[FANFICTION] Lunar Painting - Chapter Three
Kane Magus
By Kane Magus -- aplu...@netmcr.com
Disclaimers: The Sailor Moon universe and all characters in it was
created by Naoko Takeuchi and is copyrighted by Naoko
Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, DiC and probably a lot more.
The Castlevania universe and all characters in it was
created by and is copyrighted by the nice folks at Konami.
Both are being used without permission or consent by this
author. This author hopes they don't mind as this fan fic
was written purely for fun.
And for the sake of this author's ego, which has swelled
exponentially since he finally finished this blasted thing
(^_^), feel free to distribute this fic to anybody and
everybody you want. But please, try not to make any money
off of it, because I sure know *I'm* not.
Author's Notes: This is a rather long chapter, most (but not all)
of which is the background of the Belmont family for
those Moonies unfamiliar with the Castlevania games.
I have elaborated some of the less developed aspects
of storyline of these games, though, as well as thrown
in a few of my own plot ideas. On the whole, however,
I tried to stay true to the overall Castlevania plot.
Chapter Three
-------------
Jan sat staring out of the window of the 747 on which he, Sinclair,
and Emmett were traveling to Tokyo. What he saw when he looked out
was not wispy clouds or blue oceans, however. Instead, he saw the
events of the day before reflected in the window. Just to his left,
his father was watching a baseball game, and to Sinclair's left, Emmett
was asleep.
His father and grandfather had been amazed at just how quickly he had
taken to the arts of vampire slaying. Each time they had given him
one of the Belmont family's mystic weapons, he had demonstrated a near
mastery of it within moments. He couldn't explain it himself. It just
seemed to come naturally to him, as if he had been doing it his whole
life.
Some of the weapons were rather mundane in Jan's opinion. There was
the throwing dagger that they had given to him first. This was simple
to use. It was basically the same as the throwing knives he had
practiced with in his martial arts class.
The next was a throwing axe. It had taken him a few moments to get
the hang of throwing it at an arc like his grandfather showed him. It
had taken a few moments more to actually hit the target dummy they had
set up for him in Sinclair's garage.
Then there was the boomerang weapon that was shaped like a cross.
Despite its rather unusual shape, it was just like any other boomerang
that Jan had ever thrown. Actually trying to attack a moving target
with it would probably prove a bit more of a challenge, though he had
been able to easily hit the dummy after a few initial tries.
This was when the weapons began to get more unusual. The next weapon
they had given him was a vial of water. His father had explained that
it was holy water in the vial, and for him to toss it onto the ground
a little ways in front of him. Jan did so and had been surprised when
the vial broke open to produce a small wave of blue flames that spread
away from him before disappearing.
Then came the really strange weapons. The next one was a small piece
of crystal. All they told him to do with it was to throw it. When
he did he instinctively ducked for cover as the crystal ricocheted off
the walls several times before disappearing. Emmett had told him not
to worry as the crystal would only harm creatures of evil.
Next they had given him a handful of some kind of powder or ashes. They
called it the "Bibuti." There was nothing to master with this weapon.
He simply had to throw it upon the ground in front of him and any evil
being that touched it would be burned.
Then they gave him a stop watch. This wasn't actually a weapon, but
it was a really cool and useful thing in Jan's opinion. Essentially,
when he used it, all creatures of darkness would stop in their tracks
for several seconds, or so his grandfather told him. He couldn't
actually test it since, quite fortunately, there had not been any
creatures of darkness there at that particular moment.
The next item he had been give was a book. This was no ordinary book
however. It wasn't meant to be read. Instead, when the appropriate
mystical force was applied to it, it would begin to circle around its
owner and shield him temporarily from damage.
The last weapon he was given had to be the coolest by far, in Jan's
opinion. He couldn't really tell what it was but when he used it,
a small, needle thin bolt of purple light shot from his hands toward
the practice dummy. When the light made contact with the dummy, a bolt
of lightning left Jan's hand and crashed into the dummy, shattering it
into several pieces. "What's this one called?" he had asked. They
said it was called the "Agunea."
Then his grandfather had handed him several wooden tokens in the
shape of the various weapons he had just practiced with. It was
explained to him that with the tokens, he had the ability to call the
weapons to hand, pretty much out of thin air. However it took energy
to do this they had told him, and to use the weapons recklessly would
tire him out.
Next they had told him about what they called "weapon crashes." All
they told him was that if he concentrated and applied a rather large
amount of mental energy on each of the weapons, then he would be
able to do remarkable feats with them. They hadn't wanted him to try
it there because it would have tired him out and he needed to save
his strength for the real battles ahead. They told him that when
the time came he would know what he needed to do to make the crashes
work. He already knew of the effects of the powerful crashes from
the stories he had been told as a child by his grandfather.
Since these weapons used his own energy to wield, they had told him
that most of the time he should rely on the Vampire Killer. That's
when they had brought out another weapon, a spear that they said had
belonged to his great grandfather John Morris's friend Eric Lecarde.
When the time had come to train Emmett in the ways of the Belmonts,
Eric had given the spear to him as he had no children of his own. Thus
the Alcarde Spear had been in the Belmont family ever since. Jan had
practiced with it for a while. He had been somewhat surprised when
the spear had doubled in length and developed a blue flame around its
business end when he took it. Emmett told him that it shared many
of the same mystical properties that the Vampire Killer possessed.
He turned to his father who was still watching the ball game and
started to say something to his father when he was suddenly blinded by
an overwhelmingly bright light that filled the plane. He brought his
hands up to his eyes and tried to protect them from the light. During
the explosion of light, he felt a strange pulling sensation but it
quickly passed. After several moments, the light faded away as well.
When Jan could see again, he was shocked to see that his father and
grandfather were not there. He stood up and looked around. Everyone
in the cabin had vanished. Jan ran toward the front of the plane.
Everyone in the first class area was gone as well. He reluctantly
opened the cockpit doors to see that the pilot and co-pilot had
also disappeared.
"What in the world's going on here," Jan thought to himself, pushing
back the sense of dread that was rising up in him.
That's when he saw through the cockpit windows a gigantic dragon rise
from the clouds and head toward the jet. Suddenly, it belched out a
huge fireball that slammed into the front of the jet, destroying the
cockpit. Fortunately, Jan had seen it coming and had ducked back
into the first class area.
"What am I going to do now?!" Jan thought to himself as the 747
shuddered around him. In front of him materialized several skeletons.
Jan reached down for the Vampire Killer, only to realize that it and
the Alcarde Spear were still safely tucked away in duffel bags in the
cargo area. "Just great!" he said as some of the skeletons began to
advance toward him. The others rushed out of the room and headed
toward the back.
"I've got to get the Vampire Killer and the Alcarde Spear!" he thought
to himself. The jet shook again as another of the dragon's fireballs
slammed into it. A huge hole appeared in the side of the plane and
things began to get sucked out. Miraculously, Jan wasn't affected by
the roaring decompression that was pulling everything from paper to the
very seats out of the plane. He didn't have time to wonder at this
since unfortunately, the skeletons were not affected either.
