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The Inglenook Tavern
Chaos theory said things fall apart, chaos theory said everything is random, everything is atrophy and unknown and there is no way you will ever control it or understand it. That it's all just guessing, you can't even count the possibilities you can never know, you can never prepare, you can never do anything about it. crap just happened. It happened ferociously and unstoppably, all physics and beyond the physics, rapidly changing numbers and beyond the numbers...who knows.
Chaos theory would be pondered for thousands of years.
Can you tell a smile from a veil? They were indistinguishable here, they were a permanent fixture of this Utopian city. As much a fixture as the invisible walls, or beckoning, threatening virus, a bell from a tower, the summons. Year after year, these would remain until they crumbled, and me veil would remain as well. Only time could erode it.
Bright eyes moistened in a old mans sockets as he stared at outward at the inconspicuous tavern from within the comfort of his caravan...the mysterious man seemed to of arrived later than he intended and thus found himself parked and quietly observing drunken oafs stumbling about in the mud as patrons left and entered hour after hour. He sat patiently as if waiting for something to be drawn to him, by fate, by chance, by aggression or any other motive. Hell maybe he did understand chaos theory. Maybe deep inside he knew how things tended to unravel.
Yes, yes he did understand. Silently the man counted down the time to himself...the sound of laughter and hushed mutters filling the air as a rather large group of customer all came waddling out of the tavern.
"Time...running out of time~" He growled, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply through his nostrils. His driver adjusted in the front of the wagon and shook his head, focusing on the nameless figure in the backseat.
"He needs to know Mi'lord, before things get escalate and get out of hand~" The Driver mused, making the gray skinned man nod his head.
"Fuckin...tell me about it~" He commanded, adjusting his hat and popping the door of the wagon open. A single boot greeting the dirt as the man pushed himself out and twisted his neck, audibly cracking the bones as the man adjusted his tie and fixed his clothes. Stepping around the side of the strangers exiting the tavern as the light hit his face, revealing severe burns and scarred tissue along the surface of his dead, gray skin. His eyes cold and his lips stripped away into a grisly display of disfigurement from the Glasgow smile that was carved into his face.
His dead eyes would wander over the few men and women gathered as the taller man strolled by them. The shadow he cast over them dancing as a wicked grin spread across his lips. Many of them when meeting his gaze recoiled as their skin began to crawl with the mere sight of him, distancing themselves from the monstrosity that made his way to the front of the tavern.
Once inside the mysterious figure merely took a seat near the door waiting as if someone were going to join him. The tavern mostly empty aside from the one of two occupants completely shit faced in the back and laying flat out on the tables as maids attempted to get them up and either out the tavern or into their rooms upstairs.
The result was immediate. The door to the back of the tavern cracked open and out came a man dressed like a table boy. An older man...one who the stranger knew well. Well enough to know that this setting was not very fitting for either of them.
"Kingsley? Is that you?" Alfred asked, his voice heavy with worry as the man in black reached up to pull off his hat, bringing it down to his chest as he looked the old man over. Immediately he shook his head and gave him a good look over. "You look-"
"Not a day over twenty? Alfred please, your gonna make me blush~" Kingsley teased, giving a low chuckle as Alfred scoffed a laugh at the man, looking towards some of the horrified drunken men as they stared at the freak of nature through the window before retreating away from the establishment.
"You know its always good to see you old friend but you could have sent a raven first, i fear you may of scared off my customers-"
"Oh i'm afraid i'm here because of an urgent matter. We need to talk Al and i fear it can't wait, so your little business is gonna be slow for a while." Kingsley cut in, narrowing his eyes tightly and giving Alfred a look that told him that this could not wait. The Man gave a brief nod of understanding before heading to the door, shutting the blinds and turning the sign on the door from 'open' to 'closed'.
"What is this all about Kingsley? You vanish for a decade then pop back up out of the blue like this? What's going on?" Alfred asked in a hushed tone as the disfigured man shifted his gaze along the restaurant as if inspecting it.
"You've heard the news?" He began before reverting his eyes back to Alfred. "Royalty, Nobility, Businessmen and even Headmasters of colleges have begun to vanish all over. Starting with the big time and ending with the little fish. But things have escalated now...Children all over the world are going missing, infants from their cribs, little ones from the playgrounds, and in some rarer cases even pregnant women."
Alfred stared, grimacing at the mention of pregnant women vanishing and only inhaling deeply when the children were brought up.
