What if Seras Victoria became the Queen of England in the aftermath of the Battle of London? At the same time, how the hell would it even happen?!?
{Order 01: The World Turned Upside-Down}
The smoke wafted into the air, becoming like airy black pillars to hold up the blue sky above.
At their base, a mighty city lay ruined.
In her streets, where peaceful traffic of human feet and automobiles` wheels once flowed in great rivers, corpses, both innocent and monstrous, and the twisted wreckage of machines both great and small lay still, as if captured in a photograph.
Even now, with the sun now shining in its full morning glory to bring a conclusion to London`s Walpurgisnacht, nothing deigned to enter this Hell on earth, to become tainted by the realm of the dead.
The dogs and cats abandoned their territory for greener pastures. The birds sought out healthy trees with strong branches, none of which could be found there. The rats journeyed to find dark places to hide where the darkness wouldn`t consume them. The flies escaped the evil place, looking for rotting meat in fresh places.
For the people of Britain who paid witness to the sight, it would be a scene to haunt them at all hours, waking and sleeping, for many days to come.
For Britain`s soldiers and policemen, tasked with isolating the vast metropolis from the outside world, they gazed upon it with an added sense of dread and fear, for theirs was the duty of keeping the monsters within from spreading their desolation everywhere.
And so they watched. And so they waited.
And something shot into the air from the city`s midst like a flare.
The men gasped, in shock and in awe of this latest sight.
It was a red ribbon of light, one that sped through the air quick as a bullet, zig-zagging through the air like a marble bouncing about in a pinball machine. It flew north, south, east and west, either flying just above the rooftop or high in the air.
They could not help but be mesmerized by the ethereal sight. They became more interested in the specter when it suddenly began shooting in a straight line.
A straight line that pointed directly at them.
The men rushed about, getting into position, grabbing their machine guns and grenade launchers and manning their Humvees and tanks. They aimed all weaponry they had skyward, determined to destroy this latest monstrosity before it slaughtered them in turn.
“HELP! DON`T SHOOT!”
They paused at the sound of the young, female voice that came to their ears from the light that sped towards them. Paused long enough for the light to put forth an extra burst of speed and land in their midst. In contrast to its earlier speed, the red light, now a speeding, seething red-and-black mass, landed without making a sound or crater. It unraveled itself. Some of the men gasped at the sight now before them.
A small, busty woman, with the mass taking the shape of her left arm. She wore lots of red, from her military jacket with miniskirt to her ripped thigh-high stockings. Black boots on her feet, a white glove on her right hand. Faded blond hair tied back in a spiky bun. Pale skin akin to a corpse. Eyes like glowing rubies set in the face of a woman barely more than a girl. A face filled with panic and concern.
“PLEASE! SHE NEEDS A DOCTOR!”
The men briefly panicked at the revealed jaw filled with sharp fangs, but they soon found that, in looking her over, they had somehow missed seeing another person that had arrived on the same scarlet wings.
And in her clutches, held close to her being, was another woman. Her golden locks flowed down like a river. Her business shirt and pants were soiled with ash and blood. Her right hand clutched a revolver, absolutely frozen in its grip. Her face was stern, and radiated with authority, even as she bled from a gunshot wound underneath her shoddily bandaged head where her left eye was.
One of the officers on the scene may not have recognized the vampire girl (what else could she be?) but he recognized both the woman she carried and the sigil on her right shoulder.
“PLEASE! GET SIR INTEGRA A DOCTOR! NOW!!!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The two men stood in the tent, silent as the grave, awaiting the arrival of a largely unexpected guest. A soldier pushed the flap aside a bit and poked his head through.
“The person you asked for is here. Should I let her in?”
Lieutenant General Rob Walsh nodded. “Let her in.”
“Yes sir.” He then pushed the flap all the way open, and a female figure walked inside. The soldier closed the flap behind her. She saw one man dressed in a tan military uniform bedecked with medals and a smirk in his lips, and the other one the spitting image of an English gentleman, complete with impeccable suit, polished top hat, and grave face that could have been carved in stone.
