Start: Chapter Four

I.

It seemed that everyone in the building liked it when new mutties came in. There was a large stadium where duels would take place – every Friday, I was informed by Arthur, who also smugly said that he had gotten all but one of the others flat on their face, cowering in terror. But this stadium not only was the home of weekly entertainment, but also of a sort of initiation ceremony for the newcomers.

After lunch, Arthur pulled me to the arena before everyone else. I was tugged into the center of it, just a huge empty dome surrounded on all sides by football bleachers. A group of mutties that I had been told were known as Neuros filled up a row in the front. Little geniuses, Arthur said. Five of them, there to analyze my abilities. Or something. He pointed out Kiku, a Japanese boy, as the most important out of the lot.

Arthur stood next to me, looking around at the assembled people. "You know the rules. Those without fighting powers, to the bleachers."

Feliciano and Lovino left to sit, as did a small blonde girl with her hair in braided pigtails. Antonio skipped off too, instantly moving next to Lovino, taking his hand and turning his gaze towards me with a look of deep interest.

"Arthur, what exactly is this initiation?" I asked, looking around at those left. They were forming a line, faces expectant.

The Briton turned to me with a broad smile. "Why, it's a bit of a test. We want to see how your power stacks up to the rest of us with fighting abilities." He gestured down the line. "You'll start with the weakest power and move up to the most challenging. That would be me," he added. "Used to be Alfred, but… Well, he's a lucky git."

Before I could ask any more questions, Arthur had moved to his spot at the end of the line and I was left facing a blonde boy with a pink bow in his hair. He grinned at me. "Like, totally don't expect me to go easy on you!"

Kiku stood up from the bleachers. "First opponent, Feliks. Category: Trickster. Ability: confusion. Power level: eight."

Feliks turned towards the speaker with an angry expression. "Hey! Like, you need to test me again. There is totally no way I am still an eight!"

"What does that even mean?" I called, head turned towards the group of Neuros. "Eight out of what? What is a power level?"

The black-haired Neuro raised a hand, ignoring us both. "And in three. Two. One."

Feliks whipped back towards me, bow bouncing in his hair. He skipped, skipped, forward, raising a hand as he did so, then clenching it into a fist. I briefly noted that his fingernails were painted pink before my mind was clouded with visions of… Ponies.

For a moment it was a blissful sensation, drifting around in a weightless confusion of pink things. But something inside of me retaliated and I could feel my hand lifting, fingers flicking to the side. A blast of sound echoed out around the room and my mind was pulled back into feeling at the sound of a quiet "oof."

Slowly, my vision cleared and I blinked over at Feliks, who was six feet from where he had started. He stood, brushing off his clothing, then glanced up at me. "You, like, totally messed up my hair!" he complained, pouting. But he skipped off to the bleachers, still full of girlish cheer, moving to sit next to a Neuro I vaguely remembered being named Toris.

Kiku was on his feet again, and I turned my attention to the next person in line. It was another blonde boy, this one looking very much like the girl who had gone and sat on the bleachers. He stared with narrowed eyes, arms across his chest.

"Second opponent, Vash. Category: Trickster. Ability: bullet. Power level: nine." And before the countdown even started, Vash had rolled into a ball and blasted toward me much like… Well, a bullet. I just barely managed to bounce him back with a wall of sound.

The little mini-battles continued on like this, me somehow managing to fight off every person who came up, from the Enhanced girl Elizabeta who demonstrated amazing speed, to a scary girl in the same category named Natalya who had amazing agility. Francis came after her, and was more of a challenge. I found that it is hard to concentrate when you are being punched with an invisible fist and absolutely no way to tell where they were coming from. But eventually Francis was down as well.

Arthur stepped forward with a small smile, hands clasped behind his back lazily. But I could see a sort of excitement in his eyes and knew that most people did not get to him. That this was interesting and new for him, and he wanted to prove that he was still the strongest.

I for one did not want to get on the bad side of my roommate, but was not about to go down easily. This was some sort of test, I had been told, and I had always been the good child in school who passed all tests, one hundred percent.

Kiku stood. "Final opponent, Arthur. Category: Sensory. Ability: sight. Power level: eighteen."

I stood, shocked. Throughout the course of the afternoon I had figured out that power levels had to be how strong a person's power was. Francis was a fifteen. He had been difficult. So that meant that Arthur would have to be almost impossible. Hadn't he said that the only person who had been stronger than him was the air Elemental who had escaped?

Just as I was finishing gathering my thoughts together, Kiku counted down and Arthur stepped forward more. Instantly the world around me filled with the sights I had first seen when walking into our shared room. The ones that had held me paralyzed. Fairies and dragons and dwarves walking around as if they belonged in this world.

They aren't real, I told myself, and I clenched my fists before spreading my fingers and shoving outward. The boom of sound that followed cleared a space so that I saw Arthur. But he filled it just as fast, with shadows that swooped down and clawed at me.

The mantra of them not being real, not being true, not really there repeated in my head as I pushed away the creatures with the sound that radiated from my fingertips. If I could just find Arthur again, knock him down, the pictures would go away.

