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

[willpowerful]

[I can't, she thinks bitterly, holding on so tight to the spell in her hands that her vision is swimming, that the world is going dark around the corners. I can't, it's too much, it's above and beyond staying alert and surviving and her body doesn't even feel like her own anymore, from how empty and ragged she is. I can't, she almost says, and aches for the snap of Trevor's whip, the shriek of Alucard's sword, but there's none of that here; it's only the two of them.

Except that then the noise registers. The sound that escapes Alucard's throat, the one she heard without processing because everything seems to be on a five-second delay through the quagmire of her perception. It hits her, and like a flashbulb she's back seated on a log in the camp with her family, playing with tarot cards and runestones and watching, quietly, as the son of Dracula had staggered in to ask for help —

(strings in her hands, needle and thread. You can put a spell into my hand? The noises he makes, her hands on his chest. Sypha...! The wreckage of the bathroom, the claw marks in the walls. Sypha! Her Alucard, her Adrian, you mustn't touch my blood, ripped open and pale, his father's fault, his father, she would protect him from anything she would protect him from him she will never never never let anything take her Adrian away)

— she doesn't know where she finds the strength. Maybe it's something woven into her very soul, something deeper even than conscious intent. Trevor's faith. Alucard's determination.

Her resilience and resolve, to be what her loved ones need her to be.

Her fingers fly out; down through those invisible strings courses white-hot magic, blue magic, her magic, and this time the chain reaction goes in reverse, one that erupts with explosions like firecrackers along a chain, racing the walls and shattering the spells that had animated the shadows at their very source, until nothing is left but scarred, warped brown paint in a dull, dark hue.]

[cryptsleeper]

[He's still bleeding. He has to press his shirt to the wound, and so in the car, they will return to the beginning but worse for it. Back at the beginning there had only been the inkling of some deeper connection, no overwhelming urge to wrap around each other and cling with all the stress and exhaustion and fear melting away now that she is here, here, here. She was a doctor, as good as any and more clever than most. He had been proactive in making his needs known, and that was all he expected. Caution around his blood. Clever ways to make a terrible wound easier to bear. Now...

The question of where Sypha's ability springs forth is not a matter Alucard has ever wondered about, so when her intent is known all Alucard wonders is how long it can be maintained. These bursts, he's had them all week. So has Trevor. It is only right and fair that Sypha have one in the most important moment, and...

...oh hell, he has to move before all of the debris hits them. In a burst of speed Alucard reaches the door, claws clattering against the metal knob, flinging it open.

Sunlight has hit the side street that the door is on in just the right way, allowing them to burst not into more shadows, but blessed heat and sunshine. Alucard lets out a sharp whistle, because he promised the stupid demon car that he would let it know when they were coming.

(Alucard's not sure if the demon car can drive itself in an emergency. They may be about to find out.)]

[willpowerful]

[The demon car is a good boy. A good boy like Sypha wanted. She is the only thing it loves on this earth (for a given value of "love", being that it's a demon we're talking about here), and it has predictably been crabby and inconsolable the entire time she's been missing.

Yet almost even before the sound of Alucard's whistle has faded away, the roar of a hellfire engine ricochets through the air, and within moments around the bend comes Sypha's demon roadster, engines working double time as it screeches up to meet them like a good and proper getaway car.]

...You brought my car...

[It would honk the horn in acknowledgement, except that we're trying to be stealthy. Instead, the door merely pops open, almost impatient as it awaits its mistress and her boy friend guy thing.]

[cryptsleeper]

We're going to have to talk about the car later.

[And by talk, Alucard means confess that he spent an entire hour of his life getting into a screaming match with the demon car with it honking over him. Trevor had suffered the most for that argument, what between vampire noises and the endless honking. Alucard still needed to make it up to him, but that was for later.

Alucard rushes forward to it. The doors are already open. He barrels in, causing it to rock and sway, and then he crouches so that Sypha can finally slide off of his back and onto the seat. There are blankets there already, soft well worn, Trevor's natural musk and Alucard's sandalwood and amber hair oil and Sypha's own natural scent on it. Enough comfort for her to be wrapped in until they're home.

He can't stay in the back holding her. The blood, he has to keep it away from her for just a little while more. Even with the blanket as a barrier, even with his coat, he can't take the risk.]

Let go. It will be just for a few minutes, I promise.

[willpowerful]

[She doesn't want to. Instinctively, she still tries to hold on, still wants to cling to the lifeline that is Alucard and his rescue, at least while they're still in close proximity to the necromancer's workshop — as though she still half expects to be sucked back down into its depths somehow, drawn back in and held captive again.

But no. Her car is here, her Alucard is here, and she needs to do as he says. He'll take care of it. He'll take care of her, like she took care of him back then.]

S'better than leaves and dirt...

[She says, as she slowly releases him and sinks into the blankets instead, burying her face in them and breathing in all the familiar scents of safety and security and home.]

M'tired.

[The adrenaline of their escape will wear off any moment, she knows. Better she warn him in advance, so he doesn't panic if she abruptly goes silent in the back.]

[cryptsleeper]

Rest. We'll get you in the bath when we're home.

[The blanket is blessedly large. He stole it from the laundry room at the last minute, and seeing the way that Sypha sinks into it, it was clearly the right move. The last thing that Alucard does is tug more of the blanket out from under Sypha, and he bundles her up as carefully as time will allow for.

It's the cooler months still, and she is too light. The extra warmth is needed. As much a thing of practicality as comfort, and it is all the satisfaction he can manage right now.

Then rather than hop out of the car and in again, he climbs into the driver's seat and quickly. He and the demon car are at odds often, but this situation has ensured they are agreed about Sypha's safety. The doors are already closed, so all Alucard must do is slam on the gas pedal.

Home. They're going home. He won't even run the necromancer over on the street if he sees the man because it isn't as important as getting Sypha home.

Out of the corner of his eye, there's a whisp of smoke.

Oh. Oops. He forgot that little bit of battery energy that didn't go out after a few moments. What a shame.]

[willpowerful]

[She feels the car shake all over, as if consumed by a thrill of satisfaction to have her back with it once more, and then they're off and going and she can finally, finally rest, even if there's a little part of her that isn't sure she ought to.

It's hard to refuse, though. The claw marks in her skin leftover from when Alucard had tried to hold on to her a week ago had been left untreated, and the skin around the scrapes is now red and tight. Her head aches; her stomach gnaws with hunger to the point that it feels like it's turning inside out. But the cushion beneath her is so soft in comparison to the wood floor, and the blanket smells like home. There was magic shared between all three of them today, and they're going home.

Before the darkness of oblivion takes her, she remembers the shadows on the wall, and all the intent wrapped up in that hideous little workshop, and shivers.]