Start: Chapter Seven

I.

Gilbert was going through his testing with an ease that obviously was not normal. The audience members were watching him in shock, surprised at how fast he got through each and every round. I wasn't very shocked myself. If you have a huge wall of fire chasing you around, it's pretty automatic to run.

This being the case, it quickly came to be me and him facing each other. I was at the end of the line, having won the spot from Arthur the previous day. My statistics were read out by Kiku – Roderich, Sensory, sound, 20 – and I was quite aware of everyone else in the room watching with interest.

Flashing me a smile, Gilbert raised his hand. However, instead of the fire that I was expecting, he merely beckoned me over to him. Confused, I walked closer, trying to ignore the whisperings that had started up.

When I got within two feet of him, Gilbert raised his hands higher and a ring of fire surrounded us. The heat caused me to move close to Gilbert, and he caught hold of my wrist. A sharp tug and I was up against him, his red eyes staring down at me. Slightly startled by the movement, I heard the sharp shrill of a piccolo shatter the air.

"You are going to surrender, aren't you?" he said quietly, fingers tight around my wrist. "I don't want to burn you any."

I shook my head a little. "Gilbert, that isn't the point… We are supposed to actually fight…"

Gilbert laughed, moving his hand to intertwine his fingers with mine. "What is the point? We know what would happen. Just surrender to me, kleine prinzessin." His eyes were looking into mine, and I felt that I would be swallowed in the red.

"No, Gilbert, I can't…"

He cut off my words, pressing his lips against mine. His free hand went to the small of my back, pulling me more towards him. Gently, he guided my mouth open and pressed his tongue inside, controlling everything completely.

And me having mobile background music, a string orchestra started playing some long, drawn out high notes. I rather doubted anyone outside of the little ring of fire missed that.

Gilbert pulled away, smirking, and as I regained my breath, the music faded. "Surrender, Roddy. I know you don't want to fight me."

I didn't want to fight him. At all. Of course I knew that he would win, that much was obvious. Yet still I shook my head, almost a reflex.

Now there were kisses going down my throat, here and there a bit of teeth grazing my skin. The orchestra returned, my knees growing weak. Gilbert's hand pressed gently against my back, pulling me flush against him.

Then the mouth was at my ear, nipping at the top of it lightly. Lower it moved, Gilbert whispering to me. "Do as I say, Roddy… You belong to me."

I tried to keep the music under control, letting my head fall onto Gilbert's shoulder. "I surrender," tumbled out of my mouth, and I pressed closer to my brother to keep from the heat of the fires. Finally, I managed to stop the instruments. They quieted without complaint. Everyone had heard them now anyhow.

"Awesome!" I knew Gilbert was grinning, and his arms moved to wrap around my waist and hug me to him. "That's my prinzessin." He kissed the top of my head.

"I'm not a princess…" I protested, involuntarily clutching at him as he pulled away. He pushed on my shoulders, forcing me onto one knee.

"Sure you are! Now, you tell everyone who won, Roddy." Gilbert waved one hand, letting the fire dissipate. Glancing back at the bleachers, I bit my lip. Everyone was staring at us, and my skin grew hot with embarrassment.

Slowly, I looked over at Kiku. "Gilbert won," I said, before getting back to my feet. There was silence in the room as people stared at us, appearing confused. Then everyone was filing out, murmuring quiet congratulations to Gilbert. A couple of them had shiny, red burns on their skin, which Gilbert pretended not to be pleased about.

Ludwig came up to us with arms crossed over his chest. His blue eyes –piercing and clear, just like our grandfather's – looked between us with an appearance of knowing. I guess he actually had known for a long time

"Good job, Gilbert," was all he said before he left the room, being the good boy and heading towards his own room. Well, rather he would have if a masked boy I hadn't seen around so far hadn't appeared right then.

This boy leaned against the doorframe almost lazily, hands shoved into the pockets of the black pants he wore. Over his eyes and nose was a white mask, the string of it disappearing into his brown hair. He seemed almost amused as he looked at me and Gilbert, hardly paying any attention to Ludwig, stopped before him.

"So he was right. As always." Rolling his eyes, he glanced into the hallway, then right back at us. "After lights out tonight. Boys' bathroom. Everyone needs to be there, and don't be late."

With those words he was gone, sidling off the hallway with that same lazy attitude.

I looked up at Gilbert, taking hold of his hand quietly. There was a bright grin on his face, even larger than that he had worn after the battles. After a moment, he turned his eyes to me and squeezed my hand lightly.

"Secret meeting in the mutant prison? When did we end up in a Hollywood movie?"

II.

Gilbert was so excited about the idea of a meeting that was almost definitely against the rules, he had made sure that he and Roderich were the first ones there. He kept hold of his half-brother's hand in a relaxed way, leaning against the wall. Still feeling elation from his testing, there was a sparkle in his eyes and he was humming under his breath. As he had expected, after only a few bars of him humming, Roderich added some background music. This made him grin and lean over to kiss the brunette's cheek.

