"We have bigger things to be concerned about than your tea," Alucard said lowly.
Frowning, Joachim poured out the remnants of his chilled tea onto the plush red carpet below his feet. "I think Castlevania makes things colder."
"Knowing its master, I'm not surprised," Alucard muttered forging ahead. Though Castlevania changed every time it reappeared, he knew how to recognize the signs of the Throne Room approaching.
A very long red-carpeted staircase faced them.
Sighing, Alucard began the ascent, wondering why Dracula would want to climb all of these stairs every time he wanted to sit on his throne.
"You know, I never quite got why Dracula built this giant staircase," Joachim commented. "Do you think he's… compensating for something?"
Alucard chose not to respond.
"Because, you know, he could be…"
"Shut up," the dhampire grumbled.
"If Dracula appeared, would you kill him?" Joachim prodded.
"Dracula is a menace to society," Alucard affirmed.
"Say the kid turns into Dracula…" the vampire's words lingered there before he continued, "would you actually kill him?"
Finally, Alucard whipped around, "I would kill you if you weren't Leon's friend."
Joachim grinned, finally seeing what Soma found so amusing in pestering this man. "Oh? Pity. We could have been great friends, gone shopping together… manis and pedis while sipping appletinis…"
"Don't drag me down to your level," Alucard turned away in disgust, furiously climbing the stairs faster.
Joachim floated beside him until they reached the door. "He really could be in here, you know."
"Who? My father?" Alucard snorted, "He died long ago."
"Oh, and he's never mysteriously risen from the dead before…" the vampire murmured, absently toying with his hair. "Even I've done that a couple times."
"I'll prove to you that he's gone." More than aggravated with Joachim, Alucard pushed the doors open and dashed inside.
"Hello Adrian, it's been a while."
A wine glass filled with red liquid crashed to the ground, shattering and spreading its contents in a widening pool on the stone floor.
Alucard stared in disbelief. "You!"
Dracula, in full body, mind, and soul, rose from his throne, his dark cape adding a mysterious flourish behind him regardless of the fact that there was no breeze in the Throne Room. "Have you finally decided to come home to me?"
"Never," Alucard growled, brandishing his blade in defiance.
Meanwhile, Joachim tisked, inspecting the spilled liquid. "Such a good waste of perfectly good... wait…" he sniffed the air a bit then looked up at Dracula in disbelief. "Is that fruit punch?"
"Alas," Dracula sighed. "You made it to the Throne Room too quickly… and…"
"…and?" Alucard prodded, knowing that the sooner his father finished with his long-winded speech, the sooner they could kill him and leave.
"…I've decided to become a vegan." Dracula declared proudly.
Flabbergasted, Alucard dropped the sword he had been holding. "What?"
"It's a much healthier lifestyle. I feel like I have so much energy, and it's not harming the planet. Everyone should be a vegan!" Dracula continued to rant.
"But… how can you live without drinking blood?" Alucard questioned, still in disbelief.
"Since my resurrection five days ago, I've drank nothing but potions, tea, and V8 juice," the vampire lord explained.
Joachim's eyes lit at this statement and he floated even closer to Dracula in excitement, "That's what Leon makes me do too!"
Finally close enough to actually see the man, Joachim's eyes widened in shock and he floated closer to him. "Mathias, what happened to your hair?"
"That's not my name anymore," Dracula growled but answered, "You try dying and being brought back to life a few times and see what it does to your hair."
"I chose to dye mine purple," Joachim said, pointing to his own hair. "What's your excuse?"
"I've also begun a holistic way of life," Dracula explained patiently. "I don't believe in artificial hair dye anymore."
"Oh, pity."
Meanwhile, down in the depths of the castle…
"Super-Awesome-Bitchin'-! Oh wait, there's still not enough room," Soma proceeded to keep plowing forward, while Leon followed dubiously behind.
He had watched Soma absorb at least ten souls already since they had started traveling together, and he really wasn't sure it was healthy for his diet. He also wasn't sure if it was healthy for him to use so many of Dracula's powers, but thanks to those, they were already back at ground level.
"So what's your deal?" Soma asked, idly toying with a soul he had captured but not yet claimed.
"My deal?" Leon inquired.
"You know, the 'Great Leon Belmont,' the first of the legendary Belmont clan…" the silver-haired youth glanced sidelong at Leon in a way that suddenly made him feel very uncomfortable. In one swift movement, he closed his hand tightly, absorbing the soul he had captured. "Shouldn't you have lived, and died, a thousand years ago?"
"Technically, yes, but…" Leon began to explain when an interesting room, the door cracked partially open, conveniently caught his eye. "…oh hey, what's in there?"
Forgetting their previous conversation, Soma fearlessly threw open the door and strolled inside to find a modestly decorated room. Simple in design, navy blue curtains hung around the walls of the room, tasteful plants decorated the corners, and in the center of the room a large wooden pedestal stood not two feet tall.
A large bubble of water, taller than Leon himself, floated mysteriously over the pedestal.
"I think," Soma began, walking forward until he could touch the water with his hand. "…that this is a teleport."
It seemed even Castlevania had grown with the times. "I wonder where it leads?" Leon thought out loud.
"Not sure… one way to find out!" Without another warning, Soma jumped into the bubble and disappeared.
