1 of 1- Machismo
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Castlevania: Legacy of Blood
Episode 1 — The Rising Dark
The bell of Saint Ilyra rang thirteen times.
No one in Vargova had ever heard it ring thirteen times before.
The first twelve were enough to pull people from sleep. Candles appeared behind shuttered windows, trembling points of amber in the village darkness. Dogs began barking from fenced yards. An infant cried somewhere along the eastern lane.
The thirteenth toll silenced everything.
For several seconds, the only sound was the low groan of the bell swinging in the old church tower.
Then someone screamed.
The scream came from the cemetery.
A man stumbled through the iron gate clutching his shoulder. His nightshirt was soaked dark with blood, one sleeve nearly torn away.
Villager: They're coming out! They're coming out of the ground!
Several doors opened.
Nobody understood him until a pale hand appeared between the bars of the cemetery fence.
Another followed.
A corpse hauled itself upright against the gate.
Half of its face had rotted away. Dirt filled its mouth. It wore the remnants of clothing that had gone out of fashion decades earlier.
An old woman standing in the lane crossed herself.
The corpse pushed the gate open.
Behind it, graves began to move.
Wooden lids cracked beneath the soil.
Hands reached toward the moon.
Within moments, the dead of Vargova were walking home.
Panic traveled through the village faster than fire.
Men emerged carrying axes, pitchforks, hunting bows, anything that could be mistaken for a weapon. Mothers pulled children inside. A farmer struck one corpse across the skull with a shovel, only for the thing to turn its broken head toward him and continue advancing.
The church doors exploded outward.
Every surviving villager froze.
Something stepped through.
It wore the tattered remains of priestly robes stretched across a body far too large for them. Its arms nearly reached the ground. Blackened ribs pushed through grey flesh. Antlers grew from its skull in a tangled crown, several branches decorated with strips of fabric, teeth, and finger bones.
Where a man's face might have been, there was only a long vertical opening filled with rows of tiny human teeth.
The thing raised its head.
The bell rang again.
Every corpse in the village stopped.
The creature turned toward the western road.
Hoofbeats approached through the darkness.
Fast.
The people of Vargova stared toward the road as a black horse burst through the gate and nearly collided with a wagon.
The rider pulled the reins sharply.
The stallion skidded sideways across the mud before stopping.
The man in the saddle looked to be somewhere in his early thirties, though the grin he wore suggested he had avoided adulthood through sustained personal effort. Dark brown hair fell loosely around his face. Several days of stubble covered his jaw.
His traveling coat was brown and long, thrown open over a dark red vest and white shirt. Leather armor reinforced his shoulders and forearms. A sword rested against his back, knives lined his belt, and a coiled whip hung at his right side.
He surveyed the village.
The walking corpses.
The burning cemetery.
The antlered abomination towering in front of the church.
His grin widened.
Trevor Belmont: That's encouraging.
One frightened villager stared at him.
Villager: Encouraging?
Trevor swung down from the saddle.
Trevor Belmont: I've ridden for six hours. Imagine if there weren't monsters. That would have been a massive waste of my time.
The antlered creature screamed.
Trevor reached for the whip.
The leather coil unrolled into his hand.
Several villagers backed away.
One of them whispered the name before Trevor ever introduced himself.
Belmont.
He turned just enough to offer the villagers a theatrical smile.
Trevor Belmont: Please hold the applause until after I survive.
A corpse lunged.
Trevor moved.
The lazy amusement disappeared from his posture.
The Vampire Killer cracked across the corpse's chest.
Blue white fire raced down the leather.
The dead man burst apart.
Three others came immediately behind it.
Trevor caught the wrist of the first, pivoted underneath its arm, and drove his elbow into its spine. Bone shattered. He wrapped the whip around the second corpse's neck and pulled hard enough to tear the skull from its shoulders.
The third swung a rusted sword.
Trevor leaned back.
The blade passed an inch from his nose.
Trevor Belmont: Careful. That's the attractive part.
He kicked the corpse backward, drew a silver dagger, and buried it between the thing's eyes.
More dead were coming.
Trevor stepped into them.
The whip cracked through the lane again and again, each strike leaving sacred fire burning across dead flesh. Trevor slid beneath a grasping corpse, wrapped the weapon around its knees, and jerked both legs from beneath it. His sword followed in the same motion, taking the head from another creature.
The villagers watched with growing disbelief.
The last Belmont had arrived in their village looking half-drunk and entirely unserious.
He was killing the dead faster than they could stand.
The antlered creature charged.
Trevor saw it coming and turned.
Too late.
One enormous hand caught him across the chest.
Trevor flew through the side of a vegetable cart.
Wood exploded around him.
He remained sprawled among cabbages for a moment.
The monster lumbered toward him.
Trevor pushed a cabbage from his chest.
Trevor Belmont: That's humiliating.
The creature roared.
Trevor Belmont: Yes, I agree. We'll never speak of it again.
He grabbed the edge of the ruined cart and pulled himself upright.
The monster swung downward.
Trevor rolled.
Claws smashed through wood.
Trevor came up behind it, leapt onto its back, and drove a silver knife between two exposed ribs.
The creature screamed.
Its arm reached backward.
Trevor was thrown again, this time across the church steps.
He hit stone and groaned.
Trevor Belmont: I'm beginning to dislike you.
The monster opened its vertical mouth.
Trevor saw something moving inside.
Not teeth.
Tongues.
Dozens of them.
Black tongues pushed between the little human teeth and twisted toward him.
Trevor's expression tightened.
Trevor Belmont: Oh, that's disgusting.
The tongues shot outward.
Trevor threw himself sideways.
