Chapter 37

In Your Dreams

"So you remember me now?"

"Yes, some other things too…"

"That's great! I still don't understand what happened though" Tino reached out a hand and, together with Mathias, helped Lukas stand up again.

"I saw… No, I relived some memories. It's coming back to me now, a lot of it" Lukas held a hand to his head. Images were still flashing in the back of his mind but at least, he was back to reality again. "Why now though?"

"It seems like Vladimir broke another circle" They all turned towards Arthur that seemed surprisingly calm. He had disappeared when Lukas suddenly started glowing and collapsed and came back as he woke up. Arthur put the phone back in his pocket and smirked knowingly. "This has happened before right?"

"Yeah, that's right" Mathias suddenly remembered "Last night, we forgot to tell you all about it since…" His voice faded and he looked over at Emil.

"It seems like new memories are released as a circle is broken"

"Great" Lukas sat down on his chair again "Then this will happen again" He looked around the table at their pitying faces. Then he looked again.

"Lukas, what's wrong?" Tino almost fell over as Lukas suddenly stood up and stared at the others.

"I can see" It was only a whisper.

"What?"

"I can see!" Lukas looked at his hands. He could see small cuts and bruises from the fighting earlier but it was quickly healing up. Mathias gave off a relieved sigh.

"That's great, I was getting quite worried" He smiled brightly and turned towards Berwald. "Isn't that right Ber?"

"Yeah. It's good" Berwald looked up at Lukas and nodded but flinched as he noticed his expression.

"Oh my god" Lukas reached down and picked Berwald up "I don't remember him being this small" Lukas wanted to kick himself. How could he have let himself miss out on so much time seeing Berwald this small and cute?

"Now that you mention it…" Ludwig suddenly stood up "Hasn't he gotten smaller?" It got quiet and they all turned towards Berwald and stared at him. Ludwig was right. When they first had gotten there he had looked like a five-year-old but now he had to be at least a year younger.

"It's true" Mathias leaned in and took a closer look. "and since the clothes shrink too we didn't really notice"

"What does this mean?" Tino looked at Lukas and then over at Arthur. He was worried.

"I don't know" Arthur seemed thoughtful "But this is bad, for all of us"

"That's right" Lukas was still holding onto Berwald "If his spell is still getting stronger, our spells might get worse as well"

"Will Berwald… disappear?"

"Emil!"

"What? I'm just asking what you're all thinking!" Emil crossed his arms at his brother that stared at him.

"We don't know that either" Arthur tapped his fingers on the table "But I think we just got ourselves a time limit"

"We don't have enough time! It's been days and only two circles have been broken!" Tino waved his hands around and Lukas hugged Berwald a bit closer "There got to be something we can do"

"I'll call Vladimir and tell him to hurry-"

"That's not enough, I'm sure he's already going as fast as he can." Lukas was getting angry, why wouldn't he listen?

"Lu…kas…"

"Listen here Lukas, we can't do much but wait and hope"

"That won't help right now!"

"Lu…"

"Besides, why can't we just invite the rest of the nations here? We could finish it together" Lukas suddenly felt something pinch his arm and looked down where Berwald was turning blue. "I'm sorry" Lukas loosened his all too tight grip so Berwald could breathe again. He had tried to call out for Lukas but he'd been too busy fighting with Arthur to notice.

"I don't think that's a very good idea" Arthur looked down at the floor. "Besides, I wouldn't be able to do much as it is now and if the spell is getting worse, I'll probably be pretty useless in no time"

"Isn't that just a bigger reason to get them over here?" Lukas raised an eyebrow and waited for Arthur to answer but he just looked down at the table. Lukas sighed. "Look, I know this isn't easy for you but if you want to feel useful again, we better solve this as quickly as possible"

"I didn't say I felt-"

"No, but it's pretty obvious" Both of them ended up having a stare down until Berwald once again tapped Lukas arm so he would be able to breathe again. It created a distraction long enough to relieve the tension that had built up between the two nations. Arthur sat down and mumbled something they couldn't hear. "What?"

"I said fine! We'll call them over, though, I don't think there's all too many countries left. The biggest amount was in the outer circles after all"

"Then it's decided, Vladimir will come here with the rest of the remaining nations as fast as possible" Tired as usual of the fighting, Ludwig tried to get the meeting back on track. He heard a few agreeing voices and two annoyed growls from Arthur, that was still a bit against the idea, and Elizabeta, who had a hard time getting along with Vladimir.

