding her past and the closest thing Soma ever asked that involves her past was how she got most of her glyphs and what most of her glyphs can do but in return he told her about what most of his souls can do and tried to see if they can combine her glyph and his soul for another combination attack like the one they delivered to Shards, he even named it as FrostFlame… not a very creative name Shanoa must admits. But aside from how she got Dominus, Shanoa more than ready to share where she got most of her glyphs.
She appreciates his obvious attempt to never pry at her past and his kindness that he shows to her for this whole month only, unknowingly, improves her opinion on him. She doesn't know whether she likes the fact that the more she interacts with Soma…
The less she sees him as Dracula and the more she sees him as simply Soma Cruz.
"Hey Shanoa, do you want to eat with a fork or do you want to try using the chopsticks?" Soma suddenly asked which brings Shanoa back to the present time before she glances at Soma whom she notices already has a fork on his right hand and a pair of chopsticks on his left hand. He must have retrieved the fork when she was busy with her thought.
"I will take the fork, thank you" Shanoa stated as she accepts the fork with a polite nod. She has tried to use chopsticks before when Soma brought home a food called sushi… she prefers western eating utensils more than their eastern counterpart.
"Oh yeah, before I forgot…" Soma stated before he reaches for his bag, opens its zipper, and looks for something, causing Shanoa to look at him with interest.
"It just came this afternoon, your ID card" Soma said as he pulls out a card from his bag and gives it to her. Shanoa accepts the card and inspects, noticing that there is a picture of her on it, the picture that Soma taken two weeks ago, and all sort of information that she guesses supposed to belong to her… including her new name…
"Shanoa Aeliana?" Shanoa read the name written on the card aloud before she glances at Soma, who already starts to eat his noodle with chopsticks, and gives him a questioning look.
"You remember the Arikado guy I always mentioned? He worked for an agency at Japan which deals with supernatural stuffs. I asked him to make you a fake ID card so that if there is ever a need for you to show an ID card, you can do it without hesitation" Soma explained after he swallows the noodle in his mouth before he puts down the box of noodle on the coffee table and lets out a sigh.
"Yoko and I thought this incident would get solved in about two weeks, after all, the cult was reckless enough to attack us on church's domain. But we were wrong, even with the help of Arikado's agency, we still found nothing. Either the cult is smart enough to hide their presence or they have something that makes them totally invisible from us. In any case, that means you will live here longer and I thought it will be better for you to have your own ID card just in case. In case you curious, Aeliana is an ancient Latin word mean sun, Yoko told me how most of Belmonts were liken to a sun that comes to vanquish the horrible night created by Dracula and since you also defeated Dracula, I feel the name will suit you" Soma continued his explanation before he drinks his coffee again.
After hearing his explanation, Shanoa looks down at her ID card as her earlier thought about Soma's kindness starts to resurface again on her mind.
"Why would you go to such length for my sake?" Shanoa asked slowly before she looks up to find Soma already stared at her with a raised eyebrow.
"You give me place to stay, take care all my needs, make sure that I will be watched and protected, and now ensure I will be capable to blend in modern time; why would you go to such length when just giving me place to stay is more than enough?" this question has been bugging her since her second day here. She hasn't asked anything at first since she figured out that Soma is just simply that nice but now the length he goes for her starts to make her wonder.
Does he have an ulterior motive for doing all of this?
Soma doesn't give an immediate answer as he simply drinks his coffee while looking up at the ceiling with a thoughtful look.
"If you want a deep complicated reason, you will be disappointed because I don't have that. Why I go to such length simply because that is the logical choice. I admitted that I didn't expect that you would stay here longer than two weeks but now we are in the third week so I see it is a must for you to obtain an ID card. If you are worried about money then don't, the church has taken care of seventy percent of my rent and I am a minimalist… aside from coats, I don't spend much on anything else but the necessary stuffs. Plus Yoko does cover for some of your stuffs, like clothes for example" Soma finally answered with an easy shrug before he does something that surprises Shanoa a little bit… he taps her forehead twice.
