Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

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Simon seemed to start of rather verbally raging, but as Soma cleared up more and more text he found that it did die down. "I doubt they were mailing off holy water, that can literally be made in house. The oils, on the other hand, would sit better in the hands of the exorcists thus mailed out if needed." Soma commented aloud as he worked, his hands ghosting over the keyboard as he snipped away the unnecessary letters.

"The water is good enough and the world doesn't know the oils exist. So why mail them off?" Soma asked as Christopher sat down next to the keyboard. "No one can hear you, I doubt that the whole of the Vatican could be up to something. Then there's the kids, I can't imagine you'd abandon them in this situation. I mean you could possibly find a way to keep the kids from coming. But Elmo lives on the grounds..." Soma tilted his head to the side before shrugging. "Besides hiding the kids in your crypt, though that should be a last resort. I think that would scar the children."

"I still can't get over the dome that seems to exist over the Vatican." Richter admitted, turning to look over at Leon. "Would you be willing to talk about it here?"

Before Leon could decide on an answer, Simon spoke up from the floor, "I put it in the report, once Soma reaches it."

"Perhaps its me, but given that Kazu was born with his abilities. Would it be considered strange that there are no children in the choir who have similar abilities?" Richter asked, moving so he could look down at Simon from his vantage point.

Said man looked up at him before one ear dipped down, arms crossed as Simon tried to recall. "Yoko has mentioned before that Alucard is the reason Elmo is in the Vatican. But I've never been confronted by a child who had the same abilities as Kazu." He began quietly went over his memories of what Yoko had told him. He felt as though there had been instances.. Yet he had discarded it as unimportant, thus the details were a bit fuzzy.

But as Simon stood there he faintly recalled children who seemed to be fixated on him. It only seemed sane that there was a chance others were born like Kazu. "I... guess its because I only interact with the choir children. There are auditions that children take part in, of course, but until a child is accepted I never spent time 'with' them. Children tend to assume I'm a type of robot, if they grabbed a hold of me, they're realize I'm this..." Simon gestured towards himself his voice amazingly thoughtful as he remembered.

"If there was a way to detect or notice that these children 'could' communicate with you..." Juste offered as he began investigating the bottom of the desk. Looking for a way to crawl into the drawer with the book.

"That would be worrisome... If they could have joined the choirs save the fact that they can talk to us..." Simon looked down, not liking this.

"Perhaps they are being kept off to the side and prepared to be introduced into the exorcist sector of the church?" Christopher suggested thoughtfully. "But how to ferret out the person, it can't be De Luca. As much as he sighs and seeming begrudges his position its more because we distract the class at this point."

"Agreed, De Luca had been an assistant teacher, promoted only four years ago. Honestly there's no reason to appoint him to something he detests."

"He was an assistant? So where is 'his' assistant?" Richter asked, a pupper grin on his face. Thinking back to how harried and frustrated the man could get, especially when Richter or Juste were around and dealing with Elmo.

"Good question. Having brought that up, I'd honestly like to know the answer to that as well," Simon answered. "I would think he has to interview a would be assistant. But I can't imagine a reason to justify why he shouldn't have one. The process should be inside the Vatican, so its not as though they have to carefully broach the subject of self aware stuff toys walking around. "

"Though how do we ask him about it? I mean that seems a bit invasive and having Soma do it seems a risky for him..." Christopher noted when Leon, seemingly eternally silent spoke up.

"Mathias... how are people... employed..."

"In the Vatican?" Soma finished before shrugging. "No clue honestly. I'm not Catholic, or very religious, for obvious reasons. I could ask?"

"Trust someone there?" Leon asked, to the room in general.

"Trust is subjective, I could feel I could trust someone and they not feel the same towards me. So I'm going to assume that it's a 'no', on the clan's part." Soma answered with a faint apologetic shrug while behind Leon the others spoke up.

"He has a point, it would be better to wait until Alucard has returned and have 'him' ask those questions. Soma is essentially a criminal in a sense they won't want to give that type of information to him. Alucard, on the other hand, works 'with' the church so if he doesn't already know off hand. If it can be phrased right, there's no reason why he can't get the info on his own." Juste noted as he carefully pawed at the small gap between the back of the desk and the drawer.

