Summary: What happened during that month in which Alucard was alone in the castle?
Alucard dealing with the aftermath of S2, and trying to cope with the death—or, more accurately, the ghosts—of his parents.
Notes: First of all, spoilers for season 2!
Another Alucard-centric fic, but actually about the show this time!! Whoo!! I’m excited to finally start posting this one.
Believe it or not, I started this idea a while before S3 started, wanting to write something for the time after S2 of Alucard being alone in the castle. Then after S3 I wanted to write it both more and less XD The idea of Alucard seeing ghosts brought up at the end of S2 is an interesting one, and one I thought deserved more exploration. As well as just that month where he’s alone being something interesting to write about.
This is one of those fics I wanted to post as a long one-shot, but ultimately got stuck and decided it would be better to break it up into chapters to make it more manageable for both reading and writing. I said it’d be 4 chapters above, but I’m not quite sure exactly how many it’ll be. It just helps me to jot down a manageable ballpark number.
That being said, one of the reasons I hesitate to break things up into chapters, is because if people don’t seem interested it severely inhibits my desire to keep writing that fic. So, it really does help my motivation a LOT when you comment and say you want to read more!! So just know that when you comment, you’re helping more of this fic get written!!
Shoutout to @it-burns-when-i-pee for giving me the clock idea!
Chapter 1: Reminders
There were no graves. Dracula and Lisa didn’t get graves. The rest of the world would have said they didn’t deserve to rest in peace.
Antigone would say Polynices deserved to sing in Olympus all the same.
The only grave they got was a castle. And many would say it was better than most—that they’d take a castle over a headstone, a mausoleum, or the ground any day. They’d say a castle was a hell of a lot better than being dumped down the sewage grate.
And all that’s fair, but perhaps the bigger problem was this: there were no remains.
They both burned. One in holy fire, one in hell. (And who could say where they truly ended up, if there was a heaven and hell after all?)
All that was left of Lisa Tepes was a pile of charcoal on an altar to a priests own pride.
And all that was left of Vlad Tepes was a ring, and a soot stain on the carpet.
Most would say they got what they deserved; to die without chance at Olympus.
Adrian doesn’t know where to put his flowers.
Most children bury their parents eventually, but usually this is when they have children of their own to keep them company, and their parents have been bouncing grandchildren on their knees for at least a year or two, with white hair and crinkled smiles, barely able to walk, or see: sick and ready to greet the gods.
Adrian may look old enough to settle down, but he’s younger than most would surmise. And while he can certainly handle himself, he was not prepared for his parents to die within a year of each other…especially considering that the parent who was meant to be immortal died by his own hand.
He would have liked to have some respite in his own home.
But perhaps, more important than where to put flowers, there was most unfortunate side effect of the lack of remains, and the castle grave:
Ghosts.
And this isn’t the pearly white wraiths wandering around saying ‘boo’, or skulls that float about the head gnashing their teeth. Not even a chained apparition to remind one of their sins.
This is something much worse. Worse because they belong to the house’s owner. Worse because their true grave is his head.
—(And that place never rested)—
Their ghosts wander the castle, not just a graveyard. This castle seems to have an affinity for the undead.
Maybe not everyone could see them. He tries not to indulge the thought that maybe there’s nothing there at all, and they’re nothing more than undead memory.
Alucard has been seeing ghosts since the moment he was left alone in this place.
He’d rather have a grave to mourn them at, and converse with the memories, than watch their ghosts keep him up at night, unable to touch, or to talk to them.
He should remind himself to look up the definition of ‘torment’ later.
At first it was his father’s steps when he walked up the stairs. His mother’s smiles, his own young laughter when he sat in the study. When he sat at the table to eat, he watched the vampire king tossing a young boy into the air, both laughing like fairy wing beats, as Lisa watched on from the table. Alucard tried not to lose his appetite.
Then they were given voice: it was Father’s lessons when he looked for a book in the library. Mother’s stories as he sat reading, making him incapable of concentrating to his own book all the while. Baking cookies together in the kitchen. Father allowing him his first drink—(of wine or blood? Take a guess. He only needed one of them, after all)—as he walked through the cellar. Mother decorating the castle, making it look a little nicer, a little more alive. Not all of them were positive. Their arguing voices down the hallway. His own tears.
Father’s claws against his chest.
And he wouldn’t dare get close to that room. Because whenever he walks past the door, he can still hear his father speak to him like he did when he was still a child dressed in sunlight, and there was nothing but love.
Mother, father and…himself. As if he died long ago with them. As if the happy child he was within them is gone. As if he’s no longer the Adrian who sat with his parents, read with them, baked cookies, and laughed with them…but the Alucard who killed them.
And, well, maybe he didn’t kill his mother, but sometimes he didn’t know what else to think but to blame himself for the thought that he could have saved her.
And he did kill his father.
He still feels that stake in his hand when he walks by that room—(But it wasn’t a stake was it? It was the bedpost of his childhood bed, as if ripping his childhood at the seams and denying everything he was born as). He still feels its splinters in his fingers, the smell of pine, the feeling of it piercing his father’s chest, the way his heartbeat refused to stop—(he rested his head on his chest once, the constancy of the rhythm was comforting then). The warmth of his father’s blood draining over his fingers. The sound of his father’s ripping voice. The unearthly, ungodly howling of the souls trapped inside him—(was he really so bad?). He could still smell his flesh burning.
He still wakes up in the middle of the night with the image of his fathers face melting off its bones as it came closer to him, reaching out as if to to caress his son’s cheek, seared onto his eyes—(is this how Victor Frankenstein felt when the creature smiled at his window?)
But when the morning came, he took that ring and he wore it on a chain around his neck all the same, to remind him of a few things:
One: that love is one of those things that is free, but comes at a high price. If you take it lightly, it will leave you heavily.
Two, an addendum to one: that love is not soft. Love is not flowery words, or even the insatiable desires the romance novels say it is. Love is an insidious fire, when you have it, it rages, and you know what warmth is. When the fireplace is empty it aches, and when your heart breaks your chest gets cut on all the pieces. And underestimating it, calling it weakness, will always be your undoing.
Three—(one that was beginning to weigh heaviest): that living and immortality are not the same thing. Vlad may have been immortal, but he was only ever alive with Lisa.
Four: to always know where he came from…and where he didn’t want to end up.
Five, and final: that though he had saved lives, though it was noble, and the stories and songs would say he was brave, and though Trevor and Sypha would say it was for the greater good…he would always be the son who loved his father…and the son who drove the stake into his father’s heart.
All for love.
He can find respite from the memories sometimes. He finds himself spending too much time down in the Belmont hold, reading, organizing, putting away ancestors—(ancestors not of his, ones that didn’t come back). Learning, pursing his lip in disapproval, or laughing to himself at the thought of some of the things Trevor’s relatives did (making a mental note to use the story against Trevor when he next saw him). Thinking of his friends…and trying not to think of them, lest they become ghosts too.
He likes going out into the woods to get food, and water, and fresh air. He wavers there at times, wondering if maybe he could just… leave. He spends more time out there than is strictly necessary.
Sometimes he runs out into the woods—well, more precisely padding, cantering on paws—and other times flies—trying to make sure his tongue can taste freedom, and his wings can snare sunlight, before he turns back.
But he always has to return. Return to the stuffy, putrefied remains of the castle. The air where he hears his parents whisper sweet words that are gone, where memory reconstructed from fairy castles sweet worlds he’s ripped away.
Would it be so hard to just leave?
Surely we can let the poor wandering souls in the woods find refuge. It was a grave after all. Just let the lost rest against the headstones, though they know not whose skeletons lie beneath them.
He leans against Trevor’s tree, and sees a young boy playing on the branches—laughing, free—and smiles…before it becomes gasp and grimace, and he shakes his head, returning to the castle.
Not them too.
He thought he could take it. The grief. The ghosts. The wrath of the gods
But he can’t stay.
Not forever. That is to say, he can’t leave for long. Just to visit town, to see another person or two, to get out of his head, and pray the specters won’t follow him.
He slings his bag over his shoulder, along with the coat he always wore—the one that smells like the campfires he sat at with Trevor and Sypha—and sighs as he walks out the door.
(^^ Art commissioned from Junki Sakuraba on instagram and deviantart!!)
Fandom:Castlevania Netflix
Summary:Vampires do not have reflections, and castles do not have hearts. But Dracula is no ordinary vampire, and Castlevania is no ordinary castle. If castles can fight, maybe they can think too. The series, and Adrian’s childhood, told from the perspective of the castle.
Notes:Hey all! I am SO sorry this chapter took so long to come out. My perfectionism really got the best of me with this chapter. But I saw that S4 was on its way and that really lit a fire under my butt because I really do want to post my season 3 chapter before s4 comes out. I’m highly doubt I’ll accomplish it as it almost always takes me longer than I have to get a chapter out, let alone two, but I’ll try, at least.
I really really hope you enjoy it!! If you enjoy this chapter, please please consider commenting. I assure you it’ll be more likely I’ll post the next chapter faster the more people comment on this showing you still enjoy this fic. Each comment is a little shot of energy and motivation for me.
Important!This chapter is meant to have aesthetic indentation in some places. So if you want to read it as-intended, please look it at on Archiveofourown at I_prefer_the_term_antihero on your computer or tablet!!
If you get here and are thinking “Wait, what was this fic about? What were the main themes?” then this would be a good time to reread/skim back through the earlier chapters. This is the climax of the fic and will (hopefully) be more impactful the more you remember about the rest of the fic and its many themes.
Chapter Summary:
“Go back whence you came! Trouble the soul of my Mother no more!” “How? How—How is it that I’ve been so defeated?” “You have been doomed ever since you lost the ability to love.” “Ha—Ah… Sarcasm. ‘For what profit is it to a man if he gains the world, and loses his own soul?’ Matthew 16:26, I believe. "Tell me. What—What were Lisa’s last words?” “She said 'Do not hate humans. If you cannot live with them, then at least do them no harm. For theirs is already a hard lot’. She also said to tell you that she would love you for all of eternity.” “Lisa, forgive me. Farewell my son.”
Chapter 7: “Heart”
Hey there, Sunshine, the Room adds with a smile.
The Room forgot the sweet tang of breath. How gentle, how vicious. Like honey, like relief, like a cozy blanket and a fireplace. It came in great, gulping gasps, and living was painful after such long breathlessness, but hurt far less than being half dead.
The Room rushes to Castlevania, shaking it, saying, Open your eyes! Open your eyes! It’s Adrian. It’s our boy. My master. My sunlight. And Castlevania limply flickers open its eyes, for it cannot help but obey.
Obey to see the golden man standing in its doorway.
And it feels a jolt of warmth in its broken chest.
Alucard has returned home. He arrives at the doorstep with resolve in his closed fists and a sword on his tongue. The threat to the war they all knew he would be, and the Room promised it would rear him to be.
But he isn’t alone this time.
There are two humans by his side. One with fire in her fists—quite literally—the other with a barbed tongue at his hip.
Castlevania recognizes a crest on the clothing of one of them, gold and proud: The Belmonts. The ones who came with whips and scourges to defeat its master long ago. The ones whom Dracula and his Castle were bound together against in their undead war. The ones whom Dracula trusted his Castle to protect him from. The owner of the hold now beneath Castlevania. He has come to defeat its master like the rest…but this time the boy is by his side, and for that reason, the Castlevania is unsure how this will end.
“I terrify them,” the Belmont explains the plan, “Sypha disorients them, Alucard goes over the top and we support him.”
“Yes.” The Speaker confirms.
