Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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"I'm just saying Capri Suns are a Vampire Hunters' first stake with those..."
Dracula paused and frowned as the strangely familiar voice echoed in the air, carried on the waves of dried blood and emotional inverted highs. He spared the pope a glance with a single order, "Sleep. Now." Before turning his attention onto the ice witch on the other side of the room. "Attend to the pope."
"Father..." Alucard began his voice firm, unamused and got silenced with a wave of his father's hand.
"So young are you still? Your friend, the witch of the Church... Yoko..." Yes that name was right, Yoko was Adrian... was their friend and he was now Soma... "She needs you. Your witch can attend to me while you deal with Yoko's distress."
Alucard frowned at the order and went to the window first to check. Below and in the distance he could see the woman and his familiar. "Nose Demon return to me." He ordered and watched as the demon faded from sight.
"No you're not a bad nun! I'm sure that as... Hi Al!" Nose appeared mid sentence his words crashing into greeting his master. "Oh jeez boss as humans go this is kinda rough." The demon blustered his voice carrying the emotions his eternally smiling mask could not. "You might want to go down there, Ko's going to need help... actually I guess I could scare some priests into work."
"Son. I didn't 'ask' you to stay and do recognizance, but if I need to word my orders in more simple terms..." Dracula pointed out, his tone tired and with a hint of 'I will send you to your coffin young man.'
Far beyond well schooled, Alucard strode to the door and opened it. Never pausing as he tossed orders over his shoulders.
"One of you, notify the priests, there's been a gruesome discovery near storage areas outside."
"Oh Dear God is it going to stop?!" The American groaned in frustration as his shoulders slumped.
Not that Alucard stood there to listen to the lamentations, multiple lifetimes had taught him that standing around during an emergency only brought about more problems. In the distance he could hear Nose talking to someone.
"Yeah, its bad, if you got body bags and I don't get why you would. You are going to need.. yeah uh...?
Alucard put more speed in his steps. The interior walls became the open space of the garden in a matter of minutes. The air was cluttered with information, the sweet fragrances of the numerous flowers in bloom. Only they were being pushed away by the iron tang of old dried blood and the sobbing wail of a woman.
"They're children! They were just 'children'!? My Lord Above what monster would do this?!"
Alucard was already by their side, so he merely walked past the pair of women with intentions to shut the door. But upon doing so he could see put reality to his speculation on what the nun was babbling about.
Children were stacked on each other as though they were merely logs or planks of wood. They weren't slaughtered, no missing limbs or visible scratches, but they were all dead with slit throats. 'Would appear that they were drained of most of their blood, their clothes are mostly clean...'
At least from the corpses on the top, but he could see how it took time for whoever to master the art of blood extraction. All the children appeared at a glance Italian, yet they were dressed in the same manner, uniformed. Something that came to mind the few times he bothered going to the orphanage to get Elmo. All children dressed alike, it was cheaper when they had no parents to...
He shut the door and forced his thoughts off the topic of parents. 'Dead orphan children, it would explain where the blood for Dionysus came from. I'd be willing to believe this is the source of his meals.' He ruminated as he turned to look down at the pair of women.
The nun was reeling, her heart rate was beginning to spike upwards beyond the safer limits and the wellspring of his father's power was so close. Sending her to sleep was child's play.
Yoko was on autopilot.
As they were both distracted he reached up and brought the tips of his hair to the front of his face. Almost honey brown... his father was still reaching for his full power and Alucards' power was growing once more though he was in the castle. Either stifle the power or he was going to be appear a full blond again far sooner than he preferred.
He could hear the quiet half hearted prayers of those being sent to deal with this.
Though really even Alucard was unsure how this was meant to be 'dealt with'. Orphanages, the properly run decent organizations, would be registered to the nation. That they were suddenly 'missing' for lack of better word. An orphanage full of children just up and disappearing would have sent federal agents out in a search. Orphans or not, the one thing the Vatican would always have done was put pressure for these children to be found. As busy as Alexander was, 'oh we seemed to have misplaced all the children from the orphanage' was not going to be ignored. Some of them might not even have been 'full' orphans and instead were just removed from their families. Until the fools could figure out parenting properly.
Clearly Brauner had done this, and it was possible he rolled a few minds. But the minds of every single person who would have reacted to the disappearance?
