cryptsleeper | Catch All

"The story doesn't sound too bright, if this Trevor is a scarred individual. Had I any influence, I'd not want that for any of my family." [ He doesn't know what's to happen to them. ]

"Should I do anything far too differently, it may unravel the very fibers of the time you live in. But should you know of any actions I could safely take to prevent any future hardships of my kin, please." [ That's the hard part. Tracking the butterfly effect at its source. ]

[The thing is, Hector finds that he can believe in Adrian. Part of it may be his own hopeless naiveté, but he can see in Adrian what he thought he had thought he saw in Lord Dracula. He's a bit of an asshole, and broods too much for his own good...

...but with Adrian in control of Castlevania and the powers within it, the world is a shade less dark and hopeless a place.

Hector will voice precisely none of those thoughts. He rolls up the map and tucks it safely away.]

It's a good plan. [Both the strategy, which is far better than Hector could have managed on his own, and the hopefully peaceful parting after. He nods in Adrian's direction.] Well, no time like the present. Wish me luck.

[ It's nice, here, to be whole and feel like himself. He's recovering in reality but it's slow and painful and certainly not the kind of state that facilitates anything like this. While he is more whole, here, Alucard is almost less. Less perfect, all flushed with hair splayed out in every direction, little bruises on his neck that could never form in the waking world.

Perhaps not less whole. More human sounds a little more accurate.

He kisses and nips at the skin of Alucard's neck, moving about as he does, the first focused attack swiftly turning into something more flighty but no less passionate. Despite the help, he's not in any real hurry to actually unbutton the trousers and continues to rub Alucard through them. The stupid grin can be felt through the kisses every time his thumb catches teasingly against one of the buttons and it seems like he's going to finally do it but instead returns to the performance of pretending to not be able to find those buttons.

It's the promising sensation of cool fingers against the flushed skin of his hips that eventually prompts him to have mercy and finally undo the buttons. ]

Success to you as you move forward with this.

[Luck? Luck is nonsense in this situation, something that's only useful for when something goes wrong. They need success and they need it but now in order to make the plan work.]

I'll see you in a while then, Hector.

In truth, the way events unfold is out of everyone's control. [Higher, more churchly powers prevailed and there were no fighting them. Alucard has read the accounts of a few years before the destruction of the home, how some of the other boyars of Wallachia were beginning to understand that the Belmonts and their eternal quest for night things and Dracula made them politically weak as a noble house of Wallachia. Bringing the church in, viewing it all as witchcraft, it was....expedient. And the Belmonts were only starting to fight back after years of not considering the matter to be a problem.

Alucard sighs heavily at Leon's request, and there's a little bit of heartbreak in it.]

I don't believe that my father's death could happen if anything was prevented or changed, I'm afraid.

[One of Alucard's hands eventually reaches out and latches onto Trevor's horns. It feels so solid and real under his palm, his fingernails scratching against it and doubtlessly leaving little marks. Being like this, absolutely and utterly undone beneath Trevor, it feels like the kind of thing Trevor once wanted so early on in this relationship. When Alucard was scared and Trevor didn't understand why and all those other bits and pieces.

Alucard doesn't hide the soft murmurs of Trevor's name or the louder groans of delight that come with all of Trevors kisses and bites. His other hand, the one not held onto Trevor's antlers like an anchor, gropes needily at Trevor's chest, enjoying every handful of muscle. There's some pinching, but mostly he just wants to grab and hang on, trying not to scratch too hard.

Which is difficult, given everything happening below. His hips have decided to roll against Trevor's hand at every opportunity, and the tension down there makes the vampire louder and more careless every time. It's starting to get difficult, having the buttons remain undone. Extremely.

So there's a sigh of relief as they're finally seen to. Alucard wiggles hips hips to pull the trousers down just a little bit more, revealing that he's already halfway aroused, a flush starting to finally take over his cheeks.]

"A regret I have is being unable to change his mind in the moment he took the Ebony Stone from Walter. Of course, I have no idea of his later madness, or how he may feel towards humans by your time... but a lot of me wishes he could've been saved by other means. I hate that it's come to what it has."

[ His fingers curled tightly, somewhere in spilling his thoughts. ]
"At the very least, I hope that you and your mother share fond memories together."

[The response is automatic. Almost unthinking, and far too blunt. Leon's brushed over the raw wound at the center of all of this, and Alucard's only defense to deal with it right now is cold truth that he doesn't allow himself to feel emotions about in front of anyone else.]

