It may very well be decades off. The only comfort in if it is mobile again, I don't believe Isaac is the man who could figure out the complex spellwork and level of will to pin it down a second time.
[Hector's next few words cause Alucard to go entirely still. The little color that he has in his face is gone. There's hardly any breath that comes out of him, and for a moment that feels much longer, Alucard closes his eyes. It doesn't help him process the horror of the information, but it at least shows how seriously he's taken the warning.
[Complex spells and will. No, it’s not the type of magic Isaac and Hector work with.]
It’s a shame the castle’s not alive in a way you could just ask it what needs to be done. [A surprising amount of necromancy is asking a broken thing if it wants to be alive again- most things do- and then giving it a body that it believes could function again. Hector’s never had a head for the layers of rituals and tedious chanting that seem to go hand in hand with enchanting objects.
Hector looks away, gives Adrian as much privacy as he can without leaving the kitchen. The ring...a fitting memento, but likely not an easy one for his son to possess.]
Nothing evil could be made from that. If there’s any fragment of spirit attached to it, it...wouldn’t be the piece Isaac is after.
[Hector is terrible at comforting anything that doesn’t walk around on four legs, but he can at least offer that tiny bit of reassurance.]
The magic used for it isn't....no. Life would be much easier if that was the kind of magic laid in it's foundations.
[Alucard knows that the research into how the castle moved in the first place is slow going. What his father wrote down was minimal, and it makes perfect sense that that's the case. The castle was an extension of himself in all ways. Why would he ever need to write down what he knew. He wasn't going to share any of it, until Lisa of Lupu arrived at the door.
There's a long, sobering sigh from Alucard as the discussion returns to his father's remains. There's so much horror wrapped in the thought, but in it...
...there. An idea.]
Perhaps that's the key to baiting him though. He doesn't know that there aren't any remains, and he'll doubtlessly know that you were here for a time.
[Hector tries to imagine Isaac's reaction to the news of Dracula's body surviving.]
If he could be convinced, his eagerness could make him careless. He isn't the type to jump at unfounded rumors, though. And... if we do lay that bait, he won't be the only one to scent it. It would invite other would-be servants and sycophants to seek them out, hoping to revive their dark lord.
[Hector will pay any price within his power for revenge against Isaac, but he won't ask Adrian to bear such a cost. Finding Hector without Dracula's remains, they would turn their search to the castle before long.]
[Anyone foolish enough to look at his father's madness and see it as a boon rather than the horrible outpouring of grief it was deserves nothing less, as far as Alucard's concerned. He knows where the ring is at all times (it is around his neck), and as long as that is the case, then any true attempts at revival ought to fail.
But it'd be too sloppy to actually allow for such a thing to come to pass.]
That is a secondary matter. Let us return focus on the matter of Isaac. As willingly as I'd give you a jar from this house to claim it an urn, there could be other routes as well.
How much would it take to convince him though, do you believe?
I don't know. [Hector rubs his hands over his face. Now that he's sat and eaten, his body is remembering how tired it is. He pushes past it.]
He's always been clever, and I doubt the past years have made him less wary. It would need to be done carefully. If I was seen leaving the castle with the urn, and I did not immediately begin to pursue Isaac's trail...
[What would be the steps he would take, if he were actually conducting the revival? He traces a finger along the table, as if looking at an invisible map.]
Turn my feet toward somewhere where I could forge without interruption, gather up the material components....
[He begins to see the snags.] Just ash and bone wouldn't be enough. It would take other components...[no, call them what they are]...corpses...and he would take notice that I wasn't collecting them. Besides, I don't know if he'd believe you'd relinquish your father's remains to me, nor that I'd stolen them and come out of it completely unscathed.
[It feels hopeless, and he lets out a long sigh.] He knows me a traitor...maybe if he thought I was taking them hide them away from him, rather than to use for my own designs. He might intervene then.
