Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“The castle is gone.” 

It’s a simple statement; one that you’d think Adrian Tepes, son of a polymath and a doctor should be able to understand. 

But he doesn’t.

“What do you mean the castle is gone?”  

Trevor shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you. The castle is fucking gone. It’s not there. It’s missing. Gone.”

They’re in the Belmont hold. They’ve been sleeping down there ever since the fight. Adrian has a hard time even acknowledging the castle, let alone sleeping in it, so they all decided they could make things work by setting up camp in the Belmont hold instead. It’s only temporary until they’ve recovered and had time to rest. Besides, the castle reeks of river water and blood, with bodies littered throughout the main entrance and hallways. They plan on cleaning it eventually…

...eventually.

“The castle can’t just move.” Adrian rises to his feet from the place where he has been sitting on the floor near a bookshelf. “The engine was destroyed beyond repair. It was melting from the inside out. It can’t just be gone.”

Trevor steps aside and gestures to the entrance of the hold. “Why don't you float up there and have a look-see for yourself then.”

So he goes. 

And lo and behold, his father’s castle is gone. In its place sits an empty field of weeds and stray bushes here and there, as if the land had never even been disturbed in the first place. Adrian’s initial instinct is to assume that someone took the castle, but you can’t just steal a castle and take it somewhere else. Yes, Dracula’s castle moved by means of magic, but Adrian reminds himself that the castle was broken beyond repair. You can’t just fix a magic castle. 

“Is it true?” Asks Sypha as Adrian returns to the hold. 

“It seems so.”

“But how?”

Adrian turns his head back to the sky and frowns. “As strange as it may be, the part I find most confusing is the state of the land where the castle sat.”

“What about it?” Asks Trevor.

“It’s completely undisturbed.” 

Trevor and Sypha both offer confused, blank stares. Adrian continues to explain. “The land should be decimated. There should be distinct signs that the castle was here, but there aren’t any. It’s less as if the castle moved, and more as if it was never even transported here to begin with.”

A castle that can travel from place to place and is controlled by using magic is already a strange concept for Trevor to wrap his brain around, but a magic castle that travels on its own is even more unsettling. “But it was here. We saw it. We fought Dracula in that castle.”

The mention of Dracula creates a small ripple of tension. Trevor and Sypha try not to talk about the fight without seeming like they’re trying to pretend it didn’t happen entirely. Adrian is still sensitive. He’s still working through it. He still needs time.

“Can’t you use the distance mirror to find it?” Asks Sypha, already making her way down the stairs. “Maybe we can see who took it, if it really was stolen.”

“Very good thinking, Sypha.” They march down to the lowest level of the archives where the chipped mirror is resting against the side of an old shelf. Adrian isn’t wearing gloves. His index fingernail sharpens into an unnaturally long claw and he scribbles in runes on the side of the mirror. It takes some erasing and rewriting and some more erasing, but after a couple failed attempts, the familiar and ominous image of the castle drifts into view. 

“That looks like Arges.” Trevor points out. 

“It is.”

“Which means it’s not far.” Says Sypha. 

Adrian isn’t frowning, but he looks extremely displeased. “Two days travel if we move quickly.” 

They each share a knowing look. It’s only been days since the fight with Dracula. They’re still exhausted, and they’re not ready to deal with another crazed vampire or horde of demons, but they can’t just ignore an entire missing castle.

It’s no use. They’re obligated to investigate. Trevor heaves a defeated sigh and waves his hand. “I’ll pack the wagon.”

They take it slow and end up getting to the castle in three days instead of two. This time, they don’t have to worry about night hordes. It makes the nights go by a little bit faster. The castle is so tall that they can see it hours before they even reach the front doors. It’s nearly dark out, and all three of the travelers are poised for a fight, if the need arises. Adrian rides quietly in the back, shielded from the last rays of sunlight, Trevor and Sypha try not to look too worried, but that’s hard to do.

There’s no other way around it. They have to go through the front doors. It’s not easy to sneak into the castle, and if there was anyone trying to keep them out, they would have likely made their presence known sooner. Trevor and Sypha follow Adrian up the steps, but when his hand reaches the door, he freezes.

Trevor offers a hand to his shoulder. “You sure you’re okay to do this? Do you need a minute?”

“It’s not that…” Adrian whispers. “Something else…”

Sypha steps forward and grabs his hand. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure.”

He opens the door after another second of contemplation before coming to a dead halt. 

The main entrance is clean, the way Adrian remembers it. There are no bodies of dead vampire generals scattered throughout the room. There is no blood. It’s dusty, but that’s the way it was supposed to be. That’s the way it had always been. And there’s a faint smell. It’s familiar, one that he could pick out anywhere, but one he hasn’t picked up in what feels like a long time. It’s delicate, and it doesn’t have a name, but he knows who it belongs to. 

