Returning to the Impala after a pleasant walk along the Thames embankment and a leisurely conversation in a cozy café over a cup of coffee, Alex was genuinely pleased with the evening. What pleased him most was that Integra had also truly enjoyed the walk.
Despite having attended the royal banquet just a few hours earlier, Alex had already almost forgotten about that formal fuss and simply wanted to return to the Hellsing manor to rest a little. Holding Integra's hand, he thought about what else he needed to do in London before returning to America.
After a short reflection, Alex realized that his clone had essentially already completed most of the work at Hellsing. Understanding that there was essentially nothing left for him to do here, he simultaneously realized that he still had more than enough work ahead. Thinking that this was far from the end of his affairs, Alex let out a heavy sigh. Integra, walking beside him, heard this sigh and turned her head in his direction.
It didn't take her any effort to guess what her husband was thinking about right now, and she perfectly understood the reason for his fatigue. Integra also realized that Alex would soon have to leave Britain. No matter how much she wanted him to stay longer, she wasn't going to stop him or interfere with his work. All she could do in this situation was offer him the same support that he gave her.
When they reached the Impala, Alex lowered Alessa from his shoulders and carefully seated her in the car. Once inside, Alessa yawned slightly — the eventful evening had caused a wave of boredom in her, although she had really liked the walk with her parents.
Sitting in the back seat of the Impala, she thought that from the very beginning they should have gone on exactly this kind of family walk instead of attending the official event organized by the Queen. At the same time, however, Alessa felt that the evening had turned out quite interesting.
She wasn't going to go to bed immediately after returning to the manor. She had her own important plans. Namely — to send nightmares to those who had spoken badly about her and her mother Integra. Alex, sitting in the driver's seat, looked in the rearview mirror and noticed his daughter's gloomy gaze. He only shook his head, thinking that many people would definitely have an unpleasant dream tonight.
"Now we can go home. All I want right now is to lie down for a bit," Alex said, starting the engine.
"Your desires aren't too grand," Integra remarked, turning her head toward him.
"Well, we can cuddle some more if you want… My clone is still busy setting up the new system for Hellsing anyway," Alex replied, turning to pull out of the parking lot.
"Is that really necessary?" Integra asked with interest, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at her husband as he drove out of the parking lot.
"We've already discussed this… It will reduce your workload many times over. And most importantly — resources. You'll have access to everything through the phone I gave you," Alex said, looking at the road and holding the steering wheel with one hand.
"Let's assume… Hellsing won't mind such changes. If we look at it logically… these innovations will bring considerable benefits. The most important thing is practicality and access to resources that Hellsing has always lacked," Integra said, stroking her chin and looking at the road ahead.
"It's good that you realized this quickly. And most importantly — you can request support at any moment. Because the only combat resource Hellsing currently has is Carmilla and Seras. I won't even mention Bernadotte's people — they look more like security guards," Alex said, tapping his finger on the steering wheel.
Integra nodded, accepting her husband's point of view. She understood that Alucard needed time to recover after losing more than three million souls. Tapping her finger on her chin, Integra realized that even though Hellsing had suffered no losses in the war against Millennium, the organization was still in a rather shaky state due to a lack of personnel.
And Walter's loss had greatly increased the workload. Thinking about recruiting new employees, Integra understood that she couldn't just take anyone without experience fighting supernatural beings. After all, Hellsing fought not only against vampires but also against many other similar creatures that occasionally appeared on English soil.
Thanks to Alex, she had gained a lot of time and could now calmly deal with the new system he was implementing. Tapping her finger on her chin, Integra finally realized that Hellsing had now become many times stronger than it had been before. And even the loss of all of Alucard's souls hadn't greatly affected the organization thanks to Alex's presence.
Lost in thought, Integra didn't even notice when they arrived back at the manor. Her thoughts were interrupted only when Alex turned off the car's engine. Blinking slowly, she saw the doors of the manor and turned her gaze toward her husband, who was stretching slightly.