She passed before he did, her medical knowledge branded witchcraft and the church following the teachings of Exodus.

[ Barely audible from the outside, the sound of Alucard's nails scratching against the horns is overwhelming to Trevor. Not in a bad way, not painful, but still overwhelming. He can hear it through his bones and he is suddenly so very enamoured with the idea that Alucard is leaving little marks there. It's going to be tempting, when they grow back in reality, to ask him to- he doesn't even know. Carve pretty marks into them, perhaps. Something like that. Something to connect them.

For now, there are other things to occupy him.

His breath starts to catch in his throat at the pinching and stroking and squeezing. It's ragged now, between that and the kissing, his body torn between getting enough air and continuing to attend to the sensitive skin of his boyfriend's neck. He moves back to Alucard's lips. The kisses he leaves there are shallower than the one earlier, paced oddly, somehow both slow and urgent at once. With one last kiss, he settles above Alucard, fingers trailing upward over him. ]

I don't suppose anything here counts as proof-

[ He's been cursing that 'well deserved reputations' comment so much lately. Sypha's somehow heard about it, and he has not been able to live it down 'until he demonstrates'. Which, being in the middle of recovery, he cannot. ]

I'd consider it, but you'd have to demonstrate to her as well.

[They're words said with a soft, warm laugh threaded through it all. Alucard can't imagine that Sypha would just take Alucard's word for it, not when all of this is in dreams. She'd need an evening like this herself, one that goes however is best for the two of them.

The break to talk lets Alucard regulate his breathing just a hair, although it has been coming harder and faster. Trevor's aren't close to his anymore, but Alucard can still be daring. Settling above him demanded that Alucard let go of that antler, and so that free hand moves to catch one of Trevor's hands.

It's the lightest kiss of all, the kiss Alucard puts to each knuckle of Trevor's hand.]

And it lets us both plan for when all of this can take place outside of dreams.

[And so Hector sets off. He finds the stream, thanks to the intricately detailed map, and forges well past sunset. When he finally finishes, he falls on the supplies Adrian gave him, devouring the dried meat and praying to whatever powers that be that Adrian doesn't see him do it, the smug bastard.

His new creations are amphibious, and Hector does his best to keep them concealed in streams and rivers as he makes his way to Braila. Alucard's coin sees him passage on a small vessel. Hector isn't sure if he actually senses eyes on him as they sail or if it's all in his imagination. Adrian is definitely watching, and Isaac is probably keeping tabs on him as well, in his own way.

The island outside of Rhodes is largely unchanged from when Hector left it. The rumor of a necromancer living there, coupled with the occasional sighting of dead animals walking in the wilds there, has kept the locals from coming here. It's just how Hector prefers it.

He secrets away his innocent devils, returns to his abandoned cabin, and waits for Isaac to take the bait.

And somehow, their carefully drawn-out plan goes to hell. Hector and his friends had gone out to the island's only dock to meet Isaac's boat upon arrival. Isaac, as expected, had brought with him several hulking, flying monstrosities. More unexpectedly, he had also come with a small army of zombies, marching up from the water unphased by their journey.

The innocent devils perform admirably, taking down two of the night creatures and countless zombies, but Hector hadn't accounted for the sheer rage at seeing Isaac's face again. The forged creatures depend on him for instruction, and he can't think of anything but killing Isaac. Isaac's army flanks them and hurl themselves onto Hector, pinning him down.

So, traitor, you've reawakened your powers? [Isaac croons, stepping finally off of his ship.] Good. You will atone for your sins.

[He approaches a thrashing Hector with a length of rope and begins to coil it around him. The cord sizzles with enchantment.]

If you're going to kill me, just do it! [Hector cries, impotent and furious and just wanting it to be over.

Isaac clucks his tongue.] Hector, Hector, what did you think to do with those ashes you stole? A spirit of such power as Lord Dracula cannot be resurrected with pieces cobbled together like some common wight.

[He seizes Hector's chin and forces him to meet Isaac's gaze. Dracula's loyal general smiles.] Oh Hector, where else could I find a vessel such as yours, so in tune with the darkness, yet still purely human? It is fitting. Your betrayal cost our lord his life. Your sacrifice shall restore him.

