This chapter is short-handed as 'the Big Ass Fight Chapter' in my outline. That is an accurate assessment.

Enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-Six: Where It All Crashes Down

Seychelles only had a moment to stare in stunned disbelief at both Matthew and Toris before an ear-shattering screech tore through the air and pulled her attention away to the diminutive woman with the murderous stare.

Natalia. Her doll-like face twisted into a sneer and a sheen rippled over her skin as it went diamond-hard with her Talent. Seychelles tightened her grip on her double swords and narrowed her eyes at the fanatical woman as she began to advance on them.

Seychelles was distracted momentarily as Basch rushed forward, his guns out and firing before anyone had a chance to react. He wasn't shooting at Natalia though; he was shooting at a group of men and women who had popped out from down the hall, rushing towards them. He took position over a blond woman and two kids she was shielding near where Matthew and Toris were standing, shooting at the rushing crowd, most with weapons, but a few with Talents that started manifesting offensively. Basch took out one who was bringing what looked like lightening crawling up his arms with a well-aimed shot to the shoulder, reloading before the man had even collapsed and taking out a woman with a two-sided ax hefted above her head with a bullet to the knee.

Natalia was not distracted and came screaming towards Seychelles with what looked like extensions of her arms shaped into blades that Seychelles just managed to block in time. She didn't need to worry for too long as Gilbert attacked Natalia on her other side, distracting her enough for Seychelles to recover herself and her footing. She pressed back with her own double swords, Gilbert and herself working in tandem as they blocked and parried each swipe from Natalia.

Rosa and Alejandro had rushed past the three of them and were fighting the group of people Basch was still firing on, Rosa's whip moving like a snake through the crowd while her other hand held a curved knife. Alejandro only had one weapon, like Gil, but his sword was huge and required both hands to wield it. He had only paused briefly as he passed Matthew, before heading off to fight back the crowd.

"Matthew, get the fuck out of here," he had cried though, surprising everyone just a bit, before swinging that huge sword of his around.

"Where's my brother?" Matthew shouted instead.

"He's at the south entrance, with the other group," Basch yelled back tersely, firing off another shot around Rosa and Alejandro and taking out a man ready to hack off Rosa's head. That one had been a headshot. "Who the fuck are these kids? Get them out, we've got this!"

"I am not leaving!" Matthew shot back.

Seychelles met Gilbert's eyes from where he had pushed back Natalia, sending her skidding backwards from them a few feet. "You got her for a minute?"

Gilbert nodded, reading her lips, his grin feverish. "Yeah, for a minute. She's tough motherfucker though so don't take too long."

Seychelles nodded and let him rush Natalia so she could head over to Matthew and Toris. Basch was still firing and reloading faster than she could follow, never missing from his intended target. "Matthew, Toris, it's fucking good to see you, but unless you got a weapon, you've got to let us handle this. We have a plan."

"I am not leaving," Matthew repeated, his voice harder than Seychelles had ever remembered it being. He had a look about him that matched that voice, so much different than the sweet, pouting teenager she had last remembered.

Seychelles did not have time to argue. "Fine, get a weapon off one of those assholes and for gods sake, don't get hurt. Alfred will kill me. Basch, cover him!"

Matthew wasted no time and rushed into the very fray they were trying to rescue him from. Those Jones boys, they were made from tougher stock than that though. She turned to Toris, who looked pale and shell-shocked. "Toris, can you get these people out? Or, away from the battle? I can't have my people trying to protect them and each other."

"I—y-yes. Yes, I can," Toris said. "Is Feliks—?"

Seychelles nodded, gripping his arm when his knees nearly gave at the news. "Yes, he's with the other group, at the southern entrance. We need to get through and meet in the middle with them—can you still heal?"

Toris nodded.

"Good, we'll probably need it. Get them out first," Seychelles gestured to the woman and the two kids with her, well, maybe teenagers was a better descriptor than kids. Still, they had no business being in this fight. "And then come back and help where you can—we're ending this tonight."

Toris looked like he wanted to say something, share something, but he nodded instead, and guided the woman and two kids towards the bombed out entrance. "Oksana, Raivis, Asmin! Come on!"

Seychelles did not spare them another glance, refocusing her attention back on Gilbert and Natalia. "Basch! Can your bullets get through her skin?"

Basch aimed and took a shot at a big man who had barreled towards Matthew, who had grabbed someone's dropped sword and was fighting next to Alejandro despite the big man's disapproval. "Unlikely. My bullets are made of lead. But the speed of them might hurt her, and I got something else that might do the trick."

"Then help Gilbert. We need to get through the halls to the center and meet up with the rest!"

Basch nodded and swung around, reloading and shooting in the same movement, hitting Natalia square in the chest, knocking her back from Gilbert. Seychelles pushed to join Rosa, Alejandro, and Matthew, swords out and cutting down the mob of attackers, which had dwindled significantly. She did not know if they would have any luck in actually defeating Natalia without something like that knife Sadiq had, but Basch had that dangerous glint in his eyes that implied maybe he did have an ace up his sleeve. She could only trust him and Gilbert to handle her while they took care of the rest and pushed their way to meet the other group.

