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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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.

[ 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.]

Ad- Alucard-

[ There are new traditions starting, too. Ones he’s feeling out as he goes. Alucard cannot be Adrian in this room. He cannot touch him in this room. He cannot offer comfort. He cannot bring anything into this room that he is not willing to see profaned. ]

-the desk.

[ It probably won’t appreciate the claws. ]

We’ll seek you out if you aren’t back by sunset the next day. And- I’ll go through the old newspapers. See if I can find any records of a different method.

[Ugh. Fuck, the desk. Alucard retracts his claws only because he must. It's a nice desk. It doesn't deserve his anger and fear. That's for later. He'll channel all of it into the grim work set before him, then deal with everything else as it comes.

This was one of the great fears he had when he accepted the things that ruling in his father's stead was required of him. It was never a question of if an execution would have to be carried out. Only when.]

Don't waste your time.

[Alucard knows this is being helpful. But all the same.]

If all I am doing is maintaining what has been put in place until he returns, then I cannot deviate in the moments when following his lead matters most of all. Minimizing witnesses is already going to be too much for some. This balance cannot be upset further.

Very well.

[ He doesn't care about the desk half as much as he cares about the impression that it'll give. Were it Dracula, they would see the marks and be afraid. With Alucard, they'll see the truth immediately. They'll see weakness. ]

I'll do what I can to find the pattern between the executions with only a few witnesses, then. Make sure that it can apply to this.

[ Sneak a new rule into the books to allow it, if necessary. Sypha's good enough with forging handwriting. She could copy Dracula's, if necessary. ]

That will have to do.

[There's no justification that Alucard can think of that would excuse the matter being private. This act isn't a small matter of aggression or something to be done away from prying eyes. The matter isn't so urgent as to not have the time to summon every vampire to watch this death. No one will be ignorant of the fact that this is the first execution under new leadership.

He moves the blotter on the desk down a little further, covering the claw marks in the wood.]

Are there any other key points in the records I must be aware of?

[What else is demanded?]

Both parties are young enough that their sires may well choose to get involved. The culprit's sire has the right to accept punishment in his place, though I think it's unlikely that they well. They seem to be trying to remove themselves from the situation entirely. The victim's sire may choose to demand reparations, likely from the sire of the culprit, the one who has something worthwhile to give, rather than from the culprit themselves. It would be unusual after more than ten years since turning, but not unheard of if they can make a case that the loss of the victim was a terrible blow to them. It doesn't seem that the victim was particularly valuable to or beloved by their sire, but that doesn't mean that they won't claim that they were. It doesn't seem like a situation in which Dracula would have granted whatever reparations were demanded, but you need to be ready to argue that. They may also argue, as an injured party, for the execution to be made public. You can deny this, but I'll need to go through the old execution records again to find a good reason for it.

[ It's all more minor, it pales in comparison to the terrible thing that must be done, but every detail is something that Alucard will need to be ready for. There is no official code of law for dealing with this situation, only a century and a quarter of Dracula's decisions. They're lucky that he was apparently incredibly consistent in those decisions. ]

Dracula didn't take kindly to sires using squabbles between the younger vampires to gain influence. If all else fails, you can remind them of this. And-

[ Fuck, this is a lot of shit to expect him to remember and be ready to tell potentially confrontational shitbags about on demand. ]

-I'll have Sypha help me make notes of all this shit for you, too. Once a date's been chosen, we'll take the day before it to go through all of this in detail, make sure you're prepared.

[It's a lot. But details like this, they're the only thing that matters. Do one thing out of step and that means the mistake is the one thing anyone will ever cling to. The red hot minute Trevor starts delving into the particulars is when Alucard starts writing, vampire speed being terribly useful at taking notes in real time.

The sires are further abroad if he remembers right. That means summoning them tonight, getting everything together and...it strikes him that this is all a terribly long process, whereas his father was nothing if not quick to do what he thought was best or right.

So that there's another question to ask, one that they're both going to hate.]

What is the average time for all of this to be done? I presume it cannot be more than a day or two at the most.

[Some wheels of justice turn quickly, if only due to the hand turning those wheels.]

And where is to be done, for that matter. I know such events never took place near this home.

It varies. Normally, you would be right. But this is the first, and there is a way that this ought to look. Too quickly, especially with only a few witnesses, and it seems like something is being hidden.