Just as Sypha opens her mouth to say something, Adrain takes off. He starts running, and his partners take chase after him, assuming something is wrong. Something is wrong. 

“Alucard slow down, god damnit!” They nearly trip while sprinting up the stairs. The gap between them and Adrian widens as they continue to run down the hall, up another flight of stairs, and around the corner. 

There’s a light on. There shouldn’t be any lights on. The electricity should be out. It’s the light in the laboratory, and for a moment, Adrian nearly hesitates but it’s already too late. When he rounds the corner of the door he sees her. She’s standing there with a pencil and notepad in hand, surely scribbling down some sort of equation or observation, as if she had never left.

Adrian chokes on his own breath. He grabs onto the door frame to steady himself, because his knees feel like they might give out any second now.

“...Mom?” 

Lisa turns to look at her son and beams. “Oh, hello dear!” She turns her head back to her notes, still smiling a little, “I didn’t expect you to come back home so soon from your travels.”

Chapter Text

“Mom…” He says again, just above a whisper.

This time, Lisa turns back again, and her smile fades when she sees the look on Adrian’s face. She’s seen it a million times before. A mother knows what her child looks like when they’re about to cry. His bottom lip is quivering, and his brow is furrowed. He takes another trembling breath. “Mother…”

“Adrian, honey, what’s the matter?” Her face is now riddled with worry as she strides over to her son, arms outstretched and waiting. Adrian is completely helpless. He staggers to meet her halfway, practically limping from how shaky his feet are, and when Lisa wraps her arms around him, Adrian has to put in a bit of effort to collapse. 

“Mom.” He weeps into her shoulder, squeezing her tightly knowing all too well how easy it is to lose her now. “Mom.” He repeats just to hear the word. “Mom.”

Lisa runs a hand through her son’s hair, gathering it all in her fingers and smoothing it down his back. She hushes him and coos comforting words to him. “I’m here, honey. I’m here.” She has to crane back to hug him because Adrian is tall. He’s not as tall as his father, who can easily tower over the both of them, but he has a good few inches over her, and he has for years now. 

“Adrian, sweetheart, please tell me what’s wrong.” Lisa whispers and presses a kiss to Adrian’s temple. “You’re starting to worry me.”

Another presence enters the room. This one is colder, but it’s familiar as well. Adrian knows who it is. He doesn’t have to turn around to see. When he feels a cold hand rest gently on his back, he lets out another sob.

“My boy,” a deep voice says somberly. “What’s gotten you so upset?”

When Vlad comes around behind Lisa to see his son’s face, Adrian is forced to meet his father’s face. His stomach twists and he starts to feel light headed, because his mother is holding him, and he’s looking at his father. My parents are alive, he cries harder at the thought, My parents are alive and they are here, and they’re real. 

“He just came through the door,” Lisa whispers with concern evident in her voice. “And he just started to cry.”

The hand on his back moves to tuck some hair behind his ear. Adrian gets a clearer look at Vlad now and sees that he’s not wearing his cape. He’s dressed the way Adrian recalls seeing him throughout most of his childhood: a grey tunic, black trousers, and boots. He’s dressed like Vlad—a father and a husband—not Dracula— the man Adrian had been forced to kill with his own hands.

Then Adrian looks up and sees his face. His eyes were gentle and kind, and slightly fraught at seeing his son in such distress. 

“Adrian?” Vlad frowns. “What’s the matter? You’ve returned home rather soon. What happened, my boy?”

He doesn’t know where to start, or how to start, for that matter. How do you explain to your parents that they should both be dead? How do you explain to them that your mother was burned into a pile of ash, and that you staked your father? He doesn’t even know how to speak anymore, and the room is practically spinning. 

And then his father’s attention is quickly drawn elsewhere. Vlad steps out Adrian’s light of sight for a moment, and he lifts his head to see his father standing between him, his mother, and the door. The room falls silent again. 

“And what,” Vlad spits, “are you doing in my castle?”

Oh fuck . 

It is quickly brought back to Adrian’s attention the hunter and magician he left behind in his hurry. He turns and sees Trevor poised with his hand on the Morning Star, and Sypha already holding up a flame in her hands. They see Dracula. They see the man who they’re sure they just got done killing. They see a monster, but Adrian knows deep down in his gut that this man, this version of his father is not the crazed, bloodthirsty madman they knew him as.

“Father,” The word tastes like acid on his tongue, and he is reminded of the last time he addressed Vlad Dracula Tepes as his father. 

Trevor and Sypha direct their attention to Adrian and the woman hugging him who is clearly his mother. Their jaws drop. 

