Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Corrected by the same goofball...
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
"I was thinking much the same..." Juste confessed before glancing up at his grandson. "Soma knew to give us this ability... Would it be possible that he knows who the vampire is?"
The other members of the family looked at each other, a feeling uncertainty as they pondered.
"Soma wouldn't," Richter answered with a bit of a gruffness to his voice. "But Dracula would and could yank the control of the vampire the second he felt that he should. Though the question would be 'if' he felt he should. He might just think it was an amusing game," the youngest among them answered.
"And Soma, even if he's gone back more into being Dracula, might not know how to do..." Christopher began as a wave of power rushed over him. The short fur that covered his muzzle suddenly stood on end swallowing up the floor.
He had been looking at Richter at the moment and watched as Richters' fur stood up all along him. Granting him this amazingly fuzzy, blurred out appearance, as his flopped over ears straightened up completely as he jumped to his feet in alarm! The sensation traveled almost as though a wave, the fake fur that covered Juste was suddenly on end as well!
While Simon became a golden dandelion, his fur was naturally curled so the sudden sensation sent it straight as a multitude of needles. In fact his fur was the longest causing his face to semi disappear while his ears looked more like cattails swaying in the wind as he wiggled them.
"Someone better explain this shit..." was all Simon growled.
"Its holy power..." Richter answered, confusion channeled in his garbled, very dog like, curious growl.
"So why does... My God, why does it feel so alien to the Vatican?" Christopher asked as he looked about, this growing horror in the pit of where he used to have a stomach. "This is the Vatican! Haven't we felt the holy blessing the whole time we were here?"
Richter was shaking hard to try and get his fur back to how it should have been, the sound of the swish of his fur a strange comfort. The others were following his example, with Simon's fur thankfully going back to its curled state and not just... there.
'We know what holy power feels like...' Christopher thought to himself as he looked around, everything felt... "It feels... This is what you were talking about isn't it Juste? Two generations worth of Popes having been turned."
"We need to find the source of this sensation," Simon announced as his fur slowly began to regain their curl. "Now before it fades into whatever has begun to take over."
Richter finally stopped shaking before nodding his head. "Yes, and hopefully this form will be of use." He wiggled his nose as he began to trot over to the door. Whatever fatigue he had felt was washed away at the idea of a hunt. The other Belmonts fell in step as they moved out to open the door to the suite.
For Richter the first thing he sensed out of Yoko's suite was the strange humming sound. Everything sounded as though it was vibrating to the force of church bells. It was rumbling in his ears and through the pads of his paws, quiet yet powerful, and consistent in tone. Visually he could just make out a dark mist that appeared to rise up from the carpets and walls.
His stomach clenched in apprehension as he began walking further out into the hallway, his kin at his sides. "I don't hear anyone..." He finally noted as he tried to hear something beyond that rumbling sound. Sure the elderly priests and nuns would be asleep at this hour, but the newly ordained and such should have been awake. Often in conversation or prayer, for which Richter normally couldn't hear to start with. But with these real ears...
'Maybe I'm expecting too much in this form...' he thought to himself as his nose picked up the soft scents of candles burning, the subtle scents of warmed tea, as well as the scents of a living active group of people... 'I wonder how the castle would technically smell to an animal?' Richter pondered.
"Do you smell death?" Simon asked as he walked up by Richter's head, his gaze sweeping the hallway from side to side.
"Hmmm..." Richter lifted up his nose a little more in a questing way. He knew what the dead smelled like as a human... But as a dog? "I think its still at the castle serving Soma..." He absently answered and got the back of his front left leg slapped.
"Look at this..." Juste murmured in morbid fascination. "Its everywhere, maybe being dead and stuffed in these bodies dulled our senses."
"Or maybe we had too high an expectation on... well normal humans?" Christopher suggested. "We're cursed with our powers, they're not, so its possible that they just don't really get as strong as we would."
"So we only sensed the power and thought it was holy power?" Simon asked, his ears wiggled as he thought back to his time with Yoko. "I suppose that makes sense, we need to find those journals and someone who can read them I guess."
Along the walls, the paintings had lost their 'follow the living with their eyes' motions. From this distance all the statues looked to be frozen to their original positions once more.
"This feels like the angels in the castle when I was there," Richter noted as he began putting his nose to the carpet. Amid his audible sniffing he continued, "the aura of holy power was there, but this is incredibly more powerful."
