20s AU Post

[cryptsleeper]

"Land of the Dead" (Watch on YouTube)

Current Carmilla plot outline
--Post-fire, Carmilla and Mr. Peanut team up mostly to use each other. Carmilla's spent the past several months (since November, it is now February 1925) networking, and it's clear to her that Alucard's not suited for the position and that the other two are the obvious weakness. Mr Peanut needs something back, so this is perfect on her end. Mr Peanut can only imagine the joys of vampire blood in his work, and he'd like an army of vampires for his own ends.
--Shit stirring from Mr Peanut (all of March?)
--Mr Peanut also begins to sell mis Miracle Serum, which has vampire blood in it.
--Gang is very much trying to murder Mr Peanut during this.
--Start of April, vampire gets a call from one of the blood bank contacts that 3 patients have come in and are displaying some bizarre signs. Investigation yields the fact that they're in process of turning, and they've all taken the same serum.
--Additional investigation reveals O FUCK IT MR PEANUT
--Meanwhile Carmilla's been made aware of a familiar she didn't sire, so she knows something's up. Big fight with Mr. Peanut and thus Mr. Peanut is left depowered
--Gang commits a murder
--Carmilla's well sured up on her contacts now, and it's time for open rebellion (mid-April)
--In a more subtle attempt to let Alucard just step aside, she cuts the breaks on demon car and shows up to gloat/suggest he not pull a dad and go to deal with his grief quietly while she runs the city. The how he wants to do it is up to him (black widow joke goes here.) Treffy and Sypha walk in.
--1 week of straight up rebellion; feedings, no help from allies, need to do damage control instead of fight carmilla, every dracula rule is
--MEANWHILE IN GRAVITY FALLS, triangle shows Vlad what's up to try and psyche him out, somehow this finalyl snaps Vlad out of his depression and he heads home
--Just in time for Alucard and Carmilla to be tearing each other to bits in one of the bayous, it's not going well
--Vlad coming in means the king of vampires is accosted by a belmont with a pair of blessed knitting needles and a speaker with a fucking gun and he's just like what the shit happened to the world while i was gone
--Wards around the fight means that only demon car can break the wards, everyone has to pile in.
--Carmilla gets her ass kicked AND SENT TO THE JUSTICE DIMENSION

THEN THERE WERE FAERIES.
--Prior to all of this the vampire and Sypha have done a shit ton of research on how to get their Belmont back
--Sypha has also been practicing debating with dad, which leaves everyone Very Tired.
--When Trevor is actually snatched up (1 year after marriage, it takes fae effort. Taking Arn's shape fails, so it's a lot more kidnapping by force), Sypha and Alucard go into Faerie
--But they're playing this as politics, not as heroes rescuing their damsel, so that means the faeries are just "wait what now excuse u?"
--There are 3 gates and 3 trials (the particulars we're still bullshitting.) Each is asked to sacrifice 3 things. (Alucard: voice, his titles as bestowed upon by his father and his people, i forget the third; Sypha: her human form (she's a birb), fuck what were the other two)
--They enter the court at the end of the third trial. After LITERALLY ALL THE TITLES Sypha declares she Speaks for Trevor Belmont
--Claim debate over Trevor, turns out that the rules are in Sypha's favor.
--But that means debating to leave Fae without giving up what they've chosen.
--Sypha lawyers it all out, Alucard is a safety deposit and hangs out with Fae!Trevor
--In the end, safe passage out of Faerie consists of Sypha giving up her memory of the necromancer (billed as a great mage she studied under), the vampire gives up his immortality, and Trevor is replaced with Carmilla (dad was aware of this option and OK with it), but Trevor has his ability to swear taken. He now soundslike a rubber ducky when he tries
--Everyone gets home okay, except for the AU of this AU where the gang fails, but Trevor's on their doorstep like a bat out of Hell because time doesn't work right and he's been in Hell for a WHILE.

Comments

[cryptsleeper]

Would you rather me lie to your face or bullshit my way through it?

[If he did, he would no longer be Alucard. That is the simple fact of it all, and this is worth it. Trevor's face? Trevor's face is amazing right now, and Alucard nudges Trevor's chin upwards for a terribly angled but deeply sincere kiss.]

You'll find other things, I'm sure. Gardening, perhaps, although with less Belmont-y plants and more practical fruits and vegetables.

[miraclewhip]

It'd be funny to watch you try.

[ He's cut off slightly by the kiss and- whatever he was going to say afterward is forgotten. The affection is overwhelming and thinking is hard and all he can really do is return the kiss for a moment before breaking it to curl tighter around Alucard.

It's a while before he speaks, resting his head against Alucard's shoulder until he has his breath back. ]

This is the way things are, huh? [ The way they're going to be. That's new. Scary. Wonderful. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[It probably would be funny to watch the vampire try. The vampire's terrible at it, he's too much a creature of sincerity and that means that he'll always be terrible at lying about things like affection.

This is all too perfect. Wonderful. They're together, entangled in blankets and each other's limbs, warm and snug. The sun has sunk low in the mountains now, the snowy world now a mix of deep purple and blues as night settles in. Sypha must be somewhere. Alucard can probably start on dinner.

