A/N: Okay, new prediction . . . um . . . thirteen. Yeah, thirteen chappies. Maybe fourteen to be safe. ENJOY.
"Excuse me, sir?" a soft voice asked from the bed beside him. Matthew jolted awake at the soft touch of the other. He relaxed as he realized it was Tino, the boy they had save from the snow earlier that day.
Matthew sighed and yawned, "I was wondering when you'd wake up."
"Where's Berwald?" the boy asked, his large amethyst eyes blinking in the dim light of the room.
Mattie felt a tug in his stomach, "He . . ." He licked his lips and swallowed. What could he tell this kid? He looked no older than sixteen.
"Did he die?" he asked, though he looked strong and determined, the American-Canadian could see the tears welling in his eyes. Was it possible . . . they had loved one another. Berwald could have easily passed for Tino's older brother, but there was something more to how they worried about each other.
"I'm afraid so. He was too far into hypothermia for me to care for. I did everything I could."
"I believe you," the boy sighed, biting his lower lip at the emotional agony. He could tell Berwald had promised to be there when he woke up. Just the way he closed his eyes as the tears squeezed pass his eyelids.
Matthew didn't want to bring this up now, but he had really no choice, "Do you remember where you were being kept?"
The boy looked at him with a solid gaze, "depends."
The children followed silently, frightened and cold, they followed the boy who had promised them freedom with his red pipe and long scarf. He didn't speak much, and some children said that he seemed to disappear. Peter was worried, so far they hadn't run into any guards and the crowd of children just kept going. Some of them he vaguely remembered by face, others were too old for him to remember at all.
There were the sixteen year old twins Feliciano and Lovino, twelve-year-old Leica and her brother Vash, two years her senior, and age eleven Eduard and seven-year-old Raivis were a few to name. Peter remembered Raivis; the two had been best friends until Peter left for a few months and returned to Arthur telling him the Latvian had moved. There were a few others like nineteen-year-old Yong Soo who had been captive so long, everyone back home thought of them long dead and hardly even whispered their names anymore. He was Meimei's half brother who had disappeared when their mother had been pregnant with her. He cried over her like an idiot while hugging her tight, speaking a language none of the other children knew. He carried the small girl on his back since her leg had caused them to slow down up to that point.
"Wait," Ivan demanded and the great mass of children stopped cold. The sound of footsteps echoed in the hall ahead of them. The kids huddled together and around the older of them. They knew not all of them would be iced, only those in their teens, mostly because they couldn't have a prison with no one inside. Any six year old knew that much. Ivan stepped alone into the hall, but they heard nothing out of the ordinary until there was the crushing of bones and a few muffled screams of agony. The youngest of the group covered their ears to drown out the noise where the older ones were more curious than disgusted.
Ivan returned with a new coat of "pain" on his pipe. He looked over his pitiful army. Their clothes were horribly tattered and too small besides for Peter who was a new arrival. He needed supplies for them, clothing, food, and matches. He closed his violet eyes and searched the building. Still ten more guards out of the fifteen that originally patrolled. That wasn't counting the added seven on the roof and outside at the parameter of the facility. Wait, two halls down, second door to the right. It had some warm clothing for the guards. When they were all dead, he was sure they wouldn't need them. "This way, hurry."
The children raced after the nimble, running boy as he took them through a maze of halls before stopping in front of a door that the boy had opened with his ring of keys. They stared in awe at the warm looking snow suits, fur-collared jackets, and thick boots; a few ration packs also lined the back wall. They had never known what "warm" was, but if they could put it to a picture, that was it. "Get dressed. Quickly, quickly. It will be very cold when we get outside and I don't want any of you to freeze." The older children helped the smaller ones into their suits while Ivan looked deeper into the storage room; just as he had hoped. "Yong Soo, Vash, Feliciano, Lovino, here." He shoved a rifle into each of their hands.
They stared at him in awe, Vash being the first one to speak, "Who are you? How can you know the locations of the supply rooms, know exactly where the exit is, where the guards are, and everything!"
"I've been here for a long time."
"How can that be!" Lovino stepped in with his two cents, "Us four are obviously older than you!"
"Yong Soo is, but the rest of you are simply children."
"Then tell us who you are," the Korean said softly with a voice of patience and endurance.
Ivan sighed, "Ivan Braginski is my name. I died eight years ago. I would be eighteen now if I had not been iced."
The younger Italian laughed mockingly, "And I am supposed to believe you're a ghost here to help us out of here? You're leading us to some kind of trap aren't you!"
"Fine, you leave me no choice," the Russian sighed before closing his eyes.
Alfred watched intently as his brother pulled out the map they had been pouring over the day before. A red circle mapped out the estimated location of the facility the Finnish boy had told them about. Matthew had heard about an old, deserted building in the area, but it was a week's walk and thirty-six hour drive. The railroad station that Ivan told him about was also abandoned, but within the area as well. Alfred felt his heart skip a beat, he was so close now. Even Arthur was there now, he looked more determined than he ever had been.
Alfred placed a hand on his shoulder, "We'll get him. Don't worry."
Arthur looked up and allowed a slight smile and he returned the gesture, "I know."
