Title: Coming Around Again
Author: bnomiko
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Trevor x Alucard, Trevor x Sypha x Alucard, Richter x Alucard, Maria x Alucard, minor Soma + Mina
Spoilers: post S4 animation + "best endings" for the referenced games
Disclaimer: "Coming Around Again" is performed and recorded by Carly Simon. Castlevania is the creation and property of Konami. Castlevania (animated series) is the creation and property of Netflix. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.
Summary: During the events of Grimoire of Souls, Alucard learns that Elgos' catalogues are not the only way to bring back those loved and lost from the distant past. An immortal heart, an eidetic memory, vows of love and friendship, can call forth beloved, brave souls all the same. But once crisis is averted, what happens to those same heroes who have been forgotten even by the annuls of history? A reunion tale combining aspects of various game canons including Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, Grimoire of Souls, Judgment, plus the original Castlevania animation. May include some minor referencing of other games / source material. Trevor, Sypha and Alucard's relationship based off "Under the Milky Way," my post S4 animation canon based series, but this story can be read as a standalone. Maria and Richter based off Symphony of the Night and Nocturne of Recollection.
Archived at: http://www.phenixsol.com/Miko/FF/

* * *

Coming Around Again

Ch. 6: The Best Laid Plans vs. Unexpected Results

* * *

Alucard ended up arranging to meet with Lucy on Friday evening. Originally he had asked about pushing it to Thursday night in hopes of bringing Sypha back a little earlier, but Lucy urged caution and patience... any sooner, and she feared she'd miss something critical to the process, and it wasn't something they could try over and over, being that it would be taxing on her as well as Alucard.

In the meantime the case of the sacrificed vampire and the plane crash ate up most of his time and his thoughts. The more answers they got, the more questions arose. By the time he left the office on Friday to begin the long drive to the Elgos building, they'd at least gotten a positive ID on the victim, Ms. Castillo, as well as confirmation that it was indeed Ms. Castillo in her assigned seats on flight 3412. They'd also placed one harvest symbol near or at one of the seats, though the other one had been dislodged during the crash and was impossible to lock in to any specific location; the third had been carved inside a trash hatch in the main cabin bathroom. All of that should've helped to focus the case, but then Arikado received the official report that indicated the cause of the plane crash was a mechanical failure in one of the engines, and that made no sense. When the harvest began, the plane would've caught fire - that should've been the cause. How did the plane crash and then burst into flames when the entire point of placing the symbols was to cause damage in the first place? Why sabotage the engine in addition to that? Or were the harvest symbols there to misdirect their attention? But there was no disputing that at around the same time the plane went down, Ms. Castillo had been infused with so much magic and heat that she'd exploded from it. The chances of those two things being coincidental were... astronomically tiny.

Worried by the contradiction and haunted by Trevor's words about a many-souled creature being needed to open the Corridor, Arikado was tempted to assign Julius to guard Soma, but there wasn't anything about the case that indicated it was a Dracula matter and he couldn't expense security detail simply because he was paranoid. The best he could do was ask Julius and Yoko on the down low to help keep an eye on Soma and Mina, respectively, when they had time. The old hunter readily agreed - he didn't have much need for down time, and he was used to this sort of thing anyhow; it was no accident he lived less than a kilometer away from Soma's apartment in Bunkyo. And Yoko lived in Shibuya for the same reason; it put her closer to Mina's apartment.

In the same vein, Arikado also requested that Soma and Mina text him twice a day to let him know they were all right. By now the youngsters were used to him fretting over them, so they agreed to do so without complaint.

On the Trevor front, at least Arikado was able to pull some strings and get the brunet a residence card expedited and in his possession despite the complete lack of backing documents. If Trevor worked for the Agency then he'd automatically qualify for long-term residency under "Official" status so no need to fuss with additional paperwork.

... Except while Director Satou was understanding, he was firmly unwilling to allow it even after meeting with the hunter. He could overlook the fact that Trevor was not field tested - he'd seen enough footage of Trevor's practice sessions to agree he could do the job - nor certified by at least two other trained hunters - though Julius and Ives would likely sign off on that if needed - but Trevor couldn't read or write in any language, nor could he drive, which of course would require a written test. The only concession the director made was to allow Trevor to continue to come to the office in an unofficial capacity to work with Julius, something akin to an indefinite, unpaid internship.

