Ascension.04 - Jeune, et Pourtant Tres Vieux

The study still smelled of cigars, months after my father's passing. No, not even months, a year, I reminded myself a touch wearily.

The smell was lulling me to sleep; it was comforting in its nostalgia, and it tempted me to forget duty. I wanted to set my head down on the book before me--it was wide enough it could easily accomodate me-- and bury my face in the smell of old paper and bookworms and mold, savor life instead of death. Instead, I wiped sleep from my eyes, eyed the rising sun, and set back to my work.

Pages of notes were spread beside the book. Walter had said they would question me; they had to decide if I was worthy.

"You have had a year. Surely you are worthy," he had said, with that usual pleasant demeanor. "There is nothing to worry about. You are Hellsing. They cannot deny you."

He knew little. This year had been a wasted year. The enormity of the work before me had dawned on me recently. An endless line of undead, all eager to beat down our door, an endless night, endless risk to human life, and I knew so little, so little. Every night our troops left through the gate; where they went, and what their mission, I scarcely knew. About the creatures we hunted, even less. And in the past few weeks, that ignorance had turned to a sort of desparation. I would not be weak. There was no room for weakness--not even the weakness of youth--in this line of work.

I will not indulge your youth with niceties Alucard had once said. Better that he didn't, now I knew.

And so I studied, past my normal late hours, until the page, with its terrible images of demons and monsters I hoped never to see, blended into dreams. They were frightening, but that, that was immemorable. Frightening was commonplace, now.

I remembered one dream in particular, of the kind that comes just before waking. I was walking down a tunnel; a sewer tunnel of some kind, smelling foul, and mostly dark, except for an inconstant light before me, as if from a lantern being jostled. I followed it, not knowing what I followed, and as I drew closer, my apprehension grew stronger. Well I knew now that the light at the end of the tunnel was often an approaching train.

He was standing there, looking as pale as the day I met him, as starved and skeleton-like as he had been then. But he was grinning, ahh, that familiar grin. A lantern was at his feet, sputtering as if to die, and I moved towards it, to tend the flame or extinguish it, I didn't know.

He was on me in an instant, like a dog on meat, in a proximity I hadn't known since our meeting. Here, though, there was no mercy: I was prey, lured in my the innocent promise of light. And he had me, his teeth in my neck.

And I woke. I was sweating, but that wasn't unusual; it was summer. What was unusual was that he was staring at me, not more than ten centimeters from my face.

I jumped back; the chair, with its casters, responded, and sent me back to the far wall.

"I was wondering when you might wake up. "

I looked to the window. Not much later than before, sun still just barely above the horizon, not yet filtering into the room. "Shouldn't you be gone to bed by now?" It was a poor, poor attempt at being casual, when had just about given me an early heart attack. What did he want, that he stared at me like that?

Well, there was a likely answer. Walter had said it: Now that you have given your blood to him, he is bound to you, but you will have to give, and give again. With your blood, he drinks the seal, but if you do not renew it, he may become..... feral

With my father...? I had asked, but trailed off.

He had understood anyway. It was not so often that your father had to feed him, but after a time, it became too dear a price, every time he did. The emphasis was on dear. He used to tell me that every time he fed Alucard, he could feel their wills battling, as if he were still trying to escape the seal. It was like little organisms battling in his blood, he used to say.

Well chosen words. Feeding him again was not something I looked forward to. How often was "not often?" Once a year? Once every five years? I wondered, too, just what 'feral' looked like in a vampire. Something like this? No, these were just his usual pranks.

Right?

When my last words failed to get any response out of him (he had merely seated himself on one of the library's benches, and was staring at me like he was waiting for me to say something more), I insisted, "Well?" It came out a bit shrilly.

"You meet the Knights today."

"Walter told you."

"No matter, I found out." Right. A nice way of saying, I've been poking around in your thoughts, hope you didn't mind. Ta!

"I have to prove myself worthy."

"They will ask to see me."

