Sanctuary to the Lost and Damned
Chapter 24: Readdressed Concerns
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AN: please review.
As pointed out there are grammar/spelling mistakes. This is because my chapters are un-beta-ed..I think that means that I lack a proof-reader...I don't know how to get one so...until I do, please bare with the errors.
Everything makes sense to me, But since I am writing this...I understand everything which is going on anyway.
If something doesn't make sense to you...ask.
I have already answered a couple of questions. And will continue to do so. If there is something which will be explained later on in the plot, I will respond the question by telling you this.
Question: Will Walter find out who his 'mother' is?
Answer: Yes; But you will need to wait for a long while. Sorry...
Now into the next chapter...
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Stralsund, Northern Germany...
Doctor Napier stood in front of the entity whom he referred to as 'she'
To his left stood Albert and to his right was Siobhan Schrödinger.
"And," he began for the third time, "'she' was out of your control?" Napier inquired referring to the placid feminine figure suspended motionless in the air.
"'She' was Herr Doktor." Siobhan repeated herself again for the third time that early morning.
"Was she? She doesn't seem to be moving now." the doctor said sounding very skeptical.
"She was!" Albert insisted, "I've never seen her do this before."
"Herr Doktor," Siobhan began, "I used two doses of what you gave me and Shiva still broke through the restraints."
"Shiva?" Napier questioned turning his head to face the female werewolf. "Is that a name that you have given her? 'She' is not a pet-"
"I know this Herr Doktor, but I didn't name her." the doctor looked then at Albert. "He didn't name her either." she explained.
"Than whom?" the doctor put his hands on either side of his thin frame.
"'She' did. 'She' calls herself that." Siobhan explained.
There was an awkward silence in the room. Albert was silent because he had just assumed that the entity had been given that nicknamed by Siobhan.
The doctor was even more confused by this new information.
"What do you mean; 'she' 'calls herself'?" the doctor asked Siobhan from behind his single lens glasses.
"Well 'she' spoke to me."
"'She' spoke...I do not believe you." the doctor found this information difficult to believe. He, after all this time, had no reason to believe that 'she' was even capable of speech anymore.
"Why not?"
"She has not spoke to anyone in over 8 years." the doctor simplified.
"'Silent Hans' has not spoken to anyone in nearly one hundred years, but he still has the capability."
The doctor seemed to consider her words as he turned his attention back to the suspended figure. "Perhaps it is happening... the transformation..." The doctor started chewing on his index finger as he mumbled something else to himself.
"She can't stay here Doctor."
He glared at her. "You do not give orders she-werewolf!"
"No Herr Doktor, that is for others to do. I'm concerned about the people surrounding this house. What will happen if she breaks loose? How will you explain that to your superiors and countrymen?"
"I will give you words some consideration ONLY for a moment. I will suppose, only for a moment, that she has been moving and talking. Why? 'She' has been motionless for years. Why now?"
Siobhan turned away. "I don't know..." she then looked at the doctor. "But I do know that she has been getting more active for the last couple of months."
"How many months? When did this start?" he questioned.
Siobhan thought back "Since May of this year."
"Did 'she' say anything else...other than this name... Shiva."
"'She' said that the moon was beckoning her to dinner and that she needed to be free..." Siobhan could recall this with some curiosity, though she dare not ask the doctor what that could have possibly meant..
"To dinner...is she needing to feed?" the scientist said to himself. "Maybe..." the scientist started, once again, to mumble something to himself.
"Herr Doktor," Siobhan interrupted his thinking. "'She' needs to be somewhere safer."
"That is not possible."
"Then send a couple more werewolves to guard." Siobhan said with some confusion. She knew that the doctor was well aware of how dangerous the entity could be, yet to her he seemed more bothered by her summoning him there, than the safety of any unfortunate person, werewolf, or human who would stand in her way if 'she' even became free.
"I will discuss this with the baron when he returns."
"The baron's trip may take too long. I had to use not two, but three darts to sedate her, isn't that right Albert." she asked her husband for support. Albert had been listening mostly because he found that he had not much to add since she was the werewolf with the most experience with the enigmatic figure.
"Yes, Doktor, my wife hit 'her' with two darts and she still broke the bonds." the new husband put his hand to his head. "Doktor I don't' understand; you said that one would be enough if she did by chance move."
