Chapter 20
Fourteen years earlier
Lukas Bondevik's eye was twitching.
"So then he turns to me and is like 'Hvad fanden glor du på, kælling? (What the hell are you looking at, bitch?)' and I'm thinking 'Oh no he didn't!' and Gil was going 'Oh yes he did!'. And, of course, I had my ax with so all I had to do was show him what a little beauty I had up my sleeve- only not literally because, you know, my ax doesn't fit up a sleeve unless it's Odin's sleeve or something- Shit! Norge, could you imagine how big Odin's sleeve would be? Min Gud (My God), he'd be able to hide an entire army in one of those sleeves, you know? But anyways-"
Gud, will this idiot ever shut up? Norway thought scathingly, his pale features nearly unreadable to anyone who wasn't his dear brother... or possibly Denmark.
Although, with the way the damn Dane was going on, one would think that he didn't understand the quiet Norwegian at all- that the two Nordics hadn't spent the better part of a millennium living under the same roof, let alone the same geographic area.
"Norge, Norge, this is the good part! See, this guy was still insisting that-"
Denmark broke off with a yelp as Norway's fist slammed into the side of his head, his bright blue eyes widening in surprise and pain.
"Shut up, Matthias," Lukas sighed.
Finland cleared his throat and shifted uneasily in his seat a few inches away, causing the Swede beside him to glare at Denmark.
"St'p sc'ring m' w'fe," he muttered.
"Norge-" Matthias whined.
Norway rolled his eyes and pushed away from the meeting table before the Dane could finish his sentence, his indigo eyes meeting Iceland's for a brief moment as he got to his feet.
"Bror kjære (Brother dear)-" he began.
"No," Emil snapped.
Lukas smiled slightly and made his way out of the meeting room, studiously ignoring the small twinge of unease that went through his gut when he remembered the reason why all of them were waiting, why Denmark had gotten bored enough to tell that damn story in the first place...
Germany, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romano, Spain, America, England, Russia, and... that other country were late. They were dropping off their kids.
Those kids...
Unlike most of the nations, Norway wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the newest additions to the world. Something bothered him about their presence, something other than Denmark's unsubtle hints about 'how awesome it would be if they had two or three mini-vikings'...
Gud...
It wasn't that he disliked the children; even the cold Norwegian found it difficult to dislike beings that were barely old enough to speak. If he was being totally honest with himself, Lukas had actually liked England's little girl when the nation brought her along to their monthly discussion about magic.
Such a sweet girl... looks like she inherited Arthur's sight, too, so that's always-
"P-please, can anyone hear me? M-Mum? Dad?"
Norway froze, wondering if he was starting to hear things. Dammit, maybe Denmark actually was driving him insane...
"Please! Please, c-can someone see me? I need to find my Mum... I-I just want to see my mum and dad..."
Lukas frowned and turned around, his cold blue eyes searching the dimmed halls outside of the meeting room for the source of the voice. His eyes widened when he caught sight of a teenage girl leaning heavily against the wall a few feet away, her long golden hair tangled and matted with the same blood that stained her jeans. A pair of cracked glasses slipped towards the edge of her nose, only to be pushed back into place by shaking fingers as tear-filled emerald eyes locked onto the Norwegian. The girl hesitated for a moment, a small shudder going through her battered body.
"Hello?" she whispered weakly.
"Who are you?" Norway demanded, not really in the mood for manners at the moment.
Two tears ran down the girl's pale cheeks, her lips curving upwards into a tiny relieved smile. "Y-You can see me?"
"Ja (Yes)," Lukas replied slowly. "Who are you?"
"Alyson," the girl replied automatically. "My name's Alyson."
England's daughter? No, that isn't... the girl is barely a year old!
"What are you doing here?" Norway demanded, his voice softening slightly when another tear slipped down the girl's cheek in time with the blood that dripped through her hair.
