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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[ Look it was a very death-focused announcement! ]

Depends what we find there. Likely to be until midnight, at least. Interrupted by dragging some hunters to the hospital, if they're still alive in there.

If there's no trouble by midnight, I'll come back and leave Tanti to patrol the area herself. We're expecting an entire district with no active hunters to get hit hard, but Theodora's kin have been spreading the word that Tanti will be there. It might deter the worst of them.

[ He scans over the notes once again. ]

Rose oil and salt. The mixture I use to neutralize blood. Treat your sword with it. We know you can stand it. She shouldn't be able to.

[WELL HE'S NOT GOING TO NOT BE PREPARED FOR THE WORST?]

Mm, I'd almost suggest you take the demon car to make getting them to the hospital easier. My understanding is that it actually likes Florence. [Because she's a speed demon WORSE THAN SYPHA that's why.]

And by back here you mean the monitoring room. That's...probably for the best. None of us can be everywhere at once.

[Alucard wishes it was otherwise. He also suspects he needs to keep himself indisposed, focused on Carmilla and Carmilla alone tonight.]

Thank you, I will. [He's pretty sure the sword is down in the tantrum room.] I...if you don't need anything more from me, please go and do what you need to.

Very well.

[ He doesn't take the sketeton key or the car, and it's only partly because he doesn't think he needs either. And, in fairness, he doesn't. The defenses keeping Florence from just kicking down the doors of the unused factory that makes up the Garden District Hunters' headquarters are simple enough spells to break.

They find the hunters alive. Alive and, miraculously, unharmed, and only trapped in here by whatever those wards were and he has a thousand questions about why he couldn't find them earlier but none of them matter in comparison to the relief of not being faced with a room full of corpses.

And then a lot of things go very wrong, and the radio in Alucard's office stutters to life. ]

Park. South Garden district. Medical kit.

[He makes the announcement. He does it as himself, with ice cold anger rather than his father's red hot rage. Then he lets the fire go out and keeps working on the plans.

By Alucard's calculations, there's only a 25% chance of his death, +/- five percent. It may not matter. Probably won't if the two people in the world he cares about abandon him, and in that case he'll just be a recluse in a castle while the city's laws are flaunted, and the vampire will let Agatha and hers do what needs to be done.

He's through another round of considerations of wolf attacks when the radio sounds. Alucard is on his feet in a moment.]

Message received. I am en route.

[He gets there in fifteen minutes. All of the car is packed with medical kits, the human ones that are for vampire attacks. He didn't ask Trevor for details. Whatever he's going into, Alucard will have to roll with it.]

[ There's no sign of Trevor at the entrance, but there's the sharp metallic smell of blood, leading to the public bathrooms.

This had been a trap.

Carmilla's allies extend beyond the vampires of this city. There are also, it seems, humans. Specifically, a few of the hunters of Garden District. And this is why he's tied to the pipes of a sink in the park's mens bathroom, bleeding from a long cut to the side of his head.

He'd probably have some fucking explaining to do if he hadn't already dumped Alucard earlier tonight. ]

[Alucard slings the medical bag over his shoulder. It rests opposite of his sword, and he follows the smell of human blood, snarling all the while. He understands his father in moments like these. The hate of humanity, the dislike of other vampires, all of it.

He's in the bathroom soon enough. The lighting is garbage but he's a vampire, he can see just fine. He can't treat Trevor here in case it's another trap, but he can start to undo the binding.]

Where's Florence?!

[He didn't smell her blood. The only good thing about harm coming to Florence is that it would force Theodora's hand.

Bad thought.]

Rrgh.

[ He doesn't feel too badly concussed, at least. Not woozy, beyond what might be expected from the pain. Everything seems to be staying where it ought to be. ~~We don't need a concussion drama thread on TOP OF all of this that can be for later~~. He pulls his arms free once the ropes are loosened. ]

Florence- [ And that's a first, Trevor referring to them by name when talking to Alucard. ] She headed back to the church after we found the district's hunters.

[ And he rolls his head back, staring up at the underside of the sink. ]

Who are, as you've almost certainly guessed, assholes.

[The ropes are undone, and the vampire is careful as he helps Trevor onto his feet. He doesn't have the presence of mind to note that Florence is no longer Tanti, just as he doesn't have the presence of mind to acknowledge anything but--

--movement. Alucard lets go of Trevor carefully, and there's a man walking into the bathroom with gun drawn. Alucard's sword is already out, and he looks to Trevor for just a moment.]

Is this one of the assholes?

[ Shit. He thought they'd gone. He wouldn't have led Alucard here if he didn't.

(They'll learn later that this wasn't by design, just a stroke of what must have seemed like good fortune to an assailant who genuinely had just returned here to used the bathroom, only to find the man Carmilla most wanted dead there.) ]

Yeah. This fucker.

[ The hunter doesn't bother with Trevor, immediately turning his gun on Alucard. ]

Good.

[Because the sword goes out ahead of Alucard, and it slams into the hunter's shoulder with such force that he's dragged along and pinned to the wall. The gun goes off, but it ends up being fired into a toilet rather than at the vampire. Alucard goes right after the sword, and his forearm is soon pressed to the man's throat to begin to block off an airway.]

He's one of yours.

[Hunters. Humans. Whichever.]

Lives or dies?

Lives. Gun could go, though. I don't- really appreciate being shot in the head, even if he is a terrible shot.

[ He brings his free hand up to the long cut that it left, gingerly feeling at it. ]

Just skin, I think. Nothing serious. Always a lot of fucking blood with the head.

