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Child of the Night

Summary:

(AUish) What if Adrian was younger, both physically and mentally, when his mother was killed. What if he had been with her both when she was taken and when she was burned? His father rescued him and now has Adrian with him in the castle as he rages war, wanting to protect his traumatized little boy. How will this change things?

Chapter 1: S1

Notes:

Ok so this is a new story.

So if any of you know me, I like doing aus, especially of my fav characters. This is now like, the third time I've deaged a character for the sake of a story sooo, yeah.

Anyway, Adrian/Alucard is younger in this both physically and mentally (in contrast to Youthful Soldier where it was just physcially) and I'm just going to see where this goes.

I don't own Castlevania.

Onto the story!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

As the old woman knocked on the door of the home, the door opened to show a young blonde boy peeking through the gap between the door and the frame before he smiled and opened it wider for the older woman.

"Mrs. Truvara! Hello!" The twelve-year-old by called to her as he opened the door a little wider.

Mrs. Truvara smiled, "Hello, Adrian. Is it alright if I come in?"

Adrian nodded with a smile and allowed the elderly woman to enter his home as he closed the door behind her. After that he turned to her with a smile. "I'll go get my mom for you."

"That would be lovely, dear, thank you." Mrs. Truvara said as she sat down at the table near the fireplace.

Adrian dashed off to the kitchen area, a place his mother used both for making the two of them dinner as well as working on her medicines, and entered to find his mother going over one of the books his father had given her.

"Mom, Mrs. Truvara is here." The boy called getting his mother to look up from what she had been going over for no doubt the one-hundredth time.

"Oh? Thank you Adrian, I'll be right out." Lisa said as she stood up from her seat. She moved over to the much smaller fire burning in the kitchen and quickly brewed up a cup of tea for her guest. Looking at her son, she smiled at him. "Why don't you stay in here for a few minutes while we talk, ok? You can read some of your father's books if you'd like."

The boy's golden eyes shined at her words, his excitement for being able to learn more easily expressed to his mother. "Ok, thank you mother!"

Lisa just chuckled as she left the room listening to Adrian scurry off to sit in the chair she had previously occupied. After a few minutes of talking to Mrs. Truvara and learning more about her symptoms, Lisa headed back into the kitchen to wash her hands and get the medication the woman needed for her cough and lungs.

"Can leaves really be used as a medicine?" Lisa looked over at her son who was looking at her curiously. She shouldn't be surprised by this question, as with her child's advanced hearing it isn't the first time he's over heard her conversations with her clients.

"What have I told you about eavesdropping?" Lisa asked, raising an eyebrow at her son.

Adrian looked down in embarrassment. "Not to do it unless I absolutely need to." He replied before trying to defend himself. "But I couldn't help it! You're so close and everything you talk about is so interesting and I can't help but focus on it!"

"You still shouldn't do it." Lisa chided before smiling at her son. "But I won't stop your curiosity. As for your question, so leaves can be used as medicine, but most of the time only if they are given the correct corresponding elements of the medicine your making, and if they are safe to use. Just plain old tree leaves by themselves typically won't do anything to help."

Lisa couldn't help the smile on her face as she watched Adrian soak up all the information she had given him. The boy was just like his parents, so curious about the world but at least he should be able to learn as much as he wants. Due to his mixed nature between a vampire and a human-as well as the fact as no dhampir had ever be conceived before Adrian and lived-it was hard to say how his years would be. Vampires-after turning-do not age, while humans do. So far, his aging has been at random, sometimes aging two years in two months while other times staying the same age for over a year. Currently, the boy appeared to be about twelve to thirteen years old while his mentality was closer to the amount of years he's actually been alive for which was around nine-years-old. Now, his brain seemed to still be growing in accordance to his body-at least as far as she and her husband knew-but the boy still had to learn about new things. Honestly, Lisa wouldn't be surprised if her intelligent son actually knew more than children with both his mentality and his physical age with how much he read and asked questions about.

"Now," Lisa said as she walked over to the book on the table in front of Adrian. "I believe that Mrs. Truvara needs a specific type of medicine that has mold in it." Lisa said, scanning the book before finding what she was looking for. "Ah, yes, there it is. This shouldn't take too long now, especially since the dray parts have already been mixed up."

"Can I help?" Adrian asked.

Lisa hummed before nodding. "If you want to go grab me the dry powder for this mixture from the cabinet, that would be very helpful. It's the one with the pink string tied to the top."

"Ok!" With that, her boy was off.

It didn't take long for Lisa to put together the mixture she needed and soon she was carrying it out to Mrs. Truvara. After a few minutes of explaining the medicine to the older woman and convincing her to take it, Lisa was soon leading her to the door. However, the moment she opened it, she instantly knew something was not right. Before her stood five priests, the one in the middle clearly a bishop or some higher priest if his different clothing was anything to go by.

"Mrs. Lisa Tepes." The lead priest spoke, hands behind his back.

"Yes?" She asked before turning to look at Mrs. Truvara. "You go on home now." Lisa watched as the older woman walked down her steps and away, only to pause momentarily to look back before a look from one of the priests cause her to keep moving.

Lisa's attention was brought back to the head of the group when he spoke. "I am an emissary of the archbishop of Targoviste. Do I understand correctly that you serve as a...physician to this community?"

"I'm a doctor, yes." Lisa replied, stressing the doctor part to make her position clear. "Can I help you? Is the archbishop ill?"

The man did not answer her, for his next words were clearly directed at his priests. "You know what to look for."

With those words they were charging into her house. They shoved her out of the way as they moved in, but Lisa decided to ignore this as she followed them, calling after them. "What? What is it? What are you looking for? I will gladly give it to you."

"Silence." The leader spoke up as he entered the house behind her.

"I will not be silence." Lisa protested, her offence at his words seeping into her voice.

"Mom?" Her boy's voice cut in through the chaos and she watched as he stumbled out of the kitchen when one of the priests shoved him out of the way. "Mom, what's happening?"

"It's nothing, sweety," Lisa called to him. "Just let me handle this ok? You don't need to worry." As she spoke, she didn't notice the silent look the leading priest was giving her child and the silent look he gave to one of his priest.

Before they could get any further, the priest who had entered the kitchen came out and called to all of them to look in there. As they entered and spread around, Lisa staying close to the doorway with Adrian hiding behind her legs, the head priest spoke up once more.

"Satan's tools." He spat at the sight of her tools, looking around. "Make fire, clean it out."

"What?" Lisa gasped and she could feel her boy tense up behind her.

"We were told something was wrong here." The man spoke as he turned to look at Lisa. "What are you doing here that you need to subject the good people of this land to such fearsome engines?"

"Mom? What is he talking about?"

"I-I don't know." Lisa said, turning to look at Adrian for a brief moment before looking back. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

The man scoffed. "Look around you. Do you pretend these things are not witchcraft?"

Just then one of the other priests and moved to touch a machine that was used to help mix her medicines faster and better. Currently within the clamps were vials of blood she had prepared to mix in with Adrian's food so he never had to worry about going out to hunt without his father here. Watching the man scream at how it moved on its own was insanity to Lisa.

"What is this?" The leader questioned as he drew closer to Lisa.

"I-It's medicine." Lisa defended, backing up. She could tell by a soft growl from Adrian that her son did not approve of the intimidating posture he was giving his mover, but Lisa was quick to move her son out of the way and give him a quick shake of her head.

"How could engines of the devil be medicine?"

"Its old medicine." Lisa defended when she backed up into the table with the book. Looking back she was quick to grab it and hold it up. "Old sciences lost to history. I have-I mean I've studied times past and learned ways to serve our people more effectively. That's all."

He scoffed. "Paganism." And he let the book drop to the ground with a thump.

"No!" Lisa once again cried, not noticing the priest nearing her child as she spoke. "It's just...science. It has nothing to do with any god or-!"

"Nothing to do with God?" The priest question, rage clearly on his face.

"No! That's not what I meant!" Lisa tried to defend herself but she felt two of the other priests close in on her.

"Take her to the cathedral at Targoviste, there shall be an inquisition." As the men gripped her arms, she heard her boy cry out for her.

"Mom! Hey, stop it! Hey!" She looked over to see another priest had come up behind her child and gripped his arms. Adrian growled at the man, clearly showing his fangs and bright gold eyes as he used his strength to break away. As he turned to look at his mother, the young boy was suddenly hit with a splash of holy water from the leading priest in front of him, causing him to cry out at the burns.

"There, even more evidence of your witchcraft!" He cried, continuing to splash holy water onto her son whenever he twitched. "She has corrupted this young boy's soul with her magic!"

"No! Stop it! Please!" She cried, tears coming to her eyes at the torture they were bringing towards her son. "Please! He's innocent!"

"Innocent?" The leader scoffed. "If anything, he can burn with the rest of the magic in this room, that way there will be no trace of it."

"No! Wait! No...no, he's still human!" Lisa cried, trying anything to spare her son. "He's still human! Please, spare him!"

"Your emnissy!" One of the priest cried as they looked at her son. "He is not lighting up in flames like the foul creatures do when they are met with the water of God. Perhaps he can be exorcised from her spells on him."

The leader leaned closer to look at the boy and sure enough there only lay splatters of burns across his exposed skin, burns that look as if he had only touch a fire in the process of lighting it to slightly worse burns. The man knew if he was truly corrupted, then his skin would be charred on the spot, no extra drops on an old burn needed. As much as he would prefer to just kill the child here and be done with it, if the people of Targoviste saw that the might of God could even spare those of the devil's grasp then he knew they would run to them and the church even more.

And if the boy did not get cured? Well, they can easily show how deep Satan's grasp can be on the innocent if people decide to turn away from God.

"Alright, we'll take the boy with us. Should he not be saved when the witch is gone, then he will have to die as well."

"What?! No! No, please! Leave him!" Lisa cried, struggling unsuccessfully against the hands that held her. "Spare my child, please! Please...Please don't do this! You don't understand what you are doing! You don't know what you're going to bring upon yourselves if you do this!"

The man narrowed his eyes as he moved away from her child, one of the other priest moving in to deal with him and lift him up. "You dare threaten me?"

"No! Just, listen, please!" Lisa cried, trying to calm herself down but failing every time she sees her child. "Just...just let us go and we'll leave, you'll never see either of us again. Please, I can't promise your safety if you go any further! You've already harmed my boy, any further and...and-"

"You dare menese me with Satan?" With a wave of his hand he spoke. "Get them out of here before I strike her dead." He growled, allowing the priest to begin moving. A low moan drew her attention to her child, being held like a sack of potatoes over one of the shoulders of the priest and burns decorating his arms, legs, and head.

"Please, it's not Satan!" Lisa cried. "If…If you anger him he's worse! Because he's real! Please! He's come so far don't make him do it! Don't make him kill you all! Please! No!" She continued struggling as she was pulled from the kitchen, her ears quickly catching the noises of crashes as they trashed her place of work. However, her concern was no longer focused on that, the noise background music to the horror that was her burned son. Every time the boy would so much as twitch in the other's hold, the one holding him would be quick to bring up his other hand that held a flask of holy water and splash it upon him, making Adrian cry out weakly. Burns that started out as second degree burns worsened when the water would hit the ones already there with each splash.

As they were dragged out of the house, Lisa was forced to wait for the priests inside and watch her home burn before her eyes. Her son was likewise dropped down from his place on the man's shoulder to the ground, the child letting out soft groans at the contact before his slitted eyes widened at the sight of their home.

"No!" He struggled to get free once more, especially when his eyes locked onto those of his mother's. "Mom!"

"Adrian!" She cried, tears in her eyes. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself as she knew if she were to freak out even more, Adrian would come rushing to her side like the loyal son he is. And she knew if he did that, the priests would be quick to punish her son's movements. "Adrian, I know this is a lot my son, but you need to calm down now, please."

Adrian's wide eyes were shining with his own pain and fear, tears filling up in the gold orbs. He was looking at his mother and his arms were straining to reach her. However, even injured his strength still surpassed those of the priests and Adrian ripped his arms from his captive's hands. The man cried out before quickly pulling his flask out once more and with quick flicks of his wrist was splashing the wicked liquid onto her son once more.

And it wasn't just him either, one of the men holding her joined as well, his own flask of holy water adding to the burns. Adrian's voice cried out and leaked with the pain of the burns, his faster healing doing nothing against that which was created to harm his other half.

"NO! No...please, please stop it! Stop hurting my boy!...Please!" Lisa cried, unable to hold back her tears as she struggled to reach her child, wanting just to hold him in her arms and shield him from the torment of these wicked men.

"Then he should behave." The leader's voice came from the doorway causing Lisa to whip her head to stare at him. The man stood as though he was the true devil with the way the flames burned behind him. "If he would not act out, we would have no reason to harm the child unless it is proven he cannot be saved by our Lord's salvation."

"Please, please just stop hurting him." Lisa wept. "He'll...H-He'll behave so...so please just stop…" she evened with a soft sob.

The man watched her for a few silent seconds before he waved his hand with a signal for the men to stop. The boy was left trembling on the ground, new burns stretching across his body in ways of dots and streaks. Lisa wept for her child's pain.

"Bring them to the wagon." The leader said. "But make sure they remain apart. It will do no go for us if she is able to strength her spells on the boy."

Lisa couldn't find the strength to protest as they dragged her away from her home. Her eyes were only on her son who was once again flopped into another priest's arms and carried off to the wagon hidden a few feet away.

The entire ride to the cathedral, Lisa's mind could only focus on two things: her child and what her husband would do to these people. She did not want him to kill them all, not when he has come so far from when they had first met and how she told him humans were not as horrible as he took them to be. This would ruin all of his progress and, if Adrian made it out of this, she hope it would not taint her poor child's heart.

She did not thrash when they pulled her from the wagon, he mind now focused on wanting to keep her child from any more harm. She did not cry when they cut her hair and stripped her down to her underclothing. The time she spent in the prison cell beneath the cathedral as they built the stake for her to burn at was painful as she lay in a cell across from her child with the bars coated in holy water. There was one priest down there that kept an eye on them at all times and would hush her when she attempted to calm and speak to Adrian.

She did not struggle when they hulled her in front of the crowd, knowing their minds have been too twisted by the poisonous words of these priests to believe anything she has to say. She only struggled slightly as she was bound to the wooden stake but it was after all this as they were about to light the flame that she protested.

For they had brought her son out there to watch her burn.

"No! No, do not let him see this! Please...please! Don't let him see me burn! Please!"

The emissary of the bishop ignored her once more as he spoke, telling the people of all her spells and evil deeds. He spoke of how Adrian would be there to show the power of God and the power of Satan, for he had not 'fallen' completely yet and with the witch's death, he may be saved.

But Lisa did not really listen, for her mind was focus on her wounded child who was once again held by a priest as he stared up at her bound form.

"Adrian...Adrian, my sweet child look away. Please, please do not watch this, I do not want you to watch this." Tears were streaming down her face with her words, thankful for this moment that her son's advanced hearing would allow for him to hear her over the shouts of the priest.

"Mom." Adrian choked out, his own voice wavering with tears.

"Please...Adrian." Lisa sobbed. As she saw the fire come near her, she spoke softly and full of love to her child. "Adrian, I love you." As she said this, they lit the fire.

"Mom? Mom! No! No-No, please, Mom!" Adrian cried, tears falling even faster from his eyes. Adrian could not help but watch his mother as she began to cry out towards his father over the shouts of the people. As the flames began to lick her skin and her cries echoed through the air.

"Please!" She cried. "Spare them! If you can hear...hear me, d-don't harm them-AH!" Her breaths came out as a combination of pants and coughs through her cries of pain and tears. "D-Don't hurt them, plea-Ah-se! They do not know what they...they are doing!"

"Mother!" Adrian cried, his own voice joining her own as he tried to break free of his captor's grip. Despite his injuries, he got free only to be tackled down by more priests and to have more holy water splashed upon him. His anguished cries now filled the air, both from the pain of his wounds and the pain of watching his mother die in a fiery death before him. "AHH!"

"His cries of pain echo that of the witch! Perhaps the evil is forcing its way from his skin!"

Adrian heard the shouts, but he could only focus on his mother. He tried to do as she wished, to not look, but it was so hard when her anguished cries echoed in his ears. He struggled against his captives even more, but this time he tried to follow his mother's wish, he tried not to hurt them as he fought to free himself.

By the time the screams had stopped, Adrian had been unable to help his mother. He could hear them all talking, but his mind was almost numb now as tears continued to freely spill from his eyes. His young mind was struggling to comprehend everything that had just occurred, alongside the amount of burns that coated his pale skin. He knew the priests were all still talking around him-about him-but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the burned skeleton within the flames. He knew each of of those bones from his studies, yet when had to realize that this body of blackened bones before him was his mother, nothing came to him.

The body of bones crumbled to the wooden planks below.

None of this was real, right?

A sudden explosion of fire drew him out of the floaty space his mind had been and his father's angry voice rang in his ears. His father? He was here? Where was he? Was he also in the flaming inferno like his mother?

Screams reached his ears, but it all felt far away. There were more explosions around him, fire falling from the sky, but all this vanished when a black cloak was suddenly around him and he was pulled into a familiar, comforting chest.

"Dad?" Adrian choked out, tears still falling from golden eyes as his hands curled into fists on his father's chest.

"Oh Adrian, by sweet boy." His father's voice spoke. "I am so sorry this has happened. But do not worry, they will pay for what they have done to you and your mother."

"Dad...I-I want to go home."

"Of course, Adrian, of course." With those words he was pulled in even closer and he was whisked away by a spell of fire.

Notes:

So that was that. Basically went from happy and cute to traumatizing Adrian. That's how I work, I have problems.

Anywho, this should have more chapters (should being the key term). I hope you all liked it.

Feel free to comment or anything else.

Until next time! :D

Chapter 2: S2

Notes:

OK so this is a next chapter!

Thank you all for your reviews/follows/favorites!

Look! I'm updating this! And I'm going to try to update again cause I kinda know what I want to do for the next chapter!

Also...See if you can catch a bit of foreshadowing in there. It doesn't outright say what it will be foreshadowing but it is a start to the hints I'll probably be dropping.

I'm also sorry if this chapter seems short. I just liked how it ended.

Onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Soft feet patted quickly across the castle's floors as the owner of the limbs searched room after room. Golden eyes darted back and forth from each room, a small fang coming out to worry against their bottom lip. Eventually, they came to a familiar room, their father's study, and they poked their head inside only to dart back out at the flames that flickered in the fireplace, a soft whimper leaving their lips.

"Adrian?" Their father called from inside the room at the sounds his advanced hearing was easily able to pick up. "Adrian, come back, what is it my dear boy?"

Adrian took a deep breath and opened his eyes from their clenched position. Clenching his fists, the boy glanced into the room once more only to find that his father was blocking all view of the fireplace from his gaze, letting the blonde relax and step further into view of his father in the doorway.

Dracula let his red eyes drift over his son, his heart clenching at the tense posture of his boy. That night he lost his wife to those cursed humans had not left his son unscarred. Physically, scars left by the holy water that had been splashed continuously onto his son had left their marks. Small streaks and speckles from the water decorated Adrian's body, most prominently on his arms and hands, no doubt due to the boy attempting to block the spray. There was one noticeable scar on his left cheek, a large spot right beneath his eye and a streak then falling from it from where the water dripped down from its original place. The appearance reminded Dracula of a tear, an appropriate appearance due to the atrocities that had been committed that day.

Outside of the physical scars left, Adrian developed a fear of fire, something Dracula was not surprised by. If he was by his father's side, Adrian was less fearful of the flames, feeling safer with his father near him. However, if he ever comes into contact with fire without knowing his father is nearby or is alone, Adrian will either flee or freeze up in terror. Sometimes, such as with the torches in the halls, as long as he didn't see them he was ok. However, there were times the sound of the fire triggered Adrian just as much as the sight, and Dracula was never more thankful that vampires could see in the dark at those times.

Using his power, Dracula made sure no sound or sight of the fireplace behind him was able to show itself to his son. Kneeling down, he tilted his head and offered a smile to the thirteen-year-old. "What would you like, Adrian?"

The blonde twisted his fingers together and a small fang once again worried at his lip. "Um….I wanted to see...if you wanted...to do anything...together?" He asked nervously, knowing that his father tended to be rather busy.

Dracula let out a sigh, his eyes falling sadly. "I wish I could, but I have a council meeting in an hour to go over our strategies for the war. We can do something afterwards, though."

The fang bit further into the lip. "...Ok…"

"I'm sorry, Adrian." Dracula said.

Adrian shook his head, golden locks falling in front of his face. "It's ok...I'll just go do something else."

"Adrian-"

"Really, it's fine!" Adrian said giving his father a hollow smile. "Good luck with the meeting!" With that he turned around and scurried away from the room.

Dracula stared after his son's retreating figure and his heart hurt past the never ending hollowness within. He made his way back to his chair and stared once more into the fireplace. Ever since the humans had taken his love from him, he felt empty inside, even with his son still around. He wanted to be there for him, truly, but the only thing he was truly aiming for was the destruction of mankind. Beyond that, he couldn't see much hope for anything. He tried, really he did to be there for Adrian but he couldn't help the black hole within him that kept him from seeing the joy of having his son still with him.

With a sigh, he turned to look at a picture of his wife. "Lisa, my love, what do I do?"


Adrian's eyes trailed along the floor as he walked away from his father's study. He didn't know why he was sad at the response he was given. After all, that's all that really happened now a days. He rarely saw his father, the man's time taken up by the war he was raging on the humans. And even when he did get to spend time with his father, it seemed like Dracula wasn't completely there with him, as though something had broken within him. He felt like he's lost both his father and his mother.

He just wanted his father back.

"Mom…" Adrian called out sadly, his gaze falling up a curtain in the hallway. Walking over to it, Adrian pushed the heavy cloth aside to see the outside world. It was currently sunset and Adrian couldn't help but relax at the peaceful landscape before him. A quiet, green field stretched out around the castle and a tree-line to a large forest was in the distance. The place was so peaceful, Adrian would have believed that there was no such war happening at the time.

The war. Adrian frowned at the thought of it. Honestly, he was very conflicted about the war, because not only was it taking his father away from him, but he couldn't help but feel there was something wrong with it. Distantly, he could recall his mother crying out during her execution, crying something about sparing the humans but when he tried to think further on it, more details and unpleasant parts of the death came forth making him clench his eyes shut and start trembling. His mind was being threatened with the old traumas he tried to keep buried, the memories wanting to drag him down into torment.

"Young master?" A voice called to him, breaking him out of his terror and making his eyes snap open. With a gasp, Adrian turned around to find Hector staring down at him with concerned eyes. "Are you alright?"

Adrian blinked up at the pale haired man before he looked down and out of the window once again. "...Yes."

Hector paused for a moment before he leaned against the wall besides the boy. "Young master...if anything is wrong, you can tell me if you wish."

Adrain shook his head, blonde locks shielding his eyes from the other. "No, nothing is wrong. I'm alright, Hector." He could hear the other still hesitating behind him and sighed. "Isn't there a meeting going on?"

Hector watched the young prince for a few moments before answering "...There is...but I don't think the master would be too upset should I be late or miss the meeting if it was due to me looking after his son. Besides, Issac will also be in attendance so one forgemaster will be there."

Once again Adrian shook his head. "No, it's alright Hector. I wouldn't want to disturb my father by taking you away from the meeting. Besides, things may go by easier if you're there, and then father might get a break." Allowing his gaze to leave the veil of hair, the young teen offered a smile. "Thank you for the offer though."

"You are sure you'll be alright?"

"Yeah. I'll...I'll find something to do. I can always practice magic or my swordsmanship or I could even...explore the woods or something." Adrian gave a shrug. "I don't know but I'm sure I'll find something."

Hector seemed to hesitate a few more seconds before conceding. "Alright. Of course, if you wish, you can always let Cezar tag along with you."

Adrian's smile seemed slightly less forced at the offer of the revived pug. "Thank you, Hector."

"Well, I'll be off then." Hector replied as he gave a small bow to the younger male. "Good day, young master."

"Good day, Hector."

Adrian watched the other walk away before letting out another sigh, the smile slipping off his face. He turned his gaze back out to the beautiful landscape before him, taking in the peaceful sight for a short moment before pushing away from the window. He made his way through the quiet and sullen hallways, the air always tense no matter where he was in the castle. He made his way further into the building until he came to a wide, open room with a high ceiling. It was the room he and his father (and his mother back when she was alive) would practice their combat, whether it be through spells, shifting, or sword fighting.

The blonde's hand fell to the sword fastened in its sheath upon his hip. The sword was originally his mother's, ready to be passed down to him when he was older and more trained, but now that she was gone, his father had given it to him so that he would have another way to protect himself should he ever be attacked once again. Of course, with how paranoid Dracula was now due to the loss of his wife and the torture of his child, the sword was enchanted. Should Adrian need to, he could use his mind to wield the blade as an extension of himself and, should it ever come to it, Dracula made it so that the sword would protect his boy even without the teen actively making the sword fight. It was a special enchantment, one that Adrian could not yet comprehend, that would activate in dire situations but only once Adrian called upon the sword, be it by touch or mind. Then, if he was overwhelmed mentally or physically, the sword would act until deactivated by Adrian.

The teen both appreciated the protectiveness and thought it was not needed. After all, for the moment he would not be stepping so close to human towns where such situations would happen. And if humans somehow ever made it here, well, Adrian doubted his father would let them get even a step closer to him.

Pulling the blade from its sheath, Adrian was quick to allow it to hover in the air facing him. Then, he went to a weapons rack off to the side and drew a similar longsword to battle with, his left arm swiftly settling behind his back as he took up his dueling stance. Letting out a quiet breath, the dhampir quickly fell into step as he dueled with his invisible opponent. From there, time passed him by unknowingly as he focused his attention on improving his skills.

At one point as his was finishing striking down a multitude of moving dummies controlled by some of the many gears within this castle, a soft clapping reached his ears. Pausing in his training, Adrian shifted his stance and lowered his sword (which he had returned to his hands as he changed simulations) as he turned to look in the direction of the sound. There, off to the side of the entrance of the room, was a tall, pale woman with a thin and pointed face.

"Can I help you?" He asked, his golden eyes looking into her own piercing blue despite the uneasy feeling he was receiving from her.

"Oh, no, don't mind me." She replied with a thin smile. "I was merely taking a stroll through the castle when I heard you in here. I must say, you are a very skilled young man."

Adrian refused to respond, his eyes continuing to watch this unknown vampire.

"Ah, yes, I must apologize for you most likely do not recognize me." The woman exclaimed when he had refused to answer. "My name is Carmilla of Styria, one of your father's generals. I have only just arrived today to aid your father in his quest and before that I had never entered your home in the time that you dwelled here. I apologize if my new presence unnerved the you in any way, young master." With those words she took a step forward and gave a small bow to him.

"I see." Adrian replied. "But why did you stay and watch. I'm sure I'm not that impressive, especially to a general's skills."

"You underestimate yourself." She replied with a small shake of her head. "You are but only 13 summers and yet you are quite skilled in your combat. In fact, I think it would be a great honor to see you in a real duel, as I do believe you'd be able to hold your own quite well."

"Ah," Adrian sighed as he slipped his sword into the sheath on his side before moving to the control panel off to the side to reset the room. "Thank you, but you'd have to ask my father if I could duel as well as tell him who it would be. To do so without his permission…" Adrian shook his head. "No, he wouldn't be too happy."

"Oh? But surely you are capable enough to do so."

"No, I could risk getting hurt and I don't even want to think what would happen to the one I dueled if that were the case."

"But you'd be practicing and getting stronger. Surely that would show that even if you should be defeated, it would be alright."

"No, it wouldn't." Adrian sighed as he finished moving the levers he needed to in order to fix the room. "My father must be there when I train with another. If he can't be, it is someone who he trusts completely." Then he turned to face her once again. "But you have to understand, he still trains me, very well. He just...he's just worried about me, that's all."

"It's understandable." Carmilla said, moving to stand before the young dhampir, her gaze taking on a soft look. "After all, you are his only child. His only child who had gone through something so...horrible."

At her worlds, a chill went down Adrian's spine at the reminder of the horrifying death of his mother. His eyes fell closed as he tried to shake the memories from his thoughts. His hands clenched at his sides and a cold sweat seemed to break out upon his pale skin. Distantly, it felt like Carmilla had taken a step closer to him and her hand was placed upon his shoulder as if attempting to comfort him. Her words seemed to echo into around his ears.

"He already lost his wife to the flames. What would happen if he were to lose you too?" A touch to the tear like scar upon his cheek seemed so far away and Adrian's breath stilled within his chest. Those horrid memories tried to resurface, tried to hook their claws into Adrian and drag him down into their thick, burning depths.

"But I'm sure your father would never lose you to those beasts." Carmilla's words yanked Adrian from his thoughts and his eyes flickered open to look up into her icy gaze. "After all, he saved you the first time, right? I know he would stop at nothing to keep you safe."

Breath seemed to flood his lungs. Right, his father did save him. His father was doing all of this to protect him, to punish those who had harmed his mother. He had no reason to worry.

"I'm sorry if I caused you any stress with my words." Carmilla spoke up as she took a step away from Adrian. For some reason, he found he could breathe easier with her at a distance.

"No...it's alright." The dhampir replied with a shake of his head. "I...I should get going." As he moved away from her and towards the exit, the vampire spoke up once more.

"I don't mean to keep you long, but I don't suppose you can answer a question for me, if you wish to that is."

Adrian paused at her words, hesitating at the door before turning around to look once more at the female. A short nod of his head was enough permission for her to continue.

"If you don't mind me asking," She continued, a glint in her eye. "Do you know why your father never turned your mother? I asked him earlier, but I was never given a response. If you don't mind answering, I would like to know."

Adrian took in a small breath, not knowing if he should answer the woman. He understood the curiosity as it was one he occasionally heard one of the other vampires mutter back when this had all began-before this really, back when he was able to understand what was being said. A small fang nibbled at his lip as he thought before answering.

"I don't really know." He replied and he caught a shine of dissatisfaction from the other before he continued. "If I were to guess...it was because she didn't want to change and...and dad respected that."

"I see."

"I really have to go now.' Adrian cut in quickly, wanting to get away before she had a chance to drag him back into a conversation. "I...It was nice meeting you."

With that he scurried away. He allowed his feet to take him away, to carry him to where he felt safe. Soon, he found himself in his room and pulling himself up onto his bed. His left hand reached out and found the stuffed wolf his parents made for him and pulled it to his chest. He took a few breaths to calm himself down from that encounter and allowed the warmth of the sun shining in through his window to comfort him.

Unbeknownst to him, blue eyes had gleaned alongside a smirk as he left the training room.

Notes:

So that was that. Yeah, Carmilla is a bitch. Also...did you catch the foreshadowing? I'm not gonna say it, that would be too nice of me. Also, with how outright she asked the thing in Dracula's court when she showed up I figured she wouldn't mind trying to get some sort of reaction from his son as well.

Anywho, feel free to comment, ask questions, etc.

Until next time! :D

Chapter 3: S2

Notes:

OK so this is a next chapter!

Thank you all for your reviews/follows/favorites!

Look! I'm updating this! Again! I'm on a roll with updates. Which is bad because I'm really just procrastinating on final papers but eh.

Also because I have now incorporated this into this story:

"Talking" - regular text

'Thoughts' - italicized

Onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text


Dracula watched his son draw in the soft grass from his shaded place in the castle. Things had been tense since Carmilla arrived in the castle and he had no doubt she had been keeping an eye on his child. While it was true that she had good advice for the war, she also had to trouble with poking at sensitive subjects or straddling lines. If anything, Dracula tried to keep Adrian in his sight even more since she came along, not trusting her with his boy. He would try to spend time with him, train him even more and just keep his boy in his sight, but it was also hard to do with the council tense as well. The war was taking him away from Adrian and while it always hurt to see his dejected look, Dracula couldn't bring it in himself to take time away from the war and spend some actual bonding time with his son. He could never just join Adrian out for a walk at night or read a book in one of the many lounges. All his time was spent either making sure his son would be safe or dealing with the war.

Any other time was spent staring into the fire.

He couldn't help it, but he just felt so distant from everything but his anger. Even the love he felt for Adrian paled in comparison to the grief and hatred that bubbled within his body.

"My lord," Isaac's voice come from the doorway. "There is something of importance that needs to be discussed with the council."

"Summon them, then." Dracula drawled, his gaze not leaving Adrian. "I will be there shortly."

"Yes master." Isaac replied before Dracula heard his footsteps leave the room. Letting his eyes trail to the picture his son was scratching, he caught sight of the face of his wife staring up from the paper. Grief welled up within his throat once again and he clenched his fists at the resulting feeling. Of course, this was why he was doing this. For his wife and so that his son may live in a world where he did not have to fear for his life from the heathens that currently populated Wallachia and all of the world before them. They were wicked beings who had no place upon this earth.

Turning away from the window, Dracula made his way through the stone halls to the council room. There he found his council speaking quietly with each other and his eyes lingered on Carmilla for a moment before looking away. There was something he didn't trust about her and it may have something to do with the fact that Adrian seemed to be so uneasy around her.

He settled down within his throne, his cheek resting upon his fist as he awaited for the meeting to begin. He heard Isaac stand off to his side before walking towards the center of the room, drawing the gazes of all the vampires present.

"As always, there were attacks prepared against Gresit which have destroyed its population significantly. However, recently there has been a revolt against the attack. One of my scouts had been watching over the progress of the war and reported back to me about just who exactly had helped lead this revolt which promoted the citizens to also force the horde away from the city."

Dracula raised an eyebrow at the report, eyes glinting at the news of his armies being pushed back. "And who was it that lead the revolt?"

"While the exact party members are unknown," Isaac continued. "It is believed that a Belmont was present at the battle."

"A Belmont? I thought they were all extinct?" Carmilla spoke up, disbelief coloring her voice.

"No, we believe that it was a Belmont and another who aided in repelling our forces from Gresit."

"Then, if there is a Belmont left alive then should we not observe the ancestral Belmont home?" Carilla asked, stepping forward.

"Why?" Godbrand asked, raising an eyebrow at the female vampire before jerking back as she appeared in his face suddenly.

