Walking Among the Fires of Hell

• Last updated: 3/13/2024
• Number of chapters: 8/?
• Word count: 34,926
• Genres: Action, horror, supernatural, family
• Warnings: Graphic violence, strong language, mild sexual references, cult abuse
• Characters: Alucard/Genya Arikado, Richter Belmont, Soma Cruz, Maria Renard, Yoko Belnades, Dante Espardez, Vergil Espardez, Lady, Trish, plot-necessary original characters
• Other Tags: Vampires | Non-traditional relationship | Latine
• Summary: When Alucard and Soma both go missing, Richter takes it upon himself to do what needs to be done. What at first seems to be a run-of-the-mill encounter with Dracula's followers soon becomes far more than any of them had been prepared for.
  Meanwhile, Dante seems to be unable to have a normal Saturday night.

Chapter 8

It seemed that Richter’s earlier theory, much to his chagrin, had been correct: Dante’s absence was the reason lesser demons hadn’t bothered attacking him and Alucard. Now that Dante was around, everything from the simplest pyrobats to more varieties of giant spiders than had any right to exist had determined to take their shot at eating the party. None had been successful, of course- But with Richter himself still rather severely injured (ow), and Suzuki so emotionally compromised as to essentially be dead weight for the moment, fending off the demons wasn’t exactly an easy task. 

(Although, Richter couldn’t help but notice that there had been demons attacking them when Alucard had been unconscious and injured, but ever since he’d been up, they’d stopped. How strange…)

Still, Richter was glad to have Dante around. Dante had been a good friend to Richter and Alucard for many years; as the son of the legendary demon Sparda, Dante knew what it was to sit on the outside of humanity, and to be constantly haunted by a dangerous family legacy he’d never asked for. This had made him the first person since Maria’s death to truly earn Richter’s trust- Along with Dante’s friends, an oddball group of devil hunters and other occult types who never seemed to be too far behind him. More importantly, though, Dante’s skill as a devil hunter was unparalleled, and he held the high honor of having somehow escaped the Underworld twice. Richter had no doubt that Dante’s experience would be critical if they were going to make it out in one piece.

“So how’ve you been, Dante? Feels like we haven’t seen you in ages,” Richter said as he sliced through a demon. 

“Yeah, it’s been a while, huh? I’m doing alright for myself,” Dante replied. “Work’s been a bit slow, but I’m managing. Patty’s home on break, so-”

“Oh, I forgot she’s in college now,” Alucard sighed. “Where does the time go…”

“You’re tellin’ me. She’s doing alright, though. Apparently she’s already become the unofficial resident exorcist.”

“What? What the hell kind of school is she going to that needs an exorcist?”

“Redgrave University.”

“Ah, that’ll do it,” chimed Alucard and Richter in chorus. 

A demon shrieked as it swiped at Alucard and failed, momentum sending it hurtling through the empty mist. “What’s she majoring in?” Alucard asked as he returned to physical form.

“Fashion design, with a minor in occult studies. Originally, she was going to-”

“Look out!” Soma shouted.

Richter grunted in surprise as Dante grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to the side just in time to avoid a gust of flame from a pyrobat. Under ordinary circumstances, Richter might have protested, but now… He knew damn well that he wouldn’t have been able to move fast enough to dodge it on his own. 

It scared him.

“Thanks, Dante,” he said, electing to keep his insecurities to himself for brevity’s sake.

“Don’t mention it,” Dante replied as he fired several shots into the bat. “These fuckers don’t wanna give us any time to chat, huh…”

“It seems not.”

And so the group fell silent as they continued on, focusing their attention on defending against the seemingly limitless horde of demons that sought to impede their progress.

As they rounded a corner and descended into a small valley, one demon stood out among the rest: A huge, dragon-like bipedal demon, scales the color of obsidian, with jet-like horns spewing blue flame from either side of its head. Both the dragon demon and the smaller ones surrounding it seemed not to have noticed their group as of yet, instead fighting amongst themselves- The dragon demon against the others, roaring as it sliced through them, smashing a large demon’s head against a rock.

“Oh, god, that’s a big nasty,” Soma gasped, eyes going wide as he watched the carnage before them.

Just as Richter braced himself and adjusted his grip on his sword, Dante held out a hand. 

“Don’t worry. You guys just sit tight. I got this,” he declared. 

