Last of the Belmonts (A Castlevania: Season 1 and 2 Fanfiction)

Chapter 9: The Belmont Hold

We entered the Belmont Hold, miraculously untouched after the destruction left behind by the humans all those years ago. A tear slipped free from my eyes seeing the haunting beauty left behind in its walls. 

'It's still so beautiful,' I said, my voice cracking. We began to walk downstairs. 

'Belmont isn't even a Wallachian name,' Sypha remarked. 'That just dawned on me.'

'No. The family's originally from the Kingdom of France, but we moved out of there a few hundred years ago.'

'Moved, or chased?' Alucard joked. 

'Moved, thank you very much,' Trevor griped. 

'With people behind you waving pitchforks and torches?' I barked out a laugh at Alucard's snark. 

'No. No. We're professionals. We move where the work is,' Trevor replied. 

'What does that even mean?' Sypha asked as we got down to the lowest level of the Belmont Hold. 

'All the dark things moved into the east. I think it was a Leon Belmont who entered the region first,' I said, walking up to the door with Trevor as he broke down the locks, entering the room ahead of us. 'He built this house, and dug the foundations for everything under it.' Sypha extended her hands, lighting all the sconces on fire. Everywhere, laid shelves full of books, glass cages full of ornaments and trophies - the place was sprawling. Alucard walked off with his and Sypha's torches as she leaned over the side, examining the beauty of the place. 

'My God,' she said in awe. 

'The memory of our family,' Trevor said, the two of us looking at each other once more. 'All that's left of us.' 

'Is it organised?' Sypha asked. 'Is there a way to find things?'

'I imagine one sacrifices a chicken and divines the location of the book from the intestines. Maybe Belmont has a crystal ball in here you could ask,' Alucard mocked, walking down some steps to meet us. I fought a smile. 

'Shut up,' Belmont growled, and I chuckled again. 'You're not helping, Alyx.' 

'He's just funny,' I said with a big smile. 'Much funnier than you.' 

'It's an impressive tip, Belmont,' Alucard remarked, 'but it is, nonetheless, a tip. Your ancestors were mentally ill hoarders. I fully expect to find family cats mummified under some of these shelves. Unless your family preferred to eat them?' 

'There's an index on the lectern on the bottom,' Trevor said, ignoring Alucard's sniping. 

'So, this really is a managed collection?' Sypha asked in awe. 

'It's the work of generations,' I said, 'an archive of everything we've found and learned since the days of Leon Belmont.' Alucard went to look at some glass cages, and Trevor and Sypha walked away. I sidled up close to Alucard. 

'What was your Leon Belmont doing in Wallachia?' I heard Sypha ask. They looked back at Alucard, who said without turning around, 

'Hunting Dracula.' The two studied the tomes nearby. I heard Trevor bust a lock on a large chest, and he peeled it open, pulling out the weapon. 

'Beautiful,' I heard Trevor say. 

'What on Earth is that ugly thing?' Sypha asked. He stood up, studying it with a huge smile on his face. 

'I don't believe they hid it.' I laughed, coming into the area and sidling up to my brother. 

'Is that what I think it is?'