Although he did not have either the Vampire Killer or the Alcarde Spear,
he did have the tokens that allowed him to call forth the other mystic
weapons of the Belmont family. He opened his hand and summoned the
cross
boomerang to it. He threw with all of his might at the oncoming
enemies.
The boomerang sailed around the small room and decapitated all of the
skeletons. They all exploded, sending bones flying in all directions.
Jan caught the boomerang, and it disappeared. He ran by the remains of
the skeletons, which were fading into nothingness, to follow those that
ran to the back of the plane.
When he got back to his own compartment, he saw the skeletons standing
there. Apparently they had made a trip to the cargo area because one
of them was holding the Vampire Killer and the other was holding the
Alcarde Spear.
"Dammit!" Jan cursed. Before the skeletons could react, Jan rushed at
the one that was carrying the Alcarde Spear. When he got close, he
jumped up and over the skeleton just as it stabbed with the spear.
While in the air, he grabbed the Alcarde Spear and simultaneously
kicked the skeleton in the back. The skeleton lost his grip on the
spear. Jan landed and swung the spear at the skeleton in the manner
of a bo staff such as he had trained with in martial arts class. The
skeleton exploded like the previous ones had.
Jan stood and faced the two remaining skeletons, one of whom was holding
the Vampire Killer. Jan called forth the crystal weapon and tossed it
in
the direction of the unarmed skeleton. The crystal hit him, shattering
him. The one holding the Vampire Killer dodged the crystal at the last
second as it rebounded off of the wall. It then swung the Vampire
Killer
at Jan. Jan leapt over the whip as it hurled toward him, then he
extended
the business end of the Alcarde Spear toward the skeleton, impaling him
through the chest. It exploded, and Jan caught the Vampire Killer.
"Thank goodness for small favors," he said to himself. "Those skeletons
were pretty pathetic." Then the plane shook from another hit from the
dragon. The fireball must have hit a wing this time, because the jet
began to slowly rotate. "It's a wonder it's still in the air," Jan
thought to himself.
He made his way toward the front of the plane again, trying to figure
out a way to deal with the dragon along the way. When he got to the
front, he could see the dragon clearly out of the hole in the side
of the plane.
"I wonder why I haven't been sucked out of the plane, or can even
still breathe," Jan said. "Must be some kind of weird Belmont family
magic. Well, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I have to
get off of this plane though, and that dragon looks like the only
option."
He converted the Vampire Killer to a morning star whip as his
grandfather
had taught him to, and without another moments hesitation, slung it at
the dragon. It encircled one of the dragon's horns. Before Jan could
react further, the dragon jerked its head. Jan found himself flying
through the hole and out of the plane. Jan closed his eyes and bit his
lip to keep from screaming as he fell out of the plane. As he had
hoped,
he landed on the dragon's back.
He wasn't alone. He looked behind him as the dragon began to fly
away from the doomed 747 and saw another rider. There was a skeleton
much larger than the others. It was carrying a sword and shield and
had horns sticking out of its head.
The skeleton brought the sword down hard. Jan managed to move and the
sword dug into the dragon's back. The dragon roared in pain and began
to fly erratically, trying to throw off whatever it was that had hurt
it. It was all Jan could do to hold on to the Vampire Killer that
was still attached to the dragon's horn. This skeleton seemed smarter
than the others since it quickly sheathed its sword and held on for
its own safety.
When the pain in the dragon's back subsided, it turned toward the jet
and flung another fireball at it. This one hit a fuel line, putting
the 747 out of its misery finally. Jan watched as the jet exploded into
little more than a flaming chunk of molten metal and began its decent
into the Pacific Ocean.
Apparently the dragon didn't care that Jan was still on its back as
it turned and began to fly away. The skeleton eyed Jan angrily but
did not attempt to attack him again. "Hopefully, he will take me to
Castlevania," Jan thought. "That's the only place I can think of
that he could have come from. And hopefully, I'll be able to find my
father and everyone else there." He fought back tears as he thought
of his father and grandfather. "I'll save you if I can," he said to
no one in particular. "For now, I guess I can do nothing but enjoy
the ride. At least the dragon is flying in the same direction as our
jet was..." Finally, the reality of the situation struck him with the
force of a mallet. He shook his head and muttered, "Here I am, on
the back of a dragon, soaring at about fifty thousand feet and heading
toward Japan. Not even in the wildest stories my grandfather told me
did anything like this happen. This is just too unreal..."
**********
"Really, I'm fine, let me go," Uranus said as she struggled slightly
against Sailors Star Healer and Jupiter, who were trying to help her
get situated on a pallet that Mars had brought from her bedroom. She
immediately regretted it because she felt a sudden sharp pain in her
side. Reluctantly, she laid down on the pallet.
"You wouldn't be saying that if you could see those wounds from this
angle," Jupiter said as she sat down in a chair next to Uranus,
exhausted.
"Yeah, well, that's a pretty nasty gash you have on your arm there,
yourself," Uranus shot back.
Mercury overheard that as she came into the room with some first aid
supplies. "She's right, Makoto. You ought to let me look at that when
I get done with Haruka."
"Come on, it's just a scratch. I'll be okay." Jupiter protested.
"You wouldn't be saying that if you could see it from this angle,"
said Uranus in the exact same manner that Jupiter had used earlier.
Jupiter gave her a sideways glance and then said to Mercury, "All right.
I'll wait in here until you can bandage it up but as soon as you do,
I'm going back out there with the others. I want to know what's going
on as much as anyone else."
"That goes for me also," said Uranus. "As soon as you patch me up, I'm
going back out there." Mercury looked at them both with a "Why do I
even bother?" look and began to work on Uranus.
As Sailor Star Healer walked out of the room, she passed Michiru who
was coming in. At Michiru's worried look, Star Healer said, "Don't
worry about Haruka. There's nothing wrong with her a good kick in the
seat of the pants wouldn't cure."
"I heard that, you little twerp!" Haruka called angrily.
"See," said Star Healer as she left the room. She stopped at the door,
stuck her tongue out at Uranus, then quickly made her exit.
"I'll make you eat that thing!" Uranus yelled after her.
Michiru sat down on the pallet next to Uranus. "Oh Haruka, you know
you don't mean that," she said, amused.
"Wanna bet?" seethed Uranus. When she got a look at the expression on
Michiru's face, she lost her anger and smiled at her.
"Hey, Michiru," said Jupiter, trying to change the subject, "why are you
no longer transformed?"
Michiru looked up at Jupiter, her gaze was serious. "I don't know
how, but that Alucard person saw right through it. It's like he can
see the same things with just his eyes that I'd have to use my mirror
to see. It was futile to remain transformed after that."
"Do you sense anything evil about those three?" asked Mercury, as
she finished up with Uranus.
Michiru looked into her mirror as if searching. After a minute or so,
she said, "No. They have been sincere in what they have said so far.
Of course they haven't said all that much. Rei hasn't sensed anything
out of them either. Usagi wanted Alucard to wait until you guys got
finished in here so that we would all be there. Don't worry, I'll be
keeping an eye on them while they tell their story."
Soon, Mercury was finished with putting a bandage and ointment on
Jupiter's cut. They de-henshined and followed Michiru back into
the fire room of the shrine where the others waited.
