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justauthoring · 5 months ago

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This is the Beginning [4/?]

Summary: You never thought you'd be able to escape Buggy, and yet, a boy with a straw hat, a man with three swords and a girl with orange hair somehow manage to free you. The journey that follows afterwards is your chance at freedom and maybe something more.

A One Piece Live Action Rewrite

Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four

Pairing: Live Action!Zoro Roronoa x F!Reader

TW for this chapter: canon typical violence, bits of jealous!zoro, that's really all!

Word Count: 9,323

A/N: Well, we made it! We caught up to seaon one of OPLA! Unfortunately, that means this series will be taking a hiatus until the new season comes out since it is a rewrite. But! I might do little bonus chapters and bonding moments!!

I have started watching the anime, so I know the general direction the live action will probably follow. If you guys would like bonus chapters, let me know!

Tag List: @emmaiscool22 - @bethleeham - @veryunoriginal - @sun-rae04 - @medievalfangirl - @sylum - @academiq

Chapter Four - This is It

“Y/N! My old friend!”

Before you can even register the fact that Buggy is talking to you, a body steps in front of you, fully blocking you from view. The expanse of Zoro’s broad shoulders is the only thing you can see as he glares down at Buggy; “don’t talk to her.”

Buggy just laughs, loud and mocking. “Yeah?” He taunts, “and what are you going to do about it? Bleed on me?”

You can see the tension build in Zoro, muscles tensing and his shoulders raising with every word Buggy throws at him.

You don’t blame him. You still remember when Luffy had all but dropped the fact that during their fight with Arlong and Nami’s betrayal, they’d reunited with Buggy, or rather the head of Buggy. It was made ten times worse when Luffy also elected to inform you that Buggy was coming with you all and helping you to Arlong’s island, as part of a deal he’d made with the pirate. He told you the two of them had made it in return for his navigation to the island, he’d get his body back.

And even though Luffy had assured you he wouldn’t let Buggy try and pull anything on you, you still felt uneasy about him being onboard.

You had no doubt that Buggy’s intentions were not as pure as he was making them out to be. He had something up his sleeve, or at the very least, he would betray you all. At one point or another.

Still, it didn’t matter because you were stuck for him for now. It wasn’t up to just you and you did need him, at least to find where Arlong and Nami had gone. And after spending the first day refusing to go up onto deck in fear of having to face Buggy, your once captain and long-time tormentor, you were sick of hiding away. You’d decided to go up on deck, especially after Zoro had shown concern with you hiding away. Buggy only had his head, after all, so despite saying whatever he wanted, he couldn’t do much.

You try to remind yourself of that.

Your attempt at not being seen, however, had failed the second you’d made your way up to the deck as Buggy had clocked your arrival instantly.

Ignoring the racing of your heart, you reach forward, setting your hand on Zoro’s arm. He pauses at the touch, looking as if he was ready to just kill Buggy and be done with it. He turns his head around to glance down at you, and you send him a reassuring smile.

You remind yourself that you were with a crew of people who cared about you deeply and no one was going to let Buggy hurt you in any way. Not to mention, you’d grown yourself. You weren’t the same girl Buggy had spent years tormenting; you could stand up for yourself now, especially if you had your friends by your side.

He looks like he wants to argue, but still, Zoro doesn’t fight you when you step out from behind him, turning your eye on Buggy.

“I’m not your friend, Buggy. And I never was,” you say, voice firm in your defiance. “And don’t think that I don’t know all your tricks. If you even try to betray us, I’ll—”

“You’ll do nothing!” Buggy laughs, loud and piercing. “Just like you never did back on my crew! You always were too helpless for your own good. All it took was that cage and—”

It doesn’t take you much to figure out what he was implying with his words and it leaves an unpleasant taste in your mouth, thinking back to that horrible cage. However, he doesn’t get the chance to finish.

Zoro is crossing the distance over to Buggy in seconds. Usopp, who’d been standing at the helm, steering with Buggy’s degrading instructions, looks all too pleased as Zoro grabs Buggy by the top of his head, lifting him off the barrel he’d been set on. You, however, look concerned, wanting nothing more than Zoro to actually just get rid of Buggy but you knew you needed him to get to Nami.

“Woah! Woah! Woah! Wait!” Buggy pleads almost instantly, words coming out in a rushed panic. “I was just joking!” He tries to excuse himself, and your eyes widen as Zoro moves him so he’s hanging over the edge of the ship. Buggy’s voice rises in terror. “I was joking! Y/N knows I was joking! Don’t you, Y/N—”

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Zoro cuts in, voice sharp. “You don’t talk to Y/N.”

Biting your lip, you stare at Zoro’s back. You knew, obviously after the conversation the two of you had had, that Zoro cared about you but seeing him so openly defend you made your heart flutter in ways you didn’t know it could.

“You don’t look at her. Or bother her in any way. Is that clear?”

“Yes, yes,” Buggy rushes, voice a blur of desperation. “I won’t bother Y/N!”

“And if this is just another one of your tricks… or you leading us into a trap. Then…”

“Zoro, buddy!” Buggy laughs, “honour amongst pirates. Right? Come on. How about I sing a nice sea shanty to pass the time.”

Sighing, you press your hand to your forehead.

“Oh, there once was a girl with tangerine hair…”

Buggy continues, but a shared look back at you and Usopp makes Zoro’s decision for him easy. Turning around, he makes his way back up to the helm, where Usopp waits with the lid of a barrel topped off.

Zoro doesn’t hesitate to drop Buggy right inside.

“Ow! God, right on my nose!”

Whatever else he’d been about to say is muffled as Usopp quickly places the top of the barrel back on.

Usopp turns back to you. “I hate clowns.”

Huffing a laugh, you nod your head, instantly eased at his silence. “Me too.”

Making his way back over to you, Zoro dusts off his hands, as if disgusted that Buggy had even been anywhere near him. You glance past him, making sure Usopp wasn’t paying attention anymore, before you reach for Zoro, smiling up at him.

“Thank you for defending me,” you mumble, wrapping your arms around his waist.

Zoro smirks, confident by your praise, but you see the soft flush to his cheeks. “It was a long time coming,” he shrugs, “I hate that clown.” He pauses, briefly, as if unsure of his own words. “Especially for how he treated you.”

The words, despite what they mean, pull a smile to your lips. Your grip on him tightens, and you lean into his embrace. Slowly, Zoro’s arm comes to rest around your shoulders, and you’re reminded of how new all of this still is. The two of you had only confessed your feelings a little bit ago and the two of you were still trying to maneuver those changes; especially since everything else was also still new.

It was hard to believe it had only been a few short weeks since Luffy, Zoro and Nami saved you from Buggy and you joined them on their adventure. Finding Usopp, fighting Kuro and the Black Cat crew, then arriving at the Baratie, Nami’s betrayal and Sanji joining you… so much had happened in such a short amount of time. A part of you wondered if Zoro and you had moved too quickly into something beyond just a friendship, but then you feel the bandages across his chest on the skin of your cheek and you remember how close he’d been to dying.

Even if most would consider it quick, you didn’t want to waste a moment when you could lose him or he could lose you at any time.

Besides, he and the rest of the crew were stuck with you now. There would be plenty of time to work out the kinks.

“It’s okay,” you reassure Zoro. “I won’t lie and say what Buggy had done to me still doesn’t… haunt me. But, I’m not as scared as I thought I’d be when Luffy said he made a deal with him. Especially because now I have you guys. Because I have you.”

Zoro shifts and you pull back, giving him the room to lean back so he can meet your eye properly. A man of action as always, he raises his left hand, brushing back your hair to cup your cheek and presses a gentle kiss against your lips. It’s quick, the touch of his lips hovering for what feels like far too short, before he’s pulling back, smiling at you.

“I should talk to Luffy.” He says a moment later, “figure out our plan for when we find Nami and Arlong.”

You nod, finally letting your hands fall to your sides as you watch him walk away, sending one last warm look back at you. Your heart is still fluttering, even as he gets further and further away, feeling hot and weak at the same time.

“Someone’s down bad.”

Blinking, you turn around, finding Usopp staring down at you with the widest shit-eating grin on his lips.

Cheeks warming, you shake yourself out of your stupor, making your way up the stairs over to him. “Ha-ha,” you huff, but the smile on your lips is fond.

Usopp just giggles. “Seriously,” he teases, “the two of you barely notice the people around you when you’re together.”

Coming to a stop next to him, you lightly nudge him with your shoulder. “Haven’t you teased me enough?” You whine, pouting, as your eyes glimmer with mischief at him. “The second Luffy told you what he saw, you haven’t let me off the hook.”

“It’s too fun,” Usopp shrugs, turning his gaze ahead to continue steering the ship. “You always get so embarrassed.”

Crossing your arms over your chest, you raise a brow. “I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you, Usopp.”

“Oh?” He challenges, “and why’s that?”

“Because you forget I saw you and Kaya,” you smirk, watching as the smile on his lips falls and is replaced by a bright red across his cheeks. “If you want to talk about two people smitten…—”

“Okay, okay! I won’t tease you anymore!”

You turn to Usopp, his face turning bright red as he wildly shakes his hands in front of him. It pulls a laugh from your lips, loud and warm, enough to pull Usopp from his own reverie as he blinks back at you.

Turning your gaze back ahead, you soften your smile; “I’m happy for you, Usopp. And I know you’ll see her one day again.”

Shoulders easing, Usopp grabs hold of the helm again and grins to himself. “Thanks,” he says earnestly, “and I’m happy for you too. You and Zoro.”

You squeeze his arm in return, smile infectious, and the two of you fall into a comfortable silence with one another for a few minutes.

Then, you catch sight of something ahead.

“Usopp,” you call, shaking his own arm before pointing ahead of yourself. “Look!”

He leans forward, eyes squinting. “I don’t see anything,” he mumbles, confused.

You frown; “you don’t see the island up ahead?”

“How do you…” Usopp frowns, but his voice trails, squinting even more before he pulls back in realization. “Wait. I see it!”

Instantly, he cups his hands around his mouth, breathing in sharply so yell out to the three at the front of the ship; “land ho!”

Walking behind Zoro, you frown at the sight of the village in front of you. In a lot of ways, it uncomfortably reminds you of the village Buggy had destroyed; the one Luffy had saved.

It’s desolate. Any sign of happiness that probably flooded these homes is gone, without a trace of it ever exiting. It makes your chest tight and your heart sinks.

You slow to a stop when you notice the rest of your crew doing the same, turning to the left and your lips part when you see what’s caught their attention.

“This is terrible,” you breathe, pressing a hand to your lips as you stare back at the flipped upside down house.

Zoro eyes you, before turning to the house; “never seen that before.”

“What could have done this?” Sanji asks, brows furrowed in bafflement.

Usopp hovers next to you, shuffling on his feet. “Maybe I should head back… make sure the Merry’s secure.”

Without hesitation, you reach for Usopp, squeezing his arm. He turns to you, the fear in his gaze apparent.

But before you can say anything to reassure him, Luffy speaks up;

“Arlong did this.”

His voice is unusually low, tinged with rage. You stare back at him with surprise.

“Hey, shit-hat!” Buggy calls, voice muffled through the bag Sanji is currently carrying him in. “I think we can all agree that Arlong’s a bad fish. But why don’t we quit lollygagging and get my body back?”

You scoff, “as if we should hurry for your sake.” Letting your gaze drag across the village once more, you frown. “This is no different than anything you’ve done before. Same innocent people being hurt, just different pirates.”

Sanji’s eyes fall on you, and you figure it’s because he’s the only one on the crew that doesn’t know how Luffy had found you. Sure, Usopp hadn’t been there, but he’d heard bits and pieces of it and probably was able to piece it all together. Sanji, who’d just joined, wouldn’t know. All he knew was you’d once been on Buggy’s crew.

You avoid his gaze.

“Come on, Y/N! I certainly wasn’t as bad as—”

“Pipe down in there!” Sanji cuts him off, for your sake more than anyone else's.

“Or what?” Buggy huffs. “You gonna whip me up a souffle?”

Dropping the bag, Sanji sighs, gesturing to Usopp. “How about you take him for a while?”

“Ooh,” Usopp breathes, shaking his head. “New guy carries the clown head.”

Feeling bad for the guy, you step forward, reaching for the bag. “Here, Sanji, I can—”

“Absolutely not—”

“It’s okay, Y/N, I’ve got it—”

Both Zoro and Sanji speak at the same time, and almost instantly, the two turn to each other with glares.

“Y/N is not carrying that clown head,” Zoro growls, shifting beside you.

“I agree,” Sanji bites out, shouldering the bag again before turning to you with a smile. “Don’t worry, Y/N. I got it under control.”

You hesitate, frowning, but seeing the smile on his lips and the way Zoro continues to glare at the cook, you decide to let it go. “Okay,” you shrug, “if you’re sure.”

The five of you continue to make your way, picking up the pace in your step when you see a group of people up ahead.

“Everyone! Please!”

The man speaking stands at the front of the crowd, holding a box. His expression is grim.

“We don’t have much time,” he continues. “And we’re short again this month.”

You frown when you watch a man step up, dumping a handful of Berry into the box.

That sinking feeling floods your stomach again.

“Is it enough?”

With a frown, the man at the front shakes his head slowly.

“Do we have time to get some more?”

“No.”

Your back straightens, recognizing that voice.

Sure enough, the crowd splits instantly, and you see Nami step through.

“You don’t,” she says, slowly making her way through the crowd.

Luffy steps forward, as if to go to her. Zoro stops him.

A woman with blue hairs steps right up to Nami, face twisted with rage. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face here.” Nami doesn’t say anything in return, even when the woman spits right at her feet.

She walks off a second later, your eyes follow her.

A moment of silence passes, then, Nami turns her attention back to the man with the donation box. “Got something for me?”

Slowly, he hands over the box.

It takes Nami one look; “you’re short.”

“Nami, please,” the man begs. “This is all we have. Arlong has bled us dry.”

“Then find more blood.”

Swallowing thickly, the sight breaks your heart. There was no way Nami could actually be this… heartless, right?

The man walks off as does the rest of the crowd. Nami, with the donation box still in hand, lets her gaze wander, freezing the second she catches sight of the five of you.

She makes her way over in seconds flat.

“Luffy?” She calls, voice sharp. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same thing.”

“This is where I belong.”

Luffy shakes his head, “I don’t believe that. This is not you.”

“No,” she argues. “This isn’t the me you want me to be.”

“Nami…” Luffy calls, voice soft. He steps towards her. “If you need our help—”

“No, I don’t need any of you.”

You flinch at that, watching as her eyes dance across the five of you. When her eyes meet yours, she’s quick to look away.

“Arlong wanted the map,” she explains, “and I conned you into getting it for me. And you bought it. I was never part of your stupid crew.”

“You don’t mean that.”

For the splittest of seconds, Nami’s face wavers. You see it, watch it happen, but it’s gone before you can do anything about it. It feels like you’re the only one who does see it.

