[He takes the point and chastisement for what it is. Even if it is some truly incredible magic and there can be a little, tiny bit of pride in seeing something that isn't all darkness.
When Trevor speaks of opening things, Alucard's eyes actually go onto the estate itself, curious if the home will in fact respond. Because if this place is like the castle, maybe it will.]
[ There is no lock on the gates, just a metal latch to hold them closed against wind. He lifts it, just in case, and it opens without resistance. He examines the metal a little longer, after the wagon has passed through the gates, but the metal isn't silver. In fact, there are none of his own family's defensive measures against the supernatural to be seen. No silver, no mistletoe, a cross on the tiny chapel at one side of the estate but not one made to protect against vampires (it clearly didn't work, if Justine was dropped in here without issue). It's strange, the place where both of their families began, flooded with sunlight and devoid of silver.
Inside, the grounds, there are a few more signs of a struggle. But even they are few. Disturbed earth, a little damage to brickwork, the telltale smell in places of a cleaning solution strong enough to clean away blood. ]
We should make sure that there's nothing here before we stable the horses. We may yet need to make a hasty retreat.
[ The servants' entrance is a little closer than the main entrance, and Trevor heads for that door first. Looks to lead into a kitchen. ]
Either of you want to look at this, make sure I won't die if I try to open it?
[There should at least be a lock. There's no lock. That's the detail that creeps Alucard out the most, for there's no lock and there's no defensive measures besides what was built into the estate at the outset. He tenses at that fact, and the tension does not fade as they all walk through the gates. Enter the grounds to a familiar smell of cleaning solution. (Before his father's blood removal skills improved.)
Who's to enter first? The poetics of the situation suggest that it ought to be Trevor. This is the origin of so many things but....ah. No. The poetics are wrong, if the rank of his father was less than that of Leon Belmont.]
I'll go in first.
[He looks at Trevor with a grim face which cracks into a thin smile.]
[ Trevor smiles at that. It's been too long since Alucard has been the sturdy fucker. He's spent far too much of the last year being downright fragile. This is a sort of normal just as much as life at the castle is, him trying to do the stupid thing and Alucard insisting that no, he should do the stupid thing, all while trying to make it sound less stupid than it is.
He double checks the handle (there's rust on it, not silver, or at least not any kind of silver pure enough to be a danger) and looks in through the windows (a normal kitchen, by all appearances, if one lacking all the wonderful things that the castle has. Familiar, almost. Like Leon's idea of what a home ought to be came from this place). Behind them, ice swirls around Sypha's fingers. ]
[The smile isn't unnoticed. It's a shared sentiment, because to be out and doing things again instead of the all too many stages of recovery feels like the other part of normal again. Strong again. Himself again. Knowing that this is shared is good too.
Passing through the kitchen, Alucard takes no chances. His concentration is on his sword, ready to unsheathe and attack if need be. He knows full well that if there are traps (there should be, knowing his father) then it will not be upon walking in.
The kitchen is older. Simpler. He goes towards the hearth, for if there is a logical place to attack a man coming in from the cold, then it is there.
He is all of five feet away from it when there's a sudden shift in the shadows of the room. It is as if dusk has fallen in the room, and in a moment, the sword is out and hovering in the air.]
As expected.
[He smiles thinly. There's some comfort in predicting this, and soon the doors in the kitchen slam shut.]
Wait for the full of it to set in.
[He calls it out to Trevor and Sypha, because this trap is first meant to scare. THen the worst shall come.]
[ Indoors, in a place that isn't quite so vast and expansive as the castle, is not the best place to be using a whip or longsword. He takes one of his knives instead. Easier to use without getting in the way of his companions or them getting in the way of him. ]
Well shit.
[ It's fucking weird - the view outside is still clearly mid afternoon on a cloudless day. But no light seems to come through the window. He does the thing that occurs to him first and also probably the thing most likely to give Alucard grey hairs (because time certainly won't do it).
