"My reinforcements are already on the way," Rastur warned. "And I see you are without your companions."
"Firstly, I don't need my companions to fight the likes of you and your cult. And reinforcements? Do you honestly think that more cannon fodder is going to stop me?" Shinji retorted. "I think I'm going to enjoy this…"
Shinji's aura burst forth in a shade of blood red, his Sword Lord stood just behind and to his left. Suddenly, a column of dark energy ripped from the ground behind and to his right. Mayumi squeaked despite herself, watching as another Sword Lord arose from the column. In front of him a series of five more columns, smaller this time, erupted. Stepping from each of these was an Axe Lord, holding its double headed boomerang axe in the right hand and wielding a massive tower shield in the left. Though not as massive as the Sword Lord, they were just as intimidating with their full plate armor and standing nearly 7' tall themselves.
"So…" Shinji hissed. "Who's first?"
III: Darksoul Rising
For a tense few moments, no one dare made a move or a sound. But it was Rastur who broke the silence at last.
"Your powers have grown, Ikari," Rastur noted. "Still relying on summons to fight your battles though."
"Oh, they're just for crowd control," Shinji countered. "I'm taking point."
Before Rastur could even ponder what Shinji meant by "Crowd Control", Shinji had already rushed into the first rank of sorcerers. Both Sword Lords ran full tilt around the outside of the legion of sorcerers before them while the Axe Lords lifted their shields off the ground and marched forward, spreading out a little as they marched. Mayumi stayed back, watching the young man go and immediately realizing what her brain was trying to tell her… he wasn't human.
The first Sorcerer had half of his face ripped of from a swipe of Shinji's left-handed claw. With a similar motion, Shinji drew his flaming sword and ignited three more sorcerers with a deadly slash across their abdomens. Then, he summoned a smaller version of Final Guard's shield to his left arm, charged low at the next nearest sorcerer, ducked the fireball thrown at him and slammed the shield into him hard enough to shatter his entire ribcage in one go. A low and fast spin-slash took out three more who were attempting to use their ritual daggers.
The skeletons were next, quickly falling into piles of shattered bone as he tore though the ranks. Some summoners tried to get more back up raised, but ended up dead for their troubles, their lives ending in an impromptu vivisection via flaming sword. Sorcerers in the back attempted to break and run only to find that a Sword Lord now blocked their path. One tried to rush past only to take the flat side of the blade to his body throwing him back into his comrades. Other attempted escapes from the battle ran into similar issues at they faced either the other Sword Lord, or one of the Axe Lords.
Shinji continued his slaughter moving towards the thickest concentration of Sorcerers. One of them managed to catch him with a ritual dagger across his side, and ended up split in half from crown to crotch for his troubles.
"Not invincible after all," Rastur noted with satisfaction.
"Never said I was," Shinji replied, taking a moment to notice the wound. "But then again, I learned a few more neat tricks, observe!" Shinji threw his arms out arching his back. A sudden blood-red aura erupted around him. "Dark Metamorphisis!"
The next Sorcerer to attack was slashed from hip to shoulder spraying blood everywhere. A good portion of it reached Shinji whose aura absorbed the blood as if he had drunk it himself. Almost instantly the wound closed and a gentle dusting of ash left the wound. Without pause his rampage continued; a blink of an eye and three more cultists were eviscerated, and the more blood that fed Shinji's aura the more unstoppable he seemed to become. Soon, only a few cultists remained.
Rastur realized his entire force was going to be slaughtered, and if he didn't get out of there now, he'd join them in death. His reinforcements would never arrive in time.
"Next time, Ikari!" he yelled as his teleportation spell was finished, disappearing much as Dimitri did in a column of energy.
"Coward," Shinji hissed. He looked towards one of his Sword Lords. "Finish them."
Shinji left the circle of death and approached Mayumi, while his seven armored warriors began to slaughter what remained of the cults. As soon as they were done, they disappeared in columns of hellfire.
Despite seeing him for the monster he was now, Mayumi had no fear. She did her best to control herself as she was already trying to hide a blush. Now that she was getting an even better look at him, she stopped lying to herself. He was beautiful in her eyes, and she was already falling hard.