-----
"Okay," said Usagi when she saw Michiru, Haruka, Ami, and Makoto walk
out of the other room. "We're all here now. Please tell us what's
going on now, Alucard."
"This is a rather long story, but I think it best that you hear it to
know the true nature of what is invading this land," Alucard began.
He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, then continued:
"As you may already know, about five hundred years ago, a man named
Vlad III Draculea ruled the region of Wallachia in Romania. That
man was my father. He was a sadistic, iron-fisted ruler. He was
not above employing the most vile means at his disposal to do what
he felt needed to be done. He had thousands of his enemies, whether
real or imagined, tortured in many different ways. Some of them may
have deserved it. Most did not. His favored method was impaling.
It earned him the title 'Tepes.' During an attack by the Ottoman
Turks, an attack in which my father was gravely outnumbered, he was
struck down."
Taiki broke in at this point, "Not to be rude or anything here, but
you were right when you said we already knew this. We heard all of
this at the museum today. Besides that, some of us already knew most
of it even before that. I don't see how it relates to our current
situation."
Alucard afforded Taiki with a gaze that would have frozen flame solid
before he continued, "Very well. What he did in his life is not
important to the events of today. It is only the prelude to the greater
horrors soon to come. Soon after my father's death, he came to me.
Needless to say, I was surprised to see my father as I had heard that he
had been beheaded while fighting the Turks. He told me of the great
power
that he had gained upon his death. He explained that he was now more
than
human. He was above them. He was going to use his extraordinary power
to rule them as he never could in life. He also said that he wanted me
at his side. I had no idea what was in store for me at the time so I
accepted his offer."
He paused again, and Setsuna spoke, "And so you became like him. You
became a vampire."
"Yes," Alucard continued, "That's when I became what you see before
you. However, for reasons known only to my father, he did not make
me a full vampire. I still possess human traits. Perhaps it was the
influence my mother had on him before she was... But I digress. For
months we resided in my father's old castle in the mountains near the
city of Tirgoviste. While he gathered power and followers, I roamed
the countryside. I saw the world with new eyes. It was during my
travels that I met Sonia Belmont."
Usagi interrupted him, "Belmont! I overheard Death and Shaft talking
about the Belmonts. They said that the Belmonts were on the way but
that Death had sent servants to take care of them."
Kara spoke up for the first time since she had met them, in less than
perfect Japanese. "We must hope that these servants fail since the
Belmonts are strong allies on the side of light."
"Indeed, the Belmonts are the most powerful vampire hunters in history,"
Alucard continued his story. "At the time I met Sonia, however, their
legacy had not yet begun. She lived with her grandfather who was a
relatively experienced vampire hunter himself. He taught her everything
he knew, but she had not had an opportunity to use her skills... until
she met me. One night, while I was out traveling the land, I came
upon a small cabin miles away from the closest town. I heard the
sounds of exercise as I got closer. While perched in a tree, I saw
her practicing..."
----
Yet another piece of firewood was shattered by the whip Sonia was
practicing with. Obeying her grandfather, she practiced faithfully
every evening the skills he had taught her: the skills to hunt down
and kill vampires. As of yet, she had never seen a vampire. She
doubted that she ever would either. Despite how tedious and repetitive
she felt it to be, she moved to set up another piece of wood on which
to practice.
Suddenly, she felt a presence in the trees above her. It was just like
her grandfather had warned her. Acting on instinct, she withdrew a
dagger and threw it at a shadowy figure up in a tree. She was shocked
when the figure caught the dagger by the blade when it was a mere inch
away from its left eye. The figure leapt down from the tree.
"I believe this belongs to you," said Alucard, offering the dagger to
Sonia handle first.
"You... you're..." Sonia started.
"Vampire? Yes, I am a vampire. Do not worry, though. I mean you no
harm. I was merely watching you from the tree there."
Sonia took three steps back and readied her whip. "Back, creature of
evil! I have trained since I was very young to destroy your kind!"
Suddenly, before she could even blink, Alucard was behind her, his hands
resting lightly upon her shoulders. She heard him say in an amused
tone,
"Apparently, you need to train a bit more. If I were trying to kill
you,
you would have been dead long ago. I've been watching you for over an
hour now."
Sonia looked at him, crestfallen. "I don't believe it. After training
my whole life to be able to kill a vampire, I finally meet one. And
what does he do? Belittles me and tells me I've wasted my time. Go
ahead, do what you will to me as I obviously can't do anything to stop
you."
"I did not mean it that way," Alucard said. "I haven't the slightest
intention of harming you. You have the makings of a fine vampire
slayer.
One day, you'll make a name for yourself."
"That sounds really strange coming from a vampire," Sonia said. Then
she got a strange look in her eyes. "Wait a minute, you look very
familiar to me. Aren't you the son of the viovode that was killed
recently?"
"Yes, I am," Alucard said, sighing. "My father was Vlad III. Forgive
my
rudeness, but I have not even introduced myself. My name is Adrian."
He took her hand and brought it to his lips.
Sonia was charmed despite the surreal nature of the situation. "Under
the circumstances, it's understandable why you didn't introduce yourself
earlier. My name is Sonia Belmont."
"Sonia," Alucard repeated. "That is a lovely name for a lovely woman.
How did you get into the vile business of vampire slaying anyway?"
Sonia was quickly beginning to forget that Alucard was indeed a vampire
himself while she was talking to him. "Well, my grandfather is a
vampire
hunter also. That's where he is now, in fact. He heard rumors of a new
vampire taking residence in the castle in the mountains and went to look
into them." This brought a strange look to Alucard's eyes, but Sonia
didn't notice it. "He probably won't be back here for several days at
least." She shivered suddenly. It was getting cold outside.
"You're shivering," Alucard said, taking off his coat. He draped it
over her shoulders.
"I got a late start on my training for tonight. I really should be
getting back inside and tend to the fire before it goes out." She
looked at Alucard, all but forgetting what he was. "Would you like
to come in as well? You'll catch cold without your coat."
Alucard smiled and said, "I rather doubt that will happen, but I will
take you up on your offer nonetheless." He followed her into the house.
-----
Alucard had a faraway look in his eyes as he told the story.
"So, what did you do then?" asked Minako, smiling.
"Minako!" admonished Yaten. However, he wanted to hear the answer, too.
This brought Alucard out of his reverie. "That will be made clear
later,"
Alucard said with a faint smile on his lips. Grant was smiling openly
while the rest of them looked somewhat at a loss.
Haruka said impatiently, "That was a lovely story and all, but what does
it have to do with anything?"
Alucard resumed his cold expression and said, "As I said, it will be
made clear soon. While I was with Sonia, my father had business of his
own to take care of. He had found Sonia's grandfather, who was indeed
searching the area around our castle. Unfortunately, he wasn't as
forgiving as I was with Sonia. When I left her the next morning..."
"Wait a minute," interrupted Makoto, "I thought vampires couldn't go out
in the daylight."
"You've seen too many old horror movies," said Grant. "Don't worry,
I've
seen quite a few myself. Some of them contain a bit of truth actually."
