"Who are the others?" Alfred asked as he was tugged down the hallway by Arthur.
"You'll just have to see," Arthur spoke, glimpsing behind him to look at Alfred.
"So, if you don't mind me asking," Alfred cleared his throat. "How the hell are you still alive?"
"Long story," Arthur sighed. "But it was a pain in the arse."
"So you used magic?" Alfred asked.
"And a lot of it," Arthur stated. "I really didn't want you to watch me 'die,' but I figured it would be better if Ivan believed I was dead so that I could help the others. And I couldn't use my magic while you were touching me. "
"And you're still not gonna tell me who the others are?" Alfred asked and they stopped in front of a door Alfred knew led to the stables.
"No," Arthur shook his head and placed a hand on the handle. He was grinning like he couldn't contain his happiness. "But I can show you who they are."
He opened the door and Alfred couldn't believe his eyes. In the stables, he saw Gilbert and Francis leaning against a wooden fence. Antonio was right in front of them with his arms crossed, like they had done something bad. They all had changed clothes, too. Gilbert was wearing a white outfit and cape with black boots and a black belt. Francis had a blue cape with red pants and white boots. Antonio had a red shirt and boots with yellow pants.
"Holy shit, the Three Musketeers?" Alfred freaked out and ran into the room. "But I watched you guys die out of my window!"
"Hey, Seer!" Gilbert smiled at him like nothing was wrong in the world.
"That wasn't really us," Antonio seemed to really wanted to smile.
"Mon cher made dummies to look like us," Francis grinned. "Clever of him, non?"
"Besides, I'm too awesome to get hanged," Gilbert boasted.
"Dude, that's so cool!" Alfred hugged Arthur, who blushed and began acting flustered.
"Well, then," Arthur straightened out his clothes as soon as Alfred released him. "There's still one more surprise I'm sure you'll enjoy."
"What are you-" Alfred began, but he was cut off by a familiar voice.
"Alfred!" the voice whispered as Alfred was wrapped in a hug. A familiar, peppy curl was shoved in his face.
"M-Mattie?" Alfred asked and then hugged back with all of his might. "Mattie!" Soon, Alfred reluctantly pulled him out to arm's length so he could look him over. He was dressed in a white shirt and red pants. He didn't seem to have a scratch on him anymore. "You're all better?"
"It was Arthur," Mathew smiled happily. Alfred could see life in his eyes, unlike when he saw Mathew restrained. "He helped me get herbs and medicine. He made it all himself in some sort of a potion. But it really helped! Most of my scars are gone now, except for a few deep ones on my back and chest."
"But…but I saw them slit your throat," Alfred muttered.
"It only looked that way from where you stood," Arthur said. "From my angle, it was very obvious they slid the sword across his chest."
"It hurt so much that I passed out," Mathew looked down at the ground.
"Hey, Mattie, it's okay," Alfred hugged him again. "You're alive, that's all that matters."
"Oi, Birdie," Gilbert yelled over to them and Mathew looked up at him. "Come here a sec, I wanna talk with you really quick." Mathew retreated over to the three. It was obvious he did know them before Alfred came along. They talked around like good friends. Soon, though, Alfred turned his attention to Arthur.
"So you really saved him?" Alfred asked him and Arthur nodded. "Thank you," Alfred smiled and gave Arthur a quick kiss. He was blushing like crazy when Alfred pulled away and the rest of the people in the room laughed.
"Very touching," a creepy voice sounded off and Mathew's eyes went wide with horror. He hid behind Gilbert. All of a sudden, Alfred was pushed off to the side and he felt cold metal at his neck and he had to press himself against the wall so that it wouldn't cut his neck. He dropped his sword in the process.
And then he moved his head slightly to look over to where Arthur was. In Alfred's place was Ivan and he was holding a sword and…something else. Alfred had never seen something like it before. It was kind of like a long, brown stick with a pointy, silver bit on the end that was poking Arthur in the throat. It looked heavy and about as long as Ivan's arm, but he seemed to hold it up with one hand with ease.
"Wh-what the hell is that thing?" Alfred growled at Ivan.
"It's a new invention, a rifle, da?" Ivan smiled, but Alfred could see a cold darkness in his eyes. Alfred could see out of the corner of his eye the Three Musketeers taking a step forward, but Ivan just pressed the sword against Alfred's neck harder and poked more at Arthur's neck. "Come any closer and they die," he giggled.
"What does this rifle do?" Arthur asked. He was looking right down the cylinder part of the gun.
