Chapter 12

Arthur woke to a hazy but comfortable feeling. He felt the arm wrapped over him and turned, finding Ivan there, his sandy hair brushing over the tops of his cheeks. He watched silently, seeing his eyes move beneath their lids and took a moment to really look him over. He was surprised to find that as much as he'd felt himself grow closer to 'Piotr', he really thought he looked best as Ivan. His hair shone brightly in the morning sun and Arthur smiled, running a strand through his fingers before he slipped from the bed. He shifted through Piotr's clothes, finding a clean uniform, preparing them as best he could before grabbing a few other things from around the room. It wasn't long til a soft knock sounded at the door and Arthur nearly danced over, opening it with a smile, seeing Sasha look down at him in confusion before smiling.

Arthur stepped back, allowing him in and glanced over, seeing Ivan still asleep. "He's still asleep if you're here for him."

"He never sleeps this late. What wore him out so much, I wonder?" Sasha's never ending smile grew terribly over happy and Arthur stared in shock. He turned and danced over, rolling Ivan onto his back before turning to Arthur with a frown.

"I'm going to change his look again. Don't freak out."

"I had a feeling." Arthur stepped forward, watching as he held open his left eye and dropped a single drop in before turning and patting Arthur's head.

"He'll be ready in about fifteen minutes. About five til the darkening starts. Say your goodbyes to your pale prince before then." Sasha smiled before patting him on the head and making his way from the room.

It had never even dawned on him before. He always woke to a bugle outside the window, but he never realized that not everyone would hear it. He glanced over, wondering if Sasha woke him for this every morning. He made sure he had things ready and walked over, sitting softly at the side of the bed. "Master, it's time to wake up."

"Not yet. Not til Sasha comes."

"He already left." Arthur watched as Ivan turned to him, violet eyes shining in the morning light. "Good morning, Master."

Ivan realized what was happening and sat up, seeing Arthur smiling softly at him. "Dobroye utro. I hope you slept well?"

"Very, thank you. And you?" Arthur asked as Ivan slid himself from the bed.

"Wonderfully." He smiled as he stood and stretched, releasing the muscle stiffness from a good night's sleep.

"I chose your clothes for you for the day. Come here." He smiled and stood up on the bed, sliding off Ivan's shirt and fell to his knees to drop the pajama pants, deciding he'd get them afterwards. He jumped off of the bed to slide his new clothes on and sighed as he jumped back on the bed to slide on his shirt and jacket. He turned him carefully, affixing the straps as well as the tie before looking him over. "There. Please, sit down." He spoke as he jumped over, grabbing the hair brush and started working, softly running the brush through his hair, seeing the strands darken as the brush ran through. A soft hum left the man before him and Arthur let out a chuckle as he did what he could think of to lift some of the work from the man before him.

"What has my little kitten in such a mood today?" Piotr asked, closing his eyes and enjoying the pampering he honestly wasn't used to.

"I thought I'd return the favor. You've been working so hard, waking up early to get ready and dealing with eye drops, the least I could do is this, especially after last night." He looked over his work, making sure his hair was alright before nodding.

"You don't owe me for that." Piotr turned, the violet of his eyes slowly being overtaken by the dark brown.

"I know." Arthur smiled, running a hand over the other's shoulder. "So, breakfast?"

"Da, that sounds good." Piotr stood, looking himself over in the mirror before they went down.

Shortly after they got there, they were surprised when the group they had chatted with the night before dragged their table over, sitting with them. Piotr looked over, his eyes alight with amusement as Arthur looked at them, pressing himself a little closer to his master's side. "Looks like you two had a good night." Francis watched from the corner of his eye, the corner of his lip twitching up in amusement as he watched their interactions.

"We're not to that point yet." Piotr smiled, red tinting his cheeks.

