Blood Red Moon Part Four: Malus

 This is a crossover fanfic including the characters from Tenchi Muyo,
and CastleVania, more specifically, the newest version out for the N64.  All
characters belong to their respective copyrights, and I take no credit for
them beyond their usage in this story.  Comments, quips, insults, flames, and
death threats can be sent to Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com
 This is based on the OVA characters in the Tenchiverse - but don't be
surprised if you hear one or two TV references.  The original concept came
when I noticed that Carrie Fernandez sort of resembles Ryoko in powers and
looks, save that Carrie is only twelve.
 In the last episode, Tenchi, Reinhart, Carrie and Ryo-Ohki entered the castle
villa and met Rosa, a young vampire woman who told Tenchi and Carrie how to
get deeper into the castle.  After going back to find Reinhart, they began to
explore the Castle manor proper, and met Charlie Vincent, 'Greatest of all the
Vampire Hunters.'  Vincent told them to leave, and let him take care of
Dracula, while Tenchi and the others warned him off as well.  Vincent refused
to believe that Reinhart was the descendant of the Belmont clan, and told them
that if they stayed, to not come crying to him when one of them was killed.
He also gave them the key to the archives.

*****

 "Well, the question now is, where are the archives?" said Carrie.  They were
back in the hall, after leaving Vincent's warded off chamber.  Reinhart looked
back at it.
 "He would not believe.  Does he not understand that we are dealing with more
than the average vampire?"  Tenchi placed his hand on Reinhart's shoulder.
 "I've known guys like him before.  They're smart enough, but they are
so stubborn that they would say that the sky was orange before admitting it
was blue."  Reinhart nodded, but he touched his whip lightly, and looked as if
he were lost in thought.  They moved down the hall, checking the different
rooms. One was a just a sunning chamber, with a few chairs, and a couple of
potted plants.  Tenchi noticed a sparkle in one, and looked at it.  He found a
key.
 There were two other doors in the room, one that lead back into the
hall, and one that lead to a stairway.  They decided to wait on the stairway
until they had finished exploring the rest of the house.  Two more of the
stained glass men attacked them, but now that they were expecting them, they
were smashed in no time.
 The last door that they checked led to a small dining chamber.  A
painting of David, slashed diagonally across the canvas, hung on one wall, and
on the far wall was a huge mirror, with a small vase of roses before it.  On
the other side of the room was another doorway.  They walked into the room,
looking around it.  Just as they were about to go through the new door, the
one that they had come through crashed open.
 "He.. Help!  Help me!" cried a tall man.  He wore simple clothes, the
kind one would wear on a farm, but his hair was neatly made.  Carrie looked at
him, and couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
 "This place is full of the damned!  I've just been chased here by
devils!  You have come to the house of evil!"  The man's gaze was so
intense... she felt like his eyes were boring holes into her body.  Reinhart
stepped forward.
 "Are you a villager who made it here?"  A flutter of motion caught
Carrie's eye, and she turned, to see a rose, pale pink in color, settle to the
ground.  She bent to pick it up and put it back in the vase, but when she
stood straight again, she froze.  There, in the mirror, stood her figure,
Tenchi's, with Ryo-Ohki on his shoulder, and Reinhart's.  And nobody else's.
 Spinning, Carrie fired a blast at the man.  He leapt out of the way, a quick
flash going off as he dropped his disguise.  Reinhart jumped backwards as the
vampire lunged at him.  "You smell different from the usual adventurers...
Come!  Let me taste of your blood!" it laughed.  The tip of Tenchi's blade,
Carrie's magical blast, and Reinhart's whip all met their mark at the same
time, and the vampire didn't even have time to shriek as it was simply erased
from the afterlife. They looked at each other and laughed, and a fair amount
of tension drained from the room.  Carrie looked at the flower that was still
in her hand.  Pale pink, almost white.  Could it have been Rosa?
 "I think that they know we're here, you two.  We'd better hurry.  More
reinforcements will be on their way."  They moved to the door, and went
through it, and found themselves in a small library.  Carrie pulled one of the
books off the shelf, and coughed violently as dust rose from the cover.
