Those who were directly involved with the killing of David Belmont were not the only ones who were busy on the night that it happened. HELLSING staff were working to make sure that everything that needed to be done was done. The mission was documented and further investigation into the matter of the Belmont Organisation was underway. Then, there was the most unfortunate task of notifying the family.
Mister Belmont was asleep and would not be told until morning. When he was, he wasn't yet allowed to leave, despite him being safe from his son. The man needed psychiatric care immediately. He had suffered so much and it had never been addressed. He was told of the heroic sacrifice that his daughter made, but it didn't help him any. Not right then, at least. Mister Belmont was absolutely devastated. He was the last of his family left alive, his pride and joy taken from him by her own brother. Due to the extent of his trauma, HELLSING decided that it would be best to place him under suicide watch as he was further cared for.
Then there was Rue, the demon that took care of Constance and seemingly felt some form of fondness toward her. Elizabeth had interrogated her thoroughly during her search for Constance as the girl made her escape, only to get nothing out of her. Rue was loyal to Constance to the very end, but now, it was time to inform her that the girl wouldn't be fulfilling her promise to come back.
It was decided by Elizabeth, for her own, personal reasons, that she would inform the demoness herself. She needed to wait, however, and request professional assistance that HELLSING could not supply. It was far too high above the organisation for them to be of any use to her in this situation.
Once her aid came, she was able to commence. She walked into the room alone at first and instructed the human guards to leave. In this room, there was nothing but a metal chair in front of a red box in the center. It was a barrier to keep Rue in and transparent so that she could be observed on the security cameras. There was a bed inside and not much else. This was supposed to be a mere holding tank, but the investigation went on far longer than any of them had anticipated.
Yet, she didn't seem to mind in the slightest. She asked no questions other than the state of Constance's well-being and if she would be able to see her brought in, which the girl was, on occasion. They spoke about nothing devious. Only about the current state of things and what they were going to do once this was over. Constance wanted Rue to come live with her at her father's house and while the demon seemed hesitant, she also seemed happy with the idea. She looked forward to it, but no more.
Raising her head, Rue looked at the dignified woman seated across from her expectantly. She wondered if Constance had been caught or if she had been successful in her mission, yet she would say nothing until Elizabeth did in the chance that Constance was still working on it. Carefully, Elizabeth folded her hands in her lap and got right to work.
"David Belmont is dead." she informed. "He was killed by the heroic sacrifice of Constance Belmont."
"Sacrifice?" echoed the demon. She didn't seem surprised, however. Only remorseful. Her expectant face warped with pain before it was hidden by Rues hands. "She's gone, then, isn't she? I knew it… God… I knew this would happen…"
"She felt a great sense of duty to destroy David Belmont at all costs." Elizabeth said.
"I know… I know… She was always like that… She hated him. She hated him with everything she had. Not just for what he did to her… She hated him for hurting her parents and everyone around him… She hated him for the horrible, horrible things he did and caused… He needed to die. Nothing was ever going to stop her… It's stupid… So, so stupid..."
"What is 'stupid', Rue?" the angel questioned. Her tone held no harshness. There were no accusations being made.
"I'm stupid!" answered the other. "I should have done something that could have stopped her! I could have told you! If you knew where she was headed, you might have been able to stop her! But I didn't I- I just… sat here and played dumb… It was what she wanted, but… not what she needed..."
The demoness took her hands away from her face and stared down at them, all the while, the other listened to her with a sympathetic ear. "On some level, I think she did need this." Elizabeth suggested. "All her life, she was at his mercy and watched as he hurt others around her. People she cared about and people she didn't know alike. She was avenging them all, including you. She fought for what she believed in and believed in it so intensely, so strongly, and surely, that she was willing to put her life on the line for it."
"I should have been the one!" Rue barked, clenching her fists as tears landed on them. "It should have been me! She's a good girl with her whole future ahead of her and I'm just a demon whose life is already forfeit! I should have gone on her behalf! That's not the place of a little girl!"
After her outburst, only the sound of the demon's sobbing could be heard throughout the room. All the while, the angel's eyes never left her and allowed the woman to cry to her heart's content. This pain, this sorrow, was of the utmost importance. It was an expression, yes, but it was also a reflection of past sins.
