Order 02: That Which She Awoke to and What She Slept Through
Xavier Rall
Merely an aspiring writer.
- Location
- Dunellen, NJ
A/N: I would to thank everyone who both liked and favorited this story, and most especially those who gave their honest opinions about this story`s slip-ups. I will work to address all of my story`s issues in the coming days.
Also, if someone wants me to write something new, they can PM me the idea, which can be either one of the premises I already have posted on my profile, or one of their own. There are no official polls for story ideas, but "Can They Handle the Truth?" has been confirmed and will be published in December.
In the meantime, the current poll is simply asking people for their favorite thing about my popular Hellsing/Tokyo Ghoul crossover "Sending A Bigger Monster."
And now, on a serious note, I would like to write a message to my fellow Americans in the wake of Donald Trump`s victory in this election.
The results have been in for a few days and the reaction is as expected for such an outcome.
Some are joyous and hopeful.
Some are heartbroken and furious.
And everyone has very good reason to feel the way that they do.
Those that voted for Trump felt that their nation had left millions of people, themselves included, behind. They felt that their share of the American Dream had been
shortchanged in favor of high-and-mighty rhetoric that promised hope and change but gave them despair and an unchanging status quo. They wanted the country to be fixed in the wake of Bush`s mistakes, from the recession to the Iraq War – they got an economy that failed to live up to their expectations, and ISIS running rampant in the Middle East. When they wanted affordable healthcare, they got Obamacare with all of its failed promises and hiking premiums. They saw a political establishment that had adopted a holier-than-thou attitude that would do or say anything for the sake of votes, but not for real change. They looked upon it, and when they heard allegations of election-rigging, negligent governance, and straight-up corruption, they labeled it unforgivable even as they in turn were labeled deplorable. And when everyone else offered a scalpel for an expert surgery, Trump offered the familiar workman`s sledgehammer, which could be used for the dual purposes of destruction and construction. With it, he promised to destroy the political establishment and everything they represented, from ditching Obamacare and unraveling Obama`s executive orders to restricting immigration and ending abortion. And then, he promised to use this same tool to rebuild the economy by bringing back jobs from renegotiating trade deals and rebuilding infrastructure.
They chose the sledgehammer.
But those who didn`t vote for him also had very good reason.
When they looked upon him, they saw the very worst of everything that a person could be. He was a bigot, a xenophobe, a misogynist, an idiot, and absolutely unqualified temperamentally to be president. In each and every speech he made, they looked upon him and saw someone would say anything and everything vulgar or insulting to anyone who wasn`t white, male, or one of his supporters, and they avoided him like the plague because he embodied the very worst of their nightmares. They chose either to abstain, vote third-party, or, most of all, vote for Clinton. In her, they saw someone experienced, confident, intelligent, and modern. They looked upon her as the embodiment of what a 21st century America ought to be, embracing the LGBT movement, modern feminism, multiculturalism, and globalism. In each and every debate, Clinton maintained a steadfast and powerful presence, saying and pledging to do everything that they wanted to hear. And it very much didn`t hurt that she was the first woman in history that held a serious chance for winning the White House, and it would have been a dream come true, especially coming on the coattails of the first minority president in US history. And one who understands this cannot help but be truly sorry for their loss at defining history.
Although I will not say who I voted for, I will however state that, in my opinion, it is with very good reason that these two candidates are considered the most unpopular that their respective parties have ever offered the American people, and the near-even split of the popular vote exemplifies this above all else.
But, just as in this story Sir Integra must confront the reality of a Great Britain that has a vampire for a Queen, we in real-life America must do the same with ours of a White House to be occupied by Trump. To do otherwise would be spitting in the faces of the Founding Fathers who established this democracy close to two-and-a-half centuries ago, which has allowed us to build one of the most influential and powerful nations in the history of the world.
All the world is watching the United States of America, and they will judge us for how we handle living under a Trump presidency just as much the presidency itself. Over the next four years, we will either experience one of the greatest presidencies in history, or one of the absolute worst. For better or for worse, Donald John Trump will be our 45th President, and although he will become the most powerful man on Earth, he is both far from omnipotent, and his presidency is far from certain. We cannot know the quality of his administration before it even has a chance to begin. It is only when his work begins and his plans are put into motion can we even begin to make a rational judgment. As he works, if he sets out to do something that is in the indisputable genuine interest of the American people, we must be there to give him aid. If he sets out to do something that would be unequivocally of genuine harm to the American people, we must be there to stop him.
In the meantime, we must remember that, more than just being men, women, white, black, poor, rich, conservative, liberal, straight, homosexual, Republican, Democrat, a Trump voter, a Clinton voter, or anything in between, we are Americans. And our country needs us to remember that we are a brotherhood, one that has come together to face the greatest crises the world has ever experienced and come out the stronger for it. This is a storm of our own creation, and only we can dispel it, and heal our broken land.
I wish that I knew for certain what we should do in this time that tries men`s souls. All I can say is that we must hope and pray dearly with all our hearts that everyone will cast aside their bitter differences and be the America that it was always meant to be.
God Bless America, God Bless the American People, and God Save the President.
[video]
Order 02: That Which She Awoke to and What She Slept Through
London
Present
Seras POV
Looking out her car window, Seras watched the city of London roll by like a constantly changing mural.
She saw the mighty city`s streets flood with traffic, as cars and trucks carried people and commerce to and fro with bright headlights piercing through the foggy night. She saw the streetlamps stand sentinel, doing their eternal duty of staving off the fearful darkness for the sake of those who chose to still walk about outside in spite of it. The many buildings they passed had light being seen through many windows, from office towers to squatting pubs and polished hotels to simple apartments. In these, she saw the London that was, as if the city had never been laid low.
But she could see, both here and beyond, reminders of that great tragedy ten years ago, and the many scars the city continued to bear through the present.