Let's sieze upon that last part first: take them away and keep them away. [It's simple, and would make the man angry. Perhaps no less clever and paranoid, but it is a place to build.]
That would allow for a certain need to move, out and away, both from Isaac and from the rest of civilization, in order to protect the so-called remains from anyone with similar designs. [The last two words are said with an underlying darkness and disgust. Alucard really, really could have lived without this information. Or fear, if he is to be honest with himself.]
So that also means away from graveyards and places of execution, in order to avoid what would be required for the work. As for the success of theft, that's what magic is for. It'd be easy enough to make it appear that you left this place after a struggle.
But you would need to be pursued in order to have the whole thing work. Which would also be a form of insurance against Isaac's life continuing should this ruse fail.
I could make a break for Bralia, to find passage on a boat to put running water between myself and my pursuers.
[He’d hoped never to see the place again, but fate is often ironic and rarely kind.]
Before I came to Wallachia, I lived on an island off of Rhodes. If I’m not ambushed on route, it could serve as the ground to lay the snare.
[It was a quiet place with few human inhabitants, which had been why Hector had settled there in the first place.]
I’ll trust the magic to you, but for the rest.... [Alucard, from what he knows of him, does not leave the castle, and he assumes that if the Belmont was around, Hector would not be sitting peacefully in Adrian’s kitchen.]
Who would you send after me? Did any of the night creatures return here to serve you? [A small portion of himself is oddly hopeful. Monstrosities though they are, he can’t help feel a little fond for the memory of the things he created. A larger portion is just hoping it’s not the Belmont Adrian has in mind. Hector needs to live long enough to kill Isaac.]
Bralia would be poetic as well, all things considered. I'm sure the location's significance would not escape Isaac's attention.
[So much of Dracula's defeat and death was wrapped up in that city. Alucard can't possibly know that it is the same space where Carmilla asserted her control over the forgemaster entirely, but if he did, it'd only reinforce his opinion that it is the correct location because of how it resounds in this ghoulish tale.]
Then it'd be wise to go from Bralia to Istanbul, and then Istanbul to Rhodes. It's an all sea route save for the stops in cities along the coast, and the Ottomans have trade routes to the west. All of it's established, it's genuinely just a matter of catching boats at the right time.
[Alucard knows what books to rely on. He's no spellcaster, but he has watched Sypha for so many years now. Working viewing mirrors, that he comprehends. It'll be an attempt, and if worst comes to worst, then they simply make the injuries real. It isn't the ideal solution, but it is available to them all the same.]
No, no night creature returned here. [But more to the point: they wouldn't have been welcome. This is a house allied with the Belmonts these days, there'd be no having it.]
I can track your progress through remote viewing. I...will speak to Trevor and Sypha about the rest. It may be that Sypha and I follow after you for a time. [Trevor is Trevor, after all.]
[He'll say no more than that. If Hector has his way, no one else will ever know the full significance of Bralia, but the name is sure to prick Isaac's ears. Hopefully the confrontation will not come until later. He imagines that after this amount of time, the surviving townspeople have rebuilt and resumed their lives there. Rosaly would have cared about their plight, and so he now had to care in her absence.]
I'll barter passage on vessels with the smallest crews I can find. That won't raise any suspicion. [The sailors will still be in danger, but at least the chance for collateral damage will be limited. Besides, the fewer people he has to interact with, the better. That is something that hasn't changed over the years.
He exhales a long breath.] Of course. [He mentally reconciles 'Trevor' and 'Syphia' with 'The Belmont' and 'The Speaker'. The arrangement Adrian proposes is the lesser of the evils, everything considered.]
It sounds like you have your plan in hand. The last thing to figure out is, how long should it take me to find what I seek here? I must have some time to conjured my creatures, whether it be here or on the route to Bralia.
Then that gives this plan a greater chance of success.
