Sorry it has been so long since the last update. Life and work caught up with me. :/ and it also didn't help that I had a mini writers block about half-way through.

So in exchange I made this chappy a lot longer. :D I hope you enjoy.

Thank you to all of those who reviewed and fav'ed since the last chapter.

And another big thanks to Ai-Sama for beta-ing and helping me get through the block :D

Italicized are thoughts

Chapter 5

"HA! HA! HA! That was really funny, huh, Artie?" Alfred laughed as he and Arthur were leaving the old mansion. "Man, that guy was a little weird with all of his rose petals. But at least he was able to stop you from your little anger melt-down."

"No! It was not funny! That stupid git! The next time I see him, I will ring his neck out!" Arthur snapped. He stomped ahead for a few moments. "And I was not having an anger melt-down!"

"Aww, come on. Lighten up a little, buddy." Alfred said as he swung his arm over Arthur's shoulder. "We're gonna have to work together, so don't be such a stick in the mud. And besides, you could try to be a little nicer to me, since I was able to get you untied from all those vines that the Frenchy dude left you in."

"Now, you listen here. Just because you got me out of that does not mean that I have to like you, so don't call me buddy! The only reason that I'm even here with you is because I called and made sure with my bosses that there is indeed a mission that requires your help. And it wasn't a stupid idea that Francis came up with just to run off with someone and slack off. Now, let's hurry up to the station, I don't want to miss the next train to Ezra." Arthur stated in a huff, and again goes ahead without waiting for Alfred.

Alfred sighs and jogs a little. Then he swings his left arm around Arthur's shoulders and pokes Arthur's face with his right hand. "Don't be like that, Artie. This can be an awesome and fun adventure if you wanted it to."

"Stop calling me Artie! My name is Arthur! Don't make me tell you again, twit. Now just shut up and let's get this over with." Arthur shouted. Alfred sighed again, and said nothing back. "Now hurry up, and let's get out of here."

- Train -

After arriving just in the nick of time for the last train of the night, Arthur and Alfred settle down into one of the private cabins. Arthur, trying to ignore anything and everything that may come out of Alfred's mouth, sits down and turns his head to watch the scenery pass by.

Noticing that he was going to be ignored, Alfred decided to sit right next to Arthur; hoping to get the hunter's attention and on his good side. If he even has one, thought Alfred.

Arthur glances at Alfred for a moment, when he sees the young looking man sit next to him. It is never a good thing when an idiot grins like that… he thought, as he turns his attention back to the nighttime scenery, but Alfred has other plans for him.

"Hey, I have a question for you," Alfred began.

"What is it?" Arthur replied, turning to face him.

Alfred pokes Arthur's eyebrows. "Why do you have such bushy eyebrows? Do you use your magic to make 'em bigger? Or did they just come out that way?" he asked, tilting his head off to the side, his eyes sparkling with wonder.

Looking as if he is going to strangle the vampire teen, Arthur tried to calmly, but slightly not succeeding, answered, "No… I do NOT use magic to make them like this…" he makes a barely heard growl and closes his eyes, "Now be quiet and leave me alone." And with that he turns away.

Alfred, not to be one to accept the silence as the end of the conversation, tries again.

"Hey! Magic man, I'm bored! " Alfred begged, as he began to rock back and forth on the seat.

Arthur quickly snapped his head to Alfred, "Wha…Magic man? What the bloody hell…"

"Yeah, well you don't like to be called Artie, so I'm gonna call you magic man, cuz you use magic, makin it the perfect nickname for you." Alfred smiles brightly.

Arthur growled and then shouted, "Don't you ever call me that! If you are going to talk to me use my name, not some ridiculous nickname!"

Holding his hands up in defeat, Alfred says, "Awwww. Ok. Ok. Fine. But in exchange you have to play with me instead." Clapping his hands together, he continues with, ". Pretty, pretty please."

"Absolutely not! Now bugger off." Arthur quickly replied, as he turned back to the window again, waving his hand towards Alfred.

