A/N: Hmm, not much to say...guess the chapter will speak for itself. Thanks to everyone!
Hidden motives by those close to you
Shield you from pain.
Seras awoke the next night feeling depressed, and knew immediately the reason why. Alucard had forgiven her...but could she forgive herself? The boy had been merely a boy, after all. His only mistake had been going into the wrong alley that night.
Seras' eyes shifted to her cannon nestled once more against the wall. She imagined the sight of her hand reaching out from nowhere and snatching the absurdly large weapon must have been hilarious. Out of curiosity, she tried to create another vortex. Her pride swelled as she watched the dark portal slowly open, though she had no idea where the door led to.
Peaking her head in, Seras noticed with a start that she was in her master's bedroom. The coffin they had traveled in lay on the floor beside the bed, which she noticed was slightly larger than hers. Alucard had placed the coffin in his bedroom to keep the large box out of sight of any intruding hotel staff. She quickly pulled her head back into her bedroom, and decided she needed to practice her directional skills for that technique.
Seras wandered out of her room and was not surprised to find Alucard already waiting for her. She marveled how he could stand existing so long with such atrocities he committed. But then, he'd had longer to adjust than she, being God knew how old. Thinking more thoroughly, that question was one she had yet to ask him, among the many others.
Alucard didn't appear to notice her depressed state, only resting his eyes on her now ruined attire. She still hadn't learned how to repair clothes, and there was some light blood stains which had refused to come clean. But fortunately for Seras, the battle from last night had not damaged enough vital areas to make the outfit unusable.
Though there were still definite bodily evidences of a heavy battle on Seras' body. Most of the wounds she'd taken had disappeared, but the cuts received from the silver weapon were slightly visible. She hoped the thin scars would eventually disappear, but with her luck she highly doubted her wish would come true.
Facing her master, Seras scowled at his probing eyes. Sometimes she wished she could read his mind, just to see what filthy thoughts he was having about her. But then again, maybe she didn't want to know.
"I may be gone for the entire night, Police Girl" Alucard said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Amuse yourself however you want."
"Where are you going, Master?" Seras asked curiously. She was surprised he was delaying her training, since he'd been so adamant for her to learn before.
"Out. That's all you need to know."
Seras scowled, but didn't push the matter further. When Alucard was in his secretive mood, he wasn't willing to tell even the devil what he knew. Without another word to her, the elder vampire vanished in a swirl of darkness. And Seras was left alone to do what she wanted.
Seras walked onto the balcony attached to the suite, thinking of what she could do with her short time of freedom. Surprisingly, the young vampire had several options in mind. She could explore the many streets of London, practice her skills on the outskirts of the city, or just stay in the apartment and vegetate on the couch.
In the end, Seras decided to see Helena. She wanted to ask the child vampire what she knew about Alucard. Besides, who else did she have to talk to?
Pondering over the previous visit, she figured she could probably find her way to Helena's home without her master's help. After all, how many buildings had small mansions on their rooftops?
Smoothly transforming into the form of a wolf, Seras quickly plodded off, using her nose as an extra precaution. She didn't want to get lost and be caught out in the daylight, especially since the young fledgling had no idea what would happen to her exposed body.
Leaping from rooftop to rooftop in order to avoid notice, Seras was struck with an interesting idea. She thought about the black vortexes she'd created the night before and earlier this evening. Now was as good a time as any to practice her control.
Stopping on top of a level roof, she changed back to her normal form. Relaxing as much as she could, Seras concentrated on wanting to be at Helena's abode. Before she knew what was happening, a darkness had swallowed her and she was suddenly falling. With a loud thud and a hard bounce, she found herself in front of the strange house belonging to the child vampire.
Not bad for the third try she thought, looking around herself proudly. Though the landing could have been better she added, standing and rubbing her now bruised backside. Staring ahead of her, Seras looked at the imposing doors of the small mansion nervously. She wasn't sure if visiting the non solicitous child vampire was the wisest decision she'd ever made, but there so many questions about her master that she wanted answered. And Alucard was definitely not going to be the person to answer questions about his past.
