Alfred woke up with a start. He immediately sat up straight. He was in his bed, the sheets covering his legs. A wet rag fell from the top of his head and into his lap. He was breathing heavily, like he had just had a nightmare.
"Alfred! Honey, are you okay?" Alfred's mom came rushing to his side. She quickly held onto one of Alfred's hands with both of her own.
"Brother…Mathew…" was all Alfred could make out.
His mom shushed him. "It was just a nightmare, sweetheart," she said as she wrapped Alfred into a hug. "It won't happen again."
"Wh-what happened?" Alfred asked, he felt like crying, but he knew he shouldn't.
"They found you passed out by the lake," his mother assured him, pulling him out of the hug and putting him at arm's length. "You've been out for at least a couple days. I was scared you would never wake up. You kept on screaming in your dreams. Are you okay?"
"I was dreaming…" Alfred had to think. "I-It was Mathew! Something bad happened to him! He-he was getting tortured or something! I-I have to help him!"
"Sweetie, it's okay," his mother stroked Alfred's face and calmed him down. "I'm sure your brother is fine. He only left a month ago, nothing bad could have happened to him yet. You're just in shock since he left."
"No!" Alfred cried out! "That was really happening!" He couldn't help but let tears fall now. "He's in trouble! He-he's being tortured or something! We have to help him!"
"Alfie," his mom cooed. Alfred only ever allowed her to say his nickname. "It was just a nightmare, it wasn't real."
"B-but it seemed so real," Alfred tucked his legs into his body.
"It was just a dream," his mother reassured him. "Your brother is fine out there. I can assure you that."
"Good," Alfred sniffled. "Because he said I could see him again. He promised."
"Alfred. Alfred," Alfred could feel himself being pushed in his shoulder. Who's voice was that? It sounded familiar…
"Alfred!" a voice in the distance shouted and Alfred snapped his eyes open. He was on his side and he could feel grass on his cheek. He sat up quickly, gasping for air.
"Wh-wh-what just…" Alfred tried to say something, but his head began throbbing. He clutched it at both sides.
"Alfred, are you okay?" Alfred glanced up slightly at the voice. It was Ivan. He was sitting down right next to Alfred, his face painted with worry.
"Ugh…" Alfred grumbled out.
"Alfred?" Arthur's voice sounded off in the distance, it was thick with worry.
"My head hurts," Alfred groaned, pulling his legs in so he could curl into a ball. Both of his hands were still gripping his head.
"Tell me what happened, da?" Ivan asked him, rubbing Alfred's back. Alfred didn't care if Ivan was touching him at this point.
"I-I don't know," Alfred muttered.
"You just started freaking out and dropped to the ground, dude," Gilbert said. "We need more of an explanation than that."
Alfred looked up really quickly to see that the four were still crowded in that cage. It seemed that they were in a new clearing. How did Alfred get here?
"How-how did I get here?" Alfred asked.
"I carried you, da," Ivan smiled lightly at him.
"Ugh…" Alfred groaned as he held his head tighter. He curled up more into a ball.
"You sounded pretty pathetic back there, dude," Gilbert laughed, obviously trying to lighten the mood. "You kept on screaming 'stop! stop!' until you passed out."
"I know," Alfred said.
"Was it some sort of a daymare or something?" Arthur asked him.
"I-I'm not sure," Alfred sighed. "This happened before. A lot. Back at my village."
"This happens to you a lot?" Francis asked.
"Yeah," Alfred nodded. "Did I say anything else? Before I passed out…did I say anything else? Other than stop?"
"No," Ivan shook his head. "Did you hear something?"
"I could have sworn I said something…" Alfred muttered. "Maybe it was…"
"Who do you think it was?" Ivan asked him.
"No one," Alfred shook his head, his headache was starting to go away.
"We should get moving soon. Can you do that?" Ivan actually sounded worried.
"Yeah," Alfred sighed.
"You would like to ride the horse this time, da?"
"Sure," Alfred muttered. Ivan helped him stand up. "I-I don't think I can walk."
"I will help, da!" Ivan said happily as he helped Alfred walk towards the black horse Ivan was just previously riding.
"How-how long was I out?" Alfred asked as he shakily walked towards the thing. It looked huge! How was he supposed to get on top of that?
"It was about a day," Antonio said. "Thank God you stopped screaming as soon as you passed out. I don't think I would have handled you screaming for so long."
"Shut up," Alfred groaned. Ivan helped him figure out how to get on the horse. Helping him grab the saddle, put the right foot in the strap, he even helped Alfred push himself up. Alfred had to steady himself of the horse before he got ready for Ivan to get on the horse as well. But he didn't.
