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"Right," Yoko said, dangling a set of keys off her index finger, "there's a big geology convention in town, so it was either this or a Lada."
Julius squinted at her hand.
"You hired out a Maserati?" Alucard said, somewhat weakly.
"You should have gotten the Lada." Julius nodded. "Those'll take petrol."
"It's electric." Yoko said, snatching the keys up on her hand and leading them towards a glittering sports car. She clicked a button on the fob, and the engine roared to life. Another button opened the scissor doors.
"Battery won't start if it gets cold enough." Julius said, climbing in the passenger door. "I'm telling you, they've holed up somewhere north. I can feel it in my gut." He patted his stomach.
"Arikado, you want to drive?" Yoko held the keys out to him. Alucard shook his head.
"I can't drive."
"What, really?" Yoko pulled the driver's seat forward and allowed Alucard to climb in the back.
"I take the shinkansen." He didn't bother buckling himself in, and instead sat sideways along the back seat, resting his feet against the opposite window.
"Yeah, but you're Romanian." Julius turned to face him, throwing an arm over Yoko's seat. "You never had to drive there?"
Normally he just turned into a bat and flew. "I've been out of the country for a while."
Yoko shrugged, glancing at the rear view mirror—Alucard glanced out of the window before she could see how oddly blond his reflection was. "Maybe we can give you a few road lessons once we hit the Autobahn."
"That might not be the best idea." Alucard said, with all the reluctance of a man who had puked the first time he'd been in one of those awful Model Ts. Daily exposure to a high speed train had immunized him against motion sickness now, but he still didn't trust himself at the wheel. He'd survive anything, but he didn't expect the same of the passengers, the car, or the road.
Julius brought up a roadmap on his mobile. He was the only one who had a modern device—Alucard preferred his flip phone from '99, and anything more technically advanced than a radio didn't work correctly in Yoko's possession.
"Sister agency in Berlin, right?" Julius punched in the address with his pointer finger.
"Right." Yoko finished adjusting the mirrors and pulling the seat forwards, then put the car in reverse.
"I was in Berlin when the wall fell." Julius said absently. "Mamâ was tracking a vampire north to the low countries. She left me with a witch she knew. Took me with her, and I saw the whole thing."
"She was a protestor?" Alucard asked.
"She was in love with David Hasselhoff."
"Ah."
"Your memory is coming back, Julius?" Yoko glanced at him.
"Just my childhood." Julius waved his hand. "But that's normal for dementia, yeah? Oldest memories last the longest? Guess it's the same with amnesia."
"Still, it's more than you knew." Yoko said firmly.
"The Agency is really gunning for me to remember '99. Anything til then," Julius waved his hand again, "bah! My childhood best friend's home phone doesn't exactly have the same strategic import as the other man at the Eclipse."
"And Hakuba Hanako won't talk?"
"She said he swore her to silence, which means he probably swore me to silence too." Julius considered for a moment. "I dunno if I'd tell them, even if I did remember. But chances are he's dead anyways. Hakuba-san lost an arm, and I lost my memory. Who's to say that we didn't get off lightly?" Julius shrugged. "Besides, if you were the guy who came up with the plan to kill Dracula once and for all, wouldn't you take credit? Arikado?"
"Perhaps he has stage fright." Alucard suggested, entirely aware that he was the anonymous man they were discussing. He'd visited Hanako once, after the business with Cruz and the Second Eclipse. She either didn't recognize him, or she was a fantastic actor. Given that Arikado was identical to Alucard, barring the hair color, he doubted it was the former. Well, Alucard considered, she was nearing ninety now. It was entirely possible that, like Julius, she had forgotten.
"You're an optimist." Julius peered back at Alucard. "Guy's dead. Probably knew it when he suggested using the Eclipse. Taking down Dracula for good, and all it cost was twenty years and an arm? That's too good to be true."
"I suppose." Alucard said noncommittally.
"Not to rain on the parade, but Dracula is technically still around." Yoko glanced out the rear view before merging onto the e-road. "Well, his powers are, at least."
"How is the kid doing?"
"Cruz is fine," Alucard said. "He failed his algebra course, but he hasn't been picked up by the police for truancy since the Eclipse."