"Perhaps on the general notion that the Belmonts hunted the likes of us for fucking centeries! And if there's one left alive then it might have access to the trove of weapons and magical materials talked of across generations but never found, which they used to hunt us through fucking centeries-!" She took a breath before continuing to glare at Godbrand. "Am I making myself clear now?" Then she whipped around to face Dracula upon his throne. "This is your war council my lord? I understand that taking out as many cities as possible is important but the fact that none of them are worried about a Belmont being alive worries me! Surely it should worry you as well, for what if they somehow make it here?! What if they make it to your son!"

"Enough!" Dracula growled, launching up from his seat as his heart dropped at the thought of his son at the hands of one of the most dangerous vampire hunters. "We will deal with the Belmont. Have our hordes keep an eye on the roads to the Belmont home as well as the home itself and any towns they may stop in on the way. Then, while the Belmont is being taken care of we must decide on the town to attack next." He narrowed his eyes as he glared into the icy gaze of Carmilla. "No Belmont will touch my child."


Adrian looked up at the window he knew his father had been standing in only to feel his heart drop at the empty window. Even if he had not been exactly with him, Adrian didn't mind that he had been watching over him, even risking standing in the window during the day time just so he could keep an eye on his son. Adrian looked down at the picture in his hands, the smiling face of his mother staring up at him. He let one of his hands trace the outer layer of the picture before letting it fall and close the sketch book.

Pushing himself up from the grass, Adrian made his way into the castle to head to his father's main library. It wasn't the largest area of books that had been collected, but it was were many of the magic spells were stored. Dracula had told him that he would be teaching Adrian some new spells later in the day and Adrian figured he could wait there until his father was finished with whatever it was that had dragged him away from the window in the first place.

However as he made his way to one of the staircases that would lead him to the upper levels of the castle, he paused. Maybe he could just stop by the council room to see how long the meeting was going to be. It should be easy to see how much longer it would be due to whatever conversation was happening at the time. Plus, he might catch word of something interesting. His father wanted to keep him out of the war as possible but in truth Adrian wanted to know at least some of what was going on. After all, it was his mother that was killed.

He was grieving just as much as his father even if his father was too busy to see so.

Mind made up, Adrian allowed himself to shift into his bat form, a small, white bat that would hopefully allow him to go unnoticed in the council room. Flapping his wings, Adrian swiftly made his way to the room and settled himself by the door, allowing his enhanced hearing to make up for what he couldn't see. Carmilla's voice reached him first, her voice ranting about the war council before he caught what exactly she was ranting about.

"A Belmont being alive-!"

'A Belmont?' Adrian couldn't help but think, his eyes widening at the words. Of course he knew about the Belmonts, it was one of the first things that his father had taught him about when he began learning about their history. Of course, they both thought that there would be nothing to worry about as Dracula had told him that the Belmonts had been hunted down a few years before he had been born and eradicated. But now he was hearing that one was alive?

A cold flash of fear went down his spine, only this fear was not just for himself this time. Of course he was worried about coming across the Belmont, of being hunted down and hurt just as he had gone through last year, but this time he was also worried for his father as well. Villagers and every day humans were no match for his father and his armies, that was true, but a Belmont? That was different. Not only would he be in danger, but his father would be as well, perhaps even more so than Adrian. His human half allowed holy items to not have as much of an effect against him, but against his father? Yes he was powerful but Belmonts trained to hunt down powerful vampires!

Terror was the only thing Adrian felt as he allowed himself to transform back into his human form and push open the doors of the council room. Heads turned as he rushed in but he didn't pay attention to any of them as he made his way before his father.

"Adria-?"

"Are you in danger?!" Adrian cut his father off as he stood before him panting. "Is the Belmont coming to kill you?!"

"Adrian, what are you doing here?" Dracula asked as he moved forward to grab his child only for Adrian to shake his head and step back.

"Is the Belmont coming to hunt you down? To hunt us all down?"

"No, no Adrian we will be fine. No Belmont will be able to reach me let alone kill me. I will be alright, Adrian." Dracula soothed as he stepped forward to his boy once again. This time Adrian allowed the touch and Dracula pulled him to his side before addressing the council. "I will return once I have him settled. In the meantime, discuss the next steps in our attack. I will hear the plans when I return."

With those words, he led the dhampir out of the room, not seeing the look Carmilla had in her eyes as she watched them leave. The doors closed with a bang behind them as they continued through the hallways. Dracula glanced down at his son and saw he was keeping his gaze on the floor as they walked.

"Adrian, this is why I do not wish for you to be at the meetings. What were you doing there anyway?"

Adrian bit his lip. "I wanted to see how long it would be until you were finished. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to act out like that, I was just...afraid."

"Yes, I'm sure it wasn't the most comforting thing to hear." Dracula sighed before looking down at Adrian once more. "But you need not worry. We are safe within our home. No Belmont will reach us here."

"Of course." Adrian sighed but he felt a small wave of relief at his father's words. Of course they were safe. He was foolish to think otherwise.

"Now," Dracula spoke up, grabbing his attention. "Why don't you head to the magical library like we planned and I will meet you there."

"But-"

"Adrian, I mean it. I do not want you at these meetings, especially now when obviously it has upset you so much."

"But it was just the fact there is a Belmont alive!" Adrian argued back. "I would be fine in the meetings. I want to know what it going on."

"No." Dracula growled, narrowing his eyes at the blonde. "I do not want you to be in any part of this war. You are to let me and my generals deal with it."

"But-"

"No!" Dracula growled, the volume making Adrian flinch at the tone. At the boy's response, Dracula sighed and repeated in a lower voice. "No. I do not want you to do anything of the sort. Do you understand?" A nod. "Good. Now, go and wait for me. I should be there soon."

Dracula watched Adrian walked to the staircase he had led him to and waited until his son was out of sight before sighing and turning back to the council room.


Adrian frowned as he made his way up the staircase, pausing only a moment to look back before continuing onwards. He knew his father wanted to protect him, but he really wanted to be a part of this with his father. He wanted to help, to support his father just as much as Dracula was try to protect him. He knew this was one way his father was showing his grief and he wanted to be able to help his father with it, even if that meant partaking a war that he did not fully understand.

Yet at the same time, there was something inside of him that was relieved at the fact that he didn't have to take part in this war. He had been raised by his mother to care for everyone, human or otherwise. Before a year ago, he had never been afraid of people and what they could do. Sure he knew about things that could happen, but he had never experienced more than just a few angry people. Nothing was every as dangerous or as horrible as what he had gone through with his mother. He had seen the good in people and even now there was some doubt as to the whole point of continuing this war. He knew his mother would have something to say about this war, he knew she had said something about it.

Pain shot through his head and his breath hitched at the memories of last year before he shook off the thought process. With a shaky breath he continued on his way but instead of waiting for his father, he made his way to one of the history books that his father kept, one he knew that held a history of the Belmonts.

Opening the book, he skimmed through the words, wanting to know exactly what things this living Belmont could use to attack his father. He knew there wouldn't be much in terms of what it was exactly the Belmonts had, but at the least past encounters could shed some light upon what it was this Belmont could use.

He knew he didn't have to do this, but if a Belmont had survived the destruction of their home, then who's to say they won't try to stay loyal to their family? He knew his father said they would stay safe but Adrian couldn't help but worry. He had faith in his father keeping him safe, but if he wouldn't let him take part in the war, then he could at least be prepared to support his father against a Belmont.

Time passed as Adrian devoted himself to understanding his potential enemy, diving through the books he had been taught about many years ago. There were times he had to pause and take breaths as some of the encounters recalled methods similar to those used against him and his mother, forcing Adrian to skip over that part should he not wish to be dragged into his memories. It wasn't until he heard the door open to the room once more that he looked up to find his father standing there. Quickly, Adrian shut the book he was reading and stood from where he had been sitting against the book cases.

Dracula noticed the books that his son had been reading and sighed as he moved forward. "Adrian-."

"I know what you said." Adrian cut in with a frown. "I know and I trust you to keep us safe, it's just...I want to be able to help. I can't let you take all of the attacks with me just cowering behind you. You're training me to be able to defend myself and because of that I want to be able to help you should something ever happen! I…" he breathed in deeply. "I couldn't help mom when the attack came...and you won't let me take part in the war, but...but please let me help if you ever get hurt. Please...I..I can't lose you! I can't be helpless again! I...I can't...I-" His voice hitched with his tears as he tried to keep himself from falling to pieces.

"Oh...Oh Adrian. Shhhh." Dracula cooed as he pulled the dhampir into his arms. "You aren't helpless."

"But...But I couldn't help mom and she-!...She….please don't leave me! Dad-!"

"Hush, I won't leave you. It's alright. But Adrian," Dracula tilted his son's head up as he whipped away the tears spilling from golden eyes. "I will do everything I have to in order to keep you safe, do you understand. It is not that you are helpless, Quite the opposite if you ask me. It is just a father's duty to protect his child, surely you understand that."

"I-I do...I just...I can't…" Adrian choked on his words, his emotions and fears bubbling over into his voice. He understood what his father was saying. He understood this when he knew his mother was trying to protect him last year, but at the same time he should be able to do something in return. He was a dhampir damnit! He should be able to help them in some way. He didn't know what he would do if he were to watch his father fall in the same way his mother had.

"I know, I understand." Dracula soothed, giving his son a weak smile. "How about this. We will keep up your training and, if for some reason, we are ever attacked here in the castle, then you may aid in the battle unless I say otherwise. At my words, you will flee, do you understand?"

Adrian frowned, turning his watery gaze to the floor before replying. "Alright."

Dracula sighed. "My you are so stubborn. You must get that from your mother." His words got a sad smile from his son. "Now, let's do what we were here to do and practice magic. Alright?"

"Yes father."

Notes:

So that was that! Lookie! Also, there is more foreshadowing in there than just Carmilla stuff but I'm not gonna say what.

Feel free to comment, ask questions, etc.

Until next time! :D

Chapter 4: S2

Notes:

OK so this is a next chapter!

Thank you all for your reviews/follows/favorites!

Look! I'm updating this! Again!

Also because I have now incorporated this into this story:

"Talking" - regular

'Thoughts' - italicized

Onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Night fell upon the castle as Dracula stared into the mirror observing the two towns before him. Later in the night they would be having a council on the place they would finally send the horde onto, whether it be Arges or Braila that would suffer the next attack. He looked over to where his son was reading one of his spell books, eyes scanning over the words determinedly.

"Adrian." He spoke, gaining his son's attention. "You should head off to bed now. You've had a busy day."

"Alright." Adrian replied as he closed the book before him. He started to leave the room only to pause and look back at his father for a moment, worry on his face.

Dracula noticed his hesitation and offered a small smile. "It will be alright, Adrian."

The dhampir gave a smile in response before heading out for the night. He made his way down the halls and up to his room. There he slipped his sheathed sword off of his belt and placed it on his bed. He moved over to look out one of his windows for a few moments, before a knock on his door caught his attention.

"Young master?" A voice called from outside of the door making Adrian frown in confusion.

"Yes?"

"Sir, we need you to come with us." the voice spoke again from outside of the door.

"What do you mean? What's going on?" Adrian asked moving to the door but not yet opening.

"Young master, please don't ask any questions. We just need you to come with us now."

"No. I demand to know what is going on."

A sigh. "Of course you'd be difficult."

"Wha-?" His inquiry was cut off as the door was forced inward and the air was knocked from his chest as his back slammed into the wall behind him. Before him, five men with two dressed in the armor that he recognized as Carmilla's guards entered his room. They each were looking down at him with dark expressions.

However, before Adrian could act, one of the men before him summoned a flame within his hand and the dhampir froze as fear overcame him. His breath that he had just regained stuttered in his chest. He couldn't tear his gaze from the flames flickering before him, couldn't block the sounds of fire from his ears.

"Heh, it's like she said, he really is terrified of fire." One of the men scoffed to the one holding the fire before moving towards Adrian's frozen form. "Come on, lets do this quickly because I'm sure that our entrance caused quite a lot of noise." However, the moment his hand brushed the dhampir's arm, Adrian's eyes widened in fear and soon the man was jumping away from a slashing of claws.

"NO! Stay away!" Adrian cried, lost to him terrifying thoughts as he fought back the phantoms of the priests and flailing in an attempt to keep the 'priests' away. "Stay away from me!"

"Shit!" The man hissed, baring his fangs at the boy in frustration, especially as the once sheathed sword came flying at him from its place on the bed, responding to Adrian's pull for protection. This caused one of the other men to fend it off with his own sword, though it was clear the enchanted one was far more skilled. Seeing the other man struggled, another joined in holding off the sword.

"Knock him out!" Cried one of the men dueling the sword, figuring it was the child who was controlling it.

"Don't you think I know that!" He hissed back before looking at the flailing child. With that the vampire wielding the fire came closer causing Adrian to cry out even louder. The two still near the door cursed at that, their attention focused on watching for any new guards that would no doubt come from the commotion.

As Adrian attempted to scramble away from the flames, it allowed the one of the men dealing with the sword to duck out of the battle and rush over to knock out the dhampir with the hilt of his own sword. Stunned when the flying sword continued to act, the two vampires joined the other man by out numbering it, eventually leading to one of the men grasping the sword by the hilt and using all of his own strength to keep it still. Quickly moving, one of the other men pushed the sheath onto the sword and, working quickly with some of the rope brought for the kid, tied it into the sheath.

Moving to sling the kid then over his shoulder, the man who had summoned the fire turned to the other men. "Time to go."

"Good, 'cause I think I can hear some of the guards heading this way. We need to move quickly." One of the two dressed in armor said, hearing the window shatter behind him from where he was looking out the window. Two thuds reached his ears and he turned to see one of the non-armored men and the other guard dead on the floor, blood coating the sword of the man standing over them, his other hand clenched tight around the enchanted sword.

"Sorry, gotta make it look convincing." He smirked before plunging the sword into the guard's gut and twisting, only to then rip it out and slash a deep cut into his chest. Laughing, he then stepped back and leapt out the window after his partner.

The guard sneered, "Bastard." He coughed, blood spilling from his lips as he slumped to the ground in pain, just as a few of Dracula's guards came across the sight and were quick to inform their master.


The council meeting had been going...better than it usually does and that should have been what tipped him off. They had been making some progress in deciding which town between Braila and Arges that they would be launching their attack on, when a guard suddenly burst into the room.

"What is it?" Dracula asked as he narrowed his eyes at the intruder. Fellow vampire or not, he would have no problems with getting rid of those in the way of his plans.

"Sir, something is happening in young lord Adrian's room." The vampire panted out. "We sent others ahead but-gah!" They were shoved out of the way by Dracula as he rushed from the room, eyes blood red and dread flooding from him.

Rapidly, Dracula rushed towards his sons room, refusing to entertain any idea before he saw the outcome of the situation. However, as his eyes laid upon the empty room behind the busted door, shattered window and the men on the floor, two of which were dead and one still hanging on but bleeding from a large gash on his stomach and chest.

"What happened here?!" He snarled, teeth bared and eyes soaked in crimson. "Where is my son!?"

"H-He was taken, my lord." The vampire replied, eyes on the ground. "T-Three vampires, one dead.." He gestured to the one vampire not in armor." ..t-they took him, I...I think to the humans but...but I don't know why…"

With a roar of anger, Dracula's claws whipped out and sliced into the vampire before him, blood spraying the wall as the life left the guard. Seething, Dracula turned to those behind him, his army and his generals watching on as he took out his anger.

"They will pay for what was done tonight." He growled. "I want them hunted down, I want them all slaughtered until my boy is back in my arms. Send out every last vampire and demon, send them out to every last town and every last city until the roads are bathed with blood."

"Should we not take a moment to think about this?" Carmilla spoke up, her eyebrow raising in question. "Sending out every last soldier at our disposal with not plan can end with disaster."

"I do not care if it is to end in disaster." Dracula hissed. "I do not care who gets in my way. What I care about is that my son is returned to me alive! If you are planning on standing in my way then I will not hesitate to make you move, do you understand?" As he spoke, he moved so that his form was towering over the female vampire, bathing her in his shadow.

"I do not mean to stand in your way." Carmilla spoke, her eyes moving away and her head turning down to show her subservience. "I merely wish to aid you in your son's recovery, but I do not think that acting rashly with achieve that. I'm sure just as my men attempted to stop the kidnapping, they will surely aid in returning him to you. But we must plan for this. Surely you can see where I am coming from, my lord?"

Dracula stared down at her before turning and stalking his way past his generals. "I don't care. I will hold off on a complete attack for now, but that does not mean I will not be sending out swarms to find my son. If you do not have a feasible plan within the next two days, my army will be sent out whether you care about a plan or not." With one last look at her, Dracula walked away from the crowd, calling his forgemasters after him.

"I don't get it." Godbrand spoke up as he took in the state of the room after Dracula was long gone. "Why would vampires kidnap the kid?"

Carmilla shrugged. "Perhaps the humans convinced them somehow. Wouldn't surprise me if they had thoughts that went against our Lord's plans."

"Sure, but why take the brat?" Godbrand continued. "I've done my fair share of enacting revenge and I know that if you wanted him to see the death of his kid, they should have just killed him here and left Dracula to clean up the mess. If you ask me, it would have the same result."

"They probably took him as either a way of trying to bargain with Dracula or even as a threat. Perhaps they even have their own plans for the boy, I wouldn't know." Carmilla replied, hands on her hip. "What I do know is that, this is at least a better situation than if the boy had died right before our eyes."

"And why is that?"

"Think, if Adrian had been killed with no hope for Dracula to get him back, he would have gone on a rampage and there would be a high chance we would be in the collateral."

"Yeah, but he's already going on a rampage." Gadbrand huffed.

"Yes, but if his son would have been killed, the extermination of the human race would be inevitable." Carmilla paused. "Or at least, more inevitable than it already is. This way, we can at least by time by helping his look for his son."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'more inevitable'? Surely he isn't planning on wiping out the entire human race." Godbrand protested. "What would we eat?!"

"Surely you notice by now all of the blood we've been given has been that of animal blood, haven't you?" Carmilla pointed out. "I'm positive that this has been his plan all along."

"Well, than what do you propose we do about it?"

Carmilla smirked. "What we need is a plan and time." Her eyes glinted with hidden glee as she looked back at the disrupted children's room "Which is something our Lord's son has given us."


"Did you cover our tracks?" The tall vampire holding Adrian over his shoulders like a sack asked the other when he caught up to him.

"You could say that." The other vampire smirked as he wiped the bloody blade in the snow.

"Do I even want to ask?"

"Look, we were told to make it look convincing, so I did. Besides," He twirled the blade. "I got a nice sword out of it."

"It won't listen to you."

"I'm sure I could get it too. It'd be nice sitting back and letting the blade deal with things without actually fighting."

The taller vampire sighed, shaking his head before continuing on running in the direction of human towns with his partner following. "Whatever. We just need to drop the brat off close to a town now, right? Whichever one is closer to the Belmont that was spotted?"

"I don't understand why we don't just kill the brat now and be done with it." The other vampire huffed. "That would make our job a lot easier."

"Yeah, but killing the kid makes an angry Dracula, remember?"

"Last I checked, this probably made him angry."

"Yes, but, remember what Carmilla said? Keeping the boy alive gives her more time to deal with Dracula and take over the whole attack. If the boy dies and it gets back to Dracula before she can do anything? Well, there is a good chance he'll completely lose it. Besides, giving the kid to humans means he has a better chance of surviving."

"Not if we are giving him to the Belmont."

"Well, it's not like she wanted to keep him alive. Just buy some time."

"Whatever."

They continued on their track, easily running past the trees and over hills with their vampiric enhancements. After many miles and many hours, they found themselves coming upon the road the Belmont was last reported being seen upon. The sun had already begun peaking above the horizon, though the men had cloaks to protect them, and they knew that the towns were to the far ends of the road so that while they could not see them, the boy would stumble across them if he follows the road.

"This is a good place to put him, yeah?"

The man carrying Adrian shrugged. "Good enough." With that, he tossed the boy down who groaned at the impact of hitting the ground, eyes scrunching up from the disturbance. "How hard did you hit him?"

The other shrugged. "As hard as I could. We needed to keep him unconscious and the brat is the kid of one of the most powerful vampires out there. I don't think he would have stayed out for the trip if I held back at all."

"Alright, well, we did are part." The first huffed as he cracked his back. "Let's take a break in the shade and when it's safe, we'll leave."

"And just what do you think you two are doing?" A female voice chimed up from behind them making them jump. The vampires whipped around and found a red-haired woman dressed in blue watching them, one of her eyebrows raised pointedly at them.

The two vampires stared at her for a moment before smirking.

"Hello there little lady." The taller vampire smirked. "Don't you think it's a bit dangerous to be talking to strangers in the woods?"

"No, not really." She shrugged. "Especially when it looks like their up to no good."

"Now, now," He smiled as the shorter vampire turned to walk closer to her. "You may want to be a bit more careful with what you're saying. You wouldn't want anything...unfortunate to happen, would you?" He flashed his fangs from underneath his hood at her.

"I could say the exact same thing to you." She replied. However, before the vampire could reply, his taller companion let out a shout and he turned just in time to see the other explode into dusk as a whip cracked at him.

A crackling noise reached his ears and he moved just in time to see a shard of ice fly past him. Baring his teeth at the female, he watched as a brown-haired male came to stand beside her, a familiar crest upon his shirt. His eyes glinted at it, excitement flooding his body because the person they needed to find all this time happened to stumble across them.

"Well, if it isn't the Belmont." He called pulling out his own sword.

"Yeah, yeah," The man huffed with a roll of his eyes. "Look, you can do the whole...gloaty talky thing if you want but I really don't care." Then, with a crack of his whip, he attacked with shards of ice accompanying him. One of the ice shards cut through his wrist and the hand that held the sword fell to the ground. Scared, he rolled out of the way of the remaining attacks, letting the stolen sword of the dhampir fall as well. However, caught in the moment and with his other blade out of reach, he ripped off the ropes binding the sword into the sheath and pulled it out. Forgetting that the sword was enchanted, he held the blade up to defend against the newest attacks against him, only for the sword to freeze in the air and not respond to his defensive movements.

"SHIT-GA!" He choked out as the attacks descended upon him and soon the vampire was no more. The blade fell from his withering grasp and, in a blink of an eye, was beside the now away young dhampir who stared around in confusion and fear before his eyes settled on the two remaining people before him.

"You know, I had it." The female pouted at the male as he gathered up his whip.

"Yeah, well, you should have been quicker."

"Yes, because you were so fast to get them in the beginning."

"Look, I was trying to be stealthy."

"Please, your thundering feet were only hidden due to the fact that I had them distracted." She retorted as she turned away from the male.

"Hey, I think-"

"Oh!" She cut him off as her gaze fell upon the awake dhampir. "Oh, you're awake! That is good!" She cried as she went to move closer only for the teen to scramble away from her, his back hitting the tree behind him. The woman paused in her movements at his actions and help her hands up in a peaceful gesture. "Hey, it's alright now. You're safe."

"Stay back!" The teen shouted in fear, golden eyes wide and shining, though between the two before him, his gaze kept lingering on the male.

"Shush, it's alright, really. You don't need to be scared."

"Wait," the man spoke up, his brow furrowed and his voice wary. "Sypha, hold on a second."

"Not now Trevor!" She hissed back before looking back at the scarred teen. "Ignore him, he's an idiot."

"No, seriously, Sypha-!"

"What is there to be worried about?"

"It's just that-."

"I said stay back!" The teen cried when both of them shuffled forward, Sypha hoping to get closer and Trevor aiming to stop her. Either way, the moment they got closer, the sword at the boy's side sprang up from the ground and positioned itself between the teen and the two older people. The two let out sounds of surprise at the display before Trevor's hand shifted to his whip and the teen's eyes followed the movement.

"This is what I was going to warn you about." He grumbled, eyes focused on the blonde teen. "It's dangerous."

"What are you talking about?" Sypha exclaimed exasperatedly. She motioned to the teen. "He's just scared! So what if he can do magic? That doesn't mean he's dangerous! He's just a scared little boy!"

"No Sypha," Trevor replied, eyes narrowing. "He's dangerous. In fact, the fact that he can do such magic after just waking up and in the day time no less makes him even more dangerous. That right there is no innocent, scared child." He gripped his weapon tighter and the teen returned his glare.

"That right there is a fucking vampire."

Notes:

Look! Sypha and Trevor are here! Yay! And Dracula has lost it even more!

Anywho feel free to comment, ask questions, etc.

Until next time! :D

Chapter 5: S2

Notes:

This is a new chapter! Thank you to everyone who is reading this!
Onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"That right there is a fucking vampire."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the three as Sypha looked between the two who were glaring at each other. Trevor's own eyes never strayed from the teen backed up against the tree who in return never allowed the blade to waver in it's stance.

"Hang on," Sypha said, holding up a hand. "Trevor you can't be serious."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't seriously be considering attacking a child!"

"I told you, that thing is not a child! It's a vampire!"

"That looks like a child!"

"You realize he's probably looked like a child for centuries, right?"

"Unless he was just changed! That would make him a scared, vampire child."

"Why the hell would those two other vampires randomly change a child right before daylight hit?"

"I don't know!" Sypha huffed, her arms failing with her emotions. "Maybe they wanted to make him die from the sun and watch? Because they were cruel? Look, I can't say but the fact remains that this boy could have just been turned!"

"Nope, no way." Trevor denied with a shake of his head.

"What?! Why?!"

"With how steady that sword is, I'd say the brat's been doing this for a while now." Trevor supplied before calling out to the teen backed against the tree. "Oi! Just out of curiosity, how long have you been a vampire?"

"I have nothing to say to you, Belmont." The teen snarled back, the name of the hunter passing his lips like a curse. Between them, the sword shifted forward ever so slightly.

"Someone's a bit snappy." Trevor smirked. "You sure you want to do this? I'll warn ya now, I'm not going to go easy on you just because you look like a kid. And if you haven't noticed," He gestured to where the sun light shone down upon the road and peaked between the trees. "You don't have many places to run to."

The teen said nothing.

"That's what I thought." Trevor gripped the whip tightly as he pulled it off of his belt. "Now, do you want to just sit there and make this easy for me, or are you actually going to use that floating sword of yours?"

"..."

"Alright, easy way it is-WOAH!" Trevor quickly ducked as the sword slashed at his head and his arm snapped out as the whip cracked at the boy. The teen's eyes widened and he moved to avoid the hit and felt the whip graze his cheek before turning and glaring at the hunter. Quickly, the sword moved back in on it's target, directing Trevor's attention to that.

On his part, Adrian felt the sting from the cut, an uncomfortable feeling that seemed to spread through his cheek. He knew the end was made to destroy demons and vampires and other creatures of the night quickly (just as it had done to the two vampires that kidnapped him), and Adrian was thankful that it was due to his mother's side that allowed him to avoid those nasty weaknesses of a vampire.

However, without noticing, ice began to creep up his legs and before he could react, he was encased. He took his attention away from the sword, which continued to fight from his father's enchantment, and focused on breaking out of the ice.

"Can we please just stop fighting for a moment!?" Sypha cried at the two. "I don't think this is right!"

"Tell that to the vampire!" Trevor shouted back as he continued dancing around the sword.

Huffing, Sypha turned to the struggling teen. "Listen, can you stop attacking my friend so we can talk this out? Please, we won't hurt you."

"Tell that to the hunter!" The teen spat, his gold eyes like knives. "He wants to kill me!"

"And I will make sure he stops!" Sypha replied. "Please, trust me."

"No!" He shouted as his struggles continued. "I can't trust you! All you humans every do are hurt and hunt us. All you've ever done is hurt me!"

"But we won't! Clearly something has been misunderstood here and I don't want either of you to be hurt because of a misunderstanding!"

"What's there to misunderstand!?" Trevor shouted over to them. "Clearly this is a vampire who wants to hurt people!"

"I have never wanted to hurt anyone in my life!" Adrian growled. "In fact, you're the first and I only need to kill you because if I don't, you'll kill my dad!"

"We'll that's probably because he is also a vampire, who ever he is!"

"He's just trying to protect me from humans like you!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Sypha exclaimed as she allowed her magic to build up once more as ice, and trap both Trevor to the ground and the sword in a pillar of ice.

"What the hell, Sypha!?" Trevor cried as he gestured to the ice trapping his feet.

"You won't listen to me and because I don't believe that he's," She pointed to Adrian, "going to hurt us. I won't allow you to hurt a child without a reasonable reason to hurt him."

"Reasona-, Sypha, he attacked me!"

"Only because you started it!" She snapped back. "Those vampires took him for a reason and I don't care if he is a thousand years old, but he is a child who was obviously scared and taken by bad people and needed help!"

"Help?! What, are you going to help him hunt people down to drink their blood?!"

"I said I didn't want to hurt anyone!" Adrian spoke up with a growl. "I don't want to hurt you! I don't want to hurt anyone! I...I don't even want to be here!"

"Then why did you attack me?!"

"Because you were going to attack me and if I don't kill you now you'll kill my dad!" Adrian was panting and tears were glinting in his eyes. "You can't kill my dad! I won't let you!"

"Hey, hey, it's ok." Sypha tried to sooth as she walked closer to the teen. "No one is going to hurt your dad."

"But he will! He's a Belmont! It's what he does!"

"Ok, ok, calm down. Trevor?" She called to him. "Will you hunt down his father?"

"No, unless he does something horrible."

"Trevor!"

"What?! I'm being honest!"

"Just let me go." The teen spoke up. "Let me go, and you don't have to worry about me. I just want to go back home."

"And how do we know you aren't going to go storm any of the villages?" Trevor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I said I don't want to hurt anyone!" The teen snapped back. "Besides I don't...I don't want to go to any villages. They'll just hurt me. I don't want to get hurt again." That last part was whispered, but it made Sypha's gaze soften more and even Trevor turned to look at the bound teen.

"...even if we did let you go," Trevor spoke up, "Wouldn't you still be hunted down? I mean, what was up with those other vampires anyway?"

The teen scowled and Sypha had to resist from cooing at the sight of a small fang biting down at his bottom lip. "I...I don't know. Everything was...fine and then it wasn't."

"They probably want you dead, though." Trevor huffed. "So, even if you're away from me, you're still in danger."

"Then it's settled!" Sypha spoke up with a cheer. "You'll stay with us until you can find your dad!"

"Wait, Sypha, no, no that was not what I was suggesting!" Trevor protested, waving his hands around. "Nothing is settled!"

"Well, why not?" Sypha pouted. "That seems like a reasonable answer to me. You don't want him to wander off, I don't want him in danger, so we'll just travel together."

"How would I be in any less danger traveling with the two of you?" The teen growled. "You are out to kill other vampires and...and Dracula." He choked out his father's name, is chest tight as he thought of his father's death. "How do I know you won't spontaneously kill me or...or kill my dad when we find him?"

"Well, if you-" Trevor cut himself off when Sypha shot him a glare. With a cough he continued. "I mean, obviously we won't hurt you or your dad unless you provoke us."

"Trevor!"

"What?! I'm just being honest with the brat!" He huffed. "Look, we are hunting down Dracula because he is a bad monster doing really shitty things, you know like destroying an entire race of people. We are hunting down other demons and vampires because they are also doing really shitty things. Ok?"

"Trevor!"

"Oh, come on! What now?!"

"Don't swear in front of the child!"

"Seriously?! Hey, brat!" Trevor called over to the vampire. "Tell Sypha how old you are so I can stop getting yelled at by her!"

Adrian let his eyes flick between the two of them, contemplating how he wanted to answer. Did he want to give them the truth or let them believe what they wanted. Then again, watching the Belmont suffer was quite satisfying.

"I'm 10."

Silence.

"What?!"

"Oh fuck! You're joking, right?!Please tell me you're actually 100 or something like that?!"

"But you look like you're 13!"

"I age quickly."

"No, no, nonononono, please God no!" Trevor bemoaned.

"That's it! You're definitely coming with us now!" Sypha decided. "We are not leaving you by yourself!"

Maybe he shouldn't have said that, no matter how worked up the Belmont got. "I can handle myself just fine."

"Says the kid who was captured." Trevor muttered getting a glare in return.

"I was caught off guard!"

"What, was daddy not there to protect you?"

"Keep talking Belmont, see where it gets you."

"Oh, someone has an attitude. I think the little brat needs to be spanked."

"Try and you lose a hand."

"Is that suppose to be threatening? What, are you going to bite my hand with those little baby teeth? Use those wittle cwaws of yours." Adrian bared his teeth at the baby talk.

"Would you like to see what these teeth can do?"

"No! There will be no biting anyone!" Sypha cut in, glaring at the two for their behavior. "Trevor, you are supposed to be an example for him!"

"Oh, right, because clearly he understands that biting people is wrong." Trevor replied sarcastically.

"I'm not a monster!" Adrian spoke up.

"Right." Trevor drawled.

"Behave." Sypha scolded before looking back at Adrian. "Ok, I understand why you are hesitant about coming with us, but I promise you we will NOT," at her emphasis she glared at Trevor. "Hurt you. We can help you stay safe until you either find your father or we find a safe place for you to reside until this fight is over. Please trust me."

Adrian allowed his golden eyes to meet her own. While he still did not feel safe about staying so close to the two of them, especially the Belmont (how could he not with all the history he had been taught about the other), he did understand that they could bring him closer to home without the risk of running into either villages or other creatures of the night that have betrayed his father. After all, they were headed to the castle and that meant when they were close enough, he could take the chance to slip away or even wait until he comes across those working for his father to take him away.

"Ok." He mumbled. "I'll go with you."

"Really?!"

"Well that's just fucking great."

"Wonderful!" Sypha clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh, then you can follow us to our wagon! I wonder if we have anything that will fit you or at least an extra cloak for you. Probably not, though, so we'll need to stop by the nearest town to find something-"

"Um, Sypha?" Trevor called to her as she started walking back into the forest towards where they had kept their waggon."

"Hm?"

"A little help?" He asked and he used his head to gesture at the ice still trapping both him and the teenager.

"Oh! Right, sorry!" Sypha apologized. With a wave of her hand, the ice turned to water and let the two captives free. Shivering, the two males collected themselves and Trevor watched the blonde as the sword flew into his hand so that it could be sheathed. With hesitant steps, Adrian began following Sypha deeper into the forest with Trevor following behind.