"Awww, come on! Please, please, please, please…" Alfred continues, and every time he had said please he poked Arthur in various places on his body.

"Stop it! Go sit over there! You don't have to be right next to me!" Arthur responded, as he grabbed Alfred's arms harshly and forced the vampire onto the seats across from him.

"But I'm ! I want you to entertain me." Alfred begs again, going back to the seat that Arthur is on and started to bounce up and down.

Arthur comes back with, "Entertain you? ! Pray tell, why should I do that?"

"Because ya have nothin else to do, other than starin at stuff outside the window, but that's bbbboooorrrriiiiinnnggg and no fun at all! So like I said, play with me. Then neither of us is gonna be bored." Alfred stated.

Arthur's eye twitched as he thought, his English, my god, it is horrible… "Well, I would very much just like to look outside. Now if you would kindly just SHUT UP and leave me ALONE!" Arthur shouted, causing Alfred to jump a little.

Sighing, Alfred replies weakly, "Ok, fine." and with that he goes over to the other seat and sits quietly for the rest of the ride.

- Ezra train station -

When the train arrived in the station, Arthur got off of it as fast as he could. That was frightening… Arthur closed his eyes and brought one of his hands up to massage his forehead. When that twit FINALLY shuts up, all he does is stare at me… I think I might prefer the loudmouth Alfred, compared to the silent one, Arthur thought and sighed. He then looked around to see that there is no one around. The sun's coming up soon, Arthur noted, as he saw some of the rays coming from behind a mountain in the distance.

Arthur sighed once again, before turning back towards the train to wait for Alfred. After a few moments, the train started to take off from the platform. Oh, bloody hell, where is that twit now? Arthur asked. He started to look around for Alfred, starting to get a little hopeful that he wouldn't have to see the centuries old teen again, but at the same time feeling a little sad that he will now be alone. Well this is for the best, Arthur thought with a nod. Arthur then started to leave the station, when he reached the doorway he felt a tiny hand on his own and stopped. When he looked down, he saw the child form of Alfred and jumped back a little.

"What the…! Why are you a child again? ! Change back this instant!" Arthur shouted.

"But Arthur, I already told you, I'm cursed and this is it. During the time that the sun is in the sky me and Mattie look like kids and our power gets loads weaker. Only at nighttime do we get to be what we really are." Alfred explained impatiently, as he started to bounce from one foot to another.

Arthur sighed, "Well fine! But don't expect me to be nice just because you're a kid."

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you," Alfred responded and whispers, 'magic man.' With that he chuckled a little, causing Arthur to look at him with a slightly confused and irritated look.

"Hurry up and let's get going."

- Ezra - main road -

"Wow, this place is like a ghost town…" Alfred says with a shiver, as he and Arthur walk down towards the inn of the town.

"The people of the town will be just getting up for the day. Just give it another hour or so and the streets should be busier." Arthur stated and stops to look at Alfred. "Now, tell me, what was the shiver for? Don't tell me a big, or rather small, bad vampire, like you, is scared of ghosts."

"W-what are you t-talking about? I'm n-not afraid of n-nothing! Especially, g-ghosts." Alfred responded with a stutter, while trying to avoid looking at Arthur.

Arthur laughs, "HA! You are afraid of them!"

Alfred looks at Arthur and shouts, "WHAT! I just told you I'm not! Besides anyone would be scared of stuff they can't see!" He then shuts his mouth and begins to pout. They continue to walk down the main road, not noticing the shadowy figure that is following them.

- Ezra - Dragon's Ridge Inn -

After a little bit of wondering around, getting a feel for the town, the pair finally reached the inn.

Alfred is constantly on the lookout, because the entire time they walked around, not a soul had shown up on the roads. I can't believe Artie thinks I'm afraid of ghosts…I'm a hero, and heroes are afraid of nothin. I just hate those things, and their ability to pop out of thin air, and besides that, I've got the feelin that we are bein watched, Alfred thought to himself.

