Pairings brought up/mentioned: Fruk
-2.4-
Arthur stands at his charge's side in the manor's office, hands shaking. He knows this is vital to his quest for knowledge, but that doesn't make it any less difficult.
"Arthur? Mon lapin, are you alright?" He snaps back to attention at the questioning gaze coming from Francis's seated form.
He sighs, "Oh, yes, I'm fi-" then stops.
What am I doing? I have to tell him!
"Âllo," The Frenchman waves a hand before his face, "Anyone in there?"
The spirit's expression hardens. "Actually, no, I'm not alright. To be frank, I'm worried."
"Worried?" A blond eyebrow elegantly curves downwards.
"Yes, worried." Arthur walks around the desk, planting himself in the seat opposite. "Have you noticed anything… strange about Ludwig and Feliciano?"
He gives a light laugh, "Why, but of course; they haven't made love yet!"
"Francis, this is serious."
"In that case, I have no idea."
"Well, don't those two remind you of anyone? Anyone dead perhaps?"
The flighty romantic leans his head against a free hand, eyes searching the ceiling in ponderment for a time. Arthur can feel his blood go cold. Then, he begins, "Why?"
"... 'Why?'"
"Oui, why are you asking? Have you been keeping secrets again? You know how well that went last time," Francis took a sip of his wine, "I mean, if this has something to do with your ancestor the witch, then-"
He shot the human a flat-out scalding look, "We agreed never to speak of that. And no, this doesn't concern her, at least as far as I know."
"Then, mon cher, what is the problem? Ludwig and Feli are adorable together, and seem to be getting along quite swimmingly."
Arthur heaves a mighty sigh, "It's not their relationship I find disturbing; it's how they met. How they met, Francis."
His head slightly tilts to the side, "What about it?"
The rabbit spirit throws his hands into the air, "Right after you and Feliciano had a talk about him getting a spirit animal, they met almost in the exact same way Romulus and Aldrich did! And, not to mention, they're just as close! Don't you think that's a little too good to be true?!"
"Arthur, it's probably nothi-"
"Don't you 'Arthur' me! Then we get to the shadow wolves! Shadow wolves, just like great-whatever grand-mum Hazel used to make! Face it, Francis; there is nothing good or normal about this! Hazel's quite possibly running amuck, or some sort of successor, there's the chance of predestinational bullshit occurring between Feliciano and Ludwig, and everything is just maddening! The more I try to figure out what the bloody hell's going on, the more confused I become; I'm just so sick of it…"
As the first sob wracks Arthur's body, pale hands rubbing at green eyes, Francis's gaze softens.
"I- I just- I'm scared, Francis. I'm scared, because no one's even thought about the shadow wolf thing going on in the north- and- and it's in the north, right smack in the middle of her territory. What if she's back? What if something bad happens to us, or to innocent bystanders? I- I can't let that happen, but it seems I'm the only one who noticed it in the first place! I'm a weak, expired rabbit spirit; I can't stop a sorceress as powerful as her! Shit, I don't even have powers! I'm just an old, tired-out being with no magic besides what's normal-" He breaks off in loud, almost drunken wails.
As his spirit continues to blubber on about being a failure to his line, and how everyone in his family but him inherited at least one magical ability, Francis looks on in uncertain tenderness. Hesitantly, he reaches across the desk and takes the other's hand in his, gently pulling the appendage away from his face. He rubs and caresses for the next ten, twenty, thirty minutes, however long it takes for Arthur's cries to die down, and his sniffles to all but evaporate, flushed and puffy.
"There, there, it'll be alright."
"Ho- how do you know?"
He shrugs, "I don't; I'm just an optimist."
Arthur blinks, then smiles and gives a short laugh, gaze averted to the side. "Heh, yeah, I suppose so."
And so, as Francis passes his friend and long-time companion a box of tissues, they make a deal; they will not stop until fully certain of everyone's well-being.
I, for one, think this is stupid.
Annôn, you think all of my ideas are stupid!
Yeah, because they are.
Alright, alright, break it up you two! Fighting will only makes things worse, right?
I think Vendela makes a good point! *munching*
Do not speak with your mouth full.
*swallowing* But I like apples!
