Chapter 29
Another doozy of a chapter...BLAME THE REVIEWER!!
All present bodies gaped at the imposing form of the Major on the hill; a look of disbelief on each face. On one side of the hill, one of the Round Table men passed out at seeing the resurrected enemy once more while no one dared to breathe; on the other side, those who had been carrying the makeshift flags dropped them in shock.
The form of the Major looked over all of the Nazi FREAKs, 'his' eyes hard and piercing as they looked into the face of each and every one of them. A strong wind blew by, making 'his' coat billow in its path. 'He' raised his hand, getting their attention.
"All Battalion members! Achtung!"
Just as expected, the FREAKs all sprung to attention from sheer habit. The FREAK in the front--with half his face missing--shakily took a step forward, then fell to his knees. "...Ah...! M...mein Fuhrer...!" Tears ran from his one good eye. "Ve knew it...! Ve knew zat you vere not dead! Ve knew zat it vas untrue! Ve knew it!" A murmur of agreement rippled through the rest of the Battalion. More tears of joy sprung forth from their eyes as well; it was oddly endearing, really. 'Major' gave them a grin.
"Ja, mein Batallion of comrades! I haf returned to you! I haf returned from the hell zat England had imprisoned me to! I haf come to lead you all vonce again!"
An joyous uproar of pleased cries rang through the FREAKs, ringing out with "Seig Hiel!" Behind 'him', there were soft cries of woe; 'he' even heard someone say that they were all done for. 'He' decided to ignore that for now. There was something to be done.
"Mein Fuhrer!" one of them cried out, "vhat vill you haf us do?!"
"Shall ve kill zem?!" shouted another.
"Are ve to drain zem, und lead zem on to destroy Hellsing?!"
"Shall ve repay zem for your imprisonment?!"
'Major' held up a hand, silencing them. "Mein Bataillon," 'he' addressed them in a powerful voice. "Vhat ve shall do ist something more meaningful! Vhat ve shall do vill give us the pleasure of un eternity of kills! A forever of bloodshed! Un endless vast of enemies to slaughter, rise up, und slaughter vonce more!" 'He' waited a beat before continuing. In a more somber voice, 'he' held 'his' hands out to them, as though to have them take them. "Mein Bataillon, this day, ve shall raise our veapons to kill in Walhalla."
There was a silence, then a murmur amongst the FREAKs. The 'Major' raised 'his' hand again. "Gentlemen," he addressed them, "I haf thought long und hard; vished und dreamed, even. I know in my saddened heart zat in this realm of existance, var...killing...bloodshed...ewerything hast a limit. A point of no return. But! But, mein comrades! Think about it!" 'He' raised 'his' hands higher, a look of dreamy bliss on 'his' face. "In Walhalla! In Walhalla, gentlemen! Un endless var! Endless killing! Endless bloodshed! Here, you are struck down, und never arise! There--there, gentlemen! There, you are struck down, und you avaken to fight again! Never ending! Fighting vith your lost comrades who already dwell there, avaiting your partnership, und my leadership vonce more! All together vonce more, to vage endless var against histories of varriors!"
As 'he' spoke, the FREAKs began to shed tears of joy, all thinking of this Heaven their Fuhrer spoke of. At the same time, a tear of emotion ran down 'his' own face.
"Gentlemen..." 'He' lowered his arms. "Vait no longer. Suffer no longer, in this vorld vhere all that avaits you is un inevitable death. Cease torturing yourselves! Go! Go to Walhalla, gentlemen!" 'His' voice drew an almost gentle tone. "I vill be there to command you vonce more after my own purpose ist fulfilled."
Crying profusely now, the Nazis raised their firearms to their heads and with the other hand, saluted 'him'.
"Seig Hiel!"
'He' smiled sadly at them and saluted them back. "Seig Hiel."
A chorus of shots rang out, and the other side of the hill was splattered with blood. Then all was silent.
