Title: The Living Years
Author: bnomiko
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Trevor + Sypha + Alucard, Dracula + Lisa
Spoilers: post S4
Disclaimer: "The Living Years" is performed and recorded by Mike + The Mechanics. 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: Vlad Tepes, formerly known as Dracula, utilizes a distance mirror in hopes of reconnecting and reconciling with his estranged son. But while a lot can change in four and a half years, like marital status and children... other things can stagnate, like the physical and emotional scars left behind by grief and a moment's rage. Post S4 animation canon based. Sequel to "Under the Milky Way" but can be read as a standalone. Full prologue "Make Me Blind When Your Eyes Close, Tie Me to the Bedpost" posted separately due to rating.
Archived at: http://www.phenixsol.com/Miko/FF/

* * *

The Living Years

Ch. 1: It may have a new perspective
On a different day

* * *

Lisa Tepes could almost feel her husband's excitement from the moment the door opened and he hurried in, a medium sized box tucked securely under one arm.

"Finally, it arrived! And to think, it was nearly lost at sea on the way over, and then delivered to the wrong county..." Vlad said as he carefully cleared aside some of Lisa's books and papers in order to place the box on her small desk. He pulled out the chair for her, then fetched another one from the kitchen table.

"Is this really a distance mirror?" she asked, studying the chest before sitting down. With its ornate lid it more resembled a jewelry box, but the magical item it supposedly contained was more valuable than gold.

"Yes. Smaller ones are often carried in this fashion," he explained with a light wave of his hand, before he popped the latch and opened it. "They're fairly rare now; I don't know how long it would've taken to find and purchase another if this had truly gotten lost. But thankfully, here it is at long last."

Glass shards and slivers flew up, flowing together in a small cloud above the box. It really was a miniaturized version of the ones Lisa had gotten used to seeing inside the castle, like the one in Vlad's study or the larger one in the library that floated about through magical means.

Vlad reached forward with a claw and lightly tapped a diamond shaped shard. With a faint tinkling sound the others converged around it, resolving into a single glass pane similar in shape to a four-leaf clover. Lisa stared at her reflection staring back, still amazed after all these years that something as deceivingly simple as this assembly of glass pieces could show them something half a world away.

"Mirror, where is my son, Adrian?" Vlad commanded, and their reflections vanished as the image warped and reformed to a familiar sight. Even in the darkness of night, both Lisa and Vlad immediately recognized the imposing spires of their former home.

"He's at the castle," Lisa breathed, somewhat relieved, though she didn't immediately recognize the surrounding lands. There appeared to be some ruins nearby, a bit of forest, and... lights, a little further out?

Vlad nodded. "Mirror, what is my son doing at this very moment?"

The mirror shifted focus again, this time to a bedroom aglow from a fire in the hearth. Their eyes were immediately drawn towards some jerky movement near the center of the plane.

"... Oh my!" Lisa gasped, quickly averting her eyes as soon as she realized what she was seeing. She was momentarily grateful that sound couldn't pass through a lone mirror, but even the visual had been overwhelming enough: her son, tied up and pinned down, engaged in intercourse with another man.

Biting down on her lip, she risked a peek over at her husband. Vlad's eyes had also widened in shock, but he hadn't ended the transmission. In fact, once he'd gotten over the initial surprise he had leaned in a bit closer, scrutinizing the scene, initial bewilderment being overwritten by... disapproval?

"I'm fairly certain that's the Belmont, the hunter that Adrian brought along to confront me," Vlad said darkly, taking in the details. His hair was longer than before, long enough to spill between his shoulder blades, but he remembered the distinct bisected scar over the man's left eye. What he couldn't fathom was why the Belmont had Adrian at his mercy like that. Was it some sort of punishment, because of who Adrian was? No, that didn't make sense. No hunter worth his salt wasted time teasing at his prey; four years was far too long even if he did want to draw things out with some sort of twisted game. And Adrian appeared to be tied up with plain, ordinary rope, not blessed silver or warded magical cords; he could easily break free of those restraints if he wanted to. He wasn't gagged either; even blindfolded, he should be able to simply lunge and bite if the need arose. So did that mean... he was permitting this?

