Castlevania: Untested (3/27)
Title: Untested
By: PatriciaTepes (AKA Patricia de Lioncourt @ fanfiction.net; PatriciaLouise @ TTH)
Chapter Title: Foul Things
Links to Other Chapters: Prologue Chapter One
Fandom: Castlevania
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Castlevania, any related characters, or the images used below. Yes, Aly (of Aly & AJ fame) is my model for my main OC. But please, don't let my inability to draw hinder your imagination, as Ria really doesn't look exactly like that. :)
Summary: Adriana Smith is just a normal girl...or so she thinks. However, as her mother and she move into a house known as Belmont Manor and a strange storm and decoration enter her life, she will find that her mother has not told her the truth of her family...
Author's Notes: I promise, the writing gets better as it goes. I swear.
Chapter 2: Foul Things
That night, while Adriana was nestled in her room and Sophy sound asleep in her bed, foul happenings were brewing. Deep within the forest known to the villagers as Eternal Night, a procession of men--walking hunched over, as if trying to bow and walk at the exact same moment--entered a ruined mausoleum. The stone roof and parts of the walls were missing from the tomb, but in the center--perfectly intact--was a granite coffin. The black-robed men encircled the tomb, muttering in a low, strange language. The last to enter the crypt was a tall man, with no hair atop his head and paraffin skin. He wore light armor of days long past and crossed his arms in a very deliberate stance.
"We'll make this quick," he said to the other men.
The men did nothing to acknowledge that they had heard him. They simply continued to chant. However, he knew that they heard. The chanting got louder. They were all now swaying. The man, or rather creature, that had been the last to enter, stepped forward and shoved one of the garbed men forward, breaking the circle. The robed man appeared in a daze. Slowly, he raised a dagger. His fellow chanters bowed down in such a way that it was unsure whether they were shielding themselves or revering something. The man closest to the coffin brought the dagger down and swiftly slit his own throat. Gracefully, he fell into the open casket. He gasped in pain as something unseen happened. The robed men looked up fearfully, but none held their curious gazes too long. The dying man's breath quicken and then stopped altogether. Suddenly, his lifeless body was flung back, over the man in the armor's head, whose eyes were lit oddly bright with excitement.
"Orlox…" leaked a voice from within the coffin.
"My Lord Dracula," the armored man replied, taking the smallest of steps forward.
"Why…is it you who has summoned my Dark Priests?" the voice asked.
"You are not fully regenerated…" Orlox said, ignoring his lord's question. He stepped forward, over the coffin, and pulled another priest toward him. "Feed from this one. That should be sufficient."
A skeletal thin hand, enclosed with a fine black garment, reached up and pulled the quietly whimpering priest toward him. However, when Dracula had had his fill of this one, he was not dead. He was simply pushed away. Then, Dracula sat up. He was now fully regenerated, his long blond locks falling about his nobleman's garb. Orlox smiled.
"You did not answer my question, Orlox," Dracula said.
"I cannot. Not yet. Not fully. First--" Orlox said, throwing up his hands, "I SUMMON DEATH!"
Dracula raised an eyebrow but said nothing. A tiny whirlwind appeared beside Dracula's coffin and shortly, so did Death. He floated a foot or so about the ground, his skull appearing to smirk from beneath the hood of his cloak, with his scythe held lightly in one gaunt hand.
"Why was I summoned by the likes of you?" Death said scathingly.
Orlox's smiled widen to the point of being extremely grotesque. Then, in an unpredictable move, his hand shot out and plucked from around Dracula's neck the radiating red stone known as the Crimson Stone. Dracula's hand, a second too late, came to rest where the stone had once been.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, climbing out of the coffin to tower over Orlox.
Orlox took a few steps back and laughed. "This is your power source, then? It is true! Your power is a borrowed one! I will now restore the true Master of the Night!" he said.
"What are you talking about?" Death asked slowly.
Orlox stared at him and blinked. "Oh! I think you know! The vampire that used to terrorize the night before the almighty "Lord Dracula" came about! He spoke to me! Yes! He told me about how he was cheated by his former servant, Death, and imprisoned. Doomed to live his eternal life with sight and comprehension, but no interaction. I will now restore the great Walter Bernhard!"