"You don't need to do math to kill vampires." Julius shrugged. "They've got you babysitting him, then?"
No, not technically, but it was hard to brush off the blend of paternal and filial feelings he had towards Soma. Naught for naught though, because the boy barely even liked him.
"He speaks with Mina Hakuba often."
"Ah, young love." Yoko crooned.
"Nah, I don't think so." Julius waved the thought away. "Girl should aim high; marry a doctor or something."
"Well, there's still time for Soma." Yoko said.
"Not with his algebra scores." Alucard huffed a laugh. The boy stank of bleach and hair toner, but it was becoming as familiar a smell as Dracula's sulphuric miasma.
"You married, Yoko?"
Yoko laughed. "Me? I'd get kicked out of the coven if I even thought about it. How about you?"
"If I am, I don't remember." Julius said it flippantly, but Alucard could hear the tension underscoring his words, and resolved to check the registries in Bucharest once this new cult was taken care of. "Arikado?"
"I thought about it." Alucard said, more honest than he had intended, although confessing an attraction to Julius' many-times-great grandmother probably wouldn't blow over well. Sonia had to live her life, and Alucard had been too miserable to let happiness into his. Alucard was well aware of his own tendency to self-sabotage his life—a nasty habit, stemming from too many centuries living as nothing more than a tool to fight Dracula, some thing sleeping in a coffin to be taken out and shaken awake, then given a sword and told to commit patricide again.
Well.
"Mina Hakuba was recently accepted into Tohoku University. Perhaps she'll become a doctor herself."
"She can be a doctor and marry a doctor." Julius shrugged.
Alucard glanced at Yoko. "She hasn't shown any signs of her great aunt's powers?"
"None." Yoko shook her head. "I'm sure she's got some latent ability to do magic, but it was never trained. If it isn't picked up early, it'll never develop to the point where she can actively manipulate it. Nope, our girl will be blissfully normal."
"As normal as you can be after being sucked into an eclipse." Julius added.
"Well—" Yoko swerved suddenly. "Shit!"
A bright sports car sped past them, revving its engine in contest.
"Hostia puta!" Yoko shouted, slamming the heel of her hand on the horn. "Learn to drive! Que te folle un pez!"
"Should have picked the Lada." Julius said, slowly letting go of the grip handle. "Nobody wants to road race a Lada."
"I think my ears are ringing." Alucard said slowly.
"If you want to drive feel free, but if not, let me cuss in peace." Yoko seethed, glaring at the car zipping between traffic.
Alucard snorted softly, and turned his attention out the window.
Yoko drove fast, and swapped with Julius once she got too tired to continue, but the car was electric, so no amount of fire drilling between the driver's and the passenger's could refill the charge once it was empty. They stopped in a nice bed and breakfast in the Czech Republic.
"The owner was eyeing you." Yoko informed Alucard, once they had gotten their keys.
"She's older than Julius."
"Maybe she's a cougar. Maybe she's playing matchmaker for her kids." Yoko held her duffel over her shoulder. "I've got that ring I wear to bars. Wanna give it to me at breakfast and make a show?"
Alucard snorted. "I'll give it to Julius. That'll be a show."
Both Yoko and Julius looked like children. He felt maternal for them.
"Ooh we could get into a fight."
"Don't get us kicked out before I finish eating."
"Will do." Yoko saluted jauntily, she pulled the door shut behind her with a click.
"Will do or won't do?" Alucard mused, unlocking his own room. It was quaint, one bed, and a small desk in the corner. No television, and the bathroom was down the hall, along with the shower. Julius was currently hogging it, and Alucard imagined that, if he listened hard enough, he could hear the off-kilter stylings of Kylie Minogue-as-interperted-by-Belmont. Perhaps they wouldn't even make it to breakfast.
Alucard didn't sweat, and he'd been in a car all day, but he ducked in before Yoko had a chance to cut ahead of him, and used the mirror to detangle his hair. It was longer than Arikado liked to keep it, but it wasn't like he'd found a spare moment to cut it.
