'Fore we start:
Sorry about taking so long… writter's block… bleep!!!! I've tried to make it up for you, though, my dear fans!
#%%&%&/%- name of a famous computer corporation. Man, I hate bugs! :-D
Janissary – Elite Turkish soldier. Often equipped with the latest in military gear.
That was the hard part. Now, to get on with things:
Vlad watched the Sultan putting the moves on his younger brother Radu with disgust. Only two weeks had passed since he was sent from Egregoz fortress to Adrianople's imperial palace and already his brother had fallen in the graces of Sultan Murad. Where he ever to escape the "golden cage" as he called it and rule Wallachia he'd forbid sodomy. While the Sultan and his brother were making a demonstration of "good-will" between two sworen enemies, he spent his days alone, hiding from the palace's eunucs, that seemingly mistook his tastes for those of his brother. He read the days away in the library, learning about alchemy and herbal medicine, as well as learning the land's ancient tales. And he became a very proficient trickster as well. Vlad wondered which sort of mischief he'd concoct today. Sure, it was always fun to convince the daft palace guard to lend him a eunuc uniform so that he could enter the harem unsuspected, or even a scimitar, and practice fine cuts on Radu's pets (man, he enjoyed their squealing), but these jokes were getting old, and the Sultan was getting suspicious of being the causer of the wave of unruliness plaguing the palace. So he had to think... Something that might as well happen without his "aid" and that would ashame the Sultan... How about... Yesssss, perfect. It WAS the mating season after all. And the diplomats from Persia that had arrived a few days ago would witness it as well. He was a genius.
The Sultan fiercely debated with the Persians. They terminantly refused to pay tribute to the Ottoman empire, and were in condition of offering strong armed resistance should the negotiations fail. The Sultan, however, knew that, despite their strength, the Persians simply wouldn't withstand a Turkish attack. He was in conditions of making an ultimatum, and so he did. Either they would pay tribute to him or return home weary of the Turkish empire's might. Just as he said this last line, a pair of camels broke in unninvited. A male and a female, wearing plaques with something inscribed in a language other than arab. As if it wasn't enough, the camels decided it would be fun to examplify the fine and difficult art of producing new mounts for needing travelers before the courts' unbelieving eyes and the Persian diplomats, who had the laugh of their lives. Someone had "fixed" them with aphrodisiacs, that much was clear. As the Sultan commanded that they be separated, Vlad hid behind a pillar, smilling pervertly. Just a bit longer... The guards fufilled the Sultan's desire, but were in turn attacked by the now gone berserk camels, who didn't enjoy the least bit such disrespect for their duties. So, the poor things were killed right where they stood. Only then did someone in the court notice the plaques hanging in their necks. It was written in latin. Radu, the Sultan's favourite translator, was asked to read loud enough what was written in the plaques so that everyone in the room could hear it. When he read the contents to himself, Radu blushed, and informed the Sultan it might not be such a good idea, who was very close to have him crucified as an example to those who dishobey his orders. So Radu was left with no other choice. The male plaque said, "Hi, I'm Radu" and the female one said "And I'm Sultan Murad. We're a pair of fornicators!". The Sultan had a fit. The court tried very hard not to explode. The diplomats were aware of the Turkish "might". And a certain young man rubbed his hands with glee.
Seras woke up. She recalled having fainted due to exhaustion. And she happened to have slept in her Master's bed. Not that it mattered, but if Alucard knew, he'd become unbearable until the end of days. Shaking her head, Seras looked for something with which to quench her thirst. Usually, her Master had a few bottles of blood and wine stashed in his closit, only refilling it when there was nothing at all to drink. And his defeat came in the same night he'd restock "Drunkard's Timber", as he called it. So, since there was only the bottle of whine over the desk, Seras would have to go all the way to the fridge. "Teleportation would really come in handy now…".
