Troubles of the Past

	It was a normal day in Castlevania, I was busy wandering my section of the palace, getting to know the place
 more intimately now that I’m living here.  My first stop was the room my sister was using; well technically we are not related
 by blood, but I could never forgive myself for what I did to her family back when I was younger, so I adopted her.  Any ways
 she was reaching that troubled age of fourteen, man I can’t believe it’s been nine years since I took her in, and I can’t bear to 
see her grow up but it’s a part of life.  Upon entering her room I did not find her there, I wondered where she was so I started 
to look.

	I knew the creatures of Castlevania would not attack Ada as they knew who she was related to, well ever since 
that tournament the entire place has gotten much more friendly.  The ones who guarded Dracula for when he was to arrive 
and destroy this world, now were as neighborly as one could get.  Death was a whiz at chess and knew much of the ancient 
world, hey as the grim reaper of souls he could be a nice guy once you get to know him well.  I did have a tendency to avoid 
the succubus as it was I who delivered the killing blow to her; she might still be mad about that or not, frankly I don’t want to 
find out.  Although my favorite to hang out with will always be the werewolves, for they are my kin and they look to me sort 
of as a leader.

	As I was walking down the hallway I passed a few skeletons, ““Hey have any of you seen my sister, I can’t seem 
to find her anywhere” I asked, they shook their heads no, so I went on.   I thought that I should begin working my way up 
from the lowest reaches of Castlevania, so I took to the shadows to speed up my search.  I had passed a pair of werewolves
 a minute ago perhaps they have seen Ada.

	“Hey have any of you seen my sister, I can’t seem to find her anywhere” I asked hurryingly
	“Nope none of us have seen her, if we do will be sure to get back to you” one of them replied.
	“Oh by the way Cornell, Ortega has been spotted in near the courtyard, I suggest you be careful as he still has
 some of Dracula’s old power with in him” the second one said.  Ah shit not Ortega, he has been after me ever since I 
showed him up many years ago.  “Thanks for the warning.” I said all the while thinking about Ada, first I’ll find her then I’ll 
deal with Ortega.

	~Ortega back when we were friends was a person you could depend on to get you out of a jam.  He was a 
were-lion, I really don’t know how he ended up near Castlevania or with my pack but there he was, as a human he was 
quite large and very muscular, he valued strength over everything else.  He had a grudging respect for me because of my 
speed and skill, but he always thought that he would be the strongest in the pack.  Well that remained true until I surpassed 
him.~

	I could feel that night was beginning to fall, don’t ask how I knew perhaps it had something to do with me 
being a werewolf myself.  So I’ll  return to Ada’s room,  the route to her room passed mine though.  There’s a note on the  door.

	Dear Cornell:
	Are you searching for your poor little sister, well I have her and if 
	you ever want to see her again then come to the old battle grounds 
	at midnight.  If you don’t come then I’ll enjoy making a meal of your 
	sister.  Come alone if you care for her life that is.
						Your “old friend”
							Ortega

	The old battle ground I thought, oh shit there is not much time.  I left Castlevania and utilizing my most expedient 
mode of travel, I reached the battle ground with time to spare.  As I approached the large stone circle I could see Ortega 
standing in the middle,  and on the largest stone there was my sister, chained to it.

	“ORTEGA, LET HER GO!!!!!” I shouted, “she has nothing to do with this, this conflict is between you and me!”

	“Oh but poor Cornell she has a lot to do with this, you see it was because of her that we had lost our friendship, 
you had left your own pack to be with that filthy human.” said Ortega smugly.

	“She was but a child Ortega I could not, in good conscience, leave her to die, she was an innocent being, all of 
them were, and I will not let you hurt her.” I replied gripping my weapons.

	“Ah I see the cub has shown his fangs come now let us see what you can do” replied Ortega as he cracked his 
knuckles.  All these years Ortega has been jealous of my skill, what used to be a friendly competition turned into a bitter rivalry.  
Although he was older than me when we were friends, he could not stand to see one younger than him become stronger than 
him.  So in the end he sold his very soul to Dracula for power, the power to overcome me, but that was when Dracula was evil.  
He must have chosen the ring of stones as that’s where we first fought, and I beat him.

