Castlevania: Aria of the Ascending Soul
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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"So how's it been living the Belmont Dream? Defeating Dracula once and for all?" Jonathan asked with a faint grin. He hovered there wearing the remembered weapons that he wore for his hunts, even Vampire Killer, though not in a to be used position. Still appearing as the young adult that faced Dracula rather than the older man that Julius had met. Then he added, "I'm not counting Soma, he's not quite that far off the slippery slope yet."
"Its been... wife, two sons, grandkids..." Julius began his expression thoughtful and proud, "if there's anything beyond that. Its a questioning concern for where the clans go now. Hopefully Soma doesn't resume his past life antics, but if we're cursed to follow his development. If he's not a threat what happens to us?"
The women blinked at each other before they moved as discreetly as they could away. Giving the men their privacy to chat while they continued their own conversations. It was a concern he had yet to be able to address to the other heads of the remaining clans. What with Soma now slapped with that ring among other concerns.
"Good question, everyone has learned to adapt to the modern age, so its not as though no one can 'not' move on. But without Dracula, himself, the clan's powers naturally should stay asleep." Jonathan noted before letting his thoughts trail off into possibilities. "I suppose anyone will be able to become a hunter, after all, Dracula may be the Dark Lord. But that doesn't mean there can't be posers or those who will actively want that title themselves." The blond shrugged his shoulders in apology before adding, "I'm dead but that doesn't mean I can see the future. Who knows how Soma changes the game."
"Yes, and will Soma just stop aging, is he now an immortal once more since he has access to his vampire aspects. Or will he continue to grow up at a normal or slower rate... Will he regenerate or reincarnate... All of you had it so easy," he grumbled earning himself a good natured chuckle from the spirit.
"Well you know, every one who has faced Dracula has always had something unique to their battle." Jonathan noted with an easy grin. "So if it makes you feel any better, yours is to close out the dark ages of the clans' history!"
"Oh thank you, the 'dark ages' am I?" Julius asked in a huff as Jonathan broke out into a full laugh.
Jonathan had lowered himself so he appeared to be standing and for a moment the older man saw Julius as he appeared when he was 17. Jonathan had been awaiting in the backyard, taking in the autumn weather at the Belmont Estate. Awaiting to fulfill the ritual transfer of the Vampire Killer back into the Belmonts' hands. The weight of knowing of carrying that whip, the fear that it would devour him prematurely as it had his father finally lifting.
When the young man finally returned from school and was brought out into the back to meet him. In his school uniform, and despite how young he was, the boy seemed already aware of what awaited him. Where the nerves and confidence, the weight of expectations, and the world seemed to weigh in on him already.
"We hunted anyone that wasn't human didn't we? But you look at the LeCardes and even my grandkid. They draw a line that we never considered existing, so maybe it might be for the best if the lines go to sleep for a bit." As Jonathan spoke he realized that the words felt right. "Let the world shake out the where and whats and decide what you're going to do after the fact."
'It is my right to declare that isn't it,' Julius thought even as his instincts railed against such a thought. 'I should take that into consideration, I mean I can't let the training die for a generation or two. It needs to be maintained, still...'
"Regardless though, this is your life now, once the hunt is over, its meant to be lived in peace. So whatever you do for yourself and your kids that's for you to decide. Don't let the clans bully you into anything else Julius, traditions have their place. Roles that need to be filled and titles that need to be passed on. But only so long as it doesn't destroy the very thing that it was meant to do and as a clan our duty is always to protect this world."
While the men talked of matters of the clan, off to the side and returned to the front of the sealed doors to the library were the two witches.
"So, in your honest opinion, what do you think of the state of the castle?" Yoko asked as she knelt down to get a better look at the warding seal. It was an off white sheet of paper, the seal itself was the deep color of blood. Cementing the determination someone had that the library needed to stay shut. Not only that, despite the shape giving the appearance of a Japanese warding seal, the written word wasn't in Japanese. Or anything Asian at all leaving her with a bit of a frown. 'Ahh good ol, mashing everything together and praying it sticks...'
"Well, if you're asking from the point of view of 'then versus now'... The castle is going into a state very similar to what I experienced the first time I was here. More a structure than an entity due to Brauner's sealing paintings all over the place. Very quiet, very..." Charlotte's lips twisted slightly as she tried to think of a good way to describe it. "I want to say neutral really... when compared to the activity I sensed and experienced the second time I came here. Though now? It 'needs' direction I think. It reminds me of my kids, way back when they were babies, real grabby. I mean we were minding our own businesses hunting for Alucard when the castle yanked us in. We can't leave either, there's a barrier keeping us in."
