It was the group's first glance upon the castle of the King of the Undead, and the silence that enveloped them was stifling. The building was set onto a cliff that overlooked the ocean, waves crashing against the rocks and leaving wake that looked like white lace against the dark blue of the water. Michael's fingers twitched for the holy sword in his suitcase- just to feel the weight of the blade would be a welcome comfort at the sight of the opposing palace. The drawbridge, a construction of wood and ironwork that lowered via chains as thick as a man's neck, was down in anticipation of guests. There were sentries on the ramparts, with guns clutched in hand and impassive expressions on their faces as they looked down at the small group. The priest tried to give a friendly wave at the humans- it was daylight, the vampires would be asleep- but he was met with nothing but blank stares. Evidently the King's guards were trained well. He felt sorry for these humans, brainwashed and forced to work for the undead. It was unthinkable that any human in their right mind would do so willingly.
The Vatican's group finally regained their voices and Mike could hear the murmur of Sister Bethany behind him. She remarked on the fact that there was no water in the moat below the drawbridge and the leader of the expedition, Father Paolo, chided her thoughtlessness.
"Vampires cannot cross running water unaided, unless they are old. It is so the weaker, newer monsters may enter the castle without their masters having to carry them."
Sleek cars were visible in the courtyard as they entered and Michael's instincts kicked into alert. Most of them had tinted windows, preventing light from reaching the occupants within, a sure sign of vampire ownership. Humans didn't use tinted windows anymore- after one too many mortals had gotten the idea to impersonate a vampire by driving with blackened windows and crashed as a result, the practice had fallen out of use. The priest was certain most of those crashes hadn't been accidents; the monsters did so hate it when a mortal dared to mimic them.
It had almost been 500 years since the No-Life King Alucard and the No-Life Queen Seras had begun their reign. It had been almost 250 since the vampires made themselves known to the world's populace. Michael had heard stories of the days before they were known, when the beasts didn't walk down the night streets with fangs bared and heads held high. When restaurants didn't have special night seating for the monsters to drink blood in public, when vampire characters on television shows weren't played by actors with real ivory fangs and glowing red eyes, when killing a vampire was still something to be congratulated.
The humans of the world existed in an uneasy truce with the vampires. It was known that they drank from humans frequently, in dark corners and alleys where no one could hear their victims scream, but there was nary a vampire un-alive that would admit to such. In public they drank only from the willing; smiling, happy-eyed humans who were bitten gently and then led away by the grateful vampire to rest and drink water by the gallon.
The Vatican's newer recruits often wondered why the Royals and their court kept up appearances. They were far stronger than any of the human governments, though it was only the Vatican that knew the true extent of that strength, and if they'd wanted, they could easily topple the resistance that human armies would put up in front of them.
Michael had the same question, though for a different reason. The newer recruits asked it eagerly, bored as they were of patrolling cities and catching newer vampires who broke the rules. They wanted to fight the nobles of the court, the ones with the powers they'd heard so much about- form-changing, regeneration, etc. Confident in their abilities, they laughed in the hallways of Section XIII like packs of hyenas ready to go hunting. Each of them dreamed of thrusting their holy blade into the chest of the vampire king and watching him turn to dust before their eyes. Michael knew that something so simple wouldn't kill Alucard. He thought of the day the King would grow tire of playing the coexistence charade and the thought made him shiver. The Vatican would take him down eventually- they had to- but who knew how many lives would be lost in the process? And then there was the matter of the Queen… If they took down one without the other, the humans would be driven to the edge of extinction.
Filthy monsters. All they knew was blood and destruction.
A blonde, barefoot maid with a red dragon broach pinned to her chest greeted them at the great doorway to the castle. Mike eyed the jewelry with distaste, automatically searching the woman's eyes for the glazed look of a hypnotized human. When he didn't find it, he scowled.
Undisturbed by the face he was making, she bowed and smiled widely at them, signaling for the guards to open the heavy wooden door.
