This is it! The penultimate chapter! Everybody's searching for Alfred and Matthew and the Final Battle will be joined.

Enjoy!

I do not own Hetalia!

Chapter 8 : The Rescue

Greta sat down in her office. It was done! Now she just had to deal with Sir Kirkland and his husband. She could only hope that they bought the runway story but now that Anya's demands had been met, Greta could deal with anything else.

With that happy thought, she sipped from her goblet of wine.

Which she nearly dropped when the door burst open!

Greta watched as Sir Kirkland and three men she had not seen before stormed into the office like men on a mission. She stood up, indignantly.

"Sir Kirkland!" she said, sternly. "You may have authorisation from King Wolfgang but this behaviour is not to be tolerated!" Arthur just cut to the chase.

"Where did you take them?" he demanded. Greta was startled.

"Where did I take who?" she said, trying to hide her fear at the angry courtier that stood before her. Arthur was normally courteous to ladies but this woman had forfeited that privilege when she began giving children to this creature.

He slammed his hands on her desk, making her jump.

"Where did you take the Williams Twins?" he demanded again. Greta began to tremble.

"I. I didn't t. take them anywhere," she stammered. "The boys ran away this evening ….."

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Arthur bellowed. "YOU WERE SEEN TAKING THEM INTO THE WOODS! WHERE DID YOU TAKE THEM TO?" Greta tried to stand her ground.

"Who do you think you are!" she demanded. "Coming here and making accusations like that!"

Suddenly, wings sprang from Arthur's back, followed by Lukas and Vladimir revealing theirs. Greta started in surprise and then jumped back in fright when Aleksander did a partial shift and revealed a dragon-head. Arthur stepped forward.

"We were sent by King Wolfgang to investigate disappearing children," he finally revealed. "After he received a letter from Berwald Oxenstierna, a number of weeks ago, detailing strange events at this orphanage."

"The man's lying!" Greta insisted. "He's just bitter because his application to adopt one of the children was refused. Did he tell you I'd been in the woods?"

"No!" Aleks replied. "I did! I saw you leaving the woods a short while ago while I was flying above your head." And Aleksander's wings erupted from his back. He kept them smaller than normal because of the size of the office but Greta still trembled.

"That doesn't mean I took the boys there," she replied, shakily.

"Except my brother Emil and the English boy, Peter Sealand, saw you taking the boys and Emil sent Peter to warn us," Lukas replied, his emotionless visage making her even more uncomfortable. "You're already in a lot of trouble. I suggest you co-operate if you wish to survive after your trial."

"The Icelandic boy is your brother!" Greta could not believe that a spy had been in their midst all this time or that Oxenstierna had written to the King, not a few days ago but a few weeks ago.

"Emil is tracking the Dark Fae as we speak," Vladimir said, waiting to her reaction. "Should anything happen to him while you delay us here, Lukas would be extremely …... put out!"

Greta gulped. Fae were becoming the bane of her existence. First the Dark Fae, now the King's pet magic users! How could she hold them off?

She could not!

"Please!" she begged. "When the Dark Fae arrived, she threatened to destroy the town if we didn't provide her with offerings. What else could we do?"

Well, that confirmed it! It was a Dark Fae and the fate of the other children was no longer in doubt. Arthur wanted to destroy her where she stood but they needed her if they were going to save Alfred and Matthew.

Arthur leant in until he was almost nose to nose with Greta.

"You should have done what Berwald Oxenstierna did and told the King," he snarled. "And who is 'we'. Because I'm sure that the people of this town and the other orphanage caretakers are not involved so who else is in this. I think I know but I want to hear it from you!" Greta looked down at the floor and mumbled something.

"I can't hear you!"

"Mayor Gruber," she replied, louder.

"I knew it!" Arthur sneered. "You are going to take us to where you took the boys. Right now!"

Greta nodded, resignedly. She had no choice.

As she left with the Fae and Aleks, no one saw one of the warders who had heard everything. Greta and the Mayor had been handing children over to some kind of dark creature! What had become of them? Nothing good, judging by the anger of the King's investigators if he had read the mood right. And did it have anything to do with that four-year old boy that disappeared from the town? The man had the uncomfortable feeling that it was.

