Castlevania: Untested (26/27)

[patriciatepes]

Title: Untested
By: PatriciaTepes (AKA Patricia de Lioncourt @ fanfiction.net; PatriciaLouise @ TTH)
Chapter Title: Finale
Links to Other Chapters: Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four
Fandom: Castlevania
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Castlevania, any related characters, or the images used below.  Yes, Aly (of Aly & AJ fame) is my model for my main OC.  But please, don't let my inability to draw hinder your imagination, as Ria really doesn't look exactly like that. :)
Summary: Adriana Smith is just a normal girl...or so she thinks. However, as her mother and she move into a house known as Belmont Manor and a strange storm and decoration enter her life, she will find that her mother has not told her the truth of her family...
Author's Notes: Enjoy!

Chapter 25: Finale

She was bruised, with various cuts that were still bleeding—not as bad as some of her other wounds—but Ria was there. She stared around the room, her eyes finally coming to rest upon her mother. Sophy's eyes were so red that they gave the appearance of having been cried raw. But there was a bright smile on her face and her hands were reaching through the bars, as if Ria was just out of reach instead of actually being yards away from her. She appeared none the worse for wear, and for that, Ria was elated. Isaac was still halted in his steps, his spear still held horizontally in front of him. Dracula was crumpled against the wall just feet from Ria, Death's scythe having flown several feet away. And Walter was glaring his hardest at her. He looked simply livid.

With the brightest, widest smile she could muster, Ria took a few more steps into the arena room and said, "Hi, everyone! Miss me?"

Walter snarled, his eyes purely crimson and his fangs fully extended.

"Ria!" Sophy called to her daughter, straining against the bars.

"How is it possible?" Walter spat.

Ria continued her slow walk into the center of the arena—stopping just before her unorthodox audience. Her eyes drifted to her right where Sara was slowly advancing inward with her. Sara, of course, looked like she always had…not a hair out of place and not a wrinkle in her dress. Another one of those few perks of being a ghost, Ria supposed. Now, the whip-bound woman had her face set, her lips pressed tightly together, and she looked as if she was about to undertake the most serious of tasks. Ria turned her attention back to Walter.

"Anger really does do great wonders for my fighting skills," she said, deliberately being cryptic.

Isaac had taken a few steps back, standing now just behind Walter and just in front of Sophy's cage.

"What?" Walter growled.

Ria gave a short laugh. "Nothing. Something my trainer said once."

"How did you escape the snake?" Isaac asked, interrupting Walter, who seemed about to ask the same question.

Ria shrugged. "Not only does anger help my fighting skills…it apparently also helps my thinking skills. Oh, and for future reference, J.K. Rowling is a genius!"

Now the confusion was almost tangible. Ria continued.

"I saw the door closing and knew I couldn't make it in time. I also knew that our dear vampire king—" At this, she jerked a thumb back in Dracula's direction, "—and Isaac here would continue to try and stop you…which would by me the time I might need. I knew I wasn't ready to beat you. If I couldn't defeat a giant snake that had no magical powers…then I stood no chance of beating you. So, I shoved Isaac through the door and told him to come here. Now, here's where Ms. Rowling's genius comes into play.

"Having read Chamber of Secrets came in handy. After a few minutes of dodging the snake and taking a couple of hits, it occurred to me to use my whip to blind it. Which I did. Then, I located a large stone button hidden behind some rocks to open the door and continued on my way here. It actually took me longer to find the button than it did for me to get away from the snake. So, FYI, you have a giant, blind, magically-enhanced snake now."

At the end of her story, Sara couldn't help but flash a bright smile at her pupil, while Sophy let out a loud, relieved sigh. Isaac shook his head, and Walter scoffed.

"It's a shame, then, that you will not live past this point…all you fought for will have been in vain."

Ria shook her head and took a stance with her whip. "I want to finish this."

Walter smirked. "With pleasure!"

He lunged at her as she struck out at him with the Vampire Killer. The blow caught him in the upper right arm, which caused him to snarl in pain but did not slow him down. Ria dropped and rolled out of his line of attack, pushing herself back to her feet and striking at the crimson haired vampire once again. He dodged her attack with a simple sidestep. Ria heard both Sophy and Sara gasp in unison.

"You are still not prepared to defeat me, child," Walter chuckled.

