Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
A/N: … Added a bit more content didn't realize that I had kinda neglected a point originally... its back now.
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This was a nightmare.
Soma already showed a distinct awareness of Arikado's safety just inside the Vatican 'alone', and while she and everyone else had blown off his snooping as... well.. Child like codependency. There was a nagging feeling that they had all been wrong. That they quite possibly should have paid him 'more' attention rather than less. But if they had it would only have encouraged his sense that something was 'wrong' and not that he was overreacting.
And they 'really' needed him to be overreacting, Soma in a controlled environment hunting a target was one thing. Making the whole 'earth' his hunting ground was one step away from asking if he liked his blood from the tap or a wine glass.
Wine glass, he wasn't a savage, just so they were square.
It had been merely a safety measure if nothing else to ensure that Soma stayed within arms reach of anyone who actually had the ability to 'do' something. Sure the ring cut him off from his magical abilities. But that was the same as saying that murder could ONLY happen if someone could use magical abilities. Anything could be used to kill, Soma didn't 'need' his powers to do it so ideally it was better for him not to feel motivated at all.
Julius had suggested Yoko just being herself, Soma 'did' settle a bit down further when he was around women than around men. Which the older Belmont had suggested was based on more primal protective urges than anything. Arikado was a grown man, anything he got himself into he could get out of. With his healing ability insuring that so long as it wasn't dismemberment, Arikado would return as pristine as when he left.
The women on the other hand, were more human and lacked the incredible natural healing that the Dhampire possessed. Therefore, Julius theorized, so long as Soma was given no cause for concern for Arikado. He would prioritize the women in terms of overseeing and protecting in case of emergency. It was certainly a sound bit of thought, and Yoko went along with it as did Simon. Though back then she didn't yet know yet that he 'was' Simon. So his approval had been that of a bear rather than an experienced hunter.
Now she didn't know if that 'was' the right course of action, if Soma's behavior 'was' purely based on Alucard being in danger. It left her with a sickening realization that he may have needed to be extracted and been left to who knew what? What if this group figured out 'who' he was and tried... she didn't know... maybe cloning him? Trying to find a way to create a vampire themselves? Yoko had a vast knowledge of how dark and depraved the human mind could get. Just watching television and seeing how 'creative' a person could get in television shows were it was all made up was a clue.
After all, humanity as a general whole didn't know about the Dark Children. What would happen if they found 'out'?
The ramifications made Yoko stalk through her room her eyes wide with apprehension and concern. In her left hand was her cellphone, her right hand was clutching her left forearm in apprehension. She would let go just to lift up at her phone and swiping at the screen so she could see if she was missing a reply text from Alexander or her mother. She rechecked to make sure that she had all her alerts at the loudest volume that could be set.
Simon sat on the edge of the bed watching Yoko pace about with bear like indifference. He rested his head against his hand rested that hands' elbow on his other hand. While the trio wrested free a large, for them, box that had the word 'anxiety' written across the front in big, black, permanent marker. Between the three of them they got the box down and Christopher helped undo the flaps so the other two could look inside.
Christopher grabbed a candle stick holder and began walking away while Richter managed to snag himself a long handled candle snuffer in his mouth and began carrying it along behind Christopher. Juste obtained an unwrapped, long, white candle and carried it in his mouth after his grandson, though he left it at the foot of the chair that the other two were using to climb to the desk with. Then he returned to the box, climbing in and producing a soft scratching sound as he rummaged through its contents.
"Whatever happened to punching things?" Christopher asked as he set the candle holder near the edge of her work desk. It was a useless question really, and even to his own ears he sounded a bit grumpy. Causing one ear to wiggle as he realized he was coming down with the Simon, otherwise known as 'grumpy bear' syndrome.
Richter gave this noncommittal grunt as he hung by his front paws onto the chair and began pulling himself up with the candle snuffer in his mouth. Another grunt and he was soon standing on his own four and propped himself up on his hind legs to put the snuffer onto the desk. "Well she 'is' a witch... so technically this 'is' her version of 'punching things'," he pointed out once his mouth was empty. With that he dropped down to all fours and then jumped to the ground to gather up the candle his grandfather left.
Though Juste seemed to have the less dignified duty, as he was unceremoniously tumbled out of the box when he tried to get out with something in his mouth that wasn't a candle. He ended up tail over nose and his ears had flattened in his irritation. Finally the magic wielding hunter righted himself onto his four paws. Climbing up he turned his attention back to the box and climbed back in after pinning the lid to the side so he could. "Better to burn these candles down than the Vatican." Juste pointed out in a huff before grabbing another candle holder in his mouth.
