Let the Symphony Last for Eternity
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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The Castle of Dracula was a sprawling beast of a layout, with multiple floors, hallways, chambers, several gardens, the library, a Colosseum, a waterfall, a chapel if you must. It stood tall and proud over a massive lake atop a towering outcrop of rocks that rose up into the sky leading a persons' eyes up from the placid lake below and its emerald green foliage of trees embracing the sandy beach as it became stonework towards the sky.
It was in the perfect place to take advantage of either moon rise or sun rise, giving the castle a type of divine light at regular intervals. Other times, the heat from the day could clash perfectly with the waters of the lake creating a thick fog. It would rise up, hiding the Castle so well that it could be seen like a structural predator like its Lord and Master. But again, a home was a reflection of its owner was it not?
For which he could not make heads or tails of because usually there was one of twelve different types of conditions going on. Full moons hidden by rain or beaming over a clear sky or covered with fog, waxing or waning moons or just no moon and any weather condition. Not this.. this.. Choose your own weather pattern event being carried out by each of the four sides of the castle. The probability of stepping out to the soothing sound of rain lit with a wall of light from the full moon was a smaller chance then all the other myriad displays of conditions thus far.
Which was unfortunate, the Castle was a sprawling structure, and while the outside was a meteorological whirlwind of imbalance the state inside seemed to fare no better. He could sense nine vampire hunters traveling about the castle like an infestation of rats. Their presence balanced between strangely clustered and spotted about the castle. But that, while curious, was negligible while the feeling of the Dark Children was another thing all together. He had yet to figure out why there was two devil forgemasters from out of nowhere.
Young Carmilla was a strange addition as well, fluttering about with her pair of followers and way more Children were wandering the castle cleaning up. More than once he had walked in upon maids sweeping or dusting, found himself in a kitchen. When, seriously, when did the Castle of Count Dracula have a 'kitchen'? Since, well 'then'. One wrong turn ended up putting him in the most bizarre room he had ever seen. Filled with brightly colored Dark Children dressed as... no he was not going to ask, he was just going to step back out of the room amid cheers of the 'nice costume'? What even...
And what in Hells name was a 'selfie'?!
There was only one presence that seriously concerned him anymore, as he stood before the door that he shouldn't have walked through apparently. Somewhere in this sprawling architectural masterpiece of a Castle was his son. Nine vampire hunters and his son were currently in this castle and the only thing 'he' could think of? Was that his naughty little prince was apparently taking a class of students in the worst possible place for a field study trip.
Which left him with two possibilities for ways to deal with this silly protracted game of hide and seek. He was either going to turn his son and see how good his son got at his silly 'I'm a Vampire Hunter see me slay' game he had been playing for two hundred years. Or he was going to catch his erst while child, bind him, and let the boy dine with him again over many, many, glasses of blood of said students. 'Then' turn his child into a full vampire since being a dhampire just made him bratty.
But pinpointing his sons' location was a bit of a trial, the influx of hunters, Children and Forgemasters, the strange flux of power from the Castle. No, Dracula would have been lying to himself if he thought he could find his son easily, amid the mess going on in the Castle. So he decided to start at the lower parts of the Castle, it was where a number of rats could be found after all. Willing his form into that of a flurry of bats, they rose up into the air a bit before accelerating in their descent towards the ground and into mist.
The arrival of Dracula in the Underground Caverns was marked by the flapping wings of bats and the ferry man dropping down to bended knee. He stayed silent, waiting for a sign from his Lord and Master to speak. It was always better to get confirmation to speak rather than just speak out of turn, after all their Lord didn't 'have' to be in a good mood when he was calm.
Beyond Dracula was a large expansive river that fed into the lake outside the castle, ensuring that the water was always fresh and clear. Deep enough to drown the unsuspecting, with only the ferryman able to carry people across from one end to the other. Pure water, a ban to vampires and their half blood kin, but Dracula didn't bother to lower his gaze unto his servant. His son could have easily turned into a bat and flew across the river if he hadn't forsaken his magics the last time he left the Castle.
Wordlessly he turned his back on the river and began walking along deeper towards the interior of the castle. Teleporting himself across gaps and other trivial nonsense that others would have to transverse.
"Father? Look! Frogs!"
"Indeed... now son don't hop like them. You're a 'prince' you should carry yourself as one at all times!"
"Oh dear, let him have his fun, its not like there are other children for him to play with after all."
