A/N- I got this idea for this awhile ago when I actually had time to play World of Warcraft, but I didn't write it. With my break, I've been playing WoW more (81 now \o), and have been really inspired to work on this. In WoW, you level through a series of quests, so I chose to make them mercenaries so it could have a more quest like layout. The world as highly inspired by both WoW and FFXI (as well as various other rpgs I've played). Not everything will be explained now (how certain things like portals and linkpearls work or everyone's relations/past), but it all will be eventually when/if I write more in the verse. There are more notes at the bottom, cause, I had a lot. orz Just to explain some random things. Sorry for the kind of half-assed final scene, but it was written more out of need than desire. ; By the time I had gotten than far I was like... I don't want to write this scene. 8l lol Oh well- I've learned to pick plots that have as little fight scenes as possible. The bad person was made up because I didn't want to make any of the Hetalia characters the badguy. lol :( Just as a warning, there is slight language, small amount of foreplay, and implied sex.

Finish the Promise

"You know, Arthur… I think you were right. Maybe it was a little careless to just barge into a large den of bandits and take something from them without any sort of escape plan."

Arthur rolled his eyes, sighing at the ridiculousness of that statement. "Of course I was right. I've clearly been the only one thinking properly this whole time!" He turned his head towards Arthur, who was grinning back at him, and scowled. "A whole lot of good it does us now."

"… I guess it would have helped to listen before we were surrounded by a bunch of bandits with no place to run," Alfred laughed, giving a small wave to the group of bandits that was slowly closing in on them.

The situation was this: Alfred and Arthur had been hired by a young lady to retrieve a valuable necklace that had been stolen by a group of bandits. It was an important family heirloom, and she really missed it. Alfred, being the hero he was, instantly accepted the job, and he and Arthur made their way to a large tower that was the bandits' lair. Rather than form a plan, as Arthur had suggested, Alfred just burst in with guns blazing (literally). Between the two of them, they had managed to make it far enough to retrieve the necklace, but reinforcements had arrived quickly, and they were chased onto the roof of the tower, where they were currently stuck with no clear way out.

"I guess I really screwed up this time," Alfred commented, his smile faltering slightly.

Arthur shook his head. "No more than you normally do, I'd say. Though, do forgive me if I choose not to join you on anymore jobs you just happen to find such as this one. I'll stick with the official jobs Matthew finds us from now on."

"Fair enough." Alfred held up his twin guns, Stars and Stripes, ready to begin shooting any moment. "You know, you're rather calm considering our situation."

"Perhaps I am merely used to being in situations such as these," Arthur commented, shrugging. "We've always managed to find a way out, and we've been in worse situations than this."

"Yeah, but… I don't know what to do. You don't have enough time to summon a portal, and it's kind of a really long drop down. There is no way these bandits are gonna let us off the hook that easily, considering how much we wrecked the place…"

"Talk such as that is not suited for a self-proclaimed hero such as you, Alfred." Arthur looked over his shoulder at Alfred, his scowl fading. "Now, why don't you stop such nonsense and find us a way out."

"There's no way out," one bandit snarled. "Now shut yer trap and die!" The bandit lunged out towards Alfred, his sword raised in the air.

"I love you, you know that, right?" Alfred asked as he dodged the bandit's attack, and shot him in the side.

"I'm well aware that you do," Arthur said, smiling slightly, dodging another bandit himself.

"Hey now..." Despite being attacked by bandits from every side, and having to fight them off, Alfred still managed a very convincing puppy dog pout. "We're in a life or death situation and I can't even get an 'I love you' back?"

Arthur quickly chanted a spell, shooting a fireball at a nearby bandit. "Rather than my tell you, why not wait until we're safely back in town and I can show you how I feel?"

Eyes widening momentarily, Alfred grinned as he dodged and shot at an attacking bandit. "I like your idea much better."

Arthur returned the grin. "As I knew you would."

They continued to fight off the bandits, easily holding their own, but more and more kept appearing.

"I," Arthur took a deep breath, "I fear we won't be able to keep up much longer."

