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Fandom Castlevania: Night's Dirge [Closed]

Alucard wondered how many flowers were going to end up on his clothing at this rate. The white shirt might just become a shirt of flowers at this rate. Still, she hadn’t done it to his coat – she understood the importance of that, compared to a plain white shirt. He could deal with this, and he even smiled just a bit at the comment of artists signing their works.

While Trevor protested far too much over his jealousy. He likely was fit – he walked around in that heavy cloak like it was nothing. Hardly meant that Alucard was going to leave him alone. For now, though, he would. For Sypha.

The food was all passed out and plated, and Alucard had to admit, he was impressed with himself. The sausage had definitely helped to add to the flavor of his broth, and he was glad when Aveline spoke up, “Of course,” he inclined his head, “You shouldn’t be left out.” It wasn’t that hard to leave the meat out of something like this.

“Johann needs his sleep,” though even Lucia considered waking him as she glanced to the carriage. He had missed the other meal, too. He was likely living on dried jerky and rations when he road at the helm. “We’ll do better to switch out so he can at least have one good meal tomorrow.”

“Mm!” Danica agreed, and started to rise, already having shoved her food into her mouth, “So I should rest. Thank you, Alucard! We should have had you cook more often,” she chuckled, and when Lucia lifted her hand, she gave her a confused look for a moment.

“I can at least help clean. Go on,” Danica could just head to sleep. She hadn’t done much to contribute to the camp, though arguably having a carriage to pile things and people in to was significant.

Danica let her take the plate and utensils then, and Lucia shifted up as well to go to the bucket of water and the lye soap. “Good night!” Danica bid, before moving to the carriage. In truth, she wasn’t planning to sleep immediately, and started to pack a few things up before going right in – grabbing a needle, and the familiar red thread. She’d at least stitch together the pieces that looked like they belonged together.

Sypha’s eyes followed Lucia, and finally, she couldn’t help but blurt, “So that water doesn’t bother you?”

Lucia looked up, momentarily confused, “I mean, it’s obvious you keep clean,” usually – her appearance had been clean when they met, in a dress, but that could be a vampire thing, “but you can’t go in water, and holy water would hurt you…but this is okay?”

Lucia gave a nod, elaborated, “From what I understand,” she didn’t exactly test this, “all natural bodies of water and some man-made ones will be death if I end up fully submerged. I do not know why – a tub, or a pool, just as large would not do it.” She had a large bathhouse back home, taking back from her time at Rome.

“You don’t know why?”

Lucia shook her head, “It doesn’t make any sense to me. Does it really make sense to you, that a vampire should stand out in the sun and die, or do you just accept it?”

Sypha puzzled a moment, brows knitting together. She supposed she hadn’t asked ‘why’ that before. Water seemed stranger, but…well, why should the sun do that to vampires? “Alucard?”

He shook his head, “There are some who are looking into it,” he knew Lucia was studying it, and Lisa had been curious, “it seems to be a question of whether or not the investigation should look more into the biology of vampires, or the magical nature of them. And some who argue that it’s the same thing, but their argument doesn’t help to narrow down whether it can be treated with magic or through other means,” he chuckled, supposing there wasn’t much separating vampires from magic. He understood that view, completely.

His mother struggled with trying to understand him, and Dracula, and what made them different, and how it could be used so Dracula might see a sunrise with her, one day. Might enjoy life as she did. She understood so much, but there was no medicine Dracula could take to protect him against the sun. Even though he humored her a time or two.
 
" Sounds like being a vampire is complicated." Aveline mused. She hadn't stopped to think of what vampires or other supernatural beings went through, she had only thought about herself now that the subject was out there. But the idea of not being able to swim in a lake, river, or pond sounded horrible to her. And avoiding the sun? She didn't think she could handle that, she loved the feeling of the sun on her skin too much.

" My family journals always talked about the limitations of anything supernatural as being natures way of being humanity a chance." Trevor said, his bowl of bean stew almost totally empty despite how hard of a time he had given Alucard earlier. Though if Alucard noticed it and used it against him then he'd think up some way to insult it and him back.

" The supernatural and the idea of nature being involved with any part of them is...an odd one." Sypha said, eyes drawn up as she thought about it.

" Everything needs a weakness or something that can be exploited, though my family never did get to the bottom of why the sun or big bodies of water effect vampires the way they do. We never really cared as long as it worked, and normally if we did ever find out why a particular thing worked against a creature it was from legend and nothing based in science." Trevor thought of the family library and all the books dedicated to specific monsters or creatures they hunted. So many books talked about how to kill them and what worked against them, but the understand wasn't something he had been interested in and even his father told him not to focus on the ' why' and instead focus on killing.

" Oh stuff from legend, like silver against a werewolf or iron to ward off evil fae." Sypha said, this was something she knew. The speakers had collected so many stories from around the world, and every culture had some idea of what to use to keep away evil or protect themselves against the supernatural.

" Iron wards off all fae, not just the evils ones." Aveline piped in as she handed her empty bowl and utensils to Lucia with a thank you. " Using horse shoes or anything made of iron to ward off fae means you're also running off the good ones that want to protect you, your home, or your fields."

Aveline was almost painfully aware of where any and all the iron in camp was at all times, but it wasn't something that was going to run her off. Its effects weren't too strong on her, and it was more like a repellant when it wasn't being used to harm her. But she was also very aware that if she was attacked with something made of iron, or worse a type of cold iron, she'd heal very slowly or have to really worry about death.

" In my line of business you find that you don't run across many kind creatures that just want to live along side man." Trevor said as he also handed Lucia his dirty dishes, but he stayed by her side and grabbed the clean dishes to dry with a near by rag.

" The kind helpful creatures aren't the one anyone would send a Belmont after though. I bet you've been surrounded by all sorts of benevolent creatures all your life and you never noticed." Aveline said as she hide her coy smile by looking down at her cape as she worked on it.

" I think i'd know if something supernatural or other was watching over my shoulder." Trevor scoffed as he grabbed another bowl to dry. " and even if one was helping me, then they're doing a pretty shit job." Aveline laughed at the pouty look on Trevors face but didn't say anything as she continued to work on her cape. " Sure Trevor, sure."

Trevor grumbled under his breath for a moment then turned his full attention back to drying off the dishes. Danica and Sypha had made their first meal earlier and now Alucard made this one, he felt like he should do something more to help out. Fetching water and gathering scraps didn't feel equal to the world that went into feeding everyone. But as he dried off the dishes his mind wandered and he smiled a bit, he could remember doing things like this when he was little.

His family was noble and had servants but his mother loved to be in the kitchen and he could remember when she was in a good mood she'd make something sweet as a treat, and he was always left to dry the dishes. Sometimes his mother was hard on him, and the older he got the harder she was on him but he missed her when he thought of domestic things like this.

" I didn't expect to be doing stuff like this when we decided to go after Dracula." He chuckled, but small details normally disappeared when a large goal was put down in front of someone.
 
Lucia couldn’t help the slight laugh that came with the thought that the weaknesses were a way of giving humans a chance, “Rather human-centric view,” though he was human, he would think that way, “I wonder why nature determined cows didn’t deserve that chance.” But the whys were more common among the creatures not human, it was true. It wasn’t just their long lives – werewolves didn’t have those, after all – but their state of being an other that often led to such considerations.

In the end, Lucia had determined there was no ‘why’ answer. Though that may have been the reason she rejected notions like Trevor’s. It implied a deity who created other creatures to be subjugated to humans, and while things like holy water might suggest it – Lucia just saw those as magic.

Nothing was sacred. She’d learned that ages ago, and tried not to think much on it as she took another dish. Best to focus on the dishes, while the others went on about fae – Trevor at least distinguishing the fact there were good fae, but not the possibility of good werewolves. Silver would work on both equally, just as iron did.

She did roll her eyes as she handed Trevor a dry dish, just as he was complaining about evil creatures and not finding any who wanted to live alongside humanity. She thought about re-introducing herself, but held off on it, working through the rest of the dishes as Alucard handed off his, pleased it had turned out so well.

He was also trying hard not to laugh, and occasionally shooting Aveline a concerned look. Perhaps he was only hyper-aware because he did know her secret, but he was worried the others might catch something amiss with her defense of the fae. And even her sly comment towards Trevor about creatures watching over him.

‘Shit.’

That was when Lucia’s look shifted to Aveline. She must have noticed something in her smell by now. “You seem concerned about the fae,” Lucia pointed out, “have you met one before?” Alucard breathed out a sigh of relief when she didn’t pointedly ask her, as he had done, about her own lineage.

He did smirk at Trevor’s statement, though. “I’m surprised you can even manage this much. How did you survive all on your own?” he didn’t seem to have brought along any supplies other than himself, and some gold. Was he just crashing at inns and doing odd jobs to get by?

He was also, maybe, hoping that Trevor’s question would de-rail Aveline having to provide Lucia with much of an answer.
 