Figuring that that meant it was okay to fully engage with Trevor on the big case, Adrian picked his husband's brain as he drove, but after a little while the hunter told him to ask Sypha once she was back. He really couldn't add much more on the Infinite Corridor front, and anything regarding magic or technology was impossible for him to even guess at. Instead he encouraged Adrian to think about some of their more memorable moments with Sypha, figuring the clearer Adrian's memories were of their wife, the higher the odds were of a successful result. So they ended up spending most of the drive reminiscing, from Adrian teaching Frediric to dance by having the boy stand on top of his shoes while he went through the steps with Sypha, to the time when Trevor's cat must've fallen into the refuse ditch or something, and Sypha had the bright idea of bathing the poor, stinky beast in one of the castle's bathrooms. The angry cat clawed her up before running and hiding and they couldn't find it for three days, until Adrian came home from visiting his mother and father in England and sniffed her out for them. There were other moments too, quieter ones: the proud joy brightening Sypha's face when Adrian placed her newly born son into her arms, the slightly offkey songs the three of them made up to distract their young daughters when a storm outside was raging hard enough to rattle the castle windows. And so many unspectacular, banal memories, the ones that filled their everyday lives - reading in the library, sharing meals in the cozy kitchen, snuggling together for warmth in their oversized bed... such simple moments, yet neither man would trade them for the world.

The dhampir was starting to think ahead too. Sypha would be dazzled by the internet; just the prospect of having so much knowledge and information readily available would get her excited. He bet she'd get along wonderfully with Yoko too, just as Trevor had with Julius. And with Sypha present, maybe teaching Trevor Japanese would go a lot more smoothly since they could work on it together.

Normally Arikado would've had dinner and drinks with his department after work - they did so every other Friday - but he had bowed out with a promise to foot the bill if the others still wanted to have their get together. Instead he and Trevor stopped by a convenience store to get discounted bentos and ate in the parking lot to save time, making it to Elgos just before nine in the evening. The building was mostly dark, the small parking lot empty, but as they approached Hermina met them at the door.

"Lucy's ready and waiting for you," she told Arikado as they walked through the small lobby area. She turned to Trevor. "If it's all right, would you be willing to wait in another room? She'll have an easier time concentrating and focusing her magic with fewer distractions."

"Sure, that's no problem," Trevor replied.

Hermina nodded and directed him to a side room they used for breaks and meals, then excused herself to lead Arikado to Lucy's office in the back of the building.

It was exactly what Arikado figured a magical researcher's office would look like: bookshelves cluttered with old texts and manuscripts, a desk buried under more of the same. Even the secondary chairs had boxes of implements stacked on them. A few used coffee mugs sat clustered on a tray, obviously needing to be taken to the break room but currently forgotten about. But despite the relative chaos a large, cleared space had been opened up in the center of the room, with magical runes and a handful of candles arranged in a specific pattern.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Arikado!" Lucy greeted him, rising to her feet and looking at the other chairs in dismay as Hermina slanted an amused smile at her before bowing out. "Sorry about the mess, but since this is my office I find it easiest to keep focus here, and as we're not drawing from physical items I don't need a separate space for that," she explained as she locked the wheels on her own office chair, then picked it up - funny enough, it looked to be one of those big office store specials, black vinyl on black plastic, completely incongruous with the space - and carefully placed it on one of the runes.

She didn't need to apologize - he was hardly there to judge her housekeeping or decorating skills - but it was easier to simply accept it. "It's fine, I understand."

"Hermina and I have triple checked everything so I think our chances of success are good!" Lucy said brightly before gesturing at the chair. "So please, have a seat. Just be careful not to touch anything in the arrangement."

Arikado did as asked, folding his hands primly on his lap as Lucy picked up a thin, aged looking book, then flipped it open to a marked page and placed it on a worn wooden lectern as she continued with her explanation. "So the way this will work is I'll have you concentrate on Sypha, and then I'll try and solidify what you see in your memories. With Trevor I had the whips as well as a resource, but I think you have enough magic in your system for me to draw from in order to give her form."

"So I need only to think about her?"

"Concentrate on her. Remember both her best qualities and her flaws, and what it was about her that made her special to you. The more well rounded and complete the memories, the better the results will be." Another book landed face down on another lectern, and then a third one was placed on the floor near Arikado's feet. "When I had you recount your memories of Trevor, you didn't say much, but he filled your mind nonetheless - that's what I'm aiming for. The whip's memory may have aided the process in terms of his battle acumen, his experience, but the fact that he strode forth and instantly captivated everyone in the room, that was all you."

Arikado nodded. He supposed that made sense. Maybe this was a more idealized Trevor than the man he'd once known, but he'd always found Trevor charming in his unapologetic, rough way, so that had come through in his reincarnation.

Lucy lit the candles, cast some sort of magic that turned the flames green, then picked up a larger spell book and clutched it to her chest. She gave him a smile in reassurance. "All right, I'm ready whenever you are! Just relax, immerse yourself in memory, and let me worry about the rest."

He closed his eyes. "All right."

