Afterword on Freedom

Warning: Violence and gore from here onwards. Beware! Rating goes up!

"B-B… B-Britain…?" Matthew called out weakly.

The smile 'Arthur' gave the boy was both familiar and foreign, all twisted in a wicked curl. "Don't look so scared now, lad," he said in a mock soothing tone. Then, he turned to glare at Francis. "You, on the other hand…"

Said man let out a whimper, but Syaoran remained fixed on their host, his mind filling with questions. What was going on? Why was Arthur-san suddenly calling himself Great Britain? This wasn't right… "A-Arthur-san…!"

But 'Arthur' scoffed at him, a look of disgust deeply etched on his face. "Don't belittle me with that… human name. My name is Great Britain – a more fitting name, wouldn't you say?" He gave them a crooked smile.

Syaoran furrowed his brows deeper. Stepping forward, he urged, "Arthur-san! What are you—?"

"Syaoran-kun, wait!" Fai stopped him, placing an arm in his way.

"But, Fai-san—!"

"So you're a non-believer, are you?" 'Arthur' drawled, cutting Syaoran's words. Then, he flashed them a smile that presented evil. "You've proposed an interesting challenge, human. Fine. I accept your challenge."

E-Eh?

"Arthur-san—"

"I am Great Britain," he cut him off again, "land of Hope and Glory"—a quick flash of teeth—"and a caster of magic you petty humans deign to recognize!"

There was a sudden flash of light coming from all directions and Syaoran had to cover his eyes with an arm. When the light had finally gone, he lowered his arm and stared. The whole den was back to the way it was before the explosion. The couch and chairs were back in their place. The portraits were hanging on the walls as before. Even the door was as good as new. It was as if the explosion never happened.

He heard Matthew mutter almost in a whisper, "Oh… wow…"

Beside him, Francis snorted, though his face looked rather pale. "I-It certainly is a nice trick – w-well, for cleaning anyway…"

The sudden glare 'Arthur' gave him was like the certain promise of doom, slow and agonizing. "And you'll be the first blood, you dead frog!"

Before anyone could react, he charged at Francis, his hand outstretched, glowing an eerie blue with white-hot sparks coming off.

"Don't, England-san!"

There was barely any time left, 'Arthur' closing in on Francis at an unnatural speed with a dangerous – deadly – spell in hand. He had no other choice. Weaving a quick spell around his arm, Fai rushed in the other's direction and stopped his assault, putting himself in a magic-lock with 'Arthur'.

"Why are you doing this?" Fai gritted his teeth, struggling to meet with Arthur's extraordinarily power. "England-san!"

But his words fell to deaf ears as 'Arthur' merely gave him a wicked smile. "Well, isn't this interesting! So you're a vampire and a magician! Ahahaha! Very interesting! But I wonder," he continued in a low, threatening tone, "how will your companions fare?"

With that, 'Arthur' thrust his other arm out in Syaoran and Kurogane's direction, and Fai's eyes widened. No…

In a wild flurry of magic, a beam of light surged from the hand, heading straight for his companions—

Mokona suddenly popped up from Matthew's arms and opened its mouth wide. The effect was immediate: the surrounding air whipped wildly across the room, being sucked into the white creature's mouth. Then, a flash of light shot straight into the mouth and Mokona promptly closed its mouth tight.

Eyes were on the innocent-looking creature in Matthew's arms as it let out a soft burp. Syaoran stared at the white creature. "Mokona…"

Tears threatening to fall from his eyes, the spectacled boy muttered, "M-Mokona…? W… What did you just…?"

Mokona huffed up its tiny chest and beat a little paw onto itself. "That was just one of Mokona's 108 secret skills: super-suction power!"

'Arthur' gritted his teeth at that, glaring at the white creature. Fai used the distraction to release himself from the magic-lock. The cloaked man merely scowled at Syaoran and his group. "Well, it looks like you have a trick or two up your sleeve." Slowly, he raised a hand, the tips of his fingers glowing. "Let's take all those tricks away first, shall we?"

The sound snap of fingers echoed throughout the whole room. Syaoran blinked once, and suddenly found himself out of the den – of the house itself – and somewhere in the garden grounds. The distinctive smell of roses and dampness hung in the air. He was almost sure of the grass underneath his feet. He looked around and saw the others looking just as surprised as he was. A heavy fog had settled in London as time already passed into night…

…And red glinting eyes surrounded them.

