Chapter Five – Tangled Threads
"Fairy seemed to be upset and rather grim when she came back," D noted.
Dracula nodded. D, of course, couldn't have seen what happened to Fairy in D's world, but he could -- and did.
"It's a good thing they are from two separate dimensions," Dracula said aloud.
"But tell me, D, what happened on the other side of the grate?" He grinned wickedly.
D turned a such blank look on his father that Dracula took it to be the impatient glare that D intended.
"Val's instructions were..."
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"I'm not drinking that!" Left Hand declared. "I don't care if Val made it, it looks nasty!"
"I don't blame you!" Fairy declared. She flew up to a crossbeam of the ceiling of the room ironically carved, as so many of Castlevania's interior decorations were, in the form of a beautiful angel.
D blinked after her for a long moment, for he'd never seen her in such a negative mood, before turning his attention back to the matter at hand -- Left Hand that is.
"We cannot proceed unless we can get through this grate. Val made the potion so that you can take it and in that way it can affect me."
"So, if I don't take it, you can't go forward? Good! I want to go home anyway! This place is scary, D!"
D just stared at him, wondering how silly he'd look if he tried to force Left Hand's mouth open to pour the potion in. Pretty silly, he'd wager. Also, it would be most embarrassing if he couldn't manage to do it. The leverage of such a move seemed that it might be a problem. Besides, he didn't want to give Left Hand the satisfaction of winning their argument by forcing the parasite physically. Not where there were other methods available.
"Okay then," D told Left Hand in a low tone.
"Great! So, can we go home? Since we can't go forward that is?" Left Hand began brightly.
"No. I made a promise to Alucard that I intend to keep," D told him before balling Left Hand up into a fist.
"Mmmph! What, what are you doing, D!"
"I have to get past this grate," D told him before punching one of the bars as hard as he could.
"OWW! That hurts, D!"
"I suspect it does," D answered calmly before balling Left Hand up again and punching at a different bar. "I wonder if you will give out or the bars will first?"
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Dracula reached over at that and picked up D's left hand. He turned it this way and that inspecting the back of it for bruises.
"I heal fast, Father," D noted.
Dracula nodded absently and turned his son's hand over. Left Hand glared with murderous rage up into his eyes.
Dracula laughed. "Delightful! Obviously you got past the grate. What was on the other side?"
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"Finally!" D concealed his surprise at hearing a voice as Left Hand returned him to solid form again. It was a light, child's voice at that. He looked up to see the Belmont child, "Olivia" if he recalled her first name correctly, sitting on a worked stone partition in the vast room revealed now that he was beyond the grate.
Not quite knowing what to say, D checked that his sword harness was tight and that he cloak wouldn't hamper him when he next went to draw his sword. He was certain he would need it soon.
"Not very talkative, are you? That's okay. Lady Maria's diary said that Alucard didn't talk much as first either!" D wondered what was with Left Hand's sudden gagging. He counted himself fortunate that the child's bright prattle as she gave more details of her "Lady Maria's" diary masked the sounds of Left Hand's distress.
Olivia finally stopped, hopped down off the wall and grinned up at him. "Are you ready to go on?"
D blinked at her. How on earth did she...
She didn't let him complete his thought. She darted up, grabbed his hand, and started tugging.
"Oh, you might want to take your sword out. The next room is full of icky spiders!"
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"'Icky spiders'? Simply marvelous!" Dracula beamed.
"She could have warned me that they were twelve feet tall," D complained mildly.
Dracula laughed.
D shook his head.
"What's wrong, D?"
"Why do you do this, Father?"
"Ah, now that's a secret!" Dracula winked, and smiled even more deeply, baring his sharp, gleaming fangs. D merely lifted an eyebrow at his father's theatrics.
"After the spiders..."
"Oh, no! I want to hear all about this fight, first!"
Sighing, D complied. "The first spider dropped on me from a web above. It seemed to have an unnatural interest in my hand..."
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"Get it off! Get it off!" Left Hand shouted frantically. "D, it's trying to smother me!"
The rest of Left Hand's complaints were indeed smothered by the web suddenly adhering D's hand to the wall. His first slash nicked the giant spider's leg forcing it to jump back, giving him a moment to bring his sword around to slash apart the threads sticking him to the wall. The tip of his long, curved sword clinked uselessly against the wall several feet from where Left Hand was trapped.
While D was pondering the success of dropping his sword to tear at the sticky threads with his right hand, concerned that both his hands might then become stuck, Olivia darted forward with a dagger, parted the threads neatly and freed a half-asphyxiated Left Hand.
"Cough! Cough! Sputter!"
Olivia stared at Left Hand's gasping face and went still with shock.
"Back! Out of the way!" D shouted, turning and shoving Olivia behind him as the giant spider charged again. His swung his sword through the space where the girl had just been to skewer the over-grown arachnid.
A soft thump sounded behind him, nearly hidden under the half-squishy, half-crunchy sound of his sword slicing through the spider's body.
"Did I..?"
"Yeah, way to go, D. You knocked her unconscious!" Left Hand reported.
Author's notes - Pinning down where this story is supposed to go and exactly what tone it's supposed to have is like trying to catch a shadow. This chapter seems to be a bit closer to what I'm looking for -- going back and forth between D and Dracula's conversation about what happened and flashbacks to the actual events, but I'm not sure. It could be too disjointed, so feedback about this is definitely appreciated!
Next Chapter – Uhm...more fighting? Well, after D helps Olivia recover from his "protective action" first...
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 (at) stargarde (dot) com