Authors note:
Hi there! This is my first fanfic that I've actually published. I've written a few fanfics beforehand, but I never made them public. Please go easy on me if you don't like it, and tell me why. No random "it was just crap" please. If you like it, please review it. I will write a lot more if I'm told my work is good than if I don't get any reviews at all, or only bad ones. And now for the legal stuff!
Legal notice:
I do not own Hellsing. I do not own Integra, Integra's uncle, Arcard, or any of the Henchmen. All that I own here at the moment is the story itself. This story is my very own work and property. No-one may be this without my knowledge, permission, consent, or whatever else one would rephrase it to.
Authors note (again):
Sorry for seeming miserable about this. I'm totally against plagiarism.
This story is set in the timeline gap between when Integra (or Integral, but I'm going to use Integra here) Hellsing loses her father, and the events that happen up to it, leading to the underground prison. I've altered it a little bit, to fit in with the story, though I've tried to keep it as original as possible. Also note that I'm British, and have spelt in British English over American English. Anyway, on with the story!
Chapter 1
Integra Wingates Hellsing took a long, gloomy glance out of her window of the Hellsing family castle into the night sky of Britain, and then down to the streets of England, the very place where she would be protecting soon, if all went well in the next few days. She rubbed her cheek slightly, and it was obvious that she had tears streaming down it lightly, after three hours of intense crying; her tear glands were totally exhausted. Her father had died yesterday, leaving her in control of the Hellsing institute, but she wondered if she would do a good job. Would she be any good, or would she let them down? After all, she was only young-fifteen, coming sixteen, no real age to become a leader of demon-destroying organisation that the Hellsing institute was, but if he father doubted her, he would have given the place to her uncle.
She nodded slightly to herself as she thought about this. 'Yeah, father would have given the Hellsing institute to Uncle if he didn't think I could do it.' Though her father had left it to her, she had to find out if she was going to be accepted into power by Her Majesty the Queen. Integra looked down at the note she had in her hand. It was the very one from Her Majesty the Queen which would decide whether or not she would reign over Hellsing institute.
She had already opened it, but had not looked at it just yet. She played with the edges for a moment, before hesitantly taking it out the packet and reading it to herself quietly, her lips only formed the words, and her face turned into the brightest smile when she found out that the Queen had accepted her as Hellsing's new leader, and the ceremony was going to be in a week. She wanted to jump up and down, because she felt as though she couldn't contain her excitement, but then she remembered just why she was getting into power. Her father was dead.
Integra's excitement vanished as quickly as her expression, leaving only a glum feeling there as she put her hand on her cheek. If her tears glands weren't already exhausted, she would be crying again now, but she couldn't. Instead, she could only sob and whine, calling for her father and asking him why he had to die. She didn't know why he had to die and leave her alone.
When he was here, she felt she had everyone she ever needed, but now, she felt alone. To make matters worse, Walter was gone, too. He'd been out since yesterday, so she had nobody to comfort her now, to make her feel safe for a while, at least until she could regain her emotional strength.
But no, it seemed as though when she needed everyone the most, they vanished all at once into oblivion, leaving her to sort out her own problems. She wondered if she should even bother caring at this time in the present. Yet, Integra knew that no girl deserved to have these kinds of burdens in such quick succession to one another. With a sigh, Integra Wingates Hellsing collapsed onto her back, sighing heavily. She closed her eyes involuntarily. They needed rest from all the crying she'd done after losing him, after losing daddy.
Chapter 2
Integra awoke to be greeted by the Great British winter's commonest weather for the time of year from her window.- Integra would have enjoyed this, if she wasn't burdened by the thought of the loss of her father recently, topped off by the feeling in her gut, telling her that someone was in the room with her. She turned around to the other way in an attempt to shake the sensation, but doing so did nothing. She stayed like that, in silence, for quite some time, before she asked, 'Is someone there?'
