"I'm sure you all know why I called you all here." With that statement leaving Meredith's lips, the meeting between the Hellsing members officially began.
"Get to the point already woman." Theseus rudely says to Meredith. "You called us all here for a reason, so what is it?" He questioned the queen's granddaughter.
"Watch your tone when speaking Theseus." Meredith retorted at Theseus while looking displeased at his attitude. "One more word out from your mouth and it's straight to the gutter with you, boy. Don't make me repeat myself."
Despite her threats, the blonde Theseus remained unmoved as he waved her off with a dismissive gesture. "Yeah, yeah…"
Meredith narrowed her eyes at Theseus before shifting her focus back to Hellsing group. "As I was saying, we are in a dire situation. Thanks to the little 'hiccup' in the Rating Game multiple eyes will now be focused on us and it's likely that we've burned all bridges with the Devils." she explained, though a dark chuckle left her lips near the end before turning into serious matter. "But aside from the political ramifications the Phenex Family will face in the future, all of which are well earned, we need to discuss what will happen to our captive, Riser Phenex."
The mere mention of his name brought some discomfort and anger towards the Helsing group. They still remember what atrocities he commited, crimes against both humanity and the devils themselves.
Meredith brought out a bunch of newspapers and articles for Hellsing to see, placing them atop her desk. "Due to Riser's actions, many people from the country of Japan have been kidnapped by him, and were used in his rituals to gain more power. He did not limit his own actions unfortunately."
Issei curiously took one newspaper and inspected it for a moment before his eyes widened in both surprise and shock before turning to horror. "Oh…my…..god." he dropped the newspaper in shock as he walked backwards before hitting a wall behind him. "What….just…..how could he…?" He could not form a sentence due to the amount of horror and shock running through his emotions.
Kuroh glanced at Issei before the newspaper he dropped before picking up the newspaper and looked at the contents. He froze in shock as well before he spoke as well. "Oh…Guess that he didn't hide what he left behind." He spoke calmly as if he wasn't affected by this. No matter how much he tried to restrain it there was anger behind his stoic expression.
Most of Hellsing grabbed a newspaper, their expressions soon turning to similar to Issei when they read the headlines.
In newspaper titles, multiple of them showed sickening and shocking news.
Brutal ransacking of orphanages.
Why you should lock your doors at night - family home devastated, occupants mysteriously absent
Families grieve for missing daughter
Loved ones keep vanishing, what is the police doing?
Police discover mass disappearances of children amidst orphanage destruction - several nuns found dead.
Is Japan a safe place to live?
"As you can see…." Meredith spoke, interrupting their thoughts when they read more of the newspaper headlines with mounting terror. "Riser's actions also reflect on us, as well. It is also our fault that we did not kept a close eye when we were at the bloody palace training for the incoming Rating game thus the consequences of our actions…..Orphanages being destroyed, people disappearing left and right, families being destroyed and most of all…being used as sacrifices in those satanic rituals." she solemnly said. She is heavily disappointed in herself for not being aware of this situation within their own borders. Yet another thing to add to the list of problems her own incompetence caused.
Meredith didn't knew that Riser would resort to extreme matters as she thought the devils were a bit decent, thinking they wouldn't be stupid, idiot or power hungry. However she thought differently. Never in her life had she been so disappointed not only in herself but also for not keeping the promise with the Shinto factions.
She put her hand on her forehead, trying to soothe the incoming headache while continuing to speak. "Our image, as protectors of those under us, will be tarnished. All because we procrastinated on our real duties, instead of protecting our people we were in a different dimension while participating in this…silly game."
This type of news will not only reflect on the Hellsing and Shinto factions but all over across the world. Riser did not hide his actions, instead he just simply did what he wanted and the consequences are what Meredith calls dire. It will negatively affect Japan's image across the world. People will say that Japan is not the safest place to visit or live in. Many countries or reporters will take this chance to mock and humiliate the natives of Japan because if not most countries still have a grudge against Japan for their past actions.
It's gonna take many sleepless nights for Meredith to use her connections to avoid this type of catastrophe from happening again. She's gonna need help desperately to smooth things over and make some reforms to the security.
"It will be long until I manage to smooth things over with both the Shintos and Japan's reputation in the meantime. Also no doctor I will not repeat the same action as I did before, I'll need to consider some potential security reforms."
The doctor did not say anything in response to Meredith's quick thinking, all he did was nod his head.
"Back to the matter at hand here." The atmosphere became more intense, almost like you can feel like. Issei, Mio and Maria all sweat when the atmosphere became intense; it was like a major weight was slammed on them. Meredith interlocked her fingers, leaned on her hands before sharpening her eyes, similar to her teacher, similar but close. Her hands clenched when she said the following. "Riser has done the unforgivable, causing more mess, destruction and chaos left in his wake. Thus he needs fitting punishment. He won't get away with what he has done."
At this point, a huge sense of tension erupted between the group and this time, the ones previously nervous now joined the rest of them in rolling in the irritation. There was no way that the third son of Phenex would get away from the crimes he committed, there would be a special certain place in hell reserved for him.
The first one to speak was blonde Shark King. No longer leaning against the wall and looking intense, sharp and animalistic, the male didn;t bother hiding the rage he's expressing. "Give him to me." His tone was as cold as the Antarctic ice. Issei, Mio and Maria felt the chills during this statement he spoke, and would continue to say. "I heard that the Phenex regeneration can regenerate almost anything within their bodies no matter what." His mouth became a full blown fanged smile, his aura almost that of a certain entity that killed his victims in their dreams using a single claw. "My sharks and piranhas will be delighted that they will have an endless amount of meat to devour. I wonder what Phoenix meat tastes like."
Theseus could already imagine Riser Phenex being torn apart, piece by piece, mutilated and devoured alive by his beloved pet sharks and Piranhas. His screams amid his flesh being torn apart would be music to his ears. Being used as food for his sharks for all eternity seems like a fitting punishment in his eyes, not to mention that it gave his beloved pets the meal they'd been craving for.
Unfortunately, before Meredith could respond Vali jumped into the conversation with a look of fury that matched his friend. "Look, lemme have a crack at the little shit." He demanded a feral growl escaping his maw as his eyes shone wide with bloodlust. He still remembered the painful headache he'd gotten when that blonde scumbag had the half devil(Not him but Ingvild) descendant put him under her mind control in an attempt to force him to kill his bro. He wasn't speaking for just himself but also his inner dragon as well, Albion wanted to punish the bastard for DARING to think that he could control a Heavenly Dragon like himself.
Nevertheless, both of them wanted the same thing: To make Riser HURT.
The trio of boys had their own different opinion on what to do with Riser, making him suffer as much as possible for all eternity while someone else had their own different opinion as well.
"There won't be anyone punishing the former third son of the Phenex family." They sharply turned their heads to the stoic sharp eyes of the apprentice of Sir Integra as she kept her composure. She wasn't fazed by their threatening looks as she was used to it by now.
BAM!
"EEP!"
"And why is that Meredith?" Theseus threateningly questioned the still stoic girl when he slammed his trident on her desk, making Maria jump in surprise by his actions. His eyes glow green while his chaos mark glints as well matching his furious expression. He can never get along or understand that the queen's granddaughter always denied him what he wanted.
Meredith moved her eye pupils toward her subordinate, not being fazed by his animalistic rage. She still kept her composure and was internally glad for all the lessons Sir Integra has taught her on handling someone like Alucard…..to a certain degree.
