DISCLAIMER: HELLSING IS OWNED BY KOUTA HIRANO. I DO NOT OWN ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS

FIRE EMBLEM IS OWNED BY NINTENDO. I DON'T OWN ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS EITHER.

ITALICS=THOUGHTS

BOLD= IMPORTANT DATES, PLACES, WEAPONS, ECT

BOLD ITALICS=NARRATOR

(NOTE: IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS STORY THEN DON'T READ IT.)


Northern Ylisse - South of the Ylisse-Feroxi Border

July 19, Age 2609 (6:12 A.M.)

Walter woke up incredibly early that morning, long before any of the other Shepherds would wake up. The butler decided that it would be best if he were to practice his swordplay, in case his wires decided to stop functioning. At the very least, he could use a sword until he made a second pair of gloves.

Wandering just outside of the camp, he found a nice clearing and began to practice various forms of swordplay. He slashed nice clean cuts into a huge tree, trying to practice his precision.

Come on Walter! I'm not that naïve little girl anymore…

Walter paused as he recalled the last time he picked up a sword.


London, England ~ Hellsing MansionOctober 2, 1992 (7 years before the Millennium incident…)

Walter quickly sidestepped to dodge an incoming sword swing. He stepped in to deliver a powerful stab, but the attack was parried midway. His opponent traded blows with the butler for a few more seconds before jumping back to gain some distance from Walter.

"You're still holding back, aren't you Walter? Walter's opponent pulled off the headgear protecting her face. She had long golden hair that dropped below her waist. Her skin was a dark cream color. She had steely blue eyes that were somewhat obscured by her circular framed glasses.

"Whatever gave you that idea, Sir Integra?" he feigned ignorance. The fifteen year old head of Hellsing frowned at her loyal butler.

"I've known you long enough to know when you're lying." She took a seat on a bench at the edge of the ring. "I also know that you're capable of moving much faster than you were just now." Walter sighed in defeat.

"Integra…" he addressed her, this time in a manner that a father would towards his daughter. "If I moved at my full speed—though I doubt that I would lose control of myself like I did during my youth—I just worry that I would end up being too much for you to handle." Integra shot Walter a smirk.

"Are you calling me weak?"

The Angel of Death shuddered as he edged closer to the wrath of Integra Hellsing.

"Of course not, ma'am!" he answered quickly.

"Come on, Walter! I'm not that naïve little girl anymore." The young teenager frowned. "How do you expect me to get stronger if you keep holding back? I can't be a strong leader if my butler doesn't have complete faith in me."

Walter was speechless.

That tenacity… he never expected Integra to confront him in such a manner. She really is growing up. If only Arthur could see you now, Integra. You have become such a strong independent woman. Walter eyed his foil. He quickly kicked it into the air, where he caught it with minimal effort.

"You're right, sir. I've been treating you like a child. You deserve the respect that I gave your father. I shall come at you with all I have, and I expect you to do the same." Integra nodded as she reapplied her helmet.

"You make the first move, Walter."

The butler nodded as he crossed the distance between them within a fraction of a second.

He couldn't hide his disbelief—or his sense of pride—when Integra won the match.


Northern Ylisse - South of the Ylisse-Feroxi Border

July 19, Age 2609 (6:21 A.M.)

Walter blinked as he realized that he had been staring into nothing for the past few minutes. He felt something foreign to him streak down his left cheek.

Years under the Hellsing influence had hardened him to the point he was capable of an unnatural coldness. He always considered himself to be on the border between human and vampire. The deaths of his colleagues over the years were etched into his memory, but he never mourned as there were always vampires to send to hell.

There was only one thing that kept Walter from not becoming something akin to Alucard. It was Integra. She seemed to be the only one that could get the stoic butler to crack something akin to a true smile. She was the only one that could get him to feel emotions other than the cruel seriousness that earned him the moniker, Angel of Death.

Walter wiped the tear that streamed down his cheek, and stared at his damp hand.

"You stare at your hand as if this is the first time you've ever cried."