On her way to the kitchen, a mercenary intently pushed her. "Why did you do that?", Seras demanded. "The vampire chick has a pride, how endearing. Vant to suck my blood?". Seras was very close to doing so. She, after all, could use some fresh blood, rather than the week-old crappy blood donations she rationed. But standarts came first. So she merely scolded him. "I hope you're aware you're speaking to your captain and employer. For your act of insubordinance, you'll be joining the ammunition suppliers' defence team for a week." It wasn't a dangerous post, she managed to spread misinformation skillfully enough to keep its location secret. But the nights were long and cold, and spending time fiddling inside the mansion was better than a night's watch, being constantly looking out for ghouls. "Whatever…", the mercenary replied. They didn't respect her at all.
Not caring that the fridge was quickly running out of blood, Seras drank two packs, barely pausing to breathe between one and the other. Anger made her thirsty. "How dare he talk to me like that! Stupid mortal… I ought to cut his filthy tongue out…What am I thinking?", just what she needed to begin the night. An argument between her human and vampire sides. "There's no need for such violence, right? But… mercenaries should know their place… Alucard would kill him right on the spot… But I'm not like Master. But you should, Seras! Remember what he told you, follow the darkness with all your strength. That's the only way you'll gain your Master's affection…". Seras awoke from her monologue. Gain her Master's affection? She looked at the empty blood bags. Alucard would really be surprised: she'd drank her blood without hesitation or regret. She didn't even feel sick. Only… renewed. And in a better mood as well.
She made her way towards her office, or Integra's old office, depending on the point of view. It was as messy as the rest of the mansion. Or even worse, since it was the epicentre of the battle. Integra had put up a fight before the Iscariots defeated her, and Alucard completed the task, wrecking windows and shattering the front door, turning the office's entrance into a hole. Her laptop survived the battle, many thanks to #%%&%&/%'s engineers, who truly built an indestructible computer. Sitting on the chair, she turned it on. Its screen flickered before showing the usual statistics on processor speed and RAM available. Being the fast computer it was, the OS initiated in no time. An icon flashed, indicating the Institution had received mail. It was from Section XIII, and the topic was "You're ours, Hellsing!!!". Seras didn't bother checking it out. Instead, she opened a 3D model of Buckingham Palace, courtesy of MI-5. Nosferatu's vamps had made it their home, rather predictable since evil No Life Kings nowadays enjoy to show off (OK, not only evil ones!). She tried to imagine where a smart commander would put his guards, and came to a conclusion: She couldn't enter it like she had done in the theatre. There were strong FREAKs there, some even stronger than her. Their sences were honed, and not one entrance seemed left unguarded. Of course she could resort to treachery…
Vlad the II Dracula sat alone in his throne."Those bastards. They'd rather have puppet leaders than a true king. Cowering on their palaces, not men enough to stand up to the Turks…", he whispered to himself, trying to hold back the tears. It had been eight years since he returned from Turkey. The nobility of Tirgoviste had plotted his father's assassination and buried his older brother Mircea alive. He returned only to find he was unwanted. So he had no choice but to play stupid political games until he was king at last. His type of rule didn't quite fit their interests, who'd rather side with the Turks, paying them tribute in men and gold. Vlad was set on stopping it all. But before that, he'd have to get rid of those pests, who'd depose him of power as easily as they'd granted it. And he knew just the way.
Vlad had organized a grand Easter feast, supposely to comemorate his father's convertion to the Catholic branch of Christianism. The food and wine served were of finest quality, and he had even hired Italian musicians, a small extravagance that nearly emptied his coffers, but it was worth it. The nobles had to think this was a demonstration of good-will. Not for once did they doubt his intentions. The guests ate like lions and drank like fish, and soon there was no more food left. Vlad, who had been silent all along, finally made his move. "My friends. It seems my food and whine are not enough to sat your appetites. Even my minstrels have run out of inspiration.", he pointed to the bored Italians, who were indeed playing the same musics for about half the feast (classic music was taking it's first steps, after all). "Would you like to continue our party elsewhere, where wour presence is sure to delight me?", he asked. The nobles slammed their fists against the table and shouted aloud his name. Vlad smiled. "Guards. Send them to my fortress at Poenari." The startled nobles found themselves surrounded by armed soldiers, who shoved and pushed and kicked them out of the room.
