A/N: I hereby introduce you to my favourite MSND character and some very sexy Faerie royals.
Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.
MSND belongs to William Shakespeare.
It indeed was a fine, warm night in the forest, and Alfred F. Jones, hero-spirit-prankster supreme, was gaily traveling amongst the trees. His heart was light. Midsummer was approaching, which meant all sorts of fun could abound. Especially for him. He had all sorts of tricks planned. Now that he heard a wedding was going to happen soon – not just any wedding, but a noble wedding – things were even better. To express his joy, Alfred executed a few cartwheels and round-offs in succession. Which was the reason why he didn't have adequate time to avoid the furious streak of green coming his way, causing the two to collide magnificently.
"Whoa!" Alfred reeled back in surprise. "What's the rush, buddy? Got somewhere to go?"
He was unfazed by the fierce shout he received in return.
"Don't patronize me, you twat! I didn't come all this way over the hills and the moors, across the shrubs and bushes, through all sorts of floods and fires just to deal with some snot-nosed ninny! I'm second in command to the Faerie Queen,I'll have you know!"
Alfred couldn't help it. He stared at the scowling person in fascination, who was of small, spindly stature. This faerie's straw-coloured hair stuck out in all directions, messed up with leaves and twigs sticking out of it. His vine coloured tunic nearly blended into his surroundings, though such clear green eyes – under a pair of very definitive, angrily knotted eyebrows - certainly stood out from the foliage.
"Maybe if you weren't so camouflaged, I wouldn't have bumped into you."
"That's your problem, not mine." The rude faerie folded his arms and tapped a foot impatiently. Alfred felt as if the patronizing was really occurring on the other end, but didn't comment. "I don't have time for a costume change. My Queen should be arriving here any moment now, so I must ready the clearing for her with dewdrops, and pearls, and flowers…"
That didn't sound like the most manly, heroic task, in Alfred's opinion, but then again, he wasn't sure if this was even a male faerie yet. He opted to give some advice instead.
"Well, you better ready some other place. My master, the King of Faerie, is coming this way, and I'll bet you my hat that he's not going to want to bump into Elizabeta today."
His conversation partner paused for a second, and turned curiously towards Alfred. The hero continued. "She took this Indian kid from the royal family. Really cute, or something. Sadiq wants him as his own servant, because after all, he's the King, and shouldn't the King have the best? Elizabeta said no, though, so now they won't even talk to one another." Alfred took note of the look of horror passing upon the other faerie's face.
"Honestly, I don't know why you don't know this. If you're second in command, then you had to have seen the kid at some point, because she just keeps on playing with it, putting flowers on his head and all that. Dude, all the faeries in the wood are scared shitless from this little feu-"
"It's not that, you git!" The faerie growled crossly at him. "I just realized who the bloody hell you are! You're that stupid bloke who goes about mucking people's stuff up for laughs! The one who frightened an entire village through some silly trick, who steals all the milk from the stables, and leads innocent travelers in circles all night long? The moron who calls himself Hero, which is a ridiculous title, if you ask me. That's you, isn't it!"
"The one and only!" Alfred bowed low and extravagantly, pleased that his reputation had preceded him so well. "You forgot that one time when I stole the chair underneath this old hag. That was the best. Other people loved it too. And actually, Hero's just a stand in for now. I'm still trying out some better names like, The Rogue, or, Midnight Man, something that's still really heroic but powerful, and catchy-"
The other faerie raised one massive eyebrow as Alfred's rambling trailed away. He straightened up, listening intently.
"Crap! Sadiq's almost here. Better get out while you can."
"I can't! Elizabeta's coming too." The faerie backed up against a tree nervously. "Oh bollocks, I wish he'd leave…"
Before the two spirits could do anything more, the clearing was suddenly ablaze with light. On one side, the majestic entourage of Sadiq and his sprites emerged from the shadows. The King was garbed in sweeping robes that sparkled with a mysterious magic. His visage shared the same aura, dark eyes gleaming from beneath a star-bejewelled mask of silver, his head adored with a hat of exotic feathers. Opposite of him, Elizabeta and her handmaidens stood their ground. They were all dressed in the same, lightweight material that provoked images of mist on the moor and of the sunrise, their long, flowing hair decked with flower petals and dew. In the Queen's arms was the stolen child, playing unconcernedly with the pearls around Elizabeta's neck.
"Well, well," Sadiq announced slowly. "Ill met by moonlight, my proud little princess."
The assembly of faeries shifted nervously as Elizabeta narrowed her eyes back at him.
"We'll leave here, nymphs. I don't want any share of his company."
Before her shimmering attendants could move a hair, Sadiq shot across the clearing, blocking their path. He leaned forward, grinning menacingly. Elizabeta glared back.
"Don't be so hasty. Aren't I your Lord?"
"My…" All faeries save for Sadiq shrank back a little as the enraged Queen drew herself up to full height. "If that be so, tell me, dear husband, why you were so dreadfully busy to take such a long leave from Faerie. I thought you'd be in the oriental East by now."
