Let the Symphony last for Eternity

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

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A time piece was a thing of precision and exact measurements. One could easily believe that the insides of a clock was a exact replica of the universe. Each in its place, performing its own tasks, turning in time despite the roaming Medusa Heads, or the various Harpies who were either napping or grooming. All the pieces working.

Watching those pieces in the Clock Tower was both mesmerizing and soothing allowing Isaac a chance to sit down and process what had been going on. The Tower itself had few windows, and often very little light from the occasional candle. However; with the moon full, in the right position, and the maids having already polished much, the tower had a way of just lighting up.

The beams from the moon would bounce off of polished gears creating tiny spotlights that would flicker against the wall. He couldn't recall it ever looking so interesting during his own time, than again the Lady of the Castle 'had' just been killed. But in this moment, strangely out of time as he was, Isaac found that the Clock Tower had an interesting setting to it. Like a field of fireflies in fact, it wouldn't last of course, he could see the small flecks of dust settling.

Isaac had been fortunate to find a maid who could provide him with stronger potions, so his injuries were no longer a matter. But he had yet to run into Hector during his journey through the Castle and had to wonder how his fellow Forgemaster was faring. There was a concern that the two vampire traitors may have found Hector and overpowered him. At least that had been his 'original' concern before this strange shuddering of the darkness overtook the Castle.

He had been brought to the underground parts of the Castle after he had parted ways with the Dark Child. He had been disgruntled when he discovered that this Castle had no quarters for him, mollified by the fact that he was human. He wouldn't live the long life span of these Vampires or other Dark Children. But not having a bedroom to retire to for ones injuries was just such a fuss and bother especially when one once lived in such a place. Like moving out of ones' home and returning to find their parent had restructured it to a completely different purpose.

But the maids provided him with those potions and a meal so he couldn't be 'that' angry. Even when the Castle teleported him down into the Underground. Yet it was as he was walking that the shudder took over the Castle. He had been walking along when suddenly the ground below his feet seemingly rolled. Though he knew the logic of 'that' happening was impossible, even for the Castle, it 'did' trigger his muscles to react as such.

What had been a strangely calm darkness suddenly roared back into Chaos, the long absent sensations he was used to was restored in a rolling heave. One would think the lake outside the Castle had suddenly rose up and consumed the Castle like a tidal wave. But as the muscle memory jerked in surprise, his visual sense was consumed in a wavering, oily film. It didn't change anything he saw, but it left him wondering what had happened. The Belmont protecting the Count couldn't control the Chaos, only the Dark Children as per ordered by Shaft.

He couldn't imagine that Orlox or Brauner could control any type of Chaos Magic necessary to control or manipulate the Castle. For that matter why 'would' such a wave pass through when nothing clearly changed? He strolled along when the smell of new death crossed his nose, something that he hadn't noted since his arrival. After all the Children weren't killing anyone, if the Hunters weren't killing either there was no way for there to 'be' any smell of death around them. Perhaps there was a spirit here he could bring to life?

He wandered down the cavern while trying to figure out if there was anything off with how the Castle felt now. In case one of the traitors had managed to accomplish something grander than what he or Shaft had expected. All the more difficult due to this being 'chaos' so patterns of any structure was weak at best. Only enough to keep the Castle stable in this plane of existence without constantly changing or readjusting itself.

But it 'did' feel wonderful to be 'home' in any sense of the word, and with the power finally normal again. He was walking upon a stretch of cave that was pitch dark so he grabbed a nearby light and carried it to the passage to check things out. The light was pitiful against all the darkness before him, yet he could see the ruthless hallway of spikes that stretched out along the floors, walls and ceiling. Oh and the blue clad girl who was dead at his feet, which explained the scent of death. Fresh death in fact, her auburn brown hair dangled in clumps from where the blood had dried as it spilled down.

Wait...

He remembered that outfit.

Isaac called forth his trident and fished out the body from the spikes. Her clothes from the front were mostly soaked in blood by this point. There were holes piercing her body clearly having punctured organs and there were signs that in her dying moments she grabbed a spike in an effort to push herself up. Which normally wouldn't bother him save that he had seen her before, when those hunters who could fly went to spy on the Master Chambers. Hate them though he did, he knew it was not in their nature to leave a body of an ally in such a state. Even if she was dead, they would have pulled her out and to the side.

