[ He can smell magic on the air. Blood on the air.
It's that, that and that while he's more than willing to pay Dracula's price himself, he isn't willing to force Sypha to do the same, that keeps him still at first. Sypha is the first to rush forward, arms around Alucard before Dracula's explanation is even done. Trevor follows, arms and winds around the both of them.
Sypha is the first to speak, staring up at Alucard, bright and furious. ]
[This is good. Alucard has known from the past few months of dreams that to be in their arms is to be safe in a way that differs radically from his father's understanding of what it is to be safe. His arms go around them both too, a mess of arms and his hair threatening to tangle up too, making the thing an even greater mess.
But he can't avoid Sypha's eyes, and as he tries to do so, the collar of his shirt shifts just enough so that the tip of something dark and red and angry, a thin line of something, is there.]
All of the protective wards are within me. Doing so required a particular surgery that my parents....were in disagreement on.
[He had very, very much been asleep for that fight.]
[ Sypha doesn't seem entirely satisfied by that, ghosting a finger over the top of the horrible mark, not quite daring to touch it.
Only at night. The implications of that are- it'll mean Sypha has to shift the way she sleeps fairly drastically. And because she's human and has to sleep at some point, they can't work with Leon. Trevor tugs both of them closer as his mind races too much even to slow down to be concerned about the cut right now.
Dracula doesn't trust Leon not to take their queen's side. By doing this, he's ensured that Trevor and Sypha, at least, must follow Dracula if Leon ever does.
He slows enough to catch up on what else has been said, looking at Sypha's fingers and the horrible red mark under them. ]
I've seen this before. My sister carved spells into her heart and bones. It's something similar?
[ It's seeking intelligence more than trying to sympathise. That will come, but it will have to come later. ]
[Alucard has tried not to dwell on the particulars, knowing he's happier in ignorance. He understands the concept, because the only winning argument his mother could manage is that their son had to consent to this.
And he had. Just for this moment.]
Can we sit? Or go somewhere?
[He doesn't know where the two rest lately, but he wants something soft to be on.
He hates the terms that demand the darkness be the only time they meet, but it'll have to be something they figure out together. Sypha turning in at midnight is probably more than enough, he'll simply never be there when they wake in the morning.]
[ Sypha takes Alucard's hand and pushes away Trevor's arms and wings, beginning to lead him. ]
We're staying not far from here.
[ Trevor just follows at first, letting Sypha lead both of them, until he finally processes everything and hurries forward just a little to take Alucard's free hand. Together they lead him to a small cave. It's a pleasant enough place, furs lining the rocky floor except for in the centre of the space, where a fire pit is built. The walls are covered with thin silk, spun by a group of silkmoths. ]
We don't usually keep shelter, but if disaster strikes in winter- the cold isn't good for humans. Sypha can keep herself warm if she needs to, but most people can't. We've been making warm places people can go and stay through the winter if needed.
[Alucard lets himself be led, and it's against his instinct. Not for any sort of posturing, but because after so many dreams, all he wants is to wrap around the other two and smother them with affection. He knows what the terms were, what they've agreed to. It's so much to accept in an instant, and the only thing he can do is murmur soft platitudes.
The space is so very warm, warm like them, warm like their embrace. Once inside though, Alucard simply settles down on the furs, looking up at the two expectingly.]
[ Trevor clams up a little at that, going quiet and awkward as Sypha leads Alucard to sit near the fire pit, starting a fire. ]
We were here anyway. And weaving is something I can do. And-
[ He has been called the fuck out. He wanted to make it nice because this is where Sypha's staying and he can't just find a nice place to keep her safe, okay???? This is the next best thing. ]
[ He looks over the walls, suddenly very conscious of every slight mistake in the weaving of the cloth over them. Alucard’s request brings him back to himself, though, and he takes a blanket over to drape it over both Alucard’s shoulders and Sypha’s. ]
For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here with us.
[Before Trevor can back away at all, Alucard catches his hand. Holds onto it, trying to anchor the Belmont in place while silently suggesting that he just sit. Sit and be there because that's all that matters right now.]
I am as well, although I'd be a liar if I said it didn't make me nervous.
[ He sits at Alucard's other side, putting an arm over his houlder and pulling slightly until Alucard is leaned against him and Sypha against Alucard. As it should be. As it should have been for months. ]
I should probably- [ He shouldn't be nervous about this. It's something they've been discussing this whole time. It's something he's been ready to do since he first laid eyes on Alucard. Hell, his sister goes about claiming people by tapping her finger against their nose and then riding off. ] -I should lay claim to you. You won't be safe from her until I do.