"We already dealt enough damage to the devils, mercilessly lowering their ranks down to rock bottom. Our vengeance has already been fulfilled by you master the moment I gave the order. Enough blood has been shed." she stated to Theseus, already explaining that they had their fair share of punishment to the devils which is enough for them. "Not only that, but don't tell me you didn't enjoy that brutality."
"I did, every one last of them." Theseus briefly smiled for a bit at the memory, the sight mollifying him since those bastard Devils got what was coming to them, before returning to his furious expression. "But what does that have to do with this? Tell me."
"The Shinto's must also taste their sweet vengeance." She simply answered.
Theseus narrowed his eyes in confusion, still furious but also suspicious as well. "The Shintos?" The blondie repeated what Meredith had said before. "What does that have to do with the Shinto faction?" he asked as his rage lowered a bit in place of curiosity about what Meredith had to say about the Japanese faction.
"If you kept your head straight then you would've let me continue with what I was about to say." She casually reprimanded her subordinate. She lowered her hands, still interlocking fingers and sat straight before continuing to explain. "If you hadn't studied more about diplomacy-"
"Which I never will."
"Then you need to know that we must be on good terms with the Shinto's. Remember, their people were unjustly kidnapped and sacrificed by this asshole. They were never going to let this slide, and if my predictions are right, we will receive them."
"Wait." Issei spoke after he was silent the whole time during the meeting. He got up from his seat and stood up, looking confused and interested with the situations of the shinto's since his family is a Shinto follower. "You mean the Shinto gods are coming as well?" he asked Meredith for some bit of clarification as he's still a greenhorn with supernatural business.
"The Shinto trinity, Amaterasu, her two brothers…..possibly their mother Izanami as well. She will know of the disturbance of their followers' souls." She answered Issei's question in an orderly fashion. "They will be furious at us but more importantly furious about Riser's actions. The Gods will have their answers sooner or later, which will not be pleasant." she sighed for a bit before again shifting to Theseus whose rage had lessened into a contemplative one the more she spoke. "You must understand that we must be on good terms with the Yokai and the Shinto faction. Giving them the culprit who initiated destruction on their lands will make the relationship between Hellsing and Shinto's closer. I wouldn't be surprised if they called for retribution." she finished speaking her reason to Theseus.
Alucard's apprentice hung his head down in thought of Meredith's reasoning. He cannot deny that what she said about the Shinto's was correct, not to mention even a beast like him understood the concept of vengeance. They already caused enough trouble and pain to both sides of the faction despite Meredith trying to be on good terms with the Japanese faction. On one hand he would've refused with Meredith's decision on what to do with Riser, wanting to torture for himself and the other hand, a part of his rational thought had second thoughts about it.
Making a difficult decision was never easy or simple with Theseus, someone with many controversial opinions. Taking a big sigh, retracting his trident from Meredith's desk, Theseus stepped back to his original spot against the wall while leaning against it, crossing his arms under his chest while his Trident leaned against the wall beside him. "I suppose it should be enough for me, I guess. It wouldn't be fair to hog all the revenge for myself." He admitted reluctantly, before he then shifted his attention to Vali and Kuroh who both had an understandable expression. "Do you guys agree with me?"
"Yes I do, Theseus."
"Personally, in my opinion I would explode the living shit out of myself for being denied of my vengeance but since Meredith does bring some good points…I'll abide, so will Albion."
Meredith nodded her head, both relieved and glad there wasn't any heated argument in this matter. She remained aware that she shouldn't expect this to happen very often, this would be a rarity so she should enjoy it while she can. "I'm glad you boys respect my decision." She thanked the trio for their reasonable decision, knowing that it was a rare occurrence so she shouldn't take it for granted.
The trio nodded their heads in response to Meredith's gratitude. While most of them can be hot headed (Mostly Theseus and Vali), they knew when they had to respect their boundaries instead of arguing with Meredith all the time.
Meredith shook her head as she returned her expression to stoic before speaking. "There is also the matter of those two specific devils we have in our care. The unconscious Devil Ingvilid…." pausing to aim a wary glance at the slightly bristling Theseus and Vali, Meredith hurriedly changed the subject. "... and Ravel Phenex. We need to decide on their ultimate fates. What are your thoughts?"
Theseus did not speak, neither did Vali. It seemed like they did not want to talk about the matter regarding either one of the devils. They have already expressed their opinions in regards to Riser's punishment, and that was the thing they had been the most concerned for. As for the other two…those two did not commit any serious crimes against them and one of them wasn't even conscious this whole time, meaning she had that excuse.
"Why don't we get that blonde girl's account of what happened within the Phenex manor?" Kuroh suggested, getting everyone's attention. The samurai male had his swords strapped to his hips and his arms crossed beneath his chest with a firm frown on his lips and a stern gaze. "We only know a few facts of the matter, not the bigger picture or even the general situation. I suspect there is more to this tale because the way Riser behaved near the end indicated he was aware of something. What that is I am uncertain, but it must pertain to his sister in some manner."
"Hmmmmmmmm." Meredith thinks about Kuroh's suggestion about Ravel Phenex. What he says could be mostly true but then again those are only facts that had not been proven to be true. On the other hand, they hadn't gotten her full account of the atrocities Riser had committed, as they had been too busy trying not to get mauled to death by a bunch of beasts with hippo temper tantrums. They could do that but there had to be other means they could use to sort Ravel out, and according to some of her surveillance Spells placed in the cell Ravel was currently occupying she seemed to be behaving well for the most part, not even attempting to break out. Whether that was either a ploy or some kind of self preservation instinct remained to be seen.
One other possibility was to have that blonde become an assistant for her since it was obvious that she could use one, but she can't just give the sibling of a criminal such a job instantly especially without vetting her skills and the whole image it'd paint of her ….then again her teacher did recruit the boys when they were young in a similar manner and they proved to be some of Hellsing's best assets alongside Alucard.
"... how about we give her an interrogation first? Then we can decide on whether or not we can have her become an employee of Hellsing… in training. She'd have a month's probationary period before she can officially be part of our ranks. We can see what her specialties are that way so we can at least make use of her." In the end Meredith accepts Kuroh's suggestion on interrogating Ravel, seeing their lack of intel and knowing how intel was half the battle that needed to change. She also added the fact that she would become a probationary worker to let them examine her before she would become Meredith's assistant. That way she could keep an eye on her in case the young girl tried anything.
Other than that, having an assistant can lessen her stress when dealing with politics and accounting, she had heard that young noble Devils had to be trained in such matters from a young age and from the way her father had reacted the woman assumed she had to have SOME worth that she wasn't aware of.
"Now that we have dealt with the Phenex girl, there is one more matter we need to deal with." Meredith's eyes sharpened once more. "Leviathan's descendant."
The moment she announced Ingvild's heritage, Theseus lifted his head. His eyes shone green and a sharp glint came along. He clenched his hands showing pulsing veins on the back of the hand, the same being said for his head as well. He can still remember that song she sang that was powerful enough to destabilize his chaos divinity, not to mention what she did to his best bro.
Meredith became silent when she cast her gaze across the room, eyeing her fellow Hellsing members before making her declaration. "I will be honest with all of you, I have half of mind to give Ingvild eternal peace where she will not be a threat to anyone or even the dragons themselves. Her powers are beyond exponential and I am not making this up." she admitted with a grimace, thinking back to what had happened to Theseus and Vali. That had been possible while the user had been unconscious, but what happened when she awakened and she believed that to be a matter of 'when' not 'if'.
