Alfred woke up to a horrible headache. He tried to put a hand to hold his head, but he found that hard to do. He tried to move it even more and he felt a pressure on both of his wrists. His left arm moved with his right. He moved his fingers a little bit and found that they touched each other.
Alfred opened his eyes and tried to look around, but the world was sideways. His face was pressed against the grass and he was facing a giant fire right in front of him. Alfred tried to move his feet, but they were in the same predicament as his hands. He looked down to them and found that they were bound very tightly by a rope.
Alfred moved his head around, trying to find out if he could see anything around him. All that proved was getting him noticed.
"Oh, he's awake!" that was a voice Alfred hadn't heard before. It sounded extremely French. Soon, bright blue eyes were looking right at him.
"Holy shit!" Alfred nearly screamed and backed away. He had somehow managed to get himself sitting up in the process. "Get the hell away from me!"
"No need to worry monsieur," the man knelt down to Alfred's level and held his chin, despite Alfred's massive efforts to get away. "We won't be doing anything to you…yet." Alfred really wanted to punch that grin off his face.
"Quit tormenting him, frog," Arthur's voice rang out and Alfred sighed with relief. He was okay.
"Would you prefer I torment you, mon cher?" the man turned his attention away from Alfred to look over to his right, but keeping his hand on Alfred's chin so he couldn't look that way, too.
"Shut the hell up!" Arthur snapped and Alfred tried fumbling with the ropes around his wrists behind his back.
"Francis," the Spaniard started talking and Alfred could look up just enough to see him towering behind the man, who he now supposed his name was Francis. "Go back to where you were."
Francis gave one last look to Alfred, eyeing him up and down, Alfred noticed he kept his gaze on his lower parts longer than the rest of his body. Then Francis stood up and walked away from Alfred.
Immediately after having his chin released, Alfred looked over to where Francis looked to find Arthur tied to a tree, his arms at his sides. He was sitting cross-legged against the tree. When he met Alfred's gaze he smiled slightly and nodded.
"I apologize about Francis," the Spaniard sighed and Alfred's attention snapped back to him. He was still standing in front of Alfred, but far enough back so that Alfred didn't have to crane his neck to see him. "He's a bit…eccentric."
"I can tell," Alfred said, making sure he sounded annoyed. "Who are you?" Alfred ordered.
"You haven't heard of us? That's a shame," the Spaniard scoffed. "We are the Three Musketeers."
"You're not that amazing, Antonio," Arthur chuckled. "You're just a confessed witch fighting to survive."
"Won't have to fight very hard after I turn you in, Arthur," Antonio spat in Arthur's direction. "And I'm sure he'd be worth something, too."
"Not much, I think," Alfred heard Gilbert's voice and tried to look around for him, but couldn't find him. He must have been on the other side of the fire.
"Hey!" Alfred complained.
"He might be worth a little more than you think," Arthur countered.
"He said you're a confessed witch," Alfred tried, wanting to change the subject. "How are you out here and not…I don't know…dead?"
"I will have you know, we are not like every other witch," Antonio said proudly. "The three of us have a little thing in common," Alfred supposed he meant him and the other two. "Our normal magic isn't very powerful, but we have a talent. A talent to detect when other witches are around. With that talent, we are found useful. So, we have knights that follow us while we find witches. We gain a small fortune for it and stay alive."
"So you're a real witch?" Alfred's tone was flat. "I don't believe a witch can exist."
"What?" Gilbert snapped, now coming into Alfred's view.
"I don't believe in real witches," Alfred tried to shrug, but that was hard with his hands tied behind him. "I think it's just an excuse for panicked people to blame random things on. Like a fire, or death."
"I can guarantee you, kid," Gilbert glared at Alfred, "we are real."
"Sure, whatever you say," Alfred sighed.
"How you can be around mon cher and still not believe in magic is beyond me," Alfred could hear Francis.
"And what is that supposed to mean, frog?" Arthur demanded.
"Just that you use your magic a lot," Antonio said. "We could feel you in that town from miles away."
"Are you saying Arthur's a witch now, too?" Alfred groaned.
"Heh, you don't even know the half of it," Gilbert chuckled.
Alfred shuddered, he felt that tingling feeling creep up his spine again. He stole a glance to Arthur, who he noticed was starting to wriggle through his ropes. Alfred could see Arthur's hand. He was pointing a finger at him and moving it in a circle. He was telling him to distract them.
