Story: Three Nights and a Night (chapter 4)

Authors: Shanejayell

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Chapter 4

Title: Four

Hellsing: A thousand years of nights gone by.

The sun set, falling behind the great crystal towers of the city that was the capital not just of this island nation formerly known as Japan, but of the entire world. The city was Crystal Tokyo, and within a darkened suite there two figures slowly stirred to wakefulness.

Integra Hellsing gradually opened up her eyes, smiling slightly when she realized that she was looking into the eyes of her one true love.

“Good evening,” Seras Victoria smiled at her warmly.

“Good evening,” Integra agreed, and gently kissed her on the lips.

“Tonight’s the night,” Seras pulled back quite reluctantly. She smiled ruefully, “We get to go find out why the Senshi have taken an interest in us once again.”

Integra nodded gravely.

They had received the phone call only a few nights ago, from an old friend of theirs. They had met May back when the two of them had first started going to the Locket, and quite surprisingly hit it off. May wasn’t human, instead something called a cyberdoll, but because of that she didn’t feel threatened by the two vampires at all. Down through the centuries, she had always stayed in touch with them, offering a sympathetic ear and occasionally more serious backup.

Right then, however, May looked a bit worried. She smiled at their greetings but then she said, “Sorry, but this isn’t a social call. Arisugawa Juri just paid me a visit, and it seems the Sailor Senshi are taking an interest in you.”

“The Sailor Senshi?” Seras blinked in surprise. The sailor soldiers had become more and more public over the passage of centuries, while the two of them had done just the opposite. It has hard to battle villainous vampires in the bright glare of publicity, so they had chosen to slip away from them into the darkness of the shadows.

“Which Senshi is interested in is?” Integra asked and from the look on her face she was already considering the situation and devising a plan.

“Lady Mercury,” May replied simply, “it seems that she wants to set up a meeting with Seras at Arisugawa’s Locket.”

“Is the Locket still neutral territory?” Seras asked curiously.

“Oh, yes,” May gave them an almost feral smile as she added, “and we’ve still got the power to back that up.”

“She just asked for Seras?” Integra asked thoughtfully.

“That’s the message that Juri passed on to me,” May agreed.

“From what I remember, Mercury wasn’t the deceptive type,” Seras offered.

“People do change,” Integra reminded her gently. “Still, I think we should meet her,” she said. She looked at May’s image, “Could you let her know that Seras’s willing to meet her?”

“And not mention you,” May smiled slightly, getting Integra’s point. She nodded, “I’ll let her know.” With that, she signed off with a cheery wave.

“Let’s go see what she wants,” Integra smiled at her lover, “and if she does try to pull something, I promise to make her regret it.”

For a moment, the look on her lover’s face reminded Seras of Alucard at his most dangerous. “Let’s just hope it’s not necessary,” she said fervently.

“Occasionally, you’re just too kind for this line of work,” Integra said, but there was fondness and caring in her tone of voice.

“And proud of it,” Seras smiled back.

The travel arrangement’s weren’t hard to make, a night flight from New London to Crystal Tokyo was arranged, and in a flight that took less than a hour to complete they were across the globe. They took a few hours to look the city over, this strange mix of buildings from the last thousand years, then retired for the day.

Which brought them back to now.

“Lets go out to out to the Locket early, check the place out,” Integra suggested.

Seras thought it was much better than standing about waiting for the right time, so she agreed. They walked the streets, surprised at how little crowds there really were there. “I think there’s less people around than in London back in the twentieth,” Seras said to Integra quietly.

“You could be right,” Integra agreed, a oddly worried look on her face, “and I’m not sure that’s a good thing or a bad one.”

They were pleasantly surprised to discover that the bar looked much the same from the outside. A holographic image had replaced the old neon sign, but the cheery words ‘Arisugawa’s Locket’ still glowed brightly with the locket opening underneath to reveal a pretty girl.

The bouncer, a black haired woman in leather, gave the two of them a thoughtful glance and a nod. “Seras?” she asked her quietly.

“Yes,” Seras nodded, feeling comforted by Integra’s fingers laced into hers.

“Cyber Six,” the woman introduced herself. “If anything happens, May and the others are ready to back you up,” she smiled.

“Thank you,” Integra said softly, and the two headed down the hall inside.

A young woman there greeted them both cheerfully, but they were busy taking in the bar with their eyes. It was as if a thousand years had simply not passed by inside here, it looked that much the same. A few of the staff were different, but other than that!

“Wow,” Seras murmured.

“Indeed,” Integra agreed.

The two collected their drinks at the bar, offering greetings to the bartender Mahoro. “You’re early,” May’s amused voice came up from beside them.

“You’ve kept the place the same,” Seras beamed at her.

“It’s a historic monument, if you can believe it,” May chuckled softly.

“You have to admit, keeping a bar open over a thousand years is a bit of achievement,” Integra noted with a little smile. She noticed Seras looking thoughtfully over at the karaoke stage and quickly said, “Oh, no! No way.”

“I wasn’t going to try and make you sing,” Seras smirked. A bit more quietly she added, “But I wouldn’t mind you joining me up there.”

Integra hesitated, and Seras gave her a sweetly sad glance, until finally she laughed softly and said, “All right, I’ll do it.”

“Have fun,” May gave them a wave as Seras tugged Integra gently over to the stage.

Seras climbed up on the stage first, an impish smile on her face, and pulled her nervously smiling lover Integra up after her. Seras held the mike and sang to her blushing vampire companion with a charming grin...

