Hellsing: Witch Hunter 1616
Sapphirewyren
Chapter 9: Moving on and Candy Cottages
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing
When King Albrecht received Integra's report on the previous night's hunt of the water witch, he was relieved. Of course, he was relieved that the women survived, it meant their training was substantial. But he was also glad to see what Integra put in the report. Which was that the three were at each other's throats (more lik battle) and if they continued in this fashion they were not fit to be the King's Hunters. Their ideals and reasons for becoming Hunters were just too different. To the king, it took a strong person to see the flaws in themselves and know that they needed to work on such issues. What surprised the monarch even more was that Integra had written that she was sure that she was not too sure she even wanted to change her flaws. King Albrecht laughed out loud, it had been a long time since he had seen or heard such candid and frank truth and it was refreshing. He would be looking forward to reading more reports and maybe even having a conversation with her or two. This set of Hunters would be most interesting to see how they grew as hunters and women.
Olde Ye Pub
Sam stared morosely into her beer mug, sure it early in the morning, but who gave a damn? She did not like the thought of the king reading that report. Did Integra have to be so damn honest? Seras drank a glass of water, as she didn't think that beer in the morning was an excellent idea. "We might have to find jobs" Seras said to herself, not that she wanted to do that. Well she could try and get into the London Metropolitan Police Force, once she found out the requirements. But Seras liked the thought of being a Hunter, not only were the perks sweet, but being able to help people even more than the police force. Her inner thoughts were interrupted by a loud belch from Sam and Integra telling Sam that she was a disgusting animal for making noises like that. Wait…Integra? Seras looked up at her fellow blond huntress and asked; "What are you doing here?"
"She probably came to laugh at us" grumbled Sam.
"I didn't know you were a mind reader, tell me what am I thinking now?" said Integra.
"Stop it!" cried Seras, surprising both women and herself. "What are you doing here, Sir Integra?"
Integra raised an eyebrow, it looked like Seras was growing some kind of backbone or maybe she was going soft. Nevertheless, she took out a small envelope and dropping it on the table said; "It would seem that I am stuck with you two for the foreseeable future."
Seras opened the envelope and took out a parchment with the king's seal on it. She read the letter and not believing what she read, Seras read it again. In the letter, King Albrecht noted how he was pleased that the water witch had been defeated, but more pleased that Integra had the foresight to know their weaknesses and that he looked forward to hearing good news of growth from the Huntresses. Seeing the grin on Sera's face, Sam grabbed the letter and read it. Soon both women were laughing and hugging and cheering and singing and just making complete asses out of themselves from happiness. Integra just wished that she could just die and be done with it. Who knew they would be so happy about this. When they had quieted down and the other patrons had gone about their business, Integra said; "I was right again."
"Right about what?" asked Sam.
"Well if I had done what you wanted, we probably would have been as you called it 'fired'. It's a good thing I didn't listen to you."
"You made us look bad!"
"The truth is never pretty, is it?"
Sam glared at Integra and received a glare right back. Seras sighed, she for one was getting tired of this, the previous King's Hunters never behaved like this. "Guys, I think we should try to get along, even when we are not on hunts. This division can be used against us. And technically we are not out of the woods yet. His Majesty is giving us a chance to grow and work together. I'm sure if he doesn't see any improvements, he will most definitely fire us. And we don't want that, do we?"
When neither woman answered Seras said; "Do we?"
"No" both Sam and Integra sighed.
"Good. So, we should try and be nicer to each other. Besides I don't like all this arguing."
Integra sighed again and lit a cigar, she guessed she could stomach these two fools. Sam and Seras gave Integra a sidelong glance, they figured they would try and work with the uptight broad for the sake of the country, right. It shouldn't be too difficult.
"I think we should toast to our new-found friendship" grinned Sam. "A round of ale for my friends, barkeep."
"I don't drink beer and I'm not your friend."
"Don't be like that, I don't drink beet either, but I am willing to try for this toast" smiled Seras.
The waitress placed three large mugs of beer on the table.
"A toast to friendship!" said Seras.
"A toast to never having to do this again" drawled Integra.
"A toast to touching Integra's ass!" said Sam.
"That's Sir Integra and if you touch my ass, I will cut off your hand."
Sam chugged her beer down, Seras took a sip and made a face, Integra didn't even touch the glass. Integra then turned to Seras and said; "Don't EVER go snooping through my finances again. They are none of your business." Seras blinked, how did she find out? "Sorry."
A week later a report came in about children that had gone missing. One eye witness said that her two children had been playing in the front of the house and the next thing she saw was them dancing down the road.
"Dancing?" asked Integra with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes" replied Walter. "The woman claimed that she heard no music, so she couldn't explain why the children would be dancing."
"So, what dance were they doing? The jig? Salsa?" laughed Sam. Integra rolled her eyes and said; "Your jokes are in poor taste, Samielle."
"It's Sam."
"Sam's a boy's name."
Walter cleared his throat before continuing; "It would seem that the children were in a trance, the woman said they did not respond to her calling them. So, she followed them until they came to a heavily wooded area, that's when they disappeared."
"Well children just don't disappear, so I'm guessing that part of the woods is enchanted" said Seras.
"Some of the children's parents went to the police for help, who promptly landed this in our lap."
"What do you think the kidnapper wanted with those children?" asked Seras.
"Probably to eat them" affirmed Integra as arose from her chair. "Come on ladies, we have a witch to burn."