At the sight of the two men, she immediately straightened herself and slammed her heels together, bringing her hand up in a crisp salute.
“Sirs! Senior Officer Seras Victoria of Hellsing reporting sirs!”
“There is no need for this much formality, Senior Officer,” said the serious man, Sir Hugh Irons. “This is, after all, just a tent.”
“Yes sir,” she replied, dropping the salute and relaxing her stance.
Sir Irons walked in front of Seras, faced her, and planted the cane in his hand into the dirt. “From what I remember, Sir Integra instructed you to protect Hellsing Manor alongside the mercenaries whose service she purchased. I also don`t recall you possessing these newfound abilities when last I witnessed you. Would you care to explain to us what happened? And save all the small details for the full report you will write later.”
Seras nodded. “Last night, as expected, Millennium sent a dirigible full of freak vampires to attack the mansion. I was able to down the airship, and the Wild Geese further reduced their numbers, but their leaders` illusions allowed them to breach the defenses and kill most of the men. Including their captain.”
Sir Irons noticed the slight forlorn look in her face and the waver in her voice. “You drank his blood, didn`t you?”
She nodded. “Yes. And I used the power his blood gave me to destroy all the Millennium soldiers I hadn`t already killed. With that accomplished, I sped off to London to join Sir Integra, who I rescued from Iscariot. It was then that Master arrived. Once he did, Sir Integra removed all of the restrictions on his power and ordered him to destroy Millennium and Iscariot`s armies. He did just that.”
Sir Irons couldn`t help but repress a small tingle in his spine. The Round Table had always feared what would happen if Alucard went out of control. His immense power made him nigh unkillable by anything short of a nuclear blast. Perhaps several. That was why they were always hard on Sir Integra, for it was literally only by her ironclad willpower that Alucard`s strength was kept bound. The last time his restrictions had been fully lifted was World War II.
Seras continued. “After Master had slaughtered the armies, it was Father Anderson who attacked him next, slashing his way through the hordes of Master`s familiars, with the help of Iscariot`s last remnants. He then used some sort of holy relic to give him a power boost, and he came closer than anyone else I had ever seen to killing him, but he still failed.” She paused for a moment. “Then Walter showed up, ready to kill Master.”
Sir Irons felt a strange mix of shock and relief before it quickly faded. “I had a feeling it was him.”
Seras` confusion was very apparent. “How did you know? How long did you know?”
Walsh responded this time. “We felt for a long time that there was a traitor in our midst. It wasn`t until after this whole mess was well underway that Sir Irons deduced it, considering the two of us are the only other Round Table members left.”
Seras` eyes were briefly downcast, before hardening again to look Sir Irons in the eye again. “After Sir Integra ordered Master to kill him, The Major`s airship arrived, landing in front of us, and he invited me and Sir Integra inside. We entered, and immediately began slaughtering every vampire we came across. One particularly strong Nazi showed up, and he allowed Sir Integra to go see The Major, while he stayed to fight me. I learned during the fight that he was a werewolf, and that was when Mr. Bernadotte helped me defeat him.”
Sir Irons was not surprised. After all, Pip Bernadotte was Seras` familiar now.
“After that, I searched the ship, and I found Sir Integra confronting The Major on the bridge. It was right then, also, that I learned that Master had been defeated.”
Sir Irons and General Walsh openly gasped, shock showing on their faces for the first time. “How?” Sir Irons asked.
“I don`t know how to explain it.” Seras replied, a slight tremble not going unnoticed by Sir Irons. “Before I got there, I felt my connection with Master just… fade. I don`t think it was Walter who finished him, but some manner of underhanded trick that The Major used. After I got to the bridge, I blasted The Major with a tank gun – and found out that he was a machine. Since he wasn`t quite dead yet, Sir Integra walked up and shot him in the head, killing him. But not before his last shot hit her in the eye and knocked her over.”
The two men were silent. Their faces were more grave than ever. Seras finished up her report.
