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Mn.
[ The smile fades, but it's not a bad thing. More like a relaxing, like none of the muscles in his face are being used at all right now. His eyes are almost closed, but not quite. ]
Tired. But- please stay.
[ The smile fades, but it's not a bad thing. More like a relaxing, like none of the muscles in his face are being used at all right now. His eyes are almost closed, but not quite. ]
Tired. But- please stay.
Water, I think.
[Two birds, one stone. Trevor slowly sits up, staring blearily at the fire and trying to ignore the way his stomach is still roiling. Belatedly, he realizes they're not in either of their rooms, and with that comes the realization that this bed is rather larger than he's used to.]
The bed finally came while I was away?
[Two birds, one stone. Trevor slowly sits up, staring blearily at the fire and trying to ignore the way his stomach is still roiling. Belatedly, he realizes they're not in either of their rooms, and with that comes the realization that this bed is rather larger than he's used to.]
The bed finally came while I was away?
It did, yes.
[The bed is, of course, custom. it had to be as there are no such easily bought things available that can sleep three people. The frame is custom, the mattress, all of it.]
I had intended to wait until Sypha was back as well, but you forced my hand.
[The bed is, of course, custom. it had to be as there are no such easily bought things available that can sleep three people. The frame is custom, the mattress, all of it.]
I had intended to wait until Sypha was back as well, but you forced my hand.
Of course.
[What other response can he give anyway when Trevor is so soft and floppy like this? It is almost too much to look at, and Alucard lets out a happy sigh.]
More blankets? Or just me?
[What other response can he give anyway when Trevor is so soft and floppy like this? It is almost too much to look at, and Alucard lets out a happy sigh.]
More blankets? Or just me?
Just you. Always you. Always.
[ His eyes are closed, now, and and his speech slow and full of pauses. ]
She'll find us, soon. She should join us.
[ His eyes are closed, now, and and his speech slow and full of pauses. ]
She'll find us, soon. She should join us.
She will.
[Carefully, so carefully, Alucard settles in next to Trevor. He's as ginger as he can be, and long, delicate fingers keep moving through Trevor's hair.]
We'll both be here.
[Carefully, so carefully, Alucard settles in next to Trevor. He's as ginger as he can be, and long, delicate fingers keep moving through Trevor's hair.]
We'll both be here.
[ He only ever meets Adrian - really meets him - once. Adrian is a few days off his eighth birthday, and age is a difficult concept for Trevor’s kind but he isn’t much older or younger, split apart from Leon soon before their last battle with Dracula to ensure that there would he at least one of their family who lived if Leon and his daughters failed. He kisses Adrian’s hand, then, even though he’s at the age where kisses start to seem like awful, disgusting things, and attaches a locket around his neck. And then he vanishes from his life, only returning to the castle when he needs to in order to keep their Queen away and never as a man. Adrian enters his thoughts only sometimes and only briefly - they’re bound by nothing but words and rules, and Leon thinks it better that Adrian be given as much freedom as they can afford him while still keeping him safe.
He escorts the girl who insulted their queen - Sypha - to the castle at each full moon and returns her to her people at each new one. Always as a hart and moths, still, never as a man. It’s years. More than a decade.
And then the moon vanishes one month in summer, and no deer appears to carry Sypha back to her caravan. No softly glowing moths make a path through the moonless darkness for her to follow back to her family. Adrian’s rabbit becomes agitated and then vanishes entirely, the same way she is wont to do from time to time but with more urgency.
And then, as a sliver of waxing moon comes to light the sky, the castle moves.
It lands somewhere to the south, if the warmer night and positions of the stars are any indication. Maybe a few miles from the sea. On top of someone, filling the area with the smell of blood. A wagon close by is torn apart by the castle’s sudden appearance, the wood of it stripping away to reveal what looks like a metal coffin. ]
He escorts the girl who insulted their queen - Sypha - to the castle at each full moon and returns her to her people at each new one. Always as a hart and moths, still, never as a man. It’s years. More than a decade.
And then the moon vanishes one month in summer, and no deer appears to carry Sypha back to her caravan. No softly glowing moths make a path through the moonless darkness for her to follow back to her family. Adrian’s rabbit becomes agitated and then vanishes entirely, the same way she is wont to do from time to time but with more urgency.
