tampered | Log: Complete

Current Mood: anxious
Current Location: Building #4, Flat 140

Log: Complete

When; January 12, Afternoon
Rating; PG-13?
Characters; Arthur Hellsing [

tiaxdalma], and Walter Dornez [

dark_butler]
Summary; Arthur seeks to find someone who can aid Walter with healing his mind and Tia Dalma offers to try her hand at helping Walter out. Although Walter has no clue that Arthur has been asking around.
Log;

After Walter and Rayne's attack against the Pagan cult, Arthur could see that Walter was getting increasingly worse. He didn't want to wait until the last moment and then have Alucard come along and reset Walter's mind. If Walter forgot the last fifty-five years that meant he would forget Integral and that was not something Arthur wanted.

He was hopeful that the woman Tia Dalma could help since she seemed unique herself. And her price was reasonable in his view. Anyone who could help save the life of one of his kin would have his undying respect and certainly his loyalty and protection. The task of course was getting Walter to meet with the woman so she could see if it was possible for her to help him. Arthur figured that Walter was likely suspicious of what he might be planning but his little white lie was enough to get the vampire to agree to a meeting at his flat.

Arthur stood in his kitchen making his own tea, not as good as what Walter could make but still good by his standards. He just needed something to do while he waited for Tia Dalma and Walter to arrive. Hopefully things would go well or at least not make everything worse.

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Once more setting out with her traveling cloak and bag, Tia Dalma made her way to the building in the City where it seemed a number of the Hellsings had taken up residence. It was a group - family - that she had found reasonably interesting during her visits, though her interaction with them was minimal as a whole. Her fanciful pirates had given her little entertainment as of late, and so she found herself accepting a variety of ventures - though she hoped this one would turn out to be less sticky.

Tia knocked politely at the apartment door, drawing her hood down after, deciding not to look so much like a stranger in the dark at first glance - though how the man would feel about her as a whole could not be foreseen.

As soon as Arthur heard the knock he put his cup of tea down and headed for the door. It would either be Madame Tia or Walter. He hoped it would be Madame Tia so they could discuss a few things before Walter's arrival. After all he hadn't bother to tell Walter exactly why he wanted him to her.

Opening the door, Arthur's face remained polite and neutral as he examined the cloaked woman before him. She did remind him very much of a Voodoo priestess which he figured might not be a far off assumption. "Madame Tia Dalma, I presume," he said offering a respectful nod, while stepping aside to motion her into his home.

"Sir Hellsing," Tia greeted, nodding once and entering. Her skirts rustled as she moved, gracefully, looking about the place with a somewhat interested expression. Once inside, she turned to observe him quietly for a moment, as if inspecting something -- a slight, smirking smile flashed over her features, but she did not remark on any thoughts she might have had.

"Shall we talk of things small and flighty, or be heading to the heart of this matter?" She asked, voice mixing at being both cultured and roughly ethnic. "Some urgency, I know you have." She flitted further inward, taking a seat without waiting to be offered one, though she had no doubts of the man's ability to be a gentleman. "Tell me about your Walter."

Arthur had to contain a small smile when he stood under her scruntiny. She certainly gave off a remarkable aura of power that made his mind slightly wander before he quickly recovered himself. Some habits... he thought to himself.

He welcomed her bluntness considering the window for discussion was quickly closing since Walter only lived a few doors down. Arthur took a seat across from her and nodded.

"Yes, well Walter as you already know isn't human anymore. He is a vampire and I believe I was told a manmade one at that. But that is besides the point at the moment. Every since he was 'judged' by that creature Pyramid Head, he has slowly been losing his mind and he reverted back to looking like a fourteen-year old boy.

I am worried that if this goes on much longer our family will have no choice but to either kill him or allow someone else to erase his memories from the past fifty-five years. To be frank neither of those options are appealing. You see Walter was my servant in another lifetime but I still consider him to be like a son since he has been with our family since he was a child.

If you can at least ease his mind in some way I assure you that you will have earned my loyalty and protection for you kin. And us Hellsings are honour-bound by our word."

Tia removed her bag and cloak, setting them aside, pondering the information. Vampires were things rare and almost unseen in her realm of experience, especially manufactured ones. The connection between Walter's powers and his current madness in relation to his murder by Pyramid Head was something she might not be able to divine - though whether or not it was relevant was another matter.

