Let the Symphony Last for Eternity

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

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Maria looked about the Entrance hall pleased to see the Wargs were still napping about, well rested meant that the run would be even longer. She tapped a quick beat on her thigh for the Wargs to hear, and watched as they roused up immediately, stretching before getting up. Each thick coated Warg yawned and stretched out their legs before trotting towards their Mistress. Three powerful Wargs that could easily kill a human, standing obediently before a woman so petite she could have been the chew toy of one easily.

"We're going on a Wild Hunt tonight boys," Maria gleefully told the trio as she began scratching the chins of the two outer wolves before rubbing her head against the center Warg. Once they were suitably acknowledged she turned back to look at the Forgemaster at her feet. The red head knelt on the cleaned red carpet, his eyes still with a vacant expression that she would normally find boring. But the light was clearly coming on and she saw expression slowly begin to seep in. "Well, nice of you to join us."

Isaac knelt there, his mind thawing out of the horror that he was so close to taking the fall for the traitors in the Castle. Shaft looked at him as though he was a complete stranger and didn't vouch for him or that Hector, who Isaac had come across and trusted, was a traitor! Perhaps not the traitor that was currently in the Castle, but still the realization that when Isaac returned home, Hector would not be there as support. Every plea went against him, every back towards him and never had he felt so abandoned and alone until that moment. All that he had done for his Lord and Master only to be cast aside as a traitor so easily froze his will to the bone.

Yet it was this womans' intervention that saved him, her words that held back the executioner orders of Lord Dracula. This woman who he recalled from before that stood as a Vampire Hunter herself, among many hunters both men and women. She alone stood and defended his innocence, and though he hated the notion of owing anyone. Well he did owe her his life now.

But he now knelt at her feet and she served his Lord and Master while not a day before she stood in complete opposition from them. It was as he tried to fathom that notion that a recent memory came to the fore. How Shaft had spoke of time being altered if something happened to a Belmont. That one Belmont was in the painting, so was it possible that he was considered 'dead' to time and thus all of the future events that took place were altered?

It didn't matter what happened in the Castle, as far as the world was now concerned he was dead. His line was no more, Isaac unable to recall him meant that it wasn't one of the hunters from his time. But then he doubted anyone would know 'where' the Hunter fitted in his bloodline and did it matter anyway? He was sealed and so long as he stayed that way, Lord Dracula reigned supreme, uncontested by all.

"Huntress, I think I realize what has happened," Isaac looked up, peering at her through his bangs, his voice one of caution. After all the mere awe of what he was thinking, that time 'itself' could alter a whole planet, was humbling. Even to himself. Her mildly curious expression encouraged him to his feet as his hands grasped at thoughts that were invisible to all. "Now I'm going to admit this is beyond me, I can only give a surface explanation, but please humor me."

Maria dropped her arms to her sides not needing to posture when her Wargs stood over her to look down at Isaac. But she did shift the weight of her body to her left leg and waited for this 'revelation' that apparently came so conveniently after he was out of the sight of their Lord and Master.

"When I arrived in the Castle, the situation was quite dire, though I realize it may not seem as such right now. There were two vampires, Brauner and Orlox, who had decried our Lord as a failed leader and sought to overthrow him." He recounted, feeling his heart finally settle into a calm rhythm. She was his own support outside of his Familiars, and the need to explain this to her and make his situation and what he was thinking clear was of the utmost importance. "The Castle had taken on a rather odd air to Itself, the chaos that is part of its structure was missing completely and the mannerisms of both the Dark Children, monsters and the darkness had taken on a rather passive flow to them. Strangely enough the Castle brought myself and Lady Camilla to It as its defense. Or at least we thought so, until we came to realize that It was also bringing many Vampire Hunters from one clan as well. Even the doors worked as warps sending us to random locations each time, save Shaft was who merely a spirit. Having been slain by the hunter that he later broke with his power."

Maria stood there a bit floored by the wellspring of information from the Forgemaster, though she had to confess she wasn't at the 'start' of his trial. Maybe he had given all this information to the Lord and his court before her arrival. But she wasn't a spellcaster of any sort, short of her ability to summon the animals through her garments at least. The notion of time lines being undone and refitted in such a manner was as dizzying as the idea of the Castle being 'that' strange. But the fact that there was a traitor in the Castle and he was acknowledging both by name? Animal instinct couldn't find fault or deception in the words, regardless if it was the Wargs at her back, or the souls of the animals that existed as her garb. "That... is a fantastic story." She finally commented, her voice slightly stilted as she tried to process this fact.

