[There's a soft laugh, then he winces. The pain is still there, the weakness, but he's able to pay attention to her and her request.
He does wonder... how did a peasant girl end up with such a trinket? It's beautiful, and he almost feels terrible for ruining it. Idly, he wonders if he could fix it for her later.
His claws extend out, and he grasps the silver in them to keep his flesh away from the metal.]
I can do it safely. It would be easier with my sword, but... I did not bring it out here.
[Yet, he still manages to use his claws just fine to pry out the stones as requested. He holds them out.]
...It's only jewelry, I suppose. What are a few stones, next to your life?
[As he works, she's busy herself, snapping the screw end of the lightbulb off with a thankful minimum of jagged edge and broken glass, and once she pulls out the guts of the apparatus, she's left with a reasonably serviceable glass basin — not very big, but luckily she doesn't need it to be.
By the time she has it set up on the stone array she's made, Alucard is offering the gems back to her, and she's quick to take them, along with the silver pendant setting and chain, now emptied of their splendor. Almost immediately, the sapphire goes into the bulb; shortly thereafter, the yellow tomato flowers follow it. Next comes the flint, which she hurriedly strikes until sparks fly off onto the kindling she's prepared inside the little array of stones, and as she carefully builds it into a little fire, she watches the combination of gem and flower carefully, holding her breath.
For a little while, nothing happens, and her shoulders begin to droop.
But then, implausibly, the contents of the bulb start to melt and coagulate, turning a brilliant green color within the glass.]
Oh! Oh, that's a good sign...
[What a proper little witch she is, casting spells. Next comes the owl feather, which she pokes a little awkwardly into the bulb and uses to swish the mixture around, and then finally the diamond goes last — not quite a crystal, but hopefully the magic won't care too awfully much — and again she holds her breath as, gradually, the liquid begins to disappear, and the stone submerged in the solution begins to turn green.
Now, if only she can get the rhyme right. On the one hand, it must be a decade or more since she first heard this tale. On the other...
She almost smiles, as she closes her eyes and calls the verse to mind. When has she ever not been able to recite a tale of her father's exploits from beginning to end, with every word perfect along the way?
She murmurs the spell, leaning over the bulb as if to imbue every word into the newly-forged emerald, and by the time she's through, there's only a lovely green stone left behind.
Hurriedly snuffing out the fire, she tips the emerald out into her palm, and turns back to Alucard, looking worn but somehow triumphant.]
We need to get you into the moonlight. One moonbeam should do, but it needs to pass through this gem and strike where that thing bit you.
[There's a confused look on Alucard's face as he watches what's happening. All of the items she's collected look initially like nothing, save for the sapphire. Yet, all of it put together seems to be doing something--
Magic. It's a magic spell. There are so many mysteries about this girl. He wants to ask, but he hasn't the strength and now isn't the time. Whatever she's done, he has to trust that it's indeed for his sake.
What are a few stones, next to your life? Isn't it pathetic, how much those words mean to him. Yet, he relishes it in his heart, and lets out some air.]
[Claws have retracted back to normal fingernails, and he reaches out to touch her shoulder. Slowly, he finds the strength to get onto his feet, groaning softly before he lets himself lean on Rosella.]
[It actually proves to be a blessing, that she's so comparatively much shorter than Alucard is; it means that once she's managed to get him back upright and balanced, she fits rather neatly beneath his good arm, which also makes it mostly natural to just wrap both her arms around his torso to try to keep him steadied.
Under the forest canopy, there isn't much by way of moonlight. But the leaves and branches don't cover over everything, and one moonbeam is all they really need.
Fortunately, moonbeams are fairly easy to find when it's as dark out as it is.]
There's one.
[She says, without removing her hands from around him. It means she has to motion by nodding at it, but it ought to be fine. Probably. Hopefully.]
You said that — that it hurt because it wasn't healing. But if it were just a normal bite, you could, couldn't you? So I think that wretched creature's bite might be cursed. It's not going away because the curse is...well, holding the wound in place, as it is.
