Chapter 9. No Light.
They stepped off of the train and Alfred took a deep breath. They had to keep their cover no matter what. This was the farthest he had been from the king, though he was only seconds away, using the portable computers they had brought with them. Though an image of the king on a screen was not as good as the real thing…They kept their weapons perfectly concealed and there were guards around them to keep up the image.
Gilbert complained about it in the train, but now that they had made it to their destination, he was silent. They knew their cues and they had ensured that they could fit their roles as diplomats. It was a very odd stretch, though Alfred was more than ready to kill anyone that he had to.
The train station was rather empty, Alfred noticed. There were guards from the country of Merkatus that easily outnumbered Ivan's guards. There were, however, five people that Alfred recognized clearly a short distance from the train, their undivided attention on them. There was the blonde that attracted the most attention, in the middle, Matthias, who had bright blue eyes and a wicked smile on his face. Then there was the tallest blonde, Berwald, who would have been intimidating if it were not for the smaller blonde, Tino, just beside him with a happy smile right beside him. Alfred could immediately tell that, despite the tall man's build and demeanor, he had a weak spot for the smaller one. There were two others, Lukas and Emil, about the same size as the small blonde, who shared the same expression of boredom. Alfred could tell them apart in that one had more silver hair than blonde and had a small bird on his shoulder. These were the leaders of the country of Merkatus.
"Hello!" Matthias spoke loudly and happily, his arms spread out extremely wide. Alfred smiled right back at him. He could not afford to allow himself to be emotionless, that would give him away. Yet, he couldn't give these people his true emotions. "Welcome!" Matthias walked towards them happily, ignoring the guards that advised otherwise. Tino was more than happy to go with him and the other three followed behind shortly. "You're the diplomats King Ivan sent over, right?"
"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you," Matthew smiled sweetly. "Matthew Williams."
"Awesome," Matthias chimed and Alfred smirked when he saw Gilbert flinch minutely. They shook hands, as did the rest of the leaders, and then moved to Alfred.
"Alfred Jones," Alfred nodded politely to him with a small smile.
"Gilbert Smith," Gilbert said simply and Alfred smirked once more at how much effort it took for Gilbert to get it out. That was another thing Gilbert had been complaining about the whole trip there. He hated that last name.
"And, of course, we know who you are," Alfred said politely to them. "It is our pleasure to meet you on behalf of our King."
"Of course, there is the question of why the King insisted on such a sudden meeting," Lukas said bluntly after he finished shaking Gilbert's hand.
"We shouldn't talk about it here," Gilbert laughed easily, sliding his hands into his pockets. He was nervous. Alfred sighed through his nose. "This is hardly the place, right?"
"It was also a very long trip," Matthew smiled. "You must give us some time to rest."
"Oh, of course!" Tino chimed, nodding happily. "We already have a driver that will take you three to your hotel and you can meet us for our scheduled meeting in a few hours."
"Thank you for your kindness," Alfred nodded gratefully to them and they followed them without any man making another sound. Alfred watched them carefully as their backs were turned. They did not carry weapons themselves but every guard around them appeared to. They were shown to a car just outside of the train station and Alfred had to control his surprise at the sight before him. He had never seen outside of his home country, though he never anticipated it to be so…different.
The buildings that spread before them were incredibly spaced out and a range of different colors. Cars of any color drove along streets as far as Alfred could see. People bustled around, though the most different thing Alfred could see was the clear sky overhead. He had never seen one like it. There were bright green trees and grass spread around with the buildings and Alfred did not know what to think. He glanced at Matthew, who seemed equally surprised. Gilbert was left completely speechless.
In less than a second, Alfred lost his view as he entered the car. He ensured he did not betray his emotions to the leaders around him. The second the door to the car was closed, however, and the driver began to move, Alfred felt a part of him crack just slightly. Their guards were in the car just behind them and so they were relatively alone, aside from the driver. Alfred glanced at Matthew and Gilbert, who shared his confused look. No matter the side Gilbert was on, there was no doubt that this surprised him, too.
Alfred decided very quickly he didn't like meetings. He didn't quite have the mind for something like this. Sure, talking through things occasionally with the king was fine. But this? Alfred was about ready to fall asleep at this rate. Gilbert was faring no better. Matthew was at least putting up a good show of feigned interest. It was a simple meeting room with a large table and multiple chairs. It was weird how colorful the carpets were and the fact that the table was made out of trees and then there was the leather on the chairs. It was weird. Alfred, Matthew, and Gilbert sat on one side of the table while the five leaders of the country were on the other. They were talking about trade policies or something and Alfred only responded in the ways that he knew how. Apparently, he was being successful.
"I'm bored!" Matthias complained loudly, leaning back heavily in his chair.
"Now's not the time to act like that," Lukas scolded him sternly. "We are in the middle of a meeting."
"Then let's call a break!" Matthias said happily, slamming his hand onto the wood. Alfred blinked in surprise. Out of everyone in the room, he was the worst at hiding the fact that he was bored out of his mind. Even Gilbert put on a good show. Tino immediately smiled brightly at the thought of it.
