Castlevania, Season 2

[Dracula has summoned his legions, all his generals, and his two Devil Forgemasters in the throne room to discuss plans to eradicate the human race.]

Dracula:
My generals, we prosecute a good war. In killing my wife, humanity has proven to me that they don't deserve Wallachia. Wallachia will now become our seat. We will scour them off the land. We will continue to use the night hordes, all the creatures of terror that humanity once drove away. Afterwards, I think I will give Wallachia to them. (more to himself) Perhaps, that will be better.

[The generals are left confused as to what Dracula meant.]

Dracula:
Hector, Isaac, present me with plans for our next steps today.

[Dracula turns and starts to walk away.]

Godbrand:
(outraged) The only two humans in your inner court, and they are the ones who will plan our next attack?!

[Dracula stops walking and turns to face Godbrand.]

Dracula:
The only two generals in my court who are not driven by thirst. The only two who are bound by loyalty and intellect. True. They are not vampires like you and I, Godbrand. And that is why I trust them. For we are about the business of wiping humanity from the Earth. And they still stand with me.

[Dracula exits the throne room, leaving the generals alone.]

Godbrand:
What the hell was that? He summons us from all over the world, tells us it's war. We're finally putting the screws to the livestock and taking over. And now this? Turning the whole thing over to a couple of humans? What is this shit?

[Hector and Isaac follow after Dracula.]

Godbrand:
Hey! Where are you two going?

Hector:
We're going to talk to him.

Godbrand:
Why would he want to talk to you rather than me? Perhaps he wants to meet with his own kind.

Hector:
Godbrand, you've never met anything you didn't immediately kill, fuck, or make a boat out of.

Isaac:
I don't understand why our lord doesn't tie you up outside with the rest of the animals.

[Hector and Isaac exit.]

Godbrand:
Bigot! I like boats! I'm a fucking Viking! We're supposed to make boats out of things!

Carmilla:
Yes? You wished to speak to me, my Lord?

Dracula:
That was a dramatic entrance, Carmilla.

Carmilla:
It was not meant to disrespect you. It was intended to unsettle a room full of men. I prefer in such situations to arrive with as many advantages as possible.

Dracula:
And how is it that you're here?

Carmilla:
Godbrand has been keeping me appraised of your castle's position. Your current location was also advantageous.

Dracula:
And why has Godbrand been in regular communication with you?

Carmilla:
I suspect he still wants to sleep with me.

Dracula:
And will you?

Carmilla:
[chuckles, turns away] My Lord! From another man, that would be impossible impertinence.

Dracula:
And yet... I prefer to know my Generals' ties and compromises.

Carmilla:
I may...If all the other vampire males in the world drop dead, and half the females. Some of the animals.

Dracula:
[chuckles] Very good, Carmilla. Speaking of impertinence... You just denounced the choice not to turn my dead wife, in front of all my generals. [glares at her] What advantage, does my anger buy you?

Carmilla:
None! It's a question they have all been asking themselves. I gave you an opportunity to address it, my Lord.

Dracula:
Oh, so you were helping.

Carmilla:
Of course, my Lord.

Dracula:
Then why have you only just arrived? You were summoned some time ago. Surely, I needed help much earlier.

Carmilla:
Distractions at home. Securing my region. Villagers, pitchforks, torches. The usual.

Dracula:
Hmm. Rejoin the others. Hector and Isaac, my Forgemasters, will be directing our next moves; I'm sure they would enjoy your help.

Carmilla:
As you wish, my Lord. [leaves]

Sypha:
I'm still not completely clear on why you don't catch fire in the daylight.

Alucard:
I am half-human. My mother's name was Lisa, and she was mortal.

Sypha:
I would very much like to hear the story of how that happened.

Alucard:
[chuckles] She actually showed up, at his front door. She found the castle, and banged on the front door with the pommel of her knife.

Sypha:
She sounds interesting.

Alucard:
Oh, she was remarkable. She beat on the door until my father let her in, and then demanded he teach her how to be a doctor-

Trevor Belmont:
[sits up] Wait, Dracula taught a human woman how to be a doctor? [chuckles scornfully] What was first, bloodletting?

Alucard:
God, you still think you're funny. My father-

Trevor Belmont:
Dracula-

Alucard:
-Is a man of science. A philosopher, a scholar. And knows things our society has forgotten three times over. Do you still not understand the enormity of what we're doing? He's gone mad. And from that, there is no recovering him.

Trevor Belmont:
[sarcastically] Shame.

Alucard:
It's a tragedy. He's a repository of centuries of learning. He could've changed the world; I think he might've, if Mother hadn't died. She'd sent him out into the world. That's why he wasn't there, when the Bishops took her.