After Millennium`s attack, most of the city lay in ruins, with the V1s and subsequent fires having destroyed almost all of the city`s major landmarks along with most of the cityscape. For the Londoners who survived, one of the most constant reminders was the ringing of Tiny Tim`s bells to mark the hours that passed. Although many Londoners missed Big Ben enough to have a new clock tower built, they were too fond of the old one to simple build what many felt would be little more than a cheap replica, an offense to already-slighted British dignity. This sentiment was what prompted many Londoners to simply have London to be largely rebuilt as something new, and so, in a sense, allowing the old city to rest.
Passing through an intersection, she saw a statue set up in the center, a steel figure of a wailing infant in the midst of collapsed, jagged rubble. The Memorial to Lost Newborns, it was one of many different monuments to memorialize the people and lives lost on that fateful night. More than three million citizens of London had been straight up massacred in the deadliest twenty-four hours in the history of the world, and the people and then-interim government of Britain had gone to great lengths to make sure that not one soul would be doomed to oblivion from human memory.
"Thoughtfully contemplating London, Your Majesty?"
Her attention turned back to the person seated across from her in the royal limousine, a black-haired man of early thirties dressed in a dark grey formal suit and pants. He was Lionel Granbridge, the prime minister of the United Kingdom.
"Yes. And again please, call me Seras when we`re in private," she replied tiredly.
"Sorry, Yo- Seras. But you must understand that I`m still an English gentleman, and that even the end of the civilized world as we know and love it is never a good excuse to neglect one`s hard-won sense of propriety. Also, being that I`m your prime minister, it is my duty to remind you of the need to build up and maintain your own, because vampire or not, you are still the Queen, and respect for the crown remains essential to the identity of all English gentlemen, let alone the masses of Great Britain and her empire."
"I don`t forget that my greatest dream as a little girl from a suburban family was to be a police officer like my father," she fired back. "And that while I never asked for the crown, it was laid upon my head anyway. And you`ve always been at the forefront to keeping me away from it."
"You don`t need to repeat what we both already know. Although I do believe people are starting to regain their senses by electing me prime minister instead of that flatterer who would have been nothing but your yes-man as the people so crudely, but accurately put it."
Seras smiled. "You`ve always been so honest about yourself in front of others."
He smirked in return. "I feel that disguising one`s true colors is the height of rudeness, and my parents have drilled into me the importance of being respectful to others, even if it means telling them that you think very poorly of them."
She laughed softly. "You are indeed a very sensible man. And that`s why I would like to tell you something important."
"Oh?" He leaned forward slightly, interested. "Is this why you offered to have your royal coach drive me home? To give me word on some scandal that`s ready to break out that you couldn`t let proper society learn from the tabloids?"
"No, no, it`s actually very wonderful news," She said, waving off his query. "I was just giving Sir Integra my weekly visit before I headed to the Ball, and she finally woke up!"
Lionel`s eyes widened as he sat back. "Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing? The Master of Monsters? The Guardian of the Night?"
Seras nodded. "My former employer and my Master`s master."
"That is truly incredible news! A good number of people still feel that we haven`t fully recovered from the Millennium War, but her reawakening will do wonders for the nation`s morale!" He paused for a moment, looking at Seras curiously. "But then, the Orphan`s Ball was the perfect venue to make this sort of announcement. Why didn`t you give the world this news then?"
"Well, for one, Sir Integra only woke up a few hours ago, so she`s been sleeping for ten years. She`s very weak and tired right now, at least physically, and she`s used to doing her work out of the public eye, so I don`t think she`s prepared in body and mind for suddenly having the attention of the whole world thrust upon her. The second thing is that a lot has happened in the ten years that she`s been asleep. I think she may be in a little bit of denial that her "Police Girl" is now the Queen of England. And I don`t know how well she`ll react to how much the presence of the supernatural has increased in that time in the public eye."
"That`s true," Lionel conceded. "If someone had told me ten years ago that vampires, werewolves, and even magic existed, I would have questioned their mental stability. Now, there`s enough of them about to call them merely unusual instead of downright ludicrous. Although, I`m sure those aren`t your only reason, correct?"
Seras nodded, allowing some sadness to grace her features. "I don`t think it would have felt right to have made that kind of announcement then and there. It would have given people the wrong kind of idea as to why I hold the Orphans` Ball in the first place."
Lionel simply bowed his head. "I understand."
The moment that Seras Victoria had first appeared in the public eye, among the first things that everyone learned about her was that she had been orphaned at the age of four when her mother and policeman father were brutally murdered in front of her. She then had a very rough childhood during the years she spent in the system. From the beginning, Seras had worked however she could to make things better for Britain`s children, especially the orphans. And ever since her coronation, this issue had become one of the hallmarks of her reign, and was the sole issue in which she received near-universal support.
"You will still be making some manner of announcement, correct?" he asked. "You can`t hide this away for very long."
"Not to worry," she said. "I`ve instructed the nurses to let her have as much rest as she likes, and I`ve asked a few of my people to head on over to help bring her up to speed on past and current events. I will hold a formal press conference tomorrow night to make the announcement."
"Might I perhaps visit, and formally meet her myself?" he offered.
"Not until after I make the announcement, please. I want it to be as much of a surprise as possible. Although if you do want to help, you can tell the press tomorrow that I will be making an announcement in the evening concerning very recent developments that I seek to address personally."
"Alright. I can do that. What will you be doing in the meantime?"
"I will probably be working through tomorrow afternoon if I need to. I have a lot on my plate and I want to either deal with as much as I can or put it off so that I will be able to visit Sir Integra and personally reassure her on what`s happened."
