[Transylvania] Castlevania

[Apollymi]

The maid Alina found herself watching as her master dropped yet another tea cup at the mention of a woman. She could only assume that this was indeed the young woman who'd plagued him in his most recent feeding. She stared at her master and at the fallen tea cup and once again moved about via teleportation, fixing the teacup and cleaning up the mess in the matter of just a few seconds. "Master, that is the second time you've broken that teacup, would you like me to fetch some new china for you? Obviously that set is no longer to your liking," the demon maid commented absently. Her commentary though a bit terse was right about what would come to be expected of her. And beyond this, she could tell by his reaction that this was indeed the young woman who had driven his senses to their absolute peak. Alina would have wondered if he was alright with this, but it seemed he wished to see the girl and as such a curtsy would ensue. "As you wish, my lord."

While this happened, Kasmina found herself studying the decor of this particular entrance. She couldn't help but think it was impossibly well managed for such an estate and wondered how many times it existed. 'I must do this and leave, this man is strange but kind, so I think I'd prefer if nothing ill befell him,' she thought to herself, that same purpose still burning within those emerald green eyes. Even as this maid appeared before her now. "The Master will see you now, Mistress. If you would follow me," said the maid who'd come out of the same door, but didn't lead Kasmina into it. "Of course, many thanks to you..." said the raven haired lass which only caused the maid to offer a small smile and nod. Such a polite young thing, to walk into this castle knowing what her master was and still think only of pleasantries. As they walked she continued to assess this lass and decided on a couple of reasons why her master might have had a problem dealing with this woman as compared to others. But it was not presently her place to speak on it. Instead she took Kasmina down this formal hall way to the end of it, in which there was a large throne where the Count Phantomhive would be sitting without a doubt. "Count Phantomhive, the lady Kasmina Dacian..." said the maid before offering a bow and clearing the area, leaving this pair in the giant throne room alone. "Count? Congratulations are in order then. Pleasure to see you again, sir." offered the young woman who gave a curtsy upon this meeting but didn't forget the purpose for which she'd come.

[Bloodedge]

After permitting the entry of Kasmina, Sorin awaited her retrieval. In the meantime, Alina went about repairing the mess he'd made with the teacup. Her words were about the norm, but Sorin had nothing to say regarding them. His mind was presently occupied with thoughts concerning the arrival of this mortal woman. 'Why? Why on God's Earth would she be here now?' he wondered.

Soon enough, Sorin was watching the woman enter the throne room. Her introduction went as normal, provided by Alina. What came next, though, was a greeting from Kasmina that did not answer any of the questions in his mind. Still... Sorin remained courteous as ever. "None necessary. Good evening, Lady Dacian. What, pray tell, brings you to my castle at this late hour?"

[Apollymi]

This man was still as curteous as she'd remembered. Though she was aware of his life as a being who fed on people, she thought him a nice enough man to deserve warning of potential impending doom on his doorstep. She didn't seem at all concerned enough to warn the townsfolk of the vampire living among them though for whatever reason. Still, given her father's own greed she knew herself likely to be married off to the Vampire Hunter, and would hate to hear about Sorin's death over dinner one night in the future. "I simply wished to convey a warning to you sir, that there is a man here who claims to hunt vampires. Given what he offered my father, he will likely be my husband in the future. Regardless, he was ripe with information about them, and seeks the head of one which he considers to be powerful. It's probably you, and since you are a kind and righteous man, I thought you deserved the warning so that you might be more cautious in your night activities," she said the phrasing of her speech could simply not be mistaken. Beyond this nothing about the young woman seemed to indicate she was at all afraid of saying such things while standing right before this man in the privacy of his own castle where none would know if something happened to her. In all fairness no one knew she had even come here. So most would consider this even more dangerous, but Kasmina didn't consider it to be so.

