Chapter 11: Over coming weakness

Disclaimer: I do not own Castlevania or the characters, those all belong to Koji Igarashi.

The air of the lake or river was very cold and filled with a depressing atmosphere that had as much cheer as a tombstone with only the sound of the ferryman's oar diving into the water to be heard. From the fog that surrounded them arose a dank smell that smelt like mildew or something else long decayed by age and water. It was hard to see if they were on a river or some lake because of the heavy fog that blocked everything out of view, but Simon could sense when mermen came close for his whip resonated when they came close. So far it seemed like they would have a peaceful though somewhat unpleasant trip to the house until a splashing sound came out and one of the mermen that Simon had been sensing jumped onto the boat and he was forced to kick it off instead of using his whip for it could set the whole boat on fire and he was surrounded by ocean. The Belmont may have been able to use the power of the flame, but he had to admit that his own powers of using them were less than what they could have been. After this he could only hope that there was someone to increase his magical ability and to use it properly, but for now he would have to make do with his weakness.

Instantly he realized that there was another major weakness for his whip now since it would be of no use against beings made of fire. He had put himself in a very bad position and he was with no way to reverse it, if only he could get his hands on something that could help or if he would have bothered to ask the wizard. Now was not the time to lament on such things so all he could do was hope that he could find a way for it to be of use. If all else failed he still had a sword that he could use for fighting monsters, but how good that sword would be he knew not.

"Is there something wrong, Simon," asked Sonia as she looked at him, but he didn't want her to worry about such things.

"No, it's nothing I was just wondering if there was any way to make this boat a little more cheerful," said Simon with a fake laugh to put her mind at ease, but Sonia had a way of reading someone and she could tell that his fake laugh only alluded to a greater danger.

"Please Simon, if I am to be the woman that marries you, you must be ready to tell me the truth," said Sonia as she rested her hand on his and then looked at how troubled he was. "You didn't use your whip which means you were afraid that you might set the boat on fire. Can you not control the flame, is that what bothers you?"

"Yes it does, for now I have left myself vulnerable to any and all threats that are of fire," replied Simon as he looked away and then he felt her move his head so that he was looking into her eyes and then she kissed him.

"You will find a way to control it, you always do find a way," said Sonia with a smile that seemed to lift Simon's weary soul.

"If you are looking for a way to control the power of that stone, you should go see the Venus," said the ferryman as he stirred the boat forward.

"Surely you do not mean to tell me that I must seek help from the Roman goddess of love," laughed Simon, but then he noticed the ferryman was looking at him.

"She will have a challenge for you, but if you can make it then great shall your reward be," said the ferryman as he seemed to stop. "She is not a goddess, but she has enough power to keep herself alive for many years. She is now more than a thousand years old and she can help you with your quest if you are brave enough to face it, but it will cost you another coin for the detour."

"Fine then," said Simon as he reached into his pocket and handed the ferryman another coin. "Take me to Venus."

The home of Venus was a strange island that was of Mediterranean quality despite not being in the right climate for such an island. The vegetation grew from luscious vines and trees that all seemed to be something of a natural beauty, like a painting of old about the old Roman mythology, particularly the works of Homer. Simon could only hope that he would not be Odysseus walking into the home of Cyra as he made each step towards the temple like house that seemed very odd to be out in that area. Adorning the steps and the columns were olive vines that twisted around them like a snake. Stepping pass the entrance of the temple, the Belmont noticed the lavish décor of the temple with much furniture dating back from Ancient Rome and the rooms were lighted by torches on the walls. It seemed exactly like the place a Roman goddess would live in.

In the center of the temple was a courtyard that was home to a very beautiful garden with only one each type of rose in the world and an assortment of other flowers. Tending to the garden, was a beautiful golden blond woman, whose hair hung down low and curled out in the end with frilly locks. Her shoulders were well relaxed which showed that she had nothing of the troubles of the world and she was endowed with large sized breasts which were perfect shape, round but not overly large or pointy. Her eyes were pure blue that seemed to be as vast and infinite as the sea, a purity that was very rare to see in women, as was the rest her as if she was made purely for the seducing of men. It was amazing that Dracula hadn't tried taking her himself since he was a creature of desire, but this location was probably known only to the ferryman.

"So, he thinks that he has found a challenger worthy of claiming the orb of control," said the woman as she turned around and set her beautiful seductive eyes one Simon and he could already feel something pulling himself closer to her. Simon was able to resist through his iron will, but now he had an idea of why she had the name Venus. "This should be amusing to watch, I must say it's not every day when a girl could have Simon Belmont, the handsome warrior who defeated Dracula, right here in her home."