Just then, the car slowed to a stop. Looking out the window, Lionel saw the prime minister`s residence. "Very fortuitous timing. Your driver seems to have his own excellent sense of propriety." The door was opened and he stepped out. He turned to Seras one more time. "I bid you good night, Your Majesty, and please extend my warmest wishes to Sir Integra for me."
Seras smiled warmly. "Of course, Prime Minister. And please give your darling children mine."
He returned a genuine grin of his own. "I will."
The door then closed, and he turned and walked into his home.
The car thus began driving back to the royal residence, and Seras once again occupied herself with watching the world change before her eyes.
Integra POV
Upon awakening that morning, Integra observed her surroundings. The same black chair that Seras had sat in the night before was in the same place at the bedside. The curtains
that allowed only a crack of sunlight to poke through were the same as the ones that had been open to a view of what looked like London. The strange, flat television screen that hung from the opposite wall as if suspended in mid-air was the same as before. Forming an idea, she looked about the large, soft bed that she lay upon and found a remote control for the television.
After finding the still-familiar power icon on the button-crammed device, she turned on the television and, to her satisfaction, already found it tuned in to a local news station. It showed a small group of unfamiliar newscasters who were discussing something. The underlying caption on the screen read PRIME MINISTER AND QUEEN SEEN LEAVING ORPHANS` BALL TOGETHER.
[Newscaster 1: Questions and rumors are spreading everywhere today after the prime minister, Lionel Granbridge and Queen Seras I, were seen leaving the Orphans` Ball
together last night after the end of the popular and high-profile charity event, where the royal limousine was eventually reported to have simply dropped the prime minister off at his residence. *Turns to other newscasters* Okay, now while the No-Life Queen has done this multiple times in the past with members of Parliament and military officers, she has never done this with someone who is so openly hostile towards her.]
[Newscaster 2: That`s true, Nathan. Despite the fact that the No-Life Queen still remains a very popular figure according to the most recent polls, Granbridge, who has been one of her stoutest political opponents for years, still succeeded in being elected to the office of prime minister through his "Sensibility" campaign, one of its biggest platforms of which was working to remove Queen Seras from the throne.]
[Newscaster 3: Still, this hasn`t stopped the Queen from reaching out to Granbridge ever since he won. She has shown in the past to be very politically active throughout her reign, and her input on various issues have influenced the passage and blocking of a number of different measures from Parliament, and she has done this by specifically reaching out to her opponents.]
[Newscaster 4: Still, the fact that she is doing something this personal for one of her most adamant public enemies is what really has people asking questions. According to past occasions, the Queen has often gone to such lengths to maintain secrecy before the public is informed about some manner of major development, and the last time she did this was with-]
She turned the television off. Not even the end of the world as we know it can stop the media from being a pack of starving dogs looking for any scrap of bone to chew to dust. It`s true what they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. It`s strangely comforting.
At first, Sir Integra thought that Seras had been playing some manner of cruel practical joke on her the other day. Even as the nurses and doctors came in and fussed over her physical and mental well-being for hours on end.
The part about her being asleep for a long time was believable, as it explained why she felt so weak, and the lack of response from her left eye caused her to remember that the pitiful little Major had shot her just as she had shot him, giving good reason for her current condition. Ten years, however, was a stretch at best.
Then there was Seras` new wardrobe. Since Alucard`s extensive powers allowed him to mentally craft his own clothing according to his will, there wasn`t any reason Seras couldn`t do the same. But her choice of attire was completely out of character from the Police Girl she remembered.
And then that man, Matthias, dressed as a butler addressed Seras as "Her majesty," and did so with full respect for the title without any hint of humor in his voice.
When she questioned the nurses, she was quite shocked at how much had changed, not only in Britain, but the world at large. Millennium had attacked not only Great Britain, but practically every world power and even those nations that had a major stake in international politics. Governments collapsed everywhere, mass riots took place in major cities across the globe, and the aftermath of many of these disasters produced a multitude of wars that affected literally every corner of the world for years.
Although the Americans lost almost the entirety of their government, they actually succeeded in coming together as a united country for a change after a couple days of panic and slapped a new government together with less than the usual amount of fuss they put into it. Much the same could be said of Canada, Japan, and even Germany, although she knew that the nation as a whole had long put the Nazis behind them.
Unfortunately, there was extensive civil disorder for months throughout Europe, while civil wars and separatist rebellions erupted across Africa, Latin America, and Asia, especially in Russia, South Africa, and even China, with the most affected regions being the Middle East and South Asia. Although most of the fighting was finally settled over time, a number of conflicts that resulted from the Millennium War (Sir Integra hated the name vehemently) still persisted to the present, leaving the political map of the world in a constant state of flux.
"Good morning, Sir Integra."
Turning to the door, Integra saw one of the nurses who had attended to her the night before, carrying a tray of food, with a folded newspaper on one side.
"Good morning, Natalie," she replied cordially.
"Did you sleep well?" Natalie asked. "I mean; you did just wake up from a coma to learn the Queen was a vampire."
"And my former employee," she replied.
Natalie laughed nervously at that. "Yes, that would make things rather awkward."
Walking over, she laid the tray over Integra`s lap, showing a traditional English breakfast of fried eggs, ham, sausages, toasted bread with either butter and jam to spread on, fruit and beans with a glass of orange juice. Sir Integra smiled at the familiarly beautiful spread and enticing aroma. Crossing herself and folding her hands, Integra said her meal prayers: "Blessed are you, O Lord our God. You give us food to sustain our lives and make our hearts glad. Amen." Crossing herself again, she grasped the provided fork and knife
and began slicing her ham and eating it.
The nurse spoke up and asked: "Is the meal to your liking?"
Integra, after swallowing her bite, replied, "Yes. It`s not the best, but it`s still very good."