Integra's heart almost stopped when someone said, 'Yeah.' Immediately, she sat up, recognising the voice, she relaxed somewhat, yet still searched for her glasses. She could just about make out the shape of her uncle, and someone else stood perfectly still behind him, like how a hawk watches its prey before the strike.
She shrugged it off mentally, and thought that it must be one of the guards he has working for him. After a moment of flailing her arms about uselessly, her uncle finally gave Integra her glasses. She murmured a quiet 'thanks' to him, and when she put them on, the person who was behind her uncle was gone, as though he was never there to begin with.
- That is to say, gloomy and dull, with a type of sludge for snow on the ground, usually a dark grey colour.
Integra was about to say something, when she found him reading the letter. He has only just started reading it, and he paid her no heed. His face showed major disappointment, the kind which made it look as though two best friends had just fallen out over something pitiful, but would never apologise to one another because of pride.
Integra stayed deathly silent for a moment. When she was about to say something after the time that passed seemed like hours, her uncle smiled, said a single word to her before dropping the note on the foot of the bed, and leaving quietly.
That single word was 'Congratulations'. His voice told Integra that he was happy for her, as did his face, but his heart didn't. Something about the way he said it made Integra feel extremely awkward and useless, but she shrugged it off as he left, and rubbed her eyelids with her palms slightly. She got up and went over to the door to see where he had gone.
Integra flinched when she heard her uncle yell from outside her room, followed by the sound of something smashing. Integra wanted to go and look, but she didn't. She was worried about her uncle, because ever since his brother's death, he'd been odd around her. Integra dismissed it as nothing more than him not feeling well, because his brother had died, and they were close to one another. She didn't open the door, but just listened for a while. She could definitely hear him talking to someone in the next room or the corridor, but it was muffled badly. She picked up a glass and put it against the wall. It helped a little, but not really that much, and she'd just look stupid if she was caught.
'She's been approved.' Said her uncle to the person he was speaking to before she began to attempt to eavesdrop into the conversation.
'You know what this means.' There was a moment of silence as the over voice said nothing, so must have nodded or shook their head. Integra couldn't find out who it was from an action she couldn't see, so the thought it must be one of her uncle's servants. 'We'll have to give her a little surprise.'
Integra wondered what kind of surprise she would be getting like an excited little schoolgirl, but she knew better than to think about it. It would only ruin the surprise if she did.
Integra took a step away from the wall and then sat down in her chair, looking into her mirror. She looked at herself, although as though she was someone else, criticising her appearance as though she should prejudge herself, based on her appearance, to decide whether or not she was fit to lead Hellsing. She felt a little bad when she decided she didn't look the part, because she looked too feminine. Who would take an organisation seriously when a child was leading it? Even more so when it was a national organisation protecting the lives of over 58 million people, by a schoolgirl.
There was a moment of silence as Integra sat on the bed, and brought her knees to her chest. She then rested her head on her knees, and thought if it would truly be best to be the leader of the Hellsing organisation. She was so confused that she didn't even know if she wanted to lead it now, but if she didn't she'd only make her father unhappy.
And so, Integra stayed like this for quite some time, until she sank into a restless sleep. She had nothing to keep her company during the time of her dreams except the feeling of unshakeable guilt that ran through her mind, telling her that it was her fault that her dad died, and as much as she tried to tell herself it wasn't true, she couldn't. She couldn't tell herself her father died of old age; she blamed herself for being a burden, for being an epitome of awkwardness and weakness.
Chapter 3
She'd been awake for the last hour now, but she stayed silent, curled up into a little ball, still heartbroken about losing her father. It was only when she heard the door shut behind her that she looked around slyly. Integra saw a figure from the corner of her eye, and her heart almost stopped dead in its tracks. Someone was in her room!
What made it worse was that he, or she, was getting closer to her bed. As the figure got closer, she could see that it was wearing the black business suit, trademark of her uncle's personal guard. She wanted to know what he could be in her room for, so she rolled over to face him.
