Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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Wind whistled through the whole of the town, carrying the soft spoken sound of Alexis explaining what she experienced when she woke up. A low moan of the wind punctuating her accounting of how 'Death' had appeared before her. Lending Its aid in saving the lives of children had been...The lights from before were still burning brightly, all around yet even that felt dim when the mention of Death was spoken.
"I... ransacked this place a time or two yes? I recall a blueberr... Richter! Richter, Richter, fluffy mutty Richter..." Soma began his voice cutting itself off from how he 'used' to remember that particular Belmont... To how he recalled him now.
"That shell wasn't based on a 'mutt'!" Yoko huffed, offended. "I... don't recall if his shell has a breed though..."
"'Stop' trying to recall the past, if you would be so kind." Alucard pointedly ordered, his voice directed at Soma. While he waited on the others to decide a direction to go in.
The women could only see Soma's back as he turned to face Alucard. A slight slump of the shoulders was about the only indicator to Soma's reaction. Slowly he began to shake his head, whatever he was thinking, he didn't bother sharing. Proper upbringing could only go so far, and Soma could hear the nuance in Alucards' voice. Instead he turned to walk further into Aljiba, approaching a street lamp. "Where is everyone?"
"By now? Probably at the hospitals or churches," Alexis theorized as she walked after him. Her shoes clipped quietly on the stonework side walk and down to the asphalt road. As much light as the road had, it wasn't nearly enough to see well into anything. Small sudden fires that had sprung up earlier had, thankfully, died down. Only the occasional whiff of smoke on the breeze remained to cite the presence of an open flame.
Even the presence of the breeze that carried it was a welcome respite from their silent walk. As the wind still avoided the presence of the Castle with all its strength. It caressed the folds of her clothes, stroked her cheeks and warmed her with the scents of nature that was near absent after the presence of the Castle.
They started shooting ideas on what could have happened to the Cult, she and Yoko. After all the cults were in town before the Castle appeared yet there had been no sign of them since. Theories were tossed about, the most likely being that they were all killed. Like everything else that got too close to the Castle. Comfort was found in each others' voices, even as it was also intended to bait the men with them into joining in. Neither men were of the particular 'chatty' variety, yet Yoko often had an fairly easy time dragging the guys into a conversation.
This was not one of those times...
Suddenly Soma stopped walking, his head cocked slightly to the side as though he was listening to something. "So everybody is hiding?"
Everyone stopped to give him their attention, the comment a little disconcerting. Were it an idiot, it would have been easy to remind him what Alexis said. Yet this was 'Soma', neither an idiot, or...
"Soma?" Yoko asked walking to catch up to the Dark Lord.
He turned to address her, but his focus was on something else clearly. "I'm stretching my senses to the reasonable limits and I don't hear anything outside. Faint movement indoors though..."
Words that startled the others as he to give them all his focus, "no insects..." He turned to towards Alucard who had been on his right. "No wild or outside animals animals... or humans... I sense only Vampire Killer, and Julius...In town but further in... Yet nothing stands between he and us. Nothing living that is..."
The women looked at Alucard, their eyes uncertain as Alucard reluctantly began to nod. "Nor do I sense anyone around us. But that could merely be the old mans' doing."
The reply got a bark of laughter out of Soma, sending his shoulders shuddering in amusement as the other three turned to look at him in alarmed surprise. "Now, now, be nice, Death means well and you know without It, the world would rot." Soma replied good naturedly as the women began to strain their own feeble human senses to try and hear something.
Were it the Castle, the silence would make sense, even though the Castle was rarely silent. Flames from candles, the creak of old wood or the ruffle of fabric from curtains could always be counted on. Indeed silence in the Castle was often a blessing, for it accompanied the cleansing of the air after a particularly nasty spirit was driven out.
Instead there was only the soft echos of Soma's laugh bounding down into shadows of the town. "Soma, Arikado..." Yoko began only to have Soma nudge her vocally with a polite.
"You can call him Alucard, I would think the pretense of dark illusions has past, don't you son?"
It was a modest comment of sorts from Soma, yet at the same time it called out Alucards' false 'given' name 'Genya' and how it translated. The dhampire said nothing in response, as though he wished to be melt into the darkness around them. Across the street from them was a small pub, the lights were still aglow, casting a neon light into the darkness. But the smell of smoke or liquor that should have been escaping out of the door was all stale. Nothing new had been lit up that night.
The rest of the business' were quiet, their lights off, while the gentle rolling of the land extended the appearance of roofs and buildings as a whole. Leading up to the moon and the morning light... the light...
