Disclaimer: If we owned PotO and/or Hellsing, don't you think this whole story would exist by now?
XFamousXLastXWordsX: Hey yo! It's Mika-chan! It's my turn to start this chapter. Hopefully I'll be doing a lot of the writing, since I feel that Saku-chan has been doing most of it and I don't think I'm doing enough. In any case, I don't really feel like reading the stuff for my AP Euro class right now, so I'll start on this.
Saku-chan and I have decided to try to update chapters once a week. This may be hard for me, I know, because Wednesdays are booked and I have two AP classes and the possibility that I'll be an editor for our school paper, which may not happen. From what Saku-chan is telling me, her AP Bio class isn't a cup of tea, either. The point is, we'll try our hardest to get updates up in a timely manner. No more waiting a year for a chapter, at least.
Saku-chan's song was The End by My Chemical Romance and mine was Passion's Killing Floor by H.I.M. As for my quote today… "And if all that can't hold you back, I'll jump for you." I hope it's not too obvious. Skittles to anyone who gets it! And so begins the deadly tale!
Walter was somewhat confused by the situation at hand, even though he knew that he shouldn't be. All he knew was that the chorus girl was not supposed to be in Hellsing Manor, the Queen would be upset by this and that Alucard, Seras and Integra had gone to an opera in Paris, from which the girl had come. Why Alucard had taken the girl was unknown to everyone save for the vampire himself.
A single light was on in Integra's office: a small desk lamp that barely shed enough light for the desk in front of her. The Queen had been notified, of course, about the abduction of Christine Daaè, since Integra had learned the chorus girl's name. She was upset to put things mildly, and very mildly at that. She demanded to know why such a heinous act was committed and why the head vampire from Hellsing was behind it.
Integra had tried to explain that it was an accident, though it really wasn't. Alucard had meant to kidnap the girl and he didn't seem to be showing any remorse, which had both women rather annoyed. The Queen, naturally, didn't believe Integra's excuse and demanded that the girl be returned to France as soon as she possibly could.
Integra then told the Queen of Alucard's plan. There was no obvious reason that Christine Daaè wanted to be in England at all, which made the Queen want the chorus girl back in France all the more. However, when Integra promised to return her if she so desired, the Queen agreed to the plan.
What really annoyed Integra was the fact that Alucard had done something without her direct permission. He usually didn't do something so outlandish and he'd never gone so far as to kidnap someone, and from another country no less!
Standing, Integra made her way out of the office and down to the spare bedroom. It was time she had a talk with Christine Daaè.
The walls of Hellsing Manor looked very strange and lonely to Christine. And why shouldn't they? She was miles away from home in a place that she'd never been before. And to top it all off, a vampire was right around the corner. Just what she'd always wanted.
Groaning, Christine fell into her bed, her head hitting the soft pillow, and closed her eyes, trying to remember Paris, even though she hadn't been away long enough to forget it yet. She remembered the smell of the Opera House, the feel of the stage beneath her feet, the sound of Carlotta's warbling piercing her eardrums. She almost missed that sound now that it was away from her, though she only missed it because it was so familiar to her. She missed Raul more than anything. What was he doing now? Surely he knew of her kidnapping. He, after all, was there when it happened. Maybe he was talking to the police to try to bring her back…
A knock on the door sounded before a woman walked in, long blonde hair behind her back, azure eyes hidden behind round glasses. She'd seen her before, yet she couldn't remember her name…
"Well, this is going to be difficult."
And it certainly would be. Neither knew the other's name, though the blonde woman might know hers by now.
"My name is Integra Hellsing and I'm in charge of this organization." The woman, apparently named Integra, said. "It is my fault that you are here in the first place, for not keeping Alucard under control."
Alucard? The man who was drinking blood before her very eyes?
"This whole situation has created a slight altercation between the English and French governments. Our Queen wants you back in France, as I'm sure you wish as well, but that is out of the question for the time being." Integra pulled out a cigar and a lighter.
"What do you mean?" Christine sat up on her elbow so she could properly converse.