He takes the handle of the door at the far side of the kitchen, and turns it. And also challenges the house to a fight while he's at it. ]
Hey, you fucking house. Cut that shit out. I'm Leon's. I belong here.
[There's something coming out of the floor, all shadows and spindly legs, and Alucard's already on it with his sword. There's something familiar in it, and he's aware, but then...
...then Trevor is trying to yell at the house and that gives him an idea.]
Trevor! Treat it like the journals, use blood on the handle!
[ They are. They are, it seems, magic developed by the family's oldest enemy. He'll avoid thinking about that later.
For now, despite his denial, he does as he's told and slices into his palm with the knife, placing his hand on the door's handle. It gives, easily, and the daylight returns to the kitchen behind him. A hallway leads ahead. ]
I can honestly say that's the first time someone's decided they want to make me bleed four centuries in advance.
But Alucard will take satisfaction in the fact the shadows all fade. That his theory is right, and that there is no greater threat ahead. His sword finds it's sheath all too quickly, and he smirks in satisfaction.
Not just at his own success, but at Trevor's comment too. It feels good to be back in this rhythm.]
If it makes you feel better, I don't think that you specifically were anticipated.
Well shit, here I was thinking I was worth that kind of effort.
[ He puts his knife away, less because of an understanding that the danger is over and more to press down on one hand with the other to stop the bleeding. He really ought to just have cut his thumb, as he did with the journals. But he was too busy picking a fight with a house to think clearly. At least he won't need to open anything again if the house wants more blood. ]
Congratulations, you're apparently a shittier vampire than the fucking doorknob is.
[ Spend four years with an actual vampire and they don't even make the top fifty list for things that have demanded blood. ]
[There's two laughs at the effort comment, because that's how this kind of thing always goes. Someone breaks the tension with a joke, and the laugh is both real laughter and release.
They're okay for now, and the kitchen was a good place to start. Alucard inspects it all carefully (it's terribly small, but kitchen design does not appear to have changed much in 400 or so years), with special attention to the foodstores. It seems that in this time capsule, even the summer bounty of food is saved but...
...hm. He wonders something to himself, but is yet to voice it outloud.]
I think we can safely bring our equipment in, then take the horses out to the stables.
You're probably right. Safe to assume that we're the first ones here in a while, if there are still traps active.
[ He looks to the bloodied door handle again. Leon. Leon was the exception to all of these traps. It made sense - they must have been set while Mathias was still tending Sara, before hope was lost, and at that time Leon would have been coming and going in search of any remedy or doctor he could find. He'd need to be able to enter and leave safely. ]
I'll stable Useless and his friend. [ Ulysses, Sypha corrects. ] And see if this place doesn't have a more sturdy wagon lying around somewhere. Think the two of you can manage bringing in the essentials? I daresay it'll be safe to leave anything we don't feel like bringing in out in the wagon. This place is deserted.
If the traps are all like this, you're going to be the one who needs to disarm them. I expect going room-by-room shall be demanded of us, which is for the better anyway.
[It only makes sense that this place will respond to Trevor. The more Alucard considers it, the easier the truth reveals itself: this is the castle's prototype. Wilder spells, less refined, intended for another. Youth and brighter days ahead. Less experience and less a need to make a fortress.]
We can do that. I'm curious to find out if the horses are really there, or if we're just hearing echoes of the past when it comes to other living things.
[That goddamn grin. Alucard can only groan at it while Sypha laughs, because Trevor, please have better dreams. This one fucking sucks.]
Go, we'll see you in a bit.
[Which means that as he and Sypha unpack, Alucard asks about stories again - specifically ones where food is important. There's so many, but even in their briefest forms, Alucard grows more and more concerned about what lies in the kitchen.
[ The horses are, in fact, present. Or 'horse', at least. Only one of them. Sara's, most likely, going by the timeline of events she would be the only one who wasn't in any state to ride anywhere, and exactly the sort of overly decorated, delicate thing that one might expect a lady of her station to favour. It eats eagerly when he feeds their own horses, but it doesn't seem to have gone hungry for being left as long as it has.