“Take the rest of these clowns and sail away from here,” she spits. “I never want to see you again.”

She spins around, moving to walk off. You instinctively move to walk after her, knowing what you saw and not ready to give up, but Zoro grabs your hand, tightening his grip. Turning to him, his expression is sympathetic for you but firm; she won’t listen.

Usopp huffs behind you; “okay, that went about as bad as it could. So back to the boat before the fishmen find us? Sail the hell out of here? Okay.”

Sanji shakes his head; “there’s something else going on here.”

“I think she was very clear she wants us to leave,” Zoro argues.

“You don’t know women,” Sanji instantly rebuts, “they never say what they mean.”

You blink, “well, I—”

“Tell me again why the cook gets a say.” Zoro huffs, turning to face Sanji.

“Don’t you guys get it,” Usopp cuts in, and you watch as the three of them circle around each other, bickering. All while Luffy remains standing where Nami left him. “She’s one of them. She’s a bad guy. The villagers are terrified of her.”

Raising your voice, you step forward and interrupt them before any of them can speak. “The look on her face was off,” you explain, remembering exactly what you’d seen. Turning to Zoro, you look back at him determined. “I know what she said, Zoro, but she looked like she was this close to breaking down. Sanji is right, there is something more going on here. I’m sure of it.”

Zoro, who looks put out that you��re siding with Sanji, steps towards you. “Y/N, I know that you don’t want it to be true but Nami…” He hesitates, seeing the look on your face. “Usopp is right. The villagers were scared. Of her.”

Face falling, you can’t deny that.

“Not all of them,” Luffy says, speaking up for the first time. You turn around to face him, but he steps forward before you can ask what he meant. “Hey! Scar guy.”

Only chancing one more glance back at Zoro, you quickly follow after Luffy.

“Who was that girl?” Luffy asks the man who’d been collecting the donations. “You know, the one with the cool hair?”

The man eyes you five. “Who wants to know?”

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy,” Luffy introduces, voice serious. “I’m a pirate—”

“—Hunter,” Zoro cuts in quickly. Hands shoved into his pockets, he steps up beside Luffy. “Pirate hunter. We’re here to collect Arlong’s bounty.”

Sensing the apprehension on the man’s face, you think that was definitely a smart save on Zoro’s part.

The man just raises a brow. “You? I’ve seen men twice your size and with twice your number go into Arlong Park. None of them ever came back.”

Luffy smiles. “We just want to talk to her.”

“Trust me,” the man argues, “you don’t. But if it’ll get you out of my town, try the house down that road, on the edge of the tangerine grove.”

“I don’t know how you do it.”

Jumping at the voice, you turn around, easing when you see it’s just Nojiko.

Turns out that girl with the cool hair, as Luffy had dubbed her, was Nami’s sister. After managing to convince her into talking to you with the promise of a home-cooked meal, Sanji had whipped her and the rest of you up a meal. It was only then Nojiko had agreed to tell you the story of how her and Nami’s mother had died because of Arlong, who’d taken control of this island eight years ago. And how Nami was now working for him.

The story had left the five of you all upset in your own ways. When Usopp had solidified the fact that Nami really was working for her mother’s killer, the air in the house had thickened with tension.

You’d stay for a while, but after Buggy had insisted on being let out of the bag to the point Sanji had been forced to do so, you’d taken your leave. Luffy, and then Zoro who had gone after him, had left the second Nojiko finished telling you everything and you hadn’t heard from them since. You figured it was best to give them space, so you’d chosen to wander through the tangerine grove right by Nojiko’s house.

When Nojiko had found you.

Meeting Nojiko’s eyes, you glance at her inquisitively.

“Deal with being stuck with four men,” she laughs lightly. “Especially on a ship. I’d go crazy.”

You smile back at her, snorting. “You get used to it.” Then, smile wavering just faintly, you can’t help but add; “it was easier, too. With… you know, Nami.” Hugging yourself, you glance at your feet. “It was nice having her onboard with us. Nice being her friend, if she ever thought of me as one.”

Nojiko doesn’t respond, probably not sure how to. Still, she offers a gentle and sympathetic smile in return. It’s clear she understands in her own way.

“Are you okay?” You ask, gesturing back to the house. “Sanji didn’t say anything, right? He’s a flirt and never means anything by it, but I’ll kick him for you if he makes you uncomfortable.”

Letting out a sharp laugh, Nojiko shakes her head. “He didn’t say anything,” she reassures with a wave of her hand. “I just needed some air. I was… I was actually planning on visiting her grave.”

Your lips part; “your mother’s?”

She nods.

You hesitate, glancing back at the far stretch of the tangerine grove and then back at Nojiko. You decide to just ask what’s on your mind. “Could I come with you?”

She seems shocked by our question, eyes widening and brows furrowing.

“Only if you don’t mind,” you assure, shaking your hands at her. “I just… Just thought maybe you’d like a friend. And, well… I know what it’s like to lose a mother.”

Face easing, Nojiko frowns; “I’m sorry.”

You shake your head. “It was a long time ago.”

Nodding slowly, Nojiko shrugs; “you can come then. And we can send a prayer to both of our mothers.”

Your smile brightens at that, worrying easing from your body as you nod at her. She returns the smile with ease and the two of you begin walking, Nojiko leading the way. The grave isn't that far away, so it doesn’t take you long before Nojiko is informing you you’re close.

“Just around this…—”

But her voice trails as you both hear… grunting? She glances back at you, worried, and you mimic her expression, rushing forward. You worry it’s someone from Arlong’s crew, heart sinking at what they could possibly be doing.

Only, it’s Nami you find.

You hesitate, feet freezing, but blind with anger at the realization of what Nami was doing, Nojiko rushes forward. “How dare you,” she hisses out, barely able to contain the anger in her voice. “It’s not enough that you’re working for our mother’s killer, but now you’re desecrating her grave too?”

You notice at the same time Nami does, her calling out for Nojiko, as the latter grabs the shovel next to the digged hole, swinging it back behind her to hit Nami.

Racing forward, you grab the handle of the shovel before Nojiko can swing it down just as Nami flinches back with a scream.

Nami’s eyes zone in on you; “Y/N? What the hell are you doing here?”

Meeting her gaze, your lips part; “I…—”

“Never mind that,” Nojiko spits, and she lowers her hands when you step back, but doesn’t let go of the shovel, looking ready to try and hit Nami again. “I can’t believe you would do this!”

Nami only glances at you once more, hesitating, before turning back to Nojiko; “it’s not what you think.”

Nojiko goes to swing the shovel again, and you move to grab her, but don’t reach in time.

“You have no idea what I think!”

Nami’s name leaves your lips in a shrill cry and she just narrowly misses the edge of the shovel smacking her across the face, falling back. Instead of Nami, Nojiko hits the chest right next to the hole.

Bills and coins of Berry come pouring out of it.

Panting, Nojiko shakes her head; “what’s this?” She slowly turns to Nami. “Is this the money that you stole? And you’re hiding it next to our mother’s body?”

Confused and bewildered and definitely feeling like you’re encroaching on a moment between sisters you shouldn’t be, you remain silent, taking a step back.

“Nami,” Nojiko whispers, “what kind of monster are you?”

“You don’t understand,” Nami cries.

“Then make me understand.”

Her eyes flicker between you and Nojiko, unsure, before she focuses all of her attention on Nojiko.

“I’ve been stealing this money because of a deal with Arlong I made,” she starts, moving to crawl out of the hole and grab her bag. “I told Arlong I’d work for him on one condition. That he let me buy back Coco Village. And he said he would for a hundred million Berry.”

“A hundred million?” You echo, unable to stop yourself. “That would take a lifetime.”

Nami shakes her head, reaching for Nojiko. “I have the money,” she explains. “All of it. And now I can buy the freedom of the village and everyone in it.”

Seeing the look on Nojiko’s face, you inhale sharply, turning. It occurs to you should give them a moment alone. This news was shocking enough to you, you couldn’t imagine how Nojiko, who’s obviously hated Nami for the past eight years, would feel. Sending the two of them a gentle smile, you walk off, moving to the edge of the woods.

Crossing your arms over your chest, you think about what Nami had said.

That look you’d seen her eyes, the one only you had seemed to be able to notice, made so much more sense now. None of this had been of Nami’s own volition or choice. And for the past eight years she’d been forced to work for and do the bidding of a man who’d killed her mother and threatened her family and friends.

The thought made you sick. You couldn’t imagine what Nami’s been forced to endure.

Minutes pass of you stuck in your thoughts, until you catch something through the foliage of the forest. It gives you pause, head turning in the direction as you squint, trying to figure out what you’d seen.

When you catch sight of a familiar white and blue uniform, your heart drops.

“Nami, Nojiko!” You call, rushing over to them as you reach for Nami’s chest of Berry. Nami stands at the sight, the conversation between her and Nojiko cut short as she assumes the worst of what you’re doing.

“What are you—”

“We don’t have time,” you cut her off, staring at her with panic in your eye. “The Marines, they’re—”

“Already here.”

Lips left parted, you, Nami and Nojiko’s heads snap round, back in the direction you’d come from, bodies freezing at the sight of a line up of Marines stopping in front of you.

“A shame to interrupt such a touching moment,” the lieutenant Marine offers, voice not at all sympathetic. “I’ve heard that pirates are stashing their plunder in this area. You three wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?”

Feet frozen in place, you eye the back of Nami and Nojiko, before shifting your attention back to the lieutenant. This was bad. Very bad. There was no way to hide Nami’s stash, especially not when it was clear it was exactly what the Marines were already looking for.

“That’s obviously been stolen,” the Marine lieutenant comments, eyeing Nami’s money. “By the authority of the Marines and the World Government, I'm going to have to confiscate it.”

“No,” Nami gasps. “No, you can’t do that. It’s mine!”

“A hundred million Berry?” The lieutenant raises a brow, “and where would you get that much money?”

“Nami got that money fair and square,” you hiss, stepping forward as you glare at the man. “You have no right to take it from her.”

“No right?” The lieutenant laughs, loud and mocking. “I have the right as a Marine lieutenant, silly girl.”

“Wait,” Nami cuts in, breathless, before you can speak, as if having realized something. “How did you know it was a hundred…” But her voice trails, and a glance back at her tells you she’s figured it out.

“Arlong put you up to this, didn’t he?”

Your lips part, gasping.

“I… I don’t know what you mean,” the lieutenant shrugs. Then, he shifts, nodding at the men behind him. They listen instantly.

Nami and you both start. She reaches for her bag, trying to grab her weapon, but the Marines are too quick. Two of them flank her, grabbing her by the arm. You growl at the sight, stepping forward to help, but then the men that had been standing to the left of the lieutenant step towards you.

“Watch yourself. Or we will take you into custody as well.”

Past their shoulders you can see the Marine officers holding Nami shove her to the ground. Rage floods you, and you move towards her, but you’re blocked by more officers. Instantly, they go to grab you, but you dodge their grasps, trying to slither past them. You make it past one, reaching for Nami and then a sharp sting radiates across your cheek.

You trip over your feet at the impact, stunned, falling to your knees as your hand hovers across your cheek in shock, staring up at the officer who’d punched you. He stares down at you, unbothered. His hand rests on his baton, as if baiting you to try again.

Nami, who’d watched the whole display, continues to thrash and fight the hands that hold her down.

“No!” She screams when she sees them grabbing her Berry. “You can’t do this. You can’t do this!”

Cheek stinging and eyes watering in despair, you watch the Marines grab her money all while Nami screams, helpless to do anything. They take it all, not leaving a single Berry behind, and not offering even a glance at Nami who cries out for them to stop.

When the officers let her go and walk off, Nami instantly moves to get back up. Nojiko, who’d seemed frozen in the spot until then, grabs her. “Wait, Nami,” she pleads. “Stop! Wait. Wait!”

“Let me go!” Nami cries, fighting her sister's grip. “Let me go! They can’t do this!”

“Nami,” you breathe, staring at her in shock.

“There’s nothing you can do!” Nojiko tries.

But Nami doesn’t listen to her.

“Arlong will kill the entire village!” She bellows, voice pitching in distress, finally breaking free from Nojiko’s grip and running off in the opposite direction of the Marine’s and instead towards the village.

“Nami, wait!” Nojiko begs, screaming after her.

Pushing yourself to your feet, you wipe your tears, grabbing Nojiko’s hand and pulling her eyes on you.

There’s only one thing that can help her now. Or rather, people.

“Nojiko. Nojiko, listen to me,” you pant, tugging on her hand. Her eyes fall on you, wild and terrified. “We need to get Luffy and the rest. They can help! I promise!”

Chest rising and falling and breathless, Nojiko inhales sharply, trying to calm herself.

“Okay.”

Never letting go of her hand, you pull her along, the two of you take off in the direction you’d first come from. Nojiko’s house is closer than the rest of the village, separated off, so it doesn’t take either of you very long to get back to their house and your friends. The two of you break through the tangerine grove, breathless and panicked, and Zoro and Luffy who had been up on the roof see you instantly.

“Y/N?” Zoro calls, concerned. Him and Luffy glance at each other briefly before quickly climbing down the roof. “Y/N, what’s wrong?”

Zoro’s voice must’ve caught the attention of Usopp and Sanji because they come running out of the house too,

“What’s going on?” Usopp asks.

“Y/N?” Sanji’s gaze instantly zones in on you, taking in your distressed state. “And Nojiko? Are you—”

Luffy and Zoro come to a stop in front of the both of you.

Nojiko, unable to catch her voice, shakes her head. “Nami, she’s…” But a cough wracks through her body, exhausted after everything from the Marine’s, trying to stop Nami and then running.

Zoro zones in on you then, catching sight of your face. “Y/N, your cheek,” he breathes, voice low as he reaches for you, cupping your jaw to pull your gaze up on him. His eyes flood with anger when he gets a better look at your red and stinging cheek. “Who did—”

Resting your hand over his, you shake your head. “It doesn’t matter,” you dismiss, and cut him off quickly before he can argue. “We have to help Nami. Arlong… Arlong is going to destroy the village!”

“What?” Usopp squeaks, “he’s coming here?”

“Is it because the village was short on money?” Sanji frowns.

Meeting Nojiko’s eyes, you both frown. “Nami had a deal with Arlong,” you explain, shifting from Zoro to Luffy. His face is serious, and he listens to you carefully. “He betrayed her. The Marine’s stole her money and now Arlong is going to destroy the village. We have to help them. We have to help Nami!”

“Please,” Nojiko pleads beside you. “Please.”

Zoro steps towards you, and you turn to him, barely noticing the way your eyes are watering. He frowns down at you, before turning to Luffy.

“Nojiko, stay here. Y/N.” You turn back to him, breathing in. “Lead the way,” Luffy says, voice sharp.

Meeting his eyes, you nod.

Walking past Luffy, you fall to your knees next to Nami.

