Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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He had a clear view of Kazu sitting at his desk studying when the phone began ringing. At this hour it was unusual though not unheard of. Trevor had grown vastly accustomed to sitting on an elevated perch and looking over Kazu's shoulder. When suddenly some random person would call screaming about a ghost. Years of this had allowed him a high proficiency in Japanese and while the topics never interested him... It never hurt to keep his studies up!
Kazu appeared to reach for the phone absently, but he did look at the screen before he swiped the screen up.
"Moshi, Moshi... Oh... Ahem... Hello?"
Kazu's gaze drifted from the 'Italy' listed phone number to Trevor with growing apprehension. It wasn't his sisters' number, and the time was incredibly late... for him, but reasonable for someone in Italy.
"Woman will you talk to him? Or give me the damn phone!" Simon could be heard in the background.
'Well that explains the silence,' Kazu thought to himself semi amused by the angry hunters' voice. He sat up on straighter at his desk and Trevor was already sitting up attentively silent as he waited.
"Um hello..." A woman's voice hesitantly began... causing Kazu to slightly wince. Italian wasn't one of the 'big' languages taught in college, that went to Chinese or Western English be it American or European.
"Hi... I umm is that Simon in the back?" Kazu asked, though it was a shot in the dark of its own.
"You know Mr. Simon?" the woman sounded surprised and then there was this small sound of shuffling.
"Kazu! You need to contact Mina and your mother tonight! Mina 'needs' to have Leon with her!" Simon didn't even bother with preamble or a proper greeting. As rushed as he spoke it left the pair alarmed and Trevor hyper focused on the information Simon was giving. Kazu ended up looking down at Trevor as lost as the hunter by his side was.
"Simon..." Trevor began...
"The pope is in danger, he literally evacuated the majority of the childrens' choir for their own safety. But their families aren't safe and no one in the Vatican is either. You need Leon to prove who he is to the clan secondaries since all but one active leader is in the castle and out of contact. That means Valencia 'needs' Leon by her side in case her mother hears about this. Valencia needs to get the clans here 'now' to start protecting the civilians."
"And if they find out about Kazu..." Trevor rubbed his chin with a paw before nodding. "I understand, we'll do what we can on this end. Lucky for you, the clans are mostly 'in' Europe so they're closer to you. The trick will be trying to convince the clans over video calls that Leon is who he claims to be." He noted before the woman apparently took the phone back.
"Umm I'm Mrs. Raena Conti, and my son came home early with a number of his fellow choir boys..."
The woman opted for English and Kazu could only internalize the sigh of relief he felt when he heard it. "Ah yes, I was told that there was a threat to your son and the others?"
"The bear... you can understand this bear?" Mrs. Conti sounded utterly stunned while Simon just sounded put out from where ever she had put him.
"Yes, well I'm a spirit medium, and he isn't a 'bear' as much as a soul bound 'to' a bear." Kazu began and braced for the potential ridicule or dismissive response he often got. If not for his struggles with her thick Italian accent, and undoubtedly his thick Japanese one, than the fact that he talked to dead people.
"She's trying to hold it together but she's on the verge of tears." Simon could be heard on the other side of the phone.
"The bear in question is my older sisters', so I have known him all my life. I suspect he is acting a bit course or bears a very strong personality."
"My son is trying to be brave, his faith in God is unwavering, but his friend is very scared. What he spoke of has me worried, and the choir boys fear for their families... What should I do? How do I explain this to the police?"
Kazu was grateful that he was already sitting down as he heard that, while Trevor bashed his brains for something comforting.
"Simon is there anything you can do on your end? Even if we can round up the clans it will take hours if not days to get them in place." Trevor pointed out as Kazu continued talking to Raena.
"I will contact people who will be able to help. While I realize this is troubling, can you please let me speak with those children? Perhaps they can give some insight as to what has been happening?" Kazu suggested.
"I don't want them to relive whatever happened though," Raena argued, she walked down to the bedroom she shared with her husband. A spirit medium? The bear that was following her had a soul bound to the toy? 'If I laid down and went to sleep would this go away? Would I wake up and find that it was all a strange dream?'
