Let the Symphony Last for Eternity

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

A/N: Not much fix here! Yay

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Time, the eternal river that never dried up or simply 'stopped'. It was as eternal as It was, and given Its' nature nothing could change It from the appointed task or awareness of the world around It. Hence when It saw the change consume the Castle it came like someone had poured water down a still wet water painting and let the colors run. Bringing from it another painting all together, changed and influenced by some event in the Castle. Indeed, few of the souls It had seen were remaining, many had changed, or become new prisoners of the Castle. More souls lit the Castles interior while Its Lord and Master materialized once more in the Master Chamber.

The Chaos half of the Castle poured its way back into the Dark part in the living grounded world and It went along for the ride. Before it rested millions of slain souls, history had changed in such a way that Its Lord and Master had not lost since that one time before. Free to carry on his work, without the Belmonts, he had brought the world to heel. Giving It an abundant feast of souls to carry to the Other Side.

The nature of the Castle dragged the victims of murder into its folds to be judged, those consumed by rage at their own premature deaths became monsters. The Castles' chaotic nature washed the remembered humanity of these souls and fitted them with a new identity. Like a neatly pressed uniform, that reflected the true nature of these foolish souls. It was 'these' souls that made for the front lines of the forces of Dracula. Protecting the naturally, authentic, Dark Children from the cruel hunters, for Dracula was kind to his 'children'.

But that was only 'half' the souls that came to the Castle, while the half that made peace with their deaths were spared that fate. Instead they haunted the Castle as the unseen to all save Its' eyes, floating about the Castle, prisoners forever. Finding solidarity among each other. Pooling their spiritual power to create the occasional 'gifts' that fell into the hands of the hunters. Once their energies was bestowed upon a hunter the spirits found their freedom and It guided those souls to their waiting After Life.

With really only one 'leader' among them, one who was currently causing It to question Its normal appointed duties. One who never offered her energy, choosing to stay in the Castle in some vain hope that one day She would be seen by her beloved. For the Leader, were she alive, could stay the hand of Dracula with her mere presence.

Lord Dracula, so blinded by his rage, had never been able to see the ghost of his Lady Love despite her presence in the Castle. Indeed so long as he raged 'no one' who had made peace could be seen. Regardless of how much they may have wanted to in an effort to stop the slaughter, it just wouldn't happen. Even now there was a woman keeping Lord Dracula company it seemed, yet her presence could not hold a candle to the Lady before the Vampire Lord.

Easily seen by how the Ghosts were still unseen, though Death had refused to speak of those spirits. After all, how would one approach such a topic when one among those spirits was a beloved soul? Death could not bring back those who had passed on, even if they were a spirit haunting the Castle, regardless of what Dracula wanted. The vampire had raged into this war because of her death, but to learn that he could see her if he could just get over it? How did one do that? How many times had Death collected souls of those who just couldn't figure it out?

Every living path was different, some mortals simply gave up instead of trying and It wasn't going to risk the possibilities of what Dracula would do. Anything from lethargic defeat to even greater rage was bound to be the outcomes. For just 'getting over it' as a facade was not the same as moving on itself. Hence It had held Its silence about 'her'.

Indeed It never even approached the Lady of the Castle simply because it was harder to face Her. She would suppress the very nature of Dracula that accumulated the souls that Death always looked to gain. Yet she was the most beloved of Dracula and anything that offended 'her' would most certainly offend Him. Thus It never wanted to be put into that unfortunate position between the Lord of the Castle and his Lady wife.

But, never before had It seen her weep.

She hovered with an indifference above the ground in the Alchemy Lab, ethereal while wrapped in the remembered smoke of her burning body. Her face was hidden in her hands as she sobbed, her tears trickling down like glistening stardrops.

Which she felt justified in her grief as she hovered there alone. The other spirits like herself were off doing what they could to aid what hunters they could. The maid who had been accompanying her was swept away by some strange wave leaving Lisa alone. Surrounded by a Castle that no longer looked the way she recalled it from less than an hour before. Before she had managed to collect herself back into a visible form, the wave took the Castle and everyone in it.

Confused she had floated to the nearest skeleton adorn in a tidy white coat to inquire about what had happened to the room. Before each room held the signs of the floors being swept, dusting occurring signs of a benign life was taking hold of the Castle. Yet now there was no difference between now and how she recalled the Castle during her Lord Husbands' rule. So she approached this lone skeleton, after all, just because it lacked the internal organs necessary to actually 'hear', it didn't mean it was deaf to her presence.

