Chapter 17: Unexpected Gift

Disclaimer: I do not own Castlevania and unfortunately from all my reviews I think I can't own the attention span of a good majority of the fandom.

The creature moved towards them, its large arms swaying out with every step that it took and its every footstep left an imprint on the floor as it towered before them. They saw the terrible monster and realized that it was freshly made as the stitching was hastily done and there were still bits of electricity coming from the bolts on its neck. Mist seemed to pour around it as it walked, as if trying to hide the giant monstrosity in its cloak of obscurity, but it was very hard to hide such a large creature and this one was too large. Simon was pretty sure that he could try moving back and forth so that the creature would have a tough time, but as soon as he tried that a vine shot out to grab his legs. Through some bewitching of the castle plants, the allies of darkness had managed to transform the garden into a thing of danger by giving each vine its own life. This vine must bear a very strange fruit for it to be able to attack like that, thought Simon as he looked into his pouch and found that he was running dangerously low on his supplies, such as daggers, holy water, and garlic. He didn't think that either of them could do something, but he was definitely wanting to save the very few crosses that he kept there with him, their power was very great.

"I never expected him to use something of that nature, it has no finesse to it and is merely only a pawn," said Simon to Sonia as he pulled out his own sword and looked around to decide how he would fight this thing in the limited amount of space that he had. "This seems like it would be more of the work of Leto to use a monster that could serve no better than a pawn but still have the strength of a great monster."

"Maybe it is a boast of strength as part of his arrogance or he is giving you a test of strength," said Sonia as she reached into her own sack for something and soon came out with a strange red ball. "I believe this will help give us some room to move around."

"Where did you get such a strange thing," asked Simon as he looked at the object in her hand.

"This is a fire orb that can create a fire when thrown onto something concrete," replied Sonia as she threw the orb at the vines, causing a fire to erupt from them as they thrashed around as if from pain, but this did not last long as the mist soon began to become heavier and the moisture from it put out the fire. "It's this mist. It must give the vines its life!"

"Then it will be that much easier to conquer it," exclaimed Simon as he called on the power of the ice stone in his whip, but as soon as he had summoned the power of ice, the creature was there, reeling back its large hand for a punch. "Damn, find the weakness of one enemy and you have to deal with the other! A perfect setting for entrapping one's enemies!"

"If this mist can be frozen or chilled in the slightest, it may be able to do harm to the creature," reasoned Sonia aloud as she stabbed the creature in the back, only to have it real around at the feeling of the thrust.

Simon cracked his whip down on the monster's back to get its attention as he started to run towards the mist, looking back to crack his whip so as to make sure that the creature followed him. As soon as he entered the mist he felt a swirl of cold a hot around him, choking him with the sudden changes in temperature in pressure. He just walked on in the mist, trying not to suffocate himself by going too fast, but at the same time he wanted to stay ahead of the monster that was coming closer. The monster was not hampered by the mist, either out of the lack of importance as the creature had long since lost a need to breath or perhaps because the mist did not swirl around the giant in such a manner. Either way, the creature was slowly gaining on Simon and he had to make his move quickly, he could only hope that he would be able to slip by it without any trouble. As soon as he noticed the creature was in striking distance, he cracked his whip, which he had imbued with the power of fire to daze the creature, but the mist would not let it last long so he had to use this chance to run right past it. Running past the creature, Simon was immediately attacked by the mist, which made the pressure of the air harder to breath and clouded the path before him. He didn't know where he was going as he ran, just that it was best for him to keep on running or else he would be caught by the creature. Just when he ran into another wall for the fourth time, Simon begin to believe that he was doomed to die there and then, but as he soon as he thought those thoughts, a small fire appeared before him like a light. He followed the light through the mist, not really knowing what it was, but he had a feeling that it was Sonia throwing another fire orb.

When he finally reached the outside of the mist he took a moment to catch his breath and look around him. Sonia was standing there looking at him with great concern; her eyes on the verge of tears from the dread welling up inside her that Simon wouldn't come out of there alive. He gave her a reassuring smile that calmed her down somewhat before he got to his feet and twirled his whip over his head to ready himself for the coming of the monster. The monster wasn't that far behind him as its outline appeared out of the mist, like an ominous shadow in the cemetery during the sunset, and Simon lashed his whip out at the mist, causing the ice to freeze all of the water particles in the mist, turning it into ice with the monster trapped in its icy clutches. Though this was just a mist so the particles weren't close together enough to form a really solid ice that could permanently trap the monster, allowing it to break free with a monstrous push forward. Quickly, Simon threw out one of his three remaining daggers, hitting its skull with a soft thud before Simon picked up one of the only weapons that he could find lying around in the castle, a small axe for throwing. It was thrown in an ark for a distance but it hit its intended target, the dagger lodged in the creature's skull, splattering blood and other grey matter.

"I see that you were able to finally take care of that thing," said a voice from the top of the room and Simon looked up to see a skeleton wrapped in the same blue robes that he wore when Simon last fought him. "You are doing just as well as I expected you to, Belmont."

"Death, I see that you two have also been summoned back into this plain," said Simon as he looked up at the Grim Reaper, the right hand of Dracula and his most loyal servant. "I don't know how or why you do such a thing, but right now I must know if you wish to take a quarrel with me or if your business is with the Devil Forges."

"At the moment I will not quarrel with you because my master is not here, but rest assured that we will meet again," said Death before he materialized a black stone before him. "This Leto uses an armor of light which gives him a defense against the affects of any weapons you have, but this stone, the stone of Darkness, can help you vanquish him. I give this to you in hopes that you will take care of the pests that are plaguing this castle."

"I thank you for this gift, no matter how unexpected it is, but I wonder if it answers your call as well," said Simon as he placed the stone to the hilt of his whip and it was absorbed by Vampire Killer.

"Right now I believe that they are preparing to use the child to summon Mobius and if he is summoned he will be quite strong," announced Death as he pointed towards the stairwell behind him. "You will have to get the pendent of Courage to get through the barrier of the castle as I have instructed Lord Alucard of, but must also be wary of any tricks. I am not sure if Leto will not just take the power for himself, but either way someone other than my Lord gets control of the castle and this is something that I will not allow."

"Will you fight as well," asked Simon as he bundled up his whip.

"If I am needed, but I have confidence in you as I have cleared a path for you to go if you wish to do something other than run off at the mouth," said Death as he turned away and then glided down. He didn't turn around until Simon was gone and he then turned to the one who was lurking in the shadows. "Now my Lord, you can come out now."

"Yes I am aware of that, but that you, I was wondering when they were going to go," said the figure as he stepped out into the moonlight and felt it on his skin as crisp as a soft gentle breeze on a hot summer day. "How I have longed to feel that, but it is truly a pity that I am doing it in such a limited form instead of using my true form and body. Anyway, now I can only wait until I must step into the fight and do something that I haven't done in six centuries, provide assistance for a Belmont. This is truly an irony, but at the same time a Belmont is helping me back on my throne and doing all the work."

"Yes, but don't you think it was a risk telling him your first initial, what if he found out," asked Death as he floated down to the man he called master.

"When I told him my first name was D I believe that he caught on in some way," replied the man as he looked at the ring on his finger. "Of course, he put that aside because he knows I am not at my full power and they are a greater threat now, sad to say."

"Do not worry Lord Dracula, you will not be like this for long, I will see to it," promised Death just as he faded off to somewhere else, leaving Dracula to plot.