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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[ Finally, finally, they have him as himself. Just a human. Just a human who will fucking die when it's told to. A hand, three fingered, reaches out for Alucard and dissolves into nothing, only managing to deflect the sword itself from piercing through the necromancer. There's another rush of satisfaction despite that, feeling his shoulder (Alucard's shoulder) slam into the man's ribs with enough force that it'll leave a bruise even on Alucard, if only for a moment. He feels something break inside the necromancer. Perfect. They caught him off-guard, they stripped him of his defenses-

He seems shocked, genuinely shocked, until he meets Alucard's gaze. And then he understands, smile slashing across his face to reveal gritted teeth. ]

Aha, there we go! The answer to all of my burning little questions. M'lord, it hardly becomes a man of your station to make oneself into a pet for a brute like that.

[ He's gasping for breath, but he doesn't seem afraid. ]

The ol' master can only see what you see. Isn't that right, m'lord?

[ It is right. Trevor can't, for example, deflect the massive, three-fingered hand that rises up to grab at Alucard from behind, lifting him. But it doesn't hold him in a crushing grip, as the hands did previously. It just lifts him and slams him on the ground a little way away. Inconvenient, not the most pleasant thing in the world to happen, but nothing even close to dangerous to Alucard. ]

[They've miscalculated.

Amazing, how mages operate. How they can take a single glance, break everything into it's component parts, and know how something works. Even if the something is bullshitted nonsense between a fae-vampire hunter and a dhampir son of the most feared vampire of all. Terrifying when it hapens in moments like these, because they win said mages just enough time to strike.

Alucard doesn't respond to the word pet or brute. He keeps at the task in hand (Trevor should be proud), hand going for the necromancer's throat until that horrible hand takes Alucard and lifts him off the ground. The vampire snarls then, trying to get one foot to the wrist to break the hold, but everything moves too fast. He's slammed onto the ground, but that's fine. Alucard is on his feet after a moment more, and then he's off again.

Vampire speed this time. Faster. More deadly. Certain that as his arm and sword extend, the hand that is free will have more magic to it and...

...Trevor?]

[ There's no answer, not at first. The necromancer stumbles to his feet. There's blood. There's a lot of blood, from his severed fingers and nose and mouth. His breath is raspy and moist, like his ribs punctured lung when Alucard tackled him. But even through the next set of shadow hands come from within his field of vision, nothing stops them. They grasp at Alucard's arms, dangling him by them.

A few thoughts come, but they're all nonsense. Not even any good swear words. And then there's silence again. ]

Oh dear, oh dear. You really do have a terrible habit of giving me your things, m'lord.

[Easy as anything to slice through shadow. To land on the ground, roll, and this time direct his sword at the necromancer's feet. Fuck his ankle up, severe tendons, make moving impossible. His mother's medical knowledge, but used to harm rather than heal. She'd be furious about this.

(Alucard will apologize by way of leaving flowers at he grave come morning.)

Trevor's thoughts are still there. Fading. Alucard can't react to them. Not now. The necromancer can't have satisfaction, just as he gets no words out of the vampire. The most he gets are the noises that come with the sheer physical exertion of effort, and once Alucard is sure that his sword will land true, he is no longer human.

There is a wolf, and it lands only feet away. Teeth barred, sights on the necromancer's throat.]

[ It cuts. There is more blood, another rasping cry, and no clever response this time. Only another of those glass spheres, more fog from it, and Alucard alone with a pool of blood and nothing else. No doll, not this time, not badly injured as he is.

Trevor's thoughts don't return. For a moment or so, he's still there. Just silent. And then the connection falls away. ]

[Wolves cannot swear. They don't have the right vocal chords. So Alucard takes human form for just a moment, putting sword into sheath.]

Fuck.

[Golden opportunity to deal with the problem: gone. Trevor's status: unknown. So Alucard swears one more time, and then he is gone. A bat, because that's a fast enough travel time without drawing attention to himself.

He knows the way home. He'll always know the way back to the castle, it's a beacon. The castle recognizes his presence and authority over it, and in so many ways, it's a blessing.

When Alucard gets to the front door, they're already open for him. He touches down on the ground in human form, but he moves as vampires do to where Trevor ought to be.]

[ He doesn't need to go far. Sypha is already there when Alucard makes it home, having dragged him onto the couch of Alucard's office. It's the closest one to where he was working. Also, a keen demonstration of what the other two seem to think of his 'no sleeping in the fucking office' rule.