"... Very well Beloved, if you wish it."
The soft crackling of fire as it was slowly dying away overtook the sounds of the cave and from the darkness glowed a warm orange and gold light. Soon the water chilled air of the underground was filled with smoke and burned flesh. He knew if he turned around he would see his wife strung up on a cross. The burned remains of flesh and dress, not even a single locket of gold hair unconsumed by the hungry flames. A single bit of rope hanging off the top of that wicked cross that showed how she was hung as well.
The flames that gobbled her flesh, followed by the dark flames he called upon when he burned the town to the ground. The glorious screams of terror from those soulless humans who had murdered his Beloved. Screams that were still not enough to drown out the sounds of his own cries of anguish and rage at her death. Or loud enough to drown out the silence of his son, who had all but sealed himself in his own crypt.
"Beloved? What are you doing?"
"Making vampire cloaks for our child."
"Oh? Isn't he a bit young for such things?"
"Yes, but not so young that he is can't just steal yours and run all over the place. Before he ends up hurting himself I thought to make him something more size appropriate."
"... Well that explains where my other cloaks went. Is that also part of the reason that the servants seem to be in a constant state of disarray now?"
"Yes. He wants to be a hero like our friend Leon. I wonder how many children they had, he and Sara would have beautiful children I imagine."
"'Children', yes, I'm sure they had beautiful kids, say, Beloved what would you like for supper tonight? So I can have it ready for you?"
Humans age so quickly yet just having her with him until that time would have been enough. Death due to old age was the most serene, capitalizing all the time he could with her so that he could carry those perfect memories through out time. So many books spoke of 'moving on' but having lost his wife 'twice' now? How could he possibly move on? When he never got to see the true sunset of their union? Why should he be denied the slow sunset of death for his most beloved wife and not the humans?
If he couldn't have a peaceful life with his wife and child by his side then humans shouldn't be allowed to continue to exist either! Even his current bride, though fair of skin and hair, she held nothing in comparison to Lisa. No matter how he may have wanted to believe that maybe, just maybe, Lisa would return to him in a new form again she just... If it took two hundred years to be reborn into the world, than where was Lisa?
No matter how many times the Castle had remodeled itself, he still found areas that brought back memories of those days. It made wanting to leave the Master Chambers less and less appealing as the years moved on. He hated having his undead heart sometimes, the constant pain when he thought back to Lisa was almost crippling. A weakness that he refused to show to his underlings and followers, they expected a powerful leader and that was what he would always be.
Soon enough his son would be by his side again, by choice or force it really didn't matter anymore to Dracula. Even the Castle seemed aware of this as it had provided numerous rooms for his son to sleep in. He couldn't really wait until he could see his child once more, that impetuous little scamp had been gone for far too long.
The space before him began to warp at his will shaping into a portal through space while he prepared to return back to his chambers. He refused to subject himself to these dark memories on his own, at least until his son was returned to him. Perhaps a walk through the Castle would be more endurable, maybe enjoyable, if his son was there?
His Dark Priestess stepped through the portal and dropped into a deep curtsy before him the moment her eyes rested on him. Her black hair kept neatly just above the shoulders, her robes long and black, that were slit up to the thighs. He looked at the top of her head as she gave her customary greeting to her lord and master.
"Tera, child I have a task for you."
"Yes, Mi'lord?" Tera answered instantly, her voice humble. Her lord summoning her with a task wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She wanted nothing more than to please her lord and master, but she was already busy trying to find this future version of her Lord.
"Your Prince is in the Castle, you will bring him before me in the Masters Chamber." He instructed, preparing for his teleportation spell to return him back to said chamber.
"Yes, my Lord, ah if I may have a moment of your time more," Tera asked as she stood there having yet to rise out of her curtsy. Perhaps if her Lord would grace her with some assistance she would be able to find the future version of her Lord and Master faster. "I was in the library earlier, and I was alerted to the news, that it seems, the Castle has brought a future version of yourself here."
Which was most certainly news to Draculas' ears as he stood there towering over his priestess. It was enough to give him further pause from leaving the area, and he finally nodded, "carry on." Would the Castle be able to bring a future version of himself? If so, it was a wonder that he had not had that future self arrive in the Chambers. But than perhaps the Castle was trying to keep from any potential fall out from such a meeting from happening. After all the Castle couldn't have 'two' lords and masters, even if they were the same person in spirit.
