Sumina

-chapter seven-

A Gift is Given

A/N: Guess what? Chapter Seven! Though I guess you'd know that. I wanted to incorporate some more characters in here, along with some more of Ivan's extensive past, so there will be some connections in this one.

I used the name Lilli for Liechtenstein's first name. My sister informed me that this is her fandom name.

Also, the word Jó means "good" in Hungarian, if the translation is correct…I don't know Hungarian, so it's possible for it to be wrong, obviously. Langweilig translates to "boring" in German.

Aside from this chapter's information, I'm sorry for the late update (late for me, anyways). I've been busy writing speeches for Student Congress all day. My update next week may also be late, as I have two competitions coming up.

Pairings: Pretty much TorisxFeliks, and one-sided GilbertxElizaveta, which will be shown in both Chapter Seven and Chapter Eight.

Rating: T, for violence, coarse language (mostly because of Gilbert in this chapter), and gruesome images.

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The wild plains lay beneath their feet. In the distance, they saw the small village. Further off, they saw the castle looming there, with its large gates like jaws, waiting to swallow up the citizens…

They move on. Into the village, into the unmapped territory. Into something unknown. The first thing they are assaulted by?

A silver-haired man strides up to them, points at Ivan, and shouts, "Fuck you, big-nosed freak!" Needless to say, it takes quite a bit to stop the Russian from pummeling the man to death. None of them are strong enough to handle his strength. Luckily for them, he is incapacitated by a dark frying pan over the head.

The woman wielding this powerful weapon steps on his back when he slumps to the ground twitching. Her grin is triumphant. She flicks her hair over her shoulder and looks at the group with a steady gaze. "I'm sorry about him, he doesn't know when to stop drinking."

"I haven't had one drink today!" The man beneath her feet attests, voice muffled slightly, as his face is pressed into the ground. She stomps on his back, glaring down at him fiercely.

"You're drunk." Her resolve is firm. He continues to mutter, but she ignores him otherwise. She turns back to the group. "You guys are new here, aren't you? Well! It's good you met me. I'm Elizaveta," she holds her hand out. They all look between one another.

Arthur steps forward, taking her hand and shaking it politely. "It's wonderful to make your acquaintance, miss. I am Arthur Kirkland," he adds his name at the end, stepping back politely.

Heracles' hands are full so that he may hold up the dozing black-haired man on his back, but he nods his head and speaks, "Hello."

Ivan smiles his usual smile (which causes Elizaveta to back up and shiver), waving to her. "Hello! Ivan Braginsky." His voice is cheerful and peppy. "Is there any way you can speak to us…alone?"

The silver-haired man lifts his head and points dramatically. "No way in hell am I leaving you alone with her!" Elizaveta stomps on him again. She sighs, shakes her head and squares her shoulders.

"It's true…he won't leave me alone. But you might as well just deal with him now. You'll get used to it—we all have." She moves her foot and allows him to stand. "Oh. His name is Gilbert."

"And I am awesome!"Gilbert attests as he jumps to his feet. The small chick on his back chirps in agreement.

"Sure, sure," Ivan waves him off. "We just need to speak with you, Elizaveta!"

"Well, then…follow me." She leads everyone to the largest house in the village—a lovely manor that far surpasses the cottages and one-room homes surrounding it. "This is Mister Edelstein's home, but…he lets many of us stay here when we have nowhere else to go, as long as we work for him." She opens the door and leads them to a smaller sitting room attached to her own bedroom. They place Kiku on her bed and sit in the chairs she offers around a coffee table. Gilbert sits as close as Elizaveta will allow him. "Now what is it that you need to talk to me in private for?"

Heracles clears his throat before anyone else can speak up. "It is extremely important that you cooperate. You know of Animus, as well as Sumina, I am sure. You play an extremely important role in the future of humanity, Elizaveta. What we must ask of you is something you cannot deny." He pauses to let this information sink in. Elizaveta's eyebrows are furrowed in conversation, while Gilbert glares in disbelief. "You know what has come to pass. You know that the Gift has been given. And it is time you used it. Malorus."

"No way in hell!" Gilbert stands, crossing his arms. "I have no clue what you're talking about, but no!" Elizaveta glares at him.

"I'll do it, but I have one condition…" Arthur moves his hands from where they are folded in his lap.

"And what would this condition be, ma'am?" She smiles at him with a strange glint in her eyes. Arthur cannot help but gulp.

"You've heard of the Jó Rebels, haven't you…?"

They sit around the table in Roderich Edelstein's basement. Ivan, Arthur, and Heracles all in a line, surrounding Elizaveta's left side, swung around the large elliptical table's first quarter. Around the table sat many others—Gilbert on Elizaveta's left, the lord of household all the way across the long-side of the table from her, a dark-haired man with bright purple eyes dressed in fine clothing, next to him his faithful friend, blond-haired and green-eyed, and next to him sat a young girl, obviously related to the small man. In a line sit two familiar faces. Faces that Ivan would rather forget. Three chairs are left empty.

