Author's Note: Anyway, despite being much later than I had planned, I like how this one turned out:
Long chapter is looooooooooong. It's both fluffy and violent. Think of it like a homicidal alpaca.

Chapter XIX
The Grand Ballroom /and/ The Malevolent Crusader

"Well, this place is uncharacteristically cheery looking," Maria quipped with a lopsided grin. She wasn't wrong to say so either. The hallway they were in was brightly colored with pale gold wallpaper and large decorative chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

"I'm afraid I've never understood why my father ever felt the need to have a ballroom," Alucard stated before seeing a pair of ghostly dancers twirling around in an adjacent room, "Although, the monsters inhabiting it seem to be enjoying the atmosphere."

"Well, I never!" the ghostly woman cried in a distinctly British accent.

"Mind your manners, boy!" the man of the pair exclaimed, "Really, monsters? Us? Such a ghastly thing to say."

"I apologize sir, mademoiselle," Alucard said in a particularly charming tone, "I was referring to the skeletal waiters that seem to be wandering around aimlessly, not to yourselves of course."

"Oh, well, no harm done I suppose. Just be sure to be more conscientious young man."

"Once again, I apologize."

"Such a well mannered youth," the aristocratic lady chimed before she continued dancing with her partner.

"Well played, man," Jonathan chuckled, lightly elbowing Alucard in the ribs, earning him a thoroughly confused look from the dhampir.

"What exactly did I play well?"

"Don't mind him," Maria said cheerfully, "You've got more important things to worry about. Like explaining to me why you never use that tone with me!"

"I-I beg your pardon?" Alucard stammered.

"You heard me!"

"Charlotte, I want to meet more of your friends," Jonathan stated very objectively, "Are they all as crazy as she is?"

"She's not crazy, she's just enthusiastic. And I suppose a bit hyperactive. Then again, she did sneak into the trunk of our car in order to follow us to an unspecified location that just happens to be a dangerous haunted castle. Yeah, she may need professional help," Charlotte finished just a little half-heartedly.

"So, these ghost dancers? Who are they exactly? I've wondered that for a while," Charlotte asked Alucard, hoping that the dhampir would have an answer.

"I always figured that they were the restless spirits of people who died in waltzing accidents," Jonathan snickered before the dhampir could answer, earning a laugh from everyone except for Charlotte. Even Alucard barely held back a grin.

Their progression was slowed by the appearance of the occasional disc armor or skeleton waiter, but other than that and a few other monsters, they were moving up fairly quickly. That was until they came to a three-way fork in the hall.

"We can pair up and go down one of the three hallways with our partner. Usual groups?" Jonathan asked.

"Well I'm certainly not going with the vamp sisters," Charlotte smirked.

"Charlotte…" Loretta rolled her eyes in irritation.

"I'll stick with Alucard," Maria announced.

"Well, we certainly decided on that quickly," Jonathan muttered before giving the order, "Let's go then. Pick a hallway and get moving. We'll meet up here in an hour."

Stella and Loretta found themselves wandering through what could only be described as an indoor hedge maze. What one was doing in a ballroom was what they couldn't figure out.

"This is the one thing that I miss about being a vampire: We could fly. If we could still do that, we wouldn't be stuck in this goddamn overgrown flower patch!"

"With all due respect sister, it's more of a bush garden."

"Actually, your both wrong. Heeheehee."

"Huh!"

"What exactly is this place?" Alucard asked Maria, looking around the room in wonder. It was circular and housed several projectors each with a large roll of film on them.

"Well, it looks like it's a movie theater."

"I'm afraid I don't have the first inkling as to what a 'movie' might be."

"It's like a moving picture." Alucard's eyes widened.

"Humans have that kind of magic? I was under the impression that they were well on their way to rejecting the arcane entirely in favor of science."

"Oh we are, don't worry. It's not magic. You know, I thought there would never be anything I would be able to explain to you. Now that I know that you don't know everything, I somehow feel closer to you."

"I'm not sure whether that is a compliment or an insult."

"It's…supposed to be a compliment, but…I guess the way I phrased it made it a little of both. Sorry."

"No harm done. I am fine. I would like to know how these moving pictures work though."

"Alright, I actually watched someone make one before. Our university is fairly prestigious so we have a couple of the special cameras needed to make them. You turn a crank and then—"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I do not know what a camera is either."