[That's all that matters. What happens to Hector after, Alucard will need to pay attention to, but he isn't worried. Being scarred by this kind of loss seems to have already decided Hector's course, and it isn't the path that Dracula took. That is more than enough. Isaac? Isaac needs to be stopped.]
I'll help you pay for passage. Nothing that would rouse suspicion, but enough to ensure they'll let you aboard. [It's easy enough to manage.]
What is the average time you'd need to conjure? I can't permit it on these grounds directly, but I know the valley well enough at this point. There are spaces you can take advantage of.
[In spite of his overall state of grief, Hector finds himself raising an eyebrow. Adrian has opened his doors to Hector, fed him a meal, and is now giving him an allowance. Young Master Țepeș, taking in strays. What a strange world, where Lord Dracula’s son could become his reluctant ally.]
So eager to be rid of me, you’ll throw coin at it. [He teases. He could insist that he needs to charity and could make his own way, but why complicate the matter? Pride pales in the face of his revenge.]
It’s hard to say. This is something new. A handful of hours, maybe less if I have the crystals, and somewhere to forge near water. That should make it easier to focus on conjuring an aquatic form.
[He’s not sure if the location has any real bearing on it or if it’s all due to his internal sense of theatrics.]
[Alucard knows that if he was not alone in the house, this discussion would be so very different. The tone, the terms, even the willingness to assist. Hector is a massive problem and has caused so much destruction both by allying with Dracula and then serving under Carmilla. But there's more sympathy in the vampire because of loss, and because there is a far greater threat than Hector afoot.
He can lie to himself about the reasons for why he's allowing it. Pragmatism, mostly. Honoring his father's fondness for the man. But no, it's the same sense of loss, and wanting to avoid a second coming of Dracula's fury either by resurrecting the man himself or having another follow that path of grief and devastation.]
What am I supposed to do with all of it anyway besides buy more books that are usually inaccurate? [They're so, so inaccurate.]
['A Massive Problem' is probably what will go on Hector's gravestone. By Hector's scale, this interaction is actually going rather well.]
You really do need to get out more. [Hector doesn't doubt that Adrian has more money than he knows what to do with, but as someone who has never had much coin in hand, Hector's got plenty of notions to how it could be spent. Hell, if the inaccuracies bother Adrian, he could patronize scholars to write new ones.]
Point me in the right direction and I'll be off to see it done. [They have their plan sketched out, now all that's left is the doing. Hector...probably has more of a chance of winning with Adrian's plan than he would have blindly charging in on his own.
...he supposes he should say 'thank you', but he won't. If Hector survives, he'll raise a pet and send it toward the castle for Adrian to find. The dhampir would likely say 'no' if he asked about it, so if he doesn't die, he's going to just do it.]
I get out plenty, thank you. [He says it a little too defensively, as if this isn't the first time he's had the accusation that's leveled at him. In many ways, staying in the castle isn't a choice. But Alucard does not suspect he'd enjoy much of being among other humans, even if the act of travel is something he would doubtlessly enjoy.]
I can go get a map of the area for you - it'll be to your long term benefit.
[Hector may need to know the area better than just turn right at the big tree. Of that much, Alucard is confident. There is a pause in him though, aware that he hasn't asked an important question.]
Will you need food and other supplies? Forgive any rudeness when I say your task at hand seems to have discouraged proper packing.
[Hector is also 200% right about the fact Alucard would refuse the dog, but only because he'd be expected to.]
[Adrian's protests sound exactly like what a hermit would say. Hector's a hermit, he should know. But if Adrian's dead-set on his castle-dwelling ways, Hector has not the standing nor the inclination to press the issue any further. He shrugs.]
If you have a map small enough to be easily carried, I'll take it. [He does at least have a few essentials stowed on his person- weapons, a flask for water, a few coins and flint for a fire or for kindling the spark of unlife. The rest, he can find along the way or live without. He has a meal in him now, so he's probably set for eating for a day or two.]