"I expect that's not likely." I was cleaning up at my desk now, closing the heavy books, reshelving them. I was still in a nightgown and robe, and would have to dress soon, for the meeting at dawn. "They're much more interested in me."

"They will. They want to know that you've finally brought me to heel." He grinned at his own words.

"And have I?" I mused, playing along.

He clearly hadn't expected me to ask that, and it took him a moment to answer. "There's only one thing that brings my loyalty, Master."

"Right. 'Will kill for food and lodging. Lodging optional.' I hope we keep you satisfied."

"You'll know quick enough if you don't." That would have been innocent enough, had he not flashed his fangs when he said it.

"But no warnings."

"A smart girl like you shouldn't need it."

Hm. "No, really, why were you staring at me? I'm sure it wasn't infatuation with my good looks."

He smirked. "I could smell your blood."

I was puzzled, and more than a little alarmed. Usually he didn't pay me this much attention "More than usu-" Then I realized what he meant. And blushed. Furiously. "Oh." I went back to shelving books.

He laughed. "You're embarassed."

I gritted my teeth. "Call it a human failing." Call this damned body a female failing. I think I was already starting to hate this entire being female thing, especially if it meant Alucard could follow me around like I was a cat in heat once a month.

"Humans are so very squeamish about blood, aren't they?"

"I'd prefer not to lose it, in any way, shape, or form, if that's what you mean."

Now he turned the topic back on me. "You worry about losing your control over me."

That was too close to the truth. But then, telepathy makes probing psychology easy. "I have Walter to deal with things like that," I said, which utterly failed to answer the question.

"It's easy enough for you to regain it. My price is cheap."

Just a taste, oh, yes, I'm sure. It was funny, it was like he was a slave to the blood, himself. He wanted it, as his kind did; but he knew it would bind him. An odd game we were playing, and I hadn't even mentioned how I had felt the subtle leash that bound him to me, the slight tug that kept him near, slipping, slipping.

"It would be easy enough for you to regain it, especially now. No knives, no cuttings, no teeth-"

I snapped at him, "What do you want me to do, go into the loo and bleed into a cup for you?" I pointed at the door, irrelevant, since he sure as hell never used it. "Out."

He didn't go. Of course not. He was winning. He was winning either way. By not feeding him, he was winning. By feeding him, he was winning. He was only losing by the fact that dawn was closer and closer, and cracks of light were appearing at the windowsill. But I doubted a little sunlight would hurt him, at least, not long term.

We made him as powerful as he is, and now it is the test of our powers to bring him down. We can't kill him. Perhaps your father had the best idea, after all. Walter had said that.

"Really, Alucard, why are you here, besides to sniff at me like a hungry puppy?" There was a tired note to my voice, I'm sure. Lately, for reasons you can well imagine, everything he said had put an edge on me. I was a blade, slowly being sharpened.

"I wanted to warn you about them."

I turned back to him with a look of surprise. "The Knights? Why?"

"They are going to test you."

Walter had said as much. "And?"

"I know them. They don't play fair. Many of them would have been happy to have seen your uncle take over Hellsing. You still have other relatives. They would be happy to see the role fall to some of your male cousins, I'm sure."

Great. I knew them, too, and I knew a few among them were eager to preserve their vampire-killing, England-preserving boy's club. "No great revelation there."

"And so what have you done to prepare?"

I gestured towards the bookshelf, as if to indicate my diligent work for the past few weeks. "I've been reading up on your kind. I plan to prove to them I can do the job just as well as my father did."

Alucard laughed. "I doubt they'll going to quiz you on my feeding habits, Miss Hellsing," he quipped. "They want to know that you control me."

"You've said that." A sharper edge still.

"And I plan to help you prove it."

"Great." I said. "The meeting's in ten minutes. Be a good little puppy dog and sit by my side and prove it, if you like. But right now, let me get dressed."

He smiled. "Yes, let's not keep nobility waiting." When I looked askance at him, he looked wounded. "You forget, I was nobility once. I understand these things."

