Soma wasn't very happy when he awoke. "Fucking fuck!" He growled, clutching his head.
Realizing that he was back to normal, Alucard put the youth down on the ground, then fixed him with a stern glare. "You didn't listen to me."
Soma rolled his eyes, then looked away noncommittally.
Alucard didn't wait for a response. "I don't know how much you remember, but thanks to your insolence, Dracula was forced to take some extreme measures."
"What does that have to do with me?" Soma finally questioned.
"I took part of your soul," Dracula explained cheerfully.
"You what?" The silver haired youth exclaimed. "I need that to live!"
"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" The lord of the night acquiesced, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Technically, you only need part of your soul to live. I took away the part of your soul that was connected with my castle. You'll find that you can still use the souls in your collection though."
Leon was confused.
Seeing the puzzled look on the Belmont's face, Dracula explained before he could ask. "Soma has his own soul, but he was also born with most of mine. During my recent resurrection, a large part of my soul left Soma and came back to my body. I merely took a little more of that soul earlier, strengthening my power and weakening his."
"You still haven't explained how he can use souls, though," Leon pointed out.
"Quite true," the lord of the night concurred. "A fraction of my soul is still within Soma. Though that isn't much, similar to the wonderful benefits of homeopathy, his own soul remembers the abilities that mine carried with it, even though much of my soul no longer resides in his body."
"Homeopathy?" Joachim interjected. "I thought that was just quackery."
"How dare you!" Dracula suddenly spun around on the other vampire, a passionate fire in his eyes. "Homeopathy has many medical benefits without the danger of using manufactured antibiotics and medicines! With its complicated powers of water memory, water will retain the molecular memory of medicines without causing harm to the environment! The power of the dilution is both magnificent and terrible!"
"Hmm," Joachim pressed his lips together noncommittally, then looked at the vampire's son. "Alucard?"
"It's quackery," the half-vampire affirmed.
"Thought so," he nodded.
"The castle…" Soma curled into a weeping ball of emo. "I can't command it anymore…"
"Oh please," Dracula rolled his eyes. "You can't tell it to close doors anymore…"
"Ladies," Isaac sighed. "If you're done bitchin' about souls and shit, don't we have something else to accomplish?"
"We do," Leon nodded solemnly but did not elaborate.
"There are still two angelic beings sealed in this castle. I pity them," Alucard said morosely. "Creatures of pure goodness and light, trapped within Castlevania amongst all its evil… it must be torture."
"I am certain they are getting by just fine," Dracula scoffed. "Besides, my castle is not such a bad place to live."
"Speak for yourself," Joachim responded dryly.
"You know… we don't necessarily have to defeat them," Leon suggested quietly, drawing everyone's attention.
Even Soma curled out of his post-Dracula-emo-shell. "Fuck that, we came here to put Castlevania to rest! You said so yourself in the Starbucks before we left. We're not gonna fuck this shit up now after all we've done!"
"Well, we don't have to beat them. They aren't really hurting anything," the Belmont continued.
"This isn't like you," Joachim eyed his old friend, assessing him critically. "Leon, if you aren't feeling…" the vampire paused, searching for the right word. "…well… then, you can sit this next one out. I'm sure we can handle it."
"No, no, I'm quite all right," Leon assured him, and everyone else who had started to look at him with concern after Joachim's suggestion. "You're right. We should confront the angelic being and put it to rest."
"A wise choice," Alucard nodded, leading the party back through the castle with a dramatic swish of his suit jacket. "Shall we?"
Everyone followed the half-vampire through the castle until they reached a familiar door. It was, in fact, the one they had passed by recently on the way to Sonia's tavern. When they reached the gateway, they all stood about gawking at the angelic engraving. The bright white lines in the baby blue surface pulsed with holy goodness.
Forming a half-circle around the structure, it seemed nobody wanted to be the first to step forward and engage the door.
"I wish we didn't have to do this." With a heavy sigh, Leon walked up to the sealed door, touching his fingertips lightly to the azure surface.
A bright light filled the hallway.
Dracula nudged Joachim not-so-subtly with his elbow. "Now isn't the time to take pictures of yourself."
"I didn't," Joachim murmured the truth, his eyes widening as the door slid open. "Leon, are you sure you're ok? You know you don't have to…"
"Yes, I'm fine. Besides, you'll need me for this one," Leon nodded, then waved them forward as he passed through the archway. "Let's go."
