Sitting atop the mountain, a figure in black mused. It had been so long since he had had a good think. 

Where, did he muse, lay the origin of morality? Was it not strange, that one being would feel for another, would fear for another, would protect another? Was it not ridiculous, that one would place one's life on the line for another? What was this force, that had so infected reality, that would cause the powerful to acknowledge the weak?

Did it lie in the heart? But it did not, for the heart was a fickle thing. It went on flights of fancy, jumping from one thing to the next, turning love to hatred, hatred to love.

Did it lie in the brain? But it did not, for the brain was a logical thing. it cared only for what could be measured, for what was to one's own advantage.

Did it lie in the gut? But it did not, for the gut dominated those things closest to nature. And nature is a brutal beast, an arena of life, where only the mightiest may live to see another day.

This morality, this compassion, this strange addiction to the pleasure of others... where did it lie? What was it's secret? What was the answer to this mos intricate of puzzles?

Of course, the answer had always been there, just waiting for him to find it once more. For morality was not an emotion, it was not a thought, it was not an instinct. It was none of these things. Morality was an illusion. A deception placed over reality, a concept drawn over objective truth, veiling the path best walked. It was a veil that clouded the eyes of the mighty, and shielded the weak from their wrath. It was a delusion, an imitation of reality, coloured by foolish beliefs.

Morality lay in the eyes.

Chuckling to himself, Alucard stood, spreading his wings as he stared down at the plains far beneath him, through the clouds and snowstorms, through the petty veils that would bar his vision. For what a pretty pair of eyes he had spotted, so far below him. Filled with the fiery glint of determination, shrouded only by the clouds of morality. A hazy flame, burning bright, and yet the light of it's power forever dimmed.

Unwitting of the gift it would soon receive.

Smiling, Alucard stared down at Mithias, as he engaged on his quest. Then, as if he had merely been snow on the wind, he vanished without a trace, nothing more than a foul reek in the air.