Another week of…quiet. Nothing interesting happened like that explosion, but Ivan expected that much. Alfred seemed to be skirting around any subject that could possibly get him serious, staying light-hearted and teasing Ivan. Though Ivan had to wonder how he was doing on this 'plan' he had when it came to escaping. Then again, the more Ivan got to know the man, the more he doubted he actually came up with plans. He seemed like the kind of person to just act and think about the consequences later.
On top of that, it seemed like Alfred's worries about Gilbert were unfounded. Sure, he seemed to be occasionally bitter about his lack of magic, but his massive ego always seemed to outweigh that and he was back to his usual self after a short while. So obviously it didn't matter that much to him.
Today, as well, there was no drama at all as he walked into the Detainment Center. It was a late shift, but it was a Saturday, so Ivan didn't find it in himself to care. And he'd been actually getting friends at the Center, something he never expected to happen.
"Shut up, please! I'm trying to fucking focus, okay?" Gilbert's voice snapped and Ivan sighed. Well, there went the 'no drama'. Ivan raised a brow as he walked up to the receptionist desk, the only place anyone seemed to have conversations. Antonio was standing with Gilbert as they stared at an apple on the counter.
"You don't need to focus that hard," Antonio tried and Ivan noticed that Gilbert was holding his hand towards the apple.
"What are you doing?" Ivan asked curiously as he walked up behind them. Gilbert flinched.
"We're trying to see if Gilbert has even a little magic," Antonio shrugged. "I mean, it can't be that hard, can it?"
"What are you trying to do? Move the apple?" Ivan asked.
"It was the easiest thing I could think of," Antonio shrugged. "But it, uh, doesn't look like it's working."
"Well, it isn't working because everyone's talking!" Gilbert snapped. "Please, just shut up and let me try again."
"Try to relax," Ivan offered. "Magic doesn't work if you try too hard."
"Thanks," Gilbert said bluntly. Ivan sighed, going to the elevator. If Gilbert figured it out, then he figured it out. If he didn't, then he didn't. In just a few minutes, Ivan relieved Lovino from his shift, yawning slightly. But he wouldn't exactly have many problems keeping himself awake, especially with Alfred around to talk.
"Tired?" Alfred smirked, standing in front of him as soon as the door closed.
"What gave me away?" Ivan rolled his eyes.
"This is your first time being here so late," Alfred said conversationally. "You know, I've been looking into the other people here. Nothing nosy, just checking out their vague personalities. Gotta be honest, I'm not really fond of anyone else but you."
"You don't even like Feliciano?" Ivan asked, slightly amused.
"He's way too happy," Alfred rolled his eyes. It was still fascinating to Ivan how, even when rolling his eyes, there was no part of Alfred's eyes that were white. They were completely black with just that ring of blue. "And his twin's way too much of a bummer. Antonio's…alright, I guess? But, hey, no one really compares to you. That…and everyone else would have already told their boss about me."
"You aren't harming anyone like this, there's no point," Ivan shrugged. "And if they find out, they'll likely shut you up. Do you really think that you're good looking enough to make me want to do nothing but stare at you for three hours at a time?"
"Well, I mean, Lovino already thinks you jerk off to me," Alfred snickered.
"And yet I never finished," Ivan retorted. Alfred burst out laughing, walking backwards slightly.
"There you go!" Alfred laughed. "That's what I'm talking about. No one would hit back like that! No one!"
"I'm glad I can entertain you," Ivan chuckled.
"It's what you get paid for," Alfred smiled, tipping an invisible hat. Ivan rolled his eyes once again. "Now, any news around town in the past day and a half? I haven't seen you in forever, it feels like."
"No news," Ivan shook his head. "I've done homework, some research, nothing incredibly interesting. Still no news on that Amelia Jones."
"I figured," Alfred shrugged, circling around his floating body with interest. "Say, do you know much about the spell keeping me like this? I'm honestly just curious."
"Curious or not, you're not allowed to know that," Ivan shook his head. "Even if I knew, which I don't. All I know is that it required 50 of the strongest magic users use the same spell together. After that, they've complicated it and made it more…intense as time went on. Francis just enhanced after that short, too."
"Figured," Alfred snorted. "The only way this is stopping is if you lose your concentration or if the power goes out, is that right?"
"Are you back to formulating this plan of yours?" Ivan scoffed.
"I've always been thinking about it," Alfred smiled. "The only problem is coming up with a good plan that doesn't involve waiting a few hundred years. I'm done sitting around, doing nothing. And after seeing what you guys did in those history lessons in that brain? Can't say I'm much of a fan."