He watched himself in the mirror. His reflection held up a fistful of pale blond hair, and when he looked down at his hand, it was dark as midnight. Reflections told the truth. In his soul, Arikado was Alucard. Alucard was Alucard. Alucard was seldom Adrian, anymore. He didn't even look like himself.
He rolled his eyes at himself, watching the yellow hawk eyes through his own black ones.
"So melodramatic." He clicked his tongue, and splashed his face with water.
Alucard was awake before everyone else, tucked away in his dour suit, with his megear bag of belongings packed in the trunk. He sat at the table, smiling blandly, while their host showed him pictures of her unmarried son. Very handsome, she assured him, an engineer.
Yoko stumbled downstairs, yawning.
"Hold this." She grumbled, and handed Alucard a small pocket mirror. She scowled at her reflection, and carefully smeared bright pink lipstick over her mouth.
"That's just going to come off when you eat." Alucard mused, handing her the compact back.
Yoko grunted in response and shifted backwards to allow their host to hand her a plate of rolls and cheese.
"Coffee?" She asked plaintively in English. "Káva?"
"Of course." The host said in perfect English. It was better than all of theirs combined. "I'll be just a second, dear."
Yoko watched her leave, then leaned across the table. "I'd go for it. She has coffee."
"I smell coffee." Julius stomped down the stairs.
Yoko glared blearily at him. "You're too excited. Go back to bed."
"Ah, I'm all rested!" He stretched his arms over his head and sat heavily at the table, snagging a roll and folding a piece of turkey into it. "Fantastic beds here. Fantastic shower, too. The water pressure was amazing."
"So was the entertainment. Spinning around, Julius?"
"I'd kill it in those little gold hotpants."
Yoko snorted, then held her hands out to take the mug the host handed her. She downed half of it in one go, then hummed happily. "Thank you."
"How's our drive today?" Julius said around his food. "Eat something, Arikado."
Alucard took a plain roll. "To Denmark, where we'll take the ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo. From there, we're on our own. The last report of this particular cult was in Trondheim."
"I'll scry there." Yoko said. She ate her breakfast, and no one mentioned what had happened the last time she'd scryed.
"Sounds like a plan." Julius clapped his hands together and thanked the host.
Alucard didn't think about how Julius' swagger was like Grant's or that Yoko had a glint in her eyes like Trevor when someone passed her on the Autobahn, once they got into Germany. He supposed that he himself was like Sypha, a creature of hidden identity and good intent. No one wanted to be like miserable Alucard back in those days. Alucard didn't want to be like Alucard.
Nostalgia hurt, but it was less remembering the good times, of which there were few, and more regretting his inaction. He had been standoffish and cruel in 1476. It didn't earn him any friends among the near fanatical Sypha, or the consummate monster killer Trevor. Grant was too insincere, hiding his trauma behind a quick joke. They could have been a good team, if they had bothered to get to know each other.
"I'm telling you," Julius was saying, "greatest movie ever made."
"Not, like, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Lawrence of Arabia?" Yoko ticked off the titles on her fingers.
"Does Casablanca have a hacking montage? Does Citizen Kane rappel off a roof with a fire hose? Did Lawrence of Arabia stop Hans Gruber? They aren't even in the same league. Arikado?"
Alucard started paying attention again. "I don't believe I've ever seen Die Hard."
Yoko laughed.
"What?" Julius despaired.
"I—" I slept in a locked tomb until '98. "I don't watch many movies."
"Well, watch this one. You'd like it."
They pulled over twice more to switch drivers before they creaked into the lot for the ferry. It was nearly pitch black out, and the line had stopped running hours ago.
"My legs." Yoko groaned. "I'm gonna die. This is awful."
"How are you holding up, Arikado?" Julius rubbed his back.
"Fine." The back seat of a Levante was a lot more comfortable than a coffin. It wasn't like he got sore anyways.
He had questioned, often, when he was young, what exactly was he? Dracula had been dead. Blood did not flow through his veins, his heart did not beat, his skin was cold and pallid. Lisa was a living mortal woman, and then she was a dead mortal woman. Alucard was a creature trapped between both worlds. A man actively dying, or a vampire returning to life?
He didn't think about it much, anymore. It made his daily commute less painful.
