CHAPTER 6:
The silence didn't seem to last for too long, and neither did the dark, underground corridors. The master and his newest fledgling had arrived at the Hellsing Manor's large foyer, which Celia recognized immediately. She spotted Walter exiting the powerful Hellsing leader's office just then, carrying a tray with him.
"Ha...Mr. Walter!" The young vampire child giggled and waved one arm happily and frantically, her other hand still clutching a couple of Alucard's large, gloved fingers. Her hat, held within her waving hand, nearly fell out of her grip as she waved so enthusiastically.
"Good evening, Miss Pares," Walter bowed with a friendly smile, nodding to Alucard respectfully as well. "How are you tonight?"
"Um...I sort of tripped—Oh! But I found Master Alucard," She nodded up at him with a large smile, showing her recently grown fangs, "And he told me what I'll do here as a vampire...and—and I'm getting hungry..."
"Alright then, if you come with me, I'll give you something to eat, and we'll discuss the Hellsing Organization." The Angel of Death glanced up at the fiercely tall nosferatu as he nodded with his usual grin plastered on his face.
"I'll speak with you later, Celia."
"Okay!" Celia grasped his hand tightly for a moment longer, her small hands entwined around his fingers. "Bye, Master!" She smiled and trotted up to Walter, holding her hat with both hands. The butler knelt down next her as he studied her chin and shoulder—one which she had completely forgotten about.
"Oh dear...is this what happened when you tripped?"
"Um—my chin...yeah...but Master Alucard said that you can help!" She smiled up at him. "You can do a lot of stuff!"
"That's right, and I most certainly can help you. Come along, we'll patch that up right away while you get something to eat."
"M'kay!" Celia turned to say her farewell to her Master, but he had already disappeared from the room. "Aw..." She blinked and then looked up at Walter. "Where did—?"
"Oh, don't worry, Miss Pares...Alucard tends to appear and disappear when you least expect it." Although it can be quite predictable at some points...He thought to himself. Shaking his head, he ushered Celia along to the kitchen, and she clambered up onto a bar stool once they reached it.
"So, are you prepared to become a soldier of the Hellsing army?"
"Umm...well—s-sort of...If I have to,"
"I'll have to prepare a weapon for you, then. I believe that I have an ideal item that would fit you..."
"Huh?" She blinked, staring up at him. "W-weapon?"
"Well...enough about that." He didn't want to drop such a large amount of responsibility on her on her first day. Walter opened a large fridge and pulled out another box of "juice", handing it to her, as well as the straw. "Drink this. Hopefully we can replace your eye bandages soon once we close up your chin injury; the binds you wear are starting to overflow with blood."
Celia paused at taking the juice box, hesitating for a moment, remembering the nosferatu's words.
"You've already had a meal of blood!"
"B-blood—Oh? I have? ...I only remember having some juice that Mr. Walter gave to me..."
"That? That was blood, Celia."
She stared at the carton of juice.
"Miss Pares? Are you all right?" Walter looked down at the small girl with deep concern in his old eyes and voice.
"Um...I was wondering...Mr. Walter is—is this...is this blood?"
"Well..." He paused and studied her cheerless, intent stare for a moment. "I suppose it isn't a secret anymore, so...yes. Alucard requested that you did not know of it unless he decided to tell you himself."
"So—so it's okay, right?" Celia held the packet up. "I mean...if—if you're giving it to me...that's okay?"
"Sir Integra may dislike vampires, but she knows very well how to take care of them. We have plenty of donated blood sacks to fulfill your soon-to-come vampyric thirsts and needs, so there's no need to worry about such a problem, alright?"
"...Okay," She smiled lightly, relieved by his words, and started to drink the juice box of blood.
"..." Walter sighed in his amazement. "You are a remarkable child, Miss Pares." He exhaled through his nostrils. "Miss Victoria has been with us for a couple of years now, and she still has yet to accept her new un-life and does not drink blood regularly...No...she doesn't drink it at all,"
"So—um...it's sort of like my brothers and sisters with vegetables..." She mumbled, sipping the red body fluid through the straw. "Maybe she doesn't like it? The blood, I mean..."
