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Blood Is Chapter 13
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Do I really have to mention that I don't own Castlevania? If I did, we would have gotten to see Julius curbstomp Dracula, the storyline would have been neatened up a bit, and Dracula and Alucard would have just HUGGED already after the reveal in Lords of Shadow 2.
Summary: Lords of Shadow Continuity: AU to Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2: Trevor wasn't the only one that had the truth of his parentage kept from him by the Brotherhood.
13.
There were warm arms around him, and the nice voice was speaking softly to him. The kind face was there, and it made the feelings of being alone and scared fade.
"I love you." he heard the voice say, and he whimpered as he snuggled into the warmth. He knew what those words meant... It was a good thing, and he'd heard it before, right? He vaguely remembered a woman's face – Marie – saying it to him, and he was pretty sure he had said it back to her, but he couldn't really remember. He couldn't remember hearing it before Marie... Had no one loved him before then? He whimpered again and closed his eyes.
"Shhhh," the nice voice said softly. "I'm here, Gabriel."
Gabriel... yes, that was his name. He'd been named after the archangel, he had been told.
Told by whom?
He frowned; who had told him that? Why couldn't he remember? Had he gotten hurt and lost his memory somehow? Had he become ill, and was that why he found it so hard to think? He didn't feel ill, just very tired and confused. Was that why the nice voices and kind faces were always there, to take care of him until he was better? Why then was that little face that called him Papa around too? And why did it call him Papa to begin with? He didn't have any children.
… did he?
"What are you thinking so hard about, Gabriel?"
He opened his eyes and looked up at the kind face as his thoughts ran in confused circles. He didn't understand anything, and frustrated tears crested in his eyes. The kind face gave him a gentle smile, and a thumb appeared to wipe his tears away. "Please don't cry, son."
Son? He was no one's son. His parents hadn't wanted him. He laid his head back down and closed his eyes again; he didn't want to think about it anymore. He was too tired. The warm arms tightened around him for a moment, and then they began to rock him slightly.
"Go back to sleep, Gabriel. Papa will stay right here beside you."
He huffed as he relaxed into sleep. He would figure it out some other time, when he wasn't so tired...
******
Gabriel?
It was that voice again. He'd heard it before, back in the other place, but he didn't know who it was. At least it wasn't those other voices, the ones said said scary things to him. He shifted in bed and grumbled; he wanted to sleep.
Gabriel. The voice sounded amused. You've been sleeping enough, child. It is time to wake up.
"Don't wanna." he mumbled as he pulled the covers over his head.
He heard soft laughter, and he half expected the blankets to be pulled off of him, but they weren't. Instead the voice kept talking to him. Gabriel, you're in a safe place, with people that love you. It's time to wake up now.
"No one loves me..."
There was the feel of fingers running gently through his hair, even though his head was covered. That's not true, Gabriel. There are two people that love you very much, as well as a third that is ready to give you everything he has to give if you let him.
He frowned in confusion. "Who?"
He couldn't see the voice, but he knew somehow that it was smiling at him. You'll find out when you wake up.
"How.. how do I do that? I'm so tired, and nothing makes sense, and.."
Shhhh, the voice soothed. I know, but it will get better if you wish it too. You went through a very frightening experience in a terrible place, but you're at home now.
"Home? How can I be at home?" Was his and Marie's cottage still standing? Had someone brought him there?
Because you are with family that love you, and they want you to come back to them.
"Family? I don't -"
You do.
"I don't understand."
You will, as soon as you wake up. I know that things are confusing right now, but they will get better. Remember that they love you very much, and they only want to love you like they couldn't when you were small.
******
"What!" The sound of his own voice startled him awake, and he sat up in bed, staring around with wide eyes. He looked around the small, dimly lit room and saw no one else, but his hearing easily picked up the sounds of voices nearby, several of them. They weren't the same whispering tones that spoke to him back at the castle; they were human voices. Where was he?
He was in a small room, in a bed against one of the walls. To his right was an exterior wall with two large windows flanking a fireplace, to his left was a wall with a single door opposite the fireplace, and across from him was two chairs and a table against the far wall. In front of the fireplace was a couch. The curtains were drawn over the windows, but slivers of fading sunlight shone through onto the wall with the door, and his senses confirmed that the sun was nearly down for the day.
