Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

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Julius shut the book and rubbed at his tired eyes, pushing himself into a reclined position on his plush recliner. He wasn't sure of what he thought he would find when he began reading this, in fact he expected more of an personal autobiography more than anything else. When he had read the first few pages back at the Vatican that was exactly what he felt he was reading. Yet it was incredibly hard to put the book down now that he was home. Back to his normal 'life' with Dracula defeated and under Alucards' care.

Life as in, after the battle and becoming an amnesiac, using his abilities to support himself though he had forgotten just 'how' he got them. Returning to active duty despite the tradition that had been where he would have retired and handed off his title. Coming back to his family only to have Valencia retired and to work with Valencia's daughter. Though he was grateful for being able to make a living in Japan all that time, his more passive hunter talents finding use in exorcisms. Ever a saving grace when considering the years that had gone by, had he not been so fortunate? He would never have been physically fit enough to be able to face the monsters of the Castle or in Fortners' fake castle otherwise. Had he been without a home and duties that allowed him to eat well and use his skills.

Yoko felt weird to him, out of place, she was the daughter of a woman that, as he recalled her, was too young to be a mom. Interacting with his kin or the other clans now had a dissonance he was uncomfortable with. Walking into a room and seeing his peers now weighed down by their ages, while his elders were now ancient or passed on all together. 'Knowing' who these people were with their wrinkles and graying hair clashed violently in his mind with 'remembering' these self same people who should have been young adults.

In his mind Valencia was still an 18 year old witch, serious minded with a penchant for sudden random outbursts of cheerful, zany energy. The Valencia he spoke to now? Lacked all those outbursts, always serious, always focused on the task at hand. He had always seen her mother in Valencia, that serious, stern personality. 'Man hating' was a term thrown around a lot about the woman publicly.

But Jamie was dead, and her tragic hate towards men was now a mere fixation on the matriarchal position of the Belnades clan held by her daughter Angela. While Valencia's own zest for life seemed to have drained away into the perky witch package of Yoko. That she was Valencias' daughter made Julius more protective of her, despite it being frustrating to the woman herself. Not that he was going to blame her, she should have been partnered with Richard or Gabriel.

He should have been retired...

Dealing with all that tape was tricky, there were bits of fuzz from the carpet that dulled some of its stubborn intensity. Given what the book was, made a question of why it was where ever it was. Yoko hadn't sounded as though she recognized the book and he wondered how it came to be in her room. Tucked away under the bookcase no less, as though someone small was reading it and just putting it there to retain a neatness to the place.

Neatness, well his life had been pretty tidy when he and his wife had been living in Japan. Since they got married, now his boys had relocated to Europe with their families... And he had the glorious job of explaining to them that their dad was a Vampire Hunter.

Surprise!

They had known that he had supernatural abilities, and now knew where those abilities came from. In fact his boys could easily have taken up the mantle of Hunter, both strong bodied, brilliant minds; had he trained them since childhood as he had been. But it was too late now, both were well into their 30's with young children of their own. It was possible to train grandkids yes, but they hadn't been raised to understand the secrecy of the clan's work. Like any small child they were prone to rattle off anything they heard.

Though he had to confess that in this day and age, a pair of kids 'pretending to be Vampire Hunters' was certainly less eyebrow raising than it was in prior generations. Back in the early 80's the movies were only 'just' starting about vampire hunting. Yet it was still new enough that Julius wasn't really able to have the freedom to just ramble. But there was a looming shadow that hung over the very thought of teaching the grandkids his actual line of work.

It might have lost its relevance in the world.

That first week that he had traveled back to his ancestral home with the boys still weighed on his mind. When his ancestor, Richter, founded this new location for the family it had been isolated, far from civilization and only a town ran by the clan anywhere near them. But as time carried on, civilization had encroached more and more. It was still a drive to the family estate, but it was no where the same as the long hours like what it was described in the old text.

The family had been excited, it had been a literal three car caravan down a long winding European road into the countryside. The autumn leaves had begun to dust the road from trees that he remembered in his own childhood. Said trees spread their arms over the road in welcome, creating a cool shade from the sun. He knew he crossed into the ancestral lands just by sense alone, but there were wooden fence posts along the sides of the road that helped.

The road was the same, long, winding, mountains serving as distant sentries that watched over the clan. A hazy shade of bright blue sky and he was just driving home, thoughts of his wife, the kids and grandkids became distant thoughts. It was just him in his parents car driving down the road without a thought in his head beyond the movies. He would go home, do his homework, go outside and do some training on his own an easy routine. Only the silence in the car started to bore him, so he reached over and turned on the radio.