 "In 1387 was I cursed to roam the earth forever, drinking maiden after
maiden's blood, never to see the light of day again," she read.  Carrie looked
up, in surprise.  The entire room was filled with other books much like this
one.  "Could that have been Dracula's Diary?" Carrie asked.  They looked at
the other books.
 "If it was, than there are centuries of his unholy life here.  Pity
that we don't have more time.  We might be able to find a clue as to how to
end his reign for all time," said Reinhart.  They went a little deeper into
the room, and found a door, which was locked.  Tenchi produced the key that
Vincent had given them, and used it.  The door swung open, and they found
themselves in a smaller room, which had three bookcases in it.  In the middle
of each book case, there was a seal inscribed into a block of wood.
 Slowly, Reinhart approached the center one, and lightly traced it's
seal with his fingertip.  It was of a thorn whip coiled around a vial of holy
water.  Carrie's breath caught as she recognized it.
 "What is it, Carrie?" asked Tenchi.  She looked at him.
 "The ancient seal of the Belmont Family," she said.  Looking at the
other two, she found the seal of Alucard, a bat that carried the sun on its
back on one, and the other...  Carrie's own hand rose, and traced the ancient
seal of the Fernandez family, and, before that, of the Belnades, a crossed
magical staff and sword, surrounded by a pair of rings.
 Reinhart pulled one of the tomes from the shelf that he stood before,
and opened it.  Clearing his throat, he read.
 "Simon Belmont has nearly arrived to my doorstep.  Only Death, my
brother at arms, stands between him and I.  I know that Death will not be able
to stop him, as he was not able to stop Trevor, or any of the other Belmonts.
But I have a plan now.  I place upon Simon a curse.  If he should destroy me
today, than slowly, his body will decay, falling apart little by little.  Once
it has fallen completely, the parts will come together, and when I am born
again, Simon Belmont shall be my slave."
 He closed the book, and looked at them.
 "This must be his archive of the battles that he has lost.  In here, we could
find the tale of every Belmont, Fernandez, even his son Alucard, and the
number of times he has been stopped."  Tenchi looked around.
 "Rosa said that we had to come here.  But for what?"  They began searching
the room carefully.  Suddenly, Tenchi noticed something strange about the
bookcases.  Two of the crests, the Fernandez and Alucard crests, seemed worn
with age.  But the crest of the Belmonts looked as if it had been made only
the day before.  Tenchi looked at it closer.  The wood seemed familiar, as if
he had seen it's kind before.
 "Tenchi!  Your sword is glowing!" said Reinhart.  Tenchi looked down,
and indeed, it was, a soft blue light.  He looked at it, and then at the crest
again.  Slowly, he raised the hilt, and tapped at the cross on the crest three
times.  The same soft blue light as was in the sword spread through the coiled
whip, and then into the bottle of water.  With a sudden blaze of light, the
crest slid downward, revealing a small niche in which there was a key, and a
folded up piece of paper.  Tenchi pulled them out, and after his hands were
clear, the crest slid back into place, and the glow died off.
 "What did you find?" asked Carrie.
 "I don't know!" said Tenchi.  He opened the paper to reveal that it was a
map.  At the top were the words, "Garden Maze" and below was a map, with a
path drawn out in red.  In heavy print, near a spot marked entrance was the
word "Kelberos."  Tenchi looked at the others, but they just shrugged.
 Leaving the room, they went back to the main hall.  Tenchi stopped
them, and walked down to the door that had been locked before.  He pulled out
the key he had found in the vase, and slipped it in.  With a click, the door
opened.  He waved them down.
 Inside the storage room were several vials, and several odd crystals.
Carrie's eyes went wide as she saw what was there.
 "Anti-Venom!  And Purifying Crystals!  What a find!"  Tenchi looked at her,
confused.
 "What are those?"  She gave him a wry look as she and Reinhart dropped the
bottles and crystals into their packs.
 "The anti-venom will cleanse your system of poison.  But the true
treasures here are the Purifying Crystals.  If you are bitten by a vampire,
and infected, one of these crystals will cleanse your blood, saving your
life." Tenchi nodded, and they finished packing the things away.  Then, they
went into the other room, and down the staircase.