"You see the hole on the end, da?" Ivan asked him. "I pull on this lever here and a metal ball rockets right into your face through that. It's powered by black powder. Makes a little explosion inside."
"H-How does that-" Alfred began but the sword was pressed more into his neck and he felt something warm and wet trickle down from the sword.
"So, Arthur's been the one who did all this?" Ivan asked. Alfred could see the Three Musketeers and Mathew nodding. "Then he dies first, da?"
"No!" Alfred protested and tried to move, but that only resulted in Ivan cutting into his neck more.
"You tried to kill me once," Arthur smiled coyly. "And then I came back. What makes you think that I won't come back again?"
"Because this time I do it myself," Ivan smiled. "Or I could always make you suffer, da? Watch poor Alfred writhe and scream in pain. It will be fun, da?"
"Woah, woah, woah," Alfred pressed up against the wall even more now. "N-No need to do that. I-I think we're cool."
Alfred noticed that Mathew was moving very slowly towards the sword Alfred dropped. It was maybe 2 feet from Ivan. So Mathew would have to move quick and move right if he actually got to it.
"D-Don't you need me and Mattie?" Alfred tried to distract Ivan. "Y'know, only 2 Seers in the world and all?"
"I've seen you without them around," Ivan motioned towards the 5 and glared at Alfred. "You're useless. And sad. And broken."
"Oh, but you like it when people are broken, right Ivan?" Alfred asked. Mathew was getting closer…
"Nyet," Ivan snapped. "Broken is only fun when they have hope. You will not after today."
"Okay," Alfred squirmed. "Back to the threatening. How about we sit down and have a nice little talk. Talk this out like gentlemen. Kay?"
"Shut up," Ivan growled and Alfred closed his mouth tightly. He tried to press himself more into the wall, try to get away from the sharp sword. "I will enjoy watching you scream."
That was when Mathew got the sword. He dove for Ivan, but he parried it quickly with his own. Alfred took the loss of the sword at his neck as his chance to tackle Ivan to the ground. The rifle and sword tumbled to the ground and Alfred soon found himself on top of Ivan, who was now on the ground. He punched him right in the face without a second thought.
"Don't you dare move," Alfred growled at him.
"Glad to see you're back, baloven'," Ivan smiled through a bloody nose.
"You're so lucky I don't have a real weapon right now," Alfred clenched his teeth.
"Why, so you can kill me?"
"You tortured my brother!" Alfred screamed. "You lied to me about him! You practically kidnapped me and then you pretend to kill my brother right in front of me face! And then you tried to kill Arthur right next to me! I had to watch every single person I care about get killed! And then you laugh about it the next day! And said they deserved it! You deserve to die! I should kill you right now!"
"And then you'll become just like me, da?" Ivan giggled.
Alfred's eyes widened and his grip on Ivan released slightly. "No, I'm not like you," he shook his head. "I-I'm a hero."
"But you're becoming the villain," Ivan spoke. "Heroes don't kill people. I've seen you kill, da? You didn't even try to look away."
"D-don't confuse me!" Alfred shouted, closing his eyes tightly. "I-I didn't kill anyone!"
"Trying to forget now? Like you tried to forget Arthur, da?" Just hearing Ivan say Arthur's name made Alfred's skin crawl. "That didn't work out so well, either."
"B-be quiet!" Alfred demanded.
"Alfred," a voice said. That one wasn't Ivan.
"I'm not like you," Alfred muttered to himself. "I'm nothing like you. You can't change my mind about what I want to do!"
"Alfred, move!" this was more than one voice, it sounded like 3.
"I already have, da?" that voice was Ivan's. "Look at you now. Poised once again to get ready to kill."
"Why the hell are you affecting me so much?" Alfred demanded. He shook Ivan, practically slamming him against the ground. "You're what's wrong and you did this!
"Alfred," this sounded like a crowd. "You need to move!"
Alfred looked down at his hands. They were shaking. Ivan spoke up, "I watched you break, da? It wasn't hard to do. And you crumbled like paper. Once paper folds, it never goes back to what it was originally, da? There's always little dents. Remnants of the thing that made it bend."
"Shut up," Alfred muttered. "Shut up. Shut up! Shut up!" Alfred didn't want to think about that. He knew he wouldn't be able to fully…return since he felt everything get ripped from his heart and mind. But he didn't want to think about it that way. Arthur would help bring him back to sanity. He loved Arthur, love was supposed to make things right…
"Does it always?" Ivan asked and Alfred realized he was thinking out loud. "I had love once. I had sisters."