Rosa and Alejandro made good headway with Ivan's followers and looked back at Seychelles briefly once the last of their attackers was down (dead or otherwise, Seychelles was trying not to focus on that). "Go, you know the plan! I'll be right behind you."

Rosa took off, Alejandro following after he brushed his hands gently over Matthew's long hair from where it was spilling out of the bun he had tied it up with, but before Matthew could follow, Seychelles grabbed his arm, shaking her head. "You need to stay here until Natalia is incapacitated, so Gilbert and Basch can focus on her. They'll need you to cover them in case any more of these guys come this way or slip by us."

"No, I need to get to Alfred," Matthew argued.

"Alfred will be okay, Mattie," Seychelles said bracingly. "You know about Arthur? Well, he's with Alfred and has his Talent. Ivan could not steal it, like Toris. And he knows how to use it. Alfred also got his strength back—he does not need your help, Gilbert and Basch do. Stay, here."

Matthew stared at her, conflict clear in his blue eyes, the violet in them more pronounced than in Alfred's, before he nodded tightly. "Ivan has something planned—he knew you were coming."

"We know, we're ready," Seychelles said, confident in Arthur's Talent after all she had seen him do.

"Sure," Matthew said sarcastically, his own voice confident in his belief that Seychelles was wrong. He took a deep breath and gave her a more reassuring smile, clearly trying to believe her words. He looked more like the Matthew Jones she knew then. "Go. I'll stay here and back Gil and Basch up."

Seychelles nodded gratefully and took off after Rosa and Alejandro, her heart racing as her footsteps echoed down the hall, Gilbert and Basch's fight with Natalia fading with each step she took.

They were here.

Ivan could hear the fighting echoing from both sides of his compound, using the hunter's Talent to hear through the stone walls. He had to admit, he was surprised by the organized assault and the speed with which they had crossed into Ruthenia and scaled the mountain from when Dmitri had last contacted him. He wondered if Dmitri was here too or—or if he had been lost as well. Like Eduard. Like others as the sound of swords and yells, even splashes of blood against the stone floors, echoed back to him in his workshop.

But that was immaterial. Because they were here. Finally. And now, it was time.

Alfred and Kirkland.

His Vision.

It was finally time to move his final pieces into place.

He had strengthened himself with has many Talents as he felt prudent to accomplish his task at hand. All the remaining stones had been carried to the transformed Barrens and were prepared for his final move to destroy the Balance and restore Ruthenia. And most of his loyal and powerful followers were there, waiting for him and his arrival. He only had two more pieces that were needed to move into position, and they had both arrived and were making their way towards him, as he knew they would. As they had to. They just did not realize that their movements were his own designs.

Time to move.

Ivan gathered up his notes and stored them away before he called forth the firebreath and set his workshop ablaze. After tonight, it would no longer be needed. Once satisfied that it was destroyed, he called the fire back and brought forth the Gaul's man future sight and spied through his home to see the near future and determine where they were. Hopefully, they were not far from one another, as that would make things more difficult. However, when he looked forward, he saw both at the southern entrance and then they were separated by a one of the pillars of his home collapsing. Still close, still in the right position, but with enough distance for Ivan to do what was necessary.

He blinked out of the future sight, back to the present, and smiled at how the fates leant him their favor. It was perfect. He was almost directly above them and if he moved into position, planned his strike exactly right, he would cause the collapse of the pillar the near future had shown him.

Everything was proceeding as it should be.

Alfred had only needed to hit the doors once to fling them open. A part of him was a little bummed that it had all been so anticlimactic. Creeping up to the gate, shedding their winter coats as the crept into position, everyone getting their weapons at the ready, waiting until Sadiq's clock told them it was midnight to bust in the doors with one of his signature punches, and then they were inside, no one there to greet them. It was good, it was, but seriously?

All that build for nothing.

He frowned at Arthur as they crept forwards, and Arthur gave him a truly exasperated look as they all made it inside.

Do not pout! You cannot possibly be upset that we managed to sneak in undetected!

Alfred made to argue back, but Arthur's voice was silent, Alfred's was not. He rolled his eyes and grabbed one of his pistols from his back holsters. Arthur wouldn't understand, the fuddy-duddy that he was. A big, exciting entrance by the heroes was how it was always supposed to go down in the epic stories, and they were definitely living one of those stories now!

Still, Arthur was probably right—no time to be bummed out over the entrance, they had bigger fish to fry right now, namely one Ivan Braginski.