"So...what is your name?" Sypha asked, sending Adrian a smile. "My name is Sypha Belnades of a Speakers Clan and, obviously, you already know who Trevor is."

Adrian let his gaze look over her blue robe. "Speakers...I know that. It...it was in a few of the history books my father had. You're of...a nomadic people, right? People who gather knowledge by word of mouth?"

"That's right." Sypha exclaimed, the smile becoming wider on her face. "And you are?"

The dhampir bit his lip in contemplation and his eyes drifted to the ground. "...Adrain." He mumbled.

"That's a nice name!"

"What? No last name?"

"Trevor."

"What?" The hunter through his hands up in the air in frustration. "It's an easy question! Besides, how else would we find his father than?"

Sypha just shook her head and sighed before turning back to the younger male. "Could we know your last name? It would help us help you."

Adrian hesitated. He didn't know if these two would recognize his surname or not. If they did, would they also connect that back to his father? True, his mother did not broadcast to the world that she married a vampire, but the church had known her name when they came for her right? Did they also tell the people when she...when she…

His breath stuttered in his chest as he tried to both remember if that night his last name was told to the world and at the same time fight off the horrible memories that plagued his dreams and waking moments.

Sypha and Trevor took notice of the sudden stillness of the teen besides them.

"Hey, kid? You alright?" Trevor called, his eyebrow raising in question as Sypha knelt down in front of him to try to get his attention.

"Adrian?: Sypha called. "Adrian? Are you alright? Hey, you don't need to tell us your surname, alright? Hey, everything is going to be ok." She reached out to touch him, her voice still softly calling out to him, only for Adrian to flinch away from her hand.

"Tepes!" He choked out as he flinched, his mind coming back to the present. At this point, he didn't care what was coming out of his mouth, all he cared about was leaving those memories behind.

"Tepes?" Sypha asked. "As in, that is your surname?" She got a nod in return. "Ok. Thank you for telling us, but are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Adrian bit out.

"Are you-?"

"I'm fine!" With that, the teen continued to walk forward.

Sypha turned to look back at Trevor who was pointing at the back of the blonde while mouthing, "what the hell was that?"

"We'll talk later." Sypha silently replied back, both of them aware that the boy would have advanced hearing. As worried as she was, Sypha knew talking about it now would only further push Adrian away. Vampire or not, he was a child and she wanted to help him.

The three continued to walk on the path to the wagon silently, with Adrian taking the silence to calm himself down as best as he could what with the entire situation at hand. As they came upon the clearing they hid the wagon in, Sypha's hand shot out before Adrian to stop him from walking into the sunny area.

"Wait!"

"Oh, what now!?" Trevor groaned.

"It slipped my mind!" Sypha cried, her eyes flicking between Adrian and the sunlight frantically. "Oh, I can't believe we almost let you walk out into the sunlight?! Let me go grab a blanket from the wagon."

"It's fine." Adrian spoke up as she began making her way to the wagon. He stepped forward into the sunlight, following after Sypha, and leaving the two staring at him in shock.

"Um, why are you not burning?" Trevor asked after staring for a few seconds. "Because last I checked, vampires couldn't walk into fucking sunlight."

"I can."

"But why?!"

"Because I'm only half vampire." Adrian replied as if it was obvious.

"Excuse me?!"

"That's possible?!" Sypha exclaimed, looking overjoyed at the knowledge she was just given. "That is amazing!"

"You're saying that you," Trevor thrusted a finger at the teen. "Are only half vampire!? Like, a human and a vampire decided to get together and out came you?!"

"I guess?" Adrian replied with a shrug. He kind of understood what sex was, what with his brain maturing at a faster rate much like his body. But at the same time, he has also only been alive for ten years and, despite the fast learning rate, still shared a similar mentality with that age range. Honestly, how his body worked was a mystery to both his parents and, especially, himself.

Trevor let out a long sigh as he dragged his hand down his face. "I really don't like you."

"At least we don't have to worry about traveling in the day time now!" Sypha exclaimed, her hands going to Adrian only to flash away from him when he flinched again. "Come on! We will need to get a move on, especially if we need to stop to get you some clothes!"

"I'm being punished for something, aren't I?" Trevor sighed as he followed, watching as Sypha jumped into the back area to dig around in some of the supplies her clan had given them for their journey. Eventually, Sypha offered the dhampir one of their blankets and allowed him to curl up somewhat comfortably within the back of the wagon. Sypha and Trevor sat at the front of the wagon, Trevor's hands holding the reigns of the horses as they started moving on their way. In the back, Adrian stared out the opening in the wagon up at the blue morning sky, lost in his thoughts.

Notes:

SO that was that! Yay they are all together now! And forgive Adrian but he is around new people after being kidnapped only a year after he was tortured and watched his mother burn at the stake.

So yeah. Anywho, feel free to comment, ask questions, etc.

Until next time! :D

Chapter 6: S2

Notes:

OK so this is a new chapter!

Thank you all who review/follow/favorite the story! As well as those who just read it!

Well, season 3 fucked with my feelings. Like, by the end I was like "ADRIAN! MY POOR BABY!" and also, "Hey, Trevor, Sypha you two should take a break after all of that. You know where you should go? Go back home, see your boy because ADRIAN NEEDS YOU DAMNIT! so just go back to the castle, yeah?"

Yeah, I'm hurting so now I will make you all hurt by making little Adrian cry a lot in this. Just a heads up.

Also, I may take this story into season three as well. I mean, obviously, no matter how this ends (i.e. Drac living or dying and Adrian going home) there would have to be at least a chapter or two following, but now I have a season three I could incorperate into it. Possibly. We'll see. I do have the reunion planned and how season two in this universe will end, I just have to get there.

Also

'Thinking' - italicized

"Regular talking" - regular

Anywho, onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Sypha let her eyes flashed towards the back of the wagon once more, eyes settling on the small form huddled up towards the back.

"You're doing it again." Trevor grumbled from where he sat beside her.

"What?"

"Watching that thing."

"He is not a thing, Trevor." Sypha scowled at him.

"Whatever.

"I'm just worried."

"That it might kill us and a bunch of innocent people? Me too."

Sypha smacked him on the back of his head.

"Ow! What the hell?!"

"You know what you did." She huffed, her arms crossed as she glared at the hunter. "If you must know, I'm worried about him because he looks so tired and scared still."

"Yeah, well, being around new strangers who tried to kill you can do that to a person."

"So you acknowledge Adrian is a person?""

"Oh, shut up."

In the back of the wagon, Adrian heard the two speaking but did not bother to truly listen to their words. He was tired, what with such a stressful night before, yet as his body tried to fall asleep, his mind forced himself to stay awake. He wasn't safe. He couldn't be safe despite what the speaker had told him. He was far from home traveling with a Belmont toward a town full of humans. Honestly, it was amazing he was not having a panic attack at the moment.

Adrian allowed himself to settle into a light doze, awake enough to notice a change in anything around him, yet shut off from the world enough to have a small break from the chaos that has occurred.

Up front, Sypha glanced back once again and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the boy resting curled up with his eyes softly closed.

"Finally." She said, turning her gaze back to the road before them.

"You know, he's probably not really asleep. Vampires don't need as much sleep as humans do."

"Yes, but he is a boy and, what with his current situation, I bet he needs the sleep." Sypha huffed, glaring once more at the hunter.

"Yeah, well, he isn't going to get much sleep, what with the village coming up soon."

"Maybe we can just wait a little bit longer before entering."

"Or we could skip this whole trip and ditch the brat."

"We are not ditching Adrian and we are certainly not going to skip the town. We need to get him better traveling clothes and possibly a blanket for him while we travel." Sypha crossed her arms. "I am not letting a child travel through the dangerous woods in his night clothes."

"I mean-"

"Trevor, I won't say it again. We are not leaving him behind." The smile she gave him made him swallow whatever words he was going to say.

They fell into silence for the rest of their time on the road. It was not until they started to come up to the village, which was just as destroyed and effected by the night hordes as any other village in Wallachia, that the silence was broken with a cry from the wagon.

Trevor and Sypha both jolted at the noise, the wagon being yanked to a stop as they both whipped around to look at the teen in the back of the wagon.

"Adrian, what is-?!"

"Don't!" Adrian cried, curling into the side of the wagon, golden eyes set on the entrance to the town before them. "Please don't take me in there!"

"Hey, hey, calm down." Sypha tried to comfort the dhampir, her hands up in a peaceful gesture as she moved to enter the back of the wagon with the boy. "It's ok. We're just stopping in to get some supplies. Nothing is going to happen to you."

"No!" Adrian cried, shaking his head in denial as his body shook with panicked breaths. "No! They'll hurt me again! Please! Please don't! Please!"

Up front, Trevor groaned as he drew his hand down his face. "For fuck's sake," He grumbled before standing up and going around to the back at the entrance to the covered part of the wagon. Sypha shot him a look as he came around, no doubt thinking he was going to force the boy into the town by force, but Trevor only rolled his eyes at her before settling into the wagon. Honestly, he wasn't completely heartless, or at least, a few past events have proven so.

"Calm down, we won't bring you into town." Trevor huffed. "At this rate, we'd attract way too much attention with your screaming so I doubt it would end well for any of us. This is supposed to be a quick stop, so it would be much quicker if you don't come in with us."

"I agree." Sypha said before looking back at Adrian, who had calmed slightly at the conversation. Her eyes drifted over the scars she could see dotting his skin, before she smiled at him once more. "I think it would be best for you to wait out here. So, while I go in and get you some traveling clothes and supplies, you and Trevor can wait for me on the side of the road."

"Wait, hold on-"

"Now Trevor, we don't want Adrian to be alone do we?" Sypha said, turning to look at the protesting hunter.

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I get babysitting duty!" Trevor groaned. He had a feeling his reasoning for not leaving the dhampir alone was different from Sypha's.

"Of course it does!" Sypha huffed before looking at Adrian with a smirk. "This idiot here would get all the wrong things or get a blanket with a hundred holes in it for you thinking it was ok for sleeping." This got a smile out of the boy before he looked down to the ground.

"Y-You don't need to watch me. I won't go anywhere."

"Of course you won't!" Sypha stated confidently as she began to make her way out of the wagon. "I just don't want you to fight against anything that might attack or think its an opportunity to steal a few things from the wagon."

"I can fight." Adrian pouted but it only made Trevor scoff and Sypha smile even more.

"Of course you can." Despite the words, it did not sound condescending. "But you are tired, no?"

A nod.

"Then you should rest, especially if you are having trouble sleeping. That way you can have some energy until we camp for the night. And even then, you never know what could happen. Besides," She pointed at Trevor. "His thick skull is very good at taking hits, and as stupid as he can be, he is quite good at fighting."

Straightening out her robes and grabbing a bag of coins from the wagon, Sypha turned to them one last time. "Wait for me, alright?" Then she looked at Trevor. "Behave. I'll see you in a bit."

With that, she headed into the town.


Trevor sighed as he rested his head against the thin cover of the wagon. He had just moved the wagon off to the side of the road and it already felt like it had been forever since Sypha had headed off into the village. It also didn't help that there was quite obviously tension between himself and the teen that was curled up as far away as he could be in the small wagon.

Letting out another sigh, the hunter spoke. "So, you could take a nap if you want."

"I'm fine." Adrian replied, no even lifting his head to look at the other. To be honest, he would have prefered to have Sypha here with him than the Belmont.

"Yeah, well, I'm just saying."

"You don't need to talk to me. I know you'd prefer it if I wasn't here."

"Yeah, well, we won't have to worry about that when we find your dad." To be honest, Trevor was growing more conflicted over his feelings about the kid. Sure, he didn't want him there, but with how vulnerable the kid was being, those conflicting feelings were turning from wanting him gone because Adrian was part vampire to not wanting to drag a kid into this mess.

"Hmm…"

"Hey, speaking of your dad, how are you-or we, I guess- going to find him? 'Cause the way I see it, unless we'll stumble across him on our way, then we may not find him."

Adrian shrugged. "I don't really know. I...I know what the area around our home looks like, or what it should look like anyway," That is, hoping the castle doesn't move while he's away. "But other than that, I'll have to wait. I'll either get home first, find him, or he'll find me."

"I see." Trevor hummed. "And your dad...he is a vampire? Or…" Trevor waved his hand in Adrian's direction, the motion catching the dhampir's eye causing him to look up slightly. "I mean, you said you were half vampire, right?"

Adrian blinked in confusion for a few seconds before his mind caught onto the question. "Oh...um...yeah. My dad is a vampire. My...my mom was…" He swallowed thickly. "Was human."

Trevor caught the 'was', his eyes flashing before replying. "Ah. Well, that's...nice? I guess...um.."

"You think I'm weird."

"Well, no, just...uh…"

"It's ok." Adrian shrugged before pulling his legs closer to his body. "The other vampires think I'm weird too."

'Christ,' Trevor cursed silently as he took a deep breath, emotions he didn't want to think about rising slightly in his chest. "I don't...I don't think you're weird...just...uh, never heard of a half vampire, half human before. Or at least, none living."

"My dad says I'm called a dhampir." Adrian mumbled into his knees. "They can happen, but it's very rare and none of them have ever lived past birth."

"He just...told you that?"

Another shrug. "I was curious."

"Alright then…"

More silence. Honestly, Trevor was not good at this whole talking thing, especially with a child. Drumming his fingers on his leg, the two continued to just sit in an awkward silence when Trevor spoke again.

"So...if...your dad had a human for a wife, then how's he feeling about the whole," He waved his hand in the air. "Destroy the humans thing Dracula is doing."

Adrian tightened his grip on his legs. "What do you mean?"

"Oh you know." Trevor drew out. "The night hordes attack cities all over Wallachia for the past year or so. Homes falling apart, blood painting the streets, people screaming, ectedera, ectedera. All that stuff."

"..."

"I mean, if your dad had a human wife, then I would assume he wouldn't support Dracula."

"He does." Adrian mumbled out.

"Really? Even though he had a human wife? Even though you are part human?" Trevor's voice, while not shouting, was definitely accusing.

"He understands where Dracula is coming from." Adrian snapped back, glaring at the hunter.

"Where he's coming from? And where, exactly, are these attacks coming from?" Trevor pressed, arms crossed as he raised an eyebrow at the teen before him. The tension that had been in the air shifted from awkwardness to animosity.

"From grief." Adrian growled causing Trevor to let out a laugh.

"Are you serious? Grief?"

"My d-Dracula lost my-his wife to humans." Adrian shot back, his emotions threatening to cause him to slip up. "They...They…" His breathing started to speed up as the memories of that time started to come back to him once more. Clenching his fists, the dhampir fought to gain control of himself once again, his head shooting away from where the hunter was sitting. His eyes, which had been shut tight, were forced open as Adrian struggled to find a way to ground himself, only for his eyes to settle on the beaten and bloodied entrance of the village they sat outside of.

His breath hitched as his enhanced senses took in the sight before him. His scared mind tried to shift the view to be that of that horrible night, but he could not force his eyes to look away from the real sight before him. All this time, he had been hidden away in the castle and had not dared leave after the night he and his mother had been taken. Adrian was very aware of the war his father was raging on the humans, despite his father trying to keep it from him during the beginning stages of his attack, but Adrian had never thought of the outcome of his father's actions. The very real sight fought for its place against visions of the past within his mind. The very real smells of decay and the echoing silence in what was supposed to be a bustling town pierced their way into his mind.

The horrible area grounded him but it only served to twist his insides up even more as he struggled past one trauma to understand the terror that lay before him.

"W-Wha…"

Trevor watched the teen struggle to catch his breath as he tried to explain why Dracula was attacking. To be honest, Trevor really didn't care about the reason. Nothing could excuse a genocide of the human race. Though, from the kid's reaction, he had a feeling he may know exactly what had happened to lead to all of this. Looking at the scars that covered the kid, plus the way he reacted to possibly entering the village, it wasn't that hard to figure out where those scars had come from. Add on to that that the kid seemed to know exactly what happened to the wife of Dracula, what with the same reaction he had to entering the village was to talking about the woman, it was safe to assume the kid was there when it happened. Now why he would be with the wife of Dracula of all things was beyond him, unless of course-.

Nope, no that wasn't possible. He wasn't going to think about that. Maybe it's the lack of alcohol trying to put such ideas in his head. He'll bring it up to Sypha later, let her deal with the weird ideas his mind is coming up with.

The hitched sound coming from the kid brought Trevor's attention away from his thoughts and he looked to see Adrian's eyes set on the village before them.

"What, finally realizing what it is that is happening?" Trevor grumbled.

"W-What happened?" Adrian choked out, voice hoarse before swallowing thickly.

Trevor raised an eyebrow. "Dracula happened."

Adrian said nothing.

At this point, Trevor was both hoping Sypha would show up and at the same time he was hoping she wouldn't because he had a feeling he would not get out of their encounter unscathed. Maybe he could escape real quick? No, then she'd yell at him for leaving the brat alone. Was there any way of him not getting yelled at by the speaker at this point? Maybe-

"People...people are getting hurt."

Trevor stopped and looked back at Adrian who was now looking down at the floor of the wagon. "Uh...yeah?"

"And...and inside the town?"

"Probably looks either worse or better. Depends on the state of the people, though it's probably not good." Trevor answered honestly watching as the kid tightened his grip once more on his legs and he pulled himself back into his curled up position.

"It's like this...everywhere?"

Trevor shrugged. "No. Some places are worse than this." He caught sight of Adrian's eyes tearing up at that. "Ah...but...uh, some are better? I mean-"

"He said he was protecting me." The mumble was barely heard, but Trevor caught it anyway with his battle trained senses. "He said...and the humans hurt us. They...they…" The kid's breath hitched again. "Humans hurt! He...he's doing nothing wrong because...because they...t-they attacked and...and…!"

Shit, where was Sypha when he needed her.

"Trevor~."

Speak of the devil and it shall appear.

Said hunter cringed and turned to find Sypha sending him a chilling smile while her eyes flicked between him and the crying teen.

"Listen-"

"I told you two to behave!"

"And we did! We were just...uh...talking and uh…"

Sypha ignored the rest of his stumbling excuse as she crawled into the wagon and called softly to Adrian. "Adrian? I have some clothes for you if you'd like to go change. I'll take care of the big oaf for you."

Adrian raised his watery golden eyes to look at Sypha before biting his lip and slowly uncurling. He swallowed as he took the bundle of clothes the speaker held out to him before opening his mouth to speak. "Um...he...he didn't do much. He just...we were just talking."

"Did he say anything stupid?"

"Well…"

"Don't worry about insulting him. He naturally says stupid things." Adrian cracked a smile at her words before scrambling off to go change out of sight of the two humans.

Once he was gone, Sypha whirled on Trevor. "What did you do?!"

"Nothing! We were just talking!"

"And clearly you made him cry!"

"So the topic was a bit sensitive, it's fine."

Sypha quirked an eyebrow. "And what, exactly, was this topic?"

Trevor shifted under her look. "I just asked about the brats dad and how he felt about Dracula's actions and all."

Sypha sighed. "You thought you could talk about that with a child?! Trevor, he was already scared?! Why couldn't you talk about nice things?!"

"Hey, I was just trying to figure things out, ok? Random, half vampire brat comes out of nowhere saying he wants to go back to his dad, I'll have some questions!" Trevor crossed his arms. "Besides, the kid gave me a fucking headache anyway."

"Really." Sypha asked skeptically. "And how, exactly, does a crying child give you a headache? Oh, wait, was it because you don't know how to handle a child?"

"Ok, in my defense, I never have, nor have I ever wanted, to deal with a child let alone one that was crying." Trevor shot back. "And, no. The kid's answers have fucked with my head. Like, they made no sense."

"Well, will you elaborate?"

Trevor dragged a hand down his face. "Well, to start, I think the kid was there when this whole fucking mess started. Like, in person. Not only that, but he also gave a reason as to why Dracula is going on a fucking rampage, and the reason makes even less sense to me. Honestly, I hope that when I tell you everything, you can deal with the headache so I don't have to."

"Well, I hope you tell me everything so I don't have to sit through your explanation of it. Right now, you are giving me a headache." Sypha huffed. "Just tell me."

"I feel like I need alcohol for that. Honestly, I'm still wrapping my head around it."

"Um…"

The two jumped at the quiet voice and turned to see Adrian standing there, arms holding the bundle of his night clothes while dressed in the more appropriate travelling clothing. They seemed a bit large on his thin body, but they would do.

"Oh! Do they fit alright?" Sypha asked.

"Yeah…" Adrian mumbled and he seemed to fight with himself before taking a deep breath. "Also, if you're going to talk behind my back, you should be quieter about it."

"Oh! Uh…"

"Well, maybe you should keep that vampire hearing to yourself, hm?" Trevor shot back, feeling more comfortable with the brat when he wasn't crying. "Or else, you might hear something you're not ready for."

Adrian gave him a deadpan look. "I wouldn't listen if you weren't so loud."

"Or you're just a nosy brat."

"Loud, thick skulled man."

"Ooh, kid has bite. Got anything else?"

"Stop, I will not have you teaching him name calling." Sypha huffed, only for Adrian to look at her.

"But you told me he was thick skulled." Adrian said, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

The two humans stared at him before Trevor burst out laughing and Sypha blushed. Sypha then huffed and moved to the front of the wagon explaining the two of them better hurry or she was going to leave them behind. Adrian hopped up into the back of the wagon once again while Trevor shifted to once again sit up front with Sypha. Up front, Sypha turned and gave Trevor a smirk.

"Still want to ditch him?"

"Shut up."

"You smiled when he smiled."

"Only because your words backfired. Besides, the kid might have information now."

"Right, I'm sure that's the only reason you want to keep him."

"It is."

From the back of the wagon, Adrian called up to them. "I can still hear you."

"Shut up, brat!"

"Stop whispering about me!"

"Stop being weird then!"

"You're the weird one!"

"Oh, fuck off!"

"Trevor! Language!"

"Oh, come on, he started it!"

In the back, Adrian relaxed as the topic was not shifted away from him, letting the two argue in the background as he turned his gaze out to where he could see the town fading in the distance. Conflicting feelings rose within him as he was faced with the effects of his father's war. He was told that it was being done to protect him, but that part that was nurtured by his mother told him this was wrong, that these people shouldn't be hurt. Yet, at the same time, the sight of the village called to the terrified part of him that had been tortured at the hands of the humans and forced to watch his mother…, he shook that thought away. He has lost his control over his emotions too much within the last day. The attack and being left far from his father's protection out in the world of the humans left him shaken and tumbling without an anchor. This lack of safety pulled at him, adding fuel to the terror that lives within him and only further leaves him unstable.

Of course, he will admit the hunter and speaker give him a sense of comfort, at least when they stayed away from any of the topics that were focused around either him or his father. To be honest, he felt safe with them, or at least, was starting to despite it having only been a few hours since their first meeting. Even the Belmont had grown on him. It could just be that he was looking for something to keep him safe and grounded during this time, but he felt they at least will keep the humans away from him. Them not dragging him into the village was proof of that. That they cared in some way, even if it was only to keep from attracting attention.

But...for how long would they care? He knows he has slipped up, let out facts and as stupid as Sypha claims Trevor to be, he knows that it won't take long to put the few facts together. What would they do if they found out he was the son of Dracula? Would they hurt him? Leave him on his own? At least with them, he knew they were no doubt looking for Dracula so at some point he would return home if he stayed at their side.

And at the same time, he was conflicted over his feelings for his father. He loved him, of course he did. But seeing that town made him wonder if his father was right? If he sticks with the two humans, what should he do if they all come across his father? He won't let them kill him, of course not, but...should he really support his father. It was for his protection, that was what he was told, but the state of that town made Adrian feel sick to his stomach for more than his natural fear.

'And it's all one big circle.' Adrian thought as his thoughts returned back to the start of his contemplation. They were too confusing for his young mind no matter how intelligent he was nor how quickly he developed. It especially didn't help with how tired he was after all of these events. He let his mind let go of these ideas for now, his exhausted mind unable to fully grasp the thought process.

Glancing up at the sky, Adrian couldn't help but whisper a soft, "mom" as he wished for the comfort he knew she would provide.

Notes:

So yeah, that happened. Also, Trevor isn't really that stupid, at least not when it comes to putting things together if he really thinks about it. I mean, he did have to survive by himself on the streets without his family for a while when they were killed so yeah. He's catching on he just doesn't want to believe it.

Also, I had thought about bringing Adrian into the town when I realized a traumatized kid, no matter how quickly they mature, may not want to go into the town so easily after only a year. Maybe if it had been longer or he had been older and desensitzed or more control over his emotions or anything else, maybe then, but not here. I also had to keep myself from turning him into a little bat and hiding with either Sypha or Trevor. I wanted to, but I was like, no he wouldn't do that, not yet! I will do it in the future, hopefully.

Feel free to comment, ask questions, etc.

Until next time! :D

Chapter 7: S2

Notes:

OK so this is a new chapter!

Thank you all who review/follow/favorite the story! As well as those who just read it!

Look at me! Updating twice! This is because I don't want to do any of my homework if I'm being honest and I also know like exactly what I want to do with this story. Hopefully I stay motivated! Anywho, heads up imma gonna be a bit sad in this chapter. Oh well.

Onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"Alright," Trevor huffed out. "Let's stop here for the night. I doubt we'll be able to travel far once the sun sets."

"Why?" Adrian asked as he popped his head out of the wagon.

Trevor waved his hand as he hopped off of the wagon. "Oh, you know. Night hordes and all that shit."

"Oh. Right." Adrian mumbled as his mouth pressed into a thin line. He pushed himself out of the wagon, one of his hands coming up to rub at his eyes with a yawn passing his lips.

"If you'd like, Adrian," Sypha spoke from where she was securing the horses to trees after detaching them from the wagon. "You could rest while we set up camp. I understand it has been a rather tiring day."

The dhampir bit his lip, eyes flashing down to the ground in thought.

"Don't worry, we'd wake you up to eat." Trevor huffed. "That is, what exactly do you eat? Do you need regular food or like, blood? Or some other shit?"

Adrian crossed his arms. "I can eat food." he huffed.

"So," Trevor drew out. "No blood then?"

"Well...no." Adrian shifted where he was standing as his hands clenched slightly on his arms. "My...my dad would take me out to hunt sometimes for fresh blood or otherwise he would just give me a bit from what he had."

"Hunt?" Trevor asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Not humans." Adrian huffed as his anxiousness shifted to a defensiveness as he glared at the hunter. "I told you. I haven't hurt anyone!"

"I know," Sypha soothed, shooting a glare at Trevor. "I believe you. I'm sorry Trevor has such a narrow mind."

"Well, what am I supposed to assume when I'm told a vampire is going out to hunt?"

"Not all vampires feed on humans." Adrian grumbled. "My dad didn't like humans anyway. He liked to stay away from them. My mom said when she met him, he tried to make her leave before attacking her. She didn't leave, just walked into his house after knocking on his door." There was a faint smile on his face.

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Sypha cried, trying to picture the encounter.

"She's fucking insane." Trevor groaned.

"It sounds like she was determined and brave." Sypha shot back with a huff.

"Yes well, the insane wouldn't see the insane as insane, would they?" Trevor raised an eyebrow pointedly at the Speaker.

"You just don't see any of the good qualities in a person."

"No, I just see the obvious ones."

"You know, some of the most inspirational people were seen as insane."

"And you also have those who are just bat shit crazy. What with them spewing ridiculous ideas and shouting them at people as if that would make their craziness make more sense." Trevor stopped and furrowed his eyebrows. "Then again, guess that worked for the church, didn't it."

"Yes, well, I was more talking about people with actual ideas."

A laugh drew the humans to look over at the dhampir traveling with them. The young boy had a bright smile on his face and his golden eyes seemed to sparkle for the first time since they had saved him from those vampires. Sypha shot a look at Trevor and he made a point to look away from her and her knowing grin.

"So, Adrian, why was your mother there, if you don't mind me asking?" Sypha wondered, tilting her head at the boy, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"My mom said she had heard that my dad had a lot of knowledge on science and medicine, so she looked for him." Adrian let out a giggle. "Just banged on his door and said she would not leave until he taught her new ways to help people in her village. She was really good at healing. She and my dad would sometimes let me help them!"

"That's amazing!"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Trevor spoke up, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You're saying that your human mother learned medicine from a fucking vampire? Can this fucking world get any crazier?"

"Trevor, would you please stop swearing so much?"

"See, you keep yelling at me, yet has anything changed?"

"No." She huffed. "I honestly don't know why I try."

"I couldn't tell you."

Sypha rolled her eyes. "One another note, a human learning from a vampire is not crazy. In fact, it makes sense since a vampire lives much longer than any human could, so they would clearly learn a lot of things throughout their life. They must have so much knowledge!" Her eyes shined as she thought of all she could learn from a vampire. "I would love to learn about what they know!"

"Assuming they don't kill you first." Trevor grunted.

"Not all vampires want to kill humans."

"No, but most do." Trevor shot back. "Otherwise, the Belmonts would not have been needed as much as they did. In fact, a vampire not wanting to either kill a human or keep a human as a pet is a rare thing to find, basically never heard of! Besides, assuming that the vampire cares enough to record stuff about humans, what would it do with information especially if they want to be isolated or, as I said before, just view humans as food?"

"My dad liked to keep knowledge." Adrian spoke up. "He said people forgot too much."

"Right, ok, sure. A keeper of knowledge for the people." Trevor grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "Ok, well, I'm done listening to madness. Oi, brat!"

Adrian jolted at the direct call to him, shifting to fully face the Belmont.

Trevor gestured with a nod to the woods around them. "Since you seem to still have energy and I don't want Sypha yelling at me for not feeding you right, how 'bout you come catch some food with me?"

"Really?" Golden eyes were wide in shock.

Trevor shrugged. "Why not? I mean, you don't have to."

"Ah, no! I'll come."

"Good."

"You better keep an eye on him." Sypha spoke up.

"Don't worry, I won't lose the brat." Trevor huffed as a hand pulled his sword from its sheath.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Hey!"

Adrian laughed once more, his body the most relaxed it's been since his kidnapping. There was just something about the two of them that made him relax around them, despite one of the humans being hunter of his kind.

As Adrian moved to stand besides Trevor, he stopped the hunter before they could go into the woods. "Um, can I shift first? It's sometimes easier to hunt that way and that's how me and dad usually do it."

Trevor quirked a brow. "Sure, go crazy kid."

A fanged grin spread across the young face before a red light covered the boy and his body changed. The form shifted down to all fours and the bones seemed to warp. When the red light cleared, a small white wolf stood beside Trevor. It was clearly not yet full grown and Sypha could not help but coo at the sight of the pup.

"Hm, wondered if you could do anything like that." Trevor mumbled, getting the wolf to look up at him. "Though I have to say, you're not intimidating in this form either."

"He's adorable!" Sypha cried, rushing over to pat Adrian on the head, getting a look from the wolf.

"You realize he is still the half vampire brat, right?" Trevor huffed.

"Yes, but you can't deny he looks so cute like this!" Sypha gushed, and Adrian leaned slightly into the petting.

"Dear God, she's lost it."

"Adrian, can you bite him for me?"

"Hey!"


Sypha hummed softly to herself as she gathered the fuel for the fire. As she bent down to place the twigs into the growing pile of fuel, Trevor's voice reached her ears. Looking up from the pile of twigs and leaves, she looked towards the woods in the direction of the sound of her friend.

"You fucking brat!" Trevor's voice called from the rustling of the woods. "Those were my kills! Get back here!"

Placing her hands on her hips, Sypha watched as a white wolf pup burst from the bushes, tail wagging happily as it came running past with two rabbits hanging from its jaws. It dashed behind her legs just as the brunette hunter burst from the woods behind it, panting with two other rabbits in his hands.

"What are you doing?" Sypha asked with a giggle.

Trevor huffed. "That brat killed those before I could even though I hunted them down."

"Hm, is this true, Adrian?" Sypha laughed as she turned to face the wolf just as it turned back into a young teen, now holding the rabbits in his hands.

"No, it's not. I found them by myself." Adrian grumbled glaring at the older male. "He just happened to get there at the same time I did."

"Yeah, right."

"Sorry you were too slow." Adrian shot back with a smile.

"Too slow?" Trevor gaped. "If you, supposedly, got there first, then you're the slow one. So much for vampire speed."

"I'm half vampire," Adrian huffed. "And a kid. What does that say about you?"

"Alright, alright, children calm down." Sypha laughed. "Did you get a lot of food?"

"I'm not a child." Trevor grumbled before holding up the rabbit carcasses in his hands. "We got a good number. Enough meat to feel at least somewhat full." As he spoke, he moved to settle down on the ground and got out one of his smaller blades to prepare the rabbit.

"Can I help with the skinning?" Adrian asked, looking with large eyes as he moved to the hunter's side and placed his own rabbits down."

"Sure, why not." Trevor shrugged, "You know what to do?"

"Mhm." Adrian nodded, taking one of the rabbits and another of the hunter's blades.

Sypha smiled at the pair before turning to the pile of fuel she had been gathering. Grabbing a few bits from the pile, she put them towards what would be the center of their camp and twisted her fingers into the form she needed for the fire spell. With a quick motion, the smaller pile lit on fire.

Clapping her hands together, she sighed. "There, now we have a fire for the night."

"Worried about any of the horde finding us?" Trevor called over though he didn't sound concerned.

"It didn't matter the last few times."

"Just checking."

Sypha crossed her arms as she faced the two males. "I would rather be warm and waiting for an attack than cold and waiting for an attack." She then smirked. "Besides, we need it to cook the rabbits."

"Well, obviously I wasn't going to eat them raw."

"Well, you never know. You could be desperate."

"I have never been desperate enough to eat raw meat before." Then he tilted his head. "Enough to risk getting attacked? Sure. I mean, it was basically a regular occurance. But if I'm going to eat meat, I'm going to cook it."

"I don't know, what do you think Adrian?" Sypha turned her gaze to the young teen only to frown. The dhampir was frozen, golden gaze wide and far away, a glassy sheen to his eyes. Sypha followed that frozen gaze to the fire flickering at her feet, brow furrowing in concern. Looking back up at Adrian, she moves around the fire and begins walking towards him.

Even Trevor has stopped to look at the boy besides him, eyes looking to Sypha in uncertainty.

