Ready for some more FrUk! Here we go!

Additional Character

Margrete – Copenhagen OC

Enjoy!

I don't own Hetalia!

Chapter 5 : The Threat Intensifies!

Arthur was taken by surprise when Francis's lips met his, by the action and by how it made him feel. A warmth, followed by a delicious tingle, spread from his lips to the rest of his body. And when he felt Francis's arms surround his body and hugged tight, Arthur melted into goo. Francis kissed him deeper and more passionately, not getting enough of the taste of the British Fae. Arthur's arms came up to circle his neck and Francis held him even closer. As the passion increased, Francis had Arthur almost bent over his arm.

"What did I tell you!"

Francis and Arthur leapt apart at the sound of Vladimir's voice and saw him and his dragon-shifter lover in the doorway with big smirks on their faces.

"I knew you two really liked each other," Vlad said with a tone of vindication as the other Fae and the human stood with red spots painting their cheeks. "You just had to work through the sexual tension." With that, Arthur shoved Francis away from him.

"Shut up, you gits," he ordered, defensively. "The perverted frog took me by surprise."

"Oh, of course," Aleks smirked. "We could tell you were really fighting him off!"

"I must admit, mon chèr," Francis teased. "I didn't feel you struggle, in fact …... " Arthur began shoving Francis out the door.

"Time to go," he said, decisively. "Goodnight, Frog!" And he firmly shut the door on Francis and turned back to Vlad and Aleks.

"Forget you saw that," he ordered and stormed into the bedroom. Aleks gave a little laugh.

"An Amnesia Spell couldn't remove that memory!"

It was decided that Emil should stay at the troll camp so no one at the village would see him. When he had arrived, it was late with not many people being around and the inn was on the edge of the village so it was unlikely that he had been spotted when he first turned up. Emil would come into the village the day after next, after the orphanage received notice of his arrival. Then the game would be on.

Despite Lukas's protests, Matthias accompanied him back to the inn.

"This isn't necessary," he said. "I'm capable of defending myself."

"Probably," the Dane replied. "But a little more protection doesn't hurt."

"Why didn't you send one of your guards?" Lukas asked. "Isn't it a little beneath a king to act the bodyguard?" Matthias shrugged.

"Perhaps I want to get to know my new ally better," he replied.

"We've spent half the day talking," Lukas said.

"We've talked about plans and strategy," Matthias pointed out. "That's not the same as simple talking and learning about each other."

"I thought trolls like to keep to themselves?" Lukas was puzzled. Matthias huffed.

"We keep to ourselves because no one associates with us," he snapped. "A long time ago, we tried to make nice with others but they always feared us. Even when we sold our goods at market, people expected us to cheat them. We were never given a chance so we just stopped trying."

Lukas felt ashamed of himself. As a magical creature himself, he should have been more tolerant but even he had allowed himself to be swayed by rumour.

"I'm sorry!" he apologised.

"What?"

"I said I'm sorry," he replied. "We're both beings of the Magic Realm and I should have known better but when I saw Lars and Emma in your tent, I believed the stories and assumed the worst. I'm sorry!"

Matthias could not remember the last time anyone had apologised to him, to any troll for that matter. Or if they did, they were afraid the troll in question would kill them if they did not, not because they were really sorry. But Lukas seemed genuinely remorseful although it was hard to tell, the guy had a face made of marble.

And it was a cute face, Matthias realised. Emotionless but deep blue eyes that seemed to take you down into their depths, framed with blonde hair. And that floating curl was amazing.

"Thank you!" he replied. "So, Norge, tell me about yourself."

"My name is Lukas, not Norge," Lukas said. "You know I'm from Norway and my brother is Emil but he won't call me that. I work with Arthur and Vladimir, solving magical issues for the kingdoms and blessing deserving people."

"Well," Matthias replied. "I'm Matthias, King of the Trolls. I look after my people, I save children and don't live under bridges." Lukas almost laughed at Matthias's teasing but managed to keep his face straight.

