Chapter 14

C.O.M.P.A.S.S

"That was a really awesome introduction!" Gilbert grinned at the group and their eyes lit up as if they just got the best gift in the world.

"It is, right? We have practiced for ages!" Sarah giggled but frowned when she suddenly noticed the girl right behind him. "Dani! I told you not to come down here!"

"You can't stop me Sis" She turned towards Gilbert and eyed him suspiciously. "I'm Daniella, but most people call me Dani, and Sarah here is my sister" Dani narrowed her eyes "You're not fake and just trying to mess with my Sis are you?"

"Eh, Uhm…" He couldn't say much more before Sarah lifted her sister from the ground and carried her upstairs. They heard their arguing voices slowly fade and Gilbert turned towards the rest of the group and tried to shift their focus. "So, Compass huh? Why did you choose that name?" He tried to keep the conversation focused on anything but himself for the moment, at least until he could come up with a good enough backstory.

"I'm glad you asked!" Simon chirped and pulled out a chair so he could sit down next to the tub. "It came to me in a dream years ago and I knew it was meant to be. It's actually an acronym for Creatures Of Mystery Protection And Science Squad. C.O.M.P.A.S.S!" Michelle held up a few loose papers on from the table where Gilbert could see rows after rows of words that were crossed over.

"Actually, we came up with it only a few days ago. It's hard finding a cool name with a cool acronym"

"Michelle, shush!" He shook his head and moved in a little closer. "Now then, over to the most important part. Who are you?" Gilbert hadn't come up with a story yet and had to quickly improvise. He started just as Sarah came back down to the basement.

"M…my name is Gilbert!" He wanted to kick himself for using his real name but realized that could be a bit hard since he didn't have any lags. "I am a merman from the wonderful underwater city of..uh… Mermadia! I was taken from my town by some bad peop…mermen but managed to escape. But I was wounded and fell unconscious so I was flushed up on the beach!" He paused and hoped that they would believe him.

"Mermadia huh…" Robin looked at the others. "I don't think I've heard of it"

"Ssh let him continue!" Sarah looked at him and Gilbert didn't know what else to say. There wasn't any more to the story. When he didn't say anything Sarah added "Why did the bad guys take you?"

"Eh well…" He tried to think fast and therefore he said the words that he would later regret "It's… It's because I'm a prince!" The silence that followed were deafening as the group froze, it seemed like the chock were a bit too much for them. Gilbert suddenly saw his chance "And that's why I have to get back fast!" He sat up a bit straighter in an attempt of looking important and the group were suddenly brought back to reality.

"Compass private meeting!" The group hurried into the corner of the room and started whispering to each other while throwing a few glances towards Gilbert. He could only hear a few sentences but it was enough for him to realize his mistake.

"…supposed to take him back tomorrow…"

"…prince…use him to…"

"…one week instead…"

"We're no criminals!" Michelle was shushed down again and the whispering continued even quieter so Gilbert couldn't hear a thing. But it was enough for him to figure out that they would have let him go tomorrow, probably after answering their questions, but now that they thought he was a prince they wanted to use it for their advantage. He knew trying to crawl his way out of there was impossible since he didn't seem to get left alone even for a minute and if a fight would break out he could hurt them by mistake.

"I'll figure it out" He said to himself, still pretty confident despite being in this situation.

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Berwald had just finished his small wooden family when Alfred came back. "Hi" When he didn't get any answer Berwald looked up and noticed how Alfreds eyes looked glazed, as if he hadn't slept for days. "Are you okay?" Alfred looked at him and nodded before he walked into the house and Berwald figured that he was just tired, like they all were. He suddenly realized that since Lukas was unconscious, he could finally change back to his normal clothes. After cleaning up the mess he made he ran towards the door but stopped when he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He looked back across the yard but couldn't see anything and when the feeling of being watched didn't disappear he quickly backed into the house and closed the door. As he turned around he saw that Emil had just entered the hall.

"Where is everyone?" Emil looked around, the house had suddenly gotten so quiet.

"Out walking" Berwald passed him and went into the living room to start searching for his clothes. Where had Lukas put them?

