The Dark King of Zero
Chapter one: To a new world.
Cover image: Soma standing on a summoning seal as Louise looks at him with a flustered expression.
For almost a millennium, the evil Count Dracula, a being so powerful that he was considered God's polar opposite, terrorized the world and led the forces of Chaos against God and his children. Driven by an immortal grudge, the Prince of Darkness struck down countless innocents with his terrible powers.
But one clan of holy warriors opposed Dracula, the legendary Belmont Clan. Wielding the sacred Vampire Killer Whip, they fought the Immortal Count throughout the centuries, slaying him every time he was resurrected.
One of Dracula's greatest adversaries was none other than his own half-breed son, Alucard, who swore to honour his human mother's final wish and to protect mankind from his father.
Many other clans assisted Alucard and the Belmonts. The Morris Clan, who served as the keepers of the Vampire Killer, the Belnades Clan, who used their powerful magic to aid in the struggle, and the Lecarde Clan, who acted as the key to the whip's power.
Finally, at the year 1999 A.D. Dracula met his ultimate demise at the hands of Julius Belmont and Alucard, thus ending the Dark Lord's terrible reign over humanity and his dominion over the demonic forces.
Years passed and a young man named Soma Cruz tried his hardest to live a normal life, but fate had other plans for him and in the year 2035 when the prophecy of a new Dark Lord arose, and young Soma and his childhood friend, Mina Hakuba found themselves dragged into the Solar Eclipse and Dracula's Castle and when they were attacked by a monster, Soma unlocked his dormant Power of Dominance, the ability to rule over the souls of the demons he slays. Genya Arikado, who was in truth, Alucard in disguise, told Soma that in order to escape the castle alive, he had to head to the throne room.
On his way to the throne room, Soma met a missionary named Graham Jones, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Dracula and the castle's true lord after that he met the mysterious J, a man who lost his memories and feared Dracula.
Soma confronted Graham in the throne room, and after a fierce battle, defeated him. But his victory was short lived, for Dracula's Castle had found its lord, and dark power started pouring into Soma. It was then that he finally realized that he was Dracula and not Graham.
It was then that Arikado stepped in and told Soma that the only way he can prevent himself from truly becoming Dracula once more, was to sever the castle from the source of its power, the very origin of evil itself, Chaos.
Soma travelled to the centre of the castle, determined to reach the Chaotic Realm, but standing in his way was J, whose true name was Julius Belmont, the man who defeated Dracula for good. Knowing that Soma was Dracula reborn, Julius was determined to kill him so that the evil count could never resurrect again.
But Julius sensed Soma's spirit and that was enough for him to hold back and avoid killing him. Soma then had Julius make a promise to him, that if he ever became Dracula, he would kill him.
Julius agreed and now, without any reservations, Soma resolved to fight against his own fate and prevent himself from becoming Dracula and with the encouragement of Mina and all his friends, he triumphed over Chaos.
However, the forces of evil weren't done with Soma, because just one short year later, the cult "With Light" and their leader, Celia Fortner and her Dark Lord Candidates, people born on the exact time and day Dracula was slain, they were Dmitrii Blinov, who could copy any power used against him and Dario Bossi, who had control over flames.
Soma triumphed against both candidates but all was not well, for Dmitrii's soul entered Soma's body and upon copying his Power of Dominance and entering a new body, proceeded with Celia to the Abyss to gain more demonic souls to dominate. After gaining dominance over a calamitous demon and sacrificing Celia, Dmitrii couldn't control the Power of Dominance and all the demons under his control fused as one destructive being, Menace.
Soma triumphed over Menace and all the demonic souls flooded into him, but the thoughts of his friends and loved ones pulled him back from the brink and once again, he conquered his destiny and didn't succumb to becoming the Dark King.
Escaping the castle with Arikado, Julius, Yoko, Hammer and Mina, who had just arrived to see him, Soma breathed a sigh of relief, yet he questioned his decision not to become the Dark King and how it caused all of the recent turmoil, but Arikado told him that he was neither a god nor a demon, just a human and a Dark King would rise, and it didn't have to be him.
