Chapter Text
June 2037 ~ Aokigahara Jukai
You know, ole Yoko Belnades could name one super sexy sorceress who was getting real sick and tired of traipsing around this muggy Murder-Suicide Forest. The noble cause behind her suffering hardly made it any less aggravating to tip toe along after a Dhampyre too busy with his nose to the ground to make good conversation, especially with Julius in such an irate state her grumpy Uncle was no fun either. Logic dictated they should start the search by the caverns entrance, which they did, and for a while it seemed like Alucard had the witch's scent. Dhampyre nose led them into dense foliage, some pathways so thickly overgrown the party had been reduced to crawling on their bellies to work through, resulting in countless splinters and abrasions. Nothing serious, of course, it was just another minor annoyance. Like the blisters growing on the back heel tendons from her new boots or the sweat running down her spine and right into her ass crack. Just annoying. Deeper still into the forest Alucard's nose led them, only now the mossy roots of the looming trees seemed to stretch out, more distance between each gnarled trunk. A clearing in the woods up ahead maybe?
She was forced to stop dead in her track when the Dhampyre snapped back, nearly taking her out out of shear obliviousness to anything other than the scent trail he was following. He didn't even respond to her snarky 'Excuse you', instead doubling and tripling back, head turning in sharp directions. As she was about to ask if he'd lost the trail she noticed him tilting his head from side to side slowly, finally tucking his long curled locks behind long pointy ears. Yoko watched those silly little elf ears she almost always bloody forgot he had with a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Sure she remembered occasionally he was secretly Legolas, but how had she never before realized those ridiculous ears actually moved? Pointed shells twitched, turning like a dog or rabbit's as they followed some distant sound only he could pick up. Whatever he was hearing was certainly was getting him worked up, she concluded, watching her white-haired stud slink around on all fours following both smell and sound. She wondered why he didn't just morph into a wolf and be done with it. He was three fourths of the way there as is.
To her side Julius readied his weapon, the veteran hunter as surprised as she that the whip's famous demon sensing aura remained dormant. Clearly something was agitating the Dhampyre, but it wasn't hellspawn. Perhaps they were close to the witch? Would the whip shine for a human if Julius thought her evil enough? Not wanting to give another magickal user a heads up by channelling any of her own spells, Yoko drew in closer to Julius, hoping he'd buy her the time to cast a spell if the night called for it. Alucard was growing jerkier and more animalistic by the second, which given what had happened earlier that the day at the hospital gave her some reasonable concerns, so she gave the Dhampyre a wide berth as he peered up into the trees for the source of what he was sensing.
“Do you see or feel anything?” She whispered to the old hunter.
“I don't sense a thing. But that doesn't mean he doesn't.”
There was something she could agree with, given how not only had the Dhampyre's extrasensory talents led them to this impossibly remote location, but it seemed like he had zeroed in on the very tree that held the creature he'd been hunting. Yellow eyes turned to crimson as he circled a large overgrown tangle of a tree, fixed on a point high up in the shadows that neither human could make out from the surrounding murk, his fangs openly bared and claws at the ready. So it seemed like Dhampyres on the hunt favoured their home-grown natural weapons over something much safer and with better range like, let's say for fun, the fricken' silver Zweihänder conveniently sheathed at his side. The Zweihänder he used like a one-handed sword, leaving him that apparently oh-so-satisfying clawing hand to get down and personal with the tree monster. But whatever. She was still miffed at him so let him act like an idiot.
As for the tree monster, it likely wasn't their witch, so why were they even in this hollow chasing this thing down? Maybe it was just chilling in the trees until they bumbled along into it's habitat? She asked just that, suggesting maybe Julius could get the Dhampyre back on the scent trail of who they were actually out here to hunt, but the eerily still hunter shushed her.
“My gut tells me this is a lead.” Julius explained as an afterthought apology for being snippy.
“All right, boss.” She conceded, folding her arms with a huff.