She starts at the sight of you, teary-eyed and gasping, but you just smile gently at her. Shifting your bag, you pull out the bandages in there. You’d originally grabbed them for Zoro, but staring at her bleeding arm, you figure it was best her wounds were cleaned and wrapped.

“Here,” you say softly, slowly grabbing her arm. You hesitate, not wanting to startle her, but she doesn’t flinch away when you reach for her. Comforted at the action, you grab the cloth you’d also pulled out, wiping at the blood.

“I can clean it better later,” you explain, “but for now.”

She doesn’t respond, and you let her remain silent, incapable of understanding what she could possibly be going through in that moment.

The two of you sit in silence, away from the boys as they figure out how they’re going to go up against Arlong. Nami watches as you bandage her, and you do so without saying anything. Truthfully, you don’t know what you could say. Your heart broke for her and the villagers and every sting of betrayal you’d felt before is gone.

Now, you only feel guilt for having ever doubted her.

“There,” you whisper, doing the last loop of the bandage.

Nami glances down at her arm and she ponders it for a while, before;

“Thank you.”

Lips parting, your head snaps up, blinking.

“Back there, with the Marines,” she points at your cheek. “You tried to stop them.”

“Oh,” you frown, “you don’t have to thank me. I’m… I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them then.”

Blinking back her tears, Nami’s face falls.

“Luffy will be able to stop Arlong, Nami,” you smile at her, taking a leap and squeezing her arm. She straightens at the touch, but her gaze is warm as she looks back at you. “We’ll help you. You don’t have to do it alone anymore.”

Her eyes fall shut, a single tear escaping her defences as she leans towards you.

“Thank you.”

“I can fight.”

“We’ve hardly done any training—”

“Zoro,” you huff, balling your hands into fists at your side. “I want to help.”

He eyes you, frowning. “I know you do, but Arlong’s men are strong.”

Mildly insulted, despite knowing he was right, and frustrated, you glare up at him. “I’m helping. You can’t stop me.”

Clearly frustrated himself, Zoro presses a hand to his face. “You don’t even have a weapon.”

“Nojiko gave me a gun,” you counter, grabbing the rifle from the wall you’d set it against, and holding it up to him to see. “She taught me the basics of how to use it. I probably won’t be as good of a shot as Usopp, but I can still try.”

Breathing in sharply, Zoro glances back at the crew, noticing the way they’re getting ready to go. Turning back to you, he steps towards you, cupping your cheeks. “I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

Wrapping your hands around him in return, you smile, “I know. Because I don’t want you to get hurt too.” Squeezing his hands, you look up at him reassuringly. “I’ll stay back and not put myself in danger. But I want to help Nami. Don’t ask me to stay behind when she’s my friend too. That’s not what we promised each other.”

Sighing, Zoro knows you’re right. “You stay away from the thick of it,” he orders, voice serious. “And if you need my help, call for me. I’ll come to you right away.”

Biting your lip, you smile. “I promise,” you assure, nodding. “The second I’m in danger, I’ll call for you. Only you.”

Cheeks flushing, Zoro rolls his eyes. “As long as you promise.”

Despite losing sight of Usopp in the mess, you think you’re doing a fairly good job.

Obviously, Sanji and Zoro were taking down most of the men, but you can proudly say you’ve at least gotten a few really good shots. There was even the time you’d shot down a guy that had been gunning straight for Zoro, to which he’d smirked back at you in response.

The pride you’d felt was imminent.

Just like how you’d been able to see the island before anyone else back on the boat, or how you’d seen the Marines coming through the thick forest foliage, your left eye was able to catch sight of Arlong’s man easily. And even though you were still rocky with the gun itself, your eye helped you see things you’d never been able to before.

You’ve never seen things so clearly.

Taking one last shot at one of Arlong’s men and watching him crash to the ground, you straighten up from behind the rock you’d perched yourself behind. You couldn’t see Zoro and Sanji from where you were and a quick glance across the park told you you’d all (mainly them) managed to take out most of Arlong’s men.

Standing to your feet, you climb down the rocks and head in the direction you thought you’d last seen Sanji and Zoro go in. Despite being further back, you’d watched them argue the entire time they’d been fighting, so you figured checking on them was probably the best idea.

Sure enough, eventually you can hear their muffled voices arguing. You follow the sound, coming around a broken down stand, only to come crashing into someone.

You stumble back, blinking, until your eye lands on the familiar sight of Buggy. With his body.

Your grip instantly tightens on your gun, while his lips stretch into a wide grin.

“Sorry, my Angel Eye,” he laughs and you hiss at the sound of that nickname, stepping towards him. He holds his hands up as he wiggles his fingers at you in a mocking goodbye. “I’d love to catch up but I gotta go!”

He runs past you in the next second before you even have a second to blink, and your hand twitches, wanting to stop him. But honestly, the thought occurs to you it might just be best to let him go; if he was gone, then at least you didn’t have to see him and listen to his grating voice any longer.

You also don’t know at that moment if you were strong enough to kill him. Not in the physical sense, but… mental.

Shaking your head, you let the thought leave you, focusing back on finding Zoro and Sanji.

Figures he’d betray you guys anyways.

Scoffing, you continue making your way forward, face easing when you see Zoro and Sanji.

“I see Buggy betrayed us,” you comment, gesturing behind you.

Sanji and Zoro turn to you.

“He didn’t do anything did—”

“What did that fucking clown say—”

Blinking at the both of them, you watch as they turn to each other, before promptly turning the other way.

You bite your lip, laughing. “You guys are—”

Whatever you’d been about to say gets cut off the second you let out a scream. A sharp, aching pain radiates from your left eye, making you fall to your knees as you clutch at your face, curling in on yourself.

Your name leaves Zoro’s lips as he and Sanji run towards you, Zoro kneeling in front of you.

“Y/N,” he calls, voice pitched in panic. “Y/N, what happened? What’s going on?”

“I—” Hissing, you cry out as the sting continues to radiate across your face.

Hands fall on you, careful and slow, pulling your own away from your face.

Leaning forward, Zoro pauses at the sight and Sanji behind him gasps;

“Y/N, your eye…”

You stare up at them, hand hovering by your face, trying to bear through the pain.

“What… What’s happening?”

“Your eye is glowing, Y/N,” Zoro mumbles, shaking his head. “It’s like… shining.”

Frowning at him, you ease when the pain lessens somewhat. Still, your heart is racing with terror of what’s happening.

“Does it still—”

Footsteps cut Zoro off, all three of your guys’ attention snapping to the right where you see one of Arlong’s main lackeys coming over. He grins wide at the sight of you three, and instantly, Sanji is shifting into a fighting stance as Zoro stands, stepping in front of you.

“Stay back, Y/N,” Zoro calls, stretching his arm in front of you.

You nod up at him, pushing yourself back as you try and bite back another cry of pain.

It doesn’t take them long to fight him. Even though Sanji gets kicked around a bit, the second the bad guy says something about Nami, Sanji is zoned in on him. With a series of powerful kicks, you watch as Sanji takes down the guy in seconds.

Zoro turns to you, sure that it was safe to, crouching. His touch is gentle as he tries to get a closer look at your eye.

As their fight had progressed, the pain had lessened. And now, it’s nearly gone, just a faint, residual itchy feeling.

“Does it still hurt?” Zoro frowns.

You shake your head, “it’s just… uncomfortable. Is it still glowing?”

“Not anymore,” he shakes his head, shifting his hands to your hips as he helps you back to your feet.

“Has that ever happened before, love?” Sanji asks, staring back at you in concern.

You ignore Zoro’s huff at the nickname, shaking your head at Sanji. “No,” you frown. “I have no idea what that was.”

Turning back to Zoro, it’s hard to hide your fear.

Brushing his fingers across your cheek, Zoro shakes his head. “It’s okay, just tell me if it happens again, alright? We’ll figure it out.”

Eased at his reassurance, you lean into his touch.

“Also,” Zoro smiles down at you, “you did great.”

His words bring an instant beam to your lips, appreciating his ability to shift your mind away from your worries and praise you at the same time. You grin, clapping your hands in front of you in joy. “Really?” Then, turning to Sanji, your eyes sparkle. “You think so too, Sanji?”

Any discomfort he’d shown at Zoro’s words to you eases as he grins at you. “Of course, love, you did amazing.”

Your face is practically sparkling.

“Would you stop calling her that?” Zoro huffs, “and what was with those stupid names with your kicks?”

“All great heroes have names for their attacks,” Sanji shrugs, unbothered.

Zoro hesitates before sighing. “Yeah, you’ll fit in great.”

You grin, happy they were (sorta) getting along.

Just then, a familiar screaming catches your attention. Turning your gaze to the entrance of Arlong park, you watch as Usopp comes running in, slingshot at the ready.

“Never fear, the Great Captain Usopp is…” But his words trail when he realizes everyone is already down. “Is… oh. You guys did pretty good in here.” Sighing, he grins at you all, sending you a thumbs up. You send him one back. “Good job guys!”

He nods to himself, and the four of you shift, falling silent.

Putting a hand to your right eye, so you see nothing, you frown to yourself, unable to ignore the unsettled feeling still in your stomach.

“Nami!”

Blinking at Sanji’s call, you look up, face brightening when you see Nami running over to the four of you.

Sanji’s arms stretch wide for a hug, but she runs past him, gunning straight for you, Usopp and Zoro. You stumble as you’re brought into an embrace, squished between Zoro and Usopp as Nami’s face falls into the crook of your neck.

“You’re all okay!”

Smiling at her, you nod as she pulls back, taking one last long look at the three of you before turning back to Arlong’s base.

“Where’s Luffy?” Zoro asks.

Glancing at Sanji, who’d been rejected seconds before, you offer a small wink when he meets your gaze.

“Still inside,” Nami answers, “fighting Arlong.”

Turning back to Arlong Park, you frown, however, at the sight of the building crumbling apart.

“That was crazy, huh?”

Smiling down at Zoro, you take a seat next to him, letting your arm brush against his before turning to meet his gaze.

Zoro snorts next to you, returning your smile with a softer one of his own. He leans back as you sit next to him, and you don’t fail to notice the way he leans back, his right hand falling to a spot behind you, silently giving you the room to lean into him.

Biting back your smile, you don’t hesitate to do just that.

“Thought we were going to be fighting off the entirety of that Marine force,” Zoro comments dryly, letting his gaze drift in front of the both of you. You think back to what had just happened moments prior and the realization that the Vice Admiral, Luffy’s grandfather, had been chasing after all of you as some sort of test for his grandson.

Letting out a laugh, you glance up at Zoro, an adoring look in your eye. “I bet you would’ve too,” you comment. With a teasing grin, you poke at his side, careful of his wound. “After all, you like being Luffy’s first mate more than you’ll admit.”

Rolling his eyes, he smirks down at you; “maybe.”

You giggle, letting your head fall onto his shoulder and drift your gaze across the crowd of bustling and happy villagers. It’s a stark contrast from when you’d all first arrived on Cocoyashi Village, but it was one that made your heart swell with pride and warmth. Arlong and his goons were gone and now Nami’s village could live in peace like they always should’ve been able to.

Speaking of, you pause in your thoughts when you notice Nami and Nojiko walking past you. Both of their eyes are on you and Zoro and while Nojiko offers a simple wave and a warm smile, the look in Nami’s eyes is telling as she wiggles her brows at you, gesturing loosely to Zoro. You flush, but the grin on your lips is undeniable.

You watch them walk off, happy the two sisters could have these final moments together.

“How’s your eye?”

Looking up at the sound of Zoro’s question, you find him staring down at you, chin dipped towards you and eyes dancing with concern.

“Better,” you say honestly, letting your hand fall over your left eye, covering your vision completely for a brief second before turning back to Zoro. “I don’t know what that was but I… have been noticing things recently.”

Zoro’s brows furrow; “what things?”

“I just… see things,” you shrug, unsure how to explain it. “See things before others can. Like when I saw the island… Usopp didn’t see it for a minute and we all know that the one thing he does have is good vision. Or when the Marine’s stole Nami’s money, I could see them far before I should’ve been able to.”

Zoro takes in your words, slowly nodding. “You think it could have to do with Mihawk?”

“Maybe,” you nod, the thought having already crossed your mind. “I’ve never understood why my eye looks like this or why my right one is blind… My mother had normal eyes. Maybe something went wrong when I was born?”

Still leant against him, Zoro shifts, moving to slip your hand in his own as he squeezes. “Well, whatever it is, we’ll figure it out, yeah? There’s gotta be an answer somewhere out there.’

His voice is sincere, serious with the promise of helping you. Warmth floods you, heart fluttering, and you think back to the first time you ever met Zoro. When he’d stumbled in that tent that day, you never would’ve thought this is where you’d be now.

Nodding up at him, you say; “it’s a promise.”

He smiles, and with that, you let your head fall against his shoulder again, hand still in his.

The two of you spend the rest of the celebration like that.

“So…”

Glancing over at Nami, you huff; “so?”

“You and Zoro?” She grins, wide and from ear to ear. “Can’t believe I missed that.”

Letting out a chuckle, you shake your head. “Don’t tease me,” you whine faintly, pressing a hand to your forehead as the two of you make your way to the kitchen. “I already got enough of it from Usopp.”

Nami barks out a laugh just as the two of you slip inside.

“Get enough of what from me?” Usopp asks, looking up for one of his new ammo experiments he’d been working on.

Meeting Nami’s eyes, the both of you giggle.

“Nothing!”

“Ah,” Sanji comments from the counter, “it’s so nice to be rewarded with such lovely laughter from two lovely ladies.”

You let out a chuckle, moving to sit next to Zoro as Nami grins over at Sanji.

“Oi,” Zoro calls, looking up for his swords. “What have I said about flirting with Y/N, you damned cook?”

Sanji just shrugs, not at all bothered; “I can’t help it. Y/N’s elegance merely demands it.”

Nami and Usopp cackle but you notice the way Zoro moves to get up, quickly grabbing ahold of his arm to stop him.

“You—!”

“Guys!”

Thankful for the distraction, your face lights up as Luffy comes bounding into the kitchen, a slip of paper in his hands. Moving towards the table, he slams it down.

“Look.”

“Oh, shit,” you breathe, staring down at the wanted poster.

“Hey, look,” Usopp cheers, “I’m famous!”

Sanji shakes his head; “what are you on about? That’s Luffy’s wanted poster.”

“Not just Luffy,” Usopp smirks, reaching forward and pointing at the paper. You follow his gesture, huffing a laugh when you realize, sure enough, there Usopp is in the left corner of the poster.

Or, at least, the back of him.

“Sorry, guy,” Usopp chuckles, glancing at you all. “Maybe if you work a little harder, you’ll get a bounty too.”

“That doesn’t count.” Sanji rolls his eyes.

“It’s okay to be jealous. Feel what you need to feel.”

“I… mm…” Cutting himself off, Sanji submits; “this is stupid.”

“This is gonna make things much harder,” Zoro comments from next to you. “With that price on your head, every bounty hunter in the East Blue will be gunning for you.”

