Lovina had only been without her sister for a day, and she was already having a meltdown. She couldn't function; everything she looked at reminded her of Felicia. Francis was even beginning to hit on her like he had Felicia only the day before.
Her father wasn't much better. He was trying not to think of Feli, and to do so, he stayed in bed all day. Lovina was determined to get on with her life, and to get revenge on the monster that had killed her sister. She knew it was too soon to go after him; she'd have to wait a while before the time was right, but by then, she could have half the village on her side.
That morning, Lovina had completely forgotten about her sister's demise… until she went into her room, and the memories came flooding back. It was then that she had decided that she would get revenge, sooner or later. Her other half was gone forever, and she would make sure that somebody paid for it. Along with hunting down and killing the monster that had devoured her sister, she thought that overthrowing the village council would be in order as well, since it had been they who chose her name out all the other candidates in the village. It would be only fitting if she could have them killed the same way they had had her sister killed, but accomplishing that would be difficult, so she decided that overthrowing them and killing them would just have to do.
The first person she knew that would join her cause—if not in actually killing the beast, then at least in giving her support—was Francis. He was in love with Felicia, and even if he wouldn't fight to get vengeance for her, he would at least help to find people that would fight. And so that morning, Lovina set out to the tea shop, where she knew he would be.
As she had expected, Francis was there, though nobody else was. The owner of the teashop was a man named Arthur, and it was rumored that his food was toxic, so no one ever went in there. The only people in there now were Francis, Arthur, and his indentured servant, Alfred.
There were few people who could actually stand the scones and tea that were served, and fewer still who really liked them. Apparently, Francis seemed to be one of the latter… or maybe he just felt sorry for Arthur and didn't want his shop to go out of business. Lovina didn't know, and she didn't particularly care; she was there for a reason, not to wonder about why Francis would eat crap like that.
Lovina approached him, "Hey, bast—I mean, Francis!" He turned around, pleasantly surprised that she had come to call on him, and smiled at her. It didn't seem to matter to him which one of them he hit on, or proposed to. When Feli had turned down for marriage, he had asked Lovina not five minutes later.
"Oh, why 'ello, mon amour! I never expected you to be calling on me like zis! Ohonhonhonhon! But I won't complain when zere's such a lovely lady zat wants my attention!" Was he always so full of himself? Usually Lovina just ignored what he said, but she had to talk to him now, which also meant putting up with his flirtatious attitude. However, she had a feeling it wouldn't work out, especially if she didn't hold her tongue.
"I didn't come here to accept your marriage proposal; I came to talk about something else entirely!" She was getting irritated. But then again, she got irritated quite easily. She took a seat at the table across from him.
"Oohh, a proposal of your own, hm? Well, go a'ead, talk." He put his elbows up on the table and rested his chin in his hands. "I'll listen as long as you are ze one talking, mon amour." He smiled at her, pushing her toward the edge, but she managed to keep her calm.
"I want to get some people together to get rid of that monster that killed my sister, and I thought you could help me." She had to come up with something to tell him to motivate him. Why would he be the right one to get the villagers into a mob to kill the beast? Maybe a little of his own medicine would help him make up his mind. And that medicine was flattery. "Everybody respects your opinion in the village. They'll listen to you, because they all like you." She tried her best to sound sincere now. "And I need your help, most of all."
She could tell the flattery worked, his eyes sparkled; he looked on the verge of tears. He sat up straight.
"You're right! You do need my 'elp! And I will do zis for you, and for Felicia's memory! It's the least I can do for you and your family!"
Under her breath, Lovina mumbled, "Ain't that the truth?" then Francis started talking again.
"And of course, zere would be a little somezing owed to me, hm?" He winked at her, as though expecting something.
That manipulative son of a bitch! He expected her to marry him in exchange for helping her get revenge for Felicia! Sure, he didn't say it in so many words, but she knew what he meant. Lovina hoped her face didn't show that she had figured it out, and decided to pretend she didn't know.
"Of course…" She faked the best smile she could. Unless he came right out and said that he expected her to marry him in exchange for his help, she was safe, and could say she made no such deal with him when it was all over.