At the looks he received, he said, "What? I may have been dead for the
past half millennium but that doesn't mean I don't keep up with the
times."
This earned him more looks of incredulity. He just shrugged and
motioned
for Alucard to continue.
"Unlike the contemporary myths surrounding vampires, sunlight affects
us no more than it affects you except for a slight weakening of our
powers," Alucard said, addressing Makoto. He continued again, "As I was
saying, when I left her the next morning and returned to the castle, I
was met by the sight of an old man impaled upon a spike just outside the
castle walls."
"Her grandfather...?" asked Usagi, horrified.
Alucard nodded. "He was the first of my father's many victims in his
new life, if you can call it that. Those who did not join him suffered
a similar fate... or worse. I could sense the hostility toward my
father
and myself growing with each passing day, yet none dared to directly
challenge us... except for Sonia Belmont. I watched her entire trek as
she battled her way across the land toward our castle and defeated the
various evil creatures that my father had created. I faced her myself
at
one point. I decided to test her. If she could defeat me, I would let
her pass. If not, I would let her return as she would have no chance
of defeating my father. I could tell that she had definitely improved
her skills as we fought. She defeated me quite handily, actually, as I
too was still relatively young as a vampire myself. Although she had
no desire to harm me, she was burning to avenge her grandfather. I felt
it was wrong to deny her the chance so I let her pass. She went on to
defeat my father as well."
"If Sonia Belmont beat him then," Ami asked confusedly, "how is it that
he is here now?"
Alucard shook his head and continued, "As you will soon see, my father
has a remarkable ability to recoup his losses and come back
relentlessly.
Soon after Sonia's victory, I went back to her cabin. However, I did
not find her there. I found out from the closest village she had been
banished from the land because many feared her and her abilities."
Rei interrupted him at this and said angrily, "Well, that's just stupid!
Didn't they even care that she'd just saved them all? I would figure
that she'd be praised as a hero, not treated as an outcast."
"Never underestimate the powers of an fearful, ignorant mob," Alucard
said simply. "Upon looking back, I feel that my father probably played
a hand in that. I took to roaming the countryside again, as I no longer
had anywhere else to go. I detested the sight of the castle and had
no desire to live there any longer. Several years later, my father was
resurrected by several of the misguided humans who had joined him
earlier.
Again, I was called to his side. And again, my father gathered servants
to him and loosed hellish creatures on the land. By this time, I was
becoming more disillusioned with my father and his plans. The people
found a champion in Trevor Belmont, the son of Sonia. However, unlike
Sonia, I sensed vampiric blood in him." He paused to let this sink in.
"You mean..." Minako began.
"Yep," Grant said, winking at Alucard. "It was Alucard's own son come
to beat old Vlad."
"Yes, it was the son born from that one night I was with Sonia. He
possessed great power that even his mother did not. However, when he
reached me, he was not alone. With him was a powerful sorcerer named
Sypha Belnades, also a vampire hunter."
Everyone turned their eyes to Kara at this. "Sypha was my many times
great grandmother," was all she said, as she averted her eyes. She
disliked being around such a large group of relative strangers.
Alucard continued, "She had attempted to attack our fortress herself and
had been turned to stone by the Medusa. Her statue was placed in the
realm of the Cyclops. When Trevor defeated the Cyclops, he freed Sypha,
who gladly joined him in his quest. Also with my son was a ghost of a
former Wallachian viovode that had unfortunately been cursed by my
father."
He stopped again, his gaze turned upon Grant.
"Yeah, believe it or not, I was once nobility," Grant said. "I was the
viovode that succeeded old Vlad. However, I didn't get to enjoy even
a full week. My first edict as viovode had been to take down all of
those horrid impalement victims and give them a proper burial. I'm
pretty sure that this is what ticked Vlad off. Well, that and the old
feud... Anyway, he appeared to me one night and, after killing me of
course, cursed me to this form and made me the rather unwilling guardian
of his clock tower. What is it with Vlad and clock towers? Every time
Castlevania reappears it always has a clock tower." He shrugged off the
stares he was receiving and said, "Well, anyway, I fought against Trevor
at first, but after I let him beat me," he winked as he said this, "I
decided to join him against Vlad."
Alucard continued his narrative, "After defeating many of my father's
guardians, they reached my abode. At first, I felt compelled to test
the
fighting skills of my son as I had his mother before. He, too, passed
the test by defeating me in combat. I decided then that my father had
to be stopped. I joined this band of adventurers and we went on to
defeat my father. Upon his defeat, he entered what was to be the first
of his century long hibernations. I decided that the world would be
a better place without me and my tainted blood as well. Despite the
protests of the others, I went to a sanctuary known only to me. I,
too, entered what was to be a three hundred year sleep. I know little
of my father's exploits during that time. Maybe Grant or Kara can
better
fill you in."
Kara gestured to Grant, as she had no desire to talk at any length. Her
uncomfortable gaze caught that of Seiya as she glanced around the room.
He seemed to have a look of understanding in his eyes, though she wasn't
sure. Nonetheless, she felt slightly better.
Grant was perfectly content to take up the story. "Well, after Alucard
went off to where ever it was that he went off to, a couple of things
happened immediately that might be important. One of them was that
Trevor and Sypha fell in love and got married. The other was that I
felt myself getting weaker after the battle with Vlad. I think it was
some effect of the curse that he had put upon me. Although I could not
actively participate in the events to come, I could still watch at
least.
And watch I did, believe me.
"As Alucard said, that was the first of the several one hundred year
rests that Vlad was condemned to. When he returned, he had added a
second objective to his overall plan. Not only was he determined to
take over the known world, he was also determined to get revenge on
the Belmont family for what they'd done to him before.
"This time, the Belmont family member who wound up facing Vlad was named
Simon. He had just been married to a nice girl named Linda Entwhistle
when Vlad decided to make his move. His plan to avenge himself on Simon
was to kidnap Linda. As you might guess, this only drove Simon to
follow
Vlad and beat him down. He defeated him, but not before Vlad placed a
curse on Simon and had Linda sent elsewhere.
"It wasn't long before the curse began to work on Simon. He learned
that to end the curse, he had to find the body parts of old Vlad that
had been scattered across the countryside as per Vlad's orders. He
then had to recombine them and kill Vlad for good when he fought him
again. He accomplished this, and also saved his bride to boot. That
was the last Simon saw of Vlad, but that wasn't the end of him.
"After yet another hundred years of rest, old Vlad came back again.
This time the Belmont was a man named Christopher. This time, though,
the Belmonts were ready for him. As soon as Vlad made his reappearance
known, Christopher set off to defeat him, which he did.
"Or at least he thought he did. Some fifteen years later, the Belmonts
held a ceremony for Christopher's son Soleiyu, who was to be the next
vampire hunter. On the night of the celebration, Vlad, who had merely
fled the previous battle after causing Castlevania to destroy itself,
came at them yet again. This time, he brought Soleiyu under his
influence and created four mystic castles with his ever growing powers.
Christopher had to defeat these four castle guardians before Castlevania
itself reformed. On his way to Vlad, Christopher had to fight and
defeat
his own son. Upon his defeat, Soleiyu overcame the possession and went
on to help his father defeat Vlad for... what is this, the sixth time
now?