People had to know about this! They could not get away with it! So the man went to one place where the most people would congregate.

He went to the tavern!

Emil woke up with searing pain in his wrists and plagued with crippling weakness. He opened his eyes in time to see Anya stripping gloves off her hands and then he looked down at his wrists. Iron manacles encircled them and they were attached to Alfred's cage with a chain. The iron burned into his skin and he groaned with the pain.

"Awake, are you, my little half-ling?" Anya smirked. "Too bad your human side doesn't protect you from iron. Those must be painful!"

"If you're that concerned," Emil replied with as much sarcasm as he could muster. "Why don't you come take them off!" Anya gave a little laugh.

"I don't think so," she said. "I think you could be troublesome if I do. Besides, I think my kinsmen might like something to play with when they return."

"You'll be stopped!" Emil said, confidently. "Even now, forces are rallying against you!"

"I'm a Dark Fae!" she bragged. "What can they do? My kind have always been powerful. That's why King Ivan and his bitch sisters forced my people into the Shadow World!"

"They forced your kind into the Shadow World because you eat children," Emil spat. "Not because of your much vaunted 'power' and you know it!" Alfred and Matthew huddled together against the sides of the cages where they were closer to each other. "You won't succeed!"

"I won't be stopped this time!" Anya declared. "Do you think this is the only blue moon I've tried to bring my people back? Something always prevented it but not this time! No one knows where this cottage is so nothing will interfere. In two nights, my people will return!"

Anya left the room as if bored with the conversation and Emil slouched against Alfred's cage.

He prayed that his brother, the other Fae, the dragon-shifter and the trolls would arrive soon.

Anya could not win!

Matthias turned at a shout from one of his trolls. He turned to see Francis and a tall, blonde stern-looking man being escorted by one of his patrols. Francis and Berwald had been intercepted by a group of trolls searching the woods for the Dark Fae. Francis explained that he knew the Troll King and they brought them to Matthias to verify it.

"Francis!" Matthias was surprised to see the Frenchman. "I thought you were told to take Peter to the Oxenstierna cottage."

"I did!" Francis replied. "Then I came to help find Alfred and Matthew. This is Berwald Oxenstierna! He came to help too!"

"H'llo," Berwald greeted the Dane. "Nice t' m't ya!" Matthias recognised his accent as Swedish which made Berwald a neighbour of sorts.

"Pleasure to meet a fellow Nordic!" Matthias replied. "I just wish it wasn't while we're hunting down a child-eating freak! You know this is dangerous, right!"

"Alfred and Ma'thew ar' fri'nds o' P'ter's," Berwald stated. "'nd this th'ng is a thre't t' all childr'n, even P'ter 'f it's n't stop'ed." Matthias could not argue with that logic.

"Okay but stay with us!" he ordered. "If this is a Dark Fae, we're in for a fight. They were tough bastards before they were banished."

They moved through the woods carefully until they reach a clearing. Francis ran forward when he spotted something white and picked up Matthew's teddy bear.

"This is Matthieu's," He said when the others came up to him.

"That means they were here," Matthias reasoned. He looked around. "But which way did they go?" Matthias worked out all possible routes and divided his people up into groups to search the routes. He had a feeling about one route and sent the other trolls to check the others. Then he, Francis, Berwald and two trolls took the last route.

No one saw the wilted daisies on the ground!

Alfred tried to help Emil through the bars of his cage but his little fingers could not help with the manacles and Emil was too weak to move. The iron drained his strength and magic, leaving him helpless. Anya came and went but ignored them as she prepared for the blue moon, leaving them alone most of the time, knowing that they could do nothing.

"Is she really going to eat us?" Matthew whispered, fearfully. He never thought that this was what they had been afraid of for the past eight months.

"No!" Emil replied, adamantly if weakly. "Peter would have told Arthur by now. He, my Big Brother and their two friends will be searching for us. They'll find us!"

"And if they don't, I'll protect us!" Alfred said, proudly. "I'm the hero!" Emil smiled at the little boy's declaration.

