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Fandom Castlevania: Night's Dirge [Closed]

“Oh, it’s going to be horribly formal,” Alucard couldn’t help but joke, “hors d'oeuvres, dry liquor,” he never understood how liquor could be dry, given it was a liquor, but then he’d tried white wines from the Champagne region and realized it was both possible, and also horrible, “stuffy suits, and impractical shoes all around.” It would not be that bad. Probably. He wouldn’t have any fun if he had to put on such airs.

And if Sypha wanted to be flower girl, Sypha could be flower girl – though at the thought of being flower girl himself, he quickly shook his head, “No, I’m fine – Aveline can be flower girl.”

The description of Speaker weddings sounded pleasant, though he almost wanted to ask why they didn’t marry under the auspices of Satan, given the focus on being enemies of god here. He did not do that, though. Now was hardly the time to get into a debate about where the Speakers held their loyalty or what they thought of for an afterlife. “It sounds pleasant,” Alucard said. An oath ceremony between friends and family – those who cared deeply for them – sounded like a good idea.

Alucard knew he wouldn’t exactly be getting married in a church, if he ever did. He also doubted he would elope, like his parents, to the nearest judicial province that was willing to marry them. They hadn’t married in a church, but they had both still desired something formal – Alucard could still recall Lisa joking that it was so she could call Dracula her ‘husband’, as if that were reason enough. “Of course, I’m biased. I could not have a traditional wedding even if I wanted it,” Alucard noted.

Invitations then – and Johann and Trevor came into focus once more, “It sounds like Johann’s the one doing the stringing along,” Alucard laughed, “he’s denying Trevor the ring. I’m sure if you made it clear just how important it was, Trevor….”

“And make sure it’s fancy and expensive!” Sypha added.

“I don’t get paid that well!” Johann got paid well, but….

“Lucia, pay him more!” Sypha demanded, “He has to buy a pretty ring for his boyfriend.”

“Honestly I’ll just buy the ring to see Trevor wear it, if it’s gaudy enough,” Lucia chuckled.

“Great motivation,” Alucard commended, as Sypha added to the deck.

“What was your parents’ wedding like, Alucard?” She asked then, before biting her lip, “I know you weren’t around then, and it may be….” Alucard put on a patient smile, and Sypha fell silent.

“They eloped,” he said, “They didn’t get married in a church, obviously. They went to a small village in Crisana, with a human witness and a vampire witness, as well as the local lord, to join them and see that it was forged through mutual agreement, with no one opposing it. They exchanged rings as a physical symbol, just as well, but I do not think my mother even wore a dress besides one of her normal ones, nor did my father dress up,” he could only imagine it being a breathless decision that Dracula hastened to see done immediately.

“They really were in love, weren’t they?” Johann still found it a bit strange, but he didn’t doubt it. He’d gotten to know a bit more form the inside of the supernatural world now to doubt it as some others might.

Alucard’s smile flickered, but he nodded, “Yes.” Dracula wouldn’t be on this rampage otherwise. It was a shame he was doing something Lisa would detest, but…he’d lost it.

Lucia flicked her card, “Liar!” Sypha was the one to say it, shifting topics away, at least briefly, and Lucia just rolled her eyes, but grabbed the pile.

“How does anyone win this game when it comes down to one card?” the odds were always against them at that point. Everyone would call liar at that point. And the odds of having the one card necessary? Ridiculous.
 
" Nothing too gaudy Johann, I don't want anything getting in the way while i'm fighting," Trevor didn't see himself as getting married, or to be more honest he didn't see anyone wanting to marry him, but all this joking was nice. Johann was young, loyal, and good looking so he was sure that he would find love someday, it was just nice to tease the kid a bit. Traveling with people in general was nice, and Trevor wasn't sure how long It would last. They had already talked about the fact that when they were done with this mission that they'd have to go their own ways, so he was going to enjoy the small moments like this while they existed.

"Eloping is rather romantic in and of itself," Aveline mused as she watched Lucia have to take the nice little pile they had been building up to this point just for her, " but it's nice that you're parents loved each other so much they found a way to make things official, or at least official enough for them."

" Did your parents elope as well, Aveline?" Sypha asked curiously, but Aveline shook her head.

" My parents were never officially married, they met by chance while they were both traveling for their own reasons, I was the result of a heated couple week long journey. My father left behind his band of mercenary brothers and followed my mother to her home mountain, determined to make things permanent between them." Aveline paused for a moment and smiled as she recalled her fathers warm voice telling her about how he and her mother had met.

" He told me he had just barely finished making a little hut for himself when they found out they were expecting me. But the mountain was home to only my mothers people, and they would never allow any type of marriage or union between them, they-" Aveline frowned softly, " To saying this disapproved of my father would be an understatement. The nearest town or city was about a weeks journey away, and they never found the right time to go while raising me. In the end my parents never got married, which was probably for the best. The last couple years of my fathers life he and my mother were on rocky ground with one another," Aveline wasn't sure if being actually married to one another would of changed the course of their history, would her mother of been converted by the other Haltija if she had been living with the rest of her family outside the village?

Would she of hated them more for cutting her off from their people? Maybe it was living on that mountain that had sealed their fate, though now this was all just Aveline guessing.

" On the bright side though, I never get offended when someone calls me a bastard because, technically, they're right." Aveline joked. She tried not to regret the circumstances of her birth because even if they made things hard at least she was alive, and that was something worth being happy about.

" I suppose thats one way to look at it." Sypha said after a moment.

" They did exchange rings though, it was their way of saying they were bonded to one another with or without anyone elses approval." Aveline didn't explain that her mother had stopped wearing the ring years before her father had died, even though her romantic at heart father had worn his ring until he died. " I actually travel with my fathers ring on a necklace, when I miss him I look at it." Aveline pulled at a chain around her neck and pulled the ring out of her shirt. It was a simple band, but had carefully carved vines all around it. The vines all met in one place, where two small stones sat, one green and the other blue green.

" That is so sweet Aveline, I wish I had something like that to remember my parents by." Sypha said as she clasped her hands together.

Trevor was in the same boat as Sypha, wishing he had something to hold in his hands when he missed his family. When they had died he had just held onto ash and burn wood, he dug through it hoping to find one of them alive somehow or at least something to bury. He hadn't found any bones or clothes, but he had found a few small things towards the back of the house where the fire was less intense like a half charred stuffed animal or a mostly burnt book he knew was a favorite of one of his sisters.

On the other side of the front door he had found Esthels favorite hair pin and he had buried that as well. But even after all these years he caught himself wishing he had kept something from home. God what he wouldn't give for a single picture of his family. They had gotten so many portraits done somewhere he still held out hope that he'd find one that had survived.
 
Aveline’s words all but confirmed for the others that she was fae on her mother’s side. She had told them already that she lived among the fae on her mountain, to hear now that her father had done so to be close to her mother all but sealed it, though of course, it would never be anything more than assumption until she confessed it. Lucia held her tongue on it – as Trevor seemed to be doing, letting it slide that Aveline was casually offering information and not pressing for anything more.

Perhaps she would remember this easy acceptance when it came time to actually state things.

Alucard leaned towards Aveline as the ring was revealed to get a better look at it. He couldn’t help but notice one stone was the color of Aveline’s eyes, and he wondered at the symbolism in the stones, if her mother’s ring had the same stones to it or not. Thankfully, it was Sypha who asked, “Is your mother’s the same?” seeming to move away before anyone could ask her about her own parents.

The Speakers rarely left their dead, and they hadn’t left her mother and father…but they also didn’t carry much that was truly personal to them around, either. Traveling prevented that. What little they had, was buried with them, or used by the caravan. It was the necessary evil of communal life.

“What are the stones?” Alucard added, “Did your parents each choose one to set into the ring?” The detailing of the ring clearly showed the thought put into it, so he knew that there was thought put into it. Whether it was by one, or both parents, was another matter.

Aveline didn’t seem to be getting upset talking about this, or thinking of her mother right then, so Alucard saw no harm in asking further questions, forgetting it was his turn to set down a card and continue the game, though Johann yawned.

The subject didn’t bore him.

He was just really starting to feel tired after all the lovely warm food, and the hour. Even the sugar rush of the food couldn’t help him.
 
" My mother made my fathers ring, and he made hers," Aveline said as she ran her thumb over the detailed carvings in the metal. She could feel where the stones were without even having to look, the intricacy of the ring was a good comfort when her mind was over come with grief and longing. She had followed the vines around the ring for hours before.

" They allowed each other to do what ever they wanted really, they just agreed to set stones from the mountain in the color of one anothers eyes in it. I was a couple years old when they finally got around to making the rings, so they included my eye color on there as well. Like a reminder of who was part of the family." Her fathers ring had a stone with Avelines eye color and her mothers eye color, while her mothers ring had his eye color and of course Avelines again.

" Looking at my fathers ring though I think it's safe to say my mother got a bit excited and went over the top. " The detailed work was proof enough of that. " I have memories of my father struggling to make my mothers ring, he wanted it perfect but he didn't really know what he was doing. But my mother loved her ring when she got it, it's been a long time since I've seen it but i remember It had a flower pattern pressed into it, and a blue stone that matched my fathers eyes just right." Oh what Aveline wouldn't do to see that ring one more time, to see the exact shade of her fathers eyes again.

She fiddled with the ring, rolling it between her fingers, having his ring was bitter sweet. Her father had worn it for years, and there were clear signs of that on it with a small dent or scratch somewhere, but it had been her mother who made this ring. Sometimes knowing that her mothers hands had made the ring made her angry, but other times she held onto the ring like it was a life line because of all the memories she had with him wearing it.

" Is that the only thing you have of your fathers?" Sypha asked, and again Aveline shook her head. " No I carry his favorite book with me as well, but I left a lot behind in his house after he died. I'm not a fan of the idea, but I know i'll have to go back to my old home one day and gather his things." once she found some place to settle down in, a place to put down roots of her own then she'd go back and get his things. " And I buried him with his spear. He taught me how to fight, but when he died I already had my own and didn't want to risk anything happening to his."

Her father had taken great pride in his spear and boasted about how it had saved lives and put down evil. " Honestly he had some old enemies and even close friends that looked at his spear in a way that made he certain if I just left it they'd steal it. So i buried it him in the hopes they wouldn't be able to find it." She had also protected his grave with runes, but the others didn't know about her affinity for them. She'd save that for after she had confessed everything to them.

" Also," Aveline added, as she looked at Alucards hand. " Before you even put down your last card Alucard, I need you to know i'm going to call you a liar. For your sake, and for Johanns because he looks dead in his seat, I hope it's the right card."

" Oh Johann, you shouldn't go to sleep after eating all that sweet stuff without brushing your teeth first." Sypha warned him. He looked ready to fall asleep there at the table, but in the least he needed to rinse his mouth out or something. All that sugar from Trevors buns would rot his teeth if he wasn't careful.
 
When they were young, and in love, Aveline’s parents had clearly been devoted to each other. They both took the time to make each other’s rings, with stones for eye colors, and Alucard couldn’t help but find it quite romantic, even if it had a sorrowful end with her mother beginning to resent the path she had taken. Alucard wondered if it was the years of resentment from ‘her people’ or an event that had triggered it. Perhaps a bit of both.

He didn’t imagine Aveline truly knew.

“I hope your home is all right,” Johann murmured as Aveline mentioned that she’d left it. He didn’t imagine she had guards over it, not like Lucia had at Chernihiv. Johann wasn’t worried much about his things there. “Though I’m surprised you wouldn’t want to use his spear,” lots of people liked to use ancestral weapons.

There was power in some of them. There were definitely a few silver weapons in the Abelwerth home that Johann would now never inherit.

Alucard was reminded of his turn, and he looked at his card, then sighed. He knew it wasn’t the right one, “I suppose I should just hold onto it then,” there wasn’t anything in the pile after Lucia had been forced to take it.

“I’m sure it’s the right number,” Lucia said, glancing briefly to Aveline. Best to let Johann get to sleep, if nothing else. She could take a loss, winning hadn’t mattered much even if she was willing to cheat to achieve it. It was still just a game.

