The Convention of Twelve had weighed in. Integra, Rupert Midford, Sir Greendown, Sir Sharma, and all the others agreed that they didn't want to bother with a smarmy mob family that had been alluding the law for ages to even attempt to gain an estate and a title. With their luck, however, Alois had a way to provide physical proof of what happened at the Trancy estate and gave him the green light to go through with it. They even offered to cooperate and assist if they needed to.
Thus, Alois sent out his messages to various universities that might be interested in the project. The e-mail account he used was for a person that didn't exist, and he ensured that he wouldn't be tracked through his IP address. Even if he was, he had the connections to force whoever found out into silence. The plan was simple. There was physical proof in the ground and in the house of the Trancy estate. Alois knew exactly what it was and where to find it. The area was littered with graves filled with the now skeletal remains of young boys. You could find them just by throwing a shovel and digging wherever it landed. They all died through various horrible means. Some died from infection and disease due to the decrepit conditions of the basement. For some it was starvation. Usually, it was the smaller boys, as the bigger ones would take all the food away. Some died from wounds sustained through various unthinkable means. Bacteria would seep into the flesh and kill them, or their organs ruptured, or a broken rib punctured something. Some were too dark to even think about.
There was a seemingly endless cycle of them. When some would die off, they'd cart in more. When some got boring, they were neglected until death, and they would cart in more. There was always more. Runaways, orphans, or kids with parents so poor that they had to sell them off- kids like them wound up missing every day, so nobody cared if anything happened to them. Nobody cared. That's why their bodies still rest at the hellhole that killed them. Not even the devil himself could devise a place more cruel and disgusting. Yet, as society's undesirables, they were perfectly disposable. They would enter the maw knowing hardship and spat back out again knowing the face of true evil, yet being unable to tell about it. No one cared one single bit. No one but the ones who were there. No one but the one who remains. Those who love him, support him, and see him for who he truly is do care and will help him in his mission.
The world will care about the children kept at the Trancy estate. Jim Macken would make sure of it.
Right away, Alois received responses saying that they wanted to take on the project and that they were applying for grants, but that wasn't fast enough for Alois. Oh, no. He wanted things to move faster and had the power to make that happen. So, after having chosen a reputable candidate, he simply asked them how much they needed and the money came soon after. They were willing to begin almost immediately.
Despite knowing full well what they would find as soon as they started digging around the estate, the menace was anxious and couldn't wait for this to be over. He didn't derive any joy from exposing this truth. Yes, it was immensely personal, but it was also the right thing to do in his mind. This wasn't just for him. It was for all of them, every single last one. After he took over the estate, he freed the remaining slaves to an uncertain fate, but that wasn't enough. It would never be enough. What about those who didn't escape and weren't freed? What about those who were trapped there still after all of these years? That garden needed to be dug up, that house needed to be burned to the ground, that family needed to be exposed and finally, they needed to die. End the curse. End the suffering. No more.
Jim hated how reading such a small headline in passing could open such a gaping wound. He was angry and he was hurt. After so long, it seemed like he was getting better. He made progress, he prospered, and he gained happiness, but it was still not enough to completely extinguish the ache that occasionally found him again. This time, it was bad. It was really bad.
Ordinarily, it was his husband who needed to be dragged away from work and told to go to bed, but this time, it was him. He camped by his computer for hours, simply refreshing his e-mail over and over again while waiting for an update. All the while, he tried to work out what else he was going to do to ruin this family and eventually, contribute toward their end. It could take him another hundred years, but he would definitely see this through. The last Trancy will die one day, he would make sure of it. But until then, he would continue to suffer in his nightmares.
His tossing and turning woke up his spouse, whom he usually used as a living pillow. In his stirring, however, he rolled off of him, somehow, freeing Ciel to turn on his bedside light. The Watchdog also grabbed one of the remotes that turned on the rest of the lights in their room. They installed this system specifically for whenever either of them awoke from a terrible dream.
With those preparations completed, Ciel waited. He waited to see if Alois would wake up or calm down again on his own. Ciel knew better than to actually wake his beau, although it was tempting to pull him out of his nightmare. The last few times resulted in a hard but swift punch to the jaw, stunning Ciel, injuring, or knocking him right out of bed. Then again, Ciel thought it might be worth it to cut Alois' suffering short.
