Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 6
Whenever Vlad felt as though he had never been so afraid in his life, something would happen that would introduce him to a new form of fear. And frankly, the past few days, he had grown accustomed to being in a constant state of terror. Of course, it didn't really make it any easier.
Raj and his friends' taunts were painful, but he couldn't understand Lukas and Arthur's reactions to those taunts. They didn't know each other, and Vlad had never been anyone that mattered to anyone else, not since he was taken from his family. Why would they grow angry on his behalf?
There was something that these four were hiding. There was more to this, and he had a feeling that they were dancing around the truth. They wanted their cooperation, but wouldn't it just be easier to take them to their master and force them to show them where the jewels were? And then they would kill them. He didn't mind the dying so much, but the things that would happen to him before he died terrified him.
He just wanted to be away from all of this. He remembered what it was like when Lukas carried him in his arms. It was nice. He wanted to feel like that again. He didn't want to feel this terror. And he didn't want to be in the same room with people that were willing to hurt him. Granted, he'd been in the position before many times, but something just told him that this time was far worse.
"Don't you ever imply that Vlad is worthless again!" Lukas seethed.
Why were they doing this? Why did it bother them? And why did Raj and Tino share a look with each other?
"This is pointless," Antonio snapped. "Let's just kill the humans and take them with us!"
"You know why we can't do that," Raj said lazily.
"You'll have to forgive my brother," Miguel said, smiling at the three of them. "My brother is very foolish and has no patience. He doesn't appreciate the subtle arts. Now then, I'll give you one last chance: Are you going to cooperate, or does Dylan get a huge hole in his throat?"
Dylan let out a muffled sound as Miguel pulled his hair back, a sharp-looking dagger in his other hand. Vlad could sense Arthur's panic, and he closed his eyes, wishing that they were somewhere safe. He wished that they could just get away from these four monsters that were tormenting them.
"N-no…" Arthur stammered. "W-wait… D-don't…"
Arthur was struggling. He didn't want to surrender to the monsters, but he also didn't want his brother to get hurt. Dylan's eyes widened and he lightly shook his head, only for the knife to press tighter against his throat. Arthur looked torn.
Vlad couldn't remember having someone that he would endanger himself for. When a slave got punished, the others were sometimes forced to watch. It served as an example to all of them. Vlad had to stay silent and watch as many of the others were tortured, and he had been tortured while others watched. He couldn't do anything to help, and he couldn't ask anyone for help. And now, Lukas and Arthur had a choice, but no matter which choice they made, it would be damaging. They would either lose the people they cared about, or they would help an evil monster.
This shouldn't be happening to them. They didn't deserve to be in this position. They needed to get away.
Raj turned his attention towards Vlad, and Vlad shrank back under the gaze.
"What are you doing?" Raj demanded.
Vlad panicked, and closed his eyes. He felt heat and ice combatting inside him, and he could hear a whirlwind of sound. When he opened his eyes again, he was surprised to see that they were no longer in the room with Raj and the others. He, Arthur, Lukas and the six prisoners were in the room in the inn.
"W-what happened?" Lukas asked, looking around.
Arthur turned to Vlad, a sad look on his face.
"You were panicking, weren't you?" Arthur asked. "You wanted to leave, right?"
Vlad averted his gaze. Lukas was also staring at him before he sighed.
"Primal magic," Lukas said. "Usually, it manifests in young children who hadn't had a chance to get a formal education yet. It responds to negative emotions. I'm guessing they took you before you could properly learn?"
Vlad could only nod in response.
"I… I was good with keeping it under control," Vlad said. "But lately… I don't know what's happening."
Arthur had already started untying his brothers. Once his wrists were free, Dylan pulled his gag away.
"I think that the three of you might have gotten a bit of a power surge when you were chosen," Dylan said. "It would also explain why you were sick."
Lukas had also moved to free his friends, and the moment the one that Tino had called Mathias was free, he ripped off his gag and glared at Lukas.
"Is there something you'd like to tell us?" he demanded.
Lukas looked uncomfortable, and avoided Mathias's gaze.
"I… I'm a sorcerer," Lukas admitted. "I didn't tell you because… I was afraid of how you would react."
"We're supposed to be friends!" Mathias snapped. "Did you think we would abandon you or hate you or something?"
"Yes," one of Lukas's other friends said. He turned to Mathias. "Things aren't always safe for sorcerers. I mean, we're in a place where Lukas can be killed just for being one, whether he uses his power or not. And then there are other people who sell sorcerers to slave traders and things like that. Lukas has to be very careful of who he trusts. You need to understand how scared he is."
Mathias averted his gaze.
"Emil has a point," Lukas's third friend said. "I've heard some of the things that people say about sorcerers, and I can only imagine how painful it must be."
"I… I get that," Mathias sighed. "Still, it would have been nice to know that you trusted us."
"I also trusted Tino," Lukas pointed out.
