One Flew Over Arthur's Cuckoo Nest ( I can't believe I haven't used that pun earlier)

Sylvia toyed with one of the daggers she had found in one of Arthur's trunks. She was in Arthur's magic room, below the main caves. A very sweaty and pale Matthew was sitting in the corner in his nest of pillows and blankets. "How you hanging in there Mattie?" she asked him softly. Her brother looked up from where he was laying down. "Don't worry about me….Worry about the netherfigures or whatever Mathias called them," he said weakly.

Sylvia made a face before sitting next to her brother and brushing his sweaty bangs out of his face. "We probably won't have to worry about them down here. The boys will take care of them in no time and will come and get us when it's safe," she said a bit bitterly. Matthew gave her a soft smirk. "You want to be up there and fight with them, don't you?" he asked. The Monacan crossed her arms and looked away.

"Making sure they don't come after you or catch you off guard is more important," she said. Matthew snorted. "You sound like Alfred," he said. Sylvia raised an eye. "Is that so? Because last time I've checked we're siblings," she said. Matthew chuckled. "...Why don't you go help them? I can call you if anything happens," he said. "Non Matthew, I'm staying with you. You don't look so good," she said.

"Don't feel too good either," mumbled her brother. Sylvia nodded and got him some water before sitting next to him before continuing to play with the daggers. "You're really worried about Gilbert, aren't you?" he asked. "I'm worried about Arthur and France too...but I know they'll be fine. They have each others back and Artie's older brothers won't let anything happen to Artie…," she said.

"Wow. I'll give you one thing, you're better at avoiding a question than Alfred ever could," teased Matthew. Sylvia smiles slightly. "Oui...I'm worried about Gilbert. He was already hurt once recently….and he doesn't tend to think before he acts. I know he'll push himself even if it's not healthy to try to get rid of all those creatures," she said. Matthew nodded. "Sounds like Alfred to be honest...I wonder if the creatures reached the village yet…"

Gilbert swung his sword in irritation when he saw the creatures slowly start to form further down down the mountain side. "You good with fighting so many of them?" asked Mathias, dropping the rag he was using to clean his axe. Gilbert gave him a wicked grin. "Like you even need to ask," he said. The Dane grinned. "Well, with Tino on the roof of the cave, we shouldn't have to be out here fighting for long," he said.

Gilbert grinned. There was no doubt that with Arthur's bow and arrows Tino was going to give them some good cover fire. That and the barrier was going to keep him from worrying about Matthew and Sylvie. "Then what are we waiting for?!" he shouted to Mathias before running through the barrier at the creatures. Mathias grinned and ran after Gilbert, taking down three of the twenty creatures off the bat.

Tino immediately opened fire on the creatures now that the Prussian has given him the signal. Careful not to shoot his friends, he started raining down arrows onto the mountainside. Gilbert let out a growl as he lunged forward, reaping as many creatures as he could. Mathias was next to him, laughing aloud as he swung his axe around through the shadow figures. Within the first few seconds of fighting the rotten smelling things, they had already divided their numbers by half.

The only netherfigures that were really giving them trouble were the magpies. Tino was focusing on the horses, which kept charging the other two as they tried to fight ff the shadowmen. Gilbert and Mathias hadn't bothered going back to back, thinking that they could easily take on those that were left...that was until ten more figures came out of the shadows. Gilbert swore under his breath but pushed on after sparing a glance to make sure Mathias was alright.

One of the creatures slammed into from behind the minute he did so, knocking him to the ground. Gilbert's sword flew out of his hand. His swearing increased as he attempted the kick at the figure, finding the action as effective as, well, kicking smoke. The figure gleaned forward over him, a hole forming where a mouth would in a twisted grin, before putting a hand on his chest.

Sylvia froze when she felt panic and a bit of anger go through Gilbert. Matthew blinked. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Gilbert…" she whispered, gripping the dagger. Sylvia looked at her brother. "I'm so sorry frere…" she said before jumping up and running out of the room. Sylvia raced out of the caves, wings fluttering as she attempted to fly, or at least move a bit faster, when she saw the creature reach into Gilbert's chest.

Gilbert started screaming, back arching with pain. Sylvia let out a shout and threw a dagger at the creature before running past the barrier. She picked up Gilbert's sword and rand to his side. "Is he okay?" asked Mathais from above, where he was trying to hit the creatures from above. "I don't know!" she shouted back at him before finally reaching her mate. "Gilbert, how bad is it?" she asked.

"F-Fine...He just ripped a good chunk of my life force out at the same time. I can fight. Where's my sword?" he said, trying to sit up. Sylvia slid him the blade. "Are you sure mon amour?" she said before stabbing a figure that came up behind her without looking. Gilbert smirked. "Ja liebe. Let's get rid of these fart fogs," he said as she gave him a hand up. Sylvia smiled and spun around, quickly slashing a dagger at a magpie that swooped down at her.