She seemed to fully understand and reconcile the idea of this man being a vampire with the fact that he was also a kind and god-fearing man. Given his kindness to her she didn't want him to die to the man she'd likely end up married to. And by her own approximation if he'd simply wanted her dead, she would have already been so, she had no reason to assume he was a bad person, and all the evidence to support her ideas about his kind and pious nature. "I should clarify I mean only to return the kindness you showed me at our previous meeting, meaning not to pry or anything of the sort. I'd simply be saddened knowing that your death occurred if I didn't at least tell you of it as a possibility," and with that said the young woman again gave a curtsy and was quite content to leave this place and this man alone. As far as she knew her fate was probably sealed as far as her marriage was concerned, but she could be at least relatively sated by the knowledge that this man was at least being careful with his night stalking activities.

[Bloodedge]

Kasmina gave answer to his curiosity. She'd come on this day with noble intentions, aiming only to give him fair warning of a vampire hunter's presence in Sibiu. From an outsider's perspective, this was a reasonable thing to do... but only from the viewpoint of an outsider. She also thought to note that this hunter happened to be the likely victor among her many suitors. Sorin's left brow twitched to the point of elevation. "Your likely betrothed is a hunter, so you thought to warn me as payment for my... kindness..." he observed. "I wondered if you had seen what happened in that alley the other night. I am remiss to say your journey here was nothing but a waste, on your behalf."

As if to mark his words, Sorin rose from his throne for the first time this day. This ascension was gradual, as if he were mentally preparing himself for something as he rose. He was. In the vampire's mind, close proximity to this woman was a danger to his faith. He had to resolve himself while he still had distance.

When he finally stood erect, the lord of Castlevania began taking slow steps down the few stairs before the throne; he never reached the end, though. Before his foot reached the final step, Sorin's body faded into nonexistence. In the time it would take mere mortals to blink and process this disappearance, he appeared again in the same cloud of darkness, albeit in a new location. This was one of many powers at the vampire's disposal: Mistwalking. He appeared to Kasmina's right side, as if walking from behind her. Only then did he make footfall once more. "You know nothing of vampires, do you? Our meeting was the first encounter with the supernatural for you. You reeked of a mortal in disbelief that day. You questioned what your own eyes told you was an absolute truth. I spared your mind for this reason."

[Apollymi]

According to Sorin, Kasmina's trip here was a waste. She simply didn't agree and a smile crossed her face as she heard these words of his, if she meant to argue about this, she would do so in her own time, though it wasn't exactly her intention to tarry here for very long. But before she could even give light to the thoughts she was holding on to, the man stood, seeming to resolve himself before moving towards her, if she expected this movement to be normal, she was most surely surprised by his rather sudden reappearance in the space of a single step... no a single blink from the stairs of his throne to her right side. Her eyes widened in this moment full of wonder. 'I suppose that explains how he got so far in front of me before... I am remiss to say against powers like his my poor self has no hope,' she said thinking herself to be rather foolish for the gamble she'd taken previously. Even so, it didn't seem to her there was anything to fear here, and as the man went on to explain why he'd bothered sparing her in the first place she could only nod. "I don't know much of anything about anything super natural. The Vampire Hunter was content to tell me basic things that I might keep myself safe, but none of that seems to be particularly useful information when thinking of you... Besides, having such knowledge doesn't seem to fit very much with carrying about a normal life of any sort. And I'd have no reason to look into such things, other than to confirm my own suspicions about you," she commented seeming to have settled quite a bit, from her earlier state of wonderment.

According to this man, her mind was left in tact because she seemed to be disbelieving. If she thought this was the only reason he'd left her alone she might well be in for a loss of an afternoon or day on her own part. But, she thought better of him than that, and had evidence to the contrary to make him that much more amiable in her own mind."And you are quite right, I was in immediate disbelief, but I doubt it was really as you think it was. I could understand the idea of you being a vampire, after all I had seen that with my eyes. I simply had trouble believing you could simultaneously be something people whispered about being evil while being unnecessarily kind to me," she said her brows furrowing slightly. "Though I've come to realize you are simply a kind individual, regardless of what you are..." she said this sentence while twisting the ring on her right index finger with her thumb as she tended to do to avoid fidgeting in any noticeable manner.