"Besides, don't you think it is nice to consider all of this as a reward for saving the humanity of your time from Dracula?" Soma asked with a grin. Shanoa at first only rubs the spot where he taps her before glancing at her uneaten dinner.
"I did not defeat the lord of darkness for such reason-"
"Neither I intend to defeat Chaos to get a nice comfortable apartment yet here I am. Sometimes, it feels nice to consider that after the hardships that we faced, life will be nice to us by giving us nice things to enjoy. Like this nice apartment that I only need to pay for thirty percent of its original price" Soma said, cutting her before she can finishes her statement, before he grabs his dinner and starts to eat the noodle again.
Shanoa considers his words, trying to find the nice things he mentioned. She might considers getting a chance to enjoy a new chance of life free of her burdens that he helped her to achieve as the nice thing that Soma mentioned… if she hasn't been sent to the future and ended up as a target for a cult that wants to take Dominus within her.
But…
"Last Saturday we didn't go anywhere since I have a project to finish; if I can finish my essay tonight then I will have free time tomorrow. What do you say we go somewhere again tomorrow? Maybe the arcade center this time? Or perhaps Starbucks?"
"Yoko will scold you again if you bring me somewhere else" Shanoa warned him and reminded him of the last time he brought her out of this building.
"Totally worth it" Soma replied with a smirk before he continues eating his dinner. Shanoa only shakes her head before she opens the box that contains her dinner and starts to eat it with the fork Soma has provided for her.
Perhaps she still can enjoy her life here too.
"This should make me assignment free for tomorrow" Soma said to himself as he stretches his arms upward once he has sent his essay to his professor through E-mail. Now that he has finished his essay, he is free to show more of the town to Shanoa tomorrow.
After seeing that the clock on his laptop reads 02:00 AM, Soma closes his laptop and prepares to clean his trash, five empty cans of coffee, so he can finally get some sleep… until his phone suddenly rings.
Letting out a sigh of annoyance, Soma grabs his phone and raises one of his eyebrows when he notices who called him this late. Shaking his head, Soma presses the answer button before he leaves his room to head to the balcony. Shanoa must have already asleep by now.
"Arikado, what's up?" Soma greeted just as he steps into the balcony and closes his eyes when the night breeze greets him.
"Soma" comes the cool reply of the man whom Soma considers as a mentor of some sort even though he knows that he and Arikado have a much more complicated relationship that neither of them wants to address.
"So, what kind of news you bring me now that have unintentionally prevented me from going to sleep?" Soma asked, not really trying to hide his annoyance… or his yawn.
"Tomorrow heads to the cabin, we find something" Arikado's reply is enough to make Soma narrows his eyes as he leans against the railing.
"About the cult?"
"Unfortunately no"
Then that leaves one answer.
"About Ecclesia then"
There are two things that Yoko and Arikado investigate, the cult that they believe have sent Shanoa to the future and the existence of Ecclesia, the organization that Shanoa supposedly afflicted to. The second one mainly is more about why the church has no official record of Ecclesia and if the existence of Ecclesia has anything to do with the cult.
"Understand, I will go there with Shanoa tomorrow… err, I mean later after a breakfast at Starbucks" Soma informed Arikado after a few moments of silence.
"You are spoiling her"
"She lived in the mid 1800s, she needs to taste Starbucks. Besides, I need to do something about my excessive saving"
"I should have taken away the treasures you found"
"Hey, you have taken all the weapons I gathered. No way I will agree to let you stole my future saving too" Soma replied with a small smirk. He feels bad hiding it from his family but Soma has a hidden bank account that keeps his saving which resulted from selling all the treasures he finds within Castlevania with the help of Hammer. Now Soma has an emergency saving in case he needs a lot of money in the future.
Technically, the treasures were his since he is the reincarnation of Dracula and the castle supposedly belong to him. So, he wasn't stealing and selling anyone's treasures.
