"Come on, faster! Better reaction time!" Stela yells as she smacks her staff across Taka's back, sending the young man falling to the ground with a grunt. "Vampires have fast reflexes, how do you expect to kill one if you are as slow as a mule with a broken leg?"

"Not slow...you...too fast..." Taka groans from the floor as he tries to sit up. "Very fast..."

"Then learn to move faster. All vampires have insane speed, how do you and Sumi expect to kill several vampires once you return to your homeland to defend your people to avoid another worst than or almost as worse as Cho to rise to power?"

It had only been maybe a few days since these unwelcomed visitors had come to stay in the castle, and Stela still did not trust them. The two had tried being friedly towards her, following her around and offering to help with the most mundane things like sweeping and doing laundry, but she brushed them off and sent them away. Even Lazarus didn't like them, always growling every time the two tried to approach and attempted to nip at their hands when one of them tried to pet him. At least someone was on her side, and it wasn't the stupid and naive little brother who welcomed these two with open arms.

"Get up, we'll try again." Stela orders but Taka remained on the floor. "Taka, get off your ass unless you want me to drag you all the way back to the castle."

"Tired." The man responds and flung an arm over his face. "And sore. Can we stop for now, please? We've been at it since the morning, I think I have bruises."

"Fine, only because I need a drink and the last thing I need is my brother nagging me for wearing you out." She grabs two water skins she had laying nearby Lazarus, who had been watching them, and flung one to Taka. "You're an archer, aren't you? Shouldn't you be fast?"

"I try to be. It was sort of pure luck I was able to shoot those vampires before Sumi stabbed them." The man responds before opening the top and poured water into his mouth. "You brother mentioned you were trained by a vampire hunter."

"Only for a few days, after he left us to go spread his work, I've spent weeks alone trying to keep up my training. My father may be gone, but there are still vampires out there terrorizing the world. Kind of wish I left with him and our other friend to go out in the world and give aid to those in need, but if I had then my brother would have gone mad from being alone."

"Then...why didn't you?"

"Because I'm not abandoning my brother, plus I have no clue where the fuck in Romania those two are, or if they are still in this country."

"Maybe when we have been trained enough, you two can come with us to Japan and do that?"

"And leave this castle and the trove of knowledge my friend left us behind for people to raid and destroy? Not a chance."

"I mean if we could move all that into the castle then get the machine to work-"

"For someone who is tired, you are awfully chatty!" Stela snaps, glaring at the man. "We told you before that there is no way to move this castle, and even if we could, there is no way we are going to abandon all that stuff we keep underground to go play hero when there's already a Belmont alive and running around doing that. End of story."

Taka mutters something she didn't understand before getting up to stretch and starts to walk off.

"Hey we aren't done here!" Stela yells.

"Well I am and I'm hungry! Gonna check on Sumi and Alucard!" Taka yells back.

"Lazy little fuck." Stela mutters as she picks up her staff. "Come on Laz, lets go back to the trove to do some real proper training."

Lazarus yawns from his spot and stretches before getting up and following her towards the trove. Some yards away she could see her brother sword fighting with both the unwanted visitors. So much for being tired and hungry. Stela soon makes her way into the trove, turning on the lights they had recently managed to install to light the place. It felt weird, compared to the soft warm glow of candles she had been used to, but it was better than having to spend well over an hour running about with a torch and ladder.

Once she was at the bottom, she makes a beeline for the weapons and grabs ahold of the practice whip. This one was more like the old whip Trevor used before he discovered the Morningstar whip, though she doubted this one was blessed to easily kill vampires. She then proceeds to stack some books and then laid a potato on top of each stack before taking several steps back. Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it, Stella starts to swing the whip, expertly knocking the root off the top of the stacks or accidentally knocking a whole stack over.

"No, you need to smack the potato off, going for the head is often the best way to take a monster out." Stela mutters as she runs over to the fallen stacks to restack them. "Unless it's a hydra. Ugh, he makes it so much easier, why isn't there a book on fighting with whips?"

Maybe she'd have better practice if she had actual monsters to fight with, not stacks of books with vegetables she'd snag from her little garden, but hardly ever came close to the castle and her brother refused to let her leave to find one to practice her skills on. Perhaps later she could talk to him to convince her to go into the forest and hunt for one or two, at least so those nuisances can see what fighting creatures of the night looked like and experience it for themselves better. Or maybe he'd protest and tell her no. Well, if he's distracted with them, she could sneak off to find some live targets to practice on.

----

That night at dinner, something felt off. Stela normally would have felt nothing was wrong at dinner, but she couldn't help but feel like something was going to go wrong. When was the last time she felt that? She could barely focus on the delicous dinner she andd her brother had prepared with some preserved boar and vegetables from the garden, and her wine tasted funny too. Oh how she wish she could tell her brother, but with how things were he would have dismissed her. Even reading in the library didn't help settle her mind, she could barely finish a single chapter before storming off to bathe and head straight to bed.

Ugh I hate this feeling, I hate it! The young woman thought bitterly as she tossed an turned in bed, ignoring Lazarus' protesting growls from her feet. Last time I felt this...mother...both of them. And I can't even tell my stupid brother about it to confide in him! I wish that big oaf and Sypha were here, they'd undertsna dor at least take me seriously.

