Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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"Leon? Are you having less difficulty here? That you can notice at least?" Soma asked as he knelt down in front of Leon. His kimono now neatly tucked into place and the two Fairies sliding his haori on. The Knight turned Vampire Hunter turned Plush Toy looked up at him before he looked down at himself. Leon stood there and began performing what Soma could only assume was a series of stretches.
"Little difference..." Leon mused as he unknowingly pulled off a close rendition of the hokey pokey. The only problem he found was that his kimono was so tight about him he had a hard time doing anything. Yet he 'could' feel the differences as he stood there, with increased stability in his posture and his waist. So he wouldn't fall flat on his face if he bowed or if he looked up beyond a certain angle. The improvement 'could' be location or could just as well be from his work out regiment, thank you for the passed along advice Trevor.
Yet talking 'was' decidedly easier now, he found he wasn't trying to push the words out of the voice box like he normally did. He was fairly certain that if he had any living aspects left it would be considered exhausting trying to talk. But just to be sure, "It will... be fine... Lady Mina..." Yes, talking 'was' noticeably easier here than at the shrine.
"Oh... But I still don't understand why the shrine would be a more difficult place for you... Oh! And what about your things! Your castle and bed?" Mina asked, bringing Soma's thoughts back to the elaborate home that she had built for Leon.
"I will... return..." Leon began, turning to look up at Mathias with an expectant tone of voice, since his face clearly lacked one.
"Maybe," Soma retorted, feeling mischievous at the the tone that Leon used.
"I will," Leon repeated unamused and unfazed by Mathias' own tone.
"He has a bed? Oh! Well we should get something ready for him..." The Green Fae noted as she took to the air with Blue on her trail.
"Well the shrine 'is' sealing the Castle away, so its possible that its trying to seal Leon as well, or at least his voice..." Soma noted as Leon turned to watch the fairies leave...
Then decided to walk after them, Leon had yet to wear out the experience of being given free reign to walk where it pleased him. If Mathias 'really' wanted to help Leon out, than clearly there would be no problem with him taking a leisurely stroll around the grounds. Now that the kimono was on properly he found his legs were a bit more bound up. Yet he didn't mind as much given that he was allowed to walk around without fear of startling someone with his self awareness.
"Why have you come here Death? Should you not be by your Masters' side?" Leon asked looking up at the eternally hovering manifested form of Death itself.
"It is for that very reason that I 'am' here mortal," Death retorted smartly before getting down to business. "My Lord has been returned to the mortal world once more, however; there is a being who seeks his destruction once more. One who is not of your bloodline and who's actions will have dire consequences for both the humans and the Dark Children." Death answered the flames that served as Its pupils flickering to life in accordance to the beings words.
"And when did 'Death' suddenly take to caring about the lives of the living?" Leon asked, unable to believe his ears given what Death just said.
"I am nothing without Life, while the extermination of the human race is of no consequence, the loss of the Dark Children is far more upsetting."
It was a statement that Leon had found most enlightening, given that it was a confession from Death that it did not seek to just endlessly take life. That It acknowledge Life as an equal and sought to maintain that. More worrisome though was the reason why Death had approached the former Knight. Something that could have an effect on both humans and the Children of the Night? Someone was after Mathias in his new life and it could bring about such a situation that Death would seek out a Belmont? Seek out 'the' Belmont who knew and had the most hate towards Mathias in an effort to obtain aid for Its master?
Leon wasn't able to get much more out of Death, save that it would help Leon get into the Castle. From there Leon would be able to gain the aid of Lady of the Castle, Lady Elizabetha herself, and be pulled for the next time 'the witch made a plushy'.
"What is a 'plushy' and how do you know this woman would do such a thing?" Leon had inquired after he begrudgingly agreed to lend his aid.
"Its a toy, and its what she's ignorantly done to the rest of your kin..." Death replied without much infliction of voice...
And now Leon understood what 'plushy' meant and a good many more words.
He still didn't have a full grasp on what was going on, given that he had been with Lady Mina the whole time. But Trevor tried, with Mina providing 'code words' to indicate that she had brought Leon along for school. Which then allowed Trevor, who would be with Kazu, to start updating Leon on what had been going on, on his end of the family. Understanding that Leon could not speak due to his voice box ensuring that 'everyone' in ear shot would hear a strange series of words out of the 'toys' mouth.
Not that Trevor had a great deal to talk about, given that even he was distantly connected to the part of the clan that was in the Vatican. There was something to be said to be out of the loop and see where the loop was and be unable to get in. Now he found himself with the opportunity to actually interact with Mathias on his own without worrying about being over heard.