"Think that's something that can be turned off?" Yoko asked unsure of how to process the idea that a large chunk of ancestors were now trapped in the castle. Just future hunters charging into the Castle of Dracula with the 'helpfully trapped souls' of previous Belmonts? Uh no. "Didn't Eric get trapped here at one point?"
"Yes, and he got out once Dracula was defeated... Keywords 'Dracula was defeated'." Charlotte emphasized with no small amount of concern. "I mean this is a great opportunity to find out as much as we can about the connection between Dracula and his castle. More over, you have your ability to extract souls from Soma. So maybe you can just extract us from the castle if push comes to shove. Buuuut yeah, we're still stuck here and that means we can't help anyone outside the castle."
"Well clearly the Fates knew Soma was heading for this path, why else would I be born with this particular set of magics?" Yoko agreed as she straightened up and turned to face Charlotte with the men positioned off behind the ghost witch. "So what do I do about the uh... 'sealed' family members...?"
Charlottes' answer was a quick twist of the lips and a quiet, but firm, "Pray that Simon never gets within grabby distance of your neck."
Yoko deflated as her head sank into her hands, "I had no idea I was even 'doing' that... I was a 'kid' when I started."
Nodding the ghost could only watch Yoko's quiet self directed vexation over 'that' particular situation. "I know, and I wish you had confided in me that you were doing that..." She began only to be interrupted with an 'I didn't know!' muttered groan from the living witch. "Ok fair its not exactly a Belnades trait to use items like we Aulins do... Maybe between you, me, and Lord Cottonball ruler of the Fluffy Night can resolve it."
"He 'is' rather fluffy..." Yoko acknowledged.
"Have you ever seen his bat form?" Charlotte asked with a raised eyebrow. Thoughts of how his soul might be reflected in both the forms he shifted into as well as the state of the castle started to play in her mind.
"Fluffy fruit bat, soft white," Yoko answered easily as she recalled that one time in her temporary shop when she got him to change into it.
"Well that's a positive, if his nature is to go for a non blood drinker in that..." Charlotte noted aloud as her gaze turned to the walls of the castle themselves. Thinking as she did about the state of the walls in all the rooms she had seen. The state of both disrepair, but also the efforts 'to' repair that had been shown about. Reasonably speaking the castle didn't do a hard shift when Soma got pushed into his fury either...
Unlike the last time when she saw the castle.
During the Demon Castle Wars it had appeared almost stripped of everything. There were no servants in the castle, merely the legions that Dracula commanded. The castle itself was functional but not really 'livable' by human standards. Now it was, there were more modern rooms, the format was liken more to modern tastes. Soma's influence, now that the castle had made that connection, was causing it to have a more healthy appearance and form.
'But people are people and boy is Soma a person,' Charlotte thought to herself as she saw the men starting to rejoin them.
"Survey says?" Jonathan asked, his gaze settling on Yoko causing her to give a slightly apologetic shrug.
"Its a mix of various things, unraveling it could take a bit of time because this cult grabbed from different parts of the world it seems."
"Which might explain something from the ground below if we can figure out the connections," Jonathan noted out loud as he thought about what he saw. "We're limited in how many people actually can deal with the cults. So right now the kids battle is all we have... and Were's don't behave the way he did..."
He watched the confused expression on the living pair and gave a slight shrug. "Remember when you arrived and all those cultists turned into monsters? Went berserk and had to be swept off to avoid scaring the civilians? One of them changed 'back', with added super human abilities and I haven't been able to figure out how yet."
"Its not unheard of for Dracula to turn humans into monsters..." Julius voiced, 'reminding' felt stupid, Jonathan would know the same information as he did. But it needed repeating, if for no other reason than the fact that Soma wasn't turning people into monsters. That the cults themselves were figuring out how to do that apparently.
"We'd need a larger sample then," Charlotte pointed out. "Maybe do some research in the library once we get it unlocked... Or just have the kids unlock it for us."
"So that's the plan? You find the Freelance Police and we'll go back to Alucard and we can plan out there?" Yoko asked, a sweep of her gaze showed each person, living and dead, nodding at the plan and she gave a sharp nod. "Ok then!"