Having no other choice, Leon jumped in after him…
…and landed beside Soma in the same room they just left. At least, that's what it seemed like. When they opened the door to the outside, a very long, red-carpeted staircase stretched before them, bringing a smile to Leon's face.
"The Throne Room is just ahead!" When they reached the center of the staircase, Soma suddenly paused.
"Oh! There's enough room here," Soma started raising his hands up, a soft glow forming around his fingertips. "I can show you my awesome bitc-"
Before he could go any farther, Leon snatched one of Soma's wrists and pulled him along up the staircase. "There aren't even any enemies here. Don't waste your magic, Soma. My instincts tell me that we may have a fight ahead of us."
Indeed, he felt extremely apprehensive as they approached the open throne room doors. Alucard had warned him earlier that something felt off about the castle this time, but in truth, he had already know that from the moment they entered.
He ignored Soma's complaints and continued to pull him closer to the open room, hearing voices inside. Alucard, Joachim, and one voice that he would never forget.
Leon released Soma, readying his Vampire Killer and indicating for the youth to prepare too. What lay ahead in the next room would surely be terrible, as hell had risen on Earth.
Steeling himself, he walked through the door.
"A nice chai tea goes splendidly with an afternoon hi-potion."
"Hmm… does it? But chai contains milk, does it not?"
"You could substitute with soy, I'm sure."
"Indeed."
Leon entered the room, his mouth falling open in disbelief. Sitting with his legs crossed lazily on the throne was the vampire he knew as Mathias, talking with a very enthused looking Joachim about… tea? Meanwhile, Alucard seemed at a loss of what to do with himself, opting to stand awkwardly nearby.
"Mathias?" Leon asked cautiously, feeling unnerved to finally see the vampire again.
"Why do people keep calling me that?" Dracula sighed before he looked up and gasped. "Leon! How are you still alive?"
"That's not important right now," Leon's gaze hardened as he strode up to where his nemesis sat. "How are you still alive?"
"I asked first," the ancient vampire retorted.
Leon ignored the comment. "So many of my descendants returned from Castlevania, all saying that they had defeated you, and yet, here you sit as if none of them had ever existed!"
"Ah yes. I do wish you would stop sending them after me," Dracula frowned with distaste. "It's rather inconvenient."
"You terrorizing innocent people, including myself and poor Sara, is also inconvenient!" Leon growled back, readying his whip.
"That's right, Leon. Man up for once and tell him off!" Sara raged from within the whip.
As usual, Leon was deaf to her words. "You are a cursed creature, and as long as you continue to drink the blood of innocent people…"
"Oh, I stopped doing that," Dracula commented offhandedly.
"…I cannot allow you to live...!" The vampire hunter balked. "Wait… what did you say?"
"Clean your ears, Belmont, I'll not say it again," the lord of the night scowled. And indeed, he did not.
"He's decided to become a vegan," Joachim explained helpfully.
Leon, knowing that Joachim's state of mind couldn't always be trusted, looked to Alucard. "Is this… true?"
Alucard nodded, "They've been sharing vegetable and fruit juice recipes for the last ten minutes."
"Great, just what the world needs, two Bunniculas…" Soma muttered.
Leon seemed at a loss, and thought deeply on his own, with the other four staring at him, waiting for a response. Moments later, a bright light filled the room and disappeared.
"That light again!" Leon spun around to face each person in the room.
Joachim sighed, "Yes yes, the light. Don't you have more important things to be thinking about?"
"Oh, right," Leon went back to thinking, and after quite some time, he finally came to a conclusion. "Mathias…"
"Dracula," the formerly-evil vampire lord reminded him.
"As you wish, Dracula… I cannot forgive you for the terrible things you have done in the past," Leon said, causing Dracula to rise from his throne in alarm. "However, if you truly are agreeing not to harm innocent people anymore… I find it against my morals to kill you."
At this, Soma burst in outrage, "How does that make any sense at all? You're Leon-Fucking-Belmont, the founder of the Belmont clan, whose mission is to kill Dracula! Now all of a sudden, you're buddies?"
"I did not say he was my friend," Leon explained to Soma, while also giving his former-friend a cold stare. "…just that I wouldn't kill him. In fact, I wouldn't feel comfortable letting him out of my sight until I am certain he speaks the truth."
Alucard's eyes widened, realizing what that meant immediately. "You mean to bring him with us?"
Leon nodded. "That seems to be the best solution."
Everyone stared uneasily at each other, an unspoken awkward tension filling the air like they had just seen a hobo masturbating on the train next to them.
Eventually, Dracula sighed, "fine, but don't expect me to help you do anything."
Leon nodded again. "I suppose that settles things."
"Good," Joachim heaved a sigh of relief, then turned his attention back to Dracula. "Have you tried coffee?"
Thank you to all of you who reviewed! I truly do appreciate every one. =)
Congrats to True Hyper Sonic, who got the trivia exactly right! I couldn't respond to you, as you left an anonymous review.
Chapter Trivia #3 Answer:
Leon asks why they can double jump, and Joachim doesn't give him a real answer, but one character can actually double-jump for a legitimate reason. Which character is it and how does he do it?
Alucard! In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, his cape becomes flapping feathered wings when he double-jumps.
Chapter Trivia #4:
In this chapter, Leon and Soma jumped into a teleportation room that looked like a large bubble of water. Which Castlevania game features a teleportation room of this design? Review with your answer!