Chapter 14
Alucard materialized in Sir Integra's office. The Hellsing leader along with Seras Victoria, Peter Fergason and Walter awaited his report.
"The targets have been silenced master. Limited power release is completed." He said.
"Good." Integra replied and turned to Walter. "For tonight this sword shall remain in my custody. In the morning I will meet with the queen as to how the weapon should be dealt with. It cannot be destroyed as conventional means would damage the crystal and release Lilith's spirit back into the world. And after all that we have done to make sure she is imprisoned, I want to make sure it remains so."
"As you wish Sir Integra." Ferguson answered.
"Very good sir. Your car will be waiting for you at dawn." Walter said.
"Everyone is dismissed." Integra replied.
The small group began to disperse. After everyone else, Alucard was about to leave.
"Just a moment Alucard." Integra said.
"Yes master."
"I...I know I've already said this but I wish to apologize again for doubting your loyalty. I know I could very easily have died tonight. I know you could have let that bastard kill me. You would have gained your freedom. But you came to my aid yet again as you have so many times in the past. You and Seras both faithfully served my family this night. Thank you."
"I would not have my freedom handed to me by a bastard vampire who is not worthy of the privilage. So long as you and any who may succeed you are strong and worthy of my respect, then I shall remain loyal. It was by the blood of your family that I was bound. You and those who come after you shall determine when I am to be free." Alucard responded and vanished.
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Seras was in her room finishing off the evening blood ration supplied to her. She knew Alucard had since returned to his own chamber, but wanted to give him a little time to himself. Nevertheless she could help but wonder what had gone down between he and Demir in their final battle. She didn't doubt it was brutal and Demir met a painful end. But part of her also could not hide her concern for her mate. It was silly she knew. He would not let himself be destroyed so easily. Still, she couldn't help but remember the events that led up to the battle. Seeing him the way he had been before Integra gave him enough blood to revive. It frightened her seeing him like that. It frightened her more than she was willing to admit.
"You should not worry so needlessly about me." She heard his voice in her mind.
Seras did not answer right away. She went to Alucard's chamber and found him seated in his favorite chair finishing off his own meal. She walked up to him.
"I know I shouldn't be so concerned. I guess it just wasn't tonight. Seeing you so frustrated the way you were. It bothered me. I guess this whole mission has taken a lot of both of us." Seras said.
"I've been through much worse than this. The experiments Hellsing performed on me were far more intolerable than what I went through tonight. As for my frustration...I realize now those two pieces of filth were not able to block me out on their own. They had to have help. Their own powers were weak compared to my full strength." Alucard replied.
"So you took out both Demir and Aiesha?" Seras asked.
"I took out Demir yes. Aiesha, however; I cannot take credit for. Shivana settled her score with Aiesha and destroyed her." Alucard answered.
"I wonder if we will ever see her again." Seras mused.
"I do not know. Shivana has repaid her debt to me. I do not know if she will remain in London or move on." Alucard replied. "Is your friend still recovering?" He asked.
"Yes. Zoey's sleeping right now. Pickman wanted to see her tonight, but I made him promise he'd let her sleep. He'd see her in the morning." Seras answered.
"I believe Captain Pickman is becoming fond of her." Alucard replied.
"I think she's taking a liking to him too." Seras said.
"I'm impressed how you were able to use your powers to aquire the use of my Jackul. I haven't even gotten around to teaching you telekenisis yet, and you've already started using it."
"You know I did that?" Seras asked.
"Of course I know. Only my body was weakened, not my spirit. I could feel you using your power." Alucard answered.
"Faced with the situation we were in, I had to do something." Seras replied.
"Your resourcefulness serves you well. I look forward to seeing how well you master the rest of your powers." Alucard said.
"You look tired." Seras observed.
"This mission has taken a great deal out of me. In five hundred years I've not come upon such a challenge until now." Alucard responded. His eyes fluttered for a moment expressing the true extent of his weariness.
"The sun will be rising very soon. We should both get some rest. This night has taken a great deal out of both of us." He said.
