Alana's World Tour: Roanapur

Chapter 8: A Roanapur Christmas

Disclaimer: I do not own Black Lagoon nor the concept of Intelligent Devices

It had been two weeks since Alana took over the Cartel, and luckily the men she had asked for arrived as promised and she had wasted no time in sending them to South America to speak with the Cartel's suppliers to inform them of the new leadership and if required, re-secure the routes by force. The routes were secured and improved, with coke arriving at her labs on Roanapur for cutting and delivery to the buyers. The buyers were thrilled to discover that the processed coke she delivered was of a better quality than what Abrego had delivered and paid her more per shipment as way of thanks.

Profits were up, her men didn't have to fear Hotel Moscow, the Triads, or the Italians, and information on her target was coming in. Baldomero had been the biggest source as his blood had told her everything from the vampire's favorite hangouts, underlings, weapons, even the whores he liked the best, though that last bit of information had left her with a crimson blush every time she thought about it.

Just thinking about it made her wish for the confidence to face the bonding ritual with her lover, Francisque Daniau, who she had met during High School. They had first started dating after he had gotten himself severely injured protecting her from a friend of theirs named Tsukune, when his powers went out of control. Tsukune had started dating Moka, one of their best friends and they were happy together. The last Alana heard they were married and had children. The fact that one of Alana's best friends from high school was a pink-haired vampiress actually made the whole situation all the more enlightening to her, as she had watched history repeat itself in a way.

Baldomero walked into Alana's office and frowned, he was happy that business was good, but unhappy that it was so good that Alana refused to relax even though she didn't have to work as much or as hard as she was. He didn't want to see her work herself to death, although he would inwardly laugh to himself at the thought since vampires couldn't die from karoshi, but he didn't know if a Dhamphir could, so he did something he thought might help her relax.

"Jefe, you need to take some time off, do you know what time of the year this is?" he asked her and let his concern show in his tone as Shenhua, Revy, and surprisingly, Roberta, walked in with her master, Garcia Lovelace, and a smaller maid, in tow. Garcia walked over to Alana's desk with Fabiola and Roberta beside him and he saw Alana stand up as she put her hand forward to shake his as she said "Ah, Lovelace-san, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am happy to see you again, Roberta-san."

"Yes, why didn't you tell me that you worked for the Cartel?" the maid asked with a bit of danger in her tone that made the hair on Baldomero's neck stand up, He had witnessed when Roberta rampaged through Roanapur not once, but twice, and counted himself damned lucky to have lived through those times, now Roberta seemed ready to try and take Alana's head off. Alana didn't have to explain herself as Garcia raised his hand to stay Roberta and said "Roberta, the reason she didn't say anything then is because she didn't work for this Cartel then, nor does she now. She now runs this Cartel. Am I correct, Ms. Helsing?"

"That you are, Garcia-san. I only came into contact with the Cartel a couple of weeks ago and have ran them after a rather violent take over that I instigated when they attacked a friend of mine on Abrego's orders, although I will admit that I find the money to be rather good, all things considered." Alana replied and Roberta calmed down as she said "My apologies. I do not trust or pretend to like Cartels after Master Garcia was kidnapped by this one once."

"It is quite alright, Roberta-san. You need not fear for Garcia-san or any other youths. I will not partake in the trafficking of people." came the response and Baldomero again told her she needed to take some time off as well as brought the time of the year to attention again, causing Alana to look at her calender. The day was December 11.

Alana sighed as she said "Baldomero-kun, it would seem that you are correct. I have been working too hard lately and have lost track of a critical time. Domo arigatou." then she stepped out from behind her desk to reveal that she was wearing a copy of Shenhua's outfit, having become rather fond of the cheongsam and coat ensemble, though she still combined it with her swords, guns, and gloves. Opening her phone she looked for her uncle Gunther's number and dialed it. As the phone rang she quickly stepped one foot into Revy's shadow and vanished, teleporting out of the room and leaving her two friends and one fledgeling confused as they took seats and decided to wait.

A few minutes later Alana appeared via the shadow of a lamp and her phone was closed as she turned to face Revy who said "Alana" "Revekka-san. I have a question I need answered" the Dhamphir replied and Revy merely shrugged her shoulders as she said "what you got on your mind?"

