It was a cold winter night in Glasgow. Snow fell first, then came the frost. The streets were covered with snow, making them look as if they were made of silver, bright and glistening in the night. Although there was much snow, it didn't stop the two in their journey to save the sorceress they were so fond of. Ray, who had a knitted brown scarf wrapped around his neck to keep him warm in the cold, was trudging through the snow while Alucard effortlessly walked ahead of him, following the scent of his son's blood. The only thing that he could think of was saving his Queen and son. Whether it was a snowstorm or other distractions, he still had to go through them. If it ended up having his family back in his arms safe and sound, then neither of those things mattered to him.
Alucard heard the footsteps behind grew further from him. He stopped for a while to glance at the boy over his shoulder, and called, "Hurry up, kid. I don't have time to spare waiting for you."
"I'm coming, Mr. Vampire!" assured Ray while swiping away a bunch of snow blocking his way.
He stared at the boy long and hard. Frida often spoke to him about the five children working for Hellsing when she rescued them from the underground science lab. When he came to know about them, he was a bit skeptical about their abilities to fight and protect Hellsing, let alone holding a weapon. Although he wasn't around since their first day of training, the once a week supervision of their training was more than enough to showcase their abilities, and needless to say, he was impressed. It even got him thinking that these children were more capable than some of the adults soldiers in the line of Hellsing's defense.
However, if there was anyone that he was still doubtful about, it would be Ray. No, it had nothing to do with his abilities, for Alucard saw that he was as talented and good as the other four. But in comparison, he was the most gentle one. He didn't like killing as much as they did, even though he was hunting for ghouls and lowlife vampires. He preferred to follow the sorceress, whom he grew so fond of over the year of being taken care by her, to the gardens where he tended the plants and fed the animals that had taken a liking of living there. So for the most gentle soul among the five of them to volunteer himself of going on a potentially dangerous mission to save his Queen came as a surprise to him, and he wondered what made him step out of his comfort zone and risk his life.
"Hey, kid." called Nosferatu, diverting the said boy's attention towards him. "Why?"
"Why what?" questioned Ray with much confusion.
"Why did you volunteer to save my No Life Queen?" he asked. "What drove you to do so?"
The boy didn't answer questions. He stared at the snow-covered ground and let his mind run while Alucard watched with an unreadable expression. "Well," he began quietly when he made eye contact with the latter. "My parents hated me because I was a "mistake" child. I was at least ten years younger than my siblings, and they also hated me because they think I'm a pest in the family. One day, my dad sold me off to a group of scientists who tested on artificial vampiric abilities on me and the other children sold or abandoned by their families too. Only Luna, George, Harold, Oscar and I were alive when mom saved us from them. She was the first person, besides Luna, George, Oscar and Harold, to show me kindness. She was the mother that I've always wanted. I owe her everything."
Alucard then took note of the determination written across his face when he continued, "So when I heard that she was kidnapped, I thought that this could be something that I can use as a way to pay her back, for treating me like her own child. Even if it risks my life."
The former stared at him for a while before letting out a chuckle. With his gloved hand, he reached out the pat him on the head before ruffling his hair, causing an embarrassed blush to tint his fair-skinned cheeks. "Good." he muttered. "I see that despite your gentle and kind nature you've gotten from my Queen, you have a strong determination like our Master. I can see why my Queen often talks about you."
Ray looked at him shyly. "She does?" he asked.
Alucard smirked at him, nodding before saying, "Yes, every time we sit outside to talk. She loves all of you equally, but you'll always have a special place in her heart, to quote her. The way you pruned the peonies so delicately, and how you treated the swallow's broken wing; she saw that you're a special child despite having to kill ghouls and lowlife vampires as ordered by our Master." He removed his hand from Ray's head, and turned around to continue walking to where the scent of his son's blood led him. "Let's go. We haven't a moment to waste."
Ray took a few seconds to digest what Alucard had told him, and with a smile plastered on his face, he dashed forward to catch up to him and responded, "Yes, sir!"
The two continued walking through the snowstorm with Alucard in the lead, until they came face to face with the abandoned Dalquharran Castle. The vampire didn't hesitate to kick down the door, as an intention to inform their enemies that he had arrived. Sniffing the air, he led the boy to a hidden door, shooting it down with his Casull before walking down the stairs. When they arrived at the bottom, Alucard gestured Ray to hide at the sides, acting as his backup if things didn't go as planned. The latter usually didn't like to be the backup, but he knew better than to argue with an experience fighter. So he just nodded and stood at the side, making sure that he wouldn't be seen by their enemies.
Standing across him was a cloaked man, and judging by his body language, Alucard could tell that this mysterious person was expecting his arrival. "Ah!" said the man in his raspy, baritone voice. "So you've finally come, No Life King, servant of Hellsing."
He only chuckled with a mix of amusement and sarcasm. "Flattery will lead you nowhere, Cailean." he remarked, recognising who the person was speaking to. The said man chuckled while pulling off his hood to reveal his identity. Cailean was a pale-skinned man with spiky brown hair and a well-trimmed beard. He had sharp red eyes, and a prominent scar on corner of his right eye. Despite wearing a velvet cloak, one could tell that he was a tall man of big and muscular build.
Alucard smirked widely, showing his fangs glistening in the dimly lit room. "I should have known it was you all along." he began. "Like a fool, you've desired immortal life, and would create many remedies to ensure that. Even going as far as using the blood of my son, the first Ultimate Vampire."Cailean mirrored his action, saying, "I'll give you credit for being so intelligent. But run along now, I have to do what I must." Knowing that the father was standing right across him, with a snap of his fingers, another cloaked man, whom the former had encountered earlier in the sub-basement, appeared out of nowhere and handed Cailean the sleeping vampire youngling. And that was all it took. With a snarl, Alucard whipped out his Casull to shoot them but was soon surrounded by another army of ghouls and lowlife vampires, preventing him from getting close to them.