A year has passed and Soma Cruz, a young man with snow-white hair, light blue, almost grey eyes dressed in a long white coat with a blue trim over a black shirt, blue pants and white boots, was walking home from the Hakuba Shrine.
He reminisced about that day when he was summoned to Dracula's Castle through the Solar Eclipse and the events that happened just a short year after and he was surprised at just how much his life changed, or rather, what he knew about himself that scared him to death, his inner dark nature and propensity for evil, something he hoped that he could escape.
"Man, twenty years on this earth and my life's already a confusing mess..." Soma sighed as he pondered on his position as the prime candidate to become the Dark King. "But... I know exactly what I don't want to be..." Though one thing bothered him, all the souls he dominated in Celia's castle didn't free themselves and he still possessed their powers, perhaps they sensed that he still needed them, but he didn't want any more conflict in his life.
Before Soma comprehend his situation, a magic seal appeared below him and spectral chains bound his wrists and ankles.
"What the hel-" Before Soma could even finish his sentence, the magic seal and the accompanying chains pulled him down into a portal and he vanished in a wisp of blue flames.
Halkeginia, a world where magic plays a big part in the lives of the people and the social classes that govern them, but on rare occasions, a strange phenomenon would summon objects from various different worlds and all from different timelines. Now, a destined summon is about to leave its mark on Halkeginia's long history.
It was the start of a normal day at the Tristain Magical Academy. Louise de La Valliere, a small young girl, about sixteen years of age with long pink hair and similarly pink eyes was still asleep in her room, as she woke up, she stretched and started combing her hair and she changed to her school uniform. "I hope today is better than yesterday" she sighed. She was tired of always being picked on for not being able to get her spells.
"Everyone, congratulations on becoming second year students" The teacher greeted her class. "My name is Miss Chevreuse, and I'm a new teacher here at Tristain Magic Academy" She introduced herself before moving on to her lecture.
"My element is earth. My title is The Red Earth Chevreuse." The teacher said proudly "I'll be giving lectures on earth magic this year."
"How about it?" a student with long grey hair flirted with a Kirche von Zerbst, a busty redheaded girl, who replied with a giggle.
"So, can anyone tell me, what are the four basic elements?" The teacher asked her class, testing their knowledge on the subject.
"Ah, yes" a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes raised his hand and in it he was holding a red rose. "Fire, water, earth, and wind. And what a coincidence" The young man gestured proudly "We have the same element." He bowed "My title is The Bronze Guiche de Gramont." He toyed with his hair and he placed the rose he was holding in his mouth. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Nice to meet you too, Mister Gramont" Miss Chevreuse replied. "Earth is an important magical element, since it governs creation." She pulled some stones out of her pocket. "Let's start with an Alchemy lesson." The teacher chanted the spell and transmuted the stones into a gold-coloured metal.
The students were in awe upon seeing the gold-coloured metal, amazed at the transformation the simple stones had undergone.
"Is that gold?" The red-haired girl asked surprised, that such a precious metal could be formed from such common material.
"It's just bronze." Miss Chevreuse replied in order to calm down the red-haired girl. "Transmuting gold is illegal."
"Damn." The Kirche girl sighed, disappointed by the truth behind the transformation.
Miss Chevreuse took the bronze stones and put them back into her pocket. And placed new stones on the desk "Now who wants to try it?" The teacher looked at her students and chose one. "How about you?" She pointed at a pink haired girl, who was taking notes. "What's your name?" The teacher asked.
"Louise." The pink haired girl stood up before introducing herself to Miss Chevreuse. "Louise de La Valliere."
The other students started to whisper and some of them showed signs of fear and contempt for Louise.
"Oh no! She's going to blow up the whole room!" One of the students yelled out in an attempt to warn Miss Chevreuse and the other students.
"It's dangerous to ask her!" The Kirche stood from her seat "Let me do it instead!"