"Anyway, after another hundred year sleep, Vlad was at it again. This
time, he had a bit of help. A dark priest named Shaft, whom you've
already had the misfortune of meeting, went into the village in which
the next Belmont lived, a guy by the name of Richter. Shaft kidnapped
four of the village girls. One of them was Annette Renard, Richter's
girlfriend, and another of them was Maria Renard, Annette's little
sister. The other two were Iris, daughter of the town doctor, and Tara,
a nun at the town church. True to form, Richter rose to the challenge
and defeated Vlad and rescued the girls along the way. In fact, Maria,
even though she was only twelve years old at the time, aided Richter in
defeating him. You'd think old Vlad would learn someday, wouldn't you?"
At the blank stares he received from the senshi, and Kara as well, he
said in a mock hurt tone of voice, "I wasn't that stifling was I? Well,
I guess I'll turn it back over to Alucard then. This was about the time
that you came back anyway, am I right Alucard?"
Alucard nodded and said, "Yes, this was when I sensed that there was
something amiss with the balance between the dark and the light. This
was four years after Richter's victory over Shaft and my father.
However,
I could feel my father's presence even through my centuries long sleep.
Unlike all the other times, though, I could feel no counterbalancing
force of good to combat his evil. I awoke from my sleep to find out
what was wrong.
"It was then that I saw that Castlevania had indeed reappeared in much
the same way it came into being today. As I began my journey through
my old home, I encountered Maria Renard, Richter's sister-in-law now
that he and Annette had been married. She told me that she was looking
for Richter who had disappeared, and that since Castlevania had come
into being it was where she suspected he was.
"It turned out that she was right. In my travels, I encountered Richter
himself. To my shock however, he proclaimed himself to be the lord of
the castle, and bid two of Dracula's servants, the werewolf and the
minotaur, to battle me. I knew something was wrong, obviously. I met
up with Maria several more times after that battle, during which we
overcame our mistrust of each other and came to know each other quite
well. However, I will speak more on this later.
"During one of our last meetings inside Castlevania, she gave me a pair
of mystic glasses that she had found that would allow me to see whatever
evil influence had taken control of her brother-in-law. When next I
encountered Richter, who decided to battle me himself that time, I put
on the glasses. I saw a demonic presence floating over Richter, which
I proceeded to attack. Soon, I broke the hold on him, and Shaft
revealed himself to be the one who was controlling Richter.
"After I bade Richter and Maria leave the castle, I entered a strange
inverted version of the castle that had mysteriously appeared over the
original. It was here that I finally encountered Shaft and my father
again. After a hard fought battle, I succeeded in condemning my father
to another hundred years of sleep."
At this point, Alucard paused. Kara and the senshi were shocked to
notice a single tear sliding down from his eye. Grant was looking down
at the floor.
"It was what happened in the years after my father's defeat that I will
never forget..."
-----
"Farewell then. We'll not meet again."
This was the last thing that Alucard said to the pair standing on the
cliff overlooking the remains of Castlevania before he took his leave
of them. He could hear Maria calling his name, but he did not look
back.
It was when she began to follow him that he slowed down. He allowed
her to catch up to him, despite his better judgment.
"Alucard," she said, "you don't have to go back there."
"I must atone," was all he said in reply.
"For what?" Maria said, "What have you done that requires you to
punish yourself as you plan to do? What I saw during my journey
in Castlevania was a man that cared deeply about doing what he
felt was right, even if in doing that he had to do something
that was painful. Not only did you save Richter from the dark
side, you also had to defeat your own father to do it. That had
to require a great belief in what is right. I saw..."
"Enough," Alucard said darkly. "While I appreciate what you are
saying, you cannot possibly begin to understand what..."
"Yes," Maria interrupted, "on that count you are exactly right. I
don't understand at all why you are doing this to yourself. Alucard,
I don't want you to do this thing you plan to do. Please. If not for
yourself, then for me. Alucard, I love you and I don't want to lose
you after what we've been through together..." She trailed off as she
realized what she had just said. She looked down at her feet.
Alucard said nothing. He merely studied her intently.
"I'm sorry," Maria began. "I don't know what I'm..."
Alucard put his finger on her lips. "Do not speak right now." He
continued to gaze at her. "Funny, how I never noticed it before,"
he thought, "but, despite her youth, she has all of the qualities
that drew me to Sonia... and then some... Can it be? Do I really
have to return to my slumber?"
Maria could not even begin to sense what Alucard was thinking. She
flushed unconsciously under the intense stare that he was subjecting
her to. On his face was the same cold expression that he always wore.
She reached up and took his hand from her lips, and said, "You must
think me a fool. I'm sorry..."
"No," Alucard said softly, still holding her hand. "I am the one that
should be apologizing."
She looked up into his eyes with a curious expression on her face.
"How could I have been so blind before," Alucard thought. "She is
extraordinarily beautiful. Not only that, but her spirit is one full
of courage and goodness. Love... I would not have thought it possible
for one such as myself after what I have endured."
Maria began to speak again, but Alucard silenced her again... this time
with a soft kiss. Maria's eyes widened as she returned the kiss. She
took a half step back and, still holding Alucard's hand, said, "Does
this mean...?"
Alucard took her other hand, and kissed her again in reply.
---
"I must say again, congratulations," Richter said, as he and Alucard
made their way back toward the village in which they both lived now.
They had heard stories of werewolves attacking a town several miles
away and had gone to investigate. Upon reaching the town, they had
handily defeated the werewolves and saved the town from their plight.
"So, how is little Adrian reacting to the fact that he has a sister
now?" Richter said, elbowing Alucard as they walked.
Alucard, who had been much less somber in the three years since he
and Maria had married, said, "As well as can be expected. He wanted
so badly to have a little brother to pick on."
"Ha! Well, he always has Alicia to pick on if he wants to," Richter
said, referring to his daughter.
"Now, that is not fair," Alucard retorted, good-naturedly. "Alicia is
two years older than Adrian. And a girl herself, I might add."
"So?" Richter replied in turn. "You're... let's see... at least three
hundred years older than me, correct? That doesn't stop me from picking
on you, now does it? Of course, it's strange to be picking on my many
times great grandfather though. And you and Maria pick on each other,
too, from what I gather. And you can't deny that she, too, is a girl."
Alucard just gave him a wry look as they neared the village.
That was when they both noticed something strange in the air. The acrid
scent of smoke was wafting through the air from the direction of the
village. Looking above the treeline, Richter pointed and said, "Look
there. Do you see it? Only a very large fire could make that much
smoke."
"RICHTER!! ALUCARD!!" a voice screamed from a short distance in front
of them. Richter ran up to his wife, Annette, and grabbed her as she
ran from the forest toward them.
"Richter! Something terrible is happening... that horrid man who took
us for Dracula has returned... attacked Maria and the kids..." Annette
fainted at this, partly from the shock of running such a long way and
partly from the atrocities she had witnessed.
Richter turned to Alucard and started to say something, but all he saw
was a column of light fading away in Alucard's place. He picked up
Annette and began to move as quickly as he could toward the village.