"Oh" Emil sat down on a chair and felt a bit relieved. Something had been bugging him since Arthur had explained the spell but he couldn't exactly say what it was and with the current silence he might be able to figure it out. He thought back to what Arthur had said. A spell of multiple layers were the ones in the most inner circles would have their spells broken last. He and Mathias were almost in the center but… Emil suddenly realized. There hadn't been a symbol in the middle of the circle where he had assumed Lukas mark would be. He flew up from the chair and ran up the stairs towards Arthurs room. He didn't care if he woke him up, this was more important. When he threw open the door without even knocking the sight that met him made him first freeze in the doorway before he screaming for help ran inside.

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"I still hasn't gotten over the fact that you call yourself Shade" Shade blushed and punched at the tree where Antonio were currently projected. "Still doesn't hurt" He didn't understand when this happened, he had only noticed that Antonio had gotten calmer and was now spending every minute of his time trying to annoy him but since when had he let it get to him? He looked back at the house were a small boy he didn't recognize was still carving small wooden figures. They had arrived in Norway a few hours ago, the plane ride had been horrible with Antonio slowly driving him insane, and they had then been standing there for about an hour. Shade had seen a bunch of nations leave the house but not the two that he needed to take care of. His mind was racing trying to think of a plan, but it didn't go well with Antonio distracting him all the time which was probably his intention. When he saw a familiar looking girl walk by, dangerously close to him, he suddenly saw the perfect solution. He hurried away through the forest and closed his eyes to sense where the rest of the nations were.

"There" He found the right person not very far from the house and when he came in close he walked slower so he wouldn't get noticed.

"What are you doing?" Antonio sounded worried and it made him smile. He knew that Antonio would hate this more than anything he had done this far, since he hadn't actually hurt anyone this far. Maybe he could finally turn things around so he could have the upper hand mentally again. He looked out from behind a big stone and saw how Alfred was closing in, completely lost in thought. He could almost feel how Antonio froze in place when he realized what was about to happen.

"Time to have some fun" Just as Alfred passed him he jumped out and grabbed his wrist before pulling him behind the stone. Shade quickly realized his mistake as Alfred easily ripped his hand out of the grip and grabbed his wrist before kicking him right behind his knee which forced him down on the ground. Shade heard Antonio hopefully gasp just before Alfred got up again as he realized who it was. Or, who he thought it was. It seemed like Alfred tried to say something but no words passed his lips. "You can't speak?" Alfred put his arms that he had been waving around down and nodded which caused Shade to grin. "That'll make things much easier." Before Alfred could react he was pinned to the stone.

"What will you do to him?" He heard Antonio ask but ignored it as he focused on the nation before him that had his eyes wide open, staring at him angrily as he realized that he was not the same as before, that this was not Antonio. Shade flinched when Alfred managed to slowly lift an arm from the rock, most nations wouldn't even be able to breathe under the pressure he was holding. He added more pressure until they were both panting, one because of exhaustion and one because he could barely breathe. Delighted that he finally won, Shade pushed his hand over Alfreds head and saw how his eyes slowly got glazed. Usually when you perform this spell the person would have time to call for help but Shade had been lucky all day. Everything was going according to plan. After about five minutes he backed off and let Alfred down again. When he landed, he stood swaying on the ground until Shade flicked his hand upwards which made him start walking towards the house again.

"I'll just borrow him for a while, to take care of a few things" He stumbled after Alfred while hidden in the forest with Antonio asking him to stop right behind. Shade felt how Antonios body was protesting, it wasn't used to magic and especially not the amount it had used recently. Shade felt that he was almost out of energy and decided that this was the last spell for a while. They were soon back at their hiding spot behind the trees and they saw how Alfred walked up the stairs were the small boy was still sitting. He said something to Alfred and with another flick of his wrist, Shade made Alfred nod before he entered the house and they saw how the boy furrowed his brows in confusion. He then shook his head, looked thoughtful for a moment before he got up and collected his things. Just as the boy was about to enter the house he suddenly stopped and turned around to look right at them. At the last second, Shade pulled back behind the tree again.

"You won't win this, you know that right?" He ignored Antonio again and saw how the boy opened the door and he noticed Emil coming into the hallway. Shade eyed him before the door closed. He was so young and small, so innocent, just the kind of person he would love to toy around with. He turned around and walked back into the forest thinking that he couldn't afford that luxury right now, especially with his energy so low. After about five minutes of walking, he heard the scream. It sent chills running up his spine and he wanted to hear more so badly. He slapped himself on the cheeks to focus and continued walking. Good things come to those who wait.