This annoyed Louise greatly; she really hated having her abilities doubted and being treated like that. "I'll do it! Please let me do it!" She yelled out.
"Then step forward" Miss Chevreuse replied, thinking that no harm could come of Louise's effort.
The students started to panic, and Tabitha, small blue-haired bespectacled girl stood up and left the room. Louise walked towards the desk where the stones were placed.
"Please don't do this Louise!" The red-haired girl pleaded, knowing what her classmate's ineptitude could lead to.
"Shut up, you're distracting me!" Louise snapped at the red-haired girl, the sound of her classmate's voice annoying her to no end.
"Now focus on what you want to create" Miss Chevreuse told Louise.
Despite the classes' terrified expressions, Louise lifted her wand and chanted the transmutation spell, but following the spell was a huge explosion that blew a hole through the wall.
"S-See what I mean?!" The Kirche girl scolded Miss Chevreuse for ignoring her earlier warning.
"Looks like I made a small mistake" Louise said as she took a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped the dust off her face.
Louise's classmates all called her a Zero and a terrified Miss Chevreuse dismissed the class early and the students walked out of the classroom
After classes had ended, Louise walked down the stairs where she heard a voice belonging to a busty girl with fiery red hair and tan skin.
"How many times have you done this?" The Kirche girl spoke "Are you getting kicked out yet?" she started to laugh at Louise, finding her repeated strings of failures amusing.
Louise was very annoyed by the redheaded girl's teasing. "No, just a warning" The pink haired girl replied, hiding her clear anger towards her classmate.
The Kirche laughed "Just give up; you fail at everything you try. I wonder what kind of Familiar someone like you can get?"
Louise snapped; she didn't like having her pride hurt at all. "I'll summon a great and noble Familiar that will show all of you that I'm a good mage!"
Kirche looked the blue-haired bespectacled girl "What do you think, Tabitha?" She asked for her friend's opinion.
"I don't know." Tabitha replied in a nonchalant tone, uninterested in the situation as a whole
A few hours passed and Louise was in her room getting ready to sleep, she was regretting what she said, "I shouldn't have said that." The pink haired girl buried her face into her pillow "I'll be laughed at for sure."
The next day was the day the students had to summon their Familiars; everyone was gathered at the courtyard and the teacher, and Mister Colbert, a middle-aged man with a bald head wearing glasses was their proctor for this important ritual.
"Today is the day of your summoning. This is the first exam of the second year, as well as the sacred day of your first encounter with your familiar spirit who you will spend the rest of your lives with." The teacher lectured his students on the importance of the summoning ritual.
Louise nervously lifted her wand, thinking about what she said the day before and how it had put even more pressure on her.
"I can't wait to see you're great familiar, Zero Louise" The red-haired girl said mockingly, holding her to her words the previous day.
Louise was obviously not amused by the redheaded girl's mocking tone. "Leave me alone." The pink haired girl glared.
A male student with spiked brunette hair raised his wand, and with a flash of lighting, he summoned a floating eyeball with a tail and three large eyelashes.
The other students were shocked, and a blonde student with green eyes expressed his surprise. "Wow, a Bugbear!" He eyed his classmate's Familiar.
Mister Colbert examined the Bugbear intently. "That is impressive." The teacher remarked.
"If a weird Familiar Spirit were summoned in this situation, it'd be a lifelong embarrassment." Montmorency, a blonde girl with blue eyes with her hair styles in curls with red bows on her hair commented on the importance of the summoning ritual.
Guiche approached the curly haired girl with his usual dramatic flair. "I'm sure a lovely and cute Familiar Spirit will come to you, Montmorency." The flamboyant boy flirted with his female classmate.
"Obviously." Montmorency declared proudly, having great faith in her abilities and personality.
"A Familiar is supposed to a perfect match to its master" Guiche proudly proclaimed, confident that he would summon a majestic creature. "No doubt I'll summon something elegant and beautiful."