Approaching the strange building, she reached up a shaking hand to one of the large wooden doors. Knocking softly enough for only vampire ears to hear, Seras nearly jumped when they opened of their own accord. The fledgling peeked her head into the darkness beyond the threshold, seeking any sign of life; or unlife.
Seeing no one, she cautiously stepped into the silent house. The doors slammed shut behind her, causing a small squeak to escape her lips. Calm down Seras she told herself, trying to still her erratic, and pointless, breathing. Regaining some of her composure, she began walking farther into the structure, peering curiously at the still surprisingly massive amount of books.
Seras found Helena in the largest book-littered room, sitting in the plush Victorian chair. She seemed absorbed in the book she held, and didn't raise her head when Seras entered the room. The fledgling idly wondered if the child vampire ever left her home.
"Hello, child. What did you wish to ask me?" Helena suddenly questioned from behind her book, making Seras jump in surprise. Oddly, she didn't seem surprised to see Seras, as she set the book she'd been reading down on a table beside her chair. In fact, she seemed amused by the young vampire's presence in her home, turning toward the fledgling with a small smile playing upon her eternally childish face.
Suddenly, all the questions Seras wanted to ask about her master seemed frivolous. Why would Helena want to deal with such foolish questions, especially from a fledgling? But she had asked Seras what her questions were, though how she had known what her purpose was here was a mystery. Perhaps the child vampire had read her mind, which meant more practice for the fledgling vampire.
"Yes, I can read your mind" Helena said, answering her thoughts. The child vampire suddenly rose from her chair and almost drifted toward Seras, her movements were so fluid. She pressed her small hands against the servant vampire's stomach, closing her eyes in concentration.
Seras stood there wonderingly, not sure what she was doing. She was about to question Helena's actions when the elder vampire removed her hands from the young vampire's body.
"I am sorry child, but I cannot answer your questions about your master. He must be the one to tell you, not I."
Seras' face fell as she heard those words, making her once more regret coming to see Helena. "I-I'm sorry for bothering you, then" she stuttered, turning her back as if to go. The action was more to hide the tears in her eyes than for her to leave the mansion.
"But I believe you have some questions about yourself" Helena said, giving her back a calculating but kind stare. "The human male you killed, you still cannot forgive your nature."
"What I did wasn't right" Seras answered, not turning around. She knew Alucard would be ashamed of how she felt, and but she needed to tell her feelings to someone. And Helena seemed to care, judging by the kindness in her voice. "He hadn't threatened me, there was no reason to kill him."
Helena's smile faded as she heard Seras' words. She could feel the strong emotions radiating from the young vampire before her, and the anguish in every word she spoke. Alucard's fledgling certainly had power, that much she had learned from her search into her body. But her mind was fragile, like glass, sitting alone without any protection; ready to be broken at the first stone throw.
"You are a vampire, child. We have no other way to live."
"But I...I killed an innocent human. Willingly. I knew it was wrong, but I still did it. And I liked it. I murdered him, and I enjoyed doing it" she whispered, feeling the tears well up in her eyes.
Helena's smile returned as Seras finished speaking, realizing what bothered the fledgling so much. Not the killing, but whom she had killed. An innocent.
"I know the two you speak of" Helena said slowly, watching Seras's reaction. Alucard had indeed changed since she'd last seen him.
"You do?" Seras asked, understandingly amazed.
"Seras" Helena said, taking the fledglings hands into her own. "Those two you killed last night were not innocents. The police had been tracking them down for the last few months. They had murdered several families merely to satisfy their own enjoyments. Alucard knew this, yet chose not to tell you and picked one of them to be your first kill."
Seras couldn't believe what she was hearing. Alucard had actually been considerate enough to go out of his way to find humans who possibly deserved death? She shook her head disbelievingly, not quite accepting the wonderful but confusing truth.
"He found a loophole for you, child" Helena continued, moving to stand in front of Seras. "One you can use until you grow accustomed to your new way of life." The child vampire's heart gladdened as she watched the young vampire's mouth rise into a smile, showing she'd accepted her words.