For which he was suddenly assailed by the most God Awful assortment of sounds screeched out, it was a series of loud, jarring, 'instruments' of sorts and a man screaming then growling into a mic. A chaotic series of sounds that instantly flung Julius back from his 19 year old self into his 55 year old body. If not for his training as a Belmont he would have easily crashed at the horrid sound that assailed his ears coupled by the brutal reality that he 'literally' got lost in his memories. His favorite radio station growing up was still playing the 'modern hits' it was just over 30 years had passed. He snapped off the radio, regretting the second he turned the radio on when his wife, who had been sitting and enjoying the scenery, finally spoke up.

"Wrong station, Ja- Julius?"

"Yes and no," Julius struggled against the rapidly tightening noose around his neck with the boulder in his belly. "Right station, wrong point in time..."

'J', the identity he wore for 36 years when he lost his memories after defeating Dracula. The only bit of identity that Julius had to offer up to Jenkins when the man found Julius. Unconscious, alone in the middle of rice field near Camp Zama, the Corporal had brought him on base and served as Julius' initial support. The man, and his family, had looked after Julius and tried to find where Julius had come from. But with his memories wiped, and never bothering to carry any personal identification Julius was a needle in a world wide haystack.

Long months of checking hotels, hostels, missing persons in and out of Japan turning into years... He had moved on, got married to a nice American civilian working on the base, started working as an exorcist...

"Its been... how long since you've been home?" Francine asked, her voice hesitant and gentle as she recognized his need to process this.

"36 years... I went and fought Dracula and never came back... until now..." Julius hated the way his voice trembled at the end. He blinked against the pinching sensation at the corner of his eyes while the unseen rope for the noose tightened itself further making it harder to swallow.

Francine reached over and placed her hand on his left hand, giving it a small squeeze. "'Dracula', I still can't believe that he was real... I mean, this whole Vampire Hunting thing..." She was a saint for just accepting this, she was an American, where the supernatural was just shows on tv. Loud mouth, badass wannabe's screaming into the void hoping for a sign of life beyond the grave. Japanese culture made it more acceptable for exorcisms so work was easier to come by. But it wasn't as though she ever believed it, she merely accepted this odd side to her husband.

Though the exorcisms was never enough to gain the notice or attention of the clans. So his wife, and eventually their children, were now going to be expected to just accept this. Accept that Jay was 'Julius Belmont' and that they had a whole clan in Europe. The scope of what was being asked for them to accept was as foreboding as the mountains in the distance. He was going to have to face his kinsmen and clan members, introduce his kids and deal with...

"He's a kid now, younger than the boys, only 18 and not a monster so there's that..." That was better, talk about Soma. Talk about Dracula's reincarnation because if Julius kept thinking about what he was driving up to face he wasn't confident in his ability to keep driving. "But yes, there's... there's so much that you and the boys and grandkids should know.."

"Julius, ummm... The kids can't fight..." Francine pointed out, cautious and concerned as her eyes darted to the rear view mirror to make sure the caravan carrying those people was still in tow.

"I know... I started training around five years old, its far too late to train the boys, Richard and Gabriel are too old. Also if Soma never reverts there's no point in it since there won't be a major threat... But, they should know... Because now they can have an explanation as to why things occasionally would crop up in their lives." Julius explained as he saw the first hints of a rooftop peeking out between the gaps in the foliage.

"A whole clan, its amazing that you were under their radar for so long though," she confessed as she looked back out at the landscape, the seemingly endless sea of trees, the growing pile of leaves on the ground.

"Clans." He corrected with a faint smile, "there's more than one, and we're branched out into different locations. At least we 'were' back when I remembered it..."

"Family get togethers is going to be interesting from now on huh?" Francine asked with a hint of laughter in her voice. When they had met she had been a cashier at military gas station that he would jog past once in a while, until he saw her taking out trash one day. Then he jogged past that gas station every day.

Before him the road finally settled straight, it was fairly tunneled by the trees that waited in respectful silence, attending the house on either side. Their branches hung low as they bowed at the returning Hunter, acknowledging his victory over the obstacles that kept him away for so long. Peering through the tunnel was the front of a grand estate, windows peering out at him, painted in the same soft buttery, light golds that he remembered. The window shutters were thrown open with the same porch with its warm red roof slanted downwards.

The only thing out of place was the car that was parked blocking the view of the steps up to the porch. The road would turn into a looping circle as a call back to the time when people rode horses and carriages, but there 'was' an established driveway that had been put into place after the first car had been purchased. It was strange to see it sitting there, the sun was still high enough that the light reflected from the window was blocking his view of whoever was in the car.