Eyes still watching the shadows, Alucard circled much slower, one hand pushing against every nearby sapling he passed, testing for... something. Another three passes later he seemed to have settled on one particular young tree, and she watched him make several calculations in his head, always making sure to not lose sight of the tree monster. When it happened, it was a blink and you'd miss it affair. The Dhampyre leaped, feet landing high along the spry sapling, the weight of a six foot five killing machine bending it to the brink of snapping before the supple wood bounced back, essentially sling-shotting their companion both comically and effectively into the shadowy abyss above.
The tree monster let out a strangled sound, both shock and fear in the tone, and while she could hear it, and see the shaking leaves from tree to tree on it's path to escape, she could not for the life of her make out exactly what it was. It was like the light was bending around and away from it's shape, making it appear as if the leaves and bark and night sky were distorting. An excellent disguise of some kind, but not one made by magickal means. She did think she saw it glide along the trees like a flying squirrel, though, moving quick enough that they'd lose sight of it before long. The forest was just too dense and too dark to properly give chase to a creature that seemed perfectly adapted to the environment.
Obviously Alucard did not share her opinion. With a frustrated snarl he shifted into a wolf form and took off after it, leaving Julius and herself little choice but to hustle after them. It was treacherous footing at first but the more they ran the more spaced out the forest grew. Up ahead was a wide opening, though with the fog and overcast weather she couldn't quite make out what was there yet. Down the treeline Alucard was gaining ground on the mysterious creature, his form shifting into that of a large bat to intercept the tree monster as it soared between two trees, changing back into his Dhampyre shape at the last second to seize hold of it. For a second it seemed like the tactic had worked, but then she could see the creature secured to a tree trunk via it's presumable clawed feet, the now visible inky black humanoid shape dangling the Dhampyre by one of it's wings.
As Julius and she grew closer, she could see Alucard's forearm appeared to be trapped through the creature's black wing. Even this did not stop the Dhampyre on the hunt, as he changed form yet again into a misty body that surrounded the startled creature, re-materializing right upon it. His weight and the creature's surprise worked perfectly, causing it to lose it's foothold and sending them both careening towards the ground below, where Alucard made sure to pin his prey victoriously. The creature let out such a whimpering sound, and to be honest, Yoko was starting to feel bad for it. It hadn't once attacked in the entire chase. Rather then rush and risk breaking her neck she slowed to a trot, as the tree monster was captured, in hopes of catching her breath only to go ahead lose it just a moment later.
For some reason the Dhampyre backed off, letting the creature sit up, and then even going so far as to fall back on his arse and scoot back until he hit the nearest trunk. Now it was the inky black humanoid that advanced, the silhouette of it's slinky movements reminding Yoko of a porn actress crawling seductively towards the pizza delivery man she didn't have enough money to tip. Judging by how transfixed Alucard was, maybe she wasn't too far off from the mark. Then found she too was kind of brought to a halt under it's strange non-magickal in origin spell. Julius as well came to a halt by her side, shaking his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. They really should help Alucard out, she knew, but she stood there and watched the creature crawl up his body until it straddled him, the black membrane coating it's form peeling back to reveal it's face, although from her angle she couldn't make out it's features. The membrane receded further, long hair a colour she couldn't properly make out in such poor lighting spilling out, draping against the Dhampyre's chest as it leaned over him seductively.
She watched Alucard reach out and stroke it's tresses only to be on the receiving end of such attentions soon after. Slowly, the monster and demon explored one another via touch more than observation, both seeming transfixed with one another. The lithe creature's membrane receded even further, exposing pallid flesh in a V shaped pattern that dipped dangerously low in the front, and when Alucard reached out more or less to cop a feel she almost choked on her tongue. The creature watched him explore it's flesh, tilting it's head from side to side in an hypnotic fashion, before it pushed him back against the tree and sealed the strange encounter with a rather passionate kiss. For a moment she was too busy unswallowing her tongue to realize that the peculiar hold on her was dissipating, but Julius, of course, was well ahead of her, winding his still dormant whip up for the strike that would restrain this enigma of a lifeform getting hot and heavy with the bloodhound for the evening.
It was too bad for Julius the strange beast was quite wily. It scrambled over Alucard and took shelter behind the tree trunk just in time for the Vampyre Killer to lash the poor Dhampyre for the second time that day.