Just before Roderich begins attendance, two others burst through the door. More familiar faces. Ivan groans internally. "Sorry, sorry! I'm sorry we're late!" The frazzled brunet rushes to his seat next to his two brothers, while the blond behind him skips along merrily, sitting down next to the brunet, crossing his legs (he's wearing a skirt, after all).

Roderich sighs. "And what's your excuse this time, Toris?"

Toris grabs a ribbon and ties his hair back, hanging his head. "Feliks was trying to find an outfit," he mumbles.

"And my outfit is like, totally cute! So it's okay, you can chill now, Roddie," Feliks' hair flips about as he bounces his head along with his speech.

Again, Roderich sighs. "Being on time is more important than finding something to wear, Feliks! For Christ's sake, at least try!"

"Jeez, what's into you today? You're like, totally rude…"

"Anyhow, everyone appears to be here… Elizaveta Héderváry?" Roderich looks across the table.

"Here!" She smiles slightly at him. The two look at one another oddly.

"Gilbert Weillschmidt?" He grimaces at having to call the name.

Gilbert grins at him, a defiant look that sets Roderich's nerves off. "I'm here, I'm here! You should really be happier to see me, though. After all, I am the heart and soul of this operation here—" Elizaveta smacks the back of his head.

"Eduard Von Bock?" Roderich ignores the shouting German.

"Present," answers a prim, well-dressed older teen, with dirty blond locks and a pair of half-rimmed glasses. Gilbert snickers at his use of 'present'.

"Raivis Galante?"

"H-here, sir," the boy stutters slightly, his gaze fearfully flitting towards Ivan. His hair is messy, slightly curled, but the same shade of blond as Eduard's, if not darker.

"Toris Lorinaitis?"

"Here," Toris answers in a steadier tone than before, though he looks at Raivis with worry on occasion.

"Feliks Łukasiewicz?"

"I'm like, totally here," Feliks files his nails with a rather large smile.

"Vash Zwingli?" He looks to his side, smiling ever so slightly at the blond next to him, whose hair is messy and chopped. Vash stiffens, glaring at him slightly.

"Here," he growls.

"Lilli Zwingli?"

"Here," a small girl with a similar hairstyle to her brother's, a ribbon tied to the side of her head, wearing a pink dress responds, smiling slightly up at Roderich.

Roderich sighs as he looks at the empty chair to her left. "And of course, he's not here," he begins to shake his head. "As usual…"

"The bastard is always missing our meetings," Vash glares at the empty seat.

"Anyhow, we have some new recruits joining us, it seems. Would you please tell us your names and your Birthright?" Roderich looks directly at Heracles.

"Heracles Karpusi," the Greek man blinks slowly. "I am an Oracle. There is another in our group—Honda Kiku—who is a natural magic-wielder. He will be joining us tomorrow."

"Good day; Arthur Kirkland, lovely to meet you all. I'm a talented magic-wielder." Arthur seems to say this with pride, his smile wide.

He clears his throat. "Ivan Braginsky! I was born with the ability to survive almost anything thrown at me." As he says his name, the room falls silent.

Toris, Raivis and Eduard all look upon him with wide eyes. Feliks, however, glares. "I knew it! I so knew it was you! Ivan Braginsky…to think I'd see you here!" He stands and points at him. "You total jerk!"

Ivan snarls, standing as well. His height and anger allows him to tower over the others. "It happened a long time ago, Feliks. Let it go."

"You shouldn't be allowed around any of them! Roderich! You can't let him stay here!" Toris grabs Feliks' wrist and tries to get him to sit back down, but Feliks doesn't budge. He swats his hand away and continues his heated tirade against Ivan Braginsky.

"Let. It. GO!" Ivan's look of pure anger, his shouting command—all of these are enough to silent the forceful blond, who sits very slowly, ever so slowly, a look of hatred casted upon the tall Russian. Everyone looks upon Ivan with wide eyes now. Their gaze makes him uncomfortable. The gash on his chest throbs painfully. Pulling at his scarf, he sits back down, looking at the backs of his hands.

Roderich clears his throat. "Anyhow…this whole matter is largely unimportant. What we must discuss is the recent unbalance in the power. Animus has been very unsettled as of late, and his peons have been nabbing citizens from town at night, right from their homes. Normally they have been taken only when on the streets after night. Now tomorrow night, we will be starting patrol to protect these citizens. Get a good night's rest and meet back here at sundown so I may split you into groups. That is all." When he looks up, Gilbert has fallen asleep. "Gilbert!"

"Whaaat?" Gilbert lifts his head, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Feliks snickers.

"You like, totally just put him to sleep! So boring, Roddie."

"Extremely boring! Langweilig!" Gilbert grins at Feliks. They high-five around the three brothers between them.

Roderich glares slightly at the both of them. "Just…the meeting is over!" With this, Gilbert lets out a triumphant whoop, leaps from his seat, and rushes out the door. Feliks grabs Toris' wrist and leads the frazzled brunet away, the blond glaring at Ivan as he walked through the doorway. The last two of the three brothers left one after the other. Vash leads his sister from the room by the hand, with her bright eyes focused on her beloved brother. Roderich stands, passes by Elizaveta with a, "Good day," to which Elizaveta nods her head and responds with the same thing. Finally, Elizaveta, Ivan, Arthur and Heracles stand. She leads them back to her room.

