~ 2-1: Clockwork

As much as Trevor had protested the next morning, he couldn't stop the villagers from giving him some of their resources. It consisted of food and the rest was some more oil and holy water from Aurel. For his next travels, they had wanted to show their gratitude towards him and he was practically helpless against a group of people. After all, Trevor was their last hope. Couldn't have hunger take him down out of all things. It wasn't the most honorable death imaginable for a task such as this.

Besides, the path to the Clock Tower was supposed to take about two whole days without many stops. Thus he could need all the energy he could get for the chances of meeting anybody else that could assist him were low. In fact, Trevor would prefer hiding away from any kind of group of monsters instead of facing them. He didn't wish to waste any kind of breath on them which he could have used to get closer to the Clock Tower which, after a day of marching on the road, loomed in the distance as a constant black shadow on the horizon, no matter if it was light or dark at the moment. Whatever awaited him in there, it surely deserved more attention than any of the rabid dogs and bats all around him.

Wallachia certainly had changed since the last time he had seen it. Not that Trevor had ever travelled a lot during his days as a child. However, there was something different in the air altogether. The closer he had gotten to the Clock Tower and therefore the Devil's castle, the heavier the atmosphere seemed. It was becoming weight on his shoulders, daring to pull him down and have him give up right away. Perhaps it was one of the methods to keep potential warriors from wanting to seize the castle. Killing off the wish from within before even getting close. It planted doubt within them, made them question their own abilities until they were weak enough to be attacked and mutilated by whatever Lord Dracula threw at them.

But not Trevor. It was getting gloomier, yes, and the environment less and less friendly. As if they had ever been friendly before, but now it was entirely outlandish to him, though his mind was set dead focused on his task. Honestly, he wouldn't have blamed anybody else who turned their backs on the Devil's Castle. Its silhouette behind the Clock Tower was even more menacing, especially when the moon shone from behind the clouds. Fright was part of human nature and Trevor was no less. He would be lying he said that he didn't feel one shred of doubt or fear within himself during this journey. Loneliness was his only companion and it would usually follow up with thoughts that wouldn't torment him as much if he had someone to coverse with. Perhaps it was one of the factors that had other brave men give up on their quest if they dared to go alone which, he laughed to himself bitterly, was a bad idea. The Lord of Darkness had sent out many foes to take over Wallachia and the rest of Europe with his Curse. But was one man enough?
Then again, who would willingly choose to accompany a member of the Belmont family? A group of people apparently cursed in their blood. Even those who didn't believe in these rumors, it was a risk to be with him. They must have been banished for a good reason those many years ago, the Church couldn't have made a mistake.

A bitter taste was left on his tongue at the thought. Trevor did know he was a warrior of God and he would be under His protection. People themselves were flawed and they were bound to make mistakes, but one would think that the servants of God, the priests and bishops, were wiser than that. If it wasn't for his mother, Trevor would have been executed just the same under their hand. Fate was twisted somehow, something that he wasn't able to fully understand, but it usually found its best way.

About two and a half days had passed when Trevor had found himself getting closer and closer to the Clock Tower. His blue eyes glanced up the building, he could barely spot the top anymore; it was so high. The faint clicking and turning of wheels reached his ears. The Clock Tower one gigantic clockwork to keep the watch working. Yet, the hunter hadn't heard the bells once during his travels, so he assumed that there weren't any to begin with. Once Lord Dracula would succeed in taking over the world and become its ruler, eternal night would reign. At least, darkness for eternity. The Antichrist might not have had the power to influence the sun in the sky, he might as well block it out with his Curse.

The fact that there was not a single guard in front of the copper gates spoke of large confidence. As if knowing that anybody who wasn't welcomed or belonged to the Clock Tower were soon to be demolished upon entry. The metal gave a dull shine despite all the scratches and nails all over it. Maybe the Wallachian Demon would send minions to polish the gates to make them look more inviting. It was a silly idea, but at least it kept Trevor's spirits up as he approached it. A demon of Hell who was obsessed with keeping everything clean, blood was hard to wash out after all.