On arrival, there was nothing more than a half-built fortress. Vlad smiled diabolically at them. "This will be your new home. None shall leave this land, let alone this world, until my fortress is finished. And when will that be, you ask yourselves? Well, that'll be the faster you get it done." He ignored their cries for mercy, that were music to his ears. "Tell the workers to return to their families.", he commanded one of the guards. He watched as once proud men replaced the ragged workers, who spat on them as they came close. This was indeed a glorious day. "Men, we make way back to Tirgoviste. We'll be escorting these people." First came first.
Hearing of his fortress' completion, Vlad returned to Poenari. Less than half had survived the harsh climate, the working accidents and the taskmaster's cruelty. He laughed out loud. "So, you sons of a mangy goat, you are all that remained of my detractors? Since I'm a kind man, I'll let you leave my realm." He grinned at their relieved expressions. "You'll travel to a place where only pain awaits you… Guards! Impale them!" The guards rushed on them, tying their arms and legs to horses, and stabbing mansized wooden stakes through their backsides. It was a macabre simphony, indeed, to hear their squeals of pain as the wood opened way across their organs, finally emerging out of their mouths. They still waved their arms as they hang on the stakes planted on the ground. Their death wouldn't come easily. Vlad looked up to the night sky. A full, reddish moon crowned the firmament. "It's a beautiful night."
Seras looked at herself in the mirror. She had put to use brown hair dye stolen from the market a few weeks ago, and put yellow contact lenses. Even keeping a low profile, a few vamps had seen her already. All she needed to do was to convince the palace guards that she'd been turn into Nosferatu by whoever was behind the FREAKs existence. Hopefully, their leader kept Alucard's heart near him. There had to be some sort of initiation process in the clans, there always was, at least her Master said so. Though a vampire clan bent on rulling the UK was a wee different from the "Romenian Vampire Football Club", her Master's failed attempt at tricking Hellsing's restrictions on blood drinking. There weren't many vampires in Romenia, anyway. Besides, it was impossible to be a vampire hunter AND the president of a vampire football club. It was a silly idea produced by too many blood packs added with Alucard's natural deranged mind.
(Ah, yes, the ritual! Simple enough, one would just cut his wrist and let Alucard drink for a bit. Then, if the candidate had potential, he'd be given a position in the team, based on the blood's taste. Alucard claimed that by having slurped a few football players he knew everything about football. Real clans had more complex rituals, of course, like slaying a black chicken and painting pentagrams in circles with the animal's blood. Or even paint the said pentagram's with the actual candidate's blood.)
Thinking that it might be a good idea to use seduction, Seras decided to "borrow" one of Integra's dresses. Most of them had never been worn. Dressing a black frock, Seras tried to figure out where to hide a pistol in case things got awry. There weren't many places to hide it, though. Her generous curves didn't really help. Elegance would have to come later, it seemed. And her teen clothes were still fitting. So she put on her boots, red top, short skirt and long red gloves, that went all the way from her wrists to nearly her shoulders. She looked at herself in the mirror again. "Looking good." Integra's pistol, a nifty and powerful firearm that shot 3 rounds at a time, was carefully hidden at her waist. Just in case.
On the way out, a few mercs whispered comments she didn't even bother to try and listen. Seras was experienced at not giving a damn about jerks like them. This time, she didn't bother to tell them what she was going to do. Outside, she rode out once again on her trusted bike, kind of hoping she didn't have to hook a large object like last time. It was a night in town pretty much the same like last time. Ragged men and women hid in the post-modern ruins of London, not one single audible whisper, some FREAKs from Tetsubo… spanked an old man? Seras couldn't stand for this. Jumping of her bike, she walked up to them. "So, do you have any plausible reason to spank that defenceless old man?", she inquired. The FREAKs, dressed as either cheesy, low-class neighbourhood rappers or pseudo-satanists simply looked at her with delighted expressions. Seras grinned. Her disguise was working.