"This could take a while then," Maria sighed, "I'll explain while we investigate."

Jonathan and Charlotte found themselves in the central ballroom. Huge windows allowed a beautiful view of the night sky and the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were particularly grand. Along one of the walls stood a long table with a large gramophone in the center, a stack of records piled up beside it. Charlotte grinned and strode up towards the old fashioned record player and took a look at the large disks.

"Er…Charlotte what are you doing exactly?"

"I'm looking at the records of course!"

"But…why?"

"I thought I'd put on some music."

"And that would be productive because…?"

Charlotte gaped at him, appalled. "My god! When did you become the responsible one? Anyway, lets see what's in this stack of records. Hmm…Mozart's Requiem…Beethoven's Ninth Symphony…Lapis Philosophorum, never heard of that…Stravinsky's The Right of Spring, gorgeous. The Firebird Suite is on the back of this one too. I'll hold onto this…Hmm…Althea's Waltz…What or who is Althea? I'll put this one on."

She slid the record out of its sleeve, placed it on the gramophone and put the needle into position, listening as a rather flowery sounding waltz began to play, resounding throughout the ambient room.

"Hey Jonathan, are you able to waltz?"

"Uh, yeah, I've dated a few classy girls, so I decided that I should probably learn. I can also tango and slow dance, but that's about it beyond dumb, wild freestyle."

"Alright then. Let's dance!" Charlotte insisted, dragging Jonathan with her to the center of the dance floor.

"Who's there?" Stella demanded.

"Heeheehee! I'm hurt," the voice said mockingly, "Can't you see me? I'm all around you after all."

"The maze!" Loretta gasped.

"This is bad."

The entire room seemed to tremble and ivy erupted from the bushes, entwining into the figure of a woman's upper body. The creature extended its vines and stretched towards the sisters to look at them more directly.

"What in the world are you?" Stella gasped, taking a step backwards as the plant-like creature approached her.

"I am a blood dryad, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that you are my dinner."

"Why is it that over half of the monsters that we encounter on our own want us to be their main course?"

"I can't answer that big sister, but I can cut this one down with you."

"You can try!" the dryad cackled before allowing her body to uncoil, freeing up over twenty vines that proceeded to chase down the sisters.

"Stella hold those off for a minute while I'm casting!"

"Got it!" Stella twirled around and drew both of her new swords. Despite hacking wildly at the pursuing strands of plant matter, the vines kept coming. Nevertheless, Stella held her ground for almost a minute before the vines knocked her over. Fortunately, Loretta had almost finished casting by that point.

"Blizzard Storm!" a huge runic symbol appeared in front of her and an unimaginably cold wind burst forth from it causing a large section of the hedges to turn to ice. The vines tried to lunge towards the sisters, but were much slower and sluggish than they were only moments earlier.

"What in the name of Azazel? What did you do to me?" demanded the blood dryad.

"Isn't it obvious, plant lady? I froze you. Your circulatory system between the different parts of your hedge system is completely cut off. Now Stella, I'm sure you know how to make that permanent, right?"

"Of course. Hurricane Wave!" Stella raised the Valmanway and swept it along the ground sending a violent blast of wind bursting through the frozen plant matter shattering the entire frozen area and freeing up a lot more space in the room.

"Curse you, you human scum!" howled the dryad in agony.

"If you don't like it then do something about it," Stella taunted, "not that we plan on stopping before we've completely uprooted you."

"Die, filth!" the dryad screamed, shooting several vines at the sisters, who simply froze them along with another section of the garden, shattering them shortly thereafter. This process repeated several times until the creature all but roared. And suddenly the rest of the hedges withered away leaking a sticky red substance behind, like sap mixed with blood, causing the substance to pool into macabre puddles. And at the center of the withered plants was an almost human figure. A naked woman with roots extending from her fingertips and branches extending from her ankles instead of legs lay trembling on the bloodstained floor.

"My b-body! What hav-ve you d-done to m-my body!" she wheezed. Her voice was reminiscent of a dehydrated human; of course the Lecarde sisters knew that the dryad was anything but human. As Loretta approached, she noticed that the texture of the woman's skin looked more like thin tree bark than actual flesh tissue.

