Thanks to EVil, Alica123321, Zaaze, Olivia Kirkland, bacon, awaw, PorcelenaRota, EllaAwkward, ScandinavianTrash and Adorable Reader for reviewing. And thanks to everyone for your support and understanding.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 36

Everyone had gone to Vlad during the day, and by nightfall a few of them were tired. Marcello especially, seeing as the demon had used him. They still weren't entirely sure why, though.

Except for a few of them who knew about Lovino being Vlad's heartwing.

Hans was energised after his own encounter, and his spirit had been lifted after being able to see his father again. Roderich had already left, along with Alexandru. But Alexandru at least would come again very soon.

The problem now lay with Jason, Marcello and Henri.

Everyone was aware of the spell placed on the three, and everyone had heard about the demon controlling the youngest Italian, though the details of the events that followed remained secret. Not even Marcello knew what had happened.

Only Lovino was aware of what had occurred, and he was bothered by the fact that it bothered him so much.

Ever since what happened earlier, Jack had arrived and had opted to stay around Marcello, wanting to keep his heartwing safe. Matthew had asked that Fletcher keep an eye on Jason. Fletcher was happy to help his heartwing, though he was a little disappointed about not being able to spend that time with Matthew.

But Fletcher was good at hiding it. Matthew was still insistent that Alfred not learn about the fact that he was Fletcher's heartwing. Matthew was afraid of his brother's reaction to the revelation.

Jett had been asked to keep an eye on Henri, and the two just sat in awkward silence whenever they were alone.

At the moment everyone was waiting for dinner, and most of them were nervous. The reason was simple: Alfred had insisted on cooking.

Lovino, Feliciano and Marcello had never tasted Alfred's cooking, despite being friends pretty much all of their lives. The fact that the Italians – the gourmets of their group – had no idea what the entire group was in for made them all nervous. Only Jason and Matthew were calm about the situation, but it could simply be that they had been desensitized.

"It's really not that bad," Matthew insisted.

"If his cooking is anything like the stuff he eats whenever we went out," Lovino said, "then there is no way I'm eating that shit."

"Language aside," Marcello said, "I agree with Lovi."

Matthew and Jason exchanged a look and sighed, shaking their heads. As much as they wanted to defend their brother, they knew that nothing they said would convince the others of Alfred's skill.

After all, everyone had seen Alfred eat, which didn't offer any form of reassurance when one combined Alfred and food.

"Well," Vlad said, "I for one am curious."

"All I know is that he asked me if there's bread," Feliks said.

"Bread?" Bella repeated.

Before anyone else could say anything, Alfred entered the room, looking pleased with himself.

"Alright, dudes and dudettes," Alfred said. "Dinner is served."

There were a few nervous looks exchanged before they all slowly made their way to the dining room.

Their jaws dropped when they saw all the ingredients needed to build your own hamburgers, with a bowl of fries set out as well, along with seasoning to choose from. Different sauces were also provided.

"Hamburgers?" Marcello asked.

"Why am I not surprised," Lovino sighed.

"Al knows how to make hamburgers from scratch," Matthew explained. "The same with the fries."

"And I also made desert," Alfred announced proudly. "Apple pie."

Lovino and Feliciano exchanged a look.

"Alright then," Lovino said. "We'll give it a try. But it if tastes like crap, you're the one that's going to pay for it."

Alfred chuckled.

"Sure," he said. "Whatever you say."

…

Toris was staring in front of him, sitting at a table with his chin on his hand, and he was absentmindedly drumming the fingers of said hand. He had passed the threshold of 'annoyed' and had reached 'bored'.

Sitting across from him was Antonio, looking as though his mind was somewhere else. Which it was, in a way. He had to help the former vampire with regaining his senses through stimulating conversation.

That wasn't happening.

Toris sighed, leaning back in the chair. He needed to think of something to motivate the vampire to engage in a conversation. Remembering what had happened earlier, Toris smiled.

"Out of curiosity," Toris said, "what do you intend to do to Lovino when you get him again?"

There it was. The spark of life. Antonio could finally fix him with a more focused look, though he wasn't completely there yet.

"Lovi?" Antonio said.

"Yes," Toris said. "What will you do to him if you manage to get him again?"