 "Hey?  What's this?" asked Carrie when they reached the bottom of the
stairs.  They were in a small room, with a set of large double doors, and a
suit of armor. On the ground, there was a rolled up scroll, with a red ribbon
tied around it.  She picked it up, and they gathered around it as she read
over it. The words were printed neatly, but were strangely hard to read, as if
the words were trying to avoid her gaze.
 "Excuse me?"
 They spun, Carrie dropping the scroll.  It landed rolled up again,
with the ribbon back around it.  Coming down the stairs was a man wearing a
green suit, with a white shirt underneath, and a green hat.  He had a neat
goatee, and a trimmed mustache.  A long, black, pointed tail ran from under
his shirt.  In one hand, he carried a briefcase.
 "I was wondering if you found a contract here?  Ah, yes, there it is." He
doffed his hat to them.  "Allow me to introduce myself.  I am the Demon
Renon."  They all took a step back, and readied their weapons, but Renon put
up his hands in a peaceful gesture.  "Please wait!  I'm not here to harm you.
       "Allow me to explain."  They looked at each other uneasily, but
released their weapons.  "I am a salesman.  It is truly shameful for a demon
to be working, but one needs gold even in Hell these days.  It is my role to
provide useful items, and sometimes more, to adventures in the castle." Renon
bent, and picked up the scroll.
 "If you sign this contract, then you may summon me by merely touching
one of the other contracts that are scattered through the castle.  If you
wish, you may read all but one part of the contract, which is near the very
bottom."
 "Why can we not read that part?" asked Reinhart, suspiciously.  Renon
smiled, revealing chiseled teeth.  "It is an agreement with another party, the
only reason that I am allowed to work here.  My apologies, but I have no
choice."  He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a golden watch.  "Dear
me...  Is that the time?  I have talked too long.  Remember, if you sign, you
may summon me at any time."  Tipping his hat again, Renon disappeared, the
scroll falling once more to the ground.  Carrie picked it up again, and opened
it.  This time, the words stayed where they were, save for a small section at
the bottom.  She looked at Reinhart and Tenchi.
 "What do you think?  This looks safe enough, and if he wasn't lying,
than he may be a useful ally." Reinhart and Tenchi thought about it, and then
both nodded.  Tenchi pulled a pen from his pocket, and signed his name.
Carrie and Reinhart looked at the kanji in confusion.  Tenchi explained that
it was a different language.  Shrugging, they signed their names as well.  As
Carrie took the pen from the paper, the names seemed to darken, and become a
part of the paper itself.  They looked at each other once more, and then set
the contract back on the ground.
 They turned to the door and swung it open to reveal a blinding morning sun.
Squinting, they moved out, with weapons ready.  Before them were a few neatly
trimmed hedges, and a little farther away, several hedges that were taller
than they were.  There was a break in the hedges, with an old, heavy gate,
and, to either side of the gate, a dog made of stone.  They were ugly things,
their muzzles locked forever in a snarl.  The things made Carrie shiver.
Tenchi came up close to them, and looked at them, scratching his head.
 "Kelberos...  Now, I know that I've heard that name before.  Why do these
statues make me think about them?"  He looked around them a little more, but
finally gave up on trying to figure the puzzle out.
 Reinhart walked up to the gates, and pushed at them, but they wouldn't budge
an inch.  Looking down, he saw the keyhole set into the right side, and
motioned Tenchi over.  Tenchi pulled the key that they had found out of his
pocket, and slipped it in.  The latch clicked, and the gate swung smoothly
open, with not the slightest bit of squeal.  They entered the garden, and
walked down the open path.  Tenchi pulled out the map, and they followed the
line.
 Soon, they came to a split in the path.  Turning down it, they followed along
to a stone bridge, and over it, under a stone arch.  Tenchi and the others
found themselves in a small enclosure, with a couple of trees and a fountain.
There were no other exits beside the one that they had just come through.
 "Well, this is where the map said to go," said Tenchi.  "Don't blame me." As
they turned to go, Carrie heard a rustle from behind one of the bushes.  She
dropped to one knee, and powered a magic blast, aiming it at the small tree.
 "Come out, I know you're there!" she called.  Reinhart and Tenchi readied
their weapons.  Carrie watched, as a young child stepped out from behind the
bushes.  The boy couldn't have been more than six or seven years old. He wore
a long, purple coat and matching pants, with a white shirt below, and he
looked terrified.  Looking at Reinhart and Tenchi, she approached him slowly,
and squatted down before him.