" I never said it was the right view." Trevor said with a shrug. " And my family library is filled with equal parts fact and fiction, which is really hard to tell apart when you're literally dealing with something from myths and legends." He added. Because his family hoarded any information and just anything that had to do with the mysterious creatures that existed all over the world they weren't the most selective when they first started out. Over the generations members of his family did go into the hold to try and sort things out a bit better, but they had never wanted to really throw something out unless they few for a fact that it was totally wrong, so for the most part he had to rely on what he knew was true and worked when ever facing down something that wanted to kill him.

" I'm sure we'll be able to weed through it all when we get there though." He added. Between Sypha, Lucia, and Alucard he had a strong feeling that they had the brain power needed to find the answer to the question his family had been trying to solve for years, how would they catch Draculas castle?


Aveline did her best to keep her cool when she heard Lucias question, it would make sense that she would catch on before the others did since Alucard had seemed to notice right off the bat something was off with her. But this actually wasn't the worst thing that would happen, finding this way to kind of build up her courage person by person was helpful. Telling Alucard what she was had been the first time she had ever told someone, and right now she could tell Lucia the truth without so many words. If they accepted her then maybe the others would, but she took a glance at Trevor and Sypha and still wasn't sure about that. Danica and Johann worked with Lucia and probably wouldn't mind, but Trevor was clearly still trying to warm up to Alucard and Lucia there was no reason to put more on his plate. And Sypha...well the more she got to know and get along with Sypha the harder it was to even think about telling her the truth.

" I was raised by my father at the foot of a mountain teeming with fae and other supernatural creatures." She said with a small shrug. " They aren't all bad. Some fae are just as cultured and civilized as we are."

" And some like to lead travelers astray or turn them into soups." Trevor pointed out.

" A lot of things fall under the term 'fae', it changes based on where you are in the world. Some people think goblins and dwarfs are fae, and come on." Comparing small, pale, and sweet Aveline to a stout hairy dwarf would be a pretty good way to prove that not everything called 'fae' was really fae.

" I'll give you that one. I once fought a Kobold that was living in a mine, a nasty hunched over little bastard, and my father had insisted that it was a Fae of some type. Rowan and Iron did nothing against it though. " Trevor grumbled and remembered how the little shit had lit the cuff of his shirt on fire at one point.



Trevor continued his task of drying the dishes, his mood a bit lighter as he remembered his sisters moving around him in the warmth of the kitchen as they all worked together to prepare for the holiday festivals. As he got older he could only remember looking forward to the holidays because that was when the family was all together and he didn't feel as lonely or unwanted as he normally did. His parents loosened up around the holidays and his sisters dotted on him a bit more than normal.

" I can dry dishes! I'm not only good for witty commentary and monster killing." He said with a scoff as he sat the last of the now dry dishes down.

" I'll admit i haven't had to do chores like this in years but it's not something you forget how to do. I actually kind of missed it." he said as he tossed the dish rag over his shoulder. " My mother was a nobles wife but the kitchen was her space, regardless of all the servants in there. She worked along side them in the mornings making bread, and sometimes she'd let me have a sweet roll before I went out for my daily training. And during the holidays she'd send the servants home to their families then she'd gather me and my sisters to help in the kitchen."

He could remember Esthels red hair with bits of flour in it, and Elena complaining about getting her pretty holiday dress dirty.

" I was never good with the little cakes or cookies my sisters wanted to make, but I could manage a mean sweet roll or some sourdough. But those doesn't really scream 'holidays' so normally i was left with the dishes and taste testing each batch." He smiled and if he thought hard enough he could remember the taste of fresh ginger in Esthels favorite cookies.

" But after everything went to shit I just started traveling and lived off of dried meats or what ever I could buy at an inn." When you were always on the move you couldn't settle in anywhere and do domestic things like this. In fact he had expected this trip to be full of cold dried meats and other similar things like that which he had lived on up until this point. Warm meals were kind of shocking.
 
No one could argue – with creatures of legends, it was often hard to tell fact from fiction. Lucia really wished the ‘running water’ thing was fiction. Of course, she wished a few things were. Thankfully garlic was. So were crucifixes. There was no question they’d get through it – at least, to what was needed, which was how to get to Dracula’s castle when it jumped around.

That wasn’t what kept Lucia’s attention – it was Aveline’s answer, which revealed she’d grown up around fae, a word which was, indeed, about as useful as the word ‘animal’ in some cases. Lucia hadn’t met many fae, though she had met a few in passing. Those that were in the colder climates weren’t the most social, nor inclined to seek out a vampire.

There’d been one year with some mischievous pixies and the holidays, though…that had been a headache.

It could explain her smell, if she’d had such interactions with fae. Some were inclined to offer up lasting gifts. Or it could be another matter, if her father was the only human living so near. It was enough to stir the question in her mind, but she knew better than to ask in front of everyone. After all, Aveline had said nothing on the matter. So, she allowed it to rest with a simple, “Hm,” another mental note made, just like the one of Trevor’s apparent ease on the horse with her.

Besides, hadn’t Aveline also reacted when rowan was brought up as a way to alter Trevor’s scent? The thought came with some amusement as Trevor reacted to Alucard’s antagonizing, and Lucia quietly slipped the dry plates away, to go put them up into the carriage, all the while Trevor spoke of holidays and where he got his cleaning skills from.

“The more I hear about your life, the more I hate the church,” Sypha murmured, realizing all that Trevor had lost.

Alucard couldn’t help a slight nod, “I am starting to think I had more of a childhood than you,” he noted, but couldn’t help but add, “Though you had the best role in your family as taste-tester. You may have to make us one of these sweet rolls one day, Belmont. I don’t actually believe that you can, but I’m willing to be turned into a believer.” It was likely not something they could do on the road, but…well, when it was all said and done, they would be in Dracula’s castle.

They might need a day or two to regroup before they all went their separate ways.

“What is eaten for the holidays here?” Lucia asked, returning to the fire as she glanced around at all of them. Would Aveline have had much different from the others? Perhaps it was a strange question – it wasn’t like she could eat it, but she was curious if it differed much from the traditions of Chernihiv. She always knew when the season was starting by the smells – the boiled nuts and honey were a decadently sweet scent – and then all the garlic.

The sweetness of life, and the bitterness of life.

Besides the honey, there was an excess of fruit-filled pastries, but honey and it used in literally everything always told Lucia that the Christmas season had arrived.

Unlike Rome – but Rome was just drenched in wine for any celebration.
 
" Thanks Sypha." Trevor said with a soft chuckle. There was something nice about knowing that others sympathized with him and what his family had gone through. For years he had been traveling around keeping his family name a secret and getting into fist fights when ever he was found out. Because of the church there were so many people that believed the Belmonts deserved what had happened to them or believed that they really did use black magic, he was so used to having to turn the other cheek but suffer in silence.

Fat villagers or stupid goat fuckers talked like they knew the whole truth but they didn't know his family. They didn't see his sisters practicing their steps in the family ballroom, they didn't know his sisters were all devote believers in god, and they didn't hear the screams he had when the family home was burning. He had spent the last decade learning how to keep his mouth shut, bite his tongue, and survive on his own but there were people who thought what they did was actually a good thing.

But even those villagers weren't the worst offenders, no the worst offender was the church itself. The same church that lied to the population knowing that anything they said the people would do. The church was the reason that mob had burnt down his home, and that same church was the reason why Dracula was trying to destroy all of humanity.

But hearing Alucards comment about having more of a childhood than he did made Trevor chuckle.

" And your dads fucking Dracula."

From her place on the log sewing Aveline laughed into her hand and seconds later Sypha joined in.

Collecting himself Trevor looked up at the sky and tried to recall that sweet roll recipe. " It's been a long time since I've made it, but I could probably give it a shot sometime." The rolls could be made in a pan with a lid if he wanted to, that had been the way his mother taught him first because she had been worried he'd burn the house down if he tried to use the oven. He only moved onto the oven when he was older and more responsible, but now that he thought about to it she probably hadn't wanted him ruining all the other things they were baking at the same time.

" They're best if they're made in an oven. Maybe an inn will let me use the kitchen for a little bit in exchange for some coin." Some coin to grease their palms and then bringing his own supplies would probably get him through the door, and it was most likely the closest they'd get to an oven any time soon.

" But being a taste tester was only good if the food was. My sister Goldevia replaced the sugar in a batch of cookies with salt once, my mother had sworn I was over reacting to make my sister upset and forced me to eat the whole cookie. It was only afterwards when we were having the cookies after dinner that the rest of my family realized what had happened. I got two sweet rolls the next morning to make up for it." He chuckled.

" I always knew the holidays were coming up because my father would make Baklava!" Aveline hummed, memories of her father working hard on the pastry dough and then how tasty everything had been covered in warm honey. " Or he'd make Cozonac and I remember my mother making Bienstich a few times, it was so good I can't help but make it when I get the chance."