Vlad Dracula rode hard in the night sky, accompanied by his many horsemen. The infantry barely kept up with them, weighted down by their weapons. Turks had besieged his fortress at Poenari, and were very close to breaching its defences. He had been busy making the path as hard as possible for the second Turkish army, as if the siege force and the reinforcements joined forces, he'd have no hope of even defeating the Turks. "Dammit! How did they get here this fast?", he thought, as he readied himself to charge . "Almost there, men! Prepare yourselves to charge on those infidel dogs!"
The Turkish Janissaries ahead formed a line, preparing to shoot a volley at the charging horsemen. The knights' heart wavered for a moment, but kept steady. And the Turks opened fire. After the deafening roar of gunfire, there came the sound of steel piercing through steel as the bullets perforated the knights' armour. Some of the lesser trained horses, scared by the gunfire, stood in their hind legs, trying to hit with their hooves an invisible foe. And many were shot in the second volley. Vlad had remained miraculously intact at the head of his cavalry. The Turkish light cavalry interposed between the Wallachians and the Janissaries, but their light armour, bows and sabres weren't enough to withstand the steel armour, lances and swords of their rivals. Vlad took one off from his horse with his lance, who hung in its pointy tip for a few seconds, and stabbed into unto the mount of another, losing his grip. He drew his sword, and engaged any foe that he could one on one.
His fighting prowess, and that of his knights, let them be victorious over the light horsemen, and they continued their charge against the Janissaries, that fired another volley against them. That'd be their last. They were only a few metres from the knights, who fell on the just as they were about to fire once again. Some did, and a pair of knights felt. But the others delivered righteous death, trampling them with horse and cutting heads with sword. But it was a ruse. Behind the first two lines, spearmen stood ready for this event, and counter attacked. The knights were dumbfounded at their attack, and barely fought back the wave of Turkish steel spears. Vlad's horse was impalled, and he barely had time to jump off before it fell. Keeping in guard, he deflected the thrust of a foe, and cut off his head. And so, he found himself a spear. Sheathing back his sword, he fought the Jannissaries with their own weapon.
In the meantime, his infantry was about to reach him. But while the knights fought and the men ran, Turkish bombards had been set to fire on them. The thundering of cannon was heard through the battlefield, and moments later iron balls showered on the infantrymen, tearing the unlucky into pieces and making craters on the ground. Some of the men fled, not willing to waste their lives. When the infantrymen finally joined the melee, most of the knights had been whiped out, and Vlad kept fighting the other spearmen. The fight drew on and on, and the Turks eventually lost taste for battle, even though they were greater in numbers than the Wallachians, that fought desperately. It'd be wiser to join the other army and come back to mop them all up.
Vlad, whose face was between smile and exhaustion, let out a battlecry, echoed by what remained of his forces. Grabbing for himself a lonely horse, whose owner had likely fallen in battle, he rode to the front gates of the battered fortress. The Turks hadn't been kind, and used their bombards against the walls on more than one occasion. "I am Vlad the II Dracula, Ruler of Wallachia, and master of this fortress. I command you to open the gates for me, Castellan Grga." Vlad shouted to the gates. Almost a minute passed before the gates were open. Inside, it was in no better shape. The structures had been so badly damaged it was impossible to figure out what they were once meant for. Rotting bodies of Turks and Wallachians spread out across the streets and alleys, likely victims of an assault. The people that had taken refuge there had lived in fear for the siege's duration. Which was not that long thanks to Vlad's timely intervention. They cried of happiness as he arrived, their hero and king, Vlad the II Dracula.