“Alucard--” Trevor starts, but Vlad interrupts by stepping between them again. 

This time, his voice has a stronger bite. “I asked you a question, and you will answer it this instant. What business do you have in my Castle, Belmont.”

It’s glaringly obvious that Trevor is in fact, a Belmont. He’s wearing a family crest and carrying around one of his family’s most prized possessions. Not to mention the fact that Trevor is sure he reeks of his family’s bloodline. Dracula can pick a Belmont out of any crowd. Nevertheless, it puts Trevor on edge, and the alarms in his head are shouting ‘Kill it! Kill it! Vampire! Kill!’

Adrian musters every bit of strength that it takes for him to pull away from his mother. He tiptoes around his father and back to the side of his partners, shielding them from Vlad’s scrutiny. “Father please,” He argues. “This is Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades. They’re my….dear friends.” He settles for a weak explanation, because he’s certainly not ready to talk about how he’s been sleeping with both a speaker magician and a vampire hunter for the past few weeks. 

“You mean to tell me that while you’ve been traveling, you’ve been fraternizing with a Belmont and a magician?”

“Vlad.” Lisa says with a tone of warning. 

From behind him, Adrian can feel Sypha prickle at the way Vlad says ‘magician’, like the word leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Lisa steps forward and grabs her husband by the arm. “Adrian,” she tilts her head to the side. “Will you please tell us what’s going on. We’re very worried.” 

Adrian turns back to his ‘dear friends’ and tries to wordlessly convey to them that they are not in danger; that they can stand at ease. It doesn’t work much, but Sypha puts out the flame between her fingers and lowers her hands. Eventually Trevor straightens his spine, but he doesn’t remove his hand from his whip. 

It’s instinctual. Adrian can’t really blame him. 

“I’ll tell you, but...I’m not really sure I understand what has happened myself.” He explains. “But, I think if we are going to cover everything then we might want to sit down. It’s...probably going to take a while.”

They sit in the dining hall. It’s the huge, fancy one that is meant for business more than food. The Tepes family never ate in the dining hall. Instead, they cooked and ate in the small kitchen that was meant for servants, back when the castle had servants. Adrian isn’t really sure if there ever really was such a time, but he doesn’t give it much thought. He’s too busy trying to figure out what the hell is going on and why his parents are both still alive. 

Vlad sits at the end of the table, with Lisa sitting immediately to his left. Adrian sits on his father’s right side, acting as a safety barrier between him, Sypha, and Trevor. There is a grave sense of unease, and Adrian waits slightly too long before realizing that everyone is waiting for him to speak first. 

“I’m not really sure how to explain how we got into this situation. I’m not really sure what makes sense.” He clears his throat and tries to ignore how his voice shakes slightly. “I suspect, however far fetched as it may sound, that Trevor, Sypha, and I have all somehow managed to...travel back through time or...or something.”

It sounds stupid coming out of his mouth, and it sounds  crazy to everyone else, but Trevor and Sypha are lost for any other ideas, and Vlad and Lisa can only sit and listen to what their son has to say. He trips over his own thoughts for a few moments before Trevor finally speaks up. 

“Sypha’s best at telling stories.” He looks over to the speaker. “Why don’t you take it away?”

All eyes shift to Sypha, making her blush. “Well,” She clears shifts around in her seat. “Where should I start?”

“How about the beginning?” Asks Lisa. She doesn’t sound upset, but she is using the tone of a concerned mother. 

“I guess... it all started, according to what Alucard has told us, while Dracula was gone from home.” 

She’s not sure if she’s using the right name. She heard Lisa use the name Vlad, but that’s definitely too informal. And ‘Mr. Tepes’ doesn’t sound right either, but Dracula makes him sound like a villain, because Dracula is a villain. But Sypha powers through. 

“At some point while Dracula was away from home, the bishop located Dr. Tepes. She was accused of practicing witchcraft. They burned her lab and took her to Gresit. She was found guilty and burned at the stake shortly after.”

It’s clear that just the mere idea of such a thing has struck a chord in Vlad. His expression hardens and he folds his fingers together across his lap. He is clearly trying not to speak out, but it seems to be taking a great deal of effort. 

“When Dracula found out, he was too late.”

Vlad notices how Adrian is keeping his head down. He’s not looking at anyone, but he’s especially not looking at his father. It’s gnawing at the back of Vlad’s mind as he tries to listen to what the speaker has to say. 

“He became blind with rage and came down upon the people of Gresit. He warned them that they had one year to leave. In the meantime, Dracula took the time to summon an army to wipe out all of the people in Wallachia. Instead of leaving, the people of Gresit held a celebration on the anniversary of Dr. Tepes’s death.” She pauses, feeling the weight of her words in the room. “Dracula kept his promise, and released the hordes of demons that night, with the intentions of killing everything in their path. Hundreds of people died that night, as well as each night that came to follow.”

