Magitalia

Chapter Thirty Six- Crimson Wounds

Normally, whenever Feliks would read about someone in a story reminiscing on the chain of events that had led them to a decision, it would be nice and poetic. Some decisive moment, some great clarity, and that would convince them of their morals. Maybe then his predicament fit his insanity, because that sounded like the exact opposite of what he was doing.

Because he could wholeheartedly say that he was about to stab his allies in the back because of the single most awkward text conversation he had ever had.

So yeah, he was grateful Eduard for having some weird magic that can hijack phones so they could talk about how Toris was definately certainly going to die a terrible death very soon and it was completely and totally his fault sort of. And especially grateful that he actually had to type "wow sorry he was a sweet kid :(" when being told of Raivis's death.

He held his phone close in the dark halls, glancing back at the directions buried beneath chains of pleading that went back and forth.

"Please won't you save Toris, your defecting sealed his fate and perhaps it can undo it."

"Please won't you turn against those people, it was my love's dying wish to be free once more."

"Please won't you stop deluding yourself, he was never your love, and he was never free."

"Please won't you stop talking in the past tense, there's still time, right?"

"Please won't you lead your party to this room and we can win back his life with an ambush."

Perhaps it hadn't been quite that nice sounding, and a lot of it was in lowercase and accompanied with emoticons. Shameful really that the dark blaze of glory was a delusion.

Yet there was still cause to repent. The three he was standing beside and desperately fighting to keep from seeing his phone, the two children and the terrifying man, they hadn't done anything wrong. Simply put, they just had the misfortune of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Glancing back, he counted the doors they'd passed once more to make certain he was going to the right one. One, two, three… yes, the one just a few paces in front of him was number four. Instructions: act as if you discover the door is unlocked and suggest they check in side.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Feliks slid up to the door and rattled the knob. It turned cleanly, and he gave the shout he'd been rehearsing in his head for quite some time. "Hey, over here! This door's like, unlocked!"

He shuttered a bit as the tall, terrifying guy glared at him. "Yes, as has the other doors we've passed by. Checking random doors will only get us killed faster."

Crap, Estonia had told him what to do if they wouldn't go in. Uh, what was it again? Point out they were there to find a thing? Yeah, that would work.

"Uh, if we don't check doors, we'll totally never find anything, right?"

"We're looking for a green glow," the guy explained. "If it's anything like Emil, then it should be incredibly clear once we've found it."

Okay, this wasn't working. Like, really wasn't working. Quickly, he tried to tap something out. "they aren't falling for it what do?", or something equally embarrassing to be a desperate call.

"One sec", said the phone, and a moment later, a loud scream of terror came from a door just past the one indicated by the plan.

All three of his companions- er, victims, which he had pretty decisively tried not to learn the names of, they turned towards the sound and looked between themselves and it for a moment.

"This… seems suspicious," the little boy remarked, sounding quite unlike a child.

"We should send someone in," the girl suggested, also sounding a lot older than she should have.

That seemed to be a good cue. He could just go in and beckon the others by lying and saying he'd found something. "I'll do it!", he quickly volunteered, but the older man just glared again.

"No, you will not," he stated rather matter-of-factly. "I'll be doing the investigating."

"But Papa!", the boy whined. "It's dangerous! I should go!"

Wow, that scary guy was his dad? The slight smile he gave as he assured the child that it would be fine confirmed this, and Poland started feeling infinitely worse about what he was doing.

He didn't know these people, what right did he have to harm them? He'd been almost happy when he realized he wouldn't have to betray Liz's friend and his former employee and Toris's friend, but no, at least then he'd know exactly what he was doing. But no, he hadn't signed up to harm a father and his child.

Nerve seemed to leave him, but he tried to conjure up the image that had led him there. A moment of profound happiness, finally at his dearest friend's side, after he'd trudged through Hell and finally broken free so he would never be alone again. And just when that warmth had returned, Toris's body went limp in a spray of crimson.

If he wanted to feel that joy again, there was a price to pay. All the time he'd stumbled about life telling himself that the one he'd given his heart hadn't vanished forever would be just another delusion if he didn't offer three souls as forfeit.

If he wanted Toris to feel anything ever again, there was a price to pay. And for a person with so much to give to the world, with more patience and kindness than he could comprehend, that would be a crying shame to be able to be given no more than suffering. He deserved to feel loved and safe and happy in his life, and none of that could happen without a life to give it to.

Was it selfishness or selflessness that led him to dart in after his target? He didn't dare question it, as he deeply feared it to be the former, and he deeply feared it to be the latter.

"Hey, wait!", he whispered rather loudly as he darted in the door. "You can't just go alone like that!"

That glare made him shiver and gave him the sense his treachery was being detected, but no, he had to remain strong. Luckily, it went away as the man's eyes fell on what was almost certainly Estonia's trap.

