Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing. Hellsing belongs to it's creator, Kouta Hirano
Summary: Years ago, Integra and Seras accidentally released a creature imprisoned by the Hellsing family years before. Now, years later, the vampire Alucard is searching for Seras, for it was her eyes that drew him, her scent that called him, and her blood that he wanted. Rated T until further notice. Alternate Universe AxS. Because that's how I roll~.
SHADOWS OF MOONLIGHT
Chapter 1: The Mausoleum
It was early evening; the sky was painted pink and gold by the setting sun. A cool breeze blew through the area, rustling the leaves of trees and the long grass that barely hid the headstones of the graveyard. Two figures—one slightly taller than the other—ran through the clearing, dodging about tome stones and statues that dotted the land.
The figures were two girls both blonde haired and blue eyed, but that's where the similarities ended. The older of the two—about twelve in age—was tall, thin, with platinum blond hair down to her hips. Her skin was light tanned, a sharp contrast to her light hair and equally light eyes—winter blue in shade. She wore a pair of large round glasses, making her look less sharp then she was. Her serious eyes missed nothing as they continued through the grass, searching for any sign of danger. A rapier was strapped around her waist at the ready, as if waiting to taste blood. She was dressed in a typical English school uniform, a white blouse with blue long skirt and a matching ribbon around her collar.
The other girl was the complete opposite of the icy beauty next to her. At the age of nine, she rushed to keep up with the slightly longer strides of her companion. Her sun colored hair—a darker shade then the older girls—was short, with spikey ends that framed her pale cherubic face. Large sapphire blue eyes dominated her face, and they too were looking about her in search of something. She wore a simple long sleeved shirt in the color of clear blue sky and leaf green short. She too held a weapon; though whether the small pellet gun could be called one was under debate; as well as a slightly ragged teddy bear. The young panted, attempting to keep pace with her friend.
"Integra, wait up! My legs aren't as long as yours remember?" The girl panted, calling out the girl, Integra. An English accent laced the girls words, slightly slurred in her child speak.
Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing looked over her shoulder at her small companion and grimaced, "I told you not to come if you couldn't keep up. If you're just going to complain then you can go back first, Seras." Her voice had an English accent, much more sophisticated that her young companions. Seras Victoria shook her head vehemently in response to the other girls' cold words.
"No way! I could be eaten by a wolf or something if I went back alone!"
Integra shook her head. "You know there haven't been any wolves in England in years, at least not any outside of a zoo or museum."
"Then why do I always here howling outside my window?"
Sigh. "It's probably just the wind, Seras."
"No it's not. And, anyways, we should go back. You know what your father said about staying out after dark and I don't want to get into trouble, again." The young child made a face on the last word, remembering the last time they had gotten into trouble for disobeying rules. Two whole weeks grounded. Without dessert!
"Oh, please, the most Father will do if he found out is laugh it off and give us another meaningless suspension inside the mansion."
"Oh yeah?" The younger girl smirked at her friend. "Well how about if Walter finds out, huh? Do you really want to disappoint him and miss out on his delicious cakes and pies again?"
This time Integra frowned at the mention of her family's faithful butler and his delicious treats. She had to admit, she had a weakness for the butler's scrumptious treats as well. Not to mention the delicious blend of tea he would masterfully match to whatever dessert he was serving that evening.
"Ok, you have a point. But this is our only chance to investigate that old mausoleum before both Father and Walter return from the Round Table Conference. If we had waited any longer we would have missed our chance. You want to find what's inside as much as I do, don't you?"
Seras's eyes sparkled in barely suppressed delight as she smiled. Yes, she did want to know what was in the mausoleum. Since that day four years ago when her parents had been murdered and she came to live the illustrious Hellsing family, she had been curious about the Gothic mausoleum separated from all the other graves in the Hellsing Family plot. When she had asked her guardian about it, Arthur Hellsing had merely grinned and said that she and his daughter were forbidden from going near it. He said that it was dilapidated and old, too dangerous for the two girls to explore. And just like everything else that was forbidden, it just made it all the more tempting.
And so, while Arthur Hellsing and his trusted butler were gone for the day and most of the evening, the girls had made their escape from their maid and part-time Nanny. And now here they were, traveling the surprisingly long distance to the forbidden mausoleum and the secrets it held inside. And anyway, she thought to herself, if they really wanted us to stay away from it, they would have put a huge wall or something around it. Instead of a wall, though, a large wrought iron gate surrounded the menacing building.
The two stood before the black gate, just staring in awe at the nearly black stone of the building before them, the terrifying gargoyles adorning the roof and the two mighty hellhound statues guarding the entrance. Ivy crawled along the walls and dead bushes; possibly rose; adorned the pathway, their deadly thorns in sharp relief. Seras felt herself slowly grow fearful and hugged her bear close for comfort. Even Integra seemed apprehensive now that they stood before the stone edifice.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Integra seemed to gather her courage and pushed against the black gate. She struggled with the metal, the hinges having rusted over time. Looking at Seras, she motioned for her to help. Sticking her gun in the waistband of her shorts liked she'd seen people on T.V. do, she placed her bare gently on the dirt entry and helped to push the gate open. The hinges screamed at them in protest, hurting their ears and startling the nearby birds into flight. At last the gate was open and, panting, looked once more at the monolith, which somehow looked even more menacing now that they had access to it now.