"You're up next" The teacher called Guiche, waiting for him to summon his Familiar.
"It's me, Guiche de Gramont, Mister Colbert." Guiche waved his rose "I shall summon the most amazing familiar spirit ever recorded! So great that people will come from far and wide to see its sheer beauty."
"Hurry up; people are waiting for their turn." Mister Colbert said in an annoyed tone, feeling that there was no time for Guiche's bragging.
"Very well" Guiche smiled and started to chant the spell. "Oh, Brimir that guides us. Bring forth a slave worthy of the noble Bronze Guiche de Gramont." Just then a rumbling noise was heard, and a large mole popped its head out of the ground. "Eh?!" The flamboyant boy was shocked, for his Familiar was not at all what he expected. He looked at the other Familiar's and the redheaded girls caught his eye. "Salamander, Kirche summoned that?" he exclaimed in shock.
"Good job Miss Zerbst." Mister Colbert observed Kirche's Salamander and was impressed by her performance.
"It suits my title." Kirche smiled, proud of the Salamander she had summoned. "The Feveret Kirche."
"Is that everyone?" Mister Colbert checked if all of his students had performed their respective rituals.
"There's one more." Kirche smiled teasingly, waiting for a chance to humiliate Louise. "There's still Miss Valliere." The red-haired girl gestured at her classmate.
Louise's classmates looked at her. "It's the Zero Louise, what's she going to summon?" They said and another one said, "It's just another explosion maybe" and they all started laughing.
"You said you can summon something better than my Salamander, right?" Kirche mocked Louise with a cocky smile on her face, sure that Louise would fail.
"Naturally" Louise pouted, and she held her wand and she started the spell "I beg you, my slave that lives somewhere in the universe. Oh, sacred, strong and noble Familiar. I pray from my heart that you answer my call!" The pink haired girl waved her wand and recited her summoning spell.
The spell resulted in a large blue flame that enveloped a summoning seal that took the form of an eye with a crown and six bat-like wings, and when all was clear, Soma floated in the air before descending in the middle of the courtyard.
Louise saw her familiar and the first thing that caught her attention was his otherworldly beauty, his snow-white hair, light blue eyes giving him a striking appearance.
Louise couldn't help but blush at Soma's regal beauty, she didn't expect to summon a human being, but she was too awestruck to comment on her situation.
"Miss Valliere, I think it's time for you to complete the ritual." Mister Colbert saw that Soma was not a hostile presence; despite his dark and brooding appearance.
"From now on, you will always serve and protect me." Louise said as she approached Soma, but she couldn't help but blush upon thinking about the last part of the ritual. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière." The Zero raised her wand as she chanted the final part of the spell. "Pentagon that governs the five powers, give this person your blessing and make him my Familiar Spirit." The pink-haired girl touched the white-haired youth's face.
The other students, particularly Tabitha, were taken aback by Soma ethereal appearance and they were both transfixed and distracted.
Soma understood none of what Louise was saying, it didn't match his language, but what he did know was that magic was somehow involved. But before he could continue his with his thoughts, he felt Louise's lips against his own.
"Looks like the Contract Servant finished without any problems." Mister Colbert noted the lack of complications in the ritual and he was pleased to see that neither Soma nor Louise was hurt.
"W-What's going on?!" Soma finally broke the silence, but strangely he now spoke fluently in the native Halkeginian tongue, probably the first side-effect of the ritual. But then, the white-haired youth felt a searing pain all over his body, but it was most concentrated on his right hand.
"I-It'll end soon!" Louise answered Soma's question, she was shocked that he suddenly knew their language, but to her, he was still potentially dangerous. "A Familiar Spirit's rune is being burned onto you."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Soma protested with a question, but before he could get an answer, the searing pain on his left hand became too much to bear as a seal carved itself into it and as a result, he lost consciousness.
Mister Colbert took note of the strange yet oddly familiar rune that was carved unto Soma's left hand. He knew he had seen it somewhere, but he didn't know where.