"Its like a game a telephone..." Simon groaned covering his face.

"Wait til guardian... returns..." Leon finally answered as Soma pulled back from the computer.

"Makes sense, when he finally comes back, hopefully I'm still alive by that point," Soma quipped as he looked at his phone. The message light blinked its unique sign that he was getting a text from Mina.

Can you take a photo of Leon for me? Ai and Momoe have been invited to a photo shoot and need a stuffed toy to bring. Ai suggested bringing Leon, but I'm afraid that his soul might appear in an actual photo. So I want to do some tests with him... If that's ok with the two of you.

'Yeah that would be awkward to see Leon's human soul in the photo instead of an adorable dignified lion..' Soma agreed mentally as he lifted up the phone. "Smile for the camera Leon."

The lion turned to look at him, his hands resting on his lap and the same static expression on his face. "Camera? Oh... Why?"

"The girls want you to go with them on a photo shoot and Mina is concerned that your soul might manifest," Soma explained.

"Reasonable and forward thinking that one..." Christopher agreed with a nod.

"Though why Leon? I can't image girls 'not' having toys of their own to use," Richter noted as he stood up from his place so he could move out of the photo.

"No, you can stay in it Richter. I'm taking several and comparing something Yoko created versus something the Castle created can be useful. A contrast, but in case Mina shows the photos to someone else... Please no emoting..." Soma explained as he moved his phone just so. On his screen he saw nothing abnormal, just a dressed up toy lion and a toy dog.

There were no after images, hints of former knights or vampire hunters, even in the background where Simon was out of sight but present. But he hadn't pressed the button or sent it. Who knew what Mina would get when the photos would arrive. Leon stood up and situated himself into a proper sitting position so he was facing Soma. The only 'odd' thing about him would be that he was sitting straight up without back support.

"Or ask Julius..." Soma suggested as he got back on to the topic at hand. "But how would one even ask those types of questions. I'm sure we can skip the 'why doesn't De Luca have an assistant' and be a little more on point. It would be too easy to excuse the lack of assistant as a lack of members in the choir after all."

Click.

Well neither plush looked radically different or abnormal in the photos, Soma couldn't see any particular sign of the hunters on his end. But there was still the issue of sending the photo off and seeing if 'that' showed anything. Be it old time or digital, capturing spirits on camera was still possible... He held the phone out so the pair could see themselves, waiting patiently until Leon gave his ok before sending it off.

"I really do look like a childs toy..." Richter quietly bemoaned. "Its funny that after all this time I still expect to see a human face when I look at me..."

"Its taken time to actually get comfortable taking ourselves seriously. I mean given how we look..." Christopher noted with a nod.

"Which when Grant told me, I didn't believe... Until now." Soleil's voice floated over Somas' head as the man floated in.

"Damn it," Christopher grumbled as he looked up at his son. Honey blond that reached just past his shoulders, and in soft doe leathers, with a belt of leather that carried his own set of hunter tools. Soleil was as tall as his father, though not quite as broad chested. He was a pretty solid build though, more on Richters' side than Simon's if one was to measure size that way.

"Bout time you got somewhere that we could reach you at father," Soleil retorted as he lowered himself closer to the ground.

"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later," Richter ruefully noted, while Soma spared only a glance over the shoulder.

Soma didn't respond, instead turning his attention back to snapping a few more photos of Leon and Richter. Leaving group to fixate their attention onto Christophers' son, Soleil.

"Well, we've learned there's a shield around the Vatican which is probably, strangely, why you can't reach us there," Simon commented.

For which Soleil nodded, "indeed, and its still strange that they're using your bodies and yet we're being rejected. But I'm here to let you know what's been going on." Soleil stated before sighing, his father was a teddy bear. If this had been a stunt of Draculas' he could at least curse the Vampire lord, but that it was Yoko...

That dog looks familiar.

You met him at Kazu's place.

Oh, yes... wait so aren't they related?

Yeah, just with a long stretch of centuries between them.

Aww kind of cute. I don't see anything in the pictures though. I'll check one more time when I'm off the temple grounds, just in case.

Ok.

I want Leon back.

No.

We got him more clothes.

I'm sure you did.

