𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐄 . Castlevania ✓

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞

Sheer white snow lightly coated the leafless trees. Spring was stealthily approaching, but it seemed dear Mother Nature had other plans. Over the last few weeks, which the vampire hunter spent stumbling out of inns after inns, always drunk, not remembering much of yesterday's acute sorrow, were for the most of utterly abysmal weather.

It has been a while since he had visited a similar place as such, the graveyard. The last time he could remember keenly was for the honourable burial of his paternal grandfather, who died of some complex illness. His parents, Gabriel and Marie Belmont, never informed him of what it was, thus he hypothesised it was unknown to his family.

...Wait, no. That was not the last time he visited that disconsolate place. It was the night his noble family was dishonourably taken from him. A mob so vast it could overthrow Maximilian I and take control of an entire country of Austria came from Agres, storming his childhood home, brutally slaughtering his parents, claiming they were faithful soldiers of the Devil, that they served the underworld and were powerful black magicians. Even as an innocent child, Trevor knew his family maintained a tough relationship with the Orthodox Church, but he would never have expected the House of God to be so unkind... unholy.

A stone mausoleum came into his view. Cold, so unwelcoming. It was quite a fancy one, too. Exhaling snappishly, the Belmont cautiously open the doors. He took a look at the inside, his gaze landing on two knight statues, which seemed to be watching over the pious dead in the stone tomb. His attention soon shifted onto the three carved gargoyles. For a place that was sanctioned for the storage of 'pure children of God', it was a charming surprise. The decorative carving was done well; the remarkable men who sculpted them possessed an incredible gift.

Behind one of the elegant sculptures, he saw a marble tile. It was distinctly out of place as if someone forcibly relocated it not long ago. Not issuing it a second thought, he deranged the plate, carelessly lowering it to the ground. It landed with a low clank but somehow did not shatter upon contacting the ground. He crawled into the narrow opening, barely fitting in it.

The marble tile hid a shallow slope, which led to what the monster hunter naively assumed to be lower levels. He rather inelegantly landed on his feet and made his way downstairs like some drunk who was used a floor wipe in some filthy pub. He forged his way down the dimly lit chamber and picked up a torch from the cobblestone wall.

"Fresh oil!" He gasped, sniffing it. He took out his dagger and scraped the wall with it, instantly producing a gleaming spark. The torch caught fire, brilliantly lighting up what little area it could.

"Anybody home?" Belmont's low voice echoed down the cavernous hall. He heard rustling, much like what water sounds flowing down a mountain river. Soon, he found the source of the unfamiliar noise: a copper pipe. His hand touched it and quickly jerked back.

"It's warm!" He exclaimed, surprised by his find. After all, such things did not exist in the 15th century. Then again, he would not have known. Abruptly, another distinct sound came. This one was unquestionably not from a water pipe. It sounded like the steps of a massive creature. One of the modern-day would describe it as an elephant or an angry parent stomping up the stairs to scold their child. Genuinely alarmed by the considerable noise, Belmont pulled out his sword and made his way deeper into the catacombs.

"I can hear you," He warned. "I'm armed, and a lot less happy than you are, so you wanna stay well out of my way," His speech was abruptly disrupted as the floor beneath his feet fell through. He cried out as he plummeted to the ground but fortuitously landed without tumbling down.

"Heh, reflexes like a cat," That boundless confidence was short-lived. An additional set of tiles crumbled, sending him into a free fall, his stops being another pipe and the ground. Belmont landed on his back and groaned upon impact, although he got up shortly after.