“Once that happened, I immediately grabbed Sir Integra, bandaged it as well as I could manage, and flew out of the burning airship, and looked for help. The doctors have seen to her injuries and saved her life. Unfortunately, she`s currently comatose and they don`t know when she`ll awaken.”
Sir Irons nodded. “Thank you, Senior Officer. It`s a comfort that at least she made it out of this mess alive.” Seras mentally noticed the nearly undetectable sadness in his voice.
Seras may have only been trained to be a policewoman and she didn`t have a full handle on her vampiric powers, she was more than capable enough to realize that there was more to the elderly man`s statement, as well as Walsh`s previous one. “What do you mean by that, sir? Who ese didn`t make it? What else has happened?”
The gentleman sighed, showing his age very clearly for the first time. He walked over to the table set up in the midst of the tent. Two maps were on the table. On was of Great Britain, the other of the whole world.
“Millennium attacked far more than just London, although it was their primary target. Their forces assaulted the capitals of every major power on this Earth, including the United States, Canada, Russia, China, France, Italy, Germany as well if you can believe, India, Pakistan, Japan, Egypt, South Africa, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Much of the world is in a state of mass panic, but none have suffered as much as us.
“Millennium attacked all of our military bases across the world, tying up our forces and preventing us from calling for help. Without additional help, we were rendered helpless to their attacks on our government. All that`s left of the Round Table are Sir Integra, General Walsh, and myself. The Prime Minister, Parliament, the Supreme Court, and even the entirety of the Royal Family was hunted down by traitors planted by Millennium and murdered.”
Seras gasped, covering her mouth in shock. “The Queen? She`s… dead?!”
The two older men lowered their heads in shame, Walsh removing his beret, and Sir Irons his top hat. “Yes, Miss Victoria. These devils have stolen from us the lives of some of the best people I have had the pleasure of acquainting with. They have trampled upon our dignity and honor as proud servants of Queen and Country, and have destroyed a legacy we have cherished for nine centuries.”
To Seras, the pain that the stoic man held in his heart could be heard all too plainly in his voice and seen all too clearly in his eyes. This was a man who had weathered modern Britain`s darkest hours. He was born in the aftermath of the First World War, came to his country`s aid in the Great Depression, became one of its leaders in the Second World War, and faced down the Soviets in the Cold War. This man`s whole life has been about facing adversity. Now his country is in the midst of possibly the greatest crisis in the whole of its history, and she can see that he fears not having the strength to rise up to the task.
“So, what are we going to do now?” she asks, looking up at him and General Walsh.
General Walsh replies first. “As soon as the attacks began, the Queen and the Round Table had martial law declared across the nation. I`ve already sent word to all of our military and police forces not occupied with killing the Nazi bastards to maintain our ring of defenses around London and to patrol the other cities and towns as much as they can. Both to see if they`ve got any other tricks up their sleeves and to keep the citizens from panicking in the streets. While there`s already a lot of mass panic and rioting, at least we aren`t currently seeing any more vampires popping up.”
Sir Irons continued. “And I have sent word to all of my contacts to make sure that whatever government we have left remains intact, as well as whatever is left of the Anglican Church. So far, thankfully, Millennium hasn`t made any further assaults on the lower levels of the government, so we still have a handle on things at the municipal and county levels, but the national level of the government has been effectively gutted and crippled. It will take us great pains in the future to rebuild it.”
Seras nodded. The whole of Britain was now caught in a major bind. Although much of the nation`s necessary organs for governance were still intact, the most significant pieces of it were gone, and were going to take some time to effectively replace while simultaneously the population was in the middle of a major panic from both the absolute devastation heaped on London and the revelation that vampires and other creatures of the night were real and the cause behind such destruction. As for herself, she had no idea how people were going to react to her, if they would acknowledge her service in the Hellsing Organization, or just try to kill her.
Her mind was still processing all of this new information and their implications when her instincts suddenly screamed at her, warning of imminent attack. She snapped her head up and looked about.
Sir Irons noticed first. “What is-”
RATATATTATTTA!!!