This wasn't really even his problem. He kept Elmo out of the system and that was all that he really ever set out to do. But this was another sign of the network that Brauner had put into place.
"Excuse me, sir?" the woman was harried, her bullet proof vest appeared to swallow her whole while her surname was listed in stark white block letters. Both her name and her presence was irrelevant to the dhampire her field of influence was the mortal world. His was only on the edges of Japanese society, so he nudged her thoughts to keep her from completely focusing on him. The bun she wore her russet brown hair in was messy. She probably attempted to make it neat in the morning and by now she had seen so much it had become a magpies nest. Her uniform was a mess of ash, tears, dirt, sweat and blood hidden in the black.
He waited for her to continue for a beat before realizing that she was exhausted and given what he was about to show her... "Yes, the issue at hand is in the room behind me. I would suggest you brace yourself."
Alucard stepped aside, allowing the officer to see the door, while several priests followed suit. Crosses being made and weeping already having begun, they went to the nun and he could hear them muttering how she must have fainted.
"And you would be?" the officer asked as she twisted the knob.
"A guest of his Holiness, here on official business," he replied. His expression remained neutral while she just went to the door with no effort to check. Alucard refrained from saying anything, yet the disappointment at her clumsiness couldn't be hidden.
Because it was true, he was the prince of the Dark Children and he wanted that accursed ring off his father's hand. "Should you just be opening the door?" He asked as she pushed it open.
There was a pause as the smell spilled forth again and she stood there taking stock of the situation. Alucard watched in silence as she took in the bodies, her head turning to follow the logical gaze as the room was checked. Evening was approaching, darkness would start hiding bodies and even then was this the only room? Were there more? Or was this it and the bodies were removed slowly to avoid suspicion?
Then he remembered that not all humans, even those sworn to public service, were capable of the scent of death.
Alucard strode forward and placed both his hands on her shoulders, guiding her from the room. "Come now." He ordered as he directed her to the side of the building, down wind as the churning sound of her stomach bubbled up to her throat. She held it together for him though, and he was pleased at the sound of her struggling not to throw up her last meal. Simply because she still had agency...
"Nose come here." He ordered as she began hurling.
"Yeah Al... OH COME ON!?"
"See to it the officer is given crackers and if not ginger ale something with some lemon in it, it would smell that she has yet to eat."
"And she's not going to scream when she stands up and sees me?" Nose asked as he swept his spear around at everyone who was gaping at him, and then down at the cop who was hurling like she had just come from a keg party.
"Your lack of manners does not equate to as my problem." Alucard retorted during another hurling noise from the officer churned out...
"Its about to be mine though..." Yoko groaned as she staggered away her hands going to cover her mouth and at her neck. Her words mingling quietly to the louder sounds of distress and dismay that came from the clergy. The woman had traveled the castle, faced the undead, literally met Death itself and yet could 'not' deal with the sound of a person throwing up...
It was something that had to be faced, however; Alucard was starting to wish there were younger people with stronger constitutions in the Vatican. 'There have already been a series of deaths purely from those who can not deal with this level of grief and violence. Even with father awake and free of the ring, I do not suspect he is willing to help. Or perhaps able.'
His father, 'his' father as in Dracula, with all his rich history of the Dark Arts could raise the dead and ask them what happened. Perhaps even not care if the questions were being given to children. But his modern self, while grasping and catching on to some of his powers when it came to the souls, the other spells...
"Ok, ok... I think I'm done..." the officer groaned, her voice strained in protest against the stomach acid that was 'not' meant to come up that way. "What in the hell are 'you?!'"
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"Why the hell are 'they' here?" Simon was as surly as ever as he saw the police standing in the Vatican lobby. Cops didn't really 'know' about the enchanted side of Yoko's 'toys' only that they 'performed on Christmas'. So here the group hide while cops stuffed in their uniforms at this point. The stiff body armor made them stand up right, but the hunters could see the exhaustion spirits in the shoulders. The way the limbs sagged through the arm holes. There were stains on the uniform around the legs and the hand resting on the strapped on gun was tired. Some even shaking...
"They look exhausted... but Simon is right why are they back?" Richter asked.