Alfred was back to back with the Brit, his breathing shallow. "Yeah, I... I hate to say it, but this-" He looked behind him, his voice trailing off as he said, "... could be it..." That's when he noticed it- their best chance at making it out safely. There was a lake below them- one that Alfred hadn't known existed. It would be a long shot, especially when he had no way of knowing if it was deep enough for them to jump into, but Alfred was willing to give it a try. "Arthur!" he yelled, hurriedly placing his guns in their holsters before reaching out and pulling the other man tightly against him.

"Wha-" Instinctively, Arthur wrapped his arms around Alfred's neck, holding onto him tightly. "You git what are you-"

"No time to explain! Just hold on tight!" Alfred took a few slow steps backwards towards the edge of the roof. "It's been fun, guys," Alfred began, giving a small salute to the bandits, "but we really have to get going." He leaned his head forward, and whispered into Arthur's ear, "Take a deep breath."

"What do you-"

Before he could finish, Alfred took one more step backwards, before turning around and leaping off of the edge of the roof.

It was a long fall, as was expected. Arthur clung to Alfred tightly, screaming and cursing the whole way down until they eventually hit the surface of the water. The impact was hard enough to cause Alfred to lose his grip on Arthur, and the two were separated under the water.

Being the decent swimmer than he was, Alfred easily made it back to the surface. Once he was out of the water, he took a deep breath, and smiled. "Well, that worked out great, didn't it?" He looked around when he received no answer, noticing his partner was no where to be found. "Arthur? Well, fuck..." After taking a deep breath, he dove back under the water to search for Arthur.

Luckily, it didn't take him long to locate Arthur, who was currently flailing beneath the water. Alfred quickly closed the distance between them, grabbed hold of Arthur, and swam to the surface of the water. As Arthur clung to him, desperately trying to catch his breath, Alfred swam the two of them to shore.

"As I was trying to say earlier," Alfred began, grinning sheepishly, "that worked out great."

"G-great?" Arthur finally managed to choke out. "You almost killed me you dolt!"

"But I didn't, right?" Alfred's grin grew larger, and Arthur lightly hit the back of his head. "Geez, you were much calmer up in the tower surrounded by bandits. Toss you into some water and you freak out."

"You're well aware," Arthur said slowly between deep breaths, "that I am unable to swim."

"I forget sometimes!" Alfred threw his hands into the air, pouting. "It's still hard to believe the son of the world's most notorious pirate can't even swim."

"Tch." Arthur stood up, scowling as he did so. "Must you always mention that?" He reached his hand out to Alfred, who gladly took it. "We ought to go before the bandits have a chance to catch up."

With Arthur's help Alfred stood up, nodding. "Yeah, let's go."

The two men ran a good distance away from the tower, stopping when they were finally sure the bandits wouldn't catch them. With the distraction of being attacked gone, Arthur was finally able to summon a portal, taking them to the nearby town of Anoka.

When they arrived, Alfred pulled the necklace out of his pocket, tossing it into the air, and catching it by the chain. Arthur rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed, but Alfred grinned regardless. "Let's go bring this to the client so we can go to the inn and get some rest."

With a nod, Arthur followed Alfred through the town, into the residential area, and to the home of the client who had hired them. Their client was a young woman who didn't appear much older than themselves. When she saw Alfred and Arthur with her necklace in hand, she was ecstatic.

"You- you actually did it!" she cried happily as Alfred handed the necklace to her.

"Of course we did! We're the best mercenaries around!" Alfred proclaimed proudly, jabbing his thumb towards himself. "It was a cinch, right, Arthur?"

Arthur snorted. "Yes, quite."

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you," the girl sad, softly, staring down at the necklace.

Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Alfred shaking his head and saying, "There's no need to thank us! It's all in a days work for a hero!"

"W-what?" Arthur shook his head, "I believe what he meant to say was-"

"We're just happy to help! We don't need any reward for our work!"

"Actually, yes, we do-"

"Just keep that necklace safe! That's enough for us!"