Arikado simply sighs before he ends the call, prompting to Soma to stare at the screen of his smartphone in annoyance. So much for a free Saturday…
Deciding to finally get some sleep, Soma immediately heads to his room… only to stop when he hears a noise that definitely comes from Shanoa's room. He isn't surprised by this point, he knew she has nightmare almost every night but he hasn't mustered the courage to ask her about it.
Shanoa is… a complex person. She doesn't hide that she has nightmare but seems doesn't want to talk about it. He understands that she has mixed feeling about him just like how Julius was when he first discovered that Soma is the reincarnation of the Belmont clan's mortal enemy. So, he doesn't want to overstep the boundary that they have established which is also why he hasn't asked anything else regarding her past no matter how curious he is.
He has a feeling that she might not react well if he simply barges into her room to wake her up and tries to wake her up by knocking will simply cause her to response with a 'I am fine'… like what she has done all the time he tried to wake her up before.
So, with a heavy sigh, Soma decides to ignore her and heads into his room… again.
Maybe when they are closer he will talk to her but definitely not now…
Shanoa appreciates the familiar sight of endless trees and mountain as she and Soma ride through the path that will lead them to the location that Soma referred as the cabin.
When she woke up today, Soma, who was already dressed for the day and was watching the TV, told her to prepare herself for the day since they are going to have a breakfast outside. This was the first time Soma brought her out to eat breakfast and she can't say she doesn't enjoy the meal that they ate at the establishment known as Starbucks; she especially enjoyed the frappe coffee served there.
Afterward, they ride out of the town to the cabin to retrieve the result of Yoko's investigation… regarding the organization Shanoa once afflicted to. She knows this day will come as Yoko has clearly stated that she will find more about Ecclesia first before announcing her presence to the church on the day Yoko learned of her existence. She doesn't know why Soma or Yoko doesn't simply ask more information regarding Ecclesia to her instead of looking it on their own but she is glad that she doesn't need to be the one who tells everything.
She doesn't think she is ready to recall those memories that keep haunting her during the night again.
Letting out a sigh, Shanoa looks up to see three owls fly above them. Those are her familiars, summoned to keep an eye on their surrounding just in case.
"We are almost there" Soma announced before he increases the speed of his motorcycle, prompting Shanoa to tighten her hold on his torso as her hair flutters in the wind.
Soon enough, Shanoa can see a large clearing with a single cabin on the middle of it and she guesses this must be the cabin that Soma referred as their destination. Shanoa soon can see a man in front of the cabin unloading what she assumes to be his grocery from a blue vehicle that she believes referred as truck.
"Need a hand old man?" Soma asked in a joking tone as soon as they reach the cabin before he turns off his motorcycle and removes his helmet. Shanoa uses this chance to get off his motorcycle and removes her helmet.
The man, who seems to be in his late forty or fifty, only stares at Soma with a raised eyebrow before he shakes his head and throws one of the bags that he carries toward Soma who seems doesn't expect this kind of reply.
"Don't you dare drop it boy; those utensils are expensive. Let me know if they are too heavy for you" the man replied with a smirk as he sees Soma almost drops the bag that he threw at him.
"What do you mean old man? These are as light as feathers" Soma said sarcastically with eyes roll before he dismounts his motorcycle and approaches the brown haired man. Shanoa watches the two men interaction in silence as she tries to guess who the man in brown coat is.
"Julius, it has been a while. I hope you are fine" Soma said politely with a nod as he holds out his hand for the older man.
"I am doing fine; it is you I worry about since Arikado makes it seem like you get into another trouble" the man, Julius, replied as he accepts Soma's hand and gives it a firm shake.
Both Shanoa's blue eyes widen when she recalls what the name Julius means in this context.
"Geez, you and Arikado always make it seems like I run into trouble every week or something. For the record, I have nothing to do with this incident" Soma replied in a rather irritated tone before he gestures for Shanoa to come closer to them.
