[ The long twilight is over. Dawn will come, soon, but for now Dracula can walk upon whichever land he wishes to. Dracula's visage is miles high, but it isn't that that Trevor freezes in terror before.
Titania floats up to be at eye level with him, her entire body only barely the height of the space between his eyelids.
At least, if one considers the beautiful, delicate queen to be the entire body.
The light of the flames reflects from something dark and slimy and massive behind her, from a thread between it and her back. From teeth, visible for only a moment before they're gone again.
The whole of the beautiful lands - the place that Alucard has been in for the last few hours or days or months - is her body, and with the glamour damaged by Dracula's magic it can finally be seen for what it is - a great, dark, twisted creature that looks like it might have come from the depths of the sea, all flesh and teeth.
A great tongue emerges from- somewhere on its body, snaking up to come oh-so-close to licking at Dracula's cheek but stopping at the last second. Deals are deals, after all, and he is Leon's until he makes the first strike. ]
I should have thought it obvious. I wanted to. Nobody stopped me.
[Dracula is not cowed by the reality of the thing in front of him. He has known this truth for some time, the real nature of Titania, for it is a type of magic and Dracula is nothing if not a master of that. A part of him, the part that is still Matthais, wonders if Leon knew this part going in. If he knows at all.
The rest of Dracula is still all fury, sobered only by the knowledge that real retaliation is what the Queen desires most. It is torture to withhold revenge as he would have it under any other circumstance, revenge as every other vampire would expect of him. But Dracula, even in his red hot fury, manages to cling to a little scrap of reason, one brought about by arguing with Lisa about what to do.
Alucard catches only a glimpse of what Titania is. He understands the real reason Trevor told him to look away now, and he does that here. Trevor's shoulder recieves an entire faceful of vampire, one that murmurs We need to be anywhere else.
Dracula hears that though, and beside Alucard a small, darkened patch appears. He understands what that is, a means to return to the castle. He moves towards it quickly.]
You will always be stopped.
[There is a calmness to Dracula's voice. That's the scariest part of all.]
You shall find that the humans of these lands have natural disasters that help them in the production of their food and goods. There will be fewer wild lands for you and yours, and your revels shall have to account for that. New iron mines shall be found, making it far harder for your whims to be pursued. And you shall then be Queen of old, half remembered stories that not even Speakers waste their memories on, because what value is there in such a relic?
Should you touch my son again, all of these predictions shall happen in an instant.
[Dracula cannot have a war. But Dracula can both strike at the Queen's weakness and honor the deepest wish of his wife, and that shall have to be enough, for this denies her the war they both want.]
[ Trevor is more than happy to be anywhere else. Even Dracula's castle - terrifying not for its master but for its mistress - is a better place to be than here. ]
You mean to move humanity forward? To see their fear of the dark fade away? My darling- [ She chuckles. ] You have inspired more fear than anything else. Made me strong. And I am more than willing to bet on you continuing to do so. You are not a patient man, are you? And humans learn and grow so slowly, and their time is so, so, short...
[ She takes one of the flowers from her hair and tosses it into the waiting maw of her writhing, twisting mass of a body. Trevor pulls his arms around Alucard, leading him to the shadow, and they're gone as the queen moves on to a truly dangerous topic. ]
...I wonder when the source of your newfound compassion will fade away. You will make war, then. You will rip my children limb from limb. You will gouge out their eyes and fill the sockets with molten iron and you will never touch me. They will fear you, and I will grow stronger. You will run out of my children and turn back to your wife's kind and rend them apart. The pretty ones, the ones that look like her, you will tell to run. And you will chase them and you will tear their beautiful hides from their bodies with your teeth. You will stalk the night in a coat sewn from their skins to feel her embrace once again and you will give the world something to fear. You will feed me. All monsters do.
[In a moment, Alucard is through the darkness. To be at the castle is already a relief from the heat of the flames, as is the fact that his mother is already there and waiting for him. There's no time for the vampire to waste, he wraps his arms around her immediately. There's no point in denying that the ordeal was terrifying, that what he just saw was beyond words, and that to be home is the greatest thing he could ask for now.
But as for Dracula, there is only renewed heat to the flames. They're nearly white now, blinding, and they suit his own mood far too well. There is wisdom in not responding to any of the threats, as much as he wishes to. There is wisdom in not tearing the Queen from limb to limb as she stands before him.]
Your crown will crumble and you shall cease to be.
[ It's good, to see Alucard back here. Safe. The wings shrug themselves free from his shoulders, flying back to Trevor in a cloud and mostly making it. Mostly. A few fall to the ground, having brushed against Lisa's gentle hands.
She is terrifying. A living embodiment of curiosity and doubt. Lisa looks up, just for a moment, tilting her head and trying to make sense of him and it's all he can do not to scream. ]
You're- probably sick of having me around. [ He manages to gasp out. ] You'll be safe, with her, and-
[ He pushes something small and silvery into Alucard's pocket (his memory of the kiss - he shouldn't keep it if he only has it because Alucard was in danger) and leans close to whisper. ]
-my name is Trevor Belmont. Use it to find me, if you need help.