He's part of the photo shoot.

Why?

We want Leon back.

"Leon, be thankful you're a stuffed toy," Soma muttered as he put his phone away in resignation.

"Why?" Leon asked as he shifted his attention from Soleil's report back to the Vampire Lord.

"Apparently the Lolita ladies have requested your presence for a photo shoot. So unless you show up in the camera in a way that shows your human soul..."

'Wait, so I could go back to the shrine? Its not been long enough, but perhaps I can see if there's been any noticeable signs of mending. Also maybe get to talk to Lady Elizabetha again about what Soleil has been discussing with the clan...' Leon thought as he shifted his gaze to the blond hunter. And frowned. 'I think we found where the oils would be shipped to, if what these vampire children that LeCarde person found are telling the truth. At least we know where it went to, at least in one location, though what if there are others?'

"That isn't good, if they have the oils... wait. You don't think that's where the church sent the oils to... do you?" Juste asked as he gave up on the shelf and finally crawled out from under the desk.

"Its... possible, but what's a 'canned hunt'?" Simon asked as he looked over at the spell caster in their group. 'Since I'm positive it's nothing as pathetic as hunting a can of soup or some such nonsense.'

"I think it would be a question we'd have to ask Soma," Richter noted with a faint shrug. "If you don't know, at least he has means to look it up."

"I wouldn't suggest it Richter," Soleil warned, "these children were kept imprisoned since about the 90's. Yet despite being humans turned, they know about Alucard and Dracula, we can't chance Soma learning about this. Any motivation to get angry when we can't even find the strongest person who could talk him down would be ill advised."

"There's more to this then?" Juste asked from the floor as he looked up at the spirit.

"Yes, I fear so. We weren't with the LeCarde when he first found them, but he was quietly seething as he spoke to the pair. Whatever it was they experienced, what ever it was he saw, he's barely contained outrage. But until one of us can actually communicate with him, its best to stay on the side of high caution. At least around this guy..." Soleil tilted his head towards where Soma was blithely working away on the computer.

"There are dummy locations set up around the world, we can't be sure if Alucard is there or not because there are so many. Uniformed in size and shape, we're also having difficulty crossing into various lands because of a set of shields that are blocking the nature spirits. Granted we're dead souls so that might be why we're getting through at all. But it's a hard passage that's for sure," Soleil explained as he moved to see the rest of the clan.

"This can't be done by humans, its too detailed," Simon finally grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. "This is the type of planning that would take generations, I know I don't have skills with magic. But just to get to the proficiency necessary to pull these stunts off? That summoner was dealing with demons, so what can the rest of her little cult capable of?"

"Think one might have gotten possessed?" Christopher asked as he got up and joined the others at the other end of the desk.

"Yeah, they're stupid enough to think 'controlling' demons is simple after all," Simon answered while Juste nodded slowly.

"Its possible, granted we don't deal in possessions, but if one found a way to survive in a human host. Perhaps they also found a way to circumvent conventional protections..." Juste sat down and rested his paw against his face as he thought on it. "More over, it would protect them from Soma because they would be safe in a 'human' host..."

"Richter, I believe being possessed is 'your' stock in trade here..." Simon pointed out in mocking briskness.

"Says the walking zombie..." Richter growled low in annoyance as he took a flying leap off the top of the desk after Simon.

"Going to take that as my cue to leave." Soleil spoke mostly to himself before turning to his father and adding, "I'll let the others know you're here, they've been hanging out at that Kazu's place since they couldn't reach you." Then with a sly grin finished with, "I'll let mother know you're here too father. You're too adorable for her to pass up."

"I WILL GROUND YOU!" Christopher began only for his son leave through the wall, a good natured chuckle the only sound he made.

"She's going to bring the other wives isn't she?" Juste asked quietly in mounting concern as he turned to look at his own soft fluffy plush form.

"Think we have enough time to go back to the Vatican?" Richter asked as he headbutted Simon off his feet.

"Race you?" Juste offered, all the while Leon watching them and shaking his head.

"We have a duty." He pointed out as sternly as one could with a voice box and a lion shaped toy body.

"To..." Soma began distracted.

"Their wives..." Leon sighed. "Visiting here soon..."