Chapter Text
Castlevania: the will of monsters and their desire to destroy the world of man made into a castle. The sinister architecture towers over the surrounding forests whenever it’s summoned, domineering over everything from the natural world. And with it, the castle’s master to lead in that destruction. Dracula, the lord of darkness, has returned to this world and must be stopped once again.
Sensing the return of Castlevania to the mortal plane, another has risen to stop evil from spreading. Alucard, who thought his job complete in 1999, was forced to wake once more. He knew not the means Dracula could return. Nostradamus prophesied his death. Alucard and Julius sealed away his powers into the eclipse, cutting Dracula away from the chaotic realm. He should be dead. The arrival of his successor shouldn’t be until 2035. Yet this power, it was so familiar. Alucard knew it well. It wasn’t a mortal cursed with familiar power, but rather Dracula himself. Alucard has fought him time and time again, and this felt just like a weakened Dracula, newly resurrected. Perfect for Alucard. He’s newly awakened himself, so the weaker the Dracula, the sooner he can go back to sleep.
Making his way to Castlevania was more difficult than expected. Usually Alucard has to dash across the Wallachian countryside to whatever poor city Castlevania spawned in. This time Castlevania was in the new world, in the state of Oregon of all places. As the sunset lay west, sinking over the Pacific Ocean, Alucard made way into the castle of the night. It didn’t matter where Castlevania appeared, Alucard would stop Dracula before he slaughters more innocents enacting revenge on a crime no mortal can recall.
Immediately Alucard was disturbed. Nothing greeted him as he approached: not Dracula, not Death, not even a skeleton or zombie. It was pure silence as he approached the rusted ebony gates. The castle appeared as demonic as ever, but it did not radiate that malevolent aura. It just felt… quiet. Like an abandoned castle in the wild, withering away with nature.
The interior was even more striking in comparison. Unlike its dilapidated exterior, the entryway was maintained to the highest degree of cleanliness. There was not a single wrinkle or spec of dust on the rugs lining the floor. The windows shimmered with the moonlight’s glow. Each curtain popped with their brilliant shade of red as if freshly cleaned. The hallway looked just as it did three hundred years ago when he arrived by himself.
What was more discerning to Alucard were the shoes by the doorway. Nine pairs of heels lay neatly in a row by the door. Five of them were knee high boots: two with laces, one with straps, one covered in white fur, and the other made of metal. Two of the pairs were sandals, one was a set of black and white striped heels, and the other was a ghostly set with a ball and chain at the heel. While each shoe was unique, they definitely had modern style. Drastically different from the company Dracula tended to keep.
Regardless of the shoes, one thing was certain. There were at least nine entities in this castle, most likely monsters. And if they’re conspiring to end humanity, then he shall end them.
The more Alucard explored, the more confused he became. Castlevania is a creation of chaos; each time the castle returns, the layout is different from the time before. This time the castle had many of the same rooms, this time with evidence of someone else living in them. Books and backpacks lined various desks in the study with notes for science experiments in the alchemy tower. The marble gallery had cameras and lighting equipment as if there were a photo shoot just hours before. Even the arena and colosseum had remnants of sports equipment, from pompoms to basketballs. Yet all the same, Alucard didn’t run into a single creature in the castle. No wandering ghosts, no invisible men, not even a bat. It was just empty.
Alucard finally stumbled into a new area, or at least an old area with drastic changes. The inner quarters were refurnished, with black and pink furniture in almost every space. And the newest room he stumbled into? Truly defined the chaos of Castlevania with whatever domestic resident lived here.
The best way he could describe this room is to call it “The Wardrobe.” Clothes and clothes hung on various racks stacked on top of each other dangling from an infinite ceiling. Every dress, every cut, every color, and almost every combination one could possibly imagine were in this room. When he pushed through clothes and found the walls, it was shelves and shelves of shoes. Sandals, slippers, boots, clogs, and every heel cut imaginable lined this wall. The shoes, unlike the clothes, seemed to be mostly pink and black with other colors here and there. When he was curious about there being any black clothes, every black outfit fell from the higher shelves to a reachable height. Most of them were dresses and leggings, but he could appreciate the efficiency, even if he was confused.
When Alucard’s travels down this long wardrobe hallway came to an end, he could hear voices from the other side of the door. It wasn’t the deep, arrogant voice of his father, but rather a group of girls.
“Ow! I just poked myself in the eye!”
“I’ll be quite honest, this is much more difficult than it first appeared to be.”
“Usually I’d make Ghoulia help me with this sort of thing, but I know only a royal could pull this off.”