"Are you alright?" Shinji asked.
"Fine, thanks to you," Mayumi replied, trying not to sound demure or flirty.
"Forgive me if I'm wrong, but you are a Church Witch?"
"Former," Mayumi answered. "I left the order a little over a year ago."
"I see."
"So, since we're on oddball subjects, let me ask; why would a vampire stick his neck out for someone against the very cults looking to resurrect the Dark Lord himself?"
"An excellent question," Shinji admitted. "I have no love for the cults, especially the Sons. But before we get too deep into such conversations, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Shinji Ikari, reluctant traveler seeking to understand himself in a world gone mad."
"Mayumi Yamagishi," she began, "Former Church Witch, and someone who seeks dark truths."
"About the cults?"
"No," she replied. "About myself."
Shinji noted her aura and also sensed a Castlevania soul inside of her, like that of a Witch.
"Maybe you can help me," she offered.
Shinji was just wondering what excuse he could use to stay close to this one. "This works even better… she needs me."
"Depends on what you require help with," Shinji answered. "Don't want to sound too eager."
"I want to talk to Dracula."
Shinji paused for a moment. "What you ask is impossible, at least right now it is."
"Rastur said something about Dracula not being within Castlevania."
Shinji sighed. "It's far more complicated than that. You are aware of what happened during the Second Impact?"
"I know it had something to do with an asteroid impact at the south pole."
"Lies," Shinji replied immediately. "The Second Impact was caused by humans." Shinji realized in that moment that somehow, he had accepted the fact that he was not human anymore. He felt bad for a moment but stayed on subject. "You see, that place was the home for one of the Angels, specifically Adam. Humanity had managed to get their hands on an artifact known as Lancea Longini."
"I know that artifact," Mayumi noted. "The spear that pierced the side of Christ during the crucifixion."
"You know the church's version of events." He sighed. "This is going to be difficult for you to believe, but things didn't happen the way the Bible tells you it did."
"Finally," Mayumi thought. "I'm going to hear the truth about everything…"
"God didn't create Mankind, an angel did… specifically the Angel Lilith. The other angels were created by Adam. I believe, Adam might be the closest thing to an actual god that exists to us. The two angels arrived here long ago during an event called the First Impact. It took place while the planet was still forming. The scientists referred to the object that brought them here as Thea, but in reality, it is known as the Black Moon. It's collision with Earth threw a lot of material into space which eventually became the White Moon, the moon you see in the sky."
"The Black Moon is the Tokyo-3 Geofront, isn't it?" Mayumi offered.
"Very good," Shinji replied. "NERV was using it as a base of operations during the Angel War that lasted from the year 2015 to around 2017."
"How do you know all this?"
"I was one of the Evangelion Pilots who fought the Angels during the war," Shinji revealed.
Mayumi was shocked to hear this, but somehow just made Shinji even more badass in her mind.
"Lilith still dwelled within the Black Moon, and this is where Lancea Longini was discovered, long before Second Impact occurred. It was moved to Antarctica and in the year 2000, the Lance was used to pierce Adam in a contact experiment. The result was Adam awakening an in his rage, tilting the planet. The awakening of a being of that power damaged the prison that held Castelvania."
"The Eclipse."
Shinji nodded. "Dracula's spirit took the opportunity to escape, but during the chaos of Second impact his soul was fractured and fragmented into many shards. Children who were born around the Time of Second Impact were susceptible to having these shards of Dracula enter them. Such individuals would eventually begin to develop dark powers and gain ambitions of their own."
"What happens if one of these possessed individuals dies?"
"Their shard of Dracula seeks a new host. That is unless there is another individual who carries a shard nearby. The individuals who possess these fragments all have the potential to eventually become Dracula, and as such the cults refer to them as 'Candidates for the Dark Lord'. Theoretically, if all of the shards were to be brought back together, the last remaining Candidate would become Dracula."
"Damn," Mayumi whispered sadly. "My quest truly is in vain then."