But fuck it. Everything can wait.]

Mmhmm. You're stuck in our arms forever.

[miraclewhip]

[ If nothing else, he's going to find he has some difficulty getting free of the Belmont. He pushed Trevor into the stupid slow, heavy, contented state he's in, and now he must suffer the consequences.

When Trevor's breath returns it's steady and soft, slower and more deliberate than usual. He's just a useless warm weight right now, and he's okay with that. ]

Been a while since there was any thinking about forever. I like it.

[cryptsleeper]

Mm. What's the phrase you always used? [Alucard stalls for time, eyes focused on the wonderful warm weight that's encompassing him.]

This is what victory looks like.

[It looks like all of them safe. It looks like all of the real and worst threats are gone, gone for if not good, then for long enough for them to all really recover. It looks like Trevor soft and content in Alucard's arms, breathless until he isn't anymore and even more weighted down now.]

[miraclewhip]

Fuck.

[ He laughs. Not a lot, it feels like there's a weight over him that's keeping him from doing anything like that. But a little, warm and safe and happy and now amused. ]

You've been waiting actual fucking years to say that, havn't you?

[cryptsleeper]

I really have.

[Alucard smirks back down at Trevor, and there's a soft nudge.]

For the real victory. Not all the little ones that never felt like they amounted to anything.

[miraclewhip]

They amounted to something. They were pretty fucking important for the people who didn’t get eaten by zombie tigers. They just also kind of sucked.

[ He sighs against Alucard’s chest, watching as snow starts to fall and settle again. ]

And they led here, so they must have been victories.

[cryptsleeper]

You know, I almost forgot about the tigers.

[It was just a drop in the ocean of the sea of batshit ridiculousness that had been the regency, in the end. Alucard slides down a little bit more on the sofa.]

I...will concede your point, Trevor. You're right.

[miraclewhip]

[ There’s a chuckle as he shifts slightly, moving up as Alucard slides down so this head is rested next to his. He pulls his hand free, shifting so that Alucard’s fingers rest against what remains of the marks from their first encounter with a man they don’t need to recall anymore. There’s less left of them then there will be, once he’s back to normal and all the scars return. But they’re there, a single point on the map of how they found their way here. ]

Those were the victories. This is what we won.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard's fingers run over those marks. He doesn't treat them or Trevor like there's glass and fragile things. Instead his fingers are firm, reaquainting themselves with Trevor's scars. That had been the strangest part of that awful stretch of time, seeing a version of their Trevor who had not endured and survived so much. Whose body was not a living document of that. To be so perfect was upsetting. Still is, when they're all together and certain scars are still missing.

He has never asked what either of them thought of the horrible mark down his chest being gone.]

It's easier to see them as such now. At the time, I wanted to punch you every time you said those words. It felt almost...not trite, but close to it. Rang hollow.

[miraclewhip]

You could have, if you wanted me to stop. It doesn’t make so much sense if you don’t have a whole family of spares.

[ They don’t have ‘what victory looks like’ moments any more, not so much. Even with Trevor still acting as a Belmont, the city is largely quiet of late. Dracula doesn’t tolerate nonsense. ]

No more of that bullshit, I suppose. Not unless you want to come back from shifts at the hospital and say that this is what becoming a doctor looks like.

[cryptsleeper]

Couldn't have, early on. We were barely living with each other, and I couldn't sour any progress.

[He cringes at the family of spares comment. That still upsets him, even now. Even with victory, thinking of someone as so disposable is so upsetting.]

Trevor, if you do that, I will actually punch you because I am going to be far too exhausted.

[willpowerful]

[Fae magic is a bewildering, nonsensical thing, and the hut in the distance is no exception. Though she and Alucard reach it at nearly the same time, and both approach the only door visible on the exterior, something in the glamour of the fae keeps them wholly separate, not unlike the magic surrounding Dracula's execution house, where Carmilla now permanently resides.

The oil reeks of incense and smoke; by the time she reaches the yard, she can't feel her legs, and stays upright on them only by sheer chance. Like limbs that have fallen asleep, they're clumsy like deadweight beneath her, with all feeling lost from them. It's as though the shadows are eating away at her limb by limb, until all that remains of her body is a torso and head, and even those are soon to follow.

But one step follows another. Another. Another. The filth pours into her mouth and binds her voice, like swallowing seawater as she fumbles for the door handle and throws her weight into pushing it open.]

[miraclewhip]

Please, I’ve never once taken it personally when people punch me.

[He notes the cringe, and about half understands what it’s about. He doesn’t talk bout it further, not for the moment, instead leaning in to give a soft kiss as a peace offering.]

What would you rather I do when you come home?

[cryptsleeper]

[The door opens.

The door opens and Alucard collapses onto the floor all at once, a pile of limbs and memories whose scars have been dug into and had fresh blood drawn. There are scratches all over him from the roots, that bound him fast. There is blood in his throat, and Alucard's hands fly to his throat in muted horror to ensure that there is nothing else there. Blood covered twigs escape his mouth, and he can do no more than lay on the floor, wide eyed and helpless, mind reeling.