"I suggest we discuss this later," one of Arthur's brothers said. "Those guys will be coming back soon, and they're going to be mad. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not stick around when that time comes."
"Right," Arthur said. He turned towards Lukas. "We arrived with horses. You?"
"The same," Lukas replied. He turned towards Vlad. "You can use Tino's horse. I doubt he'll be using it again."
"B-but I never rode a horse before," Vlad protested.
"Then we'll teach you," Arthur said. "But we need to leave." He turned to his brothers. "Could you get our things? I'll go with Vlad to the stables. He's still pretty nervous, and he doesn't really have any possessions."
"Okay," Dylan said. "We shouldn't be too long. We haven't really had a chance to unpack."
Arthur took Vlad's hand before leading him out of the room. Vlad could hear the commotion from behind him, but that didn't matter. He couldn't believe that he was actually leaving. If he went far enough away, then his master would never find him again. For the first time, he had a choice about what he would do with his life.
And… he wanted to stay with Lukas and Arthur.
…
Even though they were in a rush to leave, they realised that they couldn't gallop out of the city. There were too many people around, and with everything that happened during the day, rushing out of the city would attract too much attention.
However, once they were out of the city, they took off, leaving dust clouds behind them. No one could tell whether or not it was Lukas, Arthur, or Vlad's magic that kept the former slave on his horse, but he was keeping up with the rest of them well enough. Still, they were very concerned about the whiteness of Vlad's face that had nothing to do with lack of sun.
The sun was already setting, which meant that the day was cooler. They galloped for about half an hour, until they found an oasis. They decided to camp there for the night.
Vlad was very shaky when he got off the horse, and Arthur and Lukas moved to support him until he could regain his footing.
"You've seriously never been on a horse before?" Mathias asked, arching his eyebrow.
"Well, slaves are usually not allowed to learn," Vlad stated.
Lukas glared at Mathias while the latter's jaw dropped. He turned Vlad away and helped him towards the water.
A camp was prepared, introductions were made and explanations given. It took a while, but eventually everyone was on the same page. Things were quiet, with only the crackling of the flame providing a source of sound.
"So, Tino is the follower of a demon god?" Berwald asked.
"That's right," Lukas said. "I've been feeling uneasy around him since we left. Now I know why."
"But I still don't understand why they went through all that trouble to get you to agree to go with them," Mathias said. "I mean, if it were me, I would have just kidnapped you and taken you to my master."
"That bothered me too," Alistair said. He looked towards Vlad, who was nibbling on a piece of jerky. "I think we need to help you with your primal magic. It can get you in a lot of trouble. I'm surprised it hasn't already."
Vlad swallowed before lowering his eyes.
"I think that we should split off tomorrow morning," Lukas said. "We can't travel together."
"Huh?" Mathias exclaimed. "Why not?"
"Because it's too dangerous. If you stay around us, then they're just going to try to use you to get to us again. And our group is too big right now. We're going to attract too much attention."
"Lady Auryana also said that we could only accompany Arthur until the three of them are united," Alistair said. "Which means that the rest of us need to go. We're only going to get in the way."
Mathias still looked like he wanted to argue.
"There's a great library in Alocmao, right?" Berwald asked. "Perhaps we can go there. We can see if we can find information on Nemthys. Later, you could go look for us there. It should give you enough time to make some progress with your quest, and it would give us time to hopefully find something. That way, we can help. And Tino knows where we live. He could easily go look for us at home."
"I didn't even think about that," Lukas said. "Thank you, Ber. If you can find anything, then I'd be really grateful."
Arthur nodded, before looking towards Vlad.
"Are you alright?" Arthur asked.
Vlad jumped, before he turned towards Arthur. His eyes were wide and he nodded his head.
"You can have some more food, if you'd like," Arthur said. "You've eaten very little. Even for rations, you haven't had a lot."
"It's okay," Vlad said. "I-I've had less before."
There was an uncomfortable silence. Mathias cleared his throat.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, h-how… How did you become a slave?" he asked.
Lukas glared at Mathias, while Vlad lowered his eyes again.
"They invaded when I was about seven years old," Vlad said. "They killed a lot of people, but took me. I don't know what happened to my parents, or my baby brother."
Vlad flinched when someone touched his shoulder, and he looked over to see Lukas, who gently started to rub his arm.
"It's alright," Lukas said. "It's over now. You never have to go back to that kind of life. And we can even see if we can find out what happened to your family, if you want."
"Do you really mean that?" Vlad asked.
"Of course. I wouldn't lie to you."
Vlad sobbed, before launching himself at Lukas's chest. Lukas was startled for a few seconds before he wrapped his arms around Vlad, calmly stroking his head.
"Why don't you ever act like that around us?" Mathias asked, pouting.
"Because Vlad actually needs comfort, and he's not as annoying as you," Lukas said.
Vlad's only response was to hug Lukas tighter as a few of the others laughed at Mathias's expense. One of the only people not laughing was Arthur, who had his eyes fixed on Vlad as well.