They weren't ornate or important, just simple circular base with a vase like holder, that Yoko always used when she was anxious and needed something to blow off steam with. With only Juste really understanding that not everyone's method of effective stress relief came with physical violence. For years they had watched Yoko burn down candles when she was anxious and restricted from doing anything else. Now with Simon no longer having to bear the brunt of the work load himself the other three had chipped in to get things done. After all they were 'all' anxious, Yoko refused to say 'why' she was so worked up only to cast her gaze to the door when they conveyed their concern.
And 'that' didn't take much to figure out either.
Soma was in the building and there was no one else in the Church that warranted such obvious concern. At least as far as the Belmonts were concerned on said matter, the matter of 'when' Soma became anxious coupled with something she knew was clearly the problem. So all they could do was wait until she was free to talk to them about what was bothering her so much. Thus leaving them to put up the candles. On the plus side there was three of them setting up the candles so there was 'that'.
"I wish Yoko would just hold the phone out to us, we could read it," Richter commented before he picked up the candle while Christopher worked in placing the candles into their respective holders.
"I don't think she's thinking that far, and to be fair to her, and possibly to us as well, its probably for the best that she doesn't speak. Who knows how good Soma's hearing is at this point." Juste noted allowed as he stood in the box, his front paws resting over the edge. "But I suppose that's why you're sitting there, isn't it Simon?"
Richters' ear twitched as he turned to see Simon with his dour bear form and turned to gather up the candle holder his grandfather had dug out. Simon, though it only happened once before the rest of of the Belmonts, normally tried to stay 'away' from Yoko when she got emotional. Now he was 'literally' in her path, and she didn't even have to bend very far down to grab him if she needed a bear hug. Which was when it hit Richter that Simon was partaking of... 'bear baiting'. Suddenly that holder in his mouth became more difficult to hold.
Maybe if he stopped trying to suck his lips into his face to keep a straight face might help. Or remembering that he was a toy dog now and if he just settled himself down then people wouldn't even notice what expression he was carrying.
The light from the sun outside was fading away and allowing shadows to grow along the floor, or maybe it was just Yoko's darken mood. Or it was that Sophia 'still' hadn't shown up for them to talk to. Every day that the ghost didn't haunt her way through the wall of Yoko's room to see them was another day that they had to wonder what was going on in the Vatican.
While Justes' suggestion sounded plausible, that it was because they were tethered to the toy bodies they were bound to. And that some how the Vatican was repelling anything that wasn't a physical body felt right... They 'all', save Leon and Trevor, carried Sophia's blood in their veins so they couldn't imagine their own corpses would shun her from entry.
"Let's play 'worst case scenario'," Christopher suggested as he flattened himself to the desk to help pull up the third candle stick holder from Richter.
"Let's not, because with our luck its going to 'be' the scenario we're working with," Richter argued. "Besides we know it already, Alucard or Mina die and Soma snaps, we're back to where we were before with Julius having to fight Soma. And while he 'may' be getting on in years he 'might' win, but in the off chance he doesn't... well the world is doomed."
"What if that isn't the worst case situation though?" Juste asked as he waited for Richter, a used white candle pinned between the front paws and the box. "What if the worst scenario is that 'Soma' dies?"
Three different heads turned to look at Juste in static adorable expressions, while the souls inside said adorable plush toys struggled to fathom Justes' words.
"Hear me out, since Trevors' time its true we have been bound to fight Dracula and the Creatures of the Night. We know this is part of a curse that Leon unintentionally laid upon all of us, but there's a catch to that. Just look at the difference of mentalities between Simon's time and Richters', over the ages we've dropped the 'kill the children of the night'." Juste pointed out as Richter grabbed the candle and started walking back to the desk.
"You... have a point..." Christopher noted slowly, his voice low in uncertainty over where Juste was going with this. "The world is a different place than what we lived with. And its not like the Dark Children have done anything really threatening. Hell even Elmo's grandpa put two and two together and tried to avoid hurting others, if something happened to Julius and some group of fools decided they wanted to hunt the Dark Children? We may have been stuck in place for years, but that doesn't mean we didn't hear the Pope's speeches. Humans can't get along with other humans, what would happen if they found out about the Dark Children?"
Simon answered by smacking himself in the face with his paw while falling on his back, "fucking marvelous. 'Tonight on Vampire Hunters got Talent' that's all the world would need. Better off just nuking the planet and kissing everything good bye." Just the mental image of some overly lit stage with bright lights while idiots paraded along it trying to impress the clans or a live studio audience on their 'abilities'.
The mental imagery alone was enough to make his ears wiggle and a desire to start screaming began percolating in his gut. All the while Christopher had a trio of candle holders up and candles resting in them while Richter carried yet another candle holder along.