"As much as I do not approve of this, I must agree with Meredith here." Kuroh said while having an uneasy expression on his face, similar concerns on his mind. The reason for his uneasy feeling was the nervous expression Mio was making.
This was probably similar to Mio's own situation since her parentage was the lord of evil itself.
"I will be honest." Meredith still continues to speak, looking more sharper than ever. "Ingvild Leviathan has a power that can tame any dragons in the world, with just her voice only. Combine with her heritage she is a walking time bomb. Her power will still continue to grow and if that happens..." She trailed off as darkness clouded her face, her sharp eyes glinting with sinister intention behind her words. "I don't need to remind you what comes next."
The whole Hellsing already grimaced at the thought of their leader's thoughts. This woman's sacred gear, Nereid Kyrie, can both control the dragons and the sea, which was already broken enough to make her a literal beast on the field. But then combine it with her heritage, and the Leviathan descendant can easily become one of the most dangerous and deadly beings in the whole entire world. She'd literally turn into a literal walking cataclysm that would use the dragons, beings of energy and chaos, and enough hydrokinesis to turn the whole world into a flooded wasteland like the tale of Noah's arc. The whole shit in the Rating Game involving Theseus fighting Vali and going berserk had happened without her consent, so what would it be like if she were awake.
At this point Maria had something else to say. "But we don't know what this girl's really like though." she protested, getting a look from Meredith that told her to elaborate, so she did. "Her being assumed like that is only based on if she really wanted to cause chaos like her parents or the old satan faction did. If she's not and people try killing her anyways wouldn't that just be like a self-fulfilling prophecy, just like what happened with Kronos of the Greek Pantheon? He tried eating his children before they could overthrow him. But what did that accomplish? Him just being shredded to pieces and imprisoned." she elaborated trying to use her knowledge of history to her advantage.
"The difference is that Ingvild has too much power, threatening to break the balance between the supernatural and the human world. Though you may be right regarding the old tales of the Greek pantheon." Now that Meredith thought about it, there would be a lot of similarities between what to do with the girl and Kronos fearing for the possibility of his children usurping his throne. That thing's action's ultimately doomed them in the end. "There are many possibilities on what to do with her. This is a difficult decision here, but for the sake of avoiding total destruction for the London faction and the Hellsing organization…" She took a big inhale and exhaled, hesitating with what she wanted to say.
Before she could do so, something clicked inside Theseus' mind about something. Something he then brought to the conversation. "Honestly, as much as I wanna tear her flesh apart…" he began getting a way from the woman and varying looks of fear from the others. "I think we should wake her up first. Not only will this prevent people from using her power against her will since she can now refuse to do so unlike when Riser got his dirty claws on her… but bringing harm to her just seems hypocritical."
Vali arched a brow at his bro in confusion, about to growl out a question when he suddenly realized what he was going for here and calmed down. "Ahhhhh, I see your point you asshole…" he muttered under his breath. "You're basically saying that harming her when we previously helped red over there…" he paused, gesturing towards Mio, before continuing. "Makes us look like hypocrites since they're essentially in the same boat. Descendant of Leviathan and Daughter of Satan and all that. Although we had no clue about Red's true parentage at the time, the situation's still similar." he explained, causing Maria to nod eagerly.
"Not just that…" Theseus began while uncrossing his arms. "But WE, the Hellsing Organization, are worrying about maintaining the balance of power? We've already destabilized the balance of power in many regions like with the egyptians and now the Devils. We've painted a picture of a target on our backs with various actions we've taken against them, so we're in no position to turn back now. This is just us adding a new powerful member to our pack in preparation for a turf war with the enemy, it's as simple as that. We've already got beings other than Mio who can destroy the balance of power, myself, Alucard, Mio, and now this one, to be honest taming and handling such beings should be a specialty for us now." he explained, bringing up multiple points very few had considered.
"You may have a point there you two, but we need to be cautious on our actions here. Not only those you mentioned, Theseus but we've got both the Heavenly Dragons on our side as well and one of them very nearly got turned against us." Meredith cautioned, making said dragon snarl at the memory. "The other Pantheons will become paranoid that we are gathering strong candidates to our faction, they might do something drastic in the future."
At this, it became Kuroh's turn to speak as well. "However, that is EXACTLY what we have been doing Meredith. It's not paranoia if it's the truth, and since when have Hellsing given a shit about the other factions? Unless they encroach on the crown's territory or are sending supernatural threats our way, we have nothing to give them. It's almost certain one of them will do something handling Ingvilid or not, so if you ask me, recruiting her after a probationary period where we watch her like what we're doing with Sheila sounds like our best bet. We can even prepare her for what will come since she is in a similar position to us if you think about it."
Silence dominated the whole office room for a moment, a thick tension in the air as they awaited Meredith's decision. Most of this tension came from Mio and Maria for naturally understandable reasons, the latter holding her fists in front of her chest while slouching forward slightly. In the end, the auburn haired woman sighed in a relenting manner. "If that will be the case, then I will accept it. I will make a report to Sir Integra regarding this matter. She and my grandmother must be informed about this situation, mostly regarding Ingvild Leviathan. She will be under both the crown and Hellsing's protection for the time being." She eventually decided, before an idea formed in her mind… and a devious smile formed on her lips. "Theseus, since you're the one who proposed the idea, you will be in charge of taking care of her."
Theseus narrowed his eyes aimed at Meredith. "Oi oi oi. I'm not a babysitter or a nanny to take care of newbies. I already got two brats to look after, I don't need to add in more additions." He complained, gesturing to his rear by pointing the back of his thumb in that direction. Behind Theseus, both Maria and Mio pouted at Theseus for calling them brats.
"You're the one who proposed this and you're the one who's gonna take action Theseus, no room for any arguments here." Meredith retorted at Theseus, still looking stoically as he grew more frustrated. "Another reason is that you can help her control her powers, her sea powers more specifically. You might not be the best teacher there is but when it comes to the ocean, you're the ideal teacher for her."
"Tch." He clicked his tongue in displeasure, looking already frustrated. It's like they're making him a Nanna for the greenhorns which he didn't appreciate one bit. The worst part to him, was tutoring the girl who almost caused Vali and him to kill each other because of her damn sacred gear. "(GROWL)." His expression turned animalistic for a moment before he had his usual frustration on his face. Turning to a wall, Theseus pocketed his hands in his coat while exuding a sigh. "Fine, but don't expect me to go easy with her. Just like what I did with Issei but I will see to it that she will pay. One way or another." His piece said, Theseus submerged himself into the wall, similar to diving into water as he proceeded to phase through it.
Meredith took this initiative to end the meeting. "That concludes our meeting for today. Tomorrow, I will be preparing to meet with the Shinto Gods, so I'll summon you all early tomorrow. The rest of you, return to your duties, we will have plenty to do in the following days." She waved her hand, indicating that the meeting had been concluded.
Kuoh - Hijikata's house
"Phew! What a day!" the former vice-general exclaimed after plopping down onto his living room's sofa with a loud exhale leaving his lips, looking tired and exhausted from watching the Rating Game… one that had ended in one hell (pun intended) of a clusterfuck.
Memories of the event came to mind causing him to heave another sigh, this one even wearier than the last while he grappled with the urge to turn his lungs to mush with the amount of smokes he wanted. Instantly getting jeered at by those childish brats called Devils, making him wonder why they were even feared in the first place, Hijikata could imagine the battle that had gone on inside the poor girl's mind on whether or not to retaliate against them and ordinarily she likely would have listened to her logical side as was in her character…
Too bad this wasn't anything ordinary and Meredith lacked any fucks to give.
