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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[ He's slow. So slow. It shouldn't take a Belmont a few seconds to understand why a vampire would be trying to stop bleeding. ]

It hasn't been a day, has it? It's- going to have been a day, when you go back. But that's not the same.

[ For him, it's been a lifetime here. A whole alternate lifetime with no family and no war and no city and no vampire or speaker. For Alucard- he couldn't begin to say. Less, maybe, he'd have starved already if it were that long.

The sun doesn't set here. The seasons don't pass. The birdsong doesn't fade away and begin again with the passing of hours. His heartbeat is not the same as it was when he was human, worthless for counting time by. ]

Everything we read to prepare us said time wouldn't work properly. So far as any calendar cares, it's been a day.

[The arctic circle is like this for half of the year. Sun, sun, sun, constant sun, nothing but light even when the clocks strike midnight. But that is not Faerie. You can still eat food there and not worry about cost.

Oh, he and Sypha came in prepared. Brought spell components and rations and water because they knew the first part of all of this would be trials. Worst fears mae manifest, situations that demanded cleverness instead of brute strength, all the things that made it clear they were in Faerie and no longer home. Three was traditional, so it had been three before they even were granted negotiations. Time and it's horrible flow had taken most of the food then.

(They hadn't packed blood. It was unsafe to do that, to bring mortal blood in bags.)

Alucard shifts his weight on Trevor, just to make sure that neither side of the Belmont is too compressed for too long.]

What grounds you most?

[Stay.]

I- normally, I'd say 'work'. [ But he can't work here. Because even if Sypha did not have it under control, 'work' is getting him out of here, and he's physically incapable of even considering how to do that. ] But talking helps, I think. Hard to forget when we're talking.

[ His hand finds Alucard's hair, stroking through it. He won't ask what it took to make it here. Not until they're safe. If he's with them when they are. It isn't that he doesn't trust Sypha, just- he wouldn't be here if the fae weren't good at this. She's in the same situation they were with Bluebeard. Desperate for one thing, one thing that cannot be compromised upon. The worst position to start in. ]

How long has it been, for the two of you? I've been- my whole life again, I think.

[ He was able to tell by the length of his hair, at first. But it's been cut a few times now. ]

I can do that.

[He can do that, but he's not moving from his current spot. The hand fussing at Trevor's lip moves, and it comes to rest on Trevor's shoulder instead. The other, the other is curled into one of the furs that Alucard is almost certain is one of the night creatures from his father's many, many books on the things. It is impossibly soft, and more importantly, it is a buffer from the silver that sits at the bottom of the cage. A protective layer, and there have been moments where too much has moved under foot and the vampire burned himself for a horrible second.

He breathes out, relishing the touch. There's no thinking this could be the last because it isn't going to be. Not by a long shot.]

We noticed quickly. Then...a week, maybe? We brought food with us for 10 days, it was the most we could carry. That we noticed you had been taken so soon, I...

[He pauses.]

It was one of the reasons I thought it safer to not move out of the house immediately last year. There'd be more resources to fight against this, books that couldn't be found elsewhere. Means and ends and tricks that have helped so far. [There's another undercurrent there, my father is aware. Because as tense as things still are between Alucard and his father, disappearing into the night and never returning is not a wise choice to make.

(It was a tiring conversation to have. It ended with Alucard walking out of the door, and his father sighing the name Leon far too tiredly than he should. Alucard never asked. His father never offered explanation.)]

We'll move out when we get home. [We always means three.] Los Angeles, with the rest of Sypha's people. A pack of Speakers in case the fae try to contest this again.

[ Ten days. More, probably. The two of them are both the sorts to eat less to leave more for the other. Ten days rations could have spread to twelve easily. And then there's the time that Alucard's been here with him. Not long enough to count in hair growth. Long enough to count in healing, though, because the cut from the first time he bit his lip bloody was healed before he opened a new one. ]

You didn't bring blood.

[ It's a statement of fact, not a question. They couldn't have, not unless it was Sypha's. Bringing any part of a person into this place is as good as bringing the whole, and the two of them wouldn't endanger any innocent in a bid to save him.

