Flipping the Hourglass

• Last updated: 11/1/2024
• Number of chapters: 1/?
• Word count: 3,631
• Genres: Action, supernatural, comedy
• Warnings: Graphic violence, strong language
• Characters: Alucard/Genya Arikado, Richter Belmont, Soma Cruz, Maria Renard, Yoko Belnades, Julius Belmont, Juste Belmont
• Other Tags: Vampires | Non-traditional relationship | De-aging | Children
• Summary: Soma's first official mission as Arikado's unofficial apprentice goes unexpectedly south when the latter is hit by a curse. Soma is left to try to care for his indisposed mentor, while Julius and Yoko chase after a wayward sorceror.
  Many years ago, Alucard found himself on the other end of a very peculiar situation.

Chapter 1

The strange, unnatural beast that had perplexed the town of Veros some decade ago now lay on a wooden kitchen floor. Its great head rested upon violet-furred paws; both its eyes were shut as it dozed lightly.

Richter sighed. “Must you sleep on the floor?”

“Thought you might enjoy the company,” Alucard muttered in response.

“I do, but you’re sort of… in the way.”

Alucard lazily opened one eye, peeking up at Richter as he stumbled to make his way around him. Alucard’s ears twitched reflexively as the hem of Richter’s skirt brushed up against them.

With a toothy yawn, Alucard stood up, shifting back to his true form. He promptly pulled out his favorite chair from the kitchen table and sat down; he crossed one leg over the other, folded his arms, and shut his eyes once more. He could smell the powdered sugar Richter had retrieved from the shelf as he opened the jar. The sound of sizzling oil-

“Don’t get too comfortable,” Richter’s voice pulled Alucard out of his sleepy lull. “I suspect Maria shall be home any minute now. And seeing as I’m occupied with cooking, that means grocery duty falls upon you.”

Alucard groaned, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly as he glared at Richter. “Why must you torment me so? Do you derive some sick entertainment from it?”

“Yes, yes, I take immense pleasure in your suffering, which you clearly do so much of.” Richter shoved a fried pastry towards Alucard. “Here. Have a pancovă, O Tragic Prince.”

Alucard’s retort died on his lips, replaced with a hum of delight as the pancovă crossed them. Strawberry jam, still warm and drippy from the pan, oozed out from the center as he bit into it.

“Delicious as always,” he proclaimed, savoring the last remains of the pancovă as it melted in his mouth.

Richter beamed with pride; Alucard couldn’t help but smile in return, pleased to see how happy his compliment had made his dear friend.

As Alucard shamelessly reached for another pastry, he heard the creaking of the large wooden front door, and a familiar call of “I’ve returned!”

“Welcome home.”

“Ooh, is that pancove I smell?!” Maria’s voice carried down the hallway, her trotting footsteps further echoing the excitement in her voice.

“Yes indeed,” Richter answered with a laugh, as Maria emerged in the doorway. “Half are plain, and half are strawberry.”

Maria wasted no time in setting the two baskets in her hands down on the table. She eagerly reached for a pancovă, only to draw back abruptly. “Ouch! They’re hot!”

“Well, obviously. They’ve only just come out of the pan,” Richter replied, depositing several more pancove on the plate as Alucard began sorting through the baskets.

“Maria, are there more groceries outside?”

“No, ‘tis just those two baskets. Thank you, Alucard.”

Despite his earlier complaints, it didn’t take very long for Alucard to put away all the groceries. He paused briefly to refill the ice box; though ice magic was not his strong suit, it was simple enough to conjure a few new shards. As an afterthought, he took a bottle of sheep’s blood out before closing the box.

“How was town today?” Richter asked, as Alucard set the bottle down to defrost.

“Quite lively! The weather is beautiful today, so there were many people at the market, and many more children playing in the streets,” Maria recounted. “And speaking of the weather- we simply must take dark lunch in the garden tonight, boys! ‘Tis warm and clear, I’m sure the stars will be gorgeous.”

