Disclaimer: "Akumajyou Dracula" / "Castlevania" and its derivatives are property of Konami Digital Entertainment and affiliates.

A/N: So I updated exactly a year after the first (supposedly one-shot) chapter was released. On another Father's Day. I suppose I can only churn out a story if there is a certain event I need to catch, haha... Anyway, this is set between AoS and DoS, and the title sort of summarizes the mood of the story. Hope you enjoy reading this rather melancholic story and would be willing to leave a review/concrit. Thank you. :-)

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~ AB IMO PECTORE ~

"ab imo pectore" – "from the deepest chest" or "from the bottom of my heart", "with deepest affection", "sincerely" [Source: Wikipedia]

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Op. 7 : II - Lento Malinconico in A Major

A searing pain engulfed him as the lethal, hellish fire mercilessly lapped at his skin. He let go of his sword and fell, his vision a red landscape of agony as his consciousness threatened to leave him. His injuries couldn't heal fast enough, and he was half-writhing on the hard stone floor when he felt the ground reverberated with each step of the entity above him.

Getting into a crouched position, he felt a firm yet delicate clawed fingers brush at his ashen cheek down to his chin, lifting it up with a soft tug until he was looking straight into the crimson eyes of his father. He could see the usual anguish and rage in them, yet now he could see something else swirling inside — disappointment, betrayal, sadness...

"Why are you doing this, my son? Why are you so adamant in siding with those worthless mortals?" the vampire started, his rather stoic tone akin to the stillness before a great storm. "Are they more important than your own kin? Your own father?" he continued as a touch of emotional tremble gradually bled into his voice.

The son looked at the father, his golden eyes reflecting his own inner struggle when he finally breathed out his defiant reply, "And you... Father... is your revenge more important... than honoring my mother's dying wish...? Does your son's plea... fall on deaf ears?"

The vampire was slightly taken aback at the retort, and while hesitation was holding him back, his boy grabbed his forgotten sword and drove it into the vampire's heart in a single, determined thrust. The older man's eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at the blood that steadily dyed his attire a deeper red. He grabbed and tried to pull the sword out, but they both knew that it was in vain.

"Apologies, Father..." his son said in a frail voice as he averted his gaze. "It pained me to have to resort to this vile act... But there is no other way to save you..."

His eyes fluttered opened as he stared monotonously at the dark ceilings above him. It had been awhile since Alucard dreamed of his past recollections - he blamed it on the earlier incident involving a certain youth named Soma and the group who was after him. Sitting up, he glanced out through the window and was greeted by the city lights and a single lonesome moon amidst the dark sky.

He had been in this eastern Asian country called Japan for a few decades now. Adopting a new lifestyle and an equally-new language had been quite easy, what with his penchant for linguistics, but he was still a bit unused to sleeping at night when he was habitually more inclined to a fully-nocturnal lifestyle. Waking up in the dead of the night like this was a usual occurrence for him, yet he was not prepared to reminisce about that particular incident from his past.

The blonde-haired man stood up from the sofa he fell asleep on and walked across to the table in the center of the room. A brown file laid open and showed a few papers filled with neat handwriting and a few sketches here and there. A decent-sized paperclip bound them together along with a single photo at the upper left corner — a photo of a white-haired youth wearing a white-blue coat, a peculiar red pendant that seemed out of place secured around his neck.

He took hold of the photo and slipped it out from the clip, bringing it closer to his slightly-glowing golden eyes. Soma looked really different from his father, yet he saw some semblance in characters in the way he arrogantly and selfishly decide things on his own. Taking his own lead and believing in his own chosen Fate... that was certainly what his father did all his life. He knew the story of when he was still a mortal in the early ages and his sworn oath against God. No matter how misled he was, he would strive in his agony to spite Him.

... And that was exactly why he did what he did.

Alucard closed his eyes and sighed. He put the picture to where it belonged and closed the file.

He always thought his journey on Earth would end when Dracula perished once and for all, but then he heard a prophecy that foretold the second coming of the lord of the vampires, so he stayed. A few decades later, his father was indeed reborn... as someone who wasn't really his father. Sometimes he didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse — to have Dracula reborn as an innocent boy with a great future ahead, a girl who cared about him and great, loyal friends was more than what Alucard could wish for, yet he knew there would be people who would try to resurrect the old Dracula, the one who had hurt and been hurt, the one who had lost all meaning in his life save for his vengeance against God and humanity... Those people would use all means necessary to awaken what was asleep within Soma, who was largely vulnerable and blissfully unaware of what he was capable of doing.

"... I suppose this is my curse," Alucard said softly to himself. Whether it was karma or his way to repent for killing the vampire lord, he was determined to keep watch and protect Soma and the soul of Dracula within him — for if this was his curse, he would make sure that it would be a blessing to his father.