"Anyway, Julius this is Shanoa, the one Yoko and I have been talking about. Shanoa this is Julius, Julius Belmont, the man who slain Dracula for good in 1999" Soma introduced the two of them casually.
"It is a great honor to finally be able to meet you sir. I have heard your achievement in putting down Count Dracula and ending his reign permanently" Shanoa said politely before she bows her body slightly in show of respect to the Belmont who finally managed to end the reign of the lord of darkness permanently.
"Thank you but I was not the only one present on that day. I have a lot of helps with me and it was the Hakuba clan who sealed the Castlevania into the eclipse to separate Dracula from his domain so I could end him for once and all. And it was this man who ended the cycle between Belmonts and Dracula for good by permanently destroying Dracula's castle and rejecting his destiny as the lord of darkness" Julius replied, feeling that what happened on that day only can be achieved because of everyone's presence and effort, not his alone, while gesturing to the young man next to him.
Soma was the one who went to battle Chaos and won after all; destroying the Castlevania that has became the manifestation of Dracula's power for good.
"Something tells me that if you can enter the Chaos's realm then you probably can do a better job than me in kicking Chaos's metaphysical ass" Soma said with a grin as he nudges the older man's arm.
"Don't underestimate your own achievement boy; we don't know how the Vampire Killer will do against the representation of humanity's evil. But in all honesty, I think it is a good thing that you were the one to settle the matter" Julius doesn't need to say it aloud for Soma to understand what he means by the last part.
His battle against Chaos gave a proof to the world, especially the church, that even the reincarnation of Dracula can fight against his own destiny and change its direction, making sure history won't repeat itself.
Shanoa watches the interaction between the two men in silent, noting the level of respect that they show to each other. It was clear from their small interaction that the Belmont respects Soma to a degree and seems to be comfortable enough to speak casually around him though Shanoa also notices that the Belmont doesn't drop his guard, perhaps just to be wary.
"Come in, I know you two are here for that document Arikado gave me" Julius said before he starts to enter the cabin with his grocery in hand. Soma and Shanoa exchange a quick glance before they immediately follow the Belmont in entering the cabin he called home.
When Shanoa enters the cabin, the first thing she notices is the lack of technologies that decorate the interior of the cabin unlike Soma's apartment and some of the buildings she has visited in this era. The second thing she notices is the powerful holy presence that she should have felt from the outside yet only now she feels it. Is there a barrier that keeps the holy presence stays within the cabin so nobody can sense it from the outside?
"Julius, where should I put this?" Soma asked when he notices that Julius is heading to the second floor.
"Put it on the kitchen's counter, I will be back with the document. Also, there is tea in the thermos on the kitchen, feel free to drink it" Julius replied before he continues climbing the stairs to the second floor.
"Sits down on the couch, I will be back with cups of tea" Soma suggested when he notices that Shanoa looks unsure. Shanoa nods her head and follows his suggestion as Soma disappears into a room that she believes is the kitchen area.
It doesn't take long for Soma to return with two mugs of tea and Julius to return with a stack of papers on his hand.
"I still don't get it why you and Arikado love wasting paper" Soma said as he sits down next to Shanoa and puts one of the mugs in front of her. Julius seems to choose to ignore Soma's question as he puts the stack of papers in front of the white haired man and black haired woman.
"How did Yoko get this information?" Soma asked as he simply glances at the stack of papers in front of him before he takes a sip from his mug.
"An unlikely source, it was Arikado who found the source. Most of the information written here came from what the source possessed, a journal made by a man named Barlowe" Julius explained as he pulls out a flask from his coat, opens it, and drinks whatever inside it.
However, what Julius just said immediately affect the black haired woman as both her blue eyes widen in surprise while she grips the fabric of her long skirt tightly. Soma takes a note of this but decides to keep silent about it for now since he doesn't really understand why she suddenly reacted like that… does it has something to do with the man named Barlowe?
"Then let's skip to the part I want to know the most, why the church has no official record of Ecclesia?" Soma asked, deciding to skip to the part that he wants the answer for right away.