“That sounds lovely.”

“By the way, Maria. Your new boots look quite fetching,” Alucard said, glancing at the shiny black leather boots that covered Maria’s legs, all the way up to her mid-thigh.

Maria smiled brightly. “Don’t they? Everyone in Veros said as much, too. The cobbler ought to be paying me, what with how much advertising I’m doing for him!” she laughed.

“‘Tis because you have long legs. The boots work well with your proportions,” Richter commented, as he dusted the next round of pancove with sugar.

“Why, Richter!” Maria pressed a hand to her chest in mock surprise. “I didn’t know you had such an eye for fashion! I thought you cared not for such things.”

Richter shook his head. “‘Tis not that I care not for fashion. I simply have no taste for the sort of clothes Father and Mother wear- all silk and fluff.” At the sight of Alucard’s raised eyebrow, he hastily added, “N-Not that there’s anything wrong with such a style, of course! It suits some people well. ‘Tis simply not for me. I prefer more practical garb.”

“Practical, yes. Clearly that’s why you’re wearing a long woolen skirt in the middle of May,” Alucard deadpanned.

“I get cold, you know this.”

“While standing at a hot stove?”

Richter glanced away. “Alright, maybe I am a little warm… and… M-Maybe I slightly neglected my laundry,” he confessed. “But! I’m sure when we’re outside tonight-”

“Ah! I almost forgot the mail!” Maria exclaimed, interrupting whatever feeble defense Richter was trying to concoct. Alucard’s victorious smirk mirrored Richter’s pout.

Maria reached into one of the baskets, retrieving a bundle of letters and removing the string that tied them together. Alucard watched as she began sorting out which letters went to whom. He recognized most of them as being from the Belmonts in Ludos village- the household received regular correspondence from Richter’s wife Annette, and occasionally from Richter and Maria’s parents- yet one extra letter caught Alucard’s eye. He didn’t recognize the stationary, nor the handwriting which addressed it to Maria.

Evidently Richter took notice of the strange letter too, while he began cleaning up. “Well now! Those boots are becoming indeed. You’ve only worn them about town for a day, and you’re already getting letters from admirers!” he teased.

“Oh, hush! Perhaps it’s a quest. Let us see- Oh, I don’t have a letter opener,” Maria realized, glancing around the kitchen. “Alucard, do you mind?”

“Not at all.” Alucard held out his hand for the letter, which Maria handed over; he slipped one claw into the fold of the envelope, swiftly and cleanly tearing it open along the top. He then returned the letter to Maria.

“Thank you. Now let’s see…”

As Richter sat down at the table, setting the finished plate of pancove down in the center, Maria began to read.

“Oh, looks like it is a quest after all. ‘To the esteemed hunter Renard-’”

“Ooh, esteemed! Isn’t that fancy,” Richter interjected.

Maria giggled, and started over. “‘To the esteemed hunter Renard: We, the citizens of Iași, humbly request your aid in regards to a most urgent matter. We have arranged for a sum of-’ my! ‘-a sum of thirty-five thousand lei to be paid for services rendered-’”

Richter nearly choked on his pancovă. “Say that again?!”

“A sum of thirty-five thousand lei to be paid for services rendered,” Maria repeated.

“Good lord! Did they forget a decimal point?!”

“That can’t be what it says,” Alucard said with a frown of disbelief.

Maria huffed. “What, you think I can’t read all of a sudden? That’s what it says. thirty-five thousand lei, plain as day, all spelled out and everything.”

“W-Well… Iași is the capital of Moldavia,” Richter pointed out. “They’ve certainly got residents with more money than our little sheep ranch could ever hope to make.”

“Indeed! I can hardly think what to do with all that money,” Maria said in wonder.

Richter reached across the table to take Maria’s hand, a starry-eyed grin on his face. “Forget a spinning wheel, we could buy an entire mill with that much!”