It wasn't hard to dive into thoughts of Sypha, how lively she'd been, how she'd sparkled with magic and glee and hope. How beautiful she'd become as a mother and then aged into the upright but fair matriarch of the Belmont clan. She'd been polite to him at the start, not shunning him simply because of the circumstances of his birth. As they traveled and grew closer, he'd taken a liking to her and did his best to impress her with his knowledge and abilities, but he wasn't surprised when she'd left with Trevor instead of staying to reign over an empty castle. Adrian had never held it against her. Trevor was human; even a Belmont was a safer choice compared to Dracula's half-breed son. But then, they'd returned. They'd agreed they both wanted him. Even with Sypha expecting, they'd folded him into their relationship just as naturally as they'd incorporated him into their battle plans.

Trevor may have brought passion and excitement into Adrian's life, but Sypha was the one who provided stability... the one who made them a family, not just lovers. She was their backbone, their balancing force, the one with her feet on the ground even as she sought to push herself past her limits, whether in magic or in the role she played in Dracula's defeat. It was just ironic that what little written history there was mainly focused on Trevor's courage and strength, or Alucard's righteousness, when Sypha had managed to do far more than she was credited for. But in typical Speaker fashion, she cared not about such things.

After Trevor's passing Adrian was fearful of what that would do to his relationship with Sypha, given how badly he'd fallen apart many years prior when Trevor was thought to be lost after the battle against Death. He should have been the one supporting her back then but instead had leaned on her heavily as his world turned topsy-turvy... once it happened again, for certain, he faltered once more. How had he not learned anything from the first time?

But even with tears in her own eyes Sypha had looked at him and said, "If you dare say you don't know what to do with yourself now that Trevor's gone, I'll smack you. Our family needs you. I need you. Everyone here looks to you for guidance. Mourn for as long as you need to, but then pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do what needs to be done. That's what it means to be human."

And so he had. Maybe others would've found her words harsh, but she knew him too well. That was exactly what he needed to hear - that his apparent immortality didn't have to be a curse, that he still had a role to play. That the humanity he clung to within himself wasn't an illusion.

But as he continued mentally walking the path of his years with Sypha, he began to think of something else she'd once said. She'd known from the start that he'd outlive her and Trevor and very likely their children and then some, as he'd physically remained the same even as the children grew and aged, even as the same happened with their grandchildren. But with the wisdom of her years, she'd told him that her hope was that one day he'd love again. Because man wasn't meant to live alone.

He'd replied that he had no intention of doing so. He'd married with the intention of devoting himself to them for life. She'd kissed him on the cheek and said, "Regardless, I am giving you my blessing," with the same sort of smile that she'd graced her grandchildren with.

She'd known him too well. He'd struggled without her: eleven months after Frediric's passing Sypha followed at a ripe seventy-six years of age, But it was Ann's death two months later - to something so stupid as a highwayman! - that landed the final blow. Adrian had locked himself away in the mausoleum, intending to sleep for the rest of his cursed existence, unable to bear the thought of watching countless generations of Belmonts live and die while he continued on, untouched by time. But the fate of the sleeping soldier was to wake up in times of need, and that had brought him to Maria and Richter's sides.

Maria had reminded him a little of Sypha from the start. A spirited, fearless young lady, with bright eyes and a tremendous talent for magic despite her small frame. Though her demeanor had been more courtly, reflecting her upbringing, she'd demanded his attention, rather than ask for it. And Richter... there was no question he was Trevor's descendant from just a glance. The same sharp blue gaze, the rich brown hair, the shape of the jaw... even the horizontal set of his shoulders and the command in his voice had been reminiscent of Trevor's.

Alucard's mind whirled. At least his husband was now accounted for - brash, determined, wonderful Trevor. His life had been too hard, too short. But Maria's had been even shorter; she'd barely reached her prime before she'd started complaining of abdominal pain and fatigue. Her condition had worsened steadily despite all of Alucard's efforts; barely three years after she'd first told him of her symptoms, death stole her away from Alucard's side. The dhampir had blamed himself for it - with his medical knowledge how could he not have properly diagnosed and treated her? But at the time the medical sciences understood very little about cancer, and his vaunted knowledge was decades out of date and thus lacking as well.

And Richter... Alucard almost felt guilty thinking about him. They hadn't been lovers in the strict sense of the word, not like Trevor and Sypha and Maria had been, but he'd been Alucard's best friend for a long time. They'd consoled one another through their mutual losses, both widowers after a fashion with Annette having passed in childbirth only a handful of years before Maria. They'd gone underground together too, leaving the Belmont legacy in the hands of Ann Morris' descendants and the family manor in the care of Richter's youngest sister Berthe, by then a Graves, as they traveled like the great Speaker trains had once upon a time. Alucard had even helped to raise the man's younger children just as he had with Trevor and Sypha, as they lived a humble life on the road for fourteen years before settling down in the little cottage on the edge of Jova that Alucard and Maria had once called home.