It was roughly five police officers talking to one of the lower ranked priests, the priest was no better though. While none of the hunters could say with confidence how the man was 'before' the four arrived. Drawn and pale, shaking even, the guy looked in his 40s going his 80s and that was for the best given the situation everyone found themselves in.
Standing on the ground floor, the four were peeking around the corner of the hallway and as the priest turned the police in the direction of the four they slipped back fast.
"Quick, in here," Christopher pushed the door to an unused office open and the other three piled in.
"I don't like this, what more reason does anyone have for coming here in a time like this?" Juste asked while Richter poked his head out some to ease drop.
"Agreed."
"Are the children in the church present and accounted for?"
"Yes officer..."
Christopher frowned in concern, "lets go find the boys. Make sure the ones left are safe."
"But we know they're safe." Simon pointed out as one ear folded down.
"I can imagine why..." Juste shook his head at this horrible mental image played in his mind. "Richter, you said the cherubs who didn't escape mostly were slaughtered to feed Dionysus correct?"
Richter nodded and then flomped into a sitting position, his head shaking in mounting horror. "No Grandfather... Oh God no... People would have noticed..."
Simon shook his head as the people passed out of their sight. He pushed the door open and without another word he made his way towards the cherubs choir room. The boys weren't supposed to be there at this hour. But the practice room had been mostly undisturbed so if the boys were 'anywhere' they would be there. More over it was a place to put the kids while the rest of their families tried to pick up the pieces for themselves or neighbors.
"Richter has a point, they couldn't just take the kids off the street to feed Dionysus. There's not enough home..." Simon began when his ears started wiggling.
"Children on the streets would be a finite resource... More over if feeding Dionysus had some type of required diet. Like no one with a blood disease or..." Christopher began and found the words beginning to slip away from him. His thoughts went back to his son roaming about with the other dead members of their family.
"Who cares about the homeless? Yes, well the Vatican is 'supposed to'," Simon growled at this nagging thought in his mind. "Back around Dionysus time there were a series of assassinations against him and the higher members of the clergy. The Cardinals had voted to stop the Popes' trips out of the Vatican for the safety of the Holy See. But now given what we know? I'd not be surprised if locking up Dionysus and now Alexander was planned. For all we know the Pope 'thinks' things are being run smoothly outside and..."
Simon slammed his furry paw into the wall as they made their way down the hallways and up stairs. There wasn't even the satisfying feeling of fist on wood, just this empty puff.
"Our Lord in Heaven, Blessed be Thy Name..." Richter began his happy furry face belying the absolute heart break he was feeling.
Down the hallway the door to the one of the restrooms opened and Xavier walked out, his expression lightened when he saw the Belmonts. "Mr. Juste!" The boy recalled the husky plush the most as his parents added him in the prayers of gratitude.
Juste paused and raised a paw in greeting as the boy fell upon them, scooping the Belmont up into his arms.
"Mama said that you saved all of us! Thank you Mr. Juste!" The boy's hug was full of gratitude, thus Juste raised his paw and gave the boy a good rub on the shoulders. 'All of us' felt so hollow, knowing that there were kids in the church that didn't get the notice. Some of the boys were with other clergy and survived, but not all. Even Xavier's voice carried that awareness as it hitched on 'us'.
Christopher pointed to the choir door while Xavier stared at the remaining three, even as his eyes began to glisten.
"Oh yes, we're in here..." The boy replied and turned so he could open the door for the group.
"Its so quiet..." Simon noted, surly replaced with solemn disbelief.
"Too quiet." Richter agreed.
The children were all there, boys 'and' girls, the girls clinging to the boys with the Belmonts realizing 'any' child associated with the Cherub must have been dropped off. They weren't running around, or laughing, talking, everyone was just sitting in chairs.
"Look! The Stuffy Patrol are here! They'll protect us!" Xavier announced and it made all four Belmonts wince. Reminding them that they were merely toys with no real way other than the basic magics that Juste recalled to depend on. Even if Richter could use his holy powers, they weren't packing bottles of holy water or such. More over the Choir Room was more song books less bibles.
"Hey! This is my..." Suddenly the Belmonts were flooded with 'sisters', 'cousins', and realized why the clinging had been happening. Even as the remaining three were gathered up and pushed into the faces of confused hopeless girls More over, or more importantly, was the boys who didn't react, Tony was just sitting on a chair his eyes empty..