As Vlad watched, Adrian's jaw fell open as he silently cried out, his assailant grinding against him even harder than before, until Adrian suddenly jerked his head towards one side, his mouth moving once again. The Belmont froze, his head turning as well, and then another figure stirred in the bottom left corner of viewing portal, making an arcane gesture before getting out of bed, conversing with the hunter the whole while. Going by the short reddish hair made even brighter by the firelight, Vlad was pretty sure the third person was the female Speaker-magician that had accompanied the pair; from her gait, the sway of her posture, the volume of her nightgown, he surmised she was fairly far along in pregnancy. She went to the door that was barely visible in the upper left corner of the mirror, spent a few moments talking to someone there, then disappeared through the door.

Whatever the situation was, it was all apparently consensual, despite the nature of the parties involved. Vlad finally cut the mirror's connection, much to his wife's relief, and sat back to consider their next step. If Adrian was living in the castle with a hunter and a magic user, they couldn't just show up unannounced, and thought it had been hard to see, there'd been evidence of a town near the edge of the castle grounds as well, so that was another complication. Their best bet would be to try and reconnect via distance mirror, to speak to Adrian before taking any action, but first... a little more research was needed. They had to figure out their son's habits, the hours he was keeping and where he was going, to best find an opportunity to contact him.

"Well, I think I've had enough surprises for now," Lisa said, still slightly shaken. Adrian was an adult, of course he could do adult things, but... he was still her little boy, no matter how quickly he'd grown or how old he was now. "Maybe we should avoid activating this at night, for the time being?" she suggested.

"Perhaps that would be prudent, yes." He gave her an understanding smile. "It may be best if I work on gathering notes myself, and we can revisit this matter in a few days when I have a better understanding of his schedule. If we're fortunate, he may stop to spend time in my old study or the library; we can try contacting him then."

Lisa sighed. She was a patient woman, but it had taken over a year to procure a distance mirror, and she'd last glimpsed her son three years before that, though that memory was blurred and tattered, as if she hadn't been looking at him through her own eyes. It was hard to continue being patient when so much time had already been lost, but... "All right, let's do that. But if you see anything else... questionable, I don't mind if you just keep it to yourself."

He chuckled despite the situation. "I will keep that in mind." Then, noting the way she was starting to sag beside him, he asked, "Tired?" She gave a small nod. "Shall we go to bed, then? Will you be able to sleep?"

"I will try," she said. But how was one supposed to get the image of one's son, naked and trussed up like a roast bird that was being violently stuffed by a brutish looking man, out of one's mind? She wasn't sure if she could. Four years didn't seem all that long - it had taken time for them to move here, to get settled, to make it their home - but here was proof of how quickly things could change, and now she wondered... had they waited too long to reconnect with their son?

* * *

Adrian proved harder to catch than Vlad thought he'd be. Looking in on him wasn't a problem - and Vlad quickly learned to avoid using the mirror around late evening, which was when the Belmont seemed to be most worked up - but trying to open a line of communication seemed impossible even after a week and a half of monitoring. The blond wasn't in the castle very much, choosing to spend much of his time amongst the human population living around the perimeter of the castle, or inside what was most likely the storied Belmont Hold... which had some sort of ward that prevented the viewing mirror from being able to see inside properly. And when he was "at home" he was either in the kitchen, cooking, or spending time with his companions in the one small wing of the castle they'd claimed as their own. He neither frequented the large library that sat in the center of the castle, nor Vlad's old study, the two locations that housed distance mirrors.

Lisa shared Vlad's concern that they couldn't seem to find an opportunity to contact their son, but she was a little more heartened to see Adrian in his everyday life instead of the shocking scene they'd first caught him in. Even without being able to speak to him or hear his voice, it was reassuring to see that he seemed to be doing well. The townspeople apparently accepted him as he was; he didn't hide his presence and yet there were no guards brandishing weapons and warning him to leave, no mothers shrinking away, hiding their babes from him as he strolled by. He was able to share the science derived from Vlad's studies, as evidenced by the electrical lights lining the town's main road and sentry towers, and the water pumps that invisibly drew from the stream outside of town, without anyone accusing him of doing the devil's work.

