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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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.

[This is going to be a nightmare.

Alucard says nothing until he has Trevor's hand in his, and they're at the edge of the bed. He stands for a moment more, carefully considering what the right order of words is for the moment.

There.]

Trevor, sit down on the edge of the bed. Hands on either side, use the bed frame to brace yourself if the pain becomes unbearable.

[Alucard feels sick just even saying the words.]

The lights. Turn on the fucking lights.

[ He knows. He knows that the lights are on. But at the same time, they can't be. This cannot be a thing that's happening. Not now. Not with the city wrapped in such chaos.

But he sits as he's told, bracing himself for pain. ]

Please. Please turn them on.

[Every word hurts. Every word is a reminder of just how badly they have miscalculated, because for Trevor to lose vision even temporarily is the worst possible thing to have happen. They city is barely under Alucard's control right now. It will explode if they aren't careful and...and Trevor makes them be so very careful.

Alucard focuses on the requirements of now. He reaches into his mother's bag and pulls out a small flashlight. Clicks it on.]

Stay still. I need to check your eyes, okay? If you even see a bit of light, tell me.

[He uses one hand to make sure Trevor's eyelids don't blink. The other hand shines the light in, and Alucard tries to assess how the eyes are reacting to light at all.]

Please.

[ His pupils shrink as they should, but Trevor doesn't react at all. His voice just cracks into something raw and tiny and pathetic. ]

I'm trying.

[That's not a lie. The clinical voice is gone for those two words, panic laced throughout them. He hates this. This is his boyfriend, and he's hurt and scared and the vampire can't do a goddamn thing about it.

His eyes are acting correctly. Shit. Shit.

Alucard does one last test, just waving the light from side to side slowly to see if the eyes even react. If they do, then that's actually worse.]

[ They react as expected, the pupils dilating as the light moves between them and contracting again when it shines on either of them directly. One pupil is still slightly larger than the other, but it shrinks and grows as the other does. ]

Why-

[ It's such a simple request. To just hit a switch. It would take seconds. Why is he not doing it? ]

[His mother did this all the time.

Alucard puts the light back into the bag, and rests his hands atop Trevor's thighs gently.]

Listen to me.

[Calm. Calm. Not pleading. Calm.]

Trevor, the blow to the head has impacted your vision. Your eyes are reacting to the light, but there's something blocked between what they're seeing and the part of your brain that processes that information, leaving you blinded right now. [He managed the word. Good.] If we are lucky, it's because of swelling in your head from the strength of the blow. Once it goes down, your sight should come back.

[ And there's the word. His pleading stops at that, because there's no need. Maybe the lights are already on. Maybe Alucard can work in the dark. It doesn't matter which is true, because there's no appreciable difference. ]

Fuck.

[ That's all he can manage for a moment, hands gripping the frame of the bed until his knuckles are white. ]

...if we're unlucky. How long will it take then?

[ He knows. He knows. ]

[Alucard knows he could bear those hands and their grip.]

If we are lucky, maybe a week. Head injuries are...

[His voice wavers, and Alucard forces himself to keep going.]

Because head injuries are internal, it is often hard to give exact estimates. What we will do is keep icing what we can, check everything, and I will dive into my mother's notes for anything and everything that can help.

[Alucard knows that there's precious little. He has to try anyway.]

And until then, I'm here. Your eyes.

You didn't answer.

[ Because there's no need to. They both know how long it will be if they're unlucky. ]

If we're unlucky, I'm useless to the two of you. Permanently. Is that right?

You're not useless.

[That comes out immediately, and that's laced with fear. He anticipated that horrible fucking thought process. It's already here. Great!!!]

It will impact how you carry out your usual work, yes.

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