Alucard holds his sword out horizontally in front of him, unsheathes it, and speaks:
“Begin.”
Alucard is with the Belmont.
And Castlevania knows when it sees them, the fire in their eyes, that they are the intent that brought it here. That they have indeed come to kill its master once and for all. It had wished when the boy returned, it would be with the promise of hope. But there is no promise of life and the sparing of it this time.
They bring death inside with them; the war room is filled with war, blood and burns on its floors, but it is different this time, because this is not an ambiance, a continuation, a fact of life, it is a swift and fatal kiss—the end they said he would bring, once. The blood is rotten on the floors, but it doesn’t itch or burn. And the boy uses those techniques his father taught him on brighter nights about turning into things with teeth, and the ones his mother once taught him on sunnier days about how to make metal listen.
They did not bring life inside this time, not life of the same kind at least. The war, the death, has followed and swallowed them too, but not in the same way it has its master. They are not bloodthirsty. The cold the dark and the death are merely clothes they wear, they have not reached the deepest parts of them; there are still light-starved Rooms in their hearts waiting to breathe.
There is a song at their heels as they dance in rings of fire, with the wind and the moon, upon the blood and water Castlevania isn’t sure will come out of the carpet. It is a song that is all too familiar. It has been played here before, when other, more, less, holy Belmonts barged in long ago. A song of blood and tears.
Bloody tears its master cried once, for his wife when he realized they had taken something that could not be borrowed, bartered, or souled.
They’re bringing an end to the strife, and all the undead lives that facilitated it, and vice versa. They are cutting the puppet strings, and not all puppets can live without them.
Isaac fights the nameless soldiers on the staircase for its master…until he sees someone who is far from nameless.
Isaac’s reddened eyes meet Alucard’s golden ones. Alucard’s sword aims at him, but it hits the deadened flesh of the nameless instead.
Isaac runs to tell its master—Dracula, busy ripping out the heart of a nameless—who’s here; that his sun has returned, and at his side is magic and might.
Dracula knows the prophecy.
He’s willing to die—Issac. He stands before Dracula, his form barely able to shield three-quarters of Dracula’s, willing to give his feeble human life for Dracula’s indefinite undead one. He believes knowledge and will are more important than the blood of a good man. He believes in love, and loyalty is love of a sort. And it is Castlevania’s understanding that when someone is willing to live for something, they are also willing to die for it. This is the noblest of causes.
“You are the greatest of your people, Isaac. You have a soul, I think.” As Dracula says the words, he raises his hand, and the mirror shards behind them begin to rise. “Perhaps that is more valuable to the world to come than a dusty collection of books and apparatus.”
Lisa looks on from the portrait, and Castlevania thinks it is a look of pride. She always did stand for saving human lives rather than destroying them. Isn’t it funny that in what will perhaps be the deciding battle of this war, the one where his goals should possess him stronger than ever, it is the human who he values more than himself?
“Or perhaps you simply deserve a better fate than to die instead of me.”
“I choose my death, as I chose my life.” The words are stronger than iron.
“Then I regret only that I have taken a choice for you.” A hand at his shoulder.
Dracula throws him halfway across the world, to the kind of place Isaac was born in, and the kind of place Isaac least wants to die in.
Isaac believes in love. And it is for this reason, this belief, that Vlad saves his life, Castlevania knows. Saves his life, by denying the choice he so desperately wanted to make—perhaps his whole life—and had no regrets or apprehensions about making, rather a lot more in being kept alive.
And when the mirror shatters and falls, his son is standing there, like he did a year ago, though this time he is not backed by sunlight. The only light in the room is the fire glinting in his eyes.
A pause. To remember the dead.
“Father.”
A word. To remember the living.
“Son.”
This should be a reunion, perhaps. Better people would think they should happily hug each other, and say they missed each other, and that they love each other all the same. Better people would say that the sunlight should plead with the dark to come back into its embrace. All the sinners know there was no chance of that the moment Dracula scrawled fate on his son’s skin with his own claws.
Instead, there is nothing but bitter, fighting words:
“Your war is over.”
Dracula tilts his head to the side. “Because you say so?”
“It ends.” Alucard looks at his sword, the one she taught him how to use. “In the name of my mother.”
Dracula looks at his son, the one she gave him. “It endures in the name of your mother.”
“I told you before I won’t let you do it.” Alucard’s voice is so soft, yet solid and unwavering. There is no anger, but he will not step aside. Not this time. Even when the claws come. “I grieve with you…but I won’t let you commit genocide.”
“You couldn’t stop me before.” Dark assurance in soft words.
Footsteps. A cue to the magic and the hunt behind the curtain, who step out on either side of him.
“I was alone before.”
And Castlevania understands. Understands that they are not here to talk things out. Understands that they are not here to save Dracula, to appeal to the good in him, as Lisa once had, and the Room once thought. Castlevania itself even hoped, when the boy returned, the song would be a bit more inspirational. But, beaten and broken and bloody, Castlevania understands now, if Alucard stands with the intent, if Alucard brought a Belmont—
Then they do not believe there is a chance. They are not here then, to talk him out of it. They are here to halt this war in its tracks, make it rear up, lose its balance, and fall.
—(And Castlevania knows, deep down, that to do this… they must end something else)—
Alucard is bringing back the sunlight. But there is only one way he can do that, and goodnight is not quiet.
And make no mistake he does intend to bring the full, the warm, the life, and the light back, just like Castlevania and the Room wanted. But there is too much cold, dark, death, and emptiness here to do this quietly. They are here to kill Dracula—the master now puppeteered by Death’s strings rather than his own soul.
The Speaker raises her fingers to her lips as if to say a prayer, or perhaps take a heavenly name in vain for the sake of a little silence. The Belmont’s whip clinks in his hand. Alucard’s sword sings as he raises it.
Alucard drives it towards his father: a bolt of golden lightning through the room, pinning him against the fireplace as books fall to the floor. Castlevania, wincing at the pain, knows that will bruise in the morning.
The picture of his mother cracks and falls, as if she has to close her eyes for this.
Alucard, growling with fierce resolve, pushing the sword into him with all his might. But Dracula has the sword in his hand, rather than his heart. He steps calmly forward, barely having to use any of his strength to combat so much of his son’s, as if he’s about to tell him to put the toy away.
A glint of golden eyes. Alucard pulls back the sword. A slash. Two. Three.
Dracula raises his arm as if to knock the sword from his shoulder.
Instead he bashes his son’s head into the fireplace—and Castlevania cries out at the feeling, feeling its stomach burn.
The Speaker and the Belmont ready for a fight. The floor splinters—(Castlevania grimaces, tasting blood)—as Dracula flashes through the room, and pins the Belmont into the hall, against the wall, sending his sword out of his hand. He keels over onto his hands to cough up blood, the puddle crawling on Castlevania’s skin.
Castlevania never had any qualms with the blood of Belmonts on its floors before, so this hurts less, but this is different, and Castlevania still wonders if Dracula could be a little gentler with his Castle.
A flash of light at his side. He raises his cloak as the Speaker sends tongues and teeth of fire at him.
“Speaker magician!” Its master realizes.
He rushes at her, knocking her hand out of position. She creates an ice shard before her with the other.
He scratches up with a claw, sending her flying with the broken pieces towards the ceiling, and angry gashes appear on her arm as she rolls along the floor.
“Sypha!” The Belmont calls.
He must love her in some way, because in a fit of some sort of emotion—instead of picking up his sword—the Belmont uses his fists. They probably haven’t failed him before. But this is Dracula, and his punches don’t cause the king to so much as flinch.
“You must be the Belmont.”
Castlevania laughs a little at the words; it too thought the method was rather common of his line.
It’s Dracula’s turn, and his punch doesn’t just cause the Belmont to flinch, the sound is as if he hit rock, sending him into the air with the force. He doesn’t give him a second to breathe, rather reaches his claw is around the human’s neck, holding him there.
He raises his other claw level—a blade, more trustworthy than any.
“The end of your line.”
Before he can make these words true, another blade stops him: his son’s, driving itself through both his arms.
While he is pinned the Speaker, knowing this is an opportunity she will not get again, rushes forward—still bleeding, mind—a bead of fire between her fingers. Dracula cannot move to protect himself, and the magician, knowing this, lets the fire loose to lick his face raw.
Dracula drops the Belmont, attempting to get away, deciding his own life takes precedence, but it is hard to get away when your hands are tied together with metal.
The Speaker, seeing that her fire is about to hit Alucard, falters. And in that moment Dracula wrenches his arm off of the blade and uses it to knock her down, before sending his other fist into his son, who goes flying along with his sword hitting the wall. This one may not be so hard as to bruise, but, with everything aching and breaking, the smallest tap hurts Castlevania.
The Belmont pulls a blade of bone from his back-belt, and as Dracula turns he drives it into his chest.
It’s not close enough to his heart, but red distaste fills Dracula’s eyes. He thought this was a game, but they have some amount of ability, and he may have underestimated them. As Alucard and the magician get up he attempts to grab at the Belmont in quick motions, but he has some skill in dodging.
The Speaker rips off her shirt and cauterizes her wound as the Belmont and Dracula dance in the hallway, neither weapon hitting flesh.
Dracula sees the Speaker’s intent over his shoulder, and as the Belmont lunges at him grabs his arm and throws him into her, stopping both their attacks. An effective move, if Castlevania does say so itself.
Alucard sees his opening and rushes forward, pinning his father to the wall, which shatters behind them with a painful lurch.
Dracula puts his hands together and brings them down over his son’s head with such force the floor cracks.
And Castlevania coughs blood.
Alucard pushes his arms away and slaps both sides of his face, getting a grunt this time. Dracula sends him back with such force it almost seems like a shockwave, creating wind and smoke curling around them all.
The Speaker roots him in place by sending ice spears into his leg. The Belmont clears the smoke by spinning his whip, before creating more by sending that whip—the one he fed the vampires that didn’t agree with their compositions—sizzling into Dracula’s chest. There’s an explosion to be sure—a rather big one—but after the smoke dissipates, and a wait with bated breath, Dracula is still standing just as he was before—as Castlevania knew he would—like all he threw at him were words.
…At least at first, to show he isn’t taken down so easily. He does fall to his hands thereafter.
“The Morningstar whip.” The words are scratches in the carpet. “Well played, Belmont. But I am no ordinary vampire to be killed by your human magics.” The words sizzle on his tongue. “I am Vlad Dracula Tepes,” he crosses his arms with purpose. “and I have had ENOUGH!”
His voice is a shockwave of its own across the sea of stone and bone. He sweeps his hands to the sides, his cloak rising like wings as he floats into the air, and creates a ball of magma: the cheat that will end the game. He was going easy on them until now.
It rumbles towards them, eating the carpet as it goes—and Castlevania can feel the burning in its chest. The Belmont’s eyes widen with fear at last. The Speaker rises to the occasion without hesitation, and holds out her hands to stop it with the force of her magic. It’s a force to be reckoned with, for sure: at first she succeeds, but, though it may be slowing, it isn’t stopping, and her feet are slipping. The Belmont puts his back to hers, as any good friend and comrade would. Alucard phases in front of them, the burning wind rushing against his face. He calls his sword, which sings as it reaches his hand, poises it, and drives the point into the magma ball.
They each fight with all their might, the Belmont and the speaker begins to grunt with the weight of it. The ball gives a falter their way, and Castlevania is sure even three cannot match Dracula’s strength, but the Speaker gives a final push, which gives Alucard just the right amount of momentum to drive it back toward his father, who is as caught off guard by the display as Castlevania is. He needs no sword or magic to stop it, however, and puts his hands out to hold it. Gold and red push against each other, until Alucard gives a deciding motion, then another, another, each chipping away at the ball until the sword goes flying and it’s just Alucard’s arm against Dracula’s throat, and their momentum creates a sizzling tunnel in the wall.
