cryptsleeper | 20s AU Post

20s AU Post

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.

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Uncultured, inappropriate, rude...

[ He settles into the sofa, wrapping his free arm back around Alucard's shoulders. Nope, nobody's moving. ]

Didn't say bad, just strange. You're staying here until she wakes up. Or until evening service, if that happens first. I'd rather not explain to the babas that I was stuck under the two of you.

Oh, rude just sums everything up. We'll just use that from now on.

[Oh dear. He's so very trapped by a Belmont. Horrible. The worst possible fate for a Tepes.]

I'm starting to get hungry, so it will happen. Just like there's going to be a day where you have to explain that you were trapped under the both of us to your grandmothers. Best to brace for that now.

I told you that you should have eaten something.

[ He's not letting go. Not sorry. ]

Probably for the best. At least they'll stop trying to find me a nice girl.

[ That particular quest of theirs has just been awkward for everyone involved, really. Not that he's disliked any of the people they've thrown at him. It's just that at least a few were literally thrown, and most seemed a little terrified of him, and those that weren't terrified of him were terrified when Agatha brought up great grandchildren before anyone even got to introduce themselves properly. ]

We'll all have to eat at some point.

[Maybe they should just wake up Sypha.]

Maybe they'll stop fixing little in front of my name too.

[He's not holding his breath on that one, but a vampire can dream.

A vampire can also be terribly uninformed about how their quests have gone in the past few months, especially because if he knew, Alucard would have probably sprained something laughing. Especially with the great-grandchildren comment.]

This is better than not-starving, though.

[ He has so much hugs to catch up on! You two had a hugs head start! But fine. He releases the vampire. ]

Fine, go start on lunch and get yourself clear. I'm going to try tickling her.

[There's plenty of time to catch up. Winters are still warm in this part of the world, but things do slow down some. Enough to bring Trevor up to speed. Enough so that the important logistics will be how big a mattress Alucard's room can hold.]

I am not responsible for your well being with this horrible quest of yours.

[Alucard removes himself from the sofa slowly. It's already cold outside of the grip of the other two. There's only one advantage here, and it's that he can lean down and give Trevor one last kiss before he goes to the kitchen. Put a hand on his cheek, keep Trevor there for as long as Alucard likes.]

This is the only way I'm ever going to learn.

[ He tucks a stray strand of hair behind Alucard's ear before turning his attention to Sypha properly, wrapping his arms around her.

It's only once Alucard is safely out of range in the kitchen that there's an indignant squeak, a yelp and the sound of Trevor crashing to the floor.

Lesson learned. ]

[Since taking on the responsibilities he has now, Alucard has partitioned the castle in a way that ensures that the place where he actually lives is not the place where he works. The front is only for work, and he's placed his study there as well.

It's a room larger than a study must be, because functions as (ugh) the closest version of a throne room as he'll entertain with this regencey nonsense. There's no throne though, no dais, just his desk and the chair behind it. Two chairs in front. Books all along the walls, a sofa and coffee table to one corner for when it's needed. A mini-fridge with rations of blood for when they're needed. (There's also a mini-microwave. It wasn't terribly hard to use his father's blueprints to make it.) The viewing mirror lives to one side of his desk, and when Alucard is in there and not using it, it shows the outside world. Sun, always sun. The study has no windows, after all. When working with vampires, it's a sign of respect.

He's been in the study for most of the day. There was nothing like hearing about a murder that took place in one of the tourist districts, only for the medical examiner's office to be baffled by the state of the corpse and for the newspaper to report on it. The name of the deceased is known to him, it's a fucking vampire and that means he knows who did it because there's been pointless territory disputes (over! public! ground!) with another.

Dealing with the cover-up was the easy part. Alucard had done it once or twice already over smaller things. The hard part was what the right version of justice was in this situation. He knew what his father would do: rip the offender's throat out for threatening everyone's safety.

The thought of the act made every part of Alucard wretch.

He sighs. Changes the scene in the mirror from just outside the castle on a December's day to a colder, snowy scene from the Canadian wilds.]

