Some fat cunt once told me that the truth would set me free. At the time, I was like, "Damnst bro, thou be'th correct". But now, lying has become second nature for me. If I'm ever able to dig myself out of the hole that I've dug, I promise myself that I'll be slightly better about lying. Slightly.

-excerpt from the Vampire Journals

Chapter 14: Lies and Deceit

The swords clanged together with timed accuracy. They weren't hitting hard or fast enough to throw off sparks, but they could be heard reverberating throughout the cabin. They sliced the air elegantly, stopping abruptly on one another.

In only a few hours, Seras had gotten quite good with a sword. Alucard thought that if they could train constantly like this, she would easily be a master swordsman within a few years' time. Frankly, he was impressed, and a bit proud of her.

He was also learning quite a lot himself, about teaching in particular. Anna was a natural leader, and she seemed to be a natural teacher, too; her skills were translating to Seras faster than Alucard would have ever expected.

One thing he took note of her doing was building a personal connection to each lesson. Instead of simply explaining the movement she wanted Seras to perform, she would tell a story about why the move was important to her, saying, "This particular parry saved my life at the battle of Riverrun", in order to not only stress to Seras how important the maneuver was, but also to put personal stake in her learning it.

It was something he had failed to do himself, and he was starting to realize why he was so reluctant to train Seras in the first place. A lot of what he knew was charged with bad emotions, and sharing that with someone you were trying to make better than yourself was not an enviable task. Furthermore, he was a lazy fuck, which was something he had known beforehand, but it was good to admit your bad qualities.

Pip had left to go scheme with his men, so now Alucard sat alone, drinking in the sight before him; the beauty of Anna in action, passing on her knowledge to someone else that she couldn't have cared less about, but doing so with a total investment in the outcome. She was, truly, something else.

And he wished beyond wishing that he had never fallen in love with her.

...

Seras brought her sword up again, this time almost instinctively. She thought that she might actually be getting the hang of this swordfighting business, and it was starting to become interesting. It fascinated her every time the smaller Magyar withstood a heavy blow from Anna's massive sword; it fascinated her every time she was able to knock Anna, who seemed so sure on her feet, off balance with a simple maneuver. It was also quite fascinating how Alucard hadn't said a word the entire time.

Thinking about him for a brief moment, she almost didn't notice the slash coming for her chest. She brought her sword up just in time, but was knocked off her feet by the strike. She flailed her arms, trying to regain her balance, and landed flat on her bum. Embarrassed, she looked back up at Anna to gauge her reaction, preparing for an incoming strike.

Anna had lowered her sword, and was casting a curious gaze in Seras' direction.

"Your mind wonders, young one", Anna told her. "Am I beginning to bore you?"

"No", Seras said, a little too quickly, "no, I'm not bored, I, um... I just had a thought..."

"That is fine", Anna told her, sheathing her own sword. "It is time to take a break as it is. You need time to reflect on what you have learned."

"Oh... I-I'm sorry-"

"Don't be", Anna said with a smile, reaching out her hand. "You did fine work. I consider this lesson a success!"

Seras couldn't help but smile, too, as she reached out and grabbed Anna's hand. She almost wished that the two of them would take their gloves off for this, because, frankly, she wanted to feel Anna's skin on her own.

Shaking herself from such thoughts, she grabbed Anna's hand, allowing her to haul her to her feet.

"You are a terrific student", Anna told her, reaching around to clap her shoulder. "I would like to train you more often!"

For a moment, Seras contemplated if there might be a hidden message in that. Those thoughts ceased as Anna touched her shoulder.

As Anna's hand clapped her shoulder, Seras' eyes widened, and she saw a stone ceiling above her. It was withered and worn, but not by time, it seemed; rather, a large battle must have just taken place, because all of the scars looked new. She was lying on her back, as she could feel the cold stone running all the way up along her back, even through the gambeson that she wore.

Suddenly, fire lanced its way through her belly, and she tried to cry out, but it only made her hurt more. She lifted her head, and tried to look down her length. A dark spot had formed on her midsection, soaking even through the thick gambeson, and blood had begun to pool underneath her. She began to feel cold, but she found she couldn't shiver.