…
Arthur found himself in a tunnel. It was dark, and yet he had no difficulty seeing. The ground, walls and ceiling were rough, but he could see wooden beams keeping everything from crumbling. It reminded him of a mine.
He heard a sound and turned. He could see Vlad against one of the walls, trying to dig something out. On the other side, Arthur could see Lukas, who was also watching Vlad. Arthur walked closer, and Lukas did the same.
"What are you doing?" Arthur asked.
"I need to dig here," Vlad said. "Something's telling me to dig."
"This feels strange," Lukas said. "How did we get here? The last thing I remember, we were in that oasis."
Arthur gasped in realisation.
"This is a dream," he said. "We're dreaming."
"Then, whose dream is it?" Lukas asked.
Vlad's hands paused.
"I think it's mine," Vlad said. "Why else would I feel like I need to do something? Or is there something that you feel you need to do?"
Lukas and Arthur looked at each other and shook their heads. Vlad's hands started digging again.
"I… I found something!" Vlad exclaimed.
Vlad removed something. It was a large red jewel, almost as big as one of Vlad's hands. What made this jewel different was the fact that it was glowing, and Arthur could swear he heard a heartbeat.
"I think I've seen this before," Vlad said. "In one of my dreams."
"The Desert Heart," Lukas whispered. "It has to be. But… why here?"
"I think… we need to search for a mine," Arthur said. "After all, where better to hide a jewel than inside a mine? We'll just have to get through the miners first."
"I think this place is abandoned," Vlad said. "I saw a pickaxe over there. It's covered in dust."
Arthur and Lukas both looked in the direction that Vlad indicated. Indeed, there was a pickaxe coated with dust, and a large spiderweb. So then, they would need to search for an abandoned mine. Hopefully, it was nearby.
…
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Berwald asked.
"We're sure," Lukas said. "We'll head out after a while."
"What if you need us?" Mathias asked.
"Then Arthur can send a message to us and we'll come as fast as we can," Alistair sighed. "There's nothing that any of us can do about this, and we'll only get in their way if we go with them."
"Take care of each other," Dylan said.
"We will," Arthur replied.
After some more goodbyes and persuasions, Arthur's brothers and Lukas's friends left on their horses. The remaining trio watched them leave before they turned towards the map and compass.
"So, how are we going to find it?" Lukas asked.
"Well, we first need to find out where we are," Arthur said. "And then we need to find an abandoned mine. This could take a while."
"So, how does this even work?" Vlad asked, picking up the compass.
"Well, last time it led us to you," Lukas said. "So, maybe it would lead us to the Desert Heart."
Vlad jumped as the compass's needle suddenly started spinning. Meanwhile, the map changed, and the area displayed became different. On the map they could see a black dot in a small patch that looked like an oasis. Further north on the map, a red dot appeared, along with the text 'Kloba Mine'. The needle stopped, and Vlad hastily handed it to Lukas.
"I think that matter is settled," Arthur said. "So, I think we can pack everything up, and leave in a few minutes, right?"
…
Nemthys stared down at his four underlings. They were all bowed and avoided his gaze. The others were around the room, watching the scene unfold. Even though he knew that this was a source of entertainment for them, he could use this as a reminder as to why they shouldn't fail him.
"You let them get away," he said, his voice chilly.
The four flinched, and he waited for the first of them to make excuses.
"He used primal magic," Raj said. "It's hard to overcome it when done suddenly. I-if I had noticed sooner, then perhaps…"
"Silence," Nemthys said. Raj immediately obeyed. "You spent two weeks with him. You knew that he never received a proper education. You knew that my awakening had caused his natural power to grow. You knew that primal magic can be random. So tell me, why didn't you think of teaching him the basics of control so that he wouldn't use primal magic?"
Raj flinched. He knew, out of all of them, his failure was the most profound, and he would receive the worst punishment.
"You also had him in your grasp," Nemthys said. "You could have brought him to me, and then you could have left some of his essence to lure the other two." He looked towards Miguel and Antonio. "And you two. While he had that boy hostage, you could have grabbed the other two. Even if their cooperation would be easier, it's more important to me that they are here."
The brothers flinched. Nemthys focused on Tino.
"And as for you," Nemthys said. "You spent two weeks with him. You also had years to gain his trust. You failed to take advantage of it. Though, I will commend you on using your intimate knowledge of his relationships to your advantage. It's a shame that ultimately nothing came of it."
"M-my lord," Tino stammered. "I… I did take advantage. I… I cast a tracking spell on Lukas. S-since he's used to my presence, he wouldn't detect it. And the best part is, it allows us to know their destination."
Nemthys smiled as he waved his hand. He watched as the three sorcerers mounted their horses, and a name was whispered. Kloba Mine. Nemthys's smile turned into a grin.
"Congratulations, Tino," Nemthys said. "You just earned a lighter punishment."
