Alfred was…oddly excited for the parade. He spent the whole morning all but clinging to Ivan. Apparently last night had done some good for the tension they had together. Alfred always seemed like he was at Ivan's side, flirting more than he used to, and he would always take note of when Ivan blushed. But Ivan wasn't about to rush anything or ask too many questions. Alfred made it very clear what his mindset was last night.
Still, none of that stopped Alfred from chatting off Ivan's ear as they sat on the bus, on the way to the center of the city.
"So let me get this straight," Alfred said, "today is probably the biggest celebration of the year. Like, the kind of shit kids get candy for and everyone gets off of school? And it's worldwide?"
"I would have thought you would be a little more…"
"Depressed?" Alfred raised a brow, cutting Ivan off. "Dude, you eventually learn to just shrug things off."
"You are about to celebrate the day you were frozen in time," Ivan said quietly, checking the crowded bus to make sure no one was listening. Alfred shrugged. Ivan looked out the window to see that they were still stuck in fairly heavy traffic. Still, Ivan had planned for this. They would make it to their meeting point with a few minutes to spare.
"If I let myself get hung up on every little thing, I would've slowed down a long time ago," Alfred said. "I mean, my first follower was years older than me, and I just kind of needed someone around, I didn't care if he was good at fighting. Go with the flow, things get way easier that way."
"If you're willing, I guess I won't ask questions," Ivan said. He thought for a moment. "Did you have many celebrations before?"
"I mean, there were times when the king had a birthday and people passed around beers," Alfred mused. "Then there's like some religious stuff I guess? But nothing like Freedom Day. This is way cool. And there's gonna be fireworks at the end of the day, too? That's awesome!"
Ivan chuckled, watching the city go past. He hadn't looked at Freedom Day with innocence like that in years. When he was five, sure, it was a fun day. He could be with his sisters and he would be able to watch parades. And he always loved going to a magic show case to show off his abilities. When he was little, that was always the most important thing. Now? It just felt like every other day, it almost felt childish to celebrate with all of his heart. But seeing Alfred like this? Hell, Ivan was starting to feel the Freedom Day spirit.
It wasn't long at all before they got to their stop and started walking. The city was lined with decorations of gold, silver, and bronze. Shops that were open had shelves lined with Freedom Day merchandise and their shops were practically glowing with gold, silver, and bronze. Alfred gushed at all of the stuff and Ivan had to actually convince him to not buy a shirt with the word "Freedom" flashing all over it.
Even if it was a millennia celebration, none of the merchandise had anything to do with The Dictator or Dark Magic, that had been erased from the celebration a long time ago. Finally, they reached the coffee shop that Feliks had decided would be their meeting point. It was the same one Ivan had been to with Natalia and Toris. Surprisingly, it was open, and boasting the colors just like everyone else. Going inside, Ivan could also see that they had a special coffee meant just for today.
"Whoa," Alfred said as they walked in, taking a deep sniff. "It smells amazing in here!"
Ivan looked around, finding that they were, indeed, very early. Well, they had enough time to get some coffee.
"Do you want a special?" Ivan offered with a smile, going to stand in line.
"Hell yeah!" Alfred cheered. Ivan glanced at the menu in hopes of actually knowing the name of it. Golden Shadow. Seemed cliché but Ivan wasn't going to complain. It was a celebration, after all. "This place is cool, how'd you find it?"
Ivan shrugged. "A lot of people know about it. I've only been once."
Alfred hummed and waited patiently in line. Before long, they made it to the front of the line and Ivan noticed that Kiku, who was again manning the counter, made lingering eye contact with Alfred before slowly asking what they would like to drink. Ivan was confused for a moment, but shrugged it off, paying for their drinks and taking a number. Alfred didn't seem perturbed by it, either.
It wasn't as crowded as last time, people no doubt trying to catch glimpses of the parade before it started, and they were able to sit down immediately.
"So, what can I expect from these parade floats?" Alfred smirked. "Is it something along the lines of animals? TV shows? Will there be live performances?"