Alucard reappeared in front of his home from where he had teleported.
What he saw froze his soul. The house in which he, Maria, and their
two children lived was totally gone. In its place was a pile of
smoking embers. His family was nowhere to be seen, but he knew in
his heart that they were gone. He noticed a pack of torch carrying
warg riders in the distance moving away. He started to give chase
when he heard a voice behind him call his name. He recognized the
voice instantly and had his sword in his hand in seconds.
He turned to face the floating figure of Shaft. Shaft had his arms
crossed and a smug expression on his face. "It was unfortunate that
you had to go off and kill those werewolves. After all, they were only
blindly doing what I commanded them to do. Had you been here, you quite
possibly might have been able to save your family. It's quite a tragedy
actually."
"WHY?!" Alucard screamed in rage. "Why have you done this?!"
"Don't be stupid Alucard," Shaft mocked. "She played as much a part in
the master's defeat as you and that fool Richter did. Moreso, in that
she came between you and your true destiny at the side of the master.
Her... love," Shaft spat this word, "for you clouded your mind against
the master. If you had returned to your slumber, it would have been
easier for the master to regain his hold over you. Because of her, you
did not return to your sleep. For that she had to die, which she did.
I had hoped to take out the Belmont next, but it appears that you have
the distinct honor of being the next to die."
"AAARRGGHH!!!" Alucard screamed as he leapt at Shaft. In his fury, he
had focused his attention solely upon Shaft. As such, he did not see
the three mystic orbs that slammed into him from behind. Shaft lowered
himself toward the dazed Alucard and delivered a vicious kick to the
chin.
"Come now, Alucard," Shaft sneered. "You are making this much too easy
for me." He drew a long, ritualistic dagger from beneath his cloak
and moved toward Alucard. Before Alucard could react, Shaft was
behind him with the dagger to his throat. Alucard managed to get his
arm between his throat and Shaft's own hand. They struggled against
each other but Alucard was on the losing end. The dagger inched closer
to its destination.
A voice called out from the distance, "HYDRO STORM!!" In the split
second that Shaft was distracted, Alucard elbowed him in the chest and
pushed away from him.
They both turned to see Richter throw a vial of holy water high into the
air, which disappeared. In its place, white low-hanging clouds formed.
Holy water began to rain down from the clouds, covering the surrounding
area and having several effects on what it fell upon. The remaining
fires
died out. Alucard felt his strength returning. And Shaft howled in
agony.
"Shaft, you bastard dog!" Alucard yelled at him as he got to his feet.
"You shall burn in hell for what you have done, and I shall personally
see to your journey there!"
Despite the incredible pain that he was in from the falling holy water,
Shaft managed an evil smile. "Not in this lifetime, Alucard, not in
this
lifetime." At this, he began to fade away. His last words before
disappearing completely were: "Rest assured that we will meet again,
Alucard."
Alucard dropped the sword at his feet, then dropped to his knees next to
it. As he looked painfully at the charred remains of what was to have
been his new life with Maria, Richter and Annette came up behind him.
"Alucard..." began Annette, before she broke down completely into tears.
She turned and ran away, back toward the house in which she and Richter
lived. When Richter started to follow her, she merely shook her head
and gestured at Alucard, then continued on.
Richter walked over next to Alucard and knelt down beside him.
"Alucard,"
he said, staring intently at the sword that lay on the ground in front
of
them, "I..." He could think of nothing to say that would lessen
Alucard's
pain, nor his own.
"He will pay," Alucard said solemnly and in such a quiet tone that
Richter almost didn't hear him. "The next time that we meet, I will
take my sword and plunge it into his black heart. Now, however, I
must rest."
Richter looked over at him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that I am returning to my slumber as I should have to begin
with. I was the one that defeated my father. Because she fell in
love with me, Shaft killed her. He said so. Had I returned to my
sleep, she would still be alive today."
Richter shook his head sadly. "Alucard, Maria helped me defeat Dracula
before you even awoke. She was as much an enemy of the darkness as
you or I. I can't help but think that it would not have made a
difference. At least you gave her happiness in the last few years of
her life. Do not regret what you shared, my friend. Besides, I heard
what Shaft said myself. What if you had returned to your slumber and
Dracula had somehow regained his control over you? I can't possibly
imagine you attempting to harm Maria, but if Dracula had won control
of you..."
"My father... he has not changed in the least," Alucard said, his
voice growing in anger. "I thought I might have made a difference
with my last words to him, but it appears I was wrong if he would go
so far as to send that dog to perform such a horrible deed as this..."
"Dracula played no part in this," a new voice said from above them.
Alucard and Richter looked up sharply to see Death floating above the
smoking ruins of the house. They both rose to their feet. Alucard
picked up his sword as Richter readied the Vampire Killer. When they
took one step toward Death, he merely raised his hand. They suddenly
found that they could not move another inch toward him.
"I am not here in my capacity as companion of your father, Alucard,"
Death said, in a voice that was not quite as cold as it usually was.
"Then why are you here?" Richter shouted angrily.
Death afforded Richter with his gaze for a moment before looking back
at Alucard. "Shaft acted of his own accord in this. Dracula is in
no frame of mind to do this or even sanction Shaft to do it. In
fact, he had told Shaft that you were not to be harmed. I am here,
unfortunately, to perform the duty that I have performed for countless
ages. Though we have been enemies in the past, I know that this is
horrible for you to have to endure. It should not have happened. It
was not her time to go, but it is too late for me to do anything about
that now. I am here to take her, and your two children to what comes
beyond. Rest easy in the knowledge that they will go where they are
meant to be."
Alucard and Richter looked at Death blankly as he began to fade away.
"Why are you doing this?" Alucard asked. "Saying these things?"
Death said again, "I merely wished to tell you that it was not the
bidding of your father that brought this about. I have done what I
have come to do. When next we meet, it shall be as enemies once
more." Death vanished from sight, his work done.
Alucard and Richter merely stood there, staring at the dying coals.
-----
Alucard slowly scanned the room after finishing this tale. There was
not
a pair of dry eyes in the room, his own included.
Though his soul ached from reliving that horrible time, he was not yet
finished in relating the full history of his father. "I took my leave
of Richter and Annette after that. I never saw either of them again.
However, I did not return to my slumber as I had planned to do.
Instead,
I resumed my aimless wanderings of the world for the next century. In
my travels, I encountered Grant, who was on the verge of disappearing
from
this realm completely. With his consent, I revitalized his fading form
back to its former state, and we journeyed the world together."
Grant put his hand on Alucard's shoulder. "I'm glad you found me when
you did. Because of you, I have a chance to make a difference again."
"I learned later that Richter's daughter Alicia had married a man by the
name of Michael Schneider. This man, too, was an accomplished hunter
of vampires himself. They had a son whom they named Reinhardt. Michael
told his son repeatedly that some day he may have to fight the darkness.
Those were his dying words to young Reinhardt, in fact. For ten years
after that, Reinhardt trained diligently, much as his ancestor Sonia
was doing that night I met her. During the tenth year of his training,
Castlevania reappeared. His father's last words came true.
