Vladimir whips around, instinctively pulling Elena behind him with his left arm. He gropes around with his right arm, reaching for Ivan and Natalya. They aren't there. Vladimir turns to Gilbert, who is staring at six people, not too far away from them, causing a small commotion. One of them has fallen on the ground, and appears to have been the one who yelled.
"Ivan!" Vladimir hisses, recognizing one of the people. He rushes over, Gilbert picking up Elena and following. Vladimir is grateful to the German for helping. The Romanian stops by his cousin, putting a hand on his shoulder. Natalya is standing next to the small Russian, and Vladimir catches sight of a paper crinkled in her hand.
On the floor is Toris, his green eyes locked on the paper in Natalya's hands. Feliks stands next to him, his eyes shining in worry. Two other kids, one about Natalya's age and one Ivan's, stand behind Feliks, staring at Toris.
Elizabeta comes running up, Roderiech and Basch following more slowly. "Laurinaitis! I told you not to get yourself- Oh? Who's this?" Her voice, which is scolding at first, sweetens as she notices Ivan and Natalya.
Vladimir steps in front of them, grabbing Natalya's wrist. "Leaving, that's who." His voice betrays the hostility he feels to the girl. Natalya hisses, but says nothing as Vladimir pries the paper from her hand. "This is yours? Take better care of it." He tosses the crumples ball at Toris, who catches it and shoves it in his pocket. Feliks says nothing, helping Toris up. "And you, Hungarian, can go now. Not that you should have intervened in the first place."
"Excuse me?" Elizabeta steps forward and glares at Vlad.
Vlad lifts his chin. "You heard me."
Toris shifts his weight. "Eliza, maybe you should g-" He is cut of by Elizabeta's snarl.
"And let this, this Romanian, order me around? I don't think so."
One of the children standing behind Toris walks over to Eliza. He has blond hair that is combed neatly and glasses. He tugs on Elizabeta's sleeve. "I think Toris is right." He says quietly. "I don't think it's worth a fight. Toris got his paper back and no harm was done."
Eliza's face loosens. She steps back from Vladimir, who resists the urge to stick his tongue out at her, knowing that not only would it be a bad impression on the kids, but it would also probably get him into a fight. One he might lose, too. "Fine." Elizabeta says curtly. She turns on her heel and stalks off.
Toris looks at Vladimir. "Er, thanks." He says awkwardly. "For, you know. My paper."
Vlad doesn't spare the Lithuanian a glance. "Yeah, whatever." He turns.
Toris runs in front of him. "Wait!" He says, planting himself between Vladimir and Gilbert. "Um, you should know. Don't.. Don't sit with Emil anymore. Or Li Xiao, for that matter." He says, looking around. The school is pretty much empty, but Toris seems cautious regardless. "Just, thought I should mention." The brown-haired boy runs after Feliks before giving Vladimir a chance to reply.
Wierd. Vlad thinks. He walks up to Gilbert, who is smirking.
"What got you all happy?" Vladimir asks.
"Laurinaitis," Gilbert laughs. "The kid is just such a weakling." Gilbert turns towards the door, Elena trotting after him. Vladimir follows, pushing his misgivings to the back of his mind. Ivan and Natalya walk behind their older cousin, strangely somber.
At the door, Gilbert turns to Vladimir, holding out a piece of paper, which Vladimir takes. "Here's the letter back. And," He hesitates. "I know you might have been told this, but don't hang around Emil or Kaoru." He runs off to his mother's car, where a kid with slicked back blond hair is already climbing in. Turning next to the car, he waves to Elena and grins wildly.
"That was a strange encounter." Vladimir frowns. "Mm, oh well."
Elena giggles from beside him. "He was funny, I like him."
Vladimir smiles at his small sister. "Yeah, he was pretty cool. Look, there's Mom's car!" He points to the familiar car, and Elena charges towards it, shouting in Romanian. Ivan runs after Elena and Natalya follows after a moment's hesitation. Vladimir is about to start after them when something bright catches his eye. He turns to look.
A man stands near the corner of the school, his back turned away from Vladimir. He wears a black coat and white skinny jeans with brown hiking boots. His hands are clasped behind his back, though at this distance Vladimir can just make out the way they are clenched tight as if he is angry. Something golden next to his head catches the light. Vlad recognizes him with a start. It's the man from Emil's photograph.
He moves aside, turning. Vladimir strains his ears, but he can't hear the words he says. Someone behind him raises his voice, and Vladimir can hear that.
"If you didn't leave me alone all the time, maybe I wouldn't need to find friends like him!" It's Emil.
The older man, who Vladimir dubs Stoic, says something. But then he looks up and catches Vladimir's eye. A shiver runs through Vlad, and he feels himself get dizzy. He breaks the spell, turning his head and running to the car, his heart pounding in terror. What had that man almost done?
He tumbles into the passenger seat next to Mira. "Sorry, I got... held up." He says apologetically. Mira smiles at her son.
"That's fine, honey." Mira starts the car, after checking that Elena, Natalya, and Ivan were in the back seat, and begins the short drive to home.
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Dinner is extremely awkward, with Katyusha trying to get Natalya to talk to others besides Ivan, and Mira trying to get everyone to talk about their school day. Eventually, she finally gets Vladimir to speak, though only in Romanian.
"I thought it was kinda cool. There were some interesting people, like Emil from Iceland, Toris from Lithuania, Gilbert from Germany," Vlad recites a few people from the transfer class. He doesn't mention Emil's strange brothers, or the eerie event from right after school.
Elena brightens. "Ludwig, Gilbert's little brother, was in my class!" She says excitedly. "He was pretty serious, and Gilbert didn't seem like that at all. I think I like Gil better."
Vladimir nods. "I guess I can see that." He says. "How can brothers be so different?"
After dinner, Vladimir retreats to his room. The letter weighs heavier in his pocket than ever before. Was I wrong? He thinks to himself, sitting on his desk and rubbing his eyes with his hand. To not tell them about Emil's strangeness? And his alive but dead brothers? Vladimir ponders this as he gets ready for bed.
"No," Vlad decides. "But even so, I can't think about it any more. There is an early day tomorrow." Vladimir lays down on his bed, leaving the letter on his night table.
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"What did you do that for?" Emil shouts at his brother. The other man shrugs.
"He was listening to our conversation."
"You didn't have to try to kill him!" Emil's amethyst eyes are blazing. "You could- you could have just made him forget."
"He is a danger to you, Emil." The navy eyes of the other are narrowed. He believes in what he did, even if Emil thinks it was wrong.
"No, he's not." Emil looks away. "I can't believe you. You are not my brother, Lukas. Not anymore."
The man called Lukas turns, panic showing in his eyes. He starts to move towards Emil. "No, Emil! You don't know what you're doing! EMIL!" His final shout fades away as his body crumbles into dust. Emil shows no remorse.
"I'm sorry, Lukas." He turns away.
A/N Begins Here
I killed off Norway :D
Don't worry, he'll be back. He's Norway. Magical Nations never stay down for long.
What do you think Toris's paper said? And why is everyone telling Vladimir to stay away from Emil? Will he?
Reviews make me want to write!
