They weren't as strong as the creatures in the alley had been; problem was, the bastards just kept coming.

" Faith! Behind you!" Buffy called.

The other Slayer whirled around just in time to fling her chakram and decapitate the zombie before it grabbed her. She then took to fighting the flood that suddenly appeared in its place. The others, Buffy, Alucard, and Charianne, dealt with the tide up front. Slowly the group inched forward, darting into the dents they made in the front before the rotting army could fill them. Faith watched their backs, with Charianne's occasional assisstance. Eventually they beat back the horde and quickly exited the main halls. Alucard leading, they began to ascend further up into the castle. All manner of beast attacked them in the Alchemy Lab and Marble Gallery, as Alucard named them.

As the four descended a staircase in the Gallery, a tiny giggle sounded to the right of them. Faith was the first to look.

" Jesus Christ!!!" Faith screamed. She leaped back, knocking into Buffy. The blonde turned and saw Faith's reason for freaking out and screamed herself. Sighing, Alucard cut in front of them and dispatched the living puppet with an arc of his sword. The hideous wooden doll shrieked and fell, landing in pieces on the floor. Alucard and Charianne continued on, and the Slayers, both still a bit shakey, followed close behind them.

After a long hallway filled with creepies, and a rather large eyes floating just outside the window that made everyone nervous, the Slayers and Children of Vlad emerged into a cool misty tower. They went up. Alucard looked a bit confused when they passed through a large empty room.

" All the creatures he favors are here... but none of his Guardians are here," the man said slowly, almost to himself.

" Perhaps they were not able to be brought back from the void with him. That would suggest the work of an amatuer... Someone who could not summon the gateway between worlds long enough to finish the job," Charianne replied. She stepped up next to her brother and examined the circular door-like structure in the center of the room's wall. " Is this where your doppleganger appeared before?"

Alucard nodded. He paused for a moment, like he was remembering something, but then began walking. He motioned for the others to follow.

" And you want what?" Lord Dracula asked boredly.

" Nothing too much, just immortality, a demon form, and a nice chunk of the mortal world to rule," Richard Wilkins said in a calm tone, seeming to not notice the fact that he was being mocked.

" Tell me again why I am giving you these things?" the vampire count questioned, sipping vitæ from his goblet. He was about ready to crush the silly human.

" Well, I got all your parts together here, and I brought you back. I think that's a fair deal." The mayor of Sunnydale looked Dracula in the face.

His courage made Lord Dracula decide not to kill him. " Hmph," he began. " You'll get what's coming to you... eventually. Come closer human."

Mayor Wilkins stepped up boldly to Dracula's throne. The lord of vampires placed a pale, powerful hand on the man's forehead. He crumpled to the ground and began to shake violently. Dracula leaned back in his throne and watched the horrific transformation take place.

" She's getting herself killed in there, I just know it!" Cirrus snarled, pacing fiercely across the carpet in Willow's bedroom.

Oz gave her a sympathic look. He could just imagine what he would be going through if Willow were somewhere dangerous without him. Willow edged closer to her friend, but Cirrus' savage grunt made her retreat again. In anger, Cirrus had always been unapproachable. The redhead sat back on her bed and tried to think of something she could do help. Xander was uncharacteristically quiet as he sat on the floor in a beanbag chair. He was careful to avoid Cirrus' brightly illuminated eyes.

" I GOTTA GET THE HELL IN THERE WITH HER!" Cirrus roared.

That gave Willow her lightbulb.

" Argh!"

" Get back!"

" Watch out!"

" Fuck!"

Buffy leaped up and sliced the gargoyle demon's wing as it hovered overhead. It wheeled around and spewed a fireball at her. Charianne sprang and pulled her out of the way second before the inferno collided with her. Buffy escaped the situation with one less sleeve on her jacket. The second demon, a skeletal, wingless, bird-like thing thrust its spear, clipping Alucard's left shoulder. Faith's chakram struck it, knocking its spear away. The gargoyle dove by and picked it up then, dropping it near Charianne. She slashed at it, and Buffy and Alucard attacked from behind. The chakram was flung upward, into the gargoyle who's fireballs were getting rather annoying. The gargoyle picked its partner up again and again, bombing them repeatedly.