[It...seems sensible enough. To someone taking wild guesses at what's wrong, at least.]
So, if the curse breaks, perhaps it won't be holding you at bay anymore. That's what the emerald is for. ...I hope.
[It makes sense. A beast created by wicked magic should have a magical bite to it as well. And yet, Rosella seemed to know enough of what to do, to make an emerald to help him.]
And you need the light of the moon to make it work. To pass through your gem. I see.
[It's slow going, but they make it to the moonbeam.]
I know it sounds rather mad, but my father taught it to me. ...Without realizing it.
[So much the better that he did, though. Once they reach the moonbeam, she helps Alucard position himself as he needs, then tugs his coat properly out of the way and starts to aim the emerald.
The moonbeam strikes its facets with milky light, and the ray bounces around inside the gem and seems to light it from within, before beaming back out and landing squarely on the ugly bite.
Often times our parents are teachers when they do not intend to be.
[But Alucard truly does not question it. It's the least confounding thing to him as it is indeed magic, but rather he's still puzzled how Rosella's father must have known. Was he a magician? Surely he was.
The questions will be asked another time. For now, he watches how the light passes through the emerald, striking over the bite.
At first, there is nothing. Then, Alucard gasps softly, feeling the wound begin to finally close properly, or at least as well as it can under the circumstances. It'll leave another scar, he thinks dully, but he is alive.]
Well done. I think I shall live another day. [More genuinely, he says to her:] Thank you, Rosella.
[He's not the only one to gasp, through Rosella's is born of genuine astonishment and startled pleasure rather than the healing of an injury. A little dumbfounded, she holds the emerald steady until it seems to have done its work, and then finds herself just staring at it where she has it held between her finger and thumb in open surprise. That...it really worked.
It really worked.
It's certainly not the most absurd thing she's ever heard, but it's fast approaching the level of defeating a yeti with a custard pie, that much is for certain.
Still, when Alucard thanks her, the reality of it seems to break the thoughts that had held her spellbound, and before she can think twice about it, she drops to her knees herself and throws her arms around him, burying her face in his uninjured shoulder.]
Oh, Alucard...!
[She won't cry, not like this, but all the air seems to leave her chest in a rush, as now that the immediate crisis is over, the rest of the worry and terror and fright she'd been holding back can finally come rushing to the forefront.]
[She, too, is relieved at his survival. Possibly overwhelmed from having almost been caught by whatever monster that had been trying to catch her, too. For a moment, he pauses, her arms around him, and eventually he returns the embrace.]
We're both all right.
[Alucard's voice is a bit softer, trying to be reassuring.
[It'll occur to her, in a minute or two, that she's clinging to him awfully tightly for someone who has both seen him in a rage and knows full well what a private person he is. For the moment, though, the only thought in her head is of how frail he'd looked as he'd lain down among the leaves, and how surprised he'd seemed when she'd come back for him, after all.]
I'm so sorry, it's my fault...
[She buries her face in his shoulder, snuffling.]
Let me take you home, it's awful out. And that horrible thing might still be out here somewhere.
It is a bit your fault. [Alucard says it wryly, not meaning to actually hurt her feelings.] But you also saved my life. So perhaps we can call it even.
[Lightly, he places his hand to her back.]
Then we should go.
[Alucard stands, encouraging Rosella to follow as he rises. Though his arms slip away from Rosella, he pauses before offering his elbow to her, as a gentleman would.]
[She nods a little, wincing as the motion jars her aching head, but gets to her feet and loops her arm beneath and back over his with practiced grace. Too-practiced grace, to the discerning eye — she hits the proper balance of resting her arm against his without winding up too over-close as a result of it, and naturally falls into precisely the right width apart from him to be able to walk in a straight line at his side without their paths converging on accident.]
— Oh. Here, take this. To keep you safe.
[With her free hand, she presses the little enchanted emerald against his palm, and waits properly for him to lead her through the dark woods back to the castle.]