“Motherfucker!” Alucard cried out, jumping to his feet.
You better believe Yoko was too busy laughing hysterically to see which direction the crafty creature took off, but could they really blame her? Sure, she'd heard Alucard curse before, but it was always an after the fact dry single expletive affair, and never so petulant. She could practically the hear the unspoken 'Come on, man!' that should have followed his outburst.
“Sorry, buddy.” Julius offered, attention already returned to the scampering shade fleeing the scene.
“Whatever that is, I want it.” Alucard growled possessively, morphing back into a wolf to continue the chase.
So of course here they all were running again, though she thankfully no longer had to worry about breaking her face on any tree roots. The opening in the misty distance seemed to be a lake, which was strange... She wasn't an expert of Japanese geography by any stretch but Yoko was pretty sure there wasn't supposed to be a lake in the Murder-Suicide Forest. Either way, that didn't stop the trio from making a beeline to the water's edge, Alucard shifting back into a man and stripping his attire along the final stretch, never slowing his pace even to tug free his boots. When the inky tree monster dove into the depths of the lake, the half naked, barefoot Dhampyre followed right after. Yoko on the other hand skid along the mud to a stop, as she hadn't signed up for swimming tonight. Julius paced along the perimeter of the smallish body of water, and they waited... for something. Anything. The surface of the lake was still, save the few ripples from the gentle lapping at the round islets dotted along it's surface.
Just as she began to wonder if Dhampyre's needed to breathe oxygen like normal people, their Moroi partner in crime surfaced, pulling himself up along the nearest islet only to crouch pensively, searching the waters. Even from a distance she could see how tense Alucard was. Frustration just radiated off of him.
“Did it surface?” He called out to nobody specific.
“No. We were right behind you. It dived, you dived. But you are the only one who came back.” Julius replied.
“It has to come up for air.” Alucard insisted before he begun to think out loud. “I kept swimming deeper and deeper but I never hit the bottom. I lost sight of it as well..." Turning his attention back the black depths, his timbre lowered to a hiss. "Where did you go, you awful coquettish tease?”
“Maybe it's a filled sinkhole?” Yoko wondered out loud as well, because she would have died if she tackled that slut-shaming comment right then. Who knew coquette was even in Alucard's vocabulary? “And maybe the creature is aquatic?”
“Did you see how it moved along the trees? It had wings. You don't have wings and live in the water. Nature is bizarre but there are evolved traits for a reason.” The Dhampyre scoffed.
“Well if you know so much, you tell me where it is or why it doesn't seem to need to breathe.” Last time she speculated out loud, jeeze. Part of her wanted to argue flying fish or fins really being just sea wings, but she didn't know enough about the subject of fish to bullshit an argument in her favour just to spite him. She also hadn't gotten the best look at it. Only the stupid Dhampyre had.
“Can you freeze the lake, Yoko? Just the surface.” Julius inquired.
She did just that is a huff. At least being useful made her feel better. After her contribution she squat down to watch the ice for any signs of something trying to break through. It seemed like they waited a long time, three pairs of eyes scanning the smooth surface in the dwindling moonlight. If that humanoid species needed air, it would have had to of surfaced by now. Which meant it either was aquatic, and Alucard was being pigheaded, or there was some other trick to the lake. Maybe Alucard hadn't swam down far enough. Maybe there was a drainage system from the lake... Although she didn't hear any rivers or creeks in the distance. Growing bored she made a more solid glacial walkway to the islet Alucard inhabited and joined him.
Mad or not, upon closer inspection of the topless, soaking wet, cut up and bruised muscular figure before her, she whistled appreciatively. “I'm still pissed, but damn if wet and naked isn't a good look for you.”
“Will you focus, girl?” Julius sighed from the shore.
“I am very focused. On those abs. And those guns. And his long pretty hair.” She called back. “I'd be more focused if I knew why are we harassing an animal that never attacked us and we didn't see in the cave where a coven of witches committed murder.”
