Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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Alexis was the first to sense it.
The sudden shift and distortion in the garden, a loose thread among the natural order that made her pause and cock her head to the side. It wasn't a 'sound' per say, but the shift was enough for her. Straining her senses, both physical and magical, she struggled to trace the thread towards its source.
"Now what exactly is bothering my network?" A woman's voice asked, her voice elevated above their heads. The group turned around and raised their gazes up towards the voice. Resting in the upper corner of the garden, was an eight legged spider woman. From the waist down she was a large fuzzy spider, maybe based on some form of a tarantula. Above the waist she appeared still human, interestingly enough she was wearing a camisole and a light jacket, both in shades sunny yellow and milky white.
Which served as the most absurd thing that day.
Female monsters were normally mostly, or just, naked as the stories went, outside of monsters like the zombie maids or vampires. So she couldn't be one of Soma's monsters... Or maybe she could and this was just another one of the castles' attempts at luring him into staying?
"Soo hi," Max called out with a wave of the hand. "Didn't see any spider things around here..."
"You don't look like the others brought here... You look prepared for a castle filled with nightmares..." The spider noted as she began to slowly make her way down the side of the wall.
Alex noting that her steps weren't nimble and delicate like a spider, more unsure and sensitive instead. 'If she was newly transformed...' he theorized, 'she won't just jump down or such, she'd run the risk of breaking her body given the species she seems to be mixed with.'
"So you must be from Jones' half of the cult," Sam noted as he unhooked Undead Killer from his side.
The spider snorted in annoyance before shaking her head, "that self deluded flop? You must never have seen the fool, strutting around in white clothes like he was Jesus reborn! Then calling himself the Lord of Darkness... Stupid idiot," she had gotten as far down as to let her front feet be close to the top of the windows she was approaching before she paused.
"Wait, so ooh," Alexis didn't recognize the woman, but at least now she had the clues she needed. "One of Fortners followers."
"Yes, this castle has been 'most' enlightening..." The lady grumbled into a thoughtful state. "We were blinded by irrational needs... There 'is' no 'good and evil' just 'order and chaos' and neither is purely good..."
"That... well that's actually an interesting thought, how did you come by it...?" Alex asked when a weighted force slammed into the ground. The ripples felt by the group, and the spider began the slow process of turning herself around. Retreating.
"If you want to chat, then deal with that boorish brute first!" She hissed as she tentatively tried to make it higher up against the wall. "That idiot gave into his primal instincts!"
"You know guys, I don't think she's evil," Alexis commented softly as the weighted sounds started rumbling closer.
"Really? Should the castle not been able to transform her if that were the case?" Max asked as she began jumping up and down in a futile attempt to see over the hedges. "Oh wait never mind..."
"Yeah, who knows what the castle is going to do with what its given," Sam agreed as they began to spread out towards where the sound was coming from.
Sudden screams of human voices served as the starter gun as the group took off. The twins took to the air, attempting to navigate the garden maze for the grounded members of their group, while in the distance something massive and mound shaped began to shudder into view from further away.
"The walls are moving..." Alexis noted in a moment of distraction and realization. "They are!" She watched as they began sliding like puzzle pieces, the passage becoming more and more straight to the other side. "I think we're getting help! The maze is resolving itself!"
Leaves and sleeping blossoms rustled quietly in contrast to the harsh screams of scared prisoners. Pulled out of the way by some unseen force, the walls moved to the left and right, but it was painfully slow. Verdant green leaves were a blur as they ran while the maze shuddered as it moved along the ground. "Can you see the prisoners?" Sam called out as they ran, the vibrations growing stronger as they moved further into the garden.
"Yes, and we can see what's causing the shaking," Alex reported as he glided over the wall. Beyond them, was a massive fuzzy caterpillar of sorts, the fuzzy nature and coloration implied poison, and yet... "Its some form of a giant caterpillar, but of the poisonous kind."
"On the plus side, its not in a cocooned stage so we can at least not have it be air borne," Alexis added as she saw the last wall of the maze slide to the side. Sam and Max would just have to hang a right at the end of the hall they were in, go down, take a left and they would be out. Reciting the information for the pair she glided herself down to hide the fact that she had been floating. The less upsetting to the prisoners the better.
"I'd love to know how its supposed to be a threat," Max commented as she ran. Ahead of her Alexis had landed in a jog before she turned and exited the maze. Alerting Max that she needed to slow up, or run the risk of sliding past said exit.
