Chapter 8, finally… I really took some time into planning everything… Ug… This chapter was hard to write! Well, I still love to write this…


Stockholm, The Motherland

Arthur felt his hands being bound by twines of rope. He was blindfolded, and he knew he wasn't in the original Russia anymore. The guards spoke in a different language, Swedish, Arthur decided. The smell of gasoline and smoke hung thick around him. He could feel the van (Arthur assumed) driving along roughly.

Arthur felt tight and uncomfortable. He'd most likely been drugged and transferred to a different holding cell. He suddenly wondered if anyone else from the Newborn Rebellion was with him.

"H-hello?" Arthur croaked, his throat dry.

"Quiet," the driver commanded. Arthur suddenly felt something rustling beside him.

"Arthur? That you?"

"Yong Soo?"

"Y-yeah," he muttered, keeping his voice low. "I was drugged."

"Me, too," Arthur said. "I think they're relocating us. I'm fairly sure we're in Sweden. The guards have an accent and… They're speaking the language, too."

"What you we do, then?" Yong Soo asked. The van stopped, and the two heard the backdoor of the vehicle unlock.

"Stay silent," Arthur whispered. Arthur's blindfold was roughly ripped away. He squeezed his eyes from the sunlight. He and Yong Soo were pushed outside and were relieved of their binds. The guards continued their forceful shoving, shepherding the captives into a nearby building. The residents of Stockholm looked at them pitifully. A couple dressed in filthy rags stared at Arthur. He realized Berwald cared about his people as much as Ivan did.

The building the two entered was dimly lit but lavishly furnished, gold linings on the walls and expensive furniture. And in the very end of the room was Berwald.

He sat impassively. Arthur couldn't tell whether the superpower was content to see him captured, or just plain irritated. Berwald adjusted his glasses and stood from his seat.

"They're finally here," he said. The glint in his eye was cold; he looked at Arthur almost sadistically. "Lock them up. I have some business to attend to."

That was it? Arthur thought, that was all he wanted? Frustrated, Arthur and Yong Soo were lead away. Yong Soo looked hopeless. His head drooped, his walking slowed. Arthur said the only thing he could say.

"It's going to be alright. You'll see."

Katyusha, Francis, and Vash were not far away. To be accurate, they were next to the holding cell Arthur and Yong Soo would stay in. Katyusha shivered, clutching her arms.

"Wh-why are we here? Where are we?" She stuttered.

"Berwald's orders, most likely," Vash said gruffly. "He'll keep us here until we die and our bodies rot away-"

"Eek! Stop that!" Katyusha screamed. At that moment, the guards busted through the doors, holding Arthur. He was beaten and bruised, his shirt half unbuttoned. His lip bled on the floor. He was thrown into the next holding cell. Arthur crumpled from the thrashing, barely having enough energy to look back at the guards. Katyusha stared in disbelief.

"O-oh my God…" She whimpered, holding her hand to her mouth. Arthur looked at Katyusha through the bars, and smiled slightly.

"Guys," he whispered.

"Don't talk!" Katyusha ordered, finally regaining herself. "You're too badly hurt. Go lie down." Tears left her eyes. "I'm so sorry I can't help."

Arthur limped to the only bed in the cell. He lay still, his breathing returning to normal. The room was silent. Francis had only been observing scene, and still couldn't believe what he'd witnessed. Vash's eyebrows knitted together in bitterness. He turned his head away, cursing silently. Several minutes passed. Moaning and wailing could be heard from the other room. Arthur smiled.

"I lied."

Katyusha stared at Arthur, unsure of what he was saying. Arthur sat upright.

"I told Yong Soo it was going to be alright."

A crack of a whip.

"I was wrong."

Screaming.

"So… So…"

"Please! Oh God, stop!"

A gunshot.

"Wrong."

Moscow, The Motherland

Gilbert finally came to his senses. He knew he was in a room, and there was no light. It was fairly small, because he kicked his legs around (he was tied to a chair) and hit against the walls of the room. His head was swimming, he'd been hit on the head and send to another part of the city. His hands were tied behind his back.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked himself.

"Gilbert?" A familiar voice asked. It was Matthew! He'd been tied behind Gilbert, sitting in another chair. Gilbert breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God…" He muttered. "We can get out of this, OK?"

"OK…" Matthew replied.

"There's a door in front of me," Gilbert said. "I'm sure we can break through it once we're untied. They turned off the lights so we can't see our surroundings. Luckily, they didn't think about our eyes adjusting!"

Matthew smiled, although Gilbert couldn't see. "I get it! We can wait a few minutes, and look around if we can find anything sharp!"