Castlevania may not know what guns are, but it knows what it feels like to be shot.
The two burst into the library, shattering the already shattered mirror.
It was so quiet in here. Must they sully the silence with the sound of strife? They read here, once. Sometimes alone, sometimes to each other. Whispered to each other of history and mystery.
Dracula lands on the floor and Alucard floats above him in the room in which he once stood on his level and told his father calmly he wouldn’t stand for genocide.
There’s anger in his eyes now.
Dracula hisses, then gives a war cry, and the two allow their hungry fists to attempt to devour each other as best they can in the air, red and gold flashing.
The Belmont picks up a sword in the other room and, deciding it’d be best not to follow them through the tunnel—(Castlevania is glad for that decision. The wound is still raw and would more than likely sting tremendously if they walked on it)—he and the Speaker run up the stairs to follow them.
They’re on the floor now and their punches fly like starlings—their duel reflected in the shards of mirror fluttering, jittering about, ever awaiting their command, as if attempting to tap their shoulders and ask what they should do, and why they are hurting each other—until they are hitting the bookshelves they once were gentle with—lest the pages rip and the silence tear—the ones they once smiled and discussed philosophy beside.
Castlevania’s head aches, nausea in the back of its throat.
A smiling boy and his father handing him another book, saying if he liked the first he’d like the second too, are all but gone now.
Dracula throws Alucard into the ceiling, and enters the room above with an unearthly sound, in an unearthly way: only his cloak is visible, moving like slime. As his hungry footsteps lick the floor behind him, Alucard is heaving on his side that same floor, his hair falling across his face. He turns around, fear coating the sound he makes as he, without his sword, grabs the nearest block of wood that happens to have a point on the end.
Dracula laughs, like they’re playing a game—(they did once, do they remember? Humans and monsters. Sometimes there were princes, and knights, or pirates. Even a princess or two. And the wolves and the bats were free in the night wind)—and stops.
“You mean to stake me?”
“You want me to.” Alucard murmurs, turning around with some difficulty.
“What?” Dracula chuckles, still with that put-the-toys-away intonation.
“You didn’t kill me before.” Alucard breathes. “You’re not going to kill me now. You want this to end as much as I do.” The look in his eyes is almost crazed.
“DO I?!” The tone is almost crazed in response, the nonchalant edge gone, the words resounding with power and grief.
Alucard scrambles away like an animal, causing Dracula to punch the floor instead of his head—Castlevania’s body lurches. It feels a gentle touch at its chin, someone trying to wipe the blood off perhaps.
“You died when my mother died. You know you did.” He reasons as Dracula’s breathing gains weight. “This entire catastrophe has been nothing but history’s longest suicide note.”
Castlevania jerks its head up, eyes wide at these words.
And Castlevania understands.
The cold, the dark, the empty, the death. They all make sense now.
Alucard rushes at him, Dracula knocks the stake out of Alucard’s hand with ease, but, in a moment of extreme dexterity, Alucard manages to grab it from the air and drive it into his chest still. The look in his eyes is almost pleading, like he’s going to ask “Daddy did I do a good job? Did I do it right? I’ve gotten better at fighting haven’t I?”
“Not quite close enough.” There is a gurgling quality to Dracula’s enunciation.
No more playing.
He shoves Alucard so hard its into the next room.
Castlevania keels over onto the floor, it’s stomach aching and prickling.
Dracula pulls the stake out and heaves before rushing after.
Floors below the magician and the Belmont can hear them, and are trying their best to catch up, to have a say in this fight.
But Castlevania isn’t sure they have much chance of that, as they are flashing through the halls now, Alucard, a foot off the ground, zig-zagging between the walls in the narrow hall as Dracula keeps punching bloodless stone—
—(The stone may be bloodless, but god this hurts)—
Until Alucard punches him back, sending them into a room, a bedroom—(but not that one)—and the room is a pile of rubble with just that. And Castlevania can feel the splinters. That furniture was nice.
Dracula grabs Alucard’s face and shoves him into the dining room, pinning him to the table like he’ll eat him too if they’re not careful, and those chairs were perfectly nice too—
And Castlevania sees a little boy waiting at the table for his birthday surprise, and his father pulling out a burned cake, and his mother laughing. There was no fear then. Though its master was a creature of blood it never thirsted for theirs, and they knew this full well. Can they see it too? Why would they destroy this room if they did? Why would they destroy each other if they did? Are they even the same creatures as those in the memory?
At this point Castlevania is pretty sure they broke a few of its ribs.
Alucard kicks his face and gets on the table on all fours, rushing him into the next room still.
Castlevania’s bleeding, broken heart skips a beat. Surely they must have broken a few ribs, for how else could they get into Castlevania’s heart? The control room, where its gears still lie dripping, glowing as orange as a brand, once beating organs now blazing stalactites.
They punch each other along the platform, Dracula’s cloak whipping about, like a cat’s fur trying to make him look bigger and scarier.
They are framed in the paneless window—those bones have been all but broken too now. The frame where the picture—that is to say, the die—no longer sits. For Castlevania’s heart didn’t just break, it was destroyed when they brought it to this place, the place where its enemies once lived, and still stand today.
—(So why can Castlevania still feel it beat?)—
In the frame now is moon drunk on blood, a night soaked in tears—and the wind whispers to their cloaks, bidding them to whip around them.
Dracula draws in a hissing breath.
Alucard stands tall, his eyes aglow, gold melting into something new in this forge, his hair whipping about him as he raises his fist yet again.
They are getting tired. Their snarls have a weakened quality to them now.
—Can they see the father and son in this room, the father teaching his son that his Castle is special?—
But instead of just punching him, Alucard teleports beside his father, hitting his shoulder, sending a gust of wind to his face, then teleports around the room to send his fist into him over and over, from every possible angle, and some of his kick-offs create cracks in the already breaking bindings of the room.
It feels like pins and needles, but it’s okay. It’s okay.
Why?
Dracula’s grits his teeth, sharp as ever, his eyes alight with bloody determination, his hair playing about this gaze. To end it, on the next hit he grabs his face, shoving him by it onto the stone platform. He shoves him once, twice, a third, the metal cracking, the metal creaking—
Castlevania’s gut lurches, and it can taste bile and iron at the back of its throat, and it’s hard to breathe.
Then its master raises Alucard back up, holds him by the face in the air a moment, and punches him with such force he is blown across the length of the platform and through the thick stone wall into the next room—
And Castlevania vomits blood.
Dracula bolts after him, the dust creating patterns in his wake—and Castlevania could gaze in the clouds if it weren’t for whoever’s trying to slap it awake.
Alucard coughs, and it sounded deep.
Its master is nothing human now. There’s a growl in his throat as he marches towards him, and another cough in Alucard’s as he struggles to stand.
Another punch, but this one is not fast like the rest, nor is it blocked. Alucard tries to stand up, to rush towards him, but he is getting tired, and Dracula hits him again. Another growl. Alucard takes a single step back, soft against the floors. An exhale. Another of both, and as Dracula raises his fist the murmur—plea?—on his son’s lips sounds a lot like “Father,” as if he’s reached his limit, and has to stop the game.
It’s too late to hit quit now.
The vampire king doesn’t grant the plea—or perhaps even hear it; with a belabored punch he sends him into the next Room, rolling this time, instead of flying, the contents of the Room staying in tact…all except the bed, which catches the boy.
The next Room. But this one is not like the rest. It is not just aroom.
This one breathes.
A gasp, another growl, a scratch against the wall, and—
Castlevania burned today in this bloody fight, on this bloody night. Its skin, its legs. Even its heart broke.
Castlevania. The thing that Vlad Tepes brought to life with a little bit of lightning, several gears, and a few words. No magic words, just words: the ones he spoke on lonely nights to the walls about how he’d like to be something more than ruthless.
Castlevania did everything it could. It lies burned and broken and unable to fight now because of it.
But none of that burned half as much as those scratches on its walls.
There have been many stories told about Dracula, and there will one day be more stories told about Dracula, books written, enough that one could fill libraries with just the retellings of his story. And Castlevania has no doubt that one day these scratches will be on their covers. This growl, these scratches are the signet of a vampire, of a monster: the disfigurement of his Castle, bloody intent directed at his son. The dark, the death, and the emptiness have overtaken completely. That is all a monster is, really. That is all he is now.
He marches into the Room, his cloak flowing, dipping and twirling in the broken wind. The sound of Alucard’s breathing fills the Room as he heaves against the bed.
Or maybe the breath is the Room’s own.
The Room has seen all that happened, it has been watching Castlevania beaten bloody till it could barely breathe, or see through the blood dripping down its face, let alone move. Castlevania could barely feel the comforting hands on it, the attempts to bandage the wounds, or at least stop the bleeding that it knew could only belong to the Room. Castlevania could barely hear the Room’s frantic, desperate calls to action, to get up, or just ask if it was okay. And now the Room stands, fists clenched at its sides. The Room wants to fight back. It will fight back.
The Room is not violent. From the very beginning it stood against all the violence, the dark, the empty, and the death. That was what it was made for, after all. As much as it would like to, it does not wrap its hand around Dracula’s throat, claws digging until it draws blood, and demand “How does it feel?! How does it feel to be on the receiving end?!”
The Room’s footsteps are soft as it comes up beside Dracula. It puts its hands over the king’s eyes and whispers in his ear, gently as it can:
“Remember me?”
Then, quietly as it came, it removes them, as if playing peekaboo, revealing that it was there the whole time, his eyes were just covered for a while.
It may as well have been removing scales, because Dracula freezes, his eyes wide, as if he’s seeing, not just the Room, but the whole world for the first in a long time—And he is. The first time with living eyes. And one sees things very differently with living eyes. And Castlevania was his world and it hopes he sees the world differently, for Castlevania is not a thing for him to beat and break. Just when Castlevania thought there was nothing left…there is something more than anger in his eyes now.
Dracula’s angry cloak quiets, falling docile at his feet: a sign of reverence towards the Room, and all it stands for.
Alucard, after allowing his breath to regain itself, looks up, his eyes widening too at his father. His father. No anger, no fear, not even determination now. Not in this Room. This Room is different. He remembers now: in the hush that has fallen across the world like freshly fallen snow, this is his father.
The Room kneels at it’s boy’s side, putting a hand on his shoulder feeling nothing but life and love, so much so it extends to the creature that created the scars on its throat, and on its boy’s chest.
“It’s okay. You can go to him now.” The Room says.
And it knows what that means.
It knows that sometimes peace comes at the price of war.
Dracula curls his hand, the one with the claw that just made marks on the walls that are written in stone, and will never be undone. Within the glow of the window, his reddened eyes too are no longer angry. For so long those eyes sat dormant, empty, and glazed in his skull and at last they contain something. The Room’s words have gotten through the glaze, shattered the glass.
“It’s your Room.”
It’s more than just a statement. He made a promise when he made this Room. This Room was to be his son’s Room. There would be no violence, not in this Room. Not ever. Not today in as much as not ten years ago. He will not hurt this Room. He will not dare touch it, for fear those claws will mark more than just the walls; that all the memories will come crashing down.
The words are not angry. They are not dark. They are not empty. They are not dead. They may seem dry, and stated, but they are dripping with such longing and loss it might fill the whole Castle.