He had dumped her body to the side, sight of her corpse so off putting that he turned to leave. Before he had been unable to properly teleport because of the nature of the Castle had been so off center. Now that he felt normal, he took a chance and called forth one of his portals, and was rewarded with an answering crimson gleam rising from the ground.

Which brought him back to his presence in the Clock Tower. Somehow the methodical pace of the clock gears was comforting as he tried to figure out what had happened. He thought it was a simple case of the Castle calling forth Draculas' faithful to deal with traitors. He had found the Dark Priest already had his Hunter in place, allowing Isaac the freedom to travel the Castle. It was when he realized the Castle had brought in 'Hunters' of all things that he had become uncomfortable. Why, after all, should the Castle bring in Vampire Hunters?

True the traitors 'were' Vampires and even Shaft had tamed a Vampire Hunter, it still felt wrong to involve outsiders in the defense of their Lord and Master. As though they weren't strong enough to do the job, the Castle had declared a larger group to ferret out these would be usurpers! But the Castle, though once again strong in its chaos, had developed something that Isaac found worrisome.

Despite being stripped of almost all the chaos magics that the Castle normally had, the Castle as a whole had felt more like home before. The anger, the raw power, the rage was gone, leaving it once more a peaceful refuge. Only now those old emotions were back, not as strong as before, but once more a part of the stonework. But of all the things that had suddenly changed within the Castle, it was that witches' death that bothered him the most.

She shouldn't have been 'dead'.

Everything about that set up felt wrong, from the fact that she fell face down and tried to get up, to the fact that he knew she wasn't alone. The size of the group showed that they knew how to avoid the doors method of separating everyone. He would have recognized if there was distrust among a group, better to use it against them had they fought. But this group looked companionable to each other, there was a level of trust that made her death questionable. They wouldn't shove her face first into the spikes, he felt. Or if she 'had' fallen, he couldn't see them just leaving her to die, when she was in arms reach. While at the same time the Castle had been so passive, without just cause, the Dark Children wouldn't have gone after her.

Perhaps one of the traitors? Could one or both, have attacked the group and separated her from her party? Normally the death of some random hunter wouldn't have bothered him, but it was just too sudden. The Castle shifting from the uncomfortable source-less calm to its usual state of Chaos, the sudden change was uncomfortable.

"Well now, I expected Death to be relaxing here in the Clock Tower. Who are you? I do not recognize you as one of my Lord Husbands' followers."

The sudden voice made Isaacs' head snap up and he turned quickly to find the source of the voice. A voice that belonged to someone not on the ground, rather hovering in the air. Two elegant bat like wings held her aloft as a blond haired woman looked down upon him. She wore a dress of green so dark it appeared black with only the sheen of its true color. Pale of skin, ruby in eye color, Isaac recognized the Vampire for what she 'was', but as for who she claimed to be?

No, he knew he was centuries in the future of his own time and place, rather than the past. This was 'not' the one true Lady of the Castle. The one human who could make his Lords' heart beat again with life. Not his Lord Draculas' 'Helen of Troy'. Yet it still begged the question of who 'was' she? There was no new 'Lady' when he initially arrived in the Castle following the activities of the traitors in the Castle. So where did this supposed 'Lady' come from?

"I could ask you the same, when I arrived the only Vampires in the Castle were his niece the Vampire Camilla and the two traitors who sought to over throw our Lord Dracula." Was Isaacs' defiant answer, as he recalled the scornful reaction from Camilla when she learned of what was transpiring in the Castle. Her ridicule at assisting mere 'humans' in the defense of their mutual Lord Dracula, had been a sticking point to Isaac. After all he was above the commoners, 'he' was a Devil Forgemaster, a creator of the beings, a talent taught to him by their Lord and Master.

"Traitors? Only three Vampires in the Castle? What madness is this you speak of? Wrench dog, I shall have your tongue sliced out of your mouth if you defile my Lord Husbands' name any further." She imperiously retorted, folding her arms before her as she imperiously glared at him.

Isaac found himself struck dumb for a moment with that, wondering what route he should take. If not for the girl on the spikes he would have assumed 'this' to be another traitor and would have attacked her. But between the girl and the sense of the restoration of the Castle itself, he found himself at rather a loss. "And who might you be referring to as your 'Lord Husband'?" He finally asked, as his mind tried to unravel the insanity before it.

"You dare ask me such a thing!"