The rest of the day was spent in silence for Louise and her classmates, Soma, her familiar, made a grand entrance in a dance of spectral blue frames and his captivating beauty left many of the female students speechless.
Night fell over the skies of Tristain and Soma had just woken up from his slumber, sitting up and rubbing his head as he tried to figure out just what was going on.
"So, you've finally woken up." Louise spoke up, having been at Soma's bedside the whole time.
"So, all of this is real... just great." Soma sighed as he rubbed his eyes, this wasn't the first time he was spirited away from his reality, but he'd never get used to the feeling.
"I've thought about this long and hard, but I've given up. I'm going to have you as my familiar." Louise crossed her arms and sighed, though Soma's beauty was still enchanting. "B-Be grateful." She tried to speak authoritatively despite her blushing cheeks.
"Familiar my ass, I'm a person!" Soma protested, he knew all about familiars, well, at least his world's counterpart to them since he had several of his own from dominating the souls of their respective demons, so he knew a little of what Louise was saying.
"You're my familiar!" Louise pouted and clenched her fists, while beautiful, Soma was still her familiar spirit and he was supposed to be obedient to her. "So, you have to do what I say! Ansur Ver Ang, notice the tracks and answer my requests!" She raised her wand, intent on casting a spell of obedience, but due to her ineptitude, an explosion followed.
When the dust cleared, Soma had shielded himself with his Final Guard soul, an impenetrable barrier of demonic energy.
"Are you crazy, that could've killed me, you know!" Soma glared at Louise, offended by her clear lack of courtesy and her demands for absolute obedience. "Forget this, I'm out of here!" He made his way to the window and jumped out, using his Flying Armour soul, a spectral red knight that appeared behind him to slow his descent, but as he made contact with the ground, he saw Louise running out of the building, ready to give chase.
Louise was stunned that Soma, her familiar was able to use magic and more than that, they seemed to be demonic in nature, but the fact that he was running away from her, his master was deeply offending to her.
As Louise chased Soma, Kirche, Guiche and Montmorency watched the scene, both of them couldn't help but laugh at the fact that "Zero" Louise's familiar, a supposedly loyal spirit, was running away from her.
As Louise chased Soma, she started to cry upon hearing the laughter, she already felt like a failure most of the time due to her spells backfiring and on top of that, her familiar was running away from her.
Soma stopped as he heard Louise crying and when he turned around, he saw her on her knees, trying and failing to fight tears as the other students laughed at her. He couldn't help but feel bad for her, so he approached her and held out his hand.
"Sorry..." He spoke softly, almost a mutter as he gazed at Louise, now feeling bad for her.
"You should be..." Louise sniffled as she took Soma's hand, she was beyond upset and the laughing behind her didn't help, either.
After Soma and Louise made it back to the dorms, the laughing stopped when they noticed the pair hand in hand, though the laughing was replaced by jealous glaring from most of the female students.
"So, let me introduce myself, my name's Soma Cruz." He gave Louise his name, hoping to get more familiar with her since it didn't seem he was going anywhere anytime soon.
"And I'm Louise. Louise de La Valliere." Louise sighed and closed her eyes, though Soma was being polite and civil now, she still hadn't quite forgiven him.
"Sounds French." Soma chuckled as he remembered some of his classmates from overseas had similar sounding names.
"French?" Louise asked, confused by a nationality that was completely alien to her.
"It's a place from my world..." Soma blinked and sighed. "Come to think of it, this isn't my first time being transported to another world... there was the Chaotic Realm and The Abyss."
"The what...?" Louise was unfamiliar with the worlds that Soma was talking about, though they both sounded quite menacing to her. "What are they like?" She asked.
"One's a dimension where dominated demonic souls go and the other one's... literally Hell." Soma spoke of the two most terrifying realms he's ever been to.
"H-Hell!?" Louise was taken aback, her familiar was not only powerful but went to Hell and back.
"I'm probably a long way from home... a whole other world, in fact." Soma sighed as he thought of his own world and how he wanted to return. "So, I guess we're stuck together until I can find a way home...