The desk where Vlad taught Adrian of letters, and of numbers, and of the borders of the world. The wardrobe where Lisa dressed him up in fine clothes, and casual ones depending on the occasion—Dracula had so few special occasions to celebrate alone, they were a lovely thing. The bookshelf full of all the knowledge of immortals, and the stories of mortals. The carpet where the boy sat and played with his toys. The nightstand, still with a potion bottle upon it, and the cards of a game they’ve no doubt forgotten how to play, right where they left it long ago. The shelf above it with another bottle, and a tiny satchel of even tinier precious things, and a little toy lamb. The bed upon which Vlad and Lisa once sat and told stories, and sang lullabies, or else lay curled up next to him when the nightmares got too vicious to bear alone.
—(How many did he have to face alone?)—
And Castlevania can see them all. The father teaching his son to count, and to write. The mother running after her naked toddler, trying to convince him clothes really aren’t so bad. The careful pouring of the potions so they change color, or explode just right, the father smiling proudly when he gets the questions correct. The pride of the mother when her son won the game, and the way her husband said “again” like if they just played another round he would win this time. The boy playing with the lamb and the wolf; they they got along in his stories.
The control room never was Castlevania’s heart…was it?
Alucard stands—the motion fluid now—blue light caressing his face as he raises his eyes. Vlad too looks up. But they’re not looking at each other, or the Room, rather into the stars. Not the ones outside, the ones they painted—brushing paint upon each other’s noses, so long ago, and Castlevania can see that too—as if those stars hold all the bottled wishes of childhood. It always was crowning jewel of this Room.
Adrian’s eyes oscillate like perturbed waters, because he knows, he knows he’s about to lose it all. And yes, there’s a sort of childlike yearning in Adrian’s eyes, as if he’s wishing upon those stars that he didn’t have to do this, because he’d really rather find another way to spend this night.
The stars wipe the bloodstains off of Dracula’s eyes. The blood drains off the moon too, as if he is so powerful he can bid the sky to bleed.
His lips shake with long-forgotten words—(or maybe they were just buried, and not everything buried in a grave stays there)—and he holds his hands to his chest, if nothing else to stop them from hurting innocent boys and castles, and shuts his eyes.
“My boy.” The words are said like everything in him is breaking
And it is.
—(The control room never was Castlevania’s heart. Does that mean it never broke?)—
“I’m—I…” The word falls to the floor, so soft, like it’s the only apology he has to shed. “I’m… I’m killing my boy.” And the truth is so gentle and broken its almost more painful than all those punches to the walls.
He steps across the Room, and this time his footsteps are not foreboding, not marching nor stalking. They are soft. He is only walking. This boy is not his prey. Not in this Room.
He walks to the picture on the wall, the one called “Happy.”
Castlevania remembers the day they took it home. The painter really did do a good job, Lisa had said, and Castlevania agreed. Castlevania soon learned that even when they were not here, even when the boy was not small, even when they were not happy, that moment would still be captured upon the wall to return to any time they missed it. Long ago Dracula had no need of pictures and paintings. But those pictures have been everything to him, and everything left him, now that Lisa is gone. They are all the traces left of what they once were in this Castle. That picture—the one Dracula buried and tried to forget existed—that picture bottled happiness, and it gives Vlad back his happiness now. And it makes him so very sad.
“Lisa. I’m killing our boy.” Vlad says to the memory. “We painted this Room. We…made these toys.”
His eyes as they dart around the Room—to the books, to the basket with the wolf and the blocks—are glazed, but not in the same way as before, this time it is with memory, and that makes them more alive than ever, as are his words. And in that moment she is alive too, and he is Vlad, Lisa’s husband, and Adrian’s father.
“It’s our boy, Lisa.”
And then as he looks down his eyes are not glazed at all, rather they hold understanding. He understands what must be done.
Alucard’s foot pushes off the ground, bends the knee, stands, and, no, he is not Adrian, for there is a cracking, a cracking like lightning, a cracking like the world breaking.
And it is the most horrible sound either the Room or Castlevania have ever heard. More horrible than the squelching any heart Dracula ever ripped out. More horrible than the desperate pleas of his victims. More horrible than the cackles of his friends. More horrible than the crying of the child that Castlevania can still hear echoing through the Room.
—(The sound Castlevania hated so so long ago, and now longs for far more than anything else in the world, longs for that painting to swallow the universe and bring it to life again)—
Castlevania and the Room can both feel that sound like a thousand splinters and spider bites, like both of them shattering as if they were made of glass after all. Even the furniture here bleeds.
Vlad backs up, putting his hands over his face—Don’t hurt them, they don’t know what they’re doing—
—(Yet…he hurt them all. So much so he didn’t just disgrace her words, he tried to kill her gift, their son, her blood)—
“Your greatest gift to me. And I’m killing him.”
He lifts his hands from his face and looks into his son’s eyes, his own so alive, despite their glass, tilting his head to the side. Everything slow and gentle now. He is Vlad. He is Adrian’s father. Not the vampire king who put innocents on stakes. But they all know something happened to Vlad on the night Lisa died.
“I must already be dead.”
And Castlevania, burned and bleeding, understands. The final piece of the puzzle has been put into place. It has been dead too. It’s life, bound in red to its master, will break to the call of a stake. Because a reflection cannot exist without the thing it reflects.
Because…they are mortal.
That was the trade, all those years ago: immortality for mortality. Lisa would gain an immortal mind, and Dracula a mortal soul. He would teach Lisa the knowledge of immortals, the methods of healing that must be kept secret to live with a vampire like time held no grip on them. And she would teach him how to live as a man, how to travel as a man, how to care for his son, as a man, as a father. And in that moment his soul was bound to hers.
She brought the undeath in him to life, and Castlevania understands; only things that are alive can die.
It learned through Lisa, through Adrian, what it was to be alive. And it knew that undeath, while not death, is not life. Dracula was undead and his body could not die. But now that she brought him to life, he could die. His soul already died with her. He’s been rotting in an empty shell—no wonder Death could tie those puppet strings to him. That’s why the emptiness in him was so active; cold and dark and empty were only adjectives before, now they are nouns; he was emptiness, death, walking around. And that, too, is what Castlevania has become. It too is mortal. It didn’t die with her, but something in it ceased to tick when Dracula came back without a soul in his chest, and it knows, bruised and burned, broken, and bleeding that that stake in his son’s hand is calling them both.
You knew all along, didn’t you? Castlevania asks the Room, and there is no malice, no blame, there.
The Room jerks its head up to look at Castlevania, then its eyes soften and it grimaces. I hoped I was wrong. The Room replies softly. I…I hoped there was another way.
Alucard’s eyes hold some sympathy, some semblance of the boy they once knew, in fact rather too much, for both threaten to pour out of those eyes and stop all this. He doesn’t want to. But it’s too late for anything else.
Vlad eyes hold some semblance of the man they once knew, so much so they threaten to make him something more than ruthless, something that doesn’t deserve to die. He closes them tilting his head. He knows what must be done.
There is no anger in either of their eyes, no determination, not even resolve. Not anymore. Adrian wants to free his father in the only way he can.
A step forward, and this step has purpose, that stake is silently growling, drooling at his side as he stalks his prey. Another. Another. Like the beating of all their hearts, and the atmosphere is so silent that everything can only break.
And Dracula will not stop him, will not fight back. Not this time. Like all those times he let his son win, because even though he was more skilled at at the game, it was more satisfying to see Adrian smile.
He is not here to talk things out.
Alucard barely raises that stake—
A second horrible cracking, this one in flesh.
This time he aimed higher.
Dracula’s mouth fills with blood, it seeps through the cracks in his teeth. The blood from his chest drains down the stake—the broken piece of childhood—down his son’s arm, collecting on his elbow, and when it hits the carpet a burn begins to appear on the Room’s chest.
A grunt as Vlad leans forward, the blood dripping from his mouth to the floor—another angry gash upon the Room’s skin, and the Room is trying to pretend it’s okay, but it can’t hide the hurt in its eyes.
It knew what had to be done…but the violence goes against its nature.
His eyes fill with blood, but not from undead purpose. The moon is still clean. These are those bloody tears, the ones from the song earlier today. He is free, relieved…and he will never see his son again.
“Son.”
To remember the living, and those who will live on without him.
And the word is spoken very differently than it was earlier today. Then it was solid and hollow. Now it is ghostly, and so full it could hold all the world. Their world, at least.
This Room, this Castle, that word. They are their whole world.
And it is an honor to have been a world to such terrible, wonderful creatures.
“Father.”
To honor the dying, and what they once were while alive.
The word on Adrian’s tongue is the same, though more solid, more alive, and thus able to hold more pain. A faltering breath, a cracking forgiveness.
The word means something now, at the end, where before they were nothing more than titles. They are pleading with each other. They are bleeding with each other.
They don’t want to do this. They shouldn’t have to. It is far too cruel.
Mothers shouldn’t have to bury their daughters, and sons shouldn’t have to kill their fathers. It’s an unspoken rule of life.
But Alucard can’t stop there. He must finish this. The fire, the resolve regurgitates in his eyes, and he pushes harder, like with the magma ball, and, no, this cracking is worse, because Castlevania can feel it in its own chest now.
Castlevania can hear its master’s heartbeat, can feel it with the drops of blood dripping and sizzling on the floor, and it thinks it might just be its own heartbeat.
Alucard does not hate his father: there is pain on his face. But he cannot stop there.
He must end this war. And unlike those given with kisses to his forehead once, this goodnight is not gentle. Not this time.
He inhales,
closes his eyes,
and breaks his father’s chest.
That stake goes right through Castlevania, and something in it involuntary breaks.
The control room never was Castlevania’s heart. The destruction of the die was merely the amputation of both its legs, still bleeding out. This is a breaking, not of skin or bone, but of something deeper. It thinks this might just be what it feels like to cry.
And something happens in the breaking. A change of some sort. Castlevania isn’t quite sure what—pain and disorientation are the best of friends—all it knows is that the world is smaller now, and hurts less.
And as Castlevania’s heart breaks, the reflection in the painting shatters, the reflection of the bond between father and son severing with a stake.
The world is so much smaller now.
Dracula’s head jerks back and, eyes now seeing something other than this world.
Dracula is no ordinary vampire, so he does not die like an ordinary vampire. Rather than catching on fire, there’s just smoke and ash; his face drains, turning from ghostly pale to a charcoal, black without flame, before it really is ash, sliding off his face, his cloak like sludge.
There’s no orange, just the red stain, and the grey his life was marred of. Ash and smoke. The true undeath.
Alucard turns his face away, still holding the stake in place.
Dracula lifts up a hand, a skeleton hand, and Alucard turns to see the skin sloughing off around his ring. Though his spirit may have left, it seems his body won’t quite let go of this world; with mere bones Dracula reaches out, takes a step forward, as if to touch his face, to hold his son one last time, to catch the last embrace he was not afforded.
Adrian has shed that resolve, now he can do nothing but take slow and careful steps back away from the monster he has no sword or shield to fight. He the child again, the one who belonged in this Room, shying away. He is Adrian, the one who didn’t like the stories that were bloody. And in all the years the boy spent in this Room, the sheer fear in Adrian’s eyes as he looks up to see his father’s rotted face, with mouth agape, leaning bloodlessly towards him—an image that Castlevania fears will haunt him the rest of his days—is matchless.
Hurried footsteps at the door. The Speaker and the Belmont, at last, have made it to the show, though it seems they paid for only the final song. They step upon the threshold to see the rotting corpse of the king stepping towards his fearful, tearful price.