“My tribe was in the village of Gresit when the hordes were released. We set up camp and tried to help those that we could. Trevor also happened to stumble through town.” 

“Though I was just passing through, looking for a meal.” Trevor makes sure to add. “I met her grandfather and got into a scuffle with some priests. He brought me back to the speaker camp and I learned that they were missing one member who had gone down into the catacombs to look for the Sleeping soldier.”

“Sleeping Soldier?” Vlad questions. 

“Yes.” Sypha nods. “Have you heard of the prophecy?” 

Vlad leans back in his chair. “I am familiar with speaker prophecies, yes, but I have never heard of the Sleeping Soldier.”

“Well, it was believed that a warrior had been sleeping under Gresit for hundreds of years. The prophecy told that the soldier would wake in his time of need, and be met with a scholar and a hunter.”

“You were the scholar and--”

“And Trevor was the hunter, that's correct.” Sypha beat Vald to the punchline. “I tried to go down in the tombs alone, but had to be rescued by Trevor after running into the stone-eyed cyclops. Then after returning to the rest of the speakers, we stayed to fight off the night horde, but fell through the earth and found ourselves in Alucard’s tomb.”

Vlad finally turns his attention back to his son, who is still avoiding any eye contact. “Why were you in your tomb?” 

A twisted feeling settles in his gut when Adrian refuses to look up before pulling down the neck of his shirt to reveal an angry, pink scar slashed across his entire chest. 

In a quiet voice, Adrian says “I tried to stop you from unleashing your army...but you were already too far gone.”

For the first time ever, Trevor and Sypha watch as genuine horror flashes across Vlad’s face. He opens his mouth to say something, but the words never come, and they are left in a suffocating drought of silence once again. 

Sypha finishes the story quickly, “As the prophecy foretold, the three of us all agreed to work together in order to...stop Dracula.”

“And how does this story end?” Asks Vlad, though he already knows the answer. “I imagine if the three of you are sitting here, then that must mean…”

The long pause that follows his question is answer enough. Adrian’s shoulder’s begin to shudder and he tries to hold back a sob, but he’s unable to bite back the sound of his quiet weeping in the silence of the room. Trevor grabs Adrian’s hand under the table and gives him a comforting squeeze. It’s all out on the table now, and he can’t help it as the tears return once more. 

Vlad abruptly pushes his chair back and gathers his son into his arms. Under any other circumstances, he would reserve showing such a soft side for his family in front of others, but at the moment, Adrian is hurting, and Vlad’s ego isn’t important enough to allow him to sit and watch his son suffer alone. It’s a shocking sight for those who don’t expect it. Trevor and Sypha are taken aback by the look of painful remorse on Vlad’s face. They’ve watched Dracula punch Adrian through walls, and vice versa. They’ve watched the two of them at each other’s throats, trying to kill one another like wild creatures, yet they are standing before them as Father and son. 

And suddenly the gravity of what they’ve had to do hits them. 

Lisa stands and rubs a hand over Adrian’s back. She frowns and then turns to Trevor and Sypha with a softer expression. “I thank you for sharing your story with us, but forgive me. May we have a moment alone?”

The hunter and speaker clamber to leave the room as quickly as possible. They’ve just witnessed an intimate moment between parent and child, and sticking around any longer would be imposing. They shut the door to the dining hall and wait anxiously in the corridor. 

Adrian is crying freely now, and he cries and he cries and he cries. He feels childish. He feels like an infant who just can’t seem to be pacified. Vlad eases him down into his chair and kneels before him. Lisa joins him at his side. She rubs his back and runs a hand through his hair soothingly. 

“I’m sorry, Father, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” 

“Hush, my boy.” Vlad coos. “There is nothing for you to be sorry for. Of all things, it’s I who should be apologizing. There is nothing on this earth more precious to me than you and your mother. Nothing. If what you say is true, then I have failed you as a parent. I’m sorry, my son. I’m sorry.”

And Adrian sobs again, loudly. He is pulled back into his father’s arms and cries into his shoulder like he would when he was a little boy after waking up from a nightmare. Except this nightmare was real, and he has the scars to prove it. 

Minutes pass, and eventually, Adrian is calmed once again. He’s still crying, but the tears are slowing down and he’s only hiccuping for breath here and there. 

Lisa is rubbing circles on his shoulders when she finally asks, “Sweetheart, when was the last time you had blood?”

“It's...been a while.”