Gilbert slashed through a horse-shaped ghostie. "Thanks for coming after me liebe," he said, ducking down from a swooping magpie. Sylvia quickly took care of that bird as well. "You would have come out for me...I'm just worried about Mattie...He isn't doing so good.." she said. Gilbert frowned and quickly picked up Sylvia and moved her out of the way of a charging horse.

"The figures won't go after him with the barrier in the way. As for the whole sick thing…" Gilbert paused to run a sword through a man. "There's not much you can do about that. His condition will only get worse the longer he's separated from his wings. You could try to make him more comfortable...but considering everything that's going to get harder to do too," he said. Sylvia frowned, ducking below Gilbert's arm to lunge at a man. "I still feel bad…"

"I'm sure he'll understand," he said, jumping out of the way of a magpie while simultaniously stabbing at it. The bird shrieked and disappeared. Gilbert quickly looked for Mathias. Mathias was flying over them and gave a whoop. "Five more of those gas ghosts to go!" he cheered. "What is he cheering about? He was supposed to take care of the magpies while he was up there," muttered Gilbert.

Sylvia leaned forward to stab another ghostie but jumped back when an arrow quickly dispatched it. She looked up to find Tino quickly and efficiently killing the rest of the creatures that were still alive. "Stay here. I'm going to double check that there aren't anymore we need to take care of," said Gilbert, spreading out his wings. Sylvia made a slight face as her mate flew up before glancing around herself. Mathias had a few scratches on him from the branches of trees but nothing serious.

"All clear over here!" shouted Mathias. "Over here too," shouted Gilbert. Tino nodded. "That was the last of them! Good job everyone! Is anyone seriously injured?" he said, casting one last look before flying down to Sylvia. "Fit as a fiddle!" said Mathias, landing next to Tino. "Ditto. Just a little banged up. You okay Sylvie?" he asked, landing next to her and wrapping an arm around her.

Sylvia nodded. "I'm perfectly fine. Are you still hurting from what that thing did to you?" she asked. Gilbert grinned before kissing the top of her head. "I shouldn't be worried. I taught you well and you're a good fighter. I'm fine babe. Nothing a bit of rest will help," he said. She made a face at that. "You know that means you'll actually need to rest, right?" she said. Gilbert grinned. "You know me too well. C'mon. Let's go check on your brother. He's probably a bit worried," he said.

Sylvia nodded, a flash of guilt passing through her eyes, and immediately rushed through the barrier and into the caves. Mathias and Gilbert chuckled a little before following. Tino went to the kitchen and set some broth on the fire just in case Mattie was hungry. He jumped when he felt a shock of panic go through Berwald, nearly dropping the kettle for tea due to it.

The panic disappeared from his mate, replaced instead with the sensation that Berwald was healing and creating a bond with someone else. Someone got hurt...I hope it isn't too bad… Tino nervously continued trying to make dinner but part of his mind was tuned into any changes that might come from Berwald's end. After a few minutes of waiting, Berwald finally contacted him.

"The village is safe. No one seriously hurt. Do you need backup?" came the to-the-point message. Tino let out a sigh of relief. "No. Everything is fine on our end. We took care of the creatures. Only Gilbert was hurt but Sylvia jumped in before it could become serious. The only one to really worry about right now on our end is Matthew. He's getting sicker. I'm making him something to eat right now," said Tino.

"We got Matthew set up in the living room. I don't think he'll hold anything down but it's worth trying. Oh...Sorry. Didn't realize you were chatting with someone," said Gilbert, lowering his voice when he recognize the look of concentration on Tino's face. Tino waved a hand, letting him know that he heard him and that it was no big deal. "It's Berwald," he whispered before quickly concentrating once more.

"Do you want us to meet up with you there? I know Alfred is worried about his brother," said Berwald. Tino bit his lip and turned to Gilbert. "Everyone in the village is fine. No one's injured. Berwald is wondering if they should wait in the village or if they should come here. Alfred is a quite worried about his brother," said Tino to Gilbert. Gilbert sighed as he quietly tried to think.

"As much as I wish that they could be back here...If something happens on Arthur and Francis's end, they'd be closer to the house and might be able to help if they fly fast enough. Though, I suppose if Alfred really is worried, he could fly back on his own. The only thing is that I'm not sure how safe that would be since it seems that those fart fogs are targeting the twins," said Gilbert.

Tino nodded and quickly relayed Gilbert's answer. "I suppose he's right. I'll let Alfred know. Also, we'll be bringing back an extra person with us to Arthur's nest. I bonded with one of his younger brothers," said Berwald. Tino blinked. "What? Like Reiley?" asked Tino. "No, Arthur doesn't know him. I'll see you soon. Be careful," said Berwald before cutting the connection, leaving Tino slightly confused.