Even better yet were the glimpses of his home life, as Adrian's relationship with his partners and their offspring seemed both comfortable and stable. The adults all smiled easily at one another and were physically close, even when they weren't being intimate. And the children seemed attached to all three of them, even though it was clear from a glance that the Belmont was the father. But despite the unconventionality of their arrangement, Adrian seemed happy to share space and resources, to provide and care for all of them. Lisa thought she could almost smell the meals he served with pride... the pots of stew with chunks of meat and vegetables and fresh baked bread looked delicious. He even made sweets for the children once in a while.

And speaking of the children, despite the fact that he wasn't their biological parent, Lisa could feel something simultaneously bloom and clench every time she saw Adrian toting around the little Belmont girl, with her loose brown curls and huge blue eyes. Though he played with her brother, patiently explained things to him, read him stories and put him to bed with "Wolfie," the plush wolf that Vlad had crafted many years ago, it was obvious the younger child was even more attached to the half-vampire, and he to her. He often brought her with him as he went about his daily activities; he'd even cook with her strapped to his back, if he couldn't keep an eye on her. And she slept with a rag doll that looked just like Adrian, with yellow button eyes and embroidered fangs! Lisa had always hoped Adrian would find someone to love and marry and have children with - this wasn't quite how she'd envisioned it, but even the prospect of step-grandchildren made her giddy and sad at the same time. She dearly wanted to hold the baby who clung to her son, who made him smile so gently, who hid behind his hair and played peek-a-boo, just as Adrian had as an infant. She wanted to meet them all: the little boy he picked up and flipped around, earning loud, playful squeals before he was settled high up on Adrian's shoulders. The Speaker who mindlessly rubbed circles into his calves as he carefully massaged hers in return as they sat on opposite ends of the sofa, reading. Even the coarse, battle scarred hunter who made Adrian laugh as he playfully planted sloppy kisses on his cheek as they walked into town hand in hand, not caring if anyone saw. She wanted to get to know them, because they cared for Adrian, and Adrian cared for them.

After another few days went by, Vlad discussed with Lisa the possibility of switching targets. The red-haired Speaker visited the library every so often, so he thought he could try reaching out to her instead. His wife agreed; she really didn't want to risk startling a heavily pregnant woman, but the young lady seemed level headed enough that she'd hear them out. But when Vlad attempted to do, he came to the quick realization that the mirror there was no longer functional, too badly broken from his final fight in the castle, so that left the one in his study as the sole avenue of communication. And unfortunately, it didn't seem like anyone went into that room. But it wasn't in disrepair; it wasn't dusty or disorganized. Which meant that someone did go into the study once in a while, even if only to clean.

Lisa fretted. They'd waited so long already. But Vlad was eternally patient. If it took several weeks, or even a few more months, so be it. Vlad would continue monitoring things and if the opportunity arose, he'd make contact with whomever he could get in touch with, even the Belmont if need be.

* * *

"Treffy!"

Trevor couldn't help the habitual sigh that escaped. He loved his family more than life itself, but he seriously could do without the nickname. Unfortunately for him, both Sypha and Adrian thought it was hilarious that their son had taken to using it and thus encouraged it, so no matter how many times he told the little boy, "Call me Daddy," it just didn't stick.

With a roll of the eyes he asked, "What?" as he hefted an armload of firewood and started making his way back inside the castle, stomping the snow off his boots at the entrance.

"Hide and go seek!" Frediric demanded, dancing around his father's feet, carrying a few pieces of wood himself like the little copycat that he was.

"Sure, why not. Once I'm done with this..." Trevor gave a slight shrug of the shoulders, indicating his burden. He'd probably need to bring in another load after that, and they'd be good for the next few days. "Shall we invite Papa to play, too?"

Frediric pouted slightly. "Papa fucking cheats."

"It's not cheating, Little Man. He's just...using his natural abilities, which happen to make him better at hiding and seeking," Trevor reasoned with a smile.

