Aria of the Ascending Soul

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta: By me...

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The first thing that struck Lodovico was that Soma didn't act like a typical teenager. While he, a Cardinal Bishop of the Church, dressed with his sensible, respectable black with red trimmed robes. In the mature regalia of a man who had spent most of his life in the service of the Lord. Walking into the room with a young man, physically decades his junior, despite being centuries old. Yet there the teen sat by the window, not a hair to imply that he either knew or cared that he was receiving such high company. Soma was dressed as though he was on a regular outing, unconcerned with being in the Church or meeting a Cardinal Bishop for the first time. He was relaxing in the love seat that rested below a window in the office, the curtain was open allowing him to view the morning light as it brightened the city around them.

When he finally opted to look at the Cardinal, Somas' casual glance was of Lodovico entering 'his' office. For anyone else, who may not have known about Soma, his behavior would have been the height of rudeness. Indeed the poor attending priest who was trying to do the introductions was mortified by the way Soma behaved. Even when the poor man got Soma to his feet, Soma never regarded Lodovico as anything more important than another person off the street.

Soma's whole being exuded control and superiority, the weight of centuries on the slender shoulders of a teenager. What was even more intriguing was that the cliff notes version of Soma's history pointed out that this was his personality since childhood. This wasn't something he inherited when he survived the castle, rather how he naturally was born.

Soma had never been written up about being abused, so there was a had long standing question mark about what made him behave the way he did. Children did not naturally grow up with the type of awareness that he had. Not for someone who was raised in a family like his, which for all points, was quite normal. He was described as one who seemed to be watching a performance rather than part of anything around him. He was well aware of his behavior and saw no flaw in it, but as to why he played that role? Well, that had been the great mystery of Soma Cruz.

After the regular introductions, Lodovico found the touch of misdirection to be interesting. Soma was quite willing to admit he was a Spaniard living in Japan, and that his name was 'Soma Cruz'. What he didn't admit was that he was born in Spain to a Japanese father and a Spanish mother, or that 'Soma Cruz' was a merely a foreigner's substitute for his real name. But he never answered the question of what his real name was. After the meeting, when Lodovico discovered the birth name, Jones seemed doomed from the start. Had he known Soma's real name then he would have killed the teen in the first minute of their meeting.

But it was a moot point then, Jones was dead as the castle acknowledged the return of its master and acted accordingly. Soma was a polite young man, when one started talking to him, well mannered and calm as a mountain. They spoke on a few matters as Soma presented a keen insight and impeccable manners. It wasn't until Soma began playing with a letter opener in the office that the Bishop realized that Soma was upset.

In hindsight, the tip off should have been his aloof disengagement of his environment then, when Soma picked it up and began focusing more on that than anything else. It was a simple opener, a long dull blade, a single elongated hoop for a handle, made in simple steel. Soma was twisting it like a manual top, without force he turned it around and around, his reflection bouncing back to him from the blade, but also off of a metal candlestick. Though the image was lost to the Bishop, the fact that there 'was' an image at all was not. Rotate once, Soma sat there brooding on some thought, rotate twice, Soma disappeared, rotate again, and again...

"Render therefore unto Cesar the things which be Cesar's, and unto God the things which be God's."

"Luke 20:25, though why such a random quote?"

Soma paused at his remark, his brows furrowed deep in thought when his hand stopped playing with the letter opener. It was almost as though he spoke without realization and had to back up and figure out the cause of the words. Were they a type of warning?

Soma didn't have a reflection.

In that moment Lodovico saw the panic born dismay in Soma's eyes as he suddenly flung the opener aside. He stood up, a nervous fear in him as he stalked his way back to the love seat, back into the sunlight. Which then illuminated 'why' he chose 'that' spot to sit, as the sun would burn away a vampire. As though he was trying to put a lie to the absence of reflection, the absence of humanity. He kept his face towards the ground, studying the shadow his body created as it blocked the sun. Whether it was to see if the shadow moved on its own, or disappeared all together, there was no telling.

