Castlevania: Of Darkness and Light

The Next Step

The first thing I did returning home was brew a piping pot of soothing tea. "Chamomile fresh from the garden, and a whole lot of it.  Does anyone want?" Only Trevor politely declined. "No thank you. Do you have anything stronger than tea?"

"Rude." Sypha scolded.

"Yes I do. No, it's not beer." I gave him a smirk. I took out a straw bag from  cupboard.  "Coffee. Good stuff, will set your heart pumping and your spirit rejuvenated. It hasn't reached Europe yet, Dracula must've gotten it from  Ottoman lands, but when it does, it'll take the whole continent by storm."

"Quite the Oracle now aren't you?" Trevor remarked.

"Well, yes." I said, serving tea to Sypha and Alucard. "Angels instinctively know things that aren't  human knowledge, or humans haven't learned of them yet. Like the laws of motion, or toilet paper."

"What the fuck is toilet paper?" Trevor questioned.

"Exactly."  I poured mine in a bigger cup. "Even before today was aware of stuff humanity wasn't, that's why I tend to confuse people with things I say." I slid an extra cup of tea over to his side of the table. "Try it, it'll calm your nerves better than any ale."

"I doubt that." Trevor said. "But I'll try it for my host."

"Easy!" Sypha warned when he tried to chug it down like a tankard of ale. "Oy that's hot!" He slurped.  "Obviously." Alucard chuckled. "You have horrible manners." Sypha shrugged. "Forgive him, Za-" She caught herself and spoke my current name.  That made me happier than I thought. "It's fine." I smiled. "Thank you."

"It is very good chamomile." Sypha complimented.

"Thank you." I said after taking a good sip. "I grow it out in the garden with medicinal herbs, it's in a section I planted for tea ingredients. I've got lavender, peppermint, fennel, and valerian. The last one is my favorite, though now I understand why. Valerius........was the name of my son in my past life."

"Trevor's ancestor." Sypha's eyes widened. "I cannot believe the legends are true, and the Belmont's hail from a divine lineage."

"No more than you can believe that the founder of your entire clan is standing right in front of you serving you tea?" With that remark I took a long sip, letting the warm chamomile  flow down my throat, sniffing in the leafy scent.

" You know what?" I sipped again. "I can digest the fact that I'm the last of the Watchers and the founder of the Speakers. I can easily comprehend I vanquished a primordial entity of death and darkness. What's boggling my mind, what I can't grasp even if I'm drowning myself in anxiety relieving tea." I pointed to Trevor. "Him and I are related."

"Bloody hell that was a shock." Trevor grumbled as if drunk. "You and me have a direct line to each other spanning two thousand years, and here we are in the same room. A living ancestor and her direct descendent."

"Yes I'll admit, discovering you were a Belmont was the most startling revelation of them all." Alucard spoke. "I'm technically not a Belmont." I corrected. "Aurelius and my son were. The Belmont Clan had my blood through the generations, that's why they were so good at what they did."

A darkened look cast across Trevor's eyes. "And one of the reasons my  family was persecuted and excommunicated by the Church. The Watchers aren't looked on as fondly as you think. Many claim they lusted after woman and forced them to bear their children."

"That's not true!" I slapped my cup down, startling everyone. "That's not true." I repeated in a softer tone, pain in my heart. " My family was heavily involved in humanity's affairs guarding and protecting them directly. As time passed, some of my brothers took a shining to the human women. It wasn't a one way thing, there was genuine affection on both ends. Like Alucard and I." I smiled and looked up at Alucard, who copied the same gaze and stroked my  hair. " They legitimately fell in love. The only problem was the hybrid children thing, they were all destroyed because they were too huge and powerful."