"Great idea!" Tino nodded fervently. His eyes brightened significantly at the thought of being able to leave the room for once in three hours.
"Then it's settled," Matthias laughed. "You guys okay with that?"
"Absolutely," Gilbert let out a long sigh, seeing as now it was alright for him to be bored.
"I guess it will be fine to have a break for half an hour," Emil said, straightening out some of his papers. "To collect our thoughts once more."
"Perfect!" Matthias proudly stood up. "I gotta piss." With that, he gracefully left the room, Lukas sighing heavily, glancing back at him. Alfred had to admit, these leaders were far different from Ivan. They were far more relaxed and blunt, even the colder and quieter ones. Based on what they had discussed in the meeting, they were unwilling to make large changes without the consent of the people of the country, an odd concept for Alfred. They also expressed a keen interest on matters of money and trade, something Alfred was fairly unfamiliar with. Not only did he carry no money, but there was usually not much to go around in his home country.
Matthew politely smiled and stood with the rest and Alfred followed his example, Gilbert already standing up to stretch his arms over his head. Tino and Berwald had already walked off, going who knew where, and Lukas and Emil calmly left, oddly leaving them alone. No guards were allowed in the room, though there were some standing guard just outside. Though Alfred knew that, should he be in their position, he would not leave three strangers from another country alone in a room to do what they pleased.
"Got anything yet?" Gilbert asked casually.
"They're curious," Alfred sighed, glancing behind him at the window. It lead to a forest, nothing like the meager one Alfred had seen in his own country. This was large and not meant as a border. It was just a forest. No one lived there. He saw a glint in the forest, however, fairly close to the building and he blinked in surprise, but brought no attention to it, turning back to his partners instead. "We will be here for a few more days until we depart for the next country. We should find some way to bring the king into a conversation, watch their body language and their word choice closely."
"Hopefully, we'll find something out," Matthew sighed.
"I'm going to go for a walk," Alfred said. "It's weird for me not to move for this long, I need to stretch my legs. I'm going to investigate parts of this country while we have the opportunity. You two stay here, don't draw attention to ourselves."
"Right," Matthew nodded and Gilbert smirked, obviously happy for the chance to be alone. For the sake of discovering what was in the forest, Alfred was willing to overlook it for the time being. Until he found proof against Gilbert, that is. Alfred walked calmly through the halls, politely waving back to Matthias, who waved to him as he left the bathroom. Apparently, it wasn't odd for him to be going outside, as no one asked questions of him. He found Emil outside, oddly enough, with his bird, who he was not allowed to bring with him inside. Alfred smiled politely to him before walking away. If Emil wasn't going to ask a question about it, Alfred wasn't about to make himself seem suspicious by giving an excuse.
As soon as he entered the forest, far enough to be out of sight, he dropped his happy façade. He glanced around and pulled out his pistol, just in case he needed to be on guard. He moved carefully through the forest, not making a sound. He looked around for something, anything, that could have made that shine. There was no trash, the forest was surprisingly well kept. Alfred even passed by a heavily used path, evidently marked for the use of the people, for whatever reason.
Alfred didn't go far into the forest, knowing his time limit extremely well. However, he did see a shadow a far distance away behind a tree. It was an incredibly well hidden shadow, obviously meant to be unseen. Very suspicious. Alfred pointed his gun at the tree. He moved closer, just to be sure, but he could clearly see the outline of a man and just the faint outline of the tip of his rifle.
"Who are you?" Alfred asked, just quiet enough to only be heard by the man, who was a short distance from him.
"Oh, wow, you really are good, huh?" a familiar voice asked happily and Alfred was startled when he saw Feliciano poke his head from outside of the tree. "No one catches on that quick. You even pulled your gun on me from so far away, too!"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Alfred demanded. He was right to not alert Matthew or Gilbert. If he had taken them with him, Feliciano might have hidden better. He had hidden this time to be found and Alfred knew that he was at least good at sneaking around, good enough to knock Alfred out. He kept his gun pointed firmly at Feliciano's head as the man stepped from behind the tree. He held one hand up in the air and, in the other, he held onto a sniper rifle, though the safety was on, which meant he felt no need to shoot it, at least now. At least now Alfred knew where he had seen the light come from. But he doubted it was a mistake. If they wanted a chance to kill them with a sniper, however, they would have sent in Antonio, so that meant Feliciano was just looking.
"I'm here to keep a watch on you," Feliciano chimed happily. "Orders from the boss!"
"Arthur?" Alfred asked suspiciously. It was odd…Feliciano wasn't scared. There was a gun pointed right at him, and he wasn't trembling or scared or begging. He knew Alfred wouldn't fire. "What does he want?"
"To keep an eye on you," Feliciano shrugged. "We're all equally surprised you brought the albino with you, you never do that if you have a choice."
"How many of you are here?" Alfred asked.
"Just me!" Feliciano chimed, placing the butt of his rifle on the ground and leaning on it slightly. Alfred couldn't tell what other weapons the man had hidden on him, he was in a bad spot. "We saw your departure, though. We talked about it before I left. Man, Lovi was furious that I agreed to going alone, especially since both you and Matthew are here."