It was just a game to the four-year-old. But Trevor was a Belmont; he had a hunter's mindset. He remembered his family encouraging him to play in a similar fashion; he and his brother and cousins had spent hours hunting each other down. It was only now that he was an adult and a father that he realized, they'd been using a child's game to teach them to track prey and to hide their presence as well. So what better "opponent" than a half-vampire to begin honing the skills that his son would need if he followed in the family profession?

Sypha had been adamant that their children be given the choice of whether or not they wanted to become hunters. Yes, the Belmont clan needed heirs. The world needed more hunters. And Trevor was correct in that their children needed to be able to protect themselves at the very least. But that didn't mean all the offspring from their union had to blindly follow along in the path of their forefathers, just as Speaker children were free to leave the train if they felt it was not their calling.

Trevor agreed, but he wasn't above tipping the scales in his family's favor. Frediric was already mimicking whatever his father did, whether it was bringing in firewood for the boiler, attending combat drills, or cursing, much to Sypha's dismay. He was still a little too young to train in actual combat, but he was already toting around his first "whip," a braided length of fabric with a wrapped handle Adrian had put together. Trevor had been tickled when he caught his son flogging stuffed animals with it, calling them night creatures as he pretended to subdue them.

He also remembered that he and Sypha had been worried about raising kids in a depressing castle, but as it turned out, it wasn't so bad from a little boy's perspective. Most of the time Frediric could play outdoors with kids from the village, but even on snowy days there was plenty of room inside to run around and explore. Since all three of them had a rather laissez faire attitude about keeping kids out of potentially dangerous things - the logic being unanswered curiosity only brought about bad decisions later on - the only areas that were closed off were unused wings such as the dungeon or the forgemaster's quarters, and that was mainly because Adrian didn't want to bothering heating them.

Dropping off the wood, Trevor gave a jerk of his chin to indicate he was heading back out for more. Frediric trotted alongside as they headed out the gates, just as Adrian was returning from the village, dragging a skid behind him, Ann in her usual perch in his arms.

"Hide and seek later?" the hunter asked as their paths crossed. He reached out, brushing Adrian's hair out of the way to give their daughter a smile and a lingering pat on the head.

"Twehh!" she giggled before shyly tucking herself back behind the golden curtain. She couldn't manage "Treffy" just yet. If it wasn't for the fact that she looked so much like Trevor, everyone would've likely assumed Adrian was her biological father, given how quiet she was and how much she clung to him.

Adrian cocked his head slightly. The one talent Trevor had in the kitchen was butchery. "Well, I wouldn't mind. But I have a quarter of a hog to finish processing." His eyes flickered behind him to wrapped lumps on the skid; they'd given away all the pigs and many of the chickens to the villagers to save on feed and labor, so meat had to be bartered for now. They still had a small flock for eggs and the two old carthorses, slow and reliable enough to teach Frediric to ride, as well as a few dairy goats and a nameless orange barn cat. Trevor's cat, she was jokingly called, as she had showed up in the stables one night and ended up staying because Trevor kindly put out bits of meat for her, but at least she pulled her weight as a mouser.

The brunet considered the load on the skid and nodded. "And I need to get another load of firewood. I can chip in afterwards if that would help?"

Adrian grinned. "I wouldn't say no."

"All right. See you in a few."

After carrying in a final batch of wood and tossing some in the boiler, Trevor and Frediric headed up to the kitchen. Sypha was at the table, snacking on small pickled cucumbers in between peeling and cubing parsley root, all while supervising Ann as she played with wood blocks on a blanket in the corner of the kitchen. She gave Trevor a tired smile as he came in, and he slapped his hands on her shoulders and began rubbing his way across her upper back. He wished he could lessen the burden on her, but there was only so much he could do. He and Adrian were already taking on the majority of chores; unlike some of the men in the village, they didn't feel they were above doing laundry or changing diapers or sweeping floors.

"So what can I do to help?" he asked Adrian as he continued his impromptu massage.

The blond stepped back and assessed the assortment of primal cuts on the counter. The initial breakdown had been done by the butcher, but there was still a lot of chopping and processing to be done. The shank and belly needed to be salted for curing, ribs and organ meat needed to be cut up and cleaned. Adrian had taken some casing to make sausage as well, along with a bucket of pig's blood. Trevor thought it was the funniest thing that the half-vampire who refused to drink blood was also rather fond of blood sausage.