"No, no it's not-"

"I don't have much," the young lady began, "but I can give you what little I have." She stepped back into her home, emerging a few moments later with a small bag. "Here. It's all I can spare at the moment," she said, holding the bag out to the men.

Arthur snatched the bag away before Alfred could turn it down, and peeked inside it. "... 5 gold pieces? After all of that-"

"Thank you very much! We appreciate it!" Alfred said, cutting Arthur off. He grabbed his partner by the shoulders, and turned him around. "Take care of that necklace, okay!" He gave the young woman a wave, and pushed a protesting Arthur away from the house.

When they were out of hearing distance, Arthur shook himself free of Alfred's grip before scowling at him. "Must I remind you every time that our services are not free? We need the reward money from these jobs to survive."

Alfred shrugged, then threw an arm around Arthur's shoulders. "You didn't have to be so rude about it, though. She said she was giving us everything she could spare."

"If it were up to you, she would have given us nothing at all." He glared up at the slightly taller blonde, who just grinned back. "She should have taken how much she could pay into consideration before hiring someone to retrieve it. That whole ordeal was not worth a mere 5 gold."

"Relax, babe!" Alfred pulled Arthur against his side, hugging him. "We had an awesome adventure, and we did a good deed at he same time. Can't that be enough for now?" Arthur grumbled something about stupid wanna be heroes, and Alfred placed a kiss on the side of his head. "Now, why don't we put that money to use and go get some rest at the inn?"

"God, finally! It feels so good to be out of those wet clothes!" America flopped onto the bed in their room and sighed happily. He had removed his coat, scarf, and boots and tossed them onto the floor beside the bed, leaving him in just a tunic and pants. "You know, after being chased by bandits and jumping off a tower several stories tall, sleep sounds like the best thing ever."

"The best thing ever? Are you sure about that?" Arthur carefully removed his cape and coat, laying them over a chair to dry. Once his clothes were situated, he crawled into bed beside Alfred. "Even better than this?" He leaned forward, capturing Alfred's lips with his own into a deep, slow kiss.

Alfred smiled into the kiss, and when they broke apart, said, "Mmm, I stand corrected." He rubbed his hands along the sides of Arthur's arms, as the other moved to straddle Alfred's hips. "I thought you were mad at me."

"I should be, but I seem to find it very difficult to remain cross with you," Arthur began, kissing along Alfred's jaw, "And, if you remember, I promised to show you," he slid his hands up under Alfred's tunic, feeling bare skin underneath it, "just how much," he rolled his hips, causing Alfred to moan, and grinned, "I love you."

"Oh god, Arthur," Alfred pulled Arthur down into another passionate kiss. "How do you manage to be so hot?"

"I suppose it's a gift," Arthur laughed as he sat up. "Now, sit up." Alfred obeyed, sitting up so Arthur could remove his glasses. He placed them onto the bedside table, then removed his tunic, which he tossed carelessly onto the floor. With those out of the way, he pushed Alfred onto his back once again. He leaned forward to start nipping and kissing at Alfred's neck, leaving visible marks as he did so. Alfred tilted his head to better expose his neck, letting out breathy noises of pleasure.

Growing impatient, Alfred started to slide Arthur's shirt up, causing the older man to laugh. Arthur sat up, pulled off his tunic, and tossed it aside before returning to marking Alfred's neck. Alfred grinned, and just as he was ready to begin ravishing that beautiful bare chest above him, he heard a voice (that definitely wasn't Arthur's) say, "Alfred?"

Alfred stopped all movement. "Did you hear that?"

"No," Arthur stated firmly, taking a moment to admire his handy work before kissing his way down to Alfred's chest.

Alfred shrugged, ready to just accept that he may just be hearing things, until he heard it again. "Alfred?"

"Okay, I'm sure I-" Any reply he had melted into a loud groan as Arthur hit a particularly sensitive spot. This served as a brilliant distraction, until the voice spoke up again, saying, "Alfred, I know you're there. Answer me, eh."