"Maybe you should drive once we get into Sweden." Yoko grumped. "Let's find a place."
Everything respectable was closed.
"It charges hourly." Julius frowned at the hotel sign. "I'm sleeping in the car."
"Suit yourself." Yoko shrugged, hanging her bag over her shoulder. "They probably have rooms with vibrating mattresses, which I'm going to need if I ever want my back to be normal again."
Alucard snorted; Julius rolled his eyes.
"Arikado?" Yoko looked at him.
"I'll find a place to stay." He reassured them.
"I'll leave the keys with you, then." Julius said, tossing them over. "Let yourself in if you want to sleep in the backseat."
"Thanks."
He really did intend to find a room somewhere, or at the very least, a park bench, or the backseat of the Maserati, but midnight came and went, and Alucard found himself wandering through the medieval part of the city.
The twisting streets were familiar, even under a haze of electric streetlights and buzzing neon signs. Alucard turned onto a cobblestone street, and closed his eyes and put his hands over his ears. The stones felt the same under the rubber soles of his Rendos as it did through leather and wood. Lyudmil had bought him those boots, in Sebes. It was harder in those days, when you couldn't pick a box off the shelf. They had worn nearly the same size, but Lyudmil's feet were slightly narrower. The boots had pinched for a month before the leather gave.
Alucard opened his eyes. This was unwise. After the doppelgänger, he should have been wary of dipping too far into nostalgia.
He glanced around, and ensuring that he was alone and unobserved, changed into a bat. The city still had the low, pre-industrial skyline. No skyscrapers and fifty story apartments here.
He landed next to the gargoyle lurking on the edge of the clocktower and returned to his natural form. Alucard balanced on the edge of the roof and spread his arms, breathing in the night air.
Sonia, Trevor, Sypha, Grant, Maria, Richter. Lyudmil. His mother. Humans died too soon and too easily. Loving them meant condemning himself to an existence on a timer. Eighty years, and that was it, unless he locked himself away and shortened it on purpose to lessen the pain when it eventually came. Trevor had died an old man in his bed, weakened by flu, and gasping in rattling breaths. Annette had tended him to his last. Alucard had loomed outside the sickroom, too terrified to say goodbye. Maria forced him inside before the end.
He exhaled.
They were too fascinating to ignore. He didn't want to leave them. From their birth, humans knew they would die, one day. They were born with innate purpose and drive—to live, to do something. Dracula could be content to sit for centuries, but the humans who hunted him couldn't. Even the dullest farmer, the most shut-in NEET, burned with passion. Alucard adored them.
He felt dizzy, and stepped back from the ledge, before carefully scaling down the clocktower and back to the cobblestone. The first fingers of the sun clutched the city, creeping over the squat building and flooding the streets with orange light. Alucard exhaled, and felt the night recede, and his energy with it. A diurnal lifestyle was inconvenient.
Yoko was already at the car when he returned, knocking on the window to wake Julius, napping crossarmed in the driver's seat. He drooled slightly.
"Arikado!" Yoko waved. "Thank God. You have the keys?"
Alucard waved them, and obligingly unlocked the car. Yoko yanked open the door, and Julius slitted his eyes open at her.
"You were awake the entire time?"
"I thought you were gonna crack the window; how could I sleep through that?"
Yoko rolled her eyes and shooed him over to the passenger side. "Sure you don't want to drive, Arikado?"
"I'll be fine."
"Suit yourself." Yoko cranked the car, and they drove to the ferry, where she bought a ticket with the Agency card.
Julius closed his eyes during the ferry ride, and Alucard was tempted to doze off himself, but the rocking of the ferry kept distracting him. Yoko sat silently in the driver's seat, watching the water. It was an uncomfortable silence, so he felt like he was obliged to speak when he broke it.
"He… that man in Poienari." Alucard began. No one moved, but he could tell they were listening. "He became a vampire. It was my fault. I don't like to—I have not told anyone about this. The cult has some way of accessing memories and creating situations to manipulate them."
"Then it's a good thing you brought me along." Julius said. "I'm pretty much immune to that kind of illusion."
