[Autumn's a riot of colors. The winter is warmer than usual, and it's not just because of poetics about having Sypha and Trevor be in the castle for the whole of the season. (Sypha's caravan passes through. She goes with them for a few weeks, which only temporarily satisfies wanderlust. It's a strange thing not having her around. Neither one of them like it.)
And winter means sitting in the Hold, reassessing everything. Some things are consigned to the junk heap in full, for they've been so broken as to no longer be useful, or they're things Carmilla used and then returned. New spells are added to the Crypt for safety's sake. (Alucard still fucking hates the Crypt.)
And in that work there are lists drafted of those things of the night that the Belmonts have always watched over. Out of date now, but a place to begin. Those known to have perished under Carmilla's own command or Dracula's are crossed off, and that action alarms. Those gone, they were the apex. Too many places with potential power struggles now, and some of those were well out of Dracula's reach.
They can focus on Europe. That'll be all they can do.
And in the work, Alucard is weary. Weary because this is what it means to be both so very human and so very much a vampire. There's zero point in arguing that vampires are generally not great based on dietary habits alone. But...they're still a part of who he is, and to not have that die out is important. It is the kind of internal debate the designated Heavy Thinker is best at, and with fewer moments of terror these days, it is easier to consider the whole of it.
His father's reputation made so many of these problems irrelevant, didn't it?
They're using the study now. Not just Alucard alone, but the three of them. When Hector's checked up on (still alive, somehow.) When trying to divine the situation in Styria, only to see uncertain towns just starting to come back to life. When working to confirm which vampires are still alive at all, and where they may be. (The west, mostly, but some now past Istanbul. Cut off point, basically.)
And those that are in the west scowl when they know there are other eyes on them, even if they aren't seen.
Today, they're looking at a burnt corpse. Dead vampire, middle of the Swiss Alps. His father's chair is in the corner. There's three comfier ones now, each claimed.]
no subject
And winter means sitting in the Hold, reassessing everything. Some things are consigned to the junk heap in full, for they've been so broken as to no longer be useful, or they're things Carmilla used and then returned. New spells are added to the Crypt for safety's sake. (Alucard still fucking hates the Crypt.)
And in that work there are lists drafted of those things of the night that the Belmonts have always watched over. Out of date now, but a place to begin. Those known to have perished under Carmilla's own command or Dracula's are crossed off, and that action alarms. Those gone, they were the apex. Too many places with potential power struggles now, and some of those were well out of Dracula's reach.
They can focus on Europe. That'll be all they can do.
And in the work, Alucard is weary. Weary because this is what it means to be both so very human and so very much a vampire. There's zero point in arguing that vampires are generally not great based on dietary habits alone. But...they're still a part of who he is, and to not have that die out is important. It is the kind of internal debate the designated Heavy Thinker is best at, and with fewer moments of terror these days, it is easier to consider the whole of it.
His father's reputation made so many of these problems irrelevant, didn't it?
They're using the study now. Not just Alucard alone, but the three of them. When Hector's checked up on (still alive, somehow.) When trying to divine the situation in Styria, only to see uncertain towns just starting to come back to life. When working to confirm which vampires are still alive at all, and where they may be. (The west, mostly, but some now past Istanbul. Cut off point, basically.)
And those that are in the west scowl when they know there are other eyes on them, even if they aren't seen.
Today, they're looking at a burnt corpse. Dead vampire, middle of the Swiss Alps. His father's chair is in the corner. There's three comfier ones now, each claimed.]
Cross Alessandra Martellino off that list.