"Nice to meet you, Matthias," Lukas said, holding out his hand.

"Likewise, Lukas," Matthias responded, taking Lukas's hand and shaking it. They both felt a tingle from the hand contact and their hearts raced. Lukas nervously cleared his throat and they let go.

"I better get back to the inn," he said. "The others needed to know what we've come up with." And they walked back to the inn in silence.

Lukas and Matthias parted company at the inn and Lukas went up to the room.

"Ah Lukas," Vlad greeted. "Berwald and Tino are going to confront the Mayor tomorrow and the day after, Emil should be installed in the orphanage."

"I'm still not happy about that," Lukas admitted. "But I've been out-voted. By my own brother, no less. Matthias's people are going to patrol the edge of the woods the day of the full moon."

"Great!" Aleks said. "Now we just have to see what Berwald and Tino rile up."

"Good," Lukas replied. "Then I might have something to relate to Matthias tomorrow." He went into his bedroom.

"Did you notice he said 'Matthias' and not 'KING Matthias'?" Vlad asked.

"Must be something in the water around here," Aleks commented.

"It's not affecting us!" Aleks came close to Vlad and gave him a passionate kiss.

"We're already in love!"

"So you didn't know about the threat in the woods until Emma was sent there?" Emil asked. "But you still sensed something wrong!"

"Everyone could sense it," Lars replied. "Especially around the full moon. That's how I saw Emma being taken out of the orphanage. I never sleep on those nights."

"Thank goodness!" Emma breathed, hugging her brother's arm.

"But you didn't know why everyone was scared?" Lars shook his head.

"What about the people in the orphanage?" Emil continued.

"They were okay, apart from the orphanage mangeress," Lars replied. "She was weird!"

"How so?"

"I overheard one of the orphanage warders asking about one of the kids who'd disappeared, one time," he replied. "She said the kid had been adopted and when the man asked by who, she said it didn't matter and if he continued to question her authority, he was fired. And she's always running off to talk to the Mayor. I've never seen anyone talk to the Mayor so much, not even any of the other councillors."

"The Mayor, huh!" Emil mused. It made sense that there would be a town official involved. He would have to approve the adoptions, adoptions that no one else seemed to know anything about.

"Are you really going into the orphanage?" Emma asked, worried about the Icelandic boy.

"Don't worry about me," he reassured her. "I might look thirteen to you but I'm actually over a hundred and a half-ling Fae. I can defend myself and others from any human threat. We'll be fine."

"When do you go in?" Lars asked.

"Day after tomorrow," Emil replied. "Or the next day at the latest. Arthur will move things along as fast as he can."

"Just stay safe," Emma plead.

The next day …..

"We d'mand to know why the ad'ption was r'fused!" Berwald demanded of the Mayor. Truth be told, he was enjoying having a go at the officious twerp.

"You were told," the Mayor replied, wanting to get the carpenter off his back. "We were worried about your financial stability."

"Why?" Tino asked, sternly, a contrast to his normally sweet demeanour. "Berwald is the only carpenter for miles. His services are so in demand that we never lack for money. We have enough to comfortably raise a child, everyone knows that so why?"

"That's my decision," the Mayor replied, adamantly. He just wanted these troublemakers to go away.

"In that case," Berwald said. "We'll be wr'ting t' King Wolfg'ng about this." The Mayor's eye twitched.

"The king won't bother himself about such trivial matters," he replied with a hint of hauteur.

"We'll see," Tino stated as he and Berwald turned and left.

As they walked away from the Council building, Tino asked, "Did you see the eye twitch?"

"Ja," Berwald replied. "I wond'r what else 'ur thre't will make 'im do"

The Mayor watched Berwald and Tino walked away, trying to convince himself that King Wolfgang would not bother to read a letter from a carpenter in a small town. But there was always a chance.

