AN- In case any of you wanted to see, I've posted some of my art notes on deviantart – the link is in my profile, though I have the same name there as I do here so can search me as well.

There was some confusion over Arthur's little panic ramble – when the bond is completed between a pair, the creature/monster/demon/what-have-you then is able to adopt human form – like how when Lovino/Antonio's bond was completed, Lovino turned human. So the same thing happened but due to Arthur being able to shed his seal skin, he was already able to adopt a human like form so I needed something to signify that it was different. So Arthur Selkie-human form, he has sharper canines, a cooler body temperature, pointy ears, larger eyes (like a seals) and has webbing between his fingers and toes (also slight claws) and was freaking out over their disappearance. I hope that helps and makes sense :D Sorry if that wasn't entirely clear.

Also sorry for the late updates, a lot has been going on in my life - besides more personal issues, the paperwork/research needed as I've been accepted to study in a exchange at the University of Savoie, France (I may also be homeless for the first few weeks there too which is less exciting), been applying for jobs and school work hasn't left a lot of free time. I hope the chapter will be worth it :D

My Beta is busy with life right now so if anything seems off, unclear or is grammatically bad, I blame my spell checker and my own poor proof -reading skills. Please feel free to tell me, I'd appreciate it.

My end notes are getting ridiculously long... but the stuff is important! I swear!

I do not own Hetalia.


"You lost him?" Hissed an incredulous voice.

"That's pathetic, even for you Envy. You failed despite Gluttony and Pride backing you up! You didn't even see your attacker, are you really so weak?" Said a neutral voice, laced ever so slightly with scorn.

Envy stood there, under heavy scrutiny of the other 4 mages in the room, unable to even come with any sort of defence.

Since he had regained consciousness and had had to return empty handed, the others had been lecturing him. Wrath was livid that Lust's vessel was gone, Greed looked at him patronizingly, Sloth seemed mostly indifferent (but then he always did), Gluttony seemed to ignore his very existence and Pride..."Wrath and Greed are right Envy." Pride said. "How did you manage to make such a simple and dangerous mistake? Perhaps we should break your stiletto, freeing Roderich's soul – you know what that would mean for you. Perhaps we could even offer your host to Lust since it appears you are too worthless to do your job properly"

Envy paled and shook slightly before straightening his back and glaring, that was not a fate easily accepted and he would fight it as best he was able.

However for now, his fate was undecided, Pride turning to Wrath. "Wrath, your host...Tino I believe his name was, he was close to all the other Guardians, especially the Draug. Track down the vessel for Lust, if he has fallen back into their hands then they should hesitate slightly before fighting you. Take Sloth and Greed with you, Heracles and Gupta were also well liked and then in that moment of hesitation, kill them all and bring him here."

Wrath stuck his tongue out in thought; allowing his bindings mark of the Gemini and Ox, though corrupted by the red hourglass, to be seen.

"Perhaps." Wrath finally answered, "Though you know I prefer working along, why do I have to bring the Old Goat..."

"Capricorn." Greed interrupted, sounding bored.

"...and the lazy Fish with me?" Wrath glared at him as he finished.

"Just do it." Pride said with disdain. "The Mistress will already be very displeased with Envy's failure and the sooner you head out and the faster the vessel is brought in, the better."

Before the others could accept or argue further, Sloth who had just entered the room his normally dreaming brown eyes wide and alert, interrupted. "Not a good idea. The Horsemen have been sent out for the Aras-Raw that has been alluding the Mistress and to clean up Envy's mess."

"What." Pride exclaimed. "Why have I not heard of this?"

"It happened only little under an hour ago," Sloth answered. "We have been ordered to prepare for war. The Mistress has pushed the Nichacs into war and we are to prepare an army to invade from the East while the Nichac forces come from the West. She plans to eradicate at long last Sarya which will then allow us to freely track the him once they are completely razed from the earth."

"Well," Pride said reflectively, looking out the window, "at least that problem is solved. There will be no escaping them after all."


They had lost the tracks.

After all that, they had lost the tracks.

It was almost as though Roderich/Envy had flown away with Francis, the trail vanishing after a stretch of bare rock. Lovino, with his sharp nose, was able to track them a little farther then that before that method too failed.