Esther took point, crouching low and moving forward with all the stealth of a panther or some other cool animal. She had her knives at the ready and crept forward through the hallway, motioning them to ahead after peeking around the corner and satisfied with what she saw or didn't see. They moved purposefully through the entry way and into the one of the main arteries through the castle according to the layout Seychelles had given them, taking a fork up to the left to head towards their rendezvous point. As the continued to move unchallenged, Alfred wondered if that spy had been lying somehow and Braginski really didn't know they were coming for him.

However, as they entered the main antechamber for the south end of the palace, a bunch of people literally seemed to pop out of the walls and rushed them. Alfred grinned—this was way more like it.

It may have just been the five of them, but that didn't seem to matter. Alfred shot his pistols and used his strength when some folks broke in to close to him or the others. Esther moved so fast and deadly she was a blur and would've fooled him that she did have her speed back. Feliks was not quite as fast, but he fought way dirtier and twirled his daggers around with a crazy smile. Sadiq had his scimitar out and was both taking out their attackers while also provided defense for them, mostly for Arthur and Feliks.

And Arthur—Arthur was a fucking revelation.

He wasn't even doing anything super fancy with his Talent, sticking with a simple 'stop' command, but when he held up his hand directed it at someone, they froze in their tracks and allowed for him or someone else to take them out. He looked like some sort of avenging Fey or something, green eyes bright and fierce. Alfred may have gotten a little distracted because the next thing he knew, one of their assailants got around Feliks and was coming for him, but before Alfred even got his pistol up, Arthur had commanded him to stop and punched him so hard he went skidding back, crumpled to the floor. Alfred stared at him and found that he was incredibly attracted to this badass version of Arthur he had never really seen before.

Focus, would you, darling? Arthur smirked at him, obviously reading Alfred's thoughts like the damn wizard he was. Now is not the time to be distracted.

"Says you," Alfred shouted back, firing a pistol into a woman charging Arthur. He smirked right back at Arthur's wide green eyes and waggled his eyebrows at him, teasing. "I'll have you know I can multitask just fine, honey."

"Are you two actually serious right now?!" Feliks screamed at them. "Enough fucking flirting! Totally fighting for our lives right now!"

Alfred laughed, enjoying the red that dusted Arthur's cheeks at Feliks' scolding, still embarrassed in the middle of a brawl. He loved his ridiculous Britannian and couldn't help watching him spin off to help Sadiq fend off three attackers at once.

Still, Feliks did have a point, so he focused back to the fight at hand. They were making good headway, none of their attackers able to really get close enough to do much, if any, harm to any of them. Alfred was a little surprised that none of the people attacking appeared to be Talentborn, as he knew Braginski had plenty of them that followed him instead of getting their magic stripped away. But these guys—they were all Talent-less, no magic at all it seemed. They were still tough, and definitely fought with the rage of someone following Braginski's crazy mission, but still.

It was weird.

Alfred ducked under one such crazy person's wild swing and rammed his shoulder into his chest, sending him flying back and into a wall. Then, he felt something like a shudder and watched as a big crack seem to split down the side of one of the walls, a big pillar shuddering and then crumbling over into the narrower hallway. Alfred saw Arthur and Sadiq were directly underneath and felt fear grip his chest. "Arthur! Look out!"

Arthur looked up and saw the pillar coming down. He didn't hesitate, shoving into Sadiq to push them both out of the way and reaching out at the pillar with on hand.

-Crumble!-

The pillar did just that, breaking into smaller pieces and blocking the hallway where it and other parts of the castle and ceiling fell, Alfred on one side of the rubble, Arthur on the other. The castle gave another ominous groan and Alfred scrapped his idea of punching through the pile of rubble and chunks of the ceiling that towered high in the hallway—he wasn't sure how stable this section of the castle was at all anymore. If he punched through, he might end up causing some unseen pressure point to give, which could cause further collapse and damage.

"Arthur! You and Sadiq all right?" Alfred shouted, pressing his hands to the rubble, letting Esther and Feliks fend off the attackers on their side for a minute.

Yes, Arthur's voice came through in his head. Alfred exhaled sharply, relieved. We're both fine. The followers on our side were caught in the collapse. It's just us. Stand back, I can—

"No!" Alfred shouted. "No, it's not stable, any wrong movement can send more shit down. It'll take you time to figure out the right phrasing. Just go. Chelles and the others need you guys to get the meeting point. We'll take care of the guys stuck on our side and make our way around. There's a secondary pathway down through what that shifter said was detention blocks, we can find the mess hall from there."

Alfred…

"Go," Alfred said, a little less frantic, but still firm. "We'll be all right. Sadiq, you keep his scrawny ass safe, you hear?"

"Of course," Sadiq said at the same time Arthur shouted, Oi! I can look after myself!

"Good – go!" Alfred listened to their footsteps echo down the hall until they faded before he turned and holstered his pistol on his back again.

He cracked his neck and knuckles, a determined frown crossing his face before rushing the few attackers still up on their side. He was determined to end this as fast as possible so they didn't lose too much time having to take their detour.

