"What are you wearing?" I demanded as I stared at Pip. Seras' giggles could be heard from behind me as she tried to hide her laughter. Not that I could blame her; even I had a hard time keeping a straight face.
The captain glared at me, but his serious expression merely made the contrast with his bright pink t-shirt even funnier. "Oh, shut up," he ordered angrily. "It's your fault for leaving my suitcase on the jet."
"Do I look like your maid?" I replied with a raised eyebrow. Pip seemed ready to respond, but my warning look silenced him.
"Where is that vampire of yours, anyway?" asked the captain, obviously trying to change the subject. "We need to go."
I shrugged. "Maybe he saw your outfit and decided a boat would be better."
Before Captain Bernadotte could reply with a witty retort, Alucard himself appeared at my side. I glanced at him, but he was busy staring at Pip. We all waited for a long moment as he studied the captain. Finally, Alucard shook his head and pushed past Pip towards the jet, muttering about how strange humans were.
I couldn't hold in my laughter any longer. Seras and I burst out laughing, clutching our sides in pain. Pip crossed his arms and waited patiently for the two of us to catch our breaths.
"Are you two done?" he asked after a long while. We nodded and straightened up, making our way onto the jet after Alucard.
I sat beside the dark-haired vampire; he had left me the window seat, so I leaned against the wall of the jet and stared outside as we took off. Beside me, I could hear Pip, Seras, and Alucard discussing some meeting we would be attending upon arrival, but I quickly lost interest.
Alucard's gentle shaking was what woke me. In truth, I hadn't even realized that I had fallen asleep until he told me we had arrived. I stood and stretched sleepily. As we made our way off the jet, I rubbed sleep from my eyes. Even so, I had to blink a few times to make sure the vision before me wasn't a dream.
Buckingham Palace loomed in front of us, glinting in the moonlight. It was even more beautiful than the pictures. I looked over at Pip, who was gaping at the structure, open-mouthed. Smirking, I nudged the captain with my shoulder. "Never thought you'd be flown to Buckingham Palace in a private jet owned by the Vatican?" I asked jokingly.
Captain Bernadotte glanced at me and shook his head in disbelief before glancing back up at the house. "We've come a long way from that dirty old sand trap." I nodded and watched the two vampires, who had already begun walking inside. If someone had told me a month ago that I would be attending a meeting for a secret organization which hunts vampires with my boyfriend, the king of vampires, I probably would have laughed in their face or punched them in the throat.
The walk through the palace was silent as Alucard led us. I was slightly curious about the fact that he seemed to know his way around as if were back at Hellsing, but I was almost certain the answer would only pique my curiosity further. Finally, we reached the room where Sir Integra and the others were waiting.
Alucard entered first with Seras at his side while Pip and I trailed behind. "We have returned to you, my master," greeted the dark-haired vampire. He moved to stand beside Sir Integra, who was seated at the head of the rectangular table – Walter stood behind her patiently, of course – while Pip followed Seras to stand beside a group of men I didn't recognize who were seated together on one side of the table. I went to stand behind the only man I did recognize: Enrico Maxwell.
He was seated alone opposite to the group of men. I pretended to ignore the look of disdain he shot me as I moved to the wall behind him. Pip met my eyes with a questioning look and I nodded; he had never met Maxwell, but I had informed him of our encounter at the museum that night.
"Well executed, my servant," complimented Sir Integra, stealing my attention. She was smiling fondly at Alucard, an unusual sight. "The queen awaits you." Alucard nodded and moved to walk past the older woman, but her next words made him pause. "Remove your glasses."
Alucard nodded and removed his tinted orange glasses. All eyes were on him as he stepped slowly towards the large throne in the back of the room. I couldn't see it very well due to the dim lighting, but I could make out the figure of a woman wearing a crown. Suddenly, I stiffened; I had never been in the presence of royalty before and while I knew she probably hadn't even noticed me, I still felt the urge to bow or curtsy or whatever someone does in the presence of the queen of England
Calm down, Alucard's familiar voice echoed in my mind. Her Majesty is generally quite lax as far as proper behavior in the presence of the crown. Suddenly, two men clad in black appeared as if to stop him, but one glare from the vampire sent them both sprawling on the ground.