[It's all three of them touching. For real this time, not just in dreams, not just in phantom ways. He sighs at that, luxuriating in it. It's...it's beyond words, until Trevor says something that is far more sobering than he means it to be.
Alucard's hand reaches to find Trevor's, taking it gently.]
Search the spellwork on me before you say anything else. It doesn't permit claiming by anyone, not in any way that matters. It's the best defense against her, but it precludes anyone else...
[ He looks over Alucard, testing the air for magic. There's so much of it, between Alucard and Sypha, it's difficult to follow any one thread. He hangs his head, swearing under his breath. ]
-she doesn't need to lay claim with you to fuck with you. I don't have any other way to stop her.
[ He's going to fail. He's going to fail and Sypha's going to suffer for it and- He swallows, and there's an outraged cry of Belmont! before he even speaks. ]
His stomach drops, and there's nothing else left of the vampire except a muted expression of absolute confusion, the one that says that he can't believe what he's just heard. Not that he didn't, just that...no?
None of that can be right.
But the worst part, the fear of what might happen after dreams, that comes crashing down in one awful, crushing blow, and as if driven by rote muscle memory, ALucard carefully starts to disentangle himself from the pile of limbs.]
[There's a moment when Alucard tries to disentangle from Sypha, still too mechanical for the situation. Then there is darkness, with even the flame from the fire gone. Alucard? If he's there, he too is surrounded in darkness.
From that darkness, from every direction, there is Dracula's voice, cold and furious.]
[ Darkness shouldn't be a problem. He should be able to find his way by the taste of magic on the air, feel Sypha's presence. He doesn't. Before, there had been almost too much magic to pick individual threads. Now, there's a flood of it. More than the actual darkness, that is disorienting. ]
Fuck your exact words! [ He yells at the darkness. He's accepted the terms already. He knows he has. ] I can't protect him! You made it impossible for me to protect him, then sent him out here! What kind of sick joke is this?
[The darkness moves. It trembles with rage, roils under Trevor's feet. It moves in closer, constricting with every word.]
How I choose to protect my son is not for you to question. Why you are under the impression that, after all of this, I would allow for the thing that started all of this to pass in the first place is explained only by your surname.
[The thickness of the magic in the air remains as heavy and thick as ever, but it too moves closer.]
You have accepted the terms, Belmont. You must both abandon them and my son to nullify them. There will be no retribution upon your heads for that, but know that the decision lasts the rest of your natural life. He is scarred for the rest of his natural life because he valued you both more than his safety.
[The darkness is now nearly choking, driven not by vengeance, but something simpler: a parent's anger over a child's heartbreak.]
[ He's terrified. He's terrified more than he remembers being terrified in his life. Even when Sypha was trapped in the church - even then the worst they would do was kill her. Dracula, though- ]
Promise that you won't punish her for my mistakes, and I'll agree to whatever extra terms you give me. Anything.
[The darkness settles. Something heavy rests on Trevor's feet, coiling around him slowly. The texture of it is soft. Leathery. Bat wings perhaps.]
Such negotiations are not rightly negotiated by you. Increase the flame and summon your patriarch then. Let it not be said I have not worked on behalf of my son's happiness.
[ Reigniting the flame without Sypha is easier said than done. The weight at his feet is immense, but somehow he finds the flint and steel, striking one against the other until something catches. The wrong thing. From the smell, he can tell it's one of the furs that line the ground.
It'll do. Reaching out blindly, he finds the edges of the fire pit and tosses the fur into it, waiting for the light to spread across the room. ]
The sun will rise. The sun will always rise.
[ He whispers it, the belief that fuels Leon, until a pale face is visible close to the fire. Light glints off armour as he struggles to materialise in the darkness. ]
[The flame expands once Leon is present. The light doesn't exactly fill the darkness, but it is steady and it burns white hot, allowing for a greater warmth than Dracula might ever allow.
But in that same light, the weight around Trevor's feet (giant bat wings, as it turns out) retreat. All of it serves Dracula's tall and imposing figure though, and there is no hiding the anger on his face, the tension at his shoulders, or how his cape also falls like great wings.]
Again, our children's choices have forced us here.
[ Trevor's first action is to look around, to see if he can find Alucard and Sypha. Leon looks around, too, but only enough to be certain that this is not an emergency (Dracula's presence alone does not mean an emergency) before sitting calmly by the fire. ]
So it would seem. It sounds like you have concerns.
[Dracula remains standing. Dracula does not sit near Belmonts, he does not trust them on that front. His eyes remain on them both, clearly expecting this to turn sour in all but a moment.]
When do I not?