"Jim?" he called out in a hushed tone. He moved around slightly, hoping that it would help ease the other into consciousness. Sadly, this didn't seem to be working, so he did something truly stupid.
"Jim?" the bluenette called again, lightly poking the other's cheek. The moment he did, however, the blonde gasped awake went to bite down on Ciel's index finger. He wasn't gentle at all about it, either. He bit down as though he was going to tear it off.
"Ow, ow, ow, OW!" shouted the Watchdog, but the loud noise didn't help him. It took several seconds before the other Phantomhive's mind caught up with him, allowing him to let go. The moment he did, his poor beau pulled at the same time, causing him to fall backward off of the bed.
"Oof!" he grunted as he hit the floor. Sitting himself up, he reached for the remote on the nightstand and turned on the lights in the room before setting it back down. Slowly, he moved to stand up again, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry. My mistake. I knew better, but didn't let you wake up normally anyway. It's just me, Jim. Nobody's going to hurt you."
Panting, the other demon looked around the room. His eyes were wide and a thin layer of sweat coated his skin as he sat up. His chest and shoulders moved up and down as he heaved, all the while his mind tried to catch up to his current location. Slowly, the light began to return to his eyes and his breathing began to slow.
"Jim?" Ciel repeated. "Are you okay?"
Swiftly, Alois turned his head to face the source of the sound. Blinking, he sniffled and nodded. "I will be." he said, reaching up to rub the sleep from his face. "Give me a minute..."
"Do you want me to hug you?" the bluenette asked, prompting the other to shake his head. "Is there anything I can do that might help?"
"Holding hands is okay..." Alois replied, and slowly, his husband moved to sit on the bed with him and held out his hand for the menace to take when he was ready.
He was careful to make no sudden or unexpected movements and waited patiently for the menace to dry his eyes and put one hand in Ciel's. Securely, the bluenette held onto it, placing his free hand on top. Ciel was here. Jim was safe. He was at home and nothing was amiss.
"It's okay, Jim." the bluenette said softly. "Everything is alright. You're safe."
"I know." nodded the other man. "I know… I'm safe." Despite saying this, his eyes began to water, forcing him to tilt his head back so that his tears wouldn't fall. "I'm safe..."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Eventually… Not now..."
"Alright..." answered the Watchdog, although hesitant to drop it there. With his thumb, he gently stroked the other's knuckles. "Please tell me if there's anything I can do or if there's anything you need, okay? I'm here for you."
"Okay..." Alois replied, taking in a shaky breath. The salt caused his eyes to sting, forcing him to close them for just a moment, but this forced his tears to fall like they were meant to.
"Is it okay if I kiss your hand?"
"Yes."
The menace actually watched his spouse lifting his hand to his lips so that he could place a kiss to the back of it. Ciel was trying his best to soothe him, but Alois wasn't really sure what would work this time. It was a feeling that he had experienced before, but now it was hitting him with full force.
It took a few minutes, but eventually, Alois had evened out his breathing and calmed down enough to ask: "Can you hold me?"
"Of course I can." his beau stated before gently doing just that. The warm embrace around Alois' shoulders was calming, but he still felt heavy and cold as he leaned into the other man. It was exhausting. It was completely and utterly exhausting.
"I love you." Ciel told him. "I love you so much, you know that?"
"I know." the menace nodded. "I love you, too."
More time passed and Alois opened his mouth to speak, but a lump in his throat and fear of further making his problems also his husband's problems caused him to hesitate. Yet, he knew that Ciel would want to know so that he could better help and support him, so he tried his best to muster up all of the courage that he could. "I'm scared." he said. "I'm scared of checking my e-mail and finding something there, but I want to know. I'm scared to know, though, even if I already do."
"Know what, darling?" Ciel questioned. "What the researchers are going to find?"
"Yeah… I'm scared of them finding nothing. I'm scared of them finding something like I thought they would, too. I don't want to know what all they find, but I need to. Something needs to be done about it." Alois said. While he rambled a bit, he sounded sure of himself. Even so, more tears began to fall. "Not just for me, but for everyone else."
"For the others?"
"Yeah…" sadly nodded the menace. "They're stuck there, but I'm here… It's not right that they had to stay behind…"
"Jim..." The Watchdog wanted to say something. He wanted to give his husband some words of advice or comfort, but nothing came to mind no matter how hard he tried.