"So are you all Faes?" Matthew asked, not knowing that there was no plural of Fae. "Even Arthur and Francis?"

"Not Francis," Emil replied. "He's human like you and Aleksander's a dragon-shifter. We even have troll allies, looking for us too!"

"The King got a letter," he continued. "Telling about what was happening here. He sent the Three Fae to investigate, along with Aleks. Then I came into the orphanage to try and find out things from inside."

"So Arthur and Francis were never gonna adopt us," Alfred said, curling into a ball. Emil reached for the young boy.

"When they came, I don't think they knew they was going to find you and Matthew," he reassured him. "They didn't come with the intention of getting a family but I wouldn't be surprised if you get new parents very soon. Arthur told me to watch out for you two, specifically so he cares very much about you." This made Alfred perk up and Matthew smiled.

"They'll find us!" Emil promised. "They won't stop until they do. Have faith!"

Greta found herself tramping through the woods for a second time that night, this time surrounded by magic beings that were angry about her acquiescence to Anya and the deaths of the children who had gone before. She could not defend herself from the accusations because they were right! She and the Mayor should have reported the Dark Fae to the King. She did not like her chances with these people if the Williams Twins died, especially Kirkland who was extremely attached to the two boys.

She lead them to the clearing and stopped.

"This was where I met Anya with the boys," she said. "And this is where I left them with her. I never knew where she came from or where she went. She could come from anywhere." Arthur turned to Lukas.

"Can you sense anything?" he asked. Lukas closed his eyes and focused on the woods around them. He frowned.

"What?" Arthur asked. Lukas opened his eyes.

"I can sense the dark aura," he replied. "But I can't trace where it went to. This Fae is very good at covering her tracks. However …..."

"However what?" Vladimir asked.

"I can sense Arthur's aura in that direction," Lukas answered, pointing in the direction of a woodland path. He walked over to the path and sensed the air again. Then he knelt down and picked up a wilted flower. He held it out for Arthur to see.

"The daisy chains!" he blurted. "A couple of days ago, I made daisy chains for the boys and Matthew put his and Alfred's in his pocket. He must be dropping them! Can you sense any more of them?" Lukas concentrated again. Then he ran down the path to find another dying daisy.

"He left a trail!" Aleks smiled. "Clever boy!" The group began to follow the daisy trail with hope in their hearts.

They were so close now!

The cottage looked innocuous but it was the obvious place for someone if they wanted to hide out in the woods so it was approached with caution. Matthias was stuck with a dilemma. If he or his people went any closer to the cottage, the Dark Fae would be able to sense them and they did not want to give this creature any warning that they were there which meant he had to contemplate sending two magically defenceless humans to scout out the cottage.

"If the Dark Fae is in there," he told Francis and Berwald. "We can't go any closer. It'll be able to detect us. Downside to being magically but we need to find out if it is there!"

"Can it detect humans or do we not have an aura?" Francis asked.

"Humans have an aura," Matthias replied. "But it's harder to detect. The creature would have to be really close to you or something you own to sense you. Outside the cottage is safe enough for a human to remain undetected."

"We'll d' it!" Berwald replied and looked at Francis who nodded, putting Matthew's teddy on a tree stump. Using the trees as cover against being seen from the windows, they made their way to the building and to a window that showed a light. Berwald peered in from the side and Francis peeked above the sill.

Lukas lead the group as he followed daisy after daisy and they went deeper and deeper into the woods. The Three Fae and the dragon-shifter made their way through the trees and then a cottage came in sight. Along with Matthias and his trolls.

"Is that where the Dark Fae is hiding?" Arthur asked, looking toward the cottage at the two figures, peering into the window. Wait a minute! That looked like …...

"Is that Francis and Berwald?" he exclaimed. "What are they doing here?" He moved forward to go after his fiancé but Matthias grabbed him and held him back.

"They're scouting the cottage because we'll be detected if we get any closer," Matthias explained. "As long as they don't go in the cottage, the Dark Fae won't know that they're there. If you go, the Dark Fae will know someone's outside. Don't put them in jeopardy!"

Arthur could only watched and fret as he watched the two men spy on a very dangerous creature.