Ah there she went again, thinking of him again. She could almost see the frown on that scruffy face of his, his brows furrowed in concern. If her brother wasn't so focused on those two-

Stela sits up in alarm. That awful gut churning feeling in her stomach was strong now. Was Adrian okay? Something told her he wasn't, she should check on him. She climbs out of bed and creeps out of her room, one of her silver knives still in hand. The castle was quiet tonight, but it was the sort of quiet that was unnerving and she hated it to her core. She needed to check on her brother, just to make herself feel better and know he was fine.

Calm down, he's probably fine and just drifting off to sleep. Stela tries to tell herself as she briskly hurries down the hall to his room. If he's fine, you just go back to bed or stay with him to calm your nerves. Just calm down and - good lord!

The second she poked her head into her brother's room, Stela was hit with the strong smell of blood before her eyes fell on the two naked corpses of Taka and Sumi. At first she wondered why they would be here when they had their own rooms, before her eyes fell on the large stakes near the bodies, the rope on the floor, their throats slit open and still oozing some blood. The damn bastards...

"Adrian!" Stela yells, turning to rush out of the room. "Adrian where are you?!"

She set about rushing through the castle, screaming for her brother and checking every room she thought he could be hiding in when she heard crying coming from his childhood room. She immedietly hurries in to find her brother naked save for a blanket wrapped around his waist, curled up on the burned rug next to the ring their father left behind that neither of them wanted to toss away. She could see burn marks on his body, most likely from that rope she saw in the bedroom and felt a surge of anger course through her.

Stela wordlessly knelt down next to her brother, taking his hand and gripping it tightly as his shoulders shook. He felt so cold, almost as cold as an actual corpse and he shivered when her warm hands made contact with his skin.

"Shh, it's just me." She whispers softly before soothingly rubbing his shoulder, taking care not to touch the burn scars. "Did...did they do this to you?"

Adrian nods wordlessly and turns to curl himself closer to her before his hand finds hers and grips it. "I don't want to go back there...stay with me Stardust...please..."

Stela feels a pang of hurt in her chest before carefully gathering her brother in her arms and tries to stand. He felt surprisingly light, but that didn't matter right now, she needed to move him from the floor and out of this room. As carefully as she could, she moved Adrian onto her lap and hugged him tightly, his head wedged under her chin. Their mother used to hold them like this when they woke up from nightmares, but instead of humming, she began to softly sing an old song she remembered her birth mother used to sing. She could feel her brother relax in her arms as she hugged him tightly before standing up, still holding him to her chest. She managed to make it back to her room and placed her brother on top of her own bed to grab a night shirt from her drawers and slip it on him before yanking at the covers to cover him and climbing under them. The dhampire is practically clinging to her as she adjusts the blankets to fit over the both of them before hugging him back and kissing his forehead.

"You were right..." She heard him whisper. "You were right...about them..."

"Shhh, it's okay. We can talk about this in the morning. Now is not the time for me to gloat and say "I told you so" when you are like this." Stela says softly. "Rest now, I'm not going anywhere."

Adrian nods and she hears a small poof noise before feeling something small and fluffy snuggle against the crook of her neck. "Can I stay like this?"

"As long as you don't bite me, you...if you are this upset to go into bat form, stay like that for now."

Her brother makes an upset noise as he buried his little snout against her neck and hair. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry Stardust..."

Stela sighs and lifts her hand to stroke the small bat. "No need, just rest."

---

The next morning, Adrian was gone, and so were the bodies. Stela felt her throat tighten in fear and worry as she went looking for her brother, searching high and low for him. He wasn't in the kitchen, or the library, or the dining room, the throne room, the stables, the garden, or even in the trove.

"There's only so many places a dhampire could go!" She groans as she is getting out of the lift to the trove. "Where is he!"

As she is walking back towards the front entrance, Stela then spots two figures in front of the castle. What were those? She hurries forward and gasps when she sees the pale nightshirts, the loose dark hair, the dead gazes and the sharp bloody stakes poking out of their mouths. Lazarus barks loudly at the skewered figures, his short dark fur bristling in fear before he runs to hide behind her legs. She quickly scooped the pug into her arms and ran for the steps, clutching him to her chest.

He didn't- dear lord please tell me he didn't do this! She pleads as she ran into the castle, still clutching the dog. Adrian why!

She didn't stop running until she reached her room and slammed the door shut before falling to her knees, her mind reeling. Of all the things she expected her brother to do after that horrible night, she didn't expect this. Why?

"Stardust?" Stela gasps as she hears her brother's voice on the other side of the door and a knock. "I...I have lunch..or well I am making lunch. It's trout - again. Come to the kitchen when you are ready to help. Or stay here."

Stela held her breath as she heard her brother walk away and let out a shaky breath. Maybe she shouldn't talk to him about the skewered figures in the front yard right now, or what happened last night. This could wait, she could wait a bit until she was sure he was alright. Letting out a shaky breath, she looks at Lazarus, who gave a whine and wiggles out of her arms to paw at the door.

"You are right, we should go with him." She says quietly. "My brother needs us right now, more than ever. This...what happened can wait to be discussed. Let's go."