"I'm sorry..." the other said. "It's… a lot to put on someone at once… Especially this late at night-"
"No, it isn't. It's important to you. It doesn't matter if it's sudden." stated his beau with a serious look on his face. "If this is something that you need to do, I'll be right with you, every step of the way, alright? You don't have to do this alone. If you need me, I'm here."
"I just..." It was a lot for one person to bear. It was only natural that the blonde struggled to find something to say next. Where does he start? There's so many layers and levels to what he is feeling that he can hardly make sense of it, himself. "It's like I want to help them, somehow. I know that they're dead. I know that it's too late for them, but… Somebody has to care about them, Ciel. Somebody has to... It's all unfinished... Somebody needs to be there fore them and I'm the only one who can do it."
"I know." the bluenette agreed, understanding what his beau was getting at. As the survivor of the pack, it all rested on his shoulders to keep their final resting place, although horrific and brutal as it was, out of the hands of the same monsters who put them there in the first place. "We'll take care of them. They're going to be safe, too, Jim. They'll be taken good care of. I'll check with Integra tomorrow and see if she knows about any progress that's been made, alright? Then, we'll all talk about what we can do from there."
"Alright..." Alois let out another shaky breath. "Thanks, babe..."
"Any time." Ciel replied, pecking the other's forehead. "Do you wanna stay up a while, or do you want to try and go back to sleep?"
"I'm really tired, but I don't want to sleep..."
"Alright. Then you can relax here a bit. If you fall asleep, you fall asleep."
"What about you?"
"One of the wonderful things about being a demon is that you don't need to sleep to be able to do things the next day." the bluenette informed. "Don't worry about that. I'm more interested in you."
"Okay." Alois wasn't too sure about that, but was willing to go along with it. He hated the idea of dragging Ciel into this while the other man had his own things to attend to, but knew that he would do the same for his beau if the tables were turned. "I'll just… chill out for a minute or two..."
"Sounds like a plan." the Watchdog said with a reassuring smile. Laying back down, he held his arms out so that the other would cuddle up next to him. Alois took him up on the invitation and laid down with him, but just as the bluenette was about to pull the duvet over both of them, Alois' alarm went off, prompting him to immediately sit back up.
"Why is your alarm going off so early?" Ciel asked while his beau turned it off.
"I have a thing I wanted to do." Rolling over again, Alois kissed Ciel on the lips before getting up again and moving to get out of bed. "Brrr, it's cold… Don't worry about it. Go back to sleep."
"Jim..." the bluenette called out to him with an incredibly skeptical look. His husband ignored him briefly so that he could grab his robe and put it on.
"That one's yours..." Alois absent-mindedly said aloud before grabbing the much fluffier robe thrown over the back of the chair. "Here it is! It really isn't a big deal, and it's actually not related to this at all."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Alright..." The other hesitantly accepted. "I don't like going back to sleep while you're up working through this, though."
"Do whatever you want. You can wait for me, but I kinda wanted it to be a surprise. I'll just be in the kitchen, though, so you can wait outside of it."
"I'll do that." Ciel said, pulling the blankets off and getting out of bed. He put on his own robe and fastened it before following his husband downstairs.
It was an odd predicament, but he really didn't want to leave Alois alone. He sat in a chair just outside the doorway, facing away from the kitchen while his husband did God-knows-what. As much as he hated talking to the menace across multiple rooms, it was somewhat unavoidable, this time. Eventually, however, he had to cut things short so that he could go back upstairs and get ready for the day, announcing his exit before he left. Once he was showered and presentable in uniform, he came back down and knocked on the doorframe without peeking into the kitchen like he was asked.
"I'm off." he announced, only to jump when the menace abruptly poked his head out of the room. There was some white, powdery substance on his face and robe, being either flour or sugar, one.
"Can you wait a few minutes?" the blonde inquired with a somewhat bashful expression on his face. How could Ciel say "no" to that?
"Of course." the now immensely curious bluenette replied, arching his brow as the other demon went back into the kitchen. Ciel heard the sound of crashing and some swearing, forcing him to stifle a laugh, but he waited patiently just the same. Sure enough, a few minutes later, his husband returned with a metal lunchbox in hand.
"Here." Alois said, offering it to his spouse. His cheeks were a bit red upon seeing the other man's raised brows, and it occurred to him just how silly he must look. "It's not much, but you don't usually eat lunch and I thought it might be kind of nice..."
