SLAP!
"INSIGNIFICANT, STUPID FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!"
Well, those fears that Mio had at the start of their journey back? Those turned out to be well-founded when she saw Theseus getting himself slapped hard by Meredith. Her expression was filled with fury and anger which she could not express with just words alone, heck even that slap felt light in comparison to the inferno she felt inside.
Before this all happened, the group returned to their base. The two boys died from the damage and fatal wounds the no-life king's student had caused to them, which was of no surprise to many. Not to mention their deaths did not invoke any sympathy throughout the Hellsing ranks, but the girl was still alive.
To make sure things wouldn't go wrong while she was contained, Theseus had bound her arms using ropes made from earth, making sure she doesn't cast any spells and even made sure the spirits wouldn't help her this time. He did that last one by covering her mouth in a harness made from earth while trapping her in a hill of the stuff in the middle of a small cage, one with many spikes inside it to limit her movement.
And of course, once she had heard what had happened from Vali, Meredith had angrily called Theseus' name from her office, demanding that he report to her.
Sensing the impending danger and knowing how terrifying Hellsing could be from just their rumors alone, Maria hence understandably did not want Mio to follow Theseus when he'd left. However, the redhead didn't listen to the succubus, strongly desiring to be with Theseus so she could at least give her support and hopefully lessen his punishment.
Which explained the situation they were all in now.
In her office, Meredith looked like a literal devil that's depicted in the European churches: red-faced, gritting her teeth so hard they could crack at any time, etc. In front of her, Theseus stood with his head glancing to the side, a sizable pink hand mark on the side of his face. Judging from the recent stinging that followed the audible smack sound, one could guess what had happened here. "Do you have any idea, any idea what you could've caused?!" she shouted at Theseus who kept his stoic face when his head was still at the side from the pressure of Sir Integra's student's slap. She took out something from the desk and slammed it on the table.
BAM!
After hearing a loud slam sound, Theseus glanced down at the thing Meredith had slammed on the desk which just so happened to be a newspaper, detailing several columns in a rather disturbing manner.
'Unusual weathering.'
'The Storm vanished?'
'Mass people fainting across Quintus street.'
'A new sickness?'
In his mind, Theseus had to wonder how so many titles had been spread around so quickly. It hadn't even been a day yet. He'd heard of some expressions regarding how fast news traveled, not to mention how vast humans gossiped about conspiracies that may or may not be falsified.
'News really does travel fast...'
"Do you know how much damage you could've caused to the entire operation? DO YOU?!" she repeated herself to Theseus. "News spread fast like lightning and all of these incidents were caused by you and the reckless actions you decided to take instead of being aware that you were in a public place." she roared like a dragon.
At this point, Theseus finally spoke to her after being silent during the admonishing he had been dealt thanks to his actions. "You already have the report which is in front of you." he said to her, the figures of the hero clan mostly spoke his answer, alongside the two dead bodies, and that one unconscious small girl. He'd already forgotten their names at this point, though he had only heard them in passing by their mouths during their fighting.
"BY ALLOWING YOURSELF TO EXPOSE THE DISTRICT TO THE HIDDEN WORLD?!" Meredith roared again to Theseus' face when she got close to him. They were face to face, one was stoic and the other had an expression of a demon, a very scary demon from the bible. The queen's granddaughter stepped back and made a space between them. "You were lucky, very lucky that I managed to contain all this information with the help of my contacts in Kuoh and the Shinto Pantheon. It was already bad enough that the devils left a big headache for me to deal with, now you made even a bigger one than them." she put her gloved hand on her forehead to soothe the headache she was receiving from the Shark king.
Realy, she had to pull out many stops in order to contain this potential disaster, stops which she could have used to bring in better improvements to the quality of life and ease the Hellsing's ability to conduct activities here. However, not only was that not possible now thanks to them being expended, but also there was now a growing worry amongst some of the more prominent figures in the shinto pantheon that something like this might happen again, causing them to question Hellsing's ability to handle problems.
Seeing that there was a lull in the argument going on here, Mio finally gathered enough courage to speak albeit she spoke with a fearful stutter. "I-it wasn't h-his fault! W-we didn't know that the Hero Clan would still come after me. A-and I l-left with him when he wanted to take a break. Please don't get angry at Theseus, I'm the main person to blame." she protested, lowering her head down in shame for she was also the part to blame. Had she not foreseen that this would've happened, then she wouldn't have gone out with Theseus. Worse still, was that while she was feeling guilty about this it was likely that Maria may not feel it as much, even if she also had a hand in this for suggesting they go out today for bonding.
Upon viewing this and listening to her protests, Meredith took a couple of breaths for some time before she finally calmed down and eased her anger. After all, it was unfitting for an aristocrat like her to behave like this. She was taught better by her teacher, one such lesson being to never let anger dominate one's judgment. Only use it when necessary, which this was one of them.
Then there was the fact that Mio's defence did highlight one important factor that actually overshadowed Theseus's actions in the majority of the Shinto Pantheon's minds right now. As bad as they were, his response wasn't nearly as bad as what the Hero Clan had done, attempting to circumvent their wishes and still conduct operations within their borders. This demonstrated a lot of disregard for national sovereignty, and it had rightfully pissed off a lot of powerful figures across the pantheon. It had led to their ease of cooperation with damage control, as well as opened opportunities for them should they play their cards right.
That was another lucky break for Hellsing due to this being much more of a grave offence than potentially exposing the supernatural world to mankind, of which one could easily suppress by memory erasing.
"It is not your fault though this idiot did not know the meaning of control and was unaware of his surroundings. You are also correct about our own lack of foresight, we did not know those people would not honor our agreement." her face shadowed, showing her glowing eyes, displaying the seriousness. "This will not stand. I think it is time to send them a reminder of what happens when you unhook the dog's leash."