Both of the parents share an understanding look. “Lisa, darling, why don’t you take him to his room while I fetch some bl--”

“No!” Adrian barks. 

“Sweetheart, you don’t want any blood?”

“No, I just would...rather not go to my room. The library is fine, I can rest on the couch in there.” 

Knowing not to pry any further at the moment, Vlad slowly rises and leaves Adrian with Lisa. He exits the room and almost doesn’t see the magician and the hunter sitting near the door. Sypha is very visibly crying and resting her head against Trevor’s shoulder. Vlad makes eye contact with the hunter for an awkward moment before turning away and returning to the task at hand. Adrian needs blood . 

Trevor presses another kiss to the top of Sypha’s head and strokes his thumb over her shoulder. It’s a small gesture, but it’s comforting enough. He’s never really been good at comforting people. He’s forgotten what it’s supposed to look like, but he tries nonetheless, and Sypha appreciates his effort. 

“You know,” Trevor breaks the solemn silence with caution. “I didn’t notice it right away, but this place seems different. It’s not that it’s cleaner, it’s something else…”

The thought is enough to occupy Sypha for a moment. She lifts her head and turns to look around the hall. He’s right, she thinks, it’s less menacing. The corridors are still vast and endless, and by and large the whole place is too dark, but there are lights that illuminate rooms and hallways here and there. 

“I think I need to go for a walk.” Sypha sniffles and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. “I need to move around.” She stands. Trevor isn’t compelled to go exploring through Dracula’s castle in the slightest, but he’s sure as hell not going to let Sypha wander around the place on her own, so he follows. 

Getting lost is pretty easy. They walk up one flight of stairs and turn a few corners before they’re hopelessly lost, but they’re in no hurry to return. A lot has been unpacked. A lot needs to be processed by everyone. It’s best if they all have some time to contemplate what has happened over the course of the last few weeks. They still don’t have an answer as to why or how Vlad and Lisa Tepes are suddenly alive and well again, but that question can be answered later. Just thinking about it makes Sypha’s head hurt. 

“Alucard looks so much like her.” 

Trevor grunts in agreement. 

“And Dracula...even he looks different from before.” 

“He’s dressed as a human.”

Sypha begins to wonder what Dracula must have been like when he was human. She wonders if he ever had siblings. He must have had friends. He must have laughed. She begins to wonder if he still does. 

They keep walking and get lost some more.

Vlad finds Lisa and their son in the library. Adrain is resting under a grey, knitted blanket that Lisa made during her pregnancy. He’s finally stopped his crying, and Vlad is relieved to see him starting to relax. 

“Here,” He offers the cup of blood in his hands to his son. “It’s only a cup, but I want you to drink at least one pint every day for the next week starting tomorrow. Your body needs it to recover.”

Adrian takes it and drinks gratefully. He could use some water as well, but he doesn’t want to ask his father to go all the way back to the kitchen just to grab him a glass of water. Vlad would do it, Adrian knows that, but that's exactly why he’s not going to ask. 

“Where’s Trevor and Sypha?”

“They were sitting outside the door when I left, but they must have gone for a stroll before I returned.”

Anxiety flashes across Adrian’s face, but he smooths it over quickly. “They’re still in the castle, right? They didn’t leave?”

“As far as I can tell, they’ve gone upstairs somewhere. They’re still in the castle, don’t worry.” Vlad takes a seat and stroke a hand over his son’s hair. “Rest. We will find them.”

“One of you, stay.” Adrian orders quickly, before adding “please.” 

Lisa offers to go find the hunter and magician, and Vlad is both anxious and relieved to be the one that stays. His son is still afraid of him, he can tell, but he’s trying not to be. Lisa kisses Adrian’s forehead softly and whispers “I love you” to him, and does the same for Vlad before leaving. 

It takes only a few minutes before Adrian is out cold, and Vlad is left to sit and pretend to read as he chews on his own thoughts.

Chapter Text

Lisa makes her way through the corridors with purpose. She has come to memorize the layout of the castle over the years. Many games of hide and seek with Adrian has familiarized her with every nook and cranny. She’s not even sure when she started to know her way around the castle, but it’s become a sort of sixth sense. 

She finds Trevor and Sypha two floors up. They look lost. They are lost. 

“Oh! Dr. Tepes!” Sypha calls to her with a big, relieved smile. As she walks closer, Lisa can see the faint puffiness in the magician’s eyes, and her heart aches. It’s hard to imagine the young woman fighting her husband, even with a magician’s power. It’s hard to imagine any of it. She doesn’t want to imagine it because the poor kids must be traumatized and all she can do is try to patch things up. 

Maybe it’s just the fact that she’s missed having Adrian around while he was away. Maybe it’s motherly instinct, but when she sees Sypha and Trevor, she sees two children in need of a loving home; one that she is more than willing to provide. 

