Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Dusk of Hope

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta:

"Do you hate your father? I know it's impolite of me to ask, but... I realize I'm asking a lot of you. However; I can't ask someone who is undecided to enter into a battle like this. That and the fact that this would be patricide..."

Five hundred and sixty one years ago. Give or take.

It had been over forty generations of humans born, lived, then dying since he had been asked that question.

Trevor was a solid built man. He hadn't live the life of lords or kings, rather he was, for all intents and purposes, just a woodsman. The muscles he had developed came from cutting trees for his home and hearth, not from hunting the Children of the Night. Which made his presence in the castle all the more peculiar. Alucard expected men of the church, well armored and spouting biblical verses left and right. He expected those types of people, actually bore witness to the few dozen or so that came to the master chambers of his father and were slain like lambs. Not to say anything about the few hundred more that never even 'made' it to his father's throne room.

Oh he had watched the pirate that came for his father, the one that Trevor had freed and now traveled along with as well. But it hadn't been all that long ago that he had watched his mother burned at the stake. Fountains of blood were nothing to the slow roasting of the flesh from the woman who gave you life. Who loved you despite your duel nature and who died for a race of foolish humans. If not for his mother's final words he would probably have been above with his father, slaying the humans.

As it was, he couldn't eat any human food anymore, not when the smell of the cooked meat brought to mind his mother's body. When most foods that he could stomach were just peasant food, far too lowly for one of his birth status, it left him with nothing, but blood. Only those few times he had tried to drink from the human prey brought to mind his mother's final words, whispered in the back of his mind. He couldn't eat, his sleep was disrupted, and his strength was waning as he wasted away.

His father wasn't letting up or slowing down, his wrath extended beyond that one stupid village, consuming the countryside and beyond. They didn't speak of his mother; Alucard lacked the strength to force the words that would acknowledge his mother's passing, and his father was too furious to talk about her.

But here now was this hunter who was doing a rather impressive job considering his sudden change in jobs. Then there was that whip, a curious weapon if Alucard had ever seen one. Monster after monster slain by a 'whip'? Not a sword, nor holy word rather a whip of some strange, unspoken origin? What type of weapon was this, that it could slay anything placed before it? Surely there were monsters weak to suck types of attacks, but to say 'all' of them? Perhaps though, with such a weapon, were his father to be defeated, Alucard could finally relay his mother's message?

He had to know how the bite of that whip worked on the flesh of a vampire, know if it and the wielder were enough to overcome his father. Which was why he had challenged the human, and if the human didn't survive the battle, well that was proof enough to Alucard. Which was why he now walked along three humans, two males and a female through the castle in an effort to reach his father. True for Alucard, he simply needed to walk from his room to his fathers'. Not so for the three humans with him, and the defenses of the castle were up in order to defend the lord of the castle from harm.

The woman was an oddity, lowering her voice and speaking few words, Alucard could tell just from the scent that this was a woman. But why did she not confess her gender to the others? Did she not trust them? Did she fear they would rape her if they knew her gender? Or did she worry about his father's servants? Perhaps she feared both, not that Alucard could have argued against it, it was not raised in him to treat a lady harm. But by opting to fight she revoked the right to be classed as a 'lady' and the others were bound to take after the chance to harm her.

Then there was the little pirate that came to face his father, Trevor had freed the little man as well. So there had to be something about Trevor, after all, why would a human accept failed warriors, witches on the leash of clergy or the Vampire Prince himself? There was more to him then the self stylized vision of righteousness that came with Knights from the church. This was a hunter seeking to kill the King of Vampires, the Lord of the Children of the Night, and yet he aligned himself with pirates and witches, the Prince himself. Did he honestly have such faith in their sense of duty that they would not turn on him?

He never answered the question directly, just reaffirmed his commitment to defeating his father. Knowing that when the battle was over he would go to sleep, there was no way that he could live with himself for his sins. That and there was nothing left for him once his father was gone, what with being a half blood. His life span would outstrip any human woman, and any vampire would want to convert him into being fully vampire. Perhaps it was some sense of rebellious pride that made him want to stay a half blood for the rest of his life. Refusing to give up his mother's human blood in his veins, no matter how much strength had been denied him because of its frailty.

Did he hate his father? No, on the contrary he loved his father dearly and regretted the paths their lives took. But hate was a human creation, an emotion created by humans and no matter how superior his father thought vampires or the Children were, they were only human themselves. If not for his mothers' final words, there was no doubt in Alucard's mind that he would have joined his father in his war.

