cryptsleeper | Catch All

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.]

[ 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.

[ 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. ]

[In the little moments, the world is almost okay. Alucard is not at peace, but he is better than he has been. Talking of science, of the things learned in the castle, of everything that makes the castle home, it is a comfort. A place where he can go and know that they can have snatches of time together.

And oh, what a thing it is, wrapped up in Juliet's cloak and telling her about how stars are really tiny suns. Explaining how they form, what that means in terms of life elsewhere, all of it. He could cry from how good it feels to have the option there at all, and how happy he is to hear theories even if they're probably not right.

But then reality returns, and...]

Yes. Because it's contained in one man, and the world could not accept even a fraction of that knowledge.

[There's the pain back again, and his fingers lace with hers to.......

...to Whitby. Alucard is either a wolf or a bat for the rest of the trip, curled snug under the little bed or hanging from the ceiling. The forms don't help. Being a wolf brings other Belmonts to the surface, and being a bat simply makes him hungry. Both options are horrid, but soon enough they are in Whitby.

The abbey is old. It shouldn't capture his attention as it does. His wolf ears should not twitch from familiarity, his paws should not compel him to move.

Yet move he does, slow at first and then gaining speed, because he knows that sound. He knows it, he knows it, he would climb 5000 stairs instead of the 199 it takes to get to the abbey, that is the castle with a guise on he knows his home.]

Something that’s been in the castle while it was moving- shit. If we have anything like that it’d be something of his-

[ Spell components are proving to be more difficult than he’d expected. Something about a massive source of energy throwing Sypha off. Which sounds fake, because they’re in fucking Whitby and what the fuck is even in Whitby. ]

These tracking spells aren’t my forte, and-

-hang on, we’re losing our dog.

[ He gives chase as Alucard moves away from them, and it’s only with a massive push to sprint up the first lot of stairs two at a time that he catches up before Alucard gains too much speed. ]

Careful. [ He says it between pants, sinking down onto one of the thin benches used by coffin bearers. ] Only thing up there is a church.

[Alucard's response is to snuffle at Trevor when he gets close enough. But he at least pauses until Trevor's there and Sypha too, and then? Then they're mostly there, with just a few more steps left.

Yes. It's an old church. But it isn't, and Alucard shifts into a human shape once he's sure no one is looking.]

It's not a church. Walk with me.

[ Shit, maybe sprinting up all those steps was not a great idea. He has a little while to catch his breath while Sypha catches up but his lungs are still burning and he can feel a powerful stitch developing when she does. That’s a good start. Here lies Trevor Belmont, tried to kill Dracula, felled by stairs. ]

Looks like it’s seen better days, but it’s still a church. Doesn’t seem like the best place for you to go.

-wait. Belmont, that’s what’s interfering with my spells. It could be dangerous.

[ The abbey isn’t exactly whole. There’s no door to enter, but a fallen wall at one side. Beyond it, the inside looks about what one might expect from a ruined abbey. ]

It's not a church.

[Alucard is confident. Almost defensive as he starts walking to the abbey. To it's doors.]

It's my father's castle, Belmont.

[ As Alucard passes through the doors, they lead to a familiar entrance. The castle hasn’t been maintaining itself as well as it could have been, but it’s here. Here and not in too much disrepair. And distantly, like a voice heard through water- ]

Fuck!

[ Trevor passes through the same door. And he’s there in the entrance way, but he’s not. He’s transparent, moving around things that aren’t there to be moved around. Moving through things that are really there like a ghost. ]

The fuck did you go?

I'm right h--

[Alucard frowns, turning around. He can hear Trevor, but he isn't in the hall. No. That's not right, the space is--

---the space is the point.

He reaches down, running a hand over the stones.]

He's like Juliet. So is the one with him. Please permit them both in, at least into the main hall.

Sypha, get out. Something's-

[ Sypha doesn't get very far into her Belmont, I told you so before the castle consumes the both of them, bringing them into its entrance way for real this time. The castle creaks and groans with the effort, but they're standing there with Alucard now. ]

-happening. [ He pauses, looking around at the castle. ] Well, fuck me.

I told you it was the castle.

[Alucard looks to Trevor and Sypha, his face a very careful blank. He's in his home, but it has fallen apart so very much. It aches, seeing it in such a state.]

You said it traveled, yes? Was it taking guises as well when your family was tracking it?

I don’t think so. It moved every few years for about a century, then we tracked its magic to England but we just couldn’t find it. Always did seem like a tiny county to lose a whole castle in.

But- shit. [ The specific state of the castle seems familiar, though he’s never seen it in a building before. He brushes a hand against the wall and stares as layers of stone peel from it like layers of skin. The sound of its groaning is like bone scraping against bone. ] It’s still a church. Even desanctified. It’s protecting you from the worst of it, but it’s- hurting it, being a church.

[Alucard wants to know how Trevor's reading the castle where Alucard isn't, but...no. It isn't the point. It can't be the point.

Alucard settles himself down on the floor.]

Is there space for you near by, where you don't have to use this shell?

[ The castle creaks and groans in response, shaking with effort. Dust falls from the ceiling. The floor rises in the centre. ]

Sypha!

[ Where it rose, the floor splits like an overripe fruit. Sypha launches ice from her hands, welding the castle’s torn floor together again. Beneath it, something dark swirls about. It would probably be bad to fall into that. Just a Belmont gut feeling there, ‘falling into infinite darkness is probably not good’. The castle shakes still more violently, tiny stones now falling from the ceiling, and Trevor tucks Sypha under his body in case anything larger falls.

