I'm gonna start putting these things in bold, might make it easier to read. Anyway, this chapter ended up being something I almost rewrote over my insecurity about introducing yet another character that is related to this story itself and not Hetalia. I didn't, though, so here it is.
Also, if you think about it… I made a small mistake regarding the ages of some of the characters… Like this. In this story, Alfred and Arthur are meant to be 18, which was the age I put at minimum for entering the Academy. But then I went and made Mattie 17, even though he's enrolled… So let's just say he faked his age.
Also, this is of little importance but I noticed… In Texas the legal age for sexual consent is 17. If Gil and Mattie have been doing it for a year, it would've been illegal in Texas (especially if Gil were older, which he is). That doesn't apply in Sorceryville or anything, but I just felt like sharing.
After Alfred had stopped freaking out about that (pushing Matthew out of the room as well for some reason), Arthur decided to continue, "However, since I've never attempted a normal sealing, let alone restoration, we should probably at least… ask my grandfather… I suppose."
"Arthur, I bet you could do it," Alfred commented enthusiastically.
Arthur sighed, pressing his palm to his face. There was a problem with that, wasn't there? Even if Alfred believed in him… "Alfred, do you have any idea what would happen if I tried and failed?" It would only make things twice as bad if he did attempt and was forced to deal with the consequences.
"I think we've established that I don't know crap about these things," replied Alfred.
"Alfred, we're going to have a talk about the numerous gaps in your education later," Arthur stated. "However, that aside… If I were to fail, numerous things could happen as a result. In the best situation, the seal would be completely removed and I would lose the majority of my magical power."
"I'd hate to hear what the worst situation is."
"The worst situation," Arthur added. "Is that we both die incredibly violent deaths as a result of magical rebound."
Alfred paused, biting his lip. "…Maybe we should ask your grandpa."
"I will make the arrangements, then," Arthur said as he stood up and walked towards the door. "Alfred, normally I wouldn't want to do this while you're still injured, but based off how much the seal has faded, we don't have much time."
"Mhm."
"Er, you stay here," said Arthur as he left the room to go get permission from the administrative offices to leave the campus. I can't believe this… How can he be so calm about this? The green-eyed teen thought as he walked down the stairs. He himself was terrified; it wasn't exactly because he knew what would happen if the seal broke, but because he didn't know what would happen. It could range from almost nothing to…
He shuddered, remembering the red eyes and the cold voice of Alfred's previous transformation. No matter how much he told himself that it was simply a change in appearance, that image still haunted him. That aside, I'm sure that wasn't a full transformation…
It was relatively simple to obtain permission to leave the campus and go into town; the staff in the offices didn't even question why. Arthur quickly sent a message to his grandfather via owl to notify him in advance of their arrival (although he doubted that Edward would actually read it, since he was the kind of person who'd take the note, abandon it on the floor somewhere, and send the owl back) and went back upstairs to fetch Alfred.
In another place altogether, a place separate from either the mortal world or the magical world, there was a meeting taking place. Of course, once Ivan had told Sophia about Alfred's true heritage, how could she go without investigating further? This place wasn't know to anyone other than those who needed to know; Sophia herself wasn't supposed to have found it either. Now that she was here, however, she knew where to go.
The world was one large building with walls that were lined with bars; its appearance was very similar to a dungeon and so was its purpose. Whoever had created it had also taken precautions to keep everything within the cells in, despite the lack of guards or precautions against people coming in from the outside. Sophia finally approached the section that she had been searching for in that seemingly endless hallway; she stopped in front of the bars and looked inside.
Its inhabitant was a heavily chained man covered in a black velvet cloak, which was wrapped tightly around his shoulders. His hair was black as well, and although it looked dull, it was completely straight and reached the floor. On the sides of his head were two long, curving horns. "What is a sorcerer doing here?" he growled in a raspy, dry voice as he looked up at Sophia, the hair in his face falling aside slightly to reveal one of his glistening red eyes.
"I have a proposition for you," Sophia replied as she brushed her fingertips against the bars, an action which caused them to melt away into the air. "I will free you, as long as you do as I say for the next seven days. I am well aware of the contracts your kind will form, and should you decide to cheat me I will ensure your death."