The butler slightly turned his head to see a familiar masked woman.

"You're making a habit of appearing out of thin air, ma'am." he quipped as the bluenette girl took a seat on a nearby tree stump.

"I hardly think that doing something twice counts as a habit, Mr. Dornez." she retorted. Walter sheathed the sword in his hand, and sat beside the woman.

"I'd prefer it if you don't call me "Mr. Dornez". I'm a butler, not a school teacher." he chucked to himself. "Keep it simple and call me by my first name, ma'am."

Lucina took off her mask as she began to untie the twin braids that kept her hair short.

"I find it rather hypocritical of you to call me "ma'am", Walter." When she was done untying her braids, her hair fell down to her hips. "If I'm going to call you Walter, then I'd prefer it if you call me Lucina."

"What if we're around my fellow Shepherds?" Walter sat back and relaxed. "You must not want the others to know your real name if you've only told me about it. I assume you want to remain incognito?" Lucina nodded.

"That is for the best." she muttered. The aged butler raised an eyebrow.

"Then why did you tell me your real name? I hope I didn't intimidate you into telling me." He recalled how he lost complete control of himself. He very nearly cut Lucina into cold cuts.

"It's not that, Walter..." Lucina crossed her arms. "I honestly don't know why I did it myself... I just felt... inclined to do so. I just... felt you to be trustworthy."

"Trustworthy...?" the word felt foreign on his lips. "Yes... trustworthy..." Walter looked down.

That's hilarious... me... trustworthy... what a load of crap... he laughed half-heartedly.

"Why not tell Chrom?" Walter suggested. "He's probably several hundred times more trustworthy than I. Perhaps you ought to-"

"No!" the young woman shook her head violently, as she stood up abruptly. "The results could be catas-" Her hand quickly shot down to her side as she collapsed onto one knee, a pained expression on her face.

"Are you okay?" Walter ran to her side. "What happened?" He moved her hand to see a medium sized arrow wound in her side. It was bleeding, telling him that the wound was recently inflicted. Lucina bit her lip.

"I had a run in with a couple bandits just a few minutes ago. They ambushed me, and managed to strike me with an arrow..." she took in a deep breath. "I haven't gotten the chance to get it treated…"

The butler pulled out a handkerchief—the exact same one that he'd used the last time he'd cared for Lucina—and poured some medical alcohol on it. He then pressed the wet cloth against the wound, to completely stop the bleeding, The girl with the blue locks hissed as she felt the sting of Walter's alcohol drenched handkerchief. That did cause Lucina to grow curious about one thing.

"Do you usually carry around medical supplies like that?" Lucina raised an eyebrow.

"No, I just happened to have it on me. It was just in case I somehow managed to injure myself whilst practicing with the blade." the butler gestured towards the sword sheathed at his hip.

Putting pressure on the wound, he was certain he'd have to get a closer look at the injury. Unfortunately, that would mean he'd have to...

"You're going to need to slightly lift your tunic." Walter said simply. "I pray you're wearing an undergarment of some sort." Lucina felt her cheeks heat up.

"O… of course I'm wearing… the answer is yes." she stuttered. Even though Walter looked as stoic as ever, he was actually panicking on the inside.

I've never preformed this procedure on a woman before. There were no female soldiers under the employ of Hellsing, and I never allowed anyone to get anywhere near harming Integra. As awkward as this was for the butler, he knew he had to proceed.

"Lift your tunic, Lucina. If this goes untreated, It'll get infected."

Lucina sighed as she hesitantly lifted her tunic up. Thankfully, for both Walter and Lucina, she was indeed wearing a bra.

So the concept of the bra also exist in this world as well. The aged butler cleaned the area around the wound. I'm beginning to wonder how many things my world and this world have in common. Accents seem to be consistent, though Virion's French accent still confuses me. How can you have a French accent without France? I guess that's proof of some kind of divine entity...

Walter spent a few more seconds cleaning the arrow wound. When he was done, he inspected the wound even closer.

