Disclaimer: Do I own Hellsing? Definitely not! It belongs to someone else, darn it! Don’t sue, Ok?
Dedicated to: Muraki-chan and Momo!
Chapter II: Mysteries Explained
5 years later…
“Mummy!” a young girl shouted. Her blonde braids bouncing in the air, she ran across the garden towards her amused mother. She cheerfully hurled herself into her outstretched arms. “You came home early!”
“Hello, Christina. And how was your day?” Sir Integral Wingates Hellsing asked her five-year old daughter.
Christina Elizabeth Hellsing smiled impishly at her mother. “Mister Walter and I played hide and seek.” Her smiled turned to a triumphant grin as she whispered to her mother conspiratorially. “He didn’t find me.”
“Is that so?” Integra remarked. Just then, the loyal retainer of the Hellsing family, Walter, came running to the garden, puffing like a bellows. “Miss Christina! There you are! I was–Sir Integra! You came home early.”
“So it seems.” Integra released her hold on her daughter. “The meeting with the Queen ended earlier than expected.” She turned back to her daughter, noting her slightly unruly appearance. “Where have you been hiding? Your clothes are a mess. Get cleaned up. Dinner will be served soon.”
Christina nodded obediently. “Yes, Mummy.” Then she shot off, running towards the heavy doors of the Hellsing mansion.
“Can you still keep up with her, Walter?” Integral asked with some amusement, noticing the harassed look on the retainer’s face.
“I may be past my prime, Lord Integral, but I can still keep an eye on Miss Christina.”
Integra’s expression became one of wary seriousness. “Someone must keep an eye on her.” She fixed her ice-blue gaze on Walter, who immediately understood what she meant.
There was a moment of silence, and much to Walter’s surprise, Integra said, “We are so different, my daughter and I. She is more…cheerful.”
Walter shook his head. “Not really, Lord Integral. You were a very cheerful, inquisitive child, as I recall. Miss Christina is more…mischievous than you were, though.”
Integra did not say anything. I wonder, she thought, how long will her cheerfulness last? Her daughter was a Hellsing, and being a Hellsing, Integra knew all too well, was nothing to be cheerful about.
*******
Christina skipped happily through the halls of Hellsing. Her mother was home early! That was certainly unusual. Mummy always worked late, she thought. She didn’t know what her mother actually did, and whenever she asked Walter, he always said, “Your mother is doing her duty.”
When she neared her room, she stopped and gazed at a large portrait of her late grandfather, her mother’s father. Her mother always stopped in front of this painting, which was just outside her room. She would stare at it for a long while, a strange look on her face. Christina, though young, sensed her mother tense whenever she saw the painting, and often wondered why that was so.
Christina shrugged. She was thinking too much again, as Walter always told her. She resumed skipping towards her room when she heard a faint, masculine voice.
Such serious thoughts for a little one.
Christina stopped in her tracks and look around. The mocking voice didn’t seem to come from around her, but rather, inside her head. “Who are you? Where are you?” Christina asked loudly, her voice steady and unafraid. She was quite proud of that. Her mother always told her never to show fear to anyone. Fear was weakness, and a Hellsing is never weak.
Follow my instructions to find out, little one.
Despite her mother’s and Walter’s caution for her to never heed suspicious orders, Christina felt a compelling urge to obey that voice. She nodded, unafraid of the possible consequences of her actions.
The voice laughed. Such fearlessness. That’s a good girl. Now…
Christina wasn’t aware how long she had been walking, or where she was. She just followed the voice. Finally, she found herself in a place she never knew existed in Hellsing Manor. She glanced around, seeing only walls of cold, hard stone.
“Hello, little one,” the mocking voice said, this time, it didn’t sound like it came from her mind. She glanced towards the source of the voice.
A man stood a few feet away from her. He was wearing a red trench coat and hat. On his face were yellow-tinted glasses and a mocking smile. “Who are you?” she asked once again, curious.
The man removed his glasses. He had red eyes. “I am known by many names.”
“Well, then, what are you called most of the time?” Christina asked with impatience.
The man’s smile widened. “I am known as Alucard.”
“Alucard? What a strange name. Are you a friend of my Mummy?”
“Perhaps.”
She glanced around. “Why are you in this place? It’s so dark, cold and dirty.”
“It is my home.”
Christina’s scarlet eyes widened in disbelief. “Really? I–”
“Get away from my daughter, you swine!” Integra’s angry shout echoed throughout the room. Christina turned to face her mother, who had a furious look on her face. “Christina, come here now!”
Christina hesitated for a moment. She glanced back at the strange man, then to her mother. “Christina!” her mother shouted once more, this time in a more forceful manner. Flicking a quick look at Alucard, Christina then hurried to her mother.
Integra clutched her child close to her. “We’ll speak later.” She then gave her to Walter. “Take her to her room.” Walter bowed, took the confused child in Integra’s arms, and left.
Integra waited until Walter’s footsteps could no longer be heard. She then turned to Alucard, her ice-blue eyes flashing with anger. “How dare you disobey my orders! I told you to keep away from her!”
“She came to me,” the vampire told her.
“With your urging, no doubt," Integral snapped. "Do not come near her again, vampire, unless you want to be sealed."
Alucard smirked. "That old threat again, Master?" he asked mockingly. "How many times have I heard that before? You seem to be repeating yourself these days." He knew all too well just how much Hellsing needed him in the task of eliminating FREAKS and other fiendish beings. He would not be sealed anytime soon.
Integra gave him a cool look. She refused to be baited by him. She resolutely turned her back to him. "Remember my warning. You know me well enough to know not to push your luck too far." She then began to walk away, only to be halted by Alucard's voice saying, "The child is my daughter as much as she is yours. Is it not also my right to meet her?"
Integra looked over her shoulder. "A vampire with fatherly instincts? What a novelty." She gave Alucard a slightly sarcastic smile, then she turned serious. "You may be her sire, but she will always be a Hellsing first, and your future Master. She will never know you are her father. Never."
"You cannot hide forever what she is. Soon, she will discover for herself her heritage, and you will not be able to stop it."
Integra smiled icily at the vampire. "Perhaps, but it will not be anytime soon. Not as long as I exist." Then she went on her way, not glancing back.
*******
"But why can't I see Mister Alucard again, Mummy?" Christina asked in a sleepy voice as she crawled onto her bed. It was way past her bedtime, since Integra gave her daughter a lengthy sermon of new rules. One of them was that she would not go blindly obey any voices she would hear in the future. Another thing was that she should never see Alucard again. "Is he a bad man?"
Integral was silent. How could she explain to her child why she couldn't see Alucard? As her daughter continued to gaze at Integral with her scarlet eyes–Alucard's eyes–she remembered what Alucard said: "You cannot hide forever what she is. Soon, she will discover for herself her heritage, and you will not be able to stop it."
Her daughter was half-vampire, the daughter of one of the most powerful vampire that ever lived. Not only that, she was also that vampire's future master, as she was also the vampire's master's daughter. God only knows what her abilities would be. If her father's abilities were any indication of what she would be, Christina would be a Hellsing heir the world has never seen.
"Mummy? Are you mad at me?" Christina asked, her voice trembling. Christina didn't like making her mother angry.
Integra shook her head. "No. Go to sleep, Christina. Forget what happened today."
"Oooookaaay," she slurred drowsily. In a few seconds, the heir of Hellsing was asleep.
Integra watched her child sleep for a moment. Then with a barely audible sigh, she left the room, softly closing the door.
As soon as the door closed, several red eyes appeared on the mirror, all of them focused on the little girl. Then, they were gone as swiftly as they appeared.
~T.B.C~
Wheee....