[ Neither of them can take much of the weight from Alucard's shoulders at times like these. They try - he's been the one to track Dorian II's location, and Sypha's been up to old habits as she gathers gossip from tourists to keep everyone up to date on the human side of things. But they can't do what he can. He can count the number of vampires willing to deal with them as Alucard's subordinates (many are willing to speak to Sypha herself, but they balk at taking instruction from her or involving her in anything important. Maybe three are willing to speak to him at all, and one of them is Damien and another is a younger vampire who just really thinks it would be a good idea to win glory by fighting a Belmont. He's starting to wonder if he was this annoying when he first showed up.) on one hand, and none of them are involved in this. His information on Dorian II's location doesn't mean anything from him, and has to be communicated through Alucard. Sypha's information of the effectiveness of the coverup will be similarly ignored from her own lips.

They can't take the weight from his shoulders, because the two of them are only human and even Belmonts and witches mean nothing in the world Alucard has to lead.

He sits in one of the chairs in front of the desk, and he doesn't reach across it for Alucard's hands. ]

Once. [ He begins. Dracula kept impeccable records of any crimes that required his intervention. Alucard doesn't read those, these days, the priest's name is the last entry in Dracula's hand, deceptively steady handwriting that tears through the next eight pages in some places. Trevor is more than happy to go through them and keep them updated in his place. It's one of the few things he can do. ] I've checked. One occasion in the last century that this kind of thing wasn't punished with death, and those circumstances were far different.

Humor me. What were the circumstances?

[Alucard's focus is on the mirror. Letting himself pretend to be elsewhere because the situation is terrible. Listening while looking at the viewing mirror is not a new strategy he's used for these kinds of deliberations, but there's a new texture to it. They're three now, not two, and it's harder to hear these things now. It was already hard to hear them to begin with.

There's a lot this situation brings up. Not just that horrible need to act as his father in full, but with how everyone in this world Alucard's bound to has decided to treat the two most important people in his life. With Trevor it's...it's the surname. It's circling now, not yet confirmed because the rumors work in their favor, and that's understandable. Every vampire who's old enough to remember knows that Belmont is just another word for Death. With Sypha it's the bullshit his mother put up with.

They're as much a part of Alucard as his limbs, and they're due just as much respect as he is. It's infuriating.]

Newly turned, unwillingly. Killed her sire and didn't dispose of the body properly. One of the older vampires - a Carmilla? - was willing to vouch for her, with the understanding that both of them would be punished for any future missteps.

[ He shakes his head, not that Alucard's in a position to see it. ]

This one is- fifteen years since turning, I think? Old enough to know better. And I doubt there'll be anyone willing to vouch for him.

Mm, old name I think.

[Trevor would know better than he would. Alucard closes his eyes, breathing out. Fuck. They all know what the only option is. Sypha doesn't want to say it. Alucard doesn't want to do it. Trevor's likely to force everyone's hand because he's the one who is best at this colder justice.]

He's not popular, I know that much. Runs with the younger crowd, which is a part of that. You know our biases.

[If you ain't a century old, don't even talk to me.]

Austrian, if I remember correctly. We didn't have a lot on her from before your father left. She didn't act out, kept other vampires in the same area in check. She wasn't a priority the way that others were. Tried to make a grab for power after your father left, then fled to America when Bluebeard was the clear victor among the vampires on the mainland.

[ It's more of a play for time than genuinely giving useful information. Alucard doesn't need to know this shit right now. But the more he can talk about old irrelevant Belmont records, the more he can avoid getting to the point. It isn't like him to dance around the point. This is harder than he had thought it would be. ]

I can carry out the execution, but you would still need to be the one to give the order.

[ It's no better, really. Replaces one thing Alucard hates with another. He offers anyway, because it's easier to say that than you have to do this. ]

Probably up in Canada or in the southern hemisphere then, if she made it to this part of the world.

[It's an idle thought. Avoiding things because, well, because of the next words out of Trevor's mouth. Words met with Alucard letting the weight of this force all the air out of him in a terrible sigh.]

Some things can't be accomplished by committee. I do this, or it isn't done.