"Argh, Damnit!" Gil yelled out, ducking to avoid an especially nasty looking swing from diamond-girl's arm-blade thingys. Natalia may have been a small crazy lady, but fucking hells, she was a tough bitch to pin down.

The good thing about being deaf was that at least he couldn't hear any of the crazy crap she was no doubt just spewing all over as she fought him and Basch. If the blond sourpuss' face was anything to go by, it was especially screwy. Well, maybe he wished he could hear just a little bit of it, as it was probably hilarious.

"Shit! Would you keep her from slicing me, you blond asswipe!" Gilbert shouted, barely dodging another one of the swipes of her blades. "Useless, sharpshooting jackass!"

Gilbert of course could not hear Basch's retort and was too busy trying not to get sliced to ribbons to look over and read his lips, but he imagined it was probably inventive. He liked the little guy's creativeness with insults, he had to admit. If he wasn't such a tight ass, Gilbert very much would have considered tapping that at some point during their time together, because he also liked the ass that went with those clever insults. But Basch was about as rigid as they came—Gilbert did not bother with repressed virgins.

He brought his sword up to parry one of Natalia's attacks and shoved her off and into Basch's line of fire. He fired and she was knocked down—however, as the last few bouts of this proved, she didn't stay down for long and was back up, screaming it looked like, and making her way towards them.

"Any bright ideas?" Gilbert asked as Basch reloaded. "I'm open here, nothing we're doing seems to be doing shit."

Basch nodded and shot her again so Gilbert had a few moments to read his lips. "Roderich had something commissioned for me. It's in my pack, which is over by the wall those kids were hiding under. Hold her off and keep her focus on you, and I can take her out."

"I am getting really fucking tired of being told to be this broad's punching bag," Gilbert grumbled, but didn't argue with Basch's plan which the blond took as agreement. Another thing he liked about him—he was direct as fuck. Basch darted away and Gilbert rushed Natalia as she was struggling to get up.

Gilbert barely rolled out of the way of a vicious swipe she sent his way and he saw poor, kidnapped Mattie start to rush over with the shitty sword he'd swiped off one of the dead goons and he felt like strangling the kid. He was definitely Hero's brother, had those same dumbass heroic notions.

"Keep the hell back, Mattie!" Gilbert yelled. "I got this!"

Gilbert was not entirely sure he did actually 'have this', but he wasn't dead yet so that counted for something.

He hoped Chelles and the others didn't have any more of these tough-ass psychos along their way and that they were able to meet up with the other group on time. It would be a fucking shame if their grand plan got shot to shit because one too many Talentborn assholes like dear Natalia. If they had their Talents back, it would have been a whole other story, he definitely wouldn't be so outmatched by a bratty—

"Ugh!" He grunted, feeling her diamond-sharp blade cut through his side. "Oh, you bitch."

He dropped his sword and pressed his hands to the bleeding cut, gritting his teeth and he had to force himself to stay on his feet and not give in the urge to go to his knees to try and relieve the pressure. Natalia smiled and he saw Matthew call his name and start to rush towards him, and Gilbert had the fleeting regret that he wasn't going to make it to see that smug look on Braginski's face get wiped by their very own Eyebrows. That, and that he left shit with Lizzie so bad—oh well.

But, luckily for him, he was saved for any more maudlin thoughts by Basch.

Beautiful, hot, fucking sneaky-ass Basch Zwingli who snuck in behind Natalia and stab her with a fucking knife that looked to be made of diamonds. She screamed, wrenching around to swing her blades at Basch's head. He tore the knife out of her back, ducked and drove it back into the same shoulder from the front as he straightened back to his full height, driving her back until he pinned her to the wall.

Matthew skidded to a stop next to him then and helped guide Gilbert down to his knees. Gilbert groaned as he went down and hoped that Toris hadn't high tailed it down the mountain following their big rescue. He could really use some grade-A healing right about now. Basch had stepped away from Natalia and was glaring at her as she screamed and cried, her skin rippling back to normal in her pain and exhaustion.

"Didn't feel like sharing with the class that you got yourself a fucking diamond knife, Baschy?" Gilbert gasped out, groaning as he felt Matthew's hands press to his side to help staunch the bleeding too.

Basch rolled her eyes and turned to Gilbert so he could read his lips. "Roderich commissioned it, I told you. Figured you wouldn't want to be bothered by gifts from "Rhoddy'. Besides, Sadiq had his knife, this was more as a back-up. Came in handy though—Toris!"

"Oh thank fuck," Gilbert murmured as he saw Toris hurry into view. "Good, you didn't leave. Heal me up, buddy."

"Of course I didn't leave," Toris grumbled. He knocked Matthew's hands away and placed his own over Gilbert's wound. The familiar green glow Gilbert had sorely missed the past two years flowed from him and Gilbert took a deep breath as he felt the wound in his side heal shut. Tender for sure, but not bleeding out anymore.