The Belmont draws his sword, and Dracula’s deflated head—the one that seemed so alive moments earlier—lies in a bloody pool on the floor. And as the neck bleeds and the Belmont watches the body fall to the floor, he isn’t sure if that was enough.
And Castlevania can’t feel its heartbeat anymore.
“Alucard. Step back.” Sypha’s voice is tempered. “Let me finish this.”
He does, the steps cautious and small, sorrow in his gaze. He holds the unbroken bedpost till his hand shakes.
Castlevania never liked children, the crying, the leaving, the guests, or being controlled.
But it did like Lisa. It did like Adrian. And—be it a sting—it did like the sunlight. And always and forever, it loved its master. A reflection cannot help but adore the thing it reflects. A creation cannot help but be a worshipper of its creator. A dream cannot help but revere its dreamer.
“You want me to.”
Smiling a little at how true the words were, in the end, Castlevania found it quite liked the relief.
Castlevania puts a hand on the Room’s cheek, smiling, and its mouth tastes less like blood now. It looks at the moon—bleeding no longer—and blue calm fills every part of it.
“What a wonderful night to have a curse.”
The Room stares at the castle, a little horrified by the sentiment.
“What…What should I do?” The Room stutters, fear and realization coating its words, for it knows what’s happening.
Castlevania smiles wider than ever, and its voice sounds softer; “The children.”
“What?”
“You should let them in. Any child who needs refuge. Along with as many guests as your master wants to welcome. And you should cry. Cry when you need to—and let your master cry too. Stay, but let him leave, if he must, knowing he will always come back. Let yourself be controlled at times, because sometimes that which feels the least right is the most right.”
“I—I don’t understand.”
“Be warm. Let the light in every window. Be full, and most of all, live. Can you do that for me?”
The Room holds onto the Castle to keep it from falling, tears already descending its cheeks.
“I—I will try.”
The Speaker lets the flame loose to eat the pieces, to engulf its master’s body in the fire he stared at all along, as if yearning for its embrace, creating a spiral of flame upon the circle in the carpet.
They were right to assume it wasn’t over, at least, because there are shapes in the flames; from the smoke and ashes rises a tower of skulls, a legion of spirits, more than a one king’s soul should hold. They’re all crying havoc, war, blood and pain from a yesterday long forgotten. Their smoke snuffs out the flame, blight covering the Room, blocking out the stars that so enraptured them earlier. Sypha and the Belmont cover their faces, but Alucard is unsurprised and undaunted by the darkness lurking in his father’s chest, and faces it without looking away. This darkness bursts out the window like a flower bloom, flows like a river out into the hall—the one cracked and bruising—flying over the war Room where the war resides no longer, and escapes into the night, fluttering, spiraling around Castlevania’s parapets like butterflies.
On the charred floor, the only thing left of the king is his wedding ring.
Castlevania sees the vampire king as he once was; young and restless. The skeletons eating stakes. Castlevania remembers what it once was: lightning, books, gears, and a few lonely words. It sees the woman with the knife at the door. It watches them build the Room. It watches the boy grow up into this beautiful thing.
Castlevania always wondered if it could breathe. It was never quite sure. The Room always seemed to possess a kind of life it never had; a life that hid in the breath.
“Take good care of him for me,” Castlevania murmurs to the Room.
“Have I ever failed you before?” The Room tries to smile, wiping its eyes.
As the sun rises over the hills, a single ray filters in through Castlevania’s window, touching it, filling every part of it, and for once it doesn’t sting.
And with the last sigh of the last ghost circling the parapets, Castlevania exhales its last breath.
(I can also make a series for more mainstream stuff if people would be interested in that, though it’s a bit more ambiguous what to put there. I could also do one for cartoons/animated stuff, and/or one for webcomics but they’d be pretty sparse currently).
For the most part I find that most people follow me for one of those fandoms, but generally not all three. Or else they like my anime/manga fics but don’t really follow me for much else. So if you want to subscribe to me on Ao3, but only want to get notifications for one of those fandoms/genres please bookmark the one you’re interested in!!!
Also, if there’s any other groups you want me to make series of please let me know!!
Also don’t forget I actually have blogs for those three fandoms for you to get specific content/fics for them over here:
Castlevania Nocturne, Story theories based on the lines from the Teaser trailer.
Now as for the story beats from these lines….
I’ve been thinking over the lines that they chose for this trailer, and clearly not all of these are connected and with good reason, since they could be pulled from any place in the voice acting script. However that doesn’t mean these lines don’t hold some information about what’s going on in the story and where our story-lines can and will go. I’ve broken them into groups to make them easier to talk about.
“Don’t Listen to her Richter.”
“I have no choice.”
“There’s always a choice.”
As mentioned in the other post I made about the dialogue, the voice of the first person talking is an older male. Now again this can be pulled at any point in the story but the fact that the lines seem to indicate a familiarity with Richter and that they’re commanding him honestly leads me to think that these lines can be maybe from the same person but with different associations to a situation.
The first line indicates that the person talking is giving a command to Richter. To not listen, and who not to listen to is her, and we don’t know who “Her” is based on the line. But I have some theories of this line. When we look at it coupled to the second line by our first female voice in this trailer, we get a different picture. Our first female voice tells us that she has no choice, but no choice in what? The tone expresses a sense of calm, almost like this is their fate, they have to do this. It’s a polite voice, one that is direct and to the point.
Following this there is the same first man explaining that there’s always a choice, it’s in the same tone of voice as the first. Which makes me think the two are linked but is the woman in the middle also linked?
So going based on what I hear from this, and what I know of the games plot line, and again this is only guesses on my part there’s some theories that emerge from this.
First theory is that this is taking place early in the tv show, and namely the opening moments. The reason why comes down to story-lines in the game. Richter’s small choices, can change over how the story goes. If you take too long to rescue Annette for example she is turned into a vampire by Dracula. Your actions to find these women in the castle are a key factor in what ending you get and who you save and by making choices you change the outcome of the story to the true ending of the game.
In this case the male character is warning Richter that one always has a choice to what one is doing, thus the Don’t listen to her Richter line, however the I have no choice could also tie closely into the aspects of the time period. During the revolution many ended up giving up people in order to protect themselves or loved ones. It was a major plot point in the book the Scarlet Pimpernel, where in the lead’s love interest and wife, had to give up information to save the life of her brother. So there’s a conflict that’s going on here with the two characters.
The man is telling Richter not to listen to this woman, who claims she has no choice in what she is doing, and that she could choose to do something different. Now to me, because the woman is not using Richter’s name, and is so calm I do think this sequence of dialogue could be coming from the Black Mass moment at the start of the game.
In this we meet a sacrificial Maiden, who is a girl abducted from the village where this Mass is taking place. We have no idea of the time period between this and the attack of the village of Aljiba, which is where most of the story starts. In the game there’s little to know about this girl, only that she is killed to wake Dracula by her blood being poured into the coffin which she is laying on.
However given that they will have to expand the story, I feel like this could lead to a few moments which will come back to play a part in how Richter does things in the show. For example, Shaft is the leader of the Dracula cult, and in the game there’s not a lot known about the man. He is, for all aspects, a kind of generic second boss. But it’s clear that he can easily be from the group that Issac had created at the end of the first series. Meaning that Shaft could potentially be connected to that aspect of the story and give us more of what happened to Issac and what happened to his plans, if they decide to go with that.
As such the dialogue could be connected to the idea that Richter, plus whomever comes with him, could be called in to deal with a missing girl in another town. This again could be his father, or his mentor, or grandfather, the mentor choices could be Maria’s father or as I stated before Juste’s friend and former Rival Maxim. It makes me think that after doing some investigation the two of them run into the girl and she acts strange to them, causing the lines to be said before the events of her death happen. In this case the girl is under the sway of the cult and has rejected the offer for help. Thus leading Richter to be unable to save her, and allowing Shaft to complete the ritual.
Another option can be either before he goes into the castle or after he’s inside. In this instance the voice belongs to the Ferryman in the castle, and the Ferryman giving a warning to Richter about seeing a Succubus taking on the form of someone that he cares about, be that Annette, his mother, or some other person, and using her influence on him. Thus the lines about choices.
I honestly feel like this opening set of lines paints a very interesting picture of how this story is going to be playing out and in a way also sets up for the backdrop of the story. Choices need to be made, and claiming one has none in this world doesn’t allow for the protection of others. Unlike Trevor where it was a straight forward, we beat the bad guys, there’s probably going to be more political intrigue in here due to the whole Revolution. For example, if Richter is a noble, should he be considered part of the problem? Are the vampires helping those in power or are they working for the rebellion to undermine it, and what of those who are connected to the Hattian Revolution which was happening at the same time? Each choice Richter is going to make in the story will lead him down a different path, one which, I think Alucard may join him on for this story with Maria.
Also if this is Maria’s dad at the start and he is killed, then it adds to the drama of the relationships, namely the fact that Maria and Richter’s relationship relies on trust and understanding. One that grows over their time in the castle. By adding the connection between them of not only bloodlines through the Belmont clan, as the Renards are part of the Belmont Line and hunters in their own right, but through a tragedy of someone both respected and loved, then you add that level of understanding and why Maria becomes so determined later to help Richter. In addition, if Annette is Maria’s sister, then there’s that factor for family and something of a connection to Maria in having to deal with the possibility of killing her corrupted sister.
Because that is an option too, that this is the corrupted version of Annette, and that whomever is saying this to Richter is warning him not to trust Annette, or in this case she is telling him she had no choice but to allow herself to be turned to protect Maria from Shaft or some other reason.
Personally I think the idea of it being a mentor or father that starts us out in this story would fit with the idea of choices and sacrificing themselves to allow Richter to escape and save the lives of those from Dracula when he starts his shit.
“I’m sorry, Richter.”
This is our second Female voice, showing a connection to Richter, as she calls him by name. As I mentioned in the other post, the way the voice echoes a bit makes it seem that she is either in a room that is stone or has echo like set ups. So this person could be in a cell or it’s a memory. If this is Annette, what is she saying she’s sorry for? Her character is not someone who is weak or seems to be sorry for being taken. Rather she’s willing to kill herself over allowing herself to be turned into Dracula’s bride. Which means that she could be the voice of Richter’s mother or grandmother Lydie. If these are these women then that begs some questions. What are they saying they are sorry about? It’s clear that this is an intimate relationship given the tone of the voice. If this is his mother it’s an interesting line as what does this mean? Did she leave him?Die in some way or some other situation? Has she become a traitor to the revolution? Did she lose her head over something? I mean there’s a lot that could be going on here, including issues with the Belmont Clan and well, the previous curse brought on by Simon, even though he cleared that up.
Not to mention that if this is a memory moment and not the succubus playing a part, then it could be used as a growing moment for Richter and show us where he’s come from and why he’s doing the things he’s doing for the story. This could also be an illusion of some sort, as mentioned before they could bring in the Succubus as a means of adding onto the story and dragging in more of Symphony to connect the two more concretely. This could be a moment that is connected to the event above, where the Succubus is trying to get under Richter’s skin with a memory of some sort, and causing him to second guess his choices so far in the story. If this is the succubus, then this could be a set of testing to allow him to get closer to the end of his goals.
There’s also the chance that this could be one of the other women in the story. If this is Iris then maybe the “I’m sorry Richter” comes from being taken by the Vampires, or some other situation. The other option would be Tera who could feel bad about not being strong enough or that her choices led them to a situation that they have to fight their way out of. The line is vague but also something that clearly has deeper meaning given the tone and the feeling that the character has at this moment.