"Adrian?" She called softly, only to find no change in the boy's attitude. "Adrian, are you alright? Can you come back to me?"

She slowly approached the frozen boy, her hand reaching out to gently touch him on the shoulder. However, as soon as her hand made contact with the slim shoulder, the boy jolted to life with a terrified cry.

"Mom! No! No...No please! Mom!" He cried, tears falling from his eyes as he whipped away from Sypha. The two were quick to dodge the flailing arm that still clutched the knife he was using to skin the rabbits and Trevor acted quickly to grab the wrist and pull the blade from the trembling grasp. However, as his large hand curled around the pale wrist, Adrian's scream grew and he almost seem to scream in pain and flinch away from something the two could not see.

"Mom! Mom! NOO! No, mo-mother!"

"Adrian! Adrian, it's alright!" Sypha cried out as she attempted to get close to the terrified child, but his eyes would not look away from the flames.

"Shit." Trevor cursed, his hand remaining tight on the dhampir as he didn't want to risk the boy running in his state. From where they had been preparing the rabbits, he was two far to kick dirt on the fire to put it out. His blue eyes flashed to where Sypha was attempting to call to the boy, but he knew that it wouldn't get through. Reacting quickly, Trevor pulled the boy to his chest and covered him with the long cloak he had around his shoulders, hiding the flames from the young teen's sight.

He shifted his arms. The free one kept the struggling dhampir to his chest despite the strong struggles that came from the kid. He had to use all of his strength to keep him against him. His other hand held tight in his cloak and he bundled the boy up against him and within the depths of the fabric.

"Alright, easy now." Trevor grunted as a fist hit him in the chest but only tightened his grasp. His eyes flashed up at Sypha and he snapped, "Put the fire out."

The Speaker was clearly at war with herself as she was forced to turn away from the terrified dhampir, but she nodded and with quick fingers, put out the fire.

"Alright, calm down." Trevor muttered to the bundle of fear in his lap. God, he was not cut out for this. "Easy now."

"M-Mom!"

"I know, I know." Sadly, he did know. This kid's fear was all too familiar to him. "But...but everything is alright now. Or at least, it will be."

A whimper and then a fist curled into his shirt. "...Dad?"

"Uhhh…" Trevor froze, eyes snapping up to Sypha who only motioned with her hands down to Adrian with worry clear in her eyes.

"Dad...I-I want to go home."

Trevor swallowed. "Y-Yeah...yeah of course. Sure...uh...just-just rest for now, ok? Just go to sleep and everything will be ok in the morning." Almost unconsciously, the hand curled around the boy's shoulders began to rub circles into his back. "Everything will be ok."

A sharp sniffle came from the otherwise now silent bundle. After a few minutes the trembling began to fade away and the body relaxed against the hunter's body. Waiting until he knew for sure the kid was out, Trevor then shifted his cloak so that they could both see the unconscious boy, tear tracks upon his cheeks.

Blue eyes met blue.

"Shit."

Notes:

Yeah...we knew it was going to happen. Hey, did ya catch the parallel between Trevor and Dracula? Both at the end of their chapters? This may or may not happen again, I don't know, but it worked here so I went with it. The power of cloaks!

Anywho feel free to comment, ask questions, etc.

Until next time! :D

Chapter 8: S2

Notes:

OK so this is a new chapter!

Thank you all who review/follow/favorite/bookmark/kudo/subscribe to the story! As well as those who just read it!

*Quarantine happens* Huh, I could write a lot during this. *procrastinates* oops. But now I have a nice long chapter for all of you! And I plan to update again in the near future! Probably not tomorrow or even the day after but soon! I mean, at the very least I have an excuse. I've been working on school stuff. Lots of papers and tests.

Anywho, onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The sound of a hammer reached Carmilla's ears as she stood in the doorway to Hector's forge. He and the other forgemaster had been working almost non-stop since Dracula's son had gone missing, sending wave after wave of night creatures out onto the world. While Dracula had kept to his word from sending out a complete storm of night creatures upon the world, the lands that had already been ruined by the war and the areas around them suffered from the onslaught of bloodshed that was coming from their master's rage.

"This is quite amazing, Hector." Carmilla spoke as she strolled into the room. "To know of your legendary skills and to see them with my own eyes is extraordinary. Especially since our kind never produced a forgemaster."

"Yes, well, you didn't have to." Hector replied as he began cleaning his hammer once again. "Before the war night creatures were simply a species in hiding. They either reproduced naturally or were created by spouts of wild magic. But now they are soldiers and their numbers have to be replenished. Especially since young master Adrian has gone missing."

"Ah yes, the poor child. I do hope he is alright."

"So do I. Honestly, he was most likely a rock for Dracula, a way to stay sane and to remind him what this war was for. But, now...it's like he's lost all hope. Even with all...this," He waved to the corpses in the room. "He seems to have lost that...fire that drove him. Before, it was something strong, but now...now it seems out of desperation. I worry for Dracula."

Carmilla moved closer to where the forgemaster stood before his table. "You know, there are some things we can do that don't require his decisions."

"Oh, I doubt that." Hector laughed.

"But there are." Carmilla replied, turning to face Hector. "I recall that before the...incident that we talked about sending creatures to watch over the Belmont hold. Has any of that been done?"

"No, not exactly." Hector replied. "Our forces are focused more on finding Adrian at the moment and tearing down all in their path." A soft touch to his leg had him looking down and Hector smiled at the sight of his reanimated pug, Cezar. "Why are you so fascinated with it, anyway?"

"If anything in all the world holds tools and magic that could harm our Lord Dracula and his son, it is in the Belmont trove." Carmilla replied, watching as the forgemaster bent to pet the animated dog. "It must not fall into the wrong hands, especially with our Lord's son missing. Besides, the Belmont himself is still around, yes? Who is to say he won't head there?"

Hector seemed to pause, thinking about the words before he stood up to face Carmilla once more. "Alright, that sounds...reasonable. I agree to that, but Dracula must agree to the dispensation of troupes." As he turned away from Carmilla to face his tools once more, she frowned once she was out of his view. Thinking, Carmilla allowed herself to wander towards the window of the room, her hand trailing along the chair of the desk in front of the window.

"Tell me," She spoke up. "How is it you came to be in Dracula's service?"

So he told her. He told her how Dracula sought him out while he lived in isolation, away from the other humans. He told her how he came looking for Hector for his skills so that an army could be raised to cull the human race for the actions that had been taken against Dracula's wife and son. Hector explained that he agreed to a cull for the human race, a way to turn them to livestock for the vampires and powerless in terms of harming anyone ever again. That was the deal that had been made.

Carmilla listened, coming closer to the reminiscing forgemaster before directing her gaze back to his pile of corpses.

"It is my understanding that when a forgemaster reanimates a thing, it holds total loyalty to the forgemaster and his goals."

"...It does."

Coming up behind Hector, Carmilla moved so her head was over his shoulder and her words would be whispered directly in his ear. "Make some troupes that you can trust completely with whatever they find, and then help me convince Dracula to attack Braila."


Issac bowed before Dracula as he came into the room. As usually, his master was staring into the raging fire of his fireplace, only there was an edge to his usual forlorn figure.

"My Lord, another round of night creatures have been sent out through the surrounding areas."

"Good," Dracula replied, eyes never leaving the fire. "Has any sign of my son been found?"

"Not yet. I apologise for this."

Clawed fingers tightened on the arms of the chair. "I don't want apologies, Issac, I want my son found. I don't care what it takes to do that but I want it done. I want the destroyed towns searched and the woods scoured for any sign of my son. I want all that stands in my way to be destroyed and slaughtered!" Heated, red eyes narrowed in Issac's direction. "And if he is not in any of those desprit, worthless towns, then I will not hold back any longer on attacking those that remain. I will tear through this world with no thought of whatever 'plans' you and my generals wish to enact if my son is not found and returned to me!"

Issac did not blink at the words growled from his master's throat, quite used to the vengeful beast that was held within the imposing figure. "Of course my lord. I am sure that whoever has taken young master Adrian is still within the lands you have already attacked. If they are traveling by day, that means they are human and even more vulnerable to attack."

"If they are human I want them ripped to shreds for hurting my boy once more." Dracula snarled back. "If they are human I want them to watch as whatever town near them turns to ruin to show just what exactly that had done when that thought to take my son!"

"Yes, master."

"Go."

With a bow, Issac slipped out of the room, only to narrow slightly as he passed Godbrand who stood outside of the doorway.

The vampire watched the human walk away before entering the room himself and clearing his throat. "May I speak to you?"

A long sigh came from the chair before Dracula spoke, his voice sounding much calmer than before. "Approach, Godbrand."

Walking forward, Godbrand spoke. "I have a question."

"Go on."

Looking at the figure in the chair, Godbrand's eyes looked him over before turning his gaze to the side. "If you kill all the humans, what are we gonna eat?"

"What?"

"It's very simple Dracula." Godbrand huffed. "If you kill all the humans, where does the continuing supply of human blood come from?"

Dracula placed his fingers to the bridge of his nose in frustration as he replied. "I allow you to go on blood raids as we change location. I have blood stored in cold canisters. There are animals in the lower levels." He shot him a look from the corner of his eye. "You won't go hungry Godbrand."

"No, not now. But later." Godbrand huffed as he moved closer to the fireplace. "I don't want to be rationing myself on fucking pigs blood."

"Careful." There was a note of warning in Dracula's voice but the other vampire did not seem to heed it.

"Look, pig's blood gives me the shits! I'm sorry, but there it is."

A sigh. "You'll be taken care of Godbrand."

"Yes, of course, right, except, what if we're not. What if you just want to kill all the humans and not leave us enough to keep in camps to feed from." Dracula, already high strung, tried to control his anger but it is what Godbrand said next that broke any control he had. "Look, I get that your kid was taken by the shits, and that he had survived by animal blood all this time, but what about af-GAH!"

Godbrand grunted as he was slammed into the wall behind him. Looking up he swallowed as he found the burning red eyes of Dracula boring down on him.

"I will not be questioned by you." Dracula growled. "I have told you how it will be. The humans will die and you will be taken care of." Dracula sneered. "Little Godbrand. Little vampire. Little parasite." The word was spat as if it offended the one speaking it. "Pretending he is important and dangerous. Pretending his concerns are more important than my missing son! Are you going to continue questioning me?! Are you going to fight me!?"

Godbrand averted his gaze. "No." He breathed out.

Dracula leaned in closer. "Then why are you still here, making your little noises? Get out before I slit you up the middle and bite out your heart."

Swallowing thickly, Godbrand quickly scurried away leaving Dracula seething in his study. How dare that man question him and his actions. How dare he act as if Adrian's kidnapping was unimportant! Oh, how he was tempted to carry through with his threat for the other, to make him suffer for saying such things.

With a growl, Dracula's fist slammed into the wall, a satisfying crack reaching his ears. Oh how he wished those stones were that of the one who kidnapped his son. He wished it was the one who betrayed his war to assist the verman living out in the world spreading their hatred like a disease. He knew that a vampire assisted with the kidnapping of his son, but as much as he wanted to slit every throat until the rat was found, he knew he could not. He first needed to find his son.

With a low growl, he sunk back into his chair.


A soft fire crackled between the two humans. After a few minutes of digesting what had just gone down, the two shifted so that Adrian now lay with his head resting in Sypha's lap, his sleeping figure hidden from the new fire by Trevor's thick cloak. Both Sypha and Trevor stared into the fire with dark expressions, Sypha's blue gaze occasionally going to the slumbering form on her lap.

"I just…" Sypha sighed, carding her fingers through the blonde locks in her lap. "To make a child watch their mother burn is just...just horrible." It was the most obvious conclusion after seeing his reaction.

"Mn."

"I mean, it explains his fear of the town I guess." Sypha sighed. "And why he freezes when we ask about his parents."

"Mn."

"This might even explain his scars. And, if his dad supports Dracula because of grief like you said, then that would make sense as well. Of course he would hate humans, even if his wife was one."

"Mn."

"Do you not have anything else to say?!" Sypha hissed, though keeping her voice low enough to not disturb the child in her lap.

"Look, I told you everything the kid told me." Trevor sighed though he never looked away from the flames.

"Yes, but you have that look on your face when you are thinking bad things. Well, thinking in general, really." Her attempt to lighten the mood fell flat. Letting out a long sigh, Sypha tried to catch Trevor's gaze. "Tell me what you are thinking."

"I don't really want to. Then it might become real." His gaze flickered up to hers. "Besides, you might already know what it is."

"Trevor-."

"Fine," He huffed. "You want me to say it? Alright. We might be carrying the fucking son of Dracula with us!" He threw up his arms to emphasize his point as his eyes flashed to the bundle in Sypha's lap.

"We don't know that for sure."

"You're right, we don't." Trevor agreed but his eyes were determined. "But, even an idiot could realize that a lot of what he said about his dad and Dracula seemed to be similar, especially when he didn't catch what he was saying. I mean, who else could he mean when he said, 'he was protecting me' in response to the destroyed town?!"

"Maybe Dracula just cares for him!"

"That doesn't really make this any better." Trevor sighed, running his hand down his face.

Sypha huffed. "Fine. Let's say Adrian is the son of Dracula, what then? Are you going to try to kill him?" There was a warning in her voice.

"I don't fucking know!" Trevor groaned. "I should! I should turn him to ash for being the blasted son of the evil we are going out to kill!"

"But you won't."

Trevor glared. "Don't think I actually care for the brat,"

"I saw you holding him."

"Because he wouldn't let go!"

"I'm pretty sure you grabbed him first."

"Only so he wouldn't run away. I really didn't want to go looking for the brat if he ran!"

"So you would go looking for him?"

"Only because you would make me."

Sypha smirked. "You can try to fool me, but I know you care about him."

"Oh shut up."

Silence fell over the two once again as their bantering trickled off. The smile that had been on Sypha's face faded when she looked back down at Adrian.

"I think, assuming we are right about his father, that we should wait for him to tell us."

Trevor looked up from the fire. "What?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"To show we trust him." Sypha replied. "We should let him tell us."

"Or we could just ask him and if it's true explain we aren't going to kill him." Trevor offered, waving his hand toward the sleeping dhampir.

"How would that show we trusted him?"

"Well, it shows we figured it out and didn't kill him, so there's that. Plus, he could stop trying to hide how scared he is and acting all tough when he isn't."

That previous smirk returned to Sypha's face. "I thought you said you didn't care?"

"I don't." Trevor denied once more. "But it hurts to watch him pretend to be strong. It almosts makes me feel bad for the kid."

"Right, of course."

Trevor opened his mouth to shoot back a response only to freeze when a sound of crunching snow reached his ears from the woods around him. Shooting a look to Sypha, who understood what was happening just as much as he did, the two shot to their feet with Trevor smothering the fire in the process.

Adrian moaned from where he had been shifted onto the ground, blurry, golden eyes blinking at the two as he fought to wake up. Acting swiftly, Sypha scooped the child up into her arms and carried him to the wagon. She placed him inside of it and gave him a smile when he looked up at her from the folds of Trevor's cloak.

"I know you can fight, but you're tired, so stay here where it is safe for now." Sypha replied, giving him a stern look as she spoke.

"Wha-?"

"Don't question it." Sypha cut him off. "Just stay here where it is safe. It shouldn't be too long."

With that, she turned back out to the ominous woods around her.

Sharing another look with Trevor, the hunter and the Speaker took off in different directions away from the camp. There, a few paces away and coming closer, were about three different demons making their way to the camp. Pulling his whip from his hip, Trevor prepared himself for a fight.


Back in the wagon, Adrian continued to blink the sleep from his eyes as he struggled to understand what was happening. Rubbing his eyes, small flashes of what happened before he fell asleep returned to his mind and a frown formed at the thoughts. He had not meant to lose control like that, yet he still had no control over how his mind and body reacted to the horrific memories of that night. Hopefully, he had not given too much away during his freak out.

Stumbling to his feet, He poked his head out from the opening of the wagon as he tried to find the two humans. When he saw they were nowhere near the camp, his frown deepened and the dhampir hopped out of the wagon, leaving Trevor's cloak behind. (When he realized what was wrapped around his shoulders, Adrian had to fight down an embarrassed blush.)

Placing his hand on his sword's hit at his hip, he began to walk slowly away from the wagon, his ears straining for any sign of his companions. Due to his enhanced senses, it did not take long before the sounds of a battle reached his ears. Pinpointing the direction of the battle, Adrian allowed his speed to carry him there and his eyes widened at the sight.

Off to his left, Sypha was dealing with a large, pointed eared night creature with a spear in its hands and poison on its breath. To his right, a fallen creature lay destroyed on the ground and one was attempting to take down Trevor and his whip cracked burning welts into the night creature's skin.

Knowing that at least one of the creatures had to be in charge, Adrian rushed into battle towards the direction of Trevor.

"Stop!" He cried as he tried to channel whatever authoritative voice he could when he spoke. "I said stop!"

Both the creature and Trevor froze as he dashed between the two, his golden gaze focused on the night creature.

"Oi, brat! What are you-?!"

"I said stop!" Adrian cried once more, cutting Trevor off yet not looking at him. Before him, the night creature stood still and its beady eyes stared down at him. "Do not attack! Leave these two humans alone!"

The night creature continued to stare down at him.

"Kid, just move and let me handle it."

Adrian grumbled just loud enough for Trevor to hear. "Yeah, well, soon you won't have to deal with me or it."

"What are you-?"

"Do not attack! Just...take me back home and leave them alone!" Adrian demanded as he tried to sound commanding once more.

Again, the night creature stared down at him. Then, after a few seconds, it moved. At first, Adrian thought it would listen to him (his father, Hector, and Issac all said that they would since they wanted to keep Adrian safe) and the creature even moved to pick him up. However, instead of being carried away, the creature just placed him to the side before attacking Trevor once more, and it looked as though it was attacking even more viciously.

"Shit!" Trevor cursed as he leapt out of the creature's reach and flung his whip out, cracking it against its throat. The beast let out a cry of pain but before anything could happen, the creature's throat exploded and it too died.

Panting, Trevor whipped his head around to glare at the dhampir who's golden gaze was locked on the destroyed night creature. "What the fuck was that!?"

"I…"

"Adrian!" Sypha cried as she came up to the two, having dealt with her own creature. Taking note of the air around the two, she slowed her steps and her gaze flickered between the two of them. "What happened?"

"This shithead tried to run away!"

"I was trying to make it stop!" Adrian hissed, snapping out of his shock. "I was trying to help!"

"Oh, by running away with it?!"

"I wanted to go home! Besides, it should have stopped! It should have listened!" Tears of frustration bloomed in his eyes. "I don't understand why it didn't!"

"Really? You don't understand why it didn't?" Trevor scoffed. "As far as I'm concerned, those creatures only care about killing humans! Of course they wouldn't have fucking stopped?!"

"Well, you were fighting it!" Adrian protested.

"Ok, let's say that it was because we were fighting." Trevor growled, his hand flying out to point in the direction the town had been. "Then explain to me why a town full of innocent people were fucking killed?! Why are multiple towns fighting to survive as night creatures continue to ravage their homes long after any defense was slaughtered!?"

"I…"

"Trevor, calm down." Sypha spoke up, trying to calm the other.

"No! Sypha, this fucker tried to leave with one of those things!"

"Because I wanted to go home and keep you from getting hurt!" Adrian shot back, his golden eyes glaring. "You said you would help me get home! This was my way home!"

"What, so you could go back to your daddy to protect you?"

"Yes! And maybe I could get him to stop the war! I...I could talk to him!"

Trevor let out a barking laugh. "Oh, that's a fucking great idea! Of course, just go up to Dracula and ask him nicely to stop slaughtering the human race! Why didn't we think of that, Sypha?"

"Trevor-"

"You know?" Adrian squeaked out, his eyes losing their fierceness to fear.

Trevor rolled his eyes. "Of course. Not like it was hard to figure out once we put the clues together."

"And, you won't kill me?"

"...No, not unless you provoke me." Trevor answered honestly, only for his gaze to harden. "I won't kill an innocent. I'm not a monster like your father." With that, he stalked away from the two, leaving Sypha staring after him and Adrian looking to the ground with tears in his eyes once again.

Sypha had been frozen by the words the other had spoken. Looking back to where the young dhampir stood, she made her way in front of him and kneeled down to look at him.

"Adrian, don't take what Trevor said to heart, ok? He's just...mad and worried."

Adrian's brow furrowed. "Why would he be worried?"

"Because you ran out into battle between him and that night creature."

"I can defend myself!"

"I don't think that's what he was worried about." Sypha sighed, trying to get the boy to understand. "What if Trevor was in the middle of an attack and the whip hit you? It is called 'Vampire Killer' for a reason."

"It didn't make me explode before." Adrian stubbornly pointed out.

"Yes, you are right. But it also wasn't a direct hit, and that could have happened right there." Sypha softened and looked down at the snowy ground. "Adrian, after last night...we were worried. Trevor won't admit it, but we both were. You were so, so scared and we couldn't do anything to help, not really. I know we haven't known you for long, but we both care about you and I, despite our first encounter, I don't think Trevor wants to add to your scars." Her finger trailed along the teardrop like scar on his face.

Adrian flinched slightly at the touch, but before Sypha could take her hand back, the boy leaned into the touch. He couldn't help it. Just as the two humans had grown closer to him in this short amount of time, Adrian had grown close to them as well. Despite their first encounter, he felt comfortable with these two. True, he was still confused about what was going on and why his father was suddenly being turned into the bad guy, and Trevor's current cutting words were not welcome. Yet, Adrian was comfortable with these two.

"I'm sorry." Adrian apologized. Not so much for running into battle, but for worrying them. "I just...I wanted you guys to be ok and...and then I could have also gone home."

"I know Adrian."

"When...when did you guys figure out who I was?" Adrian asked, his golden gaze flickering to hers.

"Well, we put the pieces together only a little while ago. We were hoping to have you tell us but…" She shrugged. "Trevor has a bit of a temper."

Adrian bit his lip. "And...and you really won't hurt me?" He wasn't asking because he thought they would, not from what they've shown him sense the first meeting, but he needed to be sure. His fear of humans and vampire hunters was ingrained in him after all.

"No."

"But...but you're going to hurt my dad." And thus, his conflicted emotions raise once more.

Sypha took a deep breath. "Yes...yes that is what we are heading out to do." Adrian frowned. "Look, I know...I know it must hurt to hear that and Trevor could have...put it a bit more lightly. But Adrian...Adrian your father is hurting a lot of innocent people and he needs to be stopped."

"But...my dad doesn't seem like a monster."

"No, of course not." Sypha cooed. "I'm sure he loves you Adrian, so he is kind to you. But...if what you said is true...then he also loved your mother. I'm guessing...that that is why this is all happening. Does that sound right? Is your father doing this because you and your mother were...attacked?" She tried to ask lightly, to hopefully not trigger the poor emotional boy into another panic attack.

Adrian swallowed. "M-Maybe…"

"But Adrian...do you want your father killing people? Did...do you think your mother would want this?"

Adrian's brow furrowed as he struggled to think of the answer. Would she? He knows that, as much as he appreciates his father's protection, he wouldn't want people to be killed just because he was hurt. As scared as he was of humans, that did not make him bloodthirsty. His mother had taught him to care for all living things, that's why she was a doctor after all.

Thinking about his mother also brought to his mind all her teachings and caring attitude to the other humans. For a second, that blazing fire appeared in his mind once more causing his hands to clench and his breath to hitch. He could almost make out his mother's voice through the cries of the humans and the crackling of the fire. She was saying something, something besides his name and her screams.

Adrian hissed as a sharp pain went through his head.

"Adrian?" Sypha's voice broke him from this thoughts and he brought his gaze back to hers from where it had dropped to the ground.

He swallowed. "No...no I don't...I don't think she would."

"...ok," Sypha said as her eyes roamed over the dhampir's face to check him over. "Ok, alright. Then...do you want to stay with us? I know...I know you wanted to leave but we want to stop this war. Do you want to help us stop it?"

Adrian bit his lip. "But...I don't want to kill my dad."

Sypha's shoulders slumped. "Of course you don't and we won't make you." She trailed off, her gaze going off to the side in thought before a spark lit in them. " But maybe we can find a different way to stop him. You see Adrian, we have been traveling to the Belmont hold. We were looking for a way to track down Dracula's moving castle since we want to have the advantage when we go to the castle. However, we might find a way to stop your dad without killing him."

"I could also talk to him." Adrian tried once more. "And if we go with the night creatures, we might be able to find the castle."

"Well, in terms of the night creatures, we don't want to risk being taken prisoner, or the castle moving before we get inside."

Adrian pursed his lips. "That makes sense. The vampires and night creatures could smell you."

Sypha smiled. "Exactly. As for your other suggestion, we could try it, but we would like to be ready to help you if he doesn't listen, ok?"

"Ok." Taking a deep breath, Adrian stood up taller with a determined look in his eye. "Ok, I'll help you."

Sypha also stood up and smiled with a clap of her hand. "Wonderful! Now, let's go back. Hopefully that hothead has had a chance to calm down."

As they started walking back to the camp, Adrian spoke up. "Umm, can I yell at him?"

Sypha looked at Adrian and let out a chuckle. "Sure. I won't stop you."

With a nod, Adrian focused on making it to the camp.

At the camp, they found Trevor slumped against the wagon, hand over his face. At their footsteps, he looked up and scowled, but it wasn't as harsh as it had been earlier. If anything, Adrian would say he looked a little ashamed but it was hard to say exactly.

"Look, kid-"

"You're a bastard."

Silence.

Trevor and Sypha both stared in shock at the dhampir, but Adrian only stood there, arms crossed and glaring at Trevor. After a beat, Sypha started cracking up and Trevor couldn't stop gapping at the boy.

"W-What the fuck!?"

"I said you're a bastard." Adrian repeated. "What you said was mean."

"I...uh...yeah I get that...I was going to...uh...you know…" Trevor stumbled his way awkwardly through his attempt at an apology.

At that Adrian tilted his head. "Don't hurt yourself." He said as he began to climb back into the wagon.

"W-Wha-! Sypha! Are you just going to let him act like this!"

Sypha was holding her stomach and crouched over with how hard she was laughing. "I-I'm….haha...s-sorry! This is too funny!"

"Why didn't you yell at him for his language?!"

"Because you deserve it!" Sypha shot back. "Besides, he learned it from you!"

Trevor continued to scowl at the Speaker when a small hand touched his shoulder. Turning, he found Adrian poking his head out of the wagon with Trevors cloak in his hand.

"Here."

Trevor looked down at the black cloak before back up at the boy holding it own. Pursing his lips, Trevor turned away and waved his hand dismissively at the boy.

"Keep it. We'll be heading out soon and you're so cold you could use the warmth."

Blinking in shock, Adrian stared at the other before clutching the cloak to his chest. The cloak made him feel safe, and Trevor letting him keep it for the ride warmed his heart.

"Thank you." Adrian mumbled before disappearing under the cover of the wagon. His voice carried over from the other side. "Now you're just a jerk."

"I can take that back you know!"

Sypha made her way over, still cackling. "Come now, Trevor. You've been upgraded from a bastard to a jerk!"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?!"

Inside the wagon, Adrian stared down at the cloak before wrapping it around himself and burrowing into its warmth with an embarrassed flush to his face.

Notes:

So that was that. Did I make your feelings go on a roller-coaster? I hope so. Anywho, now we see how crazy Dracula is. He might be loosing it a bit. It shall only get worse. Sypha and Trevor finally know who Adrian is. Adrian is really conflicted. Trevor was a bit of an ass. Adrian wants to stop his dad though...Lets see where all this goes!

Feel free to comment, ask questions, etc.

Until next time! :D

Chapter 9: S2

Notes:

OK so this is a new chapter!

Thank you all who review/follow/favorite the story! As well as those who just read it!

I don't own Castlevania by the way. I'm stating this again because I use some lines from the show...

Anywho, this turned out longer than I expected. There will be some foreshadowing in this. There will also be more emotions! Yay!

Also

Bold/italics = thoughts on the past

Onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The woods around them seemed to grow quieter as they neared their destination. The night sky cast a sombre feeling around them and the dead woods around them only added to the feeling. Adrian was curled up in the back of the wagon, head nodding as he tried to stay awake. Upfront, Sypha held the reins while Trevor relaxed, back against the backrest of the seat. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Trevor suddenly spoke up, his voice like thunder against the soft clacking of the horse's hooves.

"There," He said, turning to look at the woods. Even Adrian jolted at the words, scrambling to see what the hunter had spotted. For a second, nothing seemed to stand out, and when Sypha gave the man a questioning look, Trevor pointed behind her to a large, worn down tree that was split down the middle. "That was my tree. I used to play in that tree." He lowered his hand. "We're near the house."

"It's...hard to imagine you playing." Sypha spoke after Trevor fell quiet once more.

Trevor's face grew soft in remembrance as he let out a soft, amused huff. "Yes...I suppose so." He looked forward, eyes glazed as his mind took him back to those memories. "It was everything, that tree. It was my house and my boat and my fort." A frown came to his lips. "Anything I wanted it to be." He let out a long sigh and looked back to the tree as they passed by. "Goodnight tree."

They fell into silence once more and neither Sypha nor Adrian wanted to break it. Adrian moved to the back of the wagon to catch one last glimpse of the tree, his golden gaze traveling over it as he tried to picture Trevor playing on it.

As they moved deeper, the road eventually opened up to a large walkway that surrounded a fountain. They stopped on the pathway that was framed by worn rails and blocked off the empty fountain. From where they were, the path continued up to what must have been a majestic mansion. Crumbling stone walls climbed high above their heads to form turrets and graceful arches. The shell that remained of the mansion teased the idea of what the building had been before ash coated its stone walls. Even Adrian, who lived in a castle much larger than this, could not help but take in what remained of the Belmont home.

A mournful sigh left Trevors lips before he and the others made their way into the crumbling mansion. Standing out of Adrian's sight, Sypha allowed a small flame to light the way for the group as they made their way past the main entrance of the mansion. Adrian's eyes had flickered to the flame in fear, but directed his gaze away as he clung to Trevor's cloak (which was back around the hunter's shoulders), keeping him between the dhampir and the flame.

"So this was your home." Sypha said, knowing it did not need to be asked.

"Yeah," Trevor sighed, eyes trailing around the collapsing walls and heaps of rubble. Above, the night sky shined down as the lack of a roof provided no shelter.

"You grew up here." Her voice was soft.

"Yeah."

Sypha's hands traced the remains of a staircase. "I can't imagine what it was like to grow up in a single place." She turned to look over at Trevor, who had knelt down in an open area and was seeping away the dust and ash that coated the floor.

"Mmm...it...it was fine." He swallowed, but still did not turn to her. At his side, Adrian tightened his grip on the other, not out of fear, but support. "Wasn't the worst way to grow up."

Adrian bit his lip and hesitantly asked. "How...How old were you?"

Trevor glanced at the boy out of the corner of his eye before looking away and closing them with a soft sigh. "Oh...I don't know...a little older than you are now? Like...thirteen, fourteen, something like that."

"You've been on your own since you were thirteen?" Sypha asked, coming up behind the two.

"Maybe twelve…" Trevor tried to hide the slight waver in his voice, but Adrian caught it. "But who remembers that sort of thing." He looked to Adrian and tried to give a smile. "I just know I looked a bit like you, brat. Maybe a little bigger."

Adrian only frowned.

"What's with that face?" Trevor asked as he stood, his hand moving to ruffle the kid's hair.

"You...you were only a little older than me when…" Adrian's voice trailed off, brows furrowing.

"Yup, but as you can see, I turned out fine." Trevor huffed, placing his hand on Adrian's shoulder. "Look at the two of us, defying odds." Then he dragged his other hand through his hair as he let out an amused chuckle. "Who would have thought I'd be relating to the son of fucking Dracula of all things."

Adrian couldn't help but let out his own laugh at that. He never thought he'd relate to a Belmont of all things. Behind them, Sypha had a soft smile of her own.

Their soft laughs trailed off and soon they were shifting through the rubble once again. Over time, Adrian was able to feel a little more comfortable and drift away from Trevor's side slightly. They moved stones and their hands were covered in dirt and dust. Trevor tried to find his way through the destroyed rooms through memory, hoping he'd be able to remember something that led them to the hold.

Eventually, as Trevor shifted aside rubble on the ground in one of the still standing corners, gold glinted up from beneath.

"I think this is it." He breathed, turning to look at Sypha and Adrian.

Trevor began to lift the stones from the ground, grunting as he had to move the heavy pieces. Off to the side, Adrian watched Trevor struggle a bit before he moved forward and began lifting the stones with ease, his vampire half giving him superior strength. He knew if his father was lifting the stones, it would take no time to move, but Adrian was still young so even with his enhanced strength, he needed to use both hands to move the larger stones.

Both Trevor and Sypha blink a little in shock at how easily the dhampir was moving the stones, the blonde not even breaking a sweat at the work he was doing. After a few moments, the slab beneath the rubble was revealed.

Stepping back a bit, Adrian tilted his head in confusion. "It's a big stone?"

"It's the door." Trevor replied, kneeling before it, brows furrowing.

"Do we lift it? Or…" Sypha trailed off, hoping Trevor would fill in the gap but he said nothing.

Pursing his lips, Adrian moved forward to try to lift the stone. While he knew he probably won't be able to lift it all on his own, he could start it and the others could help him the rest of the way. However, that thought was interrupted because as Adrian attempted to grasp the stone, his had could find no purchase on it.

"I can't grab it." Adrian spoke up.

Sypha hummed as she moved forward, kneeling down and tracing her fingers over the engravings of the stone. "Hm...ah I see now. You won't be able to lift it."

"Well, my family got it up somehow." Trevor grumbled. "I was taken down there as a child."

"Did you see them lift it?"

"No, they brought me through it once it was open. They told me they'd teach me how to do it one day. I suppose there was a...special trick."

Sypha hummed once more. "Were your parent's magicians?"

"Not as such." Trevor replied. "I mean, they knew a lot of stuff but this door was put in by one of our ancestors."