"Ohonhonhonhon! I'll get working on it right away, zen! I won't let Felicia's death go unpunished!" Lovina couldn't believe it. It had worked. He had agreed to do it, and they had agreed that Feli should be avenged. Now she was afraid she'd actually start liking him. She quickly came up with an excuse to leave, and didn't wait for a response before she rushed out the door, and almost ran into Antonio.
"Woah! Where are you going in such a hurry, chica?" Antonio caught her by her shoulders to keep her from falling over after coming to a sudden stop. She pushed him away.
"Don't you touch me, bastard! Who do you think you are to touch me like that?!" Antonio just kept smiling, and replied in a mild-mannered tone, "I was just trying to keep you from falling, calm down." He took his hands away, putting them up defensively, but then his happy expression became mournful.
"Lovina… about your sister… I'm so sorry… I wanted to try and console you yesterday, but I never got the chance…" Lovina had been trying not to think about it, but now the tears came again, and she sobbed against his chest.
"I… I can't believe… that I'll never see her again!" The tears streamed down her face, soaking Antonio's shirt. Cautiously, Antonio put his arms around her. "I know…. I know…" Still holding her about the shoulders, he walked Lovina back to her house.
"I overheard you talking with Francis in there… You want to get revenge on that beast, right? I'll help you." His smile returned, and he opened the front door for her. "This stupid sacrifice thing has been going on too long anyway." For the first time since she'd met him, Lovina returned a smile.
"You really think she'd marry you just because you intend to help her get revenge?" Arthur had come back with some more tea for Francis, and had apparently overheard his conversation with Lovina.
Arthur was a young blonde man, with slightly thick eyebrows. His food left something to be desired, but he opened a tea shop anyway. Alfred was even younger still, just barely an adult. He was an indentured servant because he was an orphan, and Arthur had taken him in when he was a child.
The first time Francis had come into his tea shop, Arthur was very pleased, since he very rarely had customers. However, that feeling quickly faded when Francis insulted his cooking, as most people usually did. Even though he seemed to hate his cooking, Francis kept coming back every morning, if only to do nothing but talk to him.
Francis sighed. "She might… one can always 'ope, yes?" He glanced up at the man that he had come to consider as a close friend. "I suppose even if she doesn't want to marry me, it's not a complete loss, hm?" He put his hand on top of Arthur's and smiled at him. Arthur blushed, and then pulled his hand away.
"Do you just throw your love around to anybody that comes along?!" He filled the empty teacup on the table and went back to the kitchen. Francis talked to himself now, for there was no one else in the room. "Non, I do not zrow my love around! I give it willingly to zose zat deserve it. Ohonhonhon. But… which one is ze most deserving of my love? Hmm… It would be easier to decide if any of zem returned my love…"
Felicia did exactly what he had said. When she finished the tea, she put the teapot and a cup for him on a tray and left it outside his door. She knocked once, then decided it would probably be best to vacate the area as soon as possible, in case a repeat of his strange behavior occurred when he opened the door.
When Feli was in her room, she took the time to think about everything that had happened to her that day. She wasn't usually one to ponder over everything, but it all seemed very curious to her. Thinking about all the questions she had didn't do her any good, so she decided she'd ask Eliza tomorrow.
As soon as Felicia was in bed, however, her questions came back to the front of her mind in full force. She couldn't get herself to go to sleep for the strange room and the strange bed made it impossible. Everything made her restless. Thinking about Lovina made things even worse, and no matter how much she tossed and turned, she couldn't fall asleep.
Thoughts spun in her head until they all muddled together, and she dozed off slowly before she even knew she was sleepy.
In the morning, she was woken up rather abruptly by Roderich knocking on the door.
"Vhy zhe hell are you still sleeping?! It's only your first day here und you already sleep in! Get out of bed right now!" She didn't know he could be so rude; he'd seemed so nice before! She sat up reluctantly, and got out of bed, heading for the door.
"I'm sorry; I was up kind of late last night cleaning…" She opened the door, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I really am sorry…" looking up, she saw he was staring at her.