Natalie beamed. "Well, I`ll leave you to yourself. When you`re finished, just push the button here beside the bed to let us know. If you want to entertain yourself, the telley has over 500 channels to choose from, and today`s paper is there on your tray." She turned to walk out.
"Wait," Integra commanded. The woman stopped, turning back to the bedridden, but strong woman. "Stay a while longer, there are a few questions I have that need asking that I didn`t get the opportunity to properly formulate last night."
Natalie turned around, facing Sir Integra. "What kind of questions?"
"Namely about how Seras Victoria is now the Queen, despite any manner of logic against the thought that I can conceive of. Why would the most sacred office and title in the entire empire be bestowed upon one of the unholiest creatures imaginable? Also, why a common former policewoman? Even if the entire Royal Family and the whole of Parliament had been annihilated by Millennium, there had to surely have been some noble house or high-ranking military officer that survived. One of these people surely would have made for a far more qualified candidate for the crown than her based on credentials alone. And to top that off, didn`t the Archbishop of Canterbury live through that tragedy? I can`t imagine that he, or any high-ranking member of the Church of England for that matter, would have approved of such a proposal without serious protest at the very least.
"And yet, here I am, waking up ten years after Millennium`s attack to find a vampire, the fledgling of Dracula himself, sitting upon the throne of the United Kingdom in the midst of a time of seeming peace and prosperity while enjoying the love of the majority and the respect of the whole. I have never witnessed anything so ridiculous in my entire life. Millennium`s attack made sense in its own way, but all of this doesn`t.
"So please, why Seras?"
Natalie gained a distant look in her eye. Then she walked over to the window, and pulled the curtains open, allowing the sunlight to flood in and revealing a stunning view of a changed, but still majestic London. She looked back to Sir Integra.
"Because she was there for us, every step of the way, from the very beginning."
Natalie POV
Ruins of London
From the moment the van entered the city, Natalie couldn`t help but feel that the whole thing was very surreal and terrifying.
As soon as those ominous-looking blimps floated into the skies above, she knew that she had to get out of London. This choice was swiftly vindicated when explosions were heard going off throughout the metropolis. She thanked God that she had never lived very close to the center, so she was at the city outskirts by the time the attack had begun.
At first, she had been unable to do anything, just join forming crowds of people who gathered to give aid to those Londoners that managed to escape the fiery trap that their home had become.
Thanks to her having done volunteer first aid work at disaster zones overseas before, she decided to do the same here. Working with the professional doctors and paramedics that were on the scene and who continued to come, she helped with blood transfusions, bandaging and stitching up wounds, and moving different patients to where they needed to be based on the severity of their situation. As she did so, the wounded began saying some rather strange things to say the least.
Nazis gunning down innocent citizens in droves. Vampires eating the flesh and blood of infants. Zombies walking the streets and adding new unfortunates to their horde. Even a wild story about Roman Catholic priests of all people fighting back against them with guns and swords. At that point, as the tales became even more nightmarish, Natalie just simply decided to think of it all as mass hallucinations induced by some manner of gas agent that the terrorists blowing up London used to confuse the masses. Although she never could shake the feeling that they were telling the truth.
When morning came, people finally stopped coming, and the volunteers could finally get some rest. That was when she and several other people saw a red streak fly through the air and land at the front of the blockade. Later, she heard from one of the doctors that it was a female vampire – no joke – that had come in, carrying with it a young woman with a gunshot wound to the head. While the woman had been saved, the doctor confessed that he could feel the monster`s presence the entire time as they operated, showing a very clear concern for the patient and immense gratitude for their work, despite the fact they doubted she would awaken for a while. Later, this same vampire apparently met with a couple very important people, just as some rogue soldier shot and killed them. She flew back into London after wailing for a little bit.
Natalie found it just a little bit fantastic.
After people got some rest, the volunteers and doctors were told by the people in the blockade that aerial surveillance now decided that the city was clear, and safe for entry.
They also said that large numbers of survivors had been found scattered across the city, and that they would moving to their rescue. And so, the army of soldiers, policemen, firefighters, doctors, nurses, rescue personnel and volunteers poured into the city.
Natalie`s group was driving along when a child burst out an alley in front of them, forcing them to a screeching halt. When they came out to get her, she said, between her panicked cries and sniffles, that her parents and a lot of people were hurt and needed help. Rushing to the scene, they found a large group of people next to an excavated station to the London Underground. As they got closer, they noticed that some of them had already received some first aid, done very well, although not expertly. They were also somewhat quiet, compared to the people who had escaped London. Before they could ask why, they heard a small series of grunts from inside the station. They then saw a small group of people walking out, some with injuries and being assisted with their walking.
But it was the last three who drew everyone`s attention. One was a woman, who had only scrapes and bruises but showed greater concern for the second, who was a middle-aged man who was unconscious, barely breathing, but clearly in great pain from his many bandaged and stitched-up wounds. And he was being carried by the third individual, who caught the attention of the volunteers with the shadow-like substance emanating out of its left shoulder to carry the man, and the red eyes it sported.
It was the vampire that had been in their camp that morning.
"Mommy! Daddy!" the little girl cried, running up to the first two figures before the volunteers had a chance to react.
The woman turned and scooped the child into her arms, crying and worrying over her in equal measure. One of the other survivors spread out a coat when the vampire asked for something to put the man down on. The little girl was put down, and she went to her laid-out father, who still struggled to breathe. Then, looking at the vampire who had carried him out, she ran up and gave her a hug. Although clearly surprised, it returned the embrace, stroking her hair.
"Thank you lady, for saving my mommy and daddy," she said, muffled by its body.
It then replied with a strange, echoing, and otherworldly voice. "You`re welcome." A taste of sadness was evident in her voice. After letting go of the little girl, she looked over the volunteers and survivors who looked upon her in stunned silence.