"You need to be careful, young lady. If the arrow had dug itself any deeper, it would've hit one of your kidneys. You're lucky that you're not worse for wear." He took hold of Lucina's hand and placed it on the handkerchief. "Hold this for a moment..."

Lucina nodded as she watched Walter rummage through his waistcoat pockets. Eventually he pulled out his signature black fingerless gloves. After fiddling with them, he slipped them on and summoned a single strand of monofilament wire.

"I've not had to do this in a long time..." he muttered to himself, before looking up at the girl. "I'm going to try to close up the wound. It may hurt, since I don't have any anesthetic." Walter untied his tie and folded it up. He then handed it to Lucina.

"If it does indeed hurt, bite down on this." he offered. The young woman nodded as she took the tie from his hand.

"Why are you doing this?" Lucina inquired. "I hope you don't mind me asking?"

Walter paused his fiddling. He really didn't know why he was doing this. He supposed it was the fact that Lucina reminded the butler of Integra in a way. The butler smiled sadly.

"You remind me of someone..." he answered. "Someone I... knew..."

Lucina noted the pain in his eyes. It was a pain she'd seen in the eyes of many men and women before. It was a remorseful pain that hurt like a dull knife; one that couldn't kill quickly, but would break a man eventually.

"Someone you lost?" Lucina asked quietly, her voice laced with actual concern. Walter reacted with a half-hearted nod.

"In a way..." he sighed.

Lucina—seeing that the topic was a sore spot for the man—gestured for him to proceed. Biting down on the tie, she waited for Walter to begin.

"I recommend you brace yourself, because this is going to hurt." he warned. He then twiddled his index finger, causing the single wire to slowly stitch the wound up. Walter saw Lucina close her eyes tightly as she bit down on his tie. His wire continued to stitch the wound up until it was finally closed. He cut the monofilament wire from his glove, causing it to become nothing more that a simple wire. He then quickly finished up the process.

"There! Good as new."

Lucina stopped biting down on the tie and attempted to stand up. Her attempt ended with her collapsing. Walter supported her weight as he sat her back down.

"It's still going to hurt for awhile. You're going to need to stay seated for now, Lucina." He took his tie back and tied it back around his neck. "We may be here for awhile, so get comfy."

"Where did you learn to stitch wounds up using your wires?" Lucina asked. Walter smirked as he replied.

"Well, in my youth, I was very active in the field—peerless if I do say so myself." a proud grin formed on his face. "I was often sent into battle alone, so I needed to learn to care for myself; in case I ever got injured. During one of these solo missions, I was ambushed by several foes." Walter gestured to his left side, just below his armpit.

"I was shot, though not by an arrow— it was something far smaller, but much deadlier." he continued, referring to a bullet. "Somehow, it barely missed my heart, but I was bleeding very badly. I had to think quick, so I cleaned the wound out as best as I could, and stitched it up."

"Wait, you did this yourself?" Lucina's jaw dropped. "How'd you manage to handle the pain?" Walter let a single chuckle.

"As unbearable as it was, I knew that if I didn't care for that wound then and there, I'd die." the butler replied simply. "In these sorts of situations, you need to be able to force yourself through the fire and brimstone. Those that don't die; those that do become stronger as a result. As a result of my quick thinking, I was able to last long enough for a search party to find me. I woke up in a hospital feeling like absolute hell..." Walter laughed at the memory.

"I can relate..." Lucina replied, laughing herself.

Minutes passed, and Lucina noted that the butler hadn't moved from his spot since treating her. Curious, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Are you standing guard over me?" she asked.

"Yes." Walter replied quickly. "Is there something wrong with that?" Lucina raised a brow.

"We only met a few days ago, yet you treat me so very kindly." she explained. "Anyone would think that we've known each other for a long time by how you've cared for me. I just find it odd that you would do so much for someone you had only just met recently."

"Is it a crime to protect those you consider allies, Lucina?" Walter asked rhetorically.

"Do you consider me an ally?" Lucina replied with a question of her own. "We only fought alongside each other once, and that is a gross overstatement." Walter hummed.

