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Blood Is Chapter 3-4
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.
4.
"This isn't right, Adelar!"
Adelar winced as his wife's strident voice rang in his ears as she strode into the study to stand in front of the desk. He looked up at her as she glared down at him, hands on her hips. "What is it, Julia?"
"Four days, Adelar! Four days now that your aunt has been missing! Aren't you going to do something about it! Don't you care!"
"Father says she probably ran off after her son. I'm sure she's fine."
Julia slammed her hands down on the desk top, rattling his writing materials, and lowered her head to glare at him with flashing brown eyes. "Your father is not Lord Cronqvist! You are, and you need to start acting like it! Your aunt and cousins are missing, and you're not doing anything about it! And your uncle! He died days ago, and there hasn't been a funeral or any service!"
Adelar gave a tired sigh. "You know why, Julia; he was tainted by that vampire's blood."
"That vampire is your cousin!"
"Father doesn't wish anyone to speak of it, remember?"
"I do not take orders from Cordrin Cronqvist, and neither should you!"
Adelar stood up. "Julia.."
"Don't 'Julia' me, Adelar Cronqvist! You're letting your father lead you around like a dog on a leash! When will it stop! Are you going to sit there and let him dictate your life to you! You haven't seen Kari and Karita in days! They've been calling for you!"
"Father says I have more important things to do."
Julia went silent, and Adelar cast a glance up at her to see her staring at him with wide eyes. Her face then darkened, and he was unprepared for her hand across his face.
"Right now the most important thing is your family, and that is falling apart around you while you sit and do everything your father says." she said in a low tone that he had never heard from her before. "I think you really need to sit down and think about where your loyalties lie, because right now, it's certainly not with the rest of us." With a swirl of her clothing, she spun around and stormed out of the study, leaving him alone in the silence, hand on his cheek, wondering why he felt so guilty all of a sudden.
He remained there, standing behind the desk, for a long moment, and then he dropped his hand, shook his head, and walked out of the room. He did have work to do, and Father would be furious at him for neglecting it, but he could deal with that later. Sir Pershan fell into step behind him as he walked the hallways towards the nursery, but the old soldier said nothing to him. That only made him feel worse. He had heard his uncle make conversation with him several times, but the old knight spoke to him only when spoken to.
He walked into the nursery without any hindrance, as the guards that his uncle had assigned there to protect Trevor were no longer needed with Trevor no longer in residence. Where was Trevor? Was he still with Gabriel? Or had Gabriel left him somewhere? Maybe he should look into having the boy found and brought home. No, he quickly dashed that thought; his father would never allow it.
"Pa-pa!"
Despite everything going on around him, Adelar couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face as his 15 month old son, Kari, toddled up to him, reaching up to be held. He knelt down on the floor and opened his arms, and Kari, followed closely by his sister Karita, toddled into his embrace and snuggled in. Tobias and Kristina's son Mathew watched warily and did not approach.
Karita giggled as she tugged on her father's hair, and Adelar smiled again. He did not love his wife, and he really didn't like her much either, but he loved the children she had bore him, and it made it so hard to understand as to why his own father did not love him. How could one not love something so small, so beautiful, so precious? Adelar's mother adored her grandchildren and spent hours with them when she could, but their grandfather had yet to see them. His only comment after their birth had been to remark on Adelar's ability to get a woman pregnant. Julia of course loved her children as a mother should, and it made Adelar realize again on just how much he had missed out on as a child. His father had barely paid any attention to him, unless it was to use him for something, and his mother's interactions had been few and far in between as she bowed to her husband's whims.
Kari clapped his hands, and Adelar smiled at the tiny child. In the short few minutes he had been in the room, he had shown his children more affection than his father had ever shown him. How long would that last? How long would his father allow it? Would he start demanding that he spend more and more time away from his son and daughter to satisfy his own desire for the power he had been denied?
The answer was simple; of course he would.
