Chapter 2 (rewritten)
REALLY LONG AUTHOR NOTES. SKIP IF YOU COULDN'T CARE LESS.
Ladyslvrfyre: I will be adding notes to explain certain details of my story and I will also try to be descriptive in the story to explain the amalgam I've made of Hellsing and Vampire the Masquerade.
Tornado(Reviewer and marisamoonlight : About Section XIII of the Vatican being involved in France. According to the time lines of history and Vampire the Masquerade the Inquisition founded the Society of Leopold in 1231, the Society "took up the slack" (World of Darkness) in 1313 as the Inquisition fades, coinciding with history the independent Vatican city was formed in 1929 and as such I think it would be appropriate for Kindred to refer to the tried and true Society of Leopold rather than the newer Vatican operation in France. (If anyone can refer me to Hellsing information regarding the history of Section XIII I would be grateful, as I have searched on a few engines and have found not much about their background.) In WoD there were orders under the Inquisition as well as the Shadow Inquisition which is rather much like the orders under the Vatican. It consisted of: The Poor Knights of the Passion of the Cross of Acre which served as the military might, The Oculi Dei who were commoners and spies ( silent supporters,) The Sisters of St. John who were church visionaries, The Red Order which were church theologians and those who practiced the Holy Art which I take to mean the powers of true faith/magic, and The House of Murnau (predecessors of the Society of Leopold) who were German nobles with a legacy of hunting demons. (Excerpts from Dark Age: Inquisitor by White Wolf, outlined in The Dungeon by Johann Lionheart.) Eventually the Inquisition shifted into the Society of Leopold. So as a product of the Inquisition, which seems to predate the Vatican sections, the Society would be more universal. In my view this would still make the Vatican important, perhaps it is a sign of the Society's extinction like to that of it and the Inquisition in the past, making way for the new. But I think Kindred would still be more likely to reference them as under the Society rather than their own entity unless getting into detailed discussion about what section is being a particular problem in France. Which may very well be Section XIII. I'm up for further discussion of this matter because forthcoming chapters with human hunters will not be for a while yet.
Thess and Tzimisce: Thank you for your criticisms. I do have a tendency to be wordy in my exposition, I seem to be stuck in research paper mode. I have tried to break it up with dialogue and other description. I do not have a beta and I don't think anyone would want to beta for my incomprehensible scribbles, but if anyone with passable knowledge of WoD and Hellsing would mind doing a bit of proofreading I would appreciate the help. Some of Tzimisce's insights are spot on but I don't think I will give away which. Though I don't see Alucard being too harsh on the Tremere since they have so much in common. (Them having diablerized Antediluvian Saulot to form their clan and him having done something similar.)
Notes: The system of making ghouls and childer will be compromised with the VtM universe. Draining dry will cause mindless ghouls, draining and feeding blood will sire a child, and feeding a human a vampire's blood will cause a blood bonded servant. (Feeding on but not killing a human will raise no consequences unless it violates the masquerade.) Thanks for reading!
Down in her basement level quarters Seras Victoria was getting ready to peel off her clothes for a much needed shower. Training that day had proved a very messy, sweaty job and she felt decidedly gross and looked forward to the hot water on her weary body. Of course comfort always seemed to elude Seras since she'd been turned, so why should now be any different? Just as she was removing her thigh-highs the presence of her master invaded her senses. She groaned, continuing to shed her stockings but halting her removal of clothes after that point.
"Well someone doesn't sound pleased to see me." Alucard appeared before Seras who sat on her coffin-bed.
"That would be because I'm not master." Seras replied in an exasperated tone. "I'd like some privacy right now."
"What you like or do not like doesn't particularly concern me. I'll let that bit of insubordination slide for the time being. Soon, however, I will require exemplary obedience and conduct from you."
"What are you on about?"
"Master requires information about the recent inactivity of freaks and such. We are to pretend we are free of Hellsing and not actively hunting vampires so as to gain admittance into vampire circles. This means you must learn manners in a very short period of time. Adherence to etiquette will ensure you survive vampire society...and me." A sadistic grin formed on the elder vampire's face, emphasizing his words.
Seras gazed fearfully upon her master.
"I have been lenient in my discipline of you, childe. Admittedly because I didn't care a whit about your proper upbringing. I was looking forward to breaking you of your pesky humanity and creating a monster, as it would have been exceedingly amusing. But now I suppose I will have to instruct you in the way of our world in a more traditional and hands on fashion."
"You mean changing your 'leaving a naked baby in the woods' approach to a more acceptable and productive strategy. Perish the thought." Seras rolled her ruby eyes at Alucard, not caring for the moment that she was continuing to be insubordinate.
"I thought letting you figure it all out on your own would make you stronger, but it seems I am being forced to coddle you. I wouldn't be bothered with you now had master not set us in this path." Alucard sneered, "First you are going to have to learn to curb that tongue of yours, it won't do to have you running off at the mouth in front of the elders. Second we are going to have to acquire better clothing for you, a childe of mine will not appear in such unflattering attire. And third you are not to repeat anything you will learn from me to master or any other mortal."
