Chapter 15: Shadow

Disclaimer: I Don't own Hellsing

Everyone could sense the presence of another somewhere in the old castle, it radiated from everywhere. Even the human soldiers sensed something, but merely an evil that seemed to radiate off of everything in a red and black feeling. But there was no source to it, as if it were spread throughout the castle.

" I suggest we split up, we'll be able to make it easier to find the piece." Said Sieghardt, "and what we are looking for should be the blade of the dagger."

Where they divided it were pairs of two. Alucard and Seras, Jones and Ryder, Jackson and Krick, and Sieghardt and Integral.

Alucard and Seras

"Alucard, we've searched most of the upper floors, don't you think we should go back down there?" asked Seras following Alucard with her Harocen Cannon being strapped to her shoulder, the height of the ceiling allowing her to pass through the halls without her weapon being scratched by the ceiling.

"There is one more room that we have left to check." Said Alucard, thought it wasn't in his normal tone, but in a more anger and malice filled one.

This caused Seras to wonder what had gotten him so angry, she didn't have to wait long to find her answer once they reached their destination.

This room was old and much like a ladies dressing room. It had a grand table in the center, couches of different sizes strewn about, as well as dressers and chests. A lot of these were filled with cobwebbed bottles of still fragrant smelling perfume, plus other things any woman would need. There was also b-webbed and ag a cave like entrance on the wall which led to a great circular bed in the next room.

Seras realized that this was the room that belonged to her Master's former brides, the three Sisters that cut him from their "fun" after he had given them the gift of immortality.

'This room probably brings back a bunch of anger inducing memories to him, personally I'm not surprised.' Thought Seras as she began to search the room.

After searching the entire room and coming up empty-handed, Alucard chose this time to reassure Seras that she need not be worried about him all the time. It would be a costly mistake, whether she loved him or not.

" You need not be concerned with me, Seras. What those whores did is in the past, and there is nothing you or I can do about it now." Said Alucard, he was blocking the door so Seras could get through.

Seras, for some reason, felt like she was being reprimanded for something.

"I am sorry Master, it's just that this reminds me of what you went through before and after you became a vampire, but I would like you to know that I shall always be by your side." Said Seras, lowering her head.

Suddenly she felt Alucard's presence gone from the room, and a voice from the shadows began to echo throughout it.

" Aww… what a mushy moment." Said the voice, " it's just too bad you won't be alive to feel that feeling again.

Sieghardt and Integral

Sieghardt and Integral had been searching a different wing in the castle, and had managed to find the room that belonged to Count Dracula himself, once.

" This is his old room." Began Sieghardt, " hmm, if the legends are true then…"

They ended up finding a secret passage marked by a hidden door. They walked down the winding staircase of the passage, their trench coats flowing behind them.

Once they had reached the end of that passage they found the ruins of an old Cathedral. It was very old and covered with dust and all sorts of mosses on the stone walls.

Sieghardt turned and noticed where the blade of the dagger was sticking out, on the ruins of an old cross.

" This is the Cathedral that my father protected as Vlad Tepes, the one protected by the Order of the Dragon. And the place where he stabbed his sword into the old cross when he found his wife had committed suicide." Said Sieghardt as he walked over to the cross and pulled the piece out of it.

He then handed it to Integral, who placed it in her trench coat.

" Alright, let's get everyone else and get out of here." Said Sieghardt as they made their way back through passage.

During this time Integral had decided to bring up he discussion on what Sieghardt had done earlier. The kiss had not left her, it still plagued her mind, and she wanted to confront him about it now.

" Sieghardt" she began, " I want to ask you something. Why did you kiss me?"

Sieghardt had been suspecting she would ask this. He knew her boldness, and knew that she would cut straight to the point rather than beat around the bush for about twenty minutes.

" If you wish to know, then to sum it up, I wanted to." Said Sieghardt as he stood in the center of the room.

The nearly set sun shined off of Integral's hair and accented her tan skin and ice blue eyes. In Sieghardt's eyes, he had never seen anything more beautiful than at this moment.

In all his life he never thought he would fall for a human, he thought it was just a simple infatuation. But now, it had grown from that into full-blown love. He knew that it was a love that could never be, she was a human and he was a creature of the night. She was also the descendant of his father's enemy, what would happen if he found out about that.

" Is that the entirety of the reason?" asked Integral, a very small hint of sadness in her voice.

" No, not entirely. The other reason is that-" whatever he was about to say went unfinished as the sun finally set. Sieghardt was able to sense the presence of a great shadow power, one that surpassed even his father.

" I'm sorry, we will have to continue this later. Our enemies have found us." Said Sieghardt.

Suddenly Integral found that she was being held by Sieghardt bridal style, and passing through the shadows back to the location of Alucard.

Once they arrived Sieghardt let down Integral to take a look at his father, who was currently slouched sitting down on the opposite wall of a door.

Once Alucard was awake he told them that he was thrown out of the room by some great force less than a few moments ago.

Sieghardt put his hand up to the door and used his abilities to try and pass through, only to find that he could not.

" Shadow" he began, " Another one of Kagan's Generals. Her powers are the shadows, she has greater control over them than you do, Father, along with the ability to create powerful rune-barriers, which is what probably threw you out.

(Seras)

" Who are you?" asked Seras.

" My name is Shadow." Responded the voice.

Seras looked behind her to see the girl materialize from the darkness. She had on a pair of knee-high black boots, with what looked to be a one-piece bikini top, but leather and with a hole in the middle exposing her stomach.

