Greetings! Castlevania would not be Castlevania if there wasn't a little old Belmont fight, don't you think?

Enjoy!

Chapter 10 – Julius

During that afternoon the cold had given way partly. The gray winter clouds had disappeared for a few hours revealing a bright and clear sky. But the forecast showed that a blizzard was approaching and surely in the evening it would be already above the region, promising a strong cold and lots of snow.

Hammer had arrived early that same day to spend about a week with his friends, as he had said he would do the month before, and he had gone out with Mina and Yoko to the nearby village to buy some things he had not brought with him on the plane. Alucard had also left the mansion at dawn to settle some personal matters. Then, still inside the old building were only Soma and Julius.

The silver-haired man was in the library, sitting in an armchair near the fireplace with a book in his hands, his eyes wandering lazily over the pages.

"You look bored," the hunter commented as he entered the room.

"A little, I confess. I feel like doing something, but I don't know what." Soma replied with a faint smile, looking at the other man.

"Reading is not really working out." Julius laughed softly.

"You're right, I give up." He closed the book, laid it on a small table and stood up, stretching.

"If you don't have any plans for retries in other titles, maybe you can help me out a bit."

"I don't have it." Soma looked at him curiously. "Need some help with what?"

"Come with me."

Both men left the library and walked down the hall, crossing a part of the mansion, until the hunter led them inside the gallery where the beautiful collection of items of the Belmont family was exposed.

Julius looked at him with a certain glint in his eyes.

"Choose a weapon, Soma."

The silver-haired man stared in surprise.

"What?!"

"Choose a weapon." the hunter repeated.

"What are you trying to do, Julius?" Soma asked, frowning.

"Just kill a little boredom."

The Belmont heir walked across the room and, approaching a table, pulled the Vampire Killer out of the stand. The magic whip seemed to vibrate softly for a moment from the contact with his hands.

"You may say that I miss our little friendly duels that we used to do in the old days, remember?"

"Yes, helped me a lot through my training, after what happened at Castlevania..." The silver-haired man said slowly.

"Then choose the weapon that suits you best and let's go out and train a bit. This cold has frozen my old bones and I want to stretch them a little. Wouldn't you do me this favor?"

Soma stood for a brief moment motionless, watching the other man who patiently waited his decision. Then finally he nodded.

"Very well..."

Soma looked around and was drawn by a long bastard sword that was supposed to date from the fifteenth century. He chose the weapon for himself and followed the Belmont heir out of the mansion. As he walked, darting away from the property and into the forest that surrounded the vast clearing, the silver-haired man began to feel a brief uneasy while watching the hunter's back, who some steps ahead was leading them to the desired point.

He didn't know exactly what was happening with himself, but something about it was starting to make him a little nervous, but keeping his face calm, he didn't let his friend see his restlessness.

They stopped at one point where the trees give way to a wide plane area. Julius turned and looked at the other man with a sudden serious expression on his face.

"If I remember correctly, you still have the magical powers you had woken up while you were at Castlevania."

"That's correct..." Soma answered slowly.

"Alright, I do not want you to hold your strength, Soma, because I... will not hold mine!"

Before the silver-haired man could say anything else, the hunter struck with his whip and Soma instinctively ducked back a few steps. Julius was soon close, jumping and giving a kick against his opponent, who blocked the attack and with a twist gave a cut that ripped through the empty air beside the hunter.

Julius struck again with the whip in mid-air and Soma threw himself down, sliding on the ground to stand behind his adversary and quickly getting up, he give a blow with the sword and the Belmont heir blocked the attack using his weapon. He then shoved the silver-haired man and executed a sequence of hits with the Vampire Killer and Soma dodged some while others he used the blade of his sword to block.

He then advanced forward and attacked Julius with his weapon, and in between blows he also punched and kicked, matching them with the rapid sequence of cuts. The hunter avoided the first and jumped high in the air to divert from the last and turning in middle fall, he struck an attack with the whip that the silver-haired man defended with a twist of his sword.

