Okay, so chapter-wise, this story might not necessarily be the longest one in the series, but wordcount-wise, I think it should end up being fairly formidable. We'll have to see though, it's yet to be determined.
Hooray! I finished my homework yesterday, so I have a good chunk of the week to do whatever I want! I might even write another chapter soon! It'll be the big one before the big one, if you get what I mean. I'll try to draw it out more, really build up the tension. I have some ideas, but I'll have to start writing it to be sure. Be prepared for a large step for someone… or rather, two someones (wink wonk).
Now, the chapter before the last one was emotionally high. Technically, so was the last one. As the title of this chapter will tell you, though, it'll start all cheery… but then something happens… what could it be? You'll have to find out.
Also, if you ever get a chance to eat something called a "white rabbit candy", do it. They're like hard Tootsie Rolls made of milk and vanilla and covered with a thin amount of rice paper, and they are excellent. I first tasted them when my family was in Vancouver for part of the summer and we went to a Chinatown and had lunch and shopped around. I didn't actually like them at first, because the rice paper felt and tasted strange? But I got used to it and even though I rarely get to eat one, I highly recommend them.
Anyway, enough about me. See you at the bottom of the page!
Chapter 8: Being Calmed Before the Storm
The walk did take a while, probably closer to the two-hour end of Gilbert's prediction. However, it certainly didn't feel that way from The Vet's perspective. The mood of the group was much lighter than it had been earlier, and the countries seemed to be having conversations that most of the cult was listening in on to pass the time. Time is relative, and all that.
"Bin nur sagen, I think I'm the favorite of our trio," Gilbert declared.
Francis laughed. "Please, mon amie, with my good looks and magnifique cuisine? I believe that I am the favorite."
"But I'm the Empire Where the Sun Never Sets!" Antonio said in mock childishness. "Clearly that gives me an advantage, si?"
"Psh, non," Francis joked.
"Besides, your empire did fall, so I think that doesn't count." Gilbert nudged Antonio in the ribs good-naturedly. "If we really want to know, we could just ask the cult—"
"That's favoritism, wankers!" Brittany called before returning to her conversation with Casey, Ludwig, and Feliciano.
"She's no fun," Gilbert said lightly.
"She does have a point though, mi amigo. It wouldn't be fair to make the whole cult choose one of us," Antonio pointed out. "Besides, I don't think every cult member has an opinion on us besides 'they're okay, I guess'."
"They're missing out," Francis said.
"Definitely," Antonio and Prussia replied.
"I am only saying, my country is superior to any Chinatown. That includes yours," Yao said, a smile on his face despite his arms being crossed.
"Well, do you have… white rabbit candies?" Matthew asked with a gleam in his purple-blue eyes.
"Of course I do!" Yao glanced at Matthew, who was leaning towards him. "Not on my person, of course, but I have them."
"Oh, maple," Matthew mumbled, but he kept his small smile up. "My turn. I'm just saying, my country has the best mountains in the world!"
Yao barked a laugh. "You would wish for that! Obviously, my mountains are superior."
"My mountains are surrounded by crystal blue waters!"
"My mountains are surrounded by the misty clouds, because they are so high up that they reach the gods!"
They glared at each other for three seconds before busting out laughing. "This is actually kind of fun!" Matthew said, lifting his glasses to wipe his eyes. "We really don't get to talk much, eh?"
"Shi! And to be truly honest, I do admire the waters around your mountains; they are quite lovely."
"I like your mountains, too. I know at least two animated movies that have your mountains in them; from big companies, too! They look so cinematic and impressive."
Yao nodded approvingly. "I would like to see an animated movie with your mountains and lakes as a background. Animated movies are the better kind of movie, wouldn't you say?"
"Definitely."
The Vet smiled at these little conversations. This was the most "normal" she had ever felt while doing cult stuff, and it was nice. She turned to ask The Artist if she had ever had the luxury of trying one of the rabbit candies Matthew had mentioned, when someone stepped between them and clapped his hands a little too hard on their shoulders. "Hey, dudes!" Alfred said cheerily.
"'Sup," The Artist replied.
"Checking in again?" Vet asked.
"Of course! You're my citizens, and I wanna make sure you're doing okay. So… how are you?"
Vet shrugged, but not hard enough to remove Alfred's hand from her shoulder. "Pretty much the same as last time you checked. I was mostly listening to the others talking. I had no idea you guys could be so… chill. Like, in the anime, you're all usually yelling and fighting and stuff."
Alfred let go of her shoulder to rub his neck. "Haha, yeah… we, uh, still kinda do that. Especially Arthur and Francis. Some things never change, I guess."
"Guess so," The Artist said, a bit of a far away look in her eyes.
Alfred patted her shoulder, a little more gently this time. "Still feeling down, huh?"