[It's hard not to tense up, walking through the dark woods and remembering the grasping fingers of the haunted trees in Tamir. Surely Alucard is more fearsome than anything in these woods, though — even, perhaps, Shadrack's awful henchman — but still. Old habits, and all that.
It's much easier to distract herself with storytelling. Far better to remember a glowing fire in the hearth and sweets still warm from the oven piled around while they all told stories, one after another.]
They had a ring struck for my brother, as a gift. Gold, set with a yellow topaz — oh, it was lovely. But it wouldn't have been right to favor one and not the other, so there was something for me, too. Silver, and fashioned after some jewelry my mother has, with a diamond and a sapphire.
I used to like to play with hers, when I was young — though it was all much too big for me, of course, and I could never work out how to pin the brooch without it drooping. But she remembered, so that was for me. There's a date engraved in the silver. On my brother's ring, too. A memory of a happy occasion, is all.
[Do the woods frighten her? That would be understandable, especially considering tonight. The way she tenses makes it clear, but he would indeed protect her.
But he listens, arching a brow, turning the words over and over in his head. Gold with topaz for her brother, a necklace for her. Play with her jewelry.]
Rather well off for peasants, aren't you?
[Perhaps earlier in the day, he'd have been livid about being lied to. That he'd have ushered her out immediately, sent her away and never looked back.
But he would not be quick to throw away also what she'd done for him. The relief in her eyes, her kindness, her comfort, even her embrace.]
[He's promised her before that he wouldn't be angry with her, and he wasn't after she eventually told the whole of the truth. Really, that's all she's done again. Never lied outright, but only omitted things. Kept silent. Changed the subject.]
You did, a number of times, and I never corrected you. I suppose I certainly looked like one, showing up in rags as I did. And I deferred to you as any guest seeking favors ought to, of a host. And I called you sir when I made myself your servant, as a servant ought to.
[She glances at him from beneath half-lowered eyelashes, offering a wobbly smile.]
But if we were headed back to my castle instead of yours, I suppose I might outrank you, truthfully. So — yes, we're rather well off for peasants. But we're just about right, for a royal family.
I suppose that's true. You'd never really told me otherwise, and I made my own assumptions. And perhaps your old clothes were suitable for someone attempting to hide from another person. A clever one, aren't you?
[Alucard pauses, pushing some branches aside to let them through as they get closer to the castle.]
Oh, don't. You won't let me call you milord, you can't possibly think I'll put up with being "my lady"ed.
[Now she does sidestep a little, just enough to make it a seeming accident when she nudges her elbow against him. Certainly a completely unintentional bump. Not deliberate in the slightest.]
It's called Daventry. On the banks of the Southern Sea? With the Great Mountains to the north. If — if that helps.
[There's skepticism in her tone, it's true, but it doesn't seem to be directed at Alucard's assertion that he's the son of Dracula. If anything, it's more of sideways agreement that the Dracula of Kolyma is very, very decidedly not his father.]
I'm afraid I don't know much about it. Just the story I was told, it was all before I was born. And I don't know how long he might've been there before my father met him. But I remember he said...there were ghosts guarding his castle, and a ferryman to take him across the sickly moat, and poison brambles all about the path? And Dracula himself wore a black cloak...oh! And a ruby ring! Big enough to have initials engraved in it, "C-D".
[She casts him a sheepish look.]
I...suppose that doesn't sound like your father at all?
[Alucard says it wryly, but he doesn't scold Rosella for believing such stories. He's heard several ridiculous tales about Dracula, and so many of them have been far from the truth. This one is at least has some basis, just for the wrong reasons.]
This does remind me something that Dracula used to complain about, actually.
[Which is good timing; they finally make it through the woods and into the clearing with both the castle and the sealed Belmont Hold.
Ghosts guarding the castle. Alucard pauses, glancing at the skeletal remains of his betrayers, but instead focuses on the castle itself.]