Shinji blinked then looked at her. "You were going to resurrect the Dark Lord just to talk to him? What could be so important as to warrant that?"
"I need to know why I'm cursed," Mayumi replied.
Shinji realized that this point that she knew she had some kind of connection to Castlevania. Likely, the Witch soul that resided within her was guiding her to this goal and had her convinced the only way she would ever learn the truth was to get it from the source. This would also allow the soul to 'come home' as it were.
"My control over the local weather isn't perfect," Shinji noted. "We should retreat to my place here in town."
"You said you were wandering," Mayumi noted.
"Even wanderers need to take breaks," Shinji noted. "Besides, I can't get a whole lot of wandering done during the day."
Mayumi was impressed with this home he had here. It was a two-story house, yet at the same time it was modest. Solar and wind assemblies kept it off the power grid, and a motorized well in the back provided fresh water.
"And this is just a rest stop for you?" Mayumi asked upon seeing the home."
"As you can imagine, someone of my particular breed has a lot of capital to back him up. I have several houses like this all over Japan, all off the grid and self-sufficient."
"And they say money can't buy happiness."
"They're correct," Shinji noted, drawing Mayumi's direct attention again. "Money only buys security, and temporary diversions from daily pain. True happiness, can't be bought."
Mayumi gave him a gentle smile. "Words of wisdom?"
"Words of experience," Shinji corrected. "Make yourself at home."
Upon entering, Shinji hit a switch on the wall, causing the shutters and screens to close over the windows. The sky was finally starting to break up as he gave in to Mother Nature and relinquished control of the weather back to her.
"I can't believe you're able to control the weather so casually."
"Casually?" Shinji half-chuckled out. "You have no idea how much concentration that requires. Mother Nature likes to do her own thing, and when someone like me tries to interfere with the natural order, she takes offense to it. For me to get anything done during the day though, I have to exercise that skill. I have become much better at it as of late."
Shinji opened his refridgerator and placed a pitcher of red liquid on the table, but the color was lighter than Mayumi expected.
"That's not blood," she noted.
"It's fruit punch," Shinji confirmed. "I figured you'd probably be at least a little parched after trying to run like that."
He slid a glass over to her. She took it and filled it with punch before sitting down and drinking it.
"So why do you believe you are cursed?"
Mayumi drank some of the punch before putting the glass down and straightening her glasses. "I have access to dark powers and knowledge I should not have… thing's I've never learned… I have no father that I know of, and my mother is gone. Everyone I care about keeps getting into trouble or dying because of me. Ergo… I'm cursed."
Shinji thought a moment. "What did Rastur tell you?"
"Lies."
"What if they weren't?"
Mayumi looked at him more seriously now. "What do you know?"
"It's not what I know, it's what I believe is likely the truth. I actually did hear what Rastur told you as I was approaching. Much of what he said made a degree of sense."
"But nothing added up!" Mayumi protested. "How can a simple demon from Castlevania provide a boon the likes of which could only be granted by someone like Lucifer?"
"Well, first off, Lucifer does not even exist."
"But, as Celia said to me, for God to be good, the Devil must also be evil. Is Dracula really the ultimate evil power?"
Shinji was silent for a moment before he replied, "Yes."
Mayumi was now stone silent as she waited for me.
"The true ultimate evil in this universe is an entity… well, not an entity but more of a living celestial process really. It is known as Chaos. Dracula and even Castlevania itself, yes the castle is alive, are creatures of Chaos. Dracula became that when he willingly joined with Chaos in an attempt to avenge what he had lost."
"So, Chaos provided Dracula with his power?"
"No, merely magnified the power that was already there, but did so to nearly deific levels. Still, Dracula is not a god in the strictest sense. He's more along the lines of a Demigod; obscenely powerful, wields massive influence, and is very difficult to kill. Because of this, Demons and certain powerful Night Creatures that he commands are able to interact with mortals similarly and grant boons in exchange for loyalty to Castlevania, either in this life or the next."
Mayumi's heart beat faster, she now understood her curse more… she truly was bound to Castlevania, and would likely be called to repay for her mother's favor.
