Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
A/N: … only one word? Oh well!
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There was a knock at Yokos' door, the kind that startled the group of hunters. What with Yoko not being there and everyone knowing that...
"Mr. Simon? His Holiness needs to see you! Its really urgent," Tony called out. His voice was a mix of worry and anxiousness as he knocked on the door again.
"What could have happened?" Richter asked as the group moved off to the door to open it, after all no one ever 'asked' for the Belmonts. Given all the things that had happened in the past 24 hours was this just another mystery?
They worked the door open and found Tony standing there, he kept shifting his weight from foot to foot. Not as obviously as a small child, but the shifting weight was there as he stood with this worried expression on his face. Instinct had him looking upwards where one would expect Yoko to stand. But then he checked himself and dropped his gaze down towards the Belmonts on the floor.
Simon folded his arms as he looked up at the boy, waiting for an explanation while the other Belmonts hovered behind his back.
"Its Elmo Mr. Simon, he's really scared and His Holiness was kind of hoping that uh... Well if it would be ok if Elmo hugged you for a bit." Tony explained, somehow the instruction sounded better when coming from the Pope. Tony saying it sounded rather lame. A realization that came to light as he watched as the other Stuffies shoved Simon out of the room instantly. Sending the bear stumbling forward a step before he turned around swinging.
"I'll stay and watch over the room, Christopher, see if you can put something in place to block Elmo's view of Richter," Juste instructed.
Christopher gave a wordless nod as he walked out the door, with Richter fairly pushing him out of the way to take lead.
"How did he get back though? Where has he been?" Richter asked in worry as he charged off once he was free into the hallway.
Simon said nothing as Christopher hooked his swinging arm and dragged him along. Tony followed them with grave determination, but what the boy didn't know was what the trio were left pondering. Why was Alexander sending for Simon? If there was a need for comfort or reassurance a church full of well known nuns and priests was the obvious choice.
'No, the hunter in me says this isn't that. Alexander 'knows' something and I suspect he wants Simon for another reason. I would put money on it that he wants Simon to be witness to something without alarming the boy.' Christopher found himself thinking while his descendants were thinking over it themselves.
'How does he disappear as this starts only to reappear now? Or how long has he been back?' Richter wondered in concern as his paws hit the ground. 'I would like to talk to the others, save we're being spied on.' Wishing he had lungs, Richter continued running across the ground while Simon took up the rear of the trio though at the head of Tony.
When they reached the chambers of the Pope, the guards let them inside. Granted there was a strained expression on their faces. It was possible that it was a type of frustration borne from the fact that 'stuffed toys' were getting these permissions. Above even the highest of Cardinals, having been part of the Vatican for years through the presence of Yoko. Suddenly it appeared that these silly children toys were 'all important'.
Yet they kept their comments reserved while Simon and Christopher ran inside. With Richter in the room first and scoping out the area, seeking out a safe spot for himself to hide and listen without scaring Elmo further. Visible from the door, curled up on the couch, the boy sobs shuddered his young frame. Alexander sat next to him on the nearest chair stroking the boys' hair and clearly talking softly to the youngster.
Richters' quick gaze caught a drawer that he could fit under, so he tore across the floor and crawled under it. Tucking himself against the wall as Simon, with Christopher in tow, went to present himself to the Pope.
"I, uh, got them as you asked Your Holiness," Tony stammered out, his eyes flitting between the comforting presence of the Pope and sobbing Elmo.
"Thank you, you're a good boy Antony, now we just hope that Elmo is willing to talk. What with the Choir's best 'rescue bear' here for reassurance," Pope Alexander replied with a gentle smile.
"I'd punch you," Simon began only to be cut off by an offended 'He's an old man' by Christopher. "I am 'not' a 'rescue bear'!" Simon argued.
But it was hard to believe his violent words when he was already climbing up the couch to join Elmo.
From his 'expert' gaze there was clear signs of trauma. Elmo's clothes were newly laundered, so any clue as to where he had been was gone. Even his hair was washed, as though he had been given a full bath before he was brought here. Simon made his way on the edge of the couch, balanced between the couch and the open air. But Elmo was still young enough that it wasn't a long walk before he was close enough to prod Elmo.
"Elmo?" Alexander coaxed gently though even 'with' his presence it took a few more coaxing words before Elmo braced a small peek.
