Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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Livid was a good emotion.
Despite how his father's use of it went to the extreme. It was a descriptive word for his feelings about this cursed slumber. Unlike his own enchantments, this curse was being sustained by something tangible outside. It was clear that it wasn't anything intangible such as the balance between good and evil. Or the power of Darkness over Light, for even trapped in the dream he could sense Somas' sudden reawakened power.
He was well and truly trapped. While the dreams of his mothers' death were a constant reminder, that he was sleeping. When the sleep was enchanted by himself, it served to mark that yet another year had passed. The event was locked into a pattern, cycles were vast lulls of absolute darkness, where the nightmare did not come. Yet this curse caused his attempts to go outside the village for any place 'other' than the Castle to return him. At 'that' moment.
He stood before her burning corpse with the 'crowds' behind him. Watching as the fat melted, the flesh cooked into a charred state. Her beautiful soft blond hair, that he had inherited, was gone save a few stubborn tendrils. 'Mother I realize that you wish me to protect the humans. But this cult makes it difficult to remember your wish. For what they do...'
Barely suppressing a hiss of displeasure he turned from his memories of his mothers' corpse. All around him was the village that never felt real. When he had first arrived all those centuries ago, that moment had felt surreal. There were no details that he bothered to fully grasp onto, the wooden boards or stones that made the walls of the peasant homes. The stale scent of human and animal waste that mixed with the cooking fires of the families and his own mother.
All of it pushed aside for the focus had only been on her.
Now because of these cultist. The memory of the very event was being used in an effort to take control of his father.
'I can sense Somas' power reawakening, though thankfully he's not angry. But the Castle is still sealed, and I lack the power to quell that force on my own. Even if I was able to wake up and released the seal on my own power, it would be counter productive. Giving Soma more of his power just to restore more of mine won't do anyone any good. I need a solution.. No, what I 'need' is wake up.'
Waking up at this point would be meaningless. The only avenue left to him would be to try and reason with the man, which might be doable. But Soma flew off the handle when something happened to Alucard, so it would require Alucard finding Soma fast enough to settle him down again. While this surge of power lacked the distinct edge of rage, Alucard now had to be concerned that Soma might or might not be able to handle it. Soma 'had' been able to be forced back into a docile pseudo human state when he first regained his senses. But he had been weaken, battered and exhausted enough that rolling his mind had been, while difficult, possible. Regretfully though, it wasn't Soma's 'logic' that was Alucards' problem.
Far in the distance of the dream, Alucard could see his father's castle looming ever upwards. Its towers, the walls, all of it that once signified 'home'. Eternally being reminded that in this dream, either he stayed by his mothers' side. In the anguish and her last request that lead him to serve the humans as in an effort to stop his father. Or go back 'home' to the place and one person that he had repeatedly betrayed for these despicable humans.
'I'll need his blood. I lack the power on my own to subdue his, and I suspect he would agree to it for the sake of keeping his humanity.'
'But first I must find a way out of this deplorable dream.' Alucard turned his steps back towards the Castle. 'In the worst case scenario Soma would resist depending on what this cult has done while I was away. But he's young, too young to last long against the mantle of years he has lived. If its too late and he loses himself again to his past, I will have to take all his blood. So long as he doesn't bite me in self preservation I can end his life. While I can not turn with my bite, at the very least I am strong enough to make the death peaceful.'
The only gratitude he could find was that his mother was long dead. That she would never know his sins against his father. If she were to know he reincarnated as a human and her son failed to protect him. Well his mother had always been kind and forgiving, but what she said versus how she felt would be different.
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The castle had dropped the childish build that it had manifested when he had first arrived. Gone were the toy skeletons and childrens' tea sets, all of it was as he remembered it when he was a child. Back when the castle looked no different than any other castle. Large ornate, but Alucard wasn't traveling it to see what types of oddities his mind could furnish it. Instead he walked upon plush richly woven rugs, on either side bore elaborate paintings. Many windows were thrown open to reveal the distant landscape despite this being the domicile of vampires.