" 'Count' isn't a British peerage. Your noble blood doesn't count for much here." But I spoke the words to any empty room. Once again he had faded into the walls themselves.

Opportunity for wit gone, I was left to dress. I numbly found my way back to my room, opened my closet, and found it the same as every day before: the girlish shirts, the frilly skirts... they all seemed so silly today. Not serious enough for a job that demanded my blood.

Oh, and I couldn't deny that, could I? He would need to be fed. He had practically begged for my blood.

I closed the closet, rang for Walter. He responded promptly. He, at least, was cheery in the morning. "Yes, Lady Hellsing?"

"Bring me one of my father's suits from the other wing."

--

5:54 AM, and it was dawn, with no time to be regretful for lost sleep.

I had never been in the Knights' conference room before, and it seemed massive to me, in the way all things do to a child seeing them for the first time: massive in a mythical way.

He was there already, of course. I didn't think anyone else would notice him, as he was blending into the shadows on the dark side of the wall. I thought of throwing open the curtains to spite him, but instead I ignored him.

My father's suit did not fit me well. Walter had looked at me strangely when he had brought it, but had obligingly helped me to roll up the cuffs at wrist and ankle. "If this is what you prefer, Lady Hellsing, I'll have some made for you," he had said, and then left me in silence.

I still felt more serious than I would have in a dress.

Outside, the crunch of a car on gravel sounded, and a quick glance out the window confirmed the arrival of the first contingent of the Knights. Even from a distance, they were everything I had expected, and anything every hothead activist likes to think the Powers that Be really are--balding, aging, men, sucking on cigars fat enough to prove a certain Dr. Freud right. I almost laughed. They were comical; they could no more hurt me than characters in a political cartoon could.

Funny, it sort of gave me a sense of how Alucard saw the world.

Walter entered. "Sir Airans to see you."

I looked away from the window. I hadn't seen Airans in over a year, not since he had been busily adjudicating all the details of my "succession". "Now?"

His smile didn't fade. "Preferably before the meeting, yes."

"Hmph. All right. Keep the Knights busy with..." Ideas failed me.

"Tea?"

"That will do."

Airans entered. He, too, was aging, and certainly not young, but a much more rugged face suggested that he might do more than sit around plotting world domination. Golf, at least.

He smiled, an honest smile that acknowledged me as the daughter of a true friend. "You look well, Sir Hellsing." If he noticed the change of garb, and its ill fit, he was tactful enough not to say anything about it. In a lower voice, he added, "I hope you are recovering well from recent events."

"As well as can be expected," I replied. "Did you have some urgent business for me?"

"Not urgent. Just wanted to let you know that there has been a 'changing of the guard,' so to speak, and that I may not longer be the only one laying claim to keeping your 'best interest' in mind."

It didn't sound much different from what Alucard had said--be careful. I nodded. "Do you think there's anything to worry about?"

He sighed. "I'm not sure. Frandon will be handling your guardianship, at least officially, for a while."

"I'm barely a child any more."

"But you're still not of majority. The question still remains how capable you are of handling yourself, and Hellsing." When I said nothing, Airans sighed yet again and added, "I had no hand in this. It was decided while I was on holiday. They decided it would be in your best interest to have Frandon handle your guardianship, since they deemed me 'too emotionally close.' "

"I suppose now they count having sat across the same table and eaten dinner together as too close."

"I'm just warning you, Sir Hellsing. Try to be grateful for it."

"I am," I added begrudgingly

Airans shrugged. "This Frandon--don't know if you've met him, but he's a bit of a .... well, nevermind--will handle matters concerning your inheriting the peerage and the duties of the leadership of Hellsing. He's the one who will decide if you're fit to lead on your own until your majority."

They are going test you.

They want to see if you've finally brought me to heel.

I straightened myself a little, and tried to behave as my father would in such a situation. "I think I can handle myself, Sir Airans. Thank you for your advice."

He nodded and left again, leaving me alone in the room, except for Alucard.

