"Hey, hey, hey, hey~ Wake up~ Come on, Lovino, wake up~"

Lovino closed his eyes tighter, despite knowing that it would do nothing against the pain. Or the voice.

"Lovino~"

Fear. He could feel it flowing through his veins like a river filled with ice. He couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't hear anything but the sound of that too happy voice.

"Get up! Come out and play! Don't you want to hang out? You're so silent, but you were talking so much just yesterday!"

Bullies. He has loads of them, people who have way too much time on their hands and who love torturing the weak. Most of the bullies were his fault. He had a bad habit of running his mouth. In the end, he'd end up with a few insults maybe even a few punches thrown at him. But this bully… he didn't know when enough was enough.

Lovino opened his mouth to scream, curses filling his mouth in an instant before his name was called again, this time the voice sounded closer and warmer.

"-Lovino!"

The voice was right in front of him.

"Lovino!"

Lovino blinked. His vision wasn't dark anymore, but an intense white that could only be associated with a hospital.

"Calm down, Nipote."

Lovino hadn't realized that he was curled up into a tight ball, his hands wrapped tightly around the bedsheets.

"Five, four, three, two,... breathe out. Are you listening Lovino? Count with me. One, two, three, four…"

Lovino didn't recognize the language and was too rattled to remember the voice. Fear had a tight grip on his heart, causing him to gasp, struggling to get enough air.

"Breathe."

The smooth rhythm of the foreign words grounded Lovino. He was suddenly aware that he was back in the nurse's office, the petite male looking at him with worry.

Right, that was in the past. Lovino didn't have to worry about that dumb bastard anymore.

On his left, Lovino was startled to see his grandfather, Romulus in casual clothing. Last time he saw the man he was wearing something similar though the imperialistic style of the room had made his casual clothing look much more formal. Here in this setting, the man's face creased with worry, Lovino was struck with how young his grandfather looked.

"Are you alright? Can you understand me?"

Lovino was all too aware of the man's hand resting on his chest. Before, it had been radiating warmth and comfort, helping Lovino out of his pit of fear.

"Here." Romulus handed Lovino a cup of water which he quickly downed.

"What…" Lovino started. His initial fear had trailed away into a dull sense of paranoia and confusion. "What the fuck is going on!"

His head hurt. His chest heart. He didn't understand anything! This whole week has been a clusterfuck of shit and he didn't know how to get out of it.

"Lovino, calm down."

"Calm down? Why the fuck should I be calm?! What the hell is going on?!"

"Lovino!" Romulus said, sternly. "I'll explain everything in the Chamber."

"Should he be leaving so soon-"

"He will be fine." Romulus interrupted. He paid the nurse little mind.

"Wait!" Lovino stood. The room momentarily tilted, causing him to fall back onto the bed. The nurse hurried over and lifted him up.

"Do you need help?" the nurse asked.

"I'm fine," Lovino pulled himself away from the man. He stumbled his first step, but continued on behind his quickly escaping grandfather.

He met the man at the Chamber doors. They were already wide open, the faint wisps of mist drifting out. The light in the room looked fainter than usual.

"What are-"

"Come on."

Lovino was irritated by the interruption, but followed.

The raised platform was at the end of the path like usual, with the same strange water basin Lovino had seen his first time here directly in its center. When Lovino followed Romulus up onto the platform, he peeked in the basin. He had expected to see something in it, but only saw clear water.

"Lovino, mio nipote." His grandfather smiled. "I'm happy to see you are feeling better."

You didn't seem too concerned when we were leaving the nurse's office, Lovino thought. This bastard was playing at something.

"What are we doing here?"

"How do you like the academy?"

Lovino scowled. "It's fine."

"How are your classes? Are you getting along with your teachers?"

"What." Lovino ground out. "Am. I. Doing. Here?"

Romulus didn't lose his soft smile.

"Your reaction is understandable," Romulus pulled two chairs out from behind a column and unfolded them. Lovino briefly wondered where they had come from, as Romulus gestured to a chair. "Sit. I'll answer all of your questions."

Lovino was surprised at the ease of the man. He had nagged and nagged the man whenever he could to answer his questions. Somehow, Romulus always got him off topic with a story or fact Lovino found interesting. Lovino always left the 'interrogation' sessions frustrated and one step closer to hitting his grandfather in the face.

Lovino took a seat as Romulus gave him his most attentive look.

"Well…" Lovino didn't even know where to start. "First of all, what the hell happened to me? I…"

All Lovino remembered was the feeling of pain and fear as he looked at the red eyed gaze filled with contempt. It chilled him to his core, those eyes.

"Ah.." Romulus shook his head. "You mean with Gilbert."

"Gilbert?"

"Your weapon partner," Romulus replied. "The one who rendered you unconscious."

His grandfather sounded especially angry when relating what had happened to him. Lovino was pleased that his grandfather was just upset as he was.

"He's a fucking demon!" Lovino shouted. "He has to be!"

"Now, Lovino," Romulus said in that annoying voice one usually reserved for children. "He isn't a demon. Not a fully fledged one anyway. He wouldn't be allowed on campus if that were the case."

