Chapter Two
Lukas blinked at the disheveled appearance of the man looming above him. They stared wordlessly at each other before the taller blond started, shaking his head and muttering about uninvited guests. The Norwegian tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the Spadian to right himself. "Um, hi… I don't owe you money, do I?"
Lukas shifted, put off by the unconventional sentence he had been greeted with. "Uh, no. I'm just looking for a place to stay for the night before I continue with my travel." The blond man shifted slightly and shot the Norwegian a wary glance, still not budging from his position baring the doorway. He radiated mistrust, instigating Lukas to elaborate on his detailed and thorough backstory. "My name is Lukas, of the kingdom Hearts. I have a horse and a few empty travel bags. No weapons, I swear.." After seeing the taller man's blank look Lukas began to panic, worried his explanation hadn't been plausible enough. The Mage fidgeted uncomfortably, unable to accurately gauge the blond's reaction.
"Oh—um, hi there. My name is Mathias Kohler. Come in, I guess." Mathias shuffled backwards, inviting Lukas into his household with a sweeping gesture. "Sorry it's so messy, I don't usually have visitors. Ever."
Lukas brushed off the apology with a nod, opting instead to survey the cramped house with a gaze that soon turned guilty and sympathetic. The war was clearly taking a toll on all kingdoms, not just Clubs. When massive financial projects like wars needed funding, the hierarchy put great pressure on the common folk to provide the money necessary to fund the war. Systems like those include heightened taxes and drafting of the several chosen, unlucky men.
The mage schooled his expression as he followed Mathias onto the premise, carefully setting his minimal luggage by the door. He gazed at the taller man's back, intrigued to as why he had appeared so ruffled when they had first met. There had been a haunted gleam in Mathias' eyes that was never present in a man when his entire life was farming. Something bad had happened minutes before Lukas had arrived, he was sure of it.
Lukas was so absorbed in his thoughts that he never noticed the Spadian halt until if was to late to avoid collision. He stumbled back, mustering up a glare to match Mathias' scowling face. "Listen, I'm not really one for inviting strangers into my house, and frankly, I don't trust you. The only reason I'm allowing this is because there is nothing of worth here you would possibly want to steal. If you're here to kill me, good luck with that."
The mage barely refrained from rolling his eyes as he thought of revealing to the aggressive man who he really was. If only Mathias knew he was the strongest magic wielder in the kingdom of Clubs then he wouldn't be acting so volatile then, would he?
Lukas nodded, putting his acting skills to use by morphing his expression into one of mock hurt and innocence. " I'm not a bad person, I'm not going to steal your stuff, and I am not going to kill you." As if as an afterthought, he added, "I swear."
Mathias furrowed his brow, clearly deciding if he should rethink his original decision to allow Lukas into his house. After several seconds of awkward silence he grunted, and to Lukas' relief, plodded into his compact kitchen while gesturing for Lukas to follow. "So Lukas, why is a Hearts citizen like you traveling through Spades?"
Lukas' heart stopped as his mind frantically whirred to come up with a logical explanation. "F-Family." The mage internally groaned at the abrupt tone he hadn't managed to hide when he had blurted out his excuse. While mentally cursing himself, Lukas barely caught the inquisitive stare Mathias had directed his way. "My brother," he rushed to cover up, "My brother moved to Spades with my dad when we were little. I'm on my way to visit them."
The tall Spadian nodded in understanding, the corners of his mouth quirking up as if in remembrance of an old memory. Acting upon his curiosity, Lukas risked the biting harshness of bringing up a touching subject. "Do you have a brother too?"
Mathias' foggy gaze slowly cleared as he mulled over the question that had been posed to him. Lukas waited impatiently for an answer, tapping his foot softly on the dirty floor. "As a matter of fact, I did. My brother and I grew up in a different kingdom, one other than Spades." As if sensing Lukas' interest in the subject, he grinned a bit and added, "No, I don't know which kingdom it was, I can't remember."