Suddenly, a few roots sprung out and grabbed Loretta with an agility that neither sister expected.

"Blood! I n-need, blood!"

The roots wound themselves around Loretta and began protruding thorns, and as the branches squeezed tighter, the more the thorns tore into Loretta's skin. Not a single drop of blood hit the floor as the thorns began their mission to suck their prey dry. The woman began to rise off the ground, no longer prone to the world.

"Sister…Hurry," Loretta managed to gasp out before falling unconscious.

It suddenly occurred to Stella that her sister was presenting her with an opportunity. She strafed around the remaining roots extending from the blood dryad's body, careful not to touch any of them, withered or not, just to ensure that the she wouldn't be noticed, and when she was directly behind it, she struck.

Joyeuse entered through the creature's back and out through her chest as Valmanway severed her arms and legs, leaving no plants for her to control except for the various leaves that grew on her body, as bloody sap oozed from the stumps of her arms and legs. She didn't even have time to scream; Her head was removed from her shoulders before the shock wore off.

Scraping the slime off her swords and onto her boot, she sheathed the weapons and hurried to her sleeping sister's aid.

"…so then you just turn the projector on and the pictures that are recorded play back."

"I must admit that if nothing else, it sounds entertaining."

"That's the point! They're supposed to be fun! I'm going to turn the projector on."

"Very well. I'll have a look if you are willing to let me."

Maria knelt down next to the projector and flipped several switches before the machine hummed to life, "To be perfectly honest, this is the most advanced projector that I've ever seen. It's much easier to operate than the one back at school," she sat down in a chair, gesturing for Alucard to sit next to her.

The wall that the projector faced changed from a blank screen to a black and white image of a theater curtain. Over which the word "Overture" was printed in blocky bold letters. As the word suggested, dramatic music began to play. Or maybe just a bit eerie.

"I thought you said that the pictures moved, and this is not all that entertaining," Alucard stated, pointing the fact out more from curiosity than the accusatory statement would have suggested.

"Well, they do. Lots of movies start with a sample of the soundtrack. Just like how in musical plays, they often play a medley of the score before they open the curtain."

About three minutes later, the image changed to that of a radio tower shooting lighting bolts from its summit as the words 'A Radio Picture,' appeared in front of the tower in a jagged font as though they were also electrical.

"My apologies, but I don't understand what that means."

"Oh, it just means that Radio Pictures are the company that produced the film. After this it's going to show the opening credits which are just more words on a simple screen before the actual movie begins. The credits tell you everyone responsible for the production of the film."

The image faded, and dramatic music began as the screen changed into an extravagant stage over which was printed in the same blocky lettering:

Radio Pictures

Presents

As this faded, the words

KING

KONG

appeared, filling up the entire screen.

"Oh! It's this," Maria said with an air of understanding.

"I take it you mean that this is the name of the moving picture?"

"Yeah, I've actually seen this before. It's a monster movie, so it should be right up our alley. Actually, monster movies aren't really my thing. This is still pretty good because the visual effects are spectacular, but to be honest I like romantic comedies more. Something with Marilyn Monroe, or someone like that."

"Hmm," Alucard masked his continued lack of understanding with a hum of agreement.

Charlotte twirled under Jonathan's arm, giggling as she did so.

"I'm glad you're having fun, because this impulsive behavior of yours is starting to terrify me," Jonathan sighed exhaustedly as he continued to lead.

"Really?" Charlotte asked, "I would have expected that you'd enjoy having someone more like yourself around."

"No, not really. Particularly not when that person usually acts as my much-needed leash."

"Are you calling me strict or something?"

"Yeah, and normally that's a good thing. I mean I complain, but I recognize that without you there, I'd be getting myself into a whole mess of trouble."

"I don't know what to say to that," she mumbled without meeting his gaze.

"You just…haven't been yourself for a while. And it's creeping me out. You're normally the responsible one and I'm the guy that charges forward without thinking."

"You—you liked that about me?" Charlotte asked, her cheeks turning a light shade of red.

"Well, yeah, kinda."

The record suddenly came to a stop, startling the two dancing hunters.

"How touching." came a suave and arrogant voice, "Such a shame to interrupt such a sickeningly adorable moment, but the romance between two inferior beings such as yourselves is simply too insignificant for me to permit."