[Trevor and Sypha arrive home a week after Hector's departure. It is at that moment that Alucard explains the situation to them, and their reactions are not surprising. They both don't care for it, Trevor's far louder about that fact, Sypha's not the happiest about being thrown into a high stakes job like this without her prior knowledge or consent, but with the far greater threat of Isaac and what he represents, things settle. They're not traveling for the summer, lest something awful happen while they're away.

Alucard varies the times he checks in on Hector, but it is almost always between three to four times a day, and never for longer than five minutes. It is satisfying enough to know the man is alive, is working, and doesn't seem to be contemplating the wisdom of stabbing Alucard in the back. (It's something Trevor is planning for. And intending to respond to at full force should it happen.) For Alucard, that's more than enough.

Summer slips by. There's so much damned ocean travel that Alucard almost feels seasick by proxy at a few points, but nothing comes of it. Sometimes he moves the viewing mirror beyond Hector to the boat and what's around it, intending to check for signs of being followed but almost always feeling calmed by the sight of the gently rocking sea.

Rhodes goes by. Alucard increases his attention to the viewing mirror when that happens, although he is not present at the outset of Isaac's grand entrance. He catches only the end part, where the word vessel gets used.

What sounds next in the castle is something that can only be described as pure dad. It catches the attention of the other two inhabitants, who know that even if it isn't go time on their weird and possibly a bad life choice of an alliance, something bad has happened to the dhampir.

There's quick utterances of what to do in the next few minutes once Trevor and Sypha are present and Alucard's managed to explain what's been said. The rest of the plan they know. He and Sypha go in through the viewing mirror, Trevor watches and goes through only if need be. Returning from someplace that far away will be a nightmare and someone has to watch the castle and the Hold.

(Alucard still mutters all the right spells for protecting the place before he leaves though. At this point, they'll probably need all hands on deck.)

He and Sypha barrel out of the viewing mirror, ice shards firing at Isaac and Alucard's sword extended for the same target. It isn't the time for snappy lines or words at all. Action is the only thing that matters, putting an end to the concept of dragging Dracula back from a death he truly needed at the end.]

[Isaac's creatures drag Hector back towards the boat, and Hector sees now that the deck has runes carved into it. Some sort of summoning circle? He renews his struggling.]

No, I won't let you! Damn you, Isaac! [He fights against his bindings to try to reach the knife at his belt. If Isaac needs him whole for whatever dark ritual he intends, then Hector will rob him of his prize and go laughing into hell.

Isaac takes a step forward, balling a fist to strike him.] Our lord can deal with a few broken ribs. [He punches Hector in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Alucard and his Speaker might as well be angels, so fortuitous is their timing. Hector struggles to gasp in a breath to shout to them.]

Destroy the boat! [Isaac needs to be killed, but with his winged beasts and undead zombies beneath the waves, Hector can't risk being taken to the boat and spirited away to be used as a host body for Dracula.

His fingers brush against the hilt of his knife and he begins to work it free of the sheath, the motion agonizingly slow.]

[Destroy the boat Hector calls out, and there's no questioning who's best equipped to take care of that. Sypha is the one with the fire power and the range, and so that means Alucard must serve as her guard. He moves only a few feet forward to allow Sypha a safe radius to operate in, and the first blast of fire goes right for the boat.

Unsurprisingly, that gets the attention of the winged creatures that were already drawn to Alucard and Sypha's arrival. One swoops down, horrid talons extended and aimed for Sypha's shoulders. Alucard wordlessly sends his sword in the thing's direction, and it pierces through the wings before he recalls it back to himself.

There is the ever so satisfying sound of it crashing onto the ground, and Alucard runs to dispatch it. A second blast of fire goes right over his head, catching the boat this time.]

[Isaac growls out a curse in a language Hector can't understand. He draws one of his daggers and lifts it to Hector's throat. Then he thinks better of Hector's worth as a potential hostage, and shoves him back into the waiting arms of his zombie horde. The glare he directs at Hector before disappearing from his sight promises pain for siccing the hunters upon his ship.

Hector, for his part, kicks at the zombies, managing to dislodge several limbs from their shambling bodies. They are restraining, not attacking. With an effort of will, he calls his aquatic creations to come and begin to tear at the corpses.

Isaac's eyes flick between Sypha and Alucard, and in the moment Alucard moves toward the downed Gaibon, he dashes forward and leaps, both daggers drawn.]

[The zombies are....new. To Alucard at least, Sypha seems unphased by their presence and is instead focused on the task at hand. Tiny powerhouse she is, the moment Isaac turns his attention to Alucard is the moment she starts moving forward in order to get the thing destroyed.

