A/N: Greetings! Here is the next chapter! We are just one week to see Castlevania Netflix and I am very anxious to watch it! Will be on Friday, July 7, the day of post of my next chapter! ^^ About this one, I think that some of you will like this chapter a lot! Again, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 05 – Arikado

After the flight that lasted for a few hours, passing through the sea of Japan and eastern China, crossing the skies of the old world, finally they left the Asian continent to enter the European cradle. The plane cruised through lush forests and memorable landscapes before finally landing on the soil of ancient and remote Romania.

The small group formed by Yoko, Soma and Mina, after retrieving their luggage, waited for a few minutes in the small airport with some small talk when they recognized the familiar figure of Julius coming towards them. They greeted each other quickly and the man took some of the luggage and guided them to his parked car near the entrance of the establishment.

"Have you made a good trip?" The hunter asked.

"It was a nice flight! It's always invigorating to breathe new air and my company loved the view of the cabin." The witch laughed.

"It's impressive! I didn't know how beautiful Europe is!" Mina said, laughing in complicity with the older woman. "We took some pictures in the cabin and Soma also took the opportunity to photograph part of the landscape when the clouds allowed us a free view!"

"I wish to see it later." The man smiled.

"Not just see, Julius, you'll also take some too!" Yoko said in a tone that did not admit refusal, and careful to not use the secret name of their common friend in front of the young woman and the silver-haired man, she continued. "And if Genya really manages to come too, I don't care if he tries to refuse; he'll take some pictures too!"

The hunter let out a loud laugh.

"He? Taking pictures?" Julius questioned incredulously. "I'd like to see you try."

"Oh, don't worry about it, even if he grumbles all day he'll do it." The witch had an innocent expression on her lovely face that made a shiver run down the neck of the older man, who shook his head. Better thinking, he didn't want to know.

"By the way," he continued. "Genya is in the Mansion."

"He arrived already?" The witch inquired cheerfully. "When?"

"Last night."

"Great! I was hoping he wouldn't be able to give a last minute poor excuse to not come."

"From what I could understand he has a few pending issues to address here in Europe, so he'll stay with us for a few days," Julius explained.

"Even so, it's great to know he's here!" Yoko nodded in satisfaction.

"Will Mr. Arikado be with us as well?" Mina questioned them, only paying attention to a small part of the conversation.

"That's right." The hunter smiled at her. "He's waiting for us at Belmont Mansion."

"Is it far from here?" Soma for the first time spoke, staring at him with bright eyes.

"About half an hour by car." The hunter answered. "The mansion is not within the metropolitan area; on the contrary, it is more distant, located inside a secluded forest."

"Hmmm." The silver-haired man hummed in acknowledgment, leaning back in his seat to gaze into the landscape with a distant look.

The car after a few minutes, as Julius had told them, had left behind houses and buildings to follow a long road through woods and forests, and the further it deepened into the remote region, the more Soma was filled by great nostalgia and familiarity.

He had seen those trees before, breathed that same pure air, felt the touch of that wind, in another age that now seemed to sink deep into his spirit. This brought him an extremely pleasant and wistful feeling, and some shadows of fragmented memories from which he cannot completely distinguish or comprehend. Then, suddenly, he saw...

...in the midst of the pines, shadows of ancient battles, cries of despair and flames rising to heaven, consuming everything they touched...

The man closed his eyes suddenly and promptly left the window of the vehicle feeling a brief unease, surprising Mina who stared at him confused, and seeing him hide his face in his hands, she touched his shoulder, worried.

"Soma?" She whispered, trying to not attract attention from Julius and Yoko, who in the front seat were engaged in a lively conversation and didn't notice them.

Even with closed eyes the vision did not disappear completely, and for some seconds that seemed an eternity, he continued to hear the metallic sound of swords meeting and armors breaking through shadows that faced themselves with fury and then plunged inert to the ground.

The silver-haired man opened his eyes and breathed deeply, he focused on the face of his young friend who worriedly watched him in silence. With effort he managed to make his mind settle in the present, and the sound of the terrible past war faded, giving way to Julius's deep voice and Yoko's lively laugh.

"The visions again?" The priestess asked sympathetically, keeping her voice low.

"Yes ..." he murmured, running a hand through his misaligned hair. "It's been more frequent ..."

"Do you know what they mean? Can you remember anything else from your past? "

"Nothing that makes any sense ... or at least explains why such destruction or carnage ..."

"Still seeing things about wars?" Mina asked him sadly. "I wish you could remember something about a time when you were good or happy..."

The man smiled softly at her, and touching her face he tenderly caressed one of her cheeks and leaning closer, he whispered to her.