You needn't concern yourself with the rest. I don't want to be weighed down. I can resupply in Bralia, when I have my new summoned friends to help bear the weight.
I believe I do, if you'll give me a few moments to find it.
[With that, Alucard rises to his feet. There'll be a map. Coin, as promised, and at this point, an extra water flask and food because if nothing else, his mother would accept nothing less. Hospitality is important, but more than that, this plan needs to work. Needs to. So giving extra food and water? That's insurance.
Alucard's not about to let Hector know that though.
Oh who's he kidding, this is a chance to be a smartass, he's going to take it.]
Because extra pieces of dried meat weigh ever-so-much.
[Adrian goes away and comes back with the provisions Hector actually needs but is too stubborn to ask for. He feels like a child being chastised for his bravado, and he grumbles.]
...would’ve been fine without it....
[He reminds himself of his mission, of Rosaly, and forces himself to put aside his sulking. Even if Adrian is a know-it-all. An insufferable one. He rises up from his seat, startling the fairy on his shoulder, and takes the offered supplies.]
So, you work your magic, I sneak off and work my magic, and then you call upon your Speaker so the farcical hunt can begin?
Perhaps, but if the weather turns, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
[That's his story and he's sticking to it! Alucard has the map aside though, because this is important. He unfolds the full of it, the things not being much larger than a slightly larger than average book. The whole thing is hand made, and clearly comes from after Dracula's defeat. The castle is well marked, as are the ruins of the Belmont home. The whole of the terrain is meticulous, and okay, Alucard totally made it himself because he's a nerd.]
In so many words, yes. And if there is failure, then the Belmont assists us to destroy Isaac.
[One slender finger points at a stream that cascades down from the higher elevation, then starts to trace it's route.]
This is about five miles from where we are now. Probably the best source of water for you to work with, and I know that there's a cave system further up.
[Hector and the fairy both study the map, although Hector's not sure if she can actually make anything of it, or if she's just mimicking him. The spot Alucard indicates should give him adequate shelter to work.]
That will do.
[He doesn't want to think about the Belmont being unleashed as plan B. He's heard horror stories about the man, ranging from 'he can singlehandedly kill a horde of night creatures with his whip' to 'he can singlehandedly kill a horde of night creatures with his stench'.]
And you're going to watch me with your remote viewing. Do you have to know where I'll be to do it, or can you find anyone?
[He's not planning on doing anything that he needs to hide, necessarily, but the idea that Adrian can spy on him is still disconcerting. Useful in this context, but still not filling him with warm feelings.]
I don't need to know where you are precisely. It just helps. And I will strive not to intrude on personal moments.
[It may not be easily accomplished, but Alucard does believe in putting in a level effort to avoid being a creep while a person sleeps or truly needs time alone. The cave, the cave he can find effortlessly. The route to the east? That'll be harder.]
Do you have any other questions or worries?
[It's a question that's tinged with actual concern.]
[‘Is it something Isaac could have learned to do,’ he doesn’t ask. Even if Isaac couldn’t, there are others who want him dead. He thought he’d made a safe home for himself and Rosaly, but he’d been living on borrowed time. He doesn’t thing Adrian would spy on him, but the thought of anyone from his past having looked in unseen on his new life sends his stomach churning. His face loses its color.
He’d never truly been free of that darkness. It followed him like a plague on the wind.]
It doesn’t matter. Look when you need. I’ve got nothing left to hide.
Viewing mirrors? No. Anyone who understands the mechanism can use them. The trick is locating one in the first place, as they're very hard to come by. I've never seen one that wasn't a full length piece, and that would not travel well.
[There was one in the Belmont Hold after all, and Belmonts didn't always truck with magic. It did leave quite a few questions about why both his father and Trevor's family seemed to have one, but...those were questions left unasked.
Alucard knows the real fear in the question is Isaac though. He clicks his tongue softly.]
