Chapter Text
Dracula hurries back to the others and notices Ganondorf has already provided breathing support and started up the EKG. He claps Ganondorf’s shoulder and sits at a desk. Without another word, he holds out the results of the tests. Ren is the first to look at them. Testing positive for poisons, and then all of the tests taken to confirm it was indeed poisoning, and finally, what the suspected poison must’ve been based on the number of poisons in stock, and based on her reported symptoms.
“So,” Ren trembles, “Where do we go from here?”
Dracula stands up and takes a deep breath. “All we can do right now is keep putting activated carbon in her system and pray it flushes out. All things considered, though, she actually has a good prognosis. Poisonings like this aren’t inherently deadly unless the dose is big enough or consistent enough. With her dosage, she should be stable by the time the half-life of the poison passes. At most, that will take three days.”
Ann asks this time, “So what do we do after?”
“Keep an eye on her. She will still need time to recover. Especially keep an eye on what she is eating or drinking. So the pantry. Who here is aware I have poison storage in there?” Everyone raises their hands, “Good, that means I don’t have to explain. When someone checked the poison storage, it was revealed that it wasn’t just unlocked; the perpetrator left the key in the lock.”
“So, now what?”
“I think we should remain as calm as we reasonably can. If we all panic and turn on each other, nothing good will come of it. That being said, if you go inside the pantry again and see the poison storage open again, tell me. If I’m not directly there, tell either Ganondorf or the closest monster to you. Write it down, too, including the time and date. I'll put extra security on the poison storage, too. This should also lessen the likelihood of this happening again.”
“So, for now, we should pretty much go about our lives like usual?”
“Precisely. This was only a mere panic compared to anything else. That being said, I will see the rest of you later. I have an investigation to open up and keys to take from my highest-ranked employees.”
Dracula then nods to excuse himself and leaves for his study.
Once there, he nearly closes the door, only to notice Ganondorf had followed him.
“Did you need something? Or do you mean to help with the investigation?”
“I want to help,” Ganondorf explains, “If someone here is poisoning people, two masterminds are better than one.”
“Fair enough.”
After Dracula closes the door behind Ganondorf, he takes some incense and cleanses the space. Only to place the sticks in an incense holder on the table in the center of the room. A deck of cards is taken from its spot on a shelf, and after sitting on the floor in front of the table, Dracula mindlessly shuffles.
He chants to himself as if this ritual has been recited often.
Confused, Ganondorf sits on the other side of the table. The deck is then set in front of Dracula, and he sketches a summoning circle in chalk. It’s so quick that Ganondorf starts to wonder how many times he’s done this. Between the specific shuffling and the speed of the summoning circle, it must've been hundreds, if not thousands of times.
Once the circle is complete, the room around them turns completely grey.
Dracula, not even looking up from the table, starts with an echo to his voice, “Welcome to the chaotic realm.”
“We’re there? But it looks almost the exact same as your castle.”
“Yes, that’s true. But we are in the chaotic realm. Look outside.”
Not sure what to think, Ganondorf stands up and approaches the only window in the room. It’s supposed to be dark outside. Well, it is dark out, but more like the vacuum of space as opposed to the night sky. Distorted stars and galaxies float by as if they were clouds. He looks at his hands, as if surprised they didn’t change color upon entry. He sits back down, visibly confused.
“This is the source of my power, and we’re here for a specific purpose,” Dracula dictates, shuffling the cards again. This time, he spreads the cards in a circle around the sketch that brought them here. “Usually, we would be able to enter through a portal. In the room next to the throne room. But Chaos is infamously hard to communicate with. Hence the cards. He reveals them there, and I interpret.”
“And this is going to help the investigation?”
“Precisely. All of my employees are connected to Chaos in their own way. Sometimes through me, other times by their mere nature. If anyone would know who did this, it would be him.”
Before Ganondorf can ask any more questions, a trio of orbs hover over the summoning circle. Dracula focuses on them and, after taking a deep breath, holds both of his hands to them. As if trying to focus his energy on them.
“Chaos, antithesis to God, I humbly sit before you in search of guidance,” Dracula chants, “I request the aid of your eye for answers.”
The orbs stop moving and gather into a black mass, glowing ever so slightly blue.
Dracula then lowers his hands and deeply bows enough for his face to touch the table. Ganondorf promptly follows suit-- he doesn’t know what will happen if he doesn’t.
Silence.
Dracula rolls his eyes and folds his arms. “He said he was here to help, so yes, I brought him with me,” He motions to Ganondorf.
Still more silence. The lovers card is lazily tossed to Dracula, who puts it back in place.
“I’ve told you, he isn’t a threat. And don’t call him that, it’s not like that.”
“Yes, I’m serious. We’ll talk about it after the infection back in the mortal plane is all over with.”
“To get to brass tacks, though. Someone broke into my poison storage, and I was wondering if you had any idea who it could possibly be.”
A card is swiftly pushed to Dracula, who flips it over. “Queen of Wands. Reversed. So it must stem from jealousy. Could you elaborate on that?”
The High Priestess is next.
“Camilla? I wonder what… wait a minute. She must be trying to get my attention. She probably wants things to go back to how they used to be, before I got caught up in parenting. Right?”
Reversed Death.
“Right on the dot. Is there anything else you wanted to say?”
The mass stops and deeply considers something, then a card is slowly moved to Dracula. The slow response seems to visibly unsettle Dracula. He picks up the card. The World.
“Something big is coming. Did something go wrong?”
The Empress, reversed. The art has changed to Palutena.
“What happened to her?”
Reversed Fool.
“Oh no. She’s affected by this, too? How bad is it? Are we safe?”
Reversed Justice, then Strength.
“I shouldn’t worry, then, for now. Good. She hasn’t even left her sanctuary, then? So why are you so afraid?”
The Fool is turned so it's no longer reversed. The art also changes to people being lured away by an angel.
“So whoever is working with her isn’t infected, but could be looking for others. Okay. I’ll keep my eyes open and be ready for an attack. I’ll also tell my forces to be ready just in case. Is that all?”
Silence.
“I understand--?” Dracula leans to the side and sees a card tossed to Ganondorf. “That message is for you.”
Ganondorf picks it up, and it's the lovers card again.
“Haha. Funny. I think we all have our answers for now. Thank you.”
The mass disappears and changes back into the three orbs, which promptly leave. Once Dracula gathers the cards back up and sweeps the sketch away, the world around them returns to normal.
“So, allegedly, one of my higher-ranked generals is behind this. I’ll have a word with her.”
“Alright. I’ll keep an eye on Haru in case she tries anything while you’re occupied.”
“Thank you.”
The two stand up, nod at each other, and leave to go their separate ways.