And then it stops. ]

we’ve moved. [ Sypha says, de-belmont-ing herself. Personal space, Trevor. ] Not far. About a half day’s ride.

[Alucard doesn't move as the castle creaks and groans. He simply keeps both of his hands on the floor, and that? That seems to hold some of it together. A little vampiric miracle of sorts, one worth celebrating.

He didn't notice the pit or Sypha's near mis-adventure. He's noticed nothing, and even after it has landed, Alucard doesn't get up. He instead murmurs soft things in old Wallachian to the building, before he asks:]

Belmont, how did you know how to diagnose the castle's ills?

It's a ghost.

[ That's an entirely satisfying answer, surely. ]

Or- I mean, it's not a ghost. It's nothing that would have shown up in our bestiaries. But it's- just the stuff on the inside, without the outside part. That's kind of like a ghost, just using Dracula's magic instead of the naturally occurring stuff. And ghosts get weird if you're around something like a leyline that interferes with naturally occurring magic, so- you know. Probably not good for it to be around something that can interfere with Dracula's.

[ He guessed, is what he's saying. He guessed what it was and he guessed what was hurting it. It's quite the achievement, but you wouldn't know it to see how awkward he is about admitting it. ]

...Hm.

[The explanation tracks. Hell, makes perfect sense. Belmonts must know of all supernatural things, and so that logically entails ghosts. So that the castle manages to move like a haunted thing clinging to the world well, that's heartbreaking, but it still makes sense.

He pats the castle gently, then stands.]

It's me. Let me see the full of you, and what I can repair.

[ Another set of creaks and groans, through nothing near as violent as the movement, and the entrance hallway expands outward a little. There are doorways where there ought to be doorways, but beyond most of them is more of that writhing darkness. The engine room connects to the entrance, which is not exactly accurate to the way the castle’s layout should be. Inside there is the castle’s heart, withered and stuttering and burning so, so low.

The other room isn’t a room so much as a few spots of things visible in that darkness through a door that ought to lead to the library. Tiny things - a wolf doll, a portrait of Lisa, a simple silver ring. Things that it’s kept, things that it’s strained against centuries of exhaustion to keep, that remind it of happier times.

Other things appear too, in the entranceway. Skeletons, fanged ones. At least six of them, some bones bleached cleaner than others by time. ]

Shit.

[ That explains it. ]

Hey castle - can you hear me? You weren’t hiding in the Abbey, were you? Not really. You wanted to be found, found by people who wanted to steal Dracula’s secrets. Lured them to the Abbey and trapped them there.

[ It gave up its body to make sure that nobody would ever access Dracula’s knowledge without its say so. To draw any enemies to itself and keep Alucard safe. There’s a note of accusation to Trevor’s tone, but even he has to admit - shit, good castle. ]

[It hurts. Not physically, Alucard knows that the castle would never do that to him, but as it unfurls itself, it becomes clear the castle has worked to look after itself. Maybe it was wrong for him to be in the Hold. The castle could have protected him without falling into ruins.

He sees the engine room in the wrong place, but it' not as bad as the things that show through the darkness. Those ache, and Alucard focuses only on the skeletons. Gets up and inspects them, to see if their clothing gives any of their identities away.]

The most loyal of us all.

[They're pained words, sighed as Alucard pokes at one of the fangs.]

But you deserve better now.

[ Sypha pushes past Alucard, at that, while Trevor looks about outside the castle. ]

I don’t think it can ever be a castle again, not any time soon. Not on the outside. It could attach itself to one, but it couldn’t bring it with it when it moved. [ She clicks her tongue, frowning. ] It needs a new body building for it. The old fashioned way - brick by brick. But in the meantime, I can help it a little now it’s out of the church.

[ Trevor reenters, dusting off his hands. ]

Little cottage on the outskirts of some city, lots of places for chickens to sleep, but no chickens. That’s where we are now.

What do you need for that? I--

[He's useless, that much is clear. Just here. Sitting in a ruin. Making the other two fix everything. Alucard sighs, walking over to the door Trevor's just headed out of.]

Any good food resources?

Area's a little too built up to hunt in, but the city proper is maybe an hour's walk. Don't know how many merchants'll be willing to take lira, but worst case there'll be people who need work done. If we need to stay a while, we'll be able to manage. Bigger concern is there's no abbey to keep people from going in here. We're going to need to defend it.

[ He walks out of the door, then turns back. ]

Hey castle, don't let me in for a moment. I want to see the place you've landed in.

[ And he passes through the door again, this time entering the cottage for real. ]

[Alucard lingers at the door, allowing Sypha to explore what she can of the castle's hall. He's sure that built up is nothing to be concerned about, but the city proper? That's what worries him more, and so Alucard waits.

And says to hell with it, walking out of the door to try and understand their surroundings.]

Hm.

[It's strange. Maybe that's a defense already.]

I wonder if this place has some kind of reputation already.

[ Outside the cottage - and it is a cottage now, and not a castle or an abbey, it’s rather underwhelming. A few chicken coops, empty. A post where horses might have been tied once. A few minutes walk through what winter’s left of the wildflowers to the next house down the road. A mile marker indicating that following that road will bring one into a city called Leeds sooner or later. ]

Ah, castle picked a hell of a place to drop itself.

[ Through the doors of the house, if entered normally, is a workshop of sorts. It doesn’t look like it’s seen use in decades, given the amount of dust, but it’s somehow gone unlooted this whole time. Bottles line shelves along the walls. Bones cover a table. Some are human-sized. ]

Doesn’t look like the owner’s been home in a long time.

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