Topic: The Only Woman He Ever Loved

[Mathias Hyperion]

Just a short fanfic I wrote about Dracula and Lisa's first meeting. I imagine this has been done before. Please comment to let me know what you think.

MATURE WARNING: There's about 2 paragraphs (originally, although copying it into these messages seems to have messed everything up so now it's more like 4 or 5 paragraphs) of mild sensuality, but it's not my intention that IT happens between Dracula and Lisa (so far in this fanfic).



As he stared into her eyes he was faced with one insurmountable and inescapable truth: she was Elisabeta.

She was Elisabeta in every aspect. Every detail. Everything about her. From her golden hair to her brilliant blue eyes to her elegantly crafted visage. When he looked at her, he saw looking back at him the woman

whom he had loved so many years ago. The woman whom he had lost.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked, deliberately enigmatically to hide his inner feelings.

"Yes," she replied with only the faintest indication of fear. He was amazed. He was not trying to mesmerise her; her confidence was entirely her own. "This is the forest once called Eternal Night."

"And do you know why it was so called?"

"Because, it was said, the sun never rose in this forest."

"But the sun rose this morning. There was sunlight today. And then the sun set."

"It is said that a hero freed this forest from its curse."

He winced. "A hero", he thought. If Leon was a hero, then what did that make him?

"And tell me," he said. "What became of the lord of that castle?" He motioned towards the ancient, half-submerged fortress. No light came from its windows; it looked like a sunken ship. She was silent.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked.

She looked at him. She took a breath and said, "Yes."

"And who am I?"

She hesitated before speaking. "You are Dracula."

"Yes," he said. "I am Dracula."

She looked down, unable to meet his eyes any longer. Oh yes, she knew who he was. There were stories about his evil - a man who had renounced God and cursed himself. There were those who said he was the

Devil himself. And now she stood in his presence.

"And who are you?"

His question took her so much by surprise that she looked back up at him. After considering him, her eyes narrowing, she spoke. "My name is Lisa. Lisa Farenheights."

"And what brings you here, Lisa Farenheights?"

She knelt down to tend to the man lying on his back on the ground. He was shivering violently, deathly pale. "I had to help this man."

"Do you even know him?"

She looked back up at Dracula. "No. I saw him leave Cordova. He looked unwell, so I followed him. He came this far and could go no further."

"So you risked coming into this forest at this hour to help a man you do not even know?"

"Would you rather he died?" she shot back at him. Her compassion overwhelmed him; she was Elisabeta through and through.

Dracula sighed. "Very well. Go back to your patient. See what good it does either of you." He turned and stormed off. Lisa looked after him bitterly, before returning to the man lying on the ground.

[Mathias Hyperion]

It was getting late now, and the man's condition was not improving. Lisa sighed and sat back to take a break. She looked up at the night sky. The moon was full and shining brightly. The forest was bathed in its light. It

must be nearly midnight, she thought. Maybe even past. There was a feeling of panic readying inside her; she felt like there was nothing she could do for the man.

"Why can't they just accept that healing is not witchcraft?" she said to herself. Perhaps if the practice of such medicine was not punishable by death, the man may have a chance.

A gentle breeze drifted through the forest. Lisa closed her eyes and tilted her head back, breathing deeply, taking it in. It was at that point that she heard the man behind her start to convulse even more violently; she

whirled round to look at him and he was keeled over, his clothes splitting at the seams and everywhere else. He seemed to be getting bigger. Brownish-black hair was growing all over his body at an impossible rate.

The man's moans turned to feral screams and then to bloodthirsty roars, as he turned to look at her, his transformation complete. The moonlight glinted in the wolf's eyes, and Lisa at once understood.

The wolf lunged at her, but at that very moment, Lisa heard what sounded like the wings of bats. That was exactly what the wolf saw - a swarm of bats flew past him, and in the midst of that flurry, Lisa vanished. Less

than ten paces away, the swarm coagulated into a man. The wolf spun around. Dracula opened his cape to reveal Lisa, whom he clutched tight to his chest. Dracula looked at the wolf with an expression of furious

determination. Lisa felt what must have been a fireball whoosh past her head - the heat was all the more noticeable because of the icy cold of Dracula's body. The fireball hit the wolf in the stomach, sending him flying

back. Lisa looked up to see another Dracula preparing another ball of flame. She moved her head to look at the wolf. He was whimpering, like a sick dog. She saw his eyes - their monstrous look of bloodlust turned to

what almost looked like a plea for mercy. Lisa looked up at Dracula.

