Holy crap you guys. I say no one reviews one chapter and I get like TEN for the next one. You guys rock, I love reviews. Sorry this took longer than I hoped, I just didn't have time to write it really. The idea's there, but putting it all together was the hard part. Who am I kidding, I left you on a cliffhanger so none of you are reading this, you just want to know what happens. I can't say I blame you, I'm that way too! Fine xD Carry on!
Take me away from time and season
Far far away we'll sing with reason
Prepare a throne of stars above me
As the world once known will leave me
"Take Me Away" by Globus
Chapter 8
There was no way Elizabeta could even think of wasting time as she leapt out of the bed and began to run for the door.
He's in danger, she thought. This can't be happening.
"Hey, get back here!" Vash called as she darted out of the house.
She didn't care that she was only in her nightgown and that it was rather indecent of her to go out in public wearing such a thing. All that mattered was that Roderich's life was in danger and she had to save him.
Vash was still yelling at her, attempting to follow her before realizing that he couldn't leave Lilli alone. Elizabeta could hear him yell something about Lilli, but she paid no mind and kept on running.
There was a mix of hoof prints and footprints in the snow and dirt that led down the path to Roderich's home. Elizabeta gulped nervously, picking up her pace.
No one besides herself ever came down the path; the locals didn't like Roderich and therefore never visited him. But now, with all these marks, it looks like he had become popular in quite a hurry. What on earth was going on?
After what felt like hours, Elizabeta managed to stumble into view of the manor, only to gasp in horror.
Vash had been right. Roderich's manor was completely ablaze, the angry flames licking at every inch of the wood until it could only go up into the black sky.
Circling the front of the home were several angry men she recognized from the village, mostly with torches or some other kind of device that had lit the house up in this horrible light. Some of the men were on horseback, throwing what looked like rocks and other objects into the second story windows. All of them were crying out victoriously, yelling and swearing at Roderich.
It took Elizabeta a moment to process it all. She now knew this fire was no accident – the villagers were enjoying this arson. But why? It didn't make sense. Sure, none of them really liked Roderich because he was an aristocrat and therefore different, but he'd never hurt anyone.
"Keep it up men! People like him don't belong here!"
Elizabeta's blood ran cold. That voice. She knew that voice. And she'd never felt so betrayed.
"Gilbert!" she shrieked.
The man in question turned his head, remaining in his seat atop a large white horse. His cocky demeanor faded at the sight of her, his grip tightening on the reins.
"Oi, what're you doing here?" he demanded.
He'd only begun to dismount his horse when Elizabeta yanked him down, shoving him to the side angrily.
"What are you doing?" she wailed, "You bastard!"
She began throwing punches at him, the first of which were successful, until he grabbed her wrists and looked her directly in the eye. Something in those rubies of his was different; it wasn't his normal arrogant self. No, something was burning, something dark.
"He doesn't deserve you!" he spat.
Elizabeta just stared at him. What the hell was he talking about? For all he knew, she was just Roderich's servant. It was Gilbert's fault in the first place!
"What are you talking about?" she cried, "Stop it! Let me go!"
"I saw you together!" he barked.
At this, she grew silent. His eyes were becoming watery and this horrible feeling almost like quilt formed in the center of her heart. She knew he'd been pursuing her, he had for a long time. But she thought it'd only been for fun.
"The two of you," he continued, "Were… you betrayed me! You were supposed to be with me, Lizzie!"
"Stop it!" she shrieked as his grip tightened around her wrists.
The fire roared ferociously as the men continued to throw things in the house, swearing about equality and how the rich shouldn't be poking their noses around the poor.
Roderich and Feliciano were in there, most likely taking their final breaths. She had to do something now.
"You can't go setting people's houses on fire because you're jealous, Gil! They're dying!"
He didn't seem to register what she said and only gripped her tighter.
"I won't let him take you from me!"
Elizabeta had enough. With all her might, she thrust her knee up and into Gilbert's crotch, causing the man to let out a howl of pain before collapsing to the ground.
Now free of her binds, she sprinted past the angry men, darted up the steps and burst into the quickly deteriorating house. She was instantly met with flashes of orange and red and a wall of smoke attempting to make its way into her lungs.
"Roderich!" she cried out between coughs, "Feli!"
Everything was just heat and black and painful. She stumbled toward what used to be the kitchen, hoping to have gotten closer to finding them.
"Feli! Roderich! Where are you?"
"Miss Hungary?"
At the familiar voice, Hungary turned around and could see the little boy huddled against a wall, his hands over his head in an attempt to protect himself. She darted to his side and clung to him, her heart breaking at the sound of his pathetic sobs.
