A/N- Okay, again, a long wait. In my defense, I've been slowly writing this chapter in classes. But I've always had to stop when my class had started. Stupid classes. And I've also been finishing off a couple of my other fics. Anyway, I'm back and here with a nifty new chappie. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 9- A Mission

Adriana couldn't find it within her to drag herself out of bed the next morning. She had told her mother—when she had come to shake her awake to ask for help with some remodeling project—that she wasn't feeling well. Sophy had not protested, saying that her voice sounded a little hoarse. Two hours later, Sophy shouted up the stairs that she had to go into town. When Ria chose not to reply, the sound of the front door opening and closing, then the sound of the car pulling away followed.

Ria groaned. She rolled over, curled into a ball and brought the thick, warm comforter up over her head. She was now covered from head to toe.

She had no idea why her voice was hoarse. But she knew the cause of her sickly mood. Although it had been a draw to the naked eye, Ria knew the truth. Isaac would have killed her. He had beaten her. She had been doing so well in her training, and he had still beat her. Her training was all for nothing.

"Ria, what's wrong?" Sara's voice leaked through the comforter's protective shield.

Ria groaned and tightened even further into a ball.

"Go away," she said.

Sara harrumphed. "You're not sick."

"Might as well be."

"Is this about last night? Ria, he ran. It was a draw."

Ria threw the blanket off. "No. No, it wasn't."

"How so?"

"He would've won had that weird electric thing hadn't happened."

"'Would have' is very different than 'did.' Vastly different. Ria, with as little training that you've had, you did splendidly."

"Wow is that overstated."

"Don't be silly. Get up. Your mom is out. We need to train."

"What good will that do?"

Sara sighed and sat on the edge of Ria's bed. Because of her quasi-ghostly state, no indention nor jostling was made on the bed. There was a long silence. Finally, Sara spoke.

"I'll make you a deal. Let's train for as long as possible, which will probably be only a couple of hours. Then we can go to that café. What do you say?"

Ria pulled herself into a sitting position. Sara's eyes were hopeful.

"I don't mean to be a bitch or anything, but if I wanted to go to the café, you wouldn't exactly be able to stop me. You being non-corporeal and all."

Ria had expected anger. However, Sara smiled slyly.

"True, but…how heavy of a sleeper are you?" the ghostly woman asked.

"Why?"

"Well, if you were a fairly light sleeper, if I were to—I don't know—talk all night long…exactly how much sleep would you get?"

Ria rolled out of bed. She knew that she was, indeed, a very light sleeper.

"Fine," she said, beginning to pull on her sweats. "Let's train."

…………………

Sara wore a smug smile all throughout the two's training session. Ria, meanwhile, looked like her face had been pinched together and pulled forward. However, she was hitting things harder than usual, pulling off moves she had been previously unable to accomplish, and moving faster than ever. Sara laughed.

"Anger does wonders for your fighting skills, Ria," she said.

Ria's response was splitting a log in two without taking her eyes off Sara. The log had been a little to her right. Sara applauded her.

"Excellent! Really extraordinary!" Sara said. "Now—

But Sara paused, her head turned towards the front of the house. Then, she whirled back to Ria, who already knew what the specter was about to say. She was already winding the whip and heading towards the back door.

"Your mother's home," Sara said, following her into the home and up the stairs.

"Got that, thanks," Ria snapped, pushing open the door to her room.

"Oh, Ria, I'm sorry."

Sara took a seat on Ria's bed, as the girl already had her training tank—as she had dubbed it—flying across the room. The tank was shortly followed by the sweats. Reaching into her closet for a bathrobe, Ria sighed.

"I know. I needed to train. It's okay. I'm just…moody…"

Sara laughed. "Sonia used to get like that after she failed at something. Or felt she had failed at something."

Ria paused halfway out of her door. She turned back to Sara, a look of wonderment on her face.

"Really?"

Sara nodded.

"You're not making that up?"

"Now why would I do that?"