"Thanks for letting us know." Yoko smiled in the mirror. Of course she was talking about more than the warning. Loosening his grip on his personal life was hard. He felt hunted for it.
The silence returned. It was comfortable.
"Piece of trash!" Yoko shouted, kicking the hood of the Levante with her heeled boots.
"Yoko, the deposit…" Alucard held up a hand.
Julius watched them, his arms crossed. "Told you we should have gotten the Lada. Gut's never wrong."
They were stalled in a forest, one of the tangled old growths in the far north, untouched by loggers or ski resorts. The road had been plowed, but who knew how long the snow had been sitting on the ground. This could have been from a month ago, frozen over. Would have been the last time anyone else came here, either.
Alucard glanced at his Casio. He blinked, then looked up at the sky.
"When does the sun set?"
Yoko brushed her hair out of her face. "Around five, I think. Pretty early."
"I see." Alucard stared at the stars. "So it's odd that it's pitch black at noon."
Yoko and Julius immediately formed up, their backs to Alucard's.
"Some kind of spell?" Julius asked, his eyes darting in the dark.
"Nothing I can detect. If it's magic, it's old and powerful."
"There's—" Alucard pointed at it, sure he was dreaming, "a castle."
It wasn't home, but it fooled him enough for a second for dread to surge in his chest. The towers spiraled up above the treeline, looming like some sort of fairytale monster. But he blinked and the distant shape of Dracula pacing in front of the throne room windows vanished back into his memories.
"There's electric lights." Yoko squinted. "There, I see modern buildings."
"I think we found our cult." Julius' fist tightened around the whip. "Let's hope they aren't too unfriendly toward unexpected visitors.
They weren't, but that was because the little town was all but abandoned. They walked silently through the empty streets, snow crunching under their feet as the streetlights flickered overhead. Yoko had her spell rod out, pointing it towards anything that made a noise. A skinny cat hissed at them from behind a garbage can.
"Where are all the cultists?" Julius voiced the question on all of their minds.
Alucard couldn't smell blood, but that didn't mean anything. Flavor-aid didn't make you bleed out. "The castle?"
"Somehow, I don't think we're gonna find anybody left alive." Yoko's voice was grim.
"We do what we can." Julius said firmly.
They stopped in front of the castle. The bridge was down.
"Oh, an invitation." Yoko raised her magic rod, casting light across the drawbridge. It only illuminated a few meters in front of them before it was consumed by darkness.
"This is unnatural."
"No kidding."
"Only thing to do is to go forwards, then." Julius took a step, and the ground collapsed beneath them.
Alucard was falling, plummeting. He barely had a second to think about how stupid he was being before he snatched Yoko and Julius out of the air and surged upwards with his insubstantial wings. Their fall slowed, then stopped, and Alucard carefully set them down on the stone ground. He looked up. The sky was suddenly very far away.
"Arikado!" Yoko gasped. Alucard glanced over his shoulder, looking for the wing. "Your hair!"
He flipped a lock of it over his shoulder, and frowned when he saw blond.
"I knew I wasn't seeing things!" Yoko howled triumphantly, jabbing her finger at him. "You were hiding from me in the mirror, weren't you?"
"We've fallen quite a ways." Alucard said instead of answering her. He brushed a hand through his hair, changing the color back to ebony. "I don't know that I can get us out. Julius?"
"There's a tunnel." Julius pointed into the recesses of the cave. "It's better than a few hours of rock climbing."
"Right." Yoko held out her rod. This time, it actually illuminated the tunnel, revealing a twisting path that culminated in an ornate door. "And who lives in this tunnel?"
"Maybe they're friendly." Julius set off. Yoko shrugged at Alucard, and they both followed him.
"I knew you weren't just some dull salaryman." Yoko jabbed his ribs with her elbow. "You always have that metal smell, like iron on your teeth." She tapped the side of her nose. "I can sniff out magic like a dog."
Alucard didn't respond. This felt familiar, in that unfamiliar way that the silhouette of the castle had. He felt queasy.
Julius wrenched open the door, and the smell of death rolled out. Alucard covered his mouth.
