Chapter Text
Hector was meandering the hallways, a book in his arms and the night creature at his heels, following him like a puppy. It had been months since the night Hector was turned and, in all honesty, there were times that the pair still had difficulty coming to terms with the changes. The main issue for Adrian was remembering not to set foot in the daylight without extensive protection. Hector dealt with the same, atop a whole score of new problems. The man often had trouble remembering the extent of his new strength. He had put a sizable dent in his slab when he swung his hammer to reanimate a poor kitten he had found while out on a midnight stroll with Adrian, and once broke a bookshelf while merely trying to catch himself after tripping. His fangs continually sat uncomfortably in his mouth, occasionally stabbing into his lips, cheeks, or tongue. Then, atop all of that, there was the lingering concern over his newfound immortality.
"What if I don't want to exist in this world after a while?" He had once asked of Adrian. "Do you think it is possible we will tire of it? Go mad, as Lord Dracula did...?"
"I don't think so," Adrian had answered. "My father, when he was mad, did not have anyone by his side to calm him. To pull him back from the brink. You, my love, will be lucky enough to have just that. As will I."
"What if the madness sets in simultaneously?"
Adrian had smiled faintly. "Then at least we will still be together."
The possibility of an eternal ever after with Adrian had soothed the man for, at least, the foreseeable future. All his life, he had been forced to look after himself in every regard. Perhaps the biggest change the vampirism brought was the newfound assurance that he did not have to be alone any longer.
Just to the left of the grand entrance, Hector spotted him, and smiled at him from across the grandiose room.
"You have that look in your eyes," Adrian purred, tilting his head and beginning to walk over. "What are you thinking about, my rarity, my vampire forgemaster...?"
"You, mainly," Hector retorted, continuing his stroll to meet him halfway. His gait was more assured these days, now that he had used his vampire magics to heal his ankle.
Adrian cocked his head. "Mainly? So what else is on your mind...?"
Hector closed the gap between them, reaching his hand out to give the night creature a well deserved pat. "Us," he answered sweetly, feasting his eyes upon Adrian's smiling, laughing face before taking initiative and kissing him. The blonde hummed delightedly into the kiss and pressed his hand to Hector's chest to feel the soothing magical thrum beneath. Hector hummed back in a playful tone, pulling back from him only to turn his attentions to the neck of his beloved. He was not quite brave enough to use his teeth on his man, but he had no problem with using his lips to pull soft gasps and chuckles from the vampire who turned him.
Both were too enraptured with each other to respond immediately to the opening of the castle doors. Instead of the noise of the intrusion, it was the loud snapping sound and the collapse of Hector to the ground that tore the lovers' attention toward their unexpected guests.
Hector's side was on fire, quite literally. Remnants of blue flame still licked at his shirt where the blessed weapon had torn through, leaving a gaping wound in the soft flesh of his midsection. He stayed down, clutching the wound and pretending to be defeated already. It was a technique he had learned from his time with Carmilla, one that he had hoped he would never have to use again.
The night creature, on the other hand, leapt immediately into action to defend its creator, only to end up struck down by the same weapon and singed by magical flames of an origin it could not pinpoint. The attackers readied once more before Adrian called out to them.
"Stop this at once!" The assailants froze temporarily at the order. Adrian ran his fingertips down the wounds of the night creature as he strode purposefully toward them. He glowered at the taller of the two, looking him up and down. "You were away for months, Belmont. I had hoped the Speaker would have beaten some manners into you by now." He declared in a condemning tone.
"Manners? What fucking sort of manners am I to have toward a vampire who was turning you, or toward his pet monster? I'm trying to save your life, or what's left of it." The voice of the man he was speaking to sounded tense, still ready to finish the battle he had waged.
"I don't need saving." Adrian spat. "And though I have changed, I am still very much alive. That vampire's name is Hector and, until very recently, he was just as human as you and all those people you fight to protect. He is my closest companion. I was the one who turned him, not the other way around, and I only did it to save his life after he suffered a fatal injury. What you witnessed then was nothing but a kiss, and I'd expect even a virgin such as yourself to know that."