Adelar looked at the two smiling, giggling faces in front of him. His children deserved better than that. They deserved to be loved by both of their parents, something that his father would never allow. He couldn't allow their grandfather to deprive them of their father. But what was he supposed to do? He stood up, kissed his children, and then handed them off to the nursery assistant. He then left the room and returned to the study, with Sir Pershan once again following him in silence. He closed the door behind him as the old knight took up position outside of it, and he wandered over to the desk and sat down. A sigh heaved up from within him as he rested his elbows on the worn wooden surface and held his hands in his head. He had never gone against his father before, and he didn't know where to start, or even if he could.
A small clicking sound, followed by a quiet pop made him raise his head and look up. What was that? It had come from his left, and he looked down to see a small piece of the decorative woodwork pushed aside, revealing a small keyhole. What was that? Uncle Wolfram had never shown him such a thing. He ran his hands down the front panel and reached under it, where he found something else. There was a small drawer there, and he pulled it open and reached inside. What had his uncle kept in there?
His searching fingers quickly found a small smooth surface, surrounded by leather cord, and he grasped it and pulled it out to see the mirror shard that he had looked into a few years ago. He tensed as, like it had a few years before, began to shine with a bright white light. After a few seconds, the light faded, and then it replayed the images it had shown him then: Gabriel fleeing the house, Aunt Edeline being hung on her brother-in-law's orders, the house burning to the ground as people struggled to escape, his mother dying in the flames, his father lying on the grass outside with his throat torn open and his heart ripped from his chest, and he himself carrying a crying child – Kari he now realized - through the smoke filled hallways, only to collapse mere feet from safety. And above it all, watching with a smirk and glowing red eyes, was Gabriel, who flew off as the roof collapsed in on itself. He hadn't been sure what it meant then, but now, he had a horrible suspicion that Father chasing Gabriel from the house had only been the start.
The light faded, and he once again found himself staring at its reflective surface. He sighed and asked the question that he was almost afraid to have answered.. "What happens now?"
In response, the mirror began to shine again, and then it showed his father browbeating a servant, followed by said servant dropping a powder into Uncle Wolfram's glass of wine. It then showed his uncle, cowering in the dungeon cell, pressed against the wall and refusing to look at the two dried husks on the floor nearby that had once been people. It showed Trevor crying as he was put through brutal training that was much too intensive for such a small boy. An old man stood nearby, berating the child the entire time. It showed Gabriel, slumped down in a throne, tied to it by red ropes, not moving at all. It showed Julia lying in an open coffin, while Kari and Karita placed flowers in with her. Neither one of them looked any older than two or so. It then showed Kari, crying as his grandfather screamed at him, and Adelar tossed the mirror to the desktop as he saw his father raise his hand to strike the child.
Adelar rose from the desk. "Sir Pershan!"
The door opened. "My lord?"
"I want you and your men to get my father and lock him up somewhere."
The old soldier seemed surprised, and truthfully, Adelar could understand why. "Arrest my father and see to it that he's put somewhere where he cannot get out. I don't want anyone to see him; bar all visitors and attempts to contact him. Keep him there until I say otherwise."
"Right away, my lord."
Adelar felt his legs shaking as he walked towards the door, and he waved off the guard that went to fall into step behind him as he walked out into the corridor. He needed to be alone to do what needed to be done next. Still, as he walked briskly down the hallways towards where the entrance to the dungeons were, he smiled faintly to hear his father shouting in outrage.
The door to the dungeons was unlocked, and he went down the worn stone steps without hesitating. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for – the cross hanging from the door handle marked the correct cell clearly.
"Aunt?" he called softly as he stepped up to the door and looked through the bars. "Uncle?"
"Adelar?" Aunt Edeline's face appeared in the barred window. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm getting you out."
"What about your father?"
"He's being dealt with."
"What do you mean by that?'
Adelar ignored the question as he slid the bolt back and pulled the heavy door open. His aunt stepped out hesitantly and gave him a long look before she turned and look back into the cell. He also looked back into the shadows along the back wall, just as one of them moved and stepped forward. Only a childhood of training prevented him from taking a step back at the sight of his uncle.
Wolfram Cronqvist stepped into the faint light thrown down from the open door to the house above and raised his head to look at his nephew. Red eyes met brown, and Adelar felt his heart stutter for a second as he took in the slightly darker hair and the nearly colorless skin. If he and Gabriel had resembled each other before, this made them nearly twins, with the age variance being the only obvious difference. Veins ran under his skin, plainly visible even in the low light, and his uncle heaved a sigh.