"A woman named Actrise lived in this period. She was a witch. In order
to enhance her powers, she killed her own child with her own hand. In
concert with Death, this evil woman helped to restore Dracula to life,
in exchange for even greater power.
"Reinhardt was not alone in his quest to destroy Dracula and his allies.
A twelve year old girl named Carrie Fernandez aided him in his journey.
This girl was a member of the same family as Sypha Belnades and as such
commanded a powerful magic. But as simple people are prone to do, again
with the probable influence of my father acting in the background, they
feared Carrie's power. Her foster mother tried to protect her from a
demon that attacked them one day, but she was killed. The shock of this
unlocked Carrie's full potential and she destroyed the demon with her
power. With no regrets in life, Carrie bravely joined Reinhardt and
together they entered the castle.
"Along the way, they encountered Death and Actrise. They also
encountered
a female vampire named Rosa, who hated her own tainted blood. Carrie
also had to face a Fernandez girl that had been captured and made into a
vampire by my father. But even then, they were not by themselves. An
aged vampire hunter named Charlie Vincent was also roaming the castle
in search of Dracula. They also encountered a young boy named Malus.
At first, Malus seemed an innocent youth. However, after defeating what
they thought was my father, they saw Malus riding a black winged
unicorn.
He revealed himself to be my father reborn as a young man. Despite all
these hardships, with the aid of Vincent they defeated my father and
even saved the soul of the vampire Rosa, who later married Reinhardt.
Alucard paused for a moment, then started speaking again, "The next time
my father returned to this realm was rather well documented. I assume
that you are familiar with the novel 'Dracula' written by Bram Stoker?"
All of the gathered senshi nodded, though only a few of them had
actually
read it.
Grant said, "Despite its surprisingly accurate account of Vlad's
continuing schemes, the book was passed off as fiction by the world. Of
course, many omissions were made."
"Everything that occurred in the novel is faithful to what actually
occurred," Alucard said. "Neither myself nor Grant felt it necessary
to intervene as the Belmont descendant of that generation, one Quincey
Morris, whose father had married the daughter of Reinhardt and Rosa,
and his companions had things relatively under control. My father
was yet again defeated again, although at the cost of Quincey's life.
"Approximately twenty years after this incident, Dracula was
unexpectedly
resurrected. A woman named Elizabeth Bartley, my cousin and also a
vampire, was the one that brought about his awakening. I felt Shaft's
presence there as well, though he never made an appearance. It was
Quincey's son John Morris and his friend Eric Lecarde that set out to
stop Elizabeth's plans. While they battled the minions of my father,
Grant and I devised a plan that we hoped would stop my father for
good. Upon John and Eric's victory over Elizabeth and my father, we
approached them with our plan, which required their aid to be
successful.
We took my father's casket, which contained his essence, and placed it
within the sanctuary that had been known only to me up to that point.
Then, using all of our powers to the fullest, we placed a powerful
ward upon the sanctuary that we thought would keep him imprisoned."
"Quite obviously," Grant said, "we were wrong." He looked around the
room at the senshi who, despite their interest in this account of the
history of Dracula, were showing signs of fatigue.
Mamoru said, "Well, you guys obviously have a good grasp of what is
going
on here, so what should we do now?"
"I think it best," Alucard said, "that we wait until the Belmonts arrive
here. I sense that they are still on the way here, despite Death's
attempts to stop them. In the meantime, I would be most interested to
hear your story."
Even though she wasn't as weary as the rest of them after the events
of the day, Setsuna said, "It is quite a long story itself. I think
we should all take a break first."
Usagi piped up at this, "That's a great idea! I haven't eaten anything
since... well, it's been so long I can't even remember."
As the others agreed with this, they began to look toward Makoto. She
said, "Okay, I'll whip up something for everyone. Hey, Rei, what
kind of stuff do you have here?"
Rei shook her head and said, "I don't really have much of anything
here, at least not enough to feed this many at once."
"Oh well," Makoto said, "I'll just run to the store and get something
simple to make. How does pizza sound, you guys?" At this, all of
the senshi and Kara murmured their approval. To the other two guests
Makoto said, "How about you? Do you need anything?"
"I'm dead, remember? I don't need to eat," Grant replied, simply.
Makoto looked at him oddly for a second, shrugged, then turned to
Alucard.
Alucard shook his head and said, "I do not require anything at this
time. I will feed on my own when the time comes." At the weird
looks he got from the others, he added, "Don't worry. I do not, and
have never, fed upon humans."
"Well, uh, that's great," Makoto said somewhat nervously as she headed
for the door. "I guess it's pizza then. I'll be back in a little
while,
you guys."
As she exited the room, she could hear Usagi beginning the story of
the Silver Millennium.
**********
Makoto walked down the street toward the local grocery store. By this
time, it was nearing sunset. She frowned as she gazed upon the castle
that loomed in the distance.
"I can't wait until we can go in there and get rid of them," she said
to herself. Upon reaching the store, she went inside and began to
gather
the things she needed to make the pizza.
---
"Oooh, it was fine when we were flying over the ocean," Jan thought,
"but
these buildings whizzing by are getting to me... I've got to stop this
dragon and soon."
He called a dagger to his hand. Inching his way forward along the
Vampire
Killer, he prepared to thrust the dagger into the dragon's neck.
---
"Thank you," Makoto said to the store clerk. "No, I can get it by
myself."
She picked up the bags containing the pizza ingredients and walked out
of the store.
---
The dragon began to drop rapidly, as blood spewed from the deep wound
Jan had inflicted in its neck.
---
Makoto began the trip back to Rei's shrine. Suddenly, she heard a
thunderous roar from high above her. Looking up, she was shocked to
see what looked like a dragon falling toward her.
It passed over her head and slammed into a nearby building with a
deafening crash.
---
Jan picked himself up off the ground groggily. He performed a quick
self examination and determined that nothing was broken. In the
distance,
he saw a girl in a sailor fuku running toward him, waving her arms
wildly
and pointing at him. Or was she pointing behind him? Before he could
think on it much, he felt something very hard slam him from behind.
---
Sailor Jupiter, who had quickly transformed and stashed the bags in a
safe
place, winced as the large skeleton hit the boy squarely in the back
with
its shield. As it stood over him and raised the sword over its head,
the
boy began to rise to his feet again.
---
"...the hell?" Jan said. He turned around in time to see a sword
slicing
the air toward his head. In the next instant, something slammed him
from
the side. Yet again, he found himself lying on the ground.
This time, however, the girl that he had seen a few seconds before was
lying on top of him.
"Daijobu desu ka?" she said to him. He stared at her blankly for a
couple of seconds before realizing she was speaking to him in Japanese.
"Makes sense, though, considering I'm in Japan and all. It's a good
thing I took three years of Japanese in high school," he thought to
himself.
---
"What am I thinking? He's looks American, he probably doesn't
understand
me," Jupiter thought. Switching to English, a language she was by no
means fluent in, she said, "How... are you?"
She felt a flush of relief, and a bit of confusion when the boy smiled
wanly and said, "I'm fine, and you?" Then she was somewhat surprised
when he said, "Nihongo de wakarimasu yo."