"Why shouldn't I kill you right now?" Alfred asked. "You know exactly what side I'm on. Why don't you think I'm going to shoot?"
"Well, there's the obvious," Feliciano shrugged, keeping that bright smile on his face. "Your gun doesn't have a silencer and we're in a public place. Then there's the fact that you don't have the time to find a place to put me where I won't be found because I'll be suspicious if I'm found. No record of me except for in Kormall, where you guys are from. And there's the fact that they're gonna find gunpowder on me and they'll suspect you guys and the king, which you can't have. I know you're all on break because, based on all of your guys' body language, you're not done with your meeting today. Matthew and Gilbert will be able to tell that you did something because your demeanor changes just slightly after you've killed someone and they'll get suspicious, but you can't let them know that you know me very well and how much you hesitated with killing me. Do you want me to go on?"
Alfred sighed heavily and clicked on the safety of his gun, storing it back where it came from. Feliciano was talented, at the very least, when he knew what was going on and when he was in full control of the situation. But he kept that incredibly happy, bubbly façade, even now. Even while he explained everything, there was no dangerous glint in his eyes. He was just happy. There was definitely a reason Arthur kept him around. There was no way he could trust Feliciano, either, with the fact that he was alone. There was a chance that the entire group was there, Alfred had to stay alert. But they wouldn't kill him, they had already proven that fact.
"So what now?" Alfred asked.
"You go back, we both keep doing what we're here to do," Feliciano shrugged. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise."
"I don't give you the same one," Alfred said.
"Oh, I already knew that," Feliciano smiled innocently. It was like he hadn't killed anyone, with that smile. But Alfred was sure that he had. "Talk to you tomorrow, Alfie?"
"Don't call me that," Alfred shook his head, turning around. He didn't have a lot of time to get back, especially if he had to seem nonchalant, going through the forest. He didn't say another word and Feliciano didn't either, simply returning to his hiding spot. At the very least, he could tell Matthew and Gilbert that he was seeing if there was anything suspicious in such an odd forest. To the leaders of Merkatus, he couldn't easily tell them that he was curious about the forest, since he'd never actually been in one before. He simply wished, as he stepped through the last of the tree, that he had had the time to enjoy it.
The meeting started again and Alfred did have to tell Lukas his reason for going into the forest, but he lied easily enough. The meeting continued until it grew dark outside and Alfred was thoroughly surprised to see that there were so many stars to be seen so brightly in the sky.
"You know, I have to say, I'm a little surprised," Alfred joked as the meeting was wrapping up. "You're so much more laid back than the king."
"We don't see the need in so much security," Tino chimed. "It's not like we can't handle ourselves, after all."
"It does seem a little too easy, though," Gilbert said off-handedly. "I mean, giant windows, alone in a room with strangers from another country. I'm not saying that's what we're here for, but this could be an assassination, easy." He laughed just to top it off, show that he was joking as he leaned back in his chair like he didn't have a care in the world. But he was testing them. And they were losing.
"Yeah? Well, I'd like to see how easy it is for someone to kill us," Matthias smirked happily. "Especially when I've got this." He was still joking around, sure, but apparently he trusted them. He reached behind his back and that was when Alfred noticed it. He did have a gun on him, it was just incredibly well concealed. He was pulling out.
Alfred acted on instinct, on reflex, more than anything. He knew that Matthias was showing off, but that didn't matter. If a person ever had a gun and was point blank range from him, he pulled his gun out faster. Alfred also noticed that the man's safety was, indeed off, just in case. It took about half a second for the exchange to happen. Alfred had his gun out in no time at all and the only reason Matthew hadn't done the same was because he had seen Alfred move first, realized how foolish the act was. Alfred only wished he had that sense as he stared at the five leaders in front of him, Matthias with his hands up and he laughed uneasily.
"Wasn't trying to quick draw, I swear," Matthias' voice faltered slightly, he was scared. Alfred had messed up. He lowered his gun as Berwald knocked loudly on the table, a signal for the guards outside.
"You're a genius, Alfred," Gilbert sighed heavily as the guards walked in. Alfred dropped his gun. There were consequences for actions like this, he knew. Pointing a gun at Ivan was punishable by death, but he didn't know how this country worked. One of the men had a strange gun that appeared to hold darts, but Alfred couldn't blow even more of his cover. They didn't seem to be lethal, by the way the guard was carrying his gun.
A dart landed in Alfred's neck and he felt a small amount of pain before numbness washed over him and he crumbled to the ground before there was darkness around him.
Long planned scene at the end, there. I have quite a few of those. Anyway, we know Feliciano's there as well now, but he's not really playing around. He's there for the sake of watching, for whatever reason Arthur may have. And Alfred has pointed a gun at a leader of a country, which at least warrants his arrest. Yes, he is arrested, but the way societies work now, they do it all differently, I will explain it more next chapter, don't worry, my darlings. Not much Arthur in the recent chapters, but don't worry, he will be coming back, I swear. It's hardly a USUK story without Arthur, now isn't it?
Anywho, enough of me rambling. Please review! It's awesome!