[There's no weariness in the statement, but that exhaustion of this on going situation (which! he thought he addressed just fine!) does creep in as one hour becomes two. In all of that time, Trevor is kept in that tiny little dark bubble with Leon and Dracula, if only to bear witness to where the agreement settles, what it contains, and to ensure that there is another party to back up Leon's safety when it all concludes.
Because it does. That claiming is required chafes at Dracula, because of course it does. The most powerful vampire in the world having to bow to another's laws alone is enough to cause such a reaction, but having to trust his son to a house that has tried to murder him more than once is almost too much to bear. (Perhaps that's the real price, the kind of price the Queen adores.)
But Dracula is spiteful all the same. Leon must claim the dhampir, not Trevor. That's the origin of this, I refuse it on principle.
And there is ground gained. If anything disastrous happens, there will be a time to explain, and then if guilt between one party or the other is greater, then things shall be decided. There is no mutual burden of failure. But that possibly raises the stakes more.
The darkness fades, and with it, Dracula himself. It leaves Trevor and Leon standing in the cave, Sypha barely moved from her spot and Alucard...
...on the ceiling, as only a bat, curled up and tiny.]
[ Sypha remains furious. Even when Trevor drops to the ground on his hands and knees, gasping for air, and she leaps to her feet to attend to him she remains at least as furious as she is concerned. Leon just looks up calmly. ]
We have business to attend to. You ought to be a shape that can speak.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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It's that, that and that while he's more than willing to pay Dracula's price himself, he isn't willing to force Sypha to do the same, that keeps him still at first. Sypha is the first to rush forward, arms around Alucard before Dracula's explanation is even done. Trevor follows, arms and winds around the both of them.
Sypha is the first to speak, staring up at Alucard, bright and furious. ]
What did he do?
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But he can't avoid Sypha's eyes, and as he tries to do so, the collar of his shirt shifts just enough so that the tip of something dark and red and angry, a thin line of something, is there.]
All of the protective wards are within me. Doing so required a particular surgery that my parents....were in disagreement on.
[He had very, very much been asleep for that fight.]
It doesn't hurt. I promise.
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Only at night. The implications of that are- it'll mean Sypha has to shift the way she sleeps fairly drastically. And because she's human and has to sleep at some point, they can't work with Leon. Trevor tugs both of them closer as his mind races too much even to slow down to be concerned about the cut right now.
Dracula doesn't trust Leon not to take their queen's side. By doing this, he's ensured that Trevor and Sypha, at least, must follow Dracula if Leon ever does.
He slows enough to catch up on what else has been said, looking at Sypha's fingers and the horrible red mark under them. ]
I've seen this before. My sister carved spells into her heart and bones. It's something similar?
[ It's seeking intelligence more than trying to sympathise. That will come, but it will have to come later. ]
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[Alucard has tried not to dwell on the particulars, knowing he's happier in ignorance. He understands the concept, because the only winning argument his mother could manage is that their son had to consent to this.
And he had. Just for this moment.]
Can we sit? Or go somewhere?
[He doesn't know where the two rest lately, but he wants something soft to be on.
He hates the terms that demand the darkness be the only time they meet, but it'll have to be something they figure out together. Sypha turning in at midnight is probably more than enough, he'll simply never be there when they wake in the morning.]
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We're staying not far from here.
[ Trevor just follows at first, letting Sypha lead both of them, until he finally processes everything and hurries forward just a little to take Alucard's free hand. Together they lead him to a small cave. It's a pleasant enough place, furs lining the rocky floor except for in the centre of the space, where a fire pit is built. The walls are covered with thin silk, spun by a group of silkmoths. ]
We don't usually keep shelter, but if disaster strikes in winter- the cold isn't good for humans. Sypha can keep herself warm if she needs to, but most people can't. We've been making warm places people can go and stay through the winter if needed.
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The space is so very warm, warm like them, warm like their embrace. Once inside though, Alucard simply settles down on the furs, looking up at the two expectingly.]
Are they all so lavishly decorated?
[His eyes go to the silks, then back to them.]
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We were here anyway. And weaving is something I can do. And-
[ He has been called the fuck out. He wanted to make it nice because this is where Sypha's staying and he can't just find a nice place to keep her safe, okay???? This is the next best thing. ]
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[There's a softness in his voice, making the words sound even more genuine than they are.
One settled by the fire, Alucard looks over at Trevor expectingly, wondering why the Belmont's lingering behind.]
Bring a blanket?
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For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here with us.
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I am as well, although I'd be a liar if I said it didn't make me nervous.
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I should probably- [ He shouldn't be nervous about this. It's something they've been discussing this whole time. It's something he's been ready to do since he first laid eyes on Alucard. Hell, his sister goes about claiming people by tapping her finger against their nose and then riding off. ] -I should lay claim to you. You won't be safe from her until I do.