"Don't," she said quietly.

He looked down at her incredulously. "He tried to kill you!"

"I didn't try to save his life to watch you send him to his death!" she snapped back at him.

Dracula looked from her to the wolf, then back to her, then down. This time, he could not meet her eyes. He silently relaxed his grip on her, leaving her standing as he walked toward the wolf. He stopped and looked

down at the creature. Dracula paused, then knelt down and touched the wolf's neck, saying, "I release you from your curse." The wolf quickly turned back into the man, who sat up, looking at Dracula, terrified. "Now go

in peace," said Dracula. The naked man looked at him for a few seconds, then scrambled to his feet and ran away, not daring to look back. Dracula sighed and stood up, turning and walking back to Lisa.

She was shivering, although she didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were fixed on where the werewolf had lain. She was nearly as pale as he had been. Her hooded cloak lay on the ground and she stood in her velvet

dress. Dracula looked sadly at her beauty. He spoke.

"You look cold."

He enveloped her in his cloak, and she looked up at him. It was only now, that he was not shrouded in shadow, that she could really take in his appearance. He was very tall and his face was long and thin, with a

neatly combed moustache and goatee. His eyebrows were thick and his hair waved down to his shoulders. He was grey, but not totally, with some streaks of black giving him an appearance of vitality. The rest of his

body was well-proportioned. His fingers were long and pointed, his fingernails untrimmed, but not hideously so. He was dressed almost completely in black. Around his neck were two golden chains encrusted with jets.

He wore a fur-collared cloak which continued down to the ground. His eyes were red, but did not look as cruel as when he attacked the wolf. He did not often open his mouth, but when he did, she could see that his

canine teeth extended into long fangs. His body gave off no heat except when he was creating fire. He appeared around fifty years old, but he had the look of a man who had lived for centuries.

"Come," he said to her, and started walking. She walked with him; his grip, which reminded her of rigor mortis, was inescapable, but she did not want to flee. They walked through the forest, Dracula looking straight

ahead at all times, and Lisa looking up at him.

The forest was silent. Not even the howl of wolves could be heard. Though she was watching nothing else but Dracula, Lisa knew that their destination was the castle.

[Mathias Hyperion]

They had walked for about half an hour when Lisa heard the drawbridge. For the first time since their journey began, Lisa looked away from Dracula. She saw that the drawbridge was rising, and surmised that since the

castle was half-underwater, the drawbridge had to rise to permit entry. The bridge hit the edge of the moat and could rise no further, and Dracula proceeded down it. Lisa knew that the angle at which he walked was

unnatural, but she did not question it - this was not a natural man. The portcullis lay ahead of them, and as they approached it, it rose as the drawbridge had, both seemingly by Dracula's will.

They kept walking and, as they crossed the threshold of the gateway, Lisa suddenly felt even colder. Inside, the castle was completely dark. This did not last long, however; torches and candles seemed to light

themselves as Dracula passed them. Aside from two bracketed torches in the narrow hallway immediately after the portcullis, which gave off a comparatively warm glow and the heat one would expect, every candle and

torch in the castle burned with a blue flame, which seemed to make the castle colder still. Lisa looked around. Though somewhat dilapidated, the castle's interior still looked magnificent. The flood waters had not

reached this level, and so the striking carpet, exquisite tapestries and elegant paintings were completely unharmed and looked in pristine condition.

They walked for what seemed like an eternity. The magnificence of the castle and the strange, alluring flicker of the blue flames defeated any sense of the passage of time. It was only when the grand hallways and

ornate corridors ended that Lisa began to take full notice of where she actually was. Dracula had taken her to a bedchamber. The room was, of course, initially in darkness, but it received an almost homely glow when

Dracula walked past the fireplace, lighting the fire. He lay Lisa down on a beautiful four-poster bed. Its quilting was the finest crimson. As she acclimatised herself to the room, Dracula disappeared into an adjacent

room.

