The War (part1)
"With Friends Like These – Who needs Enemies?"
"You're late, Sir Kent." said Sir Wellington.
"I know." snapped Sir Kent. "But my wife was attacked last night."
"What!" gasped Sir Wright, deeply concerned.
"Is she alright?" asked Sir Morse.
"Physically, yes. She's fine. But mentally, I'm afraid she still very upset." relayed Sir Kent.
"What happened?" asked Sir Island, handing Sir Kent a cup of water.
"She had taken a cab home from the theater. She said that something green hit the cab. The driver tried to avoid it, but hit a tree. She was the first to wake up and went to see about the driver. That's when he attacked her. She managed to get away, but…"
"It was a demon." said Sir Wellington. "From now on, I suggest you strongly urge all your family members to be home by sundown."
"And just what keeps them from invading our homes?" asked Sir Jeffery. "Its not like our homes are hollowed ground."
"They have to be invited." informed Sir Morse. "Don't ask me why, that's just the way it is. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have your home blessed by a priest either."
"This is intolerable!" ranted Sir Kent. "This is all Integra's fault; that demon whore! I will kill her!"
"We can't, Sir Kent. Not yet." said Sir Wellington.
"Why not! She's no longer a knight and does not deserve our protection!"
"But we need innocent Hellsing blood to shut the gates of hell." Sir Wellington, reminded them.
"So what do you propose that we do?" asked Sir Island.
"Rescue her from the monster that has her held captive in her own home." said Sir Wellington, with a knowing smile.
"What!" yelled Sir Kent.
"Calm down, Sir Kent. What I mean is this." proposed Sir Wellington. "We attack Hellsing manor, kill her monsters, take her into custody until her children are born, sacrifice them to close the gates of Hell, and then sentence Integra to death for failure in her duties to the crown. And then Sir Kent, we can kill Integra."
"Damn good plan!" fumed Sir Kent. "Put an end to all this Hellsing shit. It's not like we don't how to kill vampires. I'm sure we could create our own elite team. People who would be less trouble than she is."
"Then its war." announced Sir Wellington. "Prepare your men."
"I don't think this is right." interjected Sir Scarlett. "A full scale war against an unwed mother. This can only end badly. And I hope you've got someone more powerful than Alucard, because he's going to be your main problem."
"Not to worry, Sir Scarlett. As righteous men of faith whose duty it is to protect the crown; God is on our side." assured Sir Wellington.
"Yeah, we are her majesty's knights! We will not fail!" cheered the knights.
"And we are more holy than the priests we sent to kill Integra the first time?" thought Sir Scarlett.
"I will have none of it." announced Sir Scarlett. "This is wrong."
"Wrong was what she did to open the gates of Hell in the first place! Wrong was not sticking to the plan and marrying one of the men that we presented to her! Wrong was putting her own needs before the crown!" scolded Sir Kent.
"And whose needs will Integra's death serve?" asked Sir Scarlett, calmly.
Sir Kent fell silent.
"England's, of course, Sir Scarlett." answered Sir Wellington. "You can not deny her "criminal activity".
Sir Scarlett shook his head. These men were UN-righteous and they would fail. Sir Scarlett got up and left. The rest of the knights watched him leave. Sir Kent grabbed him by the arm as he left.
"You can't tell her of this. As a knight, I demand your loyalty in this." growled Sir Kent.
"That I will not give you." said Sir Scarlett. "Even if I said nothing, you could not take him by surprise."
"Swear it!" demanded Sir Kent.
Sir Kent looked at his fellow knights. In their faces, he could see they were already planning his death if he did not comply. Alucard would take care of Integra, of this he was sure.
"I swear." said Sir Kent, sadly.
"As a knight." insisted Sir Kent.
"I swear, as a knight of her majesty's round table, to keep silent." said Sir Scarlett, with a growl in his voice.
"Good man." said Sir Jeffery, happy that that was over.
Sir Scarlett just huffed, shook his head in disgust, and left.
"We should watch him." said Sir Hipwood.