But now Trevor was just trying to amuse himself. He shook his head with a frown, this was no time for jokes like that.

Its confidence was proved once again by the gates not locked by any means and he was allowed to swing them open easily after one kick to them. The mechanism was either rusty or someone forgot to close the gates properly. Trevor glanced up right above him. The faint sounds now roaring and echoing in the building up and down, the iron aching under their own weight and merely held up by their connection. The clockwork moved and ticked above him, many stairs lead around them. As menacing and dangerous the construction looked, ever so massive and fragile at the same time, Trevor couldn't help but be amazed by all the movement above him. Never had he witnessed anything like it. If this place wasn't infested with demons crawling all over it, the Clock Tower was an incredibly impressive work of architecture.

With his cloak now thrown back and his hand on his belt by the Vampire Killer, Trevor took the first stairs and he threw another glance up. It promised to be a long climb. The reputation of the Clock Tower was enough to promise that it would be just as difficult to conquer.

After Trevor had passed two pairs of stairs, he spotted knight armors on the walls, blindly staring into the air. However, instead of swords, they held axes in both fists. From between these empty shells jumped out skeletons and they threw rocks or bones at him. He couldn't help but wonder if they ripped those out from their fellow monsters or if they belong to their victims. Those foes were barely any trouble just as much as the ones from Warakija village. Though, when he had climbed another row of stairs, Trevor was taken by surprise. Another skeleton warrior had charged forward, but before the hunter could even crack his whip to knock its skull off, one of the armored knights clattered forward and crushed the puny creature with one axe, then it marched towards Trevor. It was obviously a lot slower than the hunter and the monster was aware of it, so it hurled its weapon at him. Trevor jumped forward to avoid having his feet cut off by rusty blades. The axes swung back like a boomerang into the knight's hand, then he flung the other axe at him in hopes to manage to rip his head off his shoulders. The hunter rolled under it, used the momentum of it to get back on his feet and escaped up the stairs. At the end of it waited another knight, immediately attacking him the same way. Trevor gritted his teeth in irritation, ducked under the flying axe, though the second one right after managed to cut into his calf. A strained cry came parted his lips and he lashed his whip at the foe, though the impact only left cracks over the chest and the knight didn't seem to care. In sheer desperation, Trevor whipped against his enemy. Another three hits had the armor burst into pieces and without the chest, the other limbs couldn't stick. Despite the stinging pain in his leg, Trevor hastened up the next stairs only to be greeted by other knights.

It was up to impossible to fight each of them without any injury. The hunter merely got rid of those that were in his way and he found himself running past most of them. The further Trevor had gotten, the more knights he was running into while he pushed off other skeletons. However, the blades didn't only cut the air, they also clashed against the stairs and the impact was strong enough to have those collapse behind him. Apparently, the demons had realized how they wouldn't be able to catch up to him, so they decided to swing their axes up to break more stairs to cut off his escape route. Trevor cursed loudly as he watched the stone tumble to their doom. He only had to glance down once to notice how far up he was at this point and that one false step would send him to where Dracula originated from. He would be lucky if he broke his neck from the fall on one of those wheels on the way and not be crushed by any of them. Above him was another floor. There would be a door to cross to get to the upper part of the clockwork, most likely its' main construction.

While returning downstairs wasn't recommended, Trevor had to find his way further up instead. Now that the stairs were almost all broken, the easy way up had practically vanished and his gaze wandered to the rattling wheels. Only someone out of his mind would consider jumping on those to climb to the top of the Clock Tower.

Then again, Trevor was out of his mind enough to even try to conquer Dracula's Castle without any sort of help. So this wouldn't have been one of his craziest decisions so far.