The rug muted the sound of his shoes as he walked, while the hallways stood empty of any other presence save himself. No dream maids or butlers, servants or demons, humanoid or beast, the castle stood empty. Standing within the vast garden, where he and his mother had played, or she read stories to him, Alucard finally paused to look around.
On all four sides there stood the towering walls of the castle, hallways, rooms or towers they surrounded him. Despite the season outside the castle, the garden was filled with vibrant, rich grass, roses of various colors and shades grew about him. Plotted out within the massive maze of bushes that extended to Alucards' chest. Though back when the garden appeared as such he had been so small that they loomed over him.
'How do I stop this from continuing though? I thought the method of sealing the Castle away would keep father away. But he still found a way to circumvent the seal by reincarnating. Does this mean he'll just reincarnate again when I kill him?'
Looking up he found the Master Chambers, the one unique tower that wasn't at a corner of the castle. Long before it was moved to appear seemingly disconnected and elevated above the rest of the castle. Where his father would stay waiting for those foolish enough to challenge him. Lacking the reason to breath, the dream complied by negating the emulation of air. So nothing stirred in the castle, even out in the garden the whole place felt more as a painting.
It was enough to make him pause as he took in the absolute stillness of the castle. A stillness that never existed even in daylight when his father slept during those halcyon days of his youth. The sharp reminder that he was utterly alone. Pushed aside the humans around him, for his immortality would inevitably turn them against him in jealousy. Expected to rule his dark kindred in place of his father during his absence in this modern age. While those who's seething hatred of humans rejected Alucard as his father's heir. For obvious reasons.
Night began to approach as he stood in the garden. Not distracted by anything living he was forced to become aware of how painfully alone he was. Duty to his mothers' wishes aside, there was a loneliness that, while usually a companion, now became smothering.
Around him the darkness of the encroaching night began to slither out. From under the shadows of the bushes and the delicate petals of the flowers around him. Hiding under the shadows cast by the grass at his feet, slipping as ink between the delicate breaks of stone that formed the path he walked upon. Feeding upon the depression, the pessimism that could find no future beyond the endless battles.
While in the stables of the true castle, where the mounts of the skeletal knights were kept, the rotting ears of the zombie horses began to prick up. The castle itself could do little, tethered in the seal as it was, but some animals..
A black mare with a beautiful long mane and tail began to appear amid the darkness of the stall, her fiery eyes illuminating her face. She turned her head from the stalls of her fellow horses and dove into the darkness, galloping on nothing through paths only she could find. The sharp sound of her hooves struck the nonexistent ground, sending sparks of flame. Trailing a path of fire as she dove into the dreams that were her providence. From one to another until she could finally find the dream her primal instincts set her towards.
Where a dream of the castle was standing, seemingly proudly lording over the lake, while a large writhing mass of darkness invaded the courtyard. It was massive, reaching from one side of the garden wall to spreading out to the other three. The dream was one of pain, one that the Nightmare knew of, grief, pain, loss, terror, fear, those things that called the Nightmare were well known grazing grounds for the race.
Comparatively speaking, Nightmares were no different than horses when compared to the Succubus or Incubus. They were herd animals, and lacked a good deal of the higher realms of intelligence that would be found with the other dream beings. But they did have a degree of higher intelligence than the typical horse as part of being spiritual beings. Enough to recognize their king and his son.
Enough to recognize that this 'thing' was not a creation of dreams. It was invasive. So the Mare began to circle the garden, its hooves striking the nonexistent ground and sending up flames. The steady beat of the Nightmares' hooves clattered as it eyed the invasive threat, over the ramparts and halls, around this dream Masters' Chambers. A lone mare of pure black running through a murky sky as the source of the dream began to drift from their own dream.
An unpleasant affair to be corralled in one's own dream.
The windows trembled as the Mare passed by again, the flames of hooves illuminating the interior. The flames setting a warm glow against the wall as a long streak of a painters brush. Eight hooves beat upon the darkness that was beginning to manifest with the suppression of the dreamer. Four pairs of eyes stared into the darkness as they ran, their hooves making a small rumble in the air. Four pairs of eyes, then another pair sparked to life, then another as more Nightmares began to appear. While in the distance the cries of the first Nightmare were answered in kind.