"Well, we're home. Time to rest a little after such an eventful day," Alex said, preparing to get out of the car.
"Because of you, I've started resting more. It's been a long time since I allowed myself so much rest," Integra said, giving her husband an ironic look.
"Your complaints would have weight if the work you were supposed to do remained undone. But my clone did a week's worth of your work in advance, while simultaneously doing what I assigned him," Alex replied in a lazy tone.
"Are you planning to take all my work away from me and turn me into a lazy woman who has forgotten her duties?" Integra asked, placing her palm on his chest and looking straight into his eyes.
"Where do such thoughts come from? As soon as the new system is up and running, you'll have plenty of work. For now, I'm giving us time to cuddle," Alex said in a lighthearted tone.
"You took all my work away from me just for such small things?" Integra asked another question, lifting Alex's chin with her index finger.
"These aren't small things. Cuddling is also important, especially with those you love," Alex said, folding his arms over his chest and nodding.
"Fine… Tonight you'll have enough time for that… if you need it so much, husband," Integra said, leaning closer to Alex.
Alessa, sitting in the back seat, wrinkled her nose once again as she watched her parents show affection. She loved her father and all her mothers, who had given her a family. But every time her parents behaved this way, she felt a little uncomfortable.
This happened right in front of her eyes both in the Bunker, when her mothers constantly showed love to her father, and in the new house everything was exactly the same. Alessa had hoped that her new strict mother Integra would behave more reservedly. Sighing, she didn't want to watch this any longer and, without attracting the attention of her father and mother, passed through the car door.
Once outside, Alessa pressed her faithful companion — the plush rabbit Robbie — to herself and glanced back at the car. Looking at her parents, who continued to gaze at each other, she wrinkled her nose once again and headed toward the manor.
Entering inside, Alessa thought about where to go. Her first thought was to return to Mama Zhang Ya in the Red City and spend time with her. Alessa saw nothing wrong with the fact that her Mama Zhang Ya spent most of her time silent and only occasionally said one or two words. But after thinking a little, she decided she would go to sleep in the Red City.
However, she had more important things to do first. For that, she needed a secluded place where there wouldn't be too many curious witnesses. Pressing Robbie to herself, Alessa headed toward the basement, the entrance to which was hidden behind a painting. Walking along the corridor lit by lamps, she saw mercenaries patrolling the hallway.
"Good evening, young lady," one of the mercenaries said, smiling at Alessa.
Alessa raised her gaze, nodded slightly, and continued walking. The mercenaries didn't react to her gesture — they had already gotten used to the fact that their young lady was quite silent. Reaching the right spot, Alessa opened the painting like a door and began descending the stairs.
Once at the very bottom, she first peeked into the spacious room where her Mama Alucard was. Peeking out from behind the door, Alessa saw her mama sitting on the throne with her eyes closed, cheek resting on her fist, still in her sixteen-year-old form.
Sensing the familiar presence, Alucard slowly opened her eyes and looked at Alessa. Sticking her rabbit Robbie out from behind the door, Alessa waved his paw toward Alucard. Seeing such a gesture, a barely noticeable smile flashed across Alucard's face, and she closed her eyes again, continuing her sleep.
Having shown Mama Alucard that she had returned, Alessa closed the door and continued on. She saw nothing wrong with the fact that her Mama Alucard spent all her time sitting in the basement and barely moved. After all, her Mama Zhang Ya did the same thing in the Red City — she simply sat on the roof of one of the numerous buildings and watched what was happening on the streets.
Continuing through the basement corridors, Alessa headed to her Mama Seras's room. From afar she already heard the sound of the television and saw a faint light coming from under the door. Approaching closer, Alessa opened the door and saw Seras sitting on the bed with a bucket of popcorn between her legs.
Alessa noticed that her mama's room had noticeably changed and now contained many new things compared to the previous evening. Seras herself instantly noticed Alessa, and a bright smile bloomed on her face. She set the bucket of popcorn aside, instantly jumped off the bed, and appeared in front of Alessa.
