[Alucard doesn't know what he'll find in the weeks and months to come, as the whole of the ruin is exposed by the oncoming spring rains and the time to explore. He'll find rubble from the old spires, that he's sure of. Surviving books and deeply hidden treasures? Perhaps. But it's more likely to just be more stone and pained memories, and there is a horrible part of him that is relieved to have them both here to help through the worst of it. This kind of mourning, this is easier. It isn't the deep and horrible sadness that demanded months of being alone to process the way that their parting in life had.

The world was wide back then, and it demanded still more from them. Now? Now it was harder to say.

Alucard's hands rest flat on the stones, splayed and taking some of his weight. One is so very near to Sypha's tail, but he doesn't dare move to grasp it. Tails are weighty things for tieflings after all.]

I...consider it fortunate that there's always going to be repairs left on the castle, even if I won't always have enough coin to accomplish those repairs. It forces me to have something to do.

[But Sypha's circumstances differ. She's living in one space now. She's living with only two people now. That's probably a lot already.]

Maybe the better question is what do you want to do?