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Heart of Fire
FAN FICTION

Three's A Crowd

By lostexperiment

The branches of the plants in the Garden of Madness swayed softly to a non-existent breeze, as candlelight played across the face of Yoko Belnades. The young witch had appropriated a candelabra and some of the less twitchy plant-life, in the hopes of preparing a fire in the midst of the large room. The party of three vampire hunters had planned to rest here and regain their strength. Arikado had been positive that this particular room would give them a well-deserved rest from the battlefront, and although he had thus far been correct, Yoko wished the others would hurry up and return. There was nowhere in this castle she particularly wanted to remain alone.

The sharp report of a whip crack signaled the impending arrival of Julius. From her position, she could see through the door into the next room, where something large and blue dropped a second later with a sickening crack of bone against the stone floor. A moment later the Belmont appeared, dragging the carcass of the rather large bird he'd just dispatched behind him. Yoko eyed it apprehensively.

"How can you even consider that we eat this thing?" Yoko muttered, as Julius whipped out one of his knives with a business-like air and began to gut the creature.

"It won't be too hard, given that it tried to fry me first." Julius replied. His comment would actually have been funny had he not been giving her a look that was obviously meant to remind her that she was the one who had begged him to come along in the first place." Besides, would you rather eat this, or go hungry on the off chance that Celia made the zombies some more...spaghetti was it?"

"Mushussu."

"Eh?" Julius repeated, looking up and wiping his brow with the sleeve of his coat.

"It was the Mushussu that dropped the spaghetti."

"Oh."

Yoko sighed and wiggled her toes in her boots, watching the questionable meal start to cook over the fire. She knew as well as Julius that they had to do everything they possibly could to stay alive, and it usually meant far worse than just eating a Rycuda. After all, poor Soma...

It would have been nice to have a little female company, however. Or at least some whom she felt that she could really talk to. Julius was focused, clever, and reliable to a fault, but none too talkative, unless it was on the subject of his job. Right now, his job included destroying Soma (How grim!), and as she'd found Soma to be a pleasant sort when his mind was his own, his impending demise wasn't something she was prepared to discuss glibly. And then, there was Genya Arikado. Or Alucard, who just plain didn't talk. Not about vampire hunting or much else besides.

As if on cue, the third member of the party arrived to join them. Yoko continued to stoke the fire, turning over the now browning meat. Arikado never ate with them, and it was just the source of more discomfort. He would systematically refuse their offers, go off on his own somewhere, and return much later with no report on his activity, but unable to hide the air of satisfaction that lingered around him.

There was a clatter and another mysterious gust of wind which startled the three and nearly put the fire out completely. The branches on the trees around them seemed to tremble as though with excitement.

Alucard, in the process of sitting down, leapt instantaneously back to his feet. Julius had his weapon in hand in an instant, "What is it?"

Yoko saw what it was before Julius had finished speaking. A Treant and a couple of Skelerangs, perhaps attracted by the meat or the fire had seen fit to intrude on the party. Yoko readied an ice spell of her own; these were standard Garden fare by now, and usually went down with but a couple of blows. The shock however, was that they weren't alone. A Succubus and a Maid were with them. This was unusual, as they rarely strayed beyond the Guest House.

A soft hiss to her left caused her to turn her head curiously, momentarily taking her eyes off the advancing monsters.

"Damn it all, they must have followed me."

Perhaps it was a trick of the dim light, but did Arikado look a little...sheepish?

She didn't have time to wonder further, as a second later Alucard's sword flashed directly in front of her eyes. It had been a hair's breath from lopping off the tip of her nose, but he had saved her from the blood sucking succubus-demon that had nearly been upon her.

"Arikado! Yoko!" Julius was already in the thick of things, the tide of monsters closing in around him.

Without hesitation, the two dashed forward. A quick ice spell and a well timed strike with her staff took care of the Treant, while Arikado dispatched the maid. The attacking party was not large, and after a moment, they were standing amidst a small, charred pile of demon corpses, breathing heavily.

"Alright, Yoko, Arikado?" Julius inquired, re-attaching the whip at his side.

"I am fine." The Dhampir turned his head towards Yoko as well.

Yoko gave them both a smile, feeling for a moment like they were indeed a close team. "Never better."

"Good. Now, perhaps we should eat, before any more of our friends drop by. We'll take the same sleep shifts tonight, and then we can go after Soma once we're fully refreshed."

Yoko sighed. She'd forgotten about the detestable bird, and Julius had to have gone and brought up Soma again. He could just call him Dracula. Wasn't that what he was now?


* * * * * * * *


A few moments later, she was poking at her serving. It was...sort of squishy...and it tasted funny. She looked up at the other two, but neither of her companions appeared open to any more discussion. Three, it seemed, was a crowd - even if it was a silent one.


END.

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