Elizabeta, with the help of Gilbert, Ludwig and Feli and Vash and Lily, was able to binding curse Roderich had placed on her, allowing her not only to be able to speak in languages besides the hissing one of the Furies but also to assume human form once more. Ludwig then set Gilbert's arm (it having been badly broken too many times to just be instantly healed by magic) and placing an overnight healing spell on it before tending to any of the other injuries that had been gained in battle against the two Sins. The mages were now sleeping off the effects of having removed such powerful magic. Mathias had simply explained a way to contact him before he disappeared shortly after the Gluttony and Pride had while Lovi had mentally retreated to his thoughts.

They were now sitting along the trail, replenishing their energy by eating and taking naps, each silent as they tried to think of a way to find their friend once more.

Antonio fished the rabbit he'd been cooking out of the fire and walked to where Lovino was sitting to the side.

It was clear the nine-tails was lost in thought, tossing what appeared to be a large ring in the air and catching, slipping it on his thumb, taking it off, twisting it, then throwing it in the air once more.

Sitting down beside his partner he simultaneously offered the plate of meat with one hand while he reached over and caught the object with the other.

As Lovino began to silently eat, Antonio examined the ring-type object. He quickly concluded that it was not, in fact, a ring as the metal was far too thick considering it was about a centimetre wide. That, and on one side there was a bit of an edge sticking out, like the tail on the letter Q did. The metal was not easily identifiable either – it didn't hold the shine gold did nor did it have the taste of copper, it certainly wasn't steel by the colour... all in all, very strange.

"Lovi~" He began, curiosity leaking into his tone, "What is this?"

"I don't know." Came the blunt reply.

"You don't?" Antonio said, surprised.

"No." The fox snapped slamming down the plate a little harder then necessary, clearly irritated that he was unable to track Francis further, had been tricked and had been looked down upon numerous times in one day. "No, I don't. I just found it it my pocket. All I know is that I shouldn't lose it so kindly give it back would you or I'll break your fingers, idiot."

Antonio did as Lovino asked, though he blinked, clearly confused. Deciding that his food was clearly more interested then the confused mage, Lovi turned back to his plate and continued to eat.

In the mean time, Antonio became lost in thought. It was in his pocket? How very peculiar. He didn't have pockets before he met me and made our bond, allowing him to adopt a human form. We've only known each other for four days now, he wouldn't have forgotten putting something in his pockets in that time, especially something so strange. What could this be?...And Lovino wouldn't actually break his fingers, right? He was just a bit rough around the edges...Yeah, that was it.


Coming.

No time.

Too close.

Hunters too close.

Faun too close.

Unprotected.

Here.

Hunters have found!

Danger. Pain. Run.

Painpainpainpain.


"Alright, so I call this meeting of the Compass Rose to order!"

They had managed to get messenger birds out to the nearest caravans and had contacted the other four with giving the promise of sending updates. They were all in the largest tent that Aadya's trade caravan had, one representing those from each compass point, as ordered by their ancient charter (when there were fifty caravans, not eight...they really needed to revise it at some point).

It was just plain, dumb luck that those closest met the bill, Aadya mused.

Mei Mei and the Formosan Blue Magpies represented the caravans whose base lay to the East, Georgi and the Mila Rodino for the North, Steven and those from the Down Under for those to the South and his own Dharma Charkra representing those to the West.

The tent not being large enough for everyone, each leader of the caravan along with of the ten most respected and with the most in touch with common opinion from each were seated around a small fire. After serving out the dinner, they began to discuss.

Commonly considered vagrants and gypsies in addition to traders, possibly because of their laisse-faire attitudes (compared to the regimented Nichacs) and their declared neutrality so they could trade with the Saryens; they were not affiliated with the Nichacs. So now that war was clearly looming on the horizon, they face the decision of whether or not they would side with the Nichacs or the Saryens.

As the candles burned progressively lower, the debate got fiercer and fiercer, while none of them felt any loyalty to the Nichacs considering the abuse and mistrust they experienced as "outsiders"; neither did they feel any particular loyalty to the Saryens who looked down upon them as being low-class and poorly educated. There were those even arguing that they should even go through Sarya and pass into the lowlands of Birsui or up into the icy wasteland of Aryca. If they sided with Nichac, they would most likely be siding with the victors as they were militarily superior, had greater numbers and the element of surprise on their hands. If they chose Sarya then they could give advance warning (thus earning much more trade in the future, Nichac was very stingy), be on the morally higher ground by siding with the to-be victims and the Saryens had somehow defeated the Nichacs in the past, perhaps they could do it again. Also the Saryens were fairly kind to them - those in the major city less so but the rural communities treated them as family – and none of them wanted to see the vast forests of Sarya be turned into fuel for the industries, especially as the motives behind this war were unclear. If they didn't pick either, they would be losing access to both their markets and their future as trade caravans would be jeopardized but their lives would be saved, though there was no guarantee that the Nichacs wouldn't turn on the agrarian/fishing communities of Birsui or the barren snow-covered Aryca or even the caravans themselves!