Somewhere along the line, consolation had become something more physical. Perhaps Richter hadn't loved him the way the other three had. But they'd cared for one another and respected one another and Alucard had held love for the both of them, enough that when Richter asked that he live for the Belmonts, Alucard had agreed. No Belmont would fall into corruption again.

He had not taken another lover after that, living instead as the family's guardian, even as he'd felt himself growing distant and cold over the years, each life that passed chipping away at his frozen heart.

He felt himself slipping into a dreamlike state, memories of each beloved individual softening and swirling together. Unlike the many decades prior he now felt warm all over, like he was floating in a pool on a summer's day, surrounded by affection, buoyed by their support. He wished only that he could see them all again! Though he wondered if there was any way to ease their adjustment to this new world, given Trevor's struggle with language, technology, modern day mindsets...

"What... how did this happen?" he suddenly heard a woman gasp, and his eyes fluttered open to see four blurry shapes before him. He frowned, squinting as he tried to make out what he was seeing, but for some reason it was a real struggle to focus.

With a groan, his eyes fell shut on their own. Alucard was suddenly incredibly tired, and he didn't know why. It hadn't been draining pulling Trevor out of his memories, so why was it so much harder with Sypha?

"Mr. Arikado... how did you do this?"

Lucy. The voice belonged to Lucy. But he wasn't sure what she was asking. He hadn't done anything other than think about Sypha as instructed... Oh, wait.

"... Sypha... she'd hoped one day, I'd find love again," Alucard whispered tiredly. What a prophetic wish it had been. He'd loved her and Trevor unreservedly, but Maria and Richter had become just as dear to him as well. How could he pull apart the threads of his heart and choose between one love or another? Forcing his eyes open again, he set them on the face closest to his, and smiled faintly.

"I did. But you may have overdone it, I think," Sypha said, though there was fondness in her slightly exasperated voice. She ran a careful hand down his the side of his face, cupping his chin.

Adrian trembled, his eyelids sliding shut once again. It had been nearly five hundred years since he'd heard her voice or felt her touch. "Hello, Sypha," he somehow managed without bursting into sobs.

"What, no greeting for us?" came a rich male voice; Alucard could hear the amusement in it, could almost see the broad grin. The tears he'd held back began slipping out...

"Richter..."

"Will he be all right?"

"Maria," he whimpered, her words caressing his mind like a gentle breeze. He felt her gloved fingertips brush over his cheeks, gathering and sweeping aside a little of the moisture. Sweet Maria, always so concerned about his well being.

"I'm... not sure? Having three of you suddenly drawing off his magic reserves must be incredibly taxing. Mr. Arikado, how do you feel?" Lucy asked.

Normally Alucard would not admit to any weakness but the urge to slip back into the dream world was overwhelming. "Sleepy," he admitted. Overwhelmed, he held to himself, but his loved ones probably knew that even if he didn't voice it.

Lucy hummed as she turned to the others. "Unfortunately, there's not much I can do at this point. After all, here you all are! Maybe with a couple days of rest he'll find a way to compensate for the extra energy output, enough to function while maintaining all of you as well."

"Is there anything we can do to help ease his burden?" Maria asked, carefully dabbing at Alucard's face as he continued to shed silent tears, even as he slipped into a light doze.

Lucy shook her head. "Just make sure he's resting comfortably." She paused, thinking. "He's in no condition to drive. I'll see if we can find someone to take you all back to his home."

Sypha immediately looked towards the door. "Since Trevor came with him, shall I'll go get him?"

"Oh yes, of course," Lucy replied. It made sense to include him as he was involved too. But just as the redhead darted out the door, it suddenly occurred to her... how did Sypha know he was there when she hadn't mentioned it?

* * *

Hermina wasn't much for small talk, which was fine with Trevor as he didn't expect anyone to keep him company simply for the sake of doing so. Still, she couldn't pass up the opportunity to speak to her ancestor as she was curious as to what life was like on the outside for someone effectively pulled back into existence after missing half a millennium of human progress and evolution. It wasn't anything the other conjured heroes could experience, being tied to their moment in history.

She offered him a beverage - which he declined - so she made herself a cup of tea and sat down to ask him how he was doing so far in the modern world. Trevor was frank in that yes, it was a bit of a struggle and he still wasn't sure where he fit in, but he was grateful for the extra time with Adrian. Most of his thoughts revolved around his husband, unsurprisingly... Trevor wanted to find a way to contribute and to support him; he wanted to see him happier, as it felt like a heavy fog of coldness had settled around Adrian again, and it was hard to keep it from soaking into everything he said and did. But Trevor had taken an interest in his contemporaries too - not because they were his successors, but because he genuinely liked them as people. He was even a bit apologetic about not realizing that Hermina was one of those descendants, as Adrian hadn't mentioned it until after they left.