Alucard took a moment, then tossed the card towards the center of the table.

Johann laid all of his down, “This was fun,” he consented, “And your food really is good, Trevor. I’ll be sure to brush my teeth, mom.” He said to Sypha, who gave him a teasing scowl, but let him head off to get some rest.

“I’ll pack up some of these for Danica,” Sypha said, grabbing some of the cookies and at least one roll.

“Are you sure you’re not just going to eat them yourself?” Lucia teased.

“Never! You’re all going to mention it to her….” She wouldn’t get away with eating them. By taking some now, she was guaranteeing they’d be safe and not mindlessly eaten by the rest of the party around the table. “And we still have to do your reading, Lucia!”

“Huh? Oh,” she glanced down at the cup she’d kept cradled in one hand. She’d nearly forgotten about it, even as it cooled. She uncurled her hand to just grasp the handle, “It’s such a waste of tea,” she sighed, knowing she couldn’t drink it without potentially making herself sick, but probably sharing with others would mess up the divination qualities.

So far she was expecting to hear she was in danger. Probably some comment on betrayal – probably Carmilla. Or perhaps some vampire she wasn’t expecting to side with Dracula besides Carmilla. Beyond that, she figured the leaves had little else to say.
 
" Maybe it would of been useful," Aveline agreed, " But he loved his spear. He said a real warrior should have a hand in making their weapon, he told me the story of how he gathered all the materials himself. He swore the extra work he put into it made the spear even more powerful in his hands because of their bond. It felt...right to bury him with it." The spear probably would be powerful in her hands, but that spear had been made with her father in mind. Her using it would be like asking a loyal pet to bond with a new master, they could do it but they'd always remember their first owner.

" I can understand, my family has a few weapons like that," Rrevor spoke up. Of course the Belmont had legendary weapons, but some were just so part of a certain family member that after they died It didn't feel right to just hand it over to someone else. " We normally retire old family members weapons and plan to use them, like an ace up the sleeve, if something goes very very wrong. Of course we never thought we'd be driven off our ancestral lands so a lot of good that does us now." He knew in the hold there were old weapons just like there were old books or trophies from hunts, he just hadn't had the strength to dig through the ruins of his home for old dusty memories.

His whip, short sword, and daggers had kept her alive so there was no reason to go digging through things long dead, especially not when he didn't know how to get into the hold. He had only ever been inside after his parents had opened the door, for all he knew there was a key or something he would be missing.

Aveline gathered up the cards, putting them all the right direction and such before returning them to the sleeve they had come in, then tossed them back into her bag. " You can just poor out the tea, Lucia. I can make more easily enough." She assured her. Being able to grow all the ingredients made enjoying tea, something pretty expensive for the average person, something Aveline got to do more often than not. She would just need time to dry out everything properly during the trip, but it was easy enough to replace. " Just pour out half the tea, swirl around the remaining tea, then pour out the rest." she advised. Since Lucia didn't actually drink the tea she wanted to make sure the leaves didn't just settle to the bottom and ruin the fortune.

Johann had already wandered off by the time Lucia had dumped her tea, and Sypha had ended up stairs to put the left overs in the room with her and Danica so it would be safe from the inn keeper or anyone else that walked into the tavern tomorrow. The only people left down stairs was Aveline, Lucia, Alucard, and Trevor. Though Trevor was just waiting so he could clean up the last of everything and return it from where he got it, it was part of the deal and he didn't want to piss off the inn keeper that had been kind enough to let him borrow the kitchen.

" There's the symbol for unity on the rim of the cup, so the bonds you have right now are good. A wagon wheel, a sign of progress. The symbol for slander is in here as well, so be ready for that. The symbol for danger and caution, but that's been pretty constant for everyone." Aveline said with a soft chuckle. It wasn't surprising given the journey they were on.

"Oh-" Avelines eyes widened seeing a familiar symbol in the tea. She was shocked to see it again. " Here on the side of the cup, kind of close to the bottom, is the symbol for romance. Love Is coming for you Lucia. And finally at the bottom of the cup is the symbol for a new start." She slide the cup back in case Lucia wanted to check it, but she doubted Lucia would see anything in the leaves that made sense. Lucia didn't seem to put a lot of stock in the fortunes, and Aveline could understand that. Most people took these with a grain of salt.

" I'd say you got one of the better fortunes tonight." she proclaimed as she clasped her hands together.
 
Lucia followed the instructions, even if she was still hesitant to waste the tea. Once she had, she offered the cup to Aveline, listening as she offered some insight into what the symbols she saw meant. Unity and progress were fairly positive ones, though she wondered if the progress was meant for before, or after Dracula. It had not shown up in the others, but she imagined it would count for them all the same.

Perhaps it meant another sort – after all, her plans extended beyond Dracula. This only seemed like step one to her. That mindset may have put such a thing in the tea. Slander almost made her laugh. ‘Well, with Carmilla….’ Yeah, she was prepared for those barbs. Romans fought in many ways, after all.

She would think things were going too easily if her name wasn’t thoroughly dragged through the mud.

Then came the last two – romance and a new start? “I almost think I’m too old for either of those,” she noted as she took the cup, picking out the symbols that Aveline had mentioned, “but I suppose I’ve already been thinking of a new start,” for vampire society if not herself. Of course, in taking that up, she would be forced into new roles. It was a new start, but romance? “And no offense, Alucard, but I think you’ll have to look beyond me. It’d be too weird.” No doubt others would think that if they were the ones to get the ‘romance’ in their cup, then they were also the ones inclined to get together.

“I respect you, Lucia, but I have never seen you in that fashion, so do not worry, I will not be pressing that matter,” Alucard said, tone a bit light with the confirmation out there that there was no interest. For Lucia, having known Alucard as a toddler, it was just…weird. For Alucard, it was much the same. He’d known her during his childhood while she was an adult. “Though might I suggest not Carmilla?”

Lucia winced at the mere suggestion, “She’s not the committing sort anyway.” Besides the fact no one was going to marry two women even if Carmilla were that sort. Perhaps a bit of legality didn't matter, but it was something nice all the same. She rose, figuring the best way to evade further discussion of Carmilla or being teased for romance would be departing. “Thank you for the entertainment, Aveline.”

“Leaving already?” Alucard noted. “You aren’t going to bed.” Obviously.

“I might be,” she wasn’t, but, “I do still have a bit of healing to do,” which would finish up in sleep, knit together, “but I thought I’d give you some privacy to pursue your romantic interests. I was going to invite Aveline away from you so you could have some peace in stealing Trevor from Johann, but now you’ve caught me – so you find a way to get a moment with Trevor on your own.”

“Lucia.”

She had just managed to turn away, but paused.

“We never heard about your family…Roman traditions for marriage. Or yours, Trevor.” He found himself half-shocked that he said it, but…they were trying to bond. And those two had been quiet on the matter, even when Sypha shared. Aveline. Himself. He’d gotten the sense that they might not care to share it, that it wasn’t some glorious romance they had to share of their parents, but didn’t it fit in? “I actually don’t know anything about your family.”

“…they were in my life for ten years, it doesn’t matter.” Lucia noted, hardly realizing her family had been in her life only so long as Trevor’s own. Hers was more by choice than his – far more by choice.

What was ten years compared to the centuries she’d lived? If her human life hadn’t been so short, it wouldn’t have mattered at all.
 
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Trevor stood up from the table, grabbing up the empty cups since he was feeling nice and didn't mind cleaning them when he would already be busy in the kitchen. However he paused when he heard Alucard, he hadn't expected him to want to know more about him. He had been purposely staying out of everyones way while they were playing their game and getting to know one another because some memories of his family were still raw, he didn't want to have a moment of weakness in front of them when everything was going so well.

"I agree with Lucia." he spoke up, " And yes I know that sounds weird." He had been getting along with Lucia a lot tonight, but he suppose he felt like they had made progress and he was still coasting off of that. He was enjoying these calm peaceful moments while he could, once they left this town there was no promise that they would be able to do this again.

" My family all burned up when I was 10, that didn't give me a lot of time to get to know them or their stories. My parents were nobles, and the way that acted around one another it was clear they didn't marry for love," No the way his father had spoken about his mother told him what their marriage had been, a way to continue the Belmont bloodline and to hopefully keep the church off their backs by marrying a woman from a pious family. " and what good memories I have I've been sharing."

He had talked about his cloak, he had shared some of his families favorite recipes, and hell he was even taking them to his ancestral home. Taking them back to the old home was harder for him than they knew, and he had been spilling over good memories to try and drown out the bad ones that were coming to the surface, but taking about his family and specifically his parents wouldn't keep him in that content mind space.

" You two don't have to talk about anything if you don't want, but I think we all want to get to know you guys more." Aveline said, gentle voice chiming in. " I think we all would like to hear more about what Rome was like, Lucia. Or about your other family Trevor. But no pressure."

" Some things you don't want to talk about, " Trevor said dismissively. He talked about his sisters because a strong memory came to mind willingly or because something reminded him of them, trying to force things to the surface could make everything spill out.

Aveline held her hands up like she surrendered, she wasn't going to push.

Trevor opened his mouth, he wanted to say something because he felt like he had just shut down the others gentle attempts to connect with him, but he wasn't good at this stuff. Actually trying to connect or focus on emotions was hard, he preferred for things to just happen.

" I didn't mean to be so cross, it's just hard thinking back that far. Though Lucia can probably use that excuse better than I can," Trevor chuckled weakly. " Anyway i'll be in the kitchen cleaning up for a bit."

Grabbing the dirty dishes on the table he disappeared into the kitchen, and relished the moment to himself. There was no pressure in the kitchen, in there by himself he didn't have to dig through his mind for good memories to tell the others, or try to force memories into a certain shape. He didn't want to defend his family to anyone anymore, because he knew they were fucked up but they were his family.

He dove into cleaning up the kitchen with a little more vigor than he needed, but he had to get his frustration out somehow.
 
Trevor offered a bit – hardly details, but enough for Alucard to understand his guess was right. A noble family that hadn’t married for love. Trevor likely didn’t know, or care to know, the details of their wedding, and he had no plans to pressure Trevor for answers…yet. They were all going to pressure Aveline, a bit of pressure on them only seemed fair. However, the moment had passed. Perhaps when another topic came up, and they weren’t contributing, he would press a bit.

For now, he let Trevor walk, and he fixed a look on Lucia, “And was yours so bad you do not wish to talk of it?” he couldn’t help but sound a bit cross.

“No, but that’s entirely the problem,” Lucia said, “you’re all going to think it was, because my mother was my father’s second wife at the age of 14, and she was raped on her wedding night.” The way Lucia said it was almost as if she was speaking of the weather, “They did not marry for love, but duty and alliances, as it always was among the nobility of Rome. I get so…tired of hearing the coos of pity and sympathy.” Her smile reflected some of that exhaustion, “I know it was horrible, and I know much else besides when we get into my history.”

But everyone needed to re-affirm it. She didn’t know how many times Danica had been upset with her father, or tried to remind Lucia she had worth – as if she had forgotten in talking about the past.

Alucard had to bite down a comment that would have been in lines with his disgust for her father, for raping her mother. “Besides, if we’re doing group bonding, seems we should at least have Sypha here.”

Alucard managed a curt nod to that, “I suppose you have a point there,” perhaps they shouldn’t be excluding Sypha, at least, given the prophecy. “I don’t think it crossed my mind to consider how long ago it was for you. I suppose these matters of parents and siblings aren’t so important to you any longer.”

“They are. They shaped me.” Lucia corrected, “And I don’t mind sharing,” she re-affirmed, “There are…parts I won’t enjoy, but I’ve come to terms with them,” the centuries when Dimas lived, mostly. “But let’s save it for another night. I think Trevor needs time.” So she would go slow, to buy him that time by only giving a bit herself, and she’d try to find a way to help him through it as well.

