Magitalia
Chapter Thirteen- Scarlet Slice
In Feliciano's honest opinion, it was too early in the morning for battle strategies. Like, way too early. In fact, it was so early that he was attempting to go back to sleep, using Ludwig's arm as a pillow as he and the others discussed what they would do when Belarus and the others showed up.
"Now, given what we've seen of their movesets, my Wire attack should be useful for combating the lady with the scarf- er, did we ever get a name for her?", Ludwig questioned, and Feliciano wished he'd stop moving around so much; he had just started to get comfortable.
After a moment, Arthur offered "Well, she sounds like Ukraine. I've fought her before, really nasty fight. Took a while to get in close enough to cast anything with her scarves blocking me."
"That sounds like her!", Feliciano said, yawning. "And she had a scary pitchfork, too!"
It took Arthur a second to say anything again. "He's still awake?"
"Yes," Ludwig stated. "If people are talking, it can take him a while to get to sleep."
"Should we be quieter then?", Arthur questioned.
Feliciano was about to say that would be great… until Kiku spoke up before he could. "He will be fine," he assured them. We should focus on making certain we know how to take on this foe. Ukraine's scarves, I believe we should be able to counteract her attacks with Germany's Razor Wire-"
"It's quite fine to just keep calling me Ludwig, you know. It's worked just fine up until now."
"In this context, it sounds more appropriate to use your Nation Scout name," Kiku countered calmly. "It's a strategic calling code to indicate I am talking about you as a fighter."
Ludwig sighed, shifting his weight a bit, maybe to grab that notepad he'd been using earlier. "I think we could gather that from the fact I'm using a 'Razor Wire Attack' or whatever you called it."
"I am only trying to make things clear."
"Ah, well, regardless, we really should prioritize taking Ukraine out," Arthur butted in with a laugh. "Belarus's paralysis is more short-range, so if take Ukraine's scarves out of the picture, it should be easier to keep her at bay. But the third one- and I'm going to guess it's Russia from Italy's description- he'll be more dangerous."
Dangerous? In that dream, Belarus's brother had seemed pretty nice. Scary, sure, but not particularly dangerous. He said something to this effect, and was met with a sigh from Arthur.
"You realize he's a G8 country, right?"
G8? Oh right, Flying Mint Bunny had said those were the strongest. Well, he's said that, but he'd also said he was one, and Feliciano never felt all that strong compared to what he was up against. "But we are also G8 countries," Kiku countered. "Shouldn't that not matter as much?"
"You three are G8, sure, but you've only been at this for a few days, tops," said Arthur. "And Russia's been at it for years." He gave a loud laugh. "Still, you have a point. We're all four G8 countries! There hasn't been a team-up like this in decades! We'll do just fine- I'm absolutely-"
A loud clatter suddenly pierced the air, and Feliciano opened his eyes to see his big brother holding a pistol in one hand and a pillow in the other. "Look, I don't care what you idiots are talking about, but whatever it is, would you shut up! This is my house and I am trying to sleep!", Lovino yelled. Okay, that wasn't quite what he said, 'cause he'd been a bit more rude about it, but it was close enough.
"My apologies," Arthur quickly assured him with a strained gulp. "We- we'll try to discuss things a bit quieter."
Lovino looked around the room for a minute before sitting down on the opposite end of one of the couches from Kiku. "Well, I'm already awake, so I think I'll just listen in. See what weird crap you're up to."
"We're just discussing how to take on an enemy that's coming after us," Ludwig explained. "Nothing too interesting, but-"
"No one asked you, Beilschmidt," Lovino interrupted.
"Truthfully, we are doing little more than waiting," Kiku explained. "You are welcome to wait with us, but-"
"Really, this isn't your place to be concerned!", Arthur assured him.
Lovino gave a fairly common response: pointed the pistol he was carrying at him, making England give a nervous gulp. "My house, my brother, my problem."
"Is it really alright to be swinging that thing all over the place?", Arthur questioned, giving Feliciano a sideways glance.
He nodded. "It's okay! It's just filled with blanks!", he explained. "He just thinks it makes him look cool or something, right fratello?"
This earned him an annoyed glare. "No, it's to get your weird friends to shut up," he countered.
"We're very sorry, but I truly think-"
Whatever Arthur was saying was cut off by an odd noise from outside. As Feliciano got up to look, he quickly noticed three familiar figures standing in the street. "They're here!", he quickly alerted the others.
Everyone seemed to get up at once, including Lovino, and basically just went out the front door. Not the best battle entrance ever, but it was fine.
Belarus turned as they approached her, eyes widening as they scanned over everyone present. "There's… why are you all here?"
"Happened to be in the neighborhood," England teased, transforming in a burst of white as he said it. "Now, the brilliant warrior of magic, England shall punish you!"
Kiku seemed to almost smile as he said this. He'd written the line earlier, saying it'd be a cool thing to say. Their enemies just looked at them funny, and Lovino snickered.
Still, Feliciano tried to remember the one that had been written for him. "A-and the shining warrior of, er, light, Italy will punish you!", he affirmed, the light of his own magic enveloping him.
"The bright guardian of the sea, Japan, will bring about your end!", Kiku declared, transforming in the same burst of light. After a silent moment, he looked over at Ludwig, who had started blushing violently. "Ah, that's your cue," he stage-whispered.
Ludwig transformed in a burst of light without any fanfares. "No. I- I really don't see the point of-"
"But it'd be cool!", Feliciano implored him.
Still blushing, Ludwig very quickly recited "Fine. Er, the warrior of precision, etcetera, Germany will defeat you."