It was then that the door opened and Ludwig came in. This seemed to open a floodgate for the rest of the mutties, the room quickly becoming filled with people. Even the girls were there, looking slightly out of place but not seeming to mind.

Idle chatter was put up, couples emerging as they shared kisses they normally could not. It was a good twenty minutes before the masked stranger – damn, this really was a movie! Gilbert thought happily – pushed open the door, glancing around, then stepping aside to allow another in. Together they stood, the masked one taller and resting against the wall lazily.

Gilbert could feel a jolt of surprise from Roderich, and looked at him for a moment. Violet eyes were staring at the other boy with confused recognition and a small frown. Nudging his boyfriend to try and get his attention back, Gilbert was immensely frustrated when it didn't work. He pouted some, looking back at the two newcomers.

The second boy walked into the center of the room, looking around at all of them with almost glassy green eyes. Then he looked over at Gilbert and Roderich, a small, sad smile on his face.

"Thank you all for coming. I know there are risks. For myself, I am taking a lot merely venturing out of the view of the creepers. I can thank Sadik for picking the lock on my handcuffs and making this meeting possible." The boy's voice was soft and fluid. Gilbert watched intently as his green eyes flicked to the masked one. Sadik, then.

"As for introductions, none of them are necessary. I know each and every one of you. I know your stories, your triumphs, your defeats. I know how you all came to be here, and what your lives were like before. I know the full extents of your powers, boundaries so far so unreachable, you have no idea what they are yourself."

There were murmurs at this, confused and perhaps a little scared. Gilbert clenched his fist and opened it again, looking at his hand. There could be more done?

"As for whom I am, my name is Heracles Karpusi. I am a Dreamer, a type of muttie that is found only once in every generation. I can tell the past, present, and every probable strand of the future. For the past several years, I have been chained in the back rooms of this building, used as a way to find all of you – yes you. I am the reason many of you were found."

At a sudden outburst of anger, Heracles raised up a hand. "Peace, please. I had my reasons. We can get out of here. We all can. But not without working together. That is why I needed as many as I could here. And I can tell you that the time to move is soon."

The room slowly quieted, a few people leaning over to others and whispering in their ears. Several mutties looked over at Heracles in obvious mistrust, angered by the idea that they wouldn't have been caught by this seemingly omnipotent teenager. As for Gilbert, he just watched Heracles levelly, thoughtful.

"I think you should explain," the albino said after a moment, absentmindedly running his thumb along Roderich's hand. "What do you mean, the time to move?"

Gilbert met Heracles' green stare as it turned to him, eyebrows raised slightly. After a moment, a small smile curled around the brunette's face, and he nodded.

"I mean that we are going to get out of here. All of us. But it will take complete and total dedication from every individual in this room." Heracles' eyes ran around the room again, lighting on some of the more powerful there. "Dedication and lack of resistance to certain rules of my own. And then we will be free within the month."

"And what are these rules that we need to follow?" Arthur asked from across the room, arms crossed over his chest. Gilbert could see that he was pointedly ignoring a Francis who was trying to drape himself over him as provocatively as possible. He laughed under his breath and glanced over at Roderich, entertaining himself briefly with how his half-brother would react if he tried that.

"All very simple." Heracles was looking right at Gilbert again. "Anything that happens, the information goes right to Sadik. You don't tell anyone apart of those in this room what is going on. Everything you are told to do you do without question. Do not raise any suspicions."

For a moment, Gilbert just stared at Heracles. How could he be sure that he could trust him? The guy openly admitted to being the cause of many of the mutties' imprisonment. That didn't scream trustworthy.

But eventually he nodded a little and moved to wrap his arm around Roderich's waist and pull him closer. He could feel his half-brother looking up at him in confusion, but didn't return the look.

Heracles eventually turned away, announcing to everyone that they would be forewarned of the next meeting and that they may go. But before Gilbert could pull Roderich out of the room, they were approached by the Dreamer.

"I'm sure neither of you have any doubt that with the strength of your abilities, you will be very important for all of this." Gilbert tensed as he realized Heracles was speaking directly to him and tightened his grip on Roderich.

"I need to give you a warning," Heracles continued. "This is going to be very dangerous for both of you. I need you to promise me that no matter what, you won't give us up."

"I'm no friend of the creepers. I won't speak to them, you can be sure. But I'm keeping Roddy out of this." Gilbert's voice was decisive, eyes narrowed as he looked at Heracles. "You can have my full support, but the most involvement he'll have is getting out of here."

Gilbert was already dragging Roderich out the door when he heard a small sigh behind him. Turning his head, he noticed Heracles shaking his head with a sad smile.

