Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

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Sharp cracks of a whip carried along the air of the mostly silent Great Library like shot gun shots. Spells woven into talismans erupted into their own noise. Deep and resounding such as a gong, that pushed back the whip's enchanted leather corded frame. The walls barely muffled the sounds of combat that was taking place in the hallway.

The hallway, itself, hadn't changed since earlier,

Sam was in a combat crouching posture, stone faced as the Undead whip slithered out behind him. The air was littered with those strange talismans, white slips of paper that he saw from tv. Generally it made him think 'Japan', yet it wasn't the Japanese, or even any Asian, language that he recognized. Somewhere in the Middle East, but he couldn't narrow down the symbols as a talisman suddenly chimed a deep resounding 'boom'. Vibrating through the air it rattled the organs and bones in Sam's body.

Even looking down the hall was difficult, as the talismans created ripples in the air creating effects only seen in the hottest of deserts. Where through the mess of hovering sheets of white paper and black ink was the apparent Cult leader. The seal creating mad man who had sealed up portions of the castle.

"Oh hey, thanks for bringing down the seal!" Sam joked as he sauntered down the hallway towards the man standing before the large doors. The person was thin, bony in a way with dark hair neatly cut with clothes that suggested he had been planning to go to bed. But those talismans sent a warning flare in Sam's awareness.

The man started at Sam's words and began raised his hands, energy swirling about one of the hands before the slips of paper began to glow. Motivating Sam into charging forward, his whip snaking out and slapping away the papers... By popping one of the man's hands?

It popped off with all the flare of a pale balloon stabbed with a knife!

No blood flowed, or cry of pain, the cult leader looked put upon. But certainly not like his hand had just been popped off!

Comically until Sam noticed that the hand didn't 'fall down', it was just gone with nothing to show for it...?

'I guess that's what Death meant...' he mused to himself as the cult leader backed off alarmed.

Sam had placed himself between the door to the Great Library and the Cult Leader. A frown on his face had replaced the casually amused expression he had worn before. Not when his whip had scored damage but not proper injuries on the cult leader. The robes were torn in areas and there was signs of blacken blood staining it on its way to the floor. Blacken roses bloomed on the robes and tears that bothered him as they fought, causing Sam to process the light from outside.

'Well Soma doesn't have problems walking out in the day,' he reasoned and even then he found himself still wary.

For good reason when the talismans suddenly encircled him, sending a massive explosion of sound from every angle.

Then from across the hallway the Cult Leader was suddenly in Sam's face.

"I'm afraid I can't afford to let you live now," Michael stated as his hand grabbed hold of Sam's throat in a crushing grip.

The noise and force deafened Sam from hearing Michael, while the air was forced out of his lungs again. 'What is it with everyone going for my throat?' he thought in a daze. Wondering briefly if he 'should' have taken up stand up. Even as the back of his mind whispered that this was wrong. Something was wrong here...

Sam tried to stand up again only it felt impossible against the steel fingered grip holding him down to this half crouch posture.

Something was wrong...

'Can't be human...' he thought to himself as he grabbed a small bottle of holy water he kept stored. The robes were not flimsy, but holy water burned unholy items and beings, clothes didn't matter it went up just as well as...

It wasn't burning...

The robes should have been burning, ignited if this was a Dark Child and how could he... not be...

The world began to fade out as the water spread through out the robes. So Sam discarded the empty bottle and went extremely basic as he pulled out a knife.

"Why is my robe... ah... holy water I suppose? But you know holy water doesn't hurt humans," Michael pointed out as he tried to drag the hunter closer to the wall.

But the hunter, while not directly of the Belmont line, wasn't a normal human either. The youth was starting to break his hold and he couldn't sustain it when he was missing a hand. 'But Belmonts aren't sloppy when they train their hunters either...'

A sharp blade slashed through his robes, 'stupid, I thought the whole of the clans discarded the knife for its uselessness...' he thought to himself in alarm as he was forced to release the hunter.

The trace of blood on the knife was thin, and soon obscured as he summoned more talismans to serve as shields. 'Though now I know he uses even the useless, I should keep my distance... So long as his little partner doesn't show up I should be ok.' Michael thought to himself.

