"Wake up, Master…"

Alucard's voice was echoing in Integra's mind, coming from all directions. She opened her eyes and found herself suspended amidst white mist. At the same time, however, she felt that she was lying on something cool and damp. Such an impossible combination of perceptions from different senses terrified her for a moment, because she could not figure out which one was real.

"Wake up, Master…"

Was that real? Integra looked around but saw nothing except for the thick mist all over the place. Unable to confirm anything, she became even more terrified.

"What is this?" she asked herself, "A dream… hallucinations… am I going insane?"

"Quite the opposite, actually," she heard Alucard's voice.

"Alucard!" she screamed right into the mist, "Alucard, where are you?"

"I'm right here, my Master."

"Where? I can't see you!"

"Just close you eyes…"

"What? Where are you? And what is this? Are you toying with me, Alucard? Because if you are, I swear, I will…"

"Not in the slightest, Master. Just do as I say, please… close your eyes."

She hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to do and how to react, but then decided to go along and closed her eyes.

"Good… now, just give it a moment… three, two, one…"

"And?"

"Open them…"

She complied and shuddered: the white mist was gone, and the full Moon was shining in the sky. They were just where she remembered her consciousness leaving her. She was lying on the ground, and Alucard stood beside her, looking at the Moon, with a wide green on his face.

"How does it feel now, Master?"

"How does what f…" the words got stuck in Integra's throat as she remembered what happened before she passed out.

She sat upright and quickly examined her body.

"Alucard," she muttered angrily, frantically feeling her stomach area to determine if she still had the wound, "What happened?"

"What do you think happened, Master?"

"What do you mean what do I think happened, Alucard?" she retorted, "You shot me! How could you?"

"Wasn't that what you wanted, Master?"

"Of course, not! I was only speaking hypothetically…"

"You said that you would only accept Darkness if you were forced to choose between it and death…"

"Yes, I did! But I didn't ask you to force me into that choice! And now that I think of it, I was wrong to even think like that…"

She lifted her shirt and examined her abdominal area, which didn't show any signs of damage whatsoever. She gritted her teeth and struck the ground with her fist.

"Alucard… How could you? What did you do?"

"I only proved to you that you were wrong, Master," Alucard smirked.

"Wrong how?"

"You were wrong thinking that you would be able to accept Darkness if you were forced on the brink of death…"

"I don't understand," Integra gave Alucard a questioning look.

"You were on the brink of death, and every part of your body was willing to accept it rather than cross into the realm of Darkness…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Thirty years ago, in a similar situation, Seras, despite having been mortally wounded, was clinging to life with all her fading strength…"

"Alucard, I don't…"

"She extended her arm to me, along with her will… She wanted the gift of afterlife… But you didn't, Master..."

"What?"

"Lying here and bleeding your life out… knowing that only I was able to help you hold on to it… you didn't ask me for help in any way… neither in a movement, nor in a thought… Perhaps, having lived as a human for so long, you, unlike Seras, know the true virtue of remaining a human to the very end…"

"But…" Integra examined her body again, "But I'm alive… and there is no wound. You shot me down, and now the wound is gone and I'm alive. How is that possible? Surely, you don't have healing powers…"

"That would be contradictory to my nature…"

"Then how? You shot me in the stomach…"

"Did I?" Alucard grinned, "Or did you just believe that I did?"

"Believe?" Integra's eyes widened in surprise, "You mean, you made me believe that everything really happened? Like an illusion? Did you cast an illusion on me?"

"Rather, I cast you into an illusion that I have created, but that's besides the point…"

"So, all that mist that I saw…"

"Just an after-effect of an illusion on a human mind. There are many different ones. And yours is mist, I assume. That's very interesting…"

"Interesting? Alucard, you are such bastard," Integra sighed, "I'm a not a guinea pig for you to experiment on. Do you realize how terrified I was when I thought that I had become a vampire?"

"That was exactly the point to prove, Master," Alucard said calmly, "Despite that I would be able to embrace the possibility of you becoming a vampire, I know that you would never become one. You would never be able to cast away everything what you have been fighting for and become what you have been fighting against. You are just not that kind of a person. And even when you might be in doubt about that, I will not be, Master. I will never allow you to doubt yourself. Even if I have to put you through something like this every time…"

"That was a very hard lesson, Alucard," Integra smiled lightly, looking at the Moon.

"What do you expect of a monster like me, Master?" Alucard smirked, "Still, being a human, you can get sick from sitting on cold ground. Should we head back to the mansion?"

Without saying anything, Integra stood up and started walking. As she passed him, she stopped but not turned her head to him.

"Thank you, Alucard," she said firmly, "I hate to admit it, but I desperately needed a boost of confidence like that. It is way too early for me to be decommissioned yet. Let's go."

"Right behind you, Master."