She’d had centuries to sort through it all, and had likely told the stories hundreds of times to new servants of friends, even some Speakers knew details of it to pass along – mostly parts of Roman society they were curious about.

“All right,” Alucard would allow it, they were allowing Aveline time, and he knew the moment wasn’t right any longer. With Sypha present, and all the others, it would become easier to perhaps get the pair to talk.

Lucia smiled at his agreement, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go find some Atticus to read.” With that, she turned to leave the inn, but made a mental note to speak to Trevor in the morning. They weren’t going to get out of ‘sharing’ and ‘bonding’. The least she could do was let him know she’d do what she could – whether that meant being the first ear, or redirecting conversations, she would try.

He was going to have to come to terms with a lot he clearly hadn’t faced, in a short bit of time. For now, though, she’d let him angrily wash dishes.

When Lucia left, Alucard sighed, “That could have gone better.” Spoken to Aveline, of course.
 
" Trevor and Lucia have both clearly been through a lot," Aveline said when everything was said and done, " I don't think Trevors come to terms with everything, but Lucia has had multiple life times to think about her experiences and deal with them. So for now I think that was good."

Trevors family had been taken from him in a violent way, and it was clear to everyone that he still struggled. He had most likely just pushed everything into the back of his head instead of face the real pain and longing that came with accepting the death of a loved one. But considering the fact that they were trying to get him to even consider talking about his past was a good start.

" I think it's really nice how Lucia is thinking of Trevor and his feelings," Lucia was giving him time, and considering that they were on a tight schedule it was very generous of her. " and she did open up a bit tonight while we were playing, everyone who was present did. So I think next time we need to include Trevor in what ever we're doing, letting him do his own thing gives him an excuse to leave when he isn't comfortable, like he just did."

The group was working together and trying their best, they were bonding and getting to know one another, which was more than the needed to do honestly. If they wanted they could of all come together and kept their distance, confident that they just need their abilities to get through this. But they understood the importance of learning to trust one another, and that was something they couldn't rush when they had been traveling together for less than a week.

" and I think you making an effort trying to get them to talk a bit was good as well," It was good for Alucard to take an interest in the group members, it showed he was more than his stony expression and calm demeaner. But it also brought the issues to light, now Trevor was most likely in the kitchen taking his rage out of the dishes because he knew he would have to shed more light on himself and his past.

"I liked hearing about your family too," She said as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, they still had a couple hours before the sun started to come up and she was determined to wait it out. She'd sleep in the carriage, or if the sun seemed nice then maybe she'd try and sleep on top of the carriage. It would be a bit dangerous, but the nightmares moved pretty steadily and as long as the path was straight it would be fine. She had slept in dangerous places before, like in trees.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trevor did more than clean the dishes that he had used. He found himself in a scrubbed down kitchen, he had cleaned the sink, the counters, anything that looked like it was even a bit spotty. He didn't think he was this kind of person, to stress out and then clean. He was a pretty sloppy person, though since he had lived on the road with almost nothing to his name for the past 20 years it was possible he just never had the chance to take his anger out like this. This felt a bit more healthy than slashing at a tree or yelling into the night sky, but he also felt like an unhappily married woman for some reason.

He only left the kitchen when there was nothing left to keep him busy, he could rewash some things but then he'd really be admitting to himself that he was avoiding the topic of his family and that was too much even for him. A man had to have some level of pride.

So instead Trevor just walked out of the kitchen and straight to his room, not even glancing at Aveline and Alucard as they quietly talked at the table. They were most likely going to just sit there and talk until it was time to leave, sitting in the lobby would mean he'd have to sit with them or risk looking rude so his room it was.

He was quiet when he entered, well aware that Johann was trying to catch up on his sleep, and decided he'd try to do the same. His restless energy would most likely leave him tossing and turning but it was better than trying to polish his weapons in the dark. And maybe with the nightmares in the stable he wouldn't be haunted by dreams of his family tonight.
 
Both, of course, had been through much. Lucia had years more life than any of them, it would be foolish to imagine it was all good. Trevor was older than them as well, but not like Lucia. His wounds were still fresh, it seemed. He’d been sharing the good, over the bad, of course. In truth, most of them had been. It was not like Alucard told the story of confronting his father and getting attacked.

Though Aveline had offered some hints of what happened with her mother.

Sypha hadn’t mentioned what happened to her parents – and it must have been something abnormal, given her grandfather was still alive. “Do we really have to include him if he’s cooking?” Alucard asked as Aveline mentioned it, a sly smile cutting across his lips, before it lost some of its edge, “No, I agree,” they should all be there, as Lucia made note of.

Perhaps that was even why she said so little before, when Trevor was not around. “We’ll have plenty of nights around campfires and inns to talk more,” to take an interest in them, and try to get their more closed-off members to speak.

He wondered idly what he might even hear of Lucia’s family. He didn’t know if she had siblings once. He found it hard to believe Trevor the only one with siblings – well, he supposed Danica or Johann might have them. He knew little of them; he’d only caught on to Johann being a hunter when he was learning to drive the cart.

“I liked to hear of yours, as well,” he noted then, “I had been hesitant to ask at first. I was not sure if you would be willing to speak of your mother, or…much,” given she had not yet told them all what she was, he hadn’t been certain how much to ask after, or if she would simply be too bitter herself, given that her mother had left her life. “Does it bother you much?” The same question could likely be turned on him, though most of his reflections had lingered on Lisa.

~***~

Our nephew Quintus at the Parilia wearing a garland ? Was he alone? You certainly mention Lamia also, which does utterly astonish me, but I am eager to know who the others were: although I am quite sure that there was no one that wasn't a traitor….


It was not Atticus’s letters that Lucia had, in truth, but Cicero’s letters to Atticus, as well as much else of his writing. The private findings had shown her why her father would choose him, though forever Lucia’s own loyalty was with Caesar’s party, and those who followed him.

Still, these old letters, the ones addressed to others, and the few she had addressed to herself, reminded her of Rome. It was a pain, as much as a salve, for the soul to linger after it. To wonder what happened to her brother, if he had ended up happy, or to wonder if her father had mourned when he heard the news that she had been taken, possibly killed.

There was no evidence of that history. Her family had not been so important, and while the loss of a Vestal Virgin was noteworthy, she could find nothing but the usual rhetoric and blame.

The letters of Cicero did not long entertain, though, and Lucia was increasingly aware that Alucard was not going to disturb her. She could sleep. Finish up healing, so she wouldn’t need to in the cart. The other options were to leave the inn…and she knew where that would take her. ‘Sleep it is.’ Lucia set aside the letters, bound in leather, and laid down, hoping she’d wake before the sun.

Hoping for no nightmares was a fool’s hope. She’d seen Marius asleep when she went to get her book.

--

It was not the standard nightmare of Dimas’s return, or even some betrayal of Carmilla. It was stranger than that, a vision of darkness and ripples upon it. When Lucia realized she could walk, the ripples spread out from her position, reddening the water and seeming to cast a light from it, slowly revealing a river too well known to the woman – that of the Tiber in Rome, how she had known it.

Fittingly red. It was the river they drowned traitors in, and it flowed out from her like the centurion’s cloak she wore, seeming more and more like it than water as the light glowed from it. ‘What is this?’ She was lucid enough to recognize this was strange, which only unnerved her more. She preferred her standard demons to new ones. Still, she trekked forward, before she was suddenly gripped with the rational thought in an irrational world. ‘You can’t survive in running water!’

That thought suddenly seemed to swell the bloody river, and Lucia seemed to lose her footing, to stumble and slip under it – as it all became the red cape, as liquid and as fabric as only a dream could make. Her scream was drowned by the thickness of it, until she seemed to stop falling, until the reddened hue was a flickering glow of embers.

At first it seemed the Vestal temple, all of marble. ‘No…not quite….’ It was wood, not marble, and the fire was but embers. It couldn’t be the Vestal temple. She’d never let the fire die. She tried to reach for it, for a stick to stir the embers and spark them anew, hardly noticing she cast no shadow, or that the ground was still stained with pooling blood. She didn’t know why she couldn’t just get up, or why she didn’t think to, her focus was only on the fire that provided no warmth.

Her hand eventually grasped the metal poker, and she was able to start disturbing the embers, to start sparking them again, but it needed new wood. It needed new life.

A swirling group of sparks and ashes twirled around her arm.

A snake of reddened ashes wrapped around her arm, and she held still, meeting its eyes for a moment. “Pythia….” Now she knew where she was. This wasn’t her fire to tend. This wasn’t the path she’d taken.

The snake coiled around her, and as it seemed to grow and encircle her like a python, the flames grew. She had the sudden realization that she was being used as the kindling, as the fire started to resemble the sun more than a hearth, and the phantom pain, never forgotten, followed. There was the sound of a thunderous explosion, though Lucia would almost swear she heard words in it - heard Pythia's voice - but there was no making it out.

--

Lucia jolted, a hand smothering her lips as soon as she sat up, covering a scream as the pain seared through her memory – but it wasn’t real. The room was entirely dark, and Lucia bit down on her own hand, as her knees drew up and she pressed her forehead to them.

One breath came in, deep and long, before it was shakily exhaled. ‘Get it together.’

They just had to talk about divination that night, didn’t they? The Pythia’s prophecy returned to mind in full focus, the promise of two paths, two fortunes. The last words lingered, the promise that Apollo would hate her all her life. They had misunderstood it. She could have entered into service of the Pythia as a handmaiden, and perhaps even as a future Pythia – so her father had interpreted those words to mean Apollo would hate her for not becoming a seer.

He interpreted the white becoming red to mean he’d get what he wanted in the end – her married – and only a Vestal could do that after their service. They had mutually agreed to it, unaware of the truth of the Pythia’s words.

Another deep breath, and Lucia determined she wasn’t going back to sleep. Her arm was healed now, and it was close enough to dawn. She took her book, and wrapped back up in her cloak, determined to leave for the carriage, to see the horses, and possibly scold Marius. The least he could do was keep her nightmares normal.

As she exited her room, she recalled her plans to speak to Trevor before they set out. It was going to be hard to get him alone before the next campsite. She couldn’t help but briefly debate just leaving it…but she was fairly certain she heard the sound of movement from his room anyway, so she decided to walk towards it, and with some hesitation, she did knock on it, hoping she wouldn’t disturb Johann – though it was likely Johann was sleeping like a rock, even with the nightmares.

Hopefully the horses were sticking to their usual hosts and not bothering the others in the party.
 
" Looks like you've turned into a fan of Trevors, or at least his cooking," Aveline chuckled. They had discovered something about Trevor tonight, even if it was something small like his ability to bake, but it was progress and gave them things to talk about, connect over, or look forward to. She'd certainly be looking forward to more of Trevors sweet breads in the future, and it sounded like Alucard would too.

She smiled to herself a bit hearing that Alucard had been worried about her bringing up her past, his concern was sweet and something she certainly didn't deserve. Since they had met she wasn't sure if she had been treating him well. She had dragged him a bit forcefully behind a pillar when they first met to force him to keep her secret, and had really clung to his side ever since. He was too good to her, allowing her to get away with silly little things like the flower pattern in his shirt, and that was continuing even now.

His world was falling apart, his mother dead and his fathers death the goal of their whole party, but he was worried about her and her memories that she had all but buried back on her mountain. His heart must be made of the same beautiful gold that his eyes were.

" Talking about my father isn't that bad, his death makes everything bittersweet but I can handle it. I prefer to miss him than to not talk about him and risk forgetting things." She had an immortal life span, age would not take her, only disease or injury were of any reason concern, but she worried sometimes that such a long life would blur her memories. Would she forget something her father had said to her, his face, or a fond memory between them? She had known he'd die way before her and that had been hard enough to handle, but she hadn't expected to be without him at only 17. She was lucky, some children were without parents from the moment they were born, but she had loved her father a selfish amount and no amount of time with him was enough.

