Chapter 13: The Return of a Nightmare

Disclaimer: I do not own Castlevania, no matter how much I wished I did.

Simon helped the master of the Lecarde mansion to his feet and looked around for any other signs of a monster left behind to slow them down. There was nothing there in the house except an emptiness and a sense of dread that was derived from the failure to reach their in time. Now Iscariot had walked off with the key and directions to the crypt of Mobius, the infamous vampire whose madness angered Dracula so much that he forced him into slumber. A threat of centuries past had made another appearance in the world and already the trio felt a light begin to dim. The Lecard had seemed to have gotten much better after drinking a potion and getting a while to catch his breath. They needed to move quickly and that meant that this time for rest would be the only time they would have in the next days. The hollow of the mansion seemed to be filled with a blue light mixing with the orange glow of a candle in the dark as the two lights bounced off of hollow walls creating a home more foreboding than a cemetery.

"I thank you for your help, Lord Belmont, my name is Atruste Lecarde, I am the guardian of the key," said the man before adding grimly, "Much a pride as it was a joy for me now, but my fathers have been in the service of Dracula ever since he spared our lives so many years ago. Now I have failed to repay such a rare act of generosity from such an evil being."

"Something even worse will come up if we do not hurry to stop it's resurrection," said Sonia as she picked up a few pieces of flint to use for a fire later. "We can easily beat him to the trail if we had horses."

"There should still be some horses in the stable," said Lecarde as he made for the door to the outside, but Simon put his hand out in front of the man, blocking him from going onward. "Why are you stopping me right at this moment when we should be hurrying to stop the enemy?"

"We have not the right assessment of the full situation," replied Simon as he returned to sit on a small chair that was in the study and set his gaze on a naked flame. "First, the horses in the stable were more than likely killed to make sure that we do not beat them to where ever they are going. This of course was unnecessary because we do not know exactly what their plan is or where it will take place in the right sequence so it could be that we will shoot straight past them. Third, the platter of boots on mud outside is the same as the sound of Iscariot's boots on the mud."

"You do see a lot, Belmont," said Iscariot as he stood in the door a bit arrogantly, unaware that Sonia's hand was fishing into her pouch for a dagger to throw at him. "Now then, you know what I come for and my offer is still on the table, so please do hand it over."

"That brings me to my other question," said Simon as he turned the chair to face the devil forge, his right hand resting on his whip. "Why would he come back when he has what he wants? Surely Iscariot would not come in here so arrogantly if he had already taken it, but what about the person before who looked like Iscariot, who could that be? Of course I suppose the only thing more dangerous than one devil forge is another one that likes to play puppeteer."

"And just what might you mean by all those words, Belmont," asked Iscariot as he cocked his eye at the famous vampire hunter and then rested his eyes on the deadly Vampire Killer.

"I believe your friend has your key, but he is obviously regretting that you are still in the picture," replied Simon as he stood up and took a step towards Iscariot. "I believe he intended me to waste my time killing you so that he could get a distraction and a chance to get one obstacle out of his way. Brings new meaning to the term 'killing two birds with one stone.'"

"And you're expecting em to believe that?"

"It's not here and you can fight me to the death for it, but you will never find it here. I'd be asking your friend, Leto if I were you."

The devil forge thought on this for a moment before taking small, slight steps back so as not to make his retreat noticeable before summoning a golem to keep the three warriors busy while he ran out the house and into the darkness of night. It didn't take much for the three to finish the golem since it was made so hastily and with little attention that monster was practically falling apart right before their eyes while they cut it down. And such was the end of the golem, going as swiftly as it came. Inside Simon was dreading the fact that now he would have to deal with two devil forges and if he wasn't quick enough, an ancient vampire. Even for him, the three made a deadly combination.

"We should go now, we can try and have Charron takes us to the lake near Dracula's castle," said Simon as he walked out the door quickly, gathering his dropped satchel a he departed from the mansion. "Lecarde, though you may wish to come with me, you must stay here and guard the children to make up for dragging them into this mess. Also, if you can, try and contact Alucard for us and tell him what has happened."

