"Surprised?" Gilbert smirked, standing in front of him proudly. Ivan had to admit, Dark Magic seemed to definitely make his pride sky rocket. Then again, Ivan definitely was surprised… "You not gonna answer my question?"
Ivan blinked, looking around Gilbert to see that Matthew was still frozen, no one else could see the only two people that could move. Ivan briefly thought back to when Alfred had overpowered Ivan's magic, without even a struggle. Gilbert could do the same now. Ivan had to be careful. Something told him that Gilbert was way more willing to kill him than Alfred was.
"Fine, then how about this one." Gilbert sighed, his smile dropping into a more serious stare. "How come that softie hasn't even tried coming after me yet? Don't tell me you guys are actually strong enough to hold him back otherwise I'll stop wasting my time getting strong enough to kick his ass."
"He's said you're not a threat yet," Ivan said simply.
"Not a threat?" Gilbert laughed. It quickly turned into a cackle and he held onto his stomach as he leaned over. "Not a threat?! Bullshit!" He looked up with an intense fire in his black and red eyes, that dangerous smirk on his lips again as he advanced towards Ivan. Admittedly very intimidated, Ivan tried to step back, but his feet refused to budge. "We both know I'm more than a threat," Gilbert growled as he stood nearly nose to nose with Ivan, if he wasn't ultimately shorter.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Ivan asked. "Why haven't you done anything yet? If toppling that building was all you could do-"
"Call it a test, or seeking attention or whatever you wanna call it." Gilbert narrowed his eyes. "I'm not gonna sit around and go to the mall like him."
Ivan's eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know about that?"
Gilbert let out a barking laugh, but didn't move from Ivan's face, his breath ghosting over Ivan's hair. "I know more than you give me credit for. Hell, I know just as much as your precious Dictator. But he's probably not letting on about it. Don't blame him, after all. Give away all the secrets to Dark Magic and people are gonna run for it. And if everyone's using it, then it's not so special anymore."
"Why did you turn to using Dark Magic?" Ivan blurted out and Gilbert rolled his eyes, finally stepping away to let out a yawn. "You never let on that you were even close to using it."
"Yeah," Gilbert said bluntly. "I never told you to your face that something was wrong, so of course I was fucking fine. That's how it always works for all you fucking magic users, anyway."
"What are you talking about?" Ivan asked.
"I'm fucking sick of you bastards flaunting it like it's fucking nothing," Gilbert snapped. "You treat your stupid magic like it's fucking nothing! You waste it on stupid shit like studying or to let you be lazy! Well, guess what? I've got better magic than you now! And I'm never going to waste it!"
"You waste it by using it to kill people!" Ivan retorted.
"Do you want an apology?" Gilbert snorted. "Fat fucking chance."
"Gilbert," Ivan said carefully. "You don't have to do this."
Gilbert laughed again, glaring at him. "Trying to bargain? Fat chance, idiot. You might be book smart and your magic might be some next level shit, but that doesn't mean anything. I'm stronger than you now. You don't hold any bargaining chips. There's no way in Hell I'm letting any of this go, no matter what inspirational bullshit you come up with."
"Then why talk to me?" Ivan asked. "If you know everything, like you claim, then what purpose is there in asking me any of this?"
"I was just curious what kind of propaganda he was spewing at you," Gilbert smirked. "And now would be my chance to delay you guys even more." He walked up and placed a hand on Ivan's shoulder with a smirk on his face. "With the way that pushover's acting, this should give me at least a few days."
Without another word, he moved his hand from Ivan's shoulder and sharply poked his finger into Ivan's temple. Ivan was vaguely aware of the world returning to color before he dropped to the ground.
Then Ivan blinked.
When he opened his eyes again, he wasn't on the street anymore, he was lying on a bed, staring at a white ceiling. He sat upright to look around, find some answers. But he didn't feel any pain in his head like he knew he should from that kind of a fall. When he looked around, however, he realized he definitely wasn't still on the street. He was surrounded by white and it only took him a second to realize he was in a hospital room. The white walls, bland furniture, and the thin bed were dead giveaways. He looked at the monitors that he knew were magically connected to his vitals, but the readings were all normal.