Machine gun rounds ripped through the tent, tearing their way through fabric, wood, and flesh. Seras felt the bullets rip through her torso in a sprays of blood, and knocking her onto her knees. Fortunately, neither her heart nor her head had been touched, so after a few moments, her heightened powers allow her completely regenerate her undead flesh and bloodied uniform, and then get back on her feet.
Then she noticed the dead bodies of Sir Irons and General Walsh.
Filled with intense anger, her eyes followed the trajectory of the bullets outside of the tent to where a soldier manned a large gun mounted on a Humvee. Roaring, she exploded out of the tent and, in an instant, had body-slammed the larger man off the vehicle and pinned him to the earth. Her senses quickly told her that the man was fully human.
“YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU MURDER THEM?! WHY DID YOU BETRAY YOUR COUNTRY?! TELL ME WHY!!!”
The man smiled cryptically in response. “The new must make way for the newer; the old must make way for the ancient. Pandora`s Box has been reopened, and it shall never close again.” At that moment, blue fire manifested, driving Seras off of him and consuming his body completely, not even leaving behind ashes.
Seras stood there, her anger still ablaze and unquenched, with a rising tide of misery threatening to envelope her. Her mind was filled with questions and there was no one to give her the answers. Her world was crumbling about her, and there was nothing familiar left in it
Seras.
Except for one thing. The one person she could turn to now.
It`s okay, mon chére, Pip Bernadotte, her familiar and love, comforted her. It`s not good to keep these feelings all bottled up. It`s okay to cry, it doesn`t make one any less of a man or woman. Go ahead. Let it all out.
Taking his advice, she threw her head back, opened her mouth, and let loose her agonized and furious wails heavenward.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sir Integra groaned as she awoke. Her head had a slight, but bearable throb to it, but still drew her hand to it. And she couldn`t recall her body ever feeling so weak as it did now, for some odd reason.
“Sir Integra?”
She recognized that voice. It sounded a little strange, but it was still quite recognizable.
“Seras?” She opened her eye – why wasn`t the left one responding? – and, after blinking a couple times, got a clear look. It was indeed the police girl, looking exactly the same as before.
“Sir Integra!” she shouted, coming in and clutching the older woman. “You`re awake! Thank God you`re finally awake!”
Sir Integra, by some strange impulse, weakly wrapped her arms around the young draculina. “Yes, Seras. I am awake.”
Sir Integra couldn`t help but notice the emphasis on the word ‘finally.’
She pushed lightly on the girl, and she let go, backing up from her. “Seras, what do you mean when you say that I`m finally awake. How long have I been asleep?”
Seras dipped her head and clasped her hands together. She looked back at the woman with a mixed look of happiness, sadness, guilt, and apprehension.
“Well, it`s no easy thing to explain, but you`ve been asleep for ten years, Sir Integra.”
A sense of shock permeated Integra`s being. Ten years? She thought. If I`ve been asleep for ten years, what has happened while I slept?
Integra looked again at Seras, and finally noticed a few important details.
“Seras, what are you wearing?”
Seras looked down at what she currently had on. She was clothed in a red dress that hugged her upper body in just the right balance of conservatism and risqué and flowing like water at the floor, a string of pearls around her neck, black and red gloves that traveled up to her forearms, a long, feminine scarlet coat that hung from her shoulders, golden droplet earrings, and –
Sir Integra blinked. It was still there. Seras noticed, and followed her eyes to the top of her head.
Sitting there was a silver circlet of tiny swords with a ruby fixed to the front, like a drop of blood.
“Oh,” Seras` nervousness shined like a beacon. Scratching her head, she tried to formulate a response. “U-u-uhm. Well, you see-”
There was a knock at the door. “Who is it?” Seras called out. The door opened to reveal a butler, immaculately dressed in his uniform.
“Your Majesty, the guests are awaiting your arrival. The Orphans` Ball begins in fifteen minutes.”
“Alright, Matthias, I`ll be there.” She turned to Sir Integra. Sorry I can`t stay, but I promise I`ll explain everything when I come back.”
She then walked out the door, Matthias closing it behind her.
For Sir Integra, there was only one thought going through her mind.