"Back—"
"Visitors?" A raspy voice croaked from within the room, speaking Latin. Yoko peaked over Alucard's shoulder, and he tried to grab for Julius to pull him away.
"I haven't had visitors in ages."
A man stood up from the shadows. The skeletonized corpses of rats littered the marble floor, and a strange crystal illuminated the room. The man stepped into the light. He was gaunt and skeletal, naked except for a few scraps of purple clothing clinging to the tarnished gold armor around his wrists and collarbones. His silver hair hung ragged and lank around his skull-like face.
Vampire.
"Not since that man."
He took a step towards them, glancing at each of them in turn. His eyes were unfocused, hazy, until he looked at Alucard long enough for his vision to sharpen.
"Matthias." He breathed. "You came back for me. You promised you would. You promised you would help me if I told you about the stone. Is Walter dead? Where is the hunter?"
"Do you know this guy?" Julius whispered. Alucard shook his head mutely. Who was Matthias? Who was Walter? What was the—
Alucard's eyes widened. The man saw it.
"He's dead?" He sounded overjoyed.
The stone. It had hung from Dracula's neck until the day he died. Alucard had taken it from his body and hidden it in the mirrored castle, in some pocket dimension of a pocket dimension, now trapped behind an eclipse. It reeked of dark power.
"He's dead?" The vampire said again, sounding lost. "I—I was supposed to be the one. I was supposed to kill him Matthias! You promised me! You promised me I could kill him!"
The vampire screamed, collapsing to his knees and clutching his head, his grimy hair slithering through his emaciated fingers. Metal clattered at the edges of the room.
"Get ready." Julius held the whip.
"Stay back, Arikado." Yoko stepped in front of him, her hand alighting with magic. "We'll protect you."
"It doesn't matter." The vampire laughed, rising to his feet, then off of the floor, five shattered swords coming to float alongside him. "It doesn't matter. I'll kill you, and take the stone, and then I'll be lord of this castle."
He lunged for them, swiping with his swords like they were claws. Yoko pulled Alucard behind her, and Julius caught the dull blade with his whip, lashing it away.
"That whip…" the vampire cocked his head. "I know you…"
He lunged at Julius, grabbing his collar and holding him at the level. Julius' feet treaded the air.
"Why do I know you?"
He pushed Julius' hair away from his face, and his eyes widened. "Leon…"
The vampire threw Julius to the side, where Alucard caught him. "Are you alright?"
"Fine." Julius coughed.
"Leon… I remember you." The vampire's eyes blazed red. "You killed me!"
There wasn't time to dodge, not if he didn't want Julius to be skewered. The seal containing his powers was fragile, after he'd used it to control their fall. Alucard shattered it.
Power flooded through his veins. He grabbed Julius and turned, shielding him but taking the sword to his own back. It wasn't sharp enough to pierce his suit jacket, but it surely shattered his ribs where it hit.
Julius stared up at him, his eyes wide. He tugged on a piece of blond hair with shaking fingers. "You… you're him. From '99. You survived."
"Later."
Alucard turned and swept his claws at the floating vampire. He cackled, and dodged back, sending his swords to attack Alucard. He had no weapons, so he held up his arms to fend them off. One had enough of an edge to tear his suit jacket. Blood dribbled onto the floor. The vampire's eyes gleamed. His eyeteeth lengthened, piercing his lower lip.
"Hey!" Yoko shouted, launching lightning at the man. He narrowly dodged it, and his attention turned to her. Alucard cursed under his breath.
"Stay out of sight." Alucard commanded Julius. He dredged up the remnants of his powers and teleported in a beam of light in front of Yoko, shoving the vampire towards the center of the room and opening his jacket to launch hellfire at him. He took the blow and shrieked, writing in agony and the fire consumed his arm.
"Bastard!" He flung his hand out at Alucard, and the floor erupted underneath him. Alucard grabbed Yoko and tossed her away, towards Julius.
A shard of stone caught him in the chest, and he was flung back against the far wall. His head cracked against the stone. His vision swam.
He was out of practice. Why hadn't he gotten his pocket knife back from Soma?
Blazing eyes filled his vision.
"Hello, Matthias." The vampire hissed. "Why did you kill Walter without me?"