He thought back to what Gilbert had said, that they all took advantage of having their magic. Ivan had never questioned how major a role magic played in his everyday life…so why was he questioning it now?
There was no one in the room. How much time had passed? Gilbert had said that this would buy him a few days…And no one even knew that Gilbert was involved in this!
Ivan heard his heart rate go up, but didn't pay it any mind. He stood up, realizing he'd been changed into a hospital gown, but the strangest part was that they hadn't tried to attach him to anything. If he was out for a few days, that meant they would have to give him food and water somehow… This didn't make any sense.
He quickly left the room, acutely aware of the device detaching from him and flat lining. Ivan glanced around before he could see a desk with a few nurses milling around it. Ivan rushed towards it, going up to the nurse at the computer.
"Excuse me," Ivan blurted out and she looked up at him. Once she registered just who he was, her eyes went wide.
"You're awake?" she asked, dumbfounded.
"Yes," Ivan said slowly. "I don't have time for this, please-"
"Paging Doctor Edelstein, patient 459 has woken up." She immediately spoke into a microphone that projected her voice into the speakers overhead.
"How long have I been asleep?" Ivan asked, dreading the answer.
"It's been five days," the nurse said with wide eyes.
It was only a matter of seconds before a doctor rushed down the hallway with a nurse right behind him. Ivan looked over at them, dumbfounded. Five days? But he hadn't been hooked up to an IV…
"Well, I'm surprised you're walking," Dr. Edelstein said smoothly as he slowed to a walk in front of him. "Please, come back with me to your room."
Ivan nodded slowly, following the doctor and the nurse. They both had a fair level of magic about them, but they probably knew how to use it way better than Ivan could. Dr. Edelstein carried himself with an air of slight arrogance, like nobility if they still existed. The nurse seemed far more relaxed than him, she at least looked like she balanced out the doctor fairly well.
"Go ahead and sit down, just in case," Doctor Edelstein advised once they entered the room. "You may feel fine, but that doesn't guarantee you are."
"What happened?" Ivan asked.
"I feel like we should ask you that question." Doctor Edelstein crossed his arms over his chest to look at his vitals. Now that Ivan was back in the room, the display was back to showing his own vitals, which seemed normal…
"It was Matthew Williams that brought you here," the nurse said. "All he knew was that you suddenly collapsed. Were you feeling alright that day?"
Ivan blinked. He couldn't tell normal civilians about what was going on with Gilbert. He couldn't afford to do that. Even if he wanted to, he wasn't sure if he legally could. So what should he tell them?
"No, I…I felt fine," Ivan said simply. "What was my condition when I fainted? Why was I not connected to an IV?"
"We couldn't," Doctor Edelstein said. "Not that we even needed to. As far as I can tell, it was like you were frozen in time." Ivan's eyes widened in surprise. Could this be anything like the spell that Alfred was put under? How did Gilbert know how to do it? On top of that, why was it only for five days, not longer? Did he really only want to buy time? "We've been trying to conduct tests on you this whole time, but we weren't able to touch you."
"That's not quite right," the nurse mused. "We could move you around, and luckily enough we could track you vitals, but other than that? No dice. Any kind of examination always failed. And nothing could break your skin. Not even x-rays could get through."
Ivan furrowed his brow. Well, that sounded vaguely like Alfred's immortality. What was going on here? Was…was Gilbert trying to make his own form of immortality? Was he testing it out on Ivan?
"If you wouldn't mind, we would like to see if we can perform tests on you now," Doctor Edelstein said. "Before, we had the consent of your elder sister, but now that you're conscious, we'll need yours."
"Sure, do whatever you need to do." Ivan nodded. "Where is Matthew, if he brought me here?" More importantly, where was Natalia? Surely, she would want to constantly be at his side during a situation like this…
"He left on the first day for work," Doctor Edelstein said as he prepped a needle off to the side while the nurse worked to clean off a part of Ivan's arm. "Aside from that, he hasn't tried returning. Your younger sister, on the other hand, has made herself quite a nuisance. We've tried to keep you in mostly isolation, but she's always found a way to get in here."
Ivan chuckled, watching the needle carefully as the doctor finally pressed it into his skin. He flinched slightly at the pain, but it entered his skin without a problem.