"Usually." Ivan chuckled. "It depends on what's popular. Usually there are at least a few live performances. I think at least a few of the high schools have their marching bands perform as well."
"That's so awesome!" Alfred cheered.
"There's usually also a sort of talent show this weekend," Ivan continued. "For magic-users, I guess. Children participate in it and try to win first place."
"Aw, did you participate when you were a kid?" Alfred teased. "That sounds adorable! A tiny Ivan doing a little magic show!" Ivan blushed, looking at the ground. "I can ignore the fact that that's totally biased against people who can't use magic, but only because it's a holiday. Please tell me there's something cool from humans without magic. Or maybe the dwarves?"
"Most of the floats are made my dwarves," Ivan said. That was common knowledge. Only their magic, which worked extremely well when applied to building things, could cause the spectacles that could be found on floats. Alfred nodded, telling him to go on. "When it comes to people with no magic, there's usually not anything specific to them. There really isn't a lot they can do that people with magic already can."
"Yeah, figured." Alfred sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Well, things are improving, I guess, so hopefully that will get better, too. Maybe even by the next thousand years, if we're lucky."
"Here are your drinks," someone said suddenly and Ivan jumped slightly in surprise. It was Yao again, but this time his hands were shaking and his back was visibly stiff as he set the drinks down.
"Thanks, dude," Alfred chimed and Yao looked like he nearly jumped out of his skin. Alfred just beamed at him and Yao just ducked away quickly. Ivan raised a brow, but Alfred just went ahead to drink the coffee as quickly as possible. Ivan nearly allowed himself to forget every time that he didn't have to wait for it to cool down. Ivan glanced to the counter to see Kiku and Yao quietly arguing about something. Meanwhile, Alfred was pointedly ignoring it. The Dictator, the most perceptive man Ivan had ever known, who frequently knew things that were physically impossible for him to know, didn't notice anything.
"Am I…missing something?" Ivan asked.
"You two look like you're on a date!" Feliks' voice chimed through the building, followed by his loud laugh. Alfred didn't even hesitate to get out of his seat to greet him, the smug bastard. He was hiding something, wasn't he?
"Dude, Ivan always loves getting places early," Alfred said with a smile. Ivan simply took a drink from his coffee. The taste was curious and it made him think about…well, to be blunt, Alfred. Just overall, the mood made him think about Alfred. No sense of "happiness" or "love" or anything, just…Alfred.
Ivan stared at the coffee for a while before taking another sip and looking at his friends. Toris had come in with Feliks and they were talking excitedly with Alfred. Everyone was excited for the parade. More and more people were leaving the coffee shop in hopes to get a good spot.
"Ravis and Eduard are already trying to get a good spot," Feliks reported as Ivan finished his drink and got up to join them. "Natalia isn't here yet? I expected her to be trying to get between you guys all day."
"She usually doesn't run late," Ivan mused, pulling out his phone just to see if he'd missed any kind of call or text from her, but he didn't find anything.
"I am here," Natalia said suddenly and everyone in the group jumped, looking at her in surprise. She just raised a brow at them. "I wasn't late."
"Yeah, of course not." Alfred laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"I had to make sure I could trust you," Natalia said stiffly.
"You were watching us?" Ivan asked and Natalia nodded. That didn't surprise him, oddly enough. Ivan just sighed, patting her shoulder. "Tell me next time."
"As long as you promise not to tell him," Natalia said, glaring at Alfred, who immediately glared right back. For some reason, Ivan figured that Alfred would be able to tell anyway, regardless of if he was told…
"Sure," Ivan nodded.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Feliks asked happily, turning towards the exit. "We have a parade to catch!"
"I'll see where Eduard and Ravis are," Toris said as they all filed out of the store. Alfred made sure to wave and say thanks to the people in the store as they left.
When Ivan raised a brow at him in question, Alfred replied with a simple, "I'm just being polite."