The sorceress politely waved his apology away. She pointed out she could have mentioned it herself and hadn't; at the time, there'd been so much more at stake and she honestly hadn't thought about it either. Besides, in some ways she felt like she already knew him - and the others - to some degree, because she'd read about them for a number of years. Or in Trevor's case, because there was relatively little written about his era, reading about the trials endured and the accomplishments of his descendants gave her an idea of what kind of man he must have been.

Funny thing was with all that in mind, now that she looked at him sitting there in modern clothing, idly toying with his phone, he didn't look like anything special. Handsome in a rugged way, but not extraordinarily tall or overly muscular; he did not radiate magic or killing intent or whatever else people associated with hunters of the supernatural. Yet there was no disputing the fact that nearly every single hunter currently alive was either related to him by blood or marriage, or had been trained or mentored by someone who was his relation. And once they'd summoned him from the whip's memory he'd immediately strode forth with the aura of a giant slayer and a natural leader, ready for combat as if all the hundreds of years of absence were but a minor inconvenience. Even the famously unflappable Alucard had all but melted into Trevor's arms once Lucy and Hermina theorized he could stay indefinitely.

He was in the middle of asking her about how the Lecardes had learned to draw from the magic in the whip - when a familiar figure suddenly dashed into the room. She ran straight into his arms as he rose to meet her. "Trevor!"

"Sypha!" He couldn't help but pick her up for a moment, reveling in the fact that he could do so easily, then threw his head back and laughed. Adrian had done it! "Damn, it's so good to see you," he said, cupping her face to get a good look at her before kissing her and hugging her tightly again.

"Same here, Treffy," she said, big blue eyes twinkling with mirth, earning an exaggerated groan from her husband. Then her smile faltered slightly, as it looked like she was thinking of how to best explain something to him, and his mood dropped as well.

"What is it?" Trevor asked, worry seeping into his voice. Why was he only realizing now that Adrian wasn't with her? "Has something happened to Adrian?"

"He's all right, just... tired," Sypha quickly reassured him. She pursed her lips, glanced at Hermina, then said, "It'll make more sense once you come and meet them, I think."

Hermina couldn't help but interrupt. "Them?"

Sypha merely nodded, then began tugging Trevor out of the room. Hermina followed, confused and concerned as she mentally went over the arrangement of runes they'd used and the fact that she hadn't been able to find a volume in their collection with more than a passing mention of Sypha. And yet, the great matriarch of the Belmont family was there; Lucy and Arikado had been successful. Was there something she'd missed?

Before Hermina had too much time to fret, she was in Lucy's office, where the question of "them" was quickly answered by the familiar faces of Maria Renard and Richter Belmont.

"Oh. This wasn't... He really did overdo it, didn't he?" Trevor asked, looking at the other pair, then at the subject of their collective concern slumped in the chair, dozing. His glamour had fallen off at some point, the proof cascading over his shoulder in white-gold waves and curls. Trevor scrubbed at his face, sighing heavily, then looked back up to scrutinize the parties present. "Maria I recognize. And Richter, I presume?"

"That's correct," said Richter. "A pleasure to meet the legend himself. I believe you met a younger version of me from the grimoires?"

"Ah, yeah." Stupidly, Trevor felt a little... threatened? Maybe not threatened but the ball of energy that had been teenage Richter had grown up to be quite a handsome and composed gentleman. And Maria was even more beautiful than the avatar he remembered, with expressive, wide set green eyes and glossy golden curls. Well, this is slightly awkward... What did it mean that Adrian had also been thinking of the two of them, when it was Sypha whom they had come for?

The Speaker slanted a look in his direction, as if reading his thoughts. "The priority is getting Adrian home. We can sort out things between us later."

Lucy looked back and forth at the quartet, then at Hermina. "Do you think there's anyone available to make the drive?" she asked her fellow researcher, knowing it was a long shot since it was after hours.

Hermina had just begun to shake her head when Richter spoke up. "Alucard's sedan seats five, correct? Actually... and I'm not sure how I know this, but I think I should be able to drive us home."

"Wait, what? How do... You know what a car is? You know how to drive?" Lucy gasped.

"I know what a car is as well. A vehicle made to carry passengers or goods, composed of mechanical components, that runs on gasoline or electricity," Sypha said as if reciting a definition from a dictionary.

"How did you know that when I just saw one for the first time a few days ago?" Trevor asked.

Maria looked at Sypha and Richter. "Have we somehow shared in Alucard's knowledge?" she asked in Japanese. The words felt strange on her tongue, like the taste of an unfamiliar beverage, but flowed smoothly nonetheless.

"Okay, wait a second... you all understood that?" Trevor asked. At Sypha's nod, he couldn't help but blurt out, "Then why don't I know?"

Hermina tapped a finger on her lips. "I wonder... When Arikado summoned you, Trevor, he had a set notion of who you were. Perhaps when he was thinking of Sypha - and Maria and Richter - he thought it would also be helpful if they understood the workings of the modern world? So his knowledge may have woven itself into what they know. That's just a theory though. This summoning was so out of the norm, we don't have precedence for it."

