[Hector arrives at the gates of Castlevania a pale shadow of the man who left it scant months earlier. The Devil Forgemaster, like the castle itself, has fallen.
It hadn't been easy to escape Carmilla's clutches. She had guarded her pet forgemaster jealously. It had taken time and more cunning than Hector realized he possessed to create a means of escape, but he'd managed it- barely. He'd sent his creatures out in different directions, hoping to obscure his own path from pursuit, and made his way back to his former lord's fortress. Uniform ripped and dirtied, hair mussed, lip split, and body bruised, he limps toward the once splendid home of Dracula Vlad Ţepeş.
With Lord Dracula dead, the castle offers no protection for Hector, but there is still something he needs from within the gates. The innocent devils and night creatures will all be gone, sent out to fight in that final battle or else killed or escaped in the confusion after. His pets, however, may still linger. Hector can hope. It's all he has left.
The sight of the grounded castle sends a stab of pain through his heart. Lord Dracula... Hector had played a part in the betrayal and fall of his lord. After he'd burned his parents' cabin to the ground, Hector had thought he'd never have another home. He knows now, by the shape of the emptiness within him, that he did.
The entryways to the castle have always been temperamental, and Hector half-expects the little side door he had used to come and go for his walks to bar itself. Castlevania is a living thing, Hector, Lord Dracula had explained when first Hector arrived. The door opens. Perhaps it doesn't know -or without its lord, can't be bothered to care- about Hector's sins.
The necromancer makes his way carefully through the halls. He is quiet in reverence and also in concentration- the doors and stairways in the castle often changed during his short residence here, and he isn't sure if the way to his laboratory will be the same now as when he left it. There is also the possibility of traps or enemies. He had to leave his hammer behind in Carmilla's keep. She'd only allowed him the use of it while he was supervised in her forges. He made his means of escape back in his cell, with two pilfered coins used to strike a spark. Unarmed, it is better to proceed with caution and avoid any chance encounters.
He turns a corner, but the flight of stairs he needs isn't there. Did it move, or did he take a wrong turn? Hard to tell.]
Damn it. [He curses to himself. He could be lost here all day if he gets turned around. Longer, if the wild magic of the castle really is still active. He should back-track while he still can and get out so he can keep ahead of Carmilla's pursuit.
...But when has Hector ever done the smart thing, really?]
Cesar! [He hisses into the empty darkness of the hallway, hoping his little dog will hear him and come running. He whisper-calls the names of the other pets who have intact ears.] Reynard! Cyrio! Where are you?
[He keeps moving down the halls in their unfamiliar configurations, quietly hailing his undead creations.]
Here to see a man about a dog
It hadn't been easy to escape Carmilla's clutches. She had guarded her pet forgemaster jealously. It had taken time and more cunning than Hector realized he possessed to create a means of escape, but he'd managed it- barely. He'd sent his creatures out in different directions, hoping to obscure his own path from pursuit, and made his way back to his former lord's fortress. Uniform ripped and dirtied, hair mussed, lip split, and body bruised, he limps toward the once splendid home of Dracula Vlad Ţepeş.
With Lord Dracula dead, the castle offers no protection for Hector, but there is still something he needs from within the gates. The innocent devils and night creatures will all be gone, sent out to fight in that final battle or else killed or escaped in the confusion after. His pets, however, may still linger. Hector can hope. It's all he has left.
The sight of the grounded castle sends a stab of pain through his heart. Lord Dracula... Hector had played a part in the betrayal and fall of his lord. After he'd burned his parents' cabin to the ground, Hector had thought he'd never have another home. He knows now, by the shape of the emptiness within him, that he did.
The entryways to the castle have always been temperamental, and Hector half-expects the little side door he had used to come and go for his walks to bar itself. Castlevania is a living thing, Hector, Lord Dracula had explained when first Hector arrived. The door opens. Perhaps it doesn't know -or without its lord, can't be bothered to care- about Hector's sins.
The necromancer makes his way carefully through the halls. He is quiet in reverence and also in concentration- the doors and stairways in the castle often changed during his short residence here, and he isn't sure if the way to his laboratory will be the same now as when he left it. There is also the possibility of traps or enemies. He had to leave his hammer behind in Carmilla's keep. She'd only allowed him the use of it while he was supervised in her forges. He made his means of escape back in his cell, with two pilfered coins used to strike a spark. Unarmed, it is better to proceed with caution and avoid any chance encounters.
He turns a corner, but the flight of stairs he needs isn't there. Did it move, or did he take a wrong turn? Hard to tell.]
Damn it. [He curses to himself. He could be lost here all day if he gets turned around. Longer, if the wild magic of the castle really is still active. He should back-track while he still can and get out so he can keep ahead of Carmilla's pursuit.
...But when has Hector ever done the smart thing, really?]
Cesar! [He hisses into the empty darkness of the hallway, hoping his little dog will hear him and come running. He whisper-calls the names of the other pets who have intact ears.] Reynard! Cyrio! Where are you?
[He keeps moving down the halls in their unfamiliar configurations, quietly hailing his undead creations.]