"What's wrong Tino?" asked Gilbert when he saw Tino's look of confusion. "Nothing's wrong. Berwald just said something that confused me. No big deal. The broth's almost ready if you want to bring some out to Matthew. You should bring a pot or something with you though, if you're not sure he's going to hold the meal down," he said. Gilbert snorted. "Good thinking. Francy-Pants would get all bent out of shape if he comes back and finds a vomit stain on his couch," he said.

Matthew tried not to look too embarrassed as Mathias and Gilbert helped him out of the magic workshop and transferred him to the couch while a guilt-stricken Sylvia looked on. "I'm so sorry I just left you there. And after I said it was a bad idea," she said. "It's fine Sylvie. You were worried about Gilbert and from what I've heard, for good reason. I'm not mad at you and you shouldn't feel bad," assured Matthew.

Sylvia nodded but did give him some extra pillows and blankets before sitting in a chair next to him. "You hanging in there? Nothing happened while I was outside, right?" she asked. "Non," croaked Matthew, not daring to shake his head with how bad his headache was. She sighed and got up, quickly coming back with a damp rag. He let out a small sigh of relief when the rag was placed on his burning forehead. "Merci," he said. She smiled. "De rien."

Matthew opened his mouth but blinked when he heard his brother's voice in his head. "Mattie, how you hanging in there? They treating you alright?" asked Alfred in a voice that Matthew knew he was trying to keep light despite his worry. Matthew smiled for his sake. "I'm...hanging in there. I feel like I have a horrible case of the flu but I still got a few more days in me before it gets serious," said Mattie, lying slightly to try to keep his brother from worrying.

Matthew could hear his brother clear his throat with annoyance. "Mattie, I'm kinda in your head. I know you're lying. That's it. I'm coming there. Just...don't get sicker until I get there," said Alfred. Matthew mentally rolled his eyes, not bothering telling his brother that it was like he had control over that. "I'm fine Alfred. I'm not going anywhere yet. Stay there and take care of the villagers, okay?" he said.

Alfred grumbled. "Dude, Greg's got a barrier surrounding the village and the others are here…" he said. "Please Alfred? I'm fine. I'm not going to get worse between now and when you get here. Don't worry about me," said Matthew. Alfred made a face but nodded. "Just hang in there okay?" he asked. Mattie nodded and cut the connection. Sylvia's wings fluttered nervously. "Is he okay?" she asked.

Matthew nodded. "He's fine, worried about me. I think I managed to convince him to stay put in case Francis and Arthur need him. I don't want him flying back here until we're sure those creatures won't come bac," said Matthew. Sylvia wrinkled her nose. "You sure he's going to actually listen this time? We are talking about the guy who broke out of jail practically twenty minutes after you told him not to," she said.

Matthew made a face. "I'm sure he'll listen this time. He knows how important it is that he stay put. He won't try to come back," he said. Sylvia raised a doubtful eyebrow but sat down next to him. Gilbert walked in. "Tino says that they're all fine. Sounds like they found you another long-lost bruder liebe. Waldy's bringing him to the nest when all this is over," he said, wrapping an arm around Sylvia.

Matthew blinked. "Another one? How do Arthur and Francis keep losing so many kids?" he asks. Sylvia gave Gilbert a confused look. "I don't remember Arthur or Francis saying anything about another lost brother. I would think they would have mentioned it, especially now that Alfred and Matthew are back," she said. "Sounds like your parents left another kid for Artie and Frankie to find," chuckled Gilert.

Tino grinned, having heard the last part of the conversation as he walked in. "If that's true, I wonder how old the boy is. It's been so long since any young fledglings have been found. Though, I'm guessing it's going to get pretty stress full for Arthur and Francis, having so many things change at once," he said. Mathias grinned. "I'm sure they'll be fine. If anything, Francis would be exstatic," he said.

Sylvia snorted. "He'd be happy...but Arthur would flip out after a few days of trying to balance everything," she said. Matthew sighed. "Maybe Alfie and I-" Sylvia jumped in. "If you suggest that you go to the village while things settle down, I'm going to blame it on your fever," she said. Matthew makes a face but smiles softly. "You sound like Alfred. Are you sure it won't be too much of a problem? I know Alfie and I don't want to be a burden," he asked. Sylvia shook her head.

"You know how much they looked for you and missed you? Don't leave. It'd just break their heart to have you go a second time, so soon after you returned," she said. Gilbert nodded. "That and you and your bruder seem pretty awesome. There aren't that many people awesome enough to hang out with that I haven't already been annoying for the past few centuries," said Gilbert. Matthew smiled. "Fine, we'll stay. I wonder what the brother is like," he said. Sylvia sighs. "I'm more concerned about Francis and Arthur," she said.

Let me know what you guys think! I'm still trying to think of how exactly I want to end the story so any input would be really helpful!