"The Vatican has become warped. Juste found Pope Dionysus in the the Vaults and someone has turned him. He's sent a warning about the church. Also things like the paintings and statues have been moving and showing signs we would associate with the castle. You 'need' to get the clans over here, some of the priests have been turned into thralls. Elmo has seen beastly or demonic features on the people around him." Simon called out, annoyed at how he was talking over Conti, she needed to speak yes.
But he understood that the less time they were exchanging information the sooner Kazu could see about getting the clans mobilized!
"I realize this is difficult, and more so because of my accent... But Simon has been talking about what he has seen and heard from the children. So I will go with that, may I call you back to keep you updated on what is being decided on over here?" Kazu asked politely.
"I wish you had a second phone..." Trevor bemoaned as he sat there his eyes looking at the clock on the desk. It was late and he wasn't sure when Mina went to sleep or where Valencia was at the moment. Would either wake up if they were sleeping? Or would they just wait until the morning to check the phone? "I need to get to Alucards' sanctuary." Trevor announced, "even if all they can do is be alerted to the situation, there is a path to the castle through the sanctuary now."
"Alucard probably is in charge so he can send the Dark Children out, or at the very least rein in whatever is going on," Simon agreed.
Trevors' ears pricked up and he couldn't fight the grin on his furry face at Simon's words. No griping about how they could have gone to the castle directly if the kids didn't... "Simon, I'm assuming all four of you are together. How did you get out of the Vatican?"
"The kids came to Yoko's suite and stole us," Simon answered without any real anger. "They were scared though. If you had mentioned Alucards' sanctuary before I probably would have yelled about it. But now hearing what those boys have gone through, I can't fault them for stealing us up like this. They've been talking about the nuns falling ill today and their Choir teacher was suddenly replaced without warning. They have no adults supervising them and it was all they could do to keep it together to get here. Its not the full choir either, these are 'kids' Trevor. But I'm not going to be surprised if they have dead classmates when the dust settles."
Kazu's face went white as he looked down at Trevor, "is it safe to gather them to her home?" He asked the hunter. "If you can get sister or someone..."
"Alucards' sanctuary isn't like that, I'm fairly confident that Yoko can't just relocate where she appears. At most she'll appear at the Vatican and could very well have to fight her way out." Trevor pointed out calmly as he rubbed his chin. "Alucard will have to make the adjustments..."
"If the children know their own home numbers they can call their families sure," Simon noted, "but her home isn't big. The number of boys here means there will be a 'lot' of people and that's a danger. It wouldn't be any trouble to start a fire and burn them to death and make it appear as an accident."
"We need Juste, Simon get him to the phone 'now'," Trevor barked out, his ears bent back at that horrible image.
In the background they could hear Simon calling out for Juste, while Raena finally spoke again. "Is... who is with you? If I may ask?"
"Well, if you want I can turn on the camera," Kazu offered, and hit the button for the camera.
Which was probably a mistake because Raena was barely holding on as the camera came up on her end. The background of the room she was in had the appears of a bedroom, he could see dressers, and other furniture he associated with Western homes. The poor woman looked completely frazzled, and on the verge of tears no less. She had this pale colored blouse and the light wasn't on in the room. Instead it was coming from somewhere off camera, and likely the hallway or bathroom. Making her own expression shadowed while elevating this sense of worry or dread."Forgive me, its very late here and I was amid studies..." He apologized.
Trevor bounded up and rested himself over Kazu's shoulder so the woman could see him, unsurprisingly she did a double take as he sat himself up.
"This is Trevor, he is family to Simon and the other toys that were brought to your home. They are currently trying to figure out a means to protect you and the other families while they get help."
"I'm here!"
Juste could be heard, though he was out of visual sight.
"Juste you know what is going on in the Vatican. Tell Kazu what the woman can use to help repel the possible threats if they come for her. She can share that with the other families because there's no way we can get anyone in place in time," Trevor ordered.
Raena looked to the side and after a moment leaned down and the camera got tilted as she reached for Juste. He was placed on the bed and the camera swung almost wildly as she readjusted it to put Juste in frame.
"So the thralls..."
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"My little Ponies..."
"I am writing you out of my Will Yoko, I swear to GOD!" Valencia growled as she rolled over and grabbed the phone. It was a red eye fury borne stare that she gave the phone as she lashed out to slap her hand over the device.
It wasn't even Yoko's number.
It was Kazu's and how the HELL DID YOKO HAVE THE TIME TO HACK HER PHONE AND CHANGE THE RING TONE!