Mio shuddered at the gaze Meredith was emitting now, wondering whether to feel bad or feel glad the hero clan was going to suffer the consequences. A bit of a conflict she's feeling right now, but one in which she didn't know which side to take
"Unfortunately." lifting her head slightly, Meredith's face became no longer shadowed, replaced by an annoyed expression instead as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Alucard is too busy dealing with the newly discovered organization and he is needed in London when there's an increase of vampires. Artificial ones." she explained, turning her back to the duo.
Theseus furrowed his brow at the information pertaining to what was happening back in London. An increase of vampires? In London? This sounded like something that required most of Hellsing's attention, even that of his mentor Alucard.
Meanwhile, Mio remained confused judging by her facial expression about what her magic teacher had said about a new organization that was opposing Hellsing. What was it? What kind of organization could even match Hellsing? From what she had heard from the stories of her various teachers, Hellsing was a powerful yet deadly faction with a globally recognized bloodthirsty reputation, mostly due Alucard's presence there. Was it something to be feared of or…..was it that she was glad Alucard was not coming?
On the other side of things, the vampire's king apprentice frowned in confusion, wondering where Meredith was going with this. Then, he saw her glance behind her at him through the corner of her eye, prompting him to realize she was looking to him for his opinion. In that, he began to think for a moment, before a spark of realization lit in his eyes which resulted in him letting out a fanged smile.
Meredith recognized that smile from anywhere within a mile radius. She narrowed her eyes at him. "What is it now Theseus?" He did not respond to her and instead raised his palm before a massive hole opened within the office's left wall
Sir Integra's protege raised an eyebrow at his actions while Mio looked in confusion again.
They soon got their answers however, when they heard rapid scurrying sounds coming from the tunnel the hole led to.
SCCCRRREEEEEEEE!
And out came the Catachan devil roared out in response, or at least the upper portion of it, since the creature's full length would be too much for this office to contain without each of them getting squished like toothpaste extracted onto a toothbrush.
A frightened squeak escaped her lips as Mio looked scared at the sight of it, promptly hiding herself behind Theseus's back.
As for Meredith, she remained unfazed by the introduction of the Catachan Devil, all the while Theseus's smile stretched across his face like that of a serial killer. "What is a better way to teach them a lesson than with an apex predator of the forest?" Theseus remarked, making a small riddle for Meredith to solve. Theseus put his hand on his pocket before throwing a dead fish. The CD caught the fish with it's maw and made a big crunchy noise which irritated Meredith for a while...
That is until her eyes widened in comprehension when she figured out the puzzle to his riddle. "I see." Meredith whispered under her breath, the light of comprehension shining behind those orbs while she got the meaning behind his words. Why not send in an unknown creature, something unexpected towards those arrogant assholes? They would be expecting Alucard, but not a Catachan Devil which according to Theseus could be a legit threat to settlements due to its size, bulk and strength.
They wouldn't ever know what was coming for them.
Nevertheless, these emotions disappeared to be replaced by her previous hard gaze."But that doesn't mean you are off the hook Theseus." She declared, returning the atmosphere to its previously tense condition after the male's suggestion had decreased it somewhat. The woman slowly strolled up to him with a hand on her hip, poking his chest with her other hand's index finger. "Your actions almost jeopardized the mission and I will send a message to Sir Integra to determine your punishment, do you understand?" she questioned, hardly.
As for the male in question, Theseus remained silent again for the moment before nodding his head. "I understand." he simply stated with a nod.
"Good, now get yourself prepared. All that blood on you is honestly getting sick to look at. You're staining the base with it." Meredith made an insult to Theseus which shocked Mio on how she just made fun of Theseus and he just accepted it instead of rebuking. The CD growled at Meredith when she did this, though she remained unfazed until it was calmed down by Theseus when he patted the CD. The CD looked at Theseus in the eyes for a moment before sinking back to the hole created for it by it's master.
Once it was gone, Theseus followed his familiar's example by conjuring another hole, sliding down it and letting it return to a normal wall once he was done. The same had happened to the one the CD had used, making the wall look the same as it usually did like nothing had happened.
The sound of the hole made Mio get out of her trance and quickly left the room, without giving Meredith a glance. The Leader of Hellsing's apprentice was alone in her room for a few minutes before slumping down to her seat while putting her hand on her forehead. "(SIGH) this is getting out of hand. How the hell am I supposed to handle all this stress? What would you have done Sir Integra? What would you do?" She asked herself and her teacher but the question did not come with an answer. No one heard her stressful tone, nor would she allow anyone to for a leader showing weakness can potentially backfire horribly. She did a small prayer to God to at least show her some compassion.
After leaving his superior's office, Theseus entered his room to prepare some gear and new clothes to wear for his little trip to the Hero Clan. If they wanted to bring his Familiar to the Hero Clan's territory which should be deep within the Japanese continent, then he would need to be there to do so. Something which Meredith also knew, which meant he would be going on a long journey… which now that he thought about it, might have been just a way to keep him away from the city for a bit since he damaged it so much. Maybe he might even have a punishment of isolation for a long duration to buy time for everything to calm down.
As he rummaged through his wardrobe, he heard someone opening the door to his room, to which he idly glanced to his left through the corner of his eye and saw Mio was the one who entered his room. Judging by the look of her state, she was panting, likely having taken the long route from Meredith's office to his room. He stoically stared at her for a few minutes before returning back to his wardrobe.
Just as he was ramming through his outfits. "W-wait Theseus!" Upon hearing his name being called, he returned to glance at Mio. She quickly walked to him before stopping a few feet away from him. "You don't have to do this, let me handle this." she pleaded with him, desperation clearly evident within her gaze.
"...No." Theseus answered after being quiet for a few minutes. He returned ramming through his closet.
While she panted from the exhausting run she'd done, Mio stared at the male's kneeling form for a moment, a lump forming in her throat which blocked more words that she desperately wanted to say. She gulped to disperse it, shaking her head several times which caused her hair to sway in the directions her head turned. "Please Theseus, this was all my fault and I'm the reason why you're going to be punished. Let me take the blame and handle this." Once again, Mio pleaded, pleading for a chance to try and take the heat off the male. In her eyes, all his actions had been in her defense so she didn't want him to take the fall for something like that.
