[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.]
[ 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. ]
[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. ]
[ 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
[ 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.
[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.
[ 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. ]
[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.
[ 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. ]
[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.]
[ 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. ]
[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.]
[ 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. ]
[It's the first word out of Alucard's mouth once he can find words again. It's breathless and baffled and wanting to know what, what in the name of God is going on. (Alucard has been brought up understanding there's a God, but he doesn't like Him at all.)
Shit. He's right, they need another locket. Alucard understands the locket keeps him safe. Away from the Queen of Faeries. But oh, that moth was needed.]
I...no, you need it. I'll stay in the castle, I'll make sure Leon has enough light.
Yeah. Me. I-sorry. I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I can get you another of those necklaces to keep her away, promise.
[ He looks between Alucard and Sypha a little ruefully. He knows- Sypha’s the type to babble when she’s excited to see her vampire crush, even to deer and moths. It’s good. Means the marriage hasn’t messed up Alucard’s life too much. He’d rather not get in the way of it.
He looks up at the ceiling, lying back down as Alucard speaks. ]
You need something? I can’t- ugh- [ Breathing hurts. If he can’t leave anyway he doesn’t want to try sitting up again. ]-can’t do much. But if it’s something I can help you with-
[ Well. Now he's definitely not going anywhere. His eyes flit between Sypha and his husband, and then he closes them to sigh. ]
It'll fix itself, now I have one of them that isn't poisoned. Just might take a while. I'll need to get new moths to replace the poisoned ones as they die off. They're easy enough to come by in summer.
[ His husband is fretting over him. That only just strikes him, and he's both happy about it and concerned. He's supposed to not bother the man at all, and here he is worrying over him! But it's still nice to know that he cares. He opens his eyes to give an anemic smile, the kind with gritted teeth behind it. ]
I'm really fucking hard to kill, you don't need to worry.
[Alucard and Sypha are both careful as they listen. Alucard nods, but the rest is...he knows it's magic. There doesn't have to be logic involved. And yet the idea that just having moths around will fix the issue chafes at him in a way that he doesn't like.
I'm really fucking hard to kill he boasts, but Alucard isn't convinced.]
[ He tries to shake his head, but that doesn’t happen. ]
Not much. Salt’ll rust the iron, but it’s too late for most of them. [ The moths, he means. ] They’re going to die no matter what at this point. Worst comes to worst, I’ll be down to just the one you were taking care of and have to rebuild. But it shouldn’t get that bad. Might be down a limb or three for a couple weeks.
Just going to need time. Time and moths.
[ Which is to say that he’s going to have to trouble Alucard a while longer. Leon’s going to be mad. ]
[Down a limb or three for a couple of weeks.. Trevor says it so casually, and Alucard's jaw simply drops. He's not okay with that concept, and the look he gives Sypha betrays all of it in a second.
And so Alucard says the only thing he can manage now:]
The sun will be up soon.
[Leon must be able to speed this along. He must.]
We can make you comfortable until then. I'm not sure what that looks like for you but...
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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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.
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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. ]
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--Sypha. She'll know what to do. It's night so Leon can't be there. ]
Castle? Can you take us to Sypha?
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[ 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?
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[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
no subject
[ 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.
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[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.]
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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. ]
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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?
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...-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.
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[Alucard stands up slowly, unsure of what else to do here.]
Or...?
[He's an idiot with no idea what he's doing.]
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[ 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. ]
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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?
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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. ]
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--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?!
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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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[It's the first word out of Alucard's mouth once he can find words again. It's breathless and baffled and wanting to know what, what in the name of God is going on. (Alucard has been brought up understanding there's a God, but he doesn't like Him at all.)
Shit. He's right, they need another locket. Alucard understands the locket keeps him safe. Away from the Queen of Faeries. But oh, that moth was needed.]
I...no, you need it. I'll stay in the castle, I'll make sure Leon has enough light.
[Where is he anyway?]
Can I...I don't know....
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[ He looks between Alucard and Sypha a little ruefully. He knows- Sypha’s the type to babble when she’s excited to see her vampire crush, even to deer and moths. It’s good. Means the marriage hasn’t messed up Alucard’s life too much. He’d rather not get in the way of it.
He looks up at the ceiling, lying back down as Alucard speaks. ]
You need something? I can’t- ugh- [ Breathing hurts. If he can’t leave anyway he doesn’t want to try sitting up again. ]-can’t do much. But if it’s something I can help you with-
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[Being so far removed from Trevor means that Alucard doesn't quite understand the matter of commands, and he misses Sypha's face when she cringes.]
If...if you have any idea of how to fix this, tell us. Please.
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It'll fix itself, now I have one of them that isn't poisoned. Just might take a while. I'll need to get new moths to replace the poisoned ones as they die off. They're easy enough to come by in summer.
[ His husband is fretting over him. That only just strikes him, and he's both happy about it and concerned. He's supposed to not bother the man at all, and here he is worrying over him! But it's still nice to know that he cares. He opens his eyes to give an anemic smile, the kind with gritted teeth behind it. ]
I'm really fucking hard to kill, you don't need to worry.
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I'm really fucking hard to kill he boasts, but Alucard isn't convinced.]
But in the mean time, can anything be done?
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[ He tries to shake his head, but that doesn’t happen. ]
Not much. Salt’ll rust the iron, but it’s too late for most of them. [ The moths, he means. ] They’re going to die no matter what at this point. Worst comes to worst, I’ll be down to just the one you were taking care of and have to rebuild. But it shouldn’t get that bad. Might be down a limb or three for a couple weeks.
Just going to need time. Time and moths.
[ Which is to say that he’s going to have to trouble Alucard a while longer. Leon’s going to be mad. ]
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And so Alucard says the only thing he can manage now:]
The sun will be up soon.
[Leon must be able to speed this along. He must.]
We can make you comfortable until then. I'm not sure what that looks like for you but...
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[ Staying perfectly still is kind of uncomfortable. But then Alucard mentions the sun, mentions Leon. ]
Tell my pa that I have no fucking clue where she is, once he shows up? Couldn’t exactly see a whole lot from in there.
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[Alucard isn't sure he can do much else. But he does get a chair. That allows Sypha ample time to ask a simple question:]
What happened anyway?
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