Day Three: In which Emil hates shopping and Arthur tries to explain his actions, with limited success.
Chapter 3
Emil was woken by the sound of voices. Turning, he saw that Peter must already be up. He groaned. No doubt the kid would be sent to wake him up before long. Just like home, he thought.
Groaning, he rolled out of bed. He pulled his boots on again – reflecting that they were pretty much exact replicas of the type he had worn for so many centuries – and went to find the others. Surprisingly, the outer room was empty. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and making his way down to the inn.
The barmaid looked up when she saw him, giving a quick smile. "Breakfast, love?" she asked.
Emil nodded gratefully, and dug in his pouch for a few coins. The girl waved his hand away. "Your brother paid the tab already" she explained. Emil rolled his eyes. Still not letting me be independent, he thought. Well, who was he to complain about a free meal? He was a teenager, after all.
After finishing the bowl of porridge – which was surprisingly good, he found – he asked the girl if she had seen any of the others. She pointed to the door.
"Left a while ago. Said something about finding supplies. And a map, I think."
Emil groaned. Trust his brother. "Do you have any idea where they might be, please?" he asked.
The girl laughed. "There's only one place round here that sells stuff that fancy." She gave him directions, then leaned her chin on her hands. "What you here for, anyways? You don't look like hunters. Least, not you two. The other one, maybe. Tall, and that axe!" she blushed a little, then looked away, guiltily.
"I-I didn't mean anything by that, of course. Just, you know. A girl could do worse than a guy like that. Is he, perhaps, walking out with anyone?"
Wouldn't you like to know!
Emil could hardly tell her the truth, since if this society was anything like the one he had spent his childhood in, it wouldn't likely be welcomed with open arms. Suddenly, he had an idea.
He grinned wickedly. "No, he's single. Want me to have a word with him?"
The girl blushed again. "W-would you? I mean, really?"
He nodded. "Of course. We've been travelling for a while, I'm sure he'd love some company. Especially from someone as pretty as you."
Wow, guess Leon really rubbed off on me! All those weird shows he made me watch with the others must have sunk in after all.
Emil could never see the point of the sort of cheesy lines no drama seemed to be without, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to use them.
After chatting meaninglessly for a while, he bid the girl goodbye. Going back up to fetch his cloak, he left the inn and wandered out. Having got directions to the store, he decided to wander around the town for a while. There wasn't any harm, surely.
By some strange coincidence, it was market day. He wandered down the street, looking at the various stalls. Surprisingly, he found the sights and smells more nostalgic than he expected. He had rarely been taken to markets when he was little, Matthias and Lukas being entirely too over-protective for his own good when he was little. He did have memories of Berwald taking him a few times, after repeated begging. Matthias hadn't been exactly happy, but he couldn't deny that no-one in their right minds would have dared to mess with the tall, intimidating Swede.
Emil smiled slightly at the memory. His small legs hadn't been able to keep up with Berwald's long stride, and he had lagged behind. Eventually, he had been lifted up and placed on the man's broad shoulders, allowing him to see the market and all the wares. Berwald had even bought him a sweet pastry, telling him in his usual quiet voice not to say a word to Matthias about it. Emil had found this hilarious, and spent the rest of the day clutching Berwald's hair with sticky little fingers, beaming happily.
The stalls here were broadly the same, meats and vegetables set out in displays, vendors calling out their prices in competition with each other. Smaller stalls displayed jewellery and crafts, their prices on display, but ready to be negotiated with the discretion of the owner. Emil found himself staring at a small silver piece, reminded of the hairclip that Lukas never allowed out of his sight.
The vendor caught his stare, and got up from the stool they were sitting on.
"You couldn't afford any of this, boy. Move along."
Emil looked up, frowning. "I was just looking, that's all."
"hmmph. That's what they all say. Go on, be on with you."
For a moment, Emil debated arguing, then let it go.
He was caught off guard by a hand coming down on his shoulder. For a second, he panicked, thinking the owner had called a guard. Then he heard a familiar voice, and relaxed.
"See anything ya like, icey?"
Emil turned to see Matthias looking down at him, smiling. "Not really" he replied.
Matthias looked down at the table. "Wow! This stuff's really good! Lukas, come and see!" he called the others over. Lukas and Arthur were both carrying small satchels, no doubt full of their purchases. A scroll stuck out of Lukas' bag, likely the map he had wanted. Peter trailed after them, his hands covered in crumbs from the pastry he was holding.
Arthur saw his gaze, and sighed. "Don't look at me like that, boy. He wouldn't shut up, so I had to buy him that. Why children automatically turn to excess sugar I have no idea."
Like you haven't done far worse things than throw a tantrum when you couldn't get the stuff, Emil thought. He didn't say anything, though, merely turning back to the items on display, pretending to look at them.
"That one."
Emil turned to see Lukas pointing at a small piece. "Your hair is getting long, lillebrør. How about a clip? Then we'll match."
Emil's face showed exactly what he thought of that idea.