"Well, I guess the special trick was passed down the generations the way we Speakers transmit knowledge. Your parents knew the trick but...they didn't know where it came from, or what it really was." She sat back on her heels. "Stand back." She told the two, who moved behind her. The flame in her hand was put out and the area remained only lit by the light of the moon as Sypha began chanting. As her words continued to flow out, a soft blue glow began to shine from the slab. At the height of the spell, soft blue wings extended from the slab and, with a flap, were gone, taking the door with it. With the slab gone, the three could see steps leading down into the floor.

"Open sesame." Sypha said, letting her hands fall back to her side.

Adrian stepped forward in awe before looking up at Sypha. "Was that Enochian?"

Sypha blinked, taken aback by the question before smiling. "It was. How did you know?"

"It was a language in some of the books at home." Adrian replied with a shrug. "A lot of interesting stuff was in those. Sometimes my dad would read them to me." Then his eyes widened. "Wait, wasn't this considered an occult language?"

"Why yes, yes it was." Sypha replied with a laugh.

Adrian turned to Trevor. "You had a magic door opened by an occult language!"

"I didn't know it was a fucking magic door." Trevor grumbled as he began making his way into the hold.

"You know, Trevor, the word 'teloch' means 'death'." Sypha teases as she relit the flame in her hand when Adrian started going down the stairs.

"Shut up."

Adrian giggled behind his hand as he followed. "It's the magical door of death!"

"I will hit you."

"No you won't!" Sypha sang as she came up on the other side of Trevor, a smirk on her lips.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." This only produced more laughter from the two beside him.

They made their way down the steps and both Adrian's and Sypha's eyes widened when they were met with the large circular staircase at the bottom. It had a grand feeling to it with the large tapestries depicting the Belmont crest and the picture of an ancestor at the far end of the room. When Adrian rushed forward to look over the railing, he gasped in awe at the spiral that led down.

"Wow."

Trevor smirked, a glint of pride in his eyes at the dhampir's reaction. "This is just the staircase, kid. You haven't seen anything yet."

As they made their way down, Sypha hummed in thought. "Belmont isn't even a Wallachian name, it just dawned on me."

"No," Trevor replied. "The family originated from the kingdom of France, but we moved out of there a few hundred years ago."

"Why?" Adrian asked, looking up at the hunter, a quirk to one of his eyebrows. "Were you chased out?" He knew people moved, but as someone who grew up living in a moving castle and surrounded by science and magic that he knew others did not have, he sometimes wondered why people would leave their homes forever. Speakers he knew did not have a permanent place, but if the Belmonts had a mansion like this in France, why move?

"No, we were not chased out." Trevor huffed. "We're professionals. We move where the work is."

"What does that mean?" Sypha asked. They made it to the bottom of the stairs and for a moment, Adrian directed his gaze to the patterned floor.

"Well, all the dark things moved into the east." Trevor replied as he moved to open the door at the end, struggling slightly with the rusty handle. "I think it was...uh...Leon Belmont that entered the region first. And he built this house," The door opened and the three made their way through it. "And dug the foundations for everything under it."

The door opened up to a massive room. The shadows of this place were so deep that they could barely make out the bottom of the cavernous space. Out of the corner of her eye, Sypha caught sight of a lamp hanging on the wooden post that stretched from floor to ceiling, wherever the ceiling ended that was.

"Adrian, close your eyes for a moment." Sypha demanded, looking at the boy. He gave her an odd look at first but a gesture to the empty lamp helped him understand. With a sharp nod, he covered his eyes and, unconsciously, tensed his body at the thought of what was to happen. Wanting it done quickly, Sypha clasped her hands together and allowed the flame that had been in her palm to break apart. The gossamer like tongues of fire whipped out to light each of the empty glass lamps. Her eyes widened as the room lit up before the three, Adrian peeking through his hands at the sound of her awe.

There were layers of balconies from where they stood to the floor with pathways crisscrossing to connect all of the platforms. Shelves upon shelves built up like the walls of a maze upon each platform, each a colorful collection of books and viles. Cases filled with remains and odd objects speckled through the horde of dusty books. Near one of the walls, the bones of some monster hung suspended by chains. There were broken statues huddled in one area and tapestries projecting the Belmont crest hung from every layer of the hold.

"Wow." Sypha breathed, eyes unable to stay focused on one area as she struggled to take in everything she could see.

"That's...a lot." Adrian choked out, golden eyes also looking at everything he could. A familiar twisted feeling rose up within him at the sight, a feeling of confliction. Yes, everything was amazing, especially to his young and inquisitive mind. However, at the same time, this was a labyrinth of information dedicated to years of information of killing his kind. The bones suspended made him shiver slightly. He did not recognize the creature and, while he would love to know more about it, was desturbed at the thought it was hunted and brought back to be a trophy of some sort.

"How are we going to find anything in this place?" Sypha wondered, turning to look at Trevor who was gazing at the hold with a faraway look in his blue eyes.

He blinked at her question before turning to head down the stairs, the other two scrambling to follow him. "There's an index on the lectern at the bottom. Afterall, there's...generations of information here. All the knowledge about that we have found and learned since the days of Leon Belmont."

"Amazing!" Sypha breathed, her pace picking up to reach the bottom of the stairs. Adrian remained a step behind the two, unable to help the small shiver he felt as he descended the stairs himself.

Once they reached the base floor of the hold, Sypha flew to the lectern in the room, blowing the dust from it and opening the cover, fingers flying over the words she was seeing. Trevor let his hands trail over the dusty shelves in memory, before a broken shelf caught his eye. Moving closer, his eyes widened at the chest behind it.

"It can't be." He breathed, knocking away the remaining pieces of wood in front of it.

"What is it?" Sypha called over to him, but he didn't reply, focusing on pulling the chest out from the cobweb covered opening. Once he had it in the center of the room, he used a knife to break open the lock on the front. With a click, it fell off and the chest lit up. When the glow faded, Trevor opened the chest and laughed joyfully at what was inside.

"I can't believe it!" Trevor cried, fingering the chain in his hands.

"What?" Sypha called again, this time glancing up from the book. At the chain whip in his hand she tilts her head. "What is that?"

"This...is the Morning Star." Trevor sighed, eyes gleaming. "I can't believe they hid it."

Rolling her eyes Sypha turned back to the book, eyes tracing over the pages open before her. Soon, she realized that the book indeed seemed to categorize everything within the hold and her eyes sparkled at the information. "It's all here. You're right!"

"Of course I am." Trevor huffed.

"Isn't all of this amazing Adrian?" Sypha exclaimed, her gaze seeking out the young boy only for the excitement to fade away when she found him. His small form was standing in front of a large shelving unit covered with glass. His arms were wrapped around his chest as though he could comfort himself as his gaze was locked on the components of the shelves. Within the glass sat dozens of vampire skulls, their soulless eye sockets gazing back out with a chilling blackness.

"Adrian, why don't you step away from there." Sypha called, but the boy did not listen. Instead, he allowed the reflection of his confused gaze to meet theirs in the glass.

"Why...Why do you have so many bones?" He asked, voice wavering slightly. "Why...so many skulls?"

Trevor froze and even Sypha turned to him, hoping he would be able to comfort the child.

"Er...well...um, we took them for research, so we knew what we were up against. As hunters, we needed to be prepared to fight off creatures of the night."

"But...there are so many skulls…"

"Perhaps there were changes in the vampires over time or...something….uh…" Trevor trailed off. Honestly, most of those skulls were probably trophies more than the subjects of research. He remembered some stories he was told when he was younger, about the great dangers that were faced and the trophies his ancestors had to remember their struggle.

"Something...like trophies or a warning…."

Trevor winced. Right. Despite the kid being young, he wasn't an idiot.

"Look, Adrian-"

"I know...I know some people do that." Adrian muttered, gaze still distantly staring into the case. "Even my father did that...in the past."

"Adrian-"

"My mother didn't like to tell me about it, but I heard some." Adrian continued, not listening to the older people in the room. "But...it's hard not to hear when that's what your dad is famous for. I heard how he would put people on pikes outside his castle and in places he attacked. Almost like his symbol...but my mom changed him...she made sure he stopped...so no one innocent got hurt."

"And that's what my family did, Adrian, what we are doing now." Trevor spoke slowly, "We hunted those that hurt the innocent."

"But how do you know they were all dangerous?" Adrian whispered. As he had been talking, both Sypha and Trevor had moved closer, wanting to pull the young gaze away from the case of horrors. It was as they grew closer that they saw what he was looking at. That golden gaze was centered on one of the skulls in specific. This skull was much smaller than the others around it, with larger eye sockets as though it had still been developing. Even the fangs were small, tiny pricks in the jaw.

This time, they both winced.

"Adrian listen to me," Trevor spoke up, swallowing back in nervousness. "Listen when I say my family only hunted monsters that were attacking innocent people."

"But how do you know the monsters weren't innocent?" Adrian bit back, eyes flickering to Trevor for a moment. "You got your information from people, right? From humans?"

"Yes, but we also looked into it ourselves." Trevor replied. "We only hunted what was deemed a danger to innocent people and even to other night creatures in some cases. If anyone ever hurt an innocent night creature, they should be rolling in their grave. But I know we only killed what was considered a threat."

"And what about the humans?" Adrian asked, fits clenching.

"What?"

"What about the humans, who did wrong?" His eyes flashed and his teeth gritted. "What about the humans who hurt us? You said this war is hurting innocents, but why are all humans seen as innocent and we are all seen as monsters who need to be killed!"

"Now, wait, not all humans are innocent." Trevor shot back. "In fact, there are a lot of shitty humans. People who think killing others are shitty, the fucking church is shitty! Not all humans are innocent! I'm talking about the ones who kill the children who do nothing. The parents, who only want to care for their children-"

"But if they are innocent, why do they follow those who are evil!?" Adrian shot back, tears in his eyes. "Why do they sit back and let it happen? If they are innocent, why did they let your family be hunted down?!" It was more the words then the harsh tone that made Trevor flinch back as that golden gaze turned from him to Sypha. "Why did they...hic...w-why...why did they let them kill my mom?" His voice was choked off at the end, trailing off as tears made their way down his cheeks.

"Oh, Adrian…" Sypha sighed, her own eyes prickling as she moved closer.

Adrian wiped at his eyes, his wrist hovering over one as though it would keep the tears at bay. "S-She...she just w-wanted to help...help people! Hic...w-why di-d they...they kill her? W-Why did th-they che-er a-and…"

"Sh...sh, come here." Sypha cooed, pulling the sobbing boy into her arms and shuffling them away from the case of skulls.

"W-Why…?"

"Some people...they just don't know about these things." Sypha said softly, stroking his blonde locks. "And they get scared of new and different things. But they are not really bad. They are just scared."

"...T-They don't...know?" Adrian blinked, those words sounding familiar but couldn't place it. It was more than just the words themselve, but the content in which they were being said.

"That's right. Just like...how you were confused over the village. You didn't know more than what you were taught. It is the same with people. They don't know sometimes what they are doing, but that doesn't mean they should be hurt."

"...they don't know…" The words were whispered as Adrian began to calm down.

As his sobs tapered off and all that remained were some soft sniffles, Adrian pulled himself out of Sypha's arms. His own came back up to hug himself, and his gaze stuck to the floor.

"I'm sorry." He muttered to Trevor.

The man in return ran a hand through his hair and he replied. "It's...alright. I understand." All too well. "And I'll say this again, but I won't hurt anything that doesn't deserve it, alright? And I'll only kill the threats that need to be killed. Ok?"

"Ok."

"Now, beat up a few idiots here and there…" This got a small laugh from the boy.

"Trevor." Sypha sighed.

"What? I'm being honest with the kid. I'll only kill the real big threats, but a punch here or there won't do any harm."

"You can punch my dad when we get to him." Adrian spoke up, making the two look back at him.

"Huh?" Trevor asked.

"My dad. When we get to him, and after I talk to him and make him understand, then you can punch him for being an idiot." Adrian responded. "After all, if he stops being a threat, then you don't have to kill him."

"Adrian-"

"Do you want to take a moment before we start looking?" Sypha asked, interrupting Trevor before he could say anything. "Drink some water?"

"No," Adrian replied. "No we...we need to start looking. We need to find things that can help us get to the castle, right?"

"Yes."

"Then we should do that." Adrian huffed, a new determined look on his face. Sypha couldn't help but admire the strength of this boy. In the course of a few days, everything he knew was torn out from under him and, despite the break downs (which were understandable if you asked her), he pulled himself back up to continue their mission, a mission that wasn't even his to begin with.

"...Ok," Sypha replied, "Can you start by going to this section?" She moved them over to the book and showed him the section she was talking about. "We'll split up, try to see what we can find."

With a determined nod, Adrian took off.

Left behind, the two humans watched him take off and waited for him to be long out of their sight before talking in hushed tones.

"Trevor-"

"You're really going to let him think we can save Dracula?"

"Trevor-"

"Sypha, look-"

"No, listen." She cut him off, voice firm. "I know that it probably won't happen. Dracula has done too much to just...let him go. But...Adrian was so hopeful. But I did warn him that...that talking to him might not...make him listen."

"Sypha, do you want to know why Leon came here, to Wallachia?"

"Why?"

"He was hunting Dracula." Trevor stated, staring her in the eye. "He was hunting Dracula because the man had destroyed countless towns and torn apart many people. Adrian wasn't wrong when he said people would be found staked on a stick like a warning sign. And someone like that, someone who takes the time to make a message out of those he kills and any other twisted thing he did is not someone who just turns a new leaf. I bet that, when Adrian said his mother was able to make him a better person, that she changed him, that he just toned it down. Dracula probably came to tolerate the humans for his wife and kept anything he did small and unknowable. Oh, I'm sure he took care of his family, loved them and all of that, but he won't just change at a snap of someone's fingers, no matter how much he loves them.

"You think he still killed people."

"Probably, just wasn't sticking them on pikes." Trevor huffed crossing his arms. "You don't become Lord of the Vampires for nothing. And he definitely didn't just give up that title. And to escalate to where we are now," He shook his head. "You definitely needed to have some hatred before the death of your wife and torture of your son. And with Adrian out of his sight? He's probably going even more bat shit crazy. I doubt he'll listen to anything."

"Well, what do you want to do?" Sypha huffed. "I warned Adrian, but he isn't just going to give up on his father."

"Of course not." Trevor replied. "That's fucking obvious."

"Well, then?"

Trevor threw his hands up. "Don't look at me. I don't...comfort people."

Sypha sighed, rubbing her fingers on her nose. "I will think about it. I guess, until we find an answer to the castle situation, we have time." Shaking her head, she moved to the index once more. "Come on, this is your library. Help me start looking."


Adrian was scouring the shelves before him as he looked for anything that might give him a clue about magical teleportation and anything that could relate back to the castle. His skin crawled whenever he came across some odd knickknack here or there, especially when it seemed to be the remains of some creature. But he swallowed his fear down. He was still a little embarrassed by his breakdown earlier, the horror of what he had seen getting to him. He needed to be strong, needed to be strong enough to get back to his dad and talk to him.

After all, if his dad just understood things like he was beginning to understand, then maybe he wouldn't be as angry at the people. Maybe he won't be considered a threat anymore and Trevor and Sypha won't have to kill him.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, the corner of his eye caught sight of one of the lanterns on the wall. The flame inside made him flinch and shiver, adding to the crawling feeling on his skin. Swallowing, he tried to shake off his fear, closing his eyes to block off the sight of the flame. It was just like the torches in his home, small and manageable flames. It won't do anything.

His fingers clenched into his arms when they came up as a shield. His teeth gritted, tense and agitated. He has had too many breakdowns. He needed to be strong. His father had always said it was alright, that he would protect him and that Adrian could take his time with his fear, but his father wasn't here. Sure, Trevor and Sypha were trying to help him as well, but he couldn't keep falling apart on them, especially when they needed his help to get back to the castle. He needed to be strong to fight against anything that may want to hurt Sypha and Trevor. After all, that night creature didn't listen to him before, so what if there were too many attacking Sypha and Trevor? He needed to be able to fight.

He couldn't let his fear of fire pull him down. Not again. After all, that's how he got captured in the first place.

Digging his nails into his arms, Adrian forced himself to look into the flame before him, to be strong. Strong like Sypha, like Trevor, like his father, like...like his mother.

The thought of his mother made him flinch back slightly from the flames, those memories tearing at his mind once more. His breathing picked up a bit and echoes of his mother's screams reached his ears. However, there was something different to them this time, some other words sparking through the crackling of the flames and shouting of the people.

Gritting his teeth, he looked back at the flame. He just wanted to know-!

To know. Something about that clicked in his brain and he could hear suddenly past the screams of the people. Words he had understood at the time they were being said, but was too traumatized to process them fully before fear took over completely.

"Please!" She cried. "Spare them! If you can hear...hear me, d-don't harm them-AH!" Her breaths came out as a combination of pants and coughs through her cries of pain and tears. "D-Don't hurt them, plea-Ah-se! They do not know what they...they are doing!"

The words showed through very clearly. Though the image that came with the words was fuzzy and any focusing on the event made his conscious mind back off in warning, the words still come through to him.

His mother had told him that, hadn't she? That these people did not understand, did not know what they were doing was wrong. That these people were innocent. And Adrian knew this even if he could not remember his own response to the words at that time. Now he understood that they were innocent, just clueless. They all didn't need to be hurt.

Besides, he didn't want to see people hurt. Not really.

And his mother didn't want that either.

Taking a shuddering breath, Adrian looked away from the flames. They still sent a shiver up his spine from where they flickered in the corner of his vision, fear of the pain they were associated with still very fresh, but he remembered now. He always knew his mother had been strong from him during the attack, but now he remembered her strength even as...even as that happened to her (thinking of her charred remains still sent his mind into a shock, still unwilling to process that with an open mind).

His mother had been strong and wanted to help him understand the chaos around him.

Now, it was his turn to help his father understand.

Notes:

And there you go. Another really long chapter! With some foreshadowing, of course. Also I cried a bit as I wrote it, but I won't say where.

So Adrian has had a small revelation. Yay. also, I meant for this chapter to have more, but then the whole emotional stuff happened and it reached over 5000 words so I was like, alright we'll do more next chapter.

Also, yes, I know I have made Adrian cry a lot. But look at it this way. the kid watched his mom burn alive and was tortured at the same time a year before this, got some ptsd, had been with his dad since because the humans are scary, got ripped/kidnapped from his home via his worst fear, left in the middle of no where, found by the person who is supposed to kill his kind, stays with them, sees a scary village covered in blood, finds out that his dad is doing some bad stuff and not all people are bad, and has had to face both his fear and the Belmont hold in less then probably three or four days. Maybe more, maybe less. And in all of this he is a 10 year old (body and mind slightly older!). Kid is allowed to break down.

Also, heads up, I do plan to go into season three with this story. That said, it should give you some idea where this is going as well as the fact that shit isn't going to get necessarily easier for Adrian. Now, some things will definitely not happen (cough sumixtakaxadrian cough no smut, let alone underage smut thank you very much. Not getting that here) but that also means new things will happen!

SO yeah, heads up.

Feel free to comment and stuff.

Until next time! :D

Chapter 10: S2

Notes:

Soo, this is another chapter!
I don't own castlevania!
So, I know I've been gone but I've been super busy with school lately. So I haven't had a lot of time to write but! I do have two chapters for you all! It was originally one chapter but I was like...eh...split that up. SO, you all get two chapters from me with in a span of a few minutes! You're welcome!
Thank you for all the reviews and readings and follows and everything!
Onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Hector shivered as he walked out onto the open pathway of the castle, the cold winds of the castle's current position whipping past him. He wrapped his arms around himself in an effort to keep warm while mentally questioning why he had agreed with Carmilla to talk out here.

"Dracula respects my skills." He spoke up moving further across the walkway. "And the humans cast me out long ago. Why would I go against his wishes?"

"Dracula has failed his own people." Carmilla said, moving through the frigid air easily. "He believes he fell in love with a human woman. He took a pet. You see that, don't you?"

Hector frowned. "I believe he loved her. He is capable of love. That's the source of his conviction. That, and his love for Adrian. Afterall, he made a family with her, a son of his own flesh and blood. That's not an easy feat for a vampire."

"If you love something, you act to keep it with you for as long as you can." Carmilla replied, gesturing to the human before clenching her fist. "Instead he allowed her to be killed by other humans, and for those same humans to torture his own son."

"He wasn't there." Hector defended, breathing onto his hands to warm them up.

"He wasn't, no." Carmilla hummed. "He was travelling as a human at her whim. Not once did he move to protect her, not once did he consider making her a vampire and bringing her into our community."

"It was her wish, from what I understand." Hector replied. "Besides, he no doubt wanted her to be able to help Adrian as best as she could, especially since he is a dhampir, something so rare that even Dracula, himself, did not have complete knowledge of."

"But even if he did turn her, would she still not have the knowledge she held as a human?" Carmilla asked. "Would she not be able to care for her son, to protect if not better than she had as a human? Would they have had to suffer the way they had?"

Hector did not turn to look at her.

Carmilla sighed. "You are loyal to Dracula and the night world, aren't you?" This caused Hector to look back at her, questions in his eyes. "You would have protected her, just as you tried to protect their son."

"Of course I would have." Hector defended, almost looking hurt at the idea of him doing the opposite. Turning away from Carmilla once more, Hector began to walk back into the warmth of the castle, the vampire's heels clicking behind him.

"Of course you would." She parroted, wistfully breathing out the words. "But on some level...he considers us less important, considers his son's health less important, than the short life of a mistreated pet. Does that sound sane to you?"

"Its...he's...just confused." Hector stumbled as his mind took in the words. While the words themselves he did not see himself in agreement with, at least not entirely, there was something...compelling about the vampire's words. He shook his head slightly as he entered the castle and continued down the long, darkened hall.

"And now he has taken us to war." Carmilla sighed as though the notion was ridiculous. "Should this war be prosecuted by a confused man? A man, who continues to spiral now that his son was taken from his home?"

"I...I don't know." Hector replied, wanting to get away from her words but could feel his confidence in Dracula break down with each word Carmilla spoke.

For a few seconds, Carmilla was silent. Hector almost let out a relieved breath at the quiet when she spoke up once more, fading before him out of the shadows near the staircase.

"Has it occurred to you," She hummed behind him, unfazed by the way he continued to walk past her. "That you, yourself, a loyal servant of the night world, prized asset in our lives and wars, are in fact...next to die."

Hector froze at the bottom of the stairs, breath leaving his chest in a woosh. "What?!"

Carmilla gazed down at him as if he were to be pitied. "You're human, Hector." The way she said human was drawled out as though hitting home a point that should have been obvious to the Devil Forgemaster. Offended, Hectored turned away from Carmilla once more, only to step back as she materialized from the shadows once again.

"You threw your lot in with us because it was your path to greatness and joy." She continued despite Hector walking past her once more. "But your loyalty counts as nothing when a man has decreed death to all humans, yet would not make his lover vampire, rampages across the continent in mad fury!" At this Hector froze and Carmilla came up behind him. "I ask you again, does that sound sane to you?"

Hector clenched his fists and turned to Carmilla. "He promised me that this would be a cull, that humans would be reduced in numbers and controlled."

"Now Hector, you don't truly believe that, do you?" She cooed. "You saw how lost he was when the humans first killed his wife and hurt his son. While the war he rages is planned, it is merciless. And now that his son has been taken? Rather than sending out a search party, he continues to slaughter any human his forces come across whether they are in relation to the current situation or not."

"H-He's upset." Hector defended, but even his own words seemed hollow to himself.

"If he's upset now, then what do you think will happen should he never find his son?" Carmilla asked, eyes narrowing. "What do you think he'll do, should the humans have killed his son?"

"There is no proof of that!"

"That doesn't mean it is not a possibility!" Carmilla shot back. "This is war, Hector. Whether we like it or not, the worst case is a possibility. And Hector, I know that you realize what will happen if they kill his son. The blood will stain the land more deeply then what has already happened. There will be no human left alive for the wrong they will commit. And what, do you think he will listen to you should this happen? Do you think that Dracula would listen to a human? He'd slaughter you on the spot."

"I-...I just want to do my work Carmilla." Hector replied after a few moments of silence. He couldn't deny that there was a possibility of Adrian dying out there, possibly already being dead, but he didn't want to dwell on those thoughts. Turning forcefully away from the vampire, Hector began to quickly make his way to his forge, but he knew that the other was right behind him.

"I know you do." She sighed as though understanding his struggle. "And I have a way of ensuring you will continue to do it. You just have to answer one question for me."

Once again, Hector's hands clenched into fists out of his frustration towards the female. Why couldn't she just leave him alone already? "And what's that?"

"Are you prepared to abandon Dracula to win the war?"

He acted without thinking. Before he knew it, Hector was pulling Carmilla into his forge, hand tight around her wrist while his ears were pricked for any sign of Dracula's men. After enough time passed that showed there was no sign of them being hunted down, Hector turned back to Carmilla.

"You don't say something like that outloud in this place." He hissed, eyes narrowed at the female vampire.

"What matters more?" Carmilla shot back, her own hand forming claws in her anger. "Wiping the earth of the human's you hate and submitting to your own death, or coddling a broken, old man?!" She narrowed her eyes even further at him. "The castle must land at Braila, Hector."

"Why?"

"You won't do it just because I wish it?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Fine. Braila is a major city. If we take Braila, we further cripple the humans. Not only that, but should Dracula's son be anywhere, I would not be surprised if he was taken there as one of the remaining cities."

"What does any of this have to do with abandoning Dracula?"

Carmilla sighed. "Should we land in Braila, Dracula will no doubt send out his army. At that time, my own army will come and seize the castle. As I said before, he is not sane. The castle and control of the war needs to be taken from his hands, but he will not give it up without a fight. You know this. Letting me take control will not only ensure your life, but it will also take this weight from the old man's shoulders."

Hector watched her in silence before closing his eyes with his own sigh. "Dracula is powerful. Your forces alone may not be enough."

"Your right." She leaned in closer. "Brilliant Hector." She turned to the pile of bodies that sat in the forge. "They may not be, but that is why I must ask you to do something for me."


Trevor brushed away the tarp that was hung before him, eyebrows furrowing at the sight of the cracked mirror behind it. "What the hell is this?"

"You don't know?" Sypha piped up from behind him, eyes looking through the book in her hand.

"I don't know." Trevor replied back with a sigh.

Sypha turned to him, pushing the book back onto the shelf. "This is your house."

Trevor wiped the dust from the reflective surface before crossing his arms and turning to Sypha as she approached. "Do you know everything in your house?"

"I don't have a house."

"It's true." Adrian's voice came from above them, making them look above the bookshelf. "She's a speaker. They're nomads."

"It was a rhetorical question." Trevor grumbled up at the boy. "Also, what are you doing up there?"

"I was reading." Adrian replied like it was obvious.

"But why up there?"

"Why not?"

"Just…" Trevor took a deep breath. "Just tell me what the mirror is."

"It was a magic mirror." Sypha said, leaning in closer to the object before her.

"It might be a distance mirror." Adrian said, hopping down to land besides the two. "My father has one. He can even travel through it."

"Is this one like his?" Sypha asked, trying to understand the ruins etched into the frame.

Adrian hummed as he leaned in closer, eyes trailing over each of the ruins. "I don't think so? I think there are more ruins in my dad's mirror. It also floats, though, so it can be something else. But...it might be able to just view things." His eyes lit up with a realization. "We can use it to find the castle!"

"But it needs to work in order to do that." Trevor replied, gesturing to the shattered parts of the mirror.

Adrian turned back to him. "That shouldn't matter. As long as the runes are workable, then we should be able to find the castle."

"Do you know enough about the runes to make the mirror work?" Sypha asked. "I know some, but I think you may have more experience with magic mirrors then I do."

Adrian bit his lip. "I know some? I mean, some of them probably need to be redrawn anyway with how long it's been down here, but it might help if I have a book with runes."

"Then we'll find that!" Sypha cheered. "There has to be at least one down here, especially with all the spells Trevor's family has around here."


Sypha sighed as she put another book back onto the shelf she was near. Her eyes felt heavy though she had no way of knowing what time it was since the hold was so far underground. Rubbing her eyes, Sypha moved away from the shelf and began making her way towards the center of the library where she last saw Trevor. As she moved past shelf after shelf, a flash of gold shown in the corner of her eye. Turning to look down yet another path framed by bookshelves, Sypha saw the sleeping figure of Adrian curled up on the floor, an open book fallen next to him.

A gentle smile took over her lips as she crossed the small distance between them and knelt down besides the sleeping child. Looking him over, she could tell from his peaceful expression that it seemed no nightmares were bothering him at this moment. As much as she wanted to move him, she didn't know if there was a more comfortable place other than the floor in this labyrinth of information, nor did she want to disturb what little rest he was getting, especially with the emotional outburst he had however long ago when they first entered the Belmont Hold.

With one last glance at the sleeping dhampir, Sypha continued on her way. At some point in her tired walk, Trevor's voice called softly out to her before she spotted him.

"You ok?"

Sypha closed her eyes. "Tired."

"Sleep then." He replied from his spot on the floor.

She bit her lip. "A bit...lonely." Now that she thought about it, she always had the company of her caravan. She hadn't noticed during her research, but being without them for so long made her a bit homesick.

Trevor opened his eyes from where he had been resting on the floor to stare at the small candle he had placed in front of him to keep him somewhat warm and the area lit up. His arm moved to hold open the sheet he had wrapped around himself. "My dusty old sheet has room for two." He said. "And...no one was ever lonely in this house."

Sypha let another soft smile grace her lips as she moved to sit beside Trevor. "Thank you."

They sat in silence for a few seconds before Trevor spoke up. "Is Adrian asleep?"

"Yes." Sypha replied just as softly. "Which is good. He's had a...rough few days."

Trevor hummed in agreement. Then, after a few beats, he asked, "Have you...figured out what we should tell the kid?"

"When did that responsibility fall on me?" Sypha huffed.

"When we both agreed I can't do the whole comfort thing."

"Right…" Sypha sighed. "I haven't really thought about it, my mind being focused on getting to the castle in the first place. Not only that but...I don't want to think about it. I don't really want to think about any of it. I mean, we might have to take away the only parent from Adrian, even if it's for the good of the world, but what then? We can't just leave him, but what if he wants nothing to do with us? I mean, obviously he wouldn't but then what will he do?" Her hands came up to bury her face into them. "I don't want to hurt him, Trevor. I don't want him to lose his family."

Trevor groaned. "Trust me, Sypha, I don't want to orphan the kid either."

Sypha shifted closer to Trevor in the blanket. "How about this? No matter what happens, we'll try to be there for Adrian. However this ends, even if Adrian hates us, we will be there for him."

"Yeah...that sounds like a plan."


"The cat's need herding, Issac." Hector spoke, turning to his fellow forgemaster. Now that they were far from the ears of the vampires, he knew he could safely attempt to speak to Isaac without much danger.

"That's a good way to get your eyes clawed out, Hector." Isaac replied, eyes narrowing slightly with his words.

"I mean it." Hector returned, coming closer to Isaac. "Dracula gave us the task of creating a war plan and, recently that is, to find his son. But...between the generals and their fighting and his own attitude…"

"And what attitude is that?" Isaac cut in, disapproval clear in his voice at such words directed towards his master.

"He doesn't care." Hector replied with a wave of his hand.

"He cares very much." Isaac returned. "He wants all of the humans to die and to get his son back. He made that very clear." He thought back to the monstrous anger that came from the man whenever his missing son was mentioned, the very obvious passion he had towards ripping the humans race apart as he scoured the land for Adrian.

"That hasn't escaped me." Hector replied, turning away from Isaac to pace. "My point is that he doesn't care how." He leaned against a tree, hand bracing himself. "And we're failing him."

Isaac quirked an eyebrow at that. "Oh?" He drawled. "Are we now." His words were more of a statement towards Hector more than a question of agreement. He truly did not see where the other was going with this.

"Yes," Hector sighed, pushing himself back upright and turning to Issac once more as he gestured with his hand. "We need to assert an order to the war. We're the agents of his rage, not paintings of it. He can't just thrash around."

Crossing his arms, Isaac leaned against a tree behind him and glared pointedly at the other forgemaster. "What do you want Hector?"

"I want to present a united front, I want a plan." Hector stated, stepping forward, coming closer to Issac with each step until he stood in front of him. "I want to move forward and get this over with in an orderly manner. I want you to agree to move on Braila."

When Hector could see that none of his words had any effect on the man before him, he sighed.

"I know that, strictly speaking, we've never been friends."

Now Isaac opened his eyes and finally spoke. "It seems counterproductive to cultivate human friends when we're engaged in the project of ending the human race."

Hector reached out to place his hand on Issac's shoulder. "But we are on the same side."

Issac looked down at the hand in disinterest. "Is this where we kiss like benedicting monks from different monasteries?"

Hector froze, eyes wide as he stared at Isaac. "I don't think I've ever heard you try to tell a joke before."

Isaac rolled his eyes as he shrugged Hector's hand from his shoulder and walked past him. "You still haven't"

Hector watched him go for a few seconds before directing his gaze down to the ground below him, eye tracking a mouse that was running past. "All Dracula is, is the sound of a warhorn. He needs us to be the clear voice over that noise. He needs us to speak in one voice."

"He needs us to be loyal." Isaac spoke up, still walking away from Hector, hand raising to block the sun out of his eyes.

Hector huffed, eyebrows furrowing. "How is it disloyal to provide the guidance he requested of us?"

Isaac took a moment to look back at Hector and say, "If it's serving you and not him" before continuing to walk away. "There are people in the court who have their own plans, their own agendas."

Hector followed after Isaac, a sigh escaping his lips as he continued to try to get Isaac to see where he was coming from. "I am loyal to him and his intent," He defended. "But he asked for a plan, and we need to give him one unambiguously." He stopped just behind Isaac's still figure and crossed his arms. "We go to Braila, prevent a diaspora by boat, and then proceed along the coast from there. Not only will that take out one of the remaining largest cities and one of the human's larger routes of both escape and defense, but it may provide any news of Adrian should his kidnappers have taken him anywhere near there. As a large populace, there is a chance that their leader could have been involved in Adrian's kidnapping."

Isaac hummed, processing the information as he gazed out over the forest the castle had currently been residing in. Nature was so peaceful without the humans, wasn't it?

"What do you say?"