"News? People have been vanishing throughout time King, you sure your not just connecting dots where they don't exist?" Alfred replied, running a hand along his chin as Kingsley began to chuckle darkly.
"Oh yeah? Shit your right, people have been disappearing since recorded history. I guess i'm just seeing problems a little late, i mean gee golly how could i have possibly overlooked that critical detail?" He sarcastically gasped and fussed, making Alfred roll his eyes and hake his head violently.
"Ok ok, you made your point. So you think these random disappearances aren't random? Is that what you are implying?" Alfred asked with a skeptical look. Kingsley asked, making Alfred squint suspiciously.
"Every disappearance in the world? No of course not you dope. Some people just get snatched up by bears when walking through the forest and are never heard from again alright? That ain't what i'm talking about Al." He hissed, inhaling deeply and looking around to the men getting escorted up to their rooms by the barmaids. "You remember The Black Rose?" Kingsley whispered secretively. The look that feel upon Alfreds face made Kingsley clench his jaw as the old men both began to take this conversation much more seriously.
"What? How could i forget? What are you saying? The ones behind Cerberus and Vostok are also behind the disappearances?" He asked, forcing a low sigh out of the man in black as he leaned against the chair.
"Cerberus and Vostok were small time Al, was more of a test run than anything else. Whats happening now is far more advanced and sophisticated than anything they could muster before. But the big thing is...The Black Rose HAS returned, and they are planning something BIG. We helped destroy them once upon a time, but there were survivors. You and i always knew there had to be....well, now we know there are" He whispered, looking around the diner nervously before leaning in a bit closer. "I don't know exactly what they are up to. But i did some research in the archives we locked away after the war. Cerberus was easy to figure out, but remember how Vostok always baffled us and the others? I think i may have cracked it. Vostok we always assumed had something to do with the manipulation of natural and magical energies. Mutating trees, grass, flowers and ect. Even animals were tested but we could never tell for what purpose. But i think they weren't trying to make creepy plants and fucked up looking rabbits alright. They were trying to create a chain reaction in nature itself to creatue sustainable magical essence from completely natural sources. Cerberus and Vostok was childs play Alfred, whats happening in the dark is far, far worse...and we need to stop it before things get out of control." Kingsley explained, the urgency in his voice growing as the disfigured man laid it all out for Alfred.
Alfred stared for a long moment, clearly thinking this through as he took in all the information he was given. Processing all this took him a moment as he leaned back and folded his fingers together.
"...How exactly did 'you' get all this information Kingsley? If memory serves me correctly your organization does not serve human or really any kind of agendas. Which begs the question, why are you bringing this to me and how did you figure this all out?" Alfred questioned suspiciously as he looked up at Kingsley.
"Oh don't be like that Al. We go back to far for you to be suspecting me of foul play, The Hellsing Organization pokes its thumbs into many pies and it just so happens the pie of dark magic and blood pacts is reasonably profitable. Besides, whats happening these days involves everyone Alfred, i am bringing this to you in good faith that you will act on it logically. Reach out to your sources, shake a few trees and rattle some bones. Everything i told you is everything i know and unfortunately there is nothing more i can give you. The Black Rose is extremely secretive, it's like trying to catch smoke. But luckily for you i have a lead." Kingsley mused, weighing his head to the side as Alfred glared at him.
"A lead? And what might that be?" He asked with a quirked brow.
"Someone you and i both know has been sniffing out little birds who love to sing. She has been getting more and more high profile lately and even has quite a few bounties on her head." He pulled a small black book from his jacket with a tight, crimson overlay and silver text written upon the surface.
V.V
He handed the book to Alfred who took a single glance at the initials and furrowed his brow, popping the book open to be met a swirl of dancing text that collectively shifted and rearranged itself into bold, red wording.
'Only in the dark can you truly appreciate the light~'
Vanya Valentine
Alfred felt his heart ache at the thought of the poor girl as he examined some of the details on the front. "Little Red? She still...ya know....hunts?" Alfred stated bitterly as he flipped through a couple of the pages. "Last time i saw her she was just a baby. Horrible what happened to her family, i know the Valentines did a lot in founding the Hellsing organization. She still keep in touch? How does she fit into all this?"
"Alfred please, she's a grown woman now...Funnily enough a lot of the people who have been trying to hunt her down gave her a nickname...guess what it is." He joked, lifting a leg and crossing it over his knee.
