DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN CASTLEVANIA OR ITS CHARACTERS! I ONLY OWN MY OC.
Deep within Gresit's catacombs slumbered a pair of powerful creatures. The more restless of the two having woken several times over the course of the past year to make sure that no one came to disturb the recovery of their partner. Lucien wondered how long had it been since he last woke from his slumber? His tail's grip tightened against the sturdy wooden support rafters as he uncurled himself. His wings unfurled, stretching out as far as they could go, the tug of the almost completely healed scar tissue reminding him just why he had to sleep so long. Dracula had not been happy with Lucien and Adrian's refusal to assist him in his mission to kill every human in the world in the name of the deceased Lisa Tepes who perished at the hands of the church. It disgusted him, to be frank. He watched Lisa burn through his scrying mirror. He read her lips when she pleaded for Dracula not to hurt anyone. While he would happily hang her murderers by their entrails, he couldn't blame the people who didn't know any better. They weren't educated enough to be able to speak out against the church and those who were feared that they would be next to burn.
Lucien shook off that thought as he looked down at the still closed coffin that contained his close friend. His tail unwound from the wooden beam and he glided down to the floor below, landing quietly on bare feet. Lucien approached the altar at the end of the room and placed his hand on the coffin propped up at its center. "Looks like you've overslept again. Don't worry, I'll make sure no one disturbs your beauty sleep."
Lucien backed away slowly, waiting for the coffin to at least creak to indicate that his friend was close to waking. However the room remained silent as a tomb and Lucien turned on his heel to go on patrol. The slapping of bare feet on cold stone faded into silence as the creature prowled through the dark. The blue light shimmering along the lines of his body was the only indication that there was someone lurking in the shadows.
Patrol was slow and quiet as usual. Despite the stories of the "Sleeping Soldier" going around, no one had actually snuck into the catacombs ever since those knights were caught by the cyclops. People returning home to tell the tale of danger may speak volumes, but them never returning tells volumes more. Speaking of the cyclops, it was still lumbering around on one of the upper floors. Lucian had taken a peak into its lair a couple of times and found that there were soldiers and mercenaries all frozen in various states fleeing and fighting. Some were still whole, and others were not. Once the cyclops is killed, those frozen will either be dead or kill themselves to escape the overwhelming fear that will haunt them in the waking world.
Sometimes, if Lucien listened hard enough, he could hear the people of Gresit crying out in terror and pain as the night horde descended upon them. It made him wish he could sleep half as hard as Adrian. Those screams would sometimes haunt his nightmares among other things. But that is neither here nor there, because some poor soul has ventured into the catacombs and they smelled like magic. Lucien hurried to get to the upper levels, hoping to deter them before the cyclops caught wind of them. He could hear it roaring and the sound of its eye blasting. He prayed that he wasn't too late but he didn't have high hopes. His blood ran cold when the roaring ended and the cyclops's footsteps grew faint as it returned to its den.
When Lucien finally made it to the cyclops's floor, he immediately found a high vantage point and scanned the ground, looking for a new stone statue among those already there. When he found the new addition, he could tell that they were a Speaker and from the looks of things, they didn't seem to have time to protect themselves before they were petrified. His heart went out to the Speaker but he couldn't afford to help them at the moment. The only way to help them was by killing the cyclops and unfortunately, he needed it to protect him and Adrian from any grave robber looking for a bounty.
He returned to the altar room and hung from the wooden beam above Adrian's coffin. As he curled his wings around himself, he prayed that Adrian would wake soon so they could stop his father together. He couldn't imagine how much pain Dracula was in but he couldn't keep inflicting that pain on the world. The church deserved his ire, not the innocent people who didn't know any better.
Perhaps he had spoken too soon. Not even a week after finding the Speaker, Lucien woke to loud crashes on the upper levels that shook the healing chamber. He heard a loud bang from the coffin and muttered curses, so that meant Adrian was awake and very unhappy with his rude awakening. He couldn't help but to snicker at his friend's misfortune.
"I heard that, asshole!" Adrian snapped before falling silent as the crashing grew louder when it came to their floor.
Lucien kept his wings curled tightly around him as he took in the duo that entered the room. The strawberry blonde girl walking beside the brunette Belmont had to have been the Speaker from before. The magic wafting around her smelled exactly the same, which means that she had been freed during his sleep, likely by the Belmont. The Belmont tripped the trigger that was to open Adrian's coffin and slowly floated out like the dramatic ass that he was. Lucien rolled his eyes at the theatrics but kept quiet, deciding to watch the interaction despite everything in him screaming to tear the Belmont apart.
Adrian hunched forward, his hair falling to hide his expression like a curtain. "Why are you here?" his voice was neither kind nor hostile.
