Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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The Vatican was a building of quiet tension; by noon one would think the whole place on some form of lock down, few adults stepped out of their offices or rooms. Young boys stayed close to the walls, whispering the tales of how Yoko jumped the stairs and ran. Gathering in small groups reciting what they had seen, as all children do, gossiping on what had happened between the newcomers and the Cardinal of Internal Affairs. By lunch everyone who wasn't there had heard from the whispers of the children, of their ditzy nun's escapade on the stairs, and how the pale stranger had cut the hand off the Cardinal. The boys had a clear dislike of the Cardinal so there was no lost love there, but Yoko! Oh Yoko was now the church's new Iconic hero!
Not that she felt that way when there was a knock on her door. She got up from her desk, where she had been sulking, and walked over opening it, finding Pope Alexander standing on the other side. She stepped aside from the door allowing the man to enter her room, while her teddy bear, SnuggyWuggy, pulled out a chair for the Pope.
She shut the door and rested against it, her eyes closed to the bright light of the noon sun that filtered into her window. Soaking in the familiarity of her room, with its soft pastel colors and warm wood tones. It took a bit of effort before she finally walked away from the door and sat down across from the Pope, waiting for the questions that were sure to come.
"Yoko? What happened in the false Castle?" He finally asked, no point in preamble, or masking the question.
The question alone threw Yoko off, she was sure he was going to ask about what happened in the room, yet instead the castle? "I arrived with Julius, but he insisted on going in alone just as Soma arrived. He wasn't invited, I know Alucard wouldn't invite Soma to anything that would put Soma at risk. But I saw Soma from time to time, he would seek me out to upgrade his weapons, or occasionally he came for the companionship. Alucard and Julius were going through the castle on their own, it wasn't like they were together and I think Soma wanted someone to talk a friend to talk to."
"From time to time Alucard would visit me, after he discovered Soma roaming around the castle, and to say he wasn't pleased with Soma is putting it mildly. He didn't say much, but it was the way he bit out each word when describing situations he knew Soma would have problems overcoming. I've known Alucard all my life, even when he's concerned he's always kept his cool. Just seeing his reaction, I knew that he was worried, that things weren't as good as Soma might have hoped."
"The castle wasn't all that bad, not after having been in Draculas' Castle, there is a decided difference between a structure and a structure built with the stonework of Chaos. But when coupled with fighting monsters, it wasn't any wonder to me when Soma would show up exhausted. I'd let him curl up in my shop, there were some old pillows that I let him use as a bed, he'd use his coat or a cape as a blanket and would take a nap. But then after awhile, he stopped coming, and the hours stretched."
Alexander had known Yoko all her life, was used to her animated personality, she didn't hide her pleasure or displeasure very well. She could be a bright sunny day of high spirits, or a stormy day with lightning flashing in her eyes normally. But right now, sitting across from her, with her enchanted teddy in her arms she looked more like a gloomy autumn day rather then a spring morning or summer storm. "Until?" He gently urged.
"Julius came back to my shop, but all he said was 'I have to fulfill my promise, we lost Soma.' I left the shop with him, traveling through out the castle until we came across Alucard. By then he had dropped the final seal, there was no point to it anymore with Soma gone. From there we traveled through out the castle dispatching monsters and looking for Dracula. We didn't talk much, Alucard was going to face his charge, Julius to keep a promise while I was trying to figure out how I was going to explain to Mina that Soma was gone.."
"Alucard explained what had happened as we traveled, about the doppelganger that had been used to trick Soma. We found Soma in the throne room sitting on the throne like he was back in his own Castle. Sometimes I wonder if it was because Soma existed at all that Dracula yielded to us, or because Soma, who is the manifestation of his human soul, may have still been inside somewhere. But he fought with indifference and when the battle was over, it was just Soma in control again, a distraught Soma."
"And Dimitri who had been hiding within Soma all that time, and probably influenced Somas' emotional state. He had been just a roaming spirit, but he now had enough power to find a new host body. We had to deal with him, so we left Soma with Hammer and strict instructions to leave the Castle and meet us at my shop."