There's a grunt as Alucard moves his whole body just in time to avoid the worst of Isaac's daggers. They still scrape through the fabric of his coat, but that's all the damage they do. The dhampir's feet instead trample over the Gaibon with precious little grace, and the noise it makes is just as unearthly as Alucard remembers the night creatures from before.

But no, this is good. Isaac can have his attention focused on Alucard. Sypha can take care of the physical destruction. Hector need only endure through the worst of it and make sure that the aquatic creations are able to do what they must.

Trevor's still watching and available, if it all goes to shit.

Alucard doesn't waste time in lunging at Isaac. If he's understood the man correctly, taunts would be better.]

How foolish are you to believe that disturbing my father's well earned peace is a wise idea?

[Dark eyes narrow at Alucard with pure, cold rage.]

What right have you to call him 'father'?

[His eyes flash red, and the Gaibon's corpse bursts into flames. Isaac lunges forward for another attack.]

You put a stake in his heart. He needs no son like you!

[It seems Alucard isn't the only one ready with taunts.

With Isaac out of his direct line of sight, Hector's boiling anger cools to the familiar simmer. He can work with that. Finally clear-headed, he gives his creatures their orders. Where before the struck clumsily at the walking corpses, they now take quick, precise slices at the necks and hearts, taking back the cursed life Isaac had infused in them. The ranks thin.]

[As intended. It is absolutely going to chafe at Alucard when all is settled that he's had to rely on the actual worst moment of his life as a taunt to distract a man, but in this moment, he doesn't care. Anything Isaac says is a fraction of what he's lived with and brooded over for years. Alucard's used to being a thing of ice.

Its that thing of ice that parries Isaac's attack, then abuses his dhampir abilities to seemingly disappear, then be at Isaac's side to slam into him but hard. It'll have a path perpendicular in landing to the burning corpse, but that's for the better. The less burning flesh the better.]

As surely as you could have helped him through his grief, but instead took advantage of a man to advance your own dislike of humanity. What a good friend you were, using him like that.

[That's a taunt but also one of the thoughts Alucard has spent many nights ruminating on. Hector's already heard it, but this version will doubtlessly garner a different reaction. One that ought to encourage some sloppy stabbing.

Sypha's left Alucard entirely. It's nothing for her swift feet to carry her through the rising threats of Isaac's forged creatures, because her own magical abilities have grown in strength over the years. There is a final blast of flames aimed at the boat, and that fire finally takes.]

[Isaac gets more fierce with his anger, but not stupid. As Alucard shoves, he rolls, and takes a swipe with his knife as he does.]

I stood by his side.... I never betrayed him....

[He strikes between statements.]

Everyone else turned their backs on him...is it any wonder he wanted to end everything, with friends like that [He doesn't even bother looking in Hector's direction] and a son like you?

[With that, Isaac goes in close, a reckless attack to try to bury a blade into Alucard's heart. The remaining forged creatures abandon Sypha and converge into the dhampir, and the zombies begin to claw at Hector with killing intent. Still bound with the enchanted rope, he curls himself into a ball to ward off the blows while his friends tear at the attackers. Hector sends a call out to the fairy construct, who whizzes in and begins to tug at the rope to free him.]

[The words aren't having the exact effect Alucard wants, so he abandons them. Anger is enough for now, just like it's enough to allow Isaac to leave a few marks on Alucard. The knife finds it's way into his hip, but it only truly finds bone.

The pain is precious little in Alucard's mind. An easy thing to shrug off, but the lunge towards his heart requires a very quick manuver indeed. He blocks it only because of his own superhuman speed, and the clang of metal against metal is satisfying. But more than that, Alucard presses the advantage, putting his weight forward against the much smaller blade to force Isaac back entirely. Back and over the corpse of his own creature, which some god willing, might cause a mistep.

Alucard picks his head up as he realizes that they are being converged upon. Sypha's made it up to the now on fire boat, but getting through to Hector is going to be it's own challenge. He won't yell to her and grab her attention, lest it bring harm, but he doesn't like it.

Sypha, quite frankly, could care less. The zombies, at least the ones in the back and furthest from Hector, are the easiest to deal with. That ice wall trick she invented on the fly back at the castle comes into play again, cleaving a row of them at the back cleanly in two. To Hector, she calls out only one word:]

Duck!