"My- my mum," she whispered. "Or my dad, I guess, if he can see me... Please, are America and England here?"
"Engl- you are his daughter?" Lukas whispered. "But... How?"
"I- It's a spell, I'm not really here, I guess, but I don't have much time. Where are they?"
"They're dropping you off right now at Germany's house," Norway answered automatically.
Alyson's features twisted and she turned away, her hands clenching weakly into fists at her sides. "T-That's where it happens..."
"Where what happens?" Lukas demanded sharply, his gut clenching again with the unease that had been plaguing him for hours.
"They're going to take us away," Alyson whimpered. "They- I d-don't know who they are, e-exactly, bu-but they're going to t-take us all away and w-we'll be stuck in-in an orphanage and she'll burn us a-and hurt us so... so badly..." The American teen's voice hitched, her body shuddering again with what Norway recognized as sobs. "I-I need to t-tell them...Please, please, they have to know or I won't keep my p-promise to Cisco... I need to keep my promise!"
"Roe ned (Calm down)!" Lukas whispered, his pale hands reaching out automatically to draw the shivering girl into his arms. He stiffened when Alyson fell limply into his grip, her tear-stained face pressing into his jacket as she sobbed. "Calm down kjæreste (sweetheart), it'll be alright."
"H-he's dead," Alyson choked.
Norway's blood ran cold. "Who is?"
"C-Cisco... And Saichi a-and Marc... Oh God, Kat... sh-she'll be alone n-now... I won't be there to help her, and Marc, Marc won't..."
"Of course you'll be there," Norway whispered soothingly. "Everything... Everything will work out..."
"N-No, I won't be there... I'm not going back," Alyson argued weakly. "T-Tink told me... she told me that the spell was going to kill me... a-and she's right, I can feel it... I-I'm dying, but... if I could... if I can keep my promise and f-fix things..." The girl's eyelids were starting to droop now, her pale features going slack in the first throes of an eternal sleep. She offered the Norwegian a small, sad smile. "I guess... I guess I didn't fix things... 'm sorry..."
"Don't be sorry," Lukas whispered. "It's not your fault." Why am I so upset by this? Why is this affecting me so much?
Alyson's smile softened and she reached up to gently pat his cheek.
"T-Thanks..." she whispered. "Can you... tell my mum and dad... not to be... not to be sad... because it's okay."
"I will," the Norwegian promised solemnly. "I promise."
The girl hummed and fell back into his arms, a last sigh breaking through her frozen lips.
"Thanks..."
Norway shuddered and gently lowered the broken girl onto the ground, his pale, bloodstained fingers going immediately to the phone in his pocket.
Arthur answered on the first ring.
"Lukas?" he said exasperatedly, struggling to be heard over a loud laugh that could only come from America. "I'm sorry, I know we're late, but-"
"Are the kids with you?" Norway snapped.
"I- what?" England gasped, slightly perturbed by the raw emotion in the Nordic's voice.
"The children," Norway insisted. "Alyson, Kat, Marc, all of them... are they with you?"
"We just dropped them off-"
"Turn around!" Lukas shouted.
America's laughter stopped abruptly and was replaced by a hushed question, wondering what was going on. Norway didn't really give a damn.
"Turn around, now," he hissed. "Please. Please, you'll regret it if you don't."
"I- Alfred, for God's sake, stop asking questions and turn the damn car around! Lukas, what's going on?"
"The spell," Lukas snapped. "Your daughter, she used the spell."
"What spe- Alyson can't use spells, she's only a-"
"It was her! From the future... Arthur, she told me that she's going to be taken tonight. All of the children are. Something bad will happen to them."
"What? Matthew, please let Ludwig know what we're doing. Yes, tell him we need to turn around. Lukas, what-"
"She's dead, Arthur," Lukas whispered. "She just... she just died. I-in my arms..."
The other end of the phone went silent for a long moment except for the distant rumble of a car.
