Fate
Written by: Atikkin
Author note: This is a one-shot story. The features characters are Alucard and Seras. All credits to author, Kohta Hirano, for Hellsing. Happy reading and enjoy.
Time is like a vast desert. It is a never-ending chain of eternity in which they could only ponder as they walk the fathomless road. To where they seek is nothing but the cold emptiness of space; a daunting span of everlasting loneliness.
They realize this once they witness the fall of Hellsing. Integra, the last of the blood-line, dies on her death bed. A long life she lives, yet decides to step upon Death's chariot as the entity carries her to the heavens. The Count has always imagined this. Sitting on his throne, empty and withered in the depths of his despair. He does not express it, for tears and heartache are for the mortals.
His partner in arms, on the other hand, does not have the same solid demeanor. No tears trails down her china face, yet the depression on her gaze exemplifies the fact that she is deeply saddened by the loss. Certainly, after all those years with the Iron Maiden there are strong ties of emotion. Sometimes he could imagine that they share a sisterly bond. Such a relationship differs greatly from the master and servant bond, one of which he has shared with her, his late wife.
Standing in the room of many windows, she allows the illumination of the sun to beat against her skin. How she wishes for the orb to tear her apart, yet it cannot.
She is no different from her maker...no flaws...no weaknesses...
She turns slightly to find him staring at her. She stares back, crimson seeping into crimson.
"Suicide is a sin, I hope you know," he says, wandering towards her.
"I am aware of that," she says dully.
"What are you doing, then?"
"I don't know."
Alucard raises a brow. Normally, his servant has a better answer than that. He presses his back against the window, keeping his hard gaze on her. Once the so cheerful, yet pathetic police girl now appears ghastly and above all, more dead than ever. He admits that it entices him a bit; however, a voice in his mind reminds him that this new, sick persona she possesses is disturbing.
"It has been over a year, police girl."
"Yes…"
"Why are you still mourning?"
Her crimson eyes curve from the window and onto him. She gives him an angry expression; one he often uses when something irks him greatly. Her master's hard gaze turns angry as well.
"Why are you still mourning?" He asks again.
"You wouldn't understand…" she says, turning away from him.
They remain in silence. The silence is all that stands between them. Odd, that it sometimes fades away and all that they hear are their voices. Though, by now their bond as Master and Slave has long since faded, there is still a link that keeps them from the distance.
"On the contrary," Alucard says, lifting her chin by his finger tips. A sorrowful face greets him as his fingers travel across her face to allow the palm of his hand to settle on her cheek. "I do."
Tears slowly turn to ice upon her face. Her eyes look elsewhere, unable to gaze into his. His thumb wipes them away, seeing her lids shut from his act of kindness. The hand on her face slowly moves through the lockes of her hair, caressing the back of her head rather affectionately.
"I asked her many times…" she whispers. Alucard pauses, but then resumes what he is doing.
"What did you ask?"
"If she wanted this life, so she may be free of growing old, keeping this organization, letting the Hellsing family…" her voice trails off, feeling a wave of shame to have admitting this to him. She expects him to snarl and criticize her for making an indecent proposal. However, that chain between them tells her otherwise.
"I know. She did not take the offer," he says, sighing a little. "Integra was too strong. She will not become the thing she hates the most."
Seras frowns a little. Alucard, having to notice this, adds, "But I doubt she bore any animosity towards you."
"And you..."
This time, he frowns a little. He removes his hand from her head, taking a small strand between his fingers. The lock seems to twist around his knuckles, much like her arm that is able to transform into a wing.
Seras observes him carefully, seeing that dead expressionless gaze upon him.
"Why are you still mourning?" she asks.
Alucard shifts his eyes from the golden locke to her stare. They gaze at each other for a long moment. He finally breaks it off, giving her his answer.
"Unlike you, I feel no nothing that she is gone. She finally can rest from this hell her family has been battling against for centuries. Though, selfishly, like you, I wish had forced her to make a decision; only then, she may still be here."
"Why did you not?"
"Fate," he mutters.
"Fate…?"
"Yes," he says, releasing the locke. "Once you have walked the Earth for more than five centuries, police girl, you will predetermine the outcome of one's life."
There is a long pause. Marker and protégé seem to step closer to each other. Neither one bothers to step away, realizing that is would have happened between them sometime sooner or later.
"It happened to you, didn't it?" she says.
"What…?"
"Lose everything all at once…"
Alucard does not answer. He stares down at her until she raises her visage. Crimson molds with burgundy, creating a gyre. His hands find her hair again, fingers diving through the thick strands as he pulls her closer to him, as if in an embrace.
She clings onto his coat, letting the tears fall.
It almost seems like an eternity. In that quiet room, only their thoughts exchange with one another. They realize their rage and their sorrow are what make them the No-Life. Suddenly the differences are not different, yet similar—too similar. Starting with their mortal lives tossed in a world of chaos as they lose their families before them. Both are so young, lost and terrified.
In their mid-lives, they lose their comrades. So many of them fall, and not one is ever seen or heard from again. No matter how hard they would tell one to fight, there is still the dread and agony of seeing them put their lives on the line.
However, they realize that the one thing that they share most of all is the loss of a loved one. At an instant they would see their beloved sway with Death. Their cries of anger and pain are ever so loud, yet like Lazarus, their tears are unheard. Only the blood running down their cheeks express that they are fallen.
From the previous battles, they realize how much they shield one another. One tries so hard to protect the other from harm. Perhaps that is why they cannot be….
Forever on the Earth they will travel through oceans of time and they are unable to express the vulgar emotions of man within them.
"I am returning to my homeland," he says, breaking their thoughts. "There is nothing left here for me to remain."
"I know," she whispers.
"And you…?"
Seras glances up at him. He has an expressionless look upon him. It seems he already knows the answer. Neither says a word to each other as Seras turns away. A sudden shot of his arm takes her off guard. She turns to her maker to find him handing something to her. She blinks in confusion as he places a long chain around her neck, a heavy pendant of a dragon sliding over her bosom.
She lowers her eyelids, realizing what it is.
So that is how it is our fate…
That bond between them, starts anchoring them together. They seal themselves in a chaste kiss that ends eventually when she places her finger gently over his bottom lip. He pushes against it just slightly to brush his lips over hers.
"We mustn't…" she mutters.
An agitated growl escapes from him, but he calms down. She is right. And now is the time for her to make her leave. Pressing her head against his, she gives her final farewell kiss. She turns away, allowing the darkness to swallow her.
Alucard remains there against the window. He shuts his eyes, feeling the chain grow ever so strong. He smirks evilly, realizing the effect.
"See you around, Seras Victoria."
Author note : Thank you for reading.