Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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It took little for the servants of the castle to start rousing up. Without Dracula it had fallen to his son, and amazingly, the young master answered the call! But now with Dracula incapacitated and Alucards' growing anger, the servants began to stir. Death could see it as it stood guard, watching and growing amused at how alike Alucard was to his Lord Father at times like this. At the end of the hallway, one of the living hunters arrived, bag in hand and a rushed stride. Across from it, the hunter announced they had recovered an item to restore the humanity to the Dark Children. A multitude of servants newly instated gave rousing cheers.
Death recognized the modified Crimson Stone that its Master had created, the whim gift if ever amused to the idea of restoring humanity to one of the mortals. Be it fur, scales, metal, whatever they had been turned into, those unique layers dissipated upon the use of the stone. Typical of the living, they began to get rowdy, cheering and jumping all over the place. Had its Master been open to the idea, Death suspected Dracula would have silenced them all for their noise... At least prior to the reincarnation 'thing'.
A dead wood boy moved forward, his steps as light as they were awkward. He placed his hand on the orb and was transformed back into a living boy, two humans, probably his parents, fell upon him with hugs and kisses. Those expressions of affection that the living were so fond of. As was Lord Dracula he could recall..
Death materialized idly watching them from the door to the side wrapped in robes with its glowing eyes reflecting no emotion. Utterly unsettling to see that grinning skull and recognize it as 'Death itself'. Getting used to not being human had been problematic, yet despite that, 'Death' was a whole other level...
"I have to speak with Death, the soldiers should still be in the front helping the other 'unwilling guests' be transported off the grounds ..." Sam pointed out, gesturing to the front of the hall, nonchalantly putting himself between the Specter and the living.
Sam listened to the group move off behind him, the quiet shuffling of steps. Perhaps they didn't want to get Death's attention now that they were so close to freedom and the ability to return to the living world. But as much as he might have wanted to go along and make sure, even if the castle was behaving. The word he had received made him stay behind. Alexis was already on the move and now, "Orlox has sealed Soma's soul away... I get that you're here to protect his body. You went after Brauner once before and he also sealed Dracula before," Sam pointed out while those flaming eyes studied him.
"Yes, I did... Reincarnation is a fickle thing, I take the souls of the dead to the other side. In my domain they lose all identity, the stains that form their being is wiped away leaving only the pure essence. From there they come back and live these lives anew..." Death explained, and then produced a sound that Sam couldn't really place.
Had Death been human, Sam would have said Death sounded 'flustered' for lack of better word. But this was 'Death' and could Death sound flustered? It sounded like it was. "So reincarnation is different because the souls retain their identity? So Soma came back as close to Dracula's resurrections as possible?"
"And not the only one, but if you need a hand for this cult leader... I see him moving towards the Great Library." Death offered deciding to turn its head to give the illusion that it was 'looking', the living seemed to appreciate that. Even if it was to idly hope they could escape its reach...
'Then I'm going to the library. Everyone else is off to help Alucard and I'm willing to believe the cult leader would want to use this opportunity for whatever he's got up his sleeves,' Sam decided. "Is the castle ok? With Alucard being trapped with Orlox and Soma being in his state... How are the servants reacting?"
"The castle is starting to resonate with the young masters' anger. He fights in defense of his Lord Father and the servants are starting to return to their state of aggression. If you wish to reach the library with as little of obstruction as possible. I suggest you leave now."
Which was all that Sam needed as he turned on his heel and took off in a run down back further into the castle. Leaving Death in the quiet peaceful atmosphere of the hallway.
Peace at last.
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A Were hurtled towards Alex as he struggled to push back against a zombie in modern military fatigues. Only to be tackled by a snarling gargoyle from above, biting down on the Were's head as the pair tumbled into a ball of scales and fur snarling. Butler skeletons began hurling steaming plates of curry as they rose up from the ground. A series of barrels were hurled across the theater by long limbed skeletons. He could sense Alexis approaching and the comfort of knowing that help was on the way gave him a boost to keep fighting.
But the room was now more crowded than a concert, bodies began pressing in on all sides. From the various golems that rose from the ground. Lumbering over a number of the possessed and attacking with wide swings.
'They don't care do they? There's innocent people here, but can Lord Alucard notice? Or does he even 'care' anymore?' Alex struggled to see over the crowd of possessed people between weapons and ice casting. But those glimpses were way too few and fragmented.