The first thing Francis saw were the boys in the cages and Emil chained to one of them, looking like he was suffering, his wrists red and bleeding. Alfred and Matthew looked terrified but Alfred was trying to comfort Matthew like the little hero he wanted to be. Then a woman came into the room. Tall with silvery-blond hair and lavender eyes, a black cloak and a cold demeanour. She pass the large oven and went to Alfred's cage, reached in and grabbed his arm, giving it a squeeze as if testing the muscle. She smiled, creepily and did the same with Matthew. Emil tried to get up to stop her but she just pushed him back down and laughed.

They had seen enough! Berwald pulled Francis away who wanted to stay near the boys but Berwald would have none of it. If they were to rescue the boys, they would need help if this creature was as dangerous as the Troll King made out so he dragged Francis back through the trees where Francis found himself face to face with an angry Brit.

"What did you think you were doing, you stupid frog?" he thundered, slapping Francis across the shoulder. "Do that again and you can find another fiancé!" Francis wrapped his arms around the irate Fae.

"Awww! You care, mon petit lapin," he cooed. Arthur struggled in his grip.

"I'm not 'your little rabbit', snail-eater!"

"No, you're my little rosbif!"

"Wanker!"

"Th' boys ar' th're," Berwald reported and all eyes turned to him. "As we'l as anoth'r boy. He's in ch'ins 'nd th' boys ar' in cages." Arthur gripped his wand angrily.

"Désolé, Lukas," Francis added. "But it's Emil! He didn't look good, I think his shackles are made of iron." Lukas's only response was a tightening around the eyes.

"We need to get my people here," Matthias said. "We need them to surround the cottage to make sure this creature doesn't get away. Then we need to draw this thing out so someone can get the boys out and then we need to find away to destroy the Dark Fae. We can't let it escape!"

"Destruction's out of the question," Lukas replied. "It's not the full moon yet so her power is still too strong. We may have to go for capture or banishment."

"First things first," Arthur stated. "We need to get all the trolls back here. Me, Lukas and Vladimir will search the woods and transport them here. Aleks, you stay here with Matthias, Francis and Berwald and keep an eye on the cottage. And guard her!" Arthur indicated Greta and Aleks nodded, taking hold of Greta's arm. Matthias turned to his troll guards.

"Stand guard!" he ordered. The two trolls took up positions behind trees on either side of the cottage and kept watch. The Three Fae miniaturised and flew into the woods.

It took a hour to locate the majority of the trolls and bring them back to the cottage, surrounding it and getting battle-ready. Now they had to come up with a plan of attack.

"We, Matthias and his trolls draw out this 'Anya'," Arthur replied. "Long enough for Berwald and Francis to get in and free Emil and the Twins. You said you saw a large, cast iron oven in the cottage?" Berwald and Francis nodded.

"Big enough to take a person?"

"Y's!" Berwald replied. Arthur turned to Lukas.

"Will that do?" Lukas nodded.

"It sounds big enough to use as a portal," he replied. "We just need magical fire and I can use the incantation. However, from what King Ivan told me, the portal will try to pull all magic into it so when I create the portal, we better be holding on to something. The only ones that won't be affected will be the Twins, Berwald and Francis since none of them have magic."

"That means that, once the boys are free," Vladimir said. "We need to draw her back into the cottage and, of course, we'll need to light the oven." Aleks held up his hand.

"I can take care of that," he said.

"So, everyone know what they're doing?" Arthur asked. Lukas indicated to Greta who had remained silent throughout, not wanting to draw the attention of these determined people

"What about her?" Lukas asked. Matthias called over two of his trolls.

"Take this woman back to camp!" he ordered. "Under strict guard. She's an enemy!" The guards nodded, took hold of her arms and marched her away.

"Is everyone ready now?" said Arthur. Everyone gave answers in the affirmative.

"Let's go!"

Anya had finished translating the spell she needed to force the portal to allow her people to escape the Shadow World. Everything was ready! Her magic was prepared, the portal was ready and her offerings were in her hands. Tomorrow night, she would fina...!