Doing so, she narrowly missed a knife, which would have gone straight into her skull if she hadn't have moved when she did. She was about to say something beforehand, but she instantly forgot it and screamed, kicking him in the chin as he tried to get the knife out of the bedroom. It appeared to have been lodged between two pieces of wood. As she kicked him, he let out a groan of pain and stumbled backwards enough to buy her some time to run out of the room.
Once she had run out of the room, she quickly slammed the door shut. She didn't stop to catch her breath, just in case he got out. Instead, she made a run for it down one of the many narrow hallways, and down one of the many flights of stairs, she held onto the tarnished banister as she run down the stairs, almost falling over as she stumbled on a step, though someone caught her before she could fall over and hurt herself.
It was her uncle, with a concerned look on his face. He wiped a stray strand of her blonde hair from behind her glasses, so he could see both of her blue eyes. They were stricken with terror, and her face was pale. 'Integra, what's wrong?' he asked her, and she looked somewhat relieved, and clung to him.
'Uncle, one of your employers just tried to kill me.' She screeched, especially on the word kill. Her uncle's face showed a smidgen of disappointment, and he hugged her tightly. She felt his hands press against her back, though they didn't hurt her, just made her feel uncomfortable. She felt as though there was something beyond his actions. After all, since the death of his brother, he too had been weird.
'I can't have them trying to kill you.' He said quietly as she let go and moved back from him. Her eyes narrowed, and Integra felt that he too was involved in the assassination attempt.
'What do you mean try?' she asked. Her uncle didn't say anything. He pulled out a handgun from his pocket, and pointed it straight at her head. She froze. Then, he began to speak, as he walked around her, keeping the gun pointed at her head in a mocking, half-threatening way.
'I can't have a child running Hellsing, you know. This organisation is too important to have some child running it. I've waited 20 years for my brother to die, sweetie, and I won't have you ruining my chances of becoming the head now.' He said. He cocked his gun, and she gulped. The sound of the gun cocking was not what scared her most at the moment, though. It was that her uncle was doing this. This must have been some cruel joke.
'But father left the organisation to me!' she protested. Uncle laughed mockingly at her, and shook his head disapprovingly, as though he was being told something incorrect.
'Father did this, father did that, and that too?' He began, bringing his hand top slap her around the face. She screamed in shock and held her face for a second, staring at him in a mixture of fear and shock. 'I'm sick of hearing about your fucking father, you little bitch!' Integra felt insulted, but she never said anything. Her father told her that a true lady should not say bad things to people. 'I won't have some little schoolgirl with her heads in the clouds protecting our country from bloodsuckers! The best you'd make is a servant! You don't even deserve to lick dog shit off my boots. You haven't even earned that.'
'I am to be Hellsing's rightful ruler! I will not let you scare me, uncle! Father left Hellsing to me! That must say something about you ruling that he disapproved of!' Integra yelled. She was getting defiant, and Uncle slapped her again. This time, it was harder than he had slapped her beforehand- much harder.
'This is why I must kill you, you stupid little girl!' he screamed at her. His finger tightened on the trigger, and then he closed his eyes. To Integra, this was a sign that he really couldn't kill her, because he had to close his eyes, to block out her face.
Integra used this as an opportunity to get the hell out of there before she was shot stone dead. Her footsteps echoed through one of the corridors, and she heard a gunshot close behind her, but she didn't look back, in case she bumped into someone else. She heard her uncle laugh madly, and shout, 'I'll give you a head start so we can play hunting.' Integra quickly bolted off into random directions, wherever her feet destined for her to go.
Once she'd stopped, she stared into the main office, where just a few days ago, she was with her father. Memories began to seep into her mind, but the most important one that caught her attention was the one of her father telling her about the secret entrance to the prison. She was sure that she was the only one he'd told. '...when you are trapped by a strong enemy; escape to the underground prison. There is something there that will protect you.'