When Julius reached the ground, he immediately threw a scuffing kick at his opponent and Soma leapt immediately into the air to dodge the blow. Falling a few yards further on, the silver-haired man promptly faced his opponent, raising his guard.

"It looks like we're not that rusty." Julius commented, wiping the dust off the top of his coat.

"Really... how long has it been since we last trained together?" Soma inquired with his eyes fixed on his opponent, without letting his defense down.

"I believe it's been about three years since the last time." The Belmont heir simply replied. "Let's see what happens if we go a little further."

Julius suddenly threw an object against the other man. Soma's eyes widened in surprise and he immediately threw himself to the side, rolling through the floor to escape the jar that had broken and spread a transparent liquid for several meters, raising from the ground several bluish and dangerous flames.

"Seriously you are throwing holy water on me?!" Soma yelled incredulously.

"Anything goes!"

The hunter laughed and threw a few more bottles against his opponent and Soma had no choice. He used his powers and invoked with his hands a cloud of shadows that he threw in the direction of the objects, causing the jars to explode in midair and the liquid to be prevented to spread through the barrier formed by the dark magic.

Julius with a strike from the whip parted in two halves the curtain of shadows and threw himself on the other man with a new sequence of blows that Soma blocked, reacting quickly. The Belmont heir with great dexterity used his agility to deflect a counterattack, dodge behind his opponent and suddenly, jumping in the air, his body began to shine with great intensity and immediately knowing the intention of the other man, Soma teleported to a safe distance when Julius combined magic with the power of the cross to summon a huge crucifix that absorbed and destroyed everything close to the hunter with the powerful attack that circled around him in spiral motions.

As the bluish energy began to leave the hunter, he fell to the ground at the end of the execution of his attack. Soma then summoned several small fireballs and threw them in the direction of his opponent and Julius quickly rolled across the ground to avoid the first round and with the whip struck the air violently to destroy the second round.

Soma teleported again, this time behind Julius while the other still defended himself from the fire attack, and with his magic, he was able to disarm the Belmont heir and knock him down with a quick creep. Before the hunter could stand and retrieve the whip, the silver-haired man pointed his sword at his fallen opponent, pressing the tip of the silver blade against the other man's neck.

Breathing heavily, both stared at each other.

Julius laid completely still, watching Soma intently with a grave expression on his face. He seemed to wait, observing with great attention the next move of the other man. In the eyes of the Belmont heir there was something else, a hidden feeling that Soma could not decipher.

Soma, for his part, lost any trace of the animation he had shown during the duel, and his face was filled with seriousness. He had under him the last living heir of the Belmont family, completely at the mercy of his will. After so many years living under the cloak of hatred and contempt for the family of his old friend, that day he had in his hands the opportunity to end that vicious cycle once and for all.

The way Julius looked at him at that moment, intense and meaningful, made him tremble internally. The silver-haired man remembered again Leon, from the times they had lived as brothers, and this reflected on the friendship he now had with sincere affection for Julius, as well his own secret promise to not continue the war against the Belmont clan.

Soma slowly pulled the blade away and let the weapon to fall the ground, completely forgotten. Instead, he held out to the fallen man his hand.

Julius's gaze gleamed with contained emotion.

"You... really changed..." The Belmont heir told him, accepting the other's help to stand.

Soma looked at him in confusion and the hunter, when he finally stood, embraced him with one arm, whispering in his ear.

"... Dracula."

The silver-haired man froze, his old name echoing inside his mind, carrying a large shadow filled with anguish and dark memories. The hunter felt the other immediately tense, but he didn't break the embrace and didn't move away.

Soma, with comprehension falling on him like a bucket of cold water, swallowed dry and replied, his tone a little more than a faint whisper.

"So... You figured out..."

"Yes... I was sure when I saw you next to Leon's painting again... I know you were friends one day... You didn't show mere curiosity or surprise to see him, on the contrary... It was more like as if you had reencountered a dear acquaintance after a long time."

"It's true... It's been almost a thousand years since I've last seen his face..."