" Bienstich?" Sypha asked with a curious look on her face. She had heard of Cozonac, that was very Romanian in nature and Baklava had roots in various cultures but had become very popular in Romanian culture as well.

" My father called it the bee sting cake because he would get stung by bees gathering the honey for me, but it's a cake with yeast in it. It's covered in warm honey and nuts." Sypha hummed at the idea of it, It sounded so good!

" I remember my mother making a lot of custards, some date breads, and some pears poached in spices and red wine." Trevors stomach would of growled at just the thought of all the wonderful Christmas meals he had growing up, but he had just eaten.

" What about you Sypha?" Trevor asked.

" We speakers travel so often that our recipes are more focused on baking around a campfire. When it got cold and winter came we make a lot of steam buns that we would fill with meat or finely chopped fruits. Oh and preserved fruits, lots of preserved fruits!"

" What did you and your mother eat for special occasions, Alucard?" Aveline asked him with a curious shine in her eyes. She also wanted to ask Lucia about the foods she used to eat when she was alive, but at the same time Lucia hadn't told them a lot about her past yet and she didn't want to pry if it was unwelcome.
 
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Food, even in Rome, had been a way to bring people together. It was a common interest humans shared, after all. One that vampires no longer did. Lucia would never know how these things tasted, but it did not mean she found it any less fascinating. She’d taken to appreciating it as an art, with smells. The things that humans threw together to entice their tastebuds and provide fuel for their bodies was quite miraculous, given they didn’t need to be this way.

It was an art.

And it was pleasant to see the way everyone’s eyes lit up as they spoke of their holiday memories and the foods that came with it, anecdotes of their cultures and lives thrown in. Lucia didn’t hide the smile at the mention of the ‘bee sting cake’. She already knew how frustrating getting honey could be.

Her father had, truly, loved her.

The recipe of pears that Trevor mentioned was a bit familiar, though, and Lucia’s brows knit together, trying to recall the mulled wines and the pears from Rome, the way the fruit took that burgundy hue, and how the flavor clung to it. It was a rarity, but it had been quite divine. Pears weren’t so flavorful themselves, so there was no offensive mixture.

She didn’t speak up though to mention it.

She commented only on Sypha’s words, “You are making it very easy to learn how to bribe you, Sypha.”

Sypha grinned, “I encourage any and all attempts to bribe me with preserves.”

Alucard chuckled, but his expression turned a bit somber when attention was brought on him, and what he and his mother ate on special occasions. He turned his mind back to those moments, though, and slowly the smile returned, “This may come as some shock to you all, but our tradition was to try new foods on the holidays. My mother was never satisfied with the same thing each year…and with the castle and all the stores of knowledge, well, she made sure that there would be a couple of new things each year.”

He could remember her stress over it as she tried to get each new recipe right, having not worked on it at all before. Dracula had found it both amusing and bewildering, though perhaps that was to be expected, given his diet.

“I would ask her to make pasca, though – any fruit, I did not care, so long as there was pasca. I know one dessert from afar that I ended up liking quite a bit was gulab jamun,” at the confused looks from Sypha and Lucia, he added, “It was a something of a fried milk sweet, drenched in a saffron syrup. I think I ate almost all of them,” he chuckled, remembering how sticky his fingers had been. He tried to lick it all off, to no avail…he had to wash the sweetness off his fingers. “They make it in India.”

Sypha shook her head, “I’ve never been that far,” though she knew some of the stories, still it had not yet been a place she’d visited. “Was pasca the only thing you made sure to have?”

He chuckled, “It was the only thing I could make sure to have. If I tried to ask her to make everything I liked each year, her heard would have exploded.” He had never been a picky eater. And his mother, while she was frustrated and flustered sometimes in the process, was excellent at following recipes.
 
" It sounds like your mother was a wonderful baker, Alucard." Aveline had only had Pasca maybe twice because her father had just never introduced it to her, and when holidays came they were content with the things they normally made, but she had loved it every time she had it. " Ah, now I want Pasca. I tried it for the first time two years ago around easter, it was my first year traveling on my own and I stopped to stay in an Inn for a few days. The inn keepers wife had made Pasca and it was amazing," she hummed at the memory. Of course it didn't scream 'my childhood' at her like it did for Alucard but it was nice to know everyone had something in common.

Despite their various backgrounds and the different ways they were raised they were all over to bond over food and memories of better times. she had been her happiest running around the field outside her house with her pets, then coming inside for some Bienstich and while it was a bit odd it wasn't hard to look around the campfire and imagine everyone has children going through something similar.

A child Sypha was most certainly very cute in her large robes and probably just as sassy, but imagining her with a steamed bun full of preserves brought a smile to her face. Rough around the edges Trevor probably looked as sweet as honey when he was younger, just a mop of brown hair enjoying all the different treats his sisters piled on him in between doing the dishes. Even reserved Alucard had probably looked precious as he dug into his sticky foreign treats with his parents walking over him and smiling.

" I think that comes with the territory of being a mother," Trevor mused "I mean the being good at cooking thing. Or maybe being a child means you love your mothers cooking regardless." To children their mother was their everything and their whole world, though it did help that as a child you would probably only eat your mothers cooking and not have any idea of any better options out there.

" Do you remember any foods you really liked, Lucia? Or is that too personal?" Aveline looked nervous to be asking, she didn't want to presume or bring up back memories but Lucia had started this conversation and hadn't said much about herself.

" She's probably worried her answers would date her," Trevor chuckled slightly, but there was no malice in his voice. He was curious and both cursed and thanked Aveline for asking before he could. It would of been out of character to ask but he was curious about her, and of course the others but the rest of the group seemed to have no problems talking about themselves or their likes and dislikes. " Or maybe they're really weird. Like stuffing intestines with fruit breads, wait no people already do that."

Aveline looked shocked a bit grossed out to hear that, " No, that's a waste of bread! And good fruit!"

" Father and I were given something like that once after helping a village with a goblin problem. It was," Trevor paused for a moment looking for the right words," It was hearty for sure."

" Is there nothing you won't eat, Trevor?" Sypha asked, her own appetite disappearing with almost every word that left his mouth.

Trevor didn't even blink," No, i'm not a picky eater. Besides its bad manners to turn away food someone gives you. Though I was served something called a 'clootie dumpling'," the English on his tongue heavy and foreign compared to the Romanian and French he had learned as a child ", and now that was rough. I ate half of it and then tried to feed the other half to the dog of the noble holding the dinner. Thinking back to it I hope the dog didn't die after."
 
Alucard nodded, the smile lingering on his lips, “She was,” perhaps not the most creative on her own, but it had seemed creative to him in how different it was. She followed the recipes so well, though, not testing much…but it was always delicious. He’d miss that in the years to come. He had known one day she would die before him, of course, but…not this soon. He had expected many more years of trying strange food together.

“We’ll be coming up on the holidays here soon,” Sypha noted. Perhaps not that soon, but the weather was turning towards winter. “Perhaps…if we’re all still together,” or if not, they could join together, “we could share all these recipes. Have our own feast!” She clapped her hand at the idea, before the realization that Lucia couldn’t enjoy it struck her.

It seemed hit Aveline, too, that Lucia hadn’t added anything. She’d listened, but…hadn’t spoken much of her own history here. It must have been a long time ago. Was it rude to talk like this? But then, she brought it up….

Lucia should have expected it, as well, but she’d gotten lost in imagining the others and their memories, before she could think to redirect the conversation. Perhaps other traditions would have been an easy segue – but no, she hadn’t gotten there first, and she did tense a bit at the question. It wasn’t…bad.

It was hard. She would not trade her life for a mortal death, for never being a vampire, but…it didn’t mean there were not many things she missed. A thousand things. A million things.

Trevor gave her a moment to recover her thoughts, as he spoke of the horrible food he’d eaten once, earning a disgusted look from Alucard, “Even I wouldn’t eat that. You have a stronger stomach than me,” he didn’t know the second thing Trevor mentioned, and he didn’t want to know, either.

“Please, I was a Roman, not a barbarian – we were more refined than that,” no they weren’t, but they’d claim it, and she said it with humor, albeit the self-deprecating sort at recalling Rome from hindsight. It was…another bad thing about living so long. Nostalgia ended up mixed with revulsion for some things. “I do remember pears and mulled wine. That tradition was in my culture as well…some would try with apples, but the apple just didn’t work for me.” There were many new things with apples now. “The closest holiday to your Christmas would have been my Saturnalia – mulled wine was common, and so were the pears, as were sweet wine cakes, and apple tarts with cinnamon – though peaches in cream were popular, too. They were newly discovered and eaten for just about every holiday, then,” she chuckled, knowing she was, in fact, dating herself.

But she did remember the discovery of them, and how one generous patrician brought several to the temple of Vesta for them.

“Saturnalia would have been a celebration for Saturn, right?” Sypha asked.