"True, but that still counts." he smirked as he reached into his waistcoat, and pulled out a miniature book on tactics.

"A butler who's also interested in tactics. That's something you don't see everyday." Lucina commented on Walter's odd interest. "You're quite the enigma, Walter. You have the appearance of an old man, yet you move faster than my eyes can keep up. You act so polite, yet you become a sadist in battle. You call yourself a butler, yet you fight like a warrior."

"That's what I was raised to be…" Walter raised his head out of his book. "I was trained to become the perfect soldier. I was described by my superiors as a natural prodigy. I could perform tasks that would take an entire platoon to accomplish. I could decimate an army without so much as breaking a sweat. I accomplished things that no human could ever hope to achieve." Walter closed his eyes as he reminisced his golden years.

"What happened?" Lucina raised an eyebrow. Walter sighed.

"What happens to everyone, Lucina; old age." he chuckled to himself. "Despite all of my objections of being old, I am past my prime; I have been for years now."

"I can hardly imagine you being anymore powerful." Lucina shuddered at the thought of how powerful Walter was in his prime.

"You think I was powerful?" The Angel of Death scoffed. "There were beings in my world that could defeat me without so much as breaking a sweat." Before the de-aging process pushed his powers to new heights, he wouldn't have dominated in his fight against Alucard. If he was just de-aged, and not turned into a vampire, the most he would do is hold his own. Granted, he would've held out against Alucard's Level one release state much better than the Nail infused Anderson, but he would've still lost in the end.

"Imagine beings that were on the border of immortality, Lucina." he continued. "Imagine beings that could be cut to pieces, only to regenerate seconds later. Imagine these insane creatures that would cut men and women to pieces without so much as a hint of regret."

Lucina, much to Walter's astonishment, seemed unsurprised. She'd actually seemed... bitter.

"I've had my fair share of immortal, all-powerful, beings..." she practically spat.

"Immortal?" Walter let out a half-hearted chuckle. "You think that an immortal actually exists?"

Lucina nodded in response.

"That's nothing but a bunch of bullshit." Walter saw the look of surprise on Lucina's face. "There's no such thing as an immortal, Lucina. There are beings that are hard to kill, but not immortals." The butler paused.

"That's what a friend of mine once told me. He was also an alleged immortal, but he didn't believe that he was. He always went on about how "true immortals don't exist" or how "only a man could defeat a monster" and so on and so forth. Here he was, an immortal, stating that immortality did not exist. You can just imagine the confusion I felt when he first uttered those words to me."

"How did you feel?" Lucina asked in interest. "The idea that a being that is immortal, yet denies immortality existing is baffling. I would think that he would accept the blessing of immortality." Walter nodded at her response.

"Yes, that's what I thought at first. Why flounder around denying immortality, when you yourself are immortal?" Walter repeated the question that had kept him up at night for years in his youth. "Eventually I came to the conclusion that he was nothing more than a death seeker... someone who just wanted a worthy opponent to end his life."

"Really?" the bluenette raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Indeed..." Walter looked down. "The fool was doggedly—obsessively—pursuing his defeat. He wanted it at the hands of a human, someone that could prove his beliefs; someone that could show him that humanity was strong enough to be left alone to deal with the monsters in the world. He wanted someone to prove themself his equal..." the butler sighed.

"Did he ever find one?"

Walter was taken aback by the question. It was a good one, of course, but not one he'd ever pondered. As the last person to face the monster in combat, he certainly gained the upper hand against the beast. However, he never managed to lay the finishing blow. A victory fifty years in the making, robbed from him because...

"No..." Walter replied solemnly. "In the end, there was no one truly worthy of defeating him..."

Lucina remained silent for a moment, before asking another surprising question.

"Could you have defeated him?"

The butler laughed.

"Maybe if I'd made the correct choices... yes..." Walter replied honestly. "Perhaps I could have-"

Snap!

Walter's head snapped in the direction of the noise. He frowned as he slowly stood up. Lucina was about to speak when the aged butler placed his hand on her mouth.