“He knows you kill Vampires.”
As I said before I really do think this is the voice of Maria Renard, and she’s talking to Richter either about someone, or with someone there. The” He”could be a few people, namely Shaft as a warning, to Richter that Shaft already knows what Richter can do and to watch out, also that because he knows she can help him because she is brave and smart and can beat out a lot of people, thus, Richter needs her for this mission. Or it could be referring to one of the other male characters that seem to be in this one. Which is very limited at this point in time, excluding Dracula himself. Other options could be Magnus the Incubus that wants to help Dracula, or the characters of Lyudmil, a vampire who used to work with Alucard and desires to get revenge for Lisa’s death and is helping Richter due to him being a way to get at Shaft.
The “He” could also be Alucard, though I’m not 100% sure it is his actor we’re hearing or if it’s him. But there is the option of Alucard starting to play his fake roles, which he later completes in the Sorrow Duology. If this is Alucard she’s talking about, it could be a moment when the three of them are meeting and Richter was trying to hide what he did in order to not worry Alucard, and Maria, clearly seeing Alucard can tell that the man is a Belmont, basically points out the fact that he already knows that Richter kills vampires, and it doesn’t matter if he tries to hide it right now.
They could also be taking from the Drama CD that was used, with the He being Cyril or the Vampire hunter Alexis who show up in the Drama CD but that’s more of a story connected to Alucard. In this case Cyril and Alexis are in the castle to try to find Lyudmil and Magnus and stop them from using the drug that they stole from Cyril. The “He” could be Cyril or Alexis and Maria points out that Alexis or Cyril knows Richter is a hunter. Or in this case, it could be the reverse, where Maria is explaining to the two hunters that Richter knows they kill vampires too.
“But I pray for you.”
I honestly think this is a line coming from one of the members of the church. During this time in France the Catholic Church was in a bit of a dilemma with how the new government felt about them. In this case it feels like Richter is meeting with possibly one of the Clergy members who has ties to Tera, a nun, and could be willing to help Richter out in some way. The line feels, the way it is delivered, that Richter might be going through some shit, and that the person saying it is genuinely worried about them. This is why I think this person might be the last person on the outside that Richter interacts with before going into the castle proper. It’s clearly someone with a thicker French accent. In this case, it could be that, as with Sypha’s band, there’s someone there to act as a companion till the castle then this male blesses him before he goes in. This might also be where Richter gets his cross weapon that he’s also known for, and which could be used as a way to make him different from Trevor and how the two act when dealing with people. In this case Richter is more friendly and willing to accept the man’s help, over Trevor who was a solo person until later.
“I’m so sorry.”
This is the hardest one for me to figure out. The voice is soft and British tone of voice. Because the voice sounds different than the other voices, and yet the same because it goes by so fast. So I can’t really place this one yet. Again it could be any of the two women, Iris or Tera, or it could be the Maiden at the start, since we don’t know who they are apologizing to, and the fact that Richter’s name is NOT used here at least says that this person may not be as familiar with him. May be, since this could be part of a longer line, it’s really hard to tell. To me this means that whoever this woman is, it’s someone who is feeling legitimately sorrowful for whatever happens. If it is say Tera, it could be apologizing to God for failing to uphold her vows or something, given how these vampires might treat the women there.
“So part of you has died.”
A number of comments I’ve seen about this voice is that it’s Alucard. If this is him, and he’s in one of his future disguise it could explain why the voice sounds different. The interesting thing about this line is the way it’s spoken, it’s not done as a question, but more of a statement of fact. The line seems to be part of a longer discussion, which becomes important in the story of Richter and Alucard.
So I’m about to spoil a part of the story regarding Symphony, but I’ll try to keep it as small as possible here for fans who have never played the games.
At a future time in the games Richter needs the help of Alucard after dealing with a curse of sorts. Because of this, Alucard grows to understand the younger Belmont and became a benefactor to him. Given that in SotN Alucard doesn’t wake up until he feels a change in things, this three hundred years after Trevor, Sypha, and Grant (or in this case Gerta). In this case, I’m not sure if they will have him sleeping. If they don’t and they have him wandering around, then having him join with Richter to find the girls will actually expand on what’s happening inside the castle as well as having someone other than Maria to talk to Richter and deal with the other monsters that come and cause trouble.
The line, as spoken by Alucard, could be when he’s connected to Richter and is listening to the young man’s pain. The line to me feels like he’s trying to express understanding of the situation, or explain it to Richter in his own way. There’s several parts this can be from, one of which I’m going to avoid like the plague right now.
The most likely though is at some point when Richter is at his lowest and feels like some part of him has died. This could be if they fail to save Annette, or if one of the other women dies, or if someone who is close to him ends up dead. Alucard probably is trying to comfort the man in his own way, afraid of getting close again due to what happened in regard to losing his friends and being alone again. He could be indicating to Richter he has to deal with that and push forward even if he doesn’t think he can. That only he can do this.
It could also be a moment when Richter doesn’t think he has the skills to do what he must, or that he has lost some of his innocence in this place. All of which could connect to the idea of Alucard trying to help him and connect to him. Which can build up their relationship, which could add more to the later story of how Alucard and Maria come to help Richter. Having them bond and become closer, for Richter and Alucard to connect to each other on a deeper level, is not a bad thing. Rather it expands on and makes for a stronger story and gives both men something to connect to on a personal level, along with Maria.
“We’re looking for Someone Called Belmont.”
So my guess is that this is probably a group of people from the Village of Aljiba who has come to find Richter for his help. It’s either that or the people who need help at the start with Shafts group. To me this sounds a lot like “Hero’s call” moment. As I said I suspect this could be Iris or a random person, but it’s clear that whoever this person is, they have a strong voice and ready to do their job getting the man to come help them.
Laughs
I’m pretty sure this is Shaft as in the game he laughs when Richter first fights him. It would make sense that they would want to have some nod to one of the big bads in the game and story. Having Shaft just laugh saves him for the trailer itself. Of note though this could be a new form of Dracula, since he plays a huge role in this game, and you need this man to do certain things to get to symphony.
“Richter!”
The voice sounds a bit like Sypha’s actress, but it is most likely Annette calling out to him at some point when she’s being taken away. It makes the most sense within the story context and fits her personality wellbeing someone who is kind, but willing to do whatever it takes to keep herself from being the reason he’s harmed, including killing herself. This being Annette trying to call to him even as shit is going down makes a lot of sense.
Annette, while in the game she doesn’t do a lot, is a strong woman who stands up to both Shaft and Dracula, and threatens death by her own hand before submitting to either of them. And, given my thoughts on the lines that are said in the Rondo of Blood game, it’s indicated that Dracula has interest in her not only because of her connection to Richter, but also because she does look like Lisa, thus Elisabetha, Dracula’s first wife, so she can possibly be seen as a reincarnation of the character and making it so Dracula may want her due to this.
Having her call out at the end of the trailer and him turning at that moment indicates their devotion to one another. All other character’s words don’t move him, but the moment that he hears Annette calling for him Richter reacts. This, to me, makes me think that their relationship will be a bigger role in the Rondo story of Nocturne.
I’m hoping when we get another trailer we can get more about the lines we hear, but also learn more about the characters that say them, and the story-line that we will be diving into. I’m super excited about how this story can play out, and I hope that it gets people to pick up the original games.
Castlevania Nocturne, Speculations on Voices and Characters from the Teaser trailer
Let’s talk about the dialogue in the Castlevania Nocturne teaser trailer!
So after listening to the lines in the trailer several times. I think I have some ideas of who these are. Now these are all theories of each character that’s speaking so bear with me on this as I’m pulling from a few sources in the Dracula X Chronicles Duology and the Nocturne Recollection’s CD. I’m going to start out with taking a stab at figuring out who the voices are to and then talking about their roles in the coming series. (Just so people know when dealing with the acronyms
Harmony of Dissonance = Harmony or HoD
Rondo of Blood = Rondo or RoB
Dracula X Chronicals = Dracula X or DXC
Symphony of the Night = Symphony or SotN
Nocturne of Recollections =Recollections or NoR
Okay we all good.)
Opening line:
Male 1…“Don’t Listen to her Richter.” “There’s always a choice.” The tone to me reminds me a bit of Trevor’s voice, gruff, but clearly this can’t be Trevor due to the time frame. So who is this man? Let’s look at the line. The person speaking is doing so as a warning. Their tone is serious and catching, telling Richter don’t listen to a female person. So that leads me to believe whomever this is, is an older person who knows Richter close enough to call him by his name. The tone is authoritative in nature, not suggesting but almost commanding Richter. This means this person is someone who Richter probably has a relationship with, possibility of a Mentor and Mentee.
There’s a limited number of Male characters in Rondo of Blood, which does match the fact that we have limited numbers of male actors. We haven’t been introduced to Juste or other Belmonts, so this could be a few people.
Who could this be? There’s a few options.
Option one: Old Juste Belmont or Richter’s father. Historically Juste was the Belmont before Richter and one of the few that could be alive during the same time as Richter himself. Juste Belmont was born in 1730, and was 18 when his story took place in 1748, which means that he could be alive in 1792 putting him at 62, which means there’s a chance he could be the first voice we hear. However the issue is that Juste is more of a noble type of character, so while this could be him, I think they would save him for another storyline or a flash back sort of thing to expand the Rondo of Blood storyline. The other choice here is Juste’s son, who would be Richter’s father and would be in his forties at the time of the story here, and it would be an easy option to open the story with. Having Richter go with his father on a quest could be a strong lead into the story of Richter and show a difference between him and Trevor in regard to their family relationship.
Now this would only be speculation at this point but if it is Richter’s father or Grandfather, then it could very well be the two were asked to take care of the issue regarding Shaft’s black Mass moment and could end up getting killed if this is from early on in the show. Leading to Richter having more of a reason to stop Shaft if he is behind the death of his father or grandfather. Or both.
Option two: Maria Renard’s father. Maria’s family is a line off the Belmont family, not sure who exactly the line hails from, but it might be connected to Simon due to him being the same city as Maria’s family early on. In the original game we learn that Maria’s family are also vampire hunters, with them using magic, much like Sypha, and having birds (in this case doves) as protectors, and the ability to summon creatures to fight for them. In Rondo Maria’s parents are both killed before she is captured by Shaft’s cult, and it could work far more easily to have Maria’s father working with Richter, training him, and then passing on by the hands of Shaft as part of the Black Mass.
Said Black Mass would be the one where Shaft managed to get a sacrificial maiden to be killed as a way of bringing back Dracula. It could be an easy way to explain Maria and connect her more deeply to Richter and add drama to their connection. If he, Richter, feels he failed Maria’s father, could he honestly face her and help her in the castle?
Another choice for a mentor and one that I think could fill in this role nicely is Maxim Kischine, fellow vampire hunter and friend and Rival of Juste Belmont. Maxim was in the past taken over by a split personality that was connected to the relics of Dracula. (I am way simplifying this as the story of Harmony of Dissonance is a bit more complex but game play is simple) and a wraith that basically made it where Maxim turned evil for a while, and Juste beat it out of him. Maxim could be the one training young Richter as he would be the same age as Juste and if Juste isn’t around, nor is Richter’s father, he could easily play this part in the story as someone that could teach and help Richter.
Personally I would be okay if they did this as it could add layers onto Richter and show that Maxim has changed from a rival to a person that can be relied on.
As with Richter’s father or grandfather or Maria’s dad, Maxim too could die early on to give some angst to our boy. Or they could keep him around as an ally helping Richter outside of the castle.