"Oh, that's the fucking stuff. Have I mentioned how much I missed you, Tory?" Gilbert was a little offended that Toris did not find his charms amusing, but whatever. "All right, help me up, Mattie. Time to end Miss Stabby now."

Gilbert blinked as everyone's heads snapped to behind him and he turned and saw the blond woman with the enormous cans rushing over. The two kids were following her, both wide-eyed and probably scared shitless. The blond boy looked like he was about to pass out. Gilbert focused his eyes on the blond chick and followed her lips.

"—can't! Please, she is just misguided!"

Ah—they had a bleeding heart it seemed. Ready to plea for her captors. Great.

"She is not misguided, Oksana!" Matthew spat. "She would have killed all of us, you included, for trying to leave and stop Ivan!"

"Please! Please just don't kill her! Toris, don't let them do it—we've already lost Eduard, I can't lose her too!"

Toris looked torn, which annoyed Gilbert, but he couldn't blame him. The guy had been kidnapped by these psychos for a while. It made sense there was some form of attachment that got formed. "Oksana, I…"

"Enough," Basch said, his face cold. "I don't make it a habit of killing a disarmed opponent. She's not going anywhere for the time being. You want us to spare her, you can keep her alive and if we win, we can decide what we do then, but for now we—"

"Ivan is not here to fight any of you!" Oksana shouted, tears streaming down her face.

"Oksana, I know you believe there is good in him, but—" Toris started before she cut him off.

"It is not that! I mean, the people here, that you are fighting, they are a fraction of his forces. He sent most of them through to the Barrens earlier this week, including many of the Talentborn."

Basch's brow furrowed in confusion. "Is he still here though?"

Oksana nodded, tearfully.

Basch, if possible, looked even more confused. "Then, if his main supporters aren't even here, why is he?"

"Oh fucking hells," Gilbert swore, as it all clicked into place. Fucking Braginski—always one step ahead of them. Every single time. "Because he's not here to fight us, like Tits here said. He's setting a fucking trap."

"Alfred," Matthew let out and he pushed up off the ground and sprinted down the hall in the direction Seychelles had gone earlier. Basch called out after him and looked back at Gilbert.

"Go, cover him. I'll keep watch over our prisoner and Tits here," Gilbert said. "Better go with him, Toris. They're gonna need you more than we will."

Toris nodded grimly and followed Basch as they both took off after Matthew.

"…shit," Gilbert let out and hoped they didn't just give Ivan exactly what he wanted with this whole fucking scheme.

The hallways were eerily empty and quiet—Arthur did not like it one bit.

After the roof partially collapsed and the pillar fell in the main hallways, blocking him and Sadiq off from the rest of their group, they had taken off by themselves to meet up with Seychelles group in the center of the castle, the mess hall. Arthur and Sadiq had both been on high alert and ready for any more of Ivan's followers to attack them, but they had encountered nothing since being separated from Alfred and the others. It unnerved him, put him on edge; Sadiq felt similarly, if the way his dark eyes kept darting around and his fingers kept clenching on the pommel of his scimitar was any indication. There was also the fact that the pathways the shifter had drawn on the blueprints looked to be wrong, making it impossible for Arthur to determine if they were heading in the right direction.

But Arthur knew that Dmitri had not been able to lie, not while he was compelling him with his Voice, so if the pathways on the layout he had provided them were wrong, it meant that they had been changed. And changed recently if the scuff marks he noticed on the stone floor were any indication. The growing sense of unease in his stomach made his breath come in a little quicker and was not helped by the fact that Sadiq was not understanding what he was trying to pantomime, his tablet and quill at camp with Francis and Kiku. When they had headed out, it had not made sense to bring it as Arthur could communicate as needed through Alfred and the pendant, but now he was separated from Alfred and isolated with a man who couldn't read his lips and the fucking pathways had been changed.

"How are we not with the other group yet?" Sadiq grumbled, again. He snatched the layout Arthur was holding, rather uselessly at this point, and studied it, frustration clear on his face. "That shifter must have figured out a way to lie…"

Arthur shook his head, just as frustrated himself, but Sadiq was not paying attention. Arthur smacked his arm to get his attention and tried to motion out his words again for him. He pointed at Sadiq and shook his head no, no Dmitri had not lied to them, and then to the layout in Sadiq's hands with a thumbs up, the map was correct, and then motioned at a fresh set of scrape marks over the stone ground in front of them, look at where the fucking wall moved, you daft buffoon! Arthur was sure that last bit did not quite come through, but Sadiq's face seemed to comprehend some of what Arthur had motioned, so he repeated the movements again.

"You are saying…this map is accurate?" Sadiq deciphered correctly. Arthur let out a relieved breath and nodded. He pointed at the wall in front of them, the gouges in the stone on the ground, and then at the open pathway on the blueprint. Sadiq's eyes roved over where Arthur pointed. "This wall was moved?"

Yes, Arthur mouthed with a nod.