"The only proof I would have would be finding the others who may have come before the hunter. Any hunter who existed before the imprisoned hunter would undoubtedly still be here as I am still. But I know that I saw the truth because you stand before me as a loyal servant of our Lord and Master. Yet when I first saw you, you stood among the number of Vampire Hunters near the Master's Chamber. Garbed in forest greens and with doves at your side and a dragon that came upon your whim," Isaac recalled, despite knowing that it put him at risk if the information pushed her away from trusting him.

His words struck a powerful cord in the huntress and he could see that in the way her eyes narrowed, and the thin line of her lips. Yet despite that, the Wargs never barred their fangs or reacted in a manner similar to her seemingly, threatening expression. In fact why would they? How could this Devil Forgemaster know of her long dead doves? How did he know of her departed dragon or her beloved forest green color?

If he knew that, if his words didn't inspire the sense of deception that would upset her Wargs or her garb. No one was mightier than Lord Dracula, she recalled the tales of bloodshed through out the time after Simon Belmont disappeared. He sired no heirs, the Whip of Vampires' Bane was lost to the world and she barely survived her childhood. Though her devoted animal friends were all slaughtered as they fought the hordes that hounded her and others with power. Betraying their memory had always been painful, but now... What was she supposed to do 'now'?

Restore the Belmont and chance that this supposed 'original timeline' would be restored? Or let things be as they were? He 'was' loyal to their Lord and he was describing a time when the Belmonts were still in power. Isaac would be eventually killed off in his own time if he returned, so it would be logical that he would want to stay in this point in time. If the other hunters were in the Castle it would serve them well to grab the painting and try to rescue the captured Belmont. But she knew of only two members of the bloodline that fought Lord Dracula before Simon, Trevor and Christopher.

But she hungered for the Wild Hunt and to be fair, if they weren't strong enough to face the forces of Lord Dracula... Well they deserved what befell them, as for herself? Well she was perfectly safe and happy where she was now, if the original time was restored, fine. If the Belmonts failed she would be safe, no reason to risk her standing when she won either way.

"Magic is not my forte, that is more in line of Iris or Tera, both of whom are not here," her tone was clipped in tone at first. But then settled into something more gentle, "however I can at the very least see what you are talking about. If the Belmont in the painting had not sired a heir before he arrived here, then his bloodline would be cut off. The Castle reflecting this would be possible I suppose, given its nature."

That she was so calm, despite her connection to beasts was a little startling, how easily she just accepted what he said. He could see that she clearly 'was' thinking, and a part of him wondered if she was patronizing him. He pushed himself to his feet, growing uncomfortable with how easily she could just look down at him. So he brought himself to his feet so that she would have to look up at 'him' instead.

"I suppose I should explain how a 'wild hunt' works, I've never had human companionship during one before. Wouldn't do well if you stumbled into the way of the hunt and got killed without understand 'why' after all." She remarked with a casual hair flip.

He blinked cautiously at that statement, he had heard of a 'Wild Hunt' in the faint descriptions from his sister before. But those were hunts borne of myth, not this so maybe... "My sister told me about them, but I guess the situation 'is' unique, so please, elaborate."

She gave a sharp, predatory smirk as she took the ribbons out of her hair and began wrapping the silk around her wrists. Allowing her long blond hair to cascade down her back and to her waist, giving her a more wild appearance with that alone. She shook out her hair as she worked, before giving Isaac a look over. His armor wouldn't be a burden she felt, and with a brief nod she began. "I'm sure you're smart enough to know what it implies, basically all the animals in the Castle join in as we go through it. We slaughter 'everything' in our path, anything breathing, human, Dark Child, monster, there 'is' no deviation from our path. We release ourselves from the restraints of 'civilized' society and let out our inner beasts. Any beast in the Castle joins in, all others die."

There was a small scratching sound at the tall windows of the Entrance hall that called away the attention of the Wargs. Their lupine yellow eyes sought out the source of the sound, until they spotted a small black bat trying to be let into the hall. Even as they turned towards that window, the latch moved as though under its own power. Rolling a full 180 degree and slowly easing open, allowing the bat to fly into the hallway. In any other castle this would have been cause for alarm, the fear of ghosts or a supernatural presence. But if Lord Dracula willed for this little bat to have entry, the Castle would grant that whim.

Thus the little fluttering bat, dipped and strained against a small rolled up parchment clenched in its tiny feet towards the bright haired human. While the darker haired human took note of it and brought the attention of the desired target to the bat. Thank Darkness, the note was 'heavy'!

Maria raised her hands and caught the little bat with its message, her eyebrow quirked up in question. She never did understand why Lord Dracula used 'messenger bats' instead of say, a zombie which clearly could carry a roll of paper easily. But it was not her place to judge the ideas of her Lord, and instead she took the paper and transferred the hand length bat to her shoulder.