“How is he?” Sypha asks quietly. 

Lisa smiles and grabs her hand. “He’s doing better now.” She looks back at Trevor and nods. “I’m glad he’s had the two of you by his side. On behalf of Vlad and I, let me apologize for all of this. Don’t tell him I said this, but Vlad is sick to his stomach over it all. He’s with Adrian now.” Finally, her expression softens bittersweetly. “He was worried about the two of you. He seemed afraid that the two of you had left the castle.”

“We don’t mean to impose.” Says Trevor with an unreadable expression. She knows he doesn’t mean it. She can see how anxious the two of them are without their sleeping soldier by their sides. 

“You are absolutely not imposing. Not at all. Good heavens we’ve got more room here than we know what to do with. You’re free to stay here as long as you’d like. Any friend’s of my son are like my own children to me. Please,” She offers genuinely. “Stay for a while, at least. We’d be glad to have your company.”

Just as Sypha opens her mouth to speak, her stomach interrupts her with an unmistakable growl of hunger. Her face burns red and she is quick to cover her mouth and stomach. “Oh my goodness,” She laughs with embarrassment. “I’m...so sorry about that. Please excuse me.”

But Lisa is delighted. Her face lights up and she grabs Sypha by the shoulders. “Would you like me to cook for you?”

Sypha steps back, still beat red and flustered. “O-oh no! Dr. Tepes, after all of this, we couldn’t ask for you to--”

A sharp but light jab from Trevor’s elbow interrupts her, and Trevor takes the reins. “Yes we absolutely can. Dr. Tepes, we’d be very grateful for the meal. I can even help you out in the kitchen if you’d like.”

Excitement brims from Lisa and she claps her hands together, creating an echo that bounces through the hallway. “Wonderful!” She grins. “I haven’t had any company to cook for in ages! Come! Come with me!” She wedges herself in between the hunter and the magician, linking arms with the both of them as they make their way to the kitchen. 

It’s a small kitchen, smaller than Trevor had expected, but it’s clean. Dust hasn’t settled in thick coats on every surface, and it still smells like food. The last meal to be prepared in the kitchen must’ve been recently enough that the air hasn’t quite gotten rid of its aroma. Trevor feels his stomach rumble a little at the thought. 

“How about a nice hearty stew?” Asks Lisa as she heads over to a trough. There’s a curved pipe that pours out water when she twists a small handle, and she lathers up her hands with soap. “Wash your hands first. Trevor, I’ll have you wash the cod and poach it. Sypha, you can help me prepare the soup.”

A snort comes from Trevor and he shakes his head. “Trust me. You don’t want her anywhere near a kitchen. That woman can’t even boil water without burning it.” 

“Trevor!” Sypha hisses. 

“Oh don’t start with me Sypha,” He grins as he rolls his sleeves and begins to scrub the dirt and grime from his hands. Part of him isn’t to sure he should really be handling food with how thickly coated in dirt and sweat he is, but he’s not about to postpone a home cooked meal for a fucking bath, that’s for certain. “You know as well as I do that if there is anyone in this group who is cut out to be a housewife, it’s me.”

Lisa snickers and rolls her eyes. “You’d make a lovely housewife, I’m sure of it Trevor.” 

“Thank you.” Trevor grins, somewhat bashful after realizing what he has said. 

They’re both given a task. While Trevor rinses the cod in the weird magical water trough that runs with warm water when you twist the handle, Sypha gingerly, and very very slowly cuts the carrots. She’s never really been skilled with sharp objects. Her talents are magic, healing, and storytelling. Dicing and mincing have never been her strong suit, but when she is able to stoke the fire to cook the food over using magic and that wave of two fingers, Lisa is thoroughly impressed. 

Sypha recalls how fondly Adrian spoke of his mother while they were on their way to the Belmont hold, and it’s easy to see why. She is even more remarkable in person. Of course Vlad Tepes fell in love with her. She’s hard not to instantly love.

As the stew cooks over the flame, Lisa sends Sypha to sit down at the table. “Rest your feet, dear. I’ll grab you a drink.” 

“A drink?” Trevor calls over his shoulder with an inquisitive look. 

“Water.”

The hunter huffs and goes back to poking the cod with a slight pout. “Nevermind.”

All is well and good, and Lisa is busying herself by gathering plates and spoons when another presence enters the room. Trevor and Sypha both tense up. Their natural and immediate reactions to the inhumanly tall figure standing in the doorway is to put up a defense. 

Lisa turns around and smiles at her husband. “How is he?”

“Better.” Vlad says in a low voice. “He’s asleep now.” 

Good. They all think. He needs some rest. 