"The number to contact Dutch-san?" Alana replied with a sheepish grin as one of her fangs appeared, giving her a look that if it hadn't come from a creature Revy knew could tear her head off with ease would have had the gunslinger laughing like hell, instead she smiled and gave Alana the number.

Alana thanked Revy for the number and dialed it. After it rang a couple of times she heard Dutch answer and she said "Dutch-san, I would like to use your dock and boat for a couple of weeks."

"Okay, can I ask what for?" Dutch asked and Alana's voice took on a teasing, secretive tone as she said "That … is a secret. But I am offering forty-five thousand in American per day until I am finished with what I have planned. All I ask is that you steer clear of the harbor office until I give you your pay. Consider this a paid vacation, if you will."

"That is one damn pricy vacation, Miss Helsing, let me talk it over with Rock and the others first. Is Revy with you?" Dutch told her and she gave the affirmative before handing Revy the phone so she could discuss the matter with him.

Alana watched as Revy started talking and she heard "Yea, I hear ya boss man," "Fuck no I don't know what she has planned," "Fuckin-A. if somebody wanted to pay me 45 grand a day just to take a vacation and sit on my tight ass and drink I'm all the fuck for it Boss Man." then a minute or so later Revy hung up the phone and closed it before handing it back to Alana.

"Dutch agreed to it after Rock and Benny voted for it with me. It doesn't surprise me that Rock agreed to it, he still doesn't like violence." Revy told her and Alana thanked her before opening the phone back up and calling her uncle back, vanishing into a shadow again. Just as Revy went to leave the room she heard a stern voice behind her and she said almost as a curse "Fuck me" as Roberta decked her in the face hard enough that she slammed into Alana's desk with a loud crash, the heavy oak not budging as Revy's back bowed before she slid down to the floor.

"Alright, normally I'd beat the crap outta you for that. But since you hit me cause the kid shouldn't be hearing it I'll let it go for now." Revy snarled as she rubbed her face then she got a look of dumbfounded confusion on her face as she said "Did I really just say that? Dang, Alana must be rubbing off on me or something." then to her surprise Shenhua helped her back to her feet. The two had been forced to bury the hatchet as long as they worked for the Cartel and it had allowed them to see the similarities the two have to each other; Revy taking care of and maintaining her pistols, Shenhua doing the same but with her knives.

As they stood there, Alana began to teleport through the shadows back into the room and Baldomero teleported out by touching Garcia's shadow while pretending to get an errant sliver of wood stuck deep into the carpet. Alana looked around the room and asked curiously "Where did Baldomero-kun run off to?"

Baldomero had teleported halfway across the island to Alana's yacht, that whole legend about all Vampires being unable to cross water was just a load of bullshit. Only lower level vampires were unable to cross water since it's purifying effect would ash them on contact. For Nobility water was very painful and would severely weaken them while for Lords, Masters, and Royalty it was a mild irritant at worst and totally ineffective at best. Arriving in Alana's living room, he sat down on the throne like chair and dialed Gunther's number.

(Greetings. This is Sir Gunther Hardy, who might I ask is calling?)

"This is Baldomero de la Cruz, Alana Helsing's Fledgeling"

(Yes, I see. What I do for you?)

"Jefe has been overworking herself here and I was hoping to see if you would help me to take care of that."

(Ah, yes, I remember her telling me about that. She is thankful to you for bringing the season to her attention and I have something in mind to help ease her workload as well a surprise for her.)

"Muchos gracias senor Hardy. What can I do to help?" Baldomero asked the ancient vampire and the two of them got down to business.

At the Lagoon offices Alana arrived with Revy and Shenhua in tow and amazingly, Garcia, Roberta, and Fabiola went along with her. Sitting across from Dutch, Alana smiled warmly at him as she said "Dutch-san" and produced a contract with the terms of the job on it. Dutch looked at it and smiled, handed the contract to Benny, who looked at it and did the same, Rock and Revy looked at it together and nodded at each other before setting the contract back down on the table.

"So, do we have an agreement on the terms?" Alana asked and Dutch looked at her and nodded saying "Yea, I agree to them. though handing my boat over to somebody else for the foreseeable future makes me uneasy."

"I know how you feel. If someone were to take my yacht I would be a lot more restricted in my movements unless I use my powers, which I prefer naught to if I can help it. The Black Lagoon will be returned to you at the end of the contract and she will be unharmed, this I promise you." Alana replied, her voice having lost that seemingly ever present tone of noble indifference and taken on a more empathetic and caring tone.

