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AMoS Chapter 3-4
Rating: R for language, and mentions of RAPE and M/M SLASH. Don’t like, then don’t read.
Disclaimer: Castlevania and its characters and situations are the sole property of Konami. I am making no money or profit off of this fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: AU. What if Joachim Armster had lived through his fight with Leon Belmont? What might have been different? Well hang on, because Joachim is going to tell you all about it. From his kidnapping and forced turning to his rescue from the ruins of Walter’s castle, and from Trevor's birth and to Richter's death of old age, he tells all - and blames it all on Leon while he's at it.
Section Summary: Part 3 covers the 332 years between Leon's death and Castlevania: Legends.
SPOILER WARNING!!! Spoilers for many of the Castlevania games!!
WARNING!! This fic my offend the religious! Read at your own risk!
4.
Old Wounds, Bad Memories
Kerwin and Silvanus told me to ignore the invitation. Going, I was told, could very well end with me in the Crimson Stone, but I was terrified that, if I refused the invite, then Mathias could come for me, and everyone I cared about could end up dead or imprisoned in the stone.
Feeling that I had no other option, I asked Silvanus to watch over my territory for me, and I left, following the pathways between territories, across the neutral zone, and into Mathias' territory. A carriage was waiting for me as soon as I crossed the barrier, and I swallowed heavily before I climbed inside. The ride seemed to take forever, and the longer it went on, the stronger I could feel a very familiar, frightening presence.
When the carriage rolled to a stop, I stepped out in front of a moderate sized castle. The grounds around it were overgrown and showed the effects of years upon years of neglect. I was startled as the carriage abruptly started and rolled away behind me, and when I looked back at it, I was more than a little unnerved to see that there was no driver. I then looked back at the castle when one of the massive front doors slowly swung open. Steeling my nerve, I hesitantly climbed the steps and walked inside.
The inside of the castle couldn't have been more different than the outside. I stepped into a warm, well lit entrance hall, that was lined with silver candelabras and framed portraits. Brightly patterned rugs covered the stone patterned floor, and the entire area seemed to put off a sense of home.
I could sense Mathias' presence easily, and I could also hear the heartbeats of multiple human servants. I could also sense another vampiric presence, though it was nowhere as powerful or as menacing as Mathias'. I assumed that he likely had a young child in residence, and it was then that a servant appeared and escorted me to a formal sitting room. I was too nervous to sit down, so I stood by the roaring fireplace and tracked Mathias's presence as he moved through the castle towards me.
He stepped into the room and I recognized him right away. Other than the different clothing style caused by changing fashion, he looked no different than he had that night in the orb room of the Dark Palace of Waterfalls all those years ago. This time, however, I could plainly see the large oval shaped, blood red stone, in a silver setting, hanging from a silver chain around his neck.
"Lord Cronqvist," I said quietly as I bowed my head. I didn't want to take my eyes off of him, but I didn't dare do anything to anger him.
"It's Tepes, please." he said calmly, and the change in his voice startled me. He was much softer, quieter, and not as harsh as it had been when we first met. "Please, be seated."
I didn't want to be seated. I didn't want to go anywhere near him, but I didn't not want to give him any cause to be angry at me, so I reluctantly sat. He sat down across from me, and I found my gaze drawn to and held by the Crimson Stone. For a brief moment, I thought I heard Walter's voice, pleading to be let out. I shook my head, and the voice stopped, and I'm still not sure to this day, if I had actually heard him or if it was just a side effect of the stress I was under.
Mathias cut right to the reason for the invitation.
"Lord Armster," he began, startling me with the respectful title "I know that you watch over the Belmont family and that you have regular contact with them. So I am asking you now to please not tell them that I am here. I do not wish to be disturbed."
"You expect me to keep quiet after what you did to Leon?" I asked quietly, throwing caution out the window. "He was your best friend, your foster brother, and you betrayed him and hurt him so badly. And you would have me tell no one?"
"It is all that I ask." he replied, seeming not the least bit fazed with what I had just said "Have you forgotten that my actions resulted in your life being spared. Walter had every intention of leaving you down there to die."
I had figured as much, but hearing it was still unpleasant. "Are you saying that I owe you?"
"Yes, I am. I will bring not harm to them or you, as long as I am left in peace."
"How do you know about the Belmonts? About their calling?"
"Death told me." Mathias admitted easily, and I shivered suddenly as the temperature in the room dropped like it had that night in the orb room. I knew then with a certainty that Death was in the room with us, and that I was perilously close to being dragged into the Crimson Stone myself.
“Papa?” a small voiced sounded from the doorway, and Death’s presence vanished in an instant as Mathias looked over his shoulder and smiled.
“Come here, Adrian.” he said, and a small blond haired child, likely no more than three or so, toddled into the room and climbed up onto Mathias’ lap.
"Lord Armster, this is my son, Adrian. Adrian, this is Lord Joachim Armster."
"Hello," Adrian said shyly as he nestled close to Mathias' chest.
"This is why I wish to be left in peace." Mathias said "No matter what wrongs I committed against Leon, my wife and son are innocent, and they do not deserve the Belmonts' vengeance."
