Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Contesting Results ❯ Her Conviction ( Chapter 2 )

Author: Araceli Maura.

Pairing/Interaction: Integral Hellsing and Walter K. Dornez.

Setting: After Alucard's release.

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Her Conviction

She could watch him while he slept if she thought it would calm her fears. All she had to do was unlatch the hook that kept the coffin lid tightly shut and push it up to prove to herself that he truly was there, and that the past 48 hours had not been a trick of her young imagination. She could do it, easily.

"Miss Hellsing?" A sharp voice rang through the confines of the dungeon room, reverberating off the walls eerily. Clearly this room wasn't meant for sound.

The dimly lit presence of Hellsing's caretaker approached Integra from the side, his eyes darting to the closed coffin lying in front of the young girl. "Miss Hellsing, you shouldn't be here at this hour."

Integra made no move to respond as she turned her head away from Walter and focused her sharp eyes on the glaring wood of the rectangular box. He was going to tell her to leave, that this wasn't the place for a young girl; especially the young female leader of Hellsing. It wasn't proper for her to be staring at the coffin of the ancient vampire trusted to her care as if he were some tourist attraction. Regardless of what she knew was proper and improper for a woman of her status to do, she refused to leave; refused to back down until she knew exactly what he was doing.

Integra blinked, momentarily breaking the constant gaze she held trained on the far corner of the room.

"Walter?" She asked, her voice quiet yet containing a kind of strength and regal prowess that a child of her age had no business being burdened with.

The Hellsing caretaker turned to her, his blue eyes trailing the outline of her face. "Yes, Miss Hellsing?"

"He shows me things." She said, her eyes still rooted to the coffin, waiting for it to pop open at any moment. She looked ready for something, as if she were steeling herself for an oncoming battle.

Walter started at the sentence, his face registering concern and confusion as his eyebrows knitted together. He let her continue without interruption.

"In my head, he shows me things. Images, pictures, things I'm not sure are real or imaginary." She paused and bit her lip, the only sign of a childish insecurity she had shown openly in the past 48 hours. "I see myself as a woman, leading this organization with pride and conviction." At this she looked down, unsure of how to continue without alienating the respect of the only remaining person she trusted. She trudged on, spitting out the words with certainty as if she needed to convince him to believe her.

"And sometimes, I see myself older, and unhappy." She looked up now, her vivid blue eyes narrowing. "I see pictures of my organization crumbling before me, of my men dying around me. They're all thrown together in a collage of images like a movie in my head that won't stop playing. It will never stop playing." Her voice trailed off and she looked at the ground again, her fists clenched at her sides.

Walter watched her carefully, waiting for her to continue before speaking his own thoughts. After a few moments had passed, he spoke.

"He's testing you."

Integra's head cocked to the side in momentary confusion and Walter watched as her bright gaze trailed a line back to the object still lying unchanged in the corner. "He sends you images to force doubt into your mind. Doubts about your ability to rule, to hold this organization with such conviction as your father did." He paused for a moment and followed her gaze. "He is testing your ability as his master."

Integra took a moment to process what he had just said, thinking that being someone's 'master' sounded strange and unnatural. But it was what she had to do as the leader of Hellsing. She would learn to control him, and soon he wouldn't be able to place such doubts and false images in her minds eye. He would respect her, but first, she would make sure that she earned it.

Her blond head bounced as she nodded, her fists unfurling carefully as she crossed them in front of her chest. Walter watched as the girl before him slowly morphed into a woman, the previously soft and innocent lines of her face contorting to something harder and more defined. Part of him swelled with pride at seeing her begin to fully realize her potential and to rise above the situation with Alucard. Another part of him, the part of him that had watched her grow with fatherly intention, grew concerned that she could control such responsibility at such a young age.

"Walter," Integra spoke, her voice seeming to become deadpan and emotionless as her steely gaze moved to rest on his face. "From now on, please call me 'Sir Hellsing.'"