All the while this interaction took place, behind the tall throne that same maid looked on with glowing crimson eyes. It seemed she was intrigued by her Master's reaction to this young woman, and wanted to see what he'd do with her in these moments. She didn't expect anything bad to come of this interaction, she simply wanted to know what he meant to do with her. Beyond what he mentioned of being flustered almost completely by being in her presence he showed no real sign of it at the moment. If she hadn't simply been aware that he'd not eaten since encountering this woman, she might even say that until she'd appeared she'd left his mind all together. 'She's at least a bit interesting... I do wonder why the Master wouldn't simply keep her around...' thought the maid, as she found it abhorrent as a demon that this man had no mate and no real companionship for the duration of his life so far.

[Bloodedge]

"Not knowing is what killed the woman you saw me feeding on," Sorin said as steps continued taking him past Kasmina. "She knew of vampires, of course, but her life was over long before she encountered me. Her late husband was turned into a lesser creature of the night weeks ago. With nothing left in this world, she collapsed mentally, and could not care for herself physically. I spared her from the sickness she could not have anyone else see to." His words were true. Those gleaming eyes of his could see the thread of life within mortal beings. When he saw that woman, he saw her crippled soul, and as he drank her blood, her wretched memories flooded his mind. This was what gave Sorin the thrill every full moon. Each time, his singular hunt let him feel as vampires were meant to, while retaining his sense of self from sparing the meek of their final, torturous days.

As Kasmina spoke to share her beliefs about him, he brought his steps to a halt. She was right to think these things. He was a creature of darkness, true, but he was just as easily called a harbinger of God's will. Such was the case with his father, but in a different and less-believable right. "That, milady, is why braving the journey to my castle was for naught," he said. The very next moment, Sorin was in front of Kasmina, reaching to slip the ring off her finger in no more than the time between two of the twists she'd been performing. He would hold this ring between their faces, brows furrowed upon his, as he spoke through the well-restrained desire to bite this woman where she stood. "A lesser vampire could not touch this. The silver alone would burn the skin, but this ring is much more powerful than that. Vampire Hunters fight with Holy Artifacts only because they are symbols of faith. This ring, though... In this ring is more faith than I've ever seen in a hunter. With this upon your hand, you could touch a vampire and set them aflame without even knowing what you'd done."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that with all hands being shown at present, Kasmina would be given the tale of the woman she'd witnessed this man feeding upon three days prior. She supposed if he was truly preying upon those not long for the world in the first place, then he'd truly done that woman a kindness by ending her life. She knew that people often took the deaths of their families rather hard, her father had almost been incapable of carrying on after the death of her mother... with this in mind she could only be happy that the woman wasn't left to feel such sadness. 'Ah, so... even when meting out death he did it as a kindness. Truly a man like this is far beyond a vampire hunter, even if he was found, I doubt anything negative would come of it.' with the extra knowledge she was given she felt more an more at ease. Which was strange because she hadn't known she'd been worried about him in the first place.

His words about the waste of her time in coming to this place made her smile just for a second. "I'd hardly call it that. I did get to enjoy a nice horse ride on the way up here, and a brilliant view of the countryside," such a thing was a freedom she hadn't properly enjoyed since her mother was alive and as such even if this man didn't need the information she'd given him, it was still a worthwhile endeavor for her to come here. Beyond this he went on to explain that her ring acted as a symbol of her faith, and even stated that it had more power than what he'd seen on a vampire hunter at any point. Her eyes widened as he held this ring up between them because it was at this moment that her secondary spin of it would have been occurring but instead her thumb merely met the flesh of her finger. "Items work based on faith, I hadn't considered that. Given the things you have said I suppose that is confirmation that you still have your own," she said seeming to think it strange, but this man was anything but ordinary in the first place. "This information, while useful does leave me to wonder why you are bothering to share it with me at all," she said as she held open her hand for her ring, after all it held great sentimental value to her, and was likely the only object she had any real amount of attachment to.