Doctor Napier was at a loss. He did not doubt Albert's word; he knew that this werewolf would not ever lie to him, even one so small as what he ate for his morning meal. If 'she' was moving now after all this time he didn't have an explanation.
The doctor didn't know what to say to his new, yet not yet on duty assistant.
"Herr Doktor," Siobhan took a deep breath, "I have been sending you these warnings that her activity has been increasing for many weeks now."
The doctor had been reading these reports. He had hoped that the reports had been greatly exaggerated. Moments of twitching made from her remaining muscle tissue. He had honestly tried to ignore the issue in favor of the other two projects.
The Major had made it clear to him at the beginning of the other two projects, that 'she' was not a priority. 'She' was more of a pet project for him providing that he completed his other tasks. A carrot of sorts to entice his completion of his assigned work.
But there was something which he was curious about. If she was indeed becoming more active then, he believed that it must have sprung from something...perhaps some event.
"Was there a trigger?" the scientist asked Siobhan.
"Pardon?"
"Did anything change in 'her' environment? Were you doing anything different when this started happening."
"No. Nothing." Siobhan lied. She wanted to tell him that this had started around the time that she had listened to the radio broadcast from England, but since that was now an illegal action, she kept this a secret.
To Siobhan and any observer Doctor Napier seemed unaffected by this news, but beneath this, inside the doctor was terrified that 'she' might be moving and talking for the first time in over 8 years.
One might wonder why this would bother the scientist who loved discovery; Napier was always an empirical person wanting to know the cause and effect of everything. The fact the he had no answers for the two werewolves, or himself, was a horrible feeling for him. The unpredictable...Perhaps that was what truly scared him.
"There's something, still something..." the doctor mumbled to himself.
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Alucard sat on his thrown-like chair. There was a book beside him on a small table, but he had no intention on reading it anytime soon. Instead he was too preoccupied by his further attempts to remember his past.
He kept seeing a bloody field covered in dead bodies. He supposed that this was the result of one of his victories against the Turks, but he truly did not know.
Another image flashed before his memory's eyes; a woman lie on a table. She had the blank eyes of a dead woman. He recognized her as his wife...his love, who according to what he had been told was bound for either purgatory...or hell. That was the fate of such people, who committed suicide. He was made to understand this part of his creed the night of his return to his castle.
There was a knock at the vampire's door.
"What is it?" the Nosferatu asked the visitor.
"It's me." asked the voice of Walter Dornez on the other side.
"Enter." Alucard granted him access. The vampire watched as Walter entered the room with his hands at his side in a way which seemed almost respectful from the boy. "You knocked?" the Nosferatu inquired.
"I did."
"You never knock." while the vampire thought that it was unusual for the boy to do these actions of politeness towards him, it was not completely strange an action." Why are you here?"
"I'm ready."
"Ready? Hopefully not as ready as you were before." while it was true that this boy had been much more advanced than even he had expected upon meeting the boy, or most grown men, the vampire knew that without a solid foundation of intellectual combat knowledge the boy could not hope to move forward.
"Alexander the Great."
"Hum?"
"Alexander III of Macedon the great was one is the greatest military leaders of all time. During his life he was believed to be undefeatable in battle. Before his death, at the age of 32, he had already conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks. The Greek philosopher Aristotle was his mentor. " Walter then went on to tell Alucard more of what he had learned about the great military leader. "And I've practiced." Walter finished his small speech.
The boy maneuvered his wires around both of Alucard's arms. Moments later both limbs had been sliced off.
After the nocturnal creature quickly regenerated his limbs, He stood there looking at the boy. Then a large grin appeared on his ageless face. "So you think that you are ready? Then, I ask you Walter Dornez, are you ready to, what is it, oh yes, join the big boys as the newest unofficial member."
"I am." Walter stood as tall as he could for the vampire who he had no doubt been scrutinizing him.
"Are are sure that this is what you truly want? There are better, easier ways to make a name for yourself, even on this small island."
"I'm sure."
"You may feel that, but you should know that this point which we have come is the threshold of the point of no return. The decision you make right now will follow you your entire life, no matter how long...or short it may be. It is not too late to live a normal life, for such a life cannot be lived after you are truly one of us."