Lovino seemingly just about lost it, and dissolved into laughter. "Ahaha, yes! Please, say that like, a thousand more times. That might just be the best thing you've ever done, potato-"
"Excuse me, but I believe we have some business to attend to," Ukraine interrupted.
Yes, please," Belarus huffed. "Just hand over Italy, and no one has to get hurt."
Lovino, having quickly recovered from Ludwig's introduction, fired a shot back at her. She jumped, like she couldn't tell it was fake. "Leave my brother alone or you'll learn what 'hurt' is!"
"Ah, and I was hoping we'd be able to save my dear sister without any fighting," Russia mused. Without him even moving, cold gusts of wind filled the air, biting at Feliciano's cheeks.
Familiar scarves began to fill the icy air as well, but England nodded at Ludwig and he used another one of those Razor Wire attacks. Silvery strands shot out, cutting the scarves to shreds.
Ukraine seemed to gasp as fabric shreds dissolved in air. "Finishing attack: Raindrop Halation!", Kiku called out, and droplets of water formed in the air, quickly freezing with Russia's cold. Still, they rushed into Ukraine, making her let out another cry as she fell to the ground.
"I'll help too!", Feliciano cried out. "Ah, Light Bullet!" A few shots came from the end of his flag and rammed into her.
"I'll finish this: Arcane Strike!", England cried out, and several magic charges formed at the tip of his wand and shot into Ukraine.
A small cough came from the woman, and Feliciano felt a bit guilty about attacking her. "Please forgive me," she muttered. "I don't think… well, I don't think I can fight any more."
"It's fine," Belarus huffed. "Retreat; we can handle this on our own."
Ukraine vanished in a flash of light, and Russia stepped forward. He was still smiling. "Very sorry, but I can't let my little sister get hurt," he affirmed.
It was like winter itself was attacking. Cold and ice seemed to rush straight towards Feliciano. He squinted to see through the cold, but only saw the snow. It surrounded him in every direction. He thought he heard someone calling out to him, but didn't feel much but the biting on his flesh.
And then, a sharp pain came. A knife had been thrown towards him, hitting his arm. Another came, and a cry of pain from his stomach announced its hitting. Blood came from the cut, and another came and hit his chest. He started to feel faint, but the wind started to subside.
"You think that should do it?", someone questioned, and they were answered "Just let me finish the job."
He could see Belarus coming towards him, smiling, but giving an odd laughing sob like she had the very first time they had fought. She never reached him, though.
"Get away from him!", Lovino yelled, and it felt like all the power was rushing away from Feliciano. White glowed instead around his brother, whose empty gun seemed to be covered with the same light and transform as he did. His brother stood in front of him in a tan uniform, holding a rather dangerous looking gun.
Feliciano knew they kept fighting. Yeah, he definitely knew that, because he could see the cyan circles and silver threads crossing around. But whatever Lovino had done, absorbing his power or whatever, it made those cuts Belarus had given him hurt a lot more than any other injuries he'd gotten fighting before. Red blossomed onto the pavement, and he tried very hard not to think about where it was coming from, or about the pounding in his head. He just tried to follow the brilliant colors filling the air.
Distantly, he heard a cry of "Finishing move: Hex Storm!", and the same comet streaks that had taken Norway out filled the air. Someone let out a cry of pain, and another flash of light signaled that someone had warped away.
A second later, he found a hand taking his own and pulling him to his feet. "Lovino, whatever you did, please undo it," Ludwig ordered. "Your brother needs to heal."
Lovino glanced at him, and he let out an odd noise. "Ah, right," he muttered. "Um, how do I-"
He made a sort of pushing motion with his hands, and magic seemed to shoot back into Feliciano's veins. The cuts stopped feeling like they were killing him and more like they needed bandaids. Stumbling a bit, he ran over to his brother and hugged him. "I didn't know you could use my magic!", he exclaimed. "That was super cool! I mean, it hurt a lot, but it was cool!"
An odd little chuckle came from his brother. "Well, I'm Lovino Freaking Vargas. Shouldn't be surprising that I saved your sorry-"
His boasting was cut off by a small cry. Feliciano turned to see a fairly battered Belarus making her way towards them, tears streaming down her face. "Please," she almost whispered. "Can- can you just let me win? I don't know what they'll do to me, but I'm scared. Come on, please just let me win!"
Stumbling, she kept walking towards him, but Feliciano didn't feel scared. No, he was just sorry for the girl. She seemed pretty nice, despite everything, and he didn't want her to suffer. Yeah, he didn't want to suffer either, but surely there was a way they could both "win".
"Can't you just not go back?", he suggested. She looked at him oddly, like he was being stupid. He probably was, but it was worth a shot. "I mean, you could always just not work with them."
She shook her head. "If I quit, they'll kill Ivan and Katyusha," she muttered. "I can't- I have to-"
A cyan circle blossomed under her. "Very sorry about this," Arthur apologized as a violet flame sprung up around her. Fading into white light, Belarus's scream lingered in the air far longer than it should have.
The magic around Feliciano fell away again. Red was still coming from his cuts, and his eyelids felt heavy. Was it his injuries or Lovino's magic that made him want to sleep so badly?
Either way, he saw the shadowy figure of Belarus continue to cry out in pain and beg to be spared in his dreams, but he also felt someone holding his hand as he watched it. Someone told him that everything would be fine, and in his haze, he managed to believe them.
AN- And Romano did a thing! I know I didn't get his character quite right, but I really hate using profanity myself and it's a bit tricky to write him without it. Plus, it's how Italy perceives his brother, so it's hard to gather things like how he went out there because he was feeling left out of all the cool magic stuff. And for the many people who have been asking for China to be in this, I have good news for you: I believe you are going to like the next chapter very much. So, thanks for reading! -Twilight Joltik