Don't own Hetalia. Story's all mine, though
Chapter 9
Boja - Son
"This is so pretty!" Elizabeta cooed as she sighted the merchandise of another jewellery shop. Natalya's firm grip on the back of her shirt didn't ease as she dragged Eliza away from yet another shop. "We're going to eat first," Nat informed her. "Then you can roam around."
"No!" Eliza wailed as she grew further and further from yet another shop.
In front of them, Alfred, Mathew and Gilbert walked, just as enchanted by the small town of Ellyse as Eliza was. It was a considerable distance to walk from the temple, but it wasn't too far, and the walk was full of picturesque scenes of greenery and backwater lagoons. From the sighting of their first lagoon, Nat had gotten her firm grip over the scruff of Eliza's neck, and was dragging her away from every possible attraction.
But Nat and the rest of them, Eliza included, were very hungry. Tired from the previous night's long drive, as well as the occurrences after reaching the temple, they had all overslept, Nat included. Nat, the first to wake up, ascertained the lack of food in the mess hall of the temple, and by the time she went back to the room, the rest of them were waking up.
They all got ready, and made their way to the port town of Ellyse, which rested on a hill next to the sea. It was a quaint, beautiful town, with bricked paths, stone buildings and shops selling pretty trinkets. It was originally a temple town, built around the temple they had just arrived from, but it had expanded itself from a temple town and had become a port town, a hub for merchants and sightseeing destination also.
Right now, they were searching for a place to eat food. Breakfast time had long passed, and Nat thought they were lucky if the first meal they could have was brunch. The men led the way, and Nat came behind, dragging an overexcited Eliza with her.
"There's a restaurant there!" Matt said, turning behind to the rest of them. "We can go there."
Nat walked over to where they were, and saw Alfred already sweet-talking to a woman in front of the shop.
"Hey, all of you! Meet this nice lady"—
Nat let go of Eliza, ignored Alfred outright and walked into the establishment.
"Okay," Alfred said, unsure of what to make of that. To the lady, he smiled and said, "She's a bit cranky today. No food in her sto"—
"Frau, get back here!" Gilbert yelled after Eliza, who was wandering off on her own.
Matt walked up to the lady Alfred was talking to, and smiled sweetly at her. The lady, flustered at the attention from the two of them combined, blushed a bright red.
Nat stuck her head out of the doorway. "Get in." And then, on noticing the lack of the crazy duo, asked, "Where are those two?"
"This lady will accompany us," Matt said. "Are you hungry, miss?"
The lady looked at Matt's sweet smile, but something at the corner of her eye caught her attention. A petrified squeak escaped her lips upon sighting Nat's expression, but before the boys could see it, Nat had already disappeared from the doorway and into the shop.
"W-W-Who is s-she?" the poor lady whispered, terrified.
"Oh, her," Alfred said. "She gets cranky when she's hungry. She's a lot better once she's full."
"Don't let them lead you on," Gilbert said, dragging Eliza behind him. "That frau is always cranky. She scares the awesome me." And Gilbert disappeared into the shop.
"Anything scares that idiot," Alfred muttered, and turned to the lady with a bright smile. "It was nice to meet you, miss."
The poor girl gave him a watery smile, and waved weakly as they both left and disappeared into the shop as well.
"Did you catch a look on the Priestess's face?" Alfred asked as they approached the table where the rest of them were seated.
"I'm glad I didn't," was all Matt said before they sat down.
Nat had taken the liberty of ordering for all of them, and was already chomping down on something that disappeared too fast into her mouth. They partook their food, realising they were as hungry as Nat was. As soon as the food disappeared, more food arrived from the kitchen, and the only sounds at the table was the rate at which all of them gobbled food down, and the clink of cutlery.
Eliza finished first. "I'm going shopping."
"Be back in half an hour," Nat said before swallowing another spoonful of the apple pie they'd gotten as dessert. And Eliza disappeared almost instantly.
Nat finished next. After washing her hands and mouth, she sat back in her seat, and took out the map Katyusha had given her out of a bag she was carrying.
Gilbert noticed Nat frowning furiously at the map she'd held out before her face, and drew his chair closer to her. "What is it?"
Nat gave him one end of the map to hold. "We're here," she said, pressing her finger against the map, "and we need to be here." She tapped the cross closest to the previous point. "I'm trying to understand how to get there."
Gilbert eased the map from her hand, and folded it such that the location they wanted was before them. "There doesn't seem to be clear path to the cross," he murmured thoughtfully.