He had defended humanity on his mother's say so for ages, and yet it seemed like the fickle hand of fate had given him this situation. His now clueless father. The cults were starting to circle Japan, they knew he was there and they would soon start interrupting his life if Alucard didn't do something about them. Had Soma not attacked the Cardinal, the situation could have been resolved in other methods. Soma certainly had enough power to protect himself, there was no reason for the cloak and dagger games. But now he had all his powers leashed within, there was no way for him to defend himself with a lone sword against the cult.

Though the fact that Soma 'still' had his powers was a different worry all together. After all, when the Castle acknowledged Soma, the souls were released when Soma left it. Alucard had assumed it was a natural occurrence done when the supernatural threats to his life had ebbed away. Now he wasn't so sure, as Soma's powers had yet to ebb away. Fortner had targeted Soma around Graham's time, though in the beginning her 'aim' was just the nebulous presence of Count Dracula. Something was wrong, he could see that clearly.

But the turn of his thoughts were strange, out of sequence and disorienting in their own way, as he switched from questions posed ages ago to modern situations. What was the connection, between hating his father, and Soma's powers? Hate was no more then the mirror reflection of love, not the opposite as people often thought. For hate and love were still intense emotions directed at targets, either to destroy or build up stronger and protect. Apathy was the true opposite of hate and love, for then no one cared what the end result was. Did he hate his father enough to see him destroyed? No. He didn't hate his father, he did what did because he wanted to protect his mother's wishes. After all his mother wasn't the only kind human, though it took a century for Alucard to accept that on his own.

The power of dominance, the power to rule over all the Children of the Night. No matter how Alucard may have felt about that power, the truth was ever there. He was just as much a slave to his fathers' power as the next monster. Monsters served Dracula out of fear and respect, not love. Yet Alucard fought against his father out of respect and love, so what was the defining difference between the pair?

Perhaps Julius had spoke to him the answer to that question, when he confronted Soma back in the Castle. When Soma extracted the promise of death from Julius. Soma wished to die, should he return to being the monster he had been. He knew by then, who and what he was and done, and that knowledge bothered him enough to extract that promise out of Julius. Soma was the reincarnation of Count Dracula, with enough power to overcome the world and fulfill his threat of the extermination of humanity. Instead he wished merely to escape that anger and hatred.

Was it possible? Could somehow, deep down inside, the ability to resist the power of his father had not been because he was the son of Dracula? Could it have been that he wasn't resisting at all, rather he was helping his father? Was Soma a presence that had always existed and sought to be liberated from that rage and used Alucard to do it?

Alucard stood up from his chair annoyed at how he was twisting himself into knots. The more he thought on Soma and the issues that the boy evoked the more he questioned himself. Could he even follow through with his promise to the Belmont Clan? How could he be of any use to the other Clans if he stayed his hand from taking his fathers' life if Soma lost himself?

Then again he already stayed his hand once, now hadn't he?

Awake with his father active in the world, he could feel as another Black Mass began. The pull of an innocent soul released into the world, the anger at the premeditated death tainting it with anger. Just another soul to serve in his father's castle. Just another howling voice trying to get a corpse, so old it wasn't even dust anymore, to wake up. It would fail, they all had but still..

"Say, Alucard do you sparkle?"

"Yoko, if you are trying to even hint that I may be like 'that'. I will hereby break 'all' ties with all the hunter clans, join my father, and make 'you' my first prey." This was why he allowed the video games in his sanctuary, the moment Yoko got bored she found him.

"Well, I think a bucket of water mixed glitter could make it happen," Yoko replied, her little pink lips set in a straight line. Pretty impressive for a soon to be tender ten year aged meat meal.

"And why in the name of all the Saints, Angels and God himself, would you want me to 'sparkle'? Though I'm sure that I'm going to regret asking this." He had settled himself against his seat and was staring down at Yoko with a gaze that would send demons cowering from his father. Damn the vampire why couldn't it work for Alucard? Yoko didn't look scared, just determined.

"It's for my new book!" She turned the sheet of paper in her hands around so he could see it.

Which was a crayon scrawled sheet of black paper with the picture of a stubby hand, an orange, and the title: Twilight: When shit got serious.

Which left Alucard with an interesting moment as he realized that had he known about the modern world back then, and was given this joke? He would have died laughing. As it was, he merely shooed the girl back to whatever mischief she was getting into.

Better the destruction of the human race, then a race of sparkling Vampires.