Sadiq frowned and knelt, brushing his fingers along the marks on the ground, rubbing the fresh powder covering the ground between his fingers. "This was done recently. This ground stone, it is fresh."

Arthur nodded. Sadiq swore in his native tongue and stood, shoving the layout back to Arthur as he heaved up his great sword in favor of his scimitar. His stance and demeanor changed to a battle-ready one as natural as breathing. "Braginski is doing this, him or a lackey who has a Talent that allows him to move the walls. Stay close, do not wander."

Right, like he would do that, Arthur thought sardonically. He did not argue though, not when he felt hunted and cornered and like every element of their surprise had been contrived. "Do you know where we would be on this map, if the walls had not been changed?"

Arthur had a rough idea, but that was it. He shrugged and traced his finger from where they had entered and then been separated from their group, recalling the different turns they'd had to take as they moved towards the mess hall. He pointed at a general area that was to the north of the mess hall. They had not gone up or down any stairwells, so they were likely still on the same floor of the mess hall, but according to the notes the shifter had made, they were closer to some of the living quarters rather than the hall. He showed Sadiq this on the map before stuffing it away and grabbing his own sword.

Sadiq grunted and tightened his grip. "Keep your eyes open, Kirkland. He is doing this for a purpose, and we cannot afford any mistakes. You recall what I told you about hunting mongoose?"

Arthur nodded, the conversation he and Sadiq had on the ship several months past coming through his memories easily.

After we had learned all we could, then we would hunt. We caught the mongoose nearly every time.

"Our hunter is here, little mongoose," Sadiq murmured. "Time to bare our teeth."

Allusions to the cat-like carnivore aside, Arthur agreed, and readied himself, pulling every ounce of bravery he had to the forefront and letting the magic of his Voice tickle the back of his throat, wanting it ready even if he was not all that sure what he was going to use it for yet.

In the end though, it hardly mattered.

Movement to his left, by the suspected moved wall, caught Arthur's attention and he barely had time to hit Sadiq's side before the stone seemed to explode forward and Arthur felt something heavy push into him, knocking him back down the hallway. He hit the ground hard and felt the breath rush out of him on impact, the sword he had in his hand skittering out of reach. Adrenaline pushed him into action, and he scrambled back to his feet, his eyes landing on a man he had not seen in months, not since the forest in the Nords where he had terrorized him and nearly captured him, his eyes just as frostily violet now as they'd been then.

Ivan Braginski smiled coldly at him. Arthur could not help the swell of familiar fear at the man and the creeping knowledge that Voice or not, Arthur was hopelessly outmatched despite what any of them had thought.

"I welcome you to my home, Mr. Kirkland," Ivan said softly, dangerously. "Tell me, have you embraced your nature and cast off your Britannian upbringing to face me here today?"

Arthur's eyes narrowed and he let his anger and indignation at Ivan's condescension rise in place of his fear and he raised his hand, calling his Voice up to force Ivan to hold still. But before he could let out the command, Ivan disappeared through a portal, sending the wall of stone in front of them careening towards Arthur. Sadiq moved in front of Arthur and brought his huge sword to clash against the stone, breaking it apart and using his own large body to keep Arthur from getting hit with the debris of their collision. He dropped the mostly ruined sword down and brought back up his scimitar, whirling around to swing at Ivan who had appeared behind them through another portal, the Grecian man's tentacle limbs out and flailing about, knocking into both Sadiq and Arthur, sending them crashing back down.

Sadiq recovered quicker than Arthur and was up, roaring as he charged Ivan, ducking under a chuck of stone Ivan heaved at him before Arthur had gotten back to his feet, ducking out of the way of the stone block himself. Sadiq's scimitar reached Ivan, but the violet-eyed man brought up one of the tentacle limbs in time, grimacing as the limb dropped to the ground, but ducking away through a portal again, quicker than Arthur could shout out a command to stop.

"Come and fight, you coward!" Sadiq shouted out, goading. "Is a fight against a grown man too much for you? Do you prefer to kill children and weaker opponents?"

If Ivan responded to the taunt or not, Arthur could only speculate, but the frown on his face when he popped back through another portal was more pronounced and he looked at Sadiq with disgust. He ducked around another swing of the scimitar, too fast to be natural, and countered Sadiq with a breath of fire, spiraling from his mouth like a dragon. Before the flames could burn Sadiq, Arthur cried out and stopped it his Voice bursting out of him instinctively.

-Burn up all the air and flare out!-

The fire did just that – it flared up and hot in front of Sadiq and then fizzled out into singed air, leaving the large man unharmed and Ivan's attention solely on Arthur.

"So, you do have full control, I had wondered," Ivan said, wonder in his tone. "This is good."

"Kirkland! Stop him now!" Sadiq yelled out, lunging with his scimitar as Ivan was distracted and running him through. Ivan let out a wet-sounding gasp and looked down at the sword puncturing him before meeting Sadiq's eyes as he held the diamond knife to Ivan's throat. "I have not killed you, murderer, but once Kirkland has done whatever is needed to stop you, I will take my vengeance for my cousin and all others you have taken in your foolish quest."