"Eh, you're no fun." Gilbert sighed. "You're still young. You should be as awesome as you can be, Ja? Burn bright, and fast." He spoke as he watched the bar start to fill with trays, the cooks being happy a third of their work for the day was already nearly done.

"Sometimes feelings are more like flowers, Gil. You sit back and watch them open on their own, finding beauty not only in the eventual blossom, but the days of sunlight and care and watering that lead up to that point." Francis smiled, a sigh of reminisce making the rest at the table watch with intrigue.

"That's a very good way of putting it. Terribly accurate." Piotr chuckled as Arthur watched the group.

"It's too early for your romance bullshit, bastard." Lovino spoke nearly into the table, his head laid on his crossed arms.

"But l'amour is such a wonderous and beautiful thing, non? We should foster it! Raise it softly and let everyone around us know without more than a smile and a touch that we're completely head over heels for the one who's captured our innocent hearts." Francis spoke, a tender look on his face as his eyes shifted over, capturing Gilbert's, who looked away with a blush.

"As if anyone would mistake your perverted ass for innocent." Lovino mumbled and Gilbert covered his mouth, letting a hissed laugh escape his lips.

"Breakfast is ready!" Nikolai blared across the room, letting the table, as well as a few others that had arrived early that their wait had paid off. They retrieved their trays and sat, Arthur frowning as he turned to head back.

"You must have worked up his appetite." Antonio joked, waving it away when he saw the surprised look on Piotr's face. "I know, I know, you're not that far yet." He smiled before seeing Arthur come back with a confused face.

"Sasha's not here yet." Arthur sat with a frown and Piotr looked over, confused.

"He doesn't have to be here for you to eat. It's fine."

"He has my tea." Arthur mumbled, frowning. His shoulder still ached from the day before and now he worried.

"He shouldn't be too long. Probably still dressing those four." Piotr smiled, a chill being sent through the four from the other group as Arthur let out a rather undignified snort.

"Oh, mio dio..." Antonio spoke, sitting up with wide eyes at the doorway behind them. Arthur and Piotr turned, the other three looking now as well as the four came in, Sasha grinning as he patted them on the shoulders.

Pink shorts that were practically only tight underwear were all that adorned them from their hips to their boots, which were now pink and only ankle high. The shirts were red, the same short, silk tank tops Arthur had endured. They had red cat ears pinned in their hair, and were covered in silver jewelry.

"Oh, remind me never to get on his bad side." Arthur mumbled and Piotr laughed, setting off the laughter in the rest of the room. Sasha walked up with a grin and patted Arthur on the head with a smile.

"So, I'll bring you your tea in a moment. Sorry I'm late, but they were a little... resistant." Sasha's smile went from pleasant to nightmare inducing, causing Piotr to laugh louder.

"You sound like you're having fun, torturing teenage boys." Sasha turned, seeing Nikolai walk up with a frown.

"You make a bet in my school, you better plan to follow through if you lose!" Sasha grinned, high fiving Arthur before heading back to the kitchen.

"Piotr, I need to speak to you for a moment." Nikolai rolled his eyes as Arthur turned, curious.

"It's alright, Kitten. I need to give my report about Dmitri and Alexi. After you, when they'd been released, they decided it would be alright to attack someone else, and seeing as their court hearing has found them guilty..." He stood and Arthur realized he had to choose their punishment.

"Just... tell me when it's over, alright?" He asked softly and Piotr bent down, kissing the top of his head. Arthur felt his embarrassment burn at being kissed so publicly, while Nikolai nearly gagged. As he walked off, Antonio laughed.

"That was cute! You two may not be tearing clothes off, but you definitely have good chemistry!" He smiled brightly and Arthur nodded, hoping it wasn't too presumptuous to hope he was right. "So, is he really your master, then? Or is it some kind of kink play?"

"He's my master. I am his slave." Arthur smiled, feeling oddly proud of those words. "I never would have imagined I'd be so happy to say those words." He smiled softly as Sasha walked up, sliding his tea before him.