"What I hear.." she began slowly, "Bein' killed by that red pyramid have an affect on one's mind. Some become a part of it, like that woman who now be an operative of them bidding. Death in this place is unkind to one's soul. It be said that once one dies in this city, one may never leave." She fell quiet for a time, thinking.

"Him may be possessed, of sorts. With a dark seed in him mind. Hard to say. Them villains work in ways of them own design, one foot in the living and one foot in the world of the damned, souls fore-fit for power. Not one of them true gods, not a one god, not a pantheon of eternity like in my world ~ a false shadow of power. A disease upon humanity. If him be infected, a way must be found to free him mind."

Arthur sat back a thoughtful expression upon his face. "Possessed? I'm not so sure but it is a possibility considering the nature of the creature that killed him. I do believe that the creature is able to get into his head though at will and that concerns me," he sighed heavily.

"I do share your views on the supposed "gods" that exist in this world. They may not be human but certainly they are not gods. Look Walter doesn't know the purpose of this meeting because I was worried that he might not come over if I told him the truth. Hopefully you should be able to get a better idea of what is wrong with him when you meet him face to face. He should be here shortly."

Walter stood outside Arthur's door and tried not to eavesdrop.

Well, he didn't try especially hard.

Didn't know the purpose, eh?

It was a matter of personal pride and no small amount of stubbornness that saw him knocking on his former master's door anyway.

Arthur looked back toward the door when he heard the knock and hoped to God that Walter had just only arrived and had not been listening in. "Excuse me, that must be him now," he said, getting up to answer the door.

Arthur quickly walked over to open the door to be met with the sight of Walter. "Good afternoon, Walter. I'm glad you could make it," he said cordially, stepping aside to let the teenage looking vampire in.

Walter gave no indication of how much he had heard. Let them think he was still unaware. And he would use this as an opportunity to practice some of the mental shielding Rayne had been teaching him.

"I was curious about this person you said could have useful information." He nodded toward Tia, taking in her appearance even as his nostrils flared slightly to take in her unique scent as each person's was unique.

"Miss."

"Useful information," Tia said, repeated, sounding amused. Red eyes observed the vampire, taking in his aura and his affect. "Be you interested in an honest take, young man, or have you no use for such things?"

She would let him come to his own conclusions about her words - whether she sensed his apprehension and rudimentary shielding attempts or not.

"I'm always interested in honesty," Walter said, taking a seat rather than stand and look down on her. "Although here, it seems that many people are too fond of speaking in riddles."

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tapped one out. "Do either of you mind?" he asked, indicating the pack.

Arthur held back a grimace. Oh this is going to go so well. he thought exesperated. Walter always could call him when no one else could. At this point if he didn't know what was going on he probably had a good idea.

"You know I don't mind, Walter," Arthur replied, before looking toward Tia. "Madame Tia, this is Walter and Walter this is Madame Tia Dalma," he formally introduced them, after all he still had manners. "How terribly rude of me, Madame would you care for anything to drink?" he added remembering his manners further.

"If you on for makin' your tea you be more than welcome," Tia said with a polite nod. To Walter, she said: "A pleasure, it be, to make your acquaintance. Though I wonder at your words, so many accuse me of such a practice when I do no such thing, them just not hear clearly, or them not understand my tongue - speak Creole or the like, I imagine you not hear in such a way."

She did not seem terribly concerned on the matter of linguistics, and so did not dwell on the subject. "Your cigarettes not bother me," she said simply. "Different, you are. Not so pleased with the shell your soul hide in these days, I feel?"

Walter took the permission and lit his cigarette before answering. It provided him a moment to gather his thoughts. This was beyond surreal, sitting in Arthur's flat wearing this face while Arthur looked to be the man he'd been in Walter's youth.

If Alucard walked in wearing a little pillbox hat and white suit, it would just complete the wrongness, bring it full circle.

"No. I'm not," he said at last. "I'm an old man. Or I was. This face is a constant lie." He was just weary of all the lies.

Tia was quiet for a bit, red eyes questing over the vampire's form, thinking. She sensed a number of things, things that were so intense within him that they leaked through the cracks of his shields, thick and passionate.

"... Not so old. But more than your face, for certain. Such hate for one's own self."

Walter's gaze sharpened, even if the observation wasn't really stating a secret. "I spent my life as a vampire hunter, a trashman." And now he was the trash.

"Who and what are you, then, that Arthur thinks to introduce us?" So much for the pretence of information about the cult.