"While not even being direct..." Juste agreed. "Think it safe if we split up and searched?"
"Someone needs to stay with RichterRover so the priests don't try to put him outside. Or walkies..." Simon pointed out...
Richter didn't even think before he grabbed Simon up into his mouth and started carrying the now irate bear.
"One dog and bear combo?" Christopher suggested and with that Richter took off, tail held high and Simon still trapped in his mouth.
"RICHTER YOU BASTARD PUT ME DOWN!"
"We're related to those two..." Christopher bemoaned as his head dropped into his hands.
"Yes, but just how did Richter get turned into a dog?" Juste asked looking up at Christopher, "after all. Eventually Simon's going to be a real bear and 'that' is when things will get loud."
"Well apparently Richter got carried off to the Cherub Choir practice. Something about the children singing caused him to get an intense desire to sneeze and resulted in, well, that..." Christopher explained waving a hand towards where their family was still visible. Especially now that Richter was a large actual dog.
"Given that Soma gave us this ability, he clearly thinks we need it. But it also shows a startling amount of magical aptitude on his part. For a reincarnation," Juste acknowledged as Christopher and he turned for the stairs to descend down to the grounds below. "Do you think he knows? Who is behind all this?"
Christopher shook his head after a moment. "If he did I think he would have said something, or perhaps he has his suspicions but couldn't say anything. After all the Church already looks unfavorably towards him, and now Alucard. Thanks to him protecting Soma from their scrutiny."
Juste nodded thoughtfully, "perhaps we should check on that one Cardinal that was still on Soma's side. It could be possible that someone might have gone after him..."
The statues that hid in small alcoves rolled with smoke that rose up with such force one would be forgiven to think they were smoldering with fire.
"Yeah, actually, Juste do you think this is what has been messing with the children?" Christopher asked and watched as Justes' head reared back in a bit of surprise.
Juste stopped walking and rested his chin on his hand in thought as he sat down. He looked about the room, the way the malice borne mist rose up from everything... "A spell of misdirection? Children are so young it... if we could talk to the children it might prove incredibly enlightening..." The magician thought out loud, 'those children would be too pure of spirit... perhaps they are meant to get redirected from finding anything? Like a book perhaps?'
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
"You will be a puny puppy compared to me once I get those children to sing for me..." Simon growled.
"Ohh now now, the children will not be happy to see their brave Snuggy carried around like a comfort toy!"
A nun, the first person they had seen since the left Yoko's suite, shuffled with the short easy shuffle of the elderly. She was one of those sweet, kindly sorts, her wrinkles around her eyes and mouth from ages of smiling. Both in joy and to soothe, either way...
"Woman I really don't need this..." Simon growled uselessly.
"Oh come on now, she's not a threat..." Richter mocked, before wagging his tail. He pulled his lips back in the best impression of a doggy grin he could give. Trotting his way over to her he politely lowered his head and placed the irate bear in her hands while giving his best smug smile.
Because he never saw a dog try to 'smile' before and had no idea that his narrowed eyes and big toothy grin screamed 'I've been a bad doggo, but I'm cute and I know it'.
It helped a great deal that there was no signs of smoke rising off her, she didn't radiate anything that the pair could tell. Or Richter because Simon was visibly vibrating with unrepentant rage so it was possible he noticed absolutely nothing.
She lifted Simon up and began giving him a once over, brushing away the bit of slobber off the bears' fur. While Simon glared all manners of vampire hunting weapons at her, "think we should walk her to where ever she's going?"
"It might be for the best, everything feels cleaned out, but she's not showing any of that smoke. So perhaps she will naturally avoid tainted areas." Richter acknowledged, "I'm honestly curious how the living are reacting to this. Or how they 'will' react in the morning," he added.
"I'm going to be busy won't I?" Simon asked.
"Probably, a great deal as the kids get lost en mass..." Richter admitted, and then the conversation with Juste came back to mind. "A vampire in the Vatican, I know keeping an eye out for the kids isn't really your stock in trade Simon. But do you know what happens when a child outgrows their place in the choir?"
"Most children have families that they go home to, others are looked after in the orphanage like Elmo." Simon explained as the nun began to put him down. Well, 'try' to, she was old and her effort to bend down made the action so agonizingly slow. Richter finally reached over and grabbed Simon by the paw and pulled him free. But at least he put the bear 'down' instead of resuming using Simon as a chew toy.