“Not just Luffy,” Nami adds. “They’re gonna be gunning for all of us.”

Everyone falters, faced with reality, but you just smile over at Luffy.

“Still,” you speak up, pulling Luffy’s attention on you. “Good for you, Luffy! That’s the first step to being the King of the Pirates!”

He sends you a thumbs up, as the rest groan.

“What have we talked about,” Nami frowns at you. “You don’t need to encourage him anymore than he already encourages himself.”

You just shrug, grinning.

“Besides,” Luffy shrugs, “it doesn't matter. Because we are not staying in the East Blue.”

Staring up at all of you, he grins;

“We’re going to the Grand Line.”

“Straw Hats! All hands on deck for a cast-off ceremony.”

Listening to Luffy’s order, you step out onto deck behind Zoro, raising a brow when you see Luffy, Nami and Sanji already gathered around a barrel.

Usopp’s the last to arrive, and the second he comes to a stop, Sanji raises his leg, placing it on the edge of the barrel.

“I’m gonna find the All Blue,” he promises, and your heart starts with realization of what’s happening.

Luffy follows his lead with ease, slamming his leg on the barrel with a bit more force. “I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!”

Zoro shifts next to you, smiling wide, and then, he does the same. “I’m gonna be the world’s greatest swordsman.”

“I’m gonna draw a map of the world,” Nami promises, raising her leg as she smiles at you all.

“I…” Usopp hesitates, shifting, before raising his leg. “Am gonna be a brave warrior of the sea!”

Laughter echoes, and then, everyone’s eyes shift to you. Hesitating similarly to Usopp, you glance at the barrel and then each of your friends.

Feeling your heart flutter with excitement, you raise your leg, taking up the last bit of space left on the barrel.

“I’m gonna discover the truth about my eye!” You promise, biting your lip.

You glance at everyone, grinning, until your eyes fall on Zoro who smiles back at you with pride.

“This is it, crew,” Luffy calls, “The Grand Line.”

He pauses, meeting each and every one of your eyes, before, his raises his hand to the sky and screams;

“Nothing’s gonna stand in our way! Yeah!”

Without hesitation, you lean back, inhaling sharply before letting out a bellow of; “Woohoo!”

#one piece #one piece x reader #one piece live action #opla #opla x reader #opla zoro #opla zoro x reader #one piece zoro #zoro roronoa #zoro roronoa x reader #zoro roronoa imagine #zoro roronoa x you #zoro x reader #zoro x you

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dragongirlpoet · 2 months ago

Text

Dark Signs 4

Summary: Alucard races against time to get to Castlevania before Simon does. But the Belmont isn’t the enemy, or is he? Dark forces and shocking truths haunt the vampire prince as he searches for you. Will you and your beloved ever meet again? (Dual POV, Alucard + you, both happen simultaneously, off-canon)

Themes: Dark fantasy, gothic horror, MDNI I 11.5k words

Warnings: Death, blood, gore, violence, biblical references, mentions of suicide, self harm, anxiety, depression, SMUT

@s-i-l-v-e @kawaiiskeletoneggsnerd @celly-fahrenheit @skychaser777 @sylum @cumsluut @cottoncandyclouds-stuff (tagging the usual, lemme know if I missed any, or if you wanna be tagged/removed)

Pt I I Pt II I Pt III

Alucard

The moon appeared wan.

It was a blanched yellow — sickly, like the face of a discarded corpse on the brink of necrose.

It would take more than a keen eye, a vampire perhaps, to discern my amongst the sleet of heavy snow. Though the brutal blizzard had slowed to an ebb, the punishing cold meant that only a creature such as I could prowl the forest — unarmed, unfeeling, unhuman.

My estoc tailed me as I stalked, silent as the air in a grave. No living soul made so bold as to appear even in slightest privy to The White Wolf. I could sense everything there was in the playground of my castle — nightshades straining to burgeon in the undergrowth, the miasmic decay of a fox carcass some 20 feet from where I was, and an arctic owl roosting in a cavity of a frozen willow.

That willow…I remember it. I knew it well.

Wallachia had been fast approaching its summer solstice. Daffodils, in full bloom, were lush at the pinnacle of their flourish. Their native toxins, otherwise grievous to mere mortals, stood all but benign to my love — “I alone am immune to these so called poisons. It’s a shame people see peril in place of beauty. I like them, they so very much remind me of your eyes.”

Her words to me were breathtaking, always. A placid warmth, quite like the clandestine ray of sun through a break in nature’s foliage. It falls on you, hushed and unassuming, irrevocably lovely.

“I can build you a fortress, by the ocean, away from the stir of Wallachia.” I said to her as we plodded through the woods, our muscles stiff from hunting elk all dawn.

I shadowed her footsteps, trailing the other half of my question after her. “Somewhere only we know. Where daffodils bloom evermore. Would you like that?”

“Hmm, let’s see. Far away from the towns…how then would I get to the markets? Church? The dress merchant?” she replied in mock distress, right hand twirling her steel dagger. The face of a wolf lay emblazoned on the cross-guard, mane extending to its hilt. It bore my likeness — I had it forged to resemble my shield.

“We are to tarry at the villages every Moon’s day. The folk anticipate it, you know that. Who else will bring them medicines and teach the children how to read?” She put me wise to our promise.

“Yes, yes, I’m sure the children quite miss their favourite magician.”

“I prefer alchemist, thank you very much.”

“Magician sounds much less frightening.” I smirked.

“Oh? And a pale, unearthly, hovering mortal with fangs is more hospitable?”

“I imagine my charm…elevates when I float.”

I’d always known I was funny.

Throwing her head back, she let out a deep chuckle, the veins on her neck made all the more palpable. Every throb of it seemed to cause my own to thrash against my ribs. I forced myself instead, to regard the satin flush on her cheeks as she laughed.

We were matched in wit and knowledge — a most gratifying repose — after having spent years engaged in senseless parley with a dimwit like Belmont. Sypha definitely has her work cut out for her.

Attempting to seek cover from the relentless sun, my beloved alas settled under a goat willow, its branches vast and leaves a sprawling golden green. I fixed my gaze on her in earnest, eager for a response to my yet unanswered question. Was she evading it?

Panic rising in my chest, I again pressed, “Anywhere you like, I’ll take you as I always do. What do you think?”

Avoiding my scrutiny, she sulked, “Who will I haggle my wares to?”

Thump, thump.

“Where did you…have you been pillaging the attic for dust-ridden jewels? Enlighten me, darling, the need for these..trifling travails, when you live in a castle?”

A jest, to mask my unease.

“It’s passes the time. It’s thrilling. I quite enjoy it.”

“Then I’ll take you.”

“But you know I can care for myself, Adrian.”

“But it’s not safe.”

“But I am skilled in combat. You taught m….”

“But it’s not enough.”

My discountenace came too swift, too reckless.

“I have a great many foes. Foes that span dimensions, foes that want you dead. I cannot allow it.”

The forest expanse plunged into an uncomfortable silence. Lakes seemed to still, leaves collapsed to a wither and blackbirds stifled their serenade. Her eyes were on me — forlorn, defeated — but it was my turn to refuse hers. I pondered, at that moment, if she could descry the truth behind my adamance, that my fear far extended beyond angels and demons.

I was eternal, yet I dreaded as any mortal man might — would she fall in love with another? A comely knight perhaps? She would have a life of her dreams, away from monsters, void of sin.

And I’d be forgotten, forsaken, a wandering ghost in search of redemption.

Shove.

It came out of nowhere. I was forcefully pinned against the coarse willow bark. I struggled to withdraw from my grim phantasy, focus alas narrowing to my bride, her face inches from mine.

She had a blade to my throat.

Disoriented and amused, a small laugh escaped before I managed, “What are you doing, darling?”

“Is this skilled enough for you, my Prince?”

“What…”

“You dropped your guard. A costly mistake. Now you’re at my mercy. Beg me to let you go, Alucard.”

“What did you call me?”

“That’s your name, is it not?”

The mischief in her glare was telling, a kind of insolence dared not a soul to wield — save for her. It was maddening.

“Alright. I’ll indulge your little…impudence. Please, don’t let me go.”

She stared, dark eyes gone soft, searching…as if she too, was sentient to my pain, my fears…as if she too, had broken into pieces. I watched as tears glazed her vision, and when the first drop of crystalline cascaded down her cheek, she held my face, velveteen fingers etching sacred salvation.

I was no son of God, but her touch was the safety of an answered prayer.

“My heart is yours, Adrian. I will go where you are. To the heavens and the depths of the oceans. I will go with you. If hell is where you’ll descend, my soul will find yours.”

Poetry, as always.

I eased into her love, kissing her, yearning her. It was a kismet tale of how the Sun surrendered his golden orbit for the Night. Only, she had heartened him to glow fearlessly — iridescent… free — so her stars could ascend in his divine light. Under the willow, the shadow dared dance with the sun, embracing like lovers do.

Under the willow, the Sun bowed down to the majesty of Night’s nocturne.

She pulled back by a fraction, wanting to break our kiss, but I’d leaned in, going where she took me, closing the space between.

“Adr…” she muffled, struggling to escape my insistent grasp. “Adrian. My love, I…” Kiss. “Can’t…” Kiss. “Breathe.”

Fine, I’ll let go.

Forehead to hers, I grinned like a lovesick fool.

“Does this now tame your tempestuous heart?” Her voice was all breathy.

“Not quite enough.”

In the distance, a euphony of sounds rang through the woods — a blackbird’s ballad — they had once again begun to sing. An aria so hauntingly beautiful it seemed all the forests’ carnate creatures ceased their fluster, stilled their very being, all but to exist in its orchestral grace.

I pulled my sweetheart in closer, guiding her hips to sway, reminiscent of nights where we would slow-dance in my Great Hall to a minstrel’s sonata.

Ever defiant, withal, my beloved had a penchant for testing me. Cool metal began skirting the base of my throat, this time falling past the scar on my chest, circling alas, above my heart.

She was tracing the wicked blade around my nipple.

Smirking in disbelief, I shook my head.

“What are you doing now? I was being romantic.”

“Playing with my food, since you begged to be prisoner.” She replied, words all coy.

The lilt of the blackbirds unfurled into a siren song.

“Did I?”

I let my voice drop to a dangerous rasp, black cape hovering over her. “What if you’re the captive, and I’m the one pulling your chains?”

Nothing good ever comes with taunting a vampire.

Mouth grazing her ear, I whispered, “Show me just how subservient you can be.”

She sucked in a breath before falling to her knees, those eyes like saintly sin peering into mine, gaze dripping with desire.

Cherry lips roaming my inner thighs, her hands worked effortlessly to unfasten the girdle holding my cape together — an extremely ill-suited attire for hunting, but she had implored me to don it, contending that it pleased her greatly. I had already begun to tense in my trousers, but she appeared to delight in tormenting me. Her fingers were strung through my waistband, caressing my abdomen, dallying…Did she want me to beg?

Prolonging my agony, she stuck her tongue out to trace the very prominent outline of my erection, making certain to soak every single spot of fabric with her saliva. Dhampirs could go for long periods without breathing, but in that moment, my chest rose and fell like tumultuous tides in a seething sea.

“Darling, darling, please…take me…” I pleaded, reaching down to pull out my length, catching her by surprise. I levelled it at the opening of her lips, too eager, too hungry, for her warmth. She pouted her dollface, dismayed I’d taken matters into my own hands. That only served to further rile me. Left with little choice, I tugged her bottom lip apart, urging her open, and as she did so, as she encased her mouth around me, I came apart, bright and free like the first light of daybreak.

Her own sounds of pleasure were blatantly suppressed. Her licks started tame, delicate, grazing my most sensitive spot. My most sensitive spot…fuck…she continued lapping at my pre-load, rubbing her thumbs at the base of my cock, yanking, slackening…repeating the motion…fuck…

My hair was tied up, loose curls draping my face — she’d harangued me for wearing it the same way always, so I’d let her experiment. Now, running my hands up the base of her hair, curling them into my fist…I was merely returning the favour. Tugging… pushing… trying… to be as gentle as I could. But my lust was brutal, and my hips jerked forward at an inhuman pace. “Harder darling, ahh…good girl…” How much could she take? It was my turn to experiment.

“Mmphf…” She shifted.

I halted at once. Was she hurt?

“Darling…did I…”

She glanced up at me, eyelashes black as a winter solstice’s night, shaking her head.

Wanting to prove once more she was undaunted by all the cares in the world, she pushed further in, swallowing more than half of me.

Immediately she choked, tears rimming her eyes.

‘My love, please…stop…ahhh…”

I can handle myself, her measured stare let me know she wanted to keep going.

I was utterly lost in the vespers of panic and arousal. Over and over again she engulfed my sex, head rising and dipping, astutely apprised of all the right ways to devastate me. I was so close, too close, to my approaching release, when…what??

She had pulled away, but her manner remained wanton. It would seem the forcible dhampir had once more fallen quarry to his damsel.

“My Prince, I beg. May I?”

Another moment, another blade with which to wager my life.

Still reeling from near orgasm, I stared at her in confusion, at the honed weapon bearing into my thigh — wherefore her fascination with sharp objects?

She stayed kneeling, waiting, as though for permission.

Permission…

Ah yes…

Consent…for a deed so dark, so depraved, surely the church she’d grown up in would burn her if they knew. Reason whispered caution, yet this was hardly the first time I’d allowed it.

“Just a little.”

I was the devil incarnate, afterall.

Thereupon, she slit my skin open. Blood river spilled out like the Holy Grail, overfilled and awaiting reverence. It trickled past my knees, and the mere sensation of it exalted me. My pants were pulled down to my ankles — I stood naked and vulnerable, cut wide, hers for the taking.

She could dig graves in my heart, pummell me with poison arrows, and I’d yield completely to her. Despite it all, she was the one devouring my lifesource in supplication. That tongue of hers…it did unholy work. Up and up the crimson trail she went, bestowing my skin with vulgar licks, snaking towards its provenance like a hunter claiming a well-earned reward.

I began trembling. My breath became one with the impregnable sea — climbing and crashing with every violent intake. I watched in intoxicated lust as she finally, finally latched her lips onto the place she’d cut me open, drinking my blood as if I were her God.

I spared little effort to hinder my moans, whimpering so deplorably one would have thought me smothered to death. The trills of the forest went quiescent once more, as if afeared to intrude on a vampire’s sacrilege.

All that was present was the raging throb of entwined hearts and tangled desire — though hers was more rapid, my own roared like the fury of a turbulent thunderstorm. They melded together like the perfect harmony of sky and ocean, boundless and omnipotent.

My beloved taking my blood was pure rapture. The gush of my essence weaved itself into every passage of her body, laying immortal claim to her being.