"You don't trust him?" asked Sir Island. "He gave us his word."
"Exactly. That was too easy." said Sir Kent.
"He is a man of his word." said Sir Jeffery, not liking that anyone would doubt the word of a knight. "As are we all. If we can't trust each others word, what do we have?"
"Quite right." said Sir Wellington, with a smile.
"Sir Wellington." called Sir Morse. "What of your son? His unit guards Integra."
"Don't worry about him. I can easily reassign him for one day." said Sir Wellington, confidently. "Just leave everything to me. All you have to do is command your men into battle. Each of you will head's a unit. There can be no mistakes."
It was a cloudy day, and it was lightly raining. Mouse was cooking and Integra was eating when they both heard an unfamiliar squawk. Integra looked up and over on the fridge sat a pigeon.
"What the hell?" asked Mouse. "How'd he get in here?"
"It's a messenger bird." began Integra, walking over to it and collecting the message. "Something must be very wrong. Messenger birds haven't been used since 1952."
"Why?" asked Mouse, as she petted the young pigeon.
"Telephones can be bugged. Human messengers can be seen and intercepted." explained Integra, looking at the strip of paper.
"Ahh, clever. So what's the message?"
"No message, just a color." said Integra, showing the piece of paper to Mouse.
"Red?" Ok, that's danger."
"No, Sir Scarlett wants to see me." said Integra, very worried.
"Oh, I get it. Do you have a color?" asked Mouse.
"Green." said Integra, preparing to leave.
"Obviously." laughed Mouse. "I'll leave at sundown after Alucard awakens."
"I shall go." said Integra, giving the pigeon some water.
"You can't." said Mouse. "You're under house arrest."
"James would let me go."
"Of course he would." agreed Mouse. "He'd even help you. Point is you know they are watching the house."
"I wouldn't be gone long."
"Forget it." growled Mouse. "Stay put. Stay safe within the barrier."
"Who is master here?" growled Integra, angered by Mouse ordering her.
"Alucard." smiled Mouse.
Integra raised an eyebrow, and then the children gave her a kick.
"Oh."
"See they agree with me." smiled Mouse. "Good job, little kin. Keep mommy out of trouble."
Integra growled at Mouse and then Alucard appeared.
"You're up early." she commented.
"I'm hungry." said Alucard, giving Integra a lick around her neck. "I must go out."
"As long as you're going out, go and see Sir Scarlett." ordered Sir Integra. "But don't let anyone see you. You may endanger his life."
"Are the knights up to something again?" laughed Alucard. "Something with more priests perhaps?"
"I don't know yet. But apparently it's big; Sir Scarlett sent a messenger bird to warn us."
Alucard looked at the bird. The bird looked back at him and squawked.
"Don't even think about it." smirked Integra. "He's part of the Royal Air Force."
"Ha ha ha. I've eaten soldiers before." reminded Alucard. "But don't worry. He's not big enough for a sandwich."
"Father, I should go." said Mouse, seriously. "If they are expecting you, they'll have spells to detect you. To stop you. You know they can not harm me."
"Hm."
Alucard thought about it. He wasn't afraid of them or their spells. Only one could truly bind him. However, a smart warrior knew when to fight and …when not to. Alucard leered as he looked at Mouse.
"Bring me back someone with AB blood." said Alucard, sweeping Integra off her feet and into his arms.
"Alucard! Put me down!" shouted Integra.
"I told you I was hungry." chuckled Alucard.
"Mouse will bring you dinner." said Integra, crossing her arms in anger.
"Ha ha ha. Food is only half of what I hunger for." laughed Alucard, disappearing with Integra.
SQUAWK.
"Guess, it's just you and me, pal."
SQUAWK.
"Nah, they're always like that."
SQUAWK.
"Yah alright, I'll take you home. Come on."
Mouse held out her arm and the bird hopped up on it.
"O.k. now that'll be $1.50 to start and .50 cents each additional mile." chuckled Mouse.