“Yes,” she agreed, “It wasn’t exactly my favorite day, but it…was entertaining,”

“Entertaining? What, were sons sacrificed?” Lucia arched a brow, “Wasn’t Saturn basically Cronus?”

Lucia might have cursed, but instead she just shook her head, “No. The Greek gods were not the Roman gods. Our Mars had sense, unlike Ares, and our Saturn was not a child-devouring monster. He was…worshipped and thanked for abundance. Saturnalia was a time of feasting, but it was also a time of reversals – we were feasting in a time of shortage,” as ever, “and there were banquets across Rome for all to eat from…so it seemed proper to turn other things on their heads. Masters served their slaves during this time, and people gave gifts.” Albeit usually joke gifts in poor humor.

“Why did not the slaves just rebel at that time?”

Lucia smirked, “Some rules remained in place. The roles weren’t entirely reversed. Mostly the masters just did some of the chores and the slaves got to lounge around for once.” And there was the King of Saturnalia, but that was an entirely different matter.

“Mmm…I wonder how much that influenced our Christmas,” she mused. It was supposed to be a gift-giving season, and helping one another…though the latter part sometimes did not occur, it was still within the spirit of the season.

Lucia shook her head, seeming to suggest she didn’t know. She would have answered ‘little’. The traditions seemed far removed, to her.
 
" Oh!" Aveline said, perking up in her seat hearing Syphas suggestion " Like a ' We didn't die so lets celebrate' Holiday party. I think that's a wonderful idea Sypha," Aveline could already picture it in her head. She wasn't sure where they would hold the party but if all went well they would be alive at the end of their quest and they could figure it out then. They could make their favorite holiday or festival foods and share them with everyone. She wouldn't mind getting stung by some bees if it meant sharing the Bienstich she had grown up eating with everyone.

" You could make your sweet rolls Trevor," she pointed out, curious to know what the rolls Trevor had grown up eating tasted like.

" How would I make those festival?" He blinked, clearly trying to think of something he could shove into the dough." Cranberries? Actually no, I hate cranberries. Raisins and dates?" He shrugged his shoulders a bit, he'd figure it out when the time came.

But everyone went silent as Lucia spoke and gave them an idea of what her past was like. It was exciting to learn for everyone because sitting in front of them was a real Roman. The Byzantine empire had only dissolved roughly 20 years, and while that was before most of the group was born or aware of the world around them to them the era of Rome and it's surviving influence had ended.

The Byzantine empire had been the last thing really clinging to the era and history of the Roman Empire, and with that gone so was official Rome. Other countries had of course been part of the empire but they years had gone and now each area was so different from one another, each with their own customs and languages now that hundreds of years had gone by and Vikings had spread across the land to settle homes for themselves.

But the stories of Rome was something that was still talked about, because Rome had been the peak. Even to this day in a world where the church was looking to consolidate their own power they were still translating and transcribing Roman texts down because even they knew the wisdom and progress of Rome. The land was in an era of darkness, but in front of them was someone who represented the light in many ways.

" So mulled wine with pears, peaches and cream, wine cakes," Trevor listed off already wondering how hard it would be to get everything they needed to make these different dishes. He wasn't even sure how they would make them, but that was the least of his concerns right now. " After we defeat Dracula and have this little party we can try our hand are making these things you remember. Smelling them would probably make things seem festive for you."

" That's a lot of wine," Aveline couldn't help but muse. Between the red wine and the peaches and cream she would probably end up drunk off her rocker if she wasn't careful.

" If we survive Dracula i'd say we'd deserve it," Trevor could already imagine holding a nice glass of red wine in his hands and getting that first sip after going who knows how long without ale. Even then he didn't drink red wine as often as he did ale. He hadn't been allowed any of the red wine that his mother put in things as a child, so his last taste of red wine was probably some communion wine and even that was years before his family had been murdered, they hadn't been very god fearing towards the end of things.

" You better keep your pants on then Trevor," Sypha said as she pointed an acquisitory finger at him, " You look like the type to start stripping when you drink too much." and she had no desire to see him in his under clothes running around.

" I'll have you know I've never stripped after drinking too much," Trevor playfully turned his nose up at the thought, " I'm more of the throw up and then sleep under a tree somewhere type."

" That isn't much better!" Sypha threw her arms up in the air with a small huff.

" You're just mad because you're the stripping type of drunk aren't you Sypha? Are you embarrassed? Because we're your friends and we'll support you," Trevor did such a good job pretending to be concerned for her that Sypha almost didn't get mad. Almost.

Aveline pulled her finished cloak on with a laugh as Sypha playfully lit the tip of Trevors bangs on fire, and he yelped as he quickly patted out the flames.

" Who's acting like a child now?" He asked with a frown, but he was hard to take seriously with the end of his bangs still smoking a little.
 
Trevor listed the items off, and seemed to want to add it to the plan for their celebration. She couldn’t eat it – but as he noted, she could smell it. The sight of it would certainly stir some memories as well, though she found herself immediately wanting to backtrack, a sort of panic rushing through her in the moment that she’d said too much already, even if it was only about food.

Still…she’d given them something she cared about, didn’t she? In a way, let them know how they could build her hopes, and she immediately wanted to take that power back from them, but she bit down on the words as Aveline spoke up about the wine. “Yes, well…the water was rather poor quality back then.” She noted. Alcohol was far safer to drink.

The topic shifted to something easier – how people were drunk. Lucia couldn’t help the laugh as Trevor was accused of being a stripping drunk. She didn’t see that – what he said was more what she imagined, though that was entirely the reason she’d grabbed the ale out of his hand. Even early on, she could see him as a destructive drunk.

Sypha stripping? “Mm…I can’t see it,” she said, shaking her head, though she spared a quick glance to make sure Trevor was fine in spite of the fire, “but Alucard….”

“I would not.”

“I came back to the camp and you were shirtless, Alucard.”

“My shirt was getting repaired – which yours still desperately needs.”

“Some of us have class, Alucard.” She said, to which he glowered.

“Neither of you have class,” Sypha stated in a dull voice, too easily recalling the dirty joke that had surprised her. They were both ruined in her mind. Classless.

“Have you even been drunk, Alucard?” Lucia canted her head. Somehow she just…couldn’t imagine it around Dracula, and when his face heated, she knew the answer.

“I…no, I have not drank to excess.” He admitted.

Lucia’s grin was devious, “Then yes, I think a celebration with plenty of wine is in order afterwards.” Alucard could get wasted. He might need to get wasted, at that point, to keep himself from anything too destructive. Or just to vent it all. “Have you, Aveline?”
 
" No I haven't," Aveline gave a small shrug, not ashamed by the fact " I was only ever me and my dad, I didn't want to get drunk around him." She snorted a bit just at the idea of it. Her father had already thought of her as his little girl, seeing her drunk probably would of ruined what ever illusion he was still using to keep him sane. " Then after he died and i was traveling by myself I didn't want to risk anything," Being a woman traveling by herself was never a safe thing, which meant she always had to be on her guard so drinking was out of the question. She was sure she could handle a cup or two but it was better to just avoid the stuff and stay on guard.

" That was probably for the best," Sypha agreed, she understood well the perils of traveling as a woman and she had been traveling in a group. She couldn't imagine traveling by herself after spending her whole life in one place with her family. " I'm surprised you decided to travel one your own. Not many would do that. Do something spur you to leave?"

Avelines mouth thinned out into a thin line, then she nodded slightly. " My mother and father were never officially married and never lived together, but I lived with my dad. They had a falling out, my mother-" she was struggling to find a kind way to describe it. Because to her, her mother was a horrible vile person now, but to the others who didn't know her mother she didn't want to seem like a monster or unnecessarily cruel,"- Changed, and I sided with my father instead of her. I think by the end of things she hated both of us." Aveline gave a self-deprecated chuckle, her eyes slightly glazed over as she thought back to that horrible fight. She remembered the way the ground shook with her mothers rage and how raw her fathers voice was from yelling.

But Aveline pulled herself from her thoughts with a small shake of her head, " When my father died I didn't see any point in staying on the mountain. I buried him, took anything important, and left."

" Oh," Syphas eyes were slightly wide, she hadn't expected that. " I'm sorry Aveline I shouldn't asked." But Aveline waved her off with a small smile. " It's fine, Sypha. It feels good to tell you guys the truth."

" Plus traveling has been great," Aveline clapped her hands together thinking about the places she had been and the things she had learned.

" Then you haven't been traveling long enough. At some point it really begins to grate on you." Trevor said. He had been traveling long enough that now he hated it for the most part. He missed having a place he could go to with a bed that only he had ever slept in. He had spent enough nights sleeping under trees to know traveling wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

" You're just a mood killer more often than not, aren't you?" Aveline asked with a fond shake of her head.

Trevor let out a slight chuckle, then shrugged. " Killing is in my blood so yes, that's me. Good old 'mood killing' Trevor Belmont."

Maybe it was because it was close to sunrise or maybe she was more tired than she realized but Trevors joke had no right making her laugh as much as it did.
 
