At first, there was darkness. A familiar darkness of the mind that would often lull one into peaceful dreams. It was peaceful and it was quiet.

However, the familiarity didn't last long, and the sounds of yelling, and a child screaming was heard in the distance.

Matthew's eyes flew open and he inhaled sharply, noticing he was staring up at the stars, and the smell of dew kissed grass was around him. He sat upright quickly, letting his eyes adjust as much as they could without his glasses on. When he noticed his vision was blurred, he felt around the grassy area until he found the discarded lenses, and he wiped them dry with his red sweater before slipping them onto his nose.

Had any time passed between the last time he was here, and now? It was hard to tell.. Everything was still black as a night could be, save for the stars in the sky.

He rubbed at his head a little as he stood upright. Where was he...? Slowly he turned in a circle, until he noticed the gray bricked buildings in the distance. To his left, the forest was in view. So he wasn't far from where he was the last time.

In the distance toward the town, the child's cries of pain was heard again, and Matthew immediately sprinted toward the sound. "Please don't let that be Gil.." he muttered as he ran.

The closer he got to the town, the easier it was to see a large cross on one of the buildings had a small figure attatched to it, who looked to be struggling to get off, and a larger, more adult, figure standing next to it. The rest of the crowd gathered at the base of the building.

He slid to a stop just outside the crowd. He was now close enough to see the child figure was indeed the albino he'd grown to care for. He tensed up a bit as he watched Gil struggle against the binds of the cross.

"Let me go!" he shouted. "Zhis isn't right!"

"Silence, you devil!" shouted the man to his side, lifting what looked to be a whip above his head before flicking it at the child, who cried out after the crack licked his skin.

He was scared. Gil was crying up on the cross, and he was absolutely frightened, but he would never stop struggling. Matthew could only watch from below helplessly at the child was tortured, far beyond his reach. "Vhy must you do zhis to me! I only ever vanted God's approval! Yet he's zhe one who made me zhis vay!" Gil shouted through tears.

The crack of the whip again made him scream.

"It is not up to us what happens to you! You are here tonight to have God cast his own judgement upon you! It was tasked to us to get you, now it's up to him to decide whther you are worthy of living, or damned to Hell for Eternity!" The man removed a book from his sleeve. It wasn't exactly... It didn't look like any Bible Matthew had seen before, but instead was closer to the sort of book that Arthur would keep on hand.

It made him start to think..

"O, Holy Lord, who art in Heaven! We beg of you to cast out this demon from our sacred grounds!" He started, flipping open the book to hold it above his head.

Gilbert stopped struggling, now too afraid to say anything, and instead he let his head fall, staring down at the crowd.

For a moment, it looked like their eyes met.. bright blue-violet catching the dual crimson-indigo of the other. Gil's breath caught slightly. It couldn't be.. he thought Matthew was just his imagination.

"MATZHEW!" he called, starting to struggle again, completely ignoring the man beside him. "MATZHEW PLEASE HELP!"

His ignorance was his mistake. As the man continued to pray and chant to the heavens, electricity began to gather in the clouds above them, the dark gray masses blocking out any possible light. Gilbert watched in horror as a single bolt of lightning hit the ground nearby, and his head lifted up to watch the clouds gather more energy and electricity.

Matthew jumped back, away from the bolt that struck dangerously close to him. Was today... was this the reason he was so afraid in his time?

He looked back at Gilbert, who wasn't as scared as he was older. It had to be.. his fear. It stemmed from this.

Matthew started to cry out for Gil up on the cross but to his dismay, the moment he took a breath to shout, another bolt came down from the cloud, aimed for the cross and the child on it. Gilbert cried out as loud as his lungs were capable of doing as the seering pain of the hot electricity coursed through him.

When the bolt dispersed, the child hung limp from the cross.

"It wasn't just once."

"Scars like this wouldn't develop if it was just once."

"GIL!" Matthew shouted, noticing the crowd had started to cheer. You bloody pissants... how dare you cheer for the death of a child.. He thought. He growled in anger, but his eyes never left the sky. Two.. there had to be two. Gil had said there was two!

...but where was the second?

The man next to the cross reached out with a gloved hand to lift up the limp head of the child, noticing he was not breathing in the slightest.