Just as he reached the throne, the question of exactly how he knew about the queen's feelings on proper etiquette appeared in my mind. Before I could ask the vampire himself, the old woman's voice stole my attention.
"It's been a very long time, vampire," she said sternly, though her voice held a hint of kindness. "Come closer, let me look at you." Alucard obliged almost immediately, kneeling before her. I pretended I didn't hear Alucard's contented sigh as the queen reached out her arms and cradled his face gently. "All these years and you haven't aged a day, Alucard. Unfortunately, time's march has not been as kind to me. Can you believe how quickly I became an old woman?" She removed her hands from his face and held them up with a bitter smile.
"I still see the same spirited young woman I met fifty years ago, Your Majesty." Alucard's words were unusually sincere and I felt the urge to look away. "In fact, to my eyes, time has made you even more beautiful, Your Highness." At that, I turned away my gaze, surprised at the surge of jealousy which ran through me.
To my surprise, I noticed that both Sir Integra and Walter were watching me intently, their expressions curious. I suddenly recalled the phone call I'd overheard between Integra and Alucard back in Rio.
'Who is she? To you, I mean?'
Back then, Alucard's response had left me baffled, and to be honest it still did. My eyes flitted back to Alucard and the queen. "Proceed with your report, vampire," she ordered.
Alucard nodded and stood, turning back to us. "Fifty-five years ago, a deranged Nazi major attempted to breed a vampire army," he began with a wry grin. "Walter and I laid waste to their operation." My eyes widened as I looked at the older man. Walter was also smirking as the memory passed through his mind. "However, it seems they simply refuse to die. They've returned, replenished their numbers, and are ready to complete their original mission. That's what Millennium truly is: the last battalion."
So the conversation I'd overheard between Walter and Alucard that day had been real. They'd been discussing old times. I fought the urge to laugh bitterly. How many girls have to think about their boyfriends fighting Nazis during World War II?
Before anyone could respond to Alucard's report, a familiar voice echoed throughout the room. "I guess Mr. Tubalcain's filthy blood must have given us away." We all turned in the direction the voice had come from. At the end of the table stood none other than Schrodinger, smirking at Sir Integra. "The Major sure blew that one."
As if on cue, Seras, Pip, Alucard, and I drew our weapons and aimed at the boy. "Whoa, there," he said, raising his hands. I narrowed my eyes as his grin became smug. "I'm just the messenger; I'm not here to fight anyone."
"Explain this," Integra ordered. Her voice was surprisingly calm despite the intruder.
"My deepest apologies, ma'am. I don't know how he got past security," Walter said contritely. I glared at Schrodinger, but he pretended as if I didn't exist.
"They are useless against me," he informed Integra with a shrug, his pink eyes twinkling mischievously. "I'm everywhere and nowhere." Suddenly, a large tv appeared on the table in front of Schrodinger. "To the gathered representatives of the Vatican and Great Britain," he began formally, "my commanding officer, the glorious Major, has a message for all of you. Please attend carefully."
The screen flickered to life, but there was only static for a moment. "What's going on?" another all-too familiar voice spoke through the screen. "There's no picture. Warrant Officer Schrodinger, the screen is not working. Hold on. It's right there. That's good."
All at once, the Major appeared on the screen. I fought the urge to vomit as the memory of my capture surfaced. As if he'd sensed my disgust, Alucard was suddenly by my side, his arm wrapped around my waist protectively.
"Hello, Major," greeted the vampire. His tone was dangerous, but casual, as if greeting an old enemy.
"Alucard!" The Major clapped his hands together excitedly. He looked at me and grinned evilly. "And Miss Harker! I'm so happy to see you both again. It's been really far too long." I narrowed my eyes at the pot-bellied man but remained silent.