"I don't believe that I could have done something good... or that one day I may have lived things that could bring me some happiness in remembering, Mina... To become what I have become..."

And seeing the grave expression on the young woman's face, he added.

"But don't give any more importance to these things now... Look, by Yoko's expression it seems that we are finally arriving and I cannot wait to drink something hot, it is very cold here this season of the year."

"It's true." The priestess agreed, nodding her head and dressing better the coat she had brought with her.

The vehicle passed through a large black gate and proceeded for several meters yet until the trees finally gave way to a view of an open wide field where in the center was located the beautiful old mansion of the Belmont family. Julius parked in front of the building entrance and the group exited the car. They picked up the luggage and followed the hunter into the place that had a rich Gothic and Victorian decor.

"I'm sure you are all tired. I'll take you to your rooms so you may leave your things and rest a little. Please, feel at home." Julius told them, leading the group up a staircase.

As they reached the second floor of the mansion, however, Soma stopped at the hall's entrance, surprised. In front of him was a large frame that showed the image of a knight, towering in his armor with penetrating blue eyes, disheveled blond hair and a faint smile on his lips.

He knew it, had absolute certainty in his heart that he had seen him before, in the vision he had had while in Hammer's shop.

"This is my ancestor, considered the patriarch of my family." Julius's deep voice sounded close, but Soma did not turn his attention away from the image, allowing his eyes to capture every detail they could observe.

Leon... The name echoed loud and clear in his mind.

"His name was Leon Belmont," Julius told him, watching the silver-haired man with a thoughtful frown.

"I understand ..." Soma murmured.

After a moment without saying anything else, the silver-haired man turned and didn't look at the frame again, slowly beginning to walk down the hall while the group continued to follow the hunter.

They took a few more steps and Julius began to talk about the rooms, showing where each one of them could stay. As he explained, the group passing in that moment through a wider rest room, a voice interrupted him coming from the opposite side.

"I see you've managed to arrive well."

Soma turned with the others, and the first thing he saw was a tall man, with long, flowing blond hair that fell over his black until it passed his waist, a black armor and a long sword that shinned with a deadly gleam, and a piercing look in his eyes. Shocked, Soma retreated two steps and blinked, and what he had seen disappeared as quickly as it had come, and in the place of that vision, he saw again his friend, a man of equal stature, with straight black hair that fell only to pass the shoulder's line and wearing a dark elegant suit.

But his eyes, though black as night, had the same intensity as the pair of golden eyes that had stared at him before.

They were the same.

Realization hit him hard and Soma felt the air fail his lungs, faint and trembling, he leaned immediately on a close column, feeling as if a huge weight had been thrown at him, as if he would fall at any moment.

"Genya!" Yoko exclaimed excitedly, approaching the man with a broad smile on her face. "I'm glad to see you're already here!"

"I feel the same." The dark-haired man gave her a slight polite smile.

He also greeted Mina and then his attention automatically went to Soma, who stared at him with blue eyes that had a strong, indecipherable emotion. At this moment the dhampir frowned, noticing at once that there was something off about the other man, though he couldn't say at first what it would be. Something different and at the same time strangely familiar that made him curious and intrigued.

"How are you, Soma? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine..." The other replied shortly and tense.

"It must be the temperature. When we left Japan it was not so cold, "Yoko said as a matter-of-factly, looking at her host."We could leave our luggage in the quarters and go to the library, you have a fireplace there that we could light and frighten this cold off a little!"

"It would be great!" Mina immediately agreed, and taking advantage of the clear chance presented to her, the young woman put her arms around her silver-haired friend and started to walk away from the main group briskly. "Soma and I are going to put our things away and meet you in hallway in some minutes, Yoko!"

"Alright! My room is right next to yours, Mina!" The witch said louder.

"Thank you!" The priestess replied.

As soon as she could, she dragged them into Soma's room, and closing the door behind her, she released his arm closer to the bed and the man collapsed almost immediately.

"What happened to you?" She asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"I saw..." The other murmured with a distant look. "That man..."

"Who? Mr. Genya?"

"Yes..." Soma looked into her eyes. "He is my son..."

Mina stared hard, trying to understand what her friend had just revealed to her. For a few seconds she stood there, blinking stupidly, processing the information.

"Wait... what do you mean?" She whispered shocked, saying slowly. "Your son...? I mean ... Dracula's son?... He had a son?"

Those words seemed unbelievable and surreal. The lord of darkness could one day in the past have loved a woman and had a child with her.

"Yes ..." Soma nodded his head slowly; he himself seemed to try to assimilate the shock of the emotions.

"How can you say that?" She asked him.

