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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[ Agatha has changed one detail of the terms, for all of the begging. When this begins, Sypha is sent to safety. Nothing more. Decades of good work, of acting as sanctuary to the people, of bringing succor and joy to believers and nonbelievers alike, of songs and food drives and listening and helping will come to bear fruit on the Pentecost, the day upon which men are most holy. The only day on which the entire Mississippi could be blessed by a single church.

She had always seemed the most gentle, the most reasonable of the hunters of the eastern orthodox church. Now, now she is vengeful. Now she is a woman whose country was stolen from her by petty people who wanted power. Whose name was mangled into something uglier and more convenient by petty people who wanted power. Whose entire adult life was lost to the protection of her own from petty people who wanted power. Who has almost now lost her godson to petty people who wanted power. It doesn't make it better that the boy wasn't targeted specifically. It makes it worse. She has been caught in the crossfire of uncaring people too many times to bear it once more. Her fondness for Alucard earns him warning, earns him the guarantee of Sypha's safety, and not an inch more.

One way or another, this is over on the day of the holy spirit's descent.

The murmurs stop for a moment when Trevor's palm brushes over the handle of the whip, but he does nothing more and they start again once the culprits are at their backs. He maybe overestimated the weight that his stepping into his role properly would carry. Perhaps it is too late. Carmilla already leaked the news of the deaths of the Belmont family. It's well known that he's alone here, that his death won't summon some kind of terrible retribution. At least, not from House Belmont.

He lets go of the whip. So far he's been relying on being seen as a weapon at these events. But a mute weapon isn't fearsome enough. Not anymore.

He lets his knuckles brush against Alucard's, looking to the center of the dance floor. ]

Dance with me.

[ This is not a request that Trevor makes. Never. It's never happened before. ]

[It is easy to slam into nihilism at the moment. There's no point to festivities like this, not really. There's three weeks until a blood bath and nothing short of a miracle is going to stop it now. (Alucard's not sure what a vampire miracle would look like. That seems like Belmont speculation.)

So perhaps he can be forgiven when Trevor's request is made and all the vampire can manage is a cold look, the absolute confusion showing in his eyes. Sypha's made it plenty of times, but that's Sypha.

(He's going to have to talk to Trevor about the terms when things draw closer. Insist that Trevor get the hell out with Sypha because this may be Belmont business but it's crueler to leave her alone when this settles. She's given up everything for the both of them, after all. She cannot be left alone. Not after all of this.)

The question why doesn't leave the vampire's lips, but it's there over every inch of his face. The unspoken statement, the nhilism creeping in, the what does it matter, that's there too. There as the vampire is too still and too cold and too busy thinking of death.]

[ There’s no response - he doesn’t consider the exhausted questioning to be one. And it would be easy, it’s always so easy, to take that as a sign that he isn’t wanted. That he shouldn’t try to do this. That this doesn’t matter.

Nothing worth doing was ever easy. ]

Trust me? [ He asks softly, offering a hand. He just needs to get Alucard to somewhere where all eyes will be on the two of them. That’s all he has to do. But he can’t drag him there. Appearances are important. ]

[Trust me the Belmont asks (it'd be easier if it was a command), and Alucard can only accept. His cold hand takes Trevor's, but he's careful to ensure it isn't the kind of possessive grab that makes Trevor floppy for a blessed week. They don't have that luxury. They won't ever have it, should this play out as anticipated.]

Okay.

[To the ends of the earth, which is soon.]

[ Seen and not heard is Trevor’s usual rule for these sorts of events. Make himself visible, make himself intimidating, but say nothing.

This can’t be the case any more. As he leads Alucard to the centre of the dance floor, he draws the mourning sword. ]

Silence!

[ It’s the tone that he reserves for Belmont business. For battle. For making plans. For trying to convince Alucard that he needs to be a monster. And the music stops immediately. Everything does. He turns once, all the way around, sword pointed at every inhabitant of the room before he returns it to his scabbard and turns back to Alucard. Good. He didn’t even need the whip.