I realize that's scant comfort, but based on what you've said, he's not the kind of man who would travel around with such a large object.
[As for the rest, well. Alucard's not sure how well he's communicating that this is an attempt to give Hector a modicum of dignity, but he is very clearly failing.]
[So Isaac had likely found him a different way. It's not very reassuring, but there's nothing to be done about that.]
You're right. He'd rather do his spying with forged night creatures, who are loyal to his will. He is not one to look on without meddling.
[And if the mirrors were portable, Lord Dracula would have carried one with him in his travels, surely, and checked in on his bride while he was away. He would have seen her in danger and rushed to her side, and the history of Wallachia might have been changed.
He frowns at the dhampir. He doesn't need Adrian worrying over his feelings.]
Look, you're probably the most trustworthy person to have possession of a mirror. You said you'd be mindful, so if you take a look and I'm taking a piss or something, I'm confident you'll look away. Isaac has taken everything from me, and there's no price too high to pay for stopping him.
[Somewhere in that, there's a compliment. But somehow it feels incorrect to respond to it, so all Alucard can really do is incline his head in quiet agreement. This is a delicate alliance (and it is an alliance, there's no dancing around that basic fact) and it needs to be built on a sense of mutual trust. That trust exists right now, and it's so, so fragile.]
We seem to be on the same page about everything then. [Which is a blessing in and of itself. This would be so much harder.]
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It may very well be decades off. The only comfort in if it is mobile again, I don't believe Isaac is the man who could figure out the complex spellwork and level of will to pin it down a second time.
[Hector's next few words cause Alucard to go entirely still. The little color that he has in his face is gone. There's hardly any breath that comes out of him, and for a moment that feels much longer, Alucard closes his eyes. It doesn't help him process the horror of the information, but it at least shows how seriously he's taken the warning.
His next few words are barely audible.]
There was only his wedding ring.
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It’s a shame the castle’s not alive in a way you could just ask it what needs to be done. [A surprising amount of necromancy is asking a broken thing if it wants to be alive again- most things do- and then giving it a body that it believes could function again. Hector’s never had a head for the layers of rituals and tedious chanting that seem to go hand in hand with enchanting objects.
Hector looks away, gives Adrian as much privacy as he can without leaving the kitchen. The ring...a fitting memento, but likely not an easy one for his son to possess.]
Nothing evil could be made from that. If there’s any fragment of spirit attached to it, it...wouldn’t be the piece Isaac is after.
[Hector is terrible at comforting anything that doesn’t walk around on four legs, but he can at least offer that tiny bit of reassurance.]
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[Alucard knows that the research into how the castle moved in the first place is slow going. What his father wrote down was minimal, and it makes perfect sense that that's the case. The castle was an extension of himself in all ways. Why would he ever need to write down what he knew. He wasn't going to share any of it, until Lisa of Lupu arrived at the door.
There's a long, sobering sigh from Alucard as the discussion returns to his father's remains. There's so much horror wrapped in the thought, but in it...
...there. An idea.]
Perhaps that's the key to baiting him though. He doesn't know that there aren't any remains, and he'll doubtlessly know that you were here for a time.
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If he could be convinced, his eagerness could make him careless. He isn't the type to jump at unfounded rumors, though. And... if we do lay that bait, he won't be the only one to scent it. It would invite other would-be servants and sycophants to seek them out, hoping to revive their dark lord.
[Hector will pay any price within his power for revenge against Isaac, but he won't ask Adrian to bear such a cost. Finding Hector without Dracula's remains, they would turn their search to the castle before long.]
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[Anyone foolish enough to look at his father's madness and see it as a boon rather than the horrible outpouring of grief it was deserves nothing less, as far as Alucard's concerned. He knows where the ring is at all times (it is around his neck), and as long as that is the case, then any true attempts at revival ought to fail.
But it'd be too sloppy to actually allow for such a thing to come to pass.]