He looked down at himself and saw that he was wearing a well made white linen under tunic, which was normal for sleepwear, and that the quilt covering his lap was finely made out of high quality materials. What in the world...?
"My lady," came a slightly muffled voice from outside the door, and he looked up at it to listen.
"How is he?" came a woman's voice that sounded strangely familiar.
"He was talking in his sleep, m'lady, but no one was in the room with him. We assumed he was dreaming."
Where they talking about him? And who were they?
"Well then, let's not keep him waiting. If he's awake, I'm sure he's thirsty." said the woman's voice, and Gabriel frowned. He was a little thirsty, but what was the woman planning to do? Offer herself up as a meal? How had he gotten here anyway?
The door opened, and Gabriel watched as light spilled into the room. He could easily see the woman as she walked in. She was older than him by a great deal, if her gray hair and wrinkled face was anything to go by, and he could easily see the white spots forming in the center of her eyes. The scent of blood filled his nose, hers and animal blood that was in the tankard she was carrying. Was that what she was planning to feed him? And why did her blood smell so familiar?
She walked over to the fireplace, set the blood down on the mantle, and spent a few moments building the fire back up from the embers it had burned down to. She put a few logs in, and Gabriel smiled faintly despite his confusion as the warmth of it filled the small room. After a winter at Bernhard Castle, he had forgotten what being warm felt like.
Satisfied with her work, the woman picked the tankard back up and walked over to the bed.
"Good evening, Gabriel." she said with a smile as she sat down beside him and offered the tankard to him. He looked at her over the rim of the cup for a moment, and she gave him a confused look before he began to drink. His thirst settled down, and she then fearlessly reached up with a handkerchief and wiped a few drops of blood from his mouth. Did she have any idea – well obviously she knew what he was since she was giving him blood to drink – but what had possessed her to bring a vampire into her house? Did she not understand the danger he posed?
"How do you feel tonight?" she asked him. "Did a nightmare wake you up again?"
What in the world was she talking about? She reached out to touch his hair, but he jerked his head away. "Gabriel? What's wrong?" She looked at him in concern. "Are you frightened? Mama's not going to hurt you."
Mama? Did she think she was his mother or something? He stared at her, and he saw realization dawn in her eyes.
"Gabriel," she said hesitantly, "are you.. Are you there?"
He blinked. What did that mean?
"What are you talking about?" he asked, and she gasped. She reached out and cupped his face in her hands, which prompted him to growl in annoyance and knock her hands away. "Don't touch me." Her expression fell, and for some reason, that made him feel a little bit guilty. Why did he even care? "Who are you, and where am I?"
She gave him a weak smile and stood up. "Let me get your father -"
"Father?"
"- and we will explain everything, I promise."
He stared after her as she stood up and walked quickly to the door, aghast. Father? What? She whispered to the two men he could detect outside the door, but he could easily hear her.
"Go fetch my husband." she whispered to them.
"Are you certain, my lady? We were ordered to never leave Lord Gabriel's side."
Lord.. Gabriel? He frowned again; what was going on here?
"I know what you were told," the woman whispered, "but I need him down here, immediately. Tell him it's an emergency."
"My lady..."
"Just do it!"
"Yes, my lady." Gabriel heard footsteps walking away, and the woman stepped back into the room with him and shut the door. She gave him a weak smile as she came over to sit down on the bed beside him, and he couldn't believe how bold she was. She was either very brave or very stupid, and he wasn't sure which. She was, at least, intelligent enough not to try touching him again after his warning, and she just watched him with a trembling smile. He looked at her in confusion; what was going on here. Where was he, and how had he gotten here to begin with?` Who were these people?
Two sets of footsteps fell on his ears then approaching the door, and a few seconds later, the door opened, and an older man walked in, while the second set of footsteps stopped outside the door. Gabriel's nose immediately detected the scent of the man's blood, and like the woman's it smelt familiar to him, even though they smelled nothing alike. How was that possible?
"What is the emergency, Edeline?" the man asked as he approached the bed.
The old woman, Edeline apparently, gave Gabriel another trembling smile. "It seems the day has arrived, Wolfram." she said softly.