"Uncle?"
His uncle looked at him for a moment, and then he took three quick steps forward, and Adelar found himself engulfed in the man's cold arms. "Uncle?"
"Thank you." his uncle said in a low, rough voice. "Gabriel was right; I've been horrible to you, and yet you came down here to let us out, against your father's wishes."
Adelar shook his head and stepped back when his uncle released him. "I will deal with him later. For now, you need to find your way out of here and go after Gabriel."
Uncle titled his head slightly. "As soon as the sun is down. I want to go now, but..." He sighed. "Perhaps I should stay down here until sundown."
Adelar nodded and offered his arm out to his aunt. "Aunt?"
Aunt Edeline looked uneasily at her husband, and he gave her a single nod before he backed into the shadow of the cell doorway and vanished from sight. His aunt stared into the dark space for a few more seconds, and then she turned to Adelar and gave him a trembling smile. She took his arm and walked aside him out of the dungeon and back up into the main house.
Adelar forced himself to keep looking straight ahead as his father, screaming threats and obscenities, was dragged in the opposite direction, down into the dungeon, and he felt the corners of his mouth twitching at the sight. His aunt had no such issue; she openly smirked at her enraged brother-in-law. He walked her to her rooms, where she gave him a bright smile, kissed him on the cheek, and thanked him before she turned and went inside.
******
Wolfram huddled in the dark recesses of the cell, waiting for time to pass until sundown. Thirst still burned in his veins, and he kept his gaze away from where his nephew's husk was lying in the corner. He would need to feed again as soon as he was out of the house. Hopefully then, Adelar would see to it that his half brother was taken care of. Caleb deserved far better than to lie here forgotten after the sacrifice he had made. Wolfram frowned in thought as he tried to ignore the burning in his body. What had the boy meant with the whole changing of the path? Gabriel's fate had changed? In what way? What fate had awaited him before the change? What would have happened if Wolfram had killed his wife? He swallowed, but it did nothing to ease the dryness of his throat. Best not to think of it. No, he needed to worry about getting out of here, feeding himself, and finding his son and grandson.
He sighed and slid down the wall to sit on the damp floor and closed his eyes against the gray image of the cell around him. A myriad of heartbeats thundered in his ears, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shut them out. Nor could he block out the scent of water from the walls, and the faint, sour smell of decomposition from Caleb's remains. The boy had died only a few hours before! He shouldn't be rotting already, right? The house creaked on its support beams as people walked around, voices drifted down from above, and Wolfram covered his ears and shook his head. How.. how did Gabriel stand this? How had all the sounds and scents not driven him mad? Wolfram didn't even want to imagine what things would look like once he was in a brightly lit area. If he could see clearly in complete darkness, how would he see in light? Would things be painfully bright? Would everything be washed out by the brightness of candles and lamps? Dear Lord, what would sunlight be like? He shuddered and pressed himself further back against the wall. Sundown couldn't come fast enough.
"Goddamn you, Wolfram!" came Cordrin's voice. "This is your fucking fault!"
Wolfram heard that even through his hands, and he couldn't help but smirk. He had heard the guards dragging his brother down into the dungeon earlier, likely on Caleb's orders, and he smiled at his nephew's actions. Finally, the boy had apparently grown a spine, and he wondered for a moment as to what could have caused it. Well, no matter. Whatever the cause, it had worked out well for them. Now to hope that things would continue along that vein.
"Are you listening to me!" Cordrin snarled from somewhere nearby, and his voice echoed off the bare stone walls, floor, and ceiling.
Wolfram couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him, and the sound carried easily over to Cordrin, who howled in rage and shook the door to his cell, which made Wolfram laugh all the louder.
"Is this funny!" Cordrin howled. "Laugh at me, brother! Laugh, because it'll be the last thing you have to laugh about for the rest of your miserable existence! I put things back to where they should be, and your bastard of a son is back where he belongs!"