“I have lived a very long life and seen a great deal in that time, but this is not one of those things.” Alucard explained. “The leader of that coven had a power about her that was great enough to affect me. I desired her. As a demon of Desire myself, a human, witch or not, should not have been able to affect me like that. That powerful magnetism she possessed... I felt it again tonight. Only much stronger.”
“The creature.” Julius surmised, joining them via her ice bridge. “Perhaps it is her familiar.”
“Likely. She may be using it to draw the women she had with her under her sway.”
“What did it look like under that ink stuff?” Yoko asked. “You saw it's face.”
“It looked like-” The Dhampyre almost answered before clamping his mouth shut. Averting his gaze, he chewed his bottom lip while collecting his thoughts. When he finally answered, it was a response well guarded and purposely unhelpful. “It was very beautiful.” And just when she written off getting anything of worth out of Alucard, he added cryptically. “The second most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
“So how long to we wait for this beautiful creature? Excuse me, the second-most beautiful creature you have ever seen?” Her question came out more sigh than inquiry. Picking on nonviolent creatures never sat well with her, whether they were familiars to dangerous witches or not. “The sun is nearly up and the ice is nearly melted. If it hasn't surfaced yet, then it must have escaped somehow?”
“I saw it dive in.” Alucard insisted.
“Well light bent around it's form. It was practically invisible. Maybe you just thought it dived in but it actually took off. It had wings and you insist it is not aquatic.” She spat throwing up her hands.
“I am well aware of what I saw.” The Dhampyre bit back, on the defence.
“I am well aware you are about to start bickering like children.” Julius interceded just in the nick of time. She really had been about to blow off some steam. “We will wait for a little more daylight. Maybe you could see something down there is you dove back in with the sunlight. If not we could always go back to the car for that indestructible flashlight.”
“Well... I do not believe we will have to do that.” The Dhampyre replied thoughtfully, eyes glued to the melting surface.
“And what random speculation of yours lead to that conclusion?” Yoko said, eyes rolling.
Alucard gave her such a flat look, she just barely restrained the urge to stick her tongue out at him. “It is not a random speculation, small sorceress.” His condescending tone just oozed right out as he straightened up and made a show of hopping back into the lake bed... only he didn't sink.
“You secretly are Dhampyre Jesus now?”
“Yoko. Use you eyes, not your snark.” Julius instructed, and she begrudgingly obliged.
It appeared Alucard was standing in ankle deep water. Ankle deep water that a two hundred and forty pound Goliath had taken a dive into. Okay, she conceded. A flashlight wasn't going to help them out of this dilemma. Completely perplexed she put out some spiritual feelers in hopes that a probe of the lake -pond, it was legit a pond now- and the shore would clue her in on how this particular magick had been performed. Because obviously there was some arcane power at work. Lakes did not lose Alucard sized depths in an hour. Frustratingly she couldn't get a sense of anything, so she wandered out into the water scanning the general area. Julius and Alucard took off in separate directions back into the thickening woods around them, each returning in their own time with a shake of the head. The mystery of the pond-lake had all three hunters stumped.
“You don't think the tree monster did this?” She wondered out loud. “Light bent around it. Do you think it made an illusion of a deeper body of water?”
“I dove in, though.” Alucard replied without any of the earlier defensiveness. “You can make an illusion of anything with the proper talents, but I am still soaking wet. Even if I was tricked into thinking I dove into a lake, and that would take not only a subterfuge of my eyes but also my other bodily senses, my backside would be more or less dry if I landed in this puddle. I felt no magick from that creature. As for his camouflage, it did appear to be organic in nature.”
“His, you say?” Yoko let out another whistle. “A sexy little male tree monster got you hot and bothered.”
“I haven't the slightest idea what you are referring to.”
So now she was back to laughing hysterically. “Are you going to try and tell me you weren't out-sexied by that creature? Y'know, the one who climbed on top of you and you felt up while he planted a big wet one on you? Cause it sure as hell looked like you were a hundred percent into him while you were each trying to suck each other's molars out. What are we going to tell sleeping beauty back in the hospital?” With a time out for another snort, she prodded with marginally more seriousness. “So it seems like pale, long-haired and male is your type? I just wanna know so I can point out dreamboats to you while we're out.”