The hunter took a deep breath and focused. He imagined the path that he had to take right before his mind, how he would need to jump and what to grasp on to not be crushed by any of the machinery. Before thinking twice about whether he should do it or not, he took a running start and jumped off the edge unto one of the larger wheels. Trevor clung to one tooth, his feet weren't steady on the iron, it was slippery from the oil that was supposed to keep the movement smooth. Just getting closer and closer to the gap was making his heart race. He carefully placed one foot on top of the tooth and watched the other wheel moving upwards. Once he was close enough, he grabbed unto one of the teeth, heaved himself up with the help of his legs. His fingers clutched to the metal as he allowed himself to be pulled upwards until he could place his feet under the tooth beneath him. Another ledge was just in sight, it would have been the next platform that Trevor could have reached with the stairs if they hadn't been demolished. Luckily, the knights couldn't reach the next pair of stairs with their axes. The hunter pressed his lips together and focused on this jump, he mustn't miss that one unless he wished to greet the depths underneath him. Trevor couldn't even spot the floor anymore, since at some point it was shrouded in the dark. He gulped visibly at that and forced his eyes back up, getting ready and took the leap. His hands clasped the stone edge, his body dangled dangerously in the air and his fingers scratched the stone desperately. If he was to hang there much longer, his arms would have given up from the restraint. Thus, Trevor closed his eyes firmly and stemmed himself up, at least so much so that his head was now peeking over the edge. With a strained groan, he forced one leg up over the edge, using this limb as an extra boost to heave his shaking body up. He found himself rolling on his back soon enough, his hand on his chest as he panted from sheer nervousness. Trevor could feel his heart pound against his chest, it was a miracle that it didn't break any bones at that point. When he allowed his eyes to flutter open, a blue head floated by and laughed at his dismay. The hunter immediately sat up in both surprise and panic. The creature flew by and before he could make out what it was, another one greeted him from another side. In fact, many women's heads came flying at him in a wavy pattern. Their faces contorted and each of them carrying the same looks, their hair resembling snakes more than actual strands of hair. It was as if they were trying to bring him out of concept and getting him out of his rhythm when he continued upwards. Sometimes using stairs and sometimes having to take other leaps of faith over broken edges and wheels. The monsters were infuriating, to put it mildly. Some of them, Trevor whacked with his whip, but most of the time he couldn't even figure out when it was the right moment to hit them. They got to avoid mostly and if they edged close enough, they would bump him hard in an attempt to push him off. Surprisingly, they were strong at doing so. Trevor was left baffled and it once had him slip from a wheel, but he was luckily quick enough to take hold of it again.

In a way, Trevor couldn't believe that he had survived this trip and reached the top floor of the Clock Tower. The floating severed heads had almost drove him insane and just the sight of another skeleton trying to cut off his path had fueled his anger even more. Needless to say, he had taken the frustration out on them.

But now, the main clockwork ticked above his head. The sound was deafening evermore and the chamber was gigantic. At the end of the chamber was another small set of stairs that, as much as he could spot from his current position, lead to a bridge outside. It was night still. No light entered the chamber and it was kept illuminated by lamps hanging from the ceiling between all those wheels. Before the hunter could even finish his own pair of stairs, another figure stepped out from the side where it had hidden behind one grand rusty wheel. It was a curvy woman in a tight dress, though it were her shimmering red lips and menacing eyes that caught his attention first, her face was caressed by luscious black locks.

"Well, would you look at that! We have gained a visitor!", she lilted in amusement, however, she watched his every move. Trevor merely growled at her in anger which she seemed to be even more amused with. "Really, I have to congratulate you! It seems like you are one of the few that actually manage to see this chamber! Isn't it a work of art?" The woman opened her arms as if inviting him to look around. It almost sounded like this construction was her idea.

"Are you the Wallachian Demon?!", the hunter hissed in response, ignoring what she had said. That lack of attention had her pout playfully and she stemmed her arms to her hips.