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'Meet up to go to the castle grounds... Easier said than done I think," Yoko thought to herself as she checked the forecast for the area around the countryside. It didn't look bad, and sadly it kind of looked 'vacation ready' ideal. Multiple planes that went directly to that region were full. 'And the range of the Estate means its not going to let me reach it here. Damn it I should have just used it in the first place. What Al doesn't know won't get me scolded.'
The Dark Children were out in force, the mere spike in Soma's power was enough to get them out. Indeed, seemingly giving truth to his words all that time ago, Yoko's only blood stirred in reaction to that moment. 'Though it wasn't terrible, I imagined it being some crippling sense of overwhelming pain or mind control. Instead it just...'
A frown crossed her lips slightly as she thought back on that moment of clarity. How the aura's seemed sharper, the way the elementals seemed to stand out even more pronounced despite their clear nonhuman shapes. Everything felt alive for one brief moment, enough to make the frown slowly wiggle into a small smile. 'If this is what it feels like when Soma 'powers up' without being angry. Well I guess its another witches revival then...' A flare up like that and there were bound to be people who never knew they had a potential.
Until now.
'It won't be bad if we can get these cults arrested so they don't have to worry about being targets. Not that we have some school for witchcraft...' Yoko thought as she looked down at her phone. There was no point left looking up at the airport prompters and so she redirected her attention. Looking for some current map of the Castle, which she got, surprisingly. Her head reared back slightly in surprise before she began enlarging the overhead photograph of the area where the Castle used to stand.
'Its... it looks 'done'? How hard did they push to finish that thing? Maybe the interior needs work but that looks like a complete roof.' Yoko thought as she maxed out the enlarge function, showing bare bits of space where lumber may have been resting. There was a clear parking space, with thick, deep gouges into the ground for the construction vehicles used.
Tapping over she switched back to her mothers' text screen before sending a request for her mom to contact the local clan.
The only thing stopping her from calling directly was the airport she now stood in. Far and away too easy for someone to hack the line and listen. Though texting...
Hey, how's sis?
? tired. Very tired, job is wearing her out.
… ok... Well going to visit the old vacation spot soon, if I run into her I'll say 'hi'.
Thank you. She might need your help packing she's that exhausted.
'Well damn Alex. Just throw a big red 'SOS',' Yoko thought as she read the message over several times. 'Help packing' the code for 'Alexis needs to be extracted ASAP' as she could get...
So now she was supposed to meet up with Julius and retrieve Alexis and apparently her fellow witch didn't find Alucard either.
Hope the traffic both in the sky and land are more favorable to you.
She sent ruefully to Julius as she looked woefully up at sole flight that would take her the closest way to the Castle. The region wasn't hugly active, more a quiet hamlet than anything else despite having to modest towns in the area. It was quiet, out of the way and more dependent on over land vehicles for transportation. The only real tourist traps were the castles and with Dracula's castle gone there was one less reason to go there.
'I can take the first leg of the flight, if there's a rental service in town I can get a car and drive...' She thought before diving back into the internet on her phone. 'If the plane is back up and running great, if not, well... I can drive I suppose. But I'm not sure I'll be great for extracting anyone if I end up doing this alone... Well its not like I'm going into enemy territory, we have resources.' She thought to herself with quiet resolution. 'OOH coach! Nice bus line and I can do that, now to pack. Since I can't leave yet...' she thought as she began walking towards the exit.
B lined her way to the automated ticket counter and bought herself a ticket first. THEN resumed going back to her hotel. 'Wish I could bring Soma, there's no one back home to really look after him really. Al's going to be so put upon that Soma was left to his own devices for so long. But there's nothing else we can do. Al's the only one who has a chance of reasoning with him if we're lucky. Well... Actually... Soma can't turn someone into a vampire as he is right? I mean he's a Vampire Lord but physically he's human. I would suspect that he was planning on turning Alucard into a full vampire before. But he can't anymore... can he?'
Oh that was a terrible thought. If Soma as Dracula figured he'd just turn Alucard only to accidentally kill the guy instead.