Chapter Text
Ethan Winters was a man on a mission, he had to save Rose no matter what. He was determined, especially after seeing Chris murder Mia. Or so he thought, he knew Chris was a good man there had to be more to this. He wouldn’t kill Mia without reason, not after doing everything to protect them. He had to move forward with caution and find Rose and Chris.
The village was strange to say the least, the abundance of sacrificed animals and the distinct lack of people is what put Ethan on guard. Finding the old man in the trashed house had been a god send and a curse. He got a gun, a pea shooter really, but now there were mutated wolfmen after him. Luckily, the radio told him to meet with other survivors at Luiza’s house.
“Okay, now to get to the others while escaping a horde of lycans, great.” Ethan thought as made his way past the ever growing pack, dodging arrows, weapons, and claws. Just as all seemed hopeless, a looming titan of a lycan standing over him, the pack retreated at the call of an unknown source.
The trip to Luiza’s led Ethan through what looked like the former village square. That weird old woman was no help at all, if anything she only made more questions pop up in Ethan’s mind. “Who was this Mother Miranda person anyway and what did she have to do with Rose?” All the more reason to get to the others faster to find out what was going on in this insane town.
The church near the graveyard gave Ethan a brief respite and a small bit of knowledge. “That must be Miranda, but who are the four others?” He gave one last look at the diamond shaped pictures, silently reminding himself to ask the survivors about them.
Ethan felt like a lucky man when he was able to sneak past the lycans in the wheat field. He was able to find a woman named Elena and her father, Leonardo, and got into Luiza’s home. They were just as crazy as the rest of the village, all seemingly brainwashed by this Mother Miranda woman. That’s when it all went to hell. Elena’s father had turned into one of those beasts and killed everyone but Ethan and Elena. With the house on fire, they needed to escape quickly.
The truck couldn’t make it through the solid brick wall, but it did provide them a way to the attic. Ethan helped Elena get her footing past the collapsed area when they heard the low growls of her father. “Father?” Elena pulled away from Ethan to get a better look down to the fiery garage.
“Eeelennaa…” Growled Leonardo slowly making his way up the collapsed ceiling.
“Father! You’re okay!” Elena started to rush toward her father when Ethan grabbed her arm.
“No wait! Elena think that isn’t your father anymore. Please, we need to leave before the building collapses on top of us.” Ethan begged her trying to lead her to the open window. Elena paused, looking back at her shambling growling father before turning back to Ethan nodding.
The two escaped the building and the crazed version of Leonardo. After collecting the Demon insert, the two made their way back to the church.
“I should stay here while you go save your daughter, I wouldn’t want to slow you down” Elena stated as she took a seat on one of the pews.
“Are you sure you’ll be safe here? There are wolfmen all over the village.” Ethan said as he organized his gear in preparation for his trek to the castle.
“This is a holy site; Mother Miranda will keep me safe here. The lycans wouldn’t dare desecrate her holy lands.” Elena stated, “Since you are new here, I’ll tell you anything you would like to know about the Lords and Mother Miranda.”
Ethan glared at the portraits on the altar at the back of the church, “I’m headed to that castle first, anything I should know about this Dommytresk person?”
“It’s Dimitrescu, and yes Alcina Dimitrescu is the Lady of the castle.” Elena stated a bit frustrated with his incorrect pronunciation and pointing to the portrait of the middle aged woman, “She lives there with her three daughters, Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela, you’ll have a rough time with them, they only allow women into the castle proper. The Lady is known for her distaste of men but I’m sure you’ll be fine if you are quiet enough.”
Ethan nodded, “Okay, thanks for the warning, I’ll try to keep a low profile.”
As he turned to leave, Elena exclaimed “One last thing! Whatever you do, do not harm the daughters! There is nothing that Lady Dimitrescu cares about more than her children.”
Ethan widened his eyes at this, he hadn’t expected these monsters to have any love at all. “Got it, Subdue the girls if need be but no killing. I’d rather not have an enraged woman after me. Trust me, I know they can be truly terrifying, my wife was proof enough of that” Ethan remarked getting a sad look on his face before leaving to the castle.