Option three: The Ferryman. This is a lesser role in the game, but one I think could play an expanded part in the story. In the game he offers you a choice of how to travel to reach two stages. In game if you use his boat he can offer you rewards. His role could be expanded as a connecting thread to various aspects of the original Castlevania show, either though having him be someone who explains the castle, or someone who tells Richter about what happened with Dracula, Issac, and Hector. His help could be useful to new viewers.
Female 1 “I have no choice”
This one is a soft calm voice, there is no emotion to it in the same way later lines are read. It’s way to direct and resolved about something. I can see this from several points in the show because of the way the line is set up. It’s supposed to be echoing the First male voice we hear because of what comes after. But that doesn’t mean the lines are actually connected. Because she doesn’t use Richter’s name, and unlike some later lines that show familiarity in the tone of voice. I’ve come to think that whomever this is, is not someone close to Richter, at first. Which rules out Annette, or his mother, or someone close. This leaves a few options as there are more women in Castlevania then there are men in Rondo of Blood. Of note this one has a British Accent.
Option one: (And the one I’m favoring here) the sacrificial maiden. In the opening sequence to RoB, DXC, and Dracula X, we see a woman laying on an alter surrounded by Shaft’s cult. She seems to be resting, and not scared or worried about it while she’s laying on Dracula’s coffin. What happens next is pretty gruesome, she’s stabbed through and her blood drips into Dracula’s coffin waking him up. There’s also the option to cut out her heart and explode it over the coffin as well. In the game it’s indicated she was abducted and sedated to do this. In the show though, it could be that she’s okay with doing this, thus the “I have no choice” line indicating that she’s willing to do this because there is no other option. Why that is, could be anything from kidnapped family, to a willingness to offer herself up to Dracula as a gift to wake him up?
Option two: One of the two other women taken, Iris or Tera. Now this one is harder as the line may not fit either of them. Or it could be from someplace else in the show. While Iris could be an option, her character in the game is surer of herself and less timid than Tera is. So in this case I’m leaning more for Terato be the voice if it is one of the women. The reason behind it could connect to what’s going on with the Church in 1792 and with her being a nun, there may be little choices for her to make, especially if she is in the show as she is in the game, seeing illusions, or delusions of god.
Option 3: Annette after being Corrupted by Dracula and she has to attack him. If they want to go with the sad ending then they could do that with her. But given how we need to get to Julius Belmont, and these two are engaged, I feel like it’s not going to be her in this case.
Option 4: (The other one I’m favoring). The Succubus, in Symphony Alucard comes across a moment where he sees Lisa, his mother, who tells him not to trust humans. In game this is an illusion that Alucard needs to beat. In the show, since the Succubus plays a role in the game later, it would be easy to have her become involved in Richter’s story as a means of weakening him pretending to be his mother or another person he trusts, telling him she had no choice and playing with the angst that he’s feeling.
Option 5 (Another one that I’m favoring here) Carmilla, in the game she is a lesser vampire with a servant Laura who tries to stop Richter. It wouldn’t be too hard for the story to imply that Shaft has brought Carmilla back from the dead and is using her to help him in his schemes. Or if not the Carmilla from the original show, then a new version who has taken on the name, or the role of Carmilla here.
Female 2 “I’m sorry, Richter.” There’s a strange accent to her voice. Given that we know that its set in France, the voice has a bit of that to it. Kind of like Sypha’s in the original. Now this character would have to know Richter in some capacity to use his name. This leaves us with a few options here, which is a good thing given the setting and the situation. Her tone is absolutely one of sadness and guilt. This is not a person who is happy at all and the fact that she whispers it makes me think she’s saying it softly. There’s also a bit of an echo, which makes me think she’s in a room or a cell or something. It could be the echo from the past as well. There is an intimate nature here that, like the first Male voice, this person knows Richter well enough to call him by his first name.
Option one: Richter’s mother or grandmother Lydie. It’s a hard one to guess on this, but if this is his mother or grandmother Lydie, then it could be explained in some ways. Such as learning his fate to become a vampire killer, or the fact that he didn’t know about his family. Given the echo and whisper, it could be that his mother or grandmother left him in the care of someone else, the Renard family or Maxim, and ran to cover her tracks after something bad happened. Given this is also French Revolution time, it could be that she is apologizing for the fall of the family or that she ratted someone out. It’s hard to say? Worst option is that she is being taken in for treason for helping the royal family.
Option two: One of the two women that Richter saves. Either Tera or Iris, both who would feel guilty for having him have to deal with saving them. Particularly Tera as she has these delusions of God during the time that she’s locked away in the game. If she does know him due to the church connections then it would make sense she’s saying this.
Option three: Succubusin the form of Richter’s mother or friend. This one is the least likely due to the tone of voice and the way the line is being said, but it is an option.
Female three … “He knows you kill Vampires” Hands down this is Maria Rendard. The tone is that of a young girl in her tweens or early teens. It very much matches the tone used in the Dracula X game, and it’s one of the few lines I find very interesting and a bit Mysterious. Anyone who has played Dracula X Chronicles can tell you that while Maria is serious in the game her wit is still there from the original and she’s a sharp girl. This line….is certainly hers. Where it’s coming from, not sure yet. But I have ideas.
Male two… “But I pray for you.” Sounds like a French voice. The line seems so random but, it might have ties to the start of the story, or rather when Richter heads for the Castle. In this case, since one of the women Captured is a Nun, it could be that, as with Sypha’s band, there’s someone there to act as a companion till the castle then this male blesses him before he goes in. Might also be where Richter gets his cross weapon that he’s also known for, which is kind of important to making him different than Trevor. It’s also key to note that whoever this is, it’s a line that has no association with the Maria one. It’s important to note that the voice is older, like the first man.
Option one: random priest, which would fit in with the Tera story. Since she is a member of the church and at the time those in the clergy in France were not looked highly upon by those in the Revolution, and pretty much anyone practicing it at this point would be seen as being against the revolution. So this man could be a priest in disguise.
Option two: Random character new to the show. Not much else to say here other than some new character and he’s there to pray for Richter. Possibly a villager or someone that gets him to the town of Aljiba being attacked.
Option three: Iris’s father the doctor. It could easily be him as well given that he’s indicated to be still alive by Iris in the game. And it’s something one might say to the young man leaving to save his daughter.
Female four…“I’m so sorry.” This one is the hardest because the voice sounds different than the other voices, and yet the same because it goes by so fast. So I can’t really place this one yet. Again it could be any of the two women, Iris or Tera, or it could be the Maiden at the start, since we don’t know who they are apologizing to, and the fact that Richter’s name is NOT used here at least says that this person may not be as familiar with him. Maybe, since this could be part of a longer line, it’s really hard to tell, it could be connected to the earlier I have no choice since both are British. .
Option one: The girl at the start. This could be a line from the sacrificial maiden. The tone is about right, but It’s hard to really fully tell due to it being whispered.
Option two: Annette, in game she calls out to him a few times, but in no case dose she say she’s sorry. The tone though is a lot like the first Female voice we hear. So both could be Annette. Thing is, what would she have to feel sorry for? Getting corrupted?
Option three: One of the two other women. Tera again seems the most likely given her personality. If it is Tera she’s more than likely saying she’s sorry to God for something. What that is I’m not sure.
Male three … “So Part of you has died” And here’s the question mark. The voice does sound like Alucard’s Netflix voice actor James Callis, but without his accent. So it might not be him, or if this is Alucard he could be playing the part of someone to help Richter, but in a different look. The tone is calm, almost indicating that they realize something and acknowledging something has happened.
Option One: Alucard.As I said above it sounds like his VA minus his accent. Unlike in the game, unless Alucard went to sleep again in the castle and we have to wake him up again, he’d still be walking around. This could mean he’s starting to use his other names to cover up who he is, which plays a bigger role in later games in his story. However…since his blonde look is key to how he looks in Symphony, I think he’s still going to look mostly like he did in season one, with additional aspects to him. If this is him of course.
Option two: Lyudmil, a character from RoN’s drama cd. Lyudmil was a young man from the town that Lisa was practicing her medicine in and he was one of the ones she saved. In the drama cd he admits to having tried to save her. Failing he feels bitter towards those that killed her and eventually found Adrian. The two became friends after talking about Lisa and Adrian making him see hating Humans was not something Lisa would have wanted. Lyudmil became his servant after that, not having any place to return to. At some point in time, Alucard got Lyudmil to go back to the village to see his family, when he arrived though it was wrecked by the whole revenge thing from Dracula. One of Dracula’s Minion’s Magnus brought Lyudmil to near death, forcing Adrian to turn him, eventually leading Alucard to start drinking the blood of others, and Lyudmil to becoming a demon that Magnus uses in his scheme.
The voice here very well could be his, as it would add more layers onto the story of Alucard and expand on him and what he was doing before Trevor, or after Trevor and co.
Option three: Magnus, an incubus servant of Dracula’s who wants to torment Alucard and ultimately take his place with his father. He enjoys harming others mentally and breaking them. Which could work in this story as Richter needs to be vulnerable later on in the story. Magnus is also someone who can be an opposite of Shaft and lead into the SotN story, as well as expand on Adrian’s past.
Option four and five: Cyril and Alexis. Two young vampire hunters, one who is a noble, the other who seems to have ties to the church. The two are longtime friends and work well together. Cyril is from the House of Marquis, who is a rival hunter clan to the Belmont clan. Cyril has a rather strong reason for wanting to hunt down the vampire who killed his sister, and Alexis is there to keep him from falling down a dark hole. Either of these two could say this line.
Female five…”We’re looking for Someone Called Belmont.” Now this one I’m guessing might be the hero’s call. I’m not sure who this character is, but it could be Iris, since she’s the daughter of a doctor and may have gone to get help, or this could be Maria’s mother, or it might be Annette, changing up the relationship some rather than having her be his fiancée this early in the story. I do feel that whoever this is, they are someone that is pulling Richter to the town of Aljiba. Namely because the last Belmont that came there was looking for a way to break a curse, that being Simon, and he also saved and protected the town until Shaft did his black mass and screwed everything up.
Simon went to the town of Aljiba to break his curse. Annette is from this town. One thing about the tone is that it’s a more authority voice, so I’m also thinking Iristoo, which could expand her role in the story and having her be the reason for Richter coming to town. Making this voice be Iris and having her kidnapped from Richter could connect the women to him in a way that makes them friends and gives him stronger motivation to save all four of them.
Male Four…“The laugh”Shaft or Dracula -This one is a given. Either that’s Shaft laughing or Dracula laughing. But I bet it’s Shaft because they would want to Save Dracula up given the ending we had in the other series. It could also be Magnus, but feels more like a Shaft laugh, so I think it’s him.
Female Six…”Richter!” The voice sounds a bit like Sypha’s actress, but it is most likely Annette calling out to him at some point when she’s being taken away. It makes the most sense within the story context and fits her personality well being someone who is kind, but willing to do whatever it takes to keep herself from being the reason he’s harmed, including killing herself.
My guess is that this is Annette who calls out to him when she gets taken by Shaft.
Took a while for this one. Working on a post about thoughts on where the story of Castlevania Nocturne can go given the ending of the last series and the many moving parts of this stories arc given it has three major games connected to it, and one drama cd that expanded on the lore of Alucard. So this should be fun.
Buckle up boys and girls, we’re about to dive head first into some theories around Castlevania Nocturne and Dracula X. Now I know that the series will not be a one to one of the game, but for those who have never seen or played this game before, a short summary of events of Dracula X Chronicles, or Castlevania: Dracula X, or Rondo of Blood as it was known before the Remake.