She tried to set her head back down gently, and her vision was greeted by the face of a man. It was the pale man that Seras had seen in her dream... or vision... and he had a rather... sad look on his face. He was dressed in ornate, interlocking armor, minus his forearms and hands, which were absolutely covered in heavy-looking plate armor, with the fingers of the gauntlets filing down to make pointed claws. She noticed that the gauntlets had red smeared on them, and offhandedly she wondered when that had happened, since he hadn't participated in any of the hard fighting.

That was another odd thought; this was HIS castle. It had been HIS army. And he had fought to protect neither. Almost as if he didn't care anymore.

The man moved his gauntlets, undoing the clasp on the left one, letting it clatter to the ground near Anna's head. His exposed hand was so pale, it should have belonged to a dead man. Odd, how the man before her who was supposed to be dead was still moving about as a living man would.

The man lifted a sword that looked almost exactly like Alucard's, and ran the blade across his palm. Red blood began dripping from the wound. The man closed his hand into a fist, and held it over Anna's head.

The first drop landed just below her nose. The second one struck off her chin. The third went right in the middle, hitting her lips. She tightened them down on reflex. She didn't want this man's taint.

Yet, even as she thought this, she could feel the darkness closing in around her. The hottest pits of Hell wouldn't be able to chase away the cold she felt... but maybe she would see her father again, at least. And her brother.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. It wasn't fair that she was destined for Hell now, no matter which path she chose. It wasn't fair that this path had been chosen for her, for her whole family.

And then another thought; maybe there was still a chance. A chance to destroy Dracula, and save the others. A chance at redemption.

But she had to open her mouth.

The taste was... coppery, like her own blood whenever she had bit her lip too hard. It was a strange thought, that his tainted blood could taste so much like her own. She wondered if she would have to feed on this wretched nectar anymore.

If she would hate herself for it.

After only three drops, the man lowered his hand. She looked back at his eyes, and was surprised to see that they weren't full of the hunger that most vampires would have held at such a sight. If anything, he seemed to hold a terrible sadness, perhaps even regret. Her throat felt so dry...

She swallowed, and the man closed his eyes. It didn't look quite like a sigh of relief, but he looked... slightly less sad. She could already feel the tainted blood worming its way through her. The black began to fade, and she began... returning to life.

It was not quite the feeling that she had expected. She had expected to feel like she was dying, and that her body was becoming something cold and different. Instead, she felt warmth flooding her, and she felt her pain dull.

The man bent down, and scooped her up, carrying her over to a bed in the room. A sick feeling began to course through her. She didn't want this. Not with him.

He set her gently down on the bed, straightened her out, turned, and promptly left her.

She was shocked for a moment. She expected him to come back any moment, devoid of his clothing, but he didn't. He was gone.

And she was left staring at the ceiling.

The ceiling faded, and she was staring at Anna again, her mouth agape, her eyes wide.

She was struck by an odd feeling that she had been Anna Valarious. That she had just seen a memory, not a vision. And immediately after that, she was struck by an odd realization; Alucard had lied to her. Unless he was the man in the black armor, he didn't sire Anna.

And Anna had thought of the man as Dracula.

Was Alucard leading some kind of double life? Was this a case of split personality disorder? Or was he just lying for some ulterior reason?

"Are you alright", Anna asked, concern in her voice.

Seras was shaken from her thoughts. If Alucard was lying to her, then he was lying to Anna. And if he was lying to either of them, she was gonna find out why. But now was not the time to bring it to light.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine", Seras told Anna with a smile.

"You were staring at me for some time."

"Oh, sorry, just... spaced out a bit, I suppose."

Anna looked at her for a moment longer, then turned and slid into a seat. She turned her eyes up to Seras inquisitively, but by then, Seras was already on the move.

She powered her way through the aisle, and wanted to take a spot up at the front, closer to where Pip and the other mercenaries were.

"Hey, Police Girl", Alucard said.