Without a word by any of them, the vampire spread its shadows into wings and flew off into the city.
That day, for the first time in this entire Hollywood blockbuster of a disaster, Natalie felt something new surge through her being:
Hope.
Also, if someone wants me to write something new, they can PM me the idea, which can be either one of the premises I already have posted on my profile, or one of their own. There are no official polls for story ideas, but "Can They Handle the Truth?" has been confirmed and will be published in December.
In the meantime, the current poll is simply asking people for their favorite thing about my popular Hellsing/Tokyo Ghoul crossover "Sending A Bigger Monster."
And now, on a serious note, I would like to write a message to my fellow Americans in the wake of Donald Trump`s victory in this election.
The results have been in for a few days and the reaction is as expected for such an outcome.
Some are joyous and hopeful.
Some are heartbroken and furious.
And everyone has very good reason to feel the way that they do.
Those that voted for Trump felt that their nation had left millions of people, themselves included, behind. They felt that their share of the American Dream had been
shortchanged in favor of high-and-mighty rhetoric that promised hope and change but gave them despair and an unchanging status quo. They wanted the country to be fixed in the wake of Bush`s mistakes, from the recession to the Iraq War – they got an economy that failed to live up to their expectations, and ISIS running rampant in the Middle East. When they wanted affordable healthcare, they got Obamacare with all of its failed promises and hiking premiums. They saw a political establishment that had adopted a holier-than-thou attitude that would do or say anything for the sake of votes, but not for real change. They looked upon it, and when they heard allegations of election-rigging, negligent governance, and straight-up corruption, they labeled it unforgivable even as they in turn were labeled deplorable. And when everyone else offered a scalpel for an expert surgery, Trump offered the familiar workman`s sledgehammer, which could be used for the dual purposes of destruction and construction. With it, he promised to destroy the political establishment and everything they represented, from ditching Obamacare and unraveling Obama`s executive orders to restricting immigration and ending abortion. And then, he promised to use this same tool to rebuild the economy by bringing back jobs from renegotiating trade deals and rebuilding infrastructure.
They chose the sledgehammer.
But those who didn`t vote for him also had very good reason.
When they looked upon him, they saw the very worst of everything that a person could be. He was a bigot, a xenophobe, a misogynist, an idiot, and absolutely unqualified temperamentally to be president. In each and every speech he made, they looked upon him and saw someone would say anything and everything vulgar or insulting to anyone who wasn`t white, male, or one of his supporters, and they avoided him like the plague because he embodied the very worst of their nightmares. They chose either to abstain, vote third-party, or, most of all, vote for Clinton. In her, they saw someone experienced, confident, intelligent, and modern. They looked upon her as the embodiment of what a 21st century America ought to be, embracing the LGBT movement, modern feminism, multiculturalism, and globalism. In each and every debate, Clinton maintained a steadfast and powerful presence, saying and pledging to do everything that they wanted to hear. And it very much didn`t hurt that she was the first woman in history that held a serious chance for winning the White House, and it would have been a dream come true, especially coming on the coattails of the first minority president in US history. And one who understands this cannot help but be truly sorry for their loss at defining history.
Although I will not say who I voted for, I will however state that, in my opinion, it is with very good reason that these two candidates are considered the most unpopular that their respective parties have ever offered the American people, and the near-even split of the popular vote exemplifies this above all else.
But, just as in this story Sir Integra must confront the reality of a Great Britain that has a vampire for a Queen, we in real-life America must do the same with ours of a White House to be occupied by Trump. To do otherwise would be spitting in the faces of the Founding Fathers who established this democracy close to two-and-a-half centuries ago, which has allowed us to build one of the most influential and powerful nations in the history of the world.
All the world is watching the United States of America, and they will judge us for how we handle living under a Trump presidency just as much the presidency itself. Over the next four years, we will either experience one of the greatest presidencies in history, or one of the absolute worst. For better or for worse, Donald John Trump will be our 45th President, and although he will become the most powerful man on Earth, he is both far from omnipotent, and his presidency is far from certain. We cannot know the quality of his administration before it even has a chance to begin. It is only when his work begins and his plans are put into motion can we even begin to make a rational judgment. As he works, if he sets out to do something that is in the indisputable genuine interest of the American people, we must be there to give him aid. If he sets out to do something that would be unequivocally of genuine harm to the American people, we must be there to stop him.
In the meantime, we must remember that, more than just being men, women, white, black, poor, rich, conservative, liberal, straight, homosexual, Republican, Democrat, a Trump voter, a Clinton voter, or anything in between, we are Americans. And our country needs us to remember that we are a brotherhood, one that has come together to face the greatest crises the world has ever experienced and come out the stronger for it. This is a storm of our own creation, and only we can dispel it, and heal our broken land.
I wish that I knew for certain what we should do in this time that tries men`s souls. All I can say is that we must hope and pray dearly with all our hearts that everyone will cast aside their bitter differences and be the America that it was always meant to be.
God Bless America, God Bless the American People, and God Save the President.
[video]
Order 02: That Which She Awoke to and What She Slept Through
London
Present
Seras POV
Looking out her car window, Seras watched the city of London roll by like a constantly changing mural.
She saw the mighty city`s streets flood with traffic, as cars and trucks carried people and commerce to and fro with bright headlights piercing through the foggy night. She saw the streetlamps stand sentinel, doing their eternal duty of staving off the fearful darkness for the sake of those who chose to still walk about outside in spite of it. The many buildings they passed had light being seen through many windows, from office towers to squatting pubs and polished hotels to simple apartments. In these, she saw the London that was, as if the city had never been laid low.
But she could see, both here and beyond, reminders of that great tragedy ten years ago, and the many scars the city continued to bear through the present.