"Alessa, you're back! How did everything go?" Seras asked, lifting Alessa into her arms with a wide smile.
"Boring," Alessa replied, sitting in her arms.
"Really? Was it really that boring?" Seras asked, carrying Alessa to the bed so she could sit down.
"Yes. At first everyone kept coming up to Papa and Mama Integra to greet them. Then there was a long boring ceremony where Papa became a knight and Mama Integra received a new title," Alessa said, thoughtfully tilting her head to the side.
"I understand perfectly. When I graduated from the police academy, the atmosphere was exactly the same. Though the scale was different… And what happened after the ceremony?" Seras said, nodding and looking at Alessa, who was sitting on her lap.
"Then there was the banquet. Papa wanted to eat all the desserts. And then we left because it became very boring," Alessa replied without much emotion in her voice.
"That's just like him. I think that if it weren't for Lady Integra's conditions, Alex would have left right after he was knighted," Seras said with a smile, stroking Alessa's hair.
Alessa nodded, showing she would have done the same. Seras wanted to know where Alex and Integra were now, but Alessa only wrinkled her nose. Seeing this, Seras immediately understood what was happening. After all, every time she and Alex showed affection toward each other, Alessa wrinkled her nose in exactly the same way.
Seras smiled awkwardly and decided that for now she shouldn't look for Alex, but let him spend time with Integra. At that moment she thought about what her relationship with Integra should be like now. On one hand, they shared the same husband; on the other, she was part of Hellsing and should address Integra accordingly, as the head of the organization.
While Seras once again sank into thoughts that anyone else would call trivial, Alessa jumped off her lap, and Seras didn't even notice. Alessa raised her gaze to Mama Seras and shook her head, once again thinking that she overthought things too much. Stopping looking at her, Alessa walked over to the coffin that Seras used as a place to sleep. She sat her rabbit Robbie on the coffin and squatted down.
"What are you doing, Alessa? Do you want to sleep? If so, wait, I'll quickly take a shower, and then we can go to bed," Seras said with a gentle smile, snapping out of her thoughts.
"I don't want to sleep. I need to do something, and the table is too high. Your coffin will work," Alessa replied without turning her head.
"Oh, you noticed how I rearranged everything here. I never thought ordering things from another world would be so convenient. But for some reason my things were delivered by strange and very noisy yellow creatures that stole my fruit," Seras said with a smile that gradually became strained.
"Those are Minions. Anya, Nyaruko, Tina, and Jinx found them in some universe… Papa settled them on Helios," Alessa replied without turning her head.
"Minions?… Is that what they're called, or is that just what people call them?" Seras asked, walking closer to Alessa.
"I don't know. Everyone calls them Minions, that's all," Alessa said, continuing to sit with her back to Seras.
"I see… And why do you need my coffin? What are you going to do?" Seras asked, walking around Alessa.
"I'm going to curse too talkative people," Alessa replied, turning her head toward Seras.
Hearing these words, the smile on Seras's face faltered. She thought she had misheard. Swallowing, Seras walked closer and looked down. She saw Alessa using shadows to mold silhouettes of people in formal attire and lining them up in a row on the coffin lid.
The first question that arose in Seras's mind was: what had these people done to deserve being cursed? And the second: how exactly was Alessa going to do it? While hundreds of questions swirled in Seras's head, Alessa had already finished making the twentieth shadow figure.
She used the shadow of her plush companion Robbie as a conduit for her purposes. After all, Robbie wasn't just a plush toy given to her by Mama Zhang Ya. After finishing molding the shadow figures, Alessa lightly brushed off her hands and sighed.
"Listen, Alessa… What exactly did these people do that made you decide to curse them?" Seras asked carefully, squatting down next to Alessa and examining the shadow figures.
"They said stupid things… A lot of stupid things. Papa and Mama Integra don't care, but I do," Alessa replied, turning her head toward Seras.
"I understand that words can hurt. But you don't have to curse them for that. They didn't do anything so terrible that they deserve to be killed," Seras said, trying to sound like a voice of reason.