"What I meant by no is that you're not ready." Theseus finally returned gazing at Mio with his stoic face. Mio did not know what he meant by not being ready. What did he mean by not ready? She got her answer when Theseus explained to her. "I've seen how much you were afraid when I fought those 'Heroes'." He spat the word hero out with enough venom to kill an elephant, his tone causing the redhead to flinch. "Those eyes and expressions you had, you're still new to the necessity of killing beings."
Mio raised both of her eyebrows at those words. Theseus continued explaining. "Even if I would actually allow you to take my mission, you would show hesitation towards your enemies. Just look at the recent battle for more proof. I would gladly do so to give you a lesson, but it won't solve anything." Theseus's hand was forwards before his trident was flying towards him, catching the trident onto his hand he turned sideways, making Mio only see half of his face. "You're still a newbie towards this side of the world, you were forced into this situation and that is what makes you hesitate."
Satan's daughter was stunned by his lecture and every part of it he spoke of, was actually true. She always hesitated to kill a being, looking so scared, refusing to take other people's lives. She just didn't like the thought of taking a life like she was some kind of judge, jury and executioner all at once. She always thought of herself when it comes to that regard.
Yet it was also this that held her back, stopped her from taking action which left others to pick up the slack for her...
Unaware of her thoughts or perhaps just not giving a shit, Theseus twirled his weapon before putting his trident on his back. He walked towards his desk, picking up his phone. Mio attempted to reason with Theseus as he did not face back to her while showing his back. "B-but Meredith insulted you! Wasn't she supposed to be your companion and you allowed her?"
"Yes." His answer stunned her when he instantly answered her question. "In Hellsing, leadership is what makes it important to be in control. It's important for those up top to never show weakness, to be a proper pillar for the masses beneath them. The moment one joins them, they have to follow what those leaders have to say, obey their words and..." he turned around, showing her his hardened gaze which forced her to take a step back. "Never go against them. It's how we operate in the UK faction, it is how we were able to prove our terrible reputation as the bloodiest faction in the world. You may call it barbaric, but there's a reason why there's so few supernatural incidents over on our side of the world compared to the Asian and European regions. You either take it or leave like a fucking coward who can't follow the leader."
Theseus walked towards the wall and it instantly opened up like a mechanic door, revealing another tunnel like the one he'd made previously. Just as he was about to leave, he gave Mio one last glance. "If you stayed with the Hellsing London faction for as long as me and the others, then you would understand what I mean. All types of power, even the worst, the scummiest of them all, they all need a great power to follow or else it's just mindless power. If one has great power…..what is the use of it when there's no form of guidance to direct it?"
With that said he broke his gaze and walked towards the tunnel, making the wall return back to normal.
Much later, Theseus found himself standing before the entrance to a large forest, looking up at it with narrowed eyes. The male had taken a good while to get to this place, located deep inside Shinto Territory, and partially wondered if the Shinto Pantheon had been made aware of Hellsing's reputation for getting even with those who slighted them no matter the excuses. If not then they would be having a REAL bad time soon enough…
'It's a good thing that their home turf is still in Japan… makes me wonder why so many factions focus their attention on this little island, it would make more sense to focus on areas where they could make more of an impact like America or the European continent…' The male thought to himself, before rolling his eyes.
Whatever, it wasn't something he should concern himself with. This place was definitely the location that housed the Hero Clan's territory, he could tell due to the supernatural energy he could sense emanating from within this place. Judging from his senses, Theseus deduced that the place was covered by some kind of barrier that seemed to block others from entering from the outside unless they either had permission or were from the Clan itself.
To test this theory, he reached forth with his right hand, and tried to see if he could feel the barrier's edge.
BZZZT!
Only to retract it when he felt a faint electrical shock run up his outstretched arm.
'Hmmmm… looks like I came to the right place…' The male thought while glancing down at his hand which looked slightly charred, his palms already healing from some mild burns that had been placed on it by some supernatural force.
Meredith had told him a few things she knew about the Hero Clan that she'd learned from Alucard and Sir Integra before this mission had taken place, the woman having foreseen it necessary to do so in case things became dicey… which they usually did.
She told him that they usually employed barriers for their activities, such as hiding their actions from the public or hiding their Village which served as their main home from the human world. One could call that one a pocket dimension kind of barrier due to how it worked by isolating the interior from the exterior like it were a barrier between the world and the dimensional gap. That being a place which even Theseus didn't want to go without sufficient preparation.
That was the kind of barrier which currently hid their main home village from prying eyes as well as how they allowed their operations to be conducted across the country. If their HQ was concealed from the rest of the world then they'd not have to worry about any intruders trying to get in or even find this place. Only those who had experience with barriers would be an issue since they'd be able to sense the barrier put in place, and while he may not be a barrier person Theseus had Meredith to teach him the basics.
However, what the Hero Clan did NOT know was that Hellsing had remained aware of a vital weakness with these kinds of barriers, one which Theseus intended to exploit with a VERY sadistic glee that swelled within his chest right now, a shark-like grin spreading across his features.
'Awwwww, yeah… this is going to be fun, especially for me… not so much for those damn hypocrites…'
The Hero Clan Village…
Their homeland, their sanctuary, their place of comfort and peace away from the troubles of the outside world. The place where they could live and thrive without fear of enemy aggression, to practice their culture and rituals as well as provide a bastion for humanity in their objective to fight against the Supernatural World which uses humans like toys as they pleased. Having come into existence before and during the great war due to a bunch of reasons both political and philosophical, the fact that they've stood the test of time for this long could be one of their most commendable traits…
But right now, all was not well within their ranks.
"WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED?!"
"WHERE ARE THEY?!"
WHERE ARE KURUMI, HAYASE AND SHIBA?!"
"NOBODY KNOWS! THEY HAVEN'T BEEN SEEN FOR THE LAST FEW DAYS ALREADY!"