There was the slightest hint of movement to my right and I turned that way, closing my eyes and pushing out blindly with a cacophony of deep drums. A muffled noise rewarded me, then a thump and my eyes opened just a little, surprised at the sudden lack of illusions. And there was Arthur, knocked off his feet by the force of my desperate blast.

For a moment there was silence except for my own panting, exhausted after the numerous battles. I thought back to all that had happened throughout my life, the gentle teasing that I was weak and would never survive against a real challenge… What had changed?

Kiku made a note and stood up, nodding at me and leading the Neuros out. Then Arthur stood and I stepped back, afraid to see anger and a flashing emerald glare. Instead there was a grin and he walked over, clapping my back in that painful way that Gilbert used to do.

"Good job, Roderich. Been a while since that happened. But never you worry, I will find your weakness and then you'll lose." He looked cheerful as he walked away, a couple blue fairies following him.

Everyone else left in a haze of congratulations, grins and frowns and uninterested looks, even a blush and stutter from Elizabeta. Once they were all gone, I went over to the bleachers, sinking onto them and resting my now incredibly weak-feeling legs.

Closing my eyes, I leaned back and flicked my hand slightly, guiding a sound out of the air. A simple melody… Missing something. I frowned, curling up where I sat. Something felt off.

II.

Gilbert stayed sitting under that ledge for a while. He knew that Ludwig and Alfred had moved to another spot, giving him some space as he thought. Surely it shouldn't be so hard to think of a plan. He knew that Alfred wanted to get out his old roommate, and he wanted Roderich. It was only necessary to free two people. That shouldn't be so hard.

But nothing was coming to him. The amount of security on the building was daunting and all the walking had made him tired. So he stood and headed in the direction he believed Alfred and Ludwig had gone.

There was silence. Shouldn't he be hearing the voices of the other two by now? Gilbert frowned, red eyes wandering around the area. There was something wrong.

A footstep behind him and he spun, hand raised with tendrils of flame flickering at each fingertip. His red eyes narrowed at a tall shape moving towards him and he stepped backwards, stopping as he ran into something firm and warm.

His head turned a little and his eyes widened at the creeper there. He moved and started in another direction, until he felt rock press against his spine. He raised his hand, flame growing white in the center as his fight or flight reaction kicked in.

"Be rid of your flame," came a guttural voice – he had never heard a creeper talk and this startled him. He just raised his hand higher, the fire dancing in his red eyes, casting shadows over his face.

The creeper stood to the side a little, letting two others come forward. One was holding onto Alfred, the tall boy's head limp to the side, a bit of quickly drying blood around his jaw. Unconscious. The other was carrying Ludwig, the blonde head falling back and eyes closed. Drugged, by the looks of it. A shocked, pained expression went across Gilbert's face.

"I said to douse your flame, Gilbert. Come willingly, and no further harm will come to any of you," said the creeper who had spoken before. Gilbert found it incredibly unsettling to not be able to see the face of someone speaking to him.

By now, more creepers had appeared, silent shadows surrounding Gilbert. His eyes flicked around them and his thoughts returned to before Alfred had shown up. He had thought it would be best if he was just caught. Then they would take him right to Roderich.

Slowly, his hand lowered and the flames disappeared from his fingers. He stared down at the ground as the creeper grabbed his hands and forced them behind his back, tying them together. Then his arm was taken hold of and he was forced towards the building.

It was a long, silent walk. He couldn't look back at Alfred and Ludwig, but he knew that neither of them had come to yet, which was worrisome. The creeper tried to drag him along, but he kept pace, back straight, not about to let a man who wouldn't even show his face be rid of his pride.

Eventually, they were brought into the far too white lobby. Gilbert covered his eyes for a moment, the brightness of it having been a shock from the swiftly falling night outside. His arm was tugged on and he kept going, bringing his hand down and keeping his gaze away from the glare of the floor.

They stopped in a long room full of beds – empty beds – first, and Alfred and Ludwig were dropped off. Some sort of infirmary, apparently. Then Gilbert was tugged onwards, towards a hall filled with doors.

Other people were moving around the hall, a few teenagers who seemed to be mutties, tailed at a distance by creepers as they moved from room to room. They would look at Gilbert curiously, then turn away, heading elsewhere.

Out of a larger door appeared another muttie, looking around desperately and moving out into the hall, seemingly without a creeper watching over him. Squinting his eyes, Gilbert could tell that the boy was distraught. Figuring this was none of his business, he looked away again, eyes wandering around.

A cry came from the boy he had seen and Gilbert looked back, eyes widening as he saw who it was. Roderich looked absolutely exhausted, violet eyes dull and normally so perfect hair messed up. Pulling out of the grip of the creeper, Gilbert ran to his half-brother as best as he could with his arms still pulled behind his back.

The brunette looked up at Gilbert, then undid the bindings that held his hands together. Gilbert let the ropes fall to the ground, bringing his hands to tilt up Roderich's chin and look his face over. Roderich had some bruises and, as noted before, his hair was in disarray, but other than that he seemed fine.

