"You are not our Lord, anymore!"

The dishonored vampire lunges forward with a snarl, the toothed mandible growths along its jaws quivering as it hisses, its gait smooth and disciplined. The armored creature is every inch the strong and capable soldier of Dracul's former armies. Former, he thinks with a grimace, being the keyword.

The Shadow-Whip is coiled and ready around his forearm, and its almost laughably easy to deflect the blow and send the possessed upstart reeling.

.

"Ļ̰̰̞̺̥ō̰̞̺͉̺̲ͬͨo̸͈̰̲ͥ͗̿ͬͫk͙͉͍̭̯͖ͦ͆̑ͦ̍́ ̧̮͙̪̤̼̝͛̌̀̌̓̈́̓a̠̰͔ͅṭ̰̤͇̩ͤ̽ͥͦ̚͘ ̢͑͂̽̚ẅ̞̝̩̦͖̳ͯ̿̇̓̔̚h͇̼ͥ̉̔ͬ͋͘a̛͖̝̟͈͐̆̽͊͗͒̎t͚̙͍͛ͣͯ ̛̬̘̗͖̥̠̠̇ͨ̉͋y̺̺̞̘̳͈̓̄ͮͩͨ́̀ͅo̞̥̘̳̪̺ͧͬ͊̅ŭ̱̺͍̖͍̌́'͕ͥ͗̒̆ͤ̔̽͞r̐ͯ̅ͯͨ͡e͓͚̼̭͇ ̵͙m͈͒ͪͭ̆͠a̵̲̳͍̻ͤ́k̶̮̪͂ͬ̆͊͗̌i̸̿͆ṇ̙̱̰̠̄̋̅̇̔͠g̓ͪ̑̐̇ͣ͊ ̡̪̞̻̳̰͖ͬ͒̓u̷̠̬̫̟͗͋̌s͛ ҉̬̮d̯̻̭͙̬͖̍͋͞ō̸̥͖̱͓̲̳̠͛ͥ̆̍̓ͪ!̛̺̪͈̝̤̰̽"

.

The Castle is howling in his ears even as the dishonored scum attacks, but it is not so difficult to ignore the things incessant childish whining in favor of pressing his attack.

"Father-!"

A second possessed soldier! It had managed to ghost into the room, and grab Trevor - that impossible and innocent child.

"You dare!" Dracul roars, drawing the Void Sword and flashing across the room, severing the hands that have dared take hold of his son. The boy scrabbles away from the screeching beast, hanging onto Dracul's flaring coat-tails as the sword is brought up to lop off the peon's ugly head. There is still one more.

.

"W̦͉̞̻̯ͥ͐̎̑̅̚h̭̮̭̺̄͒y̜ͥ͋ ̷͕͍͙â̐r͕̳̟̟̹͛̓̿̓ͦ̕eͩ̄̊̃̀ ̠̀ͭ̈ͦ͊̈́ͨy̶͓͍̼͒ͪͧ̃o̳̲u͌ͣ ̨̟̣͚͕̺̙ͨ̾͊ͩͤ̉ͅd̴̰̬̳͙̗͓̲ͦͬͤ͛o̧̞̺͓̩͚̍i͇̟͉͈̠̦ͯñ͙͎͖̞g͔͖̲̲͖̩̓̍ͦ͘ ̢̻̞͍̬͌̐͆t̹̪͕̘̓ͮḩḯ̩̹̾ͯ͒ͯ͜s̟͓̝̟̰ ̬̺͚̒ͮ̽̌ť̶͈̻̃ͪo̼̟̞̦͙͌̈͐͌͑̃̍͢ ̧̗̝͉̮̻̪̘͌u̲͇̼̠̪̪s̪̝̺̘͇̰̣ͮ͂̈?̣ͩ̔̐̊̄͗̚"

.

He doesn't dignify the plea with an answer, instead sending a projection of Void Magic across the room in a frozen missile. It impacts with the dishonored vampire creature, freezing it solid. It topples over, crashing against a marble pillar and shattering against the stone floor into countless meaty pieces. Threat taken care of, he turns towards his son to check if Trevor is alright.

Trevor is looking away from him, sullen and angry. There's a cold lump in his stomach, made up of regret and helplessness. How can a monster such as he make amends with a boy to whom he has been responsible for so many wrongs?

"Son… I had no choice-"

"Yes!" Trevor snaps back. In the acid of his words is the echo of a different Trevor, exclaiming that he would kill his mother's murderer. "You did…" But where his adult self had looked at Dracul with such hatred and scorn, this child seems sad and hollow. "…What? No! Father-! Look out!"

The boy's exclamation is too slow - the Castle had taken its opportunity while its Prince had been distracted. The same corrupted blood which had dragged the soldiers into the floor before transforming him, has stealthily sunk Dracul up to his knees.

"No-! Son, run!" The vampire urges - wanting his child to be safe, even at the expense of himself.

