Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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Urgent message from Sophia:
Soma was found unconscious at the shrine. Ring is undamaged, and for all intents and purpose he's fine. However; the seal has sustained heavy damaged.
The shrine is ok, however; one of the threads is being systematically ripped out.
Message from Leon:
The Castle is still sealed.
It was a text message he sent to both his sister and mother. Hitting 'send' as he rode the bus to the Hakuba shrine. Trevor sat in his travel bag deep in conversation with his wife on matters that Kazu couldn't follow. At least until they got there. Sure Kazu could fake a phone call, but the very purpose of the conversation would make it so that they might as well talk face to face.
"We have an emergency, Kazu you need to contact your mother and sister right now!" Sophia announced as she sped into the room. Her sudden appearance enough to startle said man into nearly choking on his lunch.
"What's going on Sophia?" Trevor asked standing up from the couch where he had been parked watching tv. While his human soul manifested out of the pure focus that he applied. His eyes shifted to Kazu at each cough, keeping an ear out to make sure that it just went down the wrong pipe. Not completely blocked off his ability to breath.
"The seal is breaking, one of the threads is being yanked out even as we speak!" She reported, that alone was enough to concern the long dead hunter.
"Leon had something to add. He says that the Castle is 'still sealed'," Soleil added as he followed on the heels of the witch. "... is he ok?" Soleil asked with a slight gesture towards Kazu who was wiping tears from his eyes.
Trevor tossed an affirmative sound from the back of his throat as he hurried to the phone. Where it had been left off to the side, next to the couch and out of the way so Kazu could eat in peace.
"Also, Soma was found unconscious outside the building proper, I found him in the back with Leon and a priestess," Soleil added causing Trevor to pause with his paw held above the phone ready to start texting.
"What?" Kazu rasped out, passively wondering how something that was soft and mushy like rice could possibly 'scrape'. Soleil reminded him of Grant, sociable, amicable and unburdened by the self same trait that all the hunters who had faced Dracula seemed to carry. That perpetual on call mentality that made them, despite their plush forms, always feel like predators. But given that they were to hunt a vampire. Maybe it was just the centuries? Certainly Trevor adjusted to the modern world and his form, but even he could go back to hunter mode in a second.
"Could you tell what they were doing?" Trevor asked, 'since only Leon could see Soleli to start with. I doubt Leon could do a detailed explanation given his inexperience with the voice box..'
"He said the 'lady reports' so I can only assume he means Dracula's wife. Since the priestess seemed just as confused..."
"Mina, that would have been Soma's friend you saw," Sophia clarified as she folded her arms and tried started to think of methods to fortify the seal without Valencia or Yoko around.
Soleli nodded in thanks before he continued, "not much really. He appeared to be in conversation with someone else at the time. But he 'did' manage to clarify that the seal on the castle is untouched."
"The thread work in the seal starting ripping out. I can only suspect and fear that the 'thread' they pulled on was Alucards'. His was the thread of Dark Arts and the one we know these cults have access to. Otherwise it would have to have been through Soma himself," she thought out loud before focusing once more on Soleli. "Unconscious you say?"
"His powers are sealed via a ring, did you chance to see it?" Trevor asked as his dog body sat down.
"Before when I went to the estate and after when I found him. It looks fine, nothing out of place, and yes, out like a light. There was really no way to get a proper retelling of what happened out of Leon." Soleli reported as he watched Trevor pick up the phone with his mouth.
"Looks like we're going to the shrine."
"Given the ring and the sudden removal of Alucard's portion of the seal. I suspect that Soma just passed out." Sophia theorized next to Kazu with her husband in his bag between them.
"Ahh the rush of regaining so much power unexpectedly?" Trevor hazarded.
"Unaided by Alucard could have that effect I believe, yes. But we'll know when we get to the shrine." Sophia agreed as she floated along, wondering if she and some of her family line could affect the world with their own attempt to strengthen the seal. Since dead and all.
The shrine was a disaster.
There was nothing structurally different from before, the stairs from the sidewalk up to the shrine itself looked no different than before. Good solid stone that had stayed clean and maintained by generations of the Hakuba family. A cold comfort for the Medium as he ascended to the shrine as it served as a faint hope that no one noticed the seal's sudden change.
