"Uuuughhhhhh…." A familiar coach groaned, his previously closed eyes now straining themselves as they started to open. When they initially opened, the man closed them back again when a bright light bore down on him which his eyes hadn't gotten used to. Squinting them a bit to try and get them used to the light, Karasuma groaned a little until he felt it safe enough to continue opening them. His vision seemed rather blurry at first, likely due to having kept his eyes closed for a long time, before it began to clear up as seconds passed which allowed Karasuma to gauge his surroundings when his brain booted itself up.
Above him there looked some sort of European ceiling that possessed a couple rectangular, elongated lights. The ceiling had predominantly white tiles atop it, with there being about 2 long lights. During his observation of these factors, Karasuma's brain recalled the incident at the abandoned church which made him harden his eyes.
'While Its nice that I'm not greeted by destroyed walls or any corpses, just how did I get here…?'
Noticing that he was currently residing in an unfamiliar location and feeling a bunch of blankets over him, the uni coach deduced that someone must've found him and brought him to their home. As for how that coud have been, the man had no clue initially due to knowing that it was unlikely that any of those kidnapped victims would have returned for him. Nevertheless he needed to get some answers, and that did not constitute him remaining in these cosy confines.
To that end, Karasuma rose from his previous prone position and threw aside the blankets that covered him. This allowed him to gaze downwards to inspect himself, finding bandages being wrapped around his torso and his left arm. These confirmed his previous thoughts about having been rescued from the abandoned church, and also it told him that he was likely in some sort of hospital or other medical facility. He doubted that he was in someone's private home since the smells in the air didn't match such an atmosphere a home would have.
Before he could continue examining his surroundings, the sounds of a door's handle turning broke him from those ponderings. Briefly raising his head, Karasuma shifted his gaze towards his right to see a man enter the room from the apparent entrance. Almost immediately the man's attire caught the uni coach off guard, for he wore an outfit which resembled that of an old-fashion plague doctor. This sight caused Karasuma to immediately become tense, every soldier's instinct in him demanding that he disarm this person before they pull any suspicious moves on him. However, he refrained in favor of learning more about his current situation.
Over at the other side of the room, the plague doctor rose his head after closing the door behind him, to cast his gaze over to Karasuma to see that he was awake. "Ah, I see you are awake monsieur." the now supposed doctor spoke in a french tone, catching the uni coach off guard a little since that accent actually had hints of both french AND British undertones. Walking to Karasuma with a clipboard in his hand, the apparent doctor glanced through some papers on it. "Normally, it would've taken several days for you to regain consciousness. But apparently you managed to wake up in only less than a day. It seems I underestimated the constitution of a former special forces soldier."
IMMEDIATELY those words rung every alarm bell in mind. "How the hell do you know who I was?" Karasuma narrowed his eyes aimed at the doctor who he knew the uni coach was before.
"I worked with a few of your colleagues as a medical doctor." Michel responded to Karasuma's suspicious nonchalantly tone. "I met a few of your friends and they mentioned you several times. Wanting to go and get a drink from a bar, something about not finishing their bet and getting into early retirement."
So thats how the doctor knew about his identity, the man thought whilst realization crossed onto his face. He had been a doctor for his teammate's in the past, however when he heard about his fellow UKSF and mentioned a bet he lets out a little grin on his mouth. "Heh, should've expected that guy would come around and try to get on my nerves." he muttered under his breath.
Whether or not the doctor heard him, Karasuma wasn't sure thanks to the headwear he wore. "I would highly advise you to not drink for some time, I'm afraid. As a doctor, I have to stress that alcohol is bad for your liver and your mental capacities. You can't drink for a while either, until your body has completely healed from its previous ordeal." He explained, flipping through some additional papers.
"Alright I got it." he shook his head at the thought of going drinking, not something he usually did as a normal adult even on a good day. When he was about to ask more questions he remembered something else as well. Looking down at his hands, Karasuma furrowed his brows while he replayed the events at the abandoned church, which had apparently had only been a day since they had happened. More specifically, he recalled a distinctive memory of a pair of giant mechanic hands over his own, and an armored figure that saved his life.
Considering his options whether to ask the doctor if he knew who that person was or what those gauntlets might have been, Karasuma decided to take a shot in the dark judging from how oddly dressed he was. Someone like him looking like that might have been familiar with other oddities of similar nature, so Karasuma figured this qualified. Shifting his attention back to the doctor, the man began to question him with a building caution. "Do you know who…or what that person was? A white armored figure that had draconic features on the armor?"
Michel froze for a moment when Karasuma asked him the question, which only further solidified the uni coach's theory about his likely knowledge of the person. Though, how much did he know? What did he know, and why did he react the way he did? Such questions filled his mind upon noticing this reaction he had.