Where was the entrance, though? Honestly, she'd forgotten. A moment of furious thinking passed, and then she remembered. It was in this room, yes. Another thing her father had said to her afterwards was, 'When you're in danger, you should seek the safety of those before me, before you.' But she'd never quite gotten what he meant.
There was a painting of Hellsing's first ruler. She checked behind it, but came out with nothing except a piece of paper. This made her lose her calm, but she knew that there must be a logical explanation to why. Besides this, though, a thing that made her calmer was that her uncle said he'd give her a head start. She should have this over and done with by then, hopefully. She read the piece of paper.
'Three arms, One head, Eight feet high, Dark brown-red,
This is the gatekeeper, Who guards the sacred place, Tall and thin, but far from frail, He protects the safest space,
To three kingdoms his hands do point, But the gatekeeper must have all hands raised high, If you want to get by, To pass you must convince him, Get the wrong answer and you will die,
Point his hands to Hell, and in that place will your destiny lie, Point his hands to Heaven, and safety is there, Stop not as you hold his hands to move them, Doing so means he will protest, The gatekeeper is a dealer of life, and death.'
Integra was pretty good with riddles, so it only took her a moment to figure out what it meant. All she really had to go by, though, was that it was in this room, and described in the riddle. Why the hell would someone leave a riddle on a piece of paper behind the painting, though? Never mind. She glanced around, and then saw something that was so obvious to the riddle. It was the grandfather clock! The entrance was behind the grandfather clock!
Surely, most people would have known that. It doesn't really take a genius to figure out, but Integra's no rocket scientist. She hesitantly went over to the glass, and opened it hesitantly. She took a look at the arms of the clock, noting where they are.
They told an incorrect time, because the clock had stopped long ago. They were pointing to make the time: 15 ½ minutes past 9 o' clock, but it was far beyond that time now. Integra didn't even have any idea what the current time was, as she'd left her watch in her room.
'To the three kingdoms his hands do point,' Integra began, as she started to move the hands. 'But the gatekeeper must have all hands raised high... hmm... noon or midnight!' she exclaimed. That was the logical thought, as XII on the clock pointed directly upwards.
She gingerly put the clock's hands to be precisely 12 o' clock, regardless of midday or midnight, and the clock made a click noise, and something dropped from elsewhere in the clock, instead of making the dong noises. She removed the catch, and then opened up the front of it. She saw it was a key, wrapped in some paper.
'Not again...' she mumbled, but the paper didn't have a riddle, just the following words: 'Beware, the secret passage can be a saviour, or it can be a death sentence, it depends how you yourself act inside.' She looked at the key, and then behind the clock at a tiny thing for what she first thought was a safe. She moved the clock enough so she could squeeze behind it without it looking too obvious, and then she poked at the tiny keyhole with the key. It fitted, and it was the right key. A click ensued.
She opened the safe-like door, and was relieved that it had to be pushed, not pulled. She didn't really like pull doors, as she felt as though she was submissive. She climbed inside the entrance, and a mild feeling of claustrophobia overtook her. Swallowing the feeling over the fear of being murdered by her uncle, she closed the hatch and then ventured forwards into the darkness that beckoned her closer. All she could do was follow it, and hope she'd come out alive.
Fin.
Author's Note
I've finished my first ever public story! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. What did you think of it?
I myself don't think it's too bad, but I think it's poorly worded, and with a bad use of grammar and punctuation, and the plot was a little bit shallow, in my opinion. Though, what you think is up to you.
The main reason on why I decided to write this, was because a question came to mind- Integra's papa died, and then it went to the next few days- they could have been eventful days, so I decided I'd write what I thought would be pretty cool to have on. I think it was kind of limiting, because I kept the character usage to just a few people (Integra alone for most of the story). I will use more characters next time, if there is a next time. )
Please read and review, hopefully nothing too degenerating, though. No good read and reviews, I might not post any more stories up for a while. As I mentioned earlier on, if people tell me they like my writing, I'll write more.
If not, I won't spend as long writing. P
Thanks for reading this, peace and love to all or something...
Carl Jones.