Namely, the blood-covered body in the middle of the room. He felt a bit sick upon seeing it before he recognized the "corpse". Blond hair, askew glasses: it looked like Eduard, despite a few unnerving differences he could once again easily brush away as having been caused by the passage of time.

It was confirmed by a mutter the man gave. "Estonia? What happened here…"

The two children dashed in behind them, both gaping at the corpse. "I-is he dead?", the girl stammered out.

His phone buzzed, and as he quickly checked it, he saw a new message from his partner: "Now".

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the corpse and pretended to check the pulse. "He seems alright," he told them.

Wow, really great first step, but he was kind of improvising. His phone didn't go off again, so it was fairly likely that it'd been a fine response. "Whoever did this must be nearby," the boy reported. "The blood's not dry, so it had to have just happened."

Another buzz of his phone, and he didn't even need to check it. He knew what it was telling him to do.

Taking a few steps away from the "corpse", he positioned himself in front of the door before reaching to close it. He received a few odd looks for this, and he briefly considered prolonging it by just saying "Can't have anyone tampering with the crime scene" or something like that. But no, he needed to pay the toll now.

"Actually, he's perfectly fine," Poland corrected, and he only noticed then he was shaking a bit.

He swallowed back bile as he was met with apprehension. "What do you mean? There's blood everywhere!"

"We- we just needed a reason for you to come in here!", he assured them. "See, um, truth is this is an ambush."

Was that right? His phone didn't buzz, so he hadn't a clue.

"An ambush," the terrifying man who was a father and probably married and had a whole life ahead of him repeated. "And you're ambushing us?"

Only empty air would come out, so he just nodded instead.

Oddly, it was the girl, Erika, maybe- darn it he was trying not to remember names, who was the only one to react with anger rather than confusion.

"You- you wanted to help your friend, right? And he's being held captive like my brother! By these people, so why would you help them?"

It made so much sense when she said it, but he choked back those doubts. If he was going down this path, he needed to do it with his whole heart and not leave pieces of it in the light.

"They'll kill him if I don't," he explained, trying to steady his hand as he formed flames in it. "So, um, sorry."

There was an odd sense of deja vu in the scene, and he could almost picture himself in Erika's place and Toris in his own. He didn't want to do this, but he knew what giving up halfway would lead to.

He felt like a terrible person for sending crimson flames to hit a young girl in the chest, but a bit less so when she responded by pulling out a gun. "I don't want to be your enemy," she assured him far too kindly. "Feliks, please, there's surely another way to save your friend!"

That name hurt a bit to hear. Sounded a bit too human for his current mood. Why couldn't she just hate him and make her easier to attack?

But did he really ever have it in him? If he allowed himself to be cut down, would that be the right choice? Toris, a person infinitely better than he could ever hope to be, he had thought so.

It was too late to go back, though, as Estonia rose from whatever bloody mess he'd hidden himself in and produced a spear that looked more like a log that had gotten in a fight in a pencil sharpener than a weapon. "Thank you, Poland," he stated, smiling a bit as he wiped the blood off his glasses. "Let's finish this, shall we?"

He made to slam the blunt end of the weapon into the rather terrifying man, who responded with a staff of his own.

"You two didn't think this though, did you?," the man questioned. "The two of you are hardly enough to take on all three of us."

A door to the side of the room squealed open, and in a delicate, almost graceful manner that didn't fit the air of terror he exuded, Russia entered the room. "Oh, but we're fairly evenly matched, don't you think?", he countered with a grin.

The children's eyes widened as they saw the man, and both quickly rushed towards the door. Poland took a few steps back and positioned himself in front of it, trying to block them from exiting.

"Please, I'm giving you one last chance," stated the father, the man who scared him a lot less than his allies, someone with a name he vaguely remembered might start with a B. "I understand you have your reasons, but I can tell you first hand that your hostage would much rather you breath free and let them die."

Estonia's messages flashed up in his mind. "But, I'm not free either way," he muttered, and closed his eyes as he continued to stand before the doorway.

"I apologize for this," that same voice said, and a painful blow struck the side of his head and sent both his body and consciousness tumbling down.


AN- This chapter was kind of a nostalgia trip. Didn't mean for it to mirror Liet's parallel that much, but it fits pretty well. To be honest, I meant to show Estonia and Poland's conversation that led to his betrayal in full, but I figured out quickly that a serious conversation conducted over text is very painful to read, so I spared you. That's also why it's a bit shorter than normal, but if nothing else, at least you didn't have to read Poland texting like a highschool girl about death and plotting and morality. But I feel a bit bad about the length so I'll give you the only bit that wasn't completely terrible, cleaned up a bit.

If you think you have any control in the situation

They'll rip all of it away from you

Until you may as well just be their puppet

Who's making you say this?

You're asking that? Really?

The puppetmaster doesn't need an identity, just strings.

I can totally kick this guy's ass for you!

It doesn't work like that.

Anyways, thanks for reading! -Twilight Joltik