The Banished
Chapter I
Boring legal stuff etc: Castlevania and its characters are property of Konami games. I did not create any of the main characters in this fiction and therefore make no claims of ownership. This fiction was written solely for my enjoyment and in no way reflects the actual storyline of the Castlevania series or the true personalities of the characters.
This fic contains YAOI. If you DO NOT know what YAOI means then DO NOT read this fic.
Warnings
Yaoi, masturbation, vampirism, maybe a spoiler or two.
NOTES
Sources: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse
* "Trevor Belmont" from Castlevania 3 is known as "Ralph C. Belmont" in the JP version of Castlevania 3.
Thoughts are written in ITALICS
The Banished
Chapter I
Fog began to drift through the ruins of Castlevania as the blackness of night crept across the highlands. Although the forbidden fortress of the evil count no longer stood in the barren clearing, the site remained a place where no human dared to venture, and that was precisely why Alucard had chosen to remain there.
It had been nearly two years since he had confronted his father and foiled Shaft's plans, and Alucard had intended to resume his rest within the ruins indefinitely.
But tonight he had been lured out of his sleep. Something was different about the night air. He could sense something, or rather someone, lurking very near.
Alucard inhaled the unusually humid night air through his nostrils, relying on his keen sense of smell to pinpoint the exact location of this trespasser. Within moments the scent of fresh human blood, full of warmth and life struck at his heightened senses.
His needle-sharp fangs pricked at his lower lip with anticipation as he silently looked around the crumbling ruins. Human… male…
Who would dare wander here? He silently asked himself, What possible purpose would it serve?
In the distance, a cloaked figure stood motionless, somewhat concealed within the soup of fog near the edge of the ruin site. The unknown intruder remained still, and silently looked over the crumbled stone that had once been part of the dark fortress.
Alucard, having not caught the scent of fresh blood for weeks, was finding it more and more difficult to restrain himself. "This fool would leave if he knew a dhampire slept within these ruins!" He whispered, "I will simply make myself known and he will undoubtedly flee."
It was not the best plan, but it was all Alucard could think of to save the human from his vampirific huger. It would have to suffice.
"Be gone!" the dhampire cursed loudly as he approached the cloaked man, "And never again approach these ruins!"
The cloaked figure looked up, startled by the aggressive voice of the half-vampire. He could make out a dark silhouette, crowned with a curtain of pale blonde, almost white hair quickly emerging from the fog.
"Did you not hear me?" the vampire tried again when the man did not retreat, "leave now or you will most certainly die!"
Alucard stalked closer to the man, thinking that he would flee once he made himself completely visible, but when he saw a small area of uncovered flesh beneath the human's hood, all his previous concerns suddenly became secondary to tasting what was no doubt beneath that exposed skin.
His golden eyes quickly widened as he bared his fangs in preparation to maul this foolish intruder.
Without warning, the hooded figure suddenly reacted to the approaching vampire, and quickly discarded his cloak straight into Alucard's face, temporarily blinding the halfling.
The hindrance of the hooded cape was quickly removed however, and Alucard's restraint soon returned in full force when his eyes fell on the now unconcealed face of the trespasser.
"Richter…Belmont…" he said with a slightly puzzled look when he immediately recognized the human, "what… are you doing here?"
"I should ask you the same question," the vampire hunter answered as he lowered his arms from their defensive position, "why are you here Alucard?"
"That is of little concern," the dhampire responded plainly, "it should be obvious to a Belmont."
"Of course," Richter agreed with a slight grin, pushing aside a lock of his long, brown hair from his face, "you probably figure no human in the right mind would ever wander near this place. Why, just the history of your father's castle alone should undoubtedly discourage anyone from approaching these ruins."
"Very observant," Alucard agreed, giving a quick nod, "now… as for your purpose here?"
The hunter's blue eyes narrowed slightly when he spoke. "It is not a secret… that my ancestors had, much like myself, supernatural abilities. Whenever a vampire or another creature of dark nature is nearby, we become restless and uneasy. In the past this sense has been used to track and exterminate… your kind."
The halfling raised a pale eyebrow curiously; "you are here to 'exterminate' me then?"
"Ha," Richter allowed himself to laugh slightly, "no. I know you have no evil intentions. But for the past several months I have been very agitated and uneasy. I could always sense something… someone nearby. I thought that it might have been you, but I did not know for sure."
"The resemblance," Alucard thought as he to studied the hunter in front of him, "that he bears to the Belmont I fought alongside long ago… It is amazing. He is every bit as…"
The dhampire shook his head slightly, dismissing his thoughts of Richter's distant predecessor before they could actually surface. "I see," he began again a moment later, "But I sense that here is something else on your mind… It is rather obvious in your expression."
The vampire hunter frowned slightly; somewhat discouraged that Alucard was able to read him so easily. "Unfortunately," he replied, "it is also not a secret that people feared my ancestors because of their near super-human abilities. Now that Castlevania has vanished and things are beginning to return to normal, I have begun to feel the traditional distaste from the those that I have saved."
