"My real name is Trevor … Trevor Belmont…"

Whatever Simon had been expecting the white-haired vampire to say, it certainly wasn't that.

At the sound of that name, Simon felt his body go numb, an unnatural chill enveloping him. In such a state, he didn't even notice the battle cross slip from his hand, falling to the floor with a loud clang.

He knew that name. He knew it all too well. For that had been the name of his father, the very same father who had failed to return from Dracula's Castle thirty years ago.

His brown eyes widened as it dawned on him. Thirty years. Alucard had mentioned that he had been dead for thirty years ...

"No, it cannot be…" Simon muttered, faltering back a step.

Alucard didn't say a word. He just stood there looking at him with regret in his glowing eyes.

Simon's mind was at war with itself, trying to figure out whether what he said was true or not, trying to think back on all that had happened since he found Alucard's tomb.

From the very beginning, he found the vampire to be somehow familiar, and the vampire had hinted at the same. He had felt a strange bond between them, which could be easily explained if what he said was true.

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. His memories came back to him when he saw the clothes up on display ... his father's clothes … From then on, Alucard had tried to persuade him to forget his revenge and leave the castle, protecting him from Dracula's servants whenever he could.

Just as a loving father would ...

"Your father was one of the greatest brotherhood warriors that ever lived, and yet he could not defeat Dracula. The greatest dishonor you could do to him is if you were to meet the same fate!"

"No!" Simon yelled.

He understood what Alucard meant now, having grasped the basics of what had happened between Dracula and his son. Alucard, or Trevor, he wasn't sure what to call him at this point, must have died, and Dracula attempted to turn him. He buried his son in a beautifully crafted sarcophagus, believing it to be too late. Alucard woke up thirty years later as a vampire, without his memories.

"The last thing we need is for history to repeat itself."

Not only had Alucard been trying to protect him from the monsters of the castle, but from becoming like him.

Though he knew this deep down, the stubborn streak in him would not allow him to accept it so easily.

"You can't be who you claim to be," he insisted. "There's no way."

Dracula, who had up until now, stood off to the sidelines, letting the two men sort things out for themselves, suddenly bound forward, reaching out and snatching the mirror shard from around Simon's neck.

"Give that back!"

Simon reached out to retake it, but Dracula would not let him.

"Where did you get this?" the elder vampire asked.

"It was a gift from my father," Simon explained through gritted teeth. "He gave it to me before he left."

Dracula then turned to his son, silently prompting him to elaborate.

"The brotherhood gave it to me when they took me from my mother's arms. I gave it to him not knowing its true power," came the response.

Anger flickered across the elder vampire's features at the reminder, but he did not act upon it.

"Well then, if you won't believe my son's words, perhaps it will help if you see for yourself."

The mirror shard began to glow as Dracul held it up for Simon to see.

Images flashed quickly through the mirror, but still Simon was able to see them well enough. He saw memories of not only his father's fate but of Dracula's as well. By the time the images had faded and the mirror had stopped glowing, Simon had slumped to the floor.

What he saw was more than enough to convince Simon. Everything else he had seen in the mirror had proven true, he saw no reason for this time to be any different.

Lifting his head, he reluctantly met Alucard's gaze. Now that he knew who he was, he could see the resemblance. Even though the transformation had changed his appearance, his build and features had remained the same.

"Papa? Is that really you?"

"It is me, Simon," Alucard nodded, as he closed the distance between them in two steps, crouching down before him. "I'm sorry I could not be there to protect you and your mother."

That was all Simon needed to hear. Reaching out, he grabbed his father and hugged him tightly, his face buried in his father's hair. He felt as though he was finally where he belonged, as if he had been lost for so many years, wandering the world alone and had only now come home.

"I missed you, Papa…" Simon mumbled, trying to fight the tears that threatened to come. "I thought I was all alone in this world."

Alucard returned the embrace, taking comfort in the long forgotten sense of warmth that came with it. "Never again, Simon. Not as long as we both walk this earth."

The two clung to each other for quite some time, neither quite willing to let the other go right away. Eventually they remembered that the elder vampire was still present, watching the exchange awkwardly from no more than four feet away, and helped each other to their feet.

"So, what happens next?" Simon asked. "I came here to kill Dracula, but I'm not sure if I'm prepared to kill my own, uh … Grandfather."

The word didn't sound right when it came to addressing the fearsome vampire lord. It was gonna take some time before he got used to that.

"I admit, I'm not sure of that myself. Sypha is gone, as is our home. It would seem that neither of us have much to return to."

