Let the Symphony Last for Eternity

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

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Alucard didn't answer, he just resumed his walk through out the Clock Tower with a stoic, forceful step that reinforced his displeasure over the topic at hand. And while Leon would have loved nothing more than to be the polite, upstanding knight who didn't get involved 'this' deeply in other people's problems...

Mathias had gone from quietly hating God to a raging hatred of humanity, with the extermination of mankind as his current goal. There was clearly a reason, tied to the death of Elizabetha after she had been reborn. A reason that affected both Mathias and his son well into the centuries, and that Alucard was quite possibly holding the 'one' thing that would still Mathias' hand...

He recalled the time she appeared before him, surrounded by smoke as though she stood in a fire. Giving her the option of having died in a fire or possibly burned at the stake either option would be open to possible murder. It would certainly be a valid reason why Mathias would turn around and want to end the human race.

Considering how he reacted to her death by illness before, any form of murder would be murder most foul. That he allowed her to retain her humanity and 'not' turn her also heavily hinted at his willingness to allow her 'to' die. If she had died a natural death he probably would have just gone on as a lonely widow and kept to himself.

But the fact of the matter was that if Alucard knew of a way to pacify Mathias and not bothered to actually try? She had materialized before Leon readily enough, it was only the intense evil of the area that sent her away. If somehow it was Mathias' own rage making her invisible to him, than surly, she could manifest for her son. Was he not a hunter? Did he not carry holy items and have come to terms with her death?

"Alucard, I asked you a question," Leon called out before jumping across to a doorway.

"Mother is dead, she has never shown herself in the Castle since the day before it happened," they were the closest to actual words Alucard managed to bite out. While at the same time leaving him shaken by the fact that his mother was still 'in' the Castle, all be it as a ghost. There were plenty of ghosts in the Castle, the mere idea that she was among them felt impossible.

"I will admit it to be true, it was her ghost I saw after all. However; she is clearly still in the castle, its been readily admitted that people who die violent death end up here. Her death was reflected by the smoke that radiated from her. You even have Death serving as a tutor to you, how is it that neither of you have bothered to contact her? If the issue was her death, who better to stay Mathias' hand than she?" Leon pointed out when Alucard rounded on him, his eyes still a sharp red that contrasted his pale features.

"My mother is 'dead', she's dead and in heaven."

Leon frowned at the force that Alucard put in the words, neither impressed or moved by the stubborn force. "I deeply apologize that the natural order of things was disrupted, keeping your mother trapped in this castle instead of ascending as would have been her right. But she is also the exclusive person who clearly has any effect on how your father would deal with the world at large. The count of people who have died, both guilty and innocent by this point in time must be astronomical." Leon pointed out.

Alucard said nothing further, instead turning on his heel and continuing through the clock tower, jumping down to a rotating gear. There was no further door before them, so apparently they were going to have to descend deeper in an effort to find the next door. "My mother wouldn't be able to stop this... Father doesn't listen..." Alucard's voice was carried like a hiss through the air, that was given the back beat of the gears as they moved.

"Your father has done terrible things yes, but the one thing that I know he didn't change when he became a vampire. Was the ability to 'listen'. Right or wrong, he 'does' listen to a person's argument, plans, counter points, its a part of who he is..." Leon argued as he felt the wind ruffle his bangs until his feet landed comfortably on the eternally turning gear he had jumped towards.

"I honestly doubt he would listen to what she said back after he discovered her fate that day," Alucard harshly retorted before he stalked his way to the edge of the gear and jumped down.

Leaving Leon with the painful realization, regardless if Alucard meant to or not, he revealed that Elizabetha 'had' left a parting message. Meaning her son had apparently been a witness to her death and she had passed on her final words. Final words that Alucard had 'not' passed on to their intended recipient. That every person who had died to Mathias' war, every person who had disappeared in the Castle the moment time changed. Was all inadvertently Alucard's doing.

With a shake of his head Leon tried to figure out what had happened, while at the same time having to remind himself that time had 'changed'. Which brought everything back to the man that Trevor had met, the reincarnation of Mathias. If Soma was a 'reincarnation' of Mathias and had come from a future point in time beyond this castle's current point... He would have been in the castle roughly at the same time as when Leon encountered Elizabetha.