Sypha:
She sent him away?

Alucard:
She sent him to... travel. To learn the true state of the world, the true nature of humans and how they live.

Sypha:
She was... turning him.

Alucard:
Imagine if he could've aimed all that knowledge at improving lives... If the religious inquisition hadn't proved true, all of his worst instincts about humans.

Trevor Belmont:
And now he's going to use her death, as an excuse to destroy the world.

Alucard:
Oh, the world will still be here, Belmont. Trees will still grow, birds will still sing, animals will still hump away in the undergrowth. But you won't be here. And you won't be here. None of you. The sun will still set, but you will not see it rise. There will only be Dracula, and his War Council, and the hordes of the night. [pause] He writes in great books, you know. He hews the covers himself from oak, and wraps them in the preserved skin of the people who he hated most. And he writes plans; I've seen them. Ideas for darkening clouds, and making them as permanent in the air as the frost of the North. Great strange flying machines, that pull shrouds across the sky to block out the sun. Imagine it. A world without humans, under endless invented night. And Dracula in his castle... his revenge so horribly complete, that there is nothing left to do but look out over a world without art or memory or laughter, and know that he did his work well. That he did it all for love.

Sypha:
What was your Leon Belmont doing in Wallachia?

Alucard:
[darkly] Hunting Dracula.

Trevor:
...Here it all is, then. The last of us [notices a chest under a broken shelf] Bloody hell. Is that what I think it is?

Sypha:
Careful, Trevor. You almost sounded excited about something.

Trevor:
It couldn't be, could it?

[Trevor drags the chest from its resting place into the open, while Sypha keeps studying a tome. Trevor takes out a knife and uses it to break the lock off. He opens the chest, revealing a long metal chain with a handle on one end and spiked head on the other. Trevor picks it up.]

Trevor:
Beautiful.

Sypha:
What on Earth is that ugly thing?

Trevor:
I don't believe they hid it. It's the Morning Star!

Sypha:
[going through one of the Belmonts' books] It's all here. You're right, this is quite amazing! [Notices Alucard is still staring at the vampire skulls] Isn't it? It's amazing.

Alucard:
[sarcastically] Charming.

Sypha:
You're not even a little bit impressed?

Alucard:
It's like a museum dedicated to the extermination of my people, so no. Not thrilled.

[Dracula sits alone in his study in front of the fireplace as Godbrand enters.]

Godbrand:
May I speak to you?

Dracula:
Approach, Godbrand.

Godbrand:
I have a question.

Dracula:
Go on.

Godbrand:
If you kill all the humans, what are we gonna eat?

Dracula:
(looks up) What?

Godbrand:
It's very simple, Dracula. If you kill all the humans, where does the continuing supply of human blood come from?

Dracula:
(exasperated sigh) I allow you to go on feeding raids when we change location. I have blood stored in cold canisters. There are animals in the lower levels. You won't go hungry, Godbrand.

Godbrand:
Not right now, no. But later. I don't want to be rationing myself on fucking pig blood.

Dracula:
(glaringly) Careful.

Godbrand:
Pig blood gives me the shits. I'm sorry, but there it is.

Dracula:
You will be taken care of, Godbrand.

Godbrand:
Yes, of course. Right. Except, what if we're not? What if you just wanna kill all the humans and you don't leave us enough to keep in camps to feed from?

[Dracula rises up from his chair and walks threateningly towards Godbrand until the latter is backed against a wall.]

Dracula:
I will not be questioned by you. I have told you how it will be. The humans will die. You will be taken care of. Little Godbrand. Little vampire. Little parasite. Little boot weevil who delights in making noise and pretending he is important and dangerous. Are you going to continue questioning me? Are you going to fight me, little Godbrand?

Godbrand:
(pauses) No.

[Dracula keeps his face just inches away from Godbrand.]

Dracula:
Then why are you still here making your little noises? Get out before I slit you up the middle and bite out your heart.

[Godbrand scurries out of the room while Dracula sits back down in his seat, breathing heavily and tired out.

Dracula:
Isaac. I feel like the tone of the War Hall is turning against me. Even Hector looks at me, as if he no longer knows me.

Isaac:
I have respect for Hector, but he is a gentle soul. He's still a little boy. Probably the same little boy who didn't understand why he was beaten for keeping pets.

Dracula:
[chuckles, sits next to him] Well... His pets were reanimated dead animals. One can understand any parent's discomfort, at a dead cat doing a dance in the living room.