“...feels so good darling…” each gasp more strangulated than the former, “...don’t stop…please, please…uhghhh…”

Acknowledging my plea, she sucked harder on my blood, head positioned so decadently within my thighs. I hadn’t realised how much I’d been grinding my cock into her hands, and when she lay blood-stained nibbles all over my hard sex, I was wholly ruined. Sweat beaded through my pores as it did hers, amid my being vehemently aware of another wetness between her legs. Though not visible past clothing, I could feel her pleasure drenching her undergarment, arousal dripping so fervently I could well taste it on my tongue. I locked my fingers through her hair, the softness of it dissipating in my unbridled grip. I was so overcome by desire.

More and more she took from me, feasting as if she were made of the night, until I knew where I was no longer. The blood drinking…I felt my human slipping away, descending with it a darkness that threatened to alter my consciousness…

Thump, thump.

The sensation swelled to an uncontrollable need, awakening something in me, something unearthly, something malevolently monstrous.

“That’s enough.”

I said it before I couldn’t.

“But I want more,” she beseeched, pristine blood spilling from her lips as she spoke. They streamed down her chin, desiccating like wilted rose petals on her neck.

I watched her through half human eyes, begging for the aversion mortals so avoided like the plague.

“No.”

You should stay away from me. Stay away, before it’s too late.

“Then bite me, Adrian. Please. Let my blood be forever in your servitude. You never have to hide who you are with me.”

She had spoken true my heart’s darkest desire.

Shadows creeped into every muscle, every bone, every crevice of my soul. I remained unmoving, as if being still would somehow vanquish the vampire out of me.

Stay away.

An uncanny shift in my mouth started to take root. Freed alas from the cages of inhibition, my fangs began to distend — longer, sharper, deadlier. This was what she wanted, right?

My fingers, woven so intricately in her hair, started to descend heedlessly down her neck. I traced them about her veins, violet and turquoise like sublime shades of the ocean. She shuddered at my touch, tilting her head to offer more of her supple flesh. Blood hammered at her vessels, throbbing so intensely as though seeking to claw out of her skin.

I was the potence of a blood moon, the hunger of a starved wolf. So spellbound in her longing, I gripped the blades of her shoulders, mouth poised a breath beneath her neck. Against my lips her honeyed blood burned, sweet bride…my fangs ache for you…

I leaned in, nearer, closer, warmer, so warm…

Just a bite, mine forever…

Stop this now, Alucard.

“Mmphh…”

“Forgive me my love, but I cannot.”

The wound on my thigh was no more.

Face buried in her neck, I grappled for air, body convulsing wildly from trying to banish my bloodlust to hell. I was riddled with shame at how easily I’d succumbed to my immortal thirst. She could only hold me tighter, cradling me as if I were a child;

quell, quell,

the tempest,

that befell.

The both of us knelt in quiet embrace, unravelling in the graveness of what we’d done.

“I’m sorry, my love. I was too careless. I never should have asked. Adrian I…what’s wrong?”

A contusion the size of my palm, battered a punishing purple, marred the hollow of her neck. It ran all the way across her shoulder blade, pervading past her arm. Suppressing my appetite had cost me, cost her, — I had almost crushed her bones from the unhuman force of my grip.

I could see my own horror reflected in the blacks of her pupils. I had no memory of the deed — the idea that I’d been blind to my grotesque impulses rendered me numb. My angel did little to acknowledge her injury — was she as far gone as I was?

“My darling, I…I…”, voice cracking as I spoke. “I hurt you. I would never hurt you.” My eyes skimmed over her sickening bruise, her body, desperate to make certain I didn’t kill her. “I’m so sorry my love, I’m so sorry…forgive me…”.

She took my face in her hands, kissing my brows with a softness only she could provide. “You’re not to blame, my Adrian. I’m perfectly well, I do not feel a thing,” she reassured by prodding her livid skin.

At once she winced, albeit fleeting. “See? I’m not bluffing.”

She was bluffing.

I could feel the pain radiating off her body. It seared onto my own like scorching steel, spreading onto every nerve.

“My love, I implore you, do not coax me. Let’s return to the castle. There are salves and herbs and…”

“Adrian.” She steadied me. “I’ve had far worse. Lost a fight to the village children, if I’ll have you believe. Perhaps I should have given them more gruel and less stew.”

I managed an uneasy smile.

Our foreheads together once more, I cupped her angel face, savouring a love I was never granted.

“You have all consumed me, my love. You have made me…tender, whole, the most radiant kind of human. I adore you, wholly.”

Love letters to her, and I’ll write an eternity more.

“Promise you’ll never leave me.”

“I promise.”

The willow now resembled a sepulchre of forsaken souls. Their long-perished physical bodies coiled and dangling as if begging to be remembered, begging to be looked at one last time, begging to be more than ash and bone and clay.

A sudden gust of winter’s spell swept around me, throwing into the air ice particles…and her scent.

I whipped around, heart racing in my wolf body. I searched for it again, utterly frantic, but the draught came and went like evanescent embers. An inexplicable, chimeric vestige clung to her perfume. My breathing became labourious as I scrambled towards the castle, only to…only to…

The spell. It had shattered.

The acrid stench of rotting carcasses remained, as it had a near century ago, as if the curse of Castlevania had allowed decay to cling onto its foundations and drag any semblance of life into purgatory.

I wanted to drown in my own blood. The doors were flung open — did she wake? Was she taken? Why wasn’t I there to protect her?

As I stepped into our once home, I felt my lungs begin to crush in.

Lightless, funereal, shrouded with the sombre gloom of the blood moon…they threatened to pry my insides open. Everywhere I looked, they were all fragments of the same morose portrait — a former fortress reeking of blood, sin and death.

Darling…

I called out her name once, twice…countless times over. All that greeted me was the haunting affliction of my own voice. There was never a day I would not think of her. Ever and again, I would reach out for her hands, turn over in my bed, pour an extra glass of wine…I suppose I got too old for play pretend. She never came back.

My dhampir footsteps became sluggish. It became increasingly torturous to move past my old chambers — the room where I’d killed her loomed in the distance.

A loud ringing erupted in my ears, causing me to lose balance. I held onto the stone for support, breath coming up shorter each time. In the darkness, a pipe organ began to play. Who dared trespass into my home? The chapel she used to devote herself to the almighty, I went there one night after she died. That was the last time I ever heard one.

Malady of the mind, it seemed the being who composed the chorus did possess. Though not particularly gifted in the modus of musics, I was wholly aware of the clashing chords — its erratic rhythm struck another like songbirds thrown into disarray. It echoed through the castle, blanketing the manor in deranged melancholy.

Hark hear,

Ye whistle

Of a raven black.

Strange tales,

Stow in missal

Sion triumph wreck.

Might of olde,

Ye bairn behold!

Fields of gold,

Born of cold.

Of a raven black,

Ye whistle

Hark hear, hark hear.

Part of me was not of this world; I was made of flesh far more grim than ghosts and revenants. Yet the monstrous melody deeply unsettled me.

My vampiric senses could grasp the presence of naught, still the music ascended, rising into a rousing crescendo, louder, louder, louder.

“Who’s there?!” I bellowed, my sword drawn full.

The symphony stopped.

All that could be heard was the hysteric gasps of air I so struggled to take.

“Adrian…”

I went rigid.

“Mother…” I choked, tears running down my cheeks.

She was as real as the day I lost her — ethereal in ivory robes, beautiful, carved of silk. In her I saw myself, what it was to love, to protect, to be human.

With her arms outstretched, she beckoned for our embrace. I crumbled into her maternal love, feeling so terribly small, like a child again.

“Mother…I missed you, so very much…”

“I know my sweet boy, I know. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to watch over you,” she cooed, hand brushing my hair.

Home. She felt like home.

“Am I beyond salvation? I’ve…murdered…humans…I killed her…I know not what I do no longer…”

Centuries ago, I had deliberately flashed my fangs at one of my mother’s patients, scaring them. She did not chide me. In its absence she would often plant a kiss on my cheek and utter words of consolation, of warmth, as she did now.

“My Adrian…it is no easy feat, navigating life as a dhampir. You are your father’s son as much as you are mine. In you there is a light that burns like no other. It is there. I know it.”

My tears would not cease.

“I love you, Mother. I could not save you, forgive me…”

Gone with the wind, she faded into dust. The words I so wished to hear did not come.

“Son.”

Weeping and wide-eyed with horror, I froze once more.

No…no..this cannot be…

Hands, their claws sharp and blackened, braced my shoulders from behind.

“My boy…after all this time, are you still ashamed of me?”

I could not face him.

“Why won’t you look at me?”

I watched as Dracula’s hands coiled tighter around my chest. If it was affection, I could not tell.

“My son. Fear not of what you truly are. We are forged of dark gods…my power, it flows through you…a gift. Wield it how you wish, drink from who you wish, kill…”

“Stop.”

I was unable to hide the quiver in my voice.

Even in the endless dusk, I could make out my father’s shadow towering over me. If only I would move closer to his eminent presence, our shadows would fuse, I would be Dracula.

“Why won’t you look at me, son?

Look at me!”

Crimson crypts in place of eyes shot in front of me, forcing me to stumble backwards onto the oak wood floor. Dracula appeared how I had left him — tortured, grieving, staked through his heart.

I clambered backwards on all fours, feeling a fear as I’ve never felt before. Each step he took towards me seemed to drive the stake deeper, provoking the wound, splaying more and more blood onto his tunic, onto my face…

“Father…forgive me…”

The clamouring of voices began again, threatening to rip me apart. My father continued to reach for me.

Too much…too much.

“Ughh…”

A piercing silence followed at once.

Bent over, I stared at my own blood spilt on the oak.

My estoc was thrust into my chest. All I had to do was push the blade a little lower, just a little…and my heart, already broken, would shatter from the ashes once again.

I allowed myself to wallow in the pain, in the excruciating sting of metal through muscle, steel through bone. Just a little lower…

The scurrying of cells, so desperate to stitch me back together, they could not understand why I refused the lifeline.

And so I bled. I bled until I started to choke and wheeze and tremor. But I would not die.

Would I?

Slowly, powerlessly, I crawled with the strength of an emanciated human towards our bed chamber, leaving a trail of blood in my wake. The spot where I drank from her… I know not how I’d summoned the magic, I could not recall it, but I awoke to the vault where I’d buried her.

Cherry wine doused in sacred blood — her scent indulged all my senses at once. The ground…stained with her lifesource. Or mine? The threshold…her blood smeared. The coffin…open. It was open.

I staggered forward. Daffodil petals lay wilted in the empty divan, gathering in a compressed middle where her body used to lie. My heart went fatally taut.

For the first time in my unfathomable darkness, I could breathe easy, if only for a moment. There was that surreptitious ray of sun again…hushed and unassuming…

That scent again…what was it?

Alas my wounded mind wouldn’t leave me be — it clawed at every trench and trough, exhuming all that was sinister. You let her die again.

“Where are you? Where are you darling?” Tears rained from my eyes as I struggled to survey the vault. I could make no head or tail about its anomaly. How did she leave? Simon…

The spell had been infallible, foolproof even, when I’d cast it — all that was within Castlevania would be ensconced in a Veil of Oblivion. No thing, sire nor soul could enter nor leave, save for I, Alucard, blood-spawn of Dracula. The plan was simple. She would wake from her slumber, I would be her knight on a white horse, and we would live happily ever after.

I knelt over her lingering presence, mind imprisoned in a pit of trepidation. “I cannot lose you again…come back to me…you promised…you promised…”

A numbing ache shot up my arm. My sword, it had maimed me more than I’d liked. In one swift, reckless motion, I yanked it from my flesh, demon blood splattering on her casket. I clutched at the gaping wound, so morbidly aware of the pain, of her absence…of what I needed to do.

—

Ballad. My good horse, black as sorrow and gallant as sin, together we rode through the bleak winter solstice. Castlevania seemed a distant memory, yet it had been barely a day since I’d escaped that wretched grave. The sun didn’t rise. Trees lay barren and arched, their deformed silhouettes like pagans seeking deliverance from the blood moon. Ballad’s gait was slower than usual — I made no motion to rush her, she was, after all, no creature of the night, and her senses were stifled by the frigid fog.

Darkest night of the year, yet there were no stars in heaven’s oscillation. All that was within our parameters was the cardinal mist that hung like death. Nothing felt as it was supposed to — the air hovered curious, bitter, and we passed no living, faced no dead. Fitting, perhaps, for the resolve I was soon to execute.

Would I tell her? Would I tell her what I’d wagered to keep her safe?

The Veil of Oblivion, it was magic that drew from the damned. One so perilous, one so dark, one that only an execrated witch like Salome could manifest. She had pledged herself ardently to Dracula’s cause, everything that I’d been fighting against, but when risked losing the one you love, you’d turn despicable too, no?

“I’ve been expecting you, Alucard. What you ask…I could give you that and more…so much more. Oh, but what in return, dhampir?” She had reeked of suffering and plague.

“Take my blood. Use it for your spells, trinkets, whatever sorcery you deem fit. You could not have Dracula’s, but I am giving it freely. Its power is unmarked.”

“Tempting…but you take me for a fool, dhampir. I am Salome, most revered enchantress in all of the lands…” her cackle sounded like a cat being boiled alive, “…do better.”

“Name your price.”

The witch leaned in, her grey-translucent eyes glistening like a reptile who’d just ensnared prey.

“You feel too much, son of Dracula. Emotion, that which drives mortals to misery. But you cling on to it as though you’re not of Hell. Give it to me — your humanity.”

“Souls of a thousand damned. That I’d avow.”

“Your humanity, vampire.”

My stare remained unwavering.

“Know the weight of what you’re asking, witch. A fragment, nothing more.”

I could still recall the pain as she, in all her sinister glory, extracted that fragment. Years of joy and love and laughter, ripped untimely from my soul. I’d been a broken man after it; a messenger of Hell, a vessel of darkness, an overture of death.

And I was about to do it all over again. My sweet angel, I needed to know where she was. If it meant to lose everything, I’d do it. I’d do it all for her. I’d do it all for love.

“Halt!”

Ballad reared as I reeled her reigns in. She was none too pleased at the sudden command. Pleas for aid, for God, rang in my ears before I could catch sight of the chaos. But it was no ordinary bedlam. Up ahead lay Targoviste — where my mother was burned at the stake.

Fury and heartache settled heavy in my chest. A hundred years, I’d not seen the square. It only served to remind me of all the people I had loved and lost. I could turn away, set the course for my own path…what good was mercy if I were no longer human?

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph…

“...is for good men to do nothing.” Incandescent in gold, like the loveliest bride, my beloved spoke to me as if I were wreathed in a euphoric dream.

I nudged Ballad ready. “Steady now, girl, we’re riding into the fire.”

As the ravaged town came into view, the pungent fumes of flames, flesh and the unmistakable malodour of night creatures assaulted my nostrils. My dear horse took a sharp turn, gruffing, stomping her hooves as if to warn me. She was aware, just as I was, of the eldritch presence that dwelled beneath the earth — lurking, waiting, biding its time.

I hurled my sword through the cursed night, and, like a soldier of valour, it pummelled into the eyes and throats of the undead, tunneling its way into their foul bodies until they dropped dead like vermin on the ground.