After looking over the dead Nazis once more, 'Major' turned from the bloodbath and made 'his' way back down the hill slowly, a thoughtful expression on 'his' face and 'his' eyes swirling with emotion.
As 'he' drew closer, several Round Table members and their bodyguards drew their weapons--Integra included, but lowered them slightly when the 'Major's' form turned pure white and began to strip away in ribbons and disappear, leaving only Seras to walk forward. Alucard himself stepped forward, and barely caught the girl as she fell into unconsciousness; though he didnt miss the golden light in the back of her eyes as they closed.
Darkness was all Seras saw when she opened her eyes. She felts so tired; so drained she didnt want to move. She then found that she didnt have to when she felt arms pick her up. She didnt need to look to know that it was the Major. "...Mm..." she attempted to say his name.
"Be silent, Seras," he said softly. She felt him lay her down. "You completely drained yourself...you need real rest now..." She closed her eyes again, and felt him stroke her bangs out of her face and lay a gentle kiss on her cheek.
Smiling, she fell back into a comfortable darkness.
When Seras awoke in the physical world, she took a moment to make sure she was alright to move, and found that she was. She lifted the lid and sat up, noticing that she was still wearing the dress from the ball. She stood up and stepped out of her coffin, then reformed the dress not into her normal uniform, but the outfit she wore to the Round Table conference that first time. She had a feeling that Sir Integra would need to talk to her.
With every step to Sir Integra's office, she felt colder and colder. In fact, when she came to the corner in which the office door was just behind, she began shaking.
'Dont vorry, Seras,' the Major said, caressing her mind. 'If it does come down to it, I vill take ze blame.'
Seras shook her head. "It's not your blame to take," she murmured. She came to the door and timidly knocked on it.
The 'Come in' that followed it was not a pleased one. Seras winced and slowly opened the door just enough for her to slip in and shut it behind her. She timidly looked up from underneath her bangs and saw that her Master was there as well, and it looked as though she had interrupted them. Integra's desk was littered with paperwork, and it looked as though Integra herself hadnt taken care of herself for a few days from sheep exhaustion. The Hellsing director looked up to see Seras and narrowed her eyes.
"Come here, Victoria," she hissed. Seras gulped and shakily made her way toward the desk.
"Master," Alucard said softly. "You said you'd stay calm for this..."
"Oh, Alucard..." she muttered. "This is calm compared to the spectacle I'm about to make of myself!" Alucard looked between his pissed-off Master and his trembling fledgling, not liking how this was going to turn out. He stepped back against the wall to let the two ladies have it out.
"Sir Integra, please let me explain..." Seras began shakily.
"Explain what, Victoria!?" Integra snapped, making Seras wince. "Are you going to explain why you decided to take the form of the goddamned Major to take care of the FREAKs?! Are you going to explain why I'm being driven to the point of madness, trying to save your ass from death?! Are you going to explain why I'm not wringing your neck this very moment!?"
"Master..." Alucard said from the wall. He was silenced by the silver ashtray thrown at his head.
"Sir Integra, please," Seras said gently, trying to calm her boss down. "I know that taking the Major's form was not the smartest thing to do, what with everyone watching, but Sir! I had to! I was pretty much unable to do much else!"
Integra gave her a death look. "So you're telling me," she said acidly, "that you didnt have enough power in you to tear them to pieces, but you had enough to change your form and voice to coax them to kill themselves?"
Seras almost said that it wasnt her that changed her form, but she caught herself in time to say, "Yes Sir...That's correct."
Alucard shifted his gaze from Seras to Integra, keeping his mouth shut.
Integra nodded to herself. "I see," she said darkly. "Well then. In that case, you're going to be explaining yourself before the rest of the Conference to ease their minds, and then you'll be spending time in the dungeons for a year to put your powers in their proper place."
Seras's eyes widened. "You cant do that!" she cried before she could stop herself.