"Oh!" Alfred sat up quickly, pushing Arthur off as he did so. "It's Matty! I knew I wasn't hearing things! I should probably answer him..."

"Bloody hell, Alfred! Matthew can wait until we're finished." Arthur scowled and repositioned himself on top of Alfred.

"What if he has a new job for us?"

Arthur gently ran the back of his hand against Alfred's cheek, and said softly. "Your cousin and the job will be there when we're done." He leaned forward, gently kissing his lover, then whispered in his ear, "I need you, Alfred." He rolled his hips as a way of emphasizing the point. "Please, don't force me to wait any longer."

Alfred swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling very dry. He nodded, unable to speak, and bent forward to kiss Arthur. It always amazed Alfred that no matter how many times he and Arthur had sex, the other man was still able to render him speechless and make his heart flutter. As they kissed, Arthur parted his lips slightly, and Alfred took the opportunity to slide his tongue into the others mouth. Arthur's hand slid down Alfred's chest, dipping beneath the waist band of his pants, and coming oh so close to-

"Alfred, I know you and Arthur are there, so answer me, eh. Whatever you're doing can't be so important that you can't stop for a few minutes."

Alfred sighed, pulling away from Arthur, and smiled when he heard his boyfriend mumble, "I believe it can." He laughed, and placed a kiss on Arthur's forehead. "I think it'll be easier if you let me answer him really fast, okay sweetie?" Grumbling, Arthur nodded, and Alfred smiled. "Where is my jacket? My linkpearl is in my pocket."

Arthur leaned over the bed, and came back up moments later with Alfred's jacket. Scowling, he threw the jacket at Alfred, who caught it. Laughing, he reached into his pocket and retrieve a small, yellow pearl. He closed his hand around it before saying, "Hey, Matty. Sorry about that! I couldn't find my pearl."

Matthew sighed. "You really need to take better care of that, eh. Arthur went through a lot of trouble to enchant these pearls for us so we could use them to communicate like this."

"... It was a rather large amount of work," Arthur agreed, nodding.

Alfred rolled his eyes, pouting. Arthur was well aware of the fact that he hadn't actually misplaced it, and was obviously just teasing him. "Fine, I'll take better care of it. So, what did you want?"

"Did you finish that job you guys found?" Matthew's voice asked.

"Yup!" Alfred gave a thumbs up to Arthur, who just shook his head. "Was an exciting job, too! There were bandits and we were surrounded and we had to jump off a super tall tower and Arthur almost drowned-"

"That does sound pretty cool," Matthew interrupted. "You can tell me about it later, eh? I'm in a hurry. We got a job offer, and it's a big one."

"Really?" Alfred asked, an excited smile on his face.

"Comes straight from the royal family themselves, so you know it's going to pay big."

Alfred's face instantly fell. "Oh... really? Do we have to take it?"

"It's a great opportunity for some money, and they asked specifically for us."

This caused Alfred to frown even more.

"Alfred, love, I know how you feel about accepting jobs from the royal family," Arthur began, lightly touching the side of Alfred's face, "but we can't exactly refuse them, either. This could be considered a good sign, as well. Being in the royal families good graces will allow us to work with less trouble, and hopefully keep us from crossing paths with the authorities."

"Yeah, I guess you're right" Alfred mumbled, looking down at the pearl in his hand. "Okay, Matty, we'll do it. What's the job?"

"Francis is going to meet you with the details. You're in Anoka right now?"

"Yeah, we're staying in the inn."

"All right, I'll let him know, eh. He'll meet you guys there, okay?"

"Sounds good. Talk to you later, Matty." Alfred stuffed the pearl back into his jacket pocket, then tossed his jacket aside. "Looks like we're on a time limit now, since Francis is on his way." He wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck and pulled him towards him.

Smiling, Arthur nodded, hugged Alfred around his waist. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time before the frog arrives," he said before going back to kissing his lover. The kisses quickly grew more intense, both men eager to get back to loving each other.