Ballad continued charging forward with me on the reigns, trampling over debris, fallen martyrs and charred bodies. Hellish snarls and human squalls clashed like fire and water in a ceaseless night, dragging the entirety of Targoviste into a nether-bound inferno.

People were fighting tooth and nail with anything they could scavenge — rocks and spears, crosses and bibles — mothers hid their children while fathers sparred like heroes. Few were truimphant. In the midst of my rescue, I witnessed the fragility of mortals. But most of all, I remarked that, even when hope seemed to teeter on a string, those…humans…fought with all but clothes on their backs and faith in their hearts.

I grappled to hold on to that shred of ruth, willing it to stay. Do I remember? Compassion, joy, laughter…the emotion dwindled on and off, like a candle reaching the end of its kindle, gone…but not quite.

“Have you come to save us?”

In between blood and sweat, I glanced down at the child, a girl, obscured behind a crumbling well. She had tears in her eyes and gashes on her skin. I ripped my shield off a monster I’d killed, partially shaken by the sight of a helpless daughter of none.

“Where are your parents?” I didn’t want to know.

“A monster…a…ate… them…I’m scared.”

I lifted her into my arms. She wrapped her tiny hands around my shoulders, sobbing into them. Something welled in my chest — it was neither panic nor despair.

“Shh, it’s okay, you see my little horsie here? She’ll take you, and whoever we can find, to the… church, over there. Stay inside. I will keep you safe, I promise.”

—

In the rampage of ruins, the empty church was the only safehold. It had remained unscathed in the height of horror. Consecrated, then, enough to serve as temporary refuge. I turned back to glimpse at the shivering survivors within its walls, at the little girl, now huddled up to a stranger. She peered at me with bright eyes, as if to inspirit me. I threw her one last glance, and sped away on Ballad.

The battle seemed to stretch on for miles, with wails of terror being heard from beyond the square. The creatures — vile and uncontained, they came from every corner, every dark recess…I had not encountered an army such as this. There seemed little motivation for their attacks, unless…this was merely a distraction, a harbinger for the apocalypse that was to follow.

More charged at me. I rose on my horse, daring the beasts to come closer. “Ballad, now!” Well acquainted with my habits, she at once veered off course as I scattered into a cauldron of bats, revealing sharpened wooden stakes mounted onto stone walls behind me. Ambushed, the fiends that had been assailing us crashed into them, their bodies peforated with bleeding caverns.

“Into the church! Go! Hurry!” I yelled over the roaring flames. Most complied, others remained to fend off the monsters with me. The light in my heart continued to flicker.

Could I save them all?

A swarm of colossal hounds aimed for the people, and, with one hand brandishing my sword, I intercepted the attack, holding them off. With all my might, I propelled into the snarling beasts, cracks shooting up their limbs, before I vanished and re-emerged above them, slicing through their heads.

It would seem my efforts did little to thwart the heinous war. There were just too many.

“Help!”

I scanned frantically around for the source of the plea, and…crash!

I was sent flying into stone and debris, the sudden blow paralysing me. The winter stood unrelenting, but I had only felt the immense heat from a conflagration beside me, and a scythe wedged in my stomach. As I struggled to regain my vision, I could make out a mass of black running towards me…Ballad…

It happened too fast.

A wretched beast swooped in from behind, impaling my dear horse in her barrel. She continued riding. I ripped the sickle off me, dashing for her, when she whipped around and charged into the creature with all that she had. Rising behind my mare, I drove my sword into the monster, making sure to cleave out all its insides.

As if rest assured I was safe, Ballad collapsed onto the ground before me, grunting as blood gashed out of her body. “No…Ballad…stay with me girl, please…I need you…” tears streamed from my eyes as I watched her chest rise and fall, slowing each time, finally taking her last breath.

I knelt on the ground in anguish and defeat.

Around me the bloodshed continued, the shrieks of monsters and man booming into the infernal night like a death toll. It was as if I were trapped in a bad dream once again, enslaved by a pestilence from which I could not escape. I could only watch, powerless, as everyone around me perished to ashes.

Rage inciting my bloodlust, I tore into the creatures, draining their blood in all my immortal grandeur. “Show yourself you fucking coward!” I bellowed into the void, willing for the malevolent mastermind to dare manifest. “You send your worthless beasts, yet you cower in the shadows like a festering corpse…” I let out a long, unbridled laugh, mouth smeared with bloody fluids of night creatures.

My act of messiah had run its course. Every second that trickled by was time lost to find my angel. To hell with playing hero — the world can burn; amidst the fanning flames of doom and despair, I alone walk the charred earth with my betrothed.

I quickened my pace, half terrified of that resolve. Without her, without Sypha, without Trevor, becoming Dracula seemed near inevitable. If only Belmont were here…if only…

A rumble, a shockwave, then a crash.

“Ugh…”

A battered man lay on the ground a distance away, clutching at his ribs.

He seemed to have fallen from the sky.

Incensed I had yet to stage another rescue, I compelled myself to keep my course, but something shimmering in the corner of my eye stopped me in my tracks. I treaded to where the mysterious man tumbled, and as I got closer, the glint of metal, the heat of overt masculinity, and the blatant reek of a third class ingrate…

“What the fuck.”

Grabbing a fistful of his hair, I slammed Simon Belmont into the pavement. The corner of his temple split into a stream of blood.

“Where is she? Where did you take her?!” I spat into his scarred face.

He seemed delirious, taking unusually long for someone of his caliber to register who I was. Utterly useless…wholly unworthy of the Belmont crest…

“Th…the…” A pathetic blabber was all he managed.

I gripped his throat and crushed harder on his windpipe.

“Speak you lunatic, or I’ll fucking murder you.”

Between our violent tussling, the air around us went eerily still. All that could be heard were the rabid breaths of old foes.

A sudden prickle shot up the nape of my neck, as though a vengeful spirit had hissed its hateful exhale. My blood ran cold. That presence…

The ground beneath us began to tremor. Buildings fell apart, trees were yanked from their roots and people perished into crevices. It quaked so forcefully the earth started to split open.

Somewhere in the abyssal cavern, from within the depths of hell, rose a towering creature not born of light.

“Son of Dracula…we meet again.”

I felt a rip in my conviction.

Behind me, Simon had launched into battle with night creatures, his metallic whip flailing around the horde, playing executioner of the damned. He had been yelling at me, but I couldn’t make out the words above the babel. He can die, that bastard.

“Heavy is thy heart, dhampir. Another favour you seek, I hear. Come, do tell your dear old friend what it is you so desire.”

“It was you. You did all of this.”

“I did. But I am no saviour. Sit on the fences of darkness and light, I do not.”

“Where is she!!”

“What would you wager this time?”

“You dare ask for a boon? We made an oath!!”

The fury in my voice turned frost into fire.

I hadn’t known it, but I later became aware I had been shaking, sharpened nails digging into my palms as blood fell like crimson tears onto white ice.

The witch cackled, the dark, weeping flesh that hung about her writhing as she did.

“You mar my name, vampire. My word is sacred, as the church is to deceivable humans, but you, Alucard, are callous… arrogant. You remain blind to truths that lay before you.”

I appeared behind the demon in a second, spearing my sword into her formless body before she could finish. She all but laughed louder, a hollow, rotting chasm materialising at the spot where I’d impaled her. The steel began to quaver and rattle, and no sooner expelled such a malevolent force I thought I’d felt my bones shatter and my blood roil. Into the hard earth I plummetted, close to losing consciousness.

Wails, bloodshed, fire…they encircled me like vicious vultures at a distance, sights and sounds drowned out as though I was thrown into a vacuous orbit.

Breathe, Adrian…

Pallid silhouettes dangled before my pained vision. It had started to snow once more. Amidst the baleful umbra, a sliver of light lay lambent in the sky. Beneath the gentle fall of snow, fates soul-bound like stars aglow…

Everything slowed. The light remained my sole existence. Brighter and brighter it shone, blinding, beckoning…

“Is this, what you’re searching for?”

High up in the clouds, in the clutches of the demon, hung the star.

My star. I saw her.

I saw only her.

—

You

More…I want more…

And so I drank.

My first human, a lowlife swine I had chanced upon maltreating children, and the gall he had to do it in front of the church. Foundlings, they must have been, for the little boys and girls seemed dressed in nothing but rags, pleading for their beating to stop. A boy, oldest I reckon, with the courage of a steed, stepped out and shoved the man. He received twenty lashings as punishment. I had been watching in the shadows, and I could scarce bear it no longer.

I had been the victim of violence at the hands of my father. My mother had passed, and I had not known comfort and joy till the church took me in. In the midst of burnt leather against skin and cries against taunts, I emerged, sudden as a wild tempest. With all the immortal might and hunger Adrian had bestowed upon me, I dragged the vermin scum to the banks of the Dâmboviƫa river, where I now lay hunched over his expired corpse, draining every last drop of his foul blood.

I was one with the blood coursing through my veins, infiltrating any and all alcoves in my body. My virgin thirst — it was an awakening…a torture, a rapture. I began to shiver from the unfamiliar assault, yet relish in its hypnosis. My fangs remained impaled in the human’s neck, his flesh and bones shrivelled beneath me like parched wax, utterly succumbed to his due judgment.

If Adrian were here, he would have told me to pay heed. I could not stop drinking, and I could not stop shaking. It felt as if I had been submerged in a vast ocean, I’d been flailing my arms and legs to ascend the flood, screaming for mercy only for grey waters to surge like torrents into my lungs.

I think I was going to die.

Adrian, where are you…

His name could have been a call for the heavens, for I alas released the dead man, collapsing onto the glacial river bank. My heart, if I even had one, thundered unbearably loud. I could feel the ventricles around it contract, crushing my organ as though to rid me of the blood affliction.

Was this, then, my judgment? For taking yet another life, for wanting the blood curse, for loving a dhampir? “Forgive me father, for I have sinned.”

Though the river had been frozen over, the ripple of life teeming under the ice continued to echo in my ears. I felt like dying, yet my senses were undividedly sentient to all that was alive. I lay under the stygian night, staring through tear-soaked eyes at the pale moon, making out the strange shadows that it beheld. Adrian had kept journals detailing the movement of celestial objects — “you my love, shine brighter than any star.”

But there were no stars that night.

My mind unwittingly wandered to the first encounter I had as a vampire.

I’d been walking for miles, for weeks…months, perhaps? Freezing, weak, so hungry. I had retched more times than I could remember, body entirely hostile to my diet of animal blood. Through forests and ravines I treaded, barefooted, with nothing but my sword and dagger. No bearing nor plan braced me, save for the undying hope that I’d find Adrian.

By God’s good grace, I stumbled upon a village, but there stood only a handful of folks peddling commodities in the crux of winter. “What…what is the year of our…our lord?” my voice had strained against the cold as I uttered my first words since I’d awoken. It felt strange, as if all the years of sleeping had erased any memory of tongue. An old man, selling bread by the street, face worn away by time and hardship, shrank back as I approached. He clutched at a cross he wore around his neck.

“...By the power of God, I…I… command, command thee to disappear!”

What?

“Good sir, I need only know the year…”

The old man backed away into a wall, trembling, as if he’d just witnessed his reckoning.

“Take…take whatever you want, just please, please, spare me. I have a daughter…I beg of you…”

I stared at his face, then at the protruding veins on his neck, baffled by his reaction. Surely a woman such as I was hardly a threat…

“...my, my lady, here,” he gestured frantically to the bread on his cart. “Take them all, you look hungry…”

All manner of couth notwithstanding, I, with the eagerness of a starved peasant, shoved the loaves of bread into my mouth. Blood of dead animals — that was all the sustenance I had to keep me from dying, and bread appeared as a feast.

With wild terror in his eyes, the old man managed, “...the year is 1576, my lady,” and he fled.

My legs gave way. A century…I’d doomed Adrian to live in infamy over what I’d done.

And then I vomited. Again.

Lying by the river, that moment had seemed so long ago. I blinked, the tears on my face frozen stiff, like anguish that was here to stay.

Perhaps I ought to have remained in the castle until Adrian returned…would he return? An unwelcome, disquieting thought overcame me — what if, in all the years of waiting, he’d finally allowed himself to move on? To love another? And all of the pain, suffering, all of this, would have been in vain. I had longed to be as he was, to love him whole and true, and now that I was turned, I felt more alone than ever.

My heart once more burned with an unbearable ache. I had never loathed myself more than I had in that moment, for I had dealt an irreversible hand to Adrian. Reckless, selfish, impudent…and he was the one who had to pay for it.

—

My vampire prince stood waiting, arms tucked behind his back. He wore his golden hair as he always had — dreamlike, falling past his shoulders like gilded armour. Sunlight poured in, diffused, through the tall windows, the Great Hall’s stained-glass scattering its rays into a prismatic Arcadia.

Adrian kept his eyes on me as I descended the curved staircase. I let my hands glide down the silkened marble, studying not its noble facets, but his handsome face. Music from a harp echoed carelessly in the background.

“You are a sight to behold.” Adrian smiled as he took my hand in his. “May I have this dance, my lady?”

“Always.”

Adrian was born of the throne. There was a quiet power to his movement, his presence commanding soft surrender to all that he graced. My prince led me into a gradual step, sweeping the gold-trimmed tiles as though we were flowers adrift on Spring’s warm billow.

There were no masks and no pretending, just the sanctity of the moment, of star-crossed lovers, of when two souls could just…be.

I lay my head on his chest, his heartbeat a gentle melody. My eyes followed the shadows our bodies cast on the floor, against the soft glow of the waning sun.

He pressed his lips to the crown of my head, kissing me, whispering deep secrets he’d hidden in his heart. “I want us to stay like this forever. Just you and I. All my scars that I carry, your love disburdens. Let me love you as you have me, darling. We’ll soar as birds do, unafraid, free.”

The sky above us turned overcast.

A sudden flash of lightning tore through the now darkened skies, our shadows splitting into volatile fragments. The Great Hall began to tremor, dislodging the ceiling vaults. They hung precariously above us, pendulating to the call of the wind.

“Adrian…what’s happening?”

“Focus on me. Don’t be afraid.”

He drew me in closer, enveloping me in his arms. My eyes welled up. Death didn’t frighten me. No, losing Adrian, that was my greatest fear. I love him. The sky and earth could rip us apart, and I’ll love him with my last breath.

“I love you.” I whispered through tears.

All around us, debris fell like snow, gathering in a circle along our velvet robes. Perhaps in a thousand years, noblemen would rediscover our abode, and they would tell the story of a vampire and his bride, so in ardour, so together, unflinching even, in the face of death.

We carried on dancing to the haunting tune of the harp, ignorant of the destruction. The ground below bellowed, forming cracks like serpents snaking their way through tiles. I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Keep dancing, my darling.”

And so we did. The ceiling came crashing down, dragging with it pillars and vaults. Adrian held on tighter to me. “Adrian…I…”

One last rumble, and the stained-glass windows erupted into shards of glass, the shattering so loud I began to whimper. The iridescence was no more, just dust and stone and lovers tangled in a crumbling castle.