By the time Mouse returned, the sun was hanging low in the sky. Alucard and Integra had been playing chess; when suddenly Integra lifted up her head and sniffed the air.
"Mouse is back." she announced.
Alucard just grinned wickedly at the thought of Integra's senses getting sharper.
"It's not that." said Integra. "I smell kippers."
Suddenly, Mouse entered the room; a brown bag in one hand and a girl of about twenty years of age in the other.
"Give." ordered Integra.
Mouse handed Integra the bag. Integra took it, opened the bag and took out the herring. She dipped them in the ice cream and ate them. Mouse made a sick face.
"Blah." said Mouse. "Humans don't drink blood, but they'll eat crap."
Alucard walked over and took the girl from Mouse.
"Whoa." said Mouse. "Take it easy with her. That is Sir Scarlett's eldest daughter and he wants her back."
"He gave you his daughter?" questioned Integra, very worried.
"It's a good will offering. He wants you to know that he had absolutely nothing to do with what is going to happen." explained Mouse.
"And what is going to happen?" asked Integra.
"They are planning a full scale war. With a vengeful Vatican's help, they will try to bind Alucard and capture you."
"Capture?"
"They still need your children to close the gates, but they don't need us. Us they will kill."
"Those damn conniving bastards!" swore Integra.
"Calm yourself Integra. I will take care of them." assured Alucard. "Walter and I will pay them a visit. I have a promise to keep."
"No." advised Mouse. "Not yet."
"Not yet you say." queried Alucard.
"She's right. You attack now and you tip Sir Scarlett's hand. As a knight, they will have sworn him to secrecy. He broke his word as a knight. We must let them believe they have the upper hand." said Integra, her countenance growing dark.
"Ha ha ha." laughed Alucard. "I like the way you think."
"Um, oh, where am I?" asked the girl.
Alucard looked at her, captured her gaze and ordered her back to sleep.
"Well, if you will excuse me." he said, as he disappeared. "We'll discuss this after dinner."
A week went by and it was still cloudy out. Now and again the sun would make an appearance, but it would always hide its face again. And a gentle wind blew. Sir James and his men stood guard outside Integra's home; when a military troop transport pulled up. Twenty-five men jumped out and their leader confronted James.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, filled with suspicion.
"We have orders to relieve you."
"What? Why?"
"You've been guard here for almost six months. Regulations stipulate a rotation of men at each post." said their captain. "Don't your men deserve a break? Don't they want to see their families?"
"Yes, they do." agreed James, still smelling the hand of deceit.
"Didn't you lose a man?"
James growled lowly at him, but would not be so easily baited.
"Don't let this quiet house fool you. It's a dangerous post. I don't think your men could handle it." challenged James.
"My men can handle anything." retorted the captain, squaring off against James.
"Doubtful, hope your men are not afraid of the boogie man, cause he visits us every night." laughed James at the captain.
"You have lost your place in her majesty's army, a man under your command, and your mind. Maybe my replacing you, is the queen's way of telling you that you are no longer needed." growled the captain.
"Show me." said James.
The captain brought out his orders and showed them to James. James looked them over. They had not the queen's signature, but they did have her seal. Everything was in order, but he doubted that it was official.
"You don't mind if I call these in." asked James, slyly.
"You don't trust her majesty?"
"I don't trust my father."
"What's wrong James?" called Mouse's voice inside his head. "You seem angry."
"I'm being relieved of duty." James told her mentally.
"So the war begins."
"What war?" asked James.
"The knights vs. Integra."
"God damn my father." growled James.
"Just go James. Send your men home to their loving families. We will be fine." urged Mouse. "We have fought greater armies and we still stand."
"But I …"
"Don't worry. I will be here."
"As you wish."
James folded the orders and gave them back to the captain.
"Tell you men to be inside the house before sundown." warned James.
"Yes. We've been informed as to your little monster show." sneered the captain.
James called his men together, told them they were relieved until further notice, and then they left. James' men were happy to be going home, but James didn't like this one bit. However, he knew who to get his answers from.