Walter thought about this. Though he had wanted to make a name for himself as early as he could in life, there was no way he could make a better reputation outside of the organization. Even the priest seemed to feel that he belonged there.
"I understand."
The vampire grinned. "Follow me."
Walter followed the vampire down the hall and into another section of basement, which the boy was unaware of. The creature then stopped in front of a large metal door.
"Do you have any idea about what is on the other side of this door Mr. Dornez?"
Walter shook his head. The boy wondered how he was expected to know what was behind the solid door.
The door looked exactly like Alucard's "Your twin brother?" Walter questioned sarcastically.
The vampire did not understand the joke. "No. I have no equal."
Walter continued to look at the door.
"Why don't you go in and take a look." the vampire then opened the door and gestured for the boy to enter.
Wearily Walter moved towards the dark room. Before entering he took one last look at Alucard, who seemed neither pleased nor bothered by his actions.
Walter could see a silhouette of someone against the wall. He took two steps forward. He noticed that it was much cooler in there than the rest of the basement.
"Hello." he called out to it. He took another two steps forward. As he did this Walter caught a sniff of something foul. It smelled like...Decay...like Death...
Swoosh. Walter quickly turned around as he heard the door close behind him. Click. The door locked.
He might have yelled at the vampire about this, except that he became more distracted by the figure which stood up and had started to approach him.
"Hello." he called to it again. This time he heard it produce a moaning sound as a reply. He knew then that something was wrong with this person; but what, he did not know.
"Hello?" Walter asked. Moments later his night vision returned to him. The figure was limping. The creature moved its head and Walter sighted something move on the surface of it's face. He soon realized what this was. It was an eye which was dangling out of the eye socket.
The creature moaned as it continued to advance on him.
Walter started to get a very bad feeling about this strange person.
"Hello? Do you need help." the nine year-old boys called out to the strange, seemingly injured person.
The figure then lunged at Walter. He moved quick enough to avoid the attack. He heard the sound of teeth hitting teeth. At first he thought that it might have been his teeth staring to chatter from the cool air, but soon realized that was not the case.
'It just tried to bite me!' his mind screamed.
The creature then lunged at him again. He moved away once more.
"Who are you? What do you want?" he asked it. It's only reply was a moan.
It then occurred at Walter why this figure was so strange to him. The way it walked. That feeling that he got from it. The smell... that the creature before him was not human at least not anymore.
As he thought about his observations about the creature his mind could construct only one possibility; it was a zombie. He had heard about such things, and had seen picture-shows featuring such creatures, but He didn't truly believe that he would encounter one.
'But, what was a zombie doing down there?' he wondered
The creature lunged again at him. Once again he moved away in time. As he did this it occurred to him that if this was a zombie, then he was in danger and needed to eliminate this threat.
He flexed and maneuvered his wires slicing the creature up. It lay there on the floor without limbs or most of its body. Still it moaned.
Hearing this sound Walter knew that he was ineffective in killing it. He felt suddenly sorry for the creature.
In the corner of his eye he saw a creepy singular red eye on the ceiling, watching him. At first it startled him. But he soon understood who the eye belonged to.
"What the hell is this Vampire? A zombie? You want me to kill it don't you? Well How am I to kill somethings that's already dead?" he addressed Alucard's disembodied eye. The eye then moved in a shadow toward the door.
The door swung open. Standing there was the vampire known as Alucard.
"Just because something is dead doesn't mean that it cannot be destroyed. For a ghoul such as this you must focus the attack on the skull or the heart."
Walter took in this knowledge and committed it to memory. He quickly shredded the creature's torso and the heart inside many times over. He waited until it had completely stopped moving before turning to face the vampire.
"What the hell were you thinking locking me in that room with a zombie?"
"It's a ghoul."
"Same thing." he snorted.
"No it is not."
"It's not." Walter's eyebrows raised a little.
"No, little fish; a ghoul is the result of a vampire biting a de-flowered person. A zombie is a man-made creation achieved through knowledge in what you would consider the forgotten or forbidden arts. It is typically done by shamans, whom you might know as 'witch-doctors'."
"Oh...But you still didn't have-ta lock me in here with it." Walter pointed at remains of the ghoul.
"Oh." Alucard grinned. "But I thought that a pretend Ghoul wasn't good enough for you. Aren't you glad I have given you this gift of blood and guts?"