"Oh?" was Alucard's response. Although he was smirking, he clearly didn't like it when these creatures interfered and delayed him from saving his son. He glanced over his shoulder at the door and called, "Now, kid!" Ray barged into the room and with one knee on the ground, he began taking down the swarm of ghouls and vampires with his Steyr TMP, shooting them rapidly until there was no more ammunition. Ray swiftly reloaded after he had taken cover behind the wall outside, and returned to killing the enemies, whom soon turned into piles of dust on the floor.
Alucard watched the scene with a grin, then looked at the bald man and said, "It seems we have underestimated what this kid can do after being trained by my Queen."
Cailean smirked back at him before continuing with what he was supposed to do. "They're all yours." he said in a commanding tone. "Bonni, Dempster, Fie, Dierche, Flare." The cloaked person leapt off the platform and was soon joined by four more. Each of them reached their hand up to pull the cloak away, revealing themselves to their enemies.
Bonni was a curvaceous woman with long, curly red hair cascading to her waist, big violet eyes, full lips, and a beauty mark located under her left eye. Her shapely figure was hugged by black dress secured by halter-neck straps, which left a large portion of her cleavage exposed, almost reaching down to her navel. The dress reached down to her calves with a large slash in its front right part. Her attire was completed by long gloves almost reaching up to her shoulders that matched her black dress, and a pair of black heels.
Standing on her left was Dempster, a thin yet well-toned man with pale blue eyes and a long pale blond high ponytail that reached down to his lower back. He was adorned in dark grey strips of cloth around his neck, shoulders, wrists and lower body, followed by a pair of grey boots. His prominent feature was his pronounced canine teeth. On her other side, there was a gaunt man with long black hair flowing down his chest, whose name was Fie. His olive eyes were outlined in black. He wore a black bodysuit underneath a dark green robe, and a pair of black wrapped shoes.
Although Dierche was a large, bulky and muscular man, one could easily tell that he was a drag queen. He had long, wavy purple hair tied into a high ponytail, curly long eyelashes complementing his icy blue eyes, and glossy red lips. His outfit consisted of a purple leather corset with a mesh halter-neck connected to a leather collar. A strap that was located between his chest was attached to a metal ring, which connected some straps around his body. His outfit was completed with a pair of matching pants, long purple sleeves reaching his shoulders, and purple stilettos.
Flare appeared to be a child, but was actually an adult. She had chin-length cyan hair and matching eyes. She wore a cream long-sleeved turtleneck sweatshirt beneath a dark grey open vest that matched her pants, and a pair of brown gloves. Her look was completed with some pink lipstick and light blush.
"So you've decided to let your minions do the dirty job while you proceed with the main course, huh?" mocked Nosferatu with a dark snicker.
Cailean chuckled, with his back still facing him as he placed the baby on the tablet. "Don't say that like you've never done it before." he remarked. "You've done this before, Count Dracula. Remember? You were feared for punishing evildoers and those who opposed you for waging a war against the Muslims, hoping to bring down the New Jerusalem. You even sacrificed your troops and people to achieve your goals, believing that God would handle the rest if you and your men put forth great enough effort and sacrificed enough."
Nosferatu merely humphed, with an unreadable expression on his face besides having a wide grin. "I no longer care about such things when my No Life Queen and son had given a new life." he said. "You fool. Did you think I would empathise and understand you?" Cailean only grinned as a response.
"Master, enough with this futile conversation." said Bonni in a seductive voice. "Leave the enemies to us, so you can perform the ritual quickly and in peace."
"That was what I've been intending to do from the start." he said.
As if it was the cue, his subordinates began to stalk towards Alucard, who was about to make a move when Ray came up to him and whispered, "Mr. Vampire, leave them to me."
He glanced at the boy from the corner of his eyes and raised a brow, clearly not expecting something like that from him. "Oh?" he began. "What made you suggest that?"
"If we take too much time fighting them, little brother and mom could be in danger." explained Ray with his eyes still on their enemies. "I'll try to distract these guys as much as I can while you go save them."
"Now, now." called a familiar voice from behind, causing the five to stop walking towards Ray and Alucard. "There's no point in acting tough when you know that you can't hold them by yourself."
Everyone's attention diverted towards the entrance where they saw the other four children standing there with their weapons. "Guys!" greeted Ray excitedly.
George caught hold of Alucard's questioning gaze and replied, "Asmund sent us here. He felt something was wrong and thought it was best to send us as backup." His gaze then landed on the five enemies standing across them. "Like Ray said, leave them to us while you save mom and Dorin.""
The latter's eyes widened for a fraction, and he then snickered. "Trust Asmund to be the cautious one." he commented before turning to face ahead. "Just don't die, or else my Queen will be heartbroken." With that, he teleported to Cailean, who dodged a punch with one hand while the other cradled the sleeping baby. Alucard saw this as an opening for him to attack, and attempted to land a punch on him when he quickly pushed away his hand and blocked the attack again. This went on for a while until Cailean caught hold of the vampire's wrist, earning a smirk from the latter. "Your reflexes are impressive for a mere wizard."
Cailean grinned menacingly before saying, "I feel honoured, Dracula." With a push, Alucard took a step back from the force, allowing Cailean to punch him in the chest, sending him flying backwards to the wall and pulverising it. Before Nosferatu could recover, Cailean quickly turned around and head straight towards the curtain at the back of the room, escaping through there.
Alucard, who was clearly unfazed by the damaged caused, stood up straight and snickered. "Impressive." was all the said before morphing away to follow where the wizard went with his child, leaving the five children to deal with the others.