As much as Simon disdained it, his stitched on face was one of bare, simple friendliness, an expression that encouraged Elmo to reach out and grab Simon. Burying his face into the bear shoulder while Simon inwardly sighed. But for all of the hunters' annoyance he wasn't one to ignore the obvious issues being shown to him.
Elmo was distressed beyond even what the sight of Richter and Juste could do to him. 'Its possible that he was slowly working down from his fear. Maybe the pairs' presence was of use helping him cope after all. But something has sent him right back to square one. Hell maybe all the way into negatives, I could be mixing drinks with the way he's shaking right now.' Both his arms were pinned to his side trapping Simon in the types of hugs he hadn't had to endure since Yoko's childhood..
"So you were found running down the hallway, screaming in absolute terror. Wearing a tunic that no one recognized, and your normal clothes completely missing.. Oh and with a simple mask over your face." Alexander began, for the sake of the hunters in the room...
Indeed the sheer alarm that his sudden, seemingly bizarre, reappearance had been enough to get Alexander directly involved. From peacefully reading to a flurry of nuns and Elmo in the most panicked states they had ever seen. Where ever this poor child had gone, from how it sounded he had soiled himself and been given a change of clothes. That alone made Alexander think he had been with someone good or kind.
'But a strange tunic and having disappeared from the interior of the Vatican only to reappear in the self same location. I know the joke that the kids just get lost. Especially Elmo, but I think this is more clearly something Simon and his little group might have a better understanding of.' Alexander thought as Elmo continued crying.
"Why is he explaining to Elmo what the boy should already know?" Richter asked from his hiding spot.
"Probably to get us up to speed without making it clear how smart we are. Since you know, the kids think we're just smart toys..." Christopher theorized as he reached up from the floor and began to rub Elmo's arm.
Elmo answered with a nod, with his face pressed hard against Simon as the scary images continued running through his head.
"I don't know what happened..." He finally muttered.
"Well, start from the beginning, Elmo. Work your way from there and we'll be here with you along the way." Alexander answered with a gentle supportive voice, "don't worry, you're safe here in the Vatican."
"I don't know..." Elmo repeated, his voice tight even as he cried, wound up so tightly that he couldn't even begin to find release for all the panic inside. "I don't know... I was lost again," Elmo began.
"Lost and missing from the Vatican..." Richter noted as he dared to inch forward enough so he could see from under the drawer.
"Poor Elmo, but when you're lost you tend to find a table to hide under..." Alexander pointed out as he brushed Elmo's hair.
"But I wasn't alone, I saw a grown up, or at least I thought I did. He looked like a Cardinal and I was just going to follow him back to not lost," Elmo whimpered.
An answer that got the trio concerned as they tried to recall any tale that involved a child being lost near a grown up. Hampered as that knowledge was since a great deal of what the hunters knew was through the casual chatter of the children. While they were amazingly open and honest about what they experienced, well... The perceptions of a child verses the perceptions of a Vampire Hunter were large.
'A Cardinal?' Alexander pondered, "Go on, don't worry. Just tell me what happened as you recall it and we can work on figuring out the details later."
"I don't know how... I just ended up in a forest..." Elmo whimpered, as Simons' ears wiggled. With the other two Belmonts just as concerned.
"Forest?" Christopher asked in surprise.
"Not the garden?" Richter asked as well as he belly crawled a little closer to the edge of the drawer.
"I was all alone... So I sat down by the side of the road and just waited thinking the grown up would come back and find me..."
Stationed around the room as the three were, they found themselves strangely captivated by the boy's haunted story. From his encounter with the ball and the balls' owner to the description of the castle and the state of things that he had found. In fact when Elmo spoke of the castle, he seemed to calm slightly down. The anxiety and terror for a time abated and he spoke almost normally of playing with the 'boy in the vampire costume'.
"Is he talking about Alucard?" Christopher asked aloud, his tone thoughtful and a bit amused.
"Possibly, I don't think he'd have a reason to hide his true nature when he was a kid," Simon noted as he continued to stare into the couch that Elmo was resting on. The most exciting of visual's to be sure. Right up there with 'in a suitcase'.
'That book, the disappearance, the arrival to the Castle pre death of Alucards' mother...' Richter sat tucked away in silence. His ears pressed against the dresser as his puppy body tried to emulate how attentive he was to this story.
They all were really. The description of the giant 'monster dog' reminded Richter of the Wargs he had seen in the castle from his hunts. That the other child would see nothing to fear of it would fit Alucards' natural reaction to something that was normal in his home. Even the description of the boy and the maids.. Granted no one really recalled there being 'maids' in the castle when they traveled it. Yoko and Soma had mentioned maids in the Soma's run of the castle during his visits to the Vatican. Which could have placed Elmo at the present time, save who had zombie maids currently?