Lovino knew his grandfather was right. Demons had pure black eyes, not red. And technically, all demon weapons were part demon, though Lovino didn't really understand the specifics on that.

And yet, despite everything Lovino had learned these past few days, he was deeply unsettled by his so called weapon partner. Maybe the fear from earlier was still deeply rooted in him, causing his judgement to be clouded, but he didn't care.

"As for your question," Romulus said, drawing Lovino's attention. "What Gilbert used was an advanced technique. You listened in your fundamentals class about souls and wavelengths?" Lovino nodded. "There are many abilities that Bellators can use to manipulate their souls and their wavelengths. One such ability is the power to project a wavelength that imitates emotion. When you and Gilbert met, he used this ability to project fear onto you. So much so that you fainted. In order to calm you, I used the same technique, but I projected relaxation instead."

Lovino processed this information, getting angrier by the second. Before he could fully explode, he asked,

"Didn't you say he was my weapon partner? If he's a weapon, then how can he use that ability?"

Romulus gave a cold smile. "Gilbert… is an odd one, to say the least."

"Question 2: Why the hell is he my partner? Don't I get to choose?"

Romulus sighed. "That's a long story… one that we will have to save for another time."

"Bullshit!" Lovino shouted, jumping into a standing position. In the process, he knocked his chair back. "I haven't been here for five days and I've already been to the nurses office twice! The least you could do is answer my goddamn question!"

"I know," Romulus did truly look sad for his grandson's inconveniences. "And I'm sorry. I will tell you the full story when I have the time." The man looked down at his hands. "But to summarize, ... a dear friend and I made a bet of sorts, a promise. In the end, I was the winner."

"What exactly did you win?" Lovino asked looking around the room. He ignored the slight warble coming from the basin. "This chamber?"

"No." Romulus laughed. He stood and placed his hand on Lovino's shoulder, turning him to the front of the room. Romulus swiped his hand over the basin and the warbling stopped. "Them. Come in!"

Lovino didn't know whether to be horrified or concerned for his grandfather's well being. Three figures emerged from the door, one of whom was being held in a vise grip by another and the third holding a basin.

The one holding the basin, Lovino recognized as Ludwig, the dumb potato who was Feliciano's demon weapon partner. His face was blank, and considerably much harder to read than usual as he carefully escorted the other two in.

The man, who looked exactly like the potato bastard, but with longer hair, held a struggling teenager, who, Lovino instantly backed away from. It was the red eyed boy. The demon.

"Let me go!" the demon twisted, but his father held his arms firm. "I said let me go!"

"Quit acting like a child, Gilbert," the older potato bastard said.

"I'm acting like a child?" the demon asked, incredulous. "Not the grown ass man who-"

"Gilbert!" the man shouted.

The trio climbed the stairs and assumed their positions.

"Why are they here?" Lovino asked, his nose raised in disgust that was mostly aimed at the demon boy.

"They were my prize. Our prize." Romulus gave a dazzling grin.

Lovino didn't know what to say. He kept quiet for a moment, hoping that his grandfather had a momentary slip of tongue and would quickly correct himself.

"How…"Lovino said after a moment. "Are people your prizes?"

Lovino didn't like the demon child one bit. Neither did he like the potato bastard and his potato father by association, but he could acknowledge that at least the potato bastard and his father were humans.

Humans didn't do that shit anymore, not here anyway.

"Like I said it's a long story," Romulus replied. He waved his hand and the man and struggling teenager moved forward. Lovino took a step back.

"No need to worry." Romulus grabbed Lovino's arm and pulled him forward. "He wouldn't dare hurt you here."

Lovino wasn't comforted by the words. His perspective of his grandfather was rapidly changing into something unidentifiable.

"Hold out your hand." Lovino tried to struggle, but his grandfather was much stronger than he was.

Rolmulus pulled out a dagger. Ludwig held the basin underneath Lovino's extended palm.

Gilbert continued to struggle and spout curses under his breath, but his hand was soon open over the basin.

"Wait." Lovino couldn't breathe. What was his grandfather doing? "Wait!"

Romulus muttered a few things under his breath. In a few swift slices, Romulus had carved an image into the two teens palms.

Lovino barely registered the pain, his eyes trained on the liquid draining from his palm into the water below. As the blood hit the surface, it crystallized. Within a few seconds, a shape took form in the water.

Romulus released the teens. He reached inside and took a hold of it. Lovino watched, enraptured, as the man threw it to the ground, the object bursting releasing tiny particles into the air.

A strange feeling Lovino hadn't noticed before suddenly became much more intense. It felt as if he were being suffocated by the world's softest pillow.

"There." Romulus held out his arms as if to say 'Ta-dah!' "You're fully bonded now."

"What?" Lovino asked, but his word lacked his usual venom. "I can't-"

Lovino hunched over, his arms desperately pulling at his collar. He couldn't breathe! What the hell was going on?

"The spell must have taken a lot out of you." Lovino could barely focus on his grandfather's words. "Take him to his dorm, Ludwig."

Lovino wanted to protest, but his chest slowly relaxed and exhaustion hit him in waves.

He didn't know what happened afterward. He didn't even remember making it to bed.