"Oh?" Wolfram.. stepped closer to them, and he reached out and tilted Gabriel's head back to look him in the eye, which prompted a scowl and an annoyed growl. His faded brown eyes widened. "Indeed it is."
"Who are you?" Gabriel demanded. "Where am I?"
"Let me sit down, and we will explain." The old man pulled up a chair next to his presumed wife, and looked at him intently for a moment. "Do you remember being at the castle?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" He didn't want to think of that place... Part of him was relieved to be away from it, even if he couldn't recollect leaving it. Something was missing...
"Seventeen days ago, my wife and I," Wolfram gestured to the woman beside him, "removed you from the castle."
Gabriel blinked in surprise. "Why? You know what I am."
"Gabriel," Edeline whispered as she reached out to touch him, but he snarled at her and knocked her hand away again.
"I said don't touch me, woman!"
The man put a hand on his wife's shoulder as she looked down at the floor, and Gabriel saw a few tears drip from her face to the floor. Why did the sight of them bother him so much?
"I've envisioned having this conversation with you dozens of times," Wolfram said with a sigh, which prompted Gabriel to look back at him, "and I still don't know the best way to tell you this."
"Tell me what?"
"Gabriel... what the Brotherhood told you about your parents. About being an unwanted bastard left on their doorstep..."
Gabriel flinched slightly.
"None of it was true."
None of it was true. Gabriel went still as those words fell upon his ears; he heard them, but he couldn't seem to make sense of them. None of it was true? How was that possible? Did they mean that the Brotherhood had lied to him? That was outrageous! Those men were his friends, his brothers! They would never lie to him!
"Volpe had some kind of plan for you, Gabriel; I don't know exactly what that was, but he knew that you were at the castle. He knew that you had become a vampire, and when I confronted him, he kept mentioning a prophecy. Do you have any idea what he meant with that?"
"No," Gabriel said quietly as an image of Cardinal Volpe appeared in his mind's eye. It was his earliest memory of the man, from when was still a small child. During sword practice with Master Cecil, he'd caught a glimpse of Volpe watching intently from a distance.
"Who is that, Master Cecil?" he asked as he paused and let the tip of his wooden practice sword drop to the ground.
Master Cecil looked over his shoulder to see who he was referring to. "That is Cardinal William Volpe. He's the head of our order."
"He's the leader?"
"Indeed he is, and it seems that he's taken an interest in you."
"Why?"
"I do not know, Gabriel; you will have to ask him. Now, back to practice young man."
He had spotted Volpe watching him many times over the next several years, and the other boys his age had said that they never saw Volpe watching them. At the time, the thought of being thought of as special in some way by the Cardinal had filled him with a warm glow.
"He knew I was there?" he said quietly.
"He did, and when we encountered others from the order, they mentioned that he had refused to allow others to aid you on your quest and told them that you had died."
"No," He shook his head in denial. "That cannot be right. He would never do that."
"He all but admitted it to me, Gabriel, in front of the others, no less. He not once denied my accusation. Instead all he did was say that it was impossible due to some prophecy."
"No! You're lying to me!"
"Gabriel -" The woman said as he leaned forward, to do what he didn't know, but he shoved her away, which sent her tumbling to the floor. He then covered his ears with his hands and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Leave me alone! I don't want to hear this! You should have just left me there!"
"Surely, this is better than staying in that horrid place?" the man said in disbelief.
"Why not! I don't know where I am! I don't know who you are! I have nothing! Nothing at all! That's why I went there in the first place! You should have left me!"
"Oh Gabriel," the woman said as she picked herself up and sat down next to him again. "You haven't lost everything. You have us now."
Even with his hands covering his ears, Gabriel heard her words clearly, and he let his hands fall to his lap as he turned and stared at her. He blinked at her, and he heard his own eyelids moving in the sudden silence that filled the room. For a while, no one said anything, and then he felt the anger, no, the rage boiling up from within him. The pair shrank away from him as the room and the objects within it trembled as his anger made his power flare to life. The light from the candles and fireplace dimmed, and the light seemed to flee the room in the face of his temper.
"How dare you!" he snarled. "Who do you think you are! I have no one! My wife is dead, and my parents threw me aside like unwanted garbage! How dare you say that I have you, when I have nothing!"