"So if you're a witch, let me see your powers," Alfred said.
"Why should I show you my awesome powers if you don't even believe in them?" Gilbert scowled.
"Well, I just figured, if you're so great and all," Alfred felt another feeling tingle up his spine and he felt his ropes loosen, "you would have no problem using magic for a pathetic little peasant like me."
"What are you playing at?" Antonio glared at him.
"Why, whatever do you mean?" Alfred stared up at him innocently as he worked his hands free. He kept them behind him, though, so they couldn't see.
"Toni!" Francis cried out and Alfred looked over to see Arthur running towards him. Alfred quickly pulled his feet free and stood up.
"Later, loosers!" Alfred saluted them before Arthur took hold of his wrist and they started running through the woods.
Someone was screaming in Spanish behind them as they ran and Alfred began to feel nauseated and his whole body ached.
"L-let go of me," Alfred slurred to Arthur.
"What?" Arthur panted. Alfred knew they were running in the wrong direction, deeper into the forest. He needed to give directions, but that feeling was pressing against his skull and he could barely talk.
"I said, let go!" Alfred stopped running right there and Arthur had to let go. Arthur stared at him and Alfred pointed with his thumb behind him. "Town's that way."
"Right," Arthur rolled his eyes as Alfred turned around and they started running the opposite way through the forest. Alfred fled, twisting through the trees effortlessly and hoping that Arthur was following him.
It didn't take long for them to breach the forest, running right through the town at midday, by the looks of the sun.
There were screams from women as the two ran as fast as they could through the town. And Alfred flinched at the sound of metal clinking. That was armor, there were knights in this town. The metal clinked louder and faster, telling Alfred that they were now being followed.
"Well don't just stand there, catch them!" Alfred could hear a voice behind them. It boomed out orders to who he supposed were the knights. And Alfred couldn't help but think about that voice. It had such an odd accent.
Alfred looked back really quick to see who it came from. All he could see was knights following close by and a man in the background with silver hair, violet eyes, and a scarf. And then Alfred's vision was clouded in darkness again. Alfred looked around and it seemed that he was in another forest. The trees were much taller in this one. Taller and thinner. And he could see little patches of the sun hit the ground in certain places. He had no problems finding animals in here, he almost tripped over a rabbit and almost got trampled by a deer as he was running.
"Alfred, we can stop now," Arthur panted behind Alfred and they both slowed to a jog, then to a walk, then they stopped. Alfred leaned his head and arm against a tree, ignoring the massive pain from the splinters.
"What the hell was that?" Alfred demanded, still panting himself.
"What?" Arthur asked.
"Back there, with the Three Musketeers," Alfred mocked their name. "You knew them. They went on and on about being witches and they called you a witch. Explain."
"Alfred, I don't think it's that important. Just drop it." Arthur tried to sound convincing and Alfred could feel that feeling crawl up his spine.
"Explain," Alfred demanded.
"Alright, alright," Arthur said. Alfred leaned off of his tree so he could go face to face with Arthur, make sure he was telling the truth. "It goes like this. I-"
Arthur stopped mid-sentence, and Alfred was about to ask why, but he heard the clink of armor.
"Shit!" Alfred yelled out, but it was too late for them to flee.
Alfred could see, then felt cloth enter his mouth. It went around to the edges of his mouth and he could feel it tied around the back of his head tightly, it was meant to gag him. Then Alfred's hands were pulled together behind him and pulled back sharply. Alfred tried to cry out in pain, but it was muffled by his gag. He saw someone's hand come into his vision and completely blocked out the forest.
Before he knew it, Alfred was being dragged backwards. His heels dug into the ground, but that didn't seem to do anything. He could feel the metal of the knight's armor behind him, jabbing into his back. Alfred tried to fight back, writhe free, but the knight kept such a tight grip on him, it was all futile.
Alfred tried to say something, be the smart ass he was known to be, but his gag prevented him from saying anything. He even almost gagged on his gag.
After a while, Alfred was shoved harshly into a tree. He let out a muffled cry as his head slammed against the wood. Before he even had a chance to move, Alfred felt pressure on the top of his head and he was forced to sit down. His shirt lifted up slightly as he slid, causing splinters all along his back. And then he felt something like a rope go across his chest and press him up against the tree. It went across him again and the constriction got tighter. The rope went around again, and again, and again.
