Authors' Preface & Notes:

Consider for a moment that perhaps the story of 'Order of Ecclesia' was a skewed account of what actually happened.
Oral histories are unreliable and history is written and embellished upon by the victors.
Further consider that Marcel the journalist, who wanted to make a name for himself, may have written the account of Shanoa's adventure in a way that was edgy and ahead of its time. We would then certainly have ourselves an interesting and fantastical tale for the historical period it took place in.

With that under consideration, this writer has set out to create a different telling of the Order of Ecclesia story.

First and foremost I wrote this story for myself. As in, I wrote fiction I wanted to read. The general intent was to rewrite it in a hetero-romantic context but the overall story should be enjoyable by all. If others end up liking this story then that is a pleasant bonus.

This story is still in progress and has been very slow to come to fruition, as of summer 2014 I've been slowly working on it for nearly three years, and countless months beforehand of considering how to go about writing this piece as well as additional alternate scenes. There may also be repeats of scenes from the 'Fragments of Ecclesia' collection, for lack of better being able to word some of the sentiments/memories contained within.

And even though it mucks around with the base plot, there likely isn't going to be a ridiculously-happy ending. Let's be serious: this is Castlevania after all.

Creative liberties have been taken with Albus's thought processes, base abilities, general research, and how he goes about splintering Dominus into glyphs. Shanoa has been knocked down a notch in her power level due to her retraining coming from someone who isn't as proficient at melee combat. The shortcomings of both characters are easily made up by their contrasting yet complementing strengths, which gives a higher need for them to work together.
Furthermore, a lot of things have been theorized on and embellished on artistically as per this fiction author, as we are only given so much information to work with regarding Ecclesia as a whole, and the characters within the game. That is the beauty of fan fiction - one can play with concepts as they see fit.

To reiterate: this fan fiction consists of an overall plot retelling, insertion of a romantic subplot, the combination of both player modes, a fair amount of artistic licensing, and game spoilers.

-Stressing this point: if you are against the ship in question: the main characters, then this piece of fiction might not be for you.-

Thanks/Dedications:

- I want to thank Engelus for being my biggest supporter in the years it took to finally get this piece down on 'paper'. Words cannot express my gratitude.
- My second round of thanks goes to Saki, Fey, Rei, Van, and all the others that I have had the pleasure to RP with on Tumblr. It made character research for Albus a million times easier. Bonus points to Saki for her interpretation of Shanoa rubbing off something fierce.