As the group stepped into the room, three of them knew immediately that they were in trouble.
Dracula and Joachim had both instantly fallen to their knees on the ground by the door, clutching their heads and screaming in agony. Alucard leaned back against the wall to stabilize himself, breathing heavier and looking worse for wear in general.
Leon simply continued to obliviously walk forward, and Isaac appeared fine.
Soma merely felt a little more annoyed than usual, and when he finally looked up from his fallen companions to the room, he knew the cause of their misery.
It seemed they had stepped into the large entryway of a beautifully antiquated church. The ceilings arched a hundred feet overhead, supported by great stone pillars along the wall. From the ceiling in the back, a large cross hung suspended before an enormous stained glass window. An impressive pipe organ adorned one of the massive walls.
Smaller altars graced other walls. Though Soma did not completely understand all of the symbolism in this great room, he recognized a statue of the Virgin Mary at one of the side altars.
Patterned stone tiles led through the rows of pews and up a few steps to an altar in the front. A row of candles sat on the table, and in their center, a familiar symbol easily stole the focus of the room. A brilliantly gleaming cross levitated of its own volition, as if daring someone to claim it.
Without hesitation, Leon made his way down the center aisle, his gaze focused on the floating crucifix ahead.
"Hey, Leon, you'd better watch out," Soma said, feeling odd that he was advising the older and much more knowledgeable man. "This place gives me the creeps."
"Of course it does," Leon replied, not slowing down his pace at all. "You have part of a vampire's soul in you. If you listen to it, you'll hear it screaming like those two."
At that comment, Soma cast a somewhat concerned look at the other vampires, who were writhing on the ground now in pain. Alucard seemed only slightly better off. The half-vampire clutched his chest, stepping forward determinedly on shaky feet.
Finally, Leon stood before the center altar. "It's been a long time…" Reaching forward, he touched the floating cross.
A blindingly bright light filled the room. When it disappeared, Leon had turned around, the cross stowed magically away. The vampires also found that the source of their immense pain had disappeared, replaced instead with a residual headache.
"How are we…" Alucard began to ask, as he walked forward on firmer feet.
"…not in pain?" Leon finished, a small sad smile on his face. "Because I can't stand to see you three like that… so I willed away the holy charm."
"You can do that?" Soma asked jealously.
"Not that I'm complaining, but he shouldn't be able to," Dracula said darkly, picking himself up from the ground carefully. "... unless he controls this room."
Finally, realization dawned on them.
"I see you've figured it out," Politely, Leon bowed to them. "Welcome to the room of my seal. I am your first angelic foe."
As if on cue, the pipe organ somehow began to play dramatically, an invisible choir singing along to an enchanted melody.
"Leon, we don't have to fight," Alucard said diplomatically. "We have stood on the side of good together for centuries."
"We have," Leon agreed. "But that does not change the fact that my soul is tied to Castlevania. How do you think I always know when the castle is back?"
At this comment, Dracula glanced at him sharply. "No… no! All this time, I thought the Belmonts just had fantastic luck!"
Isaac arched an eyebrow at him.
Dramatically, the lord of the night whipped around, his cape flaring artistically behind him as he pointed to the Belmont before them. "Leon! This whole time you have been telling them?"
Soma spun around, "Really, Drac, I've been alive the least, and even I figured that out."
Dracula shrugged off the insult, fixing his glare on Leon. "For a thousand years, you have sent your descendants to kill me," after this comment, oddly, he smirked. "But never have I had the chance to fight you."
Leon nodded. "Though I truly have no wish to fight any of you, this may settle things once and for all between us, Mathias."
"It's Dracula," the lord of the night, despite Leon's continued forgetfulness, grinned. Theatrically, he waved his arm in a sweeping motion to the others. "All of you, stay out of this one. This fight is mine."
"Ok," Joachim agreed immediately, taking a seat in one of the back pews to watch.
"Drac, are you sure…?" Soma asked hesitantly.
"Yes, I am sure!" Dracula growled.
Sensing the force of his conviction, both Soma and Isaac stepped to the back of the room. The red-haired devil forger added, "Straight-up. Lemme know if you need backup."
