Chapter 6
Cass was clinging to the now-petrified Blanche, her tears running down her friend's stone body. Andre approached her from behind, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I had thought Westerners devoid of compassion... But Blanche... She must have known what might result from this... To think that in order to protect us from our pettiest instincts, she would do such a thing... I am truly sorry..."
Cass sniffled. "She really is... a freakin' Lecarde through and through..."
Andre stepped back, pacing about. "For those afflicted by the stone gaze... There is a cure, though I know not if such means exist within the walls of Dracula's Castle, and if they do, we will have to act quickly."
Cass rubbed her eyes, turning around. "I'll do it. However crazy or desperate it is, if there's even the smallest chance of getting her back..."
"Very well," Andre responded, nodding. "The only thing capable of curing this level of petrification... is the horn of a unicorn."
"U-unicorn, right, sounds simple enough... So, um... where would we find one?" asked Cass.
"I... have absolutely no idea," Andre confessed. "But historically, many incarnations of this castle have contained vast gardens. If a unicorn might be found anywhere within these walls, I would imagine that it would be there."
"Well, then we'd better get going if we want to find it in time," Cass said as she made her way through the door, hoisting Blanche's significantly heftier frame on her back. Another connecting hallway soon brought them to a vast interlocking network of ivy-covered walls and strange, dangerous-looking plantlife of myriad sizes and colors.
"Huh. This is... suspiciously convenient," Cass noted as she strained to keep Blanche stable.
"Think upon Death's words. To them, we are some sort of sick show. Perhaps they are not yet ready to have Blanche removed from the equation. In that case, if they planned for her current predicament, they would have planned for the means to remedy it," Andre explained. "But you realize that the murder or even the mere injury of a unicorn is a heavy sin to bear, do you not?"
"It sounds pretty awful, but... I've done worse things for worse reasons," Cass confessed.
"What... do you mean, exactly...?"
"I mean, all that 'American government dog' stuff you were on about earlier? It wasn't entirely wrong," she explained as she tossed daggers into the screaming, shark-toothed mandragora creatures that clawed along the ground towards them, their wooden skin splintering with each strike. "I've transferred money to and from Central American drug cartels. I've shaken the hands of leaders that were drenched with the blood of their own people, and why? So America can maintain its footholds in its decades-long pissing contest with the Soviets? You've got every right to judge me, Andre. I'm exactly everything you feared I was."
Andre silently contemplated her words as he slashed apart a row of thick vines concealing a secret passage. As they crawled through, he began to speak up once more. "Each person must sacrifice something for that in which they believe. At times, it is one's own values. The world is gripped with a fear the likes of which has never been seen before the climax of the second Great War. It is difficult for any to say when the next nuclear warhead will be launched, for what reason, or from where it will come. For this reason, many nations, for better or for worse, are enduring unsavory partnerships. Though I am loathe to admit it... my own hands have been tainted by this Cold War, as well."
"Tainted?"
Andre pushed a door open, leading into a topiary labyrinth. "I was practically raised by the Vatican. When I turned twenty, they sent me on a mission to aid war orphans along the outskirts of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. I had gathered up no small number of them and tried to lead them to the nearest American military outpost in South Vietnam. I thought they would be safe there, but before we could even approach one..."
"Operation Tiger Hound..." Cass said to herself.
"The children panicked... They scattered away from me... I could only protect a small number of them when the bombs fell... And when the ones I had saved thought that the way was clear, they ran out to see the bodies of their friends... It didn't take long for them to be located by American soldiers... I-I saw an abandoned assault rifle by my feet... It went against everything I had ever been taught, but if I hadn't done something...!"
Cass pulled close to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You did it to protect those children..."
"No," Andre objected. "By the time I had made the decision to pick up the gun, the children were already dead... At that moment, it wasn't protection, nor was it self-defense... It was bitter, sinful vengeance... I scarcely recall how I even survived, but perhaps it might have been better had I not... Upon my return to Rome, I was excommunicated from the church... That was when I emigrated to Romania. By then, the Belmont legacy was all that I had left..."
Cass brushed his hair away and planted a small kiss on the back of his neck. "I'm glad that you survived... You have a good heart, Andre..."
Andre's face turned nearly the same shade as his hair. "You... certainly seem generous with your kisses..." he nervously observed.
"Well... my mother always taught me that a kiss is something you give to someone you care for... I don't let people in easily, but something about Blanche grew on me really quickly. I guess... I'm starting to feel the same about you..."
Andre turned about to face her, trying to mask his embarrassment. "For an agent of the CIA to so quickly trust a murderer of their fellow countrymen is... unwise..."
Cass shook her head. "I don't trust you as a CIA agent. I trust you as a Morris, as a person, and... as a friend..."
Andre smiled at her. "Friend, is it...? But Cassandra... I have seen how Blanche looks at you, and jumps to your aid at a moment's notice... Is she merely a friend to you?"
Cass looked back at Blanche, whose weight on her back she had nearly stopped noticing. "We haven't been with each other nearly long enough to be anything else. My first impression was that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. Now, though? ...Well, I guess there's some feelings Mom would probably describe as 'un-Christian.' Take that as you will."
Andre sighed. "Bad news for any other would-be suitors, I suppose."
"Hey, it's not like I belong to anyone. Well, I guess technically, I belong to the US government, but we have an understanding," joked Cass.
"Don't take too much stock in that presumption," Andre warned. "You've written them a check that they can cash at the least convenient possible moment if they so choose, and in my experience, they often do."
"Really not past the CIA thing, are you?" Cass asked, frustrated.