For the seal itself was the worst that he had seen, even its attempts at self repair appeared gutted. The wounds to the seal pulsed with energy and while he couldn't pinpoint 'Alucards thread' he could see the effects of its absence. There were various ways that the seal in concert with his own power manifested. Alucards' thread could have been its own string, or it could have been just part of the weave of the threads that formed the cords he would see.
Regardless, its absence was obvious. The attempts at knitting together the frayed threads had been ruined. Reminding him of blood clots removed from a body, wet, stringy and unsettling given what it actually 'was'. The sensation the moment he crossed onto the grounds sent his skin crawling.
"Like finding maggots under a bed of rose petals..." Trevor voiced out of nowhere, his voice low with worry. But as disgusting as the thought 'was', it was also pretty on point. There was a sense of rot under the surface, a contamination that made Kazu even 'smell' it. A noxious fume that made it a trial not to turn up his nose or gag from the smell.
"I hate to say this because I'm afraid of what's going to happen. But could you pull in your power Trevor? I need to see this in its full scoop I think," Kazu asked quietly, his brows furrowed in thought. Glancing out at the random person that had begun to walk down the stairs amid distended cords of energy. Hoping to glean some information on if this was leaking into the physical world. If people were starting to 'sense' the fraying of the seal.
"I'll wait until you're with Leon and Mina," Trevor answered, his ears flat against his head. 'I'll wait until Kazu has his chance to work. I don't want to alarm him more than he already is, but this... Its the Castle right? I can smell it... And I have no nose or lungs to smell 'anything' so how can I smell it?' A foreboding sensation if ever there was one. For all his time with Kazu he had never been able to 'smell' anything before, he could only see and hear things. The unexpected use of smell however; was it because he 'was' some how smelling it? Or was it just his mind trying to associate what he was sensing into a form he could understand?
Soleli hovered behind Kazu, following the young man up the long stairs to the shrine. Down below on the other side of the road stayed his mother with the other wives. Unable to continue guiding them to Alucards' estate when the seal started fraying. They had waited, volunteering to keep an eye on the shrine in case something worse happened.
Staying very much off the shrines grounds.
The shrine itself made Soleli wary due to the strange spider like threads. When they were passing by Sophia assured him that the shrine was ok. Saying it was natural for the shrine to look this way due to its duty. They had been guiding the other wives, his mother, with Annette and the others until that moment. All the women determined to see their spouses who had been missing for quite a while.
In Annette' case, 'again'. Well until moments later when it started to fray, 'that' was when Sophia sounded the alarm.
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"Mina? Are you ok?" Kazu asked as the miko in training stepped into the living room. The living quarters were a deep pull of pure water after walking outside. The unwelcome damage to the seal did not affect where the people lived. Be it due to their spiritual powers, the Kami that presided the area, or because the negative energy was just ignoring it.
Regardless, it was a comfort and helped Kazu focus on Mina when she stepped into the room. She even took his concern in stride, with a slight shrug and breezy smile, but there was something in the undercurrent of her eyes. Perhaps a signal that Soma was awake and tried to reassure her, or maybe it had been Leon?
"Oh I guess you 'heard'. But I'm fine honest!" Mina replied, the corners of her mouth a little pinned in place. 'I guess I should take comfort that he's here. It means the hunters must be visiting as well for him to know so fast.' The idea helped steady her already jangled nerves more, since she was trained to deal with 'spirits'. 'Not' potential monsters pouring out of possible gates all around the shrine.
"Yeah, I also saw some things on the way up here that I need to check more closely on. But before I do, can you tell me what happened?" Kazu asked, even as he unzipped the bag enough so Trevor could have a look outside.
"Oh yes, ah Soma's resting in the spare room, so if you would," she replied gesturing towards a hallway different than the one she had stepped out of. The one meant for 'official business deals' rather than the family's private quarters. Her family could pop up at any time in the family quarters meant that Trevor would have to stay hidden. The office area would provide them with the privacy that would let Kazu having to explain again to her family. A family that had no idea that this was going on hopefully.
The air smelled fresh, the soft scent of flowers carried notes on the air easing Kazu further as he followed along. Before long they entered a side room off to the right of the hallway, where a long table rested in the center of the room. Cushions were placed at intervals around the table of a soft, warm red color and a vase with fresh flowers resting on the table. Scrolls lined the walls, another larger ornate vase rested with more flowers against the wall.