Lisa looked around. The fire, like the torches at the main gate, gave off heat. She would have leapt out of the bed and sat in front of the fire, but she had suddenly realised she was tired after the long walk in the freezing

cold. One thing that struck Lisa about the bedroom was that, unlike the rest of the castle, there were no tapestries, and only one painting - a portrait hung above the fire, its subject a young woman with golden hair and

blue eyes. As Lisa looked at it, she started to see something. Something that, she thought, could not be true, even in this place. For the woman in the painting - she almost looked like...

Dracula suddenly appeared in the doorway. Lisa turned to look at him. He was unclothed but for a gown, which he promptly removed, and a pair of trousers. His eyes had a strange, hypnotic quality to them. Lisa could not help herself but look straight into them. She felt drawn.

He moved onto her. He could wait no longer. He drew himself up, bared his fangs, opened his mouth and made for her throat.

She breathed. He stopped.

Dracula looked shocked, and pulled away from her to sit on the edge of the bed, facing the fire. His spell broken, Lisa looked about. Dracula buried his head in his hands.  She cautiously moved towards Dracula. She placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her.

"You must... forgive me..." he said, close to tears. He could not meet her gaze and instead looked up at the portrait. "Let me tell you the truth... of who I really am."

She could see that it pained him to say it. "No, you don't have to--"

"You deserve it," he said, looking back to her. He sighed. "My name... is... was... Mathias Cronqvist. I was born four hundred years ago. I was the tactician for an undefeatable company. Its captain was my closest

friend, Leon Belmont."

She recognised the surname. Strange tales were told about the Belmonts.

He continued. "I had a wife. Elisabeta." He looked up at the portrait. "The kindest and sweetest woman the world could ever know. She was the dearest thing to me in all the world. I loved her more than anything...

except God. I risked my life, day after day, for His sake. And then, one day, I came home." He looked down again. Lisa could the see the tears welling up in his eyes. "She... she had... she had taken ill, and... and..."

He could now hardly speak. "She had died."

Blood streamed from his eyes down his face. She brought herself forward to sit by him on the edge of the bed. "I'm so sorry," she said. She picked up her dress and used it to wipe Dracula's tears. He turned to her and

paused for a moment. They looked at each other, wordless. He continued.

"So... I wanted... revenge. I had fought for the sake of God, and this was how He repaid me." He was getting angry now. "So... I cursed Him. I cursed Him for all eternity! I made a vow on that day, Lisa, that if limited life

was God's decree, then I would defy it! I would live forever, and within that eternity, I would curse Him forevermore!"

His mouth was still open; he was still breathing heavily. His eyes burned. Lisa kept looking at him. Her eyes were filled with pity. Dracula looked down, closing his mouth and his eyes.

"So, I decided that, from that day forward, I would shed the name I had been blessed with in His. I would no longer be Mathias Cronqvist, but... Dracula."

He looked back up at her. It seemed he had nothing more to say, so Lisa spoke. "Do you regret it?"

He did not answer; he turned to look into the fire. Lisa looked down, before turning and standing. She started to put her dress back on.

"Would you like to leave?" asked Dracula, staring into the flames.

Lisa looked at him but kept dressing herself. "I left my cloak and my bag out in that forest. I need to get them before someone else does."

"You don't have to come back," said Dracula resignedly.

Lisa had finished putting on her dress. She knelt down next to the fire to look at Dracula. He did not look at her.

"I will come back," she said.

He looked at her. She smiled, then moved towards and kissed him on the lips. She got up and went to the door. Dracula looked after her, speechless.

"I will," she said. "Goodbye, Mathias." She then turned and left.

Dracula watched the doorway for a few moments, then turned back to look into the fire. She had said she would return, but her parting words to him had been the last words he had ever heard Elisabeta say. He

breathed in deeply, and then out again. His outward breath extinguished the fire. He was left in darkness.

[cecil-kain]

Bravo!  I'm anxiously awaiting more...

[Mathias Hyperion]

In Reply To #4

Thank you very much! I'll hopefully get some more written soon, but I don't want to rush Alucard into it as Lisa and Dracula need to know each other a bit better first.

[Omegasigma]

i'd like to read more, i do detest cliff hangers, lol for once a castlevania fic has my interest, and i have to add you've inspired me to add mroe character background in my fangame for drac, and to your first sentence i've only seen one fanfic of them reuniting, never a first meeting

[Omegasigma]

i wish you'd add more to this