Catch All

[cryptsleeper]

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[cryptsleeper]

Belmont, I genuinely don't know.

[Alucard frowns at him slightly.]

[miraclewhip]

Fuck, how do I-

[ -explain the politics of the last 20 years without taking a whole week, let alone the last four centuries. ]

-Wallachia is- 'gone' is a strong word. But it's not there anymore. [ That's a good start, right? ] So is the Belmont family, except 'gone' isn't really a strong word for us.

[cryptsleeper]

Politics changed it's identity. I understand that much.

[The rest of it though? Alucard goes somehow even more still.]]

You're the only one from your line?

[miraclewhip]

Yeah.

[ There's no emotion in it, really. Nothing beyond tiredness. ]

The coffin was the only thing that was left. You're all that was left. I fucked up at protecting everyone else, but I can still protect you.

[cryptsleeper]

[Tired seems to be the universal mood. But Alucard's face is so very still, he's all that's left. The house then. The hold. It's all...]

...Politics did it then?

[miraclewhip]

[ He nods, then looks over at Sypha. ]

They said that her people, any people who didn't worship at our churches, weren't protected by the law. We disagreed. Shit went bad. Church saw it as a declaration of war against them. New Domnitor saw it as a grab for power.

[ He sighs as Sypha snores quietly, tugging the blanket around herself more tightly. ]

Couldn't protect them, either.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard breathes out only two words, soft and truly pained.]

Oh, Belmont.

[No wonder Sypha's continued on with him. No wonder to so much.]

I'm so sorry.

[miraclewhip]

[ It was always going to be humans who killed them, not monsters. It could never end any other way. ]

They've left the principalities, for the most part. Heard some of them left Europe altogether. Her caravan's the first I've run into since I was a boy, and they were only there to look for something.

[ For Alucard, more than likely, though fuck if he'll ever get a straight answer out of that old man. ]

Wish I could have woken you to better news.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard lets out a soft noise. It's miserable.]

Where are they going then?

[He fell asleep before America was even discovered.]

I don't know why the spell allowed for this.

[miraclewhip]

Crossing the ocean, to- oh. Shit, yeah. Folk found some countries while you were asleep. Guess that's something for you to get used to. There's vampires there, but not- not 'my business' vampires, you know? Last we heard they had a queen who kept them all in line. All relatively peaceful. No need for my kind to interfere.

[ Perhaps he should find a way to get Alucard there, once this is all done. If there's anywhere he could be safe and happy, that'd be it. ]

I didn't even know there was a spell, until she told me. Tried everything a normal person would think of to wake you, then just assumed you were dead.

[cryptsleeper]

....A land mass that was unexplored. I...yes. I suppose the world is big enough for such a thing.

[He takes that in stride at least, and questions nothing of the current vampire population living there. The son of Dracula belongs in no such place. Especially if news of his awakening reaches their ears.

Carefully, Alucard rises to his feet.]

They truly did scrub the records then.

[miraclewhip]

I suppose. I only ever heard that you'd been there since the Hold was built. But if you were there when Dracula was killed, the timing's all wrong for that.

[ He looks out at the darkness of the ship's hold. ]

I don't know shit about you, really. Just that I have to keep you safe.

[cryptsleeper]

I wasn't. The--

[Alucard pats his side, and the letters sound against his hand.]

The record was altered for my own safety. That's all. I know why they did that for me, but I am not sure why all the generations maintained my presence in the Hold.

[miraclewhip]

Because it was the way it was always done, I suppose. Or we thought it was. Nobody was about to question something Leon himself had put in place.

Shit, if I'd known- I don't know what I'd have done. But I wouldn't have hauled you around in view of every vampire who's come to try to kill me. It's a wonder this didn't happen sooner.

[cryptsleeper]

Leon keeps all the prying eyes out. I understand but...

[Alucard pauses.

And then he reaches into his coat pocket, taking the last letter out.]

You couldn't have known. This is the truth of all matters. It'll...just read it.

[miraclewhip]

[ He listens intently, fighting the urge to snatch that letter from Alucard’s hands. Another connection. One more, after years of nothing. He manages not to. ]

Shit, you knew her. And this must have been after Dracula’s death.

[ It seems like a stupid statement of the obvious. Left unsaid is the ‘but before-‘. ]

I’m sorry for your loss.

[cryptsleeper]

Yes.