Ever since the Castle was called to this strange state of being she had found herself able to be seen and heard by all beings when she willed it. But her now words didn't affect the skeleton at all, it just rattled its way along to whatever task it had, with not even a backwards glance at her. The action made her pause, wondering if that strange wave had done something to the skeletons that they couldn't see her anymore.

"DRACULA?!"

Her head snapped up from the quiet repose it had been in. She recognized the voice as the hunter who had turned her son from his father. His alarm and confusion coupled with the name he cried out earned her alarm as she rushed off. Giving up her, what she 'thought' was her, solid form to move more quickly. But whatever speed she thought she was moving at, it clearly wasn't enough.

She came across the leather clad hunter, staring at a space before him in confusion and alarm with Vampire Killer in hand. He looked ready to strike at the first threat that offered itself up before him and she wondered why. As he had been surprisingly well behaved in the Castle up until that point it seemed odd for him to be so guarded from potential assaults. Unless it was because of the presence of her Lord Husband, who shouldn't even have been there in the first place. Unless...

She regathered her form so she could appear before him, disdaining having to talk to one who convinced her precious son to commit patricide. But this was important and some how the skeletons' lack of awareness of her presence still weighed on her mind. She listened as he called out a challenge against her Lord Husband, yet repeated calls became more uncertain, confused. Until he called more out of concern 'for' her Lord rather than 'of'.

"Has something happened to my Lord Husband?" She asked once she was finished pulling her energies into a proper appearance. She materialized before him, as dignified as solid appearing as she could manage given that she was, well, dead. But his eyes, which had been sweeping the room with an intense gaze, never settled on her. Had she not seen him acknowledge her presence before, she would have shrugged, since no one living had seen her in ages. But now, after having seen her before, to look about as though she had not appeared before him. The thread of thought about the skeleton from before wove around this new thread of dread, whispering that maybe 'no one' could see her. Maybe she was back to being a lone spirit invisible to all, that maybe the wave had done something more than distort her vision for a moment.

He didn't speak after the last call out to her Lord Husband, keeping his council with himself alone before he left the room. Never seeing the woman he carelessly walked through to reach the next door. Leaving her stunned and dismayed and filled with so many heart broken emotions she couldn't think of where to start.

What of her husband? The man who had reconciled with their precious sole son? Before the wave the maid spoke of this, but now if the Hunter and Dark Children no longer noticed her, what of her Lord Husband? How could the Castle have changed in a manner of seconds back into the state that kept her invisible? Could she not even have a moment to see him at peace once more, rather than filled with that seemingly inescapable rage?

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It floated out of sight, studying her in quiet observational concern, since souls could be such fragile things given certain situations. The current flux of the Castle could, in fact, push the Lady into a state that could have grave consequences for her position. Should she become desperate to be visible she 'could' become one of the damned souls of the Castle. A state that Lord Dracula would very deeply protest against. Then there was the Prince who was currently in the Castle seeking to destroy his Lord Father again. Having tutored the boy in his youth, Death knew for a fact that the proverbial apple didn't fall far at all from the tree.

Act on his mothers' wishes all he wanted, the Prince had a temper on par with his father when triggered. Confront the Prince and explain his mothers' plight would result in either the Prince not believing It. Or find a way to return the Castle to the recently divided state in an effort to see her spirit again. Which meant betraying his Lord and Master and freeing many now dead souls back into the living world. While true that eventually all those souls 'would' return to It when their time came properly in 'that' reality. Well, It was a little selfish and personally would have liked to keep what It now had.

Betray the Lady and endanger her soul in an effort to keep the lives already lost due to the change.

Betray the Lord and keep him trapped in an eternal cycle resurrection and defeat by assisting the Lady so that she could once more be visible. Because she was 'not' going to endorse her husbands' rage filled rule.

Yet betraying the Lady by endangering her soul ran a risk that if she was ever seen in monster form by her Lord Husband... Well, Death wasn't stupid nor was Dracula. It wasn't like Death could just 'move' the Lady to a new location and keep Dracula in the dark.

So in the end It settled back and decided to let fate play itself out, if there was signs of the Lady being transformed It would make a move. Until then, It would merely keep an eye on everyone one until one or the other happened.