Ria shrugged. "I don't know. But…I really have that in common with a family member? Really?"

Sara's brow furrowed and her lips turned downward a bit at the corners.

"Yes, dear. You actually have a great deal in common with many of the members of the Belmont family."

Ria sighed. "Will you tell me about them sometime? You know, about the stuff that I haven't read…that isn't in the journals?"

"Of course, dear. Of course I will."

Ria nodded and moved to exit her room, but Sara stopped her.

"Where are going?" the ghostly woman asked.

"To take a shower. I'm holding you to your deal!"

As the door shut behind Ria, Sara sighed. "I was hoping she had forgotten."

Ria took was she thought had been the shortest shower of her life. Sophy had arrived to scold Ria a bit for being in the next room she had planned to work on. Ria had only smiled—the move hidden behind the shower curtain—and apologized. Sophy had muttered something about "leaving post-it notes for her own daughter" and had left. Ria laughed. Once out of the shower, she had blown dry her hair, done her make-up, and dressed. Then, she readied her laptop case with the usual items. She must've been holed up in her bedroom for longer than she had originally thought, because by the time Sara and Ria had the café in sight, the sun had already set. And Sara was jumpy.

"It's dark!" she moaned, her head snapping from side to side like she was having some kind of seizure.

"So? I have the whip with me. We're okay," Ria responded aloud, although she didn't sound too convinced herself.

They had not yet reached the café's doors. Ria shook her head. Her comment had done nothing to calm her friend or herself. She sighed. She was sure Isaac had no plans to attack again any time soon. She was beginning to getting steadily annoyed with Sara's jerky movements. She was very glad that nobody could see her. When she reached the doors of the café, she paused, looking at her.

"Sara, don't worry. We'll get our regular seat, I'll get some coffee, we'll just hang here for an hour or so, and then we'll go straight home. No big, okay?"

Sara shook her head. "Fine. But those hours can't pass quickly enough!"

Ria smiled as she pushed open the doors of the café. She was still smiling as she greeted one of the waitresses and placed her order. Her smile faded, however, when she noticed her regular seat.

There, with his eyes swiftly scanning the pages of a magazine, was the mysterious man that Ria had seen on her first visit to the café. She froze, staring at the white-blond haired man. Sara froze beside her as well.

"I don't like this, Ria," Sara said. "We should leave."

Ria did the tiniest movement that indicated that she was shaking her head "no." Instead, she moved to sit at a table closer to one of the other walls of the building. However, before she could sit, the man looked up and locked eyes with her.

"He's seen us!" Sara said.

"Me. He's seen me," Ria muttered, her face down-turned a bit toward the table.

The man smiled and waved his hand, indicating that Ria join him at his table. Ria felt her eyes grow wide and her cheeks burn red. However, she slowly made her way towards the table. Sara protested the whole way. She only stopped when Ria unceremoniously slid into the chair across from the man.

"Good evening. I do hope you'll forgive me for taking your table, but I so wished to speak with you, Miss," the man said, his voice deep and smooth, reminding Ria of rich, dark velvet.

Ria gulped and found that she had lost her voice. Although she had been waiting for this man to show again, she had never gone so far as to picture trying to talk with him. She had never been shy, but she had also never been good at making the first approach to speak with someone new. She hated the way awkward conversations made her feel. Already, she could feel her hands begin to sweat. She rubbed them nervously on her jeans.

"Th-that's okay. Free world, or so I'm told," she said, instantly admonishing herself for the lame joke.

But the man chuckled appreciatively. He then looked up, flashing his bright smile at the approaching waitress, who blushed. The young girl placed the coffee that Ria had ordered in front of her. Ria thanked the woman, who quickly bustled off. At least she wasn't the only one who felt nervous around this man.

"Oh, where are my manners! I should introduce myself. My name is Alucard. May I ask yours, my dear?" he said.

Ria fought all instinct to not let her eyes double in size. Sara hissed beside her.