"And the Parthenogenesis problem? Is not holy power required for creation?"
"Dracula himself created most of the Night Creatures and minions that exist within his castle, and all of them are ensouled beings in their own right. Dark Magic can in fact create just as easily as it can corrupt or destroy. And it may surprise you to know that some of Dracula's minions are able to wield holy power."
"That shouldn't be possible!" Mayumi nearly gasped.
"It is, because the fundamental nature of what you believe to be true is not. The power of light and the power of darkness are just two sides of the same coin. They both counter and mirror each other in equal shares. Salem Witches, Nova Skeletons, Erinyes, and dozens more of Castlevania's denizens use holy power, though it is true to say that far more of them are susceptible to it."
"My arguments are falling apart…"
"And what of Archbishop Claudius?"
Shinji laughed. "If I had a 100 yen for every incident where a high-ranking member of the church turned out to be evil, corrupt, or part of a cult, I'd have another thousand houses like this all over the world." Shinji sighed. "Power corrupts. It is the most fundamental law of mortality. Only the most pious humans can meet the insane pressures and resist temptation their entire lives. Such individuals should be commended, perhaps ever worshiped themselves… but it is a rare human that is so pious. Besides, I know of at least one incident where a church member used her powers for the cult's benefit, and also in an effort to bring back Dracula."
"So that's it then… Rastur was right."
"Well, I can't say for sure," Shinji replied. "However, I can say that everything he said was more than possible. As for the source of your Dark Power, I believe you have the soul of a Castlevania Witch in you."
Mayumi looked up. "As in the soul is inside me, or is my soul that?"
"I'd have to say a little of both. When your mother made the pact, the Witch Soul was likely introduced to her. That was likely the moment your mother became pregnant. The Witch would have left a copy of her knowledge and awakened your mother's potential, but merged her own soul with yours."
"I have a composite soul then?"
"You wouldn't be the first."
Mayumi considered this for a moment. "How do you know this?"
"Know? I'm making inferences based on what I understand of Castlevania pacts." He looked on her concerned. "So, I sort of caught what happened to her…"
Mayumi nodded. "Just as was said… she was tried for the use of Black Magic and burned at the stake as a Black Witch. They forced me to watch the whole thing…"
Shinji looked a little shocked at that. "And they call us barbaric."
"They also took my memory of what happened later when I started to rebel against them. For a while, things were working as they wanted, but just over a year ago, my memory came back. They tried to brainwash it out of me a second time but it wouldn't take. I left before they could stop me."
"You did the right thing," Shinji assured her. "The church is an institution built upon control though fear."
Mayumi considered everything that was told to her. "Now I have confirmation that what Rastur told me is plausible at least. But I have to know for sure it's the truth."
"Talking to Dracula is impossible," Shinji pointed out.
"True, but his Candidates must have good information and maybe enough of Dracula's memory that they can confirm the truth of these theories. So, I'll have to find he strongest candidate and talk to them directly."
"Ironically, you already have," Shinji thought to himself. But he knew she couldn't know that, at least not yet. However, in her mad quest to talk to Dracula, Shinji felt that maybe Mayumi could show him something about himself he didn't know, or put him into direct conflict with the cults again, which would be just as good in his mind.
"Candidates are not likely to be as forthcoming as I am," Shinji noted. "But I'll help you."
Mayumi was surprised at that. "Great! But how will we find a candidate?"
"What should be unsurprising is that the cults themselves often attract just that sort of attention. We locate the cults. Also, I know of a church archive in town in case you want more indept information on demonic pacts or the nature of Dracula."
"I've already visited the archive on Daiamoto Street."
"This one isn't on Daiamoto street. It's on Yukiki Avenue."
"Another hidden archive? What other secrets does this town hide I wonder?"
"At least this one has a nice view of the ocean," Mayumi noted.
Near the port on the southern side of town, a non-descript building hid the second archive in the town. It was very easy to overlook. A little vampiric brute strength, and the lock was little issue.