They beat the two back, and the two beat them back, for some time. In the end though, Buffy, Faith, Alucard, and Charianne rendered the demons dead at their feet.

" This is most disturbing..." Charianne commented. " I have never seen a Slogra and Gaibon pair so resiliant."

" When the vampire Olrox first took up residence in the castle, do you remember Chari, all the creatures suddenly toughened... I think there is another force at work with our father in this place." Alucard's words came out with the distinct note of fear in them.

" Whoever brought him back must be here too then," Faith said. " So let's find the bastard and kill him."

" I assure you Faith, it will not be that easy. If Dracula's ally is as powerful as he seems to be, then he will keep his ally close. We may have to fight them both together," Alucard explained. " I do not like this at all."

" Who does? Where'd you say we were again?" Buffy asked

Alucard looked around. Finding the way to the Clocktower blocked, they had had to double back and take the route through the Olrox's Chambers. They had left that place too, and, from the gore that decorated the walls and floor, Alucard knew that they could only be in...

" The Coliseum," he answered. He thanked whatever powers existed that the castle had been risen to prematurely. They would not have faired as well, even with his guidance, if Castlevania had assumed a new form.

" And where do we need to be?"

" The Castle Keep. His throne room is there."

Buffy hefted her sword to the ready position. " Then stop stalling to wonder about things and take us there."

Alucard admired the girl's courage, but began to wonder how she would really fair in a battle with Lord Dracula as he took them from the Coliseum to the Royal Chapel. The Castle Keep was only a stone's throw away, and Alucard could feel his father. He looked at his sister, saw the trouble in her eyes, and knew Charianne felt it too.

Lord Dracula was expecting them. He was waiting for them.

" Not long now love," Angelus purred into Cordelia's ear as they sat in the center of the room. " They'll be here soon..."

" Sweet treats for us Angel," she cooed back, gnashing her fangs at the air. " Hot Slayer blood."

" Don't rush it love, we'll kill them slow," he told her. They both grinned ferally.

They could hear, down the corridor outside a bit, footsteps. Fighting. The Slayers were almost upon them. Angelus, his mind only on the torture that he would bring to his once-love Buffy, rose up from the floor, drew the dark blade his master had given him. Cordelia stood with him in minute, her own weapon in hand.

Then the door creaked open.

Willow took the item from Cirrus, a knife belonging to Faith. Cirrus watched solemnly as the witch prepared the spell that would take her to her beloved.

They're coming... They're so close... My horrible children and those two Slayers... Lord Dracula brooded. The distance between himself and his children was alarming. There were only his two young Guardians left within that distance as well. He cast his gaze to the being slithering in the corner. No, that one was still to weak to be sent out on his own to fight them. Not for long though. That one's form had been special, a combination of the Guardians of the past. Karasuman. Scylla's worm. The mighty Cerberus. Minotaurus. That one would be powerful beyond dreams... in time though.

As though reading Dracula's mind the being in the corner gave a sturdy screech. It stretched its dark feathery wings and began to rise, propping itself up on its four thickly muscled arms. It flexed its arms and wings, causing a gust of air to blow so hard the goblet of blood was knocked from Dracula's clawed hand. It grinned the grin of a sadist, rows of razor teeth exposed as its master clapped for it.

The unfortunate monster was filled with a genuine devotion to its master. That devotion filled the gap where its brains weren't. Mayor Wilkins had wanted power, and a place to flex that power and use it to rule. None of that mattered to his altered self though, and that was just what Lord Dracula had planned.

Not yet my lovely one... Soon though. Soon...

" Good evening lover," Angelus sneered at a stunned Buffy in the doorway. His teeth and sword glittered eerily in the dull light.

It was not Angel that frightened her though, it was his companion. The blonde Slayer had not seen Cordelia yet with her game face on. It was disturbing to look at the face which had once been painfully beautiful and see it distorted, horrible with a dark beauty that was its former self's opposite. The look in her eyes was emotionally vacant and absolutely chilling. Buffy shivered involuntarily.

" Oh, you like my work Buffy?" Angelus taunted. " She's a real prize isn't she?" He turned and, his eyes never leaving Buffy, kissed Cordelia heatedly.

" You fucking bastard!" the Slayer screamed. She leaped at him. Their blades met with a clang and a crackle as Light kissed Darkness.