Her MAJESTY?!?!?
{Order 01: The World Turned Upside-Down}
The smoke wafted into the air, becoming like airy black pillars to hold up the blue sky above.
At their base, a mighty city lay ruined.
In her streets, where peaceful traffic of human feet and automobiles` wheels once flowed in great rivers, corpses, both innocent and monstrous, and the twisted wreckage of machines both great and small lay still, as if captured in a photograph.
Even now, with the sun now shining in its full morning glory to bring a conclusion to London`s Walpurgisnacht, nothing deigned to enter this Hell on earth, to become tainted by the realm of the dead.
The dogs and cats abandoned their territory for greener pastures. The birds sought out healthy trees with strong branches, none of which could be found there. The rats journeyed to find dark places to hide where the darkness wouldn`t consume them. The flies escaped the evil place, looking for rotting meat in fresh places.
For the people of Britain who paid witness to the sight, it would be a scene to haunt them at all hours, waking and sleeping, for many days to come.
For Britain`s soldiers and policemen, tasked with isolating the vast metropolis from the outside world, they gazed upon it with an added sense of dread and fear, for theirs was the duty of keeping the monsters within from spreading their desolation everywhere.
And so they watched. And so they waited.
And something shot into the air from the city`s midst like a flare.
The men gasped, in shock and in awe of this latest sight.
It was a red ribbon of light, one that sped through the air quick as a bullet, zig-zagging through the air like a marble bouncing about in a pinball machine. It flew north, south, east and west, either flying just above the rooftop or high in the air.
They could not help but be mesmerized by the ethereal sight. They became more interested in the specter when it suddenly began shooting in a straight line.
A straight line that pointed directly at them.
The men rushed about, getting into position, grabbing their machine guns and grenade launchers and manning their Humvees and tanks. They aimed all weaponry they had skyward, determined to destroy this latest monstrosity before it slaughtered them in turn.
“HELP! DON`T SHOOT!”
They paused at the sound of the young, female voice that came to their ears from the light that sped towards them. Paused long enough for the light to put forth an extra burst of speed and land in their midst. In contrast to its earlier speed, the red light, now a speeding, seething red-and-black mass, landed without making a sound or crater. It unraveled itself. Some of the men gasped at the sight now before them.
A small, busty woman, with the mass taking the shape of her left arm. She wore lots of red, from her military jacket with miniskirt to her ripped thigh-high stockings. Black boots on her feet, a white glove on her right hand. Faded blond hair tied back in a spiky bun. Pale skin akin to a corpse. Eyes like glowing rubies set in the face of a woman barely more than a girl. A face filled with panic and concern.
“PLEASE! SHE NEEDS A DOCTOR!”
The men briefly panicked at the revealed jaw filled with sharp fangs, but they soon found that, in looking her over, they had somehow missed seeing another person that had arrived on the same scarlet wings.
And in her clutches, held close to her being, was another woman. Her golden locks flowed down like a river. Her business shirt and pants were soiled with ash and blood. Her right hand clutched a revolver, absolutely frozen in its grip. Her face was stern, and radiated with authority, even as she bled from a gunshot wound underneath her shoddily bandaged head where her left eye was.
One of the officers on the scene may not have recognized the vampire girl (what else could she be?) but he recognized both the woman she carried and the sigil on her right shoulder.
“PLEASE! GET SIR INTEGRA A DOCTOR! NOW!!!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The two men stood in the tent, silent as the grave, awaiting the arrival of a largely unexpected guest. A soldier pushed the flap aside a bit and poked his head through.
“The person you asked for is here. Should I let her in?”
Lieutenant General Rob Walsh nodded. “Let her in.”
“Yes sir.” He then pushed the flap all the way open, and a female figure walked inside. The soldier closed the flap behind her. She saw one man dressed in a tan military uniform bedecked with medals and a smirk in his lips, and the other one the spitting image of an English gentleman, complete with impeccable suit, polished top hat, and grave face that could have been carved in stone.
