The demon-bird would still not speak, but at the very least, it had taken a form with which he could thoroughly express his anger upon.

It was shaped vaguely like a human, with legs and a distinguishable head, but the rest of its body was anything but. There were feathers, long and yellow and dripping with blood. It stood awkwardly, as if it was not used to standing on two legs of such a length, but the malicious glee in those beady eyes, Austria was most familiar with.

It opened its mouth to let out an interested caw, and under the tinny sound, the nation could make out words.

"You fight with me tonight?" it ruffled its feathers and tilted its head, cawing once again, "Even as he walks ever closer to his resting place?"

Somewhere in the forest, Gilbert was following the shadows which would inevitably lead him to the gateway. A quarter of the hour had already passed, and they had the rest of the night to deal with.

With a smirk that did not seem too out of place on his face, Roderich answered, "Tonight we shall fight. And again, I will pull him away from the door, and away from your hands."

The demon-bird's reply was a loud screeching, which sent the ravens in the forest out of their perches, and which echoed infinitely all around them. The sounds were enough to make Austria wish his ears would simply bleed, instead of feeling them rattle and narrow.

"What fun, what fun!"

There was a sweep of feathers, and all of a sudden, he was facing off with nothing but the trees.

Austria closed his eyes. He'd learned long ago not to rely on his eyes when dealing with the demon-bird, and that his other senses were more than eager to take the lead. The hissing of air to his left resulted in a dangerous arc of sharpened steel, and a squawk, and the splatter of blood.

"Don't think this will be easy, you vile demon."

The pressure of claws on his leg turned into a searing burn moments later, but Austria simply bit his lip and drove his sword behind him. Neither wanted to give their enemy the satisfaction of hearing their triumph, thus the silence was broken by mere whispers of curses in languages long past.

After almost half an hour, by Austria's watch at least, of dodging and slashing, the puddles of blood began to resemble large teardrops. Austria was sure he'd managed to put out one of its eyes, but he'd paid the bill with a claw to his shoulder and back.

"You fight well for a coward..."

The words were lost between the feathers falling and the whistling of steel, and it took the nation several moments to realize that it had been an echo.

Glancing at the watch on his wrist, he cursed audibly. It had stopped working, maybe minutes ago when the demon-bird had spoken. The time on it was eleven fifty-five.

After sheathing his sword, Austria leapt into the thick forest, running through the bushes and jumping over the overly-large roots. The air had begun to feel lighter, a sign that the midnight hour was near.

He had to bite his tongue to keep from shouting the other nation's name, as it would only make the forest deeper and darker. Taking turns away from his make-shift path, a flash of white caught his eye as he was about to make a sharp turn to the right.

Changing tracks, Austria ran towards the figure, the rhythmic pounding in his chest a reminder of the seconds that ticked by.

And there, just a few feet away from him, stood Gilbert Bieldschmidt.

Beyond him was the door, gathering itself from the darkness of the forest. The demon-bird was perched atop it, covered in blood and wounds-- which were slowly healing.

For a moment, he was stunned. So this was what it did to get the door from the gateway. The thoughts swirled in his mind, before he noticed that Gilbert's hand was already on the doorknob, twisting it out of its lock.

In a distant part of his consciousness, Austria could see the grandfather clock in his hallway getting ready to toll the hour.

He opened his mouth and called out, "Bieldschmidt!" At this, the demon-bird let out a laugh-like squawk.

There was an audible click as the door opened.

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caesura

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Author's Notes: The next update will most likely be sometime near the end of January, because the beginning of January is the time of prelims. So... here's a cliffie for y'all to tear into pieces! XD