"Do I look like a monster to you?" At that, Trevor noticed the pointed pair of teeth in her mouth. They poked from under her pouty lips and the white of them were quite a contrast to the dark red.

The hunter instantly held his Vampire Killer in front of him, aiming at the demon. "You are a creature of the night, so no less of a monster in my eyes." Yet, the sight of his holy whip was the first thing that had the woman hesitate. Her gaze focused on him and he could feel how her crimson eyes were scanning him, then she grimaced out of disgust.

"You are a Belmont, are you not?!" Pure hatred and bitterness rolled from her tongue and Trevor found himself caught by surprise by this exposal of emotion in her voice.

The hunter squared his shoulders nonetheless. His kind was most likely known among the vampires after all. "That I am."

The answer didn't please the demon at all and she pressed her lips together, her arms began to shake. In the next moment, a playful smirk bloomed on her lips, though the angered spark in her eyes didn't die out and she clicked with her tongue at that. "I wouldn't have thought that the filthy little witch did calve out a bastard son. I almost pity you, Belmont."

Her mockery wasn't without effect. Trevor tensed up in an instant and had to control himself not to launch at her right away. "You keep your tongue under control, otherwise I will have to rip it out with my very own hands, demon!"

The vampire was happy to have hit such a sensitive spot and wanted to poke it some more. "What? Isn't that what has happened?" She tilted her head to the side as if acting innocent despite her expression showing without a doubt that she knew what she was talking about. "Executed by those she had protected? It's so like this foolish woman to sacrifice herself. Too bad it was for a young boy like you. What a waste of useless life, but I can't say that I didn't expect that."

Trevor was starting to see red, how did this reckless creature of Hell even dare to speak of his mother like that?! In his anger, he didn't even seem to be aware of the way the demon spoke about his mother and her fate. Actually, it was in frightening detail, though one would think that a vampire serving under Dracula would know these facts.

Either way, the hunter was blinded by his own rage; his hands clenched to fists. "I will end you, wretched beast!" That was the last he could say before he dashed forward, but the vampire jumped back with a laugh and glided upwards to one of the turning wheels.

She waved at him and bashed her long eyelashes innocently. "Not so fast, Belmont, you have wished to meet the Wallachian Demon and I will be so kind to show him to you." The vampire threw him a kiss. "My master will be delighted to hear that you exist. You will make quite a fun enemy to toy around with, I am sure! If my sweet pet won't rip your limbs off, that is!" She seemed awfully delighted about this. Then she turned into a bat, flying out one of the small windows at the top of the chamber.

With his fury still bristling underneath his skin, Trevor marched towards the gate to the bridge. As he climbed those few steps, his eyes caught a strange shimmering in the doorway. The hunter leaned in carefully, little raindrops from the last storm seemed to be hanging in the air. Once his eyes focused better, he realized that there were incredibly thin strings all over the doorway. He could imagine what they could do if one walked through without care.

When Trevor pulled out his dagger to cut through the strings, another sound caught his attention. It was faint, but close enough for him to hear it behind him. For a moment, the hunter had believed that the vampire had returned, so he turned around to face her only to be greeted by a blade that barely passed his cheek. The gush of air stroke his skin. Instead of the woman there stood another creature, this one far more resembling a monster than her. It was covered in bandages like a heavily injured man from top to bottom and only a few strands of white hair escaped them while most of his face was bandaged, too.
The bandages around the mouth were reddened, blood dripped from his chin and fangs which were longer than the ones the other vampire held, and his wild eyes were locked on Trevor. If they hadn't been bloodshot, the hunter would have almost called them human, they didn't carry an unnatural shine to them. Dull blades were flipped between its fingers, always ready to dart one of them at him.