"Did you… sleep in your clothes?" He looked her up and down.
She had only just woken up, and she was already irritated. She wondered if that was how Lovina felt every day. "Of course I did! It's not like I packed my bags when I was taken away to be sacrificed to a monster!" Feli thought about slamming the door in his face, but restrained herself. Roderich bit his lip.
"Of course…. I apologize, I vas out a line. Getting you some new clothes should a top priority. Excuse me, I'll go get Elizabeta." He nodded politely, then closed the doors and left.
Feli sighed, and sat at the table near the window. Off in the distance, she saw a wolf, which was gazing in the direction of the mansion. She was not used to seeing wolves, and she would have been scared, but it wasn't as though the wolf could come inside… However, there was Ludwig, who was much like a wolf… When her mind returned, Feli noticed that the wolf was gone.
Elizabeta knocked on the door, and entered without waiting for a response. "Roderich told me zhat I needed to come up here und take your measurements so I can start vorking on new clothes for you!" She smiled; it seemed as though she would be happy to make new clothes for her. Well, she's the only other woman that lives here… maybe making women's clothes would be a nice change…
Standing up, Felicia nodded at Elizabeta. "Sure, I suppose. What do you need me to do? I've never had anybody make clothes for me before…" She was still thinking about that wolf outside. Elizabeta smiled at her, "You just have to disrobe und stand still for me, ok?" She lit several candles and drew the curtains. Feli nodded, "Alright," and began disrobing. Eliza pulled out a measuring tape. "You just need to dress down to your undervear so I can get an accurate measurement."
Well, Eliza got to work quickly; telling Feli to put her arms straight out. After taking the measurement of her chest, she wrote down something on a small pad of paper. She measured her shoulder-width as well, still writing something down afterward. Feli began to get curious about what a seamstress' job entailed. She didn't get to wonder about it long, because shortly after her shoulders were measured, the door opened, and Ludwig came in.
He had been saying something when he came in, asking what Eliza was doing and why she wasn't downstairs, until he looked up, and saw Felicia in nothing but her delicates. There was a moment of silence between the three, as they were all too shocked to speak, until Felicia screamed. Ludwig covered his eyes and tried to apologize, but Elizabeta started throwing things at him, yelling at him to get out.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know vhat you vere doing in here!" He hurried out the door, apologizing as Elizabeta hit him with candle sticks and random books.
"GET OUT!" Felicia was covering herself with her hands, incredibly embarrassed. After Ludwig had left and the door was closed, Elizabeta locked the door. "How rude! I can't believe he vould do somezhing like zhat! He's never entered a voman's room vithout knocking first! Who does he zhink he is?!"
It's hard to say who was more shocked at this moment. Felicia just had a man—and one she had known less than a day—walk in on her while she had nothing but her underwear on. On the other hand, Ludwig was a young man, and had not yet ever seen a woman in such a state before.
Ludwig wasted no time after he was out of the room; he bounded through the hallway around the foyer and up the stairs, not stopping until he got to his room, locking the door behind him. Upon entering the main chamber of his room, he looked around a moment, then went into the inner chamber to the left, where his bed was, and locked that door as well.
"Mein Gott, vhat have I just done?!" He knocked over a table, then beat his head against the wall. It quickly occurred to him that Feli was not that far away from him. The room she was in was directly below his room. Had Roderich planned that intentionally? He groaned, "She vill never forgive me for zhis… Vhat hope do I have now?" He noticed that it wasn't talking to him at the moment, which was strange, considering what just happened.
Your human emotions are keeping it at bay. Maybe being around her will help you fight it off now. There seems to be more hope now than there ever was before.
Ludwig pushed himself upright, away from the wall. He was blushing at the memory. "Thinking about her… keeps it at bay?" He drew the curtains, and sat on his bed in complete darkness. He could hear a knock at the door to the main chamber, but he ignored it. He knew it was Valdemar, worried about all the noises inside. He didn't care; he had something else to help him now. If thinking of her helped, then that's what he would do.