Vlad rode to his keep on the fortress' centre. There, castellan Grga waited him with a forlon expression. "Why are you looking so sad, friend Grga? I've reppeled our foes for the moment. Even if it's too soon to shout victory, we could allow ourselves to relax for the night." Grga shifted. It would be a tough new for him. "My Lord," Grga said "When the Turks assaulted our fortress, your wife was inside a watch tower, tending for the morale of our defendants. Her kindness was what kept them going for the siege…" Vlad felt aprehension blooming in his chest. "What are you saying man? Tell me what happened to her!!" Grga closed his eyes for a moment, as if stopping tears that insisted on being shed. "One of their archers fired an arrow, and it managed to enter the watchtower. It carried a message, saying you were dead and demanding our surrender. Lady Larisa couldn't bear the thought of your death… And so she threw herself from the tower…"
Vlad's eyes opened wide, and a familiar feeling mixed of sadness and disbelief shot across him. He ran into the keep, trying to find Larisa's body somewhere in the rooms. And he found her where she could only be, their bedroom. The weeping maids had dressed her in an elaborate white dress, and covered her face with a veil. Vlad walked to her, slown down by his pain and exhaustion. "Leave… me alone." He nearly said "us". The maids did has he pleased. Vlad lifted her veil, and passed his hand across her pale cheeks, feeling cold to the touch. Her neck twisted into an impossible angle when he sat on the bed and wrapped her in his arms, lifting her. Vlad wept silently. And that was what he did for the whole night.
The shattered corpses of the FREAKs made for a grim landscape indeed. They thought of Seras as weak, and as such were even more innept than usual. The old man looked not too grateful, what didn't stop her from helping him up. He simply slapped her hand and crumbled back to his feet, mumbling angrily something about cannibal vampire harlots. Seras controlled her anger with a great deal of effort. Still grinding her teeth, she got back on her motorcycle and resumed her trip to the palace.
Seras parked a block away from the gates. She didn't want the FREAKs outside to be suspicious. There were only two of them, dressing like true palace guards, looking more than a bit upset at using those "noble" uniforms. They were some of the ugliest FREAKs she had ever known. Their looks changed quickly from boredom to interest when Seras came to greet them. "Hi, I was told this is Nosferatu's base. Your, I mean, our leader told me to meet him inside."
"Well, what's your name?", the left FREAK asked, buying time to keep her within his sight as long as possible. Seras gave him a killer look. "Se-bile.", she replied. "Ok, miss Sebile, Master Laiota should be waiting for you. It's strange, tonight he decided to throw in a party. Because of you, perhaps?", the right one gave her a dirty look. Seras simply walked past him. "Sebile? Of all the names…" The palace's façade was marvellously well-kept, in comparison with the rest of the city. Only a few ghouls dragging themselves around ruined what would otherwise be a beautiful sight. Seras walked faster to the entrance, unsure about the ghouls' intentions and trying to escape the guards' peeking eyes.
Inside the palace, festivities took place. Female ghouls dressed as waitresses carried crystal glasses of blood and champagne around, serving the FREAKs dressed for the occasion, whatever it was. Seras just walked around, trying to pass unnoticed, a bit clueless about what to do next. The FREAKs seemed to know each other very well, and, despite being almost as revolting as those two at the entrance, seemed far smarter. Seras, truth be told, was completely out of context. She was a cute girl in any part of the world, that much was clear, but in there it was more than fair to assume that she was the most beautiful woman. All the others were dressed as if they were blind, hired a pshycothic plastic surgeon and allowed their pet monkeys to fiddle with their hair. One or two shot her green-eyes, and whispered something about implants.
Seras heard classic music in the background, and traced it to the music hall, where the vampires made a sad excuse for a ball. Not only they played their instruments bad, their dancing skills were far bellow any dancer she had met. She put a hand in front of her face to hide her disdaining smile. And didn't notice a man coming her way. "Are you the new girl?", he asked. Seras let out a small yell, that atracted the bystander's attention, and abruptly turned back. "Y-yes, that would be me!" He was about 1.78 m, with light blue hair and snakish yellow eyes. He was the most handsome man in there, whose pale, apparently 20-30 year old features betrayed his Italian origin. "Our master would like to meet you. If you don't mind, I'll guide you to his chambers." Her heart wavered for a moment. If Laiota, if that was his name, recognized her, unlikely but possible, she would be in big trouble.But then again, he might keep Alucard's heart near him. She smiled to her guide and nodded.
"So, what's your name?", she asked, trying to keep up with his fast pace. "Giovanni de Marco, from Napoli. Naples, as you English call it.", he added, with a small hint of despise that did not come oblivious to Seras. Otherwise, his voice was calm and musical, and it was as if he could tame a demon with his words. "And you would be?", he looked back, still walking. "Sebile Victoria, from London. I'm sorry, but I don't know how you Italians call it.", she replied. They walked up a staircase.