“I died, so many years ago

And you can make me feel

Like it isn’t so

But why you come to be with me

I think I’ve always known

Never scared

Embracing what you feel

And you can tell the one you love

You know I always deal

Go whisper in this dead girl’s ear

I’ll always make it real

That’s great

And I always wanna play

‘Cause being with you touches me

More than I can say

And since I’m still the dead to you

I’m saying come and stay

And let us rest in peace,”

The number got a bit more rock and roll, and Seras took on a bit of an flamboyant strut as she continued on singing to her,

“Let us rest in peace

Let’s go get some sleep

Let’s take our love and bury it

In a hole six foot deep

We can lay our bodies down there

And find that sweet release

So let’s go rest in peace!”

To the cheering of the crowd the two vampires stepped down from the stage, Seras offering her help to Integra in a most gentlemanly fashion. They noticed Ami Mizuno standing nearby almost immediately and Seras gave her a smile, “It’s been a long time, Mercury.” A raised eyebrow, “Would you care to join us at a table?”

“I’d be glad to,” Ami smiled back at her, not seeming too surprised that she had been recognized. They walked over to an empty table and Seras held out a chair for Integra, who smiled up at her gratefully.

Integra smiled at Ami slightly, “I suppose you’re wondering when I became a vampire?”

“To be honest, yes,” Ami admitted.

“Alucard did it,” Integra explained to her, “at my own request.” She took a drink of her glass of blood wine, “I don’t think he was too surprised at my request to stay with Seras.”

Seras looked over at Ami calmly, “So why did you want to see me?”

Looking like she was buying herself some time, Ami flagged down a waitress.

“Hi!” Excel bounced up and down happily. She took Ami’s order and was gone in a flash, returning in a few moments with the glass of brandy.

“I wanted to let you know about something,” Ami took a cautious drink. “I, along with a few other experts, have been doing research on vampirism, and the biological aspects of the change,” she explained.

“And?” Integra asked her leadingly.

Ami gave her a smile, “We think we may be able to cure some of the disabilities that come with vampirism, including the light sensitivity.”

Integra raised an eyebrow, “And the catch is?”

Ami gave her a respectful nod at that question. “The treatments are still experimental,” she explained to them, “and any possible side-effects are still unknown.”

Seras didn’t need very long to think about it before she answered her, “I can’t speak for Integra, but for me the answer is no.” With a slight smile she added, “I’ve adapted to what I am, and I don’t think that I would want to change it.”

Integra nodded even as she reached out to take Seras’s hand, “I would tend to agree.”

Ami smiled slightly, “That’s pretty much what I was expecting.” She leaned back slightly, “Are you planning to stay in Crystal Tokyo?”

The two vampires exchanged a silent glance and then Seras cautiously answered her, “For the near future, at least. Why?”

Ami quickly reassured them, “The Queen is organizing a meeting up at the palace, officially it’s a conference of the immortals.” A grin, “But I really think it’s just a chance to get all our old friends together. I think she’d love to see you there.”

“We’d be honored,” Integra smiled.

Ami looked up, noticing a familiar face hovering at the edge of the dance floor. “Looks like my lover has arrived,” she chuckled, “please excuse me.” She left the table and walked towards her with a smile on her face.

Seras watched her go, a slight smile on her face. “Looks like wee were worried for nothing,” she said quietly.

“Hmm, maybe so,” Integra agreed. “But I’d rather not take chances,” she smiled.

Seras reached out, stroking Integra’s silvery gray hair back from her face. “Remember the last time we were here?” she asked.

A faint blush actually appeared on Integra’s face as she answered, “How could I forget?”

“Wanna try it again?” Seras smirked.

The End.

Author’s Notes for Three Nights: This started out in a discussion on about the series Hellsing, and the possibility of a romance between Integra and Seras. My basic argument was that Integra was such a rigidly controlled young lady that for anything to happen there would have to be some very unusual circumstances. So I set about to create those circumstances...

This story is set in my fictional bar, Arisugawa’s Locket. The characters from that series are Arisugawa Juri (Rev. Girl Utena), Bones Minagi and Ryouko (Tenchi Muyo OVA/ Manga).

First, I had to get Integra off duty. I suspect that tough, cold exterior she maintains is a conscious thing, so by having her go to a club and relax a bit, I could get by that. I also wanted to take a look at how she acts in the series, giving her a more human perspective.

Secondly, I had to get Seras there. Having Arucard recommend her to Arisugawa’s Locket solved that problem, and raises the question of the vampire matchmaking the two of them!

Thirdly, I had to get them to open up to each other a bit. I thought having them each give their point of view of their first meetings would be a good way to do that, as well as continuing to give Integra a softer side.

I’ll also be revising this fic after I see the third DVD and beyond. I keep hearing about a blood sharing incident between Integra and Seras in the manga that I’d love to include! I’ve already revised this fic from a first draft that had them in bed together quite quickly. After a bit of consideration and commentary, I felt that wasn’t realistic for the characters.

I’ve gotten a certain amount of flack about my handling of Integra Hellsing. As we only really see her on the job, it’s my contention that ‘off-duty’ Integra is wide open for various interpretations. I also don’t consider my showing a softer side to the character to be that far in conflict with the TV version. But, everybody’s entitled to an opinion..

I just want to thank all the readers who reviewed this fic, positive or negative. I haven’t read such a spirited debate in a long time. -

Author’s Note for a Thousand Years of Nights: Some of the material from this chapter appeared in a somewhat different form in my fic: Eternal City, Crystal Tokyo: Part Six. I’m considering featuring them again in that series, possibly in an episode about anime monsters.

Additional Characters: May, from Hand Maid May. Cyber Six from Cyber Six. Mahoro is from Mahoromatic. Excel from Excel Saga. And finally, Ami Mizuno from Sailor Moon.

The song ‘Rest In Peace’ is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, words altered by me.

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