Chapter 13

Going for a walk?

Dinner went by fast and when they all were finished Tino and Emil took care of the dishes. Mathias went to have a look at Lukas, Matthew had disappeared upstairs, Francis brought a plate of food up to Arthur while Alfred and Berwald walked outside. They both sat down on the front porch and sighed deeply. Berwald noticed how Alfred took out his whiteboard and started writing on it. "Pretty messed up right?"

"Mm" Berwald hummed for an answer and saw how Alfred stood up and erased his last message before he wrote the next.

"I'll go for a walk" As he started walking Berwald found it a bit strange that he would go out right now, it was getting pretty late after all, but he didn't give it much thought. Instead he made his way to a small shed were he knew Lukas kept his firewood. After finding a small sharp knife and picking up as much wood as he could carry, he made his way back to the porch were he sat down and started carving small wooden figures. Inside the kitchen, Tino and Emil could hear loud voices coming from upstairs.

"Are they arguing again?" Emil shook his head and Tino giggled.

"They remind me of Ber and Mathias during the old days" His smile faded and he looked over at Emil. "Speaking of Berwald, have you noticed anything different?"

"You mean apart from being a child?" Emil smiled a bit and looked down at the plate he was holding. "Well, there is the speech thing…" He flinched when he realized he had said it out loud.

"Emil…" Tino took a step towards him but he refused to look up from the plate. "What are you guys not telling me?" Tino was tired of not knowing, tired of them keeping secrets.

"I promised not to tell anyone…"

"Dammit Emil! It's me! I deserve to know this!" Emil took a step back when Tino raised his voice and made a decision. After checking outside the room to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them he made his way back.

"I overheard them once when they thought I had gone to bed. Lukas was trying to comfort Mathias but he wouldn't listen." Emil disappeared into the memory as he explained to Tino.

"It's been so many years Mathias" Lukas had been sitting in the very same couch he was now sleeping in while Mathias was pacing around the room. "Why bringing it up now?"

"I only make mistakes Lukas but that was one of my worst and no matter what either of you say it will never go away. The memories will randomly pop up whenever they feel like it!" Mathias kept pacing through the room, a bit faster than before.

"But it was your boss that-"

"Yes but I was the one fighting right? I was the one delivering the blows and now because of me he'll never be the same!" Emil had heard how Mathias sat down on the couch and it was one of the very few times that he heard him cry "He can't speak because of me." Emil couldn't stand hearing anymore so he had gone back to his room. The next day, when Mathias had left, Emil asked his brother about it.

"Apparently, it had been during one of their more violent fights. Mathias boss had ordered an attack and he didn't have any choice but to agree." Emil was back to reality and kept on explaining to Tino. "They both got terribly wounded during that fight but Berwald was worse off, he had received a head injury that couldn't get healed even though he's a country and the doctors during that time were not the best." Tino had sat down on a chair "It didn't get any worse than his speech getting a bit jumbled but it was permanent and I don't think Mathias has ever forgiven himself, even though Berwald did almost immediately"

"Why hasn't anyone told me?" Tino didn't understand at all "I could have helped"

"That's probably why." Emil sat down and sighed. "Lukas didn't feel like it was our thing to tell so I was forced to promise that I wouldn't and to Berwald this is all a thing from the past but…" He looked towards the hallway "Mathias probably knew that you would want to help, but he don't want any help. He thinks he's the one who needs to be strong and protect us all so if he asks for help, he thinks he would seem weak"

"That's ridiculous! Asking for help is the strongest thing to do! That means you're ready to get better and meet whatever it is you need to defeat!" Tino felt his anger build up so he took deep breaths to calm down again while Emil waited patiently.

"I know that but, he doesn't. Neither does he understand that no one blames him" Emil stood up and went back to putting the dishes in the dishwasher. "For anything"

In the living room Mathias was sitting next to Lukas with his eyes closed while he fought to hold back his tears. Not now, not now, why would it happen right now? He had heard the conversation in the kitchen thanks to his improved hearing. When he felt like he wouldn't be able to hold out any longer he rushed out the door and almost stumbled over Berwald that was sitting there. He saw a small pile of delicately carved wooden figures which he recognized as one of Berwalds ways of stress reliefs. "I'm going for a walk" Berwald nodded.

"Okay" Berwald tried not to notice how torn up Mathias looked but figured that it was just his worry about Lukas. He carefully carved the next figure, this one was going to become Emil. He had already made Mathias, Tino, Lukas and himself so Emil was the only one missing. Just as he was about to start on the face, Francis opened the door and almost stumbled over him.

"Oh hello" He looked around a bit confused before he added "I'm going for a walk"

"Sure" As Francis disappeared, Berwald had barley placed the knife towards the wood again before Tino opened the door and stumbled out. Surprised, he looked at Berwald.

"Ah, Ber! I'm just-"

"Going for a walk?" Berwald finished and Tino stared at him.

"How did you know?"

"It seems to be the new thing around here" Berwald put down the figure and looked at Tino that seemed a bit stressed out. "You want me to go with you?" It seemed like Tino considered it for a moment before he shook his head.

"No, another time, I need to think" Berwald only nodded and continued on his small figures. Tino felt relieved that Berwald didn't get hurt when he said no and he was already lost in thought when he reached the edge of the forest.

.

"So tell us, who are you and where do you live?" Gilbert had finally grasped the situation as he looked around at the group consisting of five people. They were all in their twenties and had apparently been searching for "his kind" since they were 11.

"But who are you?" He had realized that these people could not be completely sane so he was trying to drag out the time before they dissected him or something. One of the older looking boys slapped a hand on his forehead and looked devastated.

"How rude! How can he trust us if we don't even introduce ourselves properly! Everyone into positions!" The five people suddenly rushed around the room placing themselves in what they apparently thought were cool positions before the lights went off. With a soft click, a strong light lit up one of the two girls. She was standing on the table and exclaimed loudly.

"To protect and learn about the mysterious creatures that roams this world, five little kids decided to form a group. I'm Sarah!" The lights turned off and on again but was now shining towards a corner of the room where the tallest of the boys slowly walked towards him before he struck a pose.

"For the greater good of all the people, to give knowledge to the world, the children searched the beaches day after day. I'm Robin!" He slowly backed away from the light before it turned off and on again now showing them another one off the boys.

"I didn't mean-" Gilbert tried to interrupt but was instead interrupted himself by a small voice right behind him.

"Don't, they have practiced this for 5 years. Let them have it." He looked behind him and saw a young girl, probably around 13 years old standing there with her arms crossed and a bored look on her face just as the guy finished.

"I'm Liam!" The next person to be reviled was the brown haired girl from earlier.

"Without fear the children meet challenges every day and every night. They would laugh the bullies, right in their faces. I'm Michelle!" Gilbert didn't know what to think and he didn't know whether to laugh or quickly find a way to escape. He settled for something in between and gripped the edges of the bathtub ready to fight his way out of there. Somehow. The last one lit up right in front of him and slowly the others joined behind.

"All of the struggle and all the doubts we've met, that the children met, has finally paid off. Today we have the great honor of finally meeting each other, you have the great honor of meeting…" The lights suddenly turned on again and they struck an obviously choreographed pose before they all exclaimed together.

"Compass!" The last guy bowed to him and added.

"And I, am Simon" At that moment, Gilbert realized he couldn't escape. Not only because it was almost physically impossible but also because he felt that he could never crush these poor kids dreams. Lowering himself back into the tub he decided to answer their questions as well he could and hopefully they would let him out afterwards. Maybe he could even get some answers on what was going on with him so he looked at them one by one and cracked a smile.