There was a vampire in my father's court, eager for power but too cowardly and weak to do anything for himself, at least in comparison to others. It is said, actually, that he found a way into another realm to establish himself: Kolyma. It would be there that no one else could challenge him, the lone vampire that could rule over humans without much to fear. And why not use the famed Dracula's name to boast himself?
That wasn't his name, of course. And Father was furious about it to the point it was almost comical.
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[There's a soft laugh, then he winces. The pain is still there, the weakness, but he's able to pay attention to her and her request.
He does wonder... how did a peasant girl end up with such a trinket? It's beautiful, and he almost feels terrible for ruining it. Idly, he wonders if he could fix it for her later.
His claws extend out, and he grasps the silver in them to keep his flesh away from the metal.]
I can do it safely. It would be easier with my sword, but... I did not bring it out here.
[Yet, he still manages to use his claws just fine to pry out the stones as requested. He holds them out.]
It is a shame to ruin this...
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[As he works, she's busy herself, snapping the screw end of the lightbulb off with a thankful minimum of jagged edge and broken glass, and once she pulls out the guts of the apparatus, she's left with a reasonably serviceable glass basin — not very big, but luckily she doesn't need it to be.
By the time she has it set up on the stone array she's made, Alucard is offering the gems back to her, and she's quick to take them, along with the silver pendant setting and chain, now emptied of their splendor. Almost immediately, the sapphire goes into the bulb; shortly thereafter, the yellow tomato flowers follow it. Next comes the flint, which she hurriedly strikes until sparks fly off onto the kindling she's prepared inside the little array of stones, and as she carefully builds it into a little fire, she watches the combination of gem and flower carefully, holding her breath.
For a little while, nothing happens, and her shoulders begin to droop.
But then, implausibly, the contents of the bulb start to melt and coagulate, turning a brilliant green color within the glass.]
Oh! Oh, that's a good sign...
[What a proper little witch she is, casting spells. Next comes the owl feather, which she pokes a little awkwardly into the bulb and uses to swish the mixture around, and then finally the diamond goes last — not quite a crystal, but hopefully the magic won't care too awfully much — and again she holds her breath as, gradually, the liquid begins to disappear, and the stone submerged in the solution begins to turn green.
Now, if only she can get the rhyme right. On the one hand, it must be a decade or more since she first heard this tale. On the other...
She almost smiles, as she closes her eyes and calls the verse to mind. When has she ever not been able to recite a tale of her father's exploits from beginning to end, with every word perfect along the way?
She murmurs the spell, leaning over the bulb as if to imbue every word into the newly-forged emerald, and by the time she's through, there's only a lovely green stone left behind.
Hurriedly snuffing out the fire, she tips the emerald out into her palm, and turns back to Alucard, looking worn but somehow triumphant.]
We need to get you into the moonlight. One moonbeam should do, but it needs to pass through this gem and strike where that thing bit you.
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Magic. It's a magic spell. There are so many mysteries about this girl. He wants to ask, but he hasn't the strength and now isn't the time. Whatever she's done, he has to trust that it's indeed for his sake.
What are a few stones, next to your life? Isn't it pathetic, how much those words mean to him. Yet, he relishes it in his heart, and lets out some air.]
Can you help me move?
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[She shuffles over, guarding the precious emerald carefully as she moves closer next to him.]
If you think you can stand, brace yourself on my shoulder, and get your feet under you. You can lean on me the rest of the way.
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[Claws have retracted back to normal fingernails, and he reaches out to touch her shoulder. Slowly, he finds the strength to get onto his feet, groaning softly before he lets himself lean on Rosella.]
All right. I think I'm ready.
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Under the forest canopy, there isn't much by way of moonlight. But the leaves and branches don't cover over everything, and one moonbeam is all they really need.
Fortunately, moonbeams are fairly easy to find when it's as dark out as it is.]
There's one.
[She says, without removing her hands from around him. It means she has to motion by nodding at it, but it ought to be fine. Probably. Hopefully.]