And then, as a sliver of waxing moon comes to light the sky, the castle moves.
It lands somewhere to the south, if the warmer night and positions of the stars are any indication. Maybe a few miles from the sea. On top of someone, filling the area with the smell of blood. A wagon close by is torn apart by the castle’s sudden appearance, the wood of it stripping away to reveal what looks like a metal coffin. ]
[Alucard has grown up with very few illusions about his place in the world. He's a symbol. The last legacy of his father, and to have him is to have dominance over things. It scares him, and he hates it. He also knows that much of what is in place now is to keep him away from others that would like very much to abuse that symbol.
He understands that Leon is responsible for the situation in the first place, just as he understands Leon is the reason Carmilla didn't destroy him first. The matter is complicated, and the marriage is just that little extra safety net. That it's never gone further than just the locket is a blessing.
Sypha though, he likes her. Appreciates her company, because he rarely takes more than a little bit from her wrist or neck, and then they talk. He lets her go through the castle's library, and it's good. Reassuring. Like there's a connection to the world.
It's not good when she fails to appear. The rabbit (Alucard knows it must be another fae, but he's never asked it to do more than be a bunny) is the comfirmation that something has gone wrong. And then the castle moves entirely, and it is a terror.
He runs outside when the castle settles. Down the front steps, demanding to know why they've moved and...
Alucard runs to the coffin. He won't question the castle further. Something's happened, and it takes no effort at all to rip off the coffin lid.]
He understands that Leon is responsible for the situation in the first place, just as he understands Leon is the reason Carmilla didn't destroy him first. The matter is complicated, and the marriage is just that little extra safety net. That it's never gone further than just the locket is a blessing.
Sypha though, he likes her. Appreciates her company, because he rarely takes more than a little bit from her wrist or neck, and then they talk. He lets her go through the castle's library, and it's good. Reassuring. Like there's a connection to the world.
It's not good when she fails to appear. The rabbit (Alucard knows it must be another fae, but he's never asked it to do more than be a bunny) is the comfirmation that something has gone wrong. And then the castle moves entirely, and it is a terror.
He runs outside when the castle settles. Down the front steps, demanding to know why they've moved and...
Alucard runs to the coffin. He won't question the castle further. Something's happened, and it takes no effort at all to rip off the coffin lid.]
[ The smell of blood becomes stronger, taking on the tang of magic. What trickles down the spikes on the inside of the coffin’s lid is a greenish blue rather than red and inside of it-
The inside of the coffin is lined with long iron spikes, lancing through the human-shaped thing inside it. And it is a human shaped thing. No visible wings or horns, only the blue blood to indicate that it might not be entirely human. For few long, long seconds it lies silent and motionless, a small but deep hole over its heart where one of the lid’s spikes were.
Then, there’s the sound of a pulse. A weak one, but a pulse nonetheless. Then a gasping breath. ]
The inside of the coffin is lined with long iron spikes, lancing through the human-shaped thing inside it. And it is a human shaped thing. No visible wings or horns, only the blue blood to indicate that it might not be entirely human. For few long, long seconds it lies silent and motionless, a small but deep hole over its heart where one of the lid’s spikes were.
Then, there’s the sound of a pulse. A weak one, but a pulse nonetheless. Then a gasping breath. ]
[For a quiet moment, Alucard only mouths what the fuck because how is anyone supposed to respond to what he's seeing at the moment? He's not sure, but he is more than a little terrified and for that he has to just stare.
He doesn't recognize the man inside. Well. Man like thing. All Alucard knows is that he can't touch this person. He's read so many of his parents medical books. They all talk about how it isn't safest to remove someone after he's been impaled.]
I...
[He doesn't know what to do, but he has an idea.]
Let me take you inside.
He doesn't recognize the man inside. Well. Man like thing. All Alucard knows is that he can't touch this person. He's read so many of his parents medical books. They all talk about how it isn't safest to remove someone after he's been impaled.]
I...
[He doesn't know what to do, but he has an idea.]
Let me take you inside.
[ A voice. He can hear a voice. His mind isn’t working well enough right now to recognise whether it’s familiar or not, but a voice. A friendlier one than the one belonging to the man who locked him in here. ]
In- side...?