"Please forgive that my masters not here to greet you, but the sunlight is strong and they are asleep for the day," The blonde spoke over her shoulder as she led them into the great hall, and Michael could hear the noises that the newer recruits made behind his back. It was impressive, the first time you saw it: red and black banners with curling dragons were strung everywhere, blocking direct sunlight from the few high windows and casting a reddish glow over the room. Candleholders stood in every available space, though he knew for a fact the castle had it's own electric generators, and the flickering light they cast over the shadows was hardly enough to see by. Humans hurried by, some with arms full of laundry and some with empty arms but determined expressions, rushing off to whatever task they'd been given. All the humans were barefoot, he noted with mild surprise. Long carpets peppered the space, seemingly thrown about at random to hide the cold stone floor from the bare feet of the human servants.
They were led through a small archway and to a set of stone stairs that corkscrewed around and hid the top from view. The maid began to climb and it was clear she'd taken the trip many times before, with the way she sprung up the narrow steps without touching the handrail. Michael allowed Father Paolo to walk ahead of him, with a bow of the head that would have looked like courtesy to the newer members of their group. In truth, he was worried the older man would slip and wanted to be there to brace him before he went tumbling back down to the ground floor. Age was a cruel thing.
Five humans walked up the stairs, not counting the maid who practically ran ahead of them. Father Paolo and Father Michael had the most experience with vampires- Michael was the newest regenerator, after all. Sister Bethany and Sister Eliza were less experienced, but Paolo had hoped to train them here in the castle- plus, they were well-versed in etiquette, something that would be needed at the ball tomorrow night. The last member was a smiling young man with golden hair and green eyes that missed nothing. He would not be returning to the Vatican with them at the end of the trip and Michael felt sorry for and envious of him in equal parts. Eleazar had been given the task of being an ambassador to the vampire court- The Church needed to keep up appearances just as much as the royal couple, it seemed.
The King and Queen had too many loyal servants working in the media, who took just about every piece of news involving a vampire being slain by Section XIII, and turned it into a story of brutality on the part of the Vatican. Vampire sympathizers were growing vocal against the Church and since they couldn't exactly stop killing vampires, they opted for the next best thing. If they had the appearance of reaching out to the court, it would get many of the more vocal sympathizers off their back- and give them a nice little source for information about the court's agenda. Michael had been considered for the job, but he'd begged them to give it to someone else: he needed to be free to move around the country, and though he'd have liked the chance to stake each and every noble vampire as they lay in their coffins, the thought of having to be around bloodsuckers all the time was repulsive in the extreme.
Eleazar would do a good job, he hoped. They couldn't afford any slip-ups where the Vampire King or Queen could see them.
When they reached the top of the stairs, they were led down a hallway and to a set of doors. The maid opened one with a flourish and inside, two double beds with thick down pillows waited.
"This room is for the ladies," She said, gesturing to the sisters. Sister Eliza thanked the blonde in a quiet voice and walked inside, duffel bag slung over her shoulder. Bethany waited to see where the men's room was going to be before she vanished into the confines of the room as well, to do whatever it was that women did when men could not see them.
Michael and Paolo were given the chambers directly across from their room, and they nodded their thanks to the maid, who led Eleazar away and through a different door. His quarters would be more permanent, after all.
The regenerator threw himself down onto the one of the beds and allowed his suitcase to fall on the floor with a clang. They'd been informed before the woman left that dinner was to be at 9'o clock, late in the evening for Michael's tastes. But he supposed the vampires would want to get work done before sitting down with their guests- if they were even going to be seeing them that night at all. Perhaps the King and Queen wouldn't want to deal with the Vatican at all and they'd be foisted off onto a lesser noble who would act as though they'd been stuck with a wad of pre-chewed gum in their hands.
It didn't really matter which happened. Tonight's dinner was only a warm up, a prelude of things to come. The queen's birthday party tomorrow night was the real show.
500 years of being a monster. It was hardly something to celebrate in Michael's mind, but he supposed the royal couple didn't share his feelings.
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A.N: Thanks for reading- this is my first fanfiction for Hellsing. I wanted to take a look at what I thought vampire court would be like way in the future, after Alucard is freed. All the events of the manga have taken place. And of course, AxS is dear to my heart, so we've got the reigning queen Seras. Sorry they weren't actually in this chapter, but they'll be in the next one.
So… Yeah. Let me know what you think! Thanks a lot.