The maid behind the throne had her eyes widen at the movements performed by Sorin in these moments. 'Is he showing off... or trying to frighten her?' Alina thought. Regardless of the man's aim in this moment, the young woman in his company didn't show a single sign of fear, she didn't reek of any strong human emotion and he was quite right about the item she wore on her right hand. She'd likely never known any sort of fear for her life before hazarding upon him, because her faith had managed to keep all manner of evil away from her. But... Sorin wasn't evil, and thus she got a glimpse into that world in that moment. A strange case of happenstance had brought this pair into these moments and it made Alina wonder how this would end.

[Bloodedge]

"You're certain to die on the way back," he said following Kasmina's comment about the horse ride to Castlevania. The setting sun marked his words, as he discarded the minor disguise he wore in daylight. His already shimmering eyes gained an ethereal glow the same shade of violet as his natural irises, and the canine teeth within his slightly parted mouth grew to their full length as fangs. "The moon brings forth more than just vampires, Lady Dacian. The other creatures of the night won't care much for your protected silver."

As Kasmina held out her hand to request the return of her ring, Sorin continued to stare. He was right in making an assumption about interactions with this woman earlier. Now that night had come, his urges around this woman were intensifying by a magnitude only comparable to their first interaction. To return the ring, he first took Kasmina's right hand into his left. His touch, once again, was as gentle as one would apply to a newborn child. His right hand slowly applied the ring to her forefinger while gazing into her eyes. "The Scotsman is the hunter? He won't make it. Your father will see you married to him, and he will die to the vampires in this area. It's a shame. You'll be left alone, and with child by a man you can barely understand the speech of. What a pitiful life you're fated to lead. It almost makes me want to give into the temptation I've had all this time... to bring your existence to an end here and now."

[Apollymi]

As the sun set, it seemed that the master of Castlevania didn't think it wise for the young woman presently in his company to return. In fact he marked it as a certain death sentence because of the other things which come out at night. "Well, at least the view was nice..." seemed to be all the young woman had to say about her impending demise. Other creatures of the night apparently weren't limited to vampires. Even so, that didn't seem to make much of a difference in the girl's life at the moment. Of course, she also thought that a problem of the future was hardly worth thinking about, as taking care of things immediately in front of you was always more pressing.

And as for things in front of her, there was this man, revealing himself properly as a vampire in all of his 'glory' so to speak. Kasmina, hadn't moved her eyes from his person, but she couldn't. Ethereal glow to his eyes and elongated fangs didn't seem to frighten her in the least. And though she'd held her hand out to ask for the return of her ring, it seemed he was content to take her hand into his own and place it upon her finger while looking her directly in the eye. Her breath was caught in her throat as this occurred and the act seemed so much more intimate than one would have assumed such a thing could be. A gentle flush crept up her neck, leaving her lightly pink for no reason at all really. And though the Scotsman had warned her against such an endeavor, she couldn't really look away, she was after all quite enamored but it had nothing to do with vampire powers. No, this was more about the kindness and care in which the man before her treated her, which was strange given the words coming from his mouth. There was so much tension between them she felt like it could snap at any moment, but she wasn't sure why such a thing existed. Still those emerald green eyes found themselves unblinking for several moments before she found the words to address the speech which the man made obviously from information within her own mind. 'Is it your plan to illustrate every power you possess as a vampire for me, Lord Phantomhive?' her mind begged this question as an immediate first thought to being probed for information, still their conversation was being carried on aloud and she felt no need to stop their discourse.

