reposing | bloody tears

bloody tears

After committing patricide, Alucard had reluctantly spent his years living, being awake. Once upon a time, he had thought to sleep for eternity, but Trevor and Sypha had convinced him otherwise; they were wonderful comrades, a friendship he had not counted on lasting -- but for years, it did. They bore children, and the Belmont line would continue. Though he felt immense guilt for helping kill his father, Alucard loved his friends and their wonderful children.

Which in turn, his immortal blood would curse him, forcing him to watch his friends age. The laugh lines suited them both, Trevor still dashing and smug despite his age and Sypha fiery and brilliant. His heart had sunk, staying with them, clutching their hands as their life would fade day to day.

“You fucking bastard,” Trevor had muttered, grinning tiredly. “Still as beautiful as the day you beat my ass in that dingy keep of yours.”

His heart broke as their time eventually came, feeling eerily alone as they passed away together in their sleep. Though Alucard was close to their children and grandchildren, it was not like the bond he had with them. His mother was gone, murdered by other humans. His father, killed by his own hands. Now the closest, only friends he had, taken by time itself, leaving him with so little.

And so, he had retreated to the castle. Once his father's, now his own, filled with years of knowledge and obtaining years more. The outside world concerned him little, and he focused instead on protecting the libraries of Belmont and Tepes alike. Generations would come to pass, empires rising and falling. Pointless wars that would sometimes tempt him to think that perhaps his father was right, and acts of love that would make him remember his mother's remarkable heart instead.

Still, he spent it all withdrawn from the world, tired and finding solitude.

What he does not anticipate is how suddenly a complete stranger comes bursting through one of the mirrors, smelling of magic, the stars, and quintessence. Alucard had been in the middle of putting a book back onto its shelf, and he stands there, baffled by the sudden intrusion.

"Well." Alucard pauses. "That is quite the entrance."

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You know? Space battles prepare you for a lot. For the cost of war, the decisions that weigh heavily on whoever makes them. For diplomacy. For sacrifice. Friendships hard won and lives lost. Not to mention the countless bizarre acts of science and magic, one of which absolutely should not be able to coexist with the other in the ways the species out there in the stars manage to do it.

However, it does not prepare you to suddenly fall out of a mirror in the middle of an important battle.

The most important one, to be precise.

He's baffled. Stunned. So keyed up on adrenaline and fear he reacts without thinking. The others -- He's not in the Black Lion any longer. He's not hearing their voices in his helmet. Not in the vacuum of space, or the Castle or any Galra ship. All he remembered was a flash of light as they struck out against the enemy with everything they had... then nothing.

His first, probably foolish, instinct is to slam a shoulder back into the mirror out of panic, out of desperation. The logical part of his brain doesn't expect it to work, but if he doesn't at least try...

Of course it doesn't work.

Someone speaks. His whole body whirls, hand sparking to life out of the corner of his eye. Nothing in this room is familiar. Nothing about the voice, or the stranger's face is familiar either. No alien he knows. This man could be human -- if something in his head weren't shouting otherwise.

"Where am I!"

It would be a question if he weren't so desperate for the answer.

The way the arm glows draws Alucard's attention, and he looks at it slowly before narrowing his eyes and giving the man another look. The armor looks familiar, but he can't quite place it.

"Currently, you're in the middle of my laboratory, which is inside my castle," Alucard says flatly. "I don't suggest becoming violent in my home. I would be very put out."

Slowly, he circles around the stranger, but does not close the distance.

"No human has stepped in these halls for centuries. Why are you here?"

He's going to ignore the way the word laboratory sends something cold skittering down his back. Ignore the way the man circles makes him think of other, predatory eyes in the darkness. He holds his ground. Doesn't let the glow in his fingers die. Not yet.

"I won't be, if you won't," Shiro answers him. His breath is still harsh in his chest, the nerves of the fight still making everything seem sharper. "I didn't intend to be here."

No human, the man says. The hair on his neck pricks up. "I don't know. If I had a choice, I wouldn't be."

"Then do no look as if you intend to attack me, stranger. I've no desire to clean blood out of my rugs."

Alucard slowly tilts his head, still scowling, displeased. "If not you... then something else brought you here. For I did not summon you. Perhaps you would care to explain."

"Force of habit for waking up where I don't want to be."

It takes an effort. He doesn't want to dismiss it. But the glow fades from his hand, disappearing into his fingertips like flowing water.

"I don't know what it would be." It couldn't have been the Lion. It ... knew he was needed. Didn't it? It couldn't have the power to just send someone to some random stranger's house. "Unless --" Unless it was something new the Witch had been doing.