Alfred hadn't noticed until now, but he was keeping his eyes shut. Just as soon as he opened them, a blindfold was set around his head. It was tied loosely compared to the ropes and the gag. Alfred was finding it hard to breath with the combined forces of the rope and the gag. He was panting more than necessary. And he still tried to struggle free from his bonds, even trying to dig his heels into the ground to push himself up. Nothing worked, he was stuck being only able to hear. He had just noticed the commotion going on outside of his own fight.
"L-let me go!" he could hear Arthur demand.
"But that wouldn't be as much fun, da?" Alfred heard that voice again. The voice that boomed through the village, but this time it was softer. He was just talking now, but his voice was insanely creepy. It almost sounded like he giggled as he spoke.
"Get the hell away from me," Arthur growled.
"You're so much more entertaining than those three you left behind," that man giggled again.
"Don't touch me!" Arthur yelled.
"I can touch you as much as I want, comrade," the man said and Alfred could hear shuffling on the grass. There was a small commotion and it sounded like a wooden door was slammed.
"Don't you dare touch Alfred," Arthur warned as Alfred felt something close to doom come close to him. This man must have had some aura…
"And why are you so important to Arthur?" the man muttered to himself, he sounded so close to Alfred and he held his breath. Alfred felt someone fumbling with his blindfold and he closed his eyes as the blindfold fell from his face and onto his lap.
Alfred felt a leather gloved hand cup his chin and lift his head up.
"Why don't you look at me, da?" the man spoke and Alfred still couldn't place that accent. Alfred tried to shake his head, but the man's hand held it still.
"Alfred, you can open your eyes, it's not that big of a deal," Arthur sighed.
Alfred tried to say something like "I'm fine," but it just came out as a muffled mess because of the gag.
The pressure on Alfred's chin increased to a point where it hurt. Alfred wanted to grit his teeth, but the cloth in his mouth made that incredibly hard.
Alfred barely opened his eyes to glare at the man, but his glare softened, and then widened at the sight before him.
This man was intimidating. His violet eyes emanated fear that made Alfred almost whimper. From the sound of the man's voice, Alfred would have figured he would be scowling at him, but he had on a smile. A smile that could have made milk curdle and made Alfred feel like he wanted to turn tail and run.
"Ah, you have pretty eyes," the man giggled. That sound made Alfred shudder. The man didn't release the pressure on his chin.
Alfred wanted to do something. Say some smart comeback, punch this guy in the face, or even spit in his eye, but he couldn't move anything at this point. He found that this man was also sitting on his legs, so kicking him was out.
The man's expression darkened and he seemed to glare at Alfred. "Now what makes you so important?" Alfred shuddered again. He didn't know why he was so important. Was this why Arthur kept him around for so long? Didn't leave him for dead when he was asleep in the forest?
"There is nothing special about him," Arthur spoke. "He's just been following me for the past couple weeks." That was a lie. Why did he lie for Alfred?
"Be quiet, Arthur," the man growled.
"I'm telling you that he's just some random kid," Alfred could feel that familiar sensation tingle up his spine. "There's absolutely nothing special about him."
The man's face brightened and he loosened his grip on Alfred's chin. "That's it," he muttered to himself. "I can tell by your eyes. You are very special indeed."
Alfred made a noise, making sure it sounded as much like "huh?" as possible.
"You have no idea your potential, da?" the man giggled.
"As I said before," Arthur growled and Alfred felt that feeling again. The man giggled again. "There is absolutely nothing special about that kid. You can just let him go now."
"And why would I do that?" the man kept his gaze on Alfred, but he eventually lowered his hand. "He's a Seer."
"He's a what?" Arthur asked, he sounded more concerned that Alfred hoped for.
"There's only been one other Seer," the man giggled once more. "Mathew."
Gasp! Mathew finally comes into the story! And sorry to all you Russia fangirls, I needed a vilain and he just kinda popped into my head...
So, I noticed how loved my last chapter was on Saturday and i decided to write the next chapter ahead of time. And now I have two new chapters in it. Since all you reviewers love me so much, I've decided to write as much as I can, maybe even posting everyday just for you. It helps that I'm on spring break, so I can write all week if I feel like it!
A very special thanks to an anon, by the way, for leaving a huge paragraph of a review saying how much they love me. You totally made my day, anon! And I figure I should tell you this now, since I couldn't reply to your amazing review!
Please review, so that I can update tomorrow for you guys!
And I own nothing...as usual...