"I just talked to Piotr. Your out of exercises today." He spoke and Arthur stood up, shocked.

"What?! Why?! We can't lose the points from that!" He yelped out and Sasha slid a hand on his shoulder, easing him back into his seat.

"Because your shoulder has been bothering you since yesterday evening. You're showing horrible inflammation in your shoulder again today, so you're out of it. It's just for a day, and you're not losing points, just missing five. Considering you're still in the lead by seventy three points, I think you'll be alright. You will still have your spells classes tonight, so don't worry, alright?" His voice rang with sympathy and Arthur could only sigh and nod.

"Classes?! Is there more than one?" Gilbert shot up, panic setting in as he wondered if he hadn't looked the day's schedule over enough.

"Not for anyone else. Arthur is the doctor and the magician for his team, since there's only two. Piotr has gotten the strategist as well as the soldier, which says something as Arthur also ranked top three for strategy."

"After Master's show yesterday, I think he did a better job at it than I would have." Arthur sighed.

"Nyet, you just have a mind for different types of strategy. It's fine. You know you'll still be fine anyway, right?" He smiled and turned, looking around. Arthur watched as he headed back up to the front table.

Somehow Sasha was good at calming him when he was worried. He turned back to the table and lifted his tea, letting the smell calm his worried nerves.

"What is that tea?" Antonio asked, staring.

"I'm actually not sure. It's something Lukas has given me for the problems I'm having with my muscles."

"Muscular problems? Can you describe them to me?" He asked and Arthur stared.

"Why would you be interested in something so... dull?" He asked, honestly confused when Gilbert joined in.

"I'm interested as well. Me and Toni here are both the doctors in our groups." He watched as Arthur frowned.

"Wait, you're not one group?"

"Two doctors, two magicians." Francis smiled. "We stayed with the ones we felt we could live with the best, and seeing as we're kind of two groups of boys, we felt it would be a good idea to have our other team mates in a different room, as two of us have brothers in that group." Francis watched as Arthur frowned.

"That's some luck, getting into the same groups like that." Arthur mumbled, actually surprised when Francis shook his head.

"We're here for reasons other than general military, so it's not really so surprising."

"Really? What are you going for?" Arthur asked and Antonio looked over, trying to shush the other.

"Assassin squad." He smiled brightly and Arthur stared.

"Assassin... squad?" He looked between the four, surprised to find them all staring at him in wonder. "What is it?"

"You don't know what the Assassin Squad is?" Gilbert leaned over with wide eyes. "They're the personal guard for the king! I've only seen King Ivan about a little, but I wouldn't mind being beside him for a while!" Gilbert sat back with a grin and Arthur's eyebrow quirked up, staring.

"You wound me to the quick, Gil! I thought you were forever with me!" Francis mocked sadness and Gilbert let out his odd sounding laugh again.

"Have you seen that man? He's as big as a house! He could probably wear out all five of us!" He laughed again and Lovino cringed.

"No way in hella I'mma let anyone touch me after they touched you. I donna wanna contract stupid." Lovino half yelled and Arthur laughed out loud at the comment.

He hadn't had many friends in the past, but somehow, this was a warm feeling for him. "So, is the guard eight members?" Arthur asked, curious, but unable to break the smile from his face.

"Si!" Antonio answered, holding up his stein of water. "Wanna meet the rest of the group?"

"Yes, actually I think Master and myself would have a fun time with you lot." Arthur sipped his tea and sighed, looking down into the glass.

With him being half useless when it came to anything involving strength, it seemed a really good idea to have a guard like this.

"Can I steal a few drops of that?" Antonio looked at the mostly empty glass and Arthur nodded, sliding it over.

"I'm actually done with it, but if there's enough..."

"Si, this is plenty." Both him and Gilbert slid their finger into the cup and wiped it on the edges. They smelled it and frowned.

