Divine Retribution
Chap 2
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Chapter Two
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“Sir
Integral?” Seras breathed. The figure’s
head snapped in her direction, moonlight was glinting from the lenses of her
glasses.
“Well it
bloody took you long enough girl, it’s nearly two now,” Integral hissed at her,
Seras snapped up, as if standing at attention.
“Stop that foolishness before you get us ht, ht, come here,” she barked
in a whisper. Seras obeyed and crept
silently up to her.
“You are to
take me to where ever it was you lived before here. I will NOT be a pawn to this ridiculous farce of stripping my
family’s good name from me. Once we
arrive, I will give you further orders,” with that Integral stood and dusted
herself off. Seras was dumbfounded,
what to do next? “Well?style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Are you going to sit there like a dotard or
take me to your quarters?” she hissed, more than bit agitated.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Seras stood and looked at her.
“Do you…
want me to carry you?” she asked sheepishly.
Integral’s eyes shifted into an icy stare.
“Do you
think I can move as swiftly as you halfling?” she whispered.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> It was Seras’s turn to become annoyed.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> In quick movement she scooped Integral up
and threw over her shoulder. Seras
found she was surprisingly light.
“Yes sir,
and for the record, I’m no longer a ‘halfling’,” Seras huffed and took to
flight. Integral exhaled loudly in
surprise.
Streets and
lights were passing by at a very inhuman speed ‘I guess she isn’t a halfling
anymore.’ she thought to herself.
Soon enough they were standing before a brown-brick building.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Seras put Integral down carefully and began
to fumble for her keys that always stayed in her jacket pocket.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> In a moment they were inside and Seras began
to climb a set of stairs quietly, Integral followed.
At the
second story Seras pulled her keys out again and unlocked an apartment door.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Both slipped quickly inside and Seras locked
the door behind them. Integral began to
familiarize herself with the flat immediately.
She pulled
a small pistol from her jacket and went from room to room, clearing each one,
Seras watchedbstrbstruck and a bit amused.
After Integral was happy that the place wasn’t surrounded she sat the
Walther PPK on a coffee table then removed her outer jacked thd threw it onto
the couch, Seras mused a bit at the size and wear of the small pistol then
started to flip on the main light.
“Are you
mad?” Integral said in her full voice now waving her right hand.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Seras froze. “At night in these quarters, as long as I’m here, we will use
small lamps, candles, or nothing is that clear?” Integral stated.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Seras swallowed hard, this wasn’t going to
be a cakewalk.
“Yes sir,
I’m sorry,” she squeaked and sat in an armchair to the far side of the couch
where Integral sat. Sighing heavily
Integral removed her glasses to rub the base of her nose.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> This arrangement was going to grate her
nerves raw. She crossed her legs then
turned to dig in the pocket of her jacket.
“I’m sorry
Officer, this hasn’t been my week.
Excuse my lack of patience,” she said in weary tone and soon found her
cigar case. With a small flash of light
she lit a thin cigar and looked around.
“Well?” she said.
Seras,
intrigued by seeing her master’s master in such a human state completely phased
out for bit, hypnotized by her movements in the dark. She shook her head and sat up straight. “Well… what Sir?” she asked.
“Do you
have any candles or a small lamp? I
can’t see in the bloody dark you know,” Integral barked, this girl was very
daft, she longed for Walter then, she lacked nothing with his ever-observant
presence.
But seeing
this girl breathing and well was very pleasing, she had spirit at least, and
had helped her greatly after undead monster, Incognito, had tried to take many
things from her, including her life.
Seras jumped up and disappeared into a far room, soon returning with a
lamp and four candles.
Integral
smiled slightly. “I didn’t mean an
arsenal, one candle will do for now, you can light the others in the
surrounding rooms if you like, but shut the blinds and keep them froe
we
windows,” Integral said in a softer tone, she shouldn’t be taking her
frustrations out on this girl, especially being a subordinate.
Seras
busied herself with lighting candles in the kitchen and her bedroom then the
bathroom, she felt as if an instructor from police training camp was over for a
long visit, this made her shudder. When
she returned she found Integral standing and removing her boots.
