Castlevania: Of Darkness and Light

Promises

I almost fell on the hard ground seeing how immense the entire library was. It could have been a castle in itself! Massive vaulted halls with books lined all the way up to the ceiling, stained glass windows shimmering in brilliant light, and spread across the vast rooms grand tables I imagined could be sat on by a court of kings.

"So huge." I gawked, staring wide eyed at the seemingly endless rows of books. "So many books!" I wanted to read them all, to soak in all the knowledge of the thousands of pages. I was ready  to just dive in!

"What?" I cocked my brow at Alucard, who watching me with laughing smile. "Nothing." He quickly turned away, a tint of pink on his face. "Somewhere in this library should be the key to your past."

"I hope so." I scratched my head, the immensity of the task dawning upon me. "How am I going to find anything about my past among all these books? I don't even know where to start!"

Alucard placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "We'll take it little by little." His voice was very calming. "And we are in no rush, we've got all the time in the world."

We sat on a couple of couches, the wide tables empty. "It's not as an impossible task as you think. All we need is some help." A shadow loomed over us and an eerie creature materialized before our eyes. An ethereal hooded being with black feathers and a protruding bird beak hovered close to me, staring at me with glowing yellow eyes as if expecting something.

I jumped out of my seat and defensively seized my staff. "The fuck is that!?"

"Do not fear." Alucard calmly reassured me. "It is a Bookkeeper. One of many. They tend to the library and will search out any books you ask for. Go on, ask it what you are looking for."

I nervously looked at the macabre creature. "I would like to find books about angels." It was the first thing that came to my head. The creature vanished into mist before reappearing with dozens of scrolls and old leather books lain orderly in on the table.

Alucard sat at the table. "Shall we begin?" I took a seat next to him. "Yes." Challenge accepted.

We spent what seemed like hours pouring over the information on angels. There was tons of stuff: mythology of angels, angelic hierarchy, prayers for certain guardian angels, offerings for angels, biblical scripts of angels appearing, and strangely enough, the entire Divine Comedy. Nothing rung a bell to me, not even the names of prominent celestial beings.

"Ugh, so much knowledge.." I slumped my head on the table.

"Quite the tome of information." Alucard said mildly intrigued. "And nothing struck familiar to you?"

I gestured my face on the table. "Does it look like it?"

Alucard chuckled. "Cheer up, do not give up hope. There are thousands of books in this library, something among their pages might stir your memory."

"And what if doesn't and I'm just a blank slate without a name?" I rose my head up.

"Then you will have been given an opportunity many wish for but few ever receive." Alucard said. " A chance to start anew, free of the troubles of your past."

"Yeah......that does sound nice.." I sighed feeling a bit more optimistic. "What a place to start a new slate huh? In a magic castle guarded by a fearsome but friendly vampire."

"Fearsome but friendly?" Alucard cocked his head with a smile. "I've never been called that before. You believe me to be friendly?"

"Well.. Yeah!" I remarked. "You took me in while I was wet, injured, and scared for my life. You gave me food, a warm bath, clothes that fit, and a roof under my head. If that's not friendly, I don't know what is."

"Then I must be losing my edge." Alucard neared me grinning. "I am a vampire, not only that, I'm the son of Dracula. I should strike fear into your heart."

"You're not scary!" I neared him smirking. "Not to me. Not any more.You did scare me when we met last night prowling around in the shadows. There was a moment where I thought it was the end of the line for me, and my hard journey was for nothing. Now I see it just might be the beginning!"

Alucard gave a look of nervous excitement. "Indeed it may..." He was fighting with himself, digging his claws into the table. "You are welcome to stay as long a you may like. I only ask for you to let me know if you wish to leave, and to stay away from the Western Wing of the castle."

"Why?" I asked. "Is there something dangerous or forbidden in there?"

"No." Alucard said quietly. "Rather..... there are things there I wish to spare your innocent eyes from."

"If you're afraid of me losing my innocent view on the world, you're too late. I've seen a lot." I lowered my head. "But I'll respect your wishes and avoid that part of the castle."

"Thank you." Alucard responded softly, curling his fingers . "Against my instincts, I trust you."

I took his hand, undaunted by his claw like nails that shrunk from my touch. "I promise I will never break your trust, and I'll never betray you. I swear it on my life"

Vampires are supposed to feel cold, but his hand felt warm in mine as he held it tenderly. "Alucard?"

"Yes?"

I turned my face away struggling from my thoughts and the strange stirring in my chest. "If I ever recover my memory and it turns out the person I was wasn't very nice, will you still accept me? Will you like me for who I am now and not who I used to be?"

"Of course I will." Alucard said to my relief. "I promise."

"Thank you." I let go of his hand, feeling oddly warm from his touch. "I was thinking, maybe instead of trying to find answers to my past, I can use this library to learn about the world around me. There's so much in here, even if I never regain my memory, I could still learn a lot about the different places and people. I could even learn about stories. Who knows, maybe something will trigger a memory"

"I think that's a great idea." Alucard agreed. "You are very smart."

"Thank you." I smiled with a blush. "I think I'll ask the Bookkeepers about the Mediterranean Sea, that seems like a beautiful place to visit one day. Would you like to stay with me?"

Alucard gave a genuine smile. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world."