Nat looked up, and saw one of the restaurant's employees cleaning up their table. "Could you get me a map of Ellyse?"
He nodded, but Nat looked back down before she could catch his nod of agreement. She traced out a path with her finger on the map. "I guess the closest point in Ellyse to that cross would be the north-western side; here," she pointed. Gilbert hummed in agreement, and looked up. "It's almost noon. We won't be able to tell north from south."
"Alfred can."
The two of them looked up. Matt, who had spoken, continued, "Alfred's sense of direction is phenomenal. You don't need a better compass than him."
The two of them turned to Alfred, who resembled a squirrel stuffing itself with some more acorns than it could handle. The expressions on both their faces suggested they didn't really believe that, but they didn't think Matt would lie about such a thing. When the red haired boy who had been clearing up the table returned with the map, they gratefully took it and began analysing it.
Gilbert held it next to the cross, and turned it such that the directions of both coincided. The two of them traced out a path, and by then, all of them were done eating. Nat rose, and turned. "Can I borrow this?"
The shopkeeper, wiping the plates behind the counter, smiled at her. "You can keep it."
Nat bowed, and took out money from her pocket. Gilbert's eyes goggled as he saw the amount of money she put on the table, but before he could say anything, she walked out of the restaurant.
The three men stared at the amount she'd put on the table. "I didn't think she had so much money as pocket change."
"Priests earn a lot, boja."
They looked at the shopkeeper, who calmly pocketed the money. "The amount of belief we hold in their work cannot be measured by money," The shopkeeper said. "Even while they don't charge much for rituals, people pay them quite a lot. But they're all self-sufficient, so they usually spend that money in building schools and clinics for the poor."
"Oh," they all said, surprised. "That's…nice."
"Well, that priestess seemed to be in a hurry," the shopkeeper observed, and within moments, they all were out of the shop and running down the street.
"Oh. What are you guys doing here?"
Eliza watched as Nat and the others walked towards where she was. Nat held up the bag she was carrying with her. "We need to install this," Nat said. "We're going there now."
"Hold up. I'll join." Eliza turned around and paid the shopkeeper, probably for the necklace around her neck and rings on her finger, and walked over to where all of them were standing. Nat led the way, map in hand; behind her, Gilbert and Eliza quibbled over her jewellery; Alfred and Matt brought the rear.
Soon, Matt joined the crazy duo, while Alfred walked to Nat.
"Hey, Priestess. Can I have that map?"
Nat gave him a look which could've made him want to jump out of his skin and run away, but now, he was the least bit fazed. Realising that, she just handed over the map, and continued walked.
"I'm good with maps and directions," Alfred said, and looked up. "We need to go that way."
Nat just walked with him, and the rest of them followed.
"You can talk about yourself, you know. No one is going to judge you."
Nat looked at Alfred, who was alternating between her and the map. "What makes you think I want to talk?" she asked him.
"You obviously do. You just don't trust people to listen or to think of what you say as important."
Nat swallowed her retaliation. This guy was cutting it close and getting under her skin. "What's your brother doing?"
The two of them turned around, and saw the three of them laughing about something. Nat stole a glance at Alfred; his face, in its moment of vulnerability, said everything.
And without even realising it, she started talking. "When I first started school, I only used to go for the martial arts classes. I used to play hooky for every other class," she said, and he turned to her as she spoke. "At that time, Katyusha had taken responsibility for me, and she was training to be a teacher. She used to mostly chase me around the grounds with a book in her hand, because she had to study." Nat chuckled. "I troubled her so much. Once, I was hiding in the kitchen, and there were two of my seniors there as well. The cook had made a lot of sweets because the Head Representatives were visiting. We were really hungry, so we ate some, and took the rest and passed them through the classroom windows"—
"How did you get there?"
Nat grinned at the awe in Alfred's voice. "There isn't a wall I haven't scaled, or a tree I haven't climbed," she said, quiet pride in her voice. "I went up and down the wall, and we passed it through the window. They knew I'd done it, but they couldn't put the blame on me, since it was the work of more than one person. Poor Katyusha got a yelling, and we felt really bad, so we made a new batch of sweets." She turned to Alfred, and made a face. "The worst part was that it was better than what we'd had, and we didn't try a single piece."
Alfred laughed. "I'm sure it was." Still chuckling, he asked, "What else did you do?"
"Oh, so much more. I got into so much trouble."
Alfred chuckled at the pride in her voice as she said that. "But you are good at what you do."