Richter looked down at the sleeping dhampir. "It's very possible. Maybe he saw that Trevor was having difficulty, so this was an unintended side effect of that concern."

"Are you certain you can drive?" Hermina asked, reiterating Lucy's earlier question.

"Fairly sure." Richter bent down to pluck Alucard's keys out of his pocket, then straightened back up. "I can do a test lap if it helps ease your minds, Miss Lucy, Miss Hermina."

Lucy chewed on it for a minute, then shook her head. If Hermina's theory was correct then Richter would be up to the task. If he struggled, whether in starting the vehicle or pulling it around to the front, then that answered that and they'd insist the group stay here or somewhere nearby for the night. "My other concern is your stability, but since you'll have Mr. Arikado with you that's the most important factor, so I don't believe there'll be an issue..."

"All right. Then, shall we head out?" Richter asked the group.

"Mr. Arikado has my phone number, on his cell phone. You should be familiar with that as well?" Lucy waited for someone to confirm that they knew what she was talking about - in this case, a knowing nod from Maria. "If anything happens call me immediately."

"I'd also appreciate a call once you get back, for my own peace of mind," Hermina added. "Even if it's late."

"We will do so," Sypha assured her.

Maria leaned down a little to study Alucard. His head was rolled slightly to one side; his breathing was slow and even. She couldn't resist reaching out and gently smoothing back one of the cascading platinum curls. At least the confused crease in his brow had smoothed out now that he was out cold. "He's sleeping soundly. We'll need to carry him to the vehicle."

"I'll get him," Trevor quickly volunteered. He slid one arm behind the taller man's shoulders, then as Adrian tilted forward Trevor bent down to crook his other arm under his knees, lifting him up before his torso flopped forward completely. The weight was familiar; the older hunter found himself making tiny adjustments almost on auto pilot.

One of Adrian's arms began slipping loose; Sypha caught it and tucked it back in so the bulk of his frame was securely cradled in Trevor's hold as they began walking. "It's so strange. Surely I've never been here before," she said, waving her hand to indicate the Elgos building, "but I knew where you were waiting, Trevor, and I know where the exit is as well."

"And you know how a car works too. I was so shocked when we rode home; I'd never seen a carriage travel at such speeds! It was like flying, but on the ground. And there's so many people here, and the buildings are so tall they blot out the sky, like a hundred of Vlad's castles packed together."

"Trevor, do you really not have any knowledge of the local language or anything?" Maria asked, curious.

"Not at all. I mean, I've learned maybe a dozen words so far, and a couple of basic phrases." He cleared his throat, then said, "Nice to meet you. I am Trevor," and "Thank you very much," in Japanese, as Soma had taught him, before switching back to the old Romanian dialect he was accustomed to. "I only know that much because Adrian's young friend was bored."

"By young friend, do you mean Soma Cruz?" Richter asked, joining in the conversation as well. At Trevor's nod, the other hunter scoffed and said, "What do you think of that? Alucard playing guardian to his father."

Trevor's feet suddenly stopped moving and his arms nearly went slack; he narrowly avoided dropping his precious load. "... His what now?" Somewhere in the back of his head, he recalled the familiar scent of magic, Simon Belmont mentioning something about a reincarnation of the Dark King, and Soma saying, "I'm his father," while smirking like it was the punchline of the universe's biggest joke. Well, apparently the joke was on him. "Wait... he wasn't kidding? That kid is Vlad? How?"

"He's his reincarnation. But that just means the potential of Dracula is buried somewhere inside. Soma is Soma; Adrian will be cross if you get it wrong," Sypha warned.

"Well... shit." Trevor glared at the pale, angelic face resting against his shoulder. "You bastard, you could've told me that!"

Maria immediately jumped in to defend her boyfriend. "Don't yell, he needs to rest!"

"Does he look like he's gonna wake up any time soon?" Trevor snapped back, giving the man in his arms a shake.

The blonde's lips twisted as her cheeks began to puff up; regardless of her own warning she was going to yell back, so Richter quickly inserted himself between the two. "Maria, don't - you said it yourself. Let him sleep. And great ancestor Trevor," and that earned quite a loud snort from the aforementioned legendary hunter, "please. He probably didn't know how to tell you. I found the information quite shocking myself."

"Call me 'great ancestor' again and I'll kick your ass, Junior," Trevor threatened, but at least he was moving his feet again.

Alucard's sedan was parked behind the building. Richter went and fetched it and pulled around to the front, then got out to help with Alucard if needed. Sypha slid into the back on the passenger side as Trevor went around to the other side and fed Adrian in towards the center of the back seat. Sypha helped to buckle him into place, but as Trevor went to get in, Maria put her hand on his shoulder.