Another voice moaned in response.
“Ghoul, I cannot believe monsters haven’t invented mirrors vampires can use yet.”
“The next time you want to make fun of me for my poor makeup, just remember this is what I have to go through every day!”
Alucard froze at that last voice. The high pitched with the faint Romanian accent, it was one he knew. One he hadn’t heard in a long time. He gently opened the door.
He stood at the entryway of a large, pink bedroom. A black coffin with pink ribbons was pressed against the wall on his left. Two vanities were set up in the room, one black and one white. The black vanity had makeup and hair brushes scattered across its desk while the white vanity was repurposed for school work. A fire roared in the fireplace on the right wall, with a chaise and chairs close by. But the true eye catching detail was what was against the wall in front of him.
Nine monsters sat in a row on the floor staring at the wall, putting on their own makeup. From his left to right, there was a sea monster, yeti, zombie, mummy, werewolf, vampire, creature, robot and a ghost. All of the ghouls were in various forms of sleepwear, from night gowns to t-shirts and pajama pants.
“Hello mister Dracul-ah!” a purple ghostly girl screamed. She and the other eight monsters turned to look at him as he entered, with makeup in various states of disarray. The ghostly girl flew into a corner, fearful like the mummy, zombie, and creature appeared to be. The sea creature, robot, werewolf and yeti were startled by his appearance, but became highly defensive seeing the Crissaegrim at his side. Despite some feigning bravery, he could see the fear in all of their eyes. Well, all except one.
The smallest of them all looks up at him with wonder. She’s a tiny vampire girl, with her pink and black hair tied in pig tails. She wore a pink pajama set with white polka-dots and puffy shoulders and a sleep mask atop her head. Her lipstick extended past her lips and her eyeliner was a bit smudged, but she appeared to be the most successful at applying her makeup. While the other ghouls looked at Alucard in fear, her gaze was full of excitement. Her voice came out almost like a whisper. “Adrian?”
“Draculaura?” He whispered in kind.
“Oh my ghoul it IS YOU!” She burst from the floor and tackled him into the tightest hug she could muster, face flush to his chest. He awkwardly returned the hug, wrapping his arms loosely around her shoulders. “It’s been like, two centuries since I last saw you? How have you been? Where have you been? Have you been sticking to Europe? Hasn’t it changed so much?”
Draculaura rambled questions on and on, never giving Alucard a chance to answer. The more she spoke, the tighter her grip on him became. Her reaction was quite a lot, but he couldn’t help stare in amusement at the ghouls behind her. As Draculaura bombarded him with questions, they slowly relaxed from their petrified state.
When Draculaura finished, she tilted her head up to meet his gaze, where he gave her a smile. “It’s good to see you again, Draculaura.”
“Oh, it’s so good to see you too!” She flashed him a bright, fangy grin.
“Uh, I hate to ruin the moment,” The werewolf girl in purple started. “But who is this? Is this that cousin of yours you tried to set me up with?”
Draculaura immediately let go of Alucard, opting to wrap an arm around him as if displaying him to their audience.
“Omighoul I’m so sorry I forgot to introduce you to everyone! Alucard, these are my ghoulfriends!” She pointed from left to right. “That’s Lagoona, that’s Abbey, that’s Ghoulia, that’s Cleo, that’s Clawdeen, she’s Frankie, she’s Robecca, and she’s Spectra.” Each ghoul did a sheepish wave at their introductions. “Everyone, this is my baby brother Alucard!”
She introduced everyone so fast that they needed a moment to catch up to what she said. Alucard could hardly keep track of the names while the ghouls were wrapping their heads around Draculaura having a brother.
Ghoulia groaned, jumpstarting their brains into action.
“Apologies mate, but did you really say baby brother?” Lagoona asked.
“Oh yes! He was born roughly a thousand years after me, making him truly my baby brother! Isn’t he adorable?”
“He adorable like yak charging another for fun.” Abbey commented.
Robecca brushed her hair behind her ear. “Well, I suppose he’s kind of cute.”
“Yeah…” Frankie dreamily sighed, resting her head in her hands. “He is kind of cute.”
Clawdeen elbowed her and whisper-yelled. “Frankie, do not go try to date Draculaura’s brother! You just met him!”
“Aw come on, Clawdeen! Who wouldn’t want to date a manster like that?”
Alucard fidgeted with his cloak, trying to hide himself from their gaze a little. There was no hiding behind Draculaura, since she was so small.