Richter exchanged confused, worried glances with the others as Dante stowed his sword on his back, casually making his way towards the dragon demon with a smile and a lazy step. He twirled one of his guns and shot three smaller demons in the head, drawing the attention of the giant. 

“‘Sup! Practicing your audition for the new Godzilla movie?” he called with a grin. “Not bad!”

The demon growled as it turned to face Dante- and then, to Richter’s shock, it made no move to attack, instead speaking in a rumbling echo. “Dante. Would it kill you to just say ‘hello’ like a normal person?”

“What if it did? Bet you’d feel bad then.”

As Dante spoke, Soma turned towards Richter with wide-eyed shock. “He knows that thing?!”

Richter shrugged, having no more answers than Soma did.

The demon simply huffed, turning its attention back towards the horde. It tossed a larger demon towards Dante, who drew his sword and cleaved it in two. 

“Alright, that’s enough playing around. Come down here, bro,” Dante said. 

“No.”

Dante frowned. “Whaddya mean, no?!”

“Why should I? You see all these demons? It’s more efficient for me to handle them this way,” the demon answered as it slashed through several more. 

“But we’ve got guests,” Dante replied, gesturing towards the group’s hiding spot. “Some buddies of mine ended up here somehow. And, uh, some other guy I guess.”

The demon gave a shrug. “You talk to them, then. They’re not my problem.”

“Oh, for the love of-” Dante groaned, rubbing his forehead as he shot one of the few remaining demons. “Look. You want to get out of here, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.”

“Well, so do I. And so do they. We’re all going to find a way out together,” Dante said slowly, as if speaking to a child. “Ergo… Stop playing king of the monsters and come say hello.”

The demon narrowed its glowing eyes, glancing between Dante, the rest of the group, and the now-dead demons lying at its feet. With a sigh, it stomped out one final opponent, and then vanished in a burst of icy blue magic. 

Where the massive demon had once been now stood a man: nearly identical to Dante, save for slicked-back hair, faint scars radiating from his eyes, and an irritated frown. His dark blue clothes were elegant yet practical (if slightly old-fashioned), and a long Japanese sword hung at his hip. He maintained a cold gaze as he followed Dante towards the rest of the group. 

“Everyone, this is my brother, Vergil,” Dante introduced them. “Vergil, these are my friends Alucard and Richter, their… Apprentice or something, Soma… And, uh. And Tony.” He shrugged awkwardly as he addressed Suzuki. 

Vergil glanced up at Alucard. “So you’re the one called Alucard…” His frown shifted slightly from one of disdain to confusion. “Why do Dante’s friends call you his-”

“That is a question I’ll answer later,” Dante interrupted with a warning tone, slapping a hand over Vergil’s mouth.

Richter raised an eyebrow, unable to hide a hint of an amused smile; he had an inkling what Vergil had intended to say, knowing Dante’s friends. He could hardly blame Dante for not wanting Vergil to proclaim it for the whole underworld to hear. 

Vergil looked as though he wanted to protest, but Alucard quickly interrupted. “Dante claims you know how to leave this realm and return to the human one.”

Vergil leveled a glare at Dante. “You said that?”

“Well don’t you? I mean, you’ve done it twice,” Dante pointed out.

“So have you,” Vergil retorted. 

“Huh… I guess that’s-”

“Is it true you’re the King of Hell?!” Soma blurted out, seemingly unable to hold back the question any longer, leaning over Richter’s shoulder to stare at Vergil with bright-eyed awe.

Vergil’s glare deepened as he turned to face his brother. 

“Dante.”

“Hey, it wasn’t me this time! Griffon brought it up, blame him!” Dante insisted, putting his hands up in surrender. “Oh yeah, and he also said one of the ex-kings is out to get us. Archo-something, I think.”

Richter’s eyes widened, a sense of horror sinking into the pit of his stomach. “Fucking Argosax the Chaos is after you?!”

“Oh yeah, that’s the one. Knew it was one of those Sonic the Hedgehog sounding guys. Apparently I killed him once and he’s real pissed about it.”

“Ay, lord have mercy,” Vergil muttered under his breath, rubbing at his forehead. “Look, let’s… Let’s find somewhere safer to discuss the situation, rather than out in the open. This momentary quiet won’t last long, especially if what Dante so helpfully informed us is true,” he added with a slight irritated growl and a pointed look towards Dante. 