"Thank you very much." Ciel seemed rather pleased with the gesture, as he failed to conceal every and every signs that he was ecstatic. The bluenette was a rather sentimental fellow, so personal gestures like this were perhaps the easiest way to his heart. The smile on his face was unmistakable and he was physically incapable of hiding it. This was bad. He had to go to work and be mean. "I love it."
"You haven't even tried it yet?"
"I love it." the Watchdog reiterated, causing his beau to giggle.
"There are biscuits in there, and there's more when you get home. I learned how to make them when I was trying out that cooking class last week." Alois explained. "I'll save you the good batch. I really screwed them up last night… and my first attempt this morning… Think your little cadets'll care for some slightly-burnt biscuits?"
"I'll make them appreciate them." Ciel replied, causing his spouse to grin.
"I'll go round them up."
Ciel watched him with a somewhat dopey, lovestruck look on his face. How could he not? His husband just spent hours down to the last minute, trying to make something just for him! Ciel felt special, and was relieved to see that Alois was smiling again. Before long, all of them were rounded up and in the Watchdog's possession.
"Bye, darling." he said, kissing his husband one last time before it went. "Call me if you need anything."
"I will." smiled the menace.
"I mean it! Even if you just need to talk. You can even come down and see me, if you like."
"Don't offer that. I might take you up on it! What will your men say if I walk out there and hang on your arm?"
"They will say 'Good afternoon, Mister Phantomhive. You're looking lovely today.'" Ciel said while maintaining a straight face. His expression broke when the other laughed. "But in all seriousness, Jimmy… take care of yourself, okay?"
"I will." the other replied. "I'll call you if I need you."
Saying their goodbyes one last time, the pair finally parted, leaving Alois alone to his own devices and Ciel to command the troops while worrying about him. He tried to focus on his tasks, breaking cups at inspection and punishing the troops who failed to pass. He had to psyche himself up for lecture that day, but it was an easy one. All he really needed to do was go through the motions.
The cadets shuffled into the room, removing their berets and taking their seats. Their notebooks were open in front of them with pencils and pens at the ready. Some of them had to skip through several drawings to get to a blank page, but they somehow got there.
"What have you there?" Ciel asked one cadet in the front row, scaring the poor lad out of his skin.
"It's a… Uh… Design for a gun, sir..." Carl answered.
"Is it meant to kill supernaturals?"
"Yes, sir."
"PVC pipe won't work." the bluenette said. Pulling his revolver out of its holster, he took out one of the bullets to show him what it looked like. "Do you see these runes? They are what makes this an anti-freak bullet, so they can kill supernatural beings that regular bullets aren't effective against. The inside of a gun barrel has grooves so that when the bullet is fired, it spins. That spin is what keeps any bullet stable, but without it, this will go firing off in every other direction but straight. I do like your trigger mechanism, though."
With that, he put the bullet back in his gun and holstered it. While Henderson looked at him with confusion at the demon's action, others were taking notes about the little detail. One of them even raised his hand to ask a question.
"Yes, mister Danlaw?" the instructor called out.
"Is it possible to counteract the need for spin by painting the..." Solomon trailed off, trying to find the word.
"Runes?"
"Yes, runes. Sorry, sir." he replied. "Is it possible to counteract the need for spin by painting the runes onto the bullets instead of embedding them in?"
"I'm afraid not. When the gun is fired, the explosion that launches the bullet out of the barrel will unfortunately burn them off." the demon explained in a very matter-of-fact manner. "Anything else?"
"Can you do the same thing with swords and knives?" asked Ryan Braumfeld, raising his hand as well.
"Yes, many people carry anti-freak knives, but there actually aren't many using swords anymore. In addition, the knives aren't really meant for use in combat. They're more of a tool or a last-ditch thing. You never want to have to use your knife, because if whatever it is you're trying to kill is close enough for you to stab, it's close enough to kill you, too. I really wouldn't advise hoping to rely on a sword or a knife." While it seemed hypocritical, Ciel had a point. The reason why he, his spouse, and Elizabeth were able to get away with using close-range weapons was because they weren't human. Sir Integra, however, used them as well, but there were times when the Phantomhive questioned the validity of her claims of humanity as well, given what she was personally capable of.
"We will go over weapons eventually, I promise. For now, we're learning about one of the most dangerous supernatural beings you can encounter." he continued, changing the subject. "They are so dangerous, that when you find yourself encountering one, the absolute best advice I can give to you is immediately call for backup. They're actually a bit of a specialty of mine, however. That creature is..." He paused to write it on the board. "...demons."