He would have to consider what to do about this.

He had no idea it was already too late.

Greta had received papers by messenger from the nearest town to expect a new orphan, a thirteen year old Icelander by the name of Emil Steilsson. Another slab of meat for the larder. Sometimes, a twinge of conscience would touch her mind but it was ruthlessly pushed aside. Perhaps if she and the Mayor had made different decisions when the Dark Fae first arrived, they might not have fallen into this trap but now they were stuck. Should the royal court find out what was going on and what they had been doing with the children, a death sentence would be a certainty, especially when the fact that the Mayor was still claiming compensation for those children who were now 'absent' was thrown in, the death warrants would likely be signed in their own blood.

Now, where to put the Icelandic boy? There was a spare bed in with the Williams Twins and the British boy, that would do.

She wandered out of her office and into the common area to see that Sir Arthur Kirkland and his husband were back, surrounded by children, the Williams Twins in particular who the couple seemed to favour. Peter seemed to attract their attention too but all the children vied for their special interest. Just how long were they going to take to make their choice?

She turned to the other warders.

"It's time for the children to go outside," she ordered. It was customary to take the children outside for an hour each day for exercise although they were watched carefully, especially after the Dutch boy's disappearance. Greta had made up a story that he and his sister had not been adopted and may have been taken and charged the warders to watch the children for their own protection and not allow any of them to wander off. The other warders were being careful of the children's safety. Greta just did not want any more to escape.

As the children were ushered outside, Arthur and Francis followed them out. They were giving a good impression of a married couple but the walk to the orphanage was silent and awkward. Both remembered the kiss from the night before. Arthur still did not know what to make of it and Francis would have liked to repeat the experience but did not think the British Fae would be receptive to that idea just yet, no matter how responsive he had been last night. Never mind! Francis would wait for the right moment and the bushy eyebrowed Fae would not have a chance.

Arthur side-glanced at Francis, the kiss running through his mind. He had to admit that the Frenchman was a great kisser but he was also a terrible flirt. No! That was wrong, he was very good at flirting too but did it mean he would be unreliable as a lover, even unfaithful!

Should he take that chance?

Alfred and Peter were playing Heroes and Villains with a reluctant Matthew as the damsel-in-distress as Alfred chased Peter around him, shouting, "I will save you, fair maiden. Die, foul villain!" Matthew pulled a face when Alfred hugged 'the fair maiden' after chasing 'the villain' off.

Both Arthur and Francis laughed but then Arthur sensed something. Still facing the boys, he looked at the nearby trees out of the corner of his eye.

Something was watching the orphans from the edge of the woods!

Anya watched the children running around the open area behind the orphanage. All of them looked delicious to her. Which two should she demand?

Then she spotted three boys playing together. One look about five but it was the other two boys that drew her attention. Slightly older than the other boy, they had a resemblance between each other that screamed brothers and she reached out with her magic toward the the two boys and it told her they were not only brothers but twins, now that was interesting. They were full of life and vitality.

Anya had found her offerings for the next full moon.

She smiled at the thought of the power the youth of the boys could give her to open the portal to the Shadow World and that was when she sensed it. The magic aura of a Light Fae was nearby. Anya's eyes swept the scene and landed on the two men standing off to the side, watching the children play. She had seen everyone that worked at the orphanage and these men were strangers. It was one of them, she was sure.

She retreated back into the woods before the Fae could find her.

"Francis," Arthur muttered so no one else could hear. "Stay here with the children, I'll be back soon."

"Where are you going?" Francis asked.

"We're being watched!" Arthur replied. "I'm going to see what I can flush from cover."

"Be careful!" Francis warned. Arthur looked up at his tone. It was not just a casual 'be careful' that everyone cast about. There was something about it that was ….. heartfelt.

"I will," he promised and walked away from the Frenchman and the children. When he was out of sight, his wings grew and he took out his wand to reduce his size as he took to the air. Unseen by all but Francis, Arthur flew into the woods.