'Human?' Sam was left pondering as he gasped air into his lungs. 'No, Undead Killer responds to him, he can't be human. But what Dark Child has the power to ignore holy water when they've actively hurt others?' he found himself trying to figure out. His ears were still ringing and his bones felt like they were still being assaulted. 'The castle did turn half the cult into Dark Children out right, while the other half retained their humanity and got their magics amplified but...'

He opted out of using the crosses and grabbed the handle of his ax. Hurling it at an arc with the confidence of someone who had used ax hurling as a means to stop were fights on the regular. The weapon hurled smooth and followed its arc with precision sending the cult leader back with a wordless startled cry.

'So he expected a shield over head?' Sam realized as he ran his thumb against the leather wrap of his whip. Despite the number of whips he had inherited from his grandfather, somehow Undead Killer still felt like the whip he needed to use. The cult leader didn't move with the speed afforded vampires, he was clearly out in the day and the holy water had no effect on him.

Dashing away from the talismans was the first order of business, while Max was the magic expert, he knew enough that it was probably for the best he leave. With the increasing distance he 'did' start to feel more grounded back in his own body. Several talismans began to grow in size, turning whatever words were inscribed on them into lumbering golems that lumbered at him, their long weighted arms swinging from side to side. Helping them with forward momentum as they started approaching him. Even if the hallway, big though it was, wasn't quite the size necessary to properly house the pair.

Leaping over the pair sounded like a good idea, but with the talismans able to be placed anywhere... It left Sam sending out another enchanted ax, testing to see if he could damage the pair from above before sending out Undead Killer again. The ax did the type of damage Sam expected of metal on stone. While Undead Killer was proving that it still worked as it should, its deceptively simple leather design scoring deep gouges into the stone bodies of the golems.

The stone beings didn't care for the artwork that their rough hewn slabs of stone for arms tore from the walls as they attacked. Large boulder type fists that swung around and around. There was no 'eye' for Sam to focus and there was really no telling how they knew where to go. Or perhaps it didn't matter, this 'was' a hallway after all and one direction was still a direction.

As Sam fought off the golems a large pair of wheels with interlocking smaller rings, were summoned with eyes all along the outer part. It brought to mind wedding bands of silver gold, with multiple gold lidded eyes placed one after the other all down the rings. They didn't touch the lowly ground, instead hovering in the air. Despite spinning endlessly, the eyes were all focused on Sam. The center of the wheel made striking it harder, and even then there was less damage from the axes. Instead of deep gouging wounds they were mere scratches. These beasts glowed with a type of fire and even from here Sam could feel the holy attributes they possessed. Earning more of his concern how a servant of evil could summon holy creatures. The wheel continued spinning as it stood itself up in the hallway, the center hole starting to fill with energy.

"Oh crap..." Sam muttered and dodged out of the way as a laser shot across the hallway. It slammed into the doors at the end of the hallway blasting through and sending a shudder through the hallway. The shaking enough to alarm Sam as he dropped into a crouch.

True Soma could use Holy powers himself. From harnessing the Valkyrie to his strongest attack which was 'demonic' in that aspect that Soma was the 'Lord of Darkness'. "Who are you? How can you summon angels?" Sam asked, all his weapons were holy aligned, Undead Killers' strikes left no damage on the angel as it began rolling towards him. Sam might as well have attacked with a wet noodle with the way the whip lost momentum.

While behind it a massive series of white wings protruding out behind a single human head illuminated into existence. The hair was curled tight against the head and pure sunlit blond, the skin was alabaster while the wings were pure white with the tips of the feathers shining gold...

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"Did... did anyone else?" Alexis paused in alarm as she looked over her shoulder at the group. Where everyone was, indeed, staring at the structure around them in complete confusion.

"The castle flinched?" Max asked before walking over and placing her hand against the wall. The cool stone under her finger tips didn't feel any different, but there was the faintest tremble.

"Fa- Soma would have a better idea," Alucard answered coolly, looking against the walls and frowned. Holy power was increasing in a part of the castle, the part where the great library was from what he could tell. But that meant summons had to be used and who had the power to summon angels to the castle? While there were lesser demon counterparts to the Angels and things his father and the devil forgemasters had made.