[Before everything. Just as he was being put into that case. The letter is returned to where it came from. But what gets Alucard to look up, genuinely surprised.]

It's...I.

Thank you. And I'm sorry for all of yours.

[miraclewhip]

I know I’m getting ahead of myself, assuming we’ll survive this. But-

[ “When this is done, you’ll find a way to be happy again. I know you will.” ]

When this is done, you’ll just be normal. A vampire and all, but a normal one. You’ll be able to just- do whatever it is you like doing. Whatever makes all of this better.

[cryptsleeper]

I think that's a bold assumption, but...

[It's not the fucking point and he knows it.]

Please know I appreciate the sentiment. Even if I struggle to show it.

[miraclewhip]

Yeah, probably. ‘All we need to do is stop Dracula’. Like it’s easy.

[ He has humour enough left in him to make fun of himself, at least. ]

Sniff around for other vampires, then rest. Nothing that we can do anyway until she can track your blood and the castle. May as well rest while we can.

[cryptsleeper]

One of the hardest things in the world.

[Alucard is morose, but he does start to move in the direction of the door.]

I'll meet you back at the room. Somehow I suspect it'll be more comfortable for her, at the very least.

[miraclewhip]

[ He tilts his head in confusion at that last comment, but nods. ]

We’ll head back to the room once she’s awake.

[cryptsleeper]

Very well. I'll see if any others of my father's kind remain.

[So Alucard stands. Walks out of the hold, quiet save for the occasional sound of his boots against the floor. He's so tired. So scared. So wanting to be done with all of this, and the matter has only begun.]

[miraclewhip]

[ Whether or not the castle has windows seems to be based more upon its mood and the allegience of any given part of it to Alucard or his father than on any proximity to its outer walls. Rooms that look to have windows from the outside have none if that part of the castle hasn't yet been convinced to aid Alucard. Passages that by all right should be in the centre of the castle and away from all natural light are lined with bright glass if that part of the castle wants to make itself safe for him. They look out at places that aren't Wallachia, some of them. Places that don't even look like they're on this world.

But this room always seems to have windows. Great, arched ones, and a ceiling of glass. A telescope in the room's heart, and star charts scattered across desks. Dracula has long had a more powerful, more complete observatory. The castle seems to think that means he forgot this one, that he used in its youth. That it's a safe place to be. ]

But sunlight reflected in a mirror harms vampires. If moonlight were truly reflected sunlight, surely it would- [ Juliet trails off. ] -oh, that was rude, wasn't it? I shouldn't be thinking about how to kill you while you're talking about the moon. Don't mind me, just tell me more things about the sky. I'm very nearly romanced, you know.

[ Her tone makes it sound like a joke, but her arms are around Alucard's shoulders, her cloak bundled around both of them as they look out at the night sky. She listens intently, only occasionally popping in to add comments about sunlight, speculation on what must make it different from the light of other stars. Most of her ideas aren't anywhere close to correct, but she's eager to hear about the science of it all and try to match it with what she knows. There might have been some gems in there, if they'd ever had the chance to test any of the wild theories she presented. But she slows, and not from tiredness. ]

The world will lose so much, when this is done. All these stars, how far away they are and how hot they burn and how long their light takes to reach us - suddenly, nobody will know those things anymore. They'll just be the lights in the sky again. And nobody- nobody will ever know that we lost anything.

[ Her arms tighten, and she pulls Alucard's back to her chest. Her voice is very small. Perhaps it's selfish, to be saying this to Alucard of all people. Perhaps it's important that he know that someone else might mourn the man. ]

We're burning the Library of Alexandria, aren't we? In a war that didn't need to happen.

[miraclewhip]

[ There are no more vampires aboard. The crew are agitated over their missing captain, but they bring the boat to Whitby anyway. There's nothing they can do about the situation at sea. Trevor gives Alucard space, as much as anyone can give anyone space in that tiny room. They have Alucard leave the boat as a wolf and Trevor spends a good half hour arguing with a record keeper at the port that it's not his fault that the sailors forgot to mention his dog on the ship's passenger list.

By the time it's safe for him to turn back, Whitby Abbey looms on the cliffs overhead as Sypha runs through the list of components they'll need to find to track both the castle and Alucard's blood. Nothing about it looks familiar and, even in ruins, it's still kind of a church.

And yet it calls to Alucard. A powerful sadness seems to radiate from the ruins as they stare out over the sea, waiting for their prince to return home. ]