"'Rue,''" Elizabeth began, "Why did you choose that name? It is unusual for a demon to name themselves. Usually, they would allow their master to pick their name and keep it only until it was time for their services to switch hands, and yet you chose it?"
"I didn't want to forget..." the other sniffed. "When you come back, you start to forget things… You forget who you were and why you're here… I didn't want to forget why. I didn't want to repeat the same thing over and over again..."
"Do you think this is repetition?"
"I let her die, even though I promised to take care of her..." Rue said, her voice strained. "It's exactly the same..."
"It isn't." the angel stated. "It isn't the same at all. You did not kill Constance Belmont. You cared about her and wanted to take care of her."
"Does it matter?"
"Yes. It does. It's everything." Standing up, the angel unpinned her hair, allowing snowy-white locks to fall around her shoulders. They reflected light, causing her halo to glow more brightly as it appeared. There, she stood, not as Dame Elizabeth Hellsing of the HELLSING Organization, but instead as a divine being. Yes, this was a matter that was far too high up for the organization to handle, as it instead fell under the jurisdiction of the angels.
"Rue, it's time." she said gently while the demon stared back at her with wide eyes. Suddenly, the barrier separating the two of them fell and Rue had shield her gaze from the light that flooded the room.
"For what?" the other instinctively questioned, but the angel only smiled.
"You have proven to have redeemed yourself, therefore you are no longer in need of punishment. You are hereby free from demonity and may return to the soil."
Rue paused for a moment and looked away. "You mean… 'die,' don't you?" That was a scary thought. Rue had died before, certainly, but it was a leap into the unknown. She did not know what was ahead of her. She was afraid of what would come next.
"Yes, I'm afraid. That is how your soul will be freed." Elizabeth answered. She nodded as she could understand the anxieties surrounding death. In some ways, it was worse for demons, as they never feared death, as their entire understanding of life was that it was unending for them. "Death is not an end. It is a beginning. Such it were when you were sentenced to your punishment and so it is that you have been redeemed. It is the stripping of flesh so it may return to the earth, yet it clay is the soil that creates man. Things end so that they can begin anew. Winter ends so that spring may come. This is the end of 'Rue' the demon, but is the beginning of something entirely different. Be not afraid."
Hesitantly, the other looked up again. "Do you ever get people who run."
"More often than not."
"There's no alternative?"
"Unfortunately."
Rue took a deep breath in order to calm her nerves. "Okay… How much is this going to hurt?"
"It will be painless. Not one drop of blood will be spilled."
Pausing, the demon thought. "I'm sorry for all of the questions..."
"I would rather this be comfortable than not, so questions are welcome."
Despite Elizabeth's efforts, Rue was still shaking. She was afraid. She was very afraid. Yet, this was also the moment that she had hoped for. No longer, would she feel the aching emptiness that plagued all demons. Even though she was distraught over Constance, she was only able to feel such sorrow because she was no longer hollow. Finally, at long last, she was free.
"How do we do this?" Rue questioned.
"That depends entirely on you." the other answered. "Would you rather stand or lie down? Whichever is most comfortable for you should be the way to do it."
Stopping to think, Rue took her time deciding. Wordlessly, however, she turned around and started walking toward the bed where the cage once was before sitting on the edge of it. Having taking this as the demon's descision, Elizabeth spoke.
"If you're going to do it there, I'm going to need you to lie down and close your eyes." she said, but her tone then switched to a more stern one. "No matter what you do, however, you are under no circumstances to open them once they are closed. Is that understood?"
"Yes..." nodded Rue, sounding uncertain. Yet, she did as she was told and laid down on her back.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes." the demon stated before allowing her eyes to flutter shut. She did as she was told and refused to open them, although she was tempted to take a peek. There was no telling what sort of consequences she would face if she did and she had endured too much for too long to risk it.