They struck the church steps and dissolved stone beneath them.
Acid.
Trevor rolled behind a pillar and reached inside his coat.
The monster charged.
He waited.
Closer.
Closer.
At the last instant, Trevor stepped from cover and threw a small glass bottle directly into its open mouth.
The creature swallowed it.
Stopped.
Trevor smiled.
Trevor Belmont: Holy water.
A dull blue glow appeared inside its ribs.
Trevor Belmont: Terrible vintage apparently.
Sacred fire exploded through the creature's chest.
The monster screamed.
Trevor grabbed the Vampire Killer in both hands and brought it overhead.
The whip came down across the antlered skull.
Blue light filled the street.
The creature burst into ash.
At once, every corpse in Vargova collapsed.
The night became quiet.
Trevor stood in the center of the lane breathing hard.
Ash drifted around him.
The old villager who had recognized his name approached cautiously.
Old Villager: Belmont.
Trevor wiped black blood from his cheek.
Trevor Belmont: I've been accused of worse.
Old Villager: We thought your family was gone.
Something flickered behind Trevor's eyes.
It disappeared almost immediately.
Trevor Belmont: So I've heard.
The old man did not know what to say.
Trevor turned toward his horse.
Old Villager: Wait.
Trevor stopped.
Old Villager: You saved us.
Trevor Belmont: Try not to sound too surprised.
Old Villager: We have food. A room. Wine.
Trevor slowly looked back.
Trevor Belmont: You should have led with wine.
By sunrise, Trevor Belmont had converted saving Vargova into a private room, two meals, three bottles of wine, and the enthusiastic attention of a dark haired widow named Elena.
Talia Belnades found him shortly after breakfast.
She stood in the tavern doorway, looking at the man she had spent nearly half a year trying to find.
This was not what she had expected.
Trevor sat backward in a chair with his arms folded across the backrest, apparently telling Elena and two other women a highly exaggerated account of the previous night's events.
Trevor Belmont: Ten feet tall.
A young woman leaned closer.
Young Woman: Truly?
Trevor Belmont: At least.
The bartender snorted.
Bartender: More like seven.
Trevor pointed at him.
Trevor Belmont: I don't interrupt you while you're pouring drinks.
Elena laughed.
Trevor continued.
Trevor Belmont: Naturally, I realized conventional weapons wouldn't work. So I-
Talia stared at him.
Six months.
Six months of libraries, ruined monasteries, frightened priests, bribes, maps, hostile border guards, sleeping beside roads, and following increasingly improbable rumors about a disreputable monster hunter.
And this was Trevor Belmont.
The final heir to the most infamous line of vampire hunters was flirting over breakfast.
She walked across the tavern.
Trevor noticed her immediately.
His eyes moved over her blue traveling coat, the leather satchel across her hip, the staff on her back, and finally her face.
A smile appeared.
Trevor Belmont: You're either here to hire me or kill me.
Talia stopped beside the table.
Talia Belnades: Trevor Belmont?
Trevor Belmont: Depends.
Talia Belnades: On what?
Trevor Belmont: Which answer gets me in less trouble.
Talia Belnades: Talia Belnades.
Trevor's smile faded slightly.
Trevor Belmont: Belnades.
Talia Belnades: Yes.
Trevor Belmont: Magicians.
Talia Belnades: Scholars.
Trevor Belmont: Magicians sounds more exciting though.
Talia Belnades: We aren't concerned with sounding exciting.
Trevor glanced at Elena.
Trevor Belmont: I can tell.
Talia dropped a leather bound journal onto the table.
The women surrounding Trevor moved back.
Trevor sighed at the book.
Trevor Belmont: I was having such a pleasant morning.
Talia Belnades: Twenty three attacks in eight weeks.
She opened the journal.
Maps covered several pages.
Villages marked in red.
Dates written beside each.
Trevor's amusement vanished.
Talia Belnades: Graves opening. Bodies found drained. Missing livestock. Children disappearing near old roads. Night creatures attacking churches.
Trevor looked over the pages.
Trevor Belmont: Where did you get these reports?
Talia noticed the change immediately.
No jokes now.
Talia Belnades: Monasteries. City records. Travelers. Some from survivors.
Trevor Belmont: These three attacks happened on the same night.
Talia Belnades: Yes.
Trevor pointed to another mark.
Trevor Belmont: And this one?
Talia Belnades: Two days later.
Trevor leaned back.
Trevor Belmont: They're moving west.
Talia regarded him differently.
Talia Belnades: That's what I thought.
Trevor looked up.
Trevor Belmont: You seem surprised.
Talia Belnades: I had been warned you were difficult.
Trevor Belmont: Difficult maybe, but not stupid.
He reached for his wine.
Trevor Belmont: Stupid gets you killed.
Talia turned the page.
A charcoal drawing showed a castle against storm clouds.
Trevor's hand stopped halfway to the cup.
Talia Belnades: This was drawn by a monk outside Grest.
Trevor said nothing.
Talia Belnades: Two other witnesses described the same structure.
Trevor Belmont: People see things in storms.
Talia Belnades: The witnesses were eighty miles apart.
Trevor looked at her.
Talia Belnades: Dracula's castle.
The tavern went silent.
A man at another table immediately stood and left.
Elena crossed herself.
Trevor closed the journal.
Trevor Belmont: Don't say that name in a crowded room.
Talia Belnades: Why?
Trevor Belmont: Because frightened people become stupid.
Talia Belnades: Frightened people might survive.
Trevor Belmont: Not if they're stupid. Remember what I just said? Stupid gets you killed.
Talia put both hands on the table.
Talia Belnades: Dracula is returning.
Trevor stared at her.