"The deed is done my friends! The demon has been cast down to Hell!" He dropped the child's head carelessly, closing the book. "God has cast his judgement on this demon! Let this be a lesson to heretics!" he shouted, his arms spreading wide.

The cheers continued as the crowd began to disperse.

"NO! IT CANT BE OVER YET! THIS ISNT HOW ITS SUPPOSED TO END!" Matthew shouted, surprising himself. The crowd was now facing him, most of them looking in surprise. Several of them wore masks, like his friend Sadik, which was a mite frightening.

"And who are you to decide what judgement that God passes isn't the end?" Called the man from on the cross.

"It doesn't matter! He's a child! This isn't how it ends! I've seen this child grow, and now I know why he's so afraid! It's all your fault! " He cried.

The longer Gil stayed dead.. the more complications there would be with his body. Where was that second bolt...

Matthew tensed up, crouching a little toward the ground.

"...It's going to rain. We should get inside."

"But Gil, why? A little rain never hurt anyone."

"Perhaps not, but that never stopped it from trying."

Everytime there was even a chance of rain, the albino would make his way inside, and trap himself in his room. It wasn't until Kiku's party that he ever found out why.


"Gil.. what's wrong? You look tense?" Matthew asked, looking over at the albino who held the orante cup rather tightly.

Ludwig and Feliciano both glanced at each other, as if they knew what was happening. "Bruder, let's get you elsevhere.." Ludwig muttered, standing up from the area the small party was sitting at.

Kiku looked over at them in question, but never voiced it, merely giving a slight nod. "If you must go deeper into my home, there is an unoccupied room down the hall. It's rather dark."

Ludwig nodded, crossing to help up Gilbert, but his actions were too slow. The room filled with a bright light, and the sound of breaking glass was heard, just before the crack of thunder. Both Ludwig and Matthew tensed, knowing full well what caused it. The albino was shaking as broken glass pierced his hand, and littered the ground below, mixing the sweetened tea with blood. He stood up with his brother's help, making his way to the kitchen.

Matthew had never seen the proud German act so... frightened. He would never stop smiling, hiding away most emotions from the world. He stood and followed both Germans into the kitchen as Ludwig started to remove the larger shards of glass from his brother's hand. "What's going on.. " Matthew asked softly. Still not used to being around Ludwig at all.

The German glanced toward the other, his piercing blue eyes filled with worry. "It's my Bruder. Don't you vorry about him. Ve vill get him all fixed up, zhen ve vill hide him."

Unlike Gil, Ludwig never lost his accent.

"No.. I want to know what's wrong. Why is he so scared all of a s-sudden... Gil never acts like this." He urged.

Ludwig paused in his tending of his brother, before putting a long cloth over Gil's eyes. He then turned to face Matthew, his form straight and tense. "You've noticed it, zhough. Doesn't he hide vhen it rains? He refrains from being outside, ja?"

Matthew didn't like it when Ludwig glared at him like that, but he nodded."I..I just assumed he didn't like the rain.. like it brought back p-painful memories or something.. or.. or he didn't..like getting wet?"

"You couldn't be furzher from zhe truzh. It is not zhe rain he is scared of, but what is usually paired vis it. You cannot tell anyone, is zhat understood?" he barked.

Matthew winced and nodded. "Oui!" he squeaked, his body standing straight under the German's glare.

"Nobody knows vhy, but ve never asked. If he should be vis you, zhen you need to keep him out of zhe rain. Keep him occupied vis somezhing so he doesn't notice zhe lightning. If you cannot, zhen hide him in a dark room, or cover his eyes." he ordered.

"Oui!" Matthew gave a salute, shaking a little. Ludwig watched him carefully, before his form relaxed.

"...Sorry, Matzhew. I didn't mean it like zhat. My Bruder is all I have. I vant his safety as he does mine. I didn't mean to yell at you." He refocused on getting out the glass in his hand, which was rather hard considering Gilbert was shaking.

Matthew relaxed a little, before crossing the room to stand next to Gilbert. The poor albino looked like he was going ot collapse at any moment with how pale he looked. Well, he was normally pale, but this was overdoing it. Matthew slid up onto the counter and pulled Gilbert's head into his chest, lightly stroking the temporarily blinded man's head. "Chut maintenant . Tout ira bien. Nous sommes ici et rien ne pourra vous nuire . Votre famille est là pour vous protéger." He whispered to the other, who relaxed into the Canadian's grip.