“A little advice,” Cleo started, “maybe ask him out when you’re a bit more put together.” As she said those words, Cleo stiffened. She lunged for her iCoffin, opening up the selfie camera. “OH MY RA!” She shielded her face with her arms. “I LOOK SCAREABLE!”
That sparked a chain reaction out of all the ghouls, remembering the makeup challenge they were partaking in moments ago. They scrambled for their iCoffins, gauging their own appearances. Spectra, already holding her iCoffin, opted to take pictures of the ghoul’s reactions to their own appearances instead.
Draculaura turned to stand in front of Alucard. “Oo Alucard! Since you can serve as a bystander, you can judge who did their makeup the best!”
“Nooooooo…” Frankie groaned.
“We did this for fun, mate,” Lagoona tried to reassure her. “Don’t let embarrassment ruin the fun for you.”
Spectra hovered above him to explain the situation. “Since Draculaura can’t see her reflection, we thought it’d be fun to try and do our own makeup without our mirrors.”
Cleo immediately pretended to be composed, ignoring her outburst from before. “Well, go on then. Choose which of us is royally skilled at their makeup.”
All eyes were on Alucard as he had to make his decision. He had no idea what was intentional makeup or a mishap. Vampires in the court during his albeit brief time attending had some outrageous makeup. Is the eyeliner connecting to a ghoul’s ear a mistake or intentional? Is lipstick going almost to a ghoul’s nose a trend in these times? He honestly had no idea.
And their names. Gosh what were their names? Usually he’d have his book compendium to go back to, but these weren’t enemies he could add. These were people, and he was positive that if he killed the yeti girl her name wouldn’t register as “yeti”. The longer he pondered, the more pressure was placed on him to answer. He scanned the group, trying to remember a name, any name. They all kept looking at him in anticipation, seeing who he’d choose. He had to stammer out his results eventually.
“Ah, Draculaura did hers the best, seeing as she’s experienced in this.” Draculaura gave herself a little clap while the other girls deflated.
“Draculaura does this daily. Who of us did next best?” Abbey asked.
“And whose looks the worst?” Said Clawdeen.
Shit. He needed a new name. His only option now was to internally scroll through the dialogue tree to see when the names were introduced. Draculaura talked about the makeup, before that, how he was a baby… aha!
“Ghoulia’s was probably the next most composed out of yours, the, uh, least composed would go to Robecca.”
Ghoulia gave a gleeful groan while Robecca just laughed. “Well, stiff joints don’t make for fluid makeup it seems.”
Spectra took pictures of them. “And slow and steady seems to do just fine.”
The ghouls started to chatter about their makeup looks and how fun it was for them to try. Alucard sighed in relief with their attention finally being off him. Draculaura, however, was just as focused as ever.
“But for real, Alucard, why are you here?”
How could he have forgotten about his mission? He got so wrapped up in the social anxiety of meeting Draculaura’s friends that he forgot why he was here in the first place. He pulls her aside, turning her away from her friends.
“Draculaura, I need you to be honest with me. Castlevania only rises when Dracula does. Is Dracula here and the lord of this castle?”
Draculaura gives a nervous laugh. “Well, sort of. Yes, Dracula is back, he’s been living back with me for the past decade or so. As for Castlevania, he found it in the North Pole a few years ago and decided to bring it here to where we live. However, the castle tends to respond to my whims, not his.”
“How so?”
Draculaura struck her hands on her hips and lifted her chin in confidence. “Well, the whole castle was full of swinging axes, booby-traps and all this scary stuff and I wanted it gone. And it is! I’ve renovated many of the spaces for my own activities, I even revamped the colosseum for acrobatic practice! Plus, you should see the closet it made for me! I could fit most of my clothes in there! I’ve never had a closet that large before!”
The fact that Castlevania, with the infinite powers of chaos at its disposal, couldn’t conjure a large enough wardrobe to fit all of Draculaura’s clothes concerned Alucard. But it was not as concerning as Dracula’s return.
“He may not be gathering armies of the night here, but I must stop Dracula before he does.”
“Alucard, he doesn’t do that anymore. He’s probably in his office working on fundraisers for the school or something.” Seeing Alucard’s unchanging gaze, she sighs. “But I suppose you should talk to him anyways.”
She turns to walk Alucard out the door and waves goodbye to her ghoulfriends, telling them she’ll be right back. They say bye back, and the two siblings leave the room.
As much as it may hurt Draculaura, if Dracula is back and seeking to destroy humanity once more, Alucard will stop him. She may lose her wardrobe and her house, but if that means saving the world then so be it. Somehow Dracula is alive, even when he shouldn’t be. Alucard is here to amend that.