Yoko had a lost look in her eyes as she recalled the events in the castle, her sadness that this even had to happen clear. Alexander never really knew that much about Soma himself. When the seal was put into place originally the church had kept tabs on each child born on the day, at the moment of the fall of Count Dracula.
The church followed up on every child, going over each profile that was created as the child grew up, thus they saw many minor threats. But at the time the biggest threat came from Graham Jones. Alexander knew his profile chapter and verse, so to speak; the man who would become the leader of a cult that believed that the Dark Lord would bring change. Soma had been a complete unknown to them, Alexander had come to realize that Alucard had been aware of the youth. Not only aware but had actively shielded Soma from their view.
Though the act had knocked the Cardinals on their side in shock when this revelation had been revealed, it had touched Alexander. A son clinging to a single hope that his father was redeemed. That a son who had been at odds with his father for over four centuries could still love the man enough that he would risk his own life to save his father.
"How terrible for Alucard." He spoke aloud, breaking Yoko's forlorn train of thought, and continued when she focused back on the present and him. "He puts the world before himself, over and over again, and the world shows nothing for it. He sealed his father away, only to unexpectedly have his father reborn. Striving to send the other Dark Children into an equal slumber, instead the children stay awake and restless for his father's power and presence. Now, his father has returned again, a good soul but a soul that knows not of him. How he must ache for his father, that he would allow himself to be put into such danger, and more so now that it's become clear that there 'has' to be a Dark Lord. Surely Alucard wishes more for his father then to be a slave to an eternal battle, and yet… here we are…"
"Father and Son," Yoko repeated her eyes going towards a spot on the wall and beyond to a room full of corpses. "Alucard told me after the Castle left that he watched Soma fight Graham. He watched as Soma defeated Graham and the Castle invested its powers into him. He said 'He collapsed on the ground in shock, but when he gathered once more his wits he stood tall and acknowledged without doubt or question that he was Count Dracula.' I don't know if Alucard was sure or not about if Soma was his father or not, Soma lacks some qualities that resembles Vlad the Impaler after all." She recalled before resuming herself, back to the battle in Fortners' castle.
"Julius had exhausted his powers to open a channel for us to reach Dimitri, when we reached the room of corpses though… The smell would knock a person down alone, fire and brimstone and rotting flesh abound. It was gag inducing, not even Draculas' castle is 'that' bad. Though that could be because Dracula allows humans in the Castle from time to time and the smell would kill them."
"That was when we learned that Soma is indeed the rebirth of Count Dracula…" Yoko broke off to get a cup of water, offering and bringing a cup to the Pope before she sat back down a weak grin and she chilled their glasses making the water even more pleasant to drink. "Dimitri said that he knew who Alucard really was, and how he was surprised how Dracula was an alias, that the person who had been calling himself Count Dracula was nothing more then a Baron. He said that now that Soma was too weak to fight, it was time for someone to succeed where Dracula could not."
"Count Dracula? You mean to say that Soma is not the reincarnation of Vlad Tepes?" Alexander asked in surprise to which Yoko nodded.
"We never did find out who Soma is the reincarnation of, because Dimitri attacked Alucard at that moment. Throwing Alucard against the wall with a type of spell that Alucard wasn't prepared to defend again. It was much akin to the ones we use here, only more violent, as it knocked Alucard completely out cold. I rushed to his side, not sure how I could help him and deal with someone like Dimitri, only Soma appeared between him and us."
"Soma physically looked fine, if by looks alone he looked like he hadn't fought and lost a terrible battle. But at that moment Dimitri lost control of all the souls he had gathered, his form was completely distorted and he turned into a massive monster. When I caught sight of Soma's eyes though I realized the danger. He was exhausted, though absorbing and using the souls of monsters is easy for him to do. He was just coming off from going fully back to that identity. That brutal, hate filled life had been his once more that day and now he was fighting again. Alucard came around during the battle, and when he caught sight of Soma fighting he literally shook with suppressed rage."
"He believed that I could hold Dimitri off long enough so that he could come to and join the battle. But seeing Soma fighting, time after time when it was clear Soma was in over his head just infuriated the man. In the end, Soma won, but was so battered and beaten by then that he fell from the highest platform he had gotten to during the battle. Alucard rushed to him, caught and held him while we escaped the falling Castle."