"Maybe not to us, but to the garden?" Sam suggested with a faint shrug.
"And he's clearly part of Grahams cult given what the spider said..." Alex noted as the panicked screams from the prisoners transitioned into pleas for something. They weren't shouting in either forms of English, but 'help' was a universal word. "But I suspect its not just eating the plants, no reason for people to sound 'that' scared of a plant eating bug. No matter the size."
"Touch fuzzy get dizzy!" Max sang out as she disappeared around the bend. "FUZZY!"
It was, as the twins described, a tan colored fuzzy caterpillar making its way across the grounds. It was so long and fuzzy it was impossible to see the whole body from the side, but there was a bit of the mouth that was visible, a dried stain of red that seemed to coat it. The bug was slowly making its way to the cage where the prisoners were locked up. With what appeared to be two people laying on the ground.
"Has the caterpillar gotten to anyone over there?" Alex called out, and received a mixture of various languages.
"Ahh! He wants to know if big fuzzy got any of you!" Max translated into Mexican and saw multiple heads whip towards her in surprise.
There was no lights around them beyond the floating candles, leaving them mostly lost in shadow. But now there were strangers who looked strangely confident in this frightening castle!
"That thing ate a child! The parents were stabbed by those hairs and they are sick now with fever!" A man called out, his clothes looked casual, as though he wasn't at work at the time he was grabbed.
"Some... people monsters, 'things' tried to come to the cage, maybe to help we don't know! Please you have to save us!" A woman begged, her own clothes were hidden under a long coat, given how she was huddled she could have been sleeping when she was grabbed.
"Damn it, Fuzzy got a kid," Max translated, her tone annoyed as she realized what gave the red to its mouth. "The downed people are the parents."
"Lets keep Fuzzy from the people," Alexis replied as she began generating an ice wall to put between the caterpillar and prisoners. Alex joined his power with hers, adding spikes against the wall in an effort to demotivate the bug from approaching.
Said 'Fuzzy' did slow up. With its eyes, if it had any, hidden under layers of fuzz it instead sent out the fuzz that covered near its head towards the ice wall. It moved with more flexibility than what was normally associated with the bug. Wrapping around like squid or octopus tentacles it began to feel the spikes.
"I... Is it melting the ice?" Sam asked as he watched as water began to drip from the walls, 'not good if it has 'that' degree of toxins. If its not undead the whip will be less effective as well if its protected at all from said toxins. It didn't work on the wereeolbrd when that gang used this toxin. But they just coated their weapons, this is a lot larger...'
And it came with potential demonic empowering...
"Your turn to rescue prisoners brother dearest," Alexis announced as she began to regenerate the ice spikes, trying to push them further out and push the monster away. Alex nodded as he moved behind the wall to the cages.
"Max, you speak Spanish."
"Mexican."
"Mexican, come here and translate!" Alex instructed despite the groan that came from the younger witch. His mind spun on four mental wheels as he tried to see if there were any men strong enough to help carry the poisoned victims. 'Get them out of the cage, get the victims onto the other side of the garden wall. Hopefully 'out of sight' is in effect with this monster... and is there even an antidote for the victims?'
Max was already darting past him, and he could hear her conversing with the prisoners in quick statements. So he cast his magics to the lock he could see and began dropping its temperature as quickly as he could.
While over with Sam and Alexis...
"Hey so we had a gang that used this breed of caterpillar's toxin to coat their bladed weapons," Sam began as he struck the monsters' mouth. "Do you think the castle... I mean the maze 'did' move for us..."
"No way of knowing, at least until we know more about this monster." Alexis sent out the spikes, only for the fuzz to lash out. It curled around the spikes and began melting them down, but there was only so much the wall could do. Once made it was under a lot of the normal limitation of a created item. It was only so thick, and if it was pushed against it could very well crash onto the cage. 'Let Alex and Max get the prisoners out first. Then I can send the wall forward onto the monster to check its weaknesses... 'She thought as she glanced as the pair work on the cage from where she was standing.
The monster's fuzz had been been resting against its body when it had arrived. Now with a sudden cold between it and its food source, and the sharp sting against its mouth it began to react. The fuzz began to stand up waving through the air. It could smell food, more food than before, but the meat smelled lean.
Though... food 'was' food. So it brought up its hairs, realizing that the food before it was trying to fight back. Armoring itself in deceptively soft hairs, each one exuding poison and flexible enough to help grab and pull the food to its mouth.