[ But he’s already inside, isn’t he? Being inside this box is the problem. His vision is far too distorted to see the massive castle above them as anything but a black, starless sky. But he nods, as best he can. He has to trust this person. Whoever they are, they cannot be worse than the man who put him into the box. ]
In- side...?
[ But he’s already inside, isn’t he? Being inside this box is the problem. His vision is far too distorted to see the massive castle above them as anything but a black, starless sky. But he nods, as best he can. He has to trust this person. Whoever they are, they cannot be worse than the man who put him into the box. ]
[Without any warning, Alucard lifts the entire box up. He can't move Trevor, but he can carry the thing in. It's heavy, yes, but oh Alucard can bear that weight without issue at all. He moves them both along, inside. Into the castle and--
--Sypha. She'll know what to do. It's night so Leon can't be there. ]
Castle? Can you take us to Sypha?
--Sypha. She'll know what to do. It's night so Leon can't be there. ]
Castle? Can you take us to Sypha?
...Sypha.
[ That name is familiar. Why is it familiar? He closes his eyes, trying to endure the sensation of his box being moved, and then opens them again. His arm flies out of the coffin, hand coming close to grabbing for Alucard’s throat before the movement of the castle jostles him. He screeches as the iron nails move inside him, hand falling back into his box.
The castle, for its part, is more delicate when it comes to arriving close to the Speaker caravan. Doesn’t squish anyone. Being far enough away to avoid harming anyone, though, means it’s a few minutes before Sypha approaches, lighting her own way with a handful of light. ]
...Adrian? Adrian, is that you? [ She calls out as she approaches. ] What’s happening?
[ That name is familiar. Why is it familiar? He closes his eyes, trying to endure the sensation of his box being moved, and then opens them again. His arm flies out of the coffin, hand coming close to grabbing for Alucard’s throat before the movement of the castle jostles him. He screeches as the iron nails move inside him, hand falling back into his box.
The castle, for its part, is more delicate when it comes to arriving close to the Speaker caravan. Doesn’t squish anyone. Being far enough away to avoid harming anyone, though, means it’s a few minutes before Sypha approaches, lighting her own way with a handful of light. ]
...Adrian? Adrian, is that you? [ She calls out as she approaches. ] What’s happening?
No I--it's going to hurt more if you get out of the box!
[Alucard's yell is a desperate thing as he sets the box down in the castle's main hall, and then...
...then the castle finds Sypha, and maybe everything is going to be OK in the end. Alucard breathes out in relief when she approaches, then runs to meet her.]
I don't know, I just need help.
[He rushes Sypha in and over to Trevor's awful little box. And it is that, so very, very awful. Looking down into it makes Alucard want to scream.]
He's going to bleed out if I try to move him but I...you can't leave someone in here eitherr
[Alucard's yell is a desperate thing as he sets the box down in the castle's main hall, and then...
...then the castle finds Sypha, and maybe everything is going to be OK in the end. Alucard breathes out in relief when she approaches, then runs to meet her.]
I don't know, I just need help.
[He rushes Sypha in and over to Trevor's awful little box. And it is that, so very, very awful. Looking down into it makes Alucard want to scream.]
He's going to bleed out if I try to move him but I...you can't leave someone in here eitherr
Oh- oh...
[ Sypha allows herself only a second to cover her mouth with her hands in horror, then sets to work examining the coffin. It’s metal, iron, all the way through. That’s a problem, but it’s also a blessing right now. She frowns, her hands starting to glow again with heat. ]
Have the castle bring cold water, then close the lid again. Make sure the nails line up with those cuts.
[ Sypha allows herself only a second to cover her mouth with her hands in horror, then sets to work examining the coffin. It’s metal, iron, all the way through. That’s a problem, but it’s also a blessing right now. She frowns, her hands starting to glow again with heat. ]
Have the castle bring cold water, then close the lid again. Make sure the nails line up with those cuts.
Yes.
[Alucard doesn't have to tell the castle anything. It just places a bucket of cold water beside Sypha in an instant, and here Alucard has to pause because the lid going back on seems a terror.
Softly, he glances back to the man in the box, and all he can manage is:]
I'm sorry. It's just for a few minutes, I promise. We'll make this better.