"The story," the Speaker answered breathlessly, "the messiah sleeps under Gresit. The man who will save us from Dracula."
Adrian accepted the Speaker's answer and tilted his head toward the Belmont, "And you? Are you in search for a mythical savior?" He was mocking the Speaker's reason and, possibly the Belmont's appearance.
"I fell down a hole."
Lucien had to bite back the snicker that bubbled in his throat. He may hate the Belmont family with a burning passion but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate some good dry humor. The Speaker quickly got back to business and began to update Adrian on the state of the world.
"Dracula is abroad in the land. He has an army of monsters. He's determined to wipe out all human life wherever he finds it."
"Is that what you believe?" the question was directed at the Belmont.
The Belmont crossed his arms and cocked his head, the body language of a skeptic. "That Dracula's released his horde in Wallachia? That's fact. There's no 'belief' involved. But that's not what you're asking."
"No."
"You're asking if I believe you're some sleeping messiah who'll save us, and no, I don't."
"Belmont!" the Speaker hissed admonishingly at his bluntness.
"I know what you are."
Lucien could hear the smirk in Adrian's voice. "And what am I?"
"You're a vampire," the Belmont retorted with venom dripping from every word.
There was long silence that followed as Adrian didn't deny this claim. The Speaker gasped in shock when she realized that it was in fact true. The Belmont fearlessly continued, though Lucien could smell the trepidation on him, along with shit and booze. "So, I have to ask myself, have we come down here to wake up the man who'll kill Dracula, or did we come here to wake Dracula?"
Oh the irony.
"You call me Dracula."
"I'll call you anything you like if you're gonna show me your teeth."
"She called you Belmont," Adrian stated, avoiding his question about being Dracula. "House of Belmont?" Lucien bit back a snarl at the name of the house, glaring down at the crest covering the brunette's back.
"Trevor Belmont. Last son of the house of Belmont." Lucien found a morbid sense of satisfaction from this announcement. Logically he knew that the Belmonts were important for the wellbeing of the people of Wallachia, but all these years of resentment still wins out over his logic.
"The Belmonts fought creatures of the night, did they not? For generations."
"Say what you mean," the Belmont demanded as he circled around Adrian like a predator.
"The Belmonts killed vampires, among other things."
"Until the good people decided they didn't want us around," Lucien could tell that he was trying to be nonchalant but failing miserably. The normal person would notice, but the normal person wouldn't be able to hear his racing heart.
"And now Dracula is carrying out an execution order on the human race. Do you care, Belmont?" Adrian never took his eyes off of the Belmont, remaining in place as the Belmont stood directly to his left.
"Honestly, I didn't, no. But now...yes, its time to stop it," the Belmont's words were full of resolve.
"Do you think you can?" Adrian probed.
"What I think…" the Belmont put a hand to his waist where Lucien could see a coiled up whip, "is I'm going to have to kill you."
"Belmont, no!" the Speaker pleaded. "He's the one we've been waiting for."
The Belmont scoffed, as he began to pace, never tearing his eyes away from him. His hand never left his whip and his muscles were tensing for a fight. "No, he's not. He's a vampire. And he's not been waiting here for hundreds of years, have you?" There was an unspoken accusation in his tone.
"I don't like your tone, Belmont," Adrian growled.
The Belmont ignored him as he continued his accusation, "This place is old, but it's not been abandoned. It's alive and working. So, go on, vampire, tell her exactly how long you've been waiting down here."
Adrian turned his piercing gaze back onto the Speaker. "What is the year of your Lord?"
"1476," she answered.
Adrian hummed, "Perhaps a year, then."
"There," the Belmont triumphantly declared as this had proven his point. "And on top of that, what kind of messiah creates mechanical death traps to buy himself an uninterrupted nap in a stone coffin?"
"Our defenses were not for you," Adrian said defensively.
The Belmont waved a dismissive hand at him, "You could have told your defenses that."
Adrian was growing irritated. Though his body language was his relax, his tone bellied the tension permeating the room. "They are machines, nothing more. They were not intended to protect me from you. I asked you a question - do you care?"
"I care about doing my family's work. I care about saving human lives. Am I going to have to kill you?" At least this Belmont had the decency to ask questions first, Lucien thought.
"Do you think you can?" Adrian was goading him. "If you're really a Belmont and not some runt running around with a family crest, you might be able to." The dhampir wanted to gage his abilities. Adrian was never one to suffer fools and a fool would surely die in an attack against Dracula. Lucien's ears perked up when he heard the rattling of Adrian's enchanted sword obeying its master's call. The long blade sung as it flew into Adrian's hand. "Let's find out."
"Belmont, you can't do this!" the Speaker tried to reason with her companion.
