Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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"We didn't sell out anyone! Our allegiance is to the prince," Alex choked out as he tried to get a fix on his vampire assailants. 'Freezing them won't do as much damage since bodies that haven't been warmed in a long time, don't really respond quickly enough...' he thought as he created a good number of fist sized ice spikes around him. Even if there was no light for him to see them, he could sense the needle sharp points. If he could just get them to stop choking him!
"Such 'allegiance', the type that conspires to replace our Lord with a pretender."
There! The man's voice was right by Alex's ear and near enough to a spike that he was able to extend the points. It stabbed into the man earning a hiss of displeasure as the vampire slipped away. But in doing so the grip on his throat was released. Allowing Alex to get a much needed gulp of air and the brightness setting on his vision to raise up a tick.
With that the vampire that was controlling the shadows retreated from Alex revealing a brand new problem...
Gone from the outdoors to the indoors of a hunting lodge.
The first gulp of air flooded his senses with the scent of expensive bourbon, cigars, age and wealth. The wood was old, deep brown and varnished with an almost Victorian era feeling to it. Alex continued trying to catch his breath as he looked around, before him was a window that exposed a rich field of green grass. On his right was a wall of books resting in book cases. His left held sporting pictures, his vision wasn't clear enough yet for the details, but he knew the type well enough. Scattered about the floor were a series of seats, both couches and regular chairs.
It was an utterly strange place for angry vampires to bring him and yet he couldn't put his finger on it. Something about this place just felt slanted to the side. A type of off that kept his senses sharp and observant as he continued to scan the room he was in.
Only when he turned to look at the rest of the room, hoping to find the vampires, he started to understand the scope of the 'hunting' lodge. Hunting trophies were a dime a dozen in hunting lodges, bucks or the very rare large mouth bass displayed on walls. Sometimes there was a stand up bear in a lunging posture frozen in time stuffed in a corner.
A dead tree was in the corner, the skin of a dead person was hung along its branches tied up so the face was visibly by the very green hair. A fishmans' head, like what he would have found in the Castle, was mounted on the wall mouth gaping open. It wasn't the only head either, demonic dogs, a too massive to be normal, barn owl was perched wings spread wide. A winged serpent was coiled around a fleaman corpse.
Suddenly the lingering smoke became cloying, what was associated with old, rich aristocracy was replaced with horror. His eyes heavy from the weight of horror looked to the ground only to face a series of furred rugs strewn about. Not of only tiger or bear, but Weres, recognizable in the abnormal lengths of limbs. Some poor Were people had been killed and skinned while in the state of transition. Just on the floor like it was nothing, even a small 'rug' made from someone too small to be an adult. Just as the poor dryad in the corner had been skinned and left hanging on her now dead tree.
"Our Lord would 'not' stand for this!"
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Soma sat at a table in a cafe with a tea cup half hiding the amused smirk on his face as he looked at the pair before him. Around him was a pretty bland affair in terms of appearance, the cafe wasn't themed. Just the typical cafe much to Max's disappointment, but without a reservation and the restricted time that could be spent at one. Sam had agreed that coming here would probably be the wiser choice. At least until they figured out what they were going to do with Soma.
Thus said Dark Lords' gaze kept switching smoothly from Sam to Max and back again as they continued discussing how to get Soma out of the country. Only occasionally bringing up now that he had college that was still in session. So just dropping everything was kind of out of the question if he was serious about his grades. He was. The pair originally even included Soma into the discussion, 'somehow I think they forgot that I'm even here. Maybe the only intelligent hunter 'is' Julius.'
It was a good nature amused thought as he enjoyed his tea and the live show going on before him. 'I wonder how long it will take before they bother to ask me about the estate. I suppose I could have been using it to travel around in before now. Not bother with my passports anymore, but I'm pretty sure Big Brother would notice my white haired self showing up in random places...'
Undoubtedly Arikado used it for that method, but while Yoko clearly had an ability to access the estate. Soma started to wonder if it was ok to bring others to the estate. Granted Leon probably no longer counted due to being in a toy form. Yet as he placed the tea cup back on its saucer he watched as Sam pulled out his cellphone.
That's when the conversation stopped as Max easily picked up on the change in Sam's demeanor.
While Soma got to do more people studies watching as Sam grew still. What had been a relaxed slouch against his seat shifted. He was still slouched, but not in the reclined posture of someone just shooting the breeze. Instead it was hunched just slightly inward, a person hiding something. His eyebrows furrowed just slightly as the only facial shift to indicate concern.