Antonio looked down, remaining silent for a moment. Toris was afraid that he had lost the vampire yet again, but then Antonio looked up again, the fog all but gone. His eyes narrowed.

"I will play our little game with him," Antonio said. "Show him a hostage, and tell him to kill him. And if he refuses, I will simply rape him, letting the hostage watch. And then it's time for round two, and it will go on until he kills the hostage."

"What makes you think there would be a round two?" Toris asked.

"The hostages will be his brothers."

Toris chuckled.

"I like the sound of that," Toris said. "Is that all?"

"No," Antonio said. "Not even close. It will go on until all of his little friends are killed. And then I'll kill him, slowly and painfully."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"Ever heard of lingchi?"

"Yes," Toris said, smirking. "Death of a thousand cuts."

"And this will actually involve a thousand cuts. Small, shallow cuts, and after each cut I will drink as much blood as I can before making the next cut. I will bleed him dry. I think I will let Vlad watch, if it's possible to keep him restrained."

Toris was full-out laughing now.

"Don't worry about it," Toris said. "Mr Ivan has his ways to force Vlad to watch all of that. But I must say, I'm impressed. While nowhere near as bad as a demon's level of torture, it's a start."

Antonio frowned.

"What would you have then?" Antonio asked.

"Let's just say that when we're done, his body, mind, spirit, heart and soul would be broken beyond repair, and he'd be begging us for death which would be an eternity in coming."

Antonio smirked.

"It seems I have much to learn," he said.

"And we will teach you," Toris said.

…

The Nephilim sighed, each of them satisfied from the dinner. Alfred had a huge grin on his face as he looked over towards Lovino.

"So?" Alfred prompted. "How'd you like it?"

Lovino sighed, before turning his gaze to Alfred.

"It's not as bad as I'd imagined it'd be," Lovino said. "At least it's not as greasy as the stuff they have in restaurants. Though the meat was a little dry."

Alfred beamed, knowing that it was Lovino's way of saying that he enjoyed the meal.

Vlad chuckled at the sight, before he froze.

"I'm going outside for a while," Vlad said.

Everyone nodded, knowing that he sensed that something was amiss outside. Vlad quickly made his way to the front door and the outside.

He immediately summoned his wings and took flight. He was halfway across the yard when he sensed something behind him, before he was grabbed and his wings pinned to his body.

"Let me go!" Vlad demanded.

"And yet you came out to see me," Ivan said.

Vlad had smelled the scent of old blood and smoke, the scent of a demon. But this time, it was accompanied by the scent of new blood.

Angel blood.

"Who…" Vlad demanded. "Whose blood is it?"

"Nora's," Ivan whispered into his ear, sending a chill down Vlad's spine.

"What the hell did you do to her?"

"I cannot kill her, remember? But I did disembowel her."

Vlad's eyes widened, and he felt horrified. He needed to get to his friend immediately.

"I knew that it would attract your attention," Ivan continued.

"What do you want?" Vlad asked.

Ivan didn't answer, but Vlad could feel something akin to ice entering his veins and knew that Ivan had cast a spell. He yelped as he was suddenly thrown to the ground, and when he turned around he saw that Ivan was gone.

Not wasting any time, he immediately took flight to Nora's location, all while wondering what Ivan had done to him.

…

Nikolai was in his own domain, but he wasn't alone. Standing in front of him was Natalia, a knife held tightly in her hand.

"You warned him," Natalia accused.

Nikolai shrugged, and she narrowed her eyes.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because I wanted his blood," Nikolai said. "I just happened to have some useful information with which I could pay him."

"If you truly wanted it, you could have taken it by force."

"Nope. The gifts of the angels of life don't work unless it's willingly given. Just like how it wouldn't work if Vlad is to become a demon."

"It doesn't matter. He is my brother's target. You shall not interfere."

Nikolai smirked in amusement.

"And what exactly does Ivan hope to achieve?" Nikolai asked. "Even Lucifer has given up on acquiring Vlad."

"It doesn't matter," Natalia said. "It's what my brother wants."

Nikolai sighed in frustration.

"We should really find your heartwing," Nikolai groaned. "You need to get over your devotion to Ivan. When's the last time you saw Katyusha?"

Natalia narrowed her eyes before she turned and left. Nikolai sighed, running his hand through his hair.