"Gift? You are insane." Walter accused him.
"So I have been told. Since Ghouls result from vampires, they are a good indication of vampire activity. They are also capable of multiplying themselves. So in case Sir Arthur, has not already told you we need to hunt them too. You should have appreciated my gift more."
Walter's face then changed. He knew that people sometimes crafted gifts for their friends and relatives..."It's not...did you make it?" the boy referred to the ghoul.
The vampire grinned. "What do you think?"
Walter took another look at the destroyed ghoul's remains, then he turned his attention back to the vampire.
"I don't know...Did you?"
"No. this creature is what remains from an unfortunate person who was bitten by a vampire which we hunted two nights ago."
"You killed it. The vampire, I mean."
"No. such victims cannot survive the destruction of their host. The poor excuse for a vampire is being kept in a secure cell."
The idea of what constituted a secure cell confused Walter since he had on many occasions observed Alucard simply walking through walls. "But-"
"I can change my form to whatever a what, whether it be bats, fog, simply shadow or something else entirely. I could easily escape, but for such a pitiful vampire such things are impossible."
"Why? Why do you hunt your own kind?"
"My kind?" Alucard sounded mildly offended. "Let me ask you something, boy: those men who you have fought were human, much like yourself. Yet you fought them. Why?" the vampire didn't wait for the boy to respond. "I think that you and I are similar in that we both have a sense of pride about who and what we are. To you those men a thief and kidnapper were not worthy of the title of human; just as to me these vampires that I... we hunt are not worthy of being vampires."
Walter wanted to ask why this particular vampire was unworthy but the vampire was starting to visually examine him.
"What?"
"You are ready to see how things work out there, I believe. There is a suspected vampire hiding in a warehouse just outside of Poole. The Hellsing organization is going to investigate tomorrow evening. I'd like you to join us. Just remember that you are under my command little fish."
The vampire started to walk out of sight.
"Hey!" Walter called to him dashing out of the door. "You haven't told me why you locked me in here with it!"
The vampire stopped. "Mr. Dornez, it is the preference of many supernatural creatures to seek out the dark and dwell there."
"You could have told me what was in there!"
"I could have, but then I would only have deprived you of a valuable learning experience."
"What the hell was I suppose to learn from that!?" the nine-year-old boy shouted at his vampiric teacher.
"That you should not be surprised when you encounter a detour from a plan. In this line of work one must expect the unexpected and not be surprised by even the most spectacular things. Missions do not always go as planned, when this happens the plan needs to be changed." There was a pause from the vampire who continued to stand there in the dark hallway. "There may come a time again in your future where you encounter a monster in a dark room. I want you to remember this. I want to be able to adapt?"
The vampire started to walk off out of the sight of the nine-year-old boy.
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Rita sat on her bed thinking about how she would proceed.
She knew that soon her father would return from his trip, and with him would be her Hans. Her desired lover. Her father had told her that he would found some place outside the house for Hans to sleep.
She considered going to Hans at that time, to just talk. But then she reminded herself that she had gone just to talk to him last time. She had not intended to kiss him. She certainly had not intended to have her father catch her doing that.
She had gotten into his sleeping quarters once before. She had no doubt that she could do it again. But when she had been in his cabin the first time, he had become mad at her.
She didn't mean to offended him, or hurt him. Whichever it was. She didn't want him to hate her. That was the last thing that she would have wanted.
As odd as it sounded even in her own mind, she loved him. He wasn't the first person that she had been attracted to. When she was 12 she had fancied a boy two years old than herself. He had been a stable boy. When her father had found out, he had had talked to her about breeding outside of one's class and how it should never be done.
Then when she realized that she loved Hans, she had decided to never tell her father. Hans being a werewolf was not even a human, let alone in the same social class as her.
She had had many male suitors come to meet with her. Some of them old enough to be her father...a few old enough to be her grandfather. She could remember one Count. He had failing hearing and cane which barely kept him upright. He seemed quite interested to have her as his second wife, more interested than his children and grandchildren. She had found it more than a little awkward when she discovered he had a granddaughter a few years older than her.
She sighed. She had never found any of them to be of much interest to her. She had challenged them to shot practice as a courting activity. All had failed to even match her expectations for them, which were quite low in her regard. Many of the men had sworn never to talk about their failure. This suited her fine since she didn't want them anyway.