 "What's your name, honey?"  The boy looked at her with wide eyes, which were
brimming with tears.
 "M... Malus..."  Carrie looked at Tenchi and Reinhart.
 "What are you doing here, Malus?  Did you get lost in the forest?"  The child
shook his head.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ryo-Ohki hop off
Tenchi's shoulder, and start to sniff around.
 "My friends and I were all playing in the village, and then werewolves came,
with a man, and took us all.  The man said that he was looking for a certain
child... and then...  and then..."  Malus trailed off, shaking his head and
putting his hands to his temples.  "My head hurts... I can't remember!"
Carrie placed her hand on his shoulder, and he looked at her.
 "Shhh...  We'll help you get away from here.  Won't we?"  Reinhart and Tenchi
nodded.  She stood up, and offered Malus her hand.  Just before he took it,
they heard a growl.  The two stone dogs leapt through the hedge.  Slowly, they
advanced.  Malus screamed in terror, and began to run away.  Carrie
instinctively fired a magic blast at one of them.  It yelped in pain, but when
the energy dissipated, there was not a scratch on it.
 "Help me!" came the shout from Malus.  Carrie looked at Reinhart and Tenchi,
and they turned and ran after Malus.  The dogs growled, and began to run after
them.
 Rounding a corner, they saw Malus just going around the next.  Racing after
him with the dogs on their heels, they followed him as he twisted and turned
through the garden.
 Turning another corner, Carrie gasped as she saw a very, very tall man,
swinging some strange thing at her.  She tried to stop, and managed to slip on
the grass, and the thing went past just over her head.  It crashed into the
hedge, and clean-sliced branches showered down on her.  Looking up at the man,
she saw that it wasn't a man at all, but a creature made of sewn together bits
and pieces of men.  His skin color changed through bits and patches, but one
thing that she did notice was that it had that strange thing attached to its
arm, instead of a hand.
 Reinhart snapped his whip at the creature's face, making it step back, and
Tenchi grabbed her and pulled her to her feet as they ran by.  One of the dogs
leapt at her, snarling, but the creature - Frankenstein, she finally
recognized - was just stepping forward again, and it ended up biting down on
his arm.  He roared, and flung the dog away.  The other dog stopped, and leapt
at Frankenstein.  With the one fighting the other, Carrie, Tenchi, and
Reinhart were able to follow after Malus.
 Malus, who had gotten far ahead of them, was standing before a door.
 "It won't open!" he said.  Tenchi and Reinhart looked at each other.
Lowering their shoulders, they slammed into the door, and it burst open.
Malus and Carrie went through, and they had just passed the door when they
heard the dogs barking.  Looking down the row, they saw the two creatures
racing towards them, and just ahead of them, Ryo-Ohki.
 "Miya! Miya! Miyaaaaa!"
 "Hurry it up Ryo-Ohki!" shouted Tenchi.  The cabbit hurtled through the door,
and Tenchi and Reinhart slammed the door shut, while Carrie cast a quick
incantation of locking.  The door glowed a moment, and then shook as the dogs
slammed into it.  It shook again, and a third time, and then not again, even
though they could still hear the dogs growling.  Ryo-Ohki fell over backwards,
panting.  All of them except Malus sank to the ground, panting.  Tenchi
suddenly started laughing.
 "What is it, Tenchi?" asked Reinhart.  Tenchi looked at him.
 "I just remembered what Kelberos meant.  They were a pair of devil dogs that
chased and devoured any who stepped into the Maze of Nightmares."  Reinhart
slapped him lightly on the shoulder.
 "How about remembering that before we escape them next time?"  Carrie looked
at him dryly.
 "What makes you think that there will be a next time for that?"  They
laughed, and stood.  Carrie walked over to Malus, and led him to a gate that
stood in the hedge.  Opening it, she squatted down next to him again.
 "If you go through here, you will soon find the road back to the village.
Watch out for the demons in the forest."  His eyes grew wide as he realized
she wasn't coming with him.
 "Can't you come with me?  I'm so scared..."  Carrie patted him gently on the
head, and lightly touched his cheek.