Vlad nods. His eyes sweep over the room. Sypha watches his eyes stop on Trevor. He stares for a moment with something dark in his expression. 

“I see you carry the Morning Star, Belmont.” 

The air is sucked out of the room. Trevor doesn’t freeze, but he is tense. He keeps his back turned to the vampire as he continues to focus on poaching the cod. “Yeah.” Is all he offers in response. 

“Vlad, stop it. You’re being ominous and it’s unsettling our guests.” 

“I’m simply making an observation.” Vlad responds with a softer tone to his voice after being chastised by his wife. He silently makes his way over to the table and takes a seat, and now it’s Sypha’s turn to tense up because Dracula is sitting next to her and he’s fucking huge.

Unlike Adrian, Vlad shows absolutely no sign of life. He is entirely still when he sits. There is no rising and falling of his chest. His skin is a grey, sickly sort of pale, and his eyes are a gleaming shade of red. His claws, fangs, and everything else about him scream: Danger! Vampire Predatory creature here! I will kill you! And Trevor can’t help but be acutely aware of the pair of eyes burning a whole into his back as he continues to work at the stove. 

Lisa, sensing the horribly awkward tension in the room, sparks up a conversation. 

“So, tell me Sypha. I have never had the pleasure of meeting any speakers before, though I have heard about speaker tribes from time to time. Tell me about your people!”

Sypha perks up at the opportunity to share and eagerly begins to tell stories of her family from when she was young. She explains that she is a healer and that she lived in a small tribe that traveled in a caravan, stopping from city to city to help anyone in need. Suddenly, she has Vlad’s attention as well. 

“How old were you when you discovered your magic?” Vlad asks. 

“Oh, u-uh...well, I could conjure fire and ice way back when I was just a baby, so I’ve known pretty much my whole life. In fact, my grandfather’s favorite story to tell is of the time I threw a temper tantrum and set his hair on fire.”

“Hmm,” Vlad muses. “A baby using magic to terrorize their family. Sounds familiar.” 

Lisa snickers. “And Trevor? What about you?”

He had seen that question coming from a mile away, and yet still, Trevor had not prepared himself a simple lie to get himself out of explaining the bitter truth. “Oh,” He says, “My upbringing isn’t as interesting. It’s not really worth telling.”

“Nonsense!” Lisa urges him. “I want to know who my son has been traveling with for the past few weeks. Tell me about your family!”

Trevor looks back at Vlad. They share a tense stare, silently challenging one another. Trevor looks away. “Well, I was the youngest son of my family. My brothers and sisters and I all grew up as nobles. My family, as I assume you already know, fought the creatures of the---”

“Hunted.” Vlad corrects him. “Your family hunted the creatures of the night.”

It takes every ounce of restraint that he has not to argue that point, but Trevor knows this is not the time nor the place to have that dispute. 

“My family hunted the creatures of the night.”

Lisa seems unfazed by this. Surely, as the wife of one of the greatest enemies to his family, she already knows who the Belmonts are. 

“Well, when I was twelve the church decided they didn’t need our help anymore. The Belmonts were excommunicated from the church and told to leave our land. When we didn’t, mobs of people led by the church were sent after us. They killed my family and burned the estate to the ground. Only I managed to escape.” 

It’s a depressing story and it always dampens the mood whenever he has to bring it up, and that's why Trevor chooses not to. It’s easier just to say, oh my family isn’t really in touch anymore, or I left home when I was a boy. It gets less of a reaction, and Trevor feels less like he’s trying to pull sympathy from others. 

Lisa is genuinely troubled after hearing this. “Oh...Trevor, I’m...I’m terribly sorry to hear that. That’s awful.”

“Ah, it’s nothing.” Trevor smirks and turns over his shoulder. “Life has a funny way of turning things around, I guess. Fourteen years later, I fell down a hole with a magician and met a floating messiah in order to fulfill a prophecy I had never even heard of, and now here I am, having lunch with Dracula and his wife.”

And what is most shocking after that is the sound of Vlad Dracula Tepes’s laugh.

He actually laughs. 

It’s a good hearted, honest to god laugh that comes from his gut and bellows out from the smile on his face. Trevor and Sypha are stunned when they hear it, and what surprises them even more is how similar it sounds to Adrian’s laugh. It’s strange, but oddly familiar. 

“Having lunch with Dracula and his wife.” Vald repeats to himself and chuckles. He shakes his head. “What an utterly Belmont thing to say.”

….

When dinner is done and their bellies are full, Lisa shows Trevor and Sypha to one of the corridor lines with guest rooms for bathing, reading, tea, and sleeping. 