"We have some…skirmishes, we'll say, going on between France and England. You cannot return safely until they are taken care of." Integra lit the cigar and watched the smoke rise to the ceiling.
"I don't care about that!" Christine cried. "I want to go back to Paris!"
"You'll care if you value your life." Integra's voice was softer than it usually was, full of seriousness.
Christine remained silent and stared at Integra for a few moments. True, she did want to return to Paris, but she also wanted to be alive when she returned as well.
"May I ask what these skirmishes are about?" Christine tried to keep her tone even.
"I'm afraid I cannot tell you." Integra shook her head as she took a drag from her cigar.
Christine crossed her arms in front of her chest, obviously very annoyed. She wanted to know why she couldn't return to France, even if it was something she shouldn't know about.
"Seeing your reaction from a few minutes ago, I'm going to assume that you wish to return to France." Integra merely nodded. "Which is understandable. Just understand that it might take a while for this to be arranged."
And without another word, Integra left the room, leaving Christine quite confused and alone.
"Why do you want to look at the attendance records?"
Raoul was on the stage of the Opera House with Andre and Firman the next day after a rehearsal. After giving up on the police for assistance, Raoul decided that he would try to track down Christine's abductor himself. It wasn't an easy task, of course, but someone had to do something.
He had been reading the newspaper that morning when he saw an article about the play from the previous night. To some this might be no big deal and they'd skip it entirely. This, however, caught Raoul's attention and he formed an idea within seconds.
He might be able to discover who the abductor was from the attendance list. When she had been kidnapped, Raul thought the kidnapper was foreign, since he spoke French with an odd accent.
So Raul figured that her abductor wasn't from France. Sure, a lot of people from around the world came to the Opera House, but it couldn't be that hard, could it?
"Because Christine's kidnapper is foreign!" Raul was trying as hard as he could to be patient.
"And how do you know this?" Andre mused.
"He said something before he kidnapped her, with an accent." Raul said.
"But what will looking through the attendance book show?" Andre frowned.
"It might give us a lead." Raul said hopefully.
"You are aware of how many foreigners come to the Opera House, aren't you?" Firman raised his eyebrows.
"It's a stretch, I know." Raul said. "But right now, it's the only lead we have. We must find Christine!"
"Yes, we know that." Andre's voice was bored. "But we can't go searching the world for one chorus girl."
"But I'm willing to do it." Raul glared at the older men. "Now show me this book."
Without a moment's hesitation, the Opera House managers took off with Raul close on their heels. They stopped in front of a door before walking inside a very messy room. Andre scanned a desk whilst Firman ran through the bookcases. Raul found the book before either of them.
"You really should keep a cleaner office."
Opening the book, Raul's eyes found thousands of names; some French and Italian, but others were German, Welsh, Scottish, Hungarian…The name Hellsing struck him again as peculiar. It sounded like it might be British.
"Do we know anything about this Hellsing?" Raul faced the managers, his finger still on the name. "First name Integra?"
"We don't do background checks." Andre shrugged. "This is an opera house, not a prison."
Raul scowled and sighed, returning the book to its rightful place. Hellsing…the name sounded suspicious enough, but did they have anything to do with the kidnapping of Christine?
XFamousXLastXWordsX: Kind of a productive chapter. I hope I was descriptive enough. That's one of the things I'm working on. It's kind of hard to me to remember stuff from PotO because I haven't watched it in a while, but it's coming back to me pretty quickly. Saku-chan will be starting the next chapter and I hope I can do a bit more writing next time. I feel like I'm not doing enough. Anyway, you're up, Saku-chan!
Saku-Chan: Right! Once again, I edited and prevented any clashes between her chapters and mine… so everyone knows, we're assuming the characters are all bi-lingual, just to make things easier on ourselves. Hehe.
XFamousXLastXWordsX: Yes, I was wondering how that would work out…it would be a bit odd if the conversation could be understood if two completely different languages were being spoken. I don't want to imagine Alucard speaking French, though. In any case, thanks to those who read and glomps to those who review!