Nat smiled. "I could not play hooky forever. I started studying hard after a while."
"Why? What pushed you to?"
She shook her head, and a tinge of sadness came into her eyes. "I was challenged. Actually, both Katyusha and I were. We were challenged to become Head Priestesses, one after the other."
"Do you want to become one?"
Nat shrugged. "Not as long as Katyusha wishes to stay Head Priestess. But that's one of the reasons I started studying to become a Deputy – it was the easiest way to know of the duties of a Head. By the end of it, however…I just wanted to help Katyusha."
Alfred smiled gently. "You really love her, don't you?"
All Nat quietly said was, "Don't breathe a word about it to anyone else."
He wanted to tell her it was apparent how much she cared for the older woman. He just locked his arms behind his head and said, "Your secret is safe with me."
~o~
"Where are they?"
Everyone in the restaurant turned, and the shopkeeper looked at the wheezing priest at his door. "Calm down, Brother. What is it?"
"The Priestess and her four companions. Where are they?" the priest yelled through short bursts of breath.
"They were making plans to go into the woods by the coast," a red haired boy said, and he turned to the shopkeeper. "I heard the priestess and the pale man talking about it while I cleared their table."
"Which direction?" the priest demanded.
"North-west."
The man paled so drastically, the shopkeeper left his station and went towards him. Even before he could reach, the priest fell to his knees, and was gripping his hands so hard his knuckles went white. The shopkeeper picked up a jug full of water and a glass, and kneeled by the priest, filling the glass with water. And all the priest did was say the same thing, over and over again.
"Oh, no."
"Where are we?"
Nat looked from Eliza to Alfred. "Do you think we have reached?"
Alfred frowned at the map. "A little further ahead."
Nat relayed the information, and continued to walk next to Alfred. But, slowly, she began to sense something was wrong.
"Stay close to me," she told Alfred, who looked at her with surprise on his face. She ignored it; she turned around to the rest of them. "Hey. Keep close."
Eliza, who heard her first, frowned. "What happened?"
Nat frowned, and scanned the network of branches. She couldn't see anything suspicious, but her training had taught her that her vision wasn't the only sense she should rely on. Her gaze went back on the path before her, trying to search for something unusual. She couldn't find anything.
"Hey, we've been walking for an hour," Gilbert said, to which Nat turned around. "You're exhausted?"
Gilbert puffed up to his full capacity, and stabbed his chest with his thumb. "The awesome me does not get 'exhausted'. I was…just thinking we could…admire the nature here. Like that awesome flower!" he yelled enthusiastically, and ran towards a shrub with large yellow and red flowers in full bloom.
And Nat realised what was going on. But before she could open her mouth and say a word, Gilbert's shocked scream filled the air.
"Don't go there!" Nat snapped harshly at Eliza, who pulled herself back from rushing to the pit Gilbert had fallen into. She turned to Alfred. "Give one of your keshi to Matt," she instructed. She herself pulled out one of her keshi and tossed it to Eliza. Turning to the pit, she yelled out, "Did you break anything?"
"No," he groaned out.
"Is it becoming hard for you to breathe?" she yelled.
"…A little."
Nat quickly removed her blue-black overcoat, pulled out a water bottle from her back, and wrapped the coat around the bottle. "I'm throwing you my coat, as well as water. Catch it." She tossed it into the pit from where she was standing, and heard Gilbert's grunt as he caught it.
"Wear the coat. There's a kerchief in one of the pockets. Wet it and hold it to your nose. Breath through that. And wash your eyes and face," she yelled out.
"What's going on, Natalya?" Alfred asked her, and she could sense his fear.
"We aren't wanted here," Natalya said loudly, and got the response she wanted.
A loud laugh filled the air. Nat honed her senses, trying to find the spot of their ambusher, while the rest of them looked around wildly.
There!
Nat caught Alfred's arm and yanked him behind her, drawing her keshi out and holding it aloft, in the direction of the branches. "How many of you are there?" she yelled out.
In answer, an arrow came whizzing at her. She sidestepped, and shot three bullets in the direction of the arrow. At once, a bow dropped from the tree.
She pulled out a normal gun and aimed it in the direction of the general tree line. "Come out, and I might spare you the eternal damnation that my bullets will bring you," Nat called out.
"You're open, priestess," came the reply.
Before Nat had the opportunity to curse, she heard something whizz from her side, and held her keshi across her face just before the incoming blade could cut a gorge through her head. Sparks flew, and Nat felt the force pushing her back, since it wasn't a lone blade – its wielder had also made herself known.