Yet again, there was excitement in the faces of the cadets mixed with absolute horror. They were thrilled to be learning about such a legendary and dangerous creature, but they've learned during the past week and a half that they didn't know everything that they thought they did. Most of them, at least. Some of them were stuck in their ways, but there was only so much that could be done for them. Everything was real, now. This camp, this organisation, and even though they hadn't yet knowingly seen a supernatural being with their own two eyes, they were convinced that those were real as well. They had no idea, however, that one was standing there, right in front of their faces.
"Demons don't always appear with horns and tails. Most of the time, you will see them in the form of human beings. They try to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible, in most cases, as this sets their potential prey at ease. They can even take a form that they believe will be soothing to a specific target, oftentimes digging deep into one's psyche to find just the shape." As he spoke, Ciel started adding bulletpoints for things to look out for on the board. "They also have black finger and toenails in this form. At a glance, one might think that they're just 'goth' or something and have painted them that colour. If, somehow, you get the chance to look closely, you'll find that the nail itself is black without the smoothness of nailpolish. In case none of you have ever looked closely at a girl, there is a difference."
There was a small titter from the group as the cadets all looked around to see who he was talking about, or simply to not appear that he was talking about them. Either way, they all learned something that day. Yet, Ciel was not done. He still had a very, very long lecture about diabolical signatures and faustian contracts to get through. It was times like these where the Phantomhive was glad that he was in a class full of enthusiasts, as most of them paid very close attention and only a few of them tuned him out. The ones that did, quickly corrected themselves once they were addressed, and the lecture continued on.
"Couldn't we just make contracts with demons and have them keep us safe and kill things?" asked Carl Henderson while raising his hand. It was a legitimate question, but caused the bluenette to scowl.
"No. No, you can't." the Phantomhive said. "In theory, yes, but in practise, that is something that you absolutely, positively must never do."
His tone immediately shifted to something that the group had never seen before. Ciel had talked about death with this bunch before. He had talked about the very real possibility of dying. He had gotten serious and spoke sincerely about things the job, but this was something different entirely.
"It doesn't matter what you believe in," he began, addressing the group. "your soul is too valuable to waste on something like that. I promise you, without a single shred of uncertainty, falsehood, or exaggeration that it is far better to merely die than to have your soul eaten. It is a fate worse than death. You have no idea what exactly the weight of a human soul is. You don't know it's value. Very few people do. Very few actual agents of ours do. I promise you, though, you must never, ever, ever give away your soul. It is the one thing that you must protect that you can't afford to lose."
Silence loomed over the room as the demon paused, leaving the group absolutely gobsmacked. With that, Ciel tried to bring things back again so that the lesson could continue. "Just because a demon has a contract, doesn't mean that he's suddenly that person's friend. It doesn't mean that he has their best interests at heart. A demon will lie to you. It will hurt you. It will destroy everything around you and then take everything that you have. If it thinks that causing you suffering will make your soul more delicious, it will. It most certainly will. And if the person ever, for one single moment even thinks about backing out of the contract or giving up? It will not hesitate to kill them on the spot and devour them. I have even seen demons that will lie to their masters about the completion of their goal, or the granting of their wish, just so it can eat them faster. No, contracting with a demon is never a good idea."
Ciel was an expert in this field, alright. He spoke from personal experience. All the while saying this, he thought of his youth, back when he was a naive human boy. The others didn't need to know this, however.
Taking this momentary pause, Ciel asked his students: "Any questions?"
There certainly were questions, but after hearing that, no one had the nerve to ask them. It was a lot to process. The existence of demons on its own raised questions. They wanted to know if this meant that angels exist as well, or maybe hell and heaven? They wanted to know if there was a devil, but they weren't sure if Ciel knew. It certainly seemed like he did. From the way he spoke, none of them would be at all surprised if he had met him. By the end of the lecture, they were absolutely terrified.
"He's absolutely bloody bonkers." Private Cooksey said. "One minute, he's being helpful and then the next, he's telling us all the terrible ways we could die!"
"That's sort of his job, though, isn't it?" questioned Private Kidman.
"Yeah, but it's fucking scary! I mean, I'm fine when it's all about us fighting and killing the freaks, but it's a whole other thing when you think about blinking and having your neck torn out!"