Both Death's and Dracula's eyes widened. Dracula was the first to recover.
"He was destroyed…long before your time," he said.
"No, he wasn't! And Death knows the truth!" Orlox announced confidently.
"And how to you plan to free him? It's impossible," the specter said with Dracula looking incredulously on.
"Is it?" Orlox said.
Holding out the stone, it glowed brightly once and Death's scythe flew from his hand to Orlox's. Orlox laughed at Death's implied emotion of shock.
"You didn't know that you tied yourself to the stone as well, did you? Now--" Orlox said, throwing the stone to the ground and raising the scythe about his head, "return from your prison, Walter!"
With a mighty swing, Orlox brought the weapon down and cleanly cracked the Crimson Stone in two. From within the jagged edges, a colored mist rose and took the form of a man in red armor with long red hair. And he was laughing. He stooped, picked up the pieces of the stone, and pocketed them. Then, he took the scythe from Orlox and brandished it playfully in front of himself.
"Walter," Dracula hissed.
"Yes. I've returned to rightly retake what is mine. And I have an advantage that you don't. Not only do I have your power and Death's weapon…I have the knowledge of the ages in which you have slumbered! The Stone never sleeps, Dracula!" Walter laughed.
Suddenly, a light brighter than any in that tomb could bear shined out, followed by a cry of, "Run, Lord Dracula! You will face these fiends later!"
When the light vanished, only Death remained as Walter and Orlox's prisoner. Walter reached out, grabbed Death, and shoved him into Orlox's grip.
"I have a fate worthy of you. Trapped in your own dimension!" Walter said, slice at the air to reveal-what appeared to be-a colored gap before them.
With a mighty shove, Death was propelled by Orlox into the gap and it closed. Orlox turned to Walter and bowed.
"I am your most humble servant. What do you require?" he asked.
"I require a hunter. Someone capable of tracking down and capturing Dracula to bring him back to me," Walter said.
Orlox thought for several moments. Finally, he spoke.
"I know of only one capable enough. However, he was extremely loyal to Dracula and mortal. He is long dead."
"Then it looks like we have another resurrection to perform, doesn't it?"
By: PatriciaTepes (AKA Patricia de Lioncourt @ fanfiction.net; PatriciaLouise @ TTH)
Chapter Title: Foul Things
Links to Other Chapters: Prologue Chapter One
Fandom: Castlevania
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Castlevania, any related characters, or the images used below. Yes, Aly (of Aly & AJ fame) is my model for my main OC. But please, don't let my inability to draw hinder your imagination, as Ria really doesn't look exactly like that. :)
Summary: Adriana Smith is just a normal girl...or so she thinks. However, as her mother and she move into a house known as Belmont Manor and a strange storm and decoration enter her life, she will find that her mother has not told her the truth of her family...
Author's Notes: I promise, the writing gets better as it goes. I swear.
Chapter 2: Foul Things
That night, while Adriana was nestled in her room and Sophy sound asleep in her bed, foul happenings were brewing. Deep within the forest known to the villagers as Eternal Night, a procession of men--walking hunched over, as if trying to bow and walk at the exact same moment--entered a ruined mausoleum. The stone roof and parts of the walls were missing from the tomb, but in the center--perfectly intact--was a granite coffin. The black-robed men encircled the tomb, muttering in a low, strange language. The last to enter the crypt was a tall man, with no hair atop his head and paraffin skin. He wore light armor of days long past and crossed his arms in a very deliberate stance.
"We'll make this quick," he said to the other men.
The men did nothing to acknowledge that they had heard him. They simply continued to chant. However, he knew that they heard. The chanting got louder. They were all now swaying. The man, or rather creature, that had been the last to enter, stepped forward and shoved one of the garbed men forward, breaking the circle. The robed man appeared in a daze. Slowly, he raised a dagger. His fellow chanters bowed down in such a way that it was unsure whether they were shielding themselves or revering something. The man closest to the coffin brought the dagger down and swiftly slit his own throat. Gracefully, he fell into the open casket. He gasped in pain as something unseen happened. The robed men looked up fearfully, but none held their curious gazes too long. The dying man's breath quicken and then stopped altogether. Suddenly, his lifeless body was flung back, over the man in the armor's head, whose eyes were lit oddly bright with excitement.