You said that — that it hurt because it wasn't healing. But if it were just a normal bite, you could, couldn't you? So I think that wretched creature's bite might be cursed. It's not going away because the curse is...well, holding the wound in place, as it is.
[It...seems sensible enough. To someone taking wild guesses at what's wrong, at least.]
So, if the curse breaks, perhaps it won't be holding you at bay anymore. That's what the emerald is for. ...I hope.
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[It makes sense. A beast created by wicked magic should have a magical bite to it as well. And yet, Rosella seemed to know enough of what to do, to make an emerald to help him.]
And you need the light of the moon to make it work. To pass through your gem. I see.
[It's slow going, but they make it to the moonbeam.]
I will kneel. That should be enough, I hope.
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[So much the better that he did, though. Once they reach the moonbeam, she helps Alucard position himself as he needs, then tugs his coat properly out of the way and starts to aim the emerald.
The moonbeam strikes its facets with milky light, and the ray bounces around inside the gem and seems to light it from within, before beaming back out and landing squarely on the ugly bite.
Oh, she hopes this works.]
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[But Alucard truly does not question it. It's the least confounding thing to him as it is indeed magic, but rather he's still puzzled how Rosella's father must have known. Was he a magician? Surely he was.
The questions will be asked another time. For now, he watches how the light passes through the emerald, striking over the bite.
At first, there is nothing. Then, Alucard gasps softly, feeling the wound begin to finally close properly, or at least as well as it can under the circumstances. It'll leave another scar, he thinks dully, but he is alive.]
Well done. I think I shall live another day. [More genuinely, he says to her:] Thank you, Rosella.
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It really worked.
It's certainly not the most absurd thing she's ever heard, but it's fast approaching the level of defeating a yeti with a custard pie, that much is for certain.
Still, when Alucard thanks her, the reality of it seems to break the thoughts that had held her spellbound, and before she can think twice about it, she drops to her knees herself and throws her arms around him, burying her face in his uninjured shoulder.]
Oh, Alucard...!
[She won't cry, not like this, but all the air seems to leave her chest in a rush, as now that the immediate crisis is over, the rest of the worry and terror and fright she'd been holding back can finally come rushing to the forefront.]
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We're both all right.
[Alucard's voice is a bit softer, trying to be reassuring.
They're both okay, for both of their efforts.]
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I'm so sorry, it's my fault...
[She buries her face in his shoulder, snuffling.]
Let me take you home, it's awful out. And that horrible thing might still be out here somewhere.
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[Lightly, he places his hand to her back.]
Then we should go.
[Alucard stands, encouraging Rosella to follow as he rises. Though his arms slip away from Rosella, he pauses before offering his elbow to her, as a gentleman would.]
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— Oh. Here, take this. To keep you safe.
[With her free hand, she presses the little enchanted emerald against his palm, and waits properly for him to lead her through the dark woods back to the castle.]
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[It's what he assumes, anyway. Why else would she have it, then? Then again, she seems a bit too educated in some ways -- but is he overthinking it?
What's important is that she did come back for him. Comforted him when she did not have to. He has to trust that much.
And so, Alucard begins to guide the way back to the castle.]
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[It's hard not to tense up, walking through the dark woods and remembering the grasping fingers of the haunted trees in Tamir. Surely Alucard is more fearsome than anything in these woods, though — even, perhaps, Shadrack's awful henchman — but still. Old habits, and all that.
It's much easier to distract herself with storytelling. Far better to remember a glowing fire in the hearth and sweets still warm from the oven piled around while they all told stories, one after another.]
They had a ring struck for my brother, as a gift. Gold, set with a yellow topaz — oh, it was lovely. But it wouldn't have been right to favor one and not the other, so there was something for me, too. Silver, and fashioned after some jewelry my mother has, with a diamond and a sapphire.
