Author's Note: Here it is, the continuation. I'll turn this into a full-fledged fanfic now, or at least longer than a one-shot.

Chapter 2 – Aftermath

Mina watched as everyone were pulled through the gate, their surprised faces being the last thing she'd see before they disappeared. The gate itself would then close, the glyph below disappearing as the magic faded. The courtyard was silent once again.

For a moment she just watched the spot the gate had been. Suddenly, from beyond the castle gate, she saw the sky began to darken.

"Huh?" Mina shifted her gaze upwards.

Though the light around the castle remained unchanged, everything outside was becoming obscured, soon becoming pitch-black, as if the castle was now floating in a void. Mina was quick to realize what had happened.

The eclipse is over, she thought.

Castlevania was once again back inside the seal. Almost immediately after, the drawbridge began to rise, as well as the gate coming down. A symbolic act, considering there was no means to leave now. Still…

There's no turning back now.

Mina turned to face the castle once again, gazing up towards the top.

Soma… I'll be there soon.

She knew there was no time to waste. She had to get to Soma's side, no matter what. Gazing back down, towards the doors, she steeled herself. Out of everyone who ended here this day, she had been the only one that never actually went inside, having remained in the courtyard at all times under the safety of Arikado's barrier. She knew that was no longer an option regardless of her next course of action, for she could feel the barrier becoming weaker each passing second, its caster no longer present to sustain it. As such, she could only hope that the castle monsters had been culled enough, else reaching Soma was going to be easier said than done.

Her gaze drifted towards the crates that Hammer left behind.

Perhaps, just in case... she considered.

She was no fighter, but having anything to defend herself with was better than nothing at all. If only to ease her mind. However, no sooner she took a step that she suddenly winced.

"Ngh!"

Suddenly assaulted by a strong headache, Mina clutched her head with her hands as she dropped down to one knee.

"N-not again..." she said through gritted teeth.

It had been a while since her body had last acted up like that, an occurrence ever since they had ended up in the castle. Not even the barrier could protect her from whatever was causing it. Still, she was not going to let it deter her.

Still clutching her head, Mina slowly rose back up, finally letting go in order to stabilize herself. Her body felt heavy, and though the headache was subsiding, she was left feeling lightheaded. She continued heading over to the crates, taking mincing steps. Once she got there, she gripped the top of a small tower of stacked crates, before leaning against them.

"Huff… huff…" she panted, trying to catch her breath. "This… this won't stop me…"

She glanced back up, towards the castle. Whatever or whoever was behind this, they had to be aware she had stayed.

A sudden flash of light then caught her attention. Streaks of light began to emerge from the topmost area.

What is that? She wondered.

The lights suddenly separated as they began to rain down on the rest of the castle, almost like a meteor shower. Some even changed trajectory mid-flight, aiming more towards the walls than the rooftops. Rather than strike against them, however, they seemed to phase through instead; though a few seemed to have aimed for the windows as an alternative entryway. Mina could only stare with awe. Despite her current situation, she could not deny the spectacle was dazzling.

Soon every light would be out of sight. To her fortune, none of them headed over to the courtyard. In any case, Mina glanced back down, focusing back on her current task. A barrel would soon catch her eye. It contained several polearms, one of them being a naginata. With a hum, she walked over. Standing next to the barrel, she still focused her gaze on the naginata, before nodding.

This will do.

Mina then gripped the wooden shaft of the weapon, before lifting it out of the barrel. Though the weapon's weight was manageable, its length combined with the fact that she was still reeling from her most recent headache meant the young miko had to quickly put it back down lest she lost her balance. Thus, the naginata now stood parallel to her body, as she held it in one hand. Eyeing it closely, Mina couldn't help but frown.

I do hope it can be enough, she thought.

Alas, this was the best she could hope for, in light of the circumstances. Clutching the naginata with both hands again, she turned to face the castle entrance, and took a deep breath.

Here goes nothing.

Thus, Mina began walking towards the castle entrance.