At the sight of the two men, she immediately straightened herself and slammed her heels together, bringing her hand up in a crisp salute.
“Sirs! Senior Officer Seras Victoria of Hellsing reporting sirs!”
“There is no need for this much formality, Senior Officer,” said the serious man, Sir Hugh Irons. “This is, after all, just a tent.”
“Yes sir,” she replied, dropping the salute and relaxing her stance.
Sir Irons walked in front of Seras, faced her, and planted the cane in his hand into the dirt. “From what I remember, Sir Integra instructed you to protect Hellsing Manor alongside the mercenaries whose service she purchased. I also don`t recall you possessing these newfound abilities when last I witnessed you. Would you care to explain to us what happened? And save all the small details for the full report you will write later.”
Seras nodded. “Last night, as expected, Millennium sent a dirigible full of freak vampires to attack the mansion. I was able to down the airship, and the Wild Geese further reduced their numbers, but their leaders` illusions allowed them to breach the defenses and kill most of the men. Including their captain.”
Sir Irons noticed the slight forlorn look in her face and the waver in her voice. “You drank his blood, didn`t you?”
She nodded. “Yes. And I used the power his blood gave me to destroy all the Millennium soldiers I hadn`t already killed. With that accomplished, I sped off to London to join Sir Integra, who I rescued from Iscariot. It was then that Master arrived. Once he did, Sir Integra removed all of the restrictions on his power and ordered him to destroy Millennium and Iscariot`s armies. He did just that.”
Sir Irons couldn`t help but repress a small tingle in his spine. The Round Table had always feared what would happen if Alucard went out of control. His immense power made him nigh unkillable by anything short of a nuclear blast. Perhaps several. That was why they were always hard on Sir Integra, for it was literally only by her ironclad willpower that Alucard`s strength was kept bound. The last time his restrictions had been fully lifted was World War II.
Seras continued. “After Master had slaughtered the armies, it was Father Anderson who attacked him next, slashing his way through the hordes of Master`s familiars, with the help of Iscariot`s last remnants. He then used some sort of holy relic to give him a power boost, and he came closer than anyone else I had ever seen to killing him, but he still failed.” She paused for a moment. “Then Walter showed up, ready to kill Master.”
Sir Irons felt a strange mix of shock and relief before it quickly faded. “I had a feeling it was him.”
Seras` confusion was very apparent. “How did you know? How long did you know?”
Walsh responded this time. “We felt for a long time that there was a traitor in our midst. It wasn`t until after this whole mess was well underway that Sir Irons deduced it, considering the two of us are the only other Round Table members left.”
Seras` eyes were briefly downcast, before hardening again to look Sir Irons in the eye again. “After Sir Integra ordered Master to kill him, The Major`s airship arrived, landing in front of us, and he invited me and Sir Integra inside. We entered, and immediately began slaughtering every vampire we came across. One particularly strong Nazi showed up, and he allowed Sir Integra to go see The Major, while he stayed to fight me. I learned during the fight that he was a werewolf, and that was when Mr. Bernadotte helped me defeat him.”
Sir Irons was not surprised. After all, Pip Bernadotte was Seras` familiar now.
“After that, I searched the ship, and I found Sir Integra confronting The Major on the bridge. It was right then, also, that I learned that Master had been defeated.”
Sir Irons and General Walsh openly gasped, shock showing on their faces for the first time. “How?” Sir Irons asked.
“I don`t know how to explain it.” Seras replied, a slight tremble not going unnoticed by Sir Irons. “Before I got there, I felt my connection with Master just… fade. I don`t think it was Walter who finished him, but some manner of underhanded trick that The Major used. After I got to the bridge, I blasted The Major with a tank gun – and found out that he was a machine. Since he wasn`t quite dead yet, Sir Integra walked up and shot him in the head, killing him. But not before his last shot hit her in the eye and knocked her over.”
The two men were silent. Their faces were more grave than ever. Seras finished up her report.
“Once that happened, I immediately grabbed Sir Integra, bandaged it as well as I could manage, and flew out of the burning airship, and looked for help. The doctors have seen to her injuries and saved her life. Unfortunately, she`s currently comatose and they don`t know when she`ll awaken.”