"Don't let on about anything! Wait it out!"

Ria knew that, so she simply forced a smile onto her own face and replied, "Adriana. My name is Adriana. Most call me Ria."

Alucard smiled. "Adriana? Really? That's quite a beautiful name."

Ria nodded, not trusting herself to speak at the moment. She was fascinated. So this was the Alucard that two of her ancestors had spoken of? The half-vampire son of the vampire lord, Dracula. She was in awe. Sara, however, was clearly dubious.

"Something isn't right…" she muttered. Ria ignored her.

"So," she began as Alucard set aside the magazine, "why have you taken such an interest in me?"

Alucard smiled. "Miss Ria, I know all about you. Or rather, I know all about your family. I've come seeking your help with a little…problem."

Ria arched a brow in what she hoped was the perfect imitation of confusion. Sara looked pleased at her performance. However, Alucard chuckled.

"You can drop the pretenses. I know you are a Belmont. And it is exactly a Belmont that I need."

Ria cast a sideways glance at Sara, who shrugged and shook her head.

"Go ahead. Fine out what he wants. Since this is Alucard, I'm willing to bet that this will be your first big mission," Sara said.

Ria suddenly felt like she was going to throw up. She clasped her hands tightly together under the table to keep them from shaking. She cleared her throat, testing to make sure that she could speak without vomiting all over this man. That would be just too embarrassing to live down. When she was sure that she was okay, she spoke.

"Okay. I'm a Belmont. So, what is it that you need?"

She was really quite impressed at how cool that had sounded. Much cooler than she felt. Alucard smiled and stood.

"I'd prefer to not discuss it here. I have a…hotel room, is that the word? We can discuss the matter there."

Ria's stomach flopped, jumped, did a couple of somersaults, then felt like it was just rocking back and forth. Sara appeared to go rigid in her seat.

"Ria…remember that old rule our mothers teach us? Never go home with a stranger? I still think it applies here," she said.

"I-uh-I'm not sure that's a good idea," Ria said, standing.

Alucard placed a few bills on the table. When Ria arched a brow, he responded, "For your coffee. My treat. And, please, my dear. I have no intention to harm you. I need your help. Please…come with me."

And with that, he strode ahead. When he was almost to the door, Ria sighed. Sara shook her head.

"Oh, no. Ria…don't…" she moaned.

"I don't think I have a choice, Sara."

…………………

The hotel concierge didn't even bat an eye when Alucard walked by with Ria, who was obviously years younger than he was. That made her skin crawl. Just how many young girls had the concierge seen him with anyway? She found that her skin crawled even more when she was confined in the elevator with him, although it was only for a few moments. And she felt positively sickly again when he led her into his room.

It was a lavish suite on the top floor, decorated in reds and golds. It reminded Ria of some bedroom that one might see in a palace. It had two rooms: a sitting room and a bedroom. Alucard led Ria into the bedroom, which made her want to double over and clutch her stomach. Her legs began to shake, and her breathing became hard to control. Alucard stopped as he reached a nightstand and pulled open its single drawer. When he turned, he paused.

"Ria, are you well, my dear?" he asked.

Ria then felt a hot blush cover her face. She nodded. He smiled and said, "Catch."

Ria put her hand out to catch the item he tossed at her. When it was safely in her hand, she stared at it. It was a necklace that looked quite close to a family crest. It had a simple, metal chain. The crest itself was in the shape of a shield, painted red, with two dragons encircling a single sword.

"What is this?" Ria asked.

"It's my family crest. And it's most likely the only way to enter Castlevania now."

It was almost as if Ria could feel the coffee she had barely touched climb slowly back up into her throat.

"What? Why? What's going on?"

Alucard gestured for her to take a seat on the bed. She hesitated, eyeing both the bed and her host. But when he smiled and said, "Please," she sighed. She chose to sit at the very edge of the right side of the four poster bed, which was very high off the ground. She even had to jump a bit to get onto the mattress. She forced herself to meet his eyes and was very glad that he did not choose to sit. Instead, he stood before her, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I didn't think half-vampires got headaches," Ria said before she could stop herself.