"…Kinda," she replied. "I mean, I guess I'm happier than I've been in a while? Everyone's just talking and walking and we're just hanging, but… I can't stop thinking about The Author. How we're gonna find her and all. And… what we'll do after we rescue her. Me and her, I mean."
"Well, you said Lovino and Feli told you to talk to her, right? Just do it, man!"
"Duh, I'm going to do that, it's just…" The Artist paused. "I want to do it right, but I'm not sure if I know how to, y'know?"
Vet hummed. "I think you should carry the conversation a bit, maybe ask questions and let her give as long an answer as she likes. Reply to any questions she has, obviously, but don't let it consume the conversation. Does that make sense?"
The Artist nodded. "That's kind of what Feli and Lovino said, too."
"I think that's a good start HOLY-COW-WHAT-IS-THAT?!" Alfred yelled, making the two girls cringe and step to the side. They looked up to see what he was pointing at.
"…Huh," Vet said. Everyone heard Alfred yelling and looked to him, turning their gaze and gasping at what was ahead of them… and above them.
The building was the largest in the city by far, surrounded by a round moat and raised up from the ground on a round piece of land. There was no grass on this raised land and the moat was a filthy black, but the building itself seemed to be in fine shape. It was also round, with a domed roof and several large entrances on all sides that didn't seem to be blocked by anything aside from not having ways to get to them. Vet glanced around and noticed that surrounding the moat was a circular sort of plaza, with cobblestone streets extending from it in front of the entrances. It was clear that this building—whatever it was—was the very center of the town.
"Would anyone like to identify what this is?" Brittany asked after a second. "Is it supposed to be a castle, or-?"
"Actually, I believe it is a citadel," Kiku piped up. "Though I have never seen one like this…"
"A Citadel of the Onis…?" Brittany pondered. Gilbert blinked. He could have sworn he just heard someone whisper "roll credits!", but it might've just been his imagination. "I suppose the question now is how we get in—" Brittany began.
"Stop," Ludwig said, holding up a hand. "We have been walking for approximately one hour, fifty-three minutes, and forty-five seconds—"
"Forty-four and a half seconds," Gilbert corrected.
"Ja, ja, danke. Anyway, the point is that we should rest before continuing the investigation. As much as I'd like to begin finding a way in immediately, I also know the importance of attending to personal needs. Thus, we shall rest our legs out here before focusing on the battle plan."
"That is a good idea, Ludwig," Brittany nodded. "Alright, new plan: everyone take-five, we'll reconvene in… how does twenty minutes sound?" A few cult members cheered. "Good. Don't wander too far, and remember the time limit!"
The group began to break off into small groups. The Artist turned to The Vet and said, "Hey, I think I'm gonna talk to Francis for a bit."
Vet raised an eyebrow. "Why Francis?"
"Well, he's supposed to be good with relationships, right?"
"Yeah, romantic relationships."
"Friendship is a kind of romance, too!"
"If you're a Homestuck, sure. I'm not following."
"I'm just saying, since Author and I are moirails, maybe he could help me know how to be a good friend? I don't exactly have the best track record with friends, you know."
"Believe me, I know all too well." Vet sighed. "Okay, you go do that, then. I'm gonna talk to…" she looked around at the groups. Some cult members were talking with their favorite countries, some had split into close friend groups… but there was one person who seemed to be by himself. And he didn't look happy. "…Ivan. I think I'll talk to Ivan."
"Huh?" The Artist looked over The Vet's shoulder to see the tallest country. "Why Ivan-? Oh. Yeah, go talk to him. See you in twenty."
"Later." Vet waved and made her way to Ivan. He was standing off to the side, away from the other groups. He wasn't smiling, but as The Vet got closer, she could see it wasn't because he was angry. He looked almost… scared? "Hey," she said quietly, but he still jumped and looked at her with big purple eyes.
"…Ah. Vet. Privyet. Do you need something from me, or…?"
"Actually, it looked like you needed something. Why're you standing all by yourself? I'm sure some of the cult members would love to talk to you."
Ivan shuffled awkwardly. "It is… not that I would not like to speak with them, it is just… I am not sure if this is something I should say in front of a large number of people, da?"
Vet looked at him curiously. "Something personal, huh? Like a crush?"
He looked at her in annoyance. "I do not crush people anymore. I am doing my best to not hurt my friends. I do not believe that I am having to explain this to you."
"Not what I meant," Vet said quickly. "Why don't you tell me what it is? We can figure out what to do from there."
Ivan paused. "I… I suppose that could be an option… I am just worried about… 'that thing' overhearing, da?"
That thing…? The Vet thought. Oh… that thing. She glanced around the area. It didn't seem to be around, but that didn't mean anything when it popped in and out of sight whenever it pleased. She hummed, then gestured towards the street next to the one they had been walking along. "Let's try to talk about it away from everyone. It might be safer."