"Moreover he's their King, as Alucard is their Prince, if both are dead it will be a free for all for anyone who seeks the throne. Sure Graham and Ceilia both made various efforts. But Soma defeated them, if Soma and Alucard are dead, what happens next? This curse fixates us to Soma, will it keep going to the next bearer of the title of 'Lord of Darkness'? Or will our own bloodline lose power due to the curse reaching a conclusion?" Christopher asked thoughtfully. "We weren't 'born' with holy powers after all, we were born with holy powers to carry out a 'curse'."
It was a thought no one wanted to face, and probably the only reason that Simon hadn't begun a full fledged rant fest. Because in the end it 'was' more terrifying than just Soma snapping and going back to being Dracula. Losing Soma they could face, but this possibility silenced everyone in the room that heard it.
"I can only find one more holder in this box," Juste fixedly announced before standing back up and dropping said candle holder to the ground. The thought was out and among them, now all that was left was trying not to think to hard on it and forget the tasks at hand. From there the sound of his struggles could be heard before he pushed the box onto its side and walked out, pushing the candles along with his paws. "I am so grateful that I have no sense of taste in this form." Then picked up the candles, he began walking to meet up with the other two.
Richter, currently scrambling up the chair and thus with the candle holder in his face, grew still for a moment. He would have agreed if he could afford to let go of the holder, but yeah, a mouth full of metal or wax 'was' rather unpleasant. As he passed on the holder to Christopher, Richter found himself thinking about when he went into hiding and taking the clan with him. Passing the Whip on to the Morris clan for safety, and it was in that thought of 'safety' that got him thinking about the extended family in Japan.
"What about Kazu, the Belnades clan dumped who knows how many of their blood into the world for not being active magic users. What happens when any of them start showing up wanting a place in the hunting clans?"
"Train wreck. Massive outings of any non humans, wanna bes trying to claim a place in our clans for the sake of entitlement..." Simon was laying on the bed still, looking at the sky with his paws reaching ever so slowly. His voice was tilting in that tone that whispered that rage induced rant incoming.
"Then our focus 'must' remain on Soma at all times. Elmo might be able to settle him down a bit, but that won't last forever. Knowing Elmo's history now, Soma 'may' fixate on the child and hold back. Or he may forget Elmo in light of his own child, aware or unaware, and tear through the world," Juste had finished placing the candles on the chair before giving the thought spoken space. "Let us not forget that two out of the three seals that keep him depowered and human are either damaged or completely removed from their places. The Whip is at Julius' side and the Shrine couldn't hold him back, possibly getting damaged in the effort. The 'last' seal is tied to Alucard himself, and 'that' is an enigma of its own. We don't know if a premature death would permanently seal away Soma's power or unseal it."
Trust the family mage to ask the hard hitting questions that no one wanted to answer or consider. Seeing beyond just the brute force the rest of his family members would think about, thus reinforcing 'why' the Belnades clan was just as important to them. He also gave them something to think on, because Simon had his other job in the Vatican, that left the remaining three. But out of those remaining three, two were being used to try and help Elmo get over his fear of dogs.
Also, how 'would' they keep an eye on Soma?
They couldn't just leave the place and follow him, it would put them in the same situation as Trevor. Something that they couldn't see Soma willingly partaking in, or be safe around if he got near these 'lot lit as' that were dressing up Leon. Restriction to only the Vatican left a gaping hole in observation unless they could convince Soma to visit the Vatican more often.
"There done..." Christopher finally settled back and picked up the candle snuffer, waving it for Yoko's attention.
Only she kept her focus on her phone and didn't notice Christopher trying to flag her down, leaving Richter to jump down from the chair seat. The former blue clad hunter jogged over and planted himself in her path, since they all knew she wouldn't ignore a plushy presence anymore.
"Oh?" She blinked at him then at the desk to see Christopher waving at her. "Oh!" She beamed happily before seemingly resuming her worry walk. Except she wasn't ignoring them, as the candles lit up with flames with a mini fireball intensity.
Which for Christopher looked like a series of fireballs had just exploded in his face. As big as his paw, and nuking more than just the wick but also the tip of the candles easily. He quickly began applying the snuffer and suffocating each of the candles, one after another.
"Better that she channels her powers this way than setting fire to the Vatican or anything else..." Richter commented as he moved closer to the bed to watch the candles be magically lit.
"Power is cut because she unleashes a lightening spell..." Juste offered as he joined his grandson to watch the fiery display.
"That would put an end to a high mass right quick," Christopher agreed as he finished snuffing out the last candle. For which Yoko reignited all of them with just existing, leaving him back to resnuffing each of the candles.
"I'm sorry Simon... but..." With that Yoko snatched up Simon and hugged him to her chest as she paced in her room. Leaving him facing the room, and most importantly, her cellphone, for which he began to quickly try to get his paws on.
"Finally, now let's see what she's been texting to make her this upset. Alucard missing, Soma's passive attempts to find him, what else could fall into this witches brew to make Yoko pace crazy." Simon commented as he reached the phone.