But he 'could' still make out the faint motions that indicated someone was still in the car. As the car he drove finally rolled out from under the canopy of trees, past the thick stone wall and revealed a pair of gates that had pushed back. He finally got the see the full expanse of the family estate stretching out on either side of the tunnel, Julius finally had come home. He turned the wheel of the car to the left as he followed the path, all the while fighting the urge to rubberneck his own home. The familiarity began to get to him, breathing around the noose that hung around his throat was becoming more difficult to hide.

Even as the cold hunter logic began to take notes, because nothing stayed 'this' much the same unintentionally. Everything he remembered from that day was still here, from the flowers in the gardens even their arrangements. The curtains that covered the windows were even the same and the conflict that his own emotional needs created made it difficult to figure out 'what' he wanted. The hunter felt wary of enemies, the man felt haunted and elated to be back while the noose around his neck was becoming tighter by the second. An unseen line in the sand between his logical hunter mind and his human emotional heart.

"I'll gather the family, so if you need a moment," Francine offered as she observed his face. For a woman who never dealt with hunters she was amazingly observant, Julius had long since learned.

He nodded in gratitude as the faint sounds of the car took over, the soft, smooth hum of the vehicle as he released his foot from the gas all together. Instead he placed it on the brake where he could gently ease it down slowly. The car finally eased into a stop, allowing him to put it into park so he could finally start soaking in the fact that he was here. Francine patted his hand again before releasing the seat belt and opening the door. In that brief time when the car door clicked open so she could step outside, he could hear the roll of tires from his sons' cars. The sound of rubber on the asphalt of the road as they began slowing to stops as well.

"Mom and dad are going to kill me..." He muttered into his beard as he braced himself while the car rattled on waiting for him to turn it off. Facing Dracula felt so much more simpler than this, facing Dracula and failing simply meant death. This was... "Damn it Julius you killed Dracula, just get out the damn car..." He growled, hell not only had he 'killed' Dracula, he lived long enough to see the bastards' reincarnation! There was a faint peeling sound that came from his hands as he finally released them from the steering wheel. Startling him as he heard his skin peel from the rubber of the wheel, leaving behind indents of his own hands.

Some passing thought made him hope that it wasn't permanent.

He could hear his grandkids shouting as they bounded out of their respective rides, finally released from the long drive. They poked up the rear view mirror as their parents and grandmother tried to get them back under some semblance of control. While before him he could see a hairstyle moving in front of the drivers'. Another warning from the hunter part of him noting that it was unusual to sit and wait in a car for seemingly no reason. He reached for the key to the car, giving it a twist to turn off the vehicle leaving his hunting mind pondering.

The person in the car in front of him was just sitting there, and the strangeness finally gave him something to ground himself on. Focusing on the stranger and centering in defense of his home instead of the reality that it took 'this' long to 'get' home. He opened the door to the car, placing his thick leather booted foot on the driveway even as his other hand freed him from the belt buckle. He stepped out under the sweet air of the Belmont estate, and shut the door to the car. While the car in front of his gave the slightest of tremors as the drivers side door to 'that' vehicle opened.

A high heeled shoe clad foot touched down on the ground with an almost imperialistic force, the ankle and leg peeked out from behind the slit of the deep blue skirt the woman wore. The rest of her appeared as she stepped out of the vehicle. A deep oceanic blue business suit, a near pearl like white blouse, she was slender with her hair up in a up do. She looked as though she would be at home in a corporate office giving orders to an underling.

Yet that was only what his eyes told him, in his head she was wearing jeans, with a t-shirt newly untucked and her hair was a mop of curly blond. She was slender and toned, with a laugh in her eyes and a smile on her lips. She had been as dear to him as a sister and as he tried to force himself to see the CEO standing in front of him, the past kept fighting to stay.

For her part, the woman stood there, looking him up and down several times with an intense, scrutinizing stare as though seeking to scan his very soul. Checking to see if he was who he claimed his was without ever even asking for so much as his name. He passed some how apparently as she finally started losing her composure. Dipping down into car, though she strangely kept her head out so she could see him. She pulled out a white hankie from her purse all the while keeping her eyes on him, even as the lines on her perfectly done eyes started to run. As though he was a ghost that would disappear at any second.

"Yoko called me... she said 'Hey mom! I found Uncle Julius and he's heading back home as soon as he gets his family together'!" Valencia was the first to break the silence, despite the fact that it warbled and broke repeatedly. "And as much as a space case as she can act like... Where in the 'hell' have you been Julius? Thirty six 'years'? The victory celebration ended ages ago, the foods spoiled, the banners faded. There's 'fashionably late' than there's taking over three and a half 'decades'!" She demanded as she began to wipe at her eyes. "I wanted to think she was mistaken, or something, I shouldn't have worn make up."

"I'm sorry..." it was the only words that Julius could find to say, and even those few sounds came out cracked and broken.

"Julius Belmont you have some serious explaining to do!"