Rope-like tendrils of flesh and blood lash out at his arms - he can bat them away easily enough, but he cannot free his legs from the growing pool on the floor. Dracul is relieved, however, that it looks like Trevor has fled - he cannot see the boy still in the room even as he thrashes and tears and bites at the Castle's grip.

.

"D͕͇̯ͮ͌̆ͮ̿ͅo͇̗̯͈̽͑ͤ̆n̨̥̪͛̀̀͂ͬ̚'͎͉̗͖̮͙̹̄̐t̛̠ͅ ͈̭̮͉̣ͣ̈̈́͠l̰̰̪̣͇̆̐̽́ͪͬͅe̦̔̿̚a̲͚͍̜̺͛ͦ̉̑̒̂̚v̜̩̐ͦe̪̼̒̀ ̭͍̠̹͚̈́u̬̝̩͕̇ͤ̐̌͛̎s̰̻͑ͣ̕!́̓͒̏̋͏̼̙̺͈̹ͅ"

.

"Shut up! Ack-!" Dracul is cut off as a particularly persistent tendril snags him by the throat, and bears him down into the pool with a splash. His vision goes red - with blood or unconsciousness he doesn't know.

He is incomplete.

Everything is muted, covered in a haze of red. There are memories at the edge of his thoughts, but he can't grasp them entirely, just impressions and feelings. So much anger. So much suffering. Are they his memories?

My Prince, why do you cry?

Prince? Who is that? Is that whose memories these are? There is so much sadness. Why does it hurt so?

Don't leave us, our Prince. We will stay with you. Stay with us.

There's more to it than that. He doesn't know why - he just knows that there's something else that needs to be done. Something important.

You belong here. This is your Destiny.

Destiny has never done him any favors. He's not sure why he thinks so - the thought brings with it such a sharp and raw feeling of regret and sorrow, and the memory of a mirror? …But there's still something he has to do. He's sure of it. It will enable him to ensure an end to the terrible pain in those memories.

…Is the pain our fault?

No. He doesn't think so. But… There's something more to it than that as well.
An enemy. More than one. Dangerous.

Zobek. And Satan.

"I remember. And now, you know," Dracul addresses the Castle. "What will you do about it?"

Betrayer! The Castle roils, blood bubbling and boiling away from Dracul's immersed form.

.

Usurper and Betrayers! T̂͏͓̘̞̤̯h̪̔̾ͦͮͯͩ̋ḙͩ̅̇̆͐r̼͕̦̦̫̙̿̋̌ͣ̀̉͝e̹̹͎ͮ̑̄͢ ̮͚ḭ̼̭̍͆ͮͫ͒s̮͊ ̩͎͈̳̫ͫ̑̒̒͋o̬̙ͨ͒̈͌ͪ̕n͉̲͎̹̜͍̩̊ͬͣ̏̀͆̈́͡l̂͋͑͑̏̐y̸͎͔̯̭̞͚ͦͮ ̖ͦ̀̍̿̃̀͢o̴̰̟͕̅n̛̝͕̼̣ͪͪ͗ͪͤͪͅe̫͚̼̭̰͐̈́ͯ̾ͫ̋͆͠ͅ ̶̠͙͍̠̻͉̹̄̇̿ͮ̀ͧ͌P̫̱͚̻̯̹͚̐̔ͪ̃́ͫͯr͓͉̗̦̘̗͟ȉ̻̲͖̜̥̰ͤͥ̎ͬ̚͡n͓̙̫c̣̘̭͚̦̹͎̽̄̒̀̿̑͊̕e̛͎͉̙̎͗̍ ̧̯̬̦̥̼̝̃͑ô̌ͨͦ̑f̷͇́ͩ͗͆͊͆͋ ͚̬̖͎͍̖D̄͛̇̃̚ḁ͔͈̩̀ͮ̓r̡̭͚ͭk͕̬͉̪̖̞̪̅̈n̵͇̺̼͚̽́̈̚e̸̙̺̙̾̈́̅͌̾ͅs̫͇̙̻ͅs̫͙͇̮̲͇ͮͮ͐ͨͥ!̦̻̦͇̊̏̋͜

.

Dracul finds himself standing in front of a statue of a naga, holding onto the flames of his Chaos power - the Castle had brought him here. He can hear it in the back of his head, a song that won't stop playing. He takes the power back into himself almost as an afterthought.

"…I am the only one who lives forever," he says bitterly. The Castle won't let him die - its made that abundantly clear - even as the entity swallowed him up and absorbed his memories, the link between them had always been two-way.

There had been so much suffering, and not all of it had been his own. His years asleep had been terribly difficult for the Castle.

Kill the Betrayer, the Castle hisses from where its taken roost within him. Zobek shall die by their combined hand. As will the Usurper. The angel, Lucifer. He dares to challenge us?

Dracul smiles, flexing his claws. / The Castle smiles, flexing its claws.

They were great, once. / And they shall be so, once again

((Basically, Castle ate Drac, spat him back out, and Castle!Drac almost fusion mind-meld thing is going on.))