"I be who I be," she said easily. "I give Sir Arthur enough about your cult, but I been distracted, now, by the force the grief of your soul. It pour from you, like an open wound. Let it control you, do you? Let it storm up in your mind and cloud them eyes?" She moved her hands as she spoke, though it was fluid and elegant. She narrowed her eyes, inspecting Walter's.

"What been done to you by that red pyramid that bring up this old hate?"

So this was Arthur's game. Anger flared and died almost as quickly.

It was Arthur's nature to take charge.

He turned his attention outward again and frowned at the woman Arthur had thought might help him. He was more than a little dubious.

"He opened the cracks. That's his strength. Not the sword or the physical strength. It's how he can crack open your mind to let all the worst things pour out."

Tia smiled at the reaction, tilting her head up and keeping her eyes on the vampire, still letting his aura whisper things to her, secrets and motivations, little dark voices guiding her observations and shaping her words. "Him skills be of great force, but only work on ones with a mind that wants to hurt." She rose, tiny frame made to seem more impressive in her gown and elaborate hair.

"Pick him subjects, him judgments on orders from another, and orders from within... " she trailed off, one hand twisting in the air, eyes falling half mast for a moment, as if the spirit powers that guided her had become exceptionally loud for a moment. "You push down inside the fear, but to those who look for weakness, it be a beacon. You let it consume you, it be your end. You fear, but not a fear of a thing or of death, you fear you OWN heart -- failure."

The woman punctuated the word, hand raised, one finger pointing accusingly to Walter. "Failure," she all but hissed, slinking closer. "That what lurk deep in you heart," Tia purred at him, "That what keep you waking at all hours of the night. You fear it like none else, and it become your life."

Walter rose, unable to sit when this small woman with the large presence loomed at him.

The witch may as well have opened the top of his head and stirred it like a cauldron. I don't fear failure! habit insisted even as other thoughts tumbled in the maelstrom. Not fear. He didn't fear anything.

Apparently he didn't fear lying to himself.

"I died," he hissed back. "I died twice in less than a day and I died again since coming here. What do I have left to fear?" Even as he asked it, he knew he was lying. And if he knew it, everyone else was going to, too.

"Tell you already what you fear," Tia said, sniffing a bit, quirking a slim eyebrow at him. "Your ears work, yes?" She paced, not at all intimidated by the taller man, no matter what his supernatural classification might be. "You know it be true. You know it be what torment you. Do not make a liar out of yourself."

She paused, letting that sink in and graciously giving Walter the opportunity to lash out if he so desired. "That denial, that fear, it only bring more pain. Like blood in the water for them in that cult. Feed off it. Give them more of you, bit by bit, when your soul bleed out that fear."

His eyes narrowed in reaction to the jab and his first reaction was the lash out in response. But what did he have? No insight into who she was and he wouldn't violate Arthur's home with violence against his guest.

That left him with few choices and silence was agreeing with her.

"It wasn't fear he used against me." He didn't want to talk about what had been used. "Fear isn't his weapon against me, and fearing failure doesn't matter, it just makes me fight harder." That was as close as he was going to come to admitting that she might have had some insight.

"Tell me, then," she said, taking her seat once more, but looking quite unimpressed with Walter's reasoning. "What weapon did he use on you? You say it not him sword or him strength, but that him open your mind. Yet it not fear? What, then? Explain to me what it be, for I not see where you go. You create circles of words to hide behind, as if it will protect you from the truth that lie on your own heart."

Walter remained standing - a pointless attempt to have some sort of higher ground. He drew on his heretofore forgotten cigarette and considered telling her to piss off, telling Arthur to go do something anatomically improbable to himself, and leaving.

That would be fear.

"I am a traitor," he finally said. "He used that against me."

Arthur had been standing in the kitchen doorway listening to the two go back and forth. He had to admit Madame Tia was doing a good job of confronting Walter which was something that Arthur had not the heart to do.

It was painful to watch Walter be put on the offensive but Arthur knew deep down that it needed to be done if Walter was ever going to be healed. He would have to make peace with his past actions and learn to move forward again.

Arthur decided that he would keep his silence and let this play itself out. If nothing else she was forcing Walter to look within himself more truthfully and that was a start.

The gypsy woman considered for a moment something mundane and more traditional as card reading, if only to calm the man, but decided against it after taking his organization's religious ties into account - ah, well.