“Keep dancing, my darling…”

—

A nightmare…not so different from the one I was living, then. Waking up from a slumber I did not wish to have, I gasped for air, my exhale coming out as smoke against the night sky. How long had the sun not risen? I rolled over in an attempt to heave myself off the icebound gravel…only to collide into the scum corpse, his waxen, ghost-like eyes fixated on me.

Panting, I pushed away, but I couldn’t move my arms. They had been frozen — melded, into the earth. Could the undead still feel pain? I was soon to find out. I held my breath, and yanked.

Nothing.

I pulled again, and again, and…crack. A profound pain disoriented me. My flesh was ripped raw from my bone, parts of skin still adhered to ice. Threads of tendon or tissue or I could not recall what Adrian had taught me, hung like soaked spiderwebs from what was left of my arms.

“Fuck!!” I yelled into the dusk before I gave it one last pull, severing my flesh entirely. It was macabre and terrifying. I began sobbing from the pain, watching as blood poured into the frost like crimson rain.

I stumbled against a tree, staring at my mutilated limbs. From deep within a clearing, an all too familiar snarl arose. Not now, not now…

My cadaver-like hands reached for my sword. They would not grip. The steel slipped through my frictionless and bloody hands, each time landing on the frozen grassbed with a loud clang.

In a rapid flash, the night creature lurched at me from the thick of the trees, knocking me onto my back. It pinned me down with its many arms, or legs, foul fluid from its mouth leaking onto my face as I wrestled to gain dominance.

Being a vampire had indeed amplified my strength, had it not been for my half-functioning limbs, and the torrents of blood I’d ruminated, I would have torn through its heart. Spired-like teeth closing in on me, I sent a kick into the creature’s eye, buying me mere seconds to ponder my next move.

I rolled out from under the thing, and raced towards my only form of defence. The growl of the beast trailed me. I ran, and it followed. I ran, and it followed. My laboured breaths were the only thing ringing in my ears, and before I could offer a silent prayer to God, I was dragged and swung violently into a large stump.

The moving hound loomed over my motionless body, ready to eat its fill. I closed my eyes. I let its monstrous weight crush my body, let its rancid breath revolt me, let its spindly legs impale my chest…before I let it writhe with my sword lodged in its head.

Vampires regenerate. Albeit in fleeting moments of death. My arms had completely healed — they were whole and new, pale, feline, everything…everything that ached to hold Adrian one more time.

On that cold bitter night, nightmares were perennial. The monster that I’d killed, it was just the first of many, innumerable more to come. And like grim tribulation, they did come. I was lithe and shrewd with a sword. I moved quickly, bit off, even, pieces of their hellbound flesh, but it was a battle I could not win alone.

Bloodied, weakened and starving for nourishment, the ring of night creatures appeared to me as murky, indistinct orbs.

Death did not frighten me.

A sudden heat…was that fire? In a single blow, the creatures — near half of them, exploded into balls of flame. I had collapsed at that point, I wasn’t certain if I’d make the next sunrise. The fighting went on, and that…man…my legendary saviour…

He had a chain around my neck.

“You…” he spewed, beads of sweat dripping off his scarred shoulders. He had on the Belmont crest.

“Your Alucard is a madman, and you will be the one to stop his genocide. You’re going to do as I say, and you can finally reunite with your villain vampire, after which I’ll flay both your skins off your bones.”

A wild succour settled in my heart. Adrian is alive.

“Wh…where’s Alucard?”

“You’re going to help me find him.” The Belmont paused, scrutinising my face. “My grandparents showed me portraits of you, you know. Of your cursed dhampir. Spoke of you two as though you were a gift to the family…when really they should’ve long sealed you both in coffins.”

I stifled a cry. I never got the chance to say goodbye to Trevor and Sypha.

“Belmont…I…”

“Do not speak as if we are acquainted. I am Simon Belmont, not my grandfather. And we leave, now.”

At that, he hauled me up by my neck, as if I were an animal that needed to be caged. Into the night he led me, yanking his chain when I slowed. All way, I had been shivering in my white dress. It was stained with blood and grime, its sweeping train sodden with melting ice and remnants of night creatures. I craved warmth, rest, blood…but he didn’t need to know. A gentleman would offer his coat, at the very least, but Simon was filled with spite and loathing. I knew not why.

“Can you believe it?” He scoffed, directing his question forward, as if I did not exist. “I found you before your darling did. Oh to have Alucard begging at my feet…”

Adrian was looking for me. That was all that mattered. I didn’t need to put the pieces together. I just needed to find him.

“Why do you resent Alucard so? The Belmonts are family to him, to us. And I know…” I coughed, Simon’s metal chain boring into my neck. “...I know, having you like this, it breaks his heart.”

Simon stopped walking. He turned back, his face livid with rage. “Vampires do not have hearts.”

Beyond our trail, my senses discerned smoke and faint shrills of help. We were approaching a town. “Simon. There’s trouble in…”

A third voice broke our conversation. It was neither human nor vampire.

“The Belmont…and the dhampir’s bride…” the woman cackled, her reptile-like eyes flitting between Simon and I.

The odour of dark magic hung onto her like a sickness.

Simon stepped in between the intruder and me, hand gripping his Combat Cross. “I do not extend compassion to witches like you. Say what you want and be on your way.”

“Oh good hunter, I need only a moment, I promise. I am Salome, enchantress of the lands.”

The witch then turned to me. She scrunched her bark-like nose and began sniffing the air, thereafter breaking into a slow, languid, smile.

Something inside me whirled.

“I have waited so, so long…and there you are.” Her eyes dropped to my dress. “So precious…oh…” Long fingers — leathery and skeletal — reached out to caress the air around me. A chill ran down my spine. I wanted to leave.

I unsheathed my sword at once, and saw that Simon had his whip already furled in his hand.

“Why the hostility, my fair maiden? I can take you to your dhampir, your Adrian.”

If she had only said it to rattle me, then it was an act accomplished. My breathing became uneven, steel quivering in my hand.

“Your time is up, enchantress. Leave. I won’t ask again.” But Simon was a man of endeavours, and words meant little to him. He was not about to lose his quarry.

His Morningstar had struck Salome’s arm, branding a hole in her roughened skin. In a manner that aghast me, her body dispersed into a tenebrous vapour, rising into the air, casting a malefic shadow over barren canopies.

Higher and higher she rose, entrails emerging from its smog, alas culminating into an entity bereft of shape and shame.

“Release me, Belmont!”

He didn’t need to.

My chains were sundered. By blackened vines. Vines that were wound about Simon’s body, threatening to pulverise the proverbial Son of Belmont. He threshed against them, whip flying mercilessly, but Salome had the wrath of a demon scorned.

With the last of my resolve, I struck the formless witch over and over again, my consciousness waning with each thrust of the blade. I thought I had exchanged a glance with Simon, before he was hurled into the distance and vanished from view. Belmonts always survive, I think.

I began to suffocate in the tendrils of the witch.

“Take me…take me to Adrian…” I murmured, voice barely audible.

“Will you die for your prince?”

“Yes.”

The world around me began to spin. I was adrift on nothing, journeying through fire and penance. Where was Salome taking me? In a half-sleep, I felt the half-swelter of flames, sensed the half-quell of snow.

I heard voices, and the witch spoke.

“Is this, what you’re searching for?”

I was among the clouds, suspended so high in the depravity of her claws, and in a supine position, I could only turn my head.

…It was like seeing him for the first time.

My vampire.

“Adrian…”

I love you. I’m sorry, I am so sorry… all the words, all the pain, it was not enough. I was engulfed by the seas; sinking, never to see the light of day. Seeing him there, it was me ascending the flood, rising for air at long last.

Adrian was my beginning and my end.

Our souls met first, I think, colliding into each other, entwined, mourning our time lost. I could not reach him, but in a place that transcended passages of time, I was already in Adrian’s arms — safe, never to part.

He fell to his knees, weeping, the guilt he’d carried for a century crashing down along with it. “My love…my love…” I heard him say my name, too many times, as if he could not believe I was whole and breathing. “Is it really you?” he sobbed, choking on his contrition.

It broke my heart. Seeing Adrian so…defeated, a shell of his former light…I wished to take on his grief as my own and drown in the absolution of what I’d done. What had a century done to him? How much had he to suffer? He was paler than I remembered, and the bones about his face stuck prominent in places it shouldn’t be.

Despite it, his eyes remained that of God’s gold, his face gifted still, of Heaven’s token. But there were shadows that clung to him that whispered of terrible, terrible things.

“A reunion…how wonderful…” Salome mocked.

“I will feed your ashes to the wolves before you can touch her again.” Adrian wore a gallant mien, but I knew better. He had never been more afraid.

“How does it feel? To possess such…power? Power that you were born with, power that I had to sacrifice everything for! You wield it so carelessly, you are not deserving of it, son of Dracula.”

“Let her go!!”

“You are but a fool, Alucard. The bishop warned you, didn’t he? One that you took for drivel…I care not for you, nor your bride. Not the bloody Belmont always in my sight…”

My gaze shifted inadvertently to Simon flanked by night creatures. He made it.

“Ugh…” I flinched as the witch tightened her coils around me. Adrian rose to his feet, his sword ready for slaughter.

“No…what I want…” Salome, with deliberate slowness, extended a decomposing finger towards me. I struggled in her shackles — she was going to take my heart.

“...is here.”

She had her hands on my womb.

My body frosted over. I couldn’t breathe.

How was this possible?

The witch discharged a ravenous laugh and turned towards Adrian.

“Your child. Your flesh. Your blood.”

He clutched at his sword, knuckles gone white from the force, half-trembling in disbelief and shock.

“Its power is…unfathomable. Those born of Hell…they crave it. Why do you think the bishop wanted to burn her? So you’ll forgive me if I devour Dracula’s revered bloodline. After which you can have the corpse of your beloved.”

Adrian snapped. There was a tenor to him I had not recognised before. Disappearing into the snowfall, he emerged once more in the height of Salome, and, with a wave of his cape, expelled the fury of fireballs that tore into her. Tendrils of darkness emanated from where she took the blow.

My dhampir was relentless with his Hellfire. That rage, I’d seen something close to it when pagans attempted to revive Dracula. And those eyes… the whites of them gone dark, void of humanity…

With his shield as fortified armour, he slammed it into Salome with a force that could split the heavens. I was weakened, not bested. I could help…and then a thought came to me. She wanted the blood potence of our child? I was going to kill her with it.

A strange hum coursed through me as my fangs sliced through her entrails. The sensation was overwhelming; whatever that was racing in my veins threatened to blow the arteries out of my skin. I didn’t let go.

The wicked witch contorted in rage. “You bitch. What did you do?!” And, with all her vengeance directed at me, sent a sharpened talon into my throat.

I watched as Adrian went pale with fear.

Blood gushed out of my wound, of my mouth...I began to choke on it. The pain…I could succumb to the torture and end the strife…but our child, our beacon of light…I will keep you safe.

Adrian went manic. His rage was boundless — so potent that the night sky had erupted into a macabre shade of red at his wrath.

Summoning his sword, he pierced it into the witch’s formless face, driving it in over and over until parts of her began to decay, melting like molten ash into the earth.

“Do not touch her!!”

The neverending pursuit of power…when will it cease? Under snow that crumbled like exhumed remains of the dead, we were all just pawns of Hades waltzing to the dance of death.

“The tragic prince. So powerful, so damned…everything that you ever loved will be taken away from you.”

A piercing crack of the whip silenced the witch. In a lachrymose state I watched as Simon’s Morningstar split a part of her form. She continued to disintegrate.

I continued to asphyxiate.

“Give me your bride, and we can end this. Refuse me, and all of Targoviste will burn to the ground. Your beloved or your people. Choose, Alucard.”

Lightning struck the sky crimson and boding. Adrian scarcely seemed human. A bloody hearth surrounded him, and his sword emanated the fury of a cursed God.

“You will never touch her again.”

And with his parting words to the witch, he pummelled his exalted estoc into her core. The earth trembled under the weight of her destruction. I was released at last, but the aftermath of her implosion pelted me so far backwards I lost sight of Adrian. I was falling, falling into darkness, into nothingness, so akin to the night Adrian had turned me.

Under that cold winter sky, I was the star that had fizzled out. Further and further I descended from Heaven’s grasp, snow light on my skin, sorrow heavy in my heart. Such a cruel thing; love.

It binds then banishes, as though we were made to ever only yearn, never to own.

My love…

I heard Adrian’s voice.

Amidst the infernal tempest, I saw the face of an angel. He was soaring through the ruination, towards me. But there was an oddness to the way he moved, as though part of what I remembered him to be was fading away. A moment of clarity had me privy to his wounds — he was greviously maimed, splotches of blood stained his torso and…his leg…there were bones where there should have been flesh.

I reached for him. His eyes met mine; in them I caught a glimpse of our little family, bound by forever. In all the years, I could almost hold him. I need only hold him…

Adrian flung his arms out, a shiny fragment of something suspended in the air around me. Another hovered beneath Simon, who was crouched in the belly of the beast. In that same consequence, my sweet prince was thrown towards the crumbling abyss of Salome, the last of her devouring all that she could seize.

No, no…

I willed myself to fly, to wield gravity, anything, so I could lift Adrian away from the grasps of death. But I could only fall, through frost, tears and blood. I had to watch, to merely do nothing but watch, as the gold in his eyes dimmed out into the sweeping storm of blackness.

“I love you.”

I held on to his words, before I was pulled into a vacuum.

—

There were things, prickling my skin. There was a quietness, a lull. There was the sun, scorching such warmth. I was sprawled on my back, bones gnawing with every movement. Where was I? I forced my eyes open.

The portal that I had fallen through, no remnants of it were left behind. Adrian was gone.

What lay beyond me were endless fields of gold. Rows and rows of Daffodils, in full bloom, stood swaying in the brisk summer air.

I could hear the crashing waves of oceans.

And in the middle of it all, forged in all its majesty, awaited a castle.

Adrian had kept his promise.

Pt I I Pt II I Pt III

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virusgeist-art · 2 years ago

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#my ocs #june #crick #wolfy #kazzie #amree #blaise #sylum #pocky #colored

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reticent-writer · 2 years ago

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Blood demon art: Botanical Garden P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, p9(current)

demon slayer masterlist

✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･**･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

Once you got back to the Infinity castle you sought out the demons that matched the flower crowns.

"NAKIME-"

The sound of the biwa rang and you were teleported in front of the one-eyed demon.

"There is no need to shout Y/n. I can hear you even if you whisper."

"I have a surprise for you." You giggle as you hop around her. Once you faced her back you gently placed the mainly white flower crown on her head.

You then hopped around to face her with the brightest smile. You watched as she felt the crown without taking it off her head so she could see it.

"Thank you, Y/n." She gave a rare smile as she put it back on her head.

"Can you bring me to Daki and Gyotarou please."