It was at this moment that something very odd happened. There was a blue light in one fo the flames as other, orange, flames danced around in the air surrounding the candle. It appeared to be a threat or a trick of the imagination, but as soon as the flames began to settle, it took the form of a man, or to be more precise it took the form of D. Schneider. The magician seemed to materialize through a portal with a strange black satchel held out in his extended hand and a smirk on his face, as if to show pride over his superior magic. Simon took the bag from the magicians hand and looked in to see three distinct metal orbs that looked a lot like the gems for Vampire Killer.

"This is a very potent magic to teleport you to anywhere that you can imagine being at," said Schneider as he turned and went back to reading his book, turning only to add, "just think of the place you want to go to and say, 'go where I am going, onward.' But you must also have a clear image I your mind about the place you wish to go or it will be hazardous."

"Thank you, but could you help us get to where Alucard is or get a message to him," asked Sonia as she tried to write something down on a piece of paper as a message, but found that the ink had dried up from all the flames.

"Do not worry about him he will be going where you are going," replied the magician with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"And just where am I going," asked Simon as he looked quizzically at the magician.

"You know the answer, my dear Belmont, you just dread going there."

After Simon was sure that he had packed everything for his journey he broke a piece of wood from a raggedy hut and cut into it with a knife so that he could fashion a wooden stake. He did the same for five other stakes and split them amongst himself and his lover, Sonia. Her simple touch on his hand sent a warm sensation in his body and renewed his spirit to preserve in the trials that he would face soon. He stood there for a moment so he could steal a glimpse of her in case something went wrong, something that he hoped happened to him and not her for he doubted that he could ever recover from such a wound. Reaching into the satchel, he brought out one of the metal orbs and recited the incantation before dropping the metal orb to the ground, causing a swirling green mist to form that swarmed around them.

Simon felt his head being stretched and a little spread out, like a drop of jelly being spread over a large loaf of bread. Everything became less solid as the world seemed to drift into abstract and the green mist seemed to be fading, its eerie glow giving way for a dread cold darkness that seemed very oppressive, like the soul of a demon. He called out her name to make sure if she was okay, but he found that his vocal cords had long since been nullified and were now low in volume, so much that Simon had to guess whether he was actually shouting or if he even had the strength to shout. He looked for his arms and legs, but couldn't find a single shred of evidence that he even had a body as everything was covered in the terrifying darkness. Then there was a bright light at the end of the dark tunnel that seemed to be gaining on Simon ever so slowly and he found that his best chance was going to the light for he had a faint feeling that it was Sonia. When he finally reached the light he wrapped his arms around it, now being able to see his limbs and his mind then started to skip thoughts like an ink pen losing its ink. Then his mind finally went blank.

It feels so warm and soft, thought Simon as he felt something on his lips that brought him out of his deep slumber to see Sonia's staring at his own as she kissed him. He returned the kiss just as tenderly as she had done and then he embraced her, glad that they had not been separated in the darkness that threatened to consume him. He wanted to do so many things right there, but he felt the presence of another person there and decided that time would not allow for anything other than a kiss. Besides, he would have all the time in the world to love her when it was all over, all he had to do was wait until then. He turned towards the other person that was there and saw Alucard standing on a log while his long white hair flew majestically into the breeze. He looked at the dhampire with a great curiosity and then found that he wasn't staring at him at first.

"Excuse me, Alucard, I'm afraid we were unable to stop them from taking the key," said Simon as he stood up from the ground. "But I thank you for sending that magician to help us, it was very beneficial."

"What magician, I never sent anyone but the wolves to help you," said Alucard as he set his gaze to Simon with a cocked brow and then he turned his sights to look at the object he was staring at before.

Simon turned around to see what was causing the great dhampire such distress and gasped as he saw Castlevania resurrected as it had been when Dracula was still in power. The air above it was filled with a black mist that was reminiscent of all the darkness that Dracula held during his time before Simon had stopped him. Simon looked at the dhampire and Alucard nodded at him. They would have to take another walk through the castle to put an end to whoever had summoned the demonic castle. With his whip in hand, Simon walked towards the castle and Sonia followed with him, the night was still young.