Dante rolled his eyes, but nonetheless nodded. “Yeah, alright. Any suggestions?”

“If memory serves me correctly, there is a cave about a half mile or so south of here,” Vergil replied. “It’s fairly secure. You and I spent some time there.”

“The one with the glowing purple mushrooms?” Dante recalled. 

“That’s the one.”

“Alright, then let’s get going. The sooner we can take a break, the better.”

A smirk spread over Vergil’s face. “Tired already, old man?”

“Shut up! I’m fine. It’s the others I’m worried about,” Dante insisted. 

“Yeah, I mean… Not to be that guy, but I’d very much like to… I don’t know, maybe sit down for a few minutes,” Richter added with a wince. 

The hint of playfulness vanished from Vergil’s expression, his gaze turning stony once more. “Very well. Let’s go.”

Without further fanfare, the group continued on, guided by their newfound ally (however begrudging an alliance it may have been). Richter couldn’t help but wonder, as they followed Vergil through the landscape of Hell, if his and Dante’s parents had known of the fate in store for them when they’d chosen their names. 

Richter didn’t quite know what to make of Vergil, really. He’d known Dante long enough to know the general gist of his brother’s story: separated from Dante on the night they’d lost their mother, reunited years later, bent on a path of bloodlust and desperation that had led him to reopen a portal to the Underworld sealed by Sparda himself. Hundreds of humans had been killed in the process. Some time later, Dante had somehow accidentally killed Vergil, leaving him grief-stricken beyond repair; a few years ago Vergil had somehow returned, in an incident Richter still wasn’t quite sure of the details about but had evidently involved some sort of big tree and nearly totally destroying Redgrave City, USA. But hey, everything was fine now, it was all chill! So Dante insisted, anyway. 

Then again, who was Richter to judge, after what he’d done? There were certainly those who’d consider his family traitors for not killing him, or at least disowning him. Hell, there were plenty of people in the know who were outraged that Soma was allowed to go about his life, even though he was no more danger to anyone than your average in-training witch with a little too much enthusiasm and not quite enough common sense. And of course, throughout history there had always been those who looked at Alucard with suspicion, unable to separate his birth from his character.

So maybe Dante was right. Maybe, given the sort of person Richter was and the sort of people he hung out with, it would be hypocritical of him not to take his longtime friend at his word in regards to Vergil’s character. Sure, Vergil’s personality seemed… less than friendly, but if Dante said he’d changed, maybe he had.

…Or, maybe Vergil was a mass murderer and Dante was too tied up by family bonds to face reality.

Whatever the case may have been, Alucard certainly didn’t seem happy with the arrangement, either way. He hadn’t said as much out loud, of course- but he and Richter had been best friends for centuries now. It wasn’t hard for Richter to guess what thoughts were running behind those gold eyes, as he narrowed them at Vergil in furtive glances. Alucard was also no longer as actively participating in casual chatter as they walked, instead somewhat returning to the quiet, distanced persona he exhibited around people he wasn’t fully comfortable with.

In a way, maybe it would be almost worse if Vergil truly had changed, like Dante had said. There had never been any happy ending for Alucard and his own murderous family; Alucard had tried, Richter knew, to convince Dracula of the error of his ways. Never had he succeeded. Even if Alucard had mostly come to terms with the futility of his relationship with his father, to see Dante so casually galavanting with the brother who’d caused so many people so much pain… Well, it was understandable if he felt a little bitter.

Still, there was no time to dwell on things, and even less time to address them. 

After fighting off a few more waves of demons (a task that was thankfully much easier with Vergil on their side), and what felt to Richter’s tired body like an eternity of walking, they finally reached the mushroom cave. Richter would’ve missed it if the twins hadn’t pointed it out: a narrow, jagged opening in the rock wall of the valley, hidden in shadow behind another crag. Only a faint purple glow emanating from within betrayed its existence. Richter slipped inside behind Soma, checking over his shoulder to make sure the rest of the party made it in. 

In contrast to its small entrance, the cave seemed fairly spacious, with a large antechamber and a passage that continued further on into the cave. Mushrooms of various sizes grew from the ground, walls, and even the ceiling of the cave, filling it with a soft purple light. 