"Why would I, the lord of the night, need backup?" Dracula questioned, fully confident in his abilities, despite the knowledge that he had yet to defeat a Belmont. Ever.
Only Alucard continued to stand by his side. "Father, I strongly advise against this. You know how these former-ally boss fights go."
"All I know is that it is time to resolve the conflict that has raged for a millennia," the lord of darkness asserted, narrowing his eyes at the blonde haired Belmont that had forever been the bane of his existence. "Adrian, I appreciate your concern, but I will not change my mind."
Lingering only a moment more, Alucard finally nodded and walked to the back of the room with the others. "As you wish."
The moment was tense. For the first time, Dracula, the lord of the night and ruler of Castlevania, faced the man who had brought him nothing but misery. Granted, that was after he sold his betrothed to an evil vampire and doomed Leon and his descendants to a fate of fighting evil for eternity.
Details.
Dracula had known since they fought together long ago in the crusades that this day would come.
Likewise, Leon had also known that this duel was inevitable. Mathias had always had a complex about being a tactician instead of a knight, even a thousand years ago, before either of them had any supernatural abilities. Since that fateful day, Leon knew that one day he would find Mathias and finally have a chance to tell him his mind.
And, oh, he would tell him. He would tell him right now.
Leon took a deep breath, fixing his former ally with a serious glare and pointing a finger at him. "Mathias…"
"Dracula," the other sighed in annoyance.
The Belmont ignored him and continued with vehemence. "…you are a very bad man!"
Dracula blinked. "Is that all?"
"Yeah, is that really all you've got to say to him, Leon?" Sara fumed vengefully from within the Vampire Killer. "Or should I call you Pussy McCocksucker? GOD damn it Leon, you're such a fucking moron!"
As always, Leon remained blissfully unaware of his beloved Sara's words.
"Yes, that is all," Leon said, pulling his Vampire Killer whip taut, a gleam in his eye as he took a defensive stance. "Are you ready to fight?"
"I've been ready for a thousand years," Dracula declared, grasping the edge of his cape and pulling it towards his body.
"But if you were ready a thousand years ago, then why did you send Death to fight in your stead?" Leon inquired.
"Because it seemed really cool at the time," Dracula admitted. "Unfortunately, Death has asked to go on a holiday, and he isn't here right now."
"Oh, really? Where did he go?" the Belmont asked with genuine interest.
"The Bahamas," the lord of darkness replied nonchalantly.
"Good choice," Leon smiled, then resumed his stance. "Well, shall we?"
"Yes," Dracula held his cape menacingly. "Whenever you're ready."
"Please, I couldn't have the honor of making the first move," the Belmont said courteously.
Joachim sighed from the sidelines. "Would you please just start fighting?"
Needing no further prompting, Dracula opened his cape, sending three hellfires Leon's way.
Leon grinned, whipping the flames away. "I'm ready when you are."
"That was just a test," the lord of darkness chuckled, then opened his cape, slowly sending out a molten dark inferno ball. Then, a few seconds later, he sent out another dark inferno ball, slightly higher than the first. A few seconds later, he sent out another dark inferno ball, a little lower than the second.
Leon jumped over the first, ducked under the second, and jumped over the third.
"That was also just a test," Dracula snorted, then clasped his velvety cape, a red glint in his eye. With flourish, he opened his garment, sending out five hellfires.
Leon sighed, double jumped over the fireballs and Dracula, then whipped him repeatedly in the head.
"Augh!" the lord of darkness growled, then laughed as if suddenly remembering something. "Sorry, it's been a while since I've had my abilities. I'd almost forgotten."
With a lingering demonic laugh, he disappeared, reappearing across the room. Knowing that his next attack would certainly get the best of the Belmont, he called forth hell pyres around the room and opened his cape, sending hellfire blasts Leon's way.
Unfortunately for Dracula, Leon was already behind him. Hitting him in the head. Again.
"Grrr!" The lord of the night roared. "This isn't over yet!"
Leon took a defensive stance when he caught the red glint in his former ally's eyes. He was about to do something big.
Dracula clasped his hands together with a roar. "Demonic Megadome!"
Alucard sighed from the back, deciding that he would have to help his father rename his attacks sometime soon.