Phantom clicking from her clicking her fingers sent chills down Hijikata's spine. The moment when Meredith had summoned the king of vampires, his former subordinate captain had been frozen in pure terror by the sight of the vampire. Not like he could not blame him. Anyone else would have had the same reaction to the sight of the no-life king.
After Alucard slaughtered the devils and was ordered to leave the underworld, Hijikata had done the wise thing and left himself, knowing that as a Hellsing member he'll likely not be that popular in the Underworld right now especially after he had made sure to keep his former subordinate from going in and getting himself killed pointlessly, a fate he was SURE would have befallen him should he have tried stopping Alucard.
Nonetheless the whole set of events had left him a bit sad since he did have plans on meeting with the newly revived Shinsengumi that night, since he had gotten the chance to reunite with one of his old comrades who he'd previously thought had died. Even Okita's assurance probably didn't mean so much now thanks to Hellsing's bloodbath.
That's basically the short summary of what he had gone through back there.
Right now, all Hijikata wanted to do was rest for a bit after all that exhausting drama and twisted revelations (Where he discovered the squad was revived courtesy of Sirzechs). He better make some plans when he could visit the Shinsengumi… in the far, far future.
Unfortunately for him, that was likely going to be a bit extended in the following seconds. "Hijikata-san?" the former vice captain blinked owlishly a couple times when he heard a familiar feminine voice calling his name. He shifted his head in the other direction where he heard the voice come from. While its owner was in another room, her voice still reached him and identified herself as Sheila the succubus. "Are you there?" From the way the voice's tone sounded awful, stressed, and worried it became clear to him that there was something real wrong with her, and it did not feel too good.
Not good at all.
He sat up straighter with a concerned expression quickly growing like a cancer on his face. "Yeah, I'm here Sheila. What is it?" he questioned the elder succubus who had apparently made it home before he did. While he did wonder how the hell that had been able to happen the way she sounded so… subdued, shy and ashamed, THAT had been what he focused on.
Soon Sheila entered the living room, and Hijikata was NOT prepared for what he saw her look like. Subdued, shy and ashamed but also worried and fearful. Having worn something nice for the viewing of the Rating Game, her outfit consisted mostly of a purple dress beneath a matching capulet with a black furry trim. Bicep length pink gloves adorned her arms whilst matching stockings covered her legs, her feet covered by a pair of high heeled sandals. Two horn ornaments held her hair in its two ponytails. But judging from the smudges around her bloodshot eyes, it became clear to him that she had been recently crying which alarmed the man. Never had he seen her look so frail, so vulnerable and helpless, it practically spat on everything he had seen from her.
"Whoa, you look like crap!" the man could only say in startled disbelief. He'd almost stumbled on his way to strolling over to her and placing his hands on her shoulders to try and get her to look up at him. She refused to do so however and kept looking off to the side almost like she was trying to hide from him or something. This didn't sit well with the man though, he knew what Sheila was usually like and he did NOT like what was currently going on her… he had a good idea as to what was happening though, and he didn't like it. "Are you ok?!"
Hearing the way he worriedly demanded to know of her health's status, something warm sprouted within Sheila that she had felt only twice before. At those times she had been a married woman with two lovely daughters she wouldn't ever trade the world for. But she didn't let that feeling grow however thanks largely due to the way that her mind replayed the events at the rating game.
Events she had witnessed till the very end of Alucard's massacre.
But knowing that Hijikata wasn't going to be fooled if she said something like she was ok, a bitter chuckle left her lips that dulled any remaining warmth in the room. "I supposed you could say I'm not, Hijikata…" she replied while reaching up to the man's hands and grasping them with her own gloved ones. "... I'm not ok, not one bit…" she admitted further with a trembling lower lip.
"..."
Hijikata initially didn't respond as he narrowed his eyes at the way the woman trembled like a frail wallflower in his grasp, her shoulders shaking alongside the rest of her petite frame. He furrowed his brows as confusion led his thoughts, the man struggling to come up with a solution to this problem. He had no clue what to do here to soothe the woman, someone like him who was more geared towards war and combat than genuine romance (even his previous wife back in his era had been more of an arranged marriage than anything else) wasn't prepared for this problem he ordinarily wouldn't have ever needed to address in his time.
But this wasn't his time and Sheila made him feel… different compared to his former wife.
If there was ONE thing that he could think of, however, was a bit of physical comfort. To that end, the man quickly scooped the woman into his arms and carried her like she were a princess. The fact that she didn't even respond with some coy remark or playfully teleport on top of him and SOMEHOW pin him to the ground with her body straddling his waist, proved how Sheila had a LOT of depression right now.
Strolling through the living room, Hijikata sat back down on the sofa and held the succubus lay sideways on his lap, her legs spread across the sofa like she were a doll or something. Gently rocking her back and forth like she were a child, Hijikata whispered some soothing words before getting to the bottom of the issue. "Lemme guess, that rating game spooked you…"
"...Yes, it did, Hijikata-san." Sheila quietly said to the former vice general in a low tone, confirming what Toshiro speculated was the reason why the older succubus was in a deep depression. She got out of the hug and sat on the couch while the vice-general had his hand around her shoulder, still providing comfort for her.
"I see, can't say I blame you for looking depressed and scared at the same time." He stops for a moment whether it's a good time to say his name or not. In the end he decided to take a risk and go through with it. "Alucard proved himself to be one of the most horrific beings in the world, that bastard leaves nothing in his wake. Always showing his brutality to everyone…..not even sparing the children and unborns." anger and fear started growing in the man's words near the end at the thought of how brutal and ruthless Alucard naturally was, to the point where it spooked even himself.
This notion soon proved to hit the woman hard, especially with the memories of tormented children's screams filling her thoughts that, as a mother herself, were some of her worst nightmares especially if they were her daughters. Thinking that, Sheila had tears dropping from her eyes and her hands were on her knees as she clenched her hands hard.
Nonetheless, Hijikata continued to speak as he looked forwards towards the living room's TV. "I didn't think the rating game would go FUBAR as bad as it did, honestly. Thanks to what the Phenex….that abomination did to obtain more power through sacrifices, really turned things on their heads. I'm sorry to say this but that rating game your daughter went through…turned from a normal rating game into one full of madness, brutality and most of all a bloodbath." He shook his head from saying the brutally honest situation of what Maria had gone through. The truth hurts sometimes, but it's never good to lie. "Honestly, gotta say I admire her guts for pushing through the way she did. She's tough, that girl, gotta respect her for that at least."
Finally Sheila raised her head and looked at the man, her eyes brimming with still unshed tears when she spoke. "If…..if I knew what Riser had done….when he turned the tides in the rating game…then I would've gladly done what I could to take my daughter away from that nightmare." she said in a broken voice. "I should've taken Maria's place, saving her the 'honor' of meeting….the lord of Darkness." The sheer mention of Alucard even brought Sheila the shivers of even speaking to him.
Hijikata still looked sympathetic as he patted Sheila's shoulders. "Hey now it's not your fault for not predicting this. You're not a seer or any of those time gods who can see into the future, no one knew what the abomination did, and no one knew that Meredith would summon that monster into the underworld. Things can happen by coincidence…" Just then another thought came to him, one which caused Hijikata to frown. "Then again Meredith's reaction we could have predicted, if we factored in how those Devils treated us when we won. They're a prideful bunch who need hard bashing to get the point across."