"Who's there?" Charlotte whipped around, the red on her cheeks spreading across her face. She looked towards the gramophone where the speaker would logically be, but nobody stood there.

"Charlotte, behind you!" Jonathan roared, tearing the Vampire Killer out of his bag. Charlotte ducked and slid away from the threat, hopping back to her feet and turning around to face her would be attacker.

"Yep, you're a vampire alright."

"How observant of you," said the figure, straightening himself up after his failed attempt to bite her throat. He was well dressed, wearing an expensive-looking dark blue suit with trimming that was almost as argent as his long silver hair. He grinned, exposing his fangs to the hunters.

"Do you want us to kill you? Because actively searching for vampire hunters isn't something most of our previous targets have done. Although Camilla…" Jonathan trailed off.

"It is not anything personal. I abhor all of your kind with a burning passion. I simply do not allow any human to remain in any form in my domain. I would have sucked you dry and left your body an empty husk. You do not deserve to be bestowed the power of the night that I have been given. It would be wasted on such vermin as yourselves. But it seems as though I've neglected to introduce myself to you. You must remember my name as you burn in Hell, as it is the only name any human truly needs to hear. I am Joachim Armster."

"Wow. I can see the bite marks on your neck. For you to act like this as a vampire, you must have already been a monster when you were still human," Jonathan spat in disgust.

"As a human I only did what was right. I purged the world of those parasites who were unworthy of God's divine providence and were stealing it from those of us who were chosen."

As he spoke, he grew more and more fervent, "I slaughtered the scum of the Earth! Hundreds of sub-human wretches were hunted down by my sword: Muslims! Jews! Black skinned abominations that dared to call themselves men!" he spat each word as though they were acid burning his tongue, "But most of all,the worms who had the gall to show mercy on them! They had no right to call themselves Crusaders! They were unworthy of God's divine providence! They were all hunted down alongside the Muslims, Jews, and abominations, and impaled and beheaded; dismembered; eviscerated and disemboweled!" he roared furiously.

Jonathan and Charlotte looked on in horror. The vampire that stood before them was beyond a creature of the night. They had seen demons before, and Joachim was nothing short of one. "I think I'm going to be sick," Charlotte choked, pressing a hand to her mouth.

"Now that the powers of darkness have shown me what true strength is however, I realize it was not just those who rejected Christ who needed to perish. All of humanity needed to die by my hand!"

"I've heard enough!" Jonathan hissed, "You don't get a chance to run! You'll die here and now! Ready, Charlotte?"

"When you are."

Joachim laughed diabolically.

"Naturally, since you arrived in my domain, it is your turn to meet your ends at my hand!"

The dark vampire lunged towards them. There was no time to avoid the attack and both hunters prepared to take the full force of a lethal strike.

But it never came.

It was as though Joachim had passed right through them. They didn't feel a thing. They did see something however. All around them, the dancehall seemed to bleed away, revealing a shadowy banquet hall with a particularly eerie atmosphere. There was a long dining table with a black tablecloth and various fancy dishes and silverware, as well as large wine goblets at every place setting. Various delicious looking foods were displayed across the table.

"Please, do help yourselves," Joachim drawled with a sinister grin, fixing him with his gaze from the far end of the table, "but keep in mind…you are the main course. All of the food is poisonous as well. But perhaps you would like something to drink?" with a snap of his pale fingers, all of the goblets filled themselves with blood.

"You would deny my invitation? You really would prefer to be butchered like the cattle you are, I suppose. It is quite fitting."

"This isn't good Charlotte."

"Why can't we just take him down like we would any other opponent?"

"Look at the room's color scheme. It's exactly the same color as Joachim's suit. We'll only be able to see him if we draw him close to the table, and he'll even blend in with the night sky outside the window. He has the advantage of camouflage and we don't have anything."

"As much as I admire your admittedly brilliant observation, you don't give me nearly enough credit." She opened her Book of Binding and flipped to the page featuring…

"Chain Lightning!"

A bolt of lightning burst from her open hand and shot towards the table, bouncing between pieces of what Charlotte realized were iron eating utensils. Goblets and other glassware that were caught in the maelstrom of electricity exploded sending electrically charged blood and shards of glass shooting in all directions.