Before long, they were engulfed by the massive crowd that lined main street, Toris leading them through the crowd while looking up and landmarks. Ivan normally wasn't a fan of crowds and he could tell that Alfred was a little uneasy. Without thinking, Ivan reached out and took hold of Alfred's hand. Alfred blinked, glancing down at their intertwined hands, before smiling up at Ivan. He mouthed a quick 'thanks'.
Before Ivan even took two steps, he felt a cold hand take hold of his free hand and he looked at Natalia, ahead of him, who just looked straight ahead, continuing her walk. Ivan smiled fondly at her, not quite minding the feeling of both of his hands being held, as they weaved through the crowd. Before long, they were squeezed into the crowd, reunited with Ravis and Toris. They were pretty close to the street, most likely because of how short Ravis was. Ivan had no problem looking above the crowd here, almost feeling bad for the people stuck behind him. There were no signs of the parade yet, just a few police officers keeping the peace.
Alfred was shuffling between his feet, standing on the tips of his toes to look over people. What Ivan did notice, however, was that the smile on his face looked…almost fake. He was gripping onto Ivan's hand tightly. Ivan could handle pain, but it was nearly verging on painful. Ivan tried to ask him what was wrong, but Alfred never looked in his direction, just scanning the crowd and looking up and down the street. To anyone else, he would have seemed like a typical person waiting for the parade. But Ivan knew better than anyone else that he was definitely not typical.
"Holy shit, there it is!" Feliks cheered with thousands of others around them as they spotted the first float looming towards them. Ivan smiled, honestly feeling quite excited. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious, looking at Alfred. What was wrong?
When the first float was only a few feet away, Alfred suddenly stiffened. Ivan looked over and watched as Alfred's eyes changed back to their black color.
"Alfred?" Ivan asked, but he couldn't even hear his own voice over everyone else. Alfred let go of his hand before swiftly turning around, extending his hand. When Ivan turned around, he saw a part of a nearby building begin to crumble, most of the sounds lost to the parade. Hardly anyone turned around, except for those directly behind Alfred.
Before the building could fall very far, it stopped in thin air and Ivan looked to Alfred, whose face was locked into a serious look.
"Ivan!" Alfred shouted over the crowd. Ivan felt Natalia's hand tighten and he squeezed her hand back reassuringly. Ivan could trust Alfred, this wasn't a rampage, he was trying to stop one. Gilbert must be nearby. "I need you to hold this for me!"
"Why?" Ivan asked, but held out his hand anyway. Alfred let go and Ivan grunted with effort. Damn, it was heavy. He could already feel himself getting tired, but Alfred hadn't even looked tired, hadn't let on that this was hard on him. Alfred took off running, forcing his way through the crowd almost violently, everyone getting out of his way.
"Were his eyes black?" Feliks shouted over the crowd in awe.
Ivan had a bad feeling about this.
He looked back, watching Alfred run until he stood in the middle of the street. The police officers were already heading towards him, but Alfred held his hand up, palm to the sky. Around him, a clear, blue force field appeared, quickly forcing itself around him and creating what looked like a dome. The police officers and even the float was pushed back by the force of it. It extended well into the crowd, which was forced to shift to accommodate it. Ivan tried to look around desperately, discovering that they were fairly close to one of the big screens, which had a life news feed from some magical camera, most likely in the air. It was zooming right in on Alfred's face, broadcasting his black eyes.
Ivan swallowed thickly, hearing the murmurs and rumors course through the crowd.
"Do you still want me to trust him?" Natalia asked harshly.
"Please," Ivan grunted. Natalia held out her hand and some of the weight was lifted, but it was still exhausting.
"Ivan, did you know about this?" Toris asked hesitantly. Ivan nodded slowly.
When Ivan looked back to that bubble, looking to Alfred for answers, he saw the ground near Alfred's feet begin to crack and shift. Alfred jumped out of the way as chunks of the road were sent flying, hitting harshly into the force field. And out of that hole, Ivan could see a head of white hair. Shit…
The crowd was beginning to quiet, all wondering what was going on. Maybe this was some kind of stunt to get more viewers. It was a millennia celebration, after all.
