Also Titled: The Middle of The End

The General eyed the golden-clad warrior closely. He knew this man well. He knew his techniques, his ways, even his weaknesses. He also knew about the brat's damn strength. And now here he was coming, battering aside any men who got in his way. The boy's eyes locked with his and he knew there was no getting out of this fight. He'd known, somehow, ever since Natalia had brought him to that mountain camp that they would come to blows soon enough.

No matter, he would win.

Never in his life had Alfred felt such… such rage! The death of his best friend gave him purpose, a goal, a need for vengeance. It blinded him to everything else. The bastard was gonna pay! The General waited for him to approach, waving him forward as if to say, "Come and get me."

With a shout he ran, crossing the last few yards and swinging. Their blades met with a tremendous crash, sparks flying. Alfred swung again, wildly, and the General easily sidestepped. The sword bit deep into a wooden post and got stuck. With a powerful underhand stroke the General snapped the blade in half with his own and kicked Alfred away.

Alfred grunted as he hit the ground, all of the air whooshing out of his lungs. He struggled to sit up and scoot away, just missing the General's next blow. He spotted a sword stuck in the back of a dead man and scrambled for it, using all of his strength to dislodge it. It came out with a sickening squelch and he inspected the bloody tip. It would do.

Again the two titans charged at each other, but then Alfred, being Alfred, did something unexpected. He feinted and ducked the General's swing, spinning once to get momentum before slicing right at the General's face. His skull helmet protected him for the most part, but the bottom half of the mask broke away, revealing a bit of curly brown hair, and his cheek was cut badly. The blow itself sent the General toppling over against the stairs by the tower. He lay there, motionless.

A bolt of energy suddenly shot out of the tallest tower, as bright and brilliant as a lightning strike. Alfred looked up in concern, his lust for revenge somewhat forgotten by the horrible thought that Lils might be dead. He grabbed another sword lying on the ground and began climbing up the wall stairs, not noticing the General's green eyes open.

He feinted! The cabron actually feinted! That hothead never did something like that! The General sat up and rubbed his jaw. Yup, just as powerful as he remembered. His sword was lost in the mud, so he grabbed the closest thing he could find, a battleaxe, and ran up the stairs after the boy, determined to finish off the ungrateful whelp.

Alfred heard him coming up rather than saw him, giving him a second to think of a strategy. The General's fighting style was eerily familiar, reminding him of someone he had sparred with once. Instinctively he fell flat onto the stairs, his head just missing the overhead swipe of the battle axe. He flipped onto his back and blocked the next strike, looking straight up into the General's eyes.

And all of a sudden, he recognised him. The eyes, the hair, the smirk, the voice. This man had trained him as a boy, praised him for being the best swordsman, scolded him for not paying attention to his studies. He'd betrayed this man's trust once, only to mourn his unjust death months later.

This man was Antonio Carriedo, the former general of Galadoorn.

Seeing the realization dawn on his face, Antonio backed up a bit and threw off the rest of his helmet. "Surprised to see me?"

Alfred came up with the most intelligent response he could think of.

"How?"

The General leaned on his axe, giving Alfred the courage to get up without worrying too much that his head would get chopped off.

"I guess the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated," he said. "I escaped with my life and found a king I could trust."

"...Y-you just killed Matthias! How could you- OOMF!" He grunted as Antonio suddenly grabbed his shoulder and slammed him face first into the wall.

Dazed and utterly confused he fell onto the small landing leading inside the tower. Antonio's cruel laugh reached his ears, making his blood boil. One look at his face made him realize how twisted the man he'd looked up to had become. The man he'd known as a boy was gone.

Bitterness had turned him into a beast.

Alfred remembered calling himself a hero when he'd first met Arthur in that cage, but he hadn't really meant it. It was an old joke he'd had with Matthias about how they would grow up to be the greatest heroes ever. Matthias had stayed true to that, while he had gone astray. The least he could do was make up for it by slaying this monster.

He jumped to his feet again and charged, blocking Antonio's battleaxe with one sword and, with a sudden ferocity that surprised himself, spun and stabbed Antonio in the stomach. Antonio yelled in agony, backing up again. Alfred grinned, thinking that with a sword in his stomach he would fall easily.

Therefore, he was unprepared when Antonio lashed out, punching Alfred square on the nose. Blood dripping down his face, staining his lips, Alfred hacked at Antonio's side with the other sword, making him cough up blood. Another punch from the General sent him reeling and the sword dropped from his hand. The General's hands became a vice around Alfred's neck, choking him.

Alfred struggled to loosen his grip before remembering the sword still stuck in his stomach, he grabbed the pommel of the sword and jerked at it, opening the wound and maddening Antonio further. One punch and head slam into the wall later (courtesy of the General) and Alfred was very nearly close to passing out. He fell to his knees, head drooping. His hand brushed against something, Antonio's battleaxe… Antonio's battleaxe!

It was a double bladed axe with a long steel spike at the end of the pole. Grabbing it in with both hands, he rammed it into the General with all his strength. The spike pierced Antonio's chest with a sickening crunch. Green eyes met blue for just a second.

Alfred shoved him off the stairs.

There was one final yell as the General fell before he hit the ground, his lifeless eyes staring at nothing.