In reality, the only consequence was that she would become frightened, which was unhelpful to both demon and angel. She could hear the clicking of Elizabeth's shoes as the angel walked across the hard ground, the sound growing closer and closer as she approached. Soon, the angel stopped right next to the bed and held out her hands. Silently, so as not to disturb Rue, she mouthed the words "Angel's Edge," prompting the threads of her angelic garb to unfasten. The light that they emitted was so bright, that Rue had to clench her eyelids tighter. It was good that she did not open them. She would have seen the sword in Elizabeth's hand if she did.
This was no ordinary sword, however. It was not made for fighting. Blood was never meant to touch it. It was designed one purpose and one alone. That was this, the redemption of those who had been judged and cursed with eternal damnation. Only those who had served their punishment would be killed by this blade. Anyone else would phase right through it.
Taking the sword in both hands, Elizabeth pointed it downward, aimed at Rue's still beating heart. "When you are ready, take a deep breath."
Just as she was told to, the demon breathed in heavily through her nose and once her lungs were full, Elizabeth thrust downward. Just as promised, there was no pain. No blood was spilled. Slowly, Rue let out her breath, making it her last. Her face was relaxed and her body was not tense. Her passing was peaceful, but the job was not yet complete.
Straightening her back, Elizabeth returned her sword to her angelic garb. She took a moment to examine her handiwork, but there was no joy in her expression. She felt sadness, even though this was not meant to be a sad occasion. Turning around, she silently walked back to the door of the room and opened it, poking her head outside.
"It's done." she said. "You can do your job now, Mister Spears."
Next to the door, waiting patiently outside, a man in a black suit stood. His eyes were gold and green, and his hair was as black as coal. With a pair of pruners, he poked his glasses to adjust their position on his face. On it he wore an undecipherable, almost blank expression and in his other hand was a book bound in leather. Turning to the woman, he said:
"Very well, Dame Hellsing. I will get right to it."
"I'm glad they sent you. I was terrified that they might actually send the red one." Elizabeth confessed, but the reaper did not seem fased.
"You requested that we not, citing a conflict of interest." Mister Spears replied. "We take these matters very seriously."
"Not serious enough for my liking, I'm afraid." the woman scoffed." Mister Sutcliffe became one of the most infamous serial killers in history, killing off women not on the 'To Die' list simply because he did not approve of them making their own life choices, and was only punished by having his death scythe temporarily taken away. It isn't funny even if it were a joke, really."
"My apologies, Dame Hellsing." the reaper answered. "Although I am his superior, the decision was ultimately not up to me alone."
"No, I should apologise. I'm keeping you from doing what you must and scolding you for something beyond your control." the woman sighed. "I'll leave you to it, then."
"Thank you for calling us." With a nod of his head, Mister Spears entered the room without another word, leaving Elizabeth to her own thoughts while she waited.
Doing her best without a mirror, the woman tried to pin her hair back up into what she hoped at least resembled a bun. While she wanted to look at least somewhat presentable just like any professional would, it was also something to do while she thought. Everyone was pointing their fingers at themselves over who was to blame for this whole situation, and Elizabeth was no exception. This was her first major operation since returning to HELLSING, and in her mind, she completely and utterly failed.
From an objective standpoint, she was successful. The task was complete and any deaths sustained were but typical casualties of war. Yet, when one has to look the family of those who have been lost in the eyes and try to explain how the loss of their loved one was necessary and noble, it became so, so much more complicated. The woman may not be human, but she had a heart. That was always going to guarantee that things did not remain simple. Once one considers a life sacred, it is difficult to reason letting go of it in order to fulfill a grand purpose. If only Elizabeth was better adept at operating in this chaotic, modern world, or even if she had simply called in the demons first thing instead of waiting, then perhaps Constance would still be alive.
She didn't know about Rue, however. Elizabeth genuinely believed that the demon had been redeemed, having atoned for her past sins, therefore she would still need to pass on, if Elizabeth did things by the good book. Demons were becoming more complicated as their lives tangled with others in positive ways rather than negative ones. It would have been good for Constance to keep her around if the girl had survived, but that would not be "best" for Rue, who no longer needed to remain in her diabolical form. Both choices were "right" and both choices were "wrong". How exactly does one judge in this particular situation.