"Must be hungry, if its anything like a real caterpillar it probably is trying to prepare for its cocoon stage." Sam noted as he struck out against the mouth. Meanwhile Max popped back into view, though she was fairly dancing between the wall of ice and the maze wall.
"Soo just that you may recall," Max called out as she went jumping after a candle. She slapped it out of the air with a ball of flame, when a bottle appeared in its place and went tumbling to the ground. With a triumphant grin she landed and picked up the bottle. "The spirits are still here and the candles still work!"
"So see if what drops still work!" Alexis called out in encouragement and was rewarded with Max tossed the bottle forward. It shattered into fuzzy tendrils of the monster fluffy toxic armor and a brilliant blue flame rose from it. The flames burned and cackled against the poison causing an acidic smell to rise up. It spread out through the shared fluid of the toxin along the tips of the monster until the toxin ratio was greater than the holy water.
"The candles still work! Or maybe they've been turned back on," Sam nodded in approval as he struck against at the face. The stories had always told that the Castle naturally depowered anything with holy powers that came from outside save the Vampire Killer... And in retrospect it made sense that the the LeCarde Spear would function given that it was forged by Alucard himself.
As the holy waters' flames burned away from the front the tendrils didn't disappear, but at least the soft, deadly shimmer of toxin that had been glistening on the tips was gone. Giving a bit of a dry patch on armor around the mouth and a bit of the side. A chink in the armor of the monster that Sam could use!
While to the other side of the ice wall, Alex began guiding the people out into the garden maze. In his arms he carried the mother, her body was limp and near lifeless, only the wheezing rattling breath told him she was alive. Even her body felt cool to the touch, while behind him there was pair of men who were anxiously carrying the father. Fear was making the group all but pinning themselves as close as Alex's barely there shadow.
They moved into the maze and Alex had to note how now the maze looked more like a straight away, the path had shifted and he could see straight to the other side through a single passage. The group began to pull up as close beside him as they could as he moved along. It was as though they were afraid the roses themselves would suddenly lash... oh...
Alura Une...
Normally they appeared below in the underground, but with the way the people were being skittish. Either it was an Alura, or the Spider woman on the wall... 'The last time there was no physical door to seal us in. But there is one now, I guess I can only pray that the door will still open and let me get these people into the castle. Maybe some of the servants could help?'
The realization that he was hoping that 'undead zombie kung fu maids' would be able to help the wounded on their own...
"Oh, I see you found them..." the Spider called from high above.
Alex looked up, as did the others, and found her nestled into the corner, arms folded across her chest and rather disinterested. He heard the alarm of the prisoners at his back and felt them retreat into the garden a few steps.
"Yes, I don't suppose you know an antidote to the toxin," Alex asked as he moved out and turned to look at the others. Without Max how was he going to convey that the spider wasn't a threat... for now?
"The Alura Une that was looking after this garden has one. She's different from the others, because she served as Dracula's guardian before the Church got a hold of him. But because she 'can' do something about the toxin is the reason buggy sealed her up." The Spider reported, her hand drifting from its place to gesture vaguely against the wall furthest away from them. "Used up all its cocoon making fluids to do the job. Its why he's so large now but not cocooned, he needs more food..."
Alex turned to look in the direction the Spider had pointed and found himself both concerned, and relieved by the news. If the souls Soma had gathered were beginning to take positions of authority in the castle... Well it would help, especially if the Alura Une could be swayed to produce the antidote to what the parents had been given.
'But would they want it... that monster 'ate' their child. Would they want to live...' It was a thought that began to hang over his head. "You're not interested in eating humans I take it?" He asked as he carried the dying mother to the door.
"I'd kill for a slice of pizza or maybe a buttered croissant, eggs over easy, and some sausage," she replied easily enough.
"Well when you word it like 'that', I think we need to find the kitchen next." Alex noted with slight weighted amusement, 'that actually sounds pretty good right about now.' But with her not being interested in humans, he had no other option than to take the chance. He carried the mother near the door and urgently motioned for the others to bring the husband. 'If we can get the Alura Une free, she could help save them. Who knows what will happen if we put them inside. And I can only pray that the Alura will help save the prisoners without Soma's direct intervention.'
With incredible reservations about doing this, the men walked over and brought the husband. The others joined them and were soon huddled in the corner, some eyeing the spider above their head, others eyeing where the other monster could come from. While Alex left to go let the group know about what was also in the garden.