"And you expected world peace to last under your rule?" Ivan asked.
"Better be feared than loved, learned that the hard way," Alfred shrugged. "All those useless wars and deaths?"
"Did you look through all of the history I know?" Ivan asked curiously. He did wonder how that worked with Alfred; if some memories were clearer than others, how far back he could go…
"Nah, just enough to know a little bit about the world, understand how technology advanced as much as it did," Alfred mused. "I've got plenty more time to learn history, I don't need to waste my energy in your brain. Besides, the more I look, the higher of a chance I get of seeing something personal. And I'm not rude enough to look through your personal memories."
"Well, thanks," Ivan said simply. Did that mean Alfred knew about the extinction of several species? Did he know about the forming of the countries of the world and the reforming after wars? Did he know about the Williams family?
Ivan paused when he saw the lights flicker above him just as he heard and felt a very heavy thud from above. What…?
"Ivan…" Alfred said slowly. "Ivan, I told you to look out for that Gilbert guy!"
"What?" Ivan blinked. "I don't…he wouldn't! I'm sure!"
"No, you're not!" Alfred snapped, walking towards him quickly. "I know what that feels like!"
"What what feels like?" Ivan pressed. "What is going on?" Another heavy thud and the lights flickered again. Alfred nearly faded out of view.
"I feel Dark Magic, and it's not mine," Alfred seethed. "You said you'd take care of it."
"I did," Ivan snapped. "It's not Gilbert."
"Then why can I feel it?" Alfred snapped. "I can feel it, even just through your head. I know exactly what it feels like. Someone's using it, and it's probably him."
"Someone is using Dark Magic right now?" Ivan asked carefully. He couldn't leave his post, not now. Especially if the power was going out… The lights flickered again and Ivan got a bad pit in his stomach. He couldn't…feel anything. "How can you even feel it?"
"It's a thing," Alfred said simply, staring at the ceiling with narrowed eyes. The lights flickered again, but they stayed off for just a little longer than Ivan was comfortable with. He was still feeling the pull of the spell, though…He was actually starting to get nervous with the very idea of Alfred actually getting lose, physically able to use his Dark Magic against them. Then again, if he was correct and there was another person up there using Dark Magic…this situation got very bad very fast.
"Why are you just sitting here?" Alfred asked him pointedly.
"My job is to not leave your side," Ivan said pointedly.
"Oh, so now you're doing your job?" Alfred scoffed. "You've been gifted with a shit ton of magic, the least you can do is try to stop someone who's using Dark Magic!"
"I'm not leaving this room!" Ivan snapped.
And then the lights shut off. They didn't come back on. Ivan stared in awe around him as he felt the spell drift away. He tried to hold onto it, but he could practically feel it slip away. He looked back to where Alfred was, but it was pitch black. He heard a distinct thud in the darkness and held up his hand, a small spell illuminating the room.
Alfred's physical body was on the ground…and he was moving.
"Don't move," Ivan commanded, trying to think of a spell that he could use to stop him, keep him still. He had no idea about what was going on above ground, but he had to make sure that everything was going to be alright below ground when everything was taken care of. Alfred rolled onto his side slowly before moving to his stomach, shaking his head.
The door to the outer corridor suddenly burst open, but it was just as dark as before, right up until the guards he had never expected to see came in, their own lights on the ends of their rather impressive guns. They pointed right at Alfred, which made a strange pit of fear appear in Ivan's stomach.
The guards started firing, but Alfred was on his feet impossibly fast, leaping backwards to avoid the spray of bullets. Ivan watched in awe as the guards turned their guns to Alfred, who just stood where he was, completely unaffected. The bullets were…bouncing off of his skin, just jingling to the ground. Alfred glanced at the ground before looking up at the guards with a wicked smirk. Ivan almost wanted to try helping, but before he could even move, Alfred ran forwards, nearly making some of the guards lose their ground as he did so. He didn't stop moving until he was directly in the center of the group and wasted no time in sending out a powerful blast of magic all around him, knocking all of the guards to the ground and even making Ivan slide back a few feet.
Ivan blinked in shock, his light now the only light in the room. The guards had all fallen, at the very least unconscious, on the ground, but Alfred didn't waste any time before running out of the room, lighting his own, even more powerful light. Ivan swallowed thickly before running after him.
"Alfred! Stop!" Ivan tried.