The debate raged long into the night until the decision was tentatively made to support the Saryens as it was felt their losses would be the least to side with them. With that, messages were quickly scrawled out and prepared to be sent out by bird at the nearest opportunity. The two caravans that were in Birsui and the one in Aryca needed to know that they could not come back to Nichac while the other one that were also in the borders of Nichac needed to know that it needed to get out.

Aarya leaned back from his desk as he finished the last note and blew on the ink, drying it before he rubbed his eyes. Getting up and stretching, he opened the flap of his tent and went to where the carrier pigeons lay to relay their decision before he noticed the blood-red dawn.

What was the expression...Red skies at night, sailors delight while red skies in the morning, sailors take warning. Something like that. Hmm. His mother had raised him to take heed of the omens that nature gave. Red skies. Danger then if not plenty of blood being spilt the day before.

Quickly packing up his things, he packed up his small tent and began to wake the others. The earth was quiet as well, no bird song or small creatures moving around. It was an eery quiet which when coupled with the red dawn made Aadya very nervous.

He had the sudden premonition that the bird intended for the Thai Sa and the White Elephants had been intercepted. While he was uncertain of magic, his gut instinct had rarely been wrong before and immediately the camp was a flurry of activity. Despite the initial grumblings – from the other caravans, those who had travelled with Aadya before just obeyed and from those who believed they should stay in Nichac – they were gone in under ten minutes, riding for the border. Those that had whined were silenced hours later when they ran into what remained of the caravan – only Thai Se and a handful of others had escaped the night attack by the local garrison for the suspicion of being spies.

It was clear: war was coming and their only real chance of survival lay on the other side of the mountain range.


They had passed a restless night, each off in their own little world as they each thought of what to do next. They had lost Francis's trail, was there any way to regain it? If not, what should they do? Go back to the capital of Sarya? What was happening to Francis? Also, they now know about the larger threat posed by the remaining allies of the Saryen witch, perhaps there was still a bigger threat to come. There were to many unknowns. Why did the Sins and Horsemen posses the exhausted Guardians after the last battle? Why were they even able to? There should not have been anything left tying them to the world. What was their plans? Why were they returning now? Just what were they supposed to do? Sure, they were Guardians, with the mission to protect Sarya and the Wild Courts from those that wished them harm but who were they defending it from? They hadn't been trained properly, the Nichacs had been very peaceful, Birsui and Aryca hadn't ever been a threat to begin with, the Court of the Wilds had vanished...Just what was their purpose?

With such questions racing through their minds, needless to say, they all got little sleep and they ate their meagre breakfast in silence; no one yet being prepared to talk.

It was all too much, all of them were behind by decades, new to their power (in a sense) or completely out of touch...

However, the decision was made for them as a wolf demon carrying a broadsword and riding an auburn horse came charging into the clearing. Instinctively, Ludwig raised a wall of earth as a temporary barrier while Gilbert and Antonio readied major fire blasts assisted by Vash's winds. Elizabeta, now able to freely change her shape, assumed her natural form of Fury and hissed out "Berwald." just as Lily also changed into her Vila form; both women being prepared to attack at any moment. Lovino stood by Antonio, prepared to shift if need be while Feliciano ran to go stand in front of Gilbert who, because of his arm not being fully healed, would not be able to easily defend himself.

A day or two of nearly constant combat and nerves being on end did have it's benefits after all.

However, they were surprised when instead of being attacked, the demon just spurred his horse on and over Ludwig's wall.

To their further collective surprise, just as the horse completed the jump, a great, white stag came leaping out of the nearby bushes pursued by a black horse and the corrupted Boar Guardian, Kiku. Berwald, letting out a howl, the corrupted mark of the Ox and Gemini being seen briefly on his tongue, cut the stag off, causing it to pivot and duck around the horse. The Wolf demon turned in his saddle and swung his great broadsword downward only to be blocked by Vash's spell - an air shield. Lovino then, having dropped into his own demon form, lunged forward with Antonio, both of them knocking the Ox Guardian of his horse and into ground combat.