 "I can't honey.  I have to stay here, to find Dracula, and kill him.  Until
he's gone, you and all the other children will never be safe."  Malus slowly
nodded, and then dashed through the gates.  Carrie watched as he disappeared
into the forest a little sadly, and then closed the gate.  Tenchi came up
beside her.
 "Do you think that he'll be all right alone?"
 "If he doesn't stop running until he reaches the village, he should be."
They turned, and walked down the new corridor of hedges.  Every so often, they
would hear the dogs growl, but they never reappeared.  Every time, Ryo-Ohki
would jump nearly a foot in the air, and dash behind Tenchi's ankle.  Soon, in
the middle of the path, a small stream grew, a dark, and murky little brook.
They followed it until they came to a doorway, in a small clearing.
 "Well, unless we want another jog with the mutts, the only way to go is
here," said Reinhart.  He stepped forward, and opened the door.  It led to a
wide set of stairs which went down, into some sort of cave.  Getting their
weapons ready, they slowly entered.  When the door swung shut behind them,
they looked at each other and tightened their grip on their weapons.  No one
bothered trying to open the door again.  They knew it would be locked.
 They walked down, into the room.  Torches lined the walls, and several beams
lay half fallen from the ceiling.  As they walked a little farther into the
room, they saw something else.
 Three open coffins.  Slowly, they approached them, and looked in.  They were
all empty.  Then, a liquid sound came from somewhere in the room.  Slowly,
they turned, and began walking back to the center of the room.  All three were
ready for the fight they knew was coming.  Reinhart watched the walls, Tenchi
their backs.  They jumped when the body of a woman dropped suddenly to the
floor.  They looked at each other, and then as one, turned their gaze upward.
Three vampires hung upside down from the ceiling.
 "It's very rude to interrupt a person's meal!" said one.  Another grinned,
barring bloody fangs.
 "Or should we think something else?  Like the main dish has arrived?"  As
one, the vampires dropped to the ground, claws extended.  The middle one
charged Reinhart, while the others went after Carrie and Tenchi.
 "I shall kill you here, and the master will reward me when I hand him your
smoking heart, child of the Belmonts!" said the first.  Reinhart smiled
grimly, and curled his finger.  The vampire screamed in rage, and dashed
forward.  He calmly sidestepped, and let it impale itself on his short sword.
It gasped, and Reinhart stepped back a bit.  He snapped his whip, and it
wrapped around the vampire's eyes widened.  The holy whip of the Belmont's,
sensing the purity of evil in the vampire's heart, glowed white for a moment,
and suddenly the vampire melted, leaving a small pile of ash with the short
sword under it, unable to stand the touch of its light.
 "Come here little girl.  I'll make you young forever," called the second
vampire, its eyes locked on hers.  Carrie affected a sweet face, and took a
step nearer, as if under the control of his mind power.  He smiled as she came
closer and closer.  Finally, just a step away, she suddenly grabbed the rings
on her dress, and whipped their razor sharp edges across his face.  He
staggered back, black blood pouring from his sliced out eyes, screaming in
pain.
 "Come here, little vampire, I'll put you out of my misery!"  A blast of
magic, and it too dissolved to a pile of ash.  She turned to Reinhart, who was
in turn staring at Tenchi.
 "Even if you did make it to the Lord of Evil, he would shred your soul
without even thinking of it!" said the vampire.  Tenchi stabbed at him with
his sword, but the vampire blocked the attack with his claws.
 "Tell me where he took Ryoko!" growled Tenchi.  He flipped backwards as the
vampire swiped at him with his claws, smoothly avoiding the attack, and
countering with a cross-slash that the vampire had to throw himself backward
to avoid.
 "Ryoko?  I do not know of any Ryoko, although the master has had a new pet in
the last few days.  The scent of her blood alone is enough to throw any of the
lesser vampires into a frenzy.  There is something special about her.  Maybe
if I kill you, the master will allow me a taste."
 With a wordless roar, Tenchi leapt forward, and the vampire surged forward as
well.  Carrie saw a flash of light, and then Tenchi and the vampire were past
each other.  Tenchi-ken's blade disappeared, as Tenchi looked up.