"You're staying here with me..." Louise got a closer look at Soma and she started to blush again, this time, not just from his ethereal beauty but from his kind and gentle eyes. "But can you tell me... what exactly are you?" She asked, noting his abilities and the use of his Final Guard and Flying Armour souls.
"Hmm... I want to say a regular human, but that's probably a lie." Soma knew that despite what he wanted, he was the reincarnation of Dracula and in this new world, he'd have to use his powers and the souls he dominated once more to survive. "I'm the one destined to become the Dark King... but I'll fight my fate until the day I die."
Somewhere else in the academy, Mister Colbert was going through several books, trying to identify the mark on Soma's left hand.
"This is it!" Colbert found the page he was looking for and it surprised him. "But it can't be... as a precaution, I will have to inform the principal." He spoke as if the mark on Soma's hand was of great importance.
Soma found himself in the world of Halkeginia, summoned by Louise and though they did not know it, their fates will be intertwined for the rest of their lives.
Author's note: So, this story's finally up and it's been on the backburner for more than a decade and now I'm writing it. Soma Cruz is such a versatile protagonist and The Familiar of Zero is a versatile world to work with, so this seemed obvious from the start. This story takes place after Dawn of Sorrow and Soma's just adjusting to his new life and figuring out just what a Dark King is and his duties as the next one, one day, he'll see himself as a necessary evil. Soma's nature as the new Dark King will be explored after the ending of the second "season" where he sacrifices himself to save Louise and his friends. There is a Dark King prophecy in Halkeginia and it's similar to the prophecy from Lords of Shadow.
Louise falls in love with Soma earlier in the story because of his beauty and kindness and unlike Saito Hiraga, Soma's more mature and cares more about her feelings, though it takes him awhile to see her as a woman and he treats her like a kid for the majority of the first "season" but by the end of it, he falls for her as well and she becomes his most precious person. Other girls will fall in love with Soma later on, such as Tabitha,Henrietta de Tristain, Tiffania Westwood, Eleonore and Cattleya, though other, lesser-known girls will also fall for him, such as Josette, Tabitha's twin sister and Jeanette.
Other Castlevania characters will appear in this story and there are a different canons and universes to borrow from. Gabriel Belmont/Dracul from Lords of Shadow will be in this story and like Rosario of Sorrow, he will be a mentor and father figure to Soma. The villain might be Dracula/Malus from the CV64/Legacy of Darkness timeline. One thing I'll say in advance, though is that Hector is Eleonore, Cattleya and Louise's father. Hector might get a prequel story or flashback chapters with Louise's mother, Karin de La Valliere. Hector's love story with Karin is something I want to explore later on and he will be her familiar under strange circumstances since she's not a void mage. Hector is the strongest mage in Tristain in this story. Devil Forging is based on the original universe version of the story, so instead of the Netflix universe's straightforward necromancy, Devil Forging will be about spiritual metaphysics and alchemy, which explains why Hector can create specific Innocent Devils and weapons and his nature as a dark sorcerer will be built upon.
Gebel from Bloodstained will also appear in the future, though his role is still being decided upon. Another villain I might use is Victor Delacroix from Chaos Legion and he will be Isabella, Tabitha's cousin's familiar. Isabella will take her father's place as the villain of that story arc. Victor's goal is to unite Heaven, Earth and Hell and due to how driven he is, he neglects Isabella's feelings for him.
I'm also planning my future stories and updates on some older ones. Castlevania: Rosario to Sorrow, my Rosario of Sorrow reboot/sequel is being worked on with the first chapter roughly 30% complete and it will be markedly different from the original story. I'm also planning updates for Nightmare of the Azure Moon and Across Oceans of Time, with Nighmare of the Azure Moon's next chapter being 20% finished. I also might do special preview chapters for this story and Star Wars: Binary Moonlight sometime.
Thank you all for reading and all unrelated reviews and comic "artist" scammers will be blocked immediately.