"I didn't say I was going to kill them…" Alessa replied, looking at Seras with a blank gaze.
"Um… Then what are you going to do? Aren't all curses lethal? Or are there harmless ones?" Seras asked with an awkward smile.
"I want to punish them, not kill them. Mama Wednesday said that if you want to punish a person, you should do it in a way that the victim remembers it for a long time," Alessa said in a cold tone, looking away from Seras.
"Alright… Let's assume that. And how are you going to punish them?" Seras asked carefully, no longer trying to dissuade Alessa.
"They will be tormented by nightmares… All their fears will come to life and haunt them in their dreams," Alessa replied, lightly poking one of the figures with her finger.
Seras sighed and nodded, giving her silent consent. She could have tried to dissuade Alessa if she wanted to curse these people to death. But hearing that the curse would only involve nightmares, Seras felt a small sense of relief.
Looking away from Alessa, she looked at the shadow figures and counted more than thirty different silhouettes of people. All Seras could do in this situation was express silent apology. Seeing that Mama Seras wasn't trying to talk her out of it or convince her not to do it, Alessa took the first figure in her hands.
Holding the silhouette of a woman in her hands, Alessa's eyes glittered slightly, and at that moment a light gray mist appeared from her shadow, beginning to envelop the figure. The gray mist gradually merged with it, and when it was fully absorbed, the figure became wrapped in small rusty chains. Seras, squatting nearby, watched the entire process with interest.
"And what is this woman afraid of? Or don't you know?" Seras asked, poking the figure wrapped in rusty chains with her finger.
"This woman is afraid that the same thing will happen to her as happened to her grandmother," Alessa replied, placing the chained figure in line with the others.
"And what happened to her grandmother?" Seras asked, resting her cheeks on her hands.
"Her grandmother had Alzheimer's. And this woman is afraid of losing all her memories of herself, her life, and her loved ones and becoming an empty shell. Just like her grandmother," Alessa said, taking another figure in her hands.
"I see… And this man? What is he afraid of?" Seras asked, nodding slightly and pointing at another figure in Alessa's hands.
"He is afraid that his loved ones will betray or deceive him, and their true intentions will be hidden. It's connected to the fact that he is cheating on his wife," Alessa replied, repeating the process with the new figure.
"Well… He deserves it… And how do you know what people are afraid of? Or is that how your powers work?" Seras asked, making a face and deciding to change the subject.
"It's hard to explain… I simply see the darkness and fears inside people," Alessa said, taking the next figure in her hands.
"And do you see them in me too?" Seras asked, pointing at herself with her finger.
"Uh-huh… I saw them. You were afraid of yourself, Mama Seras. But now you're no longer afraid," Alessa replied, turning her head toward Seras.
Hearing the answer, Seras nodded understandingly. After all, Alessa was right when she said that Seras had been afraid of herself. And Seras herself didn't deny it. She had to pretend to be a normal girl, suppressing her dark nature inside. And after becoming a vampire, controlling that nature became even harder — especially during blood thirst.
But after becoming the Apostle of Destruction, Seras had been able to accept herself, accept her past, and move forward while still remaining herself. Smiling, Seras stroked Alessa's hair again and decided to change the subject. She began asking questions about people's fears to keep the conversation going.
Every time Alessa took a new figure in her hands, she told what fear the person she was going to curse was experiencing. Every time Alessa named a new fear, Seras nodded. She didn't understand some of the fears Alessa mentioned, like the fear of Delusions and Illusions. And every time questions arose in Seras's mind, Alessa calmly explained what this or that fear meant.
"And how are these fears supposed to manifest? Will they just dream of what they're afraid of?" Seras asked, lightly poking the figure of the cursed person with her finger.
"When fear takes physical form, it always looks like a monster created by the person's own subconscious," Alessa replied, pointing her finger at Seras.
"It seems you're having a lot of fun here… Mind if I join?" Alucard's mocking voice sounded behind Alessa and Seras.
