Midian Evolution

“What?” Integra challenged, biting down on her cigar.

“I said, no,” he repeated. “She will not be spoiled randomly.”

“Spoiled by what?” I asked.

“There’s no danger in observation,” Integra argued. “Just set up, watch, and report back.”

“I bow to your superior occult knowledge,” Alucard shot back in a poisonous tone.

“You’ve already damned her to hell, servant, what is the difference?” Integra spat.

Red heat burst behind my eyes and in my forehead. “How dare you both talk as if I’m not standing here,” I shouted. “I mean more to the both of you than to be overlooked!”

“I haven’t damned her to hell!” Master said harshly, completely ignoring my outburst. “You know nothing of what it is to be Midian!”

“And you know nothing of what it is to be human!”

They collapsed into shouting at one another. I watched Integra thump her fists on her desk, watched Alucard fluff-up with darkness and tentacles. I stared, taken aback by how childish they both seemed. Both so convinced of their stance, they couldn’t even hear each other.

“Stop this.” Walter’s quiet words dropped like a bombshell. I looked toward him gratefully, hoping he would anchor the aggression in the room. I didn’t know how long he’d stood in the doorway.

“Miss Victoria, accompany me to the shooting range, please,” Walter said, his eyes floating over his soon-to-be wife and his old war friend. “You are, indeed, too important for overlooking. Perhaps the rather large personalities in the room will realize teamwork is more effective than shouting and posturing.”

I almost ran to Walter, hearing in a mix of delight and worry how Integra’s breathing had hitched and Alucard’s aura had flared with strange energy. The former Hellsing Trashman put his hand on my shoulder, guiding me out of the room.

Master? I asked his permission without asking at all.

Silence for a few seconds.

Yes, go. I’ll find you.

I didn’t need any more encouragement. I walked alongside Walter, having to force myself to sedate pace, as Walter never rushed unless in killing mode.

Thank God for Walter C Dornez. Not my boss, not my master, but my friend.

We reached the target range. Walter surprised me, taking my shoulders and turning me to look at him. “Seras Victoria,” he said firmly. “I would like to know under what star you entered this world.”

I looked at his serious eyes and handsome, lined face. “I think I’m a Sagittarius.” I didn’t know my exact birthday anymore; the orphanage people hadn’t kept good records about me. “Somewhere between the end of November and the middle of December.”

Walter stared at me. That smile appeared, and I knew I’d missed the boat but he found it auspicious in some way. One hand left my shoulder to pat my cheek. “Oh, the power in this spirit,” he said mysteriously.

“What’d I say?” I half-protested as he lightly shoved me toward the gun room.

Walter smiled a full smile, not that little, polite one he tended to use most of the time. “Only that you have strengths people miss.” He put a thirteen millimeter in my hands and slid the clip in for me while punching the target mover to life. “I suppose you know nothing of what your master discusses with his master?”

“No.” I fired at the target four times in rapid succession, suddenly angry again. “Why do they try and keep me in the dark, Walter? It doesn’t do any good and it makes them look like jackasses.”

“Yes, it’s disgraceful,” he agreed. “They both know better, too.” He began loading a variety of guns and putting them out. Evidently he meant to watch me use them all. “I cannot discuss such things with Sir Integra, and you must find it equally baffling to speak to your master.”

“You think?” I couldn’t keep the acid from my tone. Grabbing an Uzi, I sprayed the target with lead until only tatters remained.

We worked in silence for a moment or two. Walter handed over a nine millimeter and met my eyes. “Are you really a Sagittarius?”

“I think so. I can’t remember my birthday.” I plugged a perfect hole in the heart of the fresh target, each bullet following the path of the first. “What’s your sign?”

“Leo.” Walter smiled again. “Sir Integra is an Aries.”

“What’s my master?” I traded up for another thirteen millimeter, liking the grip and heft of this one more than the first.

“I believe your master is a twisted Aquarius, though I can’t verify it,” Walter said smoothly. “If you even intimate to anyone I follow astrology, it’s B-Negative blood for a year, Seras Victoria.”

I shuddered. My least favorite. It tasted too pious or something. “I won’t breathe a word,” I vowed. “I like this gun, Walter. It feels heavy, like a gun used to feel in my hand before I became a bloodsucker.”

Walter frowned. “You learned that word from your master. Kindly desist in its use.”

“Fine, before I became a Midian,” I corrected. “So, what’s so special about this gun?”

Walter’s face slid into a sly expression. His eyes gleamed and his lips seemed to curl only at the corners. “A new alloy. Heavy use of silver, but made appropriate for the stress of a firearm. It’s a prototype. All of these are.”

I studied the gun more closely. It reflected the moonlight beautifully. “Why use silver in the construction of the gun?” I asked. “It’s the bullets that strike the freak or ghoul.”

Walter folded his arms and I knew I’d pleased him with my question. “Every fifty times the gun is fired, I must replace the barrel,” he said. “Tell me why that might be and you’ll have your answer.”

“Because silver is softer and the bullets start boring out the barrel?” I guessed. The importance of that hit me. “Oh! This gun makes any bullet a silver bullet!”

“Correct, Miss Victoria, very good.” He showed me a box of barrels for the gun. “Would you like to carry the gun awhile, play with it?”

“I’d love to,” I said, holding it close. “I’ll be sure to tell you how it performs outside of a range.”

“Do that; make note of how hot it gets.” He swiped his hand down the side of the gun. “Only the inside is the mutable silver. The outside is protected by transparent aluminum, so you may touch it all you like.”

“You’re a genius, Walter,” I said, meaning it. “You make all this great stuff even while you keep Hellsing running properly.”

Walter’s cheeks tinged a bit pink, showing his pleasure at recognition. He busied himself putting guns away while I admired my new charge. “Alucard has two guns, you should have two guns,” he replied.

We finished straightening the range and exited. I enjoyed this walk across the crisp, frost-brittle lawn a lot more than the previous journey. For one, I felt lighter. Walter’s friendship meant worlds to me. For another reason, I had a new toy.

“Miss Victoria,” Walter said, his tone importantly hesitant. He stopped at the center of the lawn and looked down at me, the moonlight reflecting off his monocle. “Sir Integra will get her way tonight. Your master will either display like a peacock afterward, or fall into a sullen, miserable sulk.”

I nodded my understanding, wanting to assure him I knew what I faced.

Walter nodded right back. “I want you to pay as much attention as you can on this mission. Decide for yourself why our two masters went loggerheads on your involvement. You’re a bright young lady, even if you don’t think so. Don’t sell yourself short against five hundred years of history wrapped in red and black. Equally, don’t compare your own, unique talents against those of a Hellsing Inheritor.” Not looking at me anymore, he patted my shoulder briefly. “I expect great things from you. Never forget that.”

He totally choked me up with emotion. I felt my throat closing, tears starting. But, I spared him the weight of my feeling and just nodded a second time, keeping my face averted. I suddenly and viciously envied the child who would call him ‘father’. Then, I remembered I had no reason to envy; Walter already liked me.