Alfred quietly mourned for the man he had once been before running into the tower.

Lilli's cries quieted as soon as she saw a familiar face peek at her from over the altar. Looking back once at the fighting men, Arthur quickly grabbed Lilli and cradled her close, hiding her in his cloak.

Meanwhile, Ivan's superior strength was finally winning against Lukas' tenacity. He'd managed to get both hands around his neck and was slowly choking him. Lukas struggled vainly, but finally fainted from lack of air. Grabbing the wand triumphantly, Ivan let Lukas fall to the ground and turned back to the… the empty altar!

He spun towards the door in time to see a peck running away with the baby. He pointed with the wand and shouted, "Beah!"

Arthur skidded to a halt as the door slammed shut.

"Bring back that child, peck," Ivan commanded. He watched imperiously as Arthur slowly turned to face him. "Who are you?" Thunder rumbled above them.

"I'm Arthur Kirkland," Arthur answered. All of a sudden, he remembered a certain pouch hanging from his belt and an idea formed in his brain. Bolder now, he said, "I'm a great sorcerer."

Ivan chuckled.

"Greater than Bondevik."

Ivan laughed.

"Greater than you even!" He pulled out one of the magic acorns the High Aldwyn had given him and threw it with all his might, smirking when the king reached out and actually caught it.

For a moment Ivan panicked as the strange magic took hold of his hand and wrist, turning it to stone. Then, once he'd gotten used to the strangeness, he realized just how weak it was. Arthur's smile died when he saw Ivan's hand turn back to flesh. The sorcerer king chuckled again and let the acorn drop to the ground.

"Is that the extent of your powers, small one?"

Arthur ducked behind the fallen pillar.

"Now you will watch me draw upon the power of the universe, to send that babe into the netherworld. Now place it on the altar!" Ivan said, approaching the pillar. Arthur peaked over it, the little bundle still in his hands.

Arthur thought quickly as he shuffled towards the altar. He couldn't beat this man, but he had to buy Lilli time. He paused.

"No!"

Ivan's purple eyes glowed. "No?"

"You stupid bastard! With my magic, I'll send her into the- into a-" he fumbled trying to think.

Ivan laughed again. "Into the what, peck? You're no sorcerer."

Arthur was sick and tired of being called a peck and a fake sorcerer. "Into a realm where evil cannot touch her."

Smiling at his naivete, Ivan scoffed. "Impossible, there's no such place."

Arthur began calling on his own native tongue, ignoring Ivan. "Helgafel swath ben helgafel-"

"You are trying my patience, fool!"

"Bairn off danu famoww!" Arthur looked down fondly at the little bundle. "Goodbye, Lilli."

He spoke the final word, "Helgafel!" With that he whipped the cloak over his his shoulder and let it drop, revealing it to be empty.

Ivan could only stare as all his plans crumbled around him. This… this tiny, insignificant thing had stolen his victory. How could this peck know how to protect the child from him, King Ivan?! He, who had conquered countries, who performed magical feats of extraordinary magnitude, who could summon the powers of the netherworld… was beaten by a peck?

He stumbled back, tripping over the vat on the floor and spilling the red liquid all over his robes. "Impossible!" He raised the wand over his head to cast some deadly curse on Arthur. "You-"

Then the thirteenth hour struck, along with the lightning.

The wand acted as a conductor, channeling the lightning through Ivan's entire body. A feral scream was ripped from his throat as the energy mixed with the red liquid on him, and the hellish spell he had prepared so carefully finally came into effect.

Arthur backed away fearfully as lightning struck again and again, each time the electricity made Arthur's hair stand on end. The liquid turned to mist and enveloped the tortured witch king from view.

Natalia woke just in time to see her older brother's body turn into mist and be sucked away by the lightning, giving one last scream as he vanished completely. The faerie queen's wand clattered to the floor, glowing softly.

Just as the last bit of mist disappeared Alfred burst through the door. "Where is he?! Where's Ivan?!"

Arthur shook his head. "You git."

Alfred ignored him and ran to Natalia's side. He knelt down and kissed her, and she hesitantly returned it.

"Brother's gone," she whispered, tears mingling with the rain. Alfred held her close.

"Arthur!" Lukas yelled, sitting up and gasping. "Where's the baby?"

Arthur grinned mischieviously and ran back to the pillar. He bent down behind it and came back holding Lilli in his arms. "It was just my old 'disappearing pig' trick," he admitted.

Alfred guffawed while Natalia hid a smile.

"Well done, Arthur," Lukas said.

Lilli giggled and reached out to touch Arthur's cheek.

Woot! The day is saved! And btw, all of your guesses were AWESOME!

Also, *sob* next week I'll be posting the last chapter…

Noooo, not the end already! What will I do with my life now that I won't have reading/occasionally editing this fic to do? Well… I suppose I should actually write my own fics. *shot*

XD That's always a thought. Still, I feel bad for killing off Matthias, especially since he didn't get to do as much as Alfred or Arthur. Maybe I'll send him on a journey in my next fic. A Journey to the Center of-

Monty: *slaps a hand over her mouth* Spoilers.

*snickers* Don't give everything away, now, Viva.

Anyway, thank you all for being so awesome, dear readers!

Yeah, and thank you too, Viva! It's been a pleasure~