"No one expect something like this so close to the sea," Shinji noted. The sun was down but a bit of orange could still be seen in the sky. For Shinji, even this much sun was uncomfortable and he made a sad sound.
"Something wrong," Mayumi asked.
"I miss the sun," Shinji replied. "I've actually only been a vampire for a little over a month now."
"Really?" Mayumi questioned, barely believing it. "How do you know so much then?"
"I read… a lot." The building seemed more like a haphazard storage area for books. "There's no rhyme or reason to this place."
"Here's one on Demonic Pacts and Possessions," Mayumi noted, picking it up. She skimmed a moment until she found a passage. "Look like you were right… this book confirms that demons of Castlevania have the ability to create pacts with mortals. The cost is servitude to the castle."
"Trust but check?" Shinji asked in an amused tone.
"It's not a bad policy," Mayumi admitted. "Worked for the Americans for a long time."
Shinji picked up another book. "No title or archive number. I wonder what this one is about."
The doors were suddenly ripped form their hinges by telekinetic force, causing both vampire and witch to get defensive.
"Probably none of your business," came the voice of Dimitrii. "We catch up with you again it seems. I figured you would have abandoned this town but…" he stopped, turning towards Shinji. "My, what power I sense in you."
"I'm really getting sick of being hunted," Mayumi complained. "With Light, The Sons of Shaft, who the hell is next?"
"Probably the Order of Infernus," Shinji noted sardonically. "So… With Light managed to find themselves someone like you."
"His name is Dimitrii Blinoff," the voice of Celia came as she entered the archive. "And he's been looking forward to meeting you, Ikari."
"Oh, I'm sure," Shinji replied, turning to Dimitrii. "Funny seeing one of your kind working for a church cult."
"Funny seeing you working with a Church Witch," Dimitrii countered.
"Former," Mayumi corrected. "Shinji. I've fought him before… he's powerful… what the hell is he?"
"A candidate for the Dark Lord," Shinji noted. "And you're right, I can sense how powerful he is."
"How?"
"Because all Candidates can sense each other," Dimitrii interjected.
Mayumi's eyes widened. "You're a candidate?! No wonder you know so much!"
"Well thanks Blinoff," Shinji growled. "That cat's out of the bag."
Dimitrii shrugged. "You should have told her," He pointed out.
"I considered it," Shinji replied. "But I'm, not even comfortable with the fact that I am a candidate."
"Not just any candidate," Celia noted.
"Don't," Shinji warned.
"I'm envious of you," Dimitrii noted. "You're already a vampire. Is it because of all the shards you possess? Or is it because you alone hold the key to Dracula's power."
Mayumi looked at Shinji almost worriedly now. "What power?" she asked nervously.
Shinji's eyes glowed. "Dominus… The power to rule."
"You're not summoning monsters… you're calling them to your aid!" she realized aloud. "You're the candidate closest to becoming Dracula!"
"Perhaps now you understand why I didn't want to tell you," Shinji offered, confirming her words. "I wanted to help you find the answers yourself. I hate what I am becoming."
"And yet you refuse to relinquish that power," Celia noted.
"Better it languishes barely used in my hands then abused in yours, Celia. And until I find a way to end this once and for all, it stays with me."
"Not if I take it from you," Dimitrii challenged.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I have no interest in fighting someone of your level."
"Ha, afraid Ikari?"
Shinji suddenly pulled Mayumi closer to him, causing the young witch to squeak.
"Hardly," he almost laughed. "You're are so far beneath me it isn't even laughable. I simply refuse to waste the energy."
Without another word, both Shinji and Mayumi disappeared in a column of light. Their bodies appearing to discorporate into shadowy bats that quickly escaped the archive.
She's the one for me,
She's all I really need, oh yeah
She's the one for me
Emptiness is loneliness,
And loneliness is cleanliness,
And cleanliness is Godliness,
And God is empty,
Just like me
"Swept off my feet, most literally… And so much new information… But things are starting to make sense to me now. Maybe Shinji really can calm the storm within my soul."
Next Chapter: The Witch and the Vampire