"That certainly sounds like her," Ivan said. "If…if you don't mind me asking, what time did Matthew bring me here?"
"That was maybe 4 o'clock." The nurse nodded thoughtfully.
"What time is it now?" Ivan asked.
"Well, a few after four o'clock," the nurse said. "That's quite a coincidence, don't you think?" She smiled as the doctor started taking blood.
"Yes, a coincidence." Ivan nodded. Exactly five days, then…What was Gilbert planning?
The doctor pulled away after taking his blood, but pulled out a device from his pocket. It wasn't quite a phone, but Ivan could tell that it displayed information across it. The doctor groaned.
"Speaking of your sister, it seems like she's back," he mumbled.
"I'm sure it's fine," Ivan said simply. "She can stay now that I'm awake, right?" Ivan already considered it amazing that their security was good enough to get her to leave. It made him smile slightly to know that she tried so hard to make sure he was okay.
"Your condition appears to be normal," the doctor nodded. "We'll still keep you through the night to conduct more tests and just in case something happens again."
"Not a problem," Ivan nodded.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Natalia looked around with wide eyes before she finally looked at Ivan. She let out a long sigh of relief.
"Those idiots finally let me through," Natalia seethed. "I kept telling them that you were alright, but they didn't listen to me." She rushed to his side and sat down next to him. He smiled at her.
"Thank you for having faith in me." Ivan laughed.
"Your employer called after Mr. Williams told them about what happened," Doctor Edelstein said. "I'll go contact them that you've woken up and should be able to return to work tomorrow."
"My…employer?" Ivan asked.
"The Detainment Center." The nurse nodded.
"I'll come back when we need more tests," Doctor Edelstein said as they left, Natalia glaring hotly at them as they walked.
"I thought you were fired," Natalia said after the door was closed.
"I did, too," Ivan said.
"What happened, why didn't they let me see you for so long?" Natalia demanded. "You were just fine at the café. I didn't even hear about this until they called sister and she asked me about it. Does this have something to do with that man that talked to you afterwards? I knew I shouldn't have left you alone with him."
"I'm fine, I promise," Ivan assured her. "This has nothing to do with Matthew, I promise."
"Then what happened?" Natalia pressed and Ivan looked at her. He wanted to protect her, or at the very least tell her about what was happening so that she could protect herself. He didn't want this to stay a secret, not with her. Especially now that he knew what Gilbert was capable of trying. On top of that, Ivan needed to catch up on the news that happened while he was unconscious. Who knew what had happened?
"Listen, Natalia," Ivan said, meeting her eye. "I…there's…There's someone out there using Dark Magic. I want you to be on the look out."
"Dark Magic?" Natalia asked. "What?! How do you even know that? Who?!"
"I can't give you details," Ivan said simply. "It's…part of my contract. Even if I was fired, they don't want me talking about it to make sure no one panics. Just know that there is someone out there who can use Dark Magic and he's dangerous. Stay prepared."
"Did he attack you?" Natalia asked and Ivan had no doubt in his mind that she was ready to fight Gilbert.
"Yes," Ivan nodded. "But don't take this as lightly as I know you are. Dark Magic is dangerous and neither of us are powerful enough to fight someone with it. Without even trying, he was able to freeze me for five days, made sure no one could find out anything about my condition."
"Okay." She nodded slowly. "I promise, I won't start anything, but I'll stay on my toes. I guarantee I won't go down without a fight."
"Good." Ivan smiled. "Now, tell me, what have I missed?"
"Well, to start, sister's in town. She's been waiting for you to wake up."
Heh, I've started making really minute changes to my writing style. Nothing major, but it's making my writing slower and a little harder. Other than that, though, interesting things have happened! First we get to see a little into Gilbert's head, though it's probably not a very good look considering how clouded his mind must be. And Ivan's been asleep for 5 whole days, that's a lot of time!
Also, to lighten the mood a little, I've got this hilarious image in my head today. So Alfred knows way more about Dark Magic and what it does to people and so I just imagine him as this father trying to stop his son from making bad decisions. Like he's just looking at Gilbert like, pls, stop, don't do that. And it's made my day like a million times better. Like Gilbert's just venting and if Alfred had been there he'd just be like "can you stop being an emo child pls".
Anywho, more next time! See ya!