"Tell it to your floating vampire Jesus here," the Belmont snapped.
"You've got nothing but insults, have you? A tired little -" with a crack of the Belmont's whip, Adrian was sent flying. He could have easily dodged it, but he didn't think he felt the need to. Lucien never understood why vampires were all so arrogant to think that nothing could harm them, when, in fact, many things could. If this runt was truly a Belmont, then he's survived a year in Dracula's hellscape because he had the right means to protect himself from the horde.
Having said that, Adrian had learned his lesson. Lucien kept a critical eye on the Belmont as he and Adrian sparred. Well, the Belmont was legitimately trying to kill Adrian, but he wouldn't succeed. If there were more of him, he probably would have had a chance of winning. The Belmont's were always strongest in numbers when faced with stronger opponents. The Speaker pleaded for the Belmont not to fight Adrian but the Belmont insisted. He was a firm believer in his theory that Adrian was Dracula.
It was a solid theory based on the limited information that he had there were just a few things off with it. Dracula's castle was a castle and not a mausoleum. He had no need to hide because he had armies of both hell creatures and vampires. Adrian challenged his theory and the Belmont admitted that he was only going off the fact that Adrian had fangs and sleeps in a coffin. That could easily describe several different vampires in Wallachia alone.
Despite the fact that he never landed a single hit on Adrian after the initial attack, the Belmont was determined to take him down. He managed to score one lucky hit on the dhampir, sending him flying into stone pillar that caused Lucien's rafter beam to shudder. Adrian managed to take away the whip when the Belmont foolishly tried to oppose a vampire's strength to take it. He had to abandon the whip and use his short sword instead. Lucien felt a wave of nostalgia as Adrian discarded the whip from his sword and adopted his go-to stance, waiting for the Belmont to meet him.
The Belmont ferociously attacked with calculated swings and jabs, trying to break Adrian's guard and get into his space. Unfortunately for him, Adrian's sword was too long and his reflexes too quick. Adrian began to use his vampire speed to pressure the Belmont to show him more of his capabilities. The first time, the Belmont was barely able to block on time, and was sent flying into the alter. Lucien watched him climb atop it to obtain the high ground but that was a useless effort against Adrian's speed. This time, the Belmont was able to predict his movement and blocked before Adrian could fully appear behind him. The took turns swiping and jabbing at each other before finally locking blades. The Belmont's strength was once again proven inferior to a vampire's but Adrian was also growing tired, forcing him to use both hands to press against the Belmont's sword.
It took everything Lucien had not to laugh when the Belmont tried to knee Adrian in the balls. He gained no visible reaction besides a very unimpressed stare. "Please. This isn't a bar fight. Have some class." He sounded like a parent scolding an errant child.
Then he was promptly headbutted in the face.
The fight came to a head when the Belmont took a desperate swing at Adrian. His sword was broken by Adrian's blade but it did leave a shallow cut on his chest. Adrian was merely annoyed by the inconvenience when he punched the Belmont in the face because he easily could have knocked his head from his shoulders instead of merely breaking his nose. Adrian approached the Belmont, dropping his sword and grabbing the brunette by the hair to expose his neck.
"Do you have a god to put a last prayer to, Belmont?" he asked dramatically, baring his fangs at the man.
"Yeah," the Belmont said, and by his tone, Lucien knew it was about to be something stupid. "Dear God, please don't let the vampire's guts ruin my good tunic."
"What?" Adrian asked before grunting in pain as a knife was digging into his chest. "I can still rip your throat out." There was no real heat behind the threat. He was merely huffy that he allowed himself to be so distracted.
"You can," the Belmont smugly admitted, "but it won't stop me staking you."
"But you will still die."
"But I don't care. Killing you was the point. Living through it was just a luxury."
Lucien had to laugh at the absurdity of that statement, his quiet chuckles covered by Adrian's slightly louder voice. However, his laughter was cut short when he caught sight of the Speaker approaching the pair, the scent of magic growing more potent. Silently he swooped down behind her and grabbed her by the neck. The Speaker froze and her heart sounded like it was about to fly out of her ribcage. Lucien's grip on her neck wasn't bruising to the point that his claws dug into her skin, but there was enough pressure to get his message across.
"Adrian," he called out, gaining the blonde's attention. The Belmont's eyes dropped when his gaze met the Speaker's wide, fearful gaze.
Lucien wondered what kind of image he set standing before them in the lamp light. He knew that he was tall and muscular with pitch black markings swirled along his arms and back. His hair was white as freshly fallen snow and pulled into intricate braids down his back. Along the lines of his chest, abdomen, and neck were molten blue veins. At the sides of his head were large spire-like horns that also had the molten blue veins. Where the horns touched his skull, they flared out at the sides of his face, and flattened along the planes of the upper half of his face like a mask. The large wings that flared from his back were wide enough for the leathery tips to brush the sides of the room if he were to stand in the center. His tail languidly swayed behind his back, the glowing blew edge of its serrated tip serving as a constant unspoken threat.