Peter didn't understand. Ivan was now smaller than him. The older boys kept quiet when he asked about it, so he felt he really shouldn't say anything. Still, the Russian was very peculiar, some of the other children whispered about how he would seem to disappear and, when they blinked, reappear as though he was never gone. They would stop when told to, cover their ears is what that usually indicated as well, and go when called.
"We're here," he said with shallow, excited breaths as he looked at the door. It looked like any of the other doors, but he knew. He always knew. This was their way out. Ivan closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them. They glowed in the dark, a light violet color. The children behind him jumped when they heard what seemed to be the howl of wolves. The wind was so strong outside, the door swung open on its own accord. The children cowered back for a moment before looking to the Russian with the glowing amethyst eyes. "Stay close and don't get split up. If you do, you're on your own until I can come back for you. Vash, take Meimei, Yong Soo and Lovino take the rear while Feliciano and Vash flank the sides. I'll lead."
The snow fell so thick and fast in the wind that the children couldn't see anything through the wall of ice. Still, they did as they were told, following the pipe-wielding boy into the endless abyss of white.
He felt them leaving. They couldn't leave! He needed them; their life energy was the only thing keeping him alive. Once they left, he would die. He would not let them. His fridged gray eyes glowed as the snow became hail to stem their escape.
The hail came down in the size of marbles, hailing down on the children. Of course, he wouldn't want them dead, but he needed to destroy moral; thinking like a general all the way to the end. "Keep going! He's trying to discourage you! Don't give in!" The wind was even fiercer than when he summoned it to hurl the hail as hard as he could to hurt the escapees through their thick, stolen clothing. There was a gunshot from above. In a panic at the sound, Ivan wheeled around and raised his hand in the direction it had come from. The snow on the ground rose up and blocked the bullet from hitting anyone in the group.
"Hurry!" he shouted over the wind before turning away and leading them at a faster pace. He could see the gate, he could! He even knew where the hole was that they had squeezed through. But what the children behind him didn't know was that they could all be iced. Their souls would remain forever and keep that demon in the tower alive. He knew his spirit was connected to that man, and if he were to die, Ivan would disappear. He didn't want to disappear, but that was selfish: to let more children get kidnapped because he wasn't ready to leave the earth.
Yong Soo noticed a guard on the roof aiming at the group and fired. The man fell back with a shot to the shoulder. The Korean swore to never take a life, and take a life he had not. He smiled grimly to himself as they hurried; the sight of freedom was something he had never expected to see.
He growled in rage within his frozen tomb. He would make that ghost pay! That rat that had been trained in the arts of dark magic as well! If it had not been for that brat investing his soul into the heart of Winter herself, he wouldn't be here now. Despite the fact it fed him with the power of the earth, it kept the boy in a tangible form, ruining his plans at every turn. It was about time that he reined in this hassle.
"Quickly! Under the wires," he instructed as they came upon the cut iron, "Keep heading south until you come across a rock with the symbol of a diamond, then head to your right until you see a sign. At that point, head in the direction you were going previous. You're going to be on the road, stay together and the person to take you away will see you, just keep walking and have faith."
"What about you Ivan?" Peter asked worried. Why wasn't the Russian coming with them?
The ashen haired boy smiled, "I have some unfinished business to attend to."
Before Peter could open his mouth, Ivan had disappeared. He stood frozen for a moment before being pushed through the hole by Vash who was becoming increasingly impatient. They followed the directions, the hail over and the wind urging them on eagerly. The rock was untouched by snow and completely dry. No one questioned the unnatural phenomena, just turned to the west and continued on their journey.
He shook in rage. He felt their power slip away from him as they passed under the gate and into the Canadian wasteland of snow and ice. That brat! That ghost from Hades! He ruined everything! He felt his power over the environment lessen significantly as they wandered farther and farther away.
"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" a cheeky, near-adult voice asked mockingly. He knew who it was. That Spawn of the devil! That villain! This was it! He would destroy this feeble soul and cast him into the depth so as to feed off his energy all at once. Who knew, maybe he could bring his body back to life with the boy's magic.
They had been driving for hours, all the while Alfred checked the map to make sure they were on course while Arthur stared out the window ahead of them. The weather was becoming increasingly worse that Matthew had to slow to a near crawl to avoid loosing traction.
"A battle is going on," Arthur murmured to himself.
Alfred glanced back at his cousin, "What are you going on about Artie?"
"Two dangerous forces are at war with each other. They have strong magic."
"Aren't you too old to believe in that Arthur?" Matthew asked with a raised eyebrow. Sure, Arthur was the oldest, but Matthew honestly saw himself as the most mature out of the three. He didn't believe in fairies, unicorns, magic, and he sure as hell didn't believe in ghos-. "Shit!" he swore as he slammed on the breaks and swerved to avoid hitting what appeared to be a small mob. Luckily he hadn't been going that fast or he might have hit the small blonde that stood at the head of the group, let alone rolled the car.
Arthur looked out the window and his green eyes grew big and filled with tears, "PETER!"
"ARTHUR!"
A/N: Yay~! Epic battles are to ensue . . . I think. I hope. Story, there better be some kick ass awesome fight scenes! Ooh~ even I'm giddy as to see how this ends~!