((Author's Note: DeathFrown, this is dedicated to you! ))
Mother hadn't been very happy lately, and therefore it was naturally difficult for her children to be happy as well.
First Polaris—the poor dear—had been brutally mutilated and killed just when she thought she could bring home a prize. Then Dunstan, Nogah, and Reine were slaughtered, soon after followed by Antigone Ismene, and the younger members of their vast family at the nursery—though from the connection shared between the family, some of them had acted so cowardly that they hadn't been worth saving to begin with.
Oh well, no skin off her back: It only meant fewer siblings to rival for Mother's fond attention. And now she reaped those sweet rewards. Mother had entrusted her, her, for a special assignment above even her eldest siblings.
Josephine was so giddy with delight that she couldn't contain the giggly squeal that passed through her fangs. It was too perfect to be true. Yet as far away from home as she had been, she had come all this way to obey Mother's instructions, and she now stood before the soon-to-be battlegrounds of her sudden enemy, the Hellsing Organization. Her orders had been clear and simple: Soak the walls red and leave no one left standing. She was even allowed to have the corpses all to herself when she was through as a reward for a job well done. How could Mother's love and kindness ever be denied?
But it was more than just the thrill of the inevitable bloodshed that gave the girl such joy—more than even Mother's affection. Just the opportunity to reap her pleasures from Alaina's suffering was enough: For this chance she would've massacred thousands without drinking a single drop of crimson life.
"Lost your chance again? Too bad, and so close too!"
She could only stand with her mouth agape in shock as she watched the blood trail from the lynx's heart clenched within Alaina's teeth and held to her lips with a delicate hand—the body of said creature still warm and spread before her feet with its eyes still wide in surprise. The latter's own orbs of dazzling green and hellfire red fluttered open blissfully to cast a look of sublime mockery at the former. The obnoxious smile that graced her features when her mouth parted from the organ had all but sent Josephine into a fit of rage.
There had been no warning. After wrestling with the beast for some time, after fighting tooth and nail, and being nearly ripped apart by its deadly claws, a blur of pale beauty had darted from deeper in the forest to slam straight into the creature before slicing her hand through fur, flesh, and bone to tear free the heart from its chest.
"You cheater!" she shrieked, teeth gnashing together with fury, "You thief! That was my kill and you know it! I had it!"
"Oh?" Alaina gazed with satisfaction at the corpse, "The last I checked, you had to actually kill the thing in order to claim it. It's your own fault for letting me beat you to it."
She could've screamed. Alaina only won because she took the prizes of others when they least expected it: She only lived because she snatched away what others had fought so passionately for! Tricky, wicked, vile…. Ugh! "I don't even know why Mother keeps you around unless she feels sorry for you! Instead of catching your own food you have to wait until someone else weakens it first! You're nothing but a scavenger: a rat! You're a weakling!"
That hit a nerve. Blood exploded from the organ, splattering across Alaina's face as she squeezed it tight enough within her fist for it to burst. "Oh please!" she sneered, "You couldn't hold a candle to me, dearie! Know why? Because I've got the brains to make up in spades for what you and the others sorely lack! I'm smarter than you, I can take more hits than you, and I'm betting looking to boot! You're just pathetic!
"Do tell, how many humans have you led into ambushes within the past… Let's just say a month? You wonder why Mother keeps me around? Honey, everyone's wondering the exact same thing about you!"
And she laughed—laughed right to her face as she languidly licked the blood from her fingertips. Unable to control herself any longer, Josephine lunged at her fellow sister and adolescent.
Whether or not Alaina had expected this much was uncertain, but nonetheless it resulted in the two tumbling across the forest floor—dead leaves clinging to their hair and dirt painting their forms—as they fought. Josephine's strength outweighing Alaina's, she easily overcame her, sitting atop her sister's chest as she clawed and punched without restraint. The latter did nothing but take it until once more the laughter reverberated from her throat just loud enough to make the latter pause in confusion.
Josephine watched with contempt as Alaina pulled herself together effortlessly and continued to chuckle. Red marks faded back to their original light tone. Cuts sealed themselves within an instant. New teeth replaced ones lost and blood returned to her without fail. Other than the ruffled and torn garments, Alaina remained just as beautiful as ever.
"Go ahead," she chortled with a smug grin as she stared her down, "Keep trying. I'll just keep regenerating again, and again, and again. Unlike when we were nurse mates, nothing short of a blessed blade can hurt me. Tear me apart, knock me down, and I'll get right back up! So try as much as you please, dear sister, but there's nothing you can do to hurt me!"
"Nothing I can do, huh?" she seethed, the memory still fresh even over the course of years of rivalry, "Not even now, dear sister of mine?" Dipping her top hat low—dark, bouncy locks dancing around the frame of her narrow face—she tossed her cane in the air before catching it once again with a dramatic sweep of her hand. Raising her voice to reach those behind her, she addressed, "Gentlemen! I believe it's high time we start our little show!"
It was always interesting to discover humans who were not only fond of vampires, but beheld such an obsession, as it were, to the idea of their existence that it often bordered worship. Such devotion Josephine had taken advantage of so that now she reigned over a cult of such poor souls, who so willingly swore their allegiance, gave their blood, and sacrificed themselves in the name of Mother all with a smile. They were her devoted performers, and she their beloved ringleader.