“Would you
like some tea sir? I have some fresh
Ceylon, but nothing spectacular, I come here sometimes and keep up the place a
bit,” she asked sheepishly, Integral began freeing herself from her restrictive
clothing without an upward glance.
“Yes, that
sounds good, do you have cream and the like?” she asked while removing her
cravat in a very non-feminine way, Seras almost laughed at her.
“Yes sir, I
don’t have much by way of food but I think I have some shortbread, sometimes I
prefer coffee and I dip them in for taste…” she was rambling, Integral was now
standing at the Kitchen table, she had removed her neck wrap and now slipped
off her gloves and laid them pristinely down.
Grasping the back of a chair she leaned onto it and hung her head.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Seras was at a loss yet again, she looked so
trapped standing like this, Integral was like a noble fallen angel.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> But one with a sharp tongue.
“Yes, yes
girl, anything sounds fine,” she sighed and seated herself placing her arms on
the table using her hands to obscure her face slightly.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Seras put the kettle on then retrieved the
ashtray housing Integral’s cigar from the living room and set it in front of
her. Smiling slightly, Integral picked
up her cigar. “Thank you Officer, ” She
said flatly then inhaled from it deeply.
Seras, not very accustomed to the odour, found it assaulted her senses.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> She held back a cough and went to retrieve
the china.
“You can
call me Seras if you like, since we will be sharing company for a while I take
it,” Seras chimed with her back turned, not wanting to see the expression on
her commander’s face. She heard a faint
laugh.
“Alright
then Seras Victoria, I suppose you can call me Sir Integra, using the name
‘Hellsing’ in the open may not be wise,” Integra replied.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Seras was surprised, she only heard
‘Integra’ used on few occasions, and usually by the soldiers pretending they
were on first name basis. She returned
to table and set out the china with a small plate of shortbread, Integra was
loosening the topmost button of her white dress shirt and looking deep in
thought.
Seras
served the tea and sat back with her own cup.
The tea was not filling, she knew the only thing could satisfy her was
going to be impossible to find in these new conditions, suddenly this worried
her. Integra removed her glasses
completely and sat them on the table then commenced to sip her tea.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> The bleak light was killing her eyes and she
found removing her glasses helped a great deal.
“I suppose
you are wondering why all this?” Integra asked between sips.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Seras nodded solemnly.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Integra placed her cup back in the saucer.
“The Round
Table wishes to depose me as head of the organization, strip me of my
knighthood, and leave me like a beggar on the streets, I won’t allow this.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> This was intrigue from the beginning but I
have yet to use my wild card in this game of cat and mouse,” she spat, Seras
could hear rage in her words and it lit her own spirit aflame.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Integra was noble, the most noble among
those crusty old men, this was pure and simple jealousy.
“What shall
we do…?” Seras whispered mostly to herself, Integra shot her icy stare into her
eyes.
“You, girl,
will act as my bodyguard until the final stages of my order have been
completed. This should only take a few
hours at most. These pawns who would be
knights are getting their fill of ‘divine retribution’ as we speak,” Integra
huffed in a ragged voice. “I didn’t
want to resort to this, my noble forefathers endured more, and resorted to this
manner of persuasion on occasion,” She continued with a half-smile. “I can
assure you, your master is most pleased.”
Seras
almost dropped her cup and choked slightly on her tea.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> She had sent Alucard?style="mso-spacerun: yes"> This situation was becoming extremely
hairy. Integra looked amused and sat
back resting her right arm on the back of her chair. Seras had only seen her in this manner of dress one time before,
when the bubancy had almost taken her life; looking closer she could see the
faint scars of her self-inflicted wound jagged across her throat.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> This made Seras twitch and look at the
shaded window, taking her mind off the human sitting across from her.
It seemed
Integra could read Seras’s behaviour and reached for her glasses.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> After putting the lenses back into place she
studied the young vampire. She showed
much self-control; Walter warned Integra about the blood predicament in their
last, hurried meeting, it had gotten to the point where soldiers were asked to
donate.
“I know
your situation Seras, can I trust you to control your nature long enough for
this order to be finished?” she asked, the young vampire straightened and
looked into her eyes. Integra was
almost fearful of the intensity.