"I'm sorry but they are busy at the moment. It wouldn't be safe where they are."

"Douma?"

"Not here."

"Akaza?"

"No."

"Hantengu or Gyokko."

"Both are out, I'm afraid. Your father is here though."

You pouted ever since you've been back you haven't been able to leave without a trusted demon by your side. Muzan had you under lock and key but he also changed his additude a bit.

"Do you know when anyone will be back."

"No." this time she didn't wait for you to ask another question and with the strum of her biwa she sent you to Muzan's study.

You pushed the door open to see your father at his desk with his eyes glued to a book.

"Hello Y/n."

"Hi father, I made you a present."

"Oh and what would that be." He acted surprised as he looked up from his book. This was the change, he was nicer to you and actually acted like a dad for the first time in a long time.

"A flower crown. Koku brought me to a flower field."

He had a look of annoyance on his face but he tried not to show it. (he was definitely throwing it away once you were gone)

He bent down so you could place it on his head, which you did.

"Y/n did you like your time outside."

"Yes, very much."

"Good, I-"

"Can I go out more?" You asked using puppy dog eyes. (they never work)

"Absolutely not." He said sternly. "You take risks just but leaving the castle, If you try anything It'll be you that gets the punishment."

You looked at thr ground in throught.

'Did Akaza get punished because of me, is that why I haven't seen him since I've been back. I don't want people to get hurt cause of me.'

"Where's Akaza?"

"He's busy." He said going back to his book.

'he wouldn't notice if I went looking for Akaza would he?' You thought as you walked to the door of his office.

"Before you go I want you to know that I'll be checking on you every few hours, troublemaker. If you try anything I will know."

✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･**･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

Tag list: @american-idiot21, @unhappy-filling, @lenasvoid , @abbylouamanda, @muichirolover , @sylum , @crazycatlddy , @tempest1art , @abandonedhhearts , @atwerkingbee , @yuna-senpaii , @darkcastle167 , @kiraisastay , @thatelizabethaftonfangirll , @legendaryflowercheesecake, @archer-fb, @xbieditz, @acoffeeaddict0-0, @1s3v3n1,

#male reader #female reader #gn reader #child reader #x child reader #kny x reader #demon slayer x reader #kny x child reader #demon slayer x child reader #muzan x child reader #platonic #reticent writes #reticent writer

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rorywritesjunk · 2 years ago

Text

No longer locked upon the land but free on the rolling waves

You and Buggy come face to face with himself from the past, and while you’re fully accepting that this is your husband as a child, Buggy doesn’t want to accept it.

Rating: PG-13ish, but just due to some swearing.

Warning: Upset kid, upset husband. Reader is way too nice, doesn’t necessarily take husband’s feelings into account as well.

A/N: A combined request. I did a few versions of this story before feeling like it hit the marks I was wanting to hit. Also, I’m just trying to vibe off what I’ve seen of Kid Buggy. I’m no expert. I’d protect that kid with my life. He’s so adorable. I also like the trope of “Meeting your self from another time” and “gets turned back into kid-self”. This is the former, and I know shit about time travel but I just kind of made something up.

This is the last chapter with the epilogue at the end. This has been a lot of fun to write and I've enjoyed it so much, thank you all for reading it and replying! I've loved responding to you all. So thank you thank you thank you. I liked how this chapter wrapped things up. Moments go a little quick but that was the intention. Nothing was to really be drawn out.

Title comes from “Sailing Song” by S.J. Tucker.

Chapter 1 + Chapter 2 + Chapter 3 + Chapter 4 + Chapter 5 + Chapter 6/Epilogue

TAGLIST: @lostfirefly @misadventures0fdes @sylum @valen-yamyam16 @dohkyu @fluffybunnyu @skyofsteel @lavalampskyy @gingernut1314 @ane5e @madam-o @the-angriest-angel

Chapter Six

Your husband decided to stay back on the ship while you and the kid went into the town. His excuse was he needed to get the crew ready or something, but you didn’t push him for a real reason. Part of you wanted him with you when you went into town because you didn’t know what to expect. Would some kind of portal open up and tear the kid away from you, kicking and screaming, or would it happen in an instant, like when he first appeared? You were going to cry either way, you just wish you had some kind of idea of what to expect.

But you also didn't want Buggy coming because again, what if some portal opened up and tore your husband away from you as well as the kid? You didn't want him disappearing on you at all so you just gave him a kiss on the cheek before heading off the ship with the kid.

“I think that the table was over here.” Kid Buggy said as he held your hand, leading you down a street. You knew what he was looking for but you let him take charge, wondering if he knew here to look. The table wouldn’t be there anymore, it hadn’t been since you turned 14 and left to start your apprenticeship and your parents moved elsewhere. They still made jewelry and sold it, but in another town on another island.

It was hard not to tell him everything, because even though Buggy said he doesn’t remember anything about this whole ordeal, what if this was different? What if something was triggered that changed the course of the kid’s life from this moment forward? You didn’t want to take the risk. You loved your life, your husband, and the life you two had together. Nothing could change that, so you never told Kid Buggy that he stole from your parents, or that he would become a Devil Fruit user at a young age (he never questioned Buggy’s head popping off his body during their first meeting), nor did Buggy ever tell him what happened between him and Shanks.

“You think so?” You replied as you followed after, smiling down at him as he turned his head in every direction, a look of concentration on his cute face as he tried to remember where to go. He stopped a few times, looking around, wondering where to turn. You were patient, giving his hand a squeeze whenever he’d start walking again.

“I’d bring you back with me if I could, y’know.” Buggy said as he looked up at you. “Introduce you to everyone. They’d think you were great.” He then looked away, searching for the table of merchandise that no longer existed. “But I know you wouldn’t wanna come with…”

“If I could come back to my husband in the end, I would.” You assured him with a smile. “But you’ve seen how you are as an adult, you can’t survive ten minutes without me, so I have to stay back with him.” Truthfully, if you met the crew, you would have brought hell down upon them. While your husband would speak highly of being an apprentice under Gold Roger, you had other opinions, ones that you wouldn’t share because you didn’t want to upset Buggy. There was always something under the surface whenever you listened to your husband speak about it. The self-doubt, fear of failure, everything, and one time when he was drunk he cried about Shanks, often feeling lesser than his friend, but then the next morning as he sobered up he would curse the same man.

“Yea?” He grinned. “Really? I think you’d like it. You could even meet Shanks, since you said you never got to meet him.”

“Maybe something will happen and I can someday, Buggy.” You steered him out of the main walkway, letting people pass as you knelt down in front of him. “I want you to know that I have loved spending time with you, sweetie. It’s been one of the best things ever.”

He blushed at that, avoiding your gaze as he looked away. “Are you saying goodbye to me?”

“No! Not yet, just…” You hesitated. He wasn’t used to this kind of attention, the praise, compliments, affection even. You wanted to give him as much as you gave your husband because you saw the way he would brighten up when you’d tell Adult Buggy how handsome he looked in his coat while you’d straighten his cravat, or when you’d let him know how much you loved him every night before going to bed. You meant every word you spoke to Buggy as an adult, and you wanted him to know the same as a kid. “I want you to know you’re a wonderful kid, Buggy.”

He was still red in the face but he allowed you to wrap your arms around him and pull him into a hug. He mumbled something in response and you didn’t quite hear it, because he suddenly pulled away from you, his eyes lighting up in excitement.

“I can hear Shanks!” He said as he looked over your shoulder. “I think he’s calling for me!”

You turned in the same direction but didn’t see or hear anything. What was going on? He grinned at you before he suddenly took off running in the direction he was looking. You got to your feet and started after him, but he was fast. He turned down an alleyway, calling for Shanks, and when you finally caught up to him your heart dropped. It was a dead end and he was nowhere in sight.

So this is how it ended then.

You came back to the ship an hour later and went right to your room, ignoring the looks of the crew and even your husband. He noticed you were alone, so he told the first mate to keep an eye on things while he went after you. Buggy wasn't sure how upset you would be, because even after ten years of marriage he wasn't sure how to handle it.

He found you sitting on the bed, leaning back against the headboard with something in your hand. Buggy hung his coat and hat up before taking his boots off and climbing into bed next to you. You immediately leaned into him, curling up against his side as he put his arm around you.

“I'm going to miss seeing you as a kid.” You sniffled, looking at the once stolen pendant in your hand. “You were so sweet, Buggy.”

“I was a little shit.” He rolled his eyes, clearly having a different opinion on the whole matter. You looked up at him with watery eyes and he sighed. “Fine, yes, I was a sweet little shit.”

“I just wanted you to feel safe and loved, Buggy.” You wiped at the tears as they rolled down your cheeks. “And you're not going to remember any of it. What was the point of any of this?”

He just shrugged, pulling you closer as he pressed a kiss to the top of your head. He wasn't really good at using words to comfort you. He was used to actions like giving you gifts or finding ways to make you laugh instead. He hated seeing you so upset, but he knew better than to tell you to suck it up and move on. The one time he said that to you ended up with you giving him the cold shoulder for a week and he couldn't deal with that again.

“I just wanted you to be okay, Buggy.” You mumbled as you tucked the pendant away in your pocket. “I hate you went through so much before we met.” You rubbed your eyes. “And…and you're not going to remember any of this.”

“Yea, well…” He hated saying sappy things, like something out of a silly romance novel. He sighed and gritted his teeth. “If I didn't become an apprentice and continue being a pirate, we wouldn't have met.” You glanced up at him and his cheeks started to turn red. “The kid will be fine, because he will meet some way too nice tailor, fall madly in love with her and be an idiot about it, and she will show him all the love he will ever need.” He huffed and pulled his arm away from you, crossing them over his chest as he looked away. He felt a little uncomfortable but he knew you needed to hear this. “And when they hug for the first time he'll remember a moment of feeling safe as a kid but he won't know why, and when they kiss for the first time it will make him realize how much he wants her in his life.” He took a deep breath and exhaled before scowling. “Okay? So… so the kid won't remember what you did for him but he'll have a sense of familiarity when he meets his future wife, because she treats him with kindness and never asks for anything in return, and he really doesn't deserve someone like her.”

When he was finished with his rant he looked down at you, only to be horrified when he saw new tears streaming down your cheeks. Oh shit. He didn't mean to make you cry.

“S-Sorry, I didn't mean to-” He was at a loss for words. “Why are you-”

“R-Really?” You whimpered. “You felt that way when we met?”

He turned even redder if possible, unsure if he should keep talking or not, but you were almost smiling now as the tears rolled down your cheeks so he sighed and nodded.

“Y-Yes.” He said, looking away from you once more. “I… I knew the moment you gave me a hug that you and I were meant to be, because I felt safe in your arms and… and you took good care of me even before we started our relationship.” He scratched his cheek, looking so very uncomfortable to be carrying on like this, but your crying was letting up and you were looking at him with such love in your eyes that he thought he was going to literally fall to pieces in front of you. “Fixing my coat, clothes, even my gloves. It… it was nice and you didn't have to do that because I wasn't the nicest person to you at times, y’know.”

“I fixed your gloves just to spend extra time talking to you.” You said, giggling as you wiped your eyes with the hem of your shirt. He looked at you in confusion. “I made it up that your gloves needed fixing. I just… wanted to spend time with you after fixing other things, and you didn't know what I was talking about so you let me.” You smiled brightly at him. “I lied because I liked you, Buggy.”

His jaw dropped, a look of betrayal on his face. “What?! You lied?!”

You laughed. “What? I liked seeing your hands without them, honey, because you always wore them. That was the first time I felt your hands without gloves on, you know.”

“I can’t believe you lied!” He wouldn’t drop that tiny detail. “After all this time you lied about my gloves needing to be fixed?”

You knew what he was doing, trying to distract you from being upset, and you appreciated it. It still hurt having the kid disappear so quickly out of your sight but it was a comfort to hear from your husband the little bits he could recall, even if it wasn’t exact moments of his time with you. You didn’t want him to be hurt, or go through the heartaches of growing up, but if it meant the two of you meeting and falling in love, then maybe you could accept that you couldn’t fix everything.

“I love you, Buggy.” You told him as you leaned over to kiss his cheek. He turned red and looked away again but he put his arm back around you, pulling you closer to him before he looked back at you.

“Yea, yea.” He kissed you on the forehead and sighed. “I love you too.”

~*~*~

“Buggy! Where’ve ya been?” One of the older crewmen asked. Buggy didn’t turn around, instead looking at his now empty hands. Where did the pendant go? He just snatched it off that table and he had it in his hands just moments ago, but now it was missing. Did he somehow drop it? “It’s been twenty minutes, kid! Don’t take off like that!”

He glared up at the man. “Not my fault you can’t keep up with me!”

The man just laughed and patted him on the head; the kid immediately swatted at his hand, trying to get him to stop. He didn’t take off running, he had just been with the crew and then it seemed like everything went still for a moment. He didn’t want to say anything so he kept quiet, trailing after the adult as they went to join up with the others.

“We weren’t too worried, y’know. Figured you’d turn up once you got hungry.”

Buggy just nodded, glaring at the ground as he walked along. It’s not like he disappeared or anything. He was just out of sight for a few minutes. Shanks and him did it all the time.

They were walking down the street that the vendor was on where he took the pendant from. Did they somehow get it back? He hesitated but risked taking a look as they walked by. The adults were talking to a customer, showing off pieces while a girl around Buggy’s age sat nearby, looking completely bored. When their eyes met she perked up a bit and gave him a big smile. Buggy made a face and looked away but the adult he was with noticed the exchange and laughed.

“Flirtin’ with the local girls, Buggy?”

“Shut up!” He snapped. “Let’s get back to the ship!”

“Don’t you want to say bye to your girlfriend?” He teased as Buggy glared at him, his face red. He was about to say something else when something tugged on his sleeve. He spun around, ready to fight, but froze when he saw the girl standing there, holding a flower in her hand with a big smile on her face.

“The red flower looks like your nose.” She told him as she took his hand and placed the flower in it. “I like it.”

Buggy didn’t say anything as his hand closed around the flower. He was frozen where he stood, not sure how to respond to that, but the moment didn’t last because she turned and went back to her parents, taking her seat near the table once more. He didn’t know what to say or do next, but the adult grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him along, laughing and joking about young love and other stupid shit Buggy didn’t care about. He stuck the flower in his pocket and looked back at her once more, his face still as red as his nose. She was watching him leave and gave him a smile and wave as he left.

Yea, okay, he decided she was kind of nice, but he wouldn’t see her again so there was no point in saying hi to her or asking her name.

It was just a one time meeting by chance.

#buggy the clown #buggy the clown x reader #buggy x reader #buggy x you #buggy the clown x you #opla buggy the clown #opla buggy the clown x reader #opla buggy x reader #opla buggy the clown x you #opla buggy x you #buggy x oc #buggy the clown x oc #opla buggy x oc #opla buggy the clown x oc #sunny x buggy #one piece #one piece oc #one piece fanfiction

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