"A message from our Lord?" Isaac asked, curious as to what would be sent in such a manner, after all he had assumed their meeting had concluded.

"Yes," Maria answered, as she unrolled the sheet and read the contents. "It reads: To my devoted Huntress and Forgemaster. My son, your Prince is in the Castle, bring him to me, subdue him if you must, but do not kill him. Capable followers like yourselves are so hard to replace."

Isaac would have sobbed had he been alone, just the written acknowledgment that his Lord had been swayed to say such things was humbling. After all the accusations, that Lord Dracula could see that Isaac 'was' loyal and had only the best of intentions in his actions was a relief.

While Maria sighed and blew a breath in irritation. "The Wild Hunt doesn't work that way, there would be no way for me to just 'stop' as I lose all recognition of people during it. I'd kill my own parents if they were placed before me in the Hunt." She handed the message to Isaac as she crossed her arms in annoyance. "How can I hunt, if I must be careful of who I slay? We'll have to do this the old fashion way instead." She grumbled as one Warg nuzzled her to comfort his mistress, for which she gave a careless scratching session on his chin.

Isaac stared at the message for quite some time, grateful and thankful that his Lord had seen Isaac's intentions. He had some reservations about joining the 'Wild Hunt', for he understood what Maria was speaking yet... Losing his mind was something that a Forgemaster simply didn't do. So how was he going to even take part of this event was something he had been wondering. Though now as Maria aired out her displeasure he was relieved that he wouldn't have to figure out so quickly. Yet...

"The prince? When last I heard of him, he had yet to leave his chambers after the death of his Lady Mother." Isaac commented, walking beside Maria partially facing the Wargs himself.

"Oh? But you 'have' seen him? That's good,," Maria remarked, her curiosity gained, especially since she didn't know what he looked like. How would she know the son from a possible rogue vampire? As much as she wanted to think that he physically took after his father, he could just as easily have taken after his mother. And there was 'no' paintings of the original Lady of the Castle on display, though there probably 'was' a few paintings tucked away somewhere.

"I, personally, have never seen the prince, to be perfectly honest. He often stayed by his Lady Mothers' side, and she as often spent her time away from the Castle as in it. Then after his Lady Mother was slain he holed up in his chambers and refused to leave." Isaac explained, the thought of living in this point in time rather than going back to his own time was preferable. Realizing that his Lord would be defeated by a hunter made going back to his own time less appealing.

"Well that's just great, how do we know when we've run into the Prince and not just some random Vampire?" She huffed as she threw her hands up in the air in frustration. Earning a surprised squeak from the bat on her shoulder.

"Well he's probably the only Dhampire in the Castle," Isaac noted with a shrug before explaining his voice calming back down into lofty, but for now, helpful tone. "Lord Dracula never turned his Lady Wife, thus their son was able to spend time with her in the day or night. Given that she was human, it would make sense that he would spend as much time with her as he could."

Maria looked at Isaac in stunned amazement as she tried to process that, after all her elder sister had been turned immediately upon the marriage. Yet their Lord was content with letting his first wife 'stay' human rather than be turned? What type of woman had she been for he to be willing to allow age and time take her away? That he would concede for that and only rage at the violence of her death, spoke volumes of their love.

It left her quite envious of that kind of love and devotion.

"I suppose this means we travel through the Castle until we find the Prince, once he's been collected and taken to his father. The hunt begins?" Isaac inquired, watching as his voice brought Maria back from whatever deep thought she had cast herself into.

"Yes, of course. Though, where 'is' the Prince? The Castle changes every time and if this is his first visit I doubt his domain is still around. Where would he go?" Maria asked as she tossed her head to the side to invite Isaac as she began walking between her large furry friends. All the while untying her ribbons and going about the process of binding up her hair. Again.

"I would suspect a noble such as he, will be on his way to the Master Chambers to see his Lord Father," Isaac pondered aloud for her. Regardless of how long he was gone from the Castle, the Prince 'should' go forth to have his presence announced for his father. Ahead of him, as he walked, he could see Maria give a brief nod before resuming work on her hair.

"Yes, I suppose you're right, though why not simply open a portal and bring himself directly before his Lord Father? Why the long route? Or is this because of his half blood status? That he might not just be able to teleport himself from one part of the Castle to the other." She asked, growing a bit excited at the prospect of running into the Half Blooded Vampire Prince.

"I think so, though I would suggest against suggesting that he may be 'weak' due to his half blooded state." Isaac warned watching as Maria's growing hair bun nodded in response.