Talia Belnades: I need to know everything you know.
Trevor gave a quiet laugh.
It contained no humor.
Trevor Belmont: Everything I know?
Talia Belnades: Your family hunted him before.
Trevor Belmont: My family has hunted everything before. It's what we do. We're good at it. I happen to be the best of the best.
Talia Belnades: There must be some information your family has locked away?
Trevor Belmont: The estate burned.
Talia stopped.
Trevor looked back down at the journal.
Trevor Belmont: The libraries burned. The armories were looted. Half the relics were taken by Der Gralsbund. That's what happens. God gives your family a purpose, and they do it, but the fearful, being STUPID...feel a different way about things.
Talia Belnades: But you're alive.
Trevor met her eyes.
Trevor Belmont: Persistent, aren't I?
Talia Belnades: You have the Vampire Killer.
Trevor's hand moved unconsciously toward the whip at his hip.
Trevor Belmont: You know a great deal.
Talia Belnades: I've spent six months looking for you.
Trevor's grin returned.
Trevor Belmont: See, now we're getting somewhere.
Talia frowned.
Trevor Belmont: Most women aren't as quick to admit obsession.
Talia Belnades: I sincerely regret finding you.
She snatched the journal from the table.
Trevor watched her walk toward the door.
Trevor Belmont: Where are you going?
Talia Belnades: To find someone useful.
Trevor sighed.
He finished his cup.
Trevor Belmont: Fine.
Talia looked back.
Trevor stood.
Trevor Belmont: But if I'm saving Wallachia, we're stopping somewhere with decent wine.
They left Vargova before noon.
Talia rode a grey mare.
Trevor rode the black stallion from the previous night.
The first hour passed in relative silence.
Then Talia made the mistake of asking the horse's name.
Talia Belnades: Bishop?
Trevor Belmont: Yes.
Talia Belnades: Why Bishop?
Trevor Belmont: Judgmental. Expensive.
Bishop snorted.
Trevor patted his neck.
Trevor Belmont: Exactly.
Talia shook her head.
They continued east.
As the villages became smaller, signs of trouble increased.
Abandoned wagons.
Burned homes.
A roadside shrine smashed apart.
Trevor became quieter with every mile.
Near sunset, he abruptly raised one hand.
Talia stopped.
Trevor dismounted.
Talia Belnades: What?
He crouched beside a tree.
Four claw marks ran down the bark.
Trevor Belmont: Striga.
Talia joined him.
Talia Belnades: Here?
Trevor Belmont: Recently.
He touched dark residue beside the marks.
Trevor Belmont: Probably an adult. Six feet. Female.
Talia looked at him.
Talia Belnades: You can determine its sex from claw marks?
Trevor stood.
Trevor Belmont: Absolutely not. I was just hoping.
Talia stared.
Trevor smiled.
Trevor Belmont: You looked impressed, though.
Talia Belnades: I am going to push you off a mountain.
Trevor Belmont: There she is. Finally, someone who isn't impressed with me because my name is Belmont. It's refreshing.
A scream came from the forest.
Trevor moved before Talia finished turning.
He drew the Vampire Killer and ran between the trees.
Talia followed.
They reached a shallow stream just as a young man stumbled down the bank.
Blood covered his shoulder.
Something white moved behind him.
The Striga emerged on all fours.
Long white hair hung around a corpse pale face. Its mouth opened much too wide. Black claws scraped across stone as it bounded forward.
Trevor stepped into its path.
The whip cracked.
The Striga twisted in the air.
Leather struck its shoulder.
The creature rolled and immediately came back at him.
Trevor drew his sword.
Claws struck steel.
Sparks flew.
The Striga hissed inches from his face.
Trevor Belmont: I've had prettier women threaten me.
The creature slammed into him.
Trevor hit the stream.
Talia extended one hand.
Blue light gathered around her fingers.
Talia Belnades: Ignis.
Fire tore through the air.
The blast struck the Striga and threw it into a tree.
Trevor sat upright in the water.
He looked at Talia.
Trevor Belmont: You could do that?
Talia Belnades: Obviously.
Trevor Belmont: And you watched me get thrown into a river first?
Talia Belnades: Yes.
Trevor stood.
Trevor Belmont: I like you.
The Striga shrieked.
It charged Talia.
Her expression changed.
She slammed the end of her staff into the earth.
Ice spread across the stream.
The creature's feet froze in place.
It clawed forward.
The ice cracked.
Trevor moved behind it.
The whip wrapped around its throat.
He pulled.
Talia extended both hands.
Ice climbed the Striga's body.
Talia Belnades: Trevor!
Trevor Belmont: Already there.
He drove his sword through its back.
The blade emerged through its chest.
The Striga screamed once.
Then collapsed into ash.
Trevor pulled the sword free.
Talia stared at the drifting remains.
Talia Belnades: Good to know you can cooperate.
Trevor Belmont: I contain multitudes.
The wounded man coughed.
Talia hurried to him.
His name was Luka.
He came from a village farther east.
Luka: They attacked three nights ago.
Talia Belnades: Vampires?
Luka shook his head.
Luka: Men. Maybe. They looked like men.
Trevor crouched beside him.
Trevor Belmont: What did they want?
Luka's face tightened with fear.
Luka: Saint Veyra.
Trevor went still.
Talia Belnades: You know it.
Trevor Belmont: I've heard the name.
Talia looked directly at him.
Talia Belnades: What is Saint Veyra?
Trevor looked toward the mountains.
Trevor Belmont: A place my grandfather told me never to enter.
Talia rose.
Talia Belnades: Wonderful.
Trevor Belmont: He was generally very negative.
Talia Belnades: Trevor.