Seras stopped, and looked up at him. He grinned, and patted the seat next to him. With a sigh, she slid into it.

For a moment, neither party spoke. Seras didn't even want to look at Alucard, and Alucard continued to stare straight ahead.

"What was your family like", he finally asked.

Seras turned to look at him. He was still staring straight ahead, but the grin was gone. Seras looked straight ahead as well.

"They were great, we were all happy together."

Alucard nodded, seeming to accept this. For a moment, he was silent. Then, it seemed like floodgates opened up.

"I never knew my mother", he told her. "I'm pretty sure my father killed her. He was an abusive alcoholic with a short temper, and he was prone to violence. I wouldn't put it past him. He had a child with another woman, and that was my only family. I loved my baby brother."

Seras was stunned by what she had just heard. She had never thought of Alucard as having a tragic past. Then again, when someone is an asshole, it's easy to assume they don't have a good reason, because it makes them easier to hate.

"We did everything together", Alucard continued. "We learned how to fight, play, and make our way in the world all by ourselves."

Alucard's gaze grew cold.

"And then I lost him to my enemies."

How terrible, Seras thought.No wonder he gets so angry sometimes!

Alucard turned to Seras, asking, "When did you lose your family?"

That caught Seras a bit off guard, and she could see that he could tell.

"Normally in a situation like yours, one of the first things someone in your position would ask is, 'can I see my family'. You haven't once asked that question, yet you say you had a good relationship with them. That leads me to believe they aren't around anymore."

Well, he had her there. Seras looked away, trying not to tear up, thinking about the day that her family was stolen from her. She was unsuccessful; a tear dripped down her nose and hit the floor.

"There was a robbery. They told me to hide in the closet. I saw everything."

For a moment, the duo was quiet yet again. Seras wrung her hands like she was strangling the robbers.

"So", Alucard asked, "did you become a police officer for justice, or revenge?"

Seras thought about that for a long moment. She continued wringing her hands.

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes", Alucard said definitively. "Yes there is."

Seras looked at him inquisitively. She began thinking of what Alucard would have said. But, as she looked into his eyes, she could see he wasn't seeking validation; he was seeking the truth.

"Revenge", she told him. "I wanted revenge."

"Did you get it?"

She looked back down at her hands.

"No."

"Whatdid you get?"

The tears began again.

"I wanted to quit after only a year. It was horrible. We weren't doing any good whatsoever. We were enforcing the politicians' wills. We were a mafia, not a peace force."

"Sounds like you didn't get your revenge."

"No", Seras admitted. "No I didn't."

"When you seek revenge", Alucard told her, "you lash out against the world. You try to find something to put your sword through. Usually, you end up finding that the whole world deserves your blade. That's the problem with revenge; it's a slippery slope."

"What about you", Seras suddenly asked.

"What about me?"

"You said you had an army", Seras recalled. "Why?"

Alucard leaned back in his seat.

"When I first started fighting, I did it for many reasons. The biggest of those were most definitely justice, and faith. When I lost my brother, they... did things, to him and me. I never wanted that to happen to anyone again. I had to lie, and I had to do some terrible things to make it happen, but when I declared war, it was the greatest feeling I had had in my life since I had my brother. I had an enemy, and I had a weapon, and the war was simple. But the biggest reason I went to war was because of my faith. When I left that dungeon, the only thing I had left was God. So, in God's name, I went to war to rid the world of wickedry. But I was betrayed. The people who promised me reinforcements left me out to die against an army of hundreds of thousands with only a thousand men. But for two years, I fought on, defeating my enemy in their own territory. And when they finally eradicated my small force, I came home a hero. But that didn't last. I was betrayed again, and again, and again."

He stopped talking. He stared off into that distance, not seeing the cabin he was in. Fire burned in his eyes.

"I got sick of being betrayed. So I built an army one more time, and out of revenge, I vowed to destroy all of humanity. Eventually, it became a war to turn the world into vampires, so that no man would have to disagree with any other. But there were... technical problems... that simply couldn't be ignored. And eventually, it became too much for me. Now... I fight because I vowed I would. I made a promise to a man that I could never turn my back on, and I intend to fulfill it."