Switching back to Japanese, she started to ask him what was going on,
when his eyes widened and he looked over her shoulder.
---
Jan flinched as the girl was knocked off of him by the skeleton. It
began to advance upon her. "Okay," Jan muttered, "I'm getting about
sick of you."
He climbed to his feet and reached for the Alcarde Spear, since the
Vampire Killer was still attached to the horns of the dead dragon. It
wasn't strapped to his back as he expected it to be. He looked toward
the dragon and saw it laying next to it.
"Dammit, I don't have time to get it or the Vampire Killer! He's going
to kill her if I don't do something quick," he thought.
---
Jupiter looked up at the skeleton, who had the tip of its sword at her
throat. It raised the sword slightly and prepared to bring it down,
when suddenly a flash of lightning hit it in the side, knocking it
away from her.
Incredulously, Jupiter watched as the boy held his hand up. A thin
beam of purple light shot from his hand toward the skeleton. When it
connected, another blast of lightning flew from the boy's hand into
the skeleton.
"I wonder if..." Jupiter thought, as she rose to her feet.
"Can't let him have all the fun, though," she said. "SUPREME THUNDER!"
---
This time, it was Jan's turn to watch in shock as the girl shot a
blast of lightning from her own hands at the skeleton. He stood
there for a second, staring at her, then shook his head and ran
for the dead dragon. He retrieved both the Alcarde Spear and the
Vampire Killer.
---
"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!" Jupiter yelled, sending her most powerful
attack at the skeleton. Although it knocked the skeleton to the
ground, the attack didn't destroy it.
"I'm gonna need some help to take this thing out," she said, starting
to contact the others on her communicator.
That's when she saw the boy running toward the skeleton. Strapped to
his back was a wicked looking spear, and in his hands was a flaming
whip.
Her communicator forgotten, Jupiter watched as the boy and the skeleton
fought.
---
"Now that I have my main weapons back," Jan thought, "this shouldn't
take long. Besides, it's already weak."
As the skeleton stood up again, Jan slung the whip at it. The whip
struck the skeleton in the chest.
The skeleton screamed in pain for a second, before it slowly melted
away into a glowing orb.
"Hmm?" Jan thought. "This seems somewhat familiar." He walked over
to the orb and picked it up. As he studied it, it began to melt.
He absorbed the remains of the orb into himself and felt his energy
return to him. He coiled up the Vampire Killer and placed it on
his belt.
He looked up when he noticed the girl walking toward him. Now that
the battle was over, he was able to actually *notice* her.
"Wow..." he thought to himself.
---
Jupiter thought to herself as she walked toward the boy, "He must be
one of the Belmonts that Alucard was talking about." When she noticed
him smiling at her slightly, she began to blush. "Not only that, but
he looks like my old boyfriend," she added to herself silently.
"Um, I know this is really a strange way to meet," the boy said, "but
I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Janus Morris, but everyone
calls me Jan."
Jupiter thought to herself, "I was right. Well, since he's the one we
are supposed to be waiting for, I guess he's going to find out anyway,
so..."
She said, "Hi, my name is Sailor Jupiter, but..." at this she lost her
transformation "...everyone calls me Makoto."
Jan blinked as the she went from wearing the sailor fuku to wearing a
pair of brown overalls and a green sweater. "Um, I think I just missed
something here," he said.
"Ah... we've been waiting for you," Makoto said, smiling. She motioned
for him to follow her as she went to where she had hid the bags.
"Um, okay," Jan said. "Who's we?"
"That's a long story," Makoto said, picking up the bags. She then began
to head back toward Rei's shrine. As Jan walked beside her, Makoto
said,
"Well, there's my friends who you'll meet soon. Then there are three
people whom we just met today, but I think you'll recognize them. Have
you ever heard of a... man named Alucard?"
Jan got a weird expression on his face. "Alucard? Is here? Sure, I've
heard of him! I mean I've heard stories of him... but..." He ran both
hands through his hair. "Wow, this is way too much."
Makoto couldn't help but giggle at the look on Jan's face. "I'm sorry,"
she said.
Jan laughed himself and said, "Don't worry about it. Whoo, this has
been some day, though."
They continued to talk as they walked toward the Hikawa shrine.
-----
In the shrine, Usagi was in the middle of telling the story of the
Dark Moon family. Although she was telling it for the benefit of
Alucard and his companions, Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki were also
listening intently as this was their first time hearing it too.
That was when Makoto came back in with somebody following her.
"Hey, guys, you'll never guess who I met on the way back from the
store," she said, motioning to Jan who was standing shyly in the
doorway.
***************
TBC...
--
Kane Magus
aplu...@netmcr.com
<--Blank where Yahoo! email address used to be.
<--Blank where Yahoo! Pager ID used to be.
ICQ# : 6492281
AOL-IM : Kane Magus
*****
"If only they sold a 'Figure Out What The Hell Is Going On' Candle."
--Gabriel, while perusing the Voodoo candles at the Dixieland Drugstore
"Gabriel Knight - Sins of the Fathers"
*****
Kane Magus
> Ack! This chapter didn't come thru! >_<
Hmm, it came through on my reader, but that don't mean squat though.
^^;; I'll try a repost.
Chapter Three
-------------
**********
no longer transformed?"
-----
----
-----
in the daylight."
castle walls."
"You mean..." Minako began.
-----
---
actually."
-----
**********
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
she said.
-----
***************
TBC...
--
Kane Magus
aplu...@netmcr.com
ICQ# : 6492281
Roshni Kasumo and a Chocobo
Neolexor
: Roshni Kasumo and a Chocobo wrote:
:
: > Ack! This chapter didn't come thru! >_<
:
: Hmm, it came through on my reader, but that don't mean squat though.
: ^^;; I'll try a repost.
:
:
:
: Lunar Painting - A Sailor Moon / Castlevania Crossover
:
: By Kane Magus -- aplu...@netmcr.com
[Chapter Three snipped]
Thanks for the repost KM... It seems your original post of Chapter
Three didn't make it to my corner of the usenet galaxy either... but now I
have it... ^_^ so I can read them all... but first... I... must .... sleep!
nexor (who needs energy..... argh... Zzzzz...)
-- Densetsu wa densetsu da... jijitsu de wa nai... -------------
Roshni Kasumo and a Chocobo
>Date: Sat, 03 July 1999 03:53 AM EDT
>Message-id: <7lkfhv$v...@netaxs.com>
>
>Kane Magus (aplu...@netmcr.com) wrote:
>: Roshni Kasumo and a Chocobo wrote:
>:
>: > Ack! This chapter didn't come thru! >_<
>:
>: Hmm, it came through on my reader, but that don't mean squat though.
>: ^^;; I'll try a repost.
>:
>:
>:
>: Lunar Painting - A Sailor Moon / Castlevania Crossover
>:
>: By Kane Magus -- aplu...@netmcr.com
>:
>[Chapter Three snipped]
>
> Thanks for the repost KM... It seems your original post of Chapter
>Three didn't make it to my corner of the usenet galaxy either... but now I
>have it... ^_^ so I can read them all... but first... I... must .... sleep!
>
>
Nor mine. Darn. At least AOL's usually good at grabbing long posts...