"Well, look on the bright side." suggested Wallace. "At least it doesn't seem like the worst thing that could happen to you. You could always have your soul eaten."
"I don't wanna think about that, either!" Gordon Cooksey replied. "I just… I dunno… I thought it would be easier than this…"
"Everything seems easier than it does in games." agreed Bryce. "I'm agreeing with you on that. It was all fun when it was just putting together kits that I thought would be useful in case there was a zombie apocalypse or something. Maybe I even thought the zombie apocalypse would be fun… Maybe I was wrong..."
"At least we know there's actual measures in place to prevent it." said Braumfeld. "This place has got it covered. Unfortunately, that means we've got to have it covered, too..."
"We can't even get credit for it." Gordon added while staring into his food. "We'll be dying and shit, and nobody will even care. It'll be like we never existed. We can't tell anybody, or else we'll get axed. I thought I might be able to at least pull birds with it, but now I can only pull HELLSING birds, and they might have a higher kill count than me… I don't even wanna think about how embarrassing that would be."
"Yeah. Imagine going up to a girl and bragging about how you've killed thirty ghouls, only for her to laugh and say she's killed a hundred." joked Kidman.
"It's not fair..."
"None of this is fair. We've just gotta get used to it and get over it so we can do our jobs." Private Danlaw chimed in. "We're providing a service to our communities that no one else can. We're on the front lines so that doomsday can't happen. That's pretty important."
"More important than girls, even…." agreed Wallace, only to wonder about what he had just said. "Maybe..."
"ATTENTION!" Suddenly shouted the cadet who was at the end of the table closest to the door, cutting their conversation short. Everyone suddenly stood up straight as their commander briskly walked into the room with a mysterious package in hand.
"Sit down." Ciel ordered before setting the object in the center of the table. Everyone relaxed somewhat and did as they were told, only to feel a teensy bit of unease at the man's unexpected appearance.
"You all have reason to be immensely grateful." the demon declared as he slowly walked the length of the table. His chest was out, his shoulders were back, and his hands were folded behind him as he spoke with authority. "My beloved spouse has made me biscuits for my lunch today. My beloved spouse is also new to baking, and has understandably created a few reject batches that he has graciously allowed me to give to you for your lunch."
Only Clancy's face lit up at the pronoun the man used to describe his spouse, while everyone else just seemed focused on the biscuits in front of them. It was a bit of a treat, although they weren't sure what to expect, knowing the man's wily ways. Yet, they were hesitant to complain in case they were revoked.
"I don't want one single biscuit left in that container when I come back to pick it up." Ciel stated. "Am I understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Enjoy, then."
Just as soon as he appeared, he left again, leaving the lads to their own devices. Immediately, the cover of the box was taken off and greedy hands were thrust inside of it. There were mixed results, that was certain. Some biscuits were burnt while others were simply malformed, but thank goodness, they were edible, save for a few. They would have to get rid of them somehow, but they would either choke them down or find another way.
It was perhaps the highlight of their day. Morning inspections were terrible, the lecture that day was terrifying, and after lunch, they had physical fitness. It was a shame, since they now had stuff that they could vomit up if they over-exerted themselves. Today, they were greeted with a particularly terrifying sight. When they were addressed by the Phantomhive this time, he was wearing an outfit similar to theirs, only with a nicer belt and better fitting.
It was a simple white T-shirt with the HELLSING emblem on it and a pair of green army pants tucked into black boots. He still had on his leather gloves, but was no longer carrying his riding crop. The holster with the gun was still promenently displayed on his hip, however. Unlike his underlings, he did not wear the maroon beret, and instead opted to go without a hat for whatever he was about to unleash upon these poor young men.
"Gentlemen," he began, "This time, we will be doing something a little bit different. Instead of exercising around the yard, we'll be jogging around the base. All of it."
That didn't seem so bad. They knew the area that they were in to an alright extent by now and it wasn't that big. Yet, the base was in reality much bigger than the yard that they stood in and the buildings immediately around it. Much bigger. They would only realise this, however, when it was much, much too late.
They set off outside their own fence, although it wasn't quite "the outside world" just yet. There were two more fences they had to climb over if they wanted to escape, and armed guards patroling the area on the regular. There were corporals running with them wearing uniforms similar to the cadets, only they had a blue cord around their right shoulder and the HELLSING crest on their sleeves. There was also a truck following the group in case someone passed out or simply could not continue, much to their relief.