Nat grunted, and pushed the masked woman off. But the attacker wasn't going to be dissuaded so easily; she flew forward and swung her short blade at Nat. Nat dodged, using her keshi and her gun as her defence. But there was only so much she could defend, and her attacker was no novice. With every attack, with every rise of sparks, Nat could feel her attacks driving closer home.
Nat muttered an incantation, slipped into her attacker's personal space and drove the back of the keshi into the mask of her attacker. The activated inscriptions at the back of the keshi, as well as the force Nat put behind the move, sent the woman flying back. Nat wasn't stupid; she pushed back her gun in her right hand into her holster and grabbed her attacker before the latter could fall down.
She pulled her attacker close to her, and slipping out one of her attacker's blades the belt, she held it to the woman's neck. "Move, and your sword's going to go through you," Nat whispered into her ear, positioning the back of her keshi such that it was a hair's width from the woman's neck.
But her victory was short lived. When she looked up, Eliza, Alfred and Matt were all on their knees, held in position by more people with masks and short swords.
"…Natalya. Is that you?"
Nat's attention quickly moved to her attacker. "Dy. Who are you?"
A throaty chuckle emerged from the woman. "I should hit you for forgetting me."
The chuckle sealed it for Nat, and she instantly knew who it was. "…Are you serious? Shree?" she squeaked.
"I would laugh, but that keshi of yours is too close. If you don't mind…"
Nat instantly let go of the woman. Before she could say another word, however, a whizzing sound filled her ears, and unbelievable pain shot through her.
At once, four voices screamed out her name, but her senses felt dulled, as if someone pushed her under water and everything was coming at her from outside. She immediately understood exactly what happened – the archer she'd shot in the trees had gotten down and shot her with a poisoned arrow. And she knew exactly which poison he'd used, too, and she had an antidote for it. Unfortunately, it was with Gilbert, in the coat which was protecting him from the poisonous gas within the pit.
Nat staggered to her knees. She could hear the three others screaming, but it wasn't out of pain. She looked to her side, and the mask Shree wore was close. Good. "Pit…coat…antidote…get my coat…"
Staying upright was becoming a pain. The poison worked fast, and the best thing for her to do was to relax, and let it go through her slowly, until she got her antidote. She let herself fall to the ground – she didn't even feel herself landing. The world before her was becoming into a haze of bright colours. Damn the poison.
Damn everything.
~O~
You called?
She's hurt! I need to…I have to…Please!
Do you know the consequences?
HELP HER!
Very well.
~O~
Eliza turned to the sound of the yell, and gasped soundlessly.
Alfred was on fire.
Flames bloomed around him, red as the rising sun, enveloping his entire being. He removed his glasses, and let them drop to the ground. His hair was gently floating, and his eyes had gone from sky blue to golden-orange.
The man who had been holding him had yelled out, and was cradling his hands, having burnt them on the flames emerging from Alfred. Alfred just turned to the men who had been holding Matt and Eliza – they had released the two of them as soon as they saw the flames rise from Alfred.
He looked straight into their eyes, one after the other. An incredible pressure engulfed them inside out, from all sides. They could feel their bones, their muscles, their breath and their blood push against itself, until there was no more space to slosh around. Their world compressed further and further, until it was squeezed, squeezed into one tiny point. And even when that point disappeared, they slipped into blessed unconsciousness.
~O~
W-What is this?
You asked me for my power. Now you have it. Save the priestess.
I-Is t-this…?
Yes. This is what it means to be a demon.
~O~
Shree jumped into the pit. Her mask prevented the poisonous fumes from affecting her, and while it could eat away her skin, she wasn't planning to stay in for that long.
The part of her mind not concentrating on making sure that she got the antidote to Natalya before it killed her was cursing her actions. It had been too long since she'd seen the foul-tempered priestess, but to have attacked her so hastily…
She found the coat – rather, she found someone wearing the coat. It was one of the people travelling with Natalya. Without thinking, she grabbed him around the waist, and scurried up the pit as fast as she'd come down.
Once out, she wrenched the mask off her face. She laid the man on the ground, and began searching the pockets of the coat. From the corner of her eye, she saw that he was breathing through a wet rag. She had to take a moment to smile at Natalya's ingenuity – that girl had really learnt her survival skills well.
There. She found it. She took it out, and looked up, only to have her jaw drop.
One of her companions had turned into a demon.