 The vampire stood where he was a moment, and then began to laugh.  Suddenly,
a razor thin line of bluish light appeared at his midsection, and he screamed.
The light extended in both directions, chasing up past his chest, and falling
down through his legs.  As the light reached his neck, it looked at them.
 "You shall never defeat Dracula! Never!!!  Master!  I come!  I cooooome!!!"
With a final flash, the vampire disappeared, not even a bit of ash left to
mark its passing.  Tenchi hooked his sword to his belt, and then winced.  As
he turned to them, they saw why.  Three lines had been drawn in red across his
chest, all of which were now bleeding.
 "Tenchi! You're hurt!" exclaimed Carrie, running over to him.  She had him
shrug out of his coat and shirt.  Reinhart looked at the cuts.
 "You must have still had a little luck left.  They aren't deep, barely even
scratches, and I see no signs of vampiric contamination."  Carrie pulled some
bandages out of her pack, and they dressed the wound, while Tenchi sat
quietly.  He let out a slight grunt when Reinhart tightened the bandage and
tied it off, but aside from that, he made no complaint.  As they wrapped the
bandages, none of them noticed as the woman slowly got to her feet.  They were
all startled when a bright red beam flashed across the room and struck the
woman, flinging her across the chamber.  With a flash of purple flame, the
woman's short life as a vampire came to an end.  Ryo-Ohki came out from the
shadows she had been hiding in.
 "Ryo-Ohki...  You scared the daylights out of us," said Tenchi, scratching
her on the head.
 "Not the daylights, Tenchi," reprimanded Carrie severely.  "Never the
daylight in this place."  He nodded, understanding.
 "What did he say about Ryoko?"  Tenchi looked at the bandage, and muttered
something about 'doesn't have a mark on Mayuka.'  Then he looked up at them.
 "He said that he didn't know who she was, but that the 'Master' had a new
pet.  Now I'm more worried than ever."  Reinhart nodded, but Carrie pressed
with her question.
 "Why?" Tenchi looked away.
 "Remember that I told you that she was controlled by Kagato?  He forced her
to do many, many bad things.  Planets were destroyed, civilizations ruined.
My Grandfather's home planet, Jurai, was nearly destroyed.  That was why he
followed her to earth.
 "After I freed her, Kagato returned, and once again took control of her.  I
was killed, and she finally escaped.  After Tsunami, Jurai's tree of light,
brought me back to life, I killed Kagato.  But ever since, she's been
absolutely terrified that someone would take control of her again.  She tried
to hide it - she never wants to admit that she's afraid of something - but we
could all tell," he answered.  Standing, he looked at his shirt a little
ruefully, and said that Ayeka would probably kill him for getting the shirt
she had given him for Christmas ruined.  Especially trying to save Ryoko.
Sighing, he pulled it on, and then pulled on his coat too.
 They looked around the chamber, but it seemed like a true dead end.  Ryo-Ohki
started sniffing around, and slowly moved to the center coffin.  She plopped
down before it and miyaed very loudly.  Tenchi looked up.
 "What did you find?"
 "Miya miya miya!"  Tenchi looked at Reinhart and Carrie.
 "She said that she can smell something under the coffin."  They walked over
to it, and, as one, heaved.  It slid a little.  With one more push, they
shoved it off the base.  Below it, a dark hole sat, large enough for three
people to fit into at once.  A foul smell rose from it, of refuse left too
long.
 "I'm starting to pick up on a theme here," said Tenchi.
 "Only way out is down," answered Carrie.
 "I think we're letting this place get us down into the dumps," quipped
Reinhart.  Tenchi and Carrie groaned, and they jumped into the hole.

*****

 Here is a preview of the next chapter:
 Reinhart entered the room slowly, staring in amazement at the woman before
him.  She was just as he remembered, shining all the radiance of youth.  She
was standing just outside the circle of sunlight that poured in through the
single window.
 "Rosa..."
---------------
More C&C is always welcome.

---
The Platinum Dragon
"The rising sun will eventually set,
  a newborn's life will fade.
  From sun to moon, moon to sun,
  Give peaceful rest to the living dead." - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of
Time
http://dragonsanime.dreamhost.com - Dragon's Masaki Shrine of Tenchi Muyo
Proud Member of the Ryoko Forever Fan Club