After browsing for a while, during which time Lukas had to drag Matthias away from a stall selling a variety of weapons, they retired to the edge of the town. Lukas drew out the map he had found, and they began discussing their next moves. Arthur took the lead in explaining.
"This is our current location." He pointed to the map. "As far as we know, the spell has dropped all of us as near to where our characters were as possible. Going on the assumption that only those who were in the room were affected, we have a rough idea of where everyone should be." His face sharpened, his eyebrows furrowing in thought. since they were a rather prominent feature, this was quite impressive, Emil noticed.
The thought made him smile, and he almost missed the Englishman's next words.
"Given that not everyone was actually actively participating in the game, we have to take a guess on where the others may be."
Emil started. "What does that mean?" he asked.
Arthur looked up at him, surprised at the question coming from the normally reticent teen.
"Well. This is all guesswork, you realise. But I'm pretty sure I'm right with this assumption. Anyway, what I think has happened is this." He looked down at the map, gathering his thought.
"The reason we are here is because of me. I will admit that. BUT, because of that, I have a good idea how to get us back, as well. You see, I made this spell years ago, but I didn't ever think I would have a chance to use it." He twisted his hands together, seeming embarrassed.
"I, uh, I actually developed this spell as something of an experiment. I wasn't always the most…attentive caretaker I could have been, and I regret that, very highly. But the boys were very imaginative, and seeing them playing together gave me an idea. What if I was able to make their games come true? Not just project their imagination outwards, but to actually send them into a game of their own devising? I thought about it, and I came up with this. I suppose it must have taken me longer than I expected to craft it, however, because before I realised it, they were long grown and I had no need of it.
So when this chance came up, I thought it would be the perfect time to use it. It just happened that Alfred, insufferable though he normally is, showed an interest in the game, which he rarely does. So he asked to join in, and I let him. soon, he declared it to be…less than stellar' (they all remembered his actual words, a good deal less polite) 'and I admit I let myself get carried away. I cast the spell, and here we are." He stared down at his hands.
"So, where are the others, and how do we find 'em?" Matthias eventually asked.
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Blunt as ever, Dane." He sighed. "Well, I have to admit I'm not entirely sure on that. The spell was only designed to turn the current players into their respective characters. I'm not quite certain what malfunctioned to make the spell expand to all those in the room. I suppose, when I came up with it, it was on the basis that it would only be used in the company of those who were playing, so I can only assume it worked on the basis that that encompassed all those who were currently in the room.
With that logic, all of us – he gestured to the others – appeared exactly where our characters had been. For the others, I can only imagine. Lukas can explain that a little better than I can. He has more experience with alteration magic than I do."
Attention shifted to the pale blond. Lukas looked up calmly. He explained in his usual calm voice "as you know, magic works in balance with nature. We think that because of this, the spell will have tried to set everyone who was not a player in as likely a setting as possible, that is, a role similar to their individual personality. While we don't know for sure who was in the room at the exact moment the spell went into effect, we've made a list of who we definitely know was, and what sort of role we think would best suit them." He reached into his bag, drawing out a piece of paper. Emil recognised it as the drawing and list that he and Arthur had been scribbling the night before.
"So that's why I'm here!" a voice piped up. They turned to Peter, who was licking his fingers clean of pastry crumbs. Arthur sighed. "Yes, unfortunately. By all rights you shouldn't even have been allowed in the hotel, let alone allowed to be with the rest of us. Why were you there, anyway?"
Matthias coughed, looking guilty. "That's kind of out fault. See, Sve and Fin had ta come, being representatives and all. They couldn't get anyone to look after the kids, so he tagged along."
"Brilliant." Arthur glared at the child. "Any more of you we need to worry about?"
Peter thought about it. "Well, Erl was in our room, cause he said that he could play any game he wanted by himself and didn't need us, cause he's a meanie. I asked Wendy if she wanted to play, but she said no. I think she went to bed cause the time zone is really different to her place so she was 'whacked out', she said. Then Hans went to bed early cause he said he needed sleep for his art, plus Mr Austria is really strict on his bedtime, which is mean cause he's only a little bit younger than me. I'm not sure about Seb. Hutt and Molossia never come anyway, and Niko-Niko doesn't really hang out with us much. Aaaand that's it." His eyes lit up.
"Ooh, Alex was here though. He's the only one of us who's an actual country. But that will change just as soon as you recognise me because I will be too! So you just need to hurry up and recognise me as a country!" he nodded, beaming.
The others sighed. Matthias ruffled his hair endearingly. "Yeah, yeah, kiddo. One day."
"Well, I'm glad you've got that out of your system, Peter" Arthur said. He turned back to the map.
"At any rate, it's quite clear what out plan of action is. We have the list here of where we reckon our fellow representatives will be. I suggest we start here." He pointed to a section of the map. They leant in to see where he was pointing. It appeared to be a cave, not far from where they currently were.
"So, who are we going to find?" Matthias asked. The two members of the magic trio stared at him, waiting for the penny to drop. It didn't take long before the Dane's eyes lit up in understanding.
"Oh, I see." He said. He stood up, crossing his arms and grinning. "We're going vampire hunting!"
