Disclaimer: Hellsing belongs to Kouta Hirano, Geneon Entertainment, Gonzo Animation and Dark Horse Comics.
Start Young, Flawless Outcome
The boy stood by the window, looking out quietly.
Something was on his mind. There had to be.
He was usually energetic and talkative, never quiet. His mother wondered why the sudden change in her beloved son. She always wanted the best for him, no matter what others said.
"My dear boy," she called out to him. "Come here. I wish to speak to you for a while."
"Yes, mother."
She walked softly but quickly out to embrace him, not thinking much of her son's slow pace. Once in her arms, Maximilian looked up into his mother's eyes, wondering what the matter was.
His mother knew he wanted her reasons for suddenly showing her affection for him, but decided to wait before answering. It was not unusual for her to hug him close, however. She did it rather often, but he always wanted a reason.
For several minutes neither spoke while Mrs. Jeckeln stroked his hair lovingly and gently. She pondered on what she would say to her only child, wanting to make her points clear and yet not sound harsh.
"Dear Max," she whispered, "I need to hide you. Somewhere."
"What for?" he asked, but already knew the answer.
"Because... Max, I need to protect you. I don't want you gone..." she trailed.
"Gone?" he played along. He sounded curious, but inside, his heart was sinking.
"Mr. Hitler. And... the Nazi party. You must have heard the news, I don't know," she rasped fearfully at the mention of the Axis leader and his political party. "But the government. The... the plans for building Germany's future..."
"Hitler Youth, mother?"
"Yes, my son. You have heard? So do you understand the importance of us escaping?"
"Escape?" the young boy asked. "But Germany is our country, mother. I have to stay and protect her. And everyone we know."
"Max!" she cried, hugging the boy tighter, as if afraid he would be snatched away. "You must understand! You have to put everything behind you. Your country, your friends, your mentors, your teachers!"
"But why?"
"Max... Oh, Max..." she sobbed, tears tumbling down her cheeks. "If you join the Youth, I don't know what will happen to you! I cannot guarantee you a safe environment, I cannot ensure you are educated properly."
"Am I not educated good enough now? What is wrong? Isn't joining the Hitler-Jugend an honourable thing to do? That's what the other boys and their fathers said."
"No! Max, no!" she howled, shaking her son's shoulders. "You must not listen to them. They believe in the wrong things, they do! You will understand when you're older, honey. Please."
"But joining the Youth without force will allow you to have a better life as well, mother. Let me go willingly, and we will be happy, always."
"My son... My dear son! Do you know why father isn't here with us right now? Do you or not?"
"No, mother," he replied, his organs suddenly contracting. He sensed something bad. After all, his father had been gone for more than a year now. He even broke his promise by not coming back for Christmas.
"Your father died, Max. He died because he was servicing our country. He was tortured beyond means, by the British!"
The words rang in his ears. His father had died. He could hardly believe it. He had been half expecting it to happen, but always carried hope that his father will return to him. No, it couldn't be! His father, the great Dedrick Jeckeln, dead!
Young Max stared into space, shell-shocked at the news. "Father," he murmured. "Father..."
"You see now, Max?" his mother choked. "The same fate may befall you once you step into the Hitler Youth, and become a soldier. You will be forced into war, fight the British, with nowhere to run!"
But Max was not moved by his mother's plight. Fight the British.He was tortured beyond means, by the British!
Fight the British. Fight the British. Fight the British. Fight the British.
It was all that was going through his young and straightforward mind. Fight the British! Avenge Father's death! Bring justice to Dedrick Jeckeln!
"No, mother," he said softly, yet firm. "I will go. I must go."
"Why, son? Why?" Mrs. Jeckeln crumbled to the ground, overcome with grief.
"Father's death," he said simply. "Father's death. Avenge him I must."
She had said the wrong thing.
She should never have told her son of her husband's death. Oh what a grave mistake she made! The poor mother looked at her son. What she saw was a younger version of her late husband. Eyes cold, face set and determined. She knew that nothing she said could turn him away now.
She gazed once more into his cold grey eyes before burying her head in her son's chest. She was afraid to lose all the men in her life. All had passed away but her son. And now he was to be lost forever. Strong as she was, it was too much to take.
However, she still wanted to try and persuade her son's mind away from revenge. "Max, if you go to the Hitler Youth, you will be bullied! You will learn to do disastrous things! What if they sent you to war, and you get tortured, then killed? Please, Max. Listen to mother just once more."
"No, mother. No."
Soon her boy was taken away from her protective arms and into the Hitler Youth, where he learnt all that she feared.
He studied offensive tactics, defensive moves. He was bullied, but fought back hard. He was nearly killed, once, but persevered and survived. He even beat up his attacker.
The hardships, dressing-downs, executions and tortures he witnessed and fights hardened him. He was once a nice young lad, but that person was no more in the body of Maximilian Jeckeln.
When he finally returned home, his mother was so relieved to see her now grown-up, strong young man. But then, she returned to being heartbroken an instant later. Her beloved son was not the one she once knew. That man, standing there, looked entirely different from the little boy she had brought up.
He was fierce, curt and unloving.
Who was this stranger, pretending to be her son?
He may still be rather short, but it was not her son. It could not be!
What ever did the cruel Hitler Youth do to her precious boy? Why did they have to do such a thing? Curse them for all eternity!
The man was due to enlist in the army in two days, yet she could not really embrace him. She wanted her treasured Max back!
Return him to me! Oh Lord, what have I done wrong? she found herself screaming in her mind.
So overcome with anguish that she decided to end her life, end her torment.
Drawing the knife her son was issued in the Youth, she plunged it quickly into her heart.
She endured many more agonising minutes before she finally succumbed to death.
When Maximilian Jeckeln saw the body of his late mother, he felt nothing. Aside from a certain morbid curiosity and love of the sight, he felt absolutely nothing. He admired the "beauty" of her dead body. But nothing else was felt. Nothing at all.
He was everything the Hitler Youth wanted him to be. But most of all...
He was truly lost.