Taking several seconds of silence, the doctor slowly looked up from his clipboard and stared intensely at Karasuma. "Before I respond to that, Karasuma, you must first know this: the revelations that you have just went through, the sights you have seen… If you were to know this kind of information, you will never come back to your normal life. You will forever stay on this other side of the world with no prospects of escape and no turning back." He stated ominously, which only got helped by the way his headwear deepened his voice.
On his side of things, Karasuma narrowed his eyes at the intensity he had heard. The words used reminded him of some cases involving kids joining the criminal underworld. "So what is he, some sort of secret agent or something?" he nonetheless questioned.
At this, the doctor shook his head. "Far from it, there is something more that you do not know Karasuma. What I'm about to tell you, the most important lesson you'll need to hear is that, I shall repeat what I said before you will never escape from it, no matter where you go. Are you prepared to know the truth?"
…For some reason, Karasuma felt a wave of familiarity wash over him when he heard the doctor's cautionary tone. It wasn't out of worry for himself as if he were concerned about leaking some top secret intel that could get him killed, but more for Karasuma himself which felt just as strange to him. It wasn't long before he remembered the same feeling and tone that the weapons dealer had informed him about though, which prompted the uni coach to consider the two of them to know the same kind of secret. The kind of secret that could change one's entire world forever with no hope of them ever going back from it.
If you continue walking to the path, there will be destruction, chaos, and ruins. You would not survive unless you're lucky.
The memories echoed from his mind, repeating what he informed about the uni coach. Was there something that most people were trying to cover up in several incidents? Was there a reason why there are some cases when people were reported to be killed in some sort of occult style? Is there someone who was behind the kidnapping of his students and the victims?
Inner conflicts raged inside his mind was becoming more of a headache to him. Does he want to not know the secret of somekind of secret society so he could live on with his peaceful retirement or…..does he want to indulge more of this? Return to the life he walked away a few years ago?
Closing his eyes, sighing he recalled a memory from his mother from a past time. She told him this. 'Youa tough little boy, probably when you were 7 or 8 years old, son.. When you're a soldier, you stand in the face of violence and death. But no matter how hard we tried to shelter you from military life, your father, your grandfather, and I knew eventually you would want to become one. You weren't born as a weapon, you choose that path with your decision. Remember my son, whatever the choices you make will sometimes forever change your life.'
He opened them. Sharpening his eyes and looked straight to Michel. "Tell me the truth. I want to know everything." he made his decision.
"Then be prepared Karasuma, because you will never escape this world, no matter how much you try to run from it."
Later
"Ridiculous, simply ridiculous." Karasuma remarked, looking simply aghast. He had a hand over his shaking forehead which kept a finger and thumb rubbing his temples to massage the thumping headache he'd received. "What you are implying does not exist. At all." he stated, glaring up at the doctor whom he'd learned had the name of 'Michel'.
The said doctor didn't look too bothered by his reaction. He'd honestly expected something like this to happen, he'd seen it way too many times in his line of work. "It is the truth and I'm not lying." Michel calmly responded to Karasuma.
None of his words got through to the former soldier however, the man absolutely adamant that what he had been told were simply 'lies' and nothing more. "None of what you say is true. Gods? Devils? Angels? Those are called myths for a reason." he declared in a scathing manner.
Michel had just explained all about the supernatural and Gods existence, and almost naturally the coach hadn't accepted any of it as fact. After all, as an atheist he never believed in something as pathetic as a God. He refused to believe ANYTHING about the possible existence of the supernatural.
"I will repeat what I said before. None of that shit exists, none of those supernatural stories or legends are true, they are made up to make people believe in fairy tales." Karasuma strongly declared to Michel, his tone rapidly rising in annoyance. It actually looked like he was getting closer to exploding in terms of rage.
Just before that could happen however, something cicked inside the doctor's mind which he realized could finally convince the former soldier. "Then perhaps a little demonstration should convince you monsieur." Michel proposed to Karasuma. "Why don'y you try to summon that thing you used back then. Use your thought to make the sacred gear come out of your soul."
"Is this a joke Michel? Because if it is I'm not laughing at all." Karauma slowly raised his tone before getting out of the bed and marched straight to the doctor who remained unfazed fazed by his anger. "Enough with this silly joke about Gods and demons that exist shit. I don't believe in God and I sure as hell don't know what the hell your talking about projecting something that is inside of my soul into exista-"
SHHINGG!
Before he could continue on with his little rant, Karasuma quickly closed his eyes to shield them from the bright light that flashed around his arms, almost blinding him. After the light died down and he was able to open his eyes, the man looked down and his eyes shot WIDE open. Why? Whelp, the same pair of Gauntlets that he'd recalled having back in the Abandoned Church materalized. Karasuma balked at the sight of them, which sparked more memories of the battle he'd seen back then between the Night Lord and that armored person. Widening his eyes and lifted his gauntlets close to his eyes. "What…..the hell?" he quietly said to himself.