Slowly they began to walk forward, Seras running back to grab her bear from the ground. Once they reached the door, they saw that it too was made of iron, with the relief of a dragon upon it. A large chain held the door closed, a padlock the size of a large stone holding the tangled mess together. Seras's face fell, afraid that their journey had ended before it had truly begun. Slowly, she turned her forlorn eyes upon her friend. "What do we do now?"
Integra glared down at the lock and chain, as if willing it to burst into flame and melt away. Growling, her temper burst forth, she unsheathed her blade and slid it resolutely between one of the chain links. Still glaring at it, she quickly and with all her strength twisted the blade. The chain groaned slightly before cracking in half, appearing to also have been rusted to the point of weakness. Smiling smugly to herself, she glanced at the ecstatic girl next to her before re-sheathing her blade and proceeding to unwind the chain.
Soon enough, the chain fell to the stone floor, and the girls were pulling open the door. Though the hinges squeaked, they had not been as much at the mercy of the elements as the gate before and so was only a slight annoyance. Instead of a crypt, as they expected, a dark stairway lay before them, heading downward.
"Odd," Integra motioned at the steps before her, a frown on her face, "I've never heard of a crypt like this before. Usually there would be a stone sarcophagus or coffin here, not a bunch of steps. And the relief on the door . . . that is not the mark of the Hellsing Family."
"Maybe . . . that's because it's not of the Hellsing Family? I mean . . . maybe this belongs to someone who lived long before the Hellsing's settled here and they were eccentric?"
"That's impossible; the Hellsing's have been here for hundreds of years. No, there has to be some other reason. Blasted, I didn't even think to bring a torch along."
Seras grinned broadly at the older girl, slightly bouncing on the balls of her booted feet. "Guess that makes me smarter for once!" And without a moment's hesitation pulled a flashlight out of her back pocket. It was small, easily hidden but its LED light would cut through the dark without problem. Giggling, Seras held the flashlight out to the older girl. Glaring menacingly, Integra quickly snatched it from the younger girls' hand, switching it on and slowly making her way down the dark, damp steps.
Still giggling to herself, Seras pulled her pellet gun out of her waistband and, teddy bear in hand, followed after the other girl. Step after cold step they wondered. After a while Seras became bored with the excursion and looked around at the walls. It wasn't until she stopped to take a closer look that she realized murals adorned the walls.
"Integra, come here! There are paintings on the walls." Integra, having already traveled a few steps ahead, sighed and walked back up where she'd gone. Not really expecting anything all that interesting, she shined the flashlight on the wall. The girls gasped.
Upon the wall before them was the painting of what appeared to be a battle. Knights with swords draw and lances at the ready ran or rode on horses across a field against what appeared to be an army of monsters. Moving on, they saw the next mural. In this one, the two opposing forces were in the mists of fighting, blood already covering many of them and many on the ground either dead or wounded. The girls continued on down the steps, reading the story that was being told before their eyes. The two armies did battle until finally only their leaders were left to fight. The King of the monsters did battle with the human knight, until finally the knight had prevailed. The light had prevailed over the dark, and the dark king was imprisoned in some hidden place where he would never see the light of the moon again.
The two girls stopped before this last mural, staring at the once might king chained down in the darkness, while the moon shined so lovingly beyond his reach. Integra pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, staring at the painting critically.
"Obviously, this is a warning of some kind, using the symbolism between the forces of light and dark to get it across. That those who do wrong will be punished and the thing they want taken away from them. See the night in the moonlight with the lady there? I think they were fighting over her and he obviously took her from the monster king after the battle was one. So not only was his freedom taken, but so was this woman. I wish we had seen this from the beginning, it might have given a better clue as to who they are."
"Poor king." A sniffle followed this sad remark.
Integra looked down at Seras in shock, seeing the girl close to tears. "What do you mean?"
"Well," sniffle, "I think he might have been in love with her. But because he wasn't human, they couldn't be together. And then he was defeated and locked away in the dark where could never be free again. I just think it's really sad. He probably cried for a long time."
"Never everyone is a crybaby like you are, Seras. Though that is a very 'Seras' view on the situation here. Anyways, it's obvious that this had happened a long time ago, way before the two of us were born. This I probably the tomb where they buried the man and the reason it goes down so deep is to make sure that his punishment stays in place even after death. Anyways, let's keep going, we're wasting valuable time." And without another word she continued.
Seras continued staring at the painting, feeling so sad for the imprisoned man. She sighed. But Integra was right, it had happened long ago and there wasn't anything she could do about it. The man was probably dead and dust by this point. Shaking her head, she hurried after the older girl, keeping watch of her feet so as not to trip. And down the stairway they continued on.
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Greetings fellow Hellsing fans~! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Jaden Kismet, a fellow creature of the night and lover of all things dark and fluffy. Woops, did I just say fluffy? Well, anyways, I hope you enjoy the coming story. Though this is the first chapter, it also works as a prologue of sorts. Yes, this is AU and an AxS story since I absolutely love the pairing. This is my first fanfic so I hope to get a lot of constructive criticism. I know this probably seems a bit boring right now, since all they're doing is breaking a rule and going where they shouldn't. Trust me; the next chapter will have a bit more action to it. Either way, I hope you enjoy and I hope to get reviews soon~! Will be posting the next chapter either way but reviews help to make it better~!
-Jaden Kismet 3