"No, Gabriel, no, that's not true at all." She reached out to him again.
"Keep away from me!"
"Please, Gabriel, let us explain." her husband pleaded.
"What is there to explain! You heard what I did and thought it would look good for your family if it was learned that it was you who brought me into this world! That's it, isn't it! You just want me for what I can bring you! The defeater of Satan is part of your family! Let the riches come!" The sarcasm dripped from his words as he glared at them, and then he turned his back to them. "My parents cast me aside; I want nothing to do with anyone claiming to be them."
"We didn't cast you aside, Gabriel." the man said quietly.
"So it was you then." Gabriel replied without turning around. "Now that I've destroyed the Lords of Shadow -" Except for the one I really wanted to, he added silently. "-you want me back."
"We thought you were dead." the wife whispered. "There was no ransom and no hint as to who had taken you."
"Oh, so you say that I was kidnapped. How," He sneered, "convenient."
"It's true, Gabriel." The woman spoke again, and Gabriel heard a quiet sniffle from her. "Your 33rd birthday was just over two months ago. We had named you Mathias."
"Oh wonderful." He sneered again. "I always wanted to know my exact birth date."
"Gabriel..."
He drew his knees to his chest and curled up. "Leave me in peace."
"Please, Gabriel, we only want -"
"Leave!" he roared, and the nearby window shattered from the force of his voice as every flame in the room was snuffed out. "Go away! Leave me alone!"
He heard clothing rustling behind him, as well as the sound of chair legs scraping against a wood floor. A hand came down gently on his shoulder, and he snarled and whipped his head around to bite, but it was already gone. He watched as the pair walked out of the room, as the door shut behind him, leaving him alone in the dark, and he turned back to face the wall and laid his head down on his knees.
As a boy, like many other orphaned and unwanted children, he'd harbored a secret fantasy that one day his parents would appear, apologize for leaving him, admit that they had made a mistake, tell him that they loved him, and take him home. He'd mentioned it once, when he was seven, to Master Liam, and he had gotten a lecture for thinking of such foolishness. Master Cecil had then made him scrub the entire kitchen as punishment. The cook had watched him as he scrubbed the floor and had scolded him for crying over it.
"Your parents didn't want you, Gabriel. Crying won't change that, so it's best to accept it and move on."
If these people – he didn't even know who they were – were telling the truth, then that long ago fantasy had finally come true, but...
He closed his eyes as he remembered the sight of his own tears dripping to the stone floor as he scrubbed it with the heavy brush. Part of him wanted so desperately to believe them, but the rest of him knew that it was likely a scam on their part to improve their image and reputation. Fathering the man that had defeated the Lords of Shadow, sent Satan back to Hell, and saved the world would make them look good and bring much fame and fortune. No, they might truly be his mother and father, but they would never be family to him.
He felt a tear slip down his cheek. He needed to leave. He didn't belong here; he didn't belong anywhere. He would need to flee, to hide himself away like he had done months ago. Perhaps he was close enough to the castle that he could return there?
You belong to us.
He shivered; no, he didn't want to return there. Besides, the castle would be the first place they would look if he vanished. He would have to find somewhere else. He shivered again as he felt the warm weight of the quilt covering his ankles and feet. He didn't think as he reached down to grab it and wrapped himself in it. He needed a plan. It would be easy to sneak out once the household was asleep. Even the largest households – and he was in one of them, if the large multitude of heartbeats he could hear were anything to go by – had at least a few hours where everyone was asleep. It would be easy for him to slip out of the house and be long gone by the time day arrived. If his panicked flights through the castle were any measure, he could easily outrun a galloping horse, which would give him an enormous lead over any pursuers that might follow him come morning.
No, that might not work. They might expect him to run, and they might have guards posted to watch him and report him if he attempted to leave. He still would easily be able to get away, but he would not have as much of a lead, and they would be able to see which direction he had gone. With no clear direction in mind and no known place where he could hide at sunrise, he would need the longest possible head start. It would be difficult for him to find a daytime resting place if he was being closely pursued.
He would have to stay here, wherever "here" was, for at least another day, possibly longer, to give them time to drop their guard. Let them think that he wasn't going to go anywhere and bolt the instant their back was turned. They were feeding him, and he had a dark place to hide from the sun, so staying wouldn't be a hardship, though he would likely have to endure their false affection and concern in the meantime.