[The fight turns silent and feral. Alucard’s taunts have a very real effect- Isaac should retreat and come back with greater force, but he stays, taking damage in order to deal out punishment to Dracula’s son. One of his knifes goes flying and clatters in the burning wreckage as he stumbles back and over the corpse. He kicks out at Alucard as he tumbles, trying to push him back to gain the precious seconds he’ll need to right himself.

Hector renews his struggles, but at Sypha’s barked order, he drops. He’s always been inclined to take orders from people who sound more sure of themselves than he is. He’s frankly surprised the Speaker bothered. Hector and Alucard have an understanding, but to her, he doubts he is anything other than ‘the less dangerous necromancer”.

His constructs are within blasting range, but he orders them to keep attacking. Moving them to safety might disrupt the attack or lure the zombies out of the Speaker’s range. His creatures can’t ‘die’ so long as he lives, although the energy their destruction will drain from him is going to hurt. He curls his body around the fairy, shielding her as she unties him, and braces himself.]

Oh, gladly. More than gladly.

[ His voice trails off as Alucard kisses. If it were anyone else, it would mean nothing. Even if it were Sypha it would be funny, and precious in its silliness, but it wouldn’t shut him up. But Alucard believes in this kind of shit. There’s meaning behind it because he knows the gesture means something to him. It wouldn’t be such an effective way to tease him if it didn’t.

He keeps his hand in Alucard’s, squeezing softly as the other reaches out to cup his cheek. It moves downward as Trevor remains silent, still dumbstruck by the tender gesture. Over chest, then over stomach, then over hip, then around to rest against Alucard’s rear. And then he finally speaks. ]

Outside of dreams. [ His voice is barely a whisper as he repeats it, quiet and conspiratorial. ] Tell me what you’ll want, then. What do you miss?

I'll even be good and not ask for details unless one of you offers them.

[Something something about kissing and telling.

Alucard's lips linger over Trevor's hand for a moment longer before he finally lets go. There's no ultimate meaning to the gesture other than for want of tenderness, and to prove exactly how soft the vampire feels right now. Being that vulnerable around Trevor used to be hard. This? This is a milemarker in the vampire's mind.

Trevor's hand settles, and the question follows. Alucard gives it an honest consideration.]

The three of us just trying to wrap around each other. [It was just...their thing, wasn't it?] Spoiling each other with attention, or at least trying to because someone else always forces a change of plans.

[It inevitably lead to a pile of crisscrossing limbs and confusion, until it didn't. The in between, the liminal nature of it, it was something no one else understood and that? That secret is the most important thing.]

[The ice plane tricks works both vertically and horizontially. It's useful, especially in moments like these. With just a few movements of her wrist, Sypha sends another plane of ice at the zombies. They're all about the same height, and so their heads are cleaved from their necks with a disturbing ease. Doubtlessly a few heads will land a little too close to Hector, but that is simply the side effect of an all too useful method.]

You can look up!

[If there is to be a second wave of the zombies, Sypha's prepared and not moving from her current spot.

As for Alucard, he's gone ferral in the most literal way possible. A wolf is what Isaac kicks, and a wolf is what lands a little sloppily a few feet back. Which is more than fine, because the sword is abandoned for barred teeth that lung at Isaac yet again. He'll have to bend down to get a good attack, and if that happens, well, there are options available to Alucard to respond in kind.]

[The rain of heads around Hector doesn’t phase him; he’s long since lost any aversion to dead parts. The energy displacement as his forged creatures dissolve back into spirit sends him staggering, though. That’s the drawback to using constructs tethered to his own life force.

He forces himself to stand, and he surveys the damage, blinking. Holy shit. Forget the Belmont. The Speaker girl is terrifying.

The zombies are summarily handled, so now all attention can turn to Isaac and the wolf. Isaac is a master of necromancy, but he’s still a human, and his stamina has limits. He has to end this quickly or the dhampir will wear him down.

Isaac spreads the fingers of his empty hand and sends glowing red power into the headless bodies of his zombies. They rise like slack puppets on strings, no longer able to move except by Isaac’s express order. He waves them toward Sypha.

He kicks out at the wolf again, a plot to sacrifice his leg to occupy the wolf’s teeth so he can drive his dagger into its neck.]

Isaac!

[Hector, finally unraveled from the bindings, calls out as he staggers forward, hoping to distract his rival long enough for Adrian to finish it.]

Catch All

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject