He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

Lukas, Arthur, and Vlad were lounging about in their living room, Lukas with a book, Arthur was silently reading a letter to himself, and Vlad was shuffling around the contents of a drawer, his objective long forgotten as he pulled out a pack of worn playing cards. He crammed everything back in and shut it, turning to the other two men.

"Hey! Let me read your cards," Vlad called, pulling out the deck and shuffling them.

Lukas and Arthur paused what they were doing and regarded him curiously. They exchanged a look, before turning back to their friend with a raised brow.

"Those are playing cards, Vlad, I don't think they'll tell you much-"

"Don't pretend you know more about my specialty than I do. You may have your spells and weird creatures, but I have my sight," he said confidently.

When neither boy approached he let out a small whine.

"I'll be quick! C'mon, it'll be fun. You can't say you're not curious!"

Lukas sighed and raised himself from his seat, trading it for the one in front of Vlad. Vlad passed the deck to him with a satisfied smile and Lukas shuffled and split it before handing it back.

"This is an unusual spread, Vlad. Why aren't you using the standard Celtic spread?" He said as Vlad began laying down the cards, face up.

"Because you have no questions you want answered, at least not about yourself, but I do!"

"What are you-"

"Voilà! The relationship spread!" He said, presenting two adjacent crosses, seven cards each with a single card between them to divide the two.

"No," Lukas said, standing to move away.

"You're lonely, aren't you?" Lukas froze. "Your brother has found himself a lover who can take care of him and protect him and he doesn't need you anymore. C'mon, Lukas, just sit down. You don't even have to take me seriously. Maybe I can't do a reading with playing cards."

Lukas slowly moved back to his seat. "I never told you my brother-"

"I know," he said cheekily, continuing to lay down the cards. "You'll provide protection and balance to the relationship. As for them, they currently don't know where they stand. They've been thrown around all their life and have been able to adjust to it. Left behind, just like you, but they don't want anything. They think they're content." He pulled out a card to top off the cross and laughed, causing Lukas to look him up and down curiously.

Arthur had dropped what he was doing and seated himself beside Lukas, watching interestedly.

"The jack of clubs?" Vlad nodded.

"They're going to be your jack of clubs. Hot-headed, reckless, athletic," he said with a quirk of his lips. Lukas scoffed, although his cheeks became dusted with a light blush.

"Sounds annoying," he said, turning away. Arthur chuckled lightly.

"You are going to be," he lay down another card and laughed again. "Their queen of spades! It suits you so well!" he said excitedly, almost bouncing in his chair. When the two sent him a questioning look, he elaborated: "Cunning, witty, cold," he said through a grin.

"Sounds like a match made in hell," Lukas said, frowning minutely.

"Looks like you're not going to like him at first. Actually, he's going to annoy you and you..." he broke off setting down another card on the cross opposite Lukas's, "Oh... the eight of hearts. That's- I mean- I don't know how it would fit in this context."

"Vlad, you've been making comments about these cards that only you understand. I really do believe it would be much better if you told us what they meant before inserting any side notes."

"Oh- sorry. This card kinda means to emotionally step back. They won't even try to get involved with you, it'll be... detached. They'd actually be leaving love behind in regards to you, as if it's not even a possibility. Maybe-" Vlad tried to take the card back, but was stopped by Lukas, he took it back and set it down on his lover's cross.

"Keep going," he said. Vlad gave a small nod and peeled another card from the top of the deck.

"Your greatest fear and doubt is feeling powerless or the feeling of being trapped that a relationship could cause. Against a loved one you could never make a move and you know that, so you try to distance yourself from people." Vlad and Arthur began to fidgit.

The reading was growing increasingly personal and what was meant to be a fun pastime was beginning to tear down Lukas's walls. The worst part was that Lukas was denying none of it. In fact, he was bearing it with an emotionless expression, not even so much as flinching as it all came to light.

"Their worst fear or doubt will be a deepening attraction. As for what influences the both of you: loss and a goal," he mumbled, laying each card on the cross respectively.

Vlad lay a final card between the two. "Despite the odds, the future of your relationship will be wholesome, satisfying, it'll make you feel complete," he said with a sigh.

He felt himself smile at the outcome and looked up to find Lukas staring pensively at the twin crosses that lay before him. Finally, as if satisfied with something, he nodded and looked up.

"Thank you, that was... enlightening," he said, turning his attention to Arthur. "It's your turn."