This relaxation helped still his body, which let Ludwig finish his task. When Gil felt his hand was let go, he turned and held onto Matthew tightly, like a child would a teddy bear. He didn't even care that the cloth covered his eyes to hide him from the lightning that stuck in the distance. He could smell the syrup coming from the Canadian, and he relished in it.

Gilbert shivered slightly. "Ich kann es nicht annehmen. Ich kann es nicht annehmen. Lass mich nicht alleine!"

Matthew just stroked his head, wishing he knew German at all.


"This isn't how it's supposed to end! He can't be dead!" Matthew shouted.

The man laughed again. "You keep saying that, but you have no proof. The demon is dead, and there's nothing you can do about it. Unless you want to join him?" He offered. The crowd that remained got on the offensive, moving closer to Matthew, who took a small step back. Damn, if he didn't have a stick.

"The sky!"Matt shouted, making the others look up in surprise. "The sky still sparks! G-God isn't done!"

The man was honestly surprised, letting his hands drop as he watched the sky spark up, much as it had before. "What in the world..?" he started, just before a larger, more powerful bolt, struck the limp child on the cross directly on the back of his neck.

Gilbert screamed when the bolt disappeared. Everything hurt!

The man stood in surprise as he watched the child move again, against the cross. "..That... that's not possible."

"It is! God had forgiven him!" That's what he was supposed to say, right? To get through to them? "The first, ah, was to test the boy's soul. The second is the judgement he, ah cast!"

Gilbert relaxed against the cross, panting with wide eyes. "I...I'm alive.. How... but.. how?" he panted, looking over at the man, who backed up.

"N-no... you're still a demon.. he couldn't have forgiven you!"

"You doubt the vord of.. God? Zhen you are... more of a demon... zhan me." Gil smiled a little. "All I vanted... vas to serve Him. To be a Teutonic...Knight. I zhought zhat.. I could earn his forgiveness... zhat vay. But it seemed you did zhat... for me."

"You?! Be a Teutonic Knight! You must be crazy if you think I'd ever let you-"

"It's not your choice to decide." Matthew cut him off. "The Teutonic Order is God's will. If he let Gilbert live, them what harm could letting him serve the Lord himself cause?"

The man was silent for a moment, before looking up at the sky. The clouds were dispersing.

With a soft sigh, he started to untie Gilbert. "...I suppose if it's God's will to let you join under His command, who am I to doubt it. Welcome to the club, kid. You are now an honorary Teutonic Knight."

When Gil was let off the cross, he stretched his limbs, his body shaking a little. Two bolts of electricity would fry ones nerves.. He failed to notice the scar on his neck immediately, but instead kicked the man in the shin, jumping down off the roof.

Matthew ran forward and caught him before he could land, and their eyes met once again.

"...Matzhew, I zhought you vere my imagination playing tricks on me. Mayhaps you are my guardian angel instead.. " he smiled a little, his eyes bright. Matthew just smiled, glad he was alright, though hating himself that he couldn't stop this ceremony.

Maybe he couldn't, no matter what he wanted.

He hugged Gilbert close, lightly running his fingers over the scar, and causing the child to tense. "Oh- s-sorry." he quickly said, setting Gil down.

The albino dusted himself off and relaxed with a shudder. The man on the roof had long since jumped down, and carefully walked forward with a smaller version of his own outfit in his grip. It wasn't until he was this close that Matthew noticed the large black cross across his white cape. Gil started to smile eagerly as he was handed the uniform.

"Welcome to the Teutonic Order, Gilbert Beilschmidt." he said, kneeling down in front of the child.

The scene started to blur infront of Matthew's eyes, as his vision was failing, but before everything went black, he heard a voice. A deep male voice that seemed to be mixed with two others of various pitches.

Would you ever look at him the same, Matthew?


Chut maintenant . Tout ira bien. Nous sommes ici et rien ne pourra vous nuire . Votre famille est là pour vous protéger.- "hush now Everything will be alright. we are here and nothing will harm you. your family is here to protect you."

Ich kann es nicht annehmen. ich kann es nicht annehmen. Lass mich nicht alleine.- I can't take it. I can't take it. Don't leave me alone!