That is a secondary matter. Let us return focus on the matter of Isaac. As willingly as I'd give you a jar from this house to claim it an urn, there could be other routes as well.
How much would it take to convince him though, do you believe?
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He's always been clever, and I doubt the past years have made him less wary. It would need to be done carefully. If I was seen leaving the castle with the urn, and I did not immediately begin to pursue Isaac's trail...
[What would be the steps he would take, if he were actually conducting the revival? He traces a finger along the table, as if looking at an invisible map.]
Turn my feet toward somewhere where I could forge without interruption, gather up the material components....
[He begins to see the snags.] Just ash and bone wouldn't be enough. It would take other components...[no, call them what they are]...corpses...and he would take notice that I wasn't collecting them. Besides, I don't know if he'd believe you'd relinquish your father's remains to me, nor that I'd stolen them and come out of it completely unscathed.
[It feels hopeless, and he lets out a long sigh.] He knows me a traitor...maybe if he thought I was taking them hide them away from him, rather than to use for my own designs. He might intervene then.
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That would allow for a certain need to move, out and away, both from Isaac and from the rest of civilization, in order to protect the so-called remains from anyone with similar designs. [The last two words are said with an underlying darkness and disgust. Alucard really, really could have lived without this information. Or fear, if he is to be honest with himself.]
So that also means away from graveyards and places of execution, in order to avoid what would be required for the work. As for the success of theft, that's what magic is for. It'd be easy enough to make it appear that you left this place after a struggle.
[At that, Alucard pauses, realizing something else.]
But you would need to be pursued in order to have the whole thing work. Which would also be a form of insurance against Isaac's life continuing should this ruse fail.
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[He’d hoped never to see the place again, but fate is often ironic and rarely kind.]
Before I came to Wallachia, I lived on an island off of Rhodes. If I’m not ambushed on route, it could serve as the ground to lay the snare.
[It was a quiet place with few human inhabitants, which had been why Hector had settled there in the first place.]
I’ll trust the magic to you, but for the rest.... [Alucard, from what he knows of him, does not leave the castle, and he assumes that if the Belmont was around, Hector would not be sitting peacefully in Adrian’s kitchen.]
Who would you send after me? Did any of the night creatures return here to serve you? [A small portion of himself is oddly hopeful. Monstrosities though they are, he can’t help feel a little fond for the memory of the things he created. A larger portion is just hoping it’s not the Belmont Adrian has in mind. Hector needs to live long enough to kill Isaac.]
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[So much of Dracula's defeat and death was wrapped up in that city. Alucard can't possibly know that it is the same space where Carmilla asserted her control over the forgemaster entirely, but if he did, it'd only reinforce his opinion that it is the correct location because of how it resounds in this ghoulish tale.]
Then it'd be wise to go from Bralia to Istanbul, and then Istanbul to Rhodes. It's an all sea route save for the stops in cities along the coast, and the Ottomans have trade routes to the west. All of it's established, it's genuinely just a matter of catching boats at the right time.
[Alucard knows what books to rely on. He's no spellcaster, but he has watched Sypha for so many years now. Working viewing mirrors, that he comprehends. It'll be an attempt, and if worst comes to worst, then they simply make the injuries real. It isn't the ideal solution, but it is available to them all the same.]
No, no night creature returned here. [But more to the point: they wouldn't have been welcome. This is a house allied with the Belmonts these days, there'd be no having it.]
I can track your progress through remote viewing. I...will speak to Trevor and Sypha about the rest. It may be that Sypha and I follow after you for a time. [Trevor is Trevor, after all.]
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[He'll say no more than that. If Hector has his way, no one else will ever know the full significance of Bralia, but the name is sure to prick Isaac's ears. Hopefully the confrontation will not come until later. He imagines that after this amount of time, the surviving townspeople have rebuilt and resumed their lives there. Rosaly would have cared about their plight, and so he now had to care in her absence.]