That had been the start of it, with Soma now fixated on reinforcing that he was human, while occasionally casting glances at the door. At one point Lodovico noted that when Soma turned his head away to the door, his shadow... didn't as quickly...

Eventually the shadow stopped looking away from the door, even when Soma returned his focus to the Bishop. In hindsight, Lodovico could only assume that the reaction was based on Soma never having a vampires' sense of awareness or power. In the Castle's he was probably bombarded with an overwhelming sense of threat and danger. But here in the outside world, that sense of threat must have been much weaker. But the verse he quoted out of nowhere did make sense, if not to Soma. For in essence he was saying 'Take what belongs to you, but give me back my son.' A reasonable request seeing that the coffin of Alucards' was situated in a hidden tomb below the Vatican.

But at that time, the internal distraction would be was proven to be Arikado when Soma took off, one moment sitting there poised like a hunting hound strained to be released, then gone. External had been his need to continue appearing human, which got flung out the window when Soma left. Only the trace scent of burning flesh remained, alerting him, reminding him, that Soma was the supreme vampire king. Sunlight still burned his immortal flesh, at least when he allowed himself to be a vampire. Before Lodovico could rise the door had been opened and Soma had disappeared. No words spoken, nor clue what could have caused the sudden reaction that caused this. So in worry, he stood up and left his office rather than wait. After all, a vampire was running through the Vatican.

Crosses were bent, images of Christ burned on the edges, vases and other items that bore the mark of the Lord were tarnished, damaged, or just completely destroyed. Following that path of destruction that brought him to a fork in the hallway. But despite the initial display, of damage the trail eventually died out. If not for the fact that he was in a hallway when it ended, he would not have been able to continue.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The meeting that followed Soma's attack on D'Arsit raged on through out the night after the Pope arrived. Lodovico decided that Soma had arrived too soon. The reports stated that Soma had been taken to Arikado's sanctuary to recover after the battle, his condition had not been listed. Perhaps he was in a state of recovery, his spirit exhausted from the battles caused him to be closed off. But if that was the case, this was a poor time to have him at the Vatican undergoing such interviews.

But the damage was done. Soma, or rather Dracula, had lashed out in defense of his child reacting in a way that anyone could empathize when one considered the situation. Though Dracula did not hold back while humans did, or perhaps it was the mindset of a king, far used to doing as he wished with no regard to the commoner. The consequence came in the form of the Sealing Ring, a magical item that was created to suppress the powers of the dark being that wore it. An item that could not be removed save by the power invested by the Pope.

Thus now a situation was brewing in the edges of the church, with the news that the cults having merged. Arikado had gone to investigate the rumors that came from his informants. But since then he had been completely silent, no one having seen or heard from him. Now Soma was becoming agitated, traveling between Japan and the Vatican almost daily. Nameless wanderings, as though he expected to find Arikado hiding somewhere in the church. Granted no one had the permission to tell Soma the truth. That Arikado was investigating the cult in his continued mission to keep Dracula from returning.

But Soma's endless wandering was bringing Lodovico's mind back to that first interview, causing him to look around towards the shadows. Wondering when Soma's shadows would start to acting out on their own. If they could, perhaps the ring would...

Granted he should have been looking over paperwork instead of reminiscing such events that happened in the past. Yet now he had a much different reason to be distracted, that reason appeared in his doorway. Opening the door unannounced, a sudden and rather intense scrutiny that followed, was Soma himself. Soma was focused on the ground, his eyes giving the floor a sweeping that would do a well made vacuum proud. Then just as swiftly he retreated back into the hallway, even as Lodovico called out his name. Another call got the Dark Lord to stick his head back into the room, even as the elder, or was he considered 'younger', man stood up.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Cruz?"

"I lost my Elmo," Soma replied simply, having explained everything because it 'was' Elmo. He was beginning to slip back out of the doorway when Lodovico moved towards the door.

This would be as good a time as ever to in getting to know the man. Soma was distracted on something trivial giving Lodovico a passage to talk with. Perhaps he could learn more about the original Soma, or learn 'something'.