As each step took her closer to the doors, she could not help but feel a rising sense of dread. While there was admittedly some fear over what she could face once inside, Mina could feel it was more than that. The castle itself seemed to pulsate a frightful aura, which hadn't been there before. It almost felt as if it was trying to scare her away. Still, the girl soldiered on, the thought of finding Soma forefront in her mind. She walked up the stairs. The doors would open, as always, and she would be inside.

They did not.

"Huh?" Mina stopped, dumbfounded.

She had watched them open and close on their own so many times. For anyone coming in, or out. Soma had been the majority of those times, and in light of the recent revelations about him, it made sense in hindsight for the castle to open its doors for its Master. Yet, so it did for anyone else as well. Now, however, they refused to move. Mina was not going to let this stop her, however. Freeing up one hand, she went over to grab the door and open it herself. Gripping one of the handles, she pulled.

Nothing. The door did not budge.

She tried tugging harder, pushing instead of pulling, attempting the same with the other door. Tried as she might, Mina could just not open them.

"What is going on?" She wondered out loud, as frustration began to set in.

Staring at the doors for a moment, Mina then tried a different approach: Knocking politely.

Still nothing.

With a sigh of resignation, she finally desisted. Evidently, she was unwanted inside. The question was... why?

Did you do this, Soma? Mina couldn't help but wonder, remembering what Arikado had said about the gate when it opened.

She shook her head.

No, it has to be castle, she thought instead.

Regardless, that did not change the fact the main entrance was barred. Turning back, Mina reached the top of the stairs before proceeding to sit down, placing the naginata to rest beside her.

What am I going to do? Mina was back to her worrying self. Soma...

Too busy gazing down the stairs, she failed to notice the small figure circling overhead, glancing down at her. It flew for a few seconds more before changing its flight path, heading towards the main keep…

Soma slumped on the throne, a look of exhaustion evident on his face.

It's done, he thought.

He could feel it. The seal reasserting itself, dragging back the castle into its confines. He could also feet it. A sense of lashing out, as if the castle protested being put back inside; like a beast forced back to its cage.

Soma frowned. It was becoming easier to not think of that as a mere analogue. He sighed. It came down to that, isn't it? Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was Dracula. It became clear when he defeated Graham, and then it got reinforced when he failed to untether himself from Chaos. Yet, he was still here. He was Soma, but also Dracula.

For how long, I wonder.

In any case, he had done it. The castle was back inside the eclipse, alongside its recently reawakened master. The world would remain safe… for now.

At least the others have left.

He found comfort in that thought, at least. Forcing the castle to let them go turned out to be surprisingly simple, but then, perhaps it was to be expected. So until the day came that once again the castle could manifest beyond the boundary of the seal, it would just be him, the castle, and-

Soma straightened out, glancing down at himself while placing a hand over his chest. He could sense them. All the souls he had absorbed. That he had dominated. He could feel their ecstasy for the full return of their lord. Before, he couldn't feel something like that. Call upon their power, but that was it. Now, that all changed.

Soma withdrew his arm as he closed his eyes, concentrating. A bright light manifested from within his chest. Shortly after, a ball of light emerged, followed by another, then another. Too many to keep track of, all in quick succession. They spread out all over the throne room, before settling all over the place. Once the last was in its place, Soma opened his eyes, and stared.

All the souls he had absorbed. Though remaining as balls of lights, he could still see their true forms. All were staring in his direction. Soma felt a bit unnerved. Not because he was intimidated or spooked by them, but rather, because they were looking at him with reverence. Perhaps that was a good sign. The day he would revel at the attention was perhaps the day he finally succumbs as Lord Dracula.

"Go," Soma said. "You're dismissed."

He almost flinched, practically hearing the chorus of "Yes, Master" in his head. The souls then began to move again, heading out of the room in all directions, phasing through the walls if needed.

All save for one.

The now lone soul instead hovered back towards Soma. He watched it with curiosity as it stopped a couple feet away, almost leveled to his eyes. Then, it began to change shape, as well as enlarge. Soon, a robed figure was before him, still floating off the floor.

"Death," Soma simply said, staring right into the glowing red 'eyes' of the skull staring back at him.