"They're not silver?" Charlotte spat, flipping to a new page in her Book of Binding, "Well, let's see how you like this! Explosi—"

"Charlotte stop! If you use a fire spell in here the entire room'll catch fire. I don't plan on getting barbequed alive here, so quit while you're ahead."

"Point taken."

Jonathan surveyed the room for signs of movement, not finding anything.

"Spirit of Light!"

Two sparks of light spun out of Charlotte's hand and twirled towards a space on the wall knocking Joachim away from his hiding position. Jonathan didn't hesitate before launching himself at the vampire, not waiting to give him the slightest chance of hiding again. The Vampire Killer lashed out, thirsty for the blood of its prey, biting at the diabolical opponent repeatedly until Joachim roared furiously and disappeared again. However his tactic of remaining hidden had already been countered once.

"Spirit of Light!"

The cat was already out of the proverbial bag. He couldn't hide anymore, and all it had taken to crush his tactic was a spell that even a novice could cast. The thought infuriated Joachim.

Once again he was assaulted by that divine whip. Somewhere in his mind, he recalled that this weapon had already been used against him once before, and even though it wasn't nearly as powerful back then, that bastard Leon Belmont had still killed him with it! Disgusting! This was unacceptable! Summoning more energy than before, he disappeared, but this time with a new purpose. The girl began to cast that pathetic spell that had undermined him. Which was exactly what he wanted. Before she could even complete the incantation, he lunged towards her from the shadows behind her. By the time he was done with her, her mangled corpse would be unrecognizable as having ever been human.

"Charlotte! Move!"

Charlotte turned around too late and Joachim was upon her. Only at the very last moment did the vampire realize that something had quickly wrapped itself around his body. And it stung like a motherf—

"This damned whip!"

"Yep! This damned whip!" Jonathan agreed mockingly, "It's showtime!"

He yanked the whip back towards himself and swung it with all his might 320 degrees, sending Joachim smashing across the table, knocking plates, cutlery and glasses everywhere and yanking part of the tablecloth with him as he slid off the tabletop, further adding to the mess. This was looking bad for him. He needed to win this! It had taken hundreds of years just to return to this world! He'd sooner mutilate his own body in unspeakable ways than go back to being manservant to that gigantic reptilian bastard, Galamoth. He'd never forgive the scum for forcing him to dress up in a maid's outfit for misbehaving. All he had tried to do was usurp his position. Heaven knows that he deserved it more. This thought in mind, he roared furiously, and charged towards Jonathan, grabbing him by the throat and tossing him all the way up to collide with the high ceiling.

"Jonathan! Are you alright?"

There was no answer as his body fell limply back down, getting caught on one of the unlit chandeliers.

"No! Jonathan! Answer me!"

"Are you blind, girl? The whelp is dead, just as you will soon be."

She howled in rage, glancing up at the body…only to have it wave at her, as Jonathan pointed beneath the chandelier. She was about to smile before Jonathan shook his head. He let his tongue loll out the side of his mouth, made a show of being limp and winked at her. The message was clear.

She hissed furiously at the murderous vampire and lashed out with several blasts Raging Fire, following up on each of her spells with a slash by a number of spectral weapons from her compiled Tome of Arms.

"Murderer!" she shouted tearfully, "I won't forgive you, you bastard!"

Joachim would have laughed if her movements hadn't seemed so coordinated; he was driven further and further back towards to center of the room, actually being forced to climb over the table. He was about to drop off the other side when something wrapped itself around his neck.

What!

Joachim looked up to see a very much alive Jonathan Morris hanging upside down from one of the chandelier's rungs holding his Vampire Killer in his right hand and the Nebula whip in his left, both of which were wrapped tightly around his neck. He clawed at the two whips to no avail as he felt his feet leave the ground. Joachim's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he realized what the hunter was in a position to do.

"You fell for it, beast," Charlotte glared at the vampire, "Your time's up."

Joachim's face contorted into a mask of fear and hatred, but that only lasted an instant. Jonathan gave a swift tug on both whips. There was a sharp 'crack!' and the despicable vampire went limp, his head lolling backwards at a very unnatural angle.

"Nice acting Charlotte," Jonathan said with a grin.

"Oh, it was nothing. I just pretended that you really were dead and it came naturally to me."