The Boar Guardian was far from idle, having dismounted and having begun to pull an obviously enchanted set of scales from his pack. Elizabeta, seeing this, grabbed Lily's attention and together they went after the Griffon who was then forced to take to the skies to properly fight back. Vash darted between Lovino, Antonio and Berwald's fighting to go to where the scales lay on the ground in order to get a better view of the aerial fight and to provide any magical assistance he could. As the fight continued, he disappeared into the forest as the combatants got farther and farther away.

The stag, seeming to realize it was now safe, had sunk to the ground before leaning over to lick at the open wound on it's flank. Gilbert slowly knelt to the ground and after making it clear he was not going to harm the deer, placed his one hand by the wound before beginning the spell that heal the ugly wound. As he sunk into a trance, focusing his magic first onto the damaged veins and arteries, a third horse burst into the clearing.

This one was white and carried a humanoid figure, his clothing all in white offset by the green scales covering all of his skin (ruining the chance of him being human) and had a drawn bow. As soon as he cleared the trees, the figure rapidly drew arrows and fired them at Gilbert and the stag only for the Earth to rise once more as Ludwig came to his great-nephew's defence.

Word about water elementals. Don't get them mad. Just. Just don't. Especially when there is water nearby. Feliciano, having seen Gilbert grow up, lonely and shunned, was very protective of the human; even seeing him as family. And you do not threaten his family. In an instant, his human appearance had disappeared, leaving something vaguely humanoid in it's wake. Feliciano let out an unearthly roar reminiscent of rapids or a waterfall and a crashing wave before the nearby river responded to his call, the water overflowing it's banks and boosting his power.

The creature on the horse responded in the same vein, jumping off his horse and resuming his own monstrous form, his legs melding together to form a tail, claws growing and shooting up in height.

The naga and the elemental were soon locked in deadly combat while Ludwig watched, offering magical backup as he could and also keeping an eye on Gilbert, powerless in his trance state.

The deer was now out of the dangerous zone at least, as to any learned eye, the Aries Guardian had finished with the damaged veins, looked after damaged bone and ligaments and was now beginning to heal the torn muscles. Ludwig was proud, despite Gilbert finding healing magic more difficult (it was in the realm of water magic, the opposite of the fire he specialized in), he was repairing the damage at a very quick rate.

He turned just as a forth horse came running into the clearing, the bay horse being without a rider. Ludwig quickly caught the horse before it could run into any of the deadly fights and patted the side, it was terrified as it's ears were snapped forward, the white of its eyes showing, nostrils flared and flanks heaving.

Ludwig looked back to where the horse had come and saw Mathias (where had he come from anyway? The Draug had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with them) locked in combat with an enormous snake. Recognizing the dark colour of the scales and the hissing from some forgotten memory he looked away. Mathias as a Draug and one of the undead was the only one who could truly fight against a Basilisk.

Seeing as it appeared Gilbert was coming back to his senses, he darted over to where Feliciano was having trouble with Naga in order to help him tip the scales of battle in his partners favour. Nagas as creatures that live in the water made Feliciano's typically very effective relatively harmless as there was no longer the threat of drowning. Though while Feli was not in danger of being injured, his elemental form lacking substance as it was just water, the Naga was in danger of getting past him. Drawing up his power, he began pushing the creature back and attacking with solid rock and the threat of fire.

It was only when he heard a cry of pain that he realized something might be wrong. Looking back to where Antonio and Lovino were fighting, he was alarmed to see the Wolf Demon change his shape from the more humanoid into that of the full wolf, giving him a moment of surprise to scratch Antonio and to dart past the pair. Gilbert threw a fire spell at the approaching Ox Guardian but it was clear that he was at a slight disadvantage with a broken arm and momentarily tired because of the healing spell.

That was when the stag acted. Shooting to its feet, he knocked Gilbert onto his back and tore off to the side, into the trees and to where Ludwig couldn't follow.


Lars couldn't believe it.

While it wasn't the three days they had been given to muster forces, bringing in nearly every soldier from each corner of the Nichac Empire in five days was no easy feat either. In fact, he would have considered it impossible had he not been here to witness it.

It should have been impossible, all logic went against it. There was no physical way that you could get a messenger all the way to the boundaries, have each base quickly muster for their summoning and make it back to the capital.

There was no way.

