"Still befriending mortals, I see. I'll not ask that you return to our side, but I demand you cease your attack!"
"Oh, Death," D recognized the being from Alucard's warning. "Out of my way!"
"Who the hell are you?! Where's Alucard?!"
"Alucard is otherwise engaged. Castlevania is my concern this rising," D told him.
"Hmm..." Death stilled, seemingly staring at D with his empty eye sockets. "A son of Dracula. I suppose it's unprecedented, but Alucard does have that eeD situation..."
Death shook himself suddenly. "No matter! If you challenge Castlevania you are MY concern!"
Death gestured. "Heh, heh, heh! See how far you get without your weapon and armor!"
D smiled. Death gestured again.
D walked up to him. Death gestured a final, frantic time.
D slowly drew the sword that was still very much in his possession. Death tried to defend with his scythe. D grabbed the bony wrist, overbearing Death's strength to push the scythe out of his way to smash Death's head with the pommel of his sword.
Death's skull satisfactorily exploded into thousands of shards. Death dropped to his knees and started to feel around for the scattered pieces of his pate.
"That was uncalled for! I am just doing my job!" Death complained.
"So am I," D replied, stepping around the master specter to enter the next chamber of the castle.
"Hee, hee! That was funny, D! You have no respect! The spirit of Death himself! What are you going to do next? Shave the wolf man?" Left Hand crowed.
Fairy glanced over her shoulder as she entered the archway. Death had paused his frantic searching for the pieces of his own head and, though he had no eyes, sockets or even a skull to see with, seemed to be staring after them malevolently. Fairy shivered and hurried to hide behind D's arm from that baleful gaze.
"I think Death is angry with you!" she muttered.
********
"Who're you?"
D whirled. It was extraordinarily unusual for anyone to be able to sneak up on him. He'd been completely unaware that anyone was behind him!
He watched as a form scrambled out of a nook hidden in the wall. He relaxed a bit at that. As the form straightened, D could see it was a human...a young human girl. She seemed to be far too young to be in a horrible place like this!
"D. And you?"
"Oh, real talkative! I'm Olivia! Olivia Belmont. Let me guess, you're the half-vampire son of Dracula who helped my ancestress! But...you had silver hair back then...she mentioned that in her diary..." the girl replied. D placed her age at about twelve, maybe thirteen.
"No, that would have been Alucard," D replied.
"Right! That was the name in the diary! You know him?" Olivia seemed pleased. "I've always wanted to meet him! He sounds...cool!"
"Aw, look! 'Card has a groupie!" Left Hand chimed up.
D tightened his hand silencing Left Hand before the child took notice of the parasite.
"Master Alucard couldn't come to Castlevania this time," Fairy flitted down to talk to the child. "So D, his brother, is taking care of it this time in his place. But why are you here?"
"Oooh! Are you Fairy?! Alucard's Fairy?! So cool!" The child seemed delighted. "It's like Lady Maria's diary is come to life!"
"Isn't that diary full of monsters too?" Fairy asked.
"Yeah..."
"So why are you here?" D asked.
For an answer Olivia drew herself up tall. At her tallest, she still only came up to D's waist.
"I'm a Belmont. It's my family duty to enter Castlevania, solve the maze, confront Dracula and defeat him." If not for the very serious air of the child, and her obvious fear, D would have laughed. She was so ridiculous if she thought she could take Dracula! Fortunately, she was yet too young for Dracula to 'take' her instead, though he might turn her.
"Go home," D ordered. "I will take care of Castlevania."
The child blinked up at him.
"How rude!" she stuck her tongue out at D, bolted for the hole in the wall again, and disappeared.
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Author's notes -
I know it's terribly short, but I've been staring at this chapter for days and not coming up with any idea of where to take this next. I don't want to simply transcribe Castlevania: Symphony of the Night with D substituted for Alucard. That would be boring to read (and to write).
And D is doing it to me again, denying me even the sparse conversation I can sometimes wring from him. I swear, as main characters go, he's remarkably unsympathetic to the whole give and take of the writing process! Especially the "give" part!
Never cross an author. He's not giving with the dialog, so I'm saddling D with a 12 year old Belmont! I'll make him talk! :P
I'm sure I'll pay for it later, though.
Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome! Please feel free to email me also if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed. I need all the help I can get!
stargarde@stargarde.com