"Do you often heave your servants out the window if they displease you?" Leon asked Dracula as they followed Alucard and Soma to their first demonic battle. Currently, they were walking through an area filled with fun-house mirrors that Leon found more than a little unnerving.
"You don't?" Dracula asked in response.
"I don't have servants, and even if I did, I doubt they would live if I threw them out the top floor of a giant tower," the Belmont pointed out.
Dracula shrugged. "Saccubus can fly. She's was my favorite succubus servant."
"Was?" Joachim asked as he sipped an anguished soul potion from his Starbucks cup. "She seemed… eagerly helpful."
"She is," he agreed, then glanced darkly at Soma's back. "But she defied me tonight."
"You seem overly concerned about that," Joachim remarked. "Are you feeling a little… impotent?"
"I most certainly am not!" Dracula sneered, though he did look a little dubious.
"Enough," Alucard commanded them. "We are near the location of the first unspeakably evil demon."
"Unspeakably evil?" Soma asked, arching an eyebrow.
Alucard shrugged. "Nobody has ever spoken of it."
"Interesting…" he murmured.
"Are you sure we're in the right spot?" Joachim inquired, trying to see around Dracula's gently fluttering cape.
Leon pulled him out from behind the cumbersome black velvet so that he could see the door in front of them. Not only was the ebony door massive, but a blood-red skull had been engraved into it. "Something tells me we are very close."
"I see…" Joachim murmured, then turned to Dracula. "I thought you were remodeling?"
"Even I do not wish to entertain these foul creatures…" the lord of the night shivered. "Besides, the door has its own… morbid… charm, does it not?"
"Something tells me that this design wasn't featured in your magazines," Soma stared at the door doubtfully, extending his hand forward until he touched the cold stone. "An unspeakably evil non-corporeal demon that we don't know how to defeat waits for us behind this door?"
"That is correct," Dracula assured him with a smirk. "Why, are you getting cold feet?"
"Why would I be…" Soma glanced back, the wicked grin on his lips hungry for a challenge, "… when I'm gonna collect a fucking sweet demon soul in a minute? It's ass-kicking time!" He shouted, pushing the door open with all his might and will.
The door didn't budge.
"Oh, I didn't mention the key? How rude of me," Dracula swept forward, pulling forth a tiny metal key. He inserted it into an inconspicuous spot on the forehead of the skull, twisting it until they heard a click, then removing it with a grandiose hand-wave. "Now, would-be lord of the night, please try again."
Soma kicked in the door and burst into the room.
A giant maze-like room filled with funhouse mirrors, even on the floors and ceilings, greeted them. While the room was not very tall, it appeared to be extremely deep. Though it could have been an optical illusion, everyone knew it wasn't.
Joachim scowled at the nearest mirror, which refused to show his reflection. "I hate mirrors. They're so assuming and petty."
"Count yourself lucky, this time," Leon said, his voice sounding a bit strained as he walked deeper into the room. Everywhere he turned, at least five more of himself greeted him. If he looked down at the floor, his reflections appeared to go on for eternity. "Mathias, why did you choose this particular design?"
"Dracula," the dark lord reminded him. "I didn't choose this design. The ones who fashioned this prison did. Imagine, what would it feel like to live for an eternity in a room filled with nothing but mirrors…"
At this, Dracula put an arm around Leon, gesturing to the mirror in front of them, where only Leon's reflection stared back with confusion. "…when you yourself haven't a reflection? This room is intended to be more than a mere prison cell. It's meant to be torture."
All of a sudden, a bright light flashed around them, reflecting in all the mirrors and temporarily blinding them.
After the blindness went away, Leon looked around him quickly. "What is that light? It keeps following us…"
"It hasn't harmed us yet," Joachim said lethargically. "But I think there is something in this room that will." He glared covertly at Alucard.
"So Allie, you said that demon's in here? One of the five most evil demons? The unspeakable…" Soma began before Alucard swiftly covered his mouth with a pale hand.
"Don't speak of it!" The half-vampire hissed but was too late.
A loud wail echoed through the room. It started forcefully loud and became an ear-splitting screech as it moved closer. Alucard's eyes widened, "Run!"
Each person ran away with no hesitation as the screeching flew through where they were just standing.
Leon's heart beat wildly in his chest. Despite the fact that his descendants had battled through Castlevania several times in the last few centuries, it had been long since he had felt the heat of battle. His reflections unnerved him, and the high pitched wailing tore at his eardrums.
It took him a moment to realize that Joachim was behind him. In fact, he didn't notice the vampire's presence until he stopped at a dead-end, Joachim crashing into him at full speed. "Leon, what are you doing?"
"It's a dead-end, and besides, I'm waiting…" he closed his eyes for a moment, listening to the fading sound. "It seems to be going away."
"Well I can't imagine why," The purple haired vampire huffed.
"Neither can I." Leon admitted, puzzling through the situation out-loud. "This creature has five victims trapped inside its dank maze-like lair full of dead-ends and nowhere to run but towards it…"
"Doesn't sound familiar at all." Joachim muttered.
"…and it disappears?" Leon turned to face his old friend. "Why would it do something like that?"
"Maybe it was bored and didn't want to deal with an overzealous blonde haired knight coming to rescue his betrothed?" the vampire grinned at Leon. Seeing that he was not amused with that bit of history, Joachim sighed, "it's probably been trapped in this hell-hole long enough that it's gone crazy. I can assure you, it does not take long for that to happen."
"Great, just want we need," Leon muttered, "An insane unspeakably evil demon…"
No sooner had Leon uttered those words when the cacophonous sound appeared again, this time much closer to them. "Oh shit…" Though they both ran quickly down the long and winding pathway, this time, they couldn't escape.
In one fell swoop, the banshee-like wail overtook them.