“Yes! We could even buy a violin- No, two violins!” Maria exclaimed.

“Or even a piano!”

“Fine French satin!”

“Enough coffee and chocolate to last a decade!”

“A full set of gilded dinnerware!”

“A grandfather clock for every room in the house!”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, now,” Alucard interrupted the pair’s joyful fantasy, earning a matching set of pouts. “Maria, what is it that they want us to do in exchange for all that money?”

Maria blinked, as if the concept of a quest invoking actually doing something had been all but forgotten to her. “Oh, uh, right. Let’s see now.”

She picked up the letter again, studying its contents with a newfound concentration. Richter stood up in search of drinks.

“‘To the esteemed hunter Renard,’ blah blah money and so forth… Here we are: ‘A string of vampire attacks have reverted, in both body and faculty, multiple residents and guests of our great and beloved city, to infancy or childhood, greatly damaging our economy,’-” Maria paused to take a breath- “-‘throwing our community into fear and disarray, and evading our security. We beseech you, great hunter, to locate and slay the monster responsible for these vicious attacks.’ Hmm.”

“A vampire transforming people into children?” Alucard repeated.

“‘Tis what it says,” Maria confirmed, staring at the letter with a puzzled look. “How strange… I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Nor have I. What of you, Richter?”

“I haven’t either. Although…” Richter crossed his arms, brow furrowed in thought. “I suppose it is possible… Perhaps. After all, some vampires have rather unique abilities, so… Perhaps there is one who can transform people into babies. Maybe.”

“You don’t sound very sure of yourself,” Alucard noted.

“Yes, that’s because I’m not.”

“But say it isn’t a vampire causing this. Who could do such a thing, and for what purpose?” Maria wondered.

“Well, we know not why a vampire would do this, either,” Alucard pointed out. “‘Tisn’t exactly the typical method of terrorizing humans.”

Richter shook his head. “I certainly don’t see any appeal in it. Though I suppose I’m not so bloodthirsty as many vampires, but still… I just can’t think of so much as a hypothetical purpose for it.”

“Perhaps the city crossed them somehow, and this is a form of revenge.”

“Oddly specific revenge though, don’t you think?”

“Well, maybe… Someone killed a vampire’s child, perhaps?”

“But if that were the case, you’d think revenge would consist of killing children, not making more of them,” Maria argued. “Not that I condone the killing of children, obviously. But one has to admit that it would make more sense.”

“Perhaps… uh… Perhaps the culprit is a child, and- No, that’s ridiculous. Now I’m the one getting off track,” Alucard abruptly realized, shaking his head in exasperation. “Maria, are there any other details in the letter?”

Maria gave the paper a cursory glance before shaking her head. “No, the rest is all just contact information for when we arrive.”

“Seems you’ve got some investigating to do, then,” Richter inferred.

“Indeed we do. Pack your things, Alucard, we leave at first light.”

Alucard sighed. “Must we?”

“If we want to make good time, then yes,” Maria insisted. “Iași is hardly down the street.”

“Yes, ‘tis rather far,” Richter agreed. “I imagine you’ll be away for at least a week, if not longer… Let me prepare a map for you.”

“Don’t throw any wild balls while we’re away,” Maria teased.

“Oh, well, there go my plans.”

“Perhaps you might consider doing your laundry while we’re away,” Alucard deadpanned.

“Perhaps. In fact, perhaps I’ll wash yours while I’m at it,” Richter replied as he stood up. “I’m sure I could fit all your clothes in one tub.”

Alucard blinked, as the full implication of Richter’s words hit him. “But- But my white shirts!”

“Hmm? Did you say something, Alucard? Wool dampens sound, you know,” Richter called innocently from the next room over.

“I know you heard me!” Alucard snapped. “Don’t you dare touch my clothes! Richter!”

The twinkling sound of Maria’s laughter followed Alucard as he hurried after Richter.