The man shifted slightly, causing the chains around him to rattle on the stone floor. "After that I will be free?" he asked warily.
"Yes."
"What is your request? I will decide on my own whether or not I feel like doing it," the man replied, although his voice was somewhat desperate, as though he would do almost anything to get out of that place.
"I request that you eliminate a certain 'knight'," Sophia smiled. "I have it from a reliable source that you can do it easily, and only you."
"A knight in this day and age?" the man chuckled, rattling the chains further. "Even in my day, those were certainly no great deal. What makes me the only one?"
Sophia paused; she had been using a nice metaphor, but the one kneeling before her seemed to have misunderstood. "He isn't a knight clad in armor as you know it, but moves irregularly like a chess piece instead," she explained. "You are the only one because of who he is, of what he is. He slayed a great silver dragon single handedly, I'll have you know." She then took a photograph out of a pocket on the inside of her jacket and tossed it down in front of the man.
"…That is… I see why you came here," the man said, glancing at the photo on the ground. "…I accept."
When Arthur had decided to go into town with Alfred, he hadn't exactly imagined that they'd be walking along the forest path instead of taking the scarecrow carriage. However, they were, because Alfred had gone off on some rant about how the scarecrow only moved because it was possessed by a ghost or something and it creeped him out or something along those lines. Arthur had protested about that ridiculous comment, although Alfred's next comment of, "I don't care if I have to carry you, we're not taking that thing!" made him decide to walk.
It took a bit longer than he would have liked, but they finally made it to Edward's mansion with some light left in the day, at least. "You nervous?" Alfred asked as they approached it, since the shorter teen next to him was visibly shaken simply at the sight of the metal gate in front of them.
Arthur shook his head and replied, "Just recalling a few things, is all."
"Even if he says no, I'll bug him until he says yes," Alfred commented, grinning.
"I have no doubt," Arthur sighed, smiling slightly as he walked through the open gate and up to the door. He rang the doorbell confidently, although his hands were twitching as the deep tone played out.
"Yes? Oh, Arthur, it's you," Edward observed as he opened the door. "I was under the impression I wouldn't be seeing you anymore once you entered that Academy of yours, since you decided to stay in the dorms and all. Still, come in."
Ignoring the cold tone and obvious lack of a greeting, Arthur replied calmly, "Hello, grandfather. I originally hadn't planned on this visit, but I did send an owl…"
"Downright annoying birds, owls," commented Edward. "I don't read those notes, since it's almost always advertisements for some shop in town that I've never gone to and would never have any need to go to. Just the other day I got one for some place that sells bat ears, and don't get me wrong, those are a wonderful potion ingredient, but a whole shop for them is just… Oh, right, what was the reason for your visit?"
"My friend Alfred has a rather large problem," Arthur started, gesturing to the area a few feet behind him where the blue-eyed teen was standing. Alfred waved, but didn't say anything. "It involves the restoration of a seal that cannot be performed by the one who originally cast it." It occurred to him that asking for Edward's help would also mean revealing Alfred's secret to another person, but he'd assumed that since Alfred hadn't objected to seeking help, it was all right… unless Alfred hadn't thought of that either.
"Arthur, I believe I educated you well enough for you to do that yourself," Edward responded. "If that is the only reason you came here, then it was a wasted trip…" At first, it looked as though he was finished speaking and was going to close the door, but then he paused. "…Scratch that, come to think of it, you didn't tell your parents that you were staying at that school instead of here. They sent something for you, so come inside and get it."
The part about whatever his parents had sent was somewhat interesting (Arthur had assumed that he'd brought everything he would need), but it wasn't about to distract him. "I'd prefer it if the matter I brought up were resolved," Arthur commented.
"It is resolved," Edward replied with an irritated tone. "I refused. You are capable of performing such a task yourself."