Alfred looked questioningly down at him, but Ivan just smiled his creepy smile. "You need all the room you can get, da?"
"D-da," Alfred agreed with a smile.
"Alfred," he heard Arthur mutter and he looked towards the cage, which was beginning to move again. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'll be fine," Alfred assured him as Ivan began leading the horse forwards. The way the horse walked felt weird to Alfred. Jerking from side to side and forwards and backwards, Alfred struggled to stay on.
They moved at a slow pace, probably for Alfred's sake. They followed a trail in the forest for a while. Alfred chose to keep quiet, but the Three Musketeers seemed to be having a party, they were talking so loud. Arthur wasn't participating, he was sitting in a corner of the cage watching. He looked like he was watching Alfred, making sure he was going to be alright, watching Francis to make sure he didn't try anything, watching Ivan to make sure he didn't try to hurt Alfred.
Eventually, the forest ended in front of them, and they came across another town.
"What's with towns and living on the edge of the forest?" Alfred asked, he was feeling much more normal as time passed.
"Listen carefully," Ivan giggled. Sure enough, when Alfred listened, he could hear people yelling and screaming at other people. "Sounds like a witch hunt."
"Lovely," Arthur sighed.
"This would be a perfect chance for me to test your Seer abilities, balovenʹ," Ivan giggled.
"Don't call me that," Alfred complained. "You were getting so far calling me Alfred, too."
"So we're going into the witch hunt?" Gilbert asked.
"Da," Ivan stated.
"They're under mass hysteria over witches," Arthur sighed. "They're gonna attack us."
"Da, they will," Ivan laughed. "It will be fun to watch."
"Just when things were finally starting to get nice," Alfred sighed, "everyone has to go back to normal. And I don't wanna do that Seer thing, or whatever it's called."
"Too bad," Ivan hummed as their little envoy got closer and closer to the town.
"Whatever," Alfred sighed. They emerged out of the forest and all the people in town turned their direction. "So, how exactly does this Seer thing work?"
"Oh, thank God you've come!" a woman came up to them. She was probably talking about the knights all around them.
"Well, do you ever get a feeling? Like when I look at your eyes or when they try to use their magic?" Ivan asked him, completely ignoring the woman.
"You must help us!" said another woman coming up to them.
"Sorta," Alfred rubbed the back of his head.
"Or when they touch you?"
"They're lying! I can't be a witch!" a woman came up behind them.
"Don't touch me!" the first woman demanded.
"Yes," Alfred admitted.
"Then that's it," Ivan said. "You should come down from my horse now."
"Right," Alfred sighed, getting down.
"Are these other witches?" a man came up to the cage.
"Yeah, and we bite, so go away," Gilbert snapped at him. Then Alfred noticed a stone was thrown into the cage and it hit Arthur right in the head.
"No, no, please!" the third woman pleaded and another woman came up to her and joined her. "We aren't witches! You have to believe me!"
"Alfred," Ivan motioned towards the two women in front of them.
"Um, okay," Alfred uneasily walked slowly up to the two women, who seemed to be shaking in fear. "I-I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?" he spoke softly to the first one. "Can I just have your hand really quick? Please?"
The woman giggled. Alfred gave her his sweetest face. After Abigail, he learned a few tricks about women.
"I promise I won't hurt you, I would just like to see something. Please?" Alfred asked again. The woman gave in and held out her hand, which Alfred took.
"She is a witch!" a man came up to them. "We have a witness of one of her spectors!"
"Just one?" Alfred asked. "She's not a witch, so obviously you have a liar in this town."
"Please!" a woman scoffed. "Of course she's a witch, just look at her!"
"You're an idiot, you know that?" Alfred chuckled. "Who is it that accused her?"
"Me," an old, haggard woman walked into the massive crowd growing around them.
"She's a witch, too!" a woman accused.
Alfred noticed that there were now two crowds forming. One around Alfred and the "witches" and the other around the cage. He couldn't quite see what was going on in the other crowd, but he heard angry shouts telling him it wasn't pretty.
"Hold on, then," Alfred said. He let go of the woman's hand now. "Thank you, for your time," he bowed to her and then turned to the other lady that came with her. "May I see your hand now please? It won't hurt."
"What are you playing at?" a man demanded. "Just touching them isn't going to do anything!"
"Your hand?" Alfred asked the lady again. She complied. "She's not a witch, either."
"How can you tell?" a woman demanded. "You're just a kid! You probably don't even know what these witches are capable of!"
Alfred looked over to the haggard old woman. She mouthed a word, "Seer."
Alfred stepped through the crowd and came up to her. He held out his hand right in front of her. "May I see your hand, please?"