These were actual angels.

"That level of holy power, if it was after Soma the castle would react differently, no, it..."

Alucard stopped, but the others stopped for a different reason as they began looking around and counted uselessly.

"Holy power? What about Sam? Can you at least sense where its at in the castle, Lord Alucard?" Alexis asked with Max right by her side, anxiety radiating off of them.

They weren't stupid, human perhaps, but they knew their limits. The strength of the hunters was based on their affinity with holy power. Against true angels a hunters unique powers were meaningless. While the Belmonts were cursed and able to defy an angel, the lesser hunter clans...

"We move. Now."

It was the only offering he gave of information. He turned on a dime, walking back the way they had come though with a quicker step. The Morris was the only one missing and against an Angel he would struggle, against 'several' and it was just a matter of time. The girls were already racing down the hallway, the LeCarde floating in the air, the Aulin running at full speed, even Yoko jogged past. But she turned to check back on Alucard with this cautious expression. Unsure if she could leave him behind.

But it was understandable, given that he was a half blood. It made sense she would worry over his over exposure to their power. Childish loyalty, but the Morris would need them more, with the male LeCarde and Belmont jogging after Yoko as well.

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It wasn't a long run.

Perhaps for the casual human it might have been. In ages past the witches would have been the slower to move, hampered by robes. Now they could hold their own readily with the Belmonts and other physically combative hunters. Just as well when Alucard wasn't in the move to pity walk with the humans. Instead they raced down the hallways, through a window there was a flash of light, pure and clean that beamed out before disappearing. Subsequent windows showing similar lights, the paintings, the curtains, and servants a blur as they passed by.

Relief was a true emotion when they could just run around every servant and not be forced to engage in any of them. In the distance they could see the clock tower looming over the courtyard and walls. A reminder of the nature of 'time' in the castle, and how those who stayed over long would be transformed into the Dark Children. But also that Sam was on his own fighting angels...

Tremors shook the floor and walls, the paintings rattling on their thin cords and nails that held them up. Rattled the windows against their latches and sending the vases to skitter across the ground.

"The hunter certainly has earned his place among the Belmonts," Alucards' sudden words managed to pull their focus away from running in surprise. He spoke with an approving tone which given what he just said was pretty damn high praise!

Recognized as a 'Belmont'?

"Sam's ok, right my Lord?" Alex asked as he felt his sister's heart skip a bit as surely as it had been in his own chest.

"There were four angels that I could sense, one was destroyed the others sent away," Alucard coolly explained.

"Sam kicked an Angels' ass?" Max sputtered in awe before giving several victory fist pumps at the news.

Julius, however; only pushed himself to run faster turning into fairly a blur for the other members of the group. Before them the other family members long dead were starting to fairly haunt the path. Serving as spiritual guide posts to the path he needed to take, the worry on some of their faces couldn't be denied. Charlotte and the LeCardes appeared stoically planted in one hallway, the Morris father and son pair weren't with them.

He pushed the doors to the hallway open, where sunlight was tinted more warmer gold as evening would be approaching soon. Fatigue would start to affect everyone given the number of hours they had been up and hunting. The girls need for a bath suddenly felt like some wildly correct idea, as Julius paused in the hallway.

Stripped of their paintings, the stone walls and floor were scored with burn marks blacken soot. On the ground near the entrance of the great library, a figure heavily cloaked was sitting on the ground. Sprawled over their lap he could see Sam bloody and burned with both Jonathan and John hovering over him. While Julius' senses said the hooded figure was a vampire, given the recent series of events he wasn't entirely sure if Sam was in danger. Certainly Jonathan would say something if his grandson was in the grip of a vampire!

"Sam!" he rushed over, dropping to his knees as his eyes scanned the injuries now that he was at the younger hunters' side.

Singed hair, bruised skin and thin rivers of blood trickled down the younger man's head as he laid there. His breathing was labored and strained as the young hunter fairly tried to swing his head to face Julius. "Cult..."

"No, rest Sam, the others will be here..."

Sam wouldn't be still though, reaching up he grabbed at Julius' wrist with a strained urgency. He swayed with pain. "Not human... vampire..."