That woman had some serious issues.

…

Vlad sighed, re-entering the house. He had called Alice to help him heal Nora, who was sleeping off the attack.

What exactly did Ivan do to him that had him decide to lure him out instead of waiting for Vlad to come out on his own? Vlad had a bad feeling about it.

"What happened?"

Vlad looked up to see Lovino looking at him worriedly and he smiled.

"Everything's okay," Vlad said.

"You're lying," Lovino said.

Vlad's smile fell, and he blinked in surprise.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The fact that you plastered that smile on your face before you answered," Lovino said. "Please. You should tell me what's going on."

Vlad was silent for a moment before he sighed, slumping against the nearby wall.

"Ivan hurt Nora," Vlad said. "She was protecting the perimeter, and he managed to sneak up and attack her. I smelled her blood."

Lovino swallowed.

"What did he do, exactly?" he asked.

Vlad shook his head.

"You don't want to know," he said. "Anyway, he wanted to lure me outside. Though for what purpose, I have no idea."

Lovino frowned.

"Did he do something?" Lovino asked.

"I'm not sure," Vlad said. "And that worries me."

Lovino sighed, averting his gaze.

"Listen," Lovino said. "I-I'm going to see if I can sleep the whole night through. Without your help. So… I'll be in my room."

Vlad gave a small smile, though he felt a small pang in his chest.

"Of course," Vlad said. "Your recovery is important, after all. And I guess we should check for progress."

Lovino nodded, and he looked as though he wanted to say something else but changed his mind. Vlad watched as the Italian ran up the stairs and sighed.

He wondered if Vlad was upset about the revelation of Vas? He didn't know why, though. He would have told Lovino eventually, had the topic ever been broached. But Vlad couldn't help but wonder how Lovino had found out about him in the first place.

He sighed, looking longingly up the stairs. Somehow, he had a feeling that Lovino was trying to avoid him.

Whatever was going on, he would fix it as best he could.

…

Jason groaned, throwing his head back in annoyance. Fletcher stopped speaking in order to look at the other.

"Could you give it a rest?" Jason demanded. "All these questions are giving me a headache. Aren't you just supposed to make sure that I don't become that demon's puppet?"

"That's what I'm doing," Fletcher said. "I'm keeping you busy. The moment you lose focus, I know that Raivis is trying to control you."

Jason was silent for a moment.

"So, you're keeping me occupied and the moment I don't pay attention anymore you'll take it as a sign that I'm being controlled?" Jason said.

"Pretty much," Fletcher said.

The two were in Jason's room. There was a knock on the door before Matthew opened it, smiling at the two.

"Is everything going okay?" Matthew asked.

"Everything is fine," Fletcher said, smiling brightly.

Matthew turned his attention to Jason, who looked thoughtful.

"Jay, is something wrong?" Matthew asked.

"No," Jason said, shaking his head. "Everything's okay."

Matthew looked at his brother for a moment before shaking his head, closing the door. The moment the door was shut, Jason rounded on Fletcher.

"You're his heartwing, aren't you?" Jason asked.

Fletcher widened his eyes.

"Is it that obvious?" he asked.

"The way he managed to convince you to look after me, and the way you just lit up gives it away," Jason said. "I'm not as dumb as I look."

Fletcher smiled softly.

"No," he said. "You aren't."

…

Raivis sighed in annoyance. He had been checking in on his puppets, enough to see what they were doing, but not enough to give his presence away.

He hated those angels. They were making things very hard for him.

His connection to them allowed him to see many things. He had also gained knowledge when he had entranced them, which included their experiences. It also helped to see the heartwing connection, even though they weren't aware of it.

He needed to find a way to get to the other Nephilim. He especially needed to get the one that had performed the barrier spells, Gupta, to come out.

He had learned that through his connection as well.

He looked up when Toris and Eduard came to join him at the table.

"How are things from your end?" Eduard asked.

"The angels are annoying," Raivis said. "They keep their eye out in case I tug the strings of one of my puppets. How are things on your end?"

"I managed to get Antonio and Francis to become more aware of what's happening around them," Toris said. "Though they keep drifting off."

"At least you had some progress," Eduard said. "I couldn't even get one of them to say a single word."