Sir Irons nodded. “Thank you, Senior Officer. It`s a comfort that at least she made it out of this mess alive.” Seras mentally noticed the nearly undetectable sadness in his voice.
Seras may have only been trained to be a policewoman and she didn`t have a full handle on her vampiric powers, she was more than capable enough to realize that there was more to the elderly man`s statement, as well as Walsh`s previous one. “What do you mean by that, sir? Who ese didn`t make it? What else has happened?”
The gentleman sighed, showing his age very clearly for the first time. He walked over to the table set up in the midst of the tent. Two maps were on the table. On was of Great Britain, the other of the whole world.
“Millennium attacked far more than just London, although it was their primary target. Their forces assaulted the capitals of every major power on this Earth, including the United States, Canada, Russia, China, France, Italy, Germany as well if you can believe, India, Pakistan, Japan, Egypt, South Africa, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Much of the world is in a state of mass panic, but none have suffered as much as us.
“Millennium attacked all of our military bases across the world, tying up our forces and preventing us from calling for help. Without additional help, we were rendered helpless to their attacks on our government. All that`s left of the Round Table are Sir Integra, General Walsh, and myself. The Prime Minister, Parliament, the Supreme Court, and even the entirety of the Royal Family was hunted down by traitors planted by Millennium and murdered.”
Seras gasped, covering her mouth in shock. “The Queen? She`s… dead?!”
The two older men lowered their heads in shame, Walsh removing his beret, and Sir Irons his top hat. “Yes, Miss Victoria. These devils have stolen from us the lives of some of the best people I have had the pleasure of acquainting with. They have trampled upon our dignity and honor as proud servants of Queen and Country, and have destroyed a legacy we have cherished for nine centuries.”
To Seras, the pain that the stoic man held in his heart could be heard all too plainly in his voice and seen all too clearly in his eyes. This was a man who had weathered modern Britain`s darkest hours. He was born in the aftermath of the First World War, came to his country`s aid in the Great Depression, became one of its leaders in the Second World War, and faced down the Soviets in the Cold War. This man`s whole life has been about facing adversity. Now his country is in the midst of possibly the greatest crisis in the whole of its history, and she can see that he fears not having the strength to rise up to the task.
“So, what are we going to do now?” she asks, looking up at him and General Walsh.
General Walsh replies first. “As soon as the attacks began, the Queen and the Round Table had martial law declared across the nation. I`ve already sent word to all of our military and police forces not occupied with killing the Nazi bastards to maintain our ring of defenses around London and to patrol the other cities and towns as much as they can. Both to see if they`ve got any other tricks up their sleeves and to keep the citizens from panicking in the streets. While there`s already a lot of mass panic and rioting, at least we aren`t currently seeing any more vampires popping up.”
Sir Irons continued. “And I have sent word to all of my contacts to make sure that whatever government we have left remains intact, as well as whatever is left of the Anglican Church. So far, thankfully, Millennium hasn`t made any further assaults on the lower levels of the government, so we still have a handle on things at the municipal and county levels, but the national level of the government has been effectively gutted and crippled. It will take us great pains in the future to rebuild it.”
Seras nodded. The whole of Britain was now caught in a major bind. Although much of the nation`s necessary organs for governance were still intact, the most significant pieces of it were gone, and were going to take some time to effectively replace while simultaneously the population was in the middle of a major panic from both the absolute devastation heaped on London and the revelation that vampires and other creatures of the night were real and the cause behind such destruction. As for herself, she had no idea how people were going to react to her, if they would acknowledge her service in the Hellsing Organization, or just try to kill her.
Her mind was still processing all of this new information and their implications when her instincts suddenly screamed at her, warning of imminent attack. She snapped her head up and looked about.
Sir Irons noticed first. “What is-”
RATATATTATTTA!!!