Immediately, the room filled with a dark energy in the shape of a dome. Leon gasped, double jumping out of harm's way quickly. Then, once the evil energy disappeared, he promptly ran forward and whipped Dracula in the face.
"Urrgh!" Dracula, beginning to feel the sting of Leon's whip more than before, grunted. "Leon, I won't let you best me!"
The Belmont bowed courteously. "Please, I implore you to show me."
Unfortunately, nothing seemed to work for the vampire lord. Even after changing forms twice, Leon managed to whip him into submission, prompting screams of agony. The others could only watch. And cringe.
Finally, Dracula changed back into his vampire form, kneeling on the ground. "Leon… no… this can't be happening!
"Sure it can," Leon walked up to the lord of the night with a piteous look in his eyes. "Admit it, I've won."
"I'll… I'll never admit defeat!" Dracula choked the words out, despite knowing that he was on the verge of death. Again.
Concerned, Alucard rose to his feet, but Isaac held his beefy arm out, blocking the half-vampire's way. "Don't. This is his fight."
"But he's going to die!" Soma exclaimed.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Joachim murmured, checking a picture he had recently taken of himself in his digital camera. Adjusting his hair with the tips of his fingers, he said lazily, "Dracula's a vampire. He won't stay dead long."
Despite knowing that Joachim was right, Alucard still felt torn. He caught Leon's gaze as the Belmont watched them patiently, waiting to see if they would interfere.
Alucard couldn't watch. Looking away, he sat back down.
"I see our comrades are upholding their honor," Leon said, reaching for his carrying pouch. "And now, I shall as well."
"Make it quick," Dracula grunted, keeping his gaze on the cold floor below him.
"Uhh… ok," Leon said, opting to throw the glass super potion on top of his former companion instead of uncorking and pouring it.
As the glass shattered around him, Dracula felt the unexpected restorative properties of the liquid healing his body back to full capacity. Startled and confused, he stood and gave Leon a strange look. "Why… did you do that? Did you lose some of your mental abilities over the last thousand years?"
Leon shook his head. "It would be unfair for me to fight everyone with you injured," he explained.
Alucard looked back up, shocked as well by Leon's honorable actions. "You wish for all of us to fight you together?"
With a slow nod, Leon affirmed his suspicions. "Yes," holding his hand forward, he beaconed them all forward.
Seeing the ass-kicking that he just served to Dracula, the others gathered hesitantly around their newly revived companion.
Leon continued to stand there like a perfect gentleman, waiting patiently for the group to gather their bearings and ready their weapons. When it looked like they had prepared sufficiently, he asked, "Are you all ready?"
At this, Soma hesitated, "Yeah, but… this just seems wrong. You're Leon-Fucking-Belmont! Shouldn't you be the one charging into Castlevania and taking out all the baddies?"
Leon cast his gaze downward, almost shamefully, when he heard this comment. It took a moment, but he murmured, "like it or not, I am bound to this castle. I knew what I was getting into when I accepted this form. Supernatural abilities, eternal youth… all in exchange for the responsibility of guarding the rest of the world from this castle and the terrors within it."
"And you've done a fine job of that, Leon," Alucard agreed, trying once more to reason with the Belmont, though he knew that his efforts may be in vain. "There is no need for us to battle."
"Didn't you yourself say that we needed to defeat the angelic beings?" Leon, for once in his life, challenged the half-vampire, causing him to gasp lightly in surprise. "As a creature tied to this castle, I am also bound by the rules of Castlevania."
"By the book to a fault, as always," Joachim tisked.
"I'm afraid so," Leon smiled sadly.
"Try not to kill me again this time, ok?" the purple haired vampire sighed, preparing his swords by his side. "It does horrors to my hair."
"I'll try," Leon grinned at his friend, again brandishing the Vampire Killer. "But, we must fight now. If you are all ready, we can begin."
The other five looked at each other non-committaly. Nobody really wanted for this fight to happen, and Leon was far too polite to make the first move.
After five minutes of staring at each other, Dracula finally sighed, "Shall I take him on by myself again? We all know how well that worked out last time."
Taking Dracula's words as a cue to begin, they all rushed forward at the same time.
The result was akin to a poorly choreographed dance.