Before they could make it much further, though, there was a quick knock, and the door to their room flew open. Alfred and Arthur both froze, slowly turning their heads to see Francis standing in the door way, grinning.

"Oh, am I interrupting something?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Arthur's cheeks instantly went red. "Clearly, you are. Now, if you don't mind."

Francis shook his head. "Not at all, my dear Arthur." He shut the door behind him, and made his way to a chair across from the bed. He sat down, crossed his legs, placed his hands in his lap, and smiled. Arthur stared back, giving his best warning glare. After several moments of staring at one another, Francis waved his hand and said, "Don't mind me! Continue with your.. activities."

After a short pause, Arthur turned back towards Alfred, and gave him a small kiss. "Excuse me for a moment, love." He climbed off of the bed, approached Francis, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Pausing again, he turned to Alfred. "Close your eyes, my darling. I'd prefer you not to see this."

The evil glint in Arthur's eye was all it took for Alfred to know his best bet was to do what Arthur asked with as little fuss as possible. The last thing he saw as he closed his eyes was his boyfriend leaning over a very terrified looking Francis.

When he was finally given permission to open his eyes, the only person in the room was Arthur. "Wha- where did Francis go?"

"He decided to give us our private time after all," Arthur commented, crawling back into bed beside Alfred. "He asked us to let him know when we were finished. It was very kind of him."

"But I didn't hear anything. How-"

"Shhh," Arthur slid his hands down, along Alfred's sides, "no need to worry about that. Let's say it was magic, shall we? Now-" he kissed Alfred, a wicked grin on his face, "where were we?"

It was times like these- Arthur hovering over him, grinning devilishly at him, his eyes filled with lust and hunger- that Alfred was suddenly reminded that behind that prim, gentlemanly exterior, was a former pirate... and he found it to be quite a turn on. He pulled Arthur on against himself, kissed him. and smirked. "I think we were right about here."

It wasn't until the next morning that Francis was allowed back into the room. (After a round of passionate love making, letting Francis into the room was the last thing on either of their minds.) The Frenchman frowned as he entered the room, his hand on his lower back. "I do not appreciate being forced to sleep in the hallway."

"I happen to be in a good mood right now, Francis. I'd prefer if you not ruin that." Arthur scowled from the edge of the bed, where he sat beside Alfred.. "You could have very well gotten your own room for the night."

"The inn just so happened to be full, and you know Matthew would kill me if I wasted money!" Francis sighed. "For someone who will never have to be concerned with financial matters, he certainly is rather frugal."

"How did you get here so fast, anyway?" Alfred added, tilting his head slightly.

"I was already in town when Matthew contacted me and told me the two of you were here. It was rather lucky timing. I had just arrived."

"Right, lucky," Arthur muttered. "Well then, what's this job Matthew mentioned?"

"Ah, yes!" Francis nodded, reaching into his pocket, and pulled out a photo. "The king and queen have asked us to retrieve and destroy this item." He tossed the photo to Arthur, who skillfully caught it. "It seems it is a cursed item that could be used to summon a very powerful demon. They want us to complete the job as fast as we can as it's mere existence is a threat to the safety of the kingdom or something." He shrugged, looking towards Arthur and Alfred.

Arthur glanced at the picture, and his face went instantly white. "A-Alfred," he began, his voice shaky. he held the photo out towards Alfred. "Does this... look familiar to you?"

Alfred leaned forward to get a better look. "Kind of. It's a very pretty necklace! Maybe we saw it in a shop?"

"No, you git!" Arthur snatched the photo back, and held it in front of Alfred's face. "This is the necklace we recovered yesterday! The one you gave away for 5 gold!"

"5 gold?" Francis snickered. "You mean to say that you had a necklace powerful enough to summon a deadly demon and you sold it for 5 gold?" The Frenchman's snickers turned into full on laughter. "This is priceless!"

"How was I supposed to know?" Alfred huffed. Francis kept laughing, and Alfred sighed. "Okay, okay we get it. Alfred screwed up, haha, very funny. You act like it wouldn't have turned out this way even if I did take more than 5 gold. Besides, isn't it better that she has it than those bandits?"