He falls to one knee before Alucard, head bowed. ]

Monseigneur le Dauphin Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes, Heir to the Moon and Stars, Walker of Day and Night, Annulus at the Eclipse of the Brightest of Humanity and the Darkest of That Which Lies Beyond It. May I have your hand?

Edited 2019-02-16 16:20 (UTC)

[The vampire did not know what on earth to expect when Trevor asked for a hand and for trust. (In so much better times there would be a filthy joke to make just from that thought.) Something quiet and reserved, yes, but not Belmont Business Voice. He's the ice cold wall that he must be right now as Trevor takes out the sword, and even Alucard's internal what the fuck doesn't flash in his eyes.

Keeping everything this tamped down is not good. The three of them have witnessed what happens when it all overflows. Hell, Carmilla's probably banking on it. But now Alucard is watching his boyfriend point a sword at most of the city's vampires, and if it came to a fight, he definitely wouldn't bother stopping the Belmont. Might scare a few into line.

(It would not, it'd just make everything worse. Alucard knows it, he's also sick of all the little rebellious ways that have taken hold in the people who are supposed to listen to him.)

His hand is given to Trevor without question or hesitation. Alucard just hates how cold his voice has to be when he says:]

Yes.

[Because he wants to say it with all the warmth in the world, find some way to let his stress out while he does it. Not. Allowed.]

[ There’s something more satisfying than hearing the entire room cowed into silence, and that’s hearing one person attempt to resume the whispers only to be cut off by another. They’re not just silent, they’re enforcing the silence of their neighbours. Good. There will be no more whispers tonight. Not about the situation. Not about anything but what he’s about to do.

He takes Alucard’s hand in his own, head still bowed. ]

My name is Trevor Christopher Rafael Cornileu Belmont, first son and last heir of the House of Belmont. [ There’s a stab of pain in his chest, saying ‘last heir’. He continues without stumbling. ] Last son of Leon Belmont, slayer of Walter Bernhard, sire to the first of House Dracul. Last son of Sonia Belmont, slayer of Gilles De Rais, sire to the Baohan Sith. Last son of Rafael Belmont, slayer of Springheeled Jack, Scourge of Empire. I swear myself to your service. I shall protect your house. I shall avert from you the wrath of man and of that which lies beyond man. I shall cut words of dissent from the tongues and seeds of rebellion from the hearts of those who would act against you.

[ And he pulls away the driving glove and kisses Alucard’s hand, very deliberately, over the ring finger. ]

Edited (I chickened out) 2019-02-16 17:34 (UTC)

[Several things churn through Alucard's head at once. The first is to question why he wasn't informed that the Belmont was going to do something like this. This is strategy (Speaker strategy in it's way, for it's all words), and usually that means sharing with the vampire so he can anticipate and respond. Plan out.

Which leads to the sister thought of how to respond to this in an appropriate manner, and starting to swear that Trevor didn't give him a heads up at all. This is a thing carefully thought out and choreographed, not sprung last minute and leaving the vampire searching for words. He'd ask Sypha for help if he had the chance but it isn't possible.

There's also the part of Alucard that sees the gesture as too little too late. Maybe this could have all been avoided if there was such a declaration early on. Maybe not, because Carmilla would still be bold and would see the last Belmont as just an obstacle to be overcome. Accounted for more fully, perhaps.

this is about fealty and service, nothing more.

But fealty and service at least helps Alucard find words. He could look at Trevor all night like this, but instead he meets the eyes of the people who for the most part, would gladly feast on the remains of his House, certain that Dracula's recompense would never come. (They're forgetting that, aren't they? That one day he will return and if they've torn everything asunder, then his wrath shall tear them apart in turn.)]

Such oaths cannot be revoked once sworn in front of witnesses. [And there are ever so many witnesses now.]

Anyone who moves against this House has always known what lies ahead for them. Let this be a reminder. Those illustrious ancestors chased out things that sent many of those noble in blood and fang to these shores. We [and that's a royal We, something Alucard always keeps in reserve due to the gravity of it] do not wish for anyone to forget that in the absence of House Tepes, far worse things have always fallen upon all the night things. The world is finite, and we have explored all of it's edges.