Walter's revelation was interesting. "Guilt," she said, leaning back into the sofa. "It go straight to your fear of failure, which you refuse to see as a weakness. To what end, do I say all this? What end do I speak such cruel things, make you and yours look at your flaws? ... Flaws that leave you open -- cracks, as you say. Flaws that be fixed. You not want to let down those with you, but you shut your eyes to what will bring that."

"I am well aware of my failings," Walter said stiffly, all too aware of Arthur's watchful presence. "And I don't see how rehashing them helps anything. I betrayed a sacred trust and I can't say I wouldn't do it again."

"Nobody expects you to say that you'll never do it again. There are no guarantees in life. But using that as a crutch to avoid facing the ones you betrayed is just a sign of weakness on your part," Arthur flatly stated, walking into the room and handing Madame Tia her long awaited cup of tea.

"At this point I wonder do you want to healed because it seems you would rather suffer?" Arthur asked frankly.

Walter hid his flinch behind a stoic mask.

"If someone did what I did, I would want them to suffer." He would want to make them suffer. How could he be any easier on himself than he would be on someone else?

"It leave you exposed," Tia said softly, daring to intrude on their interaction. "To torment oneself only bring you more pain, make you less capable of your duty. Do you not see? Seeds of madness been planted in your soul by that creature. Want you to doubt, want you to fear. You be stronger than it. You must cast it aside. If it claws be too deep, you must find someone who can rip it from you." Her voice went even quieter, not wanting to rile him up - that part was over. "That why I been called on. The danger of your mind being taken from you."

"And why should I trust you?" Walter asked. Turn the questioning on her instead. "How do I know you don't want a chance to get your hooks in me? Add a fourth to the list." Hellsing, Millennium, the Executioner? What was a crazy witch woman on top of all that?

"No reason I have for you," Tia said, voice almost laughing. "No reason at all. If you wish, you wait, you watch. You decide then, if I speak lies. My business in this place be a temporary thing. Someday I be gone from here, it's ticking clock of no meaning to me. You, your organization - mean not to me, not at all. This red cult, them monsters - things I dislike, but things that, in the end, mean nothing. When I step out into this City to look into the works of another, it be of no agenda but my own, and my own be harmless, to you."

"Right." Another person who couldn't speak directly. "Then why bother? What do you get out of this?" he asked cynically.

"Tell me you're doing something for nothing and I walk out that door." He turned a warning glance on Arthur as he spoke. The man had brought him here under false pretenses, he'd best not think to try to keep him here.

Tia shrugged. No reason to be dishonest, if the vampire was going to be that touchy about it. "I look after myself well enough. Those with me do not. I ransom your friend's watchful eye and steel, if need be."

"Did you not tell me that you would appreciate my help? She did only ask for protection for her kin and that feels reasonable since I was seeking help for mine. I am sorry that I trapped you into this meeting but I worried you would not give anyone the chance to really help you," Arthur admitted, looking straight at Walter.

"You must understand that after you told me to call Alucard should you lose complete control that my worry for you tripled. I do not want to see you suffer anymore. You do realize that your suffering is causing suffering to the ones you betrayed don't you? Integral suffers, I suffer, even Alucard suffers, you may have been the traitor yet we all feel to some degree that we failed you."

Walter regarded Arthur without speaking. He didn't want to hear that at all.

He did not want reasons to unbend. Damn Arthur for knowing him well enough to know which buttons to push.

"I've had enough mucking about done in my brain by strangers. Do you even know what she proposes to do? Some sort of voodoo?" It wasn't a no, though, and he wasn't heading for the door.

"I not so naive to propose one course of action or another now, just speaking," Tia said, resting one arm on the back of the sofa as she spoke, hand moving absently to punctuate her words. "Not a magic spell nor potion that cure ills of the mind, not a way for me to know what it is be ailing you for certain with just this. May I assist? It seems so. If you be wantin' help, I be here. I not work on no one that not come willingly. Choice be yours."

"I simply arranged this meeting in order to see if Madame Tia could indeed help you. That is all. I never intended to force anything on you. She believes she might be able to help so the question is will you let her try?" Arthur asked, letting out a small sigh.

"Not based on one meeting and no knowledge of who and what she is," Walter said, coming to a decision. "But I'm willing to learn more about her and her methods. You can't really think to ask more than that, can you?"

"I be amenable to this," Tia said with a shrug. "All one can ask." She watched him, wondering.

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Log: Complete

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