"I suppose he has a point," Arthur said, nodding. "We can more easily get it from her than those bandits."

"This sucks!" Alfred leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and places his chin in his hands. "She just got her priceless family heirloom back, and now we have to take it from her again. That's really uncool..."

"Yes, well, this way you get to be a hero to even more people," Arthur said, rubbing Alfred's back reassuringly. "And she'll be safer without it in her possession. Surely others will come looking for it soon if it truly is as powerful as they say."

"Yeah, you're right." Alfred sat up, nodding. "We better go get it from her before she ends up in danger!"

"I don't believe she's home."

"S-she has to be!" Alfred kept knocking on the door. "She was just here yesterday!"

Arthur lightly touched Alfred's shoulder. "I'm afraid Francis is correct, love. She's not home."

Alfred's knocks grew louder and more frantic. "Hey! Open up!" He looked at Arthur, his blue eyes fearful. "You don't think the bad guys got her, do you?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions, Alfred. Perhaps she just went to the market." Arthur looked around, spotting an older woman hanging laundry at the house beside them. "Excuse me!" he called to the woman, who jumped slightly before looking at him. "Do you, by chance, know where the young lady who lives here is?"

"You mean Jadiene?" she asked. Arthur nodded, and she smiled. "Oh, yes, I saw her leave last night."

"Last night? And she's not back yet? Do you happen to know where she went?"

"Hmm," the woman looked up in thought, "I believe she was headed for the temple south of here."

"That temple has been abandoned for years," Francis said, stepping beside Arthur. "What business does she have there?"

The woman shrugged. "I'm not sure, really."

"Did she say anything else before she left?" Arthur asked, glancing over at Francis, who nodded in return.

"Not really, just that I don't need to worry about doing my laundry today, as the world probably wouldn't be around long enough for it to matter."

Arthur opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying, "... And you didn't find that odd?"

"Not really." The woman shrugged. "Jadiene has always been a rather odd one."

"... Thank you for your time," Arthur muttered, turning back towards Alfred.

Alfred started laughing, shifting uncomfortably. "So, uh... that sounded legit, didn't it?"

"I think it's safe to say that she wasn't just going to the temple for a holiday."

"But, she can't be evil! You met her! She was so nice!"

"Alfred," said softly, looking his boyfriend in the eyes, "it was all an act. She did a terrible thing and used you to get that necklace for her in order to use it for evil."

"... And she only gave you 5 gold pieces for it," Francis added, grinning.

Alfred clenched his fists. "You're right. We have to go get that necklace back from that liar and destroy it! No one tricks a hero like that and gets away with it! Come on, let's go!"

When they arrived at the temple, they easily located Jadiene. She was in the center of the building, on a raised platform, kneeling in front of an alter where the the necklace was placed.

"So, uh, nice necklace you've got there," Alfred called to her. She jumped, quickly getting on her feet, and turned around. Her eyes widened when she saw who was there. "Surprised to see us?"

"H-how-?"

"That doesn't matter." Alfred took a step forward, pulling his guns out of their holsters. "I don't appreciate being lied to and used like that."

"Hmph." Jadiene smiled smugly. "I was surprised that the stories I had heard about the great Alfred Jones turned out to be true. You really can't resist the chance to play hero for a damsel in distress, can you?"

Arthur took a step forward and opened his mouth to speak, but Alfred held his arm out, stopping him. He looked at Alfred, slightly confused, who smiled back and gave him a small wink.

"If you're trying to throw me off," Alfred began, turning back to Jadiene and lowering his arm, "you're out of luck. I'm not ashamed of trying to be a hero. Sure, I can be a bit hardheaded at times and I don't think everything through," he glanced at Arthur, who smiled back a him, "but I'm proud of who I am! I've helped a lot of people since becoming a mercenary, and to me, that's the most important thing in the end. Besides, I'd rather be a naive hero than a D list bad guy like you."

