Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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"Now there's a sentence..." Alex grumbled under his breath. From the hole rose not a demon or spirit or undead being.
It was something a lot, lot worse in Alex's humble opinion.
The guy was almost horrifically cliché, he was wearing a university uniform, most of one the identifying jacket was missing. But Alex could see the university crest on the front pocket and the colors alone brought up several possibilities. The student wore these bottle thick glasses, his skin was mottled with what could have been dermatitis but Alex couldn't be sure. His hair was a mussy page cut brown and he was as scrawny as the typical 'nerds' that got beat up in high school.
Confusion was utterly real while he began looking around in disbelief catching sight of Alex below. It was an expression that put an ugly feeling in the pit of Alex's stomach. Summoning wasn't something they did, not when it came to bringing forth arcane beings. Yet it would have been remiss for he and his twin to not learn the basics of it. Especially when demons such as the Puppet Master was described when Lord Alucard and the others made their reports about Fortners' fake castle.
"It summons puppets that are then put into iron maidens. The second the doors slam shut the puppet is swapped with a target."
'She's kind of a puppet master summoner. She's summoning other summoners to have them fight for her?'
The poor guy had no reason to know what was going on as he tried to grasp why Alex was 'way' below him. He was probably growing lost in his own confusion and like a child sitting on something too high in the air. He began swinging his feet only he couldn't feel anything under him. Swinging his legs so freely should be impossible, hence he probably hadn't realized he was being held aloft.
Once it hit that he was, the panic began, he twisted left and right in an effort to see over his shoulder.
They were too far for Alex to hear much, outside of these squeaked out panicked echos of questions. It was the first time he saw someone with her so whatever spell Francine used to keep her pillar invisible needed to be cast anew. Meaning in that time he was seeing just why there was a small pile of dead bodies at the bottom of the hollow pillar. But whatever Francine said did start to calm the guy down.
If only for a moment.
Regret began to fill Alex's heart as he watched the stranger give a panicked shriek right before he die right in front of hunter. The man's hands glowed at first, only for it to transfer over to Francine. Yet then his whole body glowed and 'that' light transferred to the forcefield protecting her...
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"She used their life force to empower it..." Alexis finished as she shook her head. "So all she can do is summon other summoners and steal their abilities."
"Kinda sounds like Brauner..." Max mused to herself only to realize the others heard her. Finding herself thrust onto the floor she shrugged and explained her view. "Using others, the way he used the LeCarde sisters to replace his own daughters. She uses summoners to make up for what she's lacking regarding her abilities. Because I don't see how 'summon other summoners' is an ability. She must be able to summon something herself and isn't because she doesn't value it."
"Oh God I hope it wasn't angels..." Sam groaned as he strained to get comfortable as the time laying in the same position began to put pressure on parts of his backside.
"But he 'did' value his daughters..." Alex pointed out before getting side eyed by Max.
"If he did why replace them? Value would imply they were irreplaceable, and he just needed to find two girls with abilities..." Max scoffed.
"While that's true, and what he did to our family was wrong on so many levels he's an artist. His mind lived in the realm of imagination during a time when his own people were being horribly persecuted. It wasn't a world anyone would want to be present in, so getting that deeply entrenched with a lie makes... some sense." Alexis noted quietly, getting a nose scrunch from Max and answering with her own nose scrunch then threw in a bunny nose wiggle.
"And lets not forget her sister in her past life has an ability over animals... maybe that's something that connects to her?"
"I suspect she summons animals or demonic versions of animals," Alex replied with a nod. "And given said reincarnated sister is also on the castle grounds. She probably just wouldn't want to upset the girl by having demonic 'good doggos' die in front of her."
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In the heat of the moment it didn't make anything easier or better.
Golems again, made from the shards of broken glass that still rested outside the castle walls. They were almost blinding when light was caught in their path, yet for all the jagged roughness of their bodies... Alex did NOT want a hug. There was a defined shape beyond 'big, bulky man' he faintly recognized. It was the rough patterns of a rugby player reinforcing that this was a British University student that she just grabbed.
'He's a cultist, he signed up for this...' Alex recited in his head to throttle down the offense he took over this.