Jonathan didn't know whether to feel flattered or gravely offended. He settled on just giving Charlotte his 'kicked puppy look.'

"Oh, don't give me that!"

"Fine," Jonathan whined, "So do you want to go find the others?"

"Sure, I hope they didn't have quite as much trouble as we did."

That was Stella's cue to enter the room with Loretta slung over her shoulder.

"Yipes! I just had to say it didn't I?" Charlotte groaned, rubbing her eyes with her thumb and forefinger before pinching the bridge of her nose, "Where have you been up till now, and what happened to her?"

"We ran into a colossal dryad-thing. We killed it but it was hard as hell, and Loretta collapsed."

"Hey Charlotte, did you notice that the stairs leading to the top of the castle are only two rooms away?"

"No, but that doesn't matter, we still need to find Maria and Alucard. I wonder what they've run into. Considering both of our encounters, I doubt it was anything pleasant. Jonathan, come with me. We'll go find them while Stella takes care of Loretta. That's okay with you right?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Alright, let's go."

"I don't understand what is so frightening to that woman? While it may be abnormally large, gorillas are gentle creatures."

"Not this one so much."

The camera cut to show King Kong's head as he began to eat one of the men.

"Omnivore or not, no gorilla would ever actually eat another primate. Suspension of disbelief can only go so far."

"Honestly, just because you totally know everything doesn't mean that the general population of the United States of America have anything but lead for brains. This is a good movie."

"And I cannot imagine why."

"There you guys are!" Charlotte walked in before noticing the running projector, "What the—! What the hell do you think you're doing! Do you know what the other four of us have had to go through? Me and Jonathan had to fight another vampire on our own, Loretta's unconscious after she and Stella encountered a gargantuan plant monster, and you two have been sitting here watching a movie!"

"I thought it would be a good learning experience for Alucard," Maria defended.

"Look, I need the two of you in peak condition if we want to get out of here alive, but the minute we get out of this castle, I will murder you!" Charlotte roared with unbridled fury.

"Uh, Charlotte," Jonathan walked in dragging a pair of skeletons behind him tossing them at his partner who immediately impaled them both with her Tome of Arms.

"That's not going to cool me off, Jonathan."

"In my defense, I thought I should at least try. We don't need you losing your temper. Besides, who died and made you leader?"

"Well, if we're speaking theatrically, you did. Quite well actually."

"Sheesh, come on," Jonathan groaned, "you don't get to make those calls. You'll regret it anyway."

Charlotte seemed to bristle with indignation.

"Let's just get going," she grumbled, "Follow Jonathan. He knows the way."

Stella was still tending to Loretta when she was graced with an unexpected visitor. She gasped, jumping between her sister and the familiar vampire, Valmanway and Joyeuse drawn.

"Well, I suppose it would have been more ideal to not be seen doing this," Alastor chuckled malevolently, "But if I wait any longer, his soul will separate from his body and I won't be able to take it for my circle. Worry not, I don't come for your blood on this night."

"What are you planning? What do you mean by your 'circle?'" Stella demanded.

"Please accept my deepest apologies," drawled the vampire, "I'd hate to ruin the suspense."

There was the sound of glass shattering and Death swooped into the darkened dining hall.

"It seems as though you enjoy being dramatic, Bernhard. You're far more similar to my master than you like to believe."

"You dare compare me to that Cronqvist slime!" Alastor bellowed, his calm façade broken, "I'll make sure you'll regret that!"

"You forget your place, Alastor! You are nothing but an upstart trying to usurp my master's power." Death raised his scythe and pointed it at the vampire, "Your day of reckoning is almost upon you. If it were not for that sword you carry, I would tear your soul asunder here and now. Consider yourself lucky."

"You give me far too little credit. I'm far more prepared for any intervention that you or your hunter pawns have in store than you could even comprehend."

"I hate to side with you, Death, but his ego just soared through the roof," Stella chuckled.

"There's no more room for delay. You've wasted too much time!" Alastor hissed. He stepped towards Joachim's corpse and stabbed it with his sword.

At last, Stella knew what the terrifying sound they had all heard previously was.

"Farewell mortals and senile spirit," the red haired vampire said snidely before vanishing into a cloud of bats.

"Senile?" Death muttered furiously, "The nerve of that whelp. He'll see who loses in the end." the world around the Reaper grew distorted and when it came back into focus, he was gone.