As the three huntresses rode towards the area where the children were last seen, Seras thought back on another letter that the king had sent them. Any witch that were caught were to be burned publicly as a warning to others that sought to do harm to innocent civilians. While there were diverse kinds of witches, such as the water witch, there were also the ones that looked like or were humans. Knowing this, Seras was not sure where she felt about burning them alive. She knew it was necessary or else they would continue to do wrong, but did it really have to be public? Soon the trio came upon a cottage that was nestled in the forest.
"You mean that lady missed this?" asked Sam. By 'this' Sam meant a cottage made from cake and candy. It looked like it jumped straight out the pages of the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel". The walls were made of soft cake, the roof tiles were made of milk chocolate squares, the door was a brick of white chocolate, the pathway leading to the door were lined with candy canes. The glass in the window were made of colored sugar glass, while the shutters were made of graham crackers and red vines. The flowers were large lollipops and gumdrops made up the pebbles.
"Wow, that is some house. Whoever made that must have a serious sweet tooth" remarked Seras.
"Just looking at this abomination could give anyone diabetes" stated Integra in a disgusted voice.
"So, what's the plan? Eat our way in? Kick the door down? Pretend we're selling cookies as interior design material?" queried Sam. Integra actually chuckled at this and Seras pointed out; "We should see if there are any of the children are in there."
"Kicking in the door it is" said Sam and before anyone could object, she spurred her horse forward, Makube reared up on his hind legs and kicked at the front door with his forelegs, smashing it off its hinges.
"How rude, Sam you didn't even knock" joked Seras as she and Integra stepped over the remains of the door. Inside, the interior was that of a normal house, not a sign of sweet treats anywhere. Iron cages lined the wall and inside of the two of them were two children each. The rest of the enclosures contains the bones of the unfortunate children. The children were more surprised about the horse bursting through the door, then they were by the fact that someone who was not a child, who could see the candy cottage. When asked about the whereabouts of the captors, the children could only say that she was not there.
"Most likely off to find more children, that's the most plausible answer to why she is not here" Sam speculated grimly.
"Then, with all this cake, I say we give that witch a welcome home party" smirked Integra.
About thirty minutes later, the old woman appeared with about six more children, as she stepped through the door, she failed to notice the green glow of a seal that was placed on the house. "Which one of you naughty children broke down the door? Trying to escape, are we?" she chided. Looking at the cages, she saw that they were empty. "No! My children where are you? I have candy."
"I don't think those children will be eating anymore candy" said Integra.
"You! Give me back my…."
"They are NOT your children!"
The seal on the house had broken the spell on the children and they took this opportunity to run out the cottage, the old witch tried to grab at the escaping children as they fled, but the seal kept her trapped in her own house.
"You can either surrender quietly or you can try some of that sorry hocus pocus crap and get seriously hurt."
Sam poked her hand in the doorway and said; "Please choose the hocus pocus crap, please."
Stupidly that's exactly what the witch did. She took out a flute made from bone and began to play a tune, but it had the reverse affect. Originally the tune was to have the frequency of a dog whistle and hypnotize its intended target, but with the seals, in backfired and the witch ended up hypnotizing herself. Unbeknownst to the witch, the huntresses' demonic blades nullified all magic aimed at them. At this Sam laughed hysterically and said; "Must be some serious seals, you have here, Sweet Cheeks."
Integra chose to ignore her, as she securely tied the now docile witch and threw her bone flute into the fireplace. When the Hunters returned to London, Seras was given the task of finding the children's families, while the entranced old hag was burned at the stake at a place called Witches Row, a specific place where all witches were to be burned. Hypnotized as she was, the witch still felt the pain of the fire. Though the grisly sight of someone being roasted alive drew a crowd, by the time the witch was nothing but bones, only one person remained. Sam approached Integra; "All the children have been returned to their homes." The blond just blew out a puff of cigar smoke. Sam shook her head; "Don't tell me you stood here all this time to watch some old hag burn."
"She was not 'some old hag', she was a despicable being that entranced children to a cottage made of sweets so she could make a meal of them. So of course, I stayed here to make sure she is nothing, but dust."
"Ooookay, should I tell Philip that you will be late for dinner?" Integra didn't answer and soon Sam rode off. As the Huntress gazed at the gray pile of dust that used to be an old woman, she had to wonder what induced her to do what she did. The old hag as Sam called her, certainly did not go quickly or quietly. At first, she had screamed curses and obscenities at the Huntresses and as the flames licked her skin, she screamed for mercy.
"Are you sure, that's the reason why you stayed until the end, master" purred the baritone voice of Alucard.
"Don't start."
"I'm just curious…"
"I'm a virgin, how else am I supposed to get my rocks off?"
"How crude of you, master. Most unlady like."
"Is that's what you wanted to hear?"
Alucard just chuckled. As Integra rode off, she looked back at the blackened stone stake, its dark silhouette stood as a warning to all of their fate should they go down the road of witchcraft-a warning that would go unheeded by many.
Chapter End
Author's Notes: Holy cow! I'm alive! Sorry for the wait for the chapter update. That's the same as I am. Someone will say there are some flaws in my personality, and I'm like "So what? Don't like it? Screw off!" So, changing it for anybody is not going to happen. I figured that Integra would have the same belief. Besides the good and the bad of one's personalities makes them a whole. I don't know, something like that. Sorry for those if I made you hungry with the cake house. I also read that it took three hours for a body to burn at the stake, of course the person was dead long before that. Okay I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you in the next chapter!