The battle erupted then. Cordelia charged at three left in the doorway, her furious and unrelenting fighting cutting Alucard, Charianne, and Faith off from Buffy. She was so fast and agile that all they could do was parry and dodge her attacks while helplessly watching over her shoulder, praying for the blonde's success.

Buffy and Angelus were both on the offensive, and were somehow deadending each other at every advance. For a few moments it seemed as though rehersed, like some carefully practiced television fight or an only mock-violent ritual. Angelus' eyes burned her as she caught them and saw no trances of her Angel there. They held each other's eyes as they fought. The heavy feeling of Fate's presence was in the room. As though destiny would conclude a chapter there that night.

Alucard and Charianne's overkeen senses picked up the connection between their partners and the vampires that they fought. Neither needed to look over to see what their sibling was thinking. They knew what they had to do. Summoning the strength of their father, that dark energy that flowed in their bloodless veins, they began to beat Cordelia back. Faith hung to the rear, her ranged weapon useless in the melee. And besides that, she had a strange feeling. She felt Cirrus.

Cordelia was growing steadily more enraged as she was forced to step back from her opponent. Three swords flashed and popped with little explosions of energy. What was worse, she was beginning to realize that her previous pace would not be obtainable soon and she needed to conserve more energy if she was to outlast them. As Cordelia slowed, she found herself being beaten into the defensive.

Buffy faired far worse though. Her initial adrenaline kick was dying fast, too fast and coupled with the effects of various small wounds gained earlier in the trek she could not hold her own for long. Angelus knew that. Her Slayer skill would draw the battle out for longer than if she were simply mortal, but in Castlevania, where he felt that his power could never die, she would not survive. Angelus flashed her his sinister grin again. Buffy comprehended the gesture correctly.

" You will die tonight," it said.

Maybe I will, she thought grimly. But I'm taking you back to Hell with me.

The battle raged on beside her. Faith was on edge in the room. The feeling of helplessness never did sit well with her. And there was Cirrus. Why did she feel like Cirrus was going to pop up at any minute? And why did she so thoroughly dread what might happen if she did appear? The tapestry on the wall disturbed her too. She had never thought about death much before, knowing that worrying about it would only reduce her effectiveness, but there, in Castlevania, she ached with fear.

It was not fear for herself.

Buffy had by that time lost so much strength that it was a struggle to keep the sword in her hands. Angelus let fly one almighty blow and the weapon went clattering to the floor. Buffy stood at his mercy, for, lightning quick, he moved behind her, dark blade to her creamy throat. He turned her roughly to the picture on the wall. It depicted the Last Supper, but Jesus Christ and the Apostles were dead, slain by the demons hovering above them.

" It's appropriate isn't it?" he hissed in her ear. " The Last Supper. Evil triumphs. This is certainly going to be the last supper you ever attend!"

His teeth sank into Buffy's neck, and the blonde Slayer closed her eyes, waiting for the life to be gone from her. Angelus didn't take much though, he wasn't able to. In a split-second flash of white light, Cirrus, Faith's knife in hand, materialized behind him. She drove the knife into his unbeating heart from behind and Angelus had just enough time to pull out of the Slayer's neck before he froze in place, sword falling from his hand.

Hesitating for just moment, Cordelia watched the action and simlutaniously made her big mistake. Charianne ran her through, and she halted in place like a department store dummy. Buffy scrambled away from Angelus and towards the safety of her allies. Faith simply scrambled into Cirrus' arms. The two women clutched each other close.

" Thank god thank god thank god..." Cirrus whispered fiercely as she squeezed the dark Slayer.

When the initial shock was over and everyone had fully recovered, the Slayers and Cirrus puzzled over the statuesque vampires.

" Within the walls of Castlevania, vampires are so strong that a simple stab in the heart cannot destroy them. It will, however, immobilize them so more... permenant... damage may be done," Alucard explained. He walked, a slow gait, as though there were some weight on his shoulders, to Angelus. He stood by the man for a minute, looking him over. Charianne, meanwhile, moved to Cordelia.

" We are half human..." she began slowly, taking the female vampire's hand in her's.

" We are the children of the Master of Evil..." Alucard said, doing the same to Angelus' hand.