"Wha- I didn't agree to-"

"You approached the table, which means it is now your turn," Lukas stated, as if it were the most natural thing and not a rule he had just made.

"Very well," Arthur said with a huff, snatching the deck from Vlad and shuffling and splitting it. When he handed it back, Vlad got to work.

"Currently, you feel like you're competing, right Arthur? An endless tug of war with your brothers, and maybe even yourself. You don't really know which you is the real you and you just hope that things will go back to the way they used to be. When things were simpler, within yourself and with your brothers. In your relationship, you would provide your partner with something close to a purpose. They would feel as if they had suddenly become whole.

"They are hoping for the simple joy of having those around them there, and overall of just being with those they care about. It seems to be because of a burden they are bearing that makes that difficult to have. This person can help you move past whatever doubts or worries you have and maybe be able to help you understand yourself a little better."

Arthur scoffed at that. If he couldn't understand himself, what would some stranger know? Nevertheless, he listened patiently to the rest of his reading. Beside him, Lukas regarded the cards with a creased brow.

"To you, they will be your jack of clubs: A charismatic romantic who loves easily and wholly. He'll talk your ear off, though," he said with a small laugh. "To him, you'll be the jack of spades. A bit of a tribute to your old self, I think: Rebellious, dedicated, outspoken. I think it suits you," he said with another light laugh before he moved on.

"You'll be attracted to him from the moment you see him and he'll think you were too good to be true. As for your fears and doubts, you're scared you'll lose another loved one like all the others and he's scared that everything he knew will disappear or be proven a trick.

"You do everything you do because you know a decision has to be made, no matter how difficult. You have a practical way of thinking and it was the choices you made that make you continue. You don't want your decisions to be in vain, so you do everything you can to make up for the losses you gained from those decisions." Vlad gave him a sympathetic smile, to which Arthur responded with his own small, reassuring quirk of his lips.

"They are motivated by their guilt and worries... that keeps coming up. I would assume something happened in their past that has taken a toll on them now. Either way, it seems to be what drives them. And~ finally, the future relationship will be-" Vlad cut himself off as he set the last card down, unable to contain a fit of giggles that escaped him.

It took him a few minutes to recover, as every time he looked back he began to laugh again.

"Looks like you'll finally be able to get laid, Arthur!" He said through his laughter.

The man in question turned several shades of red before he slammed his hands onto the table and stood. "W-what nonsense are you spouting now, Vlad?!" He stuttered out.

Vlad recovered enough to finish his reading. "The future of your relationship will be very... satisfying and pleasing," he said before he broke into laughter again.

Arthur's face reddened more than they had thought possible as he began reprimanding Vlad. Lights began to flicker dangerously and furniture began to quake and some even lifted themselves off the ground. Lukas looked around calmly, before focusing his attention back on Arthur's cards pensively.

"What the bloody hell makes you think I'm a-a virgin!? I'll have you know I had my fair share of partners when I was younger and I am by no means a prude-"

"I'll trade you," Lukas said, finally looking up from Arthur's cards. His serious tone made Arthur pause in his rant and shift his attention to him.

"Wha- take them!" He said, before storming off. Tables, books, and tables came crashing down as the lighting steadied.

Alfred lay flat on his stomach. His gun was cocked and loaded with blessed bullets aimed at the creature that traipsed cautiously through the foliage on awkward, distorted limbs. Its body (it was no longer identifiable as either gender) had become an ugly, rough, and scaly gray. Its hands appeared to be more like claws, and feet were awkward stumps. The face, however, was the most horrifying part: The whites of the eyes had gone a sickly yellow, while the iris had turned a wild red. Teeth had yellowed and sharpened, while others had simply rotted out; The nose had grown large and sprouted warts.

This was a full fledged witch. One who had signed the devil's book in blood and allowed the yellow bird to drink from its finger. They had exchanged everything for the power that made them even more dangerous. When they had nothing to lose, they had everything to gain, and most sought out immortality, mainly by sacrifices of unbaptized children every solstice. Some simply lived for the destruction, the darkness spreading inside them with their growing power.

Alfred shifted slightly, trying to get into a more comfortable position. They all waited for Gilbert to give the signal; They wanted a clean kill, no useless tumbling around. He looked up to the trees where Gilbert was perched, then just across from himself where Mathias crouched behind a boulder. He was also watching Gilbert, waiting for the small flick of his wrist that would set them into action.

There it was.

Mathias fired first, a stunning bolt of electricity that caused the creature to writhe and howl in pain, then came Gilbert, who knocked the witch to the ground and made quick work of cutting off the tongue and hands to keep it from cursing any of them, and tying what was left of it's body in purified restraints that caused the pained screech to grow louder.

Alfred sometimes thought the man got some sort of sadistic joy out of doing so, which was a little off-putting, considering he was married to his younger brother. In any case, Alfred came next, aiming his gun and firing point blank between the eyes. The thrashing stilled and an eerie silence came over the area, as it always did with the anticlimactic kill, but it was swifter than it could have been.

They had been ambushed once, Mathias getting taken out before he could stun anyone, Gilbert kicked off the tree and onto his back, and Alfred nearly getting his head twisted clean off. Luckily, he'd had the good sense to fire back at what was holding him, and then to at least throw his spare gun to Mathias, which had made them a little more even. After that it was them dodging curses and spells, or deflecting them with their blessed guns, and the witches trying to escape as they slowly turned them to Swiss cheese. That was a fight. A damn good one, too, although his brother would disagree from the number of bruises and scratches they had, but no one was fatally cursed or wounded, and there were 4 less witches to worry about in the world. Then, like now, the body parts would be gathered and burned to keep the witch from returning to the vessel and to purify the body.

It was the worst part, the smell was putrid and the crackle of the skin as it roasted was sickening. It was things like this that had them hunting witches in their earlier stages, when they were still human-looking, for the most part.

The difficult thing was that while magic wasn't banned, witchcraft was, and sometimes it was difficult to tell where one stopped and the other began. The signs would show slowly, but by the time they did, it could already be too late, or too difficult.

Alfred's brother practiced magic, that was no secret, but he focused mainly on healing, protection spells, and counter curses. It was when you tried to control other people, like love spells and voodoo, that you started stepping into dark magic.

Matthew had been watched with a close eye when it was learned that he practiced magic, and it was actually Gilbert that was assigned to keep him in line. It was obvious how that went; It took all but two weeks for him to be the only thing Gilbert talked about, and a month for them to have officially started dating, to Alfred's utter horror. He'd protected his little brother all his life, only to have Gilbert, probably the most reckless person he knew, next to Mathias, swoop in and ruin all his hard work.

It had been a year and eight months and it still made his skin crawl to see them kiss or hold hands in front of him, especially having seen the things Gilbert had been capable of on their missions, and Gilbert made it a personal challenge to make him as uncomfortable as possible to be around him and remind him that they were... intimate.

They stood in front of the flames, watching as the body burned, and waiting until nothing was left but ash.

"Wanna get a drink after this? I think we've earned it. We've been tracking that one for months." Mathias said, stretching his arms above his head. The fire died out as it had nothing left to burn. Alfred threw holy water over the ashes and scattered them with his foot.

"Nah, we gotta get back. Boss man says he has another assignment for us."

"You have another assignment?" Gilbert looked up, hearing that detail for the first time.

"You mean you're not doing this with us?" Mathias asked, quirking a brow. "Weird for him to separate us."

"Maybe he thought Gilbert would be too loud for this one, probably blow our cover. Sorry, bro, this one's for the stealthier hunters," Alfred said with a cocky smile.

Gilbert smiled right back before he turned and began walking away. "Perfect, gives my awesomeness more alone time with Matthew, if you catch my drift. If you think I'm loud, you should hear him while I'm fucking him. You wouldn't think someone as shy and quiet would be that loud."

Alfred drew his gun. It may have been intended for witches, but it was a bullet, just the same. Mathias pushed his arm down.

"Don't take him so seriously, Al." Alfred and Mathias regarded each other for a moment before Alfred sighed.

"You wouldn't be so calm if he was talking about your brother," Alfred grumbled, clicking his gun back in his holster. Mathias snorted at the comment.

"Yeah, right. I'd really like to see him try and get a leg over Berwald. He'd first piss himself before he got it up enough to even entertain the thought of him unloading." Mathias laughed out.

He had a point.

Berwald was a giant of a man, taller than Alfred, barely shorter than Mathias, and just as strong. He was intimidating, to say the least, and only went on the most difficult assignments with his "wife," who Alfred always remembered to be half his size, if only because he seemed so harmless. What he lacked in height and muscle, he made up with incredible aim when it came to his trusty old sniper.

