Beginning's End
By: Lazeralk
Standard disclaimers apply.
"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic
Dracu..errr.... guy – read the fic, I'll explain everything. And have you read my motto? I'm the author; I can make Arucard however old I want him to be.
R4nd0m – Thanks for the clear up on the earth blowing up thing, I'll change it.
Part 3
It was mid day by the time Seras wandered down stairs for breakfast. She entered the room Galina had shown them last night and found all the humans unchained and lounging around the room. They all looked uncertain for a moment before lining up as they had before.
"Oh no need." Said Seras; picking the same man she'd fed from the night before. He smiled down at her and the others wandered back to their respective beds, unsure how to act around the new vampire.
They watched her warily as she caught his eyes and drank a relatively small amount, carefully supporting his limp frame. When she was finished she released him and blushed cutely.
"Thank you." She whispered before turning around and fleeing the room. She raced back up the stairs her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She'd never felt more nervous in her life. All those people watching her feed, watching as she did something so utterly inhuman. Did they think she was a monster? And why did he always smile at her?
Did he like her? Oh no. No, no, no. Not that again. She barely survived Malikai's death, she was not doing it all over again. And yet, he was human. And he didn't condemn her. But no, not another Malikai. No, no, no.
-Are you planning on joining us any time soon police-girl? –
-Master? –
Oh God, please tell me he didn't just hear all that. Please!
-Downstairs, third hall on the left second door on the left. – His voice betrayed nothing, maybe he didn't know.
-I'm coming. – She answered.
Arucard turned the goblet in his fingers, watching the light dance through the blood. So his child thought that he didn't know about her little trip to the snack room. Poor Seras, when was she going to figure out that he knew everything? He smirked.
Galina watched him closely, her thoughts carefully guarded from him. So Arucard was finally taking interest in a vampire lover. It was about time. First Rosavi, then Helena, then Kristine and now Integra. All strong willed blonde humans. She sighed, being a vampire really bites sometimes. (Pun intended.)
You never saw me, did you Arucard?
Seras entered the room then and took a seat silently next to her master. She played with the buttons of her coat for a while, watching her master drink lazily from his glass out of the corner of her eye.
And little Seras Victoria, not so strong willed, but blonde and cute. What was it about her that drew him to her? She was not a spitfire like the others had been, perhaps she defied him? Arucard hated to be told no on any level, which could be it. Galina silently contemplated this as she served the girl a glass of blood, and sipped on her own.
"Does Loki know we're in town?" Asked Arucard out of the blue.
"Yes. He has human informants everywhere. He still can't stand the light of the sun. Isn't that pathetic?" Answered Galina.
Seras listened to them quietly, sipping blood daintily.
"I'm going to enjoy ripping him to shreds. Hera can't protect him anymore."
"Well that's certainly true. He had her executed two years ago. Fed her to the werewolves, the slimy git."
"He did what?" snarled Arucard.
"Master?" asked Seras, not understanding why something like that could get such a reaction out of her master.
"He's given the wolves status, and therefore power. He's using them as a threat, like a boogey-man for bad little vampires. That will give them a voice, and make them a major player on the board. Food should not be anywhere near the board, let alone on it. Don't you see police-girl? If you give your cow a choice, he's going to buck you in the ass before he lets you eat him."
Seras mulled over this, it wasn't morally correct, but in the end it was very practical. And if there was one thing her master was it was practical.
"What about his maker?"
"Oh Hera? That isn't so bad. Lots of vampires kill their makers, its sort of a coming of age thing. Though I wouldn't really advise it in your case."
Seras looked stricken.
"Master! I would never!"
"I know, I know. Well, let's get going. We'll get our stuff, set up base here and get ready."
"Ready for what master?"
"War."
Isabella was feeding her bats when the phone rang. She scratched one of the little ones behind the ear before wandering over to the table and picking up the receiver.
"Hello?"
'Isabella. It's Arucard.' Said the voice on the other end of the line. A voice she hadn't heard in a hundred years.
"Arucard! What happened to you? Where have you been all this time? Loki said some psycho Knight had killed you in England. Hellsing wasn't it?" Said Isabella.
'No, I wasn't killed. I was captured by Hellsing. I've been killing things for his family for the last two generation. It was actually a nice little vacation. I made a new fledgling too.' He answered.
"What about Katrina? She's still here you know. She's been pining away for you since you disappeared. Loki's been running us all to hell, you know. You are going to kill the little twit aren't you?"
'Yes of course. Get Katrina packed and meet us at Galina's place in London.'
"I'll be there as soon as I can." She promised.
The line went dead. Isabella threw open the doors to the cave entrance and whispered into the minds of her bats. They took off in a flurry of fur and leather, swarming into the night and heading north to London. She then whirled up the stairs to find the young vampire that lived with her.
"Master, who was that?" asked Seras as she watched him put down the phone.
"Another old ally. Isabella will be bringing Katrina. Katrina is your elder sister, my only other child. I made her half a century or so before Hellsing caught me." Explained Arucard.
"Are they much older than me?" asked Seras curiously, she was just over seventy years dead now.
"Katrina's about a hundred and sixty. Isabella is closer to fourteen hundred." Said Arucard as he began to lay out the guns he'd collected from a private vault he'd had added to Galina's house when he was still the King. The vampiress, bless her heart, had kept it stock full of the latest designs.
Seras even had a new Halconnen, although she was favoring the Cassul as of late.