He's drifting in and out of unconsciousness, only managing a few seconds at a time. Sypha's laid him on his side to avoid putting pressure on a large swollen lump on the back of his head, and while the vest he wears under his shirt is still on (the shirt itself isn't - it wouldn't be the first time that the heat's rendered him unconscious, and that had been Sypha's first thought), it's clear from the state of his shoulders that it's hiding a massive collection of purple and yellow bruises.

Because having one's head and back slammed with some force into the stone path by the river is nothing to Alucard, but it's not quite nothing to his humans. ]

[Alucard's nearly divebombing to Trevor's form on the sofa. Never mind the no sleeping in the fucking office rule, it was there and it's softer than any floor, so they have to use it.

Concussion. That's the obvious thing, and so is the lump on his head. Alucard's careful to unbutton the vest and the shirt, and then the extent of what's happened becomes clear. That fucking spell. They never tested to see how damage moves across the the connection.

The office doesn't have a medical kit. Of course it doesn't, there's no reason for it to have one. It's the office, the place of paperwork and only that. There are so many boundaries in this part of the castle, things put in place to ensure politics never truly invade every inch of their lives.]

Ice everything right now. I can't assess if there's broken bones until he's conscious.

[There are probably broken bones. Alucard doesn't know, and he's not about to start feeling all over Trevor for them. Not with all the other bruises.]

[ He wakes up briefly a few more times, but it's a few hours later that it sticks for longer than it takes to mumble out a swear word or very belatedly attempt to scrawl some letter or another with a piece of charcoal that he isn't actually holding anymore.

He's in their own bed when it finally does, still turned onto his side. And fuck, it hurts. His head feels like it's splitting and the room won't stay still and he can't move his arms to reach for the bedside lamp and check the clock without pain blooming across his back. He tries a few times, but it grows unbearable before his fingers touch the light switch.

(It's an odd action to attempt, since the lights are on.) ]

Mppphfuck. Fuck- fuck. Ow.

Careful.

[The vampire has been sat at the edge of the bed since Trevor was moved there. Carrying the Belmont was his job. Sypha's ice magic was hers. Then there had been a very long argument that boiled down to "why did you go after that fucker without including me?" and "you are both so stupid." Both points were impossible to fight against, and the vampire didn't try. He simply looked guiltier and guiltier.

(There's going to be bad memories stirred up in her head too. They're really the worst, aren't they?)

Alucard takes both of Trevor's hands in his, directing them to squeeze him rather than reach for anything else.]

Don't move your head. You're concussed.

[ His latest attempt to hit the lightswitch ends with his hands caught and held, and it takes him a moment to connect that sensation to the fact that he's hearing Alucard's voice. It's like thinking through waist-deep mud. ]

Concussed.

[ Slowly, slowly, the thought that would continue on from that occurs to him. ]

-I... got you hit, didn't I?

[ He fucked up. He deserves this. ]

No. I...I took my normal hits. But they were transferred.

[It was terrifying, seeing how bad the bruises were. Alucard has always understood, on an intellectual level, what his rapid healing let him avoid. Seeing the damage manifest on Trevor's body was something else entirely.]

We can't do that anymore.

Shield.

[ Is all he says in response to that. He failed to protect Alucard, and that spell had a built-in punishment for fucking up like that. ]

What, can't fuck up anymore? We say that every time we do.

Don't be thick.

[The vampire's tone is so very soured.]

I take hits that others can't, you know that. If this connection transfers the injuries, then what's to happen if I receive a blow that would be lethal?

[And, on that note...]

She is furious at us both, by the way.

You're going to get upset with me if I tell you the obvious answer to that, aren't you?

[ That's because it's a rhetorical question, Trevor. He's trying to get a point through your thick skull. His arms go limp in concern at the news of Sypha's reaction, though. ]

-shit. She found out?

You also know my response to the obvious answer, so I don't know why you're trying to be smart about it.

[The vampire's glare doesn't soften at all.]

Well, she found you passed on the floor surrounded by your spellwork, covered in bruises, and then I came home. So....yes. Yes she did. In the worst possible way short of standing up in a canoe.

I knew about this going in. [ It wasn't documented in the spell, a side effect of it being voluntary rather than forced, but Alucard had that awful habit of clawing at his own hands that week. ] I just wasn't meaning to let you get hurt. It's not like I fucked up on purpose.

[ He huffs, and he doesn't seem to be reacting to the vampire's glare at all. ]

Well shit. So I'm in trouble with both of you.

Just her.

[Two against one is unfair, and she has a bigger right to be angry. Alucard still hasn't freed Trevor's hands from his own, so the desire to massage his temples is stilled for the time being.]

