Sebastian had been searching for the past few days and managed to track down several supernaturals and turn them over to HELLSING. Many were not in a healthy condition. They were skin and bones as though they had been starved. One vampire was much too weak to move, let alone bite or speak. Sebastian found them underneath a tarp they had managed to crawl underneath. Very peculiar, indeed. All of them were too unhealthy for interrogation. They required medial attention first. There were a few werewolves that seemed as though they would have been more helpful, had it not been for their violent demeanors accompanied by growling and "animal-like" behaviour. That wasn't atypical of new werewolves, however, as many of them thought that this is how they were supposed to behave. The butler had to put them down.

Now it was evening and he was tracking another, much bigger beast. He had already been passed information along about the presence of amateurs and was keeping an eye out for them as well. Checking his cellphone, he uttered a sigh.

"Your first anniversary and I'm not there to bid you congratulations..." he mumbled, seeing that the duo had already left the house to Elizabeth. "I'll have to apologise later..."

Looking up again, he continued to stalk through the woods that bordered the small clearing that the creature had been sighted appearing in. He had already been waiting for hours, but he was patient and was determined to get to the bottom of this, if not expel the threats himself. Quietly in the trees he waited, hoping to catch a glimpse of his prey. The man wasn't sure if anything would show up at all, especially with no bait of any sort. Yet, perhaps even the prayers of demons may be answered as well, since he heard a stirring in the distance. It was not a beast, however. No, no, it was far worse. It was humans.

From the sounds of things, these were the humans that the butler had been informed about. Sebastian could make out the sort of banter they were engaging in. They spoke of hunting, of knives, and of monsters. They spoke of glory and of being important. Indeed, Sebastian wondered with whom they were affiliated with. As they bumbled into the clearing, he assumed that he would find out.

"It's supposed to be here." said one, a man in an aviator cap and denim jacket. In his hand was a sharpened piece of wood, perhaps a stake. "Think we should go hide in the bushes?"

"No, if it knows we're here, it'll land. It won't if there's nobody to attack." answered another.

Ah, so they were bait, even amoungst themselves. Bold, but very stupid. If they did do well as bait, however, that didn't hurt Sebastian's feelings any. In fact, that is what he was counting on, now. He watched as the group formed a circle with their backs to each other. That was clever. Nothing could sneak up on the group from the sides. Yet, none of them were looking up, unfortunately, and when up against a creature that is described as a giant bat, that was unwise. So, that is what Sebastian did. He looked to the skies. Sure enough, without any of them realising it, there was something ominous up there.

A terrible monster. It appeared to be about the size of a child, but had a wingspan twice as long. It was circling above the group, obviously trying to catch one alone or off guard as to avoid being stabbed. The group was clustered together, so it would be difficult. At the same time, however, there was a sort of impatience to it that was observed immediately by the butler.

Carefully, the man started to slink closer, switching trees in order to pounce once the creature swooped down upon the crowd. Now, one might think it heartless of Sebastian to put civilians in danger, but that is not what happened here. They put themselves in danger unknowingly. Rather, they thought this was going to be a fun sport or simply didn't expect anything at all. It was quick money for a nice outing into the countryside.

At last, the impatience of the creature became to much and it dived downward, mouth open, talon-like feet reaching outward to grab one of the men. He was the scrawny one with the aviator hat and cricket bat. He fell over as soon as it had him by the shoulders. As it turned out, the creature didn't need to be cautious at all. The men surrounded it were too dumbfounded and too inexperienced to do a single thing about it. They stood frozen in fear, staring up at the beast as their friend called out for help. They could have slashed at the creature with knives in hand, but they couldn't. It is not shameful that they couldn't. Most human beings freeze up in stressful situations. It is not at all uncommon or a reflection of their personal character.

In an instant, Sebastian reacted, leaping out of the trees while it was still. The poor man beneath it felt crushed between both it's weight and the weight of the butler. With a smile, the butler wrapped an arm around his prey's shoulders before pulling a simple, silver butter knife out with the other. From behind, he lined the weapon up and stabbed the monster from under the jaw, leading straight into it's brain. This was a piece of silverware that he would have to dispose of. It would not be returning to the dining set.

The creature fell where it was, allowing Sebastian to stand up at last. "Goodness gracious..." he said, pulling the creature off to the side. He then began cleaning the knife with a handkerchief before pulling out another in a neat little holster. Unlike the first, this one was clearly a weapon, carrying the HELLSING crest on the handle. "This won't do… In my haste, it would appear that I used the wrong knife. It will surely come back with this. It would appear that I have gotten rusty… This won't do..."

Taking the weapon out, he raised his arm high and brought it down hard on the beast's chest. Once, twice, and then three times, he stabbed it, ensuring its death. Somehow, he managed to not get any back splatter on his person. This wasn't surprising, however. He is Sebastian Michaelis, after all.

The concerning matter was that of the young men and one or two women that stood behind him, gasping at the first downward strike and unable to look away at the rest. When the demon was finished, he began cleaning his newer weapon as well.