I should die, last of my line, before revoking it entered my thoughts.

[ He frees Alucard's hand but remains knelt before him, head still bowed. Where Alucard is speaking to the room, clearly, Trevor is by all appearances speaking only to Alucard. Oh, yes, this display is meant for everyone else, but everyone here needs to know that the Belmont's protection comes only at the whim of the man above him. ]

There are those who plot against you, those who came from the old world. They would do well to remember that they are here because without the protection of your father they were cowed by the things that mere men have killed.

May I rise, Wolf-Prince, my most dearest love?

[The last of the line dying probably could have been words reconsidered, had any of this been planned. Alucard won't remark on it, even later, because what comes next, the reminder that those old enough to remember Europe remember the reason they left is important. The words need to hang there. Linger. Bluebeard and Springheeled Jack and the Ripper. A trio of things wrought upon not just the world but to a select community that for all their pretenses of superiority, still fled.

Mere men picked up the slack is the far more appropriate way of putting it, and if they live maybe they'll joke about it.

Such as it is, Alucard can only remain focused on the optics of the situation. On right words and trying not to melt at dearest love. In work mode, he's denied himself much time with the other two that involves affection.]

You may, with full acknowledgement of your oath and service.

[ He carefully pulls the glove back on to Alucard's hand before he stands and returns to his place at Alucard's side (his left. His shield arm, should he ever use one. Sypha belongs at the right.) in silence. When he leads Alucard back away from the dance floor (amount of dancing done: 0) the crowd that has gathered parts to let them pass.

The silence lasts a good two minutes after they've gone, and Trevor finally exhales when the music starts again. Exhales, but doesn't break step. Just because the music is back, just because people are cautiously starting to talk again (younger vampires asking about the figures he mentioned, doing a remarkable job of not letting their old-world elders forget the things they ran away from) doesn't mean that people's gazes have left them. That isn't going to happen for the rest of the night. ]

Well. Good to know that I can shut up a room full of vampires.

[Dancing would have been too much anyway.

Alucard projects an even greater wall of ice around them both as they leave the crowd behind. There is a required hour left before they can depart from this, and how to fill that hour will probably be chilled silence from the vampire and the kind of looks that mean daggers and removed fangs if anyone thinks of uttering a word in his direction.

The reminders of those things that came in his father's absence has worked though, at least for the time being. When Trevor speaks, Alucard tries to pick a language that they'll struggle to be understood in. French isn't an option, so it's his archaic Romanian.]

You don't need to most nights.

Did I need to tonight?

[ Need is maybe a strong word, as far as he's concerned. He didn't really need to spook a room full of vampires. But this is the last big event before the ascension. No sense in saving this for an emergency when they're already about as emergency as they're going to get. May as well throw everything he has at the problem in the hope that something, something will work.

And he's allowed to be protective as well, sometimes. ]

Clearly yes.

[It may buy them time, if the spectres of the past loom long enough to still activity that flaunts every law that the city functions on. The arm that has Trevor on it is still holding, trying not to tighten terribly much. Alucard knows his strength and when he loses control of it.

Even still, all the practice of not responding to stress in the world is bound to fail at some point. It just can't until they're in the car.]

I need to sit.

[ Alucard's grip on him is too tight and too loose all at once, like he keeps noticing that it's tight and compensating a little too much. Trevor's not sure how much he has left in him, but he's guessing that it's close to nothing. If it's not been 'nothing' for the last two days.

(They shouldn't have come here, they really shouldn't. But they had no choice. Missing one of Theodora's parties is a statement, and it's a statement that they don't want to make right now. The second they acknowledge how terrible things are is the second that they get so much worse.) ]

Sypha's in the room to the side over there, if you wanted to join her. She needed to [ sit somewhere that she wasn't going to say anything she'd regret the next time someone tried to start shit. ] rest.

[It's like when the gas gauge on the car hovers over E, but the car will run for a while after. The E has been there for five days with the vampire, choosing now to manifest of all times.