With Trevor putting his skills to work and Sypha prepping the vegetables and minding their little girl, everything got done in good time. The smokehouse was stocked up and fresh meat for the remainder of the week got put on ice. For dinner Adrian fried up the liver and kidneys with onions, boiled and mashed the parsley root, and served it up with leftover bread and jam.

As usual Frediric had a good appetite and happily polished off his plate; Trevor was glad he wasn't a picky eater, though Sypha grumbled at times about how Frediric's table manners most closely resembled Trevor's. Ann, only recently weaned, was still limited in what she would eat, but Adrian was already used to the routine of sitting her on his lap and feeding her off his own plate.

"Can we play now?" Frediric asked eagerly, hopping off his chair as soon as he was done.

"Only when everyone is done eating," Sypha admonished, watching as Adrian tore out the softer center of a slice of bread, dabbing a bit of jam onto it before handing it to Ann to feed to herself. "And remember to take your plate to the sink."

The little boy complied, collecting his plate and fork and climbing up on a step stool to push them solidly onto the counter, then ran back over. "Treffy, Papa, hurry up."

Trevor chuckled, finishing off his meal before collecting his and Sypha's empty plates and handing them to their son to clear away as well. "You'll need to wait a few more minutes, okay? Your sister's still learning to eat." His eyes flickered to Adrian as he shoved leftover crust into his mouth just as the little girl in his lap managed to smear jam all over her face. Trevor snickered as the other man began chewing furiously while wiping at Ann's face with a napkin.

"Bite me," Adrian snapped once he swallowed everything down. At least Ann hadn't started grabbing for his ponytail again while her fingers were sticky.

"Well, you know I wouldn't mind that..." the hunter murmured, pushing back long bangs to wink at him.

Adrian rolled his eyes in response, expecting Trevor to shamelessly continue hitting on him, but the brunet left it at that, his head tilting and his expression softening as Adrian went on to spoon small bites of mashed parsley root into the baby's mouth. He was so good with the kids, especially Ann; if Trevor hadn't already been in love with him, that alone would've done it.

Adrian had been a little more hands-off with Frediric, partially due to Trevor's eagerness in seeing to his son's every need himself, and partially because of Adrian's own inexperience with children. He'd admitted days before the boy's birth that he couldn't recall ever having held a baby before, which nearly sent his husband running into town to find an older woman experienced enough to serve as a midwife, as Adrian had been slated to deliver said baby. But despite the temporary panic, in the end, Adrian had done just fine, though he claimed that that was because Sypha had been so calm and delivery had gone so smoothly that he hadn't had to do much other than catch the baby when it came out.

But now that they were two kids in, even the half-vampire was old hat at it. He finished feeding Ann, then carried her over to the sink to clean up her hands and face before putting her down to toddle about for a bit as he turned to Trevor and asked, "So am I hiding or seeking?"

"I wanna seek!" Frediric asserted, tugging on Trevor's clothes.

The brunet chuckled. "All right, Little Man."

"I'm going to go read for a bit, but I'm probably going to turn in early tonight. Ann, want to come with Mama?" Sypha asked, holding out her hand, but Adrian knew the little girl was still unsteady on stairs, and her mother was in no condition to be picking her up if needed. So he hoisted her back into his arms as Trevor helped Sypha up, and then the entire family headed upstairs to their wing of the castle, Frediric leading the way with a child's exuberance.

They walked to the large room at the end of the hallway, the one that Adrian had abandoned as a bedroom after everything that happened with Taka and Sumi. The blond had never intended to use it again, but Trevor had thought it a waste of perfectly good space, so with a bit of help he'd fixed it up to function as a family room. He'd switched out as many of the furnishings as he could, going so far as to remove the doors so it was more open and inviting, instead of a closed off reminder of the past. It still took a few weeks to lure Adrian in after the transformation, but now, he had no problem admitting, Trevor was right, it was a nice space. The brunet had done a good job making it feel new and different. There was plenty of space for the kids' toys as well as a table for games or projects, comfortable seating in front of the fireplace so that he and Sypha could stretch out while reading (or pile together), and fully restocked bookshelves. Trevor had even dug up a drawing desk and an easel from somewhere, so Adrian now had a dedicated spot for his art supplies too.