Mathias continued after a seconds pause. "Anyways, we lived on the streets together, fighting our way through life together as brothers should, ya know? Until around… 15 years old when we got into a massive fight. It ended up with my brother and I parting ways. I somehow made my way to good ol' Spades and I've lived here ever since."
Lukas hastily nodded, feeling as if he had intruded on something private. He wracked his brain for a different topic, something to clear the air of it's apprehensive and tense atmosphere. "Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that." Mathias absentmindedly grunted in response, returning to blankly staring at the opposing wall.
As if struck by a sudden bolt of inspiration, the image of the prophecy popped into the mage's mind like godsend. If the prophecy was really as old as King Ivan claimed then it was plausible to believe word of it had spread around… maybe he could use knowledge of its existence as a key factor in finding the Ace.
"Hey Mathias…"
"Yes?"
"Have you ever heard of a prophecy from Clubs?" Mathias blinked and gaped open-mouthed at Lukas for several long minutes. The Mage had to physically force himself not to glance away from the emotionless stare he was being subjected to.
All at the same time, Mathias burst out into raucous howling, clutching at the table before promptly tumbling headlong into a heap on the dirt encrusted floor. Lukas scowled as the obnoxious laughter continued far longer than he preferred. At one point the taller man had attempted to stand, wiping tears out of his eyes. Just one glance at the sour look on the seated man's face sent him keeling over once again.
After Mathias had successfully stood up without collapsing, still grinning he started questioning the smaller man. "I thought you were joking, you actually believe in that stuff?"
Lukas sneered and looked away, barely holding back the embarrassed blush that was already semi-prominent on his face. "Yes, I do."
Mathias recoiled, flinching at the confidence in Lukas' answer. He chewed his lip thoughtfully, opting to shrug instead of argue about beliefs. "Well, if that's what you believe in, okay."
The cramped house descended into uncomfortable silence, each man unsure of how to break it. Eventually Lukas figured it was safer to branch off an earlier conversation, backtracking to Mathias' story of his past. "Your brother, what was his name?"
Mathias twitched at the sensitive question, internally wincing as he was being forced to dig into memories he'd rather not relive. He quickly rearranged his face into one of passive pleasantry and cleared his throat so it would not catch. "His name is Berw—"
The sudden splintering of wood interrupted Mathias as the door was forced off it's hinges by none other than Garrett and his band of idiot thugs.
"Time's up, Kohler! I want my money, NOW!" Obviously intoxicated, Garrett shouted the last sentence, rattling the windows in their cheap and thin panes. His gang of minions crowded into the already restricted room, making the space seem even more constricted.
Mathias darted out of the chair, shifting his weight from foot to foot, gaze darting around the house for an escape. Lukas stood defensively to the side, masking his confusion with a well placed glare. "But I don't have it, you said you'd give me 24 hours!"
Garrett smirked and cracked his knuckles, chucking evilly as he responded. "Yeah, well I decided I've already waited long enough." He stalked forward, his gang only a step behind him. "Plus, I've been wanting to kill you for a while now."
Garrett launched himself forward, an impressive act when one considered his large mass and drunken state. He barreled into Mathias who was overall unprepared for the sudden and vicious attack.
The smack of Garrett's knuckles connecting with flesh echoed through the house, followed by a moan of pain. After a few seconds of struggle, the sound was doubled in audibility when Garrett was sent staggering back, blood gushing from his newly broken nose.
Mathias pushed himself off the floor while rubbing his bruised cheek with his equally bruised fist. Garrett shouted in anger as he cupped his nose, furiously signaling his thugs to advance and take them out. While most of them plodded towards Mathias, the remainder ran at Lukas who took them on easily, diverting half his attention to his taller companion without breaking pace.
Lukas ducked and avoided nearly every blow, the ones that landed only clipped their mark , much to his opponents' dismay, The mage retaliated, punching one square in the gut and sweeping the feet out from under another. If only he could use his magic, all of the thugs would be dead, albeit it was to knock them unconscious than risk having the whole kingdom know of the presence of an opposing mage.