"I'm impressed," Gilbert said calmly as he stood up, dusting himself off as he glanced at the hole he'd just created. Ivan was startled by the fact that Gilbert's voice was…amplified. Like he was speaking through a microphone that wasn't there, which was in theory easy to do with magic. But still…He was broadcasting his voice to everyone in the crowd. "And here I thought that building would distract you. Guess you're not the goody-two-shoes I made you out to be."
Alfred stayed quiet, standing still, but on guard. He studied Gilbert carefully, looking about ready to attack if he needed to.
"Aw, come on, at least start a conversation with me," Gilbert groaned, throwing his head back. "This is your celebration, after all. Doesn't all this make you happy? You weren't forgotten, right?"
Alfred just blinked. Ivan panted, feeling himself fall to one knee with Natalia. The weight was definitely getting to be too much. The people nearby were taking notice and evacuating, but they still watched curiously. Ivan watched as people flooded out of the building. God, he hoped they all moved soon so that he could put this thing down.
Gilbert started laughing. He nearly sounded insane! The crowd was deathly quiet by the time he calmed down.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a very important announcement to make!" Gilbert chimed happily. Ivan glanced to the screen, only to see Gilbert was staring straight into the camera. Had he hijacked their broadcast? Did that mean…even the people at home were watching all of this happen? Could anyone stop it? No one could overpower Dark Magic, anyway… "Your all-important Detainment Center has been lying to you! They've allowed two people with Dark Magic to run loose! For weeks! I was the one that caused that little cave-in but they had to cover it up, all so no one would panic." He all but spat the last word. Ivan looked back to the building.
He used magic to scan for any signs of life inside and sighed with relief when he found none. He looked at Natalia, who nodded to him as they slowly set the building down.
"And the biggest secret they kept?" Gilbert laughed again. "The Dictator got loose! And they've been letting him walk around! Go to parades! Without telling anyone!" A whisper went through the crowd. Was that The Dictator? I was standing right next to him! He tried to knock down that building, I saw it!
Ivan got up and swiftly turned around, trying to force his way through the crowd. He'd let go of Natalia's hand.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Gilbert shouted proudly as he gestured to Alfred. Ivan stopped just at the edge of the dome. "The Dictator!" Even more whisperings.
"Ivan!" Feliks shouted from behind him. Ivan watched Alfred carefully. He hadn't so much as moved, hadn't taken his eyes away from Gilbert once.
"Are you done showboating?" Alfred asked calmly. His voice was amplified, too. So Gilbert wanted a show, was that it?
"You did surprise me," Gilbert said proudly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Didn't think you'd find me that fast, let alone be so quick to put this barrier around you. And underground, too. No way out for me."
"Let's stop wasting time," Alfred said. He was so deadly serious…Ivan felt a shiver go down his spine and any whispers hushed at the sound of his cold voice. Ivan swallowed thickly. He had to trust Alfred and what he was doing.
"Scary," Gilbert teased. But then it was like a switch had been flipped.
They both started moving, in fact they were moving so fast it was almost impossible to see them, except for split seconds when they stopped moving. Ivan could see sparks of magic here and there when they hit each other. Ivan desperately tried to follow them with his eyes, but felt ultimately lost.
"Ivan!" Feliks shouted, trying to turn him around, but Ivan stayed facing forward. "Hey! Explain this to us! Is that really The Dictator?"
Ivan stared at the fight, as if willing Alfred to win. Gilbert had already blown any chance Alfred had of being able to walk in public. Even if it wasn't true, Alfred wouldn't be able to walk around without suspicion. And now everyone would be looking at the Detainment Center and everyone involved. Especially since Gilbert was the one falling to Dark Magic.
"Ivan," Natalia said simply and Ivan blinked, looking back at his friends, who just like everyone stared on with surprise and almost horror. "Is he The Dictator?"