Arthur wasn't about to give up, and it looked like Alfred had finally decided to step in as well as the blue-eyed teen walked up to stand next to Arthur. "If Artie thought he could do it by himself, he wouldn't have-"
Slapping a hand over Alfred's mouth to keep him from saying something that would most likely destroy the chance of Edward helping them rather than increasing it, Arthur said calmly, "Please reconsider." Although once his grandfather shot him a look he recognized as 'this is the last time I'll refuse before I blast you off my bloody doorstep', he decided to step it up and pulled up Alfred's sleeve to show the mark to Edward.
Well, that certainly worked. After the old man jumped about a foot (not literally, but he did start in shock), he hissed, "Come inside, right now." There was an air of seriousness in his tone, so the two teenagers didn't question and stepped into the mansion rather quickly, allowing Edward to shut the door behind him. "Now, just because I've changed my mind doesn't mean… in any case, that is one large problem."
"Er, yes," Arthur said, although he hadn't expected such a sudden reaction.
"I won't ask why or how, but I will tell you something that you may not know," Edward continued, pulling several books off of nearby shelves. "That seal might be very faded, but the problem doesn't start there. By the looks of things, it was improperly cast in the first place. Which makes things much simpler; if a seal is incorrect from the start, then it is merely a matter of fixing it. That brings me to the matter of actually performing the spell to fix it… Come with me." Without giving either teenager a chance to think about what he had just said, he grabbed both of them by the wrists and began to drag them down a hallway.
They ended up in a large room lit only by a large chandelier that hung from the ceiling on a thick chain; the walls and floor were made of stone, although the floor was mostly covered by a large, dusty sheet that must have been white at some point but was now a dirty brown color, with tinges of red here and there. Along one wall were several shelves and wardrobes, which Edward strode up to first as he took several items off of the shelves and flung open one of the wardrobes. He yanked a couple of coat like things out and, tossing one to Arthur, he said, "Arthur, I do hope you came prepared because this is something we are going to do immediately."
The green-eyed teen nodded and unfolded the coat. "Is this really necessary?" he asked as he looked at it.
"We are going to do this in a traditional manner or not at all," the old man snapped as he put on the other coat, which was more like a hooded robe than anything. "I don't care whether or not it is necessary, but this is a part of your heritage so you will put that on and be bloody grateful for the chance."
"I was under the impression that you had agreed to perform the spell…" Arthur replied quietly, still eyeing the navy blue robe in his own hands.
"I agreed to help, not do everything for you," his grandfather corrected him. "You will be performing the spell, while I will set it up beforehand and step in if I see fit, which I won't have to."
"What do I do?" Alfred put in.
Edward pulled the sheet off the floor, revealing a complicated array in dark black, which was very noticeable against the light gray stone of the ground. "This is a multi-purpose array I invented myself in the old days, which was around the time I still hung around with that group of elves who always managed to set my sorcery robes on fire… I've used it many times. Oh, right, you." He'd remembered Alfred's question at that point, apparently. "Take off your shirt so we can access the original seal, and then stand there." Edward pointed to an area in the center of the array.
Alfred shrugged and did so, carelessly tossing his shirt in the corner of the room and then standing in the designated spot. "Hm… Next is…" Edward mumbled, trying to remember what exactly was supposed to be done. "Right. Arthur, I take it you know how to perform this? I taught you firsthand when you sealed that cursed necklace, although this is a bit more complicated."
"The incantation is specific, isn't it?" Arthur asked, finally putting his own robe on over his clothing. "I'm afraid I haven't memorized it."
"I will take care of that as well, in fact, I'm making this incredibly easy for you," replied Edward. "All you have to do is focus and provide the magical energy."
Arthur stepped to the border of the array and held his hands out, palms down, in front of himself. Although he was still nervous about that, he reassured himself that not only was Edward there to ensure nothing went wrong, he was most likely capable of it… So nothing bad could result. Right?
…Right. He reassured himself as the array began to glow in a mint green shade; this started the spell.
Why did I end here? Because.
PS. If you're the first one to guess who that guy with the horns was and why Sophia wants him to kill Alfred (well, we knew why she wants Alfred dead, but if you can guess why THAT GUY can do it) then... well, you just figured out another part of the plot that I'll reveal clearly later.