"Oh right," she snickered mockingly. "Your beloved Marie, the brave warrior queen, is now engaged to Duke Bonnefoy and you're here to give them your 'blessing.' I can only pity the poor mortals."
Nobody else would have dared to laugh outright in the King of Faerie's face. Sadiq's smile remained relaxed and inviting, though his eyes glowed dangerously through the slits in his mask.
"Tsk tsk, Elizabeta. What a little hypocrite you are, to mention my tryst with Marie when we both know full well that a certain Francis had been in hot pursuit of some Faerie queen, regardless of all the other maidens that fell at his feet?"
He reached for the child in her arms, but she twitched away warningly. "Poor little Sadiq, what a shame that you have to resort to jealous lies just because we haven't met for nearly an entire season. I do not consider your reckless attempts at skirmishes amongst my servants to count as any. You dared to interrupt our magic revels with your boorish brawls, ruined our dances, whether it be by sea or valley or wood…"
The faeries shared knowing looks as Elizabeta continued to rail against Sadiq. Alfred leaned towards his cranky companion once more.
"She does like to ramble, doesn't she?"
"…By conjuring up some foul fog to harass the poor commoners, the farmers at their toil with their beasts in tow! Ruining nature's bounty by murdering the crops! I saw the fields wilting in pain, the filth-ridden marshes, to the point that one would wish for winter to arrive and bury this sight in snow…"
"Yes, her language does get rather poetic. But I think it's beautiful."
Alfred shot him a weird look.
"…And it's all merely because we're having a silly fight!" Elizabeta concluded her rant by spinning around, turning her back on Sadiq. But not before he saw the hurt look on her face.
"That's true." He slid an arm across her shoulder, the tips of his fingers in the little boy's dark curls. "It doesn't have to be that way. All you have to do is trade the child to join me and my crew…"
Sadiq should never have let his guard down. The Queen of Faerie released a furious wave of wind that would have smacked him hard onto the grassy floor of the clearing, if he hadn't nimbly leaped to a tree branch at the last moment. Elizabeta screamed up at him.
"Never! Do you think this is a game? This boy is no mere plaything, not a prize to be won, you fool. His mother was dear friend. I spent hours by her side. She was the most generous woman I ever knew, so when she died in childbirth I swore to raise him."
Sadiq knew better than to come down from the tree when Elizabeta was in full rage. Even all his own servants had fled the scene…well, save for one. He leaned against the trunk and swung his legs in a false display of nonchalance.
"Very well. How long will you be in this wood, my dear?"
She bristled at the suspiciously light tone. "Not until after the wedding. If you even think about coming near me, you better be ready to grovel."
He extended a hand down to her. "I'll accompany you if you just give me the boy."
Elizabeta wrapped a scarf as light as cobweb around the child. "Not for your entire kingdom. Servants! We leave."
Another gust of wind and the clearing was as dark and still as it was before. Alfred blinked. His new friend was gone too. Shame, really. Just when those eyebrows were beginning to grow on him…
Sadiq dropped down to the earth. Let Elizabeta think she'd won this round. She would pay the price for his humiliation before morning.
"Jones. Get over here."
The lovable trickster was at his side in seconds. Sadiq spoke low, though they were the only two present. "Do you remember that western cliff by the sea, where the sirens sing?"
"Of course!" Alfred gave him his most reassuring smile. "A hero doesn't forget stuff like that."
"There is a temple not far from it. The last time I was there, a lone priestess was attending the altar. Cupid thought he'd make fine sport of her, but his arrow missed the girl entirely, hitting instead a pure-white blossom at the side. The moment the shaft pierced its petals, the flower instantly darkened into purple."
Alfred hopped back and forth on his feet, wondering when his master would get to the point.
"It is the only one of its kind, Alfred. Bring it here to me. It secretes a liquid that causes any creature whose eyes are endowed by it to fall madly in love with the first thing it lays sight upon. Be back as fast as you can."
His manservant stood up proudly. "I could race around the planet in less than an hour!" And with that, he'd shot off into the darkness.
Sadiq looked up at the sky, riddled with diamond stars that were reflected in the gems on his mask. He had the perfect plan for his flighty Queen, alright. He could see it now. Elizabeta, soundly asleep, the flower's magic huddled on her eyelids. Opening those haughty green eyes would only bring her complete, helpless infatuation with some hideous thing. A beast, hopefully. Perhaps a lion, bear, wolf, bull…or even more cruelly, a monkey or an ape. And when Sadiq finally revealed her sad situation, she'd have no choice but to give the boy to him. It was perfect.
His keen ears alerted him to rustlings in the undergrowth. Could Alfred really be that quick? Yet the footsteps sounded heavy and unsteady, unlike the light, nimble steps of his most free-spirited henchman. Sadiq deftly threw his cloak around himself, melting into the shadows again.
"Lovi, go home!"
Antonio tugged his sleeve away from an offending branch and nearly fell face first into the clearing. Lovino appeared seconds later, panting heavily. The first boy sighed.