Orlox was teleporting around and even then could barely avoid Alucards' aggressive hunt. Pillars of lavender flames rose up from the ground but not being instantaneous Alucard was able to dodge them. With sharpen fangs, and red eyes, Alucard rebuffed a floating skull with a backhanded swing of his shield as he pressed his attack. His blade deftly stabbing into the vampires' side. Only he had been aiming for the heart.
Leaving the dhamprie inwardly cursing his weakened state. Behind him the noise from the rapidly joining battle was a symphony that reminded him of his youth. His blade slicing the back of Orlox's hand as he tried to dodge the downward stab. It was a whirlwind of ebony and lavender, a pitched battle fought again like through the centuries.
A Quetzalcoatl swept through, a Soma plushy sitting behind its head with a small sword in hand. Orloxs' countenance exploded into enrage as he saw the plush toy, a mockery of the reincarnated Dark Lord.
"You insufferable child, if you can see through that meaningless poppet, then I will slaughter your son right before your eyes. Granting you the pleasure to watch as 'I' drain this enfeebled dhampire and make him 'my' Child!" Orlox spat in fury as he clawed at the doll.
The toy Soma hopped up from its seat running down the length of the Quetzalcoatls' body.
Alucard bit back a hiss at the insult even as he capitalized on the distraction. Allowing him the chance to dash in with a flurry of attacks. Even if his powers were sealed, he could finally utilize the magics of his weapon. Drawing blood as he disappeared only to reappear behind Orlox, slicing through the armor to expose the flesh of the vampires' back.
Earning him a hiss of outrage as Orlox turned to face him. His skin bubbling up into scales as the thought filled his head. That weakened as much as Alucard was, he was still fast enough to keep up. The idea, the 'act' itself that he was able to cut so deep into Orlox to force him to transform? The vampire exploded into his towering reptilian form, outrage twisting his reptilian face even further.
"You can't even try new forms..." Alucard venomously pointed out when the reptile snatched up two of the Dark Children and began to eat them. Cramming them into his mouth with all the class and grace as a child that just discovered cotton candy.
Savage and childish.
Charging forward he began slashing at Orloxs' legs. If he 'really' was just the same type of lizard his speed would still be sub par. Long talon tipped fingers, now free of grasping prey, swiped down at Alucard. Filthy with the blood and bits of muscle and cloth that it had pieced they lacked the speed to capture or injure Alucard.
Weakened as he was from the seal, and perhaps if he hadn't been in such a foul mood. Alucard would have near smirked at the idiot. Instead he danced out of range of Orloxs' spewed fire or eruptions, slicing into the vampires legs with calculating efficiency.
All the while outside the witches were focusing their powers and began unraveling the power that Orlox had invested into the doorway. Bringing to Julius' mind too much of his grandkids unraveling a stick of twizzlers for fun. But those thoughts were rare as comfort that the women were 'here' rose to his thoughts.
Alexis had been in full run, and somehow was able to connect her magics to Max and Yoko without missing a beat. Impressive from his point of view as he watched the three witches, he couldn't tell a great 'deal'. Auras were one thing, and he could see details to those powers if he tried hard enough.
He didn't need to back when he first fought Dracula. But now he felt a tension behind his eyes and a slight pounding on his forehead from his effort.
Julius eyed the hall behind him as his senses started to rouse up, those old senses yelling 'danger'. 'I don't like how this feels, the castle is starting to feel like Dracula is back. But Soma's in no condition to incite this kind of rage. It must be Alucard but... Damn it Alucard we're coming!'
That was probably the most frustrating thing about the whole situation now, he could finally grant Alucard some semblance of peace. Now that Soma was reborn into a more positive person, only for this... Frustration left him standing still, rooted to the ground like a mighty oak as he stared at the doors. Trying to open them through sheer force of will alone, but he had to trust the women with him even if his instincts were making him more agitated.
And his relating to twizzlers was a rather accurate description of how it felt to the woman in question as they pulled on the threads they grabbed.
'This had all the opportunity to be a tangled knot, good thing Orlox didn't get the chance to do that...' Yoko thought to herself as she pulled on the threads of power before her.
Between herself and Max they had begun to pull against the threads, so perhaps that was what kept the power so neat for them. Now with Alexis' power they had the strength to wrangle at the threads.
While above them bats began to fly into the long hallway, their flapping wings growing more numerous.
"The young master is..." The maid noted as she began to turn her attention back to the theater where they could sense Alucard. There was no point in being outside the room, after all they couldn't force open the door. But the young master would undoubtedly appreciate the extra forces arriving to lend aid...