"Well," Isaac mused, turning away from the forest. "It will please Carmilla so I distrust it. But, it would stop her from making mischief for the moment. And...it would get the war room pointed in the same direction. And, should the city have any ties to the attack on our Lord's son, or not, there is a benefit to its destruction." With a twisted grin, Isaac turned back to look over the forest once more. "Why, I think it would even make Godbrand smile."

Hector, oblivious to the hidden meaning of the final phrase, chuckled. "Well, don't talk me out of it."

Isaac couldn't help the small laugh that rose in his chest at those words, joining Hector in their amusement as they walked back towards the castle.

Notes:

So yeah, that's the first part! Again, could have kept them together but I felt better splitting them up. This one isn't super eventful, a lot of stuff happening with the whole manipulation on Carmilla's part.
Anywho stay tuned! There shall be another!
Feel free to comment or anything else! (though I've had a rough week. Any review will help!)
Until next time! :D

Chapter 11: S2

Notes:

Soo, this is another chapter!
I don't own castlevania!
See? I said I had two chapters for ya!
Onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"Carpathian?" Isaac inquired, fingertips gently touching the mirror as ripples followed their touch. At his question, Isaac turned away from the glass and moved towards where his master was sitting in his traditional spot in front of the fire.

"Yes, the last of the mirrors made by the Carpathian scrying hermits four hundred years ago." Dracula replied, gazing sadly at the fire.

"I must learn more about transmission mirrors one day." Isaac mused, only to pause at the look on his lord's face. After all, despite having both a transmission mirror and a communication mirror, Dracula could not find his son. The transmission mirror only viewed a place, not people, so unless Dracula knew exactly where his son was, he would be unable to use it to bring him home. While the communication mirror could be used one a specific place or person, Dracula still was unable to directly communicate with his son. There were a few moments it seemed as though he almost got through, but it would fail quickly.

Now there wasn't even a chance of it.

Perhaps, if he had a distance mirror, he'd be able to find his son without any issues, but that was the one mirror that seemed to have escaped his collection.

Letting out a sigh after a few moments of silence, Dracula replied to Isaac's musing. "There will be time enough, soon the world will be silent." And his son will be in his arms once again.

"God, yes." Isaac agreed with a relieved groan. His hand raised to pinch at the bridge of his nose. "Listening to Hector made me wish for a lifeless world all on his own."

Dracula chuckled at that. "I find myself wishing you two were better friends. I know my son would wish that too."

Isaac turned towards Dracula at that. "Yes, well, as I said to him, making human friends seems a little pointless given our current pursuit?"

"True." Dracula hummed, closing his eyes. "But in the end, there will be only you and him."

Isaac looked away. "Presumably." Turning back to the fire, Isaac addressed the issue he had come here for. "He'll be coming here to approve a move on Braila."

Dracula opened his eyes at this. "Why?"

"Hector doesn't like it when the animals fight." Isaac replied, crossing his arms behind his back. He really did not see any real motivation to this attack other than to appease Carmilla. "Carmilla has the court whipped up. Discord is loud. It bothers him."

"Is he still loyal?"

"Oh, I think so." Isaac replied. He never doubted Hector's loyalty, just his ability to resist being manipulated. The man was like a puppy. Loyal to his owner but easily swayed by a few treats from a threat "There is betrayal abroad in the court, but Hector is a simpler creature than that. He just doesn't like the arguing."

Dracula looked away. "So the generals are going to betray me."

"No," Isaac growled, getting Dracula to look back at him as his face gained a shadow of anger. "If anyone actually approached the verge of that, they would be taken care of without you ever finding out about it my Lord." Taking a breath, he continued. "It is simply in the air because they are frustrated."

Knowing his forgemaster, Dracula knew he spoke the truth. It wouldn't surprise him if such action had already been taken, but he did not care if it had been. If it has nothing to do with finding his son or the destruction of the human race, then it did not warrant his attention. Nothing mattered but those two things.

"So," He drawled, hand coming up to rest his head on his fist. "If I let them go to Braila they'll stop scheming and whining."

"I think so. It will give Carmilla some power, but that is not a bad thing."

"No. The war room will speak to you and Hector in one voice instead of a dozen."

"Indeed. And at the end of the day, you don't care so long as the war continues."

Dracula let out a long, suffering sigh, one hand coming to cover his face as the other waved through the air in dismissal. "Fine then." He slouched more into his chair, a picture of a weary, tired man. "I'm tired Isaac. There was a time I would relish the details, oh, there was a time. A time when the smallest details of death delighted me." His voice turned wistful as he fell back into a memory. "I remember when the merchants of Kronstadt disrespected me. Spending the delicious few days gathering information about the town, and drawing my plans. Stealing at the river at night, setting fires in the town knowing that the merchantmen would send their wives and children out, but then go and retrieve their valuable goods before making their escape."

His eyes grew distant as he recalled the satisfaction that filled him as their screams met his ears and their blood decorated his skin as it rained from their necks. The fun he had as he hunted down each person and danced around their pitiful attempts of fighting back. "Forty of them had offended me. At the time, I saw no reason to harm anybody other than those forty." A smirk grew on his face as he remembered placing each body upon its pike, some already dead, some wishing to die quickly. "And I painted my picture accordingly."

The smirk dropped from his face. "Yet now, now I don't care how they are slaughtered, whether it is quick or painful. I do not care about the aftermath or the plans put into place, just that the result is their death." His hand clenched, and his voice hardened, angry at himself. "I can't even care to hunt down my son myself, only that he is found! I'm so tired, Isaac! So tired that I can't even bring myself to go out there and slaughter all in my path until my boy is in my arms! I only care for him to be here."

Perhaps that is why his mirror can not find his son. How do you communicate with something that in your heart (as dead as it is) you can only hope is alive? Despite the rage he has at the loss of his son (perhaps the only thing keeping him going at this moment), he is so distant, so detached from any care that he can't even put the effort to go out there and track down his son, that he can only order so from the darkness of his castle. A sigh left him as he slumped further into his chair.

Isaac, hoping to provide his master with some sort of ease, spoke. "You cannot hunt what you cannot find. At least with you here, one goal can be achieved much easier."

"Let us just conclude this thing." Dracula grumbled as the sound of footsteps outside his door reached his ears.

The door opened and Carmilla and Hector entered, Carmilla leading the two. She looked from Isaac to the chair where Dracula sat before addressing the forgemaster.

"Isaac," She said. "We were looking for you."

Isaac took a few steps toward her, before crossing his arms in front of him as he spoke. "I was admiring the mirror."

Carmilla shot the mirror a questioning look at those words before directing her attention to the man in the chair. "My Lord Dracula."

"My Lo-"

"Yes, yes, we all know who we are." Dracula cut in with a wave of his hand. "What do you all want?"

Carmilla frowned at being so dismissed easily but at seeing Isaac's shrug, pushed it aside. "Very well. Hector?"

Hector nodded and stepped forward a bit. "We would ask you to consider moving the castle to Braila to conduct a full scale destructive attack on the port."

"To what end?" Dracula asked, looking down at his hand.

Carmilla stepped forward with a wave of her hand. "To seal it and discourage escape by river to the sea. Then we turn inland having landlocked the humans and turn their country into a prison."

Dracula looked at Isaac. "I agree. They make a good case. It unites the court, it lets us move forward."

"Not only that, but without any way to escape, you have a better chance of finding Adrian." Carmilla pipped up, her words making Dracula's hands clench. "With the humans trapped, you are bound to find the ones responsible for his abduction."

Isaac could not stop the glare he sent her way, but before he could speak, his master spoke. "Braila, fine, Braila it is. I no longer have the strength for these petty decisions, nor do I have the patience to put up with speculation about where my son is. I don't want speculation, I want him found. So, I will let you amuse yourselves by going to Braila ourselves, so long as they all die. Should my son be there, then he is to be brought back, but otherwise just get this over with. All that matters is they all have to die."

Carmila smirked and nodded to Hector to leave. Before she left herself, she took a moment to address the figure in the chair. "Thank you. A great victory awaits-"

"Yes, yes," Dracula cut her off. "I'm tired. Tell me when you're ready for me to move the castle to Braila and get on with it."

Isaac watched the two leave and after moving to close the door once more for his master, he returned to Dracula's side. "I will stay, Dracula, until this is done."

"It doesn't matter." Dracula whispered, head hanging so that his hair framed his face. "So long as they all die. That's all. They all have to die."


"Sooooo…" Trevor drew out as he sat next to where Adrian was working on the distance mirror in the middle of the hold. Trevor himself was examining a case of weapons he had found on one of the shelves.

Adrian glanced up from where he was looking at one of the runes in the book beside him. They had successfully found a book in the hold containing information on distance mirrors and the associated runes. There had also been a book that just contained runes so he had them both open to make sure he was carving the correct working into the mirror. "Yes?'

"When we do get to the castle, what exactly is the plan?" Trevor asked, glancing at the boy from the corner of his eye before looking back down at the knife in his hand.

Adrian furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well….I mean, it's not like we're going to be invited inside."

"No, you won't." Adrian huffed before looking down at the book again.

"Right…"

"But I will."

"Wait, what?" Trevor gasped, his head snapping to look at the boy.

Adrian sighed, shoulders heaving with the action. "I mean, I can get in just fine. Unlike you, no one will attack me. I'll just go in and talk with my dad."

"Right, and if that doesn't work?"

Adrian blinked. "But it will."

"Sure, but if it doesn't? What then? You expect us to just wait outside until your dad feels like stopping the war?" Trevor raised an eyebrow at the kid. "Hate to break it to you kid, but we kinda need him to stop as soon as possible."

"He'll stop." Adrian huffed. "He has to."

"I don't think that's how it's going to work." Trevor ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Look, how about, you hang in here while we deal with your dad."

"What?! No!" Adrian exclaimed. "He's not going to listen to you! You're a human! And a Belmont! He'll kill you!"

"Then I'll kill him!"

"You can't!" Adrian's voice grew as he shouted at Trevor, hands clenched. "I'll make him listen! Everything will be fine! You don't need to kill my dad!"

"We can't let him keep killing humans! You have to see that's fucking bad, right?" Trevor shot back.

"I-"

"Trevor Belmont! What did you do!?" Sypha's voice called from one of the balconies. Looking up, the two saw her, arms cross and a frown on her face with a book in one of her hands.

"I was just trying to get some planning done!" Trevor shouted back, arms waving around in frustration.

"He was saying that I can't talk to my dad!" Adrian shouted up, pointing at Trevor. "He said he'd kill him!"

Using her free hand, Sypha rubbed her forehead as she cursed under her breath.

"Well, I'm sorry for wanting to keep the brat safe!"

"I'll be fine! My dad wouldn't let anything happen to me!"

"Ok, stop! Both of you stop!" Sypha cut in once more. "Now, Adrian, I can see where Trevor is coming from, even if he went about it in a really stupid way."

"Hey!"

"I also don't want to put you in danger." Sypha continued, ignoring Trevor's protest.

Adrian crossed his arms. "My dad won't hurt me. Plus, I can defend myself." He pointed at his sword that was resting on the ground next to him."

"Right, and going off of that, I can also see where you're right." Sypha appeased. "How about this, depending on the state of the castle when we get there, we'll go from there. If it's super dangerous, you wait. If it seems safe, we'll let you go in first."

Adrian huffed. "But-"

"We aren't going to hurt your dad, not without you talking to him first." Sypha said, giving a small smile to the boy.

"Well, unless he tries to kill us." Trevor grumbled.

"Trevor."

"What?!" Trevor shot back. "I'm just being fucking honest! I'm not going down without a fight!"

Again, Sypha sighed at the man before moving the book she was holding out in front of her. "Anyway, I originally came to tell you two that I found something."

"What is it?" Trevor asked as both he and Adrian gave her their full attention.

"I think I found a locking spell." She exclaimed, her body now animated with excitement as she got to share her discovery. "Listen. Your family has an entire literature here about the castle. They tried for centuries to eliminate its main advantage, that it transports itself through magical means." She had begun to make her way down to them as she ranted, opening the book where her finger had been marking the page.

"Right. You can't attack it if it jumps somewhere else through magical means." Trevor said, getting up to meet Sypha as she was growing closer to them.

"It's pretty cool though, especially when you're in the castle." Adrian supplied, getting two raised eyebrows in return. "What?"

Sypha let out a small snort. "Nothing. Anyway, some clever Belmont formulated most of a locking spell, a method to catch the castle and lock it down to a single location so it can be invaded."

"Most of it?" Adrian asked, tilting his head.

"I can finish the final clauses of it myself. It's all based on Adamical structure!"

"Adamic?" Adrian's head tilted even more. "I don't recognize that, and my dad speaks a lot of languages."

"Yes, well, Adamic is the original human language." Sypha replied, coming closer to the boy who stood up to see the book. "The one spoken by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The one that was split into all other languages at the Tower of Babel by God to prevent human cooperation."

"Huh?"

"See, we Speakers are the enemy of God. We live in cooperation and hide our stories inside ourselves so God cannot strike them down in jealousy."

"I've never heard that before." Trevor said and a nod of agreement came from Adrian. Just then, a large boom echoed through the hold.

Sypha quirked an eyebrow and gestured up at the ceiling. "See? God hates me."

More crashes and slams sounded from above, so strong that it shook the entire keep and dust rained down upon the group from above. Over and over they echoed and shook, so much so that the skeleton hanging from the ceiling started to swing. Joining the battering, a faint demonic cry came above.

"I don't think that's God." Trevor said, hand on his whip. Quickly, he turned to both Sypha and Adrian. "Can we get that magic mirror working?"

"I think so." Sypha said, glancing quickly between the open books on the floor and the mirror itself. "But I can't do two things at once."

"I'll finish the mirror." Adrian spoke up, moving quickly to the mirror once more. Picking up the book, he was quickly looking between it and the mirror, occasionally using a nail to etch into the edges of the mirror. "I can also look for the castle. I kind of know how to use a distance mirror. My dad didn't let me do it often, but I have done it."

"I'll finish the spell then." Sypha said.

"Great you do that!" Trevor said, eyes looking worriedly up at the ceiling. "Cause I can't do either of those things."

"You're a Belmont, right?" Adrian called over, eyes looking at him. "You can protect us."

"Thought you didn't need protection." Trevor shot back.

Adrian huffed and soon his sword was floating behind him, protecting him. "I don't! But Sypha will!"

"I almost got it!" She called over, eyes scanning the text.

"Plus," Adrian looked down. "I don't want them to destroy this place or hurt you guys, but since I can't talk to them, you need to do your job and fight them!"

"Aw, the brat cares." Trevor teased.

"Shut up." Adrian mumbled, flushing as he turned back to the mirror.

"Right, well, I'll try to buy you as much time as I can." Trevor promised and he got the Morning Star off his hip and got ready to make his way up to the entrance.

"I know you will!" Sypha called back before turning back to her book.

With that said, Trevor shot out the whip and allowed it to wrap around one of the higher walkways before propelling himself onto one of the main walkways. Then he began to dash to the entrance, losing his balance slightly as the crashes rocked the hold once again. Almost falling off the walkway, Trevor pulled himself up and continued to dash towards the entrance. When coming upon it, he looked around hoping to see something that could help barricade the door (but assuming these creatures made it through the magic door, he knew deep down a barricade would not help). After failing to set a peace of wood in front of the door, Trevor sighed and made his way out, internally groaning at the thought of the fighting he was about to do.

Making his way into the main staircase, Trevor began the long trek up the stairs.

Down in the keep, Adrian had finished checking the markings of the mirror and was now placing his hands upon the rim and imaging the castle, imagining his home. After a few seconds, the glass shifted and rather than showing himself, there was now a very familiar building before him.

"Home." Adrian breathed, a smile coming onto his face at the sight. Suddenly, a flash of blue struck his sight as the castle suddenly teleported. Adrian watched as the grassy woods the castle had originally been in changed to a city under the night sky. It seemed peaceful until a streak of blue lightning shot down with a wicked wind. Then, as quickly as it had originally vanished, the castle appeared in the middle of the city.

Back in the stairway, Trevor was huffing as he continued to climb, only to freeze as wooden beams above him began to shatter and fall. Looking up, he could see the progress of whatever demon was making its way down, forgoing the stairs and just shattering through each walkway below it.

"Oh for god's sake." Trevor cursed just as the demon shattered the walkway above him with a loud cry and fell down onto him. Moving quickly, he avoided the large demon just as it destroyed the walkway beneath him, and Trevor used Morning Star to take hold of one of the now broken beams sticking out of the wall to keep himself from falling. Pulling out his long sword, Trevor swung himself down onto the demon's back, the chain of his whip hooking around a horn, and he began to saw away at the neck of this large creature.

Of course, the night creature would not go down without a fight. Whipping its head around, it attempted to throw Trevor from its back before he could cut through its throat. In its thrashing, the demon thrust Trevor into the stair's back first, knocking the wind from the human and thus allowing it to throw Trevor from it's back. Now on the ground, Trevor groaned at the rough impact, breath still trying to return to his lungs while his back throbbed. He looked up as the demon was getting ready to slam him into the ground, but avoided it with a roll underneath it.

Taking out a small knife, he threw it at the sword lodged in the demon's neck, hoping to knock it loose. It was somewhat successful, as the sword loosened but did not fall from its neck. The demon in turn slammed its hands down to the wooden walkway, shattering the remaining path and sending both it and Trevor to the floor. With a groan, Trevor pushed himself off the ground from where he had slammed into it and watched as his sword dislodged from the throat of the beast. Racing forward and dodging the attacks from the demon, Trevor grabbed his sword and, in a swift movement, cut through the ankle of the demon.

Blood sprayed from both that wound and the one on its neck, and the demon fell to the ground with a thud. For a moment, Trevor stood there, taking a breather, but it did not last long as another night creature was quick to strike at him, falling from the broken staircase. He dodged the spear, only to get kicked onto his back just in time to see three more night creatures make their way down. Dodging the spear attack once again, Trevor began to duel with the night creature before him, before, with a swift movement, it knocked the sword from his hand.

Using just his arms to block the incoming attacks, Trevor continued to move backwards until he had a small moment to pull Morning Star back into his hand. Whipping out the chain, the demon blocked only for Trevor to wrap the chain around the sword and pull the demon in to punch it. Using his momentum, he pushed the demon onto it's back and looked up just in time to see a flying creature about to breathe fire.

"Fire drake," He huffed out. "Just what I need in an underground hole full of paper." Moving quickly, he pulled himself up, punched the demon he had been holding down away from him and thrust Morning Star up at the drake. As the end made contact, the drake burst, flames rushing from the explosion and taking out two other demons with it. The force of the explosion pushed him back as well and burst open the door to the keep. Panting, Trevor gazed through the door, taking another moment to catch his breath before he was attacked once again.

"Probably just as well I didn't get to play with the whip when I was a kid." He said to himself, turning to look at said whip. Just then, the spear demon rushed out from the door and used the weapon to keep Trevor from reaching his own. With a swift jerk, the whip was pushed toward the ledge of the landing and Trevor watched as the heavy chain pulled it down and away from him.

As the creature was also looking away, Trevor used this advantage to twist himself on the floor and kick out at the demon. Using his momentum, he was soon standing on his two feet and cracking the spear in half. Taking one end of the spear, Trevor thrust it into the demon's abdomen, pushing and twisting it to ensure the creature's death.

"When you get back to whatever steaming, underworld shithole you came from," he growled to the demon. "You tell them, there are still Belmonts up here!" With that, he thrust with all his strength into the demon's chest, then pulled the spear piece out to watch the creature die. Once it no longer moved, Trevor turned back to the doorway just in time to watch as a winged demon came flying at him. As he threw knives at it, the demon avoided them all easily then rammed into Trevor, pushing him off of the landing. Holding onto the creature, Trevor allowed it to carry him to another walkway branching out and landed, coming face to face with the bird-like being.

He swung the spear parts at him, only to be parried each time by its beak. Then, after one dodge on the creature's end, it flashed open its wings with great force, pushing Trevor away and even off of the walkway. He caught himself using the spear ends and dropped down on another wooden path, looking around for the flying creature. He heard the wings beat from behind him and with a swift move, he batted a spear part through the air and into one of the wings with a crack, knocking the beast to the ground.

He rushed at it while it was down, only for it to block his attack with its wings and show off the broken bird skull on its head. Propelling itself backwards, the creature threw Trevor over its shoulder and into a bookcase, back first once again. At this point, Trevor is amazed his back hasn't broken. Spitting and pushing himself up, Trevor flew back into melee with the night creature, which used its arms to block the attack from Trevor. The two traded blows until Trevor finally got the upper hand and thrust one spear through its head, sending it falling dead to the floor below.

Then another demon dropped down before him, looking like a giant beastly bat.

"You're an evil looking bastard, aren't you?" Trevor mused as he caught his breath a bit. "Well, I'm armed with a…" He paused, realizing it was the bottom part of the spear he had left. "With a stick. Hm? So, I'll understand if you want to run away now."

It didn't. In fact, it did the opposite.

Downstairs, Sypha was quickly sifting through books and pages before she picked up one of the sheets. "That's it!" She cried out before moving to make her way out of the bookshelves and back to the center of the room. She checked around her before running down the path only to freeze as the bat-like demon fell right in front of her. Jumping back, she got ready to defend herself only for Trevor to come flying past and into the demon, removing it from her path. Taking the chance, she rushed down to there Adrian was still gazing into the broken mirror with his sword on guard.

"Do you see the castle?" She asked, coming to stand behind him.

Adrian nodded, not looking away from the glass. "Yes! See! It's right there."

Sypha sighed. "Good. Stay focused on it, keep it in the glass. I have to be able to see it to put my intent on it."

His eyebrows furrowed and his head twitched as if wanting to turn to look at her as she put the books down only to stop when he remembered he had to remain focused on the view before him. "Intent?"

"Yes! That's all magic is, Adrian, making things change to match my intent. And my intent, it to drag that-" She paused, remembering that this was the boy's home. "To drag that thing here."

Burning the paper in her hands, the flames shifted into electricity and Sypha began to shift her hands in accordance to the spell. Adrian, though curious about what she was doing, paused when the electricity moved onto the mirror to frame the castle. From there, the blue light was pulled out from the mirror and, in Sypha's eyes, she could see a many sided object suddenly appear in her hands, her hands moving to completely cover the object.

Sypha grunted, her hands jerking as she tried to control the object, sweat dripping from her forehead. "It's ah- it's fighting me. It's like pulling against an anchor and a water wheel all at once!"

"It's probably the engine!" Adrian exclaimed, looking at her, only to jump when a large bang came from above them once again. "That's how the castle moves! It's fighting against you!"

Another boom made him look up just as the creature Trevor was fighting above them fell off the edge of the floor above them. Up there, Trevor cursed and grabbed Morning Star from where it had landed down there, thrusting it out after the demon. At the same time, Adrian had moved closer to Sypha as his sword moved to hover before him, prepared to defend back the creature. However, before it could strike, Morning Star made contact with the demon and it exploded.

Behind Adrian, Sypha slammed her hands together, still playing tug of war with the engine of the castle. "Do as you're told!" Sypha grunted at the mirror, gritting her teeth against the castle.

They watched through the mirror as the castle shifted and teleported all throughout the town it was in as the battle of magic continued. Sypha was not willing to give in though, and continued to pull it in her direction. Adrian watched as his home flashed and shifted, sparks racing across its frame just as it did across Sypha's hands.

Then, with one last flash of blue, a boom sounded from above them.

"Hah," Sypha gasped, catching her breath. "I did it!"

"Where did you put it?" Adrian asked, staring between the castle in the mirror and Sypha.

"Right on top of us!" Sypha exclaimed happily with a clap of her hands. However, she froze as some dirt started to fall from the ceiling once again, much like when the demon's were breaking in. "Uh, yes, right I landed it on the surface right above this underground space that is probably only held up by wood and dirt."

"Nice one Sypha." Trevor complimented sarcastically as he leaned over the railing above them.

"Yeah, we should go." Sypha said, taking off to the stairs. Before Adrian followed, he turned back to the mirror one last time, hand gently tracing the broken glass.

"I'm home dad."

Notes:

There ya go! Yeah, Dracula isn't doing so well... but hey, Isaac tried to help? He's not the uh...comforting type.
But! You guys realize what the next chapter holds, right? We gonna be ending season 2 here soon! Then there will be little bridging moments and then we going into season 3! And I am excited for the next chapter and the ones that follow! Just super excited!
Anywho, feel free to comment or anything else!
Until next time! :D

Chapter 12: S2

Notes:

Soo, this is another chapter!

I don't own castlevania obviously.

Ok! I am still alive! Just been busy. However, I got excited when I saw season 4 is gonna come out so to celebrate, here's a chapter for you all! I'll probably also have another chapter up soon, just as long as I can get past the fight scene. I was gonna leave it all together but was like...hm...nah.

So here it is! Onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Dracula growled as he crushed another soldier's head in his hands, glaring out into the space before him. First he was tricked, tricked into an ambush and no doubt betrayed by someone in his court that led to the siege upon his castle. Then someone dared to move his castle against his orders, to force it under their own will, a will somehow more powerful than the magic behind his castle, to move it to a place he did not order. No, no he would not be taken a fool of any more!

Bloodlust and anger painted his vision red, eyes literally taking on the blood color as his rage engulfed him. It did not matter now who would come before him, the only thing he would do is kill. It was time for him to end all that dare defy him, all the humans, all the vampires, everything.

It would all fall.


The three walked through the scorched door of the library, staring up at the open sky above them that was their only way out.

"Well, we're going to need some rope to get out of here." Trevor sighed, looking around at the damaged remains of the stairway before looking back up. "Damn, this is going to be hard."

However, before he could start looking, Sypha waved her hands and as they came together, a slate of ice formed beneath their feet. Looking at her in confusion, she smiled. "We don't need ropes." She said before taking a breath. "Here we go."

Slowly, the ice began to build beneath itself, forming a pillar that was slowly raising them up towards the opening of the library. As they rose, each of them felt the pressure that this was it, once they reached the top, they would be coming face to face with Dracula's Castle and a step away from ending his massacre or facing their death, be it one way or another.

As the column of ice rose slowly in silence, they could all hear the occasional fragmented piece of the ruined staircase fall from what remained of the structure. Trevor shifted slightly, turning enough so he could gaze upon the destruction around him rather than facing the center of the ice. He sighed when they passed the picture of his ancestor they had seen when they had first entered, only now it lay crooked among the wreckage, some soot and knicks lining the frame and painting.

"I'm sorry." Adrian whispered from behind Trevor.

Trevor scoffed. "It's fine. Matches the rest of the house now."

"It's still your home, or at least a part of it." Adrian replied. Trevor didn't reply and thus the group was plunged back into a tense silence.

Finally, they reached the top of the hole, the red of the sky which had changed due to Dracula's influence, bathing them in a crimson hue, where they each jumped from the pillar onto the solid ground. Once their feet were firmly planted, Sypha turned back to the hole and, with a few motions of her hands, had the column flying out and flung off into the distant forest.

"What?" She asked when she found the other two staring at her confusedly. "I don't want to leave it there and let it destroy all those wonderful books when it melts."

Adrian nodded. "That makes sense."

Huffing, Trevor turned away from the two and looked towards the castle, only a few feet from them yet seemingly miles away.

"Alright, there it is." Trevor gripped his whip as they slowly snuck their way to the castle.

"Adrian, are you ok with this?" Sypha asked, looking at the young boy.

Adrian opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by a comment from Trevor.

"You know, I still believe we should handle this without the kid."

"And where, exactly would he wait for us? In the woods? Alone?" Sypha huffed, raising an eyebrow at Trevor.

"I was more thinking in the hold, but the woods work too."

"No," Adrian snapped. "You promised I would get to talk with my dad first, so you couldn't leave me down there. Besides, I feel safer up here than down there with all those...trophies."

Internally, Trevor winced. Outside though, he gave a pointed look to the kid because as they neared the castle, they could hear through the open door the faint sounds of fighting. "You sure about that?"

"Adrian, can you stay out here while we deal with whatever that is?" Sypha asked. "After all, we agreed that if it seemed dangerous you would wait for us to handle it before you went inside."

"You said super dangerous." Adrian huffed. "It doesn't sound super dangerous in there, and I can fight."

"Yes, we know you can, but we just don't want you to get hurt if we can help it." Sypha said.

"Besides, I don't think 'daddy' will be happy if his son came back with cuts and bruises." Trevor huffed.

"Don't worry, we got this!" Sypha smirked, letting ice form in her hand. "Besides, I don't know if you remember, but I just pulled this castle here and Trevor is a Belmont. We'll take these guys on in no time."

"I...ok." Adrian sighed, giving into their request.

"Good!" Sypha chirped. "Now, stay here while we go kick some vampire ass."

Adrian laughed while Trevor teased Sypha about watching her language just as she does to him all the time. At the same time, they had Adrian settle in a spot near the castle but out of sight so they would get him once the battle was over. Soon Adrian was watching the two head confidently through the door as he sat in his hiding spot.

Or, that was the plan.

But Adrian couldn't just sit there, couldn't wait for them to finish with a fight while he could do nothing to help. He understood their reasoning, after all, his father would not like it if he came back hurt. Adrian knew his father and his returning to him with injuries would more likely send his father on even more of a bloody path then without.

But just because he couldn't fight didn't mean he had to wait. Adrian decided that while the two others fought, he would use that time to find his dad. Maybe, by the time they were done, they wouldn't even have to confront Dracula because he would have already listened to Adrian.

With that in mind, Adrian crept from his hiding place and made his way along the wall of the castle, looking for an easy entry into it. It wasn't easy as the main doorway tended to connect to a long, windowless hall and most of the castle's enormity came from height rather than length. Still, this did not mean there was no other way beyond the main entrance to get in, especially not to a vampire - or dhampir in this case. Focusing, Adrian allowed his body to shift into his bat form, knowing that finding an entrance would be easier this way. Moving away from the main door, he allowed his wings to beat downward and push him up to the closest balcony on the next level of the castle.

Once landed, he made it to the door that would take him into the castle, shifting back into his humanoid form. Placing his hand on the door, he slowly pushed it open, ever so happy that his father never saw a reason to put a lock on it since no human could easily reach the balconies and no vampire would dare. As he entered, he kept his ears perked for any sound that would warn him of any other being coming close to him, be it his father or otherwise. Of course, Adrian did not know where his father would be heading in the case of an attack like this, but he did know the places his father tended to be before he was kidnapped, the most notable being the study.

Not knowing where else to start, Adrian started to head in the direction of the study.

It wasn't too difficult as once he had gotten a grasp of where he was (he didn't make it a habit to enter through random entrances of the castle) Adrian was then creeping as quickly as he could through the castle halls.

Everything seemed eerie to him, tense, as though things were at a precipice and the slightest action would send everything tumbling down. His hands clenched into fists and Adrian fought back the tremble that grew the more he came across different bodies in the halls, bodies of guards both in armor familiar to him and in armor that wasn't. The sight of the bodies made Adrian's speed increase, now desperate to get to his father.

As he drew closer to his target, his breath hitched when he caught the sound of voices. Adrian paused only for a moment but when a shout echoed suddenly only to be cut off, Adrian rushed to the door of the study, eyes widening when he saw his father standing there, shards of dark colored glass across the floor.

"Dad!" Adrian cried, running forward to clasp his hands around his father's middle burying his head in the dark clothing.

"Adrian?" Dracula breathed out, shock upon his face before those red eyes drooped and he knelt to tightly embrace his son. "Adrian! My boy, my sweet boy, you're back."

"Dad," Adrian sobbed, curling into his father as best as he could. It was nice to be here, back in his arms after everything that had happened, after all that he had seen. Maybe he could stay like this, forget about all the chaos that is happening beyond this dark embrace and remain in a peaceful silence. He could leave Trevor and Sypha to finish this war- "Ah!"

Adrian pulled, reluctantly, away from his father's embrace, letting those pale fingers curl at his shoulders. "Dad, I-I need...I…" His voice broke off as he tried to get the words past his lips. Why was it so hard to ask his father to stop this war?

"What is it?" Dracula asked, one of his hands moving from Adrian's shoulder to brush his blonde hair behind an ear. "Are you hurt? Is someone still after you?" For a second, rage twisted his features and his grip turned bruising on his shoulders, making Adrian wince.

"Dad-" Adrian gasped.

"You can tell me anything, Adrian." Dracula continued his voice soft but there was something beneath it, something foaming with desperation.

His hands did not relax.

"Who is it I need to wipe from this earth?"

"That's just it...Dad…" Adrian's own hands curled into fists and he bit his lip one last time before continuing. "You need to stop this war!"

Silence. Silence so deafening that they could hear the battle that raged rooms below them. Dracula's bruising grip loosened on Adrian's shoulders and his eyes bore into golden ones, searching confusedly for something that Adrian did not know.

"Adrian...what are you-"

"The war!" Adrian cried, swallowing. "The...the war you told me not to worry about, the one you started. You need to stop it."

"Adrian you don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes I do! I was out there, dad! I saw the people who were hurt, people who...who are innocent-"

"There are no innocents, Adrian." Dracula growed, eyes flashing.

"But what about the kids? The...the people who didn't know any better? Mom...Mom…" A shiver ripped through him as he tried to get the words out that he himself had only just uncovered from his own memories.

Dracula sighed, taking his son's stutter as the horrible trauma the humans had inflicted upon him. "This war is for your mother." He cooed, moving to pull Adrian back into his arms but was taken aback when Adrian pulled away while shaking his head.

"No! Mom wouldn't want this! She…" His breath stuttered again. "She...she said that...t-that they didn't know! They didn't know what they w-were doing and...and not to hurt them! She said that! She-...She…" A sob broke through his words despite his effort to hold it back

Dracula sighed again, slumping a bit where he crouched and tried once more to pull his boy into his arms. This time, Adrian allowed him to wrap his arms around his smaller form, sobs shaking his boy as he fought to keep those memories away and stay in this moment.

"Your mother," Dracula began, his voice rumbling over Adrian and through his body. "Was a kind woman. She never turned anyone away and always looked for the good in people, even those who could only have darkness in their hearts and blood on their hands. Of course she would not want this."

Dracula slowly drew Adrian out of his arms once more and gazed down at him with empty eyes.

"Dad?"

