A fantasy APH story

RussiaxVenezuela

It was bright and sunny, which struck Gilbert as odd. He couldn't recall a day here when he hadn't been vexed by the lack of warmth and light in these chill lands. He scowled, his red eyes flickering around the grounds. Finally, he caught the scent of magic. Gilbert froze, then turned and dashed from the balcony. He thought, "Who's visiting him?..."

He reached the wide hall that served as a foyer and rushed to a stop, panting for breath, filled with trepidation. Raivis appeared from behind a doorway. At the sight of his fellow servant, the smaller man froze, trembling.

"Mr. Bielshmidt?" he asked. "Is there a problem?"

"Who's visiting the master?" he snapped, curt with panic.

Raivis, quivering, replied, "Ms. Alvarez, from Venezuela."

"Southern?" Gilbert muttered. He raised his voice and gestured. "She made—all this?" Raivis nodded, and Gilbert muttered a German curse under his breath. He was running to the dining room before the Latvian could respond.

In the dining room, the master, Ivan Braginsky, was entertaining his guest. She was a very pretty Latin American young woman, with smooth chocolate-brown skin and bright green eyes filled with vitality. Her thick dark hair was pulled back by a little pink flower braided through the locks. She laughed easily and seemed very personable.

Gilbert hated her on first sight.

At his sudden appearance, she stopped her chatter (in English) in surprise at the outlandish look of the albino. Master Braginsky was engrossed in her charms, however, and it took him a few moments to notice his servant.

"Ah, прибет, Gil," he said, showing his perfect white teeth. "Have you met Lise yet? Lise, this is Gilbert Bielshmidt, one of my servants." She smiled and said she was pleased to meet him.

"Likewise, Mädchen," he said through his teeth.

Moving too fast for the German to see, Master Braginsky stood and slapped Gilbert in the face. "You will not call my future bride 'girl'," he upbraided his servant in Russian.

"Mien Herrscher," Gilbert snarled, bowing his head.

"Out," snapped Master Braginsky, pointing.

Gritting his teeth, Gilbert left, walked a good distance down the hallway, and stopped. Slipping off his boots, he crept silently down the hallway, wishing to delve deeper into the mystery, to ferret out the reasons for this engagement. Sure, sometimes his master did not act as was conventional and had many quirks of personality (such as the cruelty and overbearing that had led to Gilbert's new injury), but this… This was change. A bad change.

When he reached the door, the conversation was still going on. His ruse had been successful. Putting his ear to the crack, he listened.

"I know how hard of a transition it would be, coming to live here, but if you truly want to…" Master Braginsky was saying.

"Oh, it is nothing! Russia is such a beautiful place, and I am sure I can habituate myself to the cold," Lise said, her voice pert.

"But Russia is very different from Venezuela," Master Braginsky replied, his voice suddenly serious. "The… the milieu is different. The mood."

"It's fine," Lise said. "I don't care about it. I love you, and I want to stay with you."

"I love you too, but I cannot leave Russia, and you should stay in Venezuela, ma chère. You understand, it's safer…"

"No, Ivan," she said. "You asked me to marry you. If I do, then I will always stay with you. You are safe, you can keep me safe." There was movement. Gilbert looked through the keyhole. Lise had reached across the table to embrace Master Braginsky. A tear was shining on his pale cheek, but he nodded. "Да."

Mädchen- girl (German)

Mien Herrscher- my ruler (German)

прибет- hello (Russian) (Don't we all know that, but just in case...)

milieu- setting (French)

ma chère- my dear (French)

This is a story I just wrote for school, believe it or not. It was an assignment in which we had to use 10-15 vocab words. I probably used that amount- I sort of lost track after 13...

You're probably wondering about The Superpowers, but don't worry- I'm brainstorming the eighth chapter. Writer's block really bites, but the best we can do is muddle through it. If anybody has any suggestions, I will be glad to take them into account!

As for the background to this story, the setting is a world where all the APH characters can use magic powers. It may sound kind of lame, but there is SO MUCH you can do with it... And RusVen I got the idea for from looking up American and Russian relationships on Wikipedia. (We've all done it, fellow RusAme fans...) ANyways, I noticed the way Russia began helping out Venezuela, which really didn't seem to make America happy. Note: I have done absolutely NO MORE RESEARCH on it, so I don't know if Russia and Venezuela are actually that close.

Please review!