It wasn't unique to Devils though this kind of mentality existed within a lot of other races in the supernatural world just like the mentality towards relationships both monogamous and polyamory. Women like those with power the most and they take personality third, second place going to the looks, with there being few exceptions. One might see it as an issue but those people came from the human world or had been brought up in human families, meaning that they didn't understand the overarching culture permeating the supernatural world.
Before long Hijikata paled when he realized what he said, widening his eyes before quickly speaking. "But I wouldn't say that Maria deserves to be greeted by the no-life king….but if I'm gonna be honest here Sir Integra would've regardless sent Alucard to the underworld and punish the devils regardless, like what he did to the hero clan in the past. Remember what happened in Brazil too? If you're in Hellsing's way your neck's gonna be a feeding ground."
It became increasingly clear that Hijikata was almost out of words to help Sheila get out of her depression. Looked like he was right when he had little experience consoling crying women like this, he really wasn't that good at it. She does seem a bit calmer but not enough, he felt, so maybe he could try offering her some advice. "In the end the path your daughter chose has put her on a collision course with the vampire king whether we like it or not, additionally she seems to know the horrors of this world already. Yet she's still here Sheila." he explained, before smirking similarly to how he'd get when fighting in glorious single combat. "Goes to show how tough your daughter is and how well her mom raised her, if you ask me."
That brought a smile on Sheila's face, while her depression hadn't gone away completely but at least his words combined with that smirk of his somewhat cheered her up. The sight of this made Hijikata's smirk widen exponentially at the feeling of pride in contributing such an uplifting of her mood. "You really don't know how to console a girl, Hijikata." she teased lightly, a strong warmth in her eyes.
At this, the man laughed uproariously while the woman wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Yeah, you got me there." he exclaimed with his grin spreading across his lips. "Though considering that nice smile on your lips is an indication of your mood, I'd say I did a good job." he remarked, idly pulling the older succubus into an one-harmed hug with his arm around her shoulders.
As surprised as she felt inside at the rather bold gesture, a gesture she normally would have slid away from, Sheila nonetheless smiled in content before burying her head into his chest and snuggling into his embrace. She allowed the warmth she'd only felt twice in her lifetime to flow through her body, not really caring about much else for once.
Looking down at her comfortable form, Hijikata chuckled as he felt a surge of warmth go through him. The sight of the older woman snuggling close to him scratched an itch that he had not known existed for YEARS now. Was this what a domestic life with a partner was like in this era? Memories of his former wife formed in his mind, but then they got replaced by the succubus's face and that only made the warmth surge in potency.
This feeling then brought back some memories of a conversation between him and his former subordinate. Memories that he tried to keep his emotional response from Sheila's eyes, even though she seemed to be resting happily.
"Oi Hijikata-san."
"Hmmmm, what is it, Okita?"
"I saw that you also came along with a petite woman, who was she?"
"Oh her, she's Maria's mother, Sheila. See that girl with the silver hair over there trying to tease the redhead and blonde? You can already guess what she is."
"I can?...Oh I see. She's a succubus. Yeah, I can see the similarities."
"Came here as her mother's escort, and even then I've been put in charge of her… what's with that look, Okita?"
"Oh nothing, it's just you have this look on your face."
"What look?"
"The one whenever a beautiful or hot woman is near you. You always make a move whenever you have the chance."
"Hey! I wasn't a womanizer in the past! I was married!"
"One in which you and your wife didn't enjoy."
"We were respecting our boundaries and our decisions."
"That didn't stop you from going after…..what's her name again? Ah, Yoshina after you spent couple days with her on-"
"I DON'T NEED TO REMEMBER THAT!"
"That never gets old. But anyway you can't hide it, Hijikata, Succubi are known to be masters of temptation, lust and emotion."
"And you know this because?"
"I am not afraid to say that I've bedded a few of them. A few squad members have as well."
"Seriously?"
"Yea, anyway you gotta keep your pants on around them or else who knows, you'll end up being what men like to call 'dead by snu-snu.'"
"Oh come on! Can you not embarrass me, like right now?!"
"Hehehehehe. You can't deny it captain, the more you're with the Succubi the more you realize you're opening your heart to them."
"Shut up already!"
Ah, he can still remember that smug teasing face his former subordinate had at the time, made him want to punch his lights out. Worse still was the difference between them now since apparently his former subordinate had grown considerably stronger compared to when he had last seen him, though that was only to be expected. After all, the man had spent many centuries as a Devil serving under Sirzechs and training dozens of newer Devils under his master's orders. Combine that with him at the whole policing thing that he did with the rest of the revived Shisengumi, and one could see the difference between them and a freshly revived corpse like him.
Though as much as he hated admitting it Okita DID have a little point, that being that he did indeed have a thing for the older Succubi. He could make second base with her but as a samurai, his honor and pride would not allow him to do so until the moment was right. Not only that but the whole thing of there being a sharp difference in romance methods in this era and his own made it harder for him to judge what was considered acceptable and what wasn't anymore, this being a problem for someone out of time like himself.
Right now, all he can do is enjoy this moment he has with Sheila. To that end, he leaned back and gave a low contented hum as he slipped into some long overdue slumber.
Dungeon
In the lower grounds of Hellsing manor lay both Theseus' room and the dungeon ahead of the Shark king's residence. In the dungeon there was barely any light source in the basement as neither Meredith nor Theseus hired an electrician to install the lights for the lower grounds of Hellsing manor.
Two girls resided behind some reinforced magical enhanced iron bars in their respective cells.
One was the daughter of the Phenex family and the other was the descendant of the original Leviathan.
They both sat at the floor, Ravel having a resigned and accepting expression on her face while Ingvild looked at the ground, no longer wearing the slave crown that resided on her head thanks to it having been removed fom her shortly after she had been dropped off later. She remained trapped inside a magic circle though, something that kept them assured she wouldn't flee.
Soon the walls from the corridor outside their cells began to ripple, catching both the girls' attention. As the walls began to ripple like water, out came the familiar Shark King whose face was clouded by darkness due to the lack of light source there is in the dungeon.
He stayed silent for some time as he inspected both the girls for a moment, shifting his attention to Ingvild. He stepped closer to her cell before he spoke. "So you're awake, good. I would rather see my victims conscious so my beloved sharks can have their delicious meat while they scream in agony and pain." the boy declared, a small smirk on his lips as his eyes started glowing in the dark, It didn't help that he had a fanged smile on his lips as bloodlust started building around him in the form of a green aura.
In that moment the leviathan descendant began trembling in fright from the sight of such a scary visage, something which Ravel could share with her on since the blonde asshole had a knack for making grown men want to run for the hills, so they wouldn't be even a challenge for him.
Then the blondie lost his fanged smile, replacing it with a frown. "Unfortunately as much as I want to sink my jaws into your disgusting tainted flesh, my supervisor had some other options for your pathetic, sniveling little life. Apparently she's not risking your sacred gear, Nereid Kyrie, to be sent to the heaven system so it can select its next host. Count yourself lucky 'GIRL'. You have some use being alive."
Hearing those words, Ingvild could almost sigh in relief that she wouldn't be executed or something like that. From the moment she had come to and found herself in her current surroundings it hadn't been hard for her to realize that she had been captured somehow. This wasn't anywhere she could recognize, but she did know a dungeon when he saw one, which only made her wonder what kind of plans her captors had for her. Judging from what Ravel had been able to tell her through the obvious fear and dread she had, Ingvilid hadn't liked her chances. Hearing that she wasn't going to be outright butchered managed to alleviate those fears considerably.