"I will sit with him," the blonde insisted.

"Uh, why?"

She rolled her eyes; wasn't it obvious? "Because I wish to spend a little more time with him?"

"He's sleeping; what does it matter?"

Maria's eyebrow sharply twitched upward. It reminded Trevor of Sypha when she was starting to really get steamed, or their daughter Mary, who'd inherited her mother's fiery nature. Come to think of it, the Renards were descended from Isabel, Mary's eldest daughter, weren't they?

"You've already been with Alucard for days, you... you hog! I've only just reunited with him," Maria finally snapped.

"Maria," Richter groaned. Really, at this rate he was going to just start shoving bodies into seats and they could sort it out later.

The blonde ignored her "brother" in favor of staring icily at Trevor, though her voice dropped slightly. "He was my lover too. Or... did he not tell you that?" Maria added, hurt dulling the vivid green of her eyes.

Trevor wanted to argue back, especially since she'd just called him a pig, but he couldn't be anything but honest with the young lady. If she loved Adrian and Adrian loved her back, he owed her that much. "No, he did. He told me about both you and Richter, about how you saved him from his loneliness." He sighed heavily. It had always been in the back of his mind, the fact that Adrian would outlive him and Sypha... but Trevor had avoided the subject, finding it difficult to approach, thinking that surely his husband would learn to live without them. He'd done him a huge disservice; the dhampir had been left to pick up the pieces alone after the fact. And all after they'd promised not to leave him behind again...

Resigned, the older hunter took the seat up front, staring disinterestedly out the window as Richter started the car and began the long drive back to Tokyo. This whole situation was going to be far more complicated than he'd first imagined. Maybe Sypha was fine with the thought of sharing their lover with two others, but Trevor... wasn't so convinced. Adrian was his husband, the one he'd promised his love and loyalty to and had done the same for him. But as soon as that angry thought crossed his mind, Trevor's treacherous brain pivoted back to the fact that he was the one that had died and left Adrian bereft. He shook his head. Why would Adrian bother with a jaded, jealous prick like him when he had better mannered options who also could adapt to the modern world far quicker than he? It was bad enough that Trevor never really learned to read, but now to have to learn it in a completely new language, with everything around him whizzing by at dizzying speeds? It was pretty clear - out of the four of them, he'd be the one left in the lurch.

A tiny part of him wished they'd left well enough alone; he should have convinced Adrian that he was all the dhampir needed... and just as quickly as that notion arose it was brutally murdered. They were a trio: him, Adrian and Sypha - there was no disputing that. And Adrian deserved to be loved; he deserved a family, no matter what form it came in. If that meant Trevor had to struggle to keep pace, then so be it. If that meant Trevor would have to share Adrian's time, his attention, his heart... then, he would.

Of course telling himself that and actually doing it were two different things, as Maria soon put Trevor to the test, again.

"How will the sleeping arrangements work? There are only two bedrooms," the blonde commented as they headed through Tokyo towards Minato ward.

"I'm fine with taking the sofa," Richter said, subtly clearing the way for the battle royale he sensed was coming.

"Adrian and I are sleeping in the larger bedroom. The bed's big enough for all three of us," Trevor answered, glancing back at his wife.

"The bed in the secondary room can also hold two," Maria pointed out.

Trevor's eyes flashed. Maria was really getting on his nerves. He whipped his head around towards the woman diagonally behind him. "Well Adrian and I are already fuc..."

Sypha kicked the back of Trevor's seat so hard that the seatbelt locked for a moment. "Trevor Christopher Belmont!" she hissed, scandalized.

"What?"

"Why are you like this?"

"Like what?" he volleyed back, half taunting and half faux-innocence.

"Has it ever occurred to you that Adrian should be the one to decide, not you?" the redhead stated firmly.

Trevor floundered for a comeback, but he couldn't think of one. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. Of course it was up to Adrian. But what if Adrian decided on Maria instead? Or Richter?

There was a tense moment of silence, then Sypha said in a softer tone, "I know this isn't easy. You weren't raised as I was. Life taught you to claw and fight for every bit of anything worth having. But you took a chance and let me into your life, and then you let Adrian into your heart too. You learned we could be something greater, together..." She sighed. "Adrian was bound to find love again. Are you really so self-centered that you'd make him choose?"

"... No," Trevor ground out. And he meant it. He wouldn't do that to his husband. But that didn't mean he felt any more comfortable or confident in this situation.

"I... did not mean to call you a hog, earlier," Maria said, a bit hesitantly, and Trevor glanced back at her again. She peered back at him. One of Alucard's hands lay limply in her lap; she'd been gently stroking it just as Sypha had. "I mean I did - you made me angry, but... I shouldn't have. He always told me just how much you meant to him, not that he had to - he did marry you, after all. I was never going to be your replacement; who'd want that anyhow? That wouldn't be fair to any of us, would it?" she muttered.