Quite honestly, Trevor didn't think that this demon was up to a talk like the last one. Before the hunter could even get ready to charge at it, the other did so first and he could barely believe his eyes. The demon moved swiftly on the floor and as Trevor swung his whip to attack it, it jumped into the air and quite high, too. From above, the foe rained its blades on him and Trevor rolled to the side with a curse parting his lips. Just as quickly as the demon had been in the air, it had landed back down and chased the other. The hunter suddenly became the prey to the fiend who had summoned more blades between his fingers, determined to pin him down or even slash his face off with them. Trevor was breathless in a matter of moments. He had to keep ducking and backing away from the vampire which seemed to be glued to his every track, running all over the floor and crawling along the walls. It was as if he was playing with him, having fun in making him run in circles while his sharp blades were the motivation for Trevor to not be hit. His cloak ripped here and there, some of his tunic wasn't left without a scratch either and it would grace his skin ever so often. Unsatisfied with how things were going, the demon now charged directly at him. The speed on his bandaged feet had Trevor gasp for air and his left hand grabbed for his belt, taking hold of the large glass bottle of holy water from priest Aurel. With his teeth, he ripped off the cork and let the bottle fly to his right hand, drizzled the liquid over his other palm and flung it at the demon. The holy water splashed in its' face and neck and the demon let out a painful hiss and it staggered back, some steam coming from him. The hunter could barely use the time to lash out at it with his holy whip, the vampire soon threw itself at him. All that Trevor could do was to hold up his arms and weapons like a shield before the demon crashed into him, the impact strong enough to fall over. For a second, Trevor believed that the blades cut his face. It was out of pure reflex that his hand grasped the other's wrist. His arm was shaking under the restraint and the sharp tips of the blades were gracing his cheek, drawing blood from him. The other claw slashed down, it aimed at Trevor's arm. The Vampire Killer was dropped to take hold of that wrist, too. The demon struggled against his hold, trying to rip his arms out and several bones in Trevor's body cracked from the inhuman strength.

Trevor folded his legs in, stemmed his feet against the other's stomach and rolled backwards. Finally, he let go and drove him off with his legs while in the backwards motion. The vampire crashed to the ground, though the landing had no effect on it. So the hunter took hold of his whip again, though it was the holy water which he used first. When the demon jumped back on its feet, it was met by another gush of the sacred liquid, this time aimed at its chest. It yowled out and bent over in sheer aches, but it was just as stubborn as before and cannoned towards Trevor once more. This time it jumped to the sides as the hunter flung more holy water at it. At least, this was keeping the beast at bay, but to avoid getting sliced up by the blades was another story. In a rush of frustration, Trevor swung his Vampire Killer around him in a circle, now the weapon hit its mark. It slashed across the vampire's chest, the bandages were instantly ripped apart and a gush of blood burst from it. Its skin sizzled from the burning and Trevor wondered for a second how the blood was actually red instead of a much darker shade like the other fleshed demonic creatures he had encountered. This impact had left the foe dazzled for a moment more than the holy water could, however, its' will wasn't broken yet. In fact, this wound brought the other into a daze. The movement was more erratic and unpredictable and despite its powers fading away, it found the strength within itself to still crawl on the floor on all its fours, though now unable to throw the blades. At least, the sprinkles of holy water all around him was forming some sort of barrier, forcing the demon to pay attention to the floor as well. Trevor watched how the grey eyes darted towards the marble to see the water shimmer.

Now, Trevor was resuming his position as the hunter while his foe needed to watch out for the Vampire Killer coming at him. Due to this, the other was becoming slower, though it was hard to predict what the monster was going to do next. Despite the other's hits against its' back, the vampire wasn't backing off anymore. It was almost becoming pitiful to watch and hear. The screams spoke of true pain and yet, there was no giving up. Trevor was forced to beat him down. The slashes cut open the bandages. Its' bloody back now offered to his sight, splashing the liquid around. Clearly, Trevor was breaking flesh at this point. It seemed like an eternity until the body collapsed on the floor under all the pressure. Its' attempts to get back on its feet were utterly futile. It could barely even balance while it slithered across the floor and its' speed was diminishing by the second until it was all over in a flash.