So the maids did so, sinking into the ground and moving off back to the theater where the young master was facing Orlox. Yet despite how talented Alucard was with a multitude of weapons it was disheartening to see that he hadn't landed a hit on Orlox. Meanwhile the Dark Child that attended the Young Master was being beset by an increasing number of possessed aura bearing beings. With that they fell into practiced stances before joining the fray of hundreds.
Though what the maids didn't realize was that Alucard 'had' been injuring Orlox, spectacularly so in fact. Only every time the towering vampire was wounded deeply enough the vampire would snatch up someone and proceeded to consume them.
If Death were here, it would have laughed at the second rate Dark Metamorphosis spell that Orlox had seemingly cobbled together. Having taught the spell to Alucard originally, seeing an attempt to recreate it by someone other than Alucard was...
Interesting?
Crude certainly, Alucard could absorb the blood through the air in a swirling hazy mist.
This just would have made Death's head roll off its skeletal neck and hit the floor.
Yet Orlox wasn't spilling enough blood to be worth the spells' use, more over he was snatching up targets that lacked the glow of his power. So raging large monster he may have been, he still had enough of his common sense not to kill his enslaved subordinates.
When the doors of the theater doors slammed open with enough forced as to put indents into the walls they struck. Allowing Julius to lead the charge with Yoko right behind him. One look across the room and she knew that lightning and ice spells would be out of the question. Her focus narrowing down to reaching and aiding Alucard as quickly as possible. With a wistful wish that she actually 'had' a broomstick to fly on!
While Alexis rushed in behind her urgently searching for her brother. Generating a pair of ice walls she shoved it forward, with all the force of an ax chopping into a tree. It plowed through the large numbers of combatants with cold indifference. Stopping right behind Alex, leaving his back protected and shoving would be threats off their feet into a heap of limbs, bodies, and theater chairs.
Crumbling the 'blade' so that she could rush to her brothers' side, Alexis moved in front of him while letting him stagger into the shielded walls his twin had created. The cold of her magic a comfort as he allowed himself to drop to bended knee. His blade was slick with blood, his vision partly obscured by the blood until he wiped it away. But now he could rest, and observe a little of what was going on.
Max was barely visible, but while Alexis had been single minded in reaching her twin, both Julius and Yoko seemed almost as fixated on reaching Alucard. 'The idea that Max seems to be attempting to discern threat from innocent is concerning...' Alex mused tiredly, but it brought a smile to his face. She was casting very target based spells and generating weapons in accordance to that.
"Sam and I found a cure for the turned people, they should be joining the military in evacuating," Alexis explained, calling out to her brother over the noise of the combat. Earning a weary nod from her twin as she joined Dracula's forces to support Alucard... And that was a thought, as she began freezing the fur on a Were. Allowing its fur to spike up as a protective armor as the Were charged forward.
The crack of Vampire Killer was as sharp as thunder over head, causing several of the possessed and castle staff to flinch on instinct. Julius rushed through the forces, frustration causing him to strike with a little more force against the lavender tinted possessed. The skills and abilities of the Belmonts were a great asset when dealing with slaying Dracula and his forces en mass. But now that Dracula was not part of the equation and the 'forces' were literally trying to help...
Being reduced to just using his whip and the occasional dagger was not making him feel any better. But there were innocent people among them, and he had to repeat that for his own sake...
While Max lunged into a fight against a possessed minion, its wrappings were strangling an Alura Une, trying to pull the plant out of the ground. Mummy versus Murderess Plant, she summoned a blade and began cutting the flowers' stems and branches free first. After all, did Alura Unes need their human appearing breathing paats? How 'did' the plant breath? Like a human through the nose and mouth? Or like a plant and through its leaves?
She set up the mummy, hurling blade after blade to pierce and pin down the mummy until it was rooted to the ground. Comically flailing in place, the Mummy finally stopped attacking as it tried to free its feet. A pair of large rose tipped tendrils shot past her and slammed together, causing the Mummy to explode. Even as it startled Max, who had been expected one of Sam's usual support attacks...
Oh... he wasn't here...
'But at last the monsters aren't killing anything that moves as well as Orlocks' followers...' she consoled herself. Ballroom blitzes like this were what she and Sam were made for! And the twins! "Damn it Orlox you could have been a fun hunt!" she grumbled to herself as she realized they couldn't just kill everything in sight.