"Cassandra, I respect you. I believe with absolute certainty that you joined that organization for entirely noble reasons, but even so, I cannot bring myself to trust the government that you serve."
"Well, I guess that's about the best I can expect," she resigned as they entered a large clearing in the center of the maze. In the distance, they could see a small white unicorn with a golden horn trapped behind a cage of thick vines. In the center, a pale, nude woman with ash brown hair seemed to be emerging from a flower bud in the ground, covering her chest with her arms.
"Help... me..." she sorrowfully beckoned.
Cass began to approach when Andre grabbed her arm. "I've heard of this... Do you recall the mandragorae we fought off earlier? This is what happens when one that consumes human blood grows to adulthood... An 'alraune,' as they are known... The woman you see before you is little more than a vestigial limb for a horrific monster lying beneath the ground upon which we walk."
The woman started to chuckle, which then slowly evolved into a cackle. "You aren't the idiots I thought you were! Oh, but one little thing: If you think you're safe because you're more than three meters away from my bud, I've got a bit of unwelcome news for you: I'm not beneath you. You're inside me!"
Thick topiary closed off the route behind them, and the bud containing the alraune's human form slithered up into the air as the ground around them began to collapse. Cass immediately grabbed Andre's hand and snagged her whip around the stalk supporting the bud. Below them was a pool of digestive acids. As she tried to pull them up, her grip began to slip from the combined weight of Andre and Blanche's petrified form.
"Let me go, Cassandra!" Andre yelled. "You cannot defeat Dracula without the power of a Lecarde!"
"Shut up! I'm not about to lose anyone!" Cass shouted back. "Cassandra Bethany Morris is no quitter... And I'm sure as hell not letting the Belmont legacy end here...!"
Struggling, she lifted Andre up with one arm. When he had enough leverage, he leaped up to the stalk, clinging to it. With a swing, Cass bounded off of a thin wall of vines supporting the faux ground above her and elevated herself and Blanche up to the top of the bud. The alraune called forth thorny stems from the walls to attack her, but they were torn apart by the force of the Vampire Killer in one flowing, controlled motion. As she landed, Cass grabbed the alraune's humanoid component by the throat, grinning. It seemed to have panic in its eyes.
"What's the matter? This is just a vestigial limb, right? It's like having an appendix taken out. You'll barely even notice it's gone, right? So come on! Sparing this thing can't possibly be worth letting me live. Unless, of course, you want us to think it's a lot less important than it really is!"
"D-...DIE...!" the creature croaked out as it repeated its last attack. This time, Cass let go of her throat and dropped down onto the bud's stem at the last second. The momentum of the thorny appendages pierced the humanoid component through the chest. Its eyes rolled up as the entire maze around them convulsed wildly. The vines that trapped the unicorn fell apart, and as the stem began to droop, Cass and Andre jumped off toward it.
Andre grabbed the unicorn and lifted it up with a grunt as they escaped from the collapsing mass of flowers and leaves. After a significant run, they found a light at the end of the maze and jumped through it. They found themselves in a massive, empty chamber with a large mound of indistinguishable dead plant life at the bottom.
Panting, Andre let go of the unicorn. "How in the world have you been running around and flipping about while carrying her?! In her stone form, she must weigh ten times what this beast does!"
Cass set Blanche down, sighing. "She ain't heavy, she's my Blanche." She then looked over at the unicorn, frowning. "Oh... I'm sorry, little guy... You're awfully cute, and I feel really bad about this, but I need to save my friend..."
The unicorn approached her and nuzzled her leg, its golden horn glowing brightly. "Wait, you may not have need to..." Andre observed. Slowly, the unicorn turned around and touched its glowing horn to Blanche's body. Bright cracks tore across her rocky frame, and in a flash of light, the stone dissipated from her entirely.
"And another thing-!" Blanche yelled, as though continuing from where she had left off. She couldn't keep a straight face as she said it, though, and started laughing. "Sorry, heh heh, I was conscious for the whole thing! Just thought that'd be funny."
"BLANCHE!" Cass threw her arms around Blanche and stole a kiss from her lips. Blanche melted into the kiss, blushing heavily. As Andre cleared his throat, Cass pulled herself away, her own face having taken on an interesting new shade of red.
"I, uh... I missed ya too, Cass..." Blanche said, feeling light-headed. "But how'd ya convince li'l mono-horn here to heal me? Unicorns're only supposed to offer their power to chaste maidens. Unless... No way! Cass?!"
Cass turned away, her face having somehow found a way to trump the previous shade of red. "I-it's not that weird, is it?!" she exclaimed, flustered.
Blanche slapped her knees as she laughed. "This is rich! Kissy Cassie's never gotten any! Well, hey, keep havin' them un-Christian thoughts about me and maybe we can fix that!"
Cass turned around and stamped her foot. "Hmph! See if I help the next time you get turned to stone!"
Blanche wiped away the tears that had escaped from her eyes as she laughed, catching her breath. "Okay, okay, it's fine. No need to be ashamed of it. It's just weird to think of you bein' so innocent an' all."
Cass' skin began to fade back into its normal shade as she exhaled. "You know, that seems like sort of a weird criterion for innocence." She turned to the unicorn, looking down at it. "So, even if I were someone who'd killed a million innocent people or tortured babies, as long as I've never done the horizontal tango before, I'm good by you?" The unicorn nodded in response. "You have got some really screwed-up priorities," Cass informed it. The unicorn turned away and trotted off into a gallop, seeming to fade into mid-air as it picked up speed.
"That's right, just keep dodging the issue, ya wuss!" Blanche yelled after it.
"Blanche, please don't antagonize the mythical creature," Andre requested, cradling his face in his hand.
"Well, he started it!"