A pained scream jolted Lukas away from his thoughts, and he rapidly whipped his head around to see a weakly straining Mathias pinned to the floor by four of Garrett's men. Each one had latched onto one of the blond's limbs, punching him in the gut when he attempted to throw them off.
To Lukas' horror, the trapped man's struggling was growing more feeble by the second, seeming to fade with every kick or punch delivered to his frame. It was at the point when Mathias was at his weakest that Garrett found the gall to face him, the mage noted spitefully.
The vacuous man stood triumphant above the blond and stomped on his ribs for good measure, laughing when Mathias whimpered at the resounding crack that echoed through the house. Garrett jeered and grinned when his followers joined in on the torturous mocking.
So focused was he on taunting the fallen man that he didn't notice the shorter blond had disappeared from his corner until it was too late.
Lukas lunged towards the nearest thug, punching him solidly in the throat causing the man to choke and collapse in a heaving pile. He spun around and grabbed the arm of another, twisting it around until a sharp crack was heard. The mage then shoved the screaming man on top of the thug with the injured throat, giving a self-satisfied smirk when both passed out on impact. Not to be deterred, the third and last of Garrett's followers had snuck up behind Lukas while he had been taking care of the other two.
The solid, steel-like fist barreled into the short blond's stomach, forcing him to keel over with a groan. Lukas wheezed, clawing at his midsection in a futile attempt to relieve himself of pain. He was on the defensive now, sidestepping steady punches and evading powerful kicks.
The mage froze when he felt wood at his back, already determining he had been backed into a wall. Now with nowhere to escape, Lukas glared at the man and accepted his imminent defeat. The thug advanced with a smug grin, not taking care to notice where he was walking.
The thug's gloating victory was cut short when his legs were promptly swept from under him as a barely conscious Mathias flung out his leg in a feeble attempt to bar the man's path. The man plunged to the floor with an audible thunk as his head collided with the corner of the small dinning table. A puddle of blood began to pool around the man's temple, rapidly expanding in size by the second.
Garrett growled and heaved Mathias up by his shirt, shaking him roughly before throwing the man back onto the floor. At this point the blond was on the verge of passing out, too far gone to be aware of his dangerous situation. His eyes rolled back in his skull as his head lolled to the side, a small stream of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Lukas nudged the body of his attacker aside, grinning ominously as he marched toward Garrett. Now that Mathias had passed out, the mage was fully permitted to use magic as an object of weaponry. The air around him began to swirl, whipping around the two men like a destructive cyclone.
Lukas turned his palms upward, enjoying the expression of unadulterated terror on Garrett's face as they began to glow. The gang leader opened his mouth to scream, only to be silenced with a wave of the mage's glowing hand.
In one swipe it was all over, Garrett's body crashed to the floor in a heap as blood spurted out of a laceration in his neck. The cut was so deep that the man's head was nearly severed, twisted to the right while the rest of his body was positioned to the left.
The howling wind had calmed until it settled to the calm atmosphere it had been before. With the aid of magic, Lukas picked up Mathias' body and placed it carefully on the couch and tended to his more risky wounds. The blond gently peeled back the man's light, cotton shirt and grudgingly marveled at the tone of Mathias' impressive abs. On the other hand, the sheer size the bruises that adorned his chest were rather stunning as well.
When he was sure the taller blond wouldn't die of blood loss, the mage lifted up his own shirt and scowled at the mottled bruise decorating his stomach. Lukas sighed and pulled the fabric back down, glancing wearily at the mess behind him.
The compact house had been trashed, furniture strewn to the far corners of the room. Once again, the mage lifted his palms as they began to glow, rearranging and replacing his host's meager belongings. He continued to fix the living space until a grumbling voice caused him to freeze and promptly drop the floating objects.
"Lukas?!"
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Welp, that's a wrap! Please review, it always means so much when people do. Give me constructive criticism or any ideas on what should happen next!