"How… They… They got you," Gilbert heard Roderich whisper before he was pulled into a hug, the small, glasses-covered face buried into his chest. He knew that his half-brother wouldn't cry – he wasn't good at expressing his emotions, especially with others there – but the thin body shook. Rubbing Roderich's back gently, Gilbert glanced around, then pressed a small kiss to the other teenager's head, it not being obvious to anyone else.

"Ey, no. I'll get us out. That's the awesome thing to do anyways," Gilbert said, voice forcefully light. He saw a couple of the other mutties had stopped and were staring, and his grip tightened on Roderich slightly, protectively, not trusting people who had practically grown up here. "But look, you're drawing attention. Aren't you the one who always says to lay low?" his voice was strained, but still light.

Roderich nodded and stepped back a little, violet eyes looking blankly around the hallway. The staring mutties moved on, almost as if they were afraid of the boy. Afraid of little Roderich, who desperately held onto things like manners and eating with silverware and all these useless practices that people gave up after being in hiding for so long.

"My room is there…" Roderich murmured, pointing to a door. "You'll know it from the fairies."

Gilbert looked closer, and sure enough, fantastical creatures were flitting about the door. He blinked, then figured that must be another muttie's creations. Giving a small nod to Roderich, he glanced up at the creeper who once again had hold of his arm.

"I guess I'll be seeing you at supper," Roderich murmured, glancing up at the hooded man with a flash of fear in his eyes. He quickly turned and walked into his room.

Gilbert watched him go, letting himself be pulled to an empty room next to the one Roderich had gone into. It looked smaller than Roderich's had from the outside. There was just one bed, so he assumed that there would be no roommate in the picture. The creeper shoved him in, then closed the door. He stared after the man for a moment, then went and sat on the bed, closing his eyes.

If he listened hard enough, he could just make out the sound of faint music from the wall behind him.

III.

Heracles looked up at Parazita with half-lidded eyes, head resting in the palm of his hand. She was looking through the window, watching the hallway as people came and went. He knew that the Parasite had not missed the exchange between Gilbert and Roderich, and ever since then she had that small little frown on her face that meant she was thinking. A gesture stolen from his mother, he might add. Throughout the years she had stolen more and more from the woman he had looked up to.

Eventually she looked back at Heracles, eying him with that mistrustful look she always gave him. It was lessening some. He had been right about where Gilbert was, after all. That hadn't been a trick. But Heracles did know that he had to do more. In order for everything to fall into place, she had to trust him.

"What is the relationship between those two boys?" Parazita demanded, moving to press the palms of her hands against the table Heracles was sitting at. He personally did not see how this question was relevant to anything, and merely shrugged.

"There are close," was his response. "All three of them are close. Depending solely on one another for so many years will do that to you." His gaze flicked to Loinen, standing a few feet away. He knew very well want went on between the two Parasites. He looked back at Parazita before she could follow his glance.

Slowly, the woman nodded, relaxing. She moved back to the window.

"I'm sure that they will test him tomorrow. I will look forward to observing that." Heracles knew that she was referring to solely Gilbert now. They had both watched the other mutties testing Roderich this afternoon, observing via a video camera placed in the arena. Parazita had seemed fascinated, amazed at the power hidden in the small brunette. "I am also very interested to see the outcome of a match between the two brothers."

Heracles nodded some, though he already knew what would happen when the two faced each other. But now his attention was being drawn to a commotion at the other end of the room, Loinen striding over to a computer screen and bending over it.

"Parazita, come see this," he called, glancing up with a frown at the woman.

She stepped away from the window, then looked down at the computer, head tilted down and brown hair spilling over her face. She blinked in surprise, a frown appearing on her own face. Then she looked up, walking back over to Heracles once more after printing out two new files.

"There are now two free Elementalists in the country. I expect you to find them both by tomorrow." She dropped two files in front of Heracles and he picked them up. Looking over the first uninterestedly – the water Elementalist had been in America for years, they just always seemed to miss him – he put it down and opened the other. The one who had just shown up.

His heart stopped and his vacant green eyes opened wide for a moment. For a moment, he didn't breathe, then he forced himself back into normalcy once more. With only slightly unsteady fingers, he put down the file and nodded at Parazita slowly. "Easily done," he murmured, not giving any sign that his heart had sunk down into his stomach.

She nodded as went back to the computer, speaking in hushed tones to Loinen. While she was distracted, Heracles opened the file again and stared down at the picture, eyes wandering to the name next to it. He bit his lip, then rubbed eyes. So he had escaped from the European creepers… Only to come here. Probably to try and find help. That would be Heracles himself, he supposed. But what was he supposed to do now?

End: Chapter Four

Well, it appears I did lose some reviewers /sobcry. Oh well, that's what happens when you put too much of a break between updates. Would love to get you all back though, since this is my favorite to write.

But this is my favorite chapter so far - definitely the longest. I really hope you like. Some more pairings are coming out... My apologies for those who were hoping for AusHun. Not my favorite

Please review, loves~? 3 Hopefully, I'll be seeing you all soon. After the next "And the World Comes Crashing Down" update, of course!

Until then, I wish you well, dears.