I'll barter passage on vessels with the smallest crews I can find. That won't raise any suspicion. [The sailors will still be in danger, but at least the chance for collateral damage will be limited. Besides, the fewer people he has to interact with, the better. That is something that hasn't changed over the years.
He exhales a long breath.] Of course. [He mentally reconciles 'Trevor' and 'Syphia' with 'The Belmont' and 'The Speaker'. The arrangement Adrian proposes is the lesser of the evils, everything considered.]
It sounds like you have your plan in hand. The last thing to figure out is, how long should it take me to find what I seek here? I must have some time to conjured my creatures, whether it be here or on the route to Bralia.
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[That's all that matters. What happens to Hector after, Alucard will need to pay attention to, but he isn't worried. Being scarred by this kind of loss seems to have already decided Hector's course, and it isn't the path that Dracula took. That is more than enough. Isaac? Isaac needs to be stopped.]
I'll help you pay for passage. Nothing that would rouse suspicion, but enough to ensure they'll let you aboard. [It's easy enough to manage.]
What is the average time you'd need to conjure? I can't permit it on these grounds directly, but I know the valley well enough at this point. There are spaces you can take advantage of.
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So eager to be rid of me, you’ll throw coin at it. [He teases. He could insist that he needs to charity and could make his own way, but why complicate the matter? Pride pales in the face of his revenge.]
It’s hard to say. This is something new. A handful of hours, maybe less if I have the crystals, and somewhere to forge near water. That should make it easier to focus on conjuring an aquatic form.
[He’s not sure if the location has any real bearing on it or if it’s all due to his internal sense of theatrics.]
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He can lie to himself about the reasons for why he's allowing it. Pragmatism, mostly. Honoring his father's fondness for the man. But no, it's the same sense of loss, and wanting to avoid a second coming of Dracula's fury either by resurrecting the man himself or having another follow that path of grief and devastation.]
What am I supposed to do with all of it anyway besides buy more books that are usually inaccurate? [They're so, so inaccurate.]
There's a stream up in the mountains, I believe.
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You really do need to get out more. [Hector doesn't doubt that Adrian has more money than he knows what to do with, but as someone who has never had much coin in hand, Hector's got plenty of notions to how it could be spent. Hell, if the inaccuracies bother Adrian, he could patronize scholars to write new ones.]
Point me in the right direction and I'll be off to see it done. [They have their plan sketched out, now all that's left is the doing. Hector...probably has more of a chance of winning with Adrian's plan than he would have blindly charging in on his own.
...he supposes he should say 'thank you', but he won't. If Hector survives, he'll raise a pet and send it toward the castle for Adrian to find. The dhampir would likely say 'no' if he asked about it, so if he doesn't die, he's going to just do it.]
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I can go get a map of the area for you - it'll be to your long term benefit.
[Hector may need to know the area better than just turn right at the big tree. Of that much, Alucard is confident. There is a pause in him though, aware that he hasn't asked an important question.]
Will you need food and other supplies? Forgive any rudeness when I say your task at hand seems to have discouraged proper packing.
[Hector is also 200% right about the fact Alucard would refuse the dog, but only because he'd be expected to.]
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If you have a map small enough to be easily carried, I'll take it. [He does at least have a few essentials stowed on his person- weapons, a flask for water, a few coins and flint for a fire or for kindling the spark of unlife. The rest, he can find along the way or live without. He has a meal in him now, so he's probably set for eating for a day or two.]
You needn't concern yourself with the rest. I don't want to be weighed down. I can resupply in Bralia, when I have my new summoned friends to help bear the weight.
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[With that, Alucard rises to his feet. There'll be a map. Coin, as promised, and at this point, an extra water flask and food because if nothing else, his mother would accept nothing less. Hospitality is important, but more than that, this plan needs to work. Needs to. So giving extra food and water? That's insurance.
Alucard's not about to let Hector know that though.