"If you are suggesting I keep Sir Integra in the dark about important information you are mad, or madder than usual."
Alucard's face darkened as his arm shot out to grab Seras by the throat. Her eyes wide as she dangled a few feet off of the ground by his hand. He brought her face level with his own while she clutched at his wrist, trying to support herself.
"The nature of the society we are about to enter into is founded on secrecy and tradition. Secrecy that even I uphold. Though I have no love for the Camarilla you will not speak its name to any mortal lest you expose the masquerade. Do not cross your sire, Seras Victoria, or you will regret it. I promise you."
He dropped her then and she crumbled to the floor in a heap. The vampire paced around her and his face regained its usual blank expression.
Seras's choked voice travelled to Alucard's ears. "Yes...master. But...what is the Camarilla? And the masquerade?"
"Perhaps it would be better to start at the beginning, some of this I believe Hellsing may be aware of, other details not. You know the story of Caine and Able I presume, police girl?"
"Of course I do, I've read the bible."
Alucard paced the floor in front of his childe, dutifully taking on the role of instructor. "Well then you know half or less of the story. When Caine killed his brother God punished him by turning him into the first vampire. He is our dark father, in the beginning he begat 3 childer. These childer begat the major thirteen clans of vampires and so on."
He waved his hands about, emphasizing as he lectured. "You and I are clan Tzimisce. In these modern nights Tzimisce are fiends, very few are aligned with the Camarilla. I myself actually prefer the Inconnu, elder vampires who extracted themselves from vampire society as I had, but of course circumstance prevents me from claiming membership any longer. The majority of our clan are Sabbat, those vampires that we fight and who probably have some hand in the freak chips in my opinion. They care not for the masquerade, indeed they would have all humans know of us and serve us. But the Camarilla believes mortals could wipe us out if they knew of our whole number. The Sabbat lacks logic. Their monstrousness and cruelty is admirable, but they are mistaken in thinking humans don't have power of their own, as I have learned."
Seras sat completely still and stared at her master, unblinking. In the past at the academy she always had been an attentive student and now absorbed the information he offered her with relish.
"Being of clan Tzimisce will make it harder for us to fit in, because the clans of the Camarilla know us only as the enemy. Hopefully my time as an Inconnu and my reputation will put us in better standing than we would otherwise be. Our appearance alone sets us apart. One of our powers, which I admit to have shaped to my own purposes, is called visscitude. It allows us to craft our flesh into what we will. Weapons, etc. Most Tzimisce look monstrous or inhumanly beautiful...or both. My other forms come to mind yes?" Seras nodded dumbly. "Well someday you may learn the discipline as well, though I would prefer you didn't shift your true visage into the kind of grotesque forms they favor, it makes it rather inconvenient to blend in...though I suppose that is the point of their transformations..." He trailed off then as if remembering some that he has seen.
"Sir Integra doesn't know of any of this?"
Alucard's attention returned to his pupil. "Humans find it hard to believe demons such as ourselves could form governments of our own, and it is for the best that they don't know. There are organizations that have a decent understanding of it, I believe the Iscariots are one since they have ties with the Society of Leopold, but they don't care to share this information. It probably makes them think they have something on Hellsing, and perhaps they do..." He took in her disheveled form and decided he'd given her enough to absorb for the time being. "Have a shower, police girl, you reek." In the blink of an eye Alucard had vanished into the bowels of the Hellsing mansion, his voice lingering after he had gone. "Come to my chambers after you finish. This lesson is not over."
Once Seras was sure her master had gone she resumed undressing. Wrapping her robe around her body and gathering her toiletries she headed for the bathroom. After placing her things on the counter she knelt by the tub. She had fully intended to take a quick shower as her master had suggested, but she could not stop the mutinous thoughts of a relaxing bath from surfacing. Under the circumstances she deserved a little comfort. Seras narrowed her eyes, bringing a hand to her bruised throat. The power of her blood were already healing the marred flesh, but the wound to her mind would not be erased as easily. Resolved to forget about her master and his words for the time being she brought her hand back down and adjusted the knobs on the faucet until the water temperature was piping hot.
After removing her robe the young fledgling eased herself into the bath. It was at times like these when she almost felt alive again. Her body and her blood hot, she closed her eyes and let the sensation wash over her. She could nearly fool herself into believing that her heart was pumping beneath her breast and that it and the air she took into her lungs was sustaining her life. The pretense could not last, however, as the water and her skin became tepid while she bathed. She had to wake from the illusion, stand, and watch the water swirl down the drain like some sort of cruel metaphor. She stood dripping and naked for a time, hugging herself. What seemed like ages later she sighed, donning her robe and exiting to her room to dress.
Sorry to Tongari-san I was thinking Saulot but wrote Cappadocius. Also Alucard is Tzimisce, well, because he is Dracula and Dracula is Tzimisce in the books. It's the way it has to be. The experimentation I hear the Hellsings did on him might explain the Lasombra-like power, I'm not sure how I'd pin it yet. But he is very old and they say some old ones betray no lineage because their mastery of many disciplines.