"Don't go all out in the beginning!" ordered Ciel as they all started off. "You'll exhaust yourself before you even get close to the end! Keep a nice, steady pace and take your time!"
The recruits were scolded whenever they ran too fast, as much as a few of them wanted to race one another. By the time they had completely left their camp and jogged past the empty youth camps, they were starting to feel what the Phantomhive was talking about. By the time they reached some other camps that were occupied, a lot of them were already tired and out of breath. Their legs were on fire and they all had to stop more than once.
As they passed other camps, they could catch a glimpse into what was happening there. They passed the men's Career camp as they were exercising as well. That group was too busy being scolded by their own instructor to notice the Amateurs, and the same went for the Women's Career group as well. There was a glimmer of hope that the girls in the Women's Amateur Class would notice them, but as they drew closer and became more and more exhausted, they thought differently. It didn't matter, anyway. Their female compatriots were doing their own thing as well and hadn't the opportunity or desire to even give them the time of day.
"Come on! Keep going!" shouted Ciel, having not even broken a sweat. "Your all almost there! Walk if you have to, just keep moving!"
Looking back, he saw one man lagging behind the others quite a distance, so he told one of the corporals to watch the others while he attended to the matter. Ciel slowed his pace so that he was nearly to a stroll until the odd man out caught up with him. Then, he matched his pace and followed along with him.
"How are you doing, Young?" he asked, already knowing that Wallace was struggling.
Poor Private Young was drenched in sweat, freezing him as he tried not to overheat. His face was a vibrant red as he struggled to get air in his lungs. What he sucked in felt like it was cutting him due to its coldness. All the while, his muscles felt as though they were being run through with thousands of needles. He might even go so far as to say that they were also being lit on fire.
"Sorry, sir..." he choked out. "I'm trying my best!"
"You're doing really good, Young!" his commanding officer told him. "Do you need to stop for a minute?"
Wallace was unable to say anything and simply nodded, prompting the demon to give the order. "Alright, stop here for a moment, okay? Catch your breath. Do you need some water?"
As soon as he stopped moving, the cadet collapsed, falling flat on his rear. His breathing came out in choking sobs as he tried to pull himself together. "I'm sorry, sir..." Wallace said. "I'm sorry for letting… letting my platoon down..."
"You're not letting anyone down, cadet. Why would you be?"
"Because… because I'm slow..." by now, the cadet was hyperventilating.
"Come on..." Crouching down, Ciel put a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Slow your breathing. Breathe in… and breathe out..." He said softly, prompting his underling to try. "Relax… No one is being let down at all. I'm not, the others, are not; nobody is. It's just a jog, Young. It's not the end of the world. Take it easy."
"I'm always the worst, though!" Wallace stated. "I'm the only one who has trouble with the push-ups, I'm the worst at the obstacle course, and I'm the worst at this, too..."
"I don't know what crowd you were looking at, but that first week, hardly any of you were good at push-ups." the bluenette replied. "You've improved a lot since then, cadet! The first day, you struggled to do three of four. Now you're up to twenty! That is not insignificant at all. It just takes building up to it. Quite frankly, I hardly expected any of you to complete the jog while actually jogging, and look how far you made it! I expected most people to make it to the end walking, so if that's what you have to do to reach the goal, then you're right on course."
"O-okay..." sniffled the cadet with a nod. The boss always knew everything, so maybe he had a point.
"Think you can walk the rest of the way or do you need another minute."
"I'll try..." Wallace said, placing a hand on the gravel trail and pushing against it to help himself up. The rocks stung his palm as they bore into his flesh, but it was nothing compared to the ache in his legs and ego. He wobbled a bit with his legs threatening to give out beneath him, only for his commander to hold out a hand.
"Here." Ciel said, pulling the cadet to his feet. "Take your time. Don't rush it, alright?"
"Alright..." So this was the rumoured second side to the evil, cruel platoon commander? It would appear that Clancy wasn't lying, then like Wallace and a few of the others thought he was. There were a million other ways he could have done this. He could have forced Wallace to keep going until he collapsed. He could have shouted at him and called him worthless. Yet, instead he chose to level with him and even tell him what his true expectations were for the task. It was nice. It was nice for Wallace to feel like someone was kind of looking out for him.
"Just one foot in front of the other." the Watchdog said. "Left, right, left, right, left, right… You're getting there."