"Are they going to live here too then?" She squinted at Ludwig with a frown on her face but got an answer from Mathias instead.

"Well, we do have the room for it so why not?" Mathias smiled at Elizabeta that seemed to have a lot of reasons to why not. Being too oblivious to notice, Mathias turned towards Ludwig and motioned for him to continue the meeting.

"Now that that's settled, does anyone have any more questions?" Hoping for a no, he sighed as he saw another hand raise into the air. "Yes, Francis?"

"I have a very important question" Francis stood up and made a dramatic pose "What will happen to me then?"

"What?"

"If the spells are getting worse, how will we be able to handle the grotesque creature I will become? How will we be able to handle the loss of such beauty that is me? How will we-"

"Francis please" Arthur rubbed his temples "You're giving me a headache"

"This is very important so why don't you stay quiet and let me finish"

"Important my ass. All of us were affected worse than you, no one really cares about how you look" Arthur flinched as Francis slammed a fist into the table with a suddenly serious expression.

"I care! Isn't that enough?" There was a sudden silence in the room before Francis sat down again "Just forget about it"

"No, I actually think he has a point" They all looked over at Tino that had a rather thoughtful expression "I mean, some of our spells can't really get any worse right?"

"Like me and Ludwig!" Feliciano suddenly spoke up "I don't really mind it though"

"Some of us have to be careful" Arthur glanced over at Berwald and Mathias "And some of us just have to wait it out"

"What about me? What happens if my spell changes or get worse?" Antonio was obviously worried. Arthur looked away.

"That's something I'd rather not think about" A silence fell over the room as they thought about what had just been said. They wondered if their spells would get worse or if they were safe. The only one that wasn't slightly panicking was Lovino. He knew his spell had gradually gotten worse and he knew it would continue to. But because he knew he also remained calm. After all, it's hard to be scared of something that you know will happen no matter what you do.

"As far as I can see, we'll be fine" They looked over at him as he yawned. He wasn't completely honest and he could only see faint random pieces of maybe a few days into the future. He frowned a bit as he tried to shut the images out but as usual, it didn't work. "This is annoying"

"A-Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, don't touch me you jerk" Antonio pulled his hand back and smiled a little. Lovino was still Lovino after all.

"Very well, any more questions?" As Ludwig once again asked and looked around the table he was relieved to see that no one raised their hand. "Then, I'm glad to declare this meeting as over" The sound of chairs scraping against the floor filled the room. They left one by one and, after some disputing, Gilbert ended up joining Ludwig, Kiku and Felicianos room. Lukas handed Berwald over to Tino and tried hard to not fall for his looks once again.

"See you guys tomorrow then!" Tino waved and walked through the corridor as Mathias, Lukas and Emil stopped outside their room. Mathias unlocked it and smiled at the others.

"Let's have a long nights sleep shall we?"

.

"Are you okay?"

"Mm"

"You sure? I mean the things they talked about back there was a bit…"

"It's fine" Berwald struggled to get up on the bed. He really had gotten smaller and there was no denying it. After ignoring Tinos stare, that was screaming that he wanted to help, he finally got up and sighed. "They'll figure it out"

"I see" Tino laid down on the other side of the bed and looked over at Berwald "You really trust them, don't you?" Since Berwald sometimes was a bit slow at answering it took Tino a while to realise that he had already fallen asleep. He smiled and tucked him in before laying down on the bed. Even though it seemed like Berwald had full faith in Lukas and the others Tino couldn't help but worry. He knew that he probably was one of the lucky ones whose spell wouldn't get any worse but the others might even be in danger.

"Don't worry" Tino flinched as he heard the soft voice. Berwald looked at him with drowsy eyes and yawned "It'll be okay" Then he was asleep again. Tino couldn't help but chuckle and close his eyes, now a bit more relaxed.

"Night then Ber"

.

How was this possible? How could he be back here? Antonio stared at the small harbor. Only minutes ago he'd laid down in bed with Lovino right next to him. He felt the smell of ocean and forest as well as something burning. As he looked behind him he could see the forest and a pillar of smoke were slowly rising over the treetops. The sky was red and something felt off, but he couldn't really say what it was.