"And you have a heart just like she did. So warm and loving." A long, clawed finger wiped a tear away from Adrian's cheek, over the tear like scar there.

"..."

"But I have been around a long time Adrian, and I know things you and your mother did not, do not. So, yes, you are right, your mother would not want this, and I know you do not either, that is why I asked you to stay as far from it as possible. Because while I will not splash blood on your hands, mine are already stained, my eyes have already seen all that is needed. I do this war, because I know you can not, I will take action where your love blinds you."

Dracula began to stand up, and Adrian gasped up at him, eyes widening when he realized that what he had asked had not gotten through to his father at all. "No! Dad-!"

"You are new, but I have dealt with the human race's stupidity longer, and after what they did to your mother, to you, I can't sit back anymore. They must all be eliminated." Red eyes gazed down. "I know those towns must have looked scary, and I know you came to love humans through your mother's work, but trust me when I say this must happen Adrian, even if it looks bad."

"But not all humans are bad! Dad! Trevor and..and Sypha...they-they helped me! They-!"

"Oh, oh my son," Dracula knelt back down at that. "I'm sure they did, but it was not out of the goodness of their hearts." He spat those words like they were poison. "But it was not. They are playing you, messing with you no doubt to try to take you away from me. Had you not left them, they would have turned on you, hurt you in a way only humans can."

"No, they didn't! They're good people and they protected me! They just want this war to stop!"

Dracula's eyes narrowed. "Protected? Oh, is that so?" He was looking, waiting for the catch that he would see but his son, his innocent son, would have not seen.

Adrian nodded, thinking his father was willing to listen now. "Yes! Yes, they found me after I was kidnapped and kept me safe as we traveled."

"We?"

"Yeah, yeah we traveled together because they were going to help me get home and they wanted to find you. They know who I am and they didn't hurt me! They just want the war to stop!"

Dracula's eyes flashed in realization. "Ah, is that it. I suppose they are here now?" A nod. "Oh, Adrian, they tricked you. They used you to get to me, that is all. They may want to end the war, but they are just going to try to kill me and then kill you, or use you in some way. They are not your friends Adrian."

"That's not true! They said if you stop the war, they won't kill you! They promised!"

"And you believed them? Huh, and this is how you and your mother were blinded. You love too freely and can't see the knife humans hide behind their back. So pure, more pure than any true human could ever be." He stood back up and began making long strides to the door. "Don't worry, I will go take care of those humans before they can lay a hand on you. I promise, you will be safe, Adrian."

"Wait, dad!"

Dracula easily beat his son to the door and slammed it shut before Adrian was even in front of it. He placed his hand on the door, listening to the way his son screamed and slammed against the wood. "Don't worry, soon it will all be over."

With that he turned away from the door after commanding what remained of the castle's power to keep it shut.

Notes:

Yeah so not super long but...yeah. So, obviously, next it the climax of S2! The fight with Dracula! And then we start going into S3.

Feel free to comment or anything else! Comments make me happy!

Until next time! :D

Chapter 13: S2

Notes:

Soo, this is another chapter!
Time for the big fight! And this...this is a long freaking chapter. 7590 words. Like damn. THIS IS NOT THE END THOUGH! I still have a lot more of castlevania to deal with. I also don't know if there will be another chapter this long. Like there could be it just depends on what I need to fit in the chapter and where a good end is for it.
Well, lets not waste any more time.
Onto the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Trevor huffed as he looked over the damage he and Sypha had done. All the vampires that had been in the hall were ash now, no longer a bother for the two and hopefully the only few they would have to worry about.

"Nice job." He grinned, looking at Sypha as she came up to him.

"Not too bad yourself, Belmont." Sypha replied.

"So, guess we should get the brat since he'll have the best idea of finding Dracula." He titled his head. "Assuming he's still there."

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't he still be in his hiding spot?" Sypha asked, crossing her arms.

"I don't know, maybe because it's his dad's life on the line here?" He shrugged. "Just saying."

"If he's not there I am grounding him after this." Sypha huffed, marching her way back outside.

"You can't ground him."

"Watch it Belmont, or I'll ground you too."

"Uh, what?"

"You heard me!"

The bush was empty. Trevor held back a chuckle as Sypha growled and stomped her way back into the castle. They approached the staircase at the back of the hall and sighed at the sight of it ascending further into this twisted castle.

"So, got any ideas what to do here?" Trevor asked, quirking an eyebrow at Sypha.

"You're the vampire hunter. Where do you think he went?" Sypha pointed out.

"No ideas then? Alright guess we'll be doing this the good old fashioned way then." Trevor grunted as he began to make his way up the stairs.

"And what way is that?"

"Wandering around until we find either Dracula or Adrian." She shot him a look. "What?"

"You can't be serious."

"Well, what about you miss, I found an 'entire literature on the castle'? Did you happen to read anything about the layout of the castle?"

"First of all, it was your family's literature, and secondly, maybe if you had bothered to help read it I wouldn't be the only one with knowledge of the castle!"

"So you do know something or…?" Trevor trailed off, giving another look to the mage.

"Surprisingly, I did not come across a layout of the castle in those books." She grumbled before perking up. "Though I did come across the multiple defenses the castle has outside of the teleporting. Supposedly it can change up the rooms on people to confuse them or just attack them with magic. It can also work to lock people out or inside rooms. Of course, there could be more since this is just the information I'm guessing your parents interrogated out of vampires or maybe even got inside themselves. It's hard to say since it didn't really specify anything beyond the defenses themselves."

"Well that sounds just fucking fantastic," Trevor groaned. "Hopefully none of that happens to us."

"Wouldn't the castle already have attacked us though?"

"I don't know Sypha, maybe it likes playing with it's food."

"Maybe tapping into the transportation magic also impacted the other defenses?"

"We can only hope." Trevor sighed. "Either way, it seems like we're going with plan A - wandering around until something happens."

"Well, at least we'll get a good look at the castle." Sypha piped up, trying to find something optimistic of the situation.

"Great."


Dracula frowned as he tapped into the castle from the library. It wasn't something he had done for a while, afterall, no humans would get past his guards and he never thought the vampires would betray him. There was no reason to keep the castle on high alert. He didn't even bother to try and glimpse where people would be within his castle mostly because...that took effort and he just didn't care. What did it matter where the other council members were, where his son was playing? He knew they were in the castle, that was all that mattered.

After Adrian was kidnapped, any effort he put into just knowing who was in the castle diminished, because what did the others matter when his son wasn't there. None of them mattered and he never thought they would dare raise a hand against him, so there was no purpose in tapping into the castle's abilities beyond transportation.

But then he had been betrayed, and he released all restraint upon the castle. All defenses were up, killing those who had not been killed by his guards, hunting down those who thought to attack from where they had already been within the castle. Any who thought they could sneak through the castle found themselves trapped or directed right into his servant's claws.

But then something had grasped his castle's core, something-no someone!- had enough power to take hold of his castle and force it to some place he did not choose! Someone dragged it through that tainted water, killing thousands of his men and when that did not kill him, they pulled and trapped him wherever this was (he didn't particularly care where he was, he just cared that this could hinder his mission).

And now, tapping into the castle, he could tell how much it was damaged. It already put more power then it would typically have to to lock the door to his study. The attacks it had through the shifting of the shadows were no more except the occasional small spike from a wall. Attempting to shift the rooms took just as much effort that holding the door closed did, which when undamaged naturally took more power but as damaged caused more effort for the defenses than usual. It was infuriating how much damage had been done.

Turning his attention away from the damage, Dracula focused on the two who were going through his castle, as though lost, killing what few guards remained on their way. These were probably the people who had traveled with his son, no doubt those who were also responsible for his capture in the first place. They probably pretended to stumble across Adrian and offer him safety in order to use him against Dracula. If Adrian wasn't so trusting, Dracula knew they would have tortured his poor boy to get to Dracula rather than allow him to lead them here, but since Adrian wanted to go home, why not continue to facade and be brought right to Dracula's doors all while under attack? Perhaps they even hoped to turn Adrian against him, to have his own blood fight him while they attacked as well.

No, he couldn't let them reach his son, could not allow them to continue to twist his son's mind and create a rift between him and his son. After all, without Adrian, what did he have left? Everything he was doing was so Adrian could be safe in the end.

Shaking away his thoughts, Dracula focused on using what little was left of the power of the castle to make sure it directed the two humans away from his son and towards Dracula.

He would deal with them quickly, and then he could go back to his son.


"This is getting annoying." Trevor groaned as they walked through what seemed to be never ending hallways. "We've been walking for-fucking-ever."

"I warned you already that the castle could change its layout." Sypha huffed.

"Yes, but you didn't specify how annoying that defense was! At this point I'd take coming face to face with Dracula over Adrian just to get out of this hellhole of a maze!"

"Or we'll see them both." Sypha piped up. "After all, his main reason for being here was to talk to his father, so maybe we will get two birds with one stone."

"Yeah, my gut says that didn't go well assuming it had already happened." Trevor huffed. "Otherwise we wouldn't be going in circles!"

Sypha only rolled her eyes in response, continuing their walk through the timeless hallways. They would occasionally try a door, but many of them appeared to be locked. After the first few they broke open led to nothing, they figured they would wait to see if any of the doors opened for them rather than breaking them down and wasting time. They told themselves eventually they would come across someone, but who that someone was they did not know.

The silence of the castle seemed to echo around them, even the flames lighting the walls made almost no noise. While there were less bodies seen as they made their way further (the only indication they were actually moving through the castle rather than a never ending loop) the large puddles and smears of blood only added to the foreboding feeling of the castle. They moved cautiously, yet with some speed due to their concern for the young dympier, but were also ready to strike at any creature that attacked them.

Turning a corner, the two of them made their way further down a hall towards what seemed like a crossroad in the winding floors, an option to the left and to the right. They slowly continued forward before freezing when shoes clicking on stone reverberated from the right portion of the hall. Their bodies stilled, taking up an offensive stance as they watched a pale man clothed in black stand before them. Even with the distance between them, they could tell this man towered over many as his red eyes glared down at them.

"So you're the pigs that decided to kidnap and trick my son?" Dracula sneered.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Trevor shot back, raising his whip. "But what I do know is that you are the insane bastard behind all this."

"I never thought a Belmont would stoop so low as to capture an innocent child." His red gaze drifted to Sypha, clearly ignoring Trevor's words. "Nor did I ever imagine a Speaker doing such a disgusting act. Even the most knowledgeable of humans are a disgusting plague upon this earth."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Trevor huffed, gripping his weapon tighter. "Though I probably shouldn't. So," He tilted his head. "I take it from your words that you happened to run into Adrian-"

"Do not speak his name!" Dracula hissed, red eyes glaring at the humans with a hatred so vast it was felt in the air. If Trevor didn't know so much about vampires, he would have believed the lord was trying to kill them with his eyes. "You are not worthy enough to even know of his presence!"

"A little too late for that." Trevor muttered, getting a glare from both Sypha and Dracula.

"The audacity of you despicable humans." Dracula spat, face scrunching up like just those words were a sour taste in his mouth. "You not only torture my son, kill my wife, but then think to try to turn my boy against me!? I knew you were savages, but to continue to play with my son the way you have, it warrants this eradication all on its own, not including the other disgusting acts humans have done over the years I have been alive."

"Ok, while you may have a point about some humans, its not all of them!" Trevor shot back. "Plus we never did anything to your kid!"

"We rescued him." Sypha spoke up. "We found him abandoned by some vampires in the woods and-"

"Shut your mouth!" Dracula snapped, cutting her off. "I'm not here to listen to whatever lies you've cooked up in your head. I'm here to get rid of you pests that thought it would be a good idea to break into my castle by manipulating my son."

"Then why haven't you killed us yet?" Trevor asked, quirking a brow but still made sure to be ready for any sudden attack.

"Trevor-" Sypha hissed but it was silenced by Dracula's own booming voice.

"That desperate to join the rest of your family, Belmont?" Dracula received a glare in response. "Don't be foolish. I'm merely attempting to understand just what it was that tricked my son into trusting you, and I just can't see it." As he finished his statement, the two watched as his hand tensed into a claw formation. Trevor, before there was even a movement made from the vampire, moved forward with his sword drawn, and grunted as, in a blink of an eye, Dracula thrust himself at the hunter, easily slamming him into the hallway wall.


Adrian growled at the door as he once again slammed himself into the thick wood, not even making a dent despite his repeated attempts. He knew his father made sure that the doors would be able to withstand a vampire's attack for a little while, which is only reinforced by the magic of the castle, and with Adrian only being a young, half vampire it made sense he wouldn't be able to open a deliberate attempt of his father locking him in a room.

That doesn't mean he isn't frustrated by it.

With a cry Adrian slammed his sword into the door, aiming to wedge it in the crease of the door and damage the lock, but it only got stuck before he had to pry it back out with no evidence of the attack having happened.

Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes, a frustrated sob spilling past his lips as he dropped to his knees. "Dad…" he sobbed, hands balling into fists and his nails scraped the floor. "Why didn't you listen to me!" Why did his dad not believe him? Sypha and Trevor were good people, and they just wanted the war to stop! And his mom, why didn't his dad stop when he mentioned that...that his mom didn't want this!

A boom came from somewhere in the castle, faint enough to tell Adrian that it was far away, but loud enough to tell him it was more than just something falling in the castle. Worried that there was still someone attacking his friends and father (pointedly not thinking that they were attacking each other), Adrian gathered himself off of the floor, this time turning to the window of the room.

Running over to it, sword in hand, he held the handle before thrusting it into the glass, only to rebound off of it and fall to the floor once more. Glaring at the glass, he knew that the castle's remaining magic was being directed to the window as well as the door. And while he could try to keep attacking either the door or the window, hoping his repeated attempts would get through, his gut told him that by the time he did get through, he would be devastated by what he came across.

He turned his attention back to the room, scanning for anything that would help him get out and to the others, when his golden eyes fell upon the shimmering glass shards scattered across the floor. Quickly scrambling to look at them, his mind sparked with recollection. This was his father's transmission mirror. He had been shown it once or twice, his father letting him watch as he sometimes sent gifts to his mother through it when she was away from the castle. The memory made tears come to his eyes but Adrian knew he couldn't get lost in it, not while his friends were in danger.

Directing his attention back to the issue at hand, Adrian furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to remember how his father had activated the mirror. He remembered his father standing next to him the first time he showed him the mirror. Dracula told him how he could use it to send things or people to places should it be needed. The main reason his father showed him it, he said, was should either he or his mother be away for a long period of time and Adrian needed them, or needed an easy escape route, he could use the mirror. After all, Dracula only wanted his son to be safe, and there was no reason not to teach him of all the ways to be prepared should something happen.

(Of course, Dracula had followed up his teaching by telling Adrian that he would always be safe in the castle, especially while Dracula was there. Nothing was going to touch him or his mother.

Adrian wished that was still true.)

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down and gather his attention to the mirror, Adrian held his hand out and closed his eyes, focusing all of his being on putting the mirror together. Unlike his father, he could not activate the mirror with a wave of his hand. Instead he focused on pulling the shards together, calling upon the magic of the mirror just as he had done in the Belmont Hold only a short time ago. They may be different in what they do, but they were still magic mirrors. If he could activate one, he could activate another.

It seemed to take forever before the sound of glass gathering hit his ears, but he did not break his focus until the sound was done. Only then did he open his eyes to see the mirror shards floating before him, the glass shimmering in the faint light of the room. Grabbing his sword, Adrian focused on pulling up an image, any image, of the castle. He didn't know where the fight was happening, but he could figure that out once he got out of this room. So he focused and pushed until a wavering picture of one of the hallways appeared before him and, without a moment of hesitation, pushed himself into the glass.

He tumbled out, nearly head over heels as he fell onto the red carpeted hallway. Taking a few breaths to orient himself, Adrian could feel his own pride at activating the portal. But he didn't relish in it for long as another crash sounded from somewhere else in the castle, forcing Adrian to his feet. He started running to the sound, hoping that his father only thought he would stay in the room and that the halls would not redirect him away from the excitement.


Trevor grunted as he pushed himself off of the wall, readying to attack Dracula once more while he was preoccupied with Sypha's own magical attacks. He lunged at the vampire from behind, swiftly pulling a stake out from where he kept his many tools. In response, Dracula was quick to bat Sypha away as though she were merely a fly buzzing around his head and turned to meet Trevor's attack, clearly unsurprised by it. Trevor was counting on this though, thrusting the stake as Dracula faced him, hoping his aim would hit the vampire's heart.

He missed, the stake landing off to the far left of the chest. The one time he needed luck to be on his side.

Sneering, Dracula looked down at him as though he was just some dog shit that got on his boots. Which, admittedly, Trevor wouldn't be shocked if his lack of bathing reached the vampire's sensitive nose, but if anything that was another win for him. Well, if anything Trevor could try punching the smug bastard in his face.

It did nothing. Damn.

"You're beginning to annoy me." Dracula huffed, throwing Trevor once again into the wall, leaving a large indent due to the force of the throw.

Trevor held his side. "Really? That took longer than usual."

Dracula growled, moving to finish the human off only to be forced to pause by the sudden attack from sharp ice piercing his legs and striking his back. With a growl, he directed his attention back to Sypha, ripping his leg free with no sign of feeling the ice that had pierced through his leg. Swiftly, he struck out his hand, grasping Sypha by her arm and whipped her around to throw her at Trevor who had been about to make his own attack once more. A sharp smack sounded as the two humans hit the wall, Trevor groaning as his bruised body hit it for the third time, only this time had the added pressure of Sypha on top of him.

"Time to end this." Dracula spat, his own hands rushing out to gut the two humans before them before they could even have a chance of moving. As they braced themselves, which seemed to be the easiest thing to do, their ears heard the sound of the claws hitting metal and Dracula's sharp inhale of surprise before-

"Stop! Stop, don't hurt them!"

"Adrian…"

The two humans in the crumbled heep on the floor slowly opened their eyes to find a very familiar sword hovering in between them and their end. Off to the side, they could see the young dhampir's heaving form and he stared down his father. His golden eyes stared with a ferocity that exceeded his form, as it seemed rather un-intimidating as his small, golden form faced off against the choking darkness that was his father, meeting that crimson eyed stare.

"Don't hurt them, dad, please." Adrian begged, moving closer to the three, soon standing with his arms outstretched between his sword and the two humans on the ground. Dracula, in shock, had backed away from where the sharp end glinted off the sword, his red eyes only focused on his son standing before him.

Against him.

"Adrian...why…" Dracula's voice trailed off from the whisper it had come out as. What was once a powerful, confident being that towered above Sypha and Trevor with an almost god-like air, seemed to have frozen where he stood. A shock to his being that stripped away the powerful air leaving only confusion and what appeared to be heartbreak.

"You're hurting them!" Adrian shouted back. "You're hurting them...and...and I don't want you to! Mom-" he choked. "Mom wouldn't want you too!"

"Your mother-"

"Doesn't want this war!" Adrian cut his father off, voice cracking through the air like thunder. "You said you would fix this. You-You said you'd keep me safe, but this isn't keeping me safe! They took care of me. I know...I know humans can be bad...but these ones are good. One is annoying, sure, but still good."

Trevor didn't know if he should be offended or touched. Right now though, he slowly began to pick himself up and prepared his broken body to make a dash for it because, looking at Dracula's face, did not say good things.

"Please, please just stop dad!" Adrian continued, tears now slipping down his face like individual rivers. "I just want you to be with me! That's all! And...and if you don't stop then the mean and nice humans are going to keep coming after you, and I don't want you to get hurt! And...and they said...they said they wouldn't kill you if you stop the war!" Adrian continued, remembering the conversation the group had in the Belmont Hold. "So...so if you stop, then you'll be safe, I'll be safe, and we can just...just hide from the bad humans."

"Adrian…"

"Please dad." Adrian repeated, voice desperate and words repeating themselves over and over like a prayer that held the hope of his father understanding. "Leave them alone and...and just stop the war, please! I don't...I don't want you to be the monster they say you are. I don't want them killed, I don't want them to kill you! I….I just wanted to go home…"

Silence. Or, at least as silent as it could be with the wrenching sobs coming from Adrian while his father could only stare down at his son, face expressionless save for the shock that had been present since the first appearance of his son.

For just a moment, Sypha and Trevor held their breath in anticipation when no further actions were taken. Was this it? Was the answer behind stopping Dracula just throwing his kid in front of him, crying and begging to stop the war?

They both doubted it was that easy.

"I can't believe it…" Dracula's voice rang out, making Adrian's breath hitch as he looked past his tears to his father's face.

"Dad?"

"I didn't...I didn't think they could take anything else from me...but they did."

"Dad, what-?" Adrian was cut off by his father drawing himself back up, as though a wounded creature preparing to attack. All the while, his eyes darted between his son…

...and the sword that hung in the air between them.

"You've turned him against me. You took my son, tricked my son, and turned him against me!" His voice grew louder and louder with each word, hysteria thick within his tone and polluting the air.

"Shit! Sypha!"

"On it!"

Adrian was frozen. The world seemed to move in slow motion as he was suddenly plucked from the ground, sword as well, as a pillar of ice blocked his view of his father, just as a clawed hand was coming to swing at him. His father who looked nothing like the man Adrian knew him as. His face was twisted and dark, completely red eyes filled with insanity and hate that Adrian could still feel through the ice. Why? Why did his father look so...so monstrous? Why was he not listening?

Why didn't Adrian feel safe?

Trevor ran as fast as his beaten body could down one of the many hallways, Adrian hanging limply in his arms and Sypha right behind him. Distantly, he heard the ice shatter with a deafening boom, but he didn't let that stop him.

"We need a way to get him off our trail." Sypha huffed, turning the next corner sharply.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Trevor huffed, hefting Adrian and the sword higher in his grasp to make sure his grip was secure. "This is his castle! Plus, we're kinda bleeding everywhere."

"Maybe we can use that!" Sypha gasped, summoning a few more icicles. Drawing the tips across her open wounds, she then pushed the icicles down separate open doors, then did the same with Trevor. "Hopefully, this can confuse him for a bit."

"Well, it's worth a shot." Trevor looked to Adrian. "Could really use some help here kid."

"..."

"Yup, real helpful, kid." Trevor groaned, getting a glare from Sypha.

"He just watched as his father lost his mind. I think he is allowed to be upset." Sypha huffed.

"That doesn't mean it wouldn't be helpful to know where we are going! I literally have no idea where we have gone! We've just been running mindlessly!"

"Then let's go in here!" Sypha grabbed Trevor by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into one of the rooms they happened to be passing. Pushing the door open, they found themselves in what could have been a lounge, but they didn't necessarily care at the moment. Once in, they closed the door and Sypha formed a large wall of ice over it to keep it from opening, or at least to buy them time. Trevor placed Adrian down before he started moving the two couches and tables in front of the door.

"Well," Trevor placed his hands on his hips surveying the work done. "It will buy us like...two minutes? Hell if I know."

"Should we leave?" Sypha asked, glancing at the windows of the room.

"I mean, we could, but that would be pointless. He'd probably track us down, assuming we could get away after all this. Plus, we'd have to decide what would happen to the kid." He gestured to the dhampir who seemed to still be frozen in shock. "'Cause I wouldn't want to leave him here, but that just leaves an even bigger target on our back." He shook his head. "Not that any of that matters. We were coming to this point eventually and I'm not leaving until that bastard is de-defeated." He had to catch himself, figuring it wouldn't do any good to mention how he's probably going to kill the kid's father with the kid already so traumatized.

That and the look Sypha shot him when he was about to say it is pretty persuasive too.

"So what do you propose we do then?" Sypha asked. "We faced him and nearly died. What will make this attack different other than the fact we are beat up and bleeding?"

"Well, for one I think the bastard is going to make less coordinated attacks. Something tells me whatever remaining screws he had officially went loose."

Sypha nodded in agreement. "That's true. It may be able to give us an advantage due to him making more reckless attacks. That could cause quite a few blind spots for us to use."

"Exactly," Trevor smirked. "The only thing we'd have to look out for is if he decides to use any magic, but I'm sure you could handle any of that."

"Of course. I did, after all, drag his castle here." Sypha laughed confidently.

"..ad…" The saft mumble brought their attention back to the third member of their group. The boy was still staring listlessly at the floor, gaze foggy and unfocused. His hands clenched around nothing while his sword hovered beside him.

"Adrian? Adrian, can you hear me?" Sypha asked, placing her hand on his shoulder. For a moment, he tensed and the sword beside him seemed to stiffen in warning, but made no other movements. Out in the hall, a large crash sounded alongside a growl.

"Shit." Trevor cursed, taking grasp of the morning star on his hip and getting ready to attack with it. He never had the distance before, but maybe he could get a good hit in when Dracula tries to break down the door.

Sypha tensed beside Adrian and was soon scooping him up in her arms to move him to some sort of cover in the room. She spotted a bookcase that they did not bother moving and placed Adrian down where he could gain some cover from what would soon become a battleground.

The iced door shook as something slammed against it, words hissing like acid through it from the angry demon attempting to break in.

"Dad?" Adrian called, seeming to both perk up and tense at the sound.

"Adrian, I need you to listen to me." Sypha said, grabbing his cheek to direct his gaze to her own. "I want you to stay right here, ok? That man out there, he is not your father and he may hurt you. Let me and Trevor deal with this, ok? And if you see the chance to, escape."

"But-"

"Stay here." Sypha's forceful voice cut him off, not that it took much. What really spoke to Sypha about what has happened is how the boy actually backed down, his gaze still lost and hesitant when looking to the door where the vampire lord was breaking in. Before, Adrian would have done anything to fight against their words and reach his father, but now...now he wasn't so sure. All this time he had wanted to come back to his father, but was his father even still here?

At his side, the sword twitched before coming to hover at Sypha's side, blade pointed at the door, drawing a gasp from Sypha and a wounded noise from Adrian. Afterall, the sword was charmed to defend against anything that could harm Adrian when Adrian himself was unable to fight. Since he had already called upon it to defend against his father's previous attack, it would not stop defending Adrian until all the threats were gone, it was incapacitated, or Adrian himself told the sword to stop. But Adrian couldn't find it in his will to make it stop. His heart had fallen out of his chest the moment he realized that, at this moment, his father was a threat to him.

"Shit!" Trevor cussed just as ice and wood blew past them all from the sudden explosion at the door. At the same time, another boom followed as Trevor thrust the morning star into the dust, watching as a fiery burst accompanied by a wicked hiss shot through the air.

"The Morning Star whip!" Dracula hissed from behind the slowly dispersing smoke. As his form was revealed, they saw he was on the ground, glaring daggers at the hunter before him, eyes like pools of burning blood. "Don't think your simple magic tricks will be enough to harm me!"

With that, a large molten ball of fire appeared before him when he stood up, arms out as he summoned the large magic. Sypha was quick to rush in front of it, fingers dancing until a strong gust of wind came from around them, pushing back at the fire. Sypha grunted at the strength of the magic, digging her feet into the floor as she began to skid backwards. A solid form suddenly came behind her, keeping her from being pushed back any further and allowing her to gain some ground. She could tell it was Trevor, but she focused on pushing the fireball back towards Dracula, or at least push it off enough to keep it from hitting them.

Then a glint traveled from the corner of her eye before appearing steadily in front of her. There, floated Adrian's sword, as it thrust itself into the ball of fire. While unable to provide an actual force to push it back, the sword did begin to move inward, cracking the ball of fire. Afterall, it was not a weak blade. It was made to be able to stand up against even the greatest of enemies to protect his son.

Dracula just never thought it would be used against himself.

With a loud crack, the ball shattered and the pieces of flaming stone flew to corners of the room. Then the sword continued on its path to Dracula who was quick to bat at it, growling when it continued its attack despite being pushed away. Trevor and Sypha were quick to join in with their own attacks, and slowly, painfully, they started to win.

From the corner, Adrian could only watch on as the people he had considered safe tear each other apart. The initial explosion of fire only worsened his current state of being, as his brain tried to comprehend that his father, his protector, just tried to burn his friends to death. He flinched when the initial explosion happened, cowering when the raining, flaming stones hurled across the room. He could only watch as blood, ice, flames, and steel flew through the air around the battling three. His breath hitched at how beaten they all looked, watched as his own sword slashed at his father's skin, spilling crimson down his skin. It was a weird state he was in, as everything seemed to happen from far away. As if he wasn't actually there and his body was just a window for him to look through.

Dracula grabbed the hilt of Adrian's sword sword, his superior strength enough to force it to follow his hand's movements and thrust it at Sypha. In turn, she used a wall of ice to catch the sword and block the attack, only to be thrown off when Dracula shattered the ice with his strength and pushed her back, her head slamming against the floor roughly. His arm followed the momentum and the sword ended up plunging into her shoulder rather than her chest when Trevor struck with his whip once more, causing the reaction of the explosion to throw Dracula off balance. Then, Dracula whipped around in a fury and clawed in preparation of gutting the Belmont, when that arm suddenly felt a little heavier. In his heated state, he glanced down at the golden thing clutching his arm, stopping it from swiping at Trevor, and reacted quickly.

In his head, he didn't care what or who this was, only that it was in the way of his vengeance and needed to be gone. He wrenched his arm from the grasp and then, with the same movement, slashed at the thing to get it out of his way. He watched as the small, golden thing flew through the air and dropped to the ground with a spray of blood.

"Adrian!" The scream reached his ears, faint against the buzzing and throbbing of his blood. He watched as the magician forced herself to her feet, ripping the sword from her shoulder and rushed over to the being he just tossed away from himself. The hunter, too, placed himself between Dracula and the small creature. At first, Dracula did not understand, but then the frantic calls from the speaker magician reached his ears and what existed of his heart sank.

There, laying limply on the ground was his son. Curled up around his torso, Dracula watched as Sypha slowly pulled his child into her arms. Across his chest was a large splash of red that was steadily spreading across the ground and coating the speaker's hands and cloak. Trevor stood in between them, but he seemed to realize that Dracula was no longer going to attack. He could see the moment Dracula realized what he had done, the moment that murderous hatred bleed out of his form and all that previous power drained from his limbs. He watched the way his red eyes returned to normal as they looked down at his blood covered hand to the boy laid out on the floor.

As much as Trevor knew he should strike now, knew that this was the moment he could attack with no counterattack from the vampire, he also realized that it was no longer Dracula before him. Instead, all what had previously been a monster transformed into a grieving, horrified father.

"My boy…" He gasped, his hand reaching out to Adrian only to pause when both Sypha and Trevor tensed, the former pulling the smaller form closer to her. "I...I hurt...my boy...Lisa…" Tears fell from his eyes. "I...I'm so sorry."

"Sypha…" Trevor whispered, but only gained the attention of the name he called. Dracula...no...Vlad paid no mind to him, his entire being focused on his boy.

"He's...he's still breathing but...but it's not good." Sypha breathed out, hand using her cloak to press down further on the wound. "I could try burning it but...it's so deep…"

A wretched sob came from Vlad's throat. "My boy...please...please give him to me-"

"Why should we do that?" Trevor growled, but still he did not attack. He refused to think he was actually feeling sorry for the monster before him.

"I know...I know you shouldn't trust me…" That broke his heart to say, but it was true wasn't it? "But...but I can help. I may already be dead, but...but I won't let my son come with me."

"What are you going to do?" Sypha asked, meeting his gaze and refusing to break eye contact with the broken man before them.

"I'll give him my blood." Vlad breathed out. "He...he can heal...if he drinks blood and mine...I have enough power that it will be more effective than either of yours."

Sypha continued to stare him down. She looked deep in his eyes for any lie, looked at his body language for any sign that what he said was just a ruse to cause more harm. But she found nothing, just a shattered father begging to help his son.

"Alright."

"Sypha-"

"No, it's fine. Plus, if that is what he says, I trust him." Sypha raised her chin in a challenge. "After all, it is his son. He would know best how to help him."

At that moment, the great and feared Dracula nearly crumbled to his knees from her words. Instead, he staggered forward, well aware of the hunter at his back and the sword (the one made to protect his son!) hovering off to the side. Even the speaker was ready to attack at the slightest movement. But right now, his son needed his attention.

Dropping to his knees once he was beside them, Vlad reached out carefully for his son. When he was settled in his arms, his heart broke even more at the large gash across his son's chest. It went from his left shoulder down to his right hip. His typical fair skin was pallid and sickly. Blood had splashed across his body and Vlad couldn't help but choke when he noticed a drop of the crimson liquid right on top of the teardrop scar.

Swallowing thickly, he lifted his wrist to his mouth and bit down, drawing blood without care. Then, he brought his thickly bleeding wrist down to his son's mouth, lifting his head up gently for further support. Using his thumb, he carefully opened his son's mouth before letting his blood drop thickly and uncontrolled into his mouth. Of course, he was careful not to suffocate his child, but other than that he did not pay any mind to the amount of blood he was giving.

At first, nothing seemed to change but then the shallow breaths that had been coming from Adrian hitched before deepening as he began to swallow the blood in his mouth. Slowly, ever so slowly, the wound on his chest began to heal. With how slow it was, Vlad knew that he had gravely wounded his child, that it had been even deeper than it had looked. Eventually though, Adrian was able to swallow steadily and, when the wound took on the form of a very fresh scar, his eyes peeled open.

"Adrian…" Vlad breathed out, a soft relieved but wet laugh leaving his lips. The arm that had been feeding the dhampir dropped and instead moved to cradle his cheek. "Adrian, my boy. You're ok! I'm so sorry, your dad is so, so, so sorry."

"...dad…?" Adrian questioned tiredly, slowly blinking up at his father. When did he get in his arms? He remembered, faintly, watching them fight and Sypha being in danger from his sword but...but what happened after? Why did his chest ache?

"I'm so sorry." Vlad sobbed. "This...this never should have happened. You...you were supposed to stay safe...I should have kept you safe but I…" He shook his head, at a loss for words.

"Dad...I just wanted to go home…" Adrian mumbled. That was all he had wanted since the day everything went wrong.

"I know, I know my boy." Vlad replied, running his hand through those golden locks. Those were just like the words his boy had cried in his arms after they lost his mother. That was all his son wanted and Vlad...Vlad started a war. He turned their home into a fortress, a moving base. It grew cold and was full of cold hearted people. Vlad directed his effort to murdering the humans, barely making time for his son after that. He had made some time, yes, but it was nothing like before Lisa died. He only spent time with Adrian to distract him from the war, and...from how empty his father had become.

