She stared impassively at the fallen paladin. Vines wrapped around his arms and hoisted him into the air before her in a crucified posture. His crushed skull was reforming, more slowly than usual because of the strain on his body from Geraldine's servant thorns, but still the man fought to heal. His head lolled and he groaned but did not find his way to consciousness.
Alucard watched, choosing not to interrupt her so soon after her awakening. He remembered Geraldine when he had been young and newly turned, and even then she had been ancient. She was the inspiration for so many goddesses that humans had trembled before and sacrificed to in order to appease her. She was terrible and beautiful and remorseless. In the past she had taken mortal men as her consorts before killing them to feed her bloody vines and to bring fertility to the lands where she lived. Her worshippers feared and adored her. She was all that a goddess should be, bringing both life and death in equal measure. It had been so long since he had had the pleasure of seeing a vampire who knew what it was to wield power and did not fear it. Longer still since it had been a beautiful woman. It was hard to believe that those Nazi dogs were able to bring her so low for so long. That is what we get for becoming involved in human affairs.
Anderson groaned again and his eyes fluttered open. He was floating in an agony that was so transcendant as to be almost orgasmic. What he saw before him took him back to his childhood and the stories his Irish gran would tell him of the beautiful and fierce goddess of battle. "Morrigan," he named her, and knew despair.
The name brought a light to her eyes that had not been there before. Shadows behind her heaved and Anderson was sure he saw a great raven, red eyes glaring into his soul. He closed his eyes as a pain drove behind his eyes. Every moment of his life was picked over and examined. Never had he felt so small and meaningless as he did while the Morrigan rifled his mind like a poorly organized filing cabinet. Certain memories seemed to interest her more than others, they would flash through his mind and then be replayed in exacting detail, his gran and her stories of pagan gods, his ordination, his transformation into a regenerator, his divine duty to kill the creatures of darkness, his first encounter with Alucard, the vampire's little fledgling, every memory of Integra Hellsing, recent events, his crisis of faith and the destruction of London.
His head had fallen back and his eyes had closed under her mental assault. He felt his position shift and he forced his eyes open. Her vines had raised her up, putting her face inches from his. She was examining his features intently. What will you give me if I let you live?
What will I give you? I have nothing to give.
Not true. You have given me the keys to my bonds. You have given me that, and for that alone I can promise you a swift death, but, if you give me all that you are, I will give you your life.
Would you want a servant so weak as to serve you for such a trifling payment?
She laughed in his mind, although her face remained expressionless. You are not weak. It takes strength to question your blind faith. It would take strength for you to serve me. The coward's way out would be for you to cling to that which you already doubt. See me, Paladin Alexander Anderson. See me as my glory has been before and will be again.
His body spasmed as he saw battlefields littered with bodies, endless arenas of death. He saw her presiding over spring festivals, births, deaths and burials. He saw her young and beautiful. He saw her old and withered. He saw her in majesty and in despair. She thrust deeper into his mind and he saw the awesome power and beauty of a goddess, closer and more intimately than any experience he had ever had with his Catholic God. He wept in an ecstasy of despair as he knew that he would hereafter be a fallen paladin, an apostate, because there was no way he could deny this goddess before him. I will serve.
Her smile was a physical pleasure. Her face did not change, but he could feel the smile caress his entire body, soothing his physical and emotional pains, laying a balm on the burning agony in his soul. You are mine, Alexander Anderson, now and forever. I lay this charge on you - be my warrior. Continue your fight against the creatures that would take what is rightfully mine. Wear your priest's robes if you want, pray in a cathedral if you want, pray in whatever manner you choose, but know that every prayer, every deed, every moment of your life is now done in my name. You are mine and I will come to claim what is mine in the fullness of time.
The vines lowered him to the ground. His legs would not hold him and the tendrils supported him until he was kneeling before his Goddess. They withdrew, gently pulling their thorns from his flesh. Blood flowed and the punctures sealed, leaving scars over his entire body. A reminder, Alexander. Just a reminder. You must leave. I have other business to attend to and your work in London is not done. A vision of Heinkel and Yumie barricaded in a ruined building and besieged by vampires blazed in his mind, followed by visions of vampires overrunning Catholic barricades and killing men and women in Iscariot robes. I don't want you to abandon your companions. I just want you to serve me above all else. Now go.
Anderson pulled himself up and stood before her. He wondered for a moment if his spells would still work and was answered as the pages swirled around him and carried him away.
ooo
Wolfe Heinkel was nearly out of bullets. She and Yumie had managed to find a building that still had some structural integrity and had piled furniture in front of the doors and windows. She was choosing her shots carefully, but it wouldn't be long before she was forced to beat the attacking vampires in the face with her empty pistols. Yumie was staying away from the openings and limiting herself to stabbing any vampire stupid enough to try to get in. Their part of the battle would be over soon. Heinkel had already said her prayers and made her apologies to God for her failures. She hoped He'd understand that she'd done her best.
A sound like someone riffling quickly through the pages of a book heralded Anderson's arrival. The bloodstained paladin had never been a more welcome sight to Heinkel and she said a quick prayer of thanks.
ooo
Alucard did not understand what he'd just witnessed. He had expected Geraldine to drain the paladin and toss him aside, an empty husk. Instead Anderson had called her Morrigan, they had shared meaningful eye contact and she had let him go. She had let him go? Where was the blood-starved madness? Where was the shredded flesh? Where were death and torture and a queen of vampires unleashed?
How bloody disappointing.
Are you judging me, Vlad? The words blew through his mind like a hot wind.
"I don't answer to that name anymore, Geraldine."
I don't answer to that name anymore, Vlad. She still had not spoken aloud since her awakening.
"Touche. If you would be gracious enough to call me Alucard, I will return the courtesy."
Morrigan. I am the Morrigan. I allowed myself to pretend to humanity. I allowed myself to forget what it was to rule. I allowed myself to play petty power games out of boredom and I paid for it with 60 years of servitude. I will not forget again and I will not allow anyone else to forget, either.
"Does that mean that you intend to rule again? Will you restore the cult of Inanna? Will Anderson be your Dumuzi?"
You will not speak of him that way! It was a lash of anger. He is mine.
"Yours? Attached to a mortal so quickly?" Alucard allowed scorn to fill his voice.
I will not have you question me, child. A vine whipped out and drew blood from his face. Her visage was contorted, her vines were waving furiously and the shadows behind her roiled. Raw power rolled off of her.
"That's more like it. That's the vampire I expected to see, not some woman besotted with a fallen priest." He was taunting her. He knew he could push her over the edge if he kept at it. He was not going to forego his apocalyptic battle just because she had gotten in touch with her softer side.
She rose on her power and looked down on him. I know you, Alucard. I know that you serve a human. That you lost everything you had and have been enslaved for even longer than I was. I know that you grow tired. I know that you wish to die. Don't deny it. It is why you throw yourself into every battle. It is why you are provoking me now. Even your child disappoints you at every turn. Would you wish to live if Integra Hellsing would spend eternity with you?
"You will not speak of her!" Alucard found his guns in his hands and didn't remember drawing them.
Attached to a mortal, Alucard? She threw his scorn back at him, using his name as an epithet.
He screamed in rage and emptied his guns at her.
A/N Okay, I lied. I just couldn't get it done in this chapter. I'm being taunted with the refrain of "five book trilogy" now. I know I can wrap it up in two more chapters - action next chappie and epilogue after that one.
Sorry Tornado, Anderson's crisis of faith has reached its peak. I couldn't kill him off, but in my universe he'll always be a bit of a different man. Still a complete murderous nutjob, but a different flavor of murderous nutjob.