He zipped through the trees, trying to pick up the aura he had sensed outside the orphanage. He found the trail and began to follow it.

Anya knew the Light Fae was following her, she could sense him. Counting the Fae at the troll camp, that meant there were three Fae and a dragon-shifter, as well as a band of trolls, allied against her. Until the full moon, though, they would be no match for her.

But then, that was what the rest of her kind had thought about the Russian Royal Family!

The Light Fae was getting closer. It was only a matter of time before he caught up with her. Unlike Light Fae, Dark Fae did not have the ability to fly. Legend had it that their wings rejected them when they turned dark and that the wings became the first butterflies.

Dark Fae hated butterflies!

Running would do no good so she lay in wait for the Light Fae, readying her wand.

And when the small green Fae flew into sight, she fired!

Arthur managed to get a glimpse of a figure in a black cloak before a dark spell was cast his way. He barely managed to erect a magic shield in time to deflect it, but the force of it sent him catapulting backwards, out of control until he collided with a tree.

The hard bark smacked into the back of his little head and he began fluttering to the ground, unconscious before he hit it. As he lay there, he grew back to full size, his wings laid out on either side of his body, helpless.

Fortunately, Anya continued to run rather than try to find him to finish him off but he was badly hurt.

And no one knew where he was!

When it was time for the children to go back in, Arthur had still not returned and Francis began to worry. They still did not know for sure what was in the woods but from what Francis had heard about the Dark Fae …...

He had to find Arthur.

Telling the manageress that he was leaving for the day and that Arthur had been called away earlier, Francis made his way from the orphanage and went into the woods after the missing Fae. After a half-hour search, he realised he needed help and went back to the inn and returned with Lukas, Vladimir and Aleksander.

"Did he tell you what he had sensed?" Lukas asked as they made their way through the trees.

"Non (no)," Francis replied. "He just told me to stay with the children." Lukas closed his eyes and held up his hand, concentrating.

"Something dark was here, a little while ago," he commented as he turned around, sensing the air. "But it's either too old to trace or whatever it is, it's good at covering its tracks." Suddenly he stopped turning and opened his eyes, pointing further into the forest.

"Arthur! That way!"

They moved quickly in the direction Lukas had indicated. Francis was the first to spot Arthur lying at the base of an oak tree, showing no sign of movement. He was the first to reach the injured Fae's side.

"Mon chèr!" he said, frantically while stroking his hair away from his face. "Please, wake up! Let us know you're all right." Arthur did not wake up but he gave a groan. Lukas knelt beside Arthur, careful of his wings, and examined his head wound.

"It's bad but he should be fine if we can get him somewhere to heal him," he declared to the others. "I didn't bring any medical potions. The troll camp isn't far. We can take him there." Lukas magicked Arthur's wings away so Francis could carry him and they began to make their way to Matthias's camp.

When one of his guards came to tell him that outsiders were approaching, Matthias grabbed his axe and went out to see who it was. He wondered why his heart did a funny leap when he saw Norge leading a group toward his camp, made up of the other Fae and the dragon-shifter. Then he saw that the Fae know as Arthur was being carried by a human he had not met yet.

"What happened, Norge?" he asked, gesturing to the unconscious Fae.

"Arthur sensed something in the woods while at the orphanage," Lukas replied, ignoring the nickname in favour of his friend's medical need. "He went to investigate and obviously came under attack."

"Take him into my tent," he said and then shouted to one of his trolls. "Bring the healer!"

Both Lars and Emma jumped up as Francis came into the tent, carrying Arthur. Emma quickly directed him to the bed and, with Lar's help, Francis gently laid Arthur down on his side to prevent his head injury from making contact with the pillow while Emma ran to get some water. Everyone else came into the tent along with the first female troll the Fae had ever seen. She was rather young looking with blonde hair tied into a ponytail with a blue ribbon and she had brown eyes. She wore a dark red dress with a blue shawl and was carrying a kind of satchel bag. She immediately came over to Arthur to examine him while Emma returned with water and a rag and began to clean his injury while the troll healer looked it over.