"It seems what Vali said was true, you do possess a Sacred Gear." Michel remarked thoughtfully, using the same tone he used before while cupping his chin beneath his headwear.
The uni coach stopped inspecting his gauntlets, slowly putting it down and looked at Michel, his eyes showing how lost and confused he seemed inside. Something which could be understood by the doctor.
Nevertheless, he still hammered his previous point home. "Gods exist, legends exist, Myths are real and magic..." Briefly trailing off, Michael held put his palm up and conjured a sphere of air (one remarkably similar to what Issei had used back in the abandoned church. Looks like he's not the only fan of a certain knuckleheaded ninja out there) which spun around atop his palm for a few seconds. Afterwards, that ball of air was dispelled when the man clenched his fist around it, before he then went and conjured a solid sphere of water that floated above his palm. "Is real."
Karasuma, the former and retired soldier of the United Kingdom Special forces, finally lost all his previous anger at the ludicrous claims being made. Instead, he looked simply stunned from the revelation that his entire world had been flipped upside down by. "Gods…exist…." He muttered under his breath. The gravity of the sheer force of seriousness that Michel had explained to him that he tried to deny and claim mythology doesn't exist, now could no longer be denied. As an atheist he never believed in God, he had long since lost his faith in him for a very long time, believing he never existed and was just someone to idolize.
But now that he knew about the mythologies being true…that every myth and every legend was very much true…
'Wait a minute, wasn't there…?'
He suddenly remembered the abnormal strength his student Theseus displayed during class when he lifted the entire group of students who were still sitting on the bench. Not only that but he also displayed many abnormal abilities throughout all his PE classes, and most of all, how he supported his upside down stance when even the cheerleader squad did their poses while he simply held his position like they were never even there. There was no way that boy could have such abilities and still be human, he'd have to at LEAST have some supernatural alignment.
CLICK-CLICK!
"?!"
It was then, that another person stepped inside of the room after opening the door. Karasuma glanced towards it and speaking of which, there was his student: Theseus, the rumored blond prince of the university. Both Theseus and Michel glanced each other, the doctor nodding his head from his position on the side. Apparently he had gotten the unsaid message Theseus had sent him with just a simple glance, before leaving the room leaving Theseus and Karasuma alone.
They both stared at each other for a while, having a standoff. The air around them became intense, everything becoming so thick with tension that any onlooker would want to vacate the premises JUST to take their next breath with relative ease.
It was like this before the air became normal again when Theseus began to spoke after a while. "So….you got the gest of the whole situation now, coach?" He asked him.
Karasuma shook his head and regained himself, despite the revelation of the existence of the supernatural he needs to keep himself and not let most of his emotion escape. Hardening his eyes he responded. "I do Theseus. Never in my whole life, thought I would be introduced to a world where such fantasies would be true. Where every child dreamed of becoming a superhero…" he remarked, sighing afterwards as he placed a hand over his face… making sure to avoid getting impaled by his gauntlet's clawed blades. "This feels like some silly world some horny loser who hasn't gotten any dreamt up."
"Well its not like that coach." Theseus coldly said to the PE teacher. Turning 90-degrees, the male went and walked towards the room's hall, talking while doing so. "The world is both dark and fucked up. Men, women, children. All the same. They believe that in the supernatural they could survive but thats far from the truth. The real thing about it is…." Shifting his attention to Karasuma. "It's a dog eat dog world."
The uni coach narrowed his eyes, a new level of understanding forming within him about the full reality of the grim darkness that was the supernatural.
Noticing this, Theseus continued to explain. "There is no government officials presiding over these beings in any official capacity, because most living beings like the Gods could end them with a snap of a finger. It's a power dominated world where the strong live and the weak die. No one could ever match against them, the biggest example being the Hindu Gods. They stand at the top of pinnacle of power. You know of the Trimuti?"
"Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. The primordial Gods of India." Karasuma said the three powerful names that came out of his words. He remembered those names due to having been educated in such matters as part of a campaign in India he'd partaken in. Even if he'd believed those myths weren't real, those myths had great impacts on their culture hence why he had researched about it.
"Exactly coach." Theseus said. "It's a hard and difficult life coach, no one gets a happy ending." Walking back to Karasuma before stopping a few feets away from him, Theseus shot him a look dead in the eye which allowed the man to see the STORM of emotion swirling within their debts.
It honestly caught the man off guard, since bat at the University Theseus had this cold, detached demeanor unless one tried starting something with him. But here? Karasuma got the idea that Theseus seemed one step away from exploding with the maelstrom of emotions swirling inside of him.
That… didn't seem too healthy, Karasuma mused internally as a wave of concern washed over him.
"...But there is still time for you to leave."