Garcia had looked over Alana's shoulder and read the contract, and opened his eyes in shock as he directed Roberta and Fabiola to read it as well, the younger maid's eyes opening in shock and she seemed to hyperventilate at the figure Alana was going to pay for Lagoon company to, essentially, take a paid vacation.

After Fabiola finally calmed down and seemed like herself again, Alana signed her name on the contract and handed it to Dutch, who did the same before rolling it up and handing it to Benny saying "Just in case." and Alana nodded knowingly. It never hurt to be careful and keep a contract handy in case someone tried to stiff you, which would be very hazardous for one's health if they tried to stiff Alana. She had no qualms about 'taking care' of a problem after all.

Over the next two weeks, a group from Argall arrived in Roanapur and the sounds of welding could be heard at the harbor side Lagoon offices. During that time Alana could be seen talking to her uncle, a man of average height and ebon black hair, his outfit an almost exact duplicate of the clothes Alana had worn into Roanapur, only he didn't wear a jacket or coat, he had a monocle over one eye nor did he carry any firearms and he wore actual shoes instead of boots with a band in his hair to hold it in a ponytail.

When Hardy wasn't discussing things with Alana, he was talking with Baldomero, the two of them making an odd pair as Baldomero refused to wear a shirt and Hardy was dressed as what he was, a butler and retainer, but still very capable of combat when required. The two were secretly planning something for Alana and making sure she couldn't overhear.

Baldomero had witnessed Alana practicing with Elegantes Herz a few times and it had surprised him down to his bones to discover that Alana was a fully grown frickin magical girl complete with transformation item and unique outfit, though her outfit appeared to be more mundane than magical. He had also heard the item itself speak regularly in a woman's voice in German and Alana would actually talk back to it as if she understood what it was saying.

Across Roanapur, thugs, prostitutes, gunmen, and other assorted scumbags and criminals, got up and looked at their calenders; December 24th. Alana was no different as she woke up and looked over at the calender she kept by her bed onboard her yacht, having taken to living there during the 'job' she'd given Lagoon Company. Sitting up, the first thing she did was call Dutch and tell him to meet her at his harbor side office to receive his payment and to bring Benny and Rock with him.

After getting off the phone with Dutch, she called Balalaika and Chang and asked them to meet her in the harbor side Lagoon Offices. After getting off the phone completely, she got out of bed, revealing the sheer nightgown she wore that revealed her panties but kept her modesty elsewhere. Coming out of the shower, she wore her new preferred outfit and left her room, finding Baldomero, Shenhua, and Revy waiting on her and together they left the yacht and entered the Lagoon Offices dock, to the sight of a tarp covering what looked like a boat and several boxes sitting under a tree in the office proper.

Sitting in the Office proper, they were met by Hardy and he smiled at them as they all sat down to await the others.

As they waited, the first to arrive was Lagoon Company, followed by Hotel Moscow, Chang of the Triads, and even Garcia Lovelace alongside Roberta and Fabiola. After everyone arrived downstairs, they looked around to see what looked like a boat underneath a tarp on the ramp.

A voice calling from one side of the room startled them and everyone but Alana turned with a start, grabbing weapons, only to see a black portal with two glowing red eyes appearing from it as the owner stepped out to reveal a Vampire with wavy dark brown hair and a goatee that seemed right out of a Three Musketeers movie.

The lone vampire was followed by eleven more, who all knelt down in two rows in front of the portal as the lone one walked up to Alana who remarked lovingly "Je adore, Je t'aime, mon amour." and the vampire, Francisque, replied "Je adore, Je t'aime, mon amour" and to everyone else's shock, the two kissed right there, their lips locked together in a way that made it abundantly clear that they were in love, causing Revy to hide a blush as Garcia and Fabiola followed her example.

A laugh of amusement broke the spell as the two lovers broke apart and Francisque took his place knelling at the portal, where the King of Vampires walked out in all of his glory alongside his wife, with Alana's mother and father right behind them. Alana's dad was clearly a cop, the fatigues tucked into knee high boots with a formfitting shirt underneath football player like body armour bearing APD SWAT markings made it abundantly clear while his eyes shown with barely disguised mirth and his hair gave him a friendly air.