As Dracula hung back, sending hellfire blasts again at his opponent, Joachim also sent his blades forward, both interfering with each other's attacks. Isaac had the misfortune of being caught in the line of fire, since he was the only one actually man enough to attack Leon fist to whip.
The red-haired devil-forger batted away the hellfire blasts and swords with a few waves of his meaty fist. "Hey, watch it."
Despite Isaac's recent warning, Soma's electricity scorched both the manly man and Leon. Isaac scowled, patting out a fire that the lightning had started in his hair. Leon seemed to brush it off effortlessly.
Alucard watched the disaster with a pained expression.
"Might I suggest that you coordinate your attacks next time?" the Belmont provided helpfully.
"Thanks, Leon, we figured that out," Dracula scowled, though he made no apparent effort to collaborate with the others.
Alucard, however, did. Carefully timing between his father's hellfire, Soma's lightning, and Joachim's long distance sword strikes, he dodged through the attacks and disappeared from where he stood, reappearing at Leon's backside. Again, timing his strikes to be at the same time as Isaac's blows, they kept Leon pinned where he stood, juggling the attacks between them.
The attack went on for a good two minutes, with everyone firing their heavy artillery and Leon completely unable to get out of it. With all the damage they had inflicted, Soma could have sworn that Leon should have been out for the count long ago. However, the blonde haired Belmont continued to take and deflect hit after hit until he finally managed to roll out of the center.
"How are you still alive?" Soma asked incredulously, gripping back the lightning he had almost sent forward in his fist. "I don't care if you're Leon-Fucking-Belmont, you're not immortal!"
"Actually, I am," Leon provided helpfully. "But that is not the reason I am still alive. I can be defeated, you know."
Alucard glared at Soma shrewdly. "Did you not hear what I said earlier about former-ally boss fights?"
"You know I don't listen to most of what you say," Soma responded, perhaps the most honestly he ever had in his life.
"Former-ally bosses…" the half-vampire began, disregarding the fact that the white haired youth would probably ignore him again. "…are extremely powerful."
"What? Even Leon?" Soma asked, eyeing Leon skeptically.
Leon frowned at the remark but respectfully chose not to interrupt Alucard.
"Yes, even Leon," Alucard answered, assessing the Belmont before them. After squinting for a moment, he pulled out a pair of very dorky looking glasses from the folds of his suit jacket and placed them on the bridge of his nose. Alucard looked very, very nerdy.
Isaac couldn't watch.
"His attacks will be more powerful, he has 250X the amount of hit points than he had before, and if I'm not mistaken…" Alucard's eyes narrowed again, despite the glasses. "…he has another form."
"Another…" Dracula began, but his voice trailed off as he caught Leon's smirk. "…you couldn't possibly…"
"Couldn't I?" Leon asked, shaking his head. "It seems that you are all quite formidable when fighting together. Good job, guys, I knew you could do it!"
"Why are you encouraging us?" Soma asked skeptically.
"That's just what he does," Joachim sighed.
"Indeed," Leon agreed. "It is. But unfortunately, I will have to stop going easy on you now."
"Going… easy…?" Soma managed to murmur, but his voice left him at the sight that happened next.
With a roar, a pair of brilliant white wings burst from Leon's back.
"Oh fuck…" Soma murmured.
The others couldn't agree more.
Thank you, reviewers! Your reviews make my day a happy day! =)
Congrats to: Wild Fantasy, Willowfur, and SunLord89 for correctly answering the last trivia!
If you haven't checked out my profile yet, check it out! Wild Fantasy drew an amazing pic of Bunnicula Soma recently. The link is on my profile page. Leave some love for that awesome pic! ^_^
Don't you worry, there will still be another boss after Leon, so don't think I'm cheating you out of one. Can you believe that this story is coming close to its conclusion? 2 (maybe 3) chapters left... that's all!
Chapter Trivia #10 Answer:
Soma attacks the group with hundreds of large fiery meteors in this chapter. Dracula has this attack too, but he doesn't use quite this many. How many flaming dark infernos does Dracula typically throw at his foes?
In most Castlevania games, Dracula will open his cape and send forth two dark inferno meteors. However, in both Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, he fires five, and in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair he can fire four to six flaming balls. (Cue immature giggle.)
Chapter Trivia #11:
In this chapter, Alucard cautions the group about the dangers of former-ally bosses. How would he know about this? Review with your answer!