"I will not trouble you for long for you see, we have a long journey ahead of us still," said Simon as he stepped forward and he began to feel the pull become greater as he moved closer towards her.

"Well then, I hope you and your lover can survive this test," said Venus with a slight giggle that didn't seem threatening until she started to move forward towards Simon and he could feel the pull growing.

Sonia could see there was something wrong with Simon when she noticed how his light blue eyes suddenly became more focused, as if he were trying to find some secret in the woman that stood before him. It could not be denied that Sonia paled in beauty when compared to the Goddess of love, whose body was something that made every man go crazy, enough to cause kings to lead armies and to send millions of gold and gifts, if only to spend a night with her. This was what she feared, from having no ability to hide the fact that she had a lot of tomboyish habits, things that she felt were unattractive and though she wanted to be more feminine, she couldn't help but think of what would happen were Simon to set eyes on a woman who was far more beautiful than her.

Her nightmare had, as suddenly as nightmares turn bad, come to life before her eyes and she could see herself losing that charm in her life. She hated to think of a night when she couldn't be held by his strong arms or when she couldn't run her hand through his long red hair that seemed to never become messy, as if the wind itself combed it. To never hear his low chuckle that she found very dashing of him or to hear him when he would entertain her by singing songs that he had learned from other lands. She didn't want to lose Simon, but she could see that Simon hadn't taken a step back and Venus was coming closer to her lover. When Venus was close enough to Simon that her lips were nearly touching his, Simon did something unexpected. He put his fingertips to her lips to fend off her kiss.

"I am terribly sorry, Goddess of love, but I already have a lover and I must stay true to her," said Simon as he finally took a step back and looked at Venus's smiling face.

"You have done well to pass my test, Belmont," said Venus as she went to one of her flowers and pulled an orb out of the center of the flower. "This orb will help you in your ability to control the whip, all you must do is think of your whip imbued with whatever available elemental stone of your choice and when you wish it to be normal then think of your whip without the elemental power."

"Thank you, kind Goddess," said Simon with a bow as he turned to leave the temple and return to the ferry.

"Before you go, I must give you this," said Venus as she tossed a stone out to Simon, who caught it into his hand. The stone had a very light blue color to it, much like Simon's eyes, and it had a slight chill to it, like ice in his hand. "It is one of the elementals tones, the elemental stone of ice, use this to your advantage and with your orb of control, it will also work with your other weapons. I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you," said Simon as he walked off.

"And Sonia," said Venus causing the vampire huntress to turn and face her. "You are a very lucky woman to have such a man."

Iscariot stood on the edge above the cliff as he waited for the bridge to form with the help of the earth demons that he had summoned. It was a nuisance that was not on Elizabeth's map, but then again she had probably not come this way for ages and the bridge had probably collapsed over time as the wood decayed in the Transylvanian weather. After the bridge was done, Iscariot made his way to the other side of the bridge, glad that he had the ability to summon his creatures. If he didn't have that little ability he would have long since been burning forests in rage at the annoyances that this trip seemed to have hidden in the detail or the lack of detail. Maybe next time that bitch could give me a map not based on its status two centuries ago, thought Iscariot as he made his way past the bridge and up to a rocky cliff terrain that he had to step carefully less he end up at the bottom of the rocky mountain with a thousand pebbles imbedded into his back and his brains all over the rocks. Deciding that he was tired of moving as such a slow pace down such a mountain, which was doing his boots little help, Iscariot called upon his earth demons to pave a way for him down the hill. They did this with ease and then departed, leaving the devil forge to run down the mountain at a comfortable pace so as not to be beaten by the Belmont and the other vampire hunter, the lovely blond that he was with.

Carmilla is so close to being awaken, I can smell her perfume already, mused Iscariot as he jumped the rest of the way down and landed on a tree branch. Though it was out a distance, the house of the Lecarde's, a family long since trusted to be the keepers of the key because of the weak ancestor who promised to serve as the guardian of the key so long as his life was spared by Dracula. That had exiled them to that plot of land surrounded by monsters, waiting until the day that Dracula decided that they could step down. No other human family had the luck to agree to serve Dracula before he grew to hate humanity, and no other family was safe from his genocidal designs. Iscariot and Leto were assured that they would be allowed to become vampires.