"Barlowe is the head and founder of Ecclesia; he is a high rank member of the church who had been entrusted with the remains of Dracula. Barlowe took advantage of this to create a weapon that he believed can destroy Dracula so the church will have a weapon of their own that they can use against Dracula" Julius explained before he takes a long sip from his flask.
Soma silently glances at Shanoa who has closed her eyes with a troubled look on her face. Now that he knows Barlowe is the head and founder of Ecclesia, it makes sense to him why Shanoa would react like this. She has told him and Yoko before about how the founder of Ecclesia created Dominus for a sort of church's own version of Vampire Killer only for Shanoa to learn later on that Dominus has always been intended to be used to resurrect Dracula by destroying the vessel that sealed his remains.
She never mentioned the name of the head of Ecclesia so now that he knows Barlowe was the man Shanoa talked about back then, Soma can see why Shanoa has a reaction like that just by hearing his name. The fact she never mentioned his name must mean they have bad or complicated history in the past.
"Dominus, the set of glyphs that intended to be used as a weapon against Dracula only for it to be misused; so, Barlowe is the man who responsible for resurrecting Dracula in mid 1800s" Soma said before he takes a sip from his mug again.
"Yes, now you must understand why Ecclesia was erased from the church's official record" Julius said before, again, taking another sip from his flask; content with letting the younger man connects the dots himself to come in his own conclusion.
It doesn't take long for Soma to connect the dots that prompts him to let out a sigh.
"To preserve the church's image I assume"
"Yes. Not only Barlowe was a member of church, a high ranking one at that, but he also has managed to convince some of the church higher ups to his case, manipulating them into supporting him and funding his project to create Dominus. I imagined the church doesn't want a fact that they, indirectly, have helped the resurrection Dracula to be known in order to maintain their image as a reliable force against the darkness; that could spell a lot of problems for them" Julius elaborated with a nod.
Soma can understand their reasoning in erasing Ecclesia from their record. Information like this, if allowed to spread will only cause nothing but problems such as branches of the church distrusting each other or those who support the church starts to question them. But still, he doesn't like the fact that they just straight up ignore the effort that Shanoa must have suffered to kill Dracula without Vampire Killer.
"There is also a… rather disturbing fact in regards of Dominus" Julius suddenly speaks up after taking another long sip from his flask.
"What is it?" Soma asked as he puts down his mug and gives Julius a questioning look. Instead of answering him, Julius first glances at Shanoa as if asking her permission to say what he thinks she already understands. Shanoa doesn't respond Julius's silent question with a nod or a shake of her head; she simply averts her gaze away as if saying…
'Do as you wish'
"Dominus… if casted it will kill everything around it, including the user"
Shanoa can't prevent herself from flinching as she grips the fabric of her skirt tighter as she tries to keep her mind in the present. She starts to regret coming here even if she knows what would the discussion be about.
Silence is the only thing that follows Julius's revelation for the next few minutes… until an angry voice breaks the silence.
"What do you say?"
Shanoa immediately glances at Soma when she hears the barely restrained anger in his voice and what she sees almost shocks her. Soma expresses a lot of emotions with his eyes, be it joy, boredom, irritation, and many more but this is the first time she ever sees such anger reflected on his eyes; his normally easygoing silver eyes are hardening and sharpening in anger.
"You are saying… that Shanoa was intended to be a sacrifice for resurrecting Dracula?!" it doesn't take long for Soma to figure out why Julius decided to tell him that. Shanoa has told him that Dominus was actually intended to be used to resurrect Dracula and that it was done by destroying the seal that sealed Dracula's remains… which must mean one thing.
Barlowe intended to use Shanoa to cast Dominus so Dracula would rise at the cost of her life…
"Soma, focus" Julius said sternly with a hard expression.
Shanoa doesn't like the tense atmosphere that right now is surrounding them as the reincarnation of Dracula and the latest Belmont stare at each other with a stern expression. Thankfully, the tense atmosphere soon disappears when Soma lets out a heavy sigh and massages his forehead.