[It's a lot. It's a lot overwhelming because just with that one hug, Lisa understands her son's immediate medical needs as well as the emotional ones. She does the kindness of withdrawing into the castle's great gaping doors to allow just a moment of privacy.
The thing in Alucard's pocket is...he isn't sure what, exactly, but it's not an unpleasant weight to have there.
He nods, understanding. A real name, that's a hell of a thing to give freely.]
I'll remember it. [More importantly though:] Go, before he goes home.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Titania floats up to be at eye level with him, her entire body only barely the height of the space between his eyelids.
At least, if one considers the beautiful, delicate queen to be the entire body.
The light of the flames reflects from something dark and slimy and massive behind her, from a thread between it and her back. From teeth, visible for only a moment before they're gone again.
The whole of the beautiful lands - the place that Alucard has been in for the last few hours or days or months - is her body, and with the glamour damaged by Dracula's magic it can finally be seen for what it is - a great, dark, twisted creature that looks like it might have come from the depths of the sea, all flesh and teeth.
A great tongue emerges from- somewhere on its body, snaking up to come oh-so-close to licking at Dracula's cheek but stopping at the last second. Deals are deals, after all, and he is Leon's until he makes the first strike. ]
I should have thought it obvious. I wanted to. Nobody stopped me.
no subject
The rest of Dracula is still all fury, sobered only by the knowledge that real retaliation is what the Queen desires most. It is torture to withhold revenge as he would have it under any other circumstance, revenge as every other vampire would expect of him. But Dracula, even in his red hot fury, manages to cling to a little scrap of reason, one brought about by arguing with Lisa about what to do.
Alucard catches only a glimpse of what Titania is. He understands the real reason Trevor told him to look away now, and he does that here. Trevor's shoulder recieves an entire faceful of vampire, one that murmurs We need to be anywhere else.
Dracula hears that though, and beside Alucard a small, darkened patch appears. He understands what that is, a means to return to the castle. He moves towards it quickly.]
You will always be stopped.
[There is a calmness to Dracula's voice. That's the scariest part of all.]
You shall find that the humans of these lands have natural disasters that help them in the production of their food and goods. There will be fewer wild lands for you and yours, and your revels shall have to account for that. New iron mines shall be found, making it far harder for your whims to be pursued. And you shall then be Queen of old, half remembered stories that not even Speakers waste their memories on, because what value is there in such a relic?
Should you touch my son again, all of these predictions shall happen in an instant.
[Dracula cannot have a war. But Dracula can both strike at the Queen's weakness and honor the deepest wish of his wife, and that shall have to be enough, for this denies her the war they both want.]
no subject
You mean to move humanity forward? To see their fear of the dark fade away? My darling- [ She chuckles. ] You have inspired more fear than anything else. Made me strong. And I am more than willing to bet on you continuing to do so. You are not a patient man, are you? And humans learn and grow so slowly, and their time is so, so, short...
[ She takes one of the flowers from her hair and tosses it into the waiting maw of her writhing, twisting mass of a body. Trevor pulls his arms around Alucard, leading him to the shadow, and they're gone as the queen moves on to a truly dangerous topic. ]
...I wonder when the source of your newfound compassion will fade away. You will make war, then. You will rip my children limb from limb. You will gouge out their eyes and fill the sockets with molten iron and you will never touch me. They will fear you, and I will grow stronger. You will run out of my children and turn back to your wife's kind and rend them apart. The pretty ones, the ones that look like her, you will tell to run. And you will chase them and you will tear their beautiful hides from their bodies with your teeth. You will stalk the night in a coat sewn from their skins to feel her embrace once again and you will give the world something to fear. You will feed me. All monsters do.
no subject
But as for Dracula, there is only renewed heat to the flames. They're nearly white now, blinding, and they suit his own mood far too well. There is wisdom in not responding to any of the threats, as much as he wishes to. There is wisdom in not tearing the Queen from limb to limb as she stands before him.]
Your crown will crumble and you shall cease to be.
[It is said with far too much certainty.]
I shall await it with great patience.
no subject
She is terrifying. A living embodiment of curiosity and doubt. Lisa looks up, just for a moment, tilting her head and trying to make sense of him and it's all he can do not to scream. ]
You're- probably sick of having me around. [ He manages to gasp out. ] You'll be safe, with her, and-
[ He pushes something small and silvery into Alucard's pocket (his memory of the kiss - he shouldn't keep it if he only has it because Alucard was in danger) and leans close to whisper. ]
-my name is Trevor Belmont. Use it to find me, if you need help.
no subject
The thing in Alucard's pocket is...he isn't sure what, exactly, but it's not an unpleasant weight to have there.
He nods, understanding. A real name, that's a hell of a thing to give freely.]
I'll remember it. [More importantly though:] Go, before he goes home.