"SHIT! The bus!" Yoko suddenly exclaimed, with a force that sent her voice bouncing across the road. A ball that escaped a small distracted toddler who just remembered something important. Everyone turned to face her as her eyes widen in a panic, "its supposed to come back today. But I mean the moon is really off its course. The town is seemingly empty..." she began when her voice dropped as the echos cowed her. "Won't it? What if the people on the bus are like the town?"
"I don't think that would be the case... Doesn't sound right," Soma commented quietly. "Aljiba is different in that its been so close to my castle for so long. The Castle may have done something..."
"Done 'something'? Father there are innocent civilians involved, kindly elaborate," Alucard retorted. Irritation actually evident in his voice even as he finally said 'it'.
"Son, the castle isn't like most organic life forms. It has grown and learn since it was united with the Chaos. Now though it only has the darkness, can you blame it to react as though half its body has been stripped away." Soma gently chided as he sighed softly, "its learning as am I. We have to learn to live with the lack of limitations. After all chaos is neither good nor evil, just a necessary existence to ensure that stagnation isn't allowed to exist. Even I could never control how it would form with absolute precision."
From standing apart to suddenly standing before Soma, barely restrained emotions emanating from the dhampire. "Then how do we know what the castle is doing?" Alucard demanded.
Soma closed his eyes, and from Yoko's perspective he appeared tired, speaking as his pale blue eyes opened again. "You let me go back to the castle and I can get a hard read on what's going on. That's the choice; let me go back and I can figure out what's going on, or I stay out and guess. But if I go back, I may not have the strength to leave it again."
Yoko and Alexis exchanged glances in concern before they turned their attention back on the men.
"Alucard?" Yoko began when the dhampire snapped around and faced the other way.
"I'll locate Julius, there is a hotel here. Take Soma there and wait for us," Alucard ordered before he took off walking. Not even pretending to use normal human speed and instead was rapidly disappearing down the street.
"Go with him Yoko, I will attend to Lord Alucards' father." Alexis suggested only to see Yoko shake her head mournfully.
"I wish that would work, but I'm afraid it won't," Yoko began yet Soma shook his head.
"No, she has a point, even if he won't talk to you. It was Trevor and Sophia that were two of his first adult friends. Granted Grant isn't here, but even if he doesn't say anything, he'll take comfort in your presence." Soma reassured the witch with worn gentleness.
Yoko frowned at the fatigue and cast her gaze back towards Alexis. Reasonably looking at it, Soma didn't appear to have it in him to start a fight... For a moment she stood there conflicted, the need to be supportive to the man who had been supportive to her for her whole life. Then there was Soma, who had been like a little brother. Until he started talking like he was older than all of them.
Alexis watched as Yoko gave a backward wave as she went running down the street, leaving the LeCarde alone with the Lord of Darkness himself. Faintly illuminated by the streetlamp near by, the pair watched as Yoko's maroon colored clothes disappeared into the distance. Her halo of blond hair the last to fade away, leaving the pair alone.
"So they actually put a hotel here? Never figured for the place to be big enough to validate such a thing," Soma noted as he drifted over to the streetlamp. Looking about with an almost tourist type of interest.
"Its not a big one really, 'hotel' is actually stretching it really," Alexis confessed as she began floating along the way. "But you can rest there... How are you feeling?" She asked turning to observe Soma, her eyes glancing to try and see his ring bearing hand. Only the cuff of his sleeve blocked her modest attempt at viewing it. 'But how do I ask him to let me see it? I've not got the relationship to him as Lord Alucard or Yoko does...'
"I see..." He replied and followed her as they traveled.
Past multiple modest shops, buildings lost to the darkness, Alexis keeping her senses strained as she tried to hear something other than the soft ruffles of her clothes. Or the soft click of Soma's boots, if the town had become infested with monsters, they didn't rush out against the pair. But if there were still humans, they were making no sound or drawing attention to their own presence either.
No snuffling of dogs looking for food, or yowling cats crying out into the night, if the castle and the harsh change of the moon had affected them. Perhaps that would have been why they were quiet yet... 'I would expect a panic, not this absolute silence...' Alexis thought.
"LeCarde, explain to me something," Soma finally broke the silence between them with a causal tone.
Alexis turned to face the Dark Lord, only to see a pair of gold eyes fairly glowing in the darkness staring out at her. "Why did you let them crucify my son?"