Some bit of awful magic and science, used as a weapon. "We were in combat against Zarkon at the heart of his forces. His people might have done something."

It's the name that sticks out the most to him before anything else. Alucard's eyes widen, then he frowns deeply. "Zarkon," he repeats. "If a human knows that name... hm." A heavy sigh escapes him, his eyes closing as he considers his options. Eventually, he opens his eyes and gives the stranger a stern but considerably less annoyed look.

"You may call me Alucard." He brushes by Shiro, crouching to take a piece of the mirror's remains, looking over the glass as if it might grant him an answer. "I know that name, albeit not intimately like some. You should know that you are back on Earth, stranger."

"This human knows it very well." Sorry, Alucard. He'll soften up. But for now, he's too keenly aware his friends are in danger. There's no way to know whether or not the attack worked -- or whether they'll still need him up there. "We're the Paladins of Voltron -- we've been fighting Zarkon for the better part of a year or more."

Because what even is timekeeping in space.

He shifts his weight, letting the other man move around him. "I --" The introduction dies in his throat. His whole expression changes, looking like Alucard just punched him in the chest. "Earth?"

Paladin. That's why the armor is familiar, and of course a Paladin would be involved with battling with Zarkon. Alucard tenses somewhat, then breathes out to relax himself.

"I should have realized," he says, close to sounding apologetic. "Paladin, I was not aware that the Blue Lion had found its Paladin as well." A pause. No, they can discuss this later, no matter his many questions. "In any case, I do not know how you arrived here, but you are indeed on Earth once more."

He turns the mirror piece in his hand. "I will do what I can to help you back to your fellow Paladins."

"You know about us...?"

While every sense is shouting there's something else about this man, it's still a complete shock to hear. To know someone on earth is even aware of what's happening out there. The last time he'd tried to talk about the dangers out there ... nothing ended well.

But as soon as Alucard says his goal is to help, Shiro's shoulders seem to sag. He nods. And finally holds his hand out to the man.

"Thank you." Another steadying breath. "I'm sorry, my name is Shiro."

The hand is cautiously accepted. He hasn't encountered many humans in the last several years, but he knows the value and importance of this one. Nothing more needs to be said on that front.

"Shiro. It will take me sometime to manage it, but I will return you to them." The rest of the glass is gathered into a box before he nods to Shiro. "Come with me."

A hand beckons for Shiro to follow as Alucard slips away out of at least one section of the library; the sheer size of it is immense, books upon books, languages and languages. As they step into the hallway, the sheer size is far from being fit for any human -- not unlike the Castle of Lions.

Up the grandiose stairs bring them up to a room with a strange floating engine in the middle.

"Can you remember where you were last, Shiro?"

"Thank you."

There is a lot of emotion packed into those words. Just two of them, but they're heavy enough to be the entire weight of the universe, all on their own. Relief and gratitude and fear all rolled up into one package full of unspent adrenaline, leaving a hollow feeling in their wake.

He falls into step just behind Alucard. He's not sure how this person heard anything about the war, let alone Voltron or Zarkon, but what choice does he have here? He's got to believe him. He's got to get back to the others. But for the moment, he keeps his attention on the massive space around them. Curiosity warring with the exhaustion leftover from the fight.

"Feels homey," he murmurs, mostly to himself. It really does feel like the Castle, in the sheer size of it. In the odd devices he's being presented with.

It looks a little bit like a dice of some kind. Or a carved block. But hey. After being in space this long? He'll accept it.

"I can. Do you need coordinates?"

"Does it? It feels too big for one person, is what it feels like."

But there is no further elaboration on that.

For now, he focuses on the floating engine. With the glass gathered, he holds out the pieces, letting them float and reassemble together in front of him. After biting down on the fingertip of his glove, he pulls it off before he extends a claw out, carving runes into the glass.

"Something like that," Alucard answers. "I'll need you to try to focus the location in your mind. In addition to that, I... will need to gather power. I have not moved this castle in quite sometime."

Hesitantly, he looks at Shiro. "If you are able, I'll need you to give me something. A bit of your blood."

"You're alone here?"

Sorry, Alucard. He's going to ask. Curiosity is strong in this one. Even in these situations. It's a human thing, maybe.

And it means he keeps his eyes on the goings-on. Fascinated. It's not any sort of science he's seen. Physics say this shouldn't be possible. Not without some kind of zero-gravity generator. And that would mean the rest of the room would be affected, wouldn't it? The claw definitely gets his attention, too.

This ... may not be a human being he's dealing with. But if Alucard can get him back to the others? It hardly matters.