Richter wasted no time in slumping against the cave wall. 

As the others settled in, surveying the cave or finding their own seats, Vergil crossed his arms and turned towards Dante. “Now then. Why don’t you go ahead and explain what the hell-”

“Wait,” Alucard interrupted. 

“What?”

“Before we discuss the situation further… We should rest.”

Vergil huffed. “You can’t be serious. We don’t have time to rest, if Dante is truly being pursued by Argosax,” he insisted. 

“We don’t have a choice,” Alucard retorted. “Richter is injured, the two children are limited by their human stamina-”

“I’m an adult, thank you very much!” Soma exclaimed.

“-And we’ve all been fighting more or less nonstop for a day or so now,” Alucard finished, ignoring Soma’s protests. “If we are to understand the situation and formulate a plan, we all need to be able to think clearly.”

“Alucard’s right,” Dante added in. “At least we should be safe enough here for the time being. Let’s just take a few hours for everybody to catch their breath, and then we can figure shit out.”

Vergil sighed. “Fine. Dante, since you and I don’t really require sleep, we will take watch while the others rest. I’ll take the back corridor.”

“Sounds good.”

Richter opened his mouth to comment on the fact that Dante was always sleeping- but as he glanced at Alucard, suddenly something clicked. It didn’t quite feel funny anymore.

“...Well, you don’t have to tell me twice,” he said instead, gingerly lying down on the ground. “Feels like I’ve waited my entire life for a nap.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty beat too,” Soma agreed. He laid down opposite Richter, resting his head against one of the mushrooms.

The others soon followed suit as they took their positions for downtime. Alucard reclined against the cave wall, Dante sat down on a large mushroom near the entrance, Vergil stood rather ominously near the back of the cave, and Suzuki… Suzuki sat down with his knees pulled up to his chest, staring rather aimlessly at the cave wall. 

Richter nudged Suzuki gently with his foot. “Hey, you should sleep while you can. I know you’re… going through some shit, I get it, but the best thing you can do for yourself right now is to get some sleep. We won’t have many opportunities for rest down here,” he pointed out quietly. 

“Who are you, anyway?” Suzuki questioned, the first Richter had heard him speak in quite some time.

“My name’s Richter.”

Suzuki shook his head. “I got that much. That’s not what I meant. I…”

He glanced over towards Alucard, and then quickly looked away, as if afraid of getting caught. 

“...They- they said his friends were all dead. No one ever mentioned any vampires opposing Dracula. And everyone said he hated vampires, too,” he explained. “So who are you really?”

“Ah… My story is a long one, I’m afraid,” Richter sighed. “Don’t worry about that right now. Go to sleep, and we’ll talk about it in the-” he paused, frowning slightly. “…Hey, Dante!”

“Yeah?” Dante called back. 

“Does Hell have a day and night cycle?”

“Ehhh… Sometimes. Depends on where you are.”

“Sunlight will not be an issue, if that’s your concern,” Vergil added in, though his gaze remained fixed on the corridor in front of him.

Richter hummed in thought. No sunlight was good news for him- he’d certainly had more than enough of it for the next half a millennium- but… What about the others? Living creatures needed sunlight. Alucard could manage, probably, but the kids…

He shook his head. No point in worrying about that now; better to take his own advice.

“In any case, let’s just get some rest. I’ll explain things after everyone’s slept,” he promised.

Suzuki looked uncertain, but nonetheless laid down on the ground. Richter, satisfied or perhaps just exhausted, finally closed his eyes and let the pain in his body drag him to the abyss of sleep.

Alucard stared with pursed lips, watching the gentle rise and fall of the two boys’ chests. Pointed ears picked up on every sound: every footstep as Vergil slowly paced about, every odd fragment of a sentence Soma muttered in his sleep, every frightened whimper from Suzuki. Only Richter remained silent, as was a corpse’s wont, though the faint slumbering aura of his magic assured Alucard that he still remained “alive”. 

“…Hector… summon for me… Latin tutor…” Soma slurred, his head rolling to one side as saliva dribbled out of the corner of his mouth. 

Alucard raised an eyebrow. He didn’t like the fact that Dracula’s memories lingered in the shadows of Soma’s subconscious, but at least he could take comfort (and, in cases such as this, a bit of grim amusement) in the fact that the motivations that ruled him were firmly those of Soma Cruz. An odd, yet unwaveringly kind, ordinary young man. 