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ The Quiet Study \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
'The things we do for friendship... I shouldn't have considered trying it out...' Death mentally grumbled to itself as it floated towards the study. There had been a 'reason' why it avoided human contact after those... experiments... Human bonding, nasty stuff, addicting and here it was, now stuck with this stupid friendship causing it to serve as a messenger just because the Lady of the Castle couldn't bear the thought of her offspring knowing she was was here...
It floated into the study where its Lord was resting, his soul as recognizable as ever in its brightness and definition. Stretch out on a couch, it was, interestingly enough, the 'other' soul in the room that caught Death's attention. As the Young Master, himself, sat by his Lord Father's side with a book in his hands and two servants on hand at the door.
"Well well, Alucard, have you returned to your Lord Father's side at last?" Death asked in amusement. After all, wasn't it normally the young masters' will to draw his blade when near his father? Dracula wasn't really the human reincarnation he had been before anymore, too much the former and lesser of the latter really.
Yet the young master didn't move from his seat, or draw his sword or even shift to suggest a combative mood. "We're currently in an agreeable state, yes."
If Death had eyebrows they would have been raised straight over its skull and down to the base of its neck. "Now that's no idle comment, you realize what you're saying..."
"I have not forgotten," Alucard replied sharply, unable to decide if he approved of this situation or if it angered him. With the castle itself now sated, save for the areas that had been sealed off, the castle felt almost normal. It felt like home, and that was not an emotion he expected or truly welcomed.
Soma couldn't control the castle again, the first time he had made the effort he had been sent reeling in exhaustion. The second time had put him here, and both times had ripped back open those emotional wounds that Alucard needed to stay sealed. Even if it was sealed in an ugly scar, it was better than facing these realities.
Unlike his father, who could control the castle from anywhere in it, Alucard needed to go to the Masters' Chambers to do so. Thus leaving his father in the study where he could be beset by the Cults, which he would not allow to happen. More over if the cults were sealing parts of the Castle away, there was a chance that once he entered the Masters' Chambers he would also be sealed.
"Well, as your Lord Father is currently resting, would I be giving my report to you?" Death asked with a snide bit of humor. The 'report' wasn't just what the Lady of the Castle had told it, and Death did find it a touch annoying how the Cults' transformations were taking place.
"Yes, I can relay the information when he awakens, if it has not been resolved by then," Alucard replied formally.
"Well, for starters there appeared to have been a unique member of the cult here. The transformations that transformed the others was actually controlled by this one. The hunters' have slain him, so now his soul has been collected by the Castle to be used. But he had the soul of one of these hunter clans," Death explained. Interestingly enough the young master didn't appear to be the least bit surprised by the suggestion. "Oh does the young master know something?" It asked its curiosity growing.
"Continue your report Old Man," Alucard retorted sharply, though it caused Soma to flinch slightly in his sleep.
Though it was still curious Death shrugged its shoulders, "beyond that, and as you can tell by the child in the room. The cults have begun killing off the castle 'guests' as it were, which given there's no immediate way to send them all home due to... circumstances," Death gave a slight tilt of its bony head towards its master and friend. "It would seem there could be a conflict if the living attempt a rather... shall we say 'bombastic' approach to the presence of the Castle?"
"Can the castle relocate itself?" Alucard asked calmly, noting passively how his father's expression smoothed out once he no longer sounded emotional.
"Not by your command alone, it was your Lord Father who summoned it to this location to start with..." Death pointed out simply as the flames that served as its 'eyes' shifted to look down at its Master.
"Father is in no condition to do so," Alucard pointed out as he contemplated waking his father up to pass control over to him. 'The humans are aware of the threat of the castle, and the numbers that were kidnapped here are negligible. There's nothing to hold them back from a sizable reaction, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't already on its way.'
Japan had no real forces, and 'adjusting' their opinions would matter little on the global stage. Unleashing his fathers' forces to defend the castle was... problematic as it would put him in his fathers' place. Even if the intention was to keep the human forces at bay, not slaughter them where they stood. More than that it would put both himself and Soma on their particular watch lists. 'I dare not unseal my powers either, there's nothing else holding father's power back. The point may be moot at this juncture, however...'
However he couldn't condemn his fathers' human life like that. Problematic, more Dark Lord than human now, but still there was more of his father's humanity in this pale human. That this whole situation with the castle coming about because a cult hurt Alucard... Yet as his fathers' son. It just hurt all the more that they could end up once again coming to blows because of the cults' actions.