“Yes sir,
you can count on me, I’ll do whatever is necessary,” was her reply, this
subservience relieved Integra greatly, her control over Alucard did not,
however, extend to his fledglings. He
had chosen a very worthy companion indeed.
She then noticed Seras was still wearing her coat.
“Are you
cold?” she asked a bit mockingly. Seras
looked at her as if she were going insane then realized suddenly what Integra
was referring to.
“Oh, yes,
well I guess I got a bit sidetracked…” Seras laughed sheepishly and stood to
remove the thick garment. That night
she dressed in her darkest clothes, a black tight shirt and a pair of OD green
combat slacks issued to her from the organization, her next thought was
removing her heavy boots.
“How can
you stand wearing such tight clothing?” Integra asked as she watched the girl
amused. Seras smiled widely and looked
at her while unlacing her right boot, her fangs peeked out and the overall
impression was of a playful animal.
“How can
you stand wearing a three piece suit?” she replied, Integra smirked deeply.
“It’s two
piece actually, and I find layers more comfortable than none Officer,” Integra
bit back. This was reminiscent of a
good old Alucard baiting session, quite amusing. Seras, instead of a witty comeback, laughed girlishly.
“Opinions
are like assholes I guess,” She chuckled. Integra was surprised by her
language, but found it comfortable. At
least they were on a level of sorts.
“Well,
enough of this prattle. I’ll need you
to wash my clothing, so I’ll also require something to sleep in… something more
covering than not I’d prefer,” Integra said with a bit of distaste in her
voice. Seras hopped up and walked into
her bedroom. Integra could hear
rustling then a pause.
“Um, Sir,
do you need any… underwear?” Seras asked.
Integra’s eyes widened a bit.
“No thank
you, I’ll survive until my own clothing is finished,” Integra replied
sharply. Seras peeked her head out of
the door with a feral grin.
“That’s
good because I don’t wear any,” She piped and fell into a fit of giggling.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Integra was none too amused.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Seras looked up after a bit.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “I’m sorry, little joke, thought it might
lighten the mood… well at least my mood,” she mumbled and placed a set of
purple cotton winter pajamas on the couch.
Integra studied her for a moment.
“Now that
you’ve finished, let me remind you this isn’t a frolic or a teenage sleepover,
this is, for the most part, a life or death situation,” Integra growled.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Seras hid a smile.
“Yes, I’m
sorry Sir, forgive me. I get a little
restless this time of night,” Seras replied.
Integra stared at her a moment longer from the kitchen table then,
crushing out her cigar, she walked to the couch and retrieved the clothing.
“Well, I
guess that can’t be helped, I’ll return shortly, I take it you have fresh
towels and bathing supplies, I found my captors where reluctant to let me
refresh myself often for fear of escape,” Integra asked, Seras nodded.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Integra turned on her heels and disappeared
into the bathroom.
Seras let
out a huge sigh and fell back on the couch.
Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad she first thought; her master’s master was
interesting and a bit charming behind the brick wall façade.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Still, she was going to be a pain in the
ass. She rebuked herself inwardly, this
was her commander, it didn’t matter if she was a bit overbearing, strong
characters were like that. Seras knew
Integral probably had the strongest character she had ever seen, besides her
master that is.
‘Well,
we’ll see how much Miss cold fish likes not wearing underwear, since she loves
her precious layers,’ she laughed at the thought. She could have her fun at Sir Integra’s expense, as long as she
kept it to herself. She had known from
Integra’s first biting remarks at her, “Don’t eat my soldiers”, that winning
her approval was going to be a task and notoriously Sir Hellsing was a bit
harsh and sharp-tongued.
Seras stood
and walked to her bedroom. Reaching
into a drawer she pulled out a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> If she were going to be trapped, she might
as well be comfortable. After dressing
she went back to the kitchen to clear the table. A quick glance at the wall clock told her it was already three in
the morning.
Still a few
long hours to go before she would be able to rest herself, the thought of
sitting dark hours alone at night wasn’t appealing.
.
.
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A/N:style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Yes, much more action in store for the
unknowing girls. I’m not altogether
sure about the first chapter but things pick up, especially in this instalmentstyle="mso-spacerun: yes"> Any feedback is appreciated!style="mso-spacerun: yes">
Thanks for
reading…
flowers