Her head came up as she began to sense the presence of light magic outside the cottage and she moved to the window. Outside, she could see many trolls, lead by a large troll, welding a very big axe. Among them were the two Fae from the troll camp, accompanied by the Fae from the orphanage. How had they found her? No matter! They were no match for her!

She picked up her wand, went to the front door and stood there, surveying her enemy. She knew that the cottage was surrounded but she had no doubt that she could defeat them.

"Visitors!" she said in mock surprise. "I'm afraid I'm not prepared for guests so I must ask you come back another time."

"Just hand the boys back, Dark Fae," Arthur demanded. "We won't let you keep them, I think you know that!"

"Well, that's too bad," she replied. "Because you know that I won't let them go and there's nothing you can do about it!" Arthur raised his wand.

"We'll see about that!" he said and threw a spell in Anya's direction. Anya waved her wand and deflected Arthur's spell, then Lukas and Vladimir opened fire. With expertise, Anya deflected theirs as well but still stood in the door way. Lukas moved closer to Arthur.

"She hasn't left the cottage," he murmured. "She has to leave before Francis and Berwald go in." Arthur had to think of some way to get her out of the building but how? Then he had an idea.

He cast a spell that was not aimed at Anya so she did not deflect it. It struck the flowers around the cottage and they changed into butterflies that fluttered and swarmed around her and flew into the cottage. She shrieked and ran from the doorway to get away from the colourful insects. Now that she was away from the cottage, they just had to keep her away long enough for Francis and Berwald to accomplish their task.

This was the hard part!

Francis and Berwald were hiding in the trees, near the back door of the cottage, waiting for the signal to go. When the troll they were watching raised his axe above his head, they knew Anya was away from the cottage.

"That's 'ur signal!" Berwald said. "Let's g'!"

Berwald lead Francis around to the back door in, what Francis considered, the long way round. He did not know that Berwald was taking that way to prevent Francis from seeing what he had spotted near the back of the house. A barrel full of bones. Small, human bones!

They ran to the door and let themselves in. Butterflies drifted around the room. Francis wondered where they had come from but did not have time to figure it out. He followed Berwald to the cages where Alfred and Matthew greeted him.

"Francis!" they cried together.

"S'e if you can f'nd the key," Berwald told him while he examined Emil's shackles. Francis began to search the cottage but Alfred chirped up.

"She has the key!"

Berwald handed Francis a bradawl, with which he began to pick the locks in the cages while Berwald used a chisel to remove the bolts on Emil's manacles. After freeing Alfred, Francis began to work on Matthew's cage. They work as fast as they could because they did not know how long they had.

It was not long!

A group of trolls flew through the air, some hitting the ground, some hitting trees. Trolls were a hardy group but the fight was taking it out of them. Arthur was slammed to the floor by a spell that got through his deflection and he lay there for a second, winded before getting up while Anya was kept busy by Lukas, Vlad and Matthias. The three magical beings surrounded the Dark Fae, Lukas and Vlad with their wands ready and Matthias in troll-mode, gripping his axe. Aleks had been told to stay back until it was time to light the oven. Anya looked around her and sneered.

"It's not nice to gang up on a lady," she said. Arthur rejoined the group.

"You're not a lady," he retorted. "You're a thing that devours children. WELL, YOU'RE NOT GETTING MINE!" And all three Fae cast spells at Anya who wave her own wand, deflecting the spells and sending all three Fae flying backwards. Matthias ran forward, raising his axe above his head and Anya waved her wand again. Matthias flew backwards and hit a tree. He fell to the ground and reverted to his human form.

"MATTHIAS!" Lukas cried, getting up and running to the fallen troll. Matthias groaned and opened his eyes but he was groggy.

"Is this the best you do?" Anya mocked, surveying the others. "I expected better from the Three Fae! Yes, I know who you are! Frankly, I'm disappointed. All this is just a waste of my time ….." Anya trailed off. She realised then that they were doing just that, making her waste her time. Outside! She turned toward the cottage.

"NO!" she screamed and ran back to it.

"She's on to us!"