Arthur, while observing Alfred, mentally notes, Hmm. He is being awfully quiet again. He looks away from the vampire child and sweat drops. I just hope he doesn't start to stare at me like he did on the train… that was beyond creepy. Arthur shakes his head to rid himself of those thoughts and then heads toward the door of the inn.

Meanwhile, Alfred begins creep a little so that he can look down the little alleyway next to the inn, which is filled with boxes, barrels, and trash bins. Hmmmm… looks like nothin in there. Suddenly a shadow moves from behind some of the boxes. HUH? What's that? Alfred thinks for a moment and nearly screams, "GAHHH!" He then runs and tackles Arthur, and yells aloud, "ARTIE!"

Arthur, trying to recover his composure, responds, "What?"

"I think there is a ghost down there!" Alfred pointed down the alleyway. "I saw something move!"

Arthur sighed and walks up to the alleyway. "Where?"

"In there! Behind some of the boxes!" Alfred nearly shouted while stomping one of his feet onto the ground.

"Alright, I will take a look, just calm down." Arthur responded. He starts to walk down the alley, taking each step slowly.

"Be careful." Alfred said, as he started shifting from one foot to another, while grabbing, pulling, and twisting the bottom of his shirt.

Arthur glanced back to see this and then turned to continue down the alley once again. He really is afraid. He then summoned a wand, which has a little star at the end of it, and started to try to poke around and make some small noises to see if anything would pop out.

About halfway through the alley, Arthur turns back to Alfred, "Are you satisfied now, there is nothing down here."

"It is farther in there, I know I saw something. Please keep going." Alfred replied, giving Arthur a teary eyed, sort of pout.

Arthur sighs, turns his head and glares at nothing in particular. He reminds me of a puppy. I can almost see the ears and tail on him… After another sigh, he continues on the search for the "ghost." After tapping the side of a barrel, a shadow jumped out and landed on Arthur's face.

"What the bloody hell? !" He shouted and backed out of the alleyway, struggling to get the shadow off of him. Alfred backs away from the alley's opening and watches as Arthur stumbles out and falls to the ground, as the shadow jumps off of Arthur's face.

"Hey Artie, it looks like it wasn't a ghost after all. It was just a kitty!" Alfred chuckles.

At that remark, Arthur eyebrows started to twitch as a large tick mark appeared on his head. "That is NOT funny! Next time you're going to check it out!"

They both turn to see the cat chasing a baby chick, which ends up running down another alleyway across the road. The cat follows, but then quickly exits and runs down the road. Alfred looks at the direction the cat ran off in, but he also hears a quiet: "Don't worry; the scary cat is gone now. You're going to be ok; I will protect you, Gilbird."

HUH? What was that? Alfred thought as he runs over to the alleyway, but sees nothing, absolutely nothing. That was weird. I thought I heard someone…AH! What if it was a ghost! Alfred thinks, and then runs back over to Arthur and clutches his jacket.

Meanwhile, with a displeased look on his face, Arthur thought, That baby chick reminds me of an annoying 'co-worker.' Hope I don't have to deal with him anytime soon. He turns to Alfred, "Alright let's get started, we need to get some information, to see if the demon has done anything in this area."

Alfred nods, "Ok."

They enter the inn, only to find it completely empty.

"Uh… I know it is early but there should be some people up by now… and I still haven't seen anyone outside either." Alfred said, and then realized, "AHHHHH! This is a ghost town, Artie!" Alfred then jumps and clings to Arthur's leg.

"Hey! Get off of me! What happened to 'Mr. Hero' who is afraid of nothing?" Arthur said, while shaking his leg, trying to get the boy off of him, but Alfred's grip only tightens. "Ugh." He then takes a deep breath and says, "Let's look around, there must be someone here. Cats and baby chicks don't live in abandoned towns."

- Ezra - main road -

Arthur hobbles down the road, with Alfred still attached to his leg. He is looking for any sign of life in the village, just to prove that the town isn't haunted. Coming up to a house, he peered inside one of the windows, and he noticed that the people were just sleeping. Asleep at this hour? That is odd. Arthur thought. He went to a few more houses and saw that the people in them were also sleeping. Hmm, this is definitely odd. The only thing I can think of that could do something like this is magic, but I haven't sensed any…Wait a moment, what is... AH! I sense it now! The caster must be too weak to cast a large spell making it harder to detect!