I turned to the general location of the shadow that hid him. "Don't say it."

"I told you so." He was so wrapped in shadow that I couldn't tell if he was smirking, but I felt certain of it.

"I hope you decide to behave." By behave, I meant, show some sort of restraint, much unlike he had in dealing with my uncle and his cronies.

Not that I had, either.

"But, Master," he said, in a sing-song, childish voice, "I always act in your best interest."

"Hmph. You mean, so long as your well-being is assured."

"It's rather hard to disassure my well-being, after five hundred odd years. I do well whether I have you or not."

The same, unfortunately, could not be said for myself, or Hellsing.

--

The Knights had convened; myself at the head of the table, and Airans and Frandon to either side of me. Frandon, true to my expectations, had not much deformed the mold that all the others Knights were built from; save for a silver ring with a whimsical design, which looked like it belonged on a much younger man. Walter stood near the door, awaiting further orders; and no one noticed our uninvited little guest, still hidden in the shadow afforded by the sideboard.

I had been talking for too damn long. To my credit, Alucard was wrong when he thought that my brushing up on obscure knowledge of the undead would be of no use; I was submitted to a number of silly questions involving ultraviolet radiation and its effects on vampires of different ages.

But it came down to business; these were businessmen first, of course. It was a man at the end of the table, a certain Shaw-Greevy, who finally brought my questioning to a close. "That's a fiersomely impressive body of knowledge you've gathered, Sir Hellsing. Clearly, the past year hasn't been wasted. I, however, would like to rest more assured of your practical ability to deal with the undead. Now, the question of your guardianship doesn't rest directly in my hands, but I do wonder whether or not Sir Frandon has a similar question."

I probably felt more confident than I should have at that particular moment, when the entire table turned its eyes from Shaw-Greevy, to Frandon, to me, in turn. It was Frandon who spoke; not that he had said much the entire meeting. "Yes, true. I understand from Walter that you have not been directly involved in any missions to eradicate the undead."

I looked to Walter for help. He had probably divulged that fact in innocence, but that didn't make the question any less easy to squirm out of. Walter did have something to say. "Except in unusual situations, the leader of Hellsing does not usually engage in the missions on the front line. None of the difficulties we've had in the past year have been out of the ordinary." He smiled at me. "Indeed, I'd even say the undead were taking a little break in deference of Lady Hellsing's ascension."

I decided to speak up for myself. "And, I have had weapons training. I've been taking fencing lessons since I was eight, and I have recently been training with some firearms experts." Yes, that was nicely put.

Frandon nodded. "Good, then. We shouldn't have to worry that you aren't able to take care of yourself. Of course, we know that practice does not always prepare us for field experience, but let's leave that matter aside for a moment. You were right, Sir Shaw-Creevy, that I was interested in how capable Lady Hellsing is of dealing with the undead, but I am interested in how she deals with one particular one."

I told you-

Not now!

"I assume you refer to Alucard," I said. "But I'm unsure exactly what you want to know, Sir Frandon."

Frandon looked around, a smirk on his face, as if expecting to find Alucard somewhere near. He would never suspect just how near, would he? "Where have you hidden him?" he mused. "Still languishing in chains in the basement?"

"It was not in the Institute's best interest to leave him where we found him, valuable weapon that he is. He is close."

Brilliant understatement there, my liege.

"Close like family? Close, like a competent servant? Close, like a well-trained pet?" When I failed to answer, Frandon shifted in his chair. "We have never liked the idea of a vampire serving humans in the task of killing vampires. Betrayal is too easy in a situation like that. We must believe that he has reason to obey you."

I looked at Frandon innocently. What, my blood is not enough? "He has performed his tasks admirably so far."

"That has only been a year. He served your father for far longer before he was imprisoned. And do you know the reasons for his imprisonment?"

I knew Alucard's take on the matter. He would say, Your father got scared when he realized that pets need to be fed. "Not well, no, Sir Frandon."