Soma had been described as seemingly nonchalant in both his encounters, with both Alucard and Trevor. The Castle passive instead of actively churning a type of fury that could only, in retrospect, be a result of Mathias' own feelings. Making a reasonably option that the 'reason' that Leon had seen Elizabetha was because of Soma. It seemed the moment the timeline shifted and Soma disappeared, whatever influence he had over the castle had left. Possibly including the ability to see Elizabetha, which meant that in order to see her, Mathias would have had to calm down.

Which meant, possibly, needing to hear her final words, which he hadn't. He may have calmed down, but it may have been a mere false calm, something that could easily be reignited at a moment's notice. But if he calmed down properly, it would then be possible that she could materialize for him any time. Now a ghost stuck in the Castle it would be ideal for the pair to be together if he only knew that she was here.

Though Leon was suddenly concerned about how that would even play out, Alucard reacted strongly against the idea that she was in the Castle still. How would Mathias react if he knew his wife wasn't in Heaven, rather a prisoner to the Castle like all the other souls that had been brought here. Perhaps he wouldn't just be elated and reform, whatever came together to make Soma exist. Perhaps he would turn on the Castle and she was trapped 'in' the Castle. Mathias taking the extreme route could result in more harm than good.

How could Alucards' mother be in the Castle?

She never revealed her presence to him in the new timeline, nor did he recall her presence in the old one. His mother should have been in Heaven; she wasn't like these crass, ignorant humans that littered the world like fleas on a stray. Implying that she was trapped in the Castle, that 'he' was responsible for her entrapment for not talking to his father.

He wanted to be infuriated at Leon, for implying that his kind, loving mother was a prisoner of the Castle. At that moment nothing would have pleased Alucard more than to tear the young hunter into pieces for his heresy. Yet if Leon was right, than it meant that his mother 'was' in the Castle. How many people did she watch die and unable to say anything. She wouldn't have approved of anything father had done, nor would she approve of Alucard killing Leon for the truth.

If it was the truth.

And it was that fact, that inability to know for sure if it was fact or fiction that drove him to stay his hand. Moreover, the longer he thought about hurting Leon the more his memories of Soma and the other time slipped away. As though the claymore was weakening or he was intentionally ignoring its' function. Becoming more like his father, one would say.

But Leon did bring up a valid point, that his mother 'had' left her final words with Alucard and it was still his duty to tell his father.

For now he pushed those thoughts away, focusing instead on getting through the Clock tower and to the Master Chambers. If Leon was telling the truth it would be revealed in the presence of his father. If it turned out that Leon was lying, than Alucard would gladly slay... only he couldn't... not without wiping out the rest of the clan... Damn it.

While Leon was struck by the very insanity of the place. More than just the water in some areas of a 'clock tower', but also the issue of getting to the Master Chambers at all. There was a certain blend he could see between the Castle and how Walters' castle had been laid out. Including the elusive and distant Master Chamber that rose high into the air. But being forced through all of this, was Mathias eternally playing games with everyone who came to visit him?

… How did Elizabetha even move around in this castle? Did she have some type of personal escort?

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"That was a short marriage..." Dracula noted dryly as the maids quietly, efficiently worked to sweep up the remains of the previous lady of the castle. Her gown had been burned in the ensuing execution, and now was scattered around the floor like petals of a burned rose. Mops were used as was brooms to clean up the parts of Lady Annette that hadn't ended as neatly as the maids would have liked.

They scuttled about like organized little ants while a skeleton held a bag for the maids, all moving with quick, nervous, efficiency, which was odd because Dracula wasn't angry at 'them'.

"Lord..." Shafts' voice was nervous as he held his orb before him, his focus more intent on the orb than Dracula. Far better to be intently focused on his orb than possibly offend his Lord and Master, thus he let what was transpiring in the Clock tower take up his view.

"Hmmm? What is it Priest?" Dracula asked, letting his eyes rove over the surface of the orb, noting bright pricks of color with only faint interest.

"It would seem that the Young Master and a hunter has made it through to the Clock Tower and are on their way here..." Shaft answered glancing up only long enough to check Dracula's expression. Watching Annette die had been... enlightening.

"Oh, well at least they had the common sense not to hurt my son," Dracula noted as he shifted his posture in his throne. "I suppose the hunter with my son is one of the two that Camilla was keeping with her." Dracula noted passingly.

"Actually, no, this one is blond in a red and white coat who is carrying the actual Vampire Killer, unlike the other two..." Shaft corrected and nearly bit his tongue as instinct literally had made him counter his lord and masters words.