"I have entertained that series of events, as a focus in my mind all day. I had a very long horse ride to think about it, and see it as the most likely conclusion. It is a shame that I can barely understand what this man says, and that he will likely die leaving me alone with a child of his. Still, it's hardly worth more care right now than anything else," she said in a statement remarkably similar to how she'd chosen to deal with the idea that her father wouldn't allow her simple life's freedoms. She studied his eyes and face in this moment and found her lips giving the gentlest of up turns, it was almost a smirk, but it didn't quite reach the fullness required. "Also, I feel like I should express that though you may have thought of ending my life, or even still be tempted to do so now, I don't think you will. I already gambled with the idea of you killing me before, and you didn't when there was plenty of room for you to do so... but the man who won't kill someone and instead walks them home and protects them from the abuses they normally suffer, doesn't plan on killing that someone at all. You are far too kind and I can see it... even in those glowing eyes of yours." she finished this sentence while remaining within arms distance and staring intently at this man. One might think she'd simply gone mad, challenging a person obviously much stronger than her and the ability to kill her, but... she didn't think this a risk in the slightest. After what she'd witnessed of him, she could nigh guarantee her own safety in his presence.

The maid had gone completely silent, she was leaned into the back of the throne eyes locked on the pair before her. There was enough tension in this room that it couldn't be sliced through with a great sword, and she watched as this young human woman, seemed apt to keep tempting the Lord of this Castle. 'What will you do Master? Will you actually kill her...oooh will I get to eat her when you're finished. I haven't tasted innocent flesh in quite a while...' the maid licked her lips at the thought. Though it was only a passing thought, she knew her Master was least likely to fall into killing this lass just because she was here. He was sharing far too much information with her, for him to simply end her. But still... what could he be doing? This was what Alina wanted to know.

[Bloodedge]

Sorin dived into this young woman's mind, and remained within the confines of her subconscious until he received the memories he sought. At this time, he also read the thought Kasmina was having toward his invasion of her mind. "There's no reason to hide anything. These are my normal mannerisms," was his verbal reply to her thought. It was in no way his intention to demonstrate his mind-reading and Mistwalking abilities to this woman; this was simply how he operated when not concealing his true identity.

With the ring upon Kasmina's finger, and the invasiveness over, Sorin returned to his own mind posthaste, but continued meeting this woman's gaze. She had allegedly resolved herself to the fate of being wed to this Scotsman. More to the point, though, her belief was that he did not intend to kill her. She was right. He never wished to kill the pure, outside of times in which their lives had been truly reduced to nothing. His removed right hand soon found itself pressed gently against the left cheek of the emerald-eyed woman, and a fanged grin crept onto his face. "Of course, my lady. There is no way I would intentionally claim the life of one such as yourself. It would be an injustice done to the rest of the world if you were to perish. However... your blood seems to beckon me. The closer I am to you, the more difficult it is to resist these... urges. You drive me to sin, my lady."

[Apollymi]

Kasmina was soon made aware of the fact that this man simply tended to use his abilities while he wasn't hiding. This of course, made it no less odd that he was choosing to behave this way by now. He also made this statement aloud which let her know he had indeed had access to the thought which had presently been in her mind. Her eyes widened only lightly, but even so she didn't seem to mind this. Though it did beg the question of why he felt the need to operate around her in such a way, surely this shouldn't be something he just showed anyone?

Soon enough though the man allowed his hand to removed itself from her own. This was strange as his hand was soon replaced along her cheek. He went on to admit that while he didn't normally take the lives of the innocent. But apparently he had some issue with tolerating her presence. According to him she drove him to sin, or more or less he was truly called to her by her blood. She didn't understand this as such and confusion showed across her face as her brows knit together. Still, to be told such a thing by a smiling fanged man who chose to treat her so gently was quite beyond what she expected. "To say such a thing while looking at me in such a way, is quite confusing, sir," she said seeming to have no trouble meeting his gaze. Of course, this didn't stop the natural reaction of the slight reddening to the lass' face. 'If I am such an hindrance to him, what does he plan to do with me?' she couldn't help but wonder.