"That may be possible...but I also think that she may just wish to hold onto her humanity for a while longer yet."
"Yeah..." Celia nodded in agreement, although she barely understood what he had just said. She finished the rest of the blood in silence. Apparently Seras Victoria simply didn't want to rid her entire life of something she valued more than anything. Maybe she had something as a human that she still wants...or needs. The young girl sighed lightly, realizing her own choice. She had instantly given up on her own species, but then again, what was left in her humanity to live for anyway? Her family had died, she knew of no other relatives, and she hated the feeling of loneliness.
However, she didn't wish to burden anyone with endless questions or her own...less than understandable opinions; although she still carried thousands of subjects that had ended up left behind and unanswered. Maybe once she grew accustomed to the Hellsing rules, they would answer themselves.
Later that evening, after re-bandaging her eye, and taping a piece of gauze onto her chin, as well as her shoulder, Walter led Celia through memorizing the Hellsing phrase.
"In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation." Walter repeated it for the thirtieth time. "Come on, try again Miss Pares,"
"In the name of God..."
"Yes,"
"Un pure souls of the living dead..."
"Er--,"
"Shell be bay meshed into infernal damn in nation?" Celia paused and suddenly gasped, clapping her hands over her mouth. "I said a bad word!! Mr. Walter, I'm not allowed to say that!!"
"Eh—," Walter chuckled and patted her on the head. "It's alright, Miss Pares...no one here will pay it any mind." He sighed heavily. "I suppose we'll try the phrase again later. I don't want you to get tired out from it..."
"O—okay..." She giggled nervously. "Sorry, Mr. Walter..."
"It's quite alright, Miss Pares. Ah...here we are!" He turned towards a door and opened it slowly. They had wandered around the mansion for an hour reciting the slogan, while Walter led her to the underground corridors.
"This will be your own room, Miss Pares," He nudged her inside so she could take a look, and she stumbled in quickly, nearly tripping on her own feet at the push.
A large bed sat right next to the entrance, behind the door. It had four posters with a burgundy-wooded ceiling. She blinked in curiosity, seeing that it looked like it had the shape of a coffin. On the farthest wall, she saw a dark table with a bowl, a cup, an ice dispenser with ice already inside, and some other thing she couldn't quite make out yet, as well as two candlesticks. Along with that, she saw a matching pair of chairs pushed up the table. Within the icebox, she finally made out what looked like a plastic bag of red liquid, with a large lettering of "AB" on its front.
The only other large pieces of furniture she could see in the room seemed like a large clothes cabinet with a dresser next to it.
"Wow..." She gasped, amazed by the chamber. To her slight relief, it seemed that windows had no place in the room. She felt much more comfortable in the dark—even more so since her un-life. "It's better than my old room!"
"Really? Your family was quite wealthy...where was your former room?"
"Oh?—Uh...I had a room in the attic, but I slept in my sisters' rooms a lot since my brothers always scared me with scary stories—but I always had to sleep on the floor..."
"Well, then I suppose that these quarters will be much more suited to your tastes than the attic. We're finished with everything you need to know for today. You're welcome to explore the manor as long as you stay out of trouble. If you need me again, simply call for me, and I'll answer as soon as I possibly can."
"Okay!" Celia smiled brightly, balancing on the balls of her feet. "Thank you very much, Mr. Walter!"
"You're quite welcome, Miss Pares," He bowed from his waist and disappeared down the hallway, leaving the door open since she couldn't even reach it.
Celia watched him leave, and looked around the chamber before running up to the back of the room and scrambling onto one of the chairs, standing on it. Then she reached over to the ice box, pulling it over to grab the packet of blood, wondering what it meant by the large "AB" lettering on the plastic.
Maybe she could find Alucard and ask him, since Walter had helped enough for the day—or night—or whatever time it had become, she couldn't tell; she had no window, nor a clock to tell her the time (not that she could read it).
Thus, after keeping a firm grip on the blood bag, Celia jumped down from the chair and left the room to find Alucard, or, possibly, someone else who would acknowledge her vampyric toddler presence.