"What is it that you want?" Integra interrupted, distracting me from the disgusting man.
"Oh, finally face to face with the fraulein herself!" declared the Major happily. "Sir Integra Hellsing. It's a pleasure to meet you."
The blonde narrowed her blue eyes at him, refusing to play his game. "What's the purpose of this? What are you trying to accomplish? Answer me!"
At this, the Major chuckled. "The purpose... What a silly question, my beautiful fraulein. Purpose? How funny." I inhaled sharply at the madman's words. "To put it in the simplest possible terms fraulein, our purpose is a total absence of purpose. You should be aware, fraulein, that there are some people in this world – certain irredeemable lumps – for whom the means does not require an end. I speak, of course, of myself."
Suddenly, the screen switched to a man being devoured by ghouls. I covered my mouth in disgust and looked away, turning my face into Alucard's chest. I felt Alucard's arm press me closer against him. I knew that everyone could see us, including Schrodinger and the Major, but I no longer cared.
"You're insane, all of you," Maxwell's muffled voice reached through Alucard's embrace. When the sounds of tearing and growling faded, I regained my composure and pulled away from the vampire.
Once more, the Major was onscreen. "Did I just hear a word from Iscariot questioning my sanity?" he asked with a bitter laugh. "Then let me ask you: if your God would allow my 'madness' to flourish across the globe, then wouldn't it seem to you that any god like that would be just as mad as I?" At this, Maxwell looked away guiltily, at a loss. The Major cackled manically, fully aware that he had Maxwell exactly where he wanted him. "We are the finest of the Third Reich! Do you have any idea how many people we've killed? I'm insane? What foolishness. You didn't have any objections fifty years ago. But never mind that. Try to stop me then, you self-proclaimed normal people. But unfortunately, Iscariot is not my true enemy. My true enemy is Britain, the Hellsings." At this my eyes widened. What the hell could he want with the Hellsing organization? "Well, really that man laughing in the corner back there."
I didn't need to turn around to hear the familiar chuckle echoing beside me. Even so, I looked at the dark-haired vampire next me, who had been clutching his sides. Alucard straightened, his chuckles turning into full-blown laughter. "A declaration of war," he exclaimed once he'd caught his breath. "Excellent! I can't wait to destroy you again!"
At this, the Major grinned knowingly. "No matter what you do, we will never give up," he declared. "We will reverse this ridiculous situation as many times as we have to." I glared at the Major, my hatred intensifying impossibly more at the threat.
"Alucard, Seras, kill him," ordered Integra, obviously as sick of the Major's mad talk as I was. Almost immediately, Alucard drew his Jackal and shoved it in Schrodinger's face, blowing the boy's brains out. I remained expressionless as Schrodinger collapsed to the floor, his blood staining the marble.
The Major sighed. "Fine, shoot the messenger if this is what you've come to," he said. Turning to the blonde, he grinned once more. "Auf wiedersehen, meine fraulein. I look forward to meeting you across the battlefield." That was the last thing I heard before I was enveloped in darkness.
Suddenly, Schrodinger stood in front of me, a maniacal grin lighting up his features. "You..." I whispered in horror. "You're dead."
The blond boy's grin only widened. "Sorry, fraulein, but I can't be killed quite so easily." He stepped forward and gripped me roughly. "Now, the Major's been expecting you for quite some time. You should know it's rude to keep your father waiting for so long."
Before I could respond, something wrenched deep in my gut. I collapsed to the ground in pain. Alucard! I thought desperately, hoping he would somehow hear me. Alucard, help me please! No answer. Another wrenching pain caused me to spasm uncontrollably.
Suddenly, the Major's words from Rio echoed in my mind. 'Für was nützt es einem Menschen, wenn er gewinne der Welt und verliert seine Seele?' As if it were a wave, the phrase crashed over me, reminding me where I'd heard it from. For what is a man profited if he gains the world and loses his soul? I screamed, but it was soundless as the empty darkness overtook me.