Chapter 24
Fire or Water?
"What? Emil is missing?" Mathias watched as Antonio rubbed the sleep from his eyes, they had apparently woken him up.
"Yes, everyone is looking for him right now. You haven't seen him?" He felt Lukas grip tighten around his hand. Mathias frowned when Antonio shook his head.
"Not since the meeting, I can help you search if you want but…" He threw a worried glance back into the dark hotel room. "I don't think Lovi is feeling well"
"It's okay" Lukas nodded "You can stay and look after him, we'll handle it" Mathias glanced at Lukas. He was thinking the same Lukas was probably thinking, that they were overreacting a bit. Plus, they were already so many searching so it wouldn't make much difference if he came or not. Antonio nodded, obviously a bit relieved.
"If you're sure"
"It's fine, he can't have gone far and he'll probably be very annoyed that we freaked out like this" Mathias rubbed the back of his head. "We know he's not a kid anymore but we can't help but watch over him"
"Let's go" Lukas pulled at his hand and Mathias waved as he walked back through the corridor.
"Tell us if he visits you though!"
"Sure!" Mathias saw how Antonio yawned and made his way back into the room and turned back to once again lead Lukas. He glanced at him and noticed how he was staring straight ahead while walking fast. Mathias sighed "We'll find him"
"I know" Lukas said the words but it didn't seem like he actually believed them.
"Lukas…"
"I don't know, something feels wrong" Lukas gritted his teeth and sped up even more. He hoped more than anything that someone else would have found him by now.
.
Stop.
"We know he's not a kid anymore but we can't help but watch over him"
Come inside, please.
"Let's go" Emil heard steps disappear through the corridor and he tried to shout for them to stop. But it was no use, it was as if his voice had disappeared completely. He looked to his side where Lovino seemed to try to do the same but with the same luck as Emil.
"Tell us if he visits you though!"
"Sure!" He saw how Shade came back inside the room and sighed relieved before he smiled towards them. "That was close" The smile suddenly fell. "I have to hurry." He motioned towards them and Emil felt himself lift from the bed just as Lovino did next to him. Shade walked over to the window and looked outside for a moment before he opened it. They were on the first floor so the ground was right beneath them and without a second thought, he jumped outside. Slowly, both Emil and Lovino levitated after him through the window and then continued through the small garden onto a parking lot. Shade looked around suspiciously and flinched when a crow suddenly flew up from the bushes next to him. Both of the captives dropped to the ground and Emil heard how Lovino gasped.
"HEL-" His shout was muffled before he could even finish the word and Emil felt how his own voice disappeared again. Shade was crouching while panting heavily and looked at them angrily.
"Dammit, I lost focus" Emil saw how Shade threw his angry glare at Antonio instead before he once again turned towards the parking lot. There was only a few cars there and, apart from the crow that now had sat down on a pickup truck, there was no sign of life. With a last glance at his captives, Shade hurried towards the closest car. The door unlocked with a quick movement of his hand and with another one, the engine started. He came back to them and, instead of just levitating them, lifted them both easily. They were stuffed into the backseat, despite them both doing their best to fight back. "Stop it. You're driving me crazy". He sat into the front seat and started driving, none of them knowing to where.
"I'm so sorry" The voice was only a whisper but Emil heard it clearly. He didn't know where it came from, only from who. As they passed lamppost by lamppost Antonio was projected briefly on the seat right where Emil was sitting. Shade was far too focused on thinking out a plan and driving so he didn't hear him. "It's all my fault" Emil shook his head carefully, this wasn't Antonios fault. There was nothing he could've done about it. Antonio sighed and started talking even lower. "Listen carefully, he might seem invincible but he isn't." He was speaking fast so he could say everything he wanted before he got discovered. "He gets angry easily and when he does, he loses control of his powers. He has already passed out once because of it and I think I might-"
"Antonio!" Shade glared in the rear-view mirror. "Shut the hell up, or else-"
"Or else what? What could you possibly do that is worse than this?" Emil couldn't remember every hearing Antonio get really angry until now. He sounded surprisingly calm but beneath it was a clear tone of rage.
"You just try me, I'm not even trying to be bad yet" They continued in silence for a while though Emil could hear Shade muttering to himself. Suddenly, Emil flew forward in the backseat as the car stopped outside an old factory. It was located right outside of town an there wasn't any other houses or cars around them. You wouldn't even know it existed unless you accidentally drove right past it. Shade smiled in the mirror before he got out of the car that was still running, it seemed like they wouldn't stay for long. The door opened and Emil could only watch as Shade easily picked Lovino out and carried him away, towards the building. "Remember to say goodbye!" He threw a smiling glance back at the car.
"This will be the last time you see each other"
.
"Anyone?" Tino bit his lip as the nations shook their heads. They had regrouped outside of the hotel again after checking the closest area, both outside and inside buildings. "Then we have to expand! Oh no, what if something has happened. What if he was taken? What if he's hurt! I mean anything could happen to him if-"
"Tino" Berwald shook his head at him and nodded towards Lukas and Mathias that had been searching with them for the last hour. They were standing next to each other, looking like parents that just lost their child during a picnic in the forest. Worried, not knowing if something had happened or not, while trying to believe that he would be found soon. Lukas was grasping Mathias hand as if his life depended on it and Mathias seemed like he wanted to run around and scream Emils name over and over again. Tino realised his mistake and got quiet again.