He turned to look at her.

"You've got to find a reason to fight as well. If you don't have a reason, you're just flailing around. And if you're just flailing around, you will receive consequences that are too terrible to come back from. If you're wondering why I'm lying to Anna, it's because the truth is ten times worse than whatever lie I feed her. That's the worst consequence I have been given. And I regret it every single second I'm alive."

So he was lying. But why? What had he done that was so horrible that he had to lie and say he was someone else?

What could have been worse than siring Anna?

...

Schrodinger could tell where the group's destination was, and he couldn't get close enough to film them, so there was really no reason to stay with them. Instead, he decided to investigate an interesting smell. It was a smell that had smelled both familiar and different. Yet, the more he smelled it, the more his nose wrinkled.

It was coming from a trash-covered alleyway, which led down a small set of stairs. A metal door with a speaker on the wall next to it were at the bottom. On impulse, he pushed the button on the speaker.

"Password please", a familiar, yet feminine accent said.

"Forget this", Schrodinger breathed. He turned around, ready to walk away.

"Felix? Is that you, sweetie?!"

Schrodinger stopped in his tracks. That was a name he hadn't heard in a long time. He turned slowly around.

"Y-yes."

"Felix, baby! The door is unlocked, please, come in!"

The door gave a click, and jarred open just a bit. Schrodinger swallowed, and reached out. He grabbed the edge of the door, and pulled it open.

Inside the hidden room, the walls were a very sanitary metallic color. Schrodinger hesitantly stepped inside. It looked like a waiting room that was devoid of any furniture. At the far end was another door; this one had a handle on it.

Part of him believed this felt far too familiar. Part of him wanted to turn around and run. Part of him wanted to burst into tears.

No. He hadn't been trained as an elite assassin to chicken out of a sterilized room. He was going to open that door. He was going to man up and face his fears.

He strode confidently across the room to the door, and put his hand on the handle. Now, he hesitated. Was this really worth it? Was it really worth facing his fears at a time like this? Thinking critically, this was probably a bad idea; this might very well take up too much time.

Before he could turn the handle, or turn away, the handle turned by itself. The door opened inward, and revealed a sight he was not ready to see.

Before him stood a woman, who had to be in her late forties, decked out in full Waffen SS uniform, complete with leather holster on her hip, which appeared to have been meticulously cared for. She had a wide smile across her white face, the beginning flecks of gray in her brown hair, and a twinkle in her brown eyes.

As soon as she set eyes on Schrodinger, she reached out her arms, and swept him up into a hug. His face was smothered by ample bosom, which frankly, he didn't mind too much. In Schrodinger's opinion, the only thing hotter than a young girl with large breasts was a MILF with large breasts.

When she finally released him, she immediately shouted, "Oh, sweet baby! We're so glad you found us!"

"Us?"

She pulled him through the door, and to his surprise, there were three more women behind the doorway that looked exactly like her. They all raced over to him, and smothered him in their ample bosoms as well. Schrodinger reflected on the fact that, while it was rather hard to breath, being smothered to death by boob wasn't a terrible way to end your life.

They all pulled away from him almost simultaneously, cooing, brushing his hair, and telling him sweet nothings. Apparently, the confusion was evident on his face, because they all took turns hugging him again. It didn't help jog his memory much, but he wasn't really complaining.

"Jojo", one of them suddenly said, "would you mind getting the milk out of the fridge and warming it up for our guest? He feels so tense!"

"Of course, Joanna", Jojo replied.

She quickly bounded away from the group. As Schrodinger watched her go, the cogs in his mind began turning.

"Jojo", he thought out loud, "and Joanna?"

"Yes", the one who had opened the door for him said gleefully, clapping her hands together. "And she's Josephina, and I'm Jo!"

Jo, Jojo, Joanna, and Josephina. They all had brown hair and brown eyes. And they all seemed to know him.

"Do I know you all from somewhere?"