Machine gun rounds ripped through the tent, tearing their way through fabric, wood, and flesh. Seras felt the bullets rip through her torso in a sprays of blood, and knocking her onto her knees. Fortunately, neither her heart nor her head had been touched, so after a few moments, her heightened powers allow her completely regenerate her undead flesh and bloodied uniform, and then get back on her feet.
Then she noticed the dead bodies of Sir Irons and General Walsh.
Filled with intense anger, her eyes followed the trajectory of the bullets outside of the tent to where a soldier manned a large gun mounted on a Humvee. Roaring, she exploded out of the tent and, in an instant, had body-slammed the larger man off the vehicle and pinned him to the earth. Her senses quickly told her that the man was fully human.
“YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU MURDER THEM?! WHY DID YOU BETRAY YOUR COUNTRY?! TELL ME WHY!!!”
The man smiled cryptically in response. “The new must make way for the newer; the old must make way for the ancient. Pandora`s Box has been reopened, and it shall never close again.” At that moment, blue fire manifested, driving Seras off of him and consuming his body completely, not even leaving behind ashes.
Seras stood there, her anger still ablaze and unquenched, with a rising tide of misery threatening to envelope her. Her mind was filled with questions and there was no one to give her the answers. Her world was crumbling about her, and there was nothing familiar left in it
Seras.
Except for one thing. The one person she could turn to now.
It`s okay, mon chére, Pip Bernadotte, her familiar and love, comforted her. It`s not good to keep these feelings all bottled up. It`s okay to cry, it doesn`t make one any less of a man or woman. Go ahead. Let it all out.
Taking his advice, she threw her head back, opened her mouth, and let loose her agonized and furious wails heavenward.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sir Integra groaned as she awoke. Her head had a slight, but bearable throb to it, but still drew her hand to it. And she couldn`t recall her body ever feeling so weak as it did now, for some odd reason.
“Sir Integra?”
She recognized that voice. It sounded a little strange, but it was still quite recognizable.
“Seras?” She opened her eye – why wasn`t the left one responding? – and, after blinking a couple times, got a clear look. It was indeed the police girl, looking exactly the same as before.
“Sir Integra!” she shouted, coming in and clutching the older woman. “You`re awake! Thank God you`re finally awake!”
Sir Integra, by some strange impulse, weakly wrapped her arms around the young draculina. “Yes, Seras. I am awake.”
Sir Integra couldn`t help but notice the emphasis on the word ‘finally.’
She pushed lightly on the girl, and she let go, backing up from her. “Seras, what do you mean when you say that I`m finally awake. How long have I been asleep?”
Seras dipped her head and clasped her hands together. She looked back at the woman with a mixed look of happiness, sadness, guilt, and apprehension.
“Well, it`s no easy thing to explain, but you`ve been asleep for ten years, Sir Integra.”
A sense of shock permeated Integra`s being. Ten years? She thought. If I`ve been asleep for ten years, what has happened while I slept?
Integra looked again at Seras, and finally noticed a few important details.
“Seras, what are you wearing?”
Seras looked down at what she currently had on. She was clothed in a red dress that hugged her upper body in just the right balance of conservatism and risqué and flowing like water at the floor, a string of pearls around her neck, black and red gloves that traveled up to her forearms, a long, feminine scarlet coat that hung from her shoulders, golden droplet earrings, and –
Sir Integra blinked. It was still there. Seras noticed, and followed her eyes to the top of her head.
Sitting there was a silver circlet of tiny swords with a ruby fixed to the front, like a drop of blood.
“Oh,” Seras` nervousness shined like a beacon. Scratching her head, she tried to formulate a response. “U-u-uhm. Well, you see-”
There was a knock at the door. “Who is it?” Seras called out. The door opened to reveal a butler, immaculately dressed in his uniform.
“Your Majesty, the guests are awaiting your arrival. The Orphans` Ball begins in fifteen minutes.”
“Alright, Matthias, I`ll be there.” She turned to Sir Integra. Sorry I can`t stay, but I promise I`ll explain everything when I come back.”
She then walked out the door, Matthias closing it behind her.
For Sir Integra, there was only one thought going through her mind.
Her MAJESTY?!?!?