"Huh?"
Karasuma blinked, looking confused at what his student might meant by him 'still having time' to consider leaving. "What do you mean Theseus?" he questioned cautiously, although inside he had an indea of his intent.
An intent which got proven correct with the younger male's next sentence. "I'm saying there is still time for you to leave this type of world behind and never come back to it. You can go back to your normal life, never have the fear of anyone trying to come after you because you have a Sacred Gear. The life of a Sacred Gear wielder will always be one of constant pursuit by others coveting your power for their own ends, anyone you associate with would become a potential target for disposal by the powers that be, for they're a PARTICULARLY zealous bunch when it comes to secret keeping… and grudges." Theseus explained in a factual manner, his stormy eyes growing darker and darker by the second as did his tone.
To the point where Karasuma got the feeling he stood on a rock in the mid of a vast, chaotic ocean caught in the middle of a furious hurricane. To call this hurricane 'chaotic' still felt like a bit of an understatement, but the uni coach had few other words that could do the thing justice.
Uncaring for his thoughts, Theseus stepped back and gestured to the door behind him. "Or if you decide to indulge in more of the supernatural, then we can help you get accustomed. We can help you grow stronger so that the next time you fight, you'll overcome the enemy and Hellsing will provide protection for your family so you won't have to worry about them being assassinated."
Karasuma remained silent, processing this information. Still having his sacred gear activated, he crossed his arms in front of him as best he could, debating his options again. The dangers the beings of legends and mythology poses, even someone like him wasn't sure if he could survive against them despite being a soldier of his calibre. From what he remembered of some legends, many of these beings had the ability to reshape entire landscapes, burn entire continents to the ground, create universes, amongst other weird shit.
Just how could someone like him compete with shit like that?
Dark eyes casting their gazed downwards, Karasuma looked towards his Gauntlets and held them out in front of him with his palms facing him and fingers outstretched, the blades illuminating power whilst electricity danced around each blade.
Even while the display seemed dangerous and lethal, Karasuma nevertheless wasn't sure if even this Sacred Gear was enough to stand against them. The memories of him being almost defeated and killed by that Night Lord still lingered in his head, alongside the phantom pain from those injuries he'd sustained amidst the mocking, deepened laughter as the Night Lord tore into him in a mental and physical sense. He had almost been defeated by that Night Lord had it not been for one of Hellsing agent came in time to save him.
Speaking of being rescued, the uni coach remembered something else he hadn't factored into the equation. Lifting his head and shifted his attention to Theseus, Karasuma asked the following question. "What about the people who were held captive by the Night Lords? Has anything happened to them?"
Part of him honestly couldn't help but remark in some sick amusement that all of this had started with him simply investigating some missing kids. He doubted he could have imagined it to turn out as big as this mess was, but nevertheless he hadn't seen what had ultimately befallen the captives he'd liberated. He needed to know what had happened to them before making a decision himself.
"They are alright, you won't have to worry about them." Theseus answered the PE teacher, causing the said adult to sigh with relief. Nevertheless, with the way that Theseus looked away from him with that frown on his lips, caused Karasuma to get a bad feeling in his gut alongside the cold chill that froze his very blood. "But, there has been some issues." closing his eyes, Theseus finally returned his gaze to the man's own to delivering this following piece of bad news. "A few of them died because of the torture they had gone through, and the lack of nutrients. We were too late because the moment our doctor tried, they were too far gone."
Hearing that caused the bad feeling in his gut to grow denser as a cold shroud of loss and defeat draped itself over the uni coach's shoulders. "I see." Karasuma muttered under his breath. He had anticipated that there were going to be casualties after seeing the state the prisoners had been in during his raiding of the church's dungeons, so the revelation didn't sting as much as it should have. Still stung though.
That was not the end of it however, as Theseus continued to speak. "Few children died as well."
"?!"
Karasuma balked once again at this revelation. His face looked to resemble a mix of shock, horror and sadness all at once. Sitting down on his hospital bed, darkness enveloped his face.
Crossing his arms under his chest, Thesues continued to speak while leaning on one foot. "We had to erase the memories of every captives and replaced them in order to keep this world a secret. We are not heartless however(except maybe myself), so we buried their bodies so as to, like one of my teammates would say, their souls will be at peace." Theseus finished, turning to him after approaching the room's door and leaning against the wall next to it. This allowed him to see how the coach kept gripping his Sacred Gears' hands hard with veins starting to show on his arms. He can hear grinding noise coming from his teeth alongside some hard breathing as well. It mattered not for Theseus as he asked Karasuma once more. "So coach, tell me…what is your choice? Do you want to leave the supernatural world, or do you want to participate, get revenge and grow stronger so you can prevent further deaths?"