Nevertheless, her dread did not go away that simply, not when she had yet to hear what her captor had to say.
She was proven to be right when he spoke the following. "Though my superior has placed me in charge of you, girl. " he sneered, his tone tense as his bloodlust began to build around him causing her to tense up. "I dunno if you were aware of the shit you've pulled, but right now I just don't give a crap." He snarled, his mouth twisting into a feral growl. All the while his killing intent surged forth as his [From the Depths] ability started activating. It soon enveloped the two girls with most of it focused on the lilac-haired girl, who tensed and turned paler than a drowned victim who had been thrown down into the ocean. "What you did was a crime punishable by death, and trust me I've genocided entire races for less."
Ingvild again hung her head in shame. While she may be scared and frightened of what was about to happen, her shame alone exceeded her fear for what she had done. She can't remember it but she can feel she has done something against the man outside her bars. It had been further compounded by how Ravel, who had quickly became one of her closest confidants despite her only knowing her for a short time, had been reluctant to tell her anything about why she and her were here.
"But for now..." In an instant the bloodlust that she had felt and the darkening of her surroundings vanished, all alongside the feeling of cold death that had washed over her. This threw her off her game not to mention sent waves of coursing through the woman in question. "There's more important shit we have to get done, and what happens in the next few minutes depends on how cooperative you are." The blonde declared with an almost regretful sigh, a bunch of earth bursting out next to him and forming a chair. A chair which he plopped down on whilst he crossed his left leg onto his right thigh. Leaning his head sideways to balance it on his hand, the blonde narrowed his inhuman eyes. "So talk, girlie. Who the fuck are you and how the fuck did you get to be a part of that damn chicken's peerage?"
In the face of a literal monster in human form, it didn't take long before Ingvilid began spilling the beans on everything she knew of herself.
Ingvilid had been born in, from her recollection of political events, the early 1900's prior to world war one. Meaning she was likely over a century year old for reasons she got into later. The male had figured this out because she had barely remembered talks of a 'russian revolution' and her description of Japan had fit that time frame as well.
She was a daughter of a human father and a mother devil from the leviathan clan, her mother having been hurting from her third failed political marriage and had come across her father at a science convention. The two had hit it off fine and despite the objections from her family (of which she had quashed with the reason that prior courtships from other Devils only ended in disaster), the mother had married her father who had learned of his wife's true identity. Thankfully her father who had been a chemist in an almost golden age for science, so he had been quite open-minded for his time, especially when considering how women were viewed back then. Ingvilid could still remember her mother laughing at the gobsmacked look her father had on when learning of her status as an influential noblewoman.
After having her, they used to live in the human world, in a seaside city in Europe. She couldn't quite remember the exact location due to how long it had been, but she DID remember one side had a beach of oceans and the other had a forest. In those days there had been nothing but peace with her father teaching her about human costumes, culture and general education meaning she got private schooled by him instead of hiring tutors like a lot of nobility did at the time. He had seen it as a way to spend time with his daughter and to prepare her for the outside world, something seen as weird for the time. Her mother had handled the more supernaturally oriented subjects so that she understood her position as her heir and made sure Ingvilid could function in Devil high society if need be.
Unfortunately this would never come to pass.
It had been during the middle stages of the great war in 1917 when her fortunes had changed for the worst and for the rest of her family. One day, she remembered getting very sleepy and having dizzy spells that would knock her out during the day for initially a few weeks, that started to worry her parents. This had never happened to them before and since it happened during wartime, things only grew increasingly stressful for them since they couldn't seek the usual medical help since their homeland in Europe was embroiled in war. If it hadn't been for her gender then she believed that she would have been forcibly drafted into the war effort.
Then, the worst part had happened which had been all-consuming darkness.
"...And after that day.." By this point in the story, Ingvild was now starting to shed her tears. "I remembered…I awoke somehow, and when I did….the first thing I noticed was a blond man with some type of iron band in his hand. I didn't get a chance to ask anything before he placed it on my head…It was dark again…" She finished her story to the stoic Shark king, who continued having darkness covering his face. She lifted her head and shifted her attention to Theseus. "I can't remember what I have did…..to anger you mister…but if I did something to you…..I don't ask for your forgiveness…..I probably don't deserve it….but please…..can you tell me if you know anything about my parents?" By this point Ingvild was asking a death wish, she probably knew she was gonna die at some point. In her heart she desperately wanted to know what has happened to her mother and father.
The blondie still had a stoic expression on his face. He wasn't fazed by Ingvild's sad and desperate tone nor the matching look on her face, his own as stony as the gorgon medusa. Though he can't find any lies under her breath and can tell her emotions are genuine, like the phenex girl. From her story, perspective and her background the male narrowed his gaze in suspicion about how it was possible for the old satan faction to give her up that easily. There was one Leviathan everybody thought was the last of her line, Katerea Leviathan. He wasn't a detective nor a person who indulged into people's history though, that's Meredith's job not his.
Since she was being truthful though, a rarity for her kind, he might as well give her an answer to her question despite not knowing the answers himself. "I don't really know or care about what happened to your mother and father. What I know is that the clan your mother belongs to, the Leviathan, has all save for one been wiped out by either the new satan faction or other beings who do not tolerate their existence. Your parents are likely long dead as its has been a century since you succumbed to the disease that devils call 'the sleeping sickness' disease'. A basic summary of the disease is that whenever a devil catches that disease, they fall into a deep slumber and won't be awakened by normal means. From this point, their bodies start to become weak and slowly fall into an eternal slumber. There is no known cure for this disease yet which is why its rare, I mean extremely rare, that anyone can ever wake up from this disease." Theseus finished explaining to Ingvild.
After listening carefully to Theseus' explanation, Ingvild's features turned almost ghostly pale after a couple second's confusion, her mind racing at the realization of what had happened to her. Following this was a cold pit of despair that settled in her stomach, accompanied by anger and frustration that caused her throat to tighten while her eyes started getting a bit watery each second that passed. "Oh….I…see." she spoke silently while looking at the ground again.
Uncaring for her emotional state, a cold Theseus continued to speak. "Cast your grief aside, because it won't help you, leviathan." he brutally said to Ingvild who would've glared at him for his lack of heart and general rudeness. In her time, such rudeness would have gotten him neutered in social society… she was already seventeen and she was already acting like some sort of grandma. However, she didn't dare to do so in real life because she cannot speak back against the blondie or else he'll do something worse to her
"While you did speak in complete truth, it does not mean that you're off the hook. I'm more of a person who judges with actions, not words. Don't think you're going to be getting off scott free, that's not the way things work. Your fate's in our hands now." he lifted his hand up to the air before snapping his fingers.
CLICK!
The magic circle that tied Ingvild to the cross instantly shattered as if on command, causing the girl to fall to the ground unceremoniously. Her head rocked from the impact as a low grunt escaped her lips, the half Devil coughing on the ground as she struggled to get up, her wrists and ankles numb somewhat from the lack of use. She couldn't feel her legs or arms either for the same reason
Again overlooking this with his usual coldness, Theseus got up from his stone seat. He began to turn around, pocketing his hands within his coat, but before he left he glanced down at the girl through the corner of his eye. "When you finish getting used to having your arms and legs, I expect to see you up and about, I'll wait for you at the top of the stairs, you're going to be busy for a long time, and be under no illusions that I'll go easy on your ass." Theseus coldly said to Ingvild before he walked away from her, not sparing her any glance. If he did, then he would've noticed the tears Ingvild was shedding from her eyes.