Yes, a young man… And yet, a boy all the same. Soma was nineteen now. Alucard remembered, many centuries ago, being that age. That horrible age where one wasn’t entirely a child anymore, but still too young to have experienced adulthood. It was the same age Alucard had been when his mother had died; the age when he’d been violently pulled from the childhood of a sheltered prince, and forced to make his own choices as an adult. As a rebel. 

Still, Soma retained an innocence that Alucard hadn’t at his age. All Alucard had had to rely on back then were Trevor and the others, barely so much as a few years older than him and equally miserable. Soma had certainly been through horrors no one should experience, but at least he had parents, friends, older hunters who could tell him it’s ok, you’re young, you’re scared, but you’re not alone. We’ll take care of things. 

If only that were enough. But it wasn’t, was it? No, despite everyone’s best efforts, Soma was still being targeted. And now they were all trapped in literal Hell. Now that young man with the bright eyes and insecurities about college was sleeping on the warm floor of a dubious cave, clothes splattered with blood, while a cambion mass murderer stood nearby, promising to guard against any demons that might try to eat them all in their sleep. 

(Alucard’s feelings about Dante’s brother were a can of worms he’d reluctantly set aside for the sake of bigger problems. But oh, did he have some feelings indeed.)

And what of Soma’s classmate, Suzuki? Did he have anyone looking out for him? Probably not, given that he’d fallen into the clutches of a Dracula cult. 

Alucard remembered others like him, too, during his father’s reign of terror. Odd young people with powerful magic who were told that they were special, that they could be part of a greater purpose, that Castlevania was the only place they could be safe. For many years Alucard had resented them for fueling Dracula’s genocide, but as he’d grown older, the truth had dawned on him: they had all been manipulated and used. Not that he fully forgave them for what they’d done, of course, but he still felt some amount of sympathy and remorse. 

Yes, Alucard could certainly see why Soma was angry at Suzuki. Still, it wasn’t a good situation for anyone to be in, and the poor boy seemed utterly shattered by his sudden confrontation with reality. Alucard could only hope that he’d be able to recover, once they got out. 

If they got out.

And then there was Richter. God, the guilt Alucard felt every time he looked at him… Richter had been through so much, worked so hard to make a life for himself without violence. Now he’d all but destroyed himself in order to protect Alucard and Soma. It wasn’t like it was Alucard’s fault, per se, but he still couldn’t help but feel partially responsible- and, of course, very worried. The sooner they made it home safely, the better.

If they made it home safely.

“Hey,” a familiar voice interrupted Alucard’s pessimistic musings. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

Alucard shook his head, glancing up at Dante. “I don’t need to sleep right now. To be honest, I… Feel surprisingly energized, considering everything I’ve been through in the past day or so,” he admitted, frowning in thought. 

“Really? That’s weird,” Dante commented as he sat down by Alucard’s side. “Is it like, a vampire thing? ‘Cause there’s no sun down here, or something?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, just look at Richter.”

“Yeah, what the hell happened to you guys, anyway?” Dante wondered, glancing over at Richter’s sleeping form. “Poor bastard looks like he got put through the garbage disposal, even though he hardly leaves the house. And you’ve got a big ol’ stab wound,” he added. “The fuck happened?”

“Ohhh, it’s a long and unpleasant story,” Alucard sighed. 

Dante shrugged. “We’ve got time.”

“I suppose we do. Very well, then.”

Alucard kept his voice low as he related the events of the past several hours, careful not to disturb his sleeping companions. Dante, however, seemed unable to restrain himself from exclamations of disbelief; Alucard even caught the normally stony-faced Vergil occasionally glancing back at them from across the cave, with raised eyebrows or a sympathetic grimace.

“Man… You and I have both been through plenty of shit, but that’s some Bullshit with a capital ‘B’,” Dante said as Alucard finished his tale. 

“No kidding. Such is life, I suppose,” Alucard replied, sighing and shaking his head. “I only wish Richter and Soma didn’t have to be involved. They’ve both been through enough already.”

“What, and you haven’t?” Dante retorted. 

Alucard gave a bitter smile. “Oh, I didn’t say that. But better me than them, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Yeah. I know what you mean.”