Now everything's going to hit the fan! DDX Anya knows that the Fae and the Trolls were just delaying her and Francis and Berwald are still inside the cottage, trying to free the boys! The Fae, Aleks and the Trolls had better move fast! And iron is bad for Fae as it's poisonous to them and burns them so imagine what it's like for Emil to have those shackles around his wrists. Let's hope Berwald gets them off him soon.

To briana. Schmidt1 – Poor Alfred and Matthew. And Emil! :( But don't despair! Help is coming!

To FireFox Vixen – Don't worry! Everyone will get what they deserve, good or bad! ;)

To chanceoutof20 – Yep! It's intense moments from now on (or so I hope) And they do make a good Hansel and Gretel, don't they :D Not a bad idea, although I see England more as Robin Hood, seeing as how it's an English legend and he's meant to have skill with a bow and arrow. I could see Switzerland as Peter in Heidi with Liechtenstein as the main character with perhaps Germania as her grandfather. Something to ponder O_o

To Cardfighter by Maple – Yep! Emil and the boys are in a lot of danger D: Let's hope Berwald and Francis gets them out in time (crosses fingers!)

To Normandy – Mayor Gruber should get a special award for his idiocy ): He should have used his brains when Anya first showed up, that's assuming he has any XP Actually Emil's already studying magic with Vanya. He's just on a little holiday to visit Lukas (bad timing). Will everyone come out of the fight? Wait and see! ;P Stuck in a snow storm! Oh! Not pleasant. Poor you and Tino! I was caught in a snow storm once, fortunately I was in a car with my dad but it came down so thick and fast, I though we were going to have to stop for safety reasons DX. Fortunately it was over in minutes. Just enough to turn everything white :)

To Phantomgirl338 – Don't worry about it but thanks for the cookies anyway (munch!) Yeah! Poor little mites (munch!) But help is on the way! (munch!)

To EverythingMath – There's not worse than being on a long trip with nothing to do (so glad Kindles were invented) so I'm happy I gave you something to occupy your time. I tried to think of some way to get the bread crumb trail element in and thought about Arthur's love of gardening and flowers. I could see him making daisy chains for the boys and the fact that Arthur made them was significant as you've just found out :D Now they just have to save the boys DX

To ArtemisIsis13 – I agree! One Dark Fae is bad enough, could you imagine a whole swarm! (shudder!). No a skillet won't do this time, how about an oven? ;) RUN, KNOWLEDGE! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! XP You're right to be worried about Emil! I don't like Anya's plans for him ): True, it was all suspense and dark moments in the last chapter and I'm afraid this one isn't any lighter. The next chapter will have lighter moments and everyone will get what they deserve (especially Mayor Gruber!). Yep! Alfred is a little warrior but these odds are too much for a six year old but he and Matthew will have their moment :D Emil had to be sure of what was happening, I think. Had it been the night of the blue moon, I think he would have stopped Greta but it being two nights early threw him a little, I guess. Francis would definitely gone to help Arthur and the others. Berwald considers Anya to be a threat to Peter so he would certainly go to assist too. A wedding chapter! Perhaps, you'll have to wait and see :P I've never dropped a Kindle on my head but I can imagine that it hurt D; You'll have something to do with Lukas and Matthias to squeal over in the last chapter, I promise! ;P Three angry Fae and a dragon-shifter! Yeah! That's some surprise for her! But she deserves it! XDD

To themusicalcat - Don't worry, you were in time :D I hope you had a nice vacation :) Yeah, the twins are safe for physical injury for another two days but Emil! That iron wrapped around his wrists certainly won't do him any good DX. Let's hope Berwald gets it off him quickly and I hope you enjoyed the cookies. And this chapter! :D

The next chapter is the last one T.T The Final Battle comes to a conclusion and rewards and punishments will be handed out. Our two tale keepers will be back with a parting gift for the boys and it all starts again.

Right now, I'm writing a story that I'm hoping to get out for the Fourth of July. It may be five or six chapters long. If six, I'll post it on Monday. If five, It will be Tuesday and I'll post a chapter a day and the last one will be post on Saturday the Fourth, if things go according to plan. It called A 4th of July Carol. You can guess what it's based on. I hope you look out for it!

And I think that's everything!

Hasta la Pasta!