His expression became serious.
Trevor Belmont: Something is buried there.
Saint Veyra stood against the mountains like the remains of something already dead.
The monastery had been abandoned for nearly two centuries. Half its bell tower had collapsed into the ravine. Trees grew through the outer walls. Statues along the entrance had been beheaded.
Talia studied symbols carved above the doors.
Talia Belnades: Zauberer seals.
Trevor looked up.
Trevor Belmont: You're certain?
Talia Belnades: I have spent years studying them.
Trevor Belmont: Really? Years? Seems like a waste of time to me.
They entered.
Broken pews lay scattered across the stone floor.
Trevor lit a lantern.
Footprints appeared in the dust.
They led behind the altar.
Blood marked the floor there.
Red and black.
Trevor crouched.
Trevor Belmont: Vampire blood.
Talia looked toward the stairwell behind the altar.
Talia Belnades: Something fought them.
Trevor drew his sword.
Trevor Belmont: And won.
They descended.
The architecture changed beneath the monastery.
Christian stone gave way to older masonry.
Carvings covered the walls.
Humans kneeling before vampires.
Cities burning.
A warrior carrying a whip.
Talia slowed.
Talia Belnades: Belmont?
Trevor studied the carving.
Trevor Belmont: I can see a likeness.
They continued.
The corridor opened into a circular chamber.
Six armored bodies lay across the floor.
Vampires.
All dead.
Talia knelt beside one.
A silver emblem decorated its armor.
A dragon wrapped around a tower.
Trevor recognized it immediately.
Trevor Belmont: The sigil of Vlad Tepes.
Talia looked toward the next chamber.
A stone coffin rested there.
Chains covered the floor around it.
Broken chains.
Trevor approached slowly.
The coffin stood open.
Empty.
Talia brushed dust from the inscription.
Talia Belnades: Adrian Tepes.
Trevor frowned.
Talia Belnades: Son of Vlad Tepes.
A voice came from behind them.
Unknown Voice: Yes?
Trevor spun.
A pale man stood in the doorway.
Long silver hair rested across the shoulders of an elaborate black coat. Gold eyes glowed faintly in the darkness. A narrow sword hung loosely from one hand.
Blood covered the blade.
Trevor raised the Vampire Killer.
The stranger looked at it.
Then at Trevor.
Unknown Man: Belmont.
Trevor Belmont: Dracula's son.
Unknown Man: Adrian Tepes.
Trevor considered him.
The vampire's eyes narrowed.
Adrian Tepes: I have been awake for less than an hour and already so busy.
Adrian attacked.
Trevor barely blocked the first strike.
Steel rang through the crypt.
Trevor staggered backward.
Adrian moved faster than anything human.
A second strike.
A third.
Trevor turned aside each, increasingly irritated.
Trevor Belmont: You're taking this rather personally.
Adrian Tepes: Stop talking.
Trevor Belmont: Absolutely not, son of Dracula. Or would you prefer...Alucard?
The Vampire Killer snapped around Adrian's wrist.
Blue fire erupted.
Adrian caught the whip.
With his bare hand.
Trevor blinked.
Trevor Belmont: That's inconvenient.
Adrian pulled.
Trevor flew across the crypt.
Talia raised both hands.
A wall of ice exploded between them.
Talia Belnades: Enough!
Trevor rose behind the ice.
Trevor Belmont: He started it.
Adrian stared through the frozen barrier.
Adrian Tepes: You did the moment you walked in.
Talia looked at Trevor.
Talia Belnades: You did.
Trevor Belmont: Then that means WE did.
A roar echoed through the corridor.
Everyone stopped.
Adrian's expression changed.
Adrian Tepes: They followed you.
Trevor Belmont: Who?
The wall behind them exploded.
A night creature crashed into the crypt.
It stood nearly ten feet tall with six arms. Each limb ended in a blade of exposed bone. Torn wings hung from its shoulders. A human face had been stretched across its chest.
Talia recoiled.
Talia Belnades: What is that?
Adrian raised his sword.
Adrian Tepes: One of my father's creatures.
Trevor cracked the Vampire Killer.
Trevor Belmont: Backup?
Adrian Tepes: My father and I...are not on the best of terms.
The monster attacked.
Trevor went right.
Adrian moved left.
The demon swung three blades at Trevor.
He ducked beneath the first and blocked the second with his sword. The third tore through the side of his coat.
Adrian leapt.
He seemed almost weightless.
His sword passed through one of the demon's arms.
Black blood sprayed across the crypt.
Talia raised her staff.
Blue lightning struck the monster's chest.
It staggered.
Trevor saw the opening.
The whip wrapped around two arms.
He pulled them apart.
Trevor Belmont: Alucard, go left!
Adrian Tepes: Do not call me that!
Adrian moved left.
His blade entered the creature's ribs.
Trevor ran up the side of the coffin and jumped.
The Vampire Killer came down across the demon's skull.
Sacred fire tore through the creature.
The crypt filled with blue light.
The demon collapsed into ash.
Silence returned.
Trevor landed beside Adrian.
Trevor Belmont: That worked remarkably well.
Adrian Tepes: Don't become accustomed to it.
Talia Belnades: You two have known each other for five minutes and already argue like brothers.
Both men looked at her.
Trevor Belmont: I'm offended.
Adrian Tepes: Deeply.
Talia smiled.
He lowered his sword.
The humor faded from his expression.
Adrian Tepes: My father has returned.
Trevor became still.
Talia Belnades: That's what we feared.
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
Beyond it.
Toward something neither of them could see.
Adrian Tepes: I can feel him.
The mountain rumbled.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Adrian Tepes: He is calling them.