After Millennium`s attack, most of the city lay in ruins, with the V1s and subsequent fires having destroyed almost all of the city`s major landmarks along with most of the cityscape. For the Londoners who survived, one of the most constant reminders was the ringing of Tiny Tim`s bells to mark the hours that passed. Although many Londoners missed Big Ben enough to have a new clock tower built, they were too fond of the old one to simple build what many felt would be little more than a cheap replica, an offense to already-slighted British dignity. This sentiment was what prompted many Londoners to simply have London to be largely rebuilt as something new, and so, in a sense, allowing the old city to rest.
Passing through an intersection, she saw a statue set up in the center, a steel figure of a wailing infant in the midst of collapsed, jagged rubble. The Memorial to Lost Newborns, it was one of many different monuments to memorialize the people and lives lost on that fateful night. More than three million citizens of London had been straight up massacred in the deadliest twenty-four hours in the history of the world, and the people and then-interim government of Britain had gone to great lengths to make sure that not one soul would be doomed to oblivion from human memory.
"Thoughtfully contemplating London, Your Majesty?"
Her attention turned back to the person seated across from her in the royal limousine, a black-haired man of early thirties dressed in a dark grey formal suit and pants. He was Lionel Granbridge, the prime minister of the United Kingdom.
"Yes. And again please, call me Seras when we`re in private," she replied tiredly.
"Sorry, Yo- Seras. But you must understand that I`m still an English gentleman, and that even the end of the civilized world as we know and love it is never a good excuse to neglect one`s hard-won sense of propriety. Also, being that I`m your prime minister, it is my duty to remind you of the need to build up and maintain your own, because vampire or not, you are still the Queen, and respect for the crown remains essential to the identity of all English gentlemen, let alone the masses of Great Britain and her empire."
"I don`t forget that my greatest dream as a little girl from a suburban family was to be a police officer like my father," she fired back. "And that while I never asked for the crown, it was laid upon my head anyway. And you`ve always been at the forefront to keeping me away from it."
"You don`t need to repeat what we both already know. Although I do believe people are starting to regain their senses by electing me prime minister instead of that flatterer who would have been nothing but your yes-man as the people so crudely, but accurately put it."
Seras smiled. "You`ve always been so honest about yourself in front of others."
He smirked in return. "I feel that disguising one`s true colors is the height of rudeness, and my parents have drilled into me the importance of being respectful to others, even if it means telling them that you think very poorly of them."
She laughed softly. "You are indeed a very sensible man. And that`s why I would like to tell you something important."
"Oh?" He leaned forward slightly, interested. "Is this why you offered to have your royal coach drive me home? To give me word on some scandal that`s ready to break out that you couldn`t let proper society learn from the tabloids?"
"No, no, it`s actually very wonderful news," She said, waving off his query. "I was just giving Sir Integra my weekly visit before I headed to the Ball, and she finally woke up!"
Lionel`s eyes widened as he sat back. "Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing? The Master of Monsters? The Guardian of the Night?"
Seras nodded. "My former employer and my Master`s master."
"That is truly incredible news! A good number of people still feel that we haven`t fully recovered from the Millennium War, but her reawakening will do wonders for the nation`s morale!" He paused for a moment, looking at Seras curiously. "But then, the Orphan`s Ball was the perfect venue to make this sort of announcement. Why didn`t you give the world this news then?"
"Well, for one, Sir Integra only woke up a few hours ago, so she`s been sleeping for ten years. She`s very weak and tired right now, at least physically, and she`s used to doing her work out of the public eye, so I don`t think she`s prepared in body and mind for suddenly having the attention of the whole world thrust upon her. The second thing is that a lot has happened in the ten years that she`s been asleep. I think she may be in a little bit of denial that her "Police Girl" is now the Queen of England. And I don`t know how well she`ll react to how much the presence of the supernatural has increased in that time in the public eye."
"That`s true," Lionel conceded. "If someone had told me ten years ago that vampires, werewolves, and even magic existed, I would have questioned their mental stability. Now, there`s enough of them about to call them merely unusual instead of downright ludicrous. Although, I`m sure those aren`t your only reason, correct?"
Seras nodded, allowing some sadness to grace her features. "I don`t think it would have felt right to have made that kind of announcement then and there. It would have given people the wrong kind of idea as to why I hold the Orphans` Ball in the first place."
Lionel simply bowed his head. "I understand."
The moment that Seras Victoria had first appeared in the public eye, among the first things that everyone learned about her was that she had been orphaned at the age of four when her mother and policeman father were brutally murdered in front of her. She then had a very rough childhood during the years she spent in the system. From the beginning, Seras had worked however she could to make things better for Britain`s children, especially the orphans. And ever since her coronation, this issue had become one of the hallmarks of her reign, and was the sole issue in which she received near-universal support.
"You will still be making some manner of announcement, correct?" he asked. "You can`t hide this away for very long."
"Not to worry," she said. "I`ve instructed the nurses to let her have as much rest as she likes, and I`ve asked a few of my people to head on over to help bring her up to speed on past and current events. I will hold a formal press conference tomorrow night to make the announcement."
"Might I perhaps visit, and formally meet her myself?" he offered.
"Not until after I make the announcement, please. I want it to be as much of a surprise as possible. Although if you do want to help, you can tell the press tomorrow that I will be making an announcement in the evening concerning very recent developments that I seek to address personally."
"Alright. I can do that. What will you be doing in the meantime?"
"I will probably be working through tomorrow afternoon if I need to. I have a lot on my plate and I want to either deal with as much as I can or put it off so that I will be able to visit Sir Integra and personally reassure her on what`s happened."
Just then, the car slowed to a stop. Looking out the window, Lionel saw the prime minister`s residence. "Very fortuitous timing. Your driver seems to have his own excellent sense of propriety." The door was opened and he stepped out. He turned to Seras one more time. "I bid you good night, Your Majesty, and please extend my warmest wishes to Sir Integra for me."