"Not even so much as a hello..." The hunter grumbled softly before raising his voice once more. "Alright, listen, if you-"
Adrian continued over the top of him. "You barge into my home unannounced after so long, assault my guest, and attempt to kill a creature dear to us both- I demand an apology."
The tall, scarred, dark haired man folded his arms over his chest, seemingly ready to refuse, but a small blonde woman nudged him with her elbow, firmly urging him to heed Adrian's words.
"Sorry," he muttered, though it was apparent that he did not mean it, nor did he fully understand what he was apologizing for.
"Not to me. To him."
The Belmont scoffed. "What? The useless shit still lying on the floor, pretending to be dead?"
"Now," Adrian insisted, his eyes flaring with the insult.
"Trevor! Grow up. It was a misunderstanding," the woman continued. She turned her eyes to Adrian. "One that I will absolutely be needing an explanation for...!"
Adrian's firm expression softened just a touch toward the magician. "Of course."
Trevor strolled to Hector's side and nudged him with his boot. "Oi. Harold, or whatever the name is. Sorry for the flesh wound, now stop acting like a little bitch and tell us what the fuck is going on here."
Slowly, Hector shifted to peer over his shoulder, first at the man who had struck him- still holding the devious metal whip in his hand, he noted- then to the kind looking woman, and finally to Adrian. The heir of Dracula seemed miffed, but otherwise at ease. Seeing little reason to remain fearful, Hector struggled into a seated position, healing his burned side as he did.
"I once was a general under Lord Dracula..."
—-
“Pretty impressive, no?” Sypha smiled smugly and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Impressive, yes, but moreso terrifying,” Hector responded bluntly. “The castle, which had become a home to me... Coming in and out of existence and then... Gone. Taking my chances of forgiveness with it.” The man bore a solemn expression for a few brief seconds before furrowing his brow in curiosity and offering a question that had been haunting his mind.
“Why did you move the castle to this place?”
“We were stationed in the hold beneath this place, doing research, preparing for battle. Made perfect sense to bring Dracula to us, rather than waiting for him. Letting him wreak more havoc.” Trevor replied gruffly before seeming to make a mental note of something. He turned to Hector, who flinched slightly at the sudden motion. “You’re a human. Or you were, for quite a while. And Alucard says you’ve got quite the intellect. You must have had some appreciation for the collected research of your people.”
Hector couldn’t fathom why this was a logical leap for the man, but deemed it impolite to refuse a reply. “Actually... I have never been down there.”
Trevor pushed away his dish, as he was the last one eating dinner and this nonsensical claim caused him to temporarily lose his appetite. “But Alucard said you’ve been here nearly a year. You never got curious? What, did he not tell you about it?”
“I told him about it,” Adrian hissed, being too long deprived of this bickering he so enjoyed.
“Then what? Too busy feeling sorry for yourself?”
“I... I had a broken ankle...!” Hector interjected once able, in a tone more defensive than perhaps he realized.
Trevor smirked. “Too busy feeling sorry for your broken ankle, then.”
“Well, you’ve been feeling sorry for yourself your whole life, Belmont, so I don’t see how you have any room to judge him.” Adrian remarked coolly.
“I wasn’t sorry for myself,” The forgemaster corrected, still in a sharper tone. “I was healing-“
“Boys!” Sypha cried, exasperated. Her three dinner mates settled, feeling each a bit chided. “I have gotten so used to only having to deal with the one of you... I expected the usual dueling, but with three of you...! I need some peace and quiet.”
“Perhaps you should retire.” Hector noted Adrian was taking a gentler tone with her than with his other once-ally. “You have travelled long and far. Rest here in the castle. Then, come the morn, your assistant may have a sharper wit. Dueling is unenjoyable when one’s opponent is armed only with a blunt stick.” He smirked.
“I’m the assistant?” Trevor exclaimed in indignation.
“Yes,” Adrian breathed.
“We all know it’s true,” Sypha chirped. “I tried to tell you so earlier, but you would not listen to me.”
Trevor turned to Hector, his last hope of support in this argument. The vampire smiled and shrugged his shoulders, sinking into the camaraderie from which he had spend his life estranged.
“It does appear to be that way.”