"Oh, cant I?" Integra countered, standing up and putting her hands on her desk. "Seras, you dont seem to understand the severity of what you've done! I have Sir Reginald in the sickbed, stuttering on about how that devil is going to keep coming back to kill us all! Sir Irons isnt fairing much better!" She slammed a fist on the desk, upsetting a teacup. Seras winced, feeling the Major begin to seethe in her mind.
'Please just keep silent...' she pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Sir!" Seras said, bowing her head. "Please...I didnt really mean any harm!"
"That's beside the point, Seras!" Integra took a deep breath and sat back down. "You will apologize and give your explanation to the Round Table. You will be locked in the dungeons for a year, just to ease the Round Table's worries. And after I let you out, I'll have you put down if I ever hear any mention of that fat bastard again!"
"Dont talk about him that way!" Seras shouted back, then clamped both hands over her mouth. Alucard nearly slid off his position on the wall. Integra gaped at Seras, slowly standing up again.
"...What did you just say...?" she asked softly, her gaze hardening. Seras could feel subarctic cold falling over her. She shook her head, her hands still in place. "No, take your hands away from your mouth, and tell me what you just said!" Seras just stood there. "Now!"
Seras brought her hands down from her mouth. "I...I said...dont talk about him that way..." she stuttered out. Integra stood all the way up and walked around the desk to stand in front of her; her full six inches in extra height seeming like six feet to Seras.
"And...why would you say that, Seras?" Integra asked, her hands tensing. Seras let out a choked whimper and shook her head.
"I didnt...I...I meant...just...dont..."
Integra stared at Seras for a few more dreadfully silent moments before back-handing Seras to the floor in one swift motion.
Alucard stiffened from his position on the wall, making a quarter-inch jerk to help Seras that was put to stop with a glare from his Master.
"...And to think I was going to dedicate the ball to your effort in killing the Major, Seras," Integra muttered, shaking her head. "And then you have to go and tell me not to speak ill of him? What has gotten into you lately?"
Alucard suddenly caught the scent of an essence change, and stared at his fledgling on the floor apprehensively. Said fledgling dragged herself to her knees, one hand touching her mouth where her fang had caught it. She brought her hand back to see blood on her fingers.
Integra walked back over to the other side of her desk. "I will contact the Round Table and gather them so you can give your testimony. After that, we will--."
"You frigid bitch."
Integra froze from what she was doing and looked back at Seras, watching the girl get off the floor, still staring at her blood-covered fingers. Seras finally looked up, her eyes flaring gold.
"You cold, unforgiving bitch!"
Integra unconsciously shrunk away from the intensity of the glare Seras was giving her. "...Seras...!"
"Nein, Fraulein..." Seras shook her head, an angry snarl on her face. "Seras ist not here at ze moment...not zat she needed to talk to such a kälte fotze!"
Integra was just shocked to hear a voice that was not Seras's insult her, but Alucard knew enough German to know that his Master had just been called something atrocious, and reached for his gun."
"Zat vould be ill-advised, Alucard..." the Major hissed, shooting his glare to him. "Ve had a deal, ja? I'm not going to hurt this Hündin, no matter how much I really vish to at ze moment..."
"Who the hell are you!?" Integra cried, inching toward Alucard. Who she thought was Seras merely gave her a nasty grin.
"A mere year, und yet you forget me so soon...Lovely Fraulein...?"
Integra suddenly felt the urge to vomit. "...N...No, this isnt...!"
The Major grinned wider, evilly distorting Seras's normally innocent features. "Oh, but it ist, Fraulein," he hissed. "Und you haf just had the unfortunate pleasure of pissing me off!" He took a step toward her, then suddenly cried out and put his hands to his head.
"Stop! Dont hurt her!" Seras's own voice cried out; Alucard and Integra saw her eyes flicker back to blue, then gold again.