He smiled. "We don't. But we can still get very…overwhelmed. You see, the world is in grave danger. A vampire by the name of Walter Bernhard has been resurrected, and he has taken my father's place as the lord of Castlevania."

Sara gasped, pressing a hand to her mouth. Ria nodded, meaning it more towards her friend than to Alucard. She remembered Walter's name from the journals. He was the reason for Sara's untimely demise. Sara looked quite sad…like she might cry, and Ria had to remind herself that it would look strange to Alucard if she went to put an arm around what would look like no one's shoulders.

"Okay," Ria said. "Evil vampire needs to be defeated. Sounds about right."

"But this is very different than fighting Dracula, Ria. If Walter is not defeated, the balance of the world will shift and all will be destroyed."

She arched a brow at the half-vampire. "Um…how is that any different than if Dracula isn't defeated?"

Alucard opened his mouth to answer, then paused. Then, with a smile that didn't quite fit his handsome features, he said, "I guess that isn't much of difference, where the world is concerned. But that doesn't change the fact that that has to be done."

"Okay…so why do I need the crest? I mean, none of my ancestors have needed it," Ria asked.

Alucard chuckled. "Very thorough. Very good. You need the crest because Walter will more than likely expect someone to try and stop him. However, no matter how many spells he may put up to prevent this, Castlevania is still my father's castle. It will always answer to him, even if the creatures within it won't."

"And where is your father? Was he resurrected?"

At this, Alucard's countenance grew grave. "Yes. He was. I don't know where he is. Walter may be holding him prisoner, or he might have run."

Ria scoffed. "Like a coward."

"No!" Alucard said sharply, causing Ria to jump. He cleared his throat, relaxing. "No, my dear. My father is many things…but not a coward. If he ran, he had other reasons than fear."

At this, Ria stood. "I'm sorry. Okay, you've got my help. I'll…began making preparations. Will you remain in contact with me?"

Ria had always been sure that watching so many spy movies would one day pay off. Perhaps one day she would be able to tell her mother that she had been right. Alucard nodded, and Ria made her way to the rooms door. However, as she started to open it, Alucard's hand caught it. He held it shut. When she turned, he was less than inches from her. He smiled at her, a much more wicked smile than he had previously. Ria pressed her back against the door. She couldn't see around him to see where Sara was standing, and he was moving his hand to rest it on her left cheek.

"Adriana is truly a lovely name. Do you know where it comes from? It's actually a quite common name for Belmont girls. It's considered a family name," he whispered, leaning close to her.

Ria began to search for the doorknob. "No. I don't know where it comes from."

"Ask your mother one day. I think you'll find it quite interesting."

He began to move even closer. However, Ria's hand found the doorknob and turned it. She muttered some quick farewell and slipped out the door, rushing down the hall and choosing the stairs rather than waiting for the elevator. Sara was with her, shaking her head.

"I don't remember that in the journals about him," Ria muttered to her.

"Me neither…perhaps Walter has put some sort of spell on him?" Sara replied.

Ria nodded, moving a bit quicker down the stairs.

…………………

Dracula chuckled darkly as he watched the Belmont girl rush from the hotel. He rested against the small wall on the roof of the building across the street, smiling. This girl would be his key to getting back into Castlevania. He only had to be patient. Walter would pay soon enough.

And in the meantime…he would take extra care of this child. With little more than a thought, he leapt quietly to the next rooftop, then the next, following the girl all the way back to Belmont Manor.

End Notes: So, interesting, yes? Not all is what it seems, huh? Hahaha! No, I'm just kidding. Or am I? Please review!

Fun Fact: At the scene where Alucard was at the door with Ria, the song "Alone" by Heart started playing on my playlist. If you get a chance, read the lyrics. It was actually quite funny to me!