A falling out? Alucard had seen her react poorly before with the mention of her mother. She did not put it all into words, he could see her struggling to do so, but she did make it clear that she had not left the place in good standing with her mother. With the passing of her father, there would have been little to keep her there.

He almost wanted to apologize as well, but Sypha did. Aveline did not seem upset, though, and his own posture relaxed. He let out a breath easier, as he said, “Thank you – for trusting us. It seems the majority of us have family issues.” He did not know if Sypha did, nor even if Lucia did – though that might bring up the question of ‘which family’.

He knew some turned vampires thought of the one who turned them as family. It was a common train of thought. He’d not heard much of that one, though. He only knew that the one who turned Lucia was dead, a long time ago.

Then came Trevor’s comment on traveling – hardly helpful. He might have snapped at him for it, given their current situation, but when the laughter started around him, he blinked. He clearly missed the joke.

Lucia spoke, as it died down, “If it helps, I still enjoy traveling, and I’ve been doing it longer than Trevor.” Lucia saw the sky starting to shift, the darkness tainting red and orange, so she rose, “Given, I have a place to return to…if I didn’t, I would hate it.” She had hated it for a while, before she was able to call Chernihiv home. She had thought to return to Rome, but…well, she hadn’t been there for centuries now. “Take that for what you will.”

Alucard gave a nod, “I think traveling is a good thing. My mother was always insistent on it. I did some, but…not quite like this,” he confessed. He had never gone too far, either, and never alone, except when he ran to Gresit to heal and to await the fulfilment of the prophecy. “Perhaps I’ll change my mind after this. Trevor may just kill my enjoyment of it.”

The joke might have reached him then – at least enough of it for him to poke fun at Trevor once more, anyways.
 
" Your version of traveling is in that carriage with Johann, Danica, and two nightmares." Trevor said as he waved towards the carriage in all its glory. His and Avelines version of traveling was most likely the same, which meant traveling on foot. No vampire carriage or speaker caravan to protect them from the wind and rain or to sit on when their feet got tired. No one to worry about them when they got sick or to help them make a fire when they were too tired to move. " Traveling on foot by yourself just sucks. Period." he crossed his arms over his chest to make his point.

But his crossed arms softened hearing what Lucia said at the end. " yeah, having a place to go home to would change things." he agreed, voice softer and more vulernable than he wanted it to be. When he had been traveling with his father or even on his own for his first few missions he had loved traveling because part of the fun of traveling was returning home and seeing everyone you missed. Now, however, the closest he was going to get to that in roughly a decade was seeing the shell of what was once his house.

He still felt like he was setting himself up by taking everyone to the old estate, the ruined building they would see would be the bones of what was once his life and just thinking about it left him feeling naked. What would they say when they saw it? And how would he react when he got there? It would be like opening an old wound and seeing if it had healed or been left to fester.

" Certainly took you a moment to get the joke didn't it, Alucard?" Trevor teased him back easily. " Welcome to the party."

Aveline laughed a bit then stood up as well, stretching out and enjoying the way her muscles stretched. " I think the sun will be up soon. We should make something for Johann and Danica." Johann had missed the last couple good meals they had so he deserved a warm meal when ever he woke up, and Danica would be the one getting up to drive so she would probably also enjoy something warm and filling.

" Potatoes and eggs would probably work out well." They would be pretty easy to make and would give them quick clean up, which was good because once the sun was really on them then they'd be packing up and heading out. Which also meant it was almost time for the rest of them to go to sleep, just the idea of going to sleep gave Aveline enough energy to get started on breakfast.
 
Trevor’s tone was noted, and in truth, it was exactly what Lucia expected. Having a home changed much. It changed traveling. Traveling wasn’t life then, traveling was…fun. Or even for a duty, a responsibility, but it had purpose, not…aimlessness. If Trevor had a place to call his own, it would indeed be different. Perhaps it would be the next thing to work on. They were going back to the Belmont estate. He might be convinced to fix it back up, to start a life again.

Alucard had rolled his eyes at Trevor’s comment as Lucia turned away to head to the carriage, “It was a bad joke, that’s why,” he said, though that wasn’t true – it couldn’t be, with how it had amused others. Still, he sighed. Aveline was right. It was time to get moving again. He should probably stay up and learn how to drive the carriage.

“He’ll like that,” Lucia called back, “He likes anything potato,” he had a problem. Not that he could be blamed. Her entire area had a problem with liking potato too much, though usually in the form of vodka.

“I’ll handle the eggs, and sausage,” Alucard volunteered. “I am intending to stay up to help learn how to drive the carriage some more today,” he added, imagining he would learn from Danica. Johann might fall right back to sleep after he was woken. They’d figure out how to rotate this as they went on, but he was calling dibs now. He didn’t need to sleep as much, after all.

Lucia, meanwhile, opened the carriage door. Danica was asleep on one bench, and Johann on the other. But, folded up safely, in Danica’s arms, was what looked to be her cloak. Lucia reacted without thought, pulling it immediately from Danica to examine it. The sudden gesture stirred Danica awake, almost in a panic – she hadn’t been asleep long.

The cape billowed out – how much of it was left, anyways. It looked to be about half of the scraps pieced together, and while Danica did her best to hide every stitch, it was still clear to Lucia where they had been. And yet…., “Oh, I was going to wait until I finished it, when we got more fabric,” Danica’s voice was sleepy as she roused herself, calming her own panic as she observed Lucia assessing it, apparently in disbelief.

It was so rare to throw her off guard like that. Which had been the plan, but….

Danica noted the hue of the sky shifting slightly, and she pulled herself up and stepped onto the step, before down to the ground as Lucia automatically moved aside, “Trevor found most of the pieces,” she lowered her voice to say that.

She didn’t need to say more, as she watched Lucia’s fists clench tighter, as if it would somehow protect it.

Lucia couldn’t get a word out. Just a deep nod of her head, almost a bow, to Danica’s words and work, before she stepped up into the carriage, and lightly reached across to touch Johann’s shoulder and shake him. He stirred, a complaint in every wordless syllable as he opened his eyes, “Go eat, Johann. It’s almost morning.”

He didn’t really complain, didn’t notice much, just took note of Danica outside and stumbled out of the carriage. Danica shut the door behind him.

Lucia took that stolen moment to hold the cloak closer to her, to accept that surge of pain and relief that came with having half of it back, rather than the whole – that came with the fact it was Trevor who found it, twisting it to be almost more painful, but not in a way that could be described as unpleasant. She was used to the familiar longing, though she didn’t know why that pain stirred with the gracious thoughts, and the knowledge she couldn’t repay this debt.

He didn’t know what this was…not in any story…and yet, he did.

Outside, she heard Sypha greet the others, “Good morning! How are the benches now?”

“Comfy enough,” Johann yawned in answer.
 
" Johann was sleeping on the ground before the benches were done, I don't think he's that picky," Aveline pointed out with a chuckle as she cleaned off the potatoes with some water from the bucket. " But since I have every plan of going to sleep when I get in the carriage i'm happy to hear it's comfy in there."

Aveline diced the potatoes as a pan of oil began to sizzle over the fire. She carefully tossed in the potatoes, not wanting to pop herself or Alucard with some of the oil, and added some onion to season the potatoes a bit. Between the onion and the bit of fat she had used to grease the pan she was sure the potatoes wouldn't be bland.

" Smells good." Johann was able to eek out between a yawn. He walked over and sat down on one of the logs, his sleepy gaze on the fire pit and the meal that was cooking away.

" We thought you and Danica deserved something hearty. You didn't get to eat with us earlier, so you're probably pretty hungry and Danica will be steering the carriage today so she'd need something to hold her over." Aveline explained as she stirred the potatoes, trying to get them nice and crispy. She hadn't done this in a while, most of her travels she had just grown fruits and vegetables that she could eat raw and anything cooked she got from an inn. But working over a fire making potatoes like this reminded her of home and of her father. he had loved crispy potatoes like no ones business, but he was a big muscled man that needed all the energy he could get. Honestly looking between her and her father it would surprise anyone to find out they were father and daughter.

" How's your head?" She was still worried about Johann and that hit he had taken yesterday, but he smiled at her and that helped put her worries to rest. " It's sore but i'm not feeling sick or dizzy anymore, so i'll live." Aveline let out a relieved sign and let herself just focus on the potatoes for a moment.

" Will you be ok in the sun today, Alucard?" She asked him. Now that she wasn't worried about Johann so much anymore her concern had shifted to Alucard who was going to sit up front of Danica and the horses today. She knew he wasn't as bothered by the sun as Lucia, he wouldn't die in it as far as she was aware, but she was still a bit worried.


" I'm going to fetch one last bucket of water before we go." Trevor said as he stood up and grabbed an empty bucket. They had almost used the last of their water and they would need more to clean off the dishes and put out the fire when they left, but he didn't get too far from the camp when he caught Danicas eye.