She was suddenly lit from below by a bright red circle of teleportation, fading out as she glared at the stranger. "I shall warn my Lord Husband of your treachery!"

Her unwillingness to answer, her abrupt departure, had it been any other time or place in the Castle he would have assumed her a traitor. He would have hunted the harlot down and been done with at least one traitor. But that girl on spikes, the rolling return of the Chaos in the Castle, this Vampires' brief statements, were enough to cause him to pause.

Perhaps he needed to check the Master Chambers? Ensure that Shafts' broken Hunter was still safe guarding the Castle. Easier to find the Chamber than to find Shaft, and he needed someone to talk to that he 'knew'. Shaft had explained that the Castle they were in was the one he knew, so he was clearly from this point in time. But if the Devil Forgemaster failed to find the Dark Priest, he could still go looking Hector or, if really desperate, he could look for that one Dark Child.

Only Isaac couldn't fly and Shaft had already warned him that the Hunters' perception had been altered heavily. But just walking 'up' to the Master Chambers was also a 'no go' for the heels on Isaacs' boots made a very clear clicking sound. Even on the carpet there was just enough sound to alert the broken Hunter. He sat there pondering the direction he should go when a feather drifted into his line of sight. That's when it occurred to him.

The Harpies in the Clock Tower, though part human and monster they 'could' be of some use to him. So he got off the floor, dusting himself off and looked amid the darkness and flickering lights for one. Not entirely an easy task when he had so many gears already parallel to the ground in his line of sight. Between the eternal pace of the gears he caught a faint glimpses of something above him that was more promising. A winged beast was perched upon a bar that was attached to a rotating gear high above his head. Her dusty yellow plumage lit up by a direct shaft of light from a window above his head, and providing him with a target to focus his attention on.

So he jumped from platform to platform, alighting himself onto moving gears, both parallel and perpendicular to the ground with ease. The Children didn't react to his movements, after all he was not a threat to those who served Lord Dracula.

"You, Harpy! Wake up!" He barked out as he got near enough to see her nearly napping expression. He watched her start and her eyes dart around showing her avian attribute when alarmed, her eyes fixating on him and then mildly settling down.

"Darkling?" She squawked out as she tilted her head to the side a bit. For humans the word may have been seen as an insult, but for those with limited human vocabulary it was just an understanding that it was a short form for 'Dark Child'. Both an admission that this was a human AND one with the power that marked them differently than a powerless human. An 'adopted' child of the night some would say, or like the fae marked Changelings.

"Tell me, the name of the Lord of this Castle, it is of utmost importance!" he ordered as he finally found a good spot to stand and have this conversation.

The Harpy looked a little confused by the order, her head cocking from one way to the other as though she couldn't figure out what was being asked of her. This one was steeped in the teachings of Lord Dracula so how could he be asking 'that'? "Lord Dracula."

He nodded in acknowledged, grumbling at her low intelligence as he realized she didn't understand him clearly. "I am aware of that, but our Lord has been banished for now, so who protects the Castle for him?"

Her expression became more confused as she tilted her head completely to the side as she pondered his words. Before righting her head back up and rustling up all her feathers and puffing them out. "Lord Dracula only banish once, when nasty hunter with whip come. Once returned, never banished again."

Isaac stood there elated at the news of the return of his Lord and Master, with Dracula here there was no way that the traitors would get away! Not bothering to thank the Harpy he summoned the portal necessary to teleport himself to the Master Chamber and make his presence known to his Lord. Letting the metallic darkness of the Clock Tower be replaced by the well lit softness of the Master Chambers. Only the moment he could see the room, he saw that woman who claimed to be the 'Lords Wife' standing by the elevated throne of Dracula. And Lord Dracula sitting upon said throne, his body leaned to give ear to the blond vampire.

In that moment being reminded of her presence at all and the terrible horror that crept upon him as the realization struck. She thought 'he' to be the traitor and Isaac was over a century in the future. 'If' the Count 'had' remarried would he believe his new bride over his own Forgemaster? 'Would' he trust his Forgemaster, who could have, essentially, appeared as a traitor who abandoned his post? After all Isaac was patrolling part of the Castle for Hunters when he was brought into 'this' Castle. And the Harpy had said that Lord Dracula was banished only once, when the Hunter with the Whip came through. And Isaac knew of such a Hunter, though he had not faced him yet.