"You said that you were attacked by bandits." Walter whispered, eying their surroundings. "I think they followed you."

The blunette attempted to stand once more, only to fall down like before.

"Sit down, Lucina. Your injury is still healing up." The Angel of Death put his hands behind his back. "I said I would protect you until you were good to go. Don't think I'm going to go back on my word at the first sign of conflict, young lady."

There was nothing but silence as the tension rose. At the center of the clearing, Walter stood with no sign of fear in his eyes. The butler looked ready to react to just about anything.

Whoosh!

Several arrows flew at the incapacitated Lucina. They didn't hit their mark thanks to Walter's monofilament wires. Another barrage of arrows flew at Lucina, once again being intercepted by Walter's wires.

"Okay then..." Walter crossed his arms in annoyance. He stood in front of Lucina, telling his hidden opponents that he wasn't going to let anything harm the bluenette. "None of you will come anywhere close to harming this young woman. If you have a problem with that, you'll answer to me."

As if on cue, several throwing axes flew at the pair. Without so much as moving a muscle, The Angel of Death deflected the axes using his wires.

"Looks like the blue-haired bitch got herself a bodyguard, boys..."

At least a dozen bandits stepped out of the bushes. They were all armed, and heavily armored. One of them wore full plated armor, much like Frederick's only thicker. The man with heavy armor stepped forward.

"Look here..." A confident smirk was plastered on his face. "We have business with that bitch you're protecting. She interrupted one of our "peace keeping" crusades in a nearby town."

"Peace keeping crusade?" Walter could see that these men were not exactly the type to be trusted with "keeping the peace". "What do they mean, Lucina?" Lucina glared daggers at the leader of the group.

"They were terrorizing the poor townsfolk in a nearby village. I couldn't just stand by and let them go unpunished."

The leader of the bandits scowled at Lucina.

"You killed several of our men, so we're here to deliver some righteous punishment." his attention returned to Walter. "Why don't you just step aside, geezer. We just want to teach the young gal a lesson." Walter smirked as he raised his right hand.

"I don't know what you mean by "righteous punishment", nor do I wish to find out. To me, it sounds like you wish to do something to this young lady against her will, so..." several wires sprang from his gloves, pushing the bandits back several feet. "...consider your request denied."

They bandits quickly recovered from the attack and charged Walter in fury. The Angel of Death scooped Lucina up, bridal style, and he proceeded to leap into the trees.

"Try to keep up!" Walter taunted as he began to leap from tree to tree.

"Follow them!" the leader shouted as he mounted his horse. His underlings followed their leader's lead as they pursued the aged butler.

Walter continued to navigate the treetops, looking back every now and then to check if he lost his pursuers.

"These blokes are very persistent." He let out sigh of annoyance.

Lucina held Walter tightly as she was carried through the branches like a damsel of some sort.

"They're gaining on us!"

The butler quickly eyed the bandits to see that Lucina was right. He snapped his fingers to summon his monofilament wires.

This kind of reminds me of that scene from that one space adventure movie I saw with Arthur in 1983. He sighed as he recalled his former master. That was only a year before I learned that he contracted an incurable disease. It was also the year that Integra's mother died of cancer. Arthur and Integra were devastated, and I can't say I wasn't affected by milady's passing.

"Look out!"

Lucina snapped Walter out of his thoughts in time for the butler to quickly dodge an incoming barrage of arrows.

"Sorry." He apologized quickly. "I was just thinking about something." The bluenette rolled her eyes.

"Less thinking, more running!" she chided Walter nodded as he dodged another barrage of arrows.

"These bandits seem to have an unlimited supply of arrows..." the butler grunted as he weaved through the trees. Knowing they weren't going to escape them on foot, he knew they had no choice but to confront them.

"What're you doing? Why're we slowing down?" Lucina questioned as Walter slowed down, and swiped the air with his free hand.

"To teach this lot the true meaning of carnage..." the butler grinned a cruel grin, one befitting the title "Angel of Death".

"There he is, boys!" The leader bellowed. "Looks like he's finally decided to give up."