Maybe Master Alucard does care for my humanity.
Suddenly the two vampires sensed a disturbance several miles away, and both were able to recognize the sound of muffled gunshots, even from so far a distance. Perks to being a vampire Seras thought with some pride, opening her mind to find the source of the problem.
With her thoughts reaching across the distance, then did she quickly realize that the action taking place was familiar. Ghouls were in the area of the gunfire, and someone was fighting them. The Hellsing agency was battling, and by the sounds of erratic firing, they were losing.
"I believe your comrades are in need of help" Helena said, giving her a smile of encouragement.
Seras nodded in agreement and teleported to where she sensed the Hellsing troops were. She recognized the area as being outside the main portion of London, where there was less population. But beyond that, nothing else seemed familiar. The destruction before her was shocking, making her gasp in surprise. Buildings had been torn apart, the street was in rubble, and there were ghouls everywhere.
Looking farther down what used to be a large avenue, she spotted the Hellsing troops. More prominently, she spotted their leader, his long pony tail swinging as he fired shot after shot into a large crowd of ghouls surrounding them.
"Need some help?" she asked, running up to Pip and giving him a fang filled smile.
"We could use as much as possible" Pip replied, grinning at her. He recommenced his barrage, as Seras drew her Harkonnen out of a black vortex. The action distracted Hellsing's commander for only a few seconds, then he returned to shooting the incoming ghouls.
With Seras' help, they were able to quickly eradicate the puppets from that sector. Unfortunately, there were several other groups of troops who were still having difficulty. The fledgling vampire rushed to the most hard pressed area first, finding the soldiers fighting within a large church. She joined the group quickly, Spotting several areas where the ghouls appeared to be entering from, With a few well-placed shots, Seras was able to collapse the ghouls' entrances, making the area safe.
"Having all the fun, Police Girl?" a voice asked, and Seras immediately recognized it as her master's. The elder vampire appeared only seconds later, walking leisurely through a stone wall.
"Master!" Seras yelled happily, though surprised by his appearance. She wouldn't think he'd come to help humans out, even if the master vampire had made a pact with the organization's leader.
Alucard grinned at his child's eagerness toward his arrival, wondering the reason. Her mood also seemed more lifted, and she was actually somewhat enjoying destroying the ghouls around her. But he'd scan her thoughts later, after the fun was over. Right now he could sense a true vampire among the ruins of the church grounds, though he doubted the trash would give him much of a challenge.
Alucard's intuition turned out to be correct, after he found the vampire hiding inside a nearby shed. He easily disposed of the pathetic Nosferatu, one barely freed from the servitude of a master. Young wretches are becoming all too common he thought disgustedly, as he watched the corpse collapse into a pile of dust. Though Seras is an exception was the thought lingering in his mind, as Alucard turned to his fledgling.
But the master vampire had looked toward his child at the worst possible moment. What he saw was not at all to his liking, and someone would pay dearly for that.
Pip, in appreciation for Seras' help, had taken her hand and gently placed a kiss upon the pale flesh.
All of a sudden, Pip felt that something was very wrong. Looking up from the hand he still held, the Hellsing commander beheld the master vampire's eyes burning into his. A jolt of pain flashed through Pip's mind, showing that a repeated action of the sort would be punished severely.
Alucard stalked over to the couple and stood beside Seras, his eyes never leaving Pip's for a moment. Seras, seeing the exchange, quickly wrenched her hand from the commander's and watched with unease as the standoff continued, though not for very long.
Pip slowly backed away toward his men, giving the excuse that some commands needed to be given to the troops. Alucard turned his head toward Seras, allowing the captain full opportunity to walk away with his pride intact. Which he gladly took.
"Master, why did you do that?" Seras asked accusingly, confused by his actions. She'd never seem him so filled with rage, and toward Pip of all people. The only action he'd done was kiss her hand, why had the simple gesture made her master's eyes burn with hatred?
Alucard simply continued to stare at her, then vanished into the night with only a single phrase echoing in Seras' mind. "Remember Seras, you're mine."