"That's not just an anti-inflammatory. There's cannabis in here." Gilbert frowned.

"Chamomile, cannabis, green tea, opium and... morphia? What on earth?" Antonio frowned, thinking. He looked up, seeing Arthur's eyes wide on them and stilled, staring.

"Belladonna." He stood and rushed over, grasping Arthur's head and held it to the sunlight in the windows. "Your pupils are dilated! Are you feeling nauseous?! Are you hallucinating at all?!" Antonio panicked as Gilbert frowned, grasping a needle and a filter, about to attempt the same process he'd done the day before on the rabbit.

"No!" Arthur jumped back, pushing himself out from under the brunet. "You can't... pull it out! I need it!" Arthur whimpered, falling to his knees, missing Sasha jump from the dais, heading over quickly. "If you pull it out now, I could die!"

"Arthur, are you alright?" Sasha asked, sliding in beside him.

"There was a... misunderstanding. I didn't know Lukas was giving me an antitoxin. I need it to stop." Arthur whispered. "This explains why I haven't seen my fairies in a few weeks."

"Fairies?! You've been hallucinating in these classes?! That can be fatal!" Gilbert gasped. "If they distract you at the wrong time-"

"Those fairies were my only friends before I was brought here. They may only be hallucinations for the rest of you, but to me it's the only part of my old life I enjoyed, as well as the only part I have left. If you pull the poisons from me, there's a chance it could make me completely useless again and I..." Arthur grasped his knees, bowing. "I couldn't survive it if I couldn't be useful to my master anymore. Please, forget what you noticed!" He gasped out, surprised when seconds later he was pulled into a hug. He turned, ready to smack Sasha when he realized it was Piotr behind him.

"Such sweet words you have for me." He smiled, resting his head on Arthur's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, Master." Arthur sighed. "I acknowledged what you told me not to."

"This is a special situation. If you're in danger like this, go ahead and say, but the rest of the time, it didn't happen, Da?"

"Da." Arthur reached up, grasping to Piotr's arm over his chest and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself and relax.

"I thought, since he was the doctor for you, maybe he'd gotten poisoned yesterday. I'm sorry I overreacted." Antonio spoke, watching as Arthur nodded.

"Can I explain, Master?" Arthur asked, turning and Piotr nodded.

"Sasha, thank you for running in while I was gone." Dark eyes shifted over to blue ones, oddly devoid of their smile.

The two moved to the table and Arthur sighed.

"I was born blind." He started, seeing Gilbert and Antonio staring with such intensity he wondered if they would even blink. "When I was five, I was hit in the back of the head and I thought I was going to die. My eyes, which had never done me any service, suddenly started hurting horribly. The doctors gave me something, they said it would make the pain stop. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was in the mortuary, being prepped for burial. They told me the pills fixed my eyes and made it so I could see because I was possessed by the devil. I started seeing things no one else could. Unicorns and fairies would come and talk to me. They were the only friends I had, as everyone else had deemed me an outcast from birth. I never knew what the pills were until yesterday. I think my Master knew, but he told me it never happened. I didn't understand til after that, that they had tried to kill me and failed. As small as I am now, can you even imagine how small I was at five? Six or seven berries is enough to kill most adults." He looked up, seeing the four stare at him in horror. "Anyway, now I still see the faeries and the unicorn. I'm smaller than I should be. My eyes hurt if the light is too strong, but I can see easily in the dark."

"You're also having muscular problems, and could possibly be suffering from heart conditions." Gilbert spoke carefully. "We really should get the poison out of you. There's a chance you could just drop dead. You may lose your fairies, but isn't your life more important?" He asked, seeing Arthur terrified before him.

"But I'll be blind again." He whimpered.

"No, not if it's just that your eyes don't dilate properly. I can fix that easily." Antonio smiled.

"Let me speak to Lukas and Master about it. I'll talk to you about it later, alright?" Arthur spoke softly and the two nodded.