The two men got their wife settled down in an armchair upholstered in rich gold velvet, while Ann happily stomped around on the thick rug, clapping to herself. Sypha already had a stack of books she was working through, so she waved off Adrian's offer to go pull more books for her.

He turned to Trevor instead. "Usual rules I assume?"

"Yup," the hunter answered, then he turned to Frediric and said, "Start counting," before taking off down the hallway. Adrian blew past him a second later, plunging down the stairs in a flash of red. Trevor snorted but didn't complain; it wasn't cheating as long as Adrian stayed on the ground. His hand went to his whip; it wasn't cheating either if he wanted to shortcut down the stairs by going over a railing...

Sypha just smiled to herself as she listened to her son count his way to fifty. It kept the guys from getting too far away since the castle was unreasonably large, especially for a four-year-old to be searching through.

As soon as Frediric hit the mark, Sypha told him, "Go get 'em!" as the kid ran out of the room.

Frediric hit the end of the hallway and had to make his first decision: down or up? Generally his fathers split up, so there wasn't a "wrong" choice, but sometimes they worked together to trick him too, as it came second nature to them.

The little boy crouched down and got low to the ground, then called up a small spark of light. It was the only magic he knew thus far, and it wasn't very bright or long lasting like his mother's, but it still had its uses. Trevor had already taught him how to look for disturbances in dust and dirt, but as this part of the castle was kept very clean it was difficult to see any. So instead of looking at any existing dust, he searched for any sign of outside dirt having been tracked about, which would be a hint of the direction the hunter had gone.

It looked like Trevor had gone down the stairs, so Frediric headed that way. Once he arrived in the main entry area, he closed his eyes and held his breath and just listened - something Adrian had showed him - trying to pick up on any faint trace of movement: the tap of a heel on stone, the rustling of a drape. He wasn't certain, but maybe there was something in the back quarter of the castle...? Up the short set of stairs in the middle of the wide hall he ran, then up again at the spiral stairs that led to the next tower. From there, he inspected the floor for any sign of someone passing through then cocked his head, listening again; not hearing anything, he set out to investigate each room that he came across.

The boy checked behind curtains and under tables and behind columns. There were only so many places his fathers could hide, being they were much larger than he, and Adrian had been forbidden from transforming into bats or levitating up into the rafters - Trevor had said that was cheating.

Frediric opened a door to an unused study with a giant chair and a damaged fireplace long since disused, and walked in to check behind the chair, just in case, but no sign of either man. With a muttered, "Well, shit," growled just like Trevor would, he turned to leave, but suddenly he caught the sound of glass delicately clinking together, and he spun to see the shards scattered in the corner slowly rising and spinning, before fusing together to form a smooth surface...

More curious than anything, the child approached the assembled mirror and studied his reflection a moment, wondering if he'd accidentally caused that to happen, before the image in the glass shimmered and warped and he found himself staring at an unnaturally pale man with jet black hair and red eyes.

"Young Belmont... could I ask you for a favor?"

* * *

Author's Notes:

- If the first section feels familiar, it's the final scene of the prologue.

- For most of the narrative I'm using Vlad, reason of course being Lisa's "I can't be introducing you as Dracula Tepes, honestly no relation, don't look too closely at his teeth." But Dracula will still pop up now and again depending on who is thinking / talking.

- I thought it'd be cute if the guys each had a kid that was "theirs." As far as names, I'll repost this note from "Wintersong": rather than guess or make up what Trevor and Sypha would name their son (and daughter) I'm going with the names listed on the Castlevania Wiki. I can't call it canon as the children's names aren't used in any games as far as I know, or listed anywhere other than the in-house fax that's posted there, but it's the closest thing to canon that I can find. Incidentally that should tip you off to name and gender of kid #3, for anyone who cares : )

- Guh, so cute! I wanted to figure out a way to get this Alucard doll into the story, so he's Ann's now:

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

November 28, 2023