"THOSE DAMN DEVILS BETTER NOT HAVE HARMED THEM OR SO HELP ME I'LL-"
...Yeah, things were not that calm within a large hallway, one located within a large house-like building designated by its wooden plating atop it's entrance as the 'Clan Hall'. Within its walls, a bunch of elderly-looking people in white and green robes were positioned around a table, sitting in comfortable-looking wooden chairs and looking as FAR from calm as humanly possible. Each of them wore extremely agitated expressions on their faces, which were currently almost purple with both the rage and the fear they felt inside.
To them, this situation was like a nightmare for them. There were several things that contributed to this predicament they were in, the first one being that their image on the international stage took a big blow recently due to one of their own being incompetent enough to disregard the fact that she was acting within the Territory of one of the world's bloodiest factions.
When they had heard THAT piece of news from that very same organization, they had almost wet themselves from sheer fear although in the majority of them their anger at that organization had won the battle for control over their emotional states. This anger had no outlet though, thanks to the organization themselves coming over and THREATENING them with retaliatory measures if they were seen conducting operations within their territory again, and as many of the Hero Clan knew first hand the Hellsing Organization did NOT just make threats.
It damn well carried them out.
Their member had to suffer some brutal consequences for her actions to be sure, from what she had been able to tell them about her mission in eliminating the daughter of Satan. She had declared her as a threat to be eliminated once she had approached her and confirmed her lineage, something that the Elders had commended her on doing but decided to admonish her for doing it in the middle of Hellsing's territory. That was just INVITING them to step in after being literally slapped in the face by her audacity.
It had been a stroke of divine levels of luck that the Hellsing organization had been somewhat lenient towards her, of which many amongst their ranks thanked the gods for since 'mercy' wasn't really in their vocabulary.
Stories about the Hellsing Organization sicking Alucard onto them like a dog being let off their leash were still told to scare their youths into compliance, especially the misbehaving and rebellious ones.
The second blow came but more recently they had lost track of some of their most promising candidates for the next generation of heroes. Something which each of the elders had taken painstaking steps to make sure didn't happen again… not after a certain incident in their past. After having their image blasted internationally by the Hellsing Organization the Hero Clan had decided to try and drop off the grid for a while till things calmed down and they would be then able to resume operations normally, albeit without intervening in Hellsing's operations.
They had been made aware of the fact that that wretched organization had been allowed to usurp control of the city of Kuoh from the Devils, something the Hero Clan collectively had mixed feelings about. On one hand it was a good thing those wretched creatures lost a foothold in the human world which they saw as a victory for mankind, however the fact that it fell into HELLSING's hands made them dread whatever possibilities were in store for the town in the future.
That had been why they'd recalled their members from across the country back to their home village and wait to see how things played out, they knew that Hellsing must have made a deal with the Shinto Pantheon about that city since the Devils horrible management of the city had caused a lot of trouble for them, and so far nothing bad had been observed. For one, they had made various reforms to security and projects to improve the town's stability on the supernatural side, eliminating any strays and exiled forces still hiding there under the Devils' noses. They were generally showing themselves as much more competent at managing the city than the Devils were which didn't sit well among many of the Hero Clan members.
Now, THIS problem. The fact that they had lost contact with some of their strongest operatives in the village at the moment: Kurumi, the contractor of the spirits, Hayase, the wielder of Byakko, one of their divine weapons, and… Shiba, worst of all Shiba their sole like to the Vatican.
This had rung many alarm bells in the elders' minds, worry and fear permeating through the Clan Hall at what had happened to them with a lot of these possibilities leading to the City of Kuoh. This was largely due to the connection between Kurumi and their defeated member Yuki, the two of them being sisters. Worse still, Shiba and Hayase were youths with their own complications to them, so being told not to interfere with Mio Naruse's existence despite hearing of their comrade's defeat… They were youths, so this didn't bode well for any of them.
One elder slammed his fist onto a the table in a rage, silencing the others. "THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! WE SHOULD HAVE SENT A RETRIEVAL TEAM TO BRING THOSE THREE BACK HERE IMMEDIATELY, LIKE I PROPOSED! THEY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GO ROGUE LIKE THIS OTHERWISE!" He spat, saliva flying from his mouth to express how angry the Elder truly was over this predicament.
This did NOT sit well with the rest of them. "OH PLEASE, WE BOTH KNOW YOU HAVE PERSONAL BIAS TOWARDS THOSE SISTERS! YOU TOOK THEM IN AFTER THEIR FAMILY'S DEMISE YOU OLD COOT!" another Elder bellowed out, glaring at the first elder with clear contempt in his eyes. "WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE DONE WAS TO DRAW THAT BITCH OUT INTO THE OPEN OUTSIDE HELLSING'S JURISDICTION! THREATENED HER COMRADE'S SAFETY, ISOLATED HER IN A BARRIER, ANYTHING TO KEEP HER AWAY FROM HELLSING!"
A third elder roared at the second one's statements after being highly triggered by them. "YOU FOOL! NOT ONLY WILL THAT NOT HAVE HAPPENED BUT WE WOULD HAVE LOST WHAT MAKES US THE HERO CLAN IN THE FIRST PLACE! WE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO BETTER THAN THOSE SCUM DEVILS AND FALLEN ANGELS IN THAT CASE!" He spat similarly to the first elder. "WHAT WOULD OUR GODS THINK IF THEY SAW SUCH ACTIONS BEING COMMITTED BY THEIR FAITHFUL, HUH? THEY WOULD BE DISGUSTED WITH US!"
"THEY PROBABLY ALREADY ARE FOR OUR LACK OF A FUCKING SPINE!" The second elder retorted, several grunts and outcries of agreement filling the room at what he was saying.
Thus, the squabbling elders continued to argue without doing anything to try and address the situation to the rest of the Hero Clan, who were also feeling the effects of not knowing where their own members were. Especially those who had been affected personally by that 'incident' years ago.