Wolfram stopped laughing and stood up. It was easy to follow the sound of his brother's heartbeat and breathing to the correct cell, and he stopped and turned to face the door. A pair of hands wrapped around the bars in the small window, and his brother's face appeared.
"What's the matter, brother?" Cordrin sneered. "Worried about your pet vampire? Oh wait, I'm sorry, you're a vampire too now. Does that make you his pet instead?" His lips peeled back into a sardonic smile.
"What did you mean?" Wolfram asked, ignoring the taunt. "You said you put things back; what does that mean? Do you know where Gabriel is?"
Cordrin laughed and backed away from the door, but Wolfram could still clearly see him. "Why should I tell you, my dear brother?"
"Damnit, Cordrin, this is serious! You could have doomed us all with what you did! If you know where Gabriel is, you need to tell me!"
"I need to tell you nothing. I got what I wanted: you out of the way with me pulling Adelar's strings. Being thrown down here is just a minor setback; I'm sure the spineless brat will let me out sooner or later."
Wolfram snarled and launched himself at the door, and he was surprised when the heavy oak splintered under the blow. He forced himself to not think about it as he grabbed onto the bars and glared into the cell at his smirking brother. "Don't you realize what you've done, you fool! Gabriel is going to become a prisoner; he's going to loose his mind! And then he will attack anyone and everyone, including us! Don't you see! Do you want to die! I have to find my son, so if you know where he is, you need to tell me now, or he'll kill us all!"
Cordrin stepped closer to the door, but not close enough for Wolfram to reach through and grab him. "I helped arrange that little bastard's disappearance years ago, Wolfram. What makes you think I will help you find him now?" He stepped back and laughed, and the mocking sound filled Wolfram's ears as he stared at his brother. He had long suspected... Cordrin had been strangely happy after Gabriel's kidnapping. The letter that Sir Quinn had found had only heightened that suspicion. But to hear it confirmed...
Wolfram stared at his laughing brother...
A boy, our son.
He has his mother's eyes.
How about... we name him.. Mathias?
Something has happened. It concerns your son.
They headed straight for little Lord Mathis' nursery.
Mathias?
Mathias!
MATHIAS!
.. and something, primal and dark and born from pure rage rose up within him. The roar that emerged from his mouth surprised even him, but he paid it no mind as the door seemingly disintegrated as he went through it, and his night vision afforded him a brief glimpse of his brother's eyes, wide with horror just before he slammed into him with all of his weight. Cordrin was sent flying backwards, and his feet left the floor before his backwards momentum was brought to an abrupt halt by the back wall of the cell. There was the sound of snapping bones, and he seemed to hang there suspended for a second before he collapsed to the floor. Wolfram's breath huffed out through his teeth in satisfaction as he stalked forward, and Cordrin shakily raised his head and tried to stand.
"Stand up, brother." Wolfram snarled as he grabbed his brother's arm and hauled him up, ignoring the grinding of broken bones and the anguished scream that escaped Cordrin's lips. He threw him against the wall and pinned him there by his neck. He then leaned in so their faces where nearly touching. "Where is my son?"
There came the sound of liquid streaming to the floor, and Wolfram bared his fangs in a predatory smile. He squeezed his brother's neck a little tighter. "Where is he, Cordrin!"
"I..." Cordrin gurgled, and Wolfram eased his grip so not to choke him before he could speak. "I don't know."
Wolfram fisted his other hand and rammed it into his brother's shoulder, and Cordrin screamed again as the bone shattered under the blow. "You've been in this since the beginning, brother, so don't tell me that you don't know! Where is Gabriel?"
"I don't know!" Wolfram kicked Cordrin's knee and was rewarded with the sound of another bone shattering. "I swear I don't know! Brother, please!"
"Please! Please! You arranged for my infant son to be stolen from his cradle! You lied to me all these years! You've been plotting since we were children to get rid of me! Our parents making me swear to not throw you out is the only reason I let you be for so long! Gabriel's safety is why I let you stay! Our parents have been gone for years, Cordrin, and Gabriel is gone, so there is no reason for me not to kill you where you stand! Now where is my son!"