I opened my mouth to protest that they wouldn't harm an innocent woman and child, but then I thought about the current head of the family and holder of the whip. Jonathon Belmont was hot headed, quick to act, and slow to think. I could see him attacking Adrian and his mother. He may regret it later, but that wouldn't prevent him from harming them.
Adrian grinned a toothy grin at his father, and his fangs were prominently visible, though they seemed small for his age. He didn’t quite feel like a full vampiric child either.
“His mother is human.” Mathias said, somehow reading my thoughts, despite the fact that I had my mind locked up tight against intrusion. Of course, I had never been able to keep Walter out, and Walter’s soul and power were in Mathias’ possession, so maybe that had something to do with it. He sat Adrian down on his feet and shooed him out of the room, before he rose from his chair. "Will you join us for dinner?"
Surprising myself, I agreed.
I was able to meet Mathias' human wife, Lisa, over the meal, and I found her to be a charming, intelligent woman, and it was obvious that Mathias and Adrian adored her. She also closely resembled - from what Leon had told me of her - Mathias' first wife.
After dinner, Adrian was put to bed, and Lisa retired not long afterward, leaving me and Mathias alone in the sitting room, and I asked the question that had been on my mind all night.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Mathias asked calmly.
"Why did you betray Leon like that?"
"Have you ever been in love with someone?"
I started at the apparent non sequitur. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Mathias stared into the fire, and his gaze looked far away. “Vampires aren’t the only creatures that have marriage bonds.”
“You and Elisabetha were bonded? How?”
“Magical humans have their own ways of creating such bonds. When they are broken, the consequences are... severe.” Mathias leaned back in his chair and tipped his head back to gaze at the ceiling. “I was all alone, no one but Leon actually tried to help me, and the church kept dragging Leon off to fight their pointless crusade. It’s a slippery slope when one begins to slide, but before too long, I did not wish to climb back up. My grief and rage at God were all I had left, and I did not wish to let go of it.” He looked at me. “Does that answer your question?”
It didn’t, but I could plainly tell that this was a subject that he did not want to go any further into.
I departed for home the following day, after swearing a vow that I would not divulge Mathias’ location to any Belmonts. I did so more for my own safety than anything else, because I was sure that Mathias would have made me a permanent resident of the Crimson Stone if I had refused. Of course I also did not wish to bring any harm down on Lisa or Adrian, but that was nowhere near my primary reason for agreeing.
A carriage dropped me off at the border of Mathias’ territory, and I made my home on foot from there. I had no sooner walked into my house and flopped down into the nearest chair than Kerwin and Silvanus appeared at my side, asking if I was alright.
Please let me go...
I shook my head at Walter’s voice and slammed shut the tattered remnants of our marriage bond. I then realized that I was shaking.
I ignored their questions for a moment, while I tried to stop the shaking, and then I asked Silvanus:
"What happens if marriage bonds are broken?" I didn't count my bond with Walter, since it had been one sided.
Silvanus and Kerwin fell silent, and I thought I could hear them blinking in surprise.
"If it's mutual for both partners, they love each other deeply, it's devastating for the survivor." Silvanus replied after a long pause. "Why?"
"How so?"
"Joachim, why do you want to know?"
"Mathias and his first wife were bonded."
"How?" Kerwin's voice oozed skepticism. “I didn’t think humans could do that.”
“They can.” Silvanus said with the air of someone that just had something occur to him. “The Cronqvist family has been magical for several generations. They’ve been magical longer than they’ve been alchemists. Magicals can form such bonds just as we vampires can, and the effects if one partner dies are just as devastating. To Mathias, it would have seemed if the world had ceased to turn, as if part of his soul was forever gone. I had Walter to distract me when my wives died; who did Mathias have?”
“No one.” I said quietly. “The church would not allow Leon to stay with him, and everyone else simply told him that her death was God’s will.”
“That doesn’t excuse him.” Kerwin said angrily.
“No, it does not.” Silvanus soothed “But it explains much. With no one and nothing to comfort and distract him and help him focus, Mathias’ mind likely became unstable. Eventually, his anger at God was all he had to focus on, which I’m sure was much better than the crushing despair that he had been feeling before. I‘m sure that, to him, betraying his longtime friend was a logical decision.”
“Because he was certain that, once Leon had experienced the same pain, then he would eagerly join him.” I said “But he did not expect Leon to reject him like he did.”
“His mind had become so warped and twisted by then, that he could not understand Leon’s decision.” Silvanus said.
“That is all well and good.” Kerwin broke in “But we now have a unstable, warped, twisted vampire in control of the Crimson Stone in the area. What are we going to do about it? Are you going to tell the Belmonts, Joachim, so they can take care of him?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“No? Why the hell not?”
I told them about Mathias’ new wife and son, as well as the vow he had made me take.
“So he has a new marriage bond.” Silvanus said thoughtfully “That would certainly stabilize him, though if this bond were to break, it would likely destroy his sanity completely.”
Kerwin huffed; it was plain that he did not like the idea of Mathias getting away with his actions. I didn't blame him, but I couldn't bring myself to do anything that could bring harm to Lisa or Adrian. Not to mention that Mathias would drag me into the stone in a heartbeat if I betrayed him.
Kerwin and Silvanus returned to their homes not long afterward, and I spent the rest of the day, lost in memories of Leon, Mathias, and Walter.
Chapter 3 -- Chapter 5
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