"It's so… hot," he coughed.
"I know," she managed to hack out, "Where's… Mr. Austria?"
"Music… room," Feliciano choked.
Elizabeta shushed him in hopes that he wouldn't breathe in as much smoke. She carefully began walking to the other side of the room, only to hear a deafening crash as some of the ceiling slammed to the floor behind him.
Feliciano screamed as Elizabeta stumbled forward in surprise, squinting her eyes now that the smoke was beginning to make them burn. She now found herself disoriented, not sure which way she'd been going. The fire made everything look like a dead mess, unable to discern one mass of ash from another.
She was about to collapse to the ground and cry when something grabbed at her skirt, making her yelp and whirl around. To her surprise, a hunched over Roderich had managed to hear her and desperately attempted to reach her, luckily finding the fabric of her skirt.
"Roderich!" she coughed.
He immediately reached out and covered her mouth with some kind of fabric; most likely a handkerchief. She knew it was to keep her from breathing the smoke, but she just wanted to speak to him.
"Come on," he hacked as he grabbed her hand.
She shifted Feliciano in her arms so that she could hold the handkerchief properly, only now realizing that he'd had one as well this whole time. Roderich carefully maneuvered them towards what Elizabeta thought was the back of the house.
Debris constantly fell, making Feliciano cry and Roderich quicken his pace, until finally he managed to find the back door. Like the rest of the home, it was lit up in angry fire, so Roderich quickly lifted up his leg to kick it. It wouldn't budge.
Another heavy crashing sound came from inside the home. It was going to collapse any minute, they all knew it. Roderich kicked at the door again, though to no avail. Frustrated, he cried out as he kicked it one more time, finally ripping it off its hinges so that the three of them could fall into the snow outside.
Elizabeta coughed violently as Feliciano attempted to stop crying, but Roderich brought them to their feet.
"To the horses," he instructed.
Luckily, the stable had yet to catch on fire since it was a fair distance from the manor, but the horses were in a mass panic from all the noise outside.
Roderich helped Elizabeta and Feliciano onto Edelweiss, the two still coughing the smoke out of their lungs.
"Go," he said, "I'll catch up."
Before Elizabeta could protest, Roderich had slapped the mare on her hindquarters, causing her to dart off into the forest, away from the flames and the violent men. It took her awhile, but Elizabeta managed to bring the mare to a halt. She had to make sure Roderich was ok.
She stared back at where she'd just come from, waiting for him to come. But he didn't. He should've been right behind them. Edelweiss had left her hoof prints for him to follow. There was no way he couldn't find them.
Tears welled in her eyes as she clung to Feliciano. This wasn't happening, it couldn't be. She bowed her head and began to weep. Why? Gilbert didn't need to do this. He should've talked to her. Or better yet, she shouldn't have fallen in love with Roderich.
In love. Had she really fallen for him? She wasn't sure, but now she didn't think she'd ever know because he wouldn't come back.
As she was about to give up everything, the sound of a horse's hooves thudding through the snow became audible, and she lifted her head to see Prinz heading towards them, an exhausted Roderich on his back.
Once he brought the gelding to a halt, Elizabeta practically leapt off of Edelweiss to hug Roderich, crying and apologizing and not really knowing what she was saying.
"It's alright," he said weakly, "Don't worry. I have an old home I lived in before I came here, remember? I will take Feliciano and I there."
She looked up into his eyes, her own red and puffy.
"And me?" she asked.
"You're safe here," he explained, "They lit my house on fire because they want me gone, not you. We'll leave and appease them, but I want you safe."
"But, that's not fair… I want to be with you."
He frowned as more tears began to fall from her emerald eyes.
"I want to be with you, too," he said, "But…"
"I love you!" she blurted.
He paused and stared at her for a long time. She stared back, sniffling and coughing ever so slightly. Finally, he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Alright," he sighed, "We have a long way to go."
Oh my god guys, that was intense :o I had all this planned out, but after I read it I was like "Damn, my feels!" Also, the song lyrics at the beginning are from the song I was listening to while writing this chapter so if you wanna give that a listen, you should! Globus is awesome and have some songs associated with Hetalia already so you might've heard of them.
Well now there's some questions answered. I know this chapter was completely focused on Austria and Hungary, but the others have not been forgotten! The mystery man from last chapter will return and so will our beloved American and Brit.
I think that's all for now, though so please leave a review because you know how much I love it! Or favorite or follow or whatever to let me know what you thought~ See you soon guys!