Dracula frowned as he turned his gaze towards the Belmont in the painting hanging on the wall like another decoration, out of all the ones he had faced... He didn't recall a blond who wore those colors, and while the one in the painting 'started off' as a blond, his overuse of the Vampire Killer had instilled a blood lust in him that turned his hair vivid red.

There 'was' that father son pair... and then as though a torch went off over his head, Dracula found himself staring at the wall of the Castle directly before him. Wondering if it was possible that the Castle could have gone 'that' far back. Could the Castle reach a Belmont who had never stood in its halls? It wasn't as though Dracula ever absorbed that one vampires home after all. "Let me see this blond hunter," he instructed Shaft, sliding his gaze back on the lavender color clad priest.

Shaft nodded and floated his way up to the Dark Lord, his orb reflecting everything on its surface save Lord Dracula.

But as he got closer, Draculas' keen vision had already started to pick up on what Shaft was viewing and his curiosity was making him lean forward. He recalled the stride and hair, it brought back his life as a human...

The Castle brought 'Leon' into its walls? And it 'was' Leon, as the former knight turned and gazed at the structure of the tower, his face was unmistakable to the Vampire Lord. Not only was Leon ascending to the Master Chamber, but the former knight was in the company of Draculas' own son.

"Its truly a shame that Leon never lived to meet our little one, he would have been a model godparent." Lisa noted warmly as she carried the small bundle in her arms, her expression the warmth of a new mother.

"I offered to make him a vampire dear..." Dracula pointed out, and shouldn't have turned his face away from his lady wife. Because it was in grabbing distance, and that's exactly what she did, reaching out and grabbing one vampiric pointy ear and gave it a pinch.

"Ow! Dearest..." Mathias pouted giving his wife a reproachful look at her unimpressed expression. "You died of illness! It wasn't like you were going to rise up from the grave to have our son!"

"You led sweet, young, Sara into the fate of being a 'vampire', Leon had every right to be angry at you!" Lisa scolded giving Mathias a few more ear pinches.

"Well its not like I can do anything to make amends for my sins! He's been dead for centuries!" Mathias began his voice going up an octave that earned a frown from their baby.

"Lower your voice, and your point? Mathias we both know I died and here I am again, so if Leon ever appears again before you in the same manner as I have. I 'expect' you to show him some manners and some common decency. And for the love of God, 'apologize' to him!"

'The Castle is a mess, he was undoubtedly poorly greeted upon his arrival... I've discovered the one thing that makes me glad Elizabetha is dead...' Dracula thought as he looked about the Master Chambers helplessly.

There was simply no way he was going to have the Castle presentable for the rest of the way before Leon arrived. There was the broken staircase outside, the swinging pendulums, and those were just the things Dracula knew off hand. Barking at the maids to work faster or harder was also impossible, they were already working as quickly as they could with the remains. Oh and her blood was still all over the place...

Dracula sighed as his head sank into his hands as reality came crashing down on him and the struggles of a man trying to make his dead wife happy. He was just relieved that his son was past the age where everything other people did was more impressive. It had been bad enough when the youngster had been running through the castle in his fathers', modified, cloak and calling himself 'Kid Dracula'.

He had never been able to figure out what his son considered a 'bad guy' when he kept swatting at all the zombies, the owls, at least he had been kind to that one witch. Maud something or other, though if Leon had been around, maybe his son might have been more willing to settle down instead of oversleeping and forgetting every spell that Death taught him. Maybe... Maybe even pay 'attention' to adults...

"My lord?" Shaft asked inquired as the orb hung in the air before Dracula.

The Vampires' expression had subtly shifted into an melancholy one, his eyes had lost their focus on the here and now until Shafts' voice interrupted causing him to straighten back up in his throne.

"Yes, I know that hunter, and he is fine, I have no objections to his arrival here," Dracula explained before turning his attention the other issues. "See to it that there is a proper escort for the hunter shown in the orb. He is not to have to jump around like some lowly flea on his way here!" Dracula instructed patiently.

"Right away Lord Dracula, but... I must confess that I don't understand why you would be fine with a Hunter being 'escorted' here..." Shaft answered as he began floating down to carry out his instruction.

"Shaft... have you ever been married?" Dracula asked nonchalantly as he settled back in his throne.

"Ah no sir..." Shaft answered as he approached the bottom of the steps.

"When you disappoint your wife and she gives you a list of things to do to appease her, its ideal that you do it..."