While he choose teaching to keep an eye on the Dark Children. Those who had entered the institutions of learning or were originally human and trying to continue that path. This was one of those affronts that brought agreement between the Hunter and the Teacher.
Ice shields were cast though not in front of him, while a thought came to the front of his mind.
"Lady of the Castle, are you still here?" He spoke but did not shout, alerting Francine wasn't ideal as he dodged the lumbering rugby team of glass.
"Yes..."
"Can you command the castle? Or speak with your Lord Husband? I need a way to cut off her ability to summon," Alex inquired when one of the rugby glass blokes shrank down into a ball... The sound of the glass grinding into place was irritating. More over there wasn't enough reason for 'all' the glass hence the remaining glass hovered in the air as starlit fireflies. Glowing with light, crafted from deepest darkness.
"I can inquire my Lord Husband, since he is here the castle will not obey my wishes," she answered after a brief pause. Her voice hovered behind his left shoulder, quiet and composed, whatever anguish learning what had befallen her son covered by noble demeanor. "However; I will not speak in the presence of my son, so until he leaves the room..."
"Thank you dear lady," Alex replied before he gave a sigh.
He never played rugby... only had an idea or two about the rules as he had been far too invested in learning magic and how to fight.
"Can't we just play dodge ball Francine?" he called out as those little fireflies began to form into more spiky balls.
After all there was no way to win in the situation. The balls either rocketed towards him or went off like underwater deep sea mines. They stuck into the sand and cracked under his boots, stuck into his clothes and left scratches into his skin. Ice was far too similar to glass to effect much change, almost a snowball fight of lethal proportions. Freezing the ice only made the shards bigger until they exploded into dust. But if the golems were able to reform those pieces...
While he was left pondering battle plans a rich golden light blossomed behind Alex, transforming the pure silvery light of the golems into fairly glowing suns. It was beautiful in its own way, before something shot around his waist, thick and strong, yanking him backwards without warning. His back slammed into something slender and when he looked up in alarm the first thing he saw was the underside of a pair of buxom, and very naked, breasts...
Oh he noticed the large rose petals curling and flexing around him, as well as the large ominous vines she used to grab him with...
"You are fine I assume," the Alura Une asked, her long red hair tumbled down as water...
"Yes, they're fine, great eve-," Alex shut his eyes as he fairly curled up on himself as he stammered out, "thanks for keeping a breast... I mean..."
The Flame Demon was leading the charge against the glass golems, its flames searing and melting the little orbs into puddles of glass. Various demons rode by, those on chariots shooting flaming arrows, the Beurs rolling among them. Cackling from above brought his attention to a small group of witches riding in on their brooms. The cats were hissing from the back of the brooms as the witches themselves cast shields while they positioned themselves between the golems and the demons.
'Melting the glass is a good short term solution, but the glass is just melting back 'into' glass...' he mused while the castle, itself, seemed to rumble into motion.
It was one of the walls that was part of the main building. Those self same stones from the mountains began to move, sliding in or out, stacking out to form a tunnel. It was strange to Alex that all he heard was what amounted to as sliding when he expected grinding. Especially given that these stones were part of the foundation of the castle, thus bearing a great deal of weight upon themselves!
More over while he couldn't say with 'any' degree of confidence he knew the layout of the interior of the castle. He expected vast rooms or hallways that he could see, meaning this wasn't a true 'hole' being created by the castle...
What emerged was first seen in the glare of light across glass. It was large and round, flat and smooth bringing to mind a pair of goggles. With that information alone, and fortified by the sight of the large hand as it emerged from the massive tunnel. Just the sight of the hand and eye alone was enough to bring to mind one of the demons that had appeared in both this castle and Fortners imitation. Balore was dragging itself out from the entryway.
Once it's upper chest was visible it ignored the golems and reached out uniformly scattering the witches and demons from their battle. For it was reaching towards the pillar that had been shielding Francine. A flock of crows, while not taking part of the fight, did take a great deal of interest as the air began to fill with their caws.
"You're not welcomed here!"
"Not wanted!"
"You made the Lady cry! You made our Lord angry!"
