Author's Notes: Thanks for yet another view :3 So… I decided to mix things up in this chapter, because, you know… I wanted to~ Oh, and I apologize for how short this chapter is... *sulk*

"Oh Mistress~"

The silver haired man peeked out from under the table, looking up at the platinum blonde who was calmly sipping her steaming tea. He tilted his head, a malicious grin making it's way onto his lips. The female looked at him, her expression stoic.

"Verrückt-"

"Do you ever come in like a normal person?"

Verrückt looked to his left, seeing the King there, staring at him with mixture of scorn, hatred, confusion, and bewilderment. Verrückt chortled only slightly while climbing to his feet. "Ah~ Mathias~ You are here too!"[1] he clapped his hands, a giddy smile replacing his once malicious one. "I would have thought you went out drinking with one of your friends! It's a joy to see you here with your…" he looked at the Queen who was giving him a glare. "…Acquaintance?"

"Ha!" the King snorted, lifting the glass of liquor to his lips.

"I see you two aren't yet over that heated argument from last year. How dandy."

"What is it you came here for, Verrückt?" the Queen mumbled, already irritated with the silence that had been broken by the man's arrival. Verrückt's face went blank for a moment, then a wide smirk appeared and he fished in his pocket. Both royal's eyes watched as he pulled out the article the soldier had given him.

"This Persephone. Who, may I ask, is it?" he inquired, thrusting the paper for the Queen to see. The girl's eyes skimmed the article, and she quirked a blonde eyebrow.

"…Persephone. Yes, I have heard of him," she murmured, almost to herself. Her eyes glittered with something the madman may have confused as for amusement. "He murdered that small village off the coast of the gulf of Abyss. It seems many were outraged, and in disbelief that one man killed about 48 people in one going." [2]

Verrückt stared at the article, blinking his amber eyes in bewilderment. "Hmm? How come I haven't heard of this Persephone until now? He seems like an interesting kind of guy… one I'd like to meet. Say, is he an outlaw by any chance, because I for one just love outlaws~ They're so rebellious!"

"Psycho…" Mathias mumbled, taking another swig from his drink.

"You say that now Mathias, but you will probably regret it when the time comes," the man gave the other a smirk, leading Mathias to furrow his brows in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Don't mind him dear," the Queen mumbled, closing her eyes as she took a sip of her tea. "He speaks nonsense."

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

There was a heavy silence among the cart.

Arthur had been looking out over the side, watching the scenery pass by. It seemed as though to repeat itself… or at least it seemed that way. 'What is the point of this?' he wondered silently, his gaze down casting to the ground that was littered with leaves. 'In a way, we'll just end up no where… And why do I even bother following these clowns? They're sick. One just threw a hundred men's lives away, and the other two are quaking mice who act as if they were confronted by a hungry cat.'

His eyes narrowed, and he couldn't help but feel slightly spiteful towards the three in his presence.

"A-Arthur?"

The blonde looked to his right, eyeing the rabbit boy. "What?" he muttered flatly.

"A-Are you ok?"

Emerald eyes stared back towards the ground. "Fine."

"Ludwig went off… if it matters."

Arthur's head snapped up and turned, only to see the empty place of where Ludwig had been sitting just moment's earlier. All that was left were a few black feathers, which Feli was toying at with a tiny smile.

"Feli, where'd he go?" Arthur demanded, his voice cracking for just a moment. "Did he ditch us?"

"No~" Feli sang softly, his amber eyes looking up from the ebony feather to the blonde. He gave him a reassuring smile, hoping to calm him. "Luddy just went to go be alone for a while. He felt bad about upsetting you, and he felt that being with you probably wasn't the best of ways to ease the tension," he shrugged his small shoulders, as if he were answering for himself. "He hoped you wouldn't get mad if he just wandered off for a while. Oh! And don't worry about him. He'll be back by nightfall."

The cart stopped, and Arthur practically exploded. "Excuse me? He just left? He left us here in the middle of this… this… detestable forest? What kind of an angel is he? He is suppose to protect us! And here he is, running off like so bastard so he can go and wallow in his own pain of offending me? What kind of a jest is this! Oh- stop. Don't even answer that. I can answer that for myself. It's a sick, twisted, and horrible, joke. He probably did this for his own amusement didn't he? The blasted wanker!"

"Such strong words…"

Arthur froze.

"…For such a twerp."

Tino and Feli looked around, fear rolling off of them like a torrent. Arthur took in heavy breaths as he stared around at the forest. The air had a strange feeling to it… one he couldn't quite place correctly.

"Sh-show yourselves!" the Brit croaked out, scanning frantically for the owner of the voice. Chuckling echoed through the forest; it was mocking, and without a doubt spiteful.

And almost like magic, two males landed in front of the blonde. One smiling, the other scowling with a look of hate.

Arthur stared at the duo, silently worried. "W-who are you?"

Almost as if on que, the two spoke, one in exclamation, the other in a mumble; "We're Persephone!"[3]

Author's Notes:

[1]. Mathias is a common and popular human name for Denmark, and I for one have grown fond of it~ :D

[2]. Yeah. 48 people isn't a lot for a village, but apparently in Nirvana it is lol. Also, this is a reference to a killer from Spain who allegedly killed 48 people and was convicted for 8 of them. Isn't Social Studies just a lovely topic~?

[3]. Yay! I hope I confused you! :D Ok, so these two are a representation of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. I wish you guys luck figuring out who they are~ The Spain mentioning in the last bullet should've given you a hint :3

Ps. The Queen is a physco in the anime ;)