"And Alucard took Soma home with him to take care of the young man," Alexander finished for Yoko gently as she smiled slightly.
"Yeah, he carried Soma to his car, he was so gentle I don't think he even realized how much he fussed over Soma when he left. I don't think he realizes when he shows their father son relationship when they're near each other."
"Cardinal Rocco, spoke with Soma before this began. It seems the Cardinal of External Affairs had better luck in his dealings with Soma than the Cardinal of Internal Affairs with Alucard or Soma. It went rather well in fact, Soma by all accounts, though marginally distracted at times, was rather calm. He said that Soma showed signs of someone who was growing used to the burden he was carrying. Which is a good thing, of course, until suddenly, we can only assume he somehow realized that Alucard was being hurt. He responded by leaving the room and rushing about until he found Alucard, in which case the argument resorted to bloodshed." Alexander explained recalling what Lodovico told him of the meeting. "Soma may not realize that Alucard is his half blood son, but he is already showing all the ear marks of a protective parent."
"Will I be able to see Soma?" Yoko asked quietly, knowing that Alucard was in safe hands as he recovered from the earlier events. But there was no telling what would befall Soma during that time. The Vatican had developed policies about dark being attacks after the first few situations after Dracula's castle had been sealed away. There was a chance that Soma would not survive the day if the Church decided he was still a threat and to be dealt with haste.
"No, dear Daughter I believe I should see him first," Alexander replied only to smile at her startled expression. "Oh you think I should not? Perhaps so, but I would like to use this chance to meet the young Lord of Darkness."
"The Cardinals will have our heads," Yoko lamented as she sat there staring at the Pope like he lost his ever loving mind. He only chuckled at her response before getting up to leave, letting her open the door for him as he made his way into the hallway of the Vatican.
The right thing to do was to see the Cardinals first, Yoko wasn't joking about the ferocity of the Cardinals over an incident like this. They would go back and forth arguing over the issue at hand, something that Alexander didn't have time to listen to. Not yet anyway, if he wanted the full story he had to hear it from several sides, but several sides that were directly at the source of the issue. Realistically, besides himself only two of the Cardinals had any interaction with Soma, and both had two totally different stances about him.
Just between the Internal and External Affairs the problem would be Soma and his attack, once they threw in the rest of the Cardinals and their demand to know why such extreme measures were used on Alucard? Alexander didn't think he'd see his bed anytime soon, with the meetings he was about to be dragged into. But now he had a better grasp on what had transpired in the False Castle when Yoko left to deal with Celia.
He walked down the hallways with a pair of priests abandoning their duties to accompany him, even if they didn't know where he was headed. The even sound of footsteps and rustle of cloth softly alerted those ahead of the coming procession. Allowing the few in the hallway to know and move aside for the Pope, as they progressed to lower parts of the Vatican. From a side door a lone nun slipped out of a room, bowing to the trio as she left to finish her rounds after having tended to the Dhampire. Alucard would be in that room, slumbering in a bed with a single simple oil burned to help ease the pain. Those holy oils only worked on the Vatican grounds, created by Yoko's mother to help defend those inside from attacks from Dark Beings. But it was always understood that the oils were used to defend, not to torture someone, especially not Alucard!
The oils worked like Holy Water, burning the Dark One, but like oils it was soaked into the skin leaving a lasting burning pain. The idea that it was used on Alucard would raise many of the Cardinals' ire, as Alucard was their one stable guardian against the Dark Ones. With Vampire Killer taking the life of anyone who over used it in the Morris Clan, the Belmont Clan having been proven not above brain washing by the Dark Side, and the Belendes being woefully weak in physical conflict.
Finally he found himself standing before the door to the cell where Soma was being kept, the priests by his side touched his arms and tried to get him to move back out of concern. As did the guards that stood before it, but he merely smiled and gave soft words of reassurance. Though clearly not pleased with this, the guard opened the door allowing Alexander to step inside the room. It was ten feet all around with cell bars in the center of it, a lone light embedded into the ceiling with an equally lone teen bound to a chair, his hands bound behind his back, and a rough canvas bag over his head blinding him. While in the four corners of the cell rested the burning oils that subdued Dark Beings.