This produced giggling from the group of women.

"Not directly, no", Jo told him.

Before he could ask more questions, Jojo returned with a glass of milk.

"I warmed it up in the microwave for you! I hope I didn't get it too hot!"

She gently pushed the cup into his hand, and he could feel the warmth radiating from the calcium-enriched liquid. He took a cautious sip and found that it was just hot enough to warm his insides without burning his tongue. He greedily drank the cup dry.

The group of women cooed once more, embracing him and tousling his hair. It felt rather nice, Schrodinger thought. He hadn't been treated like this since his mother-

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he cleared his throat as loudly as possible. It was time for some answers. The women all took a step back from him, staring curiously at him.

"So, where would I know all of you from? You seem familiar."

The women all glanced at each other, sharing expressions of what appeared to be pity. They returned their gazes upon him, silent.

And suddenly, something clicked in Schrodinger's mind.

"Your last names wouldn't happen to be Mengele, would they?"

Getting the name out of his mouth alone was worse than running a hundred miles without water. He had hoped that he would never have to say that name again. But it was the only name that made sense.

Jo was the first to look away. She gave a hefty sigh.

"I suppose there's no point in hiding it", she told him sadly. "Yes, we're all clones of Josef Mengele."

Schrodinger's eye twitched. Visions of his own blood leaking out of his body flashed through his mind. With them came the sensations of having his skin cut open.

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind. There was no need to reflect on that; after all, he had submitted to those augmentations willingly. He believed in what the Reich stood for.

"Felix", Jo said, gently caressing his face with her hands, and kneeling so that she could be eye-level with him, "I know that Josef hurt you. He was a bad man, and what he did to you was bad. He was evil born from an evil womb to hurt the kind people of this world. I am so sorry about what he did to you."

Funny enough, but when he had first entered Auschwitz, Schrodinger remembered liking Josef Mengele. He would often give candy and little treats to the little boys and girls of the camp, and always had a wide smile on his face. He would let you sit on his lap while he told you a story. The children loved him to pieces, so much so that they had nicknamed him "Uncle".

None of them could have ever suspected that he was the one committing the horrific atrocities that made even the tough-as-nails Russian liberators vomit, sob and quake with emotion. Frankly, when the cutting started, Schrodinger hardly believed that it was Mengele behind the knife. He remembered vaguely that for some time, he cried out to "Uncle" for help.

"He turned you into this thing", Jo told him, reaching up to pinch his ears, an action he didn't particularly care for under normal circumstances, "he made you do terrible things in the name of the Reich, and then he left you to die. But now, you have found your way to us!"

The women began crowding round him, cooing and gently rubbing him all over.

"And we have a wonderful place here, where you can stay, forever!"

He didn't want to stay in a room with these women forever. As great as that sounded, he had a new family; Milennium. Doc had made him better, and in his typical fashion, had taken all credit for his creation. The Major treated him as more than just an assassin. He even liked Logan, the thick-headed werewolf bastard, and he didn't want to live in a room with four people who reminded him of-

"What did Mengele make me do?"

The question spilled from his mouth so quickly, it was like his mouth was moving faster than his brain. His hands were reaching on their own, too. They had a very specific target in mind.

For a moment, the group was deathly silent. His hands stopped reaching, for fear of being noticed.

"He made you kill your own sister", Jo said, as if she had poison in her mouth, "the bastard."

"Do you know how that made me feel?"

His hands found their target, and gently undid the clasps.

"How did that make you feel, sweet heart?"

His hands found their target; soft wood and cold steel.

"It made me feel like this."

Schrodinger yanked the Walther P38 free from Jo's holster, and fired a round into her chest. She gasped like she had been struck horribly, and wore a bewildered look on her face. She fell over backwards, blood beginning to pool from where she had been shot through the heart. Schrodinger turned to the left, and shot Joanna through the eye. He wheeled around and shot Josephina through the neck.

He turned towards Jojo, and shot her through one of her lungs. She gasped, and fell backwards, clutching her chest, her back striking against the wall behind her. She continued to gasp, as Schrodinger slowly advance on her, the handgun leveled at her head.