Its' limbs twitched weakly after a while, the head on the ground and its' eyes gazed nowhere in particular. From its' right palm, his arm stretched out towards the hunter, rolled a red orb out of the bandages around it. Trevor moved closer to pick it up. It was of the same material and energy as the other one he had picked up at Warakija village except that the fog showed the vampire instead. The hunter watched him with a glint of pity in his eyes as the fiend dissolved, then he let out a deep sigh. His own limbs were hurting all over, cold sweat ran over cheeks as he marched for the gateway. After having packed away the holy water, he took hold of one dagger and slashed the sharp strings in front of him with a few strikes. The clouds of the last storm passed by and revealed the moon in all its glory, though it seemed that the night was going to pass soon.

Then there was a pained groan. Trevor flinched badly. He had collected the orb, which seemed to contain the monster's main essence, the vampire shouldn't be anymore. His whip was untied from his belt already as he spun around.

However, the sight that greeted him wasn't the foe from before. Instead, it was a young man covered in bruises and wounds. He shakily tried to get on his hands and knees, surrounded in a pool of blood where the demon had just laid. When the stranger lifted his head, the hunter recognized the sharp grey eyes of the vampire. His hair had turned into a dark brown and his skin held a healthy shade of someone who had been out in the sun a lot. His expression spoke of deep confusion and exhaustion as if not realizing where he had been. As the man posed no further threat anymore, Trevor approached him, though the Vampire Killer was still ready at hand.

Without having fully registered the other's presence, the young man held his head with another groan. He spat out blood, then peeked down at his own hands in disbelief. "Ugh… Am I alive…?", he stuttered breathlessly before he booming voice of the hunter broke him from his daze.

"Who are you?", he asked with clear resentment in his voice. "What is your purpose in this place?" With his weapon raised and aimed at the other, of course, to keep him where he was.

For a moment, the stranger only gaped at him, then swallowed heavily and swayed in place. "I'm… I'm Grant." That came out with more hesitation than he had probably intended to. Slowly, it dawned on the man what had happened. Memories returned to him for his expression darkened and made way for anger flaring up. His frame shook much more than before. "T-That… Bastard turned me into…!" All this surging rage within him bubbled up other emotions, the other spat and coughed up blood before finishing the sentence. Trevor then approached him and knelt down to meet his level. Somehow, that reminded the young man that he was supposed to explain himself to the hunter and it brought some clarity to his mind. His head hung low between his shoulders. "I had… Ventured out to take Lord Dracula down for the… Hideous crimes he had committed. I had climbed this tower and eventually got to the top, but I was overpowered by a vampire instead…". Another weak sigh dropped from his lips and Grant continued to speak with shame, getting evermore clear about his own failure. "They locked me away… And I was turned into… That to do their bidding." The young man lifted his hands again to make sure that they weren't those claws anymore. His fingers clenched to fists. Trevor spotted the sincerity in his eyes while he spoke, but he wasn't going to interrupt him either. Naturally, it had been foolish for this man to go all by himself believing that he stood any chance against the Lord of Darkness. Yet, the hunter wasn't going to mention that considering how similar his situation had been. Grant's lips quivered, though he kept himself under control and peeked up at him. "You have… Taken the Curse away from me. H-How can I repay you?"

Trevor was honestly taken by surprise at that question and he blinked at him utterly baffled. "Repay me? I am also on a quest to fight Lord Dracula and rid this land of the Curse. Your demonic form was in my way and I had done my best to vanquish you just the same as any other monster." He placed both his hands on his shoulders to talk some sense into this man. "I advise you to leave this Clock Tower and run far away from this wretched place if you value your life." His intense stare had Grant shiver, but he proved himself to be just as stubborn as his vampire version and he pressed his bruised lips together.