Upon finding out that the men were leaving the property with their pride wounded, her father had tried to persuade her to let them win. He had told her that a man often valued himself on his ability to care for his wife. 'How can he protect her if she is stronger than he?' her father had told her.
She personally did not care about their pride, she had her standards. She didn't like any of them anyhow.
These young men were largely rude, arrogant, selfish and very narcissist. She might have criticized her father's judgment of character, but she held too much respect for her father to do that.
Instead she played these matching games her father would create.
Yet no matter how many came before her, she had refused each one.
Hans was different from all those others. She knew that despite his size, He was kind, compassionate and at his core the sweetest person she had ever met.
He was a passivist, but on the range he could almost out-score her. Though she suspected that he had thrown a few. Whether he had done this to be nice or if he feared retribution for victory, she did not know. She had shot alongside other werewolves. They had all lost to her by a very large margin, enough for her to know that they never had any intention of winning against her. She knew that many would have been frightened to win against their master, so it was not far off to suspect this... Never win against the boss, was a mantra for these werewolves when in competition with her or her father.
To the ordinary person this competition of aim may seem like just a game, but to Rita, it was a test of fitness, and skill. Particularly for the young men who were courting. She would not marry a man with an inferior shot. Her father had once told her that marring and having the children of the strongest, regardless of the field or specialty, was how Germany gained its grand reputation for the various arts and sciences.
through her courting games she had learned just how pointless many of the young men's words were. To Rita, his aim told her more about him than his mouth would have.
A man's shot told her that he was strong, determined, patient, confident, focused, persistent, disciplined and able to overcome any challenge.
She knew that one was not born with a great shot. It took time. It took training. These things could not be fabricated or faked.
To have a superb one needed to be genuine.
Hans was all these things...and more. Although he didn't talk, yet she understood him clearer than she did the young men. Hans was perfect in every way... perhaps that was her perceptions for in addition to his many fitting characteristics there was something else. A feeling would come over her, a pleasant feeling which would hake her heart speed up and her stress dissolve into nothingness. The world just seemed better with Hans in her presence. So much so that she wondered what she would do if he were ever to go away...or die.
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A female werewolf shot up from the bed she shared with her husband. She quickly ran to door and made it about a foot outside before she finally bent over to vomit.
Her husband, Albert came out next.
"Siobhan?" he asked. "Are you okay."
Siobhan nodded her head."Yes dear." then having spoken too soon, she started to vomit again.
A few other werewolves had taken notice of this event which was becoming more frequent; it had happened nearly every morning for one week, since the two of them returned from Stralsund where they guarded a mysterious entity. Siobhan had regarded The six werewolves who replaced them as an inadequate number to guard such a strong figure as Shiva, but in her condition she had no choice.
Albert rubbed the back of his wife in a soothing motion. "Let's get you inside and back to bed." he led his wife inside their cabin which was little more than dilapidated shed.
Albert lay his wife on the two beds pushed together and covered her up.
He knew that Hans would want to know that Siobhan had not been well the past few days. The two were close, they had been since before he knew them. He had never bothered to ask how, but was contend with the answer that he once asked about Hans and Siobhan being lovers; which she replied no to...after she laughed at the notion.
He had expected to find both the baron and Hans back here when they returned just days ago...instead the baron had returned alone...He wasn't sure why Hans had not been with the aristocrat, but felt that wherever Hans was he was probably fine. He didn't worry.
He wasn't sure that his wife was so calm about his absence. She had been asking some of the other werewolves, some maids even, if Hans had returned back yet.
He hoped that this was not the reason for his wife's sudden illness.
He knew that Hans would be fine, after all, Hans was so much older, stronger, and wiser than he was. Albert Schrödinger knew that any problem he could not solve with his brute strength, he could with his mind.
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Hellsing Manor...
September 3, 1939
As Alucard was approaching the drawing room on the third floor, He heard some women's voices coming from the room. He was about to turn around to return when Arthur's female company left, but then he heard some male voices there too. There was then the sound of music. It sounded like the piano and a couple of instruments the vampire was not familiar with. Despite there being a piano a few floors down, no one knew how to play it. This had typically been a house of science. Then there were those voices. 'Did Arthur have company' He wondered? He decided to go in anyway. But just in case there were some guests who scared easily, Alucard decided to open the door instead of moving through it.