Talia Belnades: Calling what?
Adrian Tepes: Everything dark. Everything evil. All the sinister shadows of the Void.
Trevor frowned.
Adrian Tepes: Vampires who have hidden for centuries. Necromancers. Night creatures. Devils. Things that were old when I was young.
Trevor Belmont: Why?
Adrian looked at him.
For the first time, Trevor saw something beneath the arrogance.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear of the man who had raised him.
Adrian Tepes: My father no longer wants to rule mankind.
Talia swallowed.
Talia Belnades: Then what does he want?
Adrian's golden eyes reflected the lantern.
Adrian Tepes: He wants it gone.
Lightning split the sky above Wallachia.
Miles away, a castle stood where no castle had stood the night before.
Its towers pierced the clouds.
Red light burned behind thousands of windows.
Inside, vampires knelt in silence.
Count Dracula walked between them.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed almost entirely in black. Long dark hair framed a face that might once have been handsome before grief carved something colder into it.
At the far end of the throne room, Carmilla waited.
Carmilla: The eastern monasteries are falling.
Dracula continued walking.
Carmilla: Our forces reached Saint Veyra.
He stopped.
Dracula: Adrian.
Carmilla: He has awakened.
Silence.
Carmilla: He killed six men.
A faint smile touched Dracula's mouth.
Dracula: Good.
Carmilla frowned.
Carmilla: Good?
Dracula reached the enormous window behind the throne.
Dracula: If my son intends to stand against me, he should be worthy of the attempt.
A vampire messenger entered.
He dropped to one knee.
Vampire Messenger: My lord.
Dracula turned.
Vampire Messenger: There was another at Saint Veyra.
Dracula: Another?
The messenger hesitated.
Vampire Messenger: A Belmont.
The room became silent.
Dracula's expression changed.
Something almost nostalgic.
Dracula: Belmont.
He looked back toward the storm.
Dracula: So the dogs still breed.
Trevor, Talia, and Adrian emerged from Saint Veyra shortly before dawn.
Rain had begun to fall.
Trevor stopped beneath the ruined monastery archway.
Something stood on the distant horizon.
A castle.
Black towers climbed into the clouds.
Lightning illuminated the structure.
Red windows glowed across the mountainside.
Talia's face went pale.
Talia Belnades: Dracula.
Adrian said nothing.
Trevor stared at the castle for several seconds.
Trevor Belmont: That's inconvenient.
Talia looked at him.
Talia Belnades: Inconvenient?
Trevor Belmont: I had plans this week.
Adrian Tepes: Drinking is not a plan.
Trevor Belmont: Well it's a lot more fun when it's not blood.
Trevor glanced sideways.
Trevor Belmont: Alucard, we've known one another for less than an hour. Don't become possessive.
Adrian closed his eyes.
Adrian Tepes: I despise you.
Trevor Belmont: You'll grow out of it.
Talia laughed.
She hadn't meant to.
Trevor immediately looked at her.
Trevor Belmont: Ah.
Talia stopped laughing.
Talia Belnades: What?
Trevor Belmont: At least you like me.
Talia Belnades: I absolutely do not.
Trevor Belmont: But you laughed with me.
Talia Belnades: AT you.
Trevor Belmont: The foundation of every great romance.
Talia began walking down the mountain.
Talia Belnades: I will freeze you to the road.
Trevor followed.
Trevor Belmont: Passionate too.
Adrian remained beneath the arch.
For a moment, he looked back toward Dracula's castle.
His father's castle.
A place he had once called home.
His face became distant.
Then Trevor's voice drifted back up the path.
Trevor Belmont: Alucard! Are you coming?
Adrian's eye twitched.
Adrian Tepes: I am going to kill him.
Talia called from farther down.
Talia Belnades: Get in line.
Adrian looked toward the road.
Toward the impossible pair disappearing around the bend.
Against every instinct he possessed, he followed.
The last Belmont.
The daughter of Belnades.
The son of Dracula.
Behind them, dawn struggled against the storm.
Ahead of them, the castle waited.
And somewhere inside it, Dracula smiled.
- Machismo
- Administrator
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- Registered: 12/06/2019
- Posts: 2,140
Re: Castlevania: Legacy of Blood
Episode 2 - Reunion
Trevor Belmont was laughing.
That was the first thing Belmondo remembered.
He stood beneath a blood red moon with the Vampire Killer hanging loose from one hand. His coat was torn, one side of his face streaked with blood, and the stone courtyard surrounding him had become a graveyard of broken monsters.
Talia stood several feet away, shouting at him.
He couldn't hear what she was saying.
Trevor Belmont merely grinned at her and said something in return that made her expression turn from concern to immediate irritation.
Behind them, Dracula's castle stretched impossibly high into the night.
A hundred windows burned red.
Something enormous moved across one of the towers.
Adrian Tepes stood near a broken archway, his silver hair blowing in the wind, looking toward the castle with an expression Trevor couldn't understand.
Belmondo tried to move closer.
His feet wouldn't move.
The scene shifted.
Trevor Belmont was running now.
Stone corridors rushed past him.
Talia was beside him.
Talia Belnades: Trevor!
The Vampire Killer cracked through the darkness.
Blue fire exploded.
A creature screamed.
The walls disappeared.
Now they were standing beneath a sky filled with fire.
Trevor Belmont's hand was wrapped around Talia's.
The two of them stared toward something beyond Belmondo's vision.
Talia was crying.
Trevor Belmont wasn't smiling anymore.
Talia Belnades: You promised me.
Trevor said something.
Trevor Belmondo couldn't hear it.
He tried to.
The world became quiet.
Talia looked directly toward him.