Seras smiled warmly. "Of course, Prime Minister. And please give your darling children mine."
He returned a genuine grin of his own. "I will."
The door then closed, and he turned and walked into his home.
The car thus began driving back to the royal residence, and Seras once again occupied herself with watching the world change before her eyes.
Integra POV
Upon awakening that morning, Integra observed her surroundings. The same black chair that Seras had sat in the night before was in the same place at the bedside. The curtains
that allowed only a crack of sunlight to poke through were the same as the ones that had been open to a view of what looked like London. The strange, flat television screen that hung from the opposite wall as if suspended in mid-air was the same as before. Forming an idea, she looked about the large, soft bed that she lay upon and found a remote control for the television.
After finding the still-familiar power icon on the button-crammed device, she turned on the television and, to her satisfaction, already found it tuned in to a local news station. It showed a small group of unfamiliar newscasters who were discussing something. The underlying caption on the screen read PRIME MINISTER AND QUEEN SEEN LEAVING ORPHANS` BALL TOGETHER.
[Newscaster 1: Questions and rumors are spreading everywhere today after the prime minister, Lionel Granbridge and Queen Seras I, were seen leaving the Orphans` Ball
together last night after the end of the popular and high-profile charity event, where the royal limousine was eventually reported to have simply dropped the prime minister off at his residence. *Turns to other newscasters* Okay, now while the No-Life Queen has done this multiple times in the past with members of Parliament and military officers, she has never done this with someone who is so openly hostile towards her.]
[Newscaster 2: That`s true, Nathan. Despite the fact that the No-Life Queen still remains a very popular figure according to the most recent polls, Granbridge, who has been one of her stoutest political opponents for years, still succeeded in being elected to the office of prime minister through his "Sensibility" campaign, one of its biggest platforms of which was working to remove Queen Seras from the throne.]
[Newscaster 3: Still, this hasn`t stopped the Queen from reaching out to Granbridge ever since he won. She has shown in the past to be very politically active throughout her reign, and her input on various issues have influenced the passage and blocking of a number of different measures from Parliament, and she has done this by specifically reaching out to her opponents.]
[Newscaster 4: Still, the fact that she is doing something this personal for one of her most adamant public enemies is what really has people asking questions. According to past occasions, the Queen has often gone to such lengths to maintain secrecy before the public is informed about some manner of major development, and the last time she did this was with-]
She turned the television off. Not even the end of the world as we know it can stop the media from being a pack of starving dogs looking for any scrap of bone to chew to dust. It`s true what they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. It`s strangely comforting.
At first, Sir Integra thought that Seras had been playing some manner of cruel practical joke on her the other day. Even as the nurses and doctors came in and fussed over her physical and mental well-being for hours on end.
The part about her being asleep for a long time was believable, as it explained why she felt so weak, and the lack of response from her left eye caused her to remember that the pitiful little Major had shot her just as she had shot him, giving good reason for her current condition. Ten years, however, was a stretch at best.
Then there was Seras` new wardrobe. Since Alucard`s extensive powers allowed him to mentally craft his own clothing according to his will, there wasn`t any reason Seras couldn`t do the same. But her choice of attire was completely out of character from the Police Girl she remembered.
And then that man, Matthias, dressed as a butler addressed Seras as "Her majesty," and did so with full respect for the title without any hint of humor in his voice.
When she questioned the nurses, she was quite shocked at how much had changed, not only in Britain, but the world at large. Millennium had attacked not only Great Britain, but practically every world power and even those nations that had a major stake in international politics. Governments collapsed everywhere, mass riots took place in major cities across the globe, and the aftermath of many of these disasters produced a multitude of wars that affected literally every corner of the world for years.
Although the Americans lost almost the entirety of their government, they actually succeeded in coming together as a united country for a change after a couple days of panic and slapped a new government together with less than the usual amount of fuss they put into it. Much the same could be said of Canada, Japan, and even Germany, although she knew that the nation as a whole had long put the Nazis behind them.
Unfortunately, there was extensive civil disorder for months throughout Europe, while civil wars and separatist rebellions erupted across Africa, Latin America, and Asia, especially in Russia, South Africa, and even China, with the most affected regions being the Middle East and South Asia. Although most of the fighting was finally settled over time, a number of conflicts that resulted from the Millennium War (Sir Integra hated the name vehemently) still persisted to the present, leaving the political map of the world in a constant state of flux.
"Good morning, Sir Integra."
Turning to the door, Integra saw one of the nurses who had attended to her the night before, carrying a tray of food, with a folded newspaper on one side.
"Good morning, Natalie," she replied cordially.
"Did you sleep well?" Natalie asked. "I mean; you did just wake up from a coma to learn the Queen was a vampire."
"And my former employee," she replied.
Natalie laughed nervously at that. "Yes, that would make things rather awkward."
Walking over, she laid the tray over Integra`s lap, showing a traditional English breakfast of fried eggs, ham, sausages, toasted bread with either butter and jam to spread on, fruit and beans with a glass of orange juice. Sir Integra smiled at the familiarly beautiful spread and enticing aroma. Crossing herself and folding her hands, Integra said her meal prayers: "Blessed are you, O Lord our God. You give us food to sustain our lives and make our hearts glad. Amen." Crossing herself again, she grasped the provided fork and knife
and began slicing her ham and eating it.
The nurse spoke up and asked: "Is the meal to your liking?"
Integra, after swallowing her bite, replied, "Yes. It`s not the best, but it`s still very good."
Natalie beamed. "Well, I`ll leave you to yourself. When you`re finished, just push the button here beside the bed to let us know. If you want to entertain yourself, the telley has over 500 channels to choose from, and today`s paper is there on your tray." She turned to walk out.
