Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing, its characters, ideas or concepts, nor do I own or make any claims to own any terms, characters, concepts or other material copyrighted by White Wolf Publishing, Inc. Any terms and their implied meanings that are copy written to White Wolf Publishing or Black Dog games are used for flavor with no intention of challenging their ownership.
Based on the Anime where it is alluded to that in order for a mortal to be able to be Embraced (or turned, or however you care to call it), he or she must be a virgin. (Shrugs.) Don't ask me. Timeframe is rather unimportant. Please R&R!
They had been bantering for about fifteen minutes, the Master and the Monster. It had been Integra's fault… her pride had once again gotten the better of her.
"Target silenced. Replacing the restrictions of the Seals." His gravelly voice was heard before his figure coalesced before her in the dining room. It was late, and she sat there staring at a few open files.
She did not acknowledge his presence other than to ask, "Body count?"
"Twenty civilians, seven soldiers. And one piss-poor excuse for a vampire."
Obviously not so poor, Alucard, if it took you over an hour to dispatch it. "Damn them," she sighed in disgust, lighting a cigar. She closed the file before her with a thud.
Ahh, but I was never taught not to play with my food… I have to take my entertainment where I can find it these nights… "Why not take your mind off of them for a while, my master…" his voice soothed as his long figure approached the table, laying his hat and glasses beside her. She groaned inwardly and massaged the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger… Not this again. "As I understand it, young ladies of your age and influence often enjoy nightly jaunts with males under full moons… and it is such a fine moon tonight…" His voice teased her with its tone, his gleaming crimson orbs cutting towards her.
"We have spoken on this subject before, Alucard. I am sure you are not so senile in your old age as to have forgotten? Very well, I will reiterate: I have not the time or inclination to tolerate such nonsense."
"Nonsense, my Master?" his voice held a mockingly puzzled tone. "To be held in the strong arms of another, to be kissed tenderly on a secret rendezvous, your body to be worshiped as the goddess you are…" his voice had risen to almost comically dramatic tones, but it now dipped down suddenly, as he leaned against he back of her chair, hovering over her shoulder, staring straight ahead, yet speaking only for her. "…to feel the passion course through you as he touches you in places no one has ever dared before…." He smirked as her grip on her cigar tightened. "Ahh… 'Nonsense'. That is not what your dreams tell me…" A tendril of his shadowy hair dared to dart out, soft and gentle as a feather to caress her cheek. She slapped it irritably away. He chuckled and stood.
"Alucard, I'm warning you. I have no patience for your games this evening." She began gathering her files, her heart racing and her pride refusing to allow him to see how his words taunted her.
"Oh, but my Master, games seem to be a favorite of your dreams…"
"ENOUGH." She said as she bangs her fist on her desk, standing, her voice holding a warning that few were stupid enough to ignore. "You have no business speaking to me in this manner. My personal life is none of your concern. I am finished with you for the evening. Go back to your basement, creature of Hell."
"Tell me, Integra," he drawled as she began to stalk from the dining room, "how does it feel to know your Organization's success, its very survival depends on this 'Creature of Hell'?"
She stopped in mid-stride, her eyes narrowed. "Tell me, Vampire, how does it feel to murder your own kind in the name of that same Organization?" She turned to regard him, her hair flowing out around her as if it had a life of its own. "Does it make you hate me? Does it make you wish you could rip me to shreds, knowing that for as long as I live, as long as the Seals exist, you will never be free? How much does it irk you to know that while they exist, you can never harm me, and never allow harm to befall me?"
His playfully mocking smirk left him. She had obviously struck a nerve, and a more cautious creature would have backed down now. She stood there however watching him, her cigar paused half-way to her lips.
He advanced; amused at the way she held her ground under what he knew was an intimidating glare.