The pair fell silent, heavy with the weight of tumultuous lives; It was comforting, in a strange way, like a blanket shared between the two of them. With no one else around, Alucard allowed himself to indulge in his emotional exhaustion, leaning against Dante’s shoulder and closing his eyes. Dante said nothing, yet responded in kind with an arm around Alucard’s back. 

…Naturally, the peace didn’t last long before being interrupted by Dante’s brother. How like him. 

“You said the freaked-out human boy is a summoner?” Vergil questioned, stepping just a few feet away from his self-assigned watchpost to address Alucard.

Alucard sat up straight, mouth drawn taught. “That’s right. That’s how the four of us wound up here in the first place,” he recounted. 

A contemplative look fell over Vergil’s face. “Then it may very well be our ticket to getting out, as well.”

“How so?” Alucard asked, mirroring Dante’s curious, “Whaddya mean, Vergil?”

“I’ll explain later,” Vergil answered, shaking his head and glancing towards their sleeping companions. “As you said, it’s best to wait until everyone is prepared to have such discussions. Especially considering the subject of interest is currently unconscious.”

“Fair enough,” Alucard conceded, though he sent a questioning look towards Dante. 

Dante simply shrugged, evidently just as confused as Alucard was.

Alucard frowned, watching as Vergil returned to guarding the back of the cave. “Is he always so…”

“Cryptic?” Dante filled in. “Oh, you don’t know the half of it, bro. Don’t worry about it for now, though,” he said reassuringly. “I guess we’ll find out what our dear tour guide is on about in a few hours.”

The neighborhood stood fairly silent as Yoko arrived at her apartment, her phone reading just past 1 A.M. The familiar lingering scents of florida water and instant ramen hit Yoko’s nose as she entered the apartment, and she let out a sigh, allowing herself a few seconds to relax. 

No longer than that, though. The clock was ticking for Alucard and the others. 

With no time to lose, Yoko quickly made her way to the closet. She grabbed an old backpack, and then headed towards the bookcase. As she did so, she paused for a moment; her gaze fell upon the small table in the corner of the living room, bearing a white lace tablecloth, old photos and trinkets, candles, and a number of goblets.

“…Guess I’d better refill these now, since I might not be home in the morning,” she muttered to herself. 

Emptying and refilling the goblets on the altar was a familiar task, yet Yoko’s mind lay elsewhere, her body moving as if on autopilot. 

Who had orchestrated this attack, and how? What was up with those two devil hunters- Yoko got the sense that she could trust them, but who exactly were they, and how did they know Alucard? Why had their friends gotten caught up in Dracula business? Even with their combined knowledge and power, would they be able to find a way to rescue the others? 

Were they even still alive to rescue? The last Yoko had heard from any of them was Richter insisting on going out in the sun, ignoring Yoko’s pleas to think rationally about his own safety…

She shook her head quickly. No, she shouldn’t think like that. As long as there was a chance… As long as there was even a ghost of a chance that Richter, Alucard, and Soma were still alive somewhere in the Underworld, then Yoko needed to do everything in her power to-

Yoko’s train of thought was broken by a sudden, quiet thud, nearly causing her to spill the pitcher as she filled the seventh goblet. She quickly glanced over her shoulder, eyes wide. 

Calm down, me. No need to jump to conclusions. Maybe it was just an earthquake or something, she thought to herself, as she nonetheless scanned the room for signs of intruders. Nothing seemed out of place- Until she spotted a single book, lying open on the floor. Carefully setting the pitcher down, Yoko approached the book. 

It seemed to be one of her older books, an encyclopedia of higher demons inherited from her grandmother. It lay open to a page depicting a glowing, angel-like demon; the text on the facing page titled it, Argosax the Chaos.

Yoko stared at the book for a moment. She glanced between the page, and the white altar, the freshly filled goblets twinkling slightly in the artificial light. 

“…Alright, thanks for the tip,” she said to the empty air. She dog-eared the page, closed the book, and placed it into her backpack before standing up to select more books.

By the time Yoko returned to the ruins of the old office building, it was just about two A.M. She found Trish scribbling notes on an iPad, brow furrowed in concentration, as Lady shot at a wayward demon. The portal remained where it was, but now glowed with the soft light of demonic glyphs dancing around it, fading in and out. 

“How’s it going?” Yoko asked as she opened up her backpack. 