There is a wagon, not covered but in far better condition than the one they brought. While Alucard and Sypha talk, he explores a little, careful to not get out of yelling range. There is a little dust in the little chapel at the far side of the estate, but only a week or so's worth. He probably wouldn't have even noticed if Alucard weren't so stubborn about keeping the areas of the castle that they lived in practically immaculate.
There is a grave outside it, marked by a simple wooden marker, covered in cut flowers that havn't even started to wilt even after 400 years.
No names on the marker, but it doesn't need one. That would be Sara. Unconsciously, his hand goes to the Morning Star. ]
Horse is real. [ He says on his return. ] Likes feed just as much as either of the others.
[In the time that Trevor has gone to explore the grounds, all of the bags have at the very least been brought into the kitchen. There's a logical assortment of piles ("food" and "weapons" and "weapons Alucard can't touch"), and it has all been coupled with Sypha rolling through story after story of food. Sacred food, cursed food, what happens when you eat what isn't offered.
The consequences, it seems, tend to be dire no matter what. And it means that when Trevor walks back in, all the more informed about what these grounds hold, Alucard is starring down a basket of tiny, plump strawberries with complete and utter suspicion. His arms are across his chest, eyes are narrowed, and Sypha's just watching him do this with a mixture of amusement and real concern.
He doesn't even look up when Trevor walks in. He just keeps with this pointless staring contest.]
That's interesting. No people, but animals are fine. I thought I heard a dog earlier as well, was there any sign of one out there?
[ He frowns, following Alucard's gaze to try to figure out what the problem is. Strawberries. The problem is strawberries. And that is, thankfully, a problem he knows just how to solve. ]
Strawberries pissing you off?
[ Aaaand he grins and reaches out to grab a few. because of course he does. ]
[The word is as sharp and as strong a rebuke as Alucard makes when there's life or death on the line. Or someone is about to do something so amazingly stupid he's going to turn purple. In this case, both apply.
He has enough sense in him for an explanation though as he walks over, moving the berries away from Trevor's grasp.]
Sypha's been going through every story she knows about food. We don't think it's safe to eat anything that's in here.
Well, if it's eating someone else's food that's the problem then. The horse that lives here eating our horsefeed makes it entirely this place's problem.
[ Damn if he doesn't still want strawberries, though. They look really good ]
But further in it must be. Alucard nods in quiet agreement to the plan, his eyes drifting to the only door in the kitchen. It leads to a hallway, probably.]
Really? I've always seen you as more of a feral cat.
[Oh, they're going to do this while walking through the family estate. Because there has to be something for them to do to kill all the tension.
There's no more debate of anything. Alucard calls his sword to him, and goes right for the door.
It's....a hallway. One with simple stones on the floor and lit torches, but just a hallway. Short with no other adjoined rooms save for the next door ahead.]
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cryptsleeper) wrote2018-11-10 11:26 pm
no subject
[He takes the point and chastisement for what it is. Even if it is some truly incredible magic and there can be a little, tiny bit of pride in seeing something that isn't all darkness.
When Trevor speaks of opening things, Alucard's eyes actually go onto the estate itself, curious if the home will in fact respond. Because if this place is like the castle, maybe it will.]
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Inside, the grounds, there are a few more signs of a struggle. But even they are few. Disturbed earth, a little damage to brickwork, the telltale smell in places of a cleaning solution strong enough to clean away blood. ]
We should make sure that there's nothing here before we stable the horses. We may yet need to make a hasty retreat.
[ The servants' entrance is a little closer than the main entrance, and Trevor heads for that door first. Looks to lead into a kitchen. ]
Either of you want to look at this, make sure I won't die if I try to open it?
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Who's to enter first? The poetics of the situation suggest that it ought to be Trevor. This is the origin of so many things but....ah. No. The poetics are wrong, if the rank of his father was less than that of Leon Belmont.]