"Yes, let us speak of your mortality," he drawled, almost menacingly. "Can you feel the bile rising in the back of your throat every time you must send me to complete a mission that your beloved Knights cannot, either because they lack the fortitude, training or cunning necessary? How much do you hate me, that every time you send a man to his death, it is I that return unscathed instead of him? And yet it is me that knows you best, that can enter your thoughts and tear at your defenses as you would permit no other to do. Is that a sick perversion of your own mind, or is it your God punishing you for using a 'Creature of Hell' to do his 'holy' deeds?" He began pacing around her like a panther stalking its prey, his deep crimson orbs burning into her soul.
"Silence." She demanded quietly, her ice blue eyes hard and cold as a diamond in the artic. As he began to circle her, she stood straighter, earning her a dark chuckle, a sound that made flesh crawl and demons quiver with fear.
He circled nearer. He knew how much it rankled every time she had to use a creature of darkness to fulfill her promise to God, Queen and Country. He knew very well the anger that rose within her every time the subject of her implied incompetence, and thus the high death toll associated with her organization, was mentioned. He knew well her defense of this, that she had to use every resource available to perform her duty… that every man knew his fate when he signed on with Hellsing, that every one of them was prepared to die for God, for Country, and for Her. He also knew what rubbish that answer really was to her.
"How does it make you feel, Integral, knowing that you will never marry for more than to just produce an heir, like a brood mare mated to the finest stallion that money can buy?" He continued to circle her, his voice dangerously low, dripping with poison and promised sin. "That when you finally climb into bed with a man, it will be no more than some bought Lord leaving a 'personal' donation in the hallowed Hellsing Halls? What does it do to you, the knowledge that every man that gets within 50 feet of you is either quaking in his boots with disgusted fear… "
"That's enough, Alucard…" she tried to interrupt, but he would not let her.
"… or filled with contempt at your dominance and power?" He was going too far, and he knew it, but he refused to let her out of this game of hers without a few scars. Not this time. He enjoyed her uncomfortable silence before he stopped, looming over her, and pinned her to the spot with his eyes. "When was your last suitor…? Age 16, 18…? I wonder…" he mused, "… if it was your charming personality, or your tendency to go for your guns that finally scared them all away?"
"ENOUGH!" she demanded louder, her fury causing her to shake slightly. He had not once raised his voice, yet she felt as if he had been screaming at her. In more civil tones she announced, "This conversation is over."
She turned, and continued her path across the room and down the hallway with him dogging her every step. "It will never be over, my Master," he relentlessly continued, putting as much hate and contempt into that one word as he possibly could. "It will not be over until the day you die, cold and alone, the Royal Ice Bitch in her pristine Ivory Tower of marble and guns, having never known the loving touch of a man, having never known true happiness, other than the false, hollow joy she receives when she dispatches a vampire…"
She stopped mid-stride and turned on her heel, suddenly facing him, her nose almost touching his. Her abrupt gesture forced him to come up short, or risk bowling her over. Her posture screamed her fury, her icy eyes snapped with infinite anger. "And what would you have of me, Alucard?" she demanded hotly, her voice so strained it was almost impossible to hear, closer to the verge of tears than she had been since her fathers death. "That I become a harlot to the devil?" She threw the now-useless stub of cigar to the ground and strode into her office. Slamming the door, she flumped into her chair, and attempted to take her mind from that infuriating monster and his too-true words.
His mocking chuckle lingered as his form began to fade, his slight, appreciative smile the last thing to disappear. Even in his anger and frustration, she amused him. This time the amusement was found in the abrupt change of her direction before she had stormed off to the perceived sanctity of her office. It had mildly alarmed him, and he had half-expected to be filled with bullet holes by now. Yet another thing that made his servitude to the Hellsing house bearable… her unpredictability. Oh yes, it was the Seals that bound his will and his powers to her, but it was her ability to continually keep him amused that assured he would return to torment her night after night.
It then struck him, exactly, what her parting shot had been. This made him stop, and blink. His smile faded, to be replaced by consternation. Surely she did not mean… He blinked again. But, no, that couldn't be…