Her sweet, gentle bamboo flute ring tone replaced by a...
"Yes son, what is it?"
"Mother the Vatican has become infested with thralls..."
Valencia shoved her blond hair out of her face as she pushed herself to her knees in bed. The blanket and sheets slipped off her back as she sat there listening to her son's report. All thoughts of going Homer Simpson on Yoko forgotten as Kazu continued speaking. He wasn't even formal or polite, just straight to the point!
"He managed to send the childrens' choir out and they went to one of their members' homes. Simon got Mrs. Conti to contact me and between her, Simon and Juste we've tried to get something that they can readily find to protect themselves until help can arrive. Right now only one family knows, Juste has given all the advice he can about how to keep the thralls from entering the house. But the other families need to be notified, while their kids could possibly be sent home soon. Simon and Trevor are both insistent that I connect you to Mina, and you can speak to Leon. He's going to need to prove to the clans his identity and get them to move out until the hunters leave the Castle."
Worry twisted up Valencia's stomach as she heard Kazu.
Her hotel room was a world of blacks and grays. The curtain was shut, but there were slivers of morning light peeking from the edges. But they did nothing but make the darkest parts of the room that much darker. Illumination did not restore color to the room, the carpets retained this unappealing sickly gray, the wood of the dressers and tables appeared dull. All the while she could hear her mothers' voice in the form those splotches of muted color chastising her for Kazu's continued presence.
Men could 'not' be trusted with their magics. Think of what they did to grandmother, think of the evil they can commit in the world with the powers of their clan!
"So, how should I reach Leon?" Valencia asked slowly, sleep and fear forced her lips to be peeled apart to allow her to speak.
"Well he's on the other line with Mina. Simon instructed me to tell you, that you need to frame this whole situation as Leon contacting you directly. The story is that Simon contacted Leon using big sisters' phone and Leon had Mina call you." Kazu explained patiently, while he eyed the 'hold' sign on the screen of his phone. Trevor was by his side, concern and focus making even his fake dog fur stand on end.
Valencias' gaze followed the edge of the gray muted world she sat in, tracing that edge while on the other side. Where the darkness was still strong, she could hear her grandmother...
"GET THAT MAN OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
"Mother!" A slap that seemed to bound off the walls of the house over and over again. Much like those little, brightly colored balls that kids would get from the gumball machines she would see.
"You better pray that Yoko has magic! I won't tolerate some common street trash to be the father of my granddaughter!"
"She will!" Valencia could hear her mother sobbing. "Please mother stop!"
"I won't tolerate her being worthless like you! That thing manifested magic when he was 'three'! THREE! You were eight!"
"Mother?" Kazu blinked at his mothers' continued silence, glancing down at Trevor for help.
Silence stretched to an uncomfortable level before he raised his voice a bit, calling out to her.
"I'm sorry Kazu... I heard you, tell them Leon contacted me and Simon contacted Leon from the Vatican," she recited, with only a slight tremble of her voice.
"Mother? Is something wrong?"
"N-no..." She stuttered as a flash of light along the chrome of the mirror was her grandmothers' cane. Electricity followed in a sparking arc as it came down on Kazu's crib...
"Do... do you want me to connect the call?" Kazu asked, slowly.
"She sounds distressed," Trevor noted, frustrated that there wasn't anything they could really 'do' for the woman. She was in some other country, while he was trapped there... 'We're doing what we can Valencia. You can do this!' he thought, while grateful that the stuffed dogs' eyes couldn't show when he began looking up at Kazu.
The young man had no real idea what his mother went through for him. While Trevor only knew the distant aspects of what Valencia and her mother had endured.
"Yes, please," she answered, while taking a deep cleansing breath.
"Um, ok," Kazu pressed a button and there was the sound on the phone shifted.
"Ahh are you back?" Minas' voice came out hesitantly.
"Yes, mother is here," Kazu spoke up, while Leon's living lion face appeared on the screen as he leaned over to peer at them. Mina was in a bedroom, sitting in her room, which was such a contrast from how he felt and how his mother sounded. Warmly lit, with this serious expression lion staring at him, while who knew what his mother was sitting in.
"Hello, little Mina," Valencias' voice came out in that proper clipped professional voice she often used. Which meant there was a lot of Spanish accent to her sentences.