Speaking of those people…
"SIGH… They're still going at it…"
Off to the side, one young woman could be seen standing next to the Clan Hall's exit to the rest of the village, arms crossed over her chest and her eyes closed, one calf over the other as she tried to drown out the noise the elders were making. This woman in question looked to be in her early to mid 20's with blonde hair tied into a curly drill-like side ponytail, and mesmerizing green eyes which were currently closed, one having been briefly opened to survey the Elders for a moment before closing again.
Her outfit consisted of a white colored cloak with a red trim, a large hood in place of a collar. The cloak had a ring of golden ornaments to keep it in place alongside a large golden buckle. Beneath it was a rather European outfit which contrasted deeply with the Japanese themes around her: a dark blue formal blazer over a white dress shirt and a red tie, white admiral gloves over her hands. Around her waist was a white skirt over a skin-colored pantyhose, and red knee high boots.
Leaning beside her against the wall, was her signature weapon: a large european-style greatsword shaped somewhat like an extended V, predominantly red on one side of the blade and blue on the other like the deep contrast of fire and water. The whole weapon itself looked to be as long as she was tall, it's form radiating a strong level of power in a leisurely manner that reflected the composed state of it's master.
"Really… to call me back to the village from the Vatican… the Hero Clan elders must be spooked…" the woman remarked to herself under her breath, exhaling quietly so that the other elders didn't hear her. In fact, she didn't want them to draw their attention to her since she was too busy trying to process the whole situation that had taken place here.
The woman knew the majority of it, a mission went awry when the operative in question was attacked by overseers. Those people being an organization the Hero Clan had a brutal history with, and it being likely that the three rogues were connected to that operative hence why they likely must have gone off to avenge their fallen comrade. That was her objective take on the situation…
But objectively, she worried immensely inside for those who went on that fool's errand. She and the Vatican knew VERY well how dangerous the Hellsing was… just thinking about them made her hands grip her biceps in anger with malicious thoughts raging through her mind.
Just before she could lose it and stop the Elders from bickering like little children with her authority within the Vatican…
BOOM!
"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
A loud screech filled the air mixed in with a large explosion sound, causing the elders to stop and the woman's eyes to widen in shock. She instinctively gripped her sword in one hand and lifted it in a significant display of strength, her gaze frantic as she ran outside to where the sound had come from.
Bursting through the doorway, the woman looked out to the rest of the village, panting heavily while her chest burned slightly from the sudden exertion. Although this soon got pushed to the back of her mind when what she saw confirmed the fears that had been built up in her mind.
'No…! This is…!'
Before her stood a sight she would only see in her worst nightmares. Around the edge of the forest, she could see the barrier around the village crumbling into pieces, likely after something had capitalized on its weakness and attacked it from inside. She didn't have time to ponder what could have done this as above the village, she could see what looked like dark storm clouds starting to appear, blocking the sun to darken the skies above, lightning dancing across their forms. Their immediate vicinity became surrounded by the occasional tornadoes that formed a circle around the village, rage-filled roaring winds whipping through the air.
'No…!'
Horror filled her gut and turned it ice cold, colder than anything this sudden weather change could ever generate. This sight, she had dreams of this sometimes though they came much more frequently in the initial years after that incident. She had dreamed that one day something would happen and the Hero Clan would be decimated as a result, something which instead of making her whimper like a little bitch had only inspired her to become stronger, all to prevent what she was seeing from ever befalling the Hero Clan.
But now, here it was, out of her control as well. One could only imagine the metaphorical kick to the gut she felt inside.
PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT
Slowly the woman glanced down upon hearing someone footsteps coming through the barrier. Her entire body trembled in fear as she realized what was happening. Hellsing had sent their trump card to the Hero clan, again, and what was worse it was probably something connected to the rogue Heroes.
Bravely steeling her nerves, the woman shook her head before getting her sword ready for battle, preparing to put her life on the line to defend the Hero Clan against the vampire king's rampage. She knew she was going to die here, but at least she could have the hero clan members give enough time to evacuate.
"What the AHHHHH!"
"Jaco WAAAHHHHHH!"
"SOMETHING'S HAPPENING NOOOOO!"
But instead it was the opposite, she looked back and saw the Hero clan members being pulled to the woods by something long and slim, whatever it was she couldn't see well due to the darkness from the storm clouds. However, through the faint flashes of lightning the woman had been able to briefly disconcert a vague insectoid shape within the forest reaching out and grasping onto her fellow clan members.
What this insectoid thing would be doing to them however, she could tell CLEARLY due to the sounds of chomping and dying screams that echoed throughout the forest.
She widened her eyes as she was about to run towards them, but instead dread overcame her when she heard an unfamiliar voice.
"Always keep your guard when someone is approaching you….though arrogance always runs through your Hero clan blood." she froze up when the voice, distinctly masculine but much younger-sounding than she had anticipated, finished his sentence. She wished she didn't turn around at that moment, but her body did not listen to her, ignoring her orders.
There in front of her was Theseus, his whole body shrouded in shadows and his green eyes glowing like searchlights in the dark. After a brief flash of thunder and a matching BOOM, Rain started to drip from the clouds.
BOOM!
Lighting struck behind him, showing his fanged smile and his trident shining through the darkness, that brief flash illuminating the tip to show how bloodstained it had been, a great indicator of where it had been. He swung his trident diagonally upwards, disarming her of her sword before she could reorganize herself. Her weapon flew through the air for a moment, spinning like a wheel, before it fell downwards and stabbed into the ground beside them akin to a certain kingship-granting sword.
Before she could do anything more, in a flash Theseus reached forth with his free hand and grabbed her throat.
BAM!
"AUGH! UGH! GAUGH! GUH!" her eyes widened in shock before beginning her struggle to free herself from the force Theseus applied to her throat, making her choke and desperately gasp for air. Frantically she put her hands around his hand, trying to get out from his grip but instead it held strong while the male in question lifted her just barely off the ground.
Around them, rainfall from the clouds formed into many massive water sharks that growled angrily with their glowing green eyes, before aiding in the massive insectoid creature in attacking the Hero Clan members. This intensified the dying screams around her, the woman acting like this was the trigger for some kind of trauma for her as evident by her increasingly frantic struggling.