We need to find another way to deal with him. He understands the magic we're using, so he'll expect it next time. Be prepared.

Of course I'll be fucking prepared. It's hardly like the two of you are going to let me do anything more strenuous than looking at books for the next couple days anyway.

[ The necromancer brings the worst out in him. The most desperation to win, the least need to survive it. Apparently makes him as combative toward the vampire as he was when he first came here, too. Though that may in part be the splitting headache. ]

Unless the lecture's done, would you mind turning on the lights? It's fucking weird having the darkness be disapproving at me.

I meant the necromancer would be prepared, Belmont. Your level of preparation is beyond question.

[Most days, at least.

But then Trevor finishes his thoughts, and the vampire freezes. The hands holding onto Trevor's let go, and one goes to his face - specifically to carefully hold it in place as the vampire leans in to get a look into his eyes.]

The lights are on. They've been on.

[ Oh. Oh, that makes more sense. It's hard to connect different thoughts together right now.

Alucard's attention to Trevor's eyes gives him a perfect view of them darting from side to side in sudden horror. The pupils are reacting to the light of the room, though one is always just slightly larger than the other. He looks uselessly across the room a few more times before his eyes still, staring into nothing in particular. Alucard's hand is there, he can feel it holding him still, and he tries to use that as a waymark to direct his gaze at him but falls short, staring over his shoulder instead, eyes unfocused. ]

...shit. Shit, no.

[ That kind of terror has only ever been in his voice before once, when he begged Alucard to kill him on their first meeting. ]

[Back then, that terror was something Alucard ignored. He did not know a Trevor Belmont, he know the horrible pain in the ass begging for death on his doorstep and only that. A problem to be dealt with by shuffling the man off into the night, his desire unfulfilled.

Now, now that note wrenches through Alucard as sure as a lance through him. It's pained, and there's so many reasons for it. They didn't just fuck up a little, they've fucked up a lot. This could be permenant. Trevor will not forgive himself if that's the case. (A useless shielf, no matter how much Alucard and Sypha protest it.)

Alucard's hands withdraw after a moment.]

I'm getting the advanced medical kit. I'll..

[He walks over to a corner of the room and then returns, putting something soft into Trevor's hands. An older stuffed toy. Something to squeeze.]

I will be right back. Promise.

[Somehow, the vampire's voice is calm.]

[ He turns the toy over in his hands, trying to make sense of what he's been given. It's soft. Cloth. There's some resistance to it if he squeezes it, too much for it to be a blanket or bundle of clothing. There's a seam that he can follow with a finger, along the underside of it. About the length of his forearm, with four growths coming up from it, two on each side.

Paws, he realises eventually. It's one of the dolls from Alucard's room. He puts it down, trying to get up out of bed and just get the fucking lights. Alucard can't have been right. He just needs to turn on the light. And to do that he just needs to stand up and walk across the room.

Which is a painful and difficult process. Very little of his body wants to move, and standing up straight is just about impossible. And then when he finds his feet comes the dizziness, and the room spinning around him. Even blind, he can feel it turning, and after only a few steps he has no idea which direction he's heading in. His hands glance against that old drafting table of Alucard's and he clasps at the wooden frame of it desperately. He's still there when Alucard returns, carefully planning the next section of his journey to the lightswitch. ]

[His mother kept a smaller lab at home. She was a doctor, she had an actual office and there she kept most of her work equipment. Home was for matters that required advanced medical technology, along with her housecalls bag. It's a big, brown satchel, carefully organized and with a ew more advanced pieces of equipment than a dcotor might ordinarily have.

Alucard walks with the same sense of calm purpose his mother did when she had that bag. It meant emergency. It meant the utmost professionalism. It meant not reacting with any more than a grunt at walking into the room and seeing Trevor out of bed, leaning against the drafting table. Alucard only heads over so he can take Trevor's hand and start to guide him back to bed.]

Trevor, I want to ask your permission to invoke following orders right now. I don't know if any of that will override pain sensors, but it's vital I take a look and try to assess damage right now.

[ He could have done it. He could have got there. He was halfway there. He just needed to push off from the table and walk to the wall, then use that to brace himself and- then he'd be at the light switch, and this could all be resolved. He gives an almost feral noise when Alucard takes his hand, trying to pull away and do just that, but one step away from the table and he's already lost his way and his whole body slumps forward painfully in despair. He lets Alucard lead him. ]

Fine, do whatever you have to. Just turn on the fucking lights before you do.

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