Hellsing - Blood Heritage | By : fallenangellet Category: Hellsing > General Views: 20212 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing, and I'm not making any money from this. It is strictly for my own amusement. |
I don't own Hellsing, and I'm not making any money from this.
Hello my peoples! I'm going to be unable to get to a computer tomorrow, so I'm going to go ahead and put this up for you. :)
One of the bad things about any organization or business was that when an employee was injured and out of commission, one had to take into account the losses their absence caused. It was one of those uncomfortable and sad truths of life that could not be overcome. Syn was Hellsing's munitions expert. She oversaw the routine inspection and maintenance of all weaponry in the house. She ran diagnostics on any weapons or projectile remains found at the scene of attacks and wrote up detailed reports on them. If nothing could be recovered, the woman could tell the make and model of gun, and the type of ammunition fired by examining photos of bullet holes in walls, and gun shot wounds and blood sprays from victims. But the gunsmith was currently unconscious, and no one knew how long it would be before she could do any actual work once she woke up. Things were going to have to be delegated to others to ensure business continued running smoothly.
The soldiers could look after their own guns for the time being. Inspections were every other month, and routine maintenance, such as cleaning, was something they all knew how to do. If any serious problems or malfunctions arose, the weapon would just have to be replaced until Syn was available to take care of it herself. Analysis and reporting could be taken over by the testing and development team at Ed's factory, with Edmund himself handling the higher level things the others didn't possess the knowledge for. But there were some things that couldn't be delegated. This 'blood seal' ritual was something Syn had to be present for.
"It can be pushed back." Edmund stated from across Integra's desk. "As far as it has to be. I'm not going to ask Syn to do something she's not ready for."
The knight nodded in agreement. Even when her injuries were healed, there was no telling what sort of psychological issues would present themselves. Integra didn't know enough about magic to discern whether such a thing would have a negative influence or not.
"How would you go about choosing a date?" she questioned. "Syn made a point of saying that Halloween was the most appropriate time for it."
"She wanted to do it on Halloween because it was the simplest." he replied. "The veil between worlds at it's thinnest point provides a surge of power we could use to our advantage, and it negates the daily and seasonal tides. The ritual can be done without all that, but it'll be more complicated."
Integra arched a brow. "How complicated?"
"We'll have to make sure the date falls within the appropriate elemental cycle, pick a day with the best planetary influence, then calculate the hour of casting by finding the exact moment of sunrise in military time, converting to minutes, subtract from the exact time of sunset, subtract that from 14400, then divide by..."
"Stop." The knight ordered, holding up a hand. "Just stop."
It was too much math, and Integra absolutely despised math. It had been her worst subject in school, and she had eventually come to the conclusion that if God wanted everyone to understand it, he wouldn't have created scientists, engineers, accountants, or men intelligent enough to invent the calculator. She had too much to worry about as it was to waste valuable brain space with something she had no talent in and never used.
Ed coughed behind his hand to hide his amusement. He knew exactly why she told him to stop talking.
"I hope you realize that if there were a nuclear holocaust, you wouldn't have any calculators to rely on." he told her. "Whatever would you do then?"
She sniffed. "God forbid such a thing happening, but if it did, I would simply pass everything involving numbers and calculations to you and make you deal with it."
The man gasped in a faux display of shock. "Is that a weakness, Integra? The great Sir Integral Hellsing, defeated by something as simple as math problems. Oh, the horror!"
A knock sounded on her office door, and Integra shot Edmund a look of warning before responding to it.
"Come in."
It was Walter. He elegantly slipped inside and closed the door behind him, then approached her desk.
"I apologize for interrupting, sir, but I thought you should be aware that Miss Newsom is awake."
The playful grin slipped from Edmund's face and he swiveled around in his chair. "She's awake?"
"Oh, yes sir." the butler confirmed. "And quite lively. She rather pointedly told one of the medical staff downstairs that she wasn't going to... How did she put it?" he looked thoughtful. "Oh yes, 'eat that cardboard shit they tortured their patients with'." The corner of his lips turned up ever so slightly, and he inclined his head. "Alucard requested that I bring something more to her liking from the kitchens."