They didn't say anything to one another, just a few seconds of eye contact and then a soft nod but it was enough for him. Danica had put back together as much of Lucias cape as she could with the scraps they had found and even though he wasn't sure what all that had turned into he still wished he had been able to find more of it. Something was better than nothing and finding all the scraps was almost impossible, but when it was something important like that he wished that he could make the impossible possible because if it had been his cloak that had been ripped to pieces he'd want a miracle to happen.

But still he refilled the water bucket and returned to camp feeling a bit more proud of himself than normal, which wasn't saying much he hadn't really had anything to be happy or proud about for a long time.
 
“His hair is a wreck though,” Danica couldn’t help but comment as she lifted a hand to try and straighten it out. Johann allowed it for a few seconds – perhaps too tired to dodge – but then he flinched away.

“It’s just gonna get messed up again,” he complained, before purposefully messing it back up again. He was absolutely going back to bed after this well-deserved breakfast. Danica chuckled at his reaction, but didn’t reach again to try and straighten out the blond locks. She let him sit there defiantly with his hair messed up.

Alucard was amused by their antics for a moment, before he caught Aveline’s query, “Hm? Oh…yes, I should be fine. If I am not, I can slip into the carriage,” he noted, imagining he wouldn’t be all that bothered. He spent most of yesterday in the carriage, and the day before that, he’d been entombed.

The sun wasn’t going to cause any damage to him that quickly. “It’s been a while since I have been in the sun for long, but I do not think that will affect me greatly. I should be able to manage, and then we’ll have one more person for the shifts.”

He knew Aveline would learn soon, too. Then they likely wouldn’t need to worry of overburdening Johann or Danica, even if they clearly could do well on their own. They were the only two that Lucia had with her, after all.

Alucard scrambled the eggs in the pan, rather than do anything too terribly fancy right then. He cooked them after the sausage, thinking the lingering juices might add some flavor to the eggs, too, and once they were done he plated them, for Aveline to add the potatoes to it. They did look good – potatoes with onion always were, though. They just needed some peppers.



Lucia didn’t linger awake for long to listen to things outside the carriage. The cloak calmed her a bit, enough to remind her that she did need to sleep, and she wasn’t likely to do so when others started to enter the carriage. Her nerves would get the better of her around so many she barely knew, even if right then she was fairly confident in the fact none were going to harm her.

While it certainly didn’t have its old length, Lucia still settled the cape around her shoulders and leaned into the far side of the carriage, eyes closing.

It took a little bit, but eventually, she was able to drift off – all those functions she practiced in waking, like breathing, falling off as sleep overtook her to heal the wounds. To return her to the state she was ‘turned’ in. That was the only purpose of sleep anymore, physical restoration to the point of ‘death’. And she slept like the dead.
 
" Maybe after you learn how to drive you or one of the others can show me," Aveline suggested eagerly. She did want to learn the drive the carriage, but she also wanted a way to get out of the carriage sometimes. " Not being out in the sun will probably drive me crazy if i'm not careful." While they were all still settling into their new routine she wasn't ready to totally say goodbye to the sun. In fact the top of the carriage looked like a good place for a cat nap every now and then if the sun looked especially bright and warm.

" If you're good with animals it won't be hard to learn," Danica assured her, but when was Danica ever not reassuring? " The nightmares aren't too different from normal horses when you look past their diet, their appearance, and the literal nightmares."

" I've ridden horses before so I have a basic idea of what to expect." Aveline said as she handed the finished plates over to Danica and Johann.

" This smells and looks great. I'm happy to know we have so many capable cooks with us." Danica hadn't been worried about being left to cook for the group if it came down to it but knowing that on the nights were she was sleeping and recovering from a long day shift that the group wouldn't suffer when it came to meals was a weight off her shoulders.

" It's nice to have people to cook for." Aveline smiled softly, remembering all the meals she and her father had prepared together or even just the meals she prepared for him when he was out of the house on business. She had missed those meals the most after he passed away, and eating in a tavern or inn by herself hadn't filled that hollow place in her like these last couple of meals with everyone had.

And with the way Johann was shoveling his breakfast into his mouth she had a feeling that it would feel like she was cooking for more people than were really traveling with them.


After Johann and Danica ate their fill Johann returned to the carriage with a thank you to Aveline and Alucard.

" You and Danica can start to get Sulla and Marius , Sypha and I can handle clean up." Aveline said as she handed Alucard his jacket and shooed him away from their make shift kitchen. If she was going to be sleeping in a little bit then she wanted to make herself useful while she could. With the clean water Trevor brought they were able to clean up and put away the dishes quickly, and then the three of them set about packing up everything and loading it back onto the carriage.

Trevor poured the left over water on the fire careful then made sure to stir the ashes with a stick so that no embers survived, then he stood back to look at what was once their camp sight. It was empty and hardly looked like anyone had been there, it was good that meant they were covering their tracks.

" I think we can finally hit the hay." He said, a yawn escaping his mouth as he stretched his hands over his head.

" See you guys later." Aveline bid Danica and Alucard, in her sleepy haze she waved goodbye to them like they were going separate ways, then climbed into the carriage behind Trevor and sypha who both immediately got comfortable, or as comfortable as you can get when you're sleeping sitting up.
 
“I’ll get Marius!” Danica proclaimed, and she went right to the horse who had finally chosen to sleep, though she knew he’d be grumpy after not getting to sleep off his meal completely. Alucard took note of which one she went to – they all looked rather similar at night. He went to the other horse, Sulla, and then realized he didn’t know how to wake a Nightmare.

He looked to Danica and was surprised to see her shaking the horse like one would a human. Apparently just calling out until Sulla woke was likely out, given how it seemed to take her a bit of cooing and gentle shaking to get Marius to stir, so he knelt down as well and put a hand lightly on the back of the horse’s neck. ‘Don’t bite me.’ “Sulla. Sulla! You need to—oh!” He hadn’t even shaken it, but the nightmare suddenly jerked awake with a start, tossing its head before climbing back to its feet.

Alucard rose after it, giving Danica a bemused look as she giggled at him. “What?”

“When one wakes, the other always does, too.” Danica noted. It had slipped her mind. She didn’t often have to wake them, but the two traveled the astral realm together, so when one woke, the other followed. “I’m sorry, I forgot,” she noted, “We would have just had to wake Sulla.”

“I see….” Alucard gently touched Sulla’s neck again, to turn him towards the carriage and assist in getting him all tacked up for the trip once more. They both got up onto the bench, and Danica took a more central seat and motioned for Alucard on the right as she took the reins in her hands. “Ite!”

The horses moved forward, “They’re trained in Latin – though Lucia’s said they understand us perfectly,” Danica indicated, as she lightly tugged the reins on the left side to turn both horses as a whole. “It’s not all that different from directing a horse on horseback, except for the feeling in the reins from so far. They will turn the way you tug, and if you pull back on both sides, they’ll stop. They’re fairly easy to manage unless we run into something harmful. Marius has a tendency to act up. He’s broken out of his yoke before.”

“I see….” He knew it wasn’t that different, he had done it once before, but somehow he thought the nightmares would be more difficult. “What are the commands?”

“Ite to go, Veni to come – to you or to something indicated, desinito to stop…those should be the only ones you’ll need to know,” there were plenty of others, to throw people off their backs, to step into the astral plane, and to attack, but Alucard shouldn’t need them and she didn’t want to fill his head with too much information. “You’ll also want to keep in mind to turn earlier than you think you need to – the carriage is a lot larger than it has any right to be,” she chuckle a bit, “When we get back on the road and some ways, I’ll let you try it. It’s not that bad, but remember – a light touch is enough. Marius will fight you otherwise.”

“Marius is…something of an asshole, isn’t he?” It was strange that Johann gravitated to him in riding, but perhaps it was because the other option was letting Danica have Marius.

Marius’s ears laid flat then and Alucard pale a little, recalling they could supposedly understand.

Danica was just chuckling, “Why do you think he’s named after the man who created the Roman Legions, hm?” Alucard hadn’t, of course, known that. Danica hadn’t known it until she asked, and was told the story of the two men who were rivals in life. “He’s a dear, really, but he has no time for those who lack respect. You have to show him that you understand his role and respect it, and he’ll show you the same respect. That’s all.”

His ears seemed to straighten out then.

Alucard just made a mental note as to which horse would probably trample him in his sleep.

~***~

Johann had gone to the seat across Lucia initially, forgetting the others would be arriving soon. It was still eerie to him, how she slept. She seemed utterly calm, of course, but the lack of breathing, and the lack of pulse, still put a hitch in his breath at first glance. She had a pulse when she was awake – he’d been fool enough to state she didn’t before. Apparently, it was only in sleep that everything seemed to truly ‘turn off’, but he still stared a few seconds, expecting her chest to rise in a breath, or to see more color to her.

He didn’t actually see her sleep often. It was still weird.