"Seems you got something that came up, so I would assume that our trip is canceled for the time being?" Soma inquired politely while Max frowned.
"Noooo you're sticking with us, you'd probably be able to help," Max replied with a shake of her head.
"Help? Doing what? My powers are sealed so I'm restricted on what I can do," Soma pragmatically pointed out. Going as far as to placed his hand bearing the accursed sealed ring on the white painted wooden table they sat at. "Not to mention the question of 'how are you protecting me if you're thrusting me into dangerous situations?'"
"Well you can't seriously enjoy doing nothing with your time," Max pointed out before taking a gulp of her tea.
"Actually I do enjoy it. I can either enjoy a peaceful life, going to school and being human, or I can be a complete apathetic, immortal lord that kills out of boredom. Considering I willingly go to classes and don't try to pull any stunts for better grades, I think what 'I' want should be pretty clear." Soma pointed out with the slightest of shrugs.
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Flames ate at the books lining the walls increasing the heat and making the ability to create or sustain ice weapons more difficult. The flames had skipped to the curtains hanging by the windows and were creeping their way around the room. Burning away any proof that this horrible place existed to hunt people. Though the fire came not from the vampires, but the current visitor of the lodge.
What Alex had assumed was a Hunting Lodge for humans that hunted Dark Children no longer seemed to be the exact case.
"How did you get in here?" The fire starter was a reasonably older man, older than Alex easily, with a pinky sized nimbus of fire that hovered above his hand. If there was a way for things to get super awkward, this was clearly one of them. The man's hair was black, peppered with gray streaks, his face held a neatly trimmed beard and his clothes appeared to be of high quality. Shades of business gray in pants and vest, white pressed shirt under that.
He didn't 'feel' like a Dark Child though, there was something absent from him that Alex couldn't put his finger on. The man clearly had some magics to him, using the flames to set alight the wall of books. Though his fire was a pitiful spark when compared to Yoko's varied and inspiring displays of elemental. Not meager to be sure, larger than the natural sparks. But clearly not a threat against someone who was trained.
Which explained why his first move would be to set fire to the books. Perhaps that was the ultimate reason why the books were there? They certainly went up faster than the typical book, the wall happening almost instantly.
Alex found himself a bit stuck. The vampires were clearly angry about this and it was certainly justified. But this man didn't even bother to be surprised about having a stranger in the building and went straight to 'burning down the building'. Since clearly the lodge wasn't empty and one of the 'old boys' had stepped in at the sound of conversation. Perfectly fair and reasonable to be concerned on the surface though cocky and brave to check on his own and without security. So was anyone else in the building? Was there a way to stop the fire without letting it consume the whole place? Since burning down a 'whole' building was something on the level of a missile to deal with a spider.
"Not even a civilized greeting? What barbarian type of place is this?" Alex asked, unsure if he should show his hand yet. Would the vampires pull him out of the lodge? Or would he have to force his way out?
"This place is sealed off, the only way you could be in here is through evil means and that means you're prey," the man answered with a shrug before turning to walk back out of the room.
That casual 'explanation' floored Alex into momentary silence as he stood there. The heat from the fireplace behind him was quickly the lesser of the two sources of heat, when compared to the growing wall of flame. Yet the stranger was utterly flippant to the fact that he 'set a room on fire'.
'Sealed? I don't feel any type of seal. What I 'do' feel, however; is the increasingly uncomfortable fire that he's kick started on that book shelf.'
"And who made you an expert on 'dark' anything? More like a raving lunatic! I can't imagine the people who own this establishment is going to be pleased with you burning out a room." Alex called out as the man blithely walked out the room and shut the door. 'Well now I could break the thing down, but...' "Well? Are you going to get me out of here since you brought me here? Or should I force my way out?" He demanded to his unseen kidnappers.
"The oils..."
The voices hissed, displeased and it was something that both startled and alarmed Alex. 'The only 'oils' I know of that can affect Vampires are the oils that Yoko's family uses. But that's impossible! Where can they be smelling...' Alexs' thoughts were interrupted by the realization of what he was staring at. How quickly the books caught light... soaked perchance in oils?
Those oils could subdue an older vampire lord, or just an incredibly powerful one like Soma. Mostly due to the fact that he hadn't regained the majority of his powers at the time. But the oils served as an variation of Holy Water. While Holy Water would merely burn on contact on Dark Children, the Oils could be... activated...