"I'm not Matthias." Alucard wheezed. He kicked the vampire in the face, but he was too weak and the vampire was too bloodthirsty.
The vampire opened his mouth. Alucard's hands flew up to cover his throat. The vampire grabbed him by his hair and yanked his head back.
"Don't even think about it!" Julius shouted, catching the vampire's wrist with the Vampire Killer and yanking him back. "Yoko!"
Yoko's eyes blazed with white light, and ice formed from the moisture in the air. She raised her hand, and massive spears of ice impaled the vampire, pinning him in place to the stone floor.
"Alucard!" Julius shouted, releasing the whip. "His head."
Alucard swept out his claws. The vampire's head bounced when it hit the floor, then dissolved into ash, leaving nothing but the scraps of metal armor.
Alucard flicked the blood off of his claws.
Yoko canceled the spell with a nod, and stood beside Julius, her magic rod half raised.
"You remembered." Alucard said, not looking either of them in the eye.
Julius stared at him, squinting through a migraine. "I remembered. You're Alucard. You're his son. No wonder you kept it secret."
"Julius?" Yoko looked between the two of them. "He's the other man?"
"He's the other man. Dammit." Julius rubbed his head. "How the hell am I gonna keep this a secret now? I'm the worst liar in the world."
Alucard stared at him. "You aren't…"
"What? I'm not gonna tell the agency on you?" Julius scoffed. "Of course not."
"We're your friends, Arikado." Yoko nodded firmly. "We're not going to let you get locked up in some Agency lab somewhere. Besides, you clearly don't mean us harm. You could have just let us fall."
"It could be a trick." Alucard felt slightly numb. "A trap to get you to trust me."
"Arikado," Yoko raised an eyebrow, "you helped me fill out my taxes last year. If it's a trap, it's a high-effort one."
"You could have killed us ages ago." Julius added. "We've slept in the same room."
His chest was tight. He hadn't felt like this since Maria and Richter.
"We need to get out of here." He said, instead of getting uncomfortably emotional. "I can get us out back through the hole, like this."
"Sounds like a plan." Yoko nodded. "I can smell the magic on you. What was that spell you used earlier?"
Alucard thought back. "Hellfire. I don't have a weapon, so…"
"Right."
They arrived at the pit. It was still night outside.
"Ladies first." Julius bowed jokingly. Yoko returned it.
"Age before beauty."
Julius snorted. "I could be a model and you know it."
"Ah," Yoko pressed her hand to her forehead, "defeated again. Arikado—Alucard?"
"Either is fine."
"Well, where do you want me?"
"Just hold on." Alucard held her 'round the waist, and gauged the distance to the surface. Then, he crouched, and high jumped back to the castle entrance.
Yoko stumbled when he set her down.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine. Wow, that was like a rollercoaster."
"I've never been on one."
"We'll have to take you sometime." Yoko tilted her head and smiled. "I mean it, Alucard. We're your friends. We won't abandon you."
"I… I appreciate it. You're my friends too." It came out more easily than he expected.
He squeezed Yoko's shoulder, and she brought him in for a hug. Sypha had never touched him. Alucard pressed his nose to Yoko's hair.
"Thanks."
"Anytime."
Alucard jumped back down the pit to retrieve Julius.
"Ready?"
"Yeah. I—"
"Yes?"
"What did you lose," Julius didn't look at him, "when I lost my memory?"
"I lost my father."
"He was a monster."
"I know. He was still my father." Alucard glanced down the tunnel. "I didn't know what to do, after. Normally I just went to sleep."
"Sleep like—"
"Like a coffin."
Julius snorted. "No wonder you weren't sore after the road trip. Why'd you stay awake?"
"I was looking for you. I couldn't find you anywhere. And then I had to watch over Mina, and by then, I didn't want to ignore it all. I should have looked harder for you."
Julius shrugged. "I was in and out of jail and shelters. Inpatient a few times. I don't think I made myself easy to find."
Alucard didn't respond, and held out his arms for Julius, who grabbed and held tightly.
"You're my friend. Remember that." Julius murmured. "Ah, I hate heights."
"I know."