"What do you think, Margrete?" Matthias asked.

"It's a bad wound," she replied, digging through her medical bag. "If he had been left any longer, I would fear for his recovery but as it is ….. " She pulled out a small lidded pot, removed the lid and took out a pinch of green powder. Emma moved aside for Margrete as she began to sprinkle the powder on Arthur's neck. The wound began to heal and Margrete put more powder on it and repeated the procedure until the injury vanished completely.

"He'll sleep now," she said. "While he heals inside. He'll be a little disorientated when he wakes up but that will pass. He'll be fine." She put the pot away, nodded to Matthias and left the tent.

"He can rest the night here," Matthias offered. "I don't think he should be moved until he's well again. You're all welcome to remain." Aleks turned to Vlad.

"I should return," he said. "Berwald and Tino made their ultimatum. We promised them protection, should anybody try anything."

"I'll go with you," Vlad replied. "Lukas, would you stay with Francis and Arthur?"

"Of course," Lukas replied and Matthias felt …. happy about that. That the cute Norwegian Fae would be with him for a little while.

"By the way, where's Emil?" Lukas asked.

"Gone to the nearest town," Matthias replied. "So he can travel in with an official for appearances sake."

"With what just happened to Arthur," Lukas said. "I'm liking this even less!"

"He'll be fine," Vlad replied. "Once he's in, we'll keep watch!"

"Quite right, we will!"

Night had fallen and the children in the orphanage were in bed. Greta was in her office ready to retire for the evening when she felt the familiar and unwelcome cold feeling. She turned and, just as expected, she saw Anya standing in the corner of her office.

"What can I do for you?" she asked, trying to hide her fear.

"My two offerings," Anya replied. "I want them two days before the full moon."

"Two days before!" Greta exclaimed. "But why …..?"

"Don't question me?" Anya snapped. "As for the offerings themselves, you have twins. Two boys, blonde hair. I want them!"

"But ….." Greta was panicking. Anya was talking about the Williams Twins, the very boys that Sir Kirkland and his husband were gravitating toward. Greta had a really bad feeling about all of this.

"No buts!" Anya insisted. "Those are the two I want, two days before the full moon. Understood!" Greta gulped.

"Perfectly!"

Peter and Alfred were still asleep but Matthew had just woken up when the door to their room opened and one of the warders, a man from the Kingdom of Japan came in.

"Sincere apologises for waking you," Kiku Honda said as Peter and Alfred began to stir at the early morning intrusion. "We have a new young person and he's been assigned to your room. I'll leave you to get acquainted." Kiku left to meet Hercules, secure in the knowledge that everything was going according to the book and everyone was now in place. They could sit back as they would not be needed for a while.

A boy came in. He looked thirteen with white blonde hair and violet eyes. And chewing liquorice.

"Hello," he said. "My name's Emil Steilsson."

Emil's in place, Arthur's hurt and Anya's bringing her plans forward. On the plus side, Lukas and Matthias are getting to know each other and DenNor is in the air. Copenhagen is an OC I created for the troll healer character. She's Denmark's little sister, Margrete Kohler. She loves her big brother but knows he can be a idiot sometimes, especially after a few beers. She likes to be useful but won't be taken for granted. She loves fairy tales and claims to have been a friend of Hans Christian Anderson. I called her Margrete after Margaret I, the first of, what I've discovered, the only two female rulers of Denmark, assuming the site I read is correct. If any Danish readers out there have better knowledge, please let me know!