If Gilbert had somehow been suicidal enough to try to mount Berwald, or even seduce him, he would have been gunned down in seconds.

"All I'm sayin' is, no one would know. Gilbert's reckless as all hell. It could easily be considered an accident, Mattie would mourn a few months, then find someone better. Someone who he deserves and who wasn't a total asshole," he said, kicking a rock.

"You only hate him 'cause he's sexing up your brother. You and him got along just fine before that. Besides, you already tried shooting him once- it didn't work." Alfred scoffed.

"I need no other reason to hate him, and Mattie's not here to save him this time."

"The cards we're dealt, dude. I like my brother-in-law," he said with a shrug.

"But who could hate Tino?"

"Good point. Anyway, what do you think we're doing next?"

"Not a clue. Can't be anything big, considering it'll be only the two of us-"

"Hey! If you two are done gossipping like a bunch of girls, get a fucking move on! No wonder you're still single, you're practically women. Especially you Mathias, you spend more time on your hair than Elizabeta!" Alfred couldn't help the small laugh that escaped his lips at Gilbert's statement. Mathias, however, had reacted the same way Alfred had to the statement concerning his brother.

"You're right. No one would know." He aimed the gun at Gilbert's head in the distance and closed one eye to magnify his aim. Alfred nudged him; they were too far from the sight of the burning. If anyone in the organization investigated seriously, they'd know, he thought sadly. It looked like Mathias caught onto his line of thought because he lowered his weapon with a disappointed sigh.

"Another successful hunt! The Awesome trio has just completed their 174th successful kill!" Alfred hollered as they sauntered into the base, high-fiving their colleagues as the three men made their way through the halls. A few, like Antonio, Feliciano, and Bella congratulated then on their success, while others, namely Lovino, Roderich, Elizabeta, and Ludwig rolled their eyes.

"Matthias, Alfred, I'd like to see you in my office," Ludwig said, turning away and making his way there with the two in tow.

When they had reached the dull, utilitarian room, Ludwig motioned for them to have a seat. It was making Alfred a little antsy, usually they were given a folder and thrown out.

"W-What's up? Why are you just asking us two?"

"Because I'd rather not get on your brother's bad side." Ludwig straightened some papers on his desk, then looked away, clearing his throat.

"What do you mean? What does this have to do with Mattie?" Alfred asked, sitting a little straighter.

"Yeah, you're not really making any sense, man," Mathias groaned, leaning back in his chair. He was more of a straight to the point kind of person, and Ludwig's aversion was starting to annoy him.

"You are aware that the winter solstice is coming up, right?"

"'Course."

"So, what? You want us to go on a hunt, clear as many out before then? 'Cause as much as I'd hate to say it, we'd need Gil for that-"

"No, nothing of the sort. I already have Tino and Berwald, Toris and Feliks, and Antonio, Lovino, Bella and Lars working on that. What I want from you is something a little more... unorthodox."

"... Meaning?"

"Get to the point, dude. I gotta make sure Gilbert isn't fucking with my brother... or fucking my brother," Alfred said, grimacing.

"I'd like you to... infiltrate, in a sense, a small coven that is rising to power." He placed three pictures in front of them. One of a man with chin length brown hair, a suspiciously red-ish eye color, and an arrogant smirk that showed a single pointed canine. The one in the center was of a man with choppy sandy blond hair, brilliant green eyes, and thick eyebrows scowling back at him. The last man was one who wore no expression, with wispy, pale blond hair, dull indigo eyes, and overall, delicate features.

All three were good looking, to say the least, but Alfred didn't understand what this had to do with them.

"You got it all wrong, man. Neither one of us can infiltrate a coven. I've tried magic–it runs in my veins–and it hates me. As for Mathias, his family doesn't have a single sorcerer, or whatever, in the lot. Mattie's your man for this kind of thing- in fact, I'll go get him for you," Alfred said, standing to leave.

"That isn't the kind of 'infiltrate' I need, exactly. Sit down, Alfred. This particular coven isn't looking for new members," Ludwig said awkwardly.

Alfred slowly returned to his seat and exchanged a confused look with Mathias.

"The winter solstice is coming up and I want to make sure this coven isn't planning to do any harm, to themselves or others, and for that, I need you to get as close to them as possible." Alfred gave a frustrated sigh.

"Meaning?!" Mathias sat up abruptly in his chair.