" And my mother-" Aveline paused and fiddled with her hands, talking about her mother always filled her with energy that she never knew how to get rid of. Sometimes she paced, others shed punch a tree, but right now in this inn in front of Alucard she played with her hands. "- I don't mind the memories from my childhood that involve her. Things like the bee sting cake that she would make for me, the lessons she gave me on how to sew traditional Haltija clothes, or the look on her face the first time I wrote ' I love you' in the runes she had taught me non-stop those are all good memories," she frowned then signed softly.

" But that's the thing, they're memories. Talking about the mother I left behind, that's whats really hard." It was hard knowing that her own mother was ashamed of her, and that nothing she could do would change that. She would always be a shame on her mothers reputation, and as an immortal Haltija reputation was very important. At some point she had stopped trying to be something her mother could be proud of, it was a fruitless and instead hoped to find a place with humans where she could be happy.

Instead she was in the middle of both worlds, and she thought she had been alone.

Then she met Alucard, another halfling, and joined this group. She felt like she belonged, and despite her nerves she was pretty confident that tomorrow she'd still have a place among them.

" You and the others have been too good to me, too patient." She concluded with a small shake of her head, she didn't know why they put up with her.

" What about you though? My father died years ago, it's easier to talk about him, and in a way my mother died to me too. But you're wounds are still fresh-" she opened her mouth to find the right words, but she didn't think that was possible. Alucard had already told her that he didn't want to dwell on things too much, he didn't want to lose his resolve, but she wanted to make sure he was holding it together. If he felt like he was going to break then she'd be here to help him put it all back together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darkness slowly but surely lost against some type of encroaching light, it shown so brightly that it woke up Trevor. He blinked but was stunned by the vibrant colors in front of him, he didn't think he'd see this place again.

Yet here he stood in his families kitchen, the right colors of a home long burned were just like he remembered. He turned to see the oven was open, and instead was a tray of familiar cookies. It was Esthels ginger cookies, she had ever cut them into shapes. He had the distinct thought ' these look done' then reached into the oven without gloves and just pulled out the tray.

That was the moment he knew this wasn't real.

He sat the tray on the counter and looked at his hands, they were so small and burned but it didn't hurt. When did his hands get so small? He stared at them intently and followed his hand up to his elbow, then his shoulder, and finally realized he was 10 again. He patted at his chest and could feel the texture on his favorite vest as a child, he had grown out of it years ago, and noticed his hip was too light. His whip wasn't there.

" Trevor, what have you done?"

Trevor looked up and saw Esthel standing in the doorway looking at his hands and frowning.

Trevor looked back at his burn hands, they weren't that bad. He looked up again to assure his sister he'd be find, but he was suddenly outside and watching his home burn. The colors were vibrant again for all the wrong reasons and he was trying to pull open the doors. Chains rattled, laughing at him as he pulled but nothing gave way even as his family pounded on the door from the other side.

" Trevor, what have you done!?" It wasn't a simple voice that said it this time, it was the pain filled voices of all his family.
~-~-~-~

Trevor bolted up in his bed with a start, it was still dark outside and that told him that he was finally out of his dream. His heart hammered in his chest and he felt a bit sweaty. He threw the blanket off of him, when had he even fallen asleep? He couldn't stay in here, not when the darkness felt all too close. He was quick as he gathered his things, he tried to be quiet for Johanns sake but he couldn't stand to be in this damned room or this damned inn one second longer. He needed to be outside, the outside was familiar to him. It was safe, because yes it was full of horrible people and monsters but you couldn't lock the outside and set it on fire with you in it.

His mind went back to the question his family had asked him.

What had he done?

He had failed to save his families lives, he failed to find the people responsible, and he had failed to do his family proud.

He had survived, but what had he done with that life? He had survived out in the woods for weeks on his own, wounded and numb. He stole food and medicine like a common thief until he was able to get his bearings, then he drank to keep that numb feeling. He drank for almost 20 years, and was just now doing something that would put the cursed last name Belmont to use.

He swung open the door, he couldn't stay here in his thoughts. He was going to go toss his things on the carriage then find some way to pass the time until it was time to leave, but when he opened the door he found Lucia with her hand poised to knock. Had she knocked? Had he not heard it?

" I-" he started, him swinging open the door must of been very intense and sudden. " -didn't hear you knock." he finished with a sign.That dream left him feeling more tired than when he had fallen asleep.
 
Well, Trevor’s cooking was good. At least Alucard could consent the man seemed a better baker than him. Possibly a better cook, though that might be debatable. They would likely see as this adventure went on, if Trevor ended up stealing cooking duties while they were on the road. “I’ll give him credit where it’s due,” Alucard said. He was at least that decent.

If Trevor truly did better himself in a way that would stick, he’d be impressed.

As she spoke to answer his query, though, he leaned forward. One elbow bent and he set it on the table as he listened, cheek falling against it. He wasn’t bored, though he knew the posture could say that. His mother used to chastise him for it, but it was an easy way to relax and stay focused, to keep his head up and from turning in too many directions. His gaze was easy on Aveline, taking in the words.

It was easier for her to speak of her father. Easy to speak of her mother – in some respects. What wasn’t easy was actually talking about the mother left behind, the one more real than the memories, it seemed. He could understand that. One day…he might find himself in a similar position, when he spoke of Dracula. He would have the memories of the wonderful man he used to be, and the scar of the man he became.

Both would be memories, while Aveline’s mother remained…alive. Was it easier, he wondered, to think both his parents would be dead? The opportunity for closure would be lost. It was its own closure, in a way…to know it was unobtainable. “I’m sorry – I don’t know your pain, in truth.” His father was lost to him. There was no hope of reconciliation.

He did not know if Aveline thought it possible, or if that thought stole into her mind now and then to disturb her peace. “I can imagine it…but in some ways I feel I am luckier in that respect,” he cast his eyes down, “It is a horrible thing what I must do, but it is an end. My father will not continue to linger…the closure to our relationship will come.” Perhaps, for a while, he would still think of ‘what ifs’, but…that had to end, didn’t it?

If Lucia was any example….

“If I think too much of it now, I fear I may think I can reason with him again.” He wanted to. More than anything, he wanted the father he lost – but he knew it wasn’t to be. “And I almost feel as if my mother is still here. I know she died nearly a year ago, but…I was asleep.” It was all just a second ago. It was all raw, but it was easy enough to speak of her – the far away memories.

If he thought of the closer ones…he imagined it would hurt more.

His gaze faltered, falling from hers down to the table. “I will have the luxury of mourning them both, together, soon.” His father died that same day. They died together. He might even convince himself of it.

~***~

Lucia heard his steps, and hadn’t thought to move away. Thankfully, when the door was flung open, she was on the other side of where it nearly hit the wall. If Johann slept through all that – as it seemed he did – Lucia might have to make a mental note he actually needed help not sleeping so deeply.

Trevor was another story. The perceptive hunter seemed out of it, his eyes wild, which told Lucia that yes, in fact, the Nightmares were disturbing others. That, or the topics today brought up bad dreams in Trevor, but she was willing to blame the supernatural horses. Slowly, she lowered her hand, noticed the things he was holding, “It seems we have the same destination,” she idly held up her book, obviously something she meant to return to the carriage. “Let’s walk. You can yell at Marius if you want.”

It was a not at all subtle indication that Trevor’s behavior had an obvious cause.

“The back door should still be safe.” She could hear the murmurs of conversation from the lobby, but she was fairly certain they could both bypass that awkward encounter by heading out the back way again. Then to the carriage. Then? Well, she didn’t know. Her plan had just been to get Trevor – but he clearly needed to clear his head a bit, and she had at least a bit of time before dawn.

None of them should be roaming this town alone. Not with Carmilla’s presence there. She may not make another appearance…but it wasn’t worth the risk.
 
Aveline did not envy the situation Alucard was in, because for all the problems she had with her mother she didn't have to kill her. She and Alucard were in some what of a similar boat, they had both lost their human parent and the supernatural one left behind had basically ended any relationship between them. Alucard and his father were on opposite sides of destiny now, they would face each other and they would fight. One would survive and the other would die. But while her own relationship with her mother was horrible, if they met today they would not get along or act like fact, she didn't have to worry about her. She had cut ties with her mother the day she had left the mountain, and unless something horrible happened she didn't think she'd ever see her again.

But it was still painful to think about, because sometimes in a moment of weakness she would think about trying to reestablish a relationship with her. They lived in a world where they could both live forever, and an immortal life was a long one to live knowing a parent was still out there. People could change, maybe in 200 hundred years her mother would want to try and fix things, and it was that line of thought that made things hard. Her mothers words and actions were still painful and raw to her in many ways, and every time she allowed herself to hope they could be together as a family again she put opened up the wounds again. In many ways leaving the mountain was the best and worst thing for her because of that.

" I'm sorry you have to go through this Alucard," Aveline reached up and placed a gentle hand on the hand Alucard wasn't leaning against. She couldn't imagine the pain he was going through, that he would go through when everything was said and done. Because right now he was a man on a mission, just thinking about what needed to be done. It was self reflection that truly hurt a person, and he was saving everything up. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like when everything was over, to let it sink in that he was an orphan by both the churches hand and his own.

" I know saying sorry doesn't change anything or make it easier, but you're a good person, Alucard. You're one of the nicest people I've ever met, i'd do anything to take this pain from you." she squeezed his hand softly, it emphasized her conviction and sincerity. If she could save his mothers life or talk sense into his father then she would, and part of her hoped that maybe they could still talk sense into his father. Surely a group of people come together, one of the members being his son and the other a high standing member in the vampiric court, could have a shot at fixing things?

But she wouldn't try and get his hopes up, that would be even worse than what he was struggling with right now.

" I don't know if you're very religious, i'm not myself, but i'm sure you're mother is still with you. I don't know if the dead watch over us, but it does feel like my father is here with me sometimes." She lowered her gaze to the table to keep herself from tearing up. " and i'm sure your mother is here with you as well. People who really love you never leave."

" The world will have lost two wonderful people by the time everything Is said and done," Alucard had said so himself, his father was a wealth of knowledge and his mother so outstanding. They were two people who were madly in love and could of better the world. " I'll mourn with you, when that time comes." she promised.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" I don't think yelling at one of your horses will make me feel better," Trevor chuckled dryly but followed Lucia down stairs regardless. " I don't even know if it's their fault."

There was of course the possibility that the horses had been the reason for his nightmare, but they hadn't really affected him so far. He was sure that thinking about his family so much last night had kind of opened the door to nightmares, and with literal nightmares outside this was bound to happen.

They ducked out the back into an alley that took them to the back way into the stables, an door in that he hadn't even realized was there last time he was in the stables but he was grateful for it. He didn't want to deal with people too much right now, and even with there being time before the sun rose he knew some professions required being up before the sun. He didn't want to run into a baker or hunter, normal towns people would remind him too much of the mob that had gathered around his house.

That was one of the real painful parts about everything, that it hadn't been church officials who had wrapped those chains around the door handles it had been people they had known. The people that worked the land, the baker who made delicious sour dough, the hunter who had been impressed by the wild boar skin Trevor had showed him after his first (normal) hunt. The church officials had been in the crowd, but they hadn't dirtied their hands, no they used the common folk for that.

He paused for a second before heading into the stable behind Lucia, he took a deep breath of crisp air then opened his eyes and felt better. This was real life, his dreams couldn't get him out here. The air didn't smell like fire, his hands squeezed around his luggage to prove to himself that his hands weren't burnt raw, and the only sounds were from the sleeping village. No screams.

Without an ale to make him forget using simple things like this to ground him would be the best he was going to get.

" I'll be glad to be out this town, it's weird not having to kill anything," At least if there were demons to kill or other supernatural things trying to kill them then he would focus on surviving, not his feelings.
 
Those golden eyes, already upon the table, shifted to where Aveline set her hand. It was a comforting gesture, but right then it just seemed to bring the pain up to the surface. It was in the way it reminded him that this was a tragedy. That his suffering was legitimate, and not just the agony of some poor, spoiled rich boy.

He was losing both parents.

He should be sad.