“Good luck Ethan.” Elena whispered to herself as he left.
The castle got more imposing the closer Ethan got, but he wouldn’t be turned away no matter what. “Its just a middle aged woman and her kids how bad can they be.” Ethan thought as he took in his surroundings, seeing the crucified men posted like scarecrows in the vineyard.
“Okay maybe they are pretty bad.” Ethan was brought out of his thoughts when a large, well-dressed man appeared out of a carriage. He introduced himself as the Duke and that he would provide any items Ethan needed, for a price. Ethan was skeptical of the man, but he welcomed any help provided to him before he entered the castle.
To say everything went to hell quickly would be an understatement, upon entering the castle a strange, magnetic man encased Ethan in metal and drug him to a meeting of the lords. Ethan studied these lords the best he could trying to find out any information he could. They were a strange bunch, simultaneously sibling like and brutal enemies under the thumb of a tyrant. He could clearly see that this Miranda woman held no love for her allies, maybe he could turn them against her, any port in a storm or so they say.
After Heisenberg’s insane “game”, Ethan was able to finally make his way into the castle. “God, I can’t believe I’m even considering trying to team up with these psychos.” Ethan mumbled moving through the gateway. The entrance hall of the castle gave Ethan a view into the opulence these women lived in.
“Wait a second…. did this lady really slap her kids name on a painting? Heh, guess they aren’t rich enough for a commission.” Ethan muttered making his way to the hallway.
While creeping through the hallway, he heard talking coming from a locked door to his right. He slowly made his way to the door to listen in.
“Seems that fool Heisenberg let that man escape and now he is on his way here, we need to provide a warm welcome for him girls.” A deep female voice he could only assume was Lady Dimitrescu’s said.
A trio of giggles followed “Yes, mother. We will capture the man before he even has a chance to run.”
A sigh, “You girls are so good to your mother; never forget I will always be proud of you girls.”
Ethan was shocked by the domestic, yet threatening, conversation. If anything, it strengthened his resolve to recruit these people to his side, maybe he could use Dimitrescu’s motherly instincts to bring her to his side.
Being dragged by a sickle through the leg was not a pleasant experience and ripping a hook out of his hands had been even worse. Yet he pushed on making his way through castle evading the brunette sister and falling into the basement, or more accurately the dungeon. Finding the emaciated failures, was a shock and Ethan felt a bit bad killing them but decided it was better to end their misery. Escaping the dungeon led him right into the claws of the blond sister. The way she reacted to the frozen wind was surprising to Ethan, out of everything he didn’t expect the immortal vampire’s weakness was cold. It didn’t seem to kill her just weaken her.
“I can use this, just got to find something to knock her out with.” Ethan thought as he dodged around the room avoiding the deadly sickle. He eyed a log near the stove and decided that was as good as anything to knock someone out with and swung with all the force he could into her temple. Seeing her drop to the floor instantly made Ethan drop the log and stare at his hands.
“Man, I must be stronger than I thought.” He quickly headed to the kitchen and gathered up some chains to bind the woman. He decided to keep her in the kitchen hoping the cold would keep her weak enough so she wouldn’t break her bonds. He did place several burlap bags over her body to keep her from becoming too cold and then he moved on.
Passing by the Lady’s room during her rage made Ethan glad he decided subduing the girls was the better option. Hearing her conversation with Miranda gave him more hope that the lords could be turned against her. After she left the room, he entered and took her house key only to run right into the enraged Lady herself. Ethan was more upset at the lack of progress than the pain he felt by being slammed through the floor. He should have been more concerned at his severed hand too, but he didn’t have time to panic, besides, he already had one hand reattached the other should be no problem. He was correct, his hand reattached easy on the elevator ride back to the courtyard.
The second sister was more of a hassle to subdue, the redhead moved erratically and attacked without warning. Ethan found he had to time his attacks with the opening of the sunroof to properly incapacitate the girl. He carried her to the kitchen and tied her up next to her sister who was luckily still unconscious. Covering her up like her sister, he kept moving on finding those ridiculous masks so he could leave this nonsense castle.