He was about to walk past Ravel's cell. He stopped for a moment before doing a 90 degree turn while coldly facing the phenex girl who she shudders under his stare. He said the following. "And as for you, my superior is still deliberating whether or not let you become an assistant under Elizabeth's granddaughter. Your interrogation will be taken shortly, but not by me. We'll see whether you can prove your usefulness to the organization. Count yourself lucky, Phenex. Plus with your…..Phenex tears, you are bound to be valuable for both hellsing and the crown."
Ravel heaved a sigh in relief that she got to live another day, relieved she wouldn't be killed or butchered like the ones who Hellsing gave no mercy to. Always leaving trails of blood and gore wherever they go, shown when she literally witnesses the carnage that….monster.
When she was about to say something…
WHOOSH!
BAM!
"Guh! Ack! Hhhhaaaaaa! Argh!"
Before she could do anything Ravel gasped when she felt an unseen, invisible force lift her into the air… then pull her straight into a waiting Theseus' grasp. His hand had been outstretched towards her so once she was close enough he had it constrict around her neck like a serpent coiling around a mouse. She had her hands on his own desperately trying to loosen it so she could breathe properly, but Theseus' grip held firm rendering her efforts in vain.
"Know this devil." he spoke in a cold tone while his eyes glinted green, holding her in front of him so that their eyes were level with each other. His words dripped with venom while he looked as though he were an elephant about to take someone off the census. "You are the first pureblood-incest devil breed I could tolerate due to your actions back in the rating game. If you ever show any signs of deceptions or any betrayal to the Hellsing organization..." He brought her closer to his face while showing an animalistic rage through the snarl that left him. "Then your entire family will pay the cost of your betrayal. Your brother, he's just the starting point."
Ravel was slowly turning blue due to the lack of oxygen but can understand every one's last words Theseus had said to her and the consequences if she tried to go against her captors.
"Do you understand Phenex?" He asked her while still choking her, so one can understand why she couldn't give a response. That only made Theseus more frustrated and angry, uncaring for what's happening to her. "I said do you understand you fucking devil!?" he shouted at her. Ravel quickly nodded her head as best as she could despite rapidly turning purple, nearly losing consciousness with black spots dancing across her vision.
"Good." Fortunately Theseus found her response satisfactory so he let go of Ravel's neck. Having dropped to the ground, the blonde girl gasped for air while putting a hand around her throat, trying to soothe the pain around her throat. She gasped and coughed for a few seconds before she heard him speak once more. "Be glad I showed you mercy Phenex, after what your brother has done we had half of mind slaughtering half of your family." Ravel went pale in dread when she heard him speak about massacring her family, images of that vampire king ripping the Phenex Clan apart for seemingly no reason, something that she could easily see with what happened at the ballroom "Just being near you sickens me Phenex, I may respect you but that's it. Remember this, the price of blood will be paid, no matter what the consequences are."
She didn't raise her head nor lower it. After hearing Theseus' revelation, she could not fight back or argue back against the apprentice of the No-life king, they don't care about politics, one single argument or harsh words against the UK branch faction….they will pay the price through blood. Leaving no mercy upon the organization, not even children or elders as she personally knew this by now.
She still has one last question in mind that has been plaguing her for some time. She slowly lifted her head, uncaring of what she looked like right now. "What….what will happen…to my brother?" She spoke while rubbing her throat which had an imprint shaped like Theseus' hand on it that persisted even with her regeneration.
"Oh, trust me." Theseus' face was clouded in darkness, his eyes glinting while putting out a fanged smile. "He will wish for death to claim him as I said before." he squats down, meeting Ravel's eye view while giving her a shivering cold satisfaction tone he spoke. "Because there are some things that are far worse than death itself."
'This… this is all so messed up…'
Sitting on a sofa in their living room, Issei Hyoudou hung his head down so that his eyes remained concealed behind his bangs, his hands hanging off his knees as he remained silent, lost in his thoughts. His gut twisted in on itself from a storm of different emotions which waged conflict with one another within him, and for the reason why that was? Whelp…
Let's just say he had a lot on his mind right now, primarily about what he had seen.
Not just the Ballroom incident of which he had to cover his eyes from the brutality shortly into the carnage (though the sounds of the haunting screams and flesh being torn apart still rung in his mind even till this day), but the whole bullshitery that had accompanied the entire Rating Game.
It was fair to say that the events had left him rather shaken now that he had a chance to properly reflect on everything thanks to being in their home territory. He had thought he had seen the worst of the supernatural world's brutality back with the night lords, but oh boy had he been mistaken on that one and one of the worst things of this whole thing was that now he understood why such brutality didn't faze the rest of these guys at Hellsing. This… this was their freaking STANDARD, just like when people had slavery going on, this behavior that encouraged the lack of care for life itself was just the standard for these people. They had seen enough of the whole genocide deal that it hardly fazed them anymore, though he swore that he'd seen Meredith flinch a bit but he couldn't tell for certain.
"Seems like you're still shaking greenhorn."
Looking up when he heard the condescending voice that could only belong to a certain silver haired hybrid, Issei saw Vali looming over him with a blank look on his face. "Vali!" he exclaimed in shock and surprise, not having expected him to show up like this. 'Damnit, how did I not sense this battle maniac coming? He's not even the tiniest bit stealthy!' the brunette cursed in his mind.
'Likely because you were such a preoccupied partner. That and the white one has more experience than you in warfare.'
Issei shuddered internally when he heard his partner ddraig mention 'warfare' instead of labeling it as 'fighting'. In essence, fighting implied a simple physical alteration between two or more people which would be resolved when only one contender was left standing. It was a simple concept but 'warfare' took on a whole BUNCH of different ideas and mixed them together with fighting such as logistics, tactics, leadership and the like.
Vali was a battle maniac, that Issei remained certain of even though he didn't completely grasp the dude. But hearing that he had a grasp on things OTHER than fighting really hit that part home.
"Fighting isn't as simple as one thinks, Hyoudo." Vali stated, having somehow read the brunette's mind to his shock. The silver haired hybrid shook his head while crossing his arms under his chest. "I know you've been a little green on the field, but c'mon seeing how wimpy my supposed 'rival' is is just pathetic."
Rival? Issei blinked when he heard that term as he stood up from the sofa, turning to face the half Devil before him. "What do you mean by Rival? If anything I've got you beat in terms of boobies anyways." he proclaimed, though his perverse grin fell into a terrified at the snarl that left Vali's lips at the comment.
"Nothing like that you goddamn moronic pervert." he sneered, wishing that the brunette would just disappear and be replaced by someone who actually had the qualities to match his station. "I'm talking about the relationship between the two heavenly dragons. We, me and you Hyoudou, are destined to fight from the moment we were born." He explained before going into the history of said dragons in a basic manner, knowing that the brunette wouldn't grasp it otherwise.
The heavenly dragons were a pair of powerful entities, dragons capable of killing gods and upsetting the natural order in a manner akin to Alucard himself. They were some of the highest class of dragons, stronger than dragon kings but weaker than dragon gods (Issei had blanched at the thought of dragons stronger than Ddraig), but the two Heavenly Dragons didn't get along and instead waged war with one another. This happened during the Great War so the three factions got caught in the crossfire, killing an unknown amount of forces from all sides. Their leaders including the original Satans, God and the Fallen Angels had to pull out a truce to one another till the dragons had been dealt with although the fight that had followed had been as apocalyptic as the second world war.