"Soma?" He stepped outside his office to find the pale one already halfway down the hallway. Examining rooms as he went on his way, on a leisurely walk through the Vatican, while looking for his Elmo. He called the name again, a little louder with success this time, as Soma turned to face him with an inquisitive look on his face. "What happened to the little one?"

Soma shrugged his answer before walking back towards Lodovico, "no idea, he went to return the tea tray and never came back."

"I see, the little ones have a knack for getting lost in the depths of the Vatican," Lodovico admitted in good humor. Soma shrugged, then ruefully nodded before allowing the bishop to fall into step with him.

"He does seem to do that, he has no sense of direction anywhere within the Vatican, which I think is a bit odd." Soma confessed as he moved along, going back in the direction he had been heading before Lodovico had stopped him.

"Well, to be fair, we normally do not permit them to such amounts of access, Mr. Arikado insisted on little Elmo to begin with," he explained to Soma with a faint amused smile. "Since, they tend to get lost, or cause a great deal of mischief."

"Ah I see," Soma's reply was simple, brief and showed his distraction. He didn't exactly speak like he was paying much attention to words. Again his eyes were focused on anything that might be able to hide a small child.

Lodovico wanted, very badly in fact, to ask about Arikado's upbringing. He was curious about how a vampire with no soul, or heart could find it in himself to fall in love with a woman and father a child. Much less raise one that was such a benevolent force for humanity. But how much did Soma recall on his own, and for that matter was willing to discuss? Clearly he was paternally protective of Arikado, even if he didn't know why. But there was no solid proof that Soma was aware that Arikado was his child.

The notion that Soma was showing such determination to find a small child reinforced this curiosity within him. After all they needed to know how many triggers Soma may have come with. Yet how to approach the topic...

"Soma, are your parents aware of anything that has been going on since the castle?" He watched Soma pause at the question, looking internally for the answer to that.

"No, they're used to my eccentricities and don't bother me about that anymore. I told them I caught the flu before when I was incapacitated at the sanctuary. It's not exactly something that is easily explained after all," he answered calmly.

"You plan to hide this from them forever?" Lodovico asked, curious about Soma's future plans.

"What do you expect me to do? Inform them that their son is the reincarnation of the devil incarnate? No, let them go on thinking that I'm just odd. Better yet, if I can make them forget I exist that would be for the best. Because once they come for me, they'll come for them," Soma explained, incredibly calm for all things considered.

But it was how he 'knew' that 'they' would come for him. No one had told him about the cults had they? Or was this something that Dracula was feeding Soma through the subconscious? Or just the expectation that, because he was a Vampire Lord, he would always be hunted.

"It's pretty annoying, all I wanted was to sleep and live this human life. If Graham was so obsessed about being 'Dracula', it would have served him better to let me go. All I wanted was to be released from the castle and get my friends out. Its stupid how people want things from me that I don't care to have and make a big production out of trying. Makes for an unnecessary body count to be sure."

They had paused in front one of the paintings of the crucifixion, one of several that the church had. Soma gazing up at the image of Christ bound to the cross, thoughts or emotions nothing flickered across his face. The interest of seeing a billboard on the side of the road one would assume.

"What do you think when you see images like this," Lodovico asked, genuinely curious about the answer.

"Scapegoat."

That... wasn't an answer he was expecting...

"That's all he was, he took the sins of humanity upon himself, correct? Yet humanity never stayed on anything that resembled a 'proper' path. That's all I am now, a scapegoat. They want to hold their wars, but so long as I'm the figure head they don't suffer. If I lose, they go back to their happy little holes and hide again. While I suffer an endless loop of history," Soma's bored voice answered that question. Both with incredible insight, and horrific clarity, as he spoke not as Soma with only two decades and some years, but as Dracula with centuries of contemplation under his belt. Speaking as the one who had lived ages and now, given a chance to look over his history book without knowing it in detail, could see all the flaws.

"He had faith in humanity," Lodovico pointed out, patient in tone as he wondered what Soma, or Dracula would think on that.