And that in and of itself was troubling, the guy probably couldn't just ignite the books with such weak magic. However; he 'could' light up pre-treated books with such a flame which would activate its effect again to the room. Affecting the Vampires that had brought Alexander here. Regardless the nature of the oils it also gave Alex a telling sign. These vampires had to be young, older ones, could still use their powers granted they would be in pain. So while Alex would have 'loved' to spend more time pondering the situation he was in..
Valencia, we need to talk about the oils your family can make... I need more information.
He texted out before walking to the door.
If these vampires couldn't even open the same portal they used to bring Alex here, it meant they were young, maybe less than two centuries or so. Leaving Alex with only two means of leaving this terrible room. Break the large window and jump out, or break the door down. He didn't have a lot of time to decide either. The flames were eating through the books rapidly, either due to the oil, or perhaps they weren't books to start with. If they existed purely to be burned, actual books would have been costly, so possibly they were fake. Not that Alex had the time to check.
'Well so long as I'm alone so to speak,' he thought as he pushed back against the flames of the bookshelf with his ice magic.
At least he thought he 'could'.
A frown tugged as his lips as he began coughing from the smoke in the room. He pulled up his shirt to cover his face so he could breath. Polluting the air enough to finally began to affect him, a cough rose out from his chest as he backed away from the flames. 'So we have a vain group of supposed hunters, the window seems a strange vulnerability. He was quite casual about setting fire to a wall of books. It would make getting through the door more difficult and breaking through a window that size would be the quicker option...'
Training and experience began shuffling the events into an order that brought a deeper frown to his face. Alex left the center of the room and checked the pictures along the wall, studying several photos. They were all of various men, rich given their attire, posing with their Dark Child kills with various rifles or even empty handed. The backgrounds were of vibrant trees in a hilly landscape, and while the ability to pinpoint a forest was sometimes difficult. The trees all seemed to bear the same type of leaves and land structure.
This building was probably more than just a lodge, it was possibly a trap of sorts. With that in mind he turned from the wall and grabbed a chair. It was one of the thick and sturdy affairs possibly crafted from oak wood. While fairly stalking his way over to the window. It was a fair distance away, coupled by the final sinking of the sun that hid the possibility that played through his mind. A possibility that didn't take the bile that rose in his throat or the anger in his heart.
The clues were scattered about but not so far that he couldn't see the picture for what it was.
'A God damn Canned hunt... how sick...' Alex thought as he lifted up the chair and flung it through the window. Watching as the glass shattered easily outward the crash serving to intensify the noise with the fire that was eating through the books. Red and gold light danced briefly in the air as the shards of glass went tumbling outside the building.
Who ever this group was, how ever they got their hands on the victims. They were kidnapping Dark Children and using them in canned hunts. Forcing 'children' not just people born with powers that set them apart from basic humanity. But not been alive for very long 'children' in canned hunts with this very room as a starting point. It was sick, depraved, monstrous in ways only pure evil could be. More over the supposed 'seal'.
The pretentious assumption that someone randomly found in the room meant they were 'evil'. Not a trespasser or a thief that could be arrested, just accept that the stranger appeared out of thin air and was therefore 'evil'. Literal guilty before charged behavior of simply leaving reeked of a person who had done this before. Though a small part of him pointed out that given what the person would have seen being in the room. 'Could' they be arrested? The stories they would have to tell would lead no where 'at first'. But it was the type of stories that 'would' have eventually reached Sam and Max.
And not just him, but others as well, a hunting lodge who had killed, stuffed, skinned, mounted and laid out the skins of dead 'children'. As a teacher, the death of the children sent him into a fury, as a hunter he wished only to bring these beasts to heel. Beyond him the chair had bounced once and rolled quickly to a stop. 'Lets see if these would be hunters know how to deal with an actual hunter...' he thought as he jumped through the now open window.
The glass was deceptively thick serving as a warning flag that he wasn't human as he shattered it with ease. So perhaps they would be more willing to show off what they could do seeing that they were facing a threat. But he wasn't a kid either, so there was a chance they would just let him go. Call the cops and try to blame the the fire on him while at the same time letting the fire consume the evidence of the bodies that were laid out inside. So even if Sam and Max showed up, there would be no physical evidence.
"You win. I don't even know who you are, but I'm angry enough to do something about this on my own..." Alex commented, assuming that the vampires were listening, not caring if they weren't.