A/N: 4th Chapter! Good god, this whole thing was actually only a daydream (I couldn't be bothered to pay attention in class), but then I thought 'I've developed this thought a lot; I might as well write it down' and before you know it, I'm on the fourth chapter! I apologize if none of you like this story, but I'm determined to finish it so it's one less thing to do. After all, I have like, five or six stories on the go and it's major pressure, you know? Right, I'll shut up now. This chapter will (hopefully) help you understand a little bit about Denmark's current situation. And by the way, in the memory, their country names are mentioned because I couldn't be bothered to use their human names (I'm really lazy). Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia

Matthias swallowed nervously. He couldn't get out of this one. Tino was injured, and everyone hated him, which must mean that he'd turned and they'd had to put up with his bad side. Damn, he cursed to himself, what should I do? Could I lie my way out of this? No, it's too late. I guess I have to tell them everything.

Taking a deep breath, Matthias wrung his hands uncomfortably. "You might want to get comfy; this'll take a while." I hope I can tell it in time before tonight, he hoped silently.

They obliged by pulling up chairs that had been littered about the room, but still keeping their distance. In fact, the nearest person was Lukas, and he was about three meters away, as if Matthias was some sort of fatal, contagious disease. Berwald raised an eyebrow, waiting impatiently for Matthias' explanation.

"Okay, I guess it all started about three hundred years, while Norway was littler, looking a little younger than Emil is now, and he was visiting me." Matthias began, before delving into a detailed description of the day everything changed for Matthias three hundred years ago.

~Start of Memory~

In the garden just outside Denmark's house, Norway looked up (though not much) at the British man in front of him. He had been chatting to the Norwegian for quite a while now, claiming that he could see magical creatures. Norway had kept telling the other Nordics that there was something there, but they couldn't ever see them for some reason. Only a select few could see these 'magical creatures', as the Brit put it.

"…So I think you'd be great at spellcasting, you know, Norway. I've only met one other person that can see things that others can't, and he's called Romania. Have you ever met him?" England was so gentle with Norway, and treated Norway delicately, as the Norge was pretty upset that no-one else could see what he saw.

Norway shook his head. England shrugged. "Oh well. I'm sure you'll meet him one day. Anyway, since you have such potential, how about I give you this spellbook?" He fished around in the bag he'd brought with him, and pulled out a very old book. He handed it to Norway, and he immediately started flicking through the pages. His eyes widened. There were all sorts of spells in there. "It's easiest to practice magic in a basement, you know. You should start off with something simple; don't go into complex spells straight away. Okay?"

Norway nodded again, thanking England and running inside to show Denmark the book. Smiling, England had got up and left Norway to explore the world of magic on his own.

"Denmark! Hey, Denmark! Look what I've got!" Norway ran up to him, forgetting to hide his emotions as excitement bubbled to the surface. "England gave it to me! It's a spellbook, and he said it's best to practice in a basement! So can I go to the basement?" Denmark, however, was far from excited. Usually, this sort of thing would excite the Dane, but he didn't trust England with this 'magic' stuff. He'd heard from America that he'd walked in on England talking to imaginary friends once. He didn't want little (or not so little) Norge gaining imaginary friends because of England and his crazy books.

But at the look of actual emotion of Norway's face, he couldn't say no. "Alright, as long as it's nothing major. And if you need anything or anything goes wrong, shout me and I'll come. Okay?" He said sternly. Norway hugged him, hugged him, before running off to the basement steps.

Once down in the basement, he lit some candles so he could see and began looking for a spell to try out. Then he found one that made a tail appear on the caster. Norway had always wanted a wolf tail, he loved how bushy they were. So he chose that spell, and began to cast it. It was a simple spell, which only needed a strong voice, not any wands or magic circles or anything. All it said was that for a herbivore tail, the caster had to think positively. And for carnivores, the caster had to think negatively. But the excitement Norway still had was a positive emotion, and he was trembling in anticipation, impatient to know if it would work. But because he was thinking so positively, the spell had gone wrong.

Really wrong.

After Norway finished chanting, he saw a large sphere appear in front of him. It was midnight black, with flecks of red in it. Then he saw what looked like a wolf jump into the sphere, and it began to take shape. It looked like a giant, incomplete wolf made of shadows, and it terrified Norway. It raised a shadowy paw, and sharp claws materialised on it. Then it swept the paw down, and scratched Norway on the forehead. It wasn't a deep cut, but it was enough to draw blood. The shadow wolf began to fully materialise now it had some of its caster's blood in it. It stood up to its full height, midnight black fur sinking into the dark background of the basement. It's piercing scarlet eyes locked on Norway, and it leapt forward, opening its jaws.

"Denmark!" Norway screamed at the top of his voice, before he was knocked to the ground by the monster. The pure terror in Norway was immense, and he was so scared that he blacked out.

Denmark rushed down to the basement after hearing Norway's scream. But what he saw in the basement was worse than what he first predicted. Norway was unconscious on the floor with what looked like an overgrown wolf about to eat him. Angrily, Denmark threw a nearby empty box at the monster, and it went flying off of Norway. Denmark narrowed his eyes at it. He knew what it was.