Not Trevor Belmont.
Him.
Across centuries that should have made such a thing impossible, her eyes found his.
Talia Belnades: Remember me.
Trevor Belmondo woke violently.
His hand flew toward the pistol on his nightstand.
His fingers stopped inches from it.
He sat in darkness, breathing hard.
Rain tapped against the apartment windows.
The digital clock beside his bed displayed 8:27 PM in red numbers.
Trevor stared at it until his breathing slowed.
Trevor Belmondo: Fantastic.
He rubbed both hands over his face.
Another dream.
The same people again.
The same man.
The same impossible castle.
He had been dreaming about them since childhood.
His father called it an overactive imagination.
His mother had gone quiet whenever the dreams came up.
Trevor eventually stopped mentioning them.
He leaned back against the headboard and looked toward the rain streaked window.
Saturn City glowed beyond it.
Even before sunrise, the city never became truly dark.
Neon advertising crawled across the sides of buildings. Elevated trains moved between towers. Red aircraft lights blinked atop steel and glass skyscrapers. Older gothic buildings remained trapped between them, relics of another century that the city had simply built around rather than removed.
Saint Alexander Cathedral rose among those towers, its black spires illuminated by signs advertising beer, computers, and a twenty four-hour video store.
Saturn City was rough.
Trevor liked it.
It felt honest.
His phone rang.
Trevor stared at it.
8:29 PM.
Trevor Belmondo: If that's work, I'm moving to another country.
By nine, Trevor was standing beneath fluorescent lights in Saturn City Police Department's Third Precinct, drinking terrible coffee.
His partner, Daniel Price, watched him take one sip.
Daniel Price: Bad?
Trevor swallowed.
Trevor Belmondo: I've questioned murder suspects who treated me better. This stuff tastes like dirt. If only someone actually cared enough about coffee to make it taste good.
Daniel took the cup from him and tried it.
His face tightened.
Daniel Price: That's impressive.
Trevor Belmondo: Isn't it?
Daniel had been Trevor's partner for nearly three years and had developed a weary patience.
He handed Trevor a folder.
Daniel Price: Day shift left us three break ins, a stolen Buick, and two complaints involving a guy wearing a lobster costume outside a laundromat.
Trevor looked at him.
Trevor Belmondo: Oh, that's just Lobster Man. I know him. Crime is changing, Daniel.
Daniel Price: Apparently.
Trevor Belmondo: When I joined the force, nobody warned you about this stuff.
Daniel Price: Probably because they wanted you to actually join and get locked down.
Trevor grinned.
Captain Elena Ortiz appeared from her office.
Captain Ortiz: Belmondo.
Trevor's grin disappeared.
Trevor Belmondo: That's never good.
Captain Ortiz: You still haven't finished the Marwick report.
Trevor Belmondo: I would, but I really didn't want to.
Captain Ortiz: You're avoiding paperwork.
Trevor Belmondo: Yeah. Pretty much.
Ortiz pointed toward the door.
Captain Ortiz: Patrol.
Trevor saluted with his coffee.
Trevor Belmondo: Protecting and serving.
Captain Ortiz: Preferably in that order.
The rain continued through most of the night.
Neon signs bled across wet pavement. Steam rolled from vents between parked cars. Commuters crowded beneath umbrellas while buses pushed through standing water.
By eleven they had resolved a domestic dispute involving a television thrown through a window, located the stolen Buick abandoned behind a warehouse, and confirmed that the man in the lobster costume, was a former wrestler down on his luck.
Their radio crackled.
A possible assault had been reported near Mason Street.
Daniel reached for the radio.
Trevor felt something strange.
A cold sensation moved across the back of his neck.
He looked toward the cathedral towers in the distance.
For a moment, he saw another tower.
A bell swinging beneath a red moon.
He blinked.
It was gone.
Daniel Price: Trevor?
Trevor Belmondo: Yeah.
Daniel Price: You with me?
Trevor forced a smile.
Trevor Belmondo: Unfortunately.
They responded to the call.
It turned out to be nothing.
A drunk argument.
Still, the feeling remained.
It followed Trevor through lunch.
Through another call.
By the time Daniel's shift ended, Trevor couldn't shake it.
Daniel Price: Go home.
Trevor leaned against their cruiser.
Trevor Belmondo: I am home.
Daniel looked around the precinct parking lot.
Daniel Price: That's depressing.
Trevor Belmondo: Isn't it?
Daniel Price: You look like hell.
Trevor Belmondo: Thank you.
Daniel Price: Sleep.
Trevor gave him a vague wave.
Daniel left.
Trevor should have done the same.
Instead, he volunteered to cover another two hours.
He told himself he wanted the overtime.
He simply didn't want to dream again.
The rain intensified.
Trevor drove alone through the southern district, one hand on the steering wheel.
The radio murmured quietly.
A late night host discussed rumors about the approaching solar eclipse of 1999, and the end of the millennium.
Trevor wasn't listening.
The dreams were bothering him more than usual.
Talia.
That was the woman's name.
He knew it the same way he knew Trevor Belmont's name.
He had never learned either.
They had simply always been there.
Trevor.
Talia.
Alucard.
...and one other.
A woman ran across the street ahead of his cruiser.
Trevor slammed the brakes.
She disappeared into an alley.
He saw a man follow her.
Trevor's instincts took over immediately.
He grabbed the radio.
Trevor Belmondo: Dispatch, unit twelve. Possible assault, west alley between Baker and Constantine. I'm investigating.
He parked.
Rain hammered the roof.
Trevor stepped into the street.
Trevor Belmondo: Police!
No response.
He entered the alley.
The sound of the city dropped away.