Karasuma didn't answer for a while as he stayed silent for a few minutes. He lift his dark face covered and his sharp eyes glint in both rage and fury over them as he stood up again from the hospital bed, his sacred gear was crackling around his blades, matching its host emotions. "Tell me, how can I get stronger Thesues?"
Later
Outside the Hellsing house, a man can be seen standing by its front gate. To be more specific, a VERY familiar-looking man wearing s squarish officer's, the cap, long coat, and the sword on his left hip. Staring at the gate for a few seconds, the man placed a hand atop his cap's shade before sighing and shaking his head. "Goddammit why do those brats have to make things very complicated now a days…? " He whined, REALLY not looking forward to having to deal with the upcoming shit, before he eventually started strolling up to the gates, to which the moment he neared them those gates seemed to open automatically.
Not stopping while the gates were opening, he headed straight to the manor. Heavy thuds accompanied his boots as they stomped along the gravel path towards the main entrance to the house, past the garden until he stood before the door. Again, not stopping he grabbed the doorknob and twisted it to open it. He entered the building, only to see Meredith standing with her hands together in front of her lap, smiling in greeting towards him.
Beside her was Theseus, who sat cross legged on a couch nearby, not paying attention to him.
"Welcome, its a pleasure in meeting you once again…..Hijikata Toshiro." She announced the man's name, bowing her head down a little in a Japanese manner.
"Its good seeing you again Ordinton. It has been a while since I last saw you and the rest of the group." Hijikata tipped his head off to Meredith, a bloodthirsty smirk on his lips which to anyone who didn't know him, would seem like it hinted at him going on a blood rage. However, thanks to Meredith and the others knowing his habits, they knew it was just his natural smile brought about from years of bloody conflict. "I swear time is doing all it can to leave the old guard like me behind, with all that techno shit." he mused, thinking back to his journey to this place… which had been a while, and that was an understatement.
"Indeed it has, time goes quicker than we can expect." Meredith agreed with the resurrected vice-general. Thinking about what this guy had to go through regarding transportation was an amusing yet mildly frustrating thought for the auburn haired woman. After all, this WAS a man from the age of Samurai they were talking about here.
Toshiro looks around before spotting a luxurious chair. He walked towards it before preparing to sit. "So…..how is the mission going on?" he sat down and asked the duo, taking out a cigar and a lighter before lighting up his cigarette and smoking. "And how is it going along with the both of you?"
Internally Meredith frowned, concealing her emotions to not reveal them to Toshiro. Walking towards where Theseus sat, she sat down next to the Shark King whilst making sure to maintain her composed expression.
However, it wasn't long till something about her companion caught her attention and sharply raised her defensive instincts. Beside her, Theseus gripped his hands hard to show their veins while even though his mouth remained a flat line one could guess from the way that his gaze held a strong intensity that he may be gritting his teeth.
As such, the woman knew best not to prod the beast that could tear her a new one (the memory of him almost striking her down lay fresh in her mind even after all this time), prompting Meredith to start scooting away from him.
The vice-general smoked before exhaling out a puff of smoke, bringing her attention back to their newest arrival. Meredith interlocked her fingers and still had the stoic expression on her face. "Our orders are going just as fine, there have been no interruptions nor anything stopping us from conducting our duties. However, recently we had some issues during our mission with the increase of Stray devils and monitoring potential Sacred Gear users." she informed him, reflecting on the incidents that they'd gone through.
Putting the cigarette on his fingers. Toshiro continued to question. "And how did it go? Did you find any of the sacred gear users in the city?"
"We have, though we do not intend to just confront them and order them to awaken their Sacred Gear. Not only does that approach have problematic and immoral implications but it is also impractical, since these users have stayed outside the supernatural world all this time and are not a threat to anyone. We do not believe it necessary to force them into this world, lest we draw their ire. We only monitor the potential ones if they prove to be a danger to humanity and Hellsing. But if they show some signs of awakening them, we have to make sure they do not abuse their powers because if they do, it would cause more troubles and issues for us to deal with." Meredith intelligence said to Toshiro.
"Have you found any that prove to be a danger?"
"So far….no. Not a single one."
"I see." Toshiro inhales the cigarette and exhale. His cap covered his eyes, Meredith cannot tell what is going on with the resurrected man's emotion. No matter how hard she tried to disconcert them, her attempts ended in vain every time.
They were quiet for a while before Meredith spoke. "May I ask you something Toshiro?" she asked the former vice-general.
"Hmm?" Lifting his head, the former Japanese Shinsengumi official narrowed an eye slightly while paying attention to Meredith.
"Why are you here in Kuoh city? Weren't you suppose to be finished with your long-term orders?" The woman questioned Toshiro.
Lightening up his eyes in surprise, lifting his head up a bit further in recognition. "Oh! Thanks for reminding me Ordinton." leaning back on his chair as his cigarette still smokes. "You see, there is actually two reasons why I'm here." he explained, raising a hand to then lift two fingers like a V sigh, both aimed at Meredith.