"I heard that the Prince was even seen with that version, the relationship seeming more positive to that maid who was there." She reported obediently, while wondering if she should mention the presence of a ghost version of the Lady. She knew what her Lord was like when he heard her named mentioned after all.
"The Prince, you say?" So perhaps his son was finally coming home to stay? Ah to have the youngster finally accept his place in the Castle was a cheering thought. "A maid told you this? Was there anything more she spoke of?" he asked, after all he didn't recall there being a maid in the Castle for so long. It was a good thing that they had started materializing again in the Castle, it would be more like back in the day with them. Indeed the more he thought on the topic the more it seemed that the castle was changing back to how it was when Lisa was around.
"Ah... well she wasn't speaking to me directly, and I am unsure of where she went. Though if I had some help I might be able to find her again and get more answers," she offered.
But there was a touch of fear in her scent that caused Dracula to pause and look down at his priestess. "Why are you suddenly afraid." Not a question, he wasn't going to give her the option if she should answer. But the scent got even stronger as he spoke and his eyes narrowed on the priestess before him.
"It- it is just 'how' I learned this bit of information. I merely want to confirm a few facts before I give my Lord the full report. I mean no disrespect my Lord, but at the same time I wish only to speak the truth. If this turned out to be misleading it would mean I have spoken falsely and can not bear the thought of such."
Dracula hated the stench of fear off of humans, it reminded him far to greatly of the humans who killed his wife. Fear from the Children was different and Death knew no fear, but a human's fear only sweetened by the smell of their own blood. The sweetness balanced out the smell, creating an alluring aroma that could get Dracula's mouth watering. But this Priestess had given him news of his son, and wished the have it verified before she spoke more on the subject.
So the question was, let her live and do her search or slay her and have her corpse do the search? The Priestess was still a human after all, and if his son still entertained ideas of friendship with humans, than it might cheer him to see a human. Dracula observed the priestess before him in her simple black grown with its white collar around her throat. He could recall her as one easily given to flights of fancy from time to time who was normally found in the Chapel.
The type to become more spirited the more her mind left her, but she was clearly in the here and now at the moment. The fact that she reported information, from a second source, and not bothered to get it confirmed before reporting it to him was enough to displease him. The only real reason he had for not reaching forward and snapping the girls' neck was his son. The human wasn't unattractive and he didn't know what his son would like in his humans.
What if his son wanted a wife eventually? The boy wasn't very much into succubi, so Dracula could see himself having to turn a young lady into a vampire eventually. So there was always a chance that maybe, just maybe, his son would like this human. So for now, he stayed his hand and pondered who he should assign to the girl to help her on this search. But even the thought of trying to think seemed rather foolish. Who else could he partner with the girl save Death or that Necromancer friend of hers.
He wasn't going to send Death out to fact check this girl unless she proved useless on her, essentially, first serious task. No, this would be a good test for his Dark Priestess and Necromancer, if they failed he would know they weren't worth being in his castle. If they succeeded they would prove themselves potentially worthy to be his sons' lovers. He didn't have a problem turning a useful human into a higher life form after all. Even if the priestess started off on the wrong foot, if she pleased him with the outcome of her task. Well it would prove that she could take a bad situation and turn it around for her benefit.
Always a plus in Dracula's book, it harked him back to his days with Leon when they were dealing with such campaigns. So let the girl prove herself, and if she failed, well either she or the Necromancer would be removed for being useless. Or maybe she would prove, herself, as a worthy human and only the Priestess would be removed. He didn't know and it would prove an interesting little game for the kids to play.
"Then make yourself scarce, find the Necromancer if you must and have her aid you on this task." He ordered before allowing his powers to teleport him back to his Chambers and leave the girl to her possible fates.
Allowing Tera to, while still lowered before her lord, get her hair tossed about a bit by the winds created by the flurry of bats. She kept her eyes on the floor where his feet had been, that had dissolved into bats and light. When he was gone she finally stood back up and struggled to get her terrified heart back under control. How could she not be scared though?
Her Lord was clearly displeased by her incomplete report and she didn't know where anyone was. Not only that, he had given her a task but no time limit, so she was at a lost at just how long she had before her Lord would pull her back to the Master Chambers. Killing her for her uselessness or giving her to another true Dark Child as a toy. She lifted her head up and looked at the top of the passage she was in, thinking of the Castle above her and its large expansive presence. Somewhere there were people she 'needed' to find and the sooner the better.