Brick walls rose on either side of him. Fire escapes crossed overhead. Water poured from gutters.
Twenty yards ahead, the woman was pressed against the wall.
A man stood in front of her.
His back was toward Trevor.
Trevor Belmondo: Saturn City Police. Step away from her.
The man didn't move.
Trevor Belmondo: Hands where I can see them.
The woman stared past her attacker.
Her eyes found Trevor.
Woman: Run.
Trevor frowned.
Trevor Belmondo: Ma'am, stay calm.
The man turned.
Trevor froze.
Blood covered his mouth.
His skin was unnaturally pale.
His eyes reflected red beneath the alley light.
Red.
The woman had two puncture wounds beneath her jaw.
Trevor's hand moved toward his pistol.
Trevor Belmondo: Step away from her! I mean it! Now!
The man's lips pulled back.
Fangs.
Trevor's brain rejected what his eyes were showing him.
Trevor Belmondo: What the hell?
The creature smiled.
Vampire: You.
Trevor's fear sharpened.
Trevor Belmondo: What?
The vampire released the woman.
She collapsed.
The creature stepped toward Trevor.
Vampire: You!
Trevor drew his gun.
Trevor Belmondo: Stop.
The vampire continued.
Trevor Belmondo: Stop!
It rushed him.
Trevor fired.
The bullets struck the vampire's chest.
It barely slowed.
Trevor's fourth shot caught its shoulder.
The creature slammed him against the wall.
Pain exploded through Trevor's back.
The pistol fell from his hand.
The vampire grabbed his throat.
Trevor kicked hard.
Nothing.
The creature lifted him.
Trevor punched it in the face.
The vampire looked amused.
Vampire: You don't remember.
Trevor grabbed its wrist.
Trevor Belmondo: Remember what?
The vampire threw him.
Trevor crashed through trash cans and rolled across the pavement.
He tried to stand.
The vampire was already there.
Its boot struck his stomach.
Trevor folded.
Another kick turned him onto his back.
His training meant nothing.
The vampire grabbed his coat and lifted him again.
Trevor smelled blood on its breath.
Vampire: Belmont.
Trevor stared at it.
Something moved in his memory.
A whip cracking.
Blue fire.
A voice laughing.
Trevor Belmondo: Wrong guy.
The vampire smiled.
Vampire: No.
It opened its mouth.
Trevor's hand found something lying beside him.
A broken wooden crate.
He grabbed a piece and drove it upward.
The jagged wood entered the vampire's side.
The creature screamed.
It dropped Trevor.
Trevor stumbled backward.
For the first time, the thing looked angry.
Trevor looked at the bloodied wood in his hand.
Trevor Belmondo: Okay.
He was breathing hard.
Trevor Belmondo: That bothered you at least.
The vampire ripped the wood free.
Trevor Belmondo: Alright, so not that much.
It charged.
Trevor ducked beneath its first swing and slammed his elbow into its ribs.
He heard something crack.
The vampire didn't care.
Its hand caught Trevor across the face.
He hit the ground.
His vision blurred.
Somewhere beyond the ringing in his ears, he heard the woman crying.
Trevor pushed himself upward.
The vampire grabbed his hair and forced his head back.
Fangs descended toward his neck.
Trevor fought.
He couldn't break the grip.
His hand searched the ground for anything.
A white light appeared.
The vampire recoiled violently.
Trevor fell.
A woman stood at the end of the alley.
She wore a long dark blue coat.
Black hair fell around her shoulders, wet from the rain.
One hand held a silver cross.
It glowed.
The vampire hissed.
Smoke rose from its face.
Unknown Woman: Back away.
The creature snarled.
Vampire: Belnades!
Trevor heard the name.
His heart seemed to stop.
The woman walked forward.
Unknown Woman: You don't belong here!
Vampire: The city belongs to us!
Unknown Woman: You've been saying that for five hundred years.
The vampire lunged.
She thrust the cross forward.
White fire erupted.
The vampire flew backward and slammed into the wall.
Trevor stared.
Trevor Belmondo: What in God's name is happening?
The woman reached beneath her coat.
She pulled out a wooden stake.
She tossed it to Trevor.
He caught it awkwardly.
Unknown Woman: Heart.
Trevor looked at the stake.
Then her.
Trevor Belmondo: What?
Unknown Woman: Put it through the heart!
Trevor stared at her.
Trevor Belmondo: I'm a police officer!
Unknown Woman: This thing is a monster! Just do it!
The vampire forced itself upright.
Unknown Woman: That isn't a person anymore.
Trevor Belmondo: What?
Unknown Woman: I know exactly what it is.
The vampire struck her.
The cross flew from her hand.
The light vanished.
The vampire turned toward Trevor.
Its burned face twisted with rage.
It charged.
Trevor raised the stake.
Every instinct in him rebelled.
Protect life.
Control the situation.
Stop the threat.
Killing was failure.
The vampire hit him.
Trevor went down.
Its hands wrapped around his throat.
He saw the wounded woman from earlier lying several yards away.
The vampire opened its mouth.
Trevor tightened his grip on the stake.
Trevor Belmondo: I'm sorry.
He drove it forward.
The wood entered the creature's chest.
The vampire stopped.
Its expression changed.
Trevor stared up at it.
The vampire's body began to crack.
Light appeared beneath its skin.
The creature screamed.
Trevor rolled away.
The vampire burst into ash.
Rain carried the remains toward the gutter.
Trevor remained on the ground.
The stake was still in his hand.
His fingers were shaking.
The mysterious woman retrieved the cross.
The injured victim coughed.
Trevor immediately moved toward her.
He removed his coat and pressed it carefully against the wound.