"You told me Feli and Ludwig were hiding in the forest." He looked around the trees irritably. "They're in for it when I find them…Now we're both stuck here, just because I can't find Feliciano. Thanks, but no thanks. Go back to the town."
Lovino was leaning against a fallen trunk, still gasping for breath.
"Y-you…asshole…you're too…fucking…fast…" He sucked in one final intake of air and looked Antonio straight in the eye. "But I can't leave you."
Antonio folded his arms in exasperation. "Honestly, Lovino, stop doing this to yourself. I'm not doing anything to make you follow me. I'm not even trying to lead you on. Look, I've told you before, and I'll say it again: I don't want you."
He didn't see the cloud of pain passing over the other boy's face, though Sadiq, in his hiding spot, noticed every tiny detail. Lovino moved forward, and Antonio moved back.
"You bastard, you're not going to get rid of me that easily. I'll prove it. I'll go wherever you go. Even if…even if you - if you hit me! Like a dog!"
Sadiq was captivated by the scene before him, so much that he even temporarily forgot about Elizabeta, about Alfred, and the flower. Lovino's voice became louder with every plead.
"I-I'm telling you right now! I don't even have to be your equal or anything, just take me with you, please. You can't leave me here!"
Antonio groaned and pulled himself away from Lovino's grasp again. "For the love of God, Lovi! I can't even look at you."
"And I can't not look at you!" Lovino angrily kicked at a poor tuft of ferns nearby. "Goddamnit!"
Antonio tried a different tactic. "Lovi, you never think things through. What are people going to say? That you stole out of your house in the middle of the night to meet with some guy in the woods…"
Lovino was frozen in trepidation when Antonio stepped nearer again, his voice dropping low. "…Some guy who has the power and chance to take advantage of such a foolish boy…"
"L-like the fuck I care! Because, because…" Lovino flushed red, but let the words pour out of him in a rush. "Because when I see you, it's not night! When I see you, it doesn't matter who the hell will see because you're the only one I see and I can't be alone if you're here and….argh!" He pounded the ground with his fist in frustration. "Don't you get it, stupid?"
"I won't take care of you," Antonio warned him. "You'll be attacked by wild animals."
Lovino flared up angrily at this. Scrambling to his feet, he shouted again. "Like hell I will! If you fucking even dare ditch me in this goddamn forest I'll fucking chase you to the ends of the Earth, you bastard! Just because I'm smaller and younger and weaker doesn't mean I can't keep up with you, you damn idiot…"
"Lovi, shut up!" Antonio's eyes suddenly flashed darkly, real danger lurking behind the green irises. "Go home. Don't follow me. If you do, you'll regret it."
Sadiq almost deserted his hiding place to jump between the two when Lovino, in a surprising moment of daring, made to get closer to Antonio. "Too late, asshole. I regret everything that's happened between us. You're a bastard, you know that? You've ruined me."
Antonio feigned deafness, turning his back on the upset boy to stalk back into the wood. Lovino was left alone, unsure what to do. Sadiq felt odd as well, and suddenly realized that he was actually sorry for him.
"God…goddamnit, bastard…you can't leave me here…"
Lovino angrily brushed the tears from his cheeks and ran into the forest, towards where Antonio had disappeared. Sadiq waited until the urgent footfalls faded away before becoming visible again.
"Best of luck, young man. I swear upon Faerie that you'll get what you wish for…" He was distracted by a flash of light at his side. "Alfred! Do you have the flower?"
The rogue smirked and with a flourish of his own cape, revealed a violet carefully tucked away into his belt. "Exactly as you ordered, sir!"
"Good, give it here." Sadiq lifted the stem, and the two spirits took a moment to admire it. Such a small thing to hold such power. "I know the garden where Elizabeta will choose to take her rest. It's a bower full of scented blossoms, perfect for cover when I will sneak in and place the liquid on her eyes. We'll have a lot of fun with her tonight. But you," he said sternly, and Alfred automatically snapped to attention again. "I have a different job for you."
"There is a mortal boy who is completely lovesick with another," he explained. "He is slight and fair, with a curl on one side of his head. You'll recognize him as he pursues his love through the wood. Find a way to put the flower's liquid on the other boy's eyes, and make sure that he will be the first one present when he wakes up. Then meet me back here."
Alfred took a petal carefully. "If they're both boys, this is going to be one confusing hell of a mission," he noted. Seeing the serious expression on the King's face, he quickly slapped on a grin and saluted his master confidently. "But don't worry! I'm a hero! The Rogue can do anything!"
They sprang up into the branches, racing away from the clearing, each completely focused on their plans.
A/N: The first chapter of this story that I am actually proud of. xD I think I'm finally understanding the line between what to use from Shakespeare's text and what to imagine and elaborate on myself.
I see a lot of TurkHun fanart, but not that many fics. I really like the pairing - their equally boisterous personalities make it super fun. Kept the "ill met by moonlight" line because I think it's so devilishly debonair. Sadiq = Oberon = brb, melting into a puddle of Turkey fangirl mush.