There was a groan behind Stella as her sister finally regained consciousness.

"Sister? Is everything alright? Where are we now?"

Stella turned to look at her sister, her eyes softening with relief.

"We're fine, Loretta. We beat the plant girl and we both got out of it no worse for wear," Stella was silent for a moment but upon realizing what she had said she stammered, "For the most part at least. I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me."

"It's alright Stella, we're both alive and that counts for a lot in this place."

The younger Lecarde groaned, arching her back to get rid of the cramps that came from lying on the floor and sat up, propping herself up on her hands.

"Where are the others?" she asked, noticing the absence of their companions.

Stella found that she was actually puzzled by her sister's inquiry.

"That's actually a good question. I haven't seen Maria or Alucard since we split up and Jonathan and Charlotte went to go look for them almost half an hour ago. They should be back by now, providing that Maria didn't wander off to another part of the castle."

"She didn't," grumbled a voice from the doorway. The sisters turned to see Charlotte following Jonathan in to the banquet hall from the room beyond, "They were watching King Kong." Charlotte's face contorted in irritation as she said this.

"Without us? That's not fair, that's a great movie!" Stella said disappointedly before getting a glare from Charlotte.

"You must admit though, sister; watching a movie in this castle is quite irresponsible. Especially when you have companions waiting for you," Loretta said disapprovingly, giving a hard, though not unkind stare to Maria. She was about to apologize when—

"Your blame is misplaced. Maria was not really the one who suggested we participate in this activity. I was the one who actually thought it might be a valuable learning experience about contemporary human culture. She merely told me what the device did."

Maria stood dumbstruck, fighting to regain her composure.

"Maria, you're really too old to have other people lying to defend you," Charlotte said coldly.

"I am being completely honest. I imagine that her surprise is mostly due to the fact that I have avoided showing gallant behavior towards her," as Alucard said this, he gave Maria a look.

"Yeah, that too–––out sums it up," Maria stumbled, hoping that nobody caught her mistake.

"I'm not letting you off the hook," Charlotte said warningly, "I'm just extending the line until we finish our job here. Then I'm reeling you back in."

"…er, alright?" Maria said, her voice teetering between the tones between question and statement.

"Good. Now that that's been taken care of, we can get back to business, "Charlotte announced with a sudden bravado, "Jonathan, you said the stairs to the top of the castle were in one of the nearby rooms, right?"

"Yeah, so we'd best be ready for a hard fight. Once we get up there, we don't know what we'll be facing. Alastor is a very strong vampire, and he's amplifying his dark powers using the power of the castle. He could have any number of nasty tricks waiting for us."

He walked over to one of the doors and threw it open, revealing a sanctuary and beyond that, a great flight of stairs leading up towards the pinnacle.

"This is it. Are we all ready?" Jonathan asked, "No one's got a problem, right?"

There was a round of collective yes-es followed by no-s.

"Perfect. Then we're heading up there now. Alastor's run out of strikes and we're taking him out."

I did my research. King Kong actually was out back then, not publicly available for non-exorbitant prices, but it's the kind of random thing you might find in the castle. I mean, Juste found a room that was specifically designed for him to decorate with furniture that he found around the rest of the castle, so why not a movie theater with a contemporary movie in them? For those who haven't seen the original King Kong, those were the opening twelve seconds in summary. Also, bonus points to anyone who can guess which records couldn't have actually existed back then. Send it in a review. Anyway...

Next time, on Castlevania: Nocturne of Ruin: With all other loose ends cleaned up, the final battle begins, but what is Alastor's master plan? And are the hunters even able to defeat someone who can destroy them completely by just scratching them with his sword?
Find out in Chapter XX: Toccata of Nightmares, the Final Movement!

Oh yeah, and before I forget, I notice that my story actually gets a fair number of favorites and story alerts, but despite this fact I have only twenty-eight reviews (as of July 26th 2012), most from some anonymous guy who leaves rather obnoxiously short quips of adoration. Please people, give me some feedback. It's easier than ever now too: The text box is on the same page! *goes into hysterics*

Sorry 'bout that, but seriously, there's a box for writing your thoughts and opinions right under the next sentance, so please make use of it. I thought I was above begging for reviews. Apparently, I'm not.