Isaac:
He really only wants pets, you see. He really only understands pets. That's how he perceives your war. To cull humans back to a small population and then keep them in pens; he understands that.

Dracula:
That is partly my fault. He's a child in a man's body; that does make him easy to lie to.

Isaac:
You are Dracula. No one has a right to your true beliefs.

Dracula:
Not even you?

Isaac:
Not even me. You've given me purpose, and treated me with respect. A lie doesn't change that. You are unique; you don't owe anybody anything.

Dracula:
...You, Isaac, are the only one I've told the truth to. Because I believe you are the only one... who grasps the necessity of it all.

Isaac:
You rarely come to my working place. How can I be of service to you, Master Dracula?

Dracula:
[meets his eyes]... Are you still my friend?

Isaac:
Always.

Dracula:
...Then know, that you may be alone.

Hector:
(sigh) You can spend so long in the castle that you forget how the sun feels. Don't you think?

Isaac:
I like the castle. The stone stays cool, no matter where we are.

Hector:
You like the cold?

Isaac:
When I'm cold, I can eat meat or throw a cloak on. I spent my life in hot places. You can't escape heat. Keep walking. Vampires have sharp ears, and you said we needed to talk.

Hector:
You're concerned about the vampires hearing us?

Isaac:
I'm not a fool, Hector. If you weren't concerned, you wouldn't want the conversation out in the daylight.

Hector:
I just didn't want to be interrupted by argument.

Isaac:
They are good at arguing.

Hector:
I used to liken them to wolves or bats. A strong sense of community, acting as one. But lately... I see the vampires as cats. Swiping, hunting or ignoring each other.

Isaac:
You think of vampires as animals?

Hector:
In a way. They are pure creatures. They have grace. Animals don't act with malice.

Isaac:
Cats play with their food all the time.

Hector:
True. But it's not malicious. There's joy in it.

Isaac:
Not for the food.

[Hector and Isaac move further from the castle and into a nearby forest.]:

Isaac:
So?

Hector:
The cats need herding, Isaac.

Isaac:
That's a good way to get your eyes clawed out, Hector.

Hector:
I mean it. Dracula gave us the task of creating a war plan. But between his generals, their fighting, and his own attitude...

Isaac:
And what attitude is that?

Hector:
He doesn't care.

Isaac:
He cares very much. He wants all of the humans to die. He's quite clear on that.

Hector:
That hasn't escaped me. My point is that he doesn't care how. And we're failing him.

Isaac:
Oh, are we, now?

Hector:
Yes. We need to assert an order to the war. We're the agents of his rage, not paintings of it. We can't just thrash around.

Isaac:
What do you want, Hector?

Hector:
I want to present a united front. I want a plan. I want to move forward, get this over with in an orderly manner. I want you to agree to move on Braila. (sigh) I know that, strictly speaking, we're never been friends.

Isaac:
It seems counterproductive to cultivate human friends, when we're engaged in the product of ending the human race.

Hector:
But we are on the same side. [puts his hand on Isaac's shoulder.]

Isaac:
Is this where we kiss like Benedictine monks from different monasteries?

Hector:
I don't think I've heard you try to tell a joke before.

Isaac:
[removes Hector's hand, walks past him] You still haven't.

Hector:
All Dracula hears, is the noise in the War Hall. He needs us to be the clear voice over that noise; he needs us to speak in one voice.

Isaac:
He needs us to be loyal.

Hector:
How is it disloyal to provide the guidance he requested of us?

Isaac:
If it's serving you, and not him. There are people in the court who have their own plans. Their own agendas.

Hector:
I am loyal to him, and his intent. But he asked for a plan. And we need to give him one, unambiguously. We go to Braila, prevent a diaspora by boat, and then proceed along the coast from there. What do you say?

Isaac:
Well... It will please Carmilla, so I distrust it. But... it would stop her making mischief, for the moment. And, it would get the War Room pointed in the same direction. [chuckles darkly] I imagine it would even make Godbrand smile.

Hector:
Yeah, well... don't talk me out of it. [they both chuckle]

Sypha:
I did it!

Alucard:
Where did you land the castle, Sypha?

Sypha:
(proudly) Right on top of us!

[The roof creaks. Alucard gives her a look.]

Sypha:
...Oh, yes. I landed it on the surface, right above this underground space that's probably only held up by wood and dirt. Let's go!

Isaac:
Your son is here.

Dracula:
Alucard has entered the castle?

Isaac:
And a woman who stinks of magic. And a hunter. To your study. [they reach Dracula's study] Behind me, Dracula. They will not reach you while I live!

Dracula:
[astonished] You would give your mortal life to preserve my immortal one?

