They were a trio plus one. The hippest hipsters. The lords of the little league. Nothing could stand in their way.
Nothing except their communal hatred of Castlevania.
"Why are we here again?" Soma demanded, frowning at the others.
Leon gestured towards the towering ominous structure before them, "A gigantic evil castle appears, and you don't find that a bit odd?"
"I am not going in there again!" Joachim continued to throw a tantrum, tossing his spent Starbucks cup to the forest ground and folding his arms. "The last time I was in that wretched castle, I was half-way out of my mind and I had the fashion sense of DEATH himself!"
Leon couldn't see what had changed, but he ignored that, instead dutifully reminding his friend, "Don't litter."
Leon himself was grumpy enough for both of them. Joachim had insisted that they stop by a clothing store on the way and made him spend three times the money he would have spent at his dear thrift store on new "fashionable" clothes. While Leon had been in shock over paying the bill, Joachim had pulled living fire through his hair with his fingernails, undoing most of the ratted mess his hair had become.
His hair was now manageably soft, his clothes typical and plain, and his wallet almost empty.
Sufficed to say, Leon was unhappy to be back at Castlevania. Plus, there was that little detail of his betrothed, Sara, being kidnapped, tortured, and eventually turned into an inanimate object despite his best attempts to save her.
Leon patted the Vampire Killer whip at his side fondly.
Sara frowned back. "I wish you wouldn't do that so much. It's really weird. People are going to think that you're a creepy pervert."
As usual, Leon smiled good-naturedly, blissfully unaware of his darling Sara's thoughts.
While Joachim picked up his litter and Alucard continued to assume the coolest manga pose possible, Soma spun around, holding an outstretched hand behind him. "Check this out…"
Three sets of eyes waited expectantly.
"Open… sesame…" As Soma uttered the words in the coolest most seductive way he possibly could, the large castle doors behind him swung open.
Alucard cleared his throat. "Might I suggest not using Dracula's powers while we are within Castlevania? You do remember what happened the last two times you did that, don't you?"
Soma stared at him blankly.
Alucard stared back at him with equal apathetic blankness.
"I became Dracula?" Soma finally offered.
"Yes."
They both blinked at each other for three more minutes.
Finally, Soma said, "And that's bad, why? Who cares? If I become Dracula, we've got Leon-Fu-"
"Perhaps," Alucard interjected. "It would be nice not to burden Leon with your carelessness."
Soma sighed, "Whatever, Allie, I wanna steal some souls! And I'm a lot cooler now! Plus I've got this bitchin' new attack I wanna try out…"
Suddenly, a bright light flashed, making the four glance around warily.
"What was that?" Leon asked, gripping the vampire killer reflexively. "Are we being attacked already?"
Joachim scoffed, "We're not even inside Castlevania yet! The creatures of darkness couldn't have attacked us."
"Not so," Alucard remarked. "The creatures surrounding this castle are often just as fierce as those inside."
Before they could argue any more, Soma had run through the castle doors with a loud battle cry.
"Soma! Don't forget why we're here!" Alucard warned after him.
Apparently, the youth had already forgotten, because by the time the other three had stepped within the walls, he was nowhere to be found.
Leon sighed, "Why do I have the feeling we'll be fighting Dracula tonight?"
"Because Soma doesn't have any manners," Alucard responded crossly, turning to face Leon. "I'm terribly sorry. I know we can't carry out our plans without Soma, but he's run off again."
"Again?" Leon inquired.
Alucard hesitated, but finally admitted, "He hasn't been taking his medication, and you know how that can affect people."
"Oh, trust me, I know," Leon said, eyeing Joachim, who was currently testing whether or not his recycled-plastic cup would make a good hat. It didn't.
Joachim, who despite his current predicament had caught the jab, responded with agitation, "Medication didn't exist when I was alive, and I've never taken any while dead!"
"Yes, that's glaringly obvious," Alucard muttered with a heavy sigh.
Determined to reclaim his dignity, Joachim brandished the cup for his next exclamation, "We must head to the Throne Room!"
Though Leon admittedly felt drawn to the Throne Room, he had to question, "why?"
Joachim rolled his eyes as if to say "shouldn't you know?" and actually voiced, "because Dracula always shows up at the Throne Room, doesn't he? If we get there first, Soma won't have a chance to become Dracula yet, and we can beat the souls out of him!"
It was a bit twisted, but Leon had to admit that the plan made sense. "Joachim, I find your plan twisted, but it does make sense."
Meanwhile, Alucard snorted, surprising Leon with the sound, "Indeed, let's play vampire hunter and rush to the Throne Room, Belmont."
"Ok," Leon agreed.
"I was being facetious," Alucard blanched. "Don't you care about Soma?"
"I do, but Joachim is right," Leon reasoned, "If we continue moving about the castle to find him, we may never cross paths; however, if we stay in one solitary location, we have a better chance of finding him."
Alucard disagreed, but growled, "fine. But if he becomes Dracula again…"
"To the Throne Room!" Joachim bellowed, leading the way.
Thanks to everyone who has left a review so far! It makes me happy to see that people are enjoying my fic! =)
Chapter Trivia #1 Answer:
Should it be possible for these four to travel together? Why or why not?
No! Leon and Joachim are from the game Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, set in the year 1094. "Arikado" (Alucard) and Soma are from Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, set in 2036. Leon, a human, should find it difficult to live this long, unless I have something else planned for this story up my sleeve…
Chapter Trivia #2!:
Alucard makes a jab at Leon in this chapter about Belmonts rushing to the throne room. Is he being a hypocrite? Review with your answer!