The King walked past the knelling Masters and went over to Alana, who knelt down, sending a mental burst to Baldomero instructing him to do the same, the well-built vampire doing as instructed as the King put one hand on Alana's chin and said in a surprisingly warm tone "My child, I am happy to see you well. You need not knell before me at this time. This is a day for giving!" he said happily as he had Alana come to her feet, the Queen coming over kissing her on the cheeks along with a hug as a way of greeting While a new face came through the portal before it closed.

After introductions were passed around, Alana and Gunther went over to the tarp and raised it up a little before Alana said "Dutch-san, the contract is fulfilled" then she and Gunther ripped the tarp off to reveal the Black Lagoon, which looked brand new, as if she were freshly constructed with a great big red bow tied onto the crows' nest as Alana said "This is part of my gift to you Dutch-san. I had my uncle restore your boat to pristine condition then upgrade her with improved engines and stronger armour using an alloy created only in Argall. She is now much faster and can shrug off anything from the size of an anti-tank rocket on down. Merry Christmas my friend."

Dutch was ecstatic as he went over to his boat and lovingly rubbed his hands on the Black Lagoon's hull. "Thanks Alana, but what do you mean by 'part'?"

Alana laughed in mirth as she said "Climb aboard and look on your control station, the rest of my gift and your payment is there. Benny-san has a gift waiting for him in the boat's radar room." prompting both men to climb aboard, Dutch to his seat and Benny to the radar room. Arriving at the control station, Dutch found a small wooden box big enough for a pair of shades and tied with a red and green bow, the words "Dutch-san, it is my hope that these are to your satisfaction." written in Alana's handwriting with a briefcase underneath the smaller box.

Opening the box, Dutch was as happy as a kid in a candy store when he spied his new babies and couldn't keep a smile from his face as he took off his cheap sunglasses with one hand and reached down gently for his new ones. The sunglasses were rimmed in a silver version of the same alloy his boat was now armoured in, oval-shaped just the way he liked, but a little smaller than the average pair of reading glasses. The dark tinting was a deep gray with just a hint of red, striking the happy medium of being light enough to not be a hindrance at night, yet dark enough to keep out the bright light of the sun. They had even been treated for glare and reflection.

The best part, as he read the tag, was the chemical they'd been coated in. The label promised that even in the heaviest rain, droplets would disperse or run off with only a small decrease in visibility. He loved it even more since they also came with guards for his peripheral vision.

Dutch-smiled with a feral grin as he slipped the glasses on and went for the larger case, opening it he found brick upon brick of $100 bills in American, a quick count gave the total as $630,000. Oh yea, Dutch was a very happy pirate with that much cash and glasses this bad ass.

Benny had ran into the radar room and to his own shock and surprise, he found sets of integrated radar, sonar, and computer systems that would put the AN/SPY-1 radar to shame. Turning the sets on he could see for more than a 100 miles in every direction, every boat in the harbor showing up with almost perfect clarity and the system itself even identified them for him. Benny even found a new set of glasses to replace the ones he wore already, and putting them on found that they fit perfectly.

While Dutch and Benny were checking out their gifts, Baldomero had grabbed up his guitarra and taken to singing Christmas carols in his native Spanish while Gunther handed Revy a brown case and told her "I do recall that you are the firearms expert of Lagoon Company, these should be to your liking," and he opened the case for her; Revy's eyes widening in glee as she pulled out two identical pistols that looked like show pieces.

Holding them, she marveled at their light weight and balance, as well as the extremely apparent custom parts that went into them. Accepting the shoulder rigs from Gunther and putting them on after taking her old ones off, she was startled as a bright light issued from the two weapons for a few seconds and went it cleared, she stared at the gun in surprise as she read the newly inscribed dedication; To Revy from Hunters Arms Weapon Industrials Inc., Hunters ARMS 9mm auto "Seraph."

Pulling the slides back after checking the loads, she clicked the safeties off and took aim at a pair of cans sitting off the side away from everyone. She fired on instinct. She was very impressed and pleased to see the rounds hit the cans dead center of where she aimed, and that the guns themselves had virtually no recoil and were practically silent, she could even clearly see the sighting lasers. her smile grew even larger when she checked the loads to find the clips were full again, and Rock had a look on his face that revealed he wasn't exactly too anxious to see Revy use those pistols, though as Fate would have it, Caitir walked over to him with a good sized box in her hands.