He just…couldn’t. Not yet. Not truly. He shut his eyes briefly as she squeezed his hand, “I know,” he believed her. He truly did believe that she would take the pain away if she could, but of course, she couldn’t. There was no way to fix it, no way to get over it, when it hadn’t even come to completion yet. “Knowing I have someone who will remain there at the end, at least a while, is a welcome thought. I had…truly intended to close myself off when all was said and done.”

He opened his eyes once more, “It seemed only fitting…I had never belonged, and both of my parents would be gone. People would still want to kill me just for who my father was. Some maybe even for who my mother was.” No matter, he wouldn’t be a popular person, even if he killed his father. Some might even think him lesser for that. Kinslaying was still a highly taboo thing.

As for the afterlife?

He didn’t know.

His mother didn’t seem to believe in one, though that wavered on some days. She was ever an agnostic atheist, hoping for more, but never quite believing it. He imagined that hope, and that need to find certainty, was what had driven her through her whole life.

Aveline’s gaze left his, though. He had seen it begin to water, and felt a pang for having caused her it. It was, in some ways, reassuring to know she truly would mourn with him, as she said. That she felt his pain – but he did not wish it on her, even if he also wanted company in it. “The world will lose too many more if we fail,” when Dracula killed everyone. “We may mourn the losses…but though I may fail…you should not forget the victory.”

And she should remind him. Though he would be suffering, he would need to remember all he had saved, just as well.

~***~

Lucia shrugged at Trevor’s statement of yelling at the horses. ‘You never know.’ Sometimes a person just needed to yell. Or cry. Or react, just to get it out of their system. It didn’t matter if it was at the responsible party, they just needed it out. If blaming a supernatural nightmare horse helped, then he could blame a supernatural nightmare horse.

Marius would get over it. Maybe. Or plot revenge.

She led the way into the stables, bypassing the nightmares who slept as Trevor commented on their situation, “I rather prefer not having to deal with the things that want to kill us,” that was likely all Trevor did before this point, travel and kill monsters. He probably collected small bounties on them to get by. Or even just a pack of wolf that was causing troubles.

Outside the stable, the carriage was as it had been left, and Lucia opened the door to toss in her book. She might continue reading it in the morning. She hadn’t decided. Best to leave it easily accessible.

She stepped back from the carriage to let Trevor set up his own things how he liked, though her posture was shifted away, ready to walk when he was. No point in just lingering by the carriage. “Though you sound like a lot of soldiers I used to know.” Those who didn’t know how to adapt to civilian life after a tour with the legions.

“Is that what you did before this? Hunting on a smaller scale?” It’d certainly explain how he stayed in shape, if he continued to contend with monsters. The traveling helped, and probably that horribly heavy cloak, but more activity than that was needed to keep reflexes honed – and that cloak’s weight still wouldn’t explain most of his strength.
 
" You'll have me until you chase me away with a broom or something," Aveline joked.

When Dracula was dead and the dust was settling she wasn't sure where they wound be or where any of them would go. They had talked it over a bit, she knew Lucias plans and Syphas as well but other than promising to be there for Alucard afterwards there was still a lot up in the air. But regardless of where he did his mourning she would be there with him, he deserved someone there with him. She knew what it was like to mourn the death of someone when you only had yourself, and it hurt even more when it was a parent. She wasn't going to make him go through any additional pain if she could help.

" You're not going to fall," Aveline insisted, but she knew nothing was certain. It would just be too cruel for a whole family to die by the end of this. If she had a say, as selfish as it was, she couldn't let Alucard die. They should save many lives from being lost, and no one in their group would perish in the process, maybe if she repeated it in her head enough it would be true. But she worried that maybe he wanted to fall, who would want to live after killing their only living parent when they knew the world held so little for them.

Lucia and Trevor had painted a vivid enough picture for her, Vampires wouldn't respect Alucard regardless of his family just because he was a Dhampir and humanity would be the same. She understood that pain, and selfishly she didn't want to lose someone who understood her own struggle. If they could both survive, they could brace each other for a life time of not belonging.

" I don't think you understand the lecture I would give your father if he really did-" she couldn't say it. She couldn't even speak the possibility of Dracula killing his son for this cause into existence. " I'd give him a lecture that would rattle the foundation of the earth. Ah there's a thought, maybe when we get to your father i'll just lecture him," she said trying to lightening the mood. This conversation had gotten so heavy, it felt like a weighted blanket filled with stones and it was crushing her a bit to see Alucard like this. She wanted to see a smile on his face and a shine in his eyes.

" I'll put one hand on my hip and wag a finger at him until he sees the error of his ways. If he doesn't then i'll pull on his ear and send him to bed early. ' no mass human genocide for you today Mister', " she said playfully. " My father told me I can be very persuasive when I get angry, I bet I could scare even the great Dracula."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" It's easier dealing with things that want to kill you. You don't have to guess their motivations," Trevor said as he added his luggage to some of the bags in the back of the carriage. He hadn't brought a lot with him, he didn't travel with a lot. All he needed was money in his coin purse and his weapons, but he did like to keep some spare clothes in case he got blood on them or ruined them somehow. A good hunter had a back up, but a great hunter had back ups planted all over.

If he really needed something he knew of a few caches he had hidden away over the country, and even some his family had created long before he was alive. Those had been godsends when he had to survive on his own after everything went to shit. Most of them had dry supplies that could last long time, maybe a blanket or some healing salve, mostly weapons though.

He closed the back of the carriage with a small shrug at Lucias question. " It shouldn't be that hard to guess, but yeah. Hunting was what I was born for, all I was really taught. Then at one point I became all I had." Being the son of a noble didn't mean shit when your family was excommunicated and your estate burned. What mattered was that he needed to survive and he did that the only way he knew how.

He killed what ever creatures were plaguing the towns or villages he passed through, sometimes they were supernatural and sometimes they weren't. The only thing that mattered though was the coin that was in his hand by the end.

" Plus there's no shortage of things that need killing," He joked, but it was a bit bitter. He used to think the monster filled state the world was in was because of what had happened to his family, they were by far the most well known name in monster hunting. Any monster with half a brain knew they had to be careful or the Belmonts would come find them, and with his family gone there was suddenly nothing holding them back, but he knew that was just the bitter part of himself trying feel better. Maybe if he thought the world was going to shit he'd feel a bit better, like they were paying for what they had done to him.

" Didn't you hunt a bit before you decided to take up arms against Dracula?" He asked Lucia, ready to take the focus off himself. " Johann told me about how you Patrol your lands, and the way you two met. I'm sure you've been killing monsters to pass the time like I have."

He doubted that Sypha dealt with monsters or demons often, she had looked very shocked when he found her as a statue, but their travels together were quickly warming her up to the idea. Johann was from a hunter family, Danica must of gotten used to the supernatural by being with Lucia, and Alucards father was fucking Dracula. So other than Sypha, and maybe Aveline but her clear supernatural heritage put her up for debate, everyone in the group should of done a bit of hunting before this.
 
Alucard knew how Aveline was going to finish that sentence, and it was not one he wanted to dwell on. He didn’t want to die. Not right now. He might feel the call to the void when all of this was done, but he certainly hoped not. If his reading was true, there were things to hope for, after all. And if Lucia’s was true, he imagined that unity was going to cross over to him, as well. He may be ousted from the wider circle of vampires, for the moment…but he’d never be quite ‘out’ of it.

And with a…friend? like Belmont, he might even find a place among humans. Or not. Belmont didn’t exactly have a place.

He couldn’t help but snort a moment, before laughing as he tried to imagine Aveline lecturing his father. In another year, another time, he might have actually heard her – when he was the man impressed by Lisa’s spunk. Now? He was likely to cut her off long before she finished it. He was able to enjoy the imagery for a moment, though, “Please…don’t try that,” there was still some amusement in his tone as he said it. “For my own dignity. I can’t have my father scared off by you.”

He’d take every hit to his pride if he could have his father back, but he knew it wasn’t possible. He wondered, idly, if Dracula would have liked Aveline in another time. His mother would have, that went without question, but Dracula was always a bit harder to get along with. It was still a wonder that he and Lisa came together.

“Don’t worry – I don’t know how to use a broom,” a true fact, he realized, he might need to remedy one day. “I don’t think I’ll be able to chase you away with one.” He realized he never really had to do any housework then, and the thought occurred to him these might be things he needed to learn. “Oh god, I was spoiled.” The realization hit at the strangest of time, with the strangest of thoughts to bring it up.

His brows knit briefly together, “I never learned how to clean,” no one was going to teach little Alucard how to clean when he could learn other things – his mother never thought of it, teaching instead other skills, and Alucard was fairly certain that his father didn’t know how to clean.

He’d definitely never seen Dracula clean.

“I just realized when Dracula passes I’ll have that entire castle and no idea how to clean it….” It was a better thought than impossibilities – although thinking of cleaning it was looking like an impossibility right now. He couldn’t imagine hiring servants for…well, a while. Until people forgot who’s home it used to be.

~***~

It wasn’t hard to guess, but Lucia hadn’t wanted to only assume that was how Trevor lived. He could have surprised her, after all. Baking wasn’t exactly a skill anyone expected him to have. The world did need people who kept others in line, enforcers, as it were, especially when so many tried to deny they existed.

It made some things so much easier. Most in Chernihiv didn’t know she was a vampire. Every few decades there’d be stories of a birth, of a daughter that inherited the same name, or inherited her middle name instead. Sometimes, she’d have someone to play the role, sometimes not. She was certain a few had caught on and passed the story down.

“Did he, now?” Trevor turned the topic on her, “I would use the term patrol or guard over hunt, myself. I never went out of my way until now to actually hunt something, and whenever I could, I let the quarry live.” The nightmares were an example of that, Johann’s werewolf brother another.

It had gained her some powerful allies outside the realm of vampires. The werewolves just north of her territory had sworn to make sure Chernihiv would remain safe when she left. They may not be able to control themselves on full moon nights, but they had figured out how to keep themselves contained or distracted. “Perhaps it is just semantics, though. I only targeted those things that threatened to become a threat to Chernihiv, regardless of species. I believe I’ve killed more hunters than your monsters.”

She knew she had killed more hunters than she had monsters. She couldn’t always reason with hunters, especially those who thought she was using Chernihiv as her own personal feeding grounds and keeping the people more or less enslaved. She didn’t know where those stories came from, and the source of them was likely long dead, but they still existed. “Honestly I spend most of my time in boring accounting of taxes and revenue, or in territory disputes over how much land I actually have, when I’m not arranging the next harvest festival or the new year celebrations,” Lucia chuckled.

Her life was boring on most days, spent wondering why numbers didn’t match what they should, or why straw was suddenly so damned expensive that year. Or being annoyed with a field that refused to grow anything, even after being left fallow.

Tedious things – but her job. “I wonder, was I ever on that list of your family? I’m sure I was such a threat for learning how to tax people.” People hated taxes. She didn’t blame them – but something had to fund taking care of the land. “Sometimes I wonder if the hunters were hired by disgruntled citizens who want to pay less in taxes, or think I’m spending it improperly.” The thought was almost hilarious – if only it were so. A normal reason to hate her would be welcome.
 
" Wait," Aveline said with a small chuckle, " You don't know how to use a broom, or clean at all?" This she would take, this change of topic that was so much better than what she had just been worrying about. She wanted this, to see Alucard thinking about what would come after the fighting was done.

Alucards sudden realization got a good laugh out of her, he just looked so shocked to realize that he was in fact spoiled. " You? Spoiled? Alucard son of the king of the vampires who was raised in a castle, spoiled? Never." She laughed.

She had heard stories about Draculas castle, how it was large and could travel the world in a blink of an eye but also all the forgotten knowledge that existed inside it. " I'm sure your parents thought teaching you how to clean could come after some other more important things." Alucard was clearly very educated so it wasn't like he had spent his youth. But Alucard was 20, if he hadn't learned how to clean as a child she couldn't see his parents suddenly deciding It was time to teach him now to hold a broom or clean the windows.

