Hellsing: Amen
by Notan Rappa

Chapter 15: The Angel of Death and the Demon of Life Fist-Fighting in Hell
The vampire leapt at Seras, knocked the Harkonnen out of her hands and sent her sprawling. 'Damn! This thing is fast.' It was supposed to be an ordinary Hellsing mission. Purify impure souls, banishing to eternal damnation, so on and so forth. But when they had shot this particular vampire, it had stubbornly refused to die. This vampire was stronger than any of the others that this particular group of Hellsing soldiers had ever fought, seeing as all the more experienced ones had died during the Valentine incident.
The vampire leapt into the air, landed in front of Seras punching the ground in front of her. The ground seemed to roll at her and landed her a smack on the jaw that sent her hurtling backwards into a Japanese antique shop, much to the surprise of the store owner. Seras felt a stinging stab that was vaguely like Anderson's blessed knives. Reaching to her shoulder, she yanked out a Japanese sword. She quickly read the tag, and found that this sword was supposedly some kind of holy weapon. 'Well, that's convenient.' Seras stood up, and gripped the wound that wouldn't heal. 'I guess it really is blessed or something.' Seras exited the antique shop, sword in hand. The shocked store owner wasn't so shocked that he couldn't protect his profits.
"Hey! You haven't paid for that!"
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Back at the Hellsing mansion...

"That was a very entertaining battle, Seras." Seras turned around quickly.
"God, stop doing that, Alucard. You're going to give me a heart attack..." Seras stopped and thought about how absolutely stupid that statement was, then started laughing. Alucard started laughing as well. It got to the point where Seras had to lean on Alucard for support because she was laughing so hard. Integra walked into the room and stopped the happy moment.
"Seras Victoria! You have failed to return with your Harkonnen cannon."
"Oh, it's ok. I actually think I prefer this sword thing." said Seras, holding up her new sword.
"That's not the point." said Integra, pinching the bridge of her nose, thinking that it might help relieve her headache. It made it worse. "The point is that not only is it Hellsing property, it is a dangerous piece of military hardware and...oh forget it." Integra turned around. 'This place needs aspirin. Where the hell is the aspirin. God, I can't live like this. Walter would know where I could get some aspirin, in fact he'd even fetch it for me.' Integra smiled fondly. 'No, even better, he'd know of a good quality tea that would relieve me of my headache and would have some already made for me almost before I knew I needed it myself.'
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Meanwhile...

"Humans are so confusing, aren't they?"
"I don't know. I think I can still understand their way of thinking. I was one not too long ago, remember?" Alucard looked at the sword.
"That's a nice looking knife you've got there, Seras." Seras looked down at the sword she was holding.
"It's not a knife, Alucard. It's a sword."
"Actually, if you want to get technical, it's a katana, ancient Japanese curved sword."
"It doesn't look curved to me." Alucard smiled.
"Well, it isn't really curved very much at all. Confusing, isn't it?" Suddenly Seras looked up. Alucard's smile slipped away. "What is it?"
Alucard understood the look on Seras's face. He understood that one of the abilities she was developing as a vampire was a form of clairvoyance that manifested itself as an intuitive sense. Alucard understood this, and trusted it.
"Something's...not right."
"Anything more specific then that?" In fact, Alucard believed that it was entirely possible that, with time and practice, she might develop to the point where she could sense events in the future. Seras's face scrunched up in concentration.
"No...nothing specific...wait...Walter! Something's wrong with Walter!" Alucard and Seras ran for Walter's room. When they got there, nothing seemed amiss, except that Walter was tossing and turning fitfully, and muttering in his sleep. Seras walked closer to hear what he was muttering.
"No met helya imaf caliad liatmor. Im helyat notan no rappa. Im helyat notan no rappa. Im helyat notan no rappa." Walter was saying this over and over.
"What...does this mean?"
"Walter's mind was shredded by what I believed to have been, and what this now confirms to have been, a minor demon. That demon then mixed his mind with Walter's. Walter has been lying here fighting the demon mind trying to take over, and trying to organize his own mind. Figure out which pieces are his, and where they go."
"Why...would a demon do that? Wouldn't that ruin the demon's mind as well?"
"Yes. It is a risky way of trying to impose one's will over another being. It is risky because if it fails, you are simply a wandering husk without a mind." They listened to Walter's babbling for a while. Alucard looked as if he was trying to analyze the words.
"Do you know what he's saying?" Seras asked.
"He is speaking in an archaic demon tongue. 'This, then is my solemn vow...'" Alucard's eyes narrowed, "'...I will abandon this abyss.'" Alucard turned to Seras. "This is rather unfortunate. The fact that Walter is speaking this phrase in the demon tongue would seem to indicate that Walter is losing a piece of himself to the demon mind." He turned back to Walter, a look of approval on his face. "And yet...look at him. All is hopeless, yet he refuses to give up."
"Isn't there some way we could...help him?"
"We would only be getting in the way. This is his fight. He must fight it alone. If he wins, we may all be safe." Alucard turned and headed for the door. "If he loses..." Alucard smiled slightly, "...then things are going to get very interesting for a while." Seras looked at Walter for a moment, then quietly whispered,
"Something else is going on here. Something more than it would appear."
"Is this your intuition speaking?"
"No. Mostly it's experience. Nothing in this Hellsing outfit is as simple as it appears. That whole thing with the freak chips, and Incognito and the betrayal by that member of the council of twelve...what ever happened to him, anyway?"
Alucard smiled, then exited the room, leaving Seras alone with her thoughts and a muttering Walter to keep her company.
End Chapter 15