I used to like to play with hers, when I was young — though it was all much too big for me, of course, and I could never work out how to pin the brooch without it drooping. But she remembered, so that was for me. There's a date engraved in the silver. On my brother's ring, too. A memory of a happy occasion, is all.
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But he listens, arching a brow, turning the words over and over in his head. Gold with topaz for her brother, a necklace for her. Play with her jewelry.]
Rather well off for peasants, aren't you?
[Perhaps earlier in the day, he'd have been livid about being lied to. That he'd have ushered her out immediately, sent her away and never looked back.
But he would not be quick to throw away also what she'd done for him. The relief in her eyes, her kindness, her comfort, even her embrace.]
I'm not angry. Just curious, truthfully.
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[He's promised her before that he wouldn't be angry with her, and he wasn't after she eventually told the whole of the truth. Really, that's all she's done again. Never lied outright, but only omitted things. Kept silent. Changed the subject.]
You did, a number of times, and I never corrected you. I suppose I certainly looked like one, showing up in rags as I did. And I deferred to you as any guest seeking favors ought to, of a host. And I called you sir when I made myself your servant, as a servant ought to.
[She glances at him from beneath half-lowered eyelashes, offering a wobbly smile.]
But if we were headed back to my castle instead of yours, I suppose I might outrank you, truthfully. So — yes, we're rather well off for peasants. But we're just about right, for a royal family.
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[Alucard pauses, pushing some branches aside to let them through as they get closer to the castle.]
To what country need you to return to, my lady?
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[Now she does sidestep a little, just enough to make it a seeming accident when she nudges her elbow against him. Certainly a completely unintentional bump. Not deliberate in the slightest.]
It's called Daventry. On the banks of the Southern Sea? With the Great Mountains to the north. If — if that helps.
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[Though he does look a bit sheepish at being called out so hard. HMMM.]
Daventry. [Alucard looks thoughtful, his brows furrowing.] Daventry... I swear I must have heard of that place before.
Give me time to check the libraries. Perhaps it is a realm I must be reminded of.
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[Prepare yourself, Mike McVampire, your long con is about to get blown wide open.]
That's where Dracula made his home, and you seemed to know of him, so...
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The mention of Dracula makes him sputter before he barks out laughing. He has to stop for a moment, and the sudden amusement turns bitter.]
Oh yes. I know Dracula. I am his son.
Though I could certainly say he'd never made Kolyma his home. Wallachia was his realm, though he could travel wherever he wished.
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[There's skepticism in her tone, it's true, but it doesn't seem to be directed at Alucard's assertion that he's the son of Dracula. If anything, it's more of sideways agreement that the Dracula of Kolyma is very, very decidedly not his father.]
I'm afraid I don't know much about it. Just the story I was told, it was all before I was born. And I don't know how long he might've been there before my father met him. But I remember he said...there were ghosts guarding his castle, and a ferryman to take him across the sickly moat, and poison brambles all about the path? And Dracula himself wore a black cloak...oh! And a ruby ring! Big enough to have initials engraved in it, "C-D".
[She casts him a sheepish look.]
I...suppose that doesn't sound like your father at all?
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[Alucard says it wryly, but he doesn't scold Rosella for believing such stories. He's heard several ridiculous tales about Dracula, and so many of them have been far from the truth. This one is at least has some basis, just for the wrong reasons.]
This does remind me something that Dracula used to complain about, actually.
[Which is good timing; they finally make it through the woods and into the clearing with both the castle and the sealed Belmont Hold.
Ghosts guarding the castle. Alucard pauses, glancing at the skeletal remains of his betrayers, but instead focuses on the castle itself.]
There was a vampire in my father's court, eager for power but too cowardly and weak to do anything for himself, at least in comparison to others. It is said, actually, that he found a way into another realm to establish himself: Kolyma. It would be there that no one else could challenge him, the lone vampire that could rule over humans without much to fear. And why not use the famed Dracula's name to boast himself?
That wasn't his name, of course. And Father was furious about it to the point it was almost comical.
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