[And so the lid goes back on.]
[Alucard doesn't have to tell the castle anything. It just places a bucket of cold water beside Sypha in an instant, and here Alucard has to pause because the lid going back on seems a terror.
Softly, he glances back to the man in the box, and all he can manage is:]
I'm sorry. It's just for a few minutes, I promise. We'll make this better.
[And so the lid goes back on.]
[ Trevor’s eyes widen in horror as the lid lowers once again, but the scream doesn’t come until Sypha places her hands on the side of the metal box. The air fills with the smell of burning flesh. The scream continues until it breaks into something closer to a wail, and then it ends. Hands shaking, lower lip bleeding from biting down on it, Sypha asks Alucard to remove the man.
The bleeding has stopped when the man is freed from the box, but the burns are a problem of their own. For a while, it’s difficult to say if he’ll live. The collective knowledge of Sypha’s caravan has them float him in a mixture of cool water, yew ash and salt, always with someone watching to see that he doesn’t get his mouth or nose bellow the water and drown. Eventually he can be moved to a bed. Sypha stays when her caravan moves on, and the castle returns to its usual, better guarded place.
It’s a day or so after that before he wakes for more than a few seconds. ]
...she-.
[ It’s so quiet, if it were Sypha here rather than Alucard it’d be completely inaudible. It’s hard to say which ‘she’ he’s referring to- Sypha, perhaps. ]
The bleeding has stopped when the man is freed from the box, but the burns are a problem of their own. For a while, it’s difficult to say if he’ll live. The collective knowledge of Sypha’s caravan has them float him in a mixture of cool water, yew ash and salt, always with someone watching to see that he doesn’t get his mouth or nose bellow the water and drown. Eventually he can be moved to a bed. Sypha stays when her caravan moves on, and the castle returns to its usual, better guarded place.
It’s a day or so after that before he wakes for more than a few seconds. ]
...she-.
[ It’s so quiet, if it were Sypha here rather than Alucard it’d be completely inaudible. It’s hard to say which ‘she’ he’s referring to- Sypha, perhaps. ]
[Alucard doesn't do much. He stays there, still, unmoving, his eyes on Sypha and her work. Her terrifying work.
When the man is out of the box, when he's moved to a bed, Alucard goes to his mother's things. He finds the old Speaker wisdom and his mother's new ideas, and together he assembles salves from a recipe that is in Lisa's handwriting. It's smeared on all of the burns, and then they're bandaged.
But that's it. He sees the bunny, and then he sees Leon the day after who only murmurs something before he says he has to attend to a related matter.
Sypha's off sleeping. She needs the sleep.]
Hm?
When the man is out of the box, when he's moved to a bed, Alucard goes to his mother's things. He finds the old Speaker wisdom and his mother's new ideas, and together he assembles salves from a recipe that is in Lisa's handwriting. It's smeared on all of the burns, and then they're bandaged.
But that's it. He sees the bunny, and then he sees Leon the day after who only murmurs something before he says he has to attend to a related matter.
Sypha's off sleeping. She needs the sleep.]
Hm?
[ Leon only remains briefly. The bunny finds its way to Trevor's room a few times, sitting with him as he sleeps, but that's it. ]
...-shit.
[ So maybe that was the 'she' he was talking about. It comes out as a hissed sound, as he tries to curl in on himself only for that to be worse than lying back. ]
-Fucking hurts.
...-shit.
[ So maybe that was the 'she' he was talking about. It comes out as a hissed sound, as he tries to curl in on himself only for that to be worse than lying back. ]
-Fucking hurts.
I'll go get pain dullers.
[Alucard stands up slowly, unsure of what else to do here.]
Or...?
[He's an idiot with no idea what he's doing.]
[Alucard stands up slowly, unsure of what else to do here.]
Or...?
[He's an idiot with no idea what he's doing.]