Ria tightened her grip on the whip and glared back at her opponent. "I'm not finished yet."

She struck out, aiming for the head, and he caught the whip in his hand. However, the holy properties of weapon instantly caused smoke to rise from the offending limb, and he released it with a yowl of pain. Ria lost no time and struck out again, landing the hit against the vampire's neck. She grinned.

"How does it feel to have your neck attacked for once?" she remarked, leaping to the side as Walter came at her again.

He stopped a few feet from her. With a dark grin, he stretched out his arm, its hand turned palm-up. Ria's eyes widened as a fireball began to form there, and she was just barely able to duck under it and roll out of the way. She popped back up only to dodge another and another and another. Finally, she took a chance and quickly lashed out at the open palm, managing to slice it down its middle. Walter cried out and leapt at her, finally able to catch her around the neck and push her to the ground. He wrapped both hands about her and began to squeeze, slowly and slowly tightening his grip.

"Adriana!" Isaac called, about to rush forward.

"Don't you dare, Laforeze!" Walter snarled.

Isaac's advancement came to a screeching halt, and he groaned and grimaced, trying to will his feet move.

"What are you doing? Help her!" Sophy screamed from her perch.

"He can't, but I can," Dracula said, swooping down to knock Walter off of Ria.

She sat up, coughing, and watched as Walter rolled on the ground away from her. Dracula jerked Ria to her feet, letting go just moments before Walter recovered himself and sent the vampire king flying back against the wall Ria had seen him against when she had first entered the arena. Walter moved to throw Ria back in the same fashion, but found that the same power did not work on her.

"It must be that damned whip…" he growled.

Ria glanced at Sara, who nodded to confirm this fact. She put her eyes back upon Walter as the vampire attacked once more.

The fight continued in such a manner for a few more moments, each participant gaining and losing the advantage in turn. Finally, Ria struck out with the whip at Walter's right knee. The hit connected, but at the same moment, he had been lunging forward. With a swipe not unlike that which a cat might make while playing, his hand connected with Ria's and sent the whip flying from it. It landed somewhere out of Ria's line of vision, and Sara gasped. Walter collapsed to the ground, the wound to his knee appearing to be worse than it looked. Again, Ria attributed this to the power of the whip. She, meanwhile, was holding her hand against herself, amazed that, even through all the pain Walter's blow had caused, none of her fingers appeared broken.

"A draw?" Isaac asked quietly, though Ria was sure everyone had heard him.

Walter smirked. "But I'll recover much more quickly than our dear little Belmont girl. Especially since her little whip way over there."

He pointed with a chuckle to somewhere far behind Ria. Ria's eyes were wide as she started at the kneeling vampire. Without the whip, she stood no chance, and she could already see Walter's whip-inflicted wound healing. Even if she ran, he would be on her.

"Adriana, do something!" Isaac said, even as Walter began to make a wavering step towards standing.

The gleam of a nearby candle caught the Crimson Stone and threw its devilish red light into her face as Walter stood to tower over her. He laughed down at her. Suddenly, Ria grinned. It was all perfectly clear. There was one way to still defeat him.

"Ria!" Sara cried, stepping forward.

Walter's eyes widened, his countenance actually looking a bit terrified.

"Sara?" he asked in disbelief.

"You're right, Walter. My whip is way over there…but I'm not out of tricks yet. Isaac!"

With the cry of his name, Ria held out her hand. Isaac did not hesitate. Whether it was the blood bond or maybe the devil forger had simply followed the same train of thought as she had, he lost no time. With a single toss, he threw the Chauve-Souris to Ria, who caught it in a swift move. Walter's eyes had just turned back to Ria as she shoved the tip of the monstrous spear into the heart of the Crimson Stone.

A bright flash of crimson light and a rush of wind issued from the stone. A sudden up-draft began around Walter's feet, the force of it so powerful that it blew at Ria's short locks, but she did not let go of the spear.

"Nooooo!" Walter cried as he began to disappear, feet first, as if he were dissolving into thin air. Finally, it all stopped, rather abruptly, and Walter was gone. The Crimson Stone fell to the floor, broken in two. Ria dropped the spear, her limbs shaking.

"Ria!" Sophy cried.

"Mom!" she replied back, rushing to the cage.

"Here, use this," Isaac said, approaching her from behind.