"Enjoying the view?" Antonio stumbled and fell as a voice suddenly was heard next to him. A hand was reached out to help him up but Antonio didn't take it, instead, he crawled further away. He'd realised who the hand belonged to. It belonged to himself.

"How could this-"

"Oh? Not even a hello? A long time no see? Well, we did see each other just before you went to sleep but you've been ignoring me lately" Shade put his hand into his pocket and looked out over the ocean. "It's really lovely here isn't it?" With the shock turning into anger, Antonio stood back up.

"How is this possible? How can you be…" Antonio pointed at him "…like this?" Shade smiled and tilted his head before he turned and looked towards the smoke. He really looked exactly like Antonio in every way. Except for the eyes. His eyes were red and despite his calm exterior, it was obvious that he was angry. Instead of answering his question he only glanced back at Antonio and smiled wider.

"I wonder what is burning over there" The chuckle that followed made Antonio start running.

"No, no, no, no, no" Somewhere he could hear Shade moving through the forest and his increasingly louder laugh followed with him. The smell got stronger and he could see a light in front of him, moving dancing, almost mocking him. A few last steps led him into a clearing and the laughter stopped. In the middle, he could see a big bonfire burning. From behind, Shade suddenly laid his arms around Antonio and carefully stroked his chin before he whispered softly into his ear.

"Why don't you take a closer look?" But Antonio didn't want to. He didn't want to see because he knew. He knew already what it was. Still, he slowly took a step forward. Then another. Shade released his grip and hummed softly on an old lullaby. Antonio fell to his knees in front of the fire.

"No"

It was everyone. Everyone he'd ever cared for and everyone that he'd tried so hard to save from Shade only hours before. Stacked in a pile, all burning slowly, and on the very top he could see a very familiar face looking down on him.

"This is all your fault" Lovino closed his eyes and screamed out a heartbreaking cry as the fire reached him. Antonio tried to reach him, he tried to move but something stopped him.

"Everything was your fault Antonio, nothing will ever be the same. They will always be afraid of you and you will always be afraid of me" Antonio looked up at Shade that suddenly stood between him and the pile. He crouched down and smiled at him "But I can make it better, with my power you can get anything you want. Just say the word, just let me in"

"No" Shade looked a bit taken aback but quickly recovered and turned it into anger instead. He grabbed onto Antonios shirt and lifted him off the ground.

"Let me in!"

"No!" Antonio had realised "None of this is real" He could see that that he had hit the mark as Shade frowned.

"Let. Me. In." It was more demanding, more threatening than before. "Or I'll have you go through this over and over"

"Never" Shade threw him onto the ground and Antonio couldn't move at all.

"Don't you see? I can keep doing this night after night" Shade smiled again "And I can do so much worse"

Suddenly, it started raining.

The fire got smaller and the air got easier to breathe. Antonio saw how Shade took a few surprised steps backwards. "What the?" The rain grew heavier and within a few moments, it was pouring down as if it was from a waterfall. The last thing Antonio heard was an angry scream from somewhere within the water.

"Lovi-"

"Seriously you're so annoying!" Antonio found himself sitting up in the bed soaking wet with Lovino standing next to him with a bucket muttering. "Trying to sleep but you just got to have nightmares, trying to wake everyone up?" Still a bit confused and disoriented, Antonio watched as Lovino walked around the bed and threw the bucket into a corner before he got back under the blanket.

"What happened?" The dream suddenly rushed over him and he remembered. He looked over at the wall where Shade surprisingly enough kept quiet and only shrugged at him. Lovino turned stared at him angrily.

"I was just peacefully trying to sleep when I see that you would wake up screaming in just a few minutes, waking the entire hotel up. So I accidentally dropped a bucket of water on you"

"I see. Thank you" Antonio looked down at his hands. He thought that water was dripping from his hair into them before he realised that he was crying. He quickly wiped the tears away but they were soon replaced by new ones. It was just all too much. Suddenly, he felt an arm around his back and he felt himself get pulled closer to Lovino.

"Idiot" Surprised, Antonio looked up at Lovino that was now sitting in the bed awkwardly trying to comfort him. "Just this once okay?" That was all he needed. Bursting into tears and loud sobbing Antonio grabbed onto Lovino as if his life depended on it. He didn't know how long he cried like that, he only knew that he at some point fell asleep and woke up the next morning still holding his arms around the smaller nation.