"I hope things will remain calm for at least a little while. You and I haven't had much time for..." Seras paused. "us."
"Patience iubit. Soon you and I will make up for lost time and then some. I promise." Alucard said lightly tracing the outline of Seras's face. Her eyes began to grow heavy. They fluttered a few times before she had no choice but to close them. The sun had risen. Alucard gathered her now limp frame into his arms and carried her over to his coffin. With her still in his arms he got in and settled himself down with Seras beside him. He kissed her lightly upon her forehead before succumbing to the death like slumber himself.
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The next day Integra walked into her office. Walter brought her afternoon tea. "I'm glad that buisness is over with. The sword should be quite safe now." He said calmly.
"It will be well guarded. Normal means would not be adequate enough to free the weapon from its new resting place. I am wondering what is in this envelope the queen gave me. We were so intent upon dealing with the sword that I neglected to open it." Integra replied as she carefully broke the wax seal holding the envelope closed.
After examining the contents Integra let out a weary sigh and lit a cigarillo. Walter saw the somewhat pained expression upon her face.
"Sir Integra, is everything all right?" He asked with concern.
"Well Walter, it would appear that I am now engaged. The queen has chosen a suitor for me. I am to meet my future husband in one week. Bloody wonderful." Integra replied as she let the paper drop from her hand.
Normally Walter would have chimed in with congratulations and well wishes, but marriage, not to say anything of having to donn a wedding dress were anything but joyful for Integra. She hated dresses and went to every length to avoid wearing one. So he simply kept his thoughts to himself as he often did around the Hellsing leader.
"Will the queen be handling the wedding plans?" Walter asked trying to make civilized conversation.
"Of course. There is going to be an engagement ball to celebrate the upcoming nuptials next month." Integra answered flatly.
Walter sighed inwardly. If there was one thing Integra hated more than wearing a dress, it was having to wear a dress at some extravagent gathering. He didn't know which was going to be harder, convincing Sir Integra that it wasn't a sin to wear a dress or trying to keep her sociable for the upcoming engagement party. He knew one thing for sure. The normally hectic atmosphere of Hellsing was about to get even more hectic in the coming weeks.
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Captain Pickman headed toward the infermary. He'd promised not to disturb Zoey while she was sleeping. But night had long passed so now he was free to see her. In his hand he carried a small bag. He took a brief look in on its contents as he headed toward her room.
"Ahhh, Captain Pickman. Coming to check in on the young lady?" Asked one of the orderlies sweeping the hall.
"Er, yes I am. I just wanted to see how she was doing." Pickman answered a bit nervously.
"Did you hear the news?" The orderly asked.
"News?" Pickman retorted with a question of his own.
"Yes. Sir Integra is engaged. The queen has arranged for her to meet her husband to be next week. The whole mansion's buzzing about it you know. There's even going to be an engagement ball."
"Oh. Well, I guess things are going to get rather busy around here." Pickman replied and headed on his way.
"Engagement ball? I'm a Captain so Integra will expect me to be there. And I can't go there by myself." Pickman thought as he knocked on the door to Zoey's room.
"All right Stewart. Don't make a bloody fool of yourself." He thought with a bit of apprehension. He cleared his throat as a nurse opened the door.
"Oh, Captain Pickman. She's just finished her afternoon meal. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you." The nurse said kindly as she exited Zoey's room.
Zoey's face brightened when she saw Pickman enter. "Stewart. It's so good to see you again. I got a visit from the gentleman...what was his name? The one with the long black hair and the monical. The mission was finally completed." Zoey said.
"Oh yah, Walter. He gets word out pretty quickly in this place. He's a good chap he is. I had a little time before going to train some new recruits. Thought I'd stop by and see how you were doing and all." Pickman replied.
"I feel much better now. Sir Integra is going to see what I'm good at doing and find a job for me here at the mansion. She didn't feel it was a good idea for me to be sent back out into the city after what happened." Zoey said.