Integra blinked in surprise. Awake, and apparently feeling somewhat back to herself if she was actually talking that way. She studied her butler appraisingly.
"Do you think she's well enough to tolerate a visit?"
"It is my understanding that Miss Newsom is not happy about being cooped up in bed." he told her. "I believe she would welcome a visit."
When they got downstairs to Syn's room in the medical wing, they were greeted by the strangest sight Integra had ever seen. The tray Walter had brought down from the kitchens earlier was set aside on a small reading table – the plates empty and the silverware neatly stacked on top of them. The redhead was propped upright with a stack of pillows, while Alucard sat on the side of her bed, carefully holding her splinted fingers as he painted her nails. The lady knight had witnessed the vampire do a lot of odd, unexplainable things, but painting a woman's nails had never been one of them. When she glanced sideways, Edmund looked just as dumbfounded as she felt.
"Do you need something, Master?" Alucard questioned, dipping the small brush into a bottle of iridescent black polish.
The knight blinked, still stunned. "We heard Miss Newsom was awake." she stated. "What on earth are you doing?"
The vampire gently turned the woman's hand to start painting her pinky. "We're bonding, Master. What does it look like?"
Syn looked over at them and sighed. "My nails grew out while I was unconscious, and apparently putting this stuff on them is supposed to make me stop biting them."
"Chewing your nails is a disgusting habit that needs to stop." Alucard commented.
The redhead frowned at him as he moved to start applying a second coat to the nails of her left hand. "Alucard, I build guns for a living. Long nails get in the way."
"I never said you had to wear them long. You just need to stop biting." he replied. When she raised her right hand to scratch at her neck, he narrowed his eyes. "Don't touch anything until they're dry."
Syn stopped, looked at him, then dropped her hand without argument. Letting out another tired sigh, she leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. "Whatever you say, dear."
It was amazing. The two of them usually bickered over the smallest of things. Integra would have expected the woman to be upset about having something overly feminine forced upon her. Since she was awake and able to hold a conversation without difficulty, the knight thought it best to inform her of the decisions that had been made on her behalf so she could at least be involved. Syn was in agreement with most of them, but when the subject turned to the ritual, it was apparent that she didn't like what she heard.
"We are not rescheduling." she said firmly. "Halloween is a few days away. I'll be fine."
Ed gaped at her, then sat down and scooted his chair closer to her bed. "Syn, I love you. You know I do. I respect you, and I think you're brilliant. But I watched you die. You were dead, and it wasn't that long ago. That's not something you just bounce back from."
The redhead turned and gave him a serious look. "Watch me."
Integra could appreciate and admire the woman's dedication, but there was more than her physical state of health to consider.
"We all know you heal quickly." she told her. "But I am not going to allow you to participate in something like this without being absolutely certain that you will be physically and mentally prepared to handle it."
"With all due respect, Sir Integra, I don't think you understand." the redhead said, turning her emerald eyes onto hers. "I was beaten, kicked, punched, spat on, dragged around by the hair, and violated. That... thing that did this to me is still out there, and he knows where this house is. For my own sanity and peace of mind, I need to do this. Please don't take that away from me."
The knight studied her intently, understanding her meaning. Radu was the most powerful vampire Hellsing had faced since Alucard himself. Syn was afraid of him with good reason. The level of ferocity rained down on her could happen again. The longer they waited to place a seal on the house, the longer they would be vulnerable.
Edmund blew out a heavy breath of air and ran his hand through his hair. "Alucard, tell her this is a stupid idea. She can't do this now!"
"She can, and she will." the vampire replied, narrowing his eyes at him. "I agree that this ritual should be performed as soon as possible. If my mate believes she is ready, I will stand behind her decision."
"Thank you." Syn said, looking at Ed in triumph. "Did you get everything on the list I sent you?"