Alex tried to slide down the silky petals of the Alura Une as more of the demons appeared, Death would stay by its masters' side. But the numbers being called forth...
'The crows said it though, Francines' actions have literally upset the lord and lady of the castle... But can Soma afford to do this?'
Balore kept trying to shake the pillar free from the ground while the air became warm from the demons flames... Alex looked up at the Alura while trying to keep his eyes on her face. "You can let me go, I need to fight," he pointed out.
"This is 'our' home, 'our' Castle and we will not tolerate those who would usurp or upset my Darling Lord Soma." She retorted as she pulled him back in, "we fight for our home!"
"I realize that, however; I will not stand aside and let you fight on your own."
How strange to be on the other side and have to say that he realized. The 'monsters' of the Castle were ever just defending their home or their acknowledged prison. It was the Belmonts and other hunters who stormed the castle, killing the Dark Children out of hand for the sake of the human race.
'Yet even if I think of it in those terms... Dracula enjoyed games, he structured the rooms like that I can see that better now. Everything was a game to him,' for if he front loaded the front of the castle with all these spirits... Well Trevor and Simon would never get past, while Richter would only get through if he had already bore a holy water.
Skeletons and zombies began rising from the ground as the suns' rays turned warm and deepened. Night would appear and once that happened the castle would really awaken...
"Alura Une, those golems, Francine is kidnapping people and using their ability to summon." He began as he squirmed in the vines.
"No one is alive in the pillar save the woman, all are dead and at the bottom." She informed him calmly as she began to pluck roses out of the air.
"So she's killing them to take their power?"
"That I have no clue, I have to see her use that power you are talking about first," she began collecting the roses into a bouquet.
"Golems all have cores, I should..." Alex tried again to leave and got flattened back against the Alura Une. "Alura is this Somas' doing? So long as he's wearing that ring..."
"He granted us permission nothing more..." she answered.
"What about the girl, Francine has a younger sister here one who has some ability with animals..." Alex asked and got a flick of a vine towards the back behind her as an answer.
"You're kind of... I can't see past your blossom..." he noted for which she merely shrugged. "Her door is bound shut, she can not join this fight. My Darling would be upset to have a semi innocent girl killed when she takes such good care of the animals. He already has decided on her duties here in the castle."
'Going to put my money on animal husbandry...' he thought before turning his attention back to the fight.
Balore was struggling to tear out the pillar while more fire themed demons began to arrive. Perhaps it was their limited intelligence or just sadism at its finest but they seemed to have come to a solution regarding the glass Golems. By literally setting the ground on fire and keeping it that way. The ground was a molten pit of fire and sand that was melting INTO glass.
Thus the golems kept increasing in numbers, rising up in shimmering warm glows borne of the sand that had been exposed through battle. Golems tried to fling their molten forms at the fire demons only to be blocked by the witches shields. Yet while shields were 'nice' it took a moment before Alex understood why the Golems didn't just move forward.
They tried, boneless constructs though they were they poured themselves forward in an effort to get to the demons. While beyond the distant walls of the castle and further away the mountains, the sun was barely peeking about before slipping into night time. Once that last few rays disappeared from the grounds Alex could see something in the molten warmth of melted glass. It rolled about amid the liquid, a large orb that he couldn't fathom the color directly but it was just there...
"Alura Une it 'does' have an orb. I hadn't seen anything this whole time, but I guess its the same color as the rest of its glass form... Clever..." Alex mused aloud. Though at the moment its liquefied state was making locking onto the orb all the harder.
Skeletons were throwing their bones at the golems... "You know, if you let me freeze it in place and if one of those Red Minotaur's were willing to lend an axe... I think we could start cutting into those orbs..." Alex suggested turning his gaze up to the flower demon easily now that he had a plan of action in hand.
She seemed to muse over that thought before her vines began to release him, freeing him from their intense grip. "It would make sense. Go talk to the Flame demons or if not them, the witches can easily carry your message to them."
'I... was just given marching orders by...' Alex refrained from shaking his head as he took off to find one of the Flame Demons hovering about.
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"And here you are," Sam noted with a faint smile on his face.