It was a werewolf.

Of sorts.

Snarling, it destroyed the battered box and rose to its full height, trying to be intimidating. And yes, Denmark was scared, but he knew not to give in to fear. He had to protect Norway. So he walked forward, searching for a weapon he could use to fight the monster. Finding none, he only had his fists and feet to use as weapons. Great. But he ventured closer to the werewolf, fists readying in a position ready to fight. The werewolf closed the gap with a couple of bounds, and before Denmark what was even happening, the monster sank its sharp teeth into his left shoulder, collarbone and neck. The pain was horrible, and Denmark couldn't stop a scream escaping him. He suddenly felt a stinging feeling enter his body and quickly travel round his body, presumably in the bloodstream. Wincing, he tried to shake off the werewolf, knowing what it was doing, but it had a strong grip. He could only wait until it had finished injecting its poison in him.

Denmark squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to become a werewolf. He had to take care of Norway, and the others. But he was helpless at the hands of the werewolf

Finally, Denmark felt the teeth of the werewolf leave his flesh. Sinking to the ground, a painful ache of his joints suddenly started in him, and he watched as the werewolf turned and headed towards Norway. If it killed its creator and drank his blood, it's be nearly impossible to defeat. And Denmark couldn't have that.

Standing up, ignoring his joints, he jumped inbetween the monster and Norway. He held up his arms as extra protection, but the werewolf grabbed his arm and slammed him against the nearest wall. Denmark was barely hanging onto consciousness now. Blood poured down his face, making it hard to see. His arm was burning with a white-hot pain; it was most likely broken by the sheer force of the monster.

The werewolf released its grip on Denmark and he slumped to the floor. Awkwardly, he turned himself round, leaning heavily against the wall, and could only watch in horror as the monster neared Norway again. It raised a paw, ready to deal the finishing blow on Norway's unconscious body…

…when suddenly…

…it disappeared.

Denmark blinked in surprise, wondering if he was going crazy or not. But no, the werewolf had just…vanished. That was when Denmark saw weak sunlight streaming through the doorway. Confused, Denmark couldn't wonder about it anymore, as the world around him faded to black.

~End of Memory~

The Nordics sat in silence after hearing this. Basically, this whole thing was Lukas' fault. But something was still bugging Lukas. A burning question that needed to be answered.

"But Matthias, something doesn't add up. If you really did become a werewolf, then why have you changed for the past couple of nights? It's about five days until full moon, so why're you changing now?" He asked, folding his arms. Was this all just one big lie? 'Cause if it is, I'm just burned a hole right through it.

Matthias looked down, fiddling with his fingers. "You see, I was just about to get onto that. Basically, there are two types of werewolf. There is the normal werewolf, which you most commonly hear about in stories and legends. They infect humans, and the humans turn on the night of the full moon. Their weakness is silver, and they resemble giant wolves, in a way. However, there is another type of werewolf. The magic type. These werewolves are usually found in the occult, and are rarely sighted. However, when Lukas tried to use a spell for the first time, without any practice, he messed with the order of the world. He'd used a spell that granted him a wolf tail, so naturally, the magic he used had mixed with an evil wolf spirit from the occult, forming together to make a magic type werewolf. These werewolves are nearly invincible if they drink the blood of their creators, killing them in the process. They can only be killed by another of their kind. They infect humans by biting them and pouring their poison into the person. Instead of just changing on full moon, they change in the entire week leading up to full moon. That means six nights of nearly-full moon, and then one night of full moon. The seventh night is the most dangerous, because they are at their strongest then. I was infected by a magic werewolf, so naturally, I've got about five more nights before I can go back to my usual self. I'm sorry for snapping at you, Lukas, but when I'm close to changing, I get pretty violent and mean. I'm sorry." He finished his explanation and bowed his head in shame.

Berwald honestly didn't know what to say. With all that detail, he knew Matthias couldn't have been lying. Matthias seemed to hate himself, and needed someone to comfort him. Unfortunately, no-one dared to go closer to the Dane, fearing that he might attack them suddenly.

"There's two more things you need to clear up." Berwald glanced over at Lukas, who had spoken again. Matthias looked up. "One is – why can't I remember anything you've just said?"

Matthias sighed. "You know when I told you that the werewolf had clawed your head? Well, it had sent some sort of magical wave into your brain, cancelling any recent activity. You forgot everything that happened that day. But I didn't. I remember reading that cursed book, and I knew why it had gone wrong. But you don't. You don't even remember getting that book of the damn Brit. So I hid it from you, so you'd hopefully forget about magic. Unfortunately, you didn't. You're still involved with magic today, aren't you?" He leaned back, trying to get his breath back from all his explaining.

Berwald couldn't take it. His anger poured into his mouth, and before he knew it, he was practically shouting at Matthias. "So you've put up with this stupid werewolf curse for three hundred years and not told anyone?! How stupid are you? Lukas could have fixed you by now, or even Arthur! You-you idiot!" Berwald felt tears forming in his eyes, but he rubbed them away, reluctant to cry in front of his friends.