Then he shook himself from it, and slumped against his side of the carriage, falling off quickly, but not deeply.

He heard when the others reached the carriage, as the door opened, and he realized he might want to switch sides. Instinct more than logic – there was no reason not to allow someone by Lucia as she slept, she wasn’t known to wake up poorly, but he felt better being on her side rather than a stranger.

So as the others were stepping up, he quickly adjusted his side, “Sorry!” He apologized for his movement causing some momentary complication with getting up and into the carriage car, as he settled in the bench with Lucia. He knew he’d be stuck in the middle if anyone thought to sit by him, but he was hoping not.

More room to spread out, then.

Things would have to adjust when Danica came back, but with any luck that would mean she’d take the space by Lucia when he left for his shift.

~***~

To dream, or not to dream, that was the question.

By default, Lucia did not dream. It was another part of the ‘dead sleep’ aspect. She slept, time passed like a second, and she woke when her body determined she was healed. Forcing sleep outside of injury situations was rarely a good idea. One could easily sleep for a year, like Alucard had – though he at least had an injury to deal with. One that would never heal.

Lucia dreamt when the Nightmares did. The problem, of course, was that it was a nightmare. She could see the flickers of their blue flames in the way the shadows danced in her home of Chernihiv, though there was no fire lit anywhere – that was a constant theme to these dreams, she’d noticed.

Just as the paralysis she felt as the shadow of Dimas fell upon her. Her eyes had been focused on the fireplace, trying to will fire into it, but it never worked. Even knowing it was a dream, she couldn’t grasp at the control of it again. She felt his hand place itself over her neck, tilt her chin up slightly, as his chest pressed against her back, “You did not truly think that was going to work, did you, Doll?”

She was as useless as one in the dream, only able to move as he manipulated. She couldn’t even speak to argue.

Laughter rumbled in his throat, the way it always did when he was irrationally angry, “It’s all right. I forgive you. I know you only do as you’re told, I know it was only Carmilla,” if he forgave her, his grip didn’t suggest it, his own nails starting to pierce the flesh of her neck. “But I am still hurt by it. You should only listen to me, Doll.”

‘Vesta, Minerva, Diana, Iuno, Kore.’ A mantra of goddesses, a mantra to try and break the spell, that ended up unnecessary.

Blue flames flickered to life, and the dream was wreathed in fire, before there was nothing.

Darkness.

Thoughtlessness.

Death.
 
Trevor paused in his shifting to get comfortable, he was trying to use his cloak like some type of pillow so that when the carriage started he wouldn't be woken up by hitting his head on the side, when he noticed the way Lucia was sleeping. In general it was odd to see her sleeping, he knew vampires didn't need to sleep and often avoided it unless they were hurt or just wanted to kill the time but he didn't see many sleeping vampires. Normally they were awake and ready to pounce on him.

Something looked off about her, but she always stood out against what ever she was around. She was supernaturally beautiful and so pale, an ashe grey sometimes in the right light, and everything else seemed bland beside her. This time though she stood out in a bad way. She was too still while everything else seemed too bold, it reminded him too much of seeing the dead. She wasn't breathing, wasn't moving at all she was just leaning against the side of the carriage.

Even when the carriage began to move she seemed too still, and he thought he was the only one who noticed. Aveline and Sypha had barely spent any time getting comfortable before closing their eyes and trying to go to sleep, maybe they didn't see anything wrong with Lucia like he did.

Johanns quiet voice pulled him from his thoughts, " She's just sleeping," and Trevor glanced at him. They locked eyes and he could just tell Johann knew what was bothering him. " It's a little hard to get used to at first, when she sleeps I mean. But she's just sleeping to recover, her wounds aren't horrible. I'm sure that by the time we all wake up she'll be awake and back to normal," If Johann was trying to reassure himself Trevor didn't call him out on it.

" Just never seen a sleeping vampire this close before," Trevor said, trying to explain away his concern but Johann didn't press him on it. The two seemed to share a better understanding of each other than their limited time and interacts would explain. Maybe it was the fact they had similar back grounds but Johann seemed to understand his concerns and motives without ever having to ask.

" Hopefully you won't have to see her sleep too often." Johann said with a small but tight frown on his face, and he and Trevor shared a nod. Neither of them wanted that.

Then with nothing left to say the two got as comfortable as they could on their opposite sides of the carriage and tried to sleep.


It was hours later when Aveline woke up, the carriage had lulled to a stop but the door was pulled open carefully by Danica was doing her best to let in as little light as possible, she wasn't sure if Lucia would be awake yet but regardless she didn't want to her hurt even by accident.

" Johann, it's your turn. Alucard is doing well with the nightmares though, I've been letting him drive for a while. " Danica had been impressed to see how well Alucard was doing with Marius and Sulla, and neither had really acted out against him but she was there keeping a close eye on them so they knew better. But she was tired and wanted to get in a quick nap before they found a place to camp for the night, it shouldn't be too much to ask of Johann to sit with Alucard and keep the nightmares in line for a bit.

Johann woke up slowly with a yawn, but he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with no real protest. The only grumble he made was when he got to move to make room for Danica on the bench and went she tried to smooth out his hair.

" You're going outside you can't keep your hair like that." But he knocked her hands away from his head when ever they got close.

" I want to go outsid with you too, Johann." Aveline said, her voice suddenly appearing scaring the two a bit. " We didn't know you had woken up. You almost scared me to death." Danica said as she rested a hand over her heart.

Aveline looked sheepishly and apologized, " Sorry, but I want to go outside and enjoy the sun a bit before it goes down."

" There should be enough room for the three of us on the bench." Johann agreed before he and Aveline quickly made their way out of the carriage. Danica made sure to put herself between Lucia and any sun that snuck in, but once the door closed she settled in to sleep for a bit.

Outside Aveline stretched and enjoyed both the fresh hair and sun, while Johann greeted Marius and Sulla with some gentle pats on their necks.

" How has your day of driving need, Alucard? Exciting?" Aveline asked him curiously as she looked for a more graceful way to get up to the drivers bench. It was a lot higher up than the step into the carriage, and the step between the stirrup and actual carriage seat was still a bit large.

With a bit of a sheepish chuckle Aveline held out a hand towards Alucard " Mind lending me a hand?" but she appreciated the help onto the bench.
 
While Alucard could not say any of this driving had been particularly exciting, it was good to have Danica there to talk away some of the hours with. She seemed to think they would make it to the next town by sundown – Vanator. Danica had a surprisingly good idea of the layout.

Alucard had heard of Vanator. He wondered if it would be in terrible shape, or if the demons might have passed it over. He didn’t know his father’s plans in the least, beyond total extermination. When Danica wanted to sleep, he scooted towards the center and took the reins, stopping the horses with a light pull back so she could hop off and go get Johann. He didn’t ask to go back in himself, though he considered it.

The sun was…not painful, but starting to get a bit too warm.

He heard Aveline’s voice, though, and smiled to himself. It seemed she had gotten enough sleep. Johann walked on ahead to the nightmares, stroking each in turn. “I think they’d prefer some treats,” Alucard couldn’t help but comment, and much to his surprise, Johann seemed to agree, as he sleepily just walked to the bench on the other side, and dug into the bag that Danica had drew out some food from. He took a couple sticks of jerky out and went back around to offer them to the horses.

Alucard shook his head a bit, surprised at how easy it was to offer them jerky when his hands were right there. They could bite them off.

They didn’t.

He turned his attention to Aveline and did lean forward to take her hand and help to pull her up into the carriage as he answered, “Oh, wonderfully exciting. Endless fields of nothing and a well-weathered road have been my constant companions.” Along with Danica, who was pleasant, but still – this didn’t classify as exciting. “This really is not too hard. I was expecting it to be a bit…more.” Given the kind of creatures at the helm.

Johann came back around and took his seat on the other side of Alucard, “Can you get us started?” He asked, grabbing a bit of jerky snack for himself then.

Alucard gave a nod, “Ite.”

And the horses moved.
 
" That sounds like something from a folk tale, just the open road and fields for company." Aveline chuckled as she got comfortable on the bench beside Alucard while Johann gave the horses some treats. She didn't say anything but she hoped to give the horses a treat some day, but for now she was content sitting up here with Alucard.

Marius let out a snort, he was probably annoyed for not being considered company. " Oh that was a mistake on my part. Of course you had Marius and Sulla to talk to as well." Marius bobbed his head and went back to his treat without anymore sounds, looks like she had avoided getting on his shit list for the moment.

" But i'm happy to see that a day in the sun hasn't turned you to ash. I honestly expected you to have at least a bit of a sun burn by now." she teased as she looked over Alucard for any telltale signs of pink, but he looked very good. In fact the sun shining on his golden hair made him look even more handsome with normal, and his golden eyes seemed even easier to get lost in with this light.

Aveline looked away and instead focused on the horses, despite the fact that were wasn't anything that exciting going on this was all very nice. It was a lull in their journey that after yesterday night and everything that happened was more welcomed.