"Sorry, I lost my temper for a second. You know how I was when…" Soma doesn't need to finish his statement for Julius to understand as the older man simply lets out a sigh and crosses his arms.
"I know but I have expected that you will have a better grip of your emotions after the first time" Soma only can looks up at Julius with a sheepish look as Julius gives him a disapproving look before he lets out a sigh and nods toward the direction of kitchen.
"There are coffee cans on the bottom cabinet, you can only grab one" Soma already disappears before Julius even can finish his sentence, prompting the brown haired man to shake his head and mutter about 'At least he developed an addiction that doesn't involve blood'.
Shanoa watches in silent as Soma disappears into the kitchen before she shifts her attention the untouched stack of papers that contain information about Ecclesia that the Belnades and this man from Japanese agency have gathered.
"How is living with him felt?" Julius asked suddenly, causing Shanoa to look up at him.
"It is… fine. He takes care of all my needs and makes sure I can blend in with the modern's society… it just…"
"Feels a little unusual, am I right? Living with the reincarnation of the lord of darkness" Julius finished for her with a chuckle before he takes another sip from his, seemingly never run out content, flask.
"I will not classify it as a little unusual" Shanoa pointed out before she remains silent afterward when a thought came into her mind. Since they are talking about Soma now and she has no other people she can talk to about her mixed feeling regarding the white haired man… perhaps…
"Why do you trust him?" Shanoa asked in the end, deciding that perhaps having another opinion about Soma will help her in deciding her own conflicting feeling about him.
"Good question, why would I trust the reincarnation of the being that my family has slain for generations" Julius replied with a nod before a thoughtful expression appears on his face.
"I presume Soma has told you about how I first met him?" Julius asked after a few seconds of silence which Shanoa immediately replies with a nod. Inside the Castlevania within the eclipse, that was where Soma first met Julius or rather J since Julius was an amnesiac at the time before he regained his memories later on.
"When I regained my memories and learned that the young man I have encountered previously was the reincarnation of the being I supposed to slain, I was shocked but decided to keep my duty as a Belmont. Long story short, we fought and that was when I started to hesitate. Even if I can feel the familiar dark presence of the Count within Soma, I also sensed something else. Something that was actively tried to fight off the influence of the darkness; it is his spirit, Soma Cruz's spirit. And that was enough to make me hold back because I started to question if this young man, if Soma really is who I should try to attack with my whip" Julius paused his explanation in order to take another sip from his flask.
"Eventually, we ended up in a stalemate when he stopped the fight. Afterward, Soma made me promise him that should he failed to conquer his destiny and became the new Dracula then I will stop him at all cost. From that point, I started to put my faith on him. I wanted to him to succeed and happy to see that he could conquer his destiny. I have seen him more than once conquered his destiny and rejected the darkness's temptation. So, why I trusted him? Because he has proved more than once that he is worthy of my trust. He might be the reincarnation of the lord of darkness but once you get to know him, you see no Dracula… you will only see Soma Cruz. It may take time but I believe even you will feel the same eventually especially since you literally live together with him" Julius finished his explanation just as Soma walks out of the kitchen with two cans of coffee on each hand.
"What are you guys talking about?" Soma asked as he returns to his original spot next to Shanoa.
"Just a little bit of our past, also didn't I say you can only have one can?" Julius replied while giving the white haired man a raised eyebrow.
"You did? Must have slipped off my mind" Soma said with a mischievous grin, earning him an irritated glare from Julius.
Shanoa, once again, watches the interaction between the two men in silence as she ponders over Julius's words. In a way, Soma has gained Julius's trust by showing that he worth of the Belmont's trust; presumably this is also how Soma gained the Belnades's trust. It was the last part of Julius's words that intrigues her. Once you get to know Soma, you will see no Dracula… you will only see Soma Cruz…
Funny since she has the same thought last night. The more she interacts with him, the less she sees Dracula in him…
And the more she sees only Soma Cruz.