"Lord Dracula," the figure, Death, made a bow of reverence. "It pleases me to see you restored to your proper self."

Soma grimaced at the title, but said nothing.

"I apologize for having attacked you earlier. I was not… awake, at the time."

At this the boy frowned. In hindsight, that encounter at the clock tower felt weird. Death, the Count's closest servant. Someone like him would've been able to tell who Dracula's reincarnation was. Yet, Soma found himself under attack instead. No words of warning, the specter had simply floated before him, scythe at the ready, and throughout it was the same. It felt more like being attacked by an animal defending its territory. Still, even with Death itself apologizing, Soma did not felt any better about it.

"I commend you for reasserting yourself against that usurper," Death continued. "But I'm afraid I must question your decision to not release the castle from the seal, Lord Dracula."

At this Soma finally stood up, a look of defiance in his face.

"My name is Soma," he said, glaring at the Grim Reaper.

Death flashed an eerie smile.

"You intend to cling to your humanity, is that it?"

He cackled.

"I wonder how long that will last. Even you must not believe you can endure for eternity. Why else you chose to remain trapped here as well."

"Tsk," Soma clenched his fists.

He couldn't deny Death was right.

"It doesn't matter," he replied instead. "If I can keep the world safe for as long as I can, then I'll do it."

To his surprise, Death's grin only seemed to get wider.

"We shall see, then. We aren't going anywhere for the time being, after all."

He then rose higher up while at the same time moving backwards.

"I shall be taking my leave. Should anything arise, Master Soma, you know where to find me."

With that, the figure turned around and flew out of the room, no doubt heading back to the clock tower. Soma watched him leave, and once out of sight he collapsed back on the throne. He groaned, rubbing his forehead trying to soothe the rising headache he was feeling.

At least he called me Soma, he thought, looking at the silver lining.

Looking back at the room, his eyes soon settled on the Vampire Killer, still on the floor where it had been dropped.

For as long as I can… he repeated the words in his mind.

He then finally allowed himself to smirk.

We shall see, indeed.

If Death thought he didn't have something up his sleeve already, then the specter was in for quite the surprise. Soma stood back up, before walking over where the whip laid. Standing before the whip, he could feel the holy aura emanating from it. He frowned.

I'm going to need help for this.

His fights with Julius were still fresh in his mind. The whip had certainly not been any less painful the second time around. Soma very much doubted he could just pick up the whip himself.

Perhaps I can get one of the Valkyries to carry it, he mused.

Just then, a small shriek caught his attention. Turning around, he saw a bat flying in. It circled overhead, making more shrieks. For anyone else, that would be all they would hear. To Soma, however-

"Master, one of the humans is still here."

"What?" Soma narrowed his gaze.

Why would any of them-?

His eyes then widened in shock.

No! It can't be!

He did not have to dwell long on figuring out who would, in light that he himself did. He then broke into a sprint, towards the exit. He wasn't even halfway there when his body began to change shape. In a flash of sparkling light, his human form was gone, and a large white bat was in its place instead. With a quick flapping of his wings, Soma left the throne room, making a beeline towards the courtyard.

There has to be some other entrance, Mina was thinking.

The young miko was far from giving up, even if the easiest path was closed off.

Soma said some of the walls had holes, she recalled. Even windows that were open.

She glanced to the side, toward the trees in the distance.

There must be a way to reach the rest of the inner wall.

Mina stood up, grabbing the naginata again as she did. Her course decided, she walked down the stairs, before heading in the direction of the trees.

Suddenly, a white figure swooped down before her.

"Ah!"

Mina came to a sudden stop, and tried to assume a defensive posture with the naginata as best she could.

A white bat? She was confused at the sight.

Immediately after, the bat was gone in a flash of light, and in its place was-

"Soma!?"

Author's Note: Death's presence in the Sorrow games is certainly weird. He's just... there, treated no more than a boss and that's it. No dialogue, even. I think the novel actually points out the peculiarity of Death being "awake" despite the Castle being Master-less, so I decided to run with that for this.

Also, I suppose it's best to say now, but I won't be limiting myself to Aria's bestiary whenever I make use of the castle monsters.