73 Chapter 72 Mindscape

Zero looked at the motionless young man who sat in the cell and called out "Soma!". The young man however remained motionless despite Zero yelling his name.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Zero as he looked towards Mathias

"Well if I were to guess I think he's shut himself off from the world due to the shock of seeing Mina die." answered Mathias

"Soma Mina isn't dead yet! Wake up and I'll take you to her!" yelled Zero

Despite Zero revealing that Mina was alive, Soma remained motionless and still. Seeing that nothing he said roused Soma into action Zero stopped yelling and tried to think of a way to awaken his friend.

"If you can control the mind as you please then why don't you just get him out?" asked Mathias

"Well I can do that but he'd just end up back in the cell after some time. Getting him out is easy keeping him out requires for him to want to actually want to stay out." explained Zero as he walked and phased through the bars into Soma's cell.

Zero grabbed the motionless and doll-like Soma and proceeded to slap him repeatedly. After 2 minutes of continuous slapping, Zero released Soma who didn't utter a single word and remained motionless. Zero looked down at Soma and sighed while saying "I don't have time for this idiocy."

"Do you have any ideas on how to awaken him?" asked Mathias

"Yes, I have 2 but I'm starting to wonder if he's worth all this trouble. Soma, I wouldn't have entrusted Mina to you if I knew that you were this weak. You can't protect her if you're like this." said Zero

Hearing Zero's words Soma twitched slightly. Zero felt the movement and continued to explain why Soma was no longer fit to be with Mina. Soma finally moved and pushed Zero away causing both to crash into the walls of the small cell.

Soma fell to the floor and began to cry. Zero walked up to Soma and sat next to him. Zero waited 10 minutes for Soma to finish crying in silence.

"I couldn't protect Mina. I let her die in front of me without being able to do anything." Soma finally managed to get out as he grabbed Zero by the collar.

"Well, Soma about that. I don't really know how to tell you this but Mina's still alive." said Zero

There was a deafening silence throughout the cell. Soma looked at Zero in disbelief and Zero slowly grabbed Soma's hand and forced him to release his shirt collar. Soma froze like a computer unable to process the input information.

"Don't lie to me I saw Graham kill her in front of me!" yelled Soma

"Yeah about that. Now don't freak out or anything. So it's like this I was pretending to be Graham and the Mina you saw fall to the ground was not the real one." said Zero as he tried to calm the hysterical Soma down.

Another deafening silence overtook the cell. Soma said nothing as he clenched his fists and punched Zero in the face. Zero made no action to dodge the punch and allowed Soma to keep punching him without making any attempts to stop him. After a few minutes of punching Zero; Soma stopped and got up while breathing heavily.

"Feel better now?" asked Zero as he got up off the ground with no injuries as if Soma attacking him had never occurred.

"Shut up! Why would you do that!?" yelled Soma

"Well although it's no excuse I needed you to unlock your powers as Dracula to save Mina. If you can't use your full power then we'll all probably die." answered Zero

"What the hell are you talking about!?" yelled Soma as he felt betrayed by his closest friend.

"Well I know you probably feel upset and betrayed but it's sad to say we don't really have the time for you to figure out your feelings. To save Mina's life we need you to come out of this cell right now. Afterward when everything is settled if you still feel like you can't forgive me then we'll cross that bridge when we get there." said Zero in a calm and serious tone, unlike his normal jokey tone.

Listening to what Zero was saying Soma began to understand that maybe they might really be facing the threat of dying. Zero didn't wait for Soma to respond when he fazed through the cell bars again and walked out.

"What did you do!?" asked a shocked Soma

"This place is not real we're inside your mind, Soma. If you want to come out then you have to want it." explained Mathias

Heeding the word of the mysterious young man next to Zero; Soma attempted to walk through the bar but he crashed into the bars.

Zero sighed as he looked at Soma. He walked to the bars reached through and grabbed Soma and lifted him on his feet and said "The more time you waste here the closer Mina gets to death for real this time. So stop playing around and get out!"

Zero pulled Soma by the collar and he passed through the bars as if they were made of water. Now that Soma was outside the cell Zero released him causing him to lose his footing and falling back down to the ground. Zero looked at Soma and cracked a slight smile before going back to a straight face.

"Good job Soma that was very impressive. Now that you're out of there we can focus on helping you regain control of this castle." said Mathias

"Who are you?" asked Soma as he looked toward Mathias

"Me? Oh, right I haven't introduced myself my name is Mathias Cronqvist. I guess you could say that I'm who you use to be." said Mathias

"Who I used to be? What does that even mean?" asked a confused Soma

Mathias smiled and placed his hand on Soma's shoulder and a white light flashed throughout the dungeon. When the light faded Mathias was gone and there stood Soma Cruz but his eyes had changed from their normal gray color to a blood red.

"I understand who I am and who I was now." said Soma

"Good that saves me time. So now you understand that you need to take this castle back if you want to control your body again." said Zero

"Yes to do that we need to head to my throne room. We'll find my last half there." said Soma

"Good then lead the way, Soma. Or would you rather prefer Mathias?" said Zero

"You may call me either name. I have no preference but I would ask you to call me Soma in Mina's presence when I get out of here." said Soma as he began to walk away.

Zero followed behind the new Soma who walked through the castle as if he had lived in it all his life. Faced with no monsters on their journey they had an uneventful walk as they headed toward the throne room to find Dracula.

They arrived before the door that led to the throne room. They push the giant doors open and came across the sight of a man sitting on a throne sipping a red liquid which was most likely blood out of a chalice.

"Welcome intruder to my castle. The only thing awaiting you here is your death." said Dracula