So how did he even begin this discussion? Death had been sparse on Its details about what was going on, essentially deciding that since Mathias wasn't going to let It protect him. It would send someone else to see to the duty and that was apparently Leon, given he was the only one left of the Clan. Knowing that his whole family who had faced Mathias through the ages was now converted into the form of plushy toys. As well as what 'plush toy' meant, now those were words that needed to be learned.
Leaving him standing on the grounds of Mathias' half human half vampire son, examining the estate while Mathias finished up his conversation. His feet found the road and he began walking along while his thoughts worked through what Mathias had already told him. The dreams were worrisome not because Mathias had power over dreams or sleep. He 'did', however, have power over spirits that 'did' have such power though and given the dreams, perhaps the souls of those beings were trying to communicate with Mathias.
They were unable to warn or aid Mathias directly, and apparently unable to evoke any aid in the real world directly for Mathias' son. Yet what was holding back Mathias' power? Leon had a mounting worry over the vast array of abilities that Mathias possessed, the incredible levels of violence Mathias was willing to evoke when moved, and that he was 'not' using them. It felt incredibly strange that he had all this power, had these questions and was doing nothing about it.
"So do you want a tour of my jail cell?" Soma asked as his human steps allowed him to catch up to Leon with ease.
In the light of the sun the shadow that Mathias cast was incredibly recognizable to what Leon had been used to when he was alive. With the thick fluffed collar and lines from what once upon a time had been cloaks. "Yes," Leon answered deciding it would help him work in a few questions about Mathias' new life. Or to be more on point, why was Mathias not doing anything if so much was unsettling him.
"Great, I can use you as an excuse as to why I got in Arikado's car!" Soma beamed with a gleam in his eyes at the thought.
Leon turned around and looked up at Mathias, though his face lacked facial expressions his ears promptly flattened in answer. "Really?"
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Leon knew nothing of 'cars', save what he saw outside of the shop window or when he was left with a 'magazine'. So when Mathias opened the door to the 'garage' and flipped on the light, Leon would have been lying if he didn't confess he 'was' a good bit curious about those things. The 'garage' was an empty room, with only a single sleek black 'car' thing resting in the center. It was smooth, black both in body and in windows, the manufactured light from above was reflected in both its black sheen and the sharp silver trim.
Leon didn't really know what he was looking at beyond the impressiveness of the vehicle as he walked into the room. The whole of the estate was a bit jarring to Leon, having experienced enough of the modern world to know the eccentricities of the estate. He had learned about 'outlets' where modern machines were plugged into in order to obtain the power they needed to work. Yet this place had near none, as though the estate ran on the same things that the Castle did, only manifesting the basics as a facade. There were no lit candles or torches, instead there were lamps that illuminated rooms with light while never being plugged into walls.
"What are you looking for Leon?" Soma asked as he watched Leon grow suddenly fascinated with the wall near an ornate lamp.
"Outlet?"
"Huh? Uh... well.." Soma seemed taken aback by the question, walking over and dropping to his knees to join Leon on his search. The lamp really was working while not plugged in?
"No outlets?" Leon asked as he began patting the wall with his clumsy paws.
"Hmm, I know there are a few in Yoko's room and the office..." Soma answered as perplexed as Leon, causing the lion to look at him.
"Yoko room?"
"Yeah, she used to come here a lot as a little kid. So she has a play room full of stuff she used when she was little. She never took it back and Arikado never got rid of it, but the tv and gaming systems are all hooked up to the wall sockets. I rehooked them up myself when I started playing some of those games," Soma explained frowning at the wall. Only to have an outlet start to emerge from the wall as though willed. "Oh..."
The estate made Leon think more and more of the Castle, was this Alucard's attempt to create something on a smaller scale than what his father had? The former Knight wasn't surprised that Alucard put his estate out of the reach of humanity. A dhampire undoubtedly had heighten senses that made routine interaction physically painful. Yet that it had hallmarks from the Castle...
No, this was not fair to Alucard Leon decided as he walked closer to the car. 'Alucard sealed his his powers away as part of the ritual that sealed away Mathias' power. If he had the power before to sustain this, that power is undoubtedly gone... Or perhaps...' Leon's head tilted to the side as another thought struck him. 'If this place was created originally 'from' Alucard's power and that has been sealed, how does it still exist save through access to the power of the Castle.'