Sir Integra's former apprentice lifted her eyebrow in confusion at this, but remained silent to allow him to continue.
"First. It was actually on my way back to London. I actually wanted to really relax after a very long trip from halfway through the world. Mostly, I really just wanted to get a drink from the stressful trip." Toshizo explained his reason to Meredith since technically speaking he is not lying because Japan was along the way back to London from his starting point. It was not a coincidence for the both of them to meet. "It's been a while since I came back to my home country….seems that a lot of things have changed since in the Meiji period." Toshizo remarked, a thoughtful look crossing onto his face as he reminisced on all the things that had changed in his time.
Sir Integra had filled him in on how many years it had been since the samurai era had ended, but seeing the proof with his own eyes had been it's own experience.
Meredith nods her head in understanding. Since Toshizo did want to visit his home country, it has been quite a while since he last visited Japan. "And the second?"
Flicking his cigarette to remove the ashes from his cigar. "Oh yeah, the second is this!"
BAM!
BAM!
"GAH!"
"GUH!"
In an instant, Hijikata had appeared before the sitting duo with a pair of fists cocked back. In the following second, Meredith and Theseus were literally punched on the face by Toshizo when he sucker-punched them all of a sudden. They both were sent flying back from the sofa, a few feet through the air, before both of them dropped to the ground.
At that point, Toshizo dropped his cigarette and towered over them looking like a vengeful wraith with a single glowing crimson eye. "Do you actually think I'm not that stupid or blind to not know what's going on? Well, do you?!" he bellowed, several veins bulging across his forehead.
Meredith was surprised at his action when a trail of blood was from her mouth. "What…..what are you talking abo-"
"Don't try and act stupid girl!" He interrupted them, pointed at both of them with his index finger. "You both are acting like incompetent rookies! Constantly squabbling without end! I can literally tell from the first moment I saw the two of you. I leave for literally a couple of months and it's starting to fall down?"
In an instant, Theseus' instincts sprung into action. His eyes flashed with bloodlust before he sprang up to his feet, Trident already summoned into his hand before he thrusted himself forward towards Toshizo, his face promising bloody murder. But Toshizo grabbed the trident by it's centre blade just before it could impale him, showing no fear or hesitation in his actions. The shark king growled and snarled at the resurrected man. "Who the fuck are you, trying to tell me how I work corpse? I have half of mind to already skew-"
"Shut up, fish boy." Immediately, a dark aura surrounded the former Shinsengumi member, leaning his face forward towards Theseus' own while still holding onto his trident. "And you will listen, the both of you listen to what I say. If you try to interrupt me I will break the both of your hands, your arms and your legs so you will hear what I say. So bite the lips or I'll stick them out backwards. Got it?" He demanded to Theseus and Meredith.
Alucard apprentice sharpened his eyes and his fanged teeth grit each other at the dead corpse demands. He would love to skewer him, skin him alive and feed him to the sharks so he won't be a bother to him again whilst his vision began to redden around it's edges, a haze of bloodlust rapidly building within.
Not waiting for their response, Toshizou promptly pushed Theseus' Trident back which caused him to fall backwards. Had it not been for his quick reflexes, Theseus wouldn't have been able to regain his balance in time.
Seeing this, the older man snarled and booted Theseus with his right leg before he could react, catching the male off guard and knocking him down at last. His task done, the man turned and strolled away from them for at least a few feet with his hands tied behind his back, his statute that of a senior officer in the army. "I've been informed recently by your superior about this shit, and she ordered me to get rid of this nonsense the both of you have been doing."
He then glanced behind him through the corner of his eye at Meredith. "First off, you." He declared, gesturing to her with a nod in her direction.
Naturally under this kind of intensity, the said woman flinched when he prepared to say something to her. "What possessed you to try and change this fish idiot into one of those stuck up pricks, knowing what the aristocrats are like? That's like mixing fire and oil together! You know as well as everyone in the Goddamn world that he hates nobility with passion. Something even I can sympathize with since during the Meiji Era they were forcing my people into adopting the western culture while blatantly ignoring their heritage! I knew what was going on and what was going to happen in the future which is why I resisted their orders." He lectured Meredith with a harsh tone, making her look down in the ground in shame whilst he listed to her the shit that she had done wrong.
Words couldn't do much to describe the amount of disappointment and shame inside of her. What the former vice-commander had said had been absolutely spot on, and any justification she tried to use just felt like hollow excuses at this point. She had fucked up, paying the price with that delegation incident. Thinking back on it, she felt like an absolute fool for thinking that something like that punishment wouldn't backfire on her, so to highlight her hubris her punishment backfired SPECTACULARLY. She should have done something else to punish Theseus, something that didn't involve placing him within a situation that required delicacy for it just wasn't in his nature. She'd essentially set up a volatile barrel in a room filled with flammable materials, shit had to go down and it did.