To SleeplessInTheCity – Thank you so much :) I actually have a lot of trouble writing Sweden's speech and I do worry that people can't read it :( but I will try to make Sweden more understandable. I hope you continue to enjoy my stories! :D

To Phantomgirl338 – Yum yum yum yum yum! And here's your next update! :)

To Nightshine315 – Oh yes! And Kiku and Hercules will back, look out for them! ;)

To Normandy – Aren't they just! ;) And remember Christmas! Well, your nephew Alfred wants a Captain America costume and Nephew Matthew wants a years supply of ice-cream and maple syrup! XD I looked up the Nordic Drinking Game. I'd love to play that ;) but I'm intensely allergic to hangovers XP. And thank you for your review of HT1:5. So happy you like it XD.

To briana. schmidt1 – EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Yes, it is! XD and DenNor! And RoBul! And FACE Family! Yay! XDDDDDDDDDDD!

To Scarlet Phantom/Sylveon-of-Melody – Yeah! Sweden so deserved to win! XD Ha ha! Watch out for the moment Emil does say Big Brother. Yes, it's coming! ;) We all have our OTPs but I'm happy you enjoy what I write. I kind of imagine that friends in an orphanage would make that kind of promise, even if it couldn't be kept :'( and the kiss would happen sooner or later O3O. Something will come of shaking up the Mayor so stay tuned for that O.O

P.S. Just got your review for HT1:5 Thanks! It was just an idea for Romulus's back story and a way to get in the story of Lovino's kidnapping. After all, parents go through hell when their children vanish but, unfortunately it happens :'(

To takuya – Oh Thank You! If I'm giving you shivers and things, I'm doing this right! :)

To Cardfigther by Maple – If a review can be put in one word, that's one I'd want! Yay! XD

To Ishikawa Miki – Thank you! I love the 'Big Brother' argument too! :D

To Superwholockingers – I might do another group of stories at a later date. Perhaps Pinocchio for Peter! That would tie in with Sealand's wish to be a real country. What do you think? O_o

To ArtemisIsis13 – As you see, he reciprocated until Vlad and Aleks ran interference and he went back to being his tsundere self :D and more of that is coming :P Now that you all know what Hercules and Kiku are now, it was only right that they're in this story too and Lukas is right to be worried. Anya's very dangerous and, despite their squabbling, he cares about his little brother very much. As for Peter, Alfie and Mattie, well, we'll just have to wait and see ;)

I'm sure Lukas and Matthias will have an equal share of victories as life goes on :D and not even fangirl isn't a word, according to my writing program's dictionary, but it doesn't stop me :P and Anya should scare you because there should be a hint or two as to her plans now and it's not good DX. Greta and Mayor Gruber the only ones involved with what's happening to the children. I didn't want to clutter the story with bad guys, it becomes hard to keep track of them and I didn't want to fill Holzstadt with bad people. It's just a nice small town with a couple of rotten town officials (like most places, really! BTW, did you know that the German for Town Hall is Rathaus. Isn't that ironic! XD) Hope you have a nice sleep and don't worry about the length of your review, it was plenty! XD

To themusicalcat – Don't worry about it! Thank you for your review of HT1:5. I'll be sending a reply to it when I'm done updating this. You know how stubborn Emil can be :P. Funny, I don't remember ever calling my big brother Big Brother, either. Does that make me Iceland? :D Everybody's got their favourites and your secret's safe with me unless xXSoul-dweller's reading this, in which case, you're screwed! XD And don't worry about the boys, HEA fan, remember! ;) As for where they go and with who? Well, you'll see!

That's me done for another week! Emil's in the orphanage and the snooping begins, Arthur and Francis's relationship develops, as does Lukas and Matthias's, a move is made against Berwald and Tino and Anya's plans become clear.

Btw, to those who are unaware, my first HT one-shot is up. It's called Hetalia Tales 1:5 : A Father's Story. It tells the story of Sleeping Beauty from King Romulus's POV. Hope you check it out!

So I'll see you in seven days!

Hasta la Pasta!