Syaoran immediately took his stance in response. When did they start appearing? He stepped back and found himself with Kurogane, Fai and even Norge circling around Matthew and Francis. From the way the other two blondes were shaking, they weren't as prepared for dangers like this.

Kurogane let out a soft grunt and unsheathed Ginryû. Syaoran's eyes widened at the blade's sheen. "Wait, Kurogane-san—!"

Beside the ninja, Fai readied into a stance. "It can't be helped…"

"Fai-san!"

Kurogane ignored the boy's panic-stricken state. He wondered why the kid was even hesitating to pull out his own sword. Well, that's up to him. He preferred to take a critical look at the enemy before them.

They were hounds, a dozen or so for each of them, appearing from out of the fog, growling and snarling at them menacingly. It wasn't just the eyes that had him on alert – their forms were far too bony to be even living, their appearances haunting. If he took a closer look at those hounds, their very structure appeared nothing more than smoke and shadows. But with teeth ready to rip out flesh.

These must be ghost-hounds then, no doubt about it.

Behind him, Kurogane could make out the quiet whimpering of the two blondes. He stifled a grunt. A bunch of whiners, these two. At least, the new blonde (Norge, was it?) looked much more reliable in these situations. Although, he did seem to pout about something. Then, the ninja blinked. Oh, he didn't have a weapon with him. Figures.

The cloaked Arthur suddenly gave Norge a mocking smile. "Oh, don't feel so left out, Norway. Fortunately for you, I am a gentleman as well and consider fairness even in these matters."

Immediately, Kurogane gave 'Arthur' a look. How can he consider being outnumbered by bloodthirsty ghouls as fair?

Nevertheless, the man continued in his condescending tone, "Therefore, I shall bestow upon you these." He snapped his fingers once and a rapier descended onto the ground – right between Francis's legs, much to the man's fright as he let out a rather unmanly yelp. Norge remained quiet on his side as a mace pierced the ground in front of him.

With a hand on his waist, the new Arthur showed his other hand and proclaimed, "Be grateful to be before someone as great and merciful as I!" He neatly finished off his mockery of them with an outright cackle.

Kurogane merely stifled another snort. This guy's getting too full of himself…

When the cloaked man recovered from his laughter, the growls then began to grow louder. "Then again," —and his brow was raised again in challenge— "what could ordinary pieces of metal possibly do against the undead?"

A piercing roar erupted and the hounds began their charge at the hapless group, claws outstretched, mouths rowed with pointed teeth open to bite. Syaoran faintly saw Francis holding onto Matthew tighter, clearly reacting to the assault, but Norge merely snorted in response.

"Delgren."

With a nod, the green creature stepped up and dealt with four hounds at once by a mere swipe of its arm. On its right, Kurogane slashed away with his sword. Unfortunately, his Ginryûonly went through smoke, not meeting any flesh. Fai was doing fairly better – he revealed his claws and, with blue eyes showing slit pupils, hacked onto the hounds' shadowy bodies, their agonized cries howling upon contact. Norge also fought by their side, beating through the hounds with an experienced hand.

Syaoran, on the other hand, remained with the huddled blondes. This wasn't right. Arthur-san was acting very strangely. He thought their host would stop fooling with them at any moment, but he didn't. In fact, he seemed dead set on bringing harm to them, all for some proof that—

Wild growls were heard from behind and Syaoran turned to see a group of hounds pouncing right at him, baring their bloodthirsty teeth. They were far too close, could he even summon his sword on time or—

"Niflheim vind!"

The ghost-hounds stopped just before their teeth could taste flesh, frozen in place and Syaoran fought back a shiver coming down his spine. He stared as Norge walked to the fragile bodies and silently dealt the finishing blow, shattering them into uncountable pieces.

Syaoran looked as the usually emotionless blonde started to show signs of annoyance. "N-Norge-san…?"

"Syaoran," Norge called him with a glare and the boy immediately stood up straighter, taking a sharp breath when the blonde pointed his mace at him. "Tell me, whose side are you on?"

"I-I…"

He saw the other's brow twitch and suddenly found the mace up between his eyes. "Whom will you really fight for?" Syaoran only grew more confused by Norge's actions. Why was Norge-san suddenly asking him these questions? Weren't they on the same side or—

A ghostly growl came resounded behind Norge and a ghost-hound was suddenly moments away from feasting on the blonde's flesh. Syaoran's eyes widened at the sight. "Watch out!"