"I don't know… I'm just... sure."

After a moment of complete silence, Mina started slowly.

"If that's true then ... Mr. Arikado has fought Dracula with Julius and Yoko before to seal Castlevania on the 1999 solar Eclipse. Why would he do it ... if Dracula was his own father?"

"Because of what I've become, that's for sure, but the facts that led to it ... I do not know ... I cannot remember ..." Soma muttered, closing his eyes.

"Do you think... does he know? That you are recovering your memories? The way Mr. Genya looked at you earlier..."

"Adrian ..."

The girl stared at him confused, and the silver-haired man told her.

"His real name ... is Adrian ..."

That word came to him suddenly out of nowhere, and solidly. So meaningful, it passed his lips with great familiarity and a feeling of longing so strong that he felt his heart ache.

"He doesn't know... He was just curious because he noticed my momentary instability, but the real reason still remains hidden." Soma looked at her. "I have to be careful, he's extremely observant... I cannot let him realize what's happening to me."

"Because…?"

"Because I don't know what could happen, Mina ... You are understanding and you have been my confidant for years, but I don't know how he or the others would react... I don't even know how I will react when everything comes back to me..."

The woman held his hands tightly.

"You will remain Soma."

Later, during dinner, while they sat at the table talking about different subjects, Soma remained silent with his attention focused on the food. He purposely sat as far as possible from the dhampir, and for all time he avoided looking at him at all costs.

He knew that if he did, he could denounce how much his mind was still disturbed at that moment by the sudden revelation, and he could not let it away to the ever-attentive eyes of the other man.

He took the fork in his hands and ate a portion of his food, but to his surprise it had barely reached his stomach and he began to feel strangely ill. Without understanding, he immediately stopped.

"Hey, Soma, are you okay? You do not look very well ..." Yoko's worried voice called softly across the table.

"It's okay ... just a little stomachache." He forced a smile and brushed his plate back politely, then stood up. "I apologize, but I'll let dinner go... I'm going to rest for a while in my room."

"I'm sure I have some medicine for this with me, I'll take it to you shortly, Soma." The hunter spoke sympathetically and Mina stared at him with expressive eyes, keeping her silence.

"I thank you. Please do not bother with me, enjoy dinner."

With a short farewell the silver-haired man quickly left the room, his figure being followed close by the dhampir's black eyes watching him with intensity.

Soma had another dream that night.

The man was laying on the small staircase before the throne, his long black hair scattering around his back, his robes made of noble cloth were torn and dirty by large dark-red patches, and his extremely pale face, with eyes closed, rested on the floor, stained with traces of tears that had been overflowing for hours.

He was tired, but not in body. His soul was exhausted, tormented.

In his blind fury he had killed everyone in the village without any second thoughts... Yet nothing he had done could alleviate the terrible pain in his mind, in his very soul, that seemed to consume him completely.

She was dead.

Much time passed and the vampire remained that way, without any of his servants daring to disturb the master in his mourning. Then, gradually, on a cold winter night, the lord of darkness began to rise. When his mind had briefly stopped tormenting him with the painful memory of his wife, he remembered his seven-year-old son who waited for him somewhere in the castle, his little heart as sad as his own.

After saving him from the villagers who were about to execute him as the 'son of the devil', Mathias left the boy in the care of Death who took him back to Castlevania while the vampire remained in the village.

He had not seen the boy since.

"Adrian ...?" He whispered in a weakened call, and then more awake, called again louder. "Adrian?!"

The lord of darkness teleported to another part of the castle and entered into the room that belonged to his son with some urgency, for he was not listening to the beating of the child's heart as he was capable of before.

The place was empty.

"Adrian ?!" Mathias called several times, searching the room that was his and Lisa's, and also in others rooms nearby, without success.

"DEATH!" The vampire ordered and immediately the creature appeared in front of him, obeying his master's call, and knelt down.

"Lord Mathias."

"Where's Adrian?" The man inquired harshly, his golden eyes sparkling with concern and urgency. "Where is my son?!"

The vampire could feel the clear confusion emanating from the creature.

"But sir, I left him lying in his room five hours ago..."

"HE'S NOT THERE!" The man bellowed, semi hysterical.

All the creatures of the ancestral castle, upon realizing what had happened, immediately began a great search for the little prince in all areas of Castlevania, but the more they sought, the vainer, and the greater certainty began to settle between them.

The vampire at one point left the comfort and protection of the castle and went out into the outer courtyard, under an intense snowstorm, the scene was completely white and bleak.

"ADRIAN !"

Mathias called, but his voice was lost in the force of the wind and silence was the only thing he received in return.

The boy had disappeared.