Isaac:
To save your genius, your knowledge, and your will? Without question. I am just a Forgemaster. Yours is the wisdom of ages.

Dracula:
... You are the greatest of your people, Isaac. [behind them, Dracula's magic mirror begins to assemble] You have a soul, I think. Perhaps that is more valuable to the world to come than a dusty collection of books and apparatus. Or perhaps you simply deserve a better fate than to die instead of me.

Isaac:
I choose my death, as I chose my life.

Dracula:
[puts a hand on Isaac's shoulder] Then, I regret only that I have taken a choice for you.

[He hurls Isaac through a mirror, teleporting him away from the castle.]

Isaac:
No! Dracula! No!

[The portal closes, leaving Isaac alone in the desert. In the castle, Dracula turns back to the doorway, where Alucard is standing]

Alucard:
Father.

Dracula:
Son.

Alucard:
Your war is over.

Dracula:
[smirks] Because you say so?

Alucard:
It ends... in the name of my mother.

Dracula:
[sharply] It ENDURES in the name of your mother.

Alucard:
I told you before I won't let you do it. I grieve with you, but I won't let you commit genocide.

Dracula:
You couldn't stop me before.

[Trevor and Sypha enter the study beside Alucard.]

Alucard:
I was alone before.

[The fight begins.]

Dracula:
(wounded, but not seriously) The Morning Star whip... well played, Belmont. But I am no ordinary vampire to be killed by your human magics. I am Vlad Dracula Tepes, AND I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!

Dracula:
(laughs contemptuously) You mean to stake me?

Alucard:
You want me to.

Dracula:
What?

Alucard:
You didn't kill me before. You won't kill me now. You want this to end as much as I do.

Dracula:
DO I?!

Alucard:
You died when my mother died, you know you did. This entire catastrophe has been nothing but history's longest suicide note!

[Dracula's fight with Alucard carries them into the latter's childhood bedroom in the castle. He freezes]

Dracula:
... It's your room. [his eyes clear] My boy. I'm- I... I'm killing my boy. Lisa... I'm killing our boy. We painted this room, we... made these toys. It's our boy, Lisa. Your greatest gift to me, and I'm killing him... I must already be dead.

[He does not resist as Alucard breaks off one of his bedposts, steps up to him and stakes him through the heart.]

Dracula:
Son...

Alucard:
Father...

[at an oasis in the desert]

Isaac:
Keep moving. I'm not in the mood.

Bandit:
Well, what do we have here? It's thirsty, whatever it is. Don't drink the entire pool.

Isaac:
There is enough water for all.

Bandit:
Oh, I don't care about all. I only care about us.

Isaac:
There will be plenty for you after I'm gone.

Bandit:
But perhaps we want it all.

Isaac:
Yes, you probably do. Your kind always does.

2nd Bandit:
I think the desert has left us a little gift, don't you?

Bandit:
Put a rope around it. Drag it behind us. Perhaps we can sell it at the next town. Unless we get hungry between now and then, I suppose.

Isaac:
Is that really the best you have? Your best response to finding a lone stranger drinking at an oasis. Call him "it," and immediately draw plans to sell him or eat him?

Bandit:
You don't matter. You don't deserve my best. You're just some drifting clump of shit I discovered on the road and I'll do with you as I wish. Only I and my friends here matter. You are simply meat.

Isaac:
I'm not human?

Bandit:
Oh, I'm sure you're human, Sir Philosopher of the Water Hole. I simply don't care.

Isaac:
(smiles) Me neither.

[He draws his dagger, leaps onto the bandit's horse and slashes a huge wound in his chest. The other four bandits attack, and he easily kills them all.]

Sypha:
When I met you, you reeked of piss, blood and stale beer. You killed a monster largely by accident...

Trevor:
Hey, that took serious skills!

Sypha:
And then demanded alcohol before storming off like a toddler with a thistle up his back end.

Trevor:
Right-right, how does that even...?

Sypha:
Shh! And now, in the short time we have known each other, you have rediscovered yourself, and you've grown. Today might be the first time I felt like I was talking to an adult man. You're better than you were when I met you. Do you know why I think that is? It's because you're doing what you were born for. As insane as it sounds, this entire nightmare scenario has made you complete. I think you should see it through... with me.

Trevor:
With you?

Sypha:
Yes. You could be my handsome sidekick or mascot. Imagine that. If you didn't talk much, people would think you were my deformed pet bear and throw you free food.

[Alucard is alone and exploring his father's castle. He sees a ghostly image of Dracula.]

Alucard:
Is this how the castle felt to you before my mother first arrived at your door?