Alucard had been expecting to have to introduce himself to many people, but quickly discovered that Arthur was alone on an old sitting chair, asleep. The news paper was lying on the floor. As if it had slid off his lap.
Alucard became puzzled when he continued to hear these voices despite there being no one in the room. The vampire checked everywhere from the open window to the small room, where the instruments had once been stored. He even checked under the furniture. Just as the vampire was starting to wonder if his insanity was reaching a new level, he finally located the source of the voices; they were originating from a large box beside Arthur.
The vampire put his ear to the box. He quickly discovered that the sounds were louder in the area where there was fabric. Alucard knocked on the box. It sounded Hollow.
The vampire recoiled. 'What manner of dark magic is this?' he thought. A box which produces human voices. There sounded like at least three human plus the humans playing the instruments. He guessed that there must have been at least seven human producing the various noises. But there was not enough space to imprison so many human in such a tiny space. He wondered if there were instead spirits trapped in there. The vampire thought of no other explanation of this except the presence of dark magic. But He knew that Arthur was not his father. He did not seek to learn the secrets of the universe. The only things Arthur sought these days were strong alcohol and loose women. The vampire was sure that Arthur was not responsible for this.
"Alucard?" Arthur said sleepily. "What are you doing here?"
"You asked for my presence."
"I do not remember getting Alfred to call for you."
"You asked me to come for tonight while I was resting... with your thoughts."
The man smiled. "That's right..." The man brought his fingers to a knob that was on the box. He twisted it and then almost instantly the voices and music stopped.
Arthur noticed that Alucard was staring at the device.
"It's called a radio." Arthur explained.
"Radio?"
"Yes, it allows humans to hear what others are saying without being there in person."
"But you have the telephone for that. Why do you need this?" Alucard understood the telephone. It was like the telepathic link that he would form with his fledglings.
"It is a modern communication tool." Arthur simplified.
"Do you know these people?" The vampire asked very confused.
"No I don't. The voices are spread over a large area and received through a device in the box. They call this a broadcast."
The vampire continued to look at the box. "How? How are these voices spread over large distances? Why can I not hear them now?"
Arthur sighed. "I don't really know how it works I just know that it does. Mr. Island, an old friend of mine, gave it to me. He said something about radio waves...whatever those are."
"Radio waves..." The vampire mumbled.
Arthur could understand the reason for Alucard's confusion. The creature was centuries old and the technology was extremely new by comparison. Furthermore Arthur's father, Abraham, though a man of science, clung to many of the old ways. He did use some newer inventions such as the train and the telephone, (and some new medical technologies) but the man was from the Victorian era, and so was very resistant to change.
Arthur could remember when he was young hearing his father fight with a man who had come to collect him for some reason in a car. Abraham had refused to get in. the scientist had not understood why anyone should need a motor car, when a horse and carriage could do the same job. Furthermore a horse and carnage was easier to maintain and in the Professor's opinion, more reliable. When He finally did get one he had been always telling other doctors how the 'damned thing' was always breaking down. Once Five times in one day, from what Arthur remembers.
Arthur knew that eventually the scientist caved in to the desires, or as the old man referred to them as the foolish desires of the society.
Abraham still had fought teeth and nails everything something new came onto the property. Whether it is a new stove or when the electricity was finally put in. all the while muttering that what they had used before had been more than adequate.
Arthur was first introduced to these new technologies when he first attended boarding school. The vampire had never seen anything as advanced as a radio before now.
Arthur cleared his throat. "Do you recall what we discussed yesterday?"
The vampire nodded. "An ultimatum was given to Germany after they invaded Poland."
"Indeed; it was given and the deadline came... and passed...So it seems, Alucard that Britain is now at war with Germany. You said that this would happen."
"I have been in many wars, Master. They all follow a general pattern. Usually one side starts preparations long before the other side. In the past I always preferred to have my horses lined up before the enemy knew I was even angry."
"How long do you think that they have been preparing?"
"We can speculate that some have been preparing for the last 10 years. It is entirely possible that someone has been planning this since 1918 though."(1) Alucard had a mild awareness of this war. Abraham, had not left the property very often while it occurred, this much he was sure.