"And you will." Vlad continued, letting his eyes look up from his boy to the two humans in the room. "You will, and you'll...you'll be safe. I promise."

"...dad?"

"Yes my sweet boy?"

"I love you."

Tears fell onto Adrian's cheek. "I love you too. Now...just rest. Ok? When you wake, you'll be much safer, ok?"

"Ok," Adrian mumbled, curling as best as he could into Vlad's chest. "I trust you."

Another sob. "I know you do."

Once Adrian drifted off, it was silent for a few moments before Vlad turned his attention to the speaker and the hunter. He took a very deep breath before looking at the two with eyes that bled of begging. "I think...I think I have been lost...for a long while now and...I don't think I can find my way back." He swallowed. "I've become so lost...that I left my son behind and...no matter how much he believes in me...there is no hope for me. It will be hard for Adrian...when he realizes the truth but...will you be there for him? Will you be the home I have promised my son?"

At first Sypha and Trevor only stared at him. It was almost incomprehensible, that this large, and powerful being, this legend and envoker of fear was as crumbled before them as he was. But, after standing in silence and seeing the way Vlad actually began to look fearful of their answer, Sypha spoke up.

"Of course we'll look after him." She said, and Trevor did not even protest. "He's innocent in all of this."

"Plus, he kinda grew on us." Trevor huffed.

Vlad let out a sad laugh. "Yes, yes he does that. All the elderly fell in love with him when he would help out Lisa with patients. And...thank you."

"And you?" Trevor asked, raising an eyebrow. "What happens to you?"

Vlad took another deep, but resigned breath. "I have been dead inside...for a long time now, I just didn't realize it. I clung onto the hatred and the light of my child but I think...it is time for me to finally join my wife and let my son...move on." He met their eyes. "And I trust...that you can help me achieve that."

Trevor and Sypha looked at each other before nodding. "We can."

"Then let's put an end to this."

Notes:

So that was that.
Uhhhh...yeah, yup I just did that. But if we are being honest, Dracula was insane and probably needed to die. I might do like a 'what-if' of this end with him living but as of right now to keep this thing on track daddy needs to die.
So uh... feel free to comment or anything else. Comments do make me happy though.
Until next time! :D

Chapter 14: S2

Notes:

Here we go! End of S2!

Chapter Text

Light flickered past the curtains, falling onto the peaceful face that lay nearly buried in the large bed. Blonde hair spread out like a halo stood out strikingly on the white bedsheets. The small figure in the bed groaned at the light, golden eyes slowly opening to look around the room in confusion. It was familiar with the stone walls and the high windows, only this was not a common room to be in, let alone to be waking up in. As he lifted his head, he saw sitting on a bedside table was a familiar stuffed wolf and sword, along with two unfamiliar things. The first was a chain wrapped around the animal’s neck with two golden rings that the chain was threaded through. The second thing was that the animal was sitting on what appeared to be a letter. 

Only becoming more confused, Adrian sat up fully in the bed and looked around the room, only to wince when his movement pulled on a tightness on his chest. Looking down, Adrian moved the sleeping shirt he had been dressed in (when?) and saw a long scar stretched along his chest, reaching from his left shoulder to his right hip. With his confusion only mounting, Adrian pushed himself out of the large bed, a guest bed for whatever reason, and made his way to the door. Hesitating before he pushed it open, the boy turned around and picked up the stuffed wolf along with the letter, staring down at the toy his mother had made for him. His eyes once again traced over the two golden rings, his sharp mind placing them as his parent’s wedding rings but the fog that still remained from his sleep made it impossible for him to figure out why they were on his wolf. Golden orbs then flickered to the letter, figuring it held the answer to his question but he hesitated. A dreadful feeling was welling in his chest the longer he stared at the letter and the rings.

Perhaps, rather than opening the letter, he could ask his father what was going on. Afterall, if Adrian was back in the castle then his dad had to be somewhere.

Clutching the two objects close to his chest, Adrian made his way back over to the door and pushed it open. Looking out into the hallway, he searched for any obvious area for where his father could be waiting. Then again, the sun was up and Adrian had no idea how long he had been asleep for. Was it later in the day? Was his dad sleeping? He wracked his brain for any idea of where his father may be, but then gasped as he remembered two others that would most likely be up and moving with the sun.

Afterall, if he was sleeping peacefully in the castle, then it had to have been a good outcome from meeting with his dad, and if that was the case then Trevor and Sypha had to be around somewhere. Of course, there was the fact that maybe his dad killed the two humans and that was what was in the letter, but why wouldn’t he just tell that to Adrian himself. Not that he wanted them dead, far from it, but it seemed like the most reasonable option. Unless his dad just let them leave and he had been asleep longer than he thought? Afterall, he did not remember how he got the scar across his chest but that had to have happened during the attack. But who hurt him? Trevor was the only one he could think of that would attack him (because he had done it before), but Adrian will admit that he doubts the hunter had purposefully hurt him.

He shook his head in frustration. Everything was too confusing. He needed answers, and he needed them now.

Making his way down the hallway, he figured that maybe a good place to start would be in either his father’s office or in the main living areas like the kitchen. He made sure to focus his hearing so as to catch any sign of life. With how dead it was in the castle, it shouldn’t be hard to pick up any sounds of movement with his enhanced hearing. 

Going to his father’s office first, he found it looked the same as how he had left it, the door closed and, when he opened it, empty of any life. Frowning, he made his way further through his childhood home only to pause when the sound of shuffling books reached his ears from one of the rooms. Looking at the door, Adrian recognized it as one of the many libraries held within his home. While it did not contain as much magical or mystical information as his father’s personal library, it still played a role of holding all the knowledge he had obtained over the years. Making his way closer, he soon heard familiar humming and rushed to enter the room.

“Sypha?” He called as he entered the doorway, startling the speaker who was busy shuffling through the many books. She jumped slightly, one hand dropping a book to be free to cast a spell only to then drop to her side at the sight of the boy in the doorway.

“Oh! Adrian! You’re awake!” She cheered, rushing to his side with a bright smile. “I was starting to get really worried.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Ah, well, you’ve been asleep for a few days now…three days I think? I mean, you didn’t seem to get any worse but you were still not waking up so-!”

“What do you mean?!” Adrian repeated, clearly getting agitated at what he was hearing. “What…What happened? Where’s my dad?”

Sypha froze, the smile falling off her face and all the joy seemed to drain from her body, slumping where she stood. “Adrian…”

“Where is my dad?!” He asked again, tensing at her expression.

“Adrian, he…” She bit her lip. “I don’t…he…”

“Sypha?”

“He…your dad…he is…he is no longer with us. I am sorry, Adrian. I’m so sorry.” 

Adrian began shaking his head quickly, trembles running up his body and tears filling his eyes as he clutched the wolf closer to his chest. “No…No!”

“He…he wanted…he thought it would be safer-”

“No!” He cried, quickly using his enhanced speed to run out of the room and away from the speaker magician. He dashed through the castle, tears blurring his vision slightly as his mind seemed to be using muscle memory to guide him through the castle. Soon, he was hidden within the innermost library, the one that held all the books of magical origin and the magic mirror in the center of the room. At first, Adrian was confused as to why he was led here, but after scanning the room, his eyes focused on the magic mirror, specifically the communication mirror.

If anything would be able to talk to his dad, this would be it.

Scrambling up to the mirror, Adrian frantically eyed the shards of glass floating before him before channeling all his focus and power into the mirror, just as he had done with the mirror in his father’s office. He channeled all his thoughts into finding his father, to show him that Sypha was lying about what had happened, only for the mirror to show nothing.

It was blank, a shifting pool of darkness sat within the shards, unable to show him what he was seeking. Afterall, his father could not be communicated with in such a manner, not if he was dead.

Fatigue hit the boy like a stone block, dragging him to his knees as tears streaked down his face. Heart wrenching sobs echoed throughout the space and his hands scraped across the floor as his body spasmed from the force of his cries. He folded into himself, eventually curled up on the ground with his hair falling across his face and the ground almost similar in the way it had been when he woke up. Only, there was nothing peaceful about this moment, there was nothing light and soft as he lay shattering on the cold, stone floor.

Eventually, his sobs tapered off, leaving only sniffles to echo through the otherwise deafening silence. As he stretched his arms out, his hand met with the soft fur of the stuffed wolf. Memories rushed through his head at the sight of the toy, once again making tears fill his eyes. He remembered always having it with him as he played around the castle, a constant companion that watched over him while he slept. He remembered sitting worriedly at his mother’s side while she sewed up a hole in the wolf, acting as though the toy was in intense surgery. He remembered his father using a spell once or twice to make the wolf move on its own much to the joy of the little boy.

Then his eyes trailed down to the rings wrapped around the neck of the wolf, the remaining parts of his parents and their love. The golden bands glimmered in the dim light of the study as Adrian sat up and held the wolf in his lap. He fingered the golden bands for a few moments before he unclasped the chain to hook it around his own neck instead. Somehow, the feel of it against his chest was both a weight and a relief. He then took a chance to curl around the wolf, eyes drifting out of focus as he just sat there and breathed.

When he blinked, his eyes refocused momentarily on the closed letter at his feet. He had nearly forgotten that he had been carrying that with him since leaving the room he woke up in. Despite not knowing what was in it, he could recognize the writing that made up the letters of his name sitting on the page before him. It was his father’s and a part of him was afraid to open the letter for fear of what it may say. 

But Adrian also yearned to read the last words he would even have from him.

Trembling hands picked up the letter and slowly opened it, pulling out the folded paper within. Unfolding it just as gently, he swallowed as he began to read.

 

My dear boy,

Before I say anything more, I want you to know that I love you with every part of my being, and it was never my intention to leave you like this. The last thing I ever wanted was to leave your side, let alone leave you alone in this world. I just wanted you safe and loved, just as it was before everything burned.

I started a war that night that they took your mother from us. They hurt you and killed her, and for that they all deserved to die. I don’t regret it, and as I write this, I still don’t, not entirely at least. If this kept you safe, then that was all that mattered. I promised you they would pay, and I kept that promise. So I focused on riding the world of humans, and eventually that was the only thing that mattered. After all, if they were gone, you should have been safe.

But this drive consumed me. It filled the hole where your mother was and instead of focusing on you, I focused on those that harmed you. I figured if I kept everything out of your sight, then you would remain safe forever. But this logic was flawed, I see that very clearly now. Your mother would be disappointed in me, and not just for this plan. And I can not blame her, for I too am disgusted with myself for drifting so far from what she would have wanted, for both the humans and for you. I had become the very monster that she never saw me as, and the very monster I saw the humans as. 

And this is why I cannot be here with you Adrian, because in the end I hurt you. I became a danger to you because instead of fighting, I gave into the hole in my chest. I became a broken, mad monster so lost in his own sorrow he could no longer think clearly, could no longer care for my son who needed me more than revenge ever did. And for this, for hurting you, I am so, so sorry. I don’t think I can ever forgive myself, and I would never ask for you to do so either.

I don’t deserve it.

And I’m sure you’re wondering why I had to go because you have a heart just like your mother. Adrian, if I couldn’t be there for you when you needed me, so much so that I only realized what had happened after I severely hurt you, then I do not trust myself with you. It is safer for you if I am gone. Then I will never hurt you with my own hands again.

I love you Adrian, and that is why I need to go. But know that I am so proud of you for braving everything you did, so proud of you for standing up for what your mother believed in. I know your mother would be proud of you too. Never lose that heart of yours.

And should you need someone to lean on, I trust that the Belmont and the Speaker will look out for you.

I love you,

Your Father.

 

He didn’t know when, but at some point the words had all blended together in his tears.


“So, found any new libraries today?” Trevor asked as he heaved a few wooden boards through the main entrance of the castle. 

“Not today, no, but I think I found the bathing rooms.” Sypha answered. “There were so many weird pipes though, and knobs. Not to say it isn’t just as interesting as the parts of the castle we have discovered.”

“Yeah, well, it would probably make more sense if there was a certain someone here to help navigate this hideous thing.” Trevor raised his voice towards the end of his sentence, looking around in hopes of catching sight of a certain dhampir.

“It’s only been a few days, Trevor.” Sypha sighed. “He still needs time to process everything. You should let him have it.” 

“Oh, he can take as much time to process as he wants, I just think it would be nice to either have some help fixing this place, or at least some navigating.” Trevor grumbled. “I still haven’t found the cellar and there’s no fucking way Dracula didn’t keep fancy wines.”

“And it’s not because you’re secretly worried?” Sypha asked, sending Trevor a look as she got ready to move the wooden planks over to the Belmont hold with magic.

“There’s nothing secret about it.” Trevor replied. “I mean, what if that alcohol got ruined in the fight? It would be a massive tragedy.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Sypha huffed before she made a few signs with her hands and then the earth began to gently move the wood from the castle to the keep, the Speaker trailing behind it.

Left alone in the entranceway, Trevor felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up at the sensation of eyes watching him from the shadows. But this wasn’t new as these were the same eyes that had been watching since Adrian had run from Sypha three days ago. The last time she had seen him in person since he woke up.

“You know, Sypha’s worried about you.” Trevor grumbled, shooting a look up in the direction of the eyes. “I get why you don’t want to see us. I’m not stupid, and I know you aren’t either. You know what role we played in…” He trailed off, not really knowing how to word the killing of Dracula to his traumatized kid, especially since Dracula had even asked for their help in killing him (which is definitely the weirdest thing to ever happen to Trevor). 

“Anyway,” He continued. “It’d be nice for Sypha to get some relief. Just give her some sign that you’re still alive.”

With that he walked out after Sypha.


The next day found Sypha and Trevor outside a childhood room, taking in the dead soldiers (who must have been dead for a while) on the ground, and the shattered window and door.

“Nope, we are fixing this now.” Sypha announced with a crack of her fingers.

“Aren’t we already in the middle of, oh I don’t know, fixing the stairs to the hold?” Trevor asked, crossing his arms.

“Yes, but we’ve also been cleaning up all the…you know.” She gestured to the dead bodies, not wanting to say it out loud in case their young stalker was watching.

“You are referring to the bodies, right?” Trevor snarked back with a quirk of his eyebrow. “I mean, you could be referring to the broken window but I have a feeling you meant the bodies.”

“Yes I mean the bodies!” Sypha huffed. 

“Could have just said that.”

“You know what? Fine, you can deal with the old, stinky bodies. I’m going to focus on the window and door.”

“What?” Trevor squawked. “How is that fair?”

“You seem to focus on the bodies, so you can deal with them.”

Trevor grumbled as he hoisted the first one into his arms, grimacing at the stiffness of the vampire before he began to drag it to the nearest patch of sunlight that was not in the room. “You better appreciate this, ya brat.”


“Do you think everyone is ok, now that he’s gone?” Sypha asked as they sat in front of the large fireplace in one of the many rooms of the castle. She and Trevor were taking a few moments to relax before settling into bed for the night.

“Hard to say. It was a shit show out there.”

Sypha snorted. “You’re not wrong.”

This room had a few rafters in it which held a few hanging lamps, but none of them were lit. Both of them pretended they didn’t notice the familiar presence that hung up within those very rafters, closer and more obvious than it had been in the last few days.

“I think, when we’re done here, I’d like to find my group and see if they’re ok.” 

Trevor hummed. “I think they're fine. I mean, they raised you.”

“Aw, how sweet.” Sypha briefly smirked at Trevor before turning back to the fire. “Still, I want to tell them what has happened, and I want to see if there are any more adventures waiting for us.”

“Got a thirst for adventure after going on a possible life-ending mission?” Trevor laughed.

“Maybe.”

The fire’s crackling filled the silence once again as they drifted off. It stretched out longer this time, neither wanting to break the calm yet both having words at the tips of their tongues. Eventually, Sypha broke it again.

“I’m really worried.”

“I know.” Trevor replied with a sigh.

“I know I said it would take time but…”

“Yeah.” Trevor tilted his head a bit before glancing up at the rafters. “I guess your patience is really being put to the test here, huh? You sure you have it in you to keep waiting?”

“Is that a challenge?”

Trevor shrugged. “Eh, more of getting a timeline here. My patience is already down the shit hole.”

“Lovely.”

“Just being honest.”

They both fell quiet at the slight shifting in the rafters of the room before that ever present presence was gone and they both let out exhausted sighs. Hopefully, they’d get to see their young friend soon.


“Woah,” Trevor gasped as the two of them entered a new part of the castle. Before them was a large chamber in which they walked on an elevated platform. It split off into a few directions, and below them was a cavern within the walls filled with melted gears and even more platforms, the room seemingly a bottomless pit of gears and platforms. Above them were more of these melted gears and straight ahead was a small staircase leading up to a platform with a shattered window.

“What is this place?” Sypha wondered, looking over the edge of the platform and down into the abyss.

“More importantly, how is this inside the castle?” Trevor asked. “I seriously don’t know where this is from the outside?”

“It’s the engine room.” The two jumped a bit, before zeroing on the blonde figure sitting on the steps, feet dangling over the edge over the deep room. His gaze was directed up at the melted gears above them. “Or…it was.”

“So…this was how the castle teleported?” Sypha gasped, eyes lighting up.

“Mhm.” 

“Amazing!”

“It was more amazing when it wasn’t broken.” Adrian said. “The gears weren’t melted and there was an orb or something that was in charge of the teleportation.” His brow furrowed in thought. “Or, at least I think it was. Dad…he never got around to explaining it…” He trailed off and an awkward silence settled over the three. 

All excitement seemed to drain out of Sypha at the dhampir’s words. “Adrian-”

“Why are you still here?” He interrupted as he curled into himself and turned his gaze to the floor. “I heard you talking…about how you want to go on more adventures. Plus…you only came here to kill my dad and that's done. So…why are you still here?”

“We’re here for you.” Sypha answered as she and Trevor made their way over to the boy, her eyes soft. “After everything that’s happened, we aren’t just going to abandon you.”

“But-”

“No buts.” Sypha cut in, kneeling next to him and giving a pointed look. “Yes, I will admit that I miss my family and that I would love to see what other adventures there are out there, but you are more important right now. Plus, there is no way I’d leave you on your own, so even if we want to leave you will come with us.”

“Oh.”

“Of course, that will depend on if you are ready to leave or not.”

Adrian swallowed. “And what if I never want to leave?”

“You mean we never have to deal with people again?” Trevor asked as he came to sit next to the two. “Sounds amazing.” This made Adrian laugh. “Besides, we have a lot of work to do before we leave, because I don’t know about you but I don’t think it’s safe to just leave this shit sitting open for everyone to get to.”

“That’s true.” Adrian agreed. “There might be something in a library here. My dad has a lot of books on magic.” His face dropped again and tears slipped down his cheeks.

“Oh Adrian, I am so sorry.” Sypha cooed as she pulled him into her arms. Rather than responding, Adrian just curled up further into the embrace and let the tears roll down his face. Next to them, Trevor offered his silent support. They didn't leave him while he was hiding, and they weren’t going to leave him now.

Chapter 15: S3

Summary:

Entering season 3

Notes:

Hello! I have a small break from grad school to update! Yay! And I'm also hoping to have another chapter out sometime this week but who knows when that may happen because I wrote this between finishing a practical and studying for an exam so...ya know.
Anyway we are entering season 3! Now....I plan on touching on both parts of season 3, the Alucard arc and the Trevor/Sypha arc. How will I do this? By deciding Sumi and Taka showed up some time before Trevor and Sypha got to the one town. We aren't really given a timeline in the show, its just implied its all at the same time, but! Considering the two were on the road for a while before they reached the town, I'm essentially replacing that time with Sumi and Taka.
Essentially I'm doing time fuckery but this was already Canon Divergence so what does it matter.
Enjoy the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Trevor grunted as he heaved another large wooden beam closer to the giant hole in the ground that was the Belmont Hold. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he turned to look over at where Sypha and Adrian were crouched on the ground, craving stone ruines into the dirt around the hold. 

“You know, I could use some help over here.” He shouted over to the two.

Sypha waved her hand at him. “Oh, you’re fine. You can carry the beams, you’ve been doing that for the last two weeks!”

“And maybe I want a break.” He pointed at Adrian. “He literally has vampire strength! Why can’t he help me more!”

“Because he is busy helping me find the right spells to protect the hold and castle.” Sypha shot back. “Last I checked, you do not know every library in the castle.”

“Maybe I would if the castle didn’t move it’s stupid hallways and someone actually helped me navigate!” Because despite the damage the castle had taken it somehow, had enough power regenerated after a few days, and with the influence of Sypha discovering some ruins in the destroyed engine room, to influence the hallways again, however that worked. Honestly, Trevor was half convinced that the brat had something to do with it just to mess with him.

It had been a few weeks since Adrian had come out of hiding and things were going pretty alright considering everything that led up to now. Adrian joined the two on the endeavor to fix up both the castle and the hold, though he was still a bit twitchy around them and every so often he would go off by himself. They understood though, and welcomed the moments they could be there for the kid in his grief (no matter how much Trevor grumbled otherwise). At some point when fixing up the castle, some of the magic within its walls awoke and the building became particularly loyal to Adrian. While it had nowhere near the amount of power Trevor assumed was in it before Sypha broke it, the random shift of a hall or lock of a door was enough to annoy him despite how infrequent it actually was.

Which, Sypha also knew of the limited power of the castle. “Excuses!”

Adrian giggled in response, hand covering his mouth a bit as his eyes crinkled with the laughter. However, as Trevor began to grumble out a response, Adrian froze and his eyes shot towards the forest.

The two adults immediately noticed the change.

“Demons?” Sypha asked, quirking an eyebrow while she glanced at Adrian from the corner of her eye.

The boy was quiet before muttering. “No…I don’t think so.”

“Animal?” Trevor asked. The teleportation of the castle had scared a good bit of the wildlife away, but they trickled closer every so often. Trevor usually welcomed the animals for some fresh food.

“I…no? It sounded…different than that.” Adrian replied. “It's…it's gone now.”

Trevor and Sypha looked at each other, frowns on their faces. Whatever it was, there was a chance it was still out there. There was a chance it was a lower level demon. It happened once or twice now in the few weeks they’ve been here that a stray demon or two made its way to the castle, but it didn’t take long for it to be dealt with by Trevor or Sypha. Otherwise, it was most likely an animal. While many had been scattered by the appearance of the castle, some had started to return to the area around it and the hold.

“I’ll go check it out.” Trevor spoke up, hand moving down to his whip. “Whatever it was, best to make sure it's actually gone. I really don’t want to wake up again just to deal with some tedious fucking demon when I could be sleeping.”

Of course, there was always one other possibility and that was whatever was out there was human, but considering the giant castle, Trevor doubted it. Plus, he really wasn’t ready to throw that at the kid. Adrian had just started feeling better and the last thing he needed on top of the demons, vampires, and dead dad was a human to cause more trauma. He and Sypha hoped that, should the day come that he wanted to travel to a different town, that he could handle the humans.

Not that Trevor would blame him if he couldn’t. Lord knows he can’t.

So, of course, as he travels further into the woods and instantly throws a small dart in the direction he could feel eyes watching him while tackling another form to the ground, it had to be fucking humans.

“God damnit.” He groaned from where he was sitting on what seemed to be a female human, arm pressed against her throat.

“Wait, please, we just want to talk.”

“Really? Is that why you’re watching us from the trees? Look, I don’t know what you and your friend are doing out here, nor do I really care. But it would really be in your best interest to fuck off. That includes you, fucker!” He had raised his voice at the end, referring to whoever he had targeted the dart at. He waited until the other person came into view, a man similar to the woman with the thrown dart sticking out of his shoulder, before he stood up and began walking away. “Goodbye. Don’t come back.”

“No! Wait, we really want to talk!” The woman cried, pushing herself up and moving to stand next to the man. 

“Why couldn’t this be easy?” Trevor moaned to himself, fingers coming up to rub at his temples.

“You are a Belmont, correct?” The woman continued, making Trevor turn to him. “We need your help, please. We have come a long way.”

“Well, that sucks, sorry though I can’t help. I’m a bit on a break at the moment.”

“But you are a Belmont, yes? We’ve heard stories of you and your skills! We want to learn from you.” She gestured to herself and then the man. “I am Sumi and this is Taka. We are vampire hunters and when we saw you around the castle, we were hoping you could help us.”

Trevor tensed as he heard their words. “Oh? And what brought you to the castle?”

“A vampire named Cho.” Sumi replied. “We were slaves to her court in Japan, but she left to become one of Dracula’s generals. We used that time to escape and hunt her down, which in turn involved tracking the castle.”

“Well, I’d hate to break it to you, but she’s probably dead.” Trevor replied with a shrug. “Some were dead in Braila, some we killed ourselves when we came for Dracula. Looks like you can go home.”

“But she is not the only vampire in Japan.” Taka broke in. “We just hope to learn something from you, that is all. We do not need you to fight for us.”

“Well, I-” He didn’t continue as suddenly rocks closed in around the two Japanese hunters and ice locked their hands at their sides.

“Trevor! What is happening?” Sypha exclaimed as she came up from behind the two. Adrian was not with her. “You’ve been gone for a long time, and I find you out here chatting? Who are these people?”

“I’m not chatting.” Trevor replied with a scowl. “And you can let them go, they aren’t a threat. They’re just some people who are going to be leaving soon.”

“We have come because we want to learn new ways to hunt vampires!” Sumi shouted. “Please, we are not a threat to you, and if you want us gone we will go. But we were hoping you could help us save our people from the vampires of Japan by teaching us new things.”

“You’re vampire hunters?” Sypha asked, critically looking them up and down.

“Yes.”

“And you tracked us down specifically to learn?”

“No, they were chasing one of the vampires in the castle.” Trevor said, pointing in the direction of it. “‘Told them their mark is dead.”

“Probably.” Sypha shrugged while at the same time releasing the two of them. “So! I’m sorry for the approach but we’ve had to be a bit cautious considering. A lot of things have come around and tried to kill us.”

“It is alright, we understand.” Sumi replied.

“Though, I would have preferred not to get stabbed.” Taka laughed.

“To be fair, you were ready to shoot me with an arrow.” Trevor pointed out. “Not my fucking fault you weren’t sneaky enough.”

“Well, if you’d like, we can take you back to the castle and patch you up. Then, I don’t see why we can’t teach you a thing or two. Just because we are not able to go out and fight demons doesn’t mean others can’t.” 

Trevor dragged Sypha closer and away from the other two, whispering to not be overheard. “What are you doing?”

“Being friendly.”

“And why do you think this is a good idea? What about Adrian? Where is he anyway?”

“I had him stay back and be on lookout, so he’s fine. And yes this is a great idea because if we can’t leave right now, at least someone else can fight the demons away from here. Plus, we can introduce Adrian to new people!”

“Right, humans.” Trevor pointed out. “Who are also hunters. Why would that be a good idea?”

“Because if we can show him not all humans are bad, then whenever he gets the courage to leave, it will be less scary!”

“I don’t know, Sypha.”

“It will be fine! Plus, if they do anything, we can take them.” With that, she moved away from Trevor and faced their guests. “So! If you would like to follow me, I will lead the way!”

“So, you’ve just been living in the castle?” Taka asked.

“Yup!” Sypha chirped. “Since we defeated Dracula. We have been working to repair it and the Belmont Hold. There is so much valuable information that we can’t risk losing.” At those words they broke the tree line and were faced with the imposing figure of the castle and the hold off to the side of it.

“Wow.” The two hunters gasped.

“Now,” Sypha’s expression closed off again. “I will warn you that we have another person living in the castle with us, a little boy. He’s a bit scared of people so you might not see him and there is a chance that, if you do, it will be out of the corner of your eye or something until he warms up to you.”

“Maybe.” Trevor snorted.

“Ah, we understand.” Sumi replied. “New people can be very intimidating. We will try not to scare him. Is there anything we should be careful about?”

Sypha tilted her head as she thought. “Don’t practice any fighting inside, and be careful with any fires since those can scare him. Also, try not to talk about Dracula.”

“Why?”

Trevor and Sypha shared a look, debating whether to share this information about their friend to these new people, and decided. “It’s a…bit of a touchy subject.”

Something flashed across the Japanese hunter’s faces at the avoidance of the question before they both nodded. “We understand.”

“Oh, also, he’s a vampire.” Trevor cut in, making his way past the group and up to the front door. He turned back to them, quirking an eyebrow. “Is that a problem?”

“I was working up to that, you idiot!” Sypha exclaimed.

“There’s no point in trying to phrase it differently.” Trevor gestured at the two. “They’re hunters. I’m guessing they’d be able to tell he’s not human pretty easily.” He hummed. “Unless they really need that much training. Which is possible.”

“A vampire?” Sumi asked, shoulders having tensed at the words.

“Half-vampire, technically.” Sypha cut in. “And he’s not dangerous. Trust me when I say he’s going to be more scared of you than you might be of him. Plus, he really is just a kid!”

“Is it going to be a problem?” Trevor repeated, eyeing them when the two didn’t respond right away. After both Sumi and Taka shared a look between each other, they eventually faced the other two and shook their heads.

“No, it will not. We have no reason to harm him, and if he is half-vampire, that also means he is half-human.” Sumi replied.

“And if you trust him, then it should be fine.” Taka added. “Though I didn’t know such a thing could exist.”

“See, you’re already learning.” Trevor laughed, pushing open the front door and making his way into the castle, not waiting for the others.

Rolling her eyes at him, Sypha then gestured for the two to follow her. “Ignore him, he’s an asshole. Come, I’ll get that shoulder patched up for you.”


Trevor made his way up one of the many staircases in this castle to the second floor and made his way to an office he knew had a window that looked over the forest in front of the castle. Pushing open the door, he found Adrian curled up in a chair close to the window, legs tucked close to his body and arms tightly wound around them. Golden locks cascaded over the limbs and hid his face from where it was already buried in his arms.

Trevor sighed slightly and made his way next to the chair, leaning against the back of it as he looked out the window. “If it counts, I didn’t want more people here either.”

Adrian’s arms seemed to tighten even more. “They’re hunters.”

“Yeah.”

“They’re dangerous.”

“So are we.”

“They don’t like vampires.” Adrian’s voice hitched. “They didn’t like when you mentioned me. Th-They’ll hurt me…just like…just like before and…and-”

“Woah! Woah! Hang on a second!” Trevor quickly moved to kneel down in front of the kid, hands going to touch his shoulders only to freeze when Adrian flinched away.

“I-It’s supposed to be safe from humans! T-That’s what…what dad said b-but you brought them in…a-and they’re hunters s-so they know how to hurt me!”

“That’s not going to fucking happen, ok? Hey, kid, look at me. Adrian?” Trevor kept calling to the kid, hoping to break through the kid’s terror but he only seemed to be spiraling deeper. Taking the chance, he once again placed his hands on the dhampir’s shoulders and he did not let go when Adrian flinched away. Instead, he tightened his grip and bent his head to try to look the kid in the eye while giving him a slight shake. 

After what felt like an eternity of calling Adrian’s name, the muttering died down as Adrian took a deep breath and his eyes locked onto Trevors.

“You with me, kid?”

Adrian swallowed. “I don’t want to get hurt.”

Trevor’s heart broke at the whisper. “And you won’t ok? Have Sypha or I ever let you get hurt under our watch? Have we ever done anything to put you in danger? No, we fucking haven’t.” Trevor stated firmly, never breaking eye contact with the scared boy. “And that’s not going to start now.”

“Then why bring them in?”

Trevor took a deep breath. “Well, technically, they want to learn how to hunt better and since we aren’t going anywhere any time soon, we-well Sypha really-figured we might as well make sure someone can take care of all the nasties out there.”

“Would…would it be better for you to be able to leave?”

“We’ve had this discussion and the answer is still no.” He raised an eyebrow. “We still have a lot to fix up here, and something tells me that if I leave the Hold uncovered my mother will find a way back from the grave to smack me.”

Trevor shifted, moving off of the balls of his feet to instead sit on the floor next to Adrian. “Now, the second reason is because Sypha wants to show you not all people are bad, kinda like when we were at that one town, remember? So, maybe you can make some more friends this way or something. I mean, I’m not gonna make you face them if you don’t want to.”

“...but?”

“But,” Trevor drew out. “I know you’re a brave kid. I think you should try to face this fear not because you should like people, because its not fucking worth it to me, but just to show you can. Besides,” he grinned up at the kid. “If they do turn out to be assholes, we can take care of them easily, right?”

Adrian gave a small smile at that. “Yeah.”

“Right.” Then he groaned as he pushed himself up. “Now, I have to go suffer and find out more about these fuckers. You do what you want, I’m not gonna make you do anything. In fact,” He paused on his way to the door. “You have free reign to do shit with the hallways. In fact! Since this is Sypha’s idea you should see if she can fix up more of the castle’s magic to really fuck with them.”

Adrian laughed a little at Trevor as he continued to rant as he left. Alone in the room again, Adrian let his eyes drift back to the window and a shiver racked his small frame. Despite the Belmont's attempts, he was still really scared. Except, there is the part of him, the part that had remembered his mother’s words, that wanted to try to reconnect with other humans again. Buried beneath the fear and flames, he could faintly remember when he got along with other humans and joined his mother with visiting the sick ones. Maybe if he could face his fear, he could do that again. Travel with his mother and sometimes his father to different towns and meet different people. A benefit of the teleporting castle and magic mirrors.

Maybe, one day, he could do the same with Trevor and Sypha?

But that would mean facing his fear first. 

Fighting back another spiral, Adrian buried his head back into his arms and took a deep breath.

Notes:

SO that was that. As I said, I will also have them go to the town and deal with that arc, we just have to do Sumi and Taka first. Though...I doubt this will be too many chapters. Maybe like...three? Four? Before we close this arc and we go to the town, but that might change because I just let the story do what it wants. Either way, if you want the town it will happen, but I'm kinda using this as the branch from getting Adrian hold up in the castle to 'I'm willing to go into human towns' so...that kinda needs to happen and I refuse to just poof it into existance.

So anyway feel free to comment or anything else. I'll try not to pass away from studying and hopefully I'll get another part up soon because I am currently very motivated for this story. Hopefully that stays for a bit.

Until next time! :D