Is that- that's okay, right?
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Alucard's hand reaches to find Trevor's, taking it gently.]
Search the spellwork on me before you say anything else. It doesn't permit claiming by anyone, not in any way that matters. It's the best defense against her, but it precludes anyone else...
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[ He looks over Alucard, testing the air for magic. There's so much of it, between Alucard and Sypha, it's difficult to follow any one thread. He hangs his head, swearing under his breath. ]
-she doesn't need to lay claim with you to fuck with you. I don't have any other way to stop her.
[ He's going to fail. He's going to fail and Sypha's going to suffer for it and- He swallows, and there's an outraged cry of Belmont! before he even speaks. ]
Go home. Tell him I don't consent to this deal.
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His stomach drops, and there's nothing else left of the vampire except a muted expression of absolute confusion, the one that says that he can't believe what he's just heard. Not that he didn't, just that...no?
None of that can be right.
But the worst part, the fear of what might happen after dreams, that comes crashing down in one awful, crushing blow, and as if driven by rote muscle memory, ALucard carefully starts to disentangle himself from the pile of limbs.]
All right then.
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[ He lets Alucard go, but Sypha clings to him. ]
I accept the deal, even if he doesn't.
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From that darkness, from every direction, there is Dracula's voice, cold and furious.]
What were my exact words, Belmont?
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Fuck your exact words! [ He yells at the darkness. He's accepted the terms already. He knows he has. ] I can't protect him! You made it impossible for me to protect him, then sent him out here! What kind of sick joke is this?
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How I choose to protect my son is not for you to question. Why you are under the impression that, after all of this, I would allow for the thing that started all of this to pass in the first place is explained only by your surname.
[The thickness of the magic in the air remains as heavy and thick as ever, but it too moves closer.]
You have accepted the terms, Belmont. You must both abandon them and my son to nullify them. There will be no retribution upon your heads for that, but know that the decision lasts the rest of your natural life. He is scarred for the rest of his natural life because he valued you both more than his safety.
[The darkness is now nearly choking, driven not by vengeance, but something simpler: a parent's anger over a child's heartbreak.]
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[ He's terrified. He's terrified more than he remembers being terrified in his life. Even when Sypha was trapped in the church - even then the worst they would do was kill her. Dracula, though- ]
Promise that you won't punish her for my mistakes, and I'll agree to whatever extra terms you give me. Anything.
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[The darkness settles. Something heavy rests on Trevor's feet, coiling around him slowly. The texture of it is soft. Leathery. Bat wings perhaps.]
Such negotiations are not rightly negotiated by you. Increase the flame and summon your patriarch then. Let it not be said I have not worked on behalf of my son's happiness.
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It'll do. Reaching out blindly, he finds the edges of the fire pit and tosses the fur into it, waiting for the light to spread across the room. ]
The sun will rise. The sun will always rise.
[ He whispers it, the belief that fuels Leon, until a pale face is visible close to the fire. Light glints off armour as he struggles to materialise in the darkness. ]
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But in that same light, the weight around Trevor's feet (giant bat wings, as it turns out) retreat. All of it serves Dracula's tall and imposing figure though, and there is no hiding the anger on his face, the tension at his shoulders, or how his cape also falls like great wings.]
Again, our children's choices have forced us here.
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So it would seem. It sounds like you have concerns.
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When do I not?
[There's no weariness in the statement, but that exhaustion of this on going situation (which! he thought he addressed just fine!) does creep in as one hour becomes two. In all of that time, Trevor is kept in that tiny little dark bubble with Leon and Dracula, if only to bear witness to where the agreement settles, what it contains, and to ensure that there is another party to back up Leon's safety when it all concludes.
Because it does. That claiming is required chafes at Dracula, because of course it does. The most powerful vampire in the world having to bow to another's laws alone is enough to cause such a reaction, but having to trust his son to a house that has tried to murder him more than once is almost too much to bear. (Perhaps that's the real price, the kind of price the Queen adores.)
But Dracula is spiteful all the same. Leon must claim the dhampir, not Trevor. That's the origin of this, I refuse it on principle.
And there is ground gained. If anything disastrous happens, there will be a time to explain, and then if guilt between one party or the other is greater, then things shall be decided. There is no mutual burden of failure. But that possibly raises the stakes more.
The darkness fades, and with it, Dracula himself. It leaves Trevor and Leon standing in the cave, Sypha barely moved from her spot and Alucard...
...on the ceiling, as only a bat, curled up and tiny.]
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We have business to attend to. You ought to be a shape that can speak.
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