"Good evening." he finally greeted, addressing the group. His voice was deep and soothing, contrasting greatly with the violence that they had just witnessed. Unfortunately, the man didn't receive a response right away after he paused, so he was forced to continue talking. "I take it this is your first time witnessing such a thing."

"U-uh-huh..." Some of the humans nodded while the rest were still too stunned to react.

"Understandable. I see your armed. Did you intend to kill it, yourselves? Best not freeze up next time. You might end up like your friend there." Gesturing to the man on the ground, Sebastian diverted the attention of the mortals, as it seemed as though they had forgotten him.

Poor man. Sebastian could tell that he probably won't recover from this. A good chunk of his soul was missing. He could sense it. That just made Sebastian all the more glad he killed this creature, as well as helped him identify what it was. That said, he couldn't control or predict how the amateur group would react to their comrade. Two rushed over to the fallen and turned him over on his back.

"Roddy!" they called out. "Roddy, can you hear me?!"

So his name was Roddy, then. Hard to pay attention, with the poor man staring blankly forward without blinking. Indeed, Sebastian didn't know what would happen to him. He might never come back mentally and if he did, it would be incomplete. Important memories of his life would be gone. Even parts of his personality may be absent. Perhaps the pieces would come back to him, eventually, as the creature had not yet digested his essence, but it was unlikely. The proximity would be a problem. The man would no doubt be admitted to some hospital in Manchester, while the monster would instead go back to London to be studied.

"My apologies." the butler began. "I did not intend for this to happen. I can offer you no advice on what to do, either. His injuries are not physical, but metaphysical. That creature stole part of his soul."

"What?" was all he got in response. It was less of a question and more of an utterance of surprise. Needless to say, this was a lot to deal with for an ordinary human to process.

"Do you not understand? Your comrade is down. It happens often in this line of work." Putting his knife away, the butler smiled. "You're lucky, though! Be glad! You survived, despite being monstrously untrained and improperly equipped. What were you hoping to accomplish with any of that, by the way?"

"Wh-who are you?" demanded one. "I am squad leader Grant Hatter of the Belmont Organization!"

"Ah, so you are affiliated with those amateurs. No wonder. Interesting to see that they offer no training or supplies. You're either disposable or they're just idiots. In addition, I'm afraid I can't answer your question, however. So sorry." Grabbing a wing the butler began to drag the body of the creature out of the clearing and through the woods. "I do suggest that you follow me, though. There might be something else out here, given the amount of reports that came in."

Things seemed to progress abnormally quickly, but what else were they going to do? They couldn't just sit there, God, no. They were too scared to move if someone wasn't there to figuratively hold their hand. Thus, while dragging a corpse through the woods part of the way and carrying it the next, Sebastian led them away, causing them to ponder this strange man. Before too long, however, one did have the courage to speak up.

"Why do you know so much?" they asked, struggling with the rest of the group to carry their fallen friend.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you too much." Sebastian answered while light shined between the trees further ahead. "I am forbidden from doing so."

As the lights drew closer, the group eventually stepped out from the forest and into a search light. Once their eyes focused, they could see armoured vehicles and men in military style uniforms with guns. Sebastian tossed the body toward a group with hazmat suits on, who then proceeded to wrap it in a plastic tarp and put it inside one of the trucks after making sure that it was dead.

It would seem that Sebastian was not one for allowing people time to adjust, as before any of them could wrap their heads around the situation, armed soldiers pointed guns in their faces, ordering them to drop their weapons. Once they did, the group of would-be monster hunters found themselves in handcuffs, as they were being taken in for questioning. Panic ensued, but there wasn't much they could do about it. Some fell apart silently while being led to one of the vehicles, while others squirmed and thrashed and shouted out against their restraints.

"What are you arresting us for?!" shouted one. "We didn't do anything illegal!"

An operative in a hazmat suit walked over to the fallen amateur before calling out to the others dressed the same. "We need a medic over here!"

"Don't touch him!" roared the one known as "Grant" before he was shoved into the truck with the rest. Somehow, he managed to stand on his knees and look out. "Where are you taking us?! Who are you?!"

And to that, the devil did grin so sweetly that it sent chills down the spines of these poor fools just before the doors closed. "Me?" he innocently questioned. "It's nothing remarkable, really. I am simply one hell of a butler."


A/N: Still can't upload on my computer. What happened? I'm gonna see if I need to update anything, but I'm pretty sure it's FF. It does this kind of shit extremely often.

I'm kind of discouraged, really. I'm not pleased about how the actual upload is working or with the uploads themselves. Specifically, I realised that I shouldn't have written this chapter first. I should have written the upcoming one instead. Dammit. The flow is all wrong. Chronologically, this comes after! But nooooo I needed Sebastian. The fucker. I wanted to check in on how he was doing, so I ended up with this. Throws off the entire thing!

Just keep in mind… This happens BEFORE the next thing.

I guess it really doesn't matter, though. They're two seperate events with different characters. In other words, it's a Cielois chapter. That's all it is. Did you think I'd forget? They have an anniversary to celebrate, and I'm not gonna keep that from you.

On that note:

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!