I'll go in first.
[He looks at Trevor with a grim face which cracks into a thin smile.]
Sturdier.
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He double checks the handle (there's rust on it, not silver, or at least not any kind of silver pure enough to be a danger) and looks in through the windows (a normal kitchen, by all appearances, if one lacking all the wonderful things that the castle has. Familiar, almost. Like Leon's idea of what a home ought to be came from this place). Behind them, ice swirls around Sypha's fingers. ]
Looks safe enough. Go on, then.
no subject
Passing through the kitchen, Alucard takes no chances. His concentration is on his sword, ready to unsheathe and attack if need be. He knows full well that if there are traps (there should be, knowing his father) then it will not be upon walking in.
The kitchen is older. Simpler. He goes towards the hearth, for if there is a logical place to attack a man coming in from the cold, then it is there.
He is all of five feet away from it when there's a sudden shift in the shadows of the room. It is as if dusk has fallen in the room, and in a moment, the sword is out and hovering in the air.]
As expected.
[He smiles thinly. There's some comfort in predicting this, and soon the doors in the kitchen slam shut.]
Wait for the full of it to set in.
[He calls it out to Trevor and Sypha, because this trap is first meant to scare. THen the worst shall come.]
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Well shit.
[ It's fucking weird - the view outside is still clearly mid afternoon on a cloudless day. But no light seems to come through the window. He does the thing that occurs to him first and also probably the thing most likely to give Alucard grey hairs (because time certainly won't do it).
He takes the handle of the door at the far side of the kitchen, and turns it. And also challenges the house to a fight while he's at it. ]
Hey, you fucking house. Cut that shit out. I'm Leon's. I belong here.
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...then Trevor is trying to yell at the house and that gives him an idea.]
Trevor! Treat it like the journals, use blood on the handle!
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[ They are. They are, it seems, magic developed by the family's oldest enemy. He'll avoid thinking about that later.
For now, despite his denial, he does as he's told and slices into his palm with the knife, placing his hand on the door's handle. It gives, easily, and the daylight returns to the kitchen behind him. A hallway leads ahead. ]
I can honestly say that's the first time someone's decided they want to make me bleed four centuries in advance.
no subject
But Alucard will take satisfaction in the fact the shadows all fade. That his theory is right, and that there is no greater threat ahead. His sword finds it's sheath all too quickly, and he smirks in satisfaction.
Not just at his own success, but at Trevor's comment too. It feels good to be back in this rhythm.]
If it makes you feel better, I don't think that you specifically were anticipated.
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[ He puts his knife away, less because of an understanding that the danger is over and more to press down on one hand with the other to stop the bleeding. He really ought to just have cut his thumb, as he did with the journals. But he was too busy picking a fight with a house to think clearly. At least he won't need to open anything again if the house wants more blood. ]
Congratulations, you're apparently a shittier vampire than the fucking doorknob is.
[ Spend four years with an actual vampire and they don't even make the top fifty list for things that have demanded blood. ]
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They're okay for now, and the kitchen was a good place to start. Alucard inspects it all carefully (it's terribly small, but kitchen design does not appear to have changed much in 400 or so years), with special attention to the foodstores. It seems that in this time capsule, even the summer bounty of food is saved but...
...hm. He wonders something to himself, but is yet to voice it outloud.]
I think we can safely bring our equipment in, then take the horses out to the stables.
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[ He looks to the bloodied door handle again. Leon. Leon was the exception to all of these traps. It made sense - they must have been set while Mathias was still tending Sara, before hope was lost, and at that time Leon would have been coming and going in search of any remedy or doctor he could find. He'd need to be able to enter and leave safely. ]
I'll stable Useless and his friend. [ Ulysses, Sypha corrects. ] And see if this place doesn't have a more sturdy wagon lying around somewhere. Think the two of you can manage bringing in the essentials? I daresay it'll be safe to leave anything we don't feel like bringing in out in the wagon. This place is deserted.