Trevor mulled it over for a few minutes. While it was true Adrian hadn't married Maria, maybe he would have eventually done so, given enough time. But even without that, Trevor had already been aware that yes, she'd meant a lot to Adrian too. Maybe that's why he was feeling so possessive... he knew Adrian loved her. "So what, are you suggesting we do a rotation or something?" he grumbled, wishing he could take a Speaker's easy going view of this whole mess.

"... A rotation?"

"Yeah, like... I dunno. He can alternate nights in each bedroom or something?" Trevor said, frowning at himself as soon as the words were out. It sounded like they were passing around a whore or something. "Fuck. God, that sounds fucking awful! What I meant was..."

Sypha came to his rescue. "We plan for some sort of set up that's agreeable to everyone. However it works." She glanced at the dhampir beside her; he was listing slightly towards Maria but he seemed comfortable that way, so she simply flashed Maria a reassuring smile when the younger woman began shifting warily in her seat, probably expecting to have to defend herself some more. "Though we'll need to wait until he's able to have this discussion."

"We can still come up with some ideas, to propose to him," Maria said once she thought it over. "Some sort of schedule does make sense, even though that sounds strange to say... It doesn't have to be daily, either. Maybe that would make it more palatable?"

"Like three days, two days, and two days," Sypha mused aloud.

"Or we take it a week at a time?" Maria shrugged.

Richter suddenly interrupted. "You can leave me off the rotation."

Sypha blinked at him. "Why?"

"There's really no need for it. And this will make it easier for the three of you to split things up, right?"

While Maria seemed pleased at the thought of extra time with her lover, Sypha was not. "Richter... he'd want to spend time with you as well." The younger Belmont went to wave off her concern, but the redhead was adamant. "You were in his thoughts, just as Maria and I were. That's why we're all here. And you answered his call, just as we did."

"Our relationship was different than yours. We became good friends, yes, but beyond that... It was mostly a matter of convenience, you understand?"

"You say that, but I don't believe that's the case at all. Even if you justified it as a 'convenience' to you, that's not Adrian. He isn't someone who'd give himself casually. If he was in a relationship with you, then his affection for you was genuine," Sypha insisted.

"I'm not so sure about that." Richter paused, clamming up for a moment as he tried to decide whether or not he wished to elaborate. "Alucard told me more than once that I reminded him of Trevor. And he knew Annette had pale blonde hair, a little like his." He shrugged, as if that was no big deal.

Trevor shot him a look. "Oh please. At best there's a passing resemblance, nothing more. You make it sound like he'd jump on any dark haired, blue-eyed hunter, but he hasn't been with anyone after you."

"I apologize if I made it sound that way. I only meant to say... we probably each saw what we wanted to see."

"And we're telling you, you're wrong. I can't possibly know what you wanted or expected from him, but Adrian wouldn't..." And then Trevor hesitated as well, as he didn't know if Adrian had ever told Richter about anything that had happened earlier in his life. It would make the point for him, but it wasn't his story to tell. Trevor sighed and shook his head. "Adrian wouldn't," he said again, leaving it at that.

Richter merely grunted, letting the matter drop for the time being. His eyes flickered to the rearview mirror, to the slumped figure buckled in the center of the backseat. It was amazing how Alucard could sleep through so much drama when he stood at the crux of it.

"We'll figure it out once he's awake," Sypha said firmly, and all the others could do was agree, or at least stew in private. It wasn't like any decisions could be made until then. And if Adrian didn't wake again that night, then... well, they'd figure something out, wouldn't they? Even if it meant dragging all the blankets onto the floor and sleeping as the Speakers had, so no one got left out.

With everyone preoccupied by their own thoughts, the sound of the engine kicking on and off and the muted hum of wheels rolling over the pavement were the only accompaniments to Adrian's slow, soft breaths as the sedan steadily drew closer to home.

* * *

Author's Notes:

- So hopefully this isn't confusing, but I need to clarify... Since Trevor and Richter share so many physical characteristics I struggled in terms of how to differentiate them in the narrative without using their names. I settled on "older hunter" (Trevor) and "younger hunter" (Richter) although that's not quite accurate. Trevor's older in that he came from an earlier era, but he's the equivalent of 20, 21 here, whereas Richter is around 24, because they came back as Alucard best remembered them (and Alucard didn't meet Richter until SotN). But in terms of their interactions, Richter is more or less deferring to Trevor as his senior, hence Trevor being "older."

- Somewhat related to the above, their ages do affect the way they think and act because they have the brains and thought processing appropriate for their physical ages even though they have the memories from their full lifespans. This is most apparent with Maria who is physically around 18, 19 despite the fact that she had died in her early 30s in my timeline.

- Thanks to Nenya85 for beta work. Reviews are appreciated!

May 14, 2025