"He became disobedient. He became dangerous. Your father knew that he could not kill him, only weaken him, and so he figured the best way to do so was to starve him, which is how you found him." Frandon paused. "I dread to ask if this is still so."

I would not mention the price I had paid for obedience. I would not mention my spilled blood, and how it woke him. No one else knew except for Walter, and some dead men, and I intended to keep it that way. "He has been fed, if that is what you are asking. It brings his obedience better than starvation." That it was not just any blood that brought his obedience--for he could get that without my help--but my blood, and the spells that had been forged in that blood to bind him to me, I also did not mention.

"But for how long?"

"He has what he wants. Why would he disobey?"

"Why did he disobey to begin with? Because he had a whim to, I do believe."

Frandon had stumped me. What had, really, provoked my father to the step of imprisonment? More importantly, would I fall victim to the same thing? Alucard would claim that it was fear that brought him to that step, fear of having to provide his blood again and again. I did not know my father as a fearful man, though.

But perhaps we are all afraid of death, especially one with the teeth of a wolf and red eyes and unrelenting hunger.

I cleared my throat. "Alucard."

He stepped forward from the shadows, becoming more solid the closer he came. He was taller than any of us, even if we had been standing, and as he loomed over us not a few voices hushed. "Yes, my Master?"

So. He was deciding to play Good Puppy Dog, at least for now.

I had a brilliant idea. "Alucard, shoot Sir Frandon."

You can imagine the uproar. I hope the scene, as a dozen odd men rose to their feet and drew their own weapons, unsure whether to point them at Alucard or myself, needs no description. Even Walter looked shocked, a distinctly unusual expression for him. Alucard had the Casull to Frandon's head long before any of them, and would have gotten off a shot, if he hadn't known my bluff. I half worried that he would have gone ahead, anyway.

I didn't want to think about what I would do if he had.

Frandon didn't behave admirably in the face of impending doom. While the other Knights were fumbling for weapons, he was fumbling for a cross at his neck, while letting out a distinctly unmanly keening noise. "Get back, you filthy thing!" he cried.

I couldn't suppress a bit of irony. "Sir Frandon, you should know better than that. Didn't we just cover the fact that crosses are ineffective on older vampires?"

Shots were fired; though, to his credit, Alucard remained steady. I doubt that the Knights had expected to be fighting vampires today, and most of the bullets passed by him without evincing a flinch. The few that did enter him were certainly not silver, which might have had a chance of damaging him. He still wore the childish glee that the prospect of killing gave him, and with an evil grin, snatched the cross that Frandon wielded, snapping the chain that held it around his neck.

"Get back! Die, already, you damned thing!" Frandon was shouting, voice breaking at intervals. Now he was emptying his pistol into Alucard, not that it was doing any good. "Obey me, already!" he fairly wailed.

"Enough," I told Alucard, and he stepped back, returning the Casull to his frock coat. Within moments, he was gone in shadows again.

Frandon, shaking, turned back to me. He seemed unable to say anything, and so I spoke instead.

"He obeys me, Sir Frandon, not you, as much as you would like that to be different. Is this the proof you require?"

Anger replaced shock. "You play a very dangerous game with that monster, Miss Hellsing," he said quietly. I had not been called "Sir" long enough that his intentional slight was one that bothered me. "I am not convinced you know well enough what these monsters are about, and why you must fight them, if you give him such leave."

I did not remind them of the reason I fought them. It was a single-hearted calling, almost religious, that I had inherited from my father, and grandfather; and blood, as they say, is thicker than water.

He cleared his throat. His composure returned, at least in part. "That little display has certainly been enough to convince me that you are not yet mature enough to sit on the Round Table, or to rule Hellsing. But," he raised a hand, "I am a fair man. I will give you a chance to prove yourself.

"As I have said, your field experience is lacking, and perhaps a front line mission would do well to remind you of how dangerous these monsters are, and what they will do to you if you are not wary." He turned to Airans. "I believe you mentioned we were having some problems in Camden town?"