Not like this helped her any as Theseus proceeded to speak, his voice being heard clearly despite the chaotic surroundings around them. "We did warn you 'Heroes' to stay out of our way." Theseus told her, no longer sporting his fanged smile but instead having a dark, condescending sneer on his face. "You bunch of centered assholes think you are heroes, thinking the world is under your thumb. Doing whatever you want to do, like those kids who naively thought they could defy the threats Hellsing told your elders. Seems Alucard was quite merciful to you all last time, but guess what?"
Stabbing his Trident into the ground beside him, Theseus put his hand into his coat seemingly ramming through his storage before throwing something down to the ground, making the woman look down to see what it was.
What he dropped before her made her eyes become dots, her expression frozen in abject horror. It was the trident Byakko and Shiba's metallic gloves. Blood stained the equipment, showing her what the fate was upon the two boys. Hellsing was not merciful at all, true to their reputation.
Theseus brought the woman close to his face, making a fanged smile once again. Although this time, the woman's soul felt like it was leaving her body in fright at the closeup experience she got from it. "Where is all that arrogance now, you false heroes have? Where is it? Oh yes, it's all gone now all thanks to your pride."
BOOM!
Now the woman has witnessed the insect creature-no… the monstrosity that had slaughtered a bunch of her fellow clansmen, now looming over and behind Theseus. The whole thing looked more like a mix between scorpion with the large arms it had, and a centipede with it's long body and many legs, as it currently loomed overhead like a serpent while showing blood stains around it's many limbs, even the limbs were still stabbed into a bunch of legs and on its mouth was an arm hanging out before it dropped the thing down to the ground.
She managed to utter one word out from her chokehold. "M-Monster..."
A mocking snort from Theseus was what she got for her troubles. "That's right. I am a monster, the monster you heroes always hunt. Heroes killing monsters and saving the day, well guess what. Today, it's the opposite instead, the monster hunts the hero and creates chaos across the land." His speech paused briefly, Theseus slowly lifted her upwards again, as if offering her to the Catachan devil which drooled over her. Fear filling her inside as she stared at the bloodstained maw eager to devour her, the woman almost screamed while she tried to get out of his grip. "Now bear witness the true monster where the hero embraces the hand of God!"
BOOM!
"AHHHHHHHH!" She screamed in pain when she was hit by a constant stream of lightning, electrifying every cell in her body while sparks erupted forth from her form into their imminent vicinity, striking through some trees and severing branches. She screamed in pain while Theseus was not affected by the thunder striking the both of them.
In Theseus' eyes, her skeleton could briefly be shown within her body. The thunder was still electrocuting her for a while before it stopped. Now her body looked no different from charcoal, the woman having fainted from both the terror and great pain that Theseus had inflicted on her. She was not dead of course, she'll live, live to tell the tale to the whole world of what happened if you defy or go against Hellsing.
Seeing the pathetic state she had been reduced to, Theseus snorted before throwing her away from him like he was disposing of a sack of garbage. Her body slammed onto the ground roughly, rolling across the hard and unforgiving dirt before skidding to a stop. Theseus squatted down, grabbed the limb arm and held it up towards his familiar which it gladly bit, almost biting his arm. Nevertheless, Theseus was not afraid and did not flinch from the close call he had experienced.
While his familiar enjoyed the first good meal it had since entering this contract, the male walked towards the destroyed village with the CD following him, fire spreading through the houses, the rain not extinguishing it of course. Through the dead bodies of men, women, children…..even infants. But Theseus held no love towards them. This was their consequence and they will suffer from it, even though the scenario looked familiar towards his memories...
Shaking his head, just as he was about to go further, his familiar pressed its claw on his back, prompting him to turn around and look at the CD. The CD glanced at a destroyed building, something that also caught his attention as well when he looked where the CD was looking at.
'Hmmm… that building looks rather weird… what's with all the seals placed on it…'
Curiosity got to him as he walked towards the building, hands pocketed inside his coat with his familiar close behind him. Once he was near the building, Theseus arched his brow when those very same seals he'd sensed attempted to force the Shark king back by projecting a repelling force. The force itself slammed into him both physically and mentally, kind of like being hit by a bullet train at full speed. Something like that would have probably stopped any other person from going to the building…
But instead of falling victim to them, Theseus simply snorted while he let out his aura, making the seals crack before they each shattered into pieces, disintegrating into nothingness. Now that he was able to get to the building's entrance, Theseus kicked a few debris away before proceeding to head inside.
Inside the building, the male found himself standing before what looked like some kind of shrine, with there being a large stone in the middle. But what was embedded in it was what caught the male's attention. There, stabbed in front of him was a sword. A sword that looked almost middle eastern though it didn't have a guard around the hilt. Instead, it had a purple glowing orb close to the center of the sword's hilt gleaming like some sort of jewel. The more he looked at it, the more Theseus got the sensation that the Jewel was trying to captivate him, almost beckoning him to take the sword. He narrowed his eyes as he walked towards it before gripping the sword.
Just before he could pull it out from the stone like a certain king did, an elderly voice was heard despite the crackling fires and heavy rain. "STOP! DON'T DO IT!" Upon hearing it, Theseus and the CD glanced behind them from the corners of their eyes, spotting an older man close to the Clan Hall's entrance, one who was apparently still alive despite the bad injuries inflicted across his body.
'Huh, surprised someone was able to still be alive after all of this…' Theseus remarked mentally, despite having told his familiar that they weren't supposed to kill all of them but a portion of them. He could sense that there were indeed survivors throughout the village, but as to how long they would last was of no concern to him.
As for the older man in question, said man looked fearful at Theseus but more specifically the sword behind him. "Please, you don't know what that sword can do, the demonic sword Bryndhildr can corrupt you. It's a powerful S-Rank evil spirit sealed inside of that demonic sword! If you try to remove it from its resting place, you'll be corrupted and succumb to the sword's influence!" the elderly man hurriedly explained while he pleaded to Theseus, having sensed that he was someone who would not be patient.