After a bit more explanation from Julius, the two of them left his cabin a few hours before the sun starts to set. Apparently, Yoko hasn't decided whether she wants to expose Shanoa's real identity to the church or not especially since now she knew why the church erased Ecclesia from the official record. Arikado also still examined the history of Ecclesia to find more regarding the organization and a possible connection between it and the cult they are facing now. In short, despite finding more information about Ecclesia without relying on Shanoa, there are still many things left to do.
At the moment, Shanoa is sitting on one of the empty tables as she waits for Soma's return. Instead of going back to his apartment, Soma decides to make a stop at Starbucks to enjoy another cup of Starbucks's coffee. While normally she won't mind being dragged somewhere by Soma, especially a spot that serves a coffee she likes, but at the moment she simply wishes to clear her head.
"Here you go; one caramel frappuccino for you and one peppermint mocha latte for me" Soma declared as he returns to their table before placing the cold caramel frappuccino in front of Shanoa while he drinks his own hot peppermint mocha latte and sits across from her.
"Thank you" Shanoa said with a polite nod before she drinks her frappe through the included straw.
"Sorry about earlier, when I lost my temper I mean. It has been a while since that happened" Soma spoke up as he massages his forehead. Shanoa observes him silently before coming to a conclusion…
"You were angry because… of discovering Barlowe's intention in using me as a sacrifice, correct?" Soma nods his head before he takes a sip from his cup and lets out a sigh.
"It just… you knew about the Black Mass, right?"
"The dark ritual?" Shanoa has read about it before, a dark ritual performed by Dracula's followers in order to revive the lord of darkness.
"Yes, the one conducted by a group named Followers of Darkness, what a crappy name. Anyway, even though I have no connection to them or the ritual itself, I just can't help but feel guilty. I knew Dracula, my past self, has done a lot of horrible things but the things that bother the most is actually what those who worshipped him willing to do just to bring him back… even now. In the present time, I was kind of glad that his worshippers now fully focus their attention to me so that no one else will need to suffer but the mentions of what those people did in the past, such as the Black Mass and what Barlowe almost did to you… it just angers me somehow" probably because it reminds me of that time goes unsaid as Soma isn't sure he is ready to replay that memory in his mind.
The time when he almost lost one of his loved ones and his dear childhood friend…
Shanoa, once again, observes Soma in silent as the white haired man looks up at the black sky with an unreadable look on his face while sipping his coffee. The words of Julius Belmont returns to her mind as she remembers of what she has experienced so far by being in the white haired man's presence.
"Soma" Shanoa spoke up, earning the attention of the white haired man.
"Thank you" Shanoa states simply with a small smile, surprising Soma a little bit… but not because he hasn't seen her smile, he has seen it a few times, but more because he doesn't expect her to smile out of blue. There is usually a reason behind her smile.
"For what? The coffees?" Shanoa simply shakes her head to answer his question.
"For everything you have done. For ending the century old feud between the Belmonts and the Count, for fighting the temptation of the darkness, for permanently destroying Castlevania, and for taking care of me" Shanoa can see the surprise in Soma's eyes as she lists what he has done for the world and for her. However, the surprise doesn't last long as Soma lets out a chuckle a few moments later.
"Trying to pull the same trick as me, eh? Still… thanks. Today was a heavy day for both of us so I figured out a nice cup of Starbucks's coffee will be a good end for the day" Soma said with a smile as he thrusts his cup forward, prompting Shanoa to blink her eyes twice.
"Cheers?" Soma said with a small grin, gesturing for her to do the same with her cup.
It wasn't the first time someone has asked her to do it but last time, she was sure she did it with an expensive glass filled with expensive wine that only she could get due to the nature of her mission. But again… she was no longer in her own time…
"Cheers" Shanoa replied gently as she gently taps Soma's cup with her own.
Perhaps now, she finally can clear up her mixed feelings about him and allow herself to be fully comfortable around him.