	We clashed in the ring of stones, each of us inflicting heavy hits on each other, Ortega delivered powerful blows, 
but could not deliver them as fast as I could block them, but I could not block them all.  I on the other hand used the speed 
of my attacks to overcome his defenses. He attempted to use his larger frame and grapple me to the ground, I used this 
opportunity to slip under his attack and deliver some critical blows to his back.

	“So the runt has learned a few new tricks, but now the real battle begins” he said as he entered his hybrid form.  
His muscles grew in size and he became covered in a golden fur, his hair manifested into a mane around his head, while his 
face, hands and feet became much more bestial.  I replied in kind, the seams on my shirt burst with the increasing size of 
my muscles, bones were shifting into new positions, the first time I transformed it was very painful.  The sliver fur of my 
hybrid form covered my body.  As I stared into his eyes I could see the rage burning red with I them, mine on the other 
hand had a blue calming hue to them.  Ortega’s body began crackling with electricity almost as if it was wracked with 
pain, and he lowered his shoulder.  I knew that this was a new tactic quite possibly due to his deal with Dracula.  I wreathed 
my body in flames and replied in kind.  We once again clashed in the center of the ring.  

	The explosion caused by the two energies meeting was huge, but there we were grappling in the middle, he once 
again tried to overbear me, but this time I had a different plan.  Shadows had started to gather around the two of us, the more 
Ortega tried to push his advantage the stronger the shadows.  When it looked like that Ortega had the upper had I launched my plan. 
 Almost as quickly as I could think of it the shadows began to cover my body and infuse themselves into me.  When it was complete 
Ortega passed through me as if I wasn’t even there, confused he looked back only to see a pair of glowing blue spots staring back 
at him.  Almost as in a frenzy he leapt at me, reverting to more primitive tactics, this must have been the price paid for when he 
received his ill gotten power.  He feverishly attempted to either knock me down or maul me, but with his mind reverting to a 
more primitive state he could not comprehend that you can’t physically harm a shadow well at least not by the method he was using.	

	He roared with anger at the fact that he could not visibly hurt me, he was strong enough to land a few good blows
 but that was it.  I don’t know what clicked in his brain but he began to grow larger and larger, he had entered another form, 
but it wasn’t that of a lion as I was expecting.  I quickly learned that this was probably the true power of Dracula at work, as 
Ortega was now growing wings and two other heads.  His new manifestation was that of a chimera.  

	With his new form he began a vicious assault, he no longer just passed through me but he hit me squarely.  Each 
hit brought a stronger sensation of pain than the last one.  My only option was to fight him on an equal level, so I changed 
once more to my largest form.  Although I was still a bit smaller than him I tried all I could to take him down, but it was to 
no avail, as he knocked me down and sank two heads onto my flesh, I could not help but see my life flash before my eyes

	“So Ortega what’s going to be the plan for tonight?” I said. “Well this is when you prove yourself to the pack 
Cornell, because of what we are humans fear us, as such they hunt us down.  In order to live we have to strike them first 
before they get a chance to kill us, you got that?” Ortega replied. “Sure I got that” I responded.  The smell of burning 
wood was In the air, I was one of the few to go on tonight’s ‘hunt’.  We torched the town and killed the villagers.  I could 
here the cry of help from a small girl in one of the buildings, something came over me and I went to investigate, using my 
human form I entered the burning house.  Among the flaming debris I found a five year old girl.  I wondered what happened 
to the parents she was crying for.  After searching some more I found them in a different room.  They were dead, their throats
 were ripped out and they were disemboweled, I could tell by the marks that this was my doing.  In my need to prove myself 
to the pack I took that little girls parents away, my victims finally had a face.  Almost as if on instinct I grabbed the girl and 
ran out of the burning house.

	“Hide in here, the bad wolf-men won’t hurt you, you got it?” I asked the poor frightened child. All she could do
 was nod her head in a yes.

	“Ortega I feel that I can no longer stay with the pack, these tactics of striking them before they strike us is not 
sitting well with me” I told Ortega.  He was displeased of course, and would not let me leave unless I proved that I could 
take care of myself.  We went to the ring of stones as was customary and we fought to see who was right.  I had won that 
day but I did not kill Ortega as I valued our friendship too much.  It was then that I left my pack.

	I returned to the burnt village and found the little girl sleeping in the hiding place I put her in.  Feeling that this 
was not a safe place for her I picked her up and carried to a safer place.  I took what little money and supplies from the 
village I could find with us so at least she would be comfortable.  Later that day when I was walking, she woke up, she 
was shocked by her surroundings as they were new.