[Bloodedge]

The longer he stared, the longer his gaze was reciprocated. The reddening of Kasmina's face came during this little staring contest of theirs, specifically in the moments following Sorin's hand touching said face. There it was again. The smell of her blood struck his nostrils like a vengeful spirit meeting him with firm embrace. He couldn't prevent his nails from elongating in a way that resembled claws extending, but it was a simple matter to prevent anything more than the gentlest of grazes from these additions along the side of Kasmina's face. The glow in his eyes had now begun to fill with something akin to a red mist, and he could feel himself almost beginning to salivate.

Kasmina expressed confusion regarding his words spoken while his gaze found her in such a way. This was understandable. After all, Sorin himself had been confused all this time. "And what way, pray tell, is that... hmm? What do you see in these eyes of mine that twists my words so? I, too, would like the answers."

[Apollymi]

As Kasmina stared at this man she felt nails growing akin to claws where his hand met her face. There was no damage from his only a gentle grazing, though the sensation itself was unnecessarily powerful to her. His touch like silk sliding across her skin, which only made her further wonder what sort of fresh hell this man thought himself to be experiencing. As their staring intensified and she met his gaze with her own unblinking she saw the blood mist beginning to show more than the ethereal glow that she'd become accustom to in the moments prior. It seemed that the Lord of this Castle was quite confused by his own actions, and such knowledge was surprising to the raven haired lass who thought it was obvious. Perhaps that was why she found it confusing, that blush still ripe on her face she explained as candidly as she was able. Her lips parted and a single breath escaped her before she began speaking on what she saw in his eyes. "Sir, your eyes scream that you wish to possess me, in every sense of that word," she said rather simply. "To stare at me with that sort of intensity, while speaking to me about the hindrance my presence causes you, is utterly confusing," she finished. And true enough Kasmina was quite used to the wandering and lingering gazes of men, but his was so focused she felt like it could find her even if she disappeared right this moment. Was she to interpret this as desire or as him thinking of her as food. She was not sure...

[Bloodedge]

Sorin eventually found his fingers curling, as if his hand had taken a mind of its own and wished to drag its claws along the woman's face. He resisted this as well, leaving his nails to only poke at five points around the side of Kasmina's face. This occurred during her explanation of what she found in his gaze. What she claimed to take from it was not desire from his fangs, but from... well, everything else. It was an interesting thing to note, and more interesting yet to speak of. Still, the answer to Sorin's query had been received, and there was naught he could do besides accept it with a chortle. "Is that so? If that is the case, perhaps the answer to my problem would be naming myself one of your suitors. After all... even what the Scotsman offers pales in comparison to what I can grant."

[Apollymi]

Kasmina found her answer to this man to be accepted in relatively good humor. But as his fingers curled against her face she felt the tiniest of prickly sensations against her skin. In this moment she found herself holding a breath. That being said she hadn't found it in herself to move away from him, it was almost as if she didn't trust her own motor functions not to simply turn against her if she tried. But as far as she could tell, there was nothing supernatural occurring here. She wasn't allowed a moment's peace to resist such advances as she found her eyes widening at the statement that he should make himself one of her suitors as it seemed the easiest way to solve his problems. There was now shock in this young woman's face, as she hadn't even thought he'd say such a thing, much less to her right now. His claim that he could offer more than her other suitor was seemingly outlandish as that man was giving away enough land to fill the city, albeit in Scotland. Why any would give such for her she could not know but it seemed to make her pleased somewhere in the recesses of her own mind.

"If that is what you wish, I can scarcely form an argument against it..." she finally managed when she got over the shock of the statement presented to her by this man. Still she was left to wonder why he'd do this at all, if he was struggling between the idea of consuming her or having her adding himself to her list of suitors seemed to only be to his own detriment. Even knowing this in her mind, she could only be somewhat enthused by the idea, perhaps because she already knew of this man's kindness and found him far more interesting than any of her other suitors had been.