Airans looked surprised at this development, and opened his mouth to speak. Frandon cut him off. "Excellent. I'm sure this would provide an excellent opportunity for her to prove her skills."

"And if I am successful? Will you then be convinced of my ability to lead?"

"If you are successful, without help, then we shall see." Frandon smoothed his hands over the binder in front of him. He was back in control now, and the confidence showed. "As for the monster, he is to be confined to the basement again. I trust Walter can assist with that." He looked to Walter. Walter looked to me and cocked his head, as if asking if I would really allow this.

"I can't allow that."

Frandon looked incensed. "Miss Hellsing, I do believe I am your legal guardian and pro tem Hellsing representative, and as such I believe I'm the one who should be allowing or disallowing things around here."

"That's all well and good, but see if he'll listen to you," I merely replied, standing to leave. I gestured at Walter and he opened the door to allow me through.

Walter followed me into the hall, and continued following my rapid steps back in the direction of my own room. It was, however, at my father's bedroom that I stopped. It had scarcely been disturbed since his death, save for the rescue of some business suits this morning, and I found it in the order I expected. In the top drawer of a dressing table I found a shaving trousse, and within, a straight razor. I hadn't seen my father use it in years; I suspected it was more memorabilia of his youth than any useful tool. Still, it would serve for my purposes. Walter looked askance at me, but said nothing, only running his hand over his hair and giving me a look that spoke of being too old for the task ahead.

"Alucard!" I shouted. He materialized instantly. Funny, how even when I expected that, it still startled me.

He looked me up and down. What did he expect, that I had changed since that exchange? I noticed he had taken Frandon's cross as spoils of war, and was chewing on it, grinning at me from around it. "That was an interesting play you made there. They say gambling is a vice, much like killing is a vice."

"Alucard-"

"Didn't I tell you not to use a weapon in fear, Master? And I am nothing if not a weapon."

"Shut up," was my final response, and grabbed his arm, cold as marble beneath my grip, and headed for the closest sink basin. Alucard let himself be led.

There was one in the adjoining room, in my father's private bath. Walter stood in the doorway watching us both warily. He had the air of a chaperone, watching us as if we might do something unseemly.

Unseemly, yes. But very, very pertinent.

Alucard knew what I intended. "Why the sink?"

"I'd rather not drip on the carpet, thank you." I drew up my sleeve, snapped open the razor. Walter's eyes opened with surprise as he finally understood my intent.

Alucard was leaning jauntily against the porcelain now. He knew he was going to get fed, and past disaster and future imprisonment aside, he was as pleased as punch. "I promised you already, no blood on the carpet, didn't I?"

But then, did he know about the future imprisonment?

He lifted my chin to look into my eyes appraisingly. If he didn't know before, he knew now. "So that's why you're so eager to offer up a good meal. It's my last, isn't it?" he mused.

I said nothing. I looked at the razor, and the veins on my arm. How the hell was I going to do this? Oh, I knew abstractly--cutting across the vein meant less blood loss, which was what I wanted. Doesn't make it any easier to put cold, sharp metal to your own flesh.

"Why are you listening to them, Integra?" he asked quietly. The fact that he used my first name was startling. "Didn't I promise I would cut down all your enemies?"

Again I said nothing. Walter cleared his throat, "Milady, there are easier ways to do this. We can get some doctors to draw your blood."

"No time," I muttered. I knew the Knights would find us eventually. They wanted to make sure that Alucard returned to his imprisonment, and I wouldn't have them trying before I had placated his hunger.

Alucard laughed roughly. "They are sending you to Camden. Perhaps you had better get a good meal yourself, as it may be your last as well."

I recalled Airans' startled look. I looked up. "What did they find at Camden?" I looked to Walter. "What did they find at Camden?"

Walter cleared his throat. "Not really sure, Milady. Definitely an unnatural being, but of what sort, we're not sure."