"How do you move it?" Is it a ship? Like the Castle of Lions? That would explain the floating engine. "Is it--"

There's no real way to deny the fact the request makes cold shiver down his back. His jaw works. It's for the team. For the voices and faces in the back of his mind. A deep breath.

"Whatever you need."

I need to get back to them.

"Yes."

No further elaboration is given on the subject matter at the moment. For now, he's remaining entirely focused on the matter at hand. It's more important than anything else in his heart. He hasn't had a true calling in awhile, and he supposes he'd always known the threat of Zarkon was on the horizon, but--

In any case.

"Intent," he says, his lips twitching as he remembers centuries ago what Sypha had said about magic. "Moving the castle is with my intent. However, I need to know where to go first, of course. And have the power for such a large move."

There's a pause as he looks over to Shiro, observing his reaction, subtle as it is. Alucard pauses, then bows his head faintly.

"I would not ask if I did not need yours specifically," he says distantly. "And I have not fed in quite sometime. So I give you two options, Paladin: my fangs, or by syringe."

That's... fair enough he supposes. He just fell through this man's mirror. He can't expect Alucard to just open up and spill his heart, so to speak. He can't deny he's curious. Some part of him always has been, despite the things he's been through.

"It sounds a lot like what someone I know would do with her ship," he says, in answer. Allura did it that way, he was fairly sure. Quintessence probably. Or just the sheer force of her will. Either way, he wouldn't be surprised if it worked the same here.

Even if this man is wildly different from Allura.

His jaw works. "I believe you -- it's my only chance." He has to believe him. As much as it makes his skin crawl at the suggestion, at the options. He has to get back to the others. "I--"

It's probably the previous fight that's made his brain process everything so slowly. Put the clues together. Slowly, he lifts his gaze, staring at Alucard. Fed, he'd said. Fangs, he'd said.

"What... do you mean by that? Fed. Fangs?"

"The Castle of Lions, yes? The late King Alfor based the design not unlike this very castle."

There is a pause as he smooths his palm over the mirror, then turns to look at Shiro. A dry laugh escapes him, and he bows his head. "I suppose my kind are but a legend by now to humanity, so well hidden are we. So few. I am a vampire. Well, half by my father's side, in any case."

He opens his mouth, tapping a fingertip to a fang.

"I mean you no harm, Paladin, despite whatever reservations you may have. I am your ally, through and through."

He's silent for a long moment after that. There's a lot, he's realizing, this man knows about their situation. More than any of them ever did before getting launched into space.

"How much do you know about us? About this war?"

And, by extension, Voltron and the Castle. Alfor and Allura.

More silence. Weighing options in his head -- he'd already realized there weren't any, except trusting Alucard. And yet the man is standing there, claiming to drink blood, sporting actual sharpened canines. Part of him, the part he so often shuts down when it wants to make laser sounds or pull out stupid jokes, wonders if Alucard also participates in saying "bleh". That part doesn't get a say here, either.

"And... you're telling me, you either use a needle, or your mouth." Fine, okay. He'll buy vampire for now. He's seen weirder things already. One hand scrubs down his jawline. With how unpredictable certain aspects of his head can be, there's... probably one good route to take here.

"I've had worse than a little blood loss, either way. Probably worse bite wounds too." His shoulders straighten. "Where do you want to do it?"

There's a beat, then Alucard frowns to himself. It's not something he's in a hurry to discuss, but he does eventually admit, "Most information I know from my father since I was a child when I saw the king. My father was friends with King Alfor. He helped him hide the Blue Lion when Zarkon went mad, his last hand of help before King Alfor perished with the rest of his people. My father had few friends, worse yet to lose a good man."

What few memories he has of King Alfor are good ones. An incredible man of science, a powerful alchemist. Both he and his father bonded over science. Those were certainly much better days.

"Wherever you would be most comfortable, Paladin. I will not take much, but the power from the Black Paladin will help me immensely. Afterward, I will do everything I can to bring you to Voltron."

All of this tracks with what little he knows. What bits and pieces he's gleaned from Coran and Allura over the months. One last thing to put himself more at ease around Alucard. "Thank you," he says, finally. The words heavy and sincere. He lifts his eyes to meet the other man's. "Knowing that helps. I'm just sorry I couldn't meet the man everyone seems to respect so much."

And it's true. He's seen the AI, the copy made of Allura's father, for a little while before it went off the rails. But that's not the man himself. Shiro's never even met him, and still has the sense of the universe being a duller place without him.

A nod, and he begins undoing the clasps holding the armor over his left hand. It'd be the easiest. He realizes he's putting a lot of faith in someone he's just met. But Alucard's done nothing but assist him so far.

"All right --" He gets his wrist free, tucking the bits of armor under his other arm. "Then this should work."

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