Once Kazu entered the room, Sophia and Soleli poking their heads in before fully entering as well, Mina shut the door. Allowing the medium to fully open his bag and let Trevor spring forward on point. Kazu moved to a side cushion and settled down as Mina took the opposite side of the table. Leaving the head positions open out of routine. For which Trevor took for himself, jumping up so he could sit on the table and both living people could see him.
"So," Kazu began, watching as Mina blinked in answer before echoing him almost half heartedly.
"Soo, we met Soma's wife..."
"Well there goes any hope of good news out of this conversation," Sophia muttered to Soleli as she shook her head.
"Hmm?" Soleli blinked in confusion for which she answered with a shrug first.
"Well its modern code for 'I'm not the side girl'. Its not a good thing when someone says they met the 'spouse' of someone they were getting invested in. She's basically saying she's not getting involved with someone who's already in a pre-established relationship." Sophia explained, only for Soleli to shrug in a vaguely understanding way.
"Well its not his fault that he didn't remember," Soleli pointed out earning a slight agreeing gesture from Sophia.
"I saw Soma walking by from my window, so I had left my room and went to check on them."
"So. Wait a moment... You're my 'wife'?" Somas' voice was faint due to the distance yet clear and clearly shocked.
'Soma has a wife? That's impossible I've known him for... for... Oh wait... as in 'your wife when you were Dracula'? Is that what she means?' That felt like a physical blow, despite the fact that she couldn't hear any response to him. 'Well given what I've been told that would mean she would be better equipped to deal with anything he did. Since wouldn't that mean that she already knows he was a vampire?'
"'Us'? Who else is there?" Soma sounded borderline panicked at that when Leon's voice quickly followed up.
"Her and I. Those you knew."
Mina peeked around the corner of the wall, where she could see Soma and Leon easily enough. Unblocked by trees or bushes, the pair were looking at something on her left angled just so that she couldn't see the speaker. They weren't facing completely away from her, in fact they were angled so she was staring at their left. 'I bet Kazu could see who they're talking to,' she thought only to have further thoughts pause. A frown formed on her face as she got a good look at Soma.
He was always pale, it just came with the white hair, piercing blue eyes and white coat, it always just helped wash out his pale skin. But at that moment he looked flushed he even seemed aware of it with the way he started to rub his throat. Swaying a bit, miko training took over and Mina found herself moving to help him.
Leon turned to also face the reincarnated Dark Lord despite he was no where tall enough to see Soma's distress. Recognizing from some unseen cue that there was trouble happening.
"He collapsed while I was approaching, but he didn't pass out at first." Mina went on, her brows furrowed as she continued to recall the event.
"Well he knows he's married now, but apparently they're going to hide Alucard to the bitter end," Soleli noted.
"Because his wife is already dead, she's in the Castle because she's passed away. So there's no reason for him to get angry. His 'son' on the other hand, that's a wasp nest of issues at this point," Trevor pointed out as he studied Mina. 'Rubbing his throat isn't a good sign either, the seal may have started to fray about that time. So I would wager that he started feeling the effects of that...'
Making that it was in the afternoon a blessing as the suns' light would help stifle whatever else might have happened. But was he getting thirsty by chance?
"At first?" Kazu voiced as his own thoughts went over how the seal looked now. 'Did Soma start to turn into a vampire?'
"When I got there, he was awake, but despite how he was holding his neck he could still talk. He said he felt light headed and his throat felt tight..." Mina reported for which everyone in the room, both that she could and couldn't see, nodded. "I guess his wife asked a question because Leon started talking. Either he was talking to her or to the spirits, but he started asking if everything was ok. Then said 'the castle is still sealed.' But I can go get him so you can talk to him as well. He wanted to stay and keep an eye on Soma," Mina offered.
"If you could? The situation is serious and we could use his insight on the events," Kazu asked, which got Mina to nod and stand up from her seat.
As she was leaving, her hand on the sliding door she turned to look back at the group. "Do you think the shrine is in danger?"
Four pair of eyes settled on her apprehension and was hit by a pang of sympathy.
"I wish I knew how to answer that to be honest..." Trevor answered though only Kazu could hear him. "I think the worst has passed so you can tell her that?"
"Right now everything seems settled down..." Kazu offered, "But no one is confident, at least until we speak to Leon."