"What? Something stupid like The Blue Eyed Devil?" He mused with a blank look as Kingsley scoffed.
"Thats not bad but nope...they call her 'Bloodhound' now. Ain't that fuckin ironic? The pup is all grown up, you were wise to lend her to my care. She was always a wild child Al, raising her in the city would have simply endangered everyone in the manor. Humans would be raised among humans...monsters should be raised among other monsters. And you know how she was back then. Once that pup caught a scent there was little you could do to stop her from following it and i'm afraid that's what happened here. She is hungry and has hit the age where she just can't help herself. She's been siring new Vycans like herself and making moves on her own so needless to say she has found that independence she sought out to find when she left us. No one has been in contact with her for over five years. We've been tracking her but every time we get close she just slips away. Recently she's been leaving behind a body count rivaling the fuckin Templar so that tells me only one thing-"
"She's getting closer and thus she is meeting more resistance~" Alfred finished, closing her Dossier for the time being, deciding to go through it later. "So if you don't know where she is then how exactly is she a lead?" Alfred asked as he set the book down beside his leg.
Kingsley chuckled darkly and weighed his head back and forth as he pointed at the book.
"Red is a brilliant strategist and clever pup. She lives for the thrill of the hunt and based on what i've been hearing she's been rattling a lot of cages these past few years and some of the latest victims of her hunt are suspected members or associates of The Black Rose. If there is anyone who has intelligence on them, my money would be on her. My people tracked her back to Allir Reach months ago and based on what a little bird told me, she is here, in Balgrath. You will have one shot at finding her Alfred...one...chance. If you miss your window and she gets even the sneaking suspicion that you are onto her, she's gone. Like a puff of smoke she will vanish and neither you or i will see her again for however long she decides to disappear. And god forbid you interfere with her hunt, she takes the game very seriously Al, and she will not share her prey willingly, so be careful." He explained, lifting a hand and gesturing to his disfigured face.
"She did this the first time i tried to get between her and her prey. I'd suggest giving your people the Dossier and briefing them on the situation before sending them after her." He suggested, taking his hat and placing it back onto his head and turning his back on Alfred, walking away and heading back towards the tavern door. "She's grown ya know. And that comes with both excitement and terror. She's reached the age where both sides of her linage settling with one another and with her age comes her instinct to not only hunt...but to spread. Way i hear it she already has a coven and who knows what she'll be capable of by the time she's our age. She's the last purebred of her kind and has no one to help her. Not since the Valentine Massacre...i think she's scared. And i think that is why she does what she does. Distracting herself with a hunt is all she knows how to do. And eventually not even that will be enough to tame her and i don't wanna be around when little Red no longer has worthy prey to hunt." Kingsley explained, a bit more emotion clinging to his tone as he lowered his head and shook it. Pushing the diner door open and taking a step out before looking back over his shoulder. "Gods above...we are getting to old for this shit. And speaking of being to old i took the liberty of locating some...talent to assist with this little game of hide and seek. Skilled mercenaries, spies, thieves, and even some scholars. All paid out my own pocket of course but i want you on overwatch. I honestly don't plan on half of them surviving the first phase of just finding Red so i just hired a bunch that were looking for coin so don't feel bad if some of them die. They should be here in a~"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
Both Alfred and Kingsley gave looks at the door and Kingsley made a 'whoops' face.
"Alright well that is my cue to bounce. You have the book, contains everything you need to know about Red and how to track her. Give these guys the run down, they all already have half the payment. They were informed to do as you say as far as operational command and when the job is completed...if they are still alive. They will get the other half...plus whatever extra is laying around if any of them bite the dust." He explained, feeling his pockets and popping open the door to reveal a bunch of hooded figures and strange individuals as they all piled into the Tavern and occupied the seats to hear the specifics about the job.
Alfred sat in stunned silence as his gaze shifted back down to the book tucked beside his leg. Closing his eyes reaching into his pocket Alfred pulled out a locket. Popping it open and revealing a tiny little tooth in red fabric...more specifically...a fang. A baby fang to be precise.
"What are you doing out there kid?" He whispered before standing from his seat and shutting the door when everyone was inside and settled. Shutting and locking up he made his way to the front of the room and huffed.
"Let me begin by being honest with each and every one of you...you lot may have taken this job knowing the risks...but it is my job to make sure you all walk out of this alive..." He leaned back against the bar.
"I will not succeed~"
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