Arthur noticed what Sadiq did not though. There was no blood from the stab wound.

The 'Ivan' Sadiq had stabbed knocked the knife out of his hand and tossed it behind Arthur before pulling the scimitar out and stabbing Sadiq up and through the right side of his chest before the copy faded from a solid form to nothing. Sadiq grunted in pain and fell to his knees, eyes wide and dark with panic as he grasped the pommel of his own scimitar; Arthur could see the tip of it pointing through his right shoulder in his back.

Arthur did not even have time to shout out for Sadiq as in that moment, Ivan appeared behind him and shoved the stolen knife into his abdomen, robbing his breath and thought as pain consumed him.

He would have collapsed if Ivan's other arm had not come around him to hold him up against him, keeping his hold on the dagger in his stomach. Arthur cried out wetly and tried to push at the arm without success.

"Useful Talent, da? Taken from a Nordic man fifty years past, long before you were born. I cannot maintain the solid projection for too long, less so if I act through it, but I have had years to master the Talents I must take. Much longer than your few weeks, Mr. Kirkland, after a lifetime of neglect."

Arthur could not respond, eyes going unfocused as another fiery wave of pain rushed through him as Ivan twisted the dagger slightly, legs useless and Ivan easily taking all of his weight in a sick parody of a comforting hold. He felt his Voice wavering as his focus narrowed down to the stabbing hurt radiating from his stomach through his body—he looked helplessly at Sadiq as he wheezed and tried to make his way towards them.

"Know that you die for your crassness and falsehoods against myself and my followers," Ivan said to Sadiq, voice cold. "Your cousin died for purpose. You die for nothing, in the end, nothing but misplaced pride and vengeance."

Sadiq tried to say something but could only cough up blood. His eyes glared hotly up at Ivan before he collapsed onto one hand, the other still grasped tightly around the pommel of his scimitar.

"Now," Ivan whispered in Arthur's ear, soft and excited. "Let's find Alfred together, da?"

Arthur hazily watched Sadiq disappear as Ivan pulled them through a portal.

Alfred rushed up into the mess hall from their detour through the kitchens, Feliks and Esther following close behind him. It hadn't taken them that long to finish off the rest of the baddies and make their way to the mess hall, but Alfred was still surprised that they were the first ones there. His frown cleared up a little as he saw Seychelles enter from the opposite side with Alejandro and Rosa behind her. They looked like they had made their way through more of Braginski's followers, but looked all right under the dirt, sweat, and hopefully someone else's blood. Alfred jogged up to Seychelles, glancing towards the southern side entrance and trying to push down the uneasy feeling that Arthur and Sadiq weren't here yet.

"Alfred," Seychelles said, voice breathless but relived to see him. "We found Matthew, he's ok."

"You did?! Where is he?" Alfred looked around her eagerly to see if his brother would end coming through the door after them. This made everything way easier if Ivan didn't have Mattie as a bargaining chip.

"With Gilbert and Basch, facing off against Natalia, he's providing back up for them," she responded, she caught Feliks' eager eye and smiled at him. "Toris was with him. They were apparently in the process of escaping, had a few others with them."

Rosa blinked at them. "Where are Sadiq and Arthur?"

"Got separated," Feliks answered. "There was, like, a cave in or whatever. The ceiling came down and a pillar totally cut them off. They had the easier route here though. We had to take a detour."

Alfred looked anxiously back at the southern entrance. The unease started to feel like something else, something worse.

"You guys look like you totally had a harder time of it though," Feliks continued.

"Not as much as we anticipated—and hardly any Talentborn," Seychelles said, her eyes tracking Alfred's as she looked over to the still empty entrance on the other side of the hall. "Alfred, what is it?"

"It's—Arthur and Sadiq should be here by now," he said slowly. "They had the shorter route, like Feliks said and—we had to finish off a few of his followers so we took a minute before we could continue and—none of who we fought were Talentborn."

Alfred trailed off and headed towards the southern entrance of the mess hall, ignoring the others as they called for him to stop and just wait a bit longer. Something was wrong, he could feel it, and he wasn't going to just and wait around. Before he got to the door, he heard someone shout out his name and he turned towards the northern entrance to see a familiar mop of blond hair burst through. Alfred smiled as he saw his brother for the first time in over a year, his hair long, his body skinnier, but unharmed and alive.

"Alfred!" Matthew shouted and started sprinting towards him. Alfred's smile slipped into a confused frown as he saw how frantic his bother looked as he got closer. How scared he looked.

"Mattie! What are you—"

"Al, it's all a trap, Ivan's—"

But, before Matthew could finish that thought, a wall of stone rushed up from the floor of the hall, cutting Alfred off from everyone else. Alfred pounded his fists against the stone with his strength and could hear the others faintly through the stone when it cracked all along the length of it, but then he heard someone else that pulled all his attention.