The third and final sister was the hardest to subdue due to the lack of access to the outdoors in the armory. A lucky crack in the wall and a breastplate to the temple after a long back and forth lead her finally going down.
“God, this psycho witch really trained these girls to kill.” Ethan panted out before collecting the brunette to bring her to her sisters. “You girls were more trouble than you were worth.” Ethan complained as he tied up Cassandra and covered her up, “Now to put these masks in place and hopefully talk some sense into this witch.”
Making his way to the Hall of Four, he was on guard, watching and listening for any danger. Entering the hall, he began placing the masks in place after a trip to the Duke to stock up.
On the third mask he heard a loud cry, “You stupid man-thing! What have you done to my daughters! Do you know the effort I put into raising those girls?!” Dimitrescu walked into the room claws at the ready, murder in her eyes.
Ethan raised his hands, “Wait! Your girls are fine, I left them tied up in the kitchen!”
This caused the Lady to hesitate, claws still out, “We are going to the kitchen then, if a single hair on any of their heads is out of place you will pay with your life.” She forced him to lead her to the girls.
“My darlings!” Alcina exclaimed as she rushed to her girl’s sides hugging them trying to warm them up.
“I’m so sorry mother, I failed to capture the man for you.” Bela said tears in her eyes.
“Oh, my precious girl, I don’t care that the man lives. I’m just so happy you’re all okay.” She gathered all three girls in her arms and carried them into the main hall followed by Ethan.
“Why did you spare my girls Mr. Winters? You know we would have killed you without question.” Alcina asked a hard look on her face.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I murdered your daughters just to rescue my own.” Ethan stated as he took a seat on one of the many chairs, “In fact, I’d like to make a deal with you.”
Alcina raised her eyebrows at this, “What deal would this be?”
Ethan relaxed more trying to seem more confident than he felt, “I want your help to rescue my daughter and get rid of Miranda.”
Alcina threw her head back with laughter, “And why, dear boy, would I help you?” She was now very interested in what Ethan had to say.
“You know what it’s like to be a parent, how you would do anything for your kids and honestly, I think you want out from under Miranda’s thumb. No one happy in a situation chucks a vanity across a room.” He desperately hoped this would work, he needed all the help he could get.
Alcina sat there deep in thought for what seemed like an eternity before she spoke, “You know I called for reinforcements before meeting you just now. Miranda said I needed none, she even called my girls failed experiments when I mentioned that you killed them. I cannot guarantee my assistance in killing her, but I will help you find your child. You have shown me more consideration than she ever has.”
She leaned down and gently brushed her hand over the blonde’s head, “Bela my dear will you go to the tower and get him the flask we have been entrusted?”
Bela stood quickly shedding her blankets, “Of course mother, I’ll be back soon.” Bela began to swarm before Alcina stopped her.
“Please cover up more darling its very cold outside. Know that I wouldn’t ask this of you under normal circumstances.” Bela rolled her eyes with a smile at the motherly affection but went to get a thick coat before leaving for the tower.
Bela returned in a short time with a strange yellow flask handing it to Alcina, “Thank you, my love, now go back in front of the fire and warm up we can’t have you getting sick.”
Bela moved to sit between her sisters as her mother handed Ethan the flask, “This is the piece of Rose we have been entrusted. The other lords have the rest.”
Seeing Ethan’s horrified look, she said, “Worry not, she can be revived. She is a very special girl as you know.”
Ethan calmed slightly at her words but was still hesitant to trust this woman. “Thank you, I appreciate this. Is there anything you can tell me about how to get the other pieces of Rose?”
Alcina thought for a brief moment, “Donna might be your best bet for the next piece. Be kind to her, she is just a lonely woman corrupted by a false mother. Angie is the one you have to watch out for, she can be very…. energetic.”
Ethan stood up and was led by Alcina to the exit through the tower. “This path will take you to the ceremony site where you can put Rose back together. Oh, and one last thing, don’t breathe in the yellow flower’s pollen, it’s a powerful hallucinogen.” Ethan gave her a nod and headed on back to the village, reinvigorated by his success with Dimitrescu.