Castlevaina

Chapter 8

   The Ctulhu fired at the dhampir, who swiftly dodged, but not before part of his armor was singed. Alucard glared, and launched at the beast. This dance only continued till the beast lit aflame, purifying it. He sighed and went on his way. The red walls blended together as he moved, him trying to move quickly. Upon opening the door at the end of the corridor, he was face with a wall.

   His eyes narrowed. A dead end? He moved forward to investigate the wall, but clicked a button on the floor. He heard the clicking of gears and the screeching of old metal. Alucard jumped back and readied himself for any kind of trap that he may have triggered. A solid block of stone dropped slowly from its chain extension in the ceiling. The wall lifted slowly as the pulley groaned with its weight.

   Alucard waited, not as tense. As soon as the block of stone was level with the floor, it stopped,  the wall having risen into the ceiling. It showed the strange alter he had found the Cube of Zoe on, bloody zombies making their decaying match on the other side. The prince huffed. The castle had made him go in a circle.

   "Curse this castle," he growled under his breath. He stepped onto the stone, careful of its swaying, and looked down between the space that the wall had left and found a ledge. He jumped, turned, and found a entrance on the other side of the large gap. He jumped across, and after balancing himself, he walked passed the archway. A stone table held a jar of gleaming liquid. Another elixir of life sat there innocently. He took the vile, uncorked it, and put it to his lips. Power and healing washed through his veins and the last drop hit the back of his throat. 

   He sighed out the air that he had been holding and turned to walk out. He Jumped to the ledge, hoping to be able to just jump up and catch the floor above, but he had no such luck as his leap fell short. He grunted as he began to fall. Curse his weakness! He would need to find all of the artifacts holding his power soon. 

   He had to climb the set of stairs leading to the Cube of Zoe, though he knew it to no longer linger there. He jumped up, being faced with two blood zombies on either side of the gap, both snarling and snapping. He cut the one before him to pieces, leaving the other to its deeds. He shifted around the stone alter and jumped the gap and landed on the stone block, using the chain to balance himself. Once he was on the other side, he continued on, praying that the castle hadn't played him. 

   As he had hoped, the castle seemed solid in its build and he was met by the red walls of the Marble Gallery. He hurried along, dodging the newly resurrected Ctulthu. This bloody castle and its grudge. 

   The castle itself calls back the souls of all that dies in it's walls, making it nye impossible to kill something completely. He simply went around, dodging balls of flame that was shot at his back. He climbed up and into the pit of small Ghosts. Once again they simply snapped at him, never coming too close. He ran through, not waiting for the idiotic Ghosts to have their fun trying to intimidate him. He ran through the halls, them slowly turning into the white marble and black and purple cloth. Alucard navigated the staircases -the bloody things- and finally ended up in a long hallway. 

The hall was filled with old clocks, the wood worn, and on some, the glass busted and the clicking and chimes no longer heard. He walked slowly forward, the clicking of the clocks setting him on edge. He had to slice through a flea man, the small and green creature causing an annoyance by jumping off the walls and avoiding his blade. He sighed and moved on, knowing the annoyance wouldn't end there. He jogged at a human pace, running through the main cavity of the clock tower. He ran passed a woman, and he paused in thought for a second.

"Wait," she called out softly, making Alucard halt. He turned to her, taking her in.

  The woman was beautiful, he would admit. Her blonde tresses feel in waves and curls from where it was tied up by a green ribbon. She looked confused, her chocolate eyes warm with interest. Smooth skin was pale, Alucard noticed, as though she didn't get enough sun. Her green blouse was the same color as her ribbon, the sleeves stopping right above her elbows. Its neckline was low, her cleavage covered by white ruffles. Odd enough, to Alucard, she was wearing shorts, in the same color scheme as the rest of her outfit. It showed skin before her knee-high leather boots covered the rest of her long legs, unlike the women of his time who thought showing any skin was a sin. His silver pools flickered back to her curious face.

    "You seem human, yet..." she hesitated. He didn't move, but it set her more on edge. He was like a statue and if it weren't for the slow rising and falling of his chest, she would have thought him dead. "What do you here?"

   Alucard didn't answer right away, thinking over his answer. "I've come to destroy this castle." The blonde woman seemed to relax at that.

   "Then we have the same purpose. I'll trust you for now. I'm Maria, who are you?" the now named Maria questioned, her interest and curiosity sparking again in her earthen orbs. He paused for a long moment again, then answered.

   "Alucard."

   "Not the talkative type I can see. Well, perhaps we'll meet again, if your live that long," she smirked, playfulness oozing from her hourglass frame. She ran passed him, leaving him to his own. He simply stared after her, blinking slowly before shaking his head, a small smile sliding onto his face.

   'Over a hundred years old and grew up in this very castle and a mortal says 'if you live that long.' He would never admit to the small smile and chuckle that escaped his lips.