"Fraulein, she hast just insulted you! She ist villing to put you down like a common dog to save her own ass!"
"It doesnt matter! You promised you wouldnt hurt anyone! You promised...!"
Seras fell to her knees, and her eyes turned back to permanent blue. She was choking back tears and muttering things in her own German mixed with English. Alucard inched his way to his Master and stood beside her, in case something happened that needed his cut-in. Seras finally stopped talking to herself--and the Major--and just sat there on the floor, choking on her sobs.
Integra silently reached for her gun in her back hoister, and her hand was caught by Alucard's. "Dont," he whispered. "Dont do anything to cause her harm." Integra shot him a look.
"You knew about this!?" she hissed back. Alucard nodded, keeping his eyes on his servant. "And you didnt think that I'd need to know about this!?"
"Dont yell at him, Sir," Seras's weak voice came from the floor. Both Masters looked down at her. She guiltily raised her head to look at them with tear-soaked eyes. "Please...it was my doing...I...I had him and...and the Major agree on a deal..." She stood up shakily, drawing her arms in front of her like a shield. "...M...Master Alucard agreed not to tell you... the M...Major was training me...in 'Holy powers'...if I...used them to...to help Hellsing..."
Integra was so shocked and the girl was stuttering so bad that she only caught half of what Seras was saying. She did catch, however, 'Major', 'deal', and 'Holy powers'. "...The Major..." she said slowly, her hand still over her gun. "...The Major...is..."
"...Here...?" Seras finished. She nodded. "...I...I drank his blood, Sir Integra...he's...he's inside my head now..."
Integra felt a jubilee of emotions torrent in her own head. Her heart rate accelerated, and before even she knew what she was doing, her gun was drawn, and she shot several bullets at Seras. The girl cried out and covered her head with her hands, and the golden white barrier shot up and deflected them back at her--the same barrier that refracted her sword.
Alucard quickly pulled Integra out of the way and knocked the gun out of her hand. "Seras!" he shouted over at her. "Go! Go to your room! Now!"
Seras didnt need to be told twice. She shot up and ran through the walls until she got to her room. Just for extra measure, she shut and locked her door with the double bolt. When she was sure no one but her Master would be able to get in, she leaned against the door, tears falling down her face.
"Oh God..." she sobbed, slipping down to the floor and putting her hands to her face. "...I'm...I'm going to die..."
'Nein! Do not think like zat, Seras!' the Major scolded. 'You are not going to die!'
Seras's tears didnt stop. She just put her head to her knees and cried harder. "Everything's ruined!" she shouted to herself. "I'm so stupid! What was I thinking!? Stupid! Stupid!"
'FRAULEIN!!' Seras cried out when she felt the Major strike her mind harshly. 'Enough! Just...enough...' Seras then felt a gentle caress in place of the sharp strike. She let the Major comfort her for a moment. '...Come inside, Seras. There's...theres's something ve need to talk about...'
Seras nodded, then shakily got up and crawled into her coffin, curling up before closing the lid and letting herself slip into her mind.
When she opened her eyes, she didnt have time to react before she felt the Major's arms around her. She froze at the sudden embrace, but then leaned her head against his shoulder and let a few more tears fall. The Major picked her up and brought her over to the couch before sitting down, holding her in his lap. He stroked her hair with one hand while the other arm remained tightly around her shoulders.
"I'm so sorry, Seras," he murmured after a few moments. "It ist completely my fault vhat happened..." Seras shook her head against his shoulder.
"No..." she muttered back. "It wouldnt have mattered...Sir Integra's going to put me away, anyhow..." She heard the Major growl deep from his chest.
"...Hündin..." he growled. He shook his head. "...Villing to put you avay like you vere nothing...you owe her no explanation...all zat mattered vas zat you protected eweryvone...you owe her...you owe zem all...nothing..."
Seras looked up, her eyes filled with confusion. "...Why...why are you talking about Sir Integra like that...?" she asked, wiping her eyes. The Major's gaze flickered.