"Make me!" Alfred shouted back and Ivan watched him get to the elevator. Due to the lack of electricity, none of the security measures were running, they were alone in the darkness. Before Ivan managed to even catch up with him, Alfred was already prying the doors of the elevator open with his bare hands.
"Alfred!" Ivan ran up to him and immediately tried to pull his arm away, but he was surprised by just how…strong Alfred was. He couldn't even get his arm to move.
"So far, you're only awake because I don't want to hurt you," Alfred said seriously, barely even looking at him as he continued prying open the door. "Don't make me change my mind."
There was a small blast of magic that knocked Ivan back a few feet.
"I can't let you leave this room," Ivan stated.
"Then stop me," Alfred grunted, finally with the doors completely open. He looked up, tossing his light up high in the shaft. The elevator was stuck on the top floor, but Ivan had a suspicion that would hardly stop Alfred. "There's someone up there with Dark Magic and I'm going to stop him. You shouldn't be in such a hurry to stop me."
Alfred backed up just a little bit before he jumped into the shaft, latching onto the farthest wall. He took a deep breath before planting his feet and leaping up another few feet, latching onto the wall again. Ivan stared after him for about a minute before he dropped his own light and took a few steps back. He wouldn't be as fast as Alfred…but he would have to try and follow after him. That was the least he could do as the primary guard, anyway. He jumped over the rather large gap of the shaft before gripping tightly onto the wall.
He took a deep breath, taking note of the burning pain on the tips of his fingers. He looked up, wide-eyed, at the fact that Alfred was already nearly at the top. Ivan bit his lip, using magic to temporarily enhance the strength in his feet before he jumped up quite a few feet, gripping hard onto the wall once again. He let out a huff, doing the same action again. He looked up and saw that Alfred was looking down at him with a perplexed expression, nearly at the elevator now.
Ivan was near exhausted by the time he reached Alfred's feet, trying as hard as he could to keep his grip on the wall.
"You really don't give up, do you?" Alfred sighed before reaching out an arm, surprisingly without shaking much, before a massive burst of fire started burning through the bottom of the elevator.
"You seem to forget who, exactly, you are," Ivan huffed. He felt a string of panic in him as he felt his fingers begin to slip. To his surprise, however, he felt something under his feet. When he looked down, he saw that a small force field, just over the size of both of his feet, was holding him up.
"Don't want you to fall," Alfred sighed and Ivan flinched as he saw parts of the elevator fall down the shaft, crashing harshly at the bottom and echoing around them. Ivan stared in awe at the field on his feet until he saw Alfred moving again, the fire gone, but the light stayed.
Alfred wasted no time jumping into the still burning hot hole he created in the bottom of the elevator. Still, his hands didn't seem disturbed by the heat as he climbed through with seeming ease. Ivan still felt himself panting. He flinched as he felt the field move and he knelt to keep his balance. He was surprised to find it lift him through the hole and deposit him on the floor of the elevator. He watched Alfred pry open the doors, a new light in the room, as he stood off of the field, just in case.
"Why are you helping me?" Ivan asked.
"I have nothing against you," Alfred grunted. Some light filtered in through the opening and Ivan sighed. The emergency lights were on up here, then. Ivan was dumbstruck as he stood behind The Dictator, wondering what he should do to stop him. If there was even a way to stop him…
The doors were opened just wide enough for them to get through and Ivan ran right after Alfred. With the power out, the entrance seemed like a completely different place, but Ivan couldn't focus on that now. He felt something like…a massive amount of energy, not coming from Alfred. It felt like it was coming from the entrance of the Detainment Center. They turned a sharp corner, faced with the front of the building, but all Ivan saw outside was a massive crowd. No one was still inside.
Ivan swallowed thickly, following Alfred out the glass door, which he had nearly hit hard enough to shatter the glass.
Maybe it was his aura or he used the help of magic, but Alfred was able to make it through the crowd extremely easily. People just moved out of the way, more focused on the spectacle in front of them. Ivan followed Alfred as close as possible, but he tried to look ahead. There was a massive display of magic ahead and it set Ivan on edge. The closer they got, the more he could see a single man at the center of the magic, the fire, the rocks, the aura…
"Gilbert?" Ivan panted as Alfred tore past the front row of the crowd which was, unsurprisingly, full of people in the Board. Ivan didn't have time to look at any of them, trying to follow Alfred, but a massive push of magic made him tumble backwards. Alfred hadn't so much as flinch.
"Ivan?" Arthur's voice asked, sounding just as terrified as Ivan felt. This much magic was…terrifying, impossible…this really was Dark Magic. "Is that…?"