Trevor Belmondo: Stay with me.
The woman looked at him weakly.
Trevor Belmondo: Ambulance is coming. You're going to be okay.
The stranger watched him.
Something almost sad passed across her face.
Trevor used his radio.
He called for medical assistance.
Afterward, he stood.
He looked at the ash, then the stranger.
Trevor Belmondo: Start talking.
She said nothing.
Trevor Belmondo: That man took four bullets.
Silence.
Trevor Belmondo: His eyes were red. He had fangs. He knew my name.
Still nothing.
Trevor pointed at the cross.
Trevor Belmondo: That thing was glowing.
Unknown Woman: Yes.
Trevor Belmondo: That's your answer? That's all you've got?
Unknown Woman: Which part would you like me to deny?
Trevor Belmondo: Vampires.
Unknown Woman: Yes.
Trevor Belmondo: Actual vampires.
Unknown Woman: Also yes.
Trevor Belmondo: Great.
He rubbed his face.
Trevor Belmondo: That's great.
He looked toward the alley entrance.
Trevor Belmondo: I'm going to wake up now.
The woman stiffened.
Trevor Belmondo: Any moment now. I'm going to wake up in my apartment, stare at that ugly clock, and realize this is another one of those dreams.
She stared at him.
Unknown Woman: Dreams?
Trevor stopped.
Unknown Woman: What dreams?
Trevor Belmondo: Nothing.
She walked closer.
Unknown Woman: Trevor.
The way she said his name frightened him more than the vampire had.
Not because it sounded threatening.
Because it sounded familiar.
Trevor Belmondo: You say my name like you know me? How do you know my name?
The woman looked at him for a long moment.
Unknown Woman: My name is Tali Belnades.
Trevor felt cold.
Rain ran down his face.
Trevor Belmondo: Say that again.
Tali Belnades: Tali Belnades.
He stepped backward.
Trevor Belmondo: No.
Tali Belnades: Trevor—
Trevor Belmondo: No.
His dreams rushed through him.
Trevor Belmondo: I know that name.
Tali's expression softened.
Trevor Belmondo: I shouldn't know that name.
She lowered the cross.
Tali Belnades: But you do.
Trevor Belmondo: Who are you?
Tali looked toward the night sky.
The rain had begun to slow.
Tali Belnades: Once upon a time, my name was Talia.
Trevor stopped breathing.
Tali Belnades: Talia Belnades.
Images struck him.
A tavern.
A woman glaring at him across a table.
Fire leaving her hands.
Trevor Belmondo: No.
Tali took another step.
Tali Belnades: And your name was Trevor.
Trevor Belmondo: My name is Trevor. Actually it's Ralph, but I hated that name.
Tali Belnades: Trevor Belmont.
He looked at her.
The alley disappeared.
For half a second he saw moonlight.
Ancient stone.
Talia standing exactly where Tali stood now.
Then Saturn City returned.
Trevor pressed a hand against his head.
Trevor Belmondo: That's impossible.
Tali Belnades: This time has dulled your creativity, but you did used to say that a lot.
Trevor Belmondo: Used to?
Tali smiled faintly.
Tali Belnades: Usually immediately before doing something impossible.
Trevor stared at her.
Trevor Belmondo: You're telling me I was some medieval vampire hunter?
Tali Belnades: Not some vampire hunter.
Her eyes moved toward his right hand.
Trevor was still holding the stake.
Tali Belnades: You were THE vampire hunter.
He shook his head.
Tali laughed.
Trevor stared.
That laugh.
He knew it.
Not from the dream.
From somewhere deeper.
His expression changed.
Tali saw it.
Tali Belnades: There you are.
Trevor stepped away.
Trevor Belmondo: Don't.
Tali Belnades: Don't what?
Trevor Belmondo: Look at me like you know me.
Tali's smile faded.
Trevor Belmondo: I don't know you.
Tali Belnades: I know.
Trevor Belmondo: And I'm not whoever you think I am.
Trevor frowned.
Tali Belnades: Trevor Belmont died a very long time ago.
Rainwater ran from her hair.
Tali Belnades: You're Trevor Belmondo.
She looked toward the ash washing into the drain.
Tali Belnades: But souls are stubborn things.
Trevor stared at her.
Trevor Belmondo: Souls.
Tali Belnades: Yes.
Trevor Belmondo: Reincarnation? Is that a thing?
Tali Belnades: Not in usual sense.
Trevor Belmondo: Reincarnation...and vampires.
Tali Belnades: We've covered that one.
Trevor pointed at her.
Trevor Belmondo: Don't get sarcastic with me.
Tali raised an eyebrow.
For an instant she looked exactly like the woman from his dreams.
Tali Belnades: That's rich.
Trevor almost laughed.
Sirens approached.
Tali's expression changed.
Tali Belnades: We need to leave.
Trevor Belmondo: I'm a cop. Leaving crime scenes tends to raise questions.
Tali Belnades: So does explaining that the suspect disintegrated because you drove a stake through his heart.
Trevor looked toward the pile of wet ash.
Trevor Belmondo: Fair point.
Tali Belnades: You're coming with me.
Trevor Belmondo: No, I'm not.
Tali began walking.
Tali Belnades: Yes, you are.
Trevor Belmondo: I don't even know you.
Tali Belnades: I followed you into Dracula's Castle. Now I'm asking you to follow me.
Trevor looked toward the approaching ambulance.
Then toward Tali.
Then back toward the ash.
Trevor Belmondo: This is insane.
Tali called without turning.
Tali Belnades: You don't know the half of it.
Trevor swore quietly and followed.
Last edited by Machismo (Today 3:15 am)
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