"The cardinal..." Cordrin's body shuddered, and he coughed. Blood sprayed across Wolfram's hand and wrist, and his thirst lit his veins on fire at the scent of it. "The cardinal wants Gabriel isolated."
Wolfram tightened his grip, squeezing off his brother's air. "I know that. I've known that for years! Where are they going to put him!"
Cordrin coughed again. "Either at the castle, or in the dungeon of their main compound."
Wolfram nodded sharply, and then he released his grip, allowing Cordrin to crumple to the floor in a heap, and then he spun on his heel and started to walk away. The sun would be down shortly, and he could go find his son.
Behind him there was another cough, followed by the sound of blood drops pattering to the floor. "Brother, brother, please don't leave me here like this."
Wolfram paused in the doorway. "You hoped Edeline would come down here to find me, didn't you?"
There was another cough, followed by a feeble "Yes.".
"And you had hoped that either I would resurrect as a vampire and kill her, or that she would starve to death while locked in with my corpse."
Another "Yes.", weaker this time, and Wolfram turned back to face his brother. His heartbeat was faltering, and blood was bubbling out of his mouth with every breath.
"You are a foul, despicable excuse for a human being, Cordrin Cronqvist." Wolfram said as he stared at his dying brother. "I don't know how such wonderful people as our mother and father produced such a jealous, bitter, rotten creature such as you."
"Please, Wolfram," Cordrin wheezed, barely able to speak, "I don't want it to end like this."
Wolfram turned his back and walked through the cell door. "Goodbye, brother."
"Wolfram, Wolfram. Please, come back. Please -"
Wolfram shut out his brother's voice as he walked down the hallway and towards the stairs. He climbed up the stone steps into the house and paid scarce attention to the slowing heartbeat that he left behind him.
Everything: 3 -- Everything 5Back to the Main Archive
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Thank you btw for poking Orionali about doing a piece of art for that ending to Rebirth. It turned out amazingly. :D I saw it on her dA page.
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You're welcome. :) I had actually asked her for a pic of Dracul dying in his brother's arms, but what she did was nice too. Oh, and her reaction to Cordrin getting his?
"HAHAHA YES!
DIE YOU SLIMY FUCKER!
DIE IN A GUTTER!"
XD
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LMAO! Yup, Cordrin getting his comeuppance was marvellous, and so very satisfying. My own reaction when reading it wasn't that far off Orionali's. You wrote Cordrin well.
This sort of thing where writers and readers are able to chat, and discuss things, make suggestions, etc, like this is great. My heart's gonna be like "Be quiet, my thumping heart!" when I read the epilgue to Rebirth. I'm probably going to be in tears at it. Same goes for Blood Is, considering what an emotional rollercoaster it's been so far.
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I enjoy doing this too. (I'm kicking myself for accidentally deleting the PM you sent me ages ago about your thoughts and speculations on AMoS. I enjoyed reading it.)
I know. Orionali has told me a few things, but I'm still waiting for things to blow up in Dracul's face in "The Progeny". The waiting is so tough.
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I still should have my copy of the PM. When less headachy and have a free moment, I'll try and dig it out for you and resend it to you. :) I tend not to delete PMs just in case.
Muwahahaha! Lucky you hearing things from Orionali. :D I'm waiting for the same, tbh, as LoS in any form is rarely a happy ride, and Orionali's fics are no exception, like yours. I agree though, the waiting is tough, but we need patience! Like for that epilogue for Rebirth.... T_T
Speaking of Orionali, do you know if she took inspiration for Augustus's name in The Progeny from Hector's Innocent Devil in AMoS?
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Lol. Orionali can be a tough reader though, because she WILL pick my chapters apart once she's read them. It does get on my nerves a little, but I don't mind too much.
She has no interest in the main series, so that would be a no.
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I noticed I might have bene picking things apart posisbly a bit too much when pointing out occassional spelling errors, so I wasn't sure if it was bugging you, so I stopped. :)
Huh, interesting chance of coincidence! :)
Oh btw, I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this to you, but have you ever considered joining the Castlevania Dungeons Forum? It's quite a good blast at times on there, with lots of discussion and whatnot.