[Alucard removes his forearm from the hunter's throat, taking custody of the fire arm before removing the sword from the wall. There's no satisfaction in watching the man go, just as there's no joy in putting the sword back into it's sheath so Alucard can get to why he's actually here.

He walks over to Trevor, reclaiming the medical kit. The first thing that come out are a few pieces of gauze, and there's a small advantage of being in the bathroom: the sinks. He wets the gauze and then presses it to the cut, dabbing carefully.]

Hm. It is shallow enough to not require stitches, from what I can tell. The angle is bothersome though, I'll need to find a way to bandage it so it doesn't impact your sight.

[He's treating this as if nothing's happened. Because this is their normal.]

I'll be honest, I only said to bring the medical kit because I thought you'd get mad if I didn't mention it. [ He just got shot in the head. That's it. He's fine. ] But- thanks.

Sorry for the trouble.

[Alucard focuses on cleaning out the rest of the cut rather than on Trevor's words. It doesn't take long to do. Fishing around for the right bandage is the more time consuming effort.]

Easiest thing in the world to do.

[Far better than sitting and planning out how to avoid his own death. Alucard presses a large bandage to Trevor's head, then uses medical tape to begin to hold it in place.]

[ He just holds still and lets Alucard work. It's been a heck of a day, hasn't it? He's lucky to have got out of it with a cut that looks nastier than it is and what he imagines will be a collection of pretty hellish bruises. ]

Not just this, for- shit. I should never have let it come to this. You should never have had to- any of this.

[Alucard keeps working. Even when he's done with the tape, he puts pressure to the bandage, careful as he observes how much blood seeps through.]

It doesn't matter. We're here now. [There's no point in regrets.] If we are to play that game, then I'll take it to the beginning. I could have left this city when my mother died. Abandoned it like my father did.

Mm.

[ So that attempt at dancing around the topic's failed. He'll try another strategy in a moment, but before that there is one important concern. ]

Mind if I go back with you? I was meant to be staying here to support this place's hunters though the night, but it sounds like the district's safety was part of their deal with Carmilla. Don't think I'm needed.

[ Also a guy shot him. But mostly he's not sure he's needed here. That's the important part. ]

[Alucard is careful as he withdraws his hand, and he spends a careful moment or two making sure that the medical bag is sealed up and can be ready for action at the next call. He slings it over his shoulder again and starts walking.]

You said you were going to check maps anyway. No point in doing anything else, and your grandmothers need to know where this group has put their lot.

[He's moving slower, well aware of Trevor's wound and how it might impact him.]

Right. I'll get in contact with Agatha once we're back.

[ It's so unnatural, to call her by name. But the other names he uses- those are for family. And Alucard isn't family anymore.

He's fucked up in all kinds of ways, hasn't he? ]

[Has she gotten any of Trevor's reaction to this shitty plan?

It's a bitter thought. Alucard doesn't voice it. He stays dead quiet as he gets to the car. Climbs in, revs the engine, and just waits.

He gets called for this, but nothing else. It will have to do. Alucard will abide it, because at least he is good for an emergency.]

[ He takes the passenger seat, at least. He doesn't do that unless he wants to talk even normally.

Sadly wanting to talk and being able to talk are not the same thing. He gets into the car, tugs twice at the seatbelt to make sure that it's tight enough (and he has only become weirder about seatbelts since the brakes incident.) and looks over to make sure Alucard has remembered his.

And he sighs, because this is as good a way to talk as they're going to get. Neither of them actually looking at each other. Neither of them able to leave or to get so emotional that it might become dangerous. Just words.

It was how they actually managed to talk civilly the first time, wasn't it? ]

...you could have told us about it before the arrangements were made. Made your case. We'd have still fucking hated it, but- we could have fucking hated it productively. Found a way to make it better. This- you might be gone, just like that, and there's nothing either of us can do about it.

Edited 2019-02-19 01:54 (UTC)

[The vampire's forgotten to put his driving gloves on. He has the medical kit between them as a buffer, and he's going faster than he'd dare under normal circumstances. His car doesn't have a demon inside it, and he's terrified that someone will see him out now. He doesn't have twenty four hours to waste in healing. They need to be home.

He doesn't want to talk. Not really. But the silence is so much worse.]

I know.

[What else is he supposed to say now? It's set, how this is going to be.]

You know I wouldn't have done this if I didn't know I'd win, correct?

And Carmilla would find a way to weasel out of this if she didn't know that she would. That she hasn't means she has a reason to be confident or she's not planning to fight fair.

[ It's a little better, at least. He still fucking hates this. Alucard still thinks he's right. But he can talk about it, for now, without hearing someone else choose death over what protection he can offer them. Without every word out of Alucard's mouth morphing into I have never known. ]

Edited 2019-02-19 02:11 (UTC)

Oh, I expect her to not fight fair. Why do you think I've already followed your rose and salt advice for my sword?

[In a fair fight, he wouldn't be doing that at all.]

Or use rosewater as my cologne of choice to begin with.

[It's the little things. Small defenses that no one will be able to clock until it's too late.]

I am coming back from this. I'm not leaving you two, even if you refuse to look at me again.

...that's the most pathetic version of not fighting fair that I've ever fucking heard.

[ VAMPIRE, YOU'RE BAD AT CHEATING. He meant bringing extra people in or laying traps or taking a hostage or something, not causing allergic reactions. ]

You sounded pretty fucking resigned to leaving us before.

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