"Wait... so the mask... came from Alucard?" Christopher repeated as Elmo started to become frightened again.
"It wasn't anything special, but it was cool how he got it. He just kicked the wall and a brick went poof! It crumbled down and there was a mask in there! Like a surprise gift box!" Elmo continued as he began to sob harder.
Christopher climbed up the couch and sat down close enough to Elmo to give the boy a little more sense of hiding. Frightened as he was, it was reasonable to think that Elmo wanted to hide from anything threatening. Even if that threat wasn't near by, so he leaned himself against Elmo rubbing soothing circles on the boy's arm.
"I put the mask on... and... and..."
"Damn it all to hell," all three Belmonts commented as one. There had been a small chance that maybe the boy had been warped to another castle in the present. That there was another vampire family that was living about and that he had found them. It would have been easier, though admittedly it would have not given them some interesting hints.
But there was no mistaking the presence of Death hovering over Alucards' shoulder. Or the clarity of the zombies beyond the pair. Now Elmo's distress was understood, he 'had' been at the Castle of all places and seen Death. Given the situation it was understandable about why he would run blindly from the castle. With only luck guiding his blind run to whatever it was that allowed him to travel to the past.
"Think he still has the mask?" Christopher asked glancing up to Simon's back.
"Maria found a pair of glasses that she said could 'see past evil illusions'. But I can't imagine the castle willingly making repeats of the same item," Richter noted as he rubbed his chin with a paw.
"Yes, and it can't be the same pair if he brought it with him. Its here now, how would it be in the past to help Maria? Not to mention he described it as a 'mask' not 'a pair of glasses', he's a child but he's not stupid." Simon added, all the while wishing he could SEE.
"So this mask must show something other than evil illusions. After all, Elmo's trip predates when Dracula turned against humanity. The Castle at that time sounds like it may have lacked any real malicious elements.." Christopher noted when he noticed the soft chuckling from Richter. "Is something amusing?"
"Just... Think about it, it felt random that Alucard would willingly take in some random orphan. We've assumed its because he just happened to try to help Elmo during a stray Werewolf attack. But maybe its not... Maybe Alucard was there because he 'remembers' Elmo." Richter suggested with his tail softly beating the bottom of the dresser as it wagged in amusement.
"At the same time it would mean that it 'did' happen, that Elmo managed to find a way into the past. Interacted with Alucard, and that Alucard remembered it into the pres..." Simon began when his voice drifted into silence. 'But what happened to the man he was following? Wouldn't there be someone missing having traveled through the portal as well?'
"Simon?" Richter called out when Simon grew silent, he flattened himself so he could see the room better. Since there wasn't much of Simon to see with the way he was being hugged.
"Just... a thought... something we need to discuss later probably," Simon replied. No one argued with him, instead they continued sticking by Elmo's side.
Occasionally they glanced up at Alexander, feeling a bit of pity for the man. Here he was expecting to give succor to a terror stricken child, without the knowledge of the Hunters. More over whatever help they could give was either as just toys, or painfully slow attempts at typing out suggestions.
"How do we even begin to explain that Elmo isn't insane. He really 'did' see Death itself?" Christopher asked thoughtfully.
"That's not our responsibility, that's the Popes'," Simon pointed out. "Ours is to figure out where the portal is that took him into the past and figure out how to shut it down. Something that can send people into the past, can not be allowed to exist in the Vatican or anywhere else."
"Agreed, and for that we'll need Juste," Richter nodded as he rested his head on his crossed front paws. "It has to be that hallway, that's where I lost sight of Elmo. But if that's the case, that part of the Vatican is often used for meetings. Why has no one else disappeared?" He tossed the question out in to the air.
Sadly neither other hunters were versed in the magical arts in a way that they could answer him. Instead they were left in this strangely womanly role of comforting the child, coupled with the frustration that they couldn't help deal with the situation. Hunters born and trained to fight, yet unable to even do something of use was rather vexing.
Even Alexander seemed at a loss, instead of taking an action he let the boy given up on finishing his tale. Instead allowing the little one to cry himself fitful sleep borne from a little known side ability Yoko had fessed up to once.
"I made Snuggy so that he would naturally induce sleep if I was having trouble sleeping on my own."