Castlevaina

Chapter 4

   Laughter chimed through marble walls as Alucard huffed. He had went to see the mermaids again by himself, but only ended up getting soaked to the bone and laughed at by the merpeople. He had run to his mother, for he knew his father surely would only laugh and tell him to show them why they shouldn't. He was a Tepes, after all.

   Finally reaching his mother, however, still got laughter out of the woman.

   "Oh, Alucard. What in the world happened to you?" she giggled, grabbing a towel one of the dark servants had fetched for her to start to dry him off. The young Alucard huffed again, pouting as his mother started drying long, platinum strands of hair.

   "Father showed me the merpeople yesterday, Mother," the younger Tepes started. "I went back to see them and the bloody wankers splashed me." His mother giggled before reprimanding him gently on his use of language. 

   "Well, darling, I think that you should stick up for yourself more. I won't be here to run to forever and you know your father," she said seriously.

   "What do you mean, Mother? Why wont you stay?"

   "All humans end and return to the dirt at some point, my love."

0oo00oo0

   Alucard swung his short sword again, stabbing through thick, green, metal plating before striking the phantom of the haunted armor. Sighing, he shook his head, trying to rid himself of the fond memories of his mother.  

   "Something in the air reeks of remembrance," Alucard justified himself, walking on. Facing two more armored phantoms, he looked about, hoping he missed nothing that might aid him on his journey. Nothing could be spared when facing his father. As he looked, a draft fanned him with cool air. Looking up, he found yet another shaft that lead up. He glowered at it as it teased him with riches he couldn't yet reach. He would have to find his shifting ability before he would be flying anywhere.

   Huffing to himself softly, me made his way to the archway that lead out of the cursed laboratory. As he observed his surrounding and turned another rib-throwing pile of bones into dust, Alucard found a table with a candle and an odd vial on it. He picked it up, being reminded of his mother and her strange concoctions, and viewed the label. Resist was written in beautiful handwriting, a poorly shaped lightning bolt underneath it. With a chuckle and a shake of his head, he pocketed it, hoping for it to come into use later. Maybe against one of his father's stronger minions.

   Stairs lead up in a winding spiral up tower walls. He sighed and used vampiric speed to run up them, not having the patience for such a walk. As he came to the door at the top, he only glared at another set of winding stairs. Hurrying along and going through the arch at the peak, he found himself on yet another part of the lab.  He went to walk forward, only for a blue liquid to land on his arm. Jumping back, he swung the strange liquid off.

   Looking at the damage, the blue liquid was more than it seemed. Acid had eaten at his gauntlet, though not enough to make him discard the glove. Peering up at the ceiling, a strange looking skeleton and stuck itself to the ceiling. The blue acid dripped passed it's teeth, which were obviously immune to it's own acid.

   Alucard jumped, using a bit of inhuman strength to vault himself to the ceiling. He struck out, not quite cutting through. He tsked, falling back to the floor. The irritating wall-clinger spat more blue fluid at him, making him dodge. He swiftly jumped up again, and with use of his earlier cut, sliced the idiotic thing in half. Alucard would never lie and say that didn't satisfy him. Looking forward, he found two squares of spikes surrounding a crate. Raising a brow. Alucard walked forward, triggering another button that made the spikes closest to him retreat into the floor.

   Looking up, he found the 'ceiling' that the acid-spitting beast had been on was the bottom of a ledge that lead upward. Jumping onto the iron-braced box and over the silver spikes, he found another button on the floor and pressed it, removing the spikes. He strutted up to the crate and used his strength to push it over the first square of spikes. Vaulting over the box and pushing the button, which raised the spikes and therefore the crate, Alucard smiled to himself as he used it as a stepping stone to reach the ledge of marble.

   He walked up another blasted set of stairs before reaching a secluded room with only a lone table with two candles. Looking questioningly at the table, he found something of interest. A plain, cloth cape was laying there, harmlessly on the table. Picking it up, he swung it over his shoulders, hoping for it to protect him from the elements. Vampire blood or not, the cold was bothersome. Swiftly leaving the room after further investigation, Alucard simply jumped down the towers middle, not taking his time with the stairs, and walked back into the main lab. He found a few more haunted suits of armor he swiftly put out of their misery. 

   Finding another set of stairs, -truly, how many were there in this bloody castle?- he climbed up, bewaring of the strange acid-skeletons that were hanging on the smooth under-surface of the stairs. As he approached the door, something glowing a faint blue caught his eye. Turning toward the odd glow, he found an axe of all things in one of the touch-holders on the wall. He went to pick it up, but them remember what had happened to him that last time he had tried. The thing had burned his hand, leaving it useless for a week as his hand healed at a very human rate.

   Something in his blood shifted, telling him it was not as it was back then. He only put a fingertip to the blade, waiting calmly for the sharp sting of it's holy aura, but nothing happened. Furrowing his brows, he pulled the axe out of the holder, tossing it in the air once. As soon as he caught it, he launched it at a skeleton that thought it was sneaking up on him. It hit him dead on, going cleanly though it's skull and wedged itself into the wall behind as the pile of walking bones evaporated into dust.

   The axe disappeared, startling Alucard when it appeared again in the belt around his waist. Raising a brow at the holy object again, he turned once again to the door leading out of the tower. he froze only for seconds as an oppressive aura feel on his shoulders.

   One of his father's generals were behind this door.