" It's not that hard, i'll show you." She promised easily. Having things to do after would be good, If the castle still stood when everything was said and done Alucard would need tasks to keep him from wallowing in sadness, and cleaning was a good way to do that.

" It won't be too hard to master the room, wiping the windows, dusting the book cases. Though to be fair I don't know how big your fathers castle is," Until she actually saw the size of the castle she wouldn't know how much work she was putting on her plate, but it wasn't like she'd have anything better to do though even if she did she wasn't going to leave Alucard in over his head.

She had promised to be there for him when this was all done and over with, and as long as he didn't get annoyed by her and chase her away with a room ( after he turned how to use one) then he'd have her there. Learning to live after your world when to shit and back was something she thought both of them needed to learn how to do. She had just run away from her issues, so maybe it was time she try to put down roots.

" I suddenly cant wait to see you with your hair tied up in a bun, on your hands and knees scrubbing the floors." Aveline finally pulled her hand away from Alucards, then just laughed into her hands. She didn't want to wake up anyone, the sun would rise soon enough but not everyone got up when the day started. So she tried to smother her laughter, but in her mind she could see Alucard with a messy bun and his sleeves rolled up. For someone so regal it was so funny to picture.

" In general it's a bit hard to picture you doing anything domestic, but you came from a very educated environment. I imagine you walking around with a sword on your hip wasn't all that normal." No Alucard looked like he preferred days in libraries reading books over trailing the roads and killing demons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" I imagine letting what ever your fighting live is a lot easier when you're a vampire," Trevor joked, but he felt a weight on his shoulders. How many creatures had his family killed instead of saved? Could they of saved more than they killed, almost certainly. Lucia was able to do it, but like he said she was a vampire. She could hold her own and there were few creatures that were real threats to vampires, they were immortal for all intents and purposes which normally meant a long memory. If something made a deal with a vampire and they wanted to survive then they best remember not to cross them or go back on their word.

But he knew that even if he had tried to be more passive and understanding his name would make it hard. What creature would believe a Belmont wasn't going to turn around and stab them in the back? Carmilla had brought it up in the stables no more than few hours ago, everything expected him to turn on them so they tried to turn on him first.

" I don't really get the option to let things go, I got enough scars to warrant caution. Most things see my family crest or claim to smell ' the Belmont stench'-" he used air quotes because that had been said to him more than enough over the past 20 years of hunting he had under his belt,"- on me. Then any chances of talking go out the window."

Lucia had said his name was like the boogyman of the supernatural world, Humans used to hear it and feel like they were in good hands where as anything else heard it and felt fear. He was older, and not as smart as half the other people in the group, but he was experienced. He knew that when faced with your worlds version of the devil come for you that talking things out was off the table. To most creatures he was probably an omen of death, and how many thought they could talk things out with the grim reaper?

" Its kind of weird but oddly comforting to know that you hated those boring meetings as much as my father did." Trevor chuckled. His father had been a landowner like Lucia, which meant on top of being a hunter he also had to deal with the peasants that worked the land. " Guess the one thing that unites humans and vampires alike is their hatred for taxes."

He had the displeasures of sitting in one some of those meetings his father had to attend, he was the future heir and the estates would be his to run one day, and they had bored him to death as a child. He could only imagine what multiple life times of dealing with taxes or festival planning would feel like, probably hell on earth.

He didn't want to comment on his families list, it was a hit list really. They kept track of the vampires they killed, hoping one would give them the lead they needed to take the fight to Dracula, and sometimes targeted specific ones if word got to them. The vampire nobility were almost always tracked down, even if they couldn't take the fight to them without starting a war It was good to know where you're enemies were. Lucia was almost certainly on that list, even if he couldn't remember her name. If she really did treat her people well then there wouldn't of been any urgency on his fathers part to go after her, not when there were lesser vampire lords killing towns or vampiric raiding parties happening in the northwest.

" My father put church officials on that list sometimes, it wasn't hard to get on." He said instead, joking. " My mother wasn't a fan of that. We had lay people or church men stop by often enough that she worried someone would see the list and really think we wanted to kill holy men." when times were tense with the church his mother had done her best to come off as religious and god fearing, but his father and all the trouble he caused certainly hadn't helped.

" Plus not like it matters now, that list got burnt up with everything else. As long as no ones broken through the door the only things left of my family are in the hold."
 
Alucard groaned loudly at Aveline’s clarifying question and easy mockery of the truth – that he was more spoiled than he’d realized, and did not, in fact, know how to use a broom. Or clean. He could figure some things out, dish washing wasn’t hard to pick up at all – remove the stains. Sweeping? He had rarely seen the point of it in the castle in the first place, the same with dusting, how did one know if it was clean or the job was finished, when it already looked spotless?

He didn’t know that.

Maybe one didn’t know how. Maybe it was just done to make sure it retained the spotless look.

“Yes, yes, laugh – I never really thought of it before, and I know how spoiled that makes me sound, now.” He let out an exasperated sigh as she drew her hand back, and he let the one he’d been leaning his cheek against fall to the table, covering the hand there in its place. “I’m not even sure my father knows how to use a broom.”

Lisa probably did.

“You may regret offering that,” he noted. The castle was large – though he supposed she would only have to show him in a small area. Then he could put those skills to practice. Still…he knew it would take one person an eternity to clean the entire castle. ‘What else will you have to do?’ Fair point. He wasn’t sure how else to spend the time, though somehow he was certain he could have done better than spend his eternity cleaning.

The imagery that came, as he was imagining it himself, startled him from the starts. “Bun?!” He sounded almost indignant, “Why would I need to put my hair up like that?” Why wouldn’t a ponytail be sufficient? Or a braid?

…Actually scratch the braid, he’d just think of his mother’s hair.

Though, her laughter did curve his reaction into a smile, “I’d look ridiculous.” As she so clearly knew. “It’s too thin to stay in a bun, it’d all just slip out of place,” not that he’d tried it, but his mother had both complimented his hair for how fine and silky it was, while complaining that it would be so hard to do anything with it. It seemed to lose any of the waves she tried to put into it when she did braid it. Never mind keeping his bangs from slipping back in front of him when he put it in a ponytail.

“I admit, walking around with a sword was more common than…cleaning. I did have to train to get good with it,” so he had walked to training grounds and met with others to improve his skill, “but it is…not preferred. I would rather return to a more peaceful life.” Yet he was dubbed the ‘soldier’ in all of this. He couldn’t help then but to huff, “I do wonder how the prophecy determined I was the soldier, and not someone else.” Lucia seemed almost more fit, given her strange history with Rome and the red cloak that screamed ‘centurion’. “I seem more the scholar,” though Sypha was clearly even more that, and she was definitely not a soldier.

And no one could rival Lucia for Elder.

Though Trevor could have potentially rivaled Aveline for Wanderer.

~***~

It likely was easier to spare things, given her strength, but she could hardly claim to be able to go toe-to-toe with a werewolf. Their strength often surpassed her own. Tricks and traps, and plenty of silver, were the best ways to deal with them. Thankfully, few retained their reasoning capabilities once the full moon hit. It made them easier to deal with.

There was definitely an opening to make a comment about his so-called stench. Trevor would only have himself to blame – and the fact he didn’t take advantage of the inn’s tub. Lucia refrained, though. She was sure the lineage had a particular scent, most families did, but it often got muddled up with all the other lineages. A family like the Belmonts might be closely related enough that it wasn’t an issue, but she wasn’t about to ask Trevor how in-bred they were, or how often they crossed over with the same sorts of families.

Johann had seemed embarrassed enough by the fact his family moved between so few for marriage opportunities – at least with the male heirs.

“I think all creatures and species hate taxes. It’s the one thing that unites us,” Lucia allowed a comment on that instead. “There’s no winning whether you’re setting taxes, or paying, or both,” the people tended to forget she had to pay taxes, just as well. Some of the people. There were definitely days she left open to hear from them, and while generally it wasn’t bad…there were always plenty of tax complaints or other petty problems.

As for the list – he didn’t want to comment on it. It was clear in his evasive answer. ‘So I was.’ Or at least, she presumed she had been. It wasn’t a surprise no Belmont ever came after her – she was a bit of a trip, and she’d be tipped off long before they reached her. It may be why Carmilla was still alive. They were a bit aways from the Belmont radar, and generally kept things fairly quiet in their holds. “I’m surprised the list wasn’t kept in the hold,” she noted, but wouldn’t add to that.

It wasn’t an important topic, to know if his family wanted her dead. It was a curiosity that was, for the most part, meaningless. The only Belmont who might hunt her now was instead giving her blood.

There was a brief lull in the talk, a moment to take in the surroundings, the stars – the topic left had few curves it could make to something decent or happy, and Lucia knew that wasn’t her goal in the first place. She had wanted to help prepare Trevor in some ways, after all. To start down those paths, just a bit, of all those uncomfortable topics. “You don’t want to go back…do you?” He hadn’t said it, but Lucia could still remember how it was brought up. She may not have been witness to his body language, but she had heard. “Did you ever go back after it burned?” Somehow, she didn’t think he had. He likely did what he felt was necessary – and ran, never to look back. Despite having the name Belmont, despite hunting, he hadn’t wanted to reclaim or restore anything.

He had wanted to leave it, and never have to face it.

She could, in too many ways, understand.

She’d changed her own name, after all – it helped, gods knew it helped, but it hadn’t taken any of the past away. It didn’t mean she wasn’t once ‘Doll Belun’ nor did it mean she wasn’t once ‘Lucia Aemilia Lepidus Paullus’, either.
 
" You would look so nice with a bun, and cleaning can be hard work. It's best to get you hair up and out of the way, anything else and it'll fall in your face or around your neck," Aveline was really trying to convince Alucard that a bun wasn't a bad way to go, but it was mostly for herself. Any hairstyle that pulled hair out of the face would be the way to go when it came to cleaning, no one wanted to get their hair in dirty water or what ever they were trying to sweep up.

" You've never had me do anything with your hair, I know things," Aveline said playfully. Her mother had showed her a few ways to put up hair when she was little, she had been able to braid or style both hair parents long hair at some point in her life. As she got older it became a skill that she used on herself, her father dead and her mother so distant that there was no ones hair to play with but her own. But now that she thought about it she could surely get Sypha and Danica to let her braid their hair, Maybe Lucia as well if they got a bit more comfortable around one another. " I could give you a stylish braided bun, you wouldn't strike fear into the hearts of anyone we fought, but maybe they'd fall in love with you and be unable to fight back."

" I think you're the soldier," Aveline started once the subject changed, " because you don't need to like war or crave conflict to fight for a cause." Soldiers went into battle all the times for lords or reasons they didn't care for, and this was certainly a cause Alucard didn't like but knew had to happen. The fact that soldiers were known for standing strong no matter what also came to mind.

" Plus can you imagine anyone else in the group fitting the role better? Lucia and Trevor are both impressive fighters but both have other roles they fit too well. I thought Sypha or Trevor would fit the role of wanderer very well, but when you line all three of us up it's pretty clear who the real wanderer is."

Trevor and Sypha both wandered but there was a reason behind what they did, Trevor wandered for work and to escape the past that always seemed to be nipping at his heels, and Sypha didn't wander as much as she traveled in search of knowledge. Aveline had left her home to leave behind her mother, but once on the road she hadn't been plagued by thoughts of her mother at all. She had been filled with curiosity and excitement to see humanity and the world around her, in fact the first she had thought about her month in years was just recently, since joining the group.

" But regardless when everything is said and done you'll get a peaceful enough life, hopefully. You can put down your sword and pick up a broom." she giggled. " and if you ever get bored of peaceful all you need to do is look for me, i'll most likely still be in the castle so we can have some fun," the implication would of been a bit dirtier if not for the shine in Avelines eyes. " I would like to spar with you, that would be fun! We also still need to have that race we were talking about earlier, that's sure to be fun as well. And I can think of a bunch of other ways to pass time."

she didn't know if she could find a way to keep immortality fresh and new, but she was going to try that was for sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" It probably should of been," Trevor agreed, " but my father kept the list in his office. He liked to look over it, said it kept him focused." he wasn't going to go into detail over the way his father had looked every time he got to cross a name off the list, or the deep set frown when he had to add another name to the long list. He was surprised the list didn't end up spilling onto the floor, but his father had worked hard to prevent that. He certainly went out on enough hunts. Trevor could barely remember his father when he was younger, he wasn't too interested in an infant son that couldn't walk or hold a weapon yet. But after Trevor had shown he wasn't going to die on them from illness or poor health then his father was around a bit more, if only to set up training schedules and beat the right reflexes into him.