He had already retrieved his spear and sheathed it, and he held out the Vampire Killer for Ria to take. She snatched it, noting that Dracula was once again on his feet and was currently retrieving Death's scythe. Ria struck at the cage's lock, which broke and fell away easily. The doors flew open, and Sophy leapt down and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"Ria, Ria, you're alive! God, I was so worried!" she cried into Ria's shoulder.

"About me? But, Mom, you were the one kidnapped!"

She pushed back from her mother suddenly, holding the woman at arm's length.

"Mom, what I said, when you were taken, I didn't mean it…I—"

"Sssh, ssh," Sophy said, hugging her again. "It doesn't matter."

"Well, Miss Smith, you've done quite well," Dracula said, causing Ria to whirl around.

He was standing a few feet from the happy reunion, the holding the scythe vertically. Ria held tight to her whip and took a step forward, away from her mother.

"What now, Dracula? You know I can't just let you go on," Ria said.

Dracula laughed, shaking his head. "No, I suppose not. However, neither one of us are in the shape for fighting. Nor will we be for quite some time, I suppose. I have a castle full of supernatural creatures to bring back under my servitude. And you've wounds to heal. Besides, I am not an ungrateful creature. I can recognize when someone has done me a great help."

Ria wasn't sure she liked the sound of that last bit. She shrugged.

"So, what? I wait until you kill someone before I come back and fight you? Not going to work."

"No, I didn't think you would go for that. How about this, then. On my word…and trust me, I do keep my word, I vow not to cause mayhem or despair for the period of one month. At such time, you may feel free to seek me out and attempt to destroy me. Is it a deal?'

"I will destroy you," Ria said, by way of correction. Dracula waved his hand dismissively.

"Yes, yes, fine. Do we have a deal?"

"You lied to me about being your son, you know. How do I know you won't back out of this?"

"I never gave you my word that I wasn't Alucard, now did I? However, I did give you my word that you would make it here, save your mother, and defeat Walter. Now, deal?"

Ria eyed the vampire king for a moment. Finally, she groaned. "Fine. Deal. Now, how the hell do my mother and I get out of here without dealing with more of your monsters?"

Before Dracula could answer, Sophy yelped. Ria whirled to find her mother staring in shock at the spot Sara was standing in.

"What is it?" Ria asked.

"How did she do that?" Sophy asked.

"How did who do what?" Isaac asked.

"The woman who was with Ria. The dark haired one…how did she go invisible? She's still here, I can feel her—as weird as that sounds—but I can't see her anymore!"

Ria exchanged glances with both Isaac and Sara before finally turning back to her mother.

"It must be because she is a Belmont as well," Isaac said simply.

"What is? What is he talking about, Ria? And how did she do that?"

Ria shook her head, slowly turning back to Dracula. "I'll explain all that later, Mom. Promise. Now, you didn't answer my question, Dracula. Is there an easier way out of here?"

"I'm about to solve that problem for you, my dear," he said, turning to Isaac, who immediately feel to one knee. Ria rolled her eyes. "Get up, Isaac. You don't serve me anymore."

Isaac's eyes widened as he slowly stood, gazing hard at Dracula.

"I…I don't understand," he said. "All I have done, I have done to restore you!"

Dracula shook his head. "Including your blood bond with Ria."

Isaac blinked. Dracula continued.

"I knew I would lose you as a servant as soon as I requested that act from you. But it was necessary. I have given you many gifts that most mortals could never hope to have, Isaac, but I have never put a blood bond between us. Her orders vast outweigh my own in the chain of command now. Besides—" And here, Dracula paused and eyed Isaac meaningfully, causing Ria to arch a brow in confusion, "—something tells me that you've enough of servitude…and of life here in Castlevania."

Isaac gave a half-smirk and said, with a hint of dark humor, "I have longed to be my own man. This is…most generous of you, Dracula."

Dracula snarled. "Don't get used to it. I am merely rewarding a most faithful servant."

At that, he turned and continued, now addressing Ria once more.

"One month, Belmont. Do not forget…for I most certainly will not. I look forward to what is sure to be a quite…interesting battle."

Ria nodded, slipping an arm around her mother's shoulder. "Ditto. Isaac, could you teleport us home?"

Isaac nodded and stepped just in between Ria and Sophy. A flash of light gathering around the group's feet and rose, and Ria, with a blissful smile on her face, watched Castlevania disappear from her sight.