"I'll go search from the air" Elizabeta nodded towards the group.
"Great idea, That way we can cover much more ground." Arthur nodded approvingly but soon, he frowned instead. "Though we can't let you go alone, it's too dangerous."
"Then, what if Ivan go with her? Both can fly so it would be fine right?" Francis pointed towards Yao which had Ivan sitting on his shoulder looking really down. "Ivan! What's wrong?"
"Nothing" He turned his back towards them and hid in Yaos long hair.
"He's lost a lot of strength because of the spell so he's feeling a bit down" Yao flinched as Ivan pulled at his hair. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Ivan, just let it go and help us out here." Arthur was too tired for this. Refusing to say anything, Ivan stood up and flew over to Elizabeta to sit on her shoulder. "I'll take that as a yes" Elizabeta nodded towards them before she spread her wings and quickly lifted high up in the air.
"How about the rest of us divide into three groups? One with Berwald, one with Tino and one with me and Lukas since we're the ones that actually knows our way around this place." Mathias looked around and smiled a bit when the nations nodded approvingly. "Then, who will go with who?"
In the end Tino walked away with Yao, Matthew, Francis and Kiku in one direction and Berwald only got Ludwig and Feliciano with him. A small group for a small man as Mathias expressed it. Himself and Lukas walked towards the center of the town with Alfred and Arthur right behind them. "Don't worry" Mathias looked down at Lukas that was whispering to himself.
"I'll find you"
.
Why was everything going wrong?
Shade slammed the door as he sat back down into the car and drove off. He felt like he was going to explode and Emil must have noticed since he saw him back away as far as he could. "Fine, you can talk" He waved dismissively with his hand and felt relief as the spell he had put on Emil stopped draining his energy. He heard a faint gasp as Emil regained his voice and waited for the screaming, the panic, the begging and the pleased feeling he'd get from it. Then maybe he'd be able to calm down again.
"What did you do with Lovino?" Shade felt how his grip around the steering wheel tightened. This kid, why was he so calm? This wasn't what he wanted to hear. He looked back at Emil and, sure, he looked terrified but there was something in his eyes saying that he would never stop fighting.
"Doesn't matter, it's just too much trouble bringing both of you along" He turned to the right onto a small forest road. He had memorised a map of the town before they arrived in case of something like this happening.
"What…what are you planning for me?" There it was, the slight fear in his voice Shade was longing for. He laughed in relief as he turned onto another road.
"You do know that us nations heal much quicker than humans? It's very hard to kill one indee-"
"You're not a nation, you're a fake, Antonio is the real one" The defying tone was back and Shade tried to push back his irritation at being interrupted. He took a deep breath and continued while pretending not to notice Emils comment.
"Even though we very rarely can get killed by weapons or force, there are some things that are sure to take us out." He smiled in the mirror "Fire and water" Shade turned the car once again "Think about it. A fire can take out towns and forests, basically anything that comes in its path. Everything is just, gone!" He seemed amused at the thought "Water can drown anything, floods destroy lives all the time. The water level keeps rising and eventually everything will be lost." He chuckled and saw how Emil was barely breathing as he stared at him.
"What are you-"
"Though you are quite troublesome" Now it was Shades turn to interrupt. "Because of all your volcanic activity, there's a high possibility fire wouldn't hurt you so bad" He turned the car one last time and started slowing down. "That's why we're here" He stopped the car behind one of the sheds at a small private harbor.
.
"Do you really think he could've gotten this far?" Feliciano looked down at Ludwig that nodded at him.
"If he was taken…" He didn't finish the sentence, didn't want to think about it. If it really was Gilbert doing this he didn't know what he would do. The three of them were walking towards the edge of the town while looking through every alley and empty shed they passed but they hadn't seen any sign of Emil. Ludwig suddenly stopped and turned around. "Where's Berwald?" Just as he said it Berwald rounded a corner, jogging a bit to catch up with them.
"Did we walk too fast?" Feliciano crouched down as Berwald caught up and stood panting next to them.
"It's...fine… short legs…" He managed to calm his breath enough to finally look up at them. "Let's keep moving" Before he had gotten far he was lifted by Feliciano and placed on his back.
"Feliciano!" Ludwig looked at him.
"But it will go faster this way and he looked tired, I couldn't help it!" He pouted and glanced back. "It's fine right?"
"Mm" Berwald blushed a bit. He didn't actually like being carried like this, but Feliciano had a point. It would go much faster like this and to be honest, he was really tired. Ludwig sighed and turned forward again.
"Fine, where to next?"
"We're almost out of town" Berwald frowned "There isn't much after that but forests"
"Well, we should check it out anyway, just in case." Ludwig started walking. "Come on"
"Let's go!" Feliciano followed closely behind. They continued to search everywhere they went but soon they saw how the houses disappeared and left them in front of a forest. A path showed their way through it and with little hesitation, they started walking.
"Where does this lead to?" Ludwig looked back at the two, mainly at Berwald.
"It only leads to the ocean and some cabins. There isn't much besides…" Berwald suddenly got quiet and frowned. There was one other place that he could think of. He didn't even notice Feliciano stop next to Ludwig that was waiting for him to continue.
"Besides?"
"There's this old factory. Really desolate." He looked up at Ludwig "It's old, very few knows about it"
"That might be it" Ludwig nodded in agreeance. "Let's hurry, you lead the way" They started off in a jog, all nervous about what they were going to find when they arrived.