He quickly sidestepped behind Norge to meet the ghost-hound, clapping his hands together. Sparks of magic appeared from between his hands as Syaoran revealed his Jian sword. Not wasting any time, he raised his blade at the hound and cried out, "Kashin shourai!"

The ghost-hound wailed as its entire body, smoke and all, began to burn from where his sword cut it. As its remains burned away into ashes fleeting in the wind, Norge's words echoed in his mind: whom will you really fight for? Syaoran stood back to face him and give him his answer: "I fight… for my friends!"

Syaoran spared a glance at the quiet 'Arthur' smirking at him. If fighting was the only way to bring the old Arthur back, then…

"Then, it'll be a pleasure fighting with you," Norge muttered, giving him a small smile. Syaoran nodded, smiling back.

"HAMA-RYUOUJIN!"

Both stood still as fierce gusts of winds suddenly beat around them, effectively cutting away the rest of the ghost-hounds. Syaoran turned and found Kurogane crouched low with his sword outstretched and enveloped in his chi. As the dust clouds lifted, Fai tried to whistle. "Well done, Kuro-sama~!"

The ninja merely let out a huff as he stood back up, lowering his Ginryû for a moment, and Syaoran let himself take a sigh of relief.

So, Kurogane-san and Fai-san were alright, as well.

Norge faced 'Arthur', who was eying them with a narrow-slipped smile all the while, and gave him a frown. "England! You've proven yourself as a powerful being, now stop all this—"

"I haven't proven anything yet," the cloaked man cut in, half-closed eyes drilling holes at the blonde, "Moreover, how many times must I keep telling you not to call me by that name. I am—"

Norge stopped him short with a grunt. "Let's finish this quickly, then. Delgren!"

The green creature immediately came to the blonde's call. It nodded once before hurtling itself towards 'Arthur', its hands outstretched and—

BANG!

Everyone watched, eyes wide in horror, as the creature roared in pain and tumbled off-course and into dirt, holding onto its bleeding arm the whole time. 'Arthur' just gave it a triumphant smile.

"Delgren!" Norge cried as he quickly went to the bleeding creature's side. He soothed it gently in a language Syaoran couldn't understand from the distance. His eyes, however, were sharp enough to see the injury on its arm: a small, yet profusely bleeding wound. It was almost as if a bullet had hit it.

Syaoran turned when 'Arthur' let out a scoff. "A tad late, aren't you… Britannia?"

A low chuckle hinting the sound of danger echoed around them, the mere resonance haunting. A man clad in knee-high boots and gold-trimmed red coat stepped up from behind the Brit. A two-flapped hat rested on golden locks, an ostrich feather tucked between one of the flaps. Tied to his leather belt was an empty holster. The pistol in question remained in a gloved hand, its barrel still smoking from the fire.

Familiar green eyes slipped in a glint of dark amusement as the same yet unknown voice spat, "Quit whinin', ya bilge rat. The fun's jus' startin'."

Special notes:

Ginryû – name of Kurogane's sword; means Silver Dragon (The spelling of the name varies depending on the translator/publisher of the English version, but I went with the spelling hosted by Mangafox, the meaning from TRC Wiki)

Delgren – from the name Grendel (check out Beowulf)

Niflheim – one of the nine-worlds in Norse mythology, the underground realm of ice (and the place where pretty much everything else came from) (based from godchecker (dot) com)

Niflheim vind – according to Google Translate, vind means wind (of course), Niflheim is explained above

Jian sword – the type of sword Syaoran uses

Kashin shourai – one of Syaoran's less used attacks (actually, he only used this once, and even then, it pretty much failed); translated as Come forth: Fiery Blaze (the translation and the spelling of the Romaji varies upon the translator/publisher of the English version but went with spelling as hosted by Mangafox and the translation according to Chuang Yi)

Hama-ryuoujin – one of Kurogane's common attacks; translated as Dragon-king Demonbane Slash (again, the translation and spelling of the Romaji varies upon the translator/publisher of the English version but went with Chuang Yi's spelling and translation)

Bilge rat – literally, a rat that lives in a bilge of a ship, the lowest level of the ship filled with frankly gross water; on International Talk Like a Pirate Day, guys who celebrate this event call their friends this nickname of sorts – a friendly insult, in this case (based on talklikeapirate (dot) com (slash) howto)

A/N: While listening to あかいくつ偽, I feel out of practice when writing the fight scenes. It's been too long! But anyways, Happy Halloween :)