"Feisty, are you, miss Victoria? Well, I'd advice you to keep a cool head when speaking to our master. He's a bit… susceptible, if you know what I mean."
"Don't worry, I'm used to taking abuse from my… ex-boss." Seras almost pronounced her Master's name. They were now walking through a long, candle-lit corridor that lead to many rooms.
"So, how long have you been a vampire?", she asked.
"For 68 years now. Fought in the 2nd World War alongside the SS. That was when I was turned. There were a few like us at the SS, back then. Hitler's elite force."
"You mean, FREAKs?"
"Yes, FREAKs."
"FREAK chips have been produced since then?" Seras thought she was on to something here. A riddled Giovanni stared at her. "Didn't they instruct you when you were turned?"
"Uh, yeah, I forgot, eheh!…" It wouldn't be smart to let her mask slip just then. "So," -she hastily changed the subject- " what are we celebrating?"
"Our master's anniversary as former ruler of Wallachia. He's over 500 year old, you know? Back in his human life, he was a Romenian nobleman aspirirng for the throne. And he got it, even though he only reigned for a pair of decades."
"What's he like?" It was a useless question, she'd seen him before, but she needed to fake interest.
"Ugly as a goat, and as bad-tempered as an insomniac dragon." He thought his choice of words bad, and followed up. "Don't tell him I told you that, Ok?"
Seras giggled. "Told what? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Thank you, Sebile of London." He looked to a nearby door. "Looks like we've arrived. I bid you farewell, dear."
Giovanni went back downstairs. Seras looked wearily at the closed door. "This is it. Time to get Master's heart." She knocked on the door. "Who in hell is it?", a rough male voice spoke from inside the room. "Uhm, the new girl?", Seras replied. "New girl? Argh, no one tells me shit. Come in, and let's get the ritual done with." She entered the small room, which was an incredible contrast with the festive palace. The walls had been painted black, and the only source of light were five braziers, each on top of the edge of a white pentagon carved on the floor. Pillars could be seen on the sides, with carvings of snakes. On the far end sat Laiota in an vernished oak chair. Ugly as a goat was almost a litteral description for him. His eyes were small and pitch black, making for the appearance of inexistent pupils. The only thing resembling body hair (or hair, for that matter) was pasty black beard on his chin. His skin was greyish green, and somewhat scaly on the cheeks. Overall, it seemed like someone had put a tight horror mask on a skull. He dressed in a black robe, making him look like a medieval monk. Laiota rose (he was even taller than Alucard, and just as skinny), and walked towards Seras.
"So, they sent me a pretty one for a change. Once we get this over with, I might just make you my new concubine. That tongueless cunt over there's far too old for me." He pointed to a sad looking blonde woman behind his chair. Her features were fair, to say the least. She wore a much more tasteful white dress than the other women downstairs, matching perfectly with her long hair. She looked about 20 year old. While Seras was admiring the woman's features, Laiota had walked all the way to her. "Yes, can't wait for that…", he said, roughly grabbing her face. His fingernails were long, black and dirty, and hurt when pressed against her cheeks. He smiled at her disgusted face, and threw her to the centre of the pentagon . "Let the ritual begin."
He walked to about two paces from Seras, and rose his arms, singing something in a language long forgotten. The pentagon began to shine faintly. A great red eye appeared in Laiota's chest, much like what happened to Alucard. Seras began to levitate a few inches from the ground against her will, being drawn to the leader of Nosferatu. Using his sharp fingernails, he made a small cut in both their throats. "Our saliva makes sure the bleeding doesn't stop. More than a cut like this would be a waste of effort." Laiota forced Seras to drink his blood, pushing her head to his throat. "Drink…" She swallowed as quickly as possible, his blood tasted bitter and that was more than enough reason not to have it in contact with her tongue for longer than necessary. "Don't go into bloodlust, now…" Laiota taunted.
