Chapter 9: By the Waterfall

Disclaimer: I do not own Castlevania and please review the story; I want to know what you think.

Simon had faced many things of frightening quality that made him want to gag, but this creature that was stomping its way out of the marsh was by far, the most disgusting monster he had ever laid eyes on. At the top of its head were many greenish brown hairs that was similar to the color of vomit, but that was only one of its many sickening qualities. The head was horribly misshapen to look like some form of pumpkin that had been smashed on one side and had only half a face while the other seemed to have caved inside. The right side, the caved in side, was missing the right eye and left only an empty socket that had maggots inside of it, while the missing eyes seemed to have taken residence on its shoulder, but had grown to a very large size.

"Such a thing is beyond even the horrid imaginings of Dracula," muttered Simon as he reflected on the other monsters that the No-Life Count had sent out to fight him. They were all classic monsters that were far from being the terror of the marsh that stood before him and for the first time, Simon was encountering a threat not of Dracula's creation.

"How could anything be beyond his imaginings if he is the supreme being of evil," asked Sonia as she backed away with Simon, her hand slipping into her pouch to take out a vial of holy water, which she then flung at the monster.

The clear glowing liquid turned into a blue flame that burnt the monster, but the monster seemed to call on the marsh to help repair the damage to its body, much like Dracula's familiars. Nothing that they did seem to matter as it easily repaired itself as soon as they had attacked it. Even Vampire Killer could leave no permanent damage, though Simon did notice that the over oppressive marsh fog seemed to weaken. It uses the marsh to repair itself and relies on it for strength, realized Simon as he began to notice the correlation between the two evil entities.

"Follow me, I have an idea on how to defeat this thing," said Simon as he started running away from the being and soon found that it give chase only to a certain point at which he told Sonia to run past it as soon as he told her to. "Are you sure you know what to do?"

"Yes, dump holy water into the marsh as soon as I get past it," replied Sonia as she prepared herself for the dash of a life time. Simon brought his whip above his head and then snapped the whip so that the leather of Vampire Killer cut into the green flash of the creature, damaging the right side of its body and then he cracked the monster on its shoulder so that its right arm fell off.

"Now go," commanded Simon as he started to lash the left side of the monster.

Sonia heard the words even before he said them and was already way on her way past the monster with her sword out to defend herself it tried to attack her, but the creature was too concerned with repairing the damage to itself. She wasn't too sure about Simon's plan but she didn't have another plan to defeat the seemingly unbeatable creature so she went with his plan. Without a second thought or moment's hesitation, Sonia popped the corks off of the two vials in her hand and poured the glowing blue contents into the murky marsh water. The result was a blue flame appearing on the damaged side of the monster and she began to understand what it was that Simon had discovered about the monster's power. Quickly, she emptied three more bottles of holy water into the marsh and heard the shout of what sounded like a tormented soul that was being relieved of all its taint and corruption and the horrid smell was vanquished by the purifying burn of the blue liquid. As she turned around, she saw the image of a handsome man with a chiseled jaw, auburn hair and pale blue eyes that were glowing now because of the man's status as a spirit. The image of the man soon disappeared and the only handsome man left was the red haired vampire hunter who had his red armor on with the same black leather shorts that were just an inch from his knee.

"I guess your plan worked," said Sonia as she slumped to floor and noticed how she had some muck on herself, including her dirty blond hair. "I desperately need a lake to bathe in."

"According to the map, there should be a cave inside a water fall that you can get washed in and we can rest at," said Simon as he wrapped the map up and placed it in the leather sleeve that Alucard had given him to use. "I don't think you'll mind the distance that is unless you wish to bathe in the water of the marsh, even though it is quite clear now."

"NO," shouted Sonia, but she then caught herself before she revealed a weakness to Simon who was most likely trained to go days without a shower, having done so already when he fought in Castlevania and again when he fought for the body of Dracula. "We need a place to rest and we don't know if the taint is fully purified since even a small portion could have survived."

"I see," replied Simon, knowing full well that she was only trying to cover up the fact that she couldn't stand not having a bath, but decided to just let her be for now and tease her about it later. "Well then, do you wish to lead the way or should I?"