"S-stop", Jojo managed through gasps. "F-Felix, stop! W-we want – we want to... help... you!"

"Again", Felix asked Josef Mengele, "like how you helped make me 'better' in Auschwitz? Like how you helped make me a better assassin by making me kill my own sister, or leaving me to die in a ditch from a Russian bullet wound?"

"F-Felix-"

"She was my world! She meant everything to me! I suffered in Auschwitz to save her life!"

"F-Felix, please-"

"My name isn't Felix", he told Uncle Mengele, leveling the pistol, "my name is Schrodinger now! I'm better than you could have ever made me! And... and..."

For a moment, he saw the face of a woman. A woman who had shown him more compassion than he had known since 1944. But it was quickly replaced by the Angel of Death again. And he had his same, happy grin stretched across his face, almost as if to taunt him.

"...and I will have my revenge!"

Schrodinger pulled the trigger, and Mengele's face disappeared. It was replaced by a woman, who had not known the evil of her maker. He pulled the trigger again, hoping in vain that Josef's face would return, and that he would have some satisfaction in destroying it. But it did not come back. It was that same woman, now with an extra hole in her head.

Schrodinger burst into tears, his whole body collapsing in on itself. He sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, thinking about his mother, who left them too soon, his father, who couldn't have left soon enough, and his sister, his beautiful baby sister, whom he had changed his entire life for. Wearing dresses to make her smile, doing her makeup for her... and the Nazis who had found him.

No, not them. He had believed in their cause. He had submitted willingly, to save his sister. Everything they had done to him, it was all consensual. He had believed in them. All of them. Except Mengele. He had taken everything from him and left him to die.

And now he had killed him. He had his revenge.

But it felt so hollow.

So he wept.

...

"Another lesson, young one", Anna asked Seras.

The question alone made her face burn. Truth be told, Seras hadn't felt young in quite some time. Her childhood had been brutally stolen from her... hearing Anna call her young was strange, almost alien... and a bit embarrassing. Furthermore, whenever Anna mentioned the word "lesson", her mind went to thoughts she shouldn't have been thinking.

"Of course", she blurted out quickly.

She received a strange look from Anna, but ultimately, she didn't hold any hope of Anna thinking any more highly of her. She had received more than a few of those strange looks, and frankly, she didn't think they looked a lot like Anna giving her the benefit of the doubt. The Mercs gave her strange looks, too, although those were a lot harder to understand. All of it made her embarrassed. She wanted this stupid thing in her brain to stop being a thing.

Anna turned, and moved for the front of the car. Seras sheepishly stood up and followed. She could feel the eyes of the Mercs on her the whole way to the back. Strange, but she couldn't feel the normally wondering eyes of Alucard, as if he was afraid to even look in Anna's direction.

Or, maybe, as if he were ashamed to look in Anna's direction?

Anna turned and raised her sword. Seras stopped, planted her feet like Anna had taught her, and raised her own sword.

"Today, we will learn how to move with the sword", Anna told her. "The sword must become an extension of yourself if you are to wield it well. Your body must flow like a river if you are to have the most power from your strikes."

This woman sure did love her nature similes. Seras wondered if she fought all natural, too-

She shook her head, fighting the blush that rose to her cheeks. She had to get her mind off of this. She had to think about something, anything else.

"So, why do you hate Alucard so much?"

The question rolled out of her mouth before she had a chance to fully process it. Anna raised an eyebrow in response. It seemed to catch her a little off-guard.

"He's a filthy vampire", she said, as if that answered the question in full.

"So, then, do you hate me, too?"

"Yes", she said with complete deadpan.

"So why are you helping me?"

"Someone has to", she replied with a shrug.

"Okay", Seras said hesitantly. "But, why do you hate Alucard so much?"

"I don't hate him any more than any other vampire", Anna told her simply.

"But... why do you always try to get a rise out of him?"

Anna lowered her sword.

"I... wasn't aware that I was doing that. I must work on restraining myself. Thank you, Seras."