He sniffed in obvious disapproval. "With all this shit going on, I haven't really been concerned about shopping."
"I suggest you get a move on then." the redhead told him. "There's a lot to do, and not much time to do it in."
As previously arranged, when the day of the ritual arrived, Integra gave every employee an approved leave of absence. The Wild Geese were sent to Edmund's factory to remain on standby in the event they would be needed. At 10:45 pm, the seven Hellsing members participating in the ceremony met in a large empty room on the second floor – the center most point of the house. Integra said it was a ballroom where parties had been held during her father's younger years. She herself had never had much use for it. Syn thought it was perfect.
Before the others' arrival, she and Ed had set up all their supplies and drew out the massive, double ringed circle where all of them would sit – leaving a small opening for them to enter through. Once all the humans and vampires were inside, Syn used a stick of chalk to close both circles.
"Are you zure you can do zhis?" Pip asked, looking at the scarred bite marks on her neck.
Since no one could wear any color but black, she had to remove all of her bandages. The wounds themselves had closed up, but were so deep that scars were left behind. Some were worse than others. The missing piece of her ear could be hidden by her hair. Some things were just going to be visible no matter what she did.
"I'm fine." She replied, then directed them to their places.
The seven of them formed a circle with Edmund at the northernmost point. The others followed in the order in which their blood would be added to the seal, in a counter-clockwise direction. Each of them sliced their palm with a knife to drip a small amount of their blood into a prepared vial of oils and herbs. Syn didn't like the idea of cutting herself with a knife. She had experienced enough of that to last a few dozen lifetimes. But it was necessary, so she sucked it up and did it.
Next came the preparation of the black glass the seal itself would be forged on, and the 'potion' it would be set into. Syn balanced the glass on a holder positioned over a bunsen burner while Edmund placed his extra large cooking pot on a portable cooking coil. As he was pouring in the tubes of medical blood collected from all of Hellsing's employees, Seras made a face.
"This feels so wrong..." she said nervously, glancing into the pot that was three quarters of the way full. "I mean, that's a lot of blood."
"Well, there's a lot of people working here. That's kind of the point." Ed told her. He wiggled his fingers at Syn like he wanted something. "Hand me the belladonna."
A whole host of herbs had to be 'cooked' into the blood solution to add their various magical and symbolic energies to it. Most of them were highly poisonous. Belladonna, hellebore, mandrake, thistle, wormwood... and that wasn't even counting the other crap that had to be put in there.
"Is that a chicken foot?" Integra questioned, studying a particular object with suspicion.
Ed picked it up and tossed it in the pot. "No, it's a crow's foot. Totally different. Syn, do you have that dried snake ground up yet?"
"Just a sec." the redhead replied, then dumped the contents of her mortar onto a sheet of paper. "Have at it."
"Thank you."
Integra narrowed her eyes at the sight of all the weird, freaky stuff being dropped into the cooking pot. "Do I want to know what sort of places sell these things?"
"Um..." Ed paused to think. "Probably not." he stuck a wooden spoon into the conglomeration of ingredients and began to stir. "How did I wind up doing the girly job again?"
"You're a better cook than me." Syn replied with a shrug. She tossed a small bottle of dirt in his direction. "Pour that in, and I think we'll be done."
He caught it before it hit the ground and glanced at the label. "What the... You took dirt off of Aunt Kris' grave!"
"No, he did." she replied, pointing at the No Life King sitting next to her. "I haven't been allowed out of the house, remember?"
He continued to stare at her in absolute horror. "But..."
"Oh, stuff it, Ed. She said it was fine."
Everyone joined her cousin in staring at her. Great. Now everyone thought she was crazy. The redhead looked up at the ceiling. She had told Alucard about this, and he believed her. She wasn't really sure how the others would react.
"We needed graveyard dirt. While I was drinking tea and eating snickerdoodles in the great beyond, mom said she didn't want me stealing it, so I should get some of hers." she told them. "Now, can we please move on, because I don't really like talking about this."