"No!" she screeched and she shoved her hands towards Alfred together, they were barely out of reach of his torso. Alfred could feel something tingle down his spine. Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Wh-what? No!"
"You okay, miss?" Alfred asked innocently.
"L-lousy Seer!" she screeched and made a move to hit Alfred, who caught her wrist. A familiar sensation washed over him. He felt light headed and about ready to puke.
"I think this means you're a witch," Alfred grinned. It was very hard for him to stay calm and keep his face steady. He was about 2 seconds away from collapsing or something. Then Alfred saw several soldiers go on either side of the woman, taking her by the arms. Alfred let go of her wrist and stumbled back slightly.
Alfred felt a hand on his shoulder that made him jump. "Good job, balovenʹ," Ivan smiled at him.
"Yeah, whatever," Alfred sighed. "So, what's gonna happen to her now?"
"She dies," Ivan shrugged.
"She what?" Alfred turned around quickly, glaring at Ivan.
"She is not important like those 4," he pointed to the Three Musketeers and Arthur.
"You have got to be kidding me," Alfred groaned.
"You want back on the horse, da?" Ivan asked.
"Tempting," Alfred said sarcastically. "But no."
"So you wish to walk again?" Ivan frowned at Alfred.
"Better than that lousy horse," Alfred stated. "I can barely sit on that thing."
"That is because you barely tried," Ivan giggled.
"Shut up and hook me up to that lousy cage so we can get moving," Alfred sighed.
"I don't think I need to 'hook you up,'" Ivan stated.
"What?" Alfred asked.
"You want to go to the palace," Ivan smiled. "You want to see if your brother is still alive, da? If he is, he's in the palace. You're coming whether you think you want to or not."
"Damn you," Alfred groaned.
"You want to ride the horse now, da?" Ivan asked as he hoisted himself onto the horse with no effort.
"Hell no!" Alfred snapped.
"Fine by me," Ivan said as the knights that left with the witch came back. One was wiping off his sword and Alfred shuddered. He had just helped someone get murdered.
And so their little group moved through the village that seemed to sigh with relief. The forests finally ended and they were moving through roads made through farmland.
"So, how you holding up in there, Arthur?" Alfred asked him after a while. He was currently walking next to the side Arthur was sitting on.
"Just fine," Arthur stated. He was currently pressing Francis against the bars on the opposite side of the cage with his foot. "A bit hungry, though."
"Me, too, dude," Alfred chuckled. He hadn't noticed it recently, what with all the things going on around him, but he was starving. He then lowered his voice so that only Arthur could hear him. "So, what are we going to do once we're in the palace?"
"You sure you still want to travel with me?" Arthur asked him.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Alfred nodded.
"Fine," Arthur sighed. "We're going to be sent to the dungeon, I know that for sure. Ivan is probably going to give you the special treatment, let you stay in a fancy room, give you all the food you want. I know I can get out easily, so we just need to find a place to meet."
"You've read Ivan's mind once, right?" Alfred asked.
"Yeah," Arthur said cautiously.
"You can find out where he's keeping me through that, right?"
"Are you saying you believe in magic now?"
"Might as well," Alfred shrugged. "Since I'm a Seer and all that…"
"So, what do we do after I find you?"
"We run," Alfred suggested.
"What about Mathew?"
"I don't even know if he's there or not. I don't think it would be worth the risk."
"I have a feeling, since he's your twin and everything, you're going to be able to feel if he's there or not," Arthur said.
"What do you mean?" Alfred asked.
"Balovenʹ," Ivan called out and Alfred groaned.
"What?" he snapped.
"We are almost there," Ivan said happily.
Alfred looked out to the direction they were walking. It was a giant castle, it appeared to be miles high from their position. It was guarded by a giant wall with several knights guarding the whole thing. There were several towers spouting up and all you could see was the roof of the main building, the wall was so tall. The roofs of all the towers had a purplish hue to them with the sun directly overhead. The main building's roof was the same. It looked like the whole thing was made out of millions and millions of stones.
There was something in there, Alfred couldn't take his eyes off of it. Something was drawing him in, he just wanted to run as fast as he could in there. He wanted to follow his gut and run and run until he found that thing that was pulling him in.
Mathew was definitely in there.
And Alfred was going to find him.
And determination! Will Alfred find Mathew? Will Arthur be able to get away? What's Ivan planning? Only the next chapter can tell!
Thanks to everyone who helped me figure out my question last chapter! I think this means Alfred and Arthur will end up together in the end. Any objections?
And please review because it keeps me happy and a busy writer for all of you!
And I own nothing...as usual...