[After all, his father never did. His father never needed a damn cabinet to run the city, but everyone seems to politely ignore that fact for the same reason that the other two are viewed as lesser than Alucard himself.]

You do this, then.

[ His tone is steady. He wants to hesitate. He wants to offer alternatives. He wants to do anything at all other than this. But they each have their roles here, and he can't falter in his and still expect Alucard to do his own without hesitation. ]

The crime is against the vampires of this city as a whole. Traditionally it would be done publicly. That, I think, can be negotiated. You may only need two or three witnesses of good enough character.

Method. What is expected for that part?

[Witnesses he can manage. One who stands with him, an ally. One who's a critic. A third from the younger group of vampires so they are not excluded and so they know that their actions must be considered. And to know it was done in the old ways, because his father's shadow is still the only thing that matters in this city.

Alucard is quiet as he waits for an answer. Far too still.]

Your father would make a gift of the offender's heart to the injured party. As the injured party here is the city itself, the heart would be removed and allowed to burn in the sunlight and the ashes spread through the city.

[ That- makes the whole thing sound rather more clean and elegant than it is. 'Removed', as if it were just a fine, something being taken from them. As if it were not 'the ribcage wrenched open and the veins and arteries cut through with claws to remove it'. ]

I- don't think it would be safe to consider a cleaner method. Not at present.

[Thanks. Dad. For everything here.

Alucard can guess what the work entails from Trevor's description. There's easier ways, cleaner ways to do this. But vampires respond to drama, and that's what this is. Justice as a drama, and his father's own inclinations and cruelty thrown into the mix.

He nods once, then opens his eyes.]

Don't expect me home until the next evening then.

...Mm. Then, to be fair, I will not go another step either without yours.

[And she doesn't. She pauses, right then and there, and turns to face him directly.]

My name is Sypha. Sypha Belnades.

[...Hmmm.]

I am a girl, if that was not clear from the name.

Adrian Tepes.

[She probably knew that already. But it's nice to be asked it all the same, even if saying his surname right now feels...family has too much emotion right now.]

Safer to travel with ambiguity. [He gets it. And there's something much more important while they both stand here, unmoving.]

It is not an exaggeration to say that I owe you my life, Miss Belnades. I do not know how to repay that debt.

As though you would have listened even if we'd told you.

[Guess what honey there's a big storm a-coming]

I am glad, though, that you came around. It's better this way, I think.

Do you prefer to be called Adrian? I think many people call you something different.

[And some of them don't even bother to use his name at all. There's no need to, when his patriarch and his bloodline are more than enough to speak for themselves.]

...I did not do what I did because I was expecting to be repaid, Adrian.

Please. That other name is...complicated. But you'd know that already.

[Even in that camp, he was Son of Dracula.]

All the same, my gratitude is overwhelming.

[ He’d argued the first time Trevor had demanded he be his father. They’d argued the next half dozen or so times, too. Accusations had been made, not unreasonable ones, of bias. Of a Belmont wanting to see vampires suffer for the sport of it. Of a Belmont wanting vampires to be monstrous to justify themselves.

He isn’t argung now, and that’s almost worse. ]

The victim’s sire, if they identify themselves, has the right to act as witness. They’ve yet to-

[ It’s minor details, and he rattles them off one by one. They’re young traditions, younger than many of this city’s vampires, but they are traditions nonetheless. ]

-Should I attend this?

[ Sypha can’t. It goes without saying. But he’d rather not leave Alucard to face his first execution alone. ]

[They had been horrible arguments. Ones that had the same refrain: I will not be my father. Because that was a return to the European style of things, and with a Belmont in the Americas, no one needed that. Because Alucard's mother had started to tug his father away from so many parts of the old ways, and he had been raised to live those principles. Those thoughts are undercurrents in many arguments now, but...

...there's really no clever way out of this. That's the worst of it.

Alucard nods as Trevor talks about traditions. They're details. Distractions. Good ones. Needed ones.]

Neither of you will ever see me do these things, unless it is in your defense.

[He decided that a long time ago.]

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Page 16 of 141

20s AU Post

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