Forever Yours
By Galatea
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of 'Hellsing' or 'Dragonball Z'. The character of Galatea Fircroft belongs to myself, and the characters of Meidara Dei and Lina Doragon belong to their owners respectively.
Author's Note: For those not familiar with my work, it is important to make a warning here. This story contains original characters and DOES NOT contain the usual pairings. There is no mention of AlucardxIntegra/Celes, TrunksxMarron/Pan and so on. If original characters do not interest you, please hit that little button on your browser labelled 'Back'.
Rating for this chapter: G
Chapter 1 ~ King's CrossLondon's central station was bustling with activity when Galatea stepped out of the black taxi and on to the steps out front. The frost crunched reassuringly under her feet where the trespassing footsteps of others had yet to turn it to a yellowing, sloppy mush. The smell of roasted chestnuts tempted her nose almost immediately as a seller passed her by, but she resisted the urge to invest in a bag. She had not come all the way down from Durham in order to indulge in Christmas cheer. She was here on business.
She paid the taxi driver his fare – a ridiculously large sum considering that she had only used the cab to get herself across London. Her real destination was the southern and somewhat rural town of Reading, where hopefully she would finally get some answers that had been plaguing her ever since she had received that phone call.
Galatea was a reporter by trade. She worked for a local Reading news-station and presented a show called 'The Spark' with her close colleague, Elena Constantine. That is, she had presented a show with her. That had been up until around 8 hours ago. She had received a phone call in the middle of the night, informing her that Elena had died. Just like that. No description of the circumstances, no 'whys' or 'wherefores'. She just had to accept that next season she would be presenting 'The Spark' with a new co-host.
It just didn't wash. She had only been in the business for 3 years, ever since her uncle had offered her a job at his Socialist paper after she had finished at Secondary School. It was through this that she had earned the esteem of the editor of a paper in Reading, and from there she had moved on to broadcasting. It seemed like a whirlwind of a journey for one so young, but nevertheless, Galatea's 21 years had taught her a few things about stories, and she couldn't let this one lie. She was determined to find out how her friend had died, no matter what that meant un-earthing.
She bought her ticket from one of the machines and made her way over to the train on platform 2, which was surrounded by a cloud of pale steam as the hot air surrounding it met with the cold December air of London. Her informant, an old acquaintance by the name of Philip Stetra was to meet her at Reading station, and from there she would head straight to the scene of the crime. In such cases as these, it was always the best place to start. Jack was the only person who had been in the vicinity at the time, and the details he had given her were vague at best. From what she could make out – one minute Elena had been alive and well, and the next minute she had been reported dead.
Something had happened in that short length of time, and Galatea was determined to find out what it was before it claimed any more victims.
***
Galatea was not the only person at King's Cross that day looking for answers. Quite unbeknownst to the female reporter, someone else boarded the train to the south country, though her mind was preoccupied with things other than her friends and family. She travelled wearing a thick black cloak that only allowed her eyes to be seen. Her hands were gloved and she wore a pair of tall, thick boots that came up to meet the bottom of the cloak. She moved almost like a shadow through the crowds of Christmas shopping, smoothly and never colliding with anyone.
She slipped into one of the First Class carriages and sat down, grateful when no one else entered the carriage after her. She pulled from the refines of the cloak a piece of paper, and looked down at the carefully written words on it for what was probably the hundredth time.
'Come see for yourself.'
What was it supposed to mean? Mei didn't know. Her only clue was an address written on the back of the scrap of paper. She had tried looking up the same address on the Internet and in the phonebook, but she hadn't been able to find it. Could it be that she was going to a place that didn't exist? It wouldn't be the first time that something completely insane had happened to her. And it probably wouldn't be the last either.
'Hellsing Institution,' she read again, forming her lips silently around the syllables. Who had summoned her there, and for what purpose? Aside from certain circumstances she was just like everyone else. Could it be that whoever had contacted her knew about what she was, and where she came from? But how could that be? Furthermore, if they did know of her nature, did that just mean she was being lured into a trap by some government agency that wanted to chop her into little pieces and examine her on petri dishes?
She shuddered at the thought and tucked the slip of paper back into her cloak and settled back on her seat to watch the red brick buildings of London melt away into the green hills of the country.
***
Alucard roused himself just as the sun was setting. He stood watching it's flames lick up the parks surrounding the Hellsing Institute, hiding in the shadows where the light couldn't reach him. Of course, it would take more than a few sunrays to wipe out a true No Life King, but 'become a pile of dust and accidentally get swept up by Mrs. Gerard the cleaning lady' wasn't high on his list of things to do.
He waited silently in the shadows, invisible to the eyes of everyone, until the sun was fully set and the stars began to prick their holes in the blanket of darkness that now overshadowed the institute. He slipped through the brickwork, making his way unheeded through the off-duty soldiers who infested the hallway, who only shuddered with a passing chill if they happened to touch him. As was his way, he slipped into the wall again and descended into Integral Hellsing's office through the ceiling.
She didn't lift an eye as he did so. She could always tell when he was present. It was like the sigh of the dead.
"I didn't call you, why are you here Alucard?" she inquired, pushing her thin rimmed glasses back up her nose and focussing on the sheet of paper in front of her.
"Lovely evening, Miss Hellsing," said the vampire, without even making an attempt to answer her question.
Finally Integra looked up from her computer screen, her eyes settled on the red clad being standing before her. " What do you want?"
"Temper, temper, Miss Hellsing," Alucard replied with a toothy smile, walking to the window. Night had now begun to fully set in. The sky had moved through its dark blue phase and was now stained an ugly blood-red with a pinkish moon floating high above like a giant pearl.
"Stop wasting my time," said the stoic woman between clenched teeth.
Alucard remained saying nothing, but continued to look out into the night, a slight smile curving the side of his mouth upwards.
"Company's coming."
***
To be continued.