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[It only makes sense that this place will respond to Trevor. The more Alucard considers it, the easier the truth reveals itself: this is the castle's prototype. Wilder spells, less refined, intended for another. Youth and brighter days ahead. Less experience and less a need to make a fortress.]
We can do that. I'm curious to find out if the horses are really there, or if we're just hearing echoes of the past when it comes to other living things.
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[ He grins that stupid shit eating grin that only comes out when things are normal (or when he's pretending that things are normal). ]
I'll let you know.
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Go, we'll see you in a bit.
[Which means that as he and Sypha unpack, Alucard asks about stories again - specifically ones where food is important. There's so many, but even in their briefest forms, Alucard grows more and more concerned about what lies in the kitchen.
He's also deeply pleased he overpacked on food.]
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There is a wagon, not covered but in far better condition than the one they brought. While Alucard and Sypha talk, he explores a little, careful to not get out of yelling range. There is a little dust in the little chapel at the far side of the estate, but only a week or so's worth. He probably wouldn't have even noticed if Alucard weren't so stubborn about keeping the areas of the castle that they lived in practically immaculate.
There is a grave outside it, marked by a simple wooden marker, covered in cut flowers that havn't even started to wilt even after 400 years.
No names on the marker, but it doesn't need one. That would be Sara. Unconsciously, his hand goes to the Morning Star. ]
Horse is real. [ He says on his return. ] Likes feed just as much as either of the others.
no subject
The consequences, it seems, tend to be dire no matter what. And it means that when Trevor walks back in, all the more informed about what these grounds hold, Alucard is starring down a basket of tiny, plump strawberries with complete and utter suspicion. His arms are across his chest, eyes are narrowed, and Sypha's just watching him do this with a mixture of amusement and real concern.
He doesn't even look up when Trevor walks in. He just keeps with this pointless staring contest.]
That's interesting. No people, but animals are fine. I thought I heard a dog earlier as well, was there any sign of one out there?
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[ He frowns, following Alucard's gaze to try to figure out what the problem is. Strawberries. The problem is strawberries. And that is, thankfully, a problem he knows just how to solve. ]
Strawberries pissing you off?
[ Aaaand he grins and reaches out to grab a few. because of course he does. ]
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[The word is as sharp and as strong a rebuke as Alucard makes when there's life or death on the line. Or someone is about to do something so amazingly stupid he's going to turn purple. In this case, both apply.
He has enough sense in him for an explanation though as he walks over, moving the berries away from Trevor's grasp.]
Sypha's been going through every story she knows about food. We don't think it's safe to eat anything that's in here.
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[ He does look a little disappointed as the berries get taken away. They looked good. ]
I- uh. Fed the horse that lives here while I was feeding ours. Is that going to be a problem?
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[Sorry Trevor. He agrees, it all did look fantastic. As it is, they at least have all of their food, and a decent enough kitchen.]
...Sypha, do animals get impacted by this?
[Apparently, this one's a mystery.]
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Well, if it's eating someone else's food that's the problem then. The horse that lives here eating our horsefeed makes it entirely this place's problem.
[ Damn if he doesn't still want strawberries, though. They look really good ]
Further in, then?
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[Sorry Sypha. It's worth the mean look.
But further in it must be. Alucard nods in quiet agreement to the plan, his eyes drifting to the only door in the kitchen. It leads to a hallway, probably.]
I'll keep going first.
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[ Surly, work-shy, fond of going off in entirely the wrong direction? They're practically twins. ]
I'll- uh. Follow. And bleed on things as necessary, I suppose.
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[Oh, they're going to do this while walking through the family estate. Because there has to be something for them to do to kill all the tension.
There's no more debate of anything. Alucard calls his sword to him, and goes right for the door.
It's....a hallway. One with simple stones on the floor and lit torches, but just a hallway. Short with no other adjoined rooms save for the next door ahead.]
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