Alucard spots Carmilla in one of the corners. She's talking with one of Theodora's kindred, the kind of warm and familiar tone that Alucard can't read but doesn't trust.]

Yes, that would be best.

[Sitting. Sitting and having the two of them there. It'd be the first time in a few days that they've done that, wouldn't it?]

[ He nods, and there's an art to leading Alucard to the room in question while making it look like he's the one following. He's become good at it.

They can't risk too much softness while here, even behind the closed door, but he lets his shoulders sink as he closes it behind him. Sypha looks up and then reaches her arms out, ready to bring their vampire into them. ]

I may have made a scene. [ He admits to Sypha, scratching at his stubble. ]

[Closed doors is at least permission for Alucard to be guided onto the sofa. Alucard lets go of Trevor's arm reluctantly, and he only does it when Sypha has both of his hands on him. Sinking down onto the sofa, Alucard still accounts for not letting his weariness show.]

Hardly.

[He's sticking with Romanian for now, under the assumption that walls have ears. Once he's settled, there are two expectant pairs of eyes, because the Belmont is still on his feet.]

[ Romanian is fine by both of them, he's the only one who sounds ridiculous in it. It's absolutely understood by some of the older vampires, but nowhere near as commonly spoken as English or French. ]

Either of you need water or anything, before I join you?

[ Trevor Belmont: can shut up an entire room of vampires, can't take a hint. ]

[Alucard just breathes out while he lets Sypha chide with a short and sharp Trevor!. It's the strongest no he could ever get, really.]

We'll only have a few minutes of this. Don't waste time.

Fine, fine.

[ He sighs as if it's some terrible obligation, taking the Vampire Killer from his hip so that he can sit next to Alucard without risking it brushing against him and sitting next to him, one hand on top of his and one reaching behind him to settle against Sypha's shoulder. ]

I did absolutely make a scene.

[Trevor you called him by titles and terms of endearment in front of Every Vampire and now you're acting like it's a terrible obligation to sit next to your boyfriend!?]

One that should help.

[That's the state of the vampire. He's the one thinking of strategy while curled up with them both.]

I pretty much proposed to him. It was very dramatic.

[ He explains for Sypha's benefit, and she immediatly leans over Alucard's lap to get closer to him, demanding more information??? Catching her up involves a lot of chuckling about Alucard's many titles, and he rubs slow circles over the back of Alucard's hand with his thumb as he speaks. ]

Mm. Yes, by the way, if you want to remove that pretty much.

[It's telling how the vampire's quiet retelling seems to register precious little emotional reaction about the actual proposal. (They'll learn soon enough that the vampire's the vampire version of a bridezilla.) Emotions are exhausting. Anything that he has left still has to be for work.

They end up staying for two hours instead of the one. (Carmilla can't see us leave first.) So after she leaves, there's a half an hour window, and then they depart. Alucard spends much of the evening standing in silence, watching the world around him and mentally cataloging every single vampire's allegiance, strength, weakness, and known territory. He knows who'll abandon them that haven't already. Where they live. Which of them have already flaunted the city's laws, and he'll beg Agatha to target them first so that maybe the blood bath can be minimal.

(He understands her perspective. Alucard truly does. More than ever he resents the position his father's forced him into and how it has lead them here.)

When they go home, Alucard still drives, but pulls over halfway home. He can't concentrate, Trevor needs to drive instead. The vampire climbs into the backseat and he stays there the rest of the way, forehead pressed against the glass of the window.]

[ Nobody ever lets him drive. Alucard's protective of his car and the demon car just barely tolerates him as a passenger. So when Alucard pulls over it's- alarming. Sypha gets dismissed to the back seat to sit with him, and once he's satisfied that everyone is wearing seatbelts he sets off. He drives more cautiously than either of the others, though on roads that are better maintained than those in rural Romania and wider than those of Paris and this abandoned from the late hour, there's not much need for it.

When they arrive at home, he opens the door of the car, reaching in to stroke a hand through Alucard's hair. Sypha hasn't got out of her side yet, instead continuing to hold on to their vampire. ]

Tired?

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