Joachim uncovered his ears, shocked to find himself still standing. "Ha! You MISSED ME!" He did a small booty-dance of victory, turning to Leon, "We totally owned… uhh… Leon?"
The vampire spun around, noticing that all the mirrors surrounding him were blank. "Leon!" He shouted.
"Shut up, metro, you'll give away our position," Dracula growled shoving Joachim forward. "It already claimed both Soma and Adrian as well."
"I'm not dead," Alucard harrumphed as he appeared next to them.
Dracula smiled sadly, "Of course you aren't, dear."
"What?" Joachim sputtered in disbelief, "They died off-screen?"
"I'm not dead." Alucard stated again in annoyance.
"Off-screen to you, perhaps," Dracula glowered. "Soma was standing next to me when the creature of unspeakable evil struck, and now…"
A piercing cry appeared from above them, and Joachim's eyes widened in terror as a wraith-like creature filled with sharp claws, billowing wisps of clothing, and tentacles appeared above them. With another loud scream, the monster bore straight down onto them…
…with no effect.
Being the saner one of the three, Alucard blinked, murmuring the obvious, "It didn't take us?"
Joachim was grinning maniacally. "It can't hurt us…"
"Whatever do you mean?" Dracula sneered at the other vampire's all too happy expression.
"I believe I understand," Alucard stepped in to explain. "Think for a moment. What separates us from Soma and Leon?"
Dracula groaned. "That dreadful burden of morality."
That hadn't been what Alucard was expecting. "No…We don't cast a reflection in mirrors."
Finally, the lord of the night began to catch on. "They disappeared because they have something the demon of unspeakable evil doesn't, a reflection… a soul."
Once again, the creature reappeared, this time right beside them. Its shape seemed a bit more defined than before as it angrily tried to tear through the vampires again to no avail.
"I have a soul," Alucard said, his brow furrowed delicately.
Dracula gazed at his son with sympathy. "Sure you do."
"It appears every time we speak of it, each time a little more visible," Joachim noted. "Soon enough, this creature of unspeakable demonic evil…" Joachim closed his eyes as the creature rushed through them again. "…may actually become corporeal."
"Correct," Alucard agreed, drawing his sword with grim determination. "And if that happens, we can kill it."
"What are we waiting for?" Joachim began shouting with glee, "O demonic creature of unspeakable evil!..."
In the next ten minutes, the three heckled the evil demon, cajoling it from a wraith-like apparition to a corporeal monstrosity.
In the next ten seconds, the three had hacked it apart into a thousand tiny pieces, burning the remains until its piercing scream faded away for good.
"So that's it…" Joachim murmured sullenly. "Poor Leon… I'll never forget him…"
"I'm not dead!"
"I know you're not dead, Alucard," Joachim continued to weep.
"No, I'm Leon, and I'm not dead!"
The vampire choked back a sob. "His silly morals… his terrible fashion sense…"
"Hey! Suspenders and striped leggings are in!"
"Leon?" Joachim looked up at the mirror before them, shocked to find Leon trapped on the other side, pounding his fist on the glass with exasperation. Soma was karate-kicking the mirror next to him.
"Oh, I didn't mention that they were trapped behind the mirrors?" Dracula asked offhandedly.
"This is so uncool…" Soma grunted, placing his hands before him and banging his head on the mirror.
"We destroyed the monster that dwells in this room," Alucard speculated thoughtfully. "That must mean that the one who now controls this room is…" he looked up at his father, his eyes narrowed. "…the ruler of this castle."
"Is that so? I didn't realize." Dracula feigned nonchalance, cracking his knuckles and placing his hands on the glass before them.
Nothing happened.
"Quit playing your games and get them out!" Joachim demanded impatiently.
"I'm trying…" Dracula growled, willing the castle with all of his might to let Leon and Soma free from the mirrors. After he made many constipated sounds, still, nothing happened.
Suddenly, Soma looked up. "Wait, Allie, you said the ruler of this castle can get us out?"
"That is correct," Alucard affirmed.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Soma grinned, grabbing Leon's arm and pulling him along. "It's time to bust outta this joint!"
"What? But, how?" Leon stumbled after him, confused.
"Let us outta here!" Soma bellowed to the castle, then ran into the mirror.
"Wait, Somaaa—!" Leon cried, but found himself standing on the other side of the mirror, beside his unlikely companions before he could finish that statement. "That… actually worked?"
Soma grinned, fist pumping the air. "Hell yeah! This castle's my little bitch now!"
As the group left the room, feeling both unnerved yet victorious, only Dracula seemed more doubtful than before. "What is happening?"
Nobody answered him, though. No sooner had Alucard began to look at him with concern then Soma bust out a loud wail of anguish.
"What's wrong? You saved the day, kid," Leon asked.
"I didn't even get its soul…" Soma frowned crossly. "Do you think we could fight it again?"
Alucard replied mater-of-factly. "You'll have to wait until boss rush mode,"
Thank you to everyone who reviewed and tried the trivia! I am giving credit to everyone who answered the question, since there are multiple interpretations of vampire lore. In case you were curious, though, I have given my answer below. ^_^
Congratulations to: Willowfur, True Hyper Sonic, Lonewolf102, and LadyArmster!
Chapter Trivia #5 Answer:
Despite their claim to being vegan, Joachim and Dracula are vampires. Should they be able to drink potions, tea, and V8 juice?
Yes! Although you will find varying answers depending on the vampire story you read, in the game Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, Joachim is able to use Potions which are randomly scattered around the castle. Tea and V8 aren't that hard of a leap, are they? =)
Chapter Trivia #6:
Alucard is a half-vampire, but he doesn't have a reflection. In which Castlevania game does Alucard clearly not cast a reflection in the mirror?