"Maybe we should ask Ludwig how he managed to train his…"

The three shuddered, before turning to look at Ivan, who had a broad smile on his face.

"How are my little children doing?" Ivan asked.

"I managed to get two of them responsive," Toris said. "One of them even described what he would do when he had Vlad's heartwing in his possession again. It involves lingchi."

Ivan hummed in thought.

"He's motivated, at least," Ivan said. "But, it will be all for nothing. I want the heartwing alive, and preferably in a good physical condition. At least in the beginning. It is the emotional and mental state that I want completely destroyed."

"Considering he was held captive for three months, just being in the same room as the members from the Bad Touch Trio would be enough to damage him emotionally and mentally," Raivis said.

"I see. In which case, I think I shall allow them to sample his blood."

"Rape also came up," Toris said.

"We'll wait with that one," Ivan said. "It might be counterproductive to go through it too soon. And the fear that it would inspire if he expected it, but it wouldn't come, would be more helpful."

"I also managed to learn which of the Nephilim created the barrier," Raivis said.

Ivan's smile widened.

"That is the best news," he said. "Now, to get him outside…"

…

Lovino lay on his bed, simply staring at the ceiling. His bed felt too large, too cold, too empty. He knew that he missed Vlad's presence.

But why? Why was he so hung-up over Vlad?

It couldn't just be that Vlad had saved him. It happened so long ago now, or at least that's what it felt like. There had to be another reason why he wanted so much to be in Vlad's presence.

And for some reason, the fact that Vlad had kept his child a secret upset him more than it should. Vlad had been around for thousands of years. Sure, he would get lonely, and it was possible that that loneliness could produce a child, but… Why did it bother him?!

Lovino groaned, pulling at his hair. He would try to figure it out in the morning. For now, he decided to sleep.

…

Vlad sighed, passing by Lovino's room. He had been checking on him regularly throughout the night, and it seemed as though Lovino was having a fitful sleep, but not quite restless. He wasn't having any traumatising nightmares.

He shook his head, before he made his way to the front door. He would go check on Nora. While she wouldn't die, it would still be extremely painful.

As he opened the door, he noticed that the sun was hot. Too hot. He screamed in pain as he stumbled back, landing on the ground and backing away. He noticed that his body was smoking, and his eyes widened.

"No," he muttered. "No, no, no…"

He could already hear the others running upstairs, but he paid it no mind. He needed to be sure.

He crawled forwards, and tentatively held out his hand. As soon as the sunlight hit it he felt immense pain, as though he was sticking his hand into an open flame. When he saw that it started burning, he quickly withdrew his hand again.

"Vlad!" Feliks exclaimed. "Like, what happened?"

Vlad looked around at all the others, before his eyes landed on Lovino, who was looking at him wide-eyed.

"Ivan," he said. "What he did to me… I can't go out in the sun anymore. The curse… It's back."

There were collective gasps, and Vlad collapsed on the ground, crying in anguish. Nine thousand years… And then he finally managed to enjoy the sun again, only to have it taken away after little over a week.

He paid no mind to his surroundings, except when someone went to close the door. Arms wrapped around him, and he recognised the scent as Lovino's.

This time, Lovino was the one to hold him as he cried.

A while back I stumbled upon a headcanon that says that America is a decent cook, and that his home cooking is the best. He could also make burgers from scratch. So I went with it. And apple pie is one of the first things I think of when I think of American cuisine.

Lingchi was a form of execution used especially in China, and… let's just say that the cruelty of it convinced the Westerners that they were backwards (as though Europe didn't have their fair share of cruel torture/executions…). It was usually reserved for serious crimes, like treason, though there were a few instances when it was administered for a minor offence. It was part torture, part public humiliation, and was also supposed to extend the torture into the afterlife.

And NyoBelarus scolding Belarus for her fixation with Russia, yet she completely disregards Ukraine… I just had to have something like that. I wanted the two Belaruses to be heartwings, but then I realised that there was no way Natalia would help out Ivan if her heartwing opposed to the idea. At the very least, they're friends with a… complicated relationship.

And just a reminder as to the nature of a demon's relationship with their heartwings: they won't stop until the heartwings are demons as well. When they're demons, there's no problem. And keeping in mind what a Nephilim demon is like, you can just imagine the kind of relationship they would have.