The Dhampyre was not amused, but really when ever was he? Still he surprisingly humoured her, responding. “You forgot fit and brunette.” To which she squealed with delight, and he pointedly ignored. “What do you think Julius? This place requires further investigation but I haven't a clue where to begin, nor in what fashion.”
“Then we are in the same boat... The scent you followed from the cave, was it that creature's or the witch?”
“It was both. But one just faded, the other led to that extraordinary animal. It was difficult to track. Had the scent of that woman not been mingled with it from the start I would have missed it entirely. It's scent is like the wind, just a faint mix of earth and sky.”
“Well I suppose that means it definitely was the clue we were hoping find. Do you think now that you have tracked it, you could do so again?”
“I think so. I would need to pick up it's trail first, and I could not smell it anywhere in the vicinity.” Giving Yoko a short half-smile he continued. “I will fly among the treetops and check. In case it really did fly away instead of diving into the water.” With that he shifted into a bat to do just so.
“Do you ever feel like we use and abuse him?” Yoko asked once he was out of earshot.
“Of course, and he knows it. But it's all for a good cause, so he doesn't mind too much.” The gruff old hunter looked to the sky and cursed under his breath. “I hope he finds something before those clouds unload on us.”
The clouds in question, swollen blackened things that they were, loomed above. While they waited for Alucard to search the skies, she took the time to flip through her grimoire for any and all auditory, sensory illusion spells and glamours, as well as transmutations, but there was nothing she had logged that could combine all the trickery that would have been needed to fool three hunters, two of them mages. As for transmutations, she also had no records of entire lake beds being turned to soil. Defeated, all that was left to occupy time was to watch Julius also flip through his tablet loaded with the Belmont Encyclopedia of Really Bad Dudes, searching for some entry that could give them insight on to what they were dealing with. She asked if as a member of the legendary Belmont Clan he should have had that picturebook memorized, but he just muttered under his breath about being old and, oh yeah, having his memories stolen from him in the Great War of Ninety-Nine.
“Ah-hah!” He exclaimed, but the satisfaction was quickly replaced with a scowl. “Well now I have two mysteries to solve.”
“Ah-hah what, exactly?” She asked, hovering on her tip-toes to get a better look at the screen. On the screen was displayed a scanned image from the Belmont Bestiary. An pen and ink crosshatched drawing of a creature more shadow than flesh, with a wide wingspan and long whip-like tail. In the sketch the creatures black shadowy legs began to take the leafy pattern of the reference bush also sketched. The artist, some Belmont of old, tried very clearly to show that shadows could change, and that the creature could distort any light that touched the black membrane, and hide in plain sight. “Well that is very interesting... Why are you so upset?”
“Because...” Julius swiped through the next few pages, spelling it out for her. The scanned page images were not blank. Something very clearly had once been written on these handful of pages at some point in the past, but for whatever reason they had been scrubbed and destroyed of the information. Even the initial sketch looked as if someone had started to redact it via scraping some ink away, but hadn't had the heart to finish the job.
“Who would do such a thing? Who even would have access to do that?”
“A Belmont.” Julius answered. “But don't ask me why. The family Bestiary is a sacred text. To destroy the knowledge some of our forefathers died to gather is utterly reprehensible.”
“When was that entry written?” She asked, genuinely curious. The date at the bottom of the sketch was too worn out from age and partial deliberate destruction to make out from her angle.
“Mmm... Fourteen fifty-two. That doesn't mean it was destroyed then, however.”
Once more she could only throw up her hands in defeat. At least they weren't crazy. Creatures like the one they had encountered really had been existing for centuries. Sparse raindrops had the pair scrambling to tuck their valuables away safely just in time before the swollen clouds released their bounties. The downpour was sudden and severe, drenching them in seconds. On the cusp of the storm was Alucard, wisely keeping his bat form to fly them out on the path he'd led them down from the relatively dry treetops. Drenched yet still hot and humid, she dove into the backseat of the car, uncaring if either older man saw her strip free of her itchy clothing and dress in the spare yoga ones she always kept in Alucard's trunk. Julius, the lucky bastard, had kept dry enough with his coat. Through one folded down seat she was passed a towel, and Genya's suit jacket and shoes, then the trunk slammed shut and a mostly dressed Genya climbed into the driver's seat.
