[center][hr] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/240101/fd398bfa06f33705141ffd0d145eb3ba.png[/img] [hr] [h3][i]Castle Dracula - Observatory - Somewhere in Transylvania[/i][/h3][/center] [hr] [color=fff200]"What a mess..."[/color] Alucard sighed as he surveyed the damage done to the observatory...[i]his[/i] observatory now that he was the ruler of Castle Dracula, the prize...he supposed...for slaying the vampire in cold blood, a prospect that hadn't sat well with him ever since. Nearly all of the castle was ransacked from their brutal battle. Not a single room was spared from the two as they tussled and smashed through every wall and every floor. Finally, the battle came to its bloody conclusion when Alucard...did the unthinkable...staking Dracula through the heart. In that brief moment, as the vampire...no...the man who was his father turned to dust, Alucard witnessed Dracula stumbling towards him, his arms outstretched. It was not in a threatening manner, at least that's what the dhampir assumed. Rather, it was as though the man was trying to embrace him one last time. Alucard recalled his last words, [color=ed1c24]"My boy... I'm killing our boy, Lisa... The greatest gift you have ever given me...and I'm killing him... I must already be dead..."[/color] Alucard shook the memories from his head and resumed his inspection. The great mirror that stood in the middle of the grand, circular room, which Dracula used to peer out into the world beyond the cold, stone walls, was shattered into a million pieces. Shards laid upon the ground, glistening like stars amidst the warm glow of the early morning sun pouring through the gaping hole above. Alucard gingerly picked up one of the shards and clutched it in his bare hand. A small trickle of blood seeped from his palm and fell, the dhampir closing his golden eyes for a second. Why...he thought to himself, surrounded by nothing but the grim silence of the castle. Why did it have to come to this? His father was dead, so was his mother, and now...the only two souls he had for companionship, Trevor and Sypha,...had left him. Alucard was all alone. With a gruff exhale, he cast the shard away and turned swiftly on his heels, his long black cloak billowing behind him. Alas, as he made his first strides out of the room, something caught his attention. Alucard paused, slowly rotating his head to peek over his broad shoulder. The shard he had cast down in angst, still wet with his viscous blood, had a peculiar glow to it. Alucard sauntered back into the room and picked up the shard again, this time observing it curiously. [color=fff200]"Hmm?"[/color] The shard began to glow brighter at his touch. [color=fff200]"What the...?"[/color] Alucard's eyebrow raised. Before the dhampir could react, the room was engulfed in a blinding white flash. Alucard felt his body pulled away, as if through some kind of portal. Just as quickly as it happened, it was over. Alucard felt his feet land on solid ground. He looked up and beheld his new, unfamiliar surroundings. [hr] [hr] [center][h3]Ruined Church - Whereabouts Unknown[/h3][/center] [color=fff200]"What is this place?"[/color] Alucard pondered as he scanned about. His vision, slightly blurry from the quick flash, gradually adjusted, funny, abstract shapes coming together in crystal clarity. A large effigy of a cross towered over his head, suspended to a crumbling stone wall. Grand panes of what were once beautiful stained glass windows were left smashed and barren. The great, vaulted ceiling above his head had a wide gash through it, rain pouring down in thick drops upon his head. Flanking Alucard on both sides were rows of pews that were splintered, hymnals and tomes of holy text left tarnished on the ground, their leatherbound covers weathered with age, a few loose pages here and there fluttering about. [color=fff200]"Hmm...some sort of church."[/color] Alucard gathered from his observations. Normally, a church or any holy ground would spell death for one of vampiric blood. Alas, Alucard was not affected in the least by humans and their silly superstitions. Still, he was troubled. Somehow, that one solitary shard of his father's mirror transported him here. What sort of magic was this? As he stepped forward, his foot sloshed in a puddle of liquid. At first, Alucard thought it was just from the rain pouring down overhead, but a familiar scent caught his nostrils and made him pause. He glanced at the floor. [color=fff200]"Blood?"[/color] His brow furrowed, his hand instinctively reaching for the hilt of his sword. The dhampir cast a weary glance around. There were no bodies, nothing really to indicate a struggle except for the damage done to the inner sanctuary by something...or someone for that matter. Alucard continued to investigate. That's when he noticed a trail of blood leaving from the bottom of the pulpit and out the wide open door. [color=fff200]"There must be a survivor."[/color] Alucard thought to himself before resting his hand at ease, though he still kept up his guard. This place was alien to him at best. Following the blood trail, he stepped out into the open air. The skies above were a dull cast of dismal grays, fat drops of rain pouring down heavily in sheets. Thunder rumbled in the distance as lightning crashed overhead illuminating briefly the surrounding wilderness. Alucard slowly trod forward, keeping a vigilant eye out for danger. Should whoever attacked this church return, he would be ready to strike them down. A chilling wind diced through his flesh and tore at his black cloak. Alucard pulled the drawstring tighter and resumed his steady pace. Then, he saw it. Black clouds of smoke billowed over the treetops, like a blot of ink splashed against the drab canvas of the tumultuous sky. Alucard's nostrils tinged with yet another familiar odor, the acrid stench causing the dhampir to grimace. It was a smell...of death. Without another thought, he sprung off his heels in a dead sprint, tearing through the forest with a speed that far outmatched any mortal being. Trees had passed him in blurring shapes ever so rapidly until he broke through to the other side, gazing out over the wide expanse of land and unto the ruined village. [color=fff200]"Oh no!"[/color] Alucard halted in his tracks. Bodies lied strewn about the ground, some picked on by carrion crows. All the houses and buildings were demolished, still smoldering from fires that had since died out due to the rain. Blood was spattered across their marred surfaces and pooled at the feet of the dhampir as he strode carefully through the front gate. A bell in a nearby chapel's belfry tolled mournfully, amidst the cackles and caws of the swarming crows and the subtle rumble of thunder in the distance. [color=fff200]"What happened to this place?"[/color] Said Alucard aloud, his eyes taking in every grisly detail of the horror surrounding him. He was no stranger at all to the sight of death, yet the whole place gave Alucard an unsettling vibe. There were women and children among the dead, a wholesale slaughter. Nothing of the sort had indicated a battle. There were no weapons left lying around, no signs of combat. This...was a massacre. [color=fff200]"I doubt anyone could have survived this."[/color] [i]"Hello? Is anyone here? Where am I?"[/i] [color=fff200]"What?!"[/color] Alucard tensed as soon as he heard the girl crying out. So someone did survive after all, he thought. He wasted no time racing through the village, yet being careful not to step on the corpses, following the girl's voice as it echoed through the dead air. [color=fff200]"Who's there? Show yourself!"[/color] He called. His hand reached for his sword. What if this was a trap set by the enemy? What if they were using one of the survivors to draw him in for an ambush? Alucard couldn't afford to let his guard down once, not in a strange...and seemingly unforgiving place such as this. Tightening his grip on the hilt, he prepared himself to draw at the slightest instance of danger. [color=fff200]"Come forth now, and I won't cut you down where you stand!"[/color] He growled. [@VitaVitaAR]