"That comes with the Belmont name," Alucard said somewhat hesitantly, "your ancestor… Trevor spoke of this to me once. Did you not expect it?"
Richter's eyes moved to stare at the ground when he heard the dhampire's words. "This is different Alucard," he answered softly, "no one knew that Trevor had befriended a vampire in his quest, but after my last trip to the castle, or cooperative efforts became common knowledge."
The hunter paused for a moment and let his eyes rise back up to meet with Alucard's, "Some of them think I am still under a dark spell, and have publicly suggested that I leave the country. Most of them however, are silent in their resentment. I can hear them whispering among themselves about me, I can see them pointing me out to others and stepping away when I walk through town, and I can feel their eyes on me wherever I ago as they watch me with distrust."
Alucard looked a Richter curiously, raising a pale eyebrow as he contemplated the Belmont's words. To his own surprise, he sincerely wished that he could say something to helpful to the hunter, but only a few words came to mind.
"Mortals fear what they do not understand." the dhampire said as he moved to Richter's side, "When you allied yourself with the son of Dracula, a half-vampire, to them you might as well have just sworn allegiance to the 'devil' himself."
Alucard moved again to stand in front of the renowned vampire hunter and stared directly into the blue depths of his eyes. "But at least," he began again, "you have a family, Richter. You do not have to spend your life alone. Think of that, and forget about those who loathe you."
Alucard gave the Belmont a slight nod and then stepped back to into the thick fog, vanishing from the hunter's sight. Richter was now left alone at the edge of the ruins to consider the dhampire's words.
A relentless wall or rain continued to assault the leaky stone roof of the small, round building at the edge of the forgotten graveyard.
Alucard sighed with disgust when he noticed more water seep into his new dwelling through several small cracks in the ancient stone ceiling. After only 4 days of attempting to resume his "eternal slumber," his new lair had already become nearly uninhabitable.
He had considered going back to the ruins of Castlevania, but then soon decided against it, as his presence would undoubtedly continue to draw the attention of Richter Belmont from the nearby town.
The young Belmont had showed no fear and had even sought Alucard's advice just before the dhampire had decided to abandon his lair within the castle ruins.
"Richter…" the halfling said softly, "what makes you so different from the other mortals? How do you stray from your own kind to speak, with no obvious fear, to a vampire?"
The same power, fearlessness, and unusually friendly nature towards him had stirred strong emotions in Alucard when he fought alongside Trevor Belmont long ago.
He had forced himself to remain quiet and even appear somewhat cruel so that he would not miss the Belmont when they parted. Alucard had even gone so far as trying to fool himself that he had hated the hunter in an attempt to nullify the strong emotions that had awoken deep within him.
Unfortunately, the entire effort did little to ease his return to isolation and the forgotten pain of being alone. Alucard had hated himself even more after that, and often tortured himself by pondering what might have been for years after his quest with Trevor had ended.
Finally he had managed to suppress his emotions entirely, or so he thought; the recent encounter with Richter had sparked an all to familiar reaction from the dhampire, and he found it more difficult to ignore this time.
"Mortals fear what they do not understand." That is what he had told Richter before leaving him alone at the ruins. You do not fear me Richter. As a vampire hunter, do you truly understand me?
Alucard slumped against the dusty wall at the back of the crypt and dropped down to sit on the floor. His large cape wrinkled and folded against the wall behind him and his long, pale hair concealed his face as well as the red tears that stained it.
Richter threw his backpack down onto the grass when he reached the small pond in the forest clearing. He had been traveling non-stop for nearly 9 hours now, and was beginning to feel fatigued. "The only things I own that have any value are so few that I easily stuffed into one small bag," he said softly as he neared the edge of the pond "how sad."
The hunter looked down into the clear water, watching several small fish chase each other around, completely oblivious to his closeness. "Where do I go from here?"
Exhausted from his long walk, Richter dropped down to sit on the soft grass below. Now that the villagers had voiced their decision to exile him from the town, he really had no idea where he would go. Annette had turned her back on him, siding with the angry mob, not even offering a single word in Richter's defense.
He kicked off his boots and let his bare feet to sink into the unusually warm pond water. "How long has it been?" he thought, "since I last bathed?"
Alucard emerged from the thick forest and stepped into a grassy clearing atop a large hill. The dhampire's usually unlimited patience was wearing thin as he had yet to discover an acceptable dwelling.
The longer that Alucard was kept from his sleep, the more his hunger grew. He knew that he would not be able to control his bloodlust for much longer.
A faint noise then stirred within the vampire's hypersensitive ears. He walked to the top of the high, grass-covered hill and looked over the dimly lit landscape in the distance. Alucard's eyes fell on a lone human figure standing in a small pond near the base of the hill. His tongue instinctively pricked at the points of his small, sharp fangs as he watched the oblivious mortal move about in the water.
End of Part I