Theseus stared at him for a while before he turned around and stared at the now named Brynhildr. For a few minutes, he contemplated on leaving the sword since he does not desire it. Not only that, but despite his mild interest in swordsmanship fostered within him thanks to his master Theseus's past experience with curses and shit told him how much of a bad idea it was to try and handle such a weapon, if what the old man was telling him was indeed true or not.
Even his familiar looked like it didn't trust the older man's judgment.
But before he could reach a decision, faint whispers started echoing throughout his mind momentarily distracting the male from his thoughts. Glancing back down at the sword which attempted once again to beckon Theseus to free it from it's prison, the male showed himself to slowly be acknowledging these orders on a subconscious level when he gripped the sword's hilt tighter, much to the older man's horror. Just when he began to pull however, the male blinked a couple times after a brief pulse of his cursed Divinity, which snapped him out of it.
'Holy… guess that guy was telling the truth then, if a cursed sword could even try that shit on me…' the male thought, his familiar now growling at that sword after having witnessed what had almost happened. Anger which was shared by its master as Theseus' narrowed his eyes darkly at it, gripping the sword's handle before pulling it out from its prison.
"NOOOO!" The elder man screamed in despair and dread when Theseus ignored his warning, he now dreads when the sword's aura surrounded the male, attempting to corrupt him and force him to comply with the demonic sword's orders for eternity.
… or so he thought.
While being covered by the sword's aura, Theseus sneered at the weapon's actions while sensing his own chaotic divinity had already moved to shield him from it's influence, making the silver color devour the purple aura and headed to the sword.
The elder man became surprised at his actions when he resisted the influence of the blade. The center of the blade color became the same as if accepting Theseus as it's new master. Maybe there could be hope for the Hero Clan, the Elder pondered, hope that maybe they could use this to their advantage against the Hellsing organization, as revenge for the atrocity that had happened here.
But instead it was the opposite, he saw the sword was beginning to crack from the blade, his surprise and shock was increasing when the crack was spreading all around the blade. "STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
Theseus ignored him and instead became surprised at his divinity before he remembered what the elder said to him. It was as if it was similar to a curse, which must be the reason since it did try to corrupt him. He sensed the blade's attempt to plead with Theseus when it was destroying it.
Instead, he gleefully let out more of his divinity, like a dog being let off its leash to feast on some delicious prey or that pastime of hunting foxes that European nobles did in the past. The blade began shaking within his grasp as if trying to escape or get away from the blond-haired boy, though Theseus held it strong in his grip and continued to leak out more of his divinity, until...
CRACK-SHATTER!
BOOM!
The blade exploded when it couldn't take any of his divinity anymore, shattering into tiny pieces leaving the hilt still within Theseus's hand. Off to the side, the elder looked on in horror at what the boy had just done. One of their most dangerous and valuable weapons, destroyed by the one who had practically genocided their ranks like it was no big deal. "What-what have you done?!" he screamed at Theseus.
He turned around and looked at the elder, he let out a fanged smile again, one filled with sadistic glee instead of his previous bloodlust or malice. "Like it said before, the monster hunts the hero and creates chaos across the land, even you." he pointed at him, signaling the CD to run at the elder with its claws up in the air and let out a screech.
SCREEEEEEE!
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
BOOM!
In a random bar
RING-RING-RING
"Whuh?!" a man stammered when his previously blissful dream was ended by an abrupt sound next to his ears. The shocked man thus sharply woke up to see himself bent over a barstool desk with his cheek pressed against the maroon wood. A bottle of vodka and beer glass stood tall beside him, pretty much confirming to him what he had been doing last night like the pounding in his thick skull wasn't already doing that. "Ugh… my head…"
The man who now started using the beer glass which still had some ice cubes in it to nurse his alcohol-induced headache looked to be one in his mid to late thirties. He looked fairly tall and slim with long, brown hair and glasses. He looked to be wearing a white shirt and grey pants.
He wiped his face with his hands, trying to clear his face before glancing at his iPhone near him. The Iphone in question, one of the few things which he approved of humanity inventing for this day and age, looked to be flashing and vibrating which told him who was responsible for waking him from his drunken-induced coma.
Thanks to the vibration noises, a man who stood behind the counter wiping a glass with a cloth raised his head from his task to look at him. "Hey buddy, are you gonna answer that?" he asked the slim man, mild annoyance in his tone while his hands worked almost on auto pilot. This fact combined with his blob-like appearance showcased how long the man had been working at this apparent bar.
The glasses man glanced back at him in response before shifting his gaze to his phone for a while which was still ringing. Eventually he sighed in exasperation and depression, his mood already being soured despite the few seconds of being sober. "People these days now, just can't leave a peaceful man alone." he argued a bit before picking up the phone, put it near his ear and answered it. "Hello?"
"Hello Jin Toujou."
The now named Jin blinked in confusion at first about this mystery person who said his full name. One can see why this would be more than a little suspicious. "Uhhhhh, who is this? How do you know my full name? Did you get it from my twitter account, if you're a fan? Then that's great you managed to get my cell phone number." he remarked in a jovial, joking tone that sounded so fake even a deaf person would be able to tell.
"You really are drunk aren't you? Seems memories are deteriorating these days. Well then, how about I give you something which can help you jog those memories: Strongest Hero of the hero Clan, War God and survivor of the No-Life king."
The moment he mentioned that, or more specifically, the No-Life king, Jin suddenly sat up straighter, all the drunkenness gone to be replaced by a serious expression on his face. He narrowed his eyes before he answered. "Alright, you have my attention. Who are you and what do you want?"
"Peace Jin, lord forgive you with your attitude. I may not have any hostile relationship with you."
"Catholic or Protestant?" Jin asked which religious part this voice belonged to, since between the two of them despite believing the same god there was still remarkably high hostility between them.
"Catholic my son."