Dressed in suits similar to the violet one of their mistress, two men—each of rough stature—joined at her side.
Unfortunately, with Alaina's healing abilities tied with her newfound companion, Josephine indeed had no chance of bringing her any physical harm. No matter. So far gone was her sibling, so sick in the head, that it would take very little to make it seem as though everything she felt within devoured her from the core. The loss of her human pet, despised and wanted dead by all of the family, the guilt of the never-ending slaughter set upon her fragile and humane heart all tied with Mother's anguish and abandonment so fierce that she was now exiled from being of her bearer's mind? She was as good as dead already.
Yet that didn't make the possibility of increasing her suffering by her own hands any less wonderful. Though a small and strange sense of refuge, her sister had found such, as well as a brief feeling of companionship, nonetheless. Harboring and comforting such a treacherous wretch could not go unpunished, and she was more than willing to see the punishment through. It's about time, Alaina, she thought sadistically, I take something of yours! Let the deaths of these people only add to her misery: Let her compassion be her destruction, and let her writhe in agony more torturous than any bodily pain!
With that, the first shot was fired.
None were prepared for the RPG explosive that struck the roof of the Hellsing manor, nor the series of fireworks that it seemed to cause, as though modified to mock the destruction it dealt towards its target. Dust rattled from the ceilings and the lights—after a short moment's flickering—went a dangerous red. Sirens flared throughout the Headquarters, alerting all to the attack.
Years of experience and leadership in the absence of Pip and eventually Intergra had molded Seras into the powerful and respected woman she now was. So though the strike was unanticipated, she easily rallied her forces without hesitation. Shouting above the alarms, she rose from her seat and commanded those nearest to her, "Place the manor on immediate lockdown and send one unit to each of the main entrances. Activate the field mines and prepare all for combat—guards, staff, everyone—then standby for further instructions. Should anyone make it through those doors, blast them away!"
Giving her a dutiful nod, the men parted to their assigned tasks. Before any of them had even left the room the shadow matter of Seras' left arm enveloped her in darkness, and the shrouded silhouette of her form darted through the walls and corridors of the manor with amazing speed until she rematerialized within the security room—much to the surprise of the three watchmen within, for although having served under her for some time had never quite adjusted to the strangeness of it all.
Littered before her were multiple camera feeds, each linked to a separate part of the building as well as various areas along the outer wall of the property line. Static and smoke filled the view of a couple from the damages, yet other than those specific areas along the roof and some destruction wrought to the highest floors thereby, most feeds showed nothing of consideration. It was only one camera feed that revealed the origins of the attack: The one that viewed their assailants standing before the front gates.
Peering closer at the screen, Seras confirmed—with little surprise—that the attack was led by a hybrid. One crystal blue and another fiery red eye shifted their gaze right into the camera as Josephine made a ridiculing wave.
Brings back fond memories. Eh, ma chère? a familiar voice drawled sarcastically within her head.
You picked a fine time to show up, didn't you? she returned.
You say that like I've had somewhere to go…
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Often—when without the distractions of her work or her subordinates around to cast a curious gaze at her as she seemingly stared out into space—she found herself conversing with the former leader of the Wild Geese. However, as of late, he had been off doing who knows what within the confines of her skull, which left her to her own musings. After so long of having very few close friends to talk to—with Alucard away, and Integra and many of the eldest members of the Wild Geese now passed—the sudden silence of Pip's usually never-ending and overly opinionated chatter had been irritable in the least. Then again, perhaps she had been dwelling so much on the mission Alucard had taken upon himself that maybe she hadn't given much time to converse. Nevermind though: Something to discuss later.
A direct frontal attack… As if attacking Hellsing at all wasn't a bold enough move. But there was a lack of care within the hybrid's stare. In fact beyond a word of challenge and a strong bloodlust there was little else within those eyes. No spirit and barely even a sense of self. Where Alaina's eyes had seemed weary with despair, anguish, and guilt—two portals to the soul that disclosed the trapped and wounded creature broken by its innermost turmoils—there was a complete lack of conscience within her sister's.
As she recalled her master's words regarding the hybrids Seras looked upon the girl not with venom, but with pity. A mindless slave devoted to the Mother: Little more than a ghoul, really. And like a ghoul, it was for the best that she be liberated from her enslavement through the final sleep.
Strange how it gave her a small glimmer of hope for Alucard's prisoner, who maybe—in a better world, or in another set of circumstances—she might've befriended. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking.
It wasn't long after the first of Josephine's minions had attempted to cross over the ground to reach the manor only to suffer dead by the mines that Hellsing's enemies seemed to regroup. Seras watched as the hybrid waved her cane to create a shadowy mist similar to her own that swallowed the group whole—leaving no trace of their existence.
Seras knew otherwise, and pushing a man out of her way, activated the intercom, "This is Seras Victoria to all units! Do not let your guard down! The assailants are armed and dangerous, and will be appearing within the manor in a matter of moments! We can assume at least one of them is a vampire! Shoot to kill, and when we've beaten them back—and we will beat them back—let none leave here alive!"