Syn was still kind of overwhelmed at the idea of having died and come back. It was a big thing to wrap your brain around. Ed cleared his throat and popped the lid off the bottle.
"Okie dokie." he said as he poured in the dirt. "Is the glass ready yet?"
The black glass onto which the seal would be forged had to be slowly heated until it's edges glowed red. Syn examined the glass and nodded. Ed scooted back to his position in the circle, and she began the final explanations of what was going to happen.
"What we're going to do is very simple." she announced. "We'll begin by holding hands, and I will declare our intent. When we receive a sign telling us to proceed..."
"A zign?" Bernadette asked, looking confused. "What zign?"
Syn looked at him. "A sign that the powers that be are listening to us." she replied. "We won't know what it is until it happens. Once we receive that sign, each of us will add our blood to the glass. It should flame up and when everything is burned away, your symbol will be left behind." she readjusted herself to get more comfortable in her cross-legged position. "No unnecessary conversation. And if anything weird or freaky happens outside the circle, don't freak out. As long as you don't cross the boundaries, nothing can touch you."
She waited for a nod of understanding from each one of them. Integra shot her a 'you had better know what you're doing' look. Seras and Pip both appeared understandably nervous, and Walter simply looked curious about everything. Alucard was acting like his usual self – he knew he had nothing to worry about. When everyone was ready, Syn placed the sheet of paper bearing the invocation she had written on the floor in front of her. They joined hands, and she began reading the carefully structured words.
"We seven come before the intelligent powers which rule this earth and invoke them to hear us. Our number is comprised of the children of light, the children of darkness, and we who stand between. We have assembled in this place, bound by common intent and common will. Our purpose is to create a seal, forged and fed by the blood of ourselves and others, that it may protect and guard this household and all within it. May any creatures, powers, or forces which wish us ill will be turned away, and any who enter our gates with harmful intent be devoured and destroyed. For each of us, in our own way, have vowed to guard this land and her people, and protect those who cannot protect themselves. We see what others do not see, know what others do not know, and act when others cannot act. In return for acceptance of our goal, we will offer of ourselves the eternal symbols of our spirits to bind this seal and it's purpose, so that it's work may continue beyond our own lives and never be broken, destroyed, or unmade. If our words are heard and our request answered, let there be a sign we may all see."
It was wordy and somewhat archaic, but the magic required it. When drawing from a dark, chaotic well, one had to be very specific and give it a reason to do what you wanted. Otherwise, there was no telling what you would get. Their hands joined, they all quietly waited for the requested sign. For several minutes, nothing happened.
"Zhis iz ztupid." Pip said, looking like he felt foolish. "Nozhing iz 'appening."
The redhead gave him a sharp look. "Give it time. It will come."
The captain quieted down and they waited a few minutes more. When there was still nothing, Syn closed her eyes. Apparently the dark energy they were calling up was in the mood to be coaxed tonight.
Come on. She thought. I've got five humans, two vampires, and two virgins together in one room. That has to count for something. She felt a distant spark of interest rise up and she figured she was on the right track. She was definitely getting it's attention. I'm the human consort of the vampire king, and I died six days ago. Tortured and everything. You're not going to find a more interesting combination of people anywhere else
"Syn..." she heard the police girl begin, then a loud gasp. "Oh my god!"
Her eyes snapped open to find the room bathed in complete darkness. The overhead lights had gone out, and a gentle breeze whispered through the air. One by one, the candles placed between the lines of the double circle lit up on their own. Their light poured into the center, illuminating the space in which they were working, but it wouldn't reach beyond it's boundaries. Ed quirked a brow.
"It needed extra convincing?"
"Yep." she replied, then glanced sideways at the captain. "Told you."
The man swallowed and looked around. "I don't like zhis. Eet gives me zhe 'eebie jeebies."
"Calm down." she instructed. "It's more likely to do something scary if it knows you're afraid. We're perfectly safe. Everyone get their vials ready." She waited until everyone had their prepared blood solutions in hand before beginning the segment that would construct the seal.