[ They can't just get this shit over with as quickly as possible. It's going to have to haunt every fucking moment for at least a while longer. But this whole thing is far more about telling a story than it is about the punishment itself. ]

You have- a week, I'd say. Just under. Two days to let news of the incident spread to those who don't keep as up to date on everything, and three more to let everyone get antsy about what your decision will be. That way when it happens there's less suspicion that something's being hidden, and they'll be quick to spread the word that Dracula's rules are still being enforced in the same manner.

[ As for the location- ]

There's a building in the French Quarter that's been used for this since the 1830s. You've probably seen it before - the one with all the ironwork, at Dauphine Street. Everything happens there.

[Of course quick isn't an option available in this moment. Damn himself for thinking otherwise. Alucard tries not to show how much he hates this fact in particular, but...

...it's a reasonable timetable. Vampires are predictable, as is news like this. Trevor's right in everything he says, terrible and dreadful and accurate. Yet Alucard is selfish, because the longer he must wait, the more likely he is to falter. To channel his anger into something else instead of the act of execution.

He'll sleep in here for a time. He doesn't want to bring these problems to bed.]

A week it shall have to be.

[Fuck. Everything.]

I'll become familiar with the building this evening then. Best to ensure there's no escape routes and the like.

The keys are in the record room, but they're warded. Hopefully you'll be able to touch them, I couldn't.

[ There are a few things like that here, that he and Sypha can't touch. ]

I'd like to come with you to see it, if possible, at least while it's empty.

[ It's. Partially true. He should probably see it, it's the site of one of the biggest vampire attacks in America according to the records. Mostly, though, it's just a bad place to be leaving Alucard alone if he doesn't have to. ]

If I can't, we'll need a new location and quickly. Away from eyes and ears, but centralized.

[Because if this is going to be public, then there are so many additional considerations to deal with.

There's a pause at the offer. It is probably a good idea to not go at this alone. But it still feels so wrong to involve either of them with any part of this. They're his cabinet. They run this city as much as he does. They're his, and they shouldn't be exposed to the worst parts of this and what it demands he become. Better to be the person who lives on the other side of this castle.

He closes his eyes again.]

We can't be seen entering it together, it'll give away everything.

[ This would be easier if he could touch the fucking keys. There are all kinds of ways for Alucard to enter unseen, and none that he can do. The whole place is drowning in almost as many enchantments as the castle itself. There's no way for someone not of Dracula's blood to enter the true building stealthily.

But since he can't touch the fucking keys- ]

Drop me off a half-hour's walk away. I'll catch up by foot and enter after you. It- isn't the kind of place I want you to go alone, not for the first time.

[ Trust him on this he knows his vampire bullshit and the Gardette-Laprete House is BAD vampire bullshit. ]

[This isn't an argument Alucard can win. Trevor's tone of voice makes that much clear. Even without words, that's clear.]

Very well. We can go now, while it's still light out.

[That means even fewer eyes to see them approach.]

Assuming I can get the keys, of course.

Hopefully you can. This is going to get really fucking awkward if we can't use the execution site.

[ He stands. ]

Room where he keeps all the records, on a hook inside the cabinet. There must be something like seven fucking hundred spells keeping my grubby Belmont hands off them.

[Alucard dismisses the viewing mirror first. It now reflects his face back at him, scared and pale and so very unhappy. He hisses at the sight, then stands as well.]

I'll meet you back here when I have them.

[He needs a few moments alone anyway. Just to breath out. Processing this will not happen until the deed is done, because to do it before would be to wear his heart on his sleeve in public. In here, this office, it can see his face when forced to deal with the worst choices.

Alucard departs, leaving Trevor to wait.

And wait.

And wait ten minutes more.

When Alucard does return, his expression is mostly annoyed. In his hand are the keys, and his hand itself looks a bit red. There was some kind of fight with the protections around the keys, and it is only just healing.]

Have I mentioned lately that I loathe my father?

I'm going to suggest we just keep those in the desk drawer from now on.

[ He winces in sympathy just a little at the injured hand, even if it is healing quickly. But he doesn't touch Alucard. He doesn't offer comfort by putting a hand on his shoulder. It'll heal. Alucard would have mentioned if it wouldn't. And so it won't affect anything. And so right now, it can't matter. ]

I'll explain the enchantments on the place in the car. At least from reading about them, they sound pretty fucking impressive.

I'll let you take care of their security.

[Trevor's better than Alucard is at certain things, and that's one of them. Alucard's other hand has his car keys.]

Let's go then. I'm whatever the opposite of enthused about learning the nature of these enchantments.

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