Castlevania Nocturne: A Guardian's Tale (Part 2)

A Brother's Wisdom

Emma stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. She took it slow, gingerly creeping down the stairs on the soft pads of her feet with one hand on the banister and the other clenching her chest.

Easy does it. Emma told herself, taking it step by step.  She knew the limits of her body in this vulnerable state, feeling recovered enough to at least get up and walk around. Just as she had mere hours after giving birth to Iris and Rosie. She'd gotten out of the maternity bed and made her way to the  Whisperers' pantry, where she helped herself to the food prepared for her instead of troubling the midwives.  The midwives caught her and demanded why in God's great name  she was rummaging the fridge merely hours postpartum. "I'm hungry, and my babies need to eat."

The midwives learned their lesson. When Lyudmil was born, they set a guard at the door who discouraged her from leaving. He didn't budge even when she snarled baring her fangs while her newborn son nursed at her breast. She only yielded when Katerina, the Whisperer Elder and Cyrus's mother, offered to walk with her. "Bearing  one child is far easier than two, and you recover quicker than any human woman alive." She winked and her daughter-in-law.

Katerina would have commended Emma's resilience as she stepped into the garden and plopped her seat on the bench.

Emma closed her eyes, letting the night air revitalize her lungs. The shadows of the French countryside sprawled out before her, dotted by flickering lights of the farmsteads.
Her eyes caught a bright glow on top of the hill with the standing stones. Emma took up her sword and put on a wool cloak, walking steadily up the path winding up the hill. 

She was surprised to find a campfire kindled in the center of the ring of stones. An older man in a weathered cloak warmed his hands by the fire. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I feel well enough." Emma smiled , joyful of seeing her guardian angel again. Her eldest brother and the ancestor of the Belmont Clan.

"I'm sure you do." Valerius chuckled. "I remember when you fell and broke your leg as a child while chasing a polecat you wanted to keep as a pet. You took a sturdy branch and used it as a crutch to hobble your way up the path back to the castle doors."

"I remember!"Emma exclaimed. "Dad saw me limping and immediately took me to the hospital wing. Mom went ballistic discovering I broke my leg and it mended by the time I reached home. She grounded me for three weeks so I could fully heal. I was nine years old." She blinked. "You were there?"

"Of course." Val smirked. " I walked beside you while you limped home, shaking my head as you carried on. Only my sister..."His smile reminded her of her mother's. "I knew you'd be resilient from the moment you were born. It has only grown within you and continues to this day."     Valerius stretched out his arm, making his glyphs glow in the firelight. "The angel's strength reinforced by your father's blood." He tucked his arm back and offered the spot next to him. Emma sat beside her Nephilim half-brother, making herself comfortable.

"But even the strongest of our kind needs rest."

"Is that why you're here?" Emma turned her head. "To tell me to  take it easy and let my wounds heal?"

"Partly." Valerius nodded. "And to give you hope; Your son isn't lost."

Emma shuddered, gripping the grass with tears down he face.  "How can you be so sure? My own child maimed me believing the lies of his kidnapper. He would've killed me if Olrox hadn't stopped him."

"He killed Pierre Vaublanc." Valerius revealed to Emma's shock. "By inaction. Lyudmil stood aside and watched as  your new friend avenged her mother's death. He let her burn him alive under the dawning sun and did nothing to aid Bathory's desciple, because he knew your friend's words held truth; darkness always heralds the light. He wants to convince himself it's because  Vaublanc was too pathetic for Erzsebet's cause, but that's just him trying to hold onto the lies weaved by his sire."

"Why does he hold onto them so strongly?" Emma asked tearfully. "Why can't he accept the truth?"

"Because that's all he's ever known." Val said knowingly. "And he's had no reason to doubt that....until you showed up.  Imagine everything you've ever been told about yourself is false, and your  purpose was no more than being a pawn in another's scheme. That's why he lashed out at you. It was too much for him."

"I understand." Emma wept. "I've only  hurt my poor boy more."

"No." Val took her hands. "You opened his eyes to the truth. Right now Lyudmil is conflicted  with himself, questioning his entire purpose and who he is.

"He needs his mother's guidance." Emma's glare cut sharp.

"Not yet." Val eased. "Let him come to you Emma, not the other way around. He needs time to come to terms with everything he's learned, and he will. When the storm clears and he sees the horizon, he will look for you."

"So I just let him flounder until then?" Emma snarled. "What kind of parent do you think I am?"

"A smart one." Val remarked. "And he's not floundering, Emma. Just like you have me, Lyudmil has his own guardian spirits to comfort and guide him, along with another who loves him as much as you do." He winked. "Ah...but that would be telling, wouldn't it?"                                 
Valerius stood and added more logs to the fire.  "Sit a little closer Em, you need to keep warm." Emma scooted closer to the fire, warming her hands.

"They aren't very different from us." Val kindled the flames with his walking stick. "Vampires."

"Really?" Emma flexed her palms. "Surprised you of all people would say that."

"I've learned much in my mortal life." Valerius reminisced. "Vampires are no different than humans. They're just creatures trying to survive this harsh unforgiving world, only the odds are greater  against them; they die in the sunlight and can only eat living  blood. That's got to twist your psyche, meld you into a monster. It does to most of them, and they become cold heartless bastards seeing humans as no more than animals to feed on."         

  Val laughed dryly. "There's the irony! Vampires see humans as animals, but have the same emotions as them! They feel the same things humans do. Love, grief, anger, lust, joy. They just feel it stronger and react to them harder."

"Yet you continued to hunt them for the rest of your life." Emma wondered.

"I had to. There were cruel bastards needing to die. Sadists who gave into their bestial instincts causing unimaginable suffering. Someone needed to stop them, but here's the thing; When you become a hunter, you have to keep yourself from becoming the monster you're killing." The fire crackled, Val sat down again.

"Is that advice from my guardian angel?" Emma tipped her head.

"It is." Valerius yawned. "It's also rambling to someone who appreciates listening to me. I've never had a sibling you know."

"Thanks." Emma chuffed. "Glad I could lend an ear."

The firelight glowed over Valerius's  face when he turned to her, looking her directly in the eyes with a warm smile. "It's time to wake up, little sister. Your youngest son thinks you're dead, best alleviate that fear."