Ivan glanced at the fight, wincing when he could see Gilbert pin Alfred to the dome for just a split second.
"Yes," Ivan muttered.
"And…and you let him…" Toris stared with wide eyes.
"You let him be around us?" Eduard asked. "Without any kind of warning?"
"I had my reasons," Ivan stated, staring ahead. God, he wished there was some way he could help Alfred! Some way to calm Gilbert down! Anything!
"Yeah? And what were they?" Feliks snapped.
"To avoid this panic," Ivan said pointedly. They stayed quiet after that, but Ivan finally noticed just how close Natalia was standing to him, how she refused to budge.
Finally, Alfred was able to slam Gilbert into the ground, forcing his arm harshly onto Gilbert's neck. They struggled there for a minute, Gilbert struggling and Alfred unmoving. They were both panting heavily and Alfred looked…impossibly angry.
"Fine," Gilbert panted, shoving Alfred off of his neck so he could speak. "You win round one, good for you. See you in round two." Gilbert winked. He moved one hand up and Ivan blinked as he watched the field shatter around them. With another quick movement, Alfred was on his back and Gilbert had ran off, over the crowd.
Ivan ran forward as quickly as he could, knowing exactly what was going to happen next. The crowd was scared and they'd just been shown a terrifying amount of power. They had discovered very quickly how no normal magic could break that field, no normal magic could keep up with those two. Ivan knelt beside Alfred and put his own hand up. In a sort of copying move, he created a dome of a field around him and Alfred, just a small one. It was strong enough to withstand some attacks.
Ivan blinked as he looked down at Alfred, who was…shivering, shaking. His eyes were closed tight and he was shaking his head.
"No, no, shut up!" Alfred hissed, hands clapped over his ears. "I don't want to."
"Alfred?" Ivan asked carefully.
"Please shut up, please, I can't…" Alfred trembled. "No…please…I…"
"Alfred!" Ivan snapped and Alfred's eyes opened. They were white again as he looked right at Ivan.
"H-Holy shit," Alfred muttered, tugging Ivan into a tight hug. He was still shaking, his hands gripping with everything he had. He was panting, obviously exhausted. "Thank you…"
Ivan carefully hugged him back and felt the first attack on their little bubble. He looked up and saw that it was an angry citizen. He braced himself for more, but was surprised when he saw police clearing people away. They cleared Natalia away, too. All of Ivan's friends.
"Everyone remain calm!" Arthur's voice projected loudly over the crowd. "The situation is under control." Now came the shouting. Ivan flinched, holding Alfred close. He wouldn't let anyone touch him. Sure, he was immortal, nothing could harm him, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
Ivan watched as Antonio, Lovino, and Feliciano came forward through the crowd as well. Francis stood with Arthur as he tried to command the crowd.
"Come on," Antonio said, holding out his hand. "We should get back to the Center."
Ivan slowly dropped the bubble, noticing some flying objects, but none of them hit their marks.
"Come on, Alfred," Ivan said carefully and he and Alfred both stood. Almost immediately, Alfred's legs buckled and he held on tightly to Ivan, who caught him. He was still panting. In fact, he looked about ready to pass out. How much had he exerted himself? Ivan swiftly maneuvered him so that Alfred's arm was draped over Ivan's shoulders and they could walk. There was a heavily enchanted car that could withstand quite a lot of damage and they were herded inside. Ivan was able to see even police officers eye them warily.
"Well, that was fucked," Lovino snorted as the door closed. Alfred just nodded, laughing warily.
Hey, wow, look at that, a lot of shit happened. Jeez, I've been planning this and the other fight scenes FOREVER. You wouldn't believe. Gilbert's shown himself and some of his strength. Not a lot of magic use here, aside from some stuff that Alfred is going to explain next chapter. And some mental stuff there with Alfred as well. What was he trying to shut up? Also explained later. I mean, it's been nearly 20 chapters, finally something is happening, right?
Anyway, see you next time!