Felicia was entirely dumbfounded at what had just occurred. Elizabeta was still swearing and cursing, more than a lady should, about Ludwig walking in without knocking. She knew it was an accident, so Felicia got over it pretty quickly; she wasn't angry about it, just stunned.
It wasn't long before Elizabeta continued her work of taking Felicia's measurements, and it didn't take long before she was done. She smiled at Felicia, and said, "I'll have some new clothes for you in about a veek, ok?" Felicia started putting her clothes back on, and Elizabeta looked over the pad of paper she had written on, and nodded to herself. "I'll lend you some of my clothes until I can get yours ready, alright? I'd hate to make you vear zhe same zhing for a whole veek!"
When Felicia came out from behind the screen, fully clothed again, Elizabeta turned to her. "Don't be too harsh on him. He's never even seen a voman in her undergarments before; he's probably a lot more shocked zhan you are." She giggled, unlocked the door, winked to Feli, and left.
After a few minutes, Feli brushed her hair and went to the kitchen to start working. When she got there, Elizabeta wasn't there, but instead it was a young man that she vaguely remembered from the village a few years ago. He forced a smile, then continued working silently.
"I wonder what his problem is. None of the other servants that came from the village talk at all. What's wrong with them?" She began cooking breakfast, but couldn't stop thinking about what had happened between her and Ludwig that morning. She remembered hearing several loud noises from his room after he'd been pushed out of the room by Elizabeta. All the crashing and banging noises worried her. Just because he wasn't normal didn't mean that he couldn't feel pain, and he was probably hurting himself. This thought worried her, so she decided to go check on him.
After she finished making breakfast, she asked the young man in the kitchen with her to serve everybody, and she left the kitchen. The foyer was completely empty, and she nervously ascended the stairs to Ludwig's room. She stopped at the door, her hand up, ready to knock. She heard growling from inside, and took a step back. "…Ludwig? …Are you alright?" Feli could barely hear her own voice, but the growling stopped. Had he really heard her? There was a clicking noise within the chamber, and the sound of a door opening.
"Felicia? …I'm sorry about zhis morning… Please don't vorry about me, I'm fine." He was just on the other side of the door. Felicia could hear him breathing.
"You don't sound well! Are you sure you're ok?" Her hand touched the door's handle, and she opened the door before she had time to think.
Their eyes met, but his were different now. They were almost white, no pupils or irises; just white. He retreated back into the dark room a few feet, but his eyes were still visible against the blackness. Felicia's voice was caught in her throat. The fear she felt was evident in her features.
"What… what happened to you? Your eyes… they're…" Her breathing was shallow.
"My… eyes?" He'd taken a step toward her, and she could see his face vaguely now. Ludwig seemed just as surprised as she was about his eyes, and now they widened, as though he was afraid too. He whispered, "Get out…" Feli wasn't sure what to do, or what was wrong with him. When she didn't move, he got angry. "GET OUT! NOW!" Color returned to his eyes, but it wasn't the color she recognized. They went from white to blood red. She got the message; he was dangerous. She slammed the door and ran.
The door burst into splinters behind her, and he emerged from the dark, cold room in which he had been dwelling. His eyes fixed on her as she ran down the hallway, and he bounded after her. Screams ripped through the mansion, and Valdemar's door opened suddenly, putting him between Felicia and Ludwig. Skidding to a halt ten feet shy of Valdemar, Ludwig stared at the man, those red eyes almost showing the fear he obviously felt at that moment.
Valdemar raised a hand, and closed his fist. Ludwig was writhing on the floor in pain, but Valdemar's expression never changed. He spoke in a very monotone voice, "You von't be causing trauma to her as you have all the others, Ludvig. I should have expected zhis from you; it's happened every year before at one time or another. I'm rather disappointed; I zhought you'd gotten better." Ludwig stopped moving, he lay on the floor motionless now.
He stirred on the ground now, a quiet, constant noise escaped from him. He was sobbing. "I'm sorry.… I tried…. But it vouldn't go avay… I tried… really, I did…" He held his head, his eyes shut tight, grimacing with pain.