Richter Belmont, the latest in the Belmont family line, is a vampire hunter who is being taunted by Death as he hurries to the town of Aljiba where his fiancée Anette resides. Turns out the town is being attacked and a number of the citizens are as good as dead. Prior to this point in time, the dark priest Shaft gathered followers who wanted to see Dracula rise again and brought him back though the power of the sacrifice of a human maiden. When he gets there all hell has broken loose and he sees Annette being kidnapped by Shaft, who then takes Annette to Dracula’s castle aka Castlevania. Richter gives chase learning that there are three other young women captured. After going through the castle the vampire hunter discovers Maria Renard, a young girl who manifests amazing powers of Magic and can summon things, including a dragon. Her family were also hunters, and used birds as protectors. With Maria as his ally Richter hurries off to find and save Annette and the missing nun Tera, and the doctor’s daughter Iris and stop Dracula once and for all.
I’m holding off talking about the ending because it became a huge plot point in Symphony of the Night. But I would not be surprised if the ending bleeds into two more seasons making Nocturne probably 4 seasons in total.
Watching the trailer I noticed a number of things. As noted by @ruiniel, in their post Feral, Richter has the same pose as the prologue manga Symphony of the night indicating, at least, that we’re going to get maybe more connections to the game this time around since Rondo of Blood is an important part to the follow up game Symphony of the Night, and Richter is, after Simon, one of the most popular and might I add powerful members of the Belmont Clan. I won’t get into the Pose too much as that could be a spoiler for late in the season, but it’s definitely worth noting.
So what can we glean from just the visual parts of this trailer. Well a lot, which is really great if you’re a fan of the game and know a bit or a lot of the layout and storyline of Rondo. On the other hand it’s keeping it mysterious for new fans. So just a warning and a heads up, if you want to go in blind to Nocturne in this case, and want no info about it, jump out now because I’m going to be dropping some spoilers in here. At least one big one that could happen, but it’s part of an alternative ending, so I don’t know if it would happen or not.
So you have been warned.
Right then. Let’s get into the thick of it. The very first shot we see is that of Richter on a paved street near what looks like a dock. There’s a ship in the background, meaning he’s near the waterfront. There’s also street lamps, and we have a given date and location. France 1792. Now this is important because this is the setting of the French Revolution, and also a key time in that it borders on the end of the American Revolution and the start of the Victorian era which will be coming up and is the setting for the Novel Dracula, which also is part of the Castlevania timeline. Yup Dracula is part of the story of the Belmonts, and is connected via the character Quincy Morris, whose family is one of the lines of the Belmont Clan.
So why is the ship in the background important? Well it can indicate a few things. First in the PSP game, which the designs of Ayami Kojima from Dracula X Chronicles are clearly being the influence for this season(s?), Richter during a part of the game enters a ghost ship as part of his path to find his fiancée Annette. It should be indicated that the ship is an alternative path to getting to Annette, so you have to beat a version of Carmilla (the vampire from the games not the show) to unlock this ship. If this is a nod to that. I have to wonder if it’s an indication that we’re going to see all the levels, thus making the game longer or maybe splitting them between Maria and Richter.
The other option in this case is the fact that in the animated series the castle seems to move but might not move too far. So it could be that instead of a Ferryman as we have in the game who shuffles along Richter in the castle, he may be the owner of a ship that brings Richter to Castlevania. It’s an option to keep things simple. Though we might get the Ferryman anyway as the number of men in the story is very limited.
It could also be a nod to the ship that Dracula used in the original Stoker novel to travel from his home in Transylvania to England. You can see the wheel of the ship and it matches its description minus one dead captain. The indication here is to feel gothic horror in this case and I think the image does that well. Richter is living in a world where modern tech of the period, gas lights for example, is a thing and it’s clear from the image that either the boat is either in dock or it’s been left to the current and is moving it. There’s no sails up, meaning it’s not moving by wind. In the animation it’s not moving at all, so likely it’s docked for some reason. Also there’s a building ahead, indicating that this is a more fully developed town then what Trevor was dealing with in the original.
The town in the game was Aljiba, Annette’s home town and one that has a deeper connection to Richter. So a small warning for the games Castlevania: Belmont’s Revenge, Simon’s Quest and the original Castlevania game.
So Simon is the descendant of Christopher and Soleil Belmont, who dealt with the count one hundred years after Trevor and Simon fights Dracula twice one hundred years after Christopher. Soleil Belmont and Simon both have a direct connection to Richter in that both had issues with Dracula and a curse. Again I can’t spoil too much in regard to Richter as some might want a surprise for Symphony, but in the case of both Soleil and Simon the curse was lifted. Now for Simon he had to travel to this very town to find answers that he was seeking, so the Belmont clan has direct ties to the town of Aljiba, which is where Rondo of Blood’s story starts and where Annette, Maria and the other two ladies are from originally.
So with that in mind if we are going into the town of Aljiba, we need to note that there’s a lot of history there for Richtor to deal with, amongst that history is Simon’s tale. And it certainly will draw parallels to not only Simon, Soleil and Richter, but also the changing history of the world at the time that this is taking place.
Additionally@demigoddessqueens points out in the comparison post on Trevor’s back and Richter’s back as seen here the fact that Richter is still wearing the family Templar cross as Leon once did. Aka in this version, the family crest. This to me indicates that the family line of vampire hunting under the same symbol as Leon (Knights for the crusades) fought under shows there’s still connection to the whole past issues with Dracula and that hasn’t changed as of yet.
As mentioned earlier the pose of Richter can have some significance to his future. While I’m going to try to not spoil too much for new fans of Symphony, one aspect of the pose that’s important is the way he is looking ahead and holding himself. Which also plays a part in how he’s going to appear later on in the series, if they do alter his looks. We can tell Richter is watching something or looking at the ship ahead of him. He’s gripping the whip showing that he’s upset about something. This isn’t a man that is happy, as we see in his face moments later. He’s more stoic than Trevor, more serious. So to me this at least indicates either this is at the start of the story, before the town that he goes to falls to ruin, or this is before the Black Mass happens, which is a good indicator of things to come. We’ll get more into that later and more in the dialogue post I plan on making.
What caught my is the differences in the Vampire Killer Whip, and yes for now I’m calling it that as the other one is the Morning Star and not the Vampire Killer. Trevor’s Vampire Killer and Richter’s Vampire Killer has the same marking on the base of the whip, the cross with the embellishments or crest on it. However whereas Trevor’s is simple and is just the crest,
Richter’s now has a gold overlay around the base with either Flowers or two daggers crossing at the top part of the base handle above the crest. Further is the fact that Trevor only has a simple gold band at the top of the handle before the whip starts, Richter on the other hand has another band that curves around a pearl set in the middle of it, with possible flowers at the base of the band.
Additional to all of this there are, on my count: two seen pearls near the base (possibly a third hidden by Richter’s fingers) then one in the center of the handle, and again three at the top, one in the center of the band at the top of the handle and two on the sides below it. This tells me that at this point the Belmont’s have some form of money, Richter isn’t just a poor traveler like Trevor was, he’s a well off noble, and, given his clothing, and it shows that the Belmont’s apparently connected back to their more well off historical roots.
Another important thing about the trailer that we have, is that Richter is being approached from behind, meaning that someone is coming up to him and we’re zooming in as the person gets near. It’s when we get close that he turns and we see his face. There’s a few important things about him. Let’s start with the face. A number of people have noticed that Richter has “Sypha’s eyes”, however I contest that Richter has Sypha’s face, and jaw line more, and has Trevor’s blue eyes. (Of note, All Belmonts have been retconned to have blue eyes to match with Leon Belmont.) Richter clearly has the Belmont Blue, and it’s intense, showing that he’s not a man to be treated lightly.
So what can this trailer tell us about what’s going on, what could be happening and where the story is going?
I honestly think this sequence we’re getting can be two scenes, possibly a third if they want to expand the past to explain Annette and Richter a bit more.
Option one: The Prologue to Rondo of Blood or Dracula X or Dracula X Chronicles. In the start of the story we are treated to a long summary of how peaceful things are and then serious shit happens:
A long time ago, people lived in peace and harmony. No one noticed the looming shadow among them.
Their senses clouded in darkness, evil ate away at their souls. Driven by madness they made a pack with the devil..
In the late hour they came together to call the powers of darkness with their sinful blood - to save them from their mortal existance, expecting the dawning of a new world!
After one hundred years evil was once again made flesh. An immortal creature of the night, it can assume the shape of a wolf, a bat or fog. Feasting on the blood of humans.
Dracula, lord of darkness, master of the devil’s castle, walks among us.
This sequence leads into the Black Mass lead by Shaft. In the game we watch as a girl is laid on a table in a church and killed by a group led by Shaft to resurrect Dracula. Given we’re going to need to expand on things. I imagine we might get this opening with a change, where in Richter has come to town to try to help save a missing girl, and ultimately fails in this case. Given that, in the Dracula X Chronicles, Maria mentions her dead parents, it could easily be changed that Maria’s father is helping Richter and is killed during this Black Mass to protect his younger mentor. So this could be the meeting of the two in the town where this is taking place in.
Another option that fits the early part of the story is that this is the first meeting of Annette to Richter who happens to be waiting for someone and he protects her from being harmed. This could be used as a means of expanding on Richter and Annette’s relationship and introducing him to the town of Aljiba. One could have her being in town, might not be Aljiba and looking for perhaps Maria, or because her father is Richter’s mentor, or some other reason, and thus the two meet when they lock eyes and she rushes to him to get away from someone. This would not indicate someone weak, but rather that she might be in over her head and may have made a mistake leading to her getting away from others.
Option two could be a later sequence of Richter deciding to go travel to Aljiba after being found by the woman who mentions looking for a Belmont in the dialogue. We know from the trailer that someone is looking for a Belmont, which could indicate that the town of Aljiba is in danger at this point and that Richter has decided to head out to stop Shaft and rescue the four women that have been captured by Shaft as gifts for Dracula. The ship being in the background indicates travels to happen, so this could be him meeting others who are going to be going with him. This also could be a disguised Alucard coming to meet him and travel with him, but I don’t think he’d meet Alucard till later, more on that in the dialogue post I’m working on. .
It’s hard to tell but the image reminds me a lot of events in the book Dracula and the arrival of Dracula to the town of London, and both Morris, Stewart and Harker realizing they need to confront the count. Whatever this moment is, I feel like there’s enough clues here that indicate that this story is going to have some very gothic feels to it verse the more medieval setting in the first series. What’s going to be interesting is if there’s any call back to the history of France, namely the start of the revolution of France, the death of some of those in Louis’s court, and more importantly, the start of the French assembly. Connecting these two the situation in the castle, namely the fall of the church which would be connected to Tera who is a nun, and Iris being the daughter of a doctor, thus the raising of science, and how it was being used during this time, along with Shaft’s choice to re raise Dracula and his comment in Rondo of blood to Annette that he could lead the world into their desires, this could all be a very interesting deeper look into the world of Nocturne.
Adding into that, the name Nocturne comes from a future story that happens after Symphony of the night, Nocturne of Recollections. This could be connected to the CD drama which introduces several elements into Alucard’s history and could, potentially, play a part in this season and the sequel, which I have no doubt will be either called Symphony of the Night, or Recollections, or just keep the Nocturne title.
All in all I’m excited to see how our next trailer pans out. And yes I was screaming when I saw it show up.
After finishing the Castlevania series and hearing that they’re planning to adapt my favorite Castlevania game, Symphony of the Night, I absolutely had to draw Alucard <3