"Yes," Ivan nodded, not tearing his eyes from the spectacle. Alfred had stopped in front of Gilbert, who was laughing uncontrollably. Ivan squinted, trying to see Gilbert's eyes, but he was too far away, and completely surrounded by visible, powerful magic. Alfred was…shouting at him, screaming. He looked positively livid.
After just a second, Gilbert focused most of his magic on Alfred, who didn't move, didn't even flinch, before sending his own massive attack on Gilbert, who flew back quite a few feet.
"What should we do?" Ivan managed to ask. "I…there's no way to stop him."
"Either of them," Arthur said quietly.
Ivan watched Gilbert back away from Alfred in almost fear, looking around carefully. Ivan narrowed his eyes, what was happening? Suddenly, he let out a massive amount of magic all at once, almost creating a smoke effect. Alfred ran forward as fast as he could, disappearing into the smoke. But the massive display of magic was gone.
Arthur immediately started ordering everyone he could to move forward carefully and with as much magic as they could use. Ivan included. Ivan moved forward, a little hesitantly, and watched the smoke clear. Alfred stood alone, looking outraged. Gilbert must have disappeared in the smoke…
"Don't move!" Arthur ordered and Alfred lazily looked back at him, glancing at Ivan for just a second.
"Who's gonna make me?" Alfred asked simply, obviously taking advantage of the fact that everyone around him was terrified of him. "Tell me this, if I sit still, what are you gonna do?"
"I don't need to tell you anything," Arthur hissed.
"Then good luck getting me to stay still," Alfred smirked, turning to face him dead on. Ivan saw Arthur's face completely flush as he tried to back away from him subconsciously. "I'll make you a deal."
"I don't want any kind of a deal from you," Arthur hissed.
"Wait," Francis said carefully.
"Wait for what?" Arthur snapped.
"It's not a bad offer," Alfred continued. "I'll work with you."
"In exchange for what?" Arthur seethed.
"Don't imprison me again until I'm done?" Alfred offered. "I'll go without a fight. And you need to be honest with yourself. Another guy with Dark Magic on the loose like that? You'd never be able to take him. Just look how many it took for you guys to take me down a thousand years ago."
"How many was that again?" Francis whispered.
"Fifty of the strongest magic-users across the world," Ivan sighed.
"I don't negotiate with monsters," Arthur said simply.
"Well, then, how about a monster masquerading as a human?" Alfred smirked, walking towards him. Arthur stiffened, but he surprisingly held his ground. Alfred stopped just in front of Arthur, whose hands were trembling. Alfred closed his eyes for a short time and, when he opened them, Ivan was shocked to see that his eyes were…normal. They weren't completely black with a ring of blue. They were white around his irises…
Alfred's knees buckled underneath him and he barely caught himself on his hands, breathing heavily.
"Damn…" Alfred shook his head, his voice quiet. Arthur's eyes were wide in awe and he was breathing heavily, probably out of fear.
"Place magic restraints on him, Ivan," Francis said simply.
"Me?" Ivan blinked and Alfred blearily looked up, seeming rather…out of it.
"You have the most magic out of all of us," Francis shook his head. "We'll figure out what to do with him inside, away from prying eyes."
Ivan walked forward, kneeling in front of Alfred, who laughed slightly as he looked up at him. He took hold of Alfred's hands, holding his wrists together, before placing restraints on. With them covering his wrists, he wouldn't be able to use any kind of magic or move his arms very well. In theory. Ivan had never seen them used on Dark Magic users, after all.
"Well, this is a little awkward, huh?" Alfred gave a lopsided smile and Ivan rolled his eyes. "Heh, is it your turn to turn me on now?"
"Really?" Ivan raised a brow. "Now?"
"I like to lighten the mood," Alfred shrugged. Ivan rolled his eyes before moving Alfred around so that he could use the restraints on his feet, too. He would be able to walk if Ivan loosened them enough to do so. When he was done moving, Ivan could tighten it to help prevent escape. "You know, these really aren't necessary."
"Precautions," Ivan said simply before helping him onto his feet.
Arthur cleared his throat. "Inside. Now."
Ivan nodded and stayed close to Alfred while guiding him inside.
And Alfred's gotten out! How exciting! And something's happened with Gilbert, more on that story next chapter. Ivan, sadly, wasn't around to see that happen. But we got plenty of other stuff! There's also the fact that Alfred was able to return to normal, which I will also touch on later! For now, though, I'll leave y'all here!
See you next time!