He pulled her head back. "Now it's my turn to drink." Laiota sucked at her throat frantically. It almost looked like he had been starving for a long time now. Her blood was delicious… but… it wasn't only her blood that ran through her veins… Another blood… a strong rich blood… A taste he knew already. He threw Seras across the room, and she slammed her back against one of the pillars. "You… you're HIS fledgling!? Tepes still lives… After all this time?" Seras drew her semi-automatic, and shot a whole magazine of silver bullets (12) at Laiota, looking around for Alucard's heart. He growled in pain when the bullets made contact, but wasn't otherwise harmed. The blonde woman ran towards Seras, looking almost as bloodthirsty as her Master, all her solemn beauty lost as she shrieked while running, showing off the remains of her severed tongue. And carrying a piece of flesh in her claws… A heart!
Seras reloaded her gun with lighting speed. Just as the mad blonde stood but a few inches from her, she shot a volley at her. Only one bullet hit its target. Fortunately for Seras, it hit the arm with which she was holding Alucard's heart. As soon as she let go, walking a few steps back in agony, Seras dived, grabbing the heart for herself. "Now, how do I get out????" The most important part of the plan was the most flawed. She didn't even think about how to escape when she elaborated her 'plan'… In the meanwhile, Laiota had regenerated his wounds. His shadow seemed to fill the room, and he hissed as he walked towards Seras. "Give that back… I need it for a spell."
"Like I'll do that after all this work…" Laiota heard her thoughts (telepathy can be a real… hot-blooded woman at times), and the shadows behind her began to assume physical form, shaping themselves to a pair of Laiota clones. The clones reached for her wrists… A daft thing, since she was once a police officer. Seras brought the hands to near her belt, walked a few steps forward, and spun 180º around herself, rising her arms in the process… and so, the clones went slamming into each other, and subsequently letting go of her (believe me, I know what I'm talking about).
FREAKs had begun swarming into the room. "No chance of getting out through the front door now…" The world seemed to move slowly for Seras as she tried to think of what to do… She tried to recall the schematics of the palace, and figured out in what division she was in…Small, four pillars… That's it! She turned to the wall parallel to the front door, and ran as fast as she could… and dove against the wall, passing through it, landing as a rock on a bushy garden below.
Cleaning herself of leaves, she got back up, to find she had hurt her knee. Great, now Seras had to trip her way out… and best of all, ghouls were stalking around, under the large bushes. She could smell them. Holding her gun with two hands, she pointed around, trying to find a nearby target. Nothing. So, she walked as fast as she could to the gates… And now, a small question for the readers: if she's holding her gun with two hands, and has no pockets large enough to carry a human heart, where did she put Alucard's vital organ? That's right, she dropped it on the way down.Cursing herself for the hundreth time that night, she started fishing around in the bushes. Seras shoved the leaves and twigs from her sight with her hands, trying to look for the heart. She did it once, twice, thrice, and eventually… A mob of ghouls plunged at her. Jumping back (and falling on her back), she shot at the many ghouls, tearing them into pieces with each volley. Unfortunately for her, Integra's weapon didn't have many bullets per round, and she ran out of ammo fast. A ghoul attacked her, attempting to bite her throat, only to be punched out of his jaws. The others attacked her as well, and she resorted to her fists and feet to deal with them.
But for every ghoul that was killed, two would pop out of the bushes. Seras couldn't stay there any longer. Probably the FREAKs were heading to the garden already, judging by the time she had burned away there. Running (or tripping) a few steps away from the ghouls, she tried to remember any advice her Master gave her in those three years that'd fit well in this situation… "Policewoman, when are you going to start drinking human blood? For the last time, leave your human past behind. Act like one, and you'll end up like one. Give in to the darkness, walk the night as its child, follow in the trail of blood…" The trail of blood!!! His heart still smelled like his blood! Trying to sniff out the heart amid the industrial amounts of undead flesh that had been minced off, she sensed the peculiar smell of Alucard's blood coming from a bush… behind the ghouls…
Sighing (she had passed from stress to plain frustration in a matter of seconds, be amazed!), she took the long road, walking as fast as she could around the mob of Ghouls, that tried to grab her a few times, and suffering the consequences on the spot. Some still managed to bite her on the arms, and have their teeth instantly socked out. The exhausted Seras finally got to the bush, and instead of just fishing around with her hand, fell headfirst on in, and grabbed the heart with her mouth… kind of hoping her Master didn't have cardiac problems because of the fangs that kept wanting to pierce it. Following her instincts, she hurried to the closest wall, sensing it'd be the exit nearest to her bike. A Ghoul managed to grab her handicapped leg, and she nearly fell. Seras gave it a push, and released herself of its grasp… But not before others tried to do the same.