"All we really know is that whatever this is tore the heads off five of our troops before they scarcely entered the place," Alucard added gleefully. "Something better left to a fine evening's work for me."

"They're sending me to my death," I whispered.

Both Alucard and Walter said nothing, probably because it was true.

"They want to kill me." I was stunned. I knew Frandon was a pompous ass, but I didn't know he was enough of a bastard to want me dead.

But then, I had commanded Hellsing's wild card to put a gun to his head. They had left me few other options to prove myself, but I doubt they would listen to that kind of reason.

All there was left to do was not die. It seemed like that was the worst insult I could give them, to succeed, and survive.

And so I cut. It took more pressure than I had expected to part the skin, and the blade was sharp enough that it felt like no more than a stinging paper cut. Drops of blood slid down to my fingers like sinister little jewels. Walter seemed surprised that I had actually done it.

"You must take it," I whispered, offering my wrist to Alucard.

He didn't need much coaxing. My wrist was in his iron grip one moment, and his mouth was at the wound the next. It was a jolt to my senses the moment he latched on. My blood had suddenly become his, and I felt immediately the roar which my father had felt as the spells of my line fought for dominance over his will.

More dangerous was the undertow of the wave. I felt, too, like I was sliding away, all of me slipping into all of him. It was a calm too easy to fall into; a calm that would lead me to me believe that he was caressing my arm, not feeding from it-

Enough. I knew the effects of blood loss, and chalked it up to that.

A dangerous thing you're doing, you know. It seemed louder, now; less a disembodied voice and more a pounding in my skull.

Why do you think I brought Walter?

If I didn't want to let go, you couldn't make me. He couldn't make me. And then, you would die.

It was true. I had been foolish in my haste. No wonder Walter suggested the intervention of doctors and needles and antiseptic. Let go, I insisted.

If I let go, you'll simply send me into captivity. I'd say it's in my best interest to kill you quickly.

My panic was growing. He laughed. Fear makes you taste sweeter, Master.

I yanked my wrist away from him, but he only grasped my wrist in an even more crushing grip, pinning my arm to the side of the basin. I had no doubt he would break my arm if he wanted to.

Wasn't this what the damned seal, all the spells forged in Hellsing blood, were supposed to prevent? Then why the hell wasn't it working?

Walter was still in the doorway, and I tried to speak up, beg his help, but I found my voice suddenly escaping me, as the sensation of gravity suddenly increasing overtook me. I found myself sitting, unwillingly, on the edge of the basin for support.

I felt something like a string pulled taught snapping in half between us, and Alucard pulled away abruptly. The seals had snapped into place. I fell, slumping onto the floor. Walter was at my side, then, making protective noises at me and shooting deadly glances at Alucard. He would have taken his head off with those monofilament wires he used, if I had said a word.

The air still buzzed from the psychic impact. Alucard, was, of course, grinning, my blood on his teeth. "I hope you've learned a valuable lesson, Master."

I think that was a sentiment even Walter could agree with. "Bastard," was what I managed to mutter. "You fought it to the last."

He shrugged. "Yes. But given time, the seal always wins out."

Given time. That time could have been short enough to kill me. That was what I had learned.

The only question was, was he trying to kill me or teach me?

All three of us turned our heads at the sound of a knock on the door to the adjoining bedroom. The door opened before we had a chance to make any reply. Frandon, followed by Airans, appeared in the doorway to the bathroom.

Frandon eyed me with a look of surprise at seeing me sitting on the floor, but continued nonetheless. "We will take it away, now." He didn't sound half a defiant as he wanted to, and was very careful to avoid eye contact with Alucard as he said it.

"Alucard," I said, a tad weakly, "please go with them."

He nodded. He was compliant, this time. "As you wish." I suppose the surprise his acquiescence invoked in Frandon was at least some consolation for being locked away.

They still insisted on bringing Walter. I didn't blame them. After the last few moments, I wouldn't want to be alone in the basement with Alucard, either, and I was the one who ostensibly controlled him.

Well, we saw how that was.