" Oh I didn't realize we were going to make it into a town so soon. That's really good news, we do need to restock after what happened last night. Syphas preserves did get destroyed, and maybe we can really get Trevor to make some sweet rolls."

In the distance large stone walls showed them that there was in fact a town, though the walls certainly hadn't been going their job of keeping out invaders. In the past any town that wanted to survive needed walls, but now that the things killing them were in fact not human and could climb or fly over walls the beautiful stone work was little more than decoration. But still a town behind stone walls promised that they could restock their supplies and maybe stay in an inn with beds. They had only really slept in the carriage today but sitting up straight and trying to sleep was really weird. The body slumped in weird ways and it was ease to get a knot in the neck, so laying down even if it was in a rented inn bed would be nice for a bit.
 
The snort made Alucard wary again, “Yes, Marius and Sulla…one of which is going to murder me in my sleep next time,” he murmured, and Johann laughed. He wasn’t sure if that should annoy him or not, and he gave Johann some serious side-eye for it, before shaking his head, hearing Aveline’s comment. “No, the coat has protected me, and my hair,” one of the perks of long-hair. “I suppose the shadow of the carriage may have also helped,” they weren’t driving into the sun for most of the trip, after all.

He was fine.

Hot, thanks to the coat, and the sun, but not burned. At least, not that he was yet aware of, anyway.

“Dhampirs cannot be turned to ash by the sun, right?” Johann asked, “No matter how long they’re out?”

“Correct,” he agreed, “our human side seems to prevent that.” He did burn, but it was why he’d adapted to wearing such covering attire like the long coat. It was also why most of it was fairly light. It was no fun to wear heavy clothes in summer, and while it was definitely not summer, even now he felt too hot.

Alucard relaxed back into the bench as the nightmares trekked on, “I wonder if he’ll truly be so inclined to make the rolls now,” Alucard mused, “or if someone would actually trust him near an oven.” Alucard wouldn’t. “There are small towns scattered about this area. Most aren’t more than a day or two apart,” trade was necessary for life, and there wasn’t a doctor in every town.

People had to be closer together to seek these things – within a day or two, at least, by horse. Plus, they were on the main road, for now. They were likely to run into towns fairly frequently until they moved off of it.

~***~

Waking was always startling. Lucia’s heart beat again, slow as it was, and she took in an automatic breath. She was too accustomed to breathing for the act to not follow immediately, and then consciousness seemed to rush back into her.

The air was too cold with the last thought on her mind being engulfed in flames. ‘Dream, just a dream….’ She hadn’t actually died, the dream just ended because the Nightmares woke up, everything was okay. Still, when she opened her eyes, there was a bit of a panicked look to them.

Waking never got easier, even without the dreams. It was still as if she was coming back from dying.

The panic faded as Lucia acknowledged a weight slumped against her, and glanced over to see Danica. She sighed, but didn’t move. Now she couldn’t try to find a book to stay entertained. She wasn’t going to go back to sleep, either.

She glanced across to see Trevor and Sypha across her. That meant Johann, Aveline, and Alucard were out there, so at least one shift had ended. Perhaps it’d be night soon. She wasn’t about to take a peek to find out.
 
" We wouldn't let them kill you in your sleep," Aveline assured Alucard with a chuckle. " Though they certainly could if they wanted, but I don't think you've gotten anywhere near annoying them enough for that." She had been around animals her whole life, and while some could really have their moment attitudes and throw fits Marius and Sulla had been wonderful so far, even if there was a moment where Marius looked like he wanted to eat Lucias bleeding arm. Still he had backed down pretty easily so he was clearly civil enough, she'd settle for calling him mischievous for the most part.

Aveline shed her cloak and enjoyed the way the sun hit her sun through the long slits in her sleeves and pants, it had been felt like it had been too long. " I never traveled on the main road long when I was traveling by myself, I preferred the back roads more than anything else but I always knew if I needed supplies to just find the main road," she confessed. She didn't come from a village or town, the mountain she had been raised on was actually avoided by travelers for the most part and the slightly overgrown path she had found off the mountain wasn't something she could see merchants using.

When she left her mountain it had been the first time leaving it ever, but she was more comfortable in the forest than anything else so she was able to get around safely and easily for the most part. " I normally ran into trouble when I traveled the main roads, so I avoided them honestly. Sometimes you have to resupply though, that was actually why I was in Gresit when it was."

" I imagine a woman on her own traveling would attract unsavory types," Johann mused, he had certainly seen some people ready to take advantage of Danica when they thought she was on her own, but they didn't know she was more than able to handle herself. He couldn't imagine what Aveline went through as a young woman traveling on her own. " It attracts the robber types and the would be rapist types. They never expect the spear though." Aveline chirped. " Who would expect a spear?" Johann asked with a chuckle.

" I don't appreciate being underestimated." Aveline concluded with a firm nod of her head.


The carriage shook slightly as it transitioned from traveling on compact dirt to cobbled stone, and the slight jolt and change of sound woke Trevor up. Even when he was sleeping his body was always alert to some degree, he was used to being on his own and having to look out for himself even when he was sleeping. But by the time he had registered that he was in the carriage and not sleeping under a tree somewhere he knew he was too awake to fall bad sleep. He didn't normally get this much sleep, a few hours here and there or a quick cat nap was best when on your own, and his body didn't really know what to do with all the extra energy.

He stretched out a bit, careful not to jolt Sypha who had ended up slumped against him after Aveline left her without anything to lean on, then noticed Lucia was awake. Even in the carriage with only a lantern for light her eyes stood out, much be a vampire thing.

" Good morning sleeping beauty." He chuckled, his voice a little rough with sleep.

" I see Danica was able to patch up your cloak really well." He said, noticing the red fabric on her shoulders. From here he couldn't see the stitches holding it together and was impressed with Danicas skills and speed.

He was also slightly surprised to see how much of the cloak had been able to be sewn together. All those scraps of fabric didn't seem like too much when he handed the bundle over to Danica, but she was able to make something nice out of it. In the least it was something more than that single strip Lucia had walked into the woods with a few hours ago.
 
Alucard couldn’t help the wry smile that curved his lips as Aveline stretched out, shedding extra clothe to expose herself to the sun. It was a pleasure he couldn’t quite enjoy himself, but he could live vicariously through her, for the moment. She looked so relaxed then to be out in nature, and in the day, there was no need to worry about the night creatures.

And, likely, not robbers. Not with this carriage, and both him and Johann there. Men did have the unfortunate stupidity of underestimating women in this world.

A topic they segued into naturally as Aveline explained a bit on her lack of knowledge of the main roads, and why. It made perfect sense to Alucard, and he hummed out an agreeable sound, before he just sighed at the stupidity of some people. “They deserved it,” the spear, “for trying to cause harm.” Not just their underestimation. That they had attempted it in the first place was grounds for injury.

Man or woman, people shouldn’t try to take advantage of the less fortunate.

“I promise not to underestimate you,” Johann said, “though I also don’t think I’m going to be holding anyone up for their supplies,” he chuckled, “I can buy them on my own.” Probably. If not, Lucia probably could. Until they ran out of money. He might want to count what was left, actually.

“Has it happened often?” Alucard knew it wasn’t a pleasant topic, but he was curious. His mother encouraged him to see the good in the world, but how could he ignore the bad? He didn’t truly know how common it was.

~***~

The shift in shadows alerted Lucia to the fact that Trevor had woken, too. He was careful as well not to wake Sypha, who looked deep in her own sleep. She didn’t know why she didn’t expect him to be so considerate, given the cloak, but she hadn’t. Likely because many sleepers weren’t immediately aware of their surroundings.

His greeting comment almost had her roll her eyes, but she allowed a smile to curve her lips instead, “Good morning,” she was still too tired for a return quip – or perhaps not tired enough to let any such thoughts slip, because calling him handsome was out of the question, even if groggy Trevor had a definite beauty to him. Probably be better if it had actually been a bed he'd slept on. Bed-head was too often a good look on Johann...something Johann took quite seriously, apparently.

He mentioned the cloak, and instinctively one hand moved up to make sure it was there, even though he’d literally just mentioned it, and probably because he saw it. The smile faltered, but her expression on the whole softened, “Yes…she mentioned you found the scraps,” Lucia noted, hand dropping away once she was certain it was still there, “Thank you. It isn’t all of it but…I don’t think a single scrap of the original remains anyway.” Just the lie that so long as she had a piece of it, then that piece, that single piece, was the original.

But the cloak was almost as old as her. It’d been through enough shredding. There was simply no way any of the original remained – but logic be damned. She didn’t know at any time which pieces were replaced and which weren’t. This entire half of the cloak could all be from the original one, or all be new from times in the past. It didn’t matter.

It kept the memory alive. “I’d hardly be a vampire without the cliché cape. I’d have to find some other trope to steal.”
 
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