A Legacy Of Sky And Sea

~*~{Chapter Seven}~*~

Alucard:

I didn't tell Anderson about the threat that had just been made on my life. He still had hope for his father. I'll not be the one to destroy that hope. We moved to the Bathysphere station and Anderson begun to look at the rudimentary map trying to figure out which one we needed to get into. At first the place was like a train station, all the hustle and bustle, the crowds, all of it. Anderson couldn't make heads nor tails of the map, and I sighed trying to read it myself. Meanwhile I could hear it, they were whispering and trying not attract our attention no doubt, but even with my diminishing power, I could hear it the personnel's tone.

"Excuse me madam, please don't react. We don't want to cause a panic in a crowd like this but there's a leak and we'd like to evacuate the station." It was a weak excuse but clearly Ryan didn't want any witness.

They kept going like that slowly clearing out the room, it wasn't long before me and Anderson were the only ones in the station, by that point he'd finally figured out the map, and went to call one of the death-ospheres. When he flicked the switch, it spoke.

'Warning Lock down in affect. Genetic key recognized. Would you like to override, Mr. Ryan?'

"Lockdown? What the bloody hell does that mean?" He asked kicking the machine in frustration. "Yes I'd like to override you stupid hunk of junk."

I could hear something strange at that point, it sounded oddly like a metronome, the rhythmic tapping of one, two, three, four, over and over again before repeating. I realized suddenly what the sound was, as a knife came flying for Anderson, I pulled him out the way as the twisted creature climbing along the walls revealed itself. It's skin was twisted and distorted, it looked some what like a burn victim, were it not for the sickly corpse like pallor, I'd think that was the case. It's spine was twisted, holding it's head at such an unnatural angle, it amazed me the thing was still alive, its mutated form gave it a shadow remanence of a spider. It let out a frustrated grunt as the first knife missed, and that's when I saw it, it wasn't a knife but rather fish hooks that seemed to grow from the things very hands, before it flung them at us as a projectile only for another to grow in it's place. I sensed no magic and the fish hooks on the floor, I could smell it they were made of pure iron, this creature, through one of these 'plasmids' I assume, was clearly growing them from their own blood.

"What the hell is that thing?" Anderson softly spoke, the calm of a warrior not the panic of a civilians.

"One of Sullivan's splicers I assume. Rat bastard's not wasting anytime, it seems." 

" What do you mean by that?" 

" Ask dear old 'Dad', draga. Fight it or die by it, and this thing...I'm not dying today." 

I shoot it, and the damn thing dodges my bullet, catching me in the side with a hook. I did an internal check, and I was at 76% power. I was slowly becoming human, but the deeper we go, the more it seems like it represses them faster. I don't heal, at least, not as fast as I would like. We finally get the damn sphere to work, and once we were on our way, Anderson gave me a very concerned look. 

" Your ribs...you're not healing! Why?" 

" It seems, the longer I'm down here, the more human it makes me...Oh, draga, I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't break your heart with that knowledge." 

" Alucard, you need to be honest with me here. How much of your power is gone?" 

" I'm at 76 percent capacity, meaning I have the same amount of power I did when I was maybe 350. I'm weaker, but not all out on my ass. I just need to feed and take some time. I'm sorry I missed." 

" I'm sorry I froze. I hadn't ever seen anything like it before. I think...I think the only way we can survive this place is to burn it all down. So much of it is wrong, so much of it is fucked up, we need to burn it down. Once we're away from Andrew, we can talk." 

" We need to find this Fontaine he mentioned. I know you two have history, but think, he'll be willing to help you take down Ryan if he knows why."

"I can put my history with him aside, at least until we find out the truth of this place."

"What of Tenenbaum?" I asked pulling the hook out with a grunt of pain.

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, if we intend to save the children she seems like a good place to start." As we moved through the ocean, heading to the Fontaine Futuristics building, I couldn't help but feel like we could do one or the other.

"You have a point, for now we go speak to her." Anderson spoke, his face a mix of anger and sorrow. "You really think the only thing we can do is burn it to the ground?"

"It's going to happen wither we light the match or not, I've seen this before you know. I was there when the Ottoman's overtook my country. It has the same stink of corruption as this place does, with twice the zealotry."

" Alucard. I don't think we'll get another chance to be honest like this with each other. Even after we burn it down, do you want to stay here? Do you want to be human with me and live here, away from our hells on earth topside and be just us, in whatever capacity that is?" 

I kiss him deeply, holding him close and making damn sure he felt my honesty from my actions as best I could. I pulled back and showed him a sadistic grin worthy of even the most foul of leviathans. 

" If we survive this, we can be the new kings of this underwater hell. So, to answer your question with one of my own; Do you want to be in daddy dearest's shadow,  or do you want to know true freedom along side me?" 

He holds my cheek, and gives a chuckle that would make a lesser man feel genuine fear for their own life, but to me, it was a beautiful symphony of hellish bliss. 

" Come, my sweet shark. Let's go bring down the big fish."