He hears Sypha though. Tries to force himself upright, but his limbs are too heavy. Weakly, he chokes out her name, praying it does not sound too helpless.]

Are you whole?

[In body. In mind, neither of them are.]

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard can accept that peace. He kisses back to prove that it's more than accepted, then considers the question in earnest.]

Make sure I've eaten and...this, I think. Let me lean on one or both of you like this.

[miraclewhip]

I think we can manage that.

[ Another quick kiss and then he leans his forehead against Alucard’s, sighing happily. ]

Even if I do say something that gets me punched, I think I could manage it.

[willpowerful]

[Some of the agony recedes once she's across the threshold of the house, which doesn't particularly surprise her in retrospect, but catches her off-guard initially. The shadows begin to seep away like ink washed away beneath water, abandoning her limbs as she collapses to the floor, sapped of her energy and exhausted with the floorboards cool and slick beneath her cheek.

She doesn't know how long she lies there, but it's Alucard's voice that rouses her from her stupor; she crawls toward it, one knee after another, until she passes through a doorway that leads her to a room identical to the one she just left, but this one containing Alucard.]

I'm here...right here...

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard forces himself to sit up. His head weighs so much, his chest feels like a stone, but he has to. He has to because if he doesn't, then this gives the fae too much satisfaction. Son of Dracula, on the floor, nearly defeated at the first challenge. Alucard still understands optics, even if he is no longer regent.

But he is so tired. There's no time to do anything else but drag Sypha into his arms once she's close enough to do so, ignoring the fine details of the place that they've found themselves in. Who cares about the roaring fire or the impossibly high ceiling that shows the whole fae court participating in one of their great wild hunts? Who is to notice a pile of sleeping dogs when there is one half of his heart brought so, so low, doubtlessly tormented by the worst memories she carries with her.

He breathes out, arms wrapped tight around her. There's no possessiveness, just fear and relief mixed into one.]

You are. You are.

[willpowerful]

[Reunited. Feeling Alucard's arms wrap around her is like a first gasp of air after struggling for the surface of a stormy ocean, and she sags with relief against him, automatically gravitating to press her face against his chest and rest there quietly, as though needing to surround herself with him and experience it through all of her senses, not just her sight.]

You made it, too.

[After they'd been split up. It's good that they're back together again, that they'd both managed to endure despite the things they've been shown.]

Wherever this is, I think it's safe. The dogs can't pass over, somehow.

[cryptsleeper]

Had to. Couldn't leave you alone.

[Alone, they fail. That much is a basic truth, even if Alucard's ability to form words seems gone and gone entirely. With Sypha in his arms, he breathes out, feeling anchored just by her pressence.

It's only then that Alucard looks around. Breathes out. Notices the horns on the walls, the mural above them the...

...dogs. By the fireplace.]

Sypha...

[Wait. He gets it.]

...I think this is a hunting lodge.

[cryptsleeper]

Fuck.

[The word is said with an ice cold fury from the depths of the castle's labs. Alucard has been there for over 48 hours now, working himself to the bone.

When he had gone to the hospital again, he asked after any new supplements or medications any of the afflicted had been taking within the past few weeks. It ought to have been recorded, but Alucard could not remember the information, nor could he be sure that the question covered things that weren't strictly prescribed by doctors. There were always brews and home remedies sold by small time practioners that could escape the mind in such dire circumstances. Tracking those could maybe lead to some kind of common gathering spot for all the victims.

Such as it was, there was one supposed cure-all that three of them had taken. Facilier's Ruby Tonic: A Miracle Draught for All Ills. Sold at one of the open Saturday markets by a young woman with brown hair and sea-green eyes, at least according to the one man lucid enough to answer the question.

That same man had his wife bring the remaining draught to be studied, because Alucard bullshitted something about contamination concerns. He had brought it home and...

...and now he understood.]

Trevor?!

[It was the kind of yell that Alucard always relied on when they were in the house but far apart. Within a single name though there was real panic.]

[miraclewhip]

[ Trevor doesn't usually go into the labs. There's a deep discomfort to them, seeing the tools of human science where the Belmonts had had the tools of magic. He has his Belmont bullshit, and he can leave Alucard to his science bullshit.

But that is pretty distinctly him being summoned. So away he goes, following the voice through the castle. The tone of it, though, is different. He takes a little longer than he usually might and when he does arrive it's clear why - the Vampire Killer is at his hip. He stopped to arm himself.

Panic could mean anything, after all. ]

What's happening?

[cryptsleeper]

I have a source.

[Alucard doesn't gesture Trevor to the microscope that has left large circles under the vampire's eyes. He instead points him to the little bottle of liquid that sits on the lab bench, cap screwed on tight and the little black label proudly bearing it's name.]

Someone's been bottling vampire blood and using a third party to sell it as a cure-all.

[His voice shakes when he says it. Mostly it's from rage, that someone would be so stupid and irresponsible as to do something so awful. Fear remains though, not as muted as the vampire would like and clearly ill at ease.]

They all bought it from the same market stall. That young boy in the church, his family must also have had it.