Heracles walked into Elizaveta's bedroom, to where Kiku lay. Once there, he brushed his bangs from the smaller male's face, smiling slightly as Kiku's eyes fluttered open. He asked Heracles what happened. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he told him everything—including their task tomorrow night.

Ivan spends the night talking to Yao. He does not want to sleep. Yao does not want to let his mind wander to his fate. They keep one another distracted all through the night, until the sun rises.

When the sun set, they all gathered in the meeting room held in the basement. Roderich split them into several groups—he would be going with Vash and Lilli (as Vash refused to leave her with anyone else), Ivan with Gilbert, Elizaveta with Kiku, Heracles with Raivis, Arthur with Feliks, and Eduard with Toris. They split and take districts of the small town, watching from the edges of homes.

Gilbert looks at Ivan and begins, "So…what was up with that, anyway? Yesterday, at the meeting."

Ivan sighs. "A long time ago, I lived in the same city as those four. I would harass them whenever I could, because…their pain averted my own. While I can't take it back, I feel like I owe them something. I…really don't like talking about my past."

"Heh," Gilbert shakes his head as they stroll down a secluded street. "Ya know, sometimes the past just keeps getting dragged up. It's why we do what we do, though. Every time I walk these damn streets, I think of my brother…he's the only reason I'm here right now." They lapsed into silence. Neither one was willing to break it.

____

Elizaveta walks down the street with Kiku in companionable silence. They discuss their homes, and the others. Elizaveta tells him all about those he's curious about, tells him particularly of her relationship with both Roderich and Gilbert. "At one point in time, I married him," she laughs, shaking her head. "I'm glad that both Roderich and I are still friends."

"And Weillschmidt-san?" Kiku looks at her, and she smiles a bit.

"He's always bothered Roderich. We've been friends since childhood, Gilbert and I." She tilts her head to the side and asks, "What about you and the Oracle? Heracles?"

"N-n-nothing!" Kiku stutters and blushes, embarrassment coloring his cheeks. He averts his eyes. "He and I…"

She laughs and shakes her head. "Oh, I can tell! You two are together, aren't you?" Kiku's blush deepens as he nods. "Well…you look cute together—a good couple, I'm sure." He finds himself slightly afraid of the near-mad glint in her eyes, an imaginative one that conjures images in his mind of what she might possibly be thinking of. She just so happens to be thinking the same thing as him…

They continue on in peaceful, thoughtful silence. And just as Kiku raises his gaze from the ground to speak, his mouth open slightly, a painful screech pierces the once-calm night air. Kiku turns on his heel, towards the sound so near to him. It was the scream of a dying man, after all—or, in this case, a dying woman.

Elizaveta stood with a sword plunged through her abdomen, buried to the hilt, a red tip sticking out from the other side. Her eyes are trapped wide-open, mouth agape, the gurgling sound she makes chilling Kiku's spine. She begins to stumble back, stumble away from her attacker, pushing Kiku back into an alley, while the dark-haired man disappears, laughing, and calling out, "Elizaveta is no more! Elizsveta is no more!" Kiku lays Elizaveta down on her side, seizing him by the throat. He swallows difficultly.

"W-What should I do," he half-screams, half-whispers. "What should I do?!" He readies himself to do all he can to help her heal.

"Let me die," she murmurs, a small amount of blood trickling from the side of her mouth. "Let me die, Kiku. This is how it should be. Don't you understand? The only way…for this to happen…is for – is for me to die." Her eyes slide shut, her heartbeat slows. And her breathing is very faint.

"N-No! Please, stay here," he shakes her slightly, his whole body shaking at the same time. "Please!"

As Elizaveta draws her last breath, she lets it out in a gentle sigh, covers Kiku's face with the used-up life she had left in her. Her soul flies from her body, while Sumina's flings itself to Kiku's, graced with Elizaveta's final wish. A white light surrounds him. So bright, that he covered his eyes until it faded and he was just himself again. But he heard more. Felt more. Knew more. It was strange, to hold the soul of someone long-dead within you. Just as he pulls the blade from her body, Gilbert and Ivan turn the corner into the alley.

"E-Elizaveta?" Gilbert calls. In his eyes he holds an expression, like half of himself has died while the other thrives, like part of him doesn't want to live any longer but the other insists on keeping his life. His hands tighten into fists. He runs over to Elizaveta's cooling body and pulls her up, holds her fresh corpse in his arms and sobs, shakes, wracks with unspoken emotion, can do nothing more than let this out. And when he has finished, he has shed more tears than ever before—the first tears of his lifetime. Gilbert glares at both Ivan and Kiku. "You! The both of you—all of you! You did this! You killed her! How…how dare you let her die! God damn it, why?! Why?!" He stands and rushes at Ivan, punches him square in the gut, kicks his shin, before he is caught and held in front of the Russian, unable to move, struggling so intensely as he cries yet again, cries for a friend, cries that he could do nothing to help the situation.

Elizaveta Héderváry is no more.