And so they waited. Five minutes. 10 minutes. Gilbert turned his head, and could easily identify Matthew's blond head in the semidarkness.

"OK, we're ready," he said confidently. "See anything we can use?"

The duo's eyes scanned the room. Matthew gasped.

"A knife! It looks sort of dull, but I think it'll work."

"We can use that!" Gilbert agreed. "Try to see if you can reach it."

"Already got it," Matthew answered. He began sawing away at his bounds in the dimness. After several agonizing minutes, Matthew successfully freed himself. He started cutting Gilbert's rope apart.

It worked, and the two were standing up, stretching silently.

"Alright, now we can bust out of here," Gilbert said. He faced the door. He could make out the handle. He tried to open it, but it was no use.

"Of course it's locked, Gilbert," Matthew stated. "We'll just have to find a key, or knock it down. Wait… Forget that last idea. The guards might hear the noise."

"Right," Gilbert replied. "Oh, there's a flashlight. Let's try it out."

The flashlight was dim, but it helped enough to illuminate some of the room. Gilbert was right; it was very small. Maybe only a few meters by a meter or so. There were dusty shelves and the ground was littered with Russian newspapers.

But on the other side of the room was another door.

Cautiously, Gilbert and Matthew moved towards it.

Gilbert's hand clasped around the doorknob.

It was unlocked.

Throwing the door open, Gilbert was smiling broadly.

So was Sadiq.

Minsk, The Motherland

"Oh…" Ludwig groaned. He regained consciousness. He stood up, rubbing his aching back. Where am I? He wondered. I'd better keep my guard up. He reached for his gun. It wasn't there. Neither was any of his other equipment.

"What the hell…?" He said angrily. He was trapped in a corridor. There were several rooms, all the doors on the right side of him. The corridor was dimly lit; Ludwig could only make out the first few doors, although the hallway seemed to stretch on for a while in both directions. Next to him, he felt movement.

Antonio had been sent with him.

"L-Ludwig?" He grunted.

"Yeah," Ludwig answered, becoming uneasy, "yeah, it's me. Get up. I don't like this."

Antonio stood warily. He looked like he was weighed down by something. Ludwig was sure it was a sedative Antonio was given. Ludwig's head spun. He assumed he was put under the same thing.

"Let's keep moving," Ludwig commanded, trying to keep a level tone.

"This could be a trap," Antonio muttered as he walked with Ludwig. Ludwig's pace rose to a jog; Antonio followed.

"I mean," he continued, "we could be running straight into an ambush-"

"Quick," was all Ludwig said. In no time, Ludwig and Antonio were sprinting through the corridors. After 10 minutes, Ludwig stopped, Antonio clumsily running into him. They two men were breathing hard.

"This doesn't make sense," Ludwig heaved. "The corridor should have ended by now." He walked up to a door.

"W-wait!" Antonio shouted. "You don't know what's behind there!"

"That's not what I'm checking." Ludwig ran his hand along the width of the door.

"Interesting," was all he said.

"What?" Antonio questioned. He stood closer to the door.

"This door," Ludwig started, "this entire corridor. It's bent slightly, We've been running in circles."

Antonio's expression was remarkable. He felt the door, not believing a word that came from Ludwig's mouth.

"Why…?"

"Because they assumed we wouldn't want to open the doors. Any normal person would keep running, and stay away from anything they weren't entirely sure about. They wouldn't notice this small, insignificant curve in the walls."

"What do we do, then?"

"Simple. Let's open up a door."

Antonio gulped. He stepped away, watching Ludwig clutch the door handle. It creaked as the door opened. Ludwig almost immediately shut it as a blast of hot air hit them.

"Damn," he muttered, "they've set the room on fire."

Ludwig tried the next door, but it was all the same. Every room was alight. Only by the fourth room did Ludwig realize they weren't separate rooms.

They were all one large room. And the fire inside was growing.

It wouldn't be long until the fire reached the doors and melted away the hinges, and it would take Ludwig and Antonio with it.

"Then they're just messing with us?" Antonio asked drearily. Ludwig was silent, staring at the doors.

"It's a test." He explained. "They wouldn't make such an interesting room for no reason…"

"Well, I have no idea what you're talking about…" Antonio sighed. He sat against a wall opposite the doors. "You should have been a Brain. You're figuring this all out fairly well…"

Ludwig's hands continued trailing along the walls.

After minutes of observing, Ludwig turned to Antonio.

"I've got an idea. There's a way out of here."


This chapter was slightly shorter, but I really just wanted to explain where the other characters were. Thanks for reading, and read on! J My grandma is doing better, if you were wondering!