Jadiene raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Alfred threw his hands up and shrugged. "I'm just saying, if you were going to do something like destroy the world, you could have picked something a little less lame than summoning some evil demon. I mean, hello! How cliche can you get?"

"Tch. I'll show you D list!" She raised her hand, firing a lighting bolt at the group. Arthur quickly muttered an incantation, causing a force field to appear and reflect the spell. Jadiene's eyes widened, and she took a step back. "Reflection magic? You're not just your ordinary mage, are you? You really could be a threat..." Jadiene turned around and grabbed the necklace from the alter. "I won't let you ruin my plan!" She closed her eyes and began chanting again, causing a black portal to begin to form in the sky above her.

"We have to destroy that necklace, quickly!" Arthur said, his voice calm despite the situation.

"I'm not sure we can reach her soon enough," Francis replied, pulling his sword out.

Alfred looked at Jadiene, trying to find an opening for a good shot, but the angle she was standing left no opening. He then glanced up at the ceiling and spotted a pillar that was positioned in a way that maybe, if he was lucky...

... It would be tricky, but just like on the top of the bandits' tower, he had no other choice than to try.

"Get down!" He shouted to Arthur and Francis, and before he even knew if they had done so, he aimed and shot at the pillar. Whether is was skill or dumb luck, the bullet managed to hit the pillar and ricocheted at just the right angle to hit the necklace, shattering it and wounding Jadiene.

"Brilliant, Alfred!" Arthur took a step towards Alfred, but stopped when he heard Jadiene begin to laugh.

"You're too late," Jadiene said, throwing the shattered necklace aside. "The spell has been cast- You can't stop it now."

"This isn't good," Alfred said as he looked up at the portal that was slowly growing larger.

"Alfred!" Alfred turned to look at Arthur, who was staring at the portal. "I can seal the portal, just give me some time. I need you and Francis to cover me, all right?"

"Right!" Alfred yelled back. He looked at Francis, who nodded and winked in return. Arthur began chanting his spell, causing Jadiene to look very panicked.

"I won't let you!" She pulled out a sword and made a leap for Arthur, but she was stopped by Francis and his own sword.

"You're much too pretty to be evil," Francis told her smiling. "It's unfortunate it has to end like this. I would have gladly made room for you in my bed."

"Shut up!" She leaped back, regained her footing, then ran at Francis, her sword raised. "I've come this far, I can't let you stop me now!"

She swung at Francis, who easily blocked her attack and pushed her back. She ran at him again, but was once again stopped in her tracks. The two fought for several moments, swords clashing, until, suddenly, a bright light filled the room. It lingered in the room for a few moments, and when it dissipated, the black portal was gone. Unfortunately, Jadiene was as well.

Arthur stood still for a few moments before he began to sway, eventually falling to his knees.

"Arthur!" Alfred was instantly at his side, wrapping his arm around his back to support him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Alfred." Arthur leaned his head on Alfred's shoulder. "The spell just took a lot out of me. I'll be fine with some rest."

Alfred smiled, and kissed the top of Arthur's head. "You did a great job, Arthur." He lifted his head to look at Francis, who was walking back towards them, the broken necklace in hand.

Francis shook his head. "She got away." He held up the necklace, and twirled it around. "At least we have this as proof that we did the job."

"Shouldn't we go after her?" Alfred asked, looking around for any sign of the woman.

"We have no way of knowing where she went," Francis answered. "I believe she is relatively harmless now, anyway. And we've done our part. When we return to town, we can tell the authorities of her. They can handle it from that point."

"Yeah, you're right," Alfred agreed and looked at Arthur. "I'm more concerned with getting Arthur back to the inn so he can rest, anyway. Can you stand up?"

Arthur nodded. "If you could help me stand, I believe I will be all right from there."

Francis grinned while watching Alfred help Arthur stand. "I don't believe I've seen Arthur this vulnerable before. This is something I could take advantage of- er, get used to."

Once they were up, Arthur kissed Alfred before saying, "Alfred, I need you to close your eyes for me again, all right?"