Matthias hung his head again, and replied in a quiet mumble that was hard to hear, "I didn't tell any of you because you already reject me. You find me annoying, loud, and everything else. So, if I told you earlier than this, you'd probably completely abandon me and leave me utterly alone for the rest of my life."

Tino listened to Matthias' entire story in silence. He wanted to hug the Dane, comfort him and cry. But he knew that Berwald wouldn't let him anywhere near Matthias. He was about five metres away, and strained his ears to hear what Matthias' last comment was. But when he'd heard it, he couldn't hold back any longer.

Springing up from his chair, he rushed forward and basically jumped on Matthias, though careful of his injured arm. With his other arm, he slung it round Matthias' neck and held him in a close embrace. Tears poured down his cheeks, but Tino didn't care. No-one else was going to give the Dane any affection. So he might as well.

"I-I'm so s-sorry for n-not realising y-your suffering e-earlier!" Tino choked out between sobs. Calming down a bit and catching his breath, he continued, though stammering slightly, "You'd always l-leave on the last week of each m-month. Now I-I know why. You w-went away so we wouldn't k-know about this whole t-thing." He felt the lump in his throat rise. "We thought you w-were just a-avoiding work, b-but you were actually p-protecting us from y-yourself. You d-didn't even trust y-yourself to be a-around us! Oh, Matthias!" Tino couldn't talk anymore, as the tears flooded him again, and he couldn't stop them this time.

Emil watched in horror as Tino rushed over to Matthias. Didn't he know how dangerous Matthias was? But when Tino started speaking, he felt guilty. The Icelander hadn't even connected the Dane's monthly disappearances with the whole werewolf thing. It all fit into place now. Except one thing. And he was sure that Lukas was going to mention it as the second thing that he'd never got round to saying.

Sure enough, Lukas cleared his throat and said, "I haven't asked you that second thing yet, Matthias." Tino paused his crying, and turned to face Lukas. Matthias nodded at the Norwegian in encouragement, and Tino got comfortable next to Matthias. "Anyway, when you suddenly collapsed after the first night, your heart…it just…stopped. I was worried sick until it started up again. Why did it stop, Matthias? Tell me. After all, you said it was a long story before, and since you've just told us a long story, I'm guessing it's related to that?"

Nodding, Matthias cleared his throat as he prepared to answer the question. "Right. Well, about a hundred years ago, you nearly found out when I'd accidentally broken into the house in my werewolf form. I was scared, and I wanted to end it all. I thought that the curse's source was my heart. So, if I ripped out my heart, then surely the monster would go with it? But I was wrong. I'd tore out my heart from my chest, destroyed it and collapsed. Without a working body, a werewolf can't change. So, until I woke up, the monster couldn't hurt any of you. And when I did wake up, I had a new heart, but it wasn't the same. My other heart was used to my body, so when I got cursed, it didn't take it long to adjust to it. But, the new heart had a lot of stress on it what with my normal life and everything, so with the curse, it was just too much. So, from time to time, when I'm badly hurt or I've just changed back, my heart will temporarily stop and I'll collapse."

Emil's eyes widened at this. How come I've never noticed this in the hundred years it's been happening?

After that, they discussed the situation with Matthias for a long time. Apparently, he'd gone to Arthur before, asking for help, but Arthur had said that it was an effect of a spell gone wrong, and he wasn't sure how to fix it. Also, Matthias had told them that any injuries he sustains in his werewolf form will only lightly affect the changed body; however, it heavily affects his human body after changing back. It also messed with the healing system he had as both a werewolf and a nation. This took the wounds a bit longer to heal than they should do.

No-one realised the time until orange light filtered through the window. This caught Matthias' attention, and he stopped talking mid-sentence and cursed under his breath. He tried to get up, startling Tino in the process, who was still settled beside him.

"I've got to go." He declared, running out the room. "The moon will be rising soon." He shouted, out of view.

Unable to help him, as that would put their lives in danger, they could only sit there and listen to the Dane's pounding footsteps, as he flung open the front door and ran out into the snow, heading to the forest.

Complete silence filled the room, dreading the scream of agony that would no doubt sound out from the forest.

They waited for about half an hour, before a loud, pained scream echoed from the forest to the house. Emil shivered at the sound, knowing that his friend was suffering and he couldn't do anything about it. But suddenly, a thought entered his mind. Matthias still hasn't fully recovered from his injuries he got from the first night. Emil swallowed nervously, promising himself that next morning, he'd go out and search for the Dane.

Another A/N: Wow, this was a very long chapter. Sorry if it bored ya, but hopefully it will clear up any questions you're wondering about this story, so if you're still confused and thinking 'I have no idea what the hell is going on in this crazy story', feel free to comment and ask me about it. I'll probably be able to answer it. Probably. Thanks for reading this far into the story, I'm so grateful. Bye~