The sheer beauty of the man, combined with the pressure that power exerted had her rooted to the ground. His entire being flamed crimson, flowing around him in waves, turning everything around him into ash. He hovered above the ground, and the ends of his clothes floated in the air, in tune to the pulse of the flames. His gold hair had turned luminescent; the ends of his fingers merged into the flames. It was like watching the embodiment of the Sun walk away from her, towards…
Towards the priest who shot Natalya.
That snapped her out of it. With an oath, she dashed to where Natalya was lying on the ground. A million questions whizzed through her head, but she concentrated on rubbing the paste onto Natalya's wound. To further quicken the process, she brought out her own water bottle, took a bit of the paste on the tip of her finger and wetted it. She held it under Natalya's nose, and let the odour waft into her nose.
But she could sit there until Natalya came to. She turned around, but both her men were unconscious, and the remaining two companions of Natalya sat there, shaking.
But there was no time. "Hey, you!" she called out. Eliza took notice first. "Come here and help her!" Shree yelled out, and Eliza hurried over to where she was.
"Hold this paste under her nose," Shree instructed. "If it dries, wet it. Hold it until she comes to."
"I-If a-anything happens t-to her, I-I will n-never forgive you."
Shree looked at the Eliza. Had she made a grave mistake? "I won't forgive myself, either," Shree muttered, and got up. With an oath, she realised the last of Natalya's companions had gotten to the demon before she had.
Who were all these people?
~o~
"A-Alfred, s-stop!" Matt screamed, holding the keshi with both hands. He was shaking. He'd never, ever had to experience something like this, and suddenly, his brother was…his brother was…
Alfred stopped, and tilted his head to the side, as if unable to understand.
"I-I don't k-k-know what you're g-gonna do, b-but stop!" Matt blurted out.
Matt watched as Alfred raised one hand, and slowly reached out to Matt.
Matt wanted to move. He wanted to run away.
But he couldn't.
He just couldn't.
Alfred was his brother.
He loved Matt.
He wouldn't harm him.
Even as the flames grew closer and closer to his face, Matt knew he wouldn't harm him.
Even as the pressure began to choke the breath in his lungs, Matt knew Alfred wouldn't harm him.
Alfred loved Matt.
Alfred –
"Get back!" Shree yelled. She grabbed the keshi from Matt's trembling hands, aimed at Alfred, and fired.
~o~
"AAAAAARRRGGGHHH!"
Nat came to suddenly, and the pain hit her almost immediately, followed by the nauseating smell she recognised instantly. She shook her head and got up, sensing Eliza's presence.
"What the hell was that?" she muttered, and looked up.
Yellow flames were eating up the ground and the trees, turning the green forest into a grey clearing. Natalya recognized both voices in the ear-splitting scream – the demon's roar of agony, and Alfred's cry of pain.
She saw Alfred reeling back, clutching onto his shoulder, and it didn't take much time for her pain-numbed mind to put two and two together. Without any further ado, her mind did a couple more equations.
"H-Hey, Eliza, you have a good arm, right?" Nat asked slowly, gritting her teeth at the pain.
"Y-Yes."
"I-If I asked you t-to throw me to A-Alfred…would it b-be too much?"
"Will i-it help?"
"Dy."
Eliza wiped the remainder of the medicine on her pants, and got up. Nat knew the woman had phenomenal arm strength, having seen her bodily fling Gilbert left and right with aim so beautiful it was too good to be true. Nat just hoped that, at such a moment, her arm and aim didn't fail her.
Nat felt Eliza pick her up like she was nothing more than a rubber ball, and wondered if she was doing the right thing.
"Heave ho!"
And as she flew through the air, she realised, it really didn't matter.
The fall wasn't as bad as I'd expected it to be. In fact, I didn't fall at all. Plus, there was no pain in my right shoulder. As much as I would have loved to drag it out, Matt, Shree and even Alfred were waiting outside for me. So was the pain, nausea and the repercussions of our actions, but they would have to be faced one at a time.
The demon's presence came before me before the demon presented itself visibly. It was using Johnny Doe's younger body, and I had to calm my hate for the man before I could speak. Hating a dead man was of no consequence at all, and didn't help anyone.
"Did he ask you for help?"
The demon nodded. "He wished to help you."
That was cute. Which was why he had to unleash this chaos onto people who didn't know how to handle it. "I am fine. You can see for yourself."
"Tell him that." The demon moved aside, and I saw Alfred.