Arucard was brooding, his hands absently pulling the guns apart, cleaning the pieces, checking the ammunition, testing the grip and weight. His thoughts however, were playing over the little welcoming committee that his child had blown all to hell. Loki must have become overly cocky to have ordered such an attack. He knew better than to mess with him. The nosfaratu had made sure of that the last time they'd met.
(Flashback)
A young man was rolling on the floor laughing in the blood. The thick red liquid rushed from the stiffening corpse of the vampiress Brena. Silent tears dripped down the face of a brunette vampire, his blank white eyes filled with sorrow. Cold eyes glared at both of them, Brena had been well liked at court, always happy. The fledgling, Vincent, had tricked the blind vampire Hallow into killing her.
Mikado had not been pleased. The tall Japanese vampire and reigning King of the Night raised his hand to strike the laughing child down but a woman threw herself between them.
"Yamero! Onegai yamero!" she cried in her master's native language.
"Get out of my way Hera." Said the master coldly, an insane glint entering his eyes.
Vincent stopped laughing long enough to shove his maker out of the way and came to stand before the King. He sneered at the master, taunting him with his eyes. Mikado grabbed him by the neck and dragged him away from the room, ignoring the loud protests of the boy. Hera watched silently as Mikado tore into her child, beating him senseless and rending the flesh from his bones until he cried and begged.
"You will never defy my orders. You will never slay one of my court. Form this day on you are Loki and you are banished to the Twelfth Circle. I am your master boy, and you will obey me."
Mikado continued to torture him until the vampire now known as Loki passed out from the pain.
(End Flashback)
Obviously Loki didn't learn his lesson. Arucard smiled, he'd enjoy re-educating him. Right before he let his hellhounds eat him. That reminded him, he had to find Hallow. The blind one had surely gone into hiding when Loki took the throne.
Arucard stood, stretched and tucked the guns away inside his coat.
"Master?" said Seras, watching him arm himself. He turned to look at her and his eyes danced with red light, like fire seen through blood.
"We fly to Romania at sunset tomorrow. Go to the west tower and open the picture window. Isabella's bats are coming. After that, Galina will show you the manticors, her familiars." Said Arucard.
"Manticors?" asked Seras struggling to recall any information she had on them. She'd heard the word mentioned in passing once but she couldn't remember where. They were obviously some kind of animal, but she couldn't match a picture to the name.
"Manticors are a common myth in Asia. Mostly India and Malaysia. They have the body of a lion, the wings of a bat and the tail of a scorpion. They're highly poisonous, and very strong. We'll need them to keep the werewolves busy while we take the castle."
Seras, still confused, nodded at her master and went to carry out his orders. She climbed the stairs to the west tower and found the room with the picture window. She gazed out at the darkening sky and pulled the glass open, watching with interest as a swarm of black crept closer to the mansion. She leaned on the sill and squinted into the light, struggling to see.
Just as she made out the first shape, the cloud descended on her, a flurry of wings and tiny teeth surrounding her on all sides. Fear built up inside her throat, and she closed her eyes tightly to protect them. She tried very hard not to scream as the swarm engulfed her, the hair on their bodies brushing against her skin, the touch of leather slapped at her arms, and small claws pulled at her hair. When the bats began to circle around her in ever increasing numbers she let out her screams, terror filling her up. More and more bats came flocking into the room, finding roosts where ever they could, nipping at the girl in their midst.
Seras, absolutely terrified, turned on her heel and bolted from the room, slamming the doors behind her. She ran through the corridor, antique paintings and royal crowning rushing past her in a blur as she sought the safety of her master's presence. She fled to the room where she'd last seen him and found him scribbling in his journal again. The door hit the wall and he snapped the book closed and tucked it away again.
"You're pathetic police-girl." He said even as he opened his arms to her.
Isabella and Katrina knocked on the front door to Galina's house just as the first layer of true night blanketed the sky. The door swung open to admit them, and they crossed the threshold.
"Glad you could make it." Said Galina, her long silk dress swishing around her legs. Isabella smiled at her; she looked just as she remembered. Long blonde hair pulled up in an elegant swirl, ruby eyes set in a pale aristocratic face.
Isabella had long brunette curls that brushed the small of her back. He dress was eighteenth century English with a wide hoop skirt and a high neck. Katrina trailed in behind her, her copper red hair pined up with barrettes. She wore modern American clothing, tight jeans and a cropped Ralph Lauren tee with a tiny pocket on the sleeve.
"Galina." Said Isabella in way of greeting. The two women embraced, having to lean towards each other to compensate for Isabella's stiff skirts. Galina then released her and went to fuss over Katrina.
"Come here girl, let's have a look at you." Said the Russian as she swept the young vampire into a bone-crushing hug. The redhead smiled tolerantly and let the woman she'd come to call Auntie pamper her.
"Auntie Galina, is master here?" she asked, looking around for midnight hair, ruby eyes and a long red trench.
"He's here, and he's brought someone with him. You've got your self a sister. Try not to kill her ok?" cautioned the blonde with a half worried, half jokingly skeptical look on her face.
"A sister?" asked Katrina, her voice going flat.
"Yes, and she's a sweet girl too."
"I think I'd like to meet this 'sister' of mine."
"All in good time Katrina." Said a voice she hadn't heard in hundred years. A smooth tenor that rushed down her spine like silk and fire. Her heart fluttered, her stomach clenched and she turned joy filled eyes towards her maker.
"Master." She breathed, her voice full of awe. The moment she laid eyes on him she knew she'd fallen in love with him all over again.
End part 3
"Yamero! Onegai yamero!" means "Stop! Please stop!"
Mikado means Emperor. I thought it was fitting.
Next part, manticors!