Vaguely Trevor wondered if there was a list in the hold somewhere, maybe an outdated one with old vampires on it that were either long dead or hadn't yet made it onto the Belmont radar hundreds of years ago. He actually wondered if Lucia was on those older lists, but he wasn't sure. He had only been in the family hold a handful of times and he had been told not to touch anything unless given permission. He had only really seen his father grab some books from the shelves and been given a few lectures about the hold being the legacy for the Belmont family, one he needed to protect and add to if he wanted to be a successful heir.

Trevor leaned his back against the Carriage, and frowned into the distance as the gentle lull that filled the air was replaced by Lucias question, no her statement. The way she said it she must of already known the answer, but it wasn't like he was trying to keep his feelings a secret. He didn't want the others to feel any need to worry about him or see him as a weak link, but returning to his families old estate was a high price for him.

" I don't want to do a lot of things," He started off, " but things need to get done, so I do them." He hadn't wanted to train until his hands bleed when he was a child. He hadn't wanted to wake up before the sun to study in a lonely room where his mother wouldn't have to see him. He hadn't wanted to have to grow up at 10. But he had.

" Truthfully, I haven't been back since I left. I survived the fire and the mob, I found anything left of my family i could to bury, then I left it all behind. The only thing I took with me when I left was this scar over my eye and the clothes on my back." There was nothing for him in those ashes and the empty shell of the house, only painful memories really. Yes the hold was still there, but that wouldn't do him any good because he didn't know how to get inside and even if he did for all he knew it was only an old library.

A library full of secrets and magical power, but it was useless to him when he had no gift for reading or using magic. Hell even if he did know magic he didn't know how to get inside the bloody thing.

" and since we're on the topic I know my family hold is sealed, it's most likely just as it was the last time my family was in it, but that door...I don't know how to open it. There was a trick to it, a trick I don't know, but ive seen it opened and know it can be done, we'll just have to figure out how when we get there." As far as he was concerned the hardest part would be getting to the hold alive, it couldn't be that hard for them to figure out how to open the thing. They would have a speaker magician, two vampires, and 4 other minds to brain storm a solution. Even with the possibility of not being able to open the door, the didn't have any other options. This was their best bet.
 
“True, I haven’t had you do my hair,” Alucard would consent to that. It was possible she was better at taming hair. His mother had mostly done the same singular braid for herself, for that reasoning – to keep her hair out of the way of her work. She didn’t need it obscuring her vision when she was working with her medicines. Or have a stray hair end up in a mixture.

Hers was always kept fairly loose in spite of that.

She likely hadn’t known how to work with hair as fine as his, and he never had more interest in anything other than shoving it into a ponytail when he got frustrated in a spar and blamed his hair. “I don’t think a hairstyle is that powerful…but maybe.” He allowed. He supposed if it brought some humor, some smiles…it wasn’t a horrible price to pay.

Not right then, though.

Her assessment of the soldier was apt, though he was certain there were soldiers out there who enjoyed war. They needed it. He supposed the ideal soldier was not one who craved war, but did their duty, for a greater cause, even if they did not like their duty. He could see that, and comparing the others to it – no, it wasn’t as fitting. The same was true of the wanderer role, many could have fit it, but only one fit it best. That was Aveline, who wandered without much purpose or direction.

Who was thinking of stopping her wandering, to keep him company in an old castle. To trade the sword for the broom, and to have Aveline around. She seemed to speak of it with no issue at all, no longing for an adventure beyond what could be found there, “Do you really think you would want to stay so long?” He couldn’t stop himself from asking, canting his head to let some of that golden hair spill over one shoulder. “You are the wanderer…aren’t there more places you would like to get out and see?”

Wouldn’t she get bored?

Impatient?

Frustrated?

How could she talk so easily of staying at his side so long, that she made it sound like she could stay forever and not mind? ‘Would you like her to?’ Of course he did not know for certain. They were both fairly young for their respective species. And yet…he liked the thought of a future where she remained in it. Perhaps he couldn’t say for certain, they did not know each other well, but…right now, the thought was pleasant.

He hoped it would stay that way. He wanted it to stay that way.

~***~

Lucia could not say she was pleased that her assumptions were right. It was good to know she was still good at reading people, even if she wouldn’t claim that humans were all the same as some vampires would. Trevor exhibited behavior familiar to her, it made him easier to read than some – than those who had a happy childhood, or a normal life.

Yet he was still surprisingly good at evading the topic, shifting it around in a way that flowed naturally. He didn’t know her intentions, but she still wanted to applaud him for it – for how little he could say while remaining honest.

He gave a little. He spoke of burying what he could, and he noted that his scar came from that moment, things Lucia had not known before. The former was easily guessed, the latter? With Trevor’s life, the scar could have come from anywhere, but instead, the most visible, the most obvious, came from the worst moment of his life.

Her smile was easy as she commented, “I’m not worried about getting into it,” because she wasn’t, “we’re all too determined to let a simple door get in the way. If need be, I’m sure we could blow a hole in.” She doubted that would become necessary, but she would not have it off the table. There were always ways in, even if they weren’t the…traditional methods.

Lucia was at least too stubborn to be stopped by a trick door. “I suppose I wouldn’t want to disturb the graves, though.” That much might be difficult in opening up a path into the Belmont Hold in a non-traditional fashion. She wondered if there were markers, but didn’t ask that. “Were you able to bury them all?” Was there someone missing, or had he found enough?

Was there a task left undone?

The Speakers were particular about not leaving their dead behind.

The Romans…her family, and others, had their own traditions of ancestral masks. Lucia had seen a few commissioned. It wasn’t her talent, but…it had been necessary, not only for that family by blood, but those who came into her service and became more than just a servant, would be honored in such a way. They weren’t always exact depictions. As time had gone on, they’d taken on more symbolism, but all the same…it was a way of gaining closure.

As burying could be, though in Rome, cremation was more popular. Perhaps that was why they had the masks – to have a marker.
 
" While i'll admit that i like exploring but it's not the thing that drives me. Expanding my knowledge of the world is just something that makes live on the road bearable." Aveline didn't have a place to call home, her home had been her father but when your home was a person and not a place that meant things could change in a moment. She didn't feel like her birth mountain was the place for her, she didn't think it had been the place for her father either now that she looked back at it. But he had been there so it mattered to her, and without him to come home to the mountain was empty. So empty.

So with nothing to hold her there she left. She traveled because that was what her father had done, he had traveled the world and fought until he found a reason to plant roots, and she wanted that too. She wanted to see the world her father had seen, and that motivated her when the road got lonely or the path difficult, but she was more than willing to settle down where ever felt right.

That was part of being a Haltija, no matter how conflicted she felt about her relationship with her mother there were parts of herself she couldn't suppress. The Haltija found people or places to protect in the past, and maybe they still did now she couldn't be sure because she was an outsider to them as well. But deep inside her there was a feeling of longing, she wanted to find some place or someone she cared so strongly about that she would stop traveling and have a home again.

That's the feeling that had brought her through Gresit, a hope to find something worth doing and a place worth protecting, and she felt like she was on the right path. Protecting Wallachia with a group of people that caught her interest? That stirred the fire in her gut so thoroughly that she didn't really need a prophesy to get her to agree to this suicide mission.

" I'm not wandering because i'm looking for anything specific, i'm wandering because I don't have any place to be," Aveline said as she fiddled with the ends of her long black hair. " If I could find a place or people that felt right, that wanted me and would have me, then I would settle down without question."

She had grown up in one place, and there were things she missed about having a permanent home, she hadn't been traveling anywhere near as long as Trevor but she was already pretty tired of it. She couldn't imagine how he felt wandering the country for years with no home to go to and no end goal in sight.

" I miss sleeping in a bed that was my own bed, not one I rented for the night. I miss gardening and cooking and feeding stray animals that came by," her eyes were distant, she was remembering her home on the mountain with her father, but now that home was a empty house.

" So I think-" her focus had returned, she was back in the present with Alucard in the inn, " that I would like to stay with you in the castle for as long as you'd have me."

Alucard could very well grow sick of her but for now she felt accepted by him. Of course their futures could change, they could make their promises and plans to stay together when everything was said and done, to support one another through the hard times, but he had romance in his future, maybe he'd fall in love with a beautiful woman and no longer want her around. Most women wouldn't be a fan of another woman living with their crush, but if that time came and she saw Alucard moving on with his life then she'd leave his side if he asked.

She could head back out on the road again and look for that place that called to her, but for now the fire inside her was telling her to stay with Alucard. She wanted to protect him and help him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" There's nothing to really disturb," Trevor assured Lucia who was being thoughtful of his families graves. They could very well need to find some way to blow a hole into the hold, but he doubted that would work. It was buried deep underground and if they wanted inside then they would need to dig through the mountain somehow, but between all of them they could probably big a huge pit somewhere and hope for the best.

" The house fire was hot, and it burned for almost a full day," he gazed off into the night skin like he was looking into those flames again. " The village that mob came from wasn't at any risk of getting burnt down, so they let the fire burn, it probably would of burned for days but it started to rain. By the end there wasn't much left."

His family had been cremated when everything was said and done, but the issue with that is that you don't know who Is who or if the ashes in your hands were your sisters or just part of the wall. Trevor had spent hours on his hands and knees digging through ashes and gagging, wondering which sister he was covered in.

" I buried anything that I knew for certain was something from them, a necklace, a hair pin, a scrap of fabric I found caught in a tree branch." The graves were empty, no real human remains in them only physical items that didn't have a soul. His families ashes had blown away in the wind and had most likely fertilized the estates land to one degree or another. He wouldn't be surprised to return and see everything green and alive, fire always did have a weird way of bringing out the best in nature.

" though-" he started, his voice kind of small and thoughtful, " If we get the time I think i'd like to make them each their own grave marker. I made one, just one." He paused, frowning as he thought back to the pathetic excuse of a grave marker he had made. Of course he was 10 at the time, trying to make something at least decent with hands burn red and raw and tears in his eyes.

" It was honestly pretty shitty. Just some wood I pulled off of the house that didn't look too burnt. I scratched the date in it and the name 'Belmont' but that was it." His family deserved better, his sisters deserved better.

He was older now. He could go back, find better wood or even stone if he was lucky, and make at least something decent. His sisters deserved better than some ugly burnt board and a almost unnamed grave. It would hurt him but he would sit there this time and carve out each name, each birthday, and each day of death.

" But that's the future, for now we actually have to get there." He finally looked away from the sky, it was like he had turned to his body. What ever he was thinking before, where ever his thoughts had taken him while talking about that day, he was back. He couldn't let his past hold him back while he was trying to fight for the future of Wallachia.
 
‘Wanderer’ – perhaps by choice, Alucard thought, but not entirely, either. It seemed that Aveline wanted a place to belong, and though she claimed she wasn’t looking for anything in particular, her words seemed to contradict it. She was looking for something – for that place where she could stay. That place that felt right.

Home.

And she seemed to be thinking that could be there with him, in Dracula’s lonely castle. It wasn’t because of the castle – it was because of him. She wasn’t offering to go with Sypha, Lucia, nor even Trevor. Lucia might be better suited to add someone to her life, she seemed to have plenty within it – but perhaps that was why.

She wasn’t looking for anyone. She had even seemed to think herself ‘too old’ for romance, for a new start. She had settled in her ways. Aveline might have found something stable there, but that might not be so good. It wouldn’t adapt well.