"Vhat do yo mean?" he demanded. "She insulted you, und threatened to kill you! I think she deserves the title of 'bitch' at ze moment, Seras!"
Seras silently slid off of his lap and sat beside him, her hands wringing. "Well..." she said softly. "...I just...find it odd that you would say such things about her...considering...how fond you are of her..."
The Major's face went blank, and he leaned back against the couch. "Ah," he said softly, his golden eyes dimming slightly. "...I knew zat this vould come back to bite me sooner or later..."
Seras looked confused again. "What do you mean?" she asked. "...You...you like Sir Integra...dont you?" The Major's eyes dimmed a little more.
"...I vont lie," he said soberly. "...I did...vonce...have feelings for her. Strong feelings. I vanted her to be by my side...through ewery var I vaged...I thought zat she vould eventually learn to love me..."
Seras felt her heart clench with every word he spoke. "I...I see..." she murmured softly. She lowered her head, trying to hide the pain in her heart. She felt the Major's hand slide under her chin and raise it so she locked eyes with him.
"...I did say...that I vonce had feelings for her, Seras..." he said softly. "...Und my feelings haf changed."
His golden eyes brightened as they stared into hers, and Seras was hit with an epiphany. She felt her face flush and her essence pulse rapidly. "But..!" she stuttered, drawing back slightly, not willing to believe him. "But...but Sir Integra...she's...she's so intelligent!"
"You're intelligent."
"She's beautiful!"
"Your're beautiful!"
"You have feelings for her!"
The Major didnt answer that comeback. Instead, he leaned forward and kissed her soundly on the lips.
Seras made a light 'meep' sound, too surprised to do much else. The Major's hands gently held her shoulders as he pulled her closer, his tongue gently coaxing her lips apart. Seras obliged, and the kiss deepened pleasantly. Her hands gently touched his arms as one hand raised to stroke her hair away from her face.
After a long, pleasant few moments, the Major pulled away, his eyes aflame with light. "I haf feelings for you, Seras," he said, stroking her face with his fingertips. "I haf been hiding zem from you...because I didnt vant you to reject my help, or scare you avay. I didnt know...you felt the same vay about me..."
Seras felt her throat swell. "...How long...?" she asked timidly. The Major smiled gently, knowing what she was asking.
"Since the day you took my hand."
Seras thought back to when her Master attacked her mind, and the Major held his hand out to her, demanding she take it. And she had. "...Why then?" she asked. The Major smiled broader.
"...Because Fraulein Integra vould not haf taken my hand...but you did...you trusted me enough to take my hand." He brushed another strand from her face. "...Und that meant a lot to me."
Seras felt her eyes well over and she buried her face in his shoulder. He gently wrapped his arms around her.
"I meant it, Seras," he murmured. "You are beautiful. Und you are intelligent..." Seras felt him emit a strong emotion. "Vhen you took my form und voice...vhen you made zat speech to my battalion...it...it vas the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard..." He stroked her back fondly. "You vould haf made a vonderful companion for me...you vould haf commanded zem alongside me...und they vould haf respected you in your own right..."
Seras clenched the front of his jacket, her heart touched by his words. "...Really?" she asked. The Major grinned.
"Ja, really..." He stroked her back for another moment before gently taking her shoulders in his hands and pulling her back to look her in the eyes. "Seras...there's something...I need to ask of you."
Seras looked back, taking not of his dead serious demeanor. "What is it?" she asked. The Major shifted his gaze from her to the void, and back again.
"Seras, I haf no doubt in my mind zat Integra vill not allow us to continue like this..." His tone darkened. "...Seras...I vant to proceed vith the final exchange. Tonight."
Aiyee...my brain burns...Well, one more chapter to go...I made myself sad...
Chapter 30 Preview
The third exchange, a lemon-laced lime, and a sealing.