“Well, it’s going,” Lady grunted in response. 

Trish sighed. “I tried to set up an analysis spell, but as you can see-” she gestured to the portal- “Whatever spell is at work here doesn’t like being messed with. The results are practically illegible with the way it’s all floating around and flashing like that, and to make matters worse, it seems to be a particularly archaic form of demonic that I’m less familiar with.”

“Oh, lucky us,” Yoko deadpanned. “I did bring a book on different demonic scripts, so we’ll have that to help us out, at least.”

“That’s good.”

“We were able to learn at least a few things from the attempt,” Lady added. “Namely that whatever we’re up against is powerful, and really old. So probably a high demon… Maybe a vampire, but definitely not a human,” she explained. “And there’s one word we were pretty clearly able to make out.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“Sparda,” Lady and Trish answered in chorus, with an almost bored tone.

“Sparda? The demon who sealed the Underworld… You think that’s what this is about, then? Something’s trying to break out?” Yoko guessed, desperately hoping that wasn’t the case. 

Lady shrugged. “It’s possible. That, or this is a very targeted attack. Either one seems equally likely at this point,” she admitted.

Yoko frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You remember our friends we mentioned? The ones who got sucked into the portal?” Trish prompted. 

“Yeah?”

“Sparda’s their dad.”

Yoko fell silent, her eyes widening so far she almost feared they’d fall right out of her head. “O-Oh… well… I mean I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised, given the situation with Alucard,” she admitted, though she couldn’t hold back a slight nervous chuckle. 

What the hell did they mean, Sparda was their dad?! The Sparda? A genuine mythological figure, the heroic demon who had separated Hell from Earth before even Dracula had been born? That was…

“That’s what makes this whole thing confusing, though,” Lady continued on, unfazed by Yoko’s shock as she crossed her arms in thought. “Like, why are both Dante and Alucard being targeted at once? I know they’ve each got their fair share of enemies, but it just seems kinda weird.”

Trish gave a hum of agreement. “Yeah, Dracula cults and Sparda’s haters don’t tend to have a lot of overlap. Maybe someone really is just trying to unseal the demon world.”

“They better not be! I’ve had enough of all that bullshit, it’s so-”

“Oh! That reminds me.” Yoko reached into her bag, pulling out the encyclopedia of high demons and flipping open to the page from earlier. “Does this guy ring any bells to you?”

Lady frowned as she peered at the book. “Argosax the Chaos? Why do you want to know about him?”

“Well, when I was looking for books to bring, this one fell onto the floor. It was opened to this page,” Yoko explained. “I guess it could just be a coincidence, but… I don’t know. I’ve just- got a feeling, that’s all.”

“Huh… I mean, Dante did kill Argosax once. That was the first time he went to the Underworld,” Lady recalled. “But I can’t say for certain if that has anything to do with what’s going on right now. Do you know if Alucard has any history with him?” 

Yoko shook her head. “The only major demon I can think of who might have beef with Alucard is Galamoth.”

“Wait. You said you have a book on different demonic scripts, right?” Trish interrupted.

“Yeah.”

“Let me see it.”

Yoko wordlessly obeyed, grabbing the book from her bag and handing it to Trish. 

For several minutes Trish glanced between the book, the portal, and Lady’s tablet, flipping through pages and comparing them with digitally scrawled notes on blurry photos. Finally, her eyes lit up. 

“You’re right!” she exclaimed, turning the tablet to face Yoko and gesturing towards a sigil she’d circled. “See that? That’s Argosax’s sigil. I knew I’d seen it somewhere. Looks like your poltergeist was right on the money. Oh, watch out behind you,” she added calmly.

Yoko whirled around, throwing out her hand and blasting the demon with a jet of holy flame, at the same moment that Lady fired a bullet just past Yoko’s head and into the demon’s open mouth. Yoko blinked as she turned back around.

“Well at least now we know who’s behind this,” Lady commented, returning her handgun to its holster. “Still, it doesn’t tell us how or why.”

“I mean I’d think the ‘why’ is pretty obvious, isn’t it? The usual ‘hates Sparda, butthurt about losing to Dante’ thing,” Trish pointed out. “Although I guess we can’t rule out a grudge against Vergil, either…”

“Yeah, yeah, everyone hates the twins, that much we already know. But again, why bring Alucard into it? What the hell’s Argosax got against him?”