Caitir looked him and smiled warmly as she said "Rokuro-chan, it's good to see you after so many years." before she set the box down and took him into a friendly yet chaste hug, which Rock returned as he said "Caitir-sama, I'm happy to see you too." then she handed the box to him, Rock noticing that it had a tag on it saying it was for him from Alana.

Opening the box he found a brand new shirt and pants complete with tie and shoes. Looking at a tag on the inside of the box, he found that the entire outfit was made with fabrics and leathers found in Argall. Thanking Caitir and Alana, he went into the office and set the box down before coming back down to watch everything else.

Alana, with Francisque by her side, went over to Balalaika and handed her a small case, while giving Chang one as well. Opening her case, Balalaika was surprised to see it was full of cigars and picking one up, she gave it a sniff relishing the rich and smooth scent as Alana said "Those are long filler cigars from Cuba." then she turned her attention to Chang who opened his case to find that it had the same kind of Cigars in it. The two thanked her as she handed Shenhua a wrapped packed, which was opened to reveal a pair of brand new Khukuri with etchings along their blessed silver blades.

Baldomero joined Gunther and the two motioned for the new vampiress to come forward and Baldomero sent a mental burst to Alana asking her to come over to them.

After she joined them, Gunther said to Alana "my niece. Baldomero has informed me of your overworked state, and to rectify this matter, we hired you a secretary." and this was the vampiress' cue as she said "Hello, I'm Dafina. It is an honor to be working for you." and to that Alana gave an amused chuckle as she said to Dafina "The honor is all mine, I'm grateful to have someone who has not only my Fledgeling's approval, but my uncle's as well. You don't have to stand on ceremony with me."

After Dutch and Benny reappeared, the group went up to the Office to start the real party, complete with a huge feast.

After the feast and party was over and done with, the groups departed as the sun seemed ready to sink beneath the waves; Alana was joined by Francisque, Revy, Shenhua, Baldomero, Dafina, her parents, the King and Queen along with the rest of the 13 Masters, and Gunther. When the group reached Alana's headquarters, the King raised one hand and the entire group stopped as he said "Lady Helsing, Sir Hardy, do we not have the ability to gift this child a more fitting place to conduct her business transactions?"

At this hidden signal; the three vampires surged their power, the seals holding Caitir and Gunther's powers back shattering like glass as a pair of magic circles grew to the size of the island itself and began rotating with black lightning and shadows dancing everywhere. Once the shadows vanished, the two were shown in their full glory as the magic circles vanished as quickly as they arrived.

They wore matching suits that mirrored Alana's when she arrived in Roanapur, only Gunther still wore his monocle and his jacket was a shadowy black. Their eyes were glowing a frightening ruby red while their hair a silky ebon black with their facial features made sharper, and more predatory.

The Queen stood by her husband and two of her closest friends as the four channeled their power, causing a ripple in the air as the hallway beyond the door leading into Alana's headquarters glowed with an unholy light as the ground shook violently from the spell the group was casting.

When the spell finished and the four vampires lowered their hands, The King walked forward and opened the door, gesturing for the others to go in ahead of him, the vampires in the group wasting no time in doing as instructed, disobeying the single most powerful vampire on the planet when he was being kind was a death wish after all, and the group came up short as they looked around in awe.

Looking around, they found themselves in the courtyard of a massive castle that looked like something out of the Transylvania series as belonging to Dracula; the castle's keep stood what seemed to be seven stories into the air with structures along the outer walls which stood three stories into the air and looked thick enough to take a cannon round head on without crumbling. The castle itself didn't have that rundown and abandoned look to it, instead it looked freshly constructed, and it was.

Going inside, they followed the King, noticing that the men who normally worked for Alana were already inside and when she told them to act business as usual, they listened. Reaching a room on the sixth floor, Dafina sat down in front of a desk and the rest moved into the room behind a pair of double doors. Arriving there, they found the room was well decorated, but with no more than necessary as the King said "My Child, this castle is yours. The spells woven into the doors of the building outside will teleport someone to this pocket dimension. Consider this our Christmas gift to you."

Alana could only thank the King and Queen, as well as her mother and uncle, for such a gift. It wasn't every day that a Vampire was given their own Castle by the Royal family, and her own family being involved made it even more of a treat.