Hearing Alucard's voice, Seras and Alessa turned their heads and saw her walking through the wall. There was a mocking smile on Alucard's face as she entered Seras's room by passing through the wall, and playful sparks of interest danced in her eyes because of what was happening. After passing through the wall, Alucard walked unhurriedly over to Alessa and Seras and leaned over Alessa's head.
Seeing dozens of shadow figures of people wrapped in rusty chains, the smile on Alucard's face only grew wider. She could clearly smell the fear emanating from these figures. Reaching out, she picked up one figure. When it ended up in her hands, the rusty chains made a faint clinking sound. Examining the figure from all sides, Alucard narrowed her eyes.
"Interesting abilities you have, my child. Simply amazing. Trapping people in their own nightmares. What a delightful punishment," Alucard said, not hiding the delight in her eyes.
"These people will be able to wake up," Alessa said, shaking her head.
"Oh? And why? Experiencing a tormenting nightmare over and over again is much more interesting… I would like to say that. But it seems, my dear dark child, you are even more cruel than I assumed," Alucard said in a bored tone, but soon realization dawned on her.
Realizing why Alessa was giving people a chance to wake up, Alucard laughed loudly. She hadn't lied when she said that Alessa was quite cruel in her actions. And this made Alucard proud of Alessa, whom she considered her daughter. Alessa calmly watched Mama Alucard, who was laughing loudly.
And Alessa didn't deny that Mama Alucard had guessed correctly. Only Seras once again didn't understand what was happening and what exactly she had missed, while Alucard had understood everything. Seras shifted her gaze from Alessa to Alucard and back, trying to understand why Alessa turned out to be cruel in her actions. After all, Alessa was simply making people see their fears in the form of monsters.
"I don't understand something — why is Alessa cruel? Yes, showing people's fears in the form of monsters isn't a very nice thing to do. But it's just a nightmare," Seras asked in confusion, staring at Alucard and Alessa.
"You're as foolish as always, Seras Victoria. Our child gave these people the chance that when they wake up, the nightmare will end. Isn't that a beautiful torture?" Alucard said, once again looking at Seras with slight disappointment.
"But when these people go to sleep again, they'll have the nightmare again. And it will repeat," Seras said, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Exactly… You managed to understand something elementary, Police Girl," Alucard said, patting Seras on the head as if praising a foolish child.
"But I still don't understand what's cruel about it?" Seras asked again, causing Alucard to look at her with disappointment.
"Papa said that the cruelest torture is to give a person false hope," Alessa said, trying to guide Seras's thoughts in the right direction.
Seras tilted her head to the side, trying to understand what she had missed. While she was thinking, Alucard watched the process of Alessa cursing the people. She believed it was simpler to kill a person, but the way Alessa was doing it aroused no less interest in her.
Alucard leaned forward, watching the entire process in more detail, unlike Seras. She didn't ask questions, but simply observed and slowly ran her hand through Alessa's hair, expressing silent praise. After all, how could she not feel tenderness toward a child with such a dark soul — toward her own child, whom she had accepted as a daughter.
"I think I understand," Seras said after a short reflection.
"Really? And what exactly did you understand, Police Girl?" Alucard asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"It's all about the feeling of false hope. Every time they have a nightmare, they will think that everything will end when they wake up… But the moment they go to sleep again, it will all repeat," Seras said, as if she had found the answer to the greatest mystery.
"You guessed it, Mama Seras. Papa did the same thing in Mama Zhang Ya's Red City," Alessa said, nodding her head.
Understanding that she had guessed correctly, Seras smiled widely, proud of the praise from her daughter. Alucard, meanwhile, looked at Seras with obvious amusement in her eyes. The way Seras was behaving right now greatly interested Alucard, especially her reaction to what was happening.
Alucard remembered very well what Seras had been like and what she had become after the events in London. How could she not know what was happening with Seras, since it was she who had turned her into a Nosferatu. But what amused her was that Seras herself didn't fully realize all her changes.
