Castlevania: Of Darkness and Light

Greta

"Still I had hoped..."Greta murmured dourly. "But that's what hoping gets you I suppose."

"He didn't die in vain, he got the distress message to me and I've answered it." I stood tall and confident. "I've come to help you."

"Is that so?" Greta inquired. "You're not the one I sent for."

"I know." I tipped my staff. "But I am the next best thing, and that's better than nothing. Give me a chance and I'll be as good as a protector as Alucard."

A fearful murmur rippled among the villagers, muttering of vampires, castles, and a mysterious mage . Greta ordered everyone to get some rest for the night, leaving the two of us alone.

"So it is true." The head woman's eyes bore into me. "You are in league with a vampire."

"That's a dramatic way of putting it, but yes." I responded, feeling tense. "He took me in and helped me find my place. I wouldn't be where I am without him." I couldn't shake off her eyes. "We've a good relationship him and I, but don't worry. Alucard might seem like the dark and gloomy sort, but he's a good man. He'd never hurt innocent people."

"I find that hard to believe from someone with bodies staked around their castle, but I'll take your word for it." She scanned me from head to toe. "Why are you here?"

"Like I said before , I've come to help-."

"Why are you here?" Greta repeated. "I need you to understand, I don't know you. I sent for Alucard's help and you come in his stead. You, an Arcane Magician with a glowing staff and a moonlit cloak who creeps around the forest chanting wards and drawing out the spirits of the ancient woods. You're no phantom but you're just as enigmatic. You're obviously consort to a vampire and keep company with him. You seem half crazy, and I don't need to mention the mythical horned beast that's your mount."

She lowered her hackles, giving me a sincere gaze. "Yet, you're the only hope we have, and you've already proven yourself a formidable protector."

"Thank you." I bowed. "I promise I won't let you down. What you saw back there was only a fraction of what I can do. Trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet."

"I'm not interested in magic tricks and one fight." Greta replied curtly. " I don't need to be impressed by low-key swagger. These people are under my care and I need you to commit to defending them. Because my life isn't worth living I can't save theirs."

" I get it. You done?"

"Did it work?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm all done." She smirked. "Thank you, and that was one hell of an entrance."

"Yes indeed so." A voice complimented from the latrine hut." You really are. A very impressive young woman, to tame the wild unicorn and ride it into battle. Only the purest  of heart can accomplish such an impossible feat."  The unicorn pulled his ears back at the eccentric man emerging from the outhouse dressed in lavish red shirt, trousers, and gold neck frills carrying an air of high swagger. Who the hell is this guy? A court noble? He looked out of place in the haunted backcountry of Wallachia as polar bear in the Sahara.

"Oh, God. This one." Greta shrugged irritated.

"You do not appear to be Adrian Tepes." The man approached in that high swagger of his.
"Perhaps you are the fabled phantom mage  these superstitious folk whisper about? "

"No." I snipped, already getting a bad vibe off of him. "Name's (Y/N) and I'm no phantom. I've come to help these people."

"Ah I see. A savior magician. Stunning performance of the arcane arts I might add, you must have trained for a long time for such mastery." He bowed to me as if I were a duchess of a grand court he should have been in. "Do allow me to present myself, my lady. I am the Count Saint Germain, scholar in residence to many of the great courts of Europe."