Alucard was not so certain of his own future. He might be more open to change. Perhaps not as steady as Lucia, but…they could figure things out together, and make Dracula’s castle more of a home, and not just a large building. “Well, you’ll find plenty of knowledge in Dracula’s castle,” he noted, “and it seems we’re going to have to set you up a room there.”

With her own bed, her own decorations, her own touches, “I’m not sure about the garden…rather hard to have one with a mobile home.” The rest was feasible, certainly. “I do not think I would grow sick of you. I am enjoying your company now – I’m as likely to miss your company when you get lost in the libraries or knowledge of the castle.”

Lisa was prone to doing so, though Dracula would wait. He had all the time in the world, he could wait until Lisa had to surface for air – or more often than not, food.

“It would be good to have a constant, familiar face.” One who might live so long as he would, too. He would not have to worry about saying good bye to her too soon, so long as they both stayed out of trouble. “Someone to give…life to that place,” instead of death. Instead of the ghosts that would roam each hall, each memory of his parents woven into his memory.

He could make new ones to brighten it. “And when we play hide and seek there, I’ll have the advantage.” He couldn’t help the additional comment, as he thought of running through those halls – of how Lisa had found him to be such a handful. Far too fast. But he would always slow down, just a bit…or pause…to make sure she would catch him. Eventually. “Although, I confess…I do not think I have even seen all of the castle.”

~***~

Trevor’s gaze became distant, and his words seemed to steady as he reflected. He had buried pieces. There were no bodies, the fire had been too hot, but there were areas spared, with pieces of things that loved ones held dear. He had made one marker, rather than many. He had buried not the individuals, but the family, in grouping it as he did. He died that night, too, in his way. Lucia could feel her heartstrings tugged, but she did not let her expression falter.

If she reacted too much…it might break it all, the steady way he spoke, or that he was even willing to speak of it.

“Yes,” she agreed, “it is the future,” she was not smiling, but there was a softness to her gaze then, to her eyes. “Something you can plan for, and whatever you need along the way to get there, you need only ask.” She let her head bow, briefly, eyes shut, “I do not bury my dead, but I have markers just as well, or items that once belonged to dear ones. There must be over a hundred masks by now….”

It was a bitter chuckle that came with the thought of loss, and the care for them. Someone could easily ask her why she never turned them. Carmilla and others turned plenty of human servants, whether to keep them as servants, whether to reward them with eternal life, or perhaps to simply add to the growing numbers of vampires in their forces. Carmilla’s army was almost entirely vampire, after all.

Perhaps it was how she and Dracula got along so well – he may not have liked humanity, but he had known to respect Lisa’s autonomy. If she did not wish to be a vampire…she would not be a vampire.

“I did not want to be a vampire, Trevor. I did not want to leave Rome. I chose to leave my family for a sense of freedom when I was ten, but I never wanted to leave them.” If that would make sense. They were not a large part of her life after that point, but she saw them. She had updates. Her brother had come around sometimes. “I did not return to Rome until some five hundred years ago. It had changed,” immensely.

No home. No ruins of a home. No family. Nothing at all. “I return, now and then, but that first trip back was the hardest. I did not know what to expect, and somehow all of my expectations were shattered all the same,” her gaze lifted, the bitter chuckle turning bitter smile, “I won’t claim to know your pain – but I know loss, I know difficult homecomings, and I know what it is to be ripped away from everything you knew and set on an entirely foreign path.” Not in the same manner, but all the same….

“And I don’t want you to think you’re alone when it all hits you…because it will.” He might scoff now. He might try to remove the serious tone, and she’d let him, this time – because he wouldn’t forget, and when it all hit, hopefully he would have learned enough to go to her and not do anything self-destructive.
 
Almost endless knowledge at her fingertips did sound interesting, it was certainly something that Aveline wouldn't turn down if Alucard did open up the castle to her when everything was sad and done, but that was just a perk. What she was excited about was having a home with another person in it, to breath life into the building. She hadn't stayed in her fathers empty home for more than a week after he died, but it had been horrible.

It had once been their home, and then it was just her home, full of memories she couldn't stand. It had been too quiet, especially compared to how loud her father was. Her fathers voice could echo through the whole house and down the side of the mountain, his snoring could scare away passing animals, his laughter shook him to his core and could made leaves fall from the trees, and then it was gone.

She didn't want to curse Alucard with that, a quiet dead house with only ghosts for companions and memories to torment him. She'd protect him from that if she could, because he would be doing yet another wonderfully kind thing by giving her a place she belonged. The least she could do was try to chase away the emptiness in his home.

" Is that what this is all about," Aveline asked with a playful grin on her face, " You must of realized you couldn't find me unless you had the advantage somehow, and playing hide and seek in the castle you were born and raised in would certainly be an advantage."

But Alucard didn't think he had seen all of the castle, he had said so himself, so that would be her advantage. But even with the disadvantage of being in Alucards home she was excited. She was excited to possibly make the castle her home too. She could explore it with Alucard, she could learn there and live there with someone who didn't see her as a fragment that didn't belong. If the castle was their home, then they'd always belong there.

" I imagine we'll have plenty of time to explore the full castle," she assured him with a smile, " Between games of hide and seek, and of course cleaning lessons." she teased.

Her hands traveled up to the base of her skull, and she began to pull her hands through her thick hair. Her hair was very different from Alucards, but then again most things about them physically were complete opposites, her hair was thick and dark with a natural wave to it that she could never get rid of. Braids only made the wavy in her hair worse, and no matter how neat she tried to style her hair it was always a bit of a mess.

She started to give herself a long braid as the conversation lulled and the sounds of people waking up reached them. Most notably Danica was up and making her way downstairs, probably because she had gone to bed long before Sypha or Johann had. Those two probably wouldn't be up until someone grabbed them and stuffed them into the carriage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trevor was interested in the masks, death masks being something he had heard of but never seen, they were normally made out of wax and with the glory and high of Rome so far behind them many masks were just gone. Maybe the hold would have one or two, but he didn't remember seeing them. Though with how large the hold was it was possible to live there for a thousand years and not seen everything or read every book there.

But he also wanted to change the subject because this was too close to him and too real. Lucia had proven to be a voice of reason during this trip, and she was staying true to that right now.

He knew he would have to face things he would rather spend his whole life running from, he knew returning to his ancestral home stone cold sober would be like a hot iron in his gut, but he hadn't wanted to think about that until it happened. That way he could lose the others in the forests of the estate or the shelves of books and just break down. But Lucia was making it clear she knew what was going to happen to him, and she was leaving him an option.

Go and suffer by himself or find the only person in their group who could even get close to understanding his feelings.

He hated himself for not knowing which he wanted, he wouldn't know what he would do until it happened. Would he still want to keep his distance and hold onto all his pain and hatred, or would he seek out company and let out what he had been keeping inside himself for 20 years?

" I think you're just worried i'll find some really old bottle of questionable contents inside the hold and drink it instead of dealing with my feelings revolving around my homecoming," He said with a chuckle, but it was too raw to be more than a smoke screen." Though I suppose you're right to worry." Just thinking about it that did sound like a good option, It certainly was tempting.

" Sun is going to come up soon," he said as he noticed the light color that was beginning to color the bottom of the sky. The stars were still in the sky, but the darkness of night was started to fade. Soon the stars would be replaced by the blue sky and clouds, and they would once more begin their journey to his old family estate.

His hellish return to his home and birthright.

He pushed himself away from the carriage, he had been leaning against the door and wasn't going to block the way into Lucias safe haven, not when she had been good to him tonight.

The night in general had gone wildly, he hadn't expected anything that had happened. Carmilla, his and Lucias multiple heart to hearts, and their new deal hadn't been anything he had seen coming when he signed on to help kill Dracula. If they were anything to go by then he probably wouldn't be getting his way when he returned to the estate, he seemed to be changing, probably into a person that his father would of been ashamed of. Given the piece of shit his father had been though, that wasn't the worst.

Still he blamed the lack of ale.

" Lucia-" He said as he heard the door to the Inn open, it was probably someone from their group who wanted to prepare for their departure in a little while. Her offer meant a lot to him, even If all he wanted to do was reject it, and he knew that opening up for her was hard like it was for him. But still she offered a hand to him, a hunter who had the skills and abilities to kill her, a hunter who would of if his life hadn't gone to shit.

" Thank you."
 
Alucard would never agree that he’d lose Aveline in the forest – but he knew where his odds were better. Not until it was proven otherwise would he agree to such a thing. Which, he suspected, it would be. There was an eternity before them, to see the castle, to explore the world, and play stupid, childish games.

And figure out if his hair could be styled, as the conversation shifted easily as Aveline worked a braid through her own hair, into the early hours of the morning. The time seemed to fly by on topics that seemed increasingly meaningless, but were every bit as meaningful for the comfort with which they were able to discuss them.

The ease – the enjoyment. Alucard hardly realized how early it was until he heard those steps, and saw Danica appear in the lobby. She was prepared for the day, though it was still dark outside, light was shining on the horizon. Alucard startled at the sight of her, but greeted her all the same, “Good morning, Danica,” for it must be.

“Good morning,” she returned, “Don’t worry – I’ll go get us ready to leave.” She’d seen the little breakfast that Sypha left for her, but hadn’t yet dug into it. She would, once she was assured of everything in its place. She wouldn’t have put it past Carmilla to have the carriage ransacked, or the horses harmed.

Carmilla had been feeding Marius.

Alucard gave a slight smile, “I suppose I should get ready for the day as well. There are some things we need to purchase before heading off,” he could assist in that task. He knew the attack by the demons had left their supplies in shorter stock. Soon the people would be waking up and moving out to sell things. “I’m going to take a moment to get cleaned up.”

Trevor might bypass a path here, but he wouldn’t. He didn’t know how long it was going to be, and he knew he could rush it. His hair would dry soon enough, thankfully – despite its length, its thinness still caused it to dry quickly.

“Thank you – I’ll have lists ready by the time you are!” Once she made sure nothing else had been ransacked or stolen.
~***~

Lucia let him have his humor, a wry smile turning her lips as Trevor suggested what she was actually worried about. “Maybe,” it was certainly a concern, though not for her sake. She remained worried for Trevor. This trip was not going to get easier for him, nor for Alucard, though in Alucard’s place she thought that the sooner they handled it, the better.

For Trevor, it didn’t matter how quickly, or slowly – the second they arrived at the Belmont ruins, it was likely to be a moment of truth for him, as the return to Rome had been for her. She’d been paranoid about even making it, given Carmilla’s attack had still been fresh in mind, but it was…necessary.

As he moved from the carriage, she stepped forward. The sun would be up, and while she couldn’t say she enjoyed how she was always enclosed in the carriage, she accepted it. At least she traveled. Too many vampires didn’t, afraid of being caught in the rays of the sun. Even the carriage wasn’t the best. If it was compromised on the road, she was certainly going to perish. She understood their fears.

Still, she could not complain. Traveling, at least, was her choice – even if vampirism had not been.

As the inn door opened, and as she opened the carriage door, Trevor called back and she shifted her gaze back over to him. This part, she had not anticipated. She had imagined a complete drop of the topic for a while, but instead, he gave one last pull back to it. She let a light smile graze her lips, “You’re welcome, Trevor. The offer remains.” For any sort of trouble he was going through.

Odds were, she would understand, even if she did not know the pain for herself. This was going to be a hard time for the sober Belmont. He hadn’t tried to deal with anything, he just drank it away – and the wounds he was covering in liquor weren’t clean cut wounds, either. “Now, you go enjoy the sun,” she chuckled, “I’m sure we need to resupply.” He could help make sure all the supplies were gathered. It was no longer a task she could help with, except to supply funds, and space to carry the supplies.

As she stepped up into the carriage, Danica came around the corner. “Oh good, I was worried I’d have to wake you, Lucia,” Danica said, seeing her just as she stepped in, “Good morning, Trevor!”

“Good morning to you, too, Danica,” Lucia said, noting she hadn’t greeted her that way.

“Is it ever a good morning for you?” Danica teased lightly.
 

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