Looking down at the shivering lump clutching his leg, Arthur says, "Alright, Alfred. This town is not haunted, alright? The people are just asleep. The one who had cast the spell is nearby, but their magic is so weak I can't pinpoint their exact location."

Alfred looks up at him, "Ah! Of course that makes sense. Let's go beat the bad guy up and save the town!" He jumps a couple of times and then pumps his arm. Then in a burst of speed, Alfred bolts off looking for the 'bad guy.'

Arthur sighs, "This boy is really too energetic for his own good." He begins to run to catch up with Alfred. He runs around a couple of corners and comes to a stop to look around. "Now where did he go?"

- Ezra - village gate -

Alfred comes to a stop at the edge of the village, when he notices that Arthur is not following him.

"Artie? Where did ya go?" Alfred tilts his head in confusion, he looks around, but the magician is nowhere to be seen. "I thought you were right behind me."

Alfred slowly starts to walk away from the gate and back into the village, hoping to see his partner. Hearing something behind him, he turns and sees the little baby chick from earlier. "Huh? What are you doing here, little guy?" Alfred says as he walks towards it.

"So there you are, kid who thinks he is more AWESOME than I!" shouted a man, who dashed out from around a nearby corner.

"Huh?" Alfred said in surprise and confusion. He jumped back a little and looked at the new-comer.

The man has silvery-white hair, ruby colored eyes, and pale skin. He is wearing a dark blue trench coat, with a black shirt and dark denim blue jeans underneath it, black leather boots, and black leather gloves.

"Hey! Who the heck are you?" Alfred asked.

"I am the AWESOMELY strong, Gilbert! Monster tamer and hunter extraordinaire! And I have come here to prove that I am more AWESOME than you, little vampire boy!" Gilbert says, pointing at Alfred.

Sweat dropping, Alfred thinks, Are all hunters this weird? Or am I just so privileged that I get to meet all the crazies? and then says out loud he says, "What are you talking about?"

"Ok, I'm going to make this simple. If I defeat you, I will get the title of the most AWESOME back! So if you wanna make this easy for yourself, just give up right now!" Gilbert says.

"GIVE UP! Heroes never give up! I'm going to win and maybe I can even prove to Artie that I'm a true hero. Ha! Ha! Ha!" Alfred yells in return.

- Ezra - outskirts -

While Alfred was being challenged by Gilbert, Arthur was completely on the other side of the village looking for his young looking partner. This part of the village mostly consisted of large plots of land, with farm houses, barns, and fields of wheat and corn.

"Where is that bloody, little twit? How dare he! Running off like that!" Arthur shouted, at no one in particular.

Continuing on, he searches for the vampire and the one responsible for the town's sleep spell. He occasionally walks to search in the windows to see if there was anyone that the spell had missed or if it had worn off, but so far there was no one awake. Walking away from one of the houses, he senses something nearby. What is this feeling? It is almost as if someone is watching me… Arthur thought.

"It's been awhile hasn't it…little hunter boy," says a voice coming from the shadows nearby.

Arthur whips around but finds nobody there. That voice…it sounds familiar…His eyes widen as he continues to think, Could it be…him.

- Flashback - Kirkland Home -

The crescent moon shines down very little light into the garage.

A seven year old Arthur is on his knees, crying.

Blood is spattered everywhere.

In the middle of the room, a light-brown trench coat clad demon stands, his back to Arthur but his face is turned just enough to make out the cruel smile on his face, his amethyst eyes, and his silvery locks of hair.

-End Flashback-

The end for now… Another cliffy.

Hmmmm. who could that clad demon be?...No seriously, who doesn't know?"

And also isn't Alfred just the CUTEST as a little kid. And of course we can't forget the 'AWESOME' Gilbert.

Be sure to tune in next time for the battle of AWESOMENESS between Alfred and Gilbert.

Please R&R.