Chapter 11

Dog and Cat

"What's going on?" Emil looked around at the others. They hadn't gotten an explanation from Arthur that only shoved them out the door and told them he needed to double and triple check the circle. They had been waiting for about five minutes outside the now locked door. Lukas had sat down on the couch with Berwald and was running his fingers through his hair. Berwald looked like he was slowly nodding off while questioning why he suddenly was so tired.

"Let him take his time" Mathias shook his head. Arthur had figured something out, something important, so now wasn't the best time to disturb him. He looked at the couch where it looked like Berwald was taking a nap while Lukas seemed like he had decided to ignore them for now. "Let's go see if they need any help in the kitchen" Emil nodded and followed Mathias.

"…and then you do this and this" When they entered they saw how Francis was explaining something about preparing fish while Tino listened carefully. Alfred sat at the table and looked incredibly bored while he seemed to play something on his phone. Matthew was sitting on the kitchen table, unsure about what to do. A sudden smell reached Mathias and he looked around, a bit confused. The smell made him feel something he had never felt before and he couldn't say exactly what it was. It didn't seem like anyone else was noticing it either. Suddenly he locked eyes with Matthew that rose to his feet with a chill traveling down his spine. Mathias felt his eyes get foggy and his mind drifting off, somewhere he could hear a faint growling sound. Matthew stared at Mathias and he felt his whole body tense. He knew that Mathias wasn't actually dangerous but something within him told him to be prepared and when he heard the small growl from the nation before him he knew that he was right.

"Mathias, are you okay?" When Emil didn't get any answer he tried waving a hand in front of his eyes but didn't get any reaction and he backed away when he noticed that they were glazed, as if Mathias wasn't there anymore. "Uhm, guys?" Francis and Tino turned around smiling.

"Yes?" Tino froze when he saw the look on Mathias face. "What's going on?" When Mathias took a step forward, causing Matthew to tense even more, Francis was suddenly between them. He lifted a hand and delivered a hard slap on Mathias cheek which made him take a step back.

"What are you doing?" Emil rushed to Mathias side while Tino stared at Francis. Alfred was looking up from his phone confused and Matthew still had his guard up. Mathias looked up at Francis, his eyes were clear again and a red handprint was slowly forming on his face.

"Thanks" He said to Francis before he rushed outside. He kept running even when he reached the forest and only stopped when he felt he had enough distance between himself and the house. His mind was slowly getting clear again and he was trying to make sense of this. He knew he would have attacked Matthew if Francis hadn't stepped in and he knew that he could have really hurt him. He sat down on the hard ground and rested his head against the tree. He took deep breaths and realized how much of the forest he hadn't been able to smell before. It comforted him, the smell of the moss mixed with dirt and water. He felt the smell off cool air with a hint of rotting leaves and the smell of a squirrel somewhere above him. He closed his eyes and focused when he felt himself get tense at that last thought, this was not good at all.

"Mathias? Where are you?" He heard Emils voice, it wasn't too far away. He wiped the tears he hadn't noticed before and stood up. "Francis explained, it's not your fault!"

"Here" he answered, curious and worried about what Francis apparently knew about him. He heard how Emil made his way through the forest and saw him as he stumbled through a few bushes. "What did he say?" Emil brushed away a few leaves and flinched when he noticed a spider amongst them. He sighed and looked at Mathias.

"Apparently, if you use your spell too long, your instincts might take over. That's probably what happened" Mathias rubbed his cheek thoughtfully before he turned around.

"Then it might be for the best if I just stay out here until this is over" Emil shook his head and took a hold of the tall nations arm to try to pull him towards the house.

"Don't be silly, we still need you" Emil didn't understand how much those words meant to Mathias and was truly confused when Mathias quickly turned around and gave him a big hug, even lifted him from the ground. "What are you doing?! Stop!" Laughing, he put him down and wiped the tears that formed out of so many emotions in play at the same time. Emil was slightly concerned that Mathias was losing his mind but decided to just drag him through the forest for now. "We should hurry back, I think dinner isn't too far away, besides…" Mathias got curious when Emil smiled slightly.

"Besides what?"

"You don't want to miss out on Berwald sucking his thumb in his sleep" Their speed increased and Mathias chuckled. When this was all over he knew that Berwald would be hearing about it for ages.

.

"Are you okay?" Lovinos head was pounding when he opened his eyes and was met by Antonios worried ones. The room was dark, apparently he had turned off all the lights again, and Lovino noticed that he was sitting in Antonios lap.

"WHAT ARE YOU-" he quickly stood up, which caused his head to spin, and took deep breaths. He thought that he should be panicking but felt strangely calm. He thought back on what he remembered. He had touched the shadow on the wall and felt a sharp pain that started on his forehead and then spread throughout his body. He looked at Antonio that still seemed worried. "Did the shadow do something?"

"I think so, this is all my fault, I'm so sorry" Antonio walked up to him and tried to give him a hug but Lovino easily avoided him. Lovino shook his head in confusin when he didn't get furious and yell or panic, he sat down again to think this through for a moment. He could feel that something was off but he didn't know what. Was it about him or Antonio? He glanced at Antonio that looked at him pleadingly to try and ask for forgiveness, which was normal, so he shook that thought out of his head. It was something about himself then. Without a word he stood up and walked towards the front door with Antonio following right behind. "You leaving?"

"Yes, for now. I need to think." He glanced back and met Antonios teary eyes and sighed "It's fine you know"

"Stay safe" He didn't look back when he left the house but he could feel Antonio look at him for as long as he could and for some reason it sent chills down his spine. It took him a few hours to get home, but when he did he immediately walked down a staircase to the big old library that had been there for ages. He rarely used it but right now he felt strangely drawn to it and he quickly made his way through the room as if he knew exactly which book to look for. Lovino took out a few books from the shelves which caused a cloud of dust to fly out. Before placing the books on the small table in the corner of the room he took out a small chair that he placed in front of it.

"What?" he said as he opened the first book which was filled with pictures of people suffering from pain and he felt sick when he noticed that it was a history book. He closed it and continued with the next one while he wondered if he had been this systematic before. The next book was old and filled with different kinds of plants and herbs which could be used both in rituals and medicine. Confused, he continued to the last one. When he opened it he noticed that it was filled with different kinds of math formulas and that didn't help him in any way. Frustrated, he closed the last book and threw it on the pile. Why had he chosen these three specifically and why had it felt so right? Once again he opened the first book, convinced that at least one of these books would give his mind some rest.

He though back on the day that had went by. When he had woken up he had immediately called Feliciano and traveled to Ludwigs house to meet him. After seeing the thing that was now Feliciano and calmed him down he received the text and traveled to Antonio when he wouldn't pick up his phone. There he passed out after touching his shadow and left shortly after waking up. Lovino flipped through the pages thoughtfully when he suddenly realized what was off. He had made sure that the others were okay first before thinking of himself. He had been calm and rational all the time and worst of all, he hadn't insulted a single person that day. Not even Ludwig. His headache grew worse so he decided to go and sleep for a while and hopefully he would be back to normal when he woke up.