"Alfred."

He spun around at the sound of Braginski's smooth, unbothered voice, ready to fight, but froze when he saw Arthur held in his arms, blood soaking his clothes, one of Braginski's hands closed around the handle of what had to be a knife digging into Arthur's stomach.

"Arthur!" Alfred breathed. He was alive, he could tell from the glossy, pain-hazed eyes, but he was pale. So fucking pale and his shirt and pants were covered in blood and—he felt fear shake him and he glared hotly up at Braginski, who was watching him with that fucking calm, unfeeling face. "Get the fuck away from him, Braginski."

Ivan signed and Alfred had to restrain himself from not rushing him and punching his face into a pulp. He couldn't, not when he had Arthur and his hand on that fucking knife. "I had hoped, once, that you would see what I am doing is necessary and would see the good from it. Foolish of me, perhaps."

Alfred, don't—don't listen to him…Arthur's voice was weak and thready in his head and Alfred felt another stab of fear at how hurt he was.

"You're fucking deranged if you ever thought I would want to join you," Alfred spat back at Ivan instead. "I swear to every single fucking god there is, if you don't let him go right now, I'm going to—"

"What?" Ivan asked as he twisted the knife and Arthur's scream echoed like a thunderclap inside his head.

"Stop it!"

Ivan did, but didn't let go of Arthur, holding Arthur's limp and shaking form. "I would have preferred to have never involved Mr. Kirkland, Alfred. This was never about him, his Talent would have been merely a means to an end. This has always ever been about you. You and me and what we can do together to reshape this world without the cruelty of the Balance and all its past wrongs."

"Listen, I have no idea what you're talking about," Alfred said frantically, watching as Arthur's eyes drooped further as he continued to bleed out. "But—but if this doesn't involve Arthur, just—just let him go all right?"

Alfred, don't…don't listen…don't…

"I will," Ivan said quietly. "If you come with me and fulfill the destiny we must share together. You and I are two sides of the same coin—your Talent is so much more then the strength it manifests itself and if you were to become one with me, we could change the world for the better."

Don't…please love…don't…

"If—if I go with you, you don't need to use Arthur?"

No…Alfred…

"Of course not," Ivan said, a smile stretching his face. "He was only ever a second-best option. I am sure Toris is free and on the other side of that wall. If you come with me and help me achieve my Vision, I will spare Mr. Kirkland here and Toris should be able to save him. He will live."

Alfred frowned. "But I won't, if I go with you."

Ivan shrugged. "I do not know. I suppose that depends on you."

Alfred…don't you bloody…bloody well do this!

This was one of those moments, Alfred thought dazedly, as he took in Arthur's crumpled, hurt form, Ivan Braginski's maniacal deal, and the choice given to him. One of the moments from the stories he'd loved growing up, that his dad would tell him before bed. The moment where the hero of the story had to make a decision, the decision that would drive the rest of the story or define who he or she would become. He could tell Braginski to go fuck himself, listen to Arthur's pleadings, turn around and bring down that wall and have them all overwhelm him. But they probably could only hope to kill him…and Arthur would die.

He knew, there was no way he could ever make a decision that allowed Arthur to die. Besides, he had a feeling that Arthur was the real hero of this story, not him, so he needed to do everything in his power to make sure he saw this through to the end. No matter what.

Shit, Arthur was gonna be so pissed at him.

Alfred gave Arthur a soft, sad smile. "I can't let you die, Artie. You can beat this asshole, I know it. Braginski, it's a deal. Now let him go."

Alfred walked over towards Braginski, not feeling quite as brave as he hoped he showed, stopping when he was in front of Arthur, ignoring the guilt he felt build up at how devastated Arthur looked, shaking his head and a constant string of 'no's' in repeat in his head. He gave Arthur his biggest smile, doing his best to memorize every inch of his face and the precise green of his eyes, mouthing 'I love you' in case he didn't get the chance to do it again. He was hopefully though, hopefully Arthur could save everyone, even if that didn't include him.

Ivan released the hand on the knife and shoved Arthur away, grabbing a hold of Alfred's arm, ignoring Alfred's shout as Arthur landed roughly next to the stone barrier. Alfred felt a portal open up behind him as Ivan clenched his other fist and brought the stone barrier back down, before Alfred felt a sudden press to sleep, which he belatedly realized was coming from Ivan, one of the stolen Talents we was sure. As his vision went dark and he felt himself start to drift off, he heard two people call out his name, and he let himself be happy that Matthew was safe and Arthur was still alive, so Toris could save him.

"Alfred!"

Alfred…don't…

And then nothing.

As we enter our finale, I would just like to apologize for any and all whumpage done to my boy Artie here. I am, unfortunately, not done with him yet.

Next Update: Tuesday, 6/22, where we will then do daily updates until the story's conclusion, wrapping up with chapter 40 on Friday. I can't wait to share this with you, reader, whoever you all are.