"It seems this doesn't bother you much, Police Girl. Why aren't you trying to protect these people? After all, last time you refused to harm people until the very end. What has changed now?" Alucard said, narrowing her eyes at Seras.
"I… I don't think something like this will harm these people. I would call it punishment," Seras replied, hesitating a little.
"You don't say, Police Girl. Forcing people night after night to see their deepest fears. Coming from your lips, it sounds like simple punishment. How cute," Alucard said with a cheerful smile.
"These people said nasty things about Alessa. They brought it on themselves. And I'm not going to justify or protect them," Seras said in a serious tone.
"Of course… It's nice to see how you've accepted yourself. Without his interference, you would have remained an ordinary coward," Alucard said, patting Seras on the head.
Seras didn't deny Alucard's words that she had changed thanks to Alex. But for Seras herself, this didn't mean she would begin to treat human lives with disdain. She still believed that killing innocent people was wrong. But after accepting herself, Seras understood that if someone wanted to kill her — whether human or monster — she would do the same to protect herself and what she held dear.
Noticing Seras's gaze, which didn't waver, a smile appeared on Alucard's face — the kind a woman has when watching her younger sister grow up and finally begin to understand how the world works. Continuing to smile, Alucard decided to return to her sleep.
"Mama Alucard, are you leaving?" Alessa asked, turning her head toward Alucard.
"Yes, child. Watching you is as fun as watching your father. But I'm still recovering," Alucard said, preparing to pass through the wall.
"Ask Papa, he will help you," Alessa said, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Good idea, my dear child. But right now your father is a little busy. When he is free and comes to me, I will ask him for help. After all, he owes me," Alucard said, chuckling lightly.
"You won't do that…" Alessa said in a dry tone.
In response, Alucard only laughed and passed through the wall, making it clear that she wasn't going to answer that question. From Alucard's last words, Seras's cheeks turned slightly red, and she awkwardly cleared her throat into her fist. After all, she understood what Alex and Integra were busy with right now.
At the same time, Seras also wanted to spend time with Alex in a similar way. But she wasn't going to say it out loud. She thought that if she were to say such words, it would only be to Alex and when no one else was around.
Alessa turned her head to Seras and saw that she had blushed. Alessa wrinkled her nose once again and began putting the shadow figures of people into a small suitcase so she could lift the curse when she decided that these people had had enough.
"I'm done. We can go to sleep, I'm tired," Alessa said, looking at Seras.
"Of course, sweetie. Let's go to the bathroom first to wash up and change," Seras said with a soft smile, immediately focusing all her attention on Alessa.
Alessa nodded and held out her hand. Seras smiled tenderly, took Alessa's hand, and led her to the bathroom to wash up and change. After washing up and changing, Alessa and Seras returned to the room.
Seras walked over to her coffin and opened the lid. But when she turned her head, she didn't see Alessa next to her. Seras turned around, thinking they would sleep in the coffin again, but at that moment Alessa had already climbed onto the bed.
"You want to sleep on the bed?" Seras asked, looking at Alessa, who had crawled under the blanket.
"Your big chest gets in the way, Mama. It's hard to breathe," Alessa said without any extra emotion in her voice.
Hearing Alessa's words, Seras lowered her gaze and once again looked at her large chest. Understanding why Alessa had said that, Seras smiled apologetically because of what had happened in the past.
Seras climbed onto the bed and lay down next to Alessa. Before going to sleep, she adjusted Alessa's blanket and kissed the girl on the head, causing Alessa to squint cutely. Seras smiled and closed her eyes, gently hugging Alessa.
To be continued...
(I thought about it for a bit and decided I should do a chapter dedicated to one of Alex's daughters. I think someone even asked for a chapter about Alex's journey with his daughters. But that will be in the future. Now I need ideas on where to take Alucard on a date. I'm thinking of taking her to another world where she can kill without any problems. Or maybe Alex and Alucard should go to some cursed place with monsters. Hmm... That's a tough question. Okay, time for food and rest. Peace, love, and when crossing the street, look up.)
Early access to chapters on my patreon: p*treon.com/GreedHunter