He sighed and opted to try and sleep, as sleeping would at least make the time pass by faster. Planning done for the moment, he laid down in the admittedly comfortable bed and curled up in the warmth of the quilt. He would endure for as long as he could, and then he would leave. He closed his eyes and willed himself into the dark oblivion of sleep, hoping that he wouldn't dream.
******
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Edeline stood silently at the door and watched Gabriel lying asleep in his bed. He was curled up in a ball on his left side, facing the wall, and wound up in his quilt. She cautiously walked forward towards him, but he did not stir or make any sign that he knew she was there. She reached the bedside and looked down at him. He was truly asleep, with his eyes closed and his breathing so slow and shallow that it was only the quiet movement of air that let her know he was breathing at all. His dark lashes contrasted sharply with the pale skin of his face, and his hands with their long black claws were lying on the pillow next to his head. He looked so relaxed, so peaceful.
He shivered, and without thinking she reached out and tucked the quilt around his shoulders. She then pulled the second one, the one that Wolfram had slept under two nights previous, over him and tucked it around him as well. He sighed softly and shifted, but he didn't wake, and his shivering stopped. She gently brushed his hair out of his face, which prompted a soft growl.
It wasn't supposed to be like this! He was supposed to be happy to see them! He was supposed to welcome them into his life and be excited to be with his family again! He was supposed to believe them when they told him the truth, not be angry and disbelieving!
She heard Wolfram come up behind her, and a second later, she felt his arms around come around her waist.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this, Wolfram." she whispered.
"We always knew that there was the possibility that he would be angry, Edeline." he said softly. "We were fools to think otherwise, because he has every reason not to trust us." She leaned back against him as she kept her gaze on her sleeping son.
"What are we going to do?"
"Nothing for now. He's here where we can watch over him and take care of him, at least for now."
"What do you mean?"
"If he decides to leave," Wolfram paused and then sighed, "there's nothing that we could do to stop him, short of chaining him up in the dungeons, which I had no intention of doing, ever. All we can do is try to convince him and hope that he will give us the time to do so."
Edeline took a shuddering breath and reached up to wipe a tear out of her eye, and Wolfram tugged her towards the door. "Let's go to bed and let him sleep. We'll try talking to him again when he's awake." She looked at Gabriel for a long moment, and then she nodded in agreement. There was nothing to be accomplished from watching him sleep. She turned to face her husband with a shaking smile, and then they walked out of the room, leaving their son to his rest.
******
Cordrin Cronqvist watched through narrowed eyes as his brother and sister-in-law left that creature's room and walked into their own. He'd heard the shouting – the entire household had heard it actually – so it was easy to guess that the creature was awake and less than happy to see them. He snorted in derision, what had they been expecting really? Vampires cared not for family ties; they saw humans only as a food source.
He turned on his heel and walked towards his own rooms, where he found his wife already asleep in bed and Adelar seated in front of the fireplace in their small sitting room, waiting for him.
"So it is awake?" he asked as his mouth twisted into a sneer.
"Indeed, it is." Cordrin replied as he sat down across from his son. "And it seems that your uncle is determined to keep it, in violation of common sense."
Adelar grumbled and raked the black hair that he had inherited from his mother back from his face. "We need to get rid of it, Father." he said as his brown eyes met his father's.
"We do." Cordrin agreed with a nod. "I didn't take so many steps to see you in line to inherit just for a cursed vampire and his spawn to push you out of your rightful place."
"Tell me that you have a plan."
"I do." Cordrin stood up and moved over to his writing table. "Go to bed, Adelar, and tomorrow, I will have a task for you."
"What are you planning, Father?"
"That is not for you to worry about now. Go to bed; you have a small journey ahead of you in the morning."
"Yes, Father." Adelar stood from his seat, and he left his parents' suit to go to his own. Cordrin watched after him for a moment, and then he turned his attention to the blank sheet of writing paper in front of him. He spent a moment collecting his thoughts, and then like he had 33 years earlier, he began to write a letter.
Family: 12 -- Family: 14Back to the Main Archive
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And as for your questions, I guess you'll find out, won't you? XDDDD
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