	“Where am I, where’s mommy and daddy?” she asked.  “I’m sorry to say that they were not able to come 
with us, they stayed behind to fight off the bad wolf-men I told you about.” I lied in order not to upset her, I’d figure that 
I would tell her when she was older. “What’s your name Mr. My name is Ada and thank you for saving me from the fire.” 
she said with a gleam in her eyes.  “Well Ada my name is Cornell, it looks like we are going to be on our own for a while, 
so don‘t worry I‘ll protect you.”

	~Four years had passed and we had taken up residence near a village.  I did odd jobs to earn money so she 
could eat and have a good life.  One thing though I noticed that she still had that pendant she was wearing the night of the 
attack.  During our time together she had come to call me brother and I called her sister, this was to make up for the fact
 that we were both alone in the world.~

	While working on the meager plot of land we had, I saw an unexpected visitor.  It was Ortega once again.  
“So this is what has become of you Cornell, attempting to make an honest living, while living within a human community.  
Ha, they can all sense that you are unnatural, like a predator in their midst, but being naive they can’t point it out.” said 
Ortega.  “Look Ortega I already fought and won my freedom what I chose to do with my life is my decision.  I’m not 
going to return to the pack, I’ve moved on” I replied.  Ortega sniffed the air “I smell a human in that shack you call a 
home Cornell, it appears to be the same sent you had on you when we first fought.” said Ortega with a smile, “So let 
me see the pretty face that made you turn your back on your pack”

	“Ortega, you will not go into my home with out my consent” I snarled as I stood between him and the 
door.  Ada was inside and she peaked out the window.  “Why do you live with a human Cornell, they are nothing but
 trouble.”  stated Ortega.  “I owe that girl, Ortega, I took form her the only family she had ever known.  I killed her 
parents with these hands, and I can never forgive myself.  We are family now, so please leave I do not wish to escalate 
things further, but if you do attack, I will fight back.” I stated.  

	Sadly things did escalate and I was forced to fight all of them back, Ortega and his group ran off with their 
tails in between their legs, vowing revenge.  Ada did confront me that night and I did tell her the truth, although I didn’t 
want to.  It hurt me deeply to see her cry, but she forgave me for what I did, after all I was trying to make amends.  I 
still can not forgive myself, but I will honor what I said all those years I will protect her.

	What was happening came to light, Ortega was ready to deliver the killing blow, when I got a surge of 
energy.  I remembered all those people I had helped: Ada, Alucard, Richter, Seig, Fighter, and finally that girl Arianna. 
 At least for the moment I had awakened a secret power within me that I did not know about.  An explosion happened 
that blew Ortega off of me.  As the smoke cleared I arose as a golden werewolf

	“Ok now we end it.” I said as I move forward with lightning like speed.  Ortega let loose a poisonous cloud
 of gas in an attempt to stop me, sad for him it had no affect on me. I was upon him in seconds, and with a might blast from
 my fists I disabled one of his heads in a blazing glory.  I quickly dashed to the other head and with a swift powerful blazing 
kick I knocked it clean off.  Ortega was disoriented at this somewhat awesome display of power, and could not act.  In
 my final moment, as I could feel this power slipping away, I used all that I had left and created a massive fire ball.  Making
 sure Ada was clear of the blast radius I let it loose.  Ortega erupted into a pillar of fire, and when all was said and done he 
lay in the pit almost lifeless.  I broke Ada’s chains and collapsed with exhaustion.

	“Sis, I never want to do that again.” I gasped.  “Don’t worry my brother you have done more than enough, 
lets just go home” said Ada.  In a twist she was helping me instead of the other way around.  As we walked I heard the 
sounds of someone attempting to sneak up, and if almost by instinct once again I acted.  It was Ortega that was behind 
us still attempting to get his revenge, but instead what he got was an uppercut with a katar. The blow needless to say 
killed him, sad thing though, if he wasn’t so bull headed and could accept things this would have never happened.  Well 
at least now all the troubles from my past are finally over.  Let’s just pray that no more visitors from that time come to 
see me again

Back at Castlevania:  “Well, Well, Well It looks like he finally finished you off am I right Ortega?” asked death to 
Ortega’s spirit.  “Well it’s over now, he’ll never know that I did respect him greatly, but it could never show through 
my jealousy, well Death I‘m ready”