" We do not deserve to live..."

" We will give our humanity to those in need..."

" To those who deserve it far more than we..."

The four, Alucard and Angelus, Cordelia and Charianne, began to glow with the light of life energy. In unison, voices thundering, the siblings spoke for the last time.

" We banish the darkness from you!"

With that Charianne and Alucard yanked the blades from the hearts of their subjects. The light began to fade then, and with it, Alucard and Charianne, the offspring of Count Vlad Tepes Dracula, vanished.

Angel and Cordelia collapsed on the ground. Then, sputtering and coughing, they both drew mortal breath. Buffy rushed to her beloved's side and cupped his face in her hands.

" Angel..." she whispered.

When his coughing stopped Angel looked up and at her with puppy dog eyes. " Buffy..." he gasped. " Wha... What's happening?"

The blonde Slayer pulled him close, marveling at how it felt. " Oh god Angel... You're warm..."

Angel held her tightly, and they both listened in awe to his steady breathing and his racing heart. Beside them, Faith was helping Cordelia to her feet. The dazed girl began gushing thank yous all over Faith and Cirrus, crying about how much being a vampire sucked and how icky blood was. Faith and Cirrus just smiled and nodded.

" We're wasting time," Buffy said at last, dispite the fact that all she wanted to do was hold human Angel forever.

" What're we doing with them? She can't fight, and he's got considerably less power than he did before," Cirrus pointed out.

Angel got to his feet and picked up Alucard's sword which lay on the floor near him. " I'll get her out of here," he said. " You just go get Dracula."

Buffy and Angel kissed each other for luck, and their kiss was, for once, warm as well as sweet and tender and perfect. Cirrus clapped his shoulder as he passed her and he and Cordelia left the room. Faith took Charianne's sword in addition to her chakram. She offered it to her lover, but Cirrus was wolfed by then.

" Don't need anything but teeth and claws," she growled.

The Slayers and werewolf charged forward, into the Castle Keep.

His children were gone, Dracula could feel that. But his Guardians had been bested, and the Slayers and a new creature were still coming. His darling baby in the corner was stronger, but not nearly to full strength. It wouldn't matter soon though, the Slayers would burst in and there would be nowhere to run. He called his baby to him and stroked the top of one of its shaggy heads as he cast his gaze to the door. They were coming up the stairs. Dracula took the central head of his beast in his hands and cooed at it.

" When they get up here pretty, you'll kill them. You'll kill them all won't you..."

The being nodded all of its heads furiously and let out a low bellow to signal that it was ready. It would please its master. Dracula smiled as he let the monster's head go. It slithered away from him and over to the doorway of the throne room.

The first thing Buffy, Faith, and Cirrus saw was a dark blotch blocking the way into the throne room. Then, as their eyes adjusted to the new dim candlelight, they saw it in detail. Its body was scaly and like a snake's, except that it had four arms on its upper torso. On its chest there was a large V of dirty brown fur that extended up to its shoulders and necks. There were three heads, the center was that of a bull. The horns gleamed, as though highly polished. The heads on the right and left were those of wargs or perhaps dire wolves. They barked and growled and yipped when they saw their master's enemies come up the stairs. The creature flexed its huge raven wings, causing a gush of air to knock them to the ground.

Once down, it advanced upon them, each head firing a large sphere of flames. Cirrus rolled out of the way, as did the Slayers, and leaped to her feet. She dove at the snake's belly and tore away a mouthful there before being knocked back again by the beat of wings. Buffy scrambled out of the wind zone and rolled at it, uncurling to take a stab the right wing. The heads bellowed in unison and the blonde was swept back by a large paw. Faith hurled her chakram at the central head, and would have sliced it at the neck maybe, but another paw shot up, batting the disc back at her. She jumped to avoid being split in two and her weapon bounced down the stairs.

The area that the heavy winds reached was cut in half with the wounding of the right wing, and they attacked more easily. Faith eventually hacked one of its arms off. Cirrus kept to her hit-and-run tactics, chewing and clawing the sickening flesh where ever she could. She had clawed out the eyes of the left head. Buffy had the right head gushing blood. The creature wasn't the only thing hurt though. The bull's horn had put a gush in Buffy's arm when she had jumped up and stabbed the right head. Faith was bruised from being slammed down many times by the three other arms while she sawed at the one. Only Cirrus seemed to be untouched.