He was covered in similar flames as his body outside was, but the colour was different. It was a feeble, pale blue. And the proud, tall, powerful being outside was nothing like the Alfred before me, crouching to the ground, clutching at his hair.
I went and sat before him. There wasn't much time, but some things had to be done slowly. "I am fine, Alfred."
He didn't hear me. I reached out to him, and my hand reflexively jerked back at the touch of the flames. It was his psyche, but it was no less hot than a normal flame. Gritting my teeth, I reached in and caught hold of his shoulder. "Alfred."
He looked up. He wasn't wearing his glasses. His blue eyes were bloodshot and watery, blurred with tears. "Natalya?" he whispered, almost unsure of himself.
"I'm fine, Alf"—
Before I could say anything more, he flung himself at me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and burying his face in my neck. "You're alright. Thank god, you're alright."
I didn't know what to say. I didn't think I could even speak. Out of their own volition, my arms went around him, holding him close. "I'm fine, Alfred. I'm fine."
Tears ran down my neck. I couldn't believe someone was actually crying for me. Katyusha was the only one who had ever cried for me – the only other person was long gone. And now, him… "Alfred, I'm fine."
I let him cry for a while. I didn't know how much time passed outside, but I was sure both our bodies had collapsed, like they did while I was in his psyche. None of them were in danger.
He stopped crying, and just hiccupped. Why was this man... "We need to go, Alfred. We have to go back."
He let go of me, and moved away. "I was so"—
I just wiped his face. I didn't know why, but tears were always something painful for me. I couldn't bear to see someone else cry. "It's okay. Let's go now. And never do that again. Understood?"
He nodded quietly, and let me get him on his feet. I turned to the demon, who stood there silently, observing us. "I…I am sorry." I didn't know what else to say.
The demon stretched, as if coming out of a long dream. "Well, it was fun. If I get too bored, I might come out to stretch my legs."
I blinked. This demon had a sense of humour. "I shall try to keep things interesting."
"Good bye, Priestess." And he vanished.
A demon with a sense of humour. I turned to Alfred, who seemed to have gained his composure somewhat. "It's not going to be pretty out there."
"Didn't think would be." He sniffed. "I'm sorry."
I squeezed his arm; I couldn't really think of what to say, beyond a weak 'it's okay', and that didn't seem like the most appropriate thing to say. But there were going to be consequences.
With a sigh, I closed my eyes.
"Let's go."
The pain hit her almost immediately. She rolled to one side; she opened her mouth to scream, and screamed noiselessly. The poison dulled the senses; without the poison, she could feel the full impact of having an arrow go deep into her shoulder.
Through the haze of pain, she could hear the screams. She opened her eyes, and reached out to the first person she saw. She grabbed Matt's hand, and tugged on it. His usually calm blue eyes were so scared, her heart melted. She wanted to tell him she'd been through worse. She wanted to tell him he was so brave, that she was surrounded by such brave people, and she didn't even know. Her hand inched to his face, patted it, in the desperate hope of transferring her thoughts through touch. He had to know how brave he was. She had to tell him.
She blinked, and looked up. Shree was surrounded by people wearing masks. She recognized one mask. Raj…that was Raj. Raj was here.
He removed his mask. Nat blinked. The entire world went out of focus, and snapped into sharp clarity. It was Raj. He was older than when she'd seen him last, but…that was Raj.
He didn't look happy, though…Nat frowned. Why… She could feel darkness dragging her in, forcing her to stop remaining in the pain. But no…now he was saying something. Raj was saying something. She heard him say one sentence before she slipped into unconsciousness.
"They are all under arrest."
A/T: Shree and Raj (and another character in the next chapter) could be assumed as epitomes of India, although if I chose to give an actual name to India, there would be waaay too many. But yes, they're Indian.
I hope you enjoyed that little action sequence. I'm going to get on working on the next chapter almost immediately...I love this story, people, and it's going to be finished. So please bear with my late updates, whenever they come. And please leave reviews - I like reviews.
~o~ is for a small pause as for different events happening within the same scene with different points of view, ~O~ is for a significantly long pause or for a transition in scene (here, it was from the outside world to Alfred's psyche) and a line break is a definitive pause. You might ask why all this...I believe it makes for a better reading experience. I can't seem to be able to leave spaces between paragraphs, which is what I usually do when I have to indicate change in PoV in the same scene, but ~o~ does the trick, too, I hope. Make do with what you have and can work with, I guess.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Love,
R. K. Iris.