Trevor exploded into argument and slicing words against every person near him, Hector included, but he did not take this to heart. Somehow, he understood that this was an act of play, something drawing him into the group, allowing him to bond and unite with these humans, these creatures he once wanted to destroy.
This was what his life had been missing- not only Adrian, not only his companionship, but the innocent joy of friendship.
The man couldn’t stop smiling. These few hours before bed filled him with a thirst for moments like these to fill the rest of his eternal life, and to finally understand the depth and meaning of human kindness.
—-
Hector collapsed into bed, a broad, fanged smile still brightening his greyed, vampiric face.
Adrian settled in beside him. He leaned his head against his hand, staring at the man with the very sun sparkling in his yellow eyes. The happy heat of the golden stare caused Hector to turn his head.
“What?” He inquired with a chuckle.
“... You’re so happy.”
The forgemaster only smiled harder. “You never told me your friends were so agreeable,” he remarked.
“I wish you could have met sooner. You’re so beautiful when you smile so brightly.”
Hector scoffed playfully. “You act like you haven’t seen me smile before. You cause me to look like this several times in a day.”
“I know,” Adrian breathed. “But it’s so nice to see someone else cause it.”
There was no disagreement from Hector, who settled further into bed. Cezar sprang to fill the empty space between the two men.
“It appears the human world is far more beautiful than I ever could have known. I was a fool,” he laughed, touching his fingertips to his forehead.
“No,” the blonde disagreed. “You were sequestered from all the good there is. It was not a willful ignorance. You had no reason to believe any different about the world.”
Hector was silent for a few minutes. Adrian seized the opportunity to pull the blankets over them both.
“So much has changed. In me. Around me.” The silver headed male mused. “It feels like a whole chapter of my life is closing permanently. One that was written for me. To make me out to be the villain. I think... I can finally start to write my own story.”
Adrian sat up again, amused by his companion’s train of thought. “And what will this story be about, Hector?”
“I... I don’t know.” He admitted. “But... Sypha and Trevor... I must admit, what they were doing appeals to me. Traveling the world, the entire world. Setting things right. If it’s true that I was kept, my whole life, in a prison of negativity... I want to make it so no such prisons exist any longer.”
“Before you joined me in this place, there were many days I would just spend dreaming of being with them.” Adrian pulled the sheets closer. “The jokes we’d share... The battles we’d fight... The people we’d save. They were beautiful fantasies. I thought, perhaps, they would always remain that way.”
“You didn’t think they’d ever return to you?” Hector asked.
Adrian bowed his head. “I thought I’d be driven mad by his place and stake myself before that day ever occurred.”
The forgemaster sat upright. “Adrian...”
“There is no need to worry. Since your night creature arrived, I never again had those thoughts.”
He settled, just slightly. “I believe you. But... I am sorry you ever had to feel that way. Truly.”
Adrian smiled. He brushed his fingers through some of Hector’s silver locks. “You have so much love to give. Such a soft heart. I agree. Your caring spirit should not be kept away from the world. We should, as you put it... Travel the world. The entire world.”
“There is... One thing to consider,” The silver headed man remarked. “Your prior reason for refusing to leave this place. It must be protected. And without us here to guard it...”
“Sypha is pregnant.” The blonde remarked, seemingly out of the blue. “She may not know it yet, or choose to accept it, but two hearts are presently beating inside of her. She will need a place to stay, at least for a few months. That will give us time to see at least some of the world. To get a start. We have centuries and centuries ahead of us in which to make a change...”
Hector beamed. “So the world will change... Within my lifetime...!”
“It will. And you will cause it.”
Cezar twitched his back leg, deep within a restful dream. His master stroked his head sweetly. “My pets will all be coming with us, of course...”
“Oh, certainly...!” Adrian grinned. “Even...” He gestured to the night creature, sleeping on the floor at the foot of their bed. “Did you ever name them?”
“I didn’t. I didn’t know if it would make it.”
“It would be a good time...”
Hector pondered over it, going through many a name in his mind before finally settling on the perfect name.
For the new life Adrian had given him.
For the new world they would create.
For the terrible odds that still came through and brought them to this point of utter perfection.
“Chance.”