"You're trying to pimp us out!" He said with an amused cackle. "Dude, I am in, but which one am I in?" Ludwig turned several different shades of red, cleared his throat, and began yelling, in that order.

"Do not be so vulgar, Mathias! This is a serious assignment, and you don't have to be-" he took a deep breath and rubbed his temple. "You only need to be as intimate as it is necessary with any one of these boys to gain the appropriate information."

"Don't even trip, I'll get you that information in a week tops. Oh! and I got dibs on this one" he said, pointing to the dull eyed man.

"Wait, you're not serious, are you? Because as much as I'll deny it if you tell Gilbert, I'm more of a romantic, and boning some random guy for info isn't my style-"

"You don't have to sleep with any of them," Ludwig ground out through gritted teeth.

"Well you were expecting us to do something if you didn't want Gil to come."

"That's all I had to say. Get out. You will be granted separate living quarters, you will not be allowed to meet with one another in front of your target unless your two targets meet while you are in their company. As far as you know, you two are total strangers. I'll give you your information later today, you can start whenever you're ready."

Mathias gave a mock salute and walked out of the office with a new bounce in his step. Alfred sent Ludwig an incredulous look before he followed Mathias out.

"Why are you so excited about this?"

"'Why?' Are you serious, Al? This is the coolest mission we've gotten. We get to leave this place, probably some extra spending money, and our whole goal is to fuck some info out of a hot witch. This is the least amount of work we've had to do. The real question is: Why are you so against it?" Alfred hesitated for a moment, closing and opening his mouth.

"B-Because it's wrong? I mean, they're not technically witches, yet. They're still people and we're fucking with their emotions. We could be totally wrong in our assumption and they could just practice magic like Mattie."

"Oh, I get it. It's that it could've happened to Matthew am I right? Or, actually, it's kinda what did happen to Mattie."

"What do you mean?" Alfred tensed. He stopped and held Mathias in place by the arm.

"Dude, you can't tell me you never thought of it? Ludwig probs got his bro to sweet talk yours to see if he wanted more power or just to dig out shit. You don't tell anyone as much as you tell a partner, not even family."

"No- I mean... Ludwig wouldn't do that. Not to me, not to Matthew." Mathias's face grew concerned as he looked down at Alfred, but he didn't pursue the topic any further. He realized he probably shouldn't have brought it up in the first place.

"Whatever, man. By the way, weren't you in a hurry to keep them away from each other?"

"Shit! Yeah, man, see you later!"

I finished =w=.. or started? Whatever, anyway, this is my first M rated story, second story overall and if you read my first one, I am a lot more vulgar in this one XD? This will mainly focus on the magic trio, awesome trio, and Matthew :D! This will have explicit content, so this is a heads up, if the M rating wasn't enough XD.

I did use an actual card reading and the actual meaning of cards, but obviously I picked the cards that went into each slot. It's a little weird, I feel like I've just revealed the whole plot with it XD? I don't even know where I'm going with this. I hope it won't be too long? The updates will be super messy, though. My classes require a lot of reading this semester ._.

Anyway! What do you guys think so far :D? I will finish the other story in a bit, I just can't stand to look at it right now, I've read it over and edited it at least 20 times OAO. It's had, like, 4 different endings by now XD!

side notes (because I learned a lot of what I will mention here in a witchcraft, religion, and the supernatural class):Guess what? So, I added the little thing about sacrifice on a whim and then I was like that's not right, so I decided I WOULD see what different pagan and polytheistic religions did on the winter solstice and they did sacrifice. What luck! The story can go on.

The event was performed both by the Romans and the Scandinavians and was a lot like Christmas with gifts and festivals and light-hearted celebrations. It was meant to mean rebirth that occurred, which was the coming spring. The sacrifices were meant to remain in the gods' favor and maintain a good harvest :D!

Of course, whether Christian witches have anything to do with the solstice is beyond me. I don't take them all too seriously, they're just a mean interpretation of pagans to me, but what do I know? Anyway, I'm basing THAT part on the "rebirth" aspect of the winter solstice~.

The quote at the beginning is a Nietzsche quote with a bunch of different translations, but pretty much the same meaning. As for the title, spells are more efficient when they rhyme, for some reason?

For the thing with the devil's book and bird, that's actually what the first woman accused of being a witch in the Salem witch trials described happened and what they based their interrogation off of~.

Reviews make me write more frequently :D?