"Not exactly." Walter bellowed from the tree above. "Since you seem so adamant to indulge in bloodshed, I thought it only best to respond in full." the butler spoke with a dark look on his face.

Lucina felt her spine chill, looking at the butler. Yes, he was protecting her, but why did she feel so uneasy at the moment.

"Is that so!?" the leader laughed. "Honestly, these Ylissean types fancy themselves heroes of sorts! We oughta show this guy what happens when you-"

He was interrupted by the sound of one of his men screaming in agony, followed by a dreadful silence. His head turned toward of the scream to see the sickening sight of a dismembered corpse.

"What the...?" the leader frowned

Suddenly a flurry of luminescent blue wires seemed to dance in front of the bandits. It didn't take long for the bandits to be engulfed, and dismembered by the storm of wires. The leader let out a terrified shriek as he vainly attempted to escape the wires. His hand darted for what looked like an opening in the storm, but a second later his hand was sliced clean off. The foolish bandit let out one final shriek as he was slowly torn to shreds.

Before his life was snuffed out, the last thing he saw was the cruel smile of a monster.

Lucina's eyes were wide with shock she stared at the bloodied remains of her attackers. Had she been a weaker woman—had she'd not already seen worse—she'd have puked. Such gratuitous violence, it made Lucina briefly question the man who currently she was at the mercy of.

"I'm sorry you had to see that..."

"Huh?" Lucina looked up to the butler. Walter—though he seemed genuinely unperturbed by the gore he'd created—had a look of remorse for having subject the girl to such a sight.

"They chose to die, I'm just the instrument of their demise..." Walter sighed. "An Angel of Death..."


Northern Ylisse - South of the Ylisse-Feroxi Border

July 19, Age 2609 (8:12 A.M.)

"Are you sure you're well enough to go out on your own?" Walter asked in concern.

After their encounter with the bandits, they returned to the clearing they'd been at earlier. Walter had spent the next two hours keeping guard over Lucina—simultaneously practicing his sword play.

"Of course I'm okay, Walter." she smiled at her protector as she stood up. "I don't know how to repay you for the kindness you've shown me."

"Think nothing of it." the butler bowed politely. "You don't need to repay me at all. Just knowing that I helped you out is good enough for an old butler like me."

"Is that so, Angel of Death?" The bluenette said in a humorous fashion. "I'm honored that an "Angel of Death" would protect me without so much as asking for anything in return." She punched him in the shoulder.

"Maybe I should reap your soul as payment." Walter let a hearty laugh. "In seriousness, know that if you ever find yourself in trouble, I'll be there to protect you. I give you my word that I'll be there for you in your times of need."

"That's quite a bold statement. Are you sure you'll be up to the task? You said that if I ever needed your help in anything, you'll come to my rescue."

The aged butler nodded.

"Anything."

The blue haired warrior nodded as she reapplied her mask.

"Thank you, Walter." she then proceeded to sprint away; leaving for her next destination.

Once Lucina was over the horizon, Walter began to make his way back towards the Shepherds' camp.

She's quite the interesting warrior. Lucina is certainly somebody I wouldn't want to mess with. He laughed. Much like you, Sir Integra, she is a strong woman. One that, I have no doubt, will become a strong leader that will inspire all of her friends. Walter smiled as he looked at the sky.

I wonder what you think of me, my dear Integra. Do you still think of me as that foolish man that faced Alucard in the final hours of the Battle of London, or as the loyal butler that served you faithfully. I'll never know. All I can hope for is your safety.

"Be safe for this foolish old man." he said sadly. "That's all I ask of you, Integra..."


Writers Notes

As my first original chapter, I'm somewhat impressed that it came out the way it did. Though I changed a few things around so that it made more sense, there wasn't much in corrections. Hopefully the changes serve to benefit this chapter—and the story as a whole—rather than detract.

There aren't any behind the keyboard, surprisingly.

Anyway, hope you're enjoying the fanfic so far, thank you for your continued support, and I will see you next time!