"I can't let you walk out like this! You have saved my life and I am at your mercy! Please let me be able to be of use or assistance!" Despite all the pain that was running through his frame, Grant managed to show him a grin that beamed with confidence. "My speed and skills are now at your service, Sir!"

Trevor couldn't believe his ears, was this man really this foolish? Honestly, if Grant was half as quick as his demonic form, then it would be more than impressive. But he doubted that in this state that he knew what he was talking about. The hunter raised his hands in defiance. "Look, I am thankful that you wish to help me out, but—"

The hunter couldn't finish his sentence anymore, he was interrupted by a massive explosion coming from the gateway. Both men jumped in sudden shock and fright and they could only witness how the bridge had broken apart and smoke hung in the air. The large impact had effects on the clockwork, too, which was aching soundly as the rhythm was getting interrupted. The first wheels were crashing to the ground, their weight easily strong enough to burst through it or at least damaging it enough to have the floor crack. It took them a moment to realize what was happening.

The Clock Tower was collapsing in itself.

"There's no way we can get to Dracula's Castle now!" It was a fairly obvious conclusion, he had to admit, though the hunter needed to get it out of the system. Trevor cursed loudly, it would be impossible to make the jump from one side to the other.

Grant, in the meantime, had gotten back on his shaky legs, motivated by the impending doom around them. "We'll have to get back down! O-Otherwise we won't survive this!" As Trevor wanted to hiss at him how most of the path was now destroyed or being destroyed at the moment, Grant had already turned on his bare heels and dashed towards the stairs that would lead down. "W-We have no other chance anyway! Follow me!"

The young man wouldn't listen to the angry protests of the other, though these soon died away as he followed him along. All those wounds bore no effect on Grant apparently as he quickly moved on his feet. His grey eyes were glued to the pendulum which still swung back and forth despite the chaos around it. "Are you acrobatic enough, Sir?" There was something challenging in that smirk of his and Trevor believed that he had completely lost his mind. As the pendulum swung back in their direction, Grant had already taken a running start and jumped far, almost slamming against it. "Come on!" With one hand, he held unto the pendulum, the other waved Trevor over. "Just watch me!" When the pendulum swung the other direction, Grant leaped further and landed on a narrow platform with precise accuracy. His eyes searched for the hunter again. He could have easily made it out okay by himself, but he was too stubborn to leave Trevor behind. As another wheel crashed down behind him, Trevor found his courage again and followed his path. Obviously not as fluent as the young man, but he was far from mocking him about it and escaped further along. The knights were of no trouble anymore when the Clock Tower started to rumble. They were losing their balance, were crushed by bricks or iron or broke down through the stone and fell to their doom. Never in his life would have the hunter come up with a route like this. He probably would have stood in place for much longer to figure it out, so he blindly trusted his fellow man who was jumping and running without any sign of hesitation. It must have been the blood loss which was getting to his mind. Since Trevor wasn't being any more creative than him, he could do all but imitate whatever he was doing.

"Where have you learned all this? W-What about your wounds?", Trevor called after him once they had passed yet another obstacle course consisting of trembling wheels and broken platforms.

Grant peeked over his shoulder at him and gave a light shrug. As confident as he was giving himself, the man was at his absolute limit and the hunter hoped that he wasn't going to lose consciousness at any given moment. Especially not while on a wheel or in midair. "I'm a pirate, good Sir! Used to physical labor and activity all my life!" It sounded much more joyful than he had felt and Trevor shook his head energetically which the young man ignored entirely.

When they were starting to see the bottom floor again, both of them took a significant breath. Now only aiming to be down as fast as possible so they could haste through the door. Trevor could swear that between the aching of the wheels, he could hear a faint mocking laugh from the upper parts of the Clock Tower. It resounded sweet in the crumbling building and the hunter found that woman's voice all too familiar. This wretched beast wasn't the priority right now, he would need to deal with her later. Instead, he and Grant stumbled out of the gates, pushing them open with their last remaining strength and they almost fell over their feet as they could finally feel the grass underneath them. As Grant was already swaying dangerously in place, Trevor grabbed one arm to have it around his shoulders and drag his body after him as the other tried desperately to get further on his own. Only when they thought to be in a somewhat save distance, the duo collapsed on the ground.