“There’s a bedroom and bathroom for each of you.” She explains. “Have your pick of the soaps and oils. Draw up your baths however you would like. There’s nobody around to ever use them, so please, feel free to spoil yourselves.”

It’s been so long since Sypha has been able to take a nice warm bath; one that she could actually soak up and enjoy. She feels like hugging Lisa, but figures that might be crossing the line, so she resigns to a simple. “Thank you, Dr. Tepes. We appreciate your kindness, and we cannot thank you enough.”

Lisa waves a dismissive hand and smiles. “Nonsense! You are friends of my son, and you are our guest. It is the very least our family can do for you. When you’re finished with your baths, you may pick whichever rooms you would like. They’re all available.”

“Actually,” Trevor opens one of the nearest doors and pokes his head in. “I think I might let Sypha handle all of the luxurious bathing and such. There is a very comfortable bed in here, and I believe I hear it calling my name.” 

“Trevor.” Sypha groans. 

The hunter gasps. “Oh! Did you hear that? I shouldn’t keep waiting, that would be rude of me.” 

Just as Trevor is about to shut himself up in his own room for the night when Lisa calls after him. “Hold it.” She says, and Trevor stops in his tracks. He turns around and looks at her, now suddenly a little bit sheepish, like a child who knows they’re about to be reprimanded. 

“Trevor Belmont, I am telling you this as a mother who would say the same to her own son. You look and smell as if you’ve been rolling around in a pigsty. You will bathe before you crawl under those clean covers tonight. Understood?”

Trevor pales. “Yes ma’am.”

And that is the end of their discussion. 

For a moment he wonders if Lisa, after being around vampires for so long, has gained the ability to compel people with her voice like other creatures of the night, but then he seems to recall his own mother having the same strange ability to command with the tone of her voice. 

Lisa leaves and Trevor and Sypha each take their own baths in two rooms that are right across the hall from each other. Even Trevor, a man who has grown entirely too comfortable in living in his own filth, has to admit that it feels glorious to finally be clean. For years the cleanest water he has been able to bathe in has mostly been river water. Soap was a luxury he had long since forgotten, and so bathing for him normally just meant scrubbing the dirt, sweat, and mud from his skin. This time, he stepped out of the bathroom smelling like lavender and rose. It was an unexpected delight. 

That night, Trevor and Sypha pick out two separate rooms that sit right next to one another. In both of their rooms there is a king-sized bed with a ridiculous amount of room for one single person to enjoy for themselves, but after nearly an hour of tossing and turning into the night, Trevor hears his door squeak open and in comes Sypha. She slithers under the covers and the two of them curl up close. Though the castle is not nearly as cold as it seems it should be, there is a draft and it makes their fingers and toes turn cold. Surely their hosts won’t mind if they decide to share the bed. 

All is still for a few minutes before Sypha finally speaks up. 

“Do you think he’s okay?”

Trevor kisses her shoulder. “Yes.” He tells her and tries to sound confident. “He’ll be alright.” 

Sypha frowns but her expression is lost in the darkness. “It’s hard to sleep without him. Somethings missing.” 

“Yeah.” Trevor says again. “Just...try to rest. Close your eyes. Hopefully he’ll be up in the morning.” 

Just then, the door of the bedroom slowly creaks open again, and this time, a very sleepy looking half vampire is the one poking his head in. 

“Hello.”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. 

“Alucard!” Sypha bolts up from where she lay and scoots over. She pats the space on the mattress between her and Trevor. “Come lay down!”

A tug pulls Adrian’s lips into a smile as he shuffles over to the bed and crawls into the center where the warmth of both Trevor and Sypha is like a flame. They’ve been waiting for him. The three of them huddle together, trading warmth for closeness. Their limbs grow tangled together, but for the first time since their story began, they feel safe. They can relax.

“Trevor, did you bathe?”

“Oh what? You’re not going to comment on the fact that Sypha bathed too?”

Adrian giggles. “No, because she always smells good.” 

Trevor rolls his eyes and Sypha snickers. 

“I’m sorry I left you guys alone with my parents all day. I wasn’t expecting to—“

“Alucard, don’t worry about it.” Sypha kisses his cheek. “As long as you are feeling better, that’s all that matters. We are here for you. Besides, dinner with your parents was nice! You were right. Your mother is extraordinary!”

It doesn't feel real: the three of them lying safely in the walls of the castle, and somewhere else amongst the hundreds of corridors lies Vlad and Lisa Tepes; alive and well. 

“She is, isn't she?”

There is a long silence, and for a while it seems like the three of them are all simply going to fall asleep without another word. That is, until Trevor whispers with a smug grin next to Adrian, “Your dad thinks I’m funny.” 

Adrian snickers. “Yeah, funny looking.”