The rest, he'll deal with later. Los Angeles is a pretty name. Moving means saying farewell to his family here. All that kind of thing. ]

Too risky, donated blood in this place. Even with the name and information all stripped off from the bag it'd...

[No one else need be involved. It was irresponsible. Stupid. Reckless. They were great with all three of those things, but it could only ever touch the three of them.]

You'd yell at us if we did.

[The words are said far more warmly than anything else so far. Because it's true and it would be funny if circumstances weren't dire. Dark but not gallows humor. ]

[ He laughs, because- he would have. More than yelled. He'd have assumed they were some trick. We wouldn't have been able to remember them, if they'd proved themselves not to be who he thought they were by doing that. ]

I'd have been right to, and you know it. How shitty is it getting?

[ Enough, he knows, that just a trickle of blood is difficult for him. ]

[That laugh is everything. Alucard's face finally twitches upwards, a near smile there. Just for a moment. Just at that glorious sound. (He'll hear it again. He just wanted to hear it here.)

Trevor's question is sobering though, and Alucard's expression fades away into something much more somber.]

I can manage until I am 14 days out. Then...[The noise he makes isn't a laugh.] Doesn't matter. I can't take from anything here, faerie blood is why any of us are in this mess to begin with.

A fortnight.

[ Ten days' food gone. That's anywhere between eight and twelve days. Likely to be higher, knowing what he does of the two of them. Then another day at least here, as best as he can manage to count by the healing of his lip and Alucard's silver burns. The meal that was provided to welcome their guests, too, that must have taken at least a half day. ]

Mmn.

[ He pushes Alucard slightly, trying to sit up. ]

[Alucard rolls off of Trevor, but he doesn't like it. All he wants is to keep being wrapped around him. Dhampir armor that can take whatever the fae try, because even with silver, he'll endure whatever he can to make sure Trevor doesn't fully become theirs. It's selfish and spoiled and a princeling in every sense of the insult.

He really doesn't care.

Once sat up, Alucard still has to rearrange the pillows and blankets and all the soft things underneath him. Maximum coverage. Maximum protection.]

[ He pushes himself up, blinking at his beautiful, disorienting surroundings. Long strings of glass beads hang from the high ceiling of the cage, where all of those vines braid together, sending tiny, colourful reflections moving across everything. And then careful, careful not to pull any of the blankets and furs out from under Alucard, he moves closer.

His weight has probably always been near nothing to Alucard. But now, as he leans against him, that is more than ever, as if his bones were hollow like a bird's. He reaches a hand out to lace his fingers with Alucard's. ]

What happens, after fourteen days?

Nothing good. [He sighs, the discussion about to veer into uncomfortable territory. Words that will contrast with the opulence of what's around them, harsh and bloodied among the chimes that sound when a soft summer breeze catches the things that dangle from the not-a-ceiling.

Trevor's too light. He tries not to think about that, because there's only two reasons for it to be as such. He's starved or his entire make up has changed. Deep inside, Alucard knows damn well it's the latter, and he hates it.]

Your family records would have probably defined it as blood lust or something equally feral sounding. It's driven by hunger, means the first warm and full of blood thing you see sends you into a fury until you've taken what you need.

[It'd be dangerous here. More than that, it would violate any pretense at hospitality because Dracula's son committed a grave offense.

Faux hospitality has been learned, of course. That was what defined being regent, holding it all together and being noble and obliging while wanting to just screech and throw everyone around. To be on the receiving end of it was a novelty, but it also meant Alucard and Sypha could read the intentions of every action. It was an advantage. It was an advantage as they had stood together after all three trials, Sypha putting herself forward and demanding control of the situation. Alucard was good for the weight of his heritage and for being beside her, tall and silent and deadly. Another novel situation, their roles reversed.

Alucard leans forward, the things overhead catching the gold of his hair and casting new colors into it. His forehead rests on Trevor's shoulder, and the hand Trevor holds rests upon Trevor's thigh softly.]

She'll come through before then.

Drink.

[ It's so simple. Spoken without hesitation. He'd been turning the thought open in his head since his return to lucidity. ]

I'm still a warm and full of blood thing.

[There's a noise from the vampire that sounds like he's about to launch into an argument. He is, there's just a million open gambits right now and he has to pick one. The light thing on his lap that is still Trevor Belmont is the argument against it he picks, but there isn't any anger in his words.