"These are the offerings we bring to bind the seal." she announced, then looked at Edmund. "The High Priest."
Her cousin reached out and poured the contents of his vial onto the heated glass. It caught fire and blazed brightly. When the flames receded and blinked out, a red pentagram glowed in the center of the glass.
"Oh wow..." Seras murmured.
Syn gestured to Integra. "The Iron Maiden."
The knight arched a brow at her designation, but didn't say anything about it. She added her vial to the seal, forming the binding few between the two bottom points.
"The Twilight Princess."
The police girl blinked at her. "Princess?"
"You're the fledgling of the No Life King." Syn told her. "I'd say that makes you a princess."
The draculina looked both surprised and flattered. She added her blood to the seal to form the next symbol. The next two archetypes were relatively straightforward. Walter was The Guardian Sage, and Pip was The Traveling Soldier.
Then she got to Alucard.
"The Destroyer."
The vampire shot her a sideways glance. The Destroyer? He thought to her in amusement.
It's the closest I could get to calling you the devil without actually calling you the devil.
Ah. He chuckled and added his vial.
Then it was her turn. Syn popped the cap of her tube off with her thumb and poured it on the glass.
"The High Priestess."
The black glass flamed up a final time to burn in the two circles around the pentagram and the binding sigil at the base. The moment the seal was completed, the overhead lights came back on, and all the shadows that had congregated around the circle receded. Walter blinked at the sudden brightness, while Seras leaned forward to examine this thing that they had created.
"Is it... done?" she questioned.
"Almost." The redhead reached below the glass to turn off the bunsen burner. "Get the tongs."
Edmund grabbed a set of metal tongs sitting on the floor next to him and used them to carefully lift the glass from it's holder. He moved it over to the pot of blood and dropped it in. Immediately, the mixture began to bubble, the color shifting from red to a shadowy black with swirls of silvery gray.
"And now for the moment of truth. Alucard?"
Since he was the most powerful vampire and could survive anything that was thrown at him, Alucard had been nominated to test whether the seal would react to him. The No Life King reached out and allowed his ungloved hand to hover a few inches above the potion. Nothing happened.
So far so good. The next test was to see if it would respond to something it was supposed to protect them against. For that very purpose, Syn had brought a gun recovered from the scene of a vampire attack – a weapon used by one of their enemies. She dropped it into the pot. Rather than sinking into the liquid like a normal object would have, the gun floated in the air above it – like the seal wouldn't allow itself to be touched by it. The swirling black liquid glowed a hell-fire red, and Syn ducked when the weapon went flying across the room. It hit the wall and exploded into pieces.
"Merde!"
Integra took in the sight of the gun in pieces, the looked between Edmund and syn. "I take it we were successful?"
"Oh yeah." Ed replied. "It's definitely working. Now we need to anoint the house. Every wall, floor, ceiling, door, and window of every room. Then we take it outside and do the fences and gates."
They all got up to set about the task. The blood mixture was poured into smaller containers, and each one of them was assigned a section of the house. Alucard and Seras would take the sub-levels, Walter would do the first floor, Syn the second, and Integra the third. Pip would take the barracks, and Ed would do the grounds and perimeter fences. As the redhead carried her mixture down the hallway to begin, she couldn't help but feel a rush of pride. Her first, and hopefully only, blood seal was a smashing success. Anything that attacked this house was going to catch hell for it.
I really hope you guys are paying attention, because there's something important in this. :)
Side note: I was totally researching the whole ceremonial magic thing for reference, and I found something about actually having to calculate the most appropriate times for spells with a similar formula as Ed was telling Integra about. The real way of doing it is a lot more complicated, and I could bearly figure out what I was looking at. O_o (the one I found anyway.) So, yeah, I totally didn't pull that out of my ass because it sounded suitably confusing.
And I'm totally with Integra on this one. Math is the Devil's language. Stephen Colbert says so, therefore it is true.
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