There was something very odd going on here, unnatural even, and he didn't like it.


Wow, that's all of my mages (except the missing one who will not be showing up for a while yet) covered. Never thought I'd get this far already.

Compass roses are the star things in the corner of maps that say which way is up, as each caravan represented those from a certain area, it seemed appropriate.

Just to be clear – Nichacs, Saryens and the others are not modelled after any nation or figure in particular. So like Nichacs =/= Hitler and Nazi Germany or Stalin and the USSR. Just like any other militant country, there is a rigid hierarchy and distrust of anything different.

I make my nation names by closing my eyes and hitting random keys on the keyboard? Noooooo, what ever gave you that idea? Lies and slander, that's what that is.


Tino: Gemini Gemini are kind, persuasive, intellectual, lively adaptable, talkative, trendy, untamable spirits and charming. Need communication – uncomfortable in quiet and unsure how to react around someone who they haven't talked to first, need their freedom and space, hate staying still/not having anything useful to do, like helping others and are always full of ideas. As an air sign, Geminis also tend to be logical, flirty, impatient, spiteful, flighty, confronting, debating and romantic

Gupta: Capricorn – Capricorns are ambitious but practical, strong, precise, stern, stubborn, disciplined, productive, serious thinkers and are usually very good intentioned .Tend not to do or say anything without thinking it through, keep inner most thoughts/feelings inside and have good judgement, know their limits and operate within them and are very much of the "reap what have sown" attitude. As an earth sign Capricorns tend to be well-grounded, responsible, giving, conservative, organized, perfectionists and family-oriented.

Berwald: Ox – Oxes are dependable, trustworthy, strong, determined, quick-tempered,sincere, patient, quick-thinking, self confident, inspiring, conservative, steadfast, methodical, eccentric and posses a strong sense of morals. Change makes them uncomfortable, abhor small talk and wont waste their time flirting (prefer strong, life-long alliances to casual acquaintances), feel time is better spent with family or friends and love being at home where will allow themselves to relax. Also enjoy outdoors and spend the majority of free time working in the garden or caring for the yard while when working, enjoy methodical and routine work, believe should do best with no shortcuts - those who don't work hard are lazy individuals not worthy of respect. Are not likely to show emotion, have difficulty interpreting the feelings of others.


Wolf Demon (Berwald) – Based off of the Loup-Garou/Werewolf: one who can change from man to beast. Depending on which mythology looking at can be a willing change, others claim forceful, others still on needing full moon – though in Berwalds case, wolf form, not human is original form and can change at will. Perfect predator, a hybrid of human intelligence and instinct and is strong, capable of ripping anything apart. Strong, fast, agile, increased strength of senses and with lots of endurance combined with regenerative ability makes loup-garou's dangerous Reasons for becoming one include not going to church for months, eating human flesh, being bitten by another werewolf, being made to by a divinity to pay for transgressions, being cursed, wearing the skin, sleeping atop a wolf-skin while drinking a potion for a month...Can only be killed with a silver bullet.


Not sure if anyone noticed – but the magic that each mage has used so far has been with their sign. Gilbert as a fire sign (Aries) has an easier time with fire spells, just as Ludwig (Taurus) has an easier time with earth or Vash (Aquarius) with air. That isn't to say they can't use different spells, they just have an easier time with the one over the others.


In case anyone's having difficulty keeping track.

Gilbert (mage) / ? Aries/ ?

Francis (mage) / Arthur (Selkie) Libra/Snake

Antonio (mage) / Lovino (Nine-tail fox) Leo/Dragon

missing Guardian / missing Wild Prince ? Scorpio/?

Ludwig (mage) / Feliciano (water elemental) Taurus/Rabbit

Vash (mage) / Lily (Vila) Aquarius/Ram

Erik (mage) / Mathias (Draug) Virgo/Monkey

Tino (mage) / Berwald (Wolf demon) Gemini/Ox

Yao (mage) / ? (Basilisk) Sagittarius/Rat

Gupta (mage) / ? (Naga) Capricorn/Rooster

Heracles (mage) / Kiku (Griffin)Pisces/Boar

Roderich (mage) / Elizabeta (Fury) Cancer/Tiger


Sins: Roderich – Envy, Yao – Gluttony, Erik – Pride, Heracles -Sloth , Tino – Wrath, Gupta - Greed

Horsemen: Berwald -War, Kiku- Famine, ? - Pestilence, ? - Death


Please Review!