Oh who's he kidding, this is a chance to be a smartass, he's going to take it.]
Because extra pieces of dried meat weigh ever-so-much.
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...would’ve been fine without it....
[He reminds himself of his mission, of Rosaly, and forces himself to put aside his sulking. Even if Adrian is a know-it-all. An insufferable one. He rises up from his seat, startling the fairy on his shoulder, and takes the offered supplies.]
So, you work your magic, I sneak off and work my magic, and then you call upon your Speaker so the farcical hunt can begin?
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[That's his story and he's sticking to it! Alucard has the map aside though, because this is important. He unfolds the full of it, the things not being much larger than a slightly larger than average book. The whole thing is hand made, and clearly comes from after Dracula's defeat. The castle is well marked, as are the ruins of the Belmont home. The whole of the terrain is meticulous, and okay, Alucard totally made it himself because he's a nerd.]
In so many words, yes. And if there is failure, then the Belmont assists us to destroy Isaac.
[One slender finger points at a stream that cascades down from the higher elevation, then starts to trace it's route.]
This is about five miles from where we are now. Probably the best source of water for you to work with, and I know that there's a cave system further up.
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That will do.
[He doesn't want to think about the Belmont being unleashed as plan B. He's heard horror stories about the man, ranging from 'he can singlehandedly kill a horde of night creatures with his whip' to 'he can singlehandedly kill a horde of night creatures with his stench'.]
And you're going to watch me with your remote viewing. Do you have to know where I'll be to do it, or can you find anyone?
[He's not planning on doing anything that he needs to hide, necessarily, but the idea that Adrian can spy on him is still disconcerting. Useful in this context, but still not filling him with warm feelings.]
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[It may not be easily accomplished, but Alucard does believe in putting in a level effort to avoid being a creep while a person sleeps or truly needs time alone. The cave, the cave he can find effortlessly. The route to the east? That'll be harder.]
Do you have any other questions or worries?
[It's a question that's tinged with actual concern.]
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[‘Is it something Isaac could have learned to do,’ he doesn’t ask. Even if Isaac couldn’t, there are others who want him dead. He thought he’d made a safe home for himself and Rosaly, but he’d been living on borrowed time. He doesn’t thing Adrian would spy on him, but the thought of anyone from his past having looked in unseen on his new life sends his stomach churning. His face loses its color.
He’d never truly been free of that darkness. It followed him like a plague on the wind.]
It doesn’t matter. Look when you need. I’ve got nothing left to hide.
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[There was one in the Belmont Hold after all, and Belmonts didn't always truck with magic. It did leave quite a few questions about why both his father and Trevor's family seemed to have one, but...those were questions left unasked.
Alucard knows the real fear in the question is Isaac though. He clicks his tongue softly.]
I realize that's scant comfort, but based on what you've said, he's not the kind of man who would travel around with such a large object.
[As for the rest, well. Alucard's not sure how well he's communicating that this is an attempt to give Hector a modicum of dignity, but he is very clearly failing.]
As you say then.
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You're right. He'd rather do his spying with forged night creatures, who are loyal to his will. He is not one to look on without meddling.
[And if the mirrors were portable, Lord Dracula would have carried one with him in his travels, surely, and checked in on his bride while he was away. He would have seen her in danger and rushed to her side, and the history of Wallachia might have been changed.
He frowns at the dhampir. He doesn't need Adrian worrying over his feelings.]
Look, you're probably the most trustworthy person to have possession of a mirror. You said you'd be mindful, so if you take a look and I'm taking a piss or something, I'm confident you'll look away. Isaac has taken everything from me, and there's no price too high to pay for stopping him.
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We seem to be on the same page about everything then. [Which is a blessing in and of itself. This would be so much harder.]
And when this ends, we leave each other be.
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hector's a dirty rotten kill-stealer and i'm so sorry
DO NOT BE alucard's 200% fine with not having to do another murder
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