"I… I can't believe we made it…", Trevor panted breathlessly and slowly sat up again while the other merely stuttered some words. His eyes hung in the air blindly. Both shock and dread had the hunter edge closer, his hands clung to Grant's ripped jacket. "D-Don't you dare die on me now! We haven't escaped for nothing!"

A pitiful whimper parted his lips, Grant had trouble focusing on anything at the moment and he couldn't even properly glance at the hunter anymore. His face had paled to an alarming color. "N-No… I'm just… Tired…" His voice was too faint at this point. Trevor got out some of the spare bandages he had kept for himself, but obviously, the pirate had needed them more than him. The chest wound from before wasn't looking much better even if it wasn't bleeding as violently as it did during their battle. "I'm s-sorry, Sir…"

Trevor huffed in anger as he padded the deepest wounds. "There's nothing to apologize for! In fact, if it wasn't for you, I would have blown up on the bridge as I made my way across!" Perhaps the strings had been linked to some sort of timed mechanism. Not that the hunter could have understood how that worked, but the Lord of Darkness and his minions had a lot up their sleeves after all. "And you can stop calling me 'Sir', got that? My name's Trevor Belmont."

Grant tilted his head lightly to the side at the sound of that name, there was something he seemed to recognize in it, but he was missing the power to properly ponder about it. "T-Trevor then..." That was all he could mutter before he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore and Trevor felt how panic took hold of his throat.
There was a pulse, the hunter noticed as he held his fingers against the other's neck, there was still a pulse. It was faint and weak, but the pirate kept himself alive somehow after all the Hell he had been through.

"You there! What has happened around here?"

In all his fear, Trevor hadn't noticed the caravan that had approached them on the path. By the clothes and armor, he could tell that they were all soldiers, most likely from the Royal Family. Once they had gotten close enough and spotted the two injured men, the leader of them – or so Trevor guessed by how he commanded everyone around him – ordered for them to be taken on the wagon. His presence was great enough to bring respect: broad frame and proud, black beard that covered half of his face.

"The Clock Tower, have you been in there?", the commander asked as some soldiers carefully carried the unconscious body of Grant past them. Trevor followed them with his eyes for a while as he got back on his wobbly feet as if needing to make sure that they weren't going to harm the young man. Then he only nodded and finally let his blue eyes snap to the commander who gazed up at the crumbling mess of a building; the main clockwork had already collapsed entirely. "Was the Wallachian Demon in there as well? Have you fought it?"

For a second, the hunter didn't reply. Indeed, he had fought the wretched demon, but he didn't give his answer too quick. "Indeed, we had fought it and escaped afterwards." The soldier didn't need to know Grant had actually been the monster guarding the Clock Tower. Instead, the commander's eyes grew wide with surprise and admiration and he quickly shooed him on the wagon, too, where Trevor could find his place near his knocked out companion.

'Companion', huh? Trevor scoffed to himself in his thoughts. In the main chamber of the Clock Tower, he had tried to make this young man understand that he wouldn't need his help and that he would be safer off if he was to leave this place. Yet, there was such honesty in whatever the pirate would say and do, which was ironic for a man who usually ran away from the law, the hunter couldn't ignore him. With his help, he had escaped his 'untimely death' as the regular townsfolk would say. Grant couldn't have risked his life for someone he didn't know.

Trevor leaned back in the pile of spare hay and folded his arms behind his back, closed his eyes. His frame was aching and his limbs complaining. He would allow himself to drift into sleep as the wagon rolled along the path over all the bumps and rocks it could find.

Not that the hunter cared. He was simply at content to know that they were both alive and had come across other people in cursed surroundings such as these.

God was watching over His children after all.