"And you!" Pointed at Theseus huffing and puffing form. Even under the furious glare the shark king had aimed at the former vice-commander, Toshizo was not intimidated by his figure and walked to him. Poking Theseus' chest irritating him. "Don't think you're off the hook as well. This also all started while you couldn't keep that pent up rage inside of you. You nearly exposed the whole population to the supernatural world which is still going on. Fucking hell, you overdid it too much! You're a fucking wild rabid beast."
Theseus growled furiously, his eyes now almost resembling a shark's completely at this point with his vision swimming in crimson. His form trembled, the male gritting his teeth so tightly that they could have cracked and been irreparably damaged. He very nearly exploded, with the vapor in the air around him looking like it was about to come to life and form a few shark maws to clamp down on Toshizo's throat. The man would have definitely put them out of life, but the ensuing fight would have levelled this entire building.
However, a shred of his humanity managed to reassert it's dominance within his mind at the last second, resulting in him gaining a different thought process that allowed him to calm down slightly. This also allowed him to reflect a little, with memories of the breakdown he went through unbeknownst to anyone coming back to him. As a result, a wave of shame and guilt stabbed at him, waging war within his soul against the primal fury he was best known for. The more he pondered Toshizo's words, the worse he felt inside.
After all, he had been right on all accounts, all this shit had started after those pathetic Hero Clan members had ambushed them. He should have been more careful and controlled himself better, that way he wouldn't have had to go through all that shit. His anger had indeed gotten the better of him, violently lashing out at every opportunity he had and had proven to be a massive L for him this time… and who's to say it wouldn't happen again?
He… he really needed to think about this.
Turning away from Theseus, now sensing that his building fury had abated, Toshizo slowly lowered his hand which had been draped across his sword, before he turned and walked away from them for a few steps. After the 5th one, he twirled around on his boots, allowing his coat to sway in his rotation's direction. As such, he faced the both of them with a face sporting a strict stern expression. "This needs to stop, the both of you. I know what the dilemma is between the both of you and it needs to end now." He announced both of them.
He stared at them for a while before facing back to the auburn girl. "Girl, you should've thought about this better than anyone. I am very angry and disappointed in you right now, as your decision almost cost us the whole entire operation. One small mistake and it can lead to a royally fucked up nightmare." letting go of his hands and adjusting his cap. "You're not a perfect leader, you have flaws. All leaders have flaws. You should've known that when there is always a meeting with two political people there is BOUND to be an assassination attempt. You should have foreseen that given the number of incidents Sir Integra deals with, then provided preemptive security measures. Instead, you ignored this fish idiot's mental state to bring him to a place filled with, and I will say this again, high-class assholes he hates with a passion."
The more and more he talked, criticizing both her actions and listing ways she could have prevented them, the more Meredith snarled to herself. For being a fool for not remembering this piece of information that she'd been told by her mentor during her training.
Putting his hands down, Toshizou walked up to Meredith who still had her head down. Squatting down and continues to speak. "Look…no one is perfect. You are not omnipotent or all-knowing. Requin was trained by a wild monster, a monster that needs to be kept on a leash. Therefore, its no surprise that he's inherited much of that bestial nature combined with everything else. You annoy and irritate the beast, it will outlash back at you." Toshizo spoke to her, his tone shifting to firm, but understanding. He recalled how he'd once been in her position: a naive rookie who needed to learn the horror's of war to be an effective commander. Meredith had it easy by comparison, in his opinion.
Standing straight and once again stood back and faced the both of them. "The both of you are at fault here. But that does not mean it should be held as a grudge. Despite what happened, like it or not you both are in the same organization and are colleagues. The both of you need to cooperate. Trust me, I've seen what happens when my men hold a grudge against one another. It didn't end well for him and the person as well."