*groan* This is so not the point. We're supposed to be talking about how great and amazing my plan is, not Beo eating and talking at the same time!
He needs to learn proper manners.
But I thought you didn't like manners, because they're 'ridiculous, man-made excuses to yell at each other!'
*growl*
Roma, I don't think you should disagree with him on this.
*loud, exasperated sigh*
I say we should take a vote; it's the fairest option!
Eh, sounds good to me.
*variants of 'yes'*
Okay, so everyone in favor of going to the world of the living to help fight some crazy shadow-witch, raise your hand.
*pause*
Wha- why not?!
Well, that settles it. We're not going!
I told you it was a dumb idea.
No, you said it was stupid! Which it isn't! Come on, Aldrich, you agree with me, right?!
I have been against this from the start.
*frustrated noises*
If you will excuse us, I think he needs to cool off for a bit.
*struggling noises, then fading footsteps*
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Mon cher, we can't just keep something as potentially catastrophic as this a secret. It would be an injustice to us all!"
Arthur gives his charge a funny look. "Francis, I think you're being a tad overdramatic."
"Of course not!" He gasps indignantly, "I'm only stating the truth!"
"Whatever, truth or not we really shouldn't let them in on this," The rabbit sighs, "Knowing the others, they'll probably get in the way like always."
The human of the two looks at his companion flatly for but a moment before shouting, "Everyone! We have something important to tell you!"
A vase smashes upstairs, followed by a surprised yell of "Accidenti!"
"See? I told you so."
"My vase! Why?!"
A pair of feet comes pounding down the stairs, and into the hallway to meet them. There stands Antonio, a flushed and cussing Italian across his shoulder.
"What? What's wrong?!" His head goes this way and that, a certain alertness in his eyes that faintly reminds Arthur of events several centuries past.
The Frenchman laughs lightly, "At ease, Antoine; let's go into the lounge and wait for the others, oui?"
Realizing the lack of evident danger, the fox relaxes and nods his affirment.
A/N:
Hello, hello! This is slightly later than I normally post these, because I was busy tutoring a friend in French today, then afterwards I bought a birthday cake at the local German bakery for my b-day (the twentieth). Sorry this chapter didn't have any Gerita, but at least it had Fruk! Haha, yeah, this was the part 2 finale, meaning this fanfic's going on a brief hiatus while I finish the intermission. After that, I haven't even started part three yet, so the time between the intermission and part 3's going to be very, very long. Have fun while I'm out!
Also, last chapter's italics-dialogue ancients were Rome, Germania, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Egypt, in order of when they initially speak. This chapter had even more of that, but three other characters were added in. Your challenge is to figure out who. As for the intermission's content, basically the entire thing is purely a summarization of what Romulus and Aldrich have been up to for the past thousand years. The first part of the intermission is literally smut between two dead guys, so this is your official PSA regarding that!
Responses to review(s):
Seele Esser Deutsch: Wow, that is really something. You kind of remind me of my cousin in that aspect, actually. Close! It's not an 'or' case; it's an 'and' one! Both Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt were in that dialogue, so good job spotting them. Also, from my research, Bastet was an Egyptian goddess of cats and regality. I thought it fit with Ancient Egypt's general personality, so I just kind of went with it.
APDubtalia: No, it's fine, really! I'm just glad anyone stuck around at all! Personally, I've been interpreting the ancients' concern as over Arthur's insistence on investigating Hazel in the first place, because she's such a powerful witch and the ancients' haven't paid enough attention to figure Arthur's descended from her. That wasn't very clear, was it? Ha, anyways, I hope you enjoy the intermission and part 3 later!
tigrisunica: Hazel... who's a witch... DAMMIT, WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?! Ugh, I'm so disappointed in myself right now. You do not understand how frustrated I am for not coming up with that! 'Witch Hazel'- that was beautiful! Thank you so much; I try really hard to keep them in-character, and I get slightly paranoid I'm messing something up. Yeah, that's totally the kind of thing I was thinking of with how later generations saw Romulus and Aldrich's deaths! The Gerita will come eventually, but I'm trying to make a slow build, especially since I feel like I rushed into their binding.
Anyways, see you whenever I finish the intermission!