"She... A-Aly?" America's voice croaked dimly. "My- my kid? She's- she can't be- What kind of magic shit is this?!"
"Shut up, Alfred," Arthur hissed. "Lukas, did she... did she tell you anything b-before she..."
"Marc, Saichi, and Francisco are dead as well," Lukas told him bluntly. "She told me..."
A sharp intake of breath, this one from farther away. "M-Marc?"
"America," Russia's voice sliced through the conversation with an icy intensity. "If you do not speed up this car, I will personally make your life a living hell until the day that I stop breathing."
"Save it for whoever wants to kill our kids, Commie," Alfred snarled. "Hey, Norway, you wanna send some extra countries along for back up? I've got Germany behind us with the Italies, Spain, Japan, and Greece, but I could use a perimeter in case whoever the hell is behind this gets away."
"We'll be there," Lukas replied immediately. "...Make sure you get them."
"We will," England murmured with absolute certainty.
Norway nodded and ended the call, his eyes slipping closed when he realized that Alyson's body had disappeared, leaving only the faintest trace of blood and death in the air around him.
"Lukas?"
Norway turned around at the sound of Denmark's voice, the tears that he had been struggling to hold at bay racing down his pale cheeks.
"Matthias," he murmured. "Get Berwald, Tino, Emil, and any other country that can be ready for a fight in the next five seconds. Tell the Asians and Russia's sisters that their nieces and nephews are being threatened."
The Dane nodded, his eyes lingering with obvious worry on the tears that lingered on Lukas's cheeks like diamonds.
"Oh, and Matthias?" Norway added quietly as the other Nordic began to turn away.
"...Yeah?"
"...Bring your ax. We'll need it."
Gretchen stared at the framed photograph on the wall of the house, her hands trembling as they cradled the unconscious child in her arms. She stiffened when someone approached her from behind, her eyes flickering over her shoulder as Jeanne came up behind her with two slumbering infants in her arms.
"Henry and Randal have the other four," Jeanne reported flatly.
"How- how old are those children?" Gretchen whispered.
"Not even a year," the other woman told her, her eyes devoid of emotion.
Gretchen shuddered again and began to make her way towards the door, her eyes focusing on the four cars that were parked haphazardly in the-
They had only brought two cars.
"Unhand my son. Now."
Gretchen's eyes widened as they focused on the hulking German that had appeared in front of her, a duo of furious auburn-haired men behind him. As she watched, a dark-haired man wielding an ax sped past her, followed closely by a furious Canadian. Gretchen heard Jeanne hiss moments before she surrendered the infants. Another blond appeared beside the German, his flashing emerald eyes matching the green hue that surrounded his thin hands.
"My daughter, if you please," he whispered coldly. "Or I will personally cut out your heart and feed it to the vilest creatures that I can find."
Gretchen handed the children over without hesitation, her eyes filling with tears when she saw the anger and worry in the adult's eyes...
"H-Henry and R-Randal will have gone out the back door," she whispered. "They want to drown them... the children. I'm so sorry, I- I'm so sorry."
"Where's my brother?" the German man asked shortly.
Phew... Man, I am soooo glad I finally got this down, it's been bothering me for weeks...
Okay, I'm really sorry about the huge delay here. I've been studying for the SATs for the past week, and I'm actually really stressed right now because of college searches and honestly half of the past month has been completely awful. But, I promise that I will get this done soon- there should only be one more chapter left, I believe. And... I do need to ask you all for your opinions here on my next story idea:
Option 1, a little more time with these lovely kids (including a few more who will be introduced later on...) that deals with their relationships with their families and their significant others.
Option 2, an AU fic set in high school dealing with a new trio that a friend of mine came up with- the Tsundere trio made up of Norway, England, and Romano and their unwilling interest in three extremely popular, extremely idiotic, classmates...
So, what would ya'll like to see first? Lemme know, please, and please don't hesitate to review... I could really use some happy-smiles right now. :)