A similar feeling came over her as she encountered her cousin and his family again for the first time. They were seemingly working to redeem themselves every day, and had made massive strides toward bettering themselves as people. By that virtue, they would need collecting as well, but Elizabeth rationalised it away as none of them, save for Sebastian, had been judged and processed upon their deaths, therefore they were not being punished in the first place. One cannot be punished for a crime that they had not been charged with or sentenced for. Yet, the woman also wondered just how much of that was her own interests getting in the way. In a perfect world, everything would be clean-cut and emotions would never get in the way of anything, but deep down, Elizabeth knew that even if it was required of her, she simply didn't have the heart to take away Ciel's happiness like that.
It seemed like personal interests had gotten in the way of her angelic duties recently. She was uncertain in her duties, and wondered exactly how is she to carry on calling herself an angel if she fraternizes with demons and questions whether or not what she was supposed to be doing was right in the first place? She did not want to turn her back on her duty, yet, she found herself understanding things less and less as time went on. Demons could be good and angels could be bad. Nothing was ever straightforward or clear-cut in this world, even when it came to the diabolical and the divine.
When she returned to HELLSING, she thought that this would be the best place for her to do the most good. Yet, this was no longer her "HELLSING". The organisation had a new leader and new operatives who understood more modern monster-hunting techniques. Perhaps she was no longer suited for a place toward the top. Elizabeth needed to learn more about the way things work if she is going to reach her full potential, here. Perhaps it was time she left the investigating to the investigators. She hoped that if she did, then surely the mistakes that she made toward the beginning would not have been made and everything would have turned out more nicely.
Ah, she felt like such a fool. Rubbing her forehead, she recalled the debriefing of her cousin, Ciel. She was the one who did it and when she asked the man if he had any further questions, he asked about his spouse and then Geraldine. She had put a good portion of her own family in harm's way. Because she failed to find Constance when she escaped, she also failed to stop Geraldine from foolishly going on the "adventure" that she thought she was getting. Everything was a complete and utter mess and it was the responsibility of no one other than the person in charge.
Elizabeth needed some time to think. Everyone did. Ciel, Alois, Geraldine, in addition to herself. All of them would do so in their own ways. Elizabeth, however, would consider her position at the organisation as it is and what it could be. Not only that, after seeing Rue, there were a few people that she felt compelled to visit.
A/N: I was gonna hold off and post this tomorrow, since it's almost six in the morning, but technically, it IS "tomorrow". My sleep schedule has been destroyed and I suffer.
Angels are really confusing to me in this universe, I'm not gonna lie. Their role and their lore is all a mixture of different things and I'm still working out the kinks. I do know that one of the tasks of the angels is to find demons who have been "redeemed" (usually going against their previous actions and actually doing something good for once). Otherwise, there'd just be a shit ton of demons everywhere. The process is also different. It's different if she does this as opposed to killing them normally. If she just kills them without them redeeming themselves, they become lesser demons or some such and can't complete their cycle just yet.
It's complicated.
Also, a weird thing about them is that you don't have to be a Christian to become an angel in this universe, which is kind of odd...
I wanna play with this "divine versus diabolical" thing some in the future. I guess this is partially set up for that? There's even more I need to set up in the next chapter... It should probably be short, though. It's like, one little plot thing that I need to be like "Okay, remember that this is a thing for future reference!" because I only mentioned it kind of in passing, and there was so much other stuff going on, that I wouldn't be surprised if anyone forgot or forgets.
Let's see... What else...
The music I listened to while writing this chapter was from the soundtrack to Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. I haven't seen that movie. Only the first one. BUT, it had a certain sound that created a certain mood I wanted. The first part of the chapter was written while listening to a mix of songs, especially the chants, while the death scene onward was written while listening to the track called "Follow Me" on a loop.
Huh... Should I start writing what mood music I was listening to while writing? Is that a thing people would appreciate? I don't know... It's always something. I never write without something in the background to create atmosphere. Sometimes, I worry that things aren't as impact without it, since I'm playing off of something else that nobody else is really even aware of?
Then again, if people listened to it while reading, I imagine some people would think "this sucks and is super annoying." To each their own.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