"I wish that was a choice that he had," the other said quietly before walking over to Sadik. Gilbert frowned angrily and quickly left the room, holding onto Roderich's hand tightly. What a disappointing secret meeting.

III.

Anyone other than Heracles would have been amazed that the creepers hadn't noticed his absence. But of course, he had known exactly what to do to have that outcome. So he and Sadik slipped back where they had been before just as unnoticed as their leaving had been.

The creepers were preoccupied, too busy to care about the two teenagers they were supposed to keep under watch. It was amazing – and would be completely entertaining given any other circumstance – but they were all cleaning. Every last one of them, down to the Parasites. It was an extremely strange thing to see them all running about the back rooms as if their lives depended on it.

Despite knowing why they were in such a frenzy, Heracles let the strange scene bring a smile to his face. It certainly was convenient, after all. And he could find some simple joy in seeing them on their knees, scrubbing floors.

An alert flashed through his mind and he quickly turned his head away, focusing on it. Sucking in a lungful of air, he looked at Sadik out of the corner of his eyes and nodded. The masked muttie sat back with an ill-concealed groan, rubbing his forehead.

Hardly a moment after this, the intelligence report appeared on the largest screen in the room. Parazita was instantly at it, talking rapidly into the speaker and waving her hands around to get the creepers to stop and get rid of the cleaning supplies. Loinen was almost instantly at her side, tucking in his shirt. He still looked shabby, in Heracles' opinion. Hardly suited for his host body.

Then there was a rush as everyone got into their usual positions. Sadik leaned back in his chair and propped his legs up on the table, glaring at the door. Heracles could hear his companion grumbling, obscene insults spilling out under his breath.

Then without space to think about anything else, another person entered the room. Heracles assumed that the body must have at one time been handsome, but now it looked just as he knew spent Parasite hosts did. Skin grey, hair falling out, and bruises all over it. A surprisingly young body, for a Parasite, being just over twenty.

"Limatik!" Parazita said, apparently happy, rushing over to him and wringing her hands – no, Heracles remembered. His mother's hands. "Oh, you took us all by such surprise!"

Sadik snorted, unintentionally bringing Limatik's attention to him from Parazita. He quickly ducked his head, and Heracles remembered that Limatik was the Parasite leader of the European containment facility. It was him that Sadik had escaped from.

But after a moment, Limatik turned away again. "I am sure that I did." His voice was still smooth, despite the wearing out of the body. Heracles thought bitterly that this meant he had more time left than expected.

Parazita's voice turned to simpering sympathy. "Oh, I am so sorry about your host. He was such a handsome one, too! And showing so much promise to last longer. What a pity, what a pity."

"It is a fact of life that they fade," Limatik said softly, eyes sweeping around the room. "I have come here to you for this fact, you know. There is no one in my own land who would fill all of my requirements. I was hoping that I could do better here."

"Oh, of course! We have quite the selection here, as I'm sure you will find! You can have any one, absolutely any one!" Parazita went back to the screen, quickly bringing up information on all of the known mutties in America. Heracles was sickened by how quickly she turned into a suck-up school girl around this powerful Parasite. Looking at Loinen, even he looked annoyed by it.

Limatik didn't immediately join Parazita, eyes wandering over the room again. "Good enough number of creepers…" he muttered, just loud enough for Heracles to hear. "Keeping good watch on certain troublesome children…" his eyes were lighted on Sadik, a sneer on his grey face. "And the Dreamer. Quite the trophy."

Heracles met the eyes that turned to him, sitting tall in his chair and looking bored. It was with a smile that he saw Limatik turn away first, heading over to Parazita and the pictures and asking her to please only show the Sensory mutties, as that was one of his requirements.

Looking over at Sadik, Heracles worried his lip. He quickly went over the possible futures he had seen, making sure he was aware of the course it would certainly take from here. The masked muttie reached over and patted his hand gently.

"They'll trust you in time," Sadik said softly. "You are doing your best. And soon we'll be out of here. They'll see."

Heracles gave a small smile, nodding. "Right. Of course." He turned his head away, taking a deep breath. He just couldn't be sure that everything would go the right way. People had a tendency of making stupid choices. And with whom he had to place his trust in and exactly the situation there.

He quickly looked up as he heard Limatik tell Parazita to stop the pictures and looked at the screen. "Him. He'd work perfectly." And there, on the screen, was the picture of Roderich Edelstein that Heracles knew would be there.

"See, Gilbert?" he said quietly, shaking his head. "He doesn't have the choice to be inactive."

Sadik looked over at the screen with a look of polite indifference. "So it was him after all. You've been right so far. It'll continue."

"I hope so…" Heracles whispered. "I really hope so."

End: Chapter Seven

It's been a while. I know. I'm sorry D: But school is a bitch... And here you go! I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter, especially after this wait. Please review? Less than three~