"If you don't mind me asking, sir..." Wallace began, panting. "Why aren't you yelling at me?"
"No reason to." his instructor bluntly answered. "You're not lazing about and trying to get out of work. I can see that you're really giving it everything you have, and that's what you're supposed to do. That's how you get better. Despite what I may have led you to believe, I'm not actually expecting you to be some anti-freak machine that can immediately do everything perfectly. This is still the stage where you get better and learn how to do the job. If I thought you were trying to bunk off and get out of doing the work, or being mouthy, or could just do better, then I would give you an earful. This time, you've found your limit. Next time, we try to push beyond it and get better. Then the time after that, you'll advance even more. Make sense?"
"Sir, yes, sir..." A light chuckle escaped the cadet, despite his predicament. Despite the fact that his group was long gone ahead of them, they both maintained a somewhat leisurely pace. Wallace's legs still ached and he was certain that his feet were covered in blisters, but he felt slightly better. Before he was fairly certain that if he keeled over, Sir Phantomhive would have just left him to rot in the grassy ditch off to the side of the road. But that didn't happen. It wasn't going to happen. His commander had his back.
"Alright, we're on the home stretch." Ciel said before picking up the pace slightly. Raising his volume, he gave his orders: "Get riled up! Think you can speed up a bit?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Wallace replied.
"Think you can give it everything you've got?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"A hundred and ten percent! Let's go!"
"Sir, yes sir!" By now, Wallace was yelling out his responses and even though he was almost out of breath, he didn't care. He was smiling as he went faster and faster, pushing harder and harder.
"Left, right, left, right, left, right! Keep going! Look lively! Give me a war cry!"
"RAAAAAAAAAGHH!"
"I'll be waiting for you at the end!" the Watchdog informed. "See you there!"
"Sir, yes sir!"
With that, the Phantomhive moved on ahead and found his group back at the camp, exhausted and out of breath. They were freezing from the sweat that coated their skin, now that they were no longer moving and shivered from being out in the autumn air.
"What in blazes are you doing?!" the bluenette demanded, prompting all of them to get in line and stand at attention. "Young is still out jogging over the hill and you're here lazing about?! What kind of disrespectful wankery is this?! Is this how you act when one of your own is still out?!"
"Sir, no sir!" the group shouted.
"When he comes over that hill, I want you to give him a proper welcome back!" he said. "He's out there, giving it absolutely everything he's got like a proper HELLSING agent! He deserves proper praise for that, doesn't he?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"As a team, do you have each other's backs?" the demon asked asked.
"Sir, yes sir!"
"As a team, do you want the best in each other?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Who are we?"
"HELLSING!"
"Who are your brother's in arms?"
"HELLSING!"
"I can't hear you!"
"HELLSING!"
"Here he comes over the hill! Give him a proper welcome home!" Ciel ordered just as Wallaces head peeked up from over the hill.
Having whipped the group up into a frenzy, there was hooting and hollering. There was yelling and screaming. There was rejoicing all around in support for Wallace's achievement. He did it. He really did it. He didn't think he could, but he did. He actually made it to the end of the trail and back home again. Just that was enough, but seeing his compatriots cheering him on? That was simply too much for him to contain.
"I did it!" he declared, hands high above his head as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Good job, Wallace!" shouted Kidman.
"We believe in you, Wallace!" called Clancy.
When he finally reached the group, he was about to completely collapse for good this time, but his fellow recruits kept him upright. They put their arms around him and ruffled his hair. They weren't sure if he was going to make it, but he did and they were glad for him. He's been dreading the jog all day. It was so bad that he almost threw up once, so seeing him actually do it was a morale boost for all of them.
Despite all that they have endured and their many differences, for a lot of them, this was the most support they have ever had. Wallace Young would definitely be feeling the strain of his endeavor in a little while and it might last into the following day. Right then, however, he felt as though he could conquer mountains and overcome even the most mighty of obstacles. For some of these men, how to do their desired occupation wasn't the only thing they needed to learn. Sometimes, it was a lot more difficult than that.
A/N: I didn't get to write a lot today or the day before... It was Thanksgiving and today I was just lazy. Still, there's a chapter, so there's that.
My break is almost at an end, but I'll keep writing. I need to work on my essay, though, so It might be a few days until the next chapter?
I always say that and then I quickly throw one out. I'm never a good judge of myself...
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