"…Very well." Ivan nodded and walked with her to the street corner. Once there, he pulled out his cellphone and tapped the screen a bit. "When you were playing the, ah, 'game', tell me: how much did you see? Or hear?"
"Well, to be honest, I didn't actually play the game, I just watched a few let's plays. But if it has to do with your cellphone, then… I think I remember something about a one-sided phone call…"
"Da," Ivan said. "I had a conversation with someone, but I wasn't sure who that voice was at the time. I never told anyone about it because I did not think it would matter anymore, but I did not delete it for some time. But I am thinking I now know the speaker. Listen." He turned on the speaker and clicked an icon of a recorded message. Vet listened carefully:
"What took you so long?" Ivan's voice asked in annoyance. "What have you been doing?"
"I was just curious as to how you were harassing Italy Veneziano like I asked," A staticky voice that sounded barely familiar said coolly. "Or has he been harassing you…?"
"What? Harrassed?" Ivan's voice asked.
"I'm simply asking for someone…"
"Just tell me already. Do you want to cooperate with me or not?
"Actually, it is you who will cooperate with me."
"What the heck?"
"Must I repeat the deal? Get Italy Veneziano alone, and then he will be—"
"I don't care."
"Evidently."
"Where are you right now?"
"Same place as always. I'd be out sooner if you'd all stop trying so hard to survive."
"We are making progress, aren't we? And why can I hear a voice?"
"Not the kind of progress she wants, but yes… progress. As for the voice… another piece of the plan. Her way of convincing you. It was easy enough for me to get into your head."
"…Why would you do that?"
"Because I work for her. I thought that was obvious."
"I can't believe it."
"I can't believe it took you this long to figure that out. Don't you find it weird how everything seems to be going the right direction for you all?"
"I did find it weird."
"…However?"
"Playing tricks like this…"
"Um…" a faint voice that was unmistakably Matthews could be heard. Ivan's voice gasped and the recording stopped.
"…That isn't who I think it is, is it?" Vet asked slowly.
Ivan nodded and put his phone away. "That is not the first time it had called me, but that was the only message I recorded."
"What was this 'deal' about Feli?" Ivan hesitated. "Ivan?"
"It… wanted me to get Feliciano away from everyone and lead him into a trap. Then I would… leave him there. To die."
Vet's heart dropped. "But… you didn't… right?"
Ivan sighed and hung his head. "I am ashamed to say I almost did. Before we formed our human alliance, things like world power were still on my mind. I was promised to be the only surviving country, along with my sisters, and we would control the masses as we saw fit, without our leaders getting in the way. I immediately abandoned the plan once our alliance was formed, but that doesn't change the fact I considered it." He looked away from her, head still bent. "I… will be understanding if everyone thinks less of me for it. Even in this alliance of friendship, I am the bad one."
The Vet took a shaky breath and touched his arm. He looked at her in surprise. "The important thing is, is that you didn't go through with it. You did the right thing. You're going to have to tell the others, but I think they'll understand in time."
"'In time'," Ivan repeated with a breathy laugh. "That is how it always is for me."
"And always will be, dude." The two jumped and turned towards the path extending from the citadel. It was still smiling, but much more menacingly. "They'll never forgive you. But you don't need to worry about that…" Vet pulled out her pistol and Ivan gripped a metal pipe he'd had under his coat like a baseball bat.
It began to bubble and morph, turning from the little-ish white blob with a face into something with arms, legs, and a terrible smile on its face. "Because you'll all soon be DEAD."
(To the tune of the bridal march) Here comes the storm~!
So another unresolved plot point of the original game is revealed: Ivan was talking on the phone with Mochi America, who is working for a certain someone we've only heard the voice of! What was going to happen to Feliciano after he was alone? If you've read the other books, you could probably make a pretty good guess, especially the second book. Poor Feli… it'll only get worse for him from here, not to spoil too much.
There's another plot point of the original game that will be unveiled in the beginning of the next chapter, something that will only make sense if you've played/watched someone play all the way to the end of the known game. What could it be…? You'll have to wait and see-eee~!
I managed to come up with a plan on how to get you, The Reader, to learn what the other countries are like. I think I did pretty well! I don't know if Matthew and Yao have ever really interacted in canon before, or if they did, it was very minor and I don't remember. I think they'd like to compare their cultures and share their interests in animated movies. Poor Ivan, though…
What will the Mochi America turn into? Who is it working for? What is the big step two people will take? Find out next time, in "The Citadel of the Onis"! Also, the "roll credits" was technically The Author, but that was more me and not her, if you follow me. Anyway, see you later, probably pretty soon! Until then!
