Castlevania X

[Azier the Swordsman]

The following version is edited for content. In addition, due to a change of personal vision for the fic, it would fit much better as an alternate universe Castlevania story. Originally posted on Fanfiction.net.

Disclaimer: Castlevania and all related characters owned by Konami Enterprises. All Rights Reserved.

Prologue:

When he woke up, his entire body felt like it was on fire. Not the kind that fire that burns with intense heat and scorching flames, mind you, but more like a sensation, a tingling, along with an intense desire that he could not explain, permeating his entire body. Sparkling, swimming through every joint in his entire body. The room was spinning like a whirlpool… round and round, continuous, unending… he felt nauseous, felt like he was going to retch any moment. Cold, long beads of sweat ran down his entire body. He didn’t have to be a psychic to tell that something was definitely very wrong. He immediately panicked as he also realized he had no idea who he was, where he was, or why he was here. The only recollection he had was the deep dread at the forefront of his mind that something really bad had happened to him. He began to frantically rack his brain, trying to figure it out, trying to remember. ‘Who am I? Why am I here?’ His mind was like a haze… any hope for recollection covered up by the flaming, intense desire shivering all along his body. Desire… Intense desire… but for what? He was hungry… starved, famished… very, very hungry. He was empty… he needed nourishment… desired it… longed for it… but for some reason, at the same time, the thought of food repulsed him. He couldn’t figure out why.

Burning.

What was wrong with him? Who was he? Where did he come from? What was happening to him? It suddenly occurred to him that maybe he’d been drugged or poisoned. But why? Who would do that to him? And for what reason? Immediately, his mind began swirling with endless possibilities and conspiracies: Perhaps he had been some kind of agent on an important assignment and whoever he was possibly up against had done this to him. Perhaps he had been kidnapped and drugged, and all his valuables taken from him while he lay unconscious in this room in the middle of God knows where. Or maybe he was still stuck inside of some incredibly bizarre nightmare that he had yet to wake up from. His mind still a haze, he slowly propped himself up into a sitting position. It suddenly occurred to him that he had been lying on the cold hard ground the whole time. Shifting his head, he saw he was right next to a small bed, typical Inn size, the sheets all messed up, as if they had been torn and thrashed around violently. Apparently, whenever whatever had been happening to him, he had fallen out. Still shaking profusely, he made a struggling effort to stand up.

He gasped as he forced himself up, his legs unwilling to cooperate. Wincing in pain, he managed to prop himself up, gripping the bedpost for support, slowly, pushing himself up, till he was fully standing. Panting, leaned on the rail for about a minute trying to catch his breath. After he had regained his balance and composure somewhat, he looked around. He could see that the room he was in was very small, consisting of nothing more than the small bed next to an open window, facing out into town (but which town?) with the full moon peeking behind some clouds. The moonlight for some reason seemed unusually bright, almost as bright as the sun, and he had to keep from looking at it directly… that was when he noticed how bright the whole room seemed to be lit up. It was actually pitch black, he knew that for a fact. But he could see everything just as clearly as if it were the middle of the day. It was even more odd considering there wasn’t a candle lit in the entire room and the moonlight barely peeked into the window. So why was he seeing everything clearly in pitch darkness? It made no sense. Bewildered, he turned his gaze back out the window…

Except for the moonlight, the town was completely pitch black too… he knew it was for a fact… but yet he could see everything with ease, as if he were looking out in broad daylight with the blazing sun directly overhead. He also noticed that he could even clearly read the various signs on buildings, even ones way off in the distance with no problems whatsoever. His eyesight was somehow miraculously sharp. He could literally make out every single crack and crevice in buildings miles away. Every single minor detail about anything and everything completely stood out to him. A side affect of the possible drugs? Or maybe he was having hallucinatory affects by the drugs and/or poison? As he continued to gaze out at the town, he was filled with dread. This town… he could sense there was something extremely horrible about it… but he couldn’t remember. He felt as if he was in extreme danger… but he didn’t know why, and by whom he was in danger from.

Greybrick.

An intense jolt of pain struck him through his head like a lightning bolt. He almost keeled over from the intensity… it was a struggle trying to just hang on to his weak balance. But as soon as it had come, the completely dissipated, leaving him instead with an even more nauseated feeling. His mind lingered on the word now stuck at the forefront of his mind... Greybrick. What the heck did that mean? He could tell it was something important, something that could help him find out where he was. He frantically searched his mind again, trying to get more… but the more he tried to remember, the more his head hurt, and the pain increased in intensity.

He needed to clear his head… Looking around the room, he spotted a small table in the corner of the room with a basin of water. He thought for a second that maybe if he soaked his head a bit, maybe he would finally snap back to reality. Shakily, he staggered towards the bowl. Struggling to stay on balance, he managed to completely make his way up and plunged both hands in. And screamed. Jerking his hands back in immense pain, he also managed to knock the bowl over as well, and in fell clattering to the ground, the water spilling everywhere. Grimacing in intense pain, he glanced down to his hands. He was immediately horrified to see that they were completely covered in burn marks, his hands scarred red up to the arms, as if he had dipped his hands in acid. As he stared at his hands in horror and disorientation though, something even more bizarre began to happen. Just as soon as it had happened, he could almost immediately feel the pain begin to subside and the burns began to disappear, first on his hands, then moving all the way up to the arms, dissipating, until after a full minute his skin color was completely normal, and he was completely healed.

His reaction was one of shock.

‘What in God’s name?’ He thought to himself. ‘What’s happened to me?’

Vlad.

The word struck him as hard as the one before it. He really felt like he was going to retch now. Vlad? Try as he might, the word didn’t even ring a bell. His mind was still too foggy. He had a really horrible feeling every time he thought of the new word though… no… he was suddenly sure that it wasn’t just a word, but a name… a name of something or someone incredibly sinister… Maybe the one who had done this to him?

I’m hungry…

He had to get out. He had to go somewhere. Where, he did not know. Just anywhere but this place. Spotting the door to the room, he dashed towards it, and reaching down towards the knob, he was somewhat relieved to see it wasn’t locked. He immediately threw open the door and exited, not bothering to shut it back behind him as he went. Outside his room, he realized he was in a hallway on a second story with several doors all the way down, and realized that he was actually indeed in an Inn. But why was he here? What was he supposed to be doing? Who is this Vlad he felt he was in such great danger of? His head hurt real bad… He decided to simply focus on getting out of this place for now and think later. He took off in a dash. Through the hall, down the stairs, through the small lobby, and out the door. Seeing extremely clearly in the darkness. Not surprisingly, it was bright outside. He stopped for a second, and his gaze shifted up towards the full moon, now completely passed the clouds. It was so bright he could look at it for more than a second. Shifting his gaze down, he glanced towards the building he had just come out of, and his eyes caught the sign above the entrance. It read simply ‘Greybrick Inn’. His head hurt. Pounding. Turning around, not bothering to stop for anything else, he turned around and darted down the road to wherever his feet would take him.

[agasfas]

Wow, so far it looks to be a promising story. Quite entertaining. Can't wait to see what happens next. Look forward to reading it.