"Now you both be nice," she instructed gently, her voice that worn low note of a pan pipe tone. Worn into this soothing sound, that probably comforted a great many kids over the years.
But as Simon touched down, Richters' nose twitched and he straightened up, "do you... wait no you can't breath..." With that he began walking, his nose almost audible to the nun as he sniffed the air.
"Smell what?" Simon asked as he began jogging after the dog while the nun went on her way.
"I smell death... I smell the stench of the undead...?" Richter began hurrying his steps as he moved along. His paws were starting to hit the ground with a more firm weight behind it, he looked around with stoic determination as he moved further into the hallway.
Simon didn't even argue, as the only one between any of the four of them with active living senses at the moment. If Richter was picking up something they couldn't, only an idiot would distract him. 'After all its not as though he's experienced with the senses of an animal.' He thought to himself as he began looking around for any particular things that might stand out. 'So holy power suddenly erupts and Richter is now smelling undead creatures or beings? What happened in the castle?'
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
"'EY!" Grant came soaring out of a wall rushing after Maria and Lydia, causing the pair to pause in their flight and turn. The pirate arrived with pure relief at seeing the pair. Having been trapped in a room full of painted rectangular boxes that had televisions in them. Noisy, brightly colored in a darken room, but he was out now and hell if he was going back in! "Am I ever be glad to see you lasses. I've been trapped in a room that looks far too modern to be part of the castle."
"Grant! Its good to see you safe!" Lydia replied before looking about, "did you run into anyone else?"
"If you're free then that means Annette and Soleli is free as well!" Maria looked elated as she grabbed Grant and resumed her trek.
All the while she began updating Grant on what had been happening, from Soma's soul being trapped in a painting. All the way to Sam being attacked by Archangels and left badly injured while another vampire had been found in the castle.
"So what you ladies are saying, is; that I've been trapped in a room when all the fun started..." Grant grumbled in annoyance as he floated along. 'I'll admit I'm useless as a ghost, but at least I can spectate!'
"Sure you can see it that way..." Maria admitted as she floated along. "But Sam looks rough and we don't technically have a dedicated healer it seems. Charlotte can use healing spells, however; Max does not seem confident that she can heal him."
"Sophia should be on the move, too," Lydia realized as she floated along turning at the hallway. "Do you think that the person who sealed everything left? Is that why the seals are all going down?"
"You mean the seals are proximity based?" Grant asked growing thoughtful in tone. "Sounds plausible, not that any of us are magic expects."
"Maria!" Annette was visible the moment the trio turned another corner, the blond was floating in the closest approximation of pacing. She paused the moment she caught sight of the trio, before she waved at them. "I'm so glad you're here, Soma' trapped in a painting and he's been getting weaker!" Her gaze lowered from the trio to look about around for a hopefully living person. "Is someone with you that is strong enough to carry the painting back?"
"No, the servants are all we need to get the painting back to Soma's body," Lydia began only to frown. "You mean they didn't just start arriving to get into the room?"
"Well maybe Soleli saw something, I had to get out the moment we realized the seal was down..." Annette paused and the trio looked at her as she stared back at them. Turned and floated straight through a wall...
"I think sis is about to be angry..." Maria noted casually as they flew after her.
The room was empty, with only the pillars and a forsaken burned cloth that rested on the ground occupying the room. No painting, just a lone easel, Soleli clearly was also absent as well.
"He's family, sister," Maria pointed out in a nearly whimsical tone as she imagined Annettes' quietly growing outrage.
"Your point? Is there a problem with letting me know he was leaving?!" Annette retorted in irritation. "We've been sealed in rooms, others have been as well, for all I would have known some great... great... Goobly woobly could have eaten his soul and we'd all be none the wiser!"
'New words sister made up,' Maria thought as she began trying to placate her sister...
"Well that just means going back to base..." Lydia replied, blinked then looked over at Grant. "That's how its worded correct? 'Going back to base'?"
"Aye, near enough lass..." Grant replied, glancing at the two blonds before tilting his head to the side. "What say ye, we go and check on the little reborn dark lord?"
Lydia blinked before nodding, turning and floating through the wall as Annette could be heard growling 'I'd kill him if we weren't already dead.'