"Orlox…" leaked a voice from within the coffin.
"My Lord Dracula," the armored man replied, taking the smallest of steps forward.
"Why…is it you who has summoned my Dark Priests?" the voice asked.
"You are not fully regenerated…" Orlox said, ignoring his lord's question. He stepped forward, over the coffin, and pulled another priest toward him. "Feed from this one. That should be sufficient."
A skeletal thin hand, enclosed with a fine black garment, reached up and pulled the quietly whimpering priest toward him. However, when Dracula had had his fill of this one, he was not dead. He was simply pushed away. Then, Dracula sat up. He was now fully regenerated, his long blond locks falling about his nobleman's garb. Orlox smiled.
"You did not answer my question, Orlox," Dracula said.
"I cannot. Not yet. Not fully. First--" Orlox said, throwing up his hands, "I SUMMON DEATH!"
Dracula raised an eyebrow but said nothing. A tiny whirlwind appeared beside Dracula's coffin and shortly, so did Death. He floated a foot or so about the ground, his skull appearing to smirk from beneath the hood of his cloak, with his scythe held lightly in one gaunt hand.
"Why was I summoned by the likes of you?" Death said scathingly.
Orlox's smiled widen to the point of being extremely grotesque. Then, in an unpredictable move, his hand shot out and plucked from around Dracula's neck the radiating red stone known as the Crimson Stone. Dracula's hand, a second too late, came to rest where the stone had once been.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, climbing out of the coffin to tower over Orlox.
Orlox took a few steps back and laughed. "This is your power source, then? It is true! Your power is a borrowed one! I will now restore the true Master of the Night!" he said.
"What are you talking about?" Death asked slowly.
Orlox stared at him and blinked. "Oh! I think you know! The vampire that used to terrorize the night before the almighty "Lord Dracula" came about! He spoke to me! Yes! He told me about how he was cheated by his former servant, Death, and imprisoned. Doomed to live his eternal life with sight and comprehension, but no interaction. I will now restore the great Walter Bernhard!"
Both Death's and Dracula's eyes widened. Dracula was the first to recover.
"He was destroyed…long before your time," he said.
"No, he wasn't! And Death knows the truth!" Orlox announced confidently.
"And how to you plan to free him? It's impossible," the specter said with Dracula looking incredulously on.
"Is it?" Orlox said.
Holding out the stone, it glowed brightly once and Death's scythe flew from his hand to Orlox's. Orlox laughed at Death's implied emotion of shock.
"You didn't know that you tied yourself to the stone as well, did you? Now--" Orlox said, throwing the stone to the ground and raising the scythe about his head, "return from your prison, Walter!"
With a mighty swing, Orlox brought the weapon down and cleanly cracked the Crimson Stone in two. From within the jagged edges, a colored mist rose and took the form of a man in red armor with long red hair. And he was laughing. He stooped, picked up the pieces of the stone, and pocketed them. Then, he took the scythe from Orlox and brandished it playfully in front of himself.
"Walter," Dracula hissed.
"Yes. I've returned to rightly retake what is mine. And I have an advantage that you don't. Not only do I have your power and Death's weapon…I have the knowledge of the ages in which you have slumbered! The Stone never sleeps, Dracula!" Walter laughed.
Suddenly, a light brighter than any in that tomb could bear shined out, followed by a cry of, "Run, Lord Dracula! You will face these fiends later!"
When the light vanished, only Death remained as Walter and Orlox's prisoner. Walter reached out, grabbed Death, and shoved him into Orlox's grip.
"I have a fate worthy of you. Trapped in your own dimension!" Walter said, slice at the air to reveal-what appeared to be-a colored gap before them.
With a mighty shove, Death was propelled by Orlox into the gap and it closed. Orlox turned to Walter and bowed.
"I am your most humble servant. What do you require?" he asked.
"I require a hunter. Someone capable of tracking down and capturing Dracula to bring him back to me," Walter said.
Orlox thought for several moments. Finally, he spoke.
"I know of only one capable enough. However, he was extremely loyal to Dracula and mortal. He is long dead."
"Then it looks like we have another resurrection to perform, doesn't it?"