They pondered on the issue in silence for a few moments, neither able to come up with any ideas.

"You may remain in the castle if you so wish it," Dracula offered. "The brotherhood will no doubt attempt to hunt you down because of your link to me. I would rather have you here where I can see to it that you are safe."

Simon didn't know what to make of this offer. Stay and live in the very castle he had just fought his way through? The same castle that had thrown all that it could at him in hopes of killing him? The mere thought of dodging more traps and battling more monsters made him feel even more tired than he already was.

"You needn't worry about my servants. Now that I know you don't wish to kill me, I can easily order them to leave you alone."

Simon blinked in surprise. It was almost as if Dracula had read his mind. And now that he thought of it, he recalled thinking the same thing of Alucard. Were vampires able to actually read minds, or was he just that easy to read?

"I would be willing to take the offer, if you were to promise to call off your revenge against mankind as well."

"Son, I can't just-" Dracula started to protest only to be cut off.

"I understand that you must protect yourself, father, and have no objection towards you doing so, but that does not justify the slaughter of entire villages," Alucard argued. "Mankind as a whole is not evil. There are still those who are good, those who do not deserve to suffer under your wrath."

Simon waited for him to answer, wondering what he would choose. He could see that the elder vampire was conflicted. This was a decision to test which was truly more important to him; family or vengeance.

The moments seemed to drag on forever until Dracula finally made his choice.

"Very well, I give you my word that I will restrain my wrath, only unleashing it on those who dare to threaten us."

"Thank you, father," Alucard gave the elder vampire a smile.

With that sorted, the two vampires turned to look at the human.

"Eh, I may as well accept," Simon said with a shrug. "But I'm gonna need a bed. You're not gonna catch me sleeping in a sarcophagus."

The two vampires chuckled at that.

"Of course, there are many bedrooms in the castle for you to choose from."

Simon still wasn't entirely sure if he was making the right choice, but he figured that he could give Dracula the benefit of the doubt. Alucard seemed to believe him, and that was good enough for him. After all, Alucard was basically the reason he was agreeing. Now that he had been reunited with his father, he wasn't about to leave him anytime soon.

"GAAAHH!"

Alucard awoke with a start, bolting upright in bed and looking around for the source of the noise. When he failed to see anything, he let his guard down and was about to go back to sleep when he heard a familiar voice.

"Go to hell, you vile bloodsucker!"

There was no doubt in his mind that it was Simon. He knew his son's voice better than almost anyone else. Besides, his son was the only one in the castle to use such crude language. He had no idea where Simon had picked that up from. Certainly not his mother.

Leaping from his bed, he quickly slipped his coat on and grabbed his combat cross before rushing from the room.

The father and son had selected bedrooms next to each other, not trusting the castle and its inhabitants to be too far apart.

And for good reason as it would seem.

When Alucard burst into the room, he found Simon standing up on his bed, butt-naked with his weapon raised and pointed at one of Dracula's elite vampire guards.

"What on earth is going on here?!" Alucard exclaimed.

"That thing tried to bite me in my sleep!" Simon accused.

But the vampire guard just shook his head with a sigh. "I was doing nothing of the sort," he defended. "I only came to wake him up. The Prince asked me to collect his son and grandson for a family breakfast."

Alucard lowered his weapon. "You may tell him that we will be along shortly."

"As you wish, Lord Alucard."

The vampire guard gave a quick bow to both the men before floating out of the room.

As soon as he was gone, Alucard turned back to Simon, noticing that his face had turned unnaturally red.

"Are you alright there, Simon?"

"Can you maybe… I don't know… avert your eyes until I find my trousers?" He requested, grabbing the blanket from his bed and using it to cover his … male bits.

"Why should I? It's nothing I haven't seen before," he pointed out. "Need I remind you that I used to change your diapers."

"Father!"

Alucard couldn't help but chuckle at that. He was tempted to remind him of a certain incident involving horse manure, but chose against it.

"Alright, I'll not embarrass you any further," he complied.

He kept his eyes trained on the door as he waited for Simon to get dressed, listening to the sounds of shuffling and clothes ruffling. It was only once his son's movement had ceased that he turned back.

"Are you ready?"

Simon nodded his head in reply as he started towards the door, avoiding eye contact with his father.

The two started down the hall in search of the dining room. Alucard was able to recall where it was from memory, leading them in the right direction. Although, he couldn't say that was necessarily a good thing. Images of the drained bodies of women scattered along the tables came to mind. He was filled with dread at the thought of encountering them again. Would his father expect him to drink from one of those bodies?