'Ah great, my luck with the priest from the Vatican.' Jin complained in his mind since he now realized that the Vatican was the one talking to him. He didn't know if he should consider himself lucky the Iscariot didn't call or recruit him, though maybe those guys were just too prideful to even call him. "What is it you want? I'm no longer a part of your organization or the Hero Clan, I'm long since retired and Sober." he questioned with a defeated tone and a sad expression on his face.
There was a reason why he was always sober and depressed these days, one that had happened years ago when he should've been there, for his people, his friends and most importantly his son.
"I'm afraid there is something that requires only your attention my son. Something happened in the hero village."
At this point, the lack of directness started to get on the slim man's nerves, his teeth clenching during his harder response. "Well spit it out already, if those elders want my ass back to them then they can kiss it goodbye, I'm not returning to that place." he stated darkly, fury laced within his words.
"They were attacked, Jin."
That simple sentence froze Jin into silence, his eyes wide with shock and his mouth dropping open. His previous anger had been lost in that one instant and replaced with a cold chill in his gut. 'What….attacked? What the hell does he mean by-' Soon dread came over him when he began to suspect the one responsible, after all he had the pleasure and fought against the most powerful being there is. "Was…..was it him?" he whispered with dread and horror.
"No my son, it was not him."
"Ohhh thank God." he sighed in the biggest relief in his life, this was not one of HIS works. Then confusion arose in his mind. "Then who was it that attacked the Hero clan?" he questioned the priest.
"I do not know Jin, but from the reports I was given by my associates it was a slaughterhouse, bodies everywhere… not even whole mostly. Whoever did so had knowledge of how to destroy the barrier protecting the hero village from the inside, then went to town on the whole place. There's been an estimated 73% in total casualties but there may be more, and that's including the women, children and infants. This attacker did not spare any of them."
Jin gripped his hand hard enough to crack the glass in it when he heard the priest say that the children were dead. This reminded him an uncomfortable amount of the past he desperately did not want to remember, the past which had driven him to this state in the first place.
Unaware or perhaps more uncaring of the man's current mental state, the priest continued to speak.
"The reason why I was able to identify it was not Alucard's work is that blood was seen everywhere. He never leaves blood behind. Instead, there are a variety of injuries, one being a shark bite on most of the bodies and another seeming to have been made by some kind of insect. All of them are extremely brutal. What's more, it's been reported that there was an unusual energy left behind the village. I don't know what it is or how it came to be."
Shark bite? Unusual energy? Those sounded a bit familiar to the man, he just can't remember it. A low sigh escaped his mouth while the man placed a finger and thumb on his temple, trying to clear the fogginess from his mind. Jin had heard this similar stuff a while ago in a bar somewhere in Canada, if his memory was correct. He just couldn't recall fully, likely due to just waking up from drinking all night again.
"And here is another shocking fact that requires only your attention. The unusual energy is the same as what we found in the pieces of Brynhildr."
"...What?" Jin's face, if it had been horrified before now, looked like a corpse with how pale it had gotten. did he…...hear that correctly? The demonic sword, Brynhildr. A legendary artifact which a valkyrie sealed an S-class demon inside of her….was destroyed? That was something the Hero Clan had tried and failed to do for centuries now, to which they had failed and thus they had only the option of sealing it away in a shrine to fall back on. "How?" he simply questioned with his teeth gritting each other hard enough to cause one of them to start cracking.
"If I had the answer to that I would tell you, but only the Lord knows how Jin. Believe me, I couldn't believe it either until they showed it to me in person. Whoever did that, I would be torn between either shaking that person's hand in gratitude or stab him/her in the chest. Jin, I know how much pain you are going through but nonetheless I am asking you to find out who attacked the village, why they did it and how they were able to destroy that sword."
Jin was silent for a few moments, contemplating what he should do. One thing he could not do was ignore this especially since it had concerned THAT blade, a blade which he hated more than anything in this world… well, except himself. That blade and him were forever intertwined thanks to certain events that had taken place because of his lack of ability to stop them, that blade had haunted his nightmares for many years ever since almost taunting him about his inability to change anything.
However, the thought of getting back into the same world which rendered him reduced to this state in the beginning wasn't an appealing thought either, he had left that place for a good reason while vowing to never be involved with the supernatural again, just thinking of his previous 'glory' made Jin want to vomit. Here he was, the so-called 'strongest hero' for surviving against the no-life king yet when it really counted he had failed to live up to the expectations his people had for him.
He did not answer the priest for a while because of these conflicting thoughts in his mind, something which the priest could sense.
"I can understand why you would refuse. Lord knows you still need time and I understand that, as a father….. I would also be devastated if any of my children were killed."
Hearing those words from the priest combined with the whole way that he felt inside, something finally clicked in Jin's mind which helped him come to a conclusion. "...book me a flight to Japan. I'm heading there right now." Jin declared while getting up from the bar stool, paying the barkeeper his tab and walking out of the bar.
"Are you sure Jin? Because you have left that world once but if you go back…. You'll never escape from it this time."
"Don't try to stop me Father, I already know what I'm doing." Jin snapped at his phone while passing through the bar's exit. "I made a mistake once before and I won't make it again. So do me a favor and book the ticket already." he demanded irritably, yet still tried to remain calm and composed.
"Alright if that is your decision then I shall grant it. But beware my son, God was merciful to grant you a life of solitude, but now I'm not sure if he would repeat that same mercy. May God give you blessings on your journey, because you will need it."
"You know…...I think I actually WILL need it." Jim whispered under his breath as he pulled something out from his pocket, looking down at it while walking down the street. That something turned out to be an old, withered photograph of a younger Yuki who looked happy while hugging a boy who had unkempt brown hair jutting in all directions and light green eyes. He looked happy also.
Jin's eyes watered for a couple seconds before dripping down from his cheeks. Despite feeling the urge to fall to the ground while still holding the picture, Jin didn't let it take him in favor of gritting his teeth instead. Sorrow could be seen swimming within the man's pupils like two lonely oceans. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Basara. If I had come earlier, then THAT wouldn't have happened..."