"If that were true, why would anyone want to start a war, after one just ended?"
"Many German's were disgruntled about their loss; perhaps they wanted another change to defend their reputation. They probably waited the 22 years for a new generation to accomplish this goal."
"The boy came to me this morning and asked to fight in the war." Arthur said changing the focus of the conversation. "I thought that he would. "You have been training the boy for over 4 months. Is he ready?" Arthur said changing the focus on the conversation.
"His readiness is a factor that is dependent on only him."Alucard answered neutrally.
"Do you remember what we discussed last time the boy came up in our conversation?"
"You were torn between keeping him and asking him to leave. You said that you could not afford a loose cannon in your organization. You also voiced your concerns that if you tossed him aside he would join forces with your rivals, such as those of the Vatican's section 13, the Iscariot Organization."
Arthur had not told Alucard about Walter's origins at Walter's request. Arthur knew about Walter's proficiency with the bible. It had occurred to Arthur many times in his personal debate that if he dismissed the boy, the foundling might take up with the Iscariots. He had the combats skills and was from a religious background. His father had mentioned meeting the boy in his journal. The boy had apparently extensive knowledge on the bible. In Arthur's heart he knew that Walter would want to stay with the Hellsing organization, but if rejected he also knew that the Vatican would be more than willing to accept the boy; he was everything that they were looking for. He had even been named after a catholic saint. "Do you still think that Walter is strong enough to do what he will need to?"
"Walter is a very capable warrior. I have no doubt that he will be the best human soldier in your forces."
"That's not what concerns me; I want to know, Alucard if the boy is strong enough to survive the emotional stress that this war will surely have on him."
Alucard considered how the war would affect the boy. It was true that the boy was only nine, but he knew that by that age he had gotten used to seeing death.
"That's right..." Arthur muttered more to himself. "You joined the order of the dragon at the age of 5 years."(2)
"Are you truly considering allowing him into battle?"
"I don't know. Should I allow such a thing against my better judgments? He is only 9 years of age. What do you think Alucard?" Arthur was truly torn by this idea. He knew that the boy was stronger than any of the boy, of his age, of for that matter the men twice his age. But he was still a boy, and that fact allowed his mind to wobble to the possibility without coming to a decision.
"I think that he a great deal stronger than either of us realize."
Arthur considered this. "The crown has ordered us to double as a military faction. Some of the men will stay here to continue to protect England against the supernatural creatures. Perhaps he should go as an unofficial member." Arthur had finally made a partial decision. He would go with Alucard. He knew that if things did not go well, the vampire would bring the boy back alive. "Under your wing; A trial of sorts."
"Well I guess he will learn trial by fire then."
Arthur dismissed Alucard.
The vampire phased through the wall behind him.
'Finally war has come.' the vampire grinned inwardly.
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END of Ch 24
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AN:
The portion, as large as it is does not serve to further the plot, but I find it somewhat humorous. It does highlight his confusion about technology though. He does not seem to use any advance technology in the manga or anime. He seems to avoid using anything other than the telephone.
It also seemed to be a good juxtaposition. Technology, something Alucard knows nothing about beside war, something Alucard has an extensive knowledge on.
Alucard seems to be a-know-it-all in many places in the story. I should mention that this is largely because he has lived for a long time. He was a tyrant in his prime both as a human and as a vampire. He understands war well enough to know his enemy's motives and even make predictions.
(1) – the First World War ended in 1918. Alucard is suggesting that some in Germany has been plotting to continue this war from where the last one ended.
(2) – The Order of the Dragon was an order of knights selected from nobility or royalty in Europe. The duty of all these knights was to defend the Cross and to fight any and all enemies of Christianity.
Dracula III (Alucard) was initiated into this order at the age of 5. In his time, his crusades he fought the Ottoman Turks.
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Preview of the next chapter: The Offer
Her father sighed. "This is more than a simple disagreement. It is about Germany regaining its pride... and it is a cleansing of not only our country, but the surrounding ones. A cockroach allowed to roam free will spread disease. Europe is like a large house, my daughter. Vermin in one room, or country, will quickly infest another. To prevent this quarantine measures have been taken." the Baron saw his daughter's uncertain face. "You understand this don't you Rita?"
"Yes Father." the 22 year-old dark haired young woman nodded her head.
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