"You were going to attack me from behind," Adrian said, never relinquishing his grip on the Belmont. "I thought I was your legendary savior."
The Speaker gathered up the composure to retort, "So did I. But he saved my life."
"You're a Speaker-Magician. I suppose you knew that from the very beginning, Lucien?" it was less of a question and more of a stated fact.
"Yes," the Speaker answered before Lucien could, " and his goal is mine: to stand up for the people."
Adrian's gaze trailed up to Lucien's and allowed himself a small smile, "Good, very good."
Lucien released his grip on the Speaker as Adrian backed off of the Belmont, his wounds instantly closing now that he was allowing himself to heal. "A vampire hunter and a magician. You'll do."
The Belmont's eyes widened in shock and confusion. Lucien circled around the Speaker to stand beside Adrian. "I would much rather not work with a Belmont but his head stays on his shoulders for you," it would have been a rather flippant remark if his voice wasn't dripping with disdain when he said the name "Belmont."
Adrian chuckled and lightly pushed his friend before introducing himself. "I am Adrian Tepes. Known to the Wallachians as Alucard...son of Vlad Dracula Tepes."
"You may both call me Lucien, son of Lucius," he searched the Belmont's eyes for any form of recognition, and sucked his teeth when he found none.
"We've been asleep here in my private keep under Gresit for a year, to heal the wounds dealt by my father when we attempted to stop him unleashing his demon armies," Adrian's prushed a hand over the scar bisecting his chest and Lucien curled his wings tighter around himself.
"You are the sleeping soldier," the Speaker said in surprise.
Lucien chuckled good naturedly at that, "We are aware of the stories. We're also aware that the Speakers consider the story to be information from the future. Do you know the entire story?"
"Yes," the Speaker answered, her cheeks flushed under his unwavering stare.
Without prompting, Adrian began to tell the story, "The sleeping soldier will be met by a hunter, a scholar, and a demon."
"No one told me that," the Belmont sheepishly stated.
"Why do you think my grandfather tried everything to make you stay?" the Speaker pointedly asked.
The Belmont sighed in exhaustion as he pushed himself back onto his feet. "I hate Speakers." He warily watched Lucien as the demonic creature approached Adrian's coffin. Lucien rustled around before pulling out a shirt and a coat that he tossed to the blonde vampire.
"Put some clothes on, you bloody heathen."
"Says the one wearing nothing but a tattered loincloth," Adrian jabbed at his friend's state of undress.
Lucien looked down at himself and raised a brow in amusement. "I was struck by lightning several times. You're lucky I even have a loin cloth."
Despite the playful banter, Adrian could tell that his friend was very tense in the presence of a Belmont. Adrian honestly couldn't blame him considering his history with the monster hunters but he needs Lucien to cooperate with him at least a little to achieve their goal. He honestly hadn't been expecting a Belmont and a Speaker to arrive in their hideout. Frankly, any hunter or scholarly magician with a competent amount of skill would have been enough but this was the hand that fate had dealt them. Lucien sent him a meaningful stare that tells him that he will at least attempt to maintain a level of civility. That was all Adrian could ask of him.
"So, what happens now?" the Speaker asked, pulling the dhampir from his musings.
Adrian gratefully accepted his sword's sheath from Lucien and returned his blade to its rightful place, "We need a hunter and a scholar. We need help to save Wallachia - perhaps the world, and defeat my father."
The Belmont turned a suspicious glare onto the pair. "Why?"
To Adrian's surprise, it was Lucien that answered, "Because it is what Lisa would have wanted. His current actions are spitting on her memory and all that she stood for. He was the one who taught me not let my grief and anger consume me. I can't imagine his pain and I don't know what I'd do in his place, so we can only do what he taught me. Knock his teeth in and hope he comes to his senses, or..." Lucien swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath. "Or we put him down."
"You'll help us kill Dracula and save Wallachia?" the Belmont asked as he retrieved his whip from the ground.
Lucien looked to Adrian as it was his father that they were talking about. Adrian's gaze was full of unwavering determination and resignation, turning that same gaze onto the hunter. "My father has to die. The four of us...we can destroy him."
That was all the answer that the Belmont needed as they made their way out of the catacombs. Unfortunately, the exit was blocked by the rubble and the only way out was the hole in the ceiling. Conveniently enough, two members of their party were able to fly, so Lucien unceremoniously tossed the Belmont into Adrian's arms and took off with the Speaker, giving her a quick warning to hold on tight.