She would be outrunned if she kept just avoiding them. The Ghouls seemed faster than usual, as if someone had made them more powerful. She lost her temper, dropped Alucard's heart, and, with her pupils shrinking to the shape of two thin vertical lines, jumped on the Ghouls, completely ignoring her injured foot. She ripped out limbs with her bare hands, smashed heads with her fists… "TURN BACK!" The Ghouls stopped their suicide attack. Barely containing her anger, Seras looked at who commanded the undead. Giovanni.
"So, this is where your loyalties lie, Sebile Victoria of London." He was holding a morning star in his left hand. A lefty. "A pity… I'm sure we would've been good friends. Of course that'd be between the intervals of serving my master. Hehehehe…It's as if he was a teen, judging by his appetites." (Now there's a useless piece of info….) Seras stood in a defencive stance. She was outweaponed, outranged and would be outnumbered in a few moments. Already the FREAKs hurried to join Giovanni, who charged in on her. Seras barely had time to dodge his morning star's swing against her head. He waved his hand, and the morning star swung back at her, this time aimed for her shoulder. Its spikes got to scratch her, but otherwise she managed to avoid it. But it seemed that Giovanni had grown quite familiar with that weapon, as each attack lead to another, and she kept having to walk back.
She tripped on a root as she walked, and found herself at his mercy (or lack of it). He grinned at the fallen vampiress. "You didn't really think the fledgling of our master's long defeated foe could win over the might of Nosferatu, did you? Now, you'll die for your insolence." He waved the weapon over his head a few times, before swinging it at Seras. For her, timed stopped, and her muscles froze. "I don't want to die… I wish I was sitting in my bike, riding back to the mansion… To my home… I think that's what it is now, right…? I've lived there long enough…But I wish I will for some more time…" She closed her eyes, readying herself for the spiked iron ball to hit her.
She felt all of a sudden her body being in more than one place at a time, her sight becoming hazy for a moment… And when she came to, she was falling a few inches above the ground next to her bike's parking space. "I have… teleported!? Master said I was too weak for it… Alucard…" She smiled happily. He would be proud of her when she brought him back. Grabbing the heart in her mouth once again, she hopped onto her bike, and drove all the way back to the mansion, humming Mr. Big's Shine.
Seras was still limping when she made it back to the dungeons. Before putting the heart next to Alucard's other body parts, she stopped at her own room, taking a shower to relax and wash out the hair dye. While the water and soap dripped from her scalp, she wondered what Alucard would do after his restoration. He was proud, the kind that refuses any help from others, but sometimes he seemed to enjoy working with her… Like that time long ago when she was suspicious of Stetra. Eh, it was a bit like what they had been doing for the past three years! She blinked, and a contact lense came out. It fell into the bath tub, only to be picked up by the vampiress. The other seemed to have come out during that wild fall…
Wrapping herself in a towel, she made to her room. She dressed herself in a nightgown, grabbed the heart and the sorcery book she had borrowed from Hellsing's library, and went to Devil's Road. Fortunately, the mercenaries threw in a pary and were all drunk, and so she didn't have to hear their stupid comments. A good thing too, when you're in a nightgown… Seras' knee seemed to have recovered, as she no longer limped. Of course, the ansiety she was feeling could have something to do with that. She felt like a High School girl before her first date… "Knock it of, Seras! You're just going to fix your Master… It's not even like he'll appreciate… He'll just complain about why I took so long." These thoughts made her calmer… Even if she didn't believe them in the least.
Next Episode!!! Seras finally repairs her Master!! How will Alucard react?? Reviews are welcome!!