"No, no, no," Alfred shook his head. "You can't make me feel bad for you!"
"They were ripped from me right in front of my eyes, too," Ivan still seemed to be smiling. "Witches, da? Those were two witches your brother didn't fail to find."
"No!" Alfred shouted. "Mathew didn't kill anyone! You can tell me I've killed. And you can say whatever the hell you want about me! But you can't talk about my brother!"
"Alfred…" a voice muttered this time. It was Arthur, who was directly behind him. The voice seemed to falter, like the one talking was freaking out inside. "I want you to move. Right now."
"Fine!" Alfred spat.
Alfred rolled off Ivan to the right, intent on lying on his back and looking at the ceiling. He was getting ready to thin, try to get himself under control, but something went off that sounded like thunder right next to him.
He instinctively pulled his hands over his ears and flinched over to the side away from the thunder. After it was calm for a moment, he looked up. Arthur was standing not 2 feet away from Ivan's feet, the rifle in his hands. It seemed like there was smoke coming out of the cylinder bit. Arthur's eyes were wide and he looked like he was shakily holding onto the thing.
Alfred looked over to Ivan and his face had a hole in it. There was blood splattered behind his head and the rest of his face was expressionless. He was dead. And Alfred was pretty damn sure there was no way magic could bring this one back.
"Y-you blew a hole in his head," Alfred muttered.
"Bloody hell, this thing was pointed at my head!" he practically screamed and dropped the thing. Alfred winced, afraid it would go off again. Alfred could see tears pooling in Arthur's eyes and he looked about ready to break apart. He was shaking terribly.
Alfred got up quickly and pulled Arthur into an embrace. "It's okay," he tried to comfort him, but he knew it wouldn't do much. He was still trying to comfort himself. He started petting Arthur's head. "You're fine. It's on the ground now, it's not gonna hurt you."
"Did you really kill people?" Arthur asked him, his voice muffled by his face being pressed against Alfred. "Is that what I did to you by pretending to die?"
"You did nothing wrong," Alfred spoke softly, he wasn't even sure Arthur heard him. "It was all my fault. I reacted that way."
There was a sound of a door breaking down. Did Ivan lock the door? And then there was the unmistakable sound of armor clanking down the hallway.
"We need to move, guys," Antonio said somberly.
"Get on the horses, then," Alfred muttered, knowing that there were five other horses in the stables. He didn't want to let Arthur go yet. Ivan's words broke him. He knew every word of it was true, but he tried to deny it. Tried to push that away when he saw Arthur and the others. Love was supposed to make everything okay. Love was supposed to wash away madness. Love was magic, right? But magic couldn't touch Alfred, he was a Seer.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Alfred asked Arthur, pulling away just enough to see his face.
Arthur nodded, "Are you going to be okay?" he asked Alfred and he bit his lip. Alfred didn't know the answer.
Rather than answer, Alfred left to get onto his red and white horse. He situated his blue tunic slightly and looked over just in time to catch Arthur and Mathew hop onto their horses. The Three Musketeers looked just about ready to move.
"Onward then," Antonio said, knowing neither Alfred nor Arthur would be speaking very much anytime soon.
The rest nodded and kicked at their horses to go.
So...um...pole closed! Arthur won. I bet all of you people that voted for Arthur probably expected him to use magic, right? Well, I did too, but I thought it would be a little bit more interesting if he used this method to shut Ivan up.
And I need to thank aphrodite931. She left a very interesting review and told me about something I can't believe I never thought about in the first place... And that's what came out of Ivan and Alfred's conversation. Alfred was broken. And so was Ivan. Ivan didn't come back, and Alfred is struggling to become sane again. I didn't think about that in the past, but I'm thinking about it now.
It might be a major conflict if there's a sequel. And no one's guessed the thing I hinted at last chapter to win the sequel. I'll give you a hint. *cough, cough* look at the clothes *cough, cough*
One last thing. I probably will be unable to update for one or two days. Why? Because life's a bitch. I originally planned this to be the last chapter. But then that thing happened with insanity and made the chapter go on for longer... And now I need to write seven pages and I have school and driver's ed until 10 o clock today and my mom has set a bedtime for me. And then I'm working on my school's play until 5 tomorrow and I also have homework. To sum it all up, life's a bitch. So, I'm so very sorry I will be gone for a couple days.
And I don't own anything...as usual...