Soma closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could feel the soft vibration of the Vampire Killer lying on the ground next to them and knew that if the hunter wished he could retrieve the whip quickly and without much effort, but his will to continue fighting had run out completely and he remained there, motionless and indifferent.

"You assume that with such clear certainty... and I felt now with our duel that your power is increasing gradually every day, although the others have not noticed... But still... it seems that you don't remember everything yet." The Belmont heir pointed, saying quietly.

"After the ritual I am gradually regaining my memories, and also my power... I remember all my past with Leon and the facts that led me to become a vampire at the time, after that, I have only a few fragments of memories that still haven't come to me at all... But it will not take long for this to happen."

Opening his eyes and looking at the length of the trees ahead, Soma asked.

"Now that you know... What will you do, Julius?"

The hunter partially moved away from the other man to look at him better. Without showing any fear, only a certain resignation, the silver-haired man met his gaze.

"I see you now... the same way I saw you five years ago at Castlevania... I don't feel the evil presence of chaos inside you..." Julius stared at him for a long time, also saying. "You've never had such a clear and easy chance to kill a member of the Belmont family before, and yet you didn't do it."

"I really appreciate the friendship I have with you Julius, even if you may not believe it now..." The silver-haired man whispered. "Just as I also praised the brother relationship I had with Leon... But there are brands in the past that cannot be forgiven or forgotten, choices of mine that have hurt Leon, the Belmont family, and many others."

Placing a hand on the other man's shoulder, Julius then said softly.

"Soma... I personally never had a grudge or hatred against Dracula, I just fulfilled the legacy of my family and did what needed to be done, it was not my wish, but an obligation that was imposed on me and I could not refuse... Don't you remember the last time we met like this? In the year of 1999?"

The silver-haired man shook his head.

"The memories of that day haven't come to me yet..."

"When you remember, you will see that these were my words to you, before the ritual that broke your return cycle and sealed the castle in the solar eclipse. You will know that I have fought against evil for the sake of good... and what I find within you now is only good. I will do nothing at first and I will keep the vow of trust I gave you five years ago..." The hunter was silent for a moment and then asked. "Do you remember Alucard?"

Soma's eyes acquired a certain veiled sadness that didn't go unnoticed by the other man.

"Yes... I know who he is..."

"I cannot say why he has not noticed the changes that have taken place in you, or else he would have..."

"He doesn't want to see, Julius." The silver-haired man interrupted softly. "Because the memories he has of the times I have returned has never been good... Deep down I believe he prefers to remain as we are today than create the small possibility of a possible new return of mine that could report those dark times..."

Soma then looked seriously at the Belmont heir.

"Just as I told Mina, I'll tell you too... I don't even know what will happen to me when all my memories come back... Everything may seem fine now, but... and what if it goes wrong? What if I do not have the strength to hold the darkness of chaos and it comes to consume me completely again? I would become the same monster of that time and any effort on my part to try to change things between him and me, telling him the truth, would have been in vain, and would only cause more sadness and pain..."

"If that happens..." Julius replied in a firm voice. "You will not have to worry, just as I promised you once I do it again now. I will do what must be done."

"I would expect nothing less from you..." The silver-haired man nodded.

Both men observed each other, as if sealing a silent agreement. Soma then said softly.

"About my son... I beg you to not tell him anything, Julius... This is not the right time."

The other man shook his head.

"It's not my secret to tell... But Soma... Don't think Alucard doesn't care at all... When you remember 1999, you'll see..."

Soma stared at him questioningly, but the other remained silent. The hunter looked up at the sky and then back at his friend.

"We should go back to the mansion before the others return from the village and notice our deplorable state." Soma blinked, realizing that both he and the Belmont heir were filthy from the duel, and slowly nodded in agreement.

They collected the sword and the whip from the ground and both began to return to the old building. The silence that hung over the two men was pleasant, and for the first time in long years Soma felt a sense of peace over his soul, and watching his friend, at one glance one might say that Julius, by his calm gaze, in a way, also felt the same.

After nearly a thousand years the war between Dracula and the Belmont clan seemed to finally end.