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Alucard and Yoko \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
"Al! Al! Wait up! Please!" Yoko called out as she ran as hard as she could without overtaxing herself. Granted there was no way in hell she was going to catch up to him... But if she could get her voice to reach him... Then in the distance, she could just barely discern an outline of a man standing in the center of the road. His back was to her yet as she got closer she could see him turn, just enough to look over his shoulder at her. 'I know that look! That's a Soma look! But I'm not saying that out loud because I want to live.' Yoko thought to herself as she gratefully waved at the dhampire.
Perhaps there was truth in Soma's words, as the dhampire turned away yet he didn't rush off again. Instead he waited until she approached before he began moving forward, at a human's pace. She couldn't see the path he was following and merely trusted his sense of direction... "He's not gone Alucard. He's still here, and ok dangerously close to the edge but he's been like he was for ages. We couldn't just believe he would make and sustain a complete 180 overnight..."
"He was 'supposed' to stay dead Yoko," Alucard replied stiffly yet he spoke at all.
"I know... its exhausting, you've been working at this for centuries and its like... He just walks through everything we've done like its a spiders web. Lesser beings would be crushed yet he's here still, but its not over. We can't give up on him!" Yoko pointed out as she jogged her way over to his side, trying to get him to look over at her.
"As I recall you're a human, you'll die and I'll be still trying to deal with my Father," Alucard pointed out sharply. A reminder of how many generations of Belmonts and various groups had come and gone helping trying to 'deal' with Dracula.
The first words on her tongue were to point out how the clans had stayed earnest to the cause all this time. Yet knowing that this was due more to a curse than voluntary determination silenced her. For a moment, but this 'was' Yoko, "this is a group effort, more over you've inadvertently proven that redemption 'is' possible for him."
"Yoko what you're describing is fine for humans, you live finite lives and the amount of damage you can inflict... While it can be protracted and escalate astronomically, 'can' have the damage mitigated. Father's 'redemption' has already cost hundreds of lives in failed Black Masses 'alone'," Alucard pointed out as he turned down a seemingly random street without warning. "And now this?" He cast his hand in a sweeping gesture to take in the Castle. Now much lower in the sky, as a sign that Soma had been correct.
The castle 'was' returning fully to the earth.
"This was a bunch of idiot humans with a God complex," Yoko pointed out. "Even if he wasn't back it would have been someone else."
"'Should'," Alucard replied coldly while Yoko shook her head.
"Maybe we need to stop looking at things in terms of Absolutes. That whole nonsense about God being Absolutely good, or the Devil being Absolutely evil. Go back to the times before absolutes were somehow religiously mandatory. You know, the way things were 'before' Theodosius the First?"
'For God to be Absolutely Good...' Alucard thought to himself, disgruntled by how Yoko could point out such flaws.
"First whole book is basically one long 'And this is how God screwed over general humanity to make his point. With a side bar of people he willingly struck dead just to test the loyalty of a few..." Yoko pointed out as well, and if Alucard had been raised to do so, he would have sighed.
It felt as though that toy that was in his dream had come to life and was tormenting him now that he was awake. The video game quotes drifting on the edge of his memory. He might as well have been walking along with that stuffed toy version of Soma with him. "Yoko I don't want to discuss this, any further."
His tone was neutral, and he expected arguing since that was her response as a child, yet her momentary silence was appreciated.
"Yeah well, you were asleep for quite awhile, I guess you probably need to sort things out with an awake mind more than a sleeping one..." Yoko theorized aloud.
"Yoko?" Julius' gruff voice rolled out of the darkness with the smoothness of age. His voice more like the practiced tone of a grandpa than a vampire hunter!
"Hello!" Yoko called out, her voice going instantly back to that perky happy tone she often used when greeting friends or soon to be friends. She cast her gaze about looking for the aging hunter while Alucard hung coolly down behind her.
Julius was found facing a shop window, his head turned to follow the sound of Yoko's voice. He was wearing his leather coat and pants, with a white button on shirt with his red kerchief under his beard. Vampire Killer wasn't visible though it, rather 'she', was just a whip and was probably tucked under the coat. Given that Soma already confirmed it was here...
Hunters' gear through and through, meaning that Julius came prepared...
"So the Castle has returned," Julius commented as he approached them, his voice resolute and strong despite what it meant.
"He's still Soma, he hasn't shifted I mean he started to then shifted back," Yoko recounted as she moved to the side so that Alucard was included into the conversation.
"Its good to see you again Alucard, I hope you're doing well," Julius greeted Alucard, though he caught Yoko's lips twisting in response to his comment. That sardonic 'ooooh I have something to tell you' way that her mother used to use when she was a teenager.