Valdemar lowered his hand. "If you can't control it by now, you never vill." Feli hadn't realized it, but she was clinging to Valdemar's arm.
So that's why the rest of them won't talk. I don't want to know what would have happened if Valdemar hadn't interfered when he had. She wanted to comfort Ludwig, but she was still scared of him. Perhaps it would be best for her to stay away from him from now on. His behavior was too erratic to be trusted; he could hurt her any time, and he might not even realize he's doing it.
Valdemar gently pushed Felicia away, and knelt down to pick up Ludwig, throwing him over his shoulder. He was much stronger than he looked! Ludwig was a lot bigger than him, being what he was, and Feli was surprised that Valdemar could even lift him. Ludwig didn't even try to stand on his own; his body went limp as soon as Valdemar touched him. "You should get back to vork." And with that, he carried Ludwig back to his room.
He was barely conscious, but Ludwig mumbled to Valdemar, "I tried to control it…. She said… my eyes… und I knew.… Und zhen I vas gone…." He was weeping again. "I'm scared, Valdemar... she may be… zhe last hope I have… und I almost…" His voice trailed off into quiet sobbing and moans of pain.
Feli couldn't help but stare as Valdemar walked away with Ludwig slung over his shoulder. He wasn't a bad person, but… he wasn't always in control. She wanted to help him in some way, but she had no idea how. Felicia decided that she would talk to Elizabeta to find out everything she could about Ludwig; perhaps she could learn how to help him that way.
Me: OMG, I GOT A TON OF CHOCOLATE, THIS IS FABULOUS AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS CHAPTER AT ALL, THE NEXT CHAPTER NEEDS CHOCOLATE AND I LIKE RUN-ON SENTENCES. *runs away screaming into the night*
CanaDERP: O_O
AG. You have gone insane. *sips tea and watches Angry German scream off into the night* This is actually quite entertaining…usually I'M the derp.
Angry German: *appears in front of CanaDERP* I'M NOT A DERP! YOU'RE A TERRIBLE INFLUENCE ON ME! NO CHOCOLATE FOR YOU! *goes to share chocolate with the awesome Prussia*
CanaDERP: *screams and flies off into the night* *latches onto Prussia and steals his chocolate*NO CHOCOLATE FOR YOU, MY FAVORITE DORK-WITH-A-BLOG.
Angry German: *slaps* NO, THAT'S MY BROTHER'S CHOCOLATE, AND IF YOU STEAL IT YOU'LL MAKE HIM MAD! TRUST ME, HE WENT RUNNING INTO THE STREETS NAKED WHEN I TOOK HIS CHOCOLATE AWAY, JUST GIVE IT BACK! Also, CanaDERP, because of you, I've started calling my cat Neko-chu, and whenever I pick him up, I say "NEKO-CHU, I CHOOSE YOU!" It's all your fault. I don't even watch Pokemon... I don't even LIKE Pokemon!
CanaDERP: 8D I told you I would drag you into one of my fandoms, as you did to me with Hetalia…You have dragged me down into the dark abyss of the Hetalia fandom, and now there is no hope for me to escape alive, with all my feels intact… *weeps and shares chocolate with the invisible (possibly nonexistent) Prussia*
Angry German: I'm not into your fandom, I just call my cat Neko-chu. And I didn't drag you into the fandom, you went searching for it. It's not my fault. And nobody got my Shakespeare reference a few chapters back. *sadface*
CanaDERP: True, but you're the one who introduced me to Hetalia. Remember? "OMG U NEED TO PIK OUT A COUNTRY WICH COUNTRY R U?" "LOL I DUNNO WUT'S GOIN' ON I AM CANADA." So it's still your fault. 8I Also, Shakespeare. *laughs* WAIT YOU MADE A REFERENCE? …That wasn't to Hetalia or Skyrim or Portal? 8O
Angry German: Yes, I did. I said that we don't fly a black flag over this theatre, which is a reference to Shakespeare's time when they would fly a black flag over the theatre if they were doing a tragedy, and a white flag for a comedy.
CanaDERP: The more you know! 8D