“Did you just take off your pants out in the open like that?” She asked just to be a brat.
“I took it all off.” Genya replied. “You must have been preoccupied.”
“Really?”
“Really. I saw the whole thing.” The old hunter jokingly played a long. Then in a faux mortified tone he stressed. “The whole thing.”
“Give me some numbers, Jules. It's for research.”
From the drivers seat Alucard choked, Julius letting out a gruff laugh at his expense. “Why are you so concerned, my friend? You should be very proud of-”
“It does the job.” Alucard cut in, genuinely mortified. “How about we talk about our course of action instead. The rain must make you all crazy.”
“We are trying to talk about your dingdong, Al. It's very important for... Reasons.”
“All right, all right.” Julius soothed, bringing the focus back to the matter of a missing witch and her rare and talented familiar. But as he stretched his arms up to curl around the headrest, he held them palms facing at a telling distance apart, giving her the size roughly. He left one hand waiting for her forthcoming high-five. “I think we should wait for this rainy patch of weather to pass and head back. In meantime, let's all hit whatever books we can think of and try to find any info we can on species that can do the things that familiar did. He is our key to the witch, I believe.” The old hunter paused to study the Glamour Genya for a few minutes before he sighed. “Our very first step should be to go back to the hospital. If that boy... If Trevor was held hostage by her, he must know something. Maybe he's the only source we need.”
While she couldn't see Alucard, she could hear the apprehension in his voice when he whispered. “Am I allowed to see him?” For someone she was supposed to be mad it, he sure kept making her feel sorry for him.
“Yes, Alucard.” Julius assured him. “I've been giving it some thought, how best to approach him. He must have had a terrifying ordeal and he may be frightened to wake up in a strange place. And if he is who you think he is, he will not understand what any of those tubes and machinery attached to him are. Whoever he is, he has suffered greatly, and some consideration for that should be kept in mind.”
“What would you have me do, Julius?”
“To start? Just calm him. Assure him he is safe and nobody at that hospital is there to hurt him. And then..? I think it best if Yoko and I observe and you just talk to him. See if you are convinced after speaking to him that he is the man you believe. You'll have two extra pairs of eyes and ears, and if there is some magickal shenanigans to this doppelganger, Yoko will suss it out.”
“Just... speak to him.”
“I think that is best. Treat him like he is your long lost friend and see what he has to say about that.”
“He'll probably punch me again.” Alucard muttered, but she could see his head nod in agreement. “I can do this.” It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than making a statement.
Towelling her hair to a semblance of dry, she partook in her favourite car pastime and napped the whole way to the hospital. The jostle of Julius closing the car door woke her. Passing Genya his shoes and coat, she climbed out of the backseat and trotted into the building to avoid the misty-rain still falling on the city. The best part about these hospital visits was the free air conditioning. The yammering school girls crushing on cute Asian doctors was probably a close second. Knowing the way by heart at this point, she didn't wait for the men to catch up, climbing into the lift and punching in the right floor. She hummed a tune she couldn't place as the numbers lit up one by one, Eager to step out into the spa-like atmosphere of the private wing.
Beyond the doors of the lift was not a serene place of recovery. Before the reception desk in a snowy white hospital gown stained red down one side, brandishing what looked to be a hypodermic needle straight out of a horror movie, was the boy from the cave. While every beep and page and hum of hospital equipment spooked him, he held his ground fending off a team of orderlies, who really had only the best intentions. It was just that the boy couldn't understand them. The brunette swayed, unsteady on his feet, but his weakness did not keep him from judo-flipping the next man who manged to lay hands on him.
When he turned back to face the rest of the men he wore an eerily grim expression. This was a young man preparing to get violent. Dangerously violent. Now perfectly poised to strike, the boy stilled, waiting for the next fool to make their last mistake.
All around him was pandemonium.