'Last I checked there were about 180 million casualties on the first day.'
'First day…?'
'The fight against us dragons lasted for a month… we didn't go down easy Issei, there's a reason why the continents are as fragmented as they are.'
HOLY SHIT! That summed up Issei's thoughts pretty well when he heard the casualty numbers. He'd heard from Meredith once that the Great War could be considered an apocalypse of mass extinction event for all parties involved just like nuclear weapons. He could definitely see it just from this information alone.
"The ones who suffered the most had been the Devils, probably due to their love of suicide charging into the Dragons' lines of fire with nothing but shovels." Vali quipped, an amusing thought of those Devils wearing sinister masks holding demonic shovels filling his brain for a moment. 'Wasn't there something similar to that…? I can't help but be reminded of something…' he wondered briefly, before he shook his head and returned to the situation at hand. "Anyways, when the biblical god took them down in one final blow, they were refashioned into sacred gears which began a rivalry that lasted across the ages. Every, and I mean EVERY wielder of these two Sacred Gears are destined to continue this rivalry for all eternity."
Chills crawled down Issei's spine thanks to the way the silver-haired male eyed him like the way Michael Jackson eyed kids. A thick wave of tension rose in the air as the boy took in what he was being told. "Uh-huh…" the brunette mused with a bit of unsurety while wondering something that may as well be a nod towards the UK faction's chastity belt since they didn't give zero fucks apparently. 'Ddraig once mentioned he and Albion or 'white one' as he mentioned him as, were born in the UK. Man those guys really are a chaotic faction of monsters…' first the Heavenly Dragons, then the Vampire King and now Hellsing alongside the Shark King? No wonder they were hated so much by other factions! "I see. What's that got to do with me…? Wait, rival?" Finally it dawned on the brunette whose features turned pale at the realization, something only further exasperated by the growing smirk on Vali's lips. "...You're kidding me."
"Nope, I'm not joking, especially about this." the grinning Hybrid responded, his grin widening to resemble a slasher smile as he summoned his Sacred Gear. His massive blue wings unfurled themselves as he crossed his arms under his chest, his eyes gaining a faint blue glow. "You're supposed to be MY rival. Me, the white dragon emperor."
"?!" Issei widened his eyes, both shocked and surprised. Taking a step back while trying to get a hold of his mind, the brunette struggled with the concept that he had tried preparing himself for that admission in those precious few seconds… only for them to understandably fall short.. "This…..cannot be." The brunette whispered in disbelief, not even noticing his Sacred Gear manifest all its moving parts over his body.
A dark chortle left Vali's lips as his Divine Dividing released a pulse of energy into the atmosphere as if in challenge to the Boosted Gear. "From this moment on Hyoudou, we are rivals and will fight each other to the death. We shall see and prove once and for all who deserves to be called the true Heavenly dragon." he declared, a wave of energy bursting out of him and spreading throughout the room in all directions.
Issei did not say a single word, the brunette trying and failing to fathom the situation whilst sweat formed over his brow. An ancient rivalry that was destined to be with him since the day he was born, a rivalry between Ddraig and Albion... he'd hardly been in this world compared to his 'rival' and now he was being forced to deal with this?
Soon Ddraig began to speak.
"Well well, this is quite the predicament isn't it Albion?"
The boosted gear gems glowed, its green light flickering through each word. Divine dividing glowed as well in response to Albion's words.
[I agree, Ddraig. Both of our hosts, in the same faction, where death hangs over them like a foul-smelling cloak for eternity.]
"Spoken like a true veteran of Hellsing….even though Alucard managed to defeat that strongest wielder of yours when he managed to reach mastery over your full power."
[Don't try to be coy with me Ddraig. We both know it was your host who antagonized them in the first place, 60 years ago when the crown decided to send him to get rid of us.]
"Hmph, despite us being in the same faction that does not make us friends or comrades, Albion."
[We were never friends to begin with Ddraig. Despite our host allegiance-]
"We will have our fateful battle one day, Albion, I already know this."
[That day will come one day. We will see how long your host will last against my current host.]
"The fruits of labor may be on your side, but the odds aren't against my host. He will reach a higher level of power with the help of Hellsing and when he does…..you'll be left with nothing but a corpse body."
[We'll see, until then we shall see who will come out of this alive. You the red dragon emperor or me, the white dragon emperor. And this time, with no distractions.]
Both the boosted gear and Divine Dividing dispelled, returning inside of their hosts' souls. Vali hardened his expression aimed at Issei's conflicted expression. "You better start training Hyoudou, because when the time comes, our differences will be put aside and one of us will see who makes it out alive." Vali did a 180 degree turn, turning his back at Issei before walking away.
The brunette was stunned for a moment before he shook his head and shifted his attention to Vali. "What's the point to this pointless rivalry, Vali? Tell me what good will come by the end of it! Would you forget all the help and inspiration you gave me, putting it aside just for a rivalry?! What would happen if you were to die!"
Vali stopped his movement but did not turn around.
Still Issei continued to speak. "Why the hell do you even want a deathmatch with me already, especially with you already knowing the outcome?! If you were to die, then what would happen to both of your comrades, both Theseus and Kuroh?! You've been with them for as long as I could remember! You want to waste your life for a deathmatch?!"
Vali did not respond or turn his attention to Issei as if he wasn't listening or acknowledging his presence. But his left hand was gripping as hard as it could, showing veins, showing hidden restraint, anger and conflict running through his mind.
"Tell me this Vali. What would you gain and what would you lose? For me I won't gain anything out from this pointless rivalry and I would definitely lose the bonds I have made with you and the other Hellsing members. You have much more to lose if you ask me, you may not show it but you treasure those two like they were your brothers, and it's not one sided! Answer me this Vali, what would you gain and what would you lose if you continue this path?"
Once again Vali did not speak after a long time of silence. He looked unaffected by Issei's response. The silver hair finally spoke after a long moment of silence. "Like I said before Issei, our differences will be put aside. Nothing will stop me from ever achieving my life long goal, a glorious fight between you and me. The battle between the red dragon emperor and the white dragon emperor." With that said he continued to walk forward, retreating into the dark hallway.
When Vali was out of Issei's sight, he stopped in the middle of the hall. Lifting his hand and bringing it close to his face, still clenching on it as his expression turned from his hardened one… to one of fury.
BAM!
He slammed his fist at the walls of the hallway, making large cracks that spread around. A loud THUD accompanied this impact that could have been felt by the rest of the entire building including its occupants… not like he cared.
Huffing and puffing, Vali heaved and panted while slouching his shoulders as he kept his hand impaling the Hellsing building's walls. The silver haired male glowered into the darkness like he were seeing an apparition of the one who caused this in the first place, finally releasing the restrained anger inside of him. "I've got nothing to lose, Hyouduo! Nothing, you hear me?! You will regret ever saying that to me! I will make sure your pain will be nothing but painless!" Vali shouted, as if his voice could reach towards the brunette. He puts his fist away from the wall, showing his knuckles were bleeding, given how much strength he put into it while slamming it at the wall.
Snorting like he had inhaled some cocaine like some damned street hooker, Vali continued to walk through the halls, uncaring for the destruction he had caused.