"Wait," Integra commanded. The woman stopped, turning back to the bedridden, but strong woman. "Stay a while longer, there are a few questions I have that need asking that I didn`t get the opportunity to properly formulate last night."
Natalie turned around, facing Sir Integra. "What kind of questions?"
"Namely about how Seras Victoria is now the Queen, despite any manner of logic against the thought that I can conceive of. Why would the most sacred office and title in the entire empire be bestowed upon one of the unholiest creatures imaginable? Also, why a common former policewoman? Even if the entire Royal Family and the whole of Parliament had been annihilated by Millennium, there had to surely have been some noble house or high-ranking military officer that survived. One of these people surely would have made for a far more qualified candidate for the crown than her based on credentials alone. And to top that off, didn`t the Archbishop of Canterbury live through that tragedy? I can`t imagine that he, or any high-ranking member of the Church of England for that matter, would have approved of such a proposal without serious protest at the very least.
"And yet, here I am, waking up ten years after Millennium`s attack to find a vampire, the fledgling of Dracula himself, sitting upon the throne of the United Kingdom in the midst of a time of seeming peace and prosperity while enjoying the love of the majority and the respect of the whole. I have never witnessed anything so ridiculous in my entire life. Millennium`s attack made sense in its own way, but all of this doesn`t.
"So please, why Seras?"
Natalie gained a distant look in her eye. Then she walked over to the window, and pulled the curtains open, allowing the sunlight to flood in and revealing a stunning view of a changed, but still majestic London. She looked back to Sir Integra.
"Because she was there for us, every step of the way, from the very beginning."
Natalie POV
Ruins of London
From the moment the van entered the city, Natalie couldn`t help but feel that the whole thing was very surreal and terrifying.
As soon as those ominous-looking blimps floated into the skies above, she knew that she had to get out of London. This choice was swiftly vindicated when explosions were heard going off throughout the metropolis. She thanked God that she had never lived very close to the center, so she was at the city outskirts by the time the attack had begun.
At first, she had been unable to do anything, just join forming crowds of people who gathered to give aid to those Londoners that managed to escape the fiery trap that their home had become.
Thanks to her having done volunteer first aid work at disaster zones overseas before, she decided to do the same here. Working with the professional doctors and paramedics that were on the scene and who continued to come, she helped with blood transfusions, bandaging and stitching up wounds, and moving different patients to where they needed to be based on the severity of their situation. As she did so, the wounded began saying some rather strange things to say the least.
Nazis gunning down innocent citizens in droves. Vampires eating the flesh and blood of infants. Zombies walking the streets and adding new unfortunates to their horde. Even a wild story about Roman Catholic priests of all people fighting back against them with guns and swords. At that point, as the tales became even more nightmarish, Natalie just simply decided to think of it all as mass hallucinations induced by some manner of gas agent that the terrorists blowing up London used to confuse the masses. Although she never could shake the feeling that they were telling the truth.
When morning came, people finally stopped coming, and the volunteers could finally get some rest. That was when she and several other people saw a red streak fly through the air and land at the front of the blockade. Later, she heard from one of the doctors that it was a female vampire – no joke – that had come in, carrying with it a young woman with a gunshot wound to the head. While the woman had been saved, the doctor confessed that he could feel the monster`s presence the entire time as they operated, showing a very clear concern for the patient and immense gratitude for their work, despite the fact they doubted she would awaken for a while. Later, this same vampire apparently met with a couple very important people, just as some rogue soldier shot and killed them. She flew back into London after wailing for a little bit.
Natalie found it just a little bit fantastic.
After people got some rest, the volunteers and doctors were told by the people in the blockade that aerial surveillance now decided that the city was clear, and safe for entry.
They also said that large numbers of survivors had been found scattered across the city, and that they would moving to their rescue. And so, the army of soldiers, policemen, firefighters, doctors, nurses, rescue personnel and volunteers poured into the city.
Natalie`s group was driving along when a child burst out an alley in front of them, forcing them to a screeching halt. When they came out to get her, she said, between her panicked cries and sniffles, that her parents and a lot of people were hurt and needed help. Rushing to the scene, they found a large group of people next to an excavated station to the London Underground. As they got closer, they noticed that some of them had already received some first aid, done very well, although not expertly. They were also somewhat quiet, compared to the people who had escaped London. Before they could ask why, they heard a small series of grunts from inside the station. They then saw a small group of people walking out, some with injuries and being assisted with their walking.
But it was the last three who drew everyone`s attention. One was a woman, who had only scrapes and bruises but showed greater concern for the second, who was a middle-aged man who was unconscious, barely breathing, but clearly in great pain from his many bandaged and stitched-up wounds. And he was being carried by the third individual, who caught the attention of the volunteers with the shadow-like substance emanating out of its left shoulder to carry the man, and the red eyes it sported.
It was the vampire that had been in their camp that morning.
"Mommy! Daddy!" the little girl cried, running up to the first two figures before the volunteers had a chance to react.
The woman turned and scooped the child into her arms, crying and worrying over her in equal measure. One of the other survivors spread out a coat when the vampire asked for something to put the man down on. The little girl was put down, and she went to her laid-out father, who still struggled to breathe. Then, looking at the vampire who had carried him out, she ran up and gave her a hug. Although clearly surprised, it returned the embrace, stroking her hair.
"Thank you lady, for saving my mommy and daddy," she said, muffled by its body.
It then replied with a strange, echoing, and otherworldly voice. "You`re welcome." A taste of sadness was evident in her voice. After letting go of the little girl, she looked over the volunteers and survivors who looked upon her in stunned silence.
Without a word by any of them, the vampire spread its shadows into wings and flew off into the city.
That day, for the first time in this entire Hollywood blockbuster of a disaster, Natalie felt something new surge through her being:
Hope.