Almost instantaneously, Seras' face went tomato red.

"S-sure, no problem."

"Perhaps it's because he defeated me", Anna said thoughtfully.

"W-when did he do that?"

"During the Great War", Anna said as if in deep thought. "There was a battle. I was leading an army of British soldiers against his Germans. It was a feint; the real mission was an assassination attempt against Alucard. The British promised me a battalion of soldiers in my hunt for Dracula if I felled him."

Anna glanced over at the man who had his head pointed at the ground, his glasses pushed all the way up against his face.

"As you can see, I was unsuccessful."

"What happened", Seras asked.

"He defeated me in a fair fight", Anna continued, "but he refused to kill me. He rode me all the way to Romania on horseback, and set me free. At first, I thought he did it to dishonor me, but now..."

For a moment, she was silent.

"I can see that he was right. The British had been employing an army of highly trained vampires to end the war quickly. I realize now that if I had succeeded in my goal, the army would not have stopped at taking Germany. They were not under British command; they were puppets to the Council of Thirteen."

"Council of Thirteen? Who are they?"

"Thirteen pre-flood vampires who decided to use the Great War as an excuse to send armies to either side. Their ultimate goal was world domination. Fortunately, they were unsuccessful."

"So, why do you think he set you free?"

"I", she hesitated. "I believe he was giving me a second chance."

For a moment, the two women were quiet.

"So", Seras said, in a calculated tone, "If he didn't do anything to you, what did Dracula do to you?"

"Do you mean besides enwrapping ten generations of my family into a curse which will doom them to Hell if they do not kill him, slaughtering my people, destroying my country, killing my father, indirectly killing my brother, and turning me into this?"

Seras blinked. That was a long rap sheet.

"Y-yes?"

Anna looked off into the distance, her eyes narrowing. Seras noticed that her hand clenched into a fist. Yet when she spoke, her tone was even.

"I believe he killed the only man I ever loved."

"Who?"

Anna turned that gaze on her.

"Gideon Ananias."

...

The sword lesson had been a difficult one, but by the end of it, Anna was giving Seras her congratulations. Trying not to smile too big, she made her way back to the general area of her seat. Making herself comfortable in these chairs was like trying to stop a speeding train with her bare hands, but even that couldn't knock the grin off of her face.

What finally ended it was when Alucard slid in the seat beside her.

"She said she barely even knows you", Seras told him before he could speak.

"She does", he replied, in an almost depressed tone of voice. "She doesn't know me by this face, though. I mean, except for the Great War."

"What do you mean, 'by this face'?"

Alucard seemed to sink in his chair.

"I was implanted as a spy in Anna's court. I was her most trusted advisor."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"And who might that have been?"

Alucard looked away.

"A man who betrayed her. He came to my- our castle seeking immortality in exchange for information. I immortalized him in my stomach."

"Ok, but who?"

Alucard was silent once more. Seras was beginning to realize just how surprised she was to see him in this state. It was like he was a whole different person. Almost as if he was truly remorseful for what he had done.

"Gideon Ananias."

Seras was absolutely stunned. No wonder Alucard felt so awful about being around Anna.

"While I was embedded", Alucard told her, "Anna was... Anna and I... she made me feel like I was the only person on earth. She made me feel like she really cared about me. She made me feel... loved. For the first time in my life."

He turned to look at Seras, and she could have sworn that for the briefest moment, his eyes looked like they were glistening.

"How can I tell her that it was all a lie? How could I tell her that the man she loved was first a traitor and then an imposter? How could I bring her so much pain when she made me feel so loved?"

A terrible web, Seras realized, had already been spun. And if Anna were to wipe away the cobwebs, she really wouldn't like what she found. Alucard was in a very precarious situation indeed, and what's more, it seemed like he genuinely cared this time.

But even as she thought this, something else gnawed at her brain. Alucard was Gideon. Which meant that the Gideon she saw in her vision had been Alucard... which meant that he was a shape-shifter.

How much more of her vision had been of her Master?