"I'm not the one who's been looking at the map, Simon," replied Sonia as she motioned for him to move forward and he did so, making sure to stand on the side of the water just in case something splashed.

Simon Belmont may have been taught to live off the wilderness and lived in an area that said that washing regularly would only increase the risk for disease, but he had learned long ago the importance of a bath from the men of the east during his travels. Most Belmonts bathed regularly as a result of their experiences with the rest of the world and maybe that had made other people fearful of the Belmonts, but it had made them live much longer than the other people. As a habit of his, he would feel quite odd if not bathed once every day, his skin would feel irritable in places and soon he found himself softened by the lack of bathing, but he adapted soon to the harshness of having to go without baths, but he hadn't had a bath in a while and the falls were a perfect place to bathe. He divested himself of his armor and clothing and stepped into the water with only his weapons belt on him, even though Alucard had written that there was a holy barrier on there. After fighting the creatures of the night for so many days without a good amount of relaxation he soon found himself melting away in the water of the lake with the splattering drops from the water fall hitting the rocks massaging his back with their gentle platter on his aching muscles.

"I see you are enjoying yourself very much there, Simon Belmont," said a feminine voice that could only belong to one woman and that voice made Simon lift one eye, but he also adjusted his short sword so that its length would shield his own length, he did not want to appear indecent n front of Sonia. Simon Belmont had been educated to be a gentle man. "I see that you are quite the gentleman, but you can save it for me, I don't want to case you any inconvenience if I am to join you."

"Join me," asked Simon astonished by her sudden openness when she was quite red when her battle skirt was torn in battle in the cave and had to run in nothing but her undergarments. Now she wore pants.

"Yes, I feel it would only be right that I not inconvenience you by asking you to leave and I am afraid that if I wait and you wish to leave it would be me holding us up," replied Sonia as she began to strip herself of her own armor and undershirt as she then went to her own trousers that came off quite easily leaving her in nothing but her undergarments. Normally she would wear armor over a green leotard, but now she felt like covering herself up more since there was a resurgence of men in the village.

"No that is not true," said Simon as he looked away from the sight of her bare breasts like a gentleman should, but he soon heard her getting close to him and he knew there was no mistaking her actions now. "I would have insisted that you rest and I would have rested as well because I want you fighting fit. To lose you in battle would be too much for me to bear."

"As would the same be said if I lost you in battle," admitted Sonia as she sat in the surprisingly warm waters of the water fall. "I was wondering what Alucard meant when he said it would always be the right temperature for the right moment."

"Yes I suppose warm water is the perfect water for any time," replied Simon, not understanding her meaning.

"That is not the moment I am referring to," said Sonia a bit sharply, but it wasn't out of annoyance or some form of anger, it was out of a determination to get her point across. "There can be no lie in the words that you and I have feelings for each other, feelings that go beyond basic companionship and past lust."

"Yes there is no lie in me saying that I love you Sonia Baldwin and I now know that you feel the same about me," said Simon as he turned to face her now and he could see that she was so close, her lips only an inch from his own and he could feel her breath against his lips as she whispered.

"The road that lies ahead does not seem very bright and I don't want to die without doing this with you," whispered Sonia into his lips. "If tomorrow is the end of us and this earth, then let us have this night by the water fall."

Their lips met with love as Simon picked her up and carried her next to the light of the fire, her arms wrapped around his steel like muscles. She gave him the go ahead to penetrate her and break down the virgin doors that seemed to fall beneath battering ram on the first thrust. Not wanting to cause her much harm, Simon waited until she eased to the intrusion and then started to move slowly in about of her while she clung to him, moving between pleasure and pain, but she was moving slowly to the pleasure. Soon she was moaning with pleasure at the mastery of his thrusts and was overwhelmed by the filling of the void that she was experiencing, enough to make her forget her surroundings. The sounds of their love making filled the air as they slowly reached their climax and were left, spent and tired next each other and the fire. He wrapped his arms around her and told her that he loved her and she replied saying that she loved him as well. They fell asleep in each other's arms.