Dracula, meanwhile, was a tad upset at the condition of his baby. The right head would die any minute from the stab-wound, though it was desperately trying to hang on. Its beautiful wing was hanging off its back. The vampire lord knew that he must his creature. So he summoned another creature. A bat. Just small enough to do the job.

The bat flew, barreling out of Dracula's hands and towards the closest target, the werewolf. Cirrus dashed in for another bite, took it, and was about to leap back when the little devil smacked her in the face. She stopped, not thinking, to kill it. In her moment's hesitation, the creature hauled her up by the right arm and threw her across the room. She smacked into the wall with a sickening THWACK and slide down. Cirrus suddenly became very aware that when the creature had tossed her, it forgot let go of her arm. Blood flooded from her shoulder, and she looked down to see part of the bone sticking out like an ivory tower on a red-black plain. She turned her head and vomited. The draining feeling was heavy inside her, she tried desperately to think of way to stop the bleeding. Recalling, of all things, and old episode of Xena, Cirrus grabbed a nearby candleabra a quickly pressed the fire to her open wound. She had just enough time to burn it shut before the darkness slipped over her.

Faith saw her lover's arm in the creature's paw, and felt a wave of primal rage wash over her. She leaped at it, flailing her blade wildly, cutting at anything and everything she could. The left and center heads received several cuts, a great long slice was made across its chest and a finger from a paw that tried to block her barrage fell to the floor. Then Faith was knocked to the floor by Buffy. The dark Slayer looked up in time to see a massive fireball fill the space that she had just inhabited.

" C'mon, we gotta finish this together," Buffy urged.

The two Slayers stood, one slightly to either side the central head, the only strong head left. The creature halted its assault and was silent in the presence of the pure energy that radiated from them as together they called up the deepest of their inner strength for the kill. The creature, stupid as it was, realize in that second that there would be no hope for it. Dracula's face contorted in anger and fear. The creature roared one last dear apology to its beloved master. Then the Slayer, moving as if two parts of one whole, charged its bull-head. Two swords swung. They met with a clink in the middle of the thick hairy neck and slid out, fresh purple blood oozing everywhere. The head itself fell to the floor, as did the rest of the body soon after.

Then the Slayers stepped towards the late creature's master.

Lord Dracula felt their eyes lacerate him. They dashed, splitting apart, one to each side, around him. He wheeled quickly, left to right to left to right, and suddenly could not think of any way out. Two blades, soaked with cold blood, plunged side-by-side into his heart. One withdrew and severed his head. It returned and the other severed his arms. They took turns dicing the body until not much was left.

From the pocket of her jacket, Buffy took a bottle of Holy Water and doused the pieces with it. She and Faith watched with a sort of tired delight as they burned.

" Let's get outta here B," Faith said when only ash remained.

They gathered the half-dead Cirrus and hurried out of Castlevania, leaving it just before it was enveloped and ripped apart by the white light.

Willow was with Oz that night. Cordelia had rushed to Xander's after escaping the castle. There were no hard feelings between them. Angel had waited for Buffy outside City Hall and was there to hold her when she came tumbling out. Faith took Cirrus back to the motel room. Fate breathed a sigh of relief, as it always did when The Master Plan proceeded the way it was supposed to. Things got back to as normal as the Hellmouth ever got in a few days, and the ignorant citizens went on, once again not knowing how close they and the entire world had come to demon rule, unending torture, famine, and so forth. Things were quiet.

Until Cirrus woke up.

" Faith, I lost my fucking ARM! I don't even have a stump left for Christ's sake! I can't do this for awhile."

Faith was in tears. " But why?! Why leave?!?"

Cirrus shouldered her duffelbag and cupped Faith's face with her one hand. " I love you. But I'm no good to you like this, and if I stick around I'm just gonna lose more, maybe get myself killed. I have to go."

" You can't..." she sobbed breathlessly. " I... I need you... I love you Cirrus, you can't leave me!"

Cirrus leaned down and placed the softest and most perfect of lover's kisses on Faith's trembling lips. Then she gently pushed her aside and walked out the door. The Slayer did not try to go after her.