"What?" Theseus near-silently whispered in disbelief, his mind having to take a few seconds to process what he had heard. Slowly, however, anger retook it's hold on him and Theseus began seeing red in the corners of his vision. A low growl escaped his lips as his eyes ignited once more, turning bright green. "You expect me to….to get along with this bitch?!" He bellowed out, pointing his still summoned Trident at Meredith while still facing Toshizo. Meredith flinched when Theseues called her a bitch. "After what she did before when I saved their and her ungrateful asses when I had my powers sealed? I risked my life, my own life and yet what did they do? They spat out hatred towards me and insulted me! When they see their precious property destroyed, collateral damage! They, all of them don't care about anything expect money and influence! You have the gall to say to put aside my grudge and cooperate when she even acknowledged what I did when I ruined their fucking trade routes?!" He ranted out, listing multiple reasons contributing to his hatred
Toshizo was not fazed by Theseus's anger, he did acknowledge all those reasons were true. He cannot deny it, especially since he himself never forgave those nobles of his time for pulling that shit. However, there was a bigger picture than holding up grudges and hatred to the aristocrats. "Like it or not fish boy, you have to. Look at the bigger picture here, if the both of you continue this petty dilemma sooner or later it will cause big problems in the future. This situation essentially resemble's a wounded fish in shark territory. As you know, sharks tend to go wild when smelling fresh blood." He explained, shutting Theseus up with the shark knowledge. He had him there, as much as Theseus hated it. "More importantly, there will be issues that require the both of you to cooperate and if you continue with this…for once, think of the damn consequences instead of acting like a beast." Out of frustration with the boy's demeanor, Toshizo poked Theseus' shoulder. "You are a man and a soldier. Think reasonably. Don't act like a primal beast because thats not who you are. You're a human, both of you. You make mistakes and instead of letting it get through your head you improve it." He crossed his arms while intently looked at Theseus's hunched form.
At that, Theseus growled once more like the beast he had been trained to be, every fibre of his instincts screaming to reject the notion that he was a person instead of the monster he claimed to be.
However, the male's slight shred of remaining humanity once again reasserted itself at the last second which allowed him to ponder the bigger picture after slightly calming down. If he did continue to hold a grudge against Sir Integra's student, then it will not end well. The rise and fall of Icarus remained fresh in his mind from when he had been in history class. It maintained a balance with everything in moderation will ensure a long one. The wings represented the father giving his son life; the ocean and the sun represented the extremes of denying and overindulging yourself; flying in between was the answer. It seemed starkly similar to how in Hellsing Sir Integra kept Alucard on a leash normally, only releasing him when he went on a mission. If Sir Integra were to let go of Alucards leash, that monster would be released back into the wild to cause havoc across the world once again.
Not only that, but if Alucard were to kill Sir Integra…
It must be maintained in balance or else if any of them were to disappear, the balance would break and no small or large amount of fixing would ever repair that balance.
Toshizo seeing that Theseus is calming himself, no longer hunchback as he stood up straighter. "I'm not saying to forgive or just instantly get along. Start with small and then later on when you feel better and confident with the relationship between you and the girl. I'm helping both of you avoid the biggest mistake or the greatest regret you'll ever have in your life. Believe me, its one of the things you want to avoid." With that said and enough lecture he walked past the two duo. Just before he was about to head upstairs he glanced behind and spoke one last time. "I'm going to be staying here in Kuoh for a bit, need to keep the two of you in check. I'll inform your superiors and she very much will not deny my request. You two need to get your acts together because it will be your downfall one day." with that said he head upstairs and left the duo alone.
Back inside the living room, Theseus and Meredith remained silent as they digested the information told to them, resulting in this awkward tension. Though it remained an improvement from the thick bloodlust where one misstep could start a bloodbath. The shark king himself looked down his free hand and then towards his Trident, running his gaze down to it's triple tip. He stared at it for a while as memories played within his mind, memories of back when he had first acquired his BOE form. The sheer brutality of the instincts that had overwhelmed him alongside the Curse from that damn God, giving Theseus more insight and understanding of Alucard's hate for them.
Yet at the same time, Toshizo's words still rung in his head.
"You are a man and a soldier. Think reasonably. Don't act like a primal beast because thats not who you are. You're a human."
With those words, Theseus returned to the normal world as he gazed at his weapon's blade, the ceiling's light allowing him to look upon his reflection. The thing was, his reflection seemed like half and half, one half being his human face and the other that of his BOE form. 'Human…I wonder if I'm still one.' He mentally wondered to himself, slightly surprising himself with the lack of an answer to that query.
Meredith was still on the ground, gazing on the floor looking pathetic as she would call herself. She couldn't handle the situation very well by herself, she deserve to be the scum of the earth, a failed apprentice of Sir Integra. Instead of acting mature or ever thinking of the consequences, she never thought of it in the first place nor did she ever tried in the past. She thought she could handle it, everything on her own, using every lesson and method her teacher had taught her. The pressure and burden of leadership, like what the resurrected soldier had said, she was not perfect, a harsh reality check that had just slapped her in the face.
She had flaws and made many mistakes because of it. She wasn't even prepared for the consequences.
Just before she could monologue herself any further, she felt a sudden force yank her upwards, making her stand up in surprise. Widening her eyes she looked at herself to realize she had been put back on her own two heeled feet.
Looking at the floor, she saw the Earth had just finished shifting back to normal beneath her. Knowing that there was only one person who could do such a thing, Meredith glanced towards Theseus' retreating figure in surprise and a bit of shock….. before she slowly smiled.
Like what Toshizo had said, she should start slow and gradually improve the relationship between her and Theseus.