Only the Castle was, for lack of better term, dying. It was sustained by the darkness of Mathias' own powers and that was now absent with Mathias living outside of the... well no Mathias now lived here and if this estate had connections to the Castle. It 'would' be possible that the Castle could sustain some meager form of substance... right? Or the estate was draining it faster by its very nature, either way they were questions that Leon and Mathias were ill suited to learn. Mathias lacking the memories, and Leon lacking even the basics fundamentals of how Mathias created the Castle to start with.
So he settled with what he did know, and that was that Mathias wanted to show off his sons' car. It was very clean, Leon was a bit surprised at how he could see his reflection in the sheer shine of the car... Even if it was a stuffed lion he saw. Though he found himself curious given Mathias' age, if Alucard wasn't around, what exactly was stopping Mathias from driving?
Soma grabbed the door handle and swung the door open for Leon, before remembering the poor Lion's attire. Leon walked over and placed his paws easily on the side of the car and began pulling himself up. Clearly not recalling the nature of his kimono and how he was messing up the obi that the fairies had gotten back into place. But his determination was amazing as the little lion got up and began pushing himself to his feet... 'Then' noticing his obi apparently given the way his hands began fiddling with the front of his kimono.
"Need pants." Leon fairly grumbled as his paws slid uselessly against the smooth fabric of his obi. Why did he think this form came with proper fingers?
"Turn around, I can fix it," Soma offered kneeling down beside the car patiently while Leon turned to look at him from over his shoulder. "Seriously, I know how and if you wanted the hakama you would have needed to tell Mina to get the samurai one. She got a hakama with that outfit, not this kimono, for you."
Leon turned around semi obediently since he found himself a bit curious about that. He had been shown a good amount of Japan's culture from Lady Mina and he found himself curious about Mathias' place in it. Lady Mina had shown him many pictures, some with Mathias in them wearing traditional kimonos. Of course the last picture Leon had seen of Mathias in one the man looked about 14 years old. Did he still put them on now that he knew who he used to be?
"You wear?" Leon asked as his obi was tugged back into position earning a raised eyebrow from the Dark Lord.
"When I go out to festivals, yes, though I should probably try to get it as enchanted as the stuff in the Castle. That way it will last far longer," Soma answered with a few small light tugs on the obi. With that done he picked Leon up, placing the lion on the drivers seat, though he didn't try to force Leon to sit down.
Once Leon was standing on the seat, Mathias shut the door to the car and Leon could see Mathias walking around the machine. The Dark Lord opened the other door and sat down in the seat next to Leon, which meant Leon wasn't going to be left in this car alone. Not saying that Mathias would, but he could just leave Leon in there. Now that he wasn't alone, Leon gave into his own curiosity and began to study the interior of the car.
There was a large wheel before him, and beyond that a series of... of... oh he had no idea what he was looking at...
"So that wheel is the steering wheel, its what turns the car by controlling the front two tires..." Mathias explained to him, before pointing out things like the 'speedometer' and the fuel gauge. It was fascinating really, and Leon began trying to get past the wheel to exam the gauges further before asking, "drive?"
"Hah, I'm under threat of death if I try to drive Arikado's car," Mathias told him, actually laughing slightly at the confession. "I know where the key to the car is, just... I like being above ground …." Mathias explained before adding wistfully, "and human."
Which worried Leon away from his investigation of the car's interior as he turned to look at Mathias. Since the Dark Lord sounded as though he wasn't anymore, that tone almost made Leon feel like Mathias was trying to reinforce it. "Mathias human."
Soma had yet to bat an eyelash at being called Mathias, even though he made no effort to correct or gain further insight behind it. Instead he leaned back in the seat and looked at the garage doors that lead outside. Somehow sitting next to Leon felt 'relaxing', while sitting next or near the other plushy's amounted to nothing, Soma 'did' note that he had the same feeling sitting next to Leon as he did Yoko. "I was when I left my castle yes... But the second go around was different, I don't know if I was completely human again... I kind of remember..."
Soma shifted in his seat, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes as he tried to remember what happened that day. "I reclaimed my throne for a short time..."
Mathias' thoughtful repose sent alarms going off in the back of Leon's mind as he looked up at the Dark Lord. There was little insight into Mathias' thoughts among the rest of the clan as far as Leon was aware of. If he could find out more, it would be a vast benefit to the hunters, as it would help in dealing with potential future break downs. "Felt good?"
Soma opened his eyes and looked at Leon for a moment confused by the question, before setting back down again. "Back when I was in the fake Castle? No, it didn't feel 'good', it felt like nothing. I remember always being filled with anger before, now I just don't care."