ORDER 14 - CLOSURE
Search and Destroy.
Those were her orders. That was always her command to him. Hellsing would never run from their enemies, they would never submit to these monsters. The knight would either overpower these freaks, kill them in the name of God, Queen, and country, or die defending them. Never would she submit to their sick games. Never would she allow herself to become a pawn for their own benefits.
Incognito was gone now. The feared Impaler had returned upon her command. Flames engulfed the city, the rivers ran red with the blood of thousands. The Judas in their midsts had been tried and excuted. Never in a thousand years would she have suspected him to be Walter. The very thought sickened her. Broke her heart forever. He threw her to the wolves. He arranged Ferguson's death, the ambush on Hellsing Manor, perhaps even allowed the Bubbancy into her chambers. He guided the hand of her enemies as swiftly as he had guided hers.
What a performance. What a spectacular actor he was.
To declare such undying loyalty to her, raise her from childhood, seemingly sacrifice his life for the sake that she would survive, and yet he was the puppeteer all along. Perhaps he knew Incognito would find her laying there. Perhaps he knew that monster would use her for his own gain. Perhaps he only allowed her to live for the sake of the beast finishing her off slowly.
Yes, what a performance indeed. She was decieved, all right.
She was arrested shortly after the incident. The authorities had come for her and found she and Victoria outside of the mansion. Although the Draculina would have gladly given her all to defend the master of her master, it was Integra herself who willingly went with them. She was tried, found guilty, stripped of her title as a knight, excommunicated from the Protestant church, and sentenced to die. On the final day, she found herself in this strange prison. Her cell was cold and dark, a room fitting for a political prisoner. She was thankful that her keepers at least had the curtosey to provide her with a cigar along with her last supper. A supper that she never bothered to touch, nor even look at.
She sat on the bed, the cigar between her teeth, not even phased by the events that occurred and the ones that were soon to come. She did what needed to be done. She did all that she could do. If protecting the church, queen, and country requires martyrdom, she would carry that cross with her.
One would look at it as an honor, wouldn't they?
Honor.... to build your life around a government and a church that will turn around and destroy you. Fascinating, was it not? To be abandoned. To be so utterly betrayed by the very people she swore to protect. Yet their betrayal and unkindness were the very least of her concerns. The thought that kept her up at night was something more she died, the Hellsing line died with her. There would be nobody to succeed her. She had no brothers, sisters, or cousins on Richard's side. She had no husband or children of her own, no ward, no close companion.
The Hellsing bloodline would die with her. The politicians would take control over her family's estate and business and the Hellsing Organization would be nothing more then a strong name with no soul.
Be glorious.... that is what her father told her. His dying words. To be glorious. But what was glory? The Spartans in Ancient Greece would consider a death on a battlefield to be the greatest glory they could achieve. The ancient Asian civilization found glory through an honorable death. But what was glory to a Hellsing? That thought replayed in her mind for days. It continued to replay even now, as she stared blankly at the wall before her.
She knew what she had learned from her father: Hellsings died with dignity. They died with a sense of accomplishment. Before they could rest, they did something monumental. For Abraham, he defeated Dracula. For her father, he gave her his Organization. Even Richard was the very reason why Alucard was ressurected in the first place.
For Sir Integra, she knew that she would die for England. It was her home. It belonged to a church she once loved, a family she once had, and a Queen she once served. It was the only thing she had left to die for.
"My Master.... your orders...."
Her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of her old friend. The serpent seemed to hear her thoughts from miles away. The shadows twisted and morphed and he stood before her. Alucard. The great Nosferatu himself. Her servant, slave, pet vampire, protector and trumph card. Obedient until the very end, if only for the sake of following orders that involved the slaughter of thousands. That glass of red wine from her last meal was held in his hand. Integra's blue eyes watched as he approached her. That damn, twisted grin on his face, never leaving for a moment, even as he shattered the glass. The grin grew larger as the broken glass cut his hand, allowing his blood to gather, then drip.
Temptation at it's finest. She was Eve standing before the serpent. She was offered the choice that would determine everything. She silently said them in her mind at she watched his blood drip onto the floor.
Drink from him and live forever. Refuse to drink and die.
"The choice is yours."
She had lived long enough and had witnessed enough death and madness to know that her death would not frighten her. Yet the promise of eternal life and youth was a sweet desire. One she found herself considering a time or two. She would go on living forever. She would become powerful. Nothing would stand in her way, nobody would use her ever again.
And yet the cost of this choice was more then she could bare. She would be used, this time by her own servant. Drinking his blood would turn her into something like Seras. The idea of referring to him as her Master was sickening. The thought of being so submissive to him made her want to spear him then and there. Perhaps he was taunting her. With her death, he would be freed, would he not? What would happen if Dracula was no longer bound by her control? Should she drink from him to ensure the safety of Europe, or would the counry's destruction happen regardless when she was incapable of resisting him?
More questions occurred to her as she watched the dripping blood. Was eternity as wonderful as it is made out to be? Living forever with the thoughts and memories of the past? Watching friends and allies, both old and new, grow old and die while she was forced to live on? Watching the world change and being unable to change along with it? Live day after day after day in a world that is nothing but death? Her own survival being brought on by drinking the blood of others?
She could see the faces of the men who died under her service. How she was the one who had to pull the trigger and end their lives. She thought back to her father dying on his bed, of the betrayal of her uncle and her butler. She saw her childhood being ripped away from her as she was forced to grow into a harsh, cold creature. Death and destruction was all she knew. Perhaps a life as a vampire would be fitting.
But no.
As tempting as it was, the desire for a rest she never knew was more promising. There was always a reason why Alucard looked for a worthy opponent. One that could kill him. He wanted death, did he not? He would have gladly ripped his heart from his chest and offer it to a person who was worthy of killing him. That one special man he would one day find, one like her ancestor. Why should she suffer immortality when it was clear that he was tired of it?
And more importantly...
Why should a Hellsing turn herself into the very creature that her family spent generations exterminating?
"The honorable blood of the Hellsing family flows through you. Remember, Integra.... be glorious...."
Another final drip. And she smiled as it hit the floor.
"Be gone, Servant." she said. "You had your hour. You had your battle. But my hour has come. This hour is mine, and mine alone."
She half expected him to stop smiling and become cross. But her grin grew as she saw that pleased, admirable look in his eye as he lowered his hand. The Nosferatu removed his glasses, and the two locked eyes. Master and servant, human and vampire, knight and slave... yet in this final moment, the bond between them seemed to be severing. Even now he could hear the guards approaching the cell. Her impending doom was nearing, and yet even in the face of death, she refused to give into him.
Glorious, was it not?
"Spoken like a true daughter of Hellsing." he said.
Integra chuckled softly at this. She made him proud. Imagine that.
"Your final orders, Master? Shall I destroy them for you? I hear them at your door now... they could not take me. Surely you know this." he asked of her. She responded by removing a fresh cigar from her jacket and offering to him.
"A light."
A soft chuckle escaped the vampire. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box of matches. He approached her, and after a stroke of the match, held the flame to her cigar. He watched as it gathered around the cigar, burning brightly before it moved away, and Integra could have sworn she saw a shimmer in his eye as the fire burnt out. She placed the cigar to her lips, inhaling deeply, and after a few very long moments of silence, gave her command:
"Defend the Queen and the remains of my organization with all of your might and power. Do not let those undead beasts forget us. Search and destroy. That is my final order to you. Fulfill it."
Alucard stepped back towards the shadows as his gloved hand moved to his fedora. He lifted it from his head and placed it over his heart. And he bowed to her.
"Whatever you wish.....my master."