He wasn't sure if it would be heard now that he was a vampire, but still he prayed that it wouldn't be so.

When they entered the dining room, they found that the room had been tidied up, much to Alucard's relief. The tables had been wiped, cleared of drained bodies, and placed back into their original formation. There weren't even any bloodstains on the carpet to be found. All in all, they were both rather impressed.

"I'm pleased to see that you could join me."

Seated at the end of the head table was none other than Dracula, his head leaning on his hand as he motioned them over to him.

"Come, take a seat. I imagine you must be hungry."

Feeling optimistic from the state of the room, the father and son complied with the elder vampire's request without delay, sitting down on either side of him. No sooner were they seated, then Dracula reached out and rang a bell, signalling the servants to bring in the food.

For Simon there was a roasted boar, along with pottages, fruit, cheese, and even some tarts for dessert. The sight made his mouth water. All of a sudden the thought of living in the castle didn't seem so bad. He dove into the food as if it was the first he had ever seen, grabbing some of everything.

Dracula chuckled with amusement at his grandson's hearty appetite.

Alucard, on the other hand, was occupied elsewhere as the scent of fresh blood filled the air.

A skeleton butler came forward with a tray full of goblets, each filled to the rim with blood. "What shall it be, Milords?" the skeleton asked. "I have many flavours to choose from."

"I'll just have my usual," Dracula replied, reaching out to take a goblet of what seemed to be human blood.

Alucard sniffed the goblets to determine which was which. A few of them were clearly human, but there were also a couple that belonged to monsters.

"I'll take the warg blood," Alucard said at last.

The skeleton butler placed the requested goblet before him, bowed and then took his leave.

Alucard could only stare at the thick red substance contained within the goblet for the first while. It wasn't that he was opposed to drinking it, for he had sampled the wargs of the castle before, but rather it was the thought of drinking it in front of Simon that he opposed.

Glancing over at the man across from him, he noticed that his son wasn't exactly paying attention at the moment, far too engrossed in his own food.

After a moment, he finally gave in, raising the goblet to his lips and tipping it back. The blood trickled down his throat and through his body, bringing him a bit of warmth and nourishment. It didn't taste too bad either, not like the blood of those hunchbacks. He flinched at the mere memory. Never again would he drink from them.

Once they were all finished eating, the servants returned to clean up, loading up all the dirty dishes and taking them away.

"Whew! I'm plump full!" Simon declared, patting his newly-filled belly. "I haven't eaten that well since I was a child."

"Yes, I recall your mother was an excellent cook," Alucard agreed.

"Tell me about this wife of yours, son," Dracula requested. "I'd like to hear about the woman who would have been my daughter-in-law."

Alucard had to admit that he was taken back by this. He hadn't expected his father to take such an interest in his life. At the same time, he was saddened by the reminder that she was no longer with him. He couldn't help but wonder what she would have thought of him now. Would she have accepted him as Simon seemed to? That, he feared, he would never know.

"Sypha and I met as children. Her family was killed by rogues while travelling. She alone escaped. The Brotherhood found her out in the woods and brought her back to live at the monastery," he began. "We soon became the best of friends, bonding over the fact that we were both orphans, and eventually fell in love as we got older."

Dracula frowned at the thought of his son growing up as an orphan, doubtlessly remembering his own upbringing, but motioned for him to continue regardless.

"Sypha was the most amazing woman I've ever known. Her traumatic early years made her incredibly strong and brave, yet never was she bitter. She was incredibly kind, using her magic to heal others."

"Hold on a moment!" Simon interrupted. "Mother possessed magic?"

Alucard gave him an odd look. "Don't you remember the time she used magic to heal that cut on your knee?"

Simon's eyes widened, as if only then remembering.

"We were wed in early spring, shortly after I was knighted. I still remember it as if it was yesterday," Alucard continued. "Sypha fell pregnant not too long after, and Simon was born the following year. We had been trying for another child for a few years before I came to the castle, but…"

He couldn't bring himself to finish.

No one spoke for a period of time after that as a wave of sorrow washed over the room. If there was one thing that all three generations of men could understand it was the deep sting that came with the loss of a loved one.

"I'm so sorry, my son…" Dracula broke the silence. "If I had known…"

Reaching out, Alucard took one of his father's hands in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I know, father… It's in the past now. Let's try to focus on the future."

Dracula simply nodded his head in agreement.