"Easy to have faith when no one has a direct line to drag you back to see how sick the world can be. You save people from an accident then move to another country. You never have to face the fall out if it turns out to be a drug cartel or human traffickers you accidentally saved."

The painting began to burn at the center, where his eyes had focused, causing the Bishop to pull Soma away. Was it because he was using his powers? But that was impossible given the nature of the ring. The blue eyes were tainted with vampiric gold at that moment, inhuman eyes.

"Soma? Am I speaking to you?" It was important, if Soma was gone, and with Arikado out of reach, who could contain Dracula on such short notice? Even Soma's expression was a look of confusion, an expression that was not welcoming on a person who was supposed to retain his own humanity.

"I believe we were looking for little Elmo," Lodovico restated gently, looking to guide Soma onto a safer path of thought.

Which Soma nodded confused as to why he was pulled from the painting and resuming his search for the little boy. A turn down a hallway revealed a pair of small feet sticking out from under a table cloth. Approaching said feet, provided them with a tray bearing a tea set, and the softest sounds of breathing with its source hidden by the cloth. Pulling up the cloth, revealed Elmo, fast asleep under the small decorative table.

An arm resting over his stomach, his whole posture so restful, he looked like an escaped little angel under the table. Save for the fact that it looked like he had started to cry at some point, his eyes showing the signs of dried tears.

"Elmo, wake up," Lodovico called out, not exactly at that age where he could just kneel down as easily as Soma did.

The boy's face scrunched up as he got disturbed from his sleep, eventually a few more calls got his eyes to open up. Small fists rubbed his eyes of his dry tears as he sat up, before he finally bothered to get a better look at the people who woke him up.

"Oh...!" the little boy crawled out to join the adults, climbing to his feet as he did so. "I'm sorry, I got lost... and every hallway looked the same so... so I..."

Soma knelt there, watching Elmo cry for a time, listening to the sobbed out explanation. He didn't really know what to do at times like this. Normally he just didn't care, figuring a parent like figure would take over. He wanted to refrain from touching Elmo easy prey made for easy snacks. But as he observed the meal before him, the tears seemed to bother him... Something in the back of Soma's mind wasn't pleased with the snack idea.

The knowledge was on the tip of his tongue, the feeling in his limbs told him to hold the boy. Before he got scolded for not doing it. So though it was odd to Soma, he did as instructed, pulling the smaller boy into his arms and letting the small one cry against him. Before she came to scold him for letting their little one cry alone. If he performed the act quickly, than Dracula's memories wouldn't filter in, the dark memories wouldn't override his own. Hopefully...

He didn't understand the reasoning, and it felt so odd to have the little one pressed in his arms. He wasn't one for wanting a child and usually avoiding kids because their active natures annoyed him. Yet if he didn't do what the feelings said, he was going to get frowned at.

For the Bishop, this proved to be an interesting observational standpoint. Soma was never noted for being a touchy feely type of person, yet here he was willingly holding a child in distress in his arms. The face bore no expression of understanding or sympathy, a puppet that performed an action upon command. Perhaps Dracula recalled a time with his own child and reacted on instinct because of it.

"I've been looking for you Elmo, I'm glad you're safe."

He wasn't sure, and it came out more like he was reading from a script rather than being sincere. Soma sounded awkward and confused, which, if Dracula was controlling him, there should have been more confidence. Shouldn't there?

"I'm sorry Mr. Cruz, I didn't mean to cause trouble," Elmo replied while sniffling, but Soma warmly ruffled the small boy's hair.

"It's not a problem, you don't have to worry about it."

Soma got the tray before he stood up, while Elmo got between the two adults, waiting for someone to show him how to get out of there. Soma was glad to have found Elmo, he didn't want to get in trouble for losing the child. They'd get so annoyed with him, and he didn't want that to happen. So it was for the best that he took Elmo and walked the small boy back to the front of the church. While Lodovico watched them off, Soma seemed more docile around Elmo. The Pope had mentioned that Soma seemed to calm down in Elmo's presence. Speculating that, perhaps, there was something about Elmo that made it harder for Dracula to react violently towards.