Instead there's something more concerned.]

I'm not sure your blood qualifies as human at this point.

[It's a risk. And still why they're here to begin with.]

[ He laughs. Look, he got (what he considers to be) a somewhat dark joke out of the vampire. If nothing else, that's a victory. ]

Well then, exciting opportunity for you. [ His voice goes from amused to warm. ] You're not Bluebeard. You won't turn me.

[ He demanded to be turned once, didn't he? Knowing that he would become one of the baobhan sith. Just that desperate. ]

[Except it's not funny if the worry is valid, Belmont. But to know that the reason for the concern and refusal is obvious and known is...that's something else.

(There's something else here to wonder. If turning counts as claiming, and if that could be another argument they could rely on if everything is that horrid and desperate. It was out of the question, of course, but Sypha has been so terribly long with no updates.)

Alucard doesn't move. He only squeezes Trevor's hand tighter.]

It'd buy her time.

[That sounds like he's just trying to convince himself.]

You don't have to justify it. This is me being a selfish piece of shit.

[ He slips his hand out from Alucard's, resting it on top of it instead. ]

I trust her, but- if they pull some shit. If I have to go even after all of this. I don't want the last I see of you to be you barely holding yourself back from ripping open something's throat.

[ ...not that that's an unlikely outcome if 'diplomacy' fails, hunger or not. But he'd like to at least pretend that there's a chance that this can still not end with Dracula's son starting a war between America's vampires and Europe's fairies. ]

Give me your claws. Unless you're a less shitty vampire than I thought and you can actually handle the biting thing.

[Alucard being the source of a potential problem is an absolutely valid concern and the vampire would not be shocked if that was a discussion had behind his back. He likes to think that he has been nothing but perfect thus far, quiet and doing nothing more than existing within a space that does not want him there. Everything is in a holding pattern though, control could slip.

(He's not Trevor, but Sypha made Alucard promise not to do anything stupid in the face of failure.)

Then he tracks what Trevor's really saying. Alucard's head picks up, and there's an uncertain expression. Eyebrows narrowed, the rest of him still, thin frown on his lips.]

You'd invoke that spell?

[That fucking thing. The thing for the worst emergencies which...okay, the moment would qualify.]

I'd rather you just see me off as yourself. But if I have to, yes. Until the two of you are too far away to do any stupid shit.

And- [ well. He may as well ask permission for it now. ]

-And if I don't have to use it then, then later. Once all of this is done, and I've forgotten everything. Only for a moment, at the last possible moment, so I can look at her and hear you and remember again.

Edited (how did those small tags happen) 2019-02-10 22:03 (UTC)

[The vampire's still. The vampire's not clinging to the Belmont but it's starting to become that. The vampire's aware of defeat far more now than at any point in all of this. Getting here, suffering the trials, even suffering the fae court, it was still a way to ignore the passage of time. Even before being in Faerie they had been cautious to not treat this as anything but something that could be overcome. The confidence game, faking it until they made it.

This is poking holes into that game, into that lie of triumph that helps power through the fear. Alucard knows he'll teeter on the edge of control if he fails. (Sypha can't hold him back. He can't ask that of her, to shoulder his feelings along with hers.)

He can't say no to any of this. It's a last request if there ever was one, and when Alucard speaks again, his voice is barely audible. He's not looking at Trevor though, not yet.]

Okay.

Claws, or teeth?

[ He strokes the back of Alucard's hand, looking- regretful, maybe. A little. ]

No better options, I'm afraid. Can't do harm to myself, you know how this shit goes.

You're ignoring the question of where, you know.

[That defines which method for the vampire.

[ He turns over his hand. His right. ]

You fucked it up when we first met, right? May as well bring this shit full circle.

Other one. In case...

[In case they get halfway through this and need Trevor to fight just as much as the other two.]

Appreciate that you think I'll be any use at all in any 'in case' sort of situation.

[ He won't. He's already rendered nonviolent. They end up fighting fairies, the best he can do is plug his ears so he can't hear any further orders. He takes his right hand away from Alucard's anyway, replacing it with his left. ]

But you're humouring me, so I may as well return the favour.

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