Her eyes were black as well as her hair, which seemed to flow without the assistance of the air or wind.

" What do you want?" asked Seras as she readied her Harocen cannon and pointed it right at Shadow.

" Simple: I have come to kill you." Was the last thing she heard before the entire room was engulfed in darkness.

Even with her great vision Seras couldn't make anything out. Neither could she use her sense of smell or hearing either, the whole world had gone like black.

Suddenly she was struck from the side and slammed against something hard. She dropped her Cannon when she was hit. Once she was up she was assaulted with a volley of blows, some of which she was able to block with luck, while others did her devastating damage.

" Did I forget to mention that your senses are useless here? Silly me. Must have slipped my mind. Now, it's time for you to die."

Seras felt something stab into her stomach, then into her shoulders and even into her heart. At this point, she lost consciousness.

(Unknown)

Seras woke to find herself in a great field, lush grass and forests everywhere, but wasn't she just in a castle and fighting someone who had just stabbed her through the heart.

" Yes, you were." She turned at this voice to find…herself.

There was another version of Seras standing there, this one in a flowing red dress, her fangs longer, as well as the Hellsing binding symbols on the backs of her hands.

" Who are you?" asked Seras nervously.

" I am you, Seras, your Vampiric side." Said the other Seras.

" But, what are you here for, and what do you want with me?" asked the original Seras.

" I am here to ask that you accept me, and allow me to be freed. I have been imprisoned in the depths of your mind ever since Alucard turned you, I want to be released so that we can fight this new enemy." Was her answer.

" NO!" screamed Seras, " I won't release you, I don't want to become a Monster like Alucard."

" That he may be, but we both love him none the less, don't we?" asked her Vampiric side, " Do you believe that you would truly become like him were you to let me free. Do you believe he would be able to live with himself if you were to die, would Sieghardt be born as well. Do you remember what he said to you about having such untapped power, well it's time to come to terms with me and unlock that power that you have."

" I still don't want to lose my humanity." Said Seras

" There you go being weak again." Began her Vampiric side, " Do you really believe that would happen were you to give in and embrace my side of yourself? You have to accept that you are no longer human, but that doesn't mean you have to lose all of your humanity by embracing me."

Seras could only stare as her mind processed this new information. She had to accept no longer being human, that was true. But she didn't have to accept losing her humanity, if she had to she would fight to keep it.

" Alright, I'll do it."

She looked up to see her vampiric side walk up to her and place its hand's on her shoulders. The next thing Seras knew this side of her had seemed to be sucked into her. She was now fully merged.

(Back outside of Seras's Mind)

Seras awoke to find an entirely new world to the one she had left behind. It still had the same physical form to it, but now everything was enhanced 100 fold, as well as having her wounds fully heal in a matter of seconds.

She could hear, see, smell, and even feel everything, even through the cloud of black that had been placed over her.

Now, it was time to fight back.

She could see Shadow fully now, and that she had used the shadows to create blades on her hands, Seras could see her blood on them.

" But, how? That should have killed you?" asked a dumbfounded, and actually quite scared Shadow.

" What's the matter Shadow? A few moments ago you were boasting about killing me, now that were on an even playing field, you're scared? You people truly have no honor." Seras's voice had changed, not in pitch or octave, but the fact that it now held no fear, or confusion either. No real physical changes had been made, that the naked eye could see, but there were changes inside of her.

Seras extend her claws and charged at Shadow, slashing at her with amazing speed and agility. Shadow managed only to block a few of them, the rest hit her dead on leaving horrible gashes in her sickly pale skin.

Suddenly Shadow sank into the floor becoming a shadow herself. She began to try to attack Seras with quick slashed as she came out from the shadows on the ground, but Seras could sense where she was and was able to dodge the attacks. The only problem was the fact that the battle would never be finished anytime soon if this kept up.

Seras spotted her Harocen Cannon on the ground and decided to try something out. She had remembered what Sieghardt had said, about her teaching him how to put his energy into his weapons.

' Concentrate your energy, then concentrate on putting that energy into your weapon.' She could hear a voice in her head telling her that.

Once she had picked up her gun she did what the voice had told her. She could feel the energy flowing through her, and could feel it then seeming to go from her and come into her Harocen Cannon.

The cannon changed its form, it gained what looked like fish fin curve blades on the end of the barrel and became fully black with a red Hugh coming off of it in waves. It now had some very archaic symbols on the sides and down the barrel, seeming to form long vines of thorns.

The power she felt coming off of it was amazing, and it was time to use it. She now sensed Shadow stopping for a moment, and knew it was time to fire.

Shadow couldn't comprehend the power that had just been unleashed on her.

When Seras fired a great boom filled the area, and as the bullet came barreling down its path toward Shadow she could see her death.

It hit her causing her body to explode sending blood everywhere, even on Seras. But the bullet still continued to go, right toward the door where Alucard, Sieghardt, and Integral were in.

Once Alucard heard the shot he dove out of the way, not having time to go through the floor. Sieghardt dove and pushed Integral onto the ground with him, using his body as a shield for her against that shot as well as the debris that followed.

When they looked up to see Seras walking out of the destroyed wall, the only word that was said was by Alucard.

" Nicely done, Seras Victoria."

A/N: Okay, I am sorry I had to cut short on the last one, but if I hadn't then I would have had to make a cliffhanger right before the fight between Seras and Shadow.

Tell me what you think of this chapter. And I'll write again as soon as I can.