"Don't worry. She'll find a good job for you here. I know Sir Integra can come off as being pretty impersonal and cold, but that's just how she is. She doesn't mean any wrong by it. I guess it's just how she had to grow up. Before she came along Hellsing was already ran by the men of the family. But when her father died she was his only child. He had no sons to pass the organization onto, so it was up to her. It takes nerves of steel to handle her job, and even harder nerves to deal with Alucard. Don't get me wrong. He's very loyal, but sometimes he just loves pushing Sir Integra's buttons." Pickman responded.
"He is quite an individual isn't he?" Zoey asked.
"Yah. He can be hard to figure out sometimes. Have to admit though, he is bloody good at welcoming new recruits. We've kind of dubbed him the Haze Master of Hellsing. Some soldiers wake up with bugs crawling round in their beds. Others will look up at the ceiling late at night and see a hundred or so red eyes staring down at them. Others get the honor of waking up with a large red eyed dog on their chests." Pickman recounted.
"Poor men." Zoey commented.
"Heh, those were nothing compared to what he did to one individual who mouthed off bout him. Poor bastard found himself sleepwalking completely naked and he bumps into of all people, Sir Integra. Course she got back at him for that one. You know the old myth that says vampires are compulsive counters. Well, it's true. She found someone to take a twenty foot and tie it full of notning but knots. And he ended up spending the entire night counting every blasted one of those knots. Integra would send Walter down there to keep interrupting him so he'd have to start all over again. He never did pull the little naked sleepwalker stunt again."
Zoey tried not to laugh too hard. Her muscles still ached from having to be bedridden for so long. "I guess the soldier never mouthed off bout him again." She mused.
"Actually it gave the solider even more incentive to back talk. Course that's actually what won him some respect from Alucard. That's how he is. He likes people who don't back down from him. Aren't too many humans who win Alucard's respect. Most of em he just ignores, unless he's bored. Then he decides to see how many times he can make them wet their beds from scaring em so much." Pickman said.
"What's in the bag?" Zoey asked.
"Oh. Um, actually this is for you. I thought you might be needing something to keep you entertained while you're recovering so I bought this for you." Pickman answered and took a cd player out of the bag. Zoey's eyes lit up as he handed her the player.
"Um, you like Ozzy?" He asked.
"I love Ozzy! I had a few of his cd's once but, my father didn't like the idea of me listening to a man who once bit the head off a bat. He threw them out and wouldn't allow me to replace them." Zoey answered.
"Here. You can borrow some of mine. I got plenty to listen to. Course it's like I got any time to listen to em at all right now. Commander Ferguson and Sir Integra keep me pretty busy. Why don't you just hang onto these for a little while? I'll get em back later on." Pickman said.
"Thanks." Zoey replied kindly.
"Um, I don't know if you heard but Sir Integra is getting engaged." Pickman said.
"Really? I wasn't aware that she was seeing anyone." Zoey responded.
"Well, she isn't. The queen has arranged a marriage between her and a suitor. Integra is supposed to meet him next week." Pickman replied.
"There are still arranged marriages in this day and age?" Zoey asked somewhat shocked.
"Well, if you just happen to be one of the queen's royal knights and leader of a secret vampire hunting organization...yes. See, long as Sir Integra marries and produces an heir or heiress to the Hellsing bloodline, then Alucard continues to serve the family. That's the contract. When the bloodline dies off, then Alucard will be free. Damn, I probably shouldn't be telling you that. It's all very complicated. I don't know much bout it myself cept that." Pickman answered.
"Don't worry. Anything you tell me like that won't go beyond me." Zoey said.
"Thanks. I don't need to get either of us into trouble with Sir Integra. Specially after all the stress she's gonna be under with the wedding plans and all."
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That evening...
Walter, Peter Ferguson, Alucard, Seras and Pickman all gathered in Sir Integra's office. She sat at her desk finishing off a cigarillo. She extingiushed what was left and began to speak.
"Some of you already know the news, but for those who have yet to be informed I am now officially betrothed by the queen's royal command. I will be meeting my fiance' this coming week. And next month there will be a royal engagement ball to celebrate the nuptuials." Integra reported.
Alucard exchanged a quick glance with Seras. "I think things are going to get very interesting in the near future."