“Personally, I don’t really care what the reason is. I’m more concerned with finding a way to get them all the hell out of there,” Yoko butted in, before the discussion could devolve any further. “God, Argosax the Chaos, though? This is getting more complicated than I bargained for… Maybe I should call Julius,” she muttered.

“Who’s Julius?” Lady asked.

“The last of the Belmont vampire hunters. He’s in Romania visiting family right now, but-”

“Wait, what do you mean the last of them?” Trish interrupted. “Did Richter… die?”

Yoko’s eyes widened. “You… Y-You know-”

“Nah, he’s just retired,” Lady answered with a shrug. “Doesn’t like to get involved with this sort of thing.”

“Oh, is that why he never comes to our ‘parties’? I always wondered about that.”

“Yeah, he’s got you know, Dracula trauma or something. I dunno, it’s not really any of my business. Although there was this one time…”

The rest of the conversation seemed to flow right past Yoko’s ears as she stared blankly at her demonology books. Suddenly she felt… Lost, as though the sheer absurdity of the day’s events were just hitting her.

First, Alucard goes missing. Then Soma sends an abrupt text about a vampire cult. Richter runs out in the middle of the day. An entire building is leveled, leaving nothing but a portal to Hell that’s leaking demons. Two strange foreign devil hunters with more weapons than anyone has any right to have show up and start casually talking about Alucard as if they’re old friends- And even Richter, who was supposed to be dead to the world! And Argosax the Chaos… 

Yoko shook her head, turned around, took out her phone, and dialed Julius’ number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Julius.”

“Yoko? You sound a little rough there. Everything ok?”

“Yeah, I’m ok, it’s just… Uh, did you get Soma’s text earlier?” Yoko prompted.

“About the Dracula cult? Yeah,” Julius confirmed. “I figured you and Alucard could handle it, though. I take it things didn’t go according to plan?”

“W-Well, uh… Don’t feel like you need to jump on a plane or anything, but the thing is…” 

Yoko paused, taking a deep breath.

“Ok, so basically- I mean it’s kind of a long story and I’m still kinda confused myself- But uh, Alucard got kidnapped, I guess by the Dracula cult? And then Richter went after him and Soma, and something happened, I don’t know, but it seems like the three of them got sucked through a portal to the Underworld.”

“The Underworld?!” Julius exclaimed. “Good lord… And how the hell’d anyone manage to kidnap Alucard?”

Yoko shook her head habitually. “I wish I could tell you. The whole building’s collapsed, and there’s a portal here that demons keep coming out of- And there’s a pair of devil hunters here who claim their friends got sucked into the portal, too. Apparently they’re also friends with Alucard and Richter.”

“I thought Richter didn’t have any friends?”

“That’s what I thought, too. But that’s not the important part. I’ve been working with those devil hunters to figure out what’s going on, and… It seems like the culprit is Argosax the Chaos,” Yoko confessed.

Julius gave an audible low gasp. “You gotta be shitting me. Argosax? You’re telling me Alucard and Soma somehow got themselves kidnapped by one of the Princes of Hell?”

“Unfortunately, it seems so,” Yoko sighed. 

“Jesus. I can’t leave y’all alone for five minutes,” Julius teased. At Yoko’s half-hearted laugh, he added, “But seriously, are you alright? I don’t know when the next flight out is, but-”

“No, no, you stay right where you are,” Yoko insisted. “I’m ok, really. A bit… frazzled, this is all kind of out of the blue, but I can handle it. You enjoy your visit.”

“Alright, if you’re sure. But stay in touch, alright? If you need me, I’ll be there right away.”

“But what about your cousins?”

“They’ll understand. I am still a Belmont, after all,” Julius pointed out. 

Yoko bit her lip. She couldn’t help but think of the sorrowful expression on Richter’s face whenever he discussed his family, and his own demise. 

“A Belmont, huh…” she murmured under her breath.

“Hmm?”

Yoko shook her head. “Nothing, nevermind. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what’s going on.”

“I appreciate it. Be careful out there, Yoko. Stay in touch, alright?” Julius repeated. 

“I will. Thanks, Julius. Talk to you later.”

“Sure.”

Yoko sighed as she hung up, replacing her phone in her pocket. What had she gotten into?