Don't. No, I-
[ He can deal with this. It'd be a massive lie to say he's dealt with worse or even similar, but he's a Belmont, he can deal with this. And-
-then he looks up at the man attending to him. He blinks and then his eyes widen, and immediately half of him is gone as the room fills with moths. ]
-can't be here. I can't-
[ The moths move back and forth, in and out from him like lungs shrinking and expanding as he forms and reforms, unable to vanish completely. ]
[ He can deal with this. It'd be a massive lie to say he's dealt with worse or even similar, but he's a Belmont, he can deal with this. And-
-then he looks up at the man attending to him. He blinks and then his eyes widen, and immediately half of him is gone as the room fills with moths. ]
-can't be here. I can't-
[ The moths move back and forth, in and out from him like lungs shrinking and expanding as he forms and reforms, unable to vanish completely. ]
[Alucard calls for Sypha all the same. He screams her name when the room is suddenly full of moths, because there's too much going on at once. This isn't normal medicine. This is magic, and Alucard isn't the right person to deal with it.
Sypha comes running in, and oh, she understands immediately. Moths. The moths that have guided her to the castle every time since this faerie deal had to be made.]
I don't know what I'm--
Stop. Let me think.. [There's little time, but Sypha looks at all the moths and then to Trevor.]
Where's the main one?
Sypha comes running in, and oh, she understands immediately. Moths. The moths that have guided her to the castle every time since this faerie deal had to be made.]
I don't know what I'm--
Stop. Let me think.. [There's little time, but Sypha looks at all the moths and then to Trevor.]
Where's the main one?
[ Shit. There’s iron in his system, still. Iron in the bodies of every moth he’s turning into. He can’t vanish into a cloud of moths entirely, but nor can he re-form into a man. He’s just stuck in between, half a body and a cloud of moths.
Unfortunately, organs are important. The heart and lungs, specifically, are important. And those are currently absent from the part of him that’s a man, what with them being part of the moth cloud. He gasps air in and out uselessly as he tries to answer Sypha’s question, and then something lucky happens.
There is a stand next to him, a tall metal pole with a bag of liquid hanging from it that was previously attached to his arm. In the panic, Sypha knocks it. As it falls it catches the chain of Alucard’s locket, snapping the chain and sending the little box falling to the ground. ]
Unfortunately, organs are important. The heart and lungs, specifically, are important. And those are currently absent from the part of him that’s a man, what with them being part of the moth cloud. He gasps air in and out uselessly as he tries to answer Sypha’s question, and then something lucky happens.
There is a stand next to him, a tall metal pole with a bag of liquid hanging from it that was previously attached to his arm. In the panic, Sypha knocks it. As it falls it catches the chain of Alucard’s locket, snapping the chain and sending the little box falling to the ground. ]
[Alucard just wants to scream. His parent's wisdom of ages is nothing for something magic based. He understands that iron is a problem, but iron is in every living organism and--
--it doesn't matter. Sypha's knocked the IV over, the stupid locket Alucard keeps hidden falls, and when it hits the ground it shatters from sheer force.
A single moth escapes. Alucard doesn't realize it, he just looks at Sypha with even more panic on his face.]
How do we stop him from hemmoraging moths?!
--it doesn't matter. Sypha's knocked the IV over, the stupid locket Alucard keeps hidden falls, and when it hits the ground it shatters from sheer force.
A single moth escapes. Alucard doesn't realize it, he just looks at Sypha with even more panic on his face.]
How do we stop him from hemmoraging moths?!
[ One. Just one moth that wasn’t exposed to that box. That’s enough. It flutters up past Alucard, coming to land at the exposed rib where Trevor’s body ends.
As swiftly as it began, the moth problem ends. He becomes whole again. More whole than he was before, even. The mark on his chest, where one of those nails had driven into his heart and where the moth from the locket landed, is gone.
He gasps for air for a moment longer, then lies back again. Shit. He can’t leave now, not until he’s well enough to return that moth. ]
Shit. I’ll get you another when I can. [ His voice is stained, but the difference between now and a few moments ago is immense. That one moth made a massive difference. ]
As swiftly as it began, the moth problem ends. He becomes whole again. More whole than he was before, even. The mark on his chest, where one of those nails had driven into his heart and where the moth from the locket landed, is gone.
He gasps for air for a moment longer, then lies back again. Shit. He can’t leave now, not until he’s well enough to return that moth. ]
Shit. I’ll get you another when I can. [ His voice is stained, but the difference between now and a few moments ago is immense. That one moth made a massive difference. ]
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