That evil glint was back in his eyes, and Alfred quickly shut his eyes. He felt Arthur move away from him, but once again heard nothing. When he opened his eyes again, only Arthur stood in front of him. There was no sign of Francis anywhere.

"... Where did Francis go?" Alfred asked, despite knowing he wouldn't get an answer.

Arthur returned to Alfred's side, taking his hand in his own and twisting their fingers together. "He kindly offered to go ahead of us and reserve a room at the inn. For a Frenchman, he truly can be a very considerate person."

"You know," Alfred said with a laugh, "sometimes you can be really fucking scary, you know that?"

Arthur shrugged, grinning, and tugged at Alfred's hand to get him to start moving.

"Hey," Alfred began as they walked, "earlier, when Jadiene was saying that stuff about me... You were about to say something and... were you going to defend me?"

"What? Of course not," Arthur stated firmly. "You've managed to prove once again that your ego is rather large enough on it's own. I have no desire to help enlarge it further."

"Fair enough," Alfred said, laughing.

They walked in silence for awhile, until Arthur said, "For what it's worth, I am proud of who you are, as well."

Alfred stopped, causing Arthur to stop as well. "You are?"

Nodding, Arthur looked away, his cheeks turning bright red. "You're the most ridiculous, idiotic, wonderfully brilliant person I know, and I wouldn't change that for the world."

Alfred pulled the shorter man into a tight hug. "Thank you, Arthur! That- that means a lot to me!"

"S-stop that!" Arthur pushed away from Alfred, scowling. It wasn't long, though, before it turned into a small smile. "You truly are a hero, Alfred Jones. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise, all right?"

Alfred nodded, the biggest smile he could manage on his face. "Okay!"

"And as far as anyone is concerned, I never said anything of the sort."

"Of course not." Alfred held his hand out to Arthur, who took it, blushing.

"I'm pleased to see we agree," Arthur said, grinning as he tugged on Alfred's hand. "We ought to get back to the inn and get some rest, all right?"

Alfred smiled to himself as they once again began their trek back to town. He looked at Arthur, who was concentrating on the path ahead of them, and his smile grew larger. He felt lucky that he was able to share all of his adventures with the person he loved. Arthur always knew just what to say to motivate him and keep him going from one job to the next. In a way, Alfred thought Arthur was just as much of a hero as himself.

"I hope our next adventure is as exciting as that one," Alfred said, giving Arthur's hand a loving squeeze.

Arthur looked over at him, and smiled. "With you around, there is no way it won't."

Notes:

*I like to jump off tall towers into water and live on WoW, which is where that came from, and the bullet thing? Alfred is just that awesome.

*I figured Alfred would have some cool name for his guns. Dante has Ebony and Ivory, so Alfred has Stars and Stripes. (Liberty and Freedom would have been my second choice) Coincidentally, I've been listening to Stars and Stripes Forever the past few days. lol

*Anoka is the name of a city in Minnesota. The kingdoms in this world are named after actual countries, and the cities are named after cities, so yes, Francis really is from France. (again, I am not creative) There will be more on the world next time if I continue.

*linkpearls are communication devices in FFXI. It's like the games way of having guilds. They never say how they work in the game, so I made something up, which will eventually be explained. (though I think the context clues give it away)

*Jadiene is named after a random WoW character my sister made who was actually named after Jade from America's Next Top Model. I couldn't bare to turn any Hetalia characters into the villain, so for this series, I am just going to make them up. Other nations will appear, though, in other ways. (several of them being fellow mercs themselves)

*How did Arthur manage to get rid of Francis both times like